"Are you going to kill me? Is that why we're this far off the path?"

"I didn't ask you to follow me dumbass,"

"Yeah, that's kind of why I'm worried," the young man replied, only half kidding. It was still midday, but the forest canopy overhead blocked a lot of light, and besides that, they were far from… anything to his knowledge. If a bear or even a boar strolled through the foliage they were good as dead.

It didn't ease his nerves when his companion stopped abruptly at a particularly large tree, taking to her knees and clawing at the dirt with her bare hands. Not that Naruto was all that worried about that, Sasuki was far from delicate. She grew up in the same glorified mine shaft as him, she'd done work a lot harder and a lot less pleasant than digging through black soil in the fresh air. Still, he piped up.

"Need some help?"

"If you see what is in this hole I'm going to kill you. I know I've said that before so let me be perfectly clear," she said, pausing her work to look at him. "That is not a joke, an exaggeration, or even a threat really. If you see this, for my own safety and peace of mind, I will kill you,"

He just sighed and raised his hands non-threateningly, then turned around to look back the way they came.

Three times he blinked to confirm that there was in fact a man there, standing and staring not two yards away. It was small comfort to Naruto that he recognized him, not with the shortsword at his hips and the hard look in his eyes. Argile wasn't a particularly cruel man but he did have the authority to both arrest and kill them at his whims.

"Hey kids, what you got there?"

"Fuck!" Sasuki spat, snapping to her feet and looking back to see the man who'd apparently been tailing them. "Why the hell were you even following us?!"

"Come on you think you're the first kid who had the bright idea to stash some of your valuables before surrendering yourself to the orphanage? Now don't make a fuss, hand it over and we can make all this right with less than ten lashes," he offered, sounding genuine.

So much so that Naruto even shared a pleading look with his companion.

She had a long, pristine dagger with a black hilt in her hand. Again he blinked a few times and mentally double-checked. When that was done Sasuki was still in a braced stance, the blade out and pointed squarely at the law keeper. He was about Naruto's size, half a head taller than her, but not all that much bulkier. The work done at the 'orphanage' had a tendency to put some muscle on you.

"Turn around and pretend you saw nothing," she began quietly, holding the dagger up so that its hilt was visible. "You see this? This symbol here? I am a Sasuki Uchiha, a highborn of this kingdom, and you will do as I say you glorified patrolman!"

"Oh? Well, princess even if that's true, I'm gonna go on a limb and assume you don't have any retainers to call on," the man replied dryly.

"What I have, is about five years of training under the best blade masters money can buy! I will kill you,"

Argile released a heavy sigh, then drew his sword.

He drew it halfway specifically. His hand left the hilt and struck Sasuki hard on the cheek as she lunged forward trying to make good on her threat. Naruto yelped as she went sprawling to the floor! Argile immediately hunched over to grip his side, trying and failing to stem the red leaking out of it with his palm, the reason was obvious.

Sasuki beat him to the first strike.

His face was pained but he drew his sword faster than she could stand and get her own bearings.

Naruto watched them watch each other. Taking short, minimal steps as every time he came a foot closer Sasuki backed up exactly as far. It felt so long they had this dance but it can't have been more than ten seconds. It ended with a roar, as he dove forward at his younger, smaller, opponent.

She sidestepped, but not quick enough.

A solid inch of her bicep was shaved off in one horrifying instant! Blood poured down her arm as she thrust her dagger once more into his ribs, all but tackling him with the impact to launch the straggling man off his feet! He hit the ground hard.

Sasuki slumped to the forest floor with a bit more grace, though the panic in her eyes looking at her now blood-soaked limb was easy to see.

"Noooo, no no no no FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck fuck-"

"Sasuki-"

"DAMNIT NO! NO! I'm not gonna die here I- I can't die here," she muttered, seeming barely aware of his presence. Her face paled as she spoke, words growing rapid and frantic. "I have to…. I can't die here!"

"Sasuki, your not going to die," he promised, kneeling and then sitting beside her.

It was only then that she looked at him. That those ink-black eyes locked with his and he saw how weak she'd really become. Just staying conscious was probably a trial with all the lost blood. He put an arm around her, pulled her firmly against his own body as he spoke.

"It's okay, just let yourself drift off, let yourself rest. You're not going to die I promise,"

The look of misery in her eyes didn't show all that much assurance, but they slowly shut all the same. She even rested her weak head on his shoulder as the breathing slowed. Once he had silence he looked back to the dead man. The man she had killed.

He was an accomplice to this if he didn't get the fuck out of here right now. Even healing her was risky. That thought was immediately thrown aside, he wasn't going to let someone die for defending a family heirloom, certainly not someone as precious to him as Sasuki. They might not be friends exactly but… there was a bond there. It was hard not to feel something for someone you've worked and slept alongside for nearly a decade.

Who knows, maybe she really was royalty.

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