Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, despite many misadventures to try and change this fact.

Warnings: This story contains language, mild violence, and mature themes. It also feature m/m relationships.


Sasuke and the Kyuubi
Chapter 1


Our story begins, as these tales often do: a long time ago… in a land that no longer exists.

Before Arthur pulled Excalibur from its rock of legend, before Merlin discovered that he was destined for life filled with magic, before the dark ages, in a time when Rome was still an infant… there existed a kingdom high in the mountains, tucked away from the rest of the world and filled with people as fascinating and wondrous as any fairy tale:

The kingdom of Konoha, the people of the forests.

It was a halcyon kingdom, having stood strong for years, ruled by a kind and wise leader who was beloved by every one of his subjects. His reign was one of peace, prosperity, and good will—but, alas, like all good things… it came to an end. The king died during a hunting accident, cutting short a beautiful, vibrant life and leaving behind a populace in mourning, and his untimely death thrust the crown onto his only son, a boy barely thirteen years of age.

The boy's name was Naruto, a child with golden hair and sapphire eyes-the spitting image of his father, and the people rejoiced for their dear king remained with them in some form. Young and completely unprepared to rule, Naruto reluctantly took control of the throne. He was advised by the staff of the castle, taught by the men whom his father had trusted, but the boy never left the palace his father had built: Castle Kyu.

Naruto was a bright child. His servants could see that he had the potential to one day be as great a king as his father, but Naruto also had a flaw—the boy was selfish.

Having lost his father at such a young age, the boy was overwhelmed with fears, loss being chief among them, and Naruto did everything within his power to exercise control over his life in an effort to mitigate those fears. Naruto was smart and he quickly learned the best way to get what he wanted was to pitch a fit, because his servants and advisers were all to willing to do anything to stop the tantrums. As Naruto grew older, his flaw became more apparent, and it proved to be his undoing.

On his seventeenth birthday, Naruto was haughtily demanding gifts from each and every citizen of his kingdom, when, suddenly, a knock at the palace doors interrupted his celebration.

Naruto was prepared to ignore the intrusion and allow his guards to deal with the problem, when suddenly the doors were blown wide-open from a large wind. The sounds of a storm roared into the hall, and the night was lit by lightning to reveal a hobbling crone in tattered robes, soaked to the bone from the torrential rain pouring down from the heavens. The old woman begged for shelter from the storm, claiming that she had even brought a gift for the young prince: a small, silver locket, which she claimed held a very special secret inside… a secret about the boy's destiny, which would only open when the boy proved himself to be a man.

Having grown accustomed to getting whatever he wanted and on his own terms, Naruto scoffed at the old woman and spurned her gift. He cast her back out into the storm without hesitation or a second thought. While the language of this time period has long been lost to the annuals of history, the oral traditions still hold record of his damning insult. While it may not be entirely accurate, we can believe with some certainty that what he yelled at the old woman, was this: "Get lost, grandma!"

The insult angered the old woman, who, in a blinding flash of light, revealed herself to be a powerful and beautiful sorceress. Her name was Tsunade, Seer of the Storms, and she had known Naruto's father many years ago. The sorceress had heard tales of the young prince who ruled with greed and avarice, but she had refused to believe them, for they were an insult to the memory of the old king.

Disappointed and appalled by Naruto's demeanor, Tsunade placed a spell upon the boy and his entire palace, cursing them all to live forever in forms befitting their true hearts that lay within, only to be broken when the young prince could learn to love unconditionally… and in return be loved himself.

The transformation riddled Naruto with guilt and turned his people against him. As time went by, the kingdom fell into ruin and only the most loyal servants, also afflicted by the curse, remained at Castle Kyu, and Naruto slowly secluded himself from everything and everyone.

Years passed… fading into decades… fading into centuries.

The legends of yore came and went, and Castle Kyu and the kingdom of Konoha were all but forgotten. All that remains is a provincial village nestled high up in the mountains of what is now called Japan.

It is here, that our story begins… in this quiet little village, where a young man has found himself exiled by his father.


Present Day:

Sasuke Uchiha was in hell.

This tiny village of Konoha lived on the outside of most modern advances. While their children may travel to the outlying cities and expand their horizons, the adults are content to stick to their own devices, loving the peaceful tranquility of the mountain village. The village of Konoha had no internet, no cable, and, much to Sasuke's displeasure, no coffee.

They drank tea, and was it the kind of tea that could satiate a caffeine addict? Of course not! The barbarians didn't have a single ounce of caffeine in the entire village. Soda? Energy drinks? Sasuke had tried asking vendors at the marketplace, and most hadn't ever heard of such beverages before. The lunacy of the situation made him want to pull his hair out. How was he supposed to survive hell without a source of caffeine?

Sasuke had been here a month, and already he was about to lose his mind. He threw himself out of bed and launch into his morning routine, determined that today he was going to do something to stave off the boredom that permeated the mountain village like a fog. Sasuke threw on a pair of cream colored shorts and pulled on a dark blue tank top, grimacing as he caught his reflection in the mirror leaning up in the corner of his bedroom. Normally he dressed better than this, but it was the middle of summer and the forest air was humid and stifling. Any more than a single layer and he would sweat, and Sasuke refused to show any such signs of weakness.

With a chest-rattling sigh, Sasuke stalked into the bathroom and began brushing his teeth, planning out his uneventful day to the monotonous stroke of his toothbrush.

The one saving grace about this town was that it had a bookshop filled with old volumes from various countries. Most of the books in this shop had stories, more appropriately—histories, Sasuke had never studied, which meant they were filled with knowledge he could absorb. His father always said knowledge was the single most valuable resource in the world, and Sasuke was to use knowledge to his advantage.

So that settled it, Sasuke decided, spitting into the sink. He would go to the bookshop, as he did every day, because it was the only thing there was to do in this town other than manual labor. He turned on the water, rinsing the remnants of toothpaste down the drain before cleaning his toothbrush and setting it back in the holder. He bent over, taking a mouthful of water from the running tap to clean out his mouth, and spit again. He let the water continue to run as he stared into the bathroom mirror.

Black, emotionless eyes stared back at him out of a pale, angular face, which Sasuke assumed some might consider attractive. His hair was also a mess. With another sigh, Sasuke ran his hands under the pouring water and raked them through his hair. He took to the task of fixing his hair with single-minded determination-he couldn't wear what he wanted, but, by god, he was going to look the way he wanted.

The task took less time than he would have liked, which meant he had no further excuses to remain in the bathroom. Sasuke turned off the sink with a sharp snap of his wrist, and glanced up into the mirror one final time. He was going to have to go... out there... with them. "Yes," his reflection mirrored the movements of his lips into a cold sneer, "I'm in hell."

Sasuke stalked out of the bathroom, grabbing his messenger bag off the back of his desk chair and swung it over his shoulder. He grabbed his keys off the desk without breaking stride, sliding the key ring over the middle finger of his left hand and spinning them until his house key was firmly in grasp. Next he snatched his wallet off the kitchen counter and stuffed it in his right, front pocket as he opened the front door to the small cabin he now called home.

Turning back, Sasuke took one final forlorn look at the four walls and single room which made up his sanctuary. His bed was off in the far corner, hidden behind the half wall that divided living space from the small kitchen area. He could see the piles of books which were growing beyond his bedroom and beginning to invade the tiny hall leading to the bathroom. His kitchen was clean, white, and it had everything Sasuke needed to cook his own meals, though most of the time he didn't bother. He just bought food from a vendor in the village and ate it at the small, two-person table in front of the only window.

It wasn't much, hell, Sasuke doubted many people would call it a house, but it was his. It was a place where he could be alone and no one else could intrude.

With a resigned nod of his head, perhaps bracing himself for what was to come, Sasuke stepped over the threshold, closed the front door and locked it, sealing his home away from the rest of the world. He turned on the top step and looked down the path towards the village center. A familiar sense of dread crept up from the base of his spine, threatening to override his resolve and begging him to go back inside and to forget the insanity which possessed him to venture willingly into the mouth of hell.

"This is how Dante must have felt in the Divine Comedy," Sasuke mused, bracing his shoulders and forcing himself onward. Heaven was definitely getting a good laugh out of his misery.

It only took a few moments to get from his quiet home to the center of town, and quickly Sasuke's quiet morning became a noise-riddled nightmare. Shuffling through the pedestrians as they went about their daily routines, Sasuke did his best to not make eye contact and to avoid bumping into anyone. It was no easy task, as people were everywhere.

Some people were going into the center market the village was built around, others where skirting the few shops built around it. Many villagers were milling about, bartering their specific crafts for needed goods, while the rest were content to just idly chat with one another. Sasuke did his best to avoid them all as he made his way to the one place in this town that didn't make him want to commit suicide.

The book shop was on the farthest edge of the market, and, like every morning, Sasuke had to walk past the Baker's shop, who, like always, shouted a bellowing "Good Morning!" at the raven. Sasuke responded in kind with a grunted, "Hn." Which the fat man always interpreted as a friendly gesture, because every day they did this same routine. It was irritating. Sasuke decided to keep his head down for the remainder of his trek.

He tried not to be annoyed by the fact he was dressed in similar fashion as the other villagers. He understood the logicality behind it, and Sasuke was nothing if not rational, but he also missed the city atmosphere which allowed one to wear whatever they desired. He missed the designer sweaters, the tailored pants, and the ability to wear layers. Fashion was for making a statement, but fashion didn't exist in Konoha... it couldn't.

The village was built on the side of the mountains and surrounded by a forest, which meant that most of the time the air was thick, moist and hot during the day. It choked Sasuke's fashion sense until it died and gave way to practicality. Sasuke may have been pale and accustomed to city life, but he refused to be uncomfortable; therefore he had adopted the style of the villagers, much to his own disdain.

Thankfully his destination came into view, and Sasuke picked up his pace. He was eager to distract himself from his increasingly acrimonious state of mind.

Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Sasuke stalked into the bookshop and slammed the door behind him, glad to have a barrier between him and the chaos of village life beyond. He took a deep breath and reached into the bag he had slung over his shoulder, pulling out an old leather book which he intended to return.

"Oh! Sasuke," an older, white haired man with an insanely long ponytail came out of the back, pushing his way through the cloth flap that blocked a view to his sleeping quarters, "You're punctual as ever."

"Morning, Jiraya," Sasuke nodded, placing the book on top of the shop's counter. "What do you have for me today?"

Jiraya was the reason Sasuke was in this village. The man was a genius... apparently. You couldn't tell it from looking at him, but Jiraya had five PhD's, three Master's degrees, and enough stored mental knowledge that he could probably drown an elephant with facts. The old man was also a very good friend to Sasuke's father. After Sasuke managed to get kicked out of his last boarding school, his father had exploded, threatening to disown Sasuke unless he got his act together.

What had Fugaku Uchiha, head of the most powerful telecommunications conglomerate in Japan, decided would set his son straight?

He'd decided Sasuke needed a private tutor… who lived on a mountain… in the middle of nowhere.

Jiraya was the reason Sasuke was in hell. By all rights he should be hating the old man, but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to glare, couldn't even muster up a mild resentment, because Jiraya was the gate way to the one thing he couldn't live without: books.

So here they were... Sasuke would come into the bookshop when he needed new reading material. Most of the time that meant he had to converse with Jiraya, but a few minutes with the old man was a fair enough price to gain access to an incredible collection of old books. Once Sasuke had paid the price, he would fill his messenger bag, say his farewells, and retreat back to the sanctuary of his room until boredom dictated they repeat the cycle.

It was a simple set up, and, if it weren't for the location, Sasuke would have been content with it. In fact, if he could just get some coffee, Sasuke was pretty sure he could consider this life to be a little slice of heaven: Peace, quiet, books… no Uchiha responsibilities.

"I have something extra special for you today," Jiraya grinned, pulling out a black leather tome from under the counter and laying it on top with a THUD!

Sasuke picked up the book, inspecting it closely. There was no title, no author, and no publishing house to indicate where the book had come from. The book didn't even have the standard printing run information, which meant it was incredibly old. The only distinguishing feature was on the cover of the book-the gold, embossed outline of a fox's head.

"What is this?" Sasuke looked at the book skeptically, trying to feign disinterest.

"That is the Curse of Castle Kyu," Jiraya grinned, "It's a legend from around these parts… it's like their version of King Authur, except without a happy ending."

"King Arthur didn't have a happy ending," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Jiraya laughed, "Right! I was thinking of those damn Twilight books. I just finished reading them, and I say! I understand what all the fuss was about."

"You insult every academic in the world by merely existing," Sasuke jabbed.

Jiraya looked as though Sasuke had mortally wounded him, "How could you say such a thing?"

"Because it's the truth."

"Well, that book should keep you occupied until I return tomorrow."

"What?" Sasuke looked up from the book in surprise. "Why?" Adults rarely ever left Konoha. In fact, according to the villagers, Jiraya hadn't left in six years. Apparently once you reached a certain age, you became complacent.

"I've finally made a breakthrough on my cancer research!" the old man grinned, "I think I've solved the cure for breast cancer and the University of Tokyo has asked me to deliver my findings tomorrow."

"Wow," the raven's eyes widened, "I'm impressed!"

"You should be boy!" Jiraya crossed his arms, "Just think how many pairs of delightful breasts I'm going to see once I start giving demonstrations on how to perform my technique!"

And there it was: the one reason why this would never be considered heaven. Sasuke's tutor was a pervert.

"Right…" the raven muttered, "On that note, I'm out of here."

"Just make certain you don't go out into the forest," Jiraya cautioned.

"Why would I ever want to do that," Sasuke groaned, exiting the shop without waiting for Jiraya to respond. He would never in a hundred years go out into that forest. Bugs, wolves, bears… bugs! Sasuke had no desire for any of it.

"You never know," Jiraya smirked, whispering to himself. More than one person have gone into the woods after reading that book. They all returned scared out of their minds and muttering about the Beast of Kyu… The Kyuubi. Jiraya didn't put much stock in their rantings. Most of them had been dehydrated and half-starved, probably because they didn't bring supplied and had gotten lost in the forest. They had been delirious. Sasuke was far too much of an introvert to ever put himself in such a situation.

The old scholarly pervert then chuckled at the ludicrous thought of Sasuke going into the woods. That boy had never left his room unless he had to either eat, answer the call of nature, or come to get another book. There wasn't a chance in hell he would go off into the woods.

Content with that knowledge, Jiraya reached under the counter and pulled out his travel bag, ready to begin his journey towards Breast Nirvana.


Author's Note (02-16-2017): It seems like I am permanently dancing with this story. It is my dream project, trying to write a decent fairy tale that involves and non-heteronormal couple. I've always felt that the world could use a few gay fairy tales. Why should children always grow up with just one example of happily ever after? Prince meets princess = true love. It definitely did not help me as a child to understand myself and my own desires, rather it only served to enforce the feeling that there was something wrong with how my mind worked. I don't think any child should have to go through that... so while this fairy tales skewers slightly older, I wanted to finish this story not just for myself... but for everyone else who has stuck with this story thus far.