I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter 9: Digitalis
After the Ball, Naruto avoided Sasuke. He was unsure about his feelings and thought it was better to stay away from him. He needed time for himself to organize his memories better along with his thoughts. He went out on a walk and stopped at the fountain at the center of the garden. Taking out his notebook, he read through everything he'd written. Ripping out a piece of paper, he made a timeline of the major events still to come. Sasuke and Sakura's wedding wasn't too far away. If things had gone as they had before, they'd already be married and on the way back to the Uchiha castle. Naruto was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear or see Itachi approaching.
"Is everything ok, Naruto?" he asked. Naruto jumped. "Sorry."
"No, I'm ok," Naruto said, trying to calm his beating heart. "I was just thinking."
"Anything I can help with?" Itachi asked.
Naruto bit his lip. "Do you think it will happen again?" Itachi raised an eyebrow. "The carriage incident."
"If the Harunos are really behind that, I doubt they'd do that again," Itachi said. "Besides, Kakashi and his men will thoroughly check all carriages." Naruto nodded. "But I don't think that's all you're worried about."
Naruto hesitated. He really wanted to trust Itachi with what he knew, but he was afraid the man would think he was crazy. He looked into the older man's eyes and only saw warmth. "I've had a few more dreams."
Itachi looked around before he sat down next to Naruto. "Tell me everything."
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Naruto was in the library reading up on the history of past famines. A voice interrupted his thoughts. "I didn't know someone else was here," the voice said. Naruto looked up to see a man with pale skin and black hair. He bowed. "It is nice to meet you, Lord Naruto. I'm Sai."
"Uh, hello," Naruto said. He shook the offered hand.
"May I ask what you are reading?" Sai asked.
"I was hoping to help Sa- the King with the famine," Naruto said.
"I see," Sai said, taking the seat next to Naruto. "That is very admirable of a concubine. Can I offer some assistance?"
Naruto smiled. "I'd like that."
Naruto and Sai spent the next hour going over everything they read. Naruto wrote up a plan. He jumped up, ready to give it to Sasuke, only to pause. Sai saw the look on Naruto's face. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Naruto said.
"I think it is brilliant!" Sai said. "You shouldn't be so negative. I truly believe that this will work." That wasn't what Naruto meant, but he nodded anyway.
"Do you think you can do me a favor then?" Naruto asked.
"Sure," Sai said.
"Can you give this to Shikamaru?" Naruto motioned to their research. "I think he'd take it if it was from you."
"Ok." Sai grabbed everything. "It was a pleasure working with you, Lord Naruto." Naruto stared after Sai for a few seconds before he got up. The man was strange, but he figured since he was one of Sasuke's men, he was trustworthy.
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Sai met Shikamaru outside of Sasuke's office. "Shikamaru, I have something for you."
"What is it?" Shikamaru asked.
"A plan to stop the famine," Sai said. "I did some research and came up with it."
"Is that true?" Sasuke asked. Sai instantly stood at attention and nodded. "Then come in. We'll go over it now." The three men proceeded to look over the plan. Shikamaru noticed something strange yet familiar about the handwriting, but he didn't say anything. Sasuke agreed to put the plan into action immediately. It took nearly a month, but it worked. People were no longer starving to death and the number of people getting sick had greatly decreased. Sai was given praise for his work.
Naruto was confused about why he hadn't been given credit for the plan and he decided to confront Sai about it. They met in the library and Naruto questioned him about it. Sai smiled. "It's simple. No one would believe that you had anything to do with it."
"Sai?" Naruto asked.
The man got closer to him. "After all, who would believe an Omega over an Alpha?" He licked Naruto's ear. The blond pushed him away, a hand going to his ear. Sai laughed. "It really was a pleasure working with you." He licked his lips. "I wouldn't mind continuing that relationship."
Naruto clenched his fists. "How could you!? I may be an Omega, but I'm the concubine of your King!"
"And why should I care about that?" Sai asked. "He clearly shows no interest in you." Sai took a step forward. Naruto's back hit a bookcase. "I can tell that he hasn't even touched you yet." He placed a hand on the shelf next to Naruto's head and leaned down. "I wonder if I asked him to bed you if he'd simply let me." Tears ran down Naruto's face and Sai grinned. "Such a shame. He's too blinded by his love for his queen to see the beauty in his concubine. It must hurt to have to deal with your heats without an Alpha. Should I offer my assistance?"
"P-please," Naruto cried.
"Please what?" Sai asked.
"Don't do this," Naruto begged.
Sai sighed, pulling away from Naruto. "Fine. It would be pretty annoying if someone interrupted us anyway." He turned away from Naruto. "I'll see you some other time, Lord Naruto." He laughed as he walked away. Naruto felt his legs give out before he collapsed to the floor. He curled into a ball and cried. A maid found him, but he just brushed her off before he ran to his room. He cleaned his face before Ino arrived. He pretended to be sick and went to bed, only to have his dreams be plagued with images of Sai. The nightmare of Sai asking Sasuke for permission to bed Naruto replayed over and over until he was woken up by Ino. A doctor was called and the man gave her some pills that allowed Naruto to sleep peacefully.
But that didn't stop Naruto's fears. He sometimes came across Sasuke, Sai, and Shikamaru and he'd instantly freeze up. Shikamaru seemed to catch on that something was wrong, but since neither Sasuke nor Sai brought it up, he kept it to himself. Naruto made sure that he was never left alone with Sai. The only time he couldn't get away from the older man was during the parties. Naruto was forced to listen to Sai's vulgarism until an unknowing servant saved him. Sai never asked Naruto to dance, which the blond was happy about, but having Sai corner him where no one could see scared him. He thought about talking to someone about it, but he was afraid no one would believe him. Sai never did anything more than touch him a few times and use his words to intimate him. The harassment only stopped when Sai was sent on behalf of Sasuke to a neighboring town to help with their bandit issues. Still, Naruto remained wary of all Alphas.
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Anger was all Itachi felt after hearing Naruto's words. He silently cursed Sai's existence and for Danzo daring to bring that man before them. He brought Naruto into his arms. "It's ok. I won't let them near you." Naruto let himself cry in Itachi's arms for a couple minutes. When he finally calmed down, he thanked the Beta. Itachi smiled. "Anything for you." He kissed Naruto's forehead. "Now, tell me, when does this famine start? If we know that, we can prevent it from happening."
Naruto smiled. "In about six months. It starts in the South and spreads West before coming North. The South will face a harsh drought before crops start failing to grow."
"Crop failure," Itachi said. "What plan did you come up with?"
"The East still had plenty of food, but they needed other things like wood and clothing," Naruto said. "So we trade wood and clothing for their food and we ration it out to the South and West. Then once everyone is equally fed, we build a greenhouse in each dukedom that can grow things such as wheat and vegetables. For meat, a group of soldiers would go hunting. We'd keep different pairs of animals alive to breed while only killing what is absolutely necessary." Naruto paused. "I feel bad about that, but I know people like their meat. It's not like I can make everyone only eat vegetables and fruit."
"And what about water?" Itachi asked. "The drought won't stop just because of a greenhouse."
"Actually, it can," Naruto said. "The water system for the greenhouse would also spread water though the ground, reaching plants outside. We can collect water from the plants as well and reuse it. Water from plants is safe to drink as long as we filter out anything that could have fallen into it. Instead of using barrows for wine, we can use them for water. That way, it can also be transported around."
Itachi stared at Naruto. The blond was truly brilliant to have come up with all of this in just a couple hours. It just proved how wrong the world was to believe that Omegas were only good for breeding. "So if we build the greenhouses now, we could in theory prevent the famine."
"Yes," Naruto agreed.
"Alright," Itachi said standing up. "Then we should bring this up to my father." He held out a hand to Naruto.
"We?" Naruto asked.
"Of course. It was your idea after all." Naruto smiled and took Itachi's hand. They headed straight to where Fugaku was. Neither of them had seen the eyes that had been watching them the entire time.
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Itachi held out his hand and helped Naruto get into the carriage. Sasuke did the same for Sakura. The four of them decided to ride together while Fugaku, Mikoto, Kizashi, and Mebuki rode in another one. The maids rode in the third carriage while the forth carriage held their things. Kakashi's knights surrounded them and the group began their journey back to the Uchiha castle. They arrived safely and instantly headed to the dinning room for some food. After eating, Mikoto took Naruto aside.
"Is everything ok, Your Highness?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, but please, just call me Mikoto my dear," Mikoto said. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Naruto." Naruto gulped, not sure if he was going to like this discussion. "It's about Sasuke. We've put your wedding with him off and I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about it."
"Your Highness," Naruto interrupted. Mikoto made a face. "M-mikoto," he corrected. "May I be honest about something?"
"Yes," Mikoto said, a little surprised.
Naruto swallowed. "To be honest, I have no desire to marry Prince Sasuke."
Mikoto gasped. "Did he do something? 'Cause if he did, I'll…"
Naruto shook his head. "That's not it. I just believe that there is no need for me to marry Prince Sasuke. He has Lady Sakura as his future queen. If I marry Prince Sasuke, I will be in the way of their happiness."
"I'm sure Sakura will be a good Queen, but Sasuke will need more than that. He needs someone that can protect his heart. I know that you can do that. He has his family on his side, but you'd be able to help him become a great king."
Naruto simply smiled at that. The discussion went back to Naruto's wedding with Sasuke. He listened to Mikoto talk about the dress she's having made for Naruto. He only answered when necessary. But while she was talking, Naruto was thinking about Mikoto's words. Soon, Mikoto excused herself as Fugaku had called for her. He waved after Mikoto, only dropping his smile when she was gone. He then sighed. 'But Mikoto, you're wrong. Sasuke will be a great king, even without us. I've already seen it.'
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"Are you sure about this?" a man asked. He had black shaggy hair with bangs that hung over his eyes and framed both sides of his face. There were pronounced creases underneath his eyes
"Yes," the hooded figure said. They pulled out a bag filled with money and placed it on the man's table. "That's half of the payment. The rest will be given once you've completed the mission."
"Then it will be done," the man said with a grin, taking the bag. He opened it and upon seeing the gold, his grin widened. "During the Hunting Festival."
Digitalis (Foxglove) is a plant with both poisonous and medicinal properties, so it symbolizes protection and healing, but it also represents danger.