DEATHPLAY- the royal scandals
CH1- Start of the end
(Session #4- Where all the trouble starts)
(Ksingard central city (Cydia), royal guest hall, left wing)
"…holy shit. "
Naruto groggily squinted, hoping that the bright light piercing his eyes were not those of the sun, but a really intense lantern.
But it was the sun.
For the sun to be up that high… it must be, 10pm? 11pm?
He lay still for a moment, the horror of the situation sinking in ever so slowly, and yelled out to Jiraiya in a high-pitched voice unlike his.
"Siiiirr!! "
Jiraiya stirred.
He turned lazily, eyes still closed and a contented sleepy smile playing at his lips.
"Ahh, what a nasty hangover. Hmm? What's wrong, Abdullah? Why are you sleeping on the floor? "
"My name is not Ab… forget it. Just … just look outside will you?! "
Jiraiya turned and looked at the bright light shining through the window. It was fully open, and the sound of morning birds chirping was heard throughout the court. A faint scent of dew lingered in the air.
"My my, what a wonderful day. Beautiful sunlight. Great weather. What is it that you want to show me? "
Naruto jumped up from the floor in frustration.
"That's exactly it!! The sun is up, sir! It's fucking morning! What about the plan of running away in the middle of the night?! "
"Oh… that. Hmm…Just a moment… this migraine is really killing me, I'd say. "
Naruto groaned in despair while Jiraiya pinched his eyes and murmured something that was impossible to dechiper.
"What are we going to do?! Run away in daylight?! That equals to saying, kill me!! "
"Oh no, why are you always so pessimistic? "
"I'm being reasonable sir!!"
The chance of successfully running away was about zilch.
Ksingard, especially regions down in the southern border and Cydia, was famed for its tight security- not an ant can pass unless the officials give assent.
Also, Ksingard, being an 'old-civilized' as they liked to claim, had a big thick book entirely on penalties… it was full of gory descriptions on how you could be pickled to death when committing treason.
At any rate, they were screwed.
"You know, Naruto, there was a popular saying in temple Regalus… "
Jiraiya suddenly spoke with authority.
Naruto's head jerked up in hope. He awaited the saying, hoping he could somehow obtain a solution for this messy situation…
"Sleeping on cold floors can make your mouth turns sideways. "
Jiraiya enunciated, and Naruto exploded.
"Argh!! That's 'not' what I wanted to know!! "
The mood of the room had deflated, and Jiraiya shrugged.
"Just an advice, that's all. You want to keep your mouth straight, don't you? Hmm. No need to flame up, Abdullah. "
"You're doing that on purpose!! You know my name!! "
"Sure I do. Abdulla…"
Naruto was on the verge of strangling himself and his sensei both.
"I 'hate' you!! Why did I ever follow you!! "
"Because I'm the great demon-slayer of Aru…"
"Pack it! I've heard that a million times! "
"That's not a way to speak to an eld…"
"Oh come on!! "
All of a sudden, there was a knocking on the door, a curt rap that indicated hostility. Both Naruto and Jiraiya quickly hushed up, straining their ears to hear what was being said.
"My king will be waiting for you at the main hall. That is the hall right downside the palace gardens, across the corridors and out of the big dome- that is all. "
After the scant tapping of the messenger's footstep's gone away, Jiraiya frowned and spoke up.
"So they're not even bothering to escort us. How rude. "
Naruto slipped down on to the floor dizzily and muttered with his eyes closed.
"…please, 'please' tell me you have a plan, sir! "
"I don't know… let's say, shall we improvise? "
"Look where it got us!! "
"Hmm. I don't know. Come on, let's move along. It's rude to keep someone waiting, Naruto. "
Jiraiya pulled along a very reluctant Naruto out of the room and down the corridors…
The sun was shining brightly.
It was indeed, a beautiful day. Great weather.
--
(Central city of Ksingard, east of the Royal Palace Gardens)
"I had a hunch you'd be here. "
Sasuke spoke to the stricken Hinata, who hadn't heard the prince approaching. She had been engrossed in her book- history of Arudan, what can you say?
Hinata had yesterday, had a heated discussion with Hanabi, who was mainly concerned with the prince's good looks, while Hinata focused more on his 'scary' side.
Prince Sasuke had a notorious reputation, and everyone was aware of that…. With the exception of childish Hanabi, who still indignantly assessed with a pouting mouth, 'But he's hot'.
Hinata did not 'disagree', ha, but she was still acutely aware of the young prince's brute strength, his proclivity for forceful actions and the rage that seemed to be trapped inside him, 24/7.
"…I'm sorry, prince Sasuke, please… pl…ease accept my apolo…"
"Look, why the fuss? No. no, don't you dare start crying… I said stop! "
Hinata tried, but could not stop the tears that sprouted from her eyes. It was a childhood tendency that she had never quite gotten rid of- she cried 'a lot'.
Then she thought, she disobeyed him again by crying! Does 'this' count as treason? Would she be beheaded now?
Where was Neji, by the way?!
She felt her emotions mount into one of hysteric properties, and gave up altogether on stopping her flowing tears.
She bawled.
And Sasuke muttered in resign.
"Damned female antics…"
Prince Sasuke stood stagnant, half bowled over by the intensity of Hinata's grief and half alarmed at himself for not feeling even a bit frustrated. Usually, he was triggered by even the slightest thing, but this girl… was different.
Not that he was attracted or anything but…
Why did he feel like laughing?
Prince Sasuke never laughs, that's a fact.
"…look, I'm not here to, scare you or anything, honestly, I'm just... Jesus, stop crying!! "
He yelled. She bawled.
He scared her.
Neji, who had been temporarily absorbed by the magnolias in the garden, returned to find Hinata sobbing and prince Sasuke fretting. He hid behind the willows, pressing his body against the bark so he would not be seen.
Neji suppressed another bout of laughter-Hinata was incredibly funny- and frowned in wonder.
Why was the prince so obsessed with his cousin sister? It was curious, very curious.
And somewhat disturbing.
--
(Heart of Arudan, Royal palace court, Discussion hall)
The air was dry, as usual.
The windows of the court discussion hall were wide open, and arid grimy wind blew in occasionally. Normally, this would have been noted and the servants would have rushed to resolve this dilemma, but they had been ordered out by the king.
As a result, there were only three people present in the room- the king, the court messenger and a temple girl from Regalus that had visited to request a few things from the royal court.
"Your majesty, the envoy is back. "
The messenger spoke apprehensively.
The young king of Arudan stood with his hands loosely crossed, his back to the messenger.
He had a crop of tousled maroon hair, snowy white skin that somehow made his countenance vulnerable, and eyes that were cerulean or aquamarine, depending on the lighting. His eyes were deeply lined with black shadows and his body was light and agile, a lithe and boyishly slender form. He wore a thick burgundy robe that bore the black phoenix emblem of Arudan, and a strand of necklace formed from onyx hung loosely from his neck. The onyx was cut in the sign of a wounded star- indicating sovereignty.
Overall, king Gaara's appearance was somewhat eccentric, an unbalanced mismatch that combined to make up a, strangely enough, appealing look.
He might have looked a tad bit unhealthy, but he was surprisingly strong. It was proven enough times by the bouts of combating tournaments he liked to hold annually, of which he always came out the winner.
His strength in combat was a remnant of his past- so filled with deaths and battles for the throne that he's started to anticipate the violence instead of shying from it. Gaara did not go out of his way to create violence, but it always seemed to come to him.
He knew how to be violent.
"…this soon? "
The messenger hesitated to speak, even though the question had been spoken in a mild tone.
"…well. That is… hmm. "
"Elaborate. "
"…they were attacked, by a…this is very very curious indeed… "
"Are you bent on wasting my time? Out with it. "
Gaara's face was bland, but his tone held an element of anger in it.
The messenger went pale, and lowered his eyes. He answered.
"…they were attacked by a Regalus priest and his assistant.
Across the room, the blonde girl wearing the Regalus attire stiffened.
King Gaara did not bother looking at her, but the atmosphere turned somehow, uncomfortable.
"But, nothing's sure, isn't it? My king, those two were violent enough to attack a carriage with the royal emblem… perhaps those robes were stolen too. "
Gaara did not reply, but instead turned to the Regalus girl. She was desperately trying not to meet his eyes and her body was slightly turned towards the beautifully engraved entrance.
"Yamanaka. Were there any departures at the temple recently? "
She had no choice but to turn back and face him.
"Why… um. I… I'm not too sure your majesty, I… "
"No one left? "
"…Hmm. No, really… it must have slipped my mind, haha. I'm so… deeply, … regretful."
Ino bowed her head down, her heart beating madly from anxiety.
Oh, she sucked at lying.
Gaara did not bother inquesting her any further, but instead turned to the elderly messenger.
"…they stole the carriage? "
"Yes, your majesty. I'm ...afraid they did. "
The side of Gaara's neck tensed, and for a moment, his anger shown through the cool composed outer layer that he employed at most times.
Observing this, the messenger was glad that he had not mentioned 'what' the envoy had been wearing…
The poor thing had returned wearing scratchy servant clothes- because it was either that or being butt naked.
"…Ksingard must be insulted. They must think we're spiting them on purpose by setting the meeting and not showing up. This must be notified immediately. "
"Of course, your majesty. "
Gaara thoughtfully paced the room a few steps, then ordered.
"Send another envoy along with a small troop, armed. Get them going straight off in the morning, timed to arrive at Ksingard by nightfall. "
"I will send the order to the foreign affiliation sector, your majesty. "
The messenger bowed and moved away, leaving the temple girl and Gaara alone.
The king eyed her with impassive eyes.
"What do you want. "
"…um. Oh… dear, I seem to have for…forgotten that as well! Deep… regrets, no, apologies… your majesty, ha. I… I'll go… so long! "
A stricken Ino rushed out of the room, her blonde ponytail flying.
Gaara eyed this with a critical eye, murmuring-
"That's why I don't get married… "
He settled down to sip his tea, freshly imported from Ksingard.
In the meantime, Ino hurriedly ran all the way to the main Regalus temple, all the way up to the top where her senior cleric- actually more like a sister figure- resided.
As soon as she reached the simple shaped humble doors, she hollered-
"Shizuneeee!! The stupid pervert man did it again! He's done it again!"
A raven haired women of perhaps 20, poked her head out of the door, her forehead creased in worry.
"Eh? Calm down, Ino-chan. Done what again? "
"Gone and made trouble of course!! "
Shizune waited paitently, until she was able to extract the whole situation out of the panting, frustrated Ino.
"…that…damned pervert hermit! "
Shizune made her 'disgusted-vulture' face.
Jiraiya and his assitant Naruto had been the only departures from the temple recently- and they had gone the same trail as the enoy had went. Considering how capable Jiraiya was of withstanding an attack, there was no chance the Regalus robes had been stolen.
In other words, it was Jiraiya himself that had attacked the envoy group and stolen the carriage.
What an ass of a situation… it was shitty enough that the government within the court loathed Regalus; they did not need any more attention!
Ino, meanwhile, curiously stared at her sensei… 'hermit'? Jiraiya was a priest, not a hermit.
But anyways, that's not important.
"We've got to notify this to everyone… make sure that, Jiraiya don't do any more harm to this temple than he's already has…"
"Eh? He's done more things before? "
"He once broke my prized teacup set by sitting on it- he was drunk at that time. "
"... I rest my case. "
While Shizune bustled around the room and collected herself to go and speak to the temple elders, Ino yet again, curiously eyed her.
She had always wanted to ask this particular question she was about to voice, but she had never bothered before.
"Shizune? "
"Hmm? What?"
"Why do you… tolerate him? "
"Eh? Tolerate who? Jiraiya you mean? "
Shizune stopped moving, and turned her head to look at Ino.
Ino shrugged nonchalantly and spoke.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but…I know he's a great demon slayer or whatever, and that he's good at his work… but I mean, he's a real crappy priest- he drinks, he gambles… he's a pervert to boot! Besides, he's always 'caused' trouble for Regalus, and I know how much the reputation of this temple means to you… just. Why? Why do you endure him? "
Shizune cocked her head to the side, a vague expression on her face, and then started laughing.
Ino gawked, alarmed by the sudden change.
Shizune giggled until the momentum passed, than answered, still smiling-
"Let's just say it's a legacy I have left from someone I was, very very close to… "
"Eh? Who? "
Ino clamored to Shizune, her face full of inquisitiveness.
"Can't say, but… hell, she wasn't that much a better person to be with than he was! "
"A she? Now you made me curious, who is it? Who?! "
Shizune ignored Ino's wailings, and turned her face to eye the sky out of the window.
The sky was cloudless for once. She grinned, somewhat bitterly.
'Hope you're living well, Tsnade-sama.
I wonder where you're living right now. '
(Bloodiedsugs's comments on DP-
Thank you for the comments, alerts and faves yet again! I really appreciate it…
And thank you pseudo-cynic89, for the comment …But I admit I like commas, they… 'Connect' a lot of things, lolz
Anyways:
-I find DP harder to write than HSBK … I have to make sure I get the plot correct and not stray… besides, the plot is too big; hm.
I have to read it over at least five times to make sure I have all the elements of the story I need in order for it to make sense...
Then another five times to make sure there's no typho... (ha, I still get typhos though, careless)
It might not have enough SasuHina to satisfy the readers, because of the plot thing, but… well, again, bear with me. Lolz.
- The characters might be really really different from the real thing, but I'm trying to get some Naruto mood in here, so... shrugs I'm trying.
One more thing- I'm focusing on SasuHina at the momet. NaruHina and ItaHina, I'm afraid, will come 'much' later… or soon enough, not too sure.
So wait for it!
So sorry that the story's moving on so slowly... there's tons to write. I'll try to get my ass moving, and update fast.
Bear with me. )