Beauty and the Beast: Gaara/Amy style!
By NalaxSimba
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or the movies!
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Once upon a time, a selfish young prince refused to give an old beggar-woman shelter in his castle, but the old woman was really an enchantress. As punishment, she turned the prince into a terrifying beast named Shukaku and cast a spell on everyone else in the castle. Giving Shukaku a magical rose she said, "This will bloom until your twenty-first year. If you learn to love another and earn that person's love before the last petal falls, the spell will be broken. If not, you will remain as Shukaku forever."
In a sleepy village named Konoha that lived nearby, an eccentric inventor named Daichi lived with his two sisters, Haruka and Amy. His sister Amy was the best-looking girl in town (thought by a man named Sai and Daichi).
Sai, a strong and handsome young man, had decided that he wanted to make Amy his wife. "After all," he told his friend, Yamato, "she's the best-looking girl in town—and I deserve the best."
Sai arrived at Amy's house, confident Amy would agree to marry him. But, when he asked her, Amy refused without a second thought; she knew she could never marry someone as arrogant and conceited as Sai.
"Is he gone?" Amy asked her pet dog once Sai left. "Oh, can you imagine? He asked me to marry him! Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless..." Amy began to sing. "'Madame Sai!' Can't you see it? 'Madame Sai!' His little wife—ugh! No sir! Not me! I guarantee it! I want much more than this provincial life! I want adventure in the great, wide somewhere! I want it more than I can tell! And for once it might be grand to have someone understand. I want so much more than they've got planned!" Amy groaned as she ran out in to the field. Then, she reluctantly headed back to the house.
One day, Daichi set off for a fair with his latest invention. Haruka was on her honeymoon with Itachi, her husband, so Amy stayed behind to look after the house. As night fell, he lost his way and had to seek refuge in Shukaku's castle. Daichi was welcomed by some friendly, enchanted servants, including a playful fox kid named Naruto, a wolf named Hana, another wolf named Tsume and Tsume's son—and Hana's brother—Kiba, a wolf pup.
But Shukaku was furious when he discovered a stranger in his home and threw Daichi in the dungeon. When Daichi's horse returned alone, Amy set off at once to search for her brother.
"Oh, brother," Amy cried when she saw her brother in the dungeon. "We must get you out of here!" Sensing danger, Amy turned round. There was Shukaku, towering over her and growling loudly. "Please let my brother go," Amy pleaded. "I'll take his place here." Shukaku agreed at once. He dragged Daichi out of his cell and sent him back to the village. Shukaku showed Amy to her room. "You can go anywhere in the castle," he told her, "except the West Wing. That is forbidden!"
Poor Amy was miserable! She missed her siblings and her home. The objects and animals of the castle prepared a wonderful meal for her and tried to cheer her up by singing and dancing.
But Amy was still lonely, and later that night, she wandered through the castle. She found herself in the West Wing. There, among broken furniture and cracked mirrors, she found the magic rose, its petals drooping sadly. Just as Amy was about to touch the rose, Shukaku burst in howling with rage. Terrified, Amy ran out into the snowy night.
Amy leapt on to her brother's horse and set off blindly into the dark forest. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a pack of hungry, vicious wolves. Just as the wolves closed in for the kill, Shukaku appeared through the trees. Fighting bravely, he drove the wolves away. But then Shukaku sank in to the ground in pain. The wolves had injured him! Amy knew she couldn't leave him there alone. She took Shukaku back to the castle and gently tended to his bleeding wounds. He seemed different now, and she was no longer frightened of him.
Meanwhile, in Konoha's tavern, Sai was still brooding over Amy, even though his friends tried their best to cheer him up.
The door burst open, and Daichi raced in. "Help!" he cried. "Amy is being held prisoner by a monstrous beast!" The men in the tavern burst out laughing; they thought Daichi was mad!
But Sai smiled to himself, an expression totally devoid of emotion. He had thought of a way to make Amy marry him. He called a tall, sinister-looking man over to his table, and Sai began to tell him what he had in mind.
As the days passed, Amy and Shukaku spent more and more time together. The servants were delighted; they were sure Amy would fall in love with their master and break the spell. But time was running out. Each day, more petals fell from the magic rose.
"There's something sweet and almost kind, but he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined, and now he's dear and so unsure; I wonder why I didn't see it there before." Amy sang inside her head. She watched Shukaku happily.
"She glanced this way I thought I saw, and when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw. No, it can't be, I'll just ignore; but then she's never looked at me that way before," Shukaku thought.
"New and a bit alarming; who'd have ever thought that this could be? True, that he's no Prince Charming, but there's something in him that I simply didn't see," Amy thought. She liked this Shukaku better.
"Well, who'd have thought?" Naruto asked his friends. Tsume smiled at her son's friend.
"Well, bless my soul," Tsume laughed as Hana looked at the suprising couple.
"Well, who'd have known?" Hana asked, looking down at her brother, who looked confused.
"Well, who indeed?" Tsume asked her daughter. Naruto spoke up.
"And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?" he asked himself as Tsume laughed. "It's so peculiar. Wait and see," "We'll wait and see a few days more; there may be something there that wasn't there before!" "Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before," "What?" "There may be something there that wasn't there before,"
"What's there, Ma?" Kiba asked yet agian. Tsume nuzzled him.
"Ssh. I'll tell you when you're older," she whispered.
One evening, after dining and dancing together, Shukaku and Amy sat on the terrace in the cool night air. "Are you happy here, Amy?" asked Shukaku.
"Yes," replied Amy. "I just wish I could see my brother again."
"You can," said Shukaku, and he gave Amy a magic mirror. "This will show you whatever you wish."
"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Amy. But, as she gazed into it, Amy saw her brother lost and trembling with cold as he searched for Amy!
Although Shukaku loved Amy, he knew he had to let her go to her brother.
"Take the mirror with you," he said sadly, "so you can remember me."
Amy set off from the castle and soon found Daichi. She brought him safely home and put him to bed.
The next day, Sai arrived at Amy's house with a crowd of villagers. He said that Daichi would be taken to an asylum unless Amy agreed to marry him.
"My brother's not crazy!" cried Amy.
"He must be," said Yamato. "He was raving on about a monstrous beast!"
"The beast is real!" cried Amy. "Look!" She held up the magic mirror and the crowd saw Shukaku for themselves. They all shouted with fear and refused to listen to Amy when she told them Shukaku was kind and good. Furious that his plan had failed, Sai gathered the mob together to attack Shukaku's castle.
The men marched up to the castle doors and broke them down. Hana led the servants in a brave defence of the castle. But Shukaku missed Amy and was too heartbroken to fight, even when Sai beat him with a club and drove him on to the castle roof.
Only when he heard Amy's voice did Shukaku look up. "You came back!" He rushed to embrace Amy. This was the chance Sai had been waiting for. Drawing his dagger, he stabbed Shukaku in the back. But as Shukaku callopsed, Sai tripped—and fell tumbling from the roof.
Amy ran to the wounded Shukaku and bent to kiss him. The last petal was about to fall from the rose. "You can't die," sobbed Amy. "I love you! I wish I never left you alone!"
Suddenly, a magic mist surronded Shukaku and, before Amy's astonished eyes, he changed into the handsome young prince he had once been. His hair was a bright, brilliant red, and tousled, his eyes a soft sea-foam green that made Amy want to melt.
And on his forehead was the symbol for love.
"Shukaku?" Amy gasped.
"It's Gaara," the prince said, his voice soft as he smiled at her.
One by one, the servants became human again. Weeping with joy, they hugged each other as Gaara swept Amy in to his arms. Gaara had found his true love at last, and the spell of the enchantress was broken. As the sun burst through the clouds, they knew they would all live together in happiness forever after.