Okay here's chapter thirteen of The Prince and The Slave. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed and added me to their Faves and Alerts lists. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and all that jazz.
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The Prince and The Slave.
Chapter Thirteen.
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(General P.O.V.)
Naruto was walking around Konoha with his older brother Kyubi and his cousin Amaru. Amaru had recently been orphaned when her village had been attacked. Both her parents had been killed, and Naruto's Mother, being her Auntie, had taken Amaru in. Kyubi smirked as Amaru clung to Naruto's arm nervously.
"You don't need to be clingy little cousin, no one would hurt you around here. Father does run the village." Kyubi stated boldly. Amaru nodded, her long, rose pink hair, fluttered around as she nodded. Her big blue eyes stared widely at everything. That was when a black cloaked figure walked towards them with a horse. Naruto wondered who on earth would be coming into Konoha wearing a black cloak. That was when the male removed his hood. Naruto was shocked to see Sasuke.
"Teme! What are you doing here?" Naruto exclaimed.
"I need to talk to all of you Naruto. We're in big trouble." Sasuke stated sternly. Naruto nodded.
"Kyubi, Dad's in the Hokage tower, go and tell him that Sasuke's here and that he needs to come back home straight away." Naruto said.
"And tell him not to let anyone know I'm here." Sasuke added. Kyubi glared at the two boys.
"You'd think I was the younger brother here, you cocky little brats." Kyubi hissed before going off to do as he'd been asked. The two boys started walking towards Naruto's home with Amaru.
"This is my little cousin Amaru." Naruto introduced gently. Amaru nodded at Sasuke before hiding herself behind Naruto's arm, peeking out every so often.
"How old is she? She looks like she intends to hide behind you, as long as I'm around." Sasuke questioned cheekily.
"She's only twelve. Give the kid a break, she just lost her parents. Teme." Naruto quipped. Sasuke nodded.
"I apologise if I seemed rude, Amaru." Sasuke apologised. The girl nodded her acceptance as the trio walked into a large house.
"Mum, Sasuke's here!" Naruto called out. Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's mother, came running out of the kitchen. She had a huge grin on her face.
"It's been years since you were here Sasuke." Kushina said happily. Sasuke gave a small smile and nodded.
"I wish it were under better circumstances." Sasuke replied. Kushina looked at Sasuke in confusion, using one of her small, graceful hands, to brush back some strands of her long, red hair, behind her ears.
"What's wrong Sasuke?" Kushina asked.
"I'll tell you all, when Minato-San gets here with Kyubi." Sasuke replied gently. Kushina nodded her understanding.
"Let's go and sit in the living room and wait for them." Kushina said softly. The group left the hallway, and walked into the living room to wait for Minato to come home.
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Neji and Mikoto rode up the driveway of the Nara estate. Neji noted all the deer that were nibbling on grass around the estate as they rode towards the front door. Neji saw Shikamaru lazing on the grass, under a tree, gazing up at the sky.
"He's cloud-watching as usual." Neji stated. Neji stopped the horse and dismounted. "Shikamaru!" Neji called out. The lazy teen looked at him then.
"Neji? What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked. Neji sighed as he helped Mikoto down from the horse.
"We need to speak to your parents Shikamaru." Mikoto stated formally. Shikamaru stared, wide-eyed, at Mikoto.
"Your highness? What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked. "I mean… I didn't mean to sound rude... I mean… you're always welcome, your highness… of course you are, I mean… this is so troublesome." Shikamaru stated.
"There's a good reason Shikamaru. And stop calling me your highness. Just call me Mikoto-San if you must be formal." Mikoto said softly. Shikamaru nodded.
"My parents are in the study. My father thinks there's something wrong at court. Not one message has arrived here since my father and I returned." Shikamaru stated. Of course Neji understood what Shikamaru meant. Shikaku Nara was the King's personal debt collector. Messages arrived daily from the King, to go and sort out some debt-ridden lord or another. No messages either meant that there wasn't anyone who owed the King money, or that the King no longer trusted Shikaku to do his job.
"We'll explain everything. Just take us to your parents Shikamaru." Mikoto said softly. Shikamaru nodded and led them into the house.
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Itachi was only a day's ride from Konoha. "We're going to stop to take a break." Itachi stated blankly.
"But Prince Itachi, if they should escape, your father will be furious!" Kabuto stated.
"Well the soldiers will be no good in capturing anyone if they're tired." Itachi replied stiffly. In truth Itachi was trying to give Sasuke more time to get to his friends and leave. After all, he didn't want to see his brother caught.
"But Prince Itachi-" Kabuto started but was cut off by a glare from the eldest prince.
"Are you questioning me Kabuto?" Itachi asked fiercely. Kabuto shook his head fearfully. Itachi smirked inwardly. After all, no one had the nerve to stand up to the ice prince.
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Sasuke, Naruto, Amaru and Kushina heard the door open. Minato entered the room with his red-haired, eldest child. "What's wrong?" Minato asked, immediately wondering about what had brought on this strange series of events. Sasuke had not set foot in Konoha in five years, before today. Minato had found out that it was because of Fugaku Uchiha. He thought it was a weakness, for Sasuke to be so close to one person, as he was to Naruto. Minato knew that when Sasuke had tried to visit Konoha on his own volition, Fugaku had threatened Naruto's life. This had made Minato furious at the time, but he knew that if he should react differently to the King, then the King would kill Minato's family. Minato knew that Sasuke had stayed away for that very reason, to keep the Uzumaki family out of harm's way. So, for Sasuke to be there, Minato knew it had to be serious.
"I'll explain now." Sasuke stated. Minato sat next to his wife and Kyubi sat next to Amaru. Naruto, just sat on the arm of a chair, next to his Mother, waiting for Sasuke to speak. Sasuke sighed. "This is going to be hard to tell them. A lot harder than it was to tell Neji." Sasuke thought to himself. "The King is sending soldiers here as we speak, with Itachi, to arrest you and take you back to the Capital for execution." Sasuke blurted out. The group stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Well the blunt approach went well." Sasuke thought to himself. "He found out about how we let the girls go. He found out our story was false. He had us followed by Kabuto who was only too happy to spill the truth to him. My father ordered that your family, Shikamaru's family, and Neji be bought in for execution." Sasuke stated firmly.
"Let me guess, you were supposed to be on the chopping block too?" Minato questioned. Sasuke nodded. Naruto looked at Sasuke with wide eyes.
"He'd kill his own son?" Naruto asked.
"Of course he would Naruto. He wants to make sure no one disobeys him. Sasuke is his son who broke his law. He'll kill Sasuke just to make an example of him." The group turned to see it was a white-haired male who spoke to them.
"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto yelled happily.
"Hi Dad." Minato said softly.
"I was just about to warn you about this, but it seems Sasuke beat me to it." Jiraiya stated sternly. Then Jiraiya walked over to Naruto and whacked across the head.
"I'm your Grandfather! Don't call me 'Ero-Sennin' you brat!" Jiraiya yelled.
"It's not my fault that you're an Ero-Sennin!" Naruto yelled back. Sasuke stared.
"So, you're the famous intelligence spy Jiraiya, who disappeared without a trace?" Sasuke asked.
"That's right." Jiraiya replied, with a grin on his face.
"He's your Father?" Sasuke asked Minato. Minato grinned sheepishly.
"Yes." He replied.
"We need to leave." Sasuke stated.
"He's right Minato. This village is loyal to you, but if soldiers come, do you think that it'll be a good idea to be here? The people would be killed needlessly trying to protect you." Jiraiya said kindly.
"So how will we inform the villagers that they don't need to protect us?" Naruto asked.
"I'll go and inform them of what's happening." Jiraiya replied. "Now go and pack. We haven't the time to be sitting here arguing." Jiraiya said kindly.
"What do you mean pack?" Kyubi asked.
"Just pack plain clothing, anything that's particularly important to you and hurry up. Knowing the King's soldiers like I do, they're not going to give us the chance to run." Minato replied.
"Run where?" The group turned to look at three young adults.
"Kakashi? Rin? Obito? What are you doing here?" Minato asked. Sasuke stared at Obito. He was the one who had spoken.
"Hello little cousin." Obito stated, once he'd noticed Sasuke staring.
"We're here because we heard a rumour that something bad was going to happen here." Rin stated. She had a pout on her face, and Minato sighed.
"I can understand if you would rather I stayed here. But-" Minato was cut off by a glare from the new trio.
"You were our teacher Minato-Sensei. Why would we want you to be executed?" Obito asked.
"Yeah Sensei. You sure think a lot of us." Rin added. Kakashi nodded in agreement.
"We wanted to offer to come with you. We're not fighting for a King that'll kill his own kin, and we're not betraying our own Sensei." Obito stated seriously.
"It's up to you, but are you prepared to leave this life behind?" Jiraiya stated seriously.
"Who else do we have apart from Minato-Sensei?" Rin asked.
"My family always thought I was a failure until I came to you Minato-Sensei." Obito said.
"You looked after me when my father died. None of us have any family to think about apart from you Sensei." Kakashi said softly. Minato sighed.
"I don't want you all to ruin your lives." Minato stated.
"How can we? We wouldn't be where we are now without you Minato-Sensei." Rin questioned.
"Just hurry up. We haven't got time to argue." Jiraiya said sharply. Everyone sprang to attention and kick started into action. No one looking at each other whilst they did what they felt they needed to do.
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Shikaku, Yoshino and Shikamaru looked shocked after Mikoto and Neji had finished their explanation.
"It explains a lot." Shikaku said seriously. He made to leave the room.
"Where are you going Dad?" Shikamaru asked.
"To warn the slaves here to start running. Once the soldiers find that we're gone, they'll take the slaves. They'll either resell them or kill them. God knows what would happen on the journey." Shikaku replied.
"So we're leaving?" Shikamaru asked. Shikaku nodded and left the room. Shikamaru looked at his Mother then. "Mum, pack plain clothes. We need to be inconspicuous." Shikamaru said. He made to rush out of the room.
"Shikamaru?" Yoshino questioned.
"It's alright Mum. We'll be alright. We just need to get out of here. Once we're gone, the soldiers won't have a clue where to find us. But we need to hurry. The soldiers are always as quick as they can be. I can estimate that they'll be here looking for us at sundown." Shikamaru commented. Yoshino nodded, and both left the room.
"I hope that all this is worth it." Neji said softly.
"Saving their lives?" Mikoto asked.
"No. I mean all the running. We're going to be running for the rest of our lives. Or at least until we find somewhere to hide. Is that a real life?" Neji asked.
"It's better than death at the hands of my husband's executioners." Mikoto responded. Neji nodded.
"I just hope that Hanabi will be alright." Neji replied.
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That evening, two groups met up near the northern borders of Konoha. All of them greeted each other warmly. All wearing plain clothing. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji grouped together. Amaru sat next to Naruto.
"What's going to happen to us now Naruto?" Amaru asked softly.
"We'll keep running for now Amaru. But don't worry. None of us are going to let anything bad happen to you." Naruto said kindly. Amaru nodded and sat closer to her older cousin.
"I think we should find Akatsuki." Shikamaru stated. The group stared at him. All of the adults had stopped in their tracks.
"It is a good idea." Neji agreed. Naruto nodded.
"The Akatsuki are near impossible to find." Obito stated.
"That's if you're allies of the King. We should be able to find them somehow, now that we're outlaws." Sasuke replied.
"They're right. The Akatsuki are about our only hope for protection." The group stared at Kyubi, who grinned sheepishly. "What? I can agree with you brats sometimes." Kyubi added.
"Any idea how to find them?" Neji asked.
"I think I can help you all!" The group turned to stare at a dark-haired, very pale, teenager. He wore black and gave a large smile. "I'm Sai. I've been sent by Pein of Akatsuki to locate you all. After all, you're outlaws like us now." Sai stated.
"Then lead the way!" Naruto exclaimed.
"There's something we need to do first. Prove your loyalty and all." Sai replied.
"What do we have to do?" Sasuke asked.
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Kabuto glared as the soldiers rode into Konoha. They'd found the empty Nara estate already. The slaves had all disappeared, along with the masters.
"Shikaku is intelligent Kabuto. He could have figured it out for himself." Itachi stated coldly.
"If he did, then we won't find the Uzumaki family either." Kabuto hissed.
"Are you taking a tone with me Kabuto?" Itachi asked mockingly. Kabuto shrank back. They rode into the courtyard of the Uzumaki estate, in the middle of Konoha. It too was empty. Kabuto cursed outwardly. "Well played Sasuke. You're getting smarter. For both families to be gone, you obviously thought about the situation." Itachi thought to himself. He inwardly smirked. "If only Fire country wasn't so corrupt, you'd have made a great King little brother." Itachi added silently, as the group made their way to look through the house. They all knew they wouldn't find anything. "If they're clever, they'll go and seek help from Akatsuki, rather than trying to keep running." Itachi thought to himself as he oversaw the search happily, glad that his sibling had escaped somehow.
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Okay everyone. That's the end of this chapter. Next chapter, you'll find out what the group's Akatsuki initiation is. You might find out a bit more about Itachi and his relationship to Sasuke if I feel like it. (nods) Various other things will follow. So no worries. Anywho, Amaru doesn't belong to me, she's in the second Shipuuden movie, Bonds. I thought it wasn't actually a bad film. So yeah if you're a Naruto fan, you might as well watch it. But I liked Amaru as a character, she seemed quite wussy really but she reminded me of one of my various cousins, so yeah that's why she's there. I'm very random about things like that.
Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter (relatively, I know it was a bit filler) and I'm thankful to anyone who has chosen to read, review, or add me to their faves or alerts lists. It is very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.