Chapter 18 - Facing Demons

"I'm not going back there!" Koyuki shouted at Sandayu. The old man sighed as he faced his future daimyo. In the room, team Anko watched over the argument while Kakashi dealt with his team. The team just watched as the argument just got more heated between the two. After a few minutes, Anko had enough.

"Okay, enough. I know that you two have issues but there is nothing we can do about travel. Besides, your director isn't backing off, continuing the film. In fact, he's very giddy about it." Anko said.

"Well I don't care! I am not going back to Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow)! He can find another actress for this part!" Koyuki shouted.

"Not according to that big fat check you got." Naruto said smugly. Koyuki glared at the blond who scoffed at her.

"Look, you can keep bitching' about this or you can just trust us to protect you. Like it not, you're going to Yuki no Kuni." Anko said. Koyuki could only glare at them. She stormed off and entered her cabin. At the same time, Sasuke was thrown against the side of the ship. Sasuke looked very surprised as Kakashi had him by his cloak. The jonin glared at him with both eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are, genin? You think you can disregard my orders and there wouldn't be any consequences? You have crossed a line and this will be your nail in the coffin!" Kakashi shouted. He then looked at Sakura with the same glare. "Both of you."

"You had me do something useless! You allowed that team to be on our mission! We could have handled it but you are looking for a reason to get rid of me!" Sasuke shouted. This causes Kakashi to actually slap the teen. Sakura actually tries to interfere only for Sai to step in front of her. She glared at him but it did not move him.

"I expected you to do your duty! Your duty was to make sure that the client was safe! You failed! Not only did you fail, you had to be saved after you stupidly faced a jonin stronger than you!" Kakshi shouted. He then took a breath and calmed himself down. "I have tried to be patient with you but I will have no more of it. Whatever, team Anko reports, that will be on you. I will not help you any more." With that, Kakashi released Sasuke and walked away. He exited the cabin, slamming the door.

Sakura moved past Sai to help Sasuke but she was shoved away by the teen. With a roar, Sasuke smashed a nearby end table in rage. He glared at the door with his Sharingan blazing. He promised himself that he would make Kakashi pay for that slap. Sasuke made his way over to his side of the cabin, Sakura trying to cheer him up. Sai just watched without any input.

X-X-X

It took a few days for the ship to arrive in Yuki no Kuni. They arrived with little incident and no sign of the ninja of Yukigakure (Hidden Snow). They traveled to a rural area where the crew was setting up to film. As the two teams began to set up a perimeter, a member of the crew came running up to them and the director.

"Director, Yukie's gone!" she shouted. This did not please the director.

"That damn woman, I swear if she didn't have any talent I would fire her." he growled.

"Don't worry about it. One of our ninja is tracking her right now." Anko said. Team Kakashi was confused as they were supposed to be guarding her only to see that Naruto was missing. Koyuki was running through the snow, trying to get as far away from this country as possible. She then dropped to her knees, tired from all her running.

"I thought you grew up here?" a voice said. Koyuki looked around for the voice. "Up here." She looked up to see Naruto standing there with his arms folded. She gave him a glare, which he gave right back. "So, are you going to keep running until you tire yourself out? It would make my job so much easier." Koykui just pouted and turned her head away from him. Minutes later, Naruto carried Koyuki on his back. She complained about her feet being too cold to walk back. They did not say anything to each other for a while before she broke the silence.

"You don't like me, don't you?" Koyuki asked.

"I don't have a nice opinion about you but I also don't know you. My opinion does not matter in this situation." Naruto said.

"Like hell it doesn't. You have mocked me since we've met. I bet you think that I'm a bitch and a coward for not wanting to be daimyo of this country." she stated.

"I don't disagree that you're a bitch. You've acted like one since we met. As for the daimyo thing, I honestly don't have an opinion. My only opinion is that I think Sandayu is wrong to try and force you to take the throne. It should be your decision. If you want to be daimyo, be daimyo. You want to keep acting and being a bitch, do that." he explained.

"You can stop calling me that, thank you." Koyuki snarled.

"Hey, those were your words, not mine." Naruto stated loudly. She glared at him, making him turn to look at her and glare back. After a while, Koyuki started to laugh, confusing the chunin. She would continue to laugh before coming to a stop. She let out a relieved sigh before looking at the blond.

"You're an idiot." she said with a laugh.

"Screw you lady." he said with amusement. They continued to walk until Naruto came to a tunnel. He walked through it and kept walking, knowing that this was the way back to the crew. He was half way through when he heard something. That's when he saw steam coming from the ground and he looked down to see metal tracks. He got a very bad feeling and started running, startling Koyuki. That's when he heard the whistle and saw the light that was coming straight for him.

"Oh, this is just great!" Naruto shouted and sped up but the light only got closer and the whistle got louder.

"Y-You'll never make it!" Koyuki exclaimed.

"The thing you should realize, is that 'never' is not in my vocabulary!" Naruto shouted before he tapped into the chakra of the Kyubi. Koyuki had to hold on for dear life as Naruto sped forward at an incredible speed. She couldn't believe that he was actually out-running a train. Naruto was out of the tunnel and leaped to the side. The train came a few moments later, alerting everyone. Naruto landed and slid down a hill until he reached a boulder.

"Stay hidden until I come for you!" Naruto said to her and made his way back to his comrades. He watched with them when the train came to a stop. From one of the cars, a man raised from below and stood on top of it. The man had black hair that reached his shoulders and had icy blue eyes. He wore a white robe that covered his body. He looked at them as if he was searching for someone.

"Where are you Koyuki? Are you not going to come out and say hi to your family?" the man asked. Naruto looked toward the boulder and was annoyed that she stepped out. It turned his attention toward her. "There you are. You have grown into such a beauty." Naruto appeared with several clones to cover her. This seems to amuse him. That's when they all heard the sound of armor. It was Sandayu and he had an army behind him.

"Doto! Your reign of terror ends today! Our true ruler has returned and we will no longer be oppressed!" he shouted at him. The men with him cheered at his words. Doto just looked at the group with amusement. With a roar, the group charged toward the train. Doto gave a sideward glance to Nadare.

"Deal with them." Nadare bowed and tapped the roof. The walls of the train cars opened and several kuni launchers were shown. Anko and Kakashi were wide eyed.

"Jakken, Naruto, form a wall now!" Anko shouted. However, the two were two late as it rained kunai at the charging men. It was a massacre as the samurai were shot down without care. Many were killed while others were dying. Another volley was preparing to be shot when Naruto and Jakken appeared. Kakashi joined them as they did hand seals.

"Doton: Doryūheki! (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)" they shouted and formed three large walls to protect everyone. This did not bother Doto and he was preparing to give another order only to hear explosions. The train started to tumble as more explosions were heard. He looked to see three of the Konoha shinobi running away from the tracks.

"Doto-dono, we need to leave now!" Nadare exclaimed. Doto snarled but complied with his subordinate. Sasuke, Sakura and Sai returned as the train began to plummet to its destruction. Everyone went to check on the men that were hurt only to see that there would be no saving anyone. Their wounds were too severe to treat. Koyuki walked up to Sandayu who was slowly dying. She could only look at him with her dead eyes and she had no look of remorse on her face. Sandayu only smiled at her before dying.

Suddenly Koyuki found herself being hoisted into the air. Everyone turned to see a small flying ship that was moving away and reeling in Koyuki. Naruto acted quickly and tossed a kunai with a rope. It wrapped around Koyuki's ankle and he was carried off as well. Anko cursed at this as she was not fast enough to get to her student. She could only watch until they were out of sight. Kakashi joined her.

"We're going to get him back, Anko. Naruto is a tough kid." Kakashi said reassuringly.

"Yeah," Anko said softly. She turned to look at the genin and gave them a serious look. "New mission; we're going to save Koyuki and Naruto. Check your gear because we are moving out in five."

"Yes ma'am!" Yakumo and Jakken said while team Kakashi didn't say anything.

X-X-X

Naruto hung by his arms in a cell across from Koyuki. He kept looking at his surroundings, trying to figure a way out. He would have used his chakra but they slapped this thing on his chest after he tried to fight off some of Doto's men. The man himself was not happy when he learned that the necklace Koyuki wore was a fake. It didn't help him when he chuckled at his misfortune. Either way, he needed to find a way to get free.

"You should stop struggling. You're never going to get out of that thing. If there is one thing my country is known for it is our technology." Koyuki said.

"So, those chakra armors came from here? Have you ever heard the name Bando before?" Naruto asked.

"I haven't been back here since my father was murdered. I can't help you with the name. Not that it matters anyway. Without the Hexagonal Crystal, we are as good as dead." she said with a dead tone.

"Wow, you really give up too easily. Sorry princess but surrender isn't in my vocabulary." Naruto said and continued to struggle. This made the machine on his chest shock him, making him cry out in pain. He endured the volts as he continued to pump more chakra into the machine. He even tapped into the Kyubi's chakra, causing more volts to course through him. It finally became enough for Naruto who passed out due to the pain. Koyuki actually looked worried as Naruto hung there limp.

"Naruto? Naruto!" She called out. This alerted the guard who entered the prison.

"Shut up in there!" the man said. Koyuki looked at him.

"Quickly, you have to help him!" she shouted. The ninja walked toward the cell and just looked at Naruto. He chuckled at the hanging teen.

"Stupid brat must have kept struggling. He's probably dead now. I guess I'll throw his body into a cold hole somewhere." he said amused. He opened Naruto's cell and walked up to him. When he was close enough, he unhooked Naruto from the chain. That's when the blond awoke and headbutted the ninja. The man was stunned and grabbed his broken nose. Naruto swept his legs, dropping him to the ground. Naruto leaped into the air and came crashing down on the man's neck. The man gagged as Naruto applied pressure. After a few moments, the ninja was out.

Naruto searched the man, grabbing his weapons and the keys to the cells. He quickly freed his hands and ripped the now broken machine off his chest. He then moved to free a stunned Koyuki.

"W-What? How?" she asked in surprise.

"I have a high pain tolerance. Come on, we have to get out of here." Naruto said. He did a Henge (Transformation) into the knocked out guard and began to lead the still stunned Koyuki out of the cell. They began to search for a way out.

X-X-X-X-X

Authors' Notes

Sorry for the long delay folks. I have no excuses. I hope that you all are safe and healthy. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.