There were two kings in the palace.
One was experienced, old, with followers that would die so he could live. The other was young, inexperienced, with conquered land and fearful followers. Naruto watched Fugaku draw his sword, ready to defend his country even to death. But the young king—a redhead who looked eerily familiar—held his hands in surrender, waving the invisible white flag, so Fugaku withdrew his sword.
"I do not welcome you here." Fugaku said, "but my people fear you, and as much as I'd rather see you dead than see my country fall, I do not wish to anger what little loyalties you've gained. If there is something you want, name it, and I will see what negotiations can arise."
The young king quirked his lips. He was nearly as pale as Sasuke, and held himself even higher than him. His robes fell to the ground, barely brushing his heels as he walked. Naruto had heard talk of this new king, of his conquered lands and the death that followed him. A king that had risen from the ashes of nothing and grew into something no one dared to face alone.
"I wish to have an alliance with your country, nothing more, nothing less. I want your protection if my land ever falls into danger, trade too, will be beneficial. I will have sovereignty over my country and you will have sovereignty among yours."
They called him the king of death, for all his travels ended in blood. Naruto stepped back, wary despite the seemingly peaceful intentions. Murderers did not often make themselves known as this one had.
"We will talk somewhere more private. But I want whomever came with you in my sight and disarmed." Fugaku said.
Sasuke did not stand beside Naruto, but Naruto stood beside Sasuke. The past month had revealed how little people expected of Naruto. He was there to support and help Sasuke. He was a petty fiancé for a man who people expected great things from. Often, servants muttered how lucky Naruto was to stand beside Sasuke, but Naruto felt more like an object than a person when they stood together.
Servants erupted in gossip as Fugaku and the young king left the room. Sasuke took Naruto's arm, tugging it the same way he did when he wanted to move onto something else. Naruto kept his gaze on the door the king of death had left in. There was something familiar about that red hair.
He shrugged, craning his neck so his eyes were on Sasuke. "Where do you want to drag me this time?" He asked. Sasuke never did anything to receive disapproval from his parents, so when he heard Mikoto order them to be together from morning to sunset, Sasuke obeyed. A servant knocked on his door early morning, and they met in the gardens, as Naruto suggested. Sasuke worked on his princely duties—which he never shared with Naruto—and Naruto analyzed the pictures on the book of The History of the Fire Country that Fugaku had handed him.
"Town. Mother has another shop to look at."
"Another one?" Naruto scrunched his brows. He'd tried on hundreds of outfits, and Mikoto seemed unhappy with all of them. This would be their fifth clothes trip in two weeks, and it would end like the others. They'd leave empty handed with Mikoto complaining about poor service and incompetent seamstresses. Later that night, Sasuke would complain about his mother's impossible standards to Naruto, and they'd just have another look the next day.
"Unfortunately. We're running late already. I think mother's waiting for us by the door."
"You'd think that we'd get to choose our own wedding outfits. But no, nobles have to have their parents choose for them. Even if that means no one gets an outfit. By the time the wedding rolls around, we'll be wearing rags, and then your mother will have a real fit about our clothes."
"Mother's never been into fashion. I think she's just as tormented by this as us."
"She'd better be. I'd hate to be the only one tortured by wedding plans."
They made their way across the palace, into the courtyard, and finally, meeting Mikoto at the gates. The town was certainly different from the farmhouse Naruto grew up in. There were more people, more foods, and more clothing options. Naruto had liked some of the wedding suits they fitted him with, but Mikoto was the one in control of the money, and refused to buy anything that wasn't to her taste.
Nobles seemed to expect too much of people. Their luxurious life had brought them into high expectations of what people should be, both the dominants and the submissives. Naruto didn't fit her expectations, so she didn't like him much. But it was Fugaku who controlled whom Sasuke married. She got the tough job of planning everything while he chose the groom.
"We are finding your suits today." Mikoto said, "whether it takes an hour or ten, it doesn't matter. We are not having another trip. Naruto, I expect you to be happy with what you get. No complaints this time."
"I was never the complainer, Lady Mikoto."
So, he complained about the clothes being too tight and too fancy. But what did she expect? He came from a farmhouse for God's sake. Everything in this town was alien to him. He'd had his fair share of complaints, but he complimented most things in town, like the food, which had been far more delicious than he'd expected.
"Are you insinuating something?" Mikoto said, "I could have you locked in your chambers with the key at the bottom of the lake."
Sasuke nudged Naruto's ribs, silently telling him to shut up. "Nothing terrible, Lady Mikoto. Just that I don't complain nearly as much as you."
And she had been complaining. Five shopping trips and still there was nothing for them to wear. There were thousands of outfits, and none were to her liking. They were either too fancy or too plain, to tight or too lose. Naruto would have chosen any of them because he didn't care enough about this wedding.
"What Naruto means to say mother, is that we're tired of shopping and he is growing frustrated with all the clothes. I think choosing and outfit today is a great idea." Sasuke said.
"And you complain a lot. It's the whole reason we're still shopping."
Mikoto pursed her lips, scowling at him. It was when her dominant wasn't around that she truly became the monster. Around Fugaku, she was silent, letting him to all the talking as she supported his every word, and every time she tried to give her opinion, he shot her down. Without him she was free to talk and act however she pleased.
It'd been fun to mess with her at first. Naruto acted just as irregular around people as Mikoto did, yet he was never shy about it with Sasuke. But as she saw more of Naruto's monster, she let her own monster become known.
Sasuke was driving up the walls with it, though. He was constantly trying to rehash every word Naruto spoke to his mom.
"You'd best remember I have your key, Naruto. One flick of my hand and you'll never leave your room." Mikoto said.
It'd been fun at first. But now, he feared he'd truly gotten on her bad side.
"You've gotta feed me sometime, don't you? Can't keep the door locked forever."
"If the key's missing, then there is no way to open the door. You'd die before we could save you."
"We're here." Sasuke said. "Both of you, shut up."
Naruto was the first to leave the carriage. He much preferred staying in town than he did the palace. Town smelt more of ale and animal than the palace ever could, and he knew without even spending one night in an inn that the people in town knew how to party. One of these days, he was going to join them in the bar and hopefully, no one would come looking.
If he ever got the chance, that was. Guards watched their every move, and Sasuke was a tricky bastard to lose. He supposed he could just ask, but his pride went too far for such triviality. So, he settled for finding a way out, just as he'd been trying this past month without any luck.
He closed his eyes. Sometimes, he forgot he was supposed to hate these people.
"I don't want to spend ten hours in here. So, split up and find something you like, then show it to me." Mikoto said.
"You're not going to supervise us?" Naruto asked.
She'd always supervised them, which always kept Naruto in the shop rather than out the doors. But if she wanted them to shop by themselves, then there was only Sasuke to lose. He'd be busy searching for the perfect suit though, gazing at different colors and patterns. Naruto only needed a few seconds, and he'd be out those doors.
And go where? What little he had he left at the palace. He had no money, no clothes, no knives. There was nothing to help him survive in out there. But this may be his only chance, and he could get a job somewhere, make some money and buy bare necessities. If he could just find enough time…
"Like I said, I want this done as soon as possible." Mikoto said. "So, get started."
Mikoto took off at one end of the store, leaving Naruto and Sasuke at the door. They shopped together for a while before Naruto said, "It would be quicker if we looked separately." Sasuke nodded, traveling to another side of the store, leaving Naruto alone for the first time in two weeks.
Naruto stood there, gaze traveling to the doors, and back to Sasuke. Mikoto was out of his eyeshot, so he assumed he was out of hers too. The guards were at the carriage, watching the store and town for any sign of trouble. It would be near impossible to leave without their detection, Naruto mused, but there could be a back door, an emergency exit. Something to get him away from this town.
And go where?
"Anywhere." He muttered.
He travelled across the store, checking out a few suits to seem occupied with shopping while he searched for the backdoors. Sometimes, he glanced back at Sasuke and Mikoto, but they were both busy collecting suits to try on. Naruto smiled. Perhaps, leaving would be easier than he'd originally planned. Now, if only he could find those doors.
"Anything I can help you with?" A woman asked. Naruto gave her a wave, a simple dismissal most nobles seemed to use. It was handy when brushing off someone annoying, yet rude all the same. Still, he used it when he desperately needed some alone time.
At the side of the store, between the white and black suits, was a door. Naruto headed towards it, trying to hide behind the assortment of clothes as Sasuke was currently looking in that section of the store. Only luck could get him through the doors and into town. If all went wrong… hopefully it was Sasuke that caught him, not Mikoto.
Though he'd prefer not to get caught at all. He watched as Sasuke craned his head around the store, furrowing his brows as he didn't see what he was looking for. He abandoned what little suits he'd picked up and walked away.
Looking for me, are you? In your face Uchiha! I'm gone.
He crouched below the surface of the rack of clothes and headed for the door. Everyone was out of his eyeshot now, and the doors were so close. Just a little further and he was gone.
"What are you doing?"
Swallowing, Naruto looked up and smiled at Mikoto. He stood from his crouch and brushed his hand across his head. "Just , uh… looking at the suits from a different angle. Definitely worth doing. You get a better sight of what you'd be wearing." He laughed, nervously shifting his fingers across a random suit he found. It was hideous, with blue and white stripes jutting across the chest area, and a collar that would certainly choke him if he wore it. But he had to pretend to be looking at something, else Mikoto's eyes would travel to the doors he'd tried to escape to.
"Follow me. I've got a couple suits for you to try." Naruto nodded, taking one last glance at the backdoor before following her. He was so close, just a couple of feet away, and he still didn't make it. How could he possibly do anything if he couldn't even escape properly? God, he wanted to leave. This whole wedding was making him sloppy. Or maybe he'd never been good at these things in the first place? Being raised as a farm boy certainly didn't give him enough opportunities to learn to evade nobleman.
Mikoto led him to a dressing room, pushing a load of clothes into Naruto's arms. Naruto gazed hatefully into the pile he held. None of them were to Mikoto's standings, and he'd be walking out empty handed again.
"Can't we just wear something from the castle. You have plenty of clothes, most of which have never been used and are seamed well enough for a wedding."
Mikoto snarled. "Absolutely not. Now get changed."
"You don't like any of these." Naruto held up one of the suits she handed him, waving it in the air. Mikoto's lips twitched, as if she thought he was silly. "Come on, Mikoto. Red stripes, plain black, plain blue, white stripes, plain white, polka dots. You hate all of these. There's no point in trying any of them on."
"Try them on now or I will put them on you myself."
"It's pointless! We're leaving this store empty handed. There's no point even shopping if you turn down every single suit."
"Most suits. Not every suit."
"What's the difference. This will never get done."
Customers had glanced their way, and Naruto wondered if Sasuke was heading to stop their rising voices. Appearances were everything to noblemen. One fight, and rumors spread about everything. One wrong word, and people talk. There was no privacy in this family, because once one person starts talking as if speaking the truth, everyone believed it to be true.
"Try it on anyways. We're not making another trip."
Sasuke never came by to shut Naruto up.
"What's wrong with the clothes in the palace? They seemed fine enough."
"This is a wedding. We need something new."
Naruto stared at the clothes before him. He truly did not want to wear it, but if he couldn't escape the store, then there was no way he was escaping a guarded palace. Without that escape, the wedding was happening, unless he could somehow convince Fugaku to cancel the wedding.
Or convince someone else to convince Fugaku to cancel the wedding.
Did Mikoto want Sasuke to marry? Or did she go along with what Fugaku said?
He knew no one else in the palace. There was Sasuke, Fugaku, and Mikoto. No one else. He could approach Itachi, but Naruto had barely been able to sprout one word in his presence. The other residents—servants and nobles— He knew none of them.
Mikoto was a monster without Fugaku, and a housewife with him. Which one was fake? The housewife or the monster? As it was, Mikoto was the only person that he could hope to convince about a cancelled wedding.
Sasuke might help too, if he didn't want this. But Naruto didn't know if Sasuke was supportive of this marriage or against it. Maybe he should ask about that.
Nodding, he moved into the dressing room. Mikoto needed to be less pissed at him if he were going to convince her to talk to Fugaku. If he could convince her. She may be in full support of this marriage and throw him to the wolves for considering cancelling.
It was after he'd tried on a few suits and found a smile on Mikoto's face that Naruto dared ask the question that had been plaguing him since the day he'd learned he was marrying into nobility.
"Lady Mikoto." He said, stepping out of a stall in a plain white and black suit. "Why am I marrying Sasuke?"
Peasants never marry into nobility. There had been a few rare cases after a kid's parents did something remarkable and nobles married out of appearances. But Naruto wasn't one of those kids. His mom was an ordinary woman who raised an ordinary child.
"Petty questions, dear. Turn around. I need to see all of you." Mikoto said.
Naruto turned around, spreading his arms as Mikoto checked the suit. "It's not petty to ask why I'm marrying someone. Even a lie it better than a refusal to answer."
She pursed her lips, eyes roving over Naruto. Shopping trips were the worst, but it did give Naruto some time to check out the town and see how things were from a perspective outside the castle.
"Because Fugaku said so. Do you need another reason?"
"Why did he say so?"
"I don't know."
Naruto pried for more information, but Mikoto wouldn't talk, or she didn't know. So, he gave up, and contrary to his earlier words, they did finds suits to bring home. The moon was nigh when they returned to the palace. Mikoto took their suits to preserve for the wedding day, and Naruto headed to his room.
Naruto's guards weren't standing by his rom when Naruto got there. But rather, the redheaded king from earlier was sitting by the door. He had his eyes closed, and the sword that sat proudly beside his hip was now laying on the floor.
"Um, hi?" Naruto said. Was that too casual? This was a king, one that often killed. Perhaps he should've greeted him with a hello rather than a hi. He certainly didn't want to test the swords blade if this king took offense.
"Sasuke wants you to come by his room later. But he could wait. I need to talk to you." The king said.
Naruto gave him a pleasant smile. Why was the king of death at his door? There must have been more important matters for a king to attend than waiting for Naruto to return.
"Okay. Can we start off with names? Unless you want to be called king? Do you want to be called king?"