A/N- Oh my holy hell, I actually had inspiration for this story! Yay! It is one of those stories that comes and goes, and it is really fun to write when I am driven enough to write it. So yay. Happy Update everyone, if you harass me enough I will update within the week!!!

Warnings: Cliché horse names…

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I mean, obviously..

Hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 2

Naruto looked about himself nervously. He didn't know what he was going to do about his new situation. He didn't even know if he wanted to do anything but go along with it.

Who knows, maybe being able to even be near the King's gorgeous horses would be worth it.

The blond had always loved being near horses anyway, mainly because they were so misunderstood and oddly like him. Those who had never worked with the animals assume that they are self-confident animals, proud and beautiful, just like people just assumed he was a headstrong and overly prideful orphan.

The sad reality was that both him and the animals were insecure when alone, and like each other they longed for a 'herd' to surround them and make them feel safe.

Now he would have his own family, and it didn't matter if they were human or not… it was still the closest thing he had ever had to one.

Naruto was stirred out of his thoughts when he face connected with the butt of the great black horse in front of him. He jumped to the side quickly, narrowly avoiding an angry kick directed his way from the offended beast.

The king smirked down at him and he blushed furiously, bowing to Itachi.

"Sorry Highness, I didn't mean to anger your horse… I was just.." Naruto looked up at that moment to see a magnificent stable right in front of him. "Beautiful…" he whispered in an awed voice.

Itachi rose an eyebrow at the boy. Maybe he had made a mistake in picking up this boy from the field, for he seemed like a complete idiot with a short attention span. Oh well, whatever got the horses taken care of.

"Listen up boy," He said as he dismounted his gigantic black gelding. The horse swung his head in irritation and Naruto went to stroke the horse soothingly without even registering what he was doing. The horse settled quickly under the gentle caresses, and Naruto's ears picked up chuckling coming from nearby.

He suddenly realized what he was doing when he saw the beautiful face of his country's ruler twisted into something that resembled a smile.

"It seems that you do have a way with horses, Naruto. Now if you will lead Dark (a/n Itachi isn't very creative when it comes to naming horses…) I will show you where you will be staying and tell you what I expect of you."

The blond nodded, taking Dark's reins and walking behind the king. He hadn't expected Itachi to show him around. That seemed far beneath something a noble would do, and from all the descriptions that Naruto had ever heard, Itachi was not one to casually show someone around.

Who knew though. Perhaps it had just been idle gossip..

The king and boy entered the stables through two great wooden doors and were greeted by soft sounds of rustling hay and swishing tails. The air was sweet and fresh, not the typical smell of horse crap that Naruto usually associated with barns. It was, after all, the most common odor in the cheap stable outside of the pub where he had so often made his bed in the soiled hay.

Itachi gestured towards a stall, "This is Dark's stall, when you are done grooming him, return him here and make sure that it is clean. Servants typically clean the stalls in the morning and evening, and I will expect you to take care of any mess in between."

He continued walking to the next stall, where another huge black stallion stood in the corner, nibbling at a large pile of hay. Itachi motioned at the four stalls next to Dark's. "The horse on the far left is Night, followed by Black, Coal, and Satan."

Naruto peered at the four horses, stifling a laugh just before it left his throat. All four horses were practically identical except for leg and face markings. The king must definitely have something for the color black…

Itachi just kept walking though, and Naruto struggled on his short legs to catch up with Dark walking next to him.

"I will have a cot put into one of my horses' stalls for you. You may choose which you prefer as a roommate, though I wouldn't recommend Satan, as he earned his name. You can get one meal a day directly from the kitchen door to the courtyard. There is no reason for you to be inside the castle at anytime or you will be punished severely. Also, if you do a good job then you will be given more meals, and perhaps your own stall."

"Yes Highness"

"Every morning you will wake up at four o' clock sharp and groom all of my horses. Exercise the ones I do not use or put them into one of the high-fenced pastures, as I would rather the stallions not cause any trouble. Clean all of my tack daily, whether it is used or not." Itachi stopped for a second as if in deep thought, then looked back at the blond boy, whom was mentally recording all of his duties.

"That is all I can think of for now. I will have your cot sent down shortly, and I will leave it to you to find the kitchens and outdoor bathing facilities."

With that, the beautiful king swept out of the stables, leaving Naruto to groom Dark.

"I guess we are going to become good friends then Dark." Naruto grinned as he found un-tacked the horse and started to groom him.

The 'fearsome warhorse' nickered in response and persisted to push his head lightly against the blond boy, wanting his face to be rubbed.

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The night was terrible.

Naruto had put his cot into Dark's stall (which was around the size of a large apartment), and settled down happily under warm blankets, enjoying the peace of the stables.

And the Satan had started causing trouble. And by "causing trouble", he meant "kicking the stall door every four seconds and screeching so loud that nobody had a chance at sleeping."

Needless to say… Naruto was annoyed.

He had already tried yelling "shut up!" a few times… but he knew it wouldn't work, he just didn't want to get up. He did have to be up inhumanly early after-all… especially if he wanted to pick up his meal before he groomed the horses.

He stood up groggily, wrapping his warm blankets about him as he stumbled from darks stall and over to Satan's. The horse stared at him through frighteningly intelligent eyes, looking slightly panicked at his appearance. The horse's face was covered almost completely in a large white marking, and his legs were white all the way up past its knees. He was a beautiful horse, though slightly smaller than the rest, he exuded a sort of greatness that the rest couldn't compare to.

Naruto opened the stall door and stepped into the stall. Satan eyed him curiously as the blond approached him, not quite sure what to make of the human that was so much tinier than any others he had seen before. The black horse stepped forward, flaring his nostrils and inhaling the horse-scent of the boy. Nartuto set his hand on the white of the horses' face, rubbing in calming circles.

"Why are you being so obnoxious, ya big beast?"

Big brown eyes stared back at him, uncomprehending, yet finely pointed ears fixed on his voice.

Naruto found a comfortable spot in the corner of the stall and lie down, talking about various things to the white-splattered horse. Satan followed him, listening to the soothing sound, slowly relaxing. The blond finally fell asleep to the sound of his own voice.

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A/N- I am in love with this story now… And don't worry, Sasuke and Naruto meet in the next chapter (which I am working on right now).

Oh! And in response to an anon. review that I got: Why yes! I do actually know what I am talking about when I comes to horses… cause I actually train them. Haha… yep, I actually waste away all of my spare time working with crazy things that nobody else wants to deal with. And then I have my own crazy ones to deal with… So yep, I need reviewers to tell me if I go to much into a "horse tangent" and not enough into the story. (though this chapter doesn't count, cause it was all necessary I tell you!)

Thank you all for reading! Now review! (they make me update faster! Cause its like peer pressure I tell you!)