Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto. If I did I would find some way to get Naruto out of Konoha and into Earthland. As it is I shall make do.
A/N: I know it has been a long time since I have updated but I've decided to do a rewrite Princess of Darkness.
No matter where she ran, Naru Namikaze could hear the villager's screams and screeches as the masked men murdered them or drag them to the carriages. Not once did she turn her back around to look at the screaming villager or stop to breath. There was no time for her to stop. To stop meant they would catch her, drag her to the carriage or murder her in cold blood.
She felt her blood turn cold when she caught sight of the masked man grabbing one of the kids, one of her friends, and hauling him to a cart filled with the other kids and the other villagers. She could feel water streaming down her cheeks when one of the kids looked at her, eyes widened with hope as if hoping she would save them.
Without another word, Naru started to run as fast as her legs could take her, not looking back to the crying kids. Her heart broke at each step she took but Naru gulped it down and continued to run away from them, muttering under her breath a little prayer to Kami, who she wished would let her not to have her friend's fate.
However, it seemed Kami would not allow it.
She tumbled, cried out in pain, and looked up to the dark cloudy sky when she hit a small rock. She could hear her leg bone crack, signalling that either her leg was broken or that it was now out of position. It did not matter either way because the moment she yelled, she had told the masked men where she was.
She closed her eyes and mutter a little prayer that her mother taught her. She prayed to Kami, to the fates or to any deity that was listening to her. She prayed out loud when she heard the screams of her parent. She prayed that this would end, that this was nothing but a dream but most of all that her parents would make out of this alive. She only stopped praying when her parents' screams stopped and heard the men cruel laughter that began right where her parents' screams ended.
Naru felt a lump being formed in her throat and started to whimper as she realized what their laughter meant. Her strong parents were gone. They left her all alone with nobody to take her. By now her older adopted brother was either dead or had been taken away by these cruel people, leaving her alone to figure out what her fate might be.
Would she die here? She asked herself.
She hoped not.
She did not want to die when her parents' killers were still out there, basking in her parents' deaths.
Her whole body stiffened when she heard a cold, cruel laugh that seemed to becoming louder as each second passed. She gulped when she caught sight of the owner of this vile laugh. He was smiling at her but it not like her father's warm smiles, it was a smile that promised many years worth of pain. It was a smile so evil and cruel that it made her want to curl into a little ball and wait for him to murder her. She screamed when she saw the sword in his hands and screamed louder when the other kids started to scream as well.
Her screams soon turned to a laughter when she realized just how bad the situation was for her. Her home was destroyed. Her parents were dead. She did not know if her brother was alive or dead. Her friends were either murdered or had been taken away from the village. She only stopped laughing when the man grabbed her by the neck.
She thrashed and kicked him but not once did the man loosen his hold on her neck. If anything, his grip on her neck was tighter. She felt her lungs burned, scrotching as if to tell her that her life was going to get worse now.
She closed her eyes.
What are they going to do to me? Naru asked herself as the men shoved her into the cart. Am I going to die here?
Chapter 1
The Tower of Heaven was a cruel place that was known to torture everyone who inhabited it. To the people who were forced to work there, the tower served as a reminder of what they had lost: their freedom and their homes. Every slave dreamt of the day where they would be free to do as they wish, where they could go back to their homes. However, none of them dreamed that as much as Naru Namikaze. For the young blond, it had been a terrible long three years since she lost her parents and brother as well as the last time she had stepped out of the tower.
The young blond dreamt of the days where she screamed and jumped on her older brother as she pleaded for him to play with her. She dreamt of her mother's soothing voice and her stories of her old village. She dreamt of her father singing off pitch as he came back from work, giving her one of his big smiles before tickling her stomach without mercy.
She shook her head at her thoughts and looked at Konohamaru, who was now crying silently for his mother, and then to the sobbing faces of Sakura and Hinata. Looking at their faces reminded her of their current situation. She did not have her parents with her anymore. What she had now were her friends, her fellow slaves and the guards. The guards who sometimes whispered about how they kill and who they had killed, which always brought back the bitter memories of her parents' death.
She gritted her teeth, tightened her grip on the prison's bars as she tried to push back the horrible memories. She looked at her friends, who were now crowding on the crying boy. Hinata was hugging the boy while Sakura clung onto Sasuke while Ino, Shikamaru and Choji huddled against each other. It was only Kiba who was not standing close to anyone, looking uncertain on what to do.
"Naru-neechan, I want to go home! I want to see my Kaa-chan!" Konohamaru cried, looking at her with tear-stained eyes. "Why can't we go back home? Why are they making us do this?"
Naru gulped and tried to steady her shaking hands as she tried to think of a way to answer his question. Sasuke grimaced and looked at her with concern while everyone else suddenly stood still and ceased their talking at his question.
"Konohamaru-kun…we can't see our parents anymore," Hinata whispered, voicing out everyone's thoughts. "They are gone…these people murdered our parents and took us in because we were young and strong enough to do this task. These monsters saw it fit to destroy our homes, our village, our lives…our families."
"So…Kaa-chan is never coming back?" Konohamaru asked, rubbing his eyes at them.
Naru nodded, walked over to the little boy before giving him a tight hug. Konohamaru relaxed into the hug, sobbing on her ragged shirt for the mother he lost and never really knew. She rubbed his back, closing her eyes as she stopped herself from crying out loud for the parents and brother she loved so dearly.
"We will get out of here Konohamaru," Naru declared, giving the boy a smile before giving the others a determined look. The little boy beamed at her words while everyone else gaped at her words. "I will make sure that we will get out of this hell hole and for us to go to a place where we can be finally free, a place where we do not have to live in fear."
The kids gasped at her words, furiously shaking their heads at her and giving her looks that said she was crazy for even thinking like that. Only Sasuke and Konohamaru did not give her such looks. The younger boy was giving her a hopeful look, eyes so wide with hope that Naru knew without doubt that she wanted that look to stay. Sasuke, on the other hand, simply raised his eyebrow at her.
"It's impossible for us to escape from here Naru!" Kiba yelled. "Y'know what they will do to us if we get caught even planning? If we fail to escape from here then our treatment will be even worse! We might lose a leg!"
"So what! Our lives here already suck!" Naru snapped, clenching her hands into a fist. "I don't want us to be stuck here for the rest of our lives! Don't you want to see the outside world? Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life? Do you want to be surrounded by the people who murdered our families?"
Kiba stared at her and made no attempts in answering her question but it was enough for Naru to know what he was thinking. She glanced at the others, who looked away from her. She gritted her teeth, ran her hand through her hair as she tried to figure out ways to get them to see her point. She straightened her back when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. She turned her body around, smiling bitterly at Sasuke, who nodded his head at her. She smiled softly when Konohamaru placed his hands onto her lap.
"Naru, do you realize just how dangerous it is just to make an escape plan?" Sasuke asked. He threw his hands up to the air when Naru shot him an irritated look. "I want to be free like you but there is a huge chance that we will get punish for this."
"And this isn't punishment in itself?" Naru hissed, pointing to his bruised arms and then to Konohamaru's skinny fame. "You know that this is killing us right? If this continues then none of us live to be sixteen!"
"Naru…" Hinata said softly.
"Why must we give up before we even try?" Naru asked them, pacing back and forth in their prison. "Don't you remember the words of the village leader, the words of my father? He said that anything is possible as long as we don't give up! So why are we giving up?"
None of them answer her question, giving her pitying looks at the reminder of her father. She shook her head, gripped the butterfly necklace that clung to her as she stared into her friends' eyes. Would they be like this if their siblings and parents were here? Would they have been here if they had simply run faster? Would any of this happen if the mages in their village had been stronger?
"Naru…we just can't take the risk," Sakura whispered sombrely. "You know what happens to the people that got caught escaping! None of us wants to see you get hurt by this!"
She stared at her friend's bright frightened green eyes and then to Konohamaru. She felt her heart tightened at the sight of his longing look as he stared out at the flying birds. She ruffled his hair and felt her heart lightened when he gave her a smile. She gave him a smile and then glanced at her sullen friends, giving them a bitter smile.
"I don't care if I get hurt! I want us to get out of here! I want everyone of us to be happy, to try being the people who we were before all this shit happened," Naru declared. "Do you remember the times when we all joke around? Don't you miss complaining about school? Hell do you even miss going back to school? Don't you miss being able to walk around outside without the fear being whipped and being able to say what is in your mind?"
"Yes!" Ino grinned. "Don't you remember how we used to talk about the boys in the class? And how we used to go over to each other's houses to play games?"
"Or how we used to eat so much food!" Choji cried, licking his lips as he pictured a table filled with so much food.
They all looked at each other before breaking into laughter at Choji's words. Choji grinned and laughed alongside them. Only Naru didn't laugh but the girl did have a smile on her face as she listened to her friends laugh. It had taken them only three years now to laugh like this again. Her friends laughing and being happy was what Naru wanted things to be like but she knew as long as they stayed here then all of that would be gone.
She didn't want that to happen.
"I miss playing shogi and watching the clouds," Shikamaru admitted.
"Of course you do," Ino muttered. "Honestly, you're so lazy…always doing the bare minimum amount of work. I bet if we ever get free then you'll go back to being your lazy self."
"Troublesome…at least I don't gossip whenever I get the chance," he retorted.
Ino scowled at his comment while everyone else laughed at the truth of his words. They glanced at each other before gazing out at the window, where they could hear the birds chirping. Naru hated this. She hated the fact none of her friends were like their usual selves. All of them had been forced to change because of this place. Sasuke, who used to be the most arrogant guy in their class, had learnt to be humble. Shikamaru, who was the laziest person she had ever met, was slowly becoming less lazy. Choji was becoming thinner and wasn't eating as much as before. Sakura, Ino and Hinata no longer smiled and in the case of Ino and Sakura looked at the boys with hearts in their eyes. Konohamaru…he was the worst one yet. Three years ago, he had the biggest smile in the village and would follow her around everywhere, calling out 'Nee-chan'. Now of days, he didn't smile at her and rarely did he follow her.
"I want to see my brother," Sasuke informed them.
Naru nodded. "We are all wishing for something but we're not going to get it! Not unless we get out of this hellhole! If we want all of those things back then we need to escape! If our parents were in our shoes, what would have they done?"
All of them avoided her gaze except for Sasuke who had curled his lips into a smirk. She grinned, knowing the smirk right there was a sign that the old Sasuke was still there, that her childhood friend hadn't stopped being his arrogant self. It seemed like her worries of him never going back to his usual self was for nothing. There was just enough hope that maybe just maybe everyone here could revert back to their old ways.
Shaking her head, Naru glanced at Shikamaru and grinned at the familiar sight of Shikamaru doing his thinking position. Choji looked at his best friend with a thoughtful look while Sakura and Ino gave Naru a hesitant look that told her everything she needed to know about their thoughts on this. She glanced at Hinata, who chewed on her lips as she stared at her, and the to Kiba, who growled at her.
"Let us just say we agree with your idea, how do we get out of this hellhole Naru?" Kiba asked.
Naru rubbed her neck. "I h-haven't made a plan."
Everyone shook their head at her and crossed their arms at her. She scrunched her nose and scowled. "I need everyone help to do a plan," she snapped. "I'm not a genius! I can't make a plan by myself! I need everyone to help me do—"
"You're the one who is suggesting that we escape from here! And you're telling us you don't have a plan—"
"This is going to be troublesome but what do you need Naru?" Shikamaru asked, stopping Kiba before he could say anything that could potentially make the girl furious.
She frowned. "Before we even start thinking of escaping, we need to have a layout of this place and the shifts of the guards."
"That's the easy bit!" Kiba boasted. "We've been here for a long time so we know their timetable—"
"It isn't that easy baka," Ino snapped. "We only know bits and pieces of their timetable, we don't know the full timetable of the guards since we're always out."
"Not only that," Hinata said. "We never get the same guards, it changes from day to day and we also need to know which exit is the least guarded, we also—"
"Do you realize what you guys are saying!" Sakura screeched. "We can't simply escape from here! What's going to happen to us if they catch us huh? They're going to punish us or have you forgotten? You heard what happen to the people they punish right? You heard their screams? Are you really going to take that risk? Do you want their punishment?"
They grimaced at her words.
Naru rubbed her chin as she gazed at her pink-haired friend, who rubbed her bruise knuckles as she looked away from her gaze. Punishment. That was the one word every slave in the Tower of Heaven knew so well. Every night as they tried to sleep, they heard the cries and screams of everyone who got punished. In fact, Naru had been punished a few times but luckily, her mother's side of the family had an ability that made it very easy for them to heal. Fortunately, Naru inherited that ability or else she would have a lot more scars then everyone else.
Still, should she take the chance of everyone getting punished? The memory of Konohamaru being kicked and yelled at for not working hard enough rushed through her mind. She shook her head, looking up at the clear night sky. The risk may be great but they were going to fight for a good cause: their freedom.
"Can anyone of you remember the faces of your parents? But how long have we been under their thumb? How long has it been since our village was burnt to the ground and murdered our families?" Naru asked. "Can we remember a day where we didn't work? Answer that!"
Sakura didn't answer but that was all Naru needed to continue on.
"I know the consequences Sakura-chan," Naru whispered, rubbing her scared arms. "I just can't stand seeing all of you guys suffering that I don't give a damn about it. I want us to escape and be free. I'm scared of being punished don't get me wrong but…looking at your faces make me scared of losing all of you guys and that is worse then punishment."
"But we'll get punish…" Sakura protested.
"If that ever happens…I'll take the blame for it," Naru informed her, gulping down the lump being formed in her throat. "I'm not going to let anyone of you guys get hurt from my plans."
"Dobe, we're not allowing you to take all the blame."
The blond-haired girl bit down her lips to stop herself from crying when she saw that everyone was in agreement with Sasuke. She shook her head. "Y'know that out of everyone here, I'm the only one capable of being able to recover from their punishments," she reminded him. "Besides I'm the one who suggested it and none of you wanted to do this so…I'll take the blame if we get caught."
"Dobe, you're bloody idiot if you think I will—"
"Alright," Shikamaru said.
"You're going to let the baka take all the blame!" Sasuke snarled, glaring at Naru.
"She raised a good point," Shikamaru pointed out. "Out of everyone here, Naru heals faster from any injury they give and has a very high pain tolerance."
Everyone frowned and glanced at Naru, who nodded her head. They chewed on their lips as they watched the smiling blond make a funny face to Konohamaru. Were they really going to allow Naru to take the fall? They had to ask themselves this. Naru had always been there for them and had always gotten into trouble for them. Could they allow Naru do this again?
"We need to distribute jobs to everyone," Shikamaru said, snapping everyone from their train of thought.
"Sasuke, Kiba and me will take the job of tracking them when we can," Naru said immediately, earning a smirk from the two boys themselves.
"I'll take the job of listening to their conversation," Ino said, flipping her hair at them.
Naru pursed her lips and glanced at Shikamaru, silently pleading with him to tell Ino otherwise but he shook his head at her and gave her a pointed look. She sighed. The older boy was right. She needed to trust Ino to do this but Naru couldn't help it. The older girl looked so frail and weak now due to all the work they had been forced to do. If she got caught then Naru was concerned that Ino might die from it.
"Sakura and I will make a plan of this place," Hinata said firmly.
"Which leaves Choji and me with the traps," Shikamaru said. "I wouldn't put it pass them to try and catch us as we try to escape."
"You do know that's the most difficult job to do," Ino pointed out. "Are you sure that you're up for it?"
"Out of all of us, Choji and me have the best chance of making sure that the traps will work and that plan will go without a hitch."
"He's right, Shikamaru is our residence genius…if anyone can make sure we can live through this then it's those two," Naru said, giving a curt nod to Shikamaru and Choji. Whenever she used to do pranks, she would get those two to help her do it. She gave the general plan to them but it was those two who would refine the details and make her think about what she had to do next, in order for her not to get caught by her father.
"How long do you think it will be before we can escape?" Sasuke asked.
Shikamaru sighed. "If we're efficient and don't get caught then we'll be out of here by next month."
Naru nodded and leaned her back against the wall before slumping her shoulders. She looked out at the full moon, closed her eyes and felt her eyelids become heavy as the memories of her parents and brother rushed through her mind. She could see her mother's radiant smile and hear her father's teasing voice as he called her mother 'motor-mouth'. She could almost feel her older brother's shoulders which always became tensed whenever she tried to hug him. The only thing, she couldn't remember were their smiling faces.
"How long has it been since our village was destroyed?" Naru asked.
"Too long," Hinata answered, gazing sadly up at the moon. "It's been too long since we were separated from our families…I wonder where Neji-niisan is and if imouto is alive."
"We all wonder if our families are alive," Naru answered. "You and Sasuke, at least have the knowledge that at least someone in your family is alive. The others and me have no idea on whether they are alive or at least know that we no longer have any living relatives."
"Naru-chan…"
"I'm fine Hinata-chan, don't worry," Naru smiled widely. "At least I've got you guys and that's enough."
Hinata pursed her lips and nodded her head slowly before gazing out at their prison doors. "I just hope that Neji-niisan is alright and imouto is ok. It'll be unpleasant if I learn they had the same fate as us."
Naru nodded in agreement, placed her hands behind her head and looked at the others to see their reactions. She felt her heart grow heavy when she noticed the strained look on Sasuke's face. Everyone had their worries and hopes that most of their friend survived. Naru hoped and prayed that Itachi, Neji, Shisui, Lee and Tenten were safe and happy wherever they were. Her friends didn't deserve to feel the pain of losing a loved one…Naru didn't want them to go through her pain.
Well, they would know soon if their friends were safe.
Hopefully by the end of the month, they would be out of here and everyone could find out what happened to their friends and relatives.
As each day passed, Naru could feel her heart becoming more and more giddy despite all the labour they were forced to do. The day of their escape was coming soon. The sweet taste of freedom was just in her hands. In a matter of days, all of this suffering would be nothing but a distant memory for them. They could forget about this hellhole and do what they want. In just a matter of three days, seventy two hours, 4320 minutes, they were going to be out of this hellhole and be free to do what they want.
There was the question of where would they go after they escape. This was the one question Naru asked herself every time. Do we all stick together? And what if we all want to go to different places? What do we do then? She asked herself as she dug through the hard ground to find the Lacrima. She shook her head, paused in her work and rubbed her sleeves against her sweaty forehead. Looking at the other slaves as they worked under the blazing sun made her heart swell with regret. The other slaves had been here as long as she had, some of them had been born here while others had been here longer than she had.
Was it alright for her to leave them like this?
She gulped at the sight of the smirking guards that gazed at her as they rubbed their hands with the whip. Taking in a shaky breath, Naru grabbed hold of the shovel and started to dig even harder while keeping her head down at all cost. Showing them fear would do her and her friends no good. Besides, they were going to escape soon and all of this fear she had would be gone. She was going to be free from this.
Her distress must have been noticed because Sasuke was starting dig closer to her and kept looking around the area where all the guards were situated.
"What's matter with you dobe?" Sasuke asked under his breath, glancing at the guards who had now all turned their heads away from them.
She flickered her eyes to the other slaves, who kept their heads down as they dug through the hard ground. "What are we going to do when we get out of here Sasuke?" she asked, looking into the older boy's dark eyes. "We haven't planned anything for what will happen after we escape!"
He arched his eyebrows. "We'll see when we get out of here," he squinted his eyes as he looked up at the sky. "I don't know about the others…but I'm going to search for my brother and cousin, I need to know if they're alive or not. Is that all that's bothering you Naru?"
She chewed on her lip, feeling a headache formed as she tried to figure out whether she should tell him or not of her other concerns. The furrowed eyebrows and the fact he had visible concern for her made it hard for her not to confess to him. Could she really tell him? She didn't want to add more things on his plate. No, what was she thinking? Sasuke had been her best friend since they were in diapers.
If there was anyone Naru could ever tell her concerns to, it would be Sasuke. Not only was he her best friend but he didn't spill secrets and always knew how to read her. If her parents had wanted to know if she was lying about something then they would drag the older boy to their house and ask him to look at her and tell them if she was being honest or not.
"I'm worried about the other slaves," she quietly admitted, hitting the ground as much force as her trembling hands would allow her. "Is it wrong to leave them like this? They've been here longer then us, some of them came around the same time as us and even a few of them had been born here. Do you think we…"
"It's too dangerous Naru."
"I know it's too dangerous," Naru hissed. "It's just unfair for them to stay here. Everyone deserve a chance to escape from this hellhole. Half of the people who originally came with us are dead."
The dark-eyed boy opened his mouth to argue with her, already having arguments against on why they should not bring anymore people with them. She knew without even listening to him, his reasons would be good but no matter how she looked at it…these people were just going to keep suffering. She blinked her eyes when Sasuke shook his head and scowled at her.
What did he just say?
"You didn't listen a word I just say did you?" He asked her, scowling harder when she nodded her head. "It doesn't matter if you didn't hear it. You just need to know we will help them when we get out of here," he glanced at a trembling Ino and shook his head. "The first thing we need to do when we get out of here is get everyone who is sick to the nearest hospital. A good one if possible."
Nodding, Naru glanced at a pale Konohamaru. "Yes," she muttered, glancing at the little boy with concern. "Konohamaru and Ino especially need to go to hospital. I think the both of them caught something but I don't know what."
Sasuke glanced at the guards, who were now barking at the other slaves and slowly distance himself from her. "We need to stop talking," he muttered. "We'll discuss everything else with the others later tonight. Everything is going to be fine Naru."
She smiled at his words, feeling slightly reassured at the fact that everything was going to be fine. Yet looking at the other slaves, Naru had to wonder if it was truly right to not bring the others with them. Naru wondered if they were even going to make it out of this place and if they did, were they going to make it out without losing a piece of their body.
Even though Naru had her doubts, the blue-eyed girl knew there was no chance that she could back out now. Backing out now meant she was a coward and a liar, Naru Namikaze wasn't a coward or a liar.
…Or that what was she told herself.
A/N: Please review.
