All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

Prologue

When Hinata had been a little girl, her mother told her a story. Well, to be fair, her mother often told her and her younger sister stories. Nighttime tales of princes and princesses, of slippers and frogs, and most importantly, of happy endings that remained so vivid in her imagination as she drifted off into sleep. Fairy tales, of sorts. But this... This story was no fairy tale. It only began like one.

Once upon a time, her mother began as she gently tucked the hem of the quilt snug beneath her chin, there was a traveling trio of friends exploring the country, and leading that trio was a man with golden hair the color of the sun. He was, in many ways, a simple man, both kind and loyal. However, simple was never an adjective that one who met that man would use to describe him. He had a certain zest about him, a lust for life and freedom that was more then extraordinary. His friends, a dark haired man he considered to be closer then kin and a lady with eyes that sparkled like the stars, used to tease that there was never a dull moment with him around. There was simply something about the man with golden hair that seemed to attract excitement in all it's varieties, some unknown magnetic force. Perhaps it was his somewhat rash nature or his inability to leave things alone until he fixed the situation at hand, even if he was not directly involved (or at least not at first). Not one knew what it was exactly, and no one complained despite the occasional headache. They were together, a family of sorts, and most importantly, they were happy.

That is, until the golden haired man fell in love with the lady with eyes like the stars.

Love, generally speaking, is a beautiful thing, a true adventure of the human soul. And, there was nothing in the world that the golden haired man would have traded for the feelings he was now feeling. The slight thrill that ran up his spine when she said his name, or the tingles that traveled up with arm from a mere accidental brush of her hand against his. And (and perhaps the best of all) the thundering of his heart in his chest on one summer night, as he looked into her eyes and told her that he loved her, and as he learn that she not only returned his feelings, but had for years.

But love is also a delicate and jealous emotion.

For, and unknown to both the man with what golden hair and the starry eyed lady, the dark haired man also loved her. Her had known of her love for the man with the golden hair, but had dismissed it; it was nothing more then a simple crush on the vibrant young man and one that he believed would pass in due time. Their friend was not stupid, however he was incredibly oblivious to affairs of the heart. He would not notice her and the crush would fade back into the simple friendship they all shared as her eyes, and her heart, would move on. And when that happened, the dark haired man would be there at her side, waiting as had for many years. Or so he had thought.

Reality though, proved to be much different then he had hoped and planned, a lesson he learned as he watched from the shadows as the golden haired man stole true love's first kiss from the lady with eyes bright like the stars and without so much as a single objection of modesty from her. Jealousy, while perhaps strange to associate with something as pure as love (even if it was true) undeniably made an excellent bed fellow with anger. It should have been him! He was the one who had always noticed her, who was always at her side! Always there while the man with the golden hair had dismissed her so easily, oblivious to her many charms and the fact he was crushing her emotions and heart with his careless oversight. He didn't deserve her! In fact, as the dark haired man thought about it, time corrupting anger into hate for the man he once thought of as a brother in all but blood, it would be a disservice for and towards the lady to allow their... romance to continue. He had to stop it, and there was only one logical answer to how he was to achieve this.

He had to get rid of the man with the golden hair.

With that single goal occupying his mind, the dark haired man set off into the forest where he encountered a fox demon. Thinking quickly he played of the kitsune's pride, claiming that the demon could take his soul, but he knew a man who had a soul that nothing short then a god could take. The kitsune growled and snapped at the dark haired man, knowing enough about man kind to know that he was using him if he were to steal this other man's soul, but he was never one to back away from a challenge. Thus, he agreed to eat the golden haired man's soul, but at a potentially dangerous wager; if, and for whatever reason, the kitsune failed, he still got a soul to devour, the dark haired man's.

The dark haired man agreed to the terms before rushing out of the forest to the man with the golden hair. Feigning panic and fear, he told his friend how the kitsune that ruled the forest was going to eat his soul, that is, unless someone fought it with neither shield nor sword, armed only with his own power and wits, and won. Concerned, the golden haired man agreed to to and save his brother, but before he could go tell the lady with stars in her eyes about the impending battle, the dark haired man asked him if it would be wise to worry her so. The man with the golden hair, in the end, decided that his friend was correct. There was no need to worry her if nothing was to happen. But, he made the dark haired man promise to take care of her if something did. And with that, leaving behind his weapons battled, the golden haired man went into the forest to fight the kitsune.

However, what happened, no one could have predicted. For a year and a day, the man with the golden hair battled the kitsune until he managed to trap the fox demon, but at a terrible price. The kitsune was sealed with in him, thus he was not able to eat anyone's soul, but the man would never be able to leave the forest again. Resigned to his fate, the golden haired man was just grateful that he was able to save his friend, even if his heart ached for his true love. The fox demon, however, was less forgiving. He not only lost his freedom, but was tricked and unable to collect his promised soul. But, as he swore, summoning the last of his powers, minute as the were from his imprisonment, that the dark haired man would not win either, he sent out a single fox.

The fox traveled high and traveled low until he found the lady with eyes like the stars. Many years had passed since she had last seen the man with golden hair by the time that the fox found her. Her heart broken at the thought that the golden haired man had left her, as she had been told, she had agreed to marry him that very day. Fortunately, however, the fox stopped her before she could walk down the aisle, telling her of the dark haired man's trickery.

Furious, the lady cast a spell on the dark haired man with out thought, cursing him as the snake that he truly was. But, the exchange for the curse, when it came, was heavy. She would never again be able to see the man with golden hair like the sun. Distraught, the lady with eyes like stars went off, and the trio of friends, though they were friends no longer, never saw each other again.

As her mother finished the story, Hinata couldn't help but cry. No story, she told her mother, should end in heart break.

This is a lot different then the original story line had it, but I think that I like it a lot better. The next chapter should be out next Monday-ish.

Reviews are loved.