A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and added this story to their favourites and follows. I'm happy that people found the meeting of reincarnated Sasuke and Naruto to be interesting as well as emotional because that was the hope that I had for the last chapter.
The Capital was filled with so many poor people, Emma thought, flickering her eyes around the people as Ling examined each vendor. On her left was Fan, who was wearing an animal mask similar to the mask worn by the ANBU. Why wasn't the Emperor doing anything for these people? There had to be several starving children in this street alone. God, she complained about the treatment in her home but this was way worse.
"Anything for the pretty lady, my Prince?" The vendor asked. "I think this hair pin will go splendidly with her bright hair."
Emma tore her eyes away from the people and stared at the hair accessory that the vendor was suggesting for her to wear. Bright blue hair pin enclosed with beautiful jewels that she had no idea what to name. She scoffed and glanced at Fan, who had tensed at those words. Perhaps it should have been better for her to wear the mask, at least Fan would not feel hurt that people acknowledge her as a female.
Or the very least the Prince.
"I think she will murder me if I give her a gift," Ling declared, laughing as the vendor slumped his shoulders. "Actually, I am trying to find that embedded scroll and brush set you have; my brother just finished all of his."
The vendor tensed at the mention of Huang but did as the prince asked, bringing out the scroll and brush. A pretty gift, she mused to herself as Ling inspected the scroll and brush. A suitable gift for someone who could no longer fight the way he could before. The only question was he going to appreciate it? Emma did not know how much Huang changed from their last life but he had always been a spoiled brat.
"You're lucky that none of your other brothers or sisters have come to buy it, my Prince," The vendor declared as Ling handed him the money for the gift. "I had so much trouble getting it from the neighbouring country. Would you also like the book containing the Legends of the people before us?"
"You mean the tale of Naruto?" Ling asked, wrinkling his nose. "No! My brother always hated when someone tells him that legend and I do too…what kind of warrior story ends with a happy ending?"
"Who says they had a happy ending?" Emma questioned him. "People can alter the story to make it fit the way they want to see it."
"Indeed," the vendor agreed. "There are many accounts on what happened to Naruto and Sasuke on the day of their battle. Most people say that they fixed the world before running away to have their happy ending while few say that Naruto and Sasuke did indeed killing each other. No one is certain on what happened to them."
Except for me and Huang, Emma thought as Ling flickered through the pages of the book. Did they have their happily ever after? It depended on what people thought was a happy ending. To some people, two people dying was not a happy ending and in some ways what happened to them did not give the ending they deserved. Yet, she had been contempt when dying. She saved the world, told Sakura how to undo the curse and died with a smile on her face.
This had been Naruto's happiness.
Would it be Emma's happiness?
She did not know.
What would be her happiness? She wondered as the three of them continued to make their way through the busy streets. For the past couple of years, she had only focused on planning how to become the Fuhrer. Not once did she wonder about what would make her happy in the long end. Seeing her brothers and friends happy definitely, but what else? She thinned her lips and tilted her head.
"I'm surprised you know the story of Naruto and Sasuke," Emma blinked her eyes at the smiling prince. "The only people who know the tale of Naruto and Sasuke are the people from this country. The people from your side of the world has no care about some silly eastern legend."
Emma turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell do you mean some silly eastern legend? The story of Naruto and Sasuke isn't some silly legend. There is a lot of truth in that legend."
"Like what?" The prince raised his thin eyebrow at her while Fan stopped to look at them. "You expect me to believe that a girl that good existed? What kind of girl would just smile and forgive the people that hurt her? No one is like that. If she had all that power then why didn't she try for revenge? Nothing about the tale make sense."
The blonde rubbed the sides of her head, stared hard into the boy's eyes and replied. "Naruto forgive because she thought if she was in their shoes that she would understand. She thought if she became stronger or became the leader then no one would hurt her. There were people that treated her well, people who made her realize that the world was not as cruel as thought it was. What would revenge accomplish for her? It would just cause more destruction…maybe that was her way of thinking. She saw what it did to her friend and decided that she did not want to walk on the same path as him."
She never wanted to cause the same pain that he caused to their friends. The moment she had her chance on revenge against Nagato, she could not even force herself to do it. It would have been worthwhile. It would have healed the ache in her heart but then what? Killing him would not stop the cycle Jiraya had wanted to stop. Killing him would just continue on this stupid cycle of hate.
"It's funny," Ling said, drawing her attention back to him. "You and my brother have the same opinion on why she did what she did, although my brother calls her a symbol of everything good and pure in the world. Do you also think like that?"
She stopped walking at the mention of what Huang thought of her previous self. Everything that was good? Had she been that symbol? Maybe if Emma compared herself to him then yes. Yet, she was not all that good. Naruto had hated people and there had been times when she wished for people to die. Even now, Emma still had those wishes. The only difference was that she did not act on them. In fact, she squashed it down and forgave them, even if her heart screamed at her to never forgive.
"No one is completely good," Emma finally answered. "The girl in the legend may seem good but I am sure she had done things that she wished she never did."
There must have been something in her words that made Ling stop and stare at her but, Emma was too terrified to know what the boy was thinking.
It was irrational but she felt like he knew the truth.
"You know it will be nice if my bodyguard doesn't hate your guts then I won't have to worry about her beating you up."
Huang sighed and rubbed his temple before turning his head to the wall, where Ling was certainly leaning against on. Two different footsteps were heard, which meant it was Ling and Fan who came to visit him. Naruto, no, Emma decided not to come here, he corrected himself, dropping his calligraphy pen on the table. Not that he could blame her. There was too much history between them, history that she would never ever forget…or forgive.
"She has her reasons."
"Don't you think it is unfair for her to judge you before getting to know you?"
If she had been anyone then yes but Huang knew the truth about Emma Elric. In fact, he could practically picture what the girl looked like or rather what he thought she looked like. The same blond hair and those eyes. Those eyes that might have been in pain when he asked her that question. Those whisker marks he used to long to touch but never had the chance to.
He probably would never get the chance.
"She has her reasons," Huang said, pulling himself out of his chair. "For all you know, she might just hate the idea of me."
"If she really wants to be the leader of her country then shouldn't she be fairer to the disabled?" Ling questioned. The tapping against the wall spoke volumes of the frustration that his baby brother had. No one was perfect and Naruto was not an exception, Huang mused, sipping his tea. He clicked his tongue when he felt the burn of the tea. She used to be so loud and so helpful but then war changed people.
He changed her in ways that he wished he did not.
"Who is to say that she only treats me like crap for no reason?" He could feel the slight flicker in his brother's chakra, earning a smile from him. That got his attention. Picking up one of the empty cups, Huang pushed it towards his brother. "What do you think of this cup, Ling?"
"It's pretty," Ling answered with a tone of hesitance.
"Pretty?" Huang traced the features of the cup and shook his head. "It might look pretty but it has history too. This cup was made by people that worked hard on it and it was passed around by a lot of people before it came to us. You know what else? It is also dangerous. If I were to drop it then I will get a cut. I am like this cup, you see…"
"Isn't that arrogant of you?"
He rolled his eyes at his baby brother's words. "Very funny, Ling. I might look harmless to you but Emma thinks differently than you. She might think that I am more dangerous than my disability allows me to be. I might have insulted your bodyguard by calling her dumb but, she is not that dumb."
Not that she was ever dumb in the first place, Huang thought, thinning his lips as the memories of Itachi teaching Naruto flooded his mind. He insulted her just so he could see whether her temper was still the same. Every word he said to her was a lie but Naruto would never know the difference. He never allowed her to see how much he cared for her until they were dying in the battlefield. He never showed her how much he valued her intelligence because god knew that the real planner in their team had been her.
She was the one making insane plans that seemed to work.
She had been the one to comfort him when he lost everything and he hated how badly he treated her kindness. He hated the fact where once her voice used to be filled with joy whenever she saw him was now filled with anger and hurt, hurt he caused by killing her and betraying her.
He should start showing her that he was sincerely sorry for hurting her the way he did in their past life. If they could never be together then the least he could do was help her in weaving her way through the jungle of this terrible family's politics.
"I can tell you that," Ling retorted. "She knows how to speak the old form of our language and it is even perfect too! She claimed that she taught herself but the way she speaks is like one of us. You can't even hear a slight accent."
That is because Emma is Naruto, he mused, tilting his head to where he was certain Fan was standing. Having lived as Naruto, Emma must have remembered the way they spoke their language and the way to pronounce every word. However knowing her, she might be speaking in the informal language and Ling did not realize that. His brother was smart but he was never good in picking up the subtle clues of the old language when it was informal.
Not that it was Ling's fault, his mother deemed it to be unnecessary for her son.
"She speaks perfectly," Huang finally agreed, narrowing his eyes when he heard his brother walking towards him. His brother stopped before resuming his place again in front of him. Ling grabbed the hot cup of tea from his hands, placed it on a table and if Huang could see, his brother must be staring disapprovingly at him for touching something hot.
Sometimes he wondered who was the older brother.
"Not only that but she knows of our legend too," Ling said eagerly. "She knows the story of Naruto and Sasuke but she does not seem to think it is some silly legend. She even has the same thought as you on why the heroine did not wish to kill."
Of course she would, Emma was Naruto.
He did not know how she looks but her voice was nearly the same. The only difference was that her voice sounded more girly then before, or maybe it was because she finally accepted her gender. As Naruto, the girl dressed and acted like a boy, turned away from anything remotely girly. To be a good kunoichi, she thought she needed to act like the opposite of Sakura.
In some ways she was right but Huang now wondered if it affected her mentally.
"Do you think the legend was true?"
"Which part?" Huang asked, clenching his hands into a fist. "The part where they live happily ever after or the part where Naruto loved Sasuke to the point that she was willing to do anything for him…even die?"
"Both I guess."
"No to the first part and yes to the second part," Huang replied, slumping against his chair as he thought about the past that he longed to erase from his mind. "We don't know the whole history of Naruto and Sasuke, except for the fact they were the best of friends and that they were in a team. They must have loved each other but Naruto must have realized she could do better than the boy who hurt her."
"If she thought she could do better than him, then why die? If they lived then they must have their happily ever after and the idea that we are descendants of them would make sense."
This family descendants of mine? I thank Truth for not allowing this to happen, Huang mused, gritting his teeth as he remembered the fury in the Emperor's voice when he realized he became blind. The man he was forced to call father in this life was a monster. He ignored the poor, craved for power and immortality. Instead of spending money on helping the people, he spent it on useless things that claimed to make him immortal. When he became blind, the Emperor decided that he had no use for a blind son.
It had been his grandmother from his mother's side that informed that woman that abandoning a blind child was going to bring more trouble from the gods.
He knew that the old woman knew better.
"Naruto was the type of person that was willing to do anything for her friend," Huang said, closing his eyes as he remembered all the things she had done for the people around her. "If she thought that killing each other would ease Sasuke's pain then she would do it. I don't know if you notice the subtle hints but it is hinted that Naruto was reckless when it came to her life."
"Do you know why?"
"Because she thought her life was useless when she had no family to care for," Huang replied. "You might think the legend of Naruto and Sasuke is simple but the reality is, if you ever try to think deep about it then you will realize how complex it can be. In fact, the whole legend is complex."
And it became even more complex with them being reincarnated.
With Ling being with his brother, Emma decided to look through the texts. The prince told her that as long as she worked for him then everything was free. Before she would go for the things that looked cool, but now Emma longed for the books. She needed to see if her brothers' insane plan could actually work if they did it another way. There was no way she was helping them bring their mother back but just to be certain, it was best to check.
Fingering the scroll, Emma recalled the days where she would whine and complain about reading books. Sakura always rolled her eyes at her, telling her that it was important for her to read. Sasuke? He just snorted and hit her in the back of the head with a scroll before telling her to read the book. Those were the days. Things had been simpler then. She had never considered how abusive and toxic their relationships were but now she was forced to see it.
She stopped fingering the scroll when she caught the word Alchemist.
Pulling the scroll out, Emma made her way to the table and unrolled the scroll. Curiosity killed the cat was a saying that her second mother would always say whenever she and her brothers had been too curious for their own good. Edward, sweet little Edward, would just roll his eyes at their mother before pointing out that the cat would have been satisfied with his knowledge. Mother always laughed, telling her brother that he was just too smart for his own good.
Emma used to agree but ever since their mother's death, she doubted her brother's intelligence.
"A foreigner in our library."
Twirling her body around, the blonde was taken back by the sight of an old woman standing behind her. How could she not notice her? Had she been that engrossed with her thoughts that an old lady could sneak up on her? God damn it, this was not like her. Next time, she must pay attention to her surroundings.
"Why are you here, girl?" The old lady placed her cane against Emma's rib and narrowed her eyes. "No one informed me that we were having foreginers coming into the house. I leave to visit my other daughters and this is what happened."
Emma blinked her eyes. "I'm Ling new bodyguard."
"Ling?" Emma nodded her head and the old woman thinned her lips. "That boy is more trouble than he is worth. How many times must one tell him not to pick up someone because they are needy or pretty? Tell me girl, did you seduce that boy in saying those lies. Tell me the truth, are you his girlfriend?"
"No!" She screeched, putting her hands on her face in the hopes of hiding her red-face. Mistress? She might look nine years old and have the developing body of a twelve-year-old but her mind was that of a twenty-six year old woman. Just the mere thought of kissing an innocent boy like Ling made her want to hurl all her food contents to the ground. "I'm really his bodyguard and besides, I'm just nine! I'm too young to be his girlfriend!"
She hoped that was a reasonable explanation.
The old woman burst out laughing and shook her head. "Too young? I wish I used that excuse on my father when he forced me to marry that boy's grandfather. There are kids, your age, that are already married."
"Yeah and I'm not one of them," Emma pointed out. "And I've no interest in getting married anytime soon…also my brother will kill me if he finds out that I started to date behind his back."
Chuckling, the old woman grabbed a seat and gestured for her to take a seat. The blonde thinned her lips, opened her mouth to argue with her but only to close it when the old woman narrowed her eyes at her. What could she do to her? It was not like she could forbid her from staying here, could she? Actually, she would rather not risk it. If this old woman kicked her out then she would be living in the streets.
She really liked her comfy bed in this compound.
So reluctantly, she slid into the seat in front of the old woman.
"Overprotective big brother?" The old woman asked, quirking her eyebrows at her.
Emma sighed. "I don't only have an overprotective big brother but I also have an overprotective little brother. I think the fact that I'm the only girl in the family makes them think that I need protecting."
"It is a brother's thing," the old woman said, staring out at the window. "My brothers were also protective of me when I was young. My sons were very protective of Ling and Huang's mother, refusing her marriage to the Emperor, telling me that it was the biggest mistake she will make. I could not refuse the honour of being his mother-in-law but I wish I did."
Emma blinked and tilted her head at her. Why was this old woman telling her these things? Should it not be something private? For all that woman knows, she could tell Ling. She could even tell Sasuke if she felt like she had the energy and the strength to talk to him. Goodness knew, it took all of her willpower to talk to him.
"Why are you telling me this?" Emma asked. "You just met me."
The old woman quirked her lips, grabbed her hands and stared right into her eyes with a knowing look in her eyes. "Because you remind me of my eldest grandson. Out of all my grandchildren, I can ever only talk to Huang about my past because he has an old soul. You, my child, also have that same old soul. There is something about people with old souls that makes you want to talk."
Really? If that was the case then everyone would confess their sins to her but, no one ever did. Almost everyone, but her family and friends, treated her like she was just some little girl who did not understand the world. They thought she was too young to understand how this cruel world worked; none knew that she understood it all too well. So why did this woman notice?
"Why do you regret it?"
"I started to regret it when Huang became blind," Ling's grandmother answered, clenching her hands into a fist. "When he became blind, my daughter refused to see her son and for what reason? Because that stupid man thinks it is a sign from the Gods that he is stupid, a sign that he is bad luck. You know that boy? That boy is a hell lot brighter then any of his siblings and the Emperor refused to play the idea that he can be Emperor."
Sasuke? Emperor? The world would end if he became emperor. He had a temper so terrible that the world could shake from it. He would also have so much power that it was terrifying. Sasuke was always obsessed, always so insane that she feared what he would do with that power. Yet, Sasuke was also Huang. Huang was not a hundred percent Sasuke, just like she was not a hundred percent Naruto.
Maybe Huang did not have the same weakness as Sasuke but she would never forget the pain his past caused her.
"Ling could be Emperor."
Ling's grandmother sighed and shook her head. "Yes, he could but would he be happy? Right now that boy loves exploring the cities and getting into trouble, not reading the books of his ancestors left. He helps the people but he does not connect with them yet. I do not know if this will make him a good Emperor, and he also has very little desire to learn how to protect himself."
"But he does know how to protect himself."
"Yes, but his younger half-sister is a prodigy in an alchemist," the old woman said bitterly. "His older brothers are all accomplished in something, even Huang. My eldest grandson might be blind but he is a wonderful artist. Ling? Ling knows nothing except on how to escape his duties, how will the people remember him?"
"They will remember him as the Emperor that knew how to walk with them," Emma said firmly, grabbing hold of the woman's hand. "I might not know you but when your grandson strolled through those streets, almost everyone was happy to see him. He did not refuse to help the orphans, which is more than I can say for some people. He will be a good Emperor."
"What good will it be if his half-brothers plot for his demise?" Emma blinked her eyes at this news.
The old woman raised her eyebrow. "You did not consider my grandson would have people wishing him dead?"
"He sincerely acts like a kid," Emma stated. "You expect me to believe that they would take him that seriously?"
Ling's grandmother thinned her lips. "I shouldn't expect much from a child but that throne my son-in-law sit is the prize that every child of his wants. These people would do anything to get it, even kill their sibling to get it. Why do you think we have so many guards? There had been so many attempts on Ling's life."
What would be the point of getting the throne? Was that power worth it? In her past life, she saw just how tiring the weight it could be one person. How many times had she popped in to see Gaara, only to see him more exhausted then the last time she saw him? How many times did Konohamaru complained about having a Hokage as his grandfather because he couldn't play with him? The amount of paperwork alone was just too much.
Yet she wanted all of it. She wanted the power to improve the village, to create equality between everyone in the village but most of all the desire to see no more children becoming shinobi. Even though Naruto had been naïve, her past self always had a good reason of wanting to become Hokage. Despite what most people thought, Naruto had wanted to change the world and make it better for kids like her and Sasuke.
Even now as Emma, she still desired it.
"I will bet all of my life-savings that Ling would become the Emperor and will be the best Emperor that this whole country seen," Emma declared. "I bet on my dream that boy would survive every attempt on his life until the day he becomes emperor of Xing."
"And what makes you think he will become Emperor?"
"My name is Emma Elric and I'm going to become the future Fuhrer," she declared. "I won't protect someone I don't think will become my ally and when your grandson becomes Emperor then he will be my biggest ally!"
It was when she said those words, Emma realized that not all of Naruto's personality traits faded from her.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter. Also tell me what you think so far about Ling's relationship with Huang.