A/N: I was inspired to write this after I read For the Love of His Son by michelerene (ff). If you haven't read Demilitarized Zone, do it. Do it now. Well maybe not now seeing as how I want you to read my story but right afterward. Anyway I loved the medieval setting. There's something about the slightly open shirts and gorgeous guys on horses that got me going. This story contains my original character Rei. I will endeavor to keep it focused on Sasuke and Naruto though. There will be yaoi and there will be straight pairings as well. Anyway enjoy. Oh and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Rei who is straight out of my head.

Warning: There will be straight and gay sex I'm just not sure when yet so I have rated it R or M just in case. I will post warnings on specific chapters when the story gets spicy. Some violence and some language in this chapter.

Warning: Language

Societal Gap

Chapter One

Runaway Groom

Sasuke spurred his horse to gallop at breakneck speed. He could still hear Kakashi shouting behind him. He glanced back and saw with relief his white gelding was putting some distance between him and the guards.

"Sasuke stop! How many times are you going to do this!?" Sasuke shouted back over his shoulder at Kakashi, "As many as it takes until he agrees to call it off!" Digging his heels into his horse's side he gained another burst of speed. He quickly veered off the road as it bent to the left, hiding his escape. He knew that wouldn't fool them for long. He zigzagged through the trees making his path harder to follow. He wasn't going back. He would never go back. He'd rather live his life as a shit covered peasant than go back. He found a worn deer trail and urged his horse to move faster almost falling off as the white steed reared as they came across a large herd of deer where the path opened up into a wide field. He savagely spurred his horse again to keep up with the herd. This would help hide his tracks and make it harder for the incredibly annoying and infuriatingly talented tracker knight to follow his trail. He followed the trail for another couple of miles before slowing his pace. His horse snorted in thanks and the young Uchiha patted the white muscular neck of his friend.

"Good run Kasai, good run. Hopefully we lost them for good this time because I feel like I'm abusing my power over you." Sasuke smirked as he thought about the four times he'd run away in the past two months. The first was the night his father had told him the 'joyous' news. He'd reacted in his usual unresponsive manner and then sprinted to the stables as soon as he was dismissed from the stoic Lord Uchiha's presence. Kakashi and Asuma had caught him by the next afternoon. The second was three days after his disgruntled return. He had sent Kasai off in the opposite direction as he was headed but the relentlessly loyal horse had turned around after only an hour or so and led Kakashi and Shikamaru right to him within two days. The third time was almost three weeks later. He had led the whole Uchiha house hold into a false sense of security by being on his best behavior for the entire time. He had lasted almost a week before he was caught. He had even ridden a horse he bought in a village and dressed as a commoner to avoid suspicion, but he was caught. He was always caught. He had to credit his father with having the best knights in the land. This time he had just packed a few things and left. He went for a ride with Shikamaru in the afternoon and lost him after about an hour. Kakashi, Asuma, Shikamaru and Iruka had caught up to him the next day, but he wasn't going back. He'd use every trick he in his books if he had to.

His father. How could he do this to him? He was only fifteen! It was wrong. Hell it should be illegal. How could he condemn his life like this? A fate worse than death! An… arranged marriage. No! No fucking way!

He rode hard until twilight changing directions sporadically. He finally settled by a lake, lit a fire and let Kasai rest. He rested against a tree and sighed. He was tired. Tired of running; tired of thinking; tired, oh so tired of his gilded cage. How could he marry her? He didn't even know her! He didn't even know… if he liked girls. God how his father would die of shame if he could hear his thoughts. The Hyuga girl wasn't ugly or annoying or really anything that could be construed as being negative, but that didn't maker her right for him. They were both too young. This was a way for the families to solidify relations for the future. His stomach churned at being a political pawn. He closed his eyes a fell into a deep sleep.

Sasuke was running faster than he had ever run in his life. He glanced back but it was still getting closer. He veered to the left but it followed him. His breath was becoming ragged; his pace was slowing. What could he do? It was almost on top of him!

His keen senses jolted him awake. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He could see Kasai down by the lake but something was wrong. There was movement around him. He jumped to his feet and a hand immediately secured it's self around his neck. His sharp eyes detected four, no, five men around the campsite, laughing and rummaging though his few belongings.

"Hmm, nicely dressed. Bet this one has something of value!" The man at his throat reeked. His teeth were rotting in his head and he looked several shades darker than he should thanks to a heavy layer of dust and dirt that covered him entirely. Sasuke grimaced and tried to steady himself.

"I really don't have much of value."

"Oh I disagree!" The vile man licked his lips as he took in Sasuke's handsome features. His pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight; the fire reflected off his obsidian eyes making them shine. His thin muscular form was still feminine in its teenage glory. The man growled hungrily and his companions halted their activities to join the man in leering at the raven haired teen's beautifully majestic form. Sasuke started to panic, his brain screaming for him to run like hell.

"Fine, just take what you want and go." The man grinned evilly.

"Oh we will. We always take what we want." Sasuke tried to free himself but was unable to break the much older man's grip. He lifted a leg to push himself off of the man but it was caught easily. He thrashed wildly to the man's delight.

"Ooh. Looks like the little noble is a fighter! All the more fun to break." Sasuke's eyes widened with fear. He pressed his weight against the tree and lifted his other leg planting it firmly in the man's groin. The man groaned and loosened his grip. The pale teen renewed his escape efforts and was rewarded with being hit over the head with something. The world spun and the light seemed to fade as he struggled to remain conscious. He felt rough hands on his body but they were quickly removed. Something was happening. What was going on? His mind was too foggy to really understand. He could hear snippets of conversation. People were yelling.

"Get away! Or you'll get what your friend got!"

"He's dead he's dead! The witch killed him."

"Fucking bitch! You'll pay for interfering!"

"Naruto, help him. Get out of here. Stay away from this area or I swear you'll be sorry!"

He could hear people leaving. Gentle hands were on his face. He tensed but relaxed as soothing words cooed him into submission.

"Shhh. It's okay. We won't hurt you. Rei he's hurt." He felt someone approach him. He tried to sit up but his head felt like it weighed twenty pounds.

"Don't move. We'll help you. Rei look at his clothes. Who is he?"

"He's someone who needs our help. Now hurry up and get his horse and his things. Quickly, before they decide to come back." He felt something cool mop his head where he'd been struck. It was okay. If they wanted him dead they would have killed him already. He let his mind go blank and slip into dark nothingness.

"Naruto, hurry!"

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He could hear voices again, awareness slowly creeping back into his body. He quite suddenly felt his head and wished it hadn't. He lay quite still hoping to ascertain some information about his situation. Two voices chattered back and forth. One was female. He concentrated on their words.

"Who do you think he is?"

"Does it matter? He can stay as long as he needs. Fucking raiders! There are more of them this year then ever. And you know the knights won't do anything about it. They're too worried about attending balls and hunting for sport."

"Come on Rei. You know there's unrest in the Uchiha and Hyuuga houses." Sasuke stiffened at the mention of his family name and listened more intently.

"Nobles. What a ridiculous lot. They start wars over trade agreements when it could all be solved by paying a little more attention to the commoners and sending out a few more patrols. Besides the Hyuuga's aren't going to burn down the Uchiha castle, it's our homes that end up in flames when war breaks our."

"Rei…" The second voice sounded exasperated.

"It's true! Don't tell me it's not."

"I'm not saying it's not true I'm just saying I'm tired of hearing you bitch about it."

"Naruto! Language!"

"What you can swear but I can't?"

"Uh, yeah pretty much. Chop those vegetables."

"Rei is he going to be okay?"

"He'll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up but he should be fine." Sasuke experimentally opened his eyes. The light in the room made his head throb and he groaned loudly.

"See told you." He heard footsteps approaching him.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke opened one bleary eye to look at the person standing over him. His breath hitched in his throat as he gazed upon the tanned, blond boy that stood above him. His eyes drank in his exotic features and settled on an impossibly blue gaze. The boy was smiling, brows knitted in concern. He was breathtaking. His silky, blonde spikes hung lazily around his temples and ears.

"Hn"

"Well that was a descriptive response. Hey Rei, do you speak grunts?" A chuckle was emitted from the other side of the room as more footsteps approached.

"Here drink this. It tastes horrible but it will help with the pain." He reluctantly tore his stare from the beautiful blonde to look at a young woman of about seventeen who was holding a wooden cup out for him. He gingerly sat up and took a sip. He almost gagged at the horrid, warm liquid. God! Was she trying to poison him?

"Hey I warned you," she retorted to his icy glare and walked back across the room. He glanced around and took in his surroundings. He was in a small cottage. It was three rooms and very rustic in nature. The walls appeared to be made of stone and mud and the roof was thatched. Well, at least he wasn't home… or worse. He noticed his head had stopped throbbing so took another sip of the wretched brew, grimaced and handed it to the blonde who was grinning ear to ear.

"Hi, I'm Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki. And that's my sister Rei Mitokado. How are you feeling?" Sasuke retorted with another grunt and pushed himself off of a small cot that was in the corner of the room. He stretched his arms above his head, his shirt lifting up exposing his flat stomach. Rei couldn't help notice that her little brother seemed transfixed on the patch of pale skin. Sasuke walked to the scrubbed wooden table in the middle of the room and sat down.

"If you two are brother and sister why don't you have the same name?"

"Ah so you do speak!" Naruto teased.

"Dobe" Sasuke hissed back.

"Hey, shut up you spoiled teme! We saved your life last night!"

"Enough! Naruto and I aren't blood relatives. His parents died when he was a baby so he came to live with my family. My folks died a few of years ago. You know, when the winter was really bad." Rei had approached the table with bowls of stew in her hands.

"Here eat something. It will help." Sasuke looked suspiciously at the questionable stew and then back up at the girl, the taste of the disgusting tonic still fresh in his mind.

"It doesn't look pretty but it tastes fine, really." Sasuke looked over at the blond who was already almost through his bowl and cautiously lifted the spoon to his lips. His eyes widened in surprise as the brown stew was full of flavor. Realizing he hadn't eaten in a while he brought another spoonful to his mouth, then another and another.

"My god, you eat like Naruto!" Sasuke looked down in shock to find that he had almost emptied his bowl. Tanned hands grabbed it away from him.

"I'll get you some more," the blonde piped cheerfully. The girl walked beside the pale teen and gently shifted some of his raven hair. Sasuke pulled away instantly, standing up so quickly that he knocked his chair over. Rei raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I was just checking your injury. You got a bit of a cut when you were hit unless you want to look at the side of your own head." She gestured to a bowl with a salve in her hands. Sasuke righted his chair and slowly sank back into it.

"What is that?"

"Relax, my mother was a healer. On the downside you have to wear this paste on your head for an hour or two, but on the plus side it should be completely healed by tomorrow." Sasuke turned his head to give her access to his lesion wincing only slightly as she gently applied the concoction.

"There. That should be right as rain in no time. So mysterious stranger, tell us about yourself." Naruto had returned to the table with another bowl of stew for both of them. He was watching Sasuke with intense curiosity. What could he say? 'I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I ran away like the spoiled brat you already think I am.' He shifted uncomfortably. Naruto noticed and began talking about himself hoping that Sasuke would learn by example.

"Well I'm fourteen. I love to swim and my favorite food is ramen. I love to ride and hope one day to be a lord of a land! Rei is a huntress. She's turning seventeen in a couple of days. She can cook, grow herbs, make medicine and she trains horses. We've been on our own since I was ten. Everyone said there was no way Rei could earn money, look after me and protect us from raiders and bandits. They said she was going to have to get married, but she was only thirteen so she said 'No fucking way'."

"Naruto language! I'm not going to tell you again."

"But it was a quote. That was what you said." He turned to Sasuke and grinned, "She's such a lady." The raven teen absorbed the information and tried to formulate some kind of story to explain who he was and why he was here.

"My name is Sasuke."

"Hey just like the Uchiha lord's son!"

"Hn. I'm one of his body doubles. I was out for a ride and someone must have though I was him. They chased me and I ended up by the lake. You know the rest. So where am I?"

"Well you're only a day, maybe a day and a half ride form the castle. We could show you the way when you're feeling up to it."

"No! No I kind of want to lay low for a while. I need a break from the castle. As long as I return eventually Sasuke won't mind. We're friends…sort of." Rei looked at him skeptically but Naruto piped up.

"Wow you're friends with an Uchiha! That's so cool. We hardly ever have anyone cool around here. Everyone in the village is boring and there are hardly any guys my age. Hey do you want to be my friend too?" Rei snorted at her brother's eager response to an obviously fake story.

"Well I have to go to work. I have two orders to fill today. Sasuke you're clothes were covered with blood so I washed them and they're on the line. If you want to bathe, down by the lake is the best spot in the summer time. Keep that ointment on for another hour then wash it off. I should be home before dark. Oh and keep your ears open for the raiders. We can't afford to lose anything else. I'll be riding Sirus. Kato and Rika are in the paddock with Sasuke's horse." With that she picked up a bow and a large quiver of arrows and headed out the door. Sasuke looked down only just noticing that the shirt he was wearing was the spare he had in his bag. He looked back at the blonde dobe sitting beside him.

"So do you want to go for a swim and wash up?"

"Hn. I'm not supposed to take this off for another hour." He replied gesturing to his head.

"Oh right. Well let's go for a little ride and I'll show you around a bit."

"Hn"

"You know when you use that to respond to everything, I don't know what you mean, Teme."

"Let's go, Dobe."

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A/N: Okay so that chapter one. Sorry if it felt a little rushed. I'll try to get another chapter up really soon. Reviews help…a lot… A LOT! Also I'm in desperate need of a beta reader so if anyone is interested send me a message or leave me a review stating thus. Okay thanks for reading.