The Lone Princess (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 39: Truth is Out

Akira's POV

     My scarlet eyes shimmered in the sunlight that broke through my window, but it didn't seem to remove the dead look. I brought my hair up to tie in a high ponytail and stared back at the reflection my mirror provided. Smiling slightly, I trailed my hands from the top of the ponytail down to the purple ends that were just long enough to slip past my shoulders. That's right ladies and gentlemen—I got a hairdo.

     My hair now reached about midway down my back layers (when it wasn't in a ponytail) and the tips were dyed lavender. I don't have a solid reason as to why I did this, but I guess I just needed a change and, well, something I wanted to do for me. I smiled at myself in the mirror, "You've come this far, Akira. Two months of dedication has improved this kingdom and made it strong. And there's always room for further improvement."

     It's been a crazy two months and not to boast, but I think I did pretty well for a 15 year old, granted I got help from others. From talking to leaders to making actions for this kingdom to conferences and hard work. I had managed to communicate with the Great Kingdom leaders too and the formal alliances have been prepared. We just need to have a meeting for all of us to be present, and it will be set. And then all that would be left to do is make peace with the government. A long sigh left my mouth at the reminder of it. That was going to be hard, considering they might still be after Sukai.

     Speaking of Sukai, she has been oddly quiet lately but I haven't questioned her about it. It's not like she doesn't speak at all, but it went from talking to her every hour to talking to her, like, once a day. 

     Something's just not sitting right with me ever since we came here.

     Maybe it's because Kurisutaru holds a lot of your painful memories. Don't worry, we're going to make new ones to remember.

     ...Yeah.

     I kept true to my agreement with Lady Tsunade and renewed our alliance, but I  was crushed when I heard the news of how their mission to retrieve Sasuke went. I went to visit everyone at the hospital, because a week wasn't enough for their full recovery - That's how bad it went.

     What made me even angrier at Sasuke was that Naruto thought this was all his fault. And at that point I didn't know what I would say if I ever saw Sasuke again. Part of me wanted to beat him half to death and the other part of me wanted him to just be safe. I mean he was with Orochimaru, for goodness sake! 

     When I returned to Kurisutaru that day, it was through the newly made portal from a sacred room in the Hokage tower to an enclosed and secret room in the Chevelzian castle. My mood was down for the next week, no matter how much Kyle tried to cheer me up. However, I didn't let my disappointment and anger get the better of me so it didn't interfere with my work.

     Kyle, Yuki, the leaders, and everyone else in this castle has been so helpful with sharing the amount of work we need to do. It wasn't too much, considering we've pretty much done it all in two months. The only reason Kyle hadn't done them before was because he didn't have the authority to - things only a Royal Chevelzian could do. For example, making alliances, making/changing a rule, creating big enough changes in the kingdom, etc.

     I've re-built the relationships between our trading partners, but I have taken on new ones. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that Kurisutaru is never going to be the same again. It can't be the same again. My father's rule is over, and I'm going to have to accept that. The only way to move forward is change. And with everyone helping out, it hasn't been so hard.

     "Akira?" Yuki nudged me as I zoned out for the third time throughout this meeting. I blinked and looked around the room in which everyone's eyes were on me expectantly. "Um.." I cleared my throat embarrassingly, trying to think of what they would have asked me. "Yes," I say firmly  in hopes that it was a yes or no question.