A/N: Took me longer than I expected u_u School likes to suck my energy out... But here it is, finally, and I hope you'll enjoy this final chapter ~ 8)
Part 2
"Your... Your Highness?" A young wench had almost dropped her grain bucket from the shock, her eyes wide as she stared at the prince.
The young man was sitting on the ground, staring at the castle with bloodshot eyes. He had dark bags under his eyes and his clothes reeked of vomit and dirt, and he would've looked like a homeless person had he not still had the aura of a noble man around him. He did not react to the maid's words, he didn't even blink as the woman tried again, his glazed eyes still fixed on the building.
After a moment the maid gave up and left to feed the chicken like she was supposed to, silently hoping that whatever was wrong with the prince would go away soon and the man would pull himself together before his parents woke up. And if it didn't, she wished there would be someone else to take care of the prince, she wouldn't dare to touch him if only to help him back inside.
But her wishes were not granted. Throughout the day, numerous servants and other people living in the castle came to see the prince, some trying to talk the prince into coming inside or at least to eat something, but the prince refused them both. It was only when the sun was already going down that the king decided to take notice on what was happening on his castle's grounds. People were talking already and the king was worried about the reputation of his family, and so he decided to send his most trusted man down to the court to get the young prince stop his foolish act.
And who would the king trust the most if not his own flesh and blood? He summoned the crown prince to him and told him to go put an end on the younger prince's foolishness. The crown prince nodded quietly, but as he turned away from the king a cruel smile marred his face. He couldn't imagine a task more entertaining, and with the last rays of light licking the ground the prince stepped outside. The crown prince knew where his brother was sitting for he had been watching him from the windows throughout the day and enjoying the suffering the younger prince was clearly going through.
Itachi couldn't help feeling quite smug as he walked towards the forest and the spot his pathetic brother was still sitting at. The day had been quite enjoyable for him, he had even visited Kisame to tell him what had happened the day before and they had laughed together at Sasuke's foolishness. It was stupid, really, how attached his useless brother had grown to the frog man, and deep inside Itachi did believe he had just done Sasuke a favor. It was better if he didn't get too attached to anyone at this point when he would have to marry later anyway, and his spouse could never be a frog from the pond.
A smirk was still paying on Itachi's lips as he finally found his brother and stopped in front of him. He knew there were people outside watching him and even more at the windows, despite the sun that had gone down already there was still enough light for them to keep a curious eye on the scene that he knew was to follow soon enough.
To be honest, he was quite surprised that Sasuke hadn't lashed out at him already; the younger man hadn't even lifted his head. Had he been anyone else Itachi might've been worried, but it didn't really suit him to worry about anyone but himself and he did very little of the latter either.
"Time to stop being dramatic, little brother", he suggested nonchalantly, watching Sasuke with a bored look on his face. It wasn't like he really wanted to be here other than to inwardly laugh at his idiotic brother, and the faster he got over with this the better.
Slowly a pair of empty dark eyes rose and turned up to look at the crown prince but their owner still didn't move. It looked almost as if Sasuke had frozen to the spot, like he was only a statue forgotten outside, and he was showing no signs of even being alive as Itachi kept his eyes on him, wondering what he would have to do to get Sasuke to snap out of it.
"Father wants you back inside."
It was silent for a moment, the cicadas crying in the night and a sound of a few last birds singing somewhere in the forest being the only brave notes that broke through the heavy silence on the castle yard. The two brothers were staring at each other, neither of them moving, and the moon painted them with blue and silver, giving them an eerie glow as everyone held their breath and waited for something to happen.
Finally a cold smirk stretched the younger prince's lips and he shifted, pulling his legs to a position that would let him get up faster.
"Why? Am I causing too much gossiping?" he asked with an empty voice that shouldn't belong to anyone as young as him. The only ones with voice like that were those that had lost everything in their lives to war or plague or other unfortunate events, it should have never been heard from the beautiful young prince's lips. Yet there it was, cold and evident and apparently not shaking even Sasuke's brother.
Itachi nodded slowly and fought the urge to shrug. Inwardly he was still celebrating, but he was also starting to get a little annoyed at Sasuke creating so much drama. It had been just one frog.
"Yes", he answered his brother's question with honest yet impassive voice, "and you'd better start obeying."
Something dangerous flashed in the pitch black eyes before Sasuke spoke, and this time his voice wasn't empty anymore; there was hatred curling around his words, filling them and giving them strength as he pushed himself up from the ground, ignoring the protests of his stiff muscles.
"I wouldn't have a reason to be here if it wasn't for you." His gaze was torn from Itachi's face to check the people watching them. None of them were too close and the dark swirl of hatred was burning inside him with a larger flame than he had expected...
The older man snorted dismissively.
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic. It was just a frog!"
Those were the words that finally broke Sasuke out of the numb haze he had lulled himself into. He might've been able to take Itachi making fun of him, laughing at him, even telling him how stupid he was being, but badmouthing Naruto was something he would never in his life allow. Naruto had been more than 'just a frog' and while he knew Itachi was just trying to make him angry he couldn't help the surge of rage that spiraled through his mind, sending his body to move until it was suddenly stopped by Itachi's weight as he crashed against his brother. They ended up on the ground, the older prince looking slightly stunned as he lay still staring up at his little brother while Sasuke had his fingers firmly wrapped around Itachi's throat. He was definitely taking advantage of the moment he had with Itachi being still too surprised to move.
He leaned down to speak, and for the first time in a long while Itachi felt worry pinch him. The gleam in Sasuke's eyes wasn't exactly sane.
"After the dinner was over, when I went to the pond... I swore by that pond that I would kill you, Itachi... Your life for his", Sasuke growled, his fingers digging into his brother's skin.
"And now-" The low threat turned into a surprised yelp as strong arms were suddenly jerking Sasuke back, pulling him away from the gasping crown prince. Someone was helping Itachi up while two guards held Sasuke back, and the raven went quiet for a few seconds before lashing out again, fighting the men that were holding him. He trashed and growled, trying to break free from their hold but nothing worked; he wasn't strong enough.
"How could you do it?" The words were half yelled and Sasuke's chest was heaving as he still struggled against the men holding him, his hands clenched into tight fists. Itachi was still so close and the raven craved to go and ram his fist into Itachi's face to wipe off that smug smirk.
"Why, little brother, I'd do anything to help you.."
"How did eating him help me?" the volume was rising, and by his next words Sasuke was already shouting while his brother slowly walked away from him.
"You sick bastard! How could you? He was a human, for God's sake! You can't just do that!
But Itachi wasn't listening. His back kept moving father and farther away and Sasuke let out a frustrated growl, throwing himself against one of the men holding him back.
"I'm going to kill you! You hear me? I'll kill you!"
For a long time after that night the servants and even commoners in the town that surrounded the castle wouldn't stop talking about the incident that had made the young prince lose his mind. He had attacked the crown prince like a demon had taken over his body and later some would swear they had seen the prince's eyes turn red. The stories grew by every teller and soon enough there would be ten soldiers holding the crazy prince back and the crown prince had been escorted to his chambers by half of the army to make sure he was safe.
During the following night the prince was forced to face the life of a prisoner. He was locked up for the night, the king wanting to make sure no harm would come on his precious crown prince and the younger prince was left alone, his anger flaming inside him but finally dying as the first rays of light reached the window of his prison. The prince wasn't familiar with his surroundings and after a while he gave up trying. When the night turned into a day the prince fell into broken sleep, his dreams revolving around a frog that was no more and a brother that had betrayed him in the worst possible way.
Two days the prince was held in his prison and during that time no living soul came to visit him, save for the guard bringing him food. He truly was treated like a criminal but to the prince it didn't matter. He didn't care where he was as long as he was alone and no-one would make him talk about Naruto.
The heavy door slammed shut behind the crushed prince and Sasuke leaned his back against it, closing his eyes and pressing his hand over them, trying to calm down his racing thoughts. For two days he had been kept in the bare room, but finally someone had let him out, telling him that his father he told them to release him. At first Sasuke had thought of getting back to the pond but the idea had been buried, for a simple reason. He really couldn't do it anymore, and after seeing Itachi smirk at him earlier the day the raven had realized how much satisfaction he was giving to his older brother which was something he had never wanted to happen. Coming to his room had seemed to be the most reasonable choice, and it also had something to do with the fact that his father had sent a word to him, telling him that he should behave from now on.
Being in his room again didn't feel as bad as he had thought it would, save for the stuffy air in his room and the walls that felt somehow suffocating. The prince didn't want to be there, but as he had no choice he finally took a deep breath and then released the air as a deep sigh, hating the helpless feeling filling him. He didn't know what to do, the ache in his chest was still too fresh and to be honest, all he wanted to do was to curl up and pretend he was dead. It felt like someone had pried his heart out of his chest, chopped away half of it and then placed it back, leaving it incomplete and longing. Without Naruto there to wait for him every night, Sasuke wasn't sure why he even wanted to live.
Oh, it was even starting to get annoying. That sounded so petty and so poetical, and while Sasuke had never believed in the love that the bards sang about, he was about to admit that there had to be cases when those romantic tales were close to reality. He hated sounding like that himself, he was acting almost like a hero from a tragic tale about lost love but he couldn't help it. Groaning irritably the raven finally pushed himself away from the wooden door and forced his eyes open. He made his way to his bed, silently thanking the maids for how clean and comfortable it still looked even after having been ignored for the whole two days, and without bothering to take away his clothes he flopped on the bed face down and crawled on it more comfortably, burying his face to the soft down pillow.
"OW!"
The sudden croak made Sasuke almost jump out of his skin and he scampered backwards, staring at his pillow with shock written all over his face. His eyes were wide as he tried to listen, desperate to hear the exclamation again. It had been... He was going crazy, that had to be it. So many songs told about young lovers losing their mind when they lost their love, and there was no doubt that was happening to the raven-haired prince at the very moment as well.
His pillow had just talked to him. Or more like croaked, and that made it all the more creepy. But the worst thing wasn't the talking but the voice the pillow had. It had been Naruto's voice, the same voice the frog had used when talking to him, everything had been there. If Sasuke closed his eyes, he could almost see Naruto saying 'ow!' just like that, glaring at him with his huge frog eyes before he leaned closer and kissed the animal to turn it back to the gorgeous man. It had sounded so real that Sasuke almost believed for a second that some kind of miracle had happened and Naruto hadn't died after all, but then reality set in as the silence stretched on and no other sound was heard.
With disappointment welling up inside him Sasuke kept his eyes shut and clenched his fists, trying to fight back the desperation that was trying to take over.
But when he finally opened his eyes again, his pillow wasn't alone. There, in the middle of it, sat a very familiar green yet not-so-slimy frog, staring back at Sasuke with annoyed blue eyes that were so familiar that the prince actually froze for a moment, unable to even breathe anymore.
"Why did you hit me? You almost flattened me, you jerk!" the frog snapped with an angry voice, the blue eyes rolling furiously before th animal hopped forward off the pillow, leaving a deep imprint on it.
"And what took you so long? I've been waiting here for three cursed days, mind you! Did he hold you captive or something, that psycho brother of yours?"
The words slid right past Sasuke, only the voice holding his attention as he watched the frog, mixed emotions coursing through him and being so overwhelming that he wasn't so sure what he was feeling in the end. Naruto was alive? Truly, honestly alive? Afraid to believe anything just yet, the raven reached forward and gently pressed the tip of his index finger to the animals side, earning an extremely pissed off croak from the frog.
"Still poking me, bastard? I told you to stop ages ago! And why the hell are you st- oomph!" The furious monologue was suddenly interrupted as a pair of pale hands lifted the frog in the air and it wasn't given a chance to finish its sentence before the prince pressed a firm kiss on the frog's mouth, sealing it effectively.
There was a light popping sound and suddenly Sasuke had his arms full of a grown man instead of a tiny frog. His hands were cupping Naruto's cheeks and he was staring into the bright blue eyes that reflected surprise now along with the previous anger. The raven opened his mouth, attempting to say something but words failed him and he ended up just staring at Naruto for a while, his fingers pressing harder into the skin as though to make sure it was real and not just some kind of reflection of what he remembered of the man. He was still afraid he was truly going crazy, but it felt so real now, with the warmth of Naruto's skin and the memorable scent that surrounded the man and the way he looked at the prince...
The anger had slowly started to vanish from the azure eyes and a tanned hand rose to press gently against Sasuke's cheek, a questioning look crossing Naruto's face as he leaned in closer.
"Hey? What's wrong, princeling?" He sounded worried, and that was when Sasuke snapped.
With a furious growl, the raven shoved his lover to the bed, crawling on the top of him while his lips pressed firmly on Naruto's, capturing him into a rough desperate kiss. The man under him let out a surprised yelp, but after the shock had worn out Sasuke felt a hand grab his hair and he groaned, his tongue pushing into Naruto's mouth to greet his.
"You idiot", the older man growled between kisses, pressing Naruto down to the mattress with his body. He felt the strong body arching against his as he shifted, and he slid his fingers through the greenish blonde locks, refusing to let go or pull back.
"You goddamn idiot..." The clothes were on the way but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to pull back long enough to get rid of them. Naruto was naked and that had to be enough for now. And it was, as long as he could feel the man underneath him, hear his breathing and soft mewls that he sucked out of the blonde, taste his mouth... It was all so real, even when it shouldn't have been. Sasuke still couldn't understand how it was possible that Naruto was here, not when the man was meant to be inside his stomach -the thought made him pull back for a moment, to gather himself and fight down the nausea- instead of lying on his bed like he belonged there.
"Sasuke, what's-" And again, Naruto was cut off by a kiss that made his toes curl and his eyes cloud over with both desire worry, the desperation in it bringing some unwanted thoughts to his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. He would've asked but the way Sasuke was kissing him didn't give him much chances to even move, let alone speak, and for a while he was happy to leave it like that. The blonde wasn't afraid to admit that he had missed Sasuke too, although he already knew that if the raven got this upset every time they were a few days apart it might bring some trouble in the future. Somewhere in the back of his head there was this little voice though, a voice that told him the separation hadn't been the only problem, and after a moment Naruto slid his hands lower, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders and rolling them over.. Oh, it was good that the raven had a huge bed.
Sasuke found himself lying on his back, a very naked body pressing down against his, and concerned blue eyes peering down at him in a way that made something in his chest tighten unpleasantly.
"Sasuke, what's wrong? Tell me."
Such simple words, but to the prince who had believed he'd never hear his lover's voice again they meant everything. He kept his eyes locked on Naruto's, running his fingers through the blond hair before allowing his hands travel down the muscular back, enjoying the feeling of skin under his hands.
"I thought you were dead", Sasuke finally stated, his voice quiet and low, a strange almost choked feeling to it. He kept his hands on Naruto even when he felt the man above him tense up a little, and suddenly he wasn't on his back anymore but on his side, cradled to Naruto's chest with the strong arms around him, holding him close. For a moment the raven automatically thought of getting away from such a hold, his old habits kicking in for a second and telling him that it was childish, being coddled like this, and that he had never allowed any lover that he'd had in his bed hold him like that. It was the deep rumble in Naruto's chest and the way the arms tightened around him that made him finally relax again and he snuggled even closer, wrapping his arms around Naruto in return.
"Look, Sasuke..." The frog man's voice was low and soothing, as though he was talking to an upset animal instead of a shocked prince, and a hand started to slowly stroke Sasuke's back.
"The thing is..."
And while holding the prince in his arms the frog told him everything. It told the prince about the morning after the prince had left the pond and the frog had been left swimming around in depression. He was told how the men came to the pond, carrying nets and other things meant to help them with the hunt, and how the frog, wise as it was, had carefully jumped away from the pond and hidden next to the large tree.
From his hiding place, the frog had seen how the men spent a long time catching every frog there was in that lovely pond, except the one that was hiding, and when the men were finally gone, the frog knew something was wrong. It had decided it wouldn't be safe for it to stay at the pond and so it had began the long and exhausting journey to the castle where it knew it could find the prince and be safe. Many times the frog cursed its short legs small body, wishing to be human again to make the journey easier, but at the nightfall it was finally in the castle.
The servants were loud, and while listening to them the frog learned a lot about the castle and in the darkness it hopped to the prince's bedroom and hid itself under the prince's pillow to wait for the prince to return.
But the prince never did, and the frog was left waiting in the silent room. Every time it heard footsteps outside the door it felt hope pinching its chest, but it was never the prince. Came morning, and the room was still empty. The following day was lonesome and filled with dark thoughts and so was the night, and finally the frog started to believe that maybe the prince had left the castle suddenly and wouldn't come back in a long long time. The frog had been alone in the pond for years already and it had wished the cold days of loneliness would finally end.
And the prince didn't come and the frog was left alone under the pillow until doubt was eating away all the hope, and when the story got to this part the prince held the frog a bit tighter in his arms and the frog spoke no more.
The following days were filled with hidden joy and secrecy. The servants spoke of the prince and his suddenly changed mood; now the prince refused to leave his chambers and he ate like a beast. It must be because of the days of starvation, the servants said and happily gave the prince all the food he needed.
But nothing can last forever. When a few days had passed, the prince began noticing something odd in the frog's behavior. The frog was becoming restless and it began asking weird questions from the prince, questions the prince didn't know how to answer, and sometimes when the prince woke up in the night he saw the frog sitting by the window and staring outside. A few times the prince also noticed how the frog was looking around, as though searching for something special but never finding it, and in the end he decided something had to be done. The frog wasn't happy with what they had, and the prince knew he would have to get out and face his treacherous brother one day too.
It was full moon again and Sasuke lay awake in his bed, watching Naruto with narrowed lids. The frog was again sitting at the window but it was looking into the room , and the silhouette drawn against the starry sky was almost unnerving. The prince knew Naruto wasn't aware that he was awake and he wanted to keep it like that for now. They had spent only five days locked into his room but he could tell the frog didn't like it as much as he should, the indoors probably didn't feel good to him and Sasuke was almost willing to let him go. He wasn't sure where to take Naruto though, the pond clearly wasn't safe anymore and that was why he had avoided talking about leaving until this moment, hoping that maybe Naruto would just stay here.
But of course it couldn't continue for forever. The blonde was still a frog most of the time and he was just a commoner, not someone Sasuke could spend the rest of his life with. His parents still expected him to marry and a shape-shifting frog man definitely wasn't what they had in mind. He would have to do something about the situation, and no matter how much Sasuke enjoyed falling asleep next to Naruto he knew it couldn't continue.
But before Sasuke had the time to sit up and address Naruto, the frog was suddenly gone and the soft sound of the small animal hopping around reached his ears. It came closer and instinctively the prince closed his eyes, not wanting the other man to know that he was awake. He wasn't sure why he felt like it was the best to hide it but he did anyway, hoping that nothing too weird was going to happen.
Something heavy fell to the bed next to Sasuke's leg and he had to stop himself from shivering. Despite knowing what it was, he didn't really enjoy having something small and hopping in the dark room with him when he couldn't do nothing about it. The moon and the stars didn't really give enough light for him to see Naruto properly so he kept his eyes shut even as the weight started to get closer to his head.
However, instead of setting to his pillow the animal stopped moving before it got too close and then it was gone from the bed. Sauske listened carefully, trying to catch hints of where Naruto was headed, but in a long while nothing happened. The raven was almost ready to believe that maybe the frog had returned to the window when a soft thud rose from the floor, a sound of something very heavy falling to the floor and it was followed by an extremely irritated, loud curse.
Curiosity kicking in, Sasuke slowly lifted his head and blinked, pretending that he was just now waking up. His voice was hoarse and gruff enough to fool even himself.
"Naruto? What are you doing?" he asked slowly, leaning over the edge of the bed to search for the frog with his eyes. A soft glow from the floor caught his eyes and he found himself staring at the beautiful glass ball Naruto had saved from the pond. The swirl inside the ball was moving rapidly and glowing brighter than ever before, and next to the ball sat Naruto, staring at the ball with an unreadable look on his green face.
The frog didn't seem to notice that it had been spoken to until a moment later. It jolted in surprise, but there had been so much time between the question and the reaction the prince thought it had to be an act. Slowly, Naruto turned away from the ball and looked up at the prince without saying a word. The huge blue eyes peered at Sasuke as though the animal was trying to say something but didn't know how, and after a long while Sasuke let out a sigh and reached to pick up Naruto and the ball.
The usually so cold surface of the ball felt nicely familiar in his palm and it contrasted starkly with Naruto's much heavier and not so smooth body in his other hand. As the ball was moved further away from the frog the swirling inside it seemed to tone down a little, and a frown crossed the raven's face as he watched the item thoughtfully. Slowly he moved his hands closer to each other, bringing Naruto closer to the ball as well. The frog turned to look at him but Sasuke didn't care, all his attention was on the ball that had started glowing again, and he could actually feel the swirling against his palm, something that had never happened before.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked and his voice sounded way too loud for the occasion, it broke the delicate silence and echoed on the stone walls but the prince didn't care, the fascinated eyes still examining the ball.
They fell back to silence again and somehow it seemed to fit the moment a lot better. Sasuke was sitting on his bed, holding the frog in one hand and the ball in the other almost as though he was weighing them in front of him, and slowly his eyes turned away from the ball and then returned to the frog, making the animal squirm under the intense staring.
"Naruto", the prince spoke softly, his voice low and quiet yet the frog couldn't miss a word he said, "what is this ball?"
"It's-", Naruto began before his lips were sealed once again. His eyes bulged in anger and he glared up at Sasuke, waiting almost patiently until the curse allowed him to speak again. When it did, the frog took a deep breath, his gaze dropping almost bashfully to the palm he was sitting on.
"I... Well..." He gulped and a soft croak followed, making the animal shift nervously.
"Do you love me, Sasuke?"
Whatever the prince had expected that wasn't it. His eyes widened and he stared at the frog for a moment, taken aback by the firm voice and the bold question, but in the end he had to turn away, a deep frown on his face as he tried to ignore the odd stare the frog was giving him. The question had surprised Sasuke to the point where he didn't know what to say and that didn't happen often except when he was around Naruto it seemed, and idly he wondered how many surprises the frog could still carry within. He couldn't keep surprising the prince for forever, that was for sure.
But he knew he wouldn't be able to get away from the question, and slowly he shrugged to buy himself a bit more time. Did he love Naruto? The answer was easy. Sasuke had felt it coming when they had been together at the pond, the weird overpowering feeling that grew inside him whenever he was with the frog and that seemed to get even stronger when they were apart. He had missed Naruto's touch like nothing else every time they had been apart and he had never felt a need to be close to other person like he felt with Naruto. The prince had known it was there but he had never thought it would be smart to mention it to Naruto. They had been happy as they were, but now things had changed.
When he had thought he'd lost Naruto... It had been an entirely new feeling for Sasuke as well. Back then it had felt like his world was going to collapse and nothing in his life held meaning anymore, and if what caused those feelings wasn't love... Well, then Sasuke didn't want to fall in love, ever.
So yes, he knew what he should answer, but as he turned to look back to Naruto the words didn't come out. They got stuck in his throat, clinging to it like leeches and refusing to be blown out of his mouth. Three little words but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say three, no matter how true they were. He had never been in a situation where he couldn't speak even though he wanted to and it was the the newness was what was making him so cautious. A blank look slid to Sasuke's face as he stared back at the frog, trying to read the expressions going through the round blue eyes.
He didn't say anything and neither did Naruto, not in a long tine. Finally it was the frog that broke the silence, and the soft "I see" sounded sadder than anything Sasuke had ever heard. The weight was suddenly gone from his palm and his eyes found Naruto sitting on his pillow, his eyes closed and back turned to Sasuke. He wasn't exactly sulking but the raven had a fair idea why he acted like that and something very painful gripped his heart as he reached to put the ball away and then lay down, his head on the pillow close to Naruto. Not wanting to watch the frog he rolled over to his side with his back to the frog and then murmured a soft 'goodnight'. He wouldn't sleep that night either.
Or so he thought, but the prince had apparently fallen asleep at some point because when a loud knock came from his door Sasuke jolted awake, sitting up so rapidly his vision went fuzzy for a moment. The knock was repeated and he shook his head, trying to clear it.
"Yes?" he asked, trying his best to sound at least somewhat regal instead of like he'd just woken up.
"The Queen has requested you in the dining room immediately!" came an answer from behind the door and Sasuke almost rolled his eyes.
"You are to have breakfast with her highness."
The prince let out a soft groan of exasperation and he sunk back to his bed, his head hitting the pillow. He did not want to get up yet and he most definitely didn't want to have breakfast with his mother, if only because she was never alone. Eating with her always meant eating with his father as well, and since Sasuke hadn't seen either of them after the fit he had thrown outside the castle he could just guess why they would like to eat with him.
"Can I come with you?" The words were spoken softly right into Sasuke's ear and the prince barely caught himself, almost jumping from surprise.
"What?" he asked, confused, and turned his head to look at Naruto. The frog was right there, sitting on his pillow and watching him, and for the millionth time Sasuke caught himself wondering why he didn't find the slimy creature disgusting. Most people he knew would've never agreed to even touch the animal let alone give it a chance to sleep in their bed, so why was Sasuke different? He supposed it was because he knew what Naruto truly was and what he looked like when he wasn't in this cursed form of his, but somewhere deep inside Sasuke knew that even if Naruto had been just a talking frog and nothing more, he wouldn't have minded anyway. He had liked being with Naruto when he had known nothing about the curse and it hadn't changed how he saw the frog up to this point.
The prince was shaken out of his thoughts as the frog croaked softly and did something that was probably a frown.
"I want to come along. In a pocket or something." Naruto jumped away from the pillow and moved to stare at Sasuke demandingly from the floor.
"Now hurry up bastard, I'm hungry!"
"Can't you eat a fly or something?" Sasuke grumbled as he climbed off his bed, shivering as the cold air hugged his body. He hurried to dress up, refusing to ask for his valet's help in something so simple, and when he was done he absentmindedly grabbed the glass ball from his desk and dropped it to his pocket. Naruto was hidden to another one before the prince left the room and followed the servant to the dining room.
It was way too big for just three people to eat in, the room had been meant to host huge celebration dinners for a large number of guests, yet there they were. The king and the queen of the Fire Country were sitting at the end of the huge table with numerous dished in front of them. They weren't eating since they were waiting for their son, and seeing the ever so patient look on his mother's face made Sasuke feel a bit bad for making them wait for that long.
He stopped when he was close enough to greet his parents, bowing formally in front of them and taking a seat only when his father had given him permission to do so. However, even when he was seated neither of the adults made a move to begin their breakfast. Sasuke sat in silence as well, wondering why they were so quiet, and then it struck him. There was a fourth plate on the table.
"Is Itachi joining us?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice calm; it would not be good to go crazy in front of his parents. Sasuke knew better than to gather any punishments of his father's on himself.
The said father was doing a good job ignoring his existence while the queen Mikoto turned to look at him with a gentle smile on her face.
"Yes, dear. We thought that it would be the best if you talked to him about your... issues. It would make me feel a lot better if I knew you two weren't fighting."
She was looking so genuinely concerned that it made guilt flare inside Sasuke as he forced himself to nod, trying to convince himself that the issues he had with Itachi would be easily talked about. After all, the man had just tried to feed the raven his lover and then act all innocent about what had happened, rubbing it to his face in public afterwards. Sasuke surely wouldn't stay mad at him even though the attempt that failed.
Lies, lies... The prince turned to look down at his plate, trying to keep himself calm. His hand slipped into his pocket and his fingers brushed gently against Naruto's skin, making him feel a little better. So Itachi had tried, it shouldn't be such a big deal. He hadn't succeeded anyway and that should be all that mattered. But no matter how hard Sasuke had tried for five days, he couldn't just let go of the hatred. His brother, his own brother had tried to kill Naruto in the worst possible way and Sasuke simply couldn't forgive him, it just wasn't possible.
He didn't get much further with his thoughts before a familiar voice caught his attention and he raised his gaze from the plate to meet his brother's. The look that flashed in Itachi's eyes told him the meal wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
The only thing holding Sasuke back as they ate was their parents' presence. No matter how much every little snide remark Itachi made had him wanting to hurt the man he couldn't bring himself to attack him in front of their parents. He knew enough of what his father thought of him and being a disappointment to his mother as well would've been too much. So he bore it all, ignoring Naruto's restless twitching and kicking in the pocket. Every time Itachi said something extremely sly the frog started squirming, reflecting Sasuke's feelings perfectly, and once or twice the movement in his pocket was the only thing that kept Sasuke from throwing himself at his brother and stabbing him with a fork; Naruto was still alive, no matter what Itachi thought.
They were almost through the breakfast already and it was becoming harder and harder for Sasuke to ignore his older brother. Itachi was getting bolder with his remarks by every moment and the younger raven was feeling his blood boil already. It was killing him, taking the whole thing without a word, but he didn't want to throw a fit, really not. That was, before Itachi was getting ready to leave.
"So, Sasuke...", the crown prince began, tapping the corners of his mouth with a napkin, "I hope the next time we have your lover over for a dinner, mother and father will have a chance to enjoy him as well."
"Lover? Him?" The king who hadn't really paid attention to anything said in the table before turned to look at Sasuke with an outraged look on his face. He had clearly been snapped out of his peaceful daydreaming by those words, it always happened when he found another opportunity to nag at his younger son.
"What is Itachi talking about?"
Sasuke froze much unlike the frog in his pocket, keeping his head up instead of turning to look down like his instincts told him to when faced with a look like that from his father.
"I..."
"What in the name of the Devil has been going on here?" Fugaku didn't sound too pleased at all, his voice was getting louder despite his wife's hand that was now resting on his arm.
"Oh, nothing much. The forester Sasuke has sneaked out to meet for months just gave us the honor of dining with us a few days ago", Itachi explained with a voice so carefree that one could be fooled into thinking he hadn't meant to cause a ruckus like this at all.
Fugaku instead began to look even more horrified. His face was turning red and his nostrils flared as he stared at his younger son who was caught between making a quick exit and throwing something at Itachi.
"It's not like he will be coming ever again though. I think he wasn't satisfied with our food."
The latter won. A loud clatter of a chair falling to the floor emerged as Sasuke jumped up and turned to face his brother, ignoring his father that had stood up as well and opened his mouth to say something. His hand searched for something to throw and without thinking about it he grabbed the ball from his pocket, ignoring the struggle of Naruto who was trying to climb out of his pocket.
"That's because you tried to make me eat him, you sick bastard!" He didn't have the chance to think about it anymore. The ball was flying through the air when Naruto's horrified 'NO!' and his mother's faint scream reached his ears, and Sasuke could only stare as the ball hit his brother in the shoulder and fell to the floor. Had he really thrown his brother with a ball? With that ball? It crashed on the stone with a loud crack and for a few seconds it was quiet in the room.
Naruto was staring at Sasuke with a look of pure terror in his eyes and no-one seemed to notice Mikoto's quiet 'Eat him?' but then everyone's eyes turned to the crushed glass ball. The swirl inside it had began to grow and mold and the light blue substance that definitely didn't look like water anymore was swirling like mad for a moment before it was suddenly surrounding Naruto, hiding the tiny animal like a curtain. Sasuke heard the croak from within the blue mist but as he tried to move closer to whisk it away a flash of light emerged from the middle of the mist.
Somewhere in the background Mikoto screamed again and something fell, the sound of servants rushing into the room being muffled by an odd scraping sound.
"Naruto!" Sasuke didn't even recognize his own voice. His eyes were running from the sudden burst of light and he blinked rapidly, trying to see again. Something had happened to Naruto, he could feel it, and he couldn't do anything to help, he couldn't do anything, and when he heard his lover yell he finally pushed forward, ignoring the temporary blindness and the way his father was yelling his name furiously.
And then his sight began to return. In the middle of the table, where Naruto the frog had been a moment ago, now sat a very naked young man with bright blond hair and eyes that were squeezed shut tight. He was sitting in the huge bowl that had been used to serve pudding and he was covered with pudding stains all the way up to his chest. The man was trying to cover his head as if he was expecting someone to come and hit him at any moment and he seemed extremely tense, almost afraid.
"What on earth..."
Ignoring his mother, Sasuke reached out carefully and touched Naruto's shoulder, his mind hitting blank. What was this, what was going on? Why wasn't Naruto a frog anymore?
"Naruto?" he whispered, and slowly a blue eye peeked from between the tanned arms.
"Sasuke?" His voice was different but not much. The frog-ish croaking undertone was gone, and as he slowly unfolded his arms the raven noticed that the green ting from Naruto's hair was gone as well.
"I'm alive!"
The prince didn't get a warning before those same arms were suddenly wrapped around him and he was pulled into a fierce kiss. He heard a distant thump from the background and he supposed it was his mother fainting but he couldn't care less, even about his father yelling orders to the guards.
"Oh God, Sasuke, you scared me you bastard... I love you too", the blonde murmured against his lips, his sky blue eyes shining at Sasuke for a moment before he pushed the prince back and jumped off the table, pulling the food bowl along and creating a puddle of the remaining pudding on the floor.
"Oops..."
Then, with absolutely no shame about his nudity he turned to face the remaining members of Sasuke's family, who all stood staring at him with completely stupefied looks on their faces, and took a deep bow.
"Let me introduce myself", Naruto started, his voice immediately adapting to the most serious and polite tone Sasuke had ever heard him use, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the missing crown prince of the Whirlpool Country. It's very nice to meet you all, and I'm happy to tell you that I'm here to ask you for your son's hand in marriage."
Suddenly Sasuke didn't think it was so weird at all that his mother had fainted.
The shock wore off slowly. A pigeon was sent to the Whirlpool Country and the unexpected royal guest was given his own room, but only after a few days the king and the queen of the Fire Country were ready to grant the visiting prince a real audience. The crown prince of the Fire Kingdom wasn't seen in the castle for days after the frog's transformation and in the middle of the wild gossips about his part in the story it wasn't a surprise. But the prince of the Whirlpool Country surprised especially his heart's chosen with how beautifully he spoke to others and how easily he was able to wrap the queen of the Fire Country around his finger. And of course, the first thing he was asked about was the curse.
The curse the witch had laid on the prince of Whirlpool Kingdom had tied his tongue and changed his form, allowing to speak about the curse only to those that found about it themselves. The piece stolen form the prince's soul the witch had tied to an ordinary glass ball that had been given to a common merchant to sell on the market; a way that was meant to ensure it would never get back to the prince. And yet even if it did, to lift the curse the one who freed the last piece of the swirling soul had to be special. The only person that could break the ball and free the soul had to be the one that the prince's heart had chosen and whose heart had chosen the frog prince as well. Had there not been love in their hearts the moment the ball was broken, the curse would've stolen the life of the golden prince.
It had been because of the curse that the frog had asked the Fire Kingdom's prince about his love that one night, and while the prince regretted not telling the truth he couldn't complain. Right after the story about the curse and the frog prince's desperate travels to the Fire Country began the talk about the wedding, and the dark-haired prince found himself in the middle of the action. The king was giving his son away, though unwillingly, only because by getting his younger son out of the castle he might be saved from having to punish the crown prince for the assassination attempt.
And one day in the middle of the wedding preparations the castle doors were thrown open and a tall woman with flaming red hair stormed inside like she was running from the Devil himself and demanded to see her son immediately. The eccentric queen of the Whirlpool Country had left her throne the moment the pigeon had arrived and she had ridden to the Fire Country with only two guards with her, shocking both countries by her behavior. But she refused to be absent from her son's wedding, and despite she mentioned arranging them a second wedding in Whirlpool Country she took part in the wedding at Fire Country's royal castle, sobbing through the whole ceremony and then smacking her son in the head for making her worry.
Then it was time to leave. The former prince of the Fire Country left his home without regret, kissing his mother goodbye. Never again did he saw his brother, not even in the wedding, and he bid the country his farewell, taking only his loyal valet with him. The second wedding was glorious and the prince was warmly welcomed to his new family. One day he would rule Whirlpool Kingdom by the country's own prince's side, but it wasn't the power he was happiest about. He had never dreamed of a life with someone he loved and that loved him back and to be able to stay by his frog was all he could ask for.
...and so they lived happily every after.
"Naruto? What the hell was that sound?"
"...croak?"
"...you have got to be kidding me."
Well, mostly anyway.
The end
