Storm of the North

Chapter 4

Q&A

Guest: *Takes off glasses and cleans them while looking at the camera like Jim form the Office*

Snake551g: We already gm'd, but still thanks.

Witerfell, 296 AC

Naruto's POV

Duty. It sometimes seemed the Tully's believed they owned the word. Especially Catelyn Stark, formerly of House Tully.

Then again, it's a rather easy to speak of duty, when doing said duty is doing what is easy or advantageous. Catelyn's duty? Marrying the next Lord Stark and Warden of the North. Catelyn seemed to be under the impression that she should still be carrying the words and faith of House Tully and nothing else. And she wondered Lord's of the North didn't seem to like her. Family, Duty, Honor. Those were the words and she believed that because the North believed in those same things, they also shared the same values.

In the south, family was what you showed on the outside to others. In the North it was how you treated your blood and friends in private. It also makes you vulnerable since you don't pretend.

Duty? In the south, you follow your lord, no matter the order and you kill children if necessary. In the North the one to pass judgment, swings the blade, never delegating to other's in your command. You led from the front or among your kinsmen, never from behind, hiding from the fight. It also put the lords in danger.

Honor? In the south, what people see is your honor. In the North honor is what you can live with. If you could live with stabbing someone in the back, you retained your personal honor. But it also leads to each and every person having their own version of honor and each judging the others based on their own beliefs.

Jon wasn't Catelyn's blood, yet he was her children's blood and she mistreated the boy when she could. Aye she did her duty of pushing out children, but she didn't want to take any part in Northern traditions and calming the lords. She felt her honor had personally been insulted and the insult was done by newborn and she took the warning "beware the bastard" a bit too seriously.

She didn't seem to realize the Old Gods had their own rules on children out of wedlock. Every time Naruto saw Catelyn in the Godswood, she looked out of place and uncomfortable. He didn't know if she could hear the whispers or not, but if she did, they didn't seem to be very nice toward her. To Naruto, they felt curious and empathic these days.

Naruto first heard the whisper's after his mother passed. Back then were almost singular and they insisted a lot more. They spoke to him, telling him to carry out his mother's duty. So, it became his duty as well. But Lyanna was still his best friend and it was hard to separate the affection he felt for his sort-of-sister and the duty he felt in her service. He always had a soft spot Lyanna. She was innocent and didn't seem to understand the world entirely. Sometimes he felt like a babysitter or an older brother. It felt like he was two people in a single body. The servant and the warrior originating in the east. It was hard to keep his head straight. He sometimes felt he was only watching from a window in on what was happening. His legs moved, he spoke and the voice was his but sometimes it felt as though the words were not his. Like his mind was in a fog.

After Ned came back and told what happened to Rickard, the rage he felt lifted the fog. He could still swear he heard a beast's roar from within and a scream as the rage overtook him. He finally felt like himself again, like the warrior from the east. And his blood was boiling. It felt like he needed to rip and tear. Benjen later told him, that in that moment he looked like someone else entirely. He had trained and guarded him by Rickards orders and for a moment he looked like a stranger.

For Naruto the battles were a release of sort. He felt as though he'd found something he thought had burned with his mother. He felt the blades in his hand more firmly than in a long time, felt his strength increasing or…returning. He indulged in the battles, maybe even a little too much.

The idea of having the Kingsguard vowing to not fight against Robert had somehow worked out. It was a mix of Ned and surprisingly Jon Arryn that saved their lives. And if anyone asked, he did not bribe a whore to whisper in to Pycelles ear about how Lyanna wasn't suitable on the throne. Naruto would protect his friend and her son freely, but he was damned if he had to live in city that smelled of pigshit. That and when Pycelle claimed Lyanna's body was broken by Rhaegar, Robert seemed… disappointed. Then again, during the whole war Robert's bed didn't seem to be empty on a single night. He kept telling they would get Lyanna back, that Baratheon and Stark would be joined and that Ned and Robert would finally be brothers. Sometimes Naruto amusedly wondered if Robert wasn't, not necessarily a pillow-biter, but in love with Ned on some level. Perhaps he was a bit like the rumors said Oberyn Martel was. No, that wasn't exactly right. He was in love with the idea of Ned being related to him, but he loved Ned like a brother.

When Jon and Lyanna were finally home in Winterfell, he felt at ease for a moment. Then he threw himself in training. He felt his body was stiffer than it should have been, but soon he felt it getting back to where it should be.

Ned invited the men who joined him at Tower of Joy and they drank and feasted for a whole night. He and Howland even had a brief brawl over who was a better friend to Lyanna. It ended with them leading the lords in the "Song of Exile". Hell, even Ned had joined the song. Then they all drank too much and the night, morning really, ended with Naruto and Ned having a drunken "fistfight". Both "great warriors" looked like old drunks trying to hit each other and missing while shouting profanities at each other and insulting the other with idiotic things. Why would one's father smell of elderberries and how is it an insult? And what the hell is a hamster and how could it give birth to a human?

The pain in their heads the next day put a dampen in all things for a while. The day after that they held meeting in the Godswood to decide what to do with Jon. Howland wanted Jon to be brought to Greywater Watch. Naruto informed him that Lyanna wouldn't let him go, at least not yet and it would seem strange as to why Lyanna would join Jon there. Each man voiced their worries. None of them wanted another war, but none held Jon responsible for Rhaegar's doings. It was decided Ned would keep Jon in Winterfell until he would be old enough to do as the boy himself wished. Naruto would make sure the boy knew how to fight.

All of them stood before the great weirwood and vowed their silence on the subject until Jon was at least five and ten, and to protect the boy from those would harm him.

They decided they would come together with the lords of the North every five years to hear the worries and joy's of the cold realm. It would give them the chance to surreptitiously meet and exchange news. The failure of the Boltons still weighed heavy on their minds. What's more the men gathered here were located on the western side of the North. They would have slowly and gently prod, who among the eastern side could be trusted to keep an eye on the Boltons. The Karstarks so far were the first choice, being a cadet branch from the Starks themselves, and who had a history of loyalty to the Stark's and marrying in to the Stark family and vice versa. That also made them the riskiest choice if war came. They had some of the greatest ties to the Stark family so they were in the best position to stab them in the back. Decisions, decisions.

Lord Bolton had already expressed some interest in marrying Lyanna even if she couldn't have children. Ned wasn't even seen as rude by other houses when he turned Roose down. The man had fucked up royally during the incident where Naruto earned his nickname and intentional or not, he was seen as bit of an incompetent. Doesn't matter if you punish your soldiers after the fact, people will have doubts. Ned wanted to trust the man and didn't want to blame him for the mistakes of others. Naruto still wanted the man's head on a spike. The next Bolton was already born, in Naruto's mind they could afford it. And even better, Roose's son's personality wasn't summed up with the word "cunt", at least not yet. They would see how far the apple fell down from the tree.

Lyanna, wanted to act like everything was the same as before the rebellion and Naruto let her. She had grown when she was separated from him and her family. She was still stubborn and spirited, but she wasn't naïve anymore. She didn't show trust to new faces anymore. Especially those from the south. Which was one of the reasons she didn't trust or like Catelyn. That and how the woman treated Jon. Catelyn didn't want to even try and understand the Old Gods or Nothern traditions an Lyanna didn't want to try to understand southern customs and the Seven. The women were extremely similar from to different cultures. Lyanna was a true northern lady with an iron will, and Catelyn seemed like a true southern lady with an iron will. Lyanna loved sword and horses, abhorring having to ride in a wheelhouse and sewing. Catelyn preferred prayer and "ladylike things" and didn't see it as a woman's place to ride horses and swing swords around. Naruto, as someone who was himself raised in a mix of traditions, could see their views objectively but still preferred the straight forward way of the North. That and Catelyn was annoying as all hell sometimes. You know that one person who thinks they know best and can't wait to inform everyone? To Naruto, that was Catelyn. If she were a man, he'd have punched them out already.

Little Jon could be the sweetest boy ever. He could also be mischievous as hell when not looked after. Still the boy had learned well so far. He had taken like fish to water.

Robb, the future heir. He was growing up, same as Jon. But where Jon could keep it in his pants, Robb had been influenced by the older lad Theon who had taken him to the whore house in Wintertown. Which was why Naruto kept Jon away from Theon unless the boy wanted a fight. Then Jon was allowed off the leash for a while to beat in the older boys face. Robb also looked more like his mother than Ned. That and the last time the meeting of lords had been held, three years back, the boy had thrown a massive bitchfit when he had lost to Jon in a spar. The lords of the North looked somewhat disappointed with the way Robb had acted, he was to be their new lord one day. It had actually led Ned to tanning the boys hide in private setting later, which in turn lead to Catelyn throwing a bitchfit. Naruto didn't want to know what Ned did but, Catelyn seemed a lot calmer after Ned talked to her in private.

Sansa. She was like her mother and seemed to look down on anyone who acted like they lived in the North, even her own family. Enough said.

Arya, was like Lyanna reincarnated. Wild and untamed. Naruto was getting too old for a small Lyanna to be running around and he had only turned thirty this year. At least she preferred following Jon.

Bran followed Arya and Jon around like a puppy, wanting to play with his older siblings which Jon was happy to do and even if Arya didn't act like it, she liked to play with Bran as well. The boy was…unique. Naruto sensed something off about the boy, but he was a true Stark still.

Rickon, the youngest was still at his mother's breast so Naruto didn't have an opinion yet. He looked Stark so that was a good sign at least.

Naruto was brought out of his musings when Jon threw his last knife in to the target. Naruto grabbed one of his own and the it on the end of one of Jon's knives, leaving it sticking from the handle. Jon stared at it for a moment, then turned to Naruto "How do you do that?"

Naruto bent down a little and indicated like he was explaining a technique from Jon's perspective "I aim at the middle, you see?"

Jon tried to shove Naruto, but the man easily let it just brush past him. Naruto patted the boys head and told him to gather the knives, clean them, inspect them and if need be, take them to the smithy for maintenance. After that was done, he had the rest of the day to do as he wished. Jon gave a nod and got to work, looking forward to spending the rest of his day with Bran and Arya, maybe even Robb.

Naruto still remembered training with Ser Dayne when he checked up on him from time to time. Now they were mostly equal. Ser Dayne's skill were settling, Naruto's were still developing. Still Naruto couldn't get a consistent winning streak against the Sword of Morning. In a couple of years maybe, not just yet.

A year before the Greyjoy rebellion, five years after Robert's rebellion, Naruto and Lyanna had begun their lover's affair. In the five years Lyanna had matured and grown to be someone who acknowledged her mistake of believing Rheager's falsehoods and her role as the fool in them. Naruto had grown and even bedded a few women, who struck his fancy. She'd apologized to him and shown true remorse. She still hadn't forgiven herself.

The weird thing? Even though she blamed herself, she too described the fog in her actions. Naruto still had not told of the fog to anyone. But when she told him, he started to see if there were spies or assassins in Winterfell who had drugged them. It made sense. Naruto was the first try. Then they perfected it and moved on to Lyanna. When they didn't have access to her the drugs wore off. He had uncovered at least three spies who had been dealt with. Two were "little birds" and one was getting gold from someone in Casterly Rock. Naruto could put two and two together. Having a head delivered with a note that had a few choice words scribbled on it, saw a few servants suddenly leaving the Stark household, but no one ever came knocking. That and the knife that, according to rumor, had been stuck on the headboard of a certain Lannister's bed during the night. Probably one or the other.

He would have to be vigilant. Jon finally got done with his job and brought the knives to him, cleanly put in their case. Naruto took the case and told Jon to meet him for dinner later.

Lyanna came from her observing spot and they went towards Ned's solar. Naruto wanted to know if they could hold a tournament of sorts for the youth of the North, a chance to prove who is the best with which weapon. And it would be nice to have a talk with his friend.

Maybe they'd even hold a small melee for the older soldiers to show the young ones how it was really done. The thought of fighting his comrades, even with blunted blades, warmed his blood.

To be continued…?

I noticed the fact that after Robert's rebellion and especially the war of Five Kings, the North basically has two major factions: east and west. The west get's attacked by Iron Born and the east gets attacked by wildlings coming south. Both have the same problems. Coming down from the North the families ruling, are very much the same in temperament, at least on the surface. Yet the more south you get, the more they change up. Just found it interesting.

Next update, next weekend. Reviews always appreciated!