Author's Note: This is my third Naruto fanfic featuring the Sasuke/Sakura pairing! Am I in love with this pairing? Yes, I am. And perhaps I love them a little too much! But I don't mind at all. Anyway, I hope you'll like this fanfic and support it!

P.S. This story is based on an alternate universe and instead of having ninjutsu, the characters have swordsmanship or other physical skills. So to put things simple, the setting of this fanfic is somewhat like the medieval times. There are castles, horses, knights and, of course, royal families.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Royal Encounter

Sakura's POV

I had a dream. A dream which I swore I would fulfill. A dream which I lived to see it became a reality.

I dreamed of meeting my ideal prince and falling heads over heels in love with him. Then he would fall in love with me too and cared for me unconditionally. We would live happily ever after, like the princesses and princes in the fairytales I grew up with.

A girl was allowed to dream, wasn't she?

My closest friends had always said that my dream didn't suit my personality. They said it was too 'girly' for someone as fierce and independent as me. But I ignored them and continued living in my own little fantasy.

And one day, this fragment of my imagination would turn into my future.

"Sakura."

I groaned as my best friend's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I narrowed my eyes at the blonde in front of me for disturbing my little alone time.

"What are you doing here, Ino?"

Ino Yamanaka was both my first friend and best friend. We had known each other even before we learned how to walk. She was the princess of the Yamanaka Kingdom, which was a neighboring country of where I lived. Their country was well-known for their mesmerizing flowers. The flowers grown on their lands were definitely one of a kind.

As for me, I am Sakura Haruno, princess of the Haruno Kingdom. Our country was known for its advanced medical skills and we had the best doctors in the world. I aspired to be a successful doctor in the future as well. This was an ambition I valued as much as my other dream of living in my own fairytale.

And I must say I had been doing well with my medical studies.

I was still 18 years old but my medical skills were comparable to experienced adults in the Haruno Kingdom. My parents and other elders in the country had high hopes on me and I wasn't planning to disappoint them. I swore that I would continue working hard to improve myself so I could become a doctor who would be capable of healing all sorts of diseases.

My determined and hard working personality had labeled me as an independent princess. Unlike Ino who was known to be a spoiled princess, I was known to be more mature.

"You need to get ready now, Sakura! It's almost time for the party."

I groaned once again upon hearing Ino's words. It was then when I realized that Ino was already ready for the party. She wore a tight black dress which reached all the way to her feet. She completed her look with a pair of black heels and a sparkly diamond necklace. Instead of her usual ponytail, she had put her long blonde hair down.

Unlike me, she was definitely ready for the party.

It wasn't like I hated parties. But ever since I turned 18 years old, my parents were constantly trying to introduce me to various princes from all over the place. It was as if they were worried I wouldn't be able to get married or something. It was getting on my nerves and I told my parents to stop doing that.

And of course, they didn't listen.

Before I could protest, Ino was dragging me away from the garden and towards my room. The party would be held in the Haruno Castle and royal families from all over the world were invited. I heard that even royal families from far away countries would be attending the party. That was why I was expecting to meet people I had never met before.

Who knew, I might meet the prince of my dream.

For the second time that day, Ino snapped me out of my thoughts with that high pitched voice of hers. She had successfully dragged me into my room and closed the door behind us. She had always been overly excited for parties and I knew exactly why; she simply enjoyed flirting with charming princes.

"It's only an hour away before the party will start! And you have not even started preparing yourself. Unbelievable!"

"An hour is a long time, pig."

Yes, 'pig' was the nickname I gave Ino when we were kids. I never stopped using it and I wasn't planning to stop any time soon.

Ino rolled her eyes at me and went to open my wardrobe. I walked over to my king sized bed and sat on it as I watched Ino looking for a dress. She had always liked helping me dress up for parties and I allowed her to do it all the time. After all, Ino was weirdly more concerned of how I looked compared to how I cared about myself.

Ino grinned as she handed me a long beige dress. It has transparent sleeves and the dress was decorated by beautiful laces. My mother gave me that dress a year ago but I never worn it before.

"Hurry up and change into this dress! I will work on your makeup and hair afterwards."

I did what Ino told me and changed into the dress she chose. I was surprised that it looked even better when I wore it. The dress reached the floor but that problem was fixed when I put on my black heels. The dress fitted me so perfectly and my curves were beautifully emphasized.

Ino seemed to be thinking of the same thing and was squealing happily when I finished changing. She excitedly did my makeup and hairdo right afterwards. I never had to worry about my appearance with Ino around because she definitely knew her stuffs.

My makeup was light but it was more than enough to make me looked beyond acceptable. My pink long straight hair, which reached slightly above my waist, was curled for the night.

I must say I was satisfied when I saw myself in the mirror.

Ino grabbed onto my shoulders with a wide grin on her face and she looked equally satisfied with her creation.

"You look great, Sakura! Who knows, you might meet your prince charming tonight."

And I sure hoped Ino was right about that.

Sasuke's POV

"This is annoying."

I was on my way to a party which was held at the Haruno Kingdom's castle. It was a country which was far from the Uchiha Kingdom so I had never been there. My parents, who were the king and queen of our lands, were close to the rulers of the Haruno Kingdom through business though.

I was in a carriage with my older brother, Itachi Uchiha, who seemed to feel alright regarding the party. On the other hand, I was feeling very frustrated.

"It's just a party where royal families gather to get to know one another, Sasuke."

"And that is why it's annoying. You know how father and mother have been introducing a bunch of princesses to me. It's not fair that they don't do that to you."

"Maybe our parents are worried you'll never get married with that attitude of yours so they are constantly introducing you to girls."

I glared at my brother for saying that so casually. I knew that I wasn't as 'obedient' as my older brother and there were times I had more opinions than deemed necessary. But I wasn't going to sit back and let my parents decide for my future. I swore I wouldn't let that happen.

"Perhaps they'll stop doing that if you would get yourself a girlfriend, Sasuke."

"And perhaps I will be able to do that if they would stop pushing girls onto my face."

Itachi sighed and gave up arguing with me. He had always said how his younger brother had grown up too fast and he was missing that adorable little boy I once was. I would always glare at him whenever he said that. He was talking as if I was some sort of a problematic child.

To be fair, I was just slightly more stubborn than I should be and perhaps a little bit cold. I wasn't an expressive person which always made people assume that I was arrogant. I was definitely not arrogant, I was just simply confident.

Alright, perhaps I was kind of overconfident but whatever.

"Itachi Ouji-sama, Sasuke Ouji-sama, we have arrived at the Haruno castle."

I grunted when I heard the coachman announcing that we had arrived. Itachi sighed once again at my reaction before leaving the carriage. As much as I hated it, I followed my brother anyway. Neither my parents nor my older brother would agree if I said I wanted to stay inside the carriage instead of attending the party.

"Some of your friends are here at the party as well. Go talk to them to make yourself feel better about being here."

"Whatever."

And that was the start of a much dreaded party.

Sakura's POV

"Oh my goodness, he's really here. I haven't seen him in a while."

I had allowed Ino to drag me around the party so that I could avoid my parents' matchmaking sessions. And I must be desperately trying to avoid those dreadful sessions to have ended up hiding behind a pillar with Ino.

Like I had mentioned, Ino enjoyed flirting with good looking princes from all over the world. And with her beauty and flirting skills, she could easily make men fall in love with her. Well, at least that was what I thought.

Apparently, there was one prince she wasn't able to successfully flirt with even though she had been trying for more than half her life. And that was the prince she had been stalking since the start of the party.

"Ino, you're acting like a creepy pervert."

"Keep it down, Sakura. Shikamaru might here you."

The prince whom Ino was obsessed over was none other than Shikamaru Nara, prince of the Nara Kingdom. His reputation as one of the smartest princes had spread across all lands. However, his reputation for being the laziest prince alive was well-known as well.

I had always found it to be so unfair that he could still be so smart despite his lazy personality.

I first met him when I was 10 years old during a party held by the royal family of the Yamanaka Kingdom. Ino, on the other hand, had known Shikamaru since she was born. The Yamanaka and Nara Kingdoms had been close to each other for the longest of time and their relationship had stayed that way until the present time. Both kingdoms were in extremely close terms with the Akimichi Kingdom too.

Anyway, Ino had always referred Shikamaru as her guy best friend. I wasn't so sure if Shikamaru felt the same though.

And somehow, Ino had found herself falling in love with the lazy prince she had known all her life. However, she was very possessive and had been chasing away princesses who were trying to get close to Shikamaru. And trust me, with the looks Shikamaru possessed, there were a lot of girls Ino had chased away.

A love stricken Ino wasn't someone one should offend in the first place.

"How do I look, Sakura?"

"You look fine, Ino. What are you planning to do this time?"

Ino had tried various ways to make Shikamaru fall in love with her. She had been trying for years and to be honest, I had not seen any progress. It was either Ino was failing horribly in making Shikamaru fall in love with her or Shikamaru was just really good in hiding his feelings.

As Ino's best friend, I really hoped it was the later.

"This time, I will definitely make Shikamaru fall in love with me."

With that said and an evil grin on her face, Ino left me and walked over to Shikamaru. I sighed, not knowing what to do after my best friend had left me to flirt with her lazy prince. I wanted to go and hang out with my other close friends but they were too busy in their own little worlds.

Hinata was too busy trying not to faint from being too close to Naruto Uzumaki, the prince from the Uzumaki Kingdom. It was not a secret that the Hyuuga Kingdom's princess was deeply in love with that loud prince. It was amazing how Naruto had yet to realize Hinata's feelings for him. He was such an idiot.

I had known Naruto for a long time and we're considered close I guessed. He used to have a crush on me but I made it clear that I wasn't interested. From then on, we continued being close friends although he always annoyed me with his stupidity.

But I guessed he wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't an idiot.

As for Tenten, she was with Neji, as usual. Tenten was a princess from a land near the Hyuuga Kingdom. However, when Tenten was just a young child, a horrible civil war broke out in her country and her entire family was killed. Tenten was the only survivor. The Hyuuga Kingdom took over the lands to save the civilians from starvation. As for Tenten, she was adopted by the royal family of the Hyuuga Kingdom. And from then on, let's just say that Prince Neji never let Tenten out of his sight.

He was too in love with her to let her go and I honestly found it very romantic.

And there was me, alone and annoyed.

I wasn't going anywhere near my parents and risked having to go through those match making sessions. I hated having to fake smiles and acted like someone I wasn't. If I were to find a boyfriend, it must be someone who was ready to accept me for who I was.

I had no plans to fake my personality for the rest of my life.

With no other ideas on what to do, I decided to leave the party hall and went to catch some fresh air at the garden. The garden was a few minute walk away from the party hall and I had always loved staying there. The flowers smelled especially great at night and I loved being surrounded by its scents. They weren't as magnificent as those grown in the Yamanaka Kingdom but it was enough to make me relaxed.

I sat on a bench under the moonlight and let the night breeze caressed my skin. I could still hear the music and chattering of the party but it still felt peaceful being alone in the garden.

At least, I thought I was alone.

I suddenly felt the presence of other people around me and stood up immediately. I looked around and I was proven to be right in an instant. Men who were covered in black cloth were coming out from their hiding behind the trees of the garden.

I glared at them as I kept my guard up. I had no idea who they were but it was obvious they weren't friends. I cursed at myself when I found out I didn't have my sword with me. My swordsmanship was acknowledged by the people around me but there was definitely room for improvement.

But right now, my sword wasn't with me and I had to rely on my physical abilities, which were something I was rather proud of, to be honest.

When the men started to charge towards me, I took a deep breath and punched the closest one to me. I heard that man winced in pain and smirked at my little achievement. I quickly turned around to lay another punch on the man who was dangerously close to my back. The garden was rather dark so I couldn't make out how many people were there.

But I knew there were quite a number of them and that was not a good sign.

When I was busy laying punches on a man who had successfully hit me on the arm, my waist was caught by another person.

"Damn it."

The man who had caught me raised his arm to lay a punch on me. I quickly closed my eyes in reflex as I prepared myself for the impact.

But instead of receiving a punch on my face, I felt another hand holding onto my waist followed by a man grunting in pain.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw my earlier attacker lying on the floor while holding onto his stomach. I blinked in confusion and glanced over the person who had protected me.

I swore I was immediately captivated by my savior's dashing looks.

His raven hair looked so soft under the moonlight and his dark eyes emitted a charming kind of mystery. The frown on his face made him even manlier than he already was. And his well toned body was definitely a huge plus point.

"How could someone look so perfect?"

I felt myself blush when the man holding onto me glanced over to me. My heart was thumping crazily against my best under his intimidating gaze.

Perhaps, this was the prince I had been waiting for all this time?

Unfortunately, I was proven wrong almost immediately after he opened his mouth.

"Instead of gawking at me, it's better if you get a hold of yourself and fight the enemy in front of you."

Wait, what?

I saw my dream shattered right in front of my eyes and my earlier happiness was soon replaced by anger. I was beyond mad at the rudeness of the man holding onto me and I hated myself for even thinking for a second that he might be the prince I had been anticipating.

I released myself from his grip and glared at him intensely. I had never been so wrong in my life and as if I would ever fall in love with someone with such a problematic attitude.

"As if I would ever gawk at you!"

I had told a huge lie but I didn't care. I wasn't intending to boost his ego by letting him found out that I was mesmerized by his good looks.

I felt my blood boil when I saw him smirk arrogantly at me. He definitely saw through me and I was really pissed off. I swore I had never felt so annoyed in my entire life.

I chose to release my anger on the enemy in front of me. I laid punches again and again at the charging men and I wasn't even holding back my strength. Once in a while, I would glance over at that rude guy and would see how well he handled his sword.

I hated to admit it but my swordsmanship was incomparable to his. His skills seemed to be almost flawless and I could see that he was definitely as good as Neji Hyuuga. He might actually be better.

Before we could finish off the enemy, guards from the Haruno Castle had arrived and had taken things over. There were at least ten guards and it didn't take long before every single enemy was captured.

"Sakura Hime-sama, are you alright?"

The captain of the guards approached me with concern. I smiled at him and assured him I was fine.

"I'm alright. Please don't inform my parents about this first. I don't wish to cause a commotion since we have a lot of guests in the castle right now. Start interrogating them and gather as much information as possible."

"I understand, Hime-sama."

"You're the princess of the Haruno Kingdom. I wouldn't expect someone as fierce and unladylike such as you to be a princess."

I glared towards the man who just couldn't seem to control that attitude of his. I knew I was reaching the limit of my tolerance and I chose to leave before I made a scene. I quickly checked my appearance and was relieved I looked alright.

And before heading back to the party hall, I glanced over at the man again and gave him a piece of my mind.

"It's annoying when people stereotype."

He was definitely not the ideal prince I had been dreaming of.

Sasuke's POV

As I left the garden and walked back to the party hall, my mind was filled with my earlier encounter with the pink haired princess. I had left the party hall to catch some fresh air because I had nothing better to do.

My closest friends were too busy flirting with girls and I didn't want to stay anywhere near them. Neji, as usual, was totally focused on Tenten. As for Naruto, he was talking about the most useless things to the Hyuuga princess without realizing that she was going to faint any time soon. As for Shikamaru, he had his hands full trying to handle the possessive Yamanaka princess.

But I had never been so glad to have decided to leave the party venue. After all, I got to meet a rather unique woman.

To be honest, I was really impressed by her fighting skills. She was able to beat up quite a number of men without any weapon on her. And to be able to do that while wearing a long dress and heels was definitely splendid.

And it was undeniable that she was beautiful. Her unique hair shone under the moonlight and her skin appeared to be soft and flawless. The fierce look she had as she glared at her enemy showed her independent personality, which was something I found respectable.

I definitely didn't get into her good side at the end. But I wasn't living to please others anyway.

When I returned to the party hall, the first thing I saw was my parents walking towards me. My mother had her usual enthusiastic grin on and I knew what that meant.

She was going to introduce me to some girl again.

"When will this end?"

"Sasuke, there's a really beautiful girl I want you to meet! You'll definitely like her!" My mother grabbed onto my hand and started pulling me to the other side of the spacious hall. My father followed closely behind, appearing much calmer than my overexcited mother.

"I can walk on my own." I released my hand from my mother's grip and groaned as I followed her. She wasn't going to let me go so might as well get things over with. I would just properly introduce myself and I would just tell my mother I wasn't interested afterwards. That was what I usually do anyway.

But there was a change of plans when I saw who my mother was planning to introduce me to.

"Haruno Heika and Kogo Heika, this is my youngest son, Sasuke."

I properly greeted the king and queen of the Haruno Kingdom and tried not to smirk at their stunned daughter. She looked like she had seen a weird animal or something like that.

"Oh my, you have such a dashing son!" The queen of the Haruno Kingdom was looking at me excitedly and she pushed her daughter gently towards me. Sakura was giving me more odd looks which was very amusing indeed.

"And this is our daughter, Sakura. I hope you'll get along well with her, Sasuke!"

This time, I smirked at Sakura who was starting to glare at me in annoyance. She was definitely unlike any other girls I was introduced to.

"I will definitely get along well with her."

Things were interesting for once and I must admit I was filled with anticipation.

Sakura Haruno was definitely not your typical princess.

Author's Note: I hope you guys liked chapter 1! Reviews are highly appreciated so please leave one on your way out! And if you show your support by following or adding this story as one of your favourites, it will make me beyond happy as well. I hope to see you in the next chapter! In the mean time, you might want to check out my other Naruto fanfic featuring Sasuke/Sakura, Neji/Tenten, Shikamaru/Ino and Kakashi/OC pairings! Oh, and if you're interested, go check out my one shot fanfic featuring Rock Lee. Thank you for reading!