The backdrop for the next day's filming was breathtaking. Supposedly, Sandayū suggested it. Koyuki's assistant was a born-and-raised native of The Land of Snow, having served her father as a samurai from before Koyuki was ever born. He attested to its beauty. When the director first laid eyes on it, he nearly fell over in his rush to shake Sandayū 's hand.
A fierce river flowed despite the cold. Its width and the color of its waters hinted that it came primarily from glacial melt. It curved back and forth through an expanse of tundra, while on the horizon was the ocean, glacier caps rising like mountains. For once, it wasn't snowing and the brutal winds had calmed. You couldn't ask for better conditions.
Naruto and Kakashi sat in spare chairs that had been offered to them. Team Guy was guarding the set, spaced in a triangle formation that left Neji the closest to Naruto and Kakashi. That was a bit annoying, but Naruto wasn't about to let the sour guy get to him. He had more important things to worry about.
Mainly, the fact that Hinata had just stepped out of the changing tent, garbed in a silken kimono. She'd been given gloves and a thin but warm underlayer to combat the cold, both of which only added to her beauty. Apparently, the plot of the movie was about two princesses vying for a young samurai's hand. Right now, Hinata looked every inch as much like royalty as Koyuki always did. Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth.
"No cheering." Koyuki was sitting a short distance to the left, close enough to speak to Naruto without Hinata overhearing. "She needs to focus."
Naruto's hands dropped. He watched in silence instead while Hinata took her position. Two women from the crew ran to her and touched up her makeup before the cameras started rolling. Her skin looked like porcelain.
"It's starting," Kakashi said, giggling under his breath.
The cameras started rolling. Hinata knelt, running her hands through the snow until a group of samurai passed by. The male lead was in front. Naruto thought his name was… Hachiro? Hajime? Haruki? Eh, he was pretty sure it started with an H.
When the group came closer, Hinata turned her head to them. The male lead turned to look at her, stopping his group a moment later. He approached.
"What is a girl doing out here by herself?" he asked.
"I'm not a girl. I'm a woman," Hinata said.
"Forgive me. But a young woman has no more place alone in the wilderness."
"I've just stepped away from my group," Hinata said. At this point in the plot, she had ditched her many retainers, just to reach this place alone. "I wanted to see you."
"Me? But why, young lady?"
Neji was watching. He was waiting for Hinata to slip up, but the lines kept coming, and she hadn't stuttered yet. When she turned away from the male lead, it wasn't her nerves getting the better of her. The character was meant to be shy, avoiding the eyes of the man she liked.
Coincidentally, the direction that she turned left her facing Naruto. Koyuki leaned forward in her seat, concerned Hinata would stutter, as had happened on the boat.
"I've been watching you. I've seen so much of you, though I know you've seen little of me. It made me want to get close. It forced me to dare, possibly, to approach you."
The male lead cocked his head. "You wished to approach me?"
"Desperately. Everything you do… It fans my desire for you!"
Neji's lip curled. Hinata hadn't stuttered. When her self-doubt was put on the back foot, her voice was as smooth as sake. The director grinned, shivering with excitement at the natural innocence Hinata could exude.
"Young lady, you should be careful with your words. That sounds like a confession."
"And if it is?" Hinata asked. "I love you!"
Her shout was clarion as it cut across the icy landscape. To the end, a tremor had never entered her voice.
The male lead cleared his throat.
"Excellent delivery," he said. "But, Hinata, you were supposed to look at me for that part."F
"Oh!"
As the cameras cut, Hinata jumped, realizing that she never moved her eyes off of Naruto, looking straight at him the entire time she spoke. Her cheeks reddened.
"It's a simple mistake. One more take and I'm sure you'll get it right," said the male lead.
He and the other actors returned to their starting places. The only one struggling was Hinata. She couldn't get rid of her blush, and it looked like she was mumbling to herself.
"I told you she would fail," Neji said.
He sounded pretty relieved for a guy insisting there was no other outcome.
Just as the cameras were about to start rolling again, there came a sound.
Choooo-chika-chika-chika-chika-Choooo-chika-chika-chika-chika.
Koyuki stood up. "A train!"
Makino, the director, clapped his hands. "Hold! We'll film again once it passes us."
Koyuki whirled to him. "You don't understand! This railway is defunct. There are not supposed to be trains on it, ever!"
Kakashi stood up, Naruto doing the same. Makino wasn't disturbed.
"It's been years since you lived here, Koyuki. Maybe the routes have changed."
Choooo-chika-chika-chika-Choooo-chika-chika.
"There's someone on top of it." Neji's Byakugan was active, bulging the veins around his eyes.
"On the train?" Kakashi asked.
"Atop the engine, standing with two swords drawn."
Naruto's eyes couldn't compete with a Hyuuga, all he could see was a long and blurry shape. His sense of smell was as good as anyone's, though, and it smelled ozone.
"The storm is here," Naruto said, rolling back the cuffs of his sleeves. Like it heard him, the sky got dark. Clouds swirled around. Choooo-chika-chika-Choooo-chika-chika. The train was close enough for Naruto to make out the figure on the front. Neji was right; a man was standing atop it. He lifted his swords.
"I have a confession to make, Princess Koyuki." As the train steamed closer, Sandayū moved toward it. He unsheathed his blade, an action mimicked by the samurai he'd brought on this mission.
"Sandayū , what are you planning to do?" Koyuki said. "Stay here. The shinobi will protect us."
Sandayū smiled at her, patting her shoulder. "They'll protect you, yes. But I didn't come here simply to survive. I came with a purpose."
Sandayū pointed his sword toward the train. He spoke to his samurai. "Ten years ago, we were forced to flee from our homeland! My master and friend was slain by the brother whom he trusted! For a decade, I've held this anger in my heart. For a decade, the Land of Snow has languished under the control of a usurper! I say, no more! We will show Dotō Kazehana that he is not the only one capable of killing a king! For Koyuki Kazehana and the Land of Snow, charge!"
"Does he mean to attack a moving train?" Neji asked.
Sandayū was already moving. He ran with speed that rivaled a chuunin despite his age. He was a true samurai, then. They had their own ways of reinforcing the body with chakra. Less flashy than the methods of shinobi, yet still dangerous in its own right.
Sandayū 's men charged with him — Choooo-chika-chika — while the man on the train kept his swords raised — Choooo-chika-chika — until—
The sky split.
Lightning came down as if Kami itself were smiting Sandayū 's aspirations. The blast scattered samurai and ragdolled bodies. It came so fast that not even Naruto could react.
"Sandayū !" Koyuki screamed.
The man had been blown back toward them. He was a wreck, badly burned by the attack he'd taken. Sandayū looked back at Koyuki… and smiled.
"Don't cry for me. I was being selfish, for once," Sandayū said. "Please… protect her."
His neck muscles wilted. Choooo-chika-chika— Screeeeeeeee! The train grinded to a stop, compartments opening all over it. The man on top of the train leaned forward, showing them an ugly face with thick protruding lips.
"Someone over there's been killing chuunin all week!" he said. "If you can manage that, you can probably survive this. Keep the princess alive, please!"
The compartments let loose a torrent of kunai.
Neji darted forward. When he was in front of Koyuki, he leapt in the air and twirled. A dome of chakra formed to repel any kunai that came close, scattering them. Tenten shielded the crew by unfurling a huge scroll and returning fire. Mixed among her kunai were shurikens and other more unusual throwing weapons. Lee just yelled something about reflex training and started slapping the speeding kunai out of the air, timing it to hit only the handles.
Naruto formed hand seals.
"Fūton: Breath of the Buddha!"
Naruto exhaled a concentrated stream of wind that expanded as it left his mouth. No matter how much force the kunai had been fired with, they were turned around and launched back at the train. Most clinked harmlessly off the train's solid walls. The man on top was in danger, until he connected his dual swords by the handle, spinning them to wield one double-sided blade. He easily deflected the errant weaponry.
"It's a fight, then!" he cried.
"Raiga Kurosuki. Missing-nin from Kirigakure. Former Seven Swordsman of the Mist." Kakashi reached up as he spoke, shifting his headband onto his forehead. A red eye swirled where the Konoha symbol had been. "Engage him carefully. Leave him to me, if possible."
"You'll be too busy, Sharingan no Kakashi!"
As Raiga charged, other shinobi exited the train. A handful of them were wearing full suits of strange armor. One of these, a man sporting a ponytail the color of snow, made a handseal, his Yukigakure headband glinting in the light. The snow under Kakashi turned against the Jounin.
It became a spear of ice that tried to skewer him. When Kakashi wrapped his hands around the spear-to-be, preventing it from piercing his chest cavity, the force of the weapon carried him backwards, lifting him off his feet. The Yukigakure shinobi leaped forward, activating strange wings to fly over the snow toward where Kakashi had landed.
Naruto wasn't worried about the man. He'd seen just how tough Kakashi was — as much as you'd expect from one of Konoha's elite. The question wasn't whether Kakashi could win, it was about how long he'd be kept away.
Team Guy struck before Naruto did, but only because Naruto turned to Hinata first.
"Why don't you and Koyuki take a little walk? Maybe check out the ocean, dip your toes in… without getting frostbite, of course!"
"What about you?" Hinata said.
"I'll stay here for a bit." Naruto flexed, patting his bicep. "I'm too strong for anything bad to happen. Plus, it'll be easier on us if we're not looking out for Koyuki."
Naruto jerked his thumb at Team Guy. Lee was slamming through Yukigakure shinobi like they were bowling pins and he was the ball, determined to get a strike. Tenten had taken a polearm out of her weapons scroll, using it to beat the breaks off of anyone who approached the movie crew. Neji was disabling shinobi even faster than Lee, mostly because each one only took a touch. He cut through the enemy, his path taking him straight toward the train… and Raiga, standing in the train's shadow.
Raiga watched him coming, a smirk sitting on his thick lips.
"Ranmaruuuuu! Freeeloadeeeeer! It's time to earn your keep!"
A door behind Raiga slid open. There were only two people there, and one of them was a child. The kid's eyes glowed red— more scarlet than the orangish-red that Naruto's eyes turned when using Kyu's power.
"Don't touch Raiga," said the kid.
Something weird happened next. There was a puff of red dust. Neji ran into it. Whatever his Byakugan told him, it didn't see this dust as a threat. He must've missed something important about it, though, because a second later Neji was on his knees. Unresponsive, Neji went completely still, staring blankly at the ground.
"Genjutsu? That's impossible!" Tenten said.
The woman from the train fired herself into a Shunshin. She appeared behind Tenten, who barely parried the blow that came at her. This woman fought with two thin swords similar to the ones Raiga wielded.
Tenten was fighting for her life, but apparently her opponent was taking it easy enough to talk casually. "Ranmaru's Genjutsu is different from what you've encountered. In the face of his Dojutsu, even the Byakugan is an inferior copy."
The woman spun, fanning out her red hair. She trapped the shaft of Tenten's weapon by crossing her blades against it, forcing Tenten's guard open. Without the polearm in the way, she vaulted up, kicking across her body straight into Tenten's jaw. Tenten's head turned sharply as the Konoha-nin fell.
Lee had finished off the rest of the rank-and-file shinobi that made up the attack, but he fell too, reduced to the same condition as Neji. The child behind Raiga was forming a single handsign, his tongue peeking out of his mouth as he concentrated on his Genjutsu.
"So you're Ranmaru, huh?"
The kid's eyes widened. He was probably twelve at the oldest, with soft purple hair. He spun around to see Naruto on top of the train, having gotten behind them in an instant. He tried to trap the blond in another Genjutsu. Naruto could tell from the way his eyes flashed a deeper red, but something he saw made him flinch and cower instead.
Raiga grabbed Ranmaru by the back of his shirt and threw him back. Ranmaru flew a distance away, the snow cushioning his fall. "Oof!"
"What's wrong, kid? It isn't like you to freeze!" Raiga separated Kiba, holding one half of the twin-sword in each of his hands again. "If you make a habit of it, I'm going to have to replace my partner!"
Naruto was just watching for now. Hinata and Koyuki had fled. Meanwhile, the redhead hadn't killed Tenten, only taken her out of the battle. The woman ran toward him, joining Raiga.
"I don't like this one, Raiga." Ranmaru was still looking at Naruto. "There's too much inside of him! Something… Something's in there."
"Kind of him to notice. The observant ones always taste the sweetest, especially when harvested young." Kyu's voice was honeyed, letting Naruto know she was serious.
"You've got some neat eyes! I haven't seen those before," Naruto said.
"Hah! Our Ranmaru's one of a kind!" Even though he'd threatened to replace the boy moments ago, Raiga sounded like a parent talking about his son's first academy report card. "The rest of his family died out, as close as we can tell. Not unusual in Kiri. No one ever expects it when a kid puts them into a Genjutsu that not even the Sharingan can match!"
"It reminds me more of the Byakugan. He looked inside me, didn't he?"
Raiga just smiled. As happy as he was to boast about what Naruto already knew, he wasn't going to give away any tricks ahead of the fight.
Before any of them could move, the kunoichi bowed to Naruto.
"My name is Misuno Ringo. I am a hunter-nin of Kirigakure. Please, Naruto 'The Clown' Uzumaki, slay the missing-nin Raiga Kurosuki!"
"Not this again!" Raiga said. "Give it up, girl! You're in it with us for the long haul! Why do you even want to go back to that trashy village?"
Misuno acted as if he hadn't spoken. "It is my mission to reclaim Kirigakure's treasured Kiba sword. However… I lack the power to beat Raiga in my current state. I've agreed to lend him my power in the meantime, in return for his sparing my life. When his dangerous lifestyle inevitably kills him, I'll reclaim the sword and complete my mission. I pray that day is today."
"Raiga will never lose!" Ranmaru said.
"That's right! You heard the kid!" Raiga boasted. "Give it up already and help me kill this guy!"
Misuno raised her swords: tantos of a similar shape and weight to the halves of Kiba. Naruto had a pretty good idea who the sword was going to go to, should Misuno manage to return it to Kiri.
"Be careful," Ranmaru said. "This one scares me."
"Really?" Naruto said. "But I'm usually good with kids!"
"As am I. They're excellent for my digestion."
"That's enough chatting," Raiga declared. "Let's kill him and catch ourselves a princess!"
"If you live that long," Misuno said hopefully.
Lightning split the sky. Although Naruto dodged back, it wasn't aimed at him. The bolt came down directly on Raiga. He held his swords up and absorbed the energy.
"Let's do this," the swordsman said.
He came at Naruto with speed comparable to Lee, maybe even surpassing what the Konoha-nin showed during this fight. When Raiga went for an overhead strike and missed, his blade went through the train's roof with ease akin to slicing butter. Electricity crackled around it.
"The sharpest swords ever smithed! That's Kiba!" Raiga spun, slashing out at Naruto, who was forced to duck into a crouch. Misuno appeared behind him, using another Sunshin.
"My aunt was the first user of Kiba. Perhaps you've heard of her?" Misuno stabbed her twin tantos down at Naruto. "Ameyuri Ringo was one of the greatest shinobi the Mist ever produced."
Naruto twisted, kicking the flat of one blade and driving it into the other one. They were repelled off-course. On the ground, Ranmaru shouted, "Raiga! Uppercut!"
A second later, Naruto completed his move by punching upwards. Warned ahead of time, Raiga easily dodged. He moved to the side, giving him a chance to counterattack. His sword clipped Naruto, cutting his forearm.
"Like I said! Nobody beats our Ranmaru!" Raiga boasted.
A surge of red chakra healed the cut in an instant. Naruto's pupils narrowed.
"Fun!" he said. "Let's see how you keep up!"
O-O-O
Hinata was forced to go slower than she would've liked, simply because Koyuki couldn't keep up. The actress was already tiring. She wasn't out of shape for a civilian, the standard for shinobi was simply too high.
"We shouldn't have left them," Koyuki said.
She sounded despondent. Hinata looked back at her, hesitating. She was never very good at comforting others.
"They'll be okay. They're strong," Hinata said.
"So was Sandayū."
Hinata winced. The man died in front of Koyuki, right after claiming he would avenge her father. Hinata knew a thing or two about others dying for her. They left the evidence of that back by the train, using his Gentle Fist to fight off attackers.
"We'll get you away," Hinata said, because she couldn't think of anything about Sandayū that could reassure her friend. "They won't g-get you."
No sooner had she spoken than something cropped up on the edges of her Byakugan's vision. Two shapes were incoming. One was low-flying. The other moved rapidly across the banks of snow.
"Get b-behind me, Koyuki!"
Hinata twisted, orienting herself toward the threats. The snow to her left lurched at her, taking the shape of a pouncing panther. Like the attack that launched Kakashi, it had a hardened casing of ice around the outside, ensuring the claws that swiped at Hinata could easily draw blood.
All the same, Hinata's eyes picked out its weak points. A tap of her fingers and a surge of chakra made the construct's head collapse. It dissolved into snow again.
The flying shinobi was the one who created the creature of ice. Her partner was riding a long and flat object that let him surf over the snow. They were both equipped with chakra-powered armor, fitted to match their bodies. The man's armor was shooting air out of the back, propelling him forward over the flat ground. When he got close, he dug one edge of his board into the snow, spraying it toward Hinata. His partner completed a jutsu and transformed the shower of snow into a wave of sharp-beaked birds.
Hinata burst each of the birds except for one, which managed to fly behind her. Koyuki screamed— but drew a dagger from inside her clothes and slashed the bird, cracking the ice.
"You're coming with us, princess! Dotō's orders!" said the female shinobi.
The male one was ugly, a shock of purple hair sticking out of the top of his helmet. Off of size alone, he was nearly as big as Asuma Sarutobi, the broadest Konoha-nin that Hinata could think of.
He used a boxing-based Taijutsu stance that made the best of his size, launching a jab that would surely break Hinata's nose. Her veins flexed. She saw everything— the chakra pumping through his armor, the way it empowered his strikes but slowed down his movement, and his natural chakra network buried underneath.
She tapped his chest.
"Hah!" the man laughed, to boast that he'd felt nothing. It was ironic, then, that blood sprayed from his mouth as he did.
He collapsed from one blow. His armor seemed very sturdy. If his opponent were anyone but a Hyuuga, Hinata was sure it would've taken great effort to get through it.
"Mizore!" His pink-haired partner was still gliding on the wings built into her own armor. In a rage, she sped through hand seals. The snow came alive.
"Step further back, Koyuki!"
A pack of wolves attacked Hinata. She shattered two, but was bit on the elbow by a third. Although its teeth broke the skin, she was far from crippled. Hinata broke it, too, with a blow to the jaw. She ran at the next one, half of the pack still prowling around her.
When the wolf lunged to bite her, Hinata jumped. She put a foot on its forehead and propelled herself up. She could see behind herself without turning her head. Even as she fought the wolves, Hinata had been watching the flying kunoichi, getting the timing just right.
Hinata reached the height of the flying woman just in time to strike her in the side. The wolves crumbled as the woman gasped, plummeting to the ground. Her impact was only mildly softened by the snow. She still hit hard enough not to move, laying flat.
When Hinata landed in a crouch, she immediately grabbed her arm, wincing. Red streaks were running down the sleeve of the nice kimono meant for filming her first scene.
"Hinata, that was amazing!" Hinata was grabbed, Koyuki throwing her arms around her. "You beat two shinobi like it was nothing!"
"They were weak," Hinata insisted. "A G-Genin could have beaten them. I need to be able to do this much."
"I don't care about that. You saved me!" Koyuki pulled back, which was when she noticed Hinata's arm. "You're hurt!"
"It's not bad…"
"I'll wrap it!" Koyuki drew her knife, cutting strips off her expensive dress to use as bandages. "I know basic first aid. I was a wild one when I was child, before I had to leave the palace, so I've seen my share of bandages. I'll tie it to stop the bleeding—"
Hinata tried to shove Koyuki away, but she was too late.
A net shot out of the sky, moving so fast that even Hinata's Byakugan hadn't given her time to react. The girls were wrapped up and tied together. A second later, they were pulled into the air, dragged up until they were much higher than where Hinata had leaped to, high enough that they could see for miles.
The net was swinging beneath a blimp so large that it blotted out the sun. Hinata grabbed Koyuki's wrist to stop the girl from squirming. With the knife in her hand, it was possible she might cut the net, which would be as good as killing them both.
"This is my father's blimp. Dotō did this! He's caught me!" Koyuki sounded on the verge of hysterics.
"I-It's o-kay." Hinata cursed her unsteady voice, wishing she could soothe the woman properly. "I-I'm still here. We'll be okay."
She hoped she was telling the truth as the rope shortened, the two girls slowly being dragged into the blimp. What awaited inside…
Hinata wasn't ready to give up hope yet.
O-O-O
A geyser of snow sprayed into the air. Raiga blurred backwards, throwing himself with all the strength in his legs. Through the mess of snow, an orange blur shot at him. Lightning shot from the sky, but Naruto went straight through it.
"That tickles!"
"Duck!" Ranmaru screamed.
Raiga dropped. Naruto's kick narrowly went over him. Naruto turned his body and tried to land an elbow drop.
"Slash up!" Ranmaru said.
One half of Kiba shot up. The angle would've punctured Naruto's neck if he didn't abort his attack, jumping away.
"Twenty meters, Misuno! Hit him in the back!"
Ranmaru's instructions meant Misuno was waiting for Naruto. She stabbed with one tanto, aiming to pierce Naruto's head. He shifted his body, letting the tanto stab his shoulder. Before Misuno could pull back, Naruto kicked her in the gut. No amount of warning could help Misuno dodge; she wasn't as fast as Raiga. She was launched away, leaving her Tanto embedded in Naruto's shoulder. He pulled it out and snapped it over his knee while the wound healed.
"One down!" Naruto said.
"Raiga! Protect Misuno!" Ranmaru said. The swordsman followed the command without hesitation.
Suddenly, Ranmaru's eyes widened. "No, I need you!"
It was too late for Raiga to change directions. Naruto, who had leaped at the partially-disarmed Misuno, landed in an animalistic crouch and suddenly sprung the other way. He reached Ranmaru before the boy could blink his bright red eyes.
For a millisecond, Ranmaru went invisible to Naruto's eyes. As fast as it started, the Genjutsu broke, heralded by a sound like a rock hitting a pool.
"You think to fool me?" Kyu said. "I ought to chew you thoroughly!"
Naruto snatched Ranmaru by his shirt collar, lifting him in the air. His Jinchuriki cloak faded, lessening his speed, but that didn't matter when he was holding his target. "Gotcha!"
"Ranmaru!"
For a moment, it looked like Raiga would charge Naruto. "Don't!" Ranmaru yelled. "He'll crush you!"
Naruto lifted the kid, leaning forward to look into his eyes up close. "You've got one nifty bloodline. Genjutsu, anti-Byakugan dust, and you kept seeing what I'd do before I did it. That's pretty freaky!"
"Are you going to kill me?" Ranmaru asked.
Naruto cocked his head. "Shouldn't you be able to tell?"
Before Ranmaru could answer, a shadow passed over them. Naruto looked up. A blimp was traveling overhead, carrying something underneath it.
"Can you see that far?" Naruto asked.
Carefully, Ranmaru nodded.
"Cool! What's that hanging under the blimp?"
"It's the princess and the girl she ran away with. The other Hyuuga. It looks like they've been caught in a net."
"...S'that so?"
"Listen… We'll abandon the job," Raiga said. "The pay isn't worth as much as the kid is. Those eyes? They're priceless. Let's negotiate."
"Maybe in a minute," Naruto said. "I've got something to deal with first."
"Wait!" Ranmaru's eyes widened, turning panicked. "I'm afraid of he—ighhhhhhhhhhhhhts!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Naruto had tossed him in the air, forming hand seals with his free hand. He created a torrent of wind that shot Ranmaru into the sky like a cannonball.
"Bastard!"
Raiga tried to charge him, but he was too slow. Naruto's body was enveloped in orange chakra again, this time with five twitching tails behind his back.
"Gotta go!" Naruto said.
He bent his legs and jumped, practically flying. On his path up he grabbed Ranmaru, but not before deactivating his chakra cloak now that it had given him the strength boost he needed. The two of them reached the low-flying blimp at the apex of his leap, and Naruto adhered himself to the side of it with chakra control just as the net was drawn all the way inside, completing the capture of Hinata and Koyuki.
As he started to crawl along the outside of the blimp, Ranmaru hanging below him carried by one hand, Naruto said, "Try not to look down!"
The boy made a pitiful, moaning whimper.