WARNING: YAOI/NARUSASU/OOC

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. SIGH

GOLDEN SENTINEL

By: Ian-Michael

There was once a calm peace that kept aggressions at bay within the Land of Fire's boundaries. Many strong tribes were scattered along its vast expanse, each with their own strengths and pronounced attributes. Among the myriad groups, there were three larger, more prevalent tribes which were the Uchihas, the Hyugas, and the Kyuubis. Each was feared for its own reasons—the Uchihas were blessed with the powers of fire, the Hyugas had mastered water elements, while the Kyuubi tribe was gifted with strength and instant healing. Among the populations not within these main tribes, rumors were spreading on how each of the three clans received their gifts. Some believed that the Uchihas were favored by fire gods as their stronghold was in the desert. On the other hand, the Hyugas started their lives beside the rivers and were rumored to receive favor from the water spirits. Out of these, the most interesting history ran with the Kyuubi clan whose women seemed to bear a spirit within them that they passed onto their children. It is said that each woman in the Kyuubi clan had the ability to pass along their powers to their children, while the men did not—meaning that if they were to have children outside of the Kyuubi clan, their children would not receive the strength or healing that most members received.

The Uchihas were in the central desert of the Land of Fire. Their city was surrounded by heavy slate walls with guards at the four entrances. Considered wealthy and powerful, they were feared because the fires they created would clear an area within minutes. In fact, many people believed that the desert was actually created by one of the Uchihas' ancestors. The ruling family consisted of King Fugaku, Queen Mikoto, and two princes named Itachi, the older, and the younger, Sasuke. Every single member of the Uchiha family, ranging from the ruling family to their extended family exhibited analogous features--pure black to raven hair, black eyes with rims of fire, light cool skin that contrasted their intense eyes, and an ere of nobility.

Far to the west, by the deltas and rivers, resided the Hyugas who had powers that rivaled and elementally opposed the Uchihas. Each and every member of the tribe was born with crystalline eyes, fair skin, mahogany hair, and the ability to control water. Unlike the other tribes who had peaceful rulers, a rather ambitious man had become the ruler of the tribe—Hiashi Hyuga. Unlike the previous ruler who believed the Hyugas should be as gentle as a stream, Hiashi preferred the Hyuga clan to be more similar to a tsunami. It was during his time as ruler that war seemed imminent within the Land of Fire. His two daughters, Hinata and Hanabi, were the reigning princesses over their land, and as delicate as they seemed, did not shy away from battle either. The beauty and elegance of the two Hyuga daughters lead them to be sought after by many suitors from other smaller tribes who hoped to make an alliance with the clan. Hiashi ordained that any man who was to marry one of his daughters would have to be able to defeat them in battle—a feat that no man has yet accomplished.

And to the east was the Kyuubi clan who prospered within the trees and forests. Out of the main tribes, they were the most feared in war. Their incomparable strength and healing abilities were so multiplicative that they soon engulfed the battlefield along with their enemies in a matter of minutes. The people of this tribe were completely different from the Hyugas and Uchihas. Many people referred to them as "The People of the Sun" because of their golden brown skin, champagne colored hair, and azure eyes. Also, unlike the other tribes, they did not rely on family lineage to pick a ruler, instead the strongest in the clan would receive the title as the leader of the Kyuubi clan. As of now, they were on their fourth king, who was dubbed Yondaime Kyuubi—or fourth Kyuubi. They referred to their kings by numbers to conceal the king's true name in order to protect his family from aggressive nations who would try to kidnap them. The current ruler was exceptionally formidable and was only interested in prolonging peace during his time. So it was only natural that Fugaku Uchiha and he saw eye to eye on making an alliance because they knew of Hiashi Hyuga's hunger in power.

They had both agreed on sending one of their strongest warriors to the other nation. Yondaime Kyuubi wanted someone to look over his family as a personal protector, while Fugaku wanted someone to protect both Itachi and Sasuke. Not only would this signify that each clan protected each other, but to also show that each clan acknowledged the other's power.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Fugaku and Yondaime agreed to meet halfway between the two areas their tribes occupied. Each brought with them a rather substantial following that consisted of guards, scribes, scholars, and of course the person each would give to the other. Fugaku brought Itachi and Sasuke with him as he wanted the two to see how diplomacy could work to strengthen ties. However, Yondaime, who wanted to keep his family safe, went alone. As the two rulers met, they shook hands and signed a treaty of alliance. After that they were to exchange the warriors.

Both rulers took seats beside each other, while Itachi and Sasuke sat beside their father. The two clans were so different in their appearances. The men from the Kyuubi tribe wore rather low-rise, black pants that hugged their slim legs appreciatively. They also wore soft leather boots that went up mid-calf. The clothing was rather simple, yet their body was usually embellished with a form of gold. It was also apparent that most of the men didn't believe in shirts. As Sasuke studied the Kyuubi people, he noticed that most of them wore an ornate golden belt around their waist that had an pendant of a nine-tailed fox, while others had a large necklace with the emblem of the fox on the center. The two princes were absolutely amazed at these people who seemed to be glowing under the afternoon sun. On the other hand, the Uchihas wore long elegant robes in blue and black hues made from the finest, thinnest silks which Fugaku said helped them stay cool in the desert. All of the Uchiha men had longer hair which was just as sensitive to the wind as their garments. Everything about them was in motion, from their clothes to their hair and even the rim of fire around their eyes.

"I hope you do not mind me asking if I can see how strong your warrior is, Yondaime," asked Fugaku who was now sitting beside the blond Kyuubi.

The blond king gave a chuckle and replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing."

The two princes sat beside Fugaku and were watching their father interact with Yondaime Kyuubi. The two of them seemed to be very easy around each other, which they had guessed was due to their similarity in philosophies and growing conviction.

"Since you asked first, I shall show you the warrior I have personally picked out to protect the princes," and with a clap of his hands, a young man with a mask made his way through the crowd. "He is one of our strongest fighters, I have yet to see him lose a battle."

The man walking through the crowd of Uchihas and Kyuubis was dressed somewhat differently from the rest. He wore rough, gold embossed pants with black mid-calf leather boots. Unlike the rest of the Kyuubi men, this boy had both the large golden belt around his waist, and an ornate golden necklace that plunged to the middle of his abdomen. His face was covered by a mask that had a white base with a golden sun painted into the center. The upper portions of the mask were covered by flowing blond locks that danced around the warriors mask like rays of the sun. The only visible features on the blond's face were his sinuous cerulean eyes that were doused in intensity. With each step he took towards the front, the crowd watched in awe as his body flexed with even the simplest movement of his legs. His skin was an aureate caramel that seemed to hug tightly to the lean muscles underneath.

Sasuke studied the boy coming up noting how strong his presence was—basically all eyes in the room were on the beautiful blond warrior walking up to where the kings were. There was something about how he stood, walked, and stared that made him godly—nearly untouchable.

Yondaime looked pleased as he saw the people admire the warrior. Finally reaching the kings, the masked man bent down on one knee and fixed his gaze to the floor.

The blond king looked at the boy who was now on one knee bowing to him. "Please show our guests, your abilities."

With a nod, the gold embellished warrior got up and pulled two large, golden sais from the back of his belt. He twirled them around his finger before holding them steadily and getting into a fighting stance. Sasuke couldn't keep his eyes off of the boy, there was a strength in him that made the young Uchiha envious.

"You will be fighting--," Yondaime smirked, "me." As he said this, the Kyuubi king got up from his chair and grabbed his sword. The three Uchihas looked at the him—they were amazed that the king himself would test out the warrior. There was no way in hell that the king in the Uchiha clan would ever fight one of their own.

"Fugaku, please do us the pleasure," said Yondaime who was now facing the golden youth.

The Uchiha king nodded and raised his hand, and as he dropped it down yelled, "Fight!"

Yondaime lunged forward at the masked man and unsheathed his sword to attack. As Yondaime Kyuubi prepared to slash through his opponent, the masked blond quickly countered the attack, using his sais to twist the sword backwards away from his body. The king recovered by flipping backwards to once again gain control of his sword. He smiled at his opponent, "You do not have to take it easy on me."

With that, the warrior nodded and placed one of his sais behind his back. He then raised his free hand into the air and brought it crashing down into the ground. The intensity of the vibrations ruptured the earth upwards causing the ground Yondaime was standing on to move, temporarily making the king vulnerable. Seeing an open opportunity, the masked warrior ran towards Yondaime with such a speed that many swore to only see a blur of yellows and golds. He brought his sais forward across his torso, and as he got closer to the king, he slashed into Yondaime's side, drawing blood.

The blond king laughed, "That's more like it." He turned around to meet the combatant once again and slashed his sword diagonally down the warrior's back, who did not flinch at the attack.

Sasuke was intrigued with the battle at first, but now that blood was present he couldn't help but feel a pang of fear and mortification rise in his throat. But just when he thought the battle was nearing its conclusion, his eyes were diverted to the cuts on each warrior's body—the incisions were already healing. He watched as golden skin covered up the crimson trails with only a few drops of blood able to make it out before it was completely and perfectly sealed again.

Fugaku stood up, "You're giving us a warrior that can even stand up to you?" He was thoroughly impressed with Yondaime's generosity.

The blond king bowed to the other warrior and looked at Fugaku, "Of course, when I tell you I will send you one of our strongest I keep my word."

The Uchiha ruler made his way to where the two blonds and shook Yondaime's hand. Then he turned his attention to the unphased warrior, "What is your name?"

Emotionless azure met Fugaku's eyes before the blond went on one knee again, bowing to the Uchiha. "Naruto Uzumaki Kyuubi."

"Please stand, Naruto. I want you to meet my sons, whom you will be protecting." He motioned to the two boys to come over to where their new protector stood.

As Naruto stood up, he looked at the two boys walking towards him. He took a special interest in the younger Uchiha who looked like he was about his age. There was a quiet passion about the boy—like he was studying you with every passing second.

"Naruto, I would like to introduce you to Sasuke and Itachi."

The warrior bowed to the princes, "It will be my pleasure and honor to be your guardian."

Yondaime made his way to stand by Naruto and told him, "Please take off your mask, Naruto."

Naruto's hands reached behind his back to undo the clasp that held his mask on. With a snap, the mask began its slow descent down Naruto's face, guided by his gleaming hands.

Sasuke could feel his heart beat progressively faster as inch-by-inch Naruto's face was exposed. He could see that the same golden skin that wrapped the boy's body also graced his face. His eyes were unfaltering and piercing yet had a gentleness which rivaled the calm skies. He also had three light marks, almost like whiskers, on each cheek. When his mask was fully off, Sasuke saw that the blond was looking directly at him, causing the Uchiha's cream skin to blush. 'He's… he's… like no one I've ever seen,' Sasuke thought.

The now unmasked warrior noticed the younger Uchiha's reaction and wanted to make a pleasant facial expression that showed he was flattered. However, under such formal conditions, Naruto simply stood there as everybody looked at his handsome face.

Fugaku even gawked at the boy, "You're… you're… so young and already talented in battle. Very impressive."

Yondaime reassured, "His age has no effect on his fighting. If I were not the fourth ruler, then I would expect him to be it."

Fugaku, who was extremely impressed with the Kyuubi clan's warrior, thanked the king for his generosity. He then motioned to a man in the crowd to move towards the stage.

A tall, well built man with the typical Uchiha features made his way up to Fugaku and bowed, he then turned to Yondaime and bowed as well. He was dressed in the finest black garbs which flowed with the movements of the wind. Yondaime noted the Uchiha warrior's eyes had a more powerful ring of fire running around the black orbs than what he had seen in the king's.

"Yondaime Kyuubi, I present to you Shisui Uchiha. He will be your family's guardian," Fugaku said as he presented the dark haired boy to the Kyuubi king.

Looking up to see the blond king, Shisui said, "It will be my honor to serve you, Yondaime."

Wanting to show off Shisui's talents, Fugaku ordered him to present a fire show to the Kyuubi king. With that Shisui opened up his palm and created a small ball of fire which then multiplied into twelve. They began to form a circle around Shisui and started to spin in a mesmerizing manner. All of a sudden, Shisui made a hand sign and all the fireballs concentrated into the center of the circle and with great control, the Uchiha warrior moved the large fireball over his head and pushed it up into the sky, creating fireworks that rivaled the colors the sun created.

"I see that you are more than proficient with fire techniques," Yondaime said, pleased with the display. "Your eyes seem to burn with nothing but passion and strength—very impressive."

Fugaku nodded, "He is one of the highest ranking prodigies in our clan. The technique you witnessed was of his own creation. You can rest assured that he will fulfill his purpose and much more."

"Ah yes, I do not doubt your word Fugaku. Thank you."

The exchange went extremely well between the Uchihas and Kyuubis. After finalizing the arrangements, each of the clans made their way back to their strongholds.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

As the Uchihas approached the royal carriages, Fugaku and Itachi got into the first one, while Sasuke and Naruto got into the one behind them. The carriages were white with obsidian adornments which framed the structure. Ahead of the carriages were two black horses with fiery colored manes that would take them back to the Uchiha territory.

Naruto had been following the younger Uchiha around ever since the ceremony ended--he was a guard after all. Unknown to the blond, Sasuke was feeling rather awkward having the beautiful boy follow him everywhere—it made him nervous. Now the two of them were alone in a carriage, sitting in front of each other. Sasuke would have been fine, except for his heart which always seemed to jump into a racing pace every time the blond was near. It was just that all his life everybody around him had been fully clothed, in elaborate silken garbs which showed nothing but the neck, face, and hands. And right now before him was a man who was wearing nothing more than pants, boots, and golden accessories. He stole a glance at Naruto who was looking out of the window—blue eyes capturing orange rays of the setting sun. He noted how defined Naruto's features were, from his strong jawline to the muscles that pulled at his honeyed skin. Something gleamed and caught Sasuke's attention. The golden necklace around Naruto's neck was moving across the boy's lower stomach as the carriage moved. Sasuke was caught in a trace, he couldn't help looking at his new protector.

'I have accepted my task,' Naruto thought as he saw the trees disappear into sand. 'It can't be too bad, at least there is someone here my age.'

He turned and saw Sasuke staring at his necklace. "Prince Sasuke. Is anything the matter?"

Sasuke instantly snapped out of the blond's trace. He felt a blush disperse onto his cheeks at the realization that Naruto had just caught his fixated eyes. "Y-yes, Naruto, I do apologize."

"Did you want to see my necklace," asked the blond with a smile. He was now with the Uchihas, there was no need to be as formal as he was at the presentation, especially around the younger one.

Sasuke felt relieved that Naruto only thought he was looking at the necklace. Without even the chance to answer, he saw the blond pull the necklace off and hand it to him. "I've just never seen anything so beautiful. We don't have gold back where I live," he said gazing into the fox pendant.

"We have a lot of it in the Kyuubi territory," answered Naruto.

"I could tell, most of you have gold somewhere on your body," Sasuke replied, following a bit of laughter. He then handed the necklace back to Naruto, "Thank you."

Naruto nodded as he placed his jewelry back on. "So Prince Sasuke, may I ask how old you are?"

"I'm 18. And please, just call me Sasuke."

Feeling a little more relaxed, Naruto replied, "Sorry… Sasuke."

"That's better," came a smile on cream skin. "How old are you, Naruto?"

"I'm also 18."

Sasuke who was shocked and feeling rather inadequate compared to the blond retorted, "REALLY? And you can fight like that already!?"

"I have been training for fifteen of those years. In our clan, training begins very early," came a nonchalant reply from the blond which was followed by a calm silence between the two.

All of a sudden the carriage stopped rigidly and Sasuke flew out of his seat and somehow landed in Naruto's lap. It may have only lasted for a few seconds, but Sasuke could feel the blond's warm abdomen against his face with each muscle acting as a support for the young Uchiha. Then he realized that his body was being embraced by a pair of protective arms, and as he looked up he saw Naruto smiling down at him. "Are you okay?"

"Uh… uh yeah. Sorry about that Naruto." Sasuke began to pull himself up until he felt Naruto's arm.

"Why don't you just sit beside me until we get home? That way if the carriage stops again, you won't be falling over," grinned the blond.

Sasuke gulped. The carriage they were in was rather narrow. If he sat beside Naruto they would basically be shoulder to shoulder. However, the warm sensations coming from Naruto's body made Sasuke feel safe. "Is—is that okay?"

"Yeah why wouldn't it be?" The blond reassured Sasuke that he didn't mind at all.

"O—okay." Sasuke slowly sat down beside Naruto, but before he was able to sit down, the carriage jerked forward. He almost fell face first into the floor, but then a familiar hand grabbed him by the waist and held him up.

Naruto laughed at the clumsy Uchiha. "No wonder they wanted someone to watch over you."

"I'm normally not this bad, I promise," Sasuke reassured as the blond pulled him into the seat. He hated the fact that his face was heating up due to all the bodily contact Naruto and him just shared.

"Why don't you get some rest, Sasuke?" Naruto was beginning to think that maybe the day's events had made the young prince tired.

"I'm fine. Really," Sasuke affirmed.

Not more than thirty minutes later, Sasuke fell asleep with his head back against the wall of the carriage. Eventually, his head found its way to Naruto's shoulder and remained there for the rest of the trip.

Naruto was starting to feel rather protective of the young Uchiha already. He found his mannerisms rather charming and delightful. All of a sudden, he felt Sasuke wrap one of his arms around the blond's, as he whimpered in his sleep.

The Kyuubi warrior couldn't help but smile at the happy expression on Sasuke's face. 'The Uchihas are truly an elegant people. But this one… this one is just… beautiful.'

"Sleep tight, Sasuke."

After making sure that Sasuke was comfortable, Naruto diverted his blue eyes to the window once again and looked at a crescent moon forming above the night horizon. 'I wonder what awaits me…'

TBC.

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