I need to get a hobby or something...oh wait, that's what this is. Never mind.

Also, thanks to the people who are giving input on Naruto: Anime's Apart. It's really a lot of help. I may add another chapter with a query to know what kind of genera you all want it to be, but I'm still mulling that over. In the meantime, enjoy more story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the movie.

Chapter 50: The Light Shining In

Koyuki was silent as the Yuki shinobi lead her down to Dotou's dungeon. Her head was bowed as she thought over what he'd told her. While she'd been flippant and had for all intents and purposes lied straight to his face about her views on her position, she herself had been surprised to find that her prized possession was a fake. Nadare had seemed to know what was going on, which didn't appear to mean anything good for her as it meant that their skepticism of her had only increased. This was further apparent since she was taken here, where it was likely Dotou intended for her to rot.

After entering her cell, she slowly sat on the floor in silence. There was no one else around for her to talk to, and nothing but her thoughts to entertain her. Granted, her thoughts were far from entertaining right now, but it was better than nothing. She reviewed just how low she'd been dragged since coming here, and had to hold back from remembering too much to avoid a breakdown. Naruto wasn't here to save her this time.

Which brought her mind to the topic of the hour; Naruto. She'd thought little of him when they'd first met, she'd been surprised by his empathy and concern on the glacier, and when she'd doubted his skills as a shinobi…he'd crushed every belief she had about him. If anything, she was absolutely terrified of him now.

How had he done it? How had he held himself in check when she had rattled on about how he knew nothing about what she'd been through? He'd been so calm, and he'd tried to be patient with her. If she'd continued, would it have been her that his aggression would have been directed towards?

She shivered at that thought, not wanting to imagine being on the receiving end or that at any point. Couldn't he have just been a normal shinobi, and just killed people in the shadows like she'd believed them to do? Why did he have to make a scene and crush a train car with his bare hands? What had angered him to the point that he –

Maliciously, she cut that thought off and buried her face in her dress. That pesky feeling was back, the one that made her vision swim and made her throat clench up in pain. She vaguely remembered what it was, but for her to feel sadness didn't seem possible. She was cold, heartless, but after seeing Sandayuu all but die in her arms she wasn't as sure anymore. Even worse, she imagined what Naruto must've been feeling.

The boy had told her in the tunnels that he'd do everything he could to save her, to help her stay alive. Her bruised ankle was proof that he wasn't just bluffing and throwing bravado around. He'd sincerely tried to protect her. With the kunai salvo that had been launched at her, he'd stood his ground in front of her and caught each and every kunai they'd thrown. Like a shield given a blade, he'd torn though the shinobi and kept her safe, up until he'd been forced away by an ambush that left her wide open to being captured.

And yet he'd also had a haunted look, one that told her that he'd likely killed before, and was still upset about it. How had he managed to throw that off when he'd gone after the people who attacked them? He'd been angry, but to the point that he'd all but slaughtered – no, he'd done even that – to the Yuki shinobi, gave her reason to pause.

Naruto was an enigma. She couldn't understand him, and now she never would. Staring up at the cold stone of the dungeon, she felt the cold of her tears rolling down her face as she waited.

"…if he's smart, he won't save me." She whispered, burying her face in her dress once more. She already believed he would come for her, but the last dredges of her old mindset fought for their place.

There was no spring in snow…but Naruto was a summer's heat that was rapidly melting the ice that covered that belief.

x-x-x

Dotou was a patient man. He was a man with more logical rationing then some people gave him credit for, and a ruthlessness to match. There was power behind him, behind his shinobi, and for those who dealt with him they knew that he was not a man to be double crossed or angered. Yes, such a man as this was one that was a danger to friend or foe, and stood proudly against the winds of every rebellion against him.

Which was why his elite team was shocked to find the man shaking upon his return from speaking with Koyuki.

They all knew it wasn't from talking to the woman, she was barely a pushover for any of them, Dotou included. No, it was the creature that they'd caught a glimpse of before the blimp had managed to get them far enough away. Fubuki was still shaking herself when she wasn't sitting away from the others in deep thought. Her near death experience with the boy must have shaken her as well.

None of them knew what had happened. They'd planned for the rebellion's ambush carefully, knowing that even with the shinobi they shouldn't have had the advantage they wanted since they weren't cloak-and-dagger about their beliefs. They wanted to be loud and proud when they took back their home, which is part of why they hadn't hired from any other shinobi village. Other than the fact that the Yuki shinobi would have quickly slaughtered them once they'd gotten back, but that was beside the point.

And then he'd shown up. He was the wild card of the shinobi that had come, and they'd determined that he was likely a defensive support type. It was supposed to be simple. And then he'd launched a train car off the cliff with his bare hands.

"…what did you miss?" Dotou said, staring at Mizore and Nadare with darkened eyes. He was terrified, and that angered him. He was the leader of a hidden village, even a minor one, and now he was being threatened by a child from another village. This had to be changed, now.

"He was an unknown factor. We…had nothing that stated these skills." Nadare said slowly, knowing he needed to choose his words carefully least his head was the one on the chopping block.

"Clearly. However, I need you to fix this. Yesterday." Dotou growled.

Mizore and Nadare nodded, quickly leaving. Fubuki however, stayed behind and slowly approached him. "…sir. What of the Oto shinobi? Could we not, have them prove the bond of their alliance?"

Dotou's scowl deepened as he slowly stood and began to approach her. "…are you questioning my methods?"

Fubuki winced, standing her ground as she attempted to continue. "They are our allies now, and yet they will be the ones to benefit soonest. With all due respect, how are we to trust them when they are the only –"

Fubuki's words were cut off as Dotou gripped her throat and pulled her close so their eyes were staring into one another. "You're thinking correctly, but you ask me to show weakness. Wanting me to call them into question while they're still in the castle. You are not thinking of the long term, Fubuki."

Choking as she struggled for breath, she grit her teeth as her voice hissed out. "I'm sorry sir, I wasn't thinking. Forgive me…"

Dotou took slow breaths, releasing her with a push so that she stumbled back. "Go. Let them know that our deal is done and…thank them for their deal. I look forward to seeing what Orochimaru will send me."

Fubuki nodded, rubbing her throat as she made her way to where she knew the Oto shinobi were. Dotou slowly stepped back, slipping into his chair as he tried to calm himself down. He could wait for the boy to show up again. And then, he'd be ready.

"Bring me my armor. I have to prepare for our…expected guests."

x-x-x

Three figures stood on top of a cliff side, staring down at the castle with an appraising look. Two seemed uncertain, while the third had uncontained amounts of frustration that flittered across his face. Tapping his foot on the snow, the third figure crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned to the other two and nodded. They knew what their parts were, and they knew that he'd give them the signal.

Racing down the snow at the signal, the two bounded and hopped from rock to rock as they made their way towards the small group of Yuki shinobi that patrolled the outer ring of the castles defense. Silent, yet ever dangerous, the launched themselves at the two that came into their range. Without any more sound then the impact of their bodies into deep snow, they pinned them face down in the snow and knocked them out. As easy as it would've been to kill them, they needed bloodless disguises.

Dragging them into the shadows, their third member dropped next to them and slowly made his way towards the castle. His job was most certainly the most difficult, but then it was his plan. He knew it was the more difficult position to give them, and he knew that he was also the only one of them to pull it off in time.

Before he could get too far, he heard his teammate quickly call to him. "Be careful Naruto."

Naruto glanced back, giving them a sly smile before nodding. It wasn't the bright sunshine smile that he gave people so they knew he was happy; it was a smile that said 'I'm up to something, be very afraid.' Turning back to the castle, he raced down the mountain, quiet as the snow as he quickly made his way to the castle.

Sneaking into the building was child's play for him, seeing how the Hokage's Tower had been more guarded, and none of the shinobi here were quite as much of a match as the chunin he'd outrun on more than a few occasions. Anbu caught him faster than he would have liked when they were brought in, but chunin were just so easy to get by sometimes. The Yuki shinobi had no idea how much trouble was coming their way.

Getting to a nice, quiet location, Naruto slowly glanced around to make sure he was alone. Smirking, he crossed his arms and made his trademark seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)."

A group of six shadow clone popped into existence, each one grinning as they glanced at him. Nodding to each of them, they darted off to where they were needed. Naruto himself, continued into the castle, looking around for one thing in particular.

"If I were a super-rich bad guy, where would I hide my prisoners?" Naruto muttered as he tried to think of how he'd plan it if he were Dotou. "…well first of all, I wouldn't have a dungeon, I'd have something more comfy. My prisoners would never see it coming. And then, a ramen pool." Wiping a small bit of drool, he sighed. "A man can dream."

Getting to a point at least several halls down, Naruto created more shadow clones. Sending them off, he paused as he heard someone coming. Leaping upwards onto the ceiling, he kept to the shadows as he waited. Soon, several guards walked down the hall, idly chatting with one another.

"You know, this whole mission is making me really nervous." One said, rubbing his arm as he attempted to calm himself down.

"Yeah, Dotou's been extra snappy now. Something about the Konoha team seems to have spooked him." The second man said. He glanced back, shaking his head before he glanced to his partner. "At least we have Koyuki-hime on our side now. She's a lot calmer then I thought she'd be for a prisoner. Then again, one team of four shinobi isn't going to stand against an entire village."

Naruto rolled his eyes, making his way towards where he'd seen the man had glanced. "One team of shinobi may not, but a team with one that can become a one man army might."

Making shadow clones as he went, and sending them across the ceilings, he soon found the entrance that went further down. Figuring that his 'bad guy senses' were tingling, he went further down. Shockingly, Dotou spared no expense on the large expanse of a dungeon. Whistling softly, he shook his head and looked around.

"Now, if I was hiding a captured princess, where would I do it?"

x-x-x

"Now, if I were a board, where would I be?"

"Sasuke, you're starting to worry me." Sakura said with a nervous laugh, not sure what to think of Sasuke's recent obsession.

Sasuke wasn't all that worried about her confusion, his eyes looking around casually as he tried to take in everything. He already knew that their job was, but Naruto had let him have free reign over anything they picked up, and he was going to take full advantage of that. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Uh, no you aren't." Sakura said, eying him warily. "You've been obsessing with that thing since we got here, and…I can't figure out why."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" Sakura hissed, trying to keep her voice down to prevent herself from getting to loud so that they wouldn't be caught.

Sasuke paused, glancing to her with a raised eyebrow for a second. Seeing that she was a bit stressed out from being in enemy territory and confused by what he was doing, he sighed. "Alright, it's because it's an advantage no one else can get."

Sakura perked up, surprised that her pressing had finally garnered a result. Maybe a bit more pressing could get her the full reason. "What kind of advantage are you talking about?"

"The kind where even if you copied me I could still mess with you using the same tricks." Sasuke smirked, the ideas playing in his head. "Imagine, me with the Sharingan, on a board, moving really fast around my enemies and then racing around them laughing all the way."

Sakura tried to imagine that image, but for some reason the imagery of Sasuke laughing was a bit more difficult then she thought. It made her a bit happier that she'd gotten over her crush on him a month or so ago with that thought, but then again… "What in the world gave you that idea?"

"Lee." Sasuke said, smirking at her confused expression. "He was so fast in his fight with Gaara, I couldn't even keep up. Then, when I thought about it, it made me realize that if I can out speed my opponent I can have the advantage. Using a board means that I have the advantage as long as they don't have one, which means that I can dance around and take my opponent out without any problems."

There was a small silence between them as Sakura processed his thinking. In a way it made sense. Sasuke's Sharingan gave him advantage against any attack while at high speeds, and a board would mean he could in fact get those high speeds. However, she could see the glaring flaw with his plan. "And what about when you're away from snow?"

"There's always water."

"And then?"

"…"

Sakura sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. Looking around, she realized that there was two potential routes to their target. "Alright, let's split up here. You have your radio?" Sasuke nodded. "When you get there let me know. I'll keep my line open and will tell you when I get there, or to hear from you when you find it."

Sasuke glanced at her, raising an eyebrow in amusement. A part of him thought it was interesting to hear Sakura giving him commands, and taking charge of the situation. The other part of him was thinking she was 'adorable' for thinking she was even able to give him orders that he had to follow. He'd blame Anko for that, but he agreed with that thinking regardless.

With Sakura giving him a nod, she raced off down her direction. Sasuke, sighing softly, began making is way down the halls. "Now…where in the hell are the boards at damn it?"

x-x-x

Koyuki sighed softly, having long since run out of tears to cry as she curled in a corner. Sighing, she pressed her cheek against the stone, letting the cold creep across her cheek as time passed. Once more, her mind went to the woods, wanting to let herself go, to sleep an endless sleep.

And yet something stopped her. She was unable to close her eyes and slip away, feeling a sharper focus coming over her the more she tried to sleep. An image of Naruto's haunted eyes stared into every time she closed her eyes, shifting quickly to the eyes of the hero who had torn through foes for her. She'd had too much time to think about it to think he was anything less than a hero for what he'd done to fight for her. He'd done horrific things yes, but it had been done as he'd protected her from people who were clearly more than willing to do even worse things should they be required to use such force to get the information out of her in that manner.

Feeling something shift around her, she lifted her head up and glanced at the bars. On the other side, the shinobi who'd been patrolling had paused, staring in at her. She could tell that he was thinking of something, but she remained silent. She would not give in, and she would not allow him the satisfaction of her 'breaking' first.

She would survive. She could hold out until she needed to. And if necessary, she could act through whatever she needed to.

"You should never have come back." The shinobi said sharply, his eyes cold as the ice around them.

She'd expected a response like that, but the idea of someone thinking that confused her still. "Why? Did I do something as a child to anger you?"

The man flinched slightly at her remark, her words reminding him that she had been little more than a child when the rebellion had taken place. Her views on what her father had been doing may have been skewed by the fact that he was her father, but that did not make her responsible for what he chose to do. Regardless though, he was his daughter still, and that made her a threat in the making. "You have his ideals. The fact that you are alive means that chance could be coming our way, and after all that Dotou-sama has done in our favor to bring us to the point where we can actually be considered more than just a minor village that other villages smile at and pat on the head for our childishness. We are not children. We are very much the warriors and skilled soldiers that we've fought to prove ourselves as. Whether with chakra armor, or with the weapons we've developed, as well as our new alliances –"

"Alliance? Since when has Yukigakure felt the need for any sort of alliance?" Koyuki muttered, turning her head from him and sighing. "So proud of themselves, so arrogant. Yet another reason both my otou-san and Dotou have been fools."

"You!" The man shouted, almost slamming his fists against the bars before he flinched and drew back. "You dare make a mockery of Dotou-sama, to make it seem that you are their better in some way. Foolish. Only someone who had no clue to our suffering as a small village would think something so naïve."

"Or she's just smarter then you."

The man's eyes widened for a second before he was shoved roughly against the bars. Koyuki flinched when the man shouted in pain from the electricity tag that was attached to the bars. When he was leaned back for a second, she thought it was over. As he coughed, revealing himself to be rather conscious, he was slammed into the bars again before he was dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Standing behind him, looking somewhat amused, was Naruto. To her, it was like he'd stepped out of a bolt of light from the sparking electricity that had run across the bars and materialized before her. It couldn't have been possible, it shouldn't have been possible, and yet even if it wasn't she let herself believe it because it made her feel less helpless.

Shaking his head at the sight of her, Naruto peaked at her through half lidded eyes. "Man, did you know you can be really hard to find when you want to be? I had to rely on some special techniques to find where you were at, and then this guy was harassing you. Sorry I was late. We wouldn't have had this problem if I'd gotten here earlier."

Koyuki, feeling like she was in a scene from her own movie, meanly shook her head in return. "You have a very poor sense of timing yourself, you know that? I was almost ready to think you'd left me here."

"What really?" Naruto asked, pulling off the tag and opening the gate for her to exit. "And what gave you that idea?"

"Oh you know. I was being rather annoying what with me disappearing on you all the time." Koyuki said, rolling with the improve 'script'.

"Yeah, but now I know how to find you. It'd be dumb of me to get angry at you for that." Naruto said, waving her off as she stepped out. "Plus, you're nice company when you're still around to talk to."

Koyuki couldn't believe this boy. One moment he was being rather violent and knocking people around, and the next she swore he was reading lines with her from a script. Inwardly, she thought about getting her manager to hire Naruto for a mission doing acting like this. It was rather relaxing, and it allowed her to put up her inner defenses easier with the witty banter being closer to her normally icy nature.

"Alright, now that I've got you, Kakashi-sensei should be ready to help finish the job and get you out of here." Naruto said, slipping back into a more business-mode.

Koyuki's eyes narrowed, several thoughts flitting through her mind as a thought crossed her mind. Quickly grabbing his arm, she pulled him in another direction. "Here, I remember how I got here. I'll help lead us out."

"Eh? You sure about that?" Naruto asked, following after her rather than fight her. He was surprised to hear that she'd remembered her way through. Considering how complacent she'd seemed when the shinobi had shown up, it was likely she hadn't really been knocked out or distracted in any way to keep her from missing details like that.

"Positive." Koyuki said, remembering her way to Dotou's chambers. It was time she step up and out of the shadows. It was her turn to show that she wasn't going to take this laying down.

It was her turn to be a light for her people.

x-x-x

"I swear I don't know!"

"Don't you lie to me! Do I look like the sort of person to lie to?!"

"Please don't kill me, I swear I'm just a lacky…they'd never even let me near the train for crying out loud!"

There was a short bit of silence as the two stared at one another. With a small nod, the second man slowly spoke.

"…I believe you."

When the first man heard this though, he tensed up and began trying to think of anything he could. This man had been coming after him with a vengeance, and he was certain that he was likely going to end up dying because he didn't know what the man wanted. However, he did have one thing that may let him live a short while longer. "I-I don't know where it's at, but I do know where our R and D is."

"Research and Development? Why would they be there?"

The shaking slowly lowering as he realized that the other man wasn't going to kill him outright, he explained. "The seals and methods we use in improving everything is there. From the train, to the blimp, to other items, the seals and methods are tampered with and tested to get them to work to their best, as well as new ideas getting put to the test."

"And this is…?"

"Down the hall, second left, third door." Whimpering, he glanced down and back up. "Can you…not?"

The second man hummed softly, mulling it over. Leaning back with the kuani lowering from the man's lower body, he smiled in a rather snake-like manner. Before the man could even finish his sigh of relief, the ring end of the kunai had already smacked against his forehead and knocked him out.

Slowly twirling the kunai as he walked away from the downed man, Sasuke shook his head. "Really, R and D? I'm looking for the train damn it, not…"

Sasuke paused, going over everything he'd just said once more in his head. "…well, I guess I can peak in there…just for a bit. I mean, there have to be scientists that can point me in the right direction. And if they don't, I can persuade them too."

"I told you that'd work."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you did." Sasuke muttered, not sure what he thought about Anko's suggested method of getting information. Surprisingly, the man had immediately began cooperating despite how he'd been rather resistant to his pressing before. It was amazing what a man would do to protect his future offspring, even before they had kids.

A shame so many people aim for said part.

"You know you owe me something when you come back." Anko's voice purred from across the seal, sending a chill up his spine. "Get me something nice, 'kay?"

"…yeah." He said softly, shivering slightly. He wasn't sure, but for some reason he was rather certain that there was a hidden threat beneath her words. It was more of a command, with a hint of pain should he fail. Luckily he was heading towards R&D already, so he might as well check it out to see what all he might be able to find for her.

Opening the door to the room, he was surprised to find that the room was empty save for one person tinkering away in the corner of the room. His eyes glanced over the set of items, surprised to find that there was actually a much larger variety then he'd initially expected from Yukigakure. There were balls of ice that were precariously positioned in dispensers, half made chakra armor with notes scattered about, notes and ideas for the blimp and train to be given armor and random looking weapons, and things he couldn't even begin to identify.

Glancing at some of the notes, he felt a curiosity from Anko and smirked. Quickly grabbing the documents left out, he slipped them into his bag to look through later. Feeling a sudden wave of pleasure, Sasuke shivered and made a note of that. He'd have to look into that later.

Seeing the man in the corner was rather busy with his project, an idea came to mind. Putting his hands together, he grinned and silently thanked Ebisu for having his basics improved during the Chunin Exams. Using a simple Henge (Transformation), he walked over to the man disguised as a member of Yukigakure and cleared his throat.

The poor man yelped, falling over and whipping around to face Sasuke. Seeing who it was, he scratched his head nervously and quickly picked himself up. "Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting company. How can I assist you shinobi-san?"

"I was sent here to get a board." Sasuke said curtly. There would be no preamble, no foreplay, he was getting his board and he was getting it now. Nothing would stop him!

"Ah, I'm afraid we're out."

"…eh?"

Unless that happened.

The scientist sighed, pushing a strange pair of goggles onto his forehead. "Well, Dotou sent out a board team earlier, so we gave them all boards. I guess you were given a new mission then?"

"Yeah. I…uh, I'm scouting." Sasuke said. When the man turned in surprise, he gave the man a knowing look. "I'm sure you understand."

"Oh? Oh!" The man nodded, thinking Sasuke was making a play on words and saying 'you don't need to know' in a roundabout way. The man nodded, turning to his project and mulled something over. "…well…do you need it now? I mean, if you are I…might have something."

Sasuke's interest was piqued, and he made a 'go on' motion. Seeing he had the go ahead, the man stumbled to a closet behind him. Pulling out a scroll, he pulled it open and unsealed a couple of boards. Each one was different, clearly built with different things in mind. One was wider than the others, but had a shorter nose and was likely meant for something like short speed but wide turns. The next was covered in seals, to the point Sasuke couldn't help but question how the thing didn't stand out in the snow as anything more than a black streak on the ground; this did make it harder to classify what it did, but with all those seals he was certain it was something that was likely nasty. A third was practically a stick, and was actually broken; it was likely that it was built for speed and someone hadn't been able to handle said speed. Sasuke almost felt sorry for the boards before him. They were all carefully manufactured, carefully crafted, and yet they were unable to see the light of epic battles due to some defect that no one else could handle.

The final board though, looked promising. It was covered in seals, but was not covered in an obscene amount. The build of the board was sleek, with more than enough room for an average man's feet to rest comfortably, although if they were to large they might go over a bit. The length was less than all except the first, making it come up to perhaps just under his ribs; when he was older he figured it might get up to his hips if he was lucky with his growth spurt. It was built more for an average man then someone like the large man he'd fought recently. It wasn't a premium 'for him only' build, but it looked like it'd work.

Picking it up, he looked it over critically. "What's wrong with this one?"

"Ah, that one." The man said, a hint of fondness in his voice. "This was one of my favorite to build. The seals were made to channel chakra to allow for a variety of options. There's several different options, but…I wouldn't take it."

"Oh? Why not?" Sasuke asked, staring at the man as his hands traced the seals slowly.

"Well, it's fast." Glancing down at the 'stick' he chuckled softly. "Not impossibly fast, but fast enough to give a man tunnel vision and get them killed. You can't move out of the way of attacks when you only have seconds to see and dodge it. You'd have to be insane to even think –"

"Dotou-sama will be very pleased that I'll be able to continue on my job." Sasuke said, standing with the board in hand. "Do you have…any notes on how to take care of it?"

"Wh- o-of course!" he all but shouted, grabbing a pamphlet and handing it to Sasuke. "But, why…?"

Sasuke gave him a deadpanned look. "Do you really think I'm going to go back to Dotou and tell him I couldn't even fail the mission by dying because I couldn't leave the castle? I'll take my chances with an inanimate object thank you very much."

The man shivered. Sasuke inwardly pat himself on the back on the quick thinking, grateful that Dotou was clearly an oppressing leader. "Yeah. Considering the fact he outfitted himself just a while ago, I'd be even more afraid."

That made Sasuke pause. Slowly turning back around, he kept his tone as even as he could. "Come again?"

The man covered his mouth, eyes wide as he flailed his arms in terror. "Please don't tell anyone I said that! I'd get in so much trouble if –"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he snapped at the man to cut off his fear. "To late for that. Explain yourself, and I'll see if I won't tell others."

Swallowing nervously, he man wrung his hands together. "Well…Dotou-sama has had some shinobi training. Not much, but for a Daimyo it's really rather impressive. And with the chakra armor, which gives a boost to his jutsu and protects him from genjutsu, he'd a force to be reckoned with. And since it's the newest model…I'm almost afraid for the Konoha shinobi if they choose to come after him."

Sasuke nodded slowly, realizing that suddenly they had a slight problem. Preparing to leave, he paused and glanced at the man one last time. He'd gotten a lot from him, and he almost felt bad about it. But then again, one last question shouldn't hurt him too much.

"Just so you know, I get a bit turned around in this castle…so can you give me directions to the train from here?"

AN: Yes, yes indeed, Sasuke got his board. And the best part, is that he explained why he wanted it right before. Was debating on later or not, but then I realized this is the only scene where they're still in the castle, so I knew that if I didn't, Sasuke wouldn't get it unless it was Mizore's…and it's freaking Mizore's. He's HUGE. Sasuke would never be able to use it properly. This one though…heh, ehehehe, ehehehehehehe~

It's gonna be a great day.

Also, because miscellaneous info is fun, when I was writing Koyuki's scenes, I played "I Need A Hero" (you know, from Shrek 2) on repeat because I swear that's partly what I've seen as Koyuki's current mindset with all Naruto's been doing. Plus, it's a nice song, by far one of my fave's.

Welp, enjoy the upload and until next time! Speaking of~

Next time on Word of Honor; Who Dares Wins. It's a trap, but who's is it? And more importantly, when they leave the castle, how will things go down? Tune in to see!