Important note: This isn't set in japan so no Japanese words will be used, I'm going to include the names of places and people obviously, but the link with japan is small, apart from some things that are obvious. Imagine this is in the middle ages, around 1000 or so years ago, and that should help with the setting.
PS- those reading my story Hopeless homeless, it's going well! I can balance two stories just fine, trust me, I have no life!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Iruka is a prince whose growing tired of the highlife (Cliché I know) and Kakashi is a knight from a faraway land who is training the king's army. They have a connection between each other that cannot be ignored, but how can a foreign knight be with a prince, especially two males?
The summer seasons pass too slowly in the prince's mind, a minute feels like an hour and little is achieved between the two countries at war in these minutes despite the seemingly extra time, or in actual hours. Fire and Mist(1)remain in a continuous battle; wave after wave of men sent at each other to be knocked down, like two children throwing toys in the playground. The summer sun as pleasant and warm as it is only makes him feel sleepy and makes the bodies in the war ground rot that much faster and more formidable and arduous to name and write letters of condolences, rotted faces are hard to identify.
He once saw a woman, broken and empty as she held up a sheet of names; "My children," she shouted, thrashing in the hold of his guards and calling for help of some kind, "they are all dead!" she screamed as she was pulled away and out of the gate of his castle. She looked young; 40 or so, he guessed, and could hardly have sons old enough to die in battle. He later learned that the woman had lost 5 sons, her husband had hung himself with the inability to cope with such a loss; he heard from a passing soldier that his own officers had written "Jamie" on the letter sent to her house for her youngest sons death, but her son's name was "James."
He also heard from a passing maid that her sons were 14, 15, 17, and twins both 19. The youngest brothers had been instructed to enter illegally if they wished for their mother and father to live, and their 12 year old sister not to be sold to the sex industry. They joined off course, but in vain as they were all declared dead within 3 months; now their father dead and mother dying, and sister having been raped several times by the soldier who delivered the letters of loss. She is suspected to die soon; since medical treatment is expensive and labour is painful, especially for a 12 year old single mother who must work.
He lay in his four-poster mahogany bed. The headboard was plain apart from a large eagle carved into the wood; its wings raised high and bars attaching those back onto the plain wood. He felt the soft, silk sheets against his skin. They were puce, he found it an unfavourable colour; seeing it as grey in the light. While learning French, he discovered the word 'puce' meant flea, and he found he could not stand them any longer. When he asked for a change of bedding colour; perhaps to green, the maids declined saying how "Purple is a noble colour, and a prince is to remain as such". He was antagonistic towards the fabric, finding he slid around too much on the silk when he slept. They were too cold in winter and too hot in summer; and required far too much cleaning which he found made his maids far less enthusiastic towards him, and far more disagreeable when he asked a second time for a bedding change.
He suspected an assistant of the king would ask for him soon since some knights were to present themselves from the neighbouring lands and kingdoms. He clambered from his four-post bed, drawing the repulsive puce, silk curtains with a pained expression spreading across his face; the scar running across his nose curving is displeasure.
He glanced upon a 3 person love-seat in his chambers, he often wondered why he couldn't have a single seat since no one apart from him sat in his room, and saw the clothes a maid had lay for him today. Clothes in Konohagakure provided information about the status of the person wearing them. The clothing and fashion in Konohagakure is dominated and highly influenced by the Kings and Queens, in this case he was included. Only the wealthy could dress in fashionable clothes, and he counted as wealthy, although he had never carried much money with himself; and barely shopped for the clothes he wore; they seemed to always be there. He often wished he would be allowed to pick the clothes he placed on his body; he was always burdened with heavy or uncomfortable clothes that held hideous ornaments and accessories; all decorated with bright colours that clashed with his tanned skin. Once, a maid had told him to be pale was best; and smothered his face with makeup. It smelled of paint and bleach, and made his face desperately itchy and painful. The paint remains buried in the castle garden were his maids cannot find it and he had struck a deal with one of the delivery men who brings in the replacements that he may give the cream to his wife if he swaps the pot for one the prince provides as a decoy.
He holds up the clothes to the light protruding from the balcony windows to the right of his bed and opposite the door to the hallway. He tries to see them as what they are- beautiful, expensive and to-die-for pieces of clothing- but finds he only sees more silk and sheets of rash-inducing fabric.
After dressing he glances upon himself, not actually owning a mirror in his room; he goes by his own eye and decides he is up to the king's standards. His own don't matter so much. He has swallowed them every day, why should today vary. He pulled his brown hair into a high ponytail on the top if his head; as always, it kept his shoulder length hair from his eyes and helped him argue himself out of wearing a hat.
-000-
He walked slowly along the wide corridors of the Konoha castle, no longer admiring the artwork and tapestries on the wall as he did as a child, and feels the blue silk cloak running along his back and legs. Profuse extravagance is displayed in furs, so he wore a fur overcoat with a large overlapping collar to show his status as prince but found it heavy on his shoulders. As a child he owned a tabby cat, with similar colours to his overcoat, he had named mischief because it had a habit of climbing into his mother's washing basket and being deposited into the public washing bath; causing the women who came to wash their cloths there to have the shock of their lives; soon they grew used to it and it began to make them laugh.
He played with mischief for 20 years of his life and discovered the tabby cat disliked him when he wore furs and so he hated the clothing from then on, only wearing it when he was forced. He loved the animal far more than he cared to admit before it died. Although, died didn't seem to suit the circumstances in which his cat lost its life; it had been cut from head to toe to end its suffering after it was said it was too old to enjoy life anymore by some cruel noblemen whom he shared the castle with. He had witnessed, and despite being 23 at the time, cried like a small child as he was returned to his room as mass of limbs and tears. He soon found fur made him physically ill, but he was told to endure.
He heard the king speaking of his wealth and large array of furs; to make one fur coat you must kill at least fifty-five wild mink, thirty-five ranched mink, forty sables, eleven lynx, eighteen red foxes, eleven silver foxes, one hundred chinchillas, thirty rex rabbits, nine beavers, thirty muskrats, fifteen bobcats, twenty-five skunks, fourteen otters, one hundred twenty-five ermines, thirty possums, one hundred squirrels, or twenty-seven raccoons. Not to mention the snakes.
Hardly worth the weight, he had decided.
But here he was; carrying the burden of fur and silk; both of which he detested, as he walked towards the throne room to greet more killers of each realm and smile to the noblewoman who wore the makeup which made him gag. It had been 4 years since mischief had died, and he had yet to find something that he enjoyed as much as watching the cat strut around the castle or frighten the noblemen.
He stopped at the doors to the throne room as though it was routine; hardly registering what he was doing as he was announced to the noblemen and richer towns-people as the prince, and he took his seat next to the king of Konohagakure. He placed himself gracefully onto the chair for the prince; a less extravagant one as compared to the kings but more so than he had wished.
The king was not his father, contrary to popular belief; in fact, he grew quite offended when people referred to him as his father. This king was a respectable man but he and the prince bared no resemblance. His own father was a noble man, not of money; but of heart. Both his parents had been killed during one of the several great wars in Konaha's history- One which was still happening now, as he sat comfortably on a cushioned mahogany chair and looked upon a large hall of people; the ceiling painted with woman and children laughing. There were several rows of cushioned chairs at the front of the stage the thrones were on, and behind them and area for people standing, which was cut off by velvet ropes. One row was empty at the very front; he guessed for the knights.
He had always felt a strange mixture of feelings towards the king; the man had a perplexing obsession with snakes and often wore snake-skin on his body instead of furs; his crown being made from snake-skin and encrusted with golden stones to match the man's serpent-like yellow eyes. The king had long flowing black hair which was growing brittle with the man's age; and often fell out in clumps when he brushed it too vigorously.
His skin was an off colour most of the time; almost green or blue in some lights and he had a scrawny and elderly body that looked as though it would give out at any moment. Elbows and shoulders looked like knifes and facial features were as sharp as them. Orochimaru was a power driven leader, there was no denying that, but he often spent his time in Sound country and effectively drove his own nation into war, and so was becoming unpopular. He was calling in some of the most elite knight's from all over the world to train his army's to win the war he effectively started.
"Prince Iruka!" A woman called from behind him; latching onto his arm boldly and fluttering her eyelashes, her spikey black hair flew around his nose slightly and he held a sneeze in. He didn't recognise her and supposed she had come with some of the knights.
"Iruka, this is Anko, she is a friend of mine from Sound," king Orochimaru spoke to him, answering his internal question. His long tongue moved around his mouth like a fish in water and Iruka supressed a shudder he often felt around the man since he was a child; they were growing less frequent with his age however. "She has quite a new…product to show you,"
She nodded again, making him sniff. As she detached herself from him arm he noticed she was actually very attractive; she had large brown eyes, lighter than his own chocolate orbs, and black hair that almost appeared purple in the light of the castle. He stood from his chair to bow to her, briefly noting her beige gown, and when he raised his head again he found a hand in his face. He looked upon it and saw red on her nails; he had never seen nails that were not natural or brown with dirt; he held her hand and moved it away from his face, observing the paint and wandering how it was it coated a nail so flawlessly.
"You kiss the hand, your highness, and then admire the gift," Anko said, smirking as a blush spread across the prince's face. He didn't often kiss a woman's hand, it meant projecting a message he didn't want to project. He timidly pressed his lips to the woman's knuckle and glanced back at the crowd of people in the room, happy that only a few were looking.
"It's interesting, isn't it Iruka?" the king spoke, taking Anko's hand from his own shaking ones and admiring the paint.
"It's nail polish, from China," Anko stated, looking smug at having acquired the polish. "I have some for you, your highnesses,"
He listened to her for a moment as she explained the colours she had for him, Orochimaru was more the type for nail varnish but he wasn't very enthusiastic about spreading some purple gunk on his nails and re-painting whenever some chipped off because the remover is dangerous to use.
"Y-Your majesty, the k-knights have a-arrived," a small child spoke from his side to the king; shaking a little when the king turned his attention to him. Iruka always found he had a way with children and offered a smile to the boy as he looked around for support that he had done his job well. He patted the child's shoulder and pushed slightly on the boys back as a sign to run off, which the child did as soon as the message had gone through.
Trumpets resounded through the hall and the prince took his seat again; sighing in relief as Anko made her way down the steps of the stage he and the king sat on. Several men dressed in purple and red hopped into the room; green tights making them look like jesters and curved shoes causing them to walk strange. They each wore a hat with purple and red stripes coming from a button in the centre; each stripe separated from the other with golden lace, which was used to sew most of their outfits together. They blew on their trumpets once more in a tune he didn't recognise and a final man walked out, wearing the same painful outfit that seemed to be all the rage with these announcers. His wore the same hat as the others but with a large white feather extending from it which flew around slightly as he walked through the two lines created by the other men.
"We present the greatest knights found all around the world!" he shouted, unravelling a large scroll in his hands; Iruka noticed how they shook with nerves from speaking to such a large and renowned audience. He briefly pondered if he could do such a thing, finding he couldn't and suddenly feeling a sense of respect for the poor man, a brave soul.
"First: knights of the Hiruzen realm!"
A small applause -so that the nobles did not strain their hands- was heard as a tall, muscled man walked into the clearing the men in tights had created. He had large bushy white hair and wore a large red robe draped around his shoulders. He gave a large grin and waved his hands around in the air as if he were soaking in the praise; as little as there was. Iruka strained his eyes and saw red marks painted down his cheeks from his eyes to his jaw.
"I AM JIRAIYA!" he announced loudly, making Iruka wince slightly due to his sensitivity to loud noises. He glanced behind the man and saw very busty woman with long blonde hair in two low ponytails and a gem on her forehead. She wore robes as well; Iruka supposed it was normal for those from the Hiruzen realm. He had heard Orochimaru talking of Hiruzen once; he was good friends with the knights there and had trained with them when he was young. The realm was named after their old fourth king, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and had been very prosperous throughout its lifetime. He believed the country was still under rule of one of the legendary knights but he wasn't sure, nor did he know who they were.
"We are the legendary knights of Hiruzen, this is lady Tsunade! Leader of Hiruzen!"
Oh, Iruka thought, that explains it. He wandered why Orochimaru had left these knights, but when he looked upon the king and back at the two knights he saw why he would have left; they seemed totally different from each other. He looked around and noticed how everyone was standing; he did so too and bowed with everyone to the lady Tsunade who, he supposed, was the equivalent of the queen for her realm.
Jiraiya basked in the glow of admiration coming from the noblewomen and Tsunade's forehead popped with several veins as men admired her large breasts and some didn't even try to hide their drool. She dragged her white haired accomplice into the hall and took one of the seats reserved for them, forcing Jiraiya to sit with an intense glare.
Next, a man with black hair and relatively long beard and large sideburns strolled into the room. Hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth, he waved his hand in the air casually and walked on towards his chair, leaving a space between himself and Tsunade. Behind a young boy followed, a bored look on his face and hair pulled tightly to his head in a similar ponytail to the princes own. He wore simple clothing, much like the older man, and had pierced ears. Iruka wandered if he felt comfortable wearing such…normal clothing in a room of nobles but then supposed that he was a lot more comfortable than he was at the moment.
"Urr…" the announcer said awkwardly, expecting them to introduce themselves much like the ones before them. "This is Asuma Sarutobi and his student, Shikamaru Nara! They originate from Hiruzen and have been officially declared wandering knights! "
The crowd clapped slowly, not sure if the new guests who sat –arms crossed and eyes closed, the elder having a smirk around his cigarette- at the front would want applause. The prince pondered on the young Nara boy, he was a bit young to be a knight? Or was he classed as a knight-student?
He was very young to be a wandering knight; wandering knights tended to have a home somewhere, In this case these two would be from Hiruzen, but would be called out to locations across the world for "missions", many were around the world; some even raised to do so, but most were over 20 and this boy seemed only 17 or so. Iruka turned his head and made a mental note to ask at the next possible opportunity.
"And now! The knights who have travelled from Japan to be here!" The announcer bellowed, attracting the attention away from the new arrivals.
A man wearing a very tight green suit Iruka had never seen the likes of before jumped into the room, emitting a large aura of energy and happiness around him. The prince looked on in awe like a child; he had never seen a man wearing such strange clothing! The man sported a haircut that looked as though it had been cut from a bowl and then placed on his head, and he seemed oblivious to the frowns he received from surrounded nobles and villagers.
"I AM MIGHT GUY!" he announced, seemingly proud of his heritage as he held up a thumb and winked over at the king. "I AM A KNIGHT HERE TO HELP IN THESE MOST UN-YOUTHFUL OF TIMES!"
-000-
The prince watched as the strange man sat in his chair, smiling wildly at his own display. His young accomplice sat next to him; sporting a similar look. Iruka wandered why there were so many young people in such an elite force of knights, when he was their age he was learning how to use cutlery and walk strait, not how to defend a country and die in battle.
Several more people entered the hall after this; He guessed japan had some of the best Knights around with the amount that piled in. He hoped so; since his own mother had been Japanese, and he would have hoped she was a powerful woman, having given such a fight before she was killed.
A woman with wild black hair down past her shoulders entered the hall and sat on the chair between Asuma and Tsunade, it seemed the seat had been saved for her by the bearded man. She wore red lipstick and purple eye shadow that made her red eyes stand to attention. Her outfit consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. She wore a red long sleeved dress and what looked like a wrap-around made of cream fabric, which covered one arm and not the other; making one sleeve red and the other cream. The pattern on the wrap around looked like roses or thorns, and Iruka decided the dress was far more beautiful than what the woman in Konoha often wore; they had a habit of shoving as much of themselves into as small of a space as possible, a corset or something. Her name was Kurenai Yuhi.
Iruka briefly wandered what Japanese makeup was made from, because it seemed flawless as compared to the makeup in his own kingdom; which resembled paint.
After her, a fierce brown-haired woman entered with large red triangles painted on her cheeks; her eyes were slit-like and she wore purple lipstick, and traditional Japanese knight clothing. A huge dog walked behind her, steps heavy from its weight. It resembled a wolf of sorts, and made Iruka slightly scared as it growled. It wore an eye-patch on one eye and the prince wandered if she took it into battle with her. She was announced as Tsume and her dog Kuromaru, behind her a boy emerged with a large white dog, it was clear to see this boy was her son as he was almost a spitting image of his mother. He was named Kiba and his dog Akamaru, next to him a girl with white eyes and blue/black hair, seemingly nervous and absently fiddling with her thumbs before her hand was taken by Kiba; she was called Hinata, Kiba's wife. Iruka wandered how they could be married at so young; they had to be the same age as the Nara boy?
A final person emerged, this one was also clearly a sister; older than Kiba, she had longer and tamer hair than the two however and wore it in a ponytail at the back of her neck; the triangles visible on her face much like her family members. She held a medical kit of sorts in her hands and she was announced as Hana, the clan's vet and elder sister of Kiba. The family sat on the row with their large canines tame under their chairs. This was the Inuzuka family, and by far the scariest to Iruka.
Several more people entered the hall; two brothers going by Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha; both dark-looking and obviously brothers. The younger Uchiha held the waist of a blonde next to him, who wore a brighter orange than any Iruka had ever seen in his life, so bright he wandered what they had used to dye it. He had on a long black coat with flames sewn onto the bottom; another bright and intricate design the prince had never seen. The blonde, who seemed overwhelmed by the grand hall, was announced as Naruto Uzumaki, King of Konoha's sister village in japan; and apparently the lover of Sasuke Uchiha, the youngest Uchiha brother, which was demonstrated by his hold on the blonde boys waist. Orochimaru let a visible smirk plague his aged face as he glanced upon the young Uchiha; and Iruka turned to him.
One young adult with shockingly white eyes, the same as Hinata Inuzuka, entered the hall. He was announced as Neji Hyuga, Hinata's cousin Iruka learned when the king spoke to him. "He is a very promising knight Iruka," the king spoke softly and slowly; making Iruka frown. The king only showed interest in the younger knights; and it made him puzzled.
The announcer said there were more to come but had been delayed for two or three more days due to a shortage of space on the boats set to leave; so they had gotten on one a few days later.
The prince surveyed the knights and felt his stomach knot in several places; he had never been one to speak to new people without making mistakes despite the training he had to become king some day; it scared him to new levels and he barely contained his breathing as his eyes accidently met with several of the guests. He saw how none were wearing furs and hoped they wouldn't see him as a monster for wearing such clothing; or for wearing expensive silk which was probably wrinkled due to him shifting in his seat.
The king stood from his chair and, in a loud and long voice, spoke; "I am the king of Konoha, I urge you to enjoy your stay and reveal to me any of your talents, I can make you stay here wonderful with the right…" he glanced at the young Uchiha; barley remaining subtle about it "persuasion," He walked towards the prince, presenting a long and sickly-coloured hand for the brunette to take; which he did. "This is prince Iruka, now if the knights will join us; we are going to feast" Iruka stood when he felt his hand being tugged.
The king walked towards Anko, releasing Iruka's hand and leaving him to stand awkwardly in front of the entire assembly, and led her out with him. The young prince followed, looking towards his feet so that the guests wouldn't feel inclined to speak to him; and hoped he would be allowed to have water instead of wine; he always found it didn't agree with him.
Next time: the banquet.
(1) I know fire and mist aren't at war or anything; it's just for plot.