AN: I like this chapter x3.

And thanks for all the reviews! I LOVE YOU XD

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The Prince And The Fox

By SmexLemur (you don't have to worship her anymore, for she loves each and everyone of you x3)

Chapter 3: A Good Fight Solves Everything… Or Does It?

That evening, Naruto found himself standing behind Sasuke very uncomfortably. The clothes he was wearing were way too tight for him, but Iruka had called them 'formal' and 'suited for a banquet'. Iruka had also told him a lot of other things, like how he should call Sasuke 'Prince Sasuke' when there were other people around. Naruto didn't entirely get the point of this, but he decided it was best to do as Iruka told him to.

Sasuke didn't pay a lot of attention to him and had instead opted to ignore the blonde, who had gained every ounce of attention from all the other guests, especially from Prince Sabaku no Gaara and a rich nobleman, Hyuuga Neji. Sasuke had never particularly liked these two men, but seeing them eye his new personal servant did make him feel quite edgy.

They were both a little like Sasuke himself was—withdrawn, slightly arrogant, anti-social and the list goes on. They weren't really friends with one another, but these particular two guests were the only ones Sasuke even remotely acknowledged.

Gaara, a boy only one year older than Sasuke was (sixteen) with red hair and pail, green eyes, didn't seem to care much about anything. His servants seemed to fear him, as well as the people who lived in his country, for he is known to kill without batting an eye. Sasuke didn't exactly approve of this, but he didn't care either—what Gaara wanted to do to his country, was his business after all.

Neji was a little kinder, though he was obsessed with fate and the like. He didn't believe anybody could change his or her destiny. Sasuke didn't care about destiny or fate—he believed you could make your own future, if you really wanted to. Neji had freaky eyes and very long black hair, on the contrary to his cousin Hinata (who was sitting for chairs away from them), who was the exact opposite of Neji—Shy, low self-esteem and very down to earth. They didn't get along very well.

"Well, your Highness," Neji drawled, holding a glass of wine near his lips as he spoke. He sipped it slowly as he focused his pale eyes on Naruto. "I see you have gained a new one. He's quite the catch, though he seems a bit… unruly." Naruto blinked, wondering what they were talking about. Quite the catch? What did they mean by that?

"If you say so," Sasuke said lazily. "He's quite regular. Pretty stupid too—" at that point, Naruto's ears perked up. Stupid? Who was he calling stupid? Try living in an entirely different world first, before you start calling people stupid! "—He doesn't seem capable to read and he doesn't understand the basic rules of society either."

"Then why do you keep him around?" Gaara inquired, his deep voice bearing not a touch of emotion. Naruto shivered involuntarily at the cold tone. Couldn't all humans be nice, like Iruka was? Sasuke shrugged at the question.

"I needed a new one and the other servants irritated me," he replied. Naruto kept on getting more angry at Sasuke—why the hell was he being such a bastard? This Sasuke… this Prince was entirely different from what he had imagined him to be.

Then again… imagination is always different from reality, isn't it? Naruto should've known that helping the Prince wasn't so easy, because he was impossible to live with. But if anything, Naruto was stubborn—he wouldn't give up so easily.

"If you don't want him anymore, I'll be happy to take him," Neji pointed out. Naruto blinked—hell no. He wasn't going with creepy men like him! Sasuke shrugged.

"He really is quite stupid and useless, I don't understand what you would want—" At that point, the blonde fox-turned-boy had enough of it.

"Shut up, you bastard! How dare you call me stupid!"

The entire room (around two hundred people) gaped at him, with the exception of Sasuke, Neji and Gaara. Neji looked very amused, Gaara gave him a very tiny smirk and Sasuke… well, Sasuke just looked furious. But Naruto didn't care—this guy wouldn't get away with it.

"I can't help it if I've never really learned anything, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid! Who do you think you are? Just because you're the fucking Prince, doesn't give you the right—" his words were muffled when Iruka, another servant who had stood on the other side of the hall serving wine, had put his hand on Naruto's mouth.

"Shut up Naruto," Iruka hissed in his ear. Naruto gave him a glare, but stopped struggling against his hold and stopped yelling. He blinked when he saw the look in Sasuke's eyes and felt guilty and hurt—the Prince looked at him with utter hatred and loathing.

Just like the other foxes used to look at me,(1) Naruto thought bitterly. But he had deserved it, hadn't he? Sasuke had provoked him, right?

"Excuse me," he said to the other guests, before standing up from the giant dining table. He grabbed Naruto's wrist, ignoring the excuses Iruka was making for him and walked up the stairs towards his chambers. He pushed Naruto inside harshly and closed the door. The blonde boy tried his best not to let fear take over and instead opted to try and glare at him. His wrist hurt from being dragged up there, but ignored the pain and held his eyes locked with Sasuke's, who looked like he could murder something any second.

"Don't ever disrespect me like that again," he hissed, grabbing both of Naruto's wrists again and throwing him against the wall. Naruto screamed in pain as he felt the hard impact on his back and bit his lip.

"You shouldn't have put me down like that!" Naruto yelled in return, despite the fear and pain and the little voice in his head telling him to stop right now. Not only was this ruining the very fragile and barely existing relationship they had, but it seemed that Sasuke was growing more and more angry and the hold on Naruto's wrists were harsher. Sasuke's eyes flashed in anger and he bared his teeth. "Just because you're a Prince, doesn't mean you're better than everyone else!" he continued.

"It does mean I'm better," he hissed. "And even if I was not a Prince, you would still be inferior to me." Sasuke released the blonde, who fell to the ground, growling.

Naruto didn't know why he did it, or even if was a wise thing—but all he knew, was that he would not take crap from a Prince who was apparently hurting and couldn't handle it. Before Sasuke could even react, Naruto had pounced on him(2) and had straddled his hips.

Under normal circumstances, Sasuke would've blushed, but right now—he was angry as hell. He couldn't remember the last time he was really angry, well, maybe he could. That last time had been when he was eight—after that, he had never cared enough. He didn't know why the blonde made him react so much, nor did he truly care.

"You fucking bastard!" Naruto yelled, this time turning the tables around: he grabbed Sasuke's wrists and held them above Sasuke's head, firmly against the ground. Sasuke tried to struggle and briefly wished he had taken guards with him. He normally didn't have them, save for Kakashi, because he was confident in his own strength. However, this guy… he was strong. Very strong.

"Let go of me now or I will have you executed," Sasuke hissed, in an attempt to free himself. He saw Naruto smirk at him.

"So? The Almighty Prince can't even handle me on his own, huh? Who's inferior now, you bastard? Come on, say that you lost and I'll let you go!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, refusing to let this boy—this homeless person—win. He should've never taken him with him. "Say it!"

"When hell freezes over!" Sasuke hollered, before bucking his hips. Naruto briefly was surprised at this and Sasuke took advantage of it by quickly flipping them around. This time it was Sasuke hovering over him, though his wrists were still captured by Naruto, who refused to let go. "Let me go now," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes. He had to hand it to the boy—he was stubborn.

"When hell freezes over!" Naruto retorted, before giving him an odd look. "…What does that mean anyway?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Do you give up?" the Prince decided it was wise to ignore the question. Naruto shook his head stubbornly, looking away from the intent stare Sasuke was giving him. It somehow felt weird and made his heart pound faster, as if the Prince was looking right through him. "I'll stay here until you give up," the Prince continued smugly.

"I don't care, go ahead," he muttered. It was silent for a while, both boys not knowing exactly what to say, until Naruto couldn't take it any more. "You've got real prissy friends," he pointed out.

"Gaara and Neji?" Naruto nodded—Sasuke snorted. "I wouldn't exactly call them my friends." They both fell in silence again. "You said… you haven't learned a lot. What did you mean?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I wasn't around other… people a lot," he said nervously. He couldn't let Sasuke know he was actually a fox.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Didn't have any parents, everybody hated me," the blonde muttered—which was partly true. He really didn't have any parents (at least not that he remembered) and everybody did hate him. That wasn't the reason why he wasn't around a lot of people though. "Do you have friends?" the blonde questioned then, deciding a change of subject would be in his best interest. The boy on top of him looked away, a sceptical and a slightly bitter look on his face.

"No."

"Neither do I," Naruto said. "…You wanna be friends?" Sasuke's head snapped back to focus his eyes on the blonde, trying to find a hint of a joke, or whatever. Had Naruto really said that? But they had just fought. This guy… he really was an idiot. Sasuke snorted and got off of him.

"No," he said, as he offered Naruto his hand. The blonde took it without hesitance and grinned at him.

"Friendly acquaintances?" Naruto opted, grinning at the black-haired boy. Sasuke was silent for a long time, before he turned around and walked over to the door.

"Maybe," Sasuke muttered softly, barely loud enough for Naruto to hear. The blonde's face broke out in a grin and he bounced off after Sasuke who had stuffed his hands in his pockets and was waiting for him at the door to follow him.

"Am I still gonna get executed?" he asked the Prince while walking back to the hall. Sasuke gave him an indecisive shrug, before smirking at him.

"Maybe," he said. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Can I call you Sasuke?"

"Maybe."

"Are you still going to tell all of your prissy not-friends that I'm stupid?"

"Maybe."

"Sasuke!"

"…"

"You think you're so funny, don't you!"

"Maybe."

"Ghaa!" Naruto pulled his own hair in frustration while Sasuke just kept on walking. To anyone who didn't know Sasuke thoroughly, they would think he was merely smirking in an arrogant way. However, as Kakashi rushed over to Sasuke to ask him if he was alright and if he was still going to keep Naruto or not, he recognised it to be a tiny smile. Not a smirk, not a grin.

Just a smile.

Kakashi then wondered whether he should prepare himself for the apocalypse or not.

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(1) I know foxes don't live in packs and usually are alone instead so it wouldn't really matter if the other foxes hated him, but this is a fairytale-like story, so use your imagination for it n.n

(2) Foxes pounce on their prey. I want to make Naruto as fox-like as possible, even as a human X3. I'll probably throw in some pranks later on in the story as well –grins-. Poor Sasu-chan is gonna have a hard time XD.