a/n: Hi! I'm itanejiluver…this is my first fic, so please be gentle…
Sleeping Beauty
"In a far away land long ago lived a King and his fair queen. For many years they had longed for a child and finally their wish was granted. A son was born and they called him Neji. Though King Hizashi finally gained a child he wife had died giving birth. Leaving the gentle king with only his beloved son and sweet memories of his departed wife, but that just meant he had to be even more grateful for his new son. Throughout the kingdom a grand festivals were thrown so that all the people would know, and would celebrate, his son's birth.
Everyone around the kingdom, both near and far came to give their blessings to the new born boy. Thus, on this joyous day did everyone celebrate the long-awaited royal birth, and the good King Hizashi made welcome of his life long friends. The trumpeters played the fanfare and King Fugaku and his beautifulqueen Mikoto, and their gorgeous prince Itachi. Fondly these monarchs dreamed their kingdoms would forever be joined through the arranged marriage of each others children. Even though both were children were boys, both kingdoms were accepting of same sex relations but hopes of grandchildren would be forced to wait until they got closer to that bridge before crossing it.
"Itachi? It's been a while since I've seen you." Hizashi smiled down at the boy, who looked at him with an emotionless mask on his face.
"It is a pleasure to see you too, Uncle Hizashi."
"Please pardon Itachi…he's very formal," Mikoto said quickly, grasping her five-year old son's hand.
"Hmph!" Fugaku coughed in to his hand as three fairies swooped down upon the congregation.
"Hizashi-sama!" they cried out in unison.
"Ah! Ten-Ten, Sakura, Hinata." He nodded at each of them in turn.
"We have come to congratulate you…and to offer our gifts to the child." Hinata curtsied nervously. With another stately nod, the three swooped over to hover over the young prince.
"Aw…isn't he adorable? Isn't he, isn't he?" Ten-Ten squealed.
"Hush, and pay attention. Remember what happened the last time you lost focus?" Sakura snapped. Ten-Ten's squeals promptly subsided as her facial expressions turned more serious.
"I-I will give my gift first," Hinata said softly. "To you, Hyuga Neji, I grant you the gift of kindness and grace so that you may be gentle and beautiful in the midst of even the ugliest situations."
"I grant you the gift of intelligence and resourcefulness so that you may lead a clever life, and so that you may find happiness where you go." Sakura dispelled a spray of sparks with a sharp flick of her wrist and fluttered back respectfully as Ten-Ten came forward.
Ten-Ten took a deep breath and began to speak, only to blown off to the side by a powerful gust of wind.
Everyone in the courtyard cowered before the malevolent figure that stood in the middle of the grounds.
"Danzou? What is he doing here?" Sakura muttered under her breath anxiously. Her fists tightened as she glared hatefully at the man.
"My, what a party you have here." Hinata winced, her wings fluttering uncomfortably at the sound of the man's voice; raspy and ancient; it reminded her of nails being dragged down a chalkboard.
"A pity that I wasn't invited, eh Hizashi? Thought you could just forget about old Danzou and get away with it, hm?" The ancient wizard leered down at the defenseless baby boy in the cradle before him.
At that moment, Ten-Ten staggered to her feet, snarling. "You aren't welcome here, Danzou."
"My, my. Didn't you mother teach you manners, little girl? Not wanted, eh…well, that simply doesn't sit well with me. Not well at all." His glare deepened.
"Little girl!" she shrieked. "I'll show you little y-" Ten-Ten struggled to speak, but found that she couldn't seem to move. Stunned, she glanced at her comrades who seemed to be struggling as well.
Danzou turned away from the fairies and continued to speak. "Well, if I am unwanted, I shall simply bestow my gift on the child and be on my way."
"You aren't angry, Lord Danzou?" Hizashi remarked suspiciously. He seemed not to have noticed the fairies' predicament.
"No, no need to worry my dear Hizashi." The wizard turned back to the child and sneered. "My gift to the child is this; he will have the mark of the caged bird for all to see, and on the eve of his sixteenth birthday he shall prick his finger on a spinning wheel and die!"
"No!" Hizashi shouted, and rushed to the child as Danzou cackled evilly and vanished in a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.
The fairies hovered over the king concernedly as their invisible bonds suddenly vanished.
"Isn't there anything we can do to save my son?" he begged them.
"Don't worry so, Hizashi. The lovely Ten-Ten hasn't spoken yet," Fugaku said, bowing courteously to said fairy.
"Well…" she murmured sadly, "Danzou's power is too strong for us to break the curse. However, I can mitigate the effects." Scowling, she fiddled nervously with the twin buns on the side of her head before saying "My gift to you is this, Neji: Not in death, but deep in sleep, the fateful prophecy, you'll keep, and from this slumber you shall awake, when true love's kiss the spell shall break."
Sakura snickered. "That's some tricky rhyming there, Ten-Ten."
"Rhyming spells are the most powerful," Ten-Ten snapped back. "So hush; don't tell me that you could've come up with something better so spontaneously." Hinata giggled at the twos' bickering.
However, King Hizashi was still worried for his son's safety. That night, he ordered every spinning wheel in the kingdom to be burned. As he stared out at the leaping flames in the palace courtyard, he could only pray that Neji would be safe.
Meanwhile, the three fairies attempted to think of a solution to the problem within the castle greenhouse.
"Sakura, don't be so vicious with those violets," Ten-Ten admonished gently.
"Sorry." Sakura scowled and moved on to a different set of flowers as Hinata restored the glittery violets back to their normal condition.
"It's just that…a bonfire won't stop Danzou," Sakura stated firmly. "There must be something we can do."
"…We could take care of the boy and hide him away in the forest until his sixteenth birthday," Hinata murmured softly. "Who better to protect him than us?"
All three fairies paused as the full implications of what Hinata had said hit them.
"It's perfect!" Ten-Ten squealed. "I told you he was adorable didn't I? Didn't I?"
"Wait!" Sakura protested, shouting over Ten-Ten's squeals. "But we don't know anything about raising children or-"
"If humans can do it, then we can do it too. After all, someday I plan on having a child so what better place to learn?" Hinata grinned.
"But fairy children are different than humans and…" Hinata waved Sakura's weakening protests away. "We mustn't use magic though. We can set up protective borders in the forest and…"
"Who said anything about a forest?"
"Oh, I've been thinking about this for a while. What we do is…we take the child to a secluded corner of the forest and raise him until his sixteenth birthday where we tell him who he is and bring back to the castle so then he can marry Prince Itachi!"
"Why would he have to marry Itachi-kun?" Ten-Ten asked interestedly.
"…it would make the kings happy, wouldn't you agree?"
"You just want to see them together don't you?"
"…Yes," Hinata muttered guiltily. "But that aside, its still a good plan right?"
"There is a catch isn't there?"
"Well…we'll have to live like mortals for the next sixteen years. That way, Danzou will never suspect us."
"Ah…I see what you're thinking now…" Sakura nodded seriously. "Well, anything for the young prince I suppose…"
The three flew off to inform the king (after finishing restoring the greenhouse though). He watched sadly as his most prized possession, his son, disappeared in to the night, and for the next sixteen years of his life.
However, the kingdom rejoiced as each year passed by, for as long as thunder rumbled and lightning exploded over the haunted cavern that was Danzou's abode, they knew that the prince was safe.
a/n: So…whaddya think? TBC! Please R/R.