Disclaimer: Not mine. Not ever. Just having fun for the hell of it. No profit. No nothing. Etcetc.

Full Summary: Sasuke is after the Sword of Legend that will allow him to become King of The Land. Naruto is the Creature that guards it and he won't just give up that power to anybody.

Pairing List: Sasuke/Naruto

Beta: Unavailable at the moment.

A/N: A series of eight small oneshots inspired by a word in order to get the creative juices flowing, I also wanted to write something and post it for a friend who gave me something recently. She knows who she is :)

The title of the story 'We'll Do This, Again And Again' represents the fact that these are all AU stories and are ways the characters could have 'gotten together' outside the ninja world. The title below will change in each chapter as it is the title for this particular oneshot, the summary will also change to fit the story. The word inspiring this chapter is 'Beneath'.

The pairings in these eight stories will alternate between Kakashi/Iruka and Sasuke/Naruto but I may also do one Gaara/Neji. Possibly. I also can't guarantee how frequently I'll upload them. It'll be luck of the moment and free time, I'm afraid.

Anyway though, the first one - and wow did it run away with me. Hopefully it is 'mostly' in character considering it's an AU. I haven't written fanfic in a while, I may be rusty…

We'll Do This, Again And Again

Sasuke had been travelling for many months. He has gone past the edge of written record, using nothing but the legends of old, past down to the elders in villages and circulated through obscure passages of folklore.

He has become almost unrecognizable, gone are the rich travelling robes, the marks that make him one of the last Princes' with a claim on the throne. He has the look of a peasant and hardly feels human, caked in layers of filth and surviving on the animals he has killed and the few remaining things he had left to sell.

It would have made a lesser man crumble, but him, not Sasuke Uchiha. Stubborn, determined and uncompromising in his quest for his rightful power of King of The Land, not just the one province his family had been clinging to for generations. He wanted more and that was why he was here. Here in this strange forest that had taken him weeks to navigate, constantly circling his way towards the centre.

His perseverance was starting to pay off; in the last hour the sounds of unfamiliar creatures had started fading until he now walked in an eerie, pointed silence. Triumph was beginning to surge through his veins; knowing in his very core that he was close to the Creature of The Lake's resting place.

The Creature was said, in legend, to be a fierce and deadly thing. It had hunted in the woods for thousands of years, preying on nearby villages and drawing all the magic and powerful items of the Land into its domain. No end had been in sight when, all of a sudden and without warning, the Creature seemed to disappear. The woods continued to pulse with animosity but nothing strayed out of it, the forest stood still and silent, waiting for anyone brave enough to step inside and try and discover its secrets.

Few had ever tried, less had ever returned.

Sasuke refused to be such a casualty. He had done his research and had trained since a boy for this moment. No creature or obstacle had stopped him thus far and now he was here, at the middle of the forest and ready to face battle.

The foreboding hum of magic that filled the woodland reached a peak as he shoved a branch out of his way, the feeling pressing against him like a weight, but he just growled and yanked the last of the foliage away.

He froze the second his sight was clear, cursing at himself and drawing his sword as he looked around the clearing before him. The ground was emerald grass for a few meters before it mixed in with the mud, the sludge that the edge of the lake would have, should have lapped at to create the effect. The lake was perfectly still.

The water was a complete circle, surrounded the exact same way by mud and than grass that spread up to the protective line of trees. Steeling himself, Sasuke stepped from his place among the branches. The moment his feet touched the grass, the humming stopped. The quiet sounded more foreboding to his mind, the whole clearing was deathly still, the air expelled from his lungs seemed a foreign taint to the mystical place.

Sasuke knew he was being watched, judged by the Creature.

He gripped his sword and called, "Show yourself. I am not here to play games."

The air was considering, a direct channel to the Creature's emotions, the whole forest seemed to breathe, act and live the way it did. Sasuke's lips thinned at the understanding of why cutting branches hadn't worked, why he'd had to shove them away and how resisting they had been. The attempt to weaken him before the battle had been well thought up by this Creature.

"You are not here to play games?" The voice echoed oddly through the clearing. The laughter it let loose was even stranger and made a shiver work down Sasuke's spine. It was inhuman. "What would you call it, a fight? I call it a game."

Sasuke felt his teeth bare in a snarl. "I will change your mind on that."

He swore he could feel the smile, just like he could feel the magic earlier. "Maybe. You are the first human I've seen in three hundred years." There was a considering pause. "The first who has reached this clearing… but I still do think it's kind of hilarious."

Life or death was a joke to this Creature, of course after thousands of years he wouldn't consider it such a stake. Sasuke bit back another retort. "Show yourself, Creature."

"… You were being so good too, not calling me that."

"You have no other name to me, now reveal yourself."

A thoughtful noise echoed around the clearing before a small ripple started to form in the middle of the lake. A few moments later, a small wind picked up and the ripples spread further. Sasuke raised his sword slightly, corrected his stance to be ready for any attack that might be launched.

Slowly, from the murky blue of the water a tuft of golden blonde hair broke the surface. There was no dampness, no mud just dry golden hair and a tanned face with deep black whisker marks and completely black eyes. It was all exposed with no reflection on the water, no hint of the body that was beneath it.

Sasuke stood stunned as the Creature continued to rise, revealing a man's body that was clothed more beautifully than even the material a royal owned in its white and fire patterned robe. Yet despite it, there was such an open display of its lack of humanity; nine orange and black tails were flicking to life behind him, the animal like ears now noticeable, buried in the golden locks of his hair and his face, eyes so black and teeth sharp and jutting out over his lips in a small smile.

"I did what you wanted," the Creature spoke, sounding more human than before and making the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck rise. "Now, I would request something from you in return."

Sasuke was more inclined to take the moment to try a quick, surprise attack and gain an advantage but the Creature was too far away and the lake seemed treacherous, too heavily under the Creature's control for the risk to work in his favour.

"Why?"

The Creature smiled and Sasuke was impacted with the memory of an elder's tale of razor sharp teeth that could bite through anything placed in its way. Sasuke felt the first tendrils of worry form, faced with the calm, curious presence in front of him, so blatantly displaying its power in the simplest of movements.

"I've spent a long time without conversation. A really long time. You can't want to get into a fight so soon?" His eyes crinkled into little half-moons that were almost enough to make him look ridiculous, but Sasuke wasn't about to underestimate an enemy or get angry at the Creature's assumption it would live and he would die.

Sasuke gave the Creature a narrow-eyed look. "You request a conversation?"

"Yup."

Sasuke's eye twitched at the peasant-like reply even as his mind analyzed the situation. Agreeing to the terms could grant him an advantage, a chance for the other to let their guard down. It might also be a way to learn where the Sword of Legend was, the reason he was here.

"…What do you want to know?"

The Creature smiled. "Well, we can start with your name."

"My… name?"

"Isn't that how conversations begin?"

The Creature was teasing him it was… it was an unprecedented, unimagined turn of events and he had to fight extremely hard not to let the irritation affect him. He had to remain on guard and not be thrown by any methods it implemented.

"Prince Sasuke Uchiha of the Konoha Province."

The Creature actually blinked. "That's long." Then. "And pompous."

"You requested it," Sasuke bit out.

The Creature shifted his feet but the water didn't move. "Right. Sasuke. You can call me Naruto."

Sasuke stared and it was his turn to blink. "You have a name?" A nod. "And it's Naruto?"

The Creature - Naruto - frowned. "What's wrong with it?"

"It lacks intimidation for one," he responded without thinking before internally cursing and gripping his sword tighter.

His decision not to get distracted - to not become susceptible to whatever methods used was already failing. He had also insulted the Creature, he was starting to prepare for an attack but instead, he got a laugh.

"I have more intimidation than I can bear," Naruto whined, actually whined, Sasuke was finding it hard to believe this was what guarded the Sword of Legend. Well, from the perspective of appearance he could, the tails and eyes were intimidating it was the rest of him that left something to be desired. "You'd think a few thousand years would give a family a clean slate."

That caught his attention.

"Family?"

Something shuttered went over Naruto's face and even his voice changed, got darker, a warning heavy in his tone as the trees behind Sasuke rustled protectively. "Once."

Sasuke knew when to let a matter lie.

"Well if you wish to be less 'intimidating'," and Sasuke took half a moment to wonder how his quest for power had taken such an unpleasant turn. What conquering story consisted of such a diplomatic conversation? "perhaps you should refrain from emerging from and hovering over a lake."

Naruto looked down as if he'd actually failed to notice what he was doing, and laughed. The picture of embarrassment was only added to when he ran a hand over the back of his head. Like a repentant child. "I always forget about that."

Casually, he walked across the lake like it was solid ground, Sasuke actually glanced at the water, leaning forward slightly and wondering how much of it was magic, and how much was natural, subconscious ability on Naruto's part.

Naruto continued once the water ended, over the mud until he was standing on the grass, opposite Sasuke with no more than a meter between them. He didn't have a speck of dirt on him and Sasuke had the brief, inane annoying thought that they were meeting when he was hardly at his best.

"So," Naruto began casually, "what are you here for? Please don't say it's just to kill me for the sake of it."

He sounded both serious and joking with his question. Sasuke wasn't fooled though, there was something dangerous at the back of Naruto's eyes that told him, in no uncertain terms what would happen if that was his reason and his answer. Sasuke saw no point in lying. "I am here for the Sword of Legend."

Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly. "Huh. I'm surprised that hasn't faded from living memory."

Sasuke very pointedly did not wonder how old Naruto was to have that idea and he also, despite the lack of threat in Naruto's posture, did not relax the firm grip on his sword.

"It is well known that you guard it."

Naruto's smirk was wide and roguish. "No it's not. You're the only one who's come looking for it. Just what did you find about it, Sasuke?"

He couldn't keep the small, self-satisfied smirk from appearing. Yes, his research, his perusal of dead languages and examination of the three perceived resting places of the sword had greatly paid off.

"What I needed to."

Naruto barked out a laugh. "Stubborn, arrogant and power-hungry, oh you'd do those old King's proud wouldn't you?"

It wasn't a compliment, Sasuke knew it, but hearing from someone who had been around in those days that he would have been worthy of the old King's made something in him blaze with triumph. I have lived up to that, not my brother or the other Princes' trying to steal the Throne. I have.

"So you want to be King, huh?" Naruto asked, looking him up and down and burning him with the gaze. "You think you can do that job?"

"Without question," he almost snarled. He felt the burn of desire for it, the feeling that had kept him going all these years, striving for this moment. He lifted his sword and stared hard at Naruto, the Creature didn't flinch. "Now give me what I came for."

Nartuo actually tutted. "Now, Sasuke, do you really want to do this?"

"I will stop at nothing to get the Sword of Legend."

He didn't give the other a chance to react, he lunged for him. Sasuke was a skilled fighter and had trained vigorously since he was a boy. He could beat his brother and anything he had ever come up against. He was the best fighter; otherwise he would have never started his journey because if a person or a small creature could defeat you, fighting the Creature was a useless folly.

It took Naruto less than ten seconds to have him pressed helplessly against a tree. He had been disarmed easily, the sword now held by one of Naruto's tails while his wrists and ankles were equally pinned by a tail that burned his skin warningly like fire. Their grip was unbreakable. Naruto had his arms crossed, clicking his tongue again with disappointment.

"Sasuke," he sighed.

Ashamed and furious with himself, Sasuke cut the other off with a snarl. "I will kill you."

"I hardly see how," Naruto stated with a thread of amusement in his voice. "You really can't do much the way you are."

"I will not stop-"

"Yes, yes, I got that," Naruto told him, rolling his eyes. "I'm not even sure death would stop you. You're the kind of soul that would be angry enough to come back as a ghost."

Sasuke said nothing, his rage was still being held tight around him, but under it was the prickle of fear, the knowledge that he was trapped, alone in the middle of Naruto's forest. The Creature would kill him, he had been disarmed so effortlessly, his chances had never been existent and Naruto had known it the entire time. The only thing keeping him alive had been the conversation; he wondered if, knowing that, he would have continued to talk.

The thought made him curl his upper lip in distaste. This outcome might have been death, but he would not have chosen such a cowardly choice if given a second chance. His life had boiled down to this, death by a Creature named Naruto; humiliating but, grudgingly justifiable. It still bit into his pride.

Sasuke tilted his head, his dignity going with him to his grave. "Release me to fight again or take your chance to kill me now."

Naruto actually huffed out a breath in response, blowing golden bangs off his forehead as he looked at Sasuke with mild irritation. "You won't win if you 'fight' again."

It was obvious his choice of the word 'fight' was a concession to Sasuke and nothing more. Sasuke remembered him calling it all a game and Sasuke clenched his jaw, feeling the sting to his defensive capabilities continue to land.

"I will never stop. I want the Sword of Legend."

Naruto looked at him like he had the intelligence of small insect. "Have I even once told you that you needed to fight me for it?"

Sasuke blinked and than blinked again, staring at Naruto's exasperated expression as his mind was forced to pick itself up and move to a completely different train of consideration. Once there, his mind was quick to get up to speed.

"You'll give me the Sword of Legend?"

"I'll lend you the Sword of Legend," Naruto corrected, adding under his breath, "and what a horrible name it's picked up by the way-"

"What do you mean lend?" Sasuke cut in. He was almost ready to ignore all the fine print and grab the sword with both hands, but this was also being said by a Creature that had him pinned to a tree and he was not an idiot.

Naruto shrugged. "I've seen things go down the generations. It's not always pretty. I'm not giving it to you and having you give it to any heir you produce or cousin who's next in line. You'll get it until such time as you're done and I accept your decision to lend it to someone else."

There was something about the way he said it that made a warning alight in Sasuke's head. Cautiously, he questioned, "Accept my decision…? How do you expect to know it?"

Naruto smirked. "You don't expect me to just let you take it do you? Someone's got to make sure you don't abuse all that power."

Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally and he shook his head. "No."

"Don't think you have much say in the matter," Naruto retorted, looking like he was about to start bouncing on the spot like it had all turned out exactly how he had wanted it to. "It's either me and the sword or no sword at all." He grinned with conviction; knowing he had won and it infuriated Sasuke knowing it too. "Make your pick, Prince Sasuke Uchiha of the Konoha Province."

Sasuke clenched his teeth and his fists in a fury he had no outlet for. He was caught and he knew it.

"Fine," he snarled, glowering fiercely. It was with a sharp glance at the tails still holding him that he added, voice still bordering on murderous, "You can not be seen like that."

Naruto's smirk was cheeky. "Whatever you say, Sasuke."

There was a flash of light that encased the whole clearing. Sasuke's eyes closed on reflex and seconds later, the tails around his ankles and wrists disappeared and he would have fallen if a hand hadn't came to steady his chest. Sasuke opened his eyes, blinking a few times only to find that where the Creature had once stood with tails, ears and black eyes, in its place was a man with the same blonde hair but with bright blue eyes and the faintest whisker marks that hinted at what he truly was.

Sasuke was so busy staring at the man before him; outfit the same, teeth white and human and eyes like the sky and beautiful, so beautiful - that it was only when a small hit to his chest occurred that he looked down.

Holding his sword and wiggling it slightly, Naruto was lightly tapping his ribs. "Here's your old one."

Sasuke took it on instinct and with a swift turn, Naruto made his way back over to the lake. Sasuke lifted his eyes, watching the other go and assuring himself he was just making sure there was no indication of tails, nothing more when he looked him up and down - and his eyes lingered.

How had a Creature, devoid of human contact for centuries conjured the body of such a perfect one?

The question, as disconcerting as it was vanished into oblivion when Naruto raised his hands and slowly, coming out of the water much like he had, there appeared a blue light that seemed to glow from within a sheathed sword. Sasuke found himself beside Naruto in seconds, unaware he had even moved.

When it was fully removed it hovered in the air, the shine fading until it resembled a normal weapon. Naruto then drew it through the air with a gesture of his hands and took it from where it stopped in front of him. He stroked the sheath lightly before turning to face Sasuke.

Sasuke had to force his eyes away from the thing he'd be craving, searching and dreaming of since he was a child when Naruto spoke.

"Don't take this lightly," Naruto's eyes were serious and warning when Sasuke caught them. "This will give you the right to become King of The Land, but it will be your path to carve. Don't abuse this or I will take more than just this weapon from you."

Sasuke stayed locked in that gaze for what felt a lifetime. He slowly nodded his agreement and Naruto handed it over. The sword rested heavy in his palms and he felt the weight Naruto had only hinted at. He held the weight of the world in his palms as a King did, as a King should.

He unsheathed the sword and the blue was noticeable in the weapon, telling all who looked at it just what it was, the Sword of Legend, the power of ages. Sasuke allowed himself to stare a few moments more, to run his hand carefully over the blade before putting it back. He went to tie it to the free side of his waist, but Naruto held out his hand. Sasuke looked at the other with a frown.

"Your sword," Naruto paused and added, "the other one."

"Why?"

Naruto grinned. "You hardly need two and this way it's a swap. You get your normal life, your normal weapon back when I get mine. Until then, I'm playing in your world and I have to look the part, huh?"

He winked for added effect and Sasuke rolled his eyes before going to the sword at his side. He hesitated for a moment, touching his sword fondly. It had been an extension of him for years and it almost felt unnatural to be giving it up. He glanced at Naruto, and oddly, he knew that it would be in good hands.

Pulling it free, he handed the blade to the other but as soon as it rested in his palm; it lit up like fire, orange burning from it and remolding the sheath, the blade the entire structure of it. When it was finished, the hilt was more extravagant than Sasuke would have ever owned and hinted at Naruto's natural form.

Sasuke shot him a wary look. Naruto just grinned. "You're the only one who'll get that."

"It's hardly a soldier's sword," Sasuke remarked instead.

Naruto's eyes danced. "Oh, but I'm not a solider, Sasuke. I'm your council. I'm here to have some conversations, some fun and to keep an eye on things, you especially."

"I don't need an eye kept on." But he also frowned, Naruto's words sparking a memory and making Sasuke's eyes narrow. "Your last encounter with humans was three hundred years ago? Have you done something like this before?"

Naruto snorted and shook his head.

"Nope," he paused though and tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, his eyes going curious and almost soft, fond. It made Sasuke wanted to startle and caused his shoulders to tense. Naruto didn't seem to mind or notice. "You're the only one who's…" he laughed. "I don't know, been so unreasonable? You wouldn't get lost in my forest; you wouldn't get scared or get defeated. You just kept persisting and I just ended up having to meet you."

"You met me," Sasuke stated, trying not to let his discomfort at what Naruto had down and the test he'd unknowingly been taking, leech into his voice, "why follow me?"

Naruto's whole face brightened. "You worked so hard and got the Sword of Legend, I can't wait to see what you're going to do with it!"

Sasuke didn't know whether to be annoyed or… confused by him. "You really find this to be nothing more than a game, don't you?"

"What else would you call it?"

"Life," Sasuke suggested, feeling slightly awkward.

Naruto looked at him oddly. "Aren't they the same thing?"

Sasuke, for all that he was schooled and had known exactly what he had wanted to achieve during his time in this world… he couldn't find anything to say to that response. Instead he just turned away and made his way towards the edge of the clearing, gesturing, without thinking, for the other to follow.

When the trees actually parted for him to walk through, closely followed by Naruto, sword hanging at his side and cheeky grin now back in place, Sasuke wondered how many times in his life he would walk beside Naruto and forget just what he really was. How many times he would talk to Naruto and rule as King of The Land but continue to forget just how much of this 'game' he actually had any control of.

A/N: I rather like these characters, I hope you do to even if parts of them don't fit fully with canon - AU gets a bit of liberty, right?. And yes this is mildly 'King Arthur/Excalibur/Lady of the Lake'ish and while it was vaguely in mind, I also think Sasuke is no King Arthur and Naruto is no lady ;)

READ THE ABOVE A/N FOR INFORMATION ON HOW THIS STORY IS WRITTEN/UPDATED PLEASE.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the pairing and rating level in the coming chapters will fluctuate as well as everything else, just depends how the story/pairing/prompt strikes me and the words flow. Reviews also tend to inspire me to write faster, just so you know. Thanks for reading!