A/N: Thank you for taking the time to review the last chapter and for adding this story to your favourites and follows.
"Why is there a foreigner with you, your highness? And where is Fan?"
Emma felt her lips twitched at the blatant disrespect from one of the guards, who did not bother to even avert his eyes from her whisker marks. Why did she agree to work for this prince again? It was the money. She did not have any currency from this region. She did not have a place to stay. Also, the boy made a compelling argument about her lack of resources here.
The only problem with the job occupation was the fact that she was going to be basically babysitting a prince that loved to wander around.
"Emma is going to be my bodyguard," Ling answered, smiling widely at his gawking guard. The guard stared at her, then to the prince before again looking at her. No doubt, he was thinking if the prince lost his mind when he said a girl was going to protect him. Correction, she looked like a delicate little girl that could not protect herself. "And I don't know where Fan is."
"You wander away from her again, didn't you!" The guard yelled. "Your highness, how many times did your lady mother told you not to do this? With your older brother being blind, you are the only one in this clan that has some hope of becoming Emperor. You do not have the freedom to wander as you please! What if one of your siblings wished to kill you?"
Emma did not miss the way the prince's shoulder tensed at the mention of his older brother. Blind? What was wrong with a prince being blind? He was alive. Did that not matter to them? Was the boy's mother not happy to have a son alive? Then again, a blind prince meant that the Emperor did not respect them that much. They did have some strange beliefs if what she remembered was true.
"My half-siblings know better than to kill me in the streets," the prince declared. "And I will have Emma here to protect me along with Lan Fan."
The guard narrowed his eyes, stared at her and then to the prince before shaking his head. No doubt, he believed his master had gone crazy to think that a little girl like her could protect him. Actually, the prince was crazy because who just makes demands? A crazy person that was it. He was lucky that she needed the money or else she would never agree to protect his ass when he had people to do it for him.
"You think a little girl like her should have the honour of protecting you?" The man sneered.
"This little girl will kick your ass if you keep talking like she does not understand a word you say," Emma snarled, slamming her feet on the ground. "I don't like it when people talk about me behind my back."
"S-She knows how to speak our language? Why didn't you mention this Master?"
"I thought it was obvious."
The guard groaned while Emma shot the prince a dirty look. How dare he not mention it to his guards that she understood every word spoken by them? Did he think it was amusing for them to find out in the last minute that she knew how to speak the old form of their language? This was a bastard that she could not stand.
"Where is my brother? I think he will like to see Emma." Ling said, smiling widely at the gaping guard. The teen grinned. "It has been so long since I have a loving talk with my brother."
"Your highness! Do you wish to go against your mother's wish?" The guard yelled as Ling pushed past him. Emma furrowed her eyebrows, scratched her head before rushing after the prince. What was so bad about his brother? Was there something that she did not know about? God, this country was just so confusing.
How could she ever think that Xing was like Konoha?
She felt her blood rushed to her face as she weaved through the clan compound, following the distinct flow of chakra that emitted from the prince. Why would a mother forbid a son from seeing his brother? Was there something that she did not know? Wait. She remembered that the blind had never been treated nicely in Xing. It was a curse from the Gods, the books told.
Did she think her oldest son was a curse?
"You must wonder why I am breaking the rules, aren't you?"
Emma stopped running and looked up to see the prince standing on top of the roof. There was a smile on his face but it was stretched so wide that it reminded her of her past. Not happy was what she would describe him. She thinned her lipsl, nodded her head and watched as her boss jumped down from the roof. He dusted off the dirt from his clothes and stared out at the pond, where there were ducks waddling towards the water.
"They say that my brother had his sight until he was four years old," Ling said, leaning against the wall. He flickered his eyes towards their surroundings, tensing at the sound of the guards' yelling. Moving closer to the shadows, he looked at the pond. "Until then, he had been my mother's pride and joy for he was the first son that she birthed that lived. However, a fever came upon him and for a week, the clan was tensed that he lived. They say my mother went to the temple and prayed for his health while our father grew angry. The fever broke…but his sight had been lost."
"And your mother wished he had died instead, didn't she?"
Ling did not answer, just turned his body away and continued to walk towards the direction of the smallest room. She did not need to know what his answer was. The silence and the pain emitting from the prince was all she needed to know that the answer was yes. She did not know what to feel if her mother wished for her siblings to be dead.
She could not imagine his pain.
"Huang, I'm here to see you!"
Ling did not wait to hear his brother's answer before sliding the door open. Drawing again, he mused, staring at his brother who had his eyes closed as he held the brush close to his chest. Who was he drawing this time? Was it that pretty, sad girl again? Or was it the blood of the battlefield again? It was a wonder how his brother knew what the world outside looked like without any sight.
"Ling, how many times have I told you to knock before entering my room? And who did you bring with you? And don't say Fan because I can tell from this person's footsteps that she is not your usual shadow," his brother said, not bothering to look up from the scroll in his hands.
"I found myself a new bodyguard," Ling replied to his brother, taking his usual seat in front of his brother. He smiled when his brother dropped his brush and looked at him with his milky black eyes with a hint of suspicion. There was a gasp from Emma but he presumed it was because she had never seen a blind person before. "Her name is Emma Elric."
"Emma Elric? Why does that sound very foregin?"
"Because it is," Emma replied tensely, looking everywhere but at his brother.
His brother tensed and twisted his head to look at Emma, who now had a coldness in her eyes that Ling had never seen before. It was not the same icy coldness his mother had when she stared at his brother. No, it was the same coldness his father had when his mother introduced his daughter. Why was she like this? Huang had never been outside the house.
"Emma Elric? That name does not suit you," his brother replied, swatting Ling's hand away when he tried to help his brother take a sip of his tea. "It sounds too feminine and smart. You seem like you are a girl that isn't all that smart or feminine."
This was not his brother's normal behaviour! Huang was always polite, especially to girls so why was he treating Emma different? Ling glanced at the blond-haired girl, who now had her hands clenched into a fist. From the tightness of her jaws, he could see that it was taking all of her willpower not to hit his brother.
"Perhaps Emma Elric does not sound all that smart or feminine but it was the name given to me by my deceased mother. At least I had a mother who loved me," Ling shot a warning look at his bodyguard but the blonde just ignored him. She had a fire in her eyes. "And I am smart enough to know that I do not want the past to happen again. At least I am smart enough to learn from my mistakes."
His brother clenched his hands into a fist and there was a flare from his nostrils that told Ling about the level of anger his brother was in. Blind he might be but Huang was able to destroy things when he was furious enough. What the hell was Emma thinking? No, she did not know his brother. She did not know what he can be like when furious.
"And what mistakes did you make?" Huang snapped.
"I made the mistake of trusting someone that I shouldn't have," Emma snarled. "I made the mistake of pleading for his life, only for him to throw it in my face. I made the mistake of leaving my brothers alone just so I can wander the world. I made the mistake of wanting to live my life."
"Ling, leave me with your bodyguard."
"Why?"
"I wish to talk to her."
"And you can't talk in front of me?"
His brother narrowed his eyes and Ling sighed.
Great, if he wanted to be on his brother's good side then he would need to leave them alone.
"After all these years, you are still furious with me."
Angry? How dare he just say those words? She died because of him. Huang might be the beloved older brother of Ling but he was still Sasuke. He was still the bastard who killed her. He was the reason that everything was crap. He was the reason that she had nightmares of her death. He was the reason that the war went far longer then it should have. He had hurt her in every possible way! Did he think she was the same? She could never forget what he did.
"You murdered me in cold blood, Sasuke," Emma snarled. "You murdered me despite saying that you loved me. You are the reason that every time I closed my eyes, I see my death being replayed. I thought I loved you. I was willing to do anything for you but you didn't have the same decency."
She did not know where her fury was coming from but the sight of seeing Sasuke, no Huang (she reminded herself) being blind was the last straw. They made it seem like he was the victim but would they think like that if they knew the truth? Would they know how ungrateful he was for having the love of everyone in the village? Did they know how he gave up everything for power? No, they did not know.
Only she knew the truth.
" I did a lot of bad things," Huang said, putting down his tea and staring right into her eyes. "I murdered my older brother because I thought he deserved it. I deserted the village for power, leaving you with the burden of bringing me back. I killed you because I did not like the idea of you being stronger then me. To make me pay for my sins? The truth took away my sight and my new mother's love. He made me the most hated person in this kingdom and for what? Because he wanted me to feel the same pain that you felt. I can tell that you still have your memories, that you have your sight but most of all you still have your chakra. Truth allowed me to sense with my chakra but I can't access it like you can."
Truth did what?
"Truth allowed you to pass on without giving a thing up," Kurama told her. "You were everything that was good and to repay you for that goodness in you, he allowed you to keep everything. He took away everything that Sasuke valued so that he understand his crimes."
Was that true? Wait, she remembered Truth just letting her go and telling her that she was lucky. There was no toll to be paid, he told her as she debated about whether or not to be reincarnated. What you went through and what you sacrificed for your country was enough were his words. She was a hero and that was his reasoning for letting her be reincarnated.
"You must be lucky Naruto," Huang said but there was no trace of bitterness in his words; it was like he accepted the fact. "I wondered for years whether Truth would be kind to you and gave you all the things that you longed. You have brothers? Maybe a loving mother and father too. It seemed like our roles are reversed."
"You don't know a damn thing Sasuke!" She yelled. "I have two brothers but they are far away from me. They want to go through a path that I won't accept, a path that might lead them to danger but they won't listen. A loving mother and father? My mother was loving but she died from a sickness that I couldn't cure or diagnosis. Your life is hard but my life is still hard."
He stared at her, tilted his head upwards before looking at her with a pained look in his eyes that she just wanted to punch him. He hurt her in every way possible. How many times did she try to reason with him? How many times did they fight over his stupidity? How many times did she went on her knees and beg for him to go back home to them? She hated the fact that he made her so weak.
"You know everyone thought that you were the reckless one," Huang said. "Everyone always thought because you did pranks without a care that you were reckless. The council had more eyes on you then me and that was their biggest mistake. They thought because they treated you like shit that you would abandon them. They never believed the person they treated well would hurt them in the worse way. Sakura thought you were reckless and wanted attention but you were never like that. You were reckless when it came to emotions but you always knew better."
"Sasuke…"
"You knew when to prank and the exact weakness of every clan compound," Huang continued. "You know I envied you for that because my original father respected you for it. You were able to train his officers to be more viligant and you know that. You gave him hints on how to improve it…you pranked people because you wanted the village to improve. You had no one but you wanted to protect the village like there was no tomorrow."
Why was he being like this? He had never been like this before.
"I hated you at one point," Emma staggered back at his words and the older boy looked out at the window. "Did you know that when I was given my brother's memories that I saw how much he loved you? He taught you to read and write. He told you stories. He did all the things that he promised to do with me but never did. I hated you for that but I saw how much you loved him. I realize now why it killed you when you found out that my brother became a missing nin."
"What are you trying to do?"
"I always wondered if you loved me or if you loved my brother," Emma blinked her eyes. "I didn't miss how you lit up at the sight of my brother. I didn't miss a single thing…which is why I asked you if we lived, if you would have been in a relationship with me."
He wanted the answer to his dying question.
"I loved Itachi but not in the way you thought," Emma whispered. "He was like my big brother. He did all the things that no one ever did to me. If you saw his memories then you know, all he ever talked about was you. If you asked me that question a few years ago , I would have told you that I would have been in a relationship with you…"
"And now?"
"You murdered me in cold blood," Emma whispered. "You used my emotions against me. You made me feel bad about myself when all I wanted was to feel good about myself. We always fought for the stupidest things. You never thought about me. Now that I have brothers, I asked myself if I wanted them in that relationship."
"And?"
"I would tell them that they were crazy," she answered, staring right into his eyes. "You think I support a relationship that is abusive? I saw my new parents' relationship and I want that for myself. I want someone that makes me want to be a better person…and being with you, would have made me the worse person. You always put me down. Sakura might be happy with that relationship, Naruto would have been because she did not know love but I won't."
"Aren't you Naruto Uzumaki?"
"I am Emma Elric too," She declared. "I am going to become the Furher and the Furher must never make a choice that seems stupid. Being in an abusive relationship is one of them."
"And you think I would be one?"
"You didn't change did you? You have been trying to manipulate me to go back to you and I won't do that. I would rather die again then do this."
"I deserve better than you."
And with those words, she walked out to find the prince and leaving behind a thoughtful Huang.
A/N: Please review and I know these chapters are short but I don't have much insipiration. I hope you like this chapter and the meeting of a reincarnated Sasuke and Naruto.