A/N: Hey there :) Welcome to my new multi-chap fic I've been working on! (and yes that means I have chapters stored up, so I'm hoping for weekly updates, if people like this story)
There are quite a few things about this story that I feel like I should mention - like first of all it's SasuNaru! Be warned! (And other minor pairings.) Rated M for future scenes, etc. This story is quite obviously an AU, with Prince!Naruto and advisor!Sasuke, as well as their double identities in the Leaf gang. The prologue is essentially an introduction, so be warned nothing much happens xD That much being said... I hope you do choose to continue reading, even though I'm talking quite a bit right now lol.
Disclaimer (for whole fic): Evidently I don't own Naruto, enough said, though I wish I did. I don't own the cover image either, but I tinkered with it in Paint (I wish so bad I had Photoshop) and added the words. Image is by 10-rankai, love her to bits.
Betrayed By a Truth
The Beginning
Dark streaks leaped through the air, flipping over alleys and jumping atop buildings in an impressive show of acrobatics. Some even dared to venture into the streets below, pushing off the sides of shops and somersaulting over the civilians' heads. The civilians shrieked and ducked out of the way, hiding under stalls and pressing themselves against the brick buildings in an attempt to remain safe.
It was a fruitless endeavor. The famed Leaf gang would never hurt the innocents; that had been established long, long ago.
The Leaf gang was one of the most prominent in Konoha. They only ventured out about once a month, but when they did, indiscriminate acts of good always appeared soon after. Now, whenever the dark shadows flew through the streets of Konoha, people praised them and associated them with good—the light in the time of darkness, when Konoha was plunged in its darkest war yet. The Leaf was a way to keep their hope.
Metal clanged loudly as someone dropped down on top of a cluster of trash cans, cursing as their footing slipped and the cans gave way. Rubbing his back painfully, he sat up and was met with a hand in his face. Glancing up, he smiled as he saw the familiar dog-faced mask of one of his 'subordinates'.
The leader of the Leaf didn't like to call his underlings, well, underlings. Or anything related to that word. They were equals, he insisted, otherwise the power would be too divided. That was how the whole mess with Konoha and the other kingdoms had started.
He took Pup's gloved hand—they all had code names, since revealing themselves would be decidedly risky—and heaved himself to his feet. "Thanks." He received a nod in reply. "Where are the others?"
"They're still out there." Pup shrugged, hand disappearing under his hood to scratch his hair. "Why are these masks so itchy?" he whined, pawing at it half-heartedly.
"Why are you so whiny?" a new voice snapped. The two cloaked gang members glanced up sharply to the opening of the alley, despite already knowing who it was. It never hurt to be too cautious, as they had learned the hard way.
"Blossom." Pup's voice was anything but pleased. "Stop insulting me. We're equals, ne, Kyuubi?"
"Doesn't seem that way when your codename is Kyuubi, oh leader." There was an obvious repressed smirk in Blossom's voice as she approached, arms swinging casually. Her mask was abstract, as most of theirs were (even Pup's dog mask was decidedly less dog-like than the man probably would've liked) and coated with a spattering of pink, almost like cherry blossoms falling in the snow. If Kyuubi was poetic, that was how he would've put it.
"Don't make fun of it. I could've picked Fox, you know, since it's so much more 'equal', but since you guys all insisted, I kept Kyuubi." He huffed and crossed his arms. Kyuubi was a legend in Konoha—supposedly a giant nine-tailed fox had attacked the kingdom centuries ago, and was sealed away by a hero who sacrificed his own life in return. Since Kyuubi's mask was a fox, streaked with orange to match, his gang had decided that his codename would be, fittingly, Kyuubi.
"That's true." They all started as someone appeared next to Pup, as silently and stealthily as his codename suggested. Shadow.
Pup jumped away from Shadow. "Dude! Don't do that! It scares me when you pull your freaky-deaky shadow crap, you know that!"
"That's exactly why you're so fun to rile."
Pup and Shadow began arguing—though it was a rather one-sided argument. Kyuubi glanced at Blossom. "Do you know where Raven is?"
"Right here."
Kyuubi glanced up, eyes widening slightly as he saw Raven hanging (rather impressively, though he would never admit it) off the side of the building, balancing upside down and held up only by his toes. "What are you doing?! Get down before you hurt yourself!"
"Yes sir," Raven answered sarcastically before flipping in the air and landing lightly next to Kyuubi. "Was I last?"
"Yeah." Kyuubi frowned as he leaned in closer to Raven, inspecting his mask. "What happened to your mask?"
"I got hit." Raven shrugged, like it was no big deal—only it was, because no one attacked the Leaf gang on their monthly rounds. They may have been small, with only five members, but they were renowned and respected for their rather impressive fighting skills. Pup could call on a dog whenever and wherever they were; Blossom had brute strength; Shadow could seemingly melt into any shadow. Kyuubi and Raven were special, though. Kyuubi because of his extraordinary chakra-manipulation skills, which most people seldom activated, and Raven—
Raven was unique, because none of them had ever seen what he could do.
The only thing they knew was the fact that he rarely, rarely, rarely ever got hit by anything. He took down opponents in a flash of black, and then it was over before they even knew what happened.
Instantly, the other three members snapped to attention, staring at Raven's now somewhat bloody mask. His, unlike Shadow's, wasn't a jet black. Instead, it had been painted with swirls of midnight blue, sharp and intense in some areas while soft and intangible in others. Right now, it was splashed with red, bright and surprisingly contrasting.
"Tell me what happened," Kyuubi ordered. Unease was beginning to churn in his stomach. He didn't like it when his members got injured.
(not again)
"Nothing much, okay? It was a stupid accident. I stopped in another alleyway for a second to adjust my mask while the rest of you went ahead, and there were some thugs in the alley. Five of them. They took me by surprise and while I didn't get hurt, I had to clean them up rather messily. Satisfied?" Raven's voice was the perfect mix of cool annoyance and slight defensiveness.
Almost too perfect.
The unease grew in Kyuubi as the rest of his gang nodded, accepting Raven's excuse. Something wasn't right in Raven's words—most of it sounded true, but there was something wrong about the whole concept. Raven was never taken by surprise. He shouldn't have been able to been.
Kyuubi stayed quieter than normal throughout the rest of their meet-up and report, only nodding when he was required to. At last, Shadow, Pup, and Blossom bid goodbye and vanished from the alley, leaving him and Raven alone.
"Well, see you later, Kyuubi." Raven lifted his hand in a goodbye as he headed toward the entrance to the alley as well. He had returned to the normal Raven Kyuubi knew and respected after his little arrival incident, and now there were no alarms pinging in Kyuubi. But that feeling from before hadn't completely vanished either, and he couldn't figure out why he was feeling this way. He didn't suspect his fellow gang members. He just…didn't.
So why was he doing it now?
"Wait." Raven halted, back to him. It was a strangely disturbing image Kyuubi decided he didn't like too much. "I…I can trust you, right?"
Raven was quiet for a long time. So long that Kyuubi was beginning to grow uncertain, and he was about to speak again when—
"What do you think?"
And then Raven disappeared in a flash of his black cloak, leaving Kyuubi alone in the alley.
"Your Highness," a maid murmured respectfully as she bowed to Naruto, head low and hands clasped.
"Makiko," he replied, nodding courteously. "Would you mind telling the chefs to prepare some honey-lemon water and bring it to my room? My throat's feeling a little sore."
"Of course, Your Highness." She bowed again and disappeared off down the corridor. Naruto began walking again, lost in his thoughts.
It wasn't often his 'other duties' distracted him enough to affect him in reality. Kyuubi was another personality, he liked to think. One that wasn't needed in his daily life, but was desired by the public to maintain good and general prosperity. Kyuubi was a side job—separate from his princely duties, and not to be thought of unless it was that time of month again.
So why was it plaguing him right now?
Or to be more exact, why was Raven plaguing his thoughts? Naruto despised, more than anything, betrayal. He'd been betrayed by more than a few people in his young lifetime, and while he knew it came with being next in line for the throne—when he turned eighteen, he could succeed Danzo at last—it still hurt every time someone tried to take his life or ran away to join separate armies.
Naruto frowned, shaking his head to clear the thoughts. No. He wouldn't think about Raven anymore. He trusted Raven, and Raven trusted him.
Right?
He reached his room, finding the honey-lemon water already present by the time he arrived. He gulped it down eagerly—talking in a lower pitch than his normal voice took its toll every time. In order to remain masked, should he ever meet a member of the Leaf gang, he took on a different voice to fool them, as did every member of the gang. It was too dangerous otherwise.
"Prince? Are you in there?" A light rapping echoed on his door.
"Yes, come in." Naruto turned, seeing his best friend and chief advisor standing in the doorway. "Sasuke! I told you not to call me Prince, didn't I? It's way too formal."
"I know, but what would I do if someone heard me? They'd have my head." Sasuke rolled his eyes, shutting the door behind him. "You have a meeting with His Majesty Danzo in a couple minutes, so I suggest you start getting ready. Where were you, anyway? Those aren't clothes for riding, and they look rather dirty."
"Eh, I was out in disguise, wandering the city." Naruto waved his hand dismissively, praying Sasuke wouldn't catch on to the lie. He did it often enough as it was (visiting the city, that is, not lying).
Luckily for him, Sasuke didn't pursue the topic. "Just don't be caught. You know that Danzo doesn't like you drawing attention to yourself in the public."
"It's just because he isn't doing any good on the throne," Naruto muttered, too quietly for Sasuke to hear. Sasuke was first and foremost Danzo's advisor, after all, and any mention of treason-like talk would be reported to Danzo immediately. No matter if Sasuke agreed on his opinions or not. This was what came with loyalty, and that was what came with being on the throne.
That, and multiple assassination attempts.
"I'll be there. You go on ahead."
"Okay. See you in a few." Sasuke left, closing the door softly behind him.
Naruto opened his wardrobe, staring at the clothes lines up inside. They were impossibly fancy and incredibly uncomfortable. What he wouldn't give for just one day outside—not as Kyuubi, but as someone normal. Someone without the ties to the throne, without having the burden of clearing Konoha's name as soon as he succeeded Danzo. Someone that didn't have to stop the infighting and someone that didn't have to make peace with the other countries. Someone that had friends, real friends, that would never even think about betraying him.
Someone who had a family still.
But more than anything, Naruto loved Konoha, and for the sake of his country, he would do whatever it took to resolve the wars and finally lift the oppressing darkness. No matter the betrayal, no matter the deaths, he would free Konoha.
A prince must be selfless. He must set aside his life for his country. He must withstand the erosion of time, trust, and bonds. He must uphold his duties without fail.
Naruto knew all that. He knew it and he was determined to follow it.
Yet once, just once… he wished he had the privilege of being selfish.
Free me from the chains of royalty and the shackles of a double life.
A/N: Congrats if you made it down here (it's rather short right now, sorry 'bout that)! Here are some more tidbits/fun facts/kinda essential info you should know about BBAT, as I like to call it...
DID YOU KNOW... this story was supposed to be really really really dark and depressing but thankfully, I can't write like that, as the first couple chapters I've written show. So in return you get angst! :D Have fun. The masks they wear are kinda like ANBU masks, but more abstract-ish and less animal shaped. If any of you know Hei from Darker than Black (really awesome show btw), take his mask and the ANBU's design, and you kinda get the Leaf gang's masks. It should be easy figuring out the true person behind the code names (Kyuubi, Naruto) because I wasn't really trying to hide them xD But if you have questions about anything, PM me or leave it in a review and I'll be happy to answer!
Kyuubi really has no place in this fic - like, big furry lovable Kurama demon fox Kyuubi. It's only Naruto's codename... In case it wasn't clear, they have different pitch voices for Leafgang!identity and real!identity; so Naruto lowers his voice, others raise theirs, etc. Originally I wasn't going to place everyone from the Leaf inside the castle but then I did cuz I got lazy :P (except one person, but you'll see that next chapter!) And while I was writing this, I kept typing everyone's real names instead of their codenames... it was really confusing argh.
Okay really long A/N done. If you sat through all that and still decided you think this fic is worth a shot, please review! :) It'll be much appreciated and I'll love you and never let you go. Rawr.
TBC!
(p.s. if you guys like it, next update will be a week from now)
