Chapter 1
Naru POV
It didn’t take me long to get all of my chores done. I’ve been doing it for years and it’s become a bit tedious. Wash the sheets, clean the floors, make sure that the kitchen is spotless, same old, same old. A quick glance in the fridge shows me that we have no food. I know that Kyuubi isn’t going to like that when he gets home. I put on some better clothes and make my way outside tentatively. Even with my hood up over my head, some people still recognize my bright yellow locks. I can see their poorly disguised glares and it pains me. I don’t know what I did to deserve this treatment but I get it all the time. I pick up my pace, I don’t want to be out here anymore, I feel too exposed. In my haste to get away from the intense eyes, I speed up my fast walk to well-paced jog. I’m rounding a corner when I collide with someone.
When I get up off my back, I can see that the person I ran into is dressed in an extravagant cloak. The hues of black and blue are mesmerizing. Their face is still covered and they’re still laying on the ground. I dust myself, take a deep bow and offer them a hand.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”
I’m taken aback when my hand is slapped out of the way and the stranger stands up, dusts himself off and shoves past me. I know that I’m not the best liked person in the town, but I’ve never been blatantly shoved off. “Hey, asshole!” The cloaked being makes a lazy swivel around and faces me. With no hesitation, I march up to him and point a finger in his face, “Who do you think you are? Look, I’m sorry I ran into you, I apologized and everything. Why does everyone treat me like this? What did I do?” As angry as I was when I began, I slowly begin to spiral into a familiar sadness. “You know what, forget it. Again, I’m sorry, have a nice day.”
As I’m making a dejected saunter to the store I was headed to, I feel a tug on the back of my hood. As it falls and my face and hair are exposed, I can hear the frantic whispers of the townsfolk increase. I grip my hood and spin around only to see the same stranger standing behind me. He tilts his head up and I can see his face. Shit. I knew today wasn’t going to be a good day. I yelled and pointed my finger at the one and only Prince Sasuke. His gaze meets mine and I want to crawl into a hole. If I can hear all of the people mocking me, I’m positive that he can.
Sasu POV
My life if the definition of monotony. I wake up, sit through a dreadful breakfast with my perfect brother and annoying parents. I have listen to my parents dote on my brother’s achievements. I have long since tuned out my mother’s, “Sasuke honey, why don’t you be more like your brother? He’s doing so well.” Little does my mother know, my brother is actually not the wonder boy they all think he is. At age 8, in an young bout of curiosity, I followed my ‘wonderful’ brother as he went to town. There, I saw him living a double life. After a bit more research, I found out that my golden boy brother is dating a guy and they’ve been dating for years. Mom wasn’t going to happy when I tell her what I found out. I can already see Dad’s face when I tell him that Itachi won’t marry whatever preppy princess he picks out. Fully prepared to ruin my brother’s life, I went to confront my parents only to get pulled aside by Itachi and threatened.
Here I am now, 9 years later, living in same routine every day. I’ve read every book in the library and I’ve done everything there is to do in this terrible place. I pull on a cloak and jump out of the window in my room. There’s a small 45 second gap between guard shifts, so I have to be quick. I manage to slip through the gates just as the following guard yells at me. Shit. Now that know that I’ve left, they’ll be hunting for me. I make a quick beeline to a shabbier part of town when I realize that I can no longer hear the guards yelling my name. I’m turning a corner when a strong force runs into me. We both hit the ground and the other guy gets up first.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”
He’s taken a very deep bow and his hand is outstretched towards me. From the way he said ‘sorry,’ I know he doesn’t mean it. He should be sincerely sorry. I’m a prince. I slap his hand out of the way, quickly stand up and brush past him. I can hear him screaming some sort of profanity at me so I turn around. He marches straight up to me and points his finger in my face. After a brief minute of shouting, his voice tapers off into an almost whisper. Then I start to feel slightly bad. I can tell that my complete dismissal of his existence took a toll on his emotional state. After a very brief contemplation of how much nicer I could have been, I snap myself out of it. Why the fuck should I care about some plebian townsperson? I look up to see him walking away from me and I pull on the back of his hood. It falls and I see the brightest hair I have ever seen in my life. He whips around and I can see the betrayal in his eyes. The betrayal turns to shock as I turn my face towards him. His hand and his head lower. I can hear the murmurs of the people around us whispering something akin to, “Look at him, isn’t he just disturbing? How can he walk out here in broad daylight like this, it’s disgusting.”
Even with his head lowered, I can see the tears building in his eyes. I make a rash decision and grab his hand. I’m pulling him along into a nearby alleyway and he doesn’t resist at all. Once we’re out of sight of all of the townsfolk, he lets out a sigh.
“Why did you have to do that?” His voice still sounds watery as he turns away from me, “I just wanted to go into town and back home.”
For some inane reason, I feel compelled to ask, “Why does everyone treat you so poorly?” I can see his eyes widen as he looks up at me.
“To be honest, I don’t really know. For as long as I can remember, it’s been like this. I can see his brows furrow, “Enough about me, what is beloved Prince Sasuke doing out here in the slums?”
I can hear the sarcasm in his tone and I find my trademark scowl shifting back into place, “What does it matter to you, idiot?”
Naru POV
I can feel a vein in my forehead pulse at his words, “I’m sorry, who the fuck are you talking to asshole?” At my harsh tone, I can see his whole entire face tense. “Yea, I’m talking to you. Don’t think that because you’re all high and mighty in that palace over there,” I point a hand vaguely to the mountains that encompass the valley, “that I will treat you any differently. I didn’t need your help getting away from that situation thank you very much.” I can see his tension rising with every word and it brings me a sick sort of satisfaction. “Don’t pretend to care because I know that you, along with everyone else in this country, hate my guts.”
Sasu POV
Even though this kid is seriously pissing me off, I don’t want to do anything. I can tell that he’s telling me all of this because he’s venting. It makes me a little uncomfortable to see someone whose appearance is so bright act so gloomy and jaded. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about you, so why would I hate you?” I can see his eyebrows rise into his hairline.
“Are you serious? You don’t know anything?”
There still a harsh, stiff set to his posture, “No, I don’t know anything. I came here to escape the guards. If I recall correctly, you ran into me.” His antagonistic tone and stance relax.
“Oh, I...I’m sorry about that, again. I didn’t mean to run into you, I just wanted to get away from the people.” He takes a quick glance at his watch and curses, “Shit, I need to go, nice meeting you Your Highness.” With a jilted bow, he runs out of the alley.
I feel compelled to follow him, but once I reach the entrance of the alley, he’s long gone. “Damn it, I didn’t get his name.” After a surprisingly eventful trip out of the palace, I turn around to head back.