Chapter 48: Land of Snow Arc: Chapter 47

Title: Dreaming of Sunshine

Summary: Life as a ninja. It starts with confusion and terror and doesn't get any better from there. OC Self-insert.

Author's note: A few questions from reviewers that I can't answer by PM: When's the time skip? Time skip is actually pretty far away, content wise. We've got this movie, some more filler stuff including another OVA, Sasuke Retrieval, more filler stuff including two movies and so forth. Canonically, it started when Naruto left on his trip with Jiraiya and finished when he came back. I may or may not write a time skip that may or may not be quite as long. I haven't quite decided yet, but I'm leaning towards the not.

Is there going to be romance? I answered this a few chapters ago, and my stance on that really hasn't changed much. There wont be any for a long while. They're twelve, and that's not really an age for serious romance. Especially since Shikako is mentally a lot older, there would be a serious imbalance there.

And to Albatross Aoba - I'm sorry you feel that way. I think the Chunin Exam Arc has a lot more going for it than simply who gets promoted, especially considering that canonically the only one to get through was Shikamaru. I do believe that it was an in character decision, and that, by the way the pairs were chosen, it was a matchup that would have happened.

Nemesis Jedi - Rainbow Rasengan. Rainbow Rasengan. Nope, no matter how many times I say it, it doesn't sound any less hilarious.

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Chapter 47

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Running away will never make you free. ~ Kenny Loggins

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We tracked Yukie down to a small, rundown and empty bar. It didn't take long to find her, and Sandayuu himself would have probably managed without too much trouble. He didn't look surprised to find her there, that was for sure.

The way she was tipping back sake… yeah, this probably wasn't the first time.

"Gee, Nee-chan," Naruto said brightly. "There you are! Why'd you leave? You made everyone worried."

She stared at him blankly, swaying a little.

"You know, I really liked your movie," Naruto continued, either not noticing the disinterest or ignoring it. "It was so cool. "Never give up." That's almost like my motto. I won't ever give up, either. One day, I'm going to be Hokage and that's not someone who can just quit." He beamed at her. "So, Princess Fuun-"

"I'm not Princess Fuun," she cut him off, swinging her cup of sake to her mouth and nearly missing. Her muscles had the lax, uncoordinated quality of too much alcohol.

"I know," Naruto said patiently. "You're Yukie Fujikaze, the greatest actress in the Land of Fire."

She snorted. "Actress? Great?" she mocked, starting to laugh. "Being an actress is the worst job ever. It's a job for the worst kind of people. You have to follow other peoples scripts, act, live in a world full of lies… Truly stupid."

At least you know they're lies, I thought. You can stop playing make pretend the second the camera's are off.

I shook the thought off. That sounded surprisingly bitter.

"Are you drunk?" Naruto asked, a little disbelieving. "It's not even that late." He frowned, putting his hands on his hips.

"You are so annoying!" She said, mood turning snappish rather than maudlin. "Go away!"

"Ah, Yukie," Sandayuu said carefully, seeing that Naruto was having no luck. "Please, come with us. The ship is leaving soon and we have to get everything organised."

"That's okay." She shrugged, pouring herself another cup from the sake bottle. It sloshed heavily, thunking hollowly as she put it down - half gone, maybe. "I'm not going to board."

Sandayuu gasped. "What are you saying? Yukie…"

"It'll be okay. It happens all the time," she swayed, gesturing with her hand. "Something goes wrong… the main character gets replaced, the director gets replaced -"

"Be quiet!" he snapped, sounding forceful for the first time. "The part of Princess Fuun can only be played by you. If you don't come, you wont be able to work in this business again." He didn't say it as a threat, but like a warning. If she broke her contract with this movie, no one would trust her to hold to theirs.

"It's alright," she said indifferently. "It doesn't matter."

"Yukie…" Sandayuu said helplessly.

I felt awkward watching their drama while not really being a part of it. I wasn't entirely sure what we were supposed to do. She wasn't our client, but we'd been hired to escort her. In some cases that could include an 'against her will' clause. I looked at Sensei.

"I guess it can't be helped," he said, sliding his headband up with one hand.

Yukie turned to look at him, either curious about what he was saying, or simply because he was talking. She caught his gaze and her eyes went glassy before sliding closed. He caught her easily as she tumbled forward, returning his headband down to cover his Sharingan.

I stared at the sleeping actress feeling bemused. "Wasn't that overkill, sensei?" Surely he had other ways of knocking someone out without using his Sharingan. Heck, I knew other ways of knocking people out.

"A little, yes," Kakashi-sensei said, lifting her up. "But at least this way I'm guaranteed that she won't wake up again until the morning. Otherwise she could cause trouble or try to run away again… both of which we don't need."

That was a valid point.

I dropped back to walk next to Naruto as we made our way back to the studio. His fists were clenched and he was glaring aimlessly at the ground.

I bumped shoulders with him, questioning.

"I can't believe her," he huffed. "She's so…" he flailed his hands, searching for a word before settling on "mean".

"She's an actress," Sasuke said, slowing down to match pace with us. "She was never going to be exactly like Princess Fuun." Considering how thrilled Naruto had been during the movie, he was probably feeling a little cheated about that. Still, there wasn't anything that could be done about it.

"I know," Naruto said. "But 'it's the worst job' and getting drunk at a time like this! Gah, it's like Baa-chan all over again."

I smirked. "I don't think Tsunade-sama would be too impressed by the comparison."

He snickered. "I'll tell her, when we get home. I really will." He tucked his hands behind his head and grinned cheekily, in anticipation of mischief.

I exchanged looks with Sasuke. Only Naruto.

"We didn't get a chance to ask her about Snow Country," I realised. I didn't actually know much about Snow Country, future knowledge wise. Was it something that hadn't been shown, like our D-ranks? Or was it simply something that I had paid no attention to? Had I just forgotten? That happened, but usually I had something.

"There's definitely something there," Sasuke confirmed. "That guy - Sandayuu - he seems to know. I guess we'll have to ask him."

"I wonder what it could be," Naruto mused. "It seems weird that someone would want to avoid a whole country." That was a good point, actually. Avoiding a person, or a specific location was one thing, avoiding a whole country was another. It said that whatever was going on was something big.

"We're probably going to find out," I said dryly. That seemed to be how things worked. Then again, no one ever expected an A-rank mission to be easy.

Back at the studio, the place was a hive of activity as the film crew were busily loading everything they were going to take with them. The ship was leaving early tomorrow morning, which meant that everything needed to be packed tonight. Sandayuu, as Yukie's manager, wasn't involved in that much, apart from making sure that all her gear was ready, which meant we had an excellent chance to question him.

"So what's her deal with Snow Country?" Naruto asked bluntly, after we'd tucked her up into her room and found an out of the way room that still had some chairs in it.

I winced. It was a good question, but it could have been asked with a little more finesse. Still, it got the point across.

"Ah, well," Sandayuu said nervously, glancing at us.

"Please," Kakashi-sensei said calmly. "You did hire us to protect her. We can do that more effectively if we know what's going on."

"Yes, that is true," he said, nodding. "Very well. Where shall I start? Ah. My name is Sandayuu Asama. I used to be a member of Snow Country's 50th Brigade; Samurai who protected the previous Daimyo, Sousetsu Kazahana."

Naruto shifted awkwardly, obviously wondering where this was going, but didn't say anything. The rest of us just listened.

"At that time, the Land of Snow was a peaceful place. Sousetsu was a good man. The economy went downhill in the last years of his reign but he did his best for his people. There are rumours that say he spent the money of battle puppets and such, but I don't believe them. Sousetsu was a gentle man, he never believed in war. He always said he would have been an engineer if he was not a Daimyo." He shook himself, obviously aware that he was drifting off course. "Ah, but the Daimyo had a young daughter, Princess-"

"Koyuki," Kakashi-sensei finished, eye wide. He looked like he had just put the pieces together to solve a puzzle.

I had a sinking feeling that I knew what was coming next.

"Yes," Sandayuu confirmed. "Princess Koyuki. When Sousetsu's brother Dotou revolted and burned the castle down, we believed that she had died. Our Daimyo was dead, his house in ruins, his loyal samurai scattered and lost… it was a dark day." His eyes started tearing up. "When I came here… when I found her acting on stage… I was so happy."

"Her?" Naruto muttered, puzzled. "Yukie?"

"Yukie Fujikaze is a fake name," Kakashi-sensei said wearily. He rubbed his face. "She's really Koyuki Kazahana, isn't she?"

"Yes," Sandayuu said. "She is our princess. Our hope."

"Your hope?" I repeated. That was a strange thing to say.

"I've been keeping in touch with my old friends from the brigade, and things are… restless in the Land of Snow. They're more than ready to start a rebellion, but they're scattered. If they had a figurehead, a rallying point…" He looked up at us, to see if we were following.

"The Princess," Sasuke stated.

"Yes." Sandayuu said. "Sousetsu was a good man. The people loved him. And they loved the princess. Dotou is the opposite. He's like the stereotypical evil lord, feasting while the country starves, hording whatever little wealth there is… It can't go on. One way or another, it has to change."

His conviction was obvious. Given that we hadn't seen it ourselves, I couldn't judge how truthful it was, but he believed it.

"And what does the princess think of this?" I asked, because I could see a major sticking point, there.

He faltered. "I had hoped…" he said, trailing off. "Ever since I became her manager, I have been looking for a way to return her home. Convincing the Director to film at the Rainbow Glaciers… that was a victory."

"She doesn't seem to want to go," Sasuke pointed out. From Yukie's point of view the entire situation was stressful - not wanting to go back to Snow Country because of bad memories or danger, but being unable to explain why without admitting who she was… No wonder she was trying to run.

"She is unhappy here," Sandayuu insisted. "Wherever we go, she is unhappy. I believe that she truly wishes to return home. She is just afraid…."

Of course she was afraid. Her home was ransacked and her family killed. She wasn't a ninja, couldn't fight back the way we could. There was more to courage than physical skills, but I would be the first to admit that they helped.

"This isn't a whim on my part," Sandayuu said. "There are plans, alliances… I even hired ninja." He gestured at us. "I do not wish to put the Princess in any danger."

There was danger inherent in being part of a rebellion, in returning to a place where she was an usurper to the throne, but he did seem to be trying to negate it.

"Well, it's all within our contract," Kakashi-sensei said, neutrally. I wondered if the contract had been specifically written like that. It was highly likely, actually, if Sandayuu had planned it out. "We have been hired to escort Yukie around Snow Country. But I would suggest convincing her of her role before we arrive."

"Thank you," he said, sighing gratefully. "Thank you."

What a mess.

It certainly gave us a lot to consider.

"Why would some one who was trying to hide their identity become an actress?" Sasuke asked. "Doesn't that… seem strange?"

"Maybe she didn't realise there was still danger," I offered. "She's a long way from home. Or maybe she was hiding in plain sight. If it had happened ten years ago, she would have been very young. It's not always easy to know what people look like at different ages. Unless she bears a strong resemblance to a family member, looks alone wouldn't have been enough to find her. And by then she would have been famous as Yukie Fujikaze, which is it's own kind of cover."

She might not have had much of a choice, depending on what happened after she left Snow Country. One would expect a young princess to be fostered by a neighbouring Daimyo either as a hostage or in preparation for future succession issues… there were probably a lot of reasons that it would benefit them to do so.

On the other hand, if she had not been placed, she would have been a young girl with good education but few practical skills, traumatised and alone, and a long way from everything she knew.

Or it could have been a mix of the two or anything in between.

Or maybe she just wanted to be an actress. Granted, she didn't seem too enthused about the job now but maybe she had when she started.

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We all boarded the ship just after dawn, and by the time the light had saturated the harbour we were moving. I'm not much of a boat person, so I didn't know too much about the ship itself. It had two masts, above and below decks as well as a front and rear cabins (fore and aft? Something like that anyway). It was fairly crowded on board, with the ship crew, film crew, actors and all the props and scenery that had to be brought with us…

Initially, it wasn't too bad, as everyone hung about on the deck watching as we left the port. There was oohing and ahhing about finally going out to sea, and how everything looked and passing ships and so forth. But by mid morning, the deck was a hive of activity. Apparently, there was filming to be done while on the ship, not just in the Land of Snow.

I leant over the railings, half to keep myself out of the way, and half because I was starting to feel really queasy. Before, I'd had a severe case of motion sickness that had been the bane of my childhood. Car trips of over half an hour could make me sick and buses were even worse. That had gotten better with age, but the real horror, and the one I'd never got over, had been boats.

I hadn't even considered that that might have followed me here. I'd never had cause to step on a boat before apart from a very brief and quiet trip to the Land of Waves. Given that this wasn't even the same body it was just blatantly unfair.

The cold air helped some, but I foresaw a miserable week ahead of me.

It was a shame, because there was so much interesting stuff going on. The most I knew about filming came from the extra's on DVD's. I would have liked to find out more.

"Not going to watch the filming?" Sasuke asked, leaning next to me.

"Maybe later," I said. "Naruto's over there, anyway, if anything happens."

Yukie had been most displeased to find herself waking up on a boat, and the hangover probably didn't help much either. She seemed to be coldly resigned to it now, though we hadn't been able to corner her and talk to her. I thought it would probably be wise to give Sandayuu a chance first, before we tried to convince her.

He hesitated, dark eyes watching me. "Do you think she'll do it?" He asked instead. It wasn't what he had been going to say, but I didn't push.

"Hard to say," I replied. "We haven't really talked to her about why so we don't have much information. But," I shrugged on shoulder. "Naruto's proven to be pretty good at talking people into things in the past."

Sasuke snorted. "I guess that's true." He looked over at where Naruto and Kakashi-sensei were standing. "Things are going to be different now, aren't they?"

"Because Naruto got promoted?" I guessed. "Maybe. But things are always changing. Look at how much we've changed since graduation." I made a listless gesture with my hand, trying to encompass us all. "The team will work how the team works. I don't think Naruto getting a flack jacket will change all that much. Maybe if Kakashi-sensei weren't here…" I shrugged. Technically, if Kakashi-sensei weren't here, or if we split up into groups, Naruto would be in charge. Only time would tell if that was going to be an issue. I didn't think it would be, but who knew?

Sasuke made a noncommittal sound. "It's not…" he said slowly. "It's not really about the promotion…"

"It's that he's grown so strong, so fast?" I finished.

His shoulders hunched forward, just a little. He looked… a little ashamed. Maybe because he was jealous, or maybe because he felt he hadn't.

"So have you," I pointed out gently. "Sharingan, Chidori, your taijutsu… you've come a long way. It's just hard to see in yourself."

"I guess," he said, which didn't tell me if he believed me or not. Still, it was better than outright rejection and hostility and I don't think he was really upset at Naruto. It was just that for every battle we won there seemed to be another where we got slapped down by opponents well above our skill level and he was frustrated. Thinking about it, Naruto had come out of those fights better off than the rest of us, even managing to beat Gaara.

That probably contributed a lot.

I sighed. "Do you think they'll mind if I jump down and run on the water?" I asked, changing the subject.

He blinked. "What?"

"It's just the rocking…" I waved my hand and grimaced."You're seasick," he said, dawning realisation. "I could ask Kakashi-sensei," he said after a pause. "See what he says."

"Thanks," I said quietly.

Kakashi-sensei wandered over casually in his 'I'm only moving in this direction because I feel like it' manner after Sasuke spoke with him.

"Alright?" He asked, pressing the backs of his fingers to my forehead in a very parental temperature check. It was a legitimate way to check for fever, of course, but it still amused me.

"Just wondered if they'd kick up a fuss if I went over the side," I said. Probably best not to give the crew heart attacks by just diving off the edge without warning. Civilians generally weren't used to people capable of running over water.

"Should be fine," Sensei said, shrugging and opening his book in a way that said he really didn't care what they thought. "Just don't stray too far from the ship."

I was crouched on the railings, just about to jump off when he spoke again.

"Oh. And watch out for the sharks." His one visible eye crinkled into a smile.

I rolled my eyes and jumped, landing without a splash, but with a fairly decent sized ripple. Once, like anyone else who'd seen Jaws, that warning would have freaked me out. But when you were a chakra powered ninja, local wildlife wasn't the threat it used to be. Oh, sure, if you were injured, low on chakra or taken by surprise you might be in trouble, or if it was a particularly vicious species like those that lived in the Forest of Death but in general it wasn't something to consider.

Sharks, for instance, were deadly to humans because we lacked manoeuvrability in the water and could neither escape nor avoid them. When you were capable of removing yourself from their kingdom simply by standing on top of it, that ceased to be an issue.

That didn't mean I didn't keep an eye out, but I wasn't going to mention that.

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Night time brought it's own difficulties. I'd already noticed that there were a lot of people on board and not very much space, a fact which was highlighted when it came to finding somewhere to sleep. There were a few cabins - Yukie got a private one - but not enough for everyone. Those of importance got the beds, while the rest of us were given canvas hammocks to string up below decks.

"We actually get the better deal," one of the sailors confided. "The hammocks move in concert with the ship, so you don't get thrown out like you sometimes do with berths or the pipe racks. If you hang them properly, they'll cocoon around you, so it's not cold either."

I really had no idea what he was talking about, but I nodded anyway. It was nice of him to say so.

"I think it's kind of neat. Maybe we should put hammocks on our equipment list." It would probably work in Fire Country, what with the huge forests everywhere, though maybe not everywhere else.

"In some places it is," Kakashi-sensei said. "Like if you're headed to Land of Rainforests, they have a huge range of biting insects - fire ants, that kind of thing - and you're advised not to sleep on the ground. That necessitates people getting, ah… inventive with their sleeping arrangements. In ANBU, I had one team mate who would rig himself an ankle snare and hang from a tree branch. We got ambushed once, and they thought he was our prisoner and tried to get him down. It gave us time to deal with them." He shrugged and scratched his cheek. "He was a little weird."

Setting aside the issues with sleeping upside down, like blood flow to the head, it was a funny story. Something I could see a ninja potentially doing.

Naruto apparently thought so, because he latched onto Kakashi-sensei and stared up at him. "I bet you have a lot of cool stories to tell, ne Kaka-sensei?" he asked. "Tell us another one. Please?"

I snickered. "Now you've done it. You let Naruto know you've done interesting things. He's never going to leave you alone now."

Kakashi-sensei looked a little flustered and pushed Naruto back onto his hammock, which promptly spun around and dumped him on the floor.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You didn't tie it tightly enough," he said, getting up to help.

"Personally," I continued. "I kinda want to hear the one Gai-sensei mentioned about you cutting a lightning bolt in half. That sounds epic."

Kakashi-sensei shrugged. "Ah, it's probably not as great as you were thinking."

But even Sasuke was giving him an interested look.

He sighed. "I was fighting a ninja from the Storm Squad, that's a Hidden Cloud ninja that uses storms to boost their lightning jutsu," he clarified. "I was attacking her with Chidori when she called a lightning strike down. Our jutsu clashed and mine won." He shrugged. "That's it."

Short, but I could picture it happening - Kakashi-sensei with Sharingan eye spinning leaping forward, chidori crackling, under the dark and stormy sky, at a lady, standing tall, hand raised to call the lightning down… the clash of lightning versus lightning…

"Still sounds pretty epic," I decided.

"So cool," Naruto breathed, eyes shining.

Kakashi-sensei looked half amused, half exasperated. "Well, if you really want a story," he said slyly. "I'll read you one by a real master." He whipped out his orange book.

"No!" Naruto shrieked, hands clapping over his ears. "I don't wanna hear it!"

I couldn't help but laugh.