A/N: Hello and welcome back to Guardian of the Tailed Beasts. As we wrap the Snow arc up, we are about to have some of the first infodump about the little original world building that me and GBA have decided to do. Don't worry, it won't be too drastic, but still after watching a world building masterpiece like One Piece, I find Naruto lacking in that regard. Naruto excelled in almost everything, fights, story, character development (except for some, but there are always some bad apples here and there). The little bit of romance that we got was also good in my personal opinion, though I I strongly believe that it could have been expanded. But world building, well, that's where Naruto lacked a lot as compared to One Piece. And mind you, there was a lot of potential for it, but all we got were the five great nations, several minor nations, about whom little tidbits were covered in mostly filler arcs. And when it comes to the five great nations, we actually get to explore the Land of Water (And Kiri), the Land of Wind (and Iwa) in freaking Boruto! I mean come on! And then again, a lot of world building never got animated and was only left in the various light novels.
But one thing about Naruto is true, this is a universe that is very suitable for fanfic writing. I don't know why. But Naruto verse is very adaptable to the changes we fanfic writers tend to introduce. Well, in any case, me and GBAboy313 after some discussion and also advice from our well wishers like Naruto30, decided on doing some world building exclusive to Guardian. Nothing too drastic, let me remind you again, but still, something, I hope and believe that you will all find interesting. And with that, lets get onto the chapter.
CHAPTER 35: An Interesting Find
Koyuki's inauguration as the Daimyo of the Land of Snow was done with much fanfare and celebrations. With the uprooting of Doto and the restoration of the proper line of succession, Koyuki was given an overwhelming welcome to the throne.
The people in the countryside of the small nation were especially elated with the hope that their lives would now improve after years of neglect and mistreatment from Doto, whose regime only focused on the capital and the arms industry, despite having a technological edge even the five great nations would go crazy over.
"My first order as the Daimyo of this country is to rename it as the Land of Spring!" Koyuki announced as soon as she had taken her oath as Daimyo. "My father's last gift to our nation was meant to melt away the snow and turn our land into a tropical paradise, but unfortunately, Doto denied it to us. His avarice that led him to overthrow my father gave way to bitter spite when it went unsated by the discovery of the heat-chakra generator to be my father's secret treasure. He sought to destroy it in spite that disguised itself behind thin veils of self-justification, claiming it to be for the good of our nation. And while he may have thwarted the eternal spring my father envisioned, he failed to destroy it, and now we have the means to make our island almost ice free in the seasons of summer and spring. When I choose to redub our nation, it is not a cruel irony that I use, but an act of defiance against Doto, to show the world that he failed and we will achieve my father's dream as best we can even if he has ruined any chance of truly achieving it and that shall be his legacy, a footnote in the history that covers the end of my father's reign and the beginning of my own!"
Though the chakra generator with its reduced capacity could only help with reducing the harshness of winter, somewhat, it was still a welcome change and it had already been ensured that even at its reduced capabilities, the generator would help in removing the snow cap off the country for at least 3 months in the year.
The next order that Koyuki issued was to accord the highest military honours of the country to those that had made the ultimate sacrifice in resisting Doto's tyranny.
The high-ranking officials of Doto's army were placed under arrest, though having had surrendered upon the condition that their lives would be spared, they would only be tried and imprisoned.
When the official festivities somewhat died down, Koyuki Kazahana still had work to do in her office.
Her rescuers had all gathered there.
"Are you sure, you don't wish to take up citizenship here, Utakata-san, Hotaru-san?" The new Daimyo asked.
"We are. Though I have tried my best to convince Hotaru to stay here, she is adamant about journeying with me. And I understand that I am a target of an extremely dangerous criminal organization consisting of multiple S-class missing-nin, therefore it won't be wise for me to continue staying here, my presence might bring ruin to the country. It may seem unbelievable, but rumours have it that the head of this organization managed to defeat and destroy Hanzo the Salamander. If I stay anywhere, it runs the risk that I draw that power against a nation that is weakened from a coup and massive changes in leadership. I have decided to stay in the territory of the Land of Fire for the time being." The dark haired Rokubi jinchuuriki explained.
"You shouldn't worry too much about those dangers, I have considered that while I offered you shelter here. I will respect your wishes but understand that you are always welcome here." Koyuki responded.
Utakata and Hotaru bowed in respect.
Kahyo had already left for the Wave Country the day before to fetch her son to the Land of Snow.
The new Daimyo then signed and sealed a document and handed it to Gai, who accepted it with a bow.
"I am renewing the friendship my father used to have with the Land of Fire and I have also added the terms for technological assistance at a generous discount. I hope the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo would be satisfied with this."
"Thank you very much for your generosity, Daimyo-sama. I am sure Hokage-sama and Daimyo-sama would be extremely pleased with the news." The taijutsu master stated.
"You are leaving tomorrow, right?" The former actress asked.
"Hai, with your permission, we need to rush back and file our reports." Gai stated.
Koyuki nodded. "Alright. I am grateful that you and your team accepted our hospitality and enjoyed the festivities together with us. And…" She turned to Naruto, took out a page off her personal notepad, signed it and offered it to him.
"You wanted an autograph, right? There you go, Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan." She offered and the young couple accepted it happily.
"Thank you, Koyuki-san!" They said in gratitude.
"No need to thank me, it is me who would always be grateful to you, also you all are always welcome here, please don't bother seeking prior permissions." Koyuki stated smiling.
The team bowed in gratitude and left.
*A few hours later at the port*
Hotaru and Utakata were prepared to board their ship, which would take them to the Land of Fire.
Honestly it took quite a bit of persuasion to convince the Rokubi jinchuuriki to stay closer to Konoha.
Gai was persistent, Hinata had her humility, and Naruto… well let's just say that he always had a way with words.
While they didn't get their desired outcome of getting Utakata to Konoha, at least they were able to convince him to stay within the boundaries of the Land of Fire.
The Rokubi jinchuuriki was rightfully concerned about a faction of Konoha being after him and had no intention of shying away from capturing him by force. And Utakata was a distrustful man. But he was also able to realize the genuineness of Naruto, Hinata, and their friends. He had always kept his guard up and was keenly observant of their behaviours, looking for any hint of a hidden agenda, and yet he found none. Rather, he realized that the Konoha-nin that had accompanied him to Yuki were actually very simple people with clean hearts, so he was willing to trust at least these people. And hence he agreed to stay within the Land of Fire.
"I hope you won't take it personally if I retaliate with force to any attempts of forced capture by any Konoha-ninja, Gai-san?" The black haired jinchuuriki asked.
"Not in the least, Utakata-san! Well, to be honest, we in the jonin pool never had any orders asking for your capture, but there are secretive and autonomous factions of ninja in our village whose objectives are unknown even to us. So, I would actually advise you to exercise extreme caution." The taijutsu fanatic responded.
Utakata nodded.
Then Hotaru bowed down to the assembled Konoha team. "I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, had you not come for my rescue, I might have had a fate worse than death. More importantly, you escorted Utakata-sensei and ensured his safety. For that, I will be always grateful."
Utakata tried playing it cool which managed to irk Gai for being similar to Kakashi's behaviour.
"Don't mention it, Hotaru-san. We were following the orders of one of the Legendary Sannin and a very respected shinobi of our village. We were only doing our duty." Gai responded on behalf of the team once he managed to resist the urge to issue a challenge due to the reminder.
"I know, please convey my deepest and sincerest gratitude to Tsunade-sama as well. I will make sure to meet her and thank her personally." Hotaru stated.
Gai nodded.
Utakata then turned to Naruto.
"The Rokubi wishes to greet you, Naruto." The serious faced jinchuuriki stated.
"Oh…well…sure." The whiskered blonde offered his fist and Utakata bumped his with it.
And Naruto was standing before the whitish slug with six tails.
"Hi! The name's Uzumaki Naruto. Remember the name 'ttebayo! And Nice to meet ya!" Naruto greeted with a grin.
Saiken couldn't help be amused and chuckle slightly.
"You are a funny one for sure, Uzumaki Naruto." The slug responded. "My name is Saiken. Well, I am aware that you have already met my sister Matatabi earlier. So, I won't be explaining why I asked for you."
"Okay, it's about sharing a bit of chakra to enable long distance telepathy…alright. But how come you know about me meeting Matatabi?"
"Hmm…we Biju can communicate telepathically when we or our jinchuuriki are located close by. And you have been around Utakata for quite a while now. So, we were chatting…"
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "But I never noticed…"
"When you are focused on other things, you won't notice…Hope that's not a bother…"
"Umm…not really…well, you guys should be having a bit of privacy too. It's kinda bothersome when all your thoughts get shared regardless of what you want, right?"
"Yes. Anyways. Here you go…" Saiken offered a fist…or let's say that a blob extended out of his body…
"This is perhaps the weirdest fistbump I'll ever do…" Naruto mumbled. "No offence meant, Saiken…" And he bumped fists.
"None taken. It is difficult for us of the slug kind to bump fists anyways." The Rokubi replied. "Now about my abilities, as you should already know, I have acid release and my body is actually made of highly corrosive acidic chakra. You will be able to use Utakata's abilities with acid release to some extent in due time and with enough practice, but probably it will be last Biju ability you will master since it actually requires a very high degree of control over water chakra to the extent that you can manipulate the substance down at molecular levels…so yes, it will be hard to master. Don't lose hope though. I am certain that in due time you will have a knack for it." Saiken explained.
"Gotcha…besides if it's easy, it's not that fun 'ttebayo. I am always up for a good challenge." Naruto said flashing a thumbs up and a grin.
"I have high hopes for you, Naruto-kun. I will be looking forward to the day you master the abilities of different Biju. Well, then, I hope to see you soon and wish you the best for your future."
"Thanks buddy. By the way, do you mind me asking what this door is for?" Naruto asked with a confused face, pointing to a wooden door placed in the mindscape.
Saiken began laughing.
"My way of bickering with Utakata…he really hates this door and it's so much fun seeing him all irritated and lose that cool expression of his. Hahaha… makes it easy to jump in, yell whatever I want, and then leave and listen to the chaos his mind devolves into without him being able to do anything to get back at me." Saiken explained.
"Seems that all of you enjoy bickering with your partners. Kurama loves bickering with me as well… Especially with how he'd act like a smartass and when I begin shouting back, he'd yawn and act like he's sleeping."
Meanwhile in Naruto's mindscape, Kurama yawned and went for a nap.
Saiken nodded to that as Naruto bid farewell to the king of Slugs and exited the mindscape.
Once more waving their farewell, Hotaru and Utakata boarded their ship.
The Konoha team was due for their own departure the following day. However, they were going to get a special ride to shorten their travel time.
For you see, though Doto's own airship had been obliterated, there were still others in working condition. One of them was being lent by Koyuki to fly the Konoha-nin home. It was also seen as a first step towards sharing Yuki's technological advances with the other nations.
Needless to say, the kids were all very excited about this ride on an airship.
* a few hours later*
Naruto and Hinata were roaming around the capital of Yuki. Two days earlier, the blonde had been on another sightseeing trip but ran into unforeseeable circumstances which forced him to flee back to his room. So, this time around, he had brought his Hime along.
The young couple didn't have much time till their departure, but that didn't mean they couldn't take a look around and select a few places for a vacation on a later date.
They went to a strange place called a 'ski-resort' that was being opened after years of closure during Doto's reign. They observed civilians and shinobi alike dashing down the smooth snow-covered slope on the side of a mountain with peculiar devices shaped like a thin, long, flat and rectangular plate with its edges slightly bent, attached to their legs.
This activity called 'skiing' definitely had the young lovebirds' interest. So much so that they couldn't resist doing a try. And being shinobi, they hoped that even if they were to lose balance while going downhill, they would be able to save themselves from a fall.
And having decided that, the two went for it.
And found that it quite a good experience.
"Yaaaaahhhh!" Naruto exclaimed as he sped down the slope of the snowy hill.
"Its great Hime! See how fast I'm goiiiiinnnngggggg!" He exclaimed.
Hinata was skiing by his side. "Yess…this is great…" She admitted.
*In Naruto's mindscape*
"Ah…this brings back memories, doesn't it?" Kushina said.
"Yeah… it certainly does…hehe…" Minato agreed.
'What are you guys talking about!?' Naruto interrupted having heard his parents converse inside his mind.
"Oh, well, your mom and I have been here back when Koyuki-san's father was the Daimyo. We stayed in this country for quite a while…."
'Really Dad!'
"Yeah, back in those days, Yuki was a great tourist destination. And between the time of the end of the Third Great Ninja War and my swearing in as the Hokage, your Mom and I came here on a month long vacation…it was really fun…"
'Oh…that's great…So you guys went skiing too!?'
"Yes, I enjoy skiing a lot 'ttedane!" Kushina said smiling.
"Yes, your mom is quite good at it. Better than I am…" Minato stated.
"Oh, you're flattering me…Minato-kun…" Kushina stated blushing slightly.
"You guys know of any other good places me and Hinata-chan can go?"
"Well, Yuki's beaches are quite interesting to be honest. Different from those in the Land of Tea or Land of Wave. And they have good steam baths as well, even if not as many as those in the Land of Hot Springs but they are there and they are good for sure." Minato explained.
"Alright, once we get back to our hotel, I'll talk to the others about going to a hot spring…" Naruto stated grinning.
"Yes, you shouldn't miss that. And then… Naruto watch out!" The Yondaime exclaimed.
The blonde jinchuuriki's attention got back to the real world and he saw the small rock he was approaching rapidly.
"NARUTO-KUN WATCH OUT!" Hinata shouted in caution. But that was too late, Naruto went over the rock at high speed. It wasn't big enough to result in a serious collision but was definitely enough to throw him in the air.
"WWAAAAHHHHHH" Naruto screamed as he was thrown up. He realigned himself with a backflip in the air and as he descended, he applied chakra on his legs and let them spread onto the skis so as to smoothen the landing.
And that way he prevented himself from crashing down and rolling downhill and becoming a big snowball in the process.
Hinata also gave chase as fast as she could and increased her speed by applying chakra on her feet.
"Did you see that Hime!? Awesome wasn't it!?"
"Naruto-kun! You were so distracted! That such a close call!" Hinata shouted in reprimand.
"My bad! My bad! I'm sorry!" Naruto apologized.
Soon the gradient of the slope decreased and the couple came to a halt. And due to Naruto's little stunt, they had gotten off the direct descent into the base camp of the ski resort. Instead, they were now in a forest of trees that had lost their leaves but had accumulated vast amounts of snow on their branches.
"We got lost it seems…" Naruto wondered. "I am sorry, Hinata-chan…I just got too excited and distracted…"
The Hyuuga girl shook her head and slowly patted her boyfriend on his cheeks. "It's okay. I just want you to be a little bit more attentive." She said softly.
"Okay hime. Now let's find our way back…"
And the two began navigating their way back to the ski resort.
It was going to be a long walk, since they had ended up at a different side of the hill and the place didn't have even small houses.
As the two made their way, they noticed a cave. Its entrance was mostly covered in snow, but still, one could see a small opening. And the two just couldn't help their curiosity and made their way into the cave.
Hinata had broken a tree branch and made a makeshift torch out of it by using fire release on it.
The two navigated their way in the cave. Turned out that it was quite deep and the deeper you went, the wider it got.
"This one seems like a peculiar place…How come no one has noticed it?" Naruto wondered.
"I am wondering if any humans have ever been here…" Hinata mumbled as well.
The lovers went further, holding hands and carefully observed the walls.
There were signs of the rocks having been cut from their natural shapes to make the walls of the cave smoother.
"It seems that someone has been in here. This place is a good location for a hideout." Hinata stated in a low tone.
"Why don't you check if someone indeed is in here?" Naruto asked.
Nodding Hinata activated her dojutsu.
A minute later, she shook her head. "There is no sign of life here. It seems that whoever was using it has abandoned it ever since." She commented.
Naruto nodded.
The two continued exploring. And more signs of human activity inside the cave in the past came to their view. Very old wooden boxes and some totally worn-out pieces of paper to be precise.
They even noticed what seemed like a shinobi sleeping bag, but it was rugged, worn out and was very old.
"It has to be a ninja…but who can say, it's gotta be decades in the past…" Naruto said in a contemplative tone.
"Let's see if we can get any written records, the papers we have seen so far have all been so worn out that the writings are totally unreadable." Hinata added.
"Agreed, lets inspect this place further…"
And the two went for further exploration and came across some more empty and rotten wooden boxes, worn out pouches and stuff like that. They even spotted two rusted and very old Kunai.
And as they were exploring further, they came across what seemed like an opening, but covered by rocks. By this time, they were already seeing signs of fights having taken place in the place. The walls of the cave still had deep scratches on them.
Naruto and Hinata kept looking at the rock covered place with interest. They were both certain that something was there on the other side.
"Hmm…" Naruto held his arm out and a Rasengan soon formed upon it.
"Naruto-kun! Be careful, don't put too much power into it, otherwise the whole things could collapse." Hinata cautioned.
"Gotcha, Hinata-chan. Watch my back, okay?"
"Hai…"
"Rasengan!"
BAM!
And the stone covered opening was cleared up. The young lovebirds didn't waste a second in going in straight.
This place seemed like a new cave, even bigger than the one they had entered. But this one simply didn't have its own opening.
"I wonder if this was manmade or natural?" Hinata questioned in a low tone.
"I am wondering the same as well…"
And the two got their answer quite soon, when the spotted something that resembled a 'hitai-ate'.
The piece was worn out and the metal was rusty. They blew off the dust on it a peculiar symbol came up. It was not a symbol that resembled the insignia of any ninja village to the couple's recollection. A horizontal line with 3 semi-circles at both ends of the line, with the openings of the semi-circles pointing outwards.
"I feel like I've seen this one somewhere…" Naruto mumbled.
"Yes, me too, dear…" Hinata agreed and then she finally remembered. "Yes! It is the symbol of the Senju clan!"
"The Senju as in Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, the first two Hokages?" Naruto asked and his girlfriend nodded.
"But, shouldn't it be Konoha's symbol here instead of the clan symbol?" The blonde asked again.
"It seems that this headband is from the warring states era, back when there were no Hidden ninja villages…The Senju clan was a major side of that period." Hinata began recalling the history lessons. "They fought mostly against the Uchiha clan and its allies and their conflicts raged for years before the two founders of Konoha, Hashirama-sama the first Hokage and Uchiha Madara, the then leader of the Uchiha clan made peace and together founded Konoha."
"Whoa, that's some history there…" Naruto admitted. "So, this is from before then…well now that I watch this place attentively, it seems like more like a hideout than anything." The blonde said nodding to himself.
"Hai, it seems that sometime during the warring states era, some of the Senju took shelter here and made this place their hideout, but abandoned it afterwards and moved elsewhere…"
"If this was a Senju hideout, this has something to do with our village's history, doesn't it?" Naruto said with a smirk.
"Yes. I agree totally." Hinata nodded. "And I believe, Tsunade-sama would be interested about this place for certain." She added.
"Yeah, she's one of the Senju after all…"
The two began exploring the what they assumed was a Senju Hideout.
"It seems like the place was abandoned in a hurry…" Hinata commented.
"Or it was destroyed be" Naruto concluded.
The two were so caught up in their discovery that they failed to notice another had entered the cave.
The two explored further and finally came up with something very interesting; a big scroll, that had been hidden in a carefully designed container in the stone wall that would open only when chakra was applied on its seal.
It had been coated in ice that quickly melted as they approached.
"It seems that this seal responds to Uzumaki chakra. The design seems to suggest that it responds to a select few chakras, most likely the Senju and their closest allies, in such case, the Uzumaki would be one." Minato explained from Naruto's mindscape.
"Got it dad…The Senju are super careful, but it seems they were in such a hurry that they forgot to take this important looking scroll…I wonder why this scroll seems to be in good shape when every other piece of paper we came across in here is totally a mess…"
"That's because this is a summoning scroll…" Kushina cut in.
"Oh, like the one Ero-Sennin carries on his back, huh?"
"Yep."
"Hinata-chan, Mom says it's a summoning scroll…shall we open it and check it out?" Naruto suggested.
Hinata nodded and the two laid the scroll out.
The names of the previous summoners were all there, but the shade had been lightened and the writing had become a bit hazy….
"It means that the summoner is dead…" Minato stated from the mindscape.
Naruto and Hinata looked through the names of the summoners. There were some Senju and Uzumaki names on it, but none of the names rang a bell in their minds.
"Well, I think this scroll is more ancient than the time of the First Hokage and was already lost when he was active…" Naruto stated.
"I agree, I can't recall any of the names here, but they all were either from the Senju or from the Uzumaki clans…"
Just then a light bulb lit up in Naruto's head.
"Why don't ya sign it Hime?" The blonde suggested.
"W-what?" Hinata asked startled at the suddenness of the suggestion.
"Yeah, I am serious. Look, summons are pretty useful 'ttebayo. Many of us have summons, Ero-sennin, dad and I have toads, Kakashi-sensei has dogs, Sandaime-jiji has monkeys, Gai-sensei has turtles and all that…And since we have been working on diversifying your fighting options outside the Hyuuga techniques, why not summons? And if it's a senju scroll, I'm pretty sure they won't mind a Konoha-nin inheriting it…"
"I-In that c-case, why don't you sign it?" Hinata asked.
"Well, I can, but how can I explain, it's just a gut feeling that you should, besides, and you are family aren't you?" He asked.
"Of-course I am…" Hinata said with determination.
"Well, why not sign a Senju-Uzumaki family scroll then?" Naruto offered.
"You're right darling. I will sign it." Hinata said and gave her boyfriend a small peck on his cheek.
Naruto gave her a peck on the cheek in return and then explained in brief the process of signing a summoning scroll and the hand-signs of the summoning jutsu.
Hinata bit on her thumb and let a little bit of blood out and carefully signed her name on the scroll at a blank space.
And immediately the red signature turned black and clear.
"Looks like the scroll accepts the contract. Why don't you try summoning one?" Naruto said with a grin.
"Hai!"
Hinata quickly went through the hand-signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" And slammed her palm on the ground.
*Puff*
A small brilliantly white bird with half of its head black appeared out of the smoke.
Naruto and Hinata looked at the bird with abject interest.
"Oh my, A human summoner!" The bird cried out.
"Hello…" Hinata greeted gently. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga, nice to meet you…" She stated humbly.
"A Hyuuga…that's new. Mom says that only Senju or Uzumaki have ever summoned us…"
"Well…" Hinata blushed a bit. "This is my boyfriend, Uzumaki Naruto…and we…" Hinata's blush became a little redder… "I plan on marrying him…" She said pressing her index fingers…
Naruto blushed heavily at the statement as well… "Y-yeah…We just don't say it out loud…but we have already decided on it, the moment we started going out…she's family…hehe…" The blonde stated.
"Finally, they admitted it! DATTEBANE!" Kushina yelled happily from the mindscape and made her son blush further. "YES! YES! NOW YOU WILL BE HEARING ABOUT WHAT I PLAN FOR YOUR WEDDING!" Kushina exclaimed further.
"Okay! Okay! I gotcha Mom!" Naruto said with a very red face in the mindscape.
"Fufu…look at your faces. I made you admit things you wouldn't say out loud huh, just because of your unfounded fear that I might not accept being summoned by someone outside the Uzumaki or Senju clans…hehe…you two are funny for sure…" The bird teased.
Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped.
"Alright, alright. My name's Ajiko. I'm an arctic tern. We are one of the most majestic beings of the skies…"
"Wow…a tern…." Hinata mumbled. "I have read that the terns fly very long distances and quite high."
"Yep. We are actually quite valued as summons." Ajiko stated. "Well….in any case, do you have any job for me?"
Hinata and Naruto shook their heads. "We were just trying summoning, since I had no experience with summoning jutsu. Sorry for bothering you, Ajiko-san" Hinata admitted.
"Oh…well, in that case, you know now. And the more chakra you put into the summoning jutsu, larger the tern you summon will be. Nice to meet ya, Hinata-chan, Naruto-kun. See ya later." And Ajiko vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Was it just me or was that bird in a hurry to leave?" Naruto pondered.
Hinata nodded in agreement as well. Then the two looked at each other and blushed recalling how they had both admitted their intentions of marrying the other.
"Y-you were serious about marrying me, Hime?" Naruto asked with a blush.
Hinata blinked for a few moments and then nodded. "I want to be with you forever and ever….and I do call your parents, kaa-chan and tou-san, you should have understood…" She said with a cute pout on her face.
"Well, you know I can be an idiot sometimes…hehe…" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.
Hinata got closer. "And you were…serious about marrying me as well…"
"Yeah…I mean…I wanna be with Hinata-chan forever and ever as well…" Naruto proclaimed.
And that admission made Hinata immediately move and lock her lips with Naruto's.
Before it could go any further, the two began hearing heavy panting sounds.
Almost like the pants of a dog.
The two turned around and noticed a massive she-wolf, bigger on all fours than most adults they knew standing straight up. The wolf's pelt was coloured white like snow, though the fur on the top side of her neck turned black for some reason, her claws and fangs looked almost to be ice rather anything else, and her eyes were a deep grey that betrayed a deep intelligence.
The two made no move, until Naruto spoke up: "Didn't I see you yesterday after Kahyo chewed me out?"
The wolf's mouth quirked a bit in a smile like expression before she let out a piercing howl, snow created a thick veil which concealed the wolf until it died down to reveal a woman dressed in a soft white snow coloured yukata robe paired with blue accents and tied just well enough to preserve her modesty.
The woman's skin was soft and pale, her face and body looked young, her eyes were the same cloudy grey as the sky on a day when snow fell, and her hair was jet black; but her eyes carried the weight of ages in their gaze, and her body looked to be made entirely of snow and ice that used trickery of the eye to give the illusion of proper colours and textures.
"Indeed, you did, Uzumaki Naruto…descendant of Asura, inheritor of his will and vision, and one of the many heirs to the bloodline of both the Rikkudo Sennin, or Sage of Six Paths as you call him in your more modern dialect, and the bloodline of the Byakugan Queen."
Her voice was soft, like powder snow, but carried a weight and authority to it that was like the ice hidden beneath the snow.
Hinata was shocked by the sudden occurrence: "Pardon?"
"There is no mistake Hyuuga Hinata, heir of the Moon Sage, and heir to the bloodline of the Byakugan Queen. I already know your names. I am Hyoumi, in the time far before the rise of the ninja, I was one of this world's primordial gods alongside my siblings; born in the chaos following this planet's birth. The wolf you saw was my original form, this is a form I adopted much later, when humanity appeared during one of our slumbers. I was intrigued by your nascent race, none of my siblings knew how you came to be. Did you emerge from the primordial hellscape that we used as our playground while we rested for an era…or did you come to this planet from beyond the stars… or even further, from a different universe or a different dimension? We did not know the answer to this question, but seeing a race like you appear made us accept the mantle we had been handed at our birth. Our duty to rule this planet and shape it wisely. We quickly began to teach what we had learned and could be taught to mortals without powers like we possessed; while others began to change our playground into a place where life could flourish instead of merely survive. In time, we received visitors from beyond the stars, a race that was so similar to us but also to humans. The Celestials. A great war had broken out where they came from, and only a handful of tribes and clans remained of their kind. The ones that came to our world were of a clan called the Otsutsuki. They came in peace and shared their knowledge, hoping that one day humanity of our world would become equals to them before leaving. When a group of Otsutsuki returned, it was to give us a warning that the clan had changed, destroyed the other celestials who didn't kneel to their banner, and had begun a campaign of conquest and pursuing godhood. This group that warned us informed us that they were seeking the true Shinju, claiming that rest of the clan had discovered and weaponized a parasite that took on the bastardized likeness of the real god tree. They called themselves the Hanko, for they stood in opposition of their clan's arrogance and approbation. This spurred us on to begin learning how our powers truly worked, discovering nature energy and what the Otsutsuki had termed as Chakra. Through this, we learned that all things had it and relied on it, and with practice even humanity could learn to use it. Us Primordials named this art 'Breathing,' for we knew how to do it when we took our first breath. Humanity used this art to expand their civilization, while also weaponizing Breathing. The rapid development of the planet, the power of the Primordials, and humanity drew the Otsutsuki to us. We fought as best we could. We destroyed any hope of the Otsutsuki being able to mow down other civilizations with massive numbers of demigod like beings, at the cost of most of the primordials. We withdrew to lick our wounds and live to fight another day, while the Otsutsuki destroyed the united civilization we built and used their powers to wipe away the knowledge of Breathing from humanity and instilled instinctive fear and rejection of us into humanity. They needed humanity to forget about the ones who had taught them the first art of chakra usage and nature energy manipulation on this world. They feared we could turn humanity into something that could threaten them."
Naruto and Hinata were stunned by this massive revelation, and words refused to form as they saw the ancient gaze with a stare that they had seen in many of their elder comrades.
"While we licked out wounds, the Otsutsuki had seeded this world with one of their false god trees. It fed on nature power, the very energies that us ancients were powered by and used most. Any attempts to destroy their weed were met with failure. Some of those that had survived our war against the Otsutsuki gave in to despair at this. We slept once more, and when we woke, it was to a new world. A better one. One where the weed had been removed. We learned that during our slumber, one of the Otsutsuki, Kaguya the Byakugan Queen for she was the first Otsutsuki to settle on this world permanently, had rebelled against her kin and taken the Chakra Fruit the tree made to be harvested for herself, though she lost herself in her power, she birthed two sons who stopped her madness and destroyed the tree and healed the damage it had caused. It was…bittersweet to see that our domain had required something as fickle as a change in heart from an enemy to free us of the tumour they had planted. However, Kaguya left a legacy on this world. A Shadow that perpetually sought to tear this world apart in order to affirm the belief of its creator that humanity couldn't be trusted with free will. Any of the remaining Primordials' attempts to restore humanity to the height of the civilization we had nurtured once was met with violent resistance by the Shadow of Kaguya. It never appeared directly to challenge us, but it weaved a web and sung a tune that always destroyed our efforts. In time, even I grew jaded, I began to despair that humanity would perpetually fall victim to the Shadow's machinations until either it succeeded in whatever twisted goal it clung too, or until the Otsutsuki finally returned to subjugate this world once more. I withdrew into my personal domain, this island, into this sanctum you stand in. It holds a special place to me, for it was where I nurtured the ancient humans that I had found in the snow and ice. The legend of the Yuki-Onna began in that time. Even if I had given in to despair, I couldn't abandon humanity. This island has always had a cold climate, an effect of this island having been my den since time immemorable. I do not begrudge some humans seeking to change it now, in fact I encourage it. My time and stewardship of this world has long since ended. I am merely a spirit refusing to move on until I know humanity can save itself from the Otsutsuki. But in the depths of my despair in life, I found a strange man had taken up residence on my island. Living deep in the cold and frozen wastes but still seeking the companionship of humanity. He…intrigued me. I approached him and to my shock he managed to recognize what I was. He claimed his name was Rudra, and that he had been an Otsutsuki…before he grew disillusioned with the campaign of carnage and rot and was inspired by Kaguya's rebellion. Whereas Kaguya installed herself as a god queen who cared only for a garden called Earth, he sought to understand the intricacies of human existence, and did so by completely abandoning all things that made him Otsutsuki aside from his unique chakra, crafting a vessel from a near dead man by using his power to ease his pains and expand the dying man's final days in exchange for his body."
Hyoumi…blushed? Her pale skin gained a strange hue mixing blue and red on her cheeks.
"I don't know if it was anything as romantic as love at first sight or if it was simply just that I was in desperate need for…I just realized I'm spilling my life story to 12-year-olds…well…let's just say things happened and the first bearers of Ice Release were born. We learned later on that the first generation of my descendants inherited long life from both Rudra and myself, but they only lived for 900 years before age caught up to them and began to wither them. All of my children were born girls and fostered the Yuki-Onna myths I helped start. It often took three generations following me before men began being born to my children's descendants. The eldest of my daughters founded the Yuki Clan. But our happiness wasn't meant to last. Rudra and I shared 40 years together and our last child was merely a year old when an Otsutsuki came after him. One of our children died fighting the scum, the first of my children to meet her end, and Rudra himself died in that battle. Earth would have been helpless had it not been for luck, the Shadow of Kaguya pulling strings to eject the Otsutsuki invader from this world, and his own arrogance making him believe he was superior to anything this world produced. I froze and shattered his delusions before he ran away from earth with his tail planted firmly between his legs. I and the rest of my children who remained here in Snow lived in relative peace, with some of my daughters succumbing to age towards the end of the Warring States period as you call it. My physical death occurred during that time. A group of Senju had fled here, hoping to hide some of their secrets in an enclave that only they knew about, and Uchiha followed them hoping to steal the secrets. By the time this place was discovered, only one of the Senju still stood while his last companion went out to impede the Uchiha to buy time for his companion to hide what they had. The weapons and carnage you found in the cave itself was from a time long past that was preserved somehow. The brave Senju was met by myself and the last member of my children, my daughter only beginning to feel time beginning to wither away her youth while I had already begun to succumb to age. My daughter and I accepted his request to hide and protect the Senju's secrets, my daughter took what he was sent to hide and began hiding it in this ruin of a time long gone, while I observed the brave Senju nin's final stand. It was a hopeless fight. He fought against Uchiha Tajima, a favourite pawn of Kaguya's Shadow and father to the one you know as Uchiha Madara. When Tajima threatened the last of my beloved snowflakes, I showed him that even men like him should fear the wrath of a mother protecting her children. My failing body enabled the man to do quite a bit better than he should have, and I was held back by my love of humanity. Tajima's pride cost him his life, believing that an injured woman was helpless and he never considered that ice could be formed into a sword and take his head off. His death was followed by an old enemy returning, Rudra's killer. He had learned from his first failure and used humanity against me, while manipulating Kaguya's Shadow to do the dirty work. I was the only thing on earth he considered a true threat. He gave me his name as he prepared to kill me after further injuring me. Momoshiki."
Hyoumi said that name with such gravity and thinly veiled hatred, that it even inspired some amount of hatred in Naruto and Hinata for the man they had never met. "Momoshiki looks down on humanity and anyone with human blood and non-divine chakra as pests to be crushed. He never learned to respect the threats others presented no matter how small. My daughter was able to sneak up on him and inflict heavy frost bite on him, while he gloated his victory over me like the preening peacock that he is. Momoshiki fled this world again to heal the injury he had been dealt, and my little snowflake held me as my body bled out and died. Downside to being a primordial goddess of ice and cold: hypothermia doesn't exist in your personal vocabulary, it only exists as something you know you can inflict on others, so it can't slowdown the process of bleeding out. My death wasn't the end. My concern for humanity and this world led me to discover that many of my siblings still clung to life like I did despite the deaths of their natural bodies. Some working as forces of nature behind the scenes, while others forged contracts with those attuned to their element or born of a bloodline that the primordial had produced. I learned this from my elder brother Umihebi, though if you were to ever meet him, you will undoubtedly hear him refer to himself grandly as 'The Sea Lord Leviathan and the Lord of All Seas.' He always had a penchant for the dramatic. Anyways, the summoning contract and the other Senju secrets hidden here are locked behind my youngest daughter's personal creation: the Ice of Time. A protective technique tapping into the mystical nature of Ice Release, creating an icy shell that will not thaw until its creator wills it or until the proper time has come or the right person has appeared. The last of my snowflakes died of old age 40 years ago, surrounded by the family she had forged here in Snow and the descendants thereof, so all the ice she created to protect the Senju's secrets hidden here will not melt until the due time. Apologies if I spoke rather long…it has been quite some time since I had a living soul to speak to."
Naruto shrugged: "Eh, don't worry about it. So… if the ice melted for us…does that mean that everything hidden here is ours?"
The Ice Goddess shook her head: "I'm afraid that you are mistaken, only the ice protecting the Tern Contract has melted from your presence. The other secrets hidden here are probably waiting for another time or other people. Other Uzumaki or even a resurgence of the Senju possibly. Though your fate is difficult to discern."
Hinata raised an eyebrow but couldn't say anything before Naruto spoke: "What the heck does that even mean?"
"The Biju have hidden secrets of their own. The secret of their origin and the secret of their knowledge. Some have been made privy to the latter, while by Her generosity, I have been made aware of both."
Hinata furrowed her brow in contemplation while Naruto simply pressed: "What's the secrets?"
Hyoumi giggled with amusement: "I'm afraid that it is not my place to reveal such knowledge. That responsibility belongs to Kurama, once he has deemed you ready to know."
Naruto pouted but accepted the answer. Hinata spoke this time: "You made reference to a 'Her.' Placing a great deal of importance and emphasis, while implying reverence to a degree. Who is she?"
Hyoumi's expression went neutral: "Did I? I must have been so loose lipped that I let it slip. Well, no point in holding back what you have inquired. The 'Her' I referred to is one of the Hanko, in this context it refers to Kamiya, formerly of the Otsutsuki clan. The Hanko sought out the true god tree to find knowledge and power to oppose their former clan with. What they found was that the true god tree was actually trees, scattered to the furthest corners of our reality, each devoted to a certain domain and one individually was large enough to require an entire planet that defied the laws of reality in order to maintain each tree. In short, the trees were rooted into the vary concepts they represented. To gain a true Shinju's blessing, it required that they bind themselves to it after being judged worthy if such an honour by the tree's limited sense of sapience, bound to the tree as both caretaker and ruler of the domain that the tree served as the foundation of in this universe. I would tell what domain Kamiya accepted responsibility for…but I sense she has already taken interest in the affairs happening now."
Naruto scratched his head: "What the heck does that have anything to do with what she took charge of?"
Hinata breathed in: "I think…the secret Kurama and the others are hiding is related to whatever domain this 'Kamiya' rules."
Naruto realized what she was saying and added: "And she's waiting for Kurama to decide we're ready and tell us so she can speak freely and possibly even fill in blanks that they don't even know about. Hey, Frost Lady, how accurate is that?"
Hyoumi tittered in amusement at the disrespectful sounding nickname: "Quite accurate, honestly. Kamiya is waiting for you to be told by the right people before she appears to you personally. She's called the Benevolently Mad Goddess for a reason, and her many bouts with insanity from isolation and despair have made some things difficult for her while making it hard to restrain certain parts of her personality. She has improved in recent times, but I think she believes that Kurama should be the one to tell you two the truth rather than her. I was told that you were promised the secret in exchange for mastering a certain technique."
Naruto and Hinata excitedly yelled: "The Flying Thunder God!"
Hyoumi nodded: "That is the one…I wonder if my brother had anything to do with its creation…he did fashion himself a lord of storm clouds…probably not…he didn't have anything to do with space-time and teleportation."
The lingering spirit yawned rather exhaustedly: "Oh dear, it seems that I have exhausted my spirit's energy reserves…I'll be napping for quite some time to recover…if you have any last questions, ask them now, I have no idea when I'll wake again. I can't create a contract like Umihebi has unless I have blood ties to the contractor, visible ties in the form of manifested true ice release, side effect of using my power so much since my physical death. It will be months before I wake again."
Naruto and Hinata shook their heads while Hinata bowed respectfully: "No, Hyoumi-san, we do not have any further questions at this time. Rest well."
Hyoumi smiled a tired and fond smile: "So much like Rudra and my girls. I saw your battle against my corrupt descendant Doto and aiding my descendants Kahyo and Koyuki. Thank you for what you have done for this old soul. Like Kurama has, I place my bets for this world's future on you two. I'm counting on you."
The two Konoha Nins nodded with equal parts elation that they had been trusted by the ancient ruler of Snow with the future, and the grim determination of realizing what lied ahead.
Sooner or later…Momoshiki would return.
Hyoumi smiled and sighed in relief as she released her hold on physicality and allowed her body to evaporate into a cloud of snowflakes which dissipated into the aether.
The two young ninjas left the cave with their heads held high and a piece of the Senju Clan's history in their possession.
The couple were ready to go home and return it to where it belonged.
A/N: Done! Well, a little infodump. Another OC, info about two other OCs. A summoning contract for our best girl with arctic terns and...breathing? Hmm...I wonder where we heard about that before. Well, I am sure it's not that hard to guess, but still, but still leaving the guessing to you. And about the little OG world building I spoke of. It's Hyoyumi and her brother's civilization in the pre-chakra/pre-Kaguya world. Also, the 'The Sea Lord Leviathan and the Lord of All Seas' is the same Leviathan that Mei summoned in 'Gaiden: Sogeki' chapter. Well, now we have two such 'pre-Kaguya world' beings now. Who knows, we might get some more. I already have some inspirations about other such divine beings. Though when we will introduce them, that's not decided yet. But somewhere down the line for sure.
I sincerely hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter. Thank you again for your continued love and support.
See ya all in the next chapter.
Cheers and peace.
RaNK001 out.