Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
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A/N: Yo ! It's me again. I'm back—well, no. I haven't really left—with another 'Naruto' fanfiction. I just can't seem to go away with that anime/manga. It's so vague. Anyways, this is my first attempt to do a yaoi (SasuNaru / NaruSasu). My last fic was angsty and dramatic, so this time, I'm… trying to do something deep and dark, but still somehow light. It's still AU (Alternate Universe) because I can't think like a genius on adopting the original plot. I hope this'd turn out as how I thought it'd turn out…
Just imagine Jasmine's kingdom in Aladdin. That's basically how the old town here looks like. Well, sorta.
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It was perhaps a little less than a millennium ago when the invincible nine-tailed demon fox attacked their feeble town of Konoha. A peaceful night that was preceded by a normal, forgettable day, turned out to be the worst, and even the last for most of the townspeople.
Thankfully enough, they had a worthy leader. It was him—their marvel—Namikaze Minato, who saved them from that fearful beast. He conquered the monster, attempting to protect his town. He was very powerful—being able to defeat the demon when he was "armed with a mere sword in one hand, and no shield in the other". It was said that he threw the Ninetails into a portal "with a single stab, sending it to a million years afterward."
That was how astounding he was-- the hailed "Legendary Hokage" of Konoha. Elders say that their elder's elders said that nobody ever matched his leading skills, his charisma and his appeal. He was beyond miracles and ovations. It was because of him that Konoha no longer was "the feeble town of Konoha", but "the noble town of Konoha."
However, he may have saved his present town, but he wasn't able to save the town wherein the Ninetails was brought to—to a million years after theirs. And according to their seniors, the millionth year is ultimately near to the current year, if not the current year, and that anytime now, the beast will attack them, "coming out of a dark portal, hence their end, and the end of the future generations of Konoha."
That resulted to enforced military training by the current Hokage. All men aged sixteen and above were required to train in military daily. The only ones exempted were the ill ones and the prince.
The prince. They have always believed that he was a direct member of the Legendary Hokage's dynasty. In some saved written records, their features were undeniably alike—the blond hair and the blue eyes.
Because of that belief, the townspeople supposed that perhaps, their prince was the next Legendary Hokage, or perhaps just the next Hero, since there is already a Hokage. They thought that he might be able to do the magic that Minato had done long, long ago. He is kept in strict isolation inside the town's castle. He wasn't allowed to leave the castle grounds at all.
However, he was way too different for that. Naruto was simply… willful.
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Urban Legend
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By: FourEyedWanderer
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Naruto is a prince. Sasuke is a shoe polisher. They didn't know how big their roles were in the infamous folklore.
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"Sasuke-kun!" Came in a screech from Sakura, a girl with an unusual pink hair. In the middle of the crowded street, she shamelessly wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging closely to his body. "Ano, how was training? Was it hard? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat with me?"
The raven-haired lad didn't respond. From all the years that this girl had tried to desperately catch his attention, attempting to win his prized affection, he knew more than replying to any of her questions.
"Aw, Sasuke-kun, why're you so cold today?"
This wasn't the first time that he ignored her. And most certainly not the first time he was utterly annoyed by her.
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Naruto, as silently as he could, tiptoed towards his dresser and carefully opened it. He grabbed a grayish brown cloak that he wrapped himself in. For someone like him, escape was a piece of cake. He learned the best from that pervert, Jiraiya, who occasionally visited him from God-knows-where. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to 'not get caught', especially now that Kakashi raised the security in the castle under Tsunade, the Hokage's orders.
It just so happened that outdoors was where his passion was… or he simply couldn't digest the fact that he had to stay inside the castle quarters.
Maybe both?
The blond walked over to the canvas painting that hung on his room's east wall. Staying inside the castle for a boring (and more than enough) sixteen years meant that he memorized all exits and holes inside, whether they were on purpose or accidental. These secret ways were places that other people wouldn't dare enter. He lifted the painting's cloth and pushed the small door, which led to a spiral of stairs.
Naruto jollily ran the staircase. Heh, finally, he can sneak out. He's waited long enough for this—to disobey Kakashi. It was like adrenaline.
Finally, he reached a dark and seemingly endless room, lit and ventilated by small, half-circle windows covered by steel bars way above the walls. It took some time before he thought that it was the floodway of the fortress. He walked towards it and figured that he was too short to even touch it. Naruto jumped as high as he could, and after a series of attempts, he finally reached the bar.
"Yes!" He hissed in between his grin. "Haha! Now I can finally—" He blinked twice before he realized that the steel bars' frame loosened its hold on the main window. The next second, he realized that he was falling back to the floor.
Pang!
Naruto fidgeted. He made intolerable noise! Kakashi would notice!
He quickly stood up and jumped to reach the now uncovered window. With all his effort and strength, he lifted himself up and forced his body to fit in the small window in order to get out before any of the guards would come and drag him back in his lame old room.
"Uungh!" He moaned in annoyance, pushing himself out of the little window. His waist was too… well, big to fit the hole, and it was a real struggle to force himself out. Somewhat painful, too. "Damn it, the guards are coming!" He muttered, hearing the little clang of their metal arm. "Damn, get… off…!"
"This way, this way!" He heard from afar.
Damn! He spat in his mind. He pushed the wall that divided the inside from the outside, and much to his relief, he was finally, finally able to step outside.
But there was a problem. The guards.
Naruto grabbed the hood of his cloak and placed it over his head as he ran as fast as he could towards a tree. He quietly ducked and hid from whatever lied beyond the tree. He clearly heard the metal bang on the ground, meaning that his guards were running, looking for him.
He chuckled softly. "Stupid people!" He whispered as soon as there was nobody left, and ran away.
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"Wow," he muttered inside his cloak, eyeing the wooden sculptures that were on sold.
It was so different—the urban land that he brought himself to. Men and women walk around, occasionally carrying a child that resembled them physically. They brought big bags with them, trading materials for silver coins. Inside the castle, he didn't even ask for anything.
They just… give him. Most of the time, too much for his own convenience.
He halted when he felt someone tug him. The blond turned around and looked below him, only to find a little girl with red hair. Her face was dirty, and behind her hung a big basket, perhaps twice as big as her, covered with green cloth. "Niisan," she squeaked. "Do you want some fish?"
He blinked, and later sat down on his feet, patting the little girl's head. "Is your fish really yummy?"
She nodded vigorously.
"I'll have some, then."
The girl's eyes suddenly twinkled, and she flashed her teeth. She took the basket's strap off her shoulders and peeled the green cloth that covered its mouth. "How many?" She asked proudly. "These are really good! You'll like it, I bet! My mama cooked them!"
"Is that so?" He grinned. "Well, I can't wait to taste those! Give me four! I am pretty hungry…"
"Yay!" She almost jumped. The girl tiptoed to reach four fishes inside the big basket. She got a paperbag and placed the fishes inside before handing them to Naruto. The girl grabbed the cloth and started fixing it over the basket.
"Thank you, little girl!" Naruto smiled, then got a fish from the bag. He grinned. "Wow, this is good!" He quickly finished the fish, then started eating the second. "Mmm…" He was put to stop when he realized that the little girl eyed him impatiently. "…I already said thank you."
Her eyebrows met. "Niisan…" she said expectantly, tapping her foot and reaching her palm over to him.
He arched an eyebrow, then tapped the girl's palm with his own.
The little girl seemingly got madder and madder, and later on burst into tears.
"O-oi! Little girl! What's the problem now?" He asked her worriedly. "Ne, ne, why are you crying? Does something hurt? Do you want some fish too? Here, I can share," he offered the rest of his fishes to her, but she still continued her weep. By this time, most of the bypassers and customers noticed them already. "H-hey," he attempted to calm her down. "Maybe you want your own fish?" He reached for her basket and tried to open it.
But he was stopped by the little girl's yell. "THIEF!!" She shrieked.
Naruto froze. Thief?
The blond slowly looked around him, saw angry faces of men, women and children alike nearby.
What the hell is going on here?
It was when he realized that a group of town guards were running towards him that he stood up and ran as fast as he could. He couldn't let those guards catch him, no matter what.
"OI! YOU!" One of the guards yelled.
"COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE RASCAL!" Called another one.
Naruto took a turned left to a narrow and small street that led to an equally smaller one. He rushed his legs on the El Dorado stones, looked around for a single tree where he could hide behind. There wasn't any. Not one.
"YOU THIEF!!" He heard the guards yell.
The blond turned to where he was going. Thankfully, he found a little stone house that had a big square opening, supposedly a window. He hopped inside, hoping he could hide somewhere. Naruto quickly ran towards a corner and crouched down, hoping he could somewhat camouflage to the color of the house's surroundings.
"You see him?"
"Nah. That little prick is fast!"
"I'll take this way, you take the other. Don't let that dolt get away!"
He heard the conversation and footsteps subside. Naruto was finally able to breathe freely, relieved that he was able to escape from those guards, his guards. His punishment would be unimaginable. Kakashi is a fearful sadist, and he was capable of doing anything. Plus there was Tsunade-baba… she is… well, she could be unpredictable.
Just the mere thought of it made him shiver.
"Oi, who are you? What are you doing there?"
Naruto stood back on his feet and turned around to meet black orbs. He cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
The other lad rolled his eyes. "Are you deaf or are you just an idiot?"
A vein in his head popped. "What did you say?! You little—" He was about to punch him when he remembered one thing…
"This is my place." The black-haired lad reminded him. "You. Are you supposed to be a customer?"
"A customer?" He repeated, then his mind sparked an idea. "Yeah, I'm a customer, so what? Aren't you going to… er, serve me now?" He roughly questioned him. "Your services must be of low, low level! You even call your own customer an idiot!"
"It seems like it."
"You smelly fox!" He balled his fist. "Who do you think you are?!"
"I own this place, that's who I am." He retorted. "Who do you think you are?"
"Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto-sama!" Naruto proudly announced. "I'm the pri—" He quickly discontinued. "—I mean, I'm a true-blue hero! Even legend said so!" He stood straight and pompous. "I'm going to be the next Legendary Hokage—even better than that! I'll be the greatest hokage of all time!"
The raven-haired boy only rolled his eyes. "Get the hell outta here." He somewhat gave up and turned around, walked towards his wooden chair and sat down.
Naruto's face curled, insulted that he just dissed him. "Well… well, I… I…" It nearly surprised him when he found the other boy grab a shoe from a rack and placed it on a wooden stand. He then got a bowl filled with black cream from somewhere under the chair and the dirty white cloth around his neck. Naruto watched as he began to brush the shoe with the black cream he guessed was paint.
He twitched. "Hey, do you paint shoes for a living?"
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-TBC-
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Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think about it (I'm kinda nervous..).