Reviewers:

St3rfire: Didn't you know Star? I plan to kill you softly with a big stick, and that stick is my chapter coming out today! Don't worry, just enjoy.

Czar Joseph: Well, now we can deal with the fight that can ensure from the attempt to deal with Sakura's rage.

AN: Hey all, so I'm hoping that you all still viewing my chapters and that you all still enjoy my story. So, let's keep going!

Fire & Ice

Arc 3-Trust

Chapter 35: Capture the Queen

"Alright men!" Kakashi called out as they all appeared in lines of four, and these four line of fifty men each stood at attention before himself and Naruto, their packs along their shoulders and backs. The tents were packed and the shovels were strung up along the outside of the packs themselves. "Today, we head to the Ice Queen's palace. There, we will arrest her, and change the world, back to what it once was!"

A chorus of hurrah's echoed in the entrance to the old city of Port Haruno, and the battalion of soldiers soon began to walk through the knee high snow in the open plains before the walls of the city. For a hundred yards, there were huffs and puffs as men struggled as the snow got deeper, but after paths had been made, the first lines took a break and let the next lines do the work.

The men reached the woods before the canyons and all was deathly quiet, and only the crunching of boots in snow and labored breathing made anyone realize that there was life in this region. Luckily for the men, there was less snow inside the actual forest, as the trees protected it somewhat, and so after another hour, they were across the evergreen forest in the early summertime, and taking a break before the canyon itself.

Kakashi took this break to head over to Naruto, who did not look tired at all, unlike Kakashi and the rest of his men. "Naruto, I don't like this."

"What do you mean?"

"We should have been seen entering that port, and the cannons were loud enough. We should have hit an ambush right about now."

"Kakashi, relax for now. I think Sakura wants you to see her city at least….You know Kakashi, the men are going to be perplexed when they get there."

"So will I. It is hard to believe that she made a city by her powers alone."

Naruto nodded and began to move forward, pulling men back up as they walked into the canyon itself, with its dark brown walls, huge cracks in the sides filled in with snow and ice, with a soft layer of snow on the canyon floor to guide them.

The men all took turns, looking up at the sky to see that today the sky was not white, but blue, and that they were making good time considering all things. It made them confident that while there was no blizzard, they would be on equal footing with anyone to attack them straight on, which was the only way to go when inside the great canyons of Port Haruno.

As their guide pointed them towards the canyon wall, and they realized the camouflaged pass up to the top of the canyon itself, many men were surprised at their actions. In all fairness, most knights expected to die in these canyons from above if their Lords and Ladies ever wished to attack the central port of the known world, but that was not the case for them. No; this time, they were the ones attacking the enemy inside the canyon itself.

It was only when they arrived at the top of the canyon that they realized that this was a completely different place, as the canyon and the rest of the world was really far below them, on this plateau where one saw the great sheer mountains that surrounded the region. Naruto pointed towards the tallest mountains towards the middle and men gulped, wondering how they would get up that sheer rock face.

As they continued to walk, they passed the spot where Naruto had shared one last night with Alice, and finding out that all this time it had been Sakura who was with him. Naruto felt such pity for Sakura; he wished she could have been honest with him from the start, and maybe, instead of leading this force, he was certain that he would be at her side, defending her from harm.

Naruto wanted to trust Sakura like he used to, before all of this. He wanted to stroke her cheek when she was saddened, he wanted to stroke her thigh when she smiled at him from beneath his head, he wanted…everything to just go back to normal.

Soon, the group arrived at the mountain itself, and Naruto turned to the men and as he stared at them, he walked to the right and dropped into the valley below. Men rushed to the side and breathed a sigh of relief. A secret road that dipped ten feet below became visible, and so the men moved around the mountain itself, hidden from view as the road cut into the mountain rock, forming tunnels and lunar circles, making this place seem like one huge fantasy.

Naruto stopped again and nodded to Kakashi. This was it. The final turn and they would be within thirty feet of the walls. Kakashi breathed and rushed forward, as silent as the dark of night. Kakashi motioned and his men followed, raised their bows, ready to fire at the defenders, only to choke back the sight of the city, made completely of ice, and with not a soul in sight. There were no fires along the ramparts and no bodies moving around.

Slowly, the men moved from their knees to their feet and walked through the surprisingly open gate. Each man was on edge. After all, because they all knew that somehow, Sakura had an army of mercenaries at her side, as Naruto had been vague to Kakashi on that matter. Kakashi assumed that they were here though, hiding, and in the snow that drifted in the air, men rubbed their eyes at the sight of pale white skin, surrounded of clothes of snow white, before they disappeared, like they were never there at all.

The men spent a half hour walking slowly through the city, stunned at the design and power that these buildings represented and radiated. Was that a hanging archway with no supports? Was that a bridge made truly of nothing but ice? Even if this Queen was to be told to be evil, her mind was on a whole other level than these men could even begin to describe.

As they moved forward, they looked up to the castle, and knew that they would face opposition there. That castle looked exactly like a smaller version of the one in Port Haruno, with its own wall, and a dip in the snow as if there was an ocean this far from the shoreline. As one, they slowly made their way across the bridge and to the closed gate that guarded the way. But the men pushed just with a little of their weight and the doors opened, as silent as could be and with not even the sound of a hinge in hearing or sight.

Kakashi motioned to his men to prepare for battle and as they did so, pulling out their swords and moving their bows to positions around them, Naruto's eyes moved cautiously around and his face looked troubled, and so Kakashi made his way to him. "You okay, Naruto?"

"Um…I need to go somewhere for a bit. Check up on something."

"Alright. We'll check the throne room."

"Alright. And Kakashi…be careful. Sakura is not the innocent girl she once was."

Kakashi smiled. "Get going Naruto." And with that, Naruto disappeared down the hall.

A few minutes later, everyone had gathered outside the throne room doors, their metallic armor clanging as softly as could be as they prepared to rush inside. At Kakashi's signal, that's exactly what they did, and moved inside the room, pushing the ice doors aside as they moved.

The doors swung open and the men poured inside, moving towards the back corners of the room, keeping the line as even as possible so that nothing moved between them. But as the last soldier moved ten steps from the door, a wind flooded from the front of the room and the doors clanged noisily shut, and the man watched as ice sealed around the edges, and the door disappeared altogether, like it was never there.

"I must say…" A voice began to speak casually as men flicked their heads around to the front of the throne room, but unlike the original, this one held a balcony above the throne itself, led by a sprialling inner staircase, and as the men looked up, they were greeted by selfish, envious emerald eyes and pink hair that belonged on the regal face of Sakura Haruno, but this woman was not like the old Queen. Her smile was sure of herself, and her voice spit out the words as if she was condescending and talking to them as if instructing children.

"I must say," the woman spoke again "…I expected there to be more of you…This is only a small greeting party, is it not?" Sakura spoke while a small smile reached her lips but did not ascend to her eyes.

Men grumbled at the words she spoke. Any force greater than fifty in these desolate times was one to be reckoned with, and here this woman…witch…Queen was belittling them? But Kakashi and some others saw the sadness that briefly filled the girl's eyes and knew that she was trying to get them to leave, because she would not sit back down and allow herself to be killed for the sake of killing, not ever since that day, as her brief change in her eyes moved back down to stare down at them in disgust as men raised their swords higher off the ground and towards her.

Kakashi made his way to the middle of his men where they were spread thin, and Sakura's eyes widened in happy recognition before it dawned on her why he was here with his men directly.

"Kakashi, I did not expect you to come here yourself." Sakura spoke up and Kakashi smiled as he detected her lie.

"You know that I lead my men up from the front, My Lady, so enough of these lies and face us."

"You're right of course." Sakura reproached and made a sweeping motion as a part of the floor suddenly fell away into a hole of deep ice, before glowing blue liquid filled its entirety to the brim. "I will give you each a choice. If you slide down that doorway, you will be taken back to Port Haruno, where you can await your ships' return and then head back home, to where you belong."

Sakura watched as no one moved and sighed through her teeth. "I will not repeat myself to the likes of you." The Queen seethed, sensing as if they were mocking her.

"You used to think of everyone as equal, Sakura. I don't know where you went wrong."

"Oh? You mean I'm just supposed to let myself sign myself over to death once more?" Sakura breathed and Kakashi looked at her deeply.

"Sakura, that was Sasuke who did that to you, and your plan to accept that fate."

"Yeah, well…I'm not as selfless as I used to be." Sakura chuckled sadly and the men's hearts stung in their chests. It was obvious that Sakura wished to be who she once was, but was scarred by the reality of warring in life.

"You still can be, Sakura. If you would just-"

"No! I refuse to be that little pathetic girl who empties the treasury for no reason at all! I will not-"Sakura teared as her emerald eyes flashed blue, before settling into icy shards of sapphire orbs as she glared at them. "I want you out of here and to tell the alliance that I will Never allow you to come into my land anymore."

Sakura watched the realization of the men and chuckled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Oh! Did you really think that those cannons would work using my own magic? That I would not be able to control every bit of it, no matter how far it was?...You are here because I have allowed you to take down my wall, which is as powerful as ever, and make your way here, thanks to my generosity of calming the blizzard for today."

"So then…you just wanted to give us a warning?" Kakashi asked and Sakura giggled like a schoolgirl, looking at him in delight.

"Why Yes, Kakashi! If you even truly noticed what I'm doing, I'm doing for the alliance itself."

"You have separated from the alliance."

"Oh…my dear Kakashi…you don't even know what has happened in the south have you?"

Silence reigned as Sakura saw kakashi's face turn into a frown as his voice grew low as confusion settled into his body. "None of our scouting ships have come back from there..."

"And they won't, and I am the only one to even come close to stopping 'it'... So you will leave and I will enjoy peace with my western brothers and sisters."

"Sakura," Kakashi grimaced as he pulled his sword, "You know as well as I do that I can't do that. You are hereby under arrest."

"...You cannot arrest me in my own kingdom, Kakashi. You have no right."Sakura smiled, her ice blue eyes sparkling in mischief, "and you are stuck in my world regardless unless you jump into that hole. Your country's survival rests with me."

"You have no people Sakura, and the royals serve the people. That is the land that they own down there in Port Haruno."

"Leave land to be own by the people? I know I once thought like that, but that is absurd! Ha! People owning land...I have no people that you know of."

"Then you leave us no choice." Kakashi signaled to his men, who slowly moved forward towards the stairwell. Sakura smiled though as she stepped onto the railing of the chateau looking balcony and before they could say anything, she jumped down, ice appearing as if in the air and she landed gracefully onto the icy floor. Men surged back as small ice particles shimmered in the air, and Sakura's head dipped down to her chest. Her pink tresses of hair rolled in snow hilled waves.

Her eyes shimmered before she grinned and looked up as her hair parted around her head. Glowing blue magic shinned as ice formed at the outside of her elbows, and slid down the outside of her arms to make points as they reached three feet beyond her hands, almost touching the floor. Hilts formed inside her palms as she gripped them and her eyes darkened as men's breaths froze in misty water before their mouths. "No, you have left yourself no choice. You have just signed your death and in this land...I am your executioner."

Without a second's hesitation, Sakura's body sped forward, her arms swinging the weapons in her hands as only a master swordsman could from daily practice and learning from experience from battle. Unlike when Sakura faced Sasuke three years ago, her hands had been stained in many more a person's blood, and so as Sakura reached the first line of soldiers, her first slash was aimed at their throats, just under their armor, and the men barely jumped backwards before blood sprayed everywhere, though the wounds were too shallow to continue to bleed.

Still men dropped their swords or shields and moved to cover the wounds and that was the moment when Sakura's magic took effect. The magic in her swords had seeped into the men's skin, and so as they moved, the ice began to freeze their organs and blood. As hands reached their throats and men turned to look at their comrades in arms, their skin and armor froze in place, their eyes frozen open in shock.

Swiftly, the men surrounding Sakura locked shields in front of them and the men behind pulled their bows and notched their arrows before aiming at Sakura from three circular directions. Sakura moved her body into a twisting swirl as if in a dance and ice melted into water and followed her spin, swirling around her body up and up in a swirling motion, and then Sakura stopped and the water expanded three feet around herself before solidifying.

Arrows were released over and over, volley after volley, and the arrows smacked at the ice that formed, and instead of slicing into the ice, the metallic tips broke on impact and fell with the wood down to the floor around it.

There was a brief lull in the arrows, and Sakura pushed her hands in either direction, and the ice once again became water and pushed forward into a tidal wave to either side, growing to ten feet high. The wave pushed against the formations and choked the air from their lungs as men crashed into the columns and walls on the side and crashed into those others on their side.

Men staggered back to their feet, as the rush of water surged around their legs a few inches. Kakashi saw his men shiver at the intensity of the cold liquid seeping its way into the fur and leather, and made his way forward, followed by the men beside and behind him.

Sakura flew across the water, her feet sinking next to nothing as she soon stood at the rather tall height of the men and dived forward, one arm thrusting forward and the other at an angle as she leaned forward and jumped into the sea of armored men, where screams of pain soon echoed and Sakura stepped gracefully out of the group, stepping over a frozen hand that joined at the shoulder with the frozen wrestling mass behind her. More men charged forward, and Kakashi took this time to make a plan in his head.

As the skill of his men proved ineffective and only served to slow the mad Queen down, Kakashi reached into the pouch at his side, and grazed it along the stacked metal on his leg. The spark that followed flowed through the air and started a small fire which slowly moved down a black line. That line flowed inside a brown cylinder the size of Kakashi's fingers and it rolled in Kakashi's hand as he reached back before throwing it in a curve that would lead straight towards Sakura.

The cylinder made of brown paper left Kakashi's hand, and began to spin over and over again, moving horizontally across the room, moving over the frozen ground as Kakashi and those not fighting moved towards the ground as the cylinder neared Sakura's vicinity. Sakura felt a swoosh moving through the air and turned her head.

As she did so, the cylinder was at her head and spun one last time until it reached her eye level. Sakura's eyes widened as the cylinder suddenly broke in two and a white substance mixed with the fire. The fire and powder stuck together before Sakura's eyes and just like that, a blast of white light shot into Sakura's wide open eyes.

"AHHHHH!" Sakura screamed as she backpedaled, tripping over nothing and trying frantically to find something stable. Sakura soon tripped over her own two feet and whooped as she fell on her butt on the cold ice floor.

Kakashi and the men covered their eyes as the Queen fell susceptible to the blazing white flash of magnesium. They heard Sakura's screams, and opened their eyes to watch her fall on the ground and suddenly, the ice defending her melted back into the ground. Men cheered and moved in, intent on piling on top of her until the cuffs were upon her and she was unable to form magic.

Sakura's moved her hands blindly around herself, trying to know where she was in the room, and as her hands touched the ground, she felt the vibrations of the soldiers running towards her. She felt the men jumping into the air, their feet putting pressure onto the ground before leaping, and so Sakura surged her power inside the ice below her.

Kakashi could only watch as his men jumped into the air, their gauntlets driving into Sakura's vicinity. Suddenly, ice surged all around Sakura's body, in a tight circle that shot forth into the air. Gauntlets scraped against Sakura's cheek before ice stabbed into their hands, feet and stomachs, sending men twenty feet in the air to impale against the ceiling and walls. Sakura breathed deeply and slowly got to her feet, as Kakashi and his remaining men stepped back to what they thought was a safe distance as Sakura's swords slashed through the shards of ice that fell from the supports and ceiling and the pierced soldiers fell to the ground in a grunt and a huff.

The ice broke and hissed at the contact as it pushed an icy dust above the once again dry floor, and Kakashi looked at Sakura's torn clothes and yet steady breathing. Around her lay many of his men, yet they were all alive, though injured and unable to move. Kakashi looked back at his twenty men around him. Kakashi reached into his belt, where two swords laid, and he walked forward, the silver blades glinting and reflecting off of Sakura's crystal blue blades.

Kakashi motioned for his men to back up as he began to jog forward, and Sakura met the challenge and sped up, causing Kakashi to speed up to a sprint and the two met in the middle of the floor, their swords clashing in a mixture of two X formations. Sakura pushed heavily on the right side and so Kakashi move to attack the left, but it was a feint and Sakura spun her blades towards Kakashi's abdomen.

Kakashi though, slid back to the left and sliced horizontally and Sakura stepped closer to him, her blades parrying Kakashi's on either side of her body as she grasped the handles and began to spin the blades clockwise, and Kakashi dropped his swords to avoid the loss of his hands.

Sakura move to press her advantage when Kakashi suddenly sprinted forward, suprising Sakura as it moved against all logic. But Sakura's fears were felt when Kakashi's empty hands curved slightly and from his sleeves slid hidden knives, and Sakura leaned back and that was all the moment Kakashi needed to thrust out with his foot and hit square in the center with Sakura's abdomen.

Sakura ooff'd as she was sent flying and skidding across the slick ice until she came to the steps of the throne, and fell backwards, and her head crashed into the throne chair that she had made three years ago. The chair cracked and splintered from the impact and Sakura's body was on the bottom of large pieces of ice as Sakura's body ceased to move.

Kakashi lowered his foot, breathing quickly, and thanked Obito for his eye's magical properties of seeing a second into a swordfight. He and the men stayed still for a second, wondering what was about to happen, before slowly, the ice began to move and white arms, dirty clothes, and a ruffled woman appeared from the icy pile.

Sakura stared madly at Kakashi, and he saw a large bruise on her right upper forehead, and blood dripped onto her forehead, over her right eye, which blinked rapidly in the light. Sakura's breathing was labored and as Kakashi watched, her swords of ice cracked and began to fall off, leaving her with a jagged edge of a dagger. Kakashi saw a shimmer in the air and knew that he had won.

"Sakura, surrender. You can't win."

Sakura looked to Kakashi and smiled mirthlessly, as her eyes looked on in fierce opposition. "You don't understand. I Can't lose." Sakura began to raise her arms to attack once more when suddenly, the ice covering the view of the door blew inwards, shattering ice into the room, a wind swept past the men and by Sakura's hair, before she cried out as her arms were forced to behind her hips and Sakura screamed as a searing sealing fire surged across her wrists, trapping them together as these chain of fire cooled into golden metal and became shackles which held her in place.

Sakura whimpered as she was forced to her knees and flipped around to face her destroyed throne to come face to face with the last person Sakura had ever expected to see again "…..N-Naru-to- Kun….."

AN: And so Sakura's reign comes to an end.