Freedom. Chapter 6: The Dance.

(Note: Hey guys. It's Aerisuke here, again. Now I forgot to mention this in the prologue, but I kind of made a slight error with the ages of Naruto and Kakashi. Sakura's fine though. Originally, I said that Naruto was 17 at the time of the Battle Of Stirling, 18 at the time of the Battle Of Falkirk, 25 at the time of William's execution, and 34 at the time of the Battle Of Bannockburn. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's how I wrote the ages of Naruto and Kakashi:

Kakashi Hatake
Date of birth (DOB): September 15, 1266
Age: 31 (at the time of The Battle of Stirling on September 11, 1297) 32 (at the time of The Battle Of Falkirk on July 22, 1298), 39 (at the time of William's execution on August 23, 1305), and 48 (at the time of The Battle Of Bannockburn on June 23-24, 1314).

Naruto Uzumaki
Date of birth (DOB): October 10, 1280.
Age: 17 (at the time of The Battle Of Stirling on September 11, 1297) 18 (at the time of The Battle Of Falkirk on July 22, 1298), 25 (at the time of William's execution on August 23, 1305), and 34 (at the time of The Battle Of Bannockburn on June 23-24, 1314).

Now you see where I'm going with this? According to the events of "Braveheart" (and the real William Wallace's life since Braveheart was obviously based on him; well kind of), the Battle Of Stirling took place on September 11, 1297, the Battle Of Falkirk took place on July 22, 1298, William's execution took place on August 23 (Temari's birthday, surprisingly), 1305, and the Battle Of Bannockburn took place sometime between June 23-24 of 1314, almost nine years after William's death. Here's what I really meant, according to the events of "Freedom," and of "Braveheart"":

Kakashi Hatake
Date of birth (DOB): September 15, 1266
Age: 30, almost 31 (at the time of The Battle of Stirling on September 11, 1297), 31, almost 32 (at the time of The Battle Of Falkirk on July 22, 1298), 38, almost 39 (at the time of William's execution on August 23, 1305), and 47, almost 48 (at the time of The Battle Of Bannockburn on June 23-24, 1314).

Naruto Uzumaki
Date of birth (DOB): October 10, 1280.
Age: 16, almost 17 (at the time of The Battle of Stirling on September 11, 1297), 17, almost 18 (at the time of The Battle Of Falkirk on July 22, 1298), 24, almost 25 (at the time of William's execution on August 23, 1305), and 33, almost 34 (at the time of The Battle Of Bannockburn on June 23-24, 1314).

So yeah. Sorry for the confusion. For now, please enjoy the chapter! :D

Later that night...

After the Battle Of Stirling was over, everybody washed the facepaint off their faces (Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura weren't wearing facepaint at the time of the Battle Of Stirling).

Meanwhile, somewhere in a bar in Scotland, everybody was celebrating their victory after winning their battle with the English at Stirling. However, they were still recovering from their injuries, thanks to Sakura's healing abilites.

The Scots were talking amongst themselves and having a great time. Some of them were drinking in harmony. Well, minus William, Hamish, Stephen, Campbell, Morrison, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi of course.

"I can't believe we beat the English at Stirling! I feel so alive, that I'm so happy I could die!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to contain his excitement.

"Don't," William stated.

"It was just an expression," Naruto said.

"Naruto. Just because we've beaten the English at Stirling doesn't mean that our battle with them isn't quite over yet," William replied.

"Aw. Why?! I thought our mission was over!" Naruto complained, as he put his feet on the chair, and his head on top of his knees and arms. "And here I thought I was going to go home after this, but I guess not."

Sakura and Kakashi felt sad for Naruto because they, too, were homesick.

"Look, I will explain everything to everyone else at dinner., okay?" William put his hand on Naruto's back, comforting his friend and teammate.

Naruto sighed.

"Alright."

"Thank you," William acknowledged.

During Naruto's conversation with William, Stephen snuck away from the septet (Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, William, Hamish, Campbell and Morrison) and went onto the stage, as he ran backstage, hiding himself away from everyone.

However, Naruto noticed that Stephen was gone.

"Hey. Where did Stephen go?" Naruto wondered.

Just then, the sound of a microphone turned on, and a spotlight on the stage shined on Stephen.

"Stephen?!" Hamish cried.

"What the heck is that insane Irishman doing now?" Campbell scoffed in annoyance.

"Idiot," Morrison mumbled about Stephen.

"Ladies and gentlemen? May I have your attention, please?" Stephen called to the rest of the Scots who looked at him. "Now, since our battle with the English at Stirling, which has been a success, I think it's time we dance. However, two of those people that will be dancing will be none other than..."

"Than...?" Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, William, Campbell, Hamish and Morrison inquired to themselves.

"...William and Sakura!" Stephen revealed as two spotlights appeared on both William and Sakura, to which they began to blush.

"Stephen! Stop teasing Sakura and William or I'll kick your butt!" Naruto shouted with a clenched fist in the air.

"Come on, Naruto! Where's your sense of fun?" Stephen laughed.

William and Sakura quickly glanced at each other, but looked away in embarrassment.

"Look, Stephen. How many times do I have to say it? William and I are only friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend. How could he and I fall in love with each other after Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and I have been with all of you for only four months?" Sakura catechized, getting annoyed at Stephen, as if she wanted to punch him in the face.

"Well, I actually wouldn't mind," William said, his face still red.

"What?" Sakura cocked her head at William in confusion.

"It's not like this is my first time dancing with a woman," William stated in a matter-of-fact way as he stopped blushing and looked at Sakura. "I'll dance with you, Sakura, but only this once. After all, it's not like we're dating. We're just friends, right?"

"Right. So come on. Let's dance. You know, I've never danced with a man before," Sakura replied as she and William walked closer to each other; her hands meeting his. He put one hand on Sakura's back, and she did the same thing.

Their feet moved graciously all around the room, with everyone else (including Naruto and Kakashi) joining them in their dance.

Then, when the music got into an upbeat part, everybody held each other's hands and their feet began to stomp the ground. Everybody (including Sakura and William) was laughing and having such a great time, wishing for the night to never end. William and Sakura (still holding each other's hands) started spinning around for a few seconds, but eventually stopped, to avoid themselves from getting dizzy and passing out on the floor.

Finally, as soon as the music stopped, everyone was cheering while William and Sakura were still panting in exhaustion from all that dancing.

"You did good, Sakura," William panted.

"You too, William," Sakura huffed.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Stephen chanted, to which William and Sakura both glared at him and walked over to him.

While Sakura punched Stephen on the head, William slapped Stephen's left cheek.

"Ow! Come on, guys! I was just joking!" Stephen cried.

"Joke or no joke, I don't think it was very funny," Sakura said, her back facing Stephen. "Look. I don't want to repeat myself, but even though I liked dancing with William, he and I are just friends," She looked at him behind her shoulder with an icily stare in her eyes. "Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Stephen whimpered.

"Come on! Let's have some food! I'm starving!" Naruto yelled.

Everyone else went to join Naruto at the dinner table.

William stood up and tapped his wineglass on a spoon.

"Attention, everyone. Attention," he voiced as everyone looked at him. "Before we eat our meal, I'd like to make a toast. Now as you all know, we've worked very hard on our battle with the English at Stirling. However, our battle with them isn't quite over yet. Although we've beaten the English, they'll come back. Above all else, I'd like to thank all the Scots, especially Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi for working so hard on this battle. It was an intense four-month training for us, but we did it. Thank you all very much. To freedom!" William raised his wineglass.

"To freedom!" everyone else raised their wineglass, and started eating their dinner.

Later that night, while everyone was still talking, Sakura and William left the bar and went outside on the same field of grass that they sat with Kakashi and Naruto almost four months ago before their victory against the English at Stirling.

"So, Sakura. Tell me a little bit about yourself. You kind of know a little bit about me, but what's your background?" William wondered.

"Well, when I was growing up in the Ninja Academy back in Konoha, I would often get teased about my big forehead because it's so wide. In fact, they called me "Forehead Girl", or "Billboard Brow." Then, Ino, the girl that you met back in Konoha, gave me a red ribbon as a way of showing me that I needed to be more confident in myself, and to not let other people tease me about my forehead, and to accept myself the way I am. Like you, William, not only did Ino tell me to be more confident, but she also taught me to stand up to what I believe in, and we became best friends.. However, at some point, our friendship ended because I found out that like all the other girls at the Ninja Academy, she, like me, had a big crush on Sasuke. From that moment on, we became rivals. We even fought each other in the Chunin Exams, but eventually-" Sakura was about to finish until Wiliam interrupted her.

"What's the Chunin Exams?"

"The Chunin Exams is a type of a test to look over the abilities of the Genin, or Junior Ninja. If we do well, then we'd eventually become a Chunin, or middle ninja. The first stage is a written test. The second stage is a life-or-death situation in which we have to find one or both scrolls – the Earth scroll, and the Heaven scroll in order to continue on to the next round. In order to get those scrolls, the participants are locked in a dangerous training area, but without a sensei. The third and fourth stages are preliminary matches in which we have to fight each other in order for us to become Chunin. However, the fourth stage still continues the preliminary matches, but only a few of the participants who passed the second and third stage can participate while the people who didn't win become spectators during the fight. Anyway, Ino and I were two of the people who fought each other in the Chunin Exams. It was a pretty rough battle between us. At first, I thought one of us was going to win, but we ended up exchanging blows and knocked each other out, which led to a draw, meaning that we both lost the match. The kids back at the Ninja Academy during our childhood would often call Ino, "Ino-pig" because her name in Japanese means "boar,"" Sakura explained.

""Ino-pig?"" William snickered, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah," Sakura said as she and William started to laugh a little. "But don't tell her I told you that!" she panicked.

"I won't," William agreed. "Although... I kind of wonder what would have happened if I was there during that fight..."

William imagined himself being there at Ino and Sakura's match.

In William's imagination...

During Ino and Sakura's match, as both girls were about to charge at each other, they ended up exchanging blows and knocked each other out, which led to a draw, and both girls were sent flying across the room, while falling to the ground unconscious.

"Sakura!" William cried as he ran down the stairs and picked her up, while Asuma carried Ino, went up the stairs, and placed them against a wall.

"Sakura... please wake up," William said, fearing that Sakura was already dead. As tears were about to form in his eyes, Sakura regained consciousness and looked at William who gave her a tight embrace.

Out of William's imagination...

"William? William."

William snapped out of his trance and back to reality as he noticed that Sakura was the one calling his name.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"Aye. I'm fine," William nodded.

"Oh. Good," Sakura stated with a smile.

"Sakura, are you, Kakashi and Naruto doing anything tomorrow?" William questioned.

"No. Not that I know of. Why?" Sakura wondered.

"Well, tomorrow, I want to take the three of you to my childhood home. It's in Elderslie, and it's somewhere in Scotland," William responded.

"Sure. I'd love to go. I'll tell Naruto and Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said with a smile.

"Great," William smiled back at Sakura.

Afterward, Team Kakashi, William and everyone else went to bed, feeling exhausted from their battle with the English at Stirling.

However, before Naruto fell asleep, he wrote a letter to Hinata, giving her an update on the situation on what was going on with the Scots and the English.

"Dearest Hinata,

I have some amazing news for you. Remember how I told you that Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I were going on a mission to help William and the Scottish fight the English at Stirling in Scotland and you thought that I wasn't going to make it out alive? Well, here I am, alive and well, writing this letter to you and telling you that I'm okay. At Stirling, William gave a speech to the Scottish army about how the English may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I were all stunned, yet inspired by William's words of wisdom; if you were only there to see it, Hinata. However, although we've beaten the English at Stirling, William says that our battle with them is not quite over yet. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, or how long this mission will take, but I really miss you so much, and I love you.

Pray for me, Hinata.
Love, Naruto."

(Note: And that concludes Chapter 6 (well, if you count the prologue, so far it's seven chapters long) of "Freedom." Now, about Stephen, just like how he's a comic relief character in "Braveheart" (he's pretty funny, and another one of my favorite characters in "Braveheart," other than William, Robert The Bruce, Murron, and Princess Isabelle/Isabella Of France), he's also a comic relief character in "Freedom," like Naruto in "Naruto." Well, sometimes Naruto can be one. Stephen sometimes teases Sakura and William about being a couple, to which they (William and Sakura) both get embarrassed about it. But who knows? Maybe that friendship between them might evolve into something more... During the dance scene, when I'm talking about the music, the song "Lord Of The Dance'" from the Irish tap dance musical "Lord Of The Dance", which was created by Michael Flatley is the song playing in the background in this chapter. I was listening to it on my iPhone, and thought, "Wow. This would make a great dance song for the chapter." Turns out it did, to which I had a lot of fun making this chapter, and I was also inspired by the dance scene between Jack and Rose in "Titanic" (my second favorite James Horner film, with "Braveheart" being #1, IMO) as well as the dance scene in "Braveheart" after a grown-up William (who went on a pilgrimage with his uncle Argyle) returns to Scotland, and reunites with some of his old friends, as well as Murron, during a Scottish wedding celebration. Also, here's a little fun fact about me. My step-grandfather (December 19, 1923 – November 29, 2003) was actually born in England, but raised in Ireland. So I guess you could say both he and "Braveheart" introduced into Celtic music, which is one of my favorite music genres. If anyone asks me what my favorite instrument is when it comes to Celtic music, I'd say it's the bagpipes, mainly because of "Braveheart", and because it's such a pretty instrument. Now I've been a big Michael Flatley fan since childhood, and I absolutely love both of his dance musicals "Riverdance" and "Lord Of The Dance." There's actually videos of it on YouTube if you want to check it out, which I highly recommend. Another reason why I love "Braveheart" is not only because of the storyline and cinematography (that also won an Academy Award; as well as winning Best Picture and Best Director for Mel Gibson; "Braveheart" was nominated for ten Oscars, but won five), but it's also because of the music, and I absolutely love James Horner (the composer of "Braveheart", "Titanic", etc.), and he is without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite movie composers. Anyway, before I ramble on too much about "Braveheart", just to let you know, Chapter 7 of "Freedom" will be coming so please read and review! Hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6! Bye! :D )