This story is getting fun for me c: Not because I am waaay behind in Game of Thrones, and people may not be happy about that, but I like how I make the characters more... I dunno, but I like it c: Thank you to those who have Reviewed, Followed, Favorited or done nothing last time, and I hope you're excited as I am for this.
Special love goes out to ImmaPiratte, since she is basically the one who told me to watch Game of Thrones in the first place. I haven't heard from her in a while, so all my best wishes go out to her and I hope that she is happy; she's a sweetheart and I loved her Reviews ;D
Please, feel free to Review, Follow, Favorite, or do nothing; I prefer to entertain people, and if not, I wish them nothing more then a great day. Enjoy!
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Light 'em Up
Chapter Four
Stripped- Shiny Toy Guns
Naruto was woken up by a Sannin guard, dressed in their animal masks and tight armor, they forced the Prince out of his bed and he stood up to realize that there were servants packing his clothes into chests and cases with Jiraiya ordering them around. Looking to his grandfather in the barely-there sunlight, Naruto raised a brow of wondering what in the world is happening.
"Iruka is finding evidence of foul play for the contestants in the Game," Jiraiya said simply as his grandson put on his royal vest and leathered belt. "Someone had attempted to break into Queen Sakura's bedchambers with a weapon, and her guard killed him; apparently some of the other Kingdoms are not pleased with Hiruzen's arrangements."
"What Kingdom did it?" Naruto asked urgently after he stopped a maid from touching the knitted box that contained his gift from the targeted Queen.
Jiraiya simply shook his head. "It was someone from the other Kingdoms. We can't find any source of his nationality...but no further evidence was found."
"Lord!" Naruto hissed. "What about Sasuke? What about the Queen and her party?"
"We're making the exchange once we get out of here, so quit standing around and follow the guard," Jiraiya snapped urgently. When Naruto tried to get a servant to find Sasuke, the old man gripped his shoulders tightly. "Naruto, Sasuke does not belong to you anymore, as of right now. Don't stall yourself and hurry, boy!"
Everything else was a blur for Naruto, as the servants finished dressing him, the Prince told the maids that he would carry the knitted box on his own after they tried to pack it again. Holding the contents of the egg inside the well-constructed box, Naruto was quickly guided by a Sannin guard through a secret doorway in the hallway he occupied, and then led in pure darkness in a smelly and wet tunnel; then shoved through a veil of vegetation vines to be in the middle of the borderline of the Sannin's Castle, where his party of Knights and Sakura's party and horses with them. He saw that Sakura was dressed in dark clothing, barely blending into the dark early morning as her pale arms wrapped around a weeping woman. Her handmaiden, Hinata, sobbed and clung to her mistress's dark cloak, hiding her face into Sakura's slender neck as the Queen spoke her a strong-built man with white hair and violet eyes.
Naruto was literally carried by the Sannin guards over to the mass of people and animals when Sakura looked at Naruto with worried eyes. Naruto's heart skipped a beat painfully when the Queen turned her gaze down to the dark-haired woman crying in her arms, her hand combing through her handmaiden's as she attempted to hush her carefully. Naruto suddenly realized that the conversation he and Sakura held yesterday that she and this Hinata were close as if they were blood related instead of in-laws. His chest clenched at the mere thought of separating them, making his brain numb.
Iruka burst through the line of bodies on Sakura's side and hurried over to Naruto. "Everything will be fine, Naruto. We have arranged a carriage with a servant serving as a decoy for you. We will have one of your men give you a Knight cloak and you shall ride on horseback back to the Uzumaki Kingdom; all we have to do is make the exchange."
Through Naruto's blurred thoughts, he registered what he was to do and what was to happen, but everything Iruka blabbed about really meant nothing to him when he heard a muffled man's voice, which was obvious who it belonged to. "Unhand me and explain why you tore me away from my cot, you mute-fuckers!"
Turning his head, the Sannin guards shoved Sasuke to his side, barely dressed in his navy-colored leather; the strings were still undone and his sleeping shirt was untucked from his belt, Naruto concluded in his thoughts that his friend was woken in the lowerclass chambers and was not educated of the current situation. Holding the box closer to himself, Naruto looked down to the earthy ground and set the box in between his feet, guarding it with his legs.
"Naruto, what in the bloody name of God is going on here?" Sasuke snapped darkly when he stood back up. "Why are we up before the birds and everyone looks like it is the end of time?"
"We are parting ways," Naruto said simply, whispering. "We are being forced to make the exchange. Someone from one of the Kingdoms tried to kill Queen Sakura."
Stiffening, Sasuke's nose flared in total anger. "It could have been the Uchiha. Those fucking rats!" he seethed through his teeth, recalling how the Uchiha Kingdom treated the Uzumaki Kingdom as if they were God themselves.
"We're going to exchange and flee back to our Kingdoms now, Sasuke-teme," Naruto spoke, catching his right-hand-man's attention instantly. Looking at his best friend, Naruto forced a half-smile on his face. "I won't be seeing you for a while, Dattebayo..."
Unclenching his fists, Sasuke came to realization of what was to become of them. "You remember what I have said, right?"
"Of course, and I will keep my end of the bargain," Naruto nodded. "Just don't cause too much trouble in another kingdom, okay? You'll just give yourself a bad name."
"Hn..."
"The exchange must happen now, we're losing darkness!" Iruka spoke with the silence of the people in the forest. Naruto faced the opposite end of the Haruno party, seeing Sakura carefully rocking Hinata as the woman hitched her sobs at Iruka's voice. The Sannin advisor looked at Sakura, nodding once to the Queen as she parted her lips, like she wanted to say something, and Naruto remembered how Sakura 'posed' as being unable to understand the Common Language.
Slowly, Sakura unwrapped her arms from Hinata and took hold of the crying woman's face, raising her face to meet eyes as the Queen whispered something in another language. Hinata shivered and nodded slowly before Sakura removed the trimmed bangs on her handmaiden's forehead and pressed a soft kiss to her skin, making the sad woman cry out and cling to Sakura once more. The Queen looked to the white-haired man, who didn't hesitate to unlatch Hinata from her and literally drag her across the dirt.
"Khaleesi! Khaleesi!" Hinata wepted quietly as she tried to pick herself up beside the soldier, who eventually slowed himself down for her to catch up. Hinata hit her temple against the soldier's hard armor, fresh tears falling out of her eyes when the man stopped both of them infront of Naruto.
The Prince stared at the soldier with a hard look, as the soldier's eyes narrowed darkly at him. Naruto felt his grandfather's hand touch his back carefully, making him exhale sharply through his nose and held out his right arm. The soldier's lip curled up into a slight sneer, and Naruto briefly noticed how the man's teeth was sharp like a knife before he let go of his hard hold on Hinata's forearm.
The soldier took a second to pat the top of Hinata's head, as if telling her he did not mean to treat her so harshly in departing them, and she simply sniffed and pressed her head into his palm before she took a step closer to Naruto, and he simply wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace, with Sakura watching the whole time.
When Naruto looked back at Sakura, her eyes softened just a littl bit and she gave one nod to him. Unconsciously, Naruto rubbed his thumb on the curl of Hinata's bare shoulder when she cried out in her first language to Sakura, weeping sorrowly as her hands clung to Naruto's dense clothes.
"Make sure that the Queen makes it back to her kingdom safely, Sasuke-teme," Naruto said at last before closing his eyes when Sasuke took his step forward, beside the soldier. "You are to take care of her now, do you understand..?"
"Aa," Sasuke said simply as he had a stare-down with the Haruno soldier as the man turned himself around before marching back. On the way, another soldier escorted the Queen to a white horse, and allowed her to help herself on, as if she has done it so many times before. Sasuke broke the contact from the white-haired man to watch Sakura pull her hood up and wrap her shawl scarf around her nose and mouth, concealing her pastel hair from the world.
The soldier suddenly smacked Sasuke into the direction of a stallion with a two-seat saddle, and the dark-haired man glared at the soldier. Never, in the Uzumaki Kingdom, has Sasuke ridden a horse...that would probably take him to long distance. His body would probably not be able to provide energy for it, since whenever he and Naruto had rode horses was on hunting in their forest, and they never lasted long with the filled game in the woods.
"Up," the soldier said with a bark. "Up!"
With a sniff, Sasuke hauled himself into the back of the saddle and the soldier gracefully climbed infront. He didn't like how the horse's energy radiated onto him, telling him that this animal was made to go for a long time of running when Sasuke was not. Looking on, Sasuke saw Naruto keeping his eyes closed and the woman in his arms suddenly jerked, yelling in her language that probably titled the Queen to her as her master.
With a howl of the other soldier who leapt onto his own horse, the three animals cried out and took off into full speed to the misty morning, falling into the remaining shadows of the trees and actually riding the wind.
"Khaleesi!" Hinata cried out in depression in Naruto's hold as his other arms came around to cage her; she made obvious movements to try and make a run for her Queen, and Naruto was quick by holding her tightly against his chest and let her scream.
"We need to shut her up!" one man said behind Naruto. "She will draw attention and we will be in trouble."
Before an alien hand could touch a single hair on Hinata, Naruto's voice changed. It was now mature, masculine and deep into control as anyone who surrounded him (besides Jiraiya) jumped away. "You will not lay a hand on her!" he barked.
Slowly, Naruto loosened his hold on the crying woman, carefully holding her shoulders and called to her quietly, gentle as possible. When Hinata covered her mouth with a simple hand, her big, lavender eyes looked up to him with fear and vunerability; she leaned away from him, out of mere instinct with a stranger.
Swallowing, Naruto nodded to her, slowly having her nod along with him. "My name," he said slow, "is Uzumaki Naruto."
He waited until she nodded. Her lip was still wobbling, but her loud sobbing stopped. "I am Naruto, and no one will hurt you. Do you understand, Hinata?"
She nodded and sniffed. "Y-yes...Yes, yes!"
Jiraiya watched as his grandson spoke to the Queen's handmaiden and how careful he was being with the foreign woman. After commanding one of the servant men to give up their capes, Naruto draped it around the shaking woman securly, like a child who needed a blanket.
Looking at the prince with large eyes, Hinata pouted. "Uhm..."
Jiraiya watched as Naruto devoted his eyes back to her, giving her all his attention. "What is it, Hinata..? Do you need something?"
The woman needed a moment to arrange her words, as if she didn't know what to say exactly. "W-where..?" she whispered under her breath. She swallowed with tears in her eyes, but Naruto nodded softly as he assured her that she would be okay to take her time. "Where...are w-we...go?"
"You mean 'Where are we going'?" Naruto smiled softly, rubbing her covered shoulders and arms in attempt to warm her from the chill that wasn't there. "We are going back to my kingdom, where it will be safe."
"Safe..?" Hinata tilted her head to the side. Naruto carefully led her to a horse, which was saddled for a servant of the Uzumaki Kingdom, and a two-seat. "Safe place?"
"My home, okay?" Naruto tried once again, helping her up onto the horse. "It will be safe..."
The pale-eyed woman looked around with worry, looking at the other servants readying themselves to formation. Naruto saw this and patted the back of her hand, making her stiffen and shoot down with a wide-eye stare.
"Okay?" he asked her one more time, still resting his hand ontop of hers.
Blushing out of nervousness, Hinata slowly nodded in understanding. "Y-yes... Yes, yes."
Naruto offered her a smile before he helped himself on behind Hinata, his arms on either side of her and grabbing the reigns of the horse. The dark-haired woman didn't resist or cry out any longer as Jiraiya shouted at the servants to start forward, with the decoy in the carriage. On sudden movement, Hinata's pale hands grabbed the sleeves of Naruto's shirt, making everyone hold still and stare darkly at the foreign woman.
"It's alright, Hinata...-chan," Naruto soothed as he pulled the cape's hood up over her head, protecting her head from wind and from prying eyes of the people around them. Her grip on his sleeves tightened and he hesitated to wrap an arm around her waist allowed her to lean back for support, resting her shivering form against his chest. "They woke up you up very early, so rest now..."
She nodded slowly, understanding him since he was speaking slow for her. Hinata kept her grip tight on his sleeves, closing her eyes as she huddled her head under his chin. She felt him flick the reigns of the horse and began hurrying to follow the formation with the Uzumaki party, right before anyone was to wake up and notice that the contestants of the Game were gone...
At the distance of a cliffed hill, a shadow of a body shrinked into hiding; watching as the richly-colored Kingdom of the Uzumaki started to fade into the earthly painting of the woods. A sneer smile appeared, the teeth glinting in the slightest light before falling back into a hidden cave of the cliff, away from sight.
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Sasuke was allowed to climb off the horse, but quickly fell from the lost feeling of his limbs. The white-haired soldier, who Sasuke overheard for his name to be Suigetsu, looked down and barked out a laugh; his pointy teeth visible with the teasing snicker. Ignoring the fact that hislegs were shaking numbingly in pain, Sasuke glared evily at him, catching eye contact with him.
"Shut your mouth, you menacing mutt!" Sasuke growled under his breath, making Suigetsu jerk.
In a second, the soldier leapt off of the horse, his legs still moving like nothing happened, grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his sleeping shirt and brought their noses together as flames sparked in violet eyes. His voice bcame snarling, almost like an animal. "Rhae Mhar!" Suigetsu shouted into Sasuke's face.
"Suigetsu!" a feminine, dominant voice took control over the soldier, and Sasuke turned his stoic face to see Sakura a couple feet away from the two men with the other soldier with brown hair and a square-ish face. She said something in an irritated voice, making Suigetsu's eyes widen and tighten his grip on Sasuke's shirt.
"Khaleesi..." Suigetsu said with slight stubborness, but soon sighed when Sakura raised both of her brows at him and stared at him with those gorgeous emerald eyes. "Aa..."
Suigetsu set Sasuke down, on the earthly floor since his legs were still uncomfortable. Sasuke gripped his fists into the sandy-texture and glared at Suigetsu again. The soldier did not let this go unnotice, and he snorted.
"Rhae Mhar," Suigetsu muttered before marching away to settle his horse. Sasuke didn't looke away from the soldier until he heard a blu-glug noise next to him, and found that a canteen made from animal hide swung next to his head.
"It is going to become humid for you soon, so I suggest you drink as much water as possible," Sakura said quietly as she dangled the canteen to fall into Sasuke's lap. Naruto told Sasuke that she knew Common Tongue, so he didn't portray himself as quite shock as she probably hoped - however, she didn't seem to react.
Lazily picking up the canteen, Sasuke examined it out of curiosity. "What does 'Rhae Mhar' mean?" he asked. He peeked from the side of his vision to watch Sakura bend down to his height, a childish pose as she smiled amusingly.
"Suigetsu calls anyone that who he feels is going to ruin his 'fun'," Sakura said softly, holding her delicate cheeks on both of her hands. "And what it means is...sore foot."
Sasuke snorted with a displeased shake of his head. "I would give him a sore ass if he feels like he can throw me around like a poppet," he snarled as he took a swig of water.
He nearly choked when he heard her angelic giggle, making his heart clench as he painfully swallowed the liquid. She never made noises in the dreams, and this was heavenly.
"He is not someone you need to make enemies with," she informed him. "Actually, give him a day or so, he will take you as your friend."
Sasuke didn't want to talk anymore, so he took another heavy drink of water and stared straight ahead. He really couldn't take on the reality of the identity of the woman who has always comforted him and touched him in his dreams - where he took control overm as if he was a ruler of a land no one touched. Closing his eyes, he bit his lip and held onto his leg with his free hand, so that he could try and draw feeling back into his limbs.
"You haven't ridden a horse for a long period, have you?" she asked, making Sasuke hunch his shoulders, concentrating on his legs. "I understand that the Uzumaki soldiers and people use horses for short transportation."
"How long have we been riding?" he said instead, trying to sound blank and uncaring.
"Five hours, if you wish to know..." she said with a smile in her voice. "It would take us three days to return to my kingdom, if we do not stop for rest. It took my party three days to arrive to the Sannin Land."
"You are used to riding for long periods."
"Yes, it assists my kingdom for transportation with our enviroment." He listened to her standing up and began walking behind him towards Suigetsu's form with his horse. "I have asked for us to camp for tonight, so that you will be comfortable. I will have Suigetsu start a fire and-."
"No."
Looking up, Sasuke was taken into the beauty of the steaming sun sparkling behind her pastel head, making her glow with the sand bursting up its grains as the sun's rays haloed her hair. She looked down at him with a curious tilt of her head. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke didn't look away from the Queen of the Haruno Kingdom as he forced movements into his leg as he curled his legs under him, his toes digging into the sand. Finding balance on the slightest feeling on his feet, Sasuke pushed himself up to stand; slightly tilting, he limped his way past her as he gripped the canteen tightly.
"No?" Sakura spoke.
Swallowing, Sasuke angled his jaw. "Don't camp because of me. I'm fine."
"Mm...are you sure?" she asked. "If you say that we will not camp, then there is about three days left until-."
"We keep going until we get to the Haruno Kingdom," Sasuke said. "I promised Naruto that you would return home safely, and I will not allow delay."
"But..."
Grabbing Sakura's white horse, Sasuke gripped the reigns to focus on more balance. The horse didn't freak out, like the Uzumaki horses who don't get ridden or handled so harshly, rather, it held Sasuke up and twisted his head to see what clung onto him. Inhaling, Sasuke stood up, where the burnette soldier stood behind Sakura and whispered something into her ear, probably asking what he was doing to her horse.
"Mi'lady," Sasuke spoke suddenly, startling Sakura's soldier. Her emerald eyes flickered to meet Sasuke's, and they stared at each other for a moment. Feeling something inside him swell, Sasuke's lips qurked into a handsome smirk. "Mi'lady, your horse..."
Sakura raised a brow before smiling with her own little amusement. Looking at the burnette, Sakura waved her hand at the soldier. "Yamato, tell Suigetsu that we're leaving now."
"Yes, Sakura-sama," Yamato said in a clear voice. He turned himself around and went over to Suigetsu, who looked to be jugging on his canteen.
Turning back to Sasuke, Sakura started walking her way to her horse. Sasuke watched her with a stoic-expression, trying not to make it look like he was following her every movement with an ogling eye. But, before she risen herself onto her white horse, she looked at Sasuke.
Her eyes were soft and gentle, but her smile was naughty and tempting. "You know, you have much more manners for a lady the other times we've met; why not do it more often?"
Black eyes widened as Sakura laughed and climbed ontop of her horse and took off, making Sasuke's hand rip off of the reigns and stare off after her shrinking form into the desert-like setting. He didn't even have time to register when Suigetsu grabbed the back of Sasuke's sleeping shirt and yanked him onto the horse while he, too, took off on full speed to catch up with the Queen.
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She knows?
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AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE- It will help a BUNCH if people gave me song ideas :D Any singer, band or whatever will be helpful, and your recommendation could be used for a chapter! Have a wonderful day!