Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version
Chapter 15: The Way of Snow
(Author's Note) Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Many thanks to my beta, Paintball Gamer, for managing to finish this in time for Christmas! Thank you SO much my friend!
8:17 am
Nineteen year old Kiganai and his two teammates were on one of the many snow-covered hills in the forest, where the caravan of vehicles was slowly traveling through the snow-covered pathways of the old railroads. From the looks of it, these people had only been partially prepared for traveling in this climate and, as a result, were going considerably slower than one would expect. One of the leaf genin that they had been told about, a small blond-haired boy in black and orange, was standing on the lead car like a sentry. Where the other two were, Kiganai had no idea.
"I say we strike now and get this damn job over with," the kunoichi among them, Ikusa, spoke up. "Why we have to do anything for that tyrant is - "
Kiou interrupted her. "Don't you dare speak of the Kagirinai Kachuu that way!"
"Spare me," Ikusa countered, rolling her eyes. "Why anyone would like that scoundrel, much less want to join his Loyalist faction, is beyond me."
The other's eyebrows twitched dangerously. "He's both the Daimyo of this country and the leader of our village! He's an incredible fighter and a sharp mind that bozos like you can only dream about!"
"The man's a liar, a cheat, and a backstabber," Ikusa shot back, anger slowly rising in her own voice. "And if you consider him an incredible fighter, then it's no wonder you can't fight your way out of a paper bag."
"Doto-sama defeated Mikata!" Kiou countered, a smug smile on his face. Mikata had been Ikusa's personal hero.
"He says he defeated Mikata-sama," Ikusa growled, gritting her teeth. There had been no witnesses to the fight, after all.
"You're just jealous!"
"You're just a pinhead!"
"Bitch."
"Wannabe."
"Knock it off, you two," Kiganai said, the order firm in his voice. Those two were always like this. How they all ended up on the same team would always be a mystery to him. When Doto came to power ten years ago, he reorganized Yukigakure drastically. One of the many changes was that he personally arranged the mission teams. Some of the new selections did make sense and played on the teams' strengths, such as their own, while others just didn't work well together and as such reduced the team's efficiency. Kiganai suspected Doto had done it so that his sympathizers in the village would be stationed throughout all of the village and its shinobi. Roughly a third of Yukigakure supported Doto now much like Kiou did. Everyone else just resented the man and only followed his orders because there was no other choice for them.
The two calmed down as Ikusa looked at him. "Are you ready to strike, then, instead of stalling? We've been watching them for an hour already. Nothing else to do other than make fun of 'paper bag' here."
"I resent that remark!"
"For the last time," Kiganai spoke up, cutting Ikusa off before she could respond. "We strike when we know for sure which car the Princess is in. We go in now, and she'll be likely to escape in the following chaos. I don't fancy having to look for her all over again just because you aren't patient enough to do the job right." He paused, then added "Or was that what you were hoping for?"
Ikusa snorted loudly. "I don't see why someone like you doesn't stand up to that murderer."
Kiganai didn't offer an answer. Truthfully, he didn't care one way or another if Doto was in charge or not, or if the Princess was handed over to him. He was a Snow Ninja of the Hidden Snow Village; he just did his job because that was what one was supposed to do. Part of that might have been because he lacked any real goal or desire himself. He didn't even become a shinobi because he wanted to. He did it because every member of his family for generations had done so and it was expected of him, so he did so. That was all and it wasn't like he had anything better to do.
His clan, the Suigen, had been one of the first in Yukigakure after it had been established by Bansou, and as such was one of the most important and prominent clans in the entire village. He was expected to succeed his father as Clan Head one day, but in all honesty, he felt his younger sister would be a better choice. Their brother, the youngest of the three, was headstrong and rash. Unless he underwent a major attitude adjustment, he wouldn't be ideal for the position either. And all three of them had a long way to go, both in strength and intelligence, before they could match their father, much less succeed him.
He was about to comment when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Taking out a pair of binoculars, he looked to see one of the car doors opening, then a boy jumping to the top of the car. As he shut the door with his foot, Kiganai managed to see who else was in the car.
Koyuki-hime herself.
He drew out a slow breath as he put the binoculars away. "Target found. Have you reached Gamma Team on the radio yet?" Gamma Team was the closest to them. Snow teams operated under code names for the mission, as to not alert the enemies in advance by referring to their teams by name like 'Team Kakashi' or 'Team Baki.' Their own was Alpha Team.
Kiou shook his head. "No. Just static. Might be local interference, or just technical difficulties. Not that we need them. We can take on three Genin ourselves. We are Chunin, after all."
"Don't underestimate them," Kiganai warned. "Remember what the report said: those three went head to head with the San Eihei and held their own." He gave Kiou a stern look. "That's more than you can boast."
The other young man waved him off impatiently. "I still say it was pure luck and due to the Copy Nin's effects. If he was here, then we would have something to worry about." His face brightened up as he said "You think if I offer their heads to Doto-sama, he'll let me join the Loyalists?"
"He'll let you have a body bag," Ikusa commented. She was looking forward to this fight. "If you're lucky."
"Don't start," Kiganai warned, a clear warning in his voice. "Let's just get the job done. You two can stay and fight if you want, I don't care. I'll grab the Princess as planned and get out of there. Now let's move."
A few minutes later
Sasuke jumped from car to car until he came to the one where Naruto was. "How are they?" The one-eyed blond asked, not bothering to look at Sasuke as he opted to keep his attention on his surroundings.
The Uchiha just shrugged. "One's brooding and one's still sleeping, but at least things are quiet." He gave a slight shiver. He did not like the cold at all. "Why don't you take a turn in the car? I'll stand watch here."
Naruto offered the Uchiha a small smile. "Generous. Let me guess: Koyuki getting on your nerves too?"
The other boy almost felt the urge to smile back and if it didn't ruin his image, he just might have. "What gave it away?"
The Number One Unpredictable Ninja was about to comment when he noticed they were driving into a fog bank. Such a thing was natural to expect in such a place, but there was one problem.
That fog hadn't been there a minute ago.
"Sasuke."
"I see it." With that, he snapped his Sharingan on and looked around. "It's a ninjutsu, alright. Similar to Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu from what I can tell..." He reluctantly turned off his bloodline, as it was going to be useless in this. "… but it doesn't look the same. Not as dense, for one."
"You take the rear; I'll handle things here," said Naruto, already looking around as Sasuke uttered 'Hai' and took off, leaping from car to car to the rear as all the cars turned on their fog lights. Taking a few sniffs, Naruto tried to see if he could detect any scents. He didn't smell anything off hand, not that that was -
CRASH!
Naruto felt the car underneath him stop suddenly, making him almost lose his balance as all the cars began running into trees, rocks, and even themselves. Sasuke had been in the middle of a jump when this happened, making him miss the next car. He landed on the ground easily enough, but caught sight of another car about to run him over, so he dashed off before it could.
What the hell is going on!? Naruto thought angrily as he jumped down to the ground as well. The drivers couldn't all suck this bad in some little fog, shinobi made or not! Looking around for any signs of the enemy, he took off running back to Koyuki's car to make sure...
... and that's when Naruto ran into the lead car at full force.
After a moment of withering in pain, Naruto placed his hands on the car and pushed himself off. As he rubbed his face to lessen the pain, he wondered how the hell he ran into the lead car when he was going the opposite direction!
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Naruto looked around the fog area with suspicion in his eye. Taking a chance, Naruto slowly walked away from the car in a straight path. As he walked, he continued to look and smell for the enemy, trying to find out where the caster was and if this person was alone or not.
And that's when he noticed he was walking up to a car. The exact same car he just walked away from.
Okay, now Naruto was both freaked out and pissed off at this new development. This fog somehow messed with their sense of direction, so that even when you thought you were walking in a straight line, you were really just walking around in circles!
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, using his voice. "Everything alright?"
"I'm fine," came the reply, though there was a hint of anger and embarrassment in his voice. Naruto guessed Sasuke had a similar encounter in the fog.
"Hyouton: Tsurara Ishuu no Jutsu!"
Naruto's head jerked at the sound of the voice, only to see a large amount of icicles flying right towards him. Flying through the seals, he formed the Kaze Tate and blew the things away from himself and the cars. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a burst of flames. Sasuke was under attack as well.
"Nice move, boy," a second voice called out. At those words, the fog began to dissipate as a figure began rushing towards him. There stood a Yuki-nin. Dressed nothing like the trio that they had faced earlier, this one was covered head to toe in thick, warm clothes, with a hood and facial mask and thick boots. In addition, he wore some kind of metal shin guards, some type of gauntlets, and a metallic-looking backpack. Wasting no time, the Yuki-nin was right in front of Naruto as he threw a right punch, which Naruto blocked instinctively. Not even pausing, the Yuki-nin spun around and threw a right kick at him, which Naruto dodged by dropping to all fours. Springing from the ground, he landed two solid jabs on the man's chest.
The enemy ninja skipped back a ways as he smiled. "A true pervert, it seems."
Naruto flinched. "What the hell is your problem?!"
The enemy laughed as he reached up and pulled down his mask and hood, revealing short, copper hair on a clearly feminine face. Naruto just stared in disbelief.
It was a freakin' woman!?!? Why did this always happen to him!? How was he supposed to tell when she was covered up so much!?
"Name's Ikusa, perv," the kunoichi identified herself as she hurled a few shuriken at him.
Down with Sasuke, he was steadily breathing out a Grand Fireball as he melted each of the icicles flying at him. As the last one melted, Sasuke noticed the damned fog disappearing. Taking advantage of the situation, he snapped on his Sharingan and began looking for his adversary.
"Hey, Ikusa, you damned bitch! You weren't supposed to shut off your Menkurau Enmu, you fucking bitch!!"
"Oops," came another voice, not even trying to sound sympathetic or remorseful. "Guess you'll just have to make do, crybaby."
"I. Am. NOT. A. CRYBABY!!!"
"Then stop whining and fight, Kiou!"
Well... that was easy. Looking directly in front of him, he saw a Yuki-nin, the part of his face Sasuke could see quite red with fury, sticking his neck out from the tree he had been hiding behind. His attire was identical to his female companion fighting Naruto. Flying through the six seals, Sasuke called out "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
The enemy Yuki-nin turned just in time to see the first of the fireballs coming straight at him. Giving off an undignified shriek of terror, he jumped from behind the tree as the first fireball struck. Rolling along the ground, the Snow Ninja ran through his own chain of seals as he slammed his hands on the ground. "Hyouton: Hyouheki!"
A ten-foot wall of ice erupted in front of the young man as the remaining fireballs collided into it. Kiou's hands flew again as he yelled "Tsurara Ishuu!"
The entire ice wall fragmented right then, with more icicles forming out of it. Then as one, all of them launched themselves at the Uchiha. Taking a kunai in each hand, Sasuke began deflecting all of them, making sure none hit the cars, as well as himself.
That's when he noticed a third person running towards the cars thanks to the enhanced vision from the Sharingan. Sasuke managed to see another Yuki-nin (dressed like the first two) making a mad dash to the car Koyuki herself was in.
Shit! "Naruto!"
The blond boy jerked his head towards Sasuke and saw the third Yuki-nin as well. Fuck! That, however, turned Naruto's closed eye towards Ikusa, who gladly took advantage of it. Before he could make a move, Ikusa slammed her right fist to the side of his face. "I'm your opponent, boy!"
Naruto recoiled in pain as he crossed his fingers. Two more of him popped into existence as they helped stabilize him. Ouch, that freakin' hurt! What was it with females and brutal strength!? And more importantly: WHY THE HELL WAS HE ALWAYS ON THE RECEIVING END OF IT!?!?And he had to work on his stupid blind spot!
Kiganai ran toward to the car that held the Snow Princess. The plan, for the most part, had worked out perfectly. With Ikusa's Bewildering Fog making the cars crash and stop, and Kiou's Icicle Swarm offering the perfect cover fire for him, he was able to rush to the car, grab the Princess and flee. Sure, maybe they should have learned the location of the third genin, but Kiganai wasn't planning on fighting. Just getting what he needed and running. He was confident enough in his own speed to outrun them, especially with Ikusa and Kiou keeping the two boys occupied.
With that, Kiganai ran up to the car and flung the door open...
... only to have his face meet a fist rather violently.
Gasping incoherently, he flew backwards from the sheer brute force, bounced on the ground not just once, but twice, before coming to a stop on the ground a good fifteen feet away.
Next, Sakura herself appeared from the car, her hair out of place and an unmistakably pissed off look in her eyes. "Stop all that damn racket! I'm trying to sleep here!" Looking around dangerously, she shouted "Just who is making all the noise anyway!?"
Incredible as it might seem, the four shinobi still standing all froze at the pink-haired girl's rage-filled demeanor. In response, the Narutos pointed at Ikusa, Ikusa pointed at Sasuke, Sasuke pointed at Kiou, and Kiou pointed at the Narutos. Once they all realized what they were doing, they all pointed to the fallen Kiganai as one.
Looking around the man laying on the ground, the reality of the situation slowly drew in on Sakura as she uttered 'oh...'. It was that moment the other shinobi moved. The Narutos, Ikusa, and Sasuke all charged, while Kiou jumped back and Kiganai jumped to his feet. He rubbed his face slightly, then cracked his neck.
"You hit well," was all he said as he reached behind him and pulled out a pair of metal claws, four claws on each set. He slipped them on and formed some hand seals. "Hyouton: Hiru Aisu!"
Sakura watched in confusion as ice covered the claws. Didn't that defeat the purpose of using those weapons? What was the point of putting ice on it? Not trusting the enemy's motive, Sakura formed three handseals herself and punched the earth. "Doton: Ganseki Gunte!"
She then pulled her arms up, showing that her hands were now covered in thick, solid looking earth, vaguely resembling boxing gloves, with small spikes on each of the knuckles. This was the result of her experimenting with the earth during her training with the Water Whip. She got the earth to stick her hands easily enough and once that was done, it was relatively easy to modify it into something more useful in combat.
Kiganai came up at her, swinging his ice-covered metal claws, which she deflected with her right fist. The Snow Shinobi didn't stop as he continued a series of strikes, which Sakura could barely keep up with. Then a quick left hook came at her, making one of the ice claws tear across her arm. The Leaf Kunoichi gave a cry of pain as she inspected her arm, seeing a layer of ice where the claws had struck. Looking up, she saw that one of the eight metal claws was bare.
That's when she felt a small draining sensation. If she were to describe it, the best she could do was that something was sucking the life out of her arm.
"That's right," Kiganai spoke, as if guessing her thoughts. He held up the metal claw as another strand of ice engrossed the bare claw again. "As the name – leech ice – suggests, that ice now attached to your arm is slowly sucking your energies out of you, just like a real life leech would suck its victim's blood. My jutsu drains far more than blood, though: it takes chakra, as well. The more I put on you, the more apparent the effect will become... until you're nothing but a shivered corpse."
Sakura just stared in disbelief at him. So that's why the ice was on the claws: it was to protect himself from the ice. She looked at her arm, then in one fluid motion used her left hand and struck across her own arm, shattering the ice off of it. She gritted her teeth so she would not gave another cry in pain as she looked at the results. A long, nasty-looking scratch mark was left where the ice had been, but at least the ice was gone.
The Suigen Clan member frowned mentally. So... he still needed to work on his adhesion property. The girl had gotten it off far too easily. With that, he charged the girl again
Ikusa was in the midst of fighting off the three Narutos, all four with kunai. After Naruto's two clones were destroyed, Ikusa slashed at the third one, then spun around for the last one. He was a fraction of a second too slow in dodging as it cut across the back of his right hand. "Fuck you!" He jumped back as he ran through the seals and yelled. "Fuuton: Kunai Soufuu Atsu!"
The mini Kaze Kiwa flew through the air right at the Snow Kunoichi, which she intercepted with a kick, causing the jutsu burst into a harmless, gentle breeze. Not again! Naruto complained mentally, not really surprised.
"Hyouton: Aisu Bomu!"
Freezing winds swirled around Ikusa's open left hand, forming a small orb of ice. Like an expert ball player, she threw it right at Naruto. The one-eyed shinobi hurled the kunai in his hand in hopes of deflecting the thing. To his surprise, once the knife hit the ice ball, the thing exploded, sending out a shower of small, but sharp ice fragments in all directions.
Naruto uttered a curse. Having no time to form his wind shield, he did the next best thing he could as he crossed his arms protectively in front of him. The ice cut all across him. "Damn you, I just got this jacket fixed!"
Ikusa smiled as she made another dash to the boy. Before she got halfway, the boy formed the half tora seal and the ground right in front of her exploded. An exploding tag! But when could he have... she then remembered how he ducked onto the ground. It must have been then! She fell on her butt from the aftershock, but quickly recovered herself.
Only to see five Narutos charge her and begin laying the pain on her. Somehow, in midst of the grunts and surges of pain, she managed to form a kawarimi with a nearby log.
Now standing by a tree a good ten feet away, she watched as the blonds began cussing again. Offering a smile and fighting off the urge to black out, she said "Seems that... I'm going to have to cheat a bit... nothing personal... but I like to win! Menkurau Enmu!"
Once again, the misdirecting fog sprang to life, though this time it covered a much more condensed area – right around the blond genin. The more widespread her fog was, the less effective it became, but when used in a relatively small area, the opponent wouldn't be able to tell his right hand from his left when simply looking at them.
Of course, she was protected against the effects of her own jutsu, so now she could safely beat the hell out of the genin without having to fear a counterattack!
And that's when Naruto slammed his fist into her stomach, wiping the smile off her face just as quickly. Gasping for breath, she looked up and what she saw shocked her.
The boy's eye was closed.
"H-how?" She managed to choke out. "Did... you... know...?"
Naruto gave a small smile as he hold up his right hand. "I let you cut me earlier in that exchange. Your fog was messing with my vision, so I knew I couldn't rely on my sight. So I used my nose. I might not be able to pick out your scents in this environment, but I know my own scent well enough." He pointed at her right hand, where some of his blood had spilled when she cut him.
Ikusa was beside herself. So he had not only figured out how her fog worked by affecting the sight, but came up with a way around it? Or was he just a lucky fool?
Either way, she was impressed. "N-nice... move..." With that, she passed out on the snow.
Sasuke was dodging the latest batch of icicles very easily as Kiou jumped back again, calling out "Hyouton: Toramisairu no Jutsu!"
A tiger made out of ice formed next. After giving a small roar, it charged towards Sasuke. With one swift motion, he threw a kunai with an exploding tag right at the thing's head, making it explode apart. Running through the debris, he ran up to his opponent. When Sasuke was just a few feet away, the man disappeared, replaced with that same ice sculpture move he had seen Fubuki use. Groaning in irritation that his opponent slipped away again, Sasuke smacked the thing into a nearby tree.
Damn it! What was this guy's problem!? When you use Kawarimi, you use it to trick and fool the opponent! Not to run away like a coward! It was almost like... Sasuke stopped at the thought when it clicked. That was it! This Snow Ninja had no taijutsu skills whatsoever! He relied solely on Ninjutsu and whatever chakra armor stuff he had.
At that, a full-blown smile appeared on Sasuke's face. It would have made little kids cry.
The Yuki-nin peeked out from the latest tree he was hiding behind when he saw the kid running right at him. Forming the seals for the Tiger Missile again, he fired it at the boy. This time, the boy merely flipped over it and continued speeding towards him. The Yuki-nin felt his heart pumping hard again as he quickly formed the Icicle Swarm and sent them flying at this red-eyed speed demon. Let him try and dodge all of these!
A few minutes later, Kiou's face fell in horror. This bastard just avoided every... single... icicle. How was that possible? In desperation, he formed the seals needed and threw his hands onto the ground again. After muttering 'Hyouheki' again, he retreated once again.
Sasuke's speed didn't change despite the ice wall in front of him. At the last second, he jumped as high as he could at the wall. With a kunai in each hand, he stabbed into the wall for stability and flipped himself over the top. As he fell, he planted his feet against the wall and launched himself at Kiou. The Snow Ninja shrieked again as he brought his hands together... only to have Sasuke chop right through them.
"No more seals for you!" he shouted, as he slammed his left fist into the man's face, followed quickly by a fierce barrage of punches and kicks all over him. "You can't call yourself a shinobi if you if you only use ninjutsu! You have to use taijutsu, basic weapons, and tactics; not just run and cast ninjutsu! Be more like a shinobi and not a coward!" At that, he stopped his barrage. "That's enough."
Kiou just stood there motionless, covered in bruises all over him. He let out a silent moan as he collapsed on the ground.
The clashing sounds of Sakura's Rock Gloves with Kiganai's Leech Ice Metal Claws was heard by the passengers in the cars, while Makino looked on the verge of tears as he was desperately trying to find a camera to record this beautiful scene!
Kiganai came in a downward motion, which Sakura intercepted with a block, but with a flick of his wrist, Kiganai batted Sakura's hand away and continued on with his strike at the girl's face. She barely managed to twist out of the way, with the ice claws just missing her by a centimeter, though it did knock her headband off. Using the momentum of the spin, she fired a left side thrust kick right at the enemy's stomach. Again, Kiganai intercepted the kick with his own, spun around himself and sent a right roundhouse at Sakura's incoming left hand, shattering the rock glove.
The Snow Shinobi saw the girl's eyes narrow for just an instant before she jumped backwards to avoid his next strike. Her now free right hand was zipping through a series of one-handed seals. She then muttered something he couldn't hear when he got a very strong overwhelming smell of Sakura blossoms. Looking around, he saw pink flower petals flying around, obstructing his vision.
Genjutsu, obviously. Not a very powerful one, but more than enough to give the girl the upper hand in their taijutsu match. With that in mind, he quickly jumped down to the ground into a handstand, swinging his legs around and dispelling the genjutsu. At that moment, the girl charged him, no doubt hoping to get him while he was in this defenseless position. Before she got close, he merely handsprung himself backwards out of her range. The girl didn't stop, however, and merely continued to charge him. How reckless.
Still, Kiganai did two additional backflips to get some distance from the girl and regain his balance. That's when he felt himself back into a tree. So was that the girl's plan? Merely back him into a corner and tackle him head on? Not enough by far. That's when he saw the girl rear her right arm back and then throw it forward. Her rock glove went flying off her hand, right at his head. Despite being surprised at the move, Kiganai tilted his head to the side, the rock glove just missing him.
"You missed," he said casually, before snow suddenly fell on his face. What the hell!? So she lured him to the tree, simply to knock the snow off the branches and blind him? Grunting, he quickly wiped the snow off his face, only to see Sakura's hand firmly placed against his face.
Oh dear...
Using all the strength she could, Sakura slammed Suigen Kiganai's head against the tree. Hard. The entire tree seemed to shake as more snow fell on the two, not that either one paid attention to it. In a stunned state, Kiganai looked at the leaf genin, and spoke one word. "Pain..."
Sakura saw the man's eyes roll back inside his head and he lost consciousness. Looking at the man in the snow, she mentally congratulated herself. She not only held her own, but she won. If that wasn't a vote of confidence in her abilities and fighting skills, then damn those that said otherwise. It was more than enough for her.
She reached down and picked up her headband, and after a moment's consideration, tied it back in her hair. Once she finished, she saw her two teammates coming. Naruto had a Yuki-nin thrown over his shoulder like a bag of luggage, while their other teammate was dragging a third one by the ankle through the snow.
"You alright?" Naruto asked.
She nodded as she jerked her thumb at the fallen Yuki-nin. "Yeah, fine. Guy used some draining move, but fortunately, didn't get me too badly." She resisted the urge to look at her arm, so instead she asked. "What about you two? Any problems?"
"Nope," Sasuke replied smugly, with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
"Other than being accused of being a pervert, no," Naruto answered, glancing at the unconscious kunoichi he carried.
Sakura couldn't resist. "Pervert, huh? Why, what did you do? Grope her breasts like you did with me?"
The blond just rolled his eye, just as Sasuke snapped his head in Naruto's direction. "You. Did. WHAT!?"
Both of them took an abrupt step back from the Uchiha. Was it their imaginations, or was there a slight blush in raven-haired boy's face? "Oh, come on!" Naruto said, rather annoyed he had to explain any of this. It wasn't like he enjoyed doing that! He wasn't Ero-sannin! "The whole point was to get her angry and fight, remember, Kizuato?"
The female of Team 7 raised her eyebrow. "Point was to make me angry, huh?"
"You know what I mean!" Naruto snapped. "Besides, the drowning wasn't working, so I - "
"You tried to drown her!? So that's why you were down there so long!?"
"Hey! Don't you dare complain, asshole! You had your chance to do it to do it your way and you chickened out! You don't like what I did? Tough!"
"It was your stupid idea to do it in the first place!"
"Only because you couldn't think of anything better!"
"You decided to use the Janken game to decide which of us would do it, jackass!"
"What the hell!? It was your idea, you dick!"
"You two decided on my fate with a STUPID JANKEN GAME!?!"
"Yes! No! I mean... that's not it!"
"Besides, Sakura, we wouldn't have had to resort to anything like that if you had just asked us for help!"
"Like you're one to talk! Who's the one that's always going off and refusing to share what he creates!?"
"Watch it! I taught you one of those!"
"No, you didn't! You taught me one you were taught, not one you created, which I denied wanting to do!"
"Wait, you two did what?!"
Before anyone else could respond, there was a groan from the Yuki-nin on the ground. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked at him, then the other two. As one, all three nodded. Sakura bent down to drag Kiganai, while Sasuke glared at the movie crew. "We'll be back in a few minutes. Don't you guys go anyway or do anything stupid."
"That includes you, Sandayuu," Naruto added. "Don't you dare make a move without us."
Sandayuu nodded and held up his hand. "You have my solemn word."
Satisfied, the three Leaf Ninja took their fallen opponents into the forest, where none of the movie crew would have to watch.
8:35 am
"For the last fucking time, tell us what we want to know! Where's the bastard Doto!? How many Snow Ninja are with him!? Was your village alerted to us coming here!? Why are you creeps even working for that jerk anyway and attacking your rightful ruler!? Where's Mikata and her group, why aren't they kicking ass!? What's the weakness in the Chakra Armor, how does it work?! Where are the Daimyo's forces, are they deployed as well or are they just sitting back getting drunk!? Where's the bastard Nadara and his two flunkies!? What the hell is this backpack thing and the other doohickies!? Does Koyuki have any supporters around? Talk, damn you, we ain't got all day!"
Team 7 was currently standing in front of the three defeated Yuki-nin. Naruto and the others had removed the Yuki-nin's chakra armor equipment, as well as all of their weapon pouches, all of which now lay at the Snow Ninja's feet. The three young adults themselves were tied securely to individual trees, all awake now.
Naruto had eagerly started the interrogation process, which meant that he ranted off questions for ten minutes straight, to which all three just stared at him in silence, not bothering to respond at all to the blond. Sakura and Sasuke had been content to let Naruto work, but now deeply regretted it. Seriously... how did someone manage to talk nonstop like that? It was nerve-racking!
"I can't take it anymore," Sakura mumbled under her breath, while the Uchiha nodded in agreement. Both of them then reached out and grabbed Naruto by the shoulder. Ignoring his loud 'Hey!' of protest, they tossed him backwards to the ground.
"Let me try," Sasuke told the blond, as he knelt down to the one in the middle: Kiganai. "Where's Doto?"
Kiganai didn't answer.
Sasuke turned on his Sharingan and looked directly in the man's eyes. He activated a little of the Curse Seal, just for an added touch. "Tell. Me. Now."
If any of the Yuki-nin were intimidated by Sasuke's bloodline and foul curse chakra, they didn't show it. Though Kiganai did speak. "You guys are new at the whole interrogation thing, aren't you?"
"How about I just rip off your head?!" Naruto shouted from his position on the ground.
Sasuke looked rather ticked off at that statement. He grabbed the man's jawline in an iron grip and held his face close to Kiganai's. The Snow Ninja seemed to know exactly what was going to happen because he shut his eyes tightly. In response, Sasuke used his free hand to pry his eyelids open. It took a few attempts, but he managed to crack them open enough for his Sharingan to do it's work as it began rotating at a fast pace. Kiganai slumped slightly as he seemed to go into a daze. "My name is Suigen Kiganai. I am nineteen years old. My birthday is August 8th, making me a Leo. My father is Suigen Aian, my mother Suigen Touji. I am the eldest of three siblings..."
"No," Sasuke grunted, shaking his head slightly. "Tell me where Doto is!"
"Houshu and Furosuto. I graduated from the Academy at the age 12 and was assigned to this team. I became Chunin at 16 and..."
A vein threatened to pop in Naruto's forehead. "We don't care about your freakin' family!" He held up a kunai dangerously. "Why don't you tell us what we want to know or your parents are going to have two daughters very shortly!"
"Naruto..." Sakura spoke up, clearly not pleased with what he said as her voice was in a low and dangerous tone. Looking over at the Uchiha. "Might as well stop now. Looks like they've been trained to resist genjutsu methods. You'd probably have to break his mind to get past it, but then we won't be able to get the information anyway."
Sasuke snarled under his breath, but turned off his bloodline and looked at them. "Then what do we do!?"
Sakura shrugged when she realized both boys were looking directly at her. Sighing, she went over and knelt down, looking at all three. "I don't understand: Doto took control of your country by force, killed his own brother in cold blood, drove his niece away in a panic, oppressed your people, and you're alright with that?"
Again, none of the Yuki-nin spoke, though this time there were some reactions. The woman, Ikusa, looked down, while Kiou looked rather angry. Kiganai – who had recollected himself – merely sighed and shook his head.
Sakura looked at Ikusa. "You are bothered by it, aren't you? Then why won't you help? Why you don't you stand up to him and bring that son of a bitch to justice?"
"Don't you dare speak of Doto-sama that way!" Kiou spoke up instead. "He's the best thing that happened to this country!"
"The best thing!?" Naruto repeated, not believing his ears. "Doto is a bastard who only thinks of his own power and greed!"
"He has vision and purpose!" Kiou countered. "He will lead Snow to its new destiny!"
"Enough," Kiganai said firmly, making Kiou shut up. He looked directly at the three leaf ninjas. "Listen, if the situation was reversed, would you people spill secrets on your country?"
"Our Hokage isn't a ruthless dictator," Naruto countered, his voice dark. "Nor would we allow such a tyrant to come to power."
"You say it like it's so easy." Kiganai said, almost in a whisper. "Or that we were so blind when it happened. I won't pretend that I love or even like Doto, but I am a loyal Snow Shinobi. I will not sell out my village, or my country to our enemy. So just kill us now and be done with it."
At that, the other five shinobi froze on the spot. Ikusa looked at Kiganai like he was insane, while Kiou paled badly. As for the three genin, the same thought was going through their minds: whether they got the information or not, they couldn't just leave these guys alive. This wasn't like the time with the Demon Brothers, where they could leave them tied up for the ANBU to collect. They were in the Snow Country; they were the invaders, not the other way around. Any other Snow Ninja would free these three and they would come back all the harder.
It seemed their only option was to slay them here and now...
The three just looked at each other, hoping one of them had an answer to this. It shouldn't be that hard of a decision: the Yuki-nin were the enemy and they had been trained to kill. It was expected on missions and a fundamental rule. Kill them before they could kill you.
So why couldn't any of them muster up the will to do it?
Sakura gulped loudly, looking at her kunai pouch on her leg as she slowly reached for it, though her hand was shaking badly. Sasuke's hand grabbed hers before it reached it and he shook his head. Breathing out a sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to be the one to do it, she calmed down as Naruto stepped forward, a kunai in his hand. "Last chance: talk... or die. There's three of you, so I have two expandables here. Who will it be?"
Again, the Yuki-Nin were silent, though it was clear that they were afraid. Whether they were gambling on Naruto bluffing, or really were willing to die, none of the Konoha nin knew. After a minute of silence passed, Naruto took another step forward, that kunai hovering threateningly as he looked at each of them in turn. The next moment seemed to stretch out like an eternity before Naruto reared his hand back and drove the kunai home.
It landed in the snow at Kiganai's feet, with relief clearly in the man's eyes. "I can't..." Naruto grumbled, as much to himself as to his two friends. "In a fight's one thing... but... not like this..." he hung his head down.
"Fine," came Sasuke's voice. "I'll do it. We can't afford to waste anymore time here." Naruto and Sakura watched as Sasuke casually took up Naruto's kunai and walked towards Kiou. "Five seconds," Sasuke said as Kiou went deathly white.
"Five."
Will he do it? Sakura wondered. Could Sasuke really turn himself to ice and take a life?
"Four."
Ikusa closed her eyes and looked away, clearly not wanting to witness this.
"Three."
He acts like this is nothing, Naruto thought. Is that all this is, an act? Or has his goal of killing his brother made him harden so much, this means nothing to him? At that thought, Naruto briefly wondered if Sasuke was eagerly looking forward to a kill. But, no... not even Sasuke would be like that... right?
"Two."
Kiganai said nothing, he just waited.
"One."
Kiou looked ready to throw up, a few tears were even in his eyes.
"Die."
With that, Sasuke jerked his hand forward, aiming at Kiou's exposed throat. The kunai cut his throat to the point where it hit the tree. Naruto, Sakura, Kiganai and Ikusa all looked on in disbelief, clearly shocked at what Sasuke had just done so causally.
Kiou was crying freely now. The kunai was jabbed into the tree, having only barely cut the right side of his neck.
With everyone waiting for an answer, Sasuke merely stood up and walked back to his teammates, not meeting anyone's gaze. "These three are so weak that it doesn't matter if they come again. We'll just beat them down easier the second time."
He couldn't do it either, both Naruto and Sakura thought happily. Why they were happy about this fact, they weren't really sure, but they didn't care too much. Sasuke gestured to the two of them. "Let's get out of here. Someone will come for them eventually... if they think they're worth it."
"Won't we get in trouble for this?" Sakura asked lightly as the three of them began walking away. "For failing to dispose of the enemy and act professionally?"
Naruto waved her off. "Oh, oba-san yells at me three times a week, and Iruka-sensei every other day. What's one more chew out?"
Sakura actually laughed at that, and even Sasuke offered the faintest of smiles. "That's it?" came Kiganai's voice. "You're letting us live?"
"You want to die so much, ask your friends when they find you," Naruto said, not bothering to look at the three Yuki-nin as they walked off.
"And you think you can overthrow Doto and defeat his forces with this attitude?"
Naruto turned his head back with a foxy smile. "You bet your ass we can." He gave a short wave as he turned back around. "Later."
"... you have to destroy the power seal."
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all stopped and looked back at Kiganai. What did he just say?
"Kiganai!" Kiou shouted, while Ikusa just looked dumbfounded. "What are you doing?"
The Suigen member's answer came easily. "I may not like Doto, but I happen to value my own life and consider it worth something. So I'll tell you about the Chakra Armor."
Naruto gave him his full attention. "So wait... are you going to talk after all? What happened to your loyalty speech?"
"Shut up and listen."
Naruto merely nodded as all three came back to the Yuki-nin.
"The chakra armor, as you know, has the ability to dispel Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, as well as increase one's own chakra capacity several fold. The reason it's limited to Jounin is because the process it takes to create it is delicate and time consuming."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "It is? Why's that?"
Kiganai looked rather amused. "Come now. Clever are you three are, you must have suspected something was off when you fought against the armor the first time around."
"You mean besides dispelling our attacks?" Naruto offered lightly.
"No..." Sakura spoke up, her eyes wide. "It's that each of their armors was different."
"Different?" both boys repeated, while Kiganai nodded in approval.
"Points to the young lady. Yes, each set of chakra armor is unique. This is because when the armor is being developed, it's custom-made to the individual's needs. It's made to suit their personality, fighting style, and most importantly, favorite jutsu. Aren't you curious as to why that chakra barrier doesn't cancel out their own ninjutsu attacks?" When he didn't get an answer, he continued. "It's because the barrier is designed to filter out their own chakra, and since everyone's chakra signature is different..."
"... the armor can only be used by the wearer," Naruto supplied, catching on. "That means you can't just swap armors between you and your allies, since that damn barrier will just cancel out any new chakra, even if they are wearing it."
"Correct. It's become our qualification test for potential Jounin. The hopeful must be able to create their own perfectly. You achieve the new rank if your armor passes completely, without failure. If you fail in any part of it, you fail the test right then and there until you manage to succeed the next time."
"That knowledge is critical for afterwards as well," Sasuke said, absorbing this new information. "If it ever gets damaged, they have the knowledge on how to fix it, instead of just being stupefied as to what to do."
"Precisely. The chakra barrier itself is constantly on, but it can be weakened or enhanced as the user deems it necessary. Enhancing it obviously requires more effort on their part. You see, the Chakra Armor does run on their own chakra reserves; it's not a separately powered feature. But since the armor does enhance their reserves as well, it makes it unlikely that they'll run out of chakra."
"How does the armor increase one's chakra?" Sakura asked.
"There are amplifiers built all over the armor. Their chakra will go to the amplifiers, which increase it by twenty five percent and send it back to their reserves; then they send the boosted reserves back to the amplifiers. They constantly bounce the chakra back and forth between the two until you get over three times your normal supply. Our current amplifiers can't produce any results higher than that." Kiganai looked down at the metal backpacks. "Those are called Chakra Packs, the precursors to the Chakra Armor. Like your vests in Konohagakure, they are our symbol for achieving the rank of Chunin. They only double your chakra amount, but even double is still a lot."
Naruto looked down at the Chakra Packs in awe. "Wait... so these things..." he reached down and picked one up. It wasn't too heavy, only about ten pounds. "All we have to do is wear them and it'll double our chakra?"
Kiganai nodded. "That's right. No chakra barrier involved here, so it's free to exchange with whoever." He hesitated for a split second, then added "Three of them... three of you. If you wear them, it'll make your 'mission' all the easier."
Team 7 all glanced at each other as they considered the possibility. There were in a country full of hostile enemy ninjas. Double chakra would be a blessing and a big benefit. Naruto was looking over the pack like it was a new toy for him when his face fell slightly. "Wait... you said this is your symbol for making Chunin? You can't mean all of your Chunin ninjas wear those."
"What's wrong with that?" Kiou asked defensively. He seemed to recover from his little death scare nicely.
"What's wrong? It makes this thing as worthless as it is dangerous! It would be useful for Genin just starting, but you guys all become too reliant on it, so much that if you lose it, you're in deep shit! You use it too much as a crutch to make up for your skills! It's not much better than a drug!"
"Shut your trap!" Kiou countered. "What would you about it, you filthy hypocrite! Your village is full of bloodlines; that's the reason why Konoha's considered the number one village! How is your village's views of being bloodline dominant any different from us using our technology!?"
Naruto's eye grew dark, while Sasuke just looked tensed as well. "Konoha's strength comes for our desire to protect our comrades and those precious to us! Don't you dare ever suggest that it's something else!"
"Of course it's something else! It's all the bloodlines that make you guys powerful! Every other village knows it! Our village only has a precious few, so we had to get to get strong using our own power and wits, training our shinobi hard from the beginning in the Academy, unlike your pitiful methods!"
"What do you do that's so differently?" Sasuke demanded. "You copy the Mist village's former method where graduates kill their own classmates to pass?"
"No..." Ikusa spoke softly, as if unsure she should be talking at all. "Our graduation exam is quite different than yours. Where you have just a simple test on a basic jutsu, we spend a week out in the wilderness in the mountains, regardless of the weather, and return to Yukigakure on the final day before noon to receive our headbands. Though this may not seem all that dangerous, many students have gotten lost, injured, and even died while trying to pass this test."
"That's not all," Kiou spoke up, sounding rather proud of the fact. "During our Academy training, each student will be 'ambushed' at some point by an instructor that they can't possibly defeat, even if they are rookie of the year. The point of it is not to fight, but to get their asses handed to them. To show them just how the enemy will treat you and how your life is on the line. They won't actually kill you, but when you see a full grown adult beat the living daylights out of you... the message sinks in real good. And you never know when that attack will come, so our Academy students are constantly on their guards, because they know the second they let it down..." He let it hang ominously, still clearly proud of the fact.
The three just stared at the Yuki-nin like they were crazy. What kind of twisted way was that to run an Academy!? The Snow Village was lucky they didn't run off all their potential candidates with their ways!
Kiganai seemed to realize exactly what they were thinking. "Just drop it, all of you. We can argue which way is better until the spring comes to the Snow Country, but it won't change anything."
Sasuke sent a deadly look to Kiou, who surprisingly didn't back down or cringe from it, before nodding in consent. Taking the Chakra Pack from Naruto, he looked it over himself. He personally didn't care if the Snow Ninja wore these or not. It just made it all the more exciting for him. The stronger the opponents, the stronger he would become as a result. "If they want to damn themselves, Naruto, let them." Kiou spat at him, but made no response, while Naruto eyed the Chakra Pack for a moment before both of their eyes went looking at their third teammate.
Whether you considered the Chakra Pack a hazard or a benefit, Sakura clearly could use it. Naruto and Sasuke were perfectly fine without one, and while Sakura could hold her own, there was no question that she was the least experienced of them and had the least amount of chakra and stamina. Frankly, she couldn't afford not to use one.
The Haruno caught their eyes and seemed to realize what they were thinking. She didn't look annoyed, or even angry. Just acceptance. Slowly, she took the Chakra Pack from Sasuke's hands and looked at it herself.
Right before she threw it to the ground, shattering it completely.
The three Yuki-Nin just looked at the sight, with Kiou and Ikusa visibly shocked. "That was uncalled for," Kiganai commented, since that one had been his.
"No," Sakura retorted, her voice low with anger, while her gaze grew hard at the three. "What's uncalled for is the fact you let your ninja wear these... things... at all. How are you supposed to become stronger if you just let your technology fight for you? What you have is an illusion of strength, not the real thing. And that…" She pointed hard at the debris on the ground. "…is just an insult to all shinobi!"
"Says you," Kiou started, only to be cut off by Kiganai and Sasuke's respective stares. The young man took a hint and kept his mouth shut. While both Naruto and Sasuke felt Sakura could really use the Chakra Pack, they couldn't deny that what she said was true. They were also impressed by what she was aspiring to. Still... they hoped she wasn't making a big mistake by doing this.
In any event, Naruto felt it was time to change the subject. He reached down and picked up a gauntlet and a shin guard in each hand. "What about these? What do they do?"
Thought it may have been Naruto's imagination, Kiganai looked rather relieved to get back on the subject that he promised to speak about. "Both of those are standard pieces of equipment for us, much like kunai. The gauntlet produces a small chakra wave that stimulates the muscles in our arms, making us being able to hit that much harder by a factor of four. The shin guards have a lesser version of the Chakra Barrier. It disrupts all chakra it comes in contact with – including our own – but it has to be touching to do so. In other words, if I wanted to disrupt a fireball, I would have to kick the thing itself for the shin guards to disrupt it. It doesn't have any external range like the Chakra Armor's version does."
Naruto nodded to himself as he processed all this. So Ikusa wasn't a brute strength, crazy woman like Tsunade was. She just had those gauntlet things to do that for her, or something. "What about this power seal you mentioned? What's that about?"
"The power seal is the central component of the Chakra Armor. While it may be the chakra of your body that fuels it, it's the power seal that allows it to work. It looks like a small circle about the size of your fist, half it white and the other half teal."
The three genin thought back to their fight at the iceberg with Nadare, Fubuki and Mizore. Both Sakura and Naruto could remember Mizore well enough and that his power seal was located in the middle of his chest area, while Sasuke noticed that Fubuki had hers on the middle of her wings in the back. None of them were sure where Nadare's was though, since Kakashi had done most of the fighting with him. Sasuke then asked "What happens if the power seal is destroyed? Does the Chakra Armor simply stop working?"
Kiganai actually chuckled softly at that. "Of course not. It does much more than that. Remember, the chakra enhancement part works by continuously bouncing chakra between the pack and themselves, which means that the two are tightly close together. So much that they're dependent on each other. Get the picture yet?"
Naruto's face dawned in comprehension, while a satisfied grin appeared on Sasuke's face and Sakura's eyes raised in realization. So as powerful as this Chakra Armor was, it did have a weakness, and a big one at that! The two being that dependent on each other meant that if one of them was suddenly lost, the ninja was going to feel like he suddenly lost a huge amount of chakra all at once! Such a sharp drop without warning would cause a severe shock to them! If it was bad enough, it might even outright kill them! This was huge!
"Don't forget," Kiganai warned, jerking all three of them out of their thoughts. "The power seals are still protected by the Chakra Barrier, as well as the shinobi's own personal skills. It'll be no easy feat."
Sasuke looked at them like they were Academy students who just said you used Fire to defeat Water. "The Chakra Armor may be strong, but it's not invincible. An exploding tag in the right spot could do all the damage we need. Or hell, strike the neck or head hard enough to knock them out. Chakra Armor can't protect from physical blows. Just because all you think it's hopeless to fight back – "
"We tried!" Ikusa suddenly spoke up. Her voice was full of desperation and tears were pouring down her cheeks. "We tried..." she continued meekly.
"You didn't try hard enough," Naruto countered, not necessarily in a hard, reprehending tone, but a firm voice, one used to inform a child they had done wrong. "You gave up. All of you should have rallied behind Tanomoshii Mikata and aided Sousetsu when it first happened and stopped all this madness before it even began!"
"You don't understand! Mikata-sama... the Saati Koukennin... they're dead! They're all dead!" Ikusa wailed loudly as tears continued falling.
Naruto visibly gasped at this, while Sakura was looking at her like this was some bad joke. Even Sasuke was surprised by this statement. "They're dead?" Naruto repeated.
Ikusa just nodded a few times. "When... when the coup happened... Mikata and her Guardians were out of the village... there were rumors that the Water Country might be making a move against us, since we were enemies in the last Shinobi war…" and Water was your ally, she added silently, not wishing to provoke them more by adding the fact that Leaf and Snow were old war opponents. "... she and her men began to scout the borders... make sure it was true while the rest of the village mobilized... then Doto came, proclaiming that he was now the new Daimyo because Sousetsu, Mikata and her men were traitors to the country and that they were trying to set up an invasion by the Mist to our land and how Doto had stopped them... and then he held up Mikata's lifeless body... to show that he had personally saved us from them and had personally killed one of the two ringleaders..."
Doto defeated Mikata!? What the hell? From what they said about Doto, he was more of a politician, not a fighter! And Mikata was supposed to be one of the strongest in the village!
So how did Doto manage to defeat someone like that!?!
Sakura shook her head. "Wait, wait... back up. Doto called Sousetsu and them traitors?!" After getting a nod, the pink-haired girl nearly shouted the next words. "And you believed him!?!"
Ikusa suddenly became interested in studying the snow on the ground. "Doto presented... evidence... testimony... some believed right away... many others were doubtful though... and it became all the more confusing when the Saati Koukennin started coming back and calling all of Doto's words lies... the Saati Koukennin then tried to avenge their leader, but they were still scattered and lacked a real leader to guide them... and that quickly engulfed the entire country... Feudal lords started quarreling as well, the Snow Village became more and more divided as to what to believe as they tried to discover the truth...
"Small-scale battles often broke out between the Feudal lords and their personal forces..." she continued, still looking at the snow. "Yukigakure came very close to destroying itself because of this... we came so close to a full-scale civil war so many times... for seven long years we had civil unrest that threatened to tear apart our country forever, and all the while the San Eihei..."
"The who?"
"The three you fought, Rouga Nadare, Kakuyoku Fubuki and Fuyukuma Mizore, are known as the San Eihei in our country. Doto's strongest shinobi under him. It became their mission to exterminate the Saati Koukennin. One by one, each of the Guardians fell to the San Eihei. Doto made each death a public acknowledgment to the rest of us, as the San Eihei began to keep score amongst themselves to see who could kill the most of them. The last Guardian was killed three years ago, with Nadare killing thirteen, Fubuki killing nine, and Mizore killing eight. When the last one died, the land finally calmed itself down. With the last vocal voice for Sousetsu slain, no one was willing to stand up to Doto anymore, and Yukigakure was under his control completely. Either they believed him now, they didn't care... or they were too scared." She nearly had to choke out those last few words. "Especially with the establishment of the Hell Asylum."
"The what?" All three of them asked, but no Yuki-nin made an attempt to answer. They all looked disgusted and sick at the mention of the name. Just what was it that made them, including Kiou, who clearly supported Doto, clam up with feelings of fear and disgust? Each of them tried to get one of the Yuki-Nin to tell them what this thing was, but it was clear they wouldn't do so. Whatever it was... it scared them deeply.
Once Team 7 realized it was futile, they began considering the new problem. Mikata and her Guardians were dead and Yukigakure was under Doto's thumb. So much for some Snow Shinobi supporting them. They knew that the possibility had been remote, but until now, it had been possible. And if ninja like Ikusa – who clearly hated Doto – was going to obey, then all of them were. It really was just the three of them against an entire village.
Great...
It also raised a new question amongst themselves: If all of Snow was serving Doto now, whether they liked it or not, then how was Koyuki supposed to gain the throne? She had no support of her own. Save Sandayuu, all those that would have supported her were either dead, or too scared to fight back any longer. How the hell was she supposed to take the throne, never mind the fact that she still refused to do such a thing in the first place! This fucking changed everything!
"We're going to have to change our plans some..." Sasuke muttered under his own breath. Assassinating Doto no longer seemed like enough, so what the hell were they supposed to do!?
His two teammates nodded in agreement as all eyes focused on Kiou. "What?" the man asked defensively.
Naruto pointed at Kiganai and Ikusa. "Those two told us about the Chakra Armor and what happened to Mikata. Now it's your turn to cough up: tell us where Doto is!"
Kiou looked at his teammates with clear contempt in his eyes. "Fine... not that it'll do you any good. Doto-sama's castle is about 65 kilometers northwest of here. Go walk into the meatgrinder for all I care." A smile on his face then appeared next. "And do take care to get killed by the Loyalists."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The Loyalists?"
"The faction of Yuki-nin that are completely loyal to Doto-sama. Being a member of the Loyalists grants you special privileges and status, making everyone else seem second class citizens," Kiou told them proudly. "It's rather difficult to be accepted into the group, since pure loyalty is only one factor for admittance. You'll recognize a Loyalist by a silver emblem of an iron fist on their chests. And you better be prepared to kill them, because you'll have a snowball's chance in hell to get one of them to talk, or give up."
Now it was Sakura's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Really? Then how come the "San Eihei" don't wear those?"
"They don't need to, stupid. They're the freakin' mascots and the very symbol of the Loyalists. Everyone knows who they are!"
"So now you kids know," Kiganai said suddenly, drawing all their eyes to him. "You have no chance of succeeding here. No one is going to help you and everyone is going to be after you. Even if you do manage to kill Doto, which you won't, no one is going to accept Koyuki-hime as the new ruler." He paused for a moment, then spoke in a more sincere voice. "You three have guts for trying something like this, I'll grant you that, but you're all still young. Get out now while you still have the chance. Not all missions end in success. Sometimes you have to cut your losses. Leave."
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked at each other for a moment before they said unanimously. "No."
Kiganai reacted like he had been slapped. "What?"
"We already decided before arriving that we were going to see this mission through to the end," Naruto answered firmly, with Sakura and Sasuke nodding their consent. "And we don't break our words."
"Don't you freakin' understand!?" Kiganai actually yelled, surprising Ikusa and Kiou completely. Kiganai never yelled. "It's been tried, and every single attempt has failed! You three could try for a hundred years straight and still never prevail!"
"Then we'll do it for two hundred years, even if I have to crawl on my stomach and gum you all to death until we do succeed!" Naruto boasted, while Sakura shook her head playfully and Sasuke just gave a small sigh. "That my nindo, because the second you gave up, you already lost!"
Kiganai just looked at the young blond in pure disbelief. That's when the entire group heard a loud 'Naruto-kun!' Looking back, they saw Kaijo running over to them. "We've got a big problem!"
All three tensed up immediately. "What is it? The enemy?" the one-eyed boy demanded. Were they under attack again so soon!?
"No! Worse! Yukie ran away again!"
All three of the shinobi slumped their shoulders slightly. Damn it! Why now? Behind them, Kiou laughed softly at their predicament. "Seems the princess is smarter than you three."
"Shut up," Sasuke answered in a dark tone. Kiou gave a small gulp and complied. Ignoring the Assistant Director's questioning look about the three prisoners, Sasuke turned to the other two. "We'll have to find her. Spread out and search. Use the radios if you find her. Keep in touch every fifteen minutes."
The two uttered 'Hai' as they leapt away to go find the wayward Princess... though what they would do afterwards, not one of them knew.
Omake!
With that, Kiganai ran up to the car and flung the door open...
… only to find a grey-and-white anthropomorphic rabbit wearing women's clothing and make-up (Note: It's Bugs Bunny), primping himself in front of a mirror. Upon Kiganai's entry, the rabbit quickly turned around, eyes widening in surprise. "AAAAAHHHHH!!" he screamed as he attempted to cover himself.
"Oh, sorry!" said Kiganai hurriedly as he quickly shut the door and propped his back against it, an embarrassed blush on his face.
"Hey, wait a minute!" He immediately opened the door again…
…only to come face-to-face with a full-grown lion poking its head through the doorway. "RAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!!!!!!" it roared in Kiganai's face, causing him to slam the door shut yet again.
"What the hell is going on?!" he complained. Even the other four ninjas who had been fighting had stopped to watch what was happening, being just as confused as he was. Taking a chance, he opened the door again…
… to find a young man in a white leisure suit dancing to a strange beat under the light of a glittering mirror ball hanging from the ceiling. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive! Stayin' alive!" came the lyrics of the song, causing Kiganai to sweatdrop."Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' aliiiiiiiiiiiii…" Kiganai closed the door again.
"That's it!" he yelled in frustration. "If I open this door again and don't find the princess behind it, I'm leaving!" He then wrenched the door open once again…
…and got flung back through the air by a giant metal spring rigged up behind the door. He then hit a tree twenty feet away and got knocked out.
Inside the car, Sakura and Koyuki slapped each other five.
(Credit goes to Paintball-Gamer for creating this omake)
(Author's Note) And with that, the next chapter is done! One chapter I've been looking forward to doing for a while since I got to introduce Alpha Team (or as I like to call them, Team Symbolic since there's one pro Doto, one anti Doto and a neutral one). I've had the concept for these guys for a while – though not the individual names – and was quite happy I finally got to use them.
And from them, we learned quite a bit of stuff about the current situation of Snow: everyone is following Doto, like Mikata, the Thirty Guardians are deceased, what has happened to Snow since Doto took over, quite a bit on how the Chakra Armor works, as well as other gadgets the Snow Ninja carry. Even a look at their own training customs. Also had a few questions pop up, such as how someone like Doto could defeat a shinobi village leader, what exactly was happening around the time of the coup and how Koyuki is supposed to get the throne without any support (Sandayuu notwithstanding)? And to top things off, Koyuki tries to run away again. And if you think I'm not cutting Team 7 any breaks or slack, just wait until you see what else I pull in the next few chapters. You ain't seen nothing yet, ha ha! (Yes, I like to torment my characters. Makes the story all that more interesting when they have to deal with a lot of responsibilities and problems, as opposed to just handing them everything. That's no fun. Hey, with great fame comes many enemies and problems. That's the price you pay).
The little scoring system between the Yuki-Sannin, or San Eihei if you prefer, on the killings of the 30 Guardians is how I personally rank Nadare, Fubuki and Mizore's skills and abilities in comparison to one another.
I had many different ideas on how to handle the interrogation scene featured in this chapter, with a very big question I had: would the Legacy Version of Team 7 kill the Snow Shinobi once they're done? I could see arguments for both sides of it and could picture Team 7 killing them at the end just as much as not being able to kill them. After chatting with Tellemicus about possibilities, I came up with the current version, and I rather like it.
Speaking of Tellemicus, I owe him a BIG THANKS for all the help he gave me on this chapter, especially in regards to how the Chakra Armor worked, as well suggesting the other gadgets – namely, the Strength Gaunlets and Chakra Disrupting Shin Guards – for Chunin level Snow Shinobi to use.
Translations (side note, some of them are rough translations, but they should translate out as I have them. I hope).
Kiganai – (1) to be uninterested; (2) indifferent; listless
Ikusa – war; battle; campaign; fight
Kiou – to get worked up; to be eager (enthusiastic); to rouse oneself
Suigen – source of river; fountainhead
Aian – iron
Touji – winter solstice
Houshu – gem; jewel
Furosuto – frost
Menkurau Enmu--Bewildering Fog (roughly)//A ninjutsu technique that creates a large, or small, depending on how much area the user wishes to affect, fog over an area. This fog sends out subtle chakra signals that are difficult to detect to the eyes of all those within the fog, messing with their sense of direction in addition to thickness of the fog itself, which is not as dense as the Mist's Kirigakure no Jutsu. The less of an area the fog affects, the more effective it's misdirection becomes. As the fog only affects sight, Ikusa can send out specialized chakra waves from her eyes to neutralize the affect to herself, allowing her to move freely in it. This is can be taught to others if Ikusa desire so. (Mid C-Class Ninjutsu) (Ikusa)
Hyouton: Tsurara Ishuu no Jutsu--Ice Release:Icicle Swarm//A Hyouton technique that creates razor sharp, but fragile icicles – all roughly a foot long – out of Kiou's surroundings: snow on the ground, an ice wall, even moisture from the air, assuming there's enough available, etc, then propels them with a small, but intense burst of wind. Can create as many icicles over as wide of an area as he wants, provided he has enough chakra. (Low C-Class Ninjutsu) (Kiou)
Hyouton: Hyouheki--Ice Releasen:Ice Wall//A Hyouton jutsu that creates a ten foot ice wall for protection against incoming attacks. Notably affective against Suiton and Katon class ninjutsu, where it can potentially freeze a suiton, or douse, if not completely extinguish, katons when it melts the ice. (High B-Class Ninjutsu) (Standard Yukigakure technique)
Hyouton: Hiru Aisu no Jutsu--Ice Release: Leech Ice//A secret technique of the Suigen Clan. Creates ice that attaches itself to a ninja and sucks out blood, warmth, and chakra. The more ice on the person, the more devastating the effect becomes until the victim is sucked dry completely. The amount that is absorbed, the adhesion ability, as well as how quickly the leech ice is created is heavily dependent on the skill of the user, as a common flaw is to focus too heavily on one property at the cost of another. A true master of this jutsu can have all three properties so efficiently that a victim can be completely drained within seconds of contact. Since the Leech Ice attaches to people indiscriminately, Suigen Clan members typically attach the ice to melee weapons to avoid this problem, such as Kiganai's metal claws. (Low A-Class Ninjutsu) (Kiganai)
Doton: Ganseki Gunte no Jutsu--Earth Release: Rock Gloves (roughly)//A Doton created as the result of Sakura's experimentation with earth during her training with the Mizu Hoippu. The earth covers her hands in the form of boxing gloves with spikes and hardens to form a strong type of glove that increases her physical punching power. Like her Daichi Kobura, Sakura can harden the earth even more to make the effect more apparent. However, because of this, it locks Sakura's hands in place, making her unable to form any seals until she ditches the gloves. (Mid-D-Class Ninjutsu) (Sakura)
Side note: This idea was conceived way back in the beginning of the story before Tellemicus made this fic canon to his own series. I had considered making a number of throwaway jutsu that could be used solely for this fic, then discarded so it would not disrupt anything that Tellemicus established in his own works. This move was one of them. After some thought, I decided to go ahead and use it anyway (and for reference, the same can be said about Naruto's Kunai Soufuu Atsu, Sasuke's Shuurai no Jutsu, and Sakura's Aikurushii Sakura also fit in this category). I think it's also fair to mention that Sakura did create and mastered this during the time of experimentation and give it's just a basic move, I don't believe a lot of time or effort was needed. Perhaps I should had hinted at it's creation or even mentioned it beforehand, but I couldn't really find the right time to.
Hyouton: Aisu Bomu no Jutsu--Ice Release: Ice Bomb//By using freezing winds or water, one creates a ball of ice, about three times larger than a standard baseball. Once it touches something, an enemy, a tree branch or whatever, it will explode into a shower of sharp ice shards of various sizes in all directions. (Low C-Class Ninjutsu) (Standard Yukigakure technique)
Hyouton: Toramisairu no Jutsu--Ice Release: Tiger Missile//Creates an ice tiger out of ice that rushes towards the target that can cause extensive injuries in the form of cuts, severe blunt damage and crushing weight. This move focuses more on power at the expense of speed. This is Yukigakure's equivalent to the Goukakyuu no Jutsu. (Mid C-Class Ninjutsu ) (Standard Yukigakure technique)
I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemicus created that are used in this story belongs to him. Big thanks to Paintball-Gamer for beta-reading this!
