Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Heart no Kuni no Naruto ❯ Chapter 8
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Heart no Kuni no Naruto
by Sakura (aka L-sama no Miko)
So sorry for the wait everyone. I know you’ve been anxious for the latest bit of madness that is my Heart no Kuni/Naruto x-over so without further ado, let’s get the party started!!by Sakura (aka L-sama no Miko)
Chapter 8
“Oh! I’m sorry, Naru-kun!” apologized Sai as he crashed into the blond as Naruto was entering the Clock Tower, causing the boy to drop the books he’d been carrying.“Eh-he, guess I should have knocked first huh?” the boy said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
“Here let me help.” The knight immediately bent down and started picking the fallen objects.
“Why must you never look where you’re going?” grumbled Sasori, joining them upon hearing the commotion. The Knight of Hearts let out a wry chuckle, not bothering to look at the redhead. “Quit fooling around Sai. You need to be awake so you can do your job.”
“Oh I’ll do my part alright, so you needed worry, Sasori-san,” he replied, having finished picking up Naruto’s books. He then adjusted his tattered cape and mask before dashing off to collect more broken clocks for the Mortician.
“What’s with him?” the shorter blond asked, having noticed that Sai wasn’t his usual self.
“I wish I knew myself,” the clock fixer said, moving aside so Naruto could enter the Tower. “He has been acting odd lately. He’s always been horrible with directions, but it seems he’s gotten better at getting lost.” Naruto looked at the taller teen quizzically, concerned for the knight. “By the way, Naruto, where did you get those?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.
“I got ‘em from the village. I had some of the money you gave me saved up so…”
“I see. So the Hatter didn’t have anything to your liking I take it.”
“Um… you could say that.”
Sasori raised an eyebrow, but was interrupted before he could press any further.
“Is Naru-chan here?!” a frantic Kakashi asked as he rushed up the tower stairs. “Naaru-chan!” he shouted and immediately began glomping the blond, knocking him back and causing them to crash into the stairs. Sasori rolled his eyes as the boy started struggling to escape the over amorous rabbit man’s hold.
“Will you get off, ya damned pervy rabbit!!” Naruto shouted.
“What is the meaning of this, Kakashi?” demanded the clock fixer, grabbing the taller man by the collar of his jacket and yanking him off the boy. Naruto gave him a grateful smile and once more picked up his scattered books.
“Naru-chan has to come with me to the castle immediately!” the White Rabbit explained, “Her majesty is in quite the nasty mood over you. She’s been demanding to see you all day!”
“S-She has?” the boy queried, getting an uneasy feeling. ‘This can’t be good,’ he fussed, ‘What if she saw me at Itachi’s rose garden?! Even if she didn’t, I still can’t face her. Not after what happened with me and Itachi.’
“Yes. She’s been missing you so much that she’s been having servants beheaded because you haven’t come to see her. It’s gotten so that bad that more are killed before we can replace them all. She’s even threatened to have me beheaded if I don’t bring you back!”
“Oh, good. It’s about time Queen Sakura realized how much a pain you are,” spat the boy, “Tell her that I’ll be right over as soon as she lops off your head.”
“N-Naaaaaaaaarrrrrrrruuuuuuu-chan!!!” the Prime Minister wailed, “How can you be so… so cruel?!”
“Hey! I was only kidding!” Naruto joked, “Geeze pull yourself together! Anyway, I’m not gonna go right now. Not if people are getting their heads chopped off.”
Kakashi got a determined look on his face and decided that the ‘big guns’ were very much needed in this situation. There was a flash and when anyone could see again, the rabbit man was in his rabbit form, looking up at the blond expectantly. “Can we go now?” he pleaded.
“Um… okay,” Naruto replied, causing the taller redhead to pause in mid-step and almost trip on the stairs.
“I thought you didn’t want to go,” the clock fixer grumbled.
“Stop being such a meanie, Sasori!” the blond scolded, picking up the silver furred rabbit. “I just can’t leave a defenseless animal in trouble can I? I’m going now.” With that, the boy dashed back down the stairs and out the Tower, leaving Sasori to pick up Naruto’s poor abused books.
“Cute fox, my eye,” he groused, remembering one of the blond’s earlier excuses as to why he’d been late. He sighed and continued on his way back to his workshop, but not before making sure Naruto’s books were placed in the boy’s room.
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“How come Naruto hasn’t shown up yet?!” bellowed a very irate pink haired girl. She stamped her foot and cracks formed on the marble tilling of the floor. “Off with his head!” she commanded, pointing at a hapless soldier who just happened to be standing nearby.“B-But Sakura,” a man with spiky black hair pulled into a ponytail that resembled a pineapple and wearing similar robes to the queen but in, “We’re already understaffed as it is. It’s troublesome enough that we already are having difficulty replacing them.”
“Shut up, you!” she spat, whirling to face her counterpart, “Or would you rather I’d have your head instead?” The taller man gulped noisily.
“Wait!”
The Queen of Hearts spun around, intent on turning her ire onto the latest fool to try to stop her. Fiery emerald eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her Prime Minister in his rabbit form while being carried by a blond boy. “Naruto!” she shouted with glee.
“Kakashi went and got me like you told him,” the blond said, holding the rabbit a bit tighter, “so could you forgive him? Please?”
“Forgive, Hatake?” Queen Sakura parroted. She gave her Prime Minister a quick glance then it dawned on her. He had tricked the boy by using a guilt trip. “We could never behead Our Prime Minister even if We wished.”
“W-What?” stammered Naruto, not noticing the rabbit hop out of his arms and returning to his half-rabbit/half man form.
“There is none here like Hatake,” the queen replied, “Were We to actually give that order, he would slay each and every soldier We had should they try to execute him. It’d be a waste of time.”
“Y-You tricked me!!” Naruto yelled, turning to the taller rabbit man.
“Not exactly,” Kakashi drawled, “Her majesty always gives that order when she’s exceptionally angry, but she’d never let it be carried out.”
“Indeed,” the pink haired girl agreed, “We do thank you for bringing Naruto to Us so quickly, Hatake. However, We do not intend to share him with you this time.”
“Y-Y-Your majesty!” Kakashi pleaded, “Must you be so cold?!”
Queen Sakura smirked. “How many times have you seen the boy, Hatake?” she asked, “Naruto-kun has come to visit Us and not you so I suggest you get back to your work. You’ve been slacking off too much again.”
“My work?!” the White Rabbit shouted, “It’s his work that I’m doing!” he added pointing to the spiky haired man.
“Give it up, Hatake,” he ordered, yawning, “It’s troublesome enough that we’ve got so little staff as it is.”
“We’ll be leaving you men to your work,” the queen said, ushering Naruto into the depths of Heart Castle.
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“This is my room,” the pink haired girl said, dropping the formal speech. Naruto’s eyes bugged out at the huge room. It was a two-story chamber done tastefully in shades of red and pink with heart motifs etched into the enormous windows that overlooked the castle gardens. A small table stood by one of the windows and several comfy looking sofas were carefully placed not to far away. He didn’t look up, but he was sure an enormous bed was hiding somewhere on the second floor.“I’d like to show you my secret collection, Naruto-kun,” Queen Sakura announced.
‘If she’s like everyone else here, I bet it’s heads,’ he thought, getting nervous.
“Here we are,” beamed the girl, directing the boy’s attention to one wall of the lower part. Piled upon shelves and along the floor were stuffed animals of various types and sizes. It was such a vast collection that it ran along the entire length of the wall and was starting to spill into the rest of the queen’s chambers for a few of the toys seemed to have strayed from the main flock.
“Wow! That’s a lot of stuffed animals!” the blond cried, whistling.
“I just adore cute things,” the Queen of Hearts, said grabbing hold of Naruto from behind and wrapping her arms around him. “That’s why I’ve grown so found of you Naruto-kun. You’re just too cute!” The boy blushed profusely, he never was comfortable when girls would coo and fuss over him back at home. “No one knows about this,” the pink haired girl said, getting serious now, “only a few select maids are even allowed in here. So you are not to tell a soul, got it?”
Naruto gulped at the queen’s stern continence, “Y-Y-You’ve got it, Queen Sakura, I w-w-won’t tell anybody! Ever!”
The queen giggled, “Call me Sakura when we’re in here, ok?” she said, all seriousness gone once again, and put her finger to her rosy lips. “This will be our little secret.”
“You bet!” he replied. ‘Wow!’ he mused, still blushing, ‘She’s really pretty now that I can see her better. She’s like a different person in here; she’s being so sweet and cute. Not at all cold or scary like she is with everyone else.’
“Say, Sakura,” Naruto started, “um… when’d you become queen? I mean how old were you?”
“Hmm… I can’t remember exactly. It was when the previous queen stepped down,” she replied.
“Oh so you took over for your mom, huh?”
“My mother?” Queen Sakura echoed, “No, she wasn’t my mother. I don’t even know what happened to her. Only those involved with the last outsider to come here know that. I do know that it must have been something nasty, because Queens can not be taken from the game so easily. When it happened, I was just a poor faceless commoner living with her parents and older brother. A soldier from the castle came and said that I had been chosen to be the next Queen of Hearts. That was last time I saw my family. I wanted to scream and kick the whole time I was being led away, but I knew that it’d do no good. My fate had been set in stone.”
“Gee, that’s terrible!” shouted Naruto, “How could they just take a kid from their family like that?!”
“That is the way the game is played, Naruto-kun. A new queen was needed and she was unfortunately me. Though I am treated well here, it is such a tiring duty that I must bear. If things were a bit different, I would have stepped down myself long ago.”
“What’s with all this game stuff? I’ve been meaning to ask that ever since I wound up here!”
“I’m afraid I can’t say much, I know it’s hard for an outsider like you to understand this world. Most of us enjoy this game we play, but there are those who despise it greatly. You must have seen someone like that, yes?”
“We of this world can’t change, no matter how we may want to,” Sai’s words ran through his mind again. “You mean Sai don’t you?”
“Yes,” she replied, clutching an old and ratty Teddy Bear. “He’s desperately trying to escape from his duty, but he never will. Though I must admit it gives me a bit of satisfaction seeing that there’s someone suffering much worse than I am.”
‘I take everything I said back; she’s just as freaky as the rest! Believe it!’
“Watching Sai run around like that is great for stress relief, as well as beheadings,” the Queen of Hearts said, giggling, “The first execution I ordered was the King’s mistress.”
“King?” Naruto parroted, it was the first time he’d heard of a king, “I didn’t know you were married Sakura.”
“You idiot!” she shouted, causing the blond to eep and duck behind one of the couches, “How dare you say that! The thought of even marrying that spineless, lazy, imbecile makes me sick! I mean just look at the guy! He keeps insisting on wearing his hair like that so it always looks like a pineapple’s stuck to his head!”
‘Oh so that was the king!’ “But if you’re queen and he’s the king doesn’t that usually mean…”
“No it does not!” the pink haired girl exclaimed, “Sorry Naruto-kun. It’s just that I really can’t stand Shikamaru. He’s always trying to find some way to get out of doing his job. He’s the same as I, someone chosen to fulfill a role.”
“Oh. So um… that mistress was really his girlfriend or something? Then why’d ya have her killed?”
“She’s not dead,” the queen said quietly, “Shikamaru begged and begged for me to take back that order, so I did. Temari now lives in the village, though I can not forgive her for her crime.”
“Uh… I’m afraid to ask, but what did she do? Steal something?”
“In a way yes. At the time, I was a beautiful delicate flower about to bloom, yet His Majesty refused to pay attention to me. He wouldn’t even give me the time of day! The nerve of that man!”
‘That’s not a crime! She was just jealous!’
“But Shikamaru does have his uses so I took back the order no matter how much I wanted that hussy’s head.”
‘Now I get it!’ the blond noted, catching sight of a faint blush on the queen’s cheeks as she spoke of the king. ‘She’s got a crush on the guy and she’s too scared to admit it. Why else would she do something like that? But if she likes that Shikamaru guy… then what the heck was it that I saw back at Itachi’s?! Argh!!! This is just too confusing!!’
“Oh my!” the Queen of Hearts exclaimed, “Is it night time already? I haven’t realized we were talking for so long.”
“Well, I guess I’d better be getting back,” the boy said, getting up and replacing the stuffed frog he’d been holding.
“Oh must you?” whined the girl, “Stay here at the castle.”
“I really should head back. I don’t want Sasori to worry.”
“Hmph,” scoffed the queen, “that person is hardly anyone who’d ever care for anyone.”
“He does seem that way, but…” defended Naruto.
“I won’t have it!” Queen Sakura protested, “If you dare leave now, I’ll start beheading servants again,” she said, smiling sweetly.
“Fine! I’ll stay!” ‘Yeesh what a spoiled brat of a bitch!’
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“Right this way Naru-chan!” beamed Kakashi as he led the boy through the castle halls.“Man, I can’t believe how long this night’s taking,” grumbled Naruto, definitely not enjoying his time with the overzealous and over-amorous rabbit man.
“This ‘night’ seems to be a longer one than usual,” the silver haired man replied, “The time periods are always hard to predict. But I wouldn’t mind if this night didn’t end at all.”
“Look, Kakashi,” the blond said, annoyed, “I’m only letting ya show me to a guest room ‘cause I’m tired. Once I’ve had a nice nap, I’m sooooo outta here!”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Naru-chan. Not only would her majesty have another hissy fit, it’s become dangerous at night. Lately, there have been corpses found out on the village streets.”
“C-C-Corpses?!” the shortest of the two stammered.
“Yes. We don’t know who’s the culprit though. So please don’t go out alone at night.”
Naruto sighed heavily, opening the door to the same room he’d been given earlier. “Fine. Whatever.”
“If you’re scared, I could always stay and…”
“Don’t. Even. Think. It!” the boy interrupted, shoving the taller man out of the room.
Kakashi gave a sigh of his own, his ears flattening against his skull in disappointment. “As you wish, Naru-chan,” he said, letting the shorter one shut the door behind him.
‘That’s weird, Kakashi listened this time.’
Before he could head over to the bed and rest, there was a knock at the door. Naruto answered it, in spite of the gut instinct to ignore it, immediately wishing he’d obeyed that instinct. Before him stood Kakashi in his rabbit form, the White Rabbit giving his best sad puppy look. “Naaaarrrrruuuuuu-chaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn,” he pleaded, “can I stay with yoooooooouuuuuuuuuu now?”
Being one of those who never could resist anything small, cute, and furry, the blond said, “Of course you can, Kaka-kun,” then proceeded to pick the smaller animal and carry him into the guestroom. “You know, you should stay like that,” he said, placing the Prime Minister on the fluffy bed.
“I would gladly, for you Naru-chan,” the silver furred rabbit replied, “but this form does have its drawbacks.” Naruto was about to ask what those drawbacks could be, but Kakashi quickly started to change the subject. “So how do you like Wonderland, now that you’ve spent some time here, Naru-chan?”
“It’s not that bad actually,” the blond replied, laying down and pulling the covers over the two, “It’s way weirder than anything I’ve ever seen, but I don’t hate it anymore.”
“That’s wonderful to hear Naru-chan. So does that mean you’ll stay forever, now?”
“In your dreams, pervy rabbit!” snapped the boy, “if I don’t go back soon, Ino-nee-chan will really freak!”
“Naru-chan, listen,” the rabbit began, “About your nee-chan… never mind.” The boy looked at him quizzically, “You’ll go home no matter what I say will you?”
“Of course I will,” the blond replied, yawning sleepily, “I’ve got to get back home.”
‘When Mom died, Pa was so devastated that he stopped paying attention to us and started burying himself in his work. Hanabi, my baby sister just couldn’t understand why I couldn’t cry when they buried Mom, but Ino-nee-chan…she’s the only one who’d really miss me if I don’t get back.’
“I don’t want you to go, Naru-chan,” the White Rabbit whispered when the boy had finally fallen asleep.
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As night finally ended and day came to Wonderland, Naruto woke to find himself unusually warm. ‘What the?!’ he wondered, ‘Oh right! That pervy rabbit’s here!’ He opened his eyes and blinked hazily. When his sleep clouded mind could finally work, he realized that it wasn’t rabbit fur that was making him warm. Sometime during their nap, the silver furred rabbit had returned to his half human form and was now holding the blond close to his thankfully still clothed chest.“EEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Naruto screamed. He leapt backwards, falling onto the floor.
The rabbit man yawned lazily. “Huh?” he asked stifling another yawn, “What’s all the noise about, Naru-chan?”
“Y-Y-You pervy rabbit!!” the boy yelled then promptly slapped him across the face, a handprint a shade of angry red forming on the taller man’s face. “I thought we had a deal here!!”
“But Naru-chan,” he pleaded, “I was only trying to keep you warm.”
“You could have done that as a rabbit!!!!”
“But, it would have been no good Naru-chan. I needed arms so I could hold you close enough. It’s rather difficult with just paws.”
“Arrgghh!!” the shorter blond cried in frustration. He grabbed the nearest thing which happened to be a vase full of red roses and hurled it at the rabbit man. If Kakashi hadn’t still been half asleep, he would have normally avoided such a vicious attack. However, as fate would have it, the vase hit its target and the silver haired rabbit man fell back onto the bed unconscious – a very large lump forming on his head. “I HOPE THAT KILLED YOU, YOU DAMNED SNEAKY PERVY RABBIT!!!” he yelled, storming out of the room and slamming the door.
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‘Kakashi really pisses me off!!’ the blond fumed as he made his way through the hedge maze that surrounded the castle. ‘Hey, it’s Sai.’“Hiya Sai!” he called, running over to the Knight of Hearts.
“Oh, hello, Naru-kun. Come to visit the castle?”
“Yah, but I’m on my way back now.”
“That’s great,” beamed the brunet, “you can show me the way out. I’ve been wondering the maze all night and I just can’t seem to find the way out.” Naruto gave a small chuckle, but allowed the slightly taller teen to follow him out. “Sasori-san’s probably frumious right now since I’m so late finishing the job he gave me,” Sai said as they walked through the maze.
“You getting clocks for him again?”
“Sasori-san’s told you about…?”
“The Mortician job,” finished the shortest of the two.
“And you’re still with him? I’m impressed,” the knight replied, smiling cheesily, “It is rather atrocious work.”
“I-It’s not atrocious!!” declared Naruto, “It’s really important! If people here have clocks for hearts and Sasori fixes them when they break, what can be more respectable than that?!” The knight stared at the boy in awe. No one in Wonderland had ever thought of the redhead’s role to be a noble one. “And it still pisses me off,” Naruto continued, “that everyone here treats their lives like dirt, just because they know their hearts can be fixed! I’m not that stupid, Sai. I know what you do to get those clocks, you kill people don’t you?”
The Knight of Hearts stood silent for a few moments before answering, “Yes. I do sometimes. But I just can’t let the clocks get destroyed either.”
“You don’t have to kill!” protested the blond.
“If I let those people live,” Sai said solemnly, “they’ll just keep coming back and trying. Don’t you think I have a right to protect myself? I only kill them if they attack anyway. When it comes right down to it, one safe clock is worth more than dozens of replaceable people.”
“That’s a load of crap!” Naruto bellowed, getting more and more angry with each emotionless word the other spoke. “So what if ‘roles’ can be replaced, people can’t Sai! Everyone has their own personality that makes them different!”
“I understand how you feel, Naru-kun, but in this world, faceless people are insignificant. It’s just…” Suddenly, they were surrounded by a group of faceless men brandishing all types of weapons. One leered at Naruto and started advancing on the blond, raising his handaxe. Before anyone knew what was going on, Sai drew his sword and with one swipe of the weapon, sliced through three of them. The rest of the thugs ran away in terror.
“As I was saying,” the knight continued, smiling as if nothing had happened at all, “those kind words of yours just might be the death of you Naru-kun.”
The blond shook and shivered, more unnerved by the brunet’s coldness than having seen him kill someone in front of him. “I-It was you,” he stammered, “T-Those corpses Kakashi talked about earlier.”
“Most likely,” Sai admitted, “I seem to get attacked a lot, though it is usually Kakashi-san who sics them on me. He really must hate me a lot for him to do that. Pity. I may not care much for the Prime Minister, but I don’t hate him.”
“Sai…” the boy started.
“Oh, it looks like we’re near the end,” interrupted Sai, “Thanks for showing me the way, Naru-kun. I’m off to work now. Jya ne.” With that the Knight of Hearts gave a quick wave over his shoulder and strode out of the hedge maze, leaving a very shaken and stunned Naruto.
~TBC~