Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version

Chapter 23–Plan of Action

Castle Outpost

7:09 pm

Muryou Okotaru yawned as he sat in his little home away from home. Or jail cell, which was the far more appropriate term in his opinion. It was boring! All he did all day, every day was sit in this little spot and wait for nothing to happen. Sure, he was supposed to be the early warning system in case assassins or whatever tried to get to the castle, except for the obvious fact that there were no such individuals anymore. No one in Snow was willing to stand up to Doto-sama, let alone act against him.

At least during the waning days of the Saati Koukennin, things had been somewhat interesting! That was during a time when they knew someone was willing to try and act against Doto. And while Okotaru had never directly participated in those skirmishes, his radio gave him the reports and updates that filled the boredom nicely. One of his favorites had been when a group of four Guardians rigged themselves with explosive notes and started taking out Doto's supporters among the local lords. They would sneak in, cause a lot of racket, and then one would go in for the kill while the others kept watch. That one would either succeed, kill the target, and the four would leave in a hurry, or he would fail and then detonate, thus still getting his target. It had taken the San Eihei weeks of tracking down those hooligans and seven killed lords before they were finally stopped. But even then it nearly cost Fubuki her life, rendering her hospitalized for two months. It was said that that was what inspired her to get a flight-capable armor so she'd always be able to make a quick gateway.

He sighed at the loss of those far more interesting days. When he first became a Loyalist, he thought he'd get the more exciting jobs! Only for Doto-sama to assign him to Outpost Duty instead. Now the only thing he had to call interesting was when animals stupidly came across his sights, like that moose earlier today. Dumb animal… and for a split second, he had actually thought it was a ninja!

Absentmindedly, he reached for his radio and tuned in to the castle. Very faintly he could hear sounds of laughter, music, and chatter. Much to his disbelief, Doto-sama was actually throwing a PARTY for those movie workers! And from the sounds of it, quite of bit of castle personnel were taking advantage of it!

And here he was, stuck on meaningless guard duty against drooling animals! Oh, how exciting!

That was Okotaru's last thought before a kunai sliced his throat open.

Black Fang Castle, Throne Room

Same time

Makino

Amidst the cold, stony room that served as Doto's throne room, the man sat on his throne on high, with two of his Loyalist Ninja guards at the base of it. The aged director merely went about things as though it were a normal day in the office. And in his mind, it was. It was putting up a pretense and dealing with an audience's expectations. He may have had little acting experience personally, but he had been a director long enough to know how to play the game… and how to gauge others' expectations.

And he could do it pretty damn well, if he did say so himself.

"Your niece is an essential part of the Princess Gale movies. Why, one could go as far as to say she is the life of the movies herself! Her prestige to your honored clan would only further enhance your own image throughout the world!" Makino said.

He could see Doto's face a mixture of fury and consideration. No doubt he was furious at the thought of Koyuki being related to him or that she was just as good as him, but to say otherwise would be an obvious lie and out of character for someone who had worked alongside the young lady for years. At the same time, using Koyuki to enhance his own standing was something that Doto was perfectly willing to do.

"So you say, but alas, Koyuki is a symbol of the old regime. A sign of times past, and one cannot linger in the past if they wish to succeed. Surely you know that. After all, if you kept the same tired plot in your past movies instead of building off them like you do, they would not have become the blockbusters they are today."

An analogy of his own profession to use against him. Clever. Makino gave a small bow. "Keen insight, Daimyou-sama. Perhaps a reasonable compromise can be reached."

"I'm listening."

Makino gave a gesture around the room. "If you would be willing to allow us to shoot more of the movie in your home country, Koyuki-san could continue to do her work while remaining under your direct supervision." He held up his hands in front of him, like he was prepared to take a picture. "Imagine your beautiful country displayed for all to see: the soft, gentle snow behind the twilight sky in the background. Crystal-like stars flickering in the night like beautiful diamonds. Why, the tourist aspect alone would bring much commerce to you! It would be a big advertising campaign for shinobi clients and business ventures for your splendid country here!"

Doto raised his eyebrow at that. Makino doubted Doto wanted that much publicity on him since he wanted his plans obscured in the dark. But, once again, the prospect of money appealed to his nature. Global attention could also be useful for information and exploitation. To further drive the nail in, Makino reached for his pocket. "An advance on my part for such a beneficial relationship. Let's see…" He took out his checkbook and deliberately tapped his pen against his forehead. "How about eighteen thousand?"

A grin appeared on the man's face. "A generous gesture indeed." The man sat up a little straighter. "But am I truly to believe you are fine with my standing in your movie? I presume you have heard of how I came to power through bloodshed?"

Makino nodded, knowing where this was going. "I have been made… aware."

"Then am I truly to believe you are fine with that? Knowing that your prized actress' father was forcibly… removed from his throne, can you honestly tell me that doesn't affect you at all?"

Put him on edge with the direct truth. Makino put on a gesture of confusion. "Such a high political matter to me? My dear Daimyou-sama, I am but a humble movie director. I am no Daimyou, lord, general or Kage. I am a business man. Such things are beyond me, and neither do I wish to indulge in them. The past is the past and I'm sure you had your reasons. All that I wish for is for your niece to continue her work in our movies, for movies is all I am. Not to dig up and debate the past."

And in its own funny little way, that was all completely true. That honor was reserved for others, not him.

That's when a predatory grin appeared on Doto's face. "Oh really? So you did not help bring in three Leaf Ninja to usurp my rule?"

A very dangerous question… and one that Makino had calculated for. The problem was any answer given to this man may not be good enough, no matter how convincing it might be. "I can certainly tell the truth when I say it was not my idea to do so. That falls to the late Asama Sandayuu. At his request, we hired some ninja to act as bodyguards, as our previous batch was… ineffective, to put it nicely. We were completely in the dark about his plans and intentions. And had I known, I would have put a stop to it. But since he was my subordinate and he caused trouble for you, I will accept full responsibility for it and am prepared to compensate you for it, however much it will be." He looked up at the man. "If I may be allowed to say that, in the end, those three youngsters were no match for your forces. While the loss of young life is always regrettable, no one can say it was unjust. They attacked the lawful rulers of this land and were dealt with accordingly."

"So you didn't help smuggle them into my castle?" Once again, a direct question that could offer very deadly results.

Makino gave another bow. "I consented to a full search by your ninja in charge. It was you that called them off, not me. We were perfectly willing to comply. We have nothing to hide. If such a thing is truly a concern for you, we will willingly submit to any new searches to appease your conscience."

Doto did not answer immediately. He did narrow his eyes as he went into deep thought about what was said. Did he believe Makino? Probably not. But could he prove otherwise? Not just yet. The game was how long the pretenses could be maintained. Doto gaining his money through legit means was certainly tempting for him as underhanded methods could be very much a pain. However, Doto was no fool either, so he would only go along with this for so long before deciding if he needed to take other steps.

The question was, how long would he be willing to wait?

Finally, Doto spoke. "How much can I expect from your movie should I support your venture?"

The director allowed a grin to appear on his face. Things were working out splendidly. Every minute he kept Doto occupied here was another minute the man was not looking anywhere else.

Black Fang Gate

"They're here!" several voices rang out from the castle battlements. Nadare looked up to see several shinobi and samurai looking down at them and informing their peers of their arrival. Efficiency was always a valued quality.

With Fubuki and Mizore at his side, the three of them ran up the solid stone wall to the top. Not even pausing to greet the guards stationed, the San Eihei calmly jumped down to the ground as the gatekeeper herself came over to greet them. "Welcome back, honored San Eihei."

"Sankaku-san," Nadare replied automatically as the four of them walked forward.

"I trust your search wasn't in vain?" the gatekeeper asked.

"Far from it…" Fubuki started, only for the three of them to a complete stop.

In front of them in the courtyard were a large number of vehicles they didn't recognize. "Sankaku, what are those?" Mizore demanded.

"Trucks, you idiot," Fubuki answered at once, grinning.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!"

Nadare rolled his eyes as he gestured for the gatekeeper to continue. "A short while ago, the movie producers for the Princess Gale series showed up, asking for shelter for the night. Even offered up a large sum of money for the effort."

All three of the Jonin froze on the spot. "… say that again…" Fubuki demanded, mirroring her teammates' thoughts.

Sankaku complied. "The movie producers for the Princess Gale movies are here."

Mizore exploded. "WHAT? They're here? Are you all nuts! They're clearly attempting to break out Koyuki and the Kyuubi!"

"Doto-sama approved it…" Sankaku stated quickly.

Mizore started stumbling over his own words as he tried to comprehend that statement. Fubuki just put her hand to her forehead. As the Profiteer started to protest again, Nadare cut him off with a gesture. "Tell me… did Doto tell you to forgo any inspections?"

Sankaku looked surprised. "Yes… he did. I even protested the same objections as Mizore-san and Doto-sama told me my concerns were unwarranted."

A smile appeared on Nadare's face. "I see. Allow the lambs to walk into the fox's den, eh?" He glanced back at his two teammates. "Let's carry on; we need not worry about these matters."

"What?" both of them uttered.

Simpletons, Nadare thought to himself. "Doto-sama clearly has the situation under control. Now…" He turned back to the castle proper. "Let's go… shopping."

Black Fang Castle, Grand Hall

Fifteen minutes later

The oak doors opened to allow Makino to enter. The grand hall was normally so deprived of usage that it was joked amongst the castle personnel that it was the gathering place for ghosts of Sousetsu and his servants. Tonight, however, it was brightly lit with roaring fires all alongside one side of the walls. Several long oak tables spanned the middle of the room, each one crammed with people feasting and enjoying themselves. At first, it was just the movie crew that was eating, with the walls lined with samurai and ninja looming over.

The movie crew numbered several hundred, so Doto was inclined to 'honor' the crew by having two hundred samurai be with them, insisting that they would be poor hosts if they didn't have an appropriate number to assist them. The Samurai had come in normal, comfortable clothes, ditching their armor, but everyone could see their katanas still strapped at their sides. In addition, three dozen shinobi were assigned as 'watchers' to make sure no 'fights' broke out, eight of them Jonin. So far, the banquet had been going on for nearly forty minutes.

Within the first ten minutes, the samurai and ninja were enjoying themselves just as much.

At the urging of the visitors, they slowly began mingling. They began accepting offers of food, sharing the wine and sake that was being served. Several of the guests even got up and offered their seats to their 'hosts', to which some of them awkwardly accepted. Pretty soon, the entire area was enjoying themselves. People were putting blankets or tablecloths on the ground to accommodate those standing. Jokes were tossed back and forth, resulting in laughter from both sides. Instruments were being played in all corners. Several of the actors and performers began putting on old skits in one corner of the room, much to the delight of the samurai. In another, Kaijo had set up a makeshift screen with a sheet and was showing clips of the next movie that had been compiled so far, which was proving quite popular with the shinobi in the room as they would cheer at moments of victory, cry at saddening departures such as Shishimaru's death scene, booing at the villain, and marveling at the special effects.

Several shinobi even started performing themselves, using their ninjutsu as amateurish magic tricks, and since most of the movie crew weren't used to ninja as it was, they enjoyed the fake-outs, tricks and turnabouts just as much as the Snow personnel were enjoying the movie crew's antics. Even the servants bringing in the food and drink soon gained small smiles on their faces from all the fun going around.

And of course, several cameras were set up to immortalize such a festive bonding experience.

"The thing is, most people in this world won't attack without a reason, even in this country. We're movie producers; that's what people see foremost, and that means we're no threat. So we keep our noses clean and don't do anything suspicious: we stay in the open where all can see, with no weapons or intents of hostility, and defer to locals. And for the truly unreasonable, money is the universal language… and I have plenty of it."

That wasn't to say the festive mood was entirely set. Many of the senior members of the samurai, being pure professionals, stayed at their stations, watching things like overbearing hawks (though a few did drum their fingers against their arms at the music playing). Likewise, while the Jonins allowed their Chunin members to indulge, they did not. They walked through the crowds of people, mimicking the appearance of stone gargoyles ready to swoop in. Armored gargoyles.

The movie crew had their own hidden agendas as well. They would casually switch cups around, giving stronger dosages to their hosts, stuffing the ninja with as much food as possible. Some of the ninja even began nodding off from all the festivities.

In one part of the room was a gathering of animals that represented mythology from another country across the sea, referred to as a 'zodiac'. Each animal was a full body suit, with a hole to allow their faces to shine through covered with thick makeup. They would perform a small skit that involved the animals divided into two warring factions, one led by a Tiger and the other a Dragon. The pig and rooster served as the scapegoats and were constantly getting batted around in order to serve the greater needs, resulting in having to work together to accomplish their tasks, eventually leading the two sides to end hostilities.

By joining together and bossing around the pig and rooster in joint tasks.

At the end of the third of these performances, the rooster and pig waddled off to one corner of the room at Makino's beckon while the samurai and ninja applauded. As they settled for a breather, several of the movie crew just happened to get around them, concealing them, while at the same time the music numbers increased, making it harder to hear.

The rooster reached up and took off its head, revealing a raven-haired shinobi. He had thick golden makeup smeared all over his face with white eyeliner. "I swear… if I have to do one more of those stupid skits…"

"Stop whining," the pig replied, taking off its head to reveal a pink-haired girl. Her face was a mixture of red and pink makeup expertly complimenting each other all over. "I don't like this any more than you do. At least you weren't the rat. Chicken isn't that bad." I'll never be able to call Ino a pig again…

"I'm a rooster," Sasuke uttered, annoyed. He was in no way EVER going to be associated with a chicken. He was going to scrape out whatever dignity he could retain in this.

The disguises, like everything else, had been that bastard's suggestion. The idea was to hide in plain sight. With the costumes, they could hide most of their physique from prying eyes, as well as remain in their shinobi clothes for when they were ready to act. A little 'padding' to the suits to make them seem bigger than they actually were and tons of makeup were applied that nearly obscured their faces to anyone that didn't readily know them. All the more so when the ninja would be looking for chakra signatures indicating a Henge or other tricks, not party costumes. Makino had insisted the play cover would work since their roles were ones of servitude; they were always told what to do and merely had to act accordingly.

"Now, now. The Tiger and Dragon were the lead roles, you two wouldn't have a clue what to do as them," Makino said, leaning on the wall next to them. "You shouldn't be so critical on the lesser members of the Zodiac. It's not just the strongest like the Tiger or the Dragon that matter; each of them are unique and with their own merits. The rooster exhibits qualities of being acute, neat, organized, self-assured, and decisive. They are among the group that are considered geniuses in the art of meticulous planning. The pig is honest, gallant, sturdy, sociable, peace-loving, patient and loyal. The pigs are part of the group associated as the fine artists in their love-making." He gave a huge exaggerated wink at the two. "Sound like anyone you two know?"

Both Konoha nin just mentally grumbled to themselves about that. Sasuke recovered first. "Even if we were to accept all that rubbish, even if we couldn't be a tiger or dragon, why couldn't we be something a little more dignified, like a horse or a dog?"

"Because this way was a whole lot more fun for me," Makino announced, positively beaming as he chuckled lightly behind his hand.

A vein narrowly popped in Sasuke's forehead. I'M GONNA KILL YOU!

At that moment, Ken made his way through the human wall obscuring the group. The actor gave a nod to the director, who returned it. "Alright, on to business. We've got Doto and his men distracted for now. And thanks to Ken, we've got the next piece we need."

Ken reached into his coat and pulled out a napkin. Scribbled on it was a diagram of the castle and the surrounding installations. "We've got a map now."

It took both genin several long moments to recover their voices. "How did you get something like that so easily?" Sakura managed to choke out.

"One doesn't have to be a shinobi to know a few skills," Ken told her. "Before becoming an actor, I was part of the Fire Daimyou's personal guard. I served as a lookout along the border. I learned quite a bit of intelligence work in my duties… especially during times when I had to… venture across the border to learn things."

"You were a spy?" Sasuke asked.

"I prefer the term foreign scout," Ken replied smoothly.

"… and you were allowed to leave the service?" Sakura asked, eyebrow rising in suspicion.

"Let's just say it was a bumpy road. But that's not important. What is important is that I learned how to get information even from the vaguest of sources." He waved a hand around. "Take a look around. People happy, engaging in conversation, their guards lowered. Including people that work here."

Sasuke was hoping he didn't hear that right. "Are you honestly telling us that the shinobi just willingly told you what the layout was like?"

Ken shook a finger at the raven-haired boy. "Of course not. It was just casual conversation and even that is useful. 'Down the hall', 'stables on the right', 'other side of the castle'. Get enough and even simple statements like these will allow you to complete a picture." He beckoned at the conversing production crew. "And we have a lot of casual conversation going on."

Sasuke breathed out as he took the napkin. This, combined with the information they gained from the ambushed Loyalist, gave them very fine details about the place. For one, their map was nearly perfect. They now knew the location of the prisons underneath the palace.

"Now for some numbers," Ken went on. "You two confirmed that there were about a hundred Loyalist ninja gathered here, so we have a third of their ninja preoccupied. We've also learned that there are approximately seven hundred samurai here and Doto has generously stationed two sevenths of them in this very room."

"What about the servants?" Makino asked. "They often watch and hear things more accurately than soldiers."

"That's harder to determine," Ken admitted. "All we've gotten is 'a few dozen', but given the number of personnel we have confirmed with the samurai and ninja alone, I imagine they would have to number close to five hundred."

"We'll just have to deal with it," Makino said, giving a small sigh. "We've got a lot of focus on us in the room here like we wanted, so the rest of the castle's security is that much weaker. Still, they'd be fools to not account for that, but we're in no position to turn down what advantages we can get."

"Then me and Sakura need to get started," Sasuke said, with his teammate giving a nod.

Ken already held out a hand. "In a moment. I think I found something that might give you two the helping hand you need." He reached into his coat again and pulled out a handful of brown pills. Sakura thought they looked vaguely like soldier pills, but they were more angular than the ones she had seen before.

"Soldier pills?" Sasuke asked.

"Something like that," Ken said, looking pleased with himself. "I managed to pickpocket these little babies. I didn't catch their official name, but from what I'm told, it's a more refined version of the soldier pills. If you take one, you'll recover enough chakra and stamina to allow you to fight at full strength for days. Though the downside is once it wears off… well… it's not going to be all so pleasant…"

Sasuke and Sakura looked at the pills in his hand, knowing that if what he said was true, then that could be the answer to their prayers. True, they still couldn't take on all the castle personnel alone, but at least they would have a fighting chance. Still, neither one took them. Ken just admitted that he had pickpocketed them and casual conversation was not enough to guarantee what he said they were. They could be just some local drugs. Both of them looked at each other, wondering if they dared to try them.

Ken saw the look in their eyes and reached out for a pill himself… only to be beaten by Makino who swallowed it without the least bit of hesitation, much to Sasuke, Sakura AND Ken's utter shock.

"Hmm…" Makino said looking in thought. "Coffee flavored. Imagine that… though with a touch of mint and maple in it." He smacked his lips a couple of times. "Concentrations of kingsfoil in it, which helps ease the muscles for the rapid energy boost… some aspects of shimmerweed… that helps speed up the chakra process a bit more than the typical soldier pill… oh… a blended mixture from the silmaril tree… that's the tree that makes those chakra papers to test one's affinity and…"

"Director, we really don't have time for this," Ken interrupted, looking at the pills in his hands. His eyes scanned the crowds and so far, their human wall was still working.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. Got carried away," he insisted casually. He looked back at the two teenagers and gave them a nod. "They're safe for you."

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke were able to utter a reply, but they divided Ken's pills between them. Taking one last look at each other, they popped them down their throats.

The effects were instantaneous. They could feel their chakra levels rapidly restoring themselves to their full potential. Their tired muscles began loosening up, their senses returning to their prime, their heartbeats losing their anxiety. Both teens looked over themselves, marveling in what they were experiencing. "Incredible…" Sasuke said softly to himself, opening and closing his hands.

"I haven't felt this good since we got on the boat," Sakura added.

Makino gave a nod. "Are you both ready then?"

"I am," Sasuke answered quickly as he looked at his female teammate. "You?"

"As ready as I'm going to be." With that, she reached inside her costume and pulled out a few bags of what looked like black pepper.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Sasuke asked.

The others could see the same question was mirrored in the girl's own eyes. "As sure as I can be. Shizune covered this and a few other poisons in her introductory. I'm certain I got the composition right, it's just not as powerful as later ones she was going to show us. This will be quick acting, easy for the eye to glance over. Anyone who takes this will be out of commission for the rest of the night and suffer damage to their motor skills on the off chance they do wake up."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Shizune? When did Sakura ever meet with Shizune? Wasn't she teaching those Combat Life Saver classes? Before he could inquire further, Makino reached out and took the bag from the girl. "This is what you're going to use? Sorry, young lady," he said, putting it in his jacket. "Far too amateurish."

Sakura's face flushed a little, that familiar angry gaze in her eyes returning. In a harsh whisper, she said, "So I'm amateur… big deal… it's all we've got and we need every…" That's when Makino shoved another bag in her face, this one seemingly empty. "… advantage…?"

"Use this. It'll be far more effective," the director told her. "It's a powerful sleeping potion. A tiny lick on any of these little babies will make a grown man sleep for a week. These you can barely see at all and the best part is that it's made of all natural ingredients that'll disappear in a few short hours after ingestion. This will make those ninja and samurai appear more natural since they'll appear to just be passing out from the excitement, rather than like people being conked on the head like your poison will do. Plus, it'll be on the safe side should any of our crew get the cups by mistake."

Sakura's jaw just lowered. Sasuke's guard went up. Acting swiftly, he flashed the Sharingan for a few seconds and looked at Makino hard…

… and detected no deception at all. No genjutsu, seal or anything…

Makino just seemed oblivious to Sasuke's venture as he looked at Ken, who gave a nod. He slowly walked backwards, mixing back into the human wall. Across the room, Michy got the message as he and Hidero walked towards the middle of the room, pulling out some sticks between them. At the same time, two more of the movie crew slowly stepped back towards the trio. "Now, time for the next part: our two volunteers will take your places in the skit. With their build, they'll match you perfectly. No one will ever notice you two switched out. Henge yourself and make your way out, putting as many as you can. Henges won't fool ninja for long, but that doesn't mean they'll fail immediately. So…" he trailed off when he realized that the two ninja were just staring at him, their mouths hanging open. "What…? Something wrong?"

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.

"Blackmailing a Kage… outmaneuvering Jonin assassins…" Sasuke started.

Both of them jumped nearly a foot into the air at the voice. They spun around as Sasuke got into a defensive stance using Sekken while Sakura hurled two shuriken at the speaker.

Makino calmly caught the projectiles with his pipe, twirling them around like a child. "Now, now, you should be more careful with your toys, Sakura."

As he spoke, both Sasuke and Sakura noticed that as they walked, Makino was seemingly uninterested in what way he was going. That's when they realized that Makino's footsteps didn't leave any impressions in the snow and he expertly avoided any obstacle in his path, from tree branches, to bushes, to even small animal droppings that escaped the shinobi's notice.

"Expertly catching my shuriken with a pipe… no footprints in the snow…" Sakura continued the list. "You planned this operation like a military general… you have professional experience with soldier pills… and even poisons and sleep potions…"

"No amount of civilian experience would give you these 'skills' and 'luck,'" Sasuke said, finishing up. This guy was making Kakashi's repertoire look obsolete! "Who ARE you?"

At that Makino merely chuckled under his breath as he lowered his hat over his eyes, while at the same moment, Michy and Hidero put the sticks on fire, juggling them back and forth.

"Who am I, you ask? Perhaps you're expecting some grand revelation. There is no great mystery, no special origins, no deep secret. I am who I've always been: Makino, director of the successful Princess Gale film series. I had parents like everyone, went to school, pursued a career. I have never had instruction from a shinobi and rarely interact with them. Now, you have about three minutes to do your work and get out of this room, thirty seconds of which you'll need to change with the people behind you. You have a princess and a friend to save and a dictator to bring down, so Godspeed to you both."

8:00 pm

Black Fang Castle Control Room

Doto was NOT happy.

He stood behind the four shinobi working on his security systems. Three of them sat at the control system, their eyes glued to the screens. Two of these Chunin were entirely focused on the little 'party' going on in the Grand Hall (one of the party, the other watching the exits). The third one was constantly flipping through the hallway corridors just in case someone had made it out. But of course, without a detailed knowledge of his castle's layout, anyone who did manage to get out would have been caught quickly. Still… just in case, this man was watching.

The fourth and final one was monitoring the equipment itself, making sure nothing broke down or had been tampered with. He was also in charge of the radio to alert any guards of intrusions. It was all perfect, everything working as it should be…

EXCEPT NOTHING WAS HAPPENING!

Doto was a patient man. He would not have come to power otherwise. He could wait years if need be to accomplish his goals. But a key part to his patience was his ability to monitor and outmaneuver his opposition… and in this case, nothing seemed suspicious. Nothing seemed out of place! Everything was going exactly like the old man had said…

That old man could NOT have possibly been telling the truth! He was most definitely helping the last two brats!

So why hadn't they found anything out?

This was frustrating! What was their plan? He had been certain that the movie crew had smuggled in the last two Leaf Ninja. Had he been wrong? Were they just a decoy? Were the two kids coming a different way while this old wrinkled bastard kept him occupied? Even if that was the case, they wouldn't be stupid enough to come to his castle without information, which they would have to be inside to get in from the outside! It was like one of those stupid zen riddles!

"Have the outposts reported any disturbances?" Doto asked the Chunin in charge of the communications.

"Nothing, Doto-sama," the ninja replied.

Doto clenched his teeth in anger as he slammed his fist on the table. He had expected the ruse to be blown within the first fifteen minutes.

This had been going on for nearly NINETY MINUTES!

Calming himself, he turned back to the screens monitoring the party in the grand hall. His eyes looked over the ninja and samurai that were merely playing along, many of them sleeping on the ground. He expected this to happen, which is why he assigned men who would be easily swayed by the events. He had done this for two reasons: The first was to make as much racket as possible and 'accidently' blow any disguises – chakra-implanted or otherwise – and expose the two children. The second was because the real eyes were watching from this room and the troops surrounding the grand hall.

His mind drifted towards his own contingency plan. One of the Snow Village's secret jutsu was Zettai Hitoku. Absolute Concealment. With it, they had planted exploding tags in anything from the walls to the dishes the fools were using in the grand hall. They were virtually impossible to detect, and even harder to plant them. Even the legendary Rinnegan, if it ever truly existed, wouldn't be able to pinpoint any of these sleeping bombs. Whether you were planting them or extracting them, you had to know the jutsu exactly. You couldn't be off by so much as an ant's whisker.

And he could detonate them any time he wished and the most that it would cost him was a ruined grand hallway, which he barely used anyway. And if any of his forces also got caught in the blasts… well, it would be their own faults, wouldn't it? That was what you got for relaxing your guard around the enemy. They would be able to avoid it if they kept their wits about them.

As much as he wanted to just blow them now and be done with it, it wouldn't help. He had to find out where those last two brats were. His eyes darted over to the cells holding his niece and the Kyuubi brat. Both were still accounted for.

Looking at them gave him another thought. Maybe he should put some pressure on the group. Force them to act rather than giving them time. What if he announced Koyuki's immediate execution? That would surely draw out the Leaf Ninja, exploiting their loyalty and bonds they so loved to preach about. He then frowned. If he did that, he would be forced to act on it, and he wasn't quite done with the girl yet. And depending on these two, they might view their teammate more valuable than their client and let the girl die so they could get the boy… all the more so given he was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the Bijuu! Clearly the Leaf Ninja would value the demon more so than a commonplace princess, and rightly so.

What of the Kyuubi boy himself? Announcing his execution would be a more natural move. And his teammates didn't know he'd uncovered the blond brat's little secret, so they would be hard pressed to come, whether they liked it or not. And his would be easier to handle than his niece's… and easier to fake. Although… he wasn't keen on the idea of letting the freak out of its cage. He was probably waiting for such an opening to make an escape attempt; and from the boy's record that he heard from Orochimaru, that was an opening Doto wasn't willing to give. True, he had the chakra restraint device on him, but he hadn't yet broken the boy's spirit. He would not make the mistake of underestimating him, unlike other fools.

Koyuki or Kyuubi? Princess or Demon? He couldn't take too much time on his decision. He looked at the screens once again. Thirty minutes, he decided. He would ponder it and be ready within thirty minutes. In the meantime… "What is Akufu's status?"

The man reached for the radio and contacted the old woman in her lab. "She's studying the seal on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, sir. Apparently this Four Element Seal is far more complex than she suspected and it's taking a lot of time to fully comprehend it."

"Tell her to take a break and visit our guests in the Grand Hall."

"Hai, Doto-sama."

The San Eihei were still busy with their business, so Akufu would be the next best choice. Having her appear in the room would put that bastard's little group even more on edge… and Akufu wouldn't be very kind as she ventured around sniffing for trouble.

As he was about to leave, his eyes glanced once more at the many screens. Specifically one of the centermost ones. He watched the white-haired, old wrinkled bastard giving a toast for the entire hall about the partnership of the two groups and their joint ventures in the future as the entire room gave a cheer.

The man was good. Too good. There was far too much cunning in that old fossil. For the briefest moment, he wondered if he might really be…

At that he shook his head. No, it was stupid. That man was dead. Dead to a fluke accident that still pissed Nadare off. It couldn't be the Copy Nin.

"When the shit hits the fan," Doto said to himself as he walked out. "I'm taking you out first, you old fool."

Only thirty minutes to go…

Palace Grounds

Six minutes later…

Sasuke and Sakura

Sticking to the shadows of the blacksmith to the best of their stealth abilities, both Genin quickly moved along the edge, trying to avoid any prying eyes. Sasuke peeked around the corner, his Sharingan flashing to life. He held up a fist, freezing Sakura's slow advance behind him, as he watched the men move about… then motioned the pink-haired girl to continue.

Without a word, Sakura headed around the corner with Sasuke closely following her, trusting her to watch their front as she trusted him to watch their backs as they headed to one of the stables.

This was perhaps the hardest part of the plan: planting traps around key facilities of the castle.

After their switch with their doubles in the little skit, Michy and Hidero providing an ample sight to be watched, they henged and managed to sneak through the applauding crowd. As they made their way out, they managed to plant Makino's sleep potion into many of the ninja and samurai's drinks, though as it stood, many of those were already ready to pass out from the strong drinks they had been taking as it was, but the genin weren't complaining.

Makino had timed their departure perfectly as another round of servants entered the room to bring new food and drink as well as clear out old dishes. Having to rely on their own skills to successfully get out of the room, they grabbed some empty cups and plates and re-Henged themselves into servants, trailing the real ones as they left the room, counting on the fact that due to the manic atmosphere, none of the servants or shinobi outside would notice two more servants leaving.

As they trailed the chatting men and women to the kitchen, Sasuke and Sakura were mentally memorizing the route they were going and comparing it to the map that Ken had managed to put together.

The plan was for them to leave through the kitchen exit rather than the main one. They were counting on the fact that Doto's forces would play on the genins' ignorance of not knowing this route. Once there, they would make their way around the castle and plant what remaining explosive notes they had left. As such, they prioritized their targets. The foremost areas were the gathered enemies in the grand hall, to neutralize as many as possible, and the armory, where much of the castle's weapons were stored, and blow it to hell.

The second priority targets were the blacksmith, the landing pad, the two stables, and finally, assuming everything went well, sneak into the samurai quarters and try neutralizing as many as possible that were still in there. From what sketchy information they had, that was about a quarter of them.

They would exit through the kitchen and proceed in a clockwise fashion, hitting each building as they went along and ultimately making their way to the armory. Unfortunately, they had no idea what security was like out here. For one thing, they ended up avoiding the landing pad for Doto's blimp altogether due to the number of ninja and samurai still on guard around it. The blacksmith was very lightly guarded, much to their surprise, and succeeded in planting several explosive notes on it. And now they were making their way to the first of the stables.

Doing another quick Sharingan scan, the Uchiha gave the girl a nod as she went in, while he stationed himself in the shadows, watching and looking. The animals quickly noticed the girl sneaking in and she froze on the spot. Several seconds passed with only the sound of Sakura's heart thumping against her chest.

Finally, the animals seemed to lose interest. Moving carefully, Sakura began untying them, slightly opening the stalls while she planted some more explosive notes; not on structural points, but in areas that would spook the animals and make them run into the courtyard, requiring the personnel available to deal with them.

Hearing a rapid knock behind her, Sakura turned to see Sasuke's hand beckoning her to come back. Nodding to herself in understanding, she made her way back to the entrance, pausing only long enough to plant one more bomb on the door.

Two minutes later

Black Fang Castle Control Room

Fukurou had to rub his eyes as he looked away from the screens. He had been doing nothing but stare at these damn things for what felt like days, but in reality it had only been a few brief hours.

He was beginning to wonder if Doto had been wrong. It wouldn't be the first time the man had done something wrong; he was only human, after all. Plus it made more sense for these movie people to be trying what the old director claimed: Just trying to reclaim their prized actress rather than some big breakout.

Absentmindedly, he turned to another monitor and rewound it to an earlier point, looking over that little animal skit again. He found it pretty fun to watch and even chuckled at several points, especially when that chicken and pig were constantly kicked around and…

… wait a second…

He paused the screen at once. Turning a few more controls, he zoomed in on the faces of the two animals. The makeup on their faces was professional as ever but something was off… and he couldn't place it. Turning to another monitor, he pulled up an earlier performance. Pausing it, he focused in on the chicken and pig once more.

They weren't the same.

They were remarkably close, but there were subtle differences. The dimensions of these individuals were off. The first pair was more plump and roundabout; the second was slightly more rigid and lean, especially on their faces once you were able to look past the heavy makeup.

Instantly on guard, he alerted the other three to what he found. Just as he did, they instantly went from bored observers to careful analyzers. Noting the time stamp, they began re-watching the screens from that time point onward. Fukurou's eyes darted over the screen, now giving the task one hundred and ten percent of his attention, since if what he suspected was true… then he was going to be in very deep shit here. He continued watching, noticing the servants going out and got a sinking feeling in his stomach. As they left, he counted them off. Thirty-eight total.

Rewinding the video to when they entered, he counted them again: Thirty-six.

His eyes went wide at the revelation. A second later, someone else called out that they found something. Looking at the kitchen camera, the man had frozen a split screen frame.

A flash of pink hair.

"Uh oh…" the four ninja said together, realizing exactly what this meant.

Black Fang Castle Square

Sasuke

Sasuke and Sakura quietly crept across the castle square. This was the area they were most worried about since there was no cover out here, but using a combination of Henges and the coming darkness of night, they were reasonably confident they would be able to get across undetected. All the more so when it was just samurai they needed to trick.

It was times like this that Sasuke wished Naruto was with them. He was the real stealth expert among the group and his prankster mind would have been a real asset in all these sabotage efforts. Still, if all went well, they'd be able to break Naruto and Koyuki out of the prison cells and…

He stopped in mid-thought as he looked again at the guards present. The samurai guarding the palace doors were suddenly moving. They appeared to just be a guard change and he almost dismissed it. What stopped him from doing so was the fact he suddenly noticed many other guards moving now. Guards on the wall were now looking inward to the castle rather than glancing outward as they had been doing. Some were also making their way to the stables and blacksmith.

Picking up his pace slightly, he got side by side with his teammate. "They know," he whispered into her ear.

The girl's eyes shot open wide, but to her credit she managed to keep herself from frantically looking around. Resorting to slight turns of her head to look at things from the corner and confirmed what Sasuke suspected. She didn't look sad, start shaking, or go pale.

She just nodded.

The samurai were marching towards them, nearly twenty of them. Knowing he only had seconds, he whispered to Sakura what to do next. He didn't add to the fact that they were only half done with their efforts, and with the enemy now aware of their presence, how things were going to end. "Let's go out with a bang."

"I've got no regrets," the girl responded, giving him a slight smile. "I'm glad to have met you, Uchiha Sasuke."

"The honor is mine, Haruno Sakura."

The samurai continued marching towards their direction, actively reaching for their weapons and throwing 'pretense' out the window. Several other groups were almost at the other buildings as they both began forming seals.

"NOW!"

Dropping both the Henges at the same time, Sakura spun around towards the incoming men. "Haruno Sakura no Jutsu!"

The samurai suddenly found themselves immersed in a field of cherry trees in full bloom. The fragrance of the 'flowers' calmed them immensely, causing them to loosen their grips on their weapons. At the same instance, Sasuke turned in the direction of the armory and shouted "Katon: Karyuu Kyuuzou!"

The fire dragon erupted from his mouth and hit the southwestern portion of the armory. It must have hit some stored bombs because it exploded in a violent fury, illuminating the immediate area and nearly shattering peoples' eardrums. The snow around the building was either blown away from the force of the explosion or simply evaporated, revealing the gray earth underneath. When it started to clear, the armory was still mostly intact, but now sporting a large ugly hole on its side.

Snow's reactions were immediate. Publicly abandoning pretenses, spotlights switched on, landing on the two Konoha shinobi. Samurai and ninja from the eastern and western sides immediately began running towards them, while the ones heading to the buildings picked up their pace right as Sakura and Sasuke went back to back, each of them making the Tiger handseal.

Throughout Doto's fortress, a series of more explosions followed. The blacksmith exploded in a smaller, but no less brilliant explosion. The stable doors were flung wide open as it began collapsing. The animals within it were running out like mad and scattering all over the place. Several of the men that had been close enough to the buildings to disarm the bombs were blown into the air, flailing around like ragdolls as they crashed back to the ground.

From the barracks, more and more Samurai were flooding out from the building towards the disturbances. Many began heading to the three attacked buildings, pulling out hoses and trying to contain the fires while others attempted to round up the panicking animals and get them back under control. The shinobi themselves started running towards the two genin, who were heading towards the palace doors themselves, running down the hypnotized samurai, knocking them down like a bowler who just got a strike.

Sasuke and Sakura brought their hands together, each of them forming the Faiatama and merging them, with Sasuke controlling the Katon aspects and Sakura using her top-notch quality chakra control to stabilize it. It grew large, nearly four times its standard size and power. Together, they threw their arms back and then flung the giant Faiatama at the palace doors, blowing them apart.

Smirking to themselves, they ran inside with several Snow Ninja in hot pursuit.

Black Fang Castle Control Room

"YOU IDIOTS!" Doto's voice rang through the control room speaker. "HOW COULD YOU MISS THEM FOR THIS LONG? ACTIVATE THE EXPLOSIVES!" When no reply came, he shouted again. "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? I SAID BLOW THAT DIRECTOR AND HIS LITTLE PARTY TO HELL!" Nothing came again and the man's anger was almost visible. "YOU WORTHLESS PEONS, YOU BETTER DO IT NOW OR I WILL RIP YOUR SKULLS FROM YOUR HEADS!" No response came again. "YOU BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW OR – " At this moment, Fukurou's lifeless body landed on the control panel, blood spilling all over the controls and drowning out Doto's raging voice.

In the room, the other three shinobi were equally dead, two of them just as broken as Fukurou, the last of them being held in the air with a large hole in his chest. After several seconds, the corpse dropped to the floor as a fifth figure grinned to himself, walking to the control panel and licking his lips.

"My apologies, Doto-sama ," Bakeru said, his form shifting again to Fukurou as he took a seat. "It's nothing personal, but I…" He rubbed his throat a few times. "… need a little more chaos," Bakeru finished, now speaking in Fukurou's voice perfectly.

Turning off the speaker to Doto, the shapeshifter looked at the cameras showing the two genin running down the hallways. He flipped a switch to another channel. "Team Zeta. There is a disturbance in the north wing of the castle. Investigate at once."

"Got it, Fukurou-san," came a reply.

Flipping to another channel, he spoke again. "Team Theta, the intruders are heading to the east side towards Doto's personal chambers. You must intercept them!" He switched to another channel. "Team Epsilon, the genin are heading to the Warlord's chambers…"

Cell Block

Koyuki looked around in curiosity. Nothing seemed to be happening, but she could have sworn that she heard an explosion earlier and the area did seem to shake slightly. Had something happened?

As if to answer her silent questions, two Snow Shinobi came running down the hallway towards their cells. When they saw she was still in her cell, they looked relieved.

Until they turned around and saw their other prisoner lying on the ground.

"What happened?" one of them asked her immediately.

Koyuki gave an indifferent shrug. "With him? He managed to break out of the chain earlier and tried to escape. He just kept ramming the bars over and over despite them zapping him every time. Just shows why fools who don't give up are true idiots. He hasn't moved in over an hour."

The two shinobi paled immediately and Koyuki knew why. She could just imagine Doto's reaction to hearing his prized 'weapon' suddenly died and these two would pay with their lives if it was true. They ripped off the paper seal on the lock and opened the cell, running inside to examine the boy.

And that's when Naruto snapped his head around, a predatory grin on his face that would had made the Kyuubi proud.

Two seconds later – one second per shinobi – the two guards were sprawled down on the floor seeing stars as Naruto got up, casually wiping the dust from his jacket. "NEVER underestimate a ninja! Especially ME!"

Despite herself, Koyuki couldn't help but give a small smile.

The boy knelt down and took one of the ninja's kunai pouches, strapping it to his leg. Walking out of his cell, he examined the lock to Koyuki's door.

"You'll need this."

Both of them whipped their heads around as a golden key landed at Naruto's feet. Standing not five meters away was a third Snow Shinobi. He looked like any other Chunin-level Snow Ninja, though they noticed the silver insignia that labeled him as a Loyalist.

"What's your game?" Naruto asked suspicious, casually glancing down at the key then the man.

"There's no trick on that key if that's what you're asking," the Snow nin insisted, holding his hands in the air showing that they were empty. "If you like, I can do it for you with you watching me."

Koyuki watched the boy move his nose a few times, no doubt sniffing to see if there were more hiding somewhere. He must have discovered none because he silently bent down and grabbed the key. Keeping his singular eye on the man, he put the key in her cell's lock and turned it.

To both of their surprise, it clicked and the door swung open.

At the sight, the man took a few steps towards the two, then knelt on the ground. "Kazahana Koyuki-hime, I vastly apologize for my lateness in securing your release, but I had no opportunity until now."

"Opportunity?" Koyuki replied, walking out and staying behind Naruto. "Who are you?"

"The remaining two Leaf Genin are attacking the castle as we speak," the man replied as he reached into his vest pocket and took out a small item, putting it on the ground before removing his hood and face mask.

The item was a golden insignia inscribed with a steel fist.

"My name is Enrai Hisomu, your highness. I am the last of the Saati Koukennin."

Both of them just looked at the man. They couldn't believe what they were hearing, that someone was actually claiming to be one of the Guardians despite all reports saying they were dead.

They also couldn't pry their eyes off his left ear, which was missing its lower half.


(Author's Note) And so the Climax has started! The chips are down, the sides are exposed and things are on the move from many sides! Get ready for a ride because we're running this to the end!

Nothing really much to say here, I think the actions in the chapter speak for themselves. Hopefully the plans and actions on both Doto and Makino's part came off as natural and if anyone feels that they were contrived or anything, all I can say is that no one's perfect and I hope you were entertained even if you didn't agree with how I went about things.

Bonus points for anyone who can remember which character in this story has the sliced off ear!

Zodiac information comes from Wikipedia. For the record, I'm a Tiger ^_^

Paintball Gamer: And I'm a Dragon!

I also provided a diagram on Sasuke and Sakura's battle plan on my deviantart account for anyone who wants clarification on it. Link is on my bio page.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Zettai Hitoku - Absolute Concealment/ A secret technique of the Hidden Snow Village. It allows one to implant objects inside of another, resulting in it being virtually undetectable. Precision is the absolute key to this jutsu, or else it will fail. Small items such as explosive notes are ideal, but bigger items are possible, though the bigger they are, the more difficult it is to successful implant. Living organisms cannot be used. The concealed item takes on the exact circumstances of whatever it is embedded in, making it impossible to detect unless one knows this technique and have accurate knowledge of where the item is. (High A-Class Ninjutsu) (Hidden Snow Village)

Zettai – Absolute
Hitoku – Concealment
Muryou – free
Ototaru – to be off guard
Fukurou - owl
Hisomu – to be hidden

I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemicus created that are used in this story belong to him. Big thanks to Tellemicus Sundance and Paintball-Gamer for beta reading this!