Hello all. :D I'm orangepeelx3. It's my first story on this account, and I just wanted to let you know that I will do my best to write stories for you all out there! Please accept me as a member of the community. I'll stop with this mini rant because I sound like Lee and to be frank, that's not always a good thing.

I don't own Naruto. That much should be clear.

WARNING!

The beginning is NOT what you think.

Sweep Me Off My Feet

The room was unimaginably dark and chilly. The only sources of light were placed near the front of the room, where she would enter.

Perfect, she thought.

Using feather-light steps, she quietly crept out into the room, using two beautifully embellished fans to conceal her beautiful face. The only parts of her face visible were her expressive green eyes. At the moment, those eyes reflected serenity and peace. As she stepped into the empty space, soft music came from the plucked strings of a sanshin.

She heard footsteps following behind her, and gracefully turned to face the person. Her pink hair swayed with her movement, successfully catching the light of the lanterns, leaving waves of shining glory in its wake.

It was another woman; a far less beautiful one than she, with a mess of black hair upon her small head. Her plain face was red and blotchy, and her gaunt cheeks were soaked with tears she had shed. The woman raised a bony finger at her, her other hand clutching at a sword.

"You... You seduced my husband! You seduced him and brought him under your spell!"

"It was not I who had seduced your husband, troubled one, for I believe that all he had asked me for was the pleasure of my company at a party."

The ugly woman never looked more ugly than she did now. She narrowed her brown eyes. "He was my husband, and I had raised him four strong children! And after years of our marriage, he finds you and decides that you shall bear his fifth! It is by what little honor I have left that I shall end your life, along with the bastard child that is forming in your womb as we speak, right here, tonight!" She charged at her, with the sword in hand, unruly black hair flying behind her.

The green-eyed woman tried to flee, and cried out in pain as the katana pierced her body, right where her womb would be, where the illegitimate child she carried was growing. The crazed female pulled out the sword and stabbed her heart immediately after. Jade eyes widened in shock; slowly closing for the last time.

The room became pitch black.

A roar of applause was heard a few seconds later, along with shouts and catcalls from the audience. The room became completely lit, and the actresses and actors were on the stage, bowing in thanks.

"Kutanai Tenten, would you please step forward!" The busty emcee, Tsunade, called her forth.

A pretty brunette, with her hair up in buns, stepped forward and bowed. "This lovely woman here played the role of the angry wife! Believe me, she's far from ugly. Our makeup crew found out that it's harder to make a pretty person unattractive than to make an unattractive person pretty." The audience laughed at Tsunade's comment.

"Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata, please take a bow as well!" An attractive blonde and cute indigo-haired girl bowed and smiled at the audience.

"They were our sanshin players! Please give them a round of applause, since we could not have done this without their skills!" A round of applause and catcalls met their ears. Hinata turned an adorable shade of red.

"And, of course, Haruno Sakura, our star performer!" Sakura stepped forward and politely bowed. A heart-stoppingly sincere, gorgeous smile made a way up to her beautiful face, and her bright jade irises sparkled with the satisfaction of a job well done.

The audience was stunned for a moment at her beauty, and quickly recovered to give her a round of applause (and catcalls) that shook the room. A shy, sheepish smile crept onto her face, and she quickly bowed again to cover her embarrassment.

"Alright, let's give it up all for them one more time!"

The audience cheered.

And the cast was blown away.

"Saku-chan, you did such a greatjob!" Ino squealed when they had gotten into their dressing rooms. She and Hinata were packing up their sanshin.

"When I was charging at you, you looked so amazingly realistic!I almost stopped for a minute because it felt like I was actually going to kill you!" Tenten excitedly rambled as she cleaned the makeup tables.

"Trust me, Ten-chan, you had greatexpressions. You actually looked like a crazed, jealous wife! I was afraid they'd swapped someone else in!" Sakura chuckled, gathering the costumes that had been carelessly strewn about the floor.

"Am I supposed to take the 'crazed, jealous' part as a compliment or an insult?" Tenten turned to face her friend and jokingly narrowed her eyes, which were a surprising shade of golden amber or melted honey.

Sakura also narrowed her viridian eyes and walked toward Tenten until both were face to face, glaring at each other. They suddenly bursted into laughter, clutching onto their stomachs for support.

"Ah, you're hilarious!" Tenten managed to say as finished their daily dose of chuckles.

Hinata smiled. "You two are such good actresses."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "The only reason Ino-pig didn't get Ten-chan's part was because she's not good at memorizing lines. And Hina-chan, you could certainly have pulled off my role with no worries at all."

"Hey girls, wonderful job tonight!!" Tsunade cried as she rushed into the room, hugging each of them individually.

"Thanks, Tsunade-sama," the four of them chorused sincerely, with smiles on their pretty faces.

"Are you guys done packing up yet? It's only six in the evening right now. Some of you girls still have to go out and entertain." She gave Sakura a pointed look.

"We're almost done, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied.

"Good. Seven sharp tonight at the Suiyama Tea House, then?"

"Hai. I'll be there," Sakura gave her master a polite bow.

"Hinata, you're scheduled for seven forty-five this evening at the Daiki Tea House, please don't forget," Tsunade reminded as she exited the room.

Sakura sighed. "So much work these days."

"Saku-chan, you should go now, you know?" Ino gently said.

Her pink-haired best friend pouted. "You don't want me to stay here and help clean?"

"Aw, stop kidding around, Saku-chan. You've got less than an hour to prepare for a client, and Suiyama is pretty far from here," Tenten groaned.

"You should go, it's okay. We've taken care of bigger messes without you before," Hinata smiled.

Sakura had been defeated. "Fine. But no complaints when I come home tonight, you hear?"

Ino, Hinata, and Tenten patiently waited for her to exit the room. She didn't.

Tenten rolled her eyes. She firmly pushed and guided her reluctant friend out the door.

"Fine, fine, I get it," Sakura laughed. They all smiled at her as she waved goodbye and walked out. She quickly arrived back at the okiya. There, she spent more than half an hour getting ready to entertain her clients.

Work, work, work. That's my life, my great, busy life, Sakura bitterly thought, combing and pulling her hair into a pretty hairstyle. "That should do," she mumbled as soon as she was satisfied with her work. Checking to make sure she had everything, Sakura scrambled down the stairs as gracefully and quickly as she could, where Tsunade was waiting for her.

"Sorry, Tsunade-sama, my hair wax wasn't cooperating with me today," Sakura apologized, bowing out of respect for her master.

Tsunade sighed. "It can't be helped, Sakura. I know you're tired."

Tsunade was famous for many things. There were a few things that she was definitely known among men for: her legendary gambling skills (rather, her lack of them), her abnormally large chest, and her four maiko, which were apprentice geisha. She had taken them in as orphans when they were young and raised them as if they were her own daughters. They were known for their beauty and mastery in the arts. Anything that a geisha was supposed to do had been mastered by at least two of the girls in the group. Tsunade, being an ex-geisha who had enjoyed immense popularity herself, taught them as best as she could.

Ino had been the first one Tsunade had taken under her wing. When she turned eight, her mother and father had died due to several third degree burns they had recieved during a house fire. Tsunade, being an expert in medicine, was unable to prevent their deaths and took care of Ino, hoping that it would compensate for being unable to save her parents. Yamanaka Ino grew up to be a tall, pretty blonde that towered above most girls at a height of 5' 7". She was bony though, no matter how much she ate, and therefore, lacked an overly impressive waist-to-hip ratio. Her short legs greatly contrasted her long torso. Her bust, however, made up for her bodily faults. Ino sported a healthy C cup which, paired with her thin body, made it stand out more. A kimono easily disguised her lack of lower figure. She enjoyed the art of ikebana, which was the arrangement of flowers, and was quite skilled at it.

Tenten was found by Tsunade shortly after. She'd been living on the streets for a few weeks, fending for herself as best as a nine year old child could. Knowing that Tenten had no place to go, she brought her to the okiya and allowed Ino and Tenten to meet. They didn't get along at first. Ino had been a spoiled child and was quite girly. Tenten was a tomboy, and their points of view clashed. Eventually, they accepted their differences and even began teaching each other about things they did, like dressing up and climbing trees. Tenten grew up to be a tall girl, reaching 5' 8" with no problem. She had broad shoulders and narrow hips, but her long legs showed off her athletic abilities. Her muscular body wasn't exactly feminine, but she often made jokes about her A cup, saying that if she had a chest like Ino, she wouldn't be able to do any outdoor activities with ease. Although at first glance she seemed to be a bit ordinary, Tsunade noticed her gentle face shape and golden brown eyes, and decided that she had potential. Tenten wasn't patient enough to learn how to play sanshin (the girl couldn't sit still for more than five minutes), and she didn't have the knack for ikebana. However, she was extremely flexible and her movements were fluid and precise, which made her an excellent dancer.

Two years later, as a ten year old, Hinata became part of their family. Hinata had been treated horribly by her clan from the days she had been born. Being the eldest of her father's children, she was destined to inherit the position of the Hyuuga clan's leader. The timid girl wasn't capable of even standing up for herself, and the elders expressed their favor of her younger sister, Hanabi, who was a natural leader. Hyuuga Hiashi willingly gave Hinata up to Tsunade when she suggested that she be made into a geisha. Hinata and Tenten immediately bonded, and Ino liked Hinata enough. Hinata balanced Ino and Tenten out. She was neither good at ikebana, nor was she talented at dancing. She was average in those categories. Instead, music was her forte. Learning the sanshin and koto had been no problem for her. Hinata had a few flaws, like any other girl, however. She was not tall and willowy like Ino, and her body was not toned like Tenten. Standing at a height of 5' 2", Hinata was a short, but sweet, teenager. Although her hourglass figure wasn't thin, she was definitely far from fat. She was just average. Her shyness was cute, but at the same time, sometimes drove her clients away.

The three of them basically became sisters. Tsunade had thought she was done with adopting kids (taking care of Ino certainly wasn't as easy as it looked). That all changed, however, when Tsunade visited an orphanage to give a speech a year later. As she stepped down from the podium, a brilliant pair of jade eyes caught and held her attention. The woman beside her ran the orphanage and told Tsunade that the girl was a newcomer. Her family had been slaughtered, and the rest of her relatives refused to take her in. Tsunade didn't think she was very pretty. Sakura was average at best, and Tsunade didn't think that her pink hair would be very flattering on a kimono. But for some reason, her eyes seemed to make all her faults disappear. And so, Sakura became one of Tsunade's students at the age of eleven. Tsunade never had high hopes for the girl. In fact, nobody believed that little Haruno Sakura would ever get past her maiko stage. Ino would have made the best geisha out of all four of them, Tsunade decided.

But oh, how wrong she was.

The young woman who stood before her was only seventeen years of age, and yet, she was more popular than Tsunade had been at the height of her popularity when she was twenty-two. Her mid-back length pink hair resembled shining pink strands of silk, and was currently pulled into an elaborate bun with numerous charms and embellishments hanging from it. Her virtually flawless skin was covered in a layer of smooth white, and her full lips were painted a blood red. Jade eyes, lined in black, peered from beneath dark, thick lashes. A graceful neck flared into shapely shoulders. Her body was accompanied by a full but not overwhelming bust, miniature waist, curvy hips, and impossibly long, creamy legs. It was, of course, covered at the moment in a beautiful kimono. It was a new design, one of Tsunade's best; a deep black with red and white trimming. Delicate pink cherry blossoms made of silk were scattered among the cloth. A detailed waterfall outlined in gold had been painted on the bottom corner of the garment. An obi made of red silk with tasteful black embroidery neatly accentuated her small waist.

Tsunade had decided then and there that the kimono would definitely be Sakura's to wear from then on.

Sakura was talented in every field of the geisha arts. The only person that could rival her at dancing was Tenten, and even Tenten had a hard time matching her graceful movements. Ino was a master at ikebana, yet when her works were compared to Sakura's, the rosette's arrangement always seemed to stand out a tiny bit more, somehow. Hinata and Sakura were almost evenly matched when it came to musical knowledge.

But Sakura possessed and mastered a talent that her three other students did not.

Sakura had the voice.

A person could listen to Sakura talk for hours on end. There was just something about her voice that put music to shame. It wasn't overly sweet, and it certainly was not manly. Every word she said seemed to ring as clearly as a bell. And when Sakura sang, the whole world would stop just to listen.

Haruno Sakura. The spring cherry blossom. Delicate, powerful, graceful, hardworking, and beautiful, like her namesake.

"Tsunade-sama, I'll do my best tonight for you!" That voice. Such a sweet, loving, sincere voice.

Tsunade snapped out of her gaze, and her student gave her a genuine, warm smile. And it was there and then that Tsunade made another decision.

Haruno Sakura had to be the most beautiful person in the world.

I hope you enjoyed this. Constructive criticism would be appreciated, and if you see any mistakes in here, please include them if you review. (I happen to write this all on Wordpad. XD Although I normally catch my mistakes, I sometimes get inspiration at 3 in the morning and decide to write, then fall back asleep at 4. Haha.)

Thank you for reading!