"The King's Damosel" by Vera Chapman is one of my favorite books, and it inspired the animated film Quest for Camelot which I LOVE immensely, and so comes in Mulan. :D Do the math...yup, they inspired me to bring this new fic of mine to life.

Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan in feudal Japan, faces a series of adventures, battling personal demons and real ones, as she becomes the shogun's damsel (Japanese "otome") and strives to show that despite being a woman, she is a great warrior.

In this first chapter is a trigger warning, beware. I hated doing it, but it was vital to this story as it was in "The King's Damosel". It's not graphic, but be warned.

Disclaimer: nothing is mine. And the chapters are named similarly like those in Chapman's book.

Chapter One

The Wicked Done to Naruto

Naruto Uzumaki grew up an orphan.

She never knew her parents, only that they had been among the middle class, considered luckier than the unlucky of their nation. Which meant that they were nobility, but somehow she ended up growing in the peasantry. For a time, she was in the orphanage before she reached age eight when she was let go. Money was running short to take care of some of the population, because the fighting with Iwagakure was adding strain to the economy.

One distinct characteristic noted of the strange child was her loud mouth when something didn't go her way, another child teased her, and then she would move to slam her fists into the offender before being separated and being whipped five times as a harsh reminder that laying a hand on another child was punishable. Disobedience was never tolerated. The stings to her backside and thighs made her cry for endless hours of the day and into the night.

Another feature about her teased were the marks on her cheeks, three on each, they made her look like a fox. The other kids called her kitsune no on'nanoko - "fox girl".

How did she stay positive, you would ask? Her caregivers in the orphanage, Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno - both of whom had a daughter who was her age - had taught her that no matter how dark the present may be, there is a chance to fight for the light. They were so kind to her, and they'd run the orphanage. She could have moved in with them, but it wasn't an option. Their hands were tied that some orphans had to be let go onto the streets, and the ones who were adopted went with their new families.

Naruto was the only one who didn't have a home, along with two others - but they were eventually picked up. Why didn't she get that luck?

More importantly: why did no one tell her who her parents were?

One reason she suspected was because she was hardly even pretty to the eyes, although she had been called "cute" on occasion. How could she even be cute? Dirty blonde hair, long and in a mess, but Mebuki used to comb it back herself. Her daughter, Sakura, was the ultimate image of being a girl. In fact, Naruto called her a friend. The pink-haired girl with the red ribbon in her hair brushed the dirty blonde and tied it into a ponytail beneath the nape of her neck, and wrapped it in light blue ribbon.

Somehow, having long hair bothered Naruto to an extent. But she never had anything to cut it, because children weren't allowed to have sharp tools of their own yet. With exceptions of those born in nobility and trained to fight. "Her" class had weapons in case they were attacked, but nobody yet devastated their village. Although Konoha's army was currently waiting out in Kusa against Iwa, because apparently Earth infiltrated Grass to try and get to Fire's borders. Leaf against Rock - with Lightning, Mist and Sand participating by the sides.

If only she was old enough to join the army. If only she had means to get in without sneaking in and then being punished if found out. She HATED being among the weak to be protected. Not only did she want to be recognized, but she wanted to protect her home...

What added to the decline of the orphanage was when she learned of the deaths of Mebuki and Kizashi. Someone had set fire to the place, killing the owners, the few staff, and a couple innocent children. It was publicly confirmed that Iwa ninja assassins had done the horrendous deed. She had been helpless to stop the fire, but something inside her snapped that she dared to brave the flames to help and find any survivors.

One of the children inside who made it was Sakura, who was covered with a couple burns to her hands, and her face was reddened from the heat. Naruto acted fast and pulled her free while the adults who followed her got out the other children. The pinkette wailed for her parents and held onto Naruto, clutching onto the dusted, tomboy blonde like there was no tomorrow, like she was all she had left...

"What are we going to do now?" Sakura whimpered, still crying. "We have no home, Mother and Father are gone...we'll starve out here and die..." It was then and there that another voice surprised them both. It was female, stern but gentle at the same time.

"You two...you're Mebuki's girls?"

Sakura swallowed and hiccupped a couple times before answering first. "I am. Naruto here is my friend, but she has no family." This surprised the woman, her eyes widening by a hair but otherwise giving no reaction. "Mum and Dad took care of her before they let her go."

The woman, blonde and beautiful - more than SHE was - knelt down before them. She was wearing a plain green kimono, her hair in two low pigtails behind her head, and her eyes were a rich shade of gold carefully taking in Naruto's unkempt appearance save for her long hair like her own. She gave a light smile then. "You got pretty hair just like me," she noted, but it set Naruto off.

"Just LIKE you? Yours is more beautiful than mine!" she protested, making the woman laugh.

"Don't be silly, kid. What, do you think yourself low?" Her eyes flickered, and she smirked. "Oh, those markings on your face...are you a cute little vixen or something?

These questions made her feel a little angry. Who did this woman think she was? She was only asking a simple question, but it was like she could read through Naruto. As if sensing the child's behavior, the woman's eyes narrowed a little. "Oh, I'm sorry I was getting to you...Naruto, was it?"

She brightened up. "Yup, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Say, you wouldn't be Kushina's then, would you?"

The lady whirled around at the source of the voice, and there stood a powerfully built man with long white hair, strange red marks on his face, and his grin was broad and flashing with twinkling whites. "Jiraiya," she scolded, "have you been told to announce yourself without surprise?" She stood up from her kneeling position and dusted off her kimono. The man - Jiraiya was it? - chuckled and leaned over to kiss her cheek, which made the girls mutter in disgust to each other.

"Aw, kissing a gorgeous woman is a wonderful thing, girls!" he told them cheerfully. "Just wait till you both grow into really beautiful women and snag a boy off their toes -" The woman, whom Naruto guessed loved him, and she knew this because she'd seen Mebuki and Kizashi as well as their playful quarrels, swatted him on the back of his head. "OW! Tsunade, must you hit me just because I am telling them something they'll learn one day?"

"And it's something they should hear from only a LADY!" the woman called Tsunade hissed, making him cringe and laugh at the same time.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "Y-You're...Tsunade-sama? Mum told me about you! She said you saved her life, and you helped the orphanage during the last war!" The compliment seemed to warm Tsunade, but Naruto had no idea what the heck was going on. She was only eight, halfway behind Sakura, because sometimes information was miscalculated.

However, she did remember hearing the names Jiraiya and Tsunade, but where -?

Jiraiya saw her face and laughed, patting the top of her head. "This one hasn't heard of us, it seems. Well, kiddo, looks like we got a lot to tell you..."

"But before we do that," Tsunade cut in, "you two have nowhere to go?" Both girls shook their heads. She sighed heavily. "Jiraiya, what do you say about these two rosebuds going in with us?"

~o~

Tsunade and Jiraiya, she eventually learned, were two of the three ninja of legend, eventually rising in the ranks with their efforts in the last great war, primarily in the Village Hidden in the Rain, which wasn't among the five giants and very difficult to infiltrate. Besides these two, there was another who went rogue a few years ago and had been hunted for ever since...

She and Sakura thought they would live on the streets, but these two giants took them both in. Tsunade was also the village healer, and Sakura wanted to learn from her, because she'd known the Harunos before they died, leaving their daughter as the last of them. Naruto still had no knowledge of her true background, but she eventually decided that she had everything she needed in front of her: Tsunade, Sakura, and Jiraiya. The two Sages were the parents she never had, and Sakura was like a sister to her even if sometimes they fought over the littlest of things.

Both Naruto and Sakura might have lived modestly, but it was peaceful and everything they wanted. Being taken in by two of the Legendary Sannin was an honor. They had a great education like the other children, both being taken care of by Shizune, the niece of a lover of Tsunade's who died during the second war, while both their adoptive parents were away much of the time, and learned everything that was necessary for young women to know.

For the time being, there was no talk of marriage despite learning the basics about couples when they got to be that age. Poor Jiraiya turned redder than a tomato as he couldn't contain his perverted remarks and sniggering - to which Tsunade slugged him for being disrespectful in front of the girls - Sakura just about fainted but eventually grew into the subject, but Naruto did not find the subject as exciting as she did history and politics.

By the time she was thirteen, the war was at an end. It turned out that the emperor of Konoha and the one of Iwa chose to sign a peace treaty because both sides were fed up with sacrificing many of their best for an endless battle that was draining them both of willpower and in survival. If this went on, there would be nothing left of the Villages Hidden in the Leaves and Stone. But that wasn't the only reason: Itachi Uchiha, son of one of the most elite clans and revered shogun general, returned with a great victory after clashing with the Emperor of Kumo.

It was also by this time, while life was slowly beginning to get better, distinct changes were evident in both Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno.

Seemed Sakura was destined to be the opposite, for she was very rosy and feminine in appearance and attitude - unless you provoked her the wrong way, and she could take you down with a single finger without trying hard. She was prone to sensitivity. Tsunade made a miniature version out of herself in the pinkette who faced very strict teachings starting at this age. But how many women and men learned what the famed Snail Princess harnessed in wartimes?

However, Naruto finally made herself to be the tomboy of the two girls. Her fox-like "whiskers" on her cheeks were still the center of attention. And it was then that she finally mustered the courage to cut her hair to the length she favored. The wild yellow locks were now in a literal flash around her ears, ending just beneath them, marking her almost like a boy. But her accent would mark her female, and if anyone paid attention to the front of her chest, they would also see it, for her bust was a couple more notches than Sakura's, not to put her "sister" and best friend down like that. Except it was nowhere near monstrous in size like Tsunade's.

If the quick-tempered healer heard those words, then you were in for a punch a hundred yards into the distance.

While Sakura was with the granddaughter of the first emperor of Konoha - so, yeah, Tsunade was royalty, but she had no interest in ruling the land, but not only that, she was a woman and therefore women were made for the household and other duties - Naruto was with Jiraiya the pervert. He made no unwanted advances on her, but she had to nickname him Ero-Sannin, which made his eyes turn into white balls.

Naruto suddenly started being called "handsome", which wasn't like Sakura being called "beautiful", because who the hell wanted a tomboy a guy could court? But as far as she was concerned, no boys got her attention because at this age, they were idiotic and had no idea how to treat a girl the way she wanted. She had no interests...and therefore had no interests to marry either.

It was the day after her thirteenth birthday she told this to Tsunade-sama. The older woman looked shocked for a moment before reverting to stoic. "I'm agreeing with you, Naruto, but someday it won't be possible to remain that way. Marriage has existed since humankind began." She had been knitting a scarf out of habit, and the fabric was a rich red which reminded the teenager of blood. "I was supposed to marry Dan, but he died." A sad sigh escaped her lips. "Then Jiraiya offered his hand to keep me from being arranged with some feudal lord when the war was over. I gladly said yes even though I knew what kind of man he was, never mind his heart. But how better could it get, when it is someone you knew and respected for the longest time?" Her lips pulled into a dreamy smile. For being something of a young-looking old lady, she still loved to act like the flirtatious girl her little apprentice was.

Arranged marriage, my butt. I won't be with some ugly old man with money, and I won't be reduced to the household either. But if Granny isn't confided to this, maybe I can try? Except I don't hear or see a lot of women making names for themselves without being severely beaten for this...

She might be brave at her age, lightly muscled with Pervy Sage's training and the hunting she did with him, but her emotions were as they should be. If she was scared of punishment, then she was scared a little. But Tsunade-baa said she would have to learn to control them someday sooner or later. "I...guess someone I know and trust is better than someone I never met," Naruto said finally, then added stubbornly, "but if he tries to control me, then I can give him a good fist like you give Pervy Sage."

The older woman chuckled but said nothing. By this time, she was done knitting the scarf and gave it to Naruto, who looked at it with wide eyes. "Oh, Granny, you really made it for ME?" she exclaimed, earning rolling eyes.

"I certainly did. In fact, it took me two days to do this, because this fabric is most precious." Tsunade did the honors of putting it around the blonde teen's neck, securing it firmly and tenderly. "I also got some good news you might be interested in." Naruto looked at her with piqued interest.

"An old friend of mine from years ago is coming here, and he might be interested in meeting you and Sakura."

~o~

Jiraiya the Toad Sage taught her everything from the bo to the shuriken, kunai and wedding band-like kakute to the katana and wakizashi. Basically, she learned everything, and she loved to use the bow and arrow for the hunt because it was stealthier. However, because she was only a girl, her skills were noticed by few besides the ones closest to her.

As time went on, besides Sakura, she'd made more friends within the village: there was Shikamaru whose clan was revered with the infiltration division, as well as Ino Yamanaka whose mother ran the flower shops and her father was an important member of the emperor's court. As well, Choji, Tenten whose family manufactured weapons, and Kiba who was a dog lover along with the rest of his clan, overseeing the palace and village hounds.

Here she was in Tenten's shop, assisting with the cleaning of the newly manufactured tanto when she told the brunette that an old friend and comrade of Tsunade-baa was coming for a short period of time. One of the reasons she liked Tenten was because she was also a tomboy, like herself. "Granny said he was very strong, very admirable...both a healer and fighter in one. In fact, he doesn't even look like an old man, either," Naruto explained, rehearsing the lady's words since she was yet to meet the stranger face to face. "Said his name was Tetsuo Ishii."

Tenten laughed as she put down the blade and turned around her to pick up a scenery-carved box that carried a new katana which was hilted with ebony and gold, which was ready for its new owner very soon. "I've heard of him," she answered, laughing a little, "and isn't it funny that Lady Tsunade - whom I look up to very much and thank her for saving my mother from her near-death illness? Ishii-san is like the slug-hime, but she could KILL with her hand if she could against an opponent, and he knows his boundaries." Her cheeks turned red with sheer embarrassment.

Naruto couldn't help but grin. If that's the case, then I can't wait to show him I can be just like his old partner. Maybe he might be something like that Dan guy she used to love.

The girls were interrupted from their chatter when a harsh voice interrupted them. Male, soft and baritone at the same time, but a hint of cruelty. "Otome, is my weapon ready?"

Naruto stayed where she was, bristled at the rude interruption, and kept her back to the speaker, but Tenten forced her to stand, and she bowed with respect. But then she noticed her blonde friend not standing from her position and took her by the forearms, forcing her to her feet. "Naruto, show respect!" she hissed under her breath, confusing her for a moment before she turned around and literally felt her jaw drop to the floor.

That was no man standing there, but a boy who looked like he was the same age as them. His features were aristocratic, with a straight nose and high cheekbones, his raven hair shining and spiked back like a bird's tail. His eyes were dark and round like black stones, devoid of emotion but hard as his tone. "Well?" he demanded when Tenten didn't answer. He flickered his attention to Naruto, giving a soft "hn" as if distasteful at the sight of her. Are you such a bastard or what? she wanted to ask, but then she noticed his clothing. Damn it, he's nobility. Figures. I bet he's a spoiled brat or something.

Tenten nodded, a blush creeping to her cheeks. "Hai, Uchiha-sama. It's very fine," she said, handing the box his way after giving it one more polish. "Pure steel, hilt of lustrous ebony -" He was opening the lid and paused when he beheld the sight. He hummed once, then took it out by the handle and gave it a swirl. The blade glinted as pure as the moon.

While he was trying out his new "toy", Naruto flinched when she heard his name was Uchiha. The Uchiha were one of the most elite noble clans, and their eldest son today, Itachi, was shogun. This couldn't be HIM because he was too young...

"It'll do, girl." He put the weapon back into the box, closing it and taking it under one arm while he reached into his cloak, pulling out a bag of money to give to her. "I guess the new shuriken aren't ready yet," he stated blandly.

"No, but next week today they shall be," Tenten answered kindly.

"Good. I will return then. Have a good day...otome." His attention returned back to Naruto, and this time she felt like sticking her tongue at him like a much younger child. His features deepened into a scowl for a second before they were back to stone. His eyes seemed to flash for a moment, as if he never got that reaction to his face before. He said nothing else, but turned to leave, his cape swishing behind him.

Naruto snorted and kicked a little dirt at her feet. "Who was that teme?" she asked disgustedly. Tenten looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You've never heard of the shogun's younger brother...Sasuke Uchiha?" Then her face split into a smile. "He's training to join his brother's army, to show the youngest can amount to something..."

So, he's kind of like me...except he's higher in rank than I am, and I am a woman. Well, maybe I got myself a competitor, if I can show him...

~o~

Tetsuo Ishii arrived two days later, after facing some issues with bandits on the way from assignment in Suna, Konoha's ally. In fact when he arrived, some of the villagers cheered him on, which Naruto heard when she came back with Jiraiya-sensei from a hunt. Once again the yumi and ya came in handy, and the deer over Jiraiya's shoulders, hardly even bleeding.

It was rare to hunt for red meat since their people survived off of seafood on their farms or in the rivers and great sea. The famed Toad Sannin was one of them, and just how many could do it as well as he did? It was also the first thing Ishii-san noticed when the two crossed paths, and Naruto was with him, so she saw the man baa-chan raved about.

She had never seen a man as handsome as he was. Tall and leanly muscled, but there was a scar beneath his left eye from being struck at a distance by either a kunai or a shuriken, but he was a legend. His hair was red-gold, eyes bright blue, and his jaw was a little rounded. He had the girls falling to their knees and sighing like they were in heaven. Naruto only raised an eyebrow. Beside her, Sakura's eyes bulged before she was snapped to attention by the blonde.

"I don't think Granny would be happy that you're all over her old friend," she pointed out, making the pinkette's face turn red and her eyes into white balls.

"Don't be silly, Naru-chan! He's much too old for me!"

For me, too. But she chose to keep her lips sealed.

Tsunade and the handsome newcomer greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek, and Ishii-san turned his attention to Jiraiya who still had the dead kill on his back. "Jiraiya, you're the man of the house, are you not?" he asked. "That's a hell of a kill you have made."

"Oh, but it's just me carrying it," the man said, laughing. "It was this little lady's job to shoot it down for us." He nodded down at Naruto, who turned a little red and nodded. Blue eyes roamed over her, and his teeth were bared in a bright grin.

"Little lady? I don't know about the lady part, because for a moment, I thought I was looking at a boy." Naruto glared up at him, slightly insulted, but he only laughed harder. But that's what I feel like, not one of those stupid girls who wear dresses. I'm not like them at all, so I don't look like them...completely.

Yet, something inside her stirred because it sounded like he was complimenting her. She'd heard worse from Pervy Sage when he flirted with women which also made his wife angry at times. Tsunade cleared her throat. "Well, Tetsuo, I think I can now say you're an even bigger fool than my husband is," she stated, then nudged Sakura. "This is Sakura, someday to be just like me. She can cook the daylights out of a buck like that one. But Naruto is still working on her own skills." Oh, cooking was one of the lady's duties she was still working on, but there were simpler things she knew, like ramen, fish, and rice - and desserts - so red meat was something much richer for her to handle.

Dinner went by fluidly, with Tetsuo giving the stories to her and Sakura about his service in the last couple wars, and he was among those assisting with helping Konoha back on its feet as well as offering his medic hands to their enemies who had quieted down following the peace treaty between their village and Iwa.

Naruto then caught the way he sometimes stole a glance at her.

Granny said he was interested in me and Sakura, but she didn't say why...

When the meal was over, Jiraiya surprised them all with the announcement he was leaving and would be gone for a couple weeks. He was on orders to head to the borders and see if any rogues and bandits would be on their way, then return to the emperor and be retired from his position with benefits for his years of service.

Tsunade huffed when she downed down another cup of sake. "You get off easy and I am still working - and doing this." She held up her cup as emphasis, making her husband snort with laughter and Tetsuo pick up the jug to give her another round.

"Tsunade, enjoying the drink as ever," he noted heartily. "I remember all the times you, Dan and I shared the rounds when we could spare..." He stopped there at the mention of her late lover, at the faraway look in her eye that also had Jiraiya shaking his head.

Sakura pursed her lips and shared a look with Naruto, at how Tsunade still missed the man she loved and then married another for companionship.

"So, while I am away, Tetsuo..." Jiraiya was watching him with a hard eye and slight smile in one. "...will you do the honors of keeping Naruto company for me?"

There were no words to describe the surprise she felt when her sensei asked this man - this stranger - to train her and take her hunting while he was on the borders. Tsunade chuckled without a word at her expression, and Sakura could only giggle, before she was silenced altogether.

Tetsuo Ishii agreed, keeping his intent eyes on her all the while. Naruto wasn't sure what to think of this, but a part of her was honored and a little flustered. What could go wrong while Pervy Sage was gone?

~o~

"Naruto Uzumaki, huh?" he asked her two days later when it was them alone in the day. Tsunade and Sakura were both in the office attending to patients, and here she was taking care of the house. She hated chores, but they were key parts of being a woman. Being on a horse, wielding weapons and killing wild could only do so much. Chores had no excitement.

She was sweeping the floor when Tetsuo Ishii came to see her, watching her from his position on the rocking chair. "Yeah, that's me," she said proudly, flashing him her teeth. "Pervy Sage's favorite girl while Granny has Sakura. But they're both the parents I never had."

He hummed with a single nod. "Tsunade has spoken highly of you both...I'm sorry you never knew your parents, and your pink friend has lost hers," he said softly, his irises darkening a little with sorrow. Naruto smiled at his genuine sympathy. She had met him only in a couple days and liked him already. She didn't think a grown man - and a good-looking one at that - would give her such attention the way he was. But Pervy Sage did just that, and like she said, he was the father she never had.

"I have to tell you I lost my mother when I was a boy. My father was a physician himself and taught me everything I know...but when I was called to the frontlines, I gained more experience, and that was where I met Tsunade, Jiraiya and..." He trailed off then and there. "The one who should not be named." The one who betrayed his village and left us.

"To betray a comrade or your entire village like this...nobody is worthy to be called a member or even a human being. They don't deserve to be called a Konoha warrior..."

Naruto learned that lesson from then on, but it wasn't any different than the words of wisdom from Pervy Sage. Tetsuo smiled then. "You have friends, right, Naruto?" She nodded. "Having friends is vital...but what about a boy?"

She jerked in disgust just as she finished gathering the last of the floor particles. "No way! In fact, I have no decision to marry, not even when I grow up," she declared, tossing her short hair behind her ears. "Granny says I might change my mind, since it's also required by tradition, but boys are just...immature. I love my life the way it is." She never got tired of flashing him her grin, which he seemed to like.

"In that case, how do you feel about being my new little friend until your master comes back?" Tetsuo offered. "I know he asked this of you, but now I am asking you myself."

She just couldn't say no to him, unaware how in over her head she had been.

~o~

For the next couple weeks, she showed Tetsuo everything she had. A new weapon she learned was the naginata pole-arm reserved for her size due to being female. He didn't openly say it, but measuring it with her own strength was enough. Naruto found herself thinking what a...hero he was. Her feelings for him were becoming somewhat deeper than just teacher and student, and she was not yet reaching womanhood.

"A woman with the appearance of a man you'll become!" he joked to her, making her flustered. She started liking it better than being compared to the feminine girls around her, but Tenten had received the "beautiful" compliment from the various customers that always came into her family's armory shop.

One of the comments she might have liked most was him calling her fox whiskers exotic.

She should have caught on to him, because she was thirteen years old and starting to see the world in a much larger light than she used to, but damn it all, she never looked deeper into his eyes when he'd be looking her over much longer than he should. Sakura started to notice this herself, however, and Naruto would regret not taking her seriously.

"Just...be careful around him," the pinkette said finally, sighing in resignation as she mixed some herbs in a bowl she'd helped Tsunade pick earlier at dawn. Maybe it was a prescription for a patient. "I can't tell shisou; it'll just break her heart since he's a dear old friend of her and Jiraiya's."

Naruto decided to keep it in mind just to be safe. And the next day, she was back out with Tetsuo when he told her that he had been asked to investigate the woods on orders of the emperor - and he asked HER to come with him. She thought this odd because Emperor Sarutobi wouldn't have approved of a young girl who wasn't even a warrior in the ranks to go along with him. Nevertheless, she was excited to shoot an arrow at an enemy or something like that...

...but it turned out to be something else entirely.

So far, during the day, there was no signs of an enemy, but around mid-afternoon, they stopped under a tree, and he passed a flask of water to her and then one to himself. Naruto did not realize how thirsty she was until she drank it all down, making him laugh. "We should be back before sundown, Naruto," he told her, then took another sip.

Suddenly, her head began to buzz. She frowned, reaching up to rub her eyes. What's...happening...?

Her world swirled and turned gray before darkening altogether.

When she awoke, she was laying down on the tree base, on her side, but something was odd about herself. Her tunic seemed out of place, tied as it was, but it wasn't the way she'd left it...

"If you so much as breathe a word to Tsunade or Jiraiya - or even that pink friend of yours - your blood will spill from your throat and onto my hands, I promise you that."

So, in a slight departure from male counterpart, Naruto is more interested in history and politics, so likely willing to go for combat rather than ladylike interests. I read that in feudal times, the shogun was the military general, the highest in the nobility, and the emperor who is in fact the leader is really just a figurehead, therefore leaving the shogun in charge.

While I was doing this chapter, I remembered an incomplete fic I read awhile back, with Itachi as shogun: UnInvited by Moonbeam Great Goddess of the Night. He's a firm ruler and great womanizer, but when he meets Sakura, he thinks she can't resist him like so many others before him - at least, that was how the entire story would go. Of course, he would have been rejected by her. There was also a moment with Sakura and Tenten (family does the weapons, too), that inspired me when the girls meet with Sasuke.

In "The King's Damosel", the main heroine was raped in a flashback by her father's friend, a mentor to her, and it was utter betrayal that hardened her for years to come. Of course he'd threaten her life if she told anyone - and that day was when she thought she'd commit suicide because something precious had been taken from her (her virginity), but then Merlin the magician appeared before her and gave her reason to live on.

Read and review. Stay tuned for the next chapter.