43 ; no better than

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Nami spent the rest of her healing days with Iruka. She had to admit, she really did miss being the grumpy, sassy kunoichi towards him. There were still moments where she suddenly yearned for Kakashi, but she had learned to understand his job.

Iruka, on the other hand, felt like he was torn between two sides of himself. One part of him wanted to take Nami away from their responsibilities, to live as normal citizens of the Land of Fire.

Another part of him wanted her to just continue giving out that heartwarming smile of hers, even if it was for someone else.

It still hurts, but Iruka is slowly learning to cope with the pain.

Days had passed and it was Nami's last few days in Konoha before she is stuck in the Snow Islands until her coronation. Kakashi still hasn't returned from Hozuki Castle. The queen was starting to get a bit anxious.

"Hey, Iruka?" Nami nudged his shoulder. "Can we go to Hozuki Castle for awhile? I want to meet him before I go back home," Iruka noticed the change of tone when Nami said the word 'home'. The chuunin hesitated but soon nodded his head.

That inner side of him was screaming in agony.

"You do realize it's going to be a long journey back to the Snow Islands, right?" Nami only responded with a sheepish grin. "I rather delay my time of arrival there just to annoy the old councilors,"

'She's still the same old Fuyu.' Iruka sighed before he messed up Nami's hair. After screaming at Iruka and almost slamming him to the village gates, they disembark their journey to Kusagakure.

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They reached Kusagakure after a day's travel. Iruka and Nami rested themselves at a small shop before moving forward to Hozuki Castle.

"You know, security there is tight. How are we suppose to get in there?" Iruka dropped the question that's been in his mind throughout their journey. "We can't just say we want to meet the Hokage because his girlfriend wants to meet him, can we?"

"We can try," Nami snorted. The wind softly danced around them, engaging the strands of hair of the queen in dancing along with it. "But then again, that rumor..."

"Please don't think about that now. What's important now is that you meet Kakashi before you guys could meet again in a month's time," Nami took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

After an hour of walking, they have finally reached the prison.

"This is like committing suicide why did I sign up for this," The older among them mumbled his prayers. Nami chuckled softly before they were halted by the guards.

"This is a forbidden area to be entered by regular shinobi. State your name and business," The guard's stern voice did not waver her as she held her chin high, green eyes looking deep into the guard's eyes.

"My name is Fuyuhana Nami. Future ruler of the Snow Islands. And I need to see the Hokage for urgent business."

"Fuyuhana Nami?? As in The Ice Queen???" The guard gave out a hideous evil laugh. "Kid, I've heard a lot of tales about the Ice Queen, but don't you think you should wear contact lenses to fool me?" Nami looked at the guard, dumbfounded until his words registered in her brain.

Nami turned around to face Iruka. Whatever you do, just stay there. Iruka understood her expression, nodding as he hoped that the kunoichi would not do something very stupid.

Fuyuhana Nami summoned a blizzard into Hozuki Castle.

The snow blew so strong that even Iruka had to put some chakra into his feet to avoid being blown away. He looked at Nami, who remained still as she glared at the guard. Her eyes were the same shining sapphire it always had been. "I guess you've never heard that the Ice Queen had green eyes since birth."

With a snap of her fingers, the blizzard slowly calmed down. The guard's knees shook intensely as he bowed to the queen. "I'm sorry!!! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!!! I NEVER HEARD OF THAT BEFORE!!!!" Nami only responded with a slight tch before she kicked the guard. "Lead us to the Hokage."

They entered the eerie castle a few minutes later. Iruka tried to keep himself from rambling, but he did anyway. "You've... gotten really stronger lately."

"I guess so... The Snow Islands have this aura that makes me a lot.. stronger."

"Maybe it's because you're finally close to home. " Iruka smiled. His opinion did make some sense, but Nami had never considered that place her home at all. Maybe after her coronation, she would start to open her heart for the Snow Islands. But first....

They've reached an old wooden door after passing through thousands of prisons filled with criminals. Some glanced at Nami before retreating themselves, they too have probably heard of the Ice Queen before they were thrown into their cells.

"Hokage-sama?" The guard knocked on the door. "Someone wants to see you now." There was no respond from the other side. "Hokage-sama?" He tried to knock louder, especially since he felt a sudden cold aura from behind him. "Hokage-sama!! The Ice Queen wants to see you!!!!"

"Move away," Nami pushed the guard as she stepped herself in front of the door. Nami slammed on the door, pouring all the energy into making Kakashi hear her knocking on the door. "Kashi?" More slams on the door. "It's Nami. Please give some response." Still nothing.

Nami placed her ear near to the doorknob. It's been so long since she's done such things, her skill was slightly rusted. But despite that, she could still make out some audio from the other side of the door. And she doesn't like the sound that she's hearing.

"I suggest the both of you move away if you don't want to sustain any injuries." The guard and Iruka took ten steps backward and hid behind a wall. Nami took in a deep breath before she summoned a long ice sword in her hand.

"You better not be doing what I think you're doing." She felt tears threatening to fall down her cheeks but she withstood her will. No, he won't right? Those rumors aren't true. Right? He's probably resting, dreaming of her in his dreams.

Nami sliced the door before kicking it down, surprising the guard. Iruka could feel the coldness surrounding the place now.  "You two, stay. This is a very private matter."

Her powers have gone much, much stronger.

The queen strode into the room silently. As she turned herself to her left, she was left speechless at the sight in front of her. Too numb to move, her powers were expressing her feelings as the temperature decreased drastically. Iruka panicked. He ignored Nami's orders and ran into the room, leaving the guard all alone outside.

He saw what Nami saw. He didn't expect this to happen at all. "It can't be..." He looked at Nami, but realize that the damage was done. The tears rolled down her face as Nami felt the warmth of her heart finally gone, the cold icy darkness replacing the warmth.

Her heart turned to ice at the sight of the love of her life in bed with the new warden of the prison.

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OH SHIT WHO BROKE THIS PRINCESS'S HEART
OH SHIT IM TT

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