Princess of the Leaves

Chapter Two

Sheikah Zelda–for she took the surname of her guardian while in exile and dwelt in a land where people placed their family names first–grew to love Konoha. It wasn't Hyrule of course, not that blessed land closest to the Sacred Realm, but it was a different sort of home. In Hyrule, she had been cared for and protected, but nothing had been allowed to touch her and she had been kept from touching anything else.

When she fled Castle Town on the eve of the darkest night, that had been the first time she had felt free, the first time she had felt to be part of the land that was hers instead of apart from it.

And so it was in Konoha. She was not Princess Zelda, but Sheikah Zelda, daughter of a distant clan with a benevolent history with Konoha. The villagers were kind to her, and she came to know as many of them as she could. To someone who had spent her whole life knowing no one besides Impa and her guards, nothing could be more fascinating than the life of a stranger, nothing more beautiful or more terrifying.

Fortunately, no one took as much interest in her as she did in them. Impa advised her to keep her secrets, and keep them she did. She told no one of where she was from, nor of the meaning behind the glowing triangle that sometimes appeared on the back of her hand.

Her other abilities, the power to change form from Hylian to Sheikah or the blessings endowed upon her from the Great Fairies she had visited, garnered little attention. Konoha was a melting pot of unique skills, some terrifying and grotesque, like the ability to possess the body of another or host a swarm of insects like a human hive, while others were more elegant, like the ability to see through walls. So if Zelda could shield herself in crystal or vanish and appear a short distance away, no one found that unusual.

In fact, her only feature that drew attention was her pointed ears. Yes, her pointed ears. Ethnic diversity was so limited in Konoha that no one had even heard of Gorons or Zoras, and anyone without round years was considered strange. People who didn't like her drew attention to her ears and flicked them to annoy her, and people who did like her were at the age where they knew no other way to express their adolescent hormones except by, again, flicking her ears.

Fortunately, divine patience came with divine wisdom, but as Zelda was beginning to discover, divine did not mean infinite. But she made it through the academy, wore the symbol of the Leaf proudly on her head, and was ready to experience what it meant to be a genin.

"Hey Zelda!" Ino called out. Ino was a girl in her class with straw-colored hair and blue-green eyes, and she was one of Zelda's best friends in Konoha. Ino didn't mind Zelda's ears, and she had only one qualification for those who wanted to be her friend: they couldn't be romantic rivals.

"Good morning, Ino," Zelda said. "I never got the chance to congratulate you on passing the exam."

She grinned, presenting the Leaf symbol around her waist. "Piece of cake. Besides, I knew Sasuke was going to pass, so there wasn't a chance that I'd let myself fail."

Zelda smiled, shaking her head. "You really need a hobby."

"He is my hobby."

"No, he is your obsession. There's a difference."

"And what about you?" Ino asked. "You claim that you're not interested in any of the boys there, but you always come to class dolled up more than anyone else."

Zelda glanced down at her pink and white dress. It was the sort of outfit she often wore as a child in the castle. She no longer lived in the castle, but she wore it still because, surrounded by a foreign land, it would be easy to forget who she was, and she needed to remember. Hyrule could not afford anything else. "I don't need a crush on a boy to look my best. Besides, you know how fast I can change."

"Yeah, I've seen you go all red-eyes Tomboy on everyone. But don't change the subject. If it's not Sasuke, then … arrgh! Okay, fine! Keep your secrets. I don't want to know anyway."

"Thank you."

"Race you to the academy?"

"Why? There's no rush."

"Yeah, but if we get there early, we can get good seats."

"And by good seats, you mean …."

"Next to Sasuke, yes."

"But I told you, I'm not interested in him."

"Exactly! So you can sit on his other side and keep everyone else away. Last time I got to sit by him, that jerk Sakura did too just to ruin everything! And Sasuke glared at me after the noodle fiasco, even though it was all her fault!"

Zelda shook her head. "You go ahead. I'll take the scenic route."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Be boring."

She jogged away and Zelda let out a sigh. "Farore's Wind," she whispered, and appeared a good fifty paces ahead. It wasn't a jutsu, the sort of spell commonly taught to Konoha kunoichi, so it didn't require hand seals. Then she transformed into her Sheikah form, making her body grow more muscular, her skin darker, and her eyes the color of blood.

Ino gave her a look, catching up.

"I need the exercise," Zelda replied, and they ran.

WWW

By the time they arrived, Sakura had already taken the best seat in the room (by Ino's estimation), though she took a moment from being ignored by her crush to glance back at Ino to stick out her tongue.

"Oh, that skank!" Ino snarled.

Zelda, in her Hylian form again, placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Peace, friend. What is it you intend to do?"

"Grab her by her stupid pink hair and throw her across the room!"

"And take her seat, allowing Sasuke to ignore you as completely as he is ignoring her?"

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Have you considered doing nothing? I've noticed that to be a tactic you rarely employ. You cannot change another through sheer force of will, and you cannot make him enjoy your company when he wishes to be left alone. Respect his wishes–including his personal space–and he will come to respect you."

Ino shot Sakura one last scowl before turning away. The two girls had used to be good friends until they became rivals. "Has anyone ever told you you're an insufferable know-it-all?"

Zelda smiled. When she used it, the Triforce of Wisdom made her nearly omniscient, though that nearly part sometimes caused her trouble. "Yes, but you're the first one today."

They sat down in the back next to another one of their friends, Hinata. Hinata was a quiet girl, cautious, refined, and more than a little shy. Today she had a small smile on her face.

"So," Ino said to her. "What are you so happy about?"

Hinata blushed slightly. "He passed." Like Zelda, Hinata had no romantic interest in Sasuke, so Ino accepted her company, but that didn't prevent her from pestering Hinata day after day about whom she was interested in, and after two weeks Hinata relented and told her. And Ino laughed.

But today she groaned, noticing the presence of Hinata's crush in an orange jumpsuit. "Seriously? I thought we left behind trash like that when we graduated."

Naruto had failed the genin exam the day before–he had been the only one to fail–but today he wore the symbol of Konoha's shinobi on his forehead as proudly as anyone else. "Ino," Zelda said. "You're being rude."

"Sorry," she said, glancing at Hinata. "That just slipped out. But really, girl, you can do so much better than him! Heck, you couldn't do worse without going after Kiba's dog. And even that's debatable."

"Ino," Zelda said again.

"Okay, fine, I get it. Only you are allowed to give advice."

"I never–" A shiver ran up her spine, cutting her off. Someone was watching her, someone unseen. The Hokage, maybe? He had a crystal ball to watch over his village without leaving his office, but surely he had more important things to keep track of than the orientation meeting for a new batch of rookie ninja, didn't he?

Whoever it was, the feeling passed as the watcher's gaze shifted.

"Zelda?" Ino asked, waving a hand in front of her eyes. "You in there?"

She looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed, not even Hinata who had remarkably keen senses. "My apologies. I must have zoned out for a moment."

"Mid-sentence?" Ino smirked. "You can be so weird sometimes."

Zelda forced herself to smile. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but after coming to Konoha, she grew to realize that she was a small fish in a large pond, and her divine blessing let her know just how vast the pond was.

Iruka, one of the academy chunin instructors, entered the room and the class fell silent. "As of today," Iruka said, "all of you are konoha shinobi. You will be tasked with missions to carry out, but you are still inexperienced, and will each be assigned to a three-man team under a jounin sensei. Your teams will be as follows." He held up a list and began reading. "Team One is …."

As he read off names, the room grew more and more tense. This was … destiny being made. Three people, locked together as one until they descended into the grave or ascended to the next level.

The Triforce used to be like that. Once it had been a golden treasure to unleash a golden age upon Hyrule, capable of making a man a god, mighty, subtle, and good. But no more. Ganondorf's unbalanced heart could not accept all three attributes of divinity, and his greed shattered what should not have been broken. The Triforce would not be whole again until Ganondorf died, and even with Wisdom, Courage, the Sages, and the Master Sword, Zelda did not know if that was possible.

Meanwhile, Ino whispered a prayer, "Sasuke's team, Sasuke's team," over and over again, and Hinata furtively watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye.

"Team Seven," Iruka read, "is Uzumaki Naruto, Sheikah Zelda–"

"Yes!" Naruto said, jumping to his feet. He flicked her ears more than most boys in the class.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

"What?" Naruto began to protest the team assignment, but Zelda couldn't pay him any attention because she was distracted by nearly every female member of the student body shooting her death glares.

WWW

"You! Have stolen! My dream!"

Zelda cast a steady gaze at Ino's accusing finger as they stood outside the academy during their lunch break. Her friend's accusing finger, or at least Ino had been until ten minutes ago. In her defense, it had been a very eventful ten minutes.

"I did not steal your dream, I didn't even want your dream. It just fell into my lap." That happened to Zelda more often than she felt comfortable admitting. Princess problems, she supposed.

"Convenient," Ino seethed.

"I believe I mentioned that I am not interested in him." Zelda glanced at Hinata. "Either of them."

"Yeah, you say that now, but before you know it, you two will be going out on dates, and holding hands, and, and–aargh! Someone kill me now!"

Ino was quite a rational individual, under the right circumstances. "I have never really approved of your obsession with that boy," Zelda said. "Do you know why that is?"

"Because you're secretly jealous?"

"Because there is a darkness to him that I do not like. He wears hatred like a cloak, hoping to turn it into a sword, though the nature of things tends to affect the reverse. I would have nothing to do with him if I could; he frightens me."

"Hey!" Ino snapped. "Don't talk crap about Sasuke! He's perfect!"

Zelda gritted her teeth in frustration. "What do you want, Ino? Do you even know?" She sighed. "Look, you always talk about treating love like a battlefield, but a battle needs spies as well as soldiers." The war that raged through Hyrule shortly after she had been born had been almost without soldiers entirely, just spies, assassins, and victims.

Ino frowned. "What are you suggesting?"

"How many of your romantic rivals have managed to interact with Sasuke without annoying him?" Zelda asked. "How many times have you been able to talk to him in a manner that did not vex him?"

"Alright, you've made your point. He can be a bit prickly at times."

"And do you why? Do you know how to navigate a conversation with him without inciting his wrath? Because, if I'm on his team, I might be able to find out for you."

Ino hesitated. "And you promise you won't elope with him when I'm not looking?"

Zelda let out a sigh. Even if she did fall in love with someone in Konoha, her destiny lay in Hyrule. "I am not such a fool as to get in your way, Ino."

"Huh. Well, whatever. I should probably go get to know my team. Man, I just had to get stuck with some lazy slacker and a fat slob. I hate my life."

Ino trudged away and Zelda turned to Hinata. "If you like, I could do the same for you."

Hinata shook her head. Thank goodness. "Just promise to keep him safe."

Which could be even more difficult than Ino's request, depending on how reckless he was. But before Zelda could answer, Hinata's eyes widened and her face turned a gentle shade of pink.

"Hey, Zelda!" Naruto said from behind her. "Since we're on the same team, we should totally eat lunch together!"

Zelda turned and smiled politely at him. "That makes sense." It wasn't lost on her that he had come to her instead of their remaining teammate, who was nowhere in sight. "I trust you already know my friend Hinata."

"Sure. Hey, Hinata."

Hinata nodded mutely. Zelda turned to her. "Would you like to eat with us as well?"

Hinata's face turned from pink to red. "Um, thank you, but I should probably go meet my, my team. Excuse me."

"Huh," Naruto said, watching her scurry away. "I don't think your friend likes me much."

"It's not that," Zelda assured him, sitting down on a nearby bench. "She's just shy."

Naruto sat down next to her, excited and fidgety. "So, we're going to be on the same team," he said finally.

"Yes," she said. "The three of us."

Naruto frowned. "Yeah. I wish Sasuke wasn't on our team, though. He's a jerk."

Zelda considered that. Did Naruto believe that? Was he trying to convince her? Was he trying to convince himself? "Sasuke … has good qualities and bad ones, like anyone else."

Naruto scoffed. "Yeah. If being a jerk is a good quality, he has loads of them."

Zelda took a moment to think through what she was about to say. "There are a number of girls in our class quite fascinated by him."

"Fangirls," he said dismissively.

"Perhaps." He had a point. Ino was at her best when Sasuke was nowhere near her, but that was beside the point. "But more than once, Sasuke has found himself the subject of the attentions and affections of several girls his age, and it would have been very easy for him to take advantage of that situation. Do you know how many times he has?"

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Has he?"

"No, he has not. How many people do you know, Naruto, who would behave as honorably when given the same opportunities? Would you?"

"Yes! I mean, I've never had the chance so I can't know for sure, but I think I would." He paused. "He's still a jerk though."

"Perhaps, but if so, he is not one who desires to harm others."

"Guess so," Naruto admitted. "I still don't get why everyone goes nuts over that guy."

"And yet," Zelda said, "you have done nothing but talk about him since you got here."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It could mean any number of things," Zelda admitted. "But if I had to guess, I would say that it is a basic human desire to be understood. You are alone, and Sasuke is one of the only people you know who could understand what that means."

"I–but …" he stammared. "So are you!"

Her eyes flashed open. "You noticed that?" Idiot. Of course he would. But he seemed so oblivious most of the time; she would need to revise her assumptions.

"Yeah! There are about as many Sheikah's in Konoha as there are Uzumaki's."

That was true, not that Impa was yet dead. She still lived afar off; Zelda visited Hyrule in her dreams, and while Ganondorf had ruined Castle Town beyond repair, he had left Kakariko Village relatively untouched. But if Naruto had noticed that about her, what else had he noticed? Zelda had never asked before, but she had to now. Who was he?

He was lonely, Zelda realized as she began to contemplate him, and that loneliness drove most of his actions and his ambitions.

But he wasn't alone. Zelda had never noticed it before, but sitting so close to him, she could feel another presence. Someone–something–else was inside of him, vast, sleeping, something–

Naruto flicked her ear.

"Ow!"

He grinned. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"Don't do that!"

"Right, won't happen again."

"You've said that before," she said, rubbing her ear.

"That was the last time, I swear."

"You've said that before, too."

"Okay, okay. If it makes you feel better, you can flick my ears, too."

Zelda gave him a flat look. "I can honestly say I have no desire to do so."

"Really?" He rubbed his ears. "Well, okay. Hey, Zelda, what's that triangle thing on your glove?"

Zelda wore a pair of white gloves, but the Triforce shone through whatever she wore when she activated it. "It's a symbol. Tell me, how many triangles do you see?"

Naruto counted them. "Three."

"Look harder."

He studied the mark on her right hand. "Um, three?"

"But the three triangles form another one in the middle, correct?"

"Oh, you're right!"

"And they also form a larger triangle that encompasses them all."

"Neat! So that makes six."

"Five."

"Five, right. So what's it mean?"

"It means …" secrets "…balance. Do you understand why we have been assigned on teams like we have?"

Naruto scowled. "Yeah. I asked Iruka-sensei why I had to be stuck on the same team as Sasuke, and you know what he said?" Naruto put a hand on his hip and pointed a finger at the air in an impression of the chunin instructor. "'Because Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto, had the lowest.'"

Zelda frowned. "I believe that is a gross oversimplification. If your worth can be assigned a single number, then that implies that there is such a thing as a perfect ninja."

Naruto cocked his head. "Isn't there?"

"No. There is balance, and there is imbalance. Balanced individuals are rare, but balanced groups are easy to be form. Balance requires everything: people to think, others to act, people to hide, others to seek. Sasuke is strong, but he will need you to be brave when power is not enough, and you will need him to be strong when courage is not enough. In short, we are on a team so you can be Naruto when it is not enough for him to be Sasuke, and so he can be Sasuke when it is not enough for you to be Naruto."

"Huh." He grinned. "I like your explanation way better than Iruka's." He stood up. "Well, we should probably get going if we don't want to be late for our jounin instructor. Sorry about bringing up your dead family; I think that bothered you. But on the bright side, since we're all on the same group, we can call ourselves Team Orphan!"

Zelda groaned inwardly. "Oh, Goddess, I hope that doesn't catch on. I can think of nothing that sounds quite so pathetic."

WWW

A/n And here's chapter two. It's the first real chapter, because the first one was basically a prologue. For those of you who are wondering, I kept the same teams in canon with one exception. I moved Sakura to Team Nine, also known as Team Not-Appearing-in-this-Fanfic. Sorry Sakura fans, but Zelda needed her spot on the team, and this seemed like the simplest solution.

I should probably explain Zelda's abilities right now. Her main ability is the Triforce of Wisdom, what let's her know stuff she shouldn't and, in my headcanon, gives her power over dreams. She mentioned having prophetic dreams when you first meet her in Ocarina of Time, and (headcanon again) I see that as the Triforce bleeding backwards in time to that point from the moment she received it. I'm giving her the blessings of the great fairies too. The one that gives Din's Fire is practically in her front yard, and she knows those spells in Smash Brothers, so I'm going with it. Also, like in the game, she can turn into Sheik, which is stronger and faster than her Hylian form. I'll probably give her the ability to create Light Arrows should the plot demand it, as well as any magical songs that she might need. But her main method of solving problems will be through guile, not force.

Thank you everyone who left a review, you're awesome, and you are more than welcome to leave another one. That's the only way I'll know if I'm doing anything right.