Hey it's been forever and I apologize, I would say I've been busy but I have had time just not much inspiration. I know this is short, especially for me, but I wanted to get something up so here it it. So anyway based of the Princess and the Pea and I hope you like it! Please review.
A young blond man frowned as he stomped down the hall, he looked like a three year old that got sent to bed early. He had just received the news that he wouldn't be allowed to inherit the throne from his great aunt Tsunade unless he got married to a woman that the council approved of. He growled, it was completely unfair for the council to withhold the throne, his birthright, from him until he got married, and they knew he was gay! He knew that they were just looking for any excuse to keep the throne from him, the unpopular prince. It wasn't his fault that he was born on the day that his parents died and they shouldn't hold it against him! He ran a tan hand through his golden locks and sighed, calming himself down knowing that there was nothing he could do about it.
He shook his head when he thought about the fact that all the girls would be vying for his attention and wouldn't understand why he was refusing their advances. He wished that he would just be allowed to marry whomever he wished, namely a boy. He may wish for that but he knew that as long as the council had his dream of ruling the kingdom to hold over him he would have to abide by their insane rules. He suddenly heard a knock on the main door of the palace and increased his speed, diving into his room and slamming the door the moment that the first princess was admitted. He collapsed on his bed as he thought about the worst part of this whole ordeal; he didn't even get to pick his own bride! The council had devised a competition for all the princesses and noble's daughters that they had attracted and whoever won would be his bride. He groaned as he thought about what type of girl would fit the council's strict standards. She would have to have impeccable manners, and be very serious, in short, no fun at all.
He frowned as he heard a knock on his door, he just knew whoever it was had been sent by the council to get him to meet all the eligible women they had in the foyer or wherever they were keeping them. It wasn't as if he couldn't stand the presence of women, besides the snobbish ones, it's just that he didn't want them hanging all over him; he didn't like their curves against him. He sighed wishing once again that the council would just let him fall in love with a handsome man and get married that way but he knew the only way he could do that would be to run away and leave his dream of becoming Hokage, the name of the kings and queens of this particular kingdom, behind.
"Prince Naruto I know you're in their!" a feminine voice called through the door, "The council demands your presence in their meeting room immediately."
"Well you can tell them that I'm not coming out of this room," he growled in response, probably wasn't the best idea if he wanted them to agree to give him the kingdom but he was too pissed to care.
"I thought you'd say that," and older voice calmly spoke and the Prince sat up as he recognized the voice of the woman councilor, "and that is why I informed the chefs that you will not be needing dinner tonight, what a pity it was ramen night too." Naruto growled at this, they knew exactly what to hold over him to get him to do their bidding, nothing would keep him from his ramen and they knew that well.
"I'll be there in 5 minutes," he growled and listened to the footsteps retreat from his door before falling back onto his pillow. After a few moments he groaned as he pulled himself up and walked as slowly as he possible could and dived behind a wall or column whenever he heard footsteps, he didn't want to chance running into one of the suitors.
"You're late," the old woman from the pair crooned as he walked in the room.
"You didn't give me much notice," Naruto responded as he closed the door behind him, obviously irritated.
"If you can't make time to get to your meetings with us," the male on the council spoke, "than how would you have time to be Hokage." It was good that Naruto's back was still to the council because his face turned into a mask of rage. He collected himself the best he could before e spoke, his back still to the council, not trusting himself to face them just yet.
"What did you call me here for," his voice was strained with an obvious angry undertone, but he knew that he couldn't anger them or his chance at his dream was gone.
The two council members exchanged a look behind his back before responding. "We will give you specific instructions about what is expected of you during this time," there was no need for her to expand on what time she was referring to.
The man waited a moment for Naruto to respond and when it became obvious that he wouldn't he took the opportunity to start listing the rules. "You are to be civil to every woman who enters this palace. You will also refrain from mentioning any of the tasks they will face; it is not allowed for any of them to have an unfair advantage over the others." He paused for a moment and glanced at the prince, who was still not facing them, waiting for some acknowledgement. After a moment Naruto realized what was expected of him and nodded stiffly.
"You are expected to spend a small amount of time with each of the girls but you are not allowed to show favoritism," the woman said the moment he nodded. "If you break this rule it will cause dysfunction amongst the girls and will limit your possibilities. You must refrain from any relations that are more intimate than that of acquaintances or, when we are nearing the end, that of not intimate friends who run in the same social circle." Once again Naruto nodded, still refusing to face the two elders that were addressing him.
"You will be required to attend many events to get acquainted with these women that will double as tests for them, it is essential that you do not distract or sabotage them in any way. Every day we will wake you early to go over the schedule of what is required of you for the day, this will begin tomorrow morning. We will now go over the details of this competition." Naruto nodded again, wondering why they even bothered to explain what was going on. Probably so he didn't mess it up he figured.
"This is a points based competition where each test is worth a certain number of points, the number they are rewarded is based on how well they complete the test," the elder male spoke, his eyes fixated on the back of the blond's head. "At the end of every day every woman that does not meet the minimum requirement of points for the day will be eliminated, if all women are above the requirement then the woman with the least number of points will be sent home. There are also essential tests that must be passed; if those tests are failed the woman will be sent home immediately."
"This competition starts out with easier tests with a few checks to make sure that these women fit all of the necessary requirements that must be possessed by a Queen in this kingdom," the y-chromosome possessor said. "If any of those tests are failed they will also be sent home at once. You will be informed of the tests before hand so you may take care to not distract any of the contenders during the tests, but you will be monitored whenever you are in the presence of any of the contestants to be sure that you do not slip any clues to them."
"The competition will commence precisely at the hour of 9 o'clock exactly one week from today. During that wait period you will be expected to attend all meals and other events we plan as well as get to know the women on your own time. You must refrain from mentioning a single detail about the competition for you may let something slip that we are not planning on informing the contestants."
"If anyone arrives later than the time we previously specified they will be docked points, the amount of which wholly resides on the distance from the specified hour at which they arrive. If there is a person that arrives after lunch that day they will be sent home as that amount of tardiness is not allowed," the man said with a tone of finality to which the prince only nodded.
"You may leave now, but you must be prepared to attend meetings with us at any moment, more of your tardiness will not be accepted at this vital time." With that the blond opened the door and escaped into the hall furious, they were treating him like a child that was incapable of behaving! He growled as he stalked down the hall towards the kitchen, there was no reason for them to act like he would be sabotaging the contestants at every turn, he was only planning on doing that to the completely intolerable ones, gosh! He continued with this train of thought until he was finally given his ramen, at that point he was incapable of thinking of anything else, not realizing that this was the last meal he would be allowed to have alone in the kitchen for a long while.
A tuft of blond hair was peeking out from under the bright orange quilt on the bed of the prince the morning after his run in with the council of elders. It had been difficult for him to fall asleep the night before; he couldn't stop thinking about the competition and how much he hated it. He hadn't fallen asleep until a few hours after midnight and obviously the council didn't care, they sent a messenger to bring him to them at 5:30 sharp. As the knocking on his door persisted the prince pulled the quilt even farther up over his head so not a single hair was visible of him, but it did little to block out the noise. He groaned when he heard a key in the lock on his door and knew that his peace was over.
"Prince Naruto, your presence is required in the meeting room by the elders," the messenger said, "I have also been given orders to douse you with a bucket of cold water if you do not comply with these wishes."
Groaning Naruto threw back the covers and glared at the messenger, he knew it wasn't his fault and that he was just doing his job, but at this point he really didn't care.
"Tell then I'll be right there," he growled before throwing the blanket back over his face. He heard the door close and sighed before getting up to get ready for what would be one of the longest days of his life. He yawned as he pulled on his tunic and belt then rubbed his eye. He stared unseeing at the floor for a moment before shaking his head and going off to the meet with the council of elders.
"Good morning Prince Naruto," the woman councilor said cordially as Naruto entered the room.
"Why did I have to be here at 6 a.m.?" the blonde asked ignoring the normal greetings that one would usually exchange.
"Respect for your elders is a quality that we look for in a king," the female councilor responded causing Naruto's face to tighten.
"And allowing one to get enough sleep to be able to properly function is something expected of advisors," he thought to himself but didn't say it out loud for fear of offending the ones that had control of his future even more.
"We summoned you here to go over what will be expected of you today," the male councilor said as he entered the room not noticing the tension in the air. The woman shot one last pointed look at the prince before putting on her usual expression of loftiness.
"Today you will be expected to great all of the Princesses that arrived last night and breakfast with them in the formal dining room," this was the woman.
"After that you will be going for a walk around the gardens with everyone who has arrived," the man this time.
"When you return you will great any ladies who arrived during your absence and will then go to the tailor and get fitted for some new clothes," again the woman.
"After that you will get changed for lunch which will be held in the formal dining room."
"The afternoon is a time for the woman to meet with each other and wander around the designated areas of the palace; you will be required to be in those areas for exactly half of that time unless you are greeting a new arrival."
"We expect you to then get changed for dinner and go to your bedroom immediately after."
"It is expected that you will be kind and cordial to all the woman who are here and make small talk with each one."
"You are not to reveal anything about the competition to come or talk about preferences among the contestants that you may have."
"It is expected that you spend time with each woman and not show any favoritism."
"You will be watched during this time to make sure that you don't mess up."
"Now go and get prepared for breakfast." And with that Naruto was ushered out of the room and followed by a team of attendants that spend the next two hours scrubbing and prodding him until they deemed him presentable and he deemed himself unrecognizable. The second that the team was satisfied with his appearance they shoved him out the door and down the hall for breakfast least he miss a single moment that he could be spending with the egotistical princesses. If he hadn't been half dragged by attendants, no doubt they had been instructed to see him to the dining room, he would have taken his sweet time getting down there, likely would have taken him the better part of the day.
"Prince Naruto!" a high pitched voice squealed the moment he entered the room and caused him to flinch. He looked up and saw a girl with short pink hair and a green silk dress flying toward him along with a girl with long white blonde hair and a purple silk dress of the same cut trying to pull her back.
"Ah, Sakura and Ino, your here already?" he looked at the rival princesses of the small kingdoms neighboring his own, he had known them for basically all his life and they competed over everything, which now apparently included him. He knew that if this wasn't a competition the girls wouldn't even give him the time of day, sure he was a prince but they would be swooning over the foreign Prince Sasuke just like everyone else, well if he wasn't dead that was. His thoughts about the Uchiha tragedy were cut short by more squeals of Princesses and nobles daughters as they entered the room and saw him, the sought after prize already there. Groaning to himself he steeled his spirits and put on a smile for the crowd.
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