Preface: You know, I only really need either this or the 'In which:' part at the start...

And you are correct on both counts, kb. Completely correct.

Sword and Sorcery

Opening Act

Part III; What did you expect?

In which: A bad guy realizes that not everyone who uses magic dresses like a mage, and suddenly gets his face handed to him.

And the entirety of the Uchiha clan is cast as elves, due to their arrogance and inferiority superlex.

Town, Outside, Ten Minutes After Last Chapter's End

There were three dead soldiers lying on the ground, one with a pair of slash marks in his chest, the other two burned.

And Naruto and Hinata were bound, a pair of guards standing on either side of them as the mage cackled hysterically.

Naruto had been tied up in the standard manner, his hands behind his back, and his sword three feet out of his reach.

Hinata, though, was gagged, with her hands secured far enough apart that she couldn't, say, perform the somatic components for a fire spell.

"So you were the one who killed those brigands! How humorous!" The mage said, after he managed to stop laughing. "You don't look so tough now, 'your Highness'."

"What are you after?" Naruto yelled indignantly as he struggled to break the ropes holding his hands behind his back.

"Oh not much. Just securing my master's interests, and eliminating any who might be able to oppose him." The mage replied, before turning around to have a monologue. "You see, my lord has decided to spread his beneficial rule to the rest of the lands around him. In this wonderful act, he sent forth minions to raise a rebellion against all lords, save himself."

The guards next to Naruto and Hinata dozed off during the start of the rant, and didn't notice that Naruto's ropes had been burned through, a fatal mistake.

"As I am one of his greater followers, I was given control of a faction to direct towards wherever I pleased, provided I find enough mages to power his newest device. So I searched for my target, aiming for the countries with the greatest mage count, and I found that each of your countries had a decent number of mages."

Now Hinata was unbound, thanks to a small fire spell aimed at her bindings, and she had taken the gag out of her mouth.

"So I directed an army to each country, giving them the orders to spare as many mages as possible for powering the device. And then you two rode away from your homes, presumably to meet and request reinforcements."

Now all four guards had been... dealt with, and Hinata was muttering an incantation under her breath.

"And here we are! At this small town, where... I... captured...you." The mage turned back around while speaking, to see a most certainly not captured mage chanting, while pointing her hands towards him. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"Hevbajnois, rniun, thkeunon!" Hinata finished her chant, before a glowing blue wave burst from her hand and struck the mage.

"Oh, cra-" Were the last syllables of the mage, as he turned to ice, now...frozen, pardon the pun, mid-sentence.

"That's new." Naruto said, fading into the foreground.

"U-um, I f-found it in my f-families libraries, hidden b-behind several layers of dust. I-It's nothing special..." The bluenette responded, blushing.

There was the sound of someone clapping slowly.

"Bravo, bravo." The man who had been in the inn said, walking past a pair of smoking corpses with a slight swagger in his step. "I've never seen anyone make that sort of escape in that short o time before."

"Who are you?"

"The name- given, seeing as I was banished- is Itachi. Originally Itachi Uchiha, but, due to circumstances, it is no longer."

"W-wait, Uchiha? Isn't that t-the ruling f-family of Pyros?"

"Indeed it is."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I said no to the plan to annex everything and take over the world."

"...Surely you jest."

"I'm quite serious. They banished me, and I found my way here. Seeing as you two will need to topple them to reclaim your respective kingdoms..."

"W-what?"

"I offer you my aid, provided you help me bring sense back to my nation's leader."

"...Alright, but any funny business..."

"I completely understand. Now, I suggest that we leave as soon as we can. I know for a fact that every single lieutenant in Pyros' military has been told to say that they're in charge of the current garrison, regardless of if they actually are, which means there are probably more troops around here."

"Good idea. What do you have in terms of equipment?"

"Enough for one to travel with for a week, assuming that he hunts." Itachi said, a smirk forming on his face. "And, of course, my bow."

"What bow?" Naruto replied, looking at Itachi like he was insane. "I don't see one."

"That would be due to a certain charm that I had laid upon it." The black haired apparent mage responded, holding up a small charm of an elaborate bow.

"So, shall we proceed?"

Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in this one. I know, less than a thousand words with preface and author's notes, but still, interesting stuff happened in it. Now, REVIEW, because I need it to help with the next chapters...