Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 55

A Chunin In The Snow

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"Interesting news!" Jiraiya called as he almost danced through the door of Naruto's house, surprising the duo who were having breakfast while their various clones performed chores. "Naruto, you're safe for several years."

Naruto swallowed his mouthful of food even as he lifted an inquisitive eyebrow.

"You remember that the Mizukage couldn't attend the finals because she was recruiting a Jinchuuriki back into their ranks?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded. "Well, the other one, the former Mizukage Yagura, fled when his forces were destroyed. The Mist shinobi found him and engaged him in combat, but he blew himself up. Probably accidentally, he tried to use a tidal wave while surrounded by lava."

Both teens winced at the mental image.

"Anyway, the Sanbi dispersed and is going to take several years to reform and so according to my source, the Akatsuki have temporarily ceased their attempts to claim the Biju." Jiraiya finished. "In the meantime, we can train you up to Jonin standards and, if there's enough time, maybe even turn you into a Sage in a couple of years."

"A Sage? Does that mean he'll become as perverted as you, Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata asked innocently, causing Jiraiya's jaw to drop while Naruto fought down near-hysterical laughter. For a long moment, Jiraiya stared speechlessly at Hinata, then he shook his head.

"I… you… wha…"

"I think you broke him, Hime-chan." Naruto commented as soon as he could trust himself not to burst out laughing. Hinata simply smiled demurely, then returned her attention to the cinnamon bun in her hands.

"Bu… wha… wow." Jiraiya managed to pull himself back together. "Wow, that was one heck of a… wow. Just wow. I never knew you had such a wicked sense of humor."

Hinata gave him an innocent smile, causing him to roll his eyes.

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"Hokage-sama." Danzo said with a slight bow as he limped into the office. "You summoned me?"

"I did." Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair as she looked at her Sensei's old friend and rival. "Before he and Team Ten left on their escort mission, Sensei informed me about your covert group, Root."

Danzo paused. "I…"

"He allowed it as long as it did not act against Konoha." Tsunade continued, her voice icy. "However, I'm not as trusting as Sensei, so I had Jiraiya do some spying for me."

Danzo froze and Tsunade motioned for him to sit.

"Your training methods are designed to remove all emotion and turn your shinobi into tools." Tsunade stated, her voice colder than any hyoton jutsu. "However, this leaves your troops incapable of compensating should a mission go outside the parameters that they have prepared for. Koharu and Hamora actually fought during Orochimaru's attack on Konoha. Where were you?"

Danzo opened his mouth, then closed it as Tsunade fixed him with a harsh stare.

"The friendship you and Sensei had was the primary reason that he did not reign in your little foundation." Tsunade ground out. "In addition, possessing a shinobi department that doesn't officially exist is a very powerful weapon if used correctly. The problem is… you have not been using it correctly, as the Amegakure situation has amply demonstrated."

Danzo blinked.

"Why the hell did you try to support the Salamander?! Especially after all the work Jiraiya put into his three students!" Tsunade snarled, leaning forwards to transfix the suddenly-nervous elder with a gimlet stare. For a long moment, the office was silent, then Tsunade slowly leaned back into the embrace of her chair.

"Since it is you who are responsible for the formation of the criminal group known as the Akatsuki thanks to your providing aid to Hanzo against their original leadership, I have decided that you will be stripped of your leadership of Root and reassigned to the Archives. Before you protest, I have arranged for new leaders to take over and bring your puppets up to the standards of true shinobi of Konoha. ENTER!"

Danzo couldn't form any words as the door behind him opened and two people who had once been his allies walked up to stand by his side.

"You summoned us, Hokage-sama?" Koharu said calmly, ignoring the suddenly-fuming Danzo.

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"Kakashi!"

Kakashi paused in the middle of his exercises as Naruto flashed into existence.

"Jiji's tag just pulsed!" He half-shouted. "Hinata's almost ready, my clones are rounding up reinforcements to follow!"

Kakashi blinked, then nodded. "I'm ready now."

"One of my clones dispelled." Naruto said, grabbing Kakashi's shoulder. "Hinata'll meet us there and… now!"

The duo vanished in a flash of light.

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"Bugger."

Naruto blinked in surprise. The heartfelt exclamation was not what he had expected upon making a Hiraishin jump into a high-risk environment. Neither was the lack of shouting, the absence of the clash of weapons or the oddly missing explosions denoting high-powered jutsus.

"Ah, Naruto." Hiruzen smiled as he emerged onto the deck of the ship where Naruto, Kakashi and Hinata were looking round in confusion. "It would seem that while checking his team's weapons, someone fumbled the kunai… literally."

"Yeah… sorry." Asuma sighed as he pulled the tri-blade kunai out of the deck, looking ruefully at the gouge it had made. "I was testing its balance and... yeah."

"Hey, Hinata!" Ino called as she raced across to give Hinata a hug. "This is amazing… but watch out for Fujikaze Yukie… she's a great actress, but she's… yeah. Think Ami."

Hinata stared at Ino. "She's that bad?"

Ino nodded, then grinned. "Hey, you gotta see the view from the crow's nest! Come on!"

Ino turned and ran to, then up the mast. A moment later, her voice echoed down.

"Iceberg to the right… I mean starboard!"

"Aha!" A new voice exclaimed. "We can shoot one of the scenes there! Make for the iceberg!"

"I've never seen a film being shot before." Hinata mused, then she looked at Naruto. "What was with those clones?"

"Just sending back an all-clear." Naruto grinned. "So, Fujikaze Yukie… I really enjoyed all three of her Princess Gale films…"

"Hinata! Come on!"

Hinata looked up to where Ino was waving to her.

"Let's go." Naruto laughed. "I wonder how far we'll be able to see and… oh. Gai-san just sent me a message via my clone…"

"Gai?" Hinata asked curiously. "What does he want?"

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"So nice to meet more Shinobi from Konoha." The elderly man who had been introduced as Asama Sandayu smiled as around them, the film crew were moving snow around, setting up cameras and positioning reflective sheets of metal to enhance the illumination. "I must say, though, I wasn't expecting to host so many…"

"Yosh!" Gai grinned as he put down a giant reflector that three people had been struggling to move earlier. "A chance to watch the creation of one of Fujikaze-sama's most youthful films? How could we say no?"

"Plus, it is good training!" Lee agreed.

The three smaller figures standing beside Lee, clad in thick (albeit green) jumpsuits, hats and gloves for warmth all nodded in agreement while behind them, Neji rolled his eyes and Sakura tried hard not to giggle.

"Alright!" Sandayu called as he looked approvingly at the setup. "All not involved, behind that line, please! Crews to your stations and someone smooth the snow!"

"I've got that." Kakashi said, his hands flashing through a set of seals, then he thrust his hands forwards, unleashing a gentle breeze that caused the snow to rise slightly before falling down again, all footprints and traces of movement erased.

"Okay, silence on the set, shooting in five! Four! Three!"

As the countdown went silent, Yukie seemed to change without moving a single muscle. One instant, she was a bitter, angry women, then she was a forlorn but optimistic Princess wading through the snow to meet a warrior who could help her regain her birthright.

The actor who was playing the heroic Ronin sat cross-legged on a stone (which was actually fake, Naruto had helped to place it), meditating as Princess Gale approached. When she drew close, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Hinata leaned into Naruto's side as the scene played out with Princess Gale appealing to Hirokin's sense of honor and duty. After a while, Hirokin bowed to her and the duo started to walk back the way that Princess Gale had come.

"Aaaaand cut!" Sandayu shouted, looking ecstatic. "Yes! Nailed it! Perfect on the first take! Alright everyone, back to the boat!"

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"That's the former Hokage!" The armored shinobi peering through a telescope at the distant group hissed. "Even with our chakra armor, we'd be hard-pushed to go up against him on his own, let alone with all those other ninja!"

"Doto-sama won't like this." The lone kunoichi of the tro murmured and the purple-haired man glanced at her before turning his attention back to the telescope.

"He'd like it even less if we went up against them and lost." He retorted. "We're falling back. That seal you placed on top of their mast last night means that we won't lose them, but with any luck, Doto will be able to get a few more shinobi to help us. There's no way I'm going up against the God Of Shinobi, not without a lot of backup…"

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"You know that we were being watched, right?" Shikamaru yawned after Gai and his students had been hiraishined back to Konoha the the ship had set sail once more.

"Three shinobi, two males and a female." Hiruzen said from where he was carefully placing tobacco into his pipe. "Their chakra signatures were… unusual, they were using something to augment themselves. One of them placed a tracking Seal on top of the main mast last night, I believe it was the Kunoichi."

"Dad, why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Asuma half-complained as Hiruzen used a fire jutsu to light his pipe.

"I had one of Naruto's clones look at it while they were filming." Hiruzen continued, pulling a small tag out of his kunai pouch. "He transferred it to this tag, meaning that we can make it seem like we're somewhere completely different whenever we want. It's a design I don't recognize, I'll have Jiraiya look at it later."

"Ni-iiice." Shikamaru drawled. "So, who do you think they were after?"

"Fujikaze." Kakashi said firmly from where he was leaning against the mast, his uncovered eye scanning the horizon. "Snow Shinobi… what the hell was Sanduya thinking?"

"He's a former Samurai, you know." Asma mused, earning a surprised look from Kakashi. "What? The way that he stands, that's the Third Stance of the Sword Of Protection. Only Samurai who spend most of their career as bodyguards know that stance on a reflex level, and he does."

Kakashi cursed under his breath, causing everyone to look at him.

"I've just placed his accent, he's from Snow as well. What's the bet that he's trying to smuggle her in to spark a popular uprising?"

"I think we need to have a talk with Sanduya." Hiruzen grumbled as he stood up. "Asuma, I'm taking control as Konoha's plenipotentiary."

"Understood, Jonin Sarutobi." Asuma replied. "Choji, aft rail. Ino, bow. Shikamaru, crow's nest. I need you watching out for anything odd."

"Naruto, leave a couple of clones here, then take this note back to Tsunade-sama and return with her reply." Kakashi said, scribbling a small note and rolling it up. "Hinata, base of the mast, use your byakugan to check we're not being shadowed."

The four genin scrambled to take their designated posts as Naruto generated two clones before vanishing.

"Now, I think I need to talk to Yukie." Kakashi said. "She owes me for saving her before."

"The mission to Snow you never talked about?" Asuma asked and Kakashi nodded as they followed Hiruzen below-decks.

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"I see." Doto said in a surprisingly calm voice. "This is… irritating."

The three shinobi shifted slightly under his gaze, but remained silent as they waited for their leader to continue.

"Although the return of my niece means that at last, I can find the treasure that my damned brother concealed before I killed him, having an army of shinobi with her means that she is obviously intending to sneak in under cover of being an actress and then striking at me. Perhaps, I need to launch the first strike."

Doto rose from his throne and moved to the window that provided a good view of the valley beyond Kazahana Castle's outer wall.

"Prepare the train to transport my forces from Yukigakure to the closest point to their expected landing point." He commanded. "And tell my technicians to expedite the second airship. I want it completed and ready to launch by the time my niece makes landfall."

"As you command, Daimyo." The purple-haired shinobi said.

"Yes, as I command." Doto smirked, looking out of the window. "As I command…"