Drifting by AlphaDelta1001

Part 32 - The Changing Winds

Drifting

The Changing Winds

That same night...

True to the thoughts that had plagued his mind throughout his entire march up the main road, Naruto was welcomed back to the studio's central building by the collective masses of both his teammates and his clients, all of whom were absolutely baffled by the sight of the blonde haired Jonin trudging up the highway with an unconscious Yukie flung over his shoulder. While Sandayuu nearly fainted at the sight of his beloved star actress and the condition she was in, the jinchuriki ended up having to face the expected chewing out by Sakura for treating their 'package' and one of the most famous women on the face of the planet so carelessly. However, she didn't take her lecturing of him too far for two good reasons.

One was because he outranked her and two, even though he was one of her closest friends, the kunoichi hadn't forgotten what he'd done in the Chunin Exams to earn him his rank. The boy had proven in all of the matches he'd fought that he could be scary strong when he wanted to be, and that kept her more volatile tendencies towards him pacified.

Naruto eventually explained to the group that the princess didn't exactly make her retrieval from the village easy on him, so any further discussions on the matter were quickly settled once his case had been pled and he was able to set Yukie in the carriage that would take them down to the coast. Once the actress had been secured and all were present and accounted for, the shinobi team then wasted no time in getting everyone moving and after about two hours of fast-marching, the entire convoy eventually arrived at the docks and were soon loading up the ship intended to transport them.

While the film crew finished up moving supplies into storage and the shinobi squad oversaw the final boarding procedures, Naruto used that time to carry a still unconscious Yukie into her cabin and dropped her onto her bed, leaving her in the clothing he'd found her in while he yanked the covers over her still and sleeping form.

With the homemade drug he'd given her, the movie princess would be out for quite a bit, enough time for the crew to safely move all their supplies on board before eventually putting them to sea. Though it was guaranteed that she was going to be alright, the actress was still going to have a splitting headache when she eventually woke up. That was the main drawback to downing so much alcohol and then being unceremoniously knocked out by a cocktail of berries and herbs you would not be able to find growing in your backyard.

That's what you get for overindulging.

As Yukie lay there in her bed, sleeping peacefully under the rays of moonlight dripping into her midst, Naruto stood quietly by her side with his hands in his pockets, a serious gaze fixed on her delicate face and a firm expression in play, which failed to lift even when the boy shook his head at the state of her.

She was very pretty. There was no arguing that. Of the numerous times he'd seen the girl on screen, you would swear her personality in real-life would mimic exactly what she put forth to the general public. But in reality, the great Yukie Fujikaze was nothing like the characters she portrayed in her films. Her attitude needed a serious adjustment... and perhaps some therapy to help with her alcoholism. She was a cold, hard case, plain and simple, which had been made glaringly obvious to the young Jonin back in the bar when the two of them had had some alone time together, even when one of them had been stone drunk and completely open to flirting with complete strangers.

After giving his appraisal of the woman, Naruto slowly turned to leave, only for his foot to suddenly scrape against something on the floor of the chamber, causing him to look down in surprise. When he did, he saw a necklace with a chain lying under his heel and, figuring it to belong to Yukie, reached down and picked it up. Admiring the purple crystal at the end for a moment, sensing some significant importance behind it, the blonde then set it down beside the girl's bed on the cabinet before walking out.