Years passed in the kingdom, young boys grew older, friendships distanced. With each passing day the wall continued to grow between those in the keep and those in the slums of the city. Families that used to enjoy the company of the unusual young prince spent nights alone as the chances of seeing him far from the castle lessened. Old crones would gather at the town square, whispering rumours about lost hope, about the divide widening.

I told you so. My, my, they truly are all the same. They don't care for our kind don't kid yourself.

It had been almost nine years since Sasuke stopped showing up to their meeting point in the town square. Their special spot nestled behind a wall of barrels, just short of the local hags that would browse the market daily and speak of old wives tales to anyone who listened. The perfect place to watch the produce flow through the square, the perfect place to steal the occasional bread loaf if the baker wasn't paying attention. Sasuke would never steal, but he would never offer to buy the bread either. He was passive, but Naruto liked that about him. Naruto never felt judged for the choices he made in Sasuke's company, he didn't like he needed to fit a particular mould.

The past nine years were difficult for Naruto, he spent a lot of his days confused. Sasuke hadn't told him anything, he just didn't show up. It took Naruto a few weeks to realise their meetings were over, a few weeks until the crones started to talk and the square seemed different. It wasn't very noticeable, the baker still arrived with his bread and pie, you could still buy wine and meat if you had the gold, you could still eavesdrop on the guards that leaned in the dark of the arches looking down on those who couldn't afford to eat, but Naruto noticed the difference. It was quieter, slower. Sasuke brought a certain energy, or it was Naruto and Sasuke brought it out of him. Naruto wasn't sure, but he never forgot either. He would often lie on his mattress and reminisce about the times they ran through the slums of the city, being chased by a guard prepared to smack them. The rebellion brought a certain element of fun to their adventures, but they never went that far. The two would stay within the city, within the big walls that protected them. When the meetings did stop nothing but regret filled Naruto's soul for the first few weeks, and some of that regret continued on for a lot long. Naruto spent nine years questioning what he did wrong, nine years of missing his friend and nine years of wishing he had appreciated their last day together.

Usually a person would hide from any mention of a big anniversary like this one, but it wasn't exactly the easiest to hide from. It wasn't just coming up nine years since Naruto had been essentially abandoned by his closest friend, there was another whisper among the crowds when they gathered in the morning to hear the local news. The prince was soon to turn 18, in just over a month, around 3 weeks after their last meeting. When the two were children they had dreamed about the big age milestones they would hit, and vowed to share them together. Sure, Sasuke was older than Naruto but that just meant two celebrations. Sasuke was born under a summer moon, Naruto a winter one. The two were 18 moons apart, Sasuke was born in the summer and then came the winter but soon the summer came back around and then as the nights turned dark once more in the mids of the coldest night Naruto entered the world too.

XxX

Naruto lay on his bed, a tattered cloth blanket gently caressing his thin body. The gentle morning sun bled through the window, lighting up the room and bouncing off the walls. Naruto let out a deep sigh as he stared out the window at the dirt road behind his house. He watched as two wild dogs nosed around a pile of trash before being chased off by an angry looking man. Naruto soon pushed himself up out of his bed after the growl in his stomach got too distracting. He pulled his tattered tunic over his head and ran his fingers through his hair trying to tidy it up a bit before heading out of his room into the main room of the house. There was some leak soup in a pot that sat on top of the fire, Naruto examined the contents and figured out that it must've been made last night after he went to bed.

"I guess Father is back" Naruto said to himself as he scooped some out into a wooden bowl and ate his breakfast. Naruto's father had recently been on a long trip to Greytide to help build a new chapel, normally he would visit his father to make sure the trip was successful but judging from the lack of skin on the soup his father had gotten back well into the night and was probably exhausted. Naruto simply decided he would exchange formalities later on in the day as he had already promised the local blacksmiths son he would meet with him on the cities outskirts after breakfast.

Naruto finished his breakfast and grabbed some bread, stuffing it into a small sack and heading out of his house and down the dirt road towards the clearing on the outskirts. He passed his neighbours that were on their way to the market, they stopped for a brief moment to exchange small gestures before hurrying off to purchase the small amount of rations they could afford. Naruto sighed as he continued down the track. It upset him when he considered just how poor he was, and the people around him were. Normally, he would've been living nearer the centre of the town square, usually the stonemasons would live there but his father was too frail or too unskilled or just too late to work on the city. His father worked on commission, and only a few smaller towns would commission him. Naruto shook his head, his father loved his job and Naruto respected him regardless of how much money they made.

Naruto's mind drifted back to almost a decade ago when his estranged friend had made a promise to knight him when he became king. Naruto remembered the promises he made to himself if that happened, the money he would give to his neighbours, his father and all the poor people who lived on the outskirts along the river. Guilt entered Narutos mind, was it his fault that they never spoke anymore? Should he have tried harder to see him? Naruto wasn't sure anymore, but it didn't matter as he could see his friend now who was waving frantically. The thoughts would have to wait, there were bigger things to deal with right now.

"Naruto!" The other boy called out as Naruto did a light jog over to the clearing.

"Kiba!" Naruto said with a smile, "ready to train some more?"

"Of course, I brought your training sword as promised" Kiba said, brandishing a dulled and particularly unattractive blade, "sorry it's nothing special, I had to make it in secret and I didn't have enough time to finish it as my father got back. Although, it's dulled so it won't actually cut me if you manage to hit me"

Naruto smiled and took the blade from his friend. Kiba was technically higher class than Naruto, he lived further in than Naruto did and Kiba's father was the main blacksmith that most of the peasants went to. This created a decent lifestyle for Kiba, who could afford to eat each night and his clothes weren't as tattered but in the end the two were still peasants and peasants they will remain.

"I can't wait to show you this move I saw the guards do" Kiba gushed as he started to explain what he saw the other day when spying on the guards barracks. Naruto listened carefully, and soon enough the two entered their positions to start training. They had been training how to sword fight in secret for a lot of years now, meeting up at the same time and spending hours and hours together. Even after years of training they still weren't very good, you won't get that good as two peasants with sticks mimicking the guards who had professional training. This was when Kiba had the idea to get them some actual swords, he thought they would be able to mimic the guards easier but as today proved, swords are heavy.

The two ended up exhausted a lot earlier than they usually would, who would've known that metal was heavier than wood. After only a few rounds they had collapsed on the floor in the shade of a large tree, panting but enjoying life. Soon enough the sun peaked in the sky and Naruto excused himself to go and wake up his father. He waved goodbye to his friend and headed off into the summer sun towards his house, following the same dirt road that he followed to reach the clearing.

Naruto shortly reached his house and entered through the side door straight into the main room. It was quiet, he presumed his father was still sleeping but it felt off. The room had a strange aura and as he stepped towards his fathers room anxiety started to raise in his stomach. Naruto tried to supress the feeling, reassuring himself that everything was okay and he was clearly just being dramatic but when he reached the door and his hand hovered on the door knob he wasn't so sure anymore.

He took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door. The room was dark and there was a light stench in wafting around. "Father.." Naruto called out, walking in and pulling the curtains apart to allow the light to flood into the room, Naruto was greeted with a groan from under the cheap blankets. "Father, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, growing increasingly worried as he walked over to the mattress and placed a hand on his fathers head. He quickly pulled his hand away when he was greeted with a scorching fever,

"I'm... Fine" Naruto's father whispered breathlessly,

"No, you're not, I'm going to get the maester" Naruto said as he turned to head out the door but his arm was quickly grabbed by his father,

"No"

"Father please... What happened to you" Naruto asked, his worry rising further. Naruto's father let out a tired sigh as he moved his arm, removing the blanket to show a deep gash across his chest that had turned septic over the few days he had had it. Naruto gasped as he saw it, the worry replaced with panic. He knew how bad infections were for the body, and his father was already weaker than most.

"We were attacked" Naruto's father gently said, "cultists on the road... We never made it to the city"

"Father..." Naruto whispered as he sat down on the floor with his father and stroked his hair, "I'm so sorry... Please let me get the maester he can fix you"

"Naruto no, you know I wish to go when the gods say it is my time"

Naruto felt hopeless, but he had to respect his father. He had never had any problem with his fathers views, his fathers wish to obey the gods, but then again he had never been in direct harms way before now. Naruto felt his eyes well up as he looked at his fathers pale face.

"Father.." Naruto whimpered as he lay down on the mattress next to his father the same way he did when he was a child. Naruto placed his head on his fathers shoulder, holding him close, making sure he knew he wasn't alone. Naruto wanted to support his father, take care of him, but in reality it was Naruto who needed comfort. Naruto wasn't stupid, he knew his father wouldn't make it through the night with an infection like that, but he couldn't show that, he couldn't disobey, not in his fathers last moments. Instead he would lie with his father for as long as he needed to.

XxX

Much like Naruto expected, his father didn't make it through the night. His condition got progressively worse until he was struggling to breathe and soon fell asleep only to not re-awake in the morning. Naruto cried a lot during the night, he wasn't quite sure what to do other than cry. He knew he needed to report the death to the king but the thought of leaving his fathers side was too painful of a thought to even slightly entertain it, and so Naruto continued to cry until his body stopped making tears and his throat was raw.

Naruto soon fell asleep next to his fathers body, and when he awoke in the morning his eyes stung and his throat felt like needles. It was this moment when he truly missed his old friend, nobody was coming to see him today and the ability to stay next to his father until the body started to decompose was too tempting. If he was still close with Sasuke then Sasuke would find him and he would know what to do, but he wasn't. He was alone. Naruto took a deep breath and pulled himself up and out of the room. He felt sick, he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday but he still wasn't hungry despite the gnawing in his stomach. Maybe he was a bit hungry, but he wasn't going to eat, why should he get to eat when his father will never eat again.

Instead, Naruto walked through the main room and out into the summer sun. It pissed him off, it was a beautiful day and every time he saw someone with even a smidgen of happiness he felt his face harden even more as anger started to pool deep within his stomach as he headed for the main keep. By the time Naruto arrived at the main gate his face was stone, nothing but anger and despair could be seen as he pushed passed anyone who was in his way until he found himself stood in front of the king.

"What do you desire" King Fugaku said with a booming voice as he looked down at the boy from his throne.

"I am here to report a death" Naruto said, although he more than likely snapped.

"Very well. State your name, the name of the deceased and their location" Fugaku said calmly, snapping his fingers as two workers scurried from the sidelines over to the boy.

"Naruto Uzumaki, my father Minato Namikaze is the deceased, and he is in our home in the outskirts" Naruto said, monotone.

Fugaku nodded, turning to look at the two men who had scurried over, "go with Naruto, collect the corpse" he turned and looked off to the right where more of his staff were stationed, "confirm the identity and organise a funeral for the family. We are done today" Fugaku said and raised from his seat, walking out of the large room.

Naruto also left the keep with the two staff in tow.

Back in the main keep, in one of the stands, Sasuke was stood. He had been watching over the court, learning from his father when a familiar face entered. It took everything in Sasuke's power not to rush down and hold his old friend, but to do that, especially in front of the whole court was a death sentence, and Sasuke knew better. So instead he stayed still and watched the conversation unfold. Upon learning of the death Sasuke felt his heart twinge, he knew his old friend needed him, but what did he value more. Sasuke wasn't sure, and Sasuke was scared, so he didn't do anything at all. Cowards approach. After Naruto left Sasuke felt defeated, he wanted to support his friend, but so many years had passed, would he even recognise him? Sasuke knew he could talk to Naruto during the funeral, it was respectful afterall. That's what he would do, he would show his support during the funeral. Sasuke sighed, he wanted to do more but he felt like he couldn't, this would have to be good enough.

Sasuke turned to walk further into the castle, his mother and Itachi following. After all, they were from two completely different worlds.

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry I haven't updated in a couple months I havent really had the chance to write since my deadlines, but since they're over now I'm officially on summer break which means I can update all these stories that are due!