Chapter 45
First Encounter
"Ice style: ice grenade" Haku whispered as he jumped back from another barrage of ice. The last Yuki survivor placed his hand onto the icy ground for a second before jumping back once again with Fubaki flying after him with her bat-like wings. To his major disappointment, the Snow ninja saw his discrete placement of the trap and avoided the spot. "You're pretty sharp" he remarked. And eyed the pink haired kunoichi. "I wonder if she is related to that other pink haired girl" he idly wondered before dropping his gaze a bit lower, "nah".
"And you are pretty good at running away little girl"
Haku's eyebrow twitched "ice style: Ice wall. Ice style: ice spikes" he muttered, casting one jutsu after the other.
Fubaki frowned at the wall of ice that encapsulated her and the sharp spikes of ice that was rapidly growing from it. "Well that doesn't look healthy"
"And for the record, I'm male" Haku's voice echoed around the newly constructed death trap. "ice style: blizzard"
The temperature inside the ice trap rapidly dropped. Even with the barest of light filtering through the solid ice, Fubaki could see how her breath was more visible than before, she could feel her hearth slowing down despite the chakra armour's protection. "Ha, the kid got lucky. There was no way he would have known that the chakra armour does nothing against indirect ninjutsu attacks. Absolutely… impo….sible." her voice dropped to a whisper before fading into nothing as she dropped to the floor.
Haku pressed his hand against the edge of the ice wall. "Ice style, like earth style, there are jutsu that do not require chakra to maintain for long periods of time under the right conditions and with the right skill, does not even require any direct attacks. This may have been my first time fighting in a turf that I am advantageous in but that was just unlucky on your part" he said as he felt the heartbeat inside slowing down.
"Ice style: stasis" Haku said as he released the ice wall "For now I will keep her alive, she might prove to be beneficial in interrogation."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nadare vs Hibiki
Hibiki looked at the avalanche of approaching wolves and took out a kunai before morphing it into a gauntlet and stood still. "YOU" he snarled as he smashed the first wolf in the face, "HAVE…." He continued as he smashed another off the cliff, "NOTHING…. ON… HAKU!" he finished by backhanding the last one in the direction of Nadare.
Nadare looked on impassively as he released his hold on the jutsu before getting hit instead with nothing but small powders of snow. "By Haku, I assume the one you mean is being chased by Fubaki" he asked.
"The very same"
"I see" Nadare replied and began running at Hibiki once more.
The metal morpher frowned at him, not really understanding why a ninjutsu specialist would engage in a taijutsu battle with someone who was clearly superior but kept his guard up anyway. "Pure taijutsu was never my preferred fighting but whatever" Hibiki muttered as he caught a right punch with his hand and a left kick with his other and in a show of pure strength, lifted Nadare up before slamming him onto the ground.
Of course, being on an iceberg, this did minimal damage.
"Come on Hibiki, don't tell me this is the best you can do?" Nadare laughed as he disintegrated into powder.
"Why should I do my best when you aren't?" Hibiki replied.
"Because I don't need to" Nadare's voice said faintly.
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Naruto vs Mizore
"Chakra armour"
"Come again?"
"Chakra armour"
"What does that mean"
"You asked what it was"
Naruto blinked "You mean that shell surrounding you is chakra armour?" Naruto blinked.
"Indeed. This armour protects me from ninjutsu, genjutsu and even ninja tools. With this armour I am invincible" Mizore boasted.
"we'll see about that" Naruto shot back and slowly started to bend his position into a sword stance before his gaze landed on the gauntlet of the larger man. "bad idea" he chided himself, instead opting for open handed attacks.
Like the first time, Mizore came hard and fast, but having already experienced his speed Naruto prepared himself by sending chakra to his arms and feet and stood his guard. Even with his enhanced limbs Naruto could feel his body strain under the pressure. His feet dug into the snow and his whole body shook, but he remained standing. "Interesting chakra you have" Mizore grunted.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't notice it before but now with the constant contact he felt his chakra being drained. It was slight, but it was noticeable. Most genin, even chunin would already be on the verge of chakra exhaustion, but with his reserves Naruto was still far from empty. Only one problem, the forceful drain of chakra had also brought out demonic chakra from the Nine Tails.
Even without looking in a mirror Naruto could tell what was happening. His eyes turned from the blue sharingan with three tome into red, demonic eyes with a fox eyed slit in the middle. The three marks on the sides of his face that was once faint now becoming more prominent.
Mizore noticed something was wrong when the blond kid's face started to change. He knew he wasn't a against an average shinobi the moment the kid's eyes changed the first time into those blue sharingan. Any ninja worth their rank would see it as the trademark of the Uchiha clan, but why it was blue? He had no idea. He simply brushed it off as a genetic mutation or genjutsu or something, but the spike in chakra that seemed…. Malevolent? Can charka even be evil? Got him worried. He was no means a pushover, being a part of the elite bodyguards of Dozo was a testament to that, but he was also not stupid. Spikes in chakra was never a good thing.
Mizore pulled away from Naruto and took a look at his gauntlets. They were steaming and dents (as slight as they were) were starting to form from where Naruto grabbed them. The large man took a step forward before he felt something rising from his throat. His body tensed up and he dropped to a knee. One cough later revealed it to have been blood. His eyes widened in surprise. He knew for sure he had not gotten hit, never mind hard enough to have suffered internal damage.
Xxxxxx
"Hmmm that's interesting" Fi said as she looked at the flying Kunoichi with the pink hair, after all you don't see that every day. Sure, there are a couple shinobi who are big and fast (prime example being the Raikage himself) but a kunoichi who had pink hair and could fly? Now that's something that's rare. Her analytical eyes tried to decipher exactly what the Kunoichi did to stay aloft, but without understanding the technology of the Snow shinobi, she had no leads to go on. "aaaaaaand one down" Fu reported to Koyuki the moment she saw Haku begin the hand signs for his ice wall. "Even in training those walls are fast and danm hard to get out of. He doesn't use it often because its size is directly proportional to the amount of chakra used and unlike Naruto or me, he doesn't have it by the barrels. But now, in his home turf, he stands a pretty good chance of taking on Naruto, me AND Hibiki-sensei alone."
"Wh-what?" Koyuki stammered, still slightly caught up in flashbacks of her past. "home? Alone? I thought he was an orphan.. I mean.. Mist"
"No, he was not born here. He did indeed hail from the Mist, but the home turf I was referring to was this" Fu explained and stamped on the icy ground. "His natural kekkei genkai. The ice style. This is the perfect conditions for him because the ice is already made and therefore he doesn't have to expend chakra to make it himself. Only charka he uses is to manipulate the existing ice." Seeing her glazed over look and shivering body Fu sighed. "basically lots of ninja stuff which sums up to you being really safe. Understand? Good now get back to the ship."
"Y-Yes- I mean No! No! I-I shouldn't be here. I mustn't be here! I-I.."
"Princes! Please return to the ship! Its not safe here!" Sandayu pleaded.
"Safe.. yes, safe. I'm not safe here" Koyuki muttered "Snow… not safe-"
"Princess!"
"I don't want to go! I never want to return to S-" her ramblings were cut short by Fu who knocked her unconscious with a chop to her neck. "Can you carry her back to ship?" Fu asked.
Sandayu nodded and picked up the unconscious body of Koyuki. "be careful" he said. As he took a step forward he was suddenly frozen in place by a wave of demonic chakra.
Fu snapped her neck in the direction where it came from and streamed out a long series of curses. "No good" she muttered worriedly. "RUN!" she shouted at Sandayu and started making her way to Naruto.
Xxxxxxxxx
"Not good" Mizore muttered as he clutched his chest. "Nadare! Retreat!" he shouted.
Nadare glanced at Mizore from his place hiding behind a large piece of ice. "looks like Mizore is down too" he thought "this guy isn't an average jonin either. I must do research before our next battle"
"Looks like both of your teammates are down for the count" Hibiki said next to him "Will you stay and fight?"
Nadare jumped back in shock. "he could have killed me at any moment!" he thought, then out loud he said "you win this time Hibiki"
HIbiki chuckled and faded from existence "too shocked to notice a simple genjutsu. Still got it"
Xxxxxxx
"You already knew what would happen if you brought her back didn't you" Hibiki said.
"I did, but I had no choice, it was for the future of this country and its people." Sandayu bowed his head.
"Well that was a waste" Naruto muttered, "With that stuck up actress as a leader this country wouldn't last a day. Princess or not"
"She wasn't always like this you know. I was by her side since she was a small child. So full of life and energy. Although Snow Country is small, under the rule of Lord Sosetzu Kazehana, the father of Koyuki, it was peaceful. Lord Sosetzu loved Koyuki dearly, and so did the people. But 10 years ago, Doto – the younger brother of Lord Sosetzu – staged a coup. The capital was burned to ashes and Lord Sosetzu was murdered. All the citizens of Snow Country thought the princess perished with him. Until I discovered the actress in the movie was our long-lost princess. I was so… elated… so… happy" Sandayu teared up. "Our beloved princess was still alive and-"
"She should have died on that night" a cold harsh voice cut in.
"You keep quiet" Fu snapped. "We are listening to a touching story"
"Princess, please. You are the hope of the country!" Sandayu looked up with tears streaming down his face"
"So what if I'm alive. My heart is already dead."
"She has a point there. This person doesn't have a heart" Haku mused.
Sandayu ignored him and stood up to walk to the cold hearted princesss and kneeled. "Please. Overthrow Doto and become the rightful ruler of Snow Country. I, Sandayu, will protect you with my life"
Koyuki sneered at him. her arms crossed with her yellow sleeping clothes wrinkled "Never. Snow Country is none of my business" she said and walked away.
"She's an idiot" Haku spoke up. Hibiki nodded.
Sandayu lowered his head further.
"After all, now that Doto knows she is alive, he will stop at nothing to get her. The only thing left to do is kill him" Haku finished "so don't you worry about that princess."
The old man looked up with tear stained glasses "thank you" he sobbed "thank you"
Xxxxxx
"On the other side of this tunnel is a gathering of all the people who support Koyuki. I trust that everyone is waiting in anticipation of her return." Sandayu smiled. "Be careful to keep together. This tunnel was used as a path for trains long ago, but there's no telling what condition it is in now.
Naruto peered into the darkness and sent chakra to his eyes. "Wow. Even with my sharingan I can't see anything"
Xxxxxxxx
The insides of the ice cave was pitch black. The only light visible was the light coming from the transporting cars. A damp, musky smell of untouched water that has been frozen and thawed and refrozen multiple times was prevalent in the air. "That's a smell I haven't had in a long time" Naruto muttered.
"What do you mean? You've been here before?" Sandaryu asked curiously.
"No, just an old memory. Nothing to worry about"
His fellow Mist Rebels looked at him suspiciously. They knew of his past, he just doesn't bring it up often.
Xxxxxxxx
Finally, after what seemed to be days, but was really just an hour or two, light appeared streaming in from the end of the tunnel. "Let's take a break for now. We'll-"
"Director! There's a problem!" one of the crewmen shouted as he ran up to the first truck. The shinobi tensed up.
"Yuki ran away…. Again"
Everyone groaned in unison.
XXXXXX
Koyuki trudged through the snow. "What kind of stupid nonsense is this" she muttered. Suddenly, her foot caught onto a stray root buried in the snow and she tripped, falling down the slope. Her whole body lurched forward and she instinctively tumbled into a roll as she continued her way down. Finally coming to a stop at the foot, the princess of the Snow lay spread eagled. "Well wouldn't this be a great way to end things. The princess of the Snow, dies of hypothermia" she groaned sarcastically "but what not. After all… what reason is there to… carry…. on." Her eyes felt heavy and slowly started closing of their own accord.
Xxxxxxxx
"look closely" a voice said, "and you can see the future"
A young girl peered into her reflection. "the future? I can't see anything."
"you can. You will see everything when Spring comes"
"Spring?"
XXXXXX
"father was a liar. Spring doesn't exist in this country. It never did, and it never will" Koyuki thought to herself.
Crunch
Koyuki's eyes slowly opened at the sound of snow crunching. "As nice as the snow feels, it really isn't the best place for a nap" Haku said.
"How did you find me"
"Dunno. I had a feeling you'd roll down a hill and fall asleep here" the sarcasm was so thick it would have acted as a fine blanket.
XXXXXX
Their footsteps echoed loudly in the empty and dark tunnel.
"How?"
"How what?"
"How do you guys keep finding me"
"We're ninja. Tracking is part of our job"
"What about getting back to the others. Don't tell me you already have the route memorized."
Haku pointed at the deep gouged tracks in the snow. "Its not hard to notice"
"Oh"
The two travelled in silence for a long period of time until Haku's keen ears heard a distant whistle. He stretched out his senses then looked down to see snow begin to melt. "train tracks." He muttered "the snow is being melted by chakra. RUN!" he yelled and grabbed Koyuki's arm before breaking into a full sprint.
"It's fast. Grab onto me and don't let go. We are almost at the exit" Haku hissed
"We are nowhere near the exit! I don't see any light!" Koyuki shouted but none the less followed his instructions.
Once Koyuki had stopped making large movements Haku sent extra chakra to his legs and increased his speed. At the same time he started making hand signs.
A light appeared behind them as a large steam powered train rounded the corner and whistled.
"ice style:" Haku started.
The train was almost upon them. Koyuki closed her eyes and braced for impact.
"Demonic ice mirrors" Haku dived into the newly formed ice mirror seconds before it was shattered by the force of the speeding train.
The duo spilled onto the snow just outside the tunnel panting heavily. Just as they got up the train roared past them. The winds threatening to pull them into the train. But just as quickly as it came, it stopped.
"Long time no see, Koyuki. Come closer so I can take a good look at the face of my beloved neice" Doto's voice boomed from the train's exterior speakers.
Now that the train had stopped, Haku could take a good look at it. It was made of cut wood, painted with a bit of dull colours each of its cabins were the shape of a rectangular prism with sloped sides and a cylindrical chimney. An occasional window was placed but much of the rest was only wood.
Speaking of wood. At that moment, several large logs of wood started sliding down the hill in a direct collision path with the train.
"Listen up! As of this moment, our duty is to protect Princess Koyuki! Victory is ours!" Sandayu declared and was met with a roar of approval. He drew his sword "Doto Kazehana, today I, and my and my fifty loyal samurai men will take you down to avenge our beloved Lord Sosetzu! Today, our anger and hate will finally be quenched, with your blood!"
Doto merely turned his head to look at them, unimpressed. "Nadare, don't tell me this was the reason you and your men retreated"
"Of course not, Lord Doto."
Haku cursed and picked himself up "those idiots. Using swords to attack a heavily armoured train." The Yuki ninja raced through hand seals just as the samurai started to make their way down the hill. "ICE STYLE: ICE DRAGON" Haku shouted as he poured his chakra into creating a gigantic ice dragon, nearly the length of the train and half its height started to rise from the snow. His eyes widened in horror as he realized the train had already unleashed a torrent or projectiles from its hidden compartments. "Too slow, too small"
"Water style: Water trumpet"
"Water style: Water wall"
Two voices shouted from above the samurai.
Nartuo unleased a wave of water that spanned the area in front of the samurai about half a meter in depth and Fu used the water to magnify the wall to encompass the vulnerable samurai.
"We got your back Haku" Naruto grinned as he landed next to the ice ninja before turning his focus into maintaining the water wall with Fu.
For the next two minutes, the sounds of projectiles splashing and clanging against the water wall and ice dragon respectively was heard. Then it stopped.
Despite their above average chakra reserves and being in the natural element, keeping such a large scale jutsu active for so long was immensely draining. The trio panted in exhaustion as they allowed their jutsu to fall apart. Haku used the last of his chakra to send the ice dragon above the train and released his hold. Tones of solid ice fell and shattered all but the first 3 cabins of the train.
"Well that's disappointing. 15 thousand kunai and not a single drop of blood" Doto sighed and looked at his ruined train. "I will retreat for now" Doto looked at the trio, but I will be back" he said as the intact part of the train detached from the parts buried in under the remains of the ice dragon and began to move away.
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AN: so uhh. Yeah. Its been a bit over a year. I got no real excuse for the lack of chapters. All I can say is that the cliché notes got wiped by computer (it really was!) and that I got distracted playing a game. Creative juice has been really low but I think I squeezed out enough for a good chapter :)
To the people who think I have abandoned this, I have not and I will not. I will continue this no matter how long it takes! If you find I'm being lazy and slacking on chapters just give me a pm or something to poke me. I usually respond to those within the day or if I am realllly busy within the week. (unless I'm on holiday then I can't access my email).
I mentioned in chapter 44 that I will be giving you options for the progression of the arc, so far the votes are
Option 1 (1 vote)
Option 2 (0 votes)
Still looking for beta. All my beta keep disappearing on me :C
Lastly, summons
Penguins(5)
Polar Bears(2)
Fox (1)
Rabbit/ferret/weasels (1)
Other (1) (that was just a really long list lol. I did read through it tho)
So yeah, penguins are strong in the lead, but the others still stand a chance!
Reviews (hope everyone mentioned is still reading)
(guest) Narutoboi84: hmm would be an interesting thing for fox summons considering nine tails but that's up the everyone to decide
(guest) Grym: it could be interesting being the sneaky little mammals they are. I'm getting a brain fart trying to remember where I heard about Mr. Fuzzle
(guest) SadFanficReader: I did not abandon this and the only thing that happened to me was my laziness and lack of creative juice
BlackDragonShinigami and Bijuk34: im sure you noticed I changed the weird format already. Dunno why fanfiction does that.
Eternal king of fire: your vote has been noted
Thor94: thanks, and yep
Inuyasha16451: sorry about the late (emphasis on late) update!
Zeus501: I'm pretty sure I'd cross some copyright laws with that xD. Thanks, and that enthusiasm really makes me feel bad for making you wait
Noahendless: you raise good points (gonna have to stay neutral on the badass part tho). And thanks
ForeverWildfire2.0: that is a long list of summons ranging from really good to I'm not even sure that's a practical summon. I dunno, maybe it's cause they are smart? And blue? And ice is blue? I remember Pein had a crab summon, but is that really a summon? The 2nd Mizukage had a …. Oyster? Summon so that counts. Not actually sure if Kisame's summons are proper summons or chakra summons cause they are usually made up of water so eh
Wyrtha: yeah I forgot why exactly I wanted wolves for Naruto but I made a note it was important so… wolves it was. Unfortunately Neggs doesn't ring any bells for me. Glad you like the Snow Arc, I hope is different from normal enough. Well…. You'll have to read and find out :) no spoiling who is the big boss of the arc. Welp turns out Sandayu survived (without a scratch too!) oh well
EeveeTheImmortal: yeah it was set in stone a while ago
GrimAngel16: Glad you are liking it so far! Thanks for the compliments and yes, the ruins are still part of this story. The ice age… hmmm bony dinosaurs
The Number 4: I wonder if you are still reading or of the lack of penguins made you drop (or maybe the crappy starting)