Welp here we go again lol
It was time, Naruto was now riding off into war against his mother and her family. Now that their strategy had been set, he had left Ned in charge of King's Landing while he rode to join Robb in the Westerlands. By his side was Ser Barristan who demanded that as the sole Kingsguard, he went with his King to protect him and make up for his failure to protect Robert, with his life if needed.
"You should be resting Barristan, I can more than handle myself," Naruto said knowing that he would have to fall into a rather bad trap in order to really be challenged by an attacking force. He hoped that they would be able to meet with Robb and have a drink before going to battle. He had already sent out a raven to his grandfather asking for another parlay between them in order to discuss Jaime and Sansa.
He hoped that he could try and force a peace between them, by releasing Jaime of his duties as a Kingsguard, Tywin could declare Jaime his heir once again. With any luck, that would be enough to force his grandfather to surrender. After that Cersei and Joffrey would have no one to back their claim to the throne.
"I have already failed two kings and a prince, your grace, I will not allow a fourth to fall under my watch," Barristan replied firmly. His honor wouldn't stand for allowing a third king to die after his previous failures to protect not only Robert but Aerys as well. He had been at the Battle of the Trident as well when Rhaegar was killed by Robert. If something happened to Naruto, he wouldn't allow himself to be called a Kingsguard anymore. His failures would have been too vast for his liking.
"If you say so…" Naruto replied not feeling like arguing with the elder knight. He knew that the old man would never leave his side willingly, and forcing him was out of the question. "We should arrive at Robb's camp within the next two weeks at this pace, if all goes according to plan this war should be over soon."
It was what he hoped for the most. That his grandfather would see reason and give up the fight if things went better than last time. Before he didn't have much negotiating power aside from promises to spare their family from a horrible fate. He heard that Catelyn was heading down to Renly's camp as well to try and convince him to at the very least join her son in war against the Lannisters before turning on Naruto.
Last he heard, Renly has gathered a truly massive army thanks to his alliance with the Tyrells. However thanks to the alliance he had with the Starks and the Tully he had two armies to match. However the Tyrells were the second richest house and held a level of resources that the others couldn't compete with due to their territory's fertility.
It was smart to have them turned towards the Lannisters before they engaged with the Starks. If they managed to do that, then hopefully his mother's family would whittle down Renly's army to something more manageable. But hopefully Stannis would be able to make his brother see reason and join them.
The two eventually arrived at a small town on the edges of the Crownlands, looking around as the king frowned as he saw the state of the town. It was run down to say the least, but it had everything that they needed to make it through the night. A small inn without anyone to really bother the pair and food to fill their bellies before they continued their ride the next day.
The small folk easily took notice of the two, recognizing one as the person who currently sat on the throne and the other as a member of the Kingsguard. Despite the reputation the two carried, the small folk seemed to be more interested in their own lives. War had ravaged their home, and the last thing they needed was some high borns taking note of them and bringing more trouble with them.
Arriving at the inn, Naruto paid for the two of them to have a room with two beds along with dinner. However as the waitress came towards them, Naruto sensed something coming from her. Something that shouldn't be coming from a waitress.
Killing intent.
"My lords," she said, her voice soft and quiet. It was the gentle voice of a maiden who had recently entered adulthood. Looking at her, he was sure that his father would be all over her the second he laid eyes on her. From her full chest to her well rounded hips and the slightly exposed cleavage that would tantalize those with wandering eyes. "It is my pleasure to have the two of you stay at my family's inn." she said, placing down the food.
"Well, maybe the fair maiden would like to join us for a meal, what do you say Ser Barristan?" Naruto asked as he placed a hand on his hip, right over the hilt of his sword.
"I agree, your grace," Ser Barristan replied as he made the same motion as his lord.
"I apologize, your grace, but I have many other duties to fulfill in the kitchen," The fair maiden said, smiling at the two of them, attempting to excuse herself from the scene. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead as the blue eyes of the ruler of Westeros looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"You know, I heard that the Faceless Men are among the best assassins in the world," Naruto said before the waitress drew a knife and lunged at the king's throat. Sidestepping the attack, Naruto's superior speed allowed him to draw his sword and sliced her arm off. Before the woman could follow up, Barristand beheaded her and allowed her body to drop to the floor.
"Cersei's no doubt," Barristan said as he looked down at the had expected assassins to come, but the Faceless Men were such an extreme measure, Cercei must have paid a pretty dragon to hire someone of their quality. "There will be more no doubt," he stated, if one failed, then they would honor their contract and send another.
Walking to the kitchen, Naruto frowned as found the actual family that ran the inn knocked out on the floor. Kneeling down besides the older man he shook him a little to try and wake him up.
A few hours later the two were back on the road to Robb's camp.
Months passed and the two eventually made it to the camp, as per Naruto's warning Jaime had been moved to a more secure spot in the camp, kept in a cage where he only interacted with Stark soldiers. A measure to make sure that he didn't find a way to escape and flee back to his father.
Naruto had received a raven from Stannis that Renly had asked his brother to come and talk with him at their camp. An invitation that Stannis had accepted and said would make sure that Renly wouldn't be an issue. He assumed that Stannis meant that he would negotiate with Renly to get him to back down or help against the Lannisters, but only time would tell.
As he arrived at the camp, Naruto was greeted by his brother in arms. "Robb!" he yelled as the two locked arms. Looking at his friend, he could tell that he had grown a lot. War had turned him into a man he knew Ned would be proud of. "You bastard, you may have won the war for us," Naruto said as he looked around at the Northern Army with a smile.
"Don't thank me just yet, we still have my sister to save," Robb said as he led Naruto to where his uncle was being held.
Naruto frowned as he looked down at the once proud Kingsguard, "So uncle, it seems that this is how things ended up," He said, kneeling in front of Jaime, looking at his golden hair through the bars.
"Tired of fucking wolves nephew?" Jaime said, smirking up at Naruto. Even when at his lowest, Jaime's tongue was sharp.
"At least I never slept with my sister you bastard," Naruto stated as he could see that Jaime was fine for the most part. "So you're coming to King's Landing, it seems like it's your lucky day. If gramps really cares about you, you might just go free," The King of Westeros stated knowing that Jaime was his golden ticket to winning the war at the moment. Part of Naruto just wanted to cause Jaime pain, make him pay for everything he did in life, but it wasn't who he was. He wasn't a monster.
As the two walked away from Jaime, leaving him to the guard's watch, Robb turned to his friend "Many of the Lords of the North have decided to try and name me the King of the North, and that we should try and break from the Seven Kingdoms" He admitted to his lifelong friend as they sat down for a drink.
A small frown grew on Naruto's face, "And where do you sit on this issue?" he questioned.
"The North is yours, your grace," Robb said in a faux formal tone before laughing to himself. "While an interesting idea, I don't think I want to be king myself, and my father would blow a vessel if he found out that I was rebelling against the Kingdom. No...while I do think the North and South are completely different, I trust you to lead us Naruto," Robb told the Baratheon who smiled back at the man who was more of a brother to him than any of his real siblings. He had been worried that Robb would also revolt against him, but in the end he seemed to be okay with the way things were.
"And the Lords?" the King asked.
"I'll handle them, they're a bit tough but nothing I can't handle."
Nodding his head, Naruto looked up at the stars above, "We can talk about this more later, once this whole ordeal is one with."
Robb looked up as well,a calm silence befell the two of them for a moment, "I worry about her every day you know," he said breaking the silence. "I worry what that beast of a brother is doing to her, if he defiles her every day, if he whips her, burns her, humiliates her…"Robb growled clenching his fists at the thought of what Joffrey was doing. "And it motivates me to fight this war even harder. To get her back," he claimed.
Naruto didn't say anything at first, but as he was going to open his mouth, Robb interrupted.
"I know you and Sansa had a thing you know," he told Naruto as he glanced at his blood brother. "I saw the two of you kissing once, it was so adorable...I wanted the two of you to just tell father so he'd arrange a marriage. But then she suddenly started to change, her lessons with the septa took over," Robb sighed as he recalled the past.
"Would you marry her if given the chance?" Robb asked.
"I'm engaged to Arya…" Naruto pointed out flatly.
"You're the King of the Seven Kingdoms, and I am the next Warden of the North. I'm sure no one would care if you took two brides!" Robb said laughing, joking of course. He wasn't about to get involved in his sisters' love lives. No...that was a bad idea…
Naruto rolled his eyes at Robb before switching topics to something else, "So the Targaryen woman seems to be down on her luck from what the Spider tells me, her husband Khal Drogo who was leading her army is dead, but she got dragons in return for her loss," He told his best friend. Robb was someone who he trusted with his life, he would have him as his Hand if he didn't need him in the North. "I...kinda almost feel bad for her,"
"Careful or your father's ghost may rise just to kill you for that," Robb warned with a smirk.
"Please, despite everything she's still just a girl, sure she has dragons, but that won't help her if she's dead in the Red Waste," Naruto pointed out. He knew that if anything he should want the last child of the Mad King dead, to end any chance that she might fly over with her dragons one day and lay siege to the Seven Kingdoms. But he didn't feel right leaving her to starve like that. "Varys wants me to marry her instead of Arya, he thinks that will help me legitimize my rule as it would bring the Targaryens back into power to please any remaining loyal houses, and bring back the houses who rebelled against them."
Robb took that in as he sipped from his drink, "So basically undo our fathers' work then?" Robb questioned, hinting that he believed that Varys might not be as loyal to Naruto as believed. If he wanted to bring the Targaryens back, it could have been that he had been working for them even after the Mad King died.
"I think he more so wants to bring peace back to Westeros, and he sees that as a way to achieve it," Naruto commented, knowing that Varys had a back up plan to put Daenerys on the throne if it all went downhill. The Spider was good, but Naruto's ability to sense deception was unparalleled. He was a force of his own.
"So what will you do?"
Naruto fell silent as he thought about the question, it was something that had plagued him ever since Varys had brought it up to him. "I sent supplies for her, enough to keep her alive. My father sent an assassin to kill her, if anything that might have heightened her desire to come and take over in retribution. Maybe by offering her an olive branch, we can bring her to the table instead."
"You're an idiot, you know that Naruto…" Robb said feeling that feeding your future enemy was idiotic. But of course he could see the honor in it. His father had been dishonorable by sending an assassin to kill her from the shadows and failed. So he brought honor back to his family by giving an apology gift.
"It was Vary's idea. He doesn't want her to die, just in case Joffrey beats me and takes the throne," Naruto admitted. While he ultimately signed off on the idea, it was the Spider who pushed for it. Ned had been neutral about it while Stannis had very clearly disapproved of it. In the end he decided to give it a try.
"And if you beat Joffrey and she demands the throne on arrival? Will you kill her? Marry her? What will you do?" Robb asked, wondering what his friend would do should dragons land on their shore.
"I don't know…" Naruto admitted, "My hope is that since she lost most of her army and husband, she'll just decide that coming back is too great a risk. Even with her dragons, she'd have to fight armies, and anti-dragon weapons exist. So just coming in with them wouldn't be smart…"
"So you're hoping she'll just...give up?" Robb asked, wondering if his friend had gone mad.
Downing his drink, Naruto looked at Robb, "If it avoids a war, then I'll marry the woman. There's so much death in Westeros, I don't need more."
"And my sister?"
"Robb you're killing me, I guess...it's up to her, she's still young Robb. Too young to wed. I'm not like some of those lords who would wed a girl after her first blood, I'd rather her be full able to make the choice. So if I did marry Arya, it would be years from now, once she's become a full woman," Naruto told the Stark leader. Arya was simply too young at the moment, she couldn't be queen and he wasn't comfortable marrying her yet even if some lords would find it normal.
"How long could you go without a queen before people start questioning?"
Naruto frowned, "Enough of queens!" the king yelled as he didn't want to talk about the situation anymore. "We're at war and here we are talking about marriage! You're older than me and you don't have a wife!" he yelled at his friend who laughed at how animated the young king got at times.
Looking up, he saw a red comet streaking through the air, his eyes glowing slightly
Daenerys looked at what remained of her people as they set up camp for the night. The day had been especially rough for her, the horse that her late husband had given her had died earlier and she had sent out her last remaining bloodriders in order to see if they could find an end to the wastes. If things continue as they were, they would die soon, and if they ran into other Dothraki khalasars, they would be doomed.
The Targaryen sighed as she looked at the dragons she had in a small cage. They were so small and yet her greatest asset, what would lead her to victory, her children.
Yet now she even knows if it would be enough for her to retake the Seven Kingdoms. She still feared what she would find when she finally came face to face with the son of the usperper. Jorah seemed pretty weary of him, believing him to be someone that could keep her from the Iron Throne. However, she didn't even know if she would even meet the current king, her group got weaker by the day, and without food her dragons wouldn't grow.
However as she was about to go to sleep for the night, she heard some of the remaining Dothraki in her group making an uproar. Getting back up she walked over to see what was going on.
Arriving at the scene she found a young man driving a large wagon filled with different foods and barrels of water. "What brings you hear," she demanded as the man stepped out of the driver's seat and pulled out a letter and offered it to the white haired princess but it was Jorah who took the letter as he feared that it might have been poisoned.
Looking at the seal, his eyes widened as he saw the seal of the king of Westeros. "It's from the House Baratheon of King's Landing," Jorah said as he opened the letter and began to read it outloud for his queen.
Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen,
As King of Westeros and The Seven Kingdoms, I apologize for the behavior of my late father and his attempt to cause you and your loved ones harm. Having heard of your plight in the Red Waste, I arranged to supply you with food and water to make your journey more bearable.
I pray for your safety and well being. Should you ever return to Westeros, I would like to invite you to parley to avoid conflict and unneeded violence.
Naruto of the House Baratheon, the First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.
"What would you make of this Khalessi?" Jorah asked as the Targaryen took the paper from him and read it over to make sure that Jorah hadn't misread.
She never expected for her savior to be the very person she was preparing for war against. She knew that at the moment she stood no chance against him and his armies. But it seemed like he wanted to end things civically. But she doubted that he would just let her take the throne. "We'll accept the gift, even poison is better than starving to death in the wastes," she said as her own stomach twisted in desire at the sight of the loaves of bread on the cart.
"But this doesn't mean that I'll give up on taking the throne," she told the man who had driven the cart. She saw him detaching his horse, giving her a nod before riding off into the shadows.
"This is unexpected, why would he try and help us?" Daenarys asked as she saw the members of their group start taking food and drinks from the carriage and feeding themselves. "Is he so confident that we can't defeat him?" she wondered, thinking that maybe this was his way of taunting her, trying to make her hasty to return and get crushed?
"No," Jorah said as he took a piece of dried meat, "I don't know what was running through his head, but Lord Naruto is by all means a man of mercy. Even against some of the worst opponents he has tried to avoid killing. The Mountain who once challenged him was spared when he could have easily been killed. I think that he simply didn't want you to die, and felt that he needed to apologize for the attempt on your life," The banished Mormont stated.
"Then he is a fool," Daenerys said softly as she watched her people feasting on the provisions provided.
A head fell on the ground before Jaime as he watched his nephew fighting against a group of Lannister men that had snuck into the Stark camp while another larger group led a frontal assault. Robb along with the majority of his bannermen had rode off to fight the battle, with the king staying behind to watch the wounded and prisoners.
"Fools…"Jaime muttered as he saw the group confront Naruto and Ser Barristan.
It would have been here that he would have retreated if he had been one of the fighters. Naruto himself was too much, he felt that if the conditions were right he might be able to win against him, but he knew that nine out of ten times he'd lose. Adding in one of the most decorated knights in the Seven Kingdoms at his side, it was suicide.
Naruto rushed forward and stabbed one of the men through the chest as Ser Barristan cut through another that tried to ambush the young king. "Surrender or face the Stranger," Naruto ordered as he lopped off the head of another who rushed him. A frown on his face as it was clear that his grandfather wanted to get his son back, even at the cost of the lives of all these men.
Unfortunately for him, Naruto was at the camp himself.
Ser Barristand defeated another, knocking his sword out of their hands and cutting them deeply across the chest, blood dripping from his sword as his opponent fell to the ground. By this point the remaining Northernmen had heard the sounds of battle within their camp and arrived at the scene to give support.
Seeing that they were completely overwhelmed and their attempt had failed, the remaining Lannister men surrendered and dropped their weapons.
Looking at Jaime, he frowned as it was clear that they would likely keep trying to free him as long as Jaime stayed. "Looks like I'm gonna have to take you to King's Landing sooner than expected uncle," the black haired king said before looking at the guards,and ordered them to mount his cage to a wagon. As soon as Robb returns I'll be heading back to King's Landing with my uncle as prisoner.
"So what? So you can free the bastard?" one of the gruffer Northernmen asked as he got in Naruto's face, unafraid of the magic the king held. While he acknowledged that the king had done a lot of good in the North while he was still a prince, that didn't change the fact that he was upset that Robb had turned down their push to be independent.
Naruto grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him up into the air, "So I can get Sansa Stark back you shit head," he growled before throwing him to the ground.