Sage of Hearts

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affliated 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

On the trail to the Montague chateau…

"Damn, this Francis fellow really lives in isolation doesn't he? We've been travelling for a while now…" Naruto said as they found themselves on a little hill to the south of the town proper.

"Well, in my experience, a noble estate tends to be enormous and such massive property holdings can't exist within towns – they would prevent the commonfolk from owning or living in any buildings without being the noble's vassals." Grimhilde said, Snow nodding in agreement as Naruto whistled in awe.

"Nobles really need that much land?! You know, I'm beginning to think that this system of aristocracy really is a poor replacement for royalty – I mean, they get mini-palaces or castles and estates that could pass off as small kingdoms! Truly ridiculous stuff – here's hoping our potential 'lord patron' is not some stuck up snob…" Naruto scoffed as Grimhilde and Snow giggled nervously at Naruto's exasperation and resigned surprise at the nobility system (they knew just how much normal people were deprived of compared to nobility and royalty and while they were no longer part of them, listening to Naruto made them feel some second hand shame).

"While that is neither here nor there, bellyaching about it won't help – you want to make a change, then get enough power or influence and do it! Besides, a man like you can get anything he wants - you could have been king yourself but you rejected it. You are a man of principles and while that is a very attractive trait, the rest of the world isn't like that. Now chin up dear, we wouldn't want Lord Francis to see your surly mug now would we~?" Snow teasingly said, pulling up beside Naruto on her horse to give him a little nudge in his ribs, laughing a little at his petulant expression as she looked at him with her signature 'adorable' expression.

"Damn it Snow! You can't keep doing stuff like that – I nearly fell off the horse there! Sheesh…you're enough of a distraction without batting those lashes at me like that." Naruto said, rubbing his side after he jumped in surprise, Spirit snickering at his rider's situation.

Watching their dynamics, Grimhilde heaved a deep sigh before smiling, looking up the road as the chateau came into view. Her eyes roved over the building – while they still had a ways to go, her enchanted sight could pick out a surprisingly humble looking mansion. Looking over to the road, she then noticed the lord of the mansion coming down the road on a horse drawn carriage. Now that wasn't too strange but what caught her eye was that the noble was the coachman – that certainly threw her for a loop. She also noticed one teensy detail as well – they were on a narrow two way road and Francis was coming in their direction.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have lost control of his horse, the carriage and the horse rocking wildly down the road – if left unchecked, they would crash into the surrounding trees or into Naruto and Snow.

"Naruto! Keep your eyes on the road – it looks like our future lord has gotten himself in quite the pickle. Go get him darling – be the hero again and maybe this time try to get a reward for it~!" Grimhilde said as Naruto quickly turned to look up the road, his eyes widening in shock as Snow gasped in shock.

"Curses! I better move fast before the old man breaks his neck or something – what, was he too cheap to hire a coachman or something?!"

Naruto then leapt off of Spirit's back, taking a spool of rope from his horse's saddlebags and putting it on his back and blitzing over to Francis with his super speed. In his state of heightened perception, he noticed that the carriage was imbalanced, the linchpin connecting the horse and the carriage loosely jammed into the axle. This was why the carriage was swaying left and right and knocking the horse off balance. Understanding that he had to move quickly, Naruto then ran up to the side of the carriage and jumped onto its side. As he did so, Francis turned to him, his face set in a rictus of fear.

"Who are you?! Never mind – can you please help me?! I have lost control of this beast and my carriage is about to tear itself away and kill us all!" Francis yelled as Naruto grunted and made his way over to the linchpin, a grim look on his face.

"Relax old man, I'll help you out. I am pulling the linchpin out – when I do that, you guide the horse over to the roadside. Leave the carriage to me."

"What?! You can't possibly expect to stop the carriage yourself! My daughter is in there and I can't have her hurt!" Francis said as Naruto looked behind him to see the girl looking at him in abject terror, looking disheveled from the jostling of the carriage.

"Just trust me. I can do a lot more than you think – I will save both of you and the carriage with minimal damage, believe it!"

Naruto then pulled the pin out, the horse now galloping to the roadside to stop and catch its breath as Naruto climbed over to the top of the carriage, looping the rope through the axle as he did so. He threw the two ends of the rope over to some stout looking oak trees as he caught the rope ends again to tie them in a strong knot. Realizing that he now had a few seconds before the carriage came to a violent stop, he rushed over to pull the carriage door open, grabbing the girl and putting her on his back.

"Hold on miss, this is going to be a real doozy of a jump!" Naruto said as the girl looked at him in shock (she had never been this close to a boy before and especially one who could move faster than anyone she'd ever seen before) before closing her eyes and burying her head in the crook of his neck.

Naruto then made a titanic leap, clearing the carriage and alighting on the branches of one of the trees in front of them, the carriage suddenly jerking to a sudden stop, being suspended mid air for a few seconds before it landed on the ground, its wood groaning in protest but still holding strong.

Now that all the exciting stuff was over, Naruto could see that Snow and Grimhilde had caught up to him, the two of them moving over to Francis to calm the poor man down. He then looked over to the girl on his shoulder, who still hadn't removed her head from his neck as she shivered in fear.

"Hey there little lady – it's over now. You can relax and look around – everything is fine~."

The girl then pulled her head out of the crook of his neck, yelping cutely as Naruto jumped down to the ground after moving to hold her in a princess carry.

"Ah, thank you good sir! My father and I were going to visit the town to hire a new coachman before Papa lost control of the carriage…" She said as she looked into Naruto's eyes, a grateful look on her face as she clasped her hands together.

"No problem miss! My group and I noticed your plight and we naturally came to your aid!" Naruto said as he grinned at the girl and tousled her blond hair as he gave her a closed eye grin, missing her blush.

"Ah thank you good ser! My daughter is the apple of my eye and I could not bear to see her hurt! How can I ever repay you?" Francis said as he walked over to Naruto, Snow and Grimhilde also making their way over to Naruto, who had put the girl back on her feet.

"As I told your daughter, it was no issue! I just wanted to help. My group and I are travelers you see; we came to your town to see if we could start a trade of some kind…" Naruto said, nodding at Snow and Grimhilde as Francis moved closer to Naruto and grabbed his hand to shake it firmly.

"And I suppose you all need a noble patron to start up your businesses? Say no more – I will support all of you and you can even rest or build your businesses on my estate. What are your professions?"

The group then shared their thoughts with Francis (his eyes gleamed with joy when he heard Naruto's and Grimhilde's professions – honestly, these people came at the right time) and he promptly hired them. Naruto was to be the estate gamekeeper and coachman, Grimhilde the physician and Snow the playmate and keeper for his daughter as well as bard.

"Seeing as I have recruited the lot of you, let me welcome you to the Montague chateau. I am Francis and my beautiful daughter is Ella. My wife Josephine would welcome you as well but I am afraid that she's wasting away from a strange disease – hopefully Miss Grimhilde will try to ease her passing at the very least…" Francis said as they entered his estate, all of them on their horses (Ella was riding with Naruto though – she was still shaken from her ordeal after all).

"I will do my best, however I make no promises. Now please lead me to her." Grimhilde said as Francis nodded and guided her up the stairs to his wife's bedroom.

Having been left alone with Ella, Snow and Naruto then spent some time getting to know the 'lady' of the house. As it turns out, Ella had quite the backbone – she wasn't averse to getting her hands dirty to have some fun and also had a way with animals, much like Snow (they had a field day with that, with Snow even mentioning that she named all the estate's animals and even introduced them - the horse was named Major and the family dog was called Bruno).

"Alright, it was nice getting to know you Ella but I have to unload our possessions into the servant quarters now – have fun with Snow!" Naruto said as Ella smiled at him, her initial blushing fits now having receded to warm smiles instead. Snow just waved at him, leaning over to kiss his cheek as Ella eeped in surprise at her boldness.

After Naruto left, Ella turned to Snow with a curious look on her face.

"So, are you and Naruto sweethearts?"

"Oh yes! He is my prince after all – he saved me from a lot of sticky situations and has been with me since I was a child!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, sweetie pie, that's a long story-it all starts with a cruel winter in a kingdom far, far away…"

And that wraps up chapter 10! We now have a setup for Naruto and co to enter the Cinderella arc prior to the step-family's introduction. Poll results about pairings are in and the current standings are that Lady Tremaine and Cinderella will join our resident sage as part of his harem. I guess I can 'beautify' Anastasia or Drizella and throw them at the Prince(or just leave them single…meh). If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link: p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!