I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
The Last Time
Naruto stepped into the village just in time to catch a very interesting exchange between Jiraiya and Tsunade, who seemed to be turning into Naruto's saving grace.
"What the Hell do you mean it has to be him?" Jiraiya shouted.
"They specifically asked for Kakashi and his team," Tsunade stated. "I'm sorry but he has to go on this mission."
"No!" Jiraiya shouted.
"It's not your decision," Tsunade stated.
"Fine," Jiraiya growled. "But this is the last fucking time. I will not put it off again. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Tsunade nodded.
Naruto walked past grinning happily and began heading toward his house to see his mother since he hadn't seen her in over a week. as he was nearing his house, however, a bright white horse leapt over a nearby fence and charged past, the rider wearing a green robe over a loose pink shirt, light blue pants, pink shoes with pointed toes, and her long blue hair in a ponytail tied with a length of gold string. Naruto instantly recognized her as the actress that plaid Princess Gale in whatever movie it was that he and his mother had watched a while ago. In all honesty, the movie banked on fanboys thinking she was hot, fangirls thinking that the actor playing Tsukuyaku was hot, and the rest of the audience liking seeing things get blown up. Either way, Naruto liked it for the death and destruction, and Kushina liked it for the death and destruction, and the scene of Tsukuyaku working out then fighting shirtless. Naruto admitted that the actress was quite attractive but he was far from being able to be called a fanboy. Still, an actress being less than ten feet from him was enough to get him staring. At least until a squad of fifteen or so brown horses being ridden in the same black suits of armor with wide conical helmets, face masks, and black sashes around their waists tied by strips of green cloth jumped over the wall and charged after him. Naruto grinned and sprinted after them jumping and landing on a horse behind the rear most soldier then knocked him out and made quick work of the rest of the soldiers as more poured out of the side streets pursued by Lee, Sakura, and Tenten.
"Isn't that Princess Gale's actress?" Sakura called as Naruto rode along standing on the back of a horse.
"Yes," Naruto nodded. "Who's he?"
He pointed to an older man with grey hair and gotee, small round glasses, and a dark brown cloak shouting for the soldiers to catch the actress.
"No clue," Sakura shrugged. "Want to help him?"
"More of a workout to help her," Tenten grinned.
"I'm going to say hello to the actress," Naruto grinned. "See you."
He began jumping from soldier to soldier, bouncing off their heads like stepping stones until he landed on the back of the actress's horse sitting back to her.
"Hello," Naruto greeted. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"Get off my horse!" the actress shouted.
"Why?" Naruto questioned. "What could a bunch of actors do?"
"Just get away from me!" She shouted.
Naruto looked back as saw that they were running through a courtyard where the others finished off the soldiers and the older man, knocking them all out and tying them up. Naruto simply waved goodbye as he and the actress left the city.
"Why are you still here?" the actress screamed.
"Because I want to know why you're running from them," Naruto stated simply.
"If I tell you will you leave me alone?" the actress questioned.
"Well, maybe if you give me an autograph for a friend of mine," Naruto stated knowing that Lee had a massive nerd crush on the actress.
"No," she said simply before jumping her horse over a fence with a beam over it. She ducked but Naruto didn't see it coming and it slammed into the back of his head, knocking him off of the horse.
"Ow," Naruto groaned. "That wasn't nice. I just wanted an autograph."
He stood and teleported back to a seal he had placed on the horse and tapped her on the shoulder, tagging her as well.
"I figured that wouldn't keep you gone," the actress sighed.
"Autograph and I'm out of your hair," Naruto said simply.
"No!" she shouted.
"Then at least tell me why you're running away," he requested.
She turned to look at him, fidgeting with her earring before a cloud of pepper spray shot out hitting him in the face and making him fall off the horse backward. He landed hard, blinking the pain away just as Kakashi appeared beside him.
"That man you and the others assaulted, was our client," Kakashi stated. "Come on. We've got to apologize."
"What about her?" Naruto questioned.
"Did you tag her?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yes," Naruto stated.
"Then you can find her later," Kakashi stated simply. "Let's go."
Naruto sighed and nodded and followed him through the village to a small building where the older man and several men wearing pieces of the armor the horsemen had been wearing were sitting around nursing bruises. Kakashi walked over to the older man and began to apologize while the others stood around looking guilty.
"Nice job with the actors," Naruto grinned. "I'll give you a call when movies become illegal."
"You did the same thing," Tenten pointed out.
Naruto shrugged and walked over to Kakashi and the older man who Kakashi was addressing as Sandayu Asama.
"Her name is Yukie Fujikaze," Sandayu stated. "She's been running away ever since she learned that we were shooting the next movie in the Land of Snow."
"Sounds like she doesn't want to go," Naruto grinned. "Naruto Uzumaki. Pleasure to meet you."
"Sandayu Asama," He said shaking Naruto's offered hand. "You're not joking about her not wanting to go."
"Land of Snow doesn't sound like such a bad place," Sakura spoke up.
"It's always winter," Naruto stated. "The highest temperature it's been was about twenty five degrees Fahrenheit."
"Nevermind," Sakura said.
"It's not really called the Land of Snow," said Tsukuyaku's actor walking up behind Sakura and making both her and Tenten turn crimson, both recognizing his voice instantly. "It's actually called the Land of Spring, but there hasn't been a spring there in decades."
"He's right," Kakashi stated. "I can't even remember the last."
"So, our mission is to protect Yukie while you guys film the movie?" Lee questioned.
"That's right," Sandayu nodded.
Lee grew a grin from one ear to the next and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Are we expecting any serious trouble?" Naruto questioned. "This is rated as an A-rank to S-rank mission isn't it?"
"A to S?" Tenten questioned. "I get that she's a handful but the hardest mission your team has ever done was an A-rank and that included stopping Gaara from destroying the Hidden Leaf Village. How is this different?"
"You never know who wants an actress dead or what they'll do to achieve it," Kakashi stated. "I've asked for Lee as the replacement for Sasuke on this mission and to have Tenten and Hinata tag along as extra help. It may seem a bit excessive but the Land of Snow isn't exactly a place where you can be uncareful."
Naruto shrugged and looked around before looking to Sandayu.
"Should we go collect our actress then?" Naruto questioned.
"She'll probably be at a bar," Sandayu sighed.
Naruto closed his eyes for a moment then grinned and opened them.
"I got her," Naruto stated. "She's about three fourths of a mile East."
He walked out the door and down the street past three buildings then teleported to the seal on her shoulder appearing just behind her but she merely sighed.
"I figured you'd show up again," She sighed. "I was hoping to be drunk before then though."
Naruto took a couple steps in case she decided to pepper spray him again. Just as he did she began walking toward the bar and a drunk man in a dirty vest and pants with a hat pulled down over his eyes and hair but with a messy grey beard covering the bottom half of his face. He bumped into Yukie and Naruto raised an eyebrow seeing his hand flash into her pocket then into his own. As he passed, Naruto bumped into him taking everything from that pocket and coming away with a slip of paper with a ship name on it, a script, and a few coins.
"These yours?" Naruto questioned handing her the slip of paper and the script.
She took them turning to glare at the drunk man only to pass out as her eyes met with Kakashi's Sharingan. Naruto caught her as she fell and stood handing her to Kakashi who walked out with her.
"That was easy," Naruto smiled. "Now, I think I'll go pack."
With that, he teleported to his house using a network of seals he and his father had hidden around the village as relays. When he finally arrived using the same seal he had placed on his dinner chair, Kushina threw her arms around him.
"I missed you," Kushina smiled. "How did the missions go?"
"Well, they both went well for the most part. Unfortunately, I have to go to the Land of Snow now, so I have to pack. Then, I'll be leaving."
"I see," Kushina nodded. "Alright. Go ahead and pack then. I'll see you when you get back from your mission."
Naruto nodded and walked into his room, setting out his things. He was definitely taking his two swords and his ninja tool was filled with the usual kunai, shuriken, wire, and paper bombs. He set out a couple extra sets of his warmer clothes, all looking almost identical to his usual uniform, and his boots. Then, he got the cloak that was supposed to keep him warm. It was a tan cloak with two thick brown stripes at the bottom, a hood, and a thick warm green liner.
Once he had this all packed away, he looked toward his closet and saw the cloak his father had given him. It was identical to the cloaks he usually wore except that this one didn't say "Fourth Hokage" on the back.
He put it on but it was so long he would trip over it easily. He sighed and put it back then picked up his back and left saying goodbye to Kushina on the way. When he reached the gate, the others were already waiting and packed. They left and reached the ship within a few hours and set sail immediately.
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