The Power to Heal and Destroy by Phoenixsun

Chapter 37: Trail of Snow

Naruto's only experience with the sea had been during the short trip to Wave Country over a year ago, but the blond could not recall the smell of sea salt being this intoxicating or the rocking of the ship being this unsettling. "I guess... My other senses are already becoming heightened..." He joked to himself as he brought one of his hands to his face, his fingers tracing one of the seams of the bandages that wrapped around his head, covering his eyes.

After being blinded during his fight with Honda, Naruto had been examined over by the doctor working for the filming crew. Fortunately for the genin, the man had been a retired medic-nin, who had actually seen similar cases during his days in the field.

According to the former ninja, the flash bang that he missing nin had use was meant to burn both the retinas as well as the chakra pathways that led up to boy's eyes, taking away not only his Sharingan, but also his sight.

In that regard, the doctor said that Naruto had been lucky, as his eyes were still somewhat responsive to visual stimuli, indicating that his sight should come back over time. However, the Leaf genin knew it was not really luck, but instead it was his accelerated healing, courtesy of the fox's chakra, that had prevented the damage from being permanent. Now, all that the young man could do was wait for his sight to return and pray that his healing abilities will also help him regain his Sharingan, since the doctor had say that there was no way for him to tell what kind of injuries his chakra pathways had suffered.

Walking towards the edge of the ship's deck, Naruto placed one of his hands on the rail and simply listened to the sound of the sea as their ship cut its way through its waters. Now was not the time to worry about his eyes, the fight with Honda had already been a couple of days ago and there were far more pressing matter to deal with, like storming a ninja fortress in Snow Country filled with technologically advanced shinobi in order to rescue his friends and a real life princess. Not to mention that the bad guys had a considerable head start.

A sigh escaped the blinded boy as he thought back on how things had quickly escalated following his encounter with the missing nin mercenaries and his reunion with Shino and the movie crew.

Flashback

"What do you mean she's the heiress to Snow Country?!" Naruto shouted. Despite, the boy's blindness, he was still able to grab Fujikaze Yukie's manager by the collard of his shirt and slam him against a wall.

With the help of Shion, the spiky haired genin had found Lee and then they had made their way back to the hotel were Shino had taken the rest of the movie crew. Without wasting any time, the blond immediately searched for answer among the staff for as to why a group of highly trained mercenaries were hired to capture a, granted very famous, actress.

"Naruto..." There was a barely discernible edge in Shino's voice, though the blond was not sure if it was there because of his actions against the manager or if the Aburame was as full of anger with their situation as the Jinchuuriki.

For his part, Yukie's manager struggled to find his words. "Se... Several years ago, Snow Country's daimyou was betrayed by his brother, Doto... During the attack a... A Leaf shinobi managed to get the daimyou's only daughter to safety..." Sandayu explained. "That girl is the person you know as the actress Fujikaze Yukie... Her real name is Kazahana Koyuki." He revealed.

"And what? She has been hiding in plain sight all this time?" The blond genin asked, not relenting his hold on the older man's collard.

"Pretty much... She changed her name and stayed away from any contact to her past life... She doesn't even know that I was one of her father retainers." The bearded man answered.

A growl escaped the blinded boy. "Then why now? Why suddenly send missing nins after her? Did you know this was going to happen?" The young man demanded to know. For a second, Naruto felt that he was back during his first mission outside the village and was half expecting the Demon Brothers of the Mist to suddenly jump out of a puddle of water.