Synopsis: A young crow finds himself seated on the ruling branch. His followers are set on watching the crow fall from his position at the top of the tree, but the crow has his eyes set on a flower on the ground. And the sun blankets light over everything under him, showing him something he could never see before.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters. All the characters in this story are of the creation of Masashi Kishimoto.
Rated: M for profanity, violence, and sexual content.
CROW IN THE SKY
He gripped the railing from the balcony right outside his chamber tightly until his knuckles turned white. Bent over, his obsidian hair in his face, some of it catching onto the contents of his stomach as he braced himself and kept vomiting. Through the chaos of it all he could hear it falling on the level before him, the sound so disgusting it kept the urge to hurl alive. Until he heard a light knock at his door.
"Sasuke?" Already knowing who it was and choosing to ignore the silver-haired man on the other side of the door, he simply fell to the floor, his back hitting the brick wall behind him and he slouched there pathetically, or so he felt that way.
It wasn't any particular sight, the night on that day. It was cloudy enough to be able to tell in the night, and the moon was barely visible through the thick blanket covering the sky.
He heard Kakashi speak through the other side of the tall black door,
"Were waiting for you in the meeting room, try to get it together." And with that he heard Kakashi's footsteps walk away from the door, finally leaving sasuke alone.
The nausea hit him like a violent wave as he recalls what happened in the last hour.
Itachi on his death bed, calling for sasuke in his final moments. His cheeks hollow, his under eyes violet from disease, his arms nothing but bone and his skin transparent and clammy. And the movement of his cracked bleeding lips as he told sasuke the few words he had to offer that would ultimately become his last. Leaving sasuke with no comfort as he felt the grip he had on his own hand loosen.
"S-sasuke... I'm sorry-s-s-orry I never told you. I should have told you about..." and sasuke couldn't make out the words that followed, they all blended together into a murmur. But he just observed in sadness the way blood pooled in his eyes and trickled down his veined face.
And that was it. All sasuke could do was watch as the life in his brother's eyes flee, reverting from red to black, to grey; leaving him in that stark white room with his corpse. It was surprising to Sasuke to find that the heat of his body left quickly and he pulled back his hand.
At first all he felt was desperation. What did he want him to know about? His brother, the regal king, big and powerful who never had the time of day to so much as blink in his direction called for him last and looked into his eyes for the first time in years. His name rolling off his decaying lips, reminding sasuke of what that sounded like. What did Itachi find so important to tell him that he clinged on to Sasuke's hands with such force, making Sasuke want to flinch in pain.
When he couldn't come to an answer and the desperation finally ebbed away, he then felt nothing. Though that didn't last very long, after long minutes he glimpsed to itachis lifeless body again and he couldn't take the sight and stormed out of the regal king's room, pushing past all the guards to reach his very own.
And the rest, Sasuke chose not to remember and he lay against the wall, the summer breeze kissing his face; offering him the smallest of comforts.
He was to be King, the reign of the Uchiha on the Land of Fire would continue, and so would the uchiha ruling lineage.
He didn't feel pride in being the new king, rather it settled uncomfortably in his chest. Sasuke was never interested in ruling an entire land. Instead it all felt to him like a bothersome task that he alone would have to fulfill, if it weren't for the fact that he was the last Uchiha that carried the royal bloodline, he would have denied the position. Though that wasn't any card in his deck to play. And he took the responsibility as king for the sake of order.
Sasuke pushed himself off the ground and wiped himself off of dirt, gathering his composure again. He rarely lost face, but today he couldnt hold on to it. Today his world was flipped and everything was turned upside down, but Sasuke was raised and thoroughly trained his entire life for these situations. Quickly he gathered himself, reverting back to his stoic self and regained posture like the recent events didn't just make him retch violently over his balcony.
The young crow walked out of his chamber, he carried authority in every step. Every white haired guard in the palace bowed their heads as he walked past them. The Kaguya Clan allied themselves to the Uchiha centuries ago, accepting the duty as protectors of the royal clan. The bond between both clans was strong, the Uchiha held them highly, enough for them to theme the palace in their colors out of gratitude. A sign of loyalty between both clans. White and black.
As sasuke walked down the hall with towering walls, Their eyes averted from his instead of meeting them like they usually would when his brother was king instead of him. Things were changing quickly and he skillfully adapted to every new detail.
When he approached the seat at the end of the oval table in the meeting room , every person stood and bowed to him, only taking their seats after he took his own. Kakashi sat at the other end, giving Sasuke an expecting look.
"Lets get this over with." He said to him and Kakashi looked to him like he wanted to reach across the table and slap him while everyone else nervously nodded their heads and gathered their papers.
"Lord Sasuke, we congratulate you on your seat on the throne. We will acquaint you quickly with what the late crow left for you. And we will provide for you a selection for your personal staff, who you can hand pick if that is what you desire, sir. We will make preparations for your regal room toda-"
"No."
The seated audience looked to each other giving each other confused glances.
"No, sir?"
Sasuke, already annoyed with how cautious they acted towards him, cut quickly to the chase. He settled in quickly into his authoritarian position. His voice strong, commanding , undeniable.
"I will not take the regal room. I will keep my own, make whatever adjustments you want to it, I don't care. But I will not move from it. I'll take all the paperwork to my study and look over it there. I know my responsibilities, I don't need you to walk me through them. If this is all this meeting was about , then were finished here. If not, speak up." He gazed over the crowd, taking in their astonished reactions.
"This is against tradition, great Crow, but as you wish. This is all we had to inform you about." Yashiro, who has been part of the royal council since Sasukes father, Fugaku , reign as king. He was council to two other crows, and now he would be part of his council. The silver haired man with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face sounded rather passive aggressive and Sasuke noted it down, never letting his guard down and memorizing everyone's reactions. Already he could tell who he had to keep an eye on.
At the end of the table Kakashi laid his chin on his interlocked hands and held Sasuke's gaze.
"What about your staff?" he asked.
Sasuke thought about it for a moment, and concluded his decision quickly.
"Bring the selection here tomorrow." And with that he got to his feet and left them behind, no one moved until he exited the room. He walked to his study and compared his life yesterday to today. If it weren't for his new responsibilities as king he would be out on the training grounds, learning from Kakashi a high skilled set of combat techniques that he now came to realize he would never utilize as king.
Or he would be in his own chambers, cleaning and sharpening all his weapons. Paying special attention to the their edges, curves and angles. But now he was walking towards his study, a place he hasn't visited in years.
Kakashi apologized to the council members as soon as sasuke left. Annoyed with his lack of patience, and his disinterest in ruling. Though he didn't hold him to it, Kakashi understood sasukes dislike in having to deal with so many people and their opinions. Though, he hoped the power and control that would come with being king would help him over look that troublesome detail. But kakashi worried that sasuke would become yet another tyrannical king, and the unease in the capital of konoha would continue. He hoped sasuke would be different, knowing him since he was a child, and becoming his father figure, kakashi knew that sasuke had the potential to be a great and wise crow. In fact it was undeniable. But sasuke needed the right council to guide him that way, to show him the troubles within his people and make him empathize with them. They needed a leader not a dictator.
Besides the fact that his first impression as king was not amongst the best as kings go, the crowd complimented Sasuke.
"At least the boy doesn't need us to hold his hand. He will advance beautifully as king with an attitude like that. No whispers in his ear can push him towards evil intent, with a will so strong, I can't imagine anyone could ever sway him"
"True. Very true. A good quality we haven't seen in a crow in some time."
"Yes, though he is very young his voice is hard to ignore. It sounds years past his own."
"He's always been a sharp kid, and it's shown today."
"Sasuke will be a different crow."
Kakashi made out some of the compliments, while others had reasons to complain.
"He didn't so much as give us 5 minutes of his time." Yashiro complained to Kakashi.
"He watched his brother die just hours before he sat there as King. I don't blame him for wanting to grieve on his own and away from the attention as king that he isn't used to yet." Kakashi defended.
"But the boy must learn to set aside such emotional turmoil if he wishes to lead with a clear head." Yashiro making a very good point. Kakashi only hummed and nodded. His words throwing him into thought.
This was true. But...
"He is not a boy anymore, he's 19. Though that is quite a young age amongst commoners...You should know that time for the royal families flows faster, they grow into adulthood and gain maturity at very young ages. He has been disciplined into perfection, his age is well beyond 19."
This time Kakashi made the good point. And Yashiro nodded in agreement. And there was nothing else to say.
She was preparing her dinner when the knock came at her door. She thought it weird that someone would come with business so late in the day, but curious as to what it was she still wiped her hands on her rag dress and went to fetch the door.
The door creaked loudly as she opened it, just barely hanging on to its hinges. On the other side of the door was a white haired guard from the palace. You could tell from his decorated attire and his signature white hair and dotted eyebrows that he was a kaguya clan member. She was a little afraid to find out why the heavens would think to bring her business from the palace. The guard held her gaze for a long time, before coughing.
"Ms. Haruno, you have been called to the palace for a selection into the royal staff. Please be there early tomorrow at business hour in your best attire. Please keep in mind this invitation does not finalize a position for you at the palace." He said professionally and awaited her response.
"O-okay thank you for delivering this message." She thanked him as she took the letter from his hand.
"It was my pleasure ma'am, have a good afternoon." He turned and walked down the steps of her front door. He looked out of place here at the districts where everyone was dressed by poverty and he glowed white, a color hardly anyone ever sees. She simply waved him goodbye, though he didn't see her do that.
Sakura closed her door and practically ran to her table, and frantically opened the letter, nearly ripping it in half. She read through the words inscribed on the paper and it's just as the guard said, she was a potential staff member for the newest crow. It was to her astonishment that the Sitting Crow had died, it was the first she heard about it. She felt a small pang of sadness inside her chest, even for the tyrannical king who brought poverty to her. His death was a sad one because he is human and so is she and every death fazed her, no matter how great.
But he not only brought her poverty, with his last breath the Great Crow brought her a new opportunity. The commoners think of staff invitations from the palace as golden tickets. Rare and greatly envied. They signify an invitation into a better life out of the moldy streets of the districts to a place where there is flavorful food and colors besides brown and grime.
She quickly turned off the stove and her cabbage soup was ready though she paid no mind to it. She had new business to attend to. She ran to her closet and examined her clothes inside it once and then twice until she realized she had no clothes suitable for a visit to the palace. All she had were rags to wear, and it saddened her but she reminded herself that there was nothing of that that she could do. So she picked a dress she wore on occasions like this one. It was of thick material, the color of a washed out red, it had a medium sized collar that curved downwards and the sleeves were long. The dress fell pretty low to the ground and it had two slits on both sides of her hips. With the dress came an off grey, once white under-dress. It wasn't a pleasant dress to look at, it was very common to any clothing, but at least it wasn't made of rags. So she plucked it out of her closet and set it by her bed before returning downstairs to eat her soup.
She thought as she ate about how great life would be if she were to live at the palace. It would be a dream to live in a place where the temperature was controlled and she didn't suffer through the seasons. A place with clean water and free of mold. She prayed she would be selected, so that finally her dream of leaving the life of poverty would come true for her. She had nothing to lose if she were to leave.
Sakura finished her soup quickly and went off to wash herself free of dirt in preparation for tomorrow's events. She thought of what role she would play at the palace and hoped it wasn't anything too difficult for her to bare. Maybe a seamstress for the king, or a cleaner, someone that would wash his dishes. It didn't matter to her, just as long as it wouldn't kill her.
End of part One
A.N./ hey guys I thought I would write an AU of naruto where the Uchiha rule over konoha and the land of fire through a monarchy. I love royal family stories, kings and queens and betrayal and ... I guess you'll see if you read. This is an AU where the Uchiha massacre didn't happen and well a lot of things have been altered for the purpose of this story but they are very much still connected to some of the original plot in its own way. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I apologize for any typos that slipped by me, I am definitely not perfect at editing
