The Bastard

IT WON!!! THE BASTARD WON THE BEST ALTERNATE REALITY AWARD. IT TIED WITH SCARS. SO FOR ALL THOSE WHO VOTED I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!!!!

A/N: about the lemon?? You’ll have to wait until they get back to London…or at least Bordeaux. I want them to have a proper bed the first time and want Sasuke to be himself instead of Kiara…which might happen, maybe not in London, but somewhere in England or France. You may also get the lemon in later chapters…English people in those times did wait until the time was ‘right’ shall we say? So please hold on…I’m trying to keep the story interesting without lemons having to be there all the time…tell me if it is!

Ok I seem to have mixed things up a bit. You see Sakura is a Lady cos she was born nobility. And I forgot and called Ino lady too. But from now on I’ll just call her Miss Uzumaki while using the formal speech. Only her suitors will call her lady as that is what they called a lady.

HERE BEGINETH A NEW ARC

IN THE ADVENTURES OF

THE CAPTAIN AND THE EARL

Chapter 12:

The ship’s mast could be seen a little way off. They had made it without anything else happening, except for some scuffles and very little food. Naruto had not spoken a word, except while answering his comrades in monosyllables. Iruka had left him to his own devices, warning Sasuke to give him a while to brighten. The Earl understood, he knew how hard it was to lose someone and but did not intend on giving the blond too much time to be blue.

Konohamaru’s spirits had recovered some, and the travelers had been subjected to a constant blabber of nonsense. The Uchiha supposed it was the boy’s way of trying to bring his master some cheer. He frowned, turning to check the road behind them…then he heard it once more, the faint sound of hoof beats. Sasuke’s eyes widened…they were all together, so it could not be one of them.

“Guards! Guards are following, move men, move now!” Sasuke spurred his horse on and reached out to strike the rump of Naruto's horse. Kakashi and Iruka understood and shifted to either side of Konohamaru, so as to guide the boy with out anymore mishaps. Naruto still lagged behind and Sasuke felt a growing fear: did the blond want to be caught? Was it for atonement? Sasuke was never going to let that happen. He moved up next to Naruto and leaned forward dangerously, grabbing at the blond’s mount’s reins. Then he started to gallop, forcefully dragging the blond behind him. It was not going to be enough…the guards had guns.

He wondered if he should try something very daring…something that scared him out of his wits in fact. Taking a look at the blond and hearing the hoof beats get closer, he made a decision. Coming up right next to Naruto, he took his feet out of the stirrups and with as must haste as he could manage without falling off, placed his feet onto the saddlebags on either side of his saddle. Taking a deep steadying breath he placed his left foot onto the seat of his saddle. Naruto was staring at him in startled.

“Uchiha! What deuce do you think you are doing?”

Sasuke bit his lip hard before replying. “Uzumaki, if you do not want me to die, you will keep your horse next to mine…one mistake and I will go face first to the ground…”

Naruto's eyes widened and he complied. Sasuke readied himself, heart thudding unbearably in his ears, lip between his teeth and then…he jumped. And landed behind Naruto, slipping his arms around the blond’s waist. Gulping in huge breaths of air, he extended his arms on either side of Naruto and took the reins in his hand. Kicking the horse hard, he guided it into a clearing, making his way to the ship. Ibiki was there waiting, the moment they reached, Genma and Raidou hauled them off the horse and hustled them up the ramp. They pulled the ramp up after them and the sails unfurled. Anchor had already been partly drawn and the rest was done quickly.

Genma stationed himself behind cannon and just as the first guards appeared he fired. They scattered like leaves on a breeze. Sasuke used the time to get Naruto into the cabin and shut the door behind them. The blond looked angry; he glared at Sasuke, his eyes spitting fire. Sasuke sighed, must they have another row? Wasn’t anyone satisfied with the number of rows they had been having?

Naruto grit his teeth a while and then turned to face Sasuke, when he thought he had calmed down enough…meaning he hadn’t calmed down at all. “What did you think you were doing, Sasuke? Trying to die?”

Sasuke wondered for a while how he was to handle this situation. As much fun as their rows were, if it did not end in kissing or something of the sort then it wasn’t worth it. And it might make Naruto depressed again…the blond could be such a girl sometimes. So he took the diplomatic way. “What did you think you were doing, Naruto?”

The blond blinked, not expecting the counter question. Naturally he had thought the Uchiha would have tried to explain himself then he, Naruto would have gone into one of his tirades and stormed off to the deck to cool down. Then Sasuke and he would have glared at each other for a day, and then Sasuke would be frustrated and take it out on him, Naruto by kissing the life out of him. But he had not expected Sasuke to ask him the same question.

“What do you mean, Sasuke?”

“I mean, my dear Naruto, why did you not spur your horse into a gallop the moment I told you we were being followed.”

“I…well…I…wanted to fight! It would have done me some good, things have been very quite lately and my…my manly blood needed some excitement.” Naruto stumbled over his words staring at the calm impassive Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked. “Excitement? We have had plenty of excitement, Captain. We have been followed, hunted and attacked without a moment of peace for most of the way. You have been incapacitated, as all you have done is stare into oblivion while Kakashi, Iruka and I have been fighting. My dear, one would think you wanted to be caught…”

“Yes I… I mean yes I wanted to fight! I mean I had been watching you all fight them and I started to…to…well I felt like a coward! That is the precise reason.” Naruto beamed at him, forgetting how he had started the dialogue in the first place.

“Precise reason, eh? Why can you not be truthful? You wanted to be caught, because you felt it would atone for Haku’s death. Tell me now!” Sasuke said in his ‘I-am-the-Earl-and-I-command-you-to-do-it’ voice.

Naruto stared at him, the smile gone, and pain making itself known in his eyes. “Yes, maybe I did. Why did you not just leave me to be caught? Why can you not understand what I am feeling?”

Sasuke stood up, internally sighing that it was to be a row yet again…even if it was a row in his favor. “You should not dare to tell me that I cannot understand your feelings in this matter. I can perfectly well, since I did…do feel the same about my brother’s death. What I cannot understand is why you would put all of us in danger to do something as stupid as that! I must say you would have known that Iruka, Kakashi or I would indeed try to stop you from committing such folly.”

He stared at the blond who was staring at the floor. “I fully intended to give you time to mourn, but if it is making your judgment quite poor then I must tell you to snap out of it. You lead this ship and this crew! We cannot have you place their lives in danger because you are feeling depressed about your friend…who betrayed you! Speak to me when you are sane, I do not have time to waste on men who cannot take good care of their own!”

Then Sasuke left the cabin, leaving Naruto to sulk or feel guilty in peace. The Earl’s words had made an impact, the fact that Sasuke had said them in such a condescending Earl-ish way was worse. Naruto knew that every word of it was true, before it suddenly hit him that the whole conversation had been turned against him. He sighed; he’d intended to brood for a while, but it seemed not to suit him…it was Sasuke’s forte after all.

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Iruka went below the deck where the crew slept. Each bed was separated by curtains on account of there being so many couples. When he went to his own ‘room’ and found Kakashi dozing fitfully. Sliding into bed, Iruka slipped his arms around the silver haired valet.

Kakashi’s eyes snapped open, and he turned quickly to see it was just Iruka. Smiling he hugged the man close breathing in the rich sent of stew that seemed to hang about Iruka. It came from being a very good cook. Iruka snuggled into him, stroking his chest slowly.

“Kakashi, what did you do before you became a valet?” Iruka asked hesitantly, he’d been waiting to find out about his love’s past, but the time had never been right.

Kakashi stiffened a bit and then he relaxed. It was Iruka…the man would keep a secret and was trustworthy. It wasn’t that Kakashi had secrets; it was just that he had not wanted his past known to anyone, not even his master. “Well, I was born to nobility actually, but I was a bastard child. My father had been an aristocratic man, famed through out England as the general who had driven Spain out when they had invaded…single handedly mind you. But he made a mistake…a mistake which everyone found out about, you do know what the noble women are like when it comes to envy and gossip. He fell for my mother…who had no fortune whatsoever apart from her looks. It was condemned by the whole of the Ton. My father promised to marry her…she allowed him to take her. When he found out she was pregnant, he rallied against all his relatives in order to marry her, but they refused, sending my mother away where he couldn’t find her. My mother waited and waited, but three months later she got word hat he had killed himself. Suicide is a sin as you know…so he was condemned once more and disowned by his relatives.”

“When I was seven years old my mother died. Mr. Uchiha had come down to visit his land…that was where I was staying. He found me and made me an offer. I would work with his staff and make something out of my pitiful existence. He was a proud man, but he still paid me more than the others, though it was my secret. When Sasuke was born he made me personal valet to him. So I helped the nurses care for the baby. Mr. Uchiha also gave me an education. His cousin Obito Uchiha used to visit and stay for long periods of time. I was fifteen then and Sasuke was five, I could not understand why that boy wanted to be my friend. I was always cold to him but he kept offering friendship. When that did not work, he began to demand that I accompany him whenever he went out. Since Sasuke was young there was not much for me to do, I followed him around until a grudging friendship began to develop.”

“There was another girl, our age training to be a maid calling Rin. Obito liked her…he thought her very pretty. He used to sneak us out and take us riding, if Mr. Uchiha knew he did not complain about Obito spending time with the likes of us. One day Rin’s horse ran off with her. Obito insisted we go look for her, even when I said that we should get help. We searched everywhere and finally heard her calling; she was at a cliff…the Uchiha estate…Andover (so this isn’t the real Andover estate in England ok?) is built over a high cliff. There used to be a fence, but the horse had jumped clear. We looked down and Rin was hanging on for dear life. Obito got off at once; he leaned down and caught her, slipping himself. I used a bit of rope we had and tried to haul them up, he sent Rin up first. When we were pulling him up, the rope started to fray due to the friction. I reached out, I almost caught him, but Rin stopped me, it was too dangerous. We pulled harder, but he fell. He broke his neck…”

Kakashi stopped for a moment, breathing hard then he continued once more. “Mr. Uchiha believed us. They had his funeral, told everyone it was an accident when he had tried to save Rin. That I was not there…he said he wanted to protect me, incase the gossips started talking about me again. To let my father rest in peace. After that I was just confined to Sasuke and his rooms. Then when Sasuke was twelve, Itachi Uchiha…his brother died in a hunting accident. His parents went crazy with grief, they started trying to force Sasuke to be like Itachi, never realizing that he thought Itachi’s death was his fault. They stopped attending parties living only to love Sasuke and depend on him. Two years later, they went to France but they passed away in a ship wreck. I was all Sasuke had, his guardian was Orochimaru. The thieving snake kept trying to steal Sasuke’s money. The boy became a cynical wreck who hated the world. He began to hate happiness itself, becoming a condescending man. Then Orochimaru set him up and here we are. That’s the story of my life”

Iruka smiled. “Thank you for telling me. I will keep it a secret if you wish it. I love you, Kakashi.” His chocolate brown eyes crinkled at the corners, making him look thoroughly adorable. Kakashi captured his soft lips delivering a lingering kiss.

“I love you too Iruka…”

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Hours later Naruto walked out to find Sasuke still on deck, sitting by the prow staring out into the horizon. Stupid Sasuke, who had turned the conversation against him! It was he who was to be broodingby the prow and Sasuke coming to comfort him, not the other way around. The sun had set a long time ago…the call for dinner had been sounded too. But Sasuke sat alone and unmoving, just watching the sea.

Naruto sat down by him, cracking his knuckles a little wondering how to begin. But then Sasuke began for him. “Ibiki and I have decided that we dock at Brest, it the best place for us to get some needful rest and stock up on supplies. Since it is France’s naval base, we will not be attacked. It is also the place between Bordeaux and England. I would like some time before I get into skirts please…”

“Those are good decisions; you seem to be turning into quite the seafarer.”

“Well someone I knew once said he had wanted a wife…maybe lover who would follow him to sea.”

Naruto started and looked at Sasuke wonderingly. “Are you not bored with me all ready?”

“Just because I get angry at you behaving idiotish, does not mean I will not continue to love you, Naruto. I rowed you because I felt hurt that you were willing to leave me behind too. I cannot bear with the thought of you leaving me behind as well.” The raven haired man refused to look at Naruto while he said these words, preferring instead to look out to sea.

Blue eyes looked at him for a long moment, before they softened. “I have behaved in an incredibly foolish way Uchiha. I am sorry…I did not care about anyone else’s feelings.”

Dark eyes studied him, unreadable and then an arm slipped around his shoulders. “I am sorry too. I seem to expect too much from you sometimes. Maybe I forget that you are only human…you have changed me completely...sometimes I think…” he blushed “that you are an angel…come down just to help me live. Gosh, I am being a ninny!”

Naruto grinned. “Maybe I am. But you need not fear that I will leave you behind, Sasuke. I cannot. I promise that if ever anything happens I will protect you…I will be with you.” He bent forwards capturing his love’s lips.

They kissed softly, just for pure affection and love…passion withstanding, their only witness the moonlight filtering onto the deck. The men had turned away respecting their immediate need for privacy. So Naruto and Sasuke kissed and held on to each other to their hearts content, only awaiting the adventure soon to wash over them.

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The butler Izumo who filled the position while Genma was on the voyage opened the door to a hooded and cloaked stranger. He wondered whether to let the men enter…his countenance could not be seen and the dark clothing did not help see his build. Izumo frowned and asked as stiffly as possible what he may do to help the man.

The stranger’s voice sounded amused. “Yes you may help me. I would like to know if Mr. Uzumaki is in.”

Izumo wondered where the man was from…the whole of England knew when Captain Uzumaki was in or not. His exploits were known all over England. He decided that he might not want to let the stranger in after all. “No, I am sorry but Captain Uzumaki is at sea. He will be returning soon…when he does not say.”

The man seemed to think it over and then he looked up. Izumo was trying hard to make out at least the colour of his eyes, but they were blocked by the shadow of his cloak. “Well, then could you tell me if Miss Uzumaki is in. If she is not I will wait.”

“She is in, sir. But she is about to depart to a friend’s house.” Izumo was about to close the door but a hand stopped him.

“You would do well to show me some respect my good man. All of us English are like that…judging a book by its cover. But you will take my card up to Miss Uzumaki and request an audience as quickly as possible.” He handed Izumo a covered card and stepped in to wait at he door.

Izumo knocked on Miss Ino’s door. Then he entered and presented the card to her. She smiled at him and opened the card…her eyes moved across it rapidly. Izumo wondered who it could be; the girl had gone quite a shocking white.

“Izumo…please let him await me in the library. I will be done in a minute. And then send Udon to Lady Haruno’s house, tell her I will not be visiting her today and that something quite important has come up.” she spoke slowly, as if in a trance.

Izumo nodded and went to inform the man. The stranger was examining the statue at the door. It was something called a totem pole that Captain Uzumaki had brought back from his voyages.

“Excuse me sir, but you are to await Miss Uzumaki in the library. Let me lead the way sir.” Izumo led him to the library and left him to look at the books. Then he took himself away, warning the other staff to stay away as well. Naruto had loyal servants…no one of them would intrude on the family’s privacy.

After a moment, Ino arrived dressed in a pretty blue dress. She looked at the cloaked stranger and swallowed. “Are you really…?”

The stranger straightened and seemed to look her up and down. Then he threw off his hood to reveal his face and smiled at her. “Yes I am.”

And Miss Ino Uzumaki stared at him for a moment before fainting dead away.

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Genma shaded his eyes against the sun to stare at the horizon. Then he looked down with a gleeful shout. “Land ahoy!”

Naruto grinned up at him. “So we have reached Brest. I am excessively happy. At last I can fulfill my craving for some good pasta. Is there any way we can get there faster?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit. “Idiot. If you have waited this long, I am sure you can wait much longer. Do not forget that we must get rooms first, then we must change into attire appropriate for dining at a restaurant…and I must borrow the eye patch once more. Then we must locate the restaurant we plan to dine at and wait while they make the food and serve it. So you had better take a deep breath and prepare yourself for an hour’s wait at the most.”

Naruto's face had fallen into a decidedly dejected expression as Sasuke had continued his monologue. He could not help whining, even though his crew was present all around him. He began with a “Sasuuukeeee!” And then went on with “Why do you take so much pleasure in tormenting meeee? Are you really such a sadist?”

Sasuke smirked. “I would not go as far as to call myself a sadist. Let us just say I take pleasure in watching you make a fool of yourself, many many times. I must admit it never loses its charm.”

Genma snickered with glee….which was mirrored by most of the members of the crew. It was nice to someone rile the Captain up so… the Captain had been such a sedate human being who only got excited at the mention of a fight. But now they could watch him get excited or work himself into a frenzy without having to put their own lives in danger. They wished they could repay the Earl in someway and had been racking their brains to do so for quite a while. And then Genma had hit up on the idea. They just needed time to perfect the plan.

They watched as Naruto jumped off the ship as they docked. Sasuke followed him at a more sedate pace, eye patch in place and a bit of stubble around his mouth. Even with short facial hair and eye patch the Earl looked as handsome as ever. It was not any wonder that the women all around them were watching the two men.

Naruto turned to see Sasuke a little way off, taking his own sweet time, looking around with that stoic face of his. Naruto pouted very slightly. Didn’t the bastard understand that pasta was the most important thing on his mind? Weren’t lovers supposed to understand that sort of thing? Why did he get have to fall in love with an inconsiderate lover? He huffed a little and stalked into an inn.

The inn keeper seemed to be a drunkard and perpetually drank from a hip flask. Naruto wished he’d hurry and give them rooms. Sasuke finally walked in and looked at the man. Then he walked right up to the counter and rapped his hands on it. “Do you have any rooms, my man? We are in a bit of a hurry here and all we require is a room…two if you can manage it.”

The inn keeper straightened and looked at Sasuke for a moment. “I have two rooms, sir. They have a door that connects them if you don’t mind sir.” he saw Sasuke nod an assent. “If you will follow me, sir. The name’s Tazuna by the by.”

Adjoining rooms…Sasuke thought gleefully. The numerous things he could do with adjoining rooms….especially if Naruto was on the other side. He snapped out of it and looked at Naruto when they reached the rooms.

“Please get dressed quickly, Captain. We must hurry if you are in dire need of pasta.” And he went inside, leaving his lover to gawp at him with a childish expression of rage on his face. The Earl of Andover was such a Bastard!

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A/N: That’s it for now. I know it has been a while but I have to wait some time before the flow gets me and I am floundering at bit with the numerous possibilities I have for this plot. Now that the new arc is beginning stay tuned for more of the Bastard!! Ja ne.

Taka