Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version
Chapter 1–The Opening Act
A/N: This is story is in response to Tellemicus Sundance's challenge for someone to write a version of the Naruto Movie, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow with the Legacy characters. It is HIGHLY advised that you read Naruto: Legacy of the Rasengan before this. Otherwise, it won't make sense why Naruto and co. act and appear the way they do.
One Week after Sasuke was 'retrieved.'
The wind blew across the now silent battlefield, discarded weapons – broken arrows embedded in branches, bloodied swords lying on the ground, discarded broken shields scattered like leaves in autumn – and corpses of men in full armor littering the ground. The stench of death and decay was still strong in the air, with a mild breeze carrying it as far as the eye could see. The rain falling didn't help either. It just added to the cold and despair of the situation.
One man, by the name of Sukeakuro, was on one knee, sword in the ground to support him, the other one discarded at his side. The wind and rain blew into his face. He wore a standard blue and white uniform, and he had long hair, which was swaying in the wind. "We have nowhere left to go," He said softly, just loud enough for the other three around him to hear. "This is it. Our road ends here."
Nearby, a large man in the same uniform was lying on his back on the cold, wet ground. His spear off to the side of him. His name was Shishimaru. "It was a fool's decision. Doomed from the start."
The third man, whose name was Burikinto, was lying against a tree, his back to it. Though that did not protect him anymore from the wind and rain then lying on the ground did. He too wore the standard uniform as his two companions. The only difference was that he wore a cap, with cloth around his ears. His scimitar lay discarded beside him. "This is the end." He added. "We...must turn back."
"There is a way. Have faith." Came a firm, but strong voice. All three men turned to see a young woman stood up against the wind and rain. She did not shiver at all, her stance firm and presence inspiring. She wore a beautiful kimono and had her long hair in a ponytail. "We will find it." Her name was Gale. The Sky Princess.
"But Princess…" Sukeakuro started.
She immediately turned around and faced them. Her green eyes piercing all three of their very souls. "Do not give up!"
"Princess…" Shishimaru said.
Roaring laughter was heard then. "Princess Gale!" shouted a voice. They all looked at the source. On top of some ruined buildings, was a figure in armor, samurai helmet and holding a nasty looking staff. "This is as far as you go!"
"Mao!" Gale cried. Instantly the other three men grabbed their weapons and ran towards her, battle ready. "Don't tell us that this storm is your doing bastard!?" Burikinto demanded.
Mao's only response was to laugh. At the same time, one of the bodies in samurai armor rose up and appeared behind Princess Gale, charging her.
"Behind you, Princess! Look out!" Naruto cried in the movie.
"Do you ever shut up?" Sasuke asked.
"Don't you ever get tired of being an ass?" came the reply.
Sakura sighed mentally, trying to enjoy the movie.
The samurai nearly struck Princess Gale in the back. Fortunately, she span off to her left just in time. She brought her own sword at a horizontal direction at the samurai, left hand hovering just inches from it. She then shoved the sword forward. "Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu!"
What seemed to be wind burst from the blade hit the samurai dead on, blasting the armor completely apart and revealing no body inside.
Naruto nodded to himself at the technique, his own gears in his mind working as he replayed that attack in his mind over and over. Hmm…if he took a sword – or a kunai for that matter – he could gather wind charka around that blade, using it as a focal point. He could then make the wind recoil on itself to launch it, with the blade as the launching pad. If he made the wind act in a way similar to his Kaze Kiwa, then he could add a stabbing and slashing effect to it. He could only grin at the thought of that.
He then watched as Princess Gale, Burikinto, Shishimaru and Sukeakuro all turned around to see all the corpses getting reanimated. They all get to their feet and readied their weapons, pointing them all at the four heroes.
"Give up Princess!" Mao shouted out in glee, raising his staff once again. Doing so increased the wind's ferocity twofold. "Fall to your knees and bow before me!"
"I will never give up."
Everyone – villain, ally and corpse – looked on the fabled Sky Princess. "As long as I live, I will gather my strength…" She then abruptly turned around and looked strait at Mao. "And construct a path so that others may follow!" She then began glowing brightly, several colors at swirling all at once. Seven in all.
"The Princess." Shishimaru said softly, amazed at the sight of her.
"Her Rainbow Charka is burning," Burikinto commented. He then looked at his two fellow soldiers. "Come my brothers! Let us burn our charka to!"
"Hai!" came the unanimous response, as the three stood in front of the Sky Princess, Burikinto right in front of her, scimitar draw. Shishimaru was to Gale's right, spear ready and Sukeakuro was to Gale's left, dual swords poised to strike.
"Pitful!" Roared Mao. He then began to spin his staff around and around at a surprising fast speed, showing pure skill as he did so. The kind of skill that took years to achieve. The kind of skill that should the true nature of his power: devastating. The winds themselves were howling more and more as he did so, kicking up debris as they did. The winds and debris then began circling him, in conjunction with him twirling his staff. He then slammed his weapon forward, shooting off a large, black streak of energy lashed out at the four…only to have it rebounded!
The audience gasped at the sight: the four's charka was merging, creating a barrier around the four, protecting them! But the same could not be said about the samurai corpses. With Mao's attack being diverted, it began destroying everything else it could reach. Specifically: the army of the dead.
The four warriors did not seem to notice their good fortune. They were entirely focused on Mao. Princess Gale herself then let out a mighty battle cry as she performed her Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu once again. Only this time, she drew on the combined strength of all the other three as well, making it over four times as powerful, if not more so!
"En'en Nijiiro Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu!" Gale shouted out as she shoved her sword forward once again. A rainbow burst of energy shot forth, easily overwhelming Mao's attack. It continued surging forward until it hit the villain in the chest, who in turn let out a loud cry of pure anguish. The blast carried him up into the sky when he disappeared behind his dark cloud cover, followed quickly by a brilliant and radiant white light.
Naruto continued to look at the sight with his eye and was in complete awe. Now that was a jutsu! He grinned eagerly. He couldn't wait to break out scroll 6 of the Uzumaki Family Scrolls and begin creating new jutsu!
As soon as the white light vanished, the dark clouds began to disperse, the winds began to die and the rain ceased. As they faded, a rainbow slowly started to emerge in the sky, a beacon of hope and promise that the day would be fair.
Naruto couldn't help but shout in joy from his spot on the ceiling. "ALRIGHT! PRINCESS GALE YOU RULE! GOOD STICKS IT TO EVIL ONCE AGAIN!"
"Hey! What are you freeloaders doing up there!?"
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke weren't in the seats, as one would usually expect when one was at the movies. No. They were standing on the ceiling, getting some training in while they watched the movie that was somehow part of their mission.
At the voice, Naruto was so surprised that he almost lost his footing. Almost. He looked down (literally) and saw a man with the theater staff clothing, pointing vigorously at the three Konoha shinobi. "What you want?" Naruto called down.
"You know damn well what I want!" The man shouted. "You're freeloading! Sneaking in without paying! Now get down so I can throw you out!"
Naruto sighed in annoyance. While they could have snuck in easily enough, he wasn't in the mood to deal with some grumpy man when they were at the best part of the movie. He muttered a quick 'I'll handle this' to his two teammates as he released his charka and dropped down to the floor, landing easily. He then brought up his ticket so the man had a clear view of it. "We have tickets." Naruto said flatly. "We were just doing some training while enjoying the show. Two birds with one stone and all that."
"Training?" The man repeated, confused. His eyes settled on the ticket, then slowly worked their way up to Naruto's forehead, ignoring the fact that Naruto's left eye was firmly closed, where Naruto's leaf hitai-ite was securely tighten. "You're shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato?"
"Got that right!" Naruto said cheerfully, a little too loudly. "I'm the super ninja who's gonna be Hokage someday! Uzumaki Naruto-sama! That's me!"
Of course, this just provoked the rest of the audience that he 'obnoxious brat,' was far too loud and they began throwing items at him.
Sasuke closed his eyes in annoyance, where the three scars covering his right could be clearly seen. "Think if we pretend not to know him, we won't be associated with him?" Sasuke asked softly to Sakura as they both watched Naruto comically dodge the snacks, drinks and whatever else the audience could throw at him, while making faces back at them (though the poor employee took a fair amount).
"Hey you brats!" The employee cried, pointing up at them. "Get your asses down here!"
"Doesn't look that way." Sakura answered.
As for the movie, Sky Princess Gale was pointing in the direction of the rainbow in the sky. "Let us go." She said happily. "Beyond that rainbow."
(Author's note) Well, there you have it, the first chapter on my attempt to Tellemicus' challenge. It was a bit short, but it seemed perfect to duplicate the movie's opening like this before getting to the main storyline. Also, a short chapter was easier to work with since I was trying my best to mimic Tellemicus' writing style and format. A test drive, if you will. And – depending on the reviews and responses – show me what mistakes were made, what was right and so on so I can correct them now for the rest of the story.
Got a couple of goals for this story. One is to meet Tellemicus' standards he set in his source stories: Legacy of the Rasengan and Legacy of the Rasengan II: Makaze Rekidaishi. Specifically, his fight scenes and the quality of jutsu that he creates, since I plan on giving Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke at least one new technique each in this story. I also want to try and resolve a few issues at the end of Legacy of the Rasengan that I felt were just left hanging.
I placed this story within the two week period before Naruto left for his training with Jiraiya because I felt that this would be a great 'last mission' for Team 7 before they all split up. Heh…maybe if I do a good enough job, Tellemicus will consider making this canon in his own stories. Hey…a fan can dream, right?
About the names of the movie characters, Gale, Burikinto, Shishimaru and Sukeakuro (specifically the last three), I looked at about four different sources, Wikipedia, Fansubs of the Movie, a fansub Animanga and the English DVD, and each one had the names spelled differently, so I just went with the English DVD (which has been my foremost source for this fic) and went with the spellings that appeared in the subtitles.
Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu--Wind Blade Blast Pressure//The "name" of the technique used by Princess Gale in the movie. Gale draws her charka around the blade, where it rebounds on itself and shoots out at an opponent, causing a large impact that could easily break apart objects, such as suits of armor. Despite having wind in its name, the technique does not use wind charka, thus making it most similar to the Hyuuga's Hakke: Kusho no Jutsu--Empty Palm. (Mid C-Class Ninjutsu) (Gale)
En'en Nijiiro Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu--Blazing Rainbow Colored Wind Blade Blast Pressure//The "name" of the second technique used by Princess Gale, with the help of Burikinto, Shishimaru and Sukeakuro. The principals of this technique are exactly the same as the Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu. The key difference is that Gale is drawing on all four's collective pool of charka and mixing it with her own Rainbow Charka, Gale is able to launch an attack at least four times as powerful as her standard Kaze Ken Soufuu Atsu. Only possible with the aid of her friends, as Gale would be unable to reproduce this move on her own. (Low A-Class Ninjutsu) (Gale, Burikinto, Shishimaru and Sukeakuro)
On a side note: the only reason 'movie' techniques were given a name and description was because Naruto felt inspired by them and plans to 'improve' on them, so I created a base for him to work off of.
I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemcius created that are used in this story belongs to him.