A Dark Knight and His Captive by TimberWolf

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters! I do not make any money off this fanfiction! This is just something fun for me to do! :)

 

    

 A Dark Knight and His Captive by Timberwolf

The white sandy beach was edged by a rocky cliff, an expanse of dense forest, and ran smack into a busy fishing village that had prospered and grown due to the protection of the Uchiha Kingdom in which the village was part of. The fishing village called Konoha was the pride of the Uchiha clan.

 Its location west of the kingdom itself was a central trade center for all the other villages within the kingdom as well as the location where other nations would come to barter and trade their nation’s goods and produce. The Uchiha Kingdom could claim a wealth of land that included ocean kissed beaches, wind blown cliffs filled with crags and hidden caves, immense snow tipped mountains that continually fed the kingdoms many rivers and streams with fresh water, mines of precious gold, silver, coal, precious gems and salt that was used throughout the kingdom by the royal family and also by the many people within the network that made up the Uchiha Kingdom.

 The nation also boasted a huge stone wall that ran for miles separating it from the Maru Kingdom that was ruled by Orochimaru.

 The Uchiha land was also bordered by a huge expanse of desert belonging to the sand people who were ruled by Gaara of the Desert.

  Then there was a small nation directly on the Uchiha boarder that was sided with Maru to the south of it and Gaara's desert to the North of it called the Kyuubi nation. The ruler Kyuubi was often referred to as the Nine Tailed Fox Demon. Though he wasn't really the demon of legend himself he did in fact have a fascination and obsession with the legend and anything he could get his hands on that depicted the history and past life of the powerful demon.

The sight of a horse and rider suddenly materialized out of the dense trees at the edge of the large expanse of white sand stretching along the oceans shore.

The dark haired rider racing down the beach on a black horse road with such grace and speed that it took the breath away from the young man watching from a distance. The sea breeze ruffled blond locks into sapphire eyes at they intently observed the young rider and his horse as they came racing his way.

The young man instinctively knew they couldn't detect him in his place of cover among the boulders, drift wood, seaweed, and fallen timber along the oceans shore. Yet he pulled back a little further just to be sure and continued to watch, fascinated with the young man before him.

The horse and rider were completely in black. Even the metal trimmings were black, this all emphasized how pale the young mans face was. The pale face reminded him of alabaster in strength and color.

Naruto carefully crept out of his hiding place looking quickly up and down the beach for any sign of life. Breathing a sigh of relief when he assured himself that he was alone on the great expanse of sand.

 

Tiredly Naruto crossed the while sand to look for shelter in the dense woods running all along the beach. He had noticed huge clefts to the right of him all the way at the other end of the beach. While to his left in the great distance he could see smoke curling up into the blue sky, which could only mean there was a village down at that end of the beach. Naruto had no interest as of yet to discover what the village was like and felt he was safer alone in the woods. He had no idea what this part of the world was like and had no interest to discover if they were friendly or not.



Everything he had ever heard about this place through Orochimaru was that the people were violent, brutal, and hated everyone that crossed their boarders. That’s how there came to be a huge wall that separated their two kingdoms from each other. The walls went on for miles and miles and were about 10 feet thick and 20 feet tall. It had taken generations to build. The Uchiha kingdom had soldiers that patrolled the top of the walls with huge towers every few miles. These towers had huge stone bowels filled with a liquid that could be lit with fire at a moments notice. There were special powders that could be added to the flames to change the flames color. Each color stood for a different alarm. There were also huge gongs, and these were used as signals of celebration.

 It was extremely important for him to locate clean drinking water as Naruto was getting desperate. A blond head tilted and listened carefully for any sounds of running water as shoulders sagged in weariness and unsteady feet pressed forward in a desperate search for the basic need that every living being craved for survival.

With a village so close by Naruto figured fresh water source had to be near that supplied it with its life giving resource. Naruto also looked around the woods for awhile looking for a suitable place where he could build a fire and have some defense from passersby if anyone happened to be in the woods as well. He hoped to find a pool or body of water to drink and wash the sea water off of himself and his cloths. After hours of careful searching Naruto finally heard the sounds of water falling and crept closer to the sound. The sounds led him to a glade near a small pool of water that was constantly getting replenished by a smaller waterfall. The pool gradually narrowed at the far end where it channeled through jagged rocks and smooth stones and continued on as a small stream.

Naruto approached the pool and peered down into it. The water was clear and he was able to see all the way to the bottom. The floor of the pool looked to be filled with small round stones with fish darting over them here and there.

Tan hands cupped into the water and lifted up the precious liquid to chilled, trembling lips. Cool, clean water had never tasted this refreshing to a parched throat. Repeatedly hands dipped and refilled and lifted to quench a desperate thirst. When he was satisfied Naruto sat back on his heels and looked about the glade. The grassy circle was covered in a dark green grass that didn't grow very high but instead was tick and felt like silk strands when he touched the dark green blades.

There was a collection of large stones jutting out of either side of the small waterfall as well as large thick vines cascading down from the overhanging trees bordering the area at the top where the water continued over. The height was just a foot or two over Naruto's head. Not very tall but the view was pretty all the same.



Dark purple flowers sprouted out among the large green leaves that covered the trees. Naruto had never seen anything like it. The glade itself had so many tree branches stretching out overhead that Naruto could only catch glimpses of the blue sky as a breeze gently shifted the limbs back and forth. The rustling sound the leaves movement made relaxed Naruto and gave him a peaceful feeling.

A shiver ran through a tan wet body and brought him back to the task at hand. First thing he needed was to collect rocks to make a ring on the ground and dry pieces of wood to burn for a fire.

He would need a fire to get the chill out of his bones and to dry out his cloths that hung damply from his shivering body.

 

Naruto searched the rocks along the stream and picked up the larger ones and placed them in a ring close to the head of the pool so he would have the water on one side, rocks behind him, and trees to the other side of him, leaving him facing the expanse of the glade itself before him.

Next he collected dry branches and twigs from the forest and piled them up next to where the fire would be. To start a fire he took out a flint stone and steel that he had brought with him in a leather pouch and worked patiently to get the dry leaves and twigs to light. Carefully he added to the glowing flames until he was satisfied it wouldn't go out. Next he took out a knife from his leather pouch and walked over to the clear pool. He waded into the cool water and worked his way over to the waterfall. The water hit a small ledge before finally overflowing into the pool itself. Many fish also fell over and bounced on the ledge before the water carried them over the rocky surface. These were what Naruto was looking to catch. With his arm ready and the knife posed to strike he finally managed to collect four fish and felt that would be enough to get started cooking over the fire for his dinner. He splashed his way out of the water with his four fish on a leather strap and gutted and cleaned them at the waters edge.

He used sticks in the dirt to keep the fish in place over the fire to cook. While he waited for his meal to cook he went back to the pool to catch a few more to keep attached to the strip of leather and keep them tied to a vine that dangled into the pool at the waters edge. This way he could get them later to cook if he wanted without getting into the water in order to fish for them in the dark. The though of fishing in the dark did not appeal to Naruto in the least. He preferred the ability to see what he was doing rather then doing something blindly.

With the cooking fish turned and the extra fish safely tied up, Naruto felt it was time to get cleaned up. He once again went back to the pool to clean himself off and wash his cloths out. First he stripped out of all his cloths and washed them off as best as he could, then he hung them from a vine he had cut off and tied between two trees to dry. He rotated the fish before jumping back into the water to clean himself off. He ducked under the water repeatedly and ran tan thick fingers through his hair to work the salt and sand from each golden spiky strand of hair.

Naruto climbed out of the water and walked over to dry off by the heat of the fire. He turned around this way and that warming his chilled body. He hated to be cold. His teeth chattered as he rubbed his hands over his arms and legs to warm them quicker. He leaned his head nearer the fire and ruffled his hair to help it dry.

The smell of roasted fish caused his stomach to growl and he picked up a stick to make sure it was done. After letting it cool enough to eat he took hungry bites of the roasted meat and looked around for a place to sit. Once settled he stared into the flames as he quickly consumed one fish after the other.

Sasuke road his horse in the village build between the ocean and the forest. Smoke curled up from stone chimneys that stretched into a blue sky filled with large white fluffy clouds. He passed row after row of houses, some single story, some double, while others were larger still and wider for large families. Many homes housed a number of generations all together under the same roof. They worked beside each other on large fishing boats to fill their own cold cellars to hold enough sea food to feed them and their household throughout the winter. Part of their catch went to the king’s storehouse for taxes and some they sold to other villages.

The village boasted prosperity and a growing number of taverns, shops, eating and sleeping establishments. The village had a number of carpenters, blacksmiths, and tanners. The village was short on pottery craftsman and glass artisans so those they had were always in high demand. They owned the largest shops located in the very center of town. There were also shops that specialized in art, furniture, and jewelry.

Sasuke headed towards the docks were the ships were anchored and tied to the docks. He left his horse in the hands of a stable boy who would care for him till he was ready to go.