I didn't realize my last chapter could be seen to have a bit of Karin!Bashing in it. I didn't mean that. What I was going for was Tsunade being a bit disappointed in how her granddaughter turned out. However, I have Karin as a great supporting character in mind so don't worry, Karin lovers!
Without further ado, here is the next chapter of A Storm of Fire and Blood! Cue the music!
Please note there's a timeskip between this chapter and the previous one.
A Storm of Blood and Fire
Chapter Two
Tsunade leans casually into her seat, twiddling her fingers and with a look that tells her son she's not very amused. It's for reasons like this that Tsunade takes only dinner with Minato — she wouldn't be so sane if she were to endure his idiocy through breakfast and lunch as well. Why, oh why, did Jiraiya's foolishness rub off on their son? Why couldn't Jiraiya pass on his calculating brain, for heaven's sake?
"So, you're telling me," she intones very calmly, the calm before the storm, "that in the four years since the queen's death that neither her dragon or King Kizashi's dragon have been spotted?" She doesn't even pause to let Minato answer. "Well, how in the name of the Seven Gods can that be? The dragons' heads are as a big as a large carriage! I can hardly imagine people would miss beasts of that monstrous size flying about. The dragons couldn't just have upped and disappeared into thing air! I'd so much as swallow wildfire than believe that."
"Mother," Kushina says, speaking in her husband's defense. Under the table, she has a comforting hand on Minato's lap. "Perhaps instead of looking for those dragons, we should be looking at who would even have the resources to hide them."
"Hm," Tsunade hums her agreement. "And pray tell, my dear, who do you suspect to be harboring the gigantic beasts?"
"Think about it. If the dragons were roaming the lands, then there would have been reports of them burning the fields and roasting animals, people, probably everything in their paths. Which of the seven kingdoms actually has the galls to hide specific information about their realm, the resources to feed the dragons, and most importantly, the skies to let the dragons fly free and undetected?"
"That could be any of the seven kingdoms, my love," Minato points out. "Even High Garden would be a suspect, according to your —"
"No," Tsunade silences her son with a stern look. "There's only one kingdom that fits all the criteria." The old matriarch shares a knowing look with her daughter-in-law, one that makes Minato feel very left out.
"Which one?" he dares ask.
"The Vale," Kushina answers.
"The Vale?" Minato looks truly shocked, his blue eyes wide and his mouth almost gaping. The Vale is the last place he would suspect. "But surely, Kakashi would tell me —"
"Kakashi wouldn't even give you the time of day," Tsunade retorts. Her son's overly trusting nature could very well be his downfall — she'll have to talk to Kushina about that. "He may have been your squire, but the boy's grown into someone we can't afford to underestimate."
"But —"
"However," Tsunade smirks, leaning to rest her cheek against her hand, "this does work to our advantage. Kushina dear, didn't you tell me that Mikoto's wrote to you, saying her youngest will be sent to the Vale as Kakashi's ward?"
"Yes," Kushina's answer comes out more cautiously than she'd like. She doesn't particularly like to betray her friend's trust, but there's not a thing that goes on in High Garden without Tsunade's knowledge.
"We shall also send Naruto," Tsunade says with a finality that Minato and Kushina know not to argue against. "We have no idea how things will turn out, but it's in our best interest to have a stronger footing with House Lannister, and I'm afraid just Kushina's friendship with Mikoto will not suffice. Of course, sending Naruto may also soften Kakashi towards us again."
"Why not a marriage then?" Kushina pries. She may not be opposed to her son striking up a friendship with Mikoto's, but she can't see how a political marriage wouldn't be better. "You may not like Karin, but she is very loyal to this house. If you were to betroth her to Sasuke —"
"I'll have you know that I love my granddaughter very much," Tsunade snaps, her eyes narrowing. "I'm sure you're very keen on a political marriage, given that's what your house had always done, but what good did those marriages do? The House Tully is very much on the brink of extinction, is it not? You and your children, the only ones left carrying Tully blood, are clear proof of that."
Kushina's face turns as red as her hair.
"Do not take me the wrong way, my dear," Tsunade sighs, knowing she pushed the wrong button. "I mean no offense. What I meant is that I would rather Karin, as dull as she is, to marry for love, rather than political gain. Love, after all, has worked out very well between you and my son, has it not? I would hope that Karin could help you regain House Tully's lands and prestige."
"Not if Karin's eye is stuck on that Drowned Boy, Suigetsu," Minato mutters under his breath.
"He'd be a Drowned Man by now," Tsunade corrects him, her ears sharper than Minato would have liked. "An Iron-born would be a good match, but like you, my son, I also see the disadvantages of aligning ourselves with those pillaging barbarians. For one, it would be hard to get a message to Karin, should she actually marry the Iron-born. There are many chances between High Garden and the Iron Islands for a messenger raven or horse to be intercepted."
Minato nods his head, but his wife is not fool enough to fall for her mother-in-law's redirection.
"It is not like you to overlook an opportunity to seize a political alliance," Kushina mentions, meeting Tsunade's hard gaze with her own. "What is it that you always say? Make alliances with those that we don't trust?"
"And rightly so," Tsunade raises her cup. "However, in this case, with all those nasty rumors flying around about your friend and her extramarital affairs, I'd rather not have the next generation of House Tyrell to be caught up with any of that inbred talk."
Again, Kushina's face turns red, though this time it's a mix of anger and embarrassment for her friend. "Mikoto had no choice in that matter," she argues fervently. "Madara is so power-hungry that if he doesn't get what he wants, he just destroys everything in his path. Her family would have perished, had she refused his advances."
"She's a very strong woman," Tsunade concedes. "And Fugaku, an even stronger man to turn a blind eye to it to ensure his family's survival. But nevertheless, it's more reason for us not to marry any of our available Tyrell children to that family. They wouldn't survive in that household so long as Madara is alive."
"Do you really think Naruto's potential friendship with Sasuke will be enough to secure an alliance with House Lannister?" Kushina questions. She thinks back on the memories she had with Mikoto, the memories of a sisterhood practically destroyed in a complete betrayal by Mikoto's very house. Does she want her son to share her fate, the fate of clinging onto to a glorious past and a once powerful friendship? Kushina's not sure, just as she's not sure whether Mikoto's gentle kindness had been passed on to her children — if Sasuke were to have inherited Madara's lust for power...
"Of course not," Tsunade answers matter-of-factly. "King Madara," she practically growls at the title, "barely sees Sasuke as anything more than a foot soldier than as his grandson." She pauses for a moment. "Or maybe, 'son' would more correct? It's rather confusing putting labels on anyone in that family."
"Then, why even go for Sasuke?" Minato asks, his forehead wrinkled in thorough confusion. "It would make more sense to earn Itachi's or even Shisui's friendship instead if an alliance is what you want."
"That's because we're not going for House Lannister's alliance," Tsunade's foreboding answer disrupts all thought in her son and daughter-in-law's minds. "Think very carefully about this, my dears. It does us no good for Madara to remain on the Iron Throne, and what better method to remove him than to infiltrate his own house?"
"There's no way Sasuke would betray his own family for a mere friend," Minato argues, but Kushina is already one step ahead, right behind Tsunade's train of thought.
"You're planning to send Sakura to the Vale, aren't you? You're betting on her catching Sasuke's eye."
"And this, Kushina dear, is why I adore you," Tsunade smiles.
"But," again Minato's brow furrows. "Can you even trust her? I mean, don't get me wrong. Sakura's a sweet girl and everything, but how can you be so sure she won't betray us? If she were to fall in love with him instead of the other way around..." He shudders at the thought of being enemies with a Targaryen allied with House Lannister. "A woman in love is rather unpredictable."
"Yes, but men do stupid things when they're in love," Tsunade counters with a smirk. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Minato?"
A blush creeps onto her son's cheeks. Kushina snickers at her husband's discomfort. "You were very sweet, though, my love," she comforts him.
"Regardless, it's not that I trust Sakura," Tsunade explains, her eyes darting to the shadow in the doorway. "It's that I have her completely under my thumb." She smirks when furious footsteps scurry away from the door.
"Still," Minato says, still unsure of his mother's plan, his eyes having followed his mother's gaze. "Wouldn't Ino be opposed to you sending her sister so far from her?"
Tsunade shrugs. "I never said that Ino couldn't go with her, though I would rather she not. Besides, I don't think Ino would be opposed to me sending Sakura to the Vale."
"Why not?" Minato pries when his mother doesn't continue. His mother has that creepy smile on her face again, the one that says she's checkmated a rather troublesome opponent.
It's Kushina who answers. "To Ino, it's not a matter of separating Sakura from her. It's a matter of separating Sakura from your mother."
The older Targaryen princess slams the bedroom door behind her and paces her room in angry stomps. Her dragon, the size of a small cat, hisses angrily, having been rudely woken up from his evening nap.
"What's the matter?" Shikamaru asks tentatively, leaning against the far wall of her bedroom.
"That Tyrell bitch intends to sink her claws into my sister and rip her limb from limb!" Ino flumes, ripping the curtains from the window. She throws the thick cloth furiously to the floor, the curtains falling in a messy cascade. "Is it not enough that she's planted her roots so deeply into my sister's mind that I barely even recognize my own twin? Is it not enough that she's been trying to set us against each other since the moment we arrived at High Garden? Why is that old bitch trying to steal the only thing left in the world that's mine!?"
Shikamaru lets out a lazy sigh. "What has that tart-tongued biddy done this time to get your knickers so tightly wound?"
"She's going to serve my baby sister to the King-Slayer's brother right on a silver plate!" Ino wails.
Her confidante raises a skeptical eyebrow. "I highly doubt Lady Tsunade, as clever as she is, would be dumb enough to do that."
"And yet, she's sending Sakura to the Vale to seduce the little usurping prince..."
Shikamaru snorts derisively. "As if she could manage that."
Ino turns on him, the fury evident on her face. "Why is that?" she asks harshly. "There is nothing my sister lacks. Despite how much I despise that thorn-covered hag, I can't deny that the old tart has done much for Sakura's confidence, for her growth. In addition to all that I've done to groom my little sister, a man would have to be blind not to fall for her."
"That's your Targaryen overconfidence speaking," Shikamaru sighs, resting a comforting hand on Ino's shoulder. "It'd be best for you to learn to be a little more modest. Prince Sasuke is a bit . . . withdrawn."
It's Ino's turn to raise her eyebrow. "Does he not like women?"
A lazy shrug. "How would I know that? I just meant that he likes to keep to himself. Your sister may have a hard time winning him over."
"Now, why in the name of the Seven Gods should she do that?" Ino tilts her head in a mocking challenge, her blue eyes still icy in her anger, and crosses her arms. "I mean, she could, but why would she?"
"Word has it that the prince is rather estranged from the King. Madara prefers the King-Slayer and the Dragon-Slayer to be by his side at all times, so there's hardly any room for Sasuke to prove his worth. A chance to do that may help sway his allegiance, even more so if that sway were to be because of a woman he fancies."
Ino purses her lips in thought. It's an interesting proposition, almost too good to pass up — oh, what she wouldn't do to see the usurper's face when his own blood betrays him — but the thought of using her own sister like that has her insides twisting.
"Would that even work?" she asks her trusted advisor. Though a bastard, Ino has always found it best to trust Shikamaru's opinions — why, tricking Juugo into believing she had been gathering support for her sister instead of herself had been Shikamaru's idea. Though Ino hadn't been pleased her sister had been struck with an arrow in retaliation, Juugo never figured out how much of a threat she actually was.
"I think the question you should be asking is whether you can trust your sister or not," Shikamaru suggests firmly. "As it is, you would only have the Baratheon army at your beck and call, should you make it known that you are indeed alive and ready to fight for your throne. And depending on how long you wait, you would only have one dragon. But if Sakura should turn against you, she would have your parents' dragons, her one dragon, and perhaps even three more, should those petrified eggs hatch. Six dragons in total against your one." So engulfed in his analysis that he doesn't notice Ino's growing ire. "And then, that's not to mention the Tyrell army which would clearly support her if Tsunade has any say in the matter. Do you really think —"
His words are cut off by a painful yelp. Ino's dragon had flown over and bitten his hand! He's sure his middle finger's slightly burnt as well.
"Do not test me, Shikamaru," Ino says in an oddly cold tone he's not heard from her before. She flips her long blonde hair behind her before continuing. "I may have heeded your advice when it came to my insane brother, but I will not allow you to badmouth my sweet baby sister in front of me."
"You're a fool to think she won't grow to be a threat to you," Shikamaru warns her.
She scowls at him, her dragon's cries making her seem very more menacing. "Sakura is mine," Ino snarls, looking as fierce as any dragon. "So long as I live, no one will ever change that, especially not some half-Targaryen, half-Baratheon bastard who could very well be plotting to take my throne from right under me."
Shikamaru falls to the floor, bending his knee and crossing an arm over his heart. "You are my queen, Ino," he says desperately. "I live to only serve you."
"Then, serve me," Ino mocks him, her face unreadable. She puts her fingers under his chin and tilts his face upwards. "But one more word about my sister, and I'll chop you into little itty-bitty pieces and feed you to the dragons. It doesn't matter to me if it's foolish or not, not even a matter of can or can't — I will protect what's mine, even if I have to burn down the whole world in the process."
She roughly shoves the boy to the floor and steps towards the window. "Now, get out," she orders not at all kindly. She's not looking at him anymore. "I don't want the Tyrells to know you've been here."
Ino's so focused on the image of her sister playing in the garden just below her window that she doesn't notice the spiteful sneer on her advisor's face.
Sorry that the chapter didn't show Sakura, but I'm building up to the main plot. It's a bit jumbled right now but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Below is the character list so that you guys aren't confused with whose in what house. I also changed it from last chapter as I've tweaked the plot.
Baratheon: Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru (half-Targaryen bastard)
Bolton: Danzo, Kabuto
Drowned Men: Suigetsu, Zabuza, Kisame
Faceless Men: Orochimaru
Lannister: Sasuke, Itachi, Shisui, their parents, Madara, and the rest of the Uchiha clan [Itachi and Shisui are twins, sorta based off Jaime and Cersei Lannister without the incest, or maybe with, if you guys want it]
Martell/Dorne: Gaara, Temari, Kankuro
Stark: Neji (somewhat Jon Snow), Hinata, Hanabi, Hizashi (Ned Stark) [I combined Hiashi and Hizashi together into one character, so Hinata and Neji are siblings. This is also because I get confused which twin is which since their names are too similar.]
Targaryen: Sakura (Daenerys/Sansa), Ino (Daenerys/Cersei), Juugo, Kizashi, Mebuki [Sakura and Ino are twins]
Tyrell: Naruto, Karin, Kushina, Minato, Tsunade (Olenna Tyrell), Jiraiya [Jiraiya has already passed, but he was Tsunade's husband]
The Vale: Kakashi
Tarth: Haku (Brienne of Tarth)
Leave some reviews, and tell me what you guys think of this chapter! Also, if you have any names for the dragons, leave them in the reviews! There will be seven dragons in total: Ino's dragon, Sakura's one dragon, the three that will hatch from the eggs, and then their parents' two dragons.