Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Guide:

'Thinking'

"Talking"

Warning: This chapter is mainly a narrative of one of the main characters life and thoughts; there are no conversations.

Chapter I: Amaterasu's Escape

It was thirty-six minutes past two in the morning but sleep has continuously evaded the fifteen-year-old runaway princess. Her thoughts were miles away from her room.

She heaved a sigh as she surveyed her current place. The room is dark and only the light coming from the building across the street piercing through the small slit between the dark brown curtain hanging from the sole window and the concrete wall illuminates the room. The said room is really small. It can hold only what you would consider as essential for basic living, such as a bed, which can only tend to small petite girl like her, a small table which can be used as a study or dining and most of the time as a side table cause it was next to her bed just below the window, and a wooden stool which is not functioning as one at the moment because it is currently serving as the keeper of her basic clothes. The only luxurious feature in that room would probably be the comfort/bathroom which has a sink, a toilet bowl and a small shower area.

To be honest things have gotten rough over the past six months. Even rougher for the last two. Relationships left behind and finances going out of hand. Well what is to be expected when a pampered princess decides to go astray of the flower path laid down for her.

Being the only daughter of the strongest ninja and chief of Hyōshōgakure no Sato, the remote village hidden in ice crystals, and the fifth princess of the neighboring kingdom of the Faeries sure did make life a little too easy. It did not help having two accomplished doting jōnin brothers who are both more than a decade older.

The odd thing was she never became the dazzling and graceful princess fitting the image of the family and upbringing she had. Well at least mentally and emotionally speaking. Sure she got the frilly, floral dresses and skirts and the lacy blouses with the signature bags and totes, but, that was because they pushed those stuff to her. Oh don't forget the shoes, a single pair of which can feed two medium sized families for a week.

But she is no princess. She is a warrior inside and even without proper training she nows she is meant for something great: the shinobi world. She never really wanted those fancy stuff but she got them all because what would people say if the silver-haired princess was dressed like a pauper?

People would probably call her a hypocrite when she says she doesn't want what she has and say that she was only boasting; or probably call her ungrateful. How should they understand that those fancy things came with a really high price: her freedom.

When she was little, she was only allowed to play with her nanny. And boy that was really not the best way through childhood. Her nanny was a strict, old maid who was... let's just say has an archaic concept of fun.

She sighed. The only good thing about her childhood would be the times her brothers would sneak into her room and bully her cheeks until they turn red. They would tell her stories and sometimes indulge her in make-believe ninja plays. Her brothers were her only comfort then but even that was taken away when she entered a school for little rich brats like herself. Her brothers turned into overprotective, paranoid bodyguards who did nothing but protect her from everyone and in the process, effectively secluded her from just everyone.

But she loves her family. Above all the restrictions and prohibitions they all love her and just want what is best for her so she just went along with everything they put in her plate. But things turned for the worse when her brothers married. All attention were turned to her. People from the sidelines begin to expect a lot from her while her parents become more and more concerned about her future.

Six months ago she voiced her desire to become a kunoichi during a weekly family dinner. The in-laws were surprisingly absent but she figured it was for the best since she is not really comfortable opening up about her dreams and future plans with two additional stoic, prim and proper ladies like her mom around. She shared how being a kunoichi was her childhood dream and how she adored her father and brothers' stories of helping the oppressed and finding the bad guys. In fact, she has a collection of books of shinobi adventure stories and her favorite is The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. She also has a few stolen pages of jutsus and fewer stolen jutsu scrolls hidden under her bed. Hidden because if her mom finds them she would surely make a fuss about how those stuff are unfit for her. Then her mom would probably make a bonfire out of them and years of secretive purchases and break ins in the ninja library and her father's study would be gone in vain. Worse, she will be put into another princess review lessons.

Her confession brought silence into the dining table which was followed by an outburst of laughter from her brothers, a deathly glare from her mom, and let's not mention how her dad reacted. It was worse than her brothers and mom's reactions.

Her mom then "suggested" that she think about her future and stated how making a garden with lots of flowers is the best for her image. Not that her mother will let her hold soil. It will only be her directing hired helps on what to do. Her eldest brother "suggested" that she can write books on teas, flowers, dresses and other freakingly girly stuff but it was rebutted by her second brother saying that it would cause her to much stress and in turn "suggested" that she become a village idol since he has a lot of connections in the field and they would give her the best and less tiring jobs. Her dad countered that that would make her really famous and that fans would swarm her and she cannot live a "normal" life anymore and "suggested" that she should just become the "face" of the Hyōshōgakure.

'Is that even a job?' She mentally facepalms herself.

Then her mother dropped the icy bomb by revealing that she is now in the final stage of finding the perfect husband for her only daughter. Her brothers and father protested saying no one deserves their precious little angel and that she will always be their's and they will not allow anyone to take her away from them.

'Damn sister and daughter complex.'

She, on the other hand, was making a litany of her rights, dreams and plans in life. The simultaneous whining ended when the matriarch dropped something for the second time that night: it was her fork... on her plate... and with a loud clang sound. And no! The matriarch never dropped anything except icy mind bombs unless she is pissed as hell. And no one wants her that way unless some stupid idiot has a death wish.

'Just great!'

She knows how much they love her and care for her but she also needs to get a life. For Pete's sake she is fifteen and people her age has at least tried having a job but she still lives with her parents and she does not have anything to really call her own. She has not even tried eating ramen!

She was through being a puppet princess so she ran away from home six months ago. She only took a single backpack which is spacious enough for three scrolls: one for her books and precious jutsu pages and scrolls; another for food and water; and a scroll containing her least frilly, least floral, least lacy, least girly black garments.

'You can never go wrong with a black outfit.'

She learned how to use a storing scroll when she was ten courtesy of one of her precious stolen pages. Really she could be a chūnin if they ony allowed her to enter the ninja academy. Her techniques are nowhere near perfect but she can execute them... well lamely and after a hundred tries but that is mainly because she's just self-learned and no one helps her.

She sighed when she realized she did not even own a single piece of pants since in her mom's book they were nothing near lady-like. She stole two belonging to a young house help leaving four dresses in exchange. Her only money were the bills and coins inside her piggy bank, a "toy" given by her old nanny which was meant to enhance her ability to save. Not that there is a need to save but now she is most thankful to that nanny. The piggy bank was "fat" enough to take her miles away from home until she finds a place to settle.

Knowing her family, she knows she cannot go that far away from home and for long if she does not lie low. Meaning she has to hide her face, her long, straight, almost transparent silver hair and of course her name.

At eleven fifty-three in the morning, she walked out of Hyōshōgakure's gates, the busiest time of the day in the said gates using the Transparent Escape Technique she read from book The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi - her only perfect technique. Well that's because she had a lot of practice.

That was how she "gained" her freedom and left the pampered life of Amaterasu-hime.

Her current place is shabby but she is more comfortable here than in her parents' mansion. But this is not her place in the world. Yes, the Land of Demons is sure far away from home but she still wants to go further and tomorrow- er technically later, she is leaving for the Land of Swamps.

Later, Jiyuu, her male henge, will be leaving the Lands of Demons.

Author's notes:

I went to a cafe near the train station earlier to pass time and suddenly this story came to me when I heard Beyonce's If I were a Boy.

I love Neji so much that I cried and hated Kishimoto for sometime when he killed Neji's character but I learned to forgive him eventually. But I will never be able to forget Neji so I made him alive in this fanfic.

This story is set after the Fourth Shinobi World War. Neji is alive. Kakashi is Hokage. No NaruHina and SasuSaku. Itachi is alive. Beware of KakaIru. Itanaru will also happen (if I will not be lazy). To sum it up my take on everything. This is connected with my other story but you will not be able to see the connection yet.

I wanted this to be BL but Beyonce's If I were a Boy keeps clouding my mind.

Lastly, I have no one to edit my work so kindly tell me if there any grammar and punctuation lapses you spot on and I will try my hardest to fix them. Also, if there are any inconsistencies please tell me. Thank you for reading.