Switched

Chapter Six – Bittersweet

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other non OC's in this story.

Summery: What if the royal son and a peasant girl are "accidentally" switched at birth? And what if they eventually fell in love? AU.

Naruto dare didn't move an inch, he could already feel the knife cutting his skin. Sasuke was cursing quietly under his breath. Hinata rushed over to help Naruto but her eyes meet with the boy's. She had stopped dead.

Sakura glared as Kakashi bowed at her feet with the two squires behind him, "Princess," he said, "the king has ordered us to bring you and your friends to the castle."

"Tell him I decline his request." Sakura snorted and turned to Sasuke. She dipped a wash cloth into a basin next to the cot and began to wash a cut on Sasuke's forehead that had reopened.

"We will have to take you by force, then." Kakashi said quietly. Sakura was about to turn to protest when the silver haired man shot forward and hit her in the back of the head. He caught her in his arms when she fell.

"Damn you!" Naruto cursed. The boy on his back pulled his yellow hair to silence him.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata squeaked, covering her mouth with her hands. A hand lay on her shoulder and she looked around at one of her best friends since childhood, "Kiba-kun!" he smiled gingerly.

The new blood slowly slid down Sasuke's nose and landed on the wood floor. He pressed his hand against his forehead to stop the bleeding. A boy with pineapple shaped hair stepped up to him and said, "You probably don't have enough strength to walk. This is so troublesome."

Sasuke scowled at him.

&&

Sasuke, after having most of his face bandaged by the doctor in the castle, sat with Naruto in an uncomfortable cell. His blond friend was rubbing his neck unconsciously. His neck was covered in dried blood. Both were taking in their new surroundings.

There wasn't a bed, aka a pile of straw in the corner, or anything that most people couldn't live without. The cell was quite bare expect for the bars and shackles on the wall. Sasuke guessed it was used for holding people hostage for a short amount of time, or a very long, uncomfortable, time.

"Well, look at the bright side to all of this," Naruto finally croaked out, "at least there's a torch over there somewhere that's giving us light."

"That's a terrible bright side." Sasuke grunted. And a really lame pun. He added mentally.

"It's better than nothing!"

"True."

"I can't believe being a friend of Sakura's landed us here."

"Hmm... I would understand why she would want to get out of the castle. That brother of hers seems to be a real bastard."

Naruto chuckled, "You really like Sakura-chan, don't you?"

Sasuke tried to hide the smile on his face, but Naruto saw it. The blond stood up and randomly walked over to the cell door, gripping the bars. He didn't ask Sasuke anything more.

It felt like it had been hours before someone actually came down to get them. And it just happened to be him. The squire that had knocked Naruto to the floor and almost split his throat.

Neji unlocked the cell, "The king and queen wish to meet with you." he told them.

Naruto glared, he walked back to Sasuke and pulled him to his feet.

"I can walk!" Sasuke protested when Naruto swung Sasuke's arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure, I believe you, Scar Face." Naruto grunted and started walking forward with Sasuke at his side.

&&

Sakura sat, looking down at her feet. Her father was glaring at the door and her mother was sitting next to her, rubbing her daughter's back. Hinata was standing with Kiba behind her. She looked like a statue.

The double doors opened and Naruto entered with Sasuke at his side. They were followed by the boy who just about killed Naruto. Sakura noticed that someone had bandaged Sasuke's face. She almost stood up but didn't because of Mikoto's hand on her back..

"So you two are the ones who my daughter has been sneaking out to see?" when neither of them answered, Fugaku asked, "What are your names?"

Naruto hesitated before answering, "I am Uzumaki Naruto and my friend is Haruno Sasuke."

"What happened to his face?" Mikoto asked, gesturing to Sasuke.

"He was attacked by a wolf," Sakura murmured, looking back down at her feet, "because he was protecting me."

"Protecting-- when did this happen?" Fugaku growled at her.

"Last night," Sakura told her, looking everywhere but her foster parents, "I went to tell him what I found out about our past."

"Why does your past matter? You are a royal, Sakura, and these two are just peasants."

"Well, I know that I wasn't born a royal," Sakura stood up and walked over to her friends, "But Sasuke was!" she hugged his free arm. Sasuke looked confused.

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Mikoto asked.

"Mother, you know how I asked you to see all the birth records from nineteen years ago? Well, the day Haruno Sasuke was found by Haruno Kazo they had a daughter who had been stolen away from their family. And it all happened on the night that the guard found me and I became the princess."

The queen blinked, stood, and walked over to the three. She stopped in front of Sasuke, "May I?" she asked, raising her hands to his face. He slowly nodded and she began to unwrap the bandages around his head.

She turned his head back and forth, commenting as she observed him, ignoring his injuries.

"My eye shape. Fugaku's eye color. My mother's nose. My hair color. Fugaku's father's cheek bones. My chin and lips," she reached for his rough hand and turned it in her own flawless ones, "and your hands. Itachi has the same hands. They're royal hands." her eyes twitched and she smiled.

"See?" Sakura said and looked around at her father, who had slowly stood up.

"But who would take him away from his family?" Fugaku growled.

Sakura shrugged, "I haven't figured that out yet."

"She's so intelligent!" Mikoto observed, making Sakura blush, "Thank you Sakura. For reuniting the royal family."

Sakura smiled slightly. What about her real parents though? She looked at her two friends and looked away again. She slowly backed out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

&&

So who was the one to separate the two families from their children? And now that Sasuke is back with his parents, what will happen to Sakura and the Harunos? And we can't forget about Naruto and Hinata now, can we?

Thanks for reading, everyone!