Thanks to Eggrollperson, Maxium, and I love athrun for reviewing! In all honesty, even I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this. Hopefully somewhere good, right?! Also, I don't have a beta, so I'm sorry for any mistakes I miss during proof readings.
Chapter Three: Friends….sort of
In the Council Room……….
"How is this possible?"
"She can't do this!"
"We must respond. We'll get her killed. Get the shinobi to revolt against her. They won't follow a dimwit like her."
"We'll frame her! Make it seem like it was her idea all along to get rid of Tsunade and return so that she can sap Konoha dry of its resources and torture the people!"
"Yes…Perfec-" but the agreement was broken off with a loud crash as the double doors flew open, smoke pouring in from the hallway.
"What's going on?" one of the council members asked, squinting towards the door to try and see the problem.
A figure appeared on the ground, crawling towards them, but obscured by the smoke.
"Who is that?"
"It's the princess! What happened?"
"Who cares? This is perfect!" another member hissed as the girls figure became clearer, blood running down her chin and a sword buried in her back.
"Careful," another whispered in response. "She's not dead yet, and her guards may still be close by
"H…hel- help…m….me…" the princess sputtered before her head fell and her body stopped moving.
"We have to pretend to help her. We can't look suspicious. Guard! Guard, where are you? We need assistance, NOW!" A woman yelled as rushed towards the body. Feeling a pulse she quickly pressed down on the throat to cut off air from the not yet dead princess.
Another member ran into the hall only to go flying into the room the next moment. The woman next to KJ's body scrambled backwards.
"Don't worry…kukuku…help is here. I'm always happy help," A voice answered to the call, and the council's blood ran cold.
"Orochimaru," one whispered right before said man strolled into the room, purposely walking over the dead body, his favorite medic passing him to walk around the table.
"How nice you still remember my name. I heard that you got rid of Tsunade, and was so excited I had to come and see for myself. Then I ran into this little tasty morsel in the hall and could practically smell the stench of royalty pouring off of her, so I of course had to say hello…kukuku."
As his master spoke, Kabuto examined the council, poking at them and mumbling different ideas for experiments and the like he was interested in them for.
"What do you want?" a member shouted, voice trembling as he tried not to listen to the gray-haired medic's mumblings of how many organs can be carefully removed before a person dies.
"Well, I realized it was rather rude to kill her, who's going to take charge now? So I thought I'd lend my services. You surely don't have anyone else lined up, do you?" he asked in his best innocent voice, long tongue licking his lips.
"O…of course not…" a council member stuttered, not looking away from Kabuto, who was leaning around the man, face mere centimeters from his own.
"I like this one, Oro-sama. He has a nice epiglottis. Can I have him? I'd like to see if it looks so pretty on its own."
Orochimaru simply waved to Kabuto as he appeared to ponder over the councilman's words. "Well, I will definitely take the job. But I wonder, what do I need you around for. I have my own advisor, and I'm afraid that you'll just get in my way. Kabuto, you may dispatch of any you don't wish to keep."
"What! No…wait…please..noooooooooo" the council woman's scream only rose in volume as she watched a shuriken wheeling towards her face. She vaguely heard the screams of her colleges before her world faded to black.
"I love genjutsu," Orochimaru's voice broke the now silence as he leaned against the wall, surveying the room full of downed council members.
"And henges," Kabuto responded leaning beside him. "They're gonna be angry when they finally figure it out."
Two poofs sounded through the room and Sasuke's deeper voice responded, "Totally worth it. Besides, it's not like they can do anything about it."
"True, true." Naruto agreed. "I think that one dude pissed himself when I made him think I was ripping out his tongue."
"Hn. I suppose we should go. Sakura and Sai should have retrieved some ANBU by now to escort them to the dungeons."
"Yea. Kakashi should be back from the butchers soon with the blood. They're gonna be so freaked when they wake up. I'm tempted to keep watch so that I can be there to see it."
"We've had our fun. We'll let the others have the good seats for that."
"Yea, yea. Come on, let's go up to join your brother. The others will be here soon."
*********************************************************************
KJ's room……
"Are you always so bland?"
"Aa."
"Doesn't it ever get boring?"
Itachi merely raised his eyebrows in response. Both of them moved into the living area, Kiri sitting on the loveseat while Itachi sat on one end of the matching black leather couch that furnished her living room. Another gift from home.
"Well, what do you do for fun?"
A small smirk this time, but still no vocal response as Itachi settled further into the couch and closed his eyes. He was very good at ignoring people's questions.
"Sakura's your girlfriend or something similar right? So, you have to be capable of some fun at least."
"What makes you think that?" Itachi asked harshly. They tended to keep things quiet to avoid the Uchiha elders and their scheming minds.
"I heard a comment your brother made during the trip over. I was in the carriage, and they didn't think I could hear them. They were discussing my hotness and he made some comment to her about hearing her and his brother at all hours of the day. So unless he has another brother…"
"No. We have a younger sister, but that's it."
"Oh. Is she a shinobi as well."
"No. Absolutely not. And as for Sakura and I, I would ask you not discuss it openly."
"Why isn't your sister in training?"
"My family has enough honor with Sasuke and I. There is no need for her to risk her life. She will marry well and honor our family that way," He spoke robotically
"Is that what she wants? Cause that sounds pretty biased and stupid to me."
"There are many things about this world different than your own. She may not be the most thrilled with the idea, but at least she will live to be angry with us about it."
"I will save my judgments and potential anger until after I talk to your sister about it."
"What makes you think you would be speaking with her?"
"Oh…um" Kiri stuttered. Somehow, 'because I thought that maybe we might actually be friends and that you might invite me over for dinner some night so I don't always have to eat alone like I imagine I'll end up doing' didn't seem like an appropriate response. For a moment she'd forgotten that he had no interest in befriending her, and even if he did, was not the type to invite one over for dinner.
Noticing his raised eyebrow at her stuttering, she quickly blurted, "Nothing. I just meant if I met her…" she trailed off, looking away from his piercing gaze.
The door suddenly opened and Cell 7 strolled in, saving Kiri from having to finish the conversation. Kakashi plopped himself on the rooms recliner, nose buried in his book. Sakura, Naruto, and Sai settled onto to the couch, Sakura next to Itachi, Naruto squeezed in by her, and Sai on the opposite end. Sasuke chose to sit on the floor next to the recliner as opposed to sitting on the loveseat.
"So, how did it go?" Kiri asked them, ignoring her own inner tension, as well as her lonely position on the couch.
"It's handled. Well, most of it. There's just another piece when they wake up from their terror induced comas, and then it will be handled," Naruto informed her.
"So what are you going to do now?" Sakura asked, stretching slightly before settling further on the couch.
"I'm not completely sure. I was thinking that I should have a meeting with the Clan heads to inform them of my decision and hear their suggestions. I'm sure that it will just be a giant headache, but a wise move nonetheless. I would also like to hear you're suggestions though. You know the people hear better than I do. The council fired everyone, I heard, so I need to get either the old people back or new people in as soon as possible. I'd assume you'd know more about that than me."
"It will be an easy task to return all the fired shinobi to their positions. I'd imagine that missions can start being processed and assigned tomorrow morning, as long as there are no changes that you'd like to make," Kakashi replied.
"No changes. Not yet anyways. Ideally, for me, I'd like for things to run as they normally would on a day-to-day basis so that I can just observe. Kinda hard to make changes if I don't really know how things are to begin with, huh."
"If that is your wish, Hime-Sama, then I will leave for the evening and see that everything is taken care of," Kakashi offered, rising from the recliner.
"I think so, but you tell me. Is everyone fit for the position they were in, or should some changes be made immediately?"
"Everything will be fine for now, Hime-Sama. Adjustments can be made latter as you suggested," Itachi replied, waving Kakashi away. Itachi hadn't even lowered his hand before the gray-haired man was gone from the room.
"You guys don't have to stay here. I'm sure that you're all hungry and have…other things you'd like to be doing," Kiri offered, eyeing Itachi and Sakura's close proximity as she spoke.
"Not yet, Hime-Sama. There-" but Itachi was interrupted by loud yelling.
"If you call me your fucking princess one more time I swear on all that is sacred I will find away to remove your testicles and shove them down your goddamn throat."
"I sincerely doubt you'd be able to do that," Itachi replied, obviously not put off by the princess's loud yelling in her native language.
"No, but I promise to make you regret it."
"And how might you accomplish such a thing?" Itachi's disbelief still evident in his voice.
"For all the differences between this world and my own, I'd imagine there are certain facets still the same. I'm sure I could find a way to arrange you schedules so that you and Sakura have a hard time meeting for the common sexual encounters you seem to pollute your younger brother's ears with, just for starters. Keep pressing me and I'll come up with something eventually. The easy path is obviously to STOP calling me that."
"Anyways, Hime-Sama. As I was saying, we cannot retire until the matter of your guard is resolved. The council dismissed the Hokage's normal tower and personal attendees, and we cannot leave you here unprotected."
"If some of them want to come back and guard the tower tonight, fine. If not, I'm sure that I cannot get into that much trouble in one evening," Kiri grit in response, fighting another outburst.
"We will not take the risk. Sasuke will remain with you until tomorrow when we will find a more permanent guard." Itachi commanded.
"We will send over the standard amount of tower guards as well to watch the entrance and shinobi traffic flow. While at night it shouldn't be that busy, starting tomorrow shinobi will be arriving to file reports and receive missions, and you will need to be kept watch over," Sakura added as she rose from the couch, tugging on Itachi's hand interlaced with her own. Before Kiri could respond, the couple was gone is a puff of smoke.
"Have fun, Teme," Naruto mock saluted before he and Sai left the room in a similar fashion.
After the shinobi were gone, silence took over the room. Kiri could see Sasuke's jaw tightened as he hid his displeasure at his older brother's commands. Kiri rose after a couple of minutes of the tense silence and strolled to the kitchen.
"You really don't have to stay if you don't want to," Kiri called over her shoulder as she walked.
"Hn," Was her only response from the raven-haired guard.
"Are you hungry?" Kiri asked, opening the refrigerator door. There was no response as she closed said door and turned to the pantry, opening it instead. "Well I hope not because there isn't a lick of food in here,' she continued, closing the pantry door.
Again no response.
"So, what's your favorite color?" she asked, returning to the living room and sitting on the loveseat again.
"Hn?"
"Your favorite color? It's not a super hard question." Kiri prodded, curling her feet under her. Truth be told, she had no idea what possessed her to ask. She wasn't even expecting an answer, but the silence was awkward and it was the first solution.
If Kiri was clueless as to why she had bothered to ask, then there is no adequate description for the reason Sasuke answered, "Dark blue."
"Really," Kiri smiled brightly at the given response. "I'm a huge fan of blue myself. I really like a more turquiosey blue though."
"Hn." And just like that silence filled the room again.
"So, are you always this chatty, or do I just drag the words out of you. I mean seriously. It's like you haven't shut up since we got here," Kiri complained sarcastically, readjusting her position yet again.
Sasuke quirked his eyebrows before turning his head to look at her. "Are you insane?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Let's review: I left behind my home, friends, and family, to move to a country I've never been to, filled with people I've never met, to take charge of a village, most of whose inhabitants are fully capable and have the desire to end my life in a variety of different ways. Nobody wants me here. No one I've met so far would even consider trying to like me, which on a personal note I think is quite rude because they don't even know me. I'm quite probably going to end up being absolutely miserable and die horrible death. Sounds pretty sane to me."
"If it's so awful here, then why'd you come?"
"It doesn't have to be that bad. It's just the way things look now. Though if your cell's attitude is anything to go by, it's not going to get much better. But I like being useful, and I like helping people. I talked to your brother a lot when he delivered my summons, and it sounded like things were bad, and I thought I could make them better. I still do think that. I will make things better, even if people don't believe it."
"Even at the expense of your own misery?"
"Isn't that sometimes what being in charge is about. Sacrificing so that others that depend on you will prosper. I'm sure that's quite an idealized way to look at it. It's easy to say when I've never really had to endure such hardships yet. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see how far I can reach. I wish my dad we're here."
"Why," Sasuke asked, unable to hide his distaste. He'd stop hoping for his father's attention long ago. Even still, the man's constant disappointment still led Sasuke to fit's of rage when no one, except maybe his brother, was around.
"It's nice to have someone around that always believes in you, no matter how badly the odds are stacked. Nice to have someone you know will be there to pick up the pieces and help clean up the fall, just because they love you so much, you know?"
"Hn." Sasuke didn't know. You didn't get babied and coddled in the Uchiha Clan. You were criticized and had your failed attempts thrown at you until you learned from them. Sasuke always thought it was bullshit. He would never treat his children that way, if he were to ever even have any.
He sat in silence, ignoring the girl's restless shifting as his mind quickly analyzed more of what she'd said. She was proving to have quite a bit more depth to her than they'd originally thought possible. He was not taken with her in anyway, but a shinobi knew to never discredit things to early. His brother did seem to a have a particular respect for her, only barely, but still there. And she seemed to be rather open minded and well informed about the arrangement. Surely not the complete slovenly bimbo Naruto had vocalized her being.
Perhaps it was worth it explore further. He wasn't about to declare himself her bff, but it couldn't hurt invest time into her well-being either. Being polite couldn't hurt. Who knew, maybe she really would do great and wonderful things. Not likely, but it was a bit too early in the game to slam the door shut.
Sasuke rose from the ground and strolled to the front door, feeling Kiri's eyes follow him.
"Decided to leave after all?"
"Aa. Come on, we're going to get some food."
Kiri rose and shifted uncomfortably for a moment before responding; "I don't have any money in your currency."
Sasuke just gave her a look of disbelief for a moment before realizing she was serious.
"Of course you do," he objected. "As a member of the royal family, you have full access to all of Konoha's public accounts."
"That's ridiculous. I'm not just going to reach in and take the village's money at will," she replied, disgusted with the idea and visibly insulted at the suggestion.
"So, what, you're just going to starve to death," Sasuke scowled in return.
"Of course not. I'd planned on going out to the stores tomorrow and recording the prices of daily living items. I will then formulate a reasonable monthly stipend for myself, and compare it to the payment rates of other employed villagers to be sure the amount wasn't too high. I don't want to start pulling money out until I've done that."
"That's what I – What?" Sasuke had not been expecting that response all and had to stop his intended comeback short. He was speechless for a moment before recovering with a weak, "oh," and then following with a slightly stronger statement, "That actually sounds fairly reasonable."
Kiri, flushed and angry from his presumption and her rant, also paused awkwardly, not expecting his agreement. "Thanks," she responded quietly, looking away.
Sasuke took a deep breath and turned back towards the door. "Come on. I will treat you to dinner tonight."
"You don't have to do that. Just get yourself something. I'll be fine."
"I know I don't have to. Consider it a welcoming present. Now come on."
"I don't want you to think you have to pay for me."
"I want to. Now let's go," Sasuke growled though his teeth as he stalked back into the room and grabbed Kiri by the arm before dragging her out the door.
He'd never thought he'd have to work so hard to get a freaking girl to go out to dinner with him. Not of course that he was doing so in any form of a romantic way. Purely business, at the very most a tentative friendship.
They were both hungry and this option made sense. Besides, wouldn't his father be so proud. This was certainly the honorable thing to do. Sasuke's fists clenched at the thought of his father, and he realized to late he still had a grip on Kiri's arm as he heard her squeak in protest to the extra force.
He released and continued walking without a word. He wasn't doing this for, or because of, his father. This was his own path, chosen for his own reasons.
Sasuke was brought out of his musings by a quiet 'thank you' from Kiri as they walked out of the tower.
"Hn."
"Don't you even want to know what I'm thanking you for?" Kiri asked, slightly put off still by his cold demeanor, though she'd experienced it off and on for the past two days from him, and before that with his brother.
"Dinner," Sasuke grunted the response, keeping his eyes focused ahead.
"Nope," Kiri replied lightly, another smile breaking out on her now cheerful face.
'She sure is easy to entertain' Sasuke thought to himself as he humored her.
"What then?"
"For not calling me Hime-Sama," she replied easily, giving him another sweet smile before looking in front of her again.