Ｓｅｌｆｉｓｈ Ｐｒｉｎｃｅ

IX

Naruto didn't think they would follow him all the way up here. How did they even make it past the gates? Wasn't this supposed to be one of the most heavily-guarded areas in Konoha—being the Palace and all?

Naruto's skin went cold, and Sasuke could feel the boy tense. The worried-anxious look on the blond's face was more than an indication that Naruto did not know these men and Sasuke was sure he had never seen them either.

"Go!" Without hesitation, Sasuke commanded the hidden guards to trace and capture these intruders. Seeing as the guards—revealing themselves from creative hiding spots— had no clue as to who these men were, the men were immediately classified as a threat and the guards needed no order to proceed. They jumped down skillfully from the balcony and chased after the thugs that dared shoot in the Prince's direction, a certain doom awaiting them should they be captured—and Sasuke was sure they would be.

"I have to leave," Naruto declared and before the prince could protest, the blond stepped back and spoke: "If I stay here, they'll only put you in danger... I'll be putting you in danger," Naruto said, thinking quickly as he ran inside. Many gazes were sent his way but the blond ran towards the only other person he knew—Genma—asking him for the way out of the palace. Genma, confused but seeing the boy in distress, at first wondered if he had done something and therefore hold on to him or if he should guide him out. While the man hesitated, Naruto quickly caught on to the fact that Sasuke was approaching him quickly and the blond ran on instinct, finding his own way out before anyone had the chance to ask what was going on.

Sasuke ran but as fast as he was, Naruto was faster. He ordered the guards by the main gates to stop him. He wanted to tell him that everything was fine here, that he would be safer here with him than by himself out there. 

Once caught by the guards, Naruto struggled, insisting he should leave and one way or the other, he managed to escape the guards and made it out of the main gates. A few more acres remained and surely, since it was palace property, there were more guards. Naruto figured he should be able to get past them but he could only hope.

"Leave it to the simpleton to make a scene, don't you think, Sasuke?" Sakura waltzed by while the crowd gathered and whispered among themselves. The girl wore a smug look on her cherry-stained lips. Sasuke, standing at the last steps of the main entrance, only frowned and walked away from her, barking orders at the guards to get the men that had intruded their property before a single hand is laid on Naruto.

"Hey, you big idiots! I'm right here!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. He realized that of course—this being a palace— making it out of the main gates didn't mean he was out of palace grounds entirely. He found out sooner or later that he was outside in the palace garden, far enough from the Prince but still close enough to the palace. Panicked, he took refuge behind a large hedge that was an entrance to some sort of maze. 

"I hear him!!" One of the men said to the other. "He's nearby..."

"Idiot! Find him before they find us! We're in the palace; we can't get caught!"

And then... silence.

Naruto could neither hear them nor see them anywhere close by. The only thing audible was the short gusts of wind and nearby fauna—maybe even a fountain somewhere?

Sneaking a look to make sure it was okay to move further away, Naruto was taken aback as the two men jumped out and revealed themselves a few feet away from him.

Naruto ran, crawling under the gates and struggling to move on as one of them caught on to his foot. Fighting to get away, Naruto began kicking the guy in the face and, unable to keep holding onto him any longer, the wounded man had no choice but to let go.

"That's all? Come on, I thought you guys could do better!" He taunted, now thinking how stupid this idea was. He could've stayed inside— Sasuke had guards anyways, but for some reason, the thought that he led them here got to him and it was up to him to lead them away.

They made it through, and Naruto ran faster. He didn't look back and focused on getting somewhere safe. The farther away from the palace, the better. Throughout a tall silhouette of giant trees, the blond ran until he could no longer run. He headed deeper into the woods, sitting back against a tree to catch his breath and hoping he could regain some strength before the men could have a chance to catch up to him.

What he didn't know was that the palace guards had caught up and successfully taken the two thugs into their custody.