IX

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Arc X?Chapter?12

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Yuki charged with her iron kunai gripped in her hand, cuteness and adorableness leading the way. Nothing would stop her. This was the moment she had been training for all this time. High expectations were resting on her tiny shoulders. Nee-san must not to be disappointed.

Yuki's partially cute and partially minimally terrifying war cry reverberated through the air. “Wwwaaaaaaaaa ...“

Unfortunately, her clumsiness failed her. Her feet stumbled and Yuki fell, hitting the frozen face forward. The lecherous snow made her trip.

“...

...

...“ This wasn't exactly supposed to happen.

Her head remained buried in the snow with all her face fuming crimson red from pure shame and embarrassment and her only wish being to die. Her feet tripped ... on a pile of snow. What a disgrace. Her actions brought dishonour to nee-san. She must now atone for her failure by either committing suicide or dying from cold and starvation.

Yuki wasn't brave enough for the former, so she chose the latter over ritual suicide. Dying from cold and hunger appeared like the more civilised solution to her current predicament. She would just stay here lying in the snow and wait for her merciful death to arrive. Such was her destiny.

...

...

...

She was dead. Don't mind her.

...

...

...

Don't mind her.

...

...

...

Don't mind her. She was dead. Nothing to see here. Just a corpse in the making, claimed by the frozen lands of snow and ice like so many other unfortunate travellers before who had falling prey to the calamitous forces of eternal winter. Just forget about her until she becomes a malevolent spirit in her afterlife haunting other even more unfortunate travellers wandering the land for disappointing nee-san. She deserved to die. She must pay in blood. Only death would erase her sins blood and restore nee-san's honour and dignity.

...

...

...

“Yuki-chan~, what are you doing there?“ Nee-san's tender voice echoed across the frozen plain.

Yuki ignored nee-san's futile pleas. She was prepared to die either by cold and ?starvation, or?at the hands of wild beasts Whatever claimed her first. It was here where she would meet her fate.

“Yuki-chan~, don't pretend to be dead. Don't lie in the snow, otherwise my cute little imouto might catch a cold~.

Yuki ignored her. Her resolution was strong.

“Yuki-chan~, stop being overly dramatic~- You are making nee-san worried~. Do you want nee-san to come and get you?“

Her words distressed Yuki, forcing her to choose between either making nee-san sad, or dishonouring her. Yuki steeled her heart and proceeded with her plan. The freezing cold was getting loser and permeating her body. She was doing this for nee-san.

Nee-san was an important person to her. She loved her very, very, very much. Every time, she heard her angelic voice, her heart skipped a beat. Every time, her eyes caught neesan's?sight, butterflies?settled in her stomach. Always nervous, always fitching, avoiding her siren?like gaze. The mere thought of nee-san made her cheeks blush.

What should she do? Yuki didn't know what to think any more. It was impossible to explain. Her heart desired nee-san, more than anything else in the world. Nee-san probably didn't know about her true feelings, nor would she ever. Maybe this was what okaa-san always called love, a mysterious force for sure ...

“*poke*.*poke*.“ Something soft was poking her cheeks.

Yuki slowly lifted her head, catching a glimpse of the mysterious newcomer. A familiar pair of whiskers and paws greeted. It was ...

“Katsuki, what are you doing here?“

Her feline comrade in arms lifted her paw. A small ushanka covered her ears. Obviously, humans and spirit kittens alike didn't appreciate the chilling cold of the north. “Nya, salutations, Yuki of the snow. Lady Asami dispatched me to assist you in your struggle. Somehow. I suspected Her Ladyship has a plan. Hopefully.“

“...“

“Lady Asami also intimated meow to inform you that lying in the sneow is a suboptimeowal and counter-productive course of action. The snow will soak your clothes and you meowght catch a cold, nya~.“

“...“

Yuki lifted her head. A sea of blinking stares welcomed her. The enemy blinked at her in apparent confusion. Not however, nee-san. Nee-san stood among the crowd o unbelievers, beaming and waving at her. Nee-san still believed in her.

Her confidence restored, Yuki rose with new resolve, dusting off her winter clothes and readying her kunai once more to face the enemy. “Katsuki, are you ... ready ... ... ... Katsuki?“

...

...

...

Katsuki was hiding behind her leg. It was this day that Yuki realised that cats, a certain noble kitten princess in particular, were cowardly creatures.

“Nadare ...“ The enemy woman glared.

“I know, Fubuki. They are messing with us.“ The enemy leader fumed, barely containing his anger, understandably. She would have been quite angry too in his stead.

The man clenched his fists.“You fucking little bitches, who do you think you are to look down on us, proud ninja of Yukigakure. ?I will make sure to teach you imbeciles a lesson.

Fubuki, Mizore, eliminate her and her stupid kitten. Show them no mercy.“

“Understood.“ The woman and oversized man disappeared. The fight had begun and Katsuki wagged her tail in a sense.

Yuki captured her domestic kitten with a hug. “Stay with me. We must stay together ...“

“... Above“, Katuski warned her. Yuki jumped backwards, evading the hulking ogre of a ninja and his massive punch. Slow and cumbersome, he hardly proved a noteworthy challenge. Mizore struck and missed.

The woman chuckled. Her smirk reminded Yuki of nee-san. Just without the ability to back it up. “Not bad for a little brat. Let's see if you can dodge this.“

The woman's aura shifted. Her chakra gathered, solidifying. Wind and water combined, producing ice. Just as nee-san taught her, sharpen your senses and listen to your chakra. Always stay on the move.

Fubuki formed a hand seal. “Ice Release. Swallow Snow Storm.“ Hundreds of ice born constructs formed in the air, a swarm of birds created to kill.

The projectiles were unleashed, yet Yuki dodged with ease. The woman's attack were slow and unimaginative. Nee-san had made her suffer through much worse just for the sake of training. This laughable attempt at her life was nothing in comparison.

Fubuki gritted her teeth, “Damn it.“ Her hands formed another. “This time you won't get away.“

More ice birds. Myriads of them aimed at her. This might be slightly troublesome ... This time she was serious. Big evil jutsu with much power ... This was beyond her current skill level... Nee-san hardly taught her any defensive jutsu, or rather no jutsu at all so far. Her training consisted just of basic of fire and lightning exercises ... beginner techniques at best ... Nothing usable ... This outcome was clearly nee-san's fault.

Defenceless, severely out gunned in the jutsu department, and slightly panicking in the face of adverse circumstances of utmost danger to her life and kittenhood, Yuki adopted one of nee-san sagely stratagems and what nee-san termed a tactical retreat on the operational scale for strategic redeployment, namely running quickly.

With a kitten in her arms, Yuki started running to avoid her impeding doom.

Fubuki smirked. “You wont escape.“ The living birds shot after her with murderous zazor sharp intent and substantially less keen on letting her escape another time.

Yuki's eyes widened. She wouldn't be able ... to dodge ... Shit ,,,

“Neko no jutsu. Fireball.“ Fire and ice collided, cancelling each other in an cataclysmic explosion.

Katsuki and her improvised jutsu saved them in the nick of time.

“What?“ Fubuki looked surprised.

Yuki stared at Katsuki with a similar sense of surprise.

Meanwhile, nee-san applauded in her usual amused way. “Superb teamwork, Yuki-chan~ How fortunate of you both to survive~. You defied my expectations~.“

“Enough!“ The enemy leader exploded. “Enough of this nonsense. Your little games end rigth here, right now!“

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