AN: Here it is people! The fifth chapter, wow the big 5 already? It seems like just yesterday i was contemplating on posting this story up here and now we're already this far! And of course I only have you, my readers, to thank! So many of you wished for the story to continue and so i have granted your wishes! {I'm so giving} But one more thing must be said before i stop my babbling and that one thing. . . will be said at the end of the story in my AN. So, without further ado! Here is your drugs, use wisely!
TMR: Ahhh! Thank you's go out to those who kindly took a mintue of your time to post a review! I love you! And to my readers in general, I also love you SO MUCH!
Note: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae © Anna Uzumaki
Pairing(s): Naruto/Sasuke With: Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Kakashi/Iruka, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Hana, Temari/Tenten, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Itachi/Deidara, Suigetsu/Sasori.
Warning(s): Yaoi, lemon(s), sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama, slight child abuse & possible rape.
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Royalties
Chapter 5
Flashback: Summer Festival- Part II
N.P.O.V.
As I leaned on Sasuke, I felt really peaceful, I hadn't slipped all the way into unconsciousness but I felt more and more tired the longer I stayed like that. Weird, because usually when I was this close to him, I always felt the opposite of tired. I wonder why this contact feels different. I tried to think about how this could possibly be different from any other time, but then I felt the buggy suddenly come to a halt and next thing I knew Itachi was shaking us gently to wake us up. When had I fallen asleep?
"Sasuke, Naruto wake up, the ride is over." He said to us just above a whisper.
I sat up-right and yawned widely, but quietly, with my hand over my mouth. I guess I really did fall asleep, 'Oh well, it could not be helped.' I thought to myself.
"Have mother and aunt Kushina decided on what we will be doing next onii-san?" Sasuke mumbled sleepily to his brother.
"I think so, though I can't be sure, I wasn't really paying too close attention to them." Itachi admitted and actually looked as though he was embarrassed.
"I hope it is something entertaining, unlike that play." I said and shivered at the memory. While I said that I stepped off the buggy, only to slip off the last step, but thankfully my father caught me just in time, before I fell to the stone pathway.
"Naruto! Are you alright? You must watch where you're going son." My father chided me, though I know he said it with love.
"Yes father and I am fine." I told him, feeling slightly embarrassed at almost falling and Kiba did not make me feel any better.
"Very graceful Naruto!" He said through a laugh, only to be swatted on the back of his head by his mother, which made me laugh and stick my tongue out at him.
"Kiba! You ought to know better than to laugh at others!" Lady Tsume said to him, then picked up Akamaru and placed him atop of her own personal dog, though to say her dog was a dog was a huge understatement. Her dog looked like he might have belonged in the werewolf category, the dog was huge!
"Mother!" Kiba protested, as she bent over to pick him up and place him on the same wolf like dog.
"No complaining," She scolded him, "So, where to next Kushina?" She continued and turned to my mother with a smile.
"Well, how about the circus? The showing is to begin soon and by the time it ends, we will have just enough time to make it over to the fireworks showing." My mother told her and everyone else, who nodded their heads in agreement. I knew it, the circus, I sighed heavily to myself.
"I think that is a splendid suggestion, the longer I can stay off my feet the better." Hinata and Neji's mother, Hisae, laughed while holding her huge stomach.
"I know how you feel." My mother and all the other women said at the same time, and then laughed loudly at the simultaneous answer. As we began to walk towards the tent where the circus was being held, the women of the group continued to talk, while the men walked behind carrying on their own conversations and we children were right in the middle of it all.
"So will this be your last one Hisae?" Shika's mother, Lady Yoshino, asked.
"Yes indeed, I believe three children is just enough for me." Lady Hisae laughed.
"Have you chosen any name's yet?" Shino's mother, Lady Kaho, asked.
"Well, if it is a girl, I have chosen to name her Hanabi and if it is a boy, Hiashi…." Lady Hisae turned to husband for the name.
"I have chosen the name, Hiro." Hiashi-sama announced with a small smile.
"Those are both very lovely names! Minato's father actually chose Naruto's name for us, though I could not agree more with him that it was a wonderful name." My mother practically gushed and turned to look at me, showing a face splitting grin. I could not help but to smile back at her.
"Is that so, Minato?" An unfamiliar voice said. What was it with people calling out to a royal in such a way today? I just hope they know this person as well.
When we all turned to where the voice came from, my eyes fell onto a pale boy with black hair and a weird smile, and he stood next to an older man with a cane and a patch over his right eye. I have never seen them before and from some of the looks in our group, neither have they or so it seemed, they all actually looked a little irritated.
"Shimura-san, Sai-chan, should I say this is a coincidence that we meet tonight?" My father said. It seemed like he was not all too happy to have run into this man tonight. Weird.
"I should think so," The older man named Shimura-san said with a coy smile, then looked down at me, "So, this is your son?" he asked, I do not know why, but this man creped me out, so I stepped behind my mothers' dress to slightly hide myself from him.
"Yes it is, Danzo-san." My mother said and placed her hand on my head, "This is our son Naruto, Naruto, this is Shimura Danzo and his son Sai." My mother continued and introduced me to the man and his son, who still had that weird smile on his face.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, young Master Uzumaki." Sai said to me and bowed.
"I-it is nice to meet you as well." I stuttered quietly.
"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet young sir, though I must say, it's a shame that this is the first time I am to meet with you." Shimura-san said to me, and at that I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled.
"Yes it is, though as it happens, Naruto has just begun his tutoring sessions and he has been very busy. We are to discuss his schedule more, once we return home that is." My father informed him, I have never heard my father sound so unpleased. Who was this man…? And why was his weirdly smiling son still staring at me.
"Ah is that so? Well, I must ask that when you visit Konoha again, to bring the young sir, Minato," Shimura-san said, "And Karura, this must be your youngest, correct?" He continued and looked from me to Gaara.
"Yes Danzo-san, Sai-chan this is Akurei and I's youngest son, Gaara." Lady Karura said, not even bothering to properly introduce Gaara to him or his son.
"A pleasure young Suna." Sai said and bowed to him to.
"For me as well, sir." Gaara all but whispered from beside his mother.
"Such articulate young boys' you all have here, though I do not see the other young heirs here?" Shimura-san questioned looking around.
"No, we have split up into groups, as to see more of the events tonight." Fugaku-sama answered his question.
"Is that so," Shimura-san said while looking at Sasuke, "Well, where might I ask are you all headed now?" He continued and looked at Lady Hisae with anticipation.
"We are taking the children to the circus tent." Lady Hisae told him, while looking a little uncomfortable. I guessed it was due the fact that her stomach was weighing her down, Hiashi-sama must've noticed her expression because he quickly spoke up.
"Yes, the last showing is scheduled to begin in a few moments. You will have to excuse us, as my wife needs to rest." He told Shimura-san and placed his hand on the small of her back.
"Yes, yes, of course," He agreed and turned to Yashamaru-san, "Yashamaru, if you don't mind, would you take my son along with you?" He continued.
"Of course, Danzo-san." Yashamaru agreed.
"Good Well, if you'll all excuse me. I will see you later at the fireworks event," Shimura-san said, "Oh and Hisae, congratulations. I'm looking forward to the birth of your next child." He continued and then turned to leave before anyone said anything. Though I doubt they would have said something even if he had stayed, except for Hiashi-sama, who looked after the cane wielding man with the deadliest glare I have ever seen. What was that all about?
I stood there looking at his retreating back for a few seconds before turning to Shimura-san's son, who was now looking at both Gaara and I, then walked over to Yashamaru-san. While the rest of the group turned to continue walking to the circus tent, I wanted to ask who that man was, but I refrained from doing so because his son was walking within earshot and I didn't know whether or not my parents would've said anything with him so close. So I decided to just ask them later.
When we finally reached the tent, we were ushered inside to a private section meant only for royals and higher-ups, I sat down next to Gaara and Sasuke came to sit on the other side of me, while the adults, Itachi and Sai sat behind us. Neji sat on the other vacant side of Gaara and Hinata sat beside him with Shino next to her. And on the other side of Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru had taken their seats just before the lights inside the tent were dimmed.
As the show began, I leaned over to Sasuke to question him about that man and his weird son. I could not wait to ask my parents.
"Hey, Sasuke, who was that Shimura-san?" I whispered to him.
"I'm not sure I have only just recently met him, Itachi told me he works for Sarutobi-sama though." Sasuke whispered back to me. Of course I knew who Sarutobi-sama, he was the King of Konoha and the one who host these summer events. I met him last year when I first came here, he is really nice and his son is one of my new instructors as well.
"Really, then why did the adults seem irritated by him?" I whispered back.
"I overheard my parents talking once and they said that he did not seem trust worthy, that his decisions for things seem too harsh? Like I said, I am not sure, but I am not too fond of him either. Especially with the way he was staring at you back there." Sasuke whispered and then frowned at the last part.
"Yes, what was with that?" Neji interjected, I looked over to see him and Gaara looking at Sasuke and me.
"I know for certain that my parents do not like him." Gaara whispered.
"Neither do ours." Neji followed, speaking for him and Hinata.
"Really? why?" I asked them, I figured some of the adults did not, but now I might actually be getting somewhere as to why.
"Well, Kankuro and Temari told me that, before I was born, he had come to talk to our parents about something. I am sure they did not tell me everything but, from what they did say, I think it was about different birthing methods." Gaara whispered to us, Kiba and Shika were now leaning in closer to hear as well.
"The same happened with my parents as well, he came to our castle shortly after my mother announced her pregnancy. Needless to say my father was very angry and my mother started crying really bad." Neji added his encounter with the strange man.
"You guys to, huh?" Kiba asked, "Hana told me something like that a few months ago." He continued.
"Yeah, Itachi also mentioned something like that to me." Sasuke whispered.
"Naruto, I would not be at all surprised if he went to your parents as well." Shika stated, looking more awake than he had all day.
"What? Are you guys serious?" I asked them, I honestly could not believe what I was hearing. This was starting to sound like a horror show. I really would just have to ask my parents for myself.
They all just shrugged their shoulders and turned back to the show, which I didn't care to watch, so I turned around absentmindedly to see that Neji and Hinata's parents had their heads close together, it looked as though they were talking, but something seemed off, it looked like their mother was shivering. Then it hit me, she was crying. I looked at Neji and Hinata just then, and they were looking at each other in almost a silent conversation, Hinata then nodded her head and leaned into Shino. I decided to just let it go for now and turned to look at the show, not really hearing or seeing anything.
As the show neared the end I thought I heard whispering behind me, but when I turned around I saw Sai and Yashamaru-san turned their heads forward rather quickly. I frowned knowing they had just been looking over here and talking about something, I then felt someone poke my leg and looked beside me to see Gaara looking at me from the corner of his eye and nod. So they were talking about me and possibly Gaara too, I did not like this, I just wanted to go home now and the sooner the better. What seemed like forever, but could have been a few moments, the show ended and everyone applauded, when our parents got up, they looked a little less irritated and motioned for us to leave.
When we got outside our parents held our hands, like they had before and lead us to the main arena where the fireworks were to be viewed. I turned around once again to see that Sai was pretty far behind us, still talking to Yashamaru-san, so I decided to ask my parents what had been eating at me since I saw Shimura-san.
"Mother, Father, is there something wrong with Shimura-san?" I asked in a somewhat low voice, one that only they could hear.
"No, sweetie, why do you ask?" Mother answered me, after quickly glancing at father. Though, I might have just imagined that I had seen that.
"Well, it just that Neji and the others were telling me some things about him during the circus." I admitted shyly.
This glance that they shared now, I know I did not imagine. They actually looked at each other then turned around to the other adults before looking down at me.
"Such as?" Mother asked me.
"They were saying that Shimura-san had been asking their parents about certain things." I told her, I hoped I was getting somewhere having asked them about it, but I could tell I was not when my father spoke.
"It is nothing you need to worry about son that is something for us adults to take care of." Father said to me, but gave me a warm smile none the less.
I tried to hide my pout, but I don't think I succeeded very well because my father kneeled down in front of me and mussed up my hair, which in turn caused my crown to slide down over one of my eyes. I could not help but to laugh as he put it back into place and put his forehead to mine.
"Naruto, you have nothing to worry about, understand?" He told me and then cocked his head to the side at his question.
"Yes father." I smiled at him, I did not fail to notice that everyone, including those in our group, were staring at us and smiling. I blushed once I saw Sasuke smirking at me, but I managed to give him a slight glare which made him give me a full blown grin and laugh. My eyes widened slightly before I controlled them and stuck my tongue out at him, then turned around to continue walking with my parents to the arena.
When we arrived at the arena, the other group was already in our private section with the King of Konoha, Sarutobi-sama. Once we sat down, I realized that Shimura-san wasn't there yet, 'I wonder if he still plans on coming.' I thought to myself. The arena was almost full with people from all over and the sun had completely set, the stars were shining brightly, it was so pretty. As I sat there looking up at the sky, Gaara, who had sat beside me, tapped me on my arm.
"Naruto, here." He handed me a cup which had some kind of juice in it and right now, the last thing I wanted was something to drink, I had to use the restroom really bad!
"Actually, Gaara, I have to use the restroom." I told him and smiled, he nodded his head in agreement.
"Ah, so do I." He smiled shyly and turned to his mother, "Mother, Naruto and I have to use the restroom, can you take us?" He continued and asked her.
"Sure sweetie." She smiled at him.
"Oh, Karura, you need not get up, I will escort them to the restrooms. I am a guy after all." Yashamaru-san said then laughed.
"I suppose you are right," She laughed with him, "Go ahead but hurry back, the fireworks are going to start any moment now." She continued and motioned for us to leave.
"Lord Minato, Lady Kushina I am going to escort Naruto and Gaara to the restrooms." Yashamaru-san told my parents, when we came to where they were seated just a couple of seats away from Gaara's mother.
"Oh? Alright then." Mother nodded.
"Very well." Father nodded and waved for our leave.
As we walked to the bathroom I wondered idly where Shimura-san was at, he did say he was coming and where had Sai gone? He was with Yashamaru-san up until the arena, so maybe he and his father sat in a different section. I looked over to Gaara to see that he was staring at me; I had no doubts that he was thinking the same thing as me.
"Uncle, where did Sai go?" Gaara asked what I had definitely been thinking.
"He is with his father, they went to introduce themselves to a fellow business partner." Yashamaru told us. I had not expected that answer, maybe I was getting paranoid for no reason after all.
"Oh." Gaara mumbled, as we turned to enter the bathroom I saw that there was no one in there, considering that their where hundreds of people here, though the show was going to start at any moment, so maybe they're all in their seats. Gaara and I hastily made our way to the stalls, Yashamaru-san stood by the door with an oddly blank face. I didn't pay much attention to it but Gaara did, as we washed our hands he leaned over to me.
"My uncle has been acting weird today." He whispered so low that only I could hear him.
"Really, Like how?" I asked him in an equally low voice.
"Well, for one, he was talking to Sai and looking at us the whole time at the circus and two, he hasn't asked me about myself since he's gotten here. Usually when he is around me he cannot stop asking questions." Gaara whispered so quickly, that I am surprised that I caught it all.
"I knew he and sai were staring at me during the circus." I told him, he nodded and then looked over my shoulder with a puzzled look. I turned to see his uncle talking to someone with a mask on that had just come in, we then turned off the water and walked over to him and the man with the mask on, just when we came within a few feet of them we could hear the person in the mask speak.
"Are these the children?" the masked person, who I could now tell was a man, asked Yashamaru-san.
"Yes… I'm so sorry Gaara, Naruto." he said.
"Uncle, what is-" Gaara started to say, before his uncle and the masked man grabbed us and covered our mouths. I was so scared and shocked, I did not understand what was happening, I tried to turn and look at Gaara but something covered my eyes. I struggled to get loose, but I quickly realized that my hands had been tied in front of me, which caused my cufflink to break off and clink to the marbled floor. I silently prayed that someone would see us like this and summon the guards, but I knew that wish might not come true once I felt the warm summer breeze on my face. I don't know how, but we were already outside and I wanted desperately to look and see if Gaara was alright, until his uncle spoke.
"Gaara, Naruto I am truly sorry for doing this, but I must." He said, and then I was air born for a brief moment before being sat down on something soft and dry, like hay. Then I felt a weight settle beside me, before it fell into me with a grunt, Gaara? It had to be, because it was not very heavy and it was warm. The next thing I felt was something light being tossed over my head and then shortly after I felt a jerk which caused me to fall over, I hastily grabbed at the objects that covered my eyes and mouth, with a little struggling I was finally able to successfully remove them.
"Gaara?" I practically mouthed, too scared to talk, when I saw him lying beside me, not moving.
"Mm-mn." He grunted and I sighed quietly, and then hurriedly removed his blindfold and scarf in his mouth.
"Gaara, what's going on?" I asked him in a very hushed whisper.
"I don't know, I'm scared, why is he doing this? I don't understand." Gaara said as he started to panic worse than I was, I hugged him to keep him quiet and felt something wet soak through my sleeve. He was crying and at that point I lost it, I thought of the worst case scenario, not being able to see my parents ever again or my friends…. Or Sasuke. I was not able to hold my tears back and cried into Gaara, who now had his tied arms clutched to my chest as he cried.
As we continued to cry quietly, I could hear the gravel under the buggy we were in stop, but only to be replaced with a softer sound, like riding over grass, 'I wonder where were they are taking us?' I thought to myself. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I was sure my parents must have realized my absence by now. Suddenly I felt the buggy come to a halt and whispered hastily to Gaara.
"Put your gag and blindfold back on." I quickly told him, I didn't want to think of what they might do if they had seen that we had undone the blindfolds. As soon as I had put the restraints back on, I felt someone pull back the sheet that had been placed over or heads, in an attempt to hide us.
"I think its safe enough to undo the blindfolds now, Yashamaru." The masked man said.
"I suppose." Yashamaru-san said in a somewhat bored tone.
When he took, rather when he snatched, the blindfold off of me, my crown few off with it and rolled to the ground. I cried out in pain, only to have it muffled by the gag in my mouth, I automatically looked over at Gaara as the masked man tore his blindfold off as well and, like mine, his crown fell to the ground. The masked man went to pick them up, but paused once Yashamaru-san told him not to.
"Leave them Madara, they are just crowns." He called to the man.
"That may be, but if someone were to see them here they could possibly find these twerps," The masked man, named Madara said, then proceeded to pick our crowns' up and place them in a bag, "And we do not want that happening so soon, I do not know about you, but I for one do not wish to jeopardize my royal standing any further." He continued, his voice, now that I could hear more than a few words being spoken by him, sounded oddly familiar. Though, in my current state, I was too scared to place a name or face with his voice. Wait, did he just say that he was a royal? And that name, I know that name, but from where?
"With what I am doing, do you honestly think I care about my royalties anymore?" Yashamaru-san questioned the man.
"Hey, you never can tell what a person is thinking and, after all, who is more capable of killing a royal, than a royal?" Madara laughed.
"Quiet Madara! You talk too much. You're going to scare my nephew and Namikaze's kid." Yashamaru-san said, referring to my father by his surname.
"Ah, yes, Minato's brat, it has been a while since I've last seen him." Madara said with familiarity, then grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back to look at me. It hurt so much! I am fairly certain that he pulled some of my hair out, and as I cried silently he looked me over.
"Hmm, well, I'll be dammed, he looks even more like Namikaze now," Madara said and threw me out of the buggy to the ground, I turned to see him yank Gaara the same way he did me, "And your nephew looks just like his bastard father Akurei." He continued and then threw Gaara down beside me.
"Careful! It may not seem like it, but he's my nephew and I love him. So be careful." Yashamaru-san yelled at the man, but made no move toward Gaara. I looked at Gaara as new tears began to fill his eyes, I was still crying from fear and having my hair yanked out, though I'm sure Gaara was crying for so many more reasons. This was his uncle, someone who he thought he could trust and here he was talking about killing us…. Wait, killing us! I hadn't even registered what he had said before, but now that I had, I was hysterical.
AN: I'll end this chapter here peoples! As I said last time, the flashback continues for a couple more chapters! So just hold on, cause from here on out this will be a seriously bumpy ride! {Clears throat} Also as I mentioned in the first AN I have something important to tell you all, and I hope you can bear it for just a little while, {Clasps hands together} but next weeks post may be postponed, due to the fact that i am moving! {Covers head from flying objects}, I know,I know! I could post it at an earlier time, like now, but I will not do so without the required reviews! So, with that being said, I will see you all next time! Mwah! I love you! {Runs away from the knife weilding mob}
Please note: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae© are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names. But mine none the less.
P.s. You control when the next chapter is posted with your reviews! Also, I have put up a poll for my next story on my page, so please check it out and cast your vote! I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, Ja ne!
P.s.s. Like last time, I would like to recieve at least 5 more review before i put up the next chapter, So it has been said, So it shall be! So just mash that REVIEW button! Dont make yourself or others suffer!
- Anna Uzumaki