Storm of the North

Chapter 13

Q&A

D4arkpunch:I'd like to say 'do it yourself, if you think you can do better'. But, I won't. This is actually that I spent quite some time on, seriously. I was thinking on what the starting point of my story should be. Should it be the absolute start of the Uzumaki family escaping and the focus being on multiple inheritors of the originals á la Sly Cooper's family, showcasing the Uzumaki through the ages (like the History and Lore of GoT)? Should it be before the Game of Thrones show starts? Should it be when Naruto is born and it follows Naruto's childhood and him growing and learning? I'm a novice. I've never studied writing or anything close to it, I've only really read fanfiction. If people want, I can write another series, which will probably be updated every other weekend, affecting the scheduling of this story. The story would focus on Kushina's arrival on the shores of Westeros and Naruto's childhood. But this is only if you wish it. I don't get paid for this. I do it for fun and only as long as it's fun. Because that's what hobbies should be about in my opinion. And seriously, if ANY OF YOU want to write something fun that would sit well with Naruto's childhood in this universe, have at it. It could be a snippet or a childhood adventure and I'd love to read it. The first step to writing is dreaming it up. I started writing because I read a fanfic that sparked something in me and I had to put it down to get it out of my head. And this isn't some 'I don't think you can do it' kind of thing. This is 'I know you can all do it and I want to see what all of you come up with'.

D4arkpunch, you made a good and honest point. I told, I didn't show in that chapter. But in my original language there is a saying 'Nobody is a smith when born', I'm trying to metaphorically become a smith and your criticism hopefully brings me closer to it. Thank you, you've given me something to reflect on.

To those of you wondering why I didn't update last weekend, see end of chapter.

Winterfell, 298 AC

The young wolf was howling when Naruto entered the yard and spotted Bran lying there, next to the old tower. He dashed when he didn't see movement. The Stark children had already entered the yard. Naruto's hand went to Bran's neck, trying to find his pulse. It wasn't great but it was still there. Naruto started barking orders in a loud voice to all he could see.

"Jon, my books and scrolls. Everything that's been marked with nerves and bones. Also take my field bag. Robb a kite shield and leather straps from the smithy. Arya, get Luwin and bring him to the servant quarters. Sansa, get a sewing kit and order the kitchens to get us boiled water in to the servant quarters. Ygritte, ice chips and snow, as much as you can get. Rickon, get Hodor. Go, all of you!" Naruto was checking Bran as the children left.

Then Catelyn was next to them, screeching about things. Naruto didn't even bother listening to what she was screeching and sobbing about, until she tried to reach for Bran to move him, at which point he exploded in to his own shouts "Get back, woman! I'm waiting for your boy to bring the things I need for moving him to be done safely! Get back! Yell all you want, but you'll not do anything else to the boy either than hold his hand unless me or Luwin say so!" Naruto bellowed straight at Catelyn's face and towered over the woman, like a father disciplining an unruly child. She went wide eyed and quiet, still sniffling. Naruto kneeled back and started checking his limbs, tenderly and carefully checking for possible breaks in them. He found none. They boy did have scratches on his right hand, it the fingers and palm. Seems he had managed to grip the tower while falling, or at least tried to. It would also explain the bump on his forehead. He fell, grabbed the tower, got smacked against the tower and fell again since the hit knocked him out.

Robb ran to the yard, carrying a kite shield and leather straps, with Wylis "Hodor" rapidly making his way over, with Rickon trying to catch up.

"Rickon, to your mother! Hug her." Naruto spoke as he took the straps from Robb. "Robb, the feet first, we need to shimmy this shield under him, so we can lift him evenly and with minimal disturbance to his back. Wylis, help me lift Bran, do it carefully, no yanking motions." They quickly got to work and soon had Bran on the shield, they then, strapped him down evenly on the shield so he wouldn't move.

Robb, moved over to his mothers to calm her down, after Naruto let him go. Naruto instructed Wylis in lifting the shield and they carried Bran calmly to the servant quarters. Soon Arya, Sansa and Jon arrived as well with Ygritte arriving and informing that the snow and ice was waiting outside so it wouldn't melt. Everyone other than Luwin, Naruto and Jon were ordered outside the room they were using, the door was open so they could request what they needed.

"Robb, since we're here, take Greywind and check the tower. I've never seen Bran fall and that tower has move handholds than normal. Find the place he fell from. It could tell us what amount of damage there might be." Robb was silent and only nodded his head and got going.

"Luwin, no breaks in limbs, he fell straight on his back. He was loose when he hit the ground. His back most likely took the hit." the older man nodded severely. They undid the straps after lifting Bran on a bed, on which they slowly turned the boy on, so he could be more easily slid of the shield. Naruto drew the knife on his belt and started cutting off the boys tunic so they could have a better look. "Luwin, make sure Brans head is facing to the side, and keep your hand close to his face so you can feel his breathing hitting your hand. If it stops, say immediately." Luwin nodded and got there, at the same time trying to spot any bruising on the boys back.

"Jon, start opening books and scrolls, everything marked 'spine'" Naruto spoke as the hot water arrived and Naruto indicated for it to be brought on the table at the end of the bed. Naruto grabbed a berry from his satchel which he started to chew on. He then extended his index and middle fingers and started drawing them down Bran's spine from the neck down carefully.

"What are you doing" Cat whispered from the door.

"Checking his spine. There are no breaks to his limbs, but the spine is made of multiple bones that aren't always visibly damaged." Naruto spoke calmly. Near the lower back he stopped and cursed softly. He stuck his free hands finger in his mouth and when he drew it out it was colored in a mixture of brownish red. He used the color to mark the spot he stopped on. he then carefully raised his fingers off and started going up from the boys tailbone. He again stopped near the original marking, and marked the spot he stopped on.

"Ygritte, the snow and ice, we need it" Naruto cleaned his hand and spat out the remains of the color in his mouth. He grabbed the first book Jon had opened and after reading a bit, he slammed it shut and pushed it away, just muttering "Next".

As Ygritte carried the buckets in to the room, with Arya helping Naruto spoke distractedly "Jon, switch with Luwin. Luwin the spot I marked has swelling." Luwin didn't hesitate any as he started to carefully aoly the snow on the marked spot in a thin layer and then placing ice chips on top of it. While this was done Naruto finally found what he was looking for and brought the book to the bed to show Luwin while translating.

"Between the gate of joy and shock. Here" Naruto indicated the page with Luwin nodding. "We need to get the swelling down. Cold water and dressings. Don't move him until it goes down. We need to feed him liquids, nothing solid. He's out at the moment so he might choke otherwise. Until the swelling goes down and he wakes up, we won't know for sure, but he might have tried to break his fall. The swelling might be only temporary and he might pull trough without being crippled. Luwin you take over, Jon stays here and assists. If Luwin needs to know what's in the book, you translate." Naruto turned to the door.

"Catelyn, you can pull up a chair and sit by your son, no moving him." Naruto started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jon hollered after him.

"I want to see where he fell from" Naruto hollered back.

Robb was pretty sure he found where Bran fell from. The problem was that it didn't make sense. A window. How does Bran, the boy who moved like a squirrel sometimes, lose his balance and fall from here. Greywind still indicated he had been here. This was fucking weird.

Naruto entered the room and Robb indicated the window. Naruto gave him a look like he was insane. He then looked down from the window and turned back to Robb with an equally confused expression as the young man. "The hell?" Naruto said.

"Exactly what I said. Greywind indicated the window when we arrived. He also keeps sniffing the floor for something and keeps sneezing. There's something here we're not seeing." Robb spoke.

Naruto hummed and laid on the floor, to look along the floor for anything that might stick out. "Fuck" he cursed softly. Then got up swiftly, looked down at his shirt, not finding anything. He then slowly walked over to a spot and indicated to the floor. "Come here and look. Where have you seen this?" Robb furrowed his eyebrows and peered at the floor, then when he realized what it was he jolted his head back. "Is that-" Robb began and Naruto quickly spoke "Yep. Someone had some 'fun' here"

"Some of the servants? One of the royals?" Robb asked as Naruto reached for something on the floor, picking it up with his index finger and thumb.

"How many of our servants have golden, long hair" he held the long strand up for Robb to see.

"Fuck" Robb spoke through gritted teeth.

"Fuck indeed" Naruto spoke wryly. He then pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"We should kill them" Lyanna spoke.

"While I think that might be efficient in getting the point across, that would only spark war." Naruto spoke with Ned nodding.

They were in the Gods Wood, Naruto and Lyanna standing while Ned sat and cleaned Ice.

"Blonde long hair. Most likely the Queens. Naruto, any ideas?" Ned spoke.

"Well, I'd say the Queen has a lover. Someone who she shouldn't have as a lover. I don't think the King would care if she took one of the servants, but one of Kingsguard on the other hand… that would be a scandal." Naruto spoke thoughtfully. "What's more important is that we have no actual proof of an affair other than a single strand of hair and some dried seed on the floor. What we should watch out for is who is anxious about Bran being alive. That is made harder by the fact that anyone could be anxious about seeing a child so badly hurt. Not to mention, it doesn't mean they were responsible for Brans fall. They could easily claim Bran was shocked and fell."

"So, what you're telling me we have no real suspects" Ned said thoughtfully.

Naruto was silent for a moment, simply thinking "Well, when this was happening, there were people out with you and Robert on a hunt. Those people aren't suspect. If we can surreptitiously find out who were under watch, we can narrow it down. The kind of endeavor would take longer than the time we have in the North. But again, Bran isn't awake. If he was and his memory is whole, he could tell us whether or not he fell by accident or not. We can assume all we want, but if we go out accusing everyone we can, we'll end up with egg on our face. Now that could mean we won't have to go to Kingslanding, but it would also mean Robert still takes you, only now you've pissed off even more people."

"I don't piss off people." Ned spoke.

"Yes, you do" Naruto scoffed, getting a slap to the head from Lyanna and a hum from Ned.

"Since we can't just kill them, I say we watch them with one eye and try to find any threats with the other." Lyanna spoke and after a moment continued "also, have the guards around the kids at all times. Not necessarily following, but a sight distance away. We already have guards sleeping in the room Bran is in."

Ned nodded "When we leave, Naruto will dig up everything he can at south and Lyanna will interrogate every worker in the castle if she needs to. Anything else?"

Naruto shook his head with Lyanna following. Ned nodded "Well then. I'll go look after my son" Ned picked up Ice and walked towards the servant quarters.

Naruto and Lyanna left towards their room for some rest. As they walked Naruto was thinking of shuffling the guards to discourage any would be assassins.

As they got to their rooms, they spoke quietly of things they would use to infiltrate the castle, so they understood what could be left open for a trap and what should be changed to prevent an assassination on Bran. If it wasn't clear whether or not there was an enemy under your roof, it was better to assume there was and prepare. They slowly drifted into sleep.

Naruto had promise to spar with Jaime and the man had advanced a bit. But today something was wrong. He didn't make eye contact like normal and his heart wasn't in it.

"What's wrong?" Naruto disengaged.

"The boy, Bran." Jaime spoke softly.

Naruto tilted his head in question and indicated for him to continue.

"I…feel bad. I've no children of my own and probably never will. The closest thing I have is my sisters children. And seeing a child suffering is just… wrong to me. I fell it's one thing to see a child die. It's another to see one suffer." Jaime spoke quietly.

Naruto nodded "I always wondered. You killed Aerys. When Robert took the throne, you could have asked to be released from your vows. Why did you stay? You could have had children, a wife?"

Jaime looked off to the side in thought, opening and closing his mouth, not sure what to say, then finally got the words out "My sister and I. We're twins. We've always been close. And I killed one king who was insane. What was offered to me was to protect my sister and her children. My father has always told us that family is what survives. I was young and you could say foolish. But, this is what I've always done. What I've wanted to do. What else was I supposed to do?"

Naruto nodded in understanding "Well, maybe someday, you'll be released. And when that time comes, you'll find other things to do. Maybe you'll do what I did and find someone to pass down all you've learned. I'm done for today." Jaime was left there, head bowed, a look of focus on his face as he considered his future.

The swelling had gone on Brans back. His legs were reacting when they were tickled or poked. But the boy was still asleep. This was not something the Uzumaki clan had many records of. They dealt with the inner workings of the body, mostly to destroy or disrupt them if necessary, but things with the head were always a bit iffy for them. The best examples that they had, were interrogation methods that involved needles to the brain. Researching these sort subjects were tough since no one wanted to go to sleep for an extended time. Hence why Naruto had given the reins over to Luwin for good. The maesters had the time and manpower to record the subjects at hand.

What Luwin and Naruto had agreed on was that they had no idea if Bran would know how walk again after he woke up. Running was also a big question. Hits to the back could have multiple consequences. If the spine was severed, they would not walk again. Blunt hit on the other hand were a complete crapshoot, some could lose partial mobility, some could lose all mobility and some were only affected later in life.

For now, they needed to wait for Bran to awaken. They seemed to be saying that a lot recently.

Ned was still a bit shaken and they would be leaving south soon. That was going to be fun. Expecting a dagger in your back constantly, both literally and figuratively. It wasn't even 'honest' like in war. In war you mostly knew who your enemy was and it was them that was going to kill you. In this situation, who the hell was the enemy? And if you found the enemy for the day, would they be the enemy tomorrow? Naruto wasn't really paid by the Stark family like sellswords, but if he was, he'd have adjusted his contract to be an hourly wage. At the end of this venture, he would have probably owned most of the North, because of all the overtime he could foresee.

So, to not think about all the work that waited him, he was doing the most enjoyable he could think of for the moment: having a hot bath with Lyanna. Lyanna seemed amused that Naruto seemed to be happy to just have her lean against his chest in the tub.

"This is what you want to do with your free time? You'll be leaving soon. I'd think you'd want to do other things." she spoke with a grin.

"Give me my peace woman. If I want to lay in a tub with my wife, before we'll be separated, I'll lay in a damn tub with my wife." Naruto rumbled, his eyes closed. He lightly ran his hand over her stomach and felt a small kick "Yeah, you tell her baby."

"The baby agreed with me, idiot. He kicked you to put you in your place" Lyanna grinned, shutting her own eyes and enjoying the warmth. Naruto just grumbled something illegible in turn.

They knew the storm was coming. Too bad they didn't know from which direction.

To be continued…

Next update, next weekend. Reviews always appreciated!

Last weekend:

Yes, hello, hi! Last weekend. Here's how it basically went down.

As you will not know, I work in a small 'conglomerate'. It's made up of multiple companies, each having certain specialties and they don't have multiple workers. Basically, the people working for one company, sometimes help out other companies. To cut the prologue short, one of the companies has been running a bed and breakfast type of deal from a what can be described as 'country house' or a 'gentlemen's clubhouse' (and no, that is not a euphemism for a strip joint, I wish it was) only it was placed in the original center of town.

This clubhouse was built in the 1800th. It was originally built elsewhere and then transferred to out town when the factories there started producing and the rich folks (owners of the factories) wanted a place to party. It actually, to this day, has what is called a 'secret bar', in the local language. Basically, during the prohibition, where the rich guy used to drink. It still had a hidden hatch and everything. What I'm trying to say, terribly, is that this house was old. It was made of 'great trees' that had been growing for hundreds of years and cannot truly be recreated, because of how much it would cost and those kinds of trees have all been cut down locally. The insulation in the walls and between floors was hardpacked sawdust. It's a big historical site made of wood, basically.

Now to the crux: I was writing at home (or at least attempting to do so) and received a call from one of the people who live near the clubhouse. They said, there's smoke coming out of it. Now, I threw on my pants and started calling any other workers closer than me, while I was furiously driving there to kick the ass of anyone dumb enough to not know how to use the fireplace and not open the hatch for ventilation, thinking it to be a small problem. I was the senior worker and in this situation it fell on me to represent the owner of the establishment and our companies. Only, when I got there, the smoke was rising out of the building. It rose from the chimneys, it rose from the closed windows, and it was coming out of the airducts and the damn walls!

The fire department was already there, already diving into the smoke. During the next 24hrs, this historical site, burned, while I was forced to watch from the sidelines. The only upside is, there were no employees or clients/guests inside, so no-one died. The whole building went up like a tinderbox. I went for a bit of sleep home during the night and the next day I got in early to work, because my boss had his laptop destroyed, along with his clothes and multiple other essentials that we had to replace asap.

So, that was my last weekend, how was yours?