(This is the Fifth Chapter in the 7 chapter story arc set in the Land of Snow! Without hesitation Kuroda jumped into the ice cold water after Sakura. But will he be able to survive, let alone save her? Can memories from one girl's past provide the answers? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
At first all he sees is the dark depths of the ocean stretching endlessly before him, but then his eyes adjust and Kuroda can see more clearly. He swims in the deep blue ocean searching for his fallen comrade, diving lower and lower into the vast expanse of water. He searches desperately, ignoring the stinging pain as the freezing saltwater soaks into all the tiny cuts he had received earlier. Finally, he spots a white and pink form sinking down towards the ocean depths and quickly rushes to it. Kuroda is able to reach Sakura under the water, but knows that she is unconscious and needs fresh air in her lungs. He wraps his arm around her waist tightly and starts to bring her back to the surface. Suddenly a powerful force slams into his back and tosses him around like his is a pebble. He is determined to get the girl to the surface, but they are caught in the currents and flung deep underwater. Kuroda holds onto her tightly, making sure that whatever happens he won't lose her. He notices the flow of water start to slow a bit, but still not enough for him to escape. He looks ahead and sees a large chunk of ice looming and frantically tries to swim away but the current still has them in an iron grip. He spins around so that when they smash up against the ice his back takes the bulk of the impact. Finally free of the current's will he heads in the direction that he believes is up. In desperate need of oxygen he tries to follow along the side of the ice to the surface, but his lungs are at their limit and he can't use the slippery ice to speed up their ascent.
Along the way he spots a large hole in the ice and sees light coming from within. He takes a chance and goes inside to find a cave inside the iceberg. He surfaces and with a big heave pulls Sakura out of the freezing water onto the ice floor. Then he falls down next to her gasping, frantically trying to refill his lungs. He remembers that Sakura is unconscious and not breathing and thinking quickly he slams his fist into her chest and she coughs up water.
"Damn, we found oxygen, but we are both freezing," he thinks as he moves his fingers to try and force the numbness out. Once his right hand is functional he pulls a small scroll out of his pouch. "Good thing I prepared this fire scroll," he says, teeth chattering, as he smears blood from one of his cuts onto his finger and then on the scroll. A blast of flames erupts from the paper and then settles down to become a steady burning fire. He also summons a heavy coat that he packed in another scroll and changes Sakura out of her wet clothes, more concerned about her condition that his own. He finds some icicles jutting out of the wall and hangs her clothes up to dry.
"Looks like she has a fever," he mumbles after feeling Sakura's forehead, "It looks like it will take a while for her to recover, so I guess we are stuck here for the moment. The others will just have to get by without us."
As the hours pass Sakura tosses and turns, her body furiously trying to fight off the fever. Kuroda can only watch and wait, as his medical skills are seriously lacking. He tries to stay strong and not let the worry and helplessness overcome him but it is hard for him to accept that he can do nothing, especially when she is breathing hard and moans in pain.
"This is just one of the many flaws of the curse seal I invented that I haven't been able to perfect yet," he thinks as he watches orange flames dance around wildly, "But there has to be a way to make it work. If I can't figure it out on my own or discover something that will fix it then chance of completing my goals will still be in jeopardy. Furthermore, if I lose Sakura at such an early stage it just shows that I'm nowhere near ready to accomplish anything. All I can do is sit and wait."
Slowly, after many days, the fever that Sakura suffered as a result of being in the cold ocean for so long starts to break. Days pass and now that it looks like Sakura will pull through Kuroda starts to relax and his mind becomes sharp again. He becomes bored with sitting and finally notices his surroundings. The cave that they are in is small and dark, but there are a number of different pathways attached to it. As Sakura sleeps peacefully he decides to explore, so he summons a shadow clone and leaves it to watch over her as he sets out to explore the cavern inside the iceberg.
While wandering around looking for an alternate exit, as opposed to diving back in the ocean, he stumbles upon a giant chamber. The moment he tries to enter the chamber traps are activated and hundreds of sharp miniature icicles are fired everywhere. Curious as to why there are traps here he heads forward. He works his way through various layers of traps including pitfalls with spears lining the bottom, razor wire fences, land mines, and all sorts of devices designed to take care of unwanted guests. He finally makes it to the innermost part of the chamber where there is a moat surrounding an island of ice. A source of unknown light breaks through and mysteriously reflects rainbows over the area. In the center of the island he spots two large scrolls encased in a strange cloudy ice formation. "That isn't a natural formation," he says as he instantly recognizes what the scrolls are, "Someone went to a lot of trouble to seal those summoning scrolls in there. Plus with all the hidden traps around this chamber it just furthers that fact. I suspect that means those scrolls can summon something pretty powerful. Knowing a summoning Jutsu would add to the variety of attacks I can use in the open, but it would also put a risk in my plans if something uncooperative comes out. I guess I can always destroy the scrolls if need be."
He ponders it a bit further, growing excited and then wary and then excited again as he moves through all the possibilities in his mind. Finally he comes to a decision and pulls out a few of his special kunai along with some normal ones and takes another step forward into the chamber.
Later in the day Kuroda returns to the cavern where Sakura lies carrying the two hefty summoning scrolls on his shoulder. Sakura stirs as he sets them on the ground so he goes over to check on her after seeing her begin to move. The clone he left disperses and he gains the knowledge that nothing significant happened while he was away. She slowly opens her eyes and is finally able to fully wake up. "What…what happened? Where are we?" she asks weakly.
"Don't talk, I will explain but you need to rest," says Kuroda, "Here, I made some soup, you should eat." Sakura weakly accepts the bowl and slowly begins to consume its contents.
He watches her like a hawk to make sure she eats while going into an explanation, "I dived into the water after you got knocked out. You were sinking pretty fast but I got to you in time and started back towards the surface. Then the underwater currents took hold and all I could do was wait until they let us free. They took us deeper into the ocean. Far too deep for us to get to the surface with the oxygen we had left. Right now we are inside a giant iceberg that I discovered. We have been here for about four days. I've been searching around trying to find a safe way out, but I haven't had much luck. Our food supplies aren't going to last that much longer and my fire scroll is running out of juice, so we really need to get out of here."
"Can't we just go out the way we came in?" inquires Sakura, struggling to sit up and finding her arms too weak to support her.
"If it comes down to it, then we will be forced to," he replies as he sits down behind her so that she has something to lean against, "But I would rather not. I don't know exactly how far it is to the surface, plus the underwater currents could just drag us deeper. Also getting back in the ice cold water would not be the smartest idea considering your condition. So we really need to find another exit."
"What makes you so sure there is another exit?" she asks.
"These caves are not natural, something built them," he explains, pointing some of the tunnels out to her, "And it certainly was not some wild animal if you look closely at the design. So that means it had to be an intelligent life form. Anything smart enough to build something like this would also be smart enough to leave more than one exit. But don't worry about that, just go to bed and build your strength back up."
"Okay," Sakura says as she sets her empty bowl on the floor and lies back down to close her eyes.
While waiting for her to recover Kuroda decides to test out the new scrolls he found. They are each about three feet high; one has white lining on the top and bottom while the other has grey. They look to be fairly new, probably due to being securely stored in the ice formation. He rolls them out on the floor, each being about ten feet wide, and examines the lettering that spells out the terms of the contract. "As I thought, these are definitely old," he thinks as he deciphers the contract, "Based on the writing style and the terminology they are probably from around when the Five Great Ninja Villages were being formed. It also seems they haven't been used in quite a while, I haven't heard of any of the ninja who have signed either of these. Well then it seems I have gained a great advantage by finding these scrolls. According to this the summoning should work in a similar way to which you can summon items, so all I have to do is sign it and then I'll be ready to go."
After deciding the terms are agreeable he signs both of the scrolls with his blood and then summons the sacred animals. White clouds burst up from both of the scrolls and then clear away leaving two figures. The first one is a human sized mammoth with woolly white fur. It yawns, "It's been a long time since I was summoned. I'm called Uthuloxo, who are you?"
"I'm Kuroda," the boy answers.
The mammoth yawns again, "You must be a very skilled ninja to have found my scroll. It was hidden down here a long time ago." He looks at the other figure which is a pale-grey elephant.
It says, "Hey, Uthuloxo long time no see. So someone found the scrolls eh?"
"Yeah, that's him right behind you, Dantoloxo," replies Uthuloxo.
"You? But you're only a kid?" exclaims Dantoloxo, skeptically scratching his head with his trunk.
"Appearances can be deceiving," replies Kuroda, "So, tell me why exactly I found your scrolls down in some ice-cave under the sea?"
"It was those damn Cloud Ninja," growls Uthuloxo, "They sealed us down here so the Village Hidden Among the Snow wouldn't be able to use us, and they wouldn't be able to become a larger power among the villages."
"I see, so you are very strong then?" ponders Kuroda.
"Just give me someone to fight, and I'll show you how good I am," promises Dantoloxo as he stomps his feet and curls his trunk up into an aggressive form.
"So, then are you aligned with the Hidden Snow?" inquires Kuroda.
"We are aligned with whomever is able to summon us," states Uthuloxo.
"Well, that is good to know," replies the Leaf Ninja with a smirk.
Crouched low in a nearby tunnel a petite figure covered in white fur closely watches the exchange between the boy and the two animals. "He was able to recover the scrolls?" she ponders as she examines the boy, "But how? Taiki has tried dozens of times and he's never even gotten close. It shouldn't be possible, but yet there are the sacred animals. That pink-haired girl is here too. Taiki dropped her into one of the most dangerous parts of the ocean. She wasn't even conscious, the currents alone should have ripped her apart not to mention drowning or freezing to death. But that boy, he risked his life or her without any hesitation and managed to save her. I have to talk to him, I have to know why."
"Well, they seem friendly," Kuroda thinks as he studies the mammals, "I'll just have to see if they will cooperate with me."
"Did this kid really summon us after all of this time?" Dantoloxo wonders.
"Looks like life is about to get a little less boring," Uthuloxo thinks as his nose detects something, "It seems we're not alone."
"So you were able to get the scrolls out?" says Yukiko revealing her presence, sauntering around the cave touching the walls here and there almost negligently ignoring the other occupants, "Taiki and Funimo have been trying to get them for a while now."
"You, how did you get here?" asks Kuroda seemingly undisturbed by her sudden appearance.
"Is she an enemy?" asks Dantoloxo eagerly, looking back and forth between them.
"Yes, but I can handle her on my own. You two may go," says Kuroda confidently.
"Well then, until you need us," says Uthuloxo hesitantly, pausing for a second to make sure, "Time to go back, cousin."
"Yes, this will be big news back home," says Dantoloxo, "Maybe something interesting might happen for a change." The creatures nod to Kuroda and then two clouds of smoke fill the cavern as Uthuloxo and Dantoloxo disappear.
Yukiko tilts her head to the side as she studies the Leaf Ninja with an inscrutable expression and then explains, "This cave is in the middle of a giant iceberg, our base is also inside."
"I see, but you're an enemy, why are you not attacking me?" Kuroda inquires curiously.
"If you were able to get the scrolls you are far stronger than me. It would be stupid to provoke you," she answers before pausing to stare at nothing in particular, "I have a question to ask. Why did you risk your life to save that girl?" She motions her head towards the pink-haired girl still resting quietly on the ground.
Kuroda looks taken aback and then shrugs as if he can't see the harm in answering that question and then explains, "I saved her because she is important to me. She is going to help me accomplish my dreams. I would do anything to protect her."
Yukiko sighs and looks up at the ceiling commenting, "Taiki would never do anything like that for me. I don't believe in his dreams."
Quite bewildered and unsure what to make of the pronouncement Kuroda just stares at the girl. Then an idea pops into his head and he asks, "Then why are you with him?"
"My parents died when I was young. He found me and took me in," she confides, resuming her walk around the room, making sure to look at everything.
Kuroda senses she is coldly dispassionate about the death of her parents and presses her further, "So, you feel that you have to serve him because he saved you?"
"Yes," she responds, raising an eyebrow as if the answer was obvious.
"It's understandable, someone saves you so you feel obligated to repay the debt," he comments.
"Yes, obligated," she says softly.
Sensing that her defenses are low he prods, "So tell me, what is he really after? Why is he attacking shipments heading towards the Land of Snow?"
Lost in her own thoughts she absentmindedly reveals, "Taiki and Funimo were banished from the Village Hidden Among the Snow. Their only goal is to get revenge on the village, so they are gathering supplies and people for an attack. They wanted to mobilize fairly soon because of the problems in the east."
"What problems?" Kuroda solicits, curiously.
"There is some conflict going on in the east that has the Hidden Snow's attention focused on it. I don't know the exact details," she responds, "All I know are Taiki's plans."
"How foolish, he is going about it in the wrong manner," mumbles Kuroda before getting back on track, "So let me ask you this, what would you do if your comrades were no longer living?"
"I don't know," she replies honestly.
Kuroda announces, "I wasn't planning on it, but I will release you from your debt to them. However, I will only do this if you will pledge your life to help me accomplish my dreams."
"And what is your dream?" asks Yukiko, still seeming a bit detached from the conversation.
"I can only tell you that after you pledge your life," he responds, "However, I can promise you that if you do follow me I would sacrifice my life for yours without hesitation, if you were ever faced with death."
"Those eyes of yours, I can tell you're not lying, you meant every word you spoke," she muses out loud. The sincerity in his brilliant blue eyes completely overwhelms her. She hasn't seen eyes radiate with such honesty and conviction in a long time.
"So, what is your decision?" he asks.
Yukiko stares into his eyes, attempting to see inside his mind, inside his soul. She longs to be a part of something bigger. Something where the people around her truly care about her and don't just think of her as a tool to be tossed away when it can't complete the job. Something that she only has distant and vague memories of. Something that she thought Taiki and Funimo might be, but they never were. A family. She makes up her mind and decides to take a chance. "I will follow you," she says with new hope.
"If you truly mean that then you will sign this contract," replies Kuroda, pulling out a scroll from his pack. Yukiko agrees and signs one of Kuroda's blood contracts. She goes through his marking ritual with little resistance. After it is over he begins pumping her for information and she confirms she knows the other exit to the ice cave.
(A mysterious iceberg and an unexpected ally have allowed two Leaf Genin to survive the unforgiving northern ocean. What will happen next? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)