Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version

Chapter 3–Journey to Snow Begins!

(Author's Note)Wow…I got this chapter out quickly. Muck faster than I ever expected. I can't promise that future chapters will be this quick, but I'll try.

(Author's Note 2) I must say that I'm completely overwhelmed and amazed at the response from the last chapter, in no small part to Tellemicus's advertisement in Makaze Rekidaishi I'll bet. I've only been doing fanfiction since the start of this year and I've never had such a large and positive response before. For someone like me, that's highly epic and encouraging. At the time of this posting, I went from 4 to 26 reviews, 13 C2s, 36 people have this story on their favorites list, with 48 having it on their alerts list, with 1852 hits.

Seeing such figures and receiving such high praise in the reviews actually made me quite a bit nervous about posting Chapter 3 here. I've never had so many high expectations, so now I'm wondering if I'll be able to live up to them.

So, allow me to thank all those that reviewed and showed their support properly. A big thank you! Especially you, Tellemicus Sundance!

And that's enough of my ranting. On with the Chapter!

Sasuke

"Our mission is to guard Fujikaze Yukie. The actress best known for her role as Princess Gale." Kakashi said simply.

After all the introductions were complete back in the city, the entire group made their way back to the movie studio. They didn't bother to go look for Naruto, as the hyperactive blond usually found them anyway, in no small part to that heighten sense of smell that rivaled the Inuzuka clan. Like one would expect of a studio, it was quite active. People in costumes were looking at the scripts and practicing their lines, crewmen were moving the sets and scenery around. Nearly everyone was talking and all were going about their business. The director, Makino, had set them up some chairs while Kakashi was finally disclosing the nature of the mission to his two subordinates.

"Guard?" Sasuke repeated. Sakura was sitting on his left, while Kakashi stood by Sakura. Across from Sasuke were three men, including Makino and Sandayuu. The third man was considerably younger than the previous two and had bright orange hair underneath his blue cap with a small goatee. His name was Kaijo, the assistant director. From what Sasuke could tell, Kaijo and Makino were complete opposites. Movies were Makino's first, second, third and even fourth thoughts. It was all he talked about, but it was clear had a genuine passion for this business. His one main fault was that he had a nasty habit gaining inspiration and ideas out of nowhere and making drastic changes at the last minute.

Kaijo was a bit different. He has more of a slack nature, always wondering about the consequences, cost effects and other such maintenance. Kaijo also proceed a lot more cautiously, willing to take a wait and see approach, unlike Makino. Sasuke supposed that Makino was lucky to have someone like Kaijo as his second. Otherwise, Makino would probably never accomplish half the things he wanted.

"Well…maybe not so much as guard her so much as escort her." Kakashi corrected, glancing at the other three men. Sakura was fidgeting quite a bit, trying to content her excitement of being in a real live movie studio. She kept glancing around as if looking for someone specific. Every now and then, she glanced over at the collection of pictures on the wall.

Kaijo nervously tapped a rolled up script against his neck. "The next Princess Gale movie is the first one we're shooting abroad. And um…" He paused momentarily as he shot a look at Sandayuu, who Team 7 had learned was Yukie's personal assistant. "I don't need to tell you that our leading lady is a bit of a diva."

"Gomennasai," Sandayuu replied quickly, bowing his head.

Makino took out his pipe and blew out a small puff of smoke. "Still, I have to tell ya that the Konoha nin are impressive. They took care of those stuntmen turned bodyguards we hired like it was child's play. And those were some big fellows."

"Er…thanks," Kakashi said. "That's very kind of you."

Sasuke saw out of the corner of his eye that Sakura had turned her attention back to the collection of photos on the wall, and was currently looking at some glacier one. "Oh wow. Those are some cliffs," Sakura said amazed.

"That's the Rainbow Glacier in the Snow Country" came a voice behind the two genin. Both Sakura and Sasuke turned to look at the two newcomers. Ken and Hidero. Ken had been the one that spoke.

Sakura immediately brighten up, which only caused Sasuke to rub his left cheek again. Halfway through the rub, he noticed, cursed himself and put his hand back down. "You're Ken! You played the part of Burikinto!"

"That's the location of the final scenes of the movie," Hidero added, who was holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

"You're Hidero! You play the part of Shishimaru!" Sakura exclaimed happily.

Sasuke snorted softly. "Snow Country? Long way to go just to shoot some scenes for a movie." He was slowly getting the urge to go and murder someone, and not because of the curse seal. Where was that idiot Naruto when he needed to pound something?

Kaijo pointed at Sandayuu. "Fujikaze's manager, Sandayuu-san recommended it. Apparently he tells us that this Rainbow Glacier glows seven different colors during the spring time."

"No, that's just an old legend." All eyes turned to Kakashi. "Truth is there is no spring in the Snow Country."

"What? Not ever?" Sasuke asked, slightly amazed. Sakura added. "Does that mean its winter all year long?"

Kakashi gave a small nod in their directions. "That's right."

"Kakashi, was it?" Director Makino spoke up this time. He paused for a minute, muttering under his breath 'I've heard that name recently…where…'. Though barely more than a whisper, the entire group heard him and they waited. Makino then shrugged to himself and continued. "I've heard that this won't be your first time in the Snow Country. Is that true?"

Sasuke looked at his sensei with a small amount of surprise. Kakashi had been to the Snow Country before? Thinking on it for a few moments, he guessed he shouldn't have been too surprised. This was the famous copy-nin. He had a vast reputation outside of Konoha as well. He could only imagination why Kakashi had been there. The Jounin, however, merely replied. "That was a long time ago."

"They say that Snow Country is a poor nation," came an unfamiliar voice. All eyes immediately turned to the newcomer. A big tall, handsome man with long hair. He gave the group a bright smile, which seemed to sparkle brightly at the group.

"Y-you play Sukeakuro! Michy-sama, you're so great!" Sakura said enthusiastically, blushing and small hearts in her eyes. At that sight, Sasuke no longer felt an urge to go murder someone. He was all for it and he just found his victim. After completing that thought, he gave a small groan of frustration. Where did that thought come from? What was wrong with him? Why should he care if Sakura was fawning over some stupid actor, who really wasn't that great anyway, now that Sasuke thought about it. Yeah, just some B ranked actor for a B class movie.

Michy continued, seemingly oblivious to Sasuke's newfound glare. "The story goes that the former Damiyo had a thing for gadgets. The guy squandered everything the clan had on mountains of useless doodads and gizmos."

Hidero chuckled softly at that. "Well, I just hope that they have central heating. I'm not really all that cut out for the cold."

"Maybe you should run for the hills too, just like Yukie-chan." Ken suggested, earning a small laugh from the other two actors, though Kaijo looked appalled at the very suggestion, which just made the three laugh a bit louder.

Sakura finally got off her little love trance and looked at all three of the actors. "So does that mean…Yukie-san? I mean…she's not always like this, is she?"

The three stopped laughing at that and glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. As if a silent message was sent between then, Michy looked back at Sakura with a sad smile on his face, "Yeah. A little." His face seemed to drop a little at that. "Poor Yukie-chan, she doesn't know the meaning of words like 'dream' or 'aspiration.' Though, it was only when Sandayuu-san mentioned we were going to the Snow Country that she started running."

"But she has never been one to neglect her work," Makino cut in, drawing everyone's attention. "I don't know anything about her personal life and I don't need to. As long as she's giving her all when the camera's rolling, I won't have any complaints. Say what you will, but that woman is a born actress." He took another puff at his pipe and blew out another long breath of smoke. "Reminds me of a scene on the beach in the last move." He moved his hands forward and began moving as if trying to grasp something. "She was so perfect in that scene. She said her lines beautifully, the actions were so real, filled with true passion and with the sound effects of crashing waves…THAT'S IT!!!" He shouted loudly, causing nearly everyone to jump back.

"What's it?" Kaijo asked nervously. "Another inspiration?"

Makino waved his hand dismissively, looking at the three Konoha nin. "I remember where I heard the name Kakashi recently. You were that one that defeated Momochi Zabuza in the Wave Country a few months ago, weren't you?" Without waiting for an answer, he looked at Sakura and Sasuke. "And you two were there too, weren't you?"

"Right," Ken said eagerly, tones of admiration now coming in. The others seemed to be nodding quite eagerly now. "I remember hearing about that now. That was intense. Who knew that Kirigakure's Demon of the Mist would actually fall."

"I heard how you," Hidero said, now looking directly at Sasuke. "And your other teammate managed to free your sensei from Zabuza himself with those crazy tactics. That's impressive, kid. More than many other shinobi could have said."

"It was nothing," Sasuke said, not sure what all the fuss was about.

"Nothing?" Surprisingly, it was Kaijo who spoke up. "Do you know just how many people – both shinobi and civilian alike – were killed by that guy? And not only did you all of you stand up to him, you defeated him and his little lackey!"

Sasuke was silent about that. Truth was…he hadn't considered it. He never really thought about it. Zabuza had just been a nukenin. An insanely powerful one, but just an opponent. Not to mention that Haku had bested him. He knew that Zabuza had a fierce reputation, just never really thought about just how big and influential that reputation was.

Sakura looked down a bit. "I didn't do anything on that mission…"

"You're kidding, right?" Michy asked. "I heard you stood your ground when Zabuza's mizu bushin came after the old man you were guarding. You pushed him out of the way and faced that thing alone with nothing but a kunai! That took guts. How could we not be amazed?"

Sakura blushed at that, not being able to speak, while Sasuke's damn urge returned.


Naruto

Naruto spent the reminder of the time chasing after that bitchy actress. He wasn't sure why he was bothering, not after what he saw her do to those kids. But he had gotten himself involved and he wasn't about to back out now. No matter how awful that woman was turning out to be. Besides, he wanted to know who, or what, she was running from.

He spent his time following her, making sure to keep completely out of sight. She wasn't going to catch him off guard again. Afterall, someone who managed to sneak in the Hyuuga Compound to steal all their underwear (except Hinata-chan's, of course!) and not get caught wasn't going to be seen by some actress.

As he scanned the crowds with his eye from his position on the rooftop, he had to admit that this Yukie was no amateur in losing herself in a crowd, or having methods to look behind her without actually looking. Naruto noted that her favorite method was to pull out a small makeup kit and use the mirror to look over her shoulder. A nice trick, but not good enough on someone like him. He followed her for about two hours, most of the time on rooftops. And some of the more closer up times disguised in a henge of some passerby. Twice, she had gone into a story and come out in a completely new outfit. The first time she had done that, Naruto almost missed it. But thanks to his nose, he found her almost immediately, even when his eye had been fooled.

He continued following her until she made a stop at the bar. Naruto followed her in, disguised in a new henge of some middle aged man. And sit down at a table, watching her. She went to the bar itself and sat on a stool and immediately placed a high order of sake. It was something he had noticed when traveling around with ero-sannin, during their search for Obaasan. When a person went to a bar, always watched how many drinks they took. One meant they were in a hurry, two meant it was come and go. They may stay, or they may not. Three meant that the person definitely had time to waste, but four was when you knew for sure that a person was dedicated and going to stay for a long while. No matter what came their way.

Naruto watched as she consumed one glass after another. Once she got her fourth down, Naruto felt that now was his chance. He went to the restroom and dropped his henge and then walked out again. No one noticed him and even if they had, they didn't care. His headband took care of all that. He walked over to Yukie and stated. "Are you tired of running, bitch?"

Yukie dropped her glass in pure shock. Slowly, she turned around and looked at Naruto. "You again…I thought I lost you."

"I told you already: do you really think that you can escape from a Konoha shinobi that easily?" Naruto demanded. Yukie didn't answer to that, she merely reached for a new glass and took another drink. "Why did you have to hurt those kids feelings like that? All they wanted was your stupid autograph. Is that really so hard to give!?"

"It was pointless and stupid," Yukie said, now looking at him. "It's one of those things where you get it, are happy with it for a few minutes and then completely forget about it." She then gave him a harder look. "Are you bothering me for one? Is that why you won't leave me alone?"

"There's no way that I would want your shitty autograph now, you bitch." Naruto said. "And don't bother writing up a fake one," He said as her hand and been moving towards a pen and paper. "I'm not falling for you stupid pepper spray again. I wouldn't even give you my name for…"

"…Uzumaki Naruto." Yukie supplied, her hand moving away from the two said items and back to her sake. "And it's pervert repellent, for perverts like you. Is that why you're following me, you peeping tom?"

Naruto was stunned and completely unable to speak, even to react to the pervert charge. What? How did she know that!? He never told her his name! And given how shocked she acted, she genuinely didn't know that he had been following her! There had only been a few times when he had felt this way. One had been when ero-sannin had demonstrated the Rasengan right in front of him. Another was he had learned that Sasuke had 'left' the village. How did she know!?

As if reading his thoughts, Yukie answered without looking at him. "Spiky blond hair. Black and orange. Loud mouth with every other word cussing. Your reputation precedes you." Then in a quieter voice. "Just like mine does."

Naruto couldn't help but ask. "My…reputation?" He said the word slowly, as if saying it for the first time and wanting to make sure he was pronouncing it right. He also noticed that lower tone of voice she had used with those last four words.

"You defeated the Suna's monster." Yukie said dryly, leaning back a bit. "The demon known as Shukaku, and its host Shitty no Gaara, or whatever the hell his name is. They say that you used an extremely forbidden kinjutsu and decimated an entire section of a forest. When you're a Konoha shinobi, it's obvious that such achievements are going to be heard throughout the entire country." She took another drink and laughed. "Some stupid and heartless bastard of a sand demon. Makes me wonder who the real monster was: Shukaku or Garra."

"DO NOT TALK ABOUT GAARA THAT WAY!!!" Naruto roared, left eye snapping open. Small traces of youki were also started to leak out. Most of the people in the bar began backing away, though Yukie herself was either too drunk or too oblivious to notice Naruto's sudden change in demean. "I don't care if you are the Fire Country's Number 1 Actress! I'll kick your ass!!"

Yukie laughed at that. Laughter was the last thing Naruto was expecting. It grew louder and louder and definitely more bolder. "Number 1 Actress?" She asked in between laughs. She then began laughing louder and louder. "Very funny…" She said.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT –"

"An actress is an awful job."

Naruto stopped again at that. Those around him noticed that those faint trances of youki were subsiding and Naruto's left eye firmly closed again. "Huh?" He asked. He was confused. What had she just said?

"Being an actress means that you're the low of the low," Yukie said, picking up her empty cup and waving it around. "It's the worst job anyone could do. A life filled with lies, followed by a script that someone else writes. Hehe. It's really stupid."

"Stupid?" Naruto asked. He never heard of an actor describe their job like that. And while she was a bitch, he had to admit that her acting was real and convincing. He had figured she was just a stuck up hag, completely engrossed in her own fame and fortune. Someone who cared solely about her career and thought she was above everyone else in the world. But this? She made it sounded like she had lived his life.

Before Yukie could respond, the door burst open and several people came running in, nearly trampling a guy that had been trying to leave. Naruto saw Sakura, the teme and baka-sensei with some older man with a beard and glasses. "Yukie-sama!" He said in a hurried voice, and trying to catch his breath. "The ship is departing for the Snow Country soon! Let's go, if we don't hurry – "

"Enough," Yukie interrupted, slamming her glass down on the bar with added emphasis. "The Sky Princess is leaving."

"Leaving!?" The man repeated in completely despair. "What do you mean!?"

"Its fine," Yukie said, waving her hand in front of her dramatically. "It happens all the time. Lead actresses change all the time, as can directors. You can find a replacement easy en – "

"QUIET!!!" Sandayuu yelled, making her drop. To Naruto's amazement, she shut up immediately, she even looked a little bit concerned. She didn't react at all when he was shouting at her just moments ago. Whoever the hell this guy was…he had some obvious influence over her.

"The role of Sky Princess Gale can be played by no one except you, Yukie-sama!" Sandayuu yelled. Yukie stared at him for a moment and looked down. She then slowly turned herself back to the bar. Sandayuu then continued in a softer, but still firm voice. "Besides, if you drop out this late in the game, you'll never work in this business again!"

Yukie was silent at that and Naruto thought that maybe this guy got through to her. Then. "So what? I don't care."

Or maybe not.

"Then I guess I have no choice," came Kakashi's voice. Naruto looked at his sensei as he lifted his hitai-ite and exposed his left Sharingan eye. He looked Yukie directly in the eye and seconds later, Yukie collapsed in Kakashi's arms.

"Mind telling me what you just did that for?" Naruto asked. "Don't tell me that you're…"

"She's our next assignment, Naruto," Kakashi interrupted, giving the boy his smiling eye. "You're now part of her bodyguard until further notice."

Naruto wanted to slam a Rasengan into the older man. That wasn't even close to funny! There was no way in hell that he would guard this bitchy woman! At least Tazuna had some social skills and wasn't entirely arrogant! After a few moments, he realized that Kakashi was being completely serious. "No fucking way…seriously!?" Naruto asked. He really had to guard this bitchy actress!?

"Language Naruto," Kakashi said, smiling underneath his mask.


Twenty minutes later…

"This is the ship that we'll be taking to the Snow Country," Kakashi told his team.

The three genin looked at the ship. It was huge. Had to be at least as tall as the Hokage Tower, and nearly three times as long, with two gigantic sails. "Wow…" Sakura said. "And we'll be traveling on that for…how long?"

After Yukie had been knocked out by Kakashi, all four Konoha nin gathered (after retrieve their backpacks with their personal supplies from the hotel room that they had used) with the film crew and headed towards the ship. Even now, everyone was busy loading the ship with cameras, pieces of sets, costumes and all the other essential material. Sandayuu had already taken a sleeping Yukie aboard, allowing the shinobi to view the ship.

"It's a five day round trip from here to the Snow Country," Kakashi continued, now looking at his three subordinates. "Two and a half days there, and the same amount of time back."

Naruto wondered about that. It was a half a day's journey from this port to Konoha. Well, half a day for a shinobi, anyway. That might they were going to be gone for at least 6 days. "Just how long is this mission going to last?" He asked, shifting his backpack to the other shoulder. Just how long was he expected to deal with this bitchy woman!?

Kakashi shrugged. "Don't know. I suppose it depends just how long they need to shoot the scenes. Theoretically, it could take as long as a few days or even a month."

"A MONTH!?" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura all looked at him. "Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked. "You're the one that enjoyed the movie the most."

"That was before I knew what kind of person she was." Naruto shot back.

"Don't let it get to you, Naruto." Kakashi said, looking at the boy directly. "Be mindful of the mission. Speaking of which, I want to meet you all on deck at 6 in the morning. Going to cover some of the things you're going to need to be able to function in the cold." Before Naruto could say otherwise, Kakashi held up a hand and stopped him. "Look on the bright side. We're all going to have our own individual rooms and plenty of free time. Only one of us will be required to be with her at all times. I imagine that you'll have plenty of time to work on your jutsu."

Naruto stopped at that and thought about it, letting a small grin burst on his face. With that, they all got on board. The three genin took a moment to look around at the ship and then casually walked over and viewed the settling sea itself, lost in it's beauty and complexity. Kakashi volunteered to see to Yukie first, allowing his three subordinates to get comfortable and relax. They ran across Kaijo, who volunteered to show the three their respective rooms. He lead them down a flight of stairs, telling them that they were all in a row and not far from Yukie herself, should they be forced to hurry to her for whatever reason.

"I don't really expect any sort of trouble," Kaijo admitted as they now got off the stairs and walked down the hall. "But this is the first time that we're going overseas, so I guess we can't be too careful. I've heard tales of pirates and brigades are feeling more and more daring by the day." He then stopped and showed them three doors. "Well…here they are. They're all the same, so you can take whichever ones you like. The mess hall is up the stairs and to the right, while and bathrooms are down the way." He pointed in the right direction.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei staying?" Sakura asked, looking up at the assistant director.

"He has a room right next to Yukie-san herself," Kaijo answered. "We would have had your rooms there as well, but with all the last minute rearranging we've been doing…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No problem," Naruto said quickly. He then pointed to the one farthest on the right. "I'll take that one. As far away from that bitch as possible."

Sasuke looked at Sakura. "I don't care. You can have either one."

"Thanks," Sakura said evenly, not looking at him. "I'll take the left one then." Without another word, she entered the room and closed the door. A moment later, Naruto saw Sasuke give a small sigh as he entered the middle room. He blinked a couple of times. Sasuke sighing? Did he miss something? He shrugged, figuring it was none of his business. He nodded his thanks to the orange haired man and walked into his own room. He closed the door and felt himself smile. Some privacy at last! Now he could work on his jutsu!

He took a few seconds to look around the room. It was fairly simple. A small medium sized bed in the corner, a small dresser with a few cups and a pitcher, a small mirror, a fairly nice rug and a small heater.

He grinned eagerly as he pulled out a blank scroll, with only the title Uzumaki Family Jutsus—Scroll 6 as he sat on the floor He took out a pen and tapped it against his mouth, wondering where to start. Should he start with his own recreation of the Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu? Or should he resummon Gamayoyaku had start learning the mechanics of the Gama Suraimu? Or should he try and work on combining the nature and shape manipulations? Or should he work on that other two that he had his mind on?

After a few minutes of consideration, he decided to work on the Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu first. He placed his scroll on the floor and began writing down all the notes, all the observations he had seen during the movie, all his theories and so on. It took him about thirty minutes of writing, crossing out, making revisions and small interjections before he nodded in satisfaction. He carefully rolled up the scroll and stood up. He then walked out of his room, made sure to lock the door and headed towards the upper deck. He first went to the mess hall, not having anything to eat for a long time and quickly devoured eight bowls of ramen as a snack.

After his small meal, he got out to the main deck, where he could see that several people were still up and working. He then looked at the sky and realized that the sun was just barely setting. He still had time. He looked around and saw Kaijo again, who was directing several people to set up a house frame.

Naruto walked over and cleared his throat loudly. Kaijo jumped a little bit and then carefully looked at the small boy. "Oh, Naruto-kun. What can I help you with?"

"Do you have any place where I could work alone, and without bothering, or being bothered by anyone?"

Kaijo looked at him for a moment while he processed this request. He rubbed his chin several times as he thought. "You could go to the very back end of the ship. We're not doing anything over there…"

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted, running off. Kaijo briefly wondered if he should had mentioned that Sasuke had just asked the same thing not too long ago. He shrugged it off and looked back at the men. "Take it up slowly!"

Naruto bounced along the ship, dodging and ignoring the movie workers as he made his way to the rear end of the ship. He finally got there and looked around. Perfect. No one around, a bright light overhead so he could see clearly and plenty of room to work with.

He immediately got out a kunai, activated his Oboro just in case someone was watching and began working. He started with a trial version of what he thought about during the movie: using the kunai as a focal point and gather wind around that. Five minutes into it, he realized he had a slight problem.

Princess Gale had used the technique by simply moving her hand down the sword and then launching the attack. Naruto would have to resort to some seals to use to create the wind, something he hadn't considered. That wasn't the problem though. The problem was that if he wanted to do this, he would have to have the kunai in one hand, which only left him one free hand to form the seals. Now, while Naruto could do some of his jutsu with just one handed seals, the problem was that many of those were basic or very familiar ones, like his Kaze Kiwa. He couldn't do a complex ones like Haku had done. In other words, if he didn't find a simple, yet particular method seal chain, then this whole jutsu would be a failure.

After a few moments of realizing that, Naruto felt himself grin, despite what he was thinking. Him? Fail? Surely not! He created the Sarutobi no Jutsu for the bet with Obaachan, where he had to resort to a special seal, Fushichou. Not to mention all the others he had created! If he could do that, then he could work out this slight problem!

With new found optimism, Naruto began working.


Sasuke

Same time…

"Raiton: Shuurai no Jutsu!" Sasuke cried on the other side of the boat. He threw his head forward and opened his mouth. Nothing came out. Immediately the surge feeling returned. His hands automatically flew to his throat and he began heaving loudly. His throat felt just like he had stuck his tongue on an electric fence.

During all this time that Naruto was working on his own training, Sasuke had found his own secluded spot in the very front of the ship, working on his own training. During his free time – which mostly meant the three days before that incident – his mind had gone into overtime, thinking of three new jutsu at once. It was possible this was simply because he knew that if he didn't keep working hard, specifically creating his own hidden trump cards, he knew that Naruto would have a critical advantage when the next time they fought. The blond had also told him that it was fun to simply create a jutsu all your own, something that Sasuke considered somewhat true.

Not that Sasuke would ever admit any of this out loud.

Truth be told, Sasuke did find it…thrilling (he didn't have time for fun!) to create his own techniques. Something only he knew about. It gave him an immense advantage in battle, unleashing an attack that his opponent had no idea about. Sasuke briefly wondered why Kakashi, who had copied over a thousand techniques, had never created anything original besides the Raikiri. He shrugged. To each his own, he guessed.

At first, it had gone easy enough. The first one he was working on was one he had wanted to try for awhile. He had the theory down on it; it was just a matter of trial and error from this point. He should – no, would – have it complete in less than a day.

The second one was giving him a complete headache. Like the first, he had the theory of it down, how to apply it and how it was supposed to work. But it didn't work! Not the way it was supposed to! And in a major fight, the Kisou Karyuu would have a high chance of injuring him at best, or just distracting him at worse. Though, that could long enough and then his opponent would injury him! Either way, if he didn't find a way to fix this, the jutsu was going to do more harm than good. And he was still no closer to fixing the problem than he had been days ago!

So with that thought, he figured he'd start working on his third one: the Shuurai. This one he had actually thought of this morning. He wanted to experiment with the Lightning element. With the Gouka Tenohira, and the other two techniques he had on his mind, he was already well into experimenting with the Katon class and even using it for particle use. For the Raiton class, he only had Chidori. And he was curious just how far he could take Raiton.

So far, it was as much as a pain in the ass as was the Kisou Karyuu. It wasn't that he didn't know what he was doing, he just kept making mistakes! Amateurish mistakes! The idea behind it was simple, as Sasuke was modeling it after the Goukakyuu. Just apply the Raiton in the same principals as the Katon. Sure, it wouldn't be overly powerful, just a lightning equivalent to the Goukakyuu, but a simple method was often the best method for a first try.

So far he had tried it twice and royally screwed up both times. The first time, he messed up the seals, ending with a Tora seal instead of the Saru one. This time, he got the seals down correctly, but he was trying to mold the Raiton in the exact same way as he did the Katon. That was stupid! He knew that you couldn't mold Raiton in the exact same way as Katon. That's why they were different elements! Both times, he felt as if he had electrocuted his throat.

After a few minutes of rubbing his throat, the shock died and went away. He angrily grabbed his canteen and took a few quick gulps of the refreshing water. What the hell was wrong with him!? He was having more trouble concentrating now than even when he was in his FIRST year at the academy! He was an Uchiha! One of the elite! He had never made such amateurish mistakes before, so why was he doing so now!? Why was he having so much trouble now!? What changed?!

After fighting off that damned urge again, he slammed his fist into the side of the ship, and left a small impression behind, Sasuke flashed through the series of seals yet again and cried. "Raiton: Shuurai no Jutsu!"

Seconds later, Sasuke's hands clutched his throat again…


Sakura

Same time…

Sakura was sitting crossed legged on her bed in her own room. In front of her were several scrolls, most of which were the ones she borrowed from the Konoha library about medical ninjutsu or the ones that Shizune had given her form the CLS classes. Though, she wasn't reading any of those at the moment.

The one she was currently reading was a basic ninjutsu one from the library. It cover the general ideas of it, some basic concepts, tips on when and where to use ninjutsu and what situations you should avoid using ninjutsu. All in all, a beginners how to guide, but perfect for her needs. She had heard of the extreme levels and feats that her two teammates had shown during their fight at the Valley of the End, just like everyone else. Of course, unlike everyone else, it hit her more personally.

She didn't feel jealous or anything of that nature. She knew that the two boys were strong. She probably knew better than anyone, even Kakashi-sensei. It had hit her personally because she was so far behind them all three of them. Even with her training in the CLS classes, she wasn't entirely satisfied. She wanted to grow stronger, faster, better. And she was still completely determined to do it in her own way.

Her genjutsus were great so far, but Sakura had found herself curious to the ninjutsu aspect of the shinobi arts. Especially the wild things she had seen or heard that the other two had done.

She read a bit more and started writing notes on a blank scroll beside her, concerning one technique she had read about and wanted to give it a try. She spent about an hour rereading the dynamics of the jutsu, making sure she understood fully. Given what it was, she wouldn't be able to practice it properly until she got to some dry land.

After she was satisfied with that part, she looked at the time. It was getting quite late. Gently, she gathered up all her scrolls and got off the bed, her bare feet landing gracefully on the carpet. She then laid all the scrolls down on the dresser and walked back to her backpack and took out a target board. She walked over to an empty space on the wall and set it up. After nodding to herself, she walked into the middle of the room. She took a couple of deep breaths and then punched into the air, followed by a quick side kick. She punched and kicked again and again.

She had been practicing on her taijutsu ever since she had mastered her Haruno Sakura. Every night since then, she would spend a couple of hours working on basic drills from what she had learned from the academy, fighting imaginary opponents, falling and recovering and other such stuff before going to sleep. It would had been much easier and more efficient if she had a sparring partner, or at least knew how to perform the Kage Bunshin.

But she didn't. She didn't have either right now. That was part of the price she had to pay for finding her own way. She wondered if she even had the chakra reserves to maintain a single Kage Bunshin, let alone even creating a single one. She honestly doubted it. Not with her current levels.

She shook her head. Dwelling on what she didn't have would get her nowhere. Right now, she had to focus on what she could do.

With that in mind, she took out a kunai and began practicing with the weapon.


Otogakure

Same time…

"Senei Jashu!"

Out of Orochimaru's right sleeve, several snakes burst out and streaked towards the boy he had dubbed Dageki Kiryoku. The boy was now too exhausted to even attempt to move. The snakes bit into his wrists and ankles easily as he was pushed right into the wall, where the child gave a loud cry of pain, followed by, "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!!"

"I'm sure," Orochimaru said in a low voice, full of venom and mockery. With a simple gestured, the four snakes twisted and four loud snaps were heard and Kiryoku's scream intensified for a mere moment. The snakes then withdraw from his new apprentice and he fell to the floor limp. Orochimaru then calmly walked towards the boy.

"That is enough for today. You will now crawl to the medical ward, where Kabuto might be willing to heal your broken bones and other injuries. I expect to see you here again, same time tomorrow morning. No matter what condition your body is in."

"I said: FUCK YOU!! BASTARD!!!"

Another snake shot out of Orochimaru's sleeve and this time, bit on the child's throat. Several streaks of blood began running down the child's neck. Orochimaru then walked closer to the boy and used the snake to pick up and bring Kiryoku his eye level. The killer intent Orochimaru was giving off was enough to make most Jounin and ANBU quiver in fear. To the boy's credit, he only seemed to sweat and was slightly unafraid, despite the considerable pain he had to be in, especially his neck now. Good Orochimaru thought to himself. The boy was developing quite nicely. Out loud, Orochimaru said. "You will do as I say and you will address me as Orochimaru-sensei. You would do well to remember that everyone is expendable. Continue to test my patience and you will find yourself disposed of. Shall I remind you yet again how easily I killed your family?" Orochimaru said that last word with a sneer, enough to get Kiryoku's attention and increase his hate. "And if you die now, you will never get your chance at revenge." Orochimaru withdraw the snake thus dropped Kiryoku to the ground, backed up and waited.

Kiryoku's eyes screamed pure malice and for a second, Orochimaru thought that Kiryoku might attack him anyway. However, the kid slumped down, muttered. 'Hai, Orochimaru-sensei' and began crawling towards the medical ward. Even if his wrists and ankles weren't broken, Orochimaru knew that he didn't have the strength to walk anyway. And if he even tried to walk, the pain from the broken ankles and wrists would keep him from doing so.

Both he and the boy were in the lowest part of the base. The place where Orochimaru himself trained, tested several potential fighters or found out how successful his experiments were. The base itself was huge, about seven stories underground, and nearly as wide as it was tall. And the medical ward was located on the fourth level.

Which meant that Kiryoku had to crawl roughly six kilometers. And that figure didn't even include the stairways up. Or any passing Oto-nin who would be sure to…'help'…the boy along.

Orochimaru chuckled to himself with dry amusement at the thought. Perhaps this should become a daily practice for the boy. With that thought, he walked out of the room. He let all thoughts of Dageki Kiryoku slip from his mind. He had other things to consider now.

He walked for a time until he came to a very specific room: the holding pen for his experiments. He walked in the room, causally glancing at the rows of medical tubes, cells and leftovers that had collected over time. Perhaps he should make Kiryoku clean this area. Too bad Orochimaru didn't have his family's corpses to add. He could only imagine Kiryoku's face at gathering the lingering remains of those he once cherished.

But then again…he did have Kabuto, and Kabuto was very skilled at his work and duplicating bodies.

He continued to walk down the room where he finally saw what he had been looking for. The medical tube of Experiment #69. Unlike a vast majority of others, this one was empty and the former occupant was not dead or dying. No, the occupant was about. Working on a very special assignment for the Hebi-sannin.

Even though Uchiha Sasuke had been returned to Konohagakure – whether willingly, or forcefully, Orochimaru did not yet know – Orochimaru was not yet ready to give up on collecting the boy. Though persuasion and brute force had apparently failed, Orochimaru still had one last method to try. Stealth.

Kabuto himself had suggested the course of action and recommended Experiment #69 for the job, due to the abilities he had been given through the various experimentation on him. Though Experiment #69 was still classified in the trial stages, Kabuto stated that this assignment would be an excellent test run. Orochimaru found himself agreeing. After all, Experiment #69's abilities made him the perfect covert operative, and if necessary, assassin. And his loyalty to Orochimaru was second only to Kimimaro's. He had even volunteered for this experiment.

So, they had released Experiment #69 from his tank early and given him his assignment. Retrieve Uchiha Sasuke by any means necessary. Assume that Uchiha Sasuke does not want to join Orochimaru. They would not question his methods, nor would they question his actions as long as Sasuke was brought to him alive. The young man – if he could truly be called a man anymore – merely nodded and left immediately. That had been four days ago.

Orochimaru absentmindedly placed his left hand and felt the now cold glass of the tank against his skin. He let himself grin at that. "Yes," He hissed to himself in a confident voice. "You will serve me well…Bakeru," Orochimaru said, choosing to call Experiment #69 by his codename.


(Author's Note) And so ends Chapter three, with the start of the journey to the Snow country and this little insight on Experiment #69, or Bakeru, which is an original plotline I made up specifically for this story. Why? Just because it sounded fun.

First things first, concerning the Assistant Director 'Kaijo'. I looked through my primary sources, plus some and I never found a name for him. Even Wikipedia simply calls him 'Assistant Director'. So, I decided to give him a name and thus, he was dubbed Kaijo, which I believe suits him properly.

I entered the time references in the chapter to help everyone (especially me) see how I was going to fit this storyline in one week. I have seven days to use before the start of the Second Bell test, so here's the break down.

1/2 from Konoha to the port city

2 & 1/2 from port city to the Snow Country by boat (that's 3 days so far)

1 to cover all the events during at the Snow Country itself. Yes, I can fit it all in one day. A very LONG day

3 from Snow back to Konoha (2 & 1/2 from Snow to port city, then 1/2 from port city to Konoha)

Then the next day: the Second Bell Test!

One other thing, I believe in giving credit where credit is due and since it was Tellemicus himself - in his review - who suggested that this story could be where Team 7 (specifically Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke) start building their reputations, let it be known that all the reputation parts, where movie crew mentioned Zabuza and where Yukie/Koyuki mentioned Gaara, came from Tellemicus' suggestion.

Kaijo – helper/assistant/second

Bakeru – not going to reveal yet, but I promise to in the next chapter. Obviously, his name gives a small clue to his abilities.

Jutsu used in this chapter:

Oboro--Hazy//A cloud of chakra that surrounds the user and blurs his image to everyone who looks at him, even if they're directly in front of him. This jutsu can be used for multiple things; escape, espionage, fighting, and (Naruto's original purpose) pranking. It is reliant on the user's ability to expel large amounts of chakra from nearly all their tenketsu points for an indefinite period. This jutsu is more suitable to shinobi around the jounin level, who have developed large chakra reserves. This jutsu is yet to be defeated. (B-Class Ninjutsu) Original technique created by Tellemicus

Nothing for the other original techniques mentioned in this chapter due to the fact that they're not complete yet.

I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemcius created that are used in this story belongs to him.