Once Upon A December-
"Okey… Um… Nice, nice…" Naruto said as another person failed miserably at being Sasuke. Jiraiya dropped his head to the table. "Thank you." The blonde said ushering the man away. Both men sighed and looked over the papers that were scattered across the table before the stage. They gathered their things and went out the door.
"It's hopeless!" Jiraiya said throwing his hands up in defeat, "We'll never find him."
"No it's not. We'll find him." Naruto said determinedly, "I bet he's right under our noses." He bumped into someone but didn't look to see who they were, choosing to pay them no mind. "One look at this," he took out the silver box, tossed it in the air and caught it, "And His Majesty will think we have the real thing. We get the reward and were out before anyone knows any better!"
Jiraiya shook his head at his friend's optimism and plan. He had never doubted the young blonde, but something told him that this was not going to go like what they have planned for. But he kept his thoughts to himself as they made their way to the old palace.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for the old palace." Sasu asked a random man on the street.
Before the man could answer, another man bumped into Sasu, almost causing the orange fox [who he had named Kit] from his arms. He watched the man walk away waiting for an apology, but none never came.
"It's that way." The man grumbled pointing behind Sasu, "No one lives there."
Sasu turned to the direction he pointed to, "Thank you." He said. The man just waved him off and grumbled to himself as he walked away. The raven turned around and began to walk the dim streets in the direction the man had indicated. He soon came to a massive building that had most of its windows boarded up. Kit jumped from his arms and slipped through the cracks in the boards.
"Kit!" Sasu called quietly, "Kit get back here!" he pulled on the boards and they fell away easily, causing him to lose his balance and fall back to the ground. Getting up, he winced at the pain in his back and walked into the building, "Hello? Anybody home?" he called making his way to up a flight of stairs and into what looked like a foyer.
Carefully, he approached a table that was full of dust and spider web covered items. Picking up a mirror and blowing the dust off it, a scene played on it. Shocked, Sasu dropped it back to the table. He walked a little further and came to a vase; he wiped it off and looked at the swans and bear painted on it.
"This place… it seems like something from a dream…" he muttered to himself as he walked through a pair of large double doors, a song seemed to fill his head;
"Dancing bears Painted wings Things I almost remember, and a song someone sings once upon a December someone olds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully across my memories…"
Figures seemed to appear out of nowhere and began to dance across the grand ball room. Sasu removed his coat and gloves and began to join them on the dance floor, bowing to the couples, and them bowing back. Spinning in a slow circle, a silver glow surrounded him leaving him in a suit of black and red. He danced from person to person singing still;
"Far away, long ago, Glowing dim as an ember, Things my heart Used to know, Things it yearns to remember..." A tall man with long raven hair walked towards him, bowing and holding his hand out with a soft smile, "And a song, someone sings…" Sasu bowed to one knee before the man, "Once upon a December…." He reached out for him, their hands almost touching before the people disappeared as a voice shouted,
"Hey! What're you doing here?"
A loud crash rang out through the palace.
"Did you hear that?" Naruto asked sitting up from his laying position on the couch. Jiraiya shrugged and continued to eat. The blonde on the other hand, sat his plate down and began to walk out the door. The white haired man sat his own plate down, following him reluctantly. Walking through the many hallways of the palace, they reached the ledge over the ballroom where a figure was knelt.
"Hey! What're you doing here?" Naruto called.
The figure jumped and began to run for the stair case opposite of them. Naruto took off after him, Jiraiya trying to keep up with the hyper-active man as much as he could. "Hey! Wait, wait, wait! STOP!" the blonde called. The raven stopped at the top of the stairs, in front of the large family painting that hung and slowly turned to face him. "Now, how did you get in here…" his voice trailed off as he looked from the man before him to the painting behind him, his eyes widening.
The older man finally caught up with them, "Excuse me child-"
"Jiraiya!" Naruto said pulling the man beside him, "Do you see what I see?" he asked.
The white haired man's eyes widened also, "Yes, yes I do."
"Are you Naruto?" the raven asked a bit out of breath and fed up.
Naruto grinned his fox like grin, looking down at hearing a bark, "Aw, look a fox. How cute." He muttered, picking the small animal up and handing it to Jiraiya, "Well that all depends on who's looking for me." He said a bit louder, walking up the stair case.
"I'm Sasu and I need travel papers. They you're the man to see but I can't tell you- Hey!" Sasu stopped as he watched Naruto begin to circle him, saying the occasional, "Uh huh." Every now and then.
"Why are you circling me? Were you a vulture in a past life or something?" Sasu asked, crossing his arms.
"Oh I'm sorry Saszu-"
"Sasu." The raven corrected.
"Sasu yes, but you look an awful lot like- you know what, never mind. Um, so you said something about travel papers?"
"Yes, I want to go to New York."
Naruto's eyes widened once again, "You'd like to go to New York?"
"Aw! Look at you! You are adorable!" Jiraiya gushed over the fox and his arms.
The blonde patted the older man on the arms and turned back to Sasu, Now let me ask you something Sasu was it? Is there a last name that goes with that?"
Sasu sighed, "This is going to sound crazy, but… I don't know my last name. I was found wondering around when I was eight years old."
"And before that..?" Naruto prompted.
"I don't know." Sasu said shrugging, "I have very few memories of my past..."
"Hmm…" Naruto said, 'That's… perfect!'
"Well I do have one clue." Sasu said picking up the necklace that was hanging around his neck, " 'Together in N.Y.C.' " he read.
"Together in N.Y.C." the blonde repeated more to himself than anything else.
"Yeah, so can you help me or not?" he asked, hand on his hip.
"Uhh.." Naruto put his hands behind his back and walked to Jiraiya, muttering 'Tickets', "Sure would like to," the white haired man handed him three circus tickets, "We are going to New York ourselves." Naruto brought the tickets in front of him, "In fact, I have three of them." He waved them around in front of Sasu tauntingly, "But the last one is for Sasuke." He said gesturing to the painting behind him.
"Oh." Was the only thing Sasu could say before he was dragged off my the two men.
"We are going to reunite His Majesty with his little brother." Jiraiya said.
"You know, you do kind of look like him." Naruto stated.
"Those onyx eyes."
"Uchiha eyes." The blonde nodded in agreement.
"Mikoto hair and skin."
"Fugaku's chin."
"Even the same hands! Delicate and pale!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"He's the same age and physical type." Naruto shrugged.
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you trying to tell me that I'm Sasuke?" the raven asked, pulling away from them.
"All I'm saying is, I've seen hundreds of guys and none of them look as close to him as you do." Naruto turned her around, "Just look at the painting."
"I knew you were crazy." Sasu said pointing at Naruto, "But now I think you're both mad." He said walking off.
"How do you know you're not?" Naruto asked causing Sasu to stop, "You don't remember." He said coming to stand before him.
"No one knows what happened to him." The white haired man added.
"And you're looking for family in New York."
"His only family is in New York."
Naruto led Sasu back to the painting, "Have you ever thought of the possibility?"
"That I could be royalty?" the raven questioned as if he were mad.
Both men nodded.
Sasu picked Kit up off the floor, "Well, I don't know. After ten years of sleeping in a room with twelve other kids, it's kind of hard to think yourself a prince…" his voice trailed off, "But I guess everybody wishes they were royalty."
"And someone out there is." Jiraiya told her.
"Really wish we could help you, but this ticket here is for Sasuke." Naruto said pulling the older man away. He voiced his doubts to him, but Naruto hushed him, "Don't worry. I have a plan." He began to count down, "Three, two, one-"
"Naruto!" Sasu called as the blonde grinned and continued walking away, "Naruto wait!"
"You called me?" he asked turning to face the out of breath blonde.
"If I don't remember who I am, then who's to say I'm some kind of duke or whatever he is?"
"Mm Hm." Naruto nodded.
"And if I'm not him, then the Brother will know on the spot and this would all just be one gaint misunderstanding." Sasu finished with and shrug.
"You're right." Naruto nodded once again.
"And if you are him," Jiraiya said, "Then you will know who you are and you will have your family back."
"Either way, you get to New York." Naruto shrugged.
"Right."
"Well then, may I introduce the long lost Prince Sasuke!" Naruto announced to the empty ballroom.
"Kit! We're going to New York City!" Sasu said spinning the fox around.
Unknowing to the people below, as Naruto and Sasu argued over whether the fox stayed or went, a small silver bat sat on the ledge over the ballroom, leaning against a vial wrapped in snakes. "Sasuke?" the bat questioned. He let out a harsh laugh, "All the Uchihas are dead." He said.
The vial begun to glow a bright blue as snake spirits begun to pour out from it, "You are joking? Just because some guy says that Sasuke may be alive doesn't mean he is." A flood of snake spirits rushed from the vial. "It's true." The bat gasped, "This is Sasuke…" he said looking down as the blonde and raven continued to fight over the fox.
Glowing brighter, the vial began to float and a portal appeared below it. With some sort of gravitational force, it pulled the small bat and vial into its darkness. Blinded by pain for a moment, the bat blinked and looked at his surroundings and found himself in an underground compound of sorts. "Where am I?" he wondered.
"Who dares to intrude on my solitude?" a voice from the darkness hissed.
"Orochimaru?" the bat questioned as the voices owner made its self known.
"Kabuto…?" the snake man questioned.
"Master! You're alive!" the bat rejoiced.
Orochimaru hissed, "If you can call this living… Something has happened... I can tell."
"Something has happened! Sasuke is alive, Master."
The man's eyes narrowed, "That brat is alive? He's is the whole reason I am here! And I've lost my only source of power." He hissed out.
"Do you mean this?" Kabuto questioned, gesturing to the vial that was glowing a bright blue.
"Yeess!" he hissed in happiness, "Now I can out an end to those Uchihas!" Coaxing the snake spirits out, he used them to show him where the prince was. It showed Sasu, Naruto and Jiraiya preparing to board a train. "Perfect…" he hissed a creepy grin plastered on his pale face.
