(Modified movie version)
The bronze bell at Konoha's mission assignment office jingled in the morning breeze as Kakashi squinted at the cherry blossoms drifting past the window.
There were twenty-three days until the third round of the Chunin Ninja Exams, enough time to complete this carefully arranged mission.
"Jonin Hatake, please confirm the mission scroll." Wisps of smoke rose from the Third Hokage's pipe behind his desk as the old man's wrinkled fingers tapped the gold-embossed document on its surface. "Miss Yukie Fujikaze's acting troupe needs six guards to escort them to the Land of Snow for location filming."
As Kakashi accepted the scroll, he noticed a frost-flower mark along the edge of the parchment—a special ink used only by nobles of the Land of Snow.
When he unrolled it and saw the client's signature, "Asama Sandayū," a trace of recollection flashed through his lone eye. The figures of the young princess and the down-and-out samurai appeared before him once more, from that blizzard twelve years ago.
"Protecting entertainers is usually a C-rank mission," Kakashi said in a deliberately businesslike tone, though his fingers discreetly rubbed a spot on the scroll where "Kazahana" was written in code.
"It is an international shoot, after all." The Third removed his pipe, and the sunlight outside cast the shadow of the Hokage hat on his forehead across the map of the Shinobi World on the desk. "The political situation in the Land of Snow has been rather unstable lately... Given Miss Kazahana's fame, B-rank would be more appropriate."
They exchanged a knowing glance. Kakashi knew that, at that very moment, a reconnaissance report brought back from the Land of Snow three days ago by the Anbu's "Crow" squad lay in the classified archives three floors beneath the Hokage building: Kazahana Dōtō had developed Chakra Armor technology to its third generation, and the Snow Ninja Village had grown fivefold.
"Team 7 could use some experience with international missions." As Kakashi put away the scroll, he heard the Third add, seemingly in passing, "Oh, I hear Jiraiya has been gathering material in the hot spring town these past two days. It happens to be along the way."
When he stepped out of the Hokage building, the spring sunlight suddenly seemed dazzling. Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sasuke throwing Shuriken at each other on the training ground, with Sakura taking notes nearby, and remembered the sorrow that had filled the girl's eyes when he had escorted Princess Koyuki across the sea twelve years ago. Now she was going back to reclaim her throne, and this time, he would never let the tragedy happen again.
"I refuse!"
In a Japanese-style room at the hot spring inn, Yukie Fujikaze—or rather, Kazahana Koyuki—slammed her teacup down on the low table. Her long purple hair slipped from her kimono collar with the violent movement, revealing a glimpse of the hexagonal crystal necklace at the back of her neck.
"Your Highness..." Sandayū bowed even lower from his kneeling position, his graying beard nearly touching the tatami. "Dotō's Chakra Armor forces have already begun at the border..."
"How many times have I told you? Call me Yukie!" The actress suddenly snatched the script off the table and threw it out the window. The pages scattered in the wind, revealing the title "Adventures of Princess Gale" on the title page. Her painted fingernails dug deep into her palm. "That country has had nothing to do with me for a long time!"
Naruto, hiding around the corner in the hallway, stared wide-eyed. He had clearly seen the cherry blossoms falling outside the window come to an eerie halt around the famous actress for a brief instant when she got angry.
"Spring is coming to the Land of Snow," said Kakashi, who had appeared behind him at some point. He bent down and picked up a script page that had drifted to his feet; it featured Princess Gale.
Sasuke's Sharingan turned slightly as he noticed that their teacher's hand was holding the script more tightly than usual. Sakura, meanwhile, keenly spotted a frost-flower mark identical to the one on the mission scroll engraved on the guard of the ornately decorated sword at Sandayū's waist.
That night, when Naruto got up, he saw a figure wearing a yukata beside the hot spring pool. In the moonlight, the hexagonal crystal in Kazahana Koyuki's hand was giving off a faint blue glow. Reflected on the water was not the meticulous makeup of a popular actress, but a little girl crying with her knees pulled to her chest.
In the morning mist at the Land of Waves docks, a luxurious passenger ship flying a film company's flag was being loaded. The wooden crates of "filming equipment" the crew carried actually contained ninja tools and antidotes prepared in advance by the Anbu.
"Kakashi-senpai." The Anbu Captain "Falcon," disguised as a crewman, lowered his voice. "An advance team from the Snow Ninja Village has already infiltrated the area around Dotō Castle. We found this." He discreetly handed over a metal fragment. The Chakra left on it caused even Kakashi, with his lightning-affinity constitution, to feel a slight sting.
Inside the cabin, Sandayū was spreading a map of the Land of Snow across the dining table. Six key locations were circled in vermilion. "These are the places where Dotō installed Chakra receivers. If we destroy them, spring will..."
"Wait!" Sasuke interrupted suddenly. "Why is the Land of Snow's climate controlled by Chakra devices?"
Sandayū and Koyuki exchanged a look. The actress silently loosened her collar and took out the hexagonal crystal she always wore. "This is the key my father left me. It can activate the geothermal system buried beneath the capital. It's not that the Land of Snow has no spring, but my uncle..." Her voice choked off.
A sudden shout from Naruto rang out on deck. "Pervy Sage! What are you doing here?!"
Jiraiya laughed loudly and leaped down from the mast, his long white hair spreading in the morning sun like an unfurled scroll. "I heard you were making a movie. How could you do without script guidance from a legendary writer?" He winked at Kakashi, but half a sealing scroll protruded from his sleeve—inside were Senjutsu Chakra storage seals specially authorized by the Third.
With a long blast of its whistle, the ship slowly pulled away from port. Koyuki stood at the stern, watching the Land of Fire's coastline recede, when the hexagonal crystal suddenly gave off a faint glow. Beneath the sea, unseen by anyone, a barrier made up of three Summoning Technique formulas was gradually unfolding as the ship advanced. It was a defensive formation Jiraiya had set up in advance.
High above, among the clouds, a mechanical snow owl turned its ruby eyes, transmitting information about their course northward through Chakra fluctuations. Atop the tallest spire in the Land of Snow, Kazahana Dōtō stroked the latest model of Chakra Armor, his vicious grin reflected in the ice wall. "This time, let the snow bury every traitor."
Guided by an icebreaker, the cargo ship slowly entered a Land of Snow port. Amid the snow filling the sky, Naruto saw thick icicles hanging from the lighthouse on shore. They refracted the sunlight into a rainbow of colors, but for some reason they reminded him of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan he had seen on the Heavenly Screen.
"Stay alert." Kakashi's voice came from beneath his cold-weather mask. He pretended to help the film crew carry equipment, but his Sharingan had already seen through three figures with abnormal Chakra mixed in among the dockworkers. "Two o'clock. Snow ninja reconnaissance puppets."
Sakura pretended to tie her shoelaces and stuck an Explosive Tag to the bottom of a shipping container. Sasuke spun a Kunai between his fingers, lightning flashing briefly across the metal. As Yukie walked down the gangway wrapped in white fox fur, the hexagonal crystal hidden in her sleeve suddenly began to vibrate with a humming sound.
"They've found me." Her painted lips barely moved, and Sandayū immediately gave a hand signal. The crew suddenly scattered, their seemingly disorderly movements blocking every angle a sniper could use.
Several muffled thuds came from the shadows, followed by the sound of heavy bodies hitting the ground. Naruto craned his neck for a better look, but Jiraiya pressed a hand down on his head. "Focus on being a bodyguard, kid."
An abandoned mine in the blizzard became their temporary camp. The leader of the resistance stood in the middle.
"Dotō has installed thirty-six Chakra amplifiers in the capital." He projected a three-dimensional map onto the ice wall, with six red dots pulsing on it. "Once the princess's key is inserted into the central altar..."
"Wait!" The director suddenly knocked over his camera in excitement. "Isn't this the perfect plot? An exiled princess leads the rebels to reclaim her throne!" He grabbed his script and started revising it frantically. "Add some ninja elements, and it'll be a huge hit!"
Yukie silently rubbed the crystal. A wolf pup whined outside the cave, and when Naruto ran out after the sound, he saw her kneeling in the snow. He went over to comfort her.
"You're a lot more childish in person than you were in what the Heavenly Screen showed," she said suddenly. Naruto's hand froze halfway through scratching his head, snowflakes settling on his spiky blond hair.
Sasuke folded his arms in the shadows and sneered. "The dead last actually knows how to comfort people now."
Transition...
The final battle began at daybreak. Dotō floated in the air wearing the latest Chakra Armor, his mechanical wings blocking out the rising sun as they spread.
"You think bringing a few Konoha Ninja will turn things around?" His laughter mingled with the sound of a Chakra Cannon charging. "Before absolute power—"
"You talk too much." Jiraiya suddenly formed Hand Seals, and a barrier made of Senjutsu Chakra enveloped the entire square. Kakashi took the opportunity to lift his Forehead Protector, fully revealing his Mangekyō Sharingan before his students for the first time.
As Naruto's army of Shadow Clones drew fire with a feint, Sakura smashed the base of the last amplifier with her monstrous strength. When Yukie inserted the crystal into the altar, the ground throughout the capital began to tremble—not from an earthquake, but from the geothermal pipes buried for twenty years awakening.
The ice shattered with a sound like countless wind chimes ringing at once. Tender green shoots pushed through the snow, and Dotō's armor short-circuited amid the Chakra interference, sending him plummeting. When Sasuke's Chidori pierced his chest, the tyrant still stared at the sky in disbelief. "...How is this possible..."
On the deck of the ship home, Sandayū handed Kakashi the alliance scroll. The document was woven from ice-silkworm silk and bore the newly carved jade seal of the Kazahana Family—a design combining a hexagonal crystal with a Konoha Forehead Protector.
"The Snow Ninja Village has split into three factions." Jiraiya watched the snowy mountains recede and patted the scroll at his waist, which contained the sealed cores of two complete sets of Chakra Armor.
Naruto was hanging over the ship's railing, vomiting his guts out. As Yukie—who should now be called Daimyo Kazahana—handed him some warm water, she suddenly asked, "That Sasuke, the way he looks at people... is a lot like your teacher when he was young?"
In the distance, Kakashi was teaching Sasuke to control the power of his Sharingan. The Mitsudomoe in the boy's eyes rotated slowly, reflecting the morning light dancing on the sea.
The return journey...
When the docks appeared on the horizon, Sakura suddenly discovered several extra pages in her ninja handbook—the final draft of the "Princess Gale" script, slipped in by the director. On the title page, written in gold dust, were the words: "To the true heroes."
Beneath a large tree outside Konoha's mission hall, Naruto stood on a bench, gesticulating wildly as he waved an extravagantly shaped ice-crystal Kunai—a souvenir Yukie had given him before they parted.
"Several hundred snow ninja surrounded us all at once—whoosh!" Naruto tossed the Kunai into the air and caught it neatly again as everyone gasped. "I made five hundred Shadow Clones on the spot, and bang, bang, bang, we sent them all flying!"
Karin pushed up her glasses, a sly gleam reflected in the lenses. "Oh? Then why is there still unwashed ketchup on the back of your collar? Could you have gotten it there when they knocked you flat?" She suddenly leaned close and sniffed. "And I smell ointment. Did you break two ribs?"
"Th-that was a tactical injury!" Naruto's face turned red as he clumsily tugged at his collar. "Sasuke was hurt even worse! When his Lightning Release hit that armor—"
"Sasuke-kun was hurt?" Sakura's voice suddenly came from behind him, startling Naruto so badly he nearly fell off the bench. The bag of medicinal herbs in her arms gave a dangerous crack, crack. "Where exactly was he hurt? How badly?"
Shikamaru sighed and pressed a shogi piece onto the board with a clack. "What a pain... You were only in charge of using Shadow Clones to carry equipment, weren't you? It's right there in Kakashi-sensei's mission report."
"Huh?!" Naruto jumped like a fox whose tail had been stepped on. "Kakashi-sensei actually—"
"Naruto-kun... was amazing..." Hinata's voice, thin as a mosquito's hum, suddenly cut in. She wrung her fingers, her cheeks redder than cherry blossoms. "He got to take part... in an A-rank mission..."
Kiba laughed loudly with Akamaru in his arms. "Hinata, you're too kind! This guy's obviously bragging—"
"When the Chakra amplifier exploded," Naruto suddenly lowered his voice, an unusual gleam in his blue eyes in the setting sun, "the Rotation technique Hinata taught me saved Miss Yukie." He scratched his head. "Though I only made it through less than half a turn before I fell flat on my face..."
Ino looked at Hinata in surprise. "A secret Hyuga Clan technique? You actually—"
"I-I only..." Hinata traced circles on the ground with her toe, her voice growing quieter and quieter. "I saw Naruto-kun... working so hard..."
Choji stopped chewing his potato chips. "Wait, so you really did take part in the main battle?"
"Of course!" Naruto struck another exaggerated pose, only to tug at his wound and hiss. "At the end, I used an improved version of the Harem Technique to distract Dotō! Though Sakura beat me up for it..."
"Because you transformed completely naked in front of the princess, you idiot!" Smoke curled from Sakura's fist above Naruto's head.
Sasuke leaned against a distant tree trunk and gave a quiet snort, but no one noticed the fleeting curve at the corner of his mouth. His right hand, hidden in his sleeve, unconsciously touched his freshly replaced bandages—the marks left by the Chakra Armor's backlash still remained beneath them.
"The best part is this!" Naruto suddenly pulled an ice-crystal ball from his ninja tool pouch. When he poured Chakra into it, the Land of Snow's newly green mountains and rivers appeared inside. "Big sis Koyuki said that once the Chunin Ninja Exams are over, she'll invite all of us to soak in real hot springs!"
"Whoa!" everyone exclaimed in unison. Shikamaru pressed a hand to his forehead. "Now it's even more trouble..."
The setting sun cast the youngsters' shadows long, and their laughter startled the sparrows from the branches. At a second-floor window of the mission hall, Kakashi watched the scene, his lone eye curving into a crescent. On the mission evaluation form in his hand, a bright red "A" followed "Team 7," the ink not yet fully dry.