DISCLAIMER: Only the story and plot belong solely to me. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.

. . .

in finem res: A Night Darker than Black

"Knock down the doors!" The captain of the guard screamed. "Use every ounce of strength you have! Knock it down!"

Voice hoarse from shouting and hands course from decades of work, Naruto Uzumaki grew up among the ranks of the military. Serving under three generations of the royal family, he had grown with the man who now sat upon the throne, and like hell would it be within his lifetime that the country would see its dynasty come to an end.

"God dammit." A voice from the back hissed. "Are you even trying?"

The soldiers, wielding their weapons, drawing their armor and their allegiance branded to skin, looked upon as a man, twiglike in build, shoved his way through their ranks and threw his body against the large wooden door. Shikamaru Nara, the palace's chief strategist, was not a man to use brute force. With his porcelain skin and ebony hair shaking against its massive weight, he had often been mistaken for a noble till the blistering, raven-eye scar revealed itself on his back. Shikamaru was a man with a pristine reputation of being precise and effective, doing things with minimal effort and maximum gain, a genius of the highest order – a genius among prodigy.

Now reduced to storm struck hair and blood shot eyes. He rammed against the doors.

Again and again, he slammed his body into the wooden frame. Again and again, he knocked his fragile bones against the gargantuan doors. Again and again, the sounds of impact upon impact echoed throughout the halls. Again and again, again and again. Till flowered embroidery and bird like images bruised onto his skin. Again and again, he tried with all his might, but the doors did not budge.

"What are you all standing around for?" Naruto yelled, his voice cracking under the pressure of his heart pounding within his chest. "Knock it down!"

Along the corridors of the palace an audience had been growing.

Emerging from their quarters like pigeons flocking home. Their gasps erupting at the sight from outside the king's doors, a sight of discord and chaos. The soldiers having their weapons unsheathed and flailing, servants scurrying about with arms to their heads, statues and pottery shattered at their feet.

A woman, her hair (usually styled tightly behind her head) spread around her like a golden halo, emerged from the sea of ladies in waiting. Her simple nightgown wrapped around her did not disguise her distinct features of periwinkle eyes and cupid bow lips. Yamanaka had been in charge of tending to and protecting the empress for generations and her authority among the other ladies in waiting transcended any form of confusion.

"What is going on?" she heard murmured around her. "Why are the king's soldiers here?"

Yamanaka Ino, for once, could not give a coherent answer. She had been in the palace since its completion, and had served under the royal family since as far back as she could recall, and though she did not know everything, she was eloquent and bright and could – at the very least – pretend that she knew all. But her eyes stared agape at the scene before her. No words could be formed amidst the pandemonium.

"Ino…"

A hand gently pulled on her sleeve but Yamanaka Ino did not shift her gaze away from the commotion.

Sakura Haruno did not stand as tall as Yamanaka Ino, nor did she possess the same commanding aura to make her way through the more senior of the ladies in waiting, but since her arrival in the palace, she and Yamanaka Ino had been closer to each other than they had ever been to any other female in their lives.

"What is happening?" Sakura looked on in horror. The sight of the captain of the guard and chief strategist so frantic and out of sorts made her heart quicken in panic and worry. Why attack the king's door with such brute force?

"What is the meaning of all of this?" Ino commanded.

She was shoved to the side. A sea parted for a line of men and women of the court, their midnight locks and pale white complexions crowding in, ghost in demeanor and stature. And the figure at the head of the line could be recognized without fault, standing with head tilted high in uniform with the family around him, advisor of the Hyuuga court and head of the empress's militia, Hyuuga Neji.

Upon the court's arrival, everyone but the soldiers became silent. The pounding of the door continued and Shikamaru did not rest. The sweat that lined his features grew sticky and hot but his determination did not fade, his strokes did not falter.

Naruto Uzumaki, having caught immediate sight of the disturbance, did not hesitate to approach the older man. His teeth barred and face red in anger, when he grabbed onto the Hyuuga robes with such ferocity, it was like looking into the eyes of a wild fox.

"Would you care to explain…? Neji?" He grunted through ragged breaths. "Why in all heavens is Her Majesty trying to assassinate the king?"

. . .

in finem res: "into the end of things"; a play on the literary term 'in medias res' or "into the middle of things"

It's been a while since I've written anything exclusively for fanfiction. It's been a little rough in life and a bit hectic so I apologize. So I have a couple of other stories to update and finish? Yes... why yes I do and I apologize for that. But I hope that you all are able to enjoy this little story till I update those!

Apologize for the reupdate. I changed a few discrepancies.

All reviews are appreciated! Please support and anticipate the next chapter!