Naruto: Of bone and ice

Soon we were boarding boats and sailing across the misty sea, the boats weren't impressive and were built more for stealth than anything else, each boat carried about thirty shinobi, there was quite a bit of space and we were all forced to cram together, luckily for me I was on a different boat than the one Kaguya was on, being in a cramped space with them wasn't a good idea.

During the journey, when we were all briefed on the upcoming mission, it was revealed that the Hidden Mist had turned the lands of the Hot Spring Country into a small base. The country was located on the western side of the borders of the Land of Fire, making it an ideal location for a base. Our mission was simple. Provide reinforcements to the front lines, who were currently fighting the Hidden Leaf forces along the border. Apparently, the Hidden Leaf forces were scattered, as they were being attacked by Iwa, who were using the Land of Grass as a base of operations and attacking from there. We were also warned about Kumo, as they had recently engaged us in battle, but had retreated to the Land of Frost, which was on their border.

Rumors spread that the Mizukage himself was leading the battle against Konoha, but no one could confirm that it was true. The sea journey lasted a whole day, and I even threw up a couple of times from seasickness caused by my inexperience in swimming. It seemed that we had reached the shore safely and had not encountered any threats. Nobu left for the front, as it turned out, he was the commander of this unit.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" He shouted. Everyone roared and ran after him, I joined the herd of shinobi and ran. I was by far the youngest person there, some of the others looked 16, but no one was close to my age. There was a good mix of men and women, but it didn't matter. We were taught not to underestimate an opponent based on age or gender.

Our large group split into three groups, just like when we boarded the boats, and quickly began jumping through the large trees. The forest stretched as far as the eye could see, but I assumed we were heading for something less pleasing to the eye. It wasn't long before we arrived at our destination, the forest ended as we emerged onto a large patch of flat land, tents and defensive trenches set up around a makeshift camp. The camp was filled with shinobi, this was the first time I had seen a real battlefield with my own eyes. It looked like a scene from an old World War I tape, trenches had been dug as a defensive setup, weapons were scattered across the flat top of what I guessed was no man's land. The ground was scorched, blackened by fire and explosions. The dead bodies of mist shinobi and leaf shinobi were still scattered across the battlefield, a fresh reminder of what awaited many of us who had arrived here.

Nobu met with the other commanders, who briefed him on the situation. Meanwhile, the soldiers around me broke into small groups and began to chat among themselves. The squads of soldiers who were already here looked tired and fresh from the battle, most of them were covered in dirt or blood.

Suddenly I felt someone pressing on me from behind and slowly turned around. They were Kaguya's men from before, I quickly tried to leave but my way was blocked by three of them. The leader spoke first.

- No need to be rude, kid. We just want to ask you a few questions." -

He said, a wide smile on his battle-hardened face. I turned to him and nodded. "What do you want from me?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side. "I couldn't help but notice the marks on your forehead, only members of Kaguya have marks like that, and I've never seen you before…" "Who are you?" I could tell they wouldn't leave until they were satisfied with my answer, so I decided I had no choice.

"My name is Fuyun Yuki," I said without fear or hesitation in my voice. The huge animal looked at me curiously. He crossed his arms over his chest and was about to say something when suddenly someone's voice rang out.

- Ambush!"

The sounds of explosions caught everyone's attention as bodies flew through the air. Packs of stealth shinobi emerged from the forest, trying to quickly end the surprise attack. In a way, I felt like I had just been saved from whatever Kaguya was about to do. Our commanders ordered us to counterattack, and waves of Hidden Mist and Hidden Leaf shinobi clashed in an all-out battle to the death.

It was a mess of blood and blades, fire and water, men and women, even children scattered across the battlefield. In the chaos of battle, it was difficult to tell who was friend and who was foe. The commanders ordered the use of hidden mist jutsu as much as possible, while the hidden leaf forces countered with combined fire style.

I had the misfortune of finding myself in the thick of the battle, my senses on edge and my body seemingly moving on its own. Using my Kekki Genkai powers, I had already sprouted bone spikes around my body and was killing anyone who dared attack me. I was flipping and dancing in the air, blocking and attacking in a whirlwind of uncontrollable rage, my bones harder than steel and easily cutting through any protection a shinobi wore. I had advanced so far that I soon realized that I was alone on the front lines. I remembered that there had been at least ten others with me before.

My chances of survival didn't look good as I was surrounded on all sides by enemy shinobi. "What the hell is this guy?!" One of them shouted.

"Let's kill him quickly, he's already killed many of us!" said another.

I decided it was time to run and my window was closing quickly. I quickly formed hand signs and a dome of ice covered me, blocking the kunai.

"It's ice!" one of them shouted.

"Let's use the Fire Combination Style!" The other said. I knew my ice was fireproof, but against the Fire Combination Style, I doubted it would hold up. Luckily for me, I had already planned this during my training in the Ninjutsu class at the Academy. Making hand signs as fast as I could, an ice mirror appeared in front of me. I stepped into the crystal mirror of ice just as the shinobi released his Fire Style. I created this jutsu after remembering Haku used it in the anime, and decided to practice it. Another mirror formed high above the battlefield in the sky, and that's where I slipped out from. From this height, I could see the entire battlefield and which side my allies were on. Starting to free fall, I created another ice mirror, and fell straight into it.

My second ice mirror appeared in the depths of the trench, I quickly slipped out of it and rolled on the ground, getting on all fours. Nobu was shouting orders from the rear, keeping the others in formation and holding the line. He must have noticed my presence, because he turned and looked around.

"Well well, you're still alive." He said, almost impressed. "If you don't have time to sit and rest, you better get back into the fight!" He suddenly shouted. I nodded and got to my feet, heading back into the fight. The Hidden Leaf used a combination earth style to create a large wall that they attacked from and used as a defensive advantage. The Hidden Mist jutsu had almost disappeared now that the large amount of fire styles had changed the temperature of the air. Most of the mist ninja had taken cover in the trench, while a small handful were at the front, engaging in the battle. To my surprise, the three Kaguyas were at the front, striking down everyone who stood before them. It didn't look like any of them had the clan's Kekkei Genkai, but they were still fierce warriors without it.

One of the guys who had bullied me when Nobu and I first arrived at the camp was hiding in a trench when he spotted me. "Hey kid, you have a Kekki Genkai, don't you?! Get your ass out there and make yourself useful!" The others around him started to break away and I was pretty much pushed out onto the battlefield. The Hidden Mist Village really was a shitty place, I turned around, looking at him in disgust. "Come on kid, we've got your back," he said, raising a Kunai.

I had to keep going and try not to die. This world had given me strength, and I was going to use it all to get out of this war alive.