A/N

This is lightly based on a, somewhat Irish, legend. I've changed what needed to be changed to suit the story, while keeping the legend as intact as possible. Enjoy. ^-^

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It was the sound that caught his attention first. A loud cry of pain, one often heard from dying animals. The cry had a human element to it, that was what first caught Uzumaki Naruto's attention. He would have been content to let nature take its course as he moved through the brush, nearly tripping on the pale man who had made the sound.

Dark eyes focused on him, though they were hazy with pain. And the blonde knew they saw him, seemed to see right through him. Huffing in annoyance at his good day being interrupted, Naruto gently pulled the wounded man to his feet. Blue eyes gave the brunette a quick once over, a snort at the outfit, it was obvious he was a soldier. Naruto stooped, sliding the man across his shoulders in a fireman's carry, the movement proved to be to much for the wounded man to handle and the heavy frame collapsed into a dead faint across Naruto's shoulders.

Great.

Near a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle and it was all dead weight. How could the day get any better then this?

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The ceiling came into a hazy blur as Sasuke blinked slowly awake. It was the first time he'd opened his eyes since he'd been rescued almost two days ago. He remembered eyes of an indescribable shade staring down at him with annoyance. Then the pain had overwhelmed him, dragging him down into inky blackness.

Raking a hand through his hair Sasuke winced as he felt something almost pulling at rib level, and he knew that wasn't right. He should have been in pain just breathing. Lifting the blanket that had been tossed over him haphazardly, he stared down at the bandages that seemed to cover him from stomach to neck. And from the smell that was coming off of him, it seemed someone knew more then a little about herb lore.

Pressing his fingers against the thick pad just under his ribs, where he -knew- he'd been struck he winced a little. It stung, but not nearly as much as he'd been expecting.

"Pressing a fresh wound like that is bound to start it bleeding again." The smooth voice coming from the open door had Sasuke fumbling with instinct to grab a dagger or his sword, anything to defend himself with.

"Jeez, calm down. I didn't drag you back here and bandage you up only to kill you later." Blue eyes, the same ones Sasuke remembered from the day before rolled in annoyance and amusement. "You soldiers are far too uptight."

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Sasuke had lain in bed for another day, before his blonde guardian had decided he was well enough to wander around the small hut he called home. He'd been warned to touch nothing, lest he disturb the delicate things the blonde had laying around the small one roomed space. Especially the bubbling cauldron of liquid in the back corner of the room.

It was obvious to Sasuke that the blonde was some sort of sorcerer, from the way he dressed, moved and even talked. And though the blonde had saved his life, he didn't seem the type to open up to people, which was fine with Sasuke, who hated those that blabbered on about pointless things. Neither man trusted the other enough to share any sort of information of any kind.

Sasuke had been left on his own for the third day in a row, his blonde guardian had gone off to find some sort of plant that would aid in the brunette's healing. He'd been informed that the plant apparently grew only on obscure trees in an even more obscure region. And for the last few mornings, the blonde had ridden off on a brown nag, only to return looking exhausted with nothing to show for his efforts. If Sasuke had been the type to care he would have said something.

On the third day his curiosity got the best of him, and he just had to see what was up with the cauldron in the back of the room. The blonde refused to tell him what it was, and though it was none of the brunette's business, he felt it was only fair. He hadn't tried to kill the other man yet, so in trade, he should be able to find out what the potion was.

Oh, he knew it was a potion. It bubbled though there was no fire to heat it, the color was a strange unnatural green, and when he waved his hand over the top of the cauldron there was no heat rising up to burn the tips of his fingers. Sasuke dipped his finger into the pot.

The reaction was instantaneous.

His skin began to glow, and pain raced up his arm as his bones snapped, thinning themselves into a delicate female limb. The callouses he had gained after years of sword work were gone in moments, and he couldn't hold back the panicked shriek that tore out of his throat.

Yanking his hand from the pot he brushed the edge, the delicate tripod holding it up gave way, dumping over him. Pain raced through his body as everything male about him began to shift into a more female shape. His shoulders shrank down, his back slimmed, hips growing larger as his pelvis grew to help with a childbirth he would never go through. Firm pectorals turning soft and squishy, semi-large breasts that he had admired on countless women now sat on his chest. Panting, the fierce warrior tried not to faint at the sudden changes. He couldn't do battle like this, he couldn't do anything like this. The door creaked open behind him and he whirled, suddenly angry. This was all the blonde morons fault for not telling him what it was.

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Naruto barely dodged the cup sent flying his way, he hardened the air around him with barely a thought as a plate came after. It bounced off the barrier and fell to the floor, shattering. Naruto sighed as more objects flew at him, thrown by a woman dressed in the same clothes the man he'd left that morning, had been wearing. Stupid bastard just HAD to touch things he'd been told to stay away from.

The barrier was dispelled with the same careless thought it had been brought up with, after the brunette had run out of ammo. He'd gotten good at protecting himself after the people in the village had thought it fun to taunt the blonde kid who was so different from them. After all the shit he'd gone through to get that stupid Devils Claw for the bastard. It wasn't just the long ass ride to get out to the location, noooo, someone had decided that a Manticore should be brought in to protect some obscure herb that no one even cared about.

Stupid creature kept asking him questions and then swinging it's venom filled tail at him. He'd had to dodge and answer until he'd gotten close enough to a clump of Devils Claw. Then he'd booked it home. It had taken three days to actually get close enough to grab enough of the plant to use in a poultice. And even then, the stupid creature had gotten close enough to graze his left shoulder with that ridiculous scorpion tail.

So here he was, aching all over from the small amount of potent venom still working it's way through his veins, after he'd sacrificed his very life to get something for the black haired bastard, and he was greeted with this. The insufferable moron had dumped over the beauty cream he'd made for one of the many noble women in the village, something that took three months to make, once you found the ingredients; Which were even more obscure then Devil's Claw.

The man had turned into a woman, which let him know the cream worked, and even if he managed to get the potion out of the warrior, the stuff had taken on his signature and would work for only him now. Anyone using it would turn into a copy of the man that it had come from. Which was why he had a small clump of hair from the busty blonde woman who used it on a regular basis.

Resisting the urge to rub his aching shoulder, Naruto plucked the Devils Claw from his side bag and placed it on the table. Moving over to the now seething brunette, the blonde placed his hand on her forehead and forced the potion out of the brunette's system. His eyes flashed red as in moments, the ground was covered in the same green liquid that had enticed Sasuke so much. Waving a hand the blonde gathered the cream into a ball, another hand wave and he tossed it out the open window, where it would harm nothing, turning back into the ingredients it had been made from, and sinking back into the earth.

"Have a hard time resisting instructions?" The blonde waited for a moment. "Sasuke." The way the brunette gaped was worth all the time he's spent answering the manticore's ridiculous questions. It was a victory, small though it was, and Naruto took it. Smirking as he walked back out the door to bathe in the hot spring a short distance away.

Sasuke scowled, he'd felt no fingers in his brain as he had with other sorcerers, that meant the blonde moron was probably one of those semi-dangerous ones. Probably chose to use his 'talents' to help the villagers that hated his guts for something they didn't want to understand.

Sasuke had heard that particular story before, had seen what happened at the end of it. The sorcerer would end up dead, burnt alive, crushed or drowned. They would let themselves be killed, rather then use spells on the people they loved, it was a ridiculous waste of power.

Stomping over to the table, Sasuke grabbed the plants the blonde moron had brought in. He grabbed a mortar and pestle, the sooner he made a poultice with this the sooner he'd be back on the road, and in no debt to anyone.

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Gentle lips caressed his, hands callused from years of sword work ran up and down his shuddering frame, bringing longing and pleasure-pain with every touch. His body ached, power that had nothing to do with witchcraft racing through his limbs and leaving him weak, leaving him needy for something he'd never before thought about having.

Fingers covered in oil dipped below his swollen member, pressing into a portion of his body he'd never before associated with pleasure. The air turned molten, every breath was hard to take in, and harder to let out. Pleasure-pain raced up his spine in zings, that wicked mouth nibbling against his collarbone, finding all the secrets even he didn't know about his body.

Pleasepleaseplease.

He was whimpering, needing something dark and secret that no one really talked about. When fingers were drawn out and replaced with something heavier, something thicker he sighed with both relief and panic. He arched as -

Naruto sat up, eyes half blind with vision and other-sight. He shook his head, that couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it. There was no way in heaven or hell he would end up sharing his bed with that bastard. He would fight tooth and nail against it, though he knew it wouldn't matter. When he saw something that felt this real, it would happen, regardless of how many people tried to prevent it.

Covering his face the blonde sagged back onto his pillow, why would fate do something this cruel? Hadn't he already suffered enough in his short life? Why would she throw this onto his shoulders when he already had to deal with being a social outcast, had to deal with the death of his parents being partially his fault, had to deal with a power that he'd never wanted.

Stupid everything.

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Sasuke stepped out into the early morning sun, his wound was practically gone, not just on the surface either. He'd done his stretches, gone through his morning routine and nothing had pulled. Nothing had pained him, letting him know deeper damage hadn't quite healed yet. It seemed the blonde moron wasn't a complete moron.

The gentle brown horse he'd seen the day before nickered at him, drawing his attention to the saddle bags, ready and packed. Was the blonde leaving again? He'd seen that wound on the blonde's left shoulder, seen the red marks spreading out, proof he'd been poisoned. Well if the stupid moron wanted to push himself to the limit, let him.

"She's your's." The voice was harsh, as if it weren't used all that often. Sasuke whirled to see the blonde standing in the doorway, a parcel filled with food held in front of him, as if in offering. "You need a good horse to get back to where you came from. Take care of Orihime and she'll take care of you." When Sasuke made no move to approach the blonde, Naruto rolled his eyes and closed the distance between them. He shoved the parcel of food roughly into the gloved hands of the pale warrior he'd dreamed of last night. Dark eyes narrowed as they stared down into clear blue.

"Try not to die again." There was an emotion that could be classed as near-sorrow if Sasuke decided to place it. "There are things you need to do, people you need to save before that happens."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen it."

"You have the sight?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes, sorcerers usually had power or the sight, not both.

"I have many things. The sight is one of them, now go. Be the hero you were meant to be." With those words spoken the blonde turned to go back into the hut he called home.

"Your name." It wasn't a question, and Naruto knew he had the means to bring the man back to where he was meant to be. But fate had many ace's up her sleeve and even if hand wasn't played in her favor she would simply switch games.

"Naruto." Now the pale warrior had no reason to return, he had the name of the man who had saved him, there was nothing holding them together any longer. Naruto only hoped it would keep the other away. He didn't need to be held responsible for any more lives, not with the ones he already held in too full hands.

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A/N

I wanted to make this all one long chapter, but I think it would convolute the story. So it'll be a two-shot instead.

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