Emperor Yao
Summary: She was a street rat, he was an emperor. Well, prince, but whatever! The title sounds better like this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Hetalia. All rights go to their rightful owners.
"It's his majesty!" "Not to mention one of the princes!" Whispers like this spread quickly through crowds as people bowed in a kowtow to a young man and his son of ten years. The boy looked around at his future subjects emotionlessly to see one girl running through people who were getting up after he and his father had passed.
He tugged lightly at his father's sleeve and pointed to the girl curiously. "Father, why is she running? Shouldn't she be bowing to us?" He asked quietly, keeping his face emotionless. His father looked towards where the boy was pointing to see the girl. "No, she doesn't need to bow to us." His father said. "Come now, Yao, we must be getting back to your siblings." He said as he pulled on Yao's arm slightly before the boy started to follow again.
They didn't get far before Yao felt some pressure to his back, causing him to stumble forward slightly. He turned to see the girl that had been running through the crowds sitting on the ground behind him.
After a few moments of silence the girl looked up to see who she had bumped into. Upon seeing his red and yellow clothing she shot up and quickly started apologizing. "I-I'm sorry y-your majesty!" She said quickly a few times until a few girls came up behind her and rapped their arms around her shoulders. "Thank you your majesty, our sister just didn't want to help with chores and ran off." One of the girls excused.
The young girl who had been running looked to Yao with an expression that cried for help. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be going no-" The girl who was acting as representative for the three girls started before Yao cut her off. "No, I think you should all leave her alone." Yao said monotonously as he pointed towards them with one hand. "W-What? But your majesty, we really need to-" The girl started before being cut off by Yao again. "You really need to stay away from this girl from now on." Yao said as the girls reluctantly let the younger girl go before they all ran off.
The young girl turned to Yao while smiling brightly. "Thank you so much your majesty!" She said happily before noticing the position of the shadows. "Ah, I need to get going! Thank you again your majesty!" She said quickly while running off into the village.
Yao watched as the girl ran into the village, her pink hair swaying as she ran. His father looked down to see Yao watching her. "What's this? Does my son have his first crush?" His father said while smiling. Yao quickly blushed before turning to his father. "O-Of course not! I just wanted to h-help one of my future subjects! That's all!" Yao said quickly before he started to head towards the palace by himself; though, they were almost there anyways.
His father smiled softly before following after his son. 'That's the first time he acted like himself outside of the palace. If that girl could do that, I hope we see her again.' He thought happily. Though, he didn't realize that his wish would come true. For Yao, anyways. But it wouldn't happen for another two years.
XwX Time Skip XwX
"Ah, this is much better." A twelve year old Yao said to himself as he walked through some bamboo. He then looked to the ground, because he thought he saw something, to see some tiger prints. 'Aiyah! This is not good! Not good at all!' He thought to himself urgently, getting ready to head back to the palace before he heard some rustling and a small laugh.
Recognizing the sound as the laugh of a small girl, he headed towards where it came from, to warn her about the danger. He was at the edge of a clearing when he got a good look at the girl who had laughed. He gasped lightly as he saw her pink hair. It was the girl who he had seen in the village two years ago!
He backed into the bamboo slightly, only enough to be out of sight, while blushing. What was he going to say? How would he act? Why does he care so much? He thought things like this to himself while his blush increased to match the red of his clothing.
Her voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Mama! Papa! Where are you?" She called out as she climbed onto a rock in the center of the clearing. Yao was about to go over to her and warn her about the dangers when he heard more rustling coming from across the clearing. "Mama? Is that you?" She asked excitedly.
When the rustling stopped, Yao was faced with his fear. A tiger had walked out of the bamboo and was walking towards the girl. He was about to run out and try and shield the girl before she yelled out happily, "Mama!"
Yao watched as the girl hopped on the tiger's back and started to talk to it as if it was a human. 'Th-this is impossible.' Yao thought frantically as another tiger came out of the bamboo. "Papa! I was beginning to worry!" She yelled out again, jumping onto the other tiger's back. After watching the three for a few minutes, the tigers were heading back into the bamboo with the girl and Yao was left utterly speechless.
After thinking about things for another few minutes, Yao decided that the next time he saw the mysterious girl, he would find out her name and find out why she calls two tigers mama and papa. But first, Yao had to find a way to find the girl without freaking out and running away.
XwX Time Skip to a few hours later XwX
Yao had remained sitting in his place for about an hour before deciding to wander around the bamboo before heading back home. As soon as he walked into the palace, he was tackled to the ground by one of his younger brothers. "Big brother, where have you been?" The small boy yelled excitedly. "I'll tell you Im Yong. Once you get off me anyways!" Yao slightly yelled, slightly gasped for air. "Right!" His little brother quickly leapt off of Yao and stood in attention, waiting for his brother to explain.
After a few seconds of catching his breath, Yao started to explain how he saw a girl with tigers and he begun to go into great detail about her looks and voice. "She had bright pink hair that went to her shoulders and it looked as if it was made of silk! She also had the most stunning emerald eyes that stood out form the bamboo around her, they were just so bright. And her voice, I don't know how to describe it. Her soft laughs sounded like the tinkling of bells and her voice was more soothing than a bamboo flute." Yao said, sighing dreamily as he seemed to be in a world of his own.
"Wow!" Im Yong suddenly interrupted. "She sounds really pretty!" Im Yong yelled as Yao blushed, realizing what he had been saying and how passionately he had been describing her. "Well, y-yes. She was very beautiful and I hope I can meet her again." Yao said, blushing while having a thoughtful expression spread across his face.
Im Yong smiled happily, having not seen his brother so passionate about anything for a very long time. He hoped that his brother would be able to see the girl again.
XwX Time Skip to two years later XwX It's Night XwX
"Papa! Papa, where are you?" The girl yells out, riding on the back of her mother. It had been a few hours since her father had gone out to hunt and he never stayed away from them at night. "Mama, do you smell him?" She asked, looking down to the head of her mother. The tiger shook its head before it snapped up. She then started running the opposite direction they had been going, the girl gripping onto her mother's scruff.
"Mama! What's wrong?" The girl asks frantically, shielding her eyes from the bamboo with one hand and holding onto her mother with the other. The tiger made a low growling sound as they reached the clearing they always met in if they needed help. The girl put her hands to her mouth and her eyes started to water as an expression of pure fear was plastered to her face.
There, at the edge of the clearing, was her father, bloody and beaten and men with spears around him. "Papa!" She screamed as the men stabbed the tiger. She and her mother quickly moved to attack the men but they held up torches to them and made an escape.
After a few minutes of processing what just happened, the girl decided to follow the trail of tiger blood. Her mother tried to follow her but she stopped her. "Mama, if I'm not back by sunrise, come look for me, until then, remain in hiding." She said quietly while rubbing her mother's head. Her mother nodded and walked the opposite way of her daughter.
As she walked, she left slight trails of blood, the reason being that she was walking directly on the blood of her father. There was just so much blood she couldn't really avoid it.
She had recognized the outfits of the men as being the uniform of the royal guards. She decided then and there that she would avenge her father as she came to the side of the palace and climbed over the wall and into what appeared to be the royal garden. She wasn't prepared for a small boy looking up to see her.
She held her breath while the boy gaped at her while looking her over. He then did something she didn't expect; he smiled. "You look like the girl big brother always talks about!" He yelled happily. "What? I don't know anyone from the royal family." She asked quietly. The boy then realized something. "Big brother needs to know about this! He's been looking for you!" He yelled happily, grabbing her arm and tugging at it lightly as she allowed herself to be dragged for a bit until she remembered why she was there.
She quickly pulled her hand away from the boy, making him look at her in confusion. "I can't go with you." She stated, ready to turn and look for the guards that killed her father before he grabbed her arm again. "Why not? Brother will be really happy if you come with me!" He whined. "It's something personal." She mumbled before she started heading down a hall. Before she turned the corner she turned back to the boy. "Please don't tell anyone I'm here." She asked quietly before continuing to walk.
"Should I tell big brother?" He asked himself. "Tell me what?" Yao asked as he walked up behind Im Young. "N-N-Nothing!" He yelled quickly before running off. "That was weird." Yao mumbled to himself before noticing the trail of blood. 'What did Im Young do?' Yao thought urgently, following the trail.
As she was about to open the large round doors she assumed lead to either the emperor or the empress she was grabbed from behind and had her hands shackled behind her back. "Take her to the dungeon." She heard a female voice say before she felt a pressure on the back of her neck and her world went black.
Yao had followed the blood trail to the doors to his room but when he opened the doors, the blood trail didn't go into his room like he thought it would. "That's strange." Yao mumbled before sighing and walking to his bed. As he plopped down he started thinking of the mysterious girl he had been trying to find. He sighed. 'Maybe it wasn't a good idea to look for her on my own.' Yao thought before going to sleep.
XwX Time Skip to the morning XwX
'Ugh, where am I?" The girl thought as she tried to get up before realizing that her hand wouldn't move. She looked up to see them shackled to the wall. 'Oh yeah, I was taken to the dungeon.' She thought to herself before she felt a stinging pain across her legs.
She looked up to see a woman with very expensive clothing holding a whip. Before she was able to say anything, the woman brought the whip down over her arms. Soon after that, the woman was just whipping her until a small pool of blood started forming under the girl. She left without a word and the girl just sat there, trying to stay awake.
Yao yawned as he sat up. For some reason he felt the need to look out his window, which was right next to his bed. He came face to face with a tiger who was resting it's head on the windowsill while watching him. He screamed slightly, jumping out of his bed and falling onto the ground as the tiger climbed into his room. Yao kept on moving backwards before he pressed himself against the wall as the tiger walked over to him and gazed into his eyes. "I saw you. You were very bad at hiding." The tiger suddenly spoke. That's when Yao fainted.
After a few minutes of waiting, the tiger hit Yao upside the head with its tail. "What? What happened?" He asked himself as he sat up. He was about to scream again when the tiger hit him with its tail again. "Be quiet. I need your help." The tiger spoke again. "W-What do you mean? And how are you talking? Tigers aren't supposed to talk." Yao started rambling as he started freaking out. "I need your help finding my daughter." The tiger said and Yao turned to look at her quickly after she finished.
Yao gulped slightly at hearing that. "W-Would your daughter happen to have pink hair?" Ha asked hesitantly. "Of course you saw her yourself. I told you, you were very bad at hiding." The tiger said as Yao finally understood what all was going on. The mysterious girl he had been searching for was missing and her mother was asking him for help. "I'll do whatever I can to help!" He said quickly. "Good, because you're the only way I can save her. Now, get on my back." The tiger said and Yao got on her back soon after. She then ran out of his room and started running through the palace, following the scent of her daughter and her blood. It only made her move faster.
While the tiger was running, Yao was thinking about the mysterious girl again. He always wondered why he could never find her, why no one cared to talk about her. He wanted to know her name so badly; it would have been so much easier to find her then (maybe). He may have wanted to know her name but he knew it wasn't the time to ask as he could tell that the tiger was terrified and moving as fast as it could.
"So, what are you in for?" One of the rats asked the girl as she looked over to it weakly. "I honestly don't know." She said as she sighed slightly, quickly regretting it and wincing in pain. "Wow, I wasn't actually expecting you to answer. Most people just kick us away or something of the like." The rat said as he climbed onto her lap. "Well, I'm not like most people." She said, chuckling lightly. "I can see that." He said as he climbed up to her shoulder and started patting her face to try and keep her up.
"Are we almost there?" Yao asked as they ran through the garden. "Yes. We're here!" She said as she skidded to a stop in front of what Yao knew as "the building you're not allowed to go into". The tiger opened the door by ramming into it a few times, nearly throwing Yao off her back.
When the door opened, they discovered stairs that went underground and they cautiously went down them. They began to hear the faint voice of someone talking. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the tiger began to glance around the cells. All of the cells seemed to be empty but the voice was becoming louder and Yao and the tiger were horrified when they saw what had happened to the girl, completely ignoring the rat that was trying, and failing, to keep her up.
Yao quickly pushed on the cell's door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and fell on his face. The tiger sighed but then quickly went over to the girl and started chewing on the chains holding her hands to the wall. After a few minutes of chewing she was able to break the chains, but the shackles remained. She started licking the girl's wounds while the rat was poking the side of Yao's face before he woke up.
Yao quickly ran over to the girl and the tiger and held the girl close, after asking the tiger first, of course. He heard light groaning coming from the girl, having realized that she was beginning to wake up.
As she opened her eyes, Yao held his breath. Yao was about to ask if she was okay before she punched him in the face. Yao had the strong urge to drop her but resisted said urge. When he didn't let go, she head butted him and jumped away, quickly wincing as she landed on her rear.
She glared at Yao before she saw her mother. "Mama!" She yelled before hugging the tiger and then wincing. "Mama, what are you doing here?" She asked worriedly. "I came to save you, sunrise has passed." The tiger said. "And you should apologize to the young boy, he helped save you. No matter how little it was." She said, mumbling the end. "No, all members of the royal family are our enemies." She said stubbornly, continuing to glare at Yao.
"Wait, why do you hate the royal family? What did we do?" Yao asked, holding his throbbing forehead. "You killed papa!" She yelled, tears forming in her eyes. Yao's eyes widened considerably. "What do you mean?" He asked slowly. "Some of your guards came to the forest and killed papa. I followed the trail of the blood but ended up being caught." She said quickly as Yao stood up, his eyes never leaving her tear strained face.
Yao quickly walked over to her as she shook with each sob that escaped her mouth. Just as quickly as he moved, Yao brought her to him, burying his head in her hair as she tried to push him away. She quickly gave up and started crying into his chest, not caring that he was a member of the royal family.
After a few minutes of standing like that, she had calmed down and quickly pushed on his chest again. Yao let her go and she began to wipe her eyes. "Thanks for that." She said, embarrassed to have been comforted by the "enemy". "It was no problem. Come with me." Yao said as he gripped one of her wrists lightly. "Why would I go with you?" She asked stubbornly, pulling her hand away. "We're going to see my father. You can confront him about why our guards killed your father." Yao said, looking at her determinedly.
She just looked at him with amazement, her hate for him fading away. "But there is one condition." Yao said suddenly. "And what might that condition be?" She asked, glaring at him once again. "You have to tell me your name." He said, smiling happily. "My name? That's it? And then you'll take me to your father?" She asked cautiously. "I promise to take you to my father if you give me your name." Yao said, his smile never leaving his face. "If that's really all, then I'm Sakura." She said, putting her hand out to Yao. "And I'm Yao. Now, let's go." He said as he shook her hand. "Right." Sakura responded before they jumped onto her mother's back. "I'll give you the directions as we go." Yao said as she started running.
After a few minutes, they had arrived to two very large doors and Yao jumped off of the tiger, offering his hand to Sakura, who just jumped off as well. Sakura quickly pushed the doors open with some help from Yao. The emperor glanced at them quickly, putting a little boy down with three other children. "Yao, what is it? And who is this?" His father asked as the children looked to see what he was talking about. "Big brother, you found her!" Im Young yelled as he ran over to Yao and Sakura.
Sakura just stared at the boy as Yao rubbed his head, smiling proudly. "Yes I did and I even found out her name!" He said proudly as Im Young looked up at him happily. He then walked over to Sakura and started dragging her to the other children. "I'm Im Yong, that's Kiku, Leon, and Mei!" Im Young said happily, pointing to the boy with black hair and brown eyes first, then the boy with brown hair and brown eyes, and then the girl with brown hair and brown eyes. The children gave a quick nod and waited for her to introduce herself. "I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you all." Sakura said, smiling to them.
As she was turning back to the emperor, she heard a scream. She turned to see the woman that had whipped her. "What is that creature doing with my children!" She screamed, quickly pushing Sakura away from the children and going in front of them. Sakura landed on her rear but quickly got back up. "Mother, what's wrong?" Yao asked as he came up by Sakura. "There's a filthy creature here, that's what's wrong!" His mother screeched at him. "She's no cre-" Yao started before Sakura cut him off. "You're that woman that whipped me!" Sakura yelled.
"Mother, what is she talking about!" Yao demanded, quickly turning from Sakura to his mother. "I was merely trying to keep that creature away from my children! When I found her, she was about to enter your room!" His mother defended. "You were about to go into my room?" Yao asked, turning to Sakura, blushing lightly. "I thought that it would be where the emperor was." She said shrugging. "See! She wanted to kill you!" The empress yelled to the emperor. "No I wasn't! I was going to demand why my father was killed!" Sakura defended herself. "Be quiet!" Sakura's mother suddenly yelled.
They all turned to her with wide eyes, aside from Sakura and Yao. "That tiger, it spoke." Yao's father mumbled out quietly with wide eyes before bowing in a kowtow to her. His children, following his example, began to bow as well. "What are you doing?" The empress screeched, looking around at her family. Yao and Sakura just stood, dumbstruck, looking at Yao's family. "Forgive us my lord!" Yao's father yelled out; sweat beginning to form on his brow. "Mama, what are they doing?" Sakura asked, turning to her mother confusedly. She sighed before speaking. "Sakura, I should show you my true form." "Mama?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.
In a second there was a strong breeze that formed out of nowhere and surrounded the tiger, scorning her figure from view. When the breeze cleared, a beautiful woman stood where the tiger had been. Black hair that flowed to her feet seemed to float around her as her skin seemed to glow and her black eyes were shining.
"Mama?" Sakura asked, wide eyed at the woman. "Yes Sakura, I am your mother. You have known me as the tiger. The truth is that your father and I are guardian deities of the bamboo forest. We came across you one day and decided to raise you." She explained as she caressed Sakura's face. "But papa-" Sakura started before her mother cut her off. "Yes, that is a problem, isn't it?" She mumbled before turning to the empress. "Take me to my husband!" She demanded. "I-I don't know where he is!" She yelled. "Then who does?" She growled out. "The guards over there!" The empress yelled, pointing to a group of guards that were staring dumbstruck at the deity.
She turned to them and then appeared in front of them within a blink of an eye. "Take me to my husband." She growled out once again, making some of the guards run off. "Y-Yes ma'am!" One of the guards yelled, beginning to walk out of the room into the garden. The deity, Sakura, and Yao's family followed behind.
The guard stopped in front of some freshly dug dirt. "This is where we buried him. We thought that such a marvelous creature didn't deserve to die the way he did and we thought the least we could do to condole for what we did was to give him a proper burial. Please forgive us for what we did!" The guard explained before bowing to her. "Rise, it was not you who wanted to kill him. We understood that this woman would do almost anything to get what she wants, including threatening families." She said, turning to the empress who looked appalled.
"Sakura, come help me." She said, getting down on her knees as she started digging with her hands. Sakura ran over and begun to help unbury her father. After a few minutes of digging, they uncovered his head and quickly started digging around him. Sakura held back tears as they pulled him out of his make-shift grave. "Oh, my darling, you know how you're making Sakura feel." She said, rubbing the side of his head.
Another strong wind came and covered his body, as it had done with Sakura's mother. When the wind cleared, a handsome man with long black hair, longer than Sakura's mother's, and his skin didn't glow as much as her, but there was a faint glow. His eyes were closed, hiding the color of his eyes.
"I-I… know." He mumbled out, one of his eyes opening slightly to reveal black orbs much like hers. "Papa?" Sakura asked, her tears becoming harder to hold back as her vision started to blur. "Y-Yes Sakura. I'm s-sorry for scaring you." He said, caressing Sakura's face as she gave up trying to hold back her tears and let them flow as she clutched his hand. Yao just watched her, sadness being brought to him by seeing her tears. He quickly grew angry before turning to his mother. As he was about to say something, though, his father beat him to it.
"Why would you attack deities?" He yelled at her. Before she could answer, though, Sakura's mother interrupted her. "She thought that Sakura was stealing and that she couldn't survive on her own. She thought that without us, Sakura would wither away. She didn't realize Sakura was finding her own food away from the village." She explained, glaring at the empress as she helped her husband stand. "Guards! Take her to the dungeon!" Yao's father commanded without hesitation. "No! You can't do this to me!" She yelled as the guards shackled her hands behind her back before walking her away.
Yao's father bowed deeply to the two deities and Sakura. "I apologize greatly for what she tried to do." He said as he ushered his children to bow, which they complied to. "We know you had nothing to do with this emperor. You have no reason to apologize for something going on without your knowledge." Sakura's father spoke as he began to stand on his own.
Everyone stood straight as Yao's father started conversing with Sakura's parents. Im Yong wasted no time to run over to Sakura, grabbing her arm, and dragging her over to Yao. "Big brother will she be living with us now?" Im Yong asked; a shine in his eyes that made them seem to be brimming over with happiness. "W-What?" Sakura and Yao asked at the same time, Yao blushing a bright red.
Im Yong let go of Sakura's arm, went over to Yao, and motioned his face downwards. Yao leaned down to see what he wanted before Im Yong started stretching his cheeks out. Yao tried pulling Im Yong's hands off his face when he heard Sakura's light laugh. Im Yong smiled and let go of Yao's face before running off to play with his other siblings. "What was that all about?" Sakura asked, smiling softly as she watched them play. "I-I don't know." Yao said, rubbing his cheeks and hiding his blush.
Sakura's mother noticed that they were standing close together and got an evil glint in her eyes. She casually flashed over behind Sakura and lightly pushed her forward before running back over to the emperor and her husband. Sakura fell on Yao, causing the two to fall, both blushing deeply. Their parents just chuckled as they both apologized for nothing and helped each other up. "What do you say to a marriage?" Yao's father whispered. "It's a splendid idea." Sakura's parents agreed.
XwX End XwX
Wow. This turned out WAY different then my original idea! I have no idea when the tigers became deities. Originally the father was supposed to be hung up on the wall of the empress' bedroom. And it became way longer than I thought it would! It's my first one-shot and I'm happy to say that.
I feel like I'm the first one to write a China x Sakura story, which I really wouldn't be surprised about.
I also want to point out that I suck at describing stuff so I leave the idea of everyone's clothes to you. Yao's father looks like an older version of Yao with black eyes and his mother has black hair and brown eyes.
I hope everyone enjoyed this and I hope you'll read my other stories once they're out! I sorry for the sucky-ness of this!