A/N: I don't believe I was clear enough in the sleeping scene in the previous chapter. Shizuka has been able to sneak into the room of the mighty level two-and-a-half sealing master, Naruto. Given he is a heavy sleeper when sleeping soundly in his own home (he's a young shinobi) and, despite his growing skill in the shinobi arts, he still has a long way to go. A person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and safety in their own home, right? That would explain why he's such a heavy sleeper when he's home and feels protected by his mother's adopted security seals. Well, perhaps those rules were never meant for a shinobi village and Naruto gets to learn that the hard way.
Truth be told, Shizuka has not physically assaulted Naruto in his sleep. For now, she's been building up her courage and slowly, but surely, escalating her aggressive behavior. The longer Naruto stalls her, the more she feels she'll get shafted by her "future husband" as her master did by Naruto's "sensei," Jiraiya. Like any animal, or person, that feels trapped by their circumstance, Shizuka feels she may have to eventually take matters into her own hands to ensure she consummates the marriage and gives birth to an heir. Note that she has NOT crossed that line yet as she's grappling with the decision of allowing Naruto a mistress or second wife per the Konoha CRA. The Kakashi seen in the scene at first assumes that she has done so because of the high levels of "musk" in the air but, against his better judgment, takes a peek and confirms that Naruto is still dressed for bed indicating intercourse has not taken place yet.
Everyone forgets his almost canine-like sense of smell; the smell would seem very strong to him or even Naruto with his augmented senses.
Let's not assume rape right off the bat people (she's getting her grind on but hasn't gone over the rapist cliff yet). Who is to say that my Shizuka isn't a very active sleeper or that she loves cuddling up with body pillows? Naruto is the best kind; he's self-heated.
Keep the reviews coming!
~Siva'a-tasi
~III~
Chapter 24: In the Land of Spring
~ Konohagakure no Sato, Office of the Hokage ~
~ The Day of Team Ten's Departure for the Land of Snow ~
"Thank you, Hakui, for looking after our guest." Haku's eyebrows rose as her gaze followed the bowing med nin stepping quietly from the Hokage's office that she'd only known as "Saito-senpai." Beyond the hime-style haircut parted over her forehead protector and trailing behind in a flowing ponytail, the dark eyes were quiet and emotionless. The medic reminded the quiet almost-a-kunoichi of the few Kiri shinobi she'd known with that thousand-yard stare, eyes that saw too much and could no longer focus on the life right in front of them. Unfortunately, the Hokage's gentle throat clearing brought the ice user back to the present meaning focused on his desk.
"I see you've kept busy during your parole, Haku-chan." Haku's ebony-colored bangs swayed calmly as she nodded.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. I was able to help in the medical lab at the hospital making some of the more common salves and herbal remedies I am familiar with. Konoha has a remarkable resource garden."
The Hokage nodded with a happy twinkle in his eyes. Over the last few months, he'd received nothing but glowing remarks about the Kiri apprentice's holistic skills concerning cures and iryojutsu. Shift leaders at the hospital were all but brawling over drafting Haku on to their squads and several bids had been made by ANBU squad leaders wanting a combat-trained med nin on their more hazardous outings.
"Would you like to continue there once your parole ends? That would be an easy situation to-." The petite girl's upraised palm stopped him abruptly.
"I will serve my new master once you allow me to, Hokage-sama." The old man's brow wrinkled like an old prune at the comment. "I am contented with that much."
Haku tried not to smile overly much as the elderly man puffed up signaling the beginning their on-going argument over her insistence on the Rights of Conquest. It was an old tradition most shinobi overlooked but was not completely forgotten and the old monkey was beginning to curse Zabuza's name for drilling the more archaic traditions into the head of the incredibly stubborn kunoichi. Given their nigh three-month history, he could see her in no other light having watched her combat skills assessment.
Zabuza trained her well.
Shinobi defeated or captured in times of conflict were often taken as slaves and forced to become indentured servants laboring for the shinobi powerful enough to subdue them. More often than not it applied to kunoichi as sex slaves but there were instances of males dominated in such ways rare though it was. Nonetheless, she smiled nearly knowing the Sandaime's counterpoints by heart as she mentally recited them along with him.
"I've read the report… the ANBU in question didn't initiate combat with you… the two of you were not opposing factions…" The list went on and on and she always retorted with the same response.
"I initiated combat, Hokage-sama, and, for all intents and purposes, had been in an aggravated state of hostilities for over a week before his arrival. It's irrelevant that the shinobi in question (he still refused to identify her new master) didn't enter into a state of war with me as I was already there in my defense of the Aono family. The rules apply all the same."
Hiruzen let out a frustrated warble that split the difference between a sigh and a groan recognizing that the stubborn female was not about to budge her position on the matter. It would be a tough loss to sell to the Council already clamoring to breed her into a coma if it led to an army of ice wielders for Konoha.
"Very well then. He's on a mission at the moment but, when he returns, we'll make arrangements for the two of you to meet. Your parole officially ends in two weeks so do not expect anything before then." She nodded crisply, a warm smile spreading from her mouth to her eyes.
"You're aware what this will mean with the Council if he refuses your subjugation, correct?"
Haku nodded once more albeit less enthusiastically and shivered slightly. If he refused her and she was unable to escape Konoha, she'd most likely spend the rest of her youth strapped to a table popping out children for the Konoha war machine. She saw herself out after bowing once more to the kindly old Hokage.
It was not a future she heartily embraced.
~III~
~Current Time Aboard the Good Ship Northern Paradise~
Makino's voice began shouting orders as Naruto looked on unconcerned from his side of the ship. His eyes were focused on the rather enormous island of ice floating directly across their path. The crew was calling it an iceberg, but it was far larger than the stories he read in Konoha's library, its "shores" stretching for miles in both directions.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that it was laced with chakra. To Naruto's senses, it literally thrummed with the stuff which made detecting specific chakra sources anywhere near it challenging to say the least, especially for someone with low-Chunin sensor proficiency as of his last brutal self-assessment.
Clones could be asses when they wanted to be heartless. Naruto swore bitterly that the clone's low marks were due to jealousy and no, thank you very much, he wasn't going to share Shizuka even if he didn't want to marry her.
Shrugging off the specter-like voice of the clone nagging him over the unfairness of it all, he turned his eyes back to the scurrying crew as they began setting up the stage for their beloved princess. The deep blue of his eyes narrowed to almost slits as she sat through another two-hour makeup session while her mother hen, Sandayu, paced nervously around her at two arm lengths.
Naruto could swear the man's nose spectacles were specially calibrated to keep him at that specific range, no more no less.
"Asuma-sensei," the blond kunoichi began gaining the attention of her entire team in the process, "the chakra from that iceberg is making my head hurt. I just thought you should know."
Asuma's left eyebrow rose up as he glanced to the other blond and got a single head nod in confirmation. For the briefest of moments, he considered ordering everyone back on the boat but that wouldn't alleviate the problem of the ice roadblock before them. Whoever had the chakra to construct such a behemoth had the power to chase them down at the ship's turtle-like pace. No, running was not an option against the unknown.
He didn't think sailing around would work out in their favor either as it would most likely take several days in either direction. He doubted that the tight-fisted director and their spoiled movie princess would have agreed regardless.
No, they'd need to eventually deal with whoever set up the chilly reception. Now, rather than later, worked just as well in Asuma's trade book.
"Looks like the best way out is through," the bronzed Jounin replied. "Keep your eyes peeled for visitors. Shikamaru, take shadow. Naruto, you're on point. Ino, back up your twin." Despite the girl's tsking grunt, Ino smiled at her assignment. Training with Naruto was beginning to pay off since Asuma often refused to put her at risk given her previously poor taijutsu and bukijutsu skills. She would have to properly thank him later.
The team sauntered off to assume their babysitting duties in and around the makeshift film set.
~III~
~In the Glittering Grotto~
Opal's eyes wandered up towards the ceiling of the Grotto, her mind wandering briefly from the heated argument going on around her. Neither side had changed their opinion about the subject and it appeared an impasse was far from possible given the staunch refusal of their clan patron when it came to her chosen pairing, one Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. What did strike her as odd was the sudden emergence of her long-hidden sibling.
Ellamus, once a beautiful and gentle creature of grace, fell into despair once her summoner passed to the realm of the Shinigami. She loved her summoner with all her heart and railed against attempting the dual bond for days on end. At the end, when the clan matron could not be swayed from her course, she refused to allow any other echidnae from her strain to attempt it and she stayed by her side until the aged woman breathed her last following the transfer of the burden to its next host. Her continued fall into despair beyond that moment led to her withdrawal from the clan and seclusion in her own cul de sac where she often slept for months at a time rising only to feed.
Her once lustrous scales no longer shone. The sleek lines of her once well-toned form seemed a little too thin as of late. She was suffering, wasting away into the gloom that claimed too many of the clutch once a summoner shuffled off the mortal coil of their existence. Ella-chan appeared to be well on her way to joining them and it pained Opal's very soul to see the end result.
After two decades of self-imposed seclusion, she stood once again before the clan refusing to allow any other from the Stormbringer echidnae to suffer as she had. In her own words, if this fool sought the Serpent's Kiss then she would shield Titus from knowing the pain of a failed bond and so bless him on his path to suicide. She would shoulder the burden in the hopes that it would send her to be with her beloved Mito-chan.
Opal sighed wanting to embrace her sister and bring her from the depths of her despair but she was beyond her meager skills and knew it. She only hoped her mas-, her summoner could reach her and change her heart.
Ella-chan had much to share if she could only be made to believe once again.
~III~
~Back in the Land of Snow~
Naruto's eyes raked the frozen backdrop once more, his ears tuning out the chintzy dialogue from the actor playing Princess Gale's nemesis. Standing behind the camera operator, his gaze kept getting pulled up to the outcropping just above and to the right of the robed antagonist. It was as the hostilities on the set were about to pick up that the very same outcropping exploded into pillaring columns of black and white smoke.
"And here I was hoping to meet an old friend after all these years. I suppose you'll do Mr…?" The happuri-style masked shinobi's voice trailed on as if waiting for Asuma to fill in the blank, his lean but cruel face showing pure arrogance as he stood above his opponent.
"It's considered good manners to provide your own name when inquiring of another's." The Konoha Jounin's comeback was immediate and seamless.
"Nadare Roga," the long-haired nin quipped out through shining teeth, his bow equally mocking.
"Asuma Sarutobi." Asuma didn't bother to return the bow, something that earned him a reproving tsk.
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way," the still-grinning shinobi turned to a curvy kunoichi with pink puffs sticking up through the top of her helmet, "Fubuki, take Midore and deal with the brats. Bring the girl while I entertain our guest."
The pink-haired kunoichi sighed mumbling something derogatory about babysitting children even as she jumped clear of her own ice spire.
Naruto ignored the long-haired leader of the trio squaring off against his sensei and the female moving to intercept Ino. While he hoped she would be okay, he was going to have his hands full with the armored wall of moving muscle attempting to mow him down on a flat board shooting across the snow. He had enough time to release his resistance seals and launch a single wind-laced kunai at his opponent before the large man would be upon him, his eyes narrowing as the weapon exploded when it struck an invisible wall of energy half an arm's length from the nin's body. More importantly, as he dodged to one side avoiding the slightly curved front of the board, he noticed his wind chakra get sucked into the shield as the odd fixture on the stomach of the Snow shinobi's armor pulsed briefly.
Perhaps the two events were related?
Spinning to face about, he witnessed the large man lean his body heavily to one side as the board canted, the lower side biting into the white powder heeling him around in a tight arc until he was bearing down once more on Naruto's position.
'Dodge or meet the challenge head on?' He shrugged and launched himself directly at his opponent, feet first. The larger man's eyes bugged out briefly (perhaps he expected the boy to dodge) before a pair of combat boots planted themselves into his chest plate.
Naruto noticed with sick satisfaction that the shield did not prevent him from ejecting the larger shinobi from his rapidly moving ice board, the two rolling to a stop a few meters from one another. The unidentified male sat up slowly shaking away the cobwebs. Naruto simply rose from his crouch and assumed the first stance of his Tetsuken, both hands up guarding either side of his face.
With a roar, the larger man charged with his right foot leading the way. After the first couple of exchanges, Naruto's impression of the man changed and not for the positive.
When they first appeared, Naruto's still growing sensory abilities detected three powerhouse chakra signatures, two of which (the kunoichi and the bulky shinobi he now faced) appeared to be high-level tokujo elites. The male who, other than a few grunts and growls plus had yet to speak a word, fought more like a mid-level Chunin. Other than plunging his fist and feet into the hard-packed snow as Naruto ducked and slipped his haymakers or foot stomps, his style resembled an angry gorilla more than any recognizable village form, none of which posed a serious threat as Naruto slapped a flailing fist sending it careening off balance.
That tap paused the moment making the eyebrows of both combatants rise for the briefest of moments. So long as he didn't use chakra, Naruto could touch them meaning he could strike them as well!
A sweeping roundhouse screamed through the chilly air as the larger man pivoted on one bent knee with his hand resting on the snow's surface. Naruto barrel rolled to his right spinning over the thicker limb, his body parallel to the snowy ground as his left foot touched down lightly leaving the barest indent in the white powder. When his right leg completed the graceful arc, he swung it with all his might up and into the chin of his larger opponent just as his opponent completed his own circle with the intent of pummeling the blond bloody with a raised fist.
The foot connected first.
Without chakra, the impact only served to momentarily cross the larger man's eyes and stagger him backward two and a half steps. A large explosion off to the side rocked the iceberg as Asuma continued his battle with the enemy leader, however, the Konoha Genin ignored it as he fought to keep the heat up on his opponent.
Naruto leaped forward flipping his body mid-air, his heel dropping down to crash against the shinobi's crossed forearms driving him to one knee in the snow. With a grunt, the larger man grabbed his ankle and swung the Konoha Genin off to the side and into a snow bank as his left arm shot forward in the Princess's general direction. With an audible click followed by the short burst of a compressed air tank, several yellow threads shot out of the mechanical hand attached to the end of his arm lashing around the Yukie's body only to be slashed apart by Shikamaru's kunai.
"Ino! Switch up and take Princess Gale!" Shikamaru went over as Ino dashed backward to land between Yukie and the burly Snow shinobi who was transitioning to a thundering charge. Shikamaru drove back the angry pinkette with a fireball as Ino set her legs to withstand the rampaging giant. Thankfully the impact never happened as Naruto cannonballed into the larger shinobi knocking him aside and opening up more space between the threat and the Princess.
"We aren't done yet, ugly," he snarled out only to receive an angry grunt from the larger man. Inside Naruto was wondering why he didn't use ninjutsu despite being grateful he didn't have to dodge those hateful ice spikes Shikamaru was melting ruthlessly with flames.
His thoughts were cut short as he heard Asuma-sensei's voice bellow out, "Naruto! EVAC CHARLIE!" and cursed softly. Evacuation Plan Charlie was a full scale, Clone-powered retreat allowing the Sarutobi heir to release a wide-scale [Ash Pile Burning] jutsu. If Asuma held true to form, he had just enough time to spam out enough clones to scoop up his teammates, the Princess, and Sandayu as they dashed across the snow and back to the ship.
From the corner of his vision, Naruto saw the bear-like shinobi launch the metal fist of his gauntlet in their direction right before the iceberg thundered under Asuma's assault, the major section of the floating body breaking up into a half dozen smaller fragments.
They were soon joined by a heavily panting Asuma-sensei as they landed on the ship, the three Snow shinobi standing idly on one of the larger fragments as the boat sailed onward to port.
~III~
To say that Naruto was annoyed would be an understatement and the more he listened to the discussion around the table they ate their meals at (when it didn't double for a film plotting board for the director) the more annoyed he became. His ears had to be deceiving him. No one could be that stubborn, could they?
Apparently, Yukie was. She'd ignored Asuma's order for everyone to get back to the boat and, in doing so, not only jeopardized their mission but both her life and Sandayu's life when he refused to leave her. When Sandayu tried to persuade her to run, she flat out refused. When he tried to drag her away, she actively fought him.
Ino said the fire jutsus used during the fight triggered some latent memory from her childhood and a really powerful one at that. Naruto chalked it up to a spoiled princess refusing to do what she was told, and his dislike of the woman only grew from there. It failed to improve once the truth about the Princess's history finally came to light revealing her to be the heiress to the Land of Snow, her true name being Koyuki Kazahana, daughter of Sosetsu Kazahana, assassinated former leader of said nation.
Naruto's team couldn't understand his anger towards the girl thinking the Uzumaki heir might have shared some sympathy given the similarities of their clans and royal status. Alas, his refusal to see her as anything other than spoiled and jaded royalty was beginning to affect his ability to be civil around her. It was a good thing she was laid out in her cabin resting after the short but brutal iceberg battle otherwise the discussion might have taken a decidedly hostile turn for the worse.
"What are we going to do about these enemy shinobi, Asuma-sensei?" Ino's question abruptly redirected the conversation given nothing in their short encounter appeared to stop them for very long. Even Shikamaru couldn't work out how their odd armor functioned but he'd read of something similar in Tetsu no Kuni, the northern home of the Iron Samurai.
"Chakra armor," Sandayu mumbled out catching Asuma's attention. "Oh, pardon me, Sarutobi-san."
Asuma waived off the title. "Just Asuma, Sandayu. We work for you." The older man nodded with a warm smile. "Now tell us what you know about this chakra armor."
Sandayu made the pretense of wiping his lenses clean, a sign Shikamaru took to indicate he was gathering his comments.
"Shinobi Chakra Armor was an adaptation of the late Lord Sosetsu. It was intended to help our militia defend the kingdom and provide a chance to stand up to enemy shinobi. It draws out a person's chakra giving untrained men the ability to use and learn the powerful ice jutsus of Yuki no Kuni. Doto stole them after he murdered Lord Sosetsu and uses them instead to power his hired assassins furthering his own diabolical ends."
"The three we faced today?" Asuma queried.
"Unh, that is correct. When worn by trained shinobi, it empowers their chakra to monstrous levels making their attacks twice as potent. They can even use it to form shields of chakra around their bodies that can absorb energy-based attacks or destroy weapons that use chakra."
Asuma frowned. "We'd better figure something out otherwise they'll succeed next time they try to take her." The several heads nodding glumly snapped towards the door as Koyuki's angry voice interjected into the conversation.
"You should have let them take me." It was spoken without heat or emotion, yet it chilled them all at its callousness. Before anyone could respond, Naruto rose from his chair in one swift motion brushing past her on his way out whispering a heated, "Worthless noble" under his breath. This appeared to provoke a response from the Princess.
"What do you know about the pain of my life?! You couldn't possibly understand!"
The words stopped him in his tracks for a few minutes, the Genin's KI pouring from his body forcing the jaded movie star down to her knees. Only when her legs thumped against the wooden floorboards did he let up and stalk away in a huff.
"You know nothing of pain, Princess."
Somewhere deep inside Amegakure, a chill shot up the spine of a god.
~III~
Despite Princess Koyuki's refusal to be helpful in any meaningful way, the Northern Paradise pulled into harbor offloading the cumbersome movie company. Say what you will about the small country's inability to project power abroad, their efficiency and technology were a sight to behold.
Bundled up inside a waiting caravan of large vehicles using skis to steer and caterpillar tracks to push them through the snow, the entire team made good time up into the higher lands. Glancing out of the reinforced glass panes in their sleeping compartment, Naruto's mind tried to wander even as the Princess' face intruded on his thoughts. He tried to lose himself in the heavy snowfall, the forest of evergreens but to no avail.
Her disgruntled face filled his vision and her words kept echoing in his mind. 'What do you know about the pain of my life?!' His frown turned into a snarl as images of angry villagers chasing him through Konoha's streets flashed in his head. His life was filled with pain as far back as he could remember.
'You couldn't possibly understand!' Akimi's terrified face replaced the angry Princess and he flinched. Turning away from the peaceful scenery of Yuki no Kuni's winter wonderland, his eyes locked onto the concerned face of Ino Yamanaka, her mouth opening to ask if he was okay.
"Don't worry about me, Ino-chan," he interrupted softly, rising to don his winter cloak and climb up to the crawler's roof to reflect alone. He knew she didn't buy it for a minute.
A day later, the caravan halted just outside a large tunnel after climbing higher into the hills. Naruto overheard Sandayu explaining to Asuma-sensei about a hideout just through the tunnel itself and that they expected to reach it by nightfall once shooting wrapped up on the near side. By evening, the snaking train of diesel-powered behemoths began crawling their way through the frozen hole in the earth.
The ever-curious Ino engaged the royal aid in more storytelling, the bespectacled man telling of his country's innovations including the railroad tracks underneath their caravan most likely buried under tons of ice. His story of the great metal monstrosities carrying coal, lumber, and other necessities up towards Kazahana Castle covering vast distances without rest in just one day.
As with all good things, the storytelling came to an end as the trucks shut down just outside the tunnel's western entrance. Makino immediately began shouting directions to the crew hoping to finish the day's shoot schedule so they could hunker down by nightfall with a good meal in their bellies.
It didn't sound so bad until a frantic crewmember ran up yelling about the Princess disappearing.
"Okay, who was watching her this time?" Naruto and Shikamaru both placed a fingertip atop their noses and turned to look at everyone else huddled around Sandayu. With a frustrated huff, Ino blew her bangs out of her eyes as the four Leaf nins jumped off into the trees in search of a runaway Princess that didn't want to be found.
The calm was shattered and, just like that, the chase was on once again. Thankfully, it was a short chase.
Naruto's bijū-enhanced nose picked up her perfume on the other side of the tunnel and just five minutes into the treeline, his face stern as his eyes scanned the heavy foliage. Leading away from his high perch, three sets of prints merged and ran off into the deeper treeline. Only one of them was the heavy prints of a civilian trudging hurriedly through deep snow.
~III~
She couldn't get the laughter out of her head. It was a disgusting sound, the snarling hyena-like cackle from the bellies of two men involved in less than savory events about to do something terrible to an innocent. It was high-pitched, like nails on a chalkboard and it made her skin crawl and her ears bleed.
Koyuki stumbled and the next half dozen steps were a frantic pinwheeling affair where she flailed about through heroic efforts to keep her balance. Their hands were like leeches, always plucking at her limbs and clothes trying to drag her down into their depravity. If she went down now, they'd no doubt make sure she never rose again.
It was clear that the Snow Country shinobi chasing her were not about to let her go free. The lecherous comments about the shape of her legs and backside once the taller one managed to strip her of her warm overcoat made it clear what was on their minds.
"It's soo cold here! Help us stay warm!" The sickening way they cooed after her spurred another burst of energy.
She did not for one moment entertain the thought of them wanting to build a warm fire or shelter for the night. So, she kept running and her pursuers kept hooting and calling out to her as the paced her through the trees.
A heavy kick to her right butt cheek sent her a-tumble into the snowy powder and rolling down a small hill. Even a small shinobi could hit like a bear and she crumbled under the blow. She could feel her hip throb under protest, her leg going numb from the impact. Even before she rolled to a complete stop, greedy hands pulled her up from the cold covering by her hair and sweater slamming her back painfully against a tree trunk, their foul breath assaulting her as grubby hands pawed at her body.
She clamped onto a wrist and tried to force the offending item from her right breast only to receive a backhand for her troubles. Her vision blurred as the air left her mouth only to be replaced by an odd metallic taste, but she couldn't rest or recover before being roughly lifted back up and against the tree.
The offending hands returned and this time something slimy trailed up over the left side of her face. Given the horrific breath that accompanied it she assumed it was a tongue and she tried to struggle, she tried to fight them off. They were too strong.
They were shinobi after all and she was a normal woman untrained in chakra use.
Each held a wrist behind her with one hand while the other hand roamed her chest, her stomach, her legs and everything in between. Whatever they could touch, they groped roughly. She cried out, she tried to kick, she screamed. Another backhand rocked her vision. This time as she was again forced up against the tree, her cries dying out as the tears began to fall, her eyes catching sight of a blond beacon in the rough movements and for once her heart surged.
"Please… help me." The two hyenas cutting open her sweater with kunai revealing a cotton sports bra (for warmth) roared all the louder.
"No one is gonna save you, princess! No one can hear you out here! Yell if it makes you feel better, hahahahaha!"
"Please…"
It was barely a whisper, but the blond ball of light moved and suddenly one of the hyenas stopped laughing. It was abrupt and apparently confused the second hyena, the really smelly one. The one that stopped laughing stood up straight, his hands releasing her as they fell to his sides. The confused face staring back at her blinked once, then twice before his head turned to his partner in confusion.
It was after he turned with a pleading look on his face that her still blurred vision noticed the leather wrapped handle sticking out of the side of his neck, the ring at the end of it glinting dully in the fading light of day.
Then darkness consumed her as she felt her body falling…
~III~
The second Snow nin was already in motion as he looked to put distance between himself and the newcomer while frantically retying his sash to keep his pants from falling down. Naruto could see his worried eyes glance to his fallen comrade before flicking out to check the treeline presumably for more of his kind. He was hoping for backup to arrive.
"Feel free to yell if you think it will help," Naruto began in a truly sinister voice. The panicked shinobi's face paled.
"No one will hear you out here."
That did it. Whatever courage remained in his worthless soul bubbled up and the nin took up his kunai for something other than cutting away a woman's clothing. He charged.
Naruto swayed right allowing the first jab to pass over his shoulder harmlessly and buried a fist into the smelly man's gut. He was slow. He was sloppy, perhaps barely a Genin. While his skill level was sufficient for trying to rape civilian women, it was not enough for him to escape justice from the disgusted jinchuuriki.
The snow ningen brought his arm around in a slashing backhand missing badly as Naruto leaned back just enough to let the blade slip by his face. Flipping his blade around to stab straight into the blond's stomach, Naruto's opponent lunged only to have his eyes bulge open once his hand and wrist got caught in the iron grip of the blond stranger.
At first, the bones in his hand started popping and cracking turning panicked anger into outright fear. He started pulling trying to break free. When the bones in his wrist began to crack under the relentless pressure, he began screaming and kicking at the immovable creature making his hand bleed from bone shards rupturing his skin.
A blade, one of his own if the sudden lightening of his thigh holster was to be believed, under his chin stopped all of the pain replacing it with shock.
Naruto's eyes swept over the two deceased shinobi before resting on Koyuki's prone form. His ears registered their stopping hearts as he walked to stand over her prone form, her nearly-exposed chest covered by tattered scraps and fresh snow.
With a heavy sigh, he found her bright pink winter coat and wrapped the Princess up in it before sweeping her up in his arms to resume the trek back the way he came. Deep inside he chuckled at the irony of a princess carry for a real Princess instead focusing on the painful amount of time he'd need to carry her dead weight after her highness' latest adventure. She must have snuck away before they entered the tunnel meaning a long walk back to rejoin the others.
"Troublesome woman," he mumbled out. There were probably more patrol units out searching the mountain for her. Knowing his luck this mountain would be covered in them. He could only hope that they were too far away for them to hear all the screams.
Knowing that Ino described his chakra as "warm" and "soothing," Naruto kept his pace steady and even while cycling his chakra through his upper body. Asuma had expanded their chakra control practices to both minimizing and fluctuating exercises, the latter of which came much easier to the bijū container than the former (he was having difficulty closing the pore-like openings of his tenketsu while stilling the flow of chakra through his body). By the time he'd climbed back to the mountain pass leading through the tunnel, Koyuki's groggy voice began to pester him again with questions he really didn't want to answer.
"Why?"
He tried to ignore her outright.
"Why do you do it?" came the persistent voice growing stronger by the unfortunate minute.
"You're going to have to be more specific, Princess." The inflection of his voice wasn't lost on her even in her exhausted state.
"Why did you come after me? It's been you every time, hasn't it?" She was sounding weak, frail even meaning he needed to get her back to the warmth of her – what did Sandayu call them again? – vehicle? Yeah, that was it. She needed a real place to rest.
"You need to keep your strength. Go back to sleep."
She resisted his efforts to change the subject and ignored his command.
"No!" she croaked out, a hacking cough following immediately after then a brief round of shivering. "I need to know why." There was a long pause as he could feel the heat of her gaze on his cheek.
"Please tell me."
Despite his best efforts, she drew the answer from him. "It's my mission. Nothing more, nothing less." His angry eyes swept down to meet her dumbfounded ones. "No matter how far you run, I'll always come for you so long as it's my mission." He looked up into the dark tunnel and sighed heavily.
"Believe it."
A ripple shot through his body bringing him to an abrupt stop. Turning to look behind them, he stood there for several seconds trying to make sense of what his body was telling him. An enormous chakra source was approaching, bijū-sized if his senses were correct, which would make sense given the huge vibrations his body was detecting in the frozen ground through his enclosed shinobi boots.
Whatever it was, it was enormous and headed their way.
"What is it?" The concern on his face was enough to make her worry, the fog of fatigue and stiffness fading with the rush of fear and adrenaline.
"I don't know but I'm not waiting around to find out." He promptly turned and began running shinobi fashion, Koyuki marveling at the way his body flowed without bouncing across the hard ground.
If he remembered correctly, Sandayu said during their first trip that the tunnel reached just over three-thousand meters in length. He wasn't sure but he was hoping they were nearly halfway through.
A shrill whistle blared behind him and Naruto glanced over his shoulder long enough to see a monstrous construct of lights and iron barreling down on them from the far end of the last curve in the tunnel. He had perhaps a hundred meters on the machine, but it was gobbling up the distance at a frightening rate.
His very sensitive hearing was urging him to pour on more speed. His passenger suddenly felt the need to join in adding her very frightened sense of urgency.
"TRAAAAAAAIN!" Koyuki's voice was frantic, a steady stream of, "We're not going to make it," "It's too fast!" and a bunch of indecipherable screams.
Naruto pulsed his chakra three times dropping his resistance seals and yelled for her to, "Shut up for a minute!" The shocked Princess Koyuki blinked as the blond dug deep and began streaking through the tunnel in a blur, his eyes almost glowing an eerie blue color as his gaze took on a faraway look.
'Please let us be at least halfway!' He could do nothing but lower his head and sprint for all he was worth.
~III~
[Justsu Used in This Chapter]
[B-Rank] Katon: Haisekishō (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning): The user spews a stream of chakra-infused gunpowder from their mouth, which surrounds the region. As the gunpowder is composed entirely of ash, it stays in the air around the victim like a cloud, which can be used like a smokescreen. After surrounding the enemy with the ash, the user can ignite it with a flint placed on their teeth beforehand to create a spark, resulting in a violent explosion, burning the enemy. However, this technique requires keen senses to read the air currents, the insight to read the movements of the enemy, the tactical experience to not also enfold one's allies in the flames, and careful attention for the timing of the ignition.
Omake: On the Wings of… Like?
Shizuka was feeling like a small child, one that had been caught sneaking biscuits from the tin hidden on the high shelf of the pantry. Her head was bowed, both hands clasped firmly in front of her body as her shoulders slumped with each scathing word from the lips of the man she fiercely claimed would become her future husband. The worst part was that it was all justly deserved, the male's indignation appropriately directed at her once he awoke to find her groggy, mostly-naked body draped over his own with no justifiable explanation of how she'd gotten inside his barricaded apartment let alone in his bed without his knowledge.
Apparently, her subtle attempt to push her rather large assets together in the hopes of derailing his anger was serving to further anger him instead but clasping her hands behind her back wasn't much better. In the end, she used her hands to cover her blushing face.
In all seriousness, Shizuka had planned to be long gone before his four-thirty alarm was supposed to go off and she was still trying to plow through the foggy mush inside of her brain. A quick glance to her left showed the equally bowed head of her gargantuan caretaker who appeared equally stumped at being found out. Things were progressing splendidly after all so why the hiccup tonight?
Shizuka's eyes snapped back to Naruto's angry face once she noticed he'd stopped talking.
"Um… I'm sorry but could you repeat that please?" Her face immediately burned with the heat of her blush. She'd zoned him out at a time when Shizuka needed to be amenable to prevent getting thrown into prison for assault.
The temperature in the cozy living room dropped another five degrees or so.
"Security seals. Break-in. Explain." Each word sounded bit-off as his teeth gnashed together. With a nervous sigh, she walked calmly into the bathroom, closed the tiny window to the outside walkway, then walked outside his front door asking him to lock it after she'd left. Naruto raised an eyebrow in doubt, paused long enough to remind her that Tokiwa would have to stay behind with him, but humored her not only turning the tab on the handle but sliding the deadbolt firmly into place the way he did every night.
Then he waited patiently.
It didn't take long before he heard the sound of metal scraping against the window lock, most likely a senbon jimmying the catch. With his Kyuubi-enhanced hearing, he could just make out the window sliding open as ludicrous as it seemed.
Tiny though Shizuka's waist was, the rest of her body was extremely curvy, much to his approval, and there was no way she could fit through a window barely more than a hand's breadth tall and half an arm's length wide. There was simply no way that-.
His mind short-circuited as a brightly colored bird fluttered quietly out of the bathroom, across his living room, then settled gently onto the doorknob. Its face was made up of alternating black and white patterns, while its undercarriage was a brilliant shade of yellow matching Naruto's crown of spikes. As his eyes slid past its great hooked beak and strong looking claws for such a small bird, his deep blue eyes caught the plumage covering the small bird's crown, neck, back, and wings; the shade of blue matched the colors of his eyes.
With a happy trilling whistle, the small avian dipped its head low enough to grasp the door tab in its beak and twist its little blue crown enough to pop it open with a sharp "click." Jockeying about until it was facing the opposite direction, the bird stretched its neck enough to reach the deadbolt just barely within its reach, flapped its wings furiously, if not briefly, to gain enough altitude, then jerked its head to the side enough to free the deadbolt from the locking chamber. Once the door began to open, it fluttered lightly in place before settling on the Nadeshiko Princess's shoulder with more happy chirps and whistles.
"RAWKK! Baka! Baka! Baka!" Then the bird cackled happily at him.
Naruto's strained smile lasted until he threatened to summon Gamakichi to eat the colorful thief, which caused it to vanish faster than beef barbeque before an Akimichi. He was going to have to rethink his version of seal proofing his apartment.
~III~