A/N: We finally make it to the Palace Arc! Enjoy!
Chapter 25: From Rebel to Servant
Fugaku had been sitting in meetings all morning, and he was exhausted already.
With a quiet sigh, he watched as his latest messenger hurried out of the throne room. He desperately prayed that something interesting would happen.
"Maybe some kind of jester?" He thought to himself, resting his chin on his knuckles. "I could probably watch a court jester right about now."
A knock came at the double-doors, and he called out, "You may enter!"
As they opened, he did a double-take at the two women that entered the room.
The younger one, the one with pink hair, looked awfully familiar for a few moments, but in the next, he dismissed it as a trick of the light. She was dressed beautifully in a fashionable pale green dress.
The older one, the blonde, also looked familiar, but he shrugged it off after studying her face for a few moments. She was wrinkled and plain, though her aged honey eyes emanated a warmth that made him relax a little.
"What have you come here to ask of me?" He asked, sitting up straighter.
"Milord, I only come to request a job here for this young lady." The older one bowed respectfully as she spoke. "It would do my family a great service."
"What is your name, madam?" He asked, his eyes softening. She was dressed just as shabbily as most of the other peasants that came through, and yet he caught sight of a nicer brown dress beneath her cloak. She had to be at least middle-class.
"Hayashi, milord," she replied, gesturing to both herself and her daughter, who stood with her hands clasped together in front of her. "I am Chiasa Hayashi, and this is my lovely adopted daughter, Shien Hayashi."
"It's an honor to finally meet you, my king," Shien said, bowing for a few moments. The lilac ornament in her hair swayed a bit with the movement, and he caught sight of a flower pendant around her neck. A violet. Most peculiar. It went nicely enough with the dress, and it didn't set off any immediate alarms in his mind as he covertly activated his eyes and searched them both.
"Tell me, are you nobles of some kind?" He asked, his eyes going back to their usual midnight black. He recognized the name Hayashi. There was a clan on the borders of Fire, a family that, in the past, he had enjoyed fellowship with. If they were indeed from the same clan, he knew he had to do something.
"Yes, milord," Chiasa nodded. "My family hails from the farthest borders of Fire. We have traveled far in order to be here."
"So you must have..." Fugaku muttered, stroking his chin. "I must admit, I have enjoyed the company of your clan through the years. What is it, exactly, that you want to do here?"
"If I'm not being too forward, my king, even a simple maid's job would suffice," the girl's voice trembled slightly, giving away her nervousness.
He was appalled that she would allow herself as a lady of high enough status to take on the lowly job of a castle maid. "And... you're sure of this?"
"Anything to serve the royal family, my king." Shien smiled pleasantly, and for a moment, her face seemed to change in the light.
But a split-second later, he blinked, and it was gone, replaced with her sweet demeanor.
He hummed in thought. "It would be a waste to put you to work as a humble maid... but I'll tell you what. My son, Sasuke, has been in want of a servant for quite some time now. Would you keep my son company? Surely it is a high enough position for such a young lady in my court."
Shien hesitated for a moment. While she was here to get closer to the prince and eventually overthrow the king and queen, she hadn't really expected him to snap up the bait so easily.
Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she beamed up at him. "It would be an honor, sir."
"Excellent." Fugaku nodded once, seemingly pleased. "Your duties begin as soon as possible. I'll have a maid show you to your quarters. In the meantime, madam, shall I get a guest bedroom for you...?"
"Oh, you are too kind, your majesty," Chiasa gushed, clasping her hands together. "But I'm afraid I already made arrangements for lodgings with a friend just on the outskirts of town. You understand, I'm sure, how rude it would be to abruptly cancel..."
"Yes yes, I know it all too well." Luckily, the king wasn't offended, and he waved his hand. "I wish you safety in your travels, Hayashi-san."
"Thank you so much, my king." Chiasa and her daughter bowed once more before exiting the hall.
"Well, that was easier than I thought," Sakura breathed, chuckling. "So I guess I'm gonna work under Sasuke now."
"Be safe, okay?" Tsunade's face was contorted in motherly concern as she pulled the teenager in for a tight hug. "Write me as often as you need to. I know that Gai is lurking around somewhere, so he'll be able to get you my letters."
"Understood." Sakura nodded right as she pulled away. She gave a half-smile. "I guess I'll see you later then?"
"Yes." Tsunade squeezed her shoulder one last time before turning and heading down the hall.
Sakura watched her walk away for a few moments before she got a tap on her shoulder.
When she turned around, she smiled at the plain blonde servant girl standing timidly behind her. "Oh, have you come to show me to my room?"
"Yes, Hayashi-sama," the girl nodded in agreement, averting her pale gray-green eyes. "If you would follow me."
Sakura took one last glance over her shoulder, only to see that Tsunade had left her sight. She swallowed hard before following the servant girl through the hallway, trying to squelch the butterflies in her stomach.
"Prince Sasuke-sama has been lonely as of late," the servant explained in a hushed voice. "I'm sure he'll be glad to have your company."
"If I may ask, what exactly is it that I must do?" Sakura inquired. "Am I cleaning, doing laundry, accompanying him...?"
"Oh, no no no, you won't be doing such things as laundry, that's for us," the girl let out a laugh. "Your duties will be to attend to his highness and make certain that Namikaze-sama doesn't cause too much trouble around the castle."
"... I see..." she laughed nervously. "Does... does Namikaze-sama make mischief often...?"
"Oh, every couple of days he'll try to cause friendly havoc for the guards," the girl was way too nonchalant about this as they kept walking. "Just keep him company and I doubt he'll want to do anything worse than that one morning he filled a guard's boots completely with water."
"Oh my!" Shien gasped. "He did that for a prank?"
The girl paused, looking her up and down for a moment. Then, in a deadpan voice, she replied, "I think you'll find that Namikaze-sama has a rather... mean-spirited sense of humor on the worst of days."
"Duly noted," she agreed, now more concerned with what she'd gotten herself into.
They continued up the stairs and through a greater hallway, one with high glass windows on either side. They came up to a door to the left and the servant girl politely knocked.
A few seconds later, the door opened, and a familiar blond head answered, matured and handsome, yet with the same cerulean eyes that shone with childish mischief. "Yo!"
"Good morning, Namikaze-sama," the girl responded, gesturing to the surprised pinkette. "His majesty has sent Prince Sasuke-sama a new, ahem, lady-in-waiting."
Naruto scrunched up his nose for a moment before he turned his head to look at Shien. And when he looked, his eyes widened, his jaw going slack.
"Whoa, you're beautiful!" He stammered before he could stop himself. "A- are you sure the king didn't try to set Sasuke up with another arranged marriage?"
"Believe me, if he had, I wouldn't be here right now." The servant girl said flatly. She gently gave Shien a push in Naruto's direction. "Well, I must be going now. Hayashi-sama, your room is the one directly across from this one. Farewell, and good luck."
With that, she hurried away, and Naruto was dragging the pinkette into the room, calling, "Hey, Sasuke! Check out the girl your dad sent!"
Said prince was sitting at his desk, gazing out the window. At Naruto's exclamation, he groaned, "If I've told him once, I've told him a hundred times, I'm not going to marry just any girl. Throne be damned."
"Maybe you'd change your mind for this one," Naruto teased, giving Shien a nudge at the ribs and waggling his eyebrows.
It took all she had not to give him a glare at the implication. "I can't have this mucking up my mission any more than it has to!"
Sasuke finally turned around, a tired expression on his face. When he saw Shien, his eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline.
The pen in his hand dropped to the tile floor in his stunned silence.
"Good morning, Sasuke-sama," Shien said, shoving down the emotions that tried to bubble to the surface at the sight of her childhood friend and crush. Her rose-painted lips turned upwards in a polite smile as she fought off the emotion that threatened to choke away her next words. "As of today, I am to be your new servant."
A/N: AAAAAAND they finally meet! Things are really gonna be ramping up now. I definitely hope you all like the moments coming up. Mwehee, it was so much fun writing for these two.
Oho! Before I forget to mention. I've finally finished every single chapter! The final upload date will be September 19! Thank you all for being so patient with me as I've been writing this. Expect to see this imported to AO3 once I've finished polishing it up.
Also, during the palace arc, remember that any time you'll see anyone in the palace refer to Sakura (even her herself), she will be called Shien. Anyone else, especially Tsunade's group, will use the name Sakura. Just so you don't get confused!
Tell me what you thought, and I'll see you all next week!
