The palace hadn't always been abandoned.
In fact, it had only been abandoned for less than a decade. It wasn't even in ruins.
And yet no one had approached since that blood tainted night.
See, that palace had once hosted the rulers of Konoha, one of the most peaceful lands in the Elemental Continent, albeit rather small, and their entire court. The inhabitants of the Great Leaf Palace had always been a merry bunch – most of them at least – constantly enjoying the freedoms of peace.
The King and Queen of Konoha, along with their many servants and friends, had been benevolent rulers, reigning over the land with a kindness and compassion unparalleled by any ruler of the past. They had often visited the lowly folk of their kingdom, hoping to forge a closer connection to their people than their predecessors before them. And the young prince had more often than not brought countless smiles to everyone's faces with his bright personality.
Under their rule, the kingdom of Konoha had been a wonderful place to live in for nobility and commoners alike. Until the war.
If it could be called a war at all.
Everyone in the palace had been killed, or so the stories said at least. Nobody had ever come out since then so it wasn't that hard to believe.
Honestly, it happened so quickly that there were only rumours and the vague gloating of the invaders to go by. Shinobi from the west, they said. Some mentioned Suna, others accused Iwa while a few, closer to the truth, mused that their new ruler probably was a rich, greedy man with an unimaginable thirst for power. But all the stories had one thing in in common.
Shinobi.
Ninja that had used the cover of the night to massacre the entire palace, leaving no one alive. Ninja that had been either sent or hired.
Of course, Konoha had their own shinobi, but these were mostly posted around town. The measly few ninja guarding the palace alongside the normal guard had been easily taken care of.
And come morning, only corpses had occupied the halls of the Great Leaf Palace.
The small and peaceful country was easily and quickly overthrown after the fall of its rulers and most of the nobility, almost without force as, to say the truth, they didn't have an actual army. Decades of living and striving for peace tended to do that.
The leader of this coup, or invasion, or whatever it was, had arrived the next evening, having expected a clean and empty castle. Entering the front gate, however, it had not been the eerie stillness of a place robbed of any life that had greeted him, but a lit main hall, out of which joyful voices and music poured into the air.
The man, being superstitious by upbringing, had immediately fled for fear of the spirits that now haunted the palace. Not too long after, the construction of a new palace at the other end of town had started, and the old one was left alone ever since, nobody willing to take the risk of encountering the vengeful spirits of their once benevolent rulers.
That is, until now.
0 0 0
She had heard of the palace, of course. Everyone had. It was the setting of many a scary story that had been told in hushed whispers in the children's quarters of her clan's compound. It was the lifeblood of the melancholic tales told by the men that had once spent much time there, slurred by liquor and, sometimes, grief.
Haunted, they said. Halls covered in blood and filled with skeletons that would one day rise again in a wrathful blaze of retribution.
But most importantly, empty. Isolated.
The perfect hiding place.
And if there was anything Hinata needed right now, it was a place to hide (because she certainly couldn't run forever, her meager skills wouldn't allow it).
And so she found herself at the gates of the once great castle, a past symbol of peace, now a dark reminder.
She took a deep breath-
-and stepped in.
Silence greeted her at first, old and dusty and... was that music?
She hadn't noticed it at first but now that she actually listened, the sound was unmistakable. Cautiously, she walked across the entrance hall, towards the main hall, its doors closed. The closer she got, the clearer the music (as well as the sound of several voices).
She began to wonder if the rumours weren't true after all, if these halls were truly plagued by ghosts stuck in the past, replaying a life long gone.
With no small amount of trepidation, she pushed the door open, and the sight that greeted her contrasted greatly with the quick beating of her heart and the cold sweat on her back.
A party.
The right side of the hall, where the many musicians were posted, was overtaken by dancing pairs, feet expertly ghosting over the shiny floor in complex patterns and airy twirls, smiles and sweet words whispered between pants and heavy breaths. The sight was almost hypnotizing. A feast with dishes of many kinds decorated the exaggeratedly long table at the left side of the hall, at which countless people sat, eating a drinking, talking and yelling, laughing and arguing, some even clearly drunk.
But three people stood out at the head of the table. Sitting on elaborate chairs with golden patterns and soft, red cushions was a couple, dressed expensively but not gaudily. The man was blond, with a gentle smile and a glint of intelligence in his eyes. The redheaded woman, on the other hand, was brash, her body language ridiculously exaggerated and her grin filled to the brim with mischievousness.
The third was a young man on their right, sitting on and equally elaborate chair laughing along to some story. He was a perfect mix between the two, she mused, with the man's looks and the woman's demeanor.
And the next second he was looking right at her, piercing blue drilling into soft lavender.
With an impish grin he hollered into the hall, "Looks like we have a guest!" And pointed at her with his cup, grin widening when her situation visibly dawned on her.
Hinata stood there, frozen, trying to process what was happening, and thus she was taken completely off guard when someone grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the table.
"Don't be shy, now! Come on!"
But she didn't pay attention as the first thought on her panicked mind was 'A ghost is touching me. A ghost just grabbed me!', quickly followed by 'But ghosts aren't solid...'.
It was only then that she deigned to actually look at the person that was currently dragging her along. It was girl, clad in a red and white kimono, with creamy skin and slender limbs and incredibly eye catching hair the colour of cherry blossoms.
Before she knew it, they arrived at the table and the golden haired young man – almost boy, really – that had called her out approached them.
"So what brings you here, young lady?" he asked playfully and she stuttered out something incomprehensible. He looked surprised for a moment before he started snickering, "No need to answer that question, then. How about your name? Can you answer that?" she opened her mouth but he didn't let her talk, "Ah! How rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself-!"
He was interrupted by a soft slap to the head, courtesy of the green eyed girl, "Stop that! It's weird seeing you act like a noble." she huffed.
He raised an eyebrow, "I am royalty, you know. I'm supposed to act like this in front of guests, Sakura-chan."
"But you never actually do! So don't start now, it creeps me out."
He sighed in mock sadness, "Mou, give me a break! Anyway, back to you." he suddenly turned back to the supposed guest.
Hinata, who had been watching the byplay curiously, was a bit startled when he suddenly addressed her again, "Ah... I... uh..."
The blond chuckled, "Well, this is Sakura, as you probably already know. And I'm Naruto. Pleased to meet you!"
"Ah... Hinata... my name is Hinata." she managed to say, face reddening in embarrassment as a part of her mind processed what he had just said.
Naruto... Naruto... where had she heard that name before... wait... it couldn't be...!
Eyes wide as saucers, she looked up suddenly, directly at him. "P-prince Naruto?"
His smile turned into a grin, "The one and only! That's a pretty name by the way."
And as he prompted a cheer for their new guest with the name of sunshine and the hair of midnight she could only stand there in stunned realization.
The realization that she might really be standing among people who were not supposed to be alive.
In the midst of the celebrating dead.
0 0 0
"Ita! Ow that hurts! Why do you always hit so hard, Sakura-chan?"
"Because otherwise it won't sink in."
"...you know, I am the prince. This could even count as treason."
She huffed, "Naruto, we're childhood friends. Societal norms don't apply anymore."
A glint appeared in his eyes, "Really? Then why won't you let me court you?"
Her eyes narrowed, "You know perfectly well why-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a prince, you're not nobility, so it wouldn't work out. But I thought societal norms didn't apply to us?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile.
She glared at him, "This and that are completely different things, Naruto. You know that!"
He sighed, "Fine, fine, okay. I'll leave it alone."
Sakura looked at him, partly sad but also partly relieved, until he looked up with he most suspicious smile plastered on his face.
"But I still want payback for that smack! Tickle time!"
Her eyes widened, "No, wait- Naruto stop-!" alas, it was to no avail as he had already thrown himself at her, tickling her sides.
Maybe she'd stop hitting so hard after this.
Yeah right.
AN: I really shouldn't be doing this. I have three other ongoing stories. Why do I do this to myself? Anyway, to clarify, yes that last part is a flashback. Please leave a review~!