Team 7 was, how to put it.
Strange.
After the whole Konoha Crush ordeal, Team 7 had mixed feelings to see little ol' Tamako at Konoha's Gates. The girl smiled and waved, hopping from her spot, "Oi!" She waved faster, "Long time no see!"
"You!" Sakura and Naruto yelled in unison, pointing fingers at the periwinkle haired girl.
Tamako pointed at herself with a grin, "Me!"
"What're you doing here!? Don't tell me..." Naruto trailed off, getting into a defensive stanza, if you could call it that. "...you're here to mess things up again, aren't you—!" The blonde cut off with a yelp, biting his tongue when Kakashi appeared behind him and slammed his familiar orange book onto his head.
"Now now Naruto, calm down. You may remember this Suna kunoichi from the Chunin Exams. She's here to participate in the Konoha-Suna joint operation."
The girl winked, holding up a peace-sign, "That's me!"
Naruto whimpered, tears filling his eyes, "B-but why her?"
Tamako frowned, holding her hands behind her back, "What, you didn't think we all had such good teamwork last time? I think we did quite well, taking care of Gaara-kun."
"That's besides the point, the Godaime and the Suna council have spoken and the decision is final. Get used to her." Kakashi gave his signature eye smile before turning to Tamako. "As commander of this mission, you'll follow my orders."
She saluted, "Of course, taicho!"
"Saate. Now that we have that handled..." He walked forward, past the game without hesitation, "... off to the capital!"
The three genin groaned, quickly running to catch up to their aloof sensei.
Tamako flickered next to Naruto, taking out the scroll the council had handed to her and carefully readthe mission details. Just a boring ol' protection detail of an actress. The kicker was the trek from Hi no Kuni's Capital all the way to Yukigakure. No doubt they'll take some boat.
She stuffed the mission details into her haori, making sure it disappeared into her inventory afterwards.
"So how have you three been? I don't see any chunin vests..." Tamako trailed off, a tease in her voice, tapping her's with a smug look.
Sasuke scoffed while Sakura chuckled nervously, "Tsunade-sama thought it would be best to keep a low profile..."
Tamako blinked, low profile? Then she drew the conclusion. Right. Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Is that why Tsunade assigned them off to another country? She glanced at Kakashi before meeting Sakura's eyes. "That's quite strange. I'm not so sure about Naruto, but Sasuke here is definitely Chunin level."
Naruto growled, throwing a fist into the air, "What'chu say? Say it again!"
Tamako grinned, sidestepping the swipe and jumped over the blonde boy, landing beside the much calmer, and broodier boy. "Chunin's are team-leaders. Naruto, I'm not saying outright that you aren't a team-leader, but when I saw your first course of action against Gaara was to shove a kunai up his ass, I already had you figured out."
The boy turned red, stammering out, "W-well—"
"Maaa maa, it's all in the past. There are always next Chunin exams, and what do you know! It'll be here before you know it." Kakashi added unhelpfully, "Let's pick up the pace, we need to arrive by noon tomorrow." At his command, the group began sprinting across the trees.
"No but seriously, why didn't they promote Sasuke?"
. . .
"We will not be able to go any further...there is no route from here..."
Tamako watched the movie with enrapturement. It's been far too long since the last time she's seen a film. While black and white, with spotty camera-film, it was better than nothing.
She shoved a mouth load of popcorn into her mouth, offering it to Sasuke who hn-ed, then to Sakura who grabbed a few. Was it hard eating upside down? A little. Was that stopping her?
Nothing ever stopped her from food.
"This journey is useless..."
"It's over...let's give up..." A woman stood up with determination pooled into her eyes.
"There is a way. Let's believe in it. We will surely be able to find it."
"But... hime."
"Don't give up!" The theater echoed with evil laughter.
" Fūn-hime! You bastards will not be able to go any further than this!"
"Mao!"
"Watch out! Fūn-hime!" Naruto shouted, oblivious of the glares the rest of the team have been sending him for the past hour.
The boy lacked proper movie theater etiquette.
"You should give up. You should beg for forgiveness, Fūn-hime."
"I will never give up! As long as I live, I will turn everything I have into strength, and I'll show you I can cut a way open!"
By the power of friendship, magic and rainbows, the movie ended with a literal rainbow in the background and a beam of rainbow energy that defeated the enemy.
What a crappy ending.
"Alright! That's the way, Fūn-hime! As I thought, justice triumph!" Naruto yelled with the biggest grin, swinging his arms in the air in excitement.
"Hey! What are you doing up there!" A security guard shouted, readying to give up a good yelling.
Breaking his concentration at the yell, Naruto plunged to the ground as the rest of the group watched blankly from the ceiling.
Naruto groaned, rubbing his head and glared, "What do you want all of sudden?!"
"What do you mean what do I want!? Sneaking in and watching a movie for free is completely unethical!"
"No, it's not like that," Naruto said, trying to defend himself. "We weren't just watching the movie, we were also training!"
Tamako watched the exchange with a finger on her chin, "Naruto is stupider than I initially calculated."
Sakura sighed, "You have no idea."
Tamako dropped back to the ground, the rest of the team following her movements to confront the man before things got ugly. Sasuke lifted his hand up, holding out four movie tickets between his fingers, "Our tickets are right here"
The man blinked, his eyes trailing up to the ceiling where they were perched before landing back to the group of misfits. "Are you guys Konoha shinobi?"
"Heh, that's right!" Naruto boasted.
Tamako blinked. "Ah, I'm not," She said meekly, raising her hand before pouting when everyone ignored her.
Naruto puffed out his chest, a sign for another one of his speeches. "I will one day become the Hokage! I am—" A bag flew into the boy that downed Naruto, and if everything were dominos, it only got worse. Anything that could be thrown, was thrown and Tamako's only saving grace was her honed reflexes.
. . .
They were kicked out.
"Ah..." Sakura groaned, "Kaka-sensei is late. Again." She leaned against a couple metal boxes that Sasuke sat on top.
"It's always like this," Sasuke offered with a frown. Beside him was Tamako completely zoned out, her eyes glazing over as if boredom had consumed her.
"That movie was so good, I was so overwhelmed by it, 'ttebayo."
"What are you talking about!?" Sakura walked over to Naruto with anger laced on her face, "Because you created such an uproar, we didn't get to see the end of it."
Tamako blinked, finally back at present. "I'm surprised that we even got through that far, with Naruto's comments 24/7." She hopped off the boxes and stretched her legs, "We should've been kicked out a long time ago,"
Sakura sighed, her eyes wrinkling at the sun, "Wonder why Kaka-sensei asked us to watch this movie before our mission..." Then she bolted out of her spot, stepping away from the large gate nearby with Sasuke quickly following suit.
Blinking harder, Tamako steered clear from the massive gate and just as she expected, the clapping noises had gotten faster and louder. Before she could blink, a carbon-copy of Fūn-hime on a white horse jumped over the gate, galloping away before disappearing around the corner.
"No way, F-fūn-hime!" The gates abruptly opened, and Sakura and Sasuke flung themselves to the side with Naruto unlucky enough to notice, hitting the poor boy in the process and sending him rolling to his side.
Dozens of men dressed in samurai armor flooded through the game, chasing in the same direction as "Fūn-hime".
Naruto growled, rubbing his head with both pain and anger, Sakura dusted her clothes and got up and ran.
"Shannnnarooooo!" At her call, all four shinobi jumped onto the roofs and gave chase, quickly catching up because shinobi were much faster than a galloping horse. At the sight of one of the samurai casting a large net, aiming at the young woman, Naruto threw out shurikens and effectively ruined them before they could meet its mark. Without hesitation, he threw himself off the roof and formed familiar handsigns for his favorite jutsu.
A couple dozen Naruto's landed on three Samurai, suppressing them, and Fūn-hime quickly maneuvered around them with the other Samurai quickly tailing her.
Sasuke and Tamako quickly pursued them while Sakura kawarimi with Fūn-hime, taking her place. The Samurai threw a flask filled with brown chemicals and the horse was quick to slip and fall. Sakura disguised as the princess quickly fell onto the ground, the Samurai took their chance and pounced.
Smoke filled the air indicating that Sakura released her henge, and she brought a fist to a Samurai's head that knocked him out and left a small crater in its wake. Everyone scrambled away from her.
Sakura was very quick when it came to asking Tsunade for an apprenticeship, and judging by the look on Sasuke's face, it still shocked him to his every core.
But that didn't stop the boy from flickering to the remaining horse, knocking off its rider with a quick chop to the neck.
Tamako was ninety-nine percent sure these were their clients. She crouched by the nearby steps and watched as the three rounded all the "samurai" and took off their helmets before they tied them up with rope Naruto kept in his pouch.
"Oh my..."
Sakura looked at the voice and opened her mouth, "Kaka-sensei!"
Kakashi waved before eye-smiling, "What are you guys up to?"
"Just wasting time." Sasuke patted his hands clean from dust as Tamako grinned in response.
"Look at them, aren't they so cute?"
Kakashi shook his head like it wasn't a funny joke and flickered to the man with glasses, the ropes slashed instantaneously with his flicker. He offered his hand to the man with a sheepish look. "Maa... I'm so sorry." He rubbed his neck and slightly bowed, "This man is the client of this mission."
"Eh?"
"Yes, my name is Asama Sandayū, assistant of Fujikaze Yukie."
"This time, our mission is to protect the actress who plays as Fūn-hime, Fujikaze Yukie," Kakashi said, staring at the three genin and recently promoted chunin.
"Protect?" Sasuke inquired.
The group relocated to a nearby filming studio that the rest of the crew were cleaning up. Tamako carefully watched the crew work, feeling a bit awestruck in how modern it all looked, and felt. Large cameras, long microphones and even some props lying around.
"Well, protect might not be the best word. It's better to say we are her escorts." Kakashi continued, "This is the first time the Unlucky Hime would be filming overseas. But Fujikaze Yukie plays the most critical role..."
"I'm very sorry..." Sandayū muttered, slouching.
"As one would expect from Konoha shinobi, the bodyguards hired as stuntmen were defeated."
"I'm from Suna..." Tamako muttered, glancing at the old director who obviously didn't care.
"Thank you for the compliment." Kakashi eye smiled. A couple of seconds were met with silence until Sakura broke it while looking at a picture.
"Wow, what beautiful glaciers!" She awed before someone commented back.
"Those are Yuki no Kuni's rainbow glaciers."
Sakura looked back to the voice, her eyes widening and a blush forming on her face, starstruck, "You're Ken, the actor played by Burikinto!"
Tamako glanced at the bald man. Then at Sasuke, then back to Sakura. Oh come on really?
She nudged Sasuke, "I think you have some competition!"
He elbowed her ribs before crossing his arms, not impressed with either Ken or Tamako's comment. Tamako dry heaved at his action, coughing into her hand and glaring at the boy. He really did not like that comment.
"This time, the last scene of the movie will be filmed there." Another man explained, smiling at Sakura.
She clapped her hands, her voice getting slightly higher, "And you're Hideo-san who plays Shishimaru!"
Sakura, your adorably unimpressed, possibly murderous, teammate is right next to you. Please stop before Tamako's ribs get worse.
Sasuke's deadpanned face with his crossed arms signaled he was heavily unenthusiastic with everyone. "Yuki no Kuni is awfully far to go" Sasuke commented, no doubt with the hidden statement of, for a film production.
The screenwriter nodded with a smile, "That was the manager, Sandayū-san's recommendation."
Now that wasn't suspicious at all. Her eyes traveled to her now aloof taicho who didn't miss a beat.
"The Rainbow Glaciers are just an old rumor." He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pants, "In reality, there is no spring in Yuki no Kuni."
His smarter two pupils glanced at him, with Sasuke's interest finally piqued. "No spring?"
Sakura added, "It's winter all year long?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yes, just that."
"Kakashi, was it?" The director blew out a smoky breath, exhaling with a slight sigh, "I heard you went to Yuki no Kuni before." Each syllable left off another puff of smoke.
Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed, "A long time ago..."
Heavy footsteps patted behind the three before stopping right behind Sakura and leaned against her chair. The girl in question went red. "And it is said that Yuki no Kuni is a poor nation," The man let out a shiny grin that almost rivaled Might Gai.
Sakura squealed, "I-it's Michi-sama who plays Sukeakuro!" And starstruck she was.
Tamako cut in, her eyes sliding back and forth at the actors who've accumulated into their conversation, "Didn't their economy collapse because the previous feudal lord got too involve with his mechanical upgrades? And that's how they went bankrupt, or something like that?" She blew a stray bang away from her face.
"You're partly right, the current feudal lord, Kazahana Dotō, got obsessed with all sorts of gadgets and squandered away his clan's wealth." Michi responded, grinning at her.
Feeling a bit weirded out, Tamako tried to recall to the best of her memory about the "villian" of this arc. Then her head snapped forward, "Yes, I remember now. Chakra Armor, it was. His latest gadget." She held out two fingers, "It enhances physical power and increases the lethality of ninjutsu." She wiggled her two fingers to emphasize her point.
Kakashi peered into her eyes with scrutiny and Tamako wiggled her eyebrows back at the man.
"That's just what I heard, no one knows for sure unless you live there."
"I hope they have a heater at least. I really don't like going to cold places." Ken finished, sighing as he brought his teacup to his mouth.
"So, you wanna run away just like Yukie?"
The screenwriter groaned at the thought, "Wait! Give me a break!"
Everyone laughed at the director's assistant's misery.
"Um… is Yukie-san always… like that?" Sakura asked.
"Well, yes. She really doesn't know the meaning of words like motivation or ambition, and she really is quite helpless, that Yukie-chan..."
"But she doesn't slack off when it comes to work. I don't care about an actor's private life. As long as she gives a great performance when the camera is on, I'm not going to complain. She was born as an actress." The director said before realizing something.
"Now that you think about it, she started running away when she was told she was going to Yuki no Kuni."
She mentally jotted down that note, meeting Kakashi's gaze who nodded silently.
"Nevermind that, we must find Yukie soon, we set sail tomorrow." Sandayū quickly said, changing the subject.
Tamako nodded at Sandayū words before pausing, "Wait, what about Naruto? Has anyone seen him?"
Team 7 paused, looking at each other like how could they forget about Naruto. Kakashi grinned and at his salute, everyone flickered away.
It wasn't hard, finding Naruto. Eyewitnesses say over here and there but Tamako always felt it was easier to use doton and chakra signatures.
"Doton: Tremor Sensor Jutsu!" She slammed her palms to the ground, feeling each chakra signature as it bounced off her own chakra she pumped into the ground. In no time, she found Naruto's massive reserves and the familiar Yukie's as well. At her jump, the team followed close behind.
Slamming the side-door open, she entered the seedy bar and the screen-writer nearly tripped to reach Yukie. "The boat for Yuki no Kui will soon be set."
"Forget it..." Yukie slurred, pouring herself another drink.
"Eh?"
"I'm dropping out as Fūn-hime."
The man froze before bursting, "What are you saying!?"
"So what? It happens often, right? You know, the lead actress changes for sequels. Even the director—" At each word, she swayed back and forth, nearly dropping her sake cup at the man's shout.
"Enough! This role... the role of Fūn-hime— you are the only actress who can play her!"
The two bantered back and forth without stopping, if they kept this up, they'd miss the boat. "Ne ne, doesn't this call for more extreme measures, taicho?"
Kakashi sighed, walking up to the pair before uncovering his Sharingan. "It can't be helped." And out like light, Yukie collapses with Kakashi quickly catching her before she could land on the wooden floor.
. . .
Tamako heaved into the ocean, finding herself out of ammunition as her stomach tightened. "I fucking hate the sea." She droned out, her face green as Sasuke smirked.
"What? Can't handle a little ocean?"
The girl raised a finger before covering her mouth, facing the sea to calm her nerves. The salty breeze did not help. "Just know, Uchiha, that I'm still waiting to fight you."
"At your state, I can beat you with my eyes closed."
Sakura pushed herself between the two squabbling pre-teens, forming a few handsigns before placing a cold palm against the back of Tamako's neck. Instantly, the periwinkle haired girl felt better. "Ooh, yea that's good." Then glared. "Say that again, Sasuke." She clenched the wooden railing of the boat, "You wanna go? Let's give these civilians a taste of a real ninjutsu fight."
The boy snickered, turning to face the girl fully with his Sharingan fully out.
"Mou, don't get ahead of yourselves, think about that after completing this mission," Kakashi spoke, interrupting a fight that might possibly destroy the said boat if Sasuke releasedany kaaton. "This is an important mission, an A-rank mission."
Tamako heaved again, wiping her mouth with misty eyes, "I can't see how guarding one actress will be that difficult. Are we supposed to protect the entire crew as well?"
"That's not true, Tamako. Famous people are often targeted. Furthermore," He paused to turn a page of his familiar orange book, "It's difficult to know who the enemy is. So be extremely careful."
"All right! Scene 23, cut 6, take 1... action!"
The pre-teens curiously watched as the crew began recording the scenes. Yukie's acting was superb, as good as a Tokubetsu Jounin. As she mourned at her comrades death, face full of anguish, she called NG.
At her call, her assistant gave her fake tears and then resumed filming as if nothing had happened. Well, maybe not as good as a Tokubetsu Jounin.
. . .
They were out in the ocean for days, and by then, Tamako developed a resistance skill against the sea. She was born and raised in Suna, she's never really seen such a large body of water let alone get on a boat besides that one mission to Wave. So sue her if she was dry-heaving everywhere.
"...wake up." Tamako prodded Naruto awake with her foot as the boy blinked awake with massive eye bags. He hasn't adjusted to sea life either it seems. At the call of the director's craziness, he ordered everyone to disembark onto the fucking iceberg.
Was she built for snow? No!
Tamako shivered in her cloak, wishing Suna's markets had something a bit thicker with lined fur but alas, her linen one would have to do. Sasuke was quick to sneer at her which she sneered back, almost decking the boy and barely stopping herself. With a huff that released a puff of visible air, she circulated her chakra within her body at a faster rate, humming when warmth returned to her toes.
She bundled her haori closer to her body, Team 7 had come prepared with more fitting clothes and even Kakashi had a cute little orange scarf. Maybe she should invest in one once they reach a town.
As the crew filmed, she sat on a box of equipment with Sakura and Sasuke to her left, a yawn escaping her when suddenly an explosion rang out.
The four quickly jumped to their feet and Kakashi was already in front of the crew and interrupted the film by placing himself between Yukie and the explosion. With a shunshin she held out her tanto, "Taicho?"
"All of you, get back!" Kakashi yelled.
"Welcome, to Yuki no Kuni." A man in white spoke, crossing his arms.
Kakashi's eyes widened, "You are..."
Another enemy, a woman this time, stood at the peak of the iceberg with a hand on her hip, "I welcome you, Koyuki-hime." She wore a winter hat that covered her ears, but her pink hair jutted awkwardly on the sides of her head. "You did bring the Hex Crystal, didn't you?"
Kakashi gasped beside her, turning his head to Yukie with wide eyes, "Koyuki-hime!?"
Tamako felt one more presence to the south of the team, and he emerged beneath the snow with heavy armor, "I've gotta hand it to you, Hatake Kakashi... we couldn't get any closer than this."
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura! Protect Yukie!" Kakashi was finally in serious mode, no longer having that lazy or aloof vibe to him. "Tamako, take the other one out. Everyone else, return to the ship!" The silver-haired Jounin launched himself forward, scaling the iceberg halfway to meet what seemed to be the leader of the trio.
Team 7 all moved into a Triangle Formation with Yukie in the center and Tamako shouting orders, "You guys take the big guy! I'll get the girl!" She shunshin forward, tanto in hand and appearing behind the woman faster than a civilian could blink.
The woman reflected Tamako's downward slash with nothing but her armor, backflipping away, "Hyoton: Tsubame Blizzard!" She swung her arms in an arc motion, sending ice birds that soared towards the Chunin's direction at neck-breaking speed.
With a quick, "Shouton: Crystal Shield!" The birds blipped into the shield and shattered on impact, with a quick pulse of chakra, Tamako manipulated the shield to transform into her own flying projectiles. "Shouton: Crystal Senbon!" At her call, dozens of senbon went soaring through the air and hit their mark.
Tamako grinned before quickly losing her joy when her senbon shattered on impact. Then she groaned, how could she forget?
"Use taijutsu!" She shouted, dodging the ice blocks that sprung from her feet, "That armor is protecting them from elemental ninjutsu!" She backflipped and backed into Sasuke their backs touching as she narrowed her eyes., "My shouton was useless, save your chakra from any kaaton."
The boy nodded, tapping softly onto her back with his own as if he were saying i got this, go get the other one.
"Shanaaroooo!" The ground shook at her scream, splintering and causing the third enemy to tumble from his snowboard weapon. Naruto leaped into the air and held the man down as Sasuke threw shuriken with ninja wire attached, wrapping the man and pulling. With Sakura quickly approaching with a fist pulled back, Tamako turned her attention back to the woman, or Fubuki.
Tamako tossed her tanto into her inventory, remembering how the blade was reflected by the Chakra Armor and widened her stanza into the comfortable Suna style she knew. With one step forward, she shunshin above Fubuki, her heel aiming at the older woman.
Fubuki smirked, her armor contracted to reveal wings and flew past her heel kick. With crazy jutsus that Kakashi and the enemy leader exchanged, it made a cool backdrop for Tamako's own fight that got her blood pumping. The sight of massive ice and water dragons, the massive ice narwhal, she grinned.
She signed with a single hand and blew up the explosive seal she had planted with her feint heel kick, and watched the girl explode in the air before dramatically plunging into the water. Kakashi seemed to have the same thought and summoned the exact same massive narwhal to destroy the iceberg, calling everyone else to flee back on the ship.
With a quick shunshin, she hoisted Yukie's assistance into a bridal hold and jumped onto the ship with Team 7 and Yukie close behind.
At Kakashi's signal the pre-teens all gathered in a circle. "That was too close." She turned to Kakashi, "Why do they know you?"
Kakashi seemed older with that single sigh he left out, "A mission from ten years ago. Nevertheless, we need to keep an eye out. Those three are after Yukie."
. . .
"Sandayuu-san, you knew about this, right?"
"Hai"
"You must have known how she would react if she was brought here."
"This was the only way I could bring Hime back to this country."
Naruto burst into laughter before responding," Sandayuu-oji-san, Fūn-hime is just someone from a movie, she's not a real hime 'ttebayo."
"She's a real hime." Kakashi's voice droned out.
Tamako nodded at his words, pulling out her beloved Bingo Book and flipped to a page before turning the book to her teammates, "Her real name is Kazahana Koyuki, I'm surprised she lasted this long. She looks the same as she was when she was younger, not to mention she has a hefty bounty on her that was provided by the current daimyo of Yuki no Kuni." She pointed at the picture of a young girl. "I'm surprised I didn't make the connection at first."
"Fujikaze Yukie is just a fake name. She's the heiress of Yuki no Kuni."
"EHH!?" Both Naruto and Sakura shouted in surprise, and even Sasuke was shocked at the news. Who knew that Naruto would get his wish in protecting a princess.
"The last time I was with her, she was very young. It's not surprising she doesn't remember me. I used to serve at the side of the previous Daimyo, Kazahana Sousetsu-sama. The country was small but peaceful. Sousetsu-sama loved the hime very much and lived a very peaceful life."
Tamako could tell, that this mission would be a long one, with a lot of dialogue and lore. Le'ts just hope the ending would be full of rainbows and sunshine as that movie.
Character Status
Name: Tamako
Class: The Gamer
Age: 12 Years Old
Title: Momma's Little Gem
Status: Bored. Normal
Level: 119
HP: 5,025- HP Regen: 3 per 5 seconds
CP: 5,135- CP Regen: 3 per 5 seconds
Strength: 134
Vitality: 135
Wisdom: 132
Intelligence: 131
Dexterity: 139
Agility: 136
Luck: 120
Fame/Infamy: +400
Sunagakure no Sato acknowledges you
Konohagakure Genin acknowledges you
Money: 73,290 ryo (7,329 USD)
Unspent Points: 151
Author's Note
this arc is based on the 1st naruto movie released in 2004. it'll wrap up in the next 2 chapters and will have a twist. have no fear! we wont be spending too much time here.