Did I make you guys wait long? Yes I did. Buwahaha! Ahem, well then...

Did you guys pay attention to my author's note in the last chap? I wasn't the only one that laugh my fucking ass off when reading it right? It was hilarious. I shouldn't post chapters, late at night. When I'm hyper...extremely hyper. If you didn't pay attention to it, then go read and explore the wonders of my weirdness.

Ok, so I hope you enjoy this. The this that has SO much plot it annoys me...don't ask...just read.

Queen Kushina had remained silent the rest of the way back to the kingdom. She dared not make another remark of what had occurred earlier. Even when she was escorted back into the castle, she spoke of nothing. At first the King's question haled upon her until he realized he wasn't going to receive an answer.

Truthfully, despite her brave actions, Kushina was left shriveling in fear. What she saw strictly unimaginable. Never has she witnessed such torment. Now that her eyes were opened and she was no longer in blissful ignorance, she had to confront the king, her husband.

The day had went by, and now came a new. It was early in the morning when she made her trip from her room to her husband's study.

"Minato." She called for him. Minato looked up from his work, his face expressing all forms of surprise. It soon relaxed into warm smile. He was glad. Glad that his beloved was speaking again.

"Kushina." He said lovingly. Minato stood up and went over to his wife's side. Kushina continued to stare down at the floor. She shook her head.

"What is wrong?" Minato asked. Kushina bit her lip and looked up with teary eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked in reply. Minato's face expressed all confusion. He didn't understand what his beloved was trying to say. Minato raises his hand to caress Kushina's cheek.

"What is this you speak of?" Minato inquires. Kushina gives him a look of disappointment. She abruptly shakes Minato's hand off of her and takes a step back.

"The war, Minato, the war sixteen years ago." She said. "Why didn't you tell me the brutality of the whole event?" Minato's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you…"He trailed off. Kushina huffed angrily.

"You heard it from your men." She stated. "I was trapped under an illusion. I saw it all." Minato then looked down. A look of disdain took over his features.

"Y-you had seen it while under that illusion?" Minato asked. Kushina nodded her head.

"Yes. Now answer me-"

"Wait, but this makes no sense. How could you have-"

"Minato!"Kushina's eyes shined with anger. "Answer me."

Minato let out a sigh. "It was getting far too out of hand Kushina."

"But couldn't there have been a less harmful way to go about it?" Kushina asked. Minato jerked his head up.

"Of course not!" Minato yelled. "They had grown much too powerful! Why do you think I refused to let yet come anywhere near Moon!"

Tears began to stream down Kushina's cheeks. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to form her next sentence. After a few moments, she looked down. "You burned them." She finally said. "And stained them in their own families' blood."

"It was because of their blood that we had to treat them so." Minato replied.

"And Fugaku?" She asked. "Did you not feel any remorse, when he was pierced in the heart?" Minato bit his lip and turned away. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Do you remember the Lost King?"

I awoke to the sound of burning wood. The occasional crackling of the chipping bark soothing my ears. I groaned as my eyes crack open. When my vision settled, I saw the man sitting in front of the fire, throwing sticks and leaves into it. He turned to look at me and he huffed.

"Though the night was relatively warm, you began to shiver during the morning." He told me. That was when I noticed the dark blue cloak covering my mahogany one. Both cloaks slid down my form as I sat up and crack my back. I winced a bit at the pain. Sleeping on the ground can be uncomfortable. I was not looking forward to sleeping tonight.

"Here." He said as he past me a cooked fish on a stick. I widened my eyes.

"Where did you get this?" I asked.

"There's a stream down that way." He said. "And here." He passed me a small canteen of water. "We would not want you to become dehydrated now would we?" I nod my head taking a sip of the water and then placing it down on the ground. I then took a bite of the fish and sighed. I hadn't eating since lunch the day before. I was feeling fairly hungry.

"Eat slower, or you will choke on the fish bones." He warned, as he took a small bite of his own food. I widened my eyes for a moment before taking a small bite of the fish. I slowed my chewing and felt for any bones. When I felt none I sighed.

After a few silent minutes of eating, he stood. He kicked dirt on the fire and stomped on it. I cough a bit as the smoke flows towards me. I stand up and use the cloaks to air away the smoke. After a few minutes I look up. The man is staring at me. I bit my lip as I felt my face heat up. Slowly, he begins to walk towards me. My eyes widen as he gets into a close proximity. When he is right in front of me, he stares me down. I feel as if my face is on fire. Suddenly he bends down and picks something off the ground. My eyes follow him as he quietly cleans something on his slacks.

"Your mask." He says as he hands me the mask. "Make sure to keep it on at all times and I mean at all times." I blink in mild confusion.

"You mean wear it in my sleep?" I asked. He gave me a curt nod. I narrow my eyes and cock my head to the side.

"Why?" He turns to me, shakes his head, and turns away again.

"That should be obvious." He tells me.

"If it was, would I be asking?" He turns back to me and huffs. He leans in close to my face looks me in the eye.

"If in the case that someone should find us while we sleep, and you are not wearing your mask, do you not think they would recognize you. Or even worse, while your father's men span out searching for you and they find us. What would we do then?" He asks. I purse my lips and look away. "It is for a fact that if that were the case then you would be taken back to the castle, lock you up forever, and I would be taken into prison." He continued. I look back up and glare at him. "You would not want that, now would you? Because I sure don't." I look down and shake my head.

"Good, so are we in agreement?" He asks. I could hear the smugness in his voice and it angers me.

"Yes." I reply reluctantly. He leans back and stands up straight.

"Very well, now we shall be on our way." He says. My scowl deepens at the cockiness he displays. This type of man truly infuriates me.

With a sigh, I place the mask back on. He nods his head in approval and turns around. We set off silently towards the North. There was something that had been pestering my mind since the beginning. But I felt it was not any of my business. Unfortunately it kept nagging at me until I could not take it any longer.

"So, why are we headed off to Earce?" I ask him.

"That is my business and my business only." He replies with his back towards me. I pout lightly at the answer and cross my arms over my chest. I open my mouth to speak, but he stops to hold up his hand in front of me. I skid to a stop and lean back before I hit his hand. "Please refrain from speaking any more, I am sure you will tire yourself out with that voice of yours." I glare angrily at him and huff.

"That is-" He holds his hand close to my face. "But-" He held the hand even closer to my face. I swat it away and huff in frustration.

"Fine, fine." I say. I begin to shoo him away. "Let's get going." He nods his head and turns around.

We continued walking silently, just as we were before. I really hated the silence. But apparently this man did not appreciate my opposed rambling. I glare at him with my arms still crossed over my chest. After a frustrated sigh, he whips around and stares me in the face.

"What is your problem?" He asks angrily. I gawk at him and point a finger to myself.

"What is my problem?" I ask in reply. I walk forward and poke his chest. "What is your problem?" He swats away my hand and leans forward.

"My problem? I do not have a problem, it is you who refuses to be quiet-"

"I apologize for not liking the silence!"

"What part of here is silent? Do you not hear the birds? Do you hear the twigs crunching under your feet?" I huff and stalk closer to him.

"I would prefer to hear your voice over some damned birds and twigs!" I retaliate. With that said, I can sense his immediate change in demeanor as he stands straight, practically towering over me.

"You prefer to hear my voice, you say?" The smugness in his voice can, without a doubt, be noticed. I blush as his question and turn away.

"That is not what I had meant!" I say through clenched teeth.

"But that is what you said." He states. I huff through my nostrils and purse my lips.

"You are taking what I said completely out of context, I meant that I would prefer to hear a voice, not just yours alone." He sighs and cocks his head to the side.

"Somehow I doubt that." He says. He walks slowly to me and stares into my eyes. "Tell me the truth, my prince, what do you think of my voice." He lifts his head and glides a pale hand down his neck. I stare at his hand with a glare.

"You want to know what I think?" I ask in a cold voice. "I think we should just keep going, we keep going straight ahead, no?" I immediately push past him and walk ahead.

I walk a good distance before I hear a sigh. With a tug to the shoulder, he turns me around, keeping a tight hold of my shoulder.

"I apologize." He says. It was clearly a reluctant apology. "I know we got off on the wrong foot." I roll my eyes.

"I'll say." He shakes his head at my comment before continuing.

"I'm just not the type of person who behaves well with others." He says. I raise an eyebrow at his excuse.

"Really? You are simply making yourself sound like a child." I state. He looked up, seeming to think about it. After a few seconds he looks back at me and nods in understanding.

"It is the truth."He says. I shake my head and mutter. "You have got to be kidding me." He lets go of my shoulder and backs away. We continue to watch each other for a bit before I decide to break the silence.

"Well then," I say, "It is okay." Well what could I say? Clearly the man wanted to apologize for his unreasonably irritable behavior. Besides I did not know his behavioral patterns. Or anything about him for that matter.

"Hn, I did not think you would be so quick to forgive me." He says. I simply shrug my shoulders.

"I would rather be on good terms with the person I am traveling with, especially since I do not believe I would be going back home anytime soon." I reply. He shakes his head before patting my shoulder. With that he walks ahead of me.

"Moron." He mutters. My jaw dropped at this. First he ridicules me, then he apologizes, and then he insults me again. This man really is something.

Despite that, somehow, for some completely unknown reason a smile made its way to my lips.

Later on that day, with the new found information Kushina had received from her husband she, once again refused to speak to anyone. She spent a good majority of the day mulling over the information. After she was fed up with the thoughts that rolled around continuously in her mind –she had no time to worry over this anyways, she needed to find Naruto- Kushina decided to begin think over what had occurred in the forest. She did not know what to think of it though. She had fallen under an illusion, a gruesome, ferocious illusion. It showed her the war between Sun and Moon, two previously allied countries. Kushina just could not understand how she was able to see it. The woman did have an idea, but it seemed too outrageous to be considered a possibility. All the Uchihas were dead.

Or at least should have been.

Kushina abruptly stood up from her place in the garden. She walked to the throne room where she knew Minato was speaking to some advisors.

Kushina pushed open the double doors of the throne room and walked down the carpeted hall. Minato averted his attention from his advisors to his wife. A smile spread across his tired features and he stood up from his throne.

"Kushina." He called with a loving tone. Kushina stared at her husband with an uncertain frown. Taking note of his wife's look of uncertainness, Minato look at Kushina with worry. "Kushina." He repeated. "What is wrong?" He asked. Kushina took a deep breath before looking Minato in the eye.

"If Naruto ran away with another person, I believe I have an idea who." She stated. Minato's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to ask who could have taken Naruto, but was quickly interrupted by his advisors.

"Who?" Minato's advisor, Koharu, asked. The elderly woman gave Kushina a hard stare as she spoke.

"This may sound completely insane, but remember it is only a possibility." Kushina rambled. Minato simply nodded his head and asked Kusina to continue. With another deep breath Kushina spoke.

"After some thinking, I realized that there was only one person who could break down such a powerful barrier and possibly show me those horrifying images of the war..." Kushina said. With a gulp she continued. "…Uchiha Madara."

Koharu and the other advisor, Homura, gasped. Minato simply stared at Kushina with wide eyes. He could not believe what he was hearing. Madara, possibly the strongest black magic users, should have died during that war.

"He is dead." Homura said. Kushina shook her head.

"He was –or is the strongest sorcerer in world, one could never know." She replied. Homura gave out an aggravated sigh. All attention was turned to Minato when they heard a loud bang. Minato had harshly banged his hand against his throne in anger. Kushina looked at her husband with wide eyes.

"Minato, are you okay?" She asked. Minato turned to Kushina.

"Am I okay?" He asked angrily. "My son may possibly be off in God knows where with Uchiha Madara, and you ask me if I am okay?" Minato gave Kushina an irritated look before shaking his head.

"Your Highness, maybe you should calm down." Homura suggested. Minato's blue eyes quickly grew livid.

"Calm down! How can I calm down-"

"Minato, I am not even sure if he is with Madara, or if he is with someone at all, maybe the barrier has worn off and that was why Naruto was able to get to get through the forest." Minato shot Kushina an incredulous look.

"Don't you dare give me that Kushina." He said, pointing a finger at her. "You and I both know that is not true. You especially should know with its great strength, that barrier would not simply wear off." Kushina looked away dejectedly. "Besides, what about those hallucinations in the forest?" Minato then asked. "If not Madara, then how would you have seen the war?" Kushina shrugged her shoulders.

"You're Highness." Koharu called.

"Gather the guards." Minato walked down from his throne.

"You're Highness."Koharu called again.

"We're assembling another search part." The king continued.

"Minato." This time Kushina called.

"Kushina." Minato looked at his wife. "This time you are not joining them."

"Minato, wait-"

"Call the Priestess of the Eastern Temple."

"You called?" A voice then asked.

All attention was now directed towards the entrance of the throne room. A smile graced Minato's lips. Kushina and the advisors looked at the women standing in front of the double doors in surprise.

"Princess Tsunade. I see you knew that I would call for you." Minato said fondly.

"It has come to my understanding that you are in quite a pinch." The blonde women announced. Minato nodded his in response.

"Yes, Princess Tsunade, and if you would so kindly allow us some of your cooperation…" Minato trailed off.

"Well I am here for a reason. Besides, I also wanted to take the opportunity to go and plow some of those guards into the ground for not watching over the prince like they are supposed to. Naruto is like a grandson to me, you know."

"There is no need to be so rash, Princess Tsunade." Kushina said with a smile. Tsunade turned her head to the Queen and smiled.

"Ah, Queen Kushina, that may be, but I am sure you agree with me."

Kushina chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"As much as I would love to continue chatting, we must go and look for our dear prince." Tsunade said. Minato's eyes hardened and he nodded.

"Yes," He looked at the guards at the door and raised his arm. "Gather the knights!" He told them. Minato turned to Tsunade. "Princess Tsunade, please come follow me outside. We shall inform you of the details." Minato began his way out of the Throne room with Tsunade, Kushina and the two advisors following close behind him.

I sat on the ground tiredly. I was exhausted beyond belief. A whole day of walking through a forest can do that to a person.

"Naruto." I suddenly hear the man say. I look up to him as he stands over me. "If you are done resting then let us go." He says. I let out a sigh and nod my head. Standing up, I dust off my dirtied slacks and we begin walking again.

"I feel dirty." I then say. I hear him grunt.

"Isn't that nice…" He replies. I glare at him before rolling my eyes. I wonder why this man is so sarcastic and irritable. With a huff I pick up my pace and walk ahead of him.

"Did I anger you again?" He asks in amusement. There was absolutely no way one could miss it.

I turn around and gasp, holding my hand over my chest. "How did you know?" I ask back in mock surprise. He only seems to find this amusing as he chuckles. A bit taken back, I only stare at him.

Despite not knowing much of this man, to me it seemed he was never amused unless mocking someone. And for the past thirty hours –give or take a few- that someone just so happened to be me. Unless he simply liked mocking me. In that case he is just a right bastard.

"You are very amusing, you know." He tells me. I cross my arms over my chest and frown.

"Is that so?" I ask him. He nods his head and walks ahead of me.

"Quite." He replies as he pats my shoulder. "Come on, this way." He continues. I watch as he turns off the trail.

"Wait, where are you…"I trail off. He stops walking and looks back to be. He beckons me to follow after him and I do. I run until I am walking a short distance behind him.

"Do you really believe there would be a direct way into Earce?" He asks me. I bite my lip and scratch the back of my head. Mostly out of hesitance, but darn does it itch.

"I suppose there would not be." I reply. I see him nod his head. "How far is Earce anyways?"

"It should be a four days away." He replies. I gawk at him. "Five days at most." He adds.

"Is it really that far?" I ask him. He turns to look at me and snorts.

"So you were really serious when you said you were not allowed out of the castle." He comments. I roll my eyes.

"Of course I was. Everyone in my country would know this."

"Obviously, I am not from your country." I stare at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Where are you from?" I ask him.

"I am not inclined to tell you that." He answers. I pout and cross my arms.

"And why not?" I ask. He turns to me slightly and shakes his head.

"You ask a lot of questions." He then tells me. I shake my head.

"Do not change the subject." I say, pointing my finger at him.

"I am not. Just be quiet and keep walking." He replies. I huff angrily and look away.

We were really getting off on a good start this evening. I had not felt an unnecessary need to strangle him, unlike earlier today. But then he had to go off and become irritable all over again.

I then let out a sigh. "Four days? Really?" I can't help but ask. He abruptly stops and slaps his hand onto his forehead.

"My god." He mutters irritably.

I can only laugh at his apparent misfortune.

You guys understand that itchy feeling when you feel dirty, right? For me camping sucks balls. *Sigh*

And the last part wasn't really necessary, but i though it was cute sooo... I kept it cuz ya know, the mister is making an effort.

So I hope you liked it. The 'it' that again has SOOO much plot it annoys me...and again don't ask, cause I don't know. Its just like...ugh why is there so much going ooon!

Whatever...

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Ja Ne!