Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version
Chapter 7–Mending Bonds
(Author's Note) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Well, I suppose the timing's a bit off for that, but I hope that all of you had a very merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Let's hope my little time off hasn't made my skills slack too much, heh heh.
Later that night
Three conspirators moved through the lower deck hallways of the ship, moving as quickly as shadows and as silent as death itself. Some footsteps were heard coming down from the hallway. Conspirator 1 held up his left arm up, hand open: the signal to stop. Immediately, all three pressed themselves against the wall, Conspirators 1 and 3 to the left wall and Conspirator 2 on the right, henge-ing themselves to blend into their surroundings. Two men, drunk from the looks of it, came around the corner. They were joking between themselves and walking all over the place. One of the men nearly walked into Conspirator 2, the said person having to move abruptly to avoid giving away their position.
Fortunately, neither man noticed nor cared, and they continued on their way. Conspirator 2 looked at the area where Conspirator 1 was with his eye, waiting. Conspirator 1 dropped his henge, which was quickly followed by Conspirators 2 and 3. Conspirator 1 held up his right arm, his middle and forefingers out, gesturing forward: the signal to move on. The three quickly ran down the hall and found the target: the room at the end of the hall.
Conspirator 1 positioned himself by the left side of the door, while Conspirator 2 kneeled by the doorknob and Conspirator 3 positioned herself just behind Conspirator 2, looking back down the hall and making sure no one was coming. Conspirator 1 nodded to Conspirator 2, who took a few deep sniffs. After a few second, Conspirator 2 gave Conspirator 1 a thumb's up, right hand. The room was empty.
Conspirators 1 and 3 looked around and made sure the area was clear. After that, Conspirator 1 held up his right hand again, two fingers extended just like before, then pointed at the doorknob itself. Immediately, Conspirator 2 opened the door and ran inside, with Conspirator 1 following shortly behind and Conspirator 3 entering last, shutting the door as she went in.
Conspirator 1, Uchiha Sasuke, flipped on the light switch. "Find it," he ordered quietly.
The day, to put it bluntly, had been a complete disaster. After the actors had officially invited Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke into the movie, the three genin spent an additional ten minutes attempting to convince Makino not to put that scene in the movie. Naruto, having personal experience in this matter, even went as far as to say that the Hyuuga Clan would send out assassins to murder everyone involved in the movie for portraying their clan's heir naked for the entire world to see.
And Makino's response to all of this?
He laughed. He then went on and started telling them a story. Five years ago, he was making a movie and caught a certain man doing some very naughty and highly embarrassing things on film. That man had actually sent Jounin-level assassins after Makino, who only managed to live due to his own 'skill' and 'luck.' Makino had then sent the man the following message: that if anything happened to him, certain footage would be released to the public immediately. But if nothing happened to him, most of the footage might never see the light of day. The man had called off the assassins the very next day.
Makino claimed that this man was the current Raikage himself.
No one on Team 7 knew if Makino was telling the truth or just making up some bull story, but one thing was clear: Makino had no intention of altering the scene or excluding it from the movie.
After the catastrophe of their introduction scene, things just went from bad to worse. The next scene had involved the Fuuraibou nin – as they had been called in the movie – meeting Princess Gale's group, and things went to hell. Princess Gale wanted nothing to do with them, calling them shameless, honorless cutthroats that could not be trusted, most often referring to Naruto, which resulted in a loud argument between the two groups, a few embarrassing revelations among ALL of the actors (save Kakashi, who didn't care) and loose tempers. Though during this scene, Naruto – and by default Sakura and Sasuke – attempted to get a small piece of revenge against their sensei by removing his mask on camera. It didn't work out well, to put it nicely.
To make matters worse, both Princess Gale and Sukeakuro had been known to twist everything Naruto and Sasuke (respectively) said and got them tongue-tied, often making the two boys say something neither one would have said in a million years, which got both of them beaten up by Sakura, who only stopped when she realized what she was doing. In addition, each genin had their own unique problems during the other scenes. Sasuke was still having trouble focusing on the lines and kept making stupid mistakes, most notably saying something completely different than what the line actually said, which often resulted in complete embarrassment for the poor Uchiha, and often either Naruto or Sakura. And Michy's word twisting only made it that much worse.
Naruto was able to act and say his lines fine, but he was reduced to the butt of everyone's jokes, perverted comments, criticism, and just about everything else that could be done to degrade him, always started by Gale. One notable time was during the scene when the ship came under attack by a band of roaming pirates and they all had to work together to fend them off. Princess Gale had used her Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu, with Naruto using his own seconds later, making it clear that his was 'inferior' to hers, that she was the true master of it and that the move was completely hers. Gale responded that 'thieves can't apologize when they return stolen goods. Only be incarcerated.' That nearly made Naruto explode.
As for Sakura… well… as it turned out, Sakura had a habit of using very flamboyant gestures, speaking way too loudly, was way too enthusiastic about everything (even when it came time to cleaning kunai), and said her lines without any real feel to them, despite being loud and trying to show everyone else up. In other words, Sakura's ability to act…
…was completely and utterly hopeless.
And no one had the guts to tell her otherwise.
Of course, Sakura thought she was doing brilliant and that everyone was completely captivated by her performance, when in reality, they were all wondering if she knew just how big of a fool she was making of herself. Quite possibly the biggest of all of Team 7. Even when you compared that to the mistakes and humiliations from the others – especially from Naruto and Sasuke – and that was saying something. And she was also experiencing her fair share of other humiliations; the most prominent was when Sasuke and Naruto got into an argument (encouraged by Gale and Sukeakuro) for ten straight minutes on just how Naruto was able to portray a naked Sakura so accurately.
Nevertheless, after two hours of complete and absolute disgrace and shame, even Sakura was having serious doubts about staying in the movie. Then, after three hours, all of them were so sick and embarrassed by the movie that they all wanted out, no matter if it meant breaking their word or not. Not even Naruto was caring if he broke his nindo. Not one of the three wanted to be associated with the movie in any way, shape or form, especially when all that stuff was guaranteed to be in the movie, one way or another.
"OK. Have it your way," Makino had told them. He then put on a grin of sheer evil and added "But if you quit now, that'll just mean we'll have to replace you with stand-up actors." That grin then became wider as he ended with "And we'll be doing everything my way."
And so, to protect what little dignity Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke felt they had left, they resolved to stay in the movie, figuring that was safer than allowing Makino to have free reign over their characters and images.
Finally, after five hours of work, Makino finally called it quits, allowing everyone to go. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke left immediately, going to their own training areas and attempting to work out their frustrations, without even bothering to get something to eat.
Then, right at sunset, the three met. It was as if they all knew what they had to do. There was no name-calling, cold shoulders, or reminders of one's failures to make themselves angry. They came together as peers, teammates and fellow shinobi. If Makino was serious about keeping all that stuff in his movie – and all three knew that he would – then they would just have to take matters into their own hands and do something about it themselves. They spent the next few hours finding out where the room was, who was in charge of maintaining and keeping the film, where everyone else was to be that night, and getting together to share and plan for the operation, which Naruto jokingly called Operation: Pandoranohako.
Which is how they ended up in this room a few hours later: the film room. Where all the film reels of the movie were stored.
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke walked about, searching through the piles of film. "Who knew that the movie had so much?" Sakura asked out loud, searching through a stack.
"With all the last-minute changes that bastard makes, are you really surprised?" Naruto asked, going through another pile. They didn't call Makino by his name anymore. He was always just 'bastard' now.
"Not really," Sakura answered, moving to another pile. There were several copies of each piece of film. These people were dedicated to their work; there was no question of that.
Twenty minutes later, Naruto found it. "Got it!" Naruto said in triumph. Both Sakura and Sasuke walked over and looked at the film. Naruto passed it to Sakura, who merely held it in her hands and looked like she was remembering all that had transpired that day.
"So that's the source of all our troubles," Sasuke said as Sakura handed him the film. Sasuke held it in his hands, turning it over. It was truly a wonder that all that stuff that happened to them during those five hours were all contained inside this small reel of film. It didn't seem big enough. Yet Sasuke knew that even though it was small, if it were released to the public, hell would be unleashed on Team 7 in the form of taunting, laughter, making fun of them behind their backs and who knew what else.
Pandoranohako was truly a fitting name for this damn thing.
Sasuke held the reel in his outstretched hand, activated the Faiatama and the damned thing was ablaze. Seconds later, it was reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes. The three gathered the ashes and stuffed them in their pockets to dispose of them by tossing them overboard later. They didn't want to leave any evidence behind that they destroyed the film. It would make their lives that much easier if the bastard and the others simply believed that they misplaced it and couldn't find it. At least until this damn mission was over. Sasuke then held out his hand. "Next copy."
Naruto went back through the pile and a few moments later, started frantically looking through it. "They're not here!"
"Nani!?" Sakura and Sasuke yelled.
He pointed. "That was the only one! There are no other copies!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" Sasuke snapped in irritation as he walked over and helped Naruto search through the pile. "There's multiple copies of every other piece of film, so why aren't there any with this one?"
"He knew," Sakura stated quietly, drawing the attention of the two boys. She looked at them directly and if Sasuke wasn't currently concerned with the Pandoranohako, he might have felt a bit relieved that Sakura was looking at him normally, as opposed to how she did ever since that incident. "He knew, or at least suspected, that we would come and do this," she finished.
Neither boy answered immediately, but they clenched their fists tightly. "So he deliberately left one copy in this room and hoped that would throw us off?" Sasuke growled.
"I don't think so," Naruto said. "I think it's a message."
"A message?" the other two asked.
Naruto nodded, his eye looking at them each in turn. "Same thing I would do if this was a prank: toy with the prankee. He must have known we would figure out that there were multiple copies." He gestured around the room. "It's a dead giveaway when every other piece of film has copies. So, he sets one out to bait us. That tells me that he's messing with us. That he's daring us to try and find the other copies. And he's confident that we won't find them all."
Sakura looked thoughtful, while Sasuke just shrugged. "If you say so. I'm no prankster." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. It was a map of the ship, which they had made earlier when they were getting ready for this operation. He set it on the table and spread it out while the other two looked over his shoulder. "We're here," he said, pointing on the map. "Bastard's room is here." He pointed at a Makino's room. "I'd say that's one likely area."
"Maybe," Naruto considered. "He could be hoping we'd think that in hopes of us going there with a red herring, or it could be a play on reserve psychology, making it seem too obvious that he wouldn't hide one there, when in reality he did, or…"
Sakura rubbed her forehead. "Ok. Now you're just rambling and not making any sense to me." She looked at the map. "The safest bet would be to simply check everywhere. I call Michy-sama's room!"
Sasuke grumbled under his breath, but did not protest. "I'll look in the bastard's room myself."
"I'll take Kaijo's," Naruto said. They kept assigning rooms and places on the ship until only one room was left, and it was Naruto's turn. "Kuso!" he whined. It was Yukie's room.
"Stop whining, Naruto." Sakura told him. "That's the last one and it's your turn for a room."
"I'll trade you," Naruto pleaded. "I don't care who."
"No," they both answered.
"…You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Hai," they answered together again, this time with a small smile on their faces. Naruto groaned in defeat as Sasuke gathered up the map and said "Let's get out of here."
Several hours later
Naruto was grumbling under his breath as he walked down the hallway, counting the number of rooms he had gotten already. So far, he had found two copies of the damn film: One in a storage room and one in the kitchen itself. Curiously, most of the rooms were empty. In fact, hardly anyone was below deck during these hours, but Naruto didn't question it too much. It wasn't like they could all vanish off the face of the earth. He started recounting again, hoping that he had missed one somewhere. Anywhere. Each time, he counted off all the rooms, except the one.
Yukie's room.
He swore under his breath and started walking up towards her room. Might as well get this over with. With his luck, the bitch would be asleep already and wouldn't notice.
Or she would wake up and be absolutely convinced that he was a pervert. Hopefully she was somewhere else other than her room. He got his mind out of that line of thought when he thought he heard something. It sounded like music. And laughter. And lots of people. He headed towards the sounds and found himself up on deck.
It was a huge party. Nearly everyone was up on deck. People were drinking, dancing, telling jokes, etc. Several large stereos were set up and people were actually using the movie equipment to help enhance the sound. Over in one section was the largest group of people, all looking intently at something. There was a karaoke stand off to the side with several people singing. The current one was none other than Kakashi himself, who couldn't carry the tune and sounded like screeching cats. When the Jounin discovered a flair for singing horribly, he didn't know. Or care. Right in the front of the karaoke stand was a small group of women dancing with ribbons, twirling them with proficient skill. It was quite a sight.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke of all people leaning against the wall, watching the whole thing going on. Moving through the people, he walked over to his friend. "Didn't expect you here."
"Didn't plan on it," Sasuke answered stiffly. He dropped the level of his voice and said in a whisper, "But I finished my rooms and got caught up in this racket. Been waiting for a chance to get close to the side without everyone watching."
"How many did you find?"
"Four. You?"
"Two. Have one last room to check. Hers."
"Make sure you do," Sasuke reminded him. He looked over Naruto's shoulder and Naruto caught a familiar scent. Sakura appeared a few seconds later. "Yo," she said, joining them. "How'd it go?"
"Four."
"Two."
"Three," Sakura said. "Counting the one in the room, that makes 10 even between us. Think that's all of them?"
"Hopefully," Naruto said as he looked over at the crowd of people again. He pointed at the dancers. "They're quite good, don't you think?" Sasuke merely said 'whatever', while Sakura watched. "Yeah, I suppose they are," she said as she watched the dancers twirl their ribbons around themselves and then lash them out. "Really good."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, just look how they're weaving them around. As fluidly as water and as skillful as whips. It's kinda cool." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura's eyebrows raise, like something just hit her. "Sakura-chan?"
"As fluid as water…" she repeated seemingly to herself. "As skillful as whips…"
"Um… yeah… that's what I just said…" Naruto said, unsure of what was going on in the kunoichi's mind. Sasuke also took a moment and looked at the girl, who seemed lost in her own world. A few seconds later, Sandayuu came by. He gazed at them and walked on. He stopped and did a double take. "You three? What are you three doing here?" he asked, snapping them all back to reality.
"Chilling," all three answered immediately.
Sandayuu blinked at them, then started laughing. "I suppose you are. Gomen, but I didn't know you were actually attending this party tonight. I thought you would have gone to bed already. I assume you came to see the main event?"
"The dancers?" Sakura asked.
"Kakashi's lame singing?" Sasuke guessed.
"All the music?" inputted Naruto.
Sandayuu looked startled, but a smile slowly appeared on his face. "No, no, no, no," he said with a tone similar to reprimanding a child who deliberately made a mess. He pointed at the large group of people. "Don't you know what's going on over there?"
All the genin shook their heads. "Why don't you go and see for yourselves while I find you some non-alcoholic drinks. I believe you'll be in for quite a surprise."
Naruto looked at his two teammates, who both shrugged. The three of them started walking towards the large crowd. As they got closer, they could hear the chanting of 'chug, chug, chug.' Apparently, it was a drinking game of some sort, since all of them could now smell the strong stench of alcohol. The three made their way through the crowd and up to the front and looked at the participants, five in all. Interestingly enough, the four main actors, Yukie, Ken, Hidero, and Michy, were all taking part, and the final one…
"I don't believe it," Sakura started.
"Holy Motherf–" Naruto said.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Sasuke finished
"Yo," Kaijo waved lazily, glass in his hand. "Wasn't expecting you three here."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Sakura shouted.
"Playing the game," Kaijo answered simply.
"YOU'RE DRUNK!?!?" Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all shouted. Kaijo, the strict operator? Kaijo, the worrier, was not only playing a drinking game, but was actually drunk!? A drunk Kaijo image didn't fit into their minds.
"Perhaps," Kaijo said evasively, as new glasses were being brought up and set in front on the five contestants. Ken suddenly put his hand to his mouth and ran to the side of the boat, while Hidero collapsed on the table. Michy just shook his head and pushed his glass away. Yukie looked at Kaijo and took her own glass, then looked at Kaijo's, as if daring him to take it. The crowd immediately began their chanting again as Kaijo took the glass. Both of them raised their glasses and took their drinks.
"Here are your drinks!" Sandayuu said happily as he shoved the tray full of glasses in front of the genin's faces. Unfortunately, he was a bit too close and when Naruto turned around, his hand hit the tray and all three of the drinks spilled right on top of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto caught Sakura and Sasuke snickering.
"Is there something wrong?" Kaijo asked, as Yukie collapsed halfway through her own drink. A man came by and raised Kaijo's arm. "And here's our winner!" he declared happily, and the crowd cheered. Kaijo gave a halfhearted smiled right before he passed out on the table, his head landing with a loud thump, while Naruto looked down at himself, swore, and grabbed a towel from the table and attempted to wipe himself off. Sakura had gone back to staring at the dancers like someone who was studying for a pop quiz, while Sasuke just stood and seem to brood. Naruto started to walk off when he saw Michy put his hand on Sakura's shoulder and asked her if she wanted to try the ribbon dance. She looked embarrassed and started to shake her head, but Michy's charming smile put a stop to that. The two walked away towards the dancing floor and Naruto caught Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, who looked as if he was on fire and shaking with rage. Oh well, not his problem.
Naruto walked over to the side of the ship under the pretense of still drying himself. There was one other person there, but that person was busy losing their lunch, so no worries. Once there, he discreetly pulled out the remains in his pocket and tossed them.
"Are you here to give me more grief?"
Naruto stopped and looked at the speaker, who was also the one tossing her cookies. It was Yukie. Oh, he did not need this right now. Without turning to her, he muttered "I'm minding my own business."
"When you got involved in the movie, it became my business, Kusemono."
Kusemono. That was the term she had been calling him, ever since that meeting scene in the movie. It was just one of the many things on his list that he hated about that woman. And that list was becoming a very large one. "Why don't you just shut up and go back to puking?"
"Why don't you just die and save me some misery? No one would miss you."
THAT DID IT!
Naruto immediately spun around and punched Yukie on the side of the face. She stumbled and fell on the deck. She had the look of someone who just had their jaw broken and was very surprised. "How dare you…"
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled at her. He didn't care what he did now. He didn't care if everyone was watching this. He didn't care if they all disapproved of his actions. He didn't care about any of that! All he cared about was putting this bitch in her place once and for all! He stuck his finger right in her face. "You know what I hate about you the most!? It's your damn attitude! You act like you're the only one who has a tragic past! And you know what else!? You throw it out as if that justifies everything! I'd bet anything that my life sucks more than yours, so stop acting like a pathetic little whiner who thinks she's the most tragic thing on this whole damn planet!"
Yukie stood up immediately. Even though she was still rubbing her jaw fiercely, her gaze was just as hard as Naruto's. "And just what would you know? What's so bad that happened to you!?"
Naruto's response was firm. "I had no one. Nothing. I was alone. No one cared about me." He took a step towards her, arms moving around to gesture what he was saying. "No friends. No family. Not even a pet. Nothing. Nothing. Can you comprehend that? Can you even comprehend the idea of being absolutely alone your entire life with no one supporting you? I have! You haven't! You have no idea how deep your words hurt when you said 'no one would miss you.' So spare me your little monologue and just SHUT UP!"
Yukie looked at him during his own entire little monologue. Her gaze was still hard, but at the same time, she had a touch of softness in her face. She had been listening intently. She then leaned on the railing of the ship and gazed into the shifting sea. "You fool…" she said softly. The words weren't those of condescending, lecture, rebuttal, or even of malice, but a hint of softness. "You truly don't understand anything."
Naruto felt himself nearly snap. "Say that again. I dare you!"
"You don't understand a thing," Yukie said smoothly, barely above the whisper. She continued even though Naruto was about to pounce on her. "You understand the pain of having nothing, that I'll grant you." Those words made Naruto pause. Barely. But it was enough, and Yukie continued. "But you don't understand my pain. The pain of loss."
"Didn't you just hear what I just said?!"
"Perfectly. You said you know the pain of having nothing. I know the pain of loss. That's something you do not. You never had anything to lose. You just said so yourself."
Naruto looked at her cautiously. "And what are you getting at? That you did?"
She turned and looked at him. "I know what's it like to have everything ripped from you and having your entire world taken from you. Completely opposite of your pain. You say I can't understand you? You're right. I can't. But the same is for you: you can't understand me." She turned her gaze back to sea. Slowly, Naruto did the same and they both stared at the sea. He saw Yukie reach for something inside her clothes and she pulled out a small necklace with a crystal on it.
"That's a nice necklace," he said diplomatically.
"It's all I have left," Yukie spoke. Whether she was speaking to Naruto or herself, Naruto did not know. He then reached inside his jacket and pulled out the Hokage's necklace. He took it off and began twirling it around his finger, deliberately trying to get Yukie to notice it. It worked. She looked at it and asked. "What's that?"
"A gift," Naruto said. He then looked at Yukie and actually put on a small smile. "From someone who thought she lost everything." He tossed it in the air and caught it easily. He looked and saw that Yukie had left. Was it his imagination or did that actress actually give her own small smile in return? Nah. Must have been his imagination.
"Here you go."
Naruto looked at the side: Yukie just the put a small cup at his side. "There's your drink from Sandayuu. Be careful not to have it spill on you." She left him then, while Naruto looked at the cup.
Maybe she's not as bitchy as she seems, Naruto conceded to himself as he took a drink. After a gulp, he gave a small yawn. "It's late," he said, yawning again. "Time for bed."
Later that night
A figure stalked the hallways. With a different objective this time. He needed something more… personal this time around.
This day had been oddly gone in his favor. Tensions were high among the ninja. They didn't seem to trust each other and were easily angered. It was almost too good to be true. Of course, he had discreetly helped a few scenes along, such as inevitably starting Uchiha's and Uzumaki's argument on which one of them was the bigger pervert. Oh, now that scene had been exceptionally funny. What had been most interesting was that after the two boys argued, both immediately turned around, pointed at Kakashi and labeled him the biggest pervert on Team 7.
"What are you doing at this time of night?"
Kuso. He knew that voice. He turned around and looked at that man. Hatake Kakashi. Or was it one of his Kage Bunshins again? He didn't know. But it hardly mattered. He had to be careful, though. Even with this current form, he couldn't underestimate the famous copy-nin. One slip would be all that the damned jounin needed. "I'd thought I'd give our three young stars the new scripts for the morning," Bakeru answered smoothly. "Best to prepare them earlier, lest they be forced to… improvise again on the set."
"Wouldn't it be better to do it early in the morning?" Kakashi asked. "They're sleeping quite soundly now."
"Oh, I don't intend to wake them," Bakeru assured him. "I just want to leave the scripts on their dressers, where they'll see them in the morning. I promise you, they won't even know I was there."
Kakashi was silent, then nodded. "Very well." He then walked off. Once Bakeru was certain the Jounin was clear, he went about his work. He entered the first room: Uzumaki's. He opened the door and closed it firmly. It was dark, but it was enough for him to see. He saw the boy sleeping in the bed. Perfect. Looks like his special drug was still in effect. The boy and the other two would not wake up anytime soon. He concentrated for a moment, then shifted into his original form. He then walked over and put the papers on the dresser, like he said he would. He then walked over, stretched out his right hand and placed it on the boy's forehead. About ten seconds later, he took a step back as if he had been shocked. He gave a soft groan and rubbed his forehead. That part always hurt, but he got what he needed. He shifted back into his prior form and walked to the door. "Pleasant dreams," he told the boy softly. The said person was now rolling in bed like he was having a nightmare.
He walked out and strained his ears. He didn't hear the Konoha nin. Good. He then walked over into the Uchiha's room. After shutting the door, he looked at the fabled Uchiha Sasuke that his master sought. Oh… how easy it would be to just take that boy right now. There he was. Just sleeping, drugged. Unable to do anything. Just right for the picking. And two of his teammates were the same. Oh, how easy it would be.
But he couldn't. Not when Hatake was still very active. No. He didn't get to where he was by taking unnecessary chances. He would bide his time. For now. He walked over and once again took his original form. Once again, he placed his right hand on the Uchiha's forehead. Ten seconds later, he experienced that same shock. Grumbling privately, he put the papers on the dresser and left the room.
He then walked into the girl's room. After securing the room, he did something different. He took out a small syringe and a small piece of cotton. He walked over to the girl's bed, placed the cotton on her arm and stuck the needle in. A moment later he withdrew, the needle full of the girl's blood. He quickly shifted to his original form, then stuck the needle into his left arm and pressed down. He sneered under his breath and put the empty syringe and cotton ball back in his pocket. He then placed his right hand on the girl's forehead. Ten seconds later, he withdrew. He accomplished what he needed. He placed the last script down and left the room.
A few minutes before dawn
Naruto
Naruto slowly woke himself up. His head hurt quite badly. "Stupid nightmares," he said as he got off his bed. He stretched, walked over to the dresser and saw the script. "Perfect. More torture. What time is it?" He looked at the clock and his jaw dropped. "You're kidding!" He gave a small groan. "This day is starting out just perfect." With that, he resigned himself and put on his clothes. Might as well do some training before it all started up again.
A few minutes later he walked out onto the deck. No one else was out just yet, which suited him just fine. He decided to go up to the sails again. As he walked up, he began wondering which jutsu to work on next. He got up to the sails and froze. "What are you doing here?"
"Thinking," Sasuke answered without looking at him. "Woke up too damn early and couldn't get back to sleep."
Cautiously, Naruto walked up and sat next to the Uchiha genius. "You too, huh?"
Sasuke snorted. "What brings you here?"
"I needed some fresh air and this is one of my training spots," Naruto said simply.
"You need more than one?" Sasuke asked him. There was a tone of annoyance in his voice.
"I let Sakura use my old one so I needed a new one. It's as simple as that."
There was a brief silence between the two. "That new raiton of yours hurt like hell," Naruto said after a time.
"I know that all too well," Sasuke said. Naruto saw him rubbing his throat. After a moment, Sasuke put his hand down and looked at the one-eyed shinobi. "During my… testing… I messed up a few times. Electrocuted my throat, or at least that's what it felt like."
If this had been any other time, Naruto would had gloated and badgered Sasuke about that. But this time… "It happens," he offered, remembering how difficult the Sarutobi no Jutsu had been for him. Or when he tried mixing nature and shape elements for that matter. "I've had mine blow up in my face. Not pleasant." He waited and half-expected Sasuke to make some arrogant know-it-all comment. It didn't come.
What did come was this: "I guess we're both having some problems." He hesitated, then added "And not just with new jutsus, are we?"
Naruto gave a small laugh despite himself. "No. We aren't," he agreed. He pulled out his necklace and looked at it. "We've had so many unexpected problems on this damned mission." He thought about it, then decided to ask. He turned to the other boy. "Like jutsus that go after their user?" he asked pointedly.
Sasuke hmphed. He then let out a small sigh. "I've been trying to fix that damned thing for the past few days. I don't have a clue what's wrong with it." He seemed to argue with himself for a brief moment until he came to some decision. "That was why I came to your room when you pulled that prank."
Naruto nearly fell off the mast. "Excuse me?"
"I was coming… to… to…" He looked like a cat trying to cough up a hairball for the first time. "A-ask… your…" after a few moment attempts he managed to squeak (who knew that Sasuke actually 'squeaked'!?) "…advice…" Sasuke let his mouth hang open, as though he had just eaten his most hated food.
Naruto was dumbstruck. Was this the same arrogant, attitude-driven Sasuke? The one who always acted like he knew everything better than everyone else, thought he was better than anyone else and acted that way? Was this the imposter that Kakashi had mentioned? The Uchiha genius had come to the 'dead last's' room… to ask for advice on his flawed jutsu? Remembering all the other stuff that had happened on this mission – such as why Sakura was acting the way she did around Sasuke – Naruto was beginning to seriously believe that Armageddon was really happening.
Neither boy said anything else. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Sasuke was amazed that he was actually able to admit the reason he had sought out Naruto, while Naruto now felt a tad bit guilty about his prank on Sasuke. Maybe there was some way to… "I'll help you."
This time, Sasuke nearly fell off. He then looked at Naruto. "Nani?"
"I'll help you," Naruto repeated in a firm tone. He meet Sasuke's gaze with his own. "Sounds like a challenge, and when it comes to creating jutsu, that's the type of challenge I like best. If you're willing to share your secrets about it with me."
Sasuke's gaze hardened a bit. "Intend to use it?"
"No," Naruto answered honestly. "Katons aren't my thing. But if I'm going to help you fix the problem, I need to know what I have to work with." He looked harder at Sasuke. "And I mean that in every sense of the phrase." He held out his hand and waited. "Are you game?"
Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He seemed lost in his own world, but Naruto didn't press him. He knew how reluctant he would be if it was the other way around so he waited. A small smile then appeared on Sasuke's face. He stretched out his own hand and slapped Naruto's. The two firmly clasped. A pledge between men. And more importantly… between friends.
"I'm game," he answered, the coming of dawn just emerging.
A short while later
Kaijo
"Makino-san! We've got a problem!!"
A short while later, Makino, Sandayuu and Kakashi all joined Kaijo at the front of the ship. Everyone was wearing coats, gloves, long pants and closed-toed shoes, with the occasional hat. Ahead of them was a massive iceberg in their path, easily ten times the height of the ship and eight, if not more, times as long.
"What is that?" Makino asked everyone. Anyone else would have made a very sarcastic remark to that statement, but not Kaijo. "When I woke up this morning, I found this waiting for me. We can't get through!" he pleaded directly to the older man. "What are we going to do?"
Makino himself wasn't facing Kaijo, so Kaijo had no idea what the man was thinking. He couldn't see the seemingly calm and unbiased face of the director as he pondered this new problem. Nor did he see Makino's eyes shoot open when he came to his decision. "THIS IS IT!!" he exclaimed happily. "We're changing EVERYTHING!!!"
They were going to change everything AGAIN!? They just redid the entire movie by adding the Konoha nin and now Makino was going to have them do it all again. He needed a new job. Kaijo let out a loud moan.
"You moron!" the director shouted at him. He gestured at the iceberg. "Look! We're standing on the perfect spot to shoot! It's practically begging us to film here!" He made a fist and looked outward. "Cherish this moment: the movie gods are smiling down on us!" He turned around, pointing at all he could. "Everyone prepare to disembark!"
Kaijo knew he should have stayed in bed today.
Yukie's Cabin
"Yukie-sama, please wake up," Sandayuu said as he nudged her awake. She let out a small moan and he shook her a bit harder. "I'm up…" she said sleepily.
"Please get ready," Sandayuu said. "Makino-san has decided to change the script yet again. And I must highly recommend that you wear something warm. Shooting starts in thirty minutes."
Yukie stayed in her position as Sandayuu left the room. Moaning, she sat up and stretched. What a night. Curiously, that was one of the most restful sleeps she'd had since that day. She stood up from the bed and accidentally knocked her pillow off, revealing the item hidden underneath it. She looked at it and decided to pick it up.
It was a precise copy of yesterday's film.
She stared at it briefly, then placed it back on its former spot. She bent down and put the pillow back on it. She then walked to her dresser and started getting ready for the day.
Omake!
(Note from paintball-gamer: For those of you who have never watched 'Whose Line is it Anyway?', you might not get this. This was inspired by JonJ's Whose Line fanfics. I'm not entirely satisfied with how this one turned out, but I leave it to you, the readers, to judge how good it is)
A special scene for Team 7 was being set up. In this scene, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had been separated from Kakashi and Princess Gale and her group, and were stuck wandering some wastelands looking for them. However, Makino had a different idea in mind for the scene, since he had thought it up on the fly (surprise, surprise) and no actual script had been put together for it. "OK, for this scene, we're going to do things a little differently," he began. "It's going to be entirely improvised, but-"
"Again?!" Naruto whined, interrupting Makino. "Haven't we been embarrassed enough?!" Sasuke nodded in agreement, while Sakura just stood there saying nothing.
"Let me finish!" Makino said, holding up his hand to stem any more complaints. "For this scene, you two…" He then gestured toward Naruto and Sasuke. "…will only be able to say two lines each!"
"WHAT?!!" Naruto and Sasuke both exclaimed at the same time.
"Yup!" continued Makino cheerfully, ignoring the outburst. "For this scene, Naruto…" Naruto glared at him, but he ignored it. "…the only two things you can say are 'That can't be good' and 'When's lunch?'" "Are you kidding me?! Who came up with those?!" broke out Naruto. Once again, Makino ignored him. He then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, the only two things you can say are 'Run that by me again?' and 'Are you insane?'" Sasuke shot him an incredulous look. "Excuse me?!" he exclaimed. He too was ignored by Makino. Makino then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, you can say anything you want." Sakura nodded.
"OK, everyone ready?!" called out Makino. "ACTION!"
(The three genins are shown trudging through what looks like a barren wasteland)
Sakura: (looking frustrated and grumpy) I can't believe this! We lost them!
Sasuke: Run that by me again?
Sakura: (looking annoyed) I said we lost our group! Now we have no idea where we are or where to go!
Naruto: That can't be good!
Sakura: Of course not! We're not going to live much longer if we don't find our group!
Naruto: When's lunch?
Sakura: WHAT?!
Sasuke: Are you insane?!
Sakura: My thoughts exactly! How can you be thinking about food at a time like this?! Besides, all our food is with the rest of the group!
Naruto: That can't be good!
Sakura: (losing patience) OF COURSE NOT! Now shut up and help me think of what to do!
Sasuke: Run that by me again?
Sakura: (looking irritated) I said to help me out with this! We have to find the group!
Sasuke: Are you insane?!
Sakura: What?! Why would you think I'm crazy for trying to figure out a way back to our group?!
Naruto: When's lunch?
Sakura: (nearly exploding) I ALREADY TOLD YOU!! We don't have any food! (calms back down) OK, first things first. Let's try to figure out where we are.
Sasuke: Run that by me again?
Sakura: I JUST SAID we need to figure out where we are! We'll never find Kakashi-sensei or the others if we don't know where we are first! We'll just be wandering in circles otherwise!
Naruto: That can't be good!
Sakura: (stress vein pops out on her head) OF COURSE NOT! You really think we'd be better off just wandering until we die of starvation?!
Sasuke: Are you insane?!
Sakura: EXACTLY!
Naruto: When's lunch?
Sakura: (bashes Naruto's head into the ground) HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! THERE'S NO FOOD!
Sasuke: Run that by me again?
Sakura: (appears to snap, grabs both Naruto and Sasuke in headlocks, shaking their heads with every word) WE – HAVE – NO – FOOD!! (releases them) GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS!!
Sasuke: (rasping slightly) Are you insane?!
Sakura: I WILL BE IF I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOU TWO IDIOTS FOR MUCH LONGER!!
Naruto: That can't be good!
"CUT! That's a wrap!" yelled Makino.
(credit goes to paintball-gamer for creating this omake)
(Author's Note) And so ends the chapter with everyone arriving at a huge iceberg that has mysteriously blocked their path.
Now I imagine many, if not all of you, were eagerly awaiting another disaster scene with Naruto and co. While I was very tempted to try and write out another scene, I felt that it was more important to get the story moving along. It's fun to extend the actual movie and cause utter chaos, but it was time to get on with the actual storyline. Specifically to the part that I know many have been waiting for: the battle at the iceberg.
In all honestly, I don't know if I'm going to write out any more movie scenes because once the iceberg part is done, there really isn't going to be any opportunity to do so.
I must say that one thing that surprised me about the reviews last chapter were the number of people that wanted Kakashi to tell Makino the dangers of the scene where a naked Hinata was featured. I was wondering if we were talking about the same character. The Kakashi I know doesn't care about his image. The Kakashi I know is late on purpose, reads perverted novels in the open, and has quite a laid back attitude. Not the type of person I see giving out warnings like that. And I still don't see him doing that. But as an attempted compromise to appease you all, I went and had Naruto explain the possible dangers, but did any of you really expect Makino to change his mind or alter the scene?
Fuuraibou - (n) wanderer; vagabond; capricious person; hobo
Pandoranohako – (n) Pandora's Box
Kusemono - (n) ruffian; villain; knave; thief; suspicious fellow
No jutsu list this time.
I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemcius created that are used in this story belong to him.
