Once Upon A Maybe
…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act One ~

But the frog when he had received this promise, put his head into the water and sank down; and in a short while came swimming up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The king's daughter was delighted to see her pretty play thing once more, and picked it up, and ran away with it. "Wait, wait," said the frog. "Take me with you. I can't run as you can." But what did it avail him to scream his croak, croak, after her, as loudly as he could. She did not listen to it.

- The Frog Prince

I tapped my pencil rhythmically on my desktop, trying my very hardest to pay attention. Beside me, Sakura was dozing off. A student who had gotten in through testing alone, Sakura had to work hard outside of school to maintain her dreams of becoming a premed student before turning 18, and though ANBU issued standard university level courses, not many people knew that Sakura was also studying privately as an intern for one of the best surgeon's in the area, a woman by the name of Tsunade. Giving up the good fight to stay tuned in, I fiddled with the ring in my hand. It was a simple gold band with three sparkling diamonds fixed to the top in a typical setting. Kakashi-sensei, my physics teacher, said something in his usual droning voice and I ignored it. I'd already read the last chapter of our textbook three nights ago.

I don't really have much to do besides read my physics book, and I don't get out very often, so I've been at least a chapter ahead for almost the whole year now, and with summer holiday looming on the horizon, it was easy for me to get carried away by the last bits of information before finals. I don't think this kind of personality is really my fault. I'd like to do more normal things, in fact I dream of it often. If I could have any wish in the world it would be to have a typical high school life – visit the shopping district or get pizza and of course, the one thing every 17-year-old girl like me wants: a boyfriend. I've never really felt like a high schooler. My school is called a University, but really it's only a prep school, so not quite on par, and I am only 17 as I already said. However, being rich and more than just a little socially inept doesn't help my cause much at all, and if it wasn't that, then I know I'd be like my sister or my cousin, who are both very serious and strange by heredity alone.

My Father, head of the Byakugan Corporate, the leader in eye-transplant research and optometry technology, puts a lot of stress on study and not very much on social interaction. Maybe that's why Tenten had gotten cold feet when it came to Neji's. If I were her, I'd be hesitant to join our rather detached family too. Tenten is my cousin's fiancée, and the other day, Neji caught her sneaking out of our guest bedroom window. Her hair is very, very long, and it was trailing out of the window sill, and Neji was thoroughly confused (though his face really didn't betray this at the time). He's only spoken to her once all month, which is very troublesome because apparently he was supposed to be proposing to her soon.

Which is why I now had the ring, for 'safe keeping' or whatever he had said at the time. Honestly, I think it was just Neji's way of making me feel unnecessarily responsible for Tenten's disappearance so I would go and convince her to talk to him again. I guess the ring was supposed to act as some kind of last-minute leverage.

Neji was always one for planning ahead – practical like my Father and my uncle, who just happened to be my Father's deceased twin – and never left room for foul play. That's why Tenten's disappearance shook him up so much. She was such a capable girl, so perfectly matched against him in wit and intelligence and she had always been beautiful, for as long as either of us had ever known her. It had seemed like destiny I guess, that they should simply be together. But then she'd suddenly up and left in the middle of the night, her long chestnut hair the only thing that gave her away, else Neji probably would never have realized it was her on the security tapes (reviewed extensively the morning after her departure).

"Puff"
"KIBA, CUT IT OUT!" Jerking back to the classroom, the ring now palmed tightly in my hand. The reason I had been pulled so swiftly out of my reverie of daydreams had been my friend Ino, who sits exactly diagonal from Sakura, who sits to my left, was trying to restrain herself from strangling the boy who sits behind her. Kiba Inuzuka is one of the strangest people I've ever known, but we've known each other since kindergarten, and he's always been good to me and never caused me any personal trouble, but he's always bugging Ino. At the moment I had woken up slightly, he had been leaned over his desk, and was blowing on Ino's ear. Ino, whose face was flushed pink had hissed out her exclamation, but was now stone still and staring at Kakashi-sensei who seemed to have noticed.

"Would you like to share something with the class miss Yamanaka?" he inquired, his silver hair standing up in a combination of gravity-defying contradiction and what always seemed like static electricity. Tall and slightly lanky, Kakashi-sensei (or Hatake-san as we were supposed to refer to him as), was our drawling, rather sarcastic teacher who suffered from a severe case of hypochondria and constantly wore a stiff, starched surgical mask across his otherwise perfectly handsome face. Though this fact was much to the chagrin of some of the more outgoing girls in our classroom (Sakura and Ino included), many of us were satisfied by the dashing scar strung across his lazy right left eye, the product of a fight back when he was young and what we suspected to be a delinquent genius whose Father had committed suicide and Mother who had abandoned him.

All in all, Kakashi-sensei was a very colorful person despite his rather deadpan nature and careless attitude, and it was probably for that reason that he came across as rather mysterious and extremely irresistible to most of the females (both young and old) that he encountered.

"Oh, not at all Kakashi-sensei, except that this wolf behind me can't keep himself contained!" Ino said, defensively folding her arms across her chest. Sakura mumbled something in her sleep that sounded suspiciously like Sasuke-kun and pressed her cheek into her arms. The class washed over with muffled giggles as Kiba grinned, sharp incisors only adding to his already shaggy, wolfy appearance. Kakashi-sensei sighed and I caught him rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he returned to his loose notes and projector.

"Inuzuka, please keep your hormones at bay." He said tiredly as Ino's jaw ticked. Kiba only laughed, earning a slap of approval from one of the other boy's in our class.

"Sorry sensei…just thought Big Bad Wolves were supposed to blow down piggy's doors!" He howled, before dissolving into laughter. Ino fumed, and I could see her hands clenching into fists. For as long as anyone could remember Sakura had been calling Ino 'Pig' and she in turn reffered to her as 'Forehead', childish nick names used often enough, but always in private. The fact that Kiba even knew about it and then used it out loud was awfully surprising for us both.

"Shut up will you. Some people are trying to sleep." Directly behind him, Shikamaru, the resident shogi-club president and self-proclaimed intellectual of our class slapped Kiba in the back of the head and then promptly dropped his own face back upon his desk.

The class once again dissolved into giggles and I felt my shoulders rise and fall as I took in a deep breath, eyes straying to the wall clock that was only seconds away from sounding the bell for our afternoon break.

"You just wait dog! When I get my hands on you - !" The shrill, but gentle bell cut her off before she could say anything and the whole classroom rumbled with the sliding out of chairs and rummaging of bags. Even Ino, who was midsentence, stopped to dig through her purse for cash and stand up to wake Sakura. She lifted her head groggily and the two of them conversed briefly over what was going on before turning to me.

"Brought your lunch again Hinata?" Ino said, pointing her long pretty bedazzled fingernail at my bento. It was a plain box – there wasn't even a fun character on it. I smiled shyly.

"Yeah." I replied quietly and Sakura just shook her head.

"We go to the school with the best food and you insist on packing your own…you're so strange Hinata!" She chastised, poking me in the stomach playfully, receiving a small strangled eep from my lips. Ino only shrugged and tossed her pretty head.

"Alright then, Sakura and I have to go to the dining hall…(that's another thing about ANBU. It doesn't even name things properly. Classrooms are called 'learning fields' and the cafeteria is called the 'dining hall'.)…so we'll just meet up at the end of break, yeah?" I nod and the two saunter out of the class, hips swishing their skirts cutely, and boys watching them as they leave. I'll never understand my two dearest friends. For as much as they give each other trouble and act the way they do, they truly could have just about any boy in the class – well, save for the one they both like.

Sasuke Uchiha is strange to me. He's very quiet and serious and stoic, but at the same time there's something about him that's a little bit more less than sinister but definitely mysterious, like he's involved in one of the secret organizations I always read about in my mangas. He never smiles and he absorbs himself in his studies and doesn't talk to anyone except Kakashi-sensei, but even then his voice is always soft spoken and cold. If I wanted anyone, I always expect I'd want someone the opposite of Sasuke-kun.

I have always dreamt of Prince Charming with sunny blonde hair and blue eyes, the kind you always see in story books or movies – but Ino says that's wishful thinking. Not many foreigners get into ANBU unless they're wealthy. Ino has blonde hair and eyes the color of teal, so she's not really one to talk, but her Father was a German diplomat when he met her mother, and she was born in Japan. Sakura is just strange. Her hair is the truest shade of natural pink, a fluke that is questioned often but completely actual. I am dark haired and fair skinned and light eyed, and I have really horrible vision. I've had to wear particularly strong contact lenses my whole life, just like everyone else in my family.

I wonder often if this is the result of inbreeding…

I wander out of the room myself, past Kakashi-sensei in the adjoining hall. He's flirting mercilessly to my favorite teacher, Kurenai-sensei, even though he knows she's engaged just like everyone else. I smile slightly as I go by them and out the heavy glass doors to the front of the school.

ANBU is situated on a rolling hill-like incline with steps leading up, and a sloped green lawn littered with trees and a small, pretty pond that serves as drainage and aesthetics. It's here that I've been eating lunch for the past three weeks, ever since I started packing it…and the only reason I started packing it is because of him.

He is my Prince Charming. I've only been seeing him on Wednesdays because that's when he walks passed, his hand shoved in his pockets, and his eyes to the sky as he strolls along, as if he knows exactly where to go and doesn't have to look to get there.

He walks like he owns the sidewalk, and when he goes by the air smells sweet and gets warm and buzzes, but that may just be because I'm blushing horribly and trying not to be conspicuous as he goes. He's lovely to look at…but we've never spoken. I don't even know his name, but I could swear the whole city reacts when he's around, like it knows him and loves him and he loves it too. His eyes are endless blue and his hair is flaxen yellow, but like I said, I only see him on Wednesday's, but I wait everyday despite this, and I always pack enough for two…just in case I have a drastic change in personality and work up the courage to actually talk to him.

He's just so lovely to look at though…and I'm sure he wouldn't like me. Someone like him would never like someone like me.

Today though, I was a little more distracted than usual.

I wasn't exactly hungry, so I stood on the bank, twisting the ring back and forth between my fingers.

The boy's playing soccer hadn't meant to do it, but the ball had gone careening off the field and into my back and as I pitched forward, the ball ricocheting off my sweater and bouncing back towards them. The ring went flying out of my fingertips and into the pond with a bubbly 'plop'. At first, it didn't register with me. Tears sprung in my eyes as I ran my fingers over the stinging tingle all over my shoulders, counting myself lucky I didn't fall in myself.

"OH NO! OH NO NO NO NO NO!" I screamed suddenly, looking at my empty palm and the ripples still forming in the pond. I could barely see the sunlit glimmer of the gold band as it sunk to the bottom. Lunch forgotten, I immediately ignored the shouted apologies behind me and dashed after it, tripping over a tree root and splashing into the water with little grace. My shoes discarded as I'd run, my socks sank into the muddy bottom and pond water seeped between my toes, and by the time I'd gotten to where the ring had originally fallen in I was already wetting the hem of my skirt, not to mention the rest of me that had been flecked with water from my messy tumble into the small pool.

At that point I realized that there was no possible way I'd ever get it back and defeated, and wet and horribly embarrassed, I waded back to the bank, and stepped up onto the sandy threshold to the lawn. Picking up my shoes, my feet squelched and my legs were caked with mud and the breeze shifting through the air made goose bumps rise up on my skin.

I collapsed down on the bank, rubbing the spot that was about to form into a nasty bruise on my back and held back the hot, sticky tears on the edges of my eyes. Sniffing heavily I blinked in the hot sun and attempted not to cry.

I can't really do anything right, and Neji was going to kill me when he found out – which he would because I was a terrible liar.

"This is just my luck. Nothing ever goes right for me…my dad thinks I'm a failure, my cousin is going to eat me for dinner, and I will never, ever have a boyfriend. I'll probably be alone my whole life…who could ever love me? I'm a tragedy in the making!"

I was so consumed with exaggerating my awfully blessed life that I didn't notice the little voice at first. All I could hear was my own self-pity, and as most girls will probably tell you, that can be pretty loud.

I was sopping wet and crying, what else was I supposed to do? Smile like everything was great?

"I just wish…I just wish for once, something would happen. I wish I could get that ring, no matter what I have to do…"

"I will do anything, just let me get that ring back, please!" I whimpered to my sticky legs.

No one ever told me 'be careful what you wish for'.

It wasn't till then that I heard the tiny voice that grew louder and quieter at odd intervals, like someone was bobbing in the water and it was covering their mouth as they spoke.

"HEY! Hey you! You want your ring back?!" Startled, I raised my head and looked frantically around, scanning the perimeter for someone, the blush skidding across my cheeks and my mouth already starting to malfunction.

"W-who s-said that?" I muttered, brow now furrowed with the absence of any human being except for the soccer players who didn't pay any attention to me and were far enough away I couldn't have heard that clearly even if they were.

"Me! Here, in the water!" My eyes instantly diverted to the pond, squinting against the bright sunlight that was playing on its static surface. That was funny, because all I could see was a little frog. It was about five inches long and staring at me with intensely blue eyes that shone and gleamed mischievously. I let my gaze settle on it, contemplating, when all of a sudden it winked. My back pressed against the tree, my own eyes widening.

"Y-you…wait…n-no…that's impossible! I'm dreaming because you're…you're a …" I whispered, staring at the little creature that only smiled. Wait…smiled - ?

"A frog?" it answered promptly, diving under and then appearing a large amount closer. Amazed, my head craned forward and I rocked onto all fours, edging down the embankment to where it hovered in the water only a few inches deep. It blinked at me and continued its froggish little grin. I'd never seen a frog smile before, but this one was definitely happy about something –

Suddenly, I reached out a hesitant finger and poked its slimy head. Its eye shrunk back down and it sloshed a little in the water. Somehow awed, I picked it up, urging out of it a series of shrieks and little shouts as it squirmed about in my palms.

"HEY! H-HEY! Just what do you think you're doing here? Wait…put me down! PUT ME DOWN! Do you know who I am?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" It protested as I quickly turned it over onto its back in my palm.

"T-t-that's impossible!" I exclaimed again, one hand coming up to push back my bangs in disbelief.

"SO YOU'VE SAID!" It croaked, and I could have sworn it was blushing as it scrambled back onto it's legs, practically shaking with anger. "Why, if I wasn't under this dumb enchantment what I would do!" It continued, jumping a little for dramatic effect. I couldn't say I was really paying much attention though, too stunned to hear much of what he said. "Hey, are you even listening?" He questioned after a moment, big blue eyes continuing to stare up at me. I noticed on his back there were a series of shimmering gold and orange stripes that began at one end and traveled all the way to the sides of his little face, looking almost like whiskers as they shined and caught the light.

"T-there aren't any b-batteries." I deadpanned, somehow surprised that this was true and shocked into my unending stare. The little frog only straightened up a bit.

"Of course there aren't any batteries!" It scoffed, folding its arms at me. My eyes widened at the little action that was so human - and if it had eyebrows, I was sure they would be raised, "I'm the real deal here! Naruto Uzumaki! I'm the - !" All at once his little mouth closed instantly and he beat his webbed foot and tried to pry it open, his eyes going crossed in distress. After a few seconds it came flying open and he was panting up a storm, seemingly exhausted.

"Well, damnit." He exclaimed with a huff, "I guess I can't tell you…oh well, guess we'll just have to settle this the old fashioned way!"

"O-old fashioned w-w-ay?" I asked hesitantly, bringing him just a little closer to my face, still startled and convinced that I was going to wake up any second. Maybe that's why I was so inclined to talk to him…I figured I was knocked out by that soccer ball and would wake up in the infirmary any minute with a band aid on my forehead and Ino and Sakura looming above me. The frog only nodded his head in affirmation.

"You're the first person to hear me talking, which means you've got to be the one to break this thing I'm under…course, it's pretty easy on your end." He stared up at me and I blinked back at him.

"W-will you get my r-ring if I do…help you?" I asked, weighing my word's cautiously. He nodded brightly.

"Sure…but you promise to help me, don't you?" I bit my lip and looked at him and then looked around.

"O-ok. I'll help you break this…er…spell?" I couldn't even believe I was saying it. I've always been a practical girl who never let fantasy really get a hold of her, but now…well now I didn't even know. He grinned again and leapt off my hand. With two great bounds he had disappeared with a splash into the pond and only moments later he resurfaced, the ring balanced on top of his head, completely dry and untouched by mud or anything, as magical as it sounded. He laid it at my feet and I picked it up, the light filtering through the trees playing off of its metallic surface.

"Now – you've promised to help me, and I did what you asked, so now you have to keep that promise." I nodded skeptically, not completely understanding what that all entailed.

"What exactly do I have to do?" I mumbled, stooping down onto the ground below me to be eye level with him he smirked (if frog's could ever do that). He hopped right up to my ear though and ruffled my hair.

"You only have to kiss me."

"WHAT?!" I cried, stumbling back. The little frog, or Naruto as I should have been calling him after his rather dynamic introduction looked a little shaken as he fell from my shoulder where'd he'd perched to whisper into my ear and blinked hazily up at me.

"Of course! Just one kiss, nothing special!"

"N-No!" I cried, holding out my hands, "I'm so terribly sorry, but t-that…I…I j-just can't do that! Y-you will not steal my first k-kiss! T-that's for someone else!"

Naruto did not look amused.

"You promised! You said you'd do whatever I asked to help me if I got your precious ring back! I should just take it myself, shouldn't I!"

But he never got the opportunity because I had grabbed my bag and was running for the school.

By the time I reached the air-conditioned haven, I could still feel my legs trembling. Falling into my seat I swallowed stiffly, only barely noticing when Sakura and Ino came giggling in, girlish blushes on their faces and smiles to match.

"HINATA! Hinata guess what happened!" Ino shouted, but I didn't hear her really. I just nodded numbly along. I felt sick to my stomach and the ring felt like lead in the pocket of my sweater.

All I could hear were those horrible words in my mind.

You only have to kiss me. How casually he had said that! And even as a frog no less! Who did he think he was, going around and stealing girl's kisses in return for rings! Unbelievable. I bet he didn't even suffer like that…if it was even true! I was sure I had just dreamt the whole thing and that I would go home that evening and forget all about it, but something nagged at the back of the mind and told me that was far from what was going to occur.

"Yes… that's it…j-just a dream…" I panted, touching my arm to pinch myself. I squinted my eyes shut and then opened them.

"What are you doing girl?" Ino said, watching me. I flushed scarlet and the warning bell rang.

"N-nothing!" I replied hotly, sinking further into my seat. Sakura came up and slapped her pale hand to my forehead.

"Hinata, you're burning up are you sure you're all right? What did you have for lunch today?" She inquired, instantly taking up my hand to check my pulse against her watch. Ino teetered on the edge of my desk, watching me with fascination and confusion written all over her face.

"She's so pale, like she's seen a ghost!" She said to Sakura who nodded along.

"L-lunch?" I asked weakly. I hadn't even eaten anything.

"Alright, alright, enough, go take your seats now." Everyone turned around to see Iruka-sensei, our homeroom teacher, rapping his book on the podium to the front of us. Sakura scowled and slid over to her seat and Ino followed suit, Kiba snickering as she shot him a warning glare and took out her textbook. I couldn't concentrate. I fidgeted and tried to get comfortable but the seat was hard and I was starving. My palms were a little sweaty too…I was by far more nervous than I'd ever been in my entire life.

It was about half way through our English review that Ume Fujiwara, another girl in my class, raised her hand for the lavatory and stood up. She had just closed the door behind her when she screamed.

Everyone was out of their seats in an instant, craning their necks to see what had occurred as she came tearing back into the 'learning field', holding her skirts and dancing around like her feet were on fire.

"IN THE HALL! IN THE HALL!" She shrieked, climbing up onto a desk. All at once everyone scrambled to the corridor and the whole room dissolved into chaos.

And as all the people fought to see what was there, I noticed a little green blob slinking along the wall. With a small hiccup of a jump and a loud croak that sounded awfully like "HEY YOU!", I was faced with the small frog of before.

"G-go away!" I groaned, "Leave me a-alone! P-please!"

"You promised!" Naruto defended firmly.

"Hey, did you guys hear something?" Kiba turned around from his place at the door and his eyes locked on me. Feeling a bead of sweat roll down my temple I immediately shoved Naruto into my empty school bag with my foot.

"Uh…m-my stomach!" I said a little too high, and a little too loud. Kiba only smirked.

"Haha…sure…" Smiling awkwardly back I picked up my bag and looked at the little creature situated in side. He was brooding and obviously very peeved.

"L-look, you can't follow me about!" I whispered again. Naruto sulked and turned his back to me. Biting my lip once more I winced and leaned my head down even farther. I was starting to feel a tinge of regret for leading him on and then not accepting his request, and thinking on it, it must have been horribly inconvenient to be a frog. After all, what was a short walk to the school for me had taken him nearly half an hour, and even though he was a sturdy little frog that was a lot to be measured by.

"L-listen, I'm not sure if that's how I can help you…" I started quietly, "…but I did promise that I would help you somehow." His bright eyes looked up at me with suspicion as he turned around.

"Fine." He muttered and I retracted my head to see Iruka-sensei looking at me quizzically.

"Hinata-san, was that you talking just now…?"

I smiled weakly.

"My stomach. I didn't get a chance to eat lunch…I r-ran into someone who needed a favor."

My bag agreed with a low, and thankful, croak.

This will be littered with little fragments of fairytales....like Tenten's long hair (and her reverse antics to climb out of her tower herself...), and of course Big Bad Wolf Kiba :'D

He's a little bit brasher than normal, but I'm ok with that!

xoxo,
Spoons