I got sick and so couldn't work on this but here you go.

Chapter 73 Welcome to the land of Iron

Tsunade wasn't sure what woke her. Was it the stillness of the carriage or perhaps the weightless feeling? She opened her eyes and was greeted with a pair of green emeralds. She sat up her shinobi instincts kicking in before she recognized who those orbs belonged to. Tsunade sighed in relief, her body going slack as he looked over at Sakura the sold kunoichi escorting her.

Tsunade looked at the girl with a bit of confusion. Her emerald eyes weren't as sharp as they had appeared before. Tsunade leaned closer and found Sakura's eyes out of focus. She was looking without actually seeing. It didn't look like she was sleeping but it wasn't very professional to not pay attention when on guard duty as her senior Tsunade decided to teach the young Kunoichi a lesson. She brought her hand up and positioned it for a healthy flick.

Before she could react, her hand was captured in smaller once and held down in her lap. Tsunade blinked and the emerald eyes which had turned red were green again. She frowned. Had she seen things?

"It's not very nice to attack someone who's protecting you," Sakura said, her tone flat. She usually talked with a fake friendly tune or a motherly tone with the boys, even Kakashi.

"You were spacing out," Tsunade stated.

"I was protecting you," Sakura insisted. "I can't see anything while inside here so I have to find other methods." a pink butterfly landed on the girl's finger and fluttered its winds before flying away and onto the ceiling of the carriage.

"Can you…" Tsunade paused then. "Can you see what they see?"

"I can." She said bluntly. Her eyes had glazed over again and the Sanin knew the girl wasn't entirely there.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Tsunade asked. The girl blinked.

"I am a shinobi as you are, I don't have the ability to keep going for longer than you can, yet."

"Yet?"

"You know the younger children always try to surpass their elders."

Tsunade frowned and looked around for a distraction, finding Shizune sleeping with Tonton. She brushed her hand through the girl's hair, a memory of doing the same to Dan in the past flashing before her.

She flinched and pulled her hand away sheepishly looking over her shoulder to find the girl was indeed watching her.

"Ahem, I hear you're quite the kunoichi," Tsunade said to ease the awkwardness.

"I had a great role model," she said after a moment of silence. "The three legendary sages."

Tsunade frowned. "It's Sanin," she corrected.

"And yet you all have an incomplete sage mode."

Tsunade's eyes went wide. She trained for Sage mode just as her teammates had, but as she never mastered it she never used it in front of anyone.

"How?"

"Natural chakra leaves a mark on the soul," she said indifferently. "Even if you've never completed Sage mode training, the ability to absorb Natural energy efficiently remains. A hole in your chakra where Natural energy can go."

Green eyes were looking into her soul. Those eyes didn't look like the eyes of a child but that of a predatory stalking their prey.

"Oh?" Tsunade struggled to suppress her fight-or-flight instincts. "And what eyes can you see with those eyes?" it was said in a mocking tone but the eyes face went black again her eyes distant before a cruel smile dawn her face.

"Your family tree," she said, her voice echoing.

Tsunade scoffed. "Everyone knows I'm the Granddaughter of the First Hokage, that's hardly something to brag about knowing."

"Your grandson would disagree."

The room went silent. Chakra surged and soon the walls were covered in a seal of silence. Tsunade was starting to feel uneasy. She looked at the child ready to run off her but she was met with red eyes and suddenly the carriage fell away.

She was in the village again, children running around without a care and shinobis leaping from rooftops above. It was a nostalgic feeling but she knew it wasn't real. She channeled chakra through her body and tried to release the genjutsu.

"Kai!"

The world remained. The heat from the setting sun becoming more noticeable. Tsunade frowned and looked around for any indication of how to escape. She marked her spot and began to wander about the village.

A lock of blond caught her eye and she persuaded it. Turning the corner she was met with the road leading to the village library, the blond hair going inside. Feeling a bit frustrated, Tsunade leaped to the door in a show of shinobi skills she hadn't used in years. She went inside and it was as she remembered.

The quiet shuffling of paper and the nonexistent footsteps of the shinobis studying. She looked around for the blond she saw and was met with blue eyes. Clear as the sky deep as the ocean they stared at her at the end of a hallway.

A little girl with long curly golden hair stared her down. Tsunade wasn't sure what Sakura's plan was, but this child had her sharp eyes, so she assumed this was what she wanted. She approached the child that didn't move until she was looming over her.

"What?" she growled at the guild. Blue eyes of indifference locked onto hers as the child pointed to the path of bookshelves. At the end of the bookshelves in the learning filled with desks, a boy with blond hair sat surrounded by books and scrolls.

His spikey hair was longer than Naruto's but was the exact same shade.

Dressed in a white hoodie with green stripes down his long sleeves the boy wrote away, opening books and jotting down notes.

He softly muttered to himself trying to reason out the answer he sought.

"But the shadow clone jutsu takes too much chakra, isn't there a way I can get the barrage effect without spitting my chakra?" the boy softly asked no one in particular. "...Maybe…" she scribbled away as Tsunade drew closer.

"No that's stupid, I would still lose chakra… then maybe if I… huh?" the boy turned as Tsunade reached his table. Blue eyes looked up at her wide and curious. She glanced at his notebook noting the notes were a study of the shadow clone jutsu.

"Mom?"

She looked back at the boy confused.

"Is it time to go already?" he asked, turning back to his work. "But I was so close." though he muttered that he packed up his things and the librarian came over to take the scrolls and book away. He bowed to the help and went to Tsunade's side.

"Hey mom, can I ask dad for hell with my new jutsu, I don't think I have all the pieces yet," the boy said as he took her hand as though it was only natural.

He began to walk and Tsunade followed, lost, her mind muddled. They walked out of the library hand in hand before the boy began to speak about his new jutsu. As they turned the corner, a shinobi that was flying overhead stopped and landed in front of them. Pale blue hair danced in the wind as he approached them.

"Dad!" the little boy swelled and released Tsunade to run to the newcomer.

"Hey," the man greeted, picking up the small boy in his arms with ease. "Are you going home now, I'll walk with you."

"Is your work over now?" the boy asks, all smiles.

"Yes, I get to eat home-cooked meals today!" he smiled, a bright smile that Tsunade knew anywhere.

"Dan?" Her voice was shaky and unsure.

"Hm?" he looked over to her his dark eyes as he remembered. "What are you doing all the way over there?" he reached out to her. "Aren't you going to greet me?"

Oof.

She knocked the wind out of him as he crashed into his arms clinging to him. This was too cruel.

"I was only gone for a month, was that too long, sorry I'll try to get home more often," Dan said, kissing her forehead. Light caught the crystal as the boy excitedly spoke. "Does that mean you'll help me with my jutsu?"

"Sure sure, it's the least I can do," Dan replied, leading them away.

Her grandfather's necklace was now proudly around the boy's neck, her son. He cheered and promised to be a great Hokage like his father.

Her eyes wide, Tsunade looked at the Hokage mountain to see Dan's face as the Fourth Hokage. The little girl was there also, her curly blonde hair dancing in the wind as she watched them, a smile tugging on her lips.

"What's for dinner mom?" her son asked.

"Hm?" she hummed, turning away from the child. Let's see, how about homemade Udon!"

"Ehhh! Are you going to buy it or really make it?"

"I can make a simple Udon!" she objected.

"Sure sure, I'll look the other way if you want to get it from a restaurant," Dan said with a soft smile.

"How could you even think that!?" She gasped.

"Ah Minato, I think it's time to run!" Dan said, taking to the rooftops son in hand.

"Get back here and apologize to me!" Tsunade cried as she stormed after them.

A small smile tugged on Tsunade's lips as she slept. Her body more relaxed than it has ever been. Running a hand over her stiff shoulders, chakra eased the tension in her muscles. She sighed content and I pulled away.

Looking out the window I found the first drops of snow beginning to fall.

"We've reached the land of Iron."

The land of Iron looked like a frozen wasteland where nothing could survive. And yet. Under the cover of three wolf mountains, the country thrived in the cold. Covered in thick layers of snow they walked through the snow as though it were not a slippery slope that should show their movement. I imagined the Shinobi of the sand also moved like this in their domain. As the Konoha shinobis moved through trees like monkeys and the Kirigakure through the water like dolphins. I thought then accrued to me. The cloud ninjas didn't go cloud hopping and instead thrived in high altitude and controlled lightning. Does that den mean they were at their best in a storm? Room for thought.

The carriage landed on the mouth of one of the wolves, while we could fly right in I would rather not get shot down because of it. The white feathered hawk blended well with the snow and seemed unbothered by the temperature. Sasuke bushed his feathers and whispered to it as though the huge bird wasn't intelligent.

It was my turn now since we were to walk into the country. Biting my thumb, I summoned a Norwegian Forest Cat. Kosetsu. His fur was thick and warm, his personality a friendly one. The only thing intimidating about him was his eyepatch. He meowed in greeting before pointing his nose to the snowing sky. He looked pleased with the environment so I strapped him to the carriage.

With a poof, Sasuke's summons returned home and he walked over to me. He ran a hand through Kosetsu's fur and the cat purred.

"We're almost there," he said the obvious. "A little more and this will be over."

"Technically the adventure will officially begin when we reach the Iron country," I told him.

He looked at me unimpressed.

"We have company!" Naruto called from the top of the carriage.

I spread out my senses and felt them approaching. They weren't as fast as they were on land but they were coming, shinobis made of lightning.

"Kosetsu! Get ready to move!" I called getting in the driver's seat. Sasuke, Leaped onto the top and Kakashi poked his head out.

"Things might get a little bumpy," I informed him. "Let's go!" Kosetsu took off in the snow. He moved like a cat on land, the knee-deep snow nothing to him. The Shinobis close by saw us and picked up their pace though it was impossible to adapt to a new environment that quickly.

I felt the surge of Chakra before the snow was parted like the Red Sea by a bolt of lightning. They were making paths in the snow, scaring the once-untouched land. Kosetsu growled displeased. He picked up speed running faster barely touching the snow to leave paw prints.

Bawrrrring! Something bounced off the chakra field placed around the carriage, blue sparks indicating it was lighting. They were shooting at us!

"Hey! Sensei!" I called the man in the carriage. "This is a Konoha VIP escort mission, right? What will happen if the client is injured by an unprovoked attack from another village?" I already knew the answer but I needed confirmation.

"An international incident," he answered.

"That's what I thought," I got up from the seat using chakra to steady myself. "Sasuke take over!" I called and leaped onto the carriage roof and Sasuke took my place.

"What are you planning?" Naruto asked, pouring chakra into the seal to maintain our protection.

"The mission," I responded. "I will protect the client as instructed by my Hokage."

I leapt into the air and watched the carriage go on without me. As I descended the shinobis caught up to where we were. They were greeted with a boot to the face.

I buried them under ice and snow as I stood atop their body.

"Greetings!" I cheered. "I am Sakura Haruno of the Hidden Leaf Village on an Escort mission to the Land of Iron. Would you mind explaining why you're attacking us?"

They looked at each other. Confusion was evident on their faces. One of the older boys stepped forward to talk with me.

"You're not here for the chunin exams? He asked.

I blinked. "I am actually. Is that the reason you attacked us and endangered my client?" he flinched and sheepishly looked away.

"This is a competition!" one of them yelled. "And we want to win."

"Yes I can understand that well, but I don't think winding is worth another war," I stated bluntly. They looked at me wide-eyed.

"What?"

"The person we are escorting is the granddaughter of the First Hokage and the lone surviving Senju of the Leaf village. If anything were to happen to her as a result of your attack, I'm afraid the Raikage will have to take responsibility." They went pale. "If the princess were to die, however, a war would be the only response, from the Leaf."

"T- that's absurd!" the older boy cried. "Why would the Hokage send a precious princess to another country with a bunch of Genin!"

"True enough," I conceded. "Yamato!" The ground shook as wood busted from it and formed a cage around the cloud genins. I placed a seal on the wooded cage to prevent them from breaking free. "We'll see if your Raikage agrees with your analysis." I pulled out a piece of paper and blew the content into the cage. They screamed needlessly before falling to the snowy floor in slumber. I stepped back and released the boy I stepped on before. He looked up at me with familiar black eyes. I smiled at him.

"Once you reach the land of Iron make sure to report to your Raikage what transpired. And inform him that I would like to speak with him concerning his genins."

Omoi glared up at me before looking at the cage that held his village mates. Said cage slowly phased through the ground along with the anbu that made it.

"Dramatic much," I muttered before turning away from the boy.

"Wait!" he called. I looked back. "What's going to happen to them?"

"We will take them to the land of Iron where they will be our prisoners until the Raikage request their release. Usually, we kill those that attack us but since it's a delicate situation I will try to handle it peacefully." I turned away then. "I'll hope your Raikage feels the same."With that, I Boby flicked to the carriage leaving a trail of petals behind me.

Naruto smiled at me and asked what happened. I simply told him it was bad weather. He looked over at the lone boy in the snow and then back at me, before surging. I knocked on the carriage window and apologized for any discomfort.

"In this new land there are bound to be unforeseen circumstances," I said with my friendliest smile. Kakashi frowned, but Tsunade nodded.

"All is well," she said. "It's not as though I felt the difference."

"Only the best for our princess," I said as our eyes met.

"We're here!" Naruto called and I went back to the roof to gap at the wonderland that was the land of Iron. It was like being swallowed by a beast at first. But the darkness soon broke into a bright and lively village. It looked like your typical edo period village. People wore traditional clothing and Samurais walked around in full armor.

"I feel like I just walked back in time," I muttered.

"The land of Iron is perhaps the most traditional of all the countries in the five great nations. They don't use Shinobis, instead using samurais." Kakashi lectured us.

At the entrance to the village stood two Samurai. More were hidden in the snow but they were visible with spears and Katana on their waist.

"Trippy," I muttered again. Sasuke stepped down and offered our mission scroll that explained our presence in their village. They read it over before looking back up at our carriage. One of them walked around and knocked on the door which opened to reveal Tsunade sipping Sake in a luxurious carriage. He nodded to his friend who handed Sasuke his scroll and gestured for us to follow him.

"Welcome to the Samurai's domain, the land of Iron."

We entered the warmth of the frozen land.

Here you are, your end-of-year chapter. Next year is going to be busy and a bit wild. look forward to new chapters and new stories.

Until next time.

Night song~

January 4, 2023.