Summary: (This is an Alternate Universe Fic, but with some of the same things in it.) Sasuke is the prince of the Uchiha Kingdom. His brother, Itachi, rules the kingdom, as their father and mother died mysteriously. Naruto is just a traveler and a sort of minstrel, if you will, but he is no ordinary traveler. You do the math, my friends. (SasukexNaruto yaoi)

Kingdoms of Destruction

Chapter 1-

The young Prince sat at his study table, his chin resting in the palm of his hand, and staring out the window at the pouring rain. He'd been in his study for a very long time, he couldn't even remember how many hours, and all the studying he'd done was... well... not very much to say the least. Taking in a deep breath, he shifted his chin to his other hand, and let the previous fall the table. It wasn't so bad, staring out the window. You could learn a lot of things from staring out the window too? Like... weather patterns, and water surface tension? Who was he kidding?

There was a click from behind him. He didn't bother looking; he already knew who it would be.

"My dear brother..." Came Itachi's voice. "You've been in here all day, I think its time you come and mingle with our people."

"I guess." The young prince said monotonously, but he slammed his book closed gladly, feigning anger.

The older brother smirked to himself, watching him. He was always so angry, Sasuke was. Slamming books and doors closed, among other things. He was the typical description of a spoiled prince. Well, that's what Itachi wanted to say, and he would, if it wasn't a complete, utter lie.

Sasuke was the silent brother, that never gave way to what he was thinking, and Itachi didn't like that. If he thought too much, he may find things that he isn't supposed to find, and Itachi wasn't about to let that happen. His younger brother also liked to explore in the realm of Ninja-hood, which Itachi also didn't like. Not many people knew, but the older of the two was already a Ninja, and a very skilled one at that, and Sasuke was on his way to being a great ninja as well. But that isn't what scared him the most. The thing that scared him the most was his will. If he wanted to find something out, he would do it... unless of course, he got distracted, which is exactly what Itachi was here to do... Distract him. Besides, he was just trying to... uh... protect his little brother. Yes, protect.

Guiding Sasuke out of the study, he closed the door softly and hurried him along. "I have a surprise for you."

"Great..." The young prince said, very unenthusiastically, and crossed his arms. Last time Itachi said he'd had a surprise for him was a few years ago, when he was much different, and their parents were still alive. He'd led him out to the back of the castle and showed him dead cats and mice that had drown in a flood. So in other words, he didn't think he wanted to know.

But Itachi was having none of that, and shoved him towards his room. "Hurray and get dressed in something that is... fancy."

Fancy? His whole wardrobe was fancy, he thought, shutting the door. He's the Prince - the Prince of a very wealthy, very powerful land, no less. He sighed and began to take off his clothing sluggishly, calling for his servant to get him his best clothes. When the servant brought them back, she helped him dress and made sure he was perfect in every way, then sent him on his way.

Itachi seemingly appeared out of no where and wrapped his arm about his brother's shoulder, also done up in his best clothing. Sasuke was now beginning to get suspicious, but when two servants opened the ball room doors and he saw that a beautiful banquet lay out before him, his mouth nearly gaped. He quickly recovered and began to shove himself backwards.

He HATED banquets with a fiery passion of a thousand suns.

"What is the meaning of this?" The young prince hissed, trying his best not to be shoved into the room, but when everyone finally turned and saw them, he regained his composure and walked out forcefully.

"This, my little brother, is a banquet of course. You get to choose your bride here."

"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself? You're the one that's supposed to be wed, here, not me."

"Hush, can I not dote upon you every once in a while?"

"No."

Before he could comment further, his subjects began to crowd around the platform that was the throne as the two scenes of beauty stood upon it, and all eyes were glued to them.

Presumably, this is where Itachi, the new King, was supposed to make a speech.

And he did.

"First, I would like to thank all of my fellow subjects for coming to this banquet. This means a great deal for my brother and I, as we hope to see a beautiful year grace our kingdom and land.

"Secondly, for those of you who do not know, this banquet will hopefully bring a beautiful bride to my only brother, and only other heir to this throne."

The crowd cheered at this, and Sasuke felt as if he was going to be sick. Why him? Why now? He sighed and looked to the side, something caught his eye, but within a second, it was lost within the crowd. He had this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach...

"And also, I must insist that, while my younger brother and I search for possible brides, you all gather to see the wonderful entertainment that has been lined up tonight. Everything from Taming of lions and wild animals, to tales and songs of bravery! Thank you all." Itachi waved a hand, and the crowd clapped and cheered respectfully. It was quite disgusting, how nice and sincere he had to be, but only for a while, for soon, his time would come to-

"Itachi!" Sasuke hissed, pulling him down by the collar when no one seemed to be looking. "How dare you do this behind my back? Who said I was ready for a bride?"

"Come on, we've got to start looking."

Itachi obviously wasn't looking. Sasuke groaned. Ok, fine. He'd play Itachi's little game, and then decline all of the women, and this would be all over.

As the night progressed and Sasuke finally let Itachi drag him into the crowds of people, he found himself actually having fun. It was a strange thing for the young prince, but he couldn't help it. Watching these women fumbled over themselves trying to look good just made him want to either glare or laugh out loud. It was just the most amusing thing, ever.

"Now these young ladies over here are mostly from other kingdoms. That one with the pink hair; her name is Sakura, and she's from the neighboring kingdom of the North. Rumor is her beauty surpasses her mothers and many of our own court ladies."

"Magnificent." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"My lords," she acknowledged, curtseying politely, as any royalty would.

Sasuke nodded kindly back, but said nothing. Itachi nudged him slightly, and the younger one nearly growled.

"Good evening." He said through clenched teeth, bowing his upper body just enough to be considered polite by royal to royal standards.

As she began to talk and speak of her own royalty and how she had been dying to meet him and what not, his mind wandered as well as his gaze. His eyes landed upon a large crowd gathered in front of... something. There was laughter and clapping of all the sorts. He could barely hear the music coming from behind the large crowd from all the way over here, but he found himself curious as to what was going on.

"Of course." He said, as if he'd been listening, which seemed to please her, as she kept going. Damn. He listened for the sounds that came from the crowd and whatever entertainment was in front of it. He found the music stopped and the people were chattering softly. Some were excited, some were tense, until the entire crowd gasped aloud and Sasuke found a reason to look away from the annoying girl and look to the crowd.

Clapping.

He now found himself very intrigued, and slowly began to walk towards the crowd. Itachi followed, as well as Sakura and her little friends. The crowd parted for them, naturally, and he was let to the front. He crossed his arms, waiting.

A young boy with the blondest blond hair he'd ever seen came forward on demand from his assumed master and held out his hand. In his hand was a cup of water, and if one looked closely, the water was beginning to swirl and swirl until it was swirling out of the cup, into his other hand, and then forming a ball. People began to clap, whispering of magic and such, but Sasuke knew it was a simple ninja trick, but in these days, there were not many ninjas out there.

After a time of thinking and pondering just what this meant, the supposed master when on a break, he guessed, and the young boy was ordered to tell 'the story'. The blond sighed softly and nodded, then smiled brightly, getting ready.

That smile... it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. Scratch that, the blonde was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life... the way he moved, the way he talked and smiled and made little gestures with his hands. The way his face brightened when someone would ask him simple questions. The young prince found his breath taken away when those sinfully azure eyes met with his own, and that smile that had been on his lips faded slowly. A small, pink tongue darted out to wet his dry lips and he looked away quickly, replacing upon his face a fake smile that seemed the same, but wasn't.

He began his story, and as soon as the first few words were said, Sasuke was hooked.

"Not long ago," the blonde started, "There was a peaceful village. All was as it should have been, and everyone knew everyone else, and respected each other. The people loved each other, and loved their leader. But one gloomy day, disaster struck this poor village." His face visibly darkened with the story. "The clouds were dark and heavy with rain and just as it began to pour, lightening struck and in the distance could be seen the Nine tailed fox demon!"

The crowd began to hastily talk in hushed voices. Some were filled with fear, some filled with wonder and curiosity. Many didn't know of this nine tailed fox demon, but many did know of it, and very well. Sasuke shifted a bit. He knew very well of this nine tailed fox, and what the outcome of this story would be, but still, the way the boy told it, it was almost as if he was there...

"The Kyuubi had the reddest, deepest eyes that pierced the very soul of the person they unfortunately fell upon. And if that gaze fell upon you, you ran for your life. When the nine tailed fox finds a victim, he does not let it get away." The story teller looked at Sasuke, narrowing his eyes slowly and getting up from his seat, smoothly stalking towards the prince, but as he got closer, it seemed that he was, in fact, not looking at him, but at someone next to him.

"With its immense fiery chakura, the demon stalked into the city, destroying everything in its path!" He waved his hand, making someone jump suddenly. He began to stalk down the edge of the crowd, getting farther and farther from the entranced Prince. "And the village was burning to the ground, with no hope left! But!" He spun around, waving his hand out slowly now. "The great leader of the village bravely came forward, and did what no one else could, or would do. He began to make signs with his hands, staring that great demon in the eyes, and sealed the Kyuubi into a small child. But with a price...

"The brave leader died with this seal, but hoped that, with his dying wish, the village would praise this small boy as the savior of many disasters that could have come... But it was not so. They shunned this boy. They saw him not as a savoir, but a wretched curse they now had to deal with, for he contained the nine tailed fox within himself. So the boy grew up lonely, with not a friend or anyone to look up after him. He stole for his food, caused trouble to be noticed, to be acknowledged, to feel alive..." The sadness that washed over the young one's face was heart wrenching, and some of the people in the crowd put a hand gently to their chest, sighing sadly with him.

"And then, one day, without a trace, he disappeared, shunned to the point of no return by the village, and he has not been seen since." He finished.

"What? What happened to him?" Someone asked.

"No one knows..." He said softly, though hesitating before so, as if he really knew.

"And now," The man that had been behind him before, the assumed master, began. "My young one here needs a rest."

With disapproval and disappointment, the crowd began to disperse, but Sasuke lingered and kept his eyes on the disappearing back, though Itachi urged him to come away, tugging on his arm. He just shrugged out of his grip.

"What is his name?" Sasuke asked. Perhaps the first sentence he'd said since they'd started looking for potential brides.

"Well, I am Korayo Nanu, and if you would like to-"

"I did not ask for your name, I asked for his." He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Um..." He cleared his throat. "Yes, h-his name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Naruto..." Sasuke said, letting the name slip from his lips, tasting it. He did not quite know why he was so intrigued by this Naruto. With that, he slipped away, deep in thought, and his older brother was beginning to wonder...

"Why do you ask the peasant boy's name? You do not think you are going to speak with him do you?" But he got no answer. He growled, wrenching his younger brother around to face him, his eyes meeting with shocked black ones.

This was the first bit of hostility he'd experienced from his older brother in a long time.

"You are trying my patience, Sasuke, this banquet is almost at an end and you need a bride."

"I don't want any of them. Why don't you choose one for yourself if you're so insistent?" The raven haired prince snapped back in a hushed hiss.

For a long while they glared at each other, until finally, they both looked away at the same time with a sigh and crossed arms.

The banquet ended unsuccessfully, but Sasuke still found himself thinking of that boy, Naruto. He still couldn't understand why he thought that boy was so... beautiful. Was, he, in fact, gay? Of course not, Sasuke thought with a scoff, pulling off his expensive garments. Royalty aren't like that... He just, wanted him to tell that story again... and perhaps another time... he was quite the entertainer apparently, and he somehow knew some ninja techniques, which was quite strange. But either way, he was curious about him, and he knew one thing was for sure: he wanted to see him again.

A/N: So? What did you all think about this new story that I pulled out of my ass? Good? I should hope so. The next chapter will have more about Naruto and such. He is the main character, technically. ;;; Review please, it's my fuel.