Stay with Me

 

A/n: Here’s a new chapter for you all! I just wanted to say thank you so much for the reviews! I loved reading them. Now, please enjoy the new chapter.

 

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Chapter 2

 

Onyx eyes fluttered open to groggily take in his surroundings. He didn’t remember where he was or how he had gotten here but he had the distinct impression that he wasn’t anywhere he knew of from the vaulted ceiling and the birds chirping in the background. The atmosphere seemed off from the norm as well, more uplifted than what he experienced in the Uchiha Castle. It almost seemed calm here…

A sudden gasp from his side sent his senses on high alert and in an instantaneous moment from instinct and training, Sasuke was up and got into a fighting stance with his normally black eyes now a swirling crimson, showing his Sharingan. A woman with dark hair, hung long down to her shoulders, stood in front of him meekly. Her strange pale lilac eyes that seemingly had no pupil to be seen were widened in shock and fright at him. The glass of water she had been holding dropped to the ground with a crash and within that second, the door flung open to reveal the blond haired angel he had thought was a delusional dream he had been having on the brick of death.

Running in, the angel who he now realized was just a man, quickly went over to the frightened woman and took her hands in his with a soft expression on his face. For some reason that bothered him, seeing that tenderness that he had been robbed of now that his family had been taken from him. He remembered now, what had happened. His clan had been murdered and he had fled on his elder brother’s command and gone west to the Fire Country Kingdom.

Someone must have found him and healed his wounds. From the look of it and the memory of that day that someone must have been this blonde haired man who was consoling the woman.

“Hinata, are you alright?” The man asked with concern. The woman, Hinata, nodded shyly and smiled weakly.

“Y-Yes, Prince Naruto. He just f-frightened me a bit.” She replied, sneaking a small glance over to Sasuke, who was becoming livid with the memory of his parent’s murder. The man, Naruto, smiled widely at that.

“Hinata, you can go now and see to your other duties. I’ll take care of him.” He said as he motioned his friend out of the room. Once Hinata was gone, Naruto turned back to the young man standing stiffly with bandages covering most to all of his body. It had been a lot of work, even for Tsunade, to heal him. It was good to see him already able to stand.

“What kind of bastard frightens a woman! Let alone a pregnant one like Hinata!” Naruto’s sudden cheerful expression changed dramatically to anger at the young stranger that he had graciously let into his home.

From the abrupt lecture, Sasuke’s eyes faded back to their normal onyx color as he felt a twinge of guilt for what he had done. His parents had taught him better than that. Straightening his posture to regain some of his lost authority, flinching as he felt his wounds stretch painfully.

Noticing the wince, Naruto’s anger faded and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, shifting his weight uncomfortably. It was awkward to be in this situation, to know absolutely nothing about the man he had been watching sleep and worrying over for the past few days he had been under his roof.

“My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki crown prince of Konoha. It’s a pleasure to meet you—” Naruto left the greeting open ended hoping that the handsome stranger would finish by announcing his own name. Pressing his lips into a thin line of mistrust, Sasuke reluctantly conceded to the prince. Although, this ‘Naruto Uzumaki’ didn’t look like any prince he had ever seen before.

“—Prince Sasuke Uchiha second son to Fugaku Uchiha, king of Kumogakure(1).” Sasuke said formally as he was taught. Naruto’s eyes turned grave and remorseful at the response. At least, his name explained the wounds he had had.

“I heard about what happened to your family. I’m very sorry for your losses.” Naruto said mournfully. Sasuke’s breath hitched at the information. This person had ‘heard’ about what had happened? How was that possible? Didn’t it happen just last night? It would take a few days at the very least for word to spread. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks then as he began to look around for something that could tell him the date.

“How long have I been here?” Sasuke rushed as he began to feel a bit lightheaded from his speeding pulse that caused his wounds to seep.

Seeing the obvious disorientation of the other, Naruto slowly crept closer to the man that was still looking for something to inform him of the day. He needed to calm down if he didn’t want to injure himself more than he already was.

“Sasuke, I found you in the forest six days ago and brought you to my healer. You’ve been sleeping ever since.” Naruto carefully explained not wanting to upset him further. “Please, calm down.” He said a little softer. At the mention of his name, Sasuke grew defensive and he glared at him before roughly pushing the younger man away.

“What right do you have to address me so informally? I don’t know you!” Sasuke yelled feeling as if he was cornered. Naruto set a soft smile upon his face and paused a step away from the other.

“My apologies Prince Uchiha. But, please, sit down and rest. Your wounds are far from being completely healed.” He urged, trying to calm the other down some. Feeling a part of his pride return from his title being spoken, Sasuke did calm down a bit and sat on the edge of the bed he had been lying on previously. At the compliance, Naruto relaxed and let a grin overtake his features. “You scared me for a bit there. I thought you were going to pass out or something by the way you were freaking out.” He confessed, laughing nervously. Sasuke’s mood darkened at the statement, but he refused to outwardly show it. He was still an Uchiha damn it and Uchiha’s did not show their emotions to strangers.

“Don’t I have a right to ‘freak out’? My family was murdered less than a week ago and I suddenly awake to find myself in a strange place only to learn that I’ve been in more or less a coma since the incident.” Sasuke said as emotionlessly as he could, but Naruto could still sense the sorrow that lied just beneath the surface of those words. He should have been more sensitive. He, too, knew what it was like to lose ones family. It was heart breaking…

“I—” Naruto began to say some sort of apology when the door opened to reveal a tall well built man with a stock of silver hair sticking up from his head as if daring gravity to tame it. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask, while a black cloth was tied around his head to cover his left eye. From what could be inferred, the man was a goof by the way he lazily smiled underneath his mask and the less than attentive posture he held.

“—My prince your presence is needed immediately. A woman is requesting an audience with you and looks quiet upset.” The man told, leaning against the wall. Sighing, Naruto turned away from his guest and toward his captain of the guard.

“Did she tell you anything specific about her request, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked.

“Her roof collapsed last night and she can’t pay for the roofers to fix it so she requests your advice.” He drawled lazily as he stared at the young man sitting on the bed. With stiff shoulders and a tense angry disputation, Kakashi was wary of him. He had heard of the Uchiha’s from the Lightning country. All had black hair and coal colored eyes with the pale skin. From the moment he had spotted him in the courtyard he had been sure this man was one of them and from what he had listened in on from outside the door, he had been right. Naruto laughed sheepishly and turned back to Sasuke for just a moment to flash that wide smile of his.

“A prince’s duty is never done. When you feel better, come and see me and we can talk more. Your clothes were tattered pretty bad but we washed them all the same for you. Also, there is a fresh new shirt and pants in the dresser if you want to wear them. You are free to go anywhere you like in the castle so don’t worry too much about formalities here. I’ll send Hinata up later with something for you to eat. Anything in particular that you’d like?” Naruto asked. Sasuke was hesitant for a moment, mulling over the situation he was in before he replied politely.

“Something with tomatoes.” Sasuke said. Naruto’s eyes lit up at the comment, feeling as some of the tension was thinned form the air.

“Tomato soup it is then!” He said happily. “Remember to rest up and I’ll see you later.” Naruto said before he walked out the door with Kakashi following close behind him.

Left alone in the room, Sasuke sighed and let his shoulders slump. He hurt, his wounded body, his wary mind, but mostly his aching heart.

His parents were dead. His aunts, his uncles, and cousins had burned up in the flames. His brother…oh god he didn’t even know if Itachi had survived or not. All he knew was that his old life had been ripped away from him by some yellow eyed monster.

Sasuke’s hands clenched into tight fists on his lap and he couldn’t help but wince at the pain. He was hurt bad. There was no doubting it. When he had stumbled into this kingdom he knew he had been so near death that the angel’s embrace was nearly wrapped fully around him. Not even the most skilled of healer could have pulled him back past that brink from which he overhung. It would have taken something more, something he didn’t quite understand just yet. But he knew that that idiot prince wasn’t telling him the full story. He’d pry the information out of him later. Uchihas were good at that, getting information out of people. Sasuke’s hand moved to his closed eyes and gently he felt the lid. He had shown his Sharingan so easily to them when he had awoken. He shouldn’t have done that. It could have compromised his situation. There wasn’t one hunter of rare items in the world that wouldn’t give his life for the Sharingan eyes of an Uchiha. His father would have known what to have done in his situation and guide him through it… If not his father, Itachi definitely would have.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Sasuke tensed in anger at the man that had done this great tragedy to him. When he found him, he was going to make sure he inflicted as much as pain on him as the amount that had been dealt to him.

His thoughts were abruptly cut off by the door to his room opening to reveal the woman from earlier with a tray in her hands. It appeared that the other prince had kept to his word and brought him something to eat. At least that meant he wasn’t a prisoner here it seemed. If anything it appeared that he was a guest if the accommodations were anything to go by. Timidly, the dark haired woman, Hinata, edged into the room and approached him. Only then did he notice her swollen belly that he had failed to see earlier. A pang of guilt stuck at him as he recalled his angry outburst.

“H-hello, earlier I-I didn’t get a chance to introduce m-myself. My name is H-Hinata Hyuuga.” She introduced herself meekly as she set the tray onto his lap and bowed in respect before taking a seat in a chair near the bed. Someone must have been watching him Sasuke had realized when he had seen it. Perhaps, someone had been stationed to ensure he didn’t wake and kill anyone. Looking down at the bowl of tomato soup, Sasuke’s stomach growled, hungry for the nourishment that the food would bring. Against better judgment mostly from the gnawing hungry, Sasuke began to eat small spoonfuls of the soup knowing that it could very well be poisoned. He didn’t mean to be suspicious of the people that had saved his life, but it was only natural. He was a prince with that title brought uncertainties about strangers and or even friends at some points.

As Sasuke ate he noticed that the Hinata woman was watching him with a small tender smile on her lips as her hands rested on her big belly. He deduced from her continued presence that she was supposed to watch over him. It wasn’t long before he finished his meal and was awkwardly staring as Hinata stroked her protruding abdomen with love and affection. His mouth opened and the words rolled off his tongue before he had a chance to assess what he was saying.

“About earlier, I…apologize for frightening you.” Sasuke said as he stared down into his empty soup bowl. At the apology, Hinata stood with a bit of difficultly and waddled her way over to him, reaching and taking the tray back.

“I-It’s no problem. Anyone would a-act like that in your situation.” She encouraged. “Is there a-anything else you require?” Hinata asked as she stepped near the door. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at the question. No one had tried to kill him or injury him, while he had been here and so far nothing but kindness had been presented toward him. His father had spoken truth about the ruler here. A thought occurred to him then.

“I would like to see the King and thank him for healing my wounds and housing me, while I rested.” Sasuke said sincerely. It would be what his parents would expect from him. Hinata’s pale eyes darkened at the mention of the king and her kind smile faltered.

“Prince Uchiha, we h-have no king here. Our prince rules this land. If you wish to t-thank him it will have to wait. Prince Naruto is out a-assisting one of the village folk with a problem she’s had.” She said solemnly pausing a moment. “Or, I-I could prepare escort for y-you to see him r-right away.” She said as an after thought. Sasuke’s widened at the news that that idiot prince actually ruled the entire kingdom. Certainly, this woman had to be joking or mistaken. This couldn’t possibly be true. Though, from the look on the woman’s face she was neither lying nor joking. Recomposing himself, Sasuke nodded to her in affirmative.

“An escort will be fine.” He said. Bowing respectfully, Hinata left the room to prepare an escort for their guest.

Sasuke sat motionless on the bed, waiting for whoever they sent. Thinking back to the conversation that he had had with the idiot prince, Naruto if he recalled right, it had been six days since his family had been murdered. He stood. His legs were unsteady under him. He had been out of commission long enough. Sasuke had to start looking for that yellow eyed man. Sasuke donned his tattered clothes and searched for his sword within the room only to realize that the dobe prince must have taken it. It was the practical thing to do. Sasuke was a prince from another land; he could have faked his wounds and attempt to assassinate Naruto or his family. Sasuke growled in frustration and hobbled back over to the bed where he sat down again. That escort should be arriving soon and once they got to Naruto he was going to make him give back his family’s sword by force if necessary. As if thinking of him summoned him, there was a sharp knock on the door before a man opened the door and walked in with an enormous white dog at his side. This man was young as he was, early twenties it appeared. Tall and medium built, he stood stiff because of the newcomer. He had short shaggy brown hair with black eyes and the strange upside down red triangle markings on his cheeks. He was a knight Sasuke could tell just from the way he presented himself.

“Look, I don’t know you and I don’t trust you. Why our fearless leader saved you is beyond me. So if you try ANYTHING, I mean even look at Prince Naruto funny I’m going to run you through. Is that clear?” He threatened with an irritated tone. Standing, Sasuke nodded, knowing that it was the sensible thing to do. The man at the action grinned wide showing off a slightly larger than normal K9. “The name’s Kiba Inuzuka, head animal caretaker and one of Prince Naruto’s knights. And by the way, if you scare my pregnant wife again, I’ll drown you in the nearest river. Now, let’s get you to the prince.” Kiba said, hitting him on the back a bit harder than necessary causing Sasuke to stumble in his weakened state. He could do nothing but glare at the knight as he followed him out of the room. Sasuke limped with his hand holding his side all the way down the hall…

The ride out of the castle and into the village was harsher than Sasuke had predicted. With each jostle from the horse, a wave of pain crashed over him and near the end of it, Sasuke wasn’t sure he could stand much more. But, his injuries were nothing…or at least that’s what he kept telling himself as they closed in on the prince’s location.

Nearing, Sasuke became puzzled as he saw Naruto, the prince of this land, up on the remains of a roof of a commoner’s house bare-chested and sweating as he helped fix the roof with the construction team already there. As far as Sasuke knew, princes and rulers of kingdoms did not go about and actually do manual labor such as Naruto was now.

Stopping in front of the house, Sasuke gingerly dismounted and refused to acknowledge how his legs were barely keeping him standing. Looking around, he saw that along with Naruto and the construction workers there was also the silver haired man from before, Kakashi, his name was Sasuke believed. Other than that, there was no one besides himself, Kiba, and the owner of the house he surmised.

“My prince! Our guest has come to see you!” Kiba shouted as he too dismounted. Upon hearing the shout, Naruto looked up and smiled wide at Sasuke before getting down from the commoner’s roof and trotting over.

“Hey! I thought I told you to rest and I’d see you later.” Naruto said cheerfully as he donned on his forgotten shirt. Not wanting to dance around the matter at hand, Sasuke ignored Naruto’s statement and got to the point. He bowed in respect to the ruler of this land despite how he wished not to.

“Thank you for saving me and letting me stay for as long as I have. I will be leaving now so will you return my family’s sword to me?” Sasuke asked. He didn’t want to have to ask. He wanted to take back what was rightfully his, but it was his manners that forbade him from doing so.

Naruto’s smile faded as he heard mention of Sasuke’s leave and the return of the sword. With a sigh, he gave Sasuke a long look over before shaking his head disappointingly. He hadn’t wanted to do it this way. He had hoped Sasuke was smarter and wait for his wounds to heal before he went off, but it appeared he judged him wrong.

“Kakashi, bring me the prince’s sword and my own.” Naruto ordered. Giving him a suspicious look, Kakashi reluctantly dismounted with the two swords in hand. Going over, Kakashi gave the swords to his prince who, as soon as he retrieved them, threw Sasuke’s to him. Only from his quick reflexes could Sasuke have been able to catch the sword as he had. There was a pause in Sasuke’s actions as he held his family’s sword in his hands. Looking over to Naruto, Sasuke gave a curt bow of his head in respect and turned to leave when Naruto’s voice stopped him.

“What will you do? Your family is gone and your castle has been burned to the ground.” The young man asked sounding his true age for the first time since they had met. Sasuke’s fists clenched at the remark. He ignored the pain that accompanied the action.

“Hn. It’s my duty to avenge my family’s murder. I’ll find the one who did this and end them.” He said darkly as he stared down at the sword in his hands. He’d kill that monster with this sword where the weight of his family’s honor and history was heaviest. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as if it were sore and shifted his weight to his other leg suddenly.

“I didn’t want to do it this way, but it seems I have no other choice,” Naruto said with a sigh as he readied himself a defensive stance. “If you want to leave, you’ll have to beat me.” He continued, giving his sword a practice swing to show he was not joking. If Sasuke wanted to leave he’d have to beat him in a duel, because that was the only way Naruto knew that Sasuke was strong enough to survive. In the state he was in, Sasuke would last the rest of the day let alone searching for the one that had murdered his clan and burned his home. The Uchiha’s only chance, whether he wanted to acknowledge it or not, was to stay here until his wounds were healed completely and his lost strength was returned in full.

Looking back at the prince that had obviously gone mad, Sasuke furrowed his brows in confusion at the strange condition before he shook his head in disbelief and began to limp away. Naruto was in front of him before he even had a chance to take another step forward. With cold steel raised to his throat, Sasuke realized that this idiot prince was indeed serious about not letting him leave until he beat him.

“Why are you doing this?” Sasuke asked as he raised his sword with difficultly. His arms were weak and his hands were trembling trying to keep the grip tight. How had he gotten so weak? Had his wounds really been this bad? Their blades touched and Naruto let a small smile grace his lips then.

“Because, I know you’re too weak to walk out of this kingdom let alone track down the murderer of your family and kill them.” Naruto explained, waiting for the swing that he was sure was going to come. Sasuke didn’t seem to be the kind of man that accepted what other’s thought of him or told him to do easily.

With an angry glare, Sasuke pulled back his sword and swung at Naruto, missing, nearly groaning out in pain as he did so. But, he composed himself quickly and swung again only to hit the other’s blade weakly. He felt so slow, sluggish, compared to what he was like normally. His reflexes before this tragedy had been quick as lightning and his strength had been only matched by Itachi. Now, he felt feeble and weak as he clumsily swung the sword that had suddenly grown so heavy in his grasp.

Naruto blocked easily, never returning the attacks. He didn’t want to hurt Sasuke and he knew that in this state he most certainly would. Though, if Sasuke had been at full strength with no injures Naruto was sure that he would be giving him a run for his money in a duel.

Dodging another clumsily swing, Naruto watched carefully as the young man rapidly lost his strength. It was near time to end this. If he didn’t, Sasuke could surely reopen more wounds than he already had from this mock fight. Ducking under a swing, Naruto knocked Sasuke’s sword out of his grasp and pressed his sword to his pale neck. All time stopped at that single moment as the duel ended and Sasuke gasped for lost breath.

Naruto gazed at the other and saw as those coal colored eyes glared at him with fire ready to be unleashed.

“You lost,” Naruto told as he lowered his sword and sheathed it again. He picked up Sasuke’s and handed it over to Kakashi who was still in shock about the entire affair. “When your wounds are healed and your strength has returned so shall your sword. Until then, stay and rest here. Save your revenge for when you have the strength to achieve it.” Naruto finalized as he walked past the stunned Sasuke and mounted his horse.

Sasuke stood in absolute shock at his loss. He knew he was weak and that he was injured, but to lose to such a…dobe… He felt ashamed and dishonored at being treated like a child and having his sword taken away as if it was a toy and he was being punished. Glaring back at the prince that was saying his goodbyes and wishing well both the construction workers and the commoner, Sasuke’s shoulders shook with the effort not to scream indignantly like a child that his sword be returned to him at once.

Suddenly those azure eyes were on him again and Sasuke felt his breath catch as they stared deeply into him as if they could somehow see what he was thinking and feeling. He covered his dismay with a scowl and looked away. He didn’t like to feel so exposed. There was a chuckle from the young prince.

“Come on, it’s time we return to the castle. After all, it’s almost lunch time!” Naruto said, laughing as he began to ride back to the castle. Kiba followed loyally with his dog, Akamaru, running at his side. Kakashi mounted his own stead and approached Sasuke who had yet to move from his spot.

“You know, Naruto might be a bit…eccentric…at times, he has a good heart and always means well. This too is something I know he has spent much time thinking on if the way he glued himself to your bedside is anything to go by.” Kakashi told as he looked off up ahead to where his prince’s figure was disappearing into the distance. “I know it’s hard, but trust him. He knows what he’s doing.” He finished. Sasuke looked up at the older man at the remark and saw that he truly meant what he had said. Gazing to where Naruto’s figure had been last seen, Sasuke felt as strange pull in that direction. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

“It’s evident enough that he doesn’t trust me since he is keeping my sword from me. So why should I put my trust in him?” Sasuke asked.

“That’s not why he took your sword. He took it to keep you from leaving, while you’re injured. Now get on that horse so we may travel back with him.” Kakashi explained. Shrugging off the last part, Sasuke did as he was told and mounted the horse he rode here on. It was hard, his body aching from the duel. They rode back soon after, all the while Sasuke thought back to what Kakashi had said about Naruto sitting at his bedside. He couldn’t understand why…

 

 

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