Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
Nottingham, ten years after Richard went on his crusade (and dragged Naruto along with him)…
It had been a decade since the King of England left for a crusade to the holy land with a veritable army backing him up. The journey was most abrupt, with no announcements or prior preparation – it was as if Richard suddenly woke up one morning, looked out to the horizon and decided on going on a cross country trip. Of course, for those blessed with an omnipresent eye, it was clear that the king was under the hypnotic suggestions of Sir Hiss, a snake under the employ of his, shall we say, inferior brother. Prince John wanted to rule all of England but saw in his older sibling an insurmountable barrier to the throne and ergo used a more underhanded method to dispose of his brother. He was all too aware of all the failed crusades to Jerusalem (and its surrounding environs) and the 'infidels' that infested those lands so it was only logical to assume that Richard would also die in a foolish attempt to reclaim them.
Sending Naruto with Richard was also a move to kill two birds with one stone – he already saw how the freak of nature had garnered the goodwill of the peasantry and the castle residents (even his niece had fallen for him it seemed) so he had to remove him lest he pose a threat to his rule. On a side note, he was also quite done with being physically overshadowed by his brother and more recently, Naruto (he was a lion as well so surely he was also due the physical majesty and leonine grace of his parentage) so on a more petty side note, John was also ensuring that he was the biggest guy around.
His plan went swimmingly; both Naruto and Richard left nary a week after he had Hiss instigate the 'quest'. The common rabble were confused but let it happen-they believed their king would return soon enough. When concerning their resident behemoth fox, it was the children, namely Robin and Marian who were sad to see him leave. Robin saw the larger and older fox as the older brother he never had (even though he had yet to say that to him) and Marian, well let's just say she nursed a great deal of affection for him and leave it at that. After Hiss and John informed Naruto of his imminent departure from Nottingham, Naruto made a beeline for Alan, Robin, John, Marian and Kluck (in that order) to tell them about it – needless to say, they were all sad to hear that he would be gone for a long time but were slightly reassured by his promise to return as quickly as he could afford to - once the King was in no real danger, he would head back home with all the speed he could muster (which was quite a lot considering how much strength was packed in those legs of his).
After the two left though, life in Nottingham had gotten worse at a steady rate – Prince John started inflating tax rates at an alarming rate, forcing the residents of the town into destitution. They were helpless to resist and the prince even used Naruto as way to guilt trip them into acceding to his demands. In his words, they were only capable of remaining afloat thanks to Naruto and his efforts in providing cheap labor for the crown and its territories. Now the average person in Nottingham already felt more than a little ashamed that a mere child was doing most of the work in the village (with Alan being the most affected) so having it publicly announced was an effective means to brow beat the populace into submission (a fact that the Sheriff, the newly appointed tax collector, enjoyed flaunting)..
Of course, not everyone was so accepting of this change – Robin and Little John in particular, had broken off from legal society, becoming outlaws and bandits in the eyes of the state. They had some support in the form of Marian, Kluck and some of the townsfolk like Friar Tuck (the local priest) and in a joint effort, created a bandit group known as Robin Hood and his Merry Men. They had their base in the Sherwood forest, their old stomping grounds since they were children which gave them the opportunity to rob the rich nobility to remunerate the poor.
This is where our story begins, with Robin (now an adult of twenty two years of age) talking with Little John about their future plans.
"Hey Little John, how's old Bushel-Britches doing in Nottingham? Is he still pestering everyone for their last bit of coin?" Robin asked while tightening the string on his bow before drawing it, testing its resistance.
"Uh,yeah Robin – he's still the money grubbin' wolf we all love to hate…say, I have a question though. I have been wonderin' about this for a while now but are we good guys or bad guys? You know, I mean, uh, our robbing the rich to feed the poor." John said, idly scratching his tummy as he looked up into the cloudless sky above with a pensive expression.
"Of course we are the good guys John! Think of it like this – if the poor don't have enough money to even buy bread, how can they have an honest day of work to earn a living? Surely those nobles don't need all that gold – they won't even have anything to spend it on if the townsfolk don't produce anything. Besides…this is only until Richard or Naruto returns – I am sure any one of them will be able to set things straight!" Robin exclaimed as the two thought about just how either one of their 'saviors' would fix their problem. While Richard would be the preferred option, a part of them still wanted Naruto to come back first as their memories of how he trounced the rhino guard as a mere teen was still as vivid as ever in their minds.
Breaking out of a pleasant fantasy where Naruto was knocking Prince John around like a ragdoll, Robin smiled before nudging John in his massive belly before pointing towards Nottingham.
"Enough dilly dallying – we can't really change much right now but every little thing counts. Let's go and see what the Sheriff Is up to now…" He said as John quickly rose from his reclining pose against a tree and the two friends made their way towards the town.
Meanwhile, on the road to Nottingham…
"Oh I dare say Sir Hiss, it is certainly nice to survey the vastness of one's wealth and possessions!" John said as his assistant hissed in sadistic pleasure while the two looked out of the window of their royal coach. The lavish vehicle was being pulled along by a pair of royal guard rhinos and was quite the garish eyesore in the midst of the impoverished yet homely settlements of the area – the prince and his aide were currently on a tour of the kingdom (although it could be argued that John just wanted to see what he 'owned' – he was quite possessive).
"Yesss sir, the kingdom is truly in fantastic shape(while Sir Hiss doesn't really talk, imagine his hissing translated into speech) – I am sure your mother would praise your work, more than she would with your brother." Sir Hiss said as Prince John sat up straight for a second before huffing with teary eyes, sucking his thumb while doing so. While being quite a disturbing sight, Sir Hiss was already desensitized to his prince's puerile display – the snake quickly slithered over the lion's lap before looking into his eyes, his eyes swirling in an attempt to hypnotize him.
Unfortunately for the snake though, John recognized what Hiss was trying to do since he swatted the snake's head away from him with a derisive snort.
"Hey, hey – stop that. I don't want anything to do with your funny eyes!" John said before the two of them noticed some people up ahead. They looked to be two females wearing shawls and dresses, with veils covering the lower half of their faces. One was a vixen of a slim and nimble build while the other was a bear with a chunky and meaty body (something that had the rhinos distracted for a while). Unbeknownst to Prince John, these two women were actually Robin and Little John in disguise as they had espied the royal coach passing by from a distance and took the opportunity that it presented.
The two then waved at the coach, making it stop as John and Hiss looked out the window at them, wondering what it was they wanted.
"Oh sir~ would you like to have your fortune told? My friend and I are roving gypsies and it would be a great honor to read the palms of such a great leader such as yourself~!" Robin said as he giggled coquettishly at the prince, batting his eyes at him in his best impression of an airy woman's voice.
John on the other hand, was sweet talking the rhinos – they were of a slow sort and so, didn't really find anything strange about the suddenly amorous looking bear trying to flirt with them. In fact, they seemed to like it, if their dumb blushes and stammering were anything to go by.
"Why, you must truly be wiser than you look, to recognize my greatness before even seeing my face! (Robin rolled his eyes discreetly here) Of course, you may read my palms – what do I need to do?" John said before being dragged back by Hiss, who hissed in his ear.
"Sire?! They could be bandits in disguise trying to rob you when they enter the coach!" Hiss said as Joh waved him off.
"Pish posh – bandits? Who ever heard anything about female bandits – I am going to let them in the coach so stop with all this poppycock!" John said.
John then let the disguised Robin into the coach while John remained outside, charming the rhino guards so that the fox could rob the prince in peace. Robin then told the prince to close his eyes and give him his paws so he could read his palms. Predictably, John being the gullible fool that he was, fell for this as he put his paws in the fox's.
However, while John was expecting to have his palms read, Robin had something else on his mind – the many bejeweled rings on the lion's fingers.
"So gypsy, what do you see? Anything interesting?" John said still keeping his eyes closed.
"Yes, quite fascinating indeed – the lines of your palms speak of a tale of great conquest and hard won battles! You must be a great man, with the whole of England at your feet!" Robin said, laying the flattery on thick while John ate the sycophantic drivel up eagerly. Robin then eased the rings off of John's fingers, with Hiss trying to snap at his fingers to stop him. However, this startled John, who grabbed Hiss with a cross expression before he huffed in annoyance and stuffed the snake in a basket which he then sat on for good measure, ignoring the snake's repeated warnings that the 'fortune tellers' were in fact bandits.
Meanwhile back outside, Little John was taking the coach apart, removing the golden hubcaps of the coach's wheels as well as any detachable embroidery – the rhino guards were none the wiser, especially since John had knocked them out with some well placed punches. Robin wasn't going to be outdone though, as the fox literally stole the shirt (in this case his royal coat) off the prince, leaving him in his underwear. Robin then signaled John to leave the area, the two thieves quickly running down the road.
The prince was none the wiser, only noticing that he was robbed when a stray draft of wind suddenly passed through his window, startling him enough that he got off the basket that he had Hiss trapped in. The snake then fixed John with a reprimanding glare as the lion wailed in despair.
"I have been robbed! They took everything, even my coat! Oh woe is me!" John cried before Hiss hissed at him, pointing his tail in the direction of the retreating bandits.
"You're right – GUARDS,GUARDS! After those two – we must catch them and throw them in the dungeons for stealing from the future King of England!" John said, his loud roar shocking the rhinos out of their stupor before they scrambled to pull the coach after the bandits. This was an ill fated action though, seeing as the coach fell apart with the wheels popping off the coach, leaving the rhinos to veer off into the trees around them while John was left to shout in anger at what happened. Hiss was quick to laugh at the irate prince, only to be struck down by a hand mirror that miraculously avoided being swiped by Robin's paws.
"Wait, wait sire! If you break the mirror, you'll be cursed with seven years of bad luck!"
"Silence buster! This is what you get for mocking your prince!" John said, breaking the mirror over Hiss' head. The snake then dazedly reminded John that the mirror belonged to his late mother, which sent John into another thumb sucking session (something that Hiss took a vindictive pleasure in witnessing).
Off in another part of the Sherwood forest though, a certain long eared fox could be seen sniffing around curiously, following a scent trail back to Nottingham, unaware that his childhood friends just had a bounty placed on their heads or that his town had been reduced to a mere shadow of what it was, its residents having their will broken under the harsh tax reforms they endured…
And that was chapter 56! Naruto finally came back to Nottingham after 10 years of crusading, a few weeks before Richard returned (with his speed, it was no issue). In the interim period, stuff got messed up pretty bad – Robin and Little John have a plan to deal with that but with our favorite ninja fox, the plot should move along a whole lot faster!
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