A/N: New Chapter, hope you enjoy!
Naruto glared at his two friends with a distinct lack of amusement in his eye.
"Ya know, the first time Ned told me about the rights of succession around here, I thought he was joking. When I found out he wasn't, I still thought he was joking, because I was sure that nothing so absolutely moronic as an inherited autocracy could exist."
Robert narrowed his eyes at his short blond friend as he tried to remember what those words meant, but decided not bother straining his mind. "I swear to the Old Gods and the New that if this is what we're talking about, I'm gonna drown myself in a barrel of wine."
The ninja glared at him. "I might even think that would be a good idea, if you weren't going to leave that little bastard in your Throne when you did!"
"Naruto," Ned said half-heartedly. "You shouldn't insult the Crown Prince."
"Bah! I'll insult whoever I damn well please, Neddard!"
While the oldest Stark looked scandalized at this, Robert couldn't help but laugh at his unfortunate friend. He stopped hurriedly when Naruto swiveled around and leveled a finger at him.
"And you! I'm not done with you by a long shot!"
"What are we talking about, Naruto?" Ned said, sighing loudly. "You've made your feelings known about Joffrey for a long time, and about our 'antiquated' system for even longer than that. It is simply the way things are done around here. Joffrey will inherit, that's all there is to it."
"So you're happy with this?" he growled, then looked at Robert. "Are you happy with another Aerys taking the throne?"
Robert bristled. "Careful, boy!"
"DON'T! TELL ME! TO BE CAREFUL!" Naruto roared, nearly blowing both of them to the ground and shaking the building with the force of his shout. "I have had it with you constantly dodging around and pretending that nothing matters to you! You know exactly what Joffrey is! He's worse than the fool his uncle stabbed in the back!"
"That's not true!" Robert said loudly, his ears still ringing.
"It IS true! You know it's true! And even if you had somehow convinced yourself that it wasn't, I know that it is!"
Ned sighed. "It isn't that simple, Naruto. The rules of succession are ancient. It is not up to us to decide who rules the Seven Kingdoms."
Naruto's eye was twitching mightily by the time he'd finished speaking. "...Of course. It's not like that little Rebellion you morons dragged me into changed anything around here, IS IT!?"
...They both had the grace to blush in embarrassment.
"Go right ahead!" the blond said to Robert, pacing a hole in the ground. "Let your kingdom turn to shite so you can keep drinking and fucking. Why should I care, it's not as if anything that happens here is my problem. Perhaps I should leave this land of stupidity and all the idiots living on it behind."
Ned looked at him sharply, no longer pleased at where the conversation was going. "You don't mean that."
"Why not?" Naruto muttered irritably. "Might as well travel across the sea and help the Targaryen boy reclaim his throne. Wouldn't be as bad."
Robert lurched from his chair so quickly it tipped over, as he glared at Naruto in a rage. "Don't you DARE compare me with that little bastard! I'm nothing like him!"
Naruto drew close enough to glare right into the King's eyes, his fury palpable. "No Robert, you're WORSE! Viserys is nearly as bad as his father, and at this point, I'm almost ready to resurrect that son-of-a-bitch to take back his chair! Or maybe Rapist Rhaegar would rule his Kingdom better than you? I'm not so sure he wouldn't!"
Robert looked as if he was about to try to rip the blond in half, he was so angry, so Ned quickly stepped in before he could do anything and pulled him away, before turning to Naruto to try and calm him down. He was the only one in the room who saw how badly this conversation could end.
"That's enough, both of you," he said. "Robert, go drink some wine. Naruto, calm down."
"Of course, wine solves all problems," Naruto growled. But he turned away nonetheless. Robert tensed in return, but walked back to his chair where a wineskin sat upon the ground.
He reached down for in a huff, struggling to suck in his gut. It was at least half a minute before he managed to lean down far enough to pick the thing up, and his face was even redder than before, whether from embarrassment or rage, Ned didn't know. He knew, though, that he needed them both to come to some common ground, or it could spell disaster.
Because for all of Robert's titles, lands, gold and armies that granted him respect from every soul in the kingdom, Naruto was one of the few who was not at all intimidated.
With very good reason.
Tywin may have had his gold, Baelish his whores and Varys his spies, but it paled in comparison to the sheer power that Naruto could bring to bear.
Ned was one of the few who had been able to witness what had happened that day on Pyke, when the Ironborn decided to sail against the other Kingdoms and Naruto went to meet them.
And he would never forget it.
Robert and Naruto had remained friends since they'd first met in the midst of the Rebellion against the Mad King, but after seeing what the new King had become, that bond was becoming more and more fragile.
'And,' he thought with a sigh, 'Like so many other things, it's all Robert's fault.'
Naruto sat down then, leaning against the wall of the flimsy tavern. But as Ned watched, what rage there was on his face melted away, leaving nothing but misery and exhaustion. To his shock, now that he was paying attention, he could actually feel it, as if the blond's emotions were on display for anyone to see.
"...Do you know how close I came to killing you?" he whispered, staring at the ground in front of him.
Ned and Robert both heard, and looked down at him. "What are you moaning about now, boy?"
Wincing at his friend's lack of common sense, he was surprised when the blond didn't respond with any anger. Rather the response, when it finally did come, was quiet.
...Quiet, and sad.
"After the Sack of King's Landing. After Tywin marched into that city and let his lions run wild. I got there minutes after, and caught them by their manes and kicked them out," he slowly recounted, tilting his head back to rest against the wall. "Do you know where I went next, Robert? Can your narrow little mind even accept it?"
The black-haired Stag turned away and crossed his arms, but his anger had been thoroughly washed away in the wake of Naruto's emotions. He was simply holding on to ashes, now.
"Some of the lions got away, you see. I didn't notice for quite a few minutes, busy as I was cleaning up the mess," he said, his voice hollow. "But then. Then, I heard the scream."
Ned had to quiet his breath for fear of interrupting, while Robert had gone still in the corner.
"I was at the gate of the Red Keep in four seconds, and found where the scream had come from in six. It was a room in a tower, where lords and ladies slept. And that's where I found her."
When a minute had passed and the man from another world still hadn't spoken, the Warden of the North asked the question when his King would not.
"...Who?"
Naruto's hopeless smile was terrible to behold.
"Princess Rhaenys. The only daughter of Elia Martell and Rhaegar Targaryen. Amory Lorch had dragged the girl from under her father's bed and was stabbing her everywhere. He was on the fourth when I burst into that room, and she was still screaming."
He stood up then, and his fists clenched so tightly that blood seeped from within them. His eye turned dark and cold, and the room along with it. Both men were staring at him now, not saying a word.
"She was barely alive by the time I got there, and even days later was still on the verge of death. I left clones with the so-called knight, left them to carry out his sentence. I used all my skill to keep him alive, so that he could thoroughly enjoy being ripped into four hundred pieces."
His breath misted out from between clenched teeth as ice formed on the windows.
"Then I left, and found Elia in her chamber. Gregor Clegane was there also, thrusting like the mad dog that he was, bloody hands mauling wherever he could reach. A little boy's body was there as well, a body with no head."
Twitching with cold rage at the memory, Naruto's teeth lengthened to fangs, clenched so tightly that they began to bleed.
"Elia was still alive when I tore the Mountain off of her, though not for his lack of trying. I decided that physical punishment didn't quite suffice, so I tortured his mind instead. It was only a few minutes before his head exploded, but that was quite enough time to take him far beyond whatever measly punishment is in your 'seven hells'."
He turned to them, blood dripping from his fangs.
"I left then, with the Princess of Dorne and her daughter in my arms. I left your war behind. I didn't even have time to bury little Aegon, I was so angry. It took months before I saw anyone but the two I was trying to heal, and even then, I had to stop myself from destroying everything I saw. Then, I heard about what you had done."
Robert didn't, couldn't, move as Naruto descended upon him, and paralyzed him with his stare.
"You smiled," he whispered. "You looked down on that little boy's broken body, wrapped in those bloody red cloaks, and you smiled. I destroyed an entire country for less."
His rage was so strong that it was actually visible, burning wisps of dark energy surrounding his body. But just seconds later, he drew back, closed his eye and took a shuddering breath, and the corrosive power drew back with him.
"It was Elia who saved you, you know," he said. "Even when I was so angry that my very touch actually burned her, she took my hand just as I was about to leave. That I had to let go. Nothing down here deserved my hate, she said. There was nothing down here that was worthy of my hate. Even now I wonder if she wrong."
For a long while, neither the King nor his Hand spoke. They simply needed to think. About everything they had just learned. In another life, the news that Rhaegar's wife, let alone his child, was still alive would have sent Robert into a rage beyond nearly anything else. But now, he was just... numb.
Sixteen long years of regret, self-pity and loss suddenly seemed so very insignificant.
What use were regrets, when this man was the living embodiment of them? What use was self-pity, when this man could summon the will to knock his own hardship on its arse?
...How could he possibly justify trying to drown his own misery for everything he'd lost, when even after everything he'd seen, this man had the sheer force of will to keep himself moving forward?
"...How?" Robert whispered, his head descending into his hands. "How do you stand it, Naruto? You've seen people in the thousands killed and countries burned to the ground. How can you possibly bear the weight?"
"...By trying to remember all those I've left behind. By remembering what they lived for. I should have told this to both of you the moment I heard Lyanna had died."
They both looked up at that, staring at the young man who was so wise for his age.
"You don't bury the memories of those you loved just so you can get some hollow happiness out of what life remains to you. If you want to honor the dead, then you live for them. Remember the happiness they brought, not the way they died. And no matter what, you don't let the dead drag you down, but stand tall and remember them for who they were, and live each day the way they would have wanted you to."
Naruto heaved a sigh. "And for all of your wallowing in self pity, it's hard for me to blame you when I haven't acted any better. Pretending that the world's problems have nothing to do with me while trying to escape from all the memories I've left behind."
Ned glared at him angrily. "Damn you, Naruto, you act as if you've been sitting in a dark room for the entire time. In fifteen years you've managed to improve the entirety of the North, from the roads to the fields and everything in between. AND you did it with nothing but your own two hands. Have you any idea how many people that has helped?"
"And how much more could I have actually done if I put my full effort into it?"
"You can't fix everything! Even you aren't that strong!"
"What the hell makes you think that you know how strong I am!?" Naruto yelled, gesturing wildly. "You think what I did to Pyke was me being serious? I could've done twice that in my sleep!"
"And what kind of moron do you have to be to think that bearing the weight of the entire world on your shoulders is a good idea!?" Ned shouted back. "If we're looking at personal faults here, the only one you've ever shown is the ability to simultaneously try to be responsible for more than you can take, while somehow managing to think of yourself as less than you actually are!"
"I'm well aware of my limits, ya grouchy old prick!"
"Could've fooled me, you little blond bastard!"
They glared at each other for a long while, before Naruto huffed and looked away.
For a few minutes, all three of them simply sat there in deep contemplation, minds awhirl.
Finally, Naruto sighed. "Whatever happens in the next few months, it's gonna change things around here. I doubt that those fuckers in that shithole of a city will give a damn about anything we do." He turned to Robert. "But you need to remember something. Whatever happens to you from this moment on, it's down to your own choices. Never forget that. I will help those who need it and kill with those who deserve it, but I can't fix everything, nor should I have to. You need to prepare yourself, or your legacy will be nothing but a whisper on the wind."
The Stag of Storm's End held his gaze for nearly a minute.
As usual, Naruto was right.
To think, the little shrimp he'd first met all those years ago would be the one schooling him.
Did he have the faintest idea about how many people looked up to him?
'And he doesn't even know it.'
Robert sighed and stood up. "I'll be ready by the time we reach King's Landing. Then... well. I'm not the miracle-worker here, am I?"
Naruto snorted. "Don't need to be a genius to figure that out."
"Oi!"
They lapsed into silence then, each of them taking a moment to think of different things.
All of a sudden, Naruto's breath hitched. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands to his temples, scrunching his eye up in pain.
Ned noticed almost immediately. "What's wrong?"
The blond didn't respond for a while, staring into nothing. Then he stood up. "Just goes to show you, that even when things seem bad, there's always some good new around waiting to be had."
Truly confused now, both men stared after him as he walked to the door. "What are you talking about, what happened?"
He stopped walking for a second, and when he turned around, his smile was actually genuine.
"Bran's awake."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed.