A/N: This is a short story I wrote for the NaruHina Month 2023 Prompt: Right person, different ideologies

Chapter 1

It was a time when wars were fought for reasons known only to the highest ranked and wealthiest men of the world. The people of the land were aware of neither their royal sovereign's greed nor gallantry. All they knew were the fields they worked, the animals they tended, and the humble homes they built to survive.

As one such war was waged closer to the Royal Castle's gates than any man's memory could recall, a young blond found himself snatched from the poverty stricken dead-end streets where he had grown, a bow and arrow thrust into his hands, and a helmet slammed upon his head. Within a week, instead of hiding behind the inn hoping to find some drunk stranger to pick-pocket, he was lined upon the parapets and told to fire until his arm fell off.

It didn't take a genius to realize that he was nothing but fodder. A pawn for the royalty to use to keep the enemy at bay for one more night. The young man drew and loosed his bow and arrows, over and over again. Aiming at the bouncing torches that inched closer and closer to the towering walls.

He would die tonight. That was certain.

The yelling became louder and the trebuchet more accurate. By some stroke of luck, while others fell to his left and his right, he remained untouched.

Draw and loose. Draw and loose.

Debris from the towers and walls began to rain down through the air, and soon all he had left was one arrow and no comrades. Not knowing what else to do, he clutched his weapon and ran for his life.

The Royal Castle halls were a maze, littered with broken furniture, crumpled tapestries, and shattered glass. The young man fell and stumbled over greater riches than he had ever dreamed of seeing. But he ignored them all. Focused only on escape. On freedom.

Rounding yet another corner he collided with a solid warmth that screamed at his sudden contact. Together they rolled backwards down the staircase which she had been rapidly ascending, a tumbling mess of satiny fabric and foul curses. Reflexes honed by years of stealing and dodging on the streets saved him from a broken neck, as well as the girl who had slammed into his chest. They ended in a heap in the middle of a long hallway that opened to the left and right.

"P-please don't kill me," she whimpered, scrambling away from him back towards the staircase so quickly he could hear the sound of fabric ripping. He tripped along behind her into the recess of the stairwell until he could ascertain what she had been running from.

"I don't hurt girls," he grumbled, rubbing his head and the fresh lump appearing there. "Don't remember much about my mom, but I do remember that."

At the lack of threat in his tone she tentatively raised her head, peeking at him from between her fingers. "You…You're not here to kidnap me?" She asked in a shaky voice.

He snorted, already standing up and grabbing the bow and single arrow he had saved. The only things he had at this point. Even his helmet was gone. "I got enough trouble feeding my own mouth, I ain't looking for another." Leaning as far as he dared around the corner he eyed the hallway revealed by their fall.

"You can't go that way," she mumbled between sniffles. His head whipped back around.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously, studying her with narrowed eyes. Her hair was a mess, sticking to the tears that ran down her face. He frowned, crying didn't fix anything. This was a move-it-or-lose-it situation. No time to fall apart.

But despite his initial judgments of her weakness, his scowl softened as she wiped her face on her gown and pushed herself to her feet. "Because that's where the soldiers are headed to capture Maid Marian," she whispered, joining him to briefly glance in that direction, where the smell of smoke was growing stronger by the second. "And that way is just the garderobe," she pointed down the left side of the hallway.

"The what?" his face twisted in confusion.

"You know...the room where you...d-do your business."

He blinked at her. "You have a whole room just for pissing?"

Her mouth puckered like she had eaten something sour. "Well, yes. Th-they have to empty the chamber pots s-somewhere."

He stared at her for a moment. Really taking her in. Her wide, clear eyes and full healthy face. The earrings who's value would feed him for a week if he sold them in the market side streets. The rich fabric of her clothing that was torn and soot stained. Something told him this girl had never needed to dig a hole in the forest to take a dump then wiped her ass with leaves.

"Who are you?" His head turned sideways as he leaned in, far past the normal bounds of social propriety. Boundaries he had never heard of as an orphan in this rat infested capital.

She gulped. He could see her slender neck bob. She licked her lips, eyes darting back towards the stairwell.

"Just a servant. Just…nobody."

He straightened, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "Well Nobody, you seem like you know your way around. Where is the way out of this shit hole?"

She flinched at his harsh language but immediately pointed back up to where they came from. "Up there, through the ballroom there's another staircase that leads down to the gardens."

But he was already shaking his head. "Nope. The gardens are on fire."

She blinked. "Th-Then there's a side entrance to the stables—"

"Gone." He peeked upwards as the sounds of clashing armor began to echo down the stairwell. "And all the horses too."

If possible she grew even paler. "The library balcony?"

They're getting closer, he thought, and alarm caused his tone to come out harsh and sharp. "Ransacked and blocked. Seriously is that all you got? Don't you know about some secret servants' entrance or something? I want to sneak out, not parade through the main exit like King Minato coming home!"

Turning back to face her he froze. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her lips trembled. An unfamiliar pang hit him square in the chest, something bordering on…pity? Weird.

"Down here! The rest of the noble's quarters are this way!"

"Time's up." Without examining the odd sensation any further, he opted for speed over understanding and grabbed her hand, yanking her down the hall towards the toilets. The sanity of bothering to care about something other than his own skin—for once—could be debated later.

Feeling his way along the wall he found the door and swung it open, nearly throwing her inside and slamming it shut. The smell of shit overtook the heavy clouds of smoke that were pouring down the hallway now, even seeping beneath the crack in the door.

There was a long wooden plank fitted like a bench over a stone trough. A hole was cut in the wood and he was careful not to put his foot through it as he jumped up and tried to see out the high window. It was tall and narrow, meant to vent the stench, not to escape through. The ledge was at the height of his chin, and he craned his neck to look below.

Outside, he recognized the section of the river at the base of the wall as a part that he usually avoided like the plague, specifically because of its notorious filth. Now he knew why. Nobody even thought of touching the murky water for a ways down stream either. Which is what made it the perfect place to escape.

Leaping down he used the toe of his boot to flip up the wooden bench. The girl gasped and pressed herself into the wall. "What are you doing?!"

"Choosing life," he answered matter-of-factly, grateful to see that the poop chute was small, but wide enough for a lanky bowman to slither down. And a very petite girl.

Tossing his bow and arrow down the hole he turned and extended a hand to her. "Take it or leave it Princess. Just do it fast."

"I'm not a p-princess," she stuttered, voice muffled by the sleeve she pressed tightly over her mouth and nose.

"Then prove it and come on!"

Bang, bang, bang!

The door started to rattle as a man on the other side bellowed, "There's people in here! I can hear voices!"

He had turned at the sound of their doom closing in, so when he heard a high pitched scream it made him jump in surprise. Looking back he gaped as the crown of her head disappeared down the black hole. "Damn. Ladies first, I guess."

Just as he climbed in behind her the door smashed open and he caught a glimpse of a flash of armor before the world went dark. The air instantly turned moist and putrid. He gagged and choked, his shoulders scraping painfully as he crashed through the slick tunnel to hell.

After the longest seconds of his life his body went weightless, then was doused in the icy cold water of the shallows. He coughed and heaved, crawling through the swampy, knee-deep marsh where the river met the back wall of the castle. Beside him he could hear the girl vomit as she struggled to get her footing with her soaked dress.

My weapons! he thought in a panic, scrambling in the thick weeds and algae for the bow and arrow he had already become very attached to. He was distantly aware of the girl reaching the base of the wall and thrashing around, but he was extremely focused on retrieving the only things he had to defend himself.

"Looking for this?" she asked, her voice hoarse from coughing but carrying a note of triumph. He lifted his head to see her brandishing his bow, then did a double take when he saw that she was stripped down to her corset and chemise.

"Uh, y-yeah," he stuttered, slogging toward her. After two steps he tripped on something sharp and reached down to fish out the precious arrow. Lodged in the muck of the pitch black water, waiting for him to find it. It was a miracle that he ever did.

Sprinting as best he could he snatched up the pair of weapons and grinned down at her. "You are one lucky Princess," he teased.

She scowled, pushing a matted strand of hair out of her face. "I told you, I'm not a princess. Would a princess ruin her only gown by sailing out of the Royal Castle on a river of feces?" To emphasize her point she gestured down at the soggy heap of vile fabric that had been discarded along with the rest of the human waste the pair still stood in.

"Nice try. But only a princess would say 'feces' instead of 'shit," he retorted as he strung the bow around his lean torso and tucked the arrow through the back of his belt. But he couldn't keep the grin from spreading across his face despite their unsanitary circumstances.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

The pair froze in the moment of banter, looking up in horror to see the head of a soldier framed in the narrow window.

"Swim!"

Without second guessing him this time she dove back into the river, paddling out to the deeper middle of the river and letting the current sweep her away. He followed, glancing repeatedly over his shoulder with every other stroke. The soldier had disappeared. He swam faster, hope blooming in his gut that they had made it, that he was finally going to get out of this death sentence of a battle, and away from this wretched city.

But one final look back made his heart sink. The soldier had returned, and with his own weapon. His hand was peeking out the window, aiming a massive longbow straight at them.

No, straight at her.

"Swim faster!" He bellowed. She turned and her eyes widened. Water churned as she flailed with panic, still struggling to make progress even in the thin chemise. The pain in his chest was back, and it hurt like a mother. The idea of that massive arrow skewering her through her heart, turning the river red…

His own heart was pounding in his ears, crashing into his ribs. He only had one arrow. He had only learned to shoot it a few days ago. Rationally he should just let her get hit, using the distraction to escape. He really didn't even know her…

For an instant she disappeared, the current snatching her under. He screamed, diving under and groping frantically in the freezing water. By some stroke of luck he felt her hand, grabbed it and yanked her torso against him. Kicking off the bottom with all his might they erupted back through the surface. Choking and gasping, but fading. He could feel his limbs stiffening with each passing minute in the icy current.

Her teeth were chattering but she was still trying, still fighting. She looked back at him, a word of thanks on her lips, but her face suddenly contorted in fear.

"Get down!"

They dove again, just as an arrow sliced through the water between them. So close the bubbles tickled his face before the massive projectile sank. If she hadn't yelled, it would have been piercing his head like a fish on a spit.

Decision filled his mind. He shoved her back into the strongest current, ignoring her shouts as he used his feet to push her away and down the river as far as possible.

"Go! Don't wait for me!" he yelled, turning his back on her and eyeing the distance to the ever shrinking window. The soldier's bow was bigger, better suited to long distance. But luck had been on his side all night. And he was not going to go down without a fight.

His toe struck a rock, and he planted his feet, teetering in the water as he freed his weapons. Fire was engulfing the castle, most of the roof was caved in and the midnight sky was glowing with orange and yellow flames. He could see the black slit in the wall where the window was. He nocked his arrow on the bowstring, breathing deep, pulling back until his over-used muscles screamed. For a heartbeat he closed his eyes, feeling the breeze, judging the heaving humidity of the cold night air, calculating…

Ready.

His eyes narrowed. The tip of the arrow aimed to perfection. The instant the head of the soldier, armed with a second arrow, appeared in the tiny window, the young man loosed his final arrow. His only chance.

Twang!

He held his breath, the arrow arcing through the air in what felt like slow motion. His eyes widened as though even now he could will the projectile onto the perfect trajectory. His fingers tightened around the lowered bow until his knuckles turned white.

He gasped as the arrow flawlessly flew through the widow. The soldier's hand sagged limply over the edge. The longbow slipped from his loose fingers, bounced off the stone wall, and crashed into the water below.

He didn't wait to see what would happen next. Shoving his bow back over his head, he was immediately diving back into the water, swimming at a frantic pace. Trying to catch up to her. Wanting to tell her that they were safe. They were going to make it.

There was a bend in the river where it would soon join up with the larger body of water, a much swifter moving leg of the river that the boats and ships of the capital used to access the ocean. He could feel the current pick up, sweeping him out of sight of the Royal Castle but into a whole new set of problems. It was too strong, much too strong for a petite girl in heavy, wet clothes who was probably half frozen.

An eddy snagged his body and swirled him, tossing him over increasingly white, churning water. He wanted to call out, but he didn't even know her name! How could he be so stupid?

He slammed into a rock so hard it knocked the wind out of him. He was barely able to grab a handhold and struggled to pull himself up and out of the water. He needed a better look. Maybe he could see her white clothes in the moonlight.

With arms shaking with fatigue he managed to crawl upon the slick rock, and the sight on the other side of it nearly killed him with relief.

She clung to the opposite side of the slippery boulder, chemise caught on a sharp edge. Probably tossed there by the same overpowering eddy that had thrown him her way. Thrown together on this hellish night, in the most random, disgusting, spectacular way. Almost as though Fate herself was determined to keep them side by side.

The look of utter joy on her face when she saw him made his throat tighten. He swallowed hard, but grinned like a fool as he shakily reached down and helped pull her up beside him. They sat shivering and panting, holding one another as though they were reunited lovers separated for ages.

"You are one lucky Princess," he chuckled when he was finally able to form words. She huffed, her tired laugh fogging the air between them. "I already t-told you…I'm n-no p-princess," she managed to retort through chattering teeth.

He looked down at her raised face. Her eyes were like moons, glowing against the midnight hue of her saturated hair. She was a mess. Her nose was red, her arms bruised, and her state of dress was borderline indecent.

But he thought she was amazing.

"Who are you?" he asked, rationality and curiosity finally kicking in.

She shivered. "My friends call me Hinata."

He raised a brow. He knew a half truth when he heard one.

"And you?" She didn't give him time to wonder before pinning him once more with those incredibly wide eyes.

"Naruto. Just Naruto. I don't have any friends."

They stared at one another. The rush of the rapids barely disguising the pounding rhythm of his heart. Awareness of how close they were, how tightly she was clinging to him, slowly began to percolate through his fuzzy brain.

"Well, you have me," she said so softly he was sure he would not have heard it if her mouth wasn't so close to his face. "I can be your friend?"

Suddenly he didn't feel so cold.

"I'd like that."

"OI!"

The couple stiffened and whipped around to look at the shore, where another young man with dark hair and a horse stood waving at them.

"Who is tha—" Hinata started to ask but instantly the stranger was slinging a long thick rope toward them. Naruto reached out and snatched it out of the air on reflex, blinking in confusion at the shoreline.

"C'mon idiot, are you guys gonna sit there and freeze to death or do you want out of the river?" the man snarled, tugging impatiently on the rope.

Naruto didn't wait for a second offer, quickly tying the lengths around their torsos as the stranger tied his end to the horse's saddle. It was a quick matter of a few minutes of near drowning, but the couple was able to make it to dry land without being washed away.

Spluttering and collapsing on the grass next to one another, on the opposite riverbank from the billowing tower of smoke that marked what used to be the Royal Castle's location, Naruto rolled onto his back and greedily gulped air.

"Thanks," he panted, checking to see that Hinata was also safe and sound. She propped herself up against a tree which edged the forest that marked the north end of the city limits.

"I didn't do it for your lame feelings," the man grunted, neatly securing the rope back to his saddle. "That was a hell of a shot you made from the river to take out that guard. I chased you downstream. You got plans for those skills?"

Naruto's head spun as he tried to process the blunt statement. This guy didn't waste words. Plans? Did he look like he had plans? It was a miracle he had his life. He snorted. "Skills? Nah, I'm just one lucky son of a bitch."

The man studied him with dark eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "My name is Sasuke. I'm a bit of an outlaw. Need someone to help watch my back as I conduct my business. You seem to be somewhat outside the bounds of the law yourself, bowman."

Rolling over and pushing himself up on his hands and knees, Naruto chuckled as he shook out his hair like a dog. "You could say that. What kind of business are you into?"

The man named Sasuke stared at the two of them for a moment before answering. "Have you heard of Nottingham?"

Naruto grunted in affirmation, but ignored the guy's staring to crawl over to Hinata and make sure with his hands as well as his eyes that she was safe and in one piece.

"My family used to have a considerable home there," Sasuke continued. "Not quite nobility, but upper class. We acted as sheriff, tax collector, governor, and most of all: protector. So imagine my dismay to return home from the Bijū Wars to find that Prince Orochimaru had usurped the Good King Minato and slayed my family. Repossessed my lands. Let our fields go barren. And taxed the heart and soul out of our people."

"How awful," Hinata pressed a hand to her heart as she listened while Naruto hovered closely. "What are you going to do?"

A smirk so laced with malice it almost made Sasuke's eyes glitter spread across his face. "Obviously, steal from the rich to feed the poor. And make Prince Orochimaru's life a living hell."

Naruto could understand that. But he had been a loner his whole life. The idea of taking on another person's personal vendetta was not exactly appealing. Plus now he had Hinata to take care of…

That thought gave him pause. At what point had he deemed himself in charge of caring for her? He furrowed his brow at her hunched figure as she hugged her knees and trembled with cold. He couldn't imagine walking away from her at this point. They had literally jumped off a ledge together (okay maybe it was a shitter chute, but same difference). As far as he was concerned, she was now his.

"I hate him," she murmured, causing Naruto to blink in surprise.

"Eh?"

When she looked up at him, he was shocked at the instant anger that gleamed in her eyes, turning the warm pools of moonlight into cold quicksilver. "Prince Orochimaru. He's the one who did that to the Royal Castle. To me. I will never forgive him."

Naruto was dumbfounded. "Why would Prince Orochimaru send soldiers after you…" His words trailed away as the pieces fell into place. "You're Maid Marian, aren't you?"

"No!" she snapped, shaking her head so hard the wet strands of her hair nearly whipped his face. "That girl died today. I never wanted that role. Never wanted that caged life. I never want to be her again. From this day on I am just Hinata."

He swallowed hard, taking in the way her nostrils flared with fury, her hands fisting tightly on her knees. She was an orphan too, then? All three of them were, in a way. Naruto inhaled resignedly, standing up with a groan of fatigue.

"Well," he turned and extended a hand toward Sasuke. "Looks like I got no choice. That asshole tried to kill my girl, so now he's got to pay. You got yourself a deal."

Sasuke clapped his hand and shook it firmly, looking smugly satisfied. "You won't regret it," he promised, then tipped his chin in Hinata's direction. "She can use the horse. My camp is well hidden in the woods but it's not too far."

Naruto nodded and turned to help Hinata up. His hands encircled her waist to lift her up onto the horse, but he paused when she whispered his name.

"Am I really your g-girl?" Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, a blush so bright it nearly glowed blooming across her cheeks.

Naruto grinned, more certain that this was his fate-blessed destiny than he was that the sun would rise in the morning. Leaning down he crashed his mouth against hers in a searing kiss that swallowed her gasp of surprise and had her melting into his arms. Pulling away as suddenly as he had claimed her, Naruto laughed loudly at her squeak when he tossed her up onto the disgruntled horse.

"Believe it, Hinata!"

Behind them Sasuke groaned. "Ugh, is this gonna be a thing with you two? Because I can do without the gross expressions of affection."

"What was that Bastard?"

"You heard me Idiot."

The two young men bickered back and forth as they walked into the darkness of the woods, while the dazed woman in her undergarments clung to the horse for dear life, struggling not to faint.

A/N: This will be four chapters and an epilogue. The rest of the chapters are completed. I will post them over the next few days as I finish proofreading them.