Welcome back!

Thank you for all of the reviews you guys
I really, really loved them

Just to let you know, I'm introducing an important OC in this chapter that'll play a pivotal role in the future. Not only that, but this chapter is also a plot key that'll propel this fic forward. I'll still be following canon (loosely) but certain things will occur.

Oh, and another thing, I know many of you will be wondering, but Robert hasn't let Naruto's new title of heir get out to public knowledge. Not yet at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Game of Thrones or a worthy GPA

Chapter 13: There Is a Truth to Everything

Joffrey was alone.

The boy scowled at the city below, wanting the noise of the people to drown everything out. He gripped the railing, feeling his ears bleed. He growled, roaring in frustration. Turning to face his door, he could hear the muffled sound of the three direwolves playing with his family. He could hear them laughing together, along with Sansa and the other Stark children. He could hear the direwolves trampling over each other, yelping and barking with joy.

Something Joffrey didn't want the pleasure of having.

He wanted the Throne. He wanted to be King. A birthright to him as the first born child, he wanted the throne now. His brother, Naruto running back and forth, doing things for the smallfolk and the disgusting poor made Joffrey sick. If anything, royalty shouldn't be doing something for the poor, the poor should be working for the Royals. They were nothing but wastes of space and food. Joffrey frowned. The poor claiming to have no jobs to pay for food are the reason there's no food; they're not working in the fields to grow it!

Joffrey was alone.

He had no one to confide with, no one to speak with. Even the Hound turned into a sick, sad, pitiful man. He rarely spoke and drank wine over and over again. Sure his sword arm was still in use, and sure a shield was permanently strapped to his left arm due to his lack of a hand. Joffrey looked in disgust. The Hound sure fought harder and with more rage but he was too depressed. The eldest prince felt that he couldn't put him down any further or the man might end up killing himself.

Something Joffrey wasn't planning on happening any time soon.

Joffrey though, was awaiting some in depth description of the entire tourney. He wanted to know something specific about his brother. Joffrey wanted that boy to show off his powers so badly. He wanted the Faith of the Seven, the High Septon, even the superstitious dogs of the North to witness Naruto's powers so the power of Seven Kingdoms would be aimed at the boy alone. He wanted him to be labeled a freak. Joffrey could already see the firestorm that will befall his younger brother. A smirk began to play on his face, curling his lips, knowing that he was going to revel in his brother's agony.

Joffrey was a King. Joffrey was born to be King.

He smiled, the anger and the irritation gone. He turned on his heels and rested his back against the guard railing of his balcony overlooking the city. He was silent and didn't dare make a noise, save for the ragged breaths. He could still hear the direwolves playing in the other room. He clenched his fists, shaking with a small feeling of hurt burn within him. He tried all the time to bring his parents together like that, but throw in barbarians from the North and the two were finally acting like a husband and a wife?! Joffrey took a deep breath and let his head feel the cool, warm, summer winds of the South.

He is a King. He is born to be King.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from the same room that the direwolves were in. Joffrey shot forward, grabbing a sword. He threw the door open, charging into the hallway, sword drawn and an angry look on his face. Joffrey walked down the hall, sheathing his weapon. Now his good feeling gone, he took a deep breath and stomped down the hall towards the source of the noise. His parents personal chambers were guarded by Ser Meryn Trant and Ser Jaime Lannister. Joffrey walked up to them, a pompous aura about him. Jaime frowned at Joffrey but moved aside anyway, as did Ser Meryn.

The door opened to reveal King Robert and Cersei on the floor with Lady, Summer and Nymeria on top of them, licking them head to toe. Naruto sat on the bed frame with Sansa in his arms, the two of them laughing at the scene. Robert tried to stop Summer and his unending attack, but the direwolf was unrelenting. Cersei's hair braids were undone and a powerful laugh was escaping her lips as Lady assaulted her with the same treatment as Robert. Joffrey was so disgusted. Getting covered in the slobber of dogs was unbecoming of a true King and Queen. Joffrey shook his head, aghast with the way his parents were acting.

"Oh, dearest brother." Naruto called with a bright smile. "How kind of you to join us!"

"I'm going back to my room." Joffrey replied, turning on his heels. He pressed on the door, but the door wouldn't budge. The boy started pounding on the door, begging the Kingsguard knights stationed outside to set him free, but neither of them would answer to the boy; he wasn't King yet. Joffrey sighed and turned around, gripping the hilt of his weapon, agitated beyond belief. To think waking up was to three giant dogs hooping and barking in joy was unsettling, he was locked in a room with the people he hated most in the world and with his least favorite animal. So, he was agitated.

"Lady." Naruto smiled. "Give him a nice welcome!"

Cersei shot up and grabbed her two youngest and held them tight while Lady shot over, her tongue hanging from her jaw. Lady was too fast for Joffrey and the boy was smashed against the door by the massive wolf, kisses were given, covering Joffrey's face in nothing but slobber and saliva. The boy roared in disgust, crying out for Lady to stop, but hearing Sansa and Naruto's laughter only goaded her on and to hear Cersei's laughter simply told Lady that she should continue what she was doing. She didn't know what was going on, but went along with it.

Lady didn't expect a fist to fly into her face.

Joffrey was huffing and puffing, crying out, screaming in anger. The laughter stopped though and the good feeling in the room was immediately washed out. Lady whimpered back to Cersei, growling softly at Joffrey. Summer and Nymeria took up defensive positions next to their litter-mate and barred their teeth at Joffrey; especially Nymeria. Naruto stood from his seat on the bed frame and rolled his eyes, rubbing his hands against Summer and Nymeria's ears trying to calm them down. They whined and looked to Naruto with pleading eyes, but the boy shook his head and pointed to his parents.

"Joffrey, what is your problem?" Naruto asked. "Why are you so hateful of everyone?"

Joff though, didn't even meet Naruto's eyes. He didn't even dare to open his mouth.

"Joffrey, for the love of the Seven, please, let us talk to you." Naruto held out his hand.

Naruto actually thought that Joffrey would take it, but the boy in question slapped Naruto's hand out of the way and turned to give his brother a sickening glare.

"I don't need your help." Joffrey spat. "Why don't you leave me alone and stay with your bitch-mate-"

Naruto rammed Joffrey into the door behind him, crushing the door, sending cracks in all directions. Cersei and Robert shot to their feet, ready to intervene. Naruto though, raised a hand and his parents simply stood down.

"I could care less what you say about me, Joffrey." Naruto replied. "But don't you dare speak about Sansa that way."

"You don't scare me." Joffrey spat once more.

"Not yet I don't." Naruto replied with a dark undertone. "If you want to leave, fine. We were all jesting and you decided to take things too far. Leave, Joffrey. Leave!"

The door behind him opened and Joffrey fell back, stumbling over his own weight. Naruto was seething and Sansa could feel it all the way from the bed frame. Joffrey could be heard shouting incoherently, raging, almost screaming. Naruto was no different; he was on the verge of exploding at the first person to open their mouths at him. He took breath after breath, slowing his pace with each second. He clenched his fists feeling sweat build on his forehead. Naruto shook his head and walked off, not even acknowledging his uncle Jaime.

With Joffrey heading down the hall, Naruto walked down the opposite direction. He hunched his shoulders and walked off with no direction decided. Naruto hobbled down the stairs, his boots clacking against the stone stairs. His sigh of defeat echoed in the empty halls. It has been three days since the Hand's Tourney. Naruto shook his head. That was a strange and yet, informative experience. Naruto learned that food was his greatest friend after prolonged fights. Others would like rest, but Naruto would prefer food over all. Rest can wait. Naruto was pretty sure that he'd rather have food than rest. Food did sound good.

The boy stopped in his steps. Food.

Oh what the boy could do with some- Hey. I'm the damned prince! I can go and order food in the Great Hall whenever I bloody please! Naruto smiled brightly, all memory of the heinous interaction he had with Joffrey completely forgotten. His beaming smile fell when a rumble echoed from within his gut, even rippling his simple tunic. Naruto deadpanned, realizing that he'd been with his family since he woke up. He needed to eat soon. Naruto rushed as fast as he can, running through the halls and crashing into the Great Hall; a place where feasts were held and where servants usually ate.

Usually, his entire family would have food brought up to them and have taste testers ruin the beauty of the food. Naruto shook his head; if only his family would take the time to come around here other than when they're forced to. The prince entered the Great Hall and greeted the various servants as he passed them by. Many of them were still amazed with the great feats he did during the tourney and congratulated him with friendly pats on his back. Naruto grabbed a plate of bacon, potato and a few sprinkles of goat cheese. Not entirely sure how any of it would taste, having normally eaten kidney pie like most servants would. Naruto was among them, treated them no different than he did nobility.

He sighed, thinking onto his normal meals of kidney pie and then the more than occasional lamprey pie. The prince dozed out, thinking on his various eating adventures and completely lost track of the people surrounding him, wanting to know more about his joust from his perspective. Naruto though, finally snapped to reality due to the smell of gruel in an oxen-horn tankard. He smiled at the servant who dropped the tankard for him and relished in the warmth that the milk had as it slid down his throat. Oats boiled in milk and cooled into a warm drink was perfect to go with his breakfast. If a noble were to see his prince drinking peasant drink and eating peasant food, someone would question Naruto's cleanliness.

It was no matter though. Naruto slammed his empty tankard down and began to eat his breakfast, all the while sputtering out the in-depth details of his tourney. They gasped and roared with applause; they were very animated with how they felt about Naruto's performance, many of them saying the Knight of Flowers was simply too scared to be going against the Great Naruto Baratheon. Naruto blushed at the title. It was new to him, but Naruto took it in stride, feeling his lips tug into a bigger and bigger smile, nearly splitting his face in half. As the people began to disperse, there was a young woman about two years older than Naruto that took a seat next to him.

Dressed in kitchen-maiden clothing, she looked like nothing more than just a peasant working in the castle. But she was more than that. She had a head of brunette hair, tied into a pony-tail with black ribbon. There was dirt on her forehead and a few dirt marks on her cheek, but other than that, she was clean. She was a pretty girl, not too gorgeous but not too ugly either. She was just in between. Her name is Mayra Waters, a bastard of some lord, Naruto couldn't remember. That wasn't all though, she was also his first crush. She smiled at Naruto and sat on the table instead of the seat, her smile never leaving her face. She rested her arms in her lap, finding it hard to find the words to say.

"Mayra." Naruto smiled. "Good morning?"

"I guess you can say that…" Mayra sighed and looked away. "So I heard that you were to marry the daughter of Lord Stark."

"I wondering when you'd say something." Naruto sighed and placed his hands on the table. "I've been here almost a week…"

"I was…" Mayra took a deep breath and sighed. "I was too busy working to see you."

"You probably hate me, don't you?" Naruto asked.

"N-No!" She replied, her eyes widening. "It was bound to happen…someday…I just didn't think it would happen so soon after we, you know…"

"Things came up in the North." Naruto looked away, unable to look her in the eyes. "Well…I have to go, Mayra. I hope I see you again soon."

Mayra was about to call him back, but after a quick glance at his empty plate and two empty tankards, the girl took a deep breath and sighed, a bright smile on her face. She stood and took his plates and tankards, not once complaining and headed towards the kitchen. Mayra placed the plates and the tankards in the wash bucket, scrubbing away the remnants of Naruto's breakfast, despite there being very little left behind. She took a deep breath trying to calm her raging heart. To think that Naruto would heal back to his normal features despite the beating he received from the tourney, only made her adoration for the prince grow. She dropped the plate into the bubbly water and rested her hands against rim of the wash bucket.

To think he'd go off and get betrothed. Mayra leaned back, her brown eyes shimmering. Two months after I gave him my maidenhood…I was such a fool.

Naruto walked through the halls of the castle, wanting to find something to interest him. So far, there was nothing. The halls were empty. Hand maidens and servants weren't populating the halls. Guards weren't guarding the main foyer and there wasn't even the slightest of sounds through these halls. Naruto trailed down the stone stairs and headed for the one place that he knew someone would definitely be; the Tower of the Hand. The boy was in no hurry and simply walked with no care in his steps. His father was off somewhere, most likely talking with Joffrey, beating Joffrey or playing with direwolves. Arya should be having her dancing lessons right now or with Tommen and Sansa was with Cersei doing lady things.

The boy took a deep breath. He should have gotten Bran to come along. The boy was so used to having a direwolf trailing behind him. For a moment, he could have sworn that he heard their soft padded paws clapping on the stone floor and the polished tile. Before long, that imagination became truth as Nymeria arrived, pressing her paws on the boy's back, nearly pushing the boy to the floor below. Naruto stumbled and let out a loud shout as Nymeria trampled him onto the floor, rolling him down the stairs with his arms and legs flailing in every which way. She shouted out, but Nymeria kept pushing him down the stairs, rolling him along. She didn't care and seemed to be yelping out in joy.

But the moment he came to, he realized that he was now at another set of stairs, this time heading down to a rather ominous dark space beneath the floor. The boy took a deep breath and stared into the darkness with a worried look on his face. The boy's face was suddenly pressed against the tiled floor as Nymeria ran off, pressing her paws into the back of his head. All Naruto could hear though, was the excited pants of the large direwolf as she sped down the large stairs.

"Wait!" Naruto called out to the large wolf, but Nymeria didn't care and continued to run off through into the darkness. "Fuck!"

The Prince shot to his feet, running down the stairs, ready to follow and find the runaway wolf. Arya was going to kill him if she found out that he lost Nymeria. As Naruto descended, the more confused he was. It was a terrifying darkness that took hold of everything, the lower he went. This place was almost like a cellar, or better yet, a prison. Naruto shivered at the implications, but continued on anyway. His boots echoed against the stone steps, and soon enough, those clacks were turned into thin, deep reverberating thuds. It almost seemed like dripping water. Nymeria could be heard panting in the darkness.

She's clearly down here, somewhere… Naruto thought. I can hear someone else…I need to be quieter.

Naruto slowed his descent. Taking slow careful strides, Naruto finally arrived in the pitch darkness of the cellar. He pressed his back against the wall and trailed along, slowly dragging his feet along the stone floor. A creak froze Naruto and the boy dropped to the floor and began to crawl to find the perfect hiding space. He rolled on the stone floor and pressed his back against a few barrels and rested his knees against his chest. Naruto thought he was safe, but there was a sudden intoxicating smell that took over his nerves and his beating heart. He finally realized where he was; this was his father's personal wine cellar filled with wine from all over the known world. Simple wines from White Harbor in the North and Dornish Red wines, to Pentoshi green wine and all the way to wines from Yi Ti.

Naruto could smell all of it, filling his mind with the beauty and wondrousness of the nectar of the gods. But the creak turned into a loud screech. The smell and the euphoric feeling disappeared, replaced with fear and sweat. Naruto turned over, hiding his face from view. He took slow, deep breaths trying to keep his ragged eupnoea hidden from unknown ears. Naruto slid along the floor and turned to look between the barrels. Light began to come into his view; it was red and dim, filling the dank cellar with life. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the duo appearing from the barred gate down the cellar hall.

"The wolf and the lion will be at each other's throats." Someone familiar said. I know that voice. "We'll be at war soon, my friend."

"What good is war, now." Another far more foreign voice said. "We're not ready."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as the duo began to walk through the dark halls, a torch in the hand of the bald one. He continued to speak, filling Naruto with more clues as to who this man is. This man was none other than Lord Varys, the Master of Whispers. The Spider was talking in strange riddles, mentioning a dragon and the wolves and the lions once again. The foreigner next to him immediately spoke of some man named Khal Drogo and once again, about this dragon. Naruto listened closely, watching them pass along. He narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brows. Daenerys Targaryen. Naruto repeated. Daenerys Targaryen is with child?

What in seven hells are these two talking about? Naruto shuffled in his place, trying to get a better position. But before the prince could, the two men disappeared, the light leaving with them. The boy concentrated his eyes, watching the light disappear, but from the corner of his eye, he saw a small figure along with a large blob of cream and brown, run towards the side of the cellar. He narrowed his eyes to see Nymeria and Arya, speeding down another set of stairs. Naruto looked over the barrels to see the two men had disappeared and the light disperse with them. The Prince took off and followed after the girl, running through the darkness, shuffling his boots along the dirty stone floor.

Already, he could hear commotion echo throughout the dark caverns. Footsteps riddled the area, brimming with noise. Naruto couldn't see where he was going, but he sure could hear the pants of Nymeria in front of him. He could hear legs and breeches shuffling together. He followed the sound as best as he could, straining and training his eyes to the darkness of the tunnel that the cellar had become. Before long, Naruto arrived at the end of the cellar to find Arya and Nymeria jumping down the side of the cliff-face. He narrowed his eyes, trying to keep the sun from beating his irides blind.

"Arya, Nymeria!" Naruto roared.

"N-Naruto!" Arya and Nymeria both looked up. "What are you doing here?"

"Hold on!" Naruto jumped from the tunnel opening, spinning through the air and landing gracefully on his feet. Sand kicked up as he connected, but otherwise, he looked amazing. "Arya, what in blazes were you doing down there?"

"I…were you there the entire time?" Arya asked. "You heard them too, right?!"

"I did." Naruto replied. "I heard most of it."

"Did you hear them say that they were going to kill my father?" Arya asked with worried eyes. "Did you hear?"

"N-No!" Naruto replied with wide eyes. "We need to get back to the keep, come on! Nymeria, come on, girl!"

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" Ned Stark sighed. "I've sent all of my men across the castle and even into the city in search of you."

Nymeria tilted her head dejectedly, whining softly. She backed away from the imposing look on Lord Starks face. Arya opened her mouth, ready to say something, but Naruto stepped in and placed a hand on her shoulder, walking up to the Lord. Ned stepped back and took a look at the blond prince. He ran a hand across his face, wiping the sweat from his brow. He leaned against the desk and gave Naruto a gesture to continue.

"Lord Stark, Arya and I were playing and running through the keep." Naruto quickly lied. "She ran ahead of me and ended up in my father's cellar. But that wasn't all, Lord Stark. We found something while we were down there though. Two men, Lord Varys and some foreigner were speaking together about something. About wolves and lions about to go to war and…Daenerys Targaryen being with child."

Ned's worried look immediately fell loose, replaced with a look of confusion. He pressed his hand on the desk behind him and sighed.

"They then spoke about your death." Arya interjected. "They said if one Hand can die, why can't the second."

"I wasn't done, Arya." Naruto deadpanned. "They went on to say that they won't make a move because this…Khal Drogo was waiting for his son to be born. Something of that sort. I don't know what to make of it, My Lord."

"My Lord." Jory intruded. "Lady-"

"Ned!" A voice echoed.

"Cat?" Ned said with a curious tone. "What in seven hells are you doing here?!"

"Lady Catelyn?" Naruto asked with a surprised and dropped his head. Arya rushed forward and grabbed her mother in for a tight hug.

"Ned, I need to speak to you alone." Catelyn said, giving the two children in the room a knowing look. "Please."

"Of course." Ned replied. "Go, Prince Naruto, Arya."

Once the door shut, Ned and Cat embraced one another for a tight, warming hug. Ned rested his forehead against hers, the two of them not sharing words for a few moments.

"I'm here with important news, Ned." Catelyn said with frown. "Our son has been having dreams. Strange dreams, Ned. These dreams are becoming worse and worse. He came to me one day though, speaking of a Stag killing a Wolf, only for the Stag to shed its skin to reveal a Lion in wait."

"You came to me, to speak of dreams?" Ned was incredulous. "I forgot all about Jon Arryn's supposed murder and now you come to me talking about dreams our youngest son-"

"Ned." Catelyn said with an worried look on her face. "Please, listen to me. I was convinced that he knew something we didn't after an incident."

"Gods, Cat. What incident?" Ned asked, turning on his heels and heading to his desk.

"He kept saying something about a falling fox." Cat replied. "He kept saying something about the tower. The same tower that Prince Naruto fell from."

"What?" Ned turned back to face her, his grey eyes reflecting his confusion. "What of the tower?"

"Rickon wouldn't stop trying to go into the tower. Rickon wouldn't stop sneaking out of his room to go to the tower." Catelyn replied. "For two weeks he went about it, until I finally decided to go up there and see for myself what Rickon kept worrying about. I found blond locks of hair; golden blond hair, wedged between some of the stone tiles."

"What is this to mean?" Ned asked, still not getting it.

"It means…the Queen must have pushed her own son from the tower!"

Well, I want to explain something to all of you.
Rickon basically has the same powers as Bran and he had them through dreams, same as Bran did. But Bran in canon had a more obvious notice of his abilities because his fall from the tower.

This is not to say that Bran won't be warging or anything like that. Bran will have his powers, but it will be a little later than Rickon, since he wasn't the one to fall from the tower. No matter though, I just wanted y'all to understand that.

And I want you to know; not to sound arrogant, I probably understand Game of Thrones better than a massive portion of you.
(I've read all five books three times over [I have no life] and I'm currently patiently waiting for the Winds of Winter)

Anyway, please review you guys! Review like you did for last chapter, because that was just wonderful.

Ja ne!

gottahavekyuubi