A/N: This story was written for clarisa, because she is very nice and I like her.
Now, the story was based on two tales. First one is Goat's Ears of the Emperor Trojan (mind you, no goat ears in my story). The second I cannot find, but the entire serpent tongue thing is from there. I mixed them up.
...Please no one ever ask me again to write a fairy tale. It was unreasonably hard. My English sucks, so it doesn't even sound like a fairy tale.
Serpent Tongue
On the gates of the palace, Naruto shuddered as the guards stopped him to check if he was armed. He feared this day from the moment he had started working for Jiraiya. Everyone knew that boys that were sent to 'keep company' to the younger of two princes of their country had a tendency to disappear from the face of the Earth – sometimes immediately, sometimes after several visits.
Naruto knew that his time was coming, even though he was Jiraiya's favorite. The prince was going through all the boys working for the brothel quickly. But he was afraid, so when the guards stepped back to let him through, Naruto shuddered and repeated to himself the advice Jiraiya had whispered into his ear when he was dressing up to go.
'Whatever you hear or see, keep it to yourself.'
There was a secret, a horrible secret, hidden somewhere inside of the walls of the palace.
A quiet man with mask covering lower part his face led Naruto through the maze of hallways and chambers, all decorated in gold and silk from distant lands. The walls were overcrowded with huge portraits; the vases were full of exotic flowers. They met only a few people, humble servants, on their way to one of the small towers on the back side of the palace.
When they came to the huge double doors, the masked man opened them and let Naruto walk in on his own.
There was nothing scary there, Naruto decided. The room was maybe lacking in richness compared to the rest of the palace, but it was warm and bright, full of sunshine, and comfortable.
Busy looking at his surroundings, Naruto almost missed that there was someone on the huge bed in the center of the room. The person there grew impatient with his gawking and moved the bed's curtain a little to gesture that he should go nearer. Naruto gathered his courage and walked to the bed.
Even though the thin curtain, it was easy to see, but Naruto pushed it out of his way anyway.
That was prince Sasuke? The one everyone gossiped about and feared him? He couldn't be older than Naruto. And he was handsome, even with his face settled in a serious frown.
"Hello." Naruto said. He expected some kind of answer for a second, before remembering that the prince wasn't talking to anyone. He could, or so people claimed, but he was refusing to do it. So Naruto added, "My name is Naruto."
The prince nodded once and showed him that he should join him on the bed. It was going well. It was going better than well, because there was no awkwardness some of Jiraiya's clients Naruto was serving in the past were prone to. Prince Sasuke knew what he wanted, so as soon as Naruto climbed the thick mattress, he unbuttoned his blue silk shirt and glared until Naruto did the same.
Prince's hands were cold but skilful; his skin was almost transparent in the bright sun. Naruto soon grow accustomed to the silence and found that he was enjoying serving the young prince. There were no weird kinks, odd requests and disgusting feel of the wrinkly hands on his skin. They matched well, responded to each other perfectly. It was one of the best laying for the three years Naruto was working for Jiraiya. He was just sorry that the prince was one of those people that were not into kissing.
As soon as they were done, the prince pinched Naruto and pointed toward his clothes. Naruto gave him an annoyed glare without thinking. He deserved a minute or two to catch his breath; there was no need to be rude. It wasn't as if he had plans of moving in, no matter how tempting the thought of the possibility of repeating the experience.
But if he wanted to come back, he better be obedient. Naruto picked up his clothes and set at the edge of the bed to put it on.
"Another moron." Naruto heard from behind him. The prince's voice was strange, but Naruto had no time to think about it. He was not there to be insulted!
"I am not a moron! You are being rude!" He snapped.
Almost instantly, the prince grabbed his shoulder and forced Naruto to turn to him. Naruto, startled, finally remembered his earlier fear. He should've had kept his mouth shut.
But the prince only looked straight at his eyes, face intent and serious. "You can understand me?"
Naruto heard him, but the words didn't really reach his mind. He was too busy staring at the prince's mouth. Was that…? Yes, he was sure of it. The prince had a forked tongue.
"Well, do you?" The prince demanded, so Naruto snapped his attention to him. The hope in prince's eyes made him pay attention.
"Yes, I can understand you." He said.
"Oh." The prince said and kneeled back on the bed. This time, Naruto figured out what was strange about his speech. It sounded as if all the words had a long 'sss' sound in them, even though they didn't.
"You," Naruto dared. "You have forked tongue."
"Many have died for saying that. My parents would rather keep it a secret." The prince answered, "And it is only when I use my voice."
To demonstrate, the prince showed Naruto his tongue after he stopped talking. It was just a normal, human tongue. Naruto shifted closer to see it better.
"It looks normal," He concluded. Led by a mad urge; the wish that he had while they were having sex earlier, Naruto leaned in to kiss him.
But prince stopped him "That is not a good idea. If I let out any sound at all…"
"So be quiet." Naruto told him, before finishing what he had started. He pressed his lips against Sasuke's, patiently waiting for the prince to make up his mind. It took only a moment, before the lips under his opened. Naruto used his tongue to located Sasuke's, and it felt so soft, so wonderful under his. He held the prince close, his hold maybe a little to violent under the circumstances. But Naruto couldn't help it; Sasuke was kissing back sweetly and desperately, like a man starved, so he pushed in harder, until both of them were falling back on the bed, Sasuke first and Naruto on top of him.
As his back hit the mattress, Sasuke let out a sound. The texture of his tongue changed, but it was just for a moment, just for as long as the sound lasted. Naruto barely even noticed it, because that strange voice the prince had… This time, while vibrating directly against his own mouth, it made him shudder and arch for more contact under the violent waves of promising pleasure.
Sasuke, who froze for a moment underneath him, opened his eyes wide to look up at Naruto.
"You liked that." He said in wonder.
Actual words lasted longer and so did the hot feeling in Naruto's stomach. Instead of answering, he arched again and let the sobbing moan fall out of his mouth. Yeah, he liked that. He liked the prince talking very, very much.
The second time was better than the first, but it was also shorter. There was only so much Naruto could remember to do to keep himself in check. The prince seemed to think that was fun. When they were done, Sasuke did not try to make Naruto get dressed and leave instantly, so they were lying next to each other for some minutes, quietly.
There was knock on the door. Sasuke pushed Naruto away and got off the bed. "Your time is up. But I will tell them to bring you back next week."
Naruto followed his lead. He put on his clothes back on himself quickly, said his farewells and walked to the door. Just as he grabbed the handle, Sasuke said from the distant part of the room, "Don't forget to say you didn't see anything strange."
It was the same advice Jiraiya gave him. Naruto smiled back at the anxious prince and walked out of the room.
The same masked man was leading him back, but they stopped and walked into another room. The curtains in this one were all dark red, drawn over the windows, making the room dim. From a chair at the desk, a figure stood up. Naruto recognized him in an instant; it was Itachi, the older prince, the heir and future king of their country. Unlike his brother, he was well known everywhere.
"You have stayed inside for a long time." Without delay, Prince Itachi spoke to him. "My brother usually throws out his visitors very quickly."
Putting the polite smile Jiraiya insisted he addressed all the employers with, Naruto said, "I believe I simply proved my references letters correct."
"Hmm. Has anything out of the ordinary happened in there?"
There it was his test. Naruto shook his head, "What could you possibly be talking about, your highness?"
Naruto did not get an answer at all, but Prince Itachi nodded to the man who was escorting him and turned his back on them. Naruto followed the masked man outside, where he got instructions to show up next week at the same time.
Three day passed without problems, but Naruto was getting stronger and stronger urge to confide in someone. The secret he was keeping was just too big. Even though his work always required him to keep some things, Naruto never struggled as much with it. He was nervous and exited about going back to the palace, so people were asking him questions. He was barely stopping himself from answering.
In the end, Naruto went to Jiraiya.
"I am not sure if I can keep it to myself." He said.
Jiraiya, worried, told him that he had to. When he saw that Naruto was seriously struggling, he advised him, "Go then, dig up a hole and confide your secret to the ground."
Naruto took the advice. He went outside of the town, where there was no one, made a hole in the ground and told the secret in to it. He covered it again with soil and went home.
The next morning, on that spot, a beautiful cherry dogwood started to grow at impressive speed.
After the second visit to Prince Sasuke, the third came, then the fourth. Weeks turned into months. With every time, Naruto's need to tell someone was less. He started enjoying the privilege that he had, to the point that he wanted to keep visiting his prince for as long as possible, and he would do much more than just keep the secret for it.
Still, every time after he would get out of Sasuke's chambers, the man in the mask would take him to see Itachi, the older prince. Itachi would always ask the same question. Naruto would always answer that he did not see anything strange.
Behind Naruto's visits to the palace was always more forceful the need to see Sasuke, hear his speech, than the money the royal family was paying. When he was relatively sure that Sasuke was happy to see him as well in turn, Naruto dared to ask, laying on expensive sheets and looking up at the canopy.
"Were you born that way?"
Sasuke hesitated, but he told Naruto the story after some persuasion.
"My parents couldn't have children," Sasuke told him. "And they needed an heir desperately. An old woman had told them that the Serpent King could make their wish come true if they spared his children. So my father sent out all his army to look for the Serpent King's children and bring them to him. Kakashi – who is now my guardian – was the one who found them."
Kakashi was the quiet, stoic man under the mask who was escorting Naruto inside and out of Sasuke's part of the palace every week.
"He trapped them and called for my father, who promised that he would let them go if their father agrees to grant him a wish." Sasuke continued. "But granting an heir to a kingdom is a grand request, even for a being as powerful as the Serpent King. It asked for a rare golden apple in turn. My father agreed. Itachi was born, and than me, but my father forgot all about his promise. The Serpent King decided that he should remind him. I was kidnapped, living with his children for several months."
"You were living with snakes? So you learned their tongue?"
"No, you are the only human that I know of that can understand it." Sasuke said. "My father, in order to get me back, found a golden apple for the Serpent King. It was too late by then. The Serpent King had decided that he had no use for me, but he had a use for a human tongue. He gave my tongue to the guardian of his children, so it could make agreements and save king's children if they were to ever get in a trouble again."
Naruto finally realized. "And you got a serpent's tongue in turn."
"Yes. Luckily, my father came back before they killed me. He was never particularly happy with having a son that couldn't speak human, but as it was his fault, I got to stay and have everything I want, as long as the secret remained hidden."
"And if the secret is discovered?"
"I'd be either banished or killed." Sasuke said. Naruto thought that there wasn't nearly enough bitterness in him. The king had made a mistake; he should not allow his son pay for it, no matter what. "But my brother is making sure I can have some sort of life. He is making sure the secret is staying hidden."
Talking about it all put Sasuke in a bad mood. No matter how much he was enjoying to be understood, that was the first time he had sent Naruto out before Kakashi came for him. He wouldn't say much, so Naruto feared that it was his last visit. He was very much mistaken, because only two days later, came official invitation for him to live in the palace.
There was no saying no to it, not that Naruto would say no even if could. He got a room not far away from Sasuke's chambers, but he was spending all his nights in prince's bed. No one was asking him any questions any longer. And even though his movements were rather limited, those were the most beautiful weeks of his life.
One early summer evening, Kakashi knocked and walked in Sasuke's room without being called in. Without stopping at all, he dragged Naruto out of the bed with scary expression on his face.
"You have betrayed us." He said.
"I did not!" Naruto defended himself. He honestly never told anyone a word.
"You must have!" Kakashi said. "The royal fifer received a gift-fife this afternoon. Whatever he plays on it, your voice can be heard though the melody."
"Saying what?" Sasuke asked, but Kakashi just frowned, so Naruto repeated the question.
"Prince Sasuke has a forked tongue." Kakashi informed them. "It goes over and over again. The entire kingdom is talking about it. You have betrayed us."
Scared about what would happen to Sasuke because of it, Naruto confessed. "I whispered it into a hole I dug into the ground. It was right after the first time I came here."
Kakashi took a knife out of his belt. Naruto was sure that his time was over, and he was not even afraid to go. His only regret was for not being strong enough to keep prince's secret for himself. He closed his eyes and waited for death to come.
"Put that away, Kakashi." Sasuke said.
Naruto looked up. Aware that Kakashi wouldn't understand him, Sasuke followed the words with grabbing the hand of his guardian.
Softly, Kakashi said to his master, "He betrayed you."
Sasuke shook his head, "No, he did that so he wouldn't betray me. The fife maker must have used the wood that grew on that spot to make instruments."
Kakashi looked at Naruto for translation, but his hand was already falling down. Breathing in relief, Naruto repeated what Sasuke had said. His theory made sense. It was explaining why Naruto's voice was heard when the fife was played.
Kakashi soon agreed and helped Sasuke smuggle Naruto out through a long narrow passage that was leading out of the castle. Naruto begged Sasuke to come with him. His father might kill him. But Sasuke didn't want to become a runaway.
"Itachi will plead for me." He told Naruto. "I will most likely be banished. But there is nothing that could save you; it is your voice that is singing to the entire kingdom the most horrible secret my father has."
"Then I will wait for you." Naruto said. Sasuke didn't say that he would come, but he smiled faintly and kissed him before closing the heavy stone doors.
Naruto somehow found his way in the dark. He managed to escape, cross the border of the kingdom and enter the great forests of east. Naruto had no choice; he made a home for himself there. He built a small cottage, learned how to hunt and what fruit was edible. He was alone for weeks, with nothing but animals to keep him company, but he wasn't lonely, because he believed that Sasuke, if he was still alive, would come to him.
One day when Naruto was cutting wood for a fire, he saw that there was a small fire. There was a snake on a branch of the burning tree. She was hissing cries for help. For the first time, Naruto spoke to a snake.
"Do you promise that you will not bite me if I save you?"
The snake promised that she wouldn't, so Naruto held his ax to it, and the small colorful snake wrapped itself around it and slid from him. When Naruto put the fire out, she was waiting for him.
"Come with me." She told him. "My father is the Serpent King, he will want to thank you for saving his daughter and meet the human that can talk like us."
Naruto went with her. He wanted to see that Serpent King who had kidnapped Sasuke when he was child and took his tongue. He was led to an underground cave that was surprisingly warm and comfortable. All the little snakes, young and curious, wanted to talk to him.
The Serpent King thanked him and offered his reward. There was only one thing Naruto wanted, and that was to know if Sasuke was alive. He told the Serpent King his story, about how he found out that he could understand serpent, how he fell in love and made a mistake. Then he asked his question.
"He is alive and closer than you think." The old king answered. "But because you only asked after an important person, I still want to reward you. Go back to you cabin now."
The same little snake that he saved escorted him out. She asked if she could visit. Naruto though that Sasuke, once he arrived, could use someone beside him to talk to, so he told her that she can if she wants to. It made them both happy.
The road through the forest to his cabin seemed longer then it did when the snake was leading him. When he finally arrived, Naruto was surprised to find that his little cabin was now a stone house, with a garden and a barn. It seemed that it had everything that was needed for a long and happy life in the forest. It was the Serpent King's way to thank Naruto and tell him that he is welcome to stay and live with them, all the animals, in the heart of the forest.
When Naruto came closer to the house, he saw that there was someone on his new porch. The King's words about Sasuke being closer than Naruto thought were true, he realized, recognizing two figures with a lot of luggage. He hurried toward Kakashi and Sasuke to great them and to welcome them to their new home.
The End