Chapter Text
(A\N: This takes place in between chapter 40: Cha no Kuni and chapter 41: I See the Future Crumbling Before My Eyes of Stream of Past)
Team 7 walked together towards the cinema. Kakashi-sensei had asked them to go see a movie before the start their mission. He said it was absolutely required they watch it so they could understand the mission better. Sasuke personally thought it was a massive waste of time and probably another one of Kakashi's schemes to promote team-bonding. Actually, no. Scratch that, it definitely was one of his schemes to promote bonding.
"Can't believe Kakashi is forcing this upon us." said Sasuke.
"Hey, lighten up Sasuke, this movie might actually be really good. Besides." a smirk coated Naruto's face. "Don't you want to spend time with your friieeeenndsss?" He nudged his shoulder repeatedly until the Uchiha shoved him.
"I spend enough time with you two during training and our weekly Sunday nights out, dobe."
"Ha! So you admit we are friends. Hear that Sakura-chan? Sasuke just...Uh, Sakura-chan?"
The kunoichi in question was staring at the poster for the movie with a starry-eyed look. You could basically see her vibrating in place from excitement. Suddenly, she whirled around to face them with a serious look on her face, grabbed them by the front of their shirts and dragged them until their faces were close to each other.
"Listen up you two." said Sakura. "I have been watching the Princess Gale movies since I was a tini tiny 8 year old still chasing after Sasuke like he was a tall glass of water and I was a woman dying of thirst in the Kaze no Kuni desert." She ignored Sasuke's fastly reddening face and Naruto's cackle at her admission and continued on. "I adore this saga, I have all 6 of the previous movies on DVD and probably more merch than you two could possibly comprehend." She let go of their shirts so she could point to the poster. "This movie, I have been waiting for 2 years to come out and you two will not ruin this for me. You two will be on your absolute best behavior here, that means no talking, no shoving, no arguing, no trying to kill each other or do anything that might get us kicked out early. If you don't behave yourselves, I. Will. Obliterate you. Do you understand?"
They both nodded fearfully. "Yes, Sakura." "-chan."
Sakura clasped her hands together and gave them a brilliant smile. "Wonderful." She skipped to the booth and got them their tickets as well as a huge bucket of popcorn for Naruto. Then she dragged them inside. Taking a seat, she sent them one last warning glare before turning to the movie. Throughout all of it, Sasuke was beginning to look more and more bored as he watched the bad action scenes. He had no idea how Sakura could like this. The costumes looked restricting and the fake jutsus they came up with sounded stupid. Summoning: Log Rolling? What the hell is that even supposed to do in a real battle? You just summon a log and hope it takes out the enemy's ankles? That's so stupid. He turned his head towards Naruto, hoping he could mock the movie together with him but found him just as enraptured by it as Sakura.
"I will never give up. As long as I live, I will gather my strength, and forge a path for others to follow!" said the actress on screen.
"That's right, you show them Princess Gale!" said Naruto, with tears in his eyes.
"She's truly an inspiration to us all!" said Sakura, handing Naruto a tissue.
"True that, Sakura-chan. True that." he blew his nose.
Sasuke sent them a weirded out look before slumping in his seat with a sigh. He should have just ditched them when he had the chance.
...
"Man that movie was something else!" said Naruto as they walked out of the theater towards the spot Kakashi told him to meet them at. "I can see why you like it so much, Sakura-chan."
"I know, right? It truly was one of the best Princess Gale movie. Though I'm sad Hitomiko died, she was one of my favourite characters. She had such an amazing arc last movie, overcoming her past and choosing to walk alongside Princess Gale despite her father...It just seems so redundant to kill her now..."
"Well yeah, but without Hitomiko's sacrifice they wouldn't have the map that leads them to the Rainbow Pearl." said Naruto.
Sakura sighed. "I suppose...What did you think, Sasuke?"
"It was a waste of our time that we could have spent training instead."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Of course you think that. You don't have one artistic bone in your body."
"He really doesn't. Truly an uncultured swine." said Sakura in a snooty voice. "A brute with no elegance."
"Barbarian without an understanding of finer things."
"An uneducated-"
"Alright I get it!" exclaimed Sasuke, prompting the two to start giggling. "Ugh, I don't know why I put up with you two."
"You love us~" said Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke just rolled his eyes in response.
...
They found Kakashi eventually, after a brief mishap where Naruto and Sasuke confused the actors for real bandits. Luckily Sakura was able to stop them before they could cause any real damage to the movie. Kakashi led them backstage where he explained their mission.
"Our mission is to guard Yukie Fujikaze, the actress best known for her role as Princess Gale." said Kakashi. "Well...Maybe not guard her, so much as escort her."
"The next Princess Gale movie is the first one outside of Hi no Kuni and uh...I don't need to tell you this but..." started the producer.
"She's a bit of a diva? Yeah I saw the latest scandal." said Sakura.
Sasuke snorted. "Of course you did..." Sakura sent him a glare.
"Still, you Leaf Ninja are pretty impressive though, from what I've seen before your friend stopped you, you could have taken down all of those stunt men turned body guards we hired. And those are some big fellas."
"Oh, well...thank you." said Kakashi.
"So, where exactly are we going for this movie?" asked Sakura.
"We're going to the Land of Snow, at the Rainbow Glacier to be exact." said one of the actors.
"You're Kin, you play Buriken." then she turned around towards the other actor. "And you're Hidero, you play Shishimaru!"
"You're well informed, are you a fan miss..." said Hidero.
"Sakura and yes, I have been watching the Princess Gale movies since I was 8."
"Well, would you like our autographs?" asked Kin.
Sakura's eyes sparkled. "Yes please!"
The two actors took out a pieces of paper where Kin wrote "To Sakura, our coolest ninja fan!" that they both signed. Sakura looked at the autograph like it was the cure to world hunger.
"This is the best day of my life!" said Sakura.
"Nerd." muttered Sasuke, earning himself a kick in the shins. He addressed the director in front of him next. "Land of Snow is a long way to go for a movie scene."
"Yukie's manager, Sandayu here recommended it. Apparently this rainbow glacier turns 7 different colors in the spring."
"No, that's just an old legend." said Kakashi. "The truth is, there isn't any spring in Yuki no Kuni."
"Never?" asked Sasuke.
"Nope."
"Kakashi, was it?" said the director. "From what I hear, this won't be your first time in the Land of Snow, right?"
"Yes, although that has been a very long time ago."
"They say that it's a very poor nation too." said a new voice. A man with brown hair appeared behind Sakura.
"You played Sugekuro, you're Michy." said Sakura.
"Sakura, right? I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and prepared an autograph for you."
"Thank you." said Sakura. Accepting the autograph from him. "For Sakura, my amazing ninja fan from the Leaf." "This truly is the best day ever, Ino-pig is going to be so jealous."
Michy chuckled at her enthusiasm before returning to the conversation. "Actually the story is, their former daimyō had a thing for gadgets. The guy squandered everything they had and the economy collapsed."
"Yeah, well. I just hope they have a heater. I'm not really all that cut out for the cold." said Hidero.
...
Their next task was to find the missing actress. She was apparently very devoted to her work but when she heard they are going to the Land of Snow she ditched them. So for now, Team 7 was stuck looking for her in the streets, as their boat to Yuki no Kuni was leaving soon. They finally found her at a bar with Naruto, and Sakura was 2 seconds away from smashing his face in for being in such a place underage but stopped herself when she realized he hadn't ordered any alcohol. In the end, Kakashi resorted to kidnapping her with a Sharingan induced Genjutsu and Sakura did actually punch him.
"Have you any idea how dangerous it is to put an intoxicated person under any form of genjutsu, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura once they were on the boat and she made sure her idiot sensei hadn't done any damage. "Honestly, what was the point of me drilling you on the effect Genjutsu has on the nervous system if you won't listen?"
"To...make my genjutsu stronger?" asked Kakashi.
"TO MAKE SURE YOU WON'T KILL SOMEONE!" exclaimed Sakura as she kicked him in the shin once more. "You're lucky you didn't do any damage, especially since this was a civilian."
"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I promise to be more careful in the future."
"You'd better." said Sakura.
"Let's just hope she won't try to ditch us again by jumping in the ocean when she wakes up." said Sasuke.
"Don't jinx us like that, teme." said Naruto.
...
The next morning, a they made an unplanned stop at a huge iceberg to film a take and Sakura just about had a heart attack when she saw what Naruto and Sasuke were wearing for the cold. Sakura, as usual came prepared for the weather, wearing a coral red turtleneck shirt with silver lining, long pinkish-red ninja pants, fluffy white socks and a long green jacket over with fur lining on the inside that reached her ankles. Her boys however, were not as prepared. Sasuke only had a longer bluish grey shirt under his usual blue one and bandages, fucking bandages under his shorts. Naruto just looked the same, he didn't even bother to get socks.
"What...In the name...Of Mito-sama's tits...arE YOU WEARING?!" yelled Sakura, scaring a few birds in the distance, causing them to fly away.
"Um...our clothes?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, I can see that. May I ask why you didn't pack better winter gear?"
"What's wrong this one?" asked Sasuke.
"What's wro- WHAT'S WRONG? Are you kidding me? Sasuke, you are wearing bandages, fucking bandages as pants. How do you not see what is wrong with that?" Sasuke opened his mouth but Sakura raised her hand. "You know what, don't answer that. I don't want to know what went through your and head and Naruto's when you decided to wear this."
"I didn't have any money to buy winter gear. Sorry, Sakura-chan."
Her gaze softened. "It's fine Naruto, but you should have come to me. You know I wouldn't mind buying you some." Sakura sighed. "Luckily for you, idiots, I already foresaw this and bought something." With a shake of her head she left towards her cabin. "I really should have known better than to get my hopes up that you be responsible..."
Coming back, she shoved two scrolls into their hands and told them to go get changed. They returned a while later, with Sasuke wearing a black jacket with a fluffy version of the Uchiha high collar and fur around the end of the sleeves, long white pants and black socks while Naruto wore an orange jacket with a fluffy hood, matching orange pants with fur at the end of them, fluffy blue socks and a cute blue beanie with a pompon that was the same shade as his eyes.
"Where did you get these?" asked Sasuke. "It even has the Uchiha crest on the back."
"I predicted you would refuse to wear it if it did not have your clan's crest so I made a commission. I like to be prepared."
"I don't know if I should be touched, impressed or scared." said Sasuke.
"All three is always an option and I choose that." said Naruto. "Thanks Sakura-chan, these are super warm!"
Sakura smiled. "Glad you like them, Naruto."
"Well it seems our resident medic saves the day as usual." said Kakashi, nearing them.
"Wait, hang on a second." said Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, you look the exact same, you just put a scarf on! How come Sakura-chan hasn't taken you out yet?"
"He is dressed for the cold Naruto." said Sakura. "Jōnin have specialized uniforms for this kind of weather." She took her sensei's arm and pulled back his sleeve to reveal the fur lining on the inside of it. "See? They make them more subtle but he is better dressed than you two were before."
"Wait, so you're telling me that Kakashi..." said Sasuke. "Fucking Kakashi, was better dressed for the cold than we were?"
"That's just a new low, even for us..." said Naruto.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's go meet the others."
...
Their recording of the next scene for the movie was unfortunately cut short as 3 ninjas from Yukigakure attacked them. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke took a triangle formation around Yukie and her manager as the rest of the camera crew ran. Kakashi left them to fight the leader, Nadare Rōga. Apparently, Yukie was actually Koyuki Kazahana, the long lost princess of the Land of Snow and the daughter of the late Sōsetsu Kazahana, the previous Daimyō.
"Sasuke, you deal with that chick, Naruto, go make sure Yukie makes it back to the ship, pick her up over your shoulder if you have to, I'll take care of the fat one." said Sakura.
"Right." said both of them.
Sasuke and Sakura ran in different directions, the fat one, Mizore Fuyu-something if she remembers correctly, jumped up on a snowboard of all things and started sliding at her. Sakura didn't have time for this however, so she used Doton: Iwadeppō no Jutsu and shot bullet-sized bits of rock from her mouth at his feet, making him lose balance and crash in the snow. She jumped in the air with her leg raised, ready to send this guy to meet his creator, when the chick Sasuke was fighting hurled a bunch of ice birds at her, making her crash in the snow.
The guy came running at her and she back flipped away from his punch. They remained stuck in a taijutsu match until the guy connected his arms with hers and tried to use his size to bury her in the snow.
"Trying to win a contest of strength against me? Bad choice buddy." said Sakura with a grin. The armor on his arms started cracking as Sakura applied pressure to it. In order to escape, the man kicked her the stomach and jumped away. Then he extended his grappling hook arm, tied it around Sakura's ankle and ragdolled the hell out of her. He only stopped when 7 blonde menaces jumped on him. Naruto appeared next to her and put her arm around his shoulder to help her up.
"Did you get Yukie to the ship?" asked Sakura.
"Yeah, but I ended up having to pull a Kakashi and knock her out. She's gonna be pissed when she wakes up." said Naruto.
Sakura snorted. "If she didn't want to get knocked out so much then maybe she should listen to what her bodyguards have to say."
"Yeah, proba- Wait is that a whale?" asked Naruto.
And would you look at that, it was a massive whale that tore apart the iceberg. Sasuke came running at them and told them Kakashi was taking care of things so they could safely return to the ship. Once inside she dragged the boys to a cabin so she could heal any injuries they might have.
...
Once the ship pulled into dock, Team 7, the movie crew and Yukie's manager, Sandayū met to talk.
"You've know all along, haven't you, Sandayū?" said Kakashi.
"Yes."
"Haven't you considered the risks of what might happen if she came here?"
"I did, however it was the only way I could think to bring the princess back."
"Why are they still calling her a princess, Sakura-chan? Isn't that only on screen?" whispered Naruto.
"It's because she is a princess, Naruto. Yukie Fujikaze is only an alias. She's actually the daughter of Sōsetsu Kazahana, the previous Daimyō of Yuki no Kuni and the sole heir to the throne." said Sakura, before looking straight at Sandayū. "Isn't she?"
"Yes, Princess Koyuki Kazahana. I first met her a long time ago, I was her aid when she was still just a little girl. I don't blame her for not remembering, it was years ago."
"So, you're also from the Land of Snow." said Sasuke.
"That's right, I served her father and the former leader of the Kazahana clan. Yuki no Kuni was not a large nation but, what served as a haven of peace. Lord Sōsetsu, he absolutely adored the princess...oh those were idyllic times. However, 7 years ago, Lord Sōsetsu's younger brother, Doto hired a group of Yukigakure ninja and instigated a coup d'etat. The magnificent Kazahana castle burned to the ground and Doto moved the capital from there to Koriue. I had thought the princess had perished as well."
Kakashi told them how he was the one that rescued the princess that day, but he was outnumbered and most of his ANBU squad was dead so he had to flee.
"When I had discovered that the princess was still alive, I was practically beside myself with joy!" Sandayū began crying. "S-she was alive after all this time!"
"I should have died back there." said a new voice and they turned around to see Yukie, in the doorway.
"Y-you mustn't say such things, princess." said Sandayū, trying to wipe his tears away. "You c-can't imagine how frantic we a-all were. We never stopped praying for your life."
"I'm alive, but my heart is dead." said Yukie. "After that day, any tears I had left all dried up."
Sandayū then explained how he became the manager of Yukie Fujikaze and how he tricked the movie crew into going to Yuki no Kuni, so he could escort her back. Then he begged Yukie to ascend the throne after they take down Doto and predictably, she refused. Even more predictably, Naruto got enraged by her selfishness and proceeded to use talk no jutsu on her, it was not very effective. Then the movie director announced that they will continue onwards anyway, for this seemed like a better plot for his movie and so, reluctantly they all piled into armored cars and left for the Rainbow Glacier.
...
"Wow! I can't see the exit at all!" said Naruto as he was looking at the cave they were in through the window of the armored car. Next to him, Sakura and Sasuke were playing go fish, while Kakashi was reading his book.
"Once upon a time, a railroad ran through here." said Sandayū. "It's covered over with pillars of ice now, but dig far enough and you'll find the tracks."
"Cool."
They continued on through the cave, with Sasuke eventually rage quitting the game after losing 6 times in a row to Sakura, until the reached the exit. Everyone left the cars so they could begin filming but unfortunately, their spoiled little princess had ran away, again. So team 7 spread out and began searching the area.
"When I get my hands on that spoiled little actress I'm gonna feed her eyes to Itachi's crow." said Sasuke as he ran through the wood. Above him, said crow cawed as if to agree with him. That was when Sasuke got an idea. "Hey, Benzaiten was it? Do you think you can help us find this brat? If you find her, try to alert me, Naruto or Sakura."
The crow cawed again before flying ahead. Hopefully this will make it faster.
...
Naruto was running for his life, on his back was the princess, screaming about their doom and behind him was the cause of said doom, a fucking train, speeding at them, trying to turn them into smears on the wall. He was pushing wind chakra behind him to give him a boost because he will not give up, this is not how Naruto Uzumaki dies, dattebayo! The train was closing in on them and he could almost see the exit when a light blue chakra string appeared and attached itself to him. It tugged him and the princess out of the tunnel and made them crash into snow.
"I see you found her." said a new voice and Naruto opened his eyes to see Sakura looking down at him, the glowing chakra string still attached to her finger.
"Sakura-chan! You saved us! Thank you, but how did you find us?" asked Naruto.
"I had a little help." Sakura pointed above them where a crow circled above them before flying away.
"Thanks Benzaiten-san!" yelled Naruto while waving his hand. Naruto was about to ask what they should do next, when the train barreled past them before stopping with a loud screech. A man appeared on a platform and began speaking to them through a speaker.
"It's been a long time, Koyuki."
"I knew it, it's Doto." said Yukie.
"It's been 7 years. Come now, don't be shy. Let's get a look at that face."
Naruto stepped in front of Yukie, blocking her from view. Looking around Sakura noticed the cannons that Doto will soon send his wooden spikes from, to kill Sandayū and his army. Quietly, while the asshole was busy monologuing, Sakura kawarimied herself with a rock near the train and began placing explosive tags. She might not be able to take out all of the spikes, but she could lower the number of casualties.
Just on cue, Sandayū and his army appeared and after declaring that they plan to retake the throne back for their Princess, Doto launched his attack. Except instead of all the spikes getting launched, the sides of the train exploded, raining a much smaller quantity on the soldiers.
"What?!" yelled Doto, enraged.
"Y'know, you really should get some better security." said Sakura. Doto and his grunts looked down and found Sakura smirking at them, with three explosive kunai in each hand. She threw them straight at Doto before shunshining away to Naruto and Yukie.
"Sakura-chan! Did you do this?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, but it's not over yet, that asshole probably has something else up his sleeve."
"Well, yeah, but do you think it's enough to stop an avalanche?" asked Naruto, before pointing up to the top of the mountain where an explosion could be seen before a ton of snow started falling down on the train. Doto hurried inside to try and get away but part of the train was still lost, thanks to Kakashi exploding the bridge the train was on.
"Looks like we're safe for now." said Sasuke, dropping down next to them.
"Yeah..." said Sakura, looking in the distance, lost in thought. She shook her head. "Alright, triage time! Naruto, Sasuke, go search for survivors, if they only have minor cuts, leave them, if they have something more major but you can help them than do so, if it's out of your skill range, call for me, if they're dead, mark them with this." Sakura threw 2 rolls of red tape at them. "Spread out through the area and tell those that are unharmed to do the same, go!"
"Right." said the boys, before going in separate directions.
...
Sakura was healing Sandayū, there had been a lot of casualties, but far less than last time. Not that anyone but her and Tsunade knew this. His wounds were serious, but not as awful as last time. He would live, but one of the spikes pierced his spine, so he will never walk again. Sakura told them as much.
"See, this is what comes of never giving up. If they hadn't stood up to Doto, none of this bloodshed would have happened and Sandayū would still walk." said Yukie. "It's poin-"
"Oh for the love of- WOULD YOU SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE BUT I CAN'T DO IT WITH YOUR INCESSANT YAPPING!" yelled Sakura. Everyone flinched when they heard her. "I have had it with you, none of this would have happened if you had just listened and stayed where you were supposed to. If it's anyone's fault it is yours!" Sakura took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Sasuke, get her out of here before I shove one of those wood spikes up her ass."
"R-right."
"W-wait no, I wish to speak to her." said Sandayū.
Sakura huffed. "Fine, but try to save your strength, I'm not done healing you yet."
Yukie neared him and Sandayū began to speak. "My princess, please f-forgive me I...I n-never should have gotten you involved in all of this. It's just...that every single one of us here...were able to keep believing in spite of everything...because we knew you were alive...When you were little...and even now, you have always been...just as I, your loyal Sandayū believed...so you must believe in yourself as well. You have always been our purest hope, princess. Please, do not waste your tears on me. I shall be fine, even if I w-will never walk again...I...will always serve you..." and with that, he finally passed out from the pain and blood loss.
"You are such a fool...Sandayū." said Yukie. "I can't cry, you have my eyedrops."
Sakura took a breath. "Sasuke."
"On it."
...
They helped the remaining healthy soldiers bury the dead and helped them load the wounded into some cars, so they could be brought to their hideout and properly healed. They were all packing up their stuff while Naruto and Yukie argued, when an airship appeared and Mizore snatched Yukie from them using his grappling hook arm. The chick, Fubuki, threw kunai at them with special sealed bundles of water, that upon exploding created massive ice spikes. In the chaos, Naruto launched himself at the ship, using a chain of clones and Sakura swore on Hashirama's grave, when she gets her hands on him, she will castrate him.
...
Sakura punched 2 of Doto's henchmen, making them crash through a wall. Next to her, Sasuke took down 2 more and they continued onward through the hideout, looking for Naruto and Yukie. Kakashi ditched them earlier and if Sakura wasn't so worried for their resident blonde knucklehead, she would have screamed. Speaking of the blonde, they found Naruto on a bridge, talking with Kakashi.
"Naruto! There you are." Sakura pulled him into a hug. "Ditch us like that again and I'll force feed you your spine."
"R-right, sorry Sakura-chan. But I'm fine, see?"
"I'll be the judge of that." said Sakura, before noticing the strange contraption on his abdomen. She ripped it off of him and took a look. "What is this thing?"
"That creep Doto put it on me, it's supposed to sap all of my chakra!"
"Hmm." Sakura crushed it in her hand. "Well, now it's gone."
"We should get moving." said Yukie.
...
They found Goto. And Yukie, after doing nothing but complain the whole time, after being disrespectful to the lives that have been lost in her name, after ignoring the people that tried to keep her alive for days upon days, finally did something useful and tried to assassinate Doto. She failed...miserably, but it's the thought that counts. Then she got kidnapped by Doto, again, who was now in possession of the Hexagonal Crystal. A crystal that was supposed to be the key to the treasure of the Kazahana clan. Naruto ditched them, again, Sakura swore vengeance, again and now they were in a race against time to get to the Rainbow Glacier.
However, on the way they had to take care of some pests. Sakura and Sasuke were up against Fubuki and Mizore while Kakashi took care of Nadare somewhere else. It was obvious that they were trying to drag the battle on, but Sakura wasn't having any of it.
"Sasuke, tar pit time."
"Are you sure? Didn't one of them say their armor makes them immune to ninjutsu?"
"They might be immune to Katon but they aren't immune to fire from an explosive tag." said Sakura as she pulled out a few explosive kunai.
Understanding her strategy, Sasuke nodded and jumped up from where he threw 2 kunai with ninja wire and tied the two enemy shinobi to a tree. Before they could escape, Sakura used Suiton: Kokuu no Jutsu and soaked them in flammable oil. Then she threw all her kunai at them, who with the help of the oil, burned them alive. The two of them remained there until they were sure the duo had died.
...
When Sasuke and Sakura arrived, they found that Doto already used the key and as some of the pillars of the glacier were glowing. They arrived just in time to see Naruto plunge into the freezing water. Sasuke went on ahead to engage Doto, while Sakura jumped after Naruto. The water was extremely cold but she didn't let that stop her, she moved faster and faster, doing her best to get to Naruto. Pushing herself further down, she found him slowly going towards the bottom, so she grabbed his hand, put it around her shoulder and began swimming back towards the surface. Halfway there, Naruto snapped out of it and began kicking his legs as well, making the journey faster.
When they reached the top, Naruto send hundreds of clones at Doto, while Sakura kept his Hyōton: Kokuryū Bōfūsetsu busy with her Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu. The two dragons clashed while Naruto and Sasuke took down Goto with a double attack of Chidori and Rasengan. With the asshole finally dead, the secret treasure of the Kazahana clan was revealed. A heat generator, that brought spring to the Land of Snow. Team 7 collapsed together from exhaustion and laid in grass, watching the rainbow that rose over what once was a glacier.
"Heh, it's just like in the movies, ain't it, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura snorted. "Yeah, just like in the Princess Gale movies."
...
They returned to the capital, where the whole city met Yukie with open arms, celebrating her return. They stayed for one extra week to have their injuries healed and to see Yukie be crowned as the new Daimyō of Yuki no Kuni. And as an extra fuck you to Goto, she renamed the capital to Kazahana, in honor of the castle that he burned down.
Team 7, Yukie and Sandayū were sitting outside, talking after the ceremony was over.
"That generator wasn't even fully developed in the end." said Yukie. "Soon, it'll be winter again here."
"But if we take what we know and continue researching, this can become permanent and the Land of Snow can become the Land of Spring." said Sandayū.
"Perhaps." agreed Yukie.
"Oh, your father would be so proud of you, Koyuki, I know I am." said Sandayū.
"It's a shame you're gonna have to retire from acting though. I really liked your movies." said Sakura.
"Who said anything about retiring?" said Yukie, showing them a new script. "Ruling over Yuki no Kuni and acting? I think I can manage that. I mean I'd have to be out of my mind to give it up now." And with that, she left them to greet some of the children.
Sandayū laughed. "Well, she always has been an overachiever."
Suddenly, Naruto groaned. "Dammit, I forgot to ask her for an autograph!"
"Shit, you're right!" said Sakura. "Do you think we still have the time to ask her?"
"Don't worry, I took care of it." said Sasuke. He pulled out two envelopes that he passed over to Naruto and Sakura.
"I-is this real?" asked Sakura, looking at the autograph.
"I can't believe it! Thanks teme! You're the best!"
"He really is." said Sakura, before she and Naruto jumped him to give him a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Alright I get it, get off of me!" said Sasuke, his face getting redder and redder as he tried to shove his teammates off.
...
The autograph was a picture from their hospital room, when Yukie had visited them. Naruto and Sasuke were arguing while the princess laughed at them, as Sakura braided her. "To the bravest ninjas of the Leaf. ~ Yukie Fujikaze" was written on them.