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

Montague chateau, crack of dawn…

Naruto was an early riser – a perk of living in the forest for his formative years(one of many, I assure you) and took great joy in watching the great ball of fire that was the Sun rise over the mountains and bless the land with its light. Now that he was the 'coachman' and gamekeeper of the Montague estate (now Tremaine) he was basically a layabout since the women of the house didn't really go out and simply sent him to purchase things for them, typically clothes and assorted finery. While he was perfectly okay with doing all of that, he had to wonder just how deep the family coffers ran – seeing as the chateau had fell into a state of relative disrepair while the ladies(particularly Lady Tremaine and her daughters) seemed to get gaudier and gaudier get ups each day.

He supposed it might have been a girl thing and that he wouldn't get it but Snow, Ella and Grimhilde were quick to assure him that he wasn't off the mark(this time at least) as the other women of the chateau were too liberal with how they spent their gold. To mitigate this, Naruto tried talking to the lady of the house but to no avail. That's not to say that their conversation wasn't interesting however…

Flashback, Lady Tremaine's study

"Alright – I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to women and their affairs but I have to say something! Ella is getting worried that her father's fortune may end up going up in smoke at this rate…" Naruto said as he stood in front of the imposing oak door of Tremaine's study.

Gathering his courage, he then rapped the door firmly three times, a standard knock that he had to use when he was acting as the 'help' and not a chateau resident.

"Come in – the door is already unlocked." Lady Tremaine said, her calm voice nearly unwavering in its tenor as Naruto opened the door and entered the room. She was busy looking over missives sent from the castle as well as the diaries left behind by her late husband – why she was doing that was a secret known only to her but it didn't take a detective to understand that she was trying to uplift her family name and status somehow.

"Ah, it's you Naruto. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? You used to see me and my daughters all the time when Francis was still up and about – now it's all business with you I feel…" Lady Tremaine said as she looked over Naruto with an appreciative eye – the twenty-three year old looked like life had treated him quite well. He wore a large tan shirt, with nothing underneath (a fact that all the women in the chateau appreciated) ,black trousers and a pair of sandals (he refused to wear anything else, complaining about the way the other shoes hurt his feet…). His body was now fully mature, with broad and firm muscles that didn't bulge grotesquely but had stellar definition and power. His blonde locks now formed a mane that he tied in a loose ponytail (as was the fashion for long haired men at the time), with his unruly 'spikes' now weighed down by their own length to form thick bangs around his face – which also matured to give him a sharper face (gone were the chubby cheeks, all that was left was a lean, mean charming machine).

All facts that Lady Tremaine was aware of mind you – Naruto had been the subject of many wet dreams she'd been having for a long time now. It was tough maintaining appearances while she was married as it would have been scandalous if she had made moves on him. Now however, she found herself in quite the predicament – how to rationalize her lust for this boy when all she wanted was to claw her way into the royal family?

Her internal debate was interrupted when Naruto made to speak up, scratching his cheek awkwardly as he did so.

"Lady Tremaine – while I don't think a person like you needs advice from someone like me, my companions and I believe that you and your daughters have been particularly frivolous with the estate's funds as of late. What money my hunting, Snow's performances and Grimhilde's potions bring to the family barely keeps us afloat nowadays!" Naruto said, his voice passionate as he looked at her.

She was momentarily shocked at his outburst before she steeled her resolve, her eyes taking on an ominous glow as she reprimanded her 'coachman'.

"Yes – it is not your place to question my family's expenditures vassal. Your little motley group only stays at this chateau out of the goodness of my heart and my desire to honor my late husband's respect for you all. If you can't make enough money to earn your keep, then perhaps it is time for that step-daughter of mine to finally make something of herself. She will become the estate's scullion maid – that should free up Snow's time to do even more performances at the taverns. Grimhilde's affairs are her own business so I do not care what that woman does, just as long as she respects the levy taxes. I suppose I could use your services a little while longer so I will forgive this outburst but do not let it happen again. Do we understand each other?" Lady Tremaine said as Naruto looked at her incredulously.

'Does she truly mean to turn her own family member into a servant? I should smack some sense into her but I don't think the girls would appreciate it if I suddenly got thrown in jail for offending a noble…' Naruto thought as he clenched his teeth and nodded. Noticing his consternation, Lady Tremaine switched gears a little, her tone taking a more friendly tone.

"Don't look at me like that - that look doesn't belong on your handsome face. Besides- if I am not mistaken, Ella would love to join your group as one of the chateau's servants as she seems to have gelled with you people quite well. Now please leave – I have some business to attend to." She said as Naruto grunted and turned to leave.

"Oh, Naruto – aren't you forgetting something? Etiquette simply must be observed in a noble household you see…" She said, looking at the man amusedly as he shuffled over to her with a disgruntled look.

"Yes my Lady…"

"Ah ah ah-what did I say about calling me that when we do this?"

"I am sorry – as you wish, Madonna." With that, he knelt and pressed a kiss to her hand, the touch of his lips sending delicious shivers throughout her body. His potent chakra stimulated her very soul, each cell singing a song of rapture. The kiss was brief, almost aloof on Naruto's part but to Madonna, it ended too fast for her liking. His rituals done, he bowed to her stiffly and left the room.

Now alone in her study, Madonna turned to look at her work; suddenly the scheming didn't look so attractive anymore – her blood was running hot in her veins and she was slightly flushed.

"Damn that man and damn him for making me feel this way!" She said, her breath coming out in warm puffs of air as one of her hands strayed to her breast and the other trailed lower, down to her drenched womanhood. The room was then filled with muffled moans as the 'Lady' went through the age old motions of masturbation. 

End flashback

Madonna was right about one thing – Ella(or shall we say Cinderella- which was she was called by the Tremaines out of earshot of Naruto) was not put off by the idea of being a scullery maid. She had a quiet strength about her, something which endeared her to Naruto and the others.

Ella's bedroom, with Naruto and co., just after Naruto's conversation with Lady Tremaine

"So you see – the crazy old bat wants to make little Ella here nothing more than a maid for the castle! I mean – she's the legitimate heir to the estate but this woman is slowly edging her out of her inheritance! What do you guys think?" Naruto said as he gestured animatedly towards the ladies.

Given his manic expression and cartoonish outrage, the women had to first stifle their giggles before answering him.

"I can certainly see the parallels between my life and Ella's with how that dragon lady is mistreating our little darling here. Oh don't look at me like that Grimhilde – you know I've long forgiven you for what you did so it's ancient history now. I think we should see how this situation plays out. With your skills, you can easily make her job extremely easy so she won't have to suffer too much right?" Snow said as she looked between Naruto and Grimhilde, putting a finger to her pouty lips in slight confusion.

"I concur – with your skill of transformation, you can take on the form of a mouse – I am sure no one will notice a new one pop up all of a sudden. Ella already has a little following of those creatures so they will probably welcome you or your clone in particular into their fold. Why, they are already here with us so I think that is a valid tactic. The youngster has quite the bleeding heart – reminds me of someone else I know…" Grimhilde said as she gave a knowing look to Snow, who blushed bashfully before they saw Jaq and Gus (the two mice who followed Ella the most) try to comfort the girl.

Of course, no one noticed Ella looking quite miffed at still being babied by her older friends.

"I would appreciate it if my closest friends would stop treating me like a child – I will be eighteen years old come next spring! I don't really mind the stuff step mother said to me – I can't abide her and her daughter's attitude anyway. They are always insulting and teasing me so I wouldn't mind hanging out with Snow and Naruto as I do my duties anyway!" Ella said as the other three 'awwed' at her cute pouting expression, Naruto actually moving forward to muss up her hair and give her a big bear hug(she actually gave an audible squeak at this – Jaq and Gus were surprised to hear her vocalize on the same level as them) as she blushed furiously, thankful that his broad chest hid most, if not all of her face.

"Don't worry about that stuff! You know we're just playing here! More importantly, you said that the Tremaines are bothering you? What exactly are they doing to you? Maybe I should give the two sisters a good talking to and set them straight. They are a little simple minded but they seem to listen to me when I ask them to do stuff."

"That's because those two floozies are hopelessly besotted by you…" The three women mumbled.

"What was that? I didn't catch that last part?"

"Nothing important dear– you go and talk to Anastasia and Drizella. The girls and I need to have some time to talk amongst ourselves." Grimhilde said, Naruto nodding at her before kissing her and Snow gently on their lips before leaving the room.

Now that Naruto was gone, Snow and Grimhilde rounded on Ella, who looked a little sheepish at their scrutinizing looks.

"Okay, now that Naruto has left, you can tell us what really happened to you. Be honest – I know that you couldn't tell us what really happened to you because you were afraid that Naruto would overreact and get himself thrown in jail." Grimhilde said, Snow gently taking Ella's hands into her own as she spoke in turn.

"Yes darling, please share. Friends make all the difference in troubling times like these – do they abuse you?"

Ella was quick to respond – she recognized those looks on her friends (the last time they looked like that, Grimhilde had poisoned the ale of this one obnoxious man that was bothering Snow at the tavern. He could no longer pee without experiencing burning pain and ended up having to beg Grimhilde for a cure (he didn't know that she was the one that poisoned him in the first place). Her price was of course, that he left Snow alone and stopped accosting her – a price he was all too willing to accept.

"No! Nothing that extreme – they just don't let me get any expensive finery and keep calling me Cinderella. I guess they have been planning to make me a scullion maid for a while now."

Grimhilde scowled at this – she knew a classic bullying and denigration scheme when she saw it but knew she had to act subtly.

'Looks like I have to make some arrangements to 'fix' certain issues again…' She mused as she saw Snow comfort Ella before the conversation devolved to girlish banter. Of course, that meant boy talk.

"So Ella, when are you finally going to admit to yourself that you are in love with my man? You know that he'd welcome you into our family with open arms~! Don't think I haven't noticed you ogling him when you think he isn't looking!" Snow said as Ella's eyes widened before she schooled her expression and gained a serious expression.

"I couldn't say. While I do cherish my time spent with him, I don't think I should intrude on your relationship. Besides, during the annual ball next year, I should meet some eligible bachelors – who knows? I might even snag the heart of the prince himself – I need to use my head, not my heart. I should be a responsible noblewoman – my duties are important too you know?" Ella said as Jaq and Gus face palmed at her stubbornness.

"Well…I don't know anything about duty but I think that life is too short to worry about things like that.If you can improve your family's standing, that's fine but as the only remaining scion of the Montague family, you should starting thinking for yourself too." Snow said as Grimhilde smiled at her adoptive daughter – she had really matured over the years.

With Naruto, back to the present…

"Okay – before I start my day, let's make the preparations for assisting Ella with her day…" Naruto said as he made a clone that then transformed into a mouse. His mouse form was nothing too special – he just had light orange fur and pale yellow feet. His clone would then proceed to harass Lucifer and generally help Jaq and Gus lead the other mice while Ella did her chores.

His real body would then go to the taverns and look at the town request board to find contracts for bounty hunters or just wild game requests as they brought a lot of money to the estate's coffers. He quickly made a name for himself as the kingdom's most accomplished hunter and took advantage of that to make Ella's life in the chateau a bit easier as Madonna had to keep up appearances so she couldn't mistreat Ella too much.

This went on for about a year until the spring of Ella's eighteenth birthday and the annual ball commemorating Prince Charming's yearly party for debutantes and nobles, where women from far and wide would come to try and woo the prince. Ella would try her hand at this as well, if only to try and forget the dashing young man she was trying to resist back home.

That didn't mean that her attempts were successful however – that unfortunately, is a story for another day…

Omake: Mouruto vs Lucifer the cat!!

Lucifer was a proud cat – he believed that all were born to serve him. His 'mistress' and her spawn had taken care of him as their liege lord and now he had new hunting grounds and a new plaything to annoy. Her name was Ella – she was a pretty young thing so he enjoyed tormenting her by ruining everything she tried to do. She had help in the form of mice but they were prey and not a threat. He typically would enjoy hunting them down before being rudely interrupted by Ella just as he would go for the kill.

That however was about to change.

Lucifer was lazily sunbathing on Sunday afternoon when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face. His whisker had been plucked straight out of his cheeks! Yowling in pain, he opened his eyes to behold the strangest thing in his nine lives.

A mouse.

A mouse that was using his whisker as a toothpick!

"So you're Lucifer huh? You don't look so tough – why don't you come over and we'll have a talk on how you're treating my boys and gal here." It said, standing in an insouciant pose reminiscent of a mafia boss.

"Mreow!"

Meowing fiercely, Lucifer pounced on the impertinent rodent to swallow him whole. However, this hunt was ill-fated.

"I don't think so. Chew on this fat boy!" The mouse said, leaping to meet Lucifer and punching him straight in the eye.

Lucifer crashed down on the ground completely disoriented. What was this?! Where was the natural order?! He then felt his tail being gripped firmly and then began to wonder just what in blazes was happening now.

"Let's see if cats can fly! Alley-oop!"

"Meeoooww!!!"

And that was chapter 12! Hope you guys enjoyed the omake (requested by a guest reader). We now have a set up for the Prince's ball where Ella is hoping to go to forget about the temptation waiting for her back home (Naruto being oblivious to his charge's crush as usual). Next chapter will introduce the Fairy Godmother, who will play a pivotal role in Naruto's main quest.

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