A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and to everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows.
Naruto scowled at the sight of the letters on the sheet of weird paper in front of her. For the past couple of weeks, the old man had been teaching her how to read and write their language, a language that used a whole different set of characters then she did. The sound of those characters were nothing like her language, it sounded easy to hear and she could now say those letters individually but she could not put the words together. If she did, she sometimes did not understand what she was saying.
She wondered how she learnt her language at school, had it been as difficult as it was now? It probably was, she thought to herself, and if it was as hard as this then she would have asked Dog to help her do her work but only after making her eyes big e, telling him with a pout about how hard it was. He would always roll his eyes, she remembered fondly, before grabbing a seat beside her and telling her with a slow voice what to do. It would then be the next day where he would bring a couple of child-friendly books to her, making her read it out loud to him until she was to his standard. She wished her old bodyguard was here, he might have been able to help her get some of those books but looking at the old man, she doubted she would find any.
North. That was the second word she learnt after Winterfell and even though it had been a couple of weeks since she came here, Naruto could not help but feel that the language was still weird. Everything from the characters to the names the people were given was weird. Where was the name Yuki? Or hell even the name Sakura when she needed one? Even the name Sasuke would be nice to hear instead of the names Eddard and Robb.
Shaking her head, Naruto looked down at the strange paper, scrunched her eyes as she tried to spot any of the familiar words that the old Maester Luwin taught her. She could not see the words 'the' or 'was' but she could pick up a couple of names from the passage and the names of the neighboring countries or what she thought was countries.
How would Weasel deal with this? She wondered as she scanned through the parchment for any more words that were familiar to her. Would he have been able to perserve through this? He probably would, she concluded, the ANBU guard never complained about anything. He also never say anything with emotion but that had been fine with her after all he had been the one guard who was the closest person to age to her.
"Naruto."
She blinked her eyes and nearly screamed when she saw the old Maester looming over her shoulder. How could she not have notice him? She should have been able to hear the old man move! Out of everyone in her class besides Kiba, she had the best sense of hearing and smell. How could she not notice the creepy old man? The old man shook his head, gave her look that said she should pay more attention to her surrounding, before pointing at a particular country at the parchment.
"Do you know what this is?" She curled her lips, wondering if she should pretend to be dumb and let him tell her or if she should just answer him. It would do her no good to let him think she was dumb, she doubted the old man was going to buy her story. Still must she read it? It was not going to do her any good when she found way back home though she wondered if she ever would go home.
"Dorne."
"This one."
"Winterfell."
"And what about that one?"
She wrinkled her nose as she tried to read the letters in the map before nodding her head. "R-Riverlands," she tilted her head, "Home of Catelyn."
"Lady Stark," he corrected her.
She shrugged her shoulder. "Not my lady."
The old Maester sighed. "As long as you live here, she's your lady."
Naruto blinked and furrowed her eyebrows at him, making the old man sighed. He scratched his head before grabbing a parchment from the table. He took the quil from the table and started to draw some weird things on the paper. She nearly laughed when she realized that the drawing was supposed to represent her and the older woman, who stood on top of her. She narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows at the man, who nodded his head at her.
"No," she snapped, earning a raised eyebrow from the old man, "No one can boss me around! I'm my own boss! The only person I'll even think of listening to is the Hokage! And she's not it! She's a bitter old hag!"
"Naruto."
She rolled her eyes at him, realizing angrily that the old man didn't understand what she said. Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes as she tried to figure out what she should say to him. "I don't listen to her," she struggled to say, "I won't listen! Too mean."
"Mean? Lady Stark has nothing been nice to you."
She shook her head. "Not me. Jon."
The old man raised his eyebrows. "And why do you care?"
"Friend," she stated, curling her lips at him. "I care about my friends. I don't like friend sad. She makes him sad."
"Naruto..."
"Why mean to him?"
The old man sighed. "It's because he's a bastard."
"Bastard? He isn't one," the old maester blinked his eyes at her, "Bastards are like Theon. Jon isn't one. She treat Theon better."
The old maester shook his head at her. "One day you'll understand child."
"Bastards are everywhere," Naruto gazed blankly at the maps, "If she love Lord Stark, she must love Jon."
The old man sighed. "If only that was easy child."
"It's easy! Even the clan's bastard are treated better than the way the old hag treats Jon! It isn't like he asked for any of this," She said angrily under her breath, earning a raised eyebrow from the old man. She smiled sweetly at the old man, who nodded his head at her, before gazing at her whisker marks. She didn't understand anything about this world and their treatment of people or why people kept staring at her birthmarks but she was going to learn it the more time she spend here in this world.
"Can I go now?" The old maester curled his lips at her. "I can read the map now."
He opened his mouth to argue with her but closed his mouth as if he knew that nothing he could say to her would make her stay. He nodded his head, gestured for her to go but not before telling her that she needed to come back after dinner to do another round of reading. She scowled but nodded her head at him. At least the old man was smart for letting her go now. Nothing in the world was going to make her stay in this dusty room and read another book in the room. Not even Weasel would make her do this, she thought, pulling her dress up as she made her way out of the room.
Maybe if she ran fast enough, she might catch the boys in their weapon training and if she was lucky enough, she might be able to find a better hiding spot from the mean old woman.
She grinned when she caught sight of Robb and Jon fighting with the wooden swords and smiled even wider when the wooden sword dropped from Robb's hand. The red head shook his head, turned his head around and smiled at her before making his way towards her. She always wanted to use one but not like those broad swords that their teacher had, no she wanted a katana especially since her own hero used one. Kushina Uzumaki was one of the best when it came to using a sword, even Dog praised her and it was hard to get her ANBU guard to praise anyone especially when it came to her. The guard claimed it was because he didn't want her to get a big head but she didn't have one! She really didn't have a big head!
"Are you here to watch my lady?" Naruto wrinkled her nose at Robb, who smiled even wider. It had been weeks since she came here and no matter what she said, the redhead kept calling her lady. She knew he did it to annoy her and she should be the bigger person and accept it but she wasn't a lady in anyway. Ladies were girls like Sansa and Hinata, not girls like her who loved to run around in the mud, fighting and insulting people. The world would end the day she acted like one.
"How was reading?" Jon asked, standing beside Robb.
She scowled. "Boring."
He furrowed his eyebrows at her, which told her that she had went back to speaking in her language instead of the language of the Common Tongue. "It wasn't fun," she scowled, "Swords is more fun."
"You sound like Arya when you talk like that My Lady." Robb said.
"Arya is smart," she gazed up at the clear blue sky, "Swords is better. I'm good with fighting, not with books."
Robb gave her a look of sympathy as if it to tell her she wouldn't be that good but Jon just stared at her, gazing at the wooden sword in his hand and then to her as if he knew she wasn't lying about this. Out of all the girls in her year, she was the best when it came to taijutsu, only being beaten by Sasuke. That bastard always beat her in a fight but one day she was going to beat him in a fight...though he was a ninja now and she wasn't one. It was all that Mizuki's fault she wasn't one! If she ever find Mizuki, she was going to make him regret making her angry.
She flickered her eyes at the wooden sword and then to Jon, who shook his head at her. She furrowed her eyebrows at him but he gestured distantly towards Sansa and her friend, who were making their way towards the tower. She groaned. "You didn't see me," the two of them blinked and before they could blink their eyes, she ran away like she always did whenever she didn't want to go to lessons.
Robb stared at Jon. "She's going to get into a lot of trouble."
"Naruto won't care," Jon sighed, "She's like Arya, she doesn't care about being a lady but it'll be a while before the Septa realized she isn't here."
"How long do you think it'll take before the Septa realized that Naruto skipped her lessons."
"Naruto has only attended five of her lessons My Lord! Can you talk some sense into the girl! Not even Lady Stark can talk to the girl about going to her lessons!"
Ned rubbed his temple as he gazed at the Septa, who looked annoyed as she continued to talk about how Naruto kept skipping her lessons. It did not surprise him that the young girl skipped them after all she reminded him of Lyanna and Arya with her willful nature and her desire to wield a sword. What were girls taught wherever Naruto came from? He asked himself, listening dimly as the Septa continued to rant about the girl.
"I will talk to Naruto," The septa stopped her rant, "I do not know what her reasons for skipping lessons but I'll try to talk some sense to her."
The Septa nodded her head stiffly. "Good! It's a waste a girl with her talent to not come and attend lessons."
"Talent?" That was a first, Ned thought to himself, thinking about the blond-haired girl. As far as he knew and observed, Naruto did not seem like the type of girl who would be talented in needlework. She seemed to be free and wild to be good in needlework but what did he know about the mysterious girl? She was a sign from the Old Gods but he still did not know if it was a good sign or not.
"She's very good with the needle," The septa said, nodding her head. "She is reluctant but she has more talent then Arya but still she is not as good as Sansa. However she holds it like how a seamstress holds a needle. It makes me wonder how a wild child like her could be good in holding a needle."
"Do you have any idea on where the girl might be?"
Septa Mordane shook her head. "If I knew My lord, I would not be here with you but perhaps Arya or one of your sons would know. She spends too much time with them especially with your bastard son."
It did not surprise him to know Naruto was close to Jon, the young girl had immediately became friends with most of his children, the only exception being Sansa but not from the lack of trying. The two girls were opposites, with Sansa loving everything that is associated with ladies and Naruto loving adventures. Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath and gazed out at the window where he could see his youngest daughter watching his sons and ward being instructed on using the sword.
Taking in a deep breath, Ned got off of his chair and slowly made his way towards the courtyard to ask his children on where their newest ward went off. Naruto may not be of the north but he could see that just like his daughter and sister, she had the desire of freedom and adventure. The girl was not suited to be a lady as his wife would always point out whenever she caught Naruto making rude jokes with the boys or saw how the girl had managed to find some breeches that suit her but despite knowing this, Ned knew the girl was not some kind of commoner even if her manners portrayed it.
Her looks were too similar to that of a nobility and the clothes she wore had been made out of expensive material.
He stopped walking once he reached the courtyard and just in time to see Jon unarm Theon. Had it really been nearly fourteen years since the rebellion ended? Ned asked himself as he stared at Jon and Robb. It felt as if it had been shorter than that as if his brother and father was only murdered just a few weeks ago. It always did at this time of the year, he thought to himself, taking in a deep breath.
"Father, what brings you here?" Robb asked, drawing his attention to his oldest son. He glanced at Arya, nodded at her to come to him before staring at Theon and Jon, who stood there with a solemn look.
Ned did not reply until Jon, Theon and Arya were right in front of him. "Do you know where Naruto have run off to?"
Robb and Theon shook their heads while Jon nodded his head at him. He gazed at Arya, who reluctantly nodded her head but he knew looking into his daughter's eyes that she would not tell him where the blue-eyed girl went. He sighed and looked at Jon who did not make any attempts to tell him where his new ward had run off to. "Where did she go Jon? I need to talk to her."
"She went into the forest," Everyone but Arya looked at him in alarm but Jon only grimaced, "She goes there to train Father," Ned blinked his eyes and wondered how could the young girl train in the forest, "And she will not move from the forest until the sun starts to set."
"And you have made no attempts to stop her?" He asked his son.
Jon frowned. "I tried it the first ten times but she will not listen Father."
"Have you told her of the dangers of a girl being by herself in the forest."
"I did and still she will not listen," Ned grimaced at hearing this, "She said that animals will not stop her from going into the forest and that no one could scare her."
Theon snorted. "That girl is a strange one I tell you. I never thought the girls of the Free Cities were like her."
No, the people of where she came from were like this, Ned nearly corrected, remembering the inappropriate clothes Naruto had worn when she first fallen down from the sky. The girls of the place where Naruto came from did not seem the type to care about dangers or manners like most girls here did. If they were like Naruto, they did not care one bit about what a girl should be like or have completely different ideas on them.
"Jon go search for Naruto," Arya opened her mouth to argue with him but one look from him and his daughter closed her mouth, "And when you find her, bring her straight to me."
"Yes father," Jon said, standing straight.
He hoped that Naruto wasn't too deep in the forest or so helped him, he was going to regret sending Jon after her.
Jon could not help but blink his eyes at the sight of Naruto hanging upside down on a tree. It should not surprise him since Arya hangs upside down whenver she got the chance but what surprised him was the fact Naruto was using her feet to hang upside down. How was that even possible? He thought to himself, gazing at the blue-eyed girl. How could she do something like that? Then again Naruto was very different from the people in Winterfell and he didn't know if it was good or bad.
Shaking his head, he slowly made his way under the tree and nearly laughed when the girl yelped and nearly fell down to the ground, only for her leg to stay still.
"Jon!" She screamed, making her way towards the tree trunk. "What the hell are you doing! Give me some warning! I could have died right there!"
He sighed. "I don't understand you, Naruto."
"You nearly killed me," He raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms and leaned against his leg, "Why are you here?"
"Father wants you."
Naruto frowned. "Why?"
"I don't know."
"I'm not going until I go up there," she declared, pointing towards the highest tree branch. "When I reach there, I go see him."
"It is his orders."
"He does not order me," Jon sighed, "He's not my boss."
"Naruto, you don't work for him."
She crossed her arms. "He makes decisions for me," she scrunched her eyebrows, "He does not ask me what I want."
"You're a girl and girls have very little choices," he pointed out to her. "It's the same for Arya."
She shook her head. "You say. In my home girls can choose. Being a girl does not matter."
"Here it matters," he pointed out to her, keeping his tone even as he tried his best not to show her his bitterness. "Birth and gender matter."
Naruto scowled. "Why? If I'm good, is that not enough?"
He couldn't help but sigh at this strange girl, wondering how he could explain it to her. "It's the way it is," he said, "You cannot change your gender like I can't change the fact I'm a bastard."
"You're not a bastard," she said sharply, shaking her head at him. "You're not one."
"I was born out of wedlock Naruto, for that alone says I'm a bastard."
She scowled, placed her hands on her hips and pointed to his face. "You're going to become old," she declared hotly, gazing up at the sky. "You think like that and you'll become like the old man Luwin. You're not old enough to say that."
"I can't deny what I am Naruto."
Naruto tilted her head, gazed at him with furious blue eyes and shook her head. "Why do you and everyone else make it a big deal? It isn't your fault," he blinked his eyes at her, "My home have many kids like you but they're loved by everyone."
"Naruto..."
"Catelyn is...a bitch!" Jon didn't need to know Naruto's language to know that the girl had just said something bad about his father's wife. "It's not your fault but she blames you."
He sighed. "If your husband came with a child that is not yours, would you not be cold to the child too?"
"I'll leave him if I don't love him," he tilted his head at her, "If I love him then I'll stay. It's not kid fault, it's the father's fault. I won't hurt a kid like Catelyn does."
How could she talk so easily about leaving her future husband? And how could she say she would love the kid? Lady Stark was cold to him but she treated him better than some other women would have treated him. The woman also loved his father, anyone could see that so why did Naruto claimed she did not love his father enough. Sometimes Jon had to wonder how Naruto was raised, wonder what the people of the Free Cities were like because if they were like Naruto, maybe he would have an easier life there.
"Besides men who cheat on their wives are bad in my home," Naruto said quietly, causing him to blink his eyes at him. "People marry for love in my home...it's not normal for a man to cheat on their wife."
"Marriage isn't always about love," Jon reminded her as he remembered the wise words from the Maester Luwin. "Here it is politics."
Naruto furrowed her eyebrows before shaking her head at him. "That's for your siblings and Theon, not for you or me."
"Maybe one day a man might come for your hand in marriage one day Naruto. It isn't impossible for you," he pointed out to her, gazing at the girl. It would not be too hard for his friend to have men after her with her looks. He may not see many girls in Winterfell but from what he seen Naruto's beauty outshone every girl in the castle, including Sansa. With her long golden hair, bright blue eyes, and round whiskered cheeks, Naruto would find no problems in having men wanting to marry her.
Naruto laughed and shook her head before gazing at the tree. "No one will want to marry me," she said confidently. "If it's about politics, they'll have nothing from me. I would not love them if they wish for me to be like a lady as Lord Stark wants."
"You wish to spend the rest of your life like a maid?"
She shrugged her shoulder. "You? Marry for love or politics?"
"And who would marry me Naruto? I've no prospects," Naruto pursed her lips at him, "No father would allow me to marry their daughter and I do not wish to give my children the last name Snow."
Naruto shook her head. "Wife's name," she smiled at him before rushing towards the very tree where she was hanging from earlier, "Give them your wife's name. My last name is my mother's not my father's name. Change it, some people do that in my home. Find a way to change it, don't be sad."
He was learning something new about Naruto everyday, Jon mused to himself, propping himself to take a seat on the forest ground. It was the first time he heard Naruto talk about her parents or say so many words in the Common Tongue. He wondered what type of parents Naruto had for her to be okay with talking to bastards and wondered about the place she grew up in. One day, he thought, he wanted to see it and see if it was as nice as she claimed it was.
"Why do you have your mother's name and not your father?"
"I don't know," Naruto answered when she reached midway through the trees, "Old man never tell me. He said I know why when I have sixteen name days."
"Why sixteen?"
"Seen as an adult."
"Why not when you flowered?"
Naruto laughed. "I flower but I'm not a woman. I'm still a kid."
"Your home is strange."
That made Naruto laugh even harder. "This is strange," she finally said when she reached three quarters of the way towards her destination, "Here I've no freedom. To have no freedom is strange."
"Is freedom that important to you?"
"Yes."
Shaking his head, he watched as Naruto ripped one of the branches below her and used the ripped branch to make a mark on the tree. He blinked at the sight of the girl kicked the tree and landed gracefully on the forest ground. She shook her head, gazed at the tree and muttered something under her breath that made him wonder what his friend was saying this time. It must be frustrating for her, he thought, knowing from the sight of the scratches on the tree that she had not reached as far as she wanted.
"Time to go see Lord Stark," he blinked and raised his eyebrow at her, "If you are with me, I don't do as well as I like."
He snorted. "Maybe it is to do with you and not me."
"You make a joke," Naruto laughed, "I'm going to make you do that more. You look nicer when you smile, less stiff."
He did not know what to say to that but he did know that his face was heating up from Naruto's comment and he hoped that by the time he get back to the castle that Robb and Theon did not notice his face was flushed red.
"Why don't you attend any lessons with the Septa, Naruto?" Ned asked as soon as Jon came into his office with the blond-haired girl in tow. His son gazed at Naruto, who scowled and shook her head at his son, who just shook his head at her. He wondered how Jon could communicate with Naruto so easily with those gestures, Ned thought to himself, watching as his youngest son leave the room. "Well Naruto?"
"Why go? I'm not a Lady," he opened his mouth to protest but the blond-haired girl shook her head, "I'm not one and never be. I don't like dresses, I don't like any of the lessons! I know how to sew."
"How do you know to sew if you are not a lady?"
"Taught myself."
"Your mother did not teach you?"
"She's dead," she said blankly. "Mother and father are dead. They die on the day I was born."
So young, he thought mournfully, gazing at the blue-eyed girl. Now that she said it, everything she had been doing made some sense. The way she had threatened Theon on her first meeting with the boy and the way she looked at his children as they were being hugged by his wife made sense. It made even more sense as he remembered how the little girl had played with the orphan children in the village while Sansa looked away from them.
"Who took care of you if your parents were dead?" Naruto frowned and furrowed her eyebrows at him. He sighed and pointed to himself before pointing to her. "Now you are under my care before who took care of you?"
"Home for orphans," the young girl smiled widely, "After that I take care of myself."
He frowned. "And how were you able to do that?"
"I know how to cook and there's money for orphans," she nodded her head, "Old man gave it to me every month."
"Old man?"
Naruto frowned, tilted her head and snapped her finger. "Like you Lord Stark," he frowned and asked himself why would a Lord do something like that. Not even he would do that and he would like to think he was a good lord to his people. "He sees me everyday and let me play games with his grandson," she smiled sadly, "Konohamaru follow me around like Arya follow Jon."
He could see that Naruto was becoming more sad as she talked about the people of her home and that this conversation was straying from the original topic. It was time for him to go back to the topic at hand. "Tell me Naruto, do you not want to be a lady? The women in your home must have ladies did they not?" Naurto grimaced. "Why do you not want to take lessons to be a lady? Many girls your age would like Iike it."
"Girls in my village were allowed to fight," she said quietly, "Old man said my mother and father fight. Good fighers. I don't want to be like Sansa or Catelyn. I don't want to be mean to Jon."
"Naruto..."
"I don't want someone to save me," Ned felt his heart stilled at her declaration as the memory of his sister saying a similar thing to his father. He wondered if his father allowed his sister to have her freedom if her death could be prevented. He wondered if he listened to his sister's words if everything could have been prevented. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Naruto said. "I save myself. I know the truth and nothing Septa say is true."
"Naruto..."
"If god exist then why people hurt?" She gazed at him with somber eyes. "Prayer does not save people. If god exist then god will not blame Jon for being born and I wouldn't have the villagers ignore me like the way your wife ignores your son. God will say it is not the fault of kid, kid is innocent. God will not want kids like Jon to be sad and act older then they should."
"Naruto, is it because of Jon that you've not been attending her lessons?"
"No," she answered . "I don't go because it's boring. Jon does not say anything about his feelings...I feel it."
"You feel it?"
"Yes," He did not need to know Naruto's language to know the girl admitted to feeling his son's emotions, "Very lonely and sad, more when he sees Catelyn. She's mean to him but you do not try to help him."
"Naruto..."
"My village have many bastards, they're loved by their mother and father," Naruto said softly, "The father's wife helps the kid and love them like their own. Catelyn does not do that, she does not love you if she does not do that."
"Your home is different from us," he reminded her, "Jon is a strain of her honour."
"She should see my home and see how women deal with it," she stared sadly at him, "Jon will make a choice and not a good one because of how she treats him. He does not wish for children because of his name but you do not care do you? You're just as bad as Catelyn."
He wanted to tell her he did but one look from his eyes and the girl smiled bitterly at him, giving him a look that said he was the worst person in the world. Ned wanted to tell the girl she should not question his treatment to his son but the girl was sent from the Old Gods for a reason. For a brief moment, he thought he saw his sister standing behind the girl, nodding her head in agreement with him but he shook his head, knowing that it could not be for no one could see the dead.
"If I talked to Lady Stark about her treatment towards Jon would you go to lessons."
"Ok," she sighed, "I can't promise but I try."
"Thank you Naruto."
She shrugged her shoulder. "Can I go now? I promise to play with Arya."
"Yes, you can go."
He doubt he could get his wife to treat Jon any better than she did but he did know that if he did not want the Septa to keep coming to him about Naruto that he needed to have a few words about his wife's treatment towards his son. Still how could Naruto feel emotions? Not even the stories the Old Nan told him as a boy had told him of those kind of powers. Was this another sign? He wondered, gazing out at the window. Was it a sign that winter was truly coming? Maybe it was but whatever the case was, he did know he needed to have a talk with his wife.
It was not going to be a pleasant talk that was for certain.
A/N:Please review
