Naruto the Wildfire King
Chapter 2: Prelude to Battle
Chapter Start
Kings Landing
Tower of the Hand
"Do you have to do that here?" Tyrion asked Bronn, who was cleaning his hands. Tommen mostly ignored it.
"I like to keep me hands clean." He pointed out.
"Yes, but do you have to do it here?" Tyrion pointed out and Bronn tossed the nail clippers down. "You should start wearing the gold cloak."
"I don't want to wear a gold cloak." Bronn said.
"You're commander of the City Watch. You shouldn't be dressed like a common sellsword." Tyrion pointed out.
"A cloak slows you down in a fight, makes it hard to move quietly. And the gold catches the light, so you're nice and easy to spot at night." Bronn explained.
"While I agree with you, you're not exactly sneaking through alleyways any longer. You're a leader now, you are supposed to stand out." Tommen pointed out.
"We had a deal, and wearing a gold cloak wasn't part of it." Bronn mentioned.
"Fine, fine. No gold cloak." Tyrion complained. A few seconds later, Bronn started tapping the table with his fingers.
"What?" Tyrion asked when it got annoying.
"What?" Bronn asked.
"What? What? Why are you staring at me?" Tyrion asked in annoyance and Bronn scoffs.
"You don't want me cleaning me nails. You don't want me looking your way. Why am I here?" He demanded.
"To help me and my nephew plan the defense of King's Landing." Tyrion says exasperated and Bronn laughs, "Stannis will be here any day."
"And one of these explains how to beat him?" Bronn sighs.
Tyrion looks at the cover and reads, "An History of the Great Sieges of Westeros" by Archmaester "Shevelathin." "Shevelatesh."
"Chevalteesh. I'd swap all your books for a few good archers." Bronn said.
"Maybe so, but having a plan is better than no plan at all," Tommen countered as Varys walked in.
"My Lord Hand, My Prince, Commander. I must compliment you on the Gold Cloaks' performance these last few weeks. Did you know there has been a marked drop in thievery?" Varys said.
"I did not know." Tyrion mentioned as he and Tommen turned to Bronn. "And how did you accomplish this marked drop in thievery? "
"Me and the lads rounded up all the known thieves." Bronn said.
"For questioning?" Tommen asked in uncertainty as he figured Bronn wasn't that kind of guy.
"Uh, no." Bronn said, implying that he killed them before sitting down, "It's just the unknown thieves we need to worry about now...Maybe this part's not in your books. See, it's not the fighting that kills most people. It's the starving. Food's worth more than gold. Noble ladies sell their diamonds for a sack of potatoes. Things get bad enough, the poor start eating each other. The thieves, they love a siege. Soon as the gates are sealed, they steal all the food. By the time it's all over, they're the richest men in town."
"Given the circumstances, My Lord, I believe extreme measures are warranted." Varys said to Tyrion before he saw what book Tyrion was reading. "Ah. "The Great Sieges of Westeros." Thrilling subject. Shame Archmaester Ch'vyalthan wasn't a better writer."
"Stannis knows King's Landing." Tyrion said as he grabbed a map of King's Landing. "He knows where the walls are strongest and he knows which gates are weakest."
Tommen spys one entrance to the city that catches his eye. "The mud gate. It's in poor condition and half-decent ram will break it down in 10 minutes and it's only 10 yards from the water. It's the easiest to breach. Stannis is bringing all 40,000 of his men and he can't afford to commit them to the more reinforced gates. The Mud Gate the most likely spot he'll land."
"And if Stannis does attack the mud gate, what is our plan?" Varys asked.
"We could throw books at his men." Bronn suggested cheekily.
"We don't have that many books." Varys pointed out seriously.
"We don't have that many men, either." Tommen countered seriously.
"What do we have?" Varys asked and Tyrion's eyes sparked with enlightenment as a plan formed in his head.
"Jars of pig shit" he said, Bronn and Tommen smirking as they caught on to his plan.
It was at that point, that Lancel Lannister ran in. "My lord, My lord!" He said frantically as he huffed and puffed.
"Ah, cousin," Tyrion said in mock delight. "Wonderful to see you again. Did my sister send you?"
"No! I mean, no, my lord. There is a massive army sitting outside the King's Gate!" Lancel said quickly.
"What? Stannis!? He can't be here already, we still have 4 days at least!" Tyrion said in disbelief as he jumped out of his seat.
"It's the Golden Company!" Lancel yelled hysterically. "They are outside the King's Gate and they want to speak to you at once. Something about a contract you offered them."
"Ah, good. They got my message." Tyrion said with genuine relief.
"You hired the Golden Company, Uncle?" Tommen asked.
"When I first arrived back in King's Landing, I sent out several missives to prominent sellsword companies to get them to fight for us. The Golden Company was one of them, though I'm surprised they accepted. With any luck, we'll have another 10,000 men for the siege. Come on along, Pod, Bronn, Tommen. You can come too, Lord Varys."
"My lord," Lancel called out before Tyrion left, "I couldn't get an accurate count of their men, but it was definitely more than 10,000 men."
The Kings Gate
"You know, I think the golden snitch was underselling it." Bronn commented.
"You wouldn't be wrong," Tyrion said as they surveyed the sight in front of them to see WAY more than 10,000 men. "How many men do you count?"
"50,000? 65,000? It's kinda hard to tell." Tommen said as 5 men walk toward the gate from the company but stop 10 yards outside archery range.
"Well, we may as well speak with their leader." Tyrion said as he, Tommen, Bronn, Varys, and Pod walked down and out of the gate, stopping 1 yard from them.
Tyrion was able to get a look at the 5 men. The one on the far left was a white-haired Summer Islander with skin as dark as soot. He wore his worldly wealth upon his person, including a feathered cloak of green and orange, which was magnificent to behold. He wore a lord's ransom in golden arm rings, with a quiver of goldenheart arrows and a goldenheart bow holstered on his back.
Next to him was a Lyseni man with pale lilac eyes and long white-gold hair. His lips were very full, giving him an almost feminine appearance at first glance. His fingernails were painted purple, and his earlobes drip with pearls and amethysts. He wore a red hooded, cloak that covered his entire body and was made of Myrish silk.
On the far right was a cadaverous looking fellow, with a pointed black beard and blood-red hair that tumbles about his shoulders in oiled ringlets. He wears a lord's ransom in golden arm rings and a leopard skin draped across one shoulder.
Next to him was lean 30 year old man with dirty blonde hair that was combed back, clean-shaven face, and blue eyes. He had a sabre tied to his left hip that had a golden skull for a pommel and he wore a standard set of Golden Company issued armor.
The middle figure was the most interesting. The suit of armor that he wore was dyed pitch black, yet the pauldrons, breastplate, gauntlets, and helmet bore gold accents. In the center of the breastplate was a black stag, wreathed within Wildfire green flame. The helm was decorated with large stag antlers. The stag antlers themselves were embossed with gold and pointed upward yet curved inward, giving it a demonic look. The helm itself had a V-shaped visor and for some reason, nothing but his hard blue yes could be seen(1). Tyrion noted that his armor almost identical to that of Robert Baratheon during the Rebellion.
The sword at his hip though was the equally interesting. It was a katana with an ornate bronze guard; guard is an oval shape, and the handle seems to be braided from black handle. The blade features several intricate ornaments, most notable is a relief of a dragon at the endpoint of the hilt. The scabbard is black, made of traditional lacquered wood. It also features a yellow sageo, the cord used to tie the katana to the waist. (2)
It was the man in stag armor that spoke, "You are Tyrion Lannister, acting hand of the King?"
"I am," Tyrion affirmed.
"I am Garin Greenflame, Captain-General of the Golden Company. We are here to accept the contract outlined in this missive you sent to us." Naruto said, using his alias, which was the reason Varys had not found him for so long. He dared not use his real name, even over in Essos, "The man on my far left is Black Balaq, and the man between him and me is Lysono Maar. To my far right is Gorys Edoryen and the man between Gorys and me is Harry Strickland. These are my officers."
"Well met, Captain-General" Tommen and Tyrion both said.
"We can talk more in my command tent." Naruto said as he motioned for them to follow. He led them to a golden tent in the middle of the camp surrounded by a perimeter of spikes with gilded skulls tied to them. They entered the tent and sat down.
"Refreshments?" Naruto offered his guests. Tyrion graciously accepted and Tommen and Bronn also accepted a glass.
"So, let's talk business." Naruto said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Let's start with how many men is the Company bringing to the table. Last I heard, the company only had 10,000 men." Tommen stated.
"I was wondering the same thing." Tyrion said.
"At one point, the Company did only have 10,000 men at one time. Now, ever since the Captain-General took over, our numbers have swelled to 70,000 men, as well as our riches." Harry said to the side.
"Now, about the monthly stipend you promised." Gorys mentioned.
"Yes, the crown can afford to pay the monthly amount mentioned in the missive, so we are all good on that end. I will have the stipend ready to be distributed every month." Tyrion said.
"Good," Lysono said before continuing, "And the part about how we get to take all the loot from the castles we can?"
"Well, since the contract outlines that and I plan to have you take out the other 2 rival kings, which includes the Greyjoys and nobody cares about them, then yes."
"Excellent," Naruto said. They signed two copies of the contract, one for Tyrion and one for Naruto.
"Could Lord Tyrion, Prince Tommen and I have the room, gentleman? There is something I need to discuss with them privately." Naruto said. His officers left the tent and Tyrion mentioned for Pod and Bronn to stand outside the tent.
"So, what did you wish to discuss?" Tyrion asked.
Naruto said nothing for a moment before taking off his helmet, letting his spiky black hair free. He placed the helmet down on his desk. "It's been a long time, little brother. Uncle." Naruto said.
"N-N-Naruto?" Tommen asked as his beloved older brother stood before the younger Baratheon Prince, alive and well.
"Yeah Tommen, it's me. Who else would get burned by Wildfire and save 'Cella from being a saltwife?" Naruto joked and Tommen walked around the table.
He groaned as Tommen punched him pretty hard in the face, "Ow, that actually hurt."
"That was for not coming home sooner." Tommen pointed out angrily before his expression softened and he hugged his elder brother, which Naruto returned.
"I'm glad you okay." Tommen whispered as he hugged his older brother tightly.
"Me too, little brother." Naruto said as he hugged him back.
Outside
The sound of steel clashing with steel reverberated through the air. Though who was sparring intensely was Naruto and Tommen. Their blades strikes were lightning quick, with no wasted movement at all. Some of the men could barely keep track of their blades as the two brothers. They had been sparring for 15 solid minutes, neither one of them able to gain ground. Tommen was more nimble and faster with his strikes, while Naruto was almost as quick, sturdier, and stronger.
"Now I'm glad I fought never the young Prince. He probably would have kicked my ass in 10 seconds." Bronn mentioned to Tyrion, Podd, and Varys, while remembering how Tommen had killed Ser Vardis Egen in under 20 seconds.
"Yes, my nephews are very impressive with their swordplay." Tyrion noted as the two brothers locked blades and clashed, with Naruto slowly pushing Tommen back. Tyrion turned to Varys, "How come you didn't tell me my nephew ran the Golden Company when you tracked them down for me, Lord Varys?"
"Because I did not know, my Lord. My little birds managed to find the Prince 6 years ago in Yunkai, but by the time I told the king and the search party he sent to retrieve him got to Yunkai, the Golden Company had already sacked the city. I lost track of him after that since he used an alias to go by, and there were other matters that demanded my immediate attention." Varys answered.
It was at that moment that Naruto managed to get the upper hand and ducked under Tommen's horizontal slash, swinging the flatside of his blade, tripping Tommen up, making him fall on his back as Naruto pointed his sword at Tommen.
"I yield," Tommen said, breathing heavily. The men cheered as Naruto helped him up.
"That was a great match. It's been a while since I had someone who could actually match me in a swordfight. Who taught you?" Naruto asked.
"It was Ser Barristan. I squired for him from age 9 to twelve and trained very hard every day. In the last tourney, which was for the appointment of Lord Eddard Stark, I actually won the melee and beat uncle Jaime in front of everyone. Dad was so happy seeing Jaime humiliated in public that he knighted me afterwards as Ser Tommen Baratheon, the Storm Knight." Tommen said proudly.
"Well, I'm sorry I missed that. I would have loved to see that arrogant uncle of ours get knocked on his ass." Naruto and Tommen laughed as they put the training swords away.
"Why didn't you come back?" Tommen asked, showing a little vulnerability.
"At first, I couldn't. I didn't have the money after I escaped Yunkai when it was sacked, so I joined the Golden Company to get the money. But by the time I was 15, I no longer wanted to leave. I loved the freedom that came with being in the Company," Naruto said as he placed a comforting hand on Tommen's shoulder, "But I never stopped loving my siblings or missing Dad. Now that I am here, I wished I had come back sooner."
They retired back to his command tent and Tyrion, Varys, Podd, and Bronn joined them. "So, how were things after my 'unintentional' departure?" Naruto said as he poured them some Arbor Red.
"Joffrey was bedridden for a whole year while Pycelle and a group of Maester's that specialized in healing fixed him up. The Red Keep had never been quiet and dramaless, it was almost peaceful." Tyrion said.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, Uncle." Tommen mentioned, causing Tyrion to groan.
"That's why I said 'almost' peaceful, dear nephew," Tyrion smirked as he drank.
"Queen Cersei was hysterical at the Crown Prince being bedridden for the beating you gave him, Prince Naruto. It did not end until Joffrey was fully healed," Lord Varys said respectfully.
"Damn, I was hoping his face would have scarred from that." Naruto grumbled.
"Me too, brother," Tommen said. "After he recovered, he got worse where me and Mycrella were concerned. Without you there to shield us, we got the full brunt of his cruelty. It didn't help that Mother always defended him. He skinned our cats alive and she called it a child's curiosity! It certainly made me and 'Cella lose any respect or love we still had for Mother. Me and our sister grew to hate our mother, as well as Joffrey and Jaime."
At Naruto's puzzled expression, Tommen explained. "You may not remember but while you were recovering from your burns, Mycrella and I spent nearly all of our free time near you."
"I kinda remember. You, 'Cella, Uncle Renly, and dad were the first ones I woke up to." Naruto said.
"Yeah, well our bitch of a mother didn't even bother to visit you once. Neither did Joffrey or Jaime. Tyrion did visit you a couple times, so at least one Lannister is not completely hopeless." Tommen smirked.
"You wound me nephew. Deeply." Tyrion joked and Tommen smiled.
"Love you too, Uncle," Tommen said, which made Naruto smile a little. "Anyway, me and our sister tried to keep our hatred bottled up and for a time it worked. But on our 12th nameday, Joffrey did something that made us both lose our tempers."
Flashback
Joffrey placed two boxes on the table in front of Tommen and Mycrella. "Umm, what is this?" Myrcella asked.
"Your presents," Joffrey said with that mad insane grin on his face, "Go on, open them."
Tommen and Mycrella didn't really want to, since Joffrey smiling was never a good thing, but they figured they should get it over with. So they opened up their boxes.
"You vile loathsome evil little cockroach!" Tommen and Mycrella shouted at him in anger as Robert looked at what was inside of the box.
"You little shit! How dare you do this on their nameday!" Robert shouted.
Joffrey had skinned both Tommen and Mycrella's pregnant cat's, tore out their still developing babies and tossed the skin and babies in a box. He was hoping to make them cry and humiliate them.
Something inside Tommen and Myrcella broke that day as Cersei tried to keep Robert from killing Joffrey. They had put up with their elder brother's abuse for a long time without Naruto to protect them. They just put up with it, longing for the day when it was over. Since Myrcella would eventually be married off to some influential lord and Tommen was most likely going to inherit the Stormlands since Renly still had not found himself a girl, they figured it was bound to happen. But this act caused them to finally lose control of their Baratheon Rage as it erupted within them.
Tommen grabbed a steak knife and stabbed it into Joffrey's left hand which rested on the table, causing the insane bastard to scream in pain. Myrcella grabbed a glass pitcher of wine that was nearby and smashed it against Joffrey's face, causing to break against his face, embedding some glass in his face and causing wine to fly everywhere. Myrcella pulled the knife out of Joffrey's hand as the bastard fell on his back screaming in pain. Both of them leapt over the table and Myrcella stabbed the knife into Joffrey's right leg, causing more screams. Tommen and Myrcella then proceeded to wail on Joffrey, both of them shouting at how much they despised him, reviled him, and how he was a vile insane monstrosity that should been drowned at birth. Robert managed to pull his children away while Joffrey was taken to the Grandmaester's to be treated for nearly being beaten to death again.
Once Tommen and Myrcella calmed down the awkward silence was broken by Tyrion, who in his infinite wisdom, said "Well on that note, I say we should get out the STRONG wine."
Flashback end
Naruto applauded Tommen for what he did. "Good, that little shit deserved it."
"Well, it sure felt good to let loose, but Dad had both me and Myrcella foster elsewhere to protect us and let us grow in a environment where we weren't under constant threat from Joffrey. I was sent to foster one year with our uncle Stannis, then with Lord Yohn Royce in the Vale for another year, then I fostered with Ned Stark for my last year and got to know his children before Jon Arryn died and Dad came up North to retrieve me and get Ned to be his hand. Myrcella spent 3 years in Highgarden." Tommen said to Naruto's surprise.
"Dad let the Fat Flower have his only daughter?" Naruto said in surprise.
"Uh no," Tyrion said. "See I suggested the idea to Tommen to suggest to his father to let Myrcella make friends with Margaery Tyrell and learn from Olenna Tyrell."
"Ah, the Queen of Thorns. Now I see what you were going for. She is an example all women should learn from." Naruto said.
"Yeah, so Myrcella learned subtlety, manipulation and privately learned how to wield daggers and poison while maintaining her sweet disposition. I focused on my martial skill, military tactics, diplomacy, and how to rule effectively." Tommen said.
"Well I am glad to hear you are doing well, brother." Naruto said as he finished his wine. "Now, let's talk about the impending attack."
That night
Cersei's quarters
"Thank you, Podrick." Tyrion said as Pod poured him some wine.
"Odd little boy." Cersei snidely said.
"I have a certain sympathy for odd little boys." Tyrion said.
"You and Varys both." Cersei commented rudely.
"Excellent lamprey pie. Were you slaving away in the kitchen all day?" Tyrion mocked as he knew she did not cook her own food.
"I hear Joffrey and Tommen plan on fighting." Cersei said as she turned her back to him.
"An inspiration for the troops. The young king in his shining armor fighting to defend the capital against the wicked old rebel. And his younger brother who is a million times more skilled than the king could ever hope to be." Tyrion said.
"Their only boy's. They are not ready." Cersei said as her desire to control everything blinded her to the fact that Joffrey was technically a man, and Tommen could easily defeat anyone who came at him, bar the Mountain, and maybe Jaime and Ser Barristan.
"Joffrey is what, 20? And Tommen has already killed a far more experienced knight, fought with me in our Grandfather's army at the Battle of the Green Fork, not to mention, beat Jaime last year in a tourney. Tommen will be fine." Tyrion said as Cersei sent all the servants out.
"Joffrey's place is not on the battlefield." Cersei snarled, revealing that her true concern was mainly for her golden boy, and not her trueborn son.
"It's not on the throne, either. Or being a Baratheon, since he isn't one, or even being alive for that matter. Sadly for all of us." Tyrion mocked her, as he had known for a long time that Joffrey was not Robert's son.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Cersei demanded of him as she turned to face him.
"Do you really want an answer to that?" Tyrion mockingly asked.
"You shipped off my only daughter. And now you want to send both my eldest and youngest son's to the battlefield to die." Cersei accused.
"It's not like Joffrey has to do any fighting, he just needs to be there. He'll have his Kingsguard protecting him. He has the finest armor gold can buy. The men will fight more fiercely seeing their king fighting beside them instead of hiding behind his mother's skirts like he has for the last two decades." Tyrion said. "Besides, when the last time you ever showed any concern for your trueborn children? You openly scorned Naruto his whole life and didn't even visit him when he was burned with Wildfire, saving poor Myrcella from being a sex slave to the Ironborn. You never once tried to help Tommen and Myrcella when Joffrey tormented them, always finding some way to rationalize his insanity, which eventually got to the point that you drove them away and they now despise you completely. Face it, you don't really care about your trueborn children because they aren't your pure Lannister children with Jaime, although even if they were, I somehow doubt anything would change."
Cersei grit her teeth hard as the dwarf openly insulted her with her past sins. Tyrion, for his part had slowly noticed over the years, as he developed a genuine and loving bond with Myrcella and Tommen, that he no longer cared about his bitch of a sister or his unfeeling asshole of a Dad, who blames him like a child for something that was in no way, shape, or form, Tyrion's fault. Tyrion had come to finally stop blaming himself for his mothers death when Tommen researched the subject and brought the results to his attention. Young mothers, older mothers, poor or rich mothers, all could die, not only in childbirth but also due to complications afterwards. In fact, as many as 1 in 3 women die on average in childbirth. At some point after hearing this, Tyrion just subconsciously stopped trying to earn his sister and father's love, as he realized they would never change. Tyrion had Jaime, Tommen, and Myrcella. He had Kevan and Genna, his father's younger siblings. He hoped now that Naruto was back, he could develop a genuine bond with him. He didn't need Cersei and Tywin.
"Do you know why Varys is so dangerous? " Cersei asked.
"Because he has the best spy network in all of Westeros, bar none. Because he knows everything we do before we do it." Tyrion said, as these were valid reasons for considering Varys to be a dangerous man.
"Because he doesn't have a cock." Cersei said, implying he lacked the passions that drive most men.
"Neither do you." Tyrion pointed out. Being a Eunuch would not make Tywin or Roose Bolton any more or less dangerous than they already are.
"Perhaps I'm dangerous, too-" Cersei started, only to be interrupted by Tyrion.
"Oh please, don't jest Cersei. Between you, me and Jaime, you're the least threatening. Jaime inherited our father's martial skill and talent for warfare, though he hasn't had a lot of time to develop the latter. I inherited Tywin's intellect, cunning, and political skill. You, on the other hand, only inherited his pettiness, cruelty, vanity, and his arrogance. So, nothing all that useful. You think you're as smart as our father, but the truth is you don't even come close to Tywin or me for that matter. Truth be told, your former husband was smarter than you." Tyrion insulted her.
"How dare you insult me, you worthless little dwarf! It's bad enough you killed my mother, now you dare to insult me!? I'll-" Cersei's rant was again interrupted.
"Oh yes, get angry. Act like the spoilt, pathetic child you really are. Because it's so much easier to blame me for mothers death, despite the fact that your's and Jaime's birth nearly killed her. You and father don't understand that women die in childbirth all the time, it just doesn't happen as much to highborns because we have access to Maester's, so highborn women have a better chance at surviving. I've blamed myself for a long time for that, but I. AM. DONE. And you still getting angry over it after all these years just shows how pathetic you and father really are."
Cersei was stunned by how he continued to insult her and couldn't find words to counter his argument.
"Naruto's back." Tyrion mentioned absentmindedly, as if he hadn't just verbally tore his sister a new one.
"What?" Cersei asked.
"That's right, Cersei. Naruto is back in King's Landing, with all 70,000 men of the Golden Company at his back. Oh, did I forget to tell you that he leads the company now? My mistake. Anyway, any ideas that you are forming to have me killed or assassinated, I'd recommend you rethink that. Their Word's as good as Gold, and if I die before their contract is fulfilled, they will destroy the entire city, saving you and Joffrey for last." With that, Tyrion waddled off, leaving his pathetic sister to sort out her own shock.
Tower of the Hand
Next Day
Tyrion, Tommen, and Varys walk back into the Tower of the Hand to see Naruto, staring intently a map of Westeros.
"Ah, nephew. I trust the preparations on the Mudgate are going well." Tyrion said. No response came from Naruto.
"How did he do it?" Naruto asked as he took a swig from his wine cup.
"Who do you mean?" Tyrion asked and Naruto turned to him.
"Stannis." Naruto said as he walked to the other side of the table and looked at the map. "I've gone over this confrontation maybe 100 times since Tommen told me about it, and yet every time, I come to the same conclusion. Stannis should have been crushed. Renly had 20x more men than Stannis and had Mathis Rowan and Randyl Tarly, 2 men who are arguably better than Stannis at military strategy. Tommen isn't comfortable talking about it, so I ask you again. How did Stannis beat Renly and acquire the Stormlander forces?"
Tyrion looked Tommen who looked at Varys and jerked his head to Naruto, subtly telling Varys that Naruto needed to know what they knew. "There are conflicting reports, my Prince. Some of my little birds sing a tale of Renly being assassinated by his Kingsguard that was on duty that day. The member was Brienne of Tarth, only child of Selwyn Tarth."
"You sound like you have reason to doubt this claim." Naruto noted.
"If Brienne was truly working for Stannis, she would have defected to his side like the other Stormlanders did when they learned of Renly's death. Instead, she now protects the Lady Catelyn Stark. The other story is, which Lady Tarth claims to be truth, is that a shadow assassin with the face of Stannis, killed Renly." Varys said, making Naruto lean on the table.
"And does Stannis have a Red Priestess in his service?" Naruto asked with a dangerous tone in his voice.
"He does. He has even changed his sigil and added the fiery heart of the Lord of Light, the god the Red Priestess's, to it." Varys informed Naruto, causing him to slam his hands on the table.
"Then…he really did do it…Stannis murdered Renly." Naruto growled as he took deep breaths to maintain his cool and lose control of his Baratheon Temper.
A tear also slipped down his right cheek. Naruto had always been closer to Renly than his other uncles. That was because for him, Renly was the fun uncle. Renly would often get Naruto gifts of his favorite food every month. Renly introduced him to some of the Stormlander traditions and Baratheon Traditions, like the stag hunt on the 13th nameday, even though Naruto had to do his in Essos. Renly had introduced him to the basic's of politics when he was young. Naruto still loved Robert as his father, but Renly had been the older brother he had hoped Joffrey would have been before Joffrey's insanity was revealed to him.
"Lord Stannis' conversion to the Red God R'hllor has left much dissention in his ranks, not least of which is the practice of burning people alive as sacrifices to the Lord of Light. Furthermore, on the eve of Lord Renly's death, Stannis was witnessed burning one of his bastard nieces by Robert at the stake by a Stormlander knight and news of it has quickly spread through the camp. There are several Stormlords who were very unsettled by this event." Varys said.
"Can we turn those disgruntled lords to our side?" Naruto asked as he wiped tear away.
"Yes, Prince Tommen had the same idea. A number of prominent Stormlander Houses have secretly turned their cloak and will turn on Stannis when he attacks this city, as they have pledged their loyalty to Tommen as their Lord Paramount, since he is Robert's son and everyone still thinks you are dead." Varys said.
"Good, now if you will excuse me, I need to be alone for a while." Naruto as he made to walk past them.
Tommen clasped his brother's shoulder and said, "Will you be alright brother? I know this is hard for you, since you and Renly were very close."
"I'll be okay, Tommen. I just need a day to myself." Naruto said as he left.
Naruto probably wandered the streets of Kingslanding for several, aimlessly as he walked back to his camp. Everywhere he went he could see poverty. He had always known it was there, but as a kid, he never truly saw how bad it was in Kings Landing. The City was made to hold 200,000 people, but it was holding nearly triple that number right now. The air stunk because the drainage systems were old, broken and backed up. Children and even babies were starving to death as he saw a number that were skin and bone. Women who didn't even work in a brothel had to whore themselves out just so they could get the money to feed their families. It disgusted him. How these people, his people, were forced to live in such poverty. All because of his inbred cunt of brother that called himself king.
Yeah, Naruto knew Joffrey was not his brother. He had checked the book that Pycelle had that held the names and descriptions of every member of every house in Westerosi history, which was easy to do because Pycelle was still in a Black Cell. Durrandon's and Baratheons subsequently, always had black hair and blue eyes. It did not matter if they married Tully's, Arryn's, Tyrell's, Gardener's, Stark's, Martell's, Dayne's, or even Lannister's. The Durrandon/Baratheon features always won out, no contest. After he discovered this, he went to Varys and he confirmed Naruto's suspicions by telling him of his mother's confession of her adultery to Eddard Stark, which Varys and personally born witness too, since he hid behind a pillar where nobody spotted him.
During the next two days, he sent out feelers throughout his company, to see what the men would think if he had to become king. Surprisingly, most of his men wouldn't mind and would still follow him if he did become king, as it would give them a chance to settle down.
With two nights left before Stannis showed up, Naruto made up his mind. Joffrey dies tonight.
The Red Keep
Joffrey walked into his room in the Red Keep. He had just gotten his new sword and armor for the upcoming battle with Stannis, not that Joffrey knew a thing about fighting. Joffrey went through in his mind of all the disgusting, depraved things he would do to Sansa when he finally killed his uncle. Maybe he would let Ser Gregor have a go at her.
Joffrey figured it would be a good punishment for Tommen since he interfered with his torment of Sansa.
Flashback
"STOP!" Tommen thundered as he, Tyrion, and Bronn entered the Throne Room. The whole room parted as they made way for the 3 men. Tommen knelt before Sansa, seeing her tear streaked face was more than he could bear. He unclasped his cloak and draped it over her.
"What kind of knight beats a helpless girl?" Tyrion asked with a glare.
"The kind who serves his king, Imp." Ser Meryn retorted back with an insult.
"Careful now. Wouldn't want to get blood all over that pretty white cloak." Bronn taunted Meryn as Tommen helped her up to her feet and held her close.
"She is to be your queen. Have you no respect for her honor?" Tyrion demanded of Joffrey.
"I'm punishing her." Joffrey said in that bratty, nasally voice of his that just makes people want to rupture their ear drums so they don't have to hear him.
"For what crimes!? She doesn't fight her brother's battles, you brain-dead imbecile!" Tommen shouted at Joffrey.
"You can't talk to me like that! THE KING CAN DO AS HE LIKES!" Joffrey shouted as he sat back on his throne.
"Maegor the Cruel, Baelor the Blessed, and Aerys the Mad all did as they liked." Tommen said as he stepped closer to Joffrey while leaving her with Tyrion. "The first was assassinated for being too cruel, Baelor was delusional and starved himself to death, and like you, Aerys started a civil war when he executed the Warden of the North without just cause. Uncle Jaime never tell you what happened to him?" Tommen cruelly stated.
"No one threaten's his grace in the presence of the Kingsguard," Meryn stated as he had his hand on his sword.
"Oh, you think that was a threat?" Tommen asked dangerously as he exploded with true Baratheon Rage.
Faster than Meryn could react, Tommen unsheathed his sword and with one fluid slash, cut open Meryn's throat.
Tommen rounded on Boros Blount, who was behind and sliced off both of his legs. The fat knight fell to the ground in pain, flailing around helplessly as Tommen sliced his right arm off before stabbing Blount in the throat.
Tommen then turned to Joffrey and pointed his sword at him, shouting, "If you or your Kingsguard ever hurt Sansa again, I will slaughter the rest of your Kingsguard and disembowel you from balls to brain!"
The Lords and Ladies of the court were stunned into silence. How couldn't they be? Tommen, the Crown Prince, had just executed two of the Kingsguard like they were nothing and threatened to do the same to Joffrey and the rest of the Kingsguard. Tommen then led Sansa away to comfort her and Joffrey tried to hide the fact that he had shit his pants.
Flashback end
Joffrey had avoided Sansa after that, hoping to avoid being killed until he could get Ser Gregor to do his bidding and then he would put Tommen in his place.
Then, he felt something prick his neck. Joffrey pulled it out to see a dart. He tried to move, but he couldn't get his arm's and legs to respond as he fell to the ground. He tried to scream for help but he couldn't speak. Only wheezes escaped his throat.
"Hello, brother." Naruto said as he came into view, causing Joffrey to try to scream but only pained wheezes escaped his throat.
"Yeah, don't bother trying to scream for help. You've been injected with a poison." He paused for Joffrey's muted wheeze's before continuing, "Don't worry, it's not the kind that can kill you. It leaves you paralyzed and takes away your ability to speak."
Naruto picked him up and threw him on the bed. "You know, I kinda blame myself for this war that is currently ravaging the country. If only I had killed you back then. Well, let's fix that."
Naruto pulls out a knife and cut Joffrey's mouth open from ear to ear. Joffrey's pained wheezes filled his ear. "I do admit, I would like to hear your screams, but I can't take the chance of someone hearing you and messing this up."
Naruto gripped Joffrey's head with both of his hands, his thumb's pointed at Joffrey's eyes. Naruto's thumbs glowed wildfire green. He plunged them into Joffrey's eyes, burning them out, producing wheezed screams from Joffrey. Naruto pulled out his thumbs and examined the burned out eye sockets of his half-brother.
"Don't worry bastard, I'll good care of the throne for you. Better than you ever did, at any rate." Naruto smirked as he sliced Joffrey's throat open. He then plunged his hand into Joffrey's chest. He gripped his heart, disconnected the arteries from it and ripped it out of his chest. Naruto got off the bed and went over to the table, where he had placed a plate of cheese earlier. He put the plate of cheese next to the bastard and put the heart on it. He wiped his hand off on the bed before pulling out a letter that claimed the assassination was all Stannis's doing and placing it on the bed.
"Now, time to go celebrate." Naruto said to himself as he dissappeared in a flash of speed. He had this really beautiful red haired whore waiting back in his tent, who was being occupied by his clone. He intended to have loads of fun tonight.
Chapter End
1. (DELETE)i.(DELETE)imgur.(DELETE)com/(DELETE)NfAIPJq.(DELETE)png?1?(DELETE)fb - picture of Naruto's armor. Just take out all the (DELETE)'s and it should show up. Then just imagine a color swap being done.
2. There is no description of Yamato's appearance in Devil May Cry 5 yet, so just imagine it's Devil May Cry 5 apperance, just with a color swapped handle.
Tommen is played by Bradley James with Black Hair.
Mycrella is played by Alexandra Daddario.