A Frozen Heart
Arc:1 ~ Prince to Peasant
The kingdom of Konoha, a rich place among the poor. A place which is known for its lush green scenery, riches and safety. The Kingdom has never seen poverty since the last great war which took place between the Seven Kingdoms. After the war concluded, Konoha was the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, dethroning the Fire Kingdom from it's cruel reign for over a century.
The present King of this land is generous towards his people, allowing them to live a happy life inside the great walls and provide safety, good wages and tax reduction compared to before. The medical facilities were only second to Kingdom of Snow. The citizens, poor or rich were treated equally and lived healthy lives with their friends and family.
All in all, the King was loved by the people, so was the family of the King. He had a son and a daughter, along with his beautiful Queen who was known to be the prettiest among the Seven Kingdoms.
Today was different than any other day. Everyone was extra excited about the big event. The Prince of Konoha has finally chosen a bride and they are going to be married tonight at the Grand Palace. This was a big news for all the Kingdoms as they were invited to the Party as well which also solidifies the friendship between them.
The ordinary citizens were also invited for the party by the good King, which was something that normally royal families didn't do. The stereotype of Royal Blood not going well with the Peasants were still present in most places, but Konoha was not one of them. It believed in equality.
Everyone was extra excited today, the rich or the poor. They were all happy for the Prince. Unlike his father, he was quite the opposite in nature. While his father was gentle and polite, befitting a man of his status, his son was careless, easy going, straight forward and funny. Something which was opposite to his father. But people still loved him for his good heart. He helped the poor, the weak and would deal with foreign affairs every now and then which also led him to be friends with Gaara, the King of Kingdom of Sand.
On this exciting day, a certain pink haired girl was busy dressing up for her weeding. Sakura Haruno. But was she really as excited as others? Or not?
"Sakura-hime, which necklace do you like?"
Sakura Haruno, a girl raised in a small village which was under the rule of the previous King before the war. Despite their village not being a rich one, she was still the daughter of the Leader of the Tribe that resided there. After the war was over, they had moved to the Kings Land, the Kingdom of Konoha as they were given citizenships and rights to move in with their tribe members who were a great help during the great war. They specialized in healing techniques which they were best at next to the Senju Clan which were part of Kingdom of Snow.
"Whatever you like." Sakura stood up from her chair and exited the room despite small protests from the girls who were supposed to help her dress up.
She entered her room before closing the door and sliding her back down the door as she started to slowly break down in a stream of sobs.
She took out a locket which was hidden behind her clothes. She opened the locket as it revealed a picture of a boy with dark black hair.
"Sasuke-kun…"
(Scene Change)
"Onii-chan, can you please stop making a mess out of your clothes? Just choose the white one!" A girl with fiery orange hair spoke in a rather irritated manner. She was the youngest of the two siblings.
"Shut up Nishi! It's my marriage day, not a school party!" The boy growled angrily quite contradictory to the blush that was present on his face.
"Ugh gross… Sakura-san is so unlucky to get an uncool guy like you." His sister sighed, causing him to frown.
"Hey! Don't say that! I love her sooooooooooooo much! I will make sure I keep her happy! Now buzz off! Ugly!"
"WHO YOU CALLING UGLY!"
"You, who else?"
"MOM! LOOK!"
"Naruto stop arguing with your sister!"
"M-mom! What you doing here?" The prince stuttered with embarrassment.
'Did she hear all that?' Naruto shook his head to calm down. 'No no no, that's too embarrassing to even be true.'
"I know you are excited that you get to marry the girl you have a crush on since you were a kid, but you must not forget you are the Prince of Konoha, so do not act all giddy at the party. Understood?" His mother spoke with slight authority before smiling when he nodded.
"Good, save the excitement for late night."
"M-mom!"
"What a kid. Gross." His sister rolled her eyes which only caused him to grow angry.
"Shut the fu- hehe I didn't say it!" Naruto paled as he saw his mother's smiling face which was a bad sign.
"No foul words!"
"Hai!"
(Scene Change-Marriage Ceremony.)
"Hey look it's the Prince!"
"Wow… he looks so nice… Sakura-hime is so lucky!"
Naruto grumbled as he walked down the stairs, thousands of guests awaiting his presence. He could see the shadow of his Father who was seating on the second floor.
'Heh, acting like a king and all.'
"Onii-chan, look at the guests, not elsewhere. Baka!" His sister whispered followed by an elbow on his ribs.
"I will kill you one of these days." Naruto gritted his teeth from the pain and smiled once he walked in front of the guests.
Cheers could be heard which surrounded the whole kingdom.
"Ahm.. Well thank you everyone for coming to my weeding… I really appreciate your presence." Naruto spoke in a formal manner, much to his displeasure.
"The honor is our, Ouji-sama." A man spoke politely which was contrary to his heavy tone. Half of his face was covered in bandages as he looked at the prince sternly. Naruto knew his status and the cheap tricks he always played to dethrone the Kingdom, but he lacked manpower and the money so the King didn't bother much with his advances.
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment as one after another clan leader spoke up, greeting him and congratulating him.
'How long is this boring stuff going to last? Ugh…'
(Scene Change)
Finally, the moment came that Naruto fantasized since 'that' day. He was inches away to kiss the girl that he fell in love with and cherished every memories of her like the most expensive Jewel.
But he couldn't kiss her. Not with those eyes…
Naruto pulled her face to his left, blocking the view from the people as he placed a quick kiss on her nose, before letting go off her. To rest it seemed like they kissed which caused the whole Kingdom to erupt in loud cheers with joy as the marriage ceremony concluded.
Sakura widened her eyes as Naruto let go of her and faked a smile at the audience. She was surprised for a moment but later thought maybe he was just shy. But she still felt there was a reason behind his action. Not that she cared but she was still surprised.
'Why did he do that…'
(Scene Change)
Naruto closed the door behind as he entered his room. His newly wed bride sitting on the bed ever so gracefully with her long white dress laying down on the bed. Her pinks hair fully let down as she took off the hat she was wearing. A picture that Naruto dreamed for since that day. He sighed heavily and shook his head.
Naruto slowly walked past her and stood near the window, facing outside.
Sakura quickly stood up with a slight acknowledgement and a sense of urgency from his presence. After all he was the prince and she was a nobody.
"Naruto-san… I-I will get ready soon!" She spoke hurriedly and turned around to get ready for whatever the future hold. She had accepted everything. There was nothing she could do now.
"Don't worry, sit down. We need to talk." Naruto spoke with a smile, surprising her for the second time tonight. She slowly turned around and nodded.
She sat back on the bed as 'commanded' by him, awaiting for him to continue.
"What do you want to talk about?" She asked with a low voice. Her eyes still glistering with the tears that she wiped off few moments ago.
"Well... I will go straight to the point, was this marriage forced on you?" Naruto asked, trying to sound as normal as possible. But inside he was scared. Scared to even think of the possibility.
Fear was present in her eyes as those words left his mouth. She looked at him, horrified. Once Naruto's eyes met her eyes, she quickly looked down, forcing herself to not show her tear stains.
"I-I don't know why you would ask that." She replied tactfully.
"Sakura-cha- Sakura-san, you don't need to be scared of me. I won't do anything that may cause problem to you or anyone related to you." He more or less had an idea of what the cause was, seeing her reaction. He wasn't someone that would usually make people intimidated so he could tell her expression wasn't due to his presence but reasons that was related to the weeding.
To say he was sad would be an understatement. He was completely heartbroken despite showing otherwise as he spoke.
There was a moment of silence between the two until she replied.
"Yes… I didn't have consent on this marriage... I... I didn't even know you personally before today… and… I am in love with someone else already…"
His eyes widened, and his mouth agape. He quickly turned around, not facing her as his eyes teared up. He brushed his face against the curtain before looking back to her.
She looked at him with an apologetic look. Naruto gave her a fake smile.
"Thanks for saying me the truth Sakura-san… I am happy you did."
Sakura looked at him with a sense of admiration on how he just replied. She could feel a warmness to his voice and something different that she couldn't quite understand... she had thought he would be a lot more different… after all he is the prince of Konoha who is soon to be crowned the King of the Seven Kingdoms.
'Why is he being so nice… did he not hear what I just said?'
"Well that being said, it will be politically unsafe for you if we take any rush action." Naruto continued.
"What do you mean?" She asked with confusion after getting out of her thoughts.
"You want to be with your loved one, don't you?" Naruto smiled
She looked at him, dumbfounded. 'Wait… what is this… wait what?!' She inwardly began to panic.
'Cha! Sasuke-kun here we come!' She quickly shook her head, dismissing the thought as she looked at him for answers.
"I- I… what do you.. I mean… how?" Was all she could say. She could feel a sudden sense of joy despite not believing his words for the time being.
"Leave that to me! Just give me two months. I will fix everything!" He replied with his usual cheerful manner, giving her a thumbs up.
For the first time tonight she smiled. A genuine smile. Soon the smile turned into a giggle.
Naruto just kept on staring at her face as she laughed at his silliness.
'Ah life is so unfair… I wish I was that loved one…' Sadness brushed his face which she couldn't see. She giggled closing her eyes, trying to supress her laughter as he kept staring at her perfect self.
'But you can force her to be. Don't forget your position.'
'If position could win her heart, I would conquer all the continents.'
'Heh. Dumb morals. What I hate about the Uzumaki Blood.'
Naruto ignored the last comment and sat beside her, startling her somewhat. She soon calmed down as he sat a bit further from her.
"So... first thing first, I need to know who you love, and what sort of deal does your father have with my father." Naruto asked, in a much more composed manner.
Sakura was taken aback from his deductive nature the least. He understood the whole thing without even her giving the details.
"His name is Sasuke... Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura replied with a smile, a faint blush brushing her cheeks.
Naruto laughed slightly which she didn't quite understand why.
"So he is the kid brother of Itachi huh…"
"Um… yes… you know him?" Sakura asked, growing interested in the topic. She had momentarily forgotten that she was speaking with a stranger for the first time, much more a Prince. His cheerful nature completely calmed her down.
'Heh way to go brat. Eat powder."
'Shut up for a sec…'
"You can say that…. so… as for the second part, what deal was done between our parents?"
"Um... I don't really know the main thing, but as far as I know it's to do with status… you know like how the Haruno Clan will rise if they are related with the Namikaze..." Sakura replied with a bit embarrassment. Personally she thinks it's a disgusting way… but she couldn't go against her family decision.
"I see… well!" He stood up with enthusiasm. "Let me think some stuff. For now just don't say anything to my parents… my mom is really protective of me… so do refrain to reveal anything to her." Naruto spoke. "I will see you tomorrow." With that said he started to exit the room.
"W-Where are you going?" Sakura asked as she stood up quickly noticing him reach for the door knob.
"Huh? Oh." Naruto smirked. "I wouldn't mind sleeping with a beautiful girl as yours truly, but you wouldn't want to or would you?" He walked and closed the door after leaving the room with an amused smile as her face changed into a tomato.
Sakura quickly shook off the unwanted thoughts and collapsed on her bed, staring at the celling, going through all the things that happened tonight… her marriage… Sasuke's letter… and now Naruto giving her a new hope… She was happy beyond imagination.
(Scene Change)
"So what are you doing in the roof when you should be in the bed?"
Naruto turned around and smiled. "What are you doing here when you should be guarding my father, Ino?"
(THE END)
This is a re-post of an older fan-fiction. Hope you like the new edited version. Review and let me know your thoughts. ~