Chapter Eighteen: A Heart of Ice
Obito tried to force himself to rest. The cold environment tended to drain him more quickly to the point he could sleep more than an hour at a time, but it was not enough at the moment, and he was tossing and turning. He finally gave it up as a lost cause and dressed for some late night pacing.
A few of the guards were still standing their posts, and Yukio was sitting a short distance from the entrance with Yuuta.
"You good, Obito?" Yukio asked.
"Yeah. Just restless." A yawn threatened to emerge, but quit partway through. "I normally have some projects on hand to muddle around in to pass the time, but…"
"Don't worry about it. Just try and keep close. I'm sure they would prefer us to stay in our assigned rooms."
Obito nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
It wasn't the most exciting view, walking up and down the halls of the guest wing of the castle, he threw in a bit of variety by walking outside the compound, and something immediately struck him as odd. There was a tension in the air. An anticipation. It made his scars itch and his skin crawl, immediately putting him on guard for whatever the castle was holding its breath for.
A frantic drumming of footfalls raced towards Obito, joined by several others.
Where are the guards? He suddenly realized.
The footfalls grew closer, bursting from a hallway leading further in the castle. Five samurai, one carrying a bundle while struggling to keep his assailants back. He turned to take a blow aimed for the bundle, then cut through the culprit and brandished his sword again.
Without another thought, Obito barreled into the side of the enemy formation, picking the closest and threw him into his companions, then positioned himself between the two parties. Both were wearing the livery and armor of the palace guard, but the trio were all wearing some kind of sash around their waist.
Their target shifted his stance, never once letting his weapon dip. The tussling had thrown the cover of the bundle open, revealing a wide-eyed and terrified Princess Koyuki, who shrank when she saw the other guards.
"What's the meaning of this?" Obito asked.
"This doesn't concern you, Namikaze-san," the leader ordered. "Return to your quarters, and let us deal with this matter ourselves."
"You're threatening your own princess. What am I supposed to make of that?"
"Captain…" one of the samurai hissed.
"I know. Secure the princess. Lord Kazahana wants her in custody before the dawn." "Namikaze-san, if you wish to stand between us and fulfilling our lord's commands, we will cut you down without hesitation."
"Why not let her father ask for her like a normal person."
"Her father's dead. Dotō rules the Land of Snows now."
Obito narrowed his eye at them. "It's treason, then?"
"Hardly. Lord Dotō is merely doing what's best for the Land of Snows."
"Good." Wooden claws burrowed in to the man's chest, and Obito lifted the man to look him in the eye. "Then I won't feel bad for doing this."
Cleaving him apart, Obito charged Sharingan burning red in the dark. Whatever shock from their captain's demise wore off when he stepped forward, and they attacked.
They proved rather nimble, likely chakra-assisted movements. It made things a bit more interesting, but still too slow for him to matter, and Obito wasn't keen on an "interesting" fight.
Kamui.
The samurai stepped in for a downward strike, sword passed through Obito as if he wasn't there, leaving the man off-balance as Obito kicked him off his feet and lunged to slam him back into the ground, catching his friend as he tried to make it past him and flinging him across the room, catching the back of his head against the ceiling. The way his head was lolling around, his neck has snapped from the impact.
Obito extended his senses outward, then pulled back. The last of Dotō's men in the vicinity dead, the princess' protector sank to the ground, driving his sword into the ground to slow his descent.
"Please. You must get the princess to safety. I beg of you!"
"Here," said Obito, taking the princess off of the man's hands. "We have a medic. She can patch you up. We can help you."
"No. Dotō has more men, and he has the Yuki-nin on his side. He will search the palace from top to bottom for her to secure his interests. She must be kept hidden, and he must not have cause to search the Land of Fire for her."
"…I'll get her out. No matter what."
"Thank you...now go! I'll hold off any pursuers."
Obito glanced back to see the samurai push himself to standing, favoring his left side as he brandished his sword once more.
More sounds of fighting echoed from the other side of the palace. Whatever coup Dotō had cooked up, it wasn't going to be bloodless, and the sooner they were all out of the country, the better off they would be.
A quick scan of his surroundings, no one had witnessed this part of the fighting. Maybe this patrol had just gotten lucky.
Obito thought of a way to smuggle a princess out of her own castle. Land of Fire and Konoha couldn't be held at fault for her disappearance. That called for keeping the appearance of innocence up, at least until they were back home.
But how? He thought. He was still on guard duty, and they couldn't expect the princess to be kept completely out of sight. And- Duh! Shadow clone.
It wasn't something he had a terrible amount of practice with, and his normal clones had been atrocious, but his Sharingan had picked it up form Minato, and it would have to do. As long as fighting didn't break out into the guest wing, the ruse should hold. If they didn't buy it, then it didn't matter, and they could at least feign innocence and give the Sandiame room to talk them out of the problem.
"Shadow Clone no Jutsu." A burst of smoke, and Obito turned to a decent doppelganger. "Let Kakashi know what's up. Don't burst until you're safely aboard the ship and out of sight."
The shadow clone nodded and ran off, leaving Obito to finish disguising himself. He formed a spiral mask, leaving two eye holes, then formed another genjutsu to simulate the appearance of a heavy cape and snatched a sword from one the fallen.
Bursting from the window, he landed in a crouch. Princess Koyuki had gasped in shock, but had not cried out.
"Sorry about that."
Clouds had rolled in, so the stars wouldn't be of any help guiding him. The only thing Obito really had to work off of was a general sense of cardinal directions and the path taken from Port Aoi and setting his heading accordingly.
In his race from the castle, he briefly spared a glance backward. A glow was cast against the clouds, and reflected against the countryside as fires rose from the base of the tower and climbing upward, consuming it.
[NRE]
He had considered just running, but couldn't afford to use any jutsu that would tie to him, and by extension, Konoha to the princess' disappearance, and the longer he could hold up the charade of being a just another local moving through the countryside and maybe lose any would-be pursuers.
To that end, he risked leaving a trail by securing a sled and dog team to run them out of the capitol's proximity. He had, briefly, considered stealing the sled, but apart from his own morals objecting to that, it was liable to draw more attention, and this way he wouldn't have to worry about a bad reception at the next checkpoint.
Maintaining a clipped pace through the rugged back country, he began to wonder why he hadn't seen any trails signs. Or any trails, for that matter. Snows had come in the night, but nothing nearly heavy enough to erase roads in a couple of hours.
Searching again, he caught a glimpse of torch light, giving him an idea of where civilization was. No one paid much attention to a pair of bundled strangers on a dog sled pulling into town.
The dog team and sled were abandoned, and Obito had gathered the remaining supplies in a satchel and slung it over his back, carrying the princess on one arm, making sure to keep her as concealed as possible.
Hunkering down in a wood shed, let the princess settle in. Her eyes stared off into the middle distance, and she shivered slightly against the cold.
"I know these aren't the amenities you're used to," said Obito, then asked, "How are you feeling?"
A growling stomach answered the question. Obito smirked a little and stood up, handing her a ration he still had on him.
"I'll see what I can get you. Can you stay put for now?"
Princess Koyuki nodded jerkily, and Obito stepped out into the snow. The rations of hard tack were well and good, and the girl chewed on it delicately, offering no complaint, but some variety was needed, and a chance for news and to figure out what to do next wouldn't be amiss in the event that someone had caught onto the ruse.
"Any word from the capitol, young man?" the old lady asked.
So no one here knows yet, Obito thought, then answered, "the palace was aflame. I heard there was fighting, but I was too far out to see the cause."
"I see. Well, bless the daimyō. He was always good to us. I do hope he and his family are all safe."
It should have been simple enough to rally locals to fight back, but Obito though better of it. First, Dotō had to have planned this out in advance. He would have more than enough resources to remove his opposition, if they hadn't already been dispatched in the first place. These people weren't soldiers. They would likely be slaughtered if they tried to resist. Or they might just turn the princess over to save their own skins.
The best way to help them right now was to keep the princess safe. And if it turned out they were sympathetic to Dotō's cause, that was more reason to keep his vigilance up.
Passing back down the road, he saw the locals gathering around one of the Yuki Jōnin.
"We are searching for fugitives fleeing justice in the capitol. In the name of the daimyō, if you have any information, come forward now."
Obito quickly, and quietly returned to the princess, putting a finger to his lips, and looked back out through the cracks of the shed.
A pair of genin, a girl with pink hair and a large boy with purple hair, were searching, rather lazily, looking through windows or poking piles of snow. He vaguely remembered seeing them at the castle during introductions and the feast, but they hadn't made much of an impression at the time. If they were smart, they were also sensing with chakra, but Obito wasn't picking up the typical signs, meaning they were either incredibly good and subtle, or they weren't doing it at all.
He was about to dismiss the duo as a threat when an older, leaner youth appeared on the nearby rooftop and slid to land on the snow, bits of icy blue hair poking from under his hood.
"Hey, Nadare," the girl greeted.
"Mizore, Fubuki, status report," Nadare demanded.
"No sign of the brat," Mizore answered.
"Yet," Fubuki qualified.
Nadare growled just loud enough to voice his displeasure. "Sensei will not be pleased if we lose her."
"What does it matter? It's not like she's going to do anything on her own."
"Fool! If she remains at large, someone else can prop her up as a puppet and undermine Sensei's rule. We either find her and bring her back to him to decide her fate, or we ensure no foreigners can use her against us. Is that clear?"
Obito's eye narrowed on the older boy as he continued to glower at his teammates past their affirmative answers.
"Are you using chakra to sniff them out?" Nadare asked.
Fubuki scoffed. "Of course."
His teammates might have been sloppy, but this Nadare was apparently cut from a different cloth, and a tingle in the back of Obito's head told him he had been spotted. He gathered the princess and prepared to bolt, waiting for the opportune moment.
Snow shifted against gravity, shoring up against the shed. Smart, but only sufficient for containing a samurai, which told him his cover held, at least for now.
Obito ran and burst through the door, tearing it from its hinges, slamming into the girl, Fubuki, sparing a moment of sympathy before picking her up and throwing her at her teammates. The big guy, Mizore, caught her, letting Nadare swing past and give pursuit, but Obito had already dropped onto the door, using it as a makeshift sled as he took to the slopes.
Any hopes of having lost the initial pursuit were dashed when a flare shot into the air, lighting up the night sky and casting a glow on the snowing landscape as the genin jumped atop the snow and began sliding down after him. Snow was just water, so they were likely using a form of water-walking to skate across the surface.
Fubuki loaded another flare into the launcher, this time firing directly at Obito. Without thinking, he caught it and cast it back, aiming for Nadare, forcing him to veer wide and cut off from the main trail. In his absence, Mizore surged up, signing and then,
"Hyōton: Icicle Surge."
Snow grew thin, melting and then sprang up on the path ahead as icicles, forcing Obito to bank and zigzag through the obstacles as repeated application stretched along the racing trail. Another flare fired high, signaling their location to other patrols.
"Sorry about this," Obito said, executing a U-turn and punching Fubuki square in the gut and wrenching the flare gun from her slackened grip, then substituted with Mizore. The boy stumbled on the sudden repositioning.
"He's a shinobi!" he shouted, flinging a pair of shuriken on the backhand.
Obito jumped his sled, catching the projectiles on the bottom, before kicking it away, only to crash into the snow.
Note to self: snow is not as dense as water. Adjust chakra output accordingly.
He leapt back out, launching to the trees to platform his way down the hill, cutting straight down the slope.
Nadare burst ahead of them, partway through his own signing,
"Hyōton: Ice Dragon."
Behind him, snow pulled together, forming into its new shape and hardening beneath Nadare's will, and then shot forward, smashing into the tree Obito had been standing on.
"You missed!" he called from his new position.
Nadare snarled and guided his jutsu to redirect. A quick check of the flare gun, Obito noted it was loaded and he aimed it straight at the head, praying his luck would hold, and pulled the trigger. To his astonishment, it landed dead-center on the head, bursting the rest of the dragon as its weight collapsed into itself, the rest showering out into a screen, covering Obito as he launched himself down the mountain.
"We're picking up the pace, princess," said Obito. "Hold on tight."
His speed increased with each successive push. If anyone could catch up now, they wouldn't be able to keep up for long.
[NRE]
Kakashi walked along the length of the ship under the guise of inspecting it for their imminent departure. Cold winds bit through his clothes, and the tension from their departure from Kazahana Castle wasn't helping. Obito's clone had popped shortly after they had initially boarded, so he should be making all haste. That didn't account for cutting across rugged back country or possible pursuers. Or that Obito had a solid direction of where the harbor was.
If it were just Obito, he could have eased himself with the knowledge that Obito had survived worse. And if came to it, he could hide or fight things out. Even with the numbers they mobilized, he wouldn't fall easily. It was the VIP he was escorting that was more worrisome, and Kakshi knew Obito would prioritize her safety over his own, and if anything happened to her, he would blame himself.
Figuring another walk across the deck was time not well spent, he descended into the hold, Yukio moving topside to take his place.
The Inuzuka had been rather anxious, seeing as he had been the last one to put eyes on Obito before violence had broken out in the palace. That the only sign of him since had been a shadow clone had not done anyone's nerves any favors.
"Still no sign?" Rin asked, quietly.
"No." He looked over to Rin, idly noting her hand-wringing. "He's survived worse. He'll make it back home. Just you watch."
Repeating the own argument he had in his head looked as though it had hardly convinced Rin, and she certainly didn't looked relieved, but any further inquiries were stalled when they noticed the samurai struggling to stand, dripping and shivering from partially melted snow.
"How did he get aboard?" asked Rin.
The samurai sank to the a knee, pulling a small girl from under his cloak
"This is Princess Koyuki. Do you have a medic aboard?" he asked. "I humbly request asylum for her highness and myself, even though I must also ask for your discretion."
"Bring her here," said Rin. "I'll treat any injuries."
The princess silently went to the medic's side.
"Please, take care of her." Once the princess was out of hearing range, the samurai turned to Kakashi. "Has there been any word of Lord Sōsetsu?"
"According to the newly ascended Lord Dotō, he said that Lord Sōsetsu had passed in his sleep, and those with more loyalty to his vision than the nation's prosperity had tried to interfere with the succession, believing he would undo his brother's work. We were asked to leave as soon as feasible to avoid any misunderstanding or spark an international incident."
"Implying he thinks the princess is dead. I guess the decoy worked after all." The samurai collapsed onto a nearby crate, bursting into a puff of smoke, leaving an exhausted Obito slumped in his place.
"You really know how to add complications to a mission." Kakashi shook his head, then asked, "What happened?
"Give me a minute. I haven't slept for a couple of nights."
"Any injuries?"
"I'm fine. Just tired," Obito panted. "We were ambushed while cutting through the mountain pass. Had to push myself to keep ahead of the pursuers. Then I used Kamui to land inside the ship. That was kind of stretching my range."
"Fair enough. I'll give you a proper debriefing and we can all get our stories straight. In the meantime: Hitomi!" When the Hyūga poked her head in, he added, "Tell the dock workers to stop slacking off. We need to be out of this port. Now."
[NRE]
Shepherding Obito into the hold, Kakashi and Hitomi both listened as he recounted his flight from Fuyuki. It was impressive, and if disquieting tale. Two and a half sleepless days, half of which had been at a dead sprint across long stretches of rugged, unfamiliar back country should have killed anyone else. That Obito was merely drained spoke of the lengths had he pushed himself.
"First question: why not return to the guest wing? We had plans to lock the place down in the event of an attack."
"Couldn't be seen approaching with a potential political liability now, could I?" Obito flashed a smile, then sobered again. "Besides, the samurai seemed pretty confident that Dōto would force an entry if he thought we had the princess with us, and the way they were giving chase didn't exactly dissuade that sentiment."
"Good. Not sure if I agree with that, but it's good you thought it through."
"Why attack while we were present?" asked Hitomi. "Wouldn't that have started a war with Land of Fires?"
"It would mean us cutting across a good deal of hostile territory, and Land of Lightning might take issue with our passing so close to them." Kakashi noted. "Of course, they might just as readily move against Land of Snows for the offense"
"It might be that they felt they couldn't afford to wait," Obito suggested. "Maybe someone was going to tip off the Daimyō, or he was going to make a trip that would see him out of their reach at a critical juncture and set their plans back. How long was it before the palace guard made contact with our party?"
"Seventeen minutes after you arrived. Yukio's guess puts it closer to thirty-one minutes between your departure and their arrival. I think I understand what you're getting at. This was planned out, but something set them off prematurely."
Yukio leaned into the hold, scowling. "We have another ship overtaking us."
The three of them ran to the main deck as a pair of Land of Snows war ships pulled up, spewing clouds of steam into the air.
"Captain?" Kakashi asked.
"They're signaling us to stop. I think they mean to board us"
"What do we do?" asked Obito.
"Seeing as we're in their territory, there's little else we can do. Try and keep calm. I have no intention of handing her over. I need to talk to our employer." Both of them spied the man in question strutting on the bridge with some of his guards.
"What is happening, Kakashi-san?" the man asked.
"Lord Kanto, we are responding hails from a pursuing ship."
Kanto stroked his facial hair, thinking the matter over. "Hm…you have my permission to defend my life and the ship as you see fit, Hatake-san. Do try to make sure they are the aggressors, though. It makes explaining things to the daimyō easier."
"Of course, Lord Kanto."
The ship pulled aside them, Obito, Hitomi, and Yukio stood behind Kakashi as he waited for the gangplank to lower and bridge the two ships together, issuing a trio of Snow Ninja onto their deck and an even dozen samurai backing them up.
"What appears to be the trouble?" asked Kakashi. "We were given to the understanding that we had free passage to the mainland. Has something happened to have that order rescinded."
"We have reason to believe you have absconded with treasures from the palace."
"That's quite the accusation. What proof do you have? I sincerely doubt you have managed to catalog all of the losses after your in-fighting burned the place down, and you certainly weren't letting us dig through the rubble with you.."
"Don't be coy. We know you have the princess in your care."
"So you're accusing us of abducting one of your royals." Kakashi scoffed. "In the interest of ensuring Lord Kanto's safety, I cannot allow you to board."
"What makes you think you have the option?"
The Jōnin stepped forward, and a tanto cleaved into the his side, and Kakashi pitched a pair of kunai over the man's shoulder, one shinobi and one samurai down, tension unwinding as everyone sprung to action.
Already finishing his own seals, Obito took a breath and exhaled, "Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
While hardly the fastest attack in his repertoire, a slow-moving ship was little different from the broadside of a barn, and the resulting explosion nearly split the ship in two, the waves finishing the job, pitching the crew into the water.
"Lord Kanto," said Kakashi, turning to their employer, "A thousand pardons for the noise, but the Snow Ninja attempted to force a boarding, and we took the necessary steps to maintain security."
"Much appreciated, shinobi-san," he acknowledged. Kanto then turned, and boomed, "Land of Snows, your comrades lie in freezing waters. Without intervention, they shall surely perish there. While we hold no objection to aiding in rescuing them, know that they were intending to take possession of our ship under false pretenses." A pause let them stew on the information for a bit. "War is not in the Land of Fire's interests today, nor in that of Konohagakure's. So long as we are allowed to pass in peace, we shall trouble you no further."
Kakashi turned to his team, "that's enough of that charade. Keep watch, but this should give us the political breathing room if they try anything else."
The crew set about fishing some of the men out, and sending them to the other ship. Once the last of them was off, Obito ducked his head and whispered to Kakashi, "If they didn't think we have the princess before, they certainly will now."
"They never put eyes on her," Kakashi whispered back. "We can say we were defending our charge from interference as he was leaving the country. But we need to put some distance between us and them in case they have more ships closing in on us."
"The winds are not exactly in our favor, though," said Rei. "So they might still muster another ship to run us down again."
Obito tapped a finger on his chin, then snapped his fingers together, running below decks.
"Rin! Is the Princess in a position you can step away from her?"
"I believe so, yes," she answered.
"I have an idea, and we need your help to pull it off."
[NRE]
Rin clung to the back of the ship, frantically praying that her chakra control didn't fail as she descended closer to the cresting, and most certainly freezing water churning in their wake.
"This is a crazy idea, Obito," she called out. "I hope you know that."
"I do. But if the winds aren't going to oblige us, this is our next best option."
"If I fall into the water because of this stunt, I'm smacking and saying 'I told you so'."
"I'll accept it. And that's what the harness is for."
A grimace on her face, Rin made one final check on the harness the crew had whipped up. In theory, it would hold long enough to hoist her back up if she fell into the water, but she was counting on her wall walking technique to keep her high and dry. Or as close as she could manage.
"Rasengan."
A pair of spheres of violently circulating chakra spun up in her outstretched hands. A breath, and she plunged her hands into the water, and suddenly the ship shot forward.
[NRE]
The Sandiame stared his returning soldiers down. All six of them were gathered in the Hokage's office, standing at attention. At long last, he ran a hand over his face.
"This is far from ideal, though I am certain you are all well aware of this."
"I'll see that the loyalists gain custody of the princess. With the border tensions, keeping her in the village indefinitely is not feasible for the long-term."
"Hokage-sama?"
"Mercenaries from the Land of Lightning crossed into our territory. While they officially have no ties to the Lightning Daimyō's standing forces or Kumogakure's, the matter is being investigated by ANBU. But until they can finish their mission, we need a strong presence to check any burgeoning military maneuvers."
"They can't be possibly ready to renew hostilities, can they?" asked Obito.
"Unlike Iwa, Kumo never saw any invading forces delve deep into their territory. Their industrial, commercial, and major population centers saw little to no fighting, even those close to the border. It could be that the Lightning Daimyō or the Raikage are testing the waters to see if they can commit to a proper offensive, should an opportunity arise." He took a deep draw of his pipe and slowly exhaled. "Take some time to yourselves, but be ready to mobilize. Understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
"Dismissed."
A/N: Whoo! That was a little more action than I had originally planned on putting into a single chapter, but I'm largely satisfied with the outcome.
Nadare, Fubuki, and Mizore are the three-man team that serves as the mini-bosses of the Land of Snows movie. If there's any discrepancies in their characterization, chalk it up to them being genin, and that there's about ten years spanning here and there. I had to throw so many handicaps and restrictions on to Obito just so he wouldn't slaughter them on his way out of town. Not that I expressly cared about them, or that I couldn't just drum up some other mooks for him to run over, but I wanted to load up Chekov's hoarding obsession. They, and many others, will be making future appearances.
Also, I've been...tinkering with Naruto's magic system. Mostly because I've been 1) watching Jujutsu Kaisen, 2) reading/rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist, 3) rewatching Avatar: the Last Airbender, and 4) I'm on something of a Cosmere binge and I like Sanderson's Laws of operating a magical systems. Mostly in efforts to make the combat a bit more dynamic, give value to seemingly useless techniques, throws a bit more emphasis on other ninja skills (taijutsu, genjutsu, sealing, weaponry, etc.), and exploit the hell out of the elemental tables we got when Naruto started modifying the Rasengan.
And who wouldn't want fire jutsu to be more than fancy, overblown attacks that are easily dodged or otherwise thwarted?
The next chapter might be taking a step away from Obito's narrative and focusing on Kakashi's business in ANBU. Namely, his mentoring of Yamato
Changes:
- The three-man team we seen in Clash in the Land of Snows are now Dotō's genin squad rather than just some free-floating Yuki ninja acting as his flunkies.
Up Next:
- What the kids are getting up to.
- Tsunade goes on a sabbatical.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Theories? Cockeyed/incomplete sentences because the caffeine was wearing off and I definitely needed a break? Let me know with a PM or review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Until next time!
Winterman, out.