Chapter 43
Yuki Fujikaze
A single kunai stood still impaled on the branch of a tree, the bandages wrapped around its hilt had come loose and was now swaying in the wind. A forest once blooming with life, now nothing but a desolate battlefield filled with corpses and discarded weapons.
"There's nowhere left to go. They have already cut of the route ahead of us." A middle-aged man with dust brown hair said sombrely while using his sword as a crutch.
"This kind of journey… was impossible from the start." Another gasped from his position on the ground.
"Let's give up" said a third from his slouched lookout position on the branch of a tree.
A young woman stood up "I still believe there is a way" she said with determination "we will find it."
"But princess-!"
"We cannot give up hope!" she interrupted.
An evil laugh sounded from the castle above them catching their attention and making them turn towards it. "Princess Gale! This is as far as you go!"
"Demon! So you are the one who made this storm!" shouted the brown haired man.
Unbeknownst to the four, a dark figure rose up from behind the princess with its sword raised high.
"Princess watch out" a voice shouted from the crowd.
XXX
"So this is why people enjoy these movies so much" Haku mused as he eyed the small kid who shouted at the screen. "The acting, the sound effects, the way the movie keeps you anticipated for what comes next makes the audience believe they are part of the scene and that their voices can be heard."
Fu nodded "not to mention how the director stubbly manipulates them by making the audience love the protagonist and want them to survive to a happy ending. What do you think Naruto?"
"interesting move by a princess" Naruto mused as he watched princess Gale twist to dodge the massive sword before revealing a dagger hidden in her sleeves which she thrusted towards the risen samurai. A wave of wind was visible as it shot towards the figure and completely obliterated it.
"and here comes the cliché part" Haku heard someone from the crowd mutter "destroy one then suddenly a whole lot appear." Sure enough, as soon as the broken armour hit the ground, more samurai with glowing eyes and bulky armour started to rise across the wasteland.
XXX
"Princess! I suggest you give up!" The demon shouted with glee.
"I won't give up. As long as I am alive I will fight. Watch as i carve a way out of your army!" The princess shouted back as an aura of rainbow colors appeared around her.
XXX
"A lightshow?" Fu muttered curiously "I know ninja with strong chakra can make it visible at will, but I've never heard of it being more than one color."
XXX
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you!" The demon said as he summoned a storm and and sent it at the group.
The three male guards moved to stand around the princess as they all held up their weapons in a protective stance. The rainbow aura expanded to encompass them as well. Together, they brought the swirling storm to a halt. Princess Gale let out a battle cry and thrust her sword towards the storm. A beam of light pierced through the storm without effort and continued to swallow up the surprised demon.
With the summoner gone, the storm of malice that encompassed the area cleared and a rainbow appeared on the horizon.
"Let's go together, to the edge of that rainbow" princess Gale pointed with a large and confident smile.
XXX
"So that was a movie" Haku mused from on top of the theatre while keeping an eye on Naruto who took out his golden katana in an attempt to recreate the move the princess used.
"Yes, and the actor of the main character, Yuki Fujikaze is our top priority. Her next shoot is in the Land of Snow and her supervisor wanted to make sure nothing happened to her." Hibiki said.
Naruto stopped in his thrusting and turned to look at the older ninja. "Why hire us then? Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy these missions, but if it's a high priority client, wouldn't it be better to ask one of the other Four great villages? You know, the ones that aren't in the middle of civil war"
"Iwa is known for their quick temper and stubborn attitude, not to mention they specialized in earth based jutsu. Kumo, though strategically the best choice due to their close proximity to the Land of Snow and militaristic might, aren't exactly known for missions in escorting, possibly due to the scandal with Konoha a dozen years back. Suna… well that's kinda obvious. Hard to get to, not really good to have people who are used to scorching heat protecting in the snow. Konoha, well they were weakened quite severely in the last few years too. The loss of their Yondaime, the whole Uchiha clan both within the span on 10 years left quite the blow on their once proud force. The reason we were chosen could've possibly been because we were the cheapest or since we come from the Land of Water, we're often masters of water style which would be a huge benefit against pirates on the sea. I suppose he could have gone to the Loyalists but Yagura probably turned him down." Hibiki explained.
"He? You mean that guy coming up the stairs now?" Fu asked.
The teens turned to the doorway just in time to see it be opened by a guy who had short grey hair with a beard and moustache and small eyes. He wore small glasses and a long blue sleeve shirt with a blazer over it. "Sorry I'm late. My name is Sandayu Asama and I know it may seem sudden, but I need you to track down Yuki for me."
"Found him" Naruto said and pointed to Haku with a grin. His efforts were promptly awarded by a punch from the other male. "Yuki Fujikaze you idiot. Not me."
"What do you mean track her down? Was she kidnapped?" Fu asked.
Sandayu shook his head "No. not kidnapped. She ran away"
Hibiki adopted a serious look "Team Zabuza. Fan out. Naruto make some shadow clones to help. I want her found and brought back here within the hour. Sandayu-san, you and I are going to have a little chat where you explain everything."
The older man bowed his head while the teens and clones jumped off the rooftop in search of the actress.
XXX
"I won't go there! I can't go there" Yuki Fujikaze thought desperately. As she ducked and weaved through the crowd. After a while she noticed something was wrong. A portion of the crowd seemed to be staring at her and looking at something in their hands. Yuki wasn't sure they were looking at her or it was just her imagination but decided to play it safe and ducked into an alleyway. And after a few turns she pulled out her pocket mirror to check if she was followed. Once she was satisfied nobody was behind her, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief and put her pocket mirror away. When Yuki looked up again she was met with the face of a dozen of the people who she passed and got the feeling was following her. The runaway actress screamed and jumped back in fright "What do you want!"
"Yuki Fujikaze?" one that looked like a farmer asked.
The actress tried to keep calm and put her acting face on "I'm afraid you got the wrong woman."
Another one, a small boy that looked about 7 years old stepped forward "I'm afraid you'll have to come with us" he said in the same tone as the other guy.
Unnerved, Yuki did the only thing she could do in this situation, she bolted away from the group of weird people.
"It's no use to run Yuki. We will find you just as easily if you do"
XXX
Yuki panted while she leaned against a wall for support. I was just so unnatural that both an old farmer and a young boy had the exact same voice, not to mention how all these different people wanted her. The actress was no stranger to being wanted, being a renowned actor ensured that she had lots of fans almost everywhere. Her looks and money were also factors that drew many people to her. Rich, poor, young, old, even some women sought after her. But never had they had such eerily similar voices, and never had they cornered her in an alleyway without her noticing.
Suddenly a young woman with long brown hair and a bun holder stepped out from the shadows "Yuki, please stop running. I do not wish to resort to force."
Yuki made to run to the end of the alleyway but before she got there a young girl wearing a short sleeveless white shirt that stopped at her toned stomach and a white apron skirt. "Hi! I'm Fu!"
In a swift movement Yuki reached to her earring and activated its hidden mechanism, spraying Fu in the face with red pepper dust.
Fu yelped in pain as Yuki barged past her and slipped on ice that Haku discretely made. Yuki's eyes widened in shock and fear when she saw the white sheen on the ground. In her shocked state she didn't see Haku walk up behind her and knock her out with a chop to the neck.
XXX
"… and that is everything I know" Sandayu ended. "I'm sorry I mislead you but you must understand that I could not afford to let just anyone know. Doto has spies everywhere."
Hibiki sighed and rubbed his forehead "be glad you asked us for this mission. I know some of the other village wouldn't be as forgiving as I am, hell I think a few of them would beat you up and/or kill you before they abandoned the mission."
Sandayu looked up hopefully "So you'll continue the mission?"
Hibiki nodded "and here comes Yuki"
The old man looked in slight shock at the bound and unconscious Yuki being carried over Haku's shoulder.
"She didn't want to comply" Haku shrugged.
"At least they got her back quickly?" Sandayu turned to Hibiki awkwardly.
XXX
A day of sailing later, the group of hired body guards couldn't decide who was the biggest threat. Them, or Yuki. The actress had been a complete pain to everyone ever since she woke up and discovered she was on a ship to The Land of Snow. Sure, she was still the amazing actress during filming, but once the camera stopped rolling, she was back to her nasty self. There had been no signs of pirates or other danger anywhere, so the only thing left to do was listen to the tempered actress rant.
Haku lazily threw an ice senbon into the air and pierce through a flying bird, only for the bird to disperse into a cloud of smoke "good idea, bad execution. There are no Robins this far out at sea." He drawled before going back into a meditative stance. The ship had stopped again for another shoot and there was no wind that was passing through. The water was about as calm as water on the sea can be.
Haku took a deep breath and sent his chakra through the hull of the ship and into the sea. A single bead of sweat trickled down his brow as he tried to mix his chakra with the water and keep it together long enough to mould the water without it dispersing.
Finally, after a while, Haku released his hold on the water and opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him. Taking note of his surroundings was covered in ice spikes going from where he sat and stretching to the edge of the boat. A quick glance over the side revealed that the spikes continued until they reached the waterline before stopping.
The ice ninja looked sheepishly at the crew "Sorry I got carried away"
XXX
AN: Happy Chinese New year to everyone, especially my Chinese buddies here!
Just a heads up, last chapter I said this will be the last filler arc, but it will actually be a combined 3 arcs so it will be quite a length compared to the previous arcs. I thought about some routes I could take in the last arc and came to the conclusion that one of two routes could be take. Now, unlike the previous times where I told you what the routes would be, I'm just going to ask you readers to pick either
Option 1
Or
Option 2
The summoned animals for Naruto for Fu have been confirmed but the summons for Haku are still open.
Also my last update got more reviews from new people in old chapters than old ones lol. Come one my dedicated followers! I know you're there! (considering you just read that…), you going to let people who just joined us to beat you in review count?
A lot less to say compared to previous AN I guess.
Reviews:
Guest: thanks
Inuyasha16451: thanks. Here you go
Wyrtha: well its war, its impossible they all survive :P
Stormdragon981: the original plan was it to have different abilities (like how Itachi has different to Shisui) but the exact abilities aren't written in stone yet. If you have any ideas feel free to propose them. And no, they will be the same way of activation (some foreshadowing right here)
Born2BeGodLike: good to see you enjoying the story so far, sorry to put more training chapters but they are needed to bridge the gap between arcs
Thor94: thanks and yes they did.
Noahendless: thanks
BlackDragonShinigami: good to hear
Vampwalker709: yes, I've watched the show. From what I could gather Naruto was only dead last because he couldn't keep his attention long enough to learn and his increased strength during the timeskip was due to his new determination and someone there (somewhat) to help correct him.
Lol try facing a thousand kage-level shinobi with the swordsmanship skills of a veteran samurai.
The idea wasn't that he could have crushed Haku easily, Naruto saw Haku as a dear friend and brother and since its Naruto, he's not gonna go around beating up friends unless its to beat some sense into them or in a spar.
Naruto struggled against Neji was first due to his brawler style against a guy who specialized in close range, he couldn't really spam a ton of clones because it is still an A-ranked forbidden technique due to chakra cost and if he did that wouldn't be great for the storyline.
Its not often he tries to find out the sex of his enemy xD only a few times, like that time with Haku he didn't even know Haku was the enemy.
Dragonmare97: and here people are saying fangirls are useless lol