"Called it!" Ino pumps a fist in the air in victory. "I knew it would land!"
The moment the blimp lands numerous ramps lower to the ground and shinobi and crewmembers alike pour out of the blimp like it's on fire.
"And I called everyone running away like pansies." Anko laughs to herself. "So I was half right."
"Doesn't count." Shikamaru grunts out as the four of them watches the mass exodus. "We're assuming that Alvarcus caused that right?"
"Oh yeah." Naruto agrees. "That's totally his style."
"Look, there he is." Kakashi points at a specific ramp. "Good, he's got Koyuki with him. She seems relatively okay. Considering all that must have happened and that she was stuck with Alvarcus for a while. We really should not chose him to spend a lot of time with clients. That's a bad idea."
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Alvarcus loudly calls out over the dull roar of the scrambling people from the blimp, attracting everyone's attention to him. "Thank you. Doto Kazahana is dead. Nadare and his team are dead. The old regime, the brutal subjugation of the Land of Snow, is dead. You all can go back to your families. You can go back to your friends. You can go back to your lives. You no longer have to constantly live in fear of your oppressor, you no longer have to serve him. It was not me that did this, nor was it the ragtag bunch of Konoha shinobi that you've no doubt been informed of. This was the will of Koyuki. She could no longer stand by as her people suffered, she's returned to bring prosperity and justice to her home. To your home. She is a kind and benevolent person, a true leader if there ever was one. And after that cool and inspiring speech she better not fuck it up."
"He ruined it." Naruto facepalms. "It was such a cool speech until the end and he ruined it."
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Jura you got that right? Please say you got that!" The Director cackles in glee.
"Hell yeah I did!" Jura pats his camera. "You were right, that kid is gold."
"How the hell did they get here?" Anko asks while staring in shock at the entire movie crew.
"Well we were just waiting around for a long time? Maybe they caught up?" Kakashi guesses. "I have no idea. We should go meet up with Alvarcus and Koyuki, better ditch the disguises so he knows it's us."
"Or, and I'm just throwing this out there, we could not?" Ino offers.
"Nope. Take it off." Anko demands. "The cold does you good, makes you appreciate the finer things in life. Plus isn't your personal heater down there? That was part of the deal you two made, clothes and heat on demand."
"I don't wanna." Ino crosses her arm and pouts.
"Too bad."
...
"Wow." I look over the sea of relieved faces before Koyuki and me. Everyone - ninety eight percent of everyone - is elated at the news of Doto's defeat and Koyuki taking his spot. "I didn't think that would work."
"Then why did you do it?" Koyuki asks as she's smiling and waving down at her new subjects, she's already acting like a leader. I bet her actress background is coming in handy.
"I wanted to?" I shrug. I'm letting her get all the attention. "Plus it was a perfect tactic to root out any opposition, that was a great moment to attack us. Out in the open, surrounded by enemies on all sides while boldly declaring their boss is dead. If that doesn't make someone go blind in rage and attack then I don't know what will. Oh wait, yes I do. Thanks Orochimaru."
Five blurs land on the platform near us.
"Sup everyone." I nonchalantly greet them. "So remember that whole spiel I said a while back about not doing the entire mission for you when we first met? Guess what I did."
"Fulfilled you debt to me." Shikamaru smriks. "That was what you promised way back then. That you'd take me on a mission where I could slack off as much as I wanted to. Not quite exactly that, but I'll settle for this."
"Good. Because this is all you're getting." A full body shiver of revulsion passes through me. "I do not want to do this again."
"You had fun." Koyuki interjects into the conversation. "Don't even attempt to deny it, I was there for the whole thing."
"True. Some of that was fun." I pat my pocket that two scrolls are in. During the descent I went and recovered all the items that were taken from me when I was tossed in jail. "And I managed to get what I came for and an armchair! How cool is that!"
I was a bit worried about the armor not being able to be sealed away because of the whole resistant to chakra thing it has but it worked. Talk about convenient.
"Do we even want to know?" Kakashi asks Koyuki. Specifically Koyuki, he knows that if he asked me I'd go right ahead and relay everything with grand embellishments.
"No. No you do not."
"Wait!" I cut in. "Everyone away from the blimp! Back away from the blimp!"
"Move!" Kakashi orders as he grabs Koyuki and hauls ass away from the blimp. Everyone is right on his heels except for me.
I've moved just far enough away so that I can see the entire blimp and I'm staring up at it in giddy anticipation. "Come on! Come on! Any second now!"
FUWUMP
The entire blimp is engulfed in brilliant crimson fire in an instant, my seals that I laced throughout the ship finally activated.
"Yes! YES! YES!" I cackle in glee as the fire rages, burning the insult to warships to nothing. "Burn! Burn! Ahaha! AHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Everyone of the Konoha group looks at Kakashi accusingly.
"I didn't teach him that!"
...
Two Days Later
At the Royal Palace in the Land of Snow
Koyuki Kazahana, the newest Leader of the country, is sitting at a large desk. Said desk is covered with paperwork, heaping mounds of it take up so much space that barely any of the beautiful wooden tabletop can be seen.
She's been working on the piles for hours already, the worst part is this is only her learning how everything is set up. Doto changed a lot in the decade she was gone and what little she remembers about the government is long gone.
"I have half a mind to just revamp the entire thing." Koyuki growls to herself. "Almost none of this is salvageable. I don't know if I'll even keep the Research and Development department the same."
"That sounds really annoying." I pleasantly say while leaning on the doorframe to her office. "Hey Koyuki, how's things?"
"Alvarcus?" Koyuki looks up from her paperwork in surprise. "I thought you would have returned to whatever vile hole you crawled out of by now. What are you still doing here?"
"I didn't really have anything better to do?" I offer up a helpless shrug. "Plus the Konoha shinobi are still here, someone has to make sure they don't fuck up all the hard work I've invested in you."
"The person at most risk for ruining your hard work is you." Koyuki blandly points out.
"Sadly that's very accurate." I agree with her. "But it's time I leave, I came to say goodbye."
"Really? You came to say goodbye?" Koyuki sounds pleasantly surprised by that.
"Well it's also to let you know that I'm not around here any longer. That means you can't come crying to me when shit hits the fan again. I've also come to give you some advice, if you're willing to accept it."
"Of course. It's the least I can do for the Savior of Snow." She graciously dips her head in acknowledgement.
"Please say that's not what everyone is calling me." I groan out. "I have enough shitty titles the way it is."
"No, it's just what I call you." Koyuki grins playfully at me. "I need something to get under your skin. Consider it petty revenge for all the things you subjected me to."
"Fine. Just don't make it an official title. I have enough the way it is."
"No promises." She smirks at me. "So Alvarcus the Savior of Snow, what's your advice?"
"Cheeky bitch." I chuckle at her antics, it's good to see her acting like a person. Even if it is at my expense. "In the coming years of your rule one day you may find that you need assistance from another village. Do not pick Otogakure. Do not make the mistake of thinking that everyone in Oto will end up like me. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Oto's offers are the right ones to pick. No matter how tempting do not accept. The Land of Snow was just redeemed, I do not want to see it condemned again."
...
A/N:
If we hit 400 Power Stones by the end of this week, I'll drop an extra chapter as a thank-you!
Thanks for the support! ;)
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/CarriePoppins