Title: The Beauty and the Beast
Author: Aurora Ciel
Characters/Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)
Rating: M
Alternate Summary: He was a God cursed to be a demon for his cold heart, she was the beautiful sacrifice he'd taken prisoner. Over time they were no longer the prisoner and the monster, the beauty and the beast, but two halves to the same whole.
Warnings: Language, violence in some chapters, sexual content in later chapters
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the musical and/or Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.
Notes: It has been brought to my attention that I failed to mention a key part of the story in the prologue, so I will explain it now! Now that I think about it, the best movie to compare this story to would be Howl's Moving Castle. Sasuke's castle is on earth, but it's more like a portal to the spiritual world. So the Gods and demons live in the spiritual world, but they have "portals" to earth in order to receive sacrifices and gifts, etc. His castle is in the spiritual world, but almost like an image of it is on earth too, to serve as his permanent portal to earth. Once a person steps through the front door, they are instantly in the other world. Hopefully everyone understands that now.

Chapter One:
"More Than This Provincial Life"

[One Hundred Years Later]

Haruno Sakura blew her bangs out of her face for the umpteenth time as she scanned her clipboard once before knocking on the door of her last patient of the day.

"Haruno-san!" a voice shouted from the bed in the corner. "You came to visit me!"

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Lee-san, I'm your doctor; I'm only here to make sure you're healing properly."

Rock Lee chose to ignore her statement, instead sitting up straighter as the pink-haired medic made her way towards his tilted bed. Sakura pretended not to notice how his thick eyebrows raised as his eyes followed her every movement, instead focusing on checking his vitals and the IV attached to his arm.

"How does your head feel?" she asked quietly, "Any headaches or dizziness?"

"No trouble at all!" Lee chirped, licking his lips as Sakura lowered her face towards his. She held a small flashlight up to his eyes, instructing him to follow the light with his gaze. After, she leaned back, placing her heads on either side of his bowl cut and tentatively probing his brain with her chakra, searching for any new signs of damage.

"Everything looks fine in there." She applied pressure to the back of his neck and he leaned forward so she could part the back of his hair and examine the scar from where a kunai had pierced. There was a thin, raised white line that marked the exact location the blade had been.

Good thing his hair is so long, Sakura thought to herself, that scar will always be hidden, at least.

She watched as Lee leaned back after she pulled away; he roughly combed his fingers through his round hairdo. Her eyebrows furrowed on their own accord and she couldn't help but think that no matter what attempts he made, there would be no way to tame that hair of his.

Shaking her head, Sakura wrote a few notes down before heading for the door. "I'd say you're good to go, Lee-san. I'll send a nurse in to remove your IV and get you discharged."

Lee nodded, "Thank you for your help, Haruno-san. You are as intelligent as you are beautiful."

"Stay safe now," Sakura said, trying to hold back a smile at her patient's forwardness.

As she approached the nurses' station, Sakura rolled her eyes at the feeling she was being watched. She looked up to see a cluster of nurses grinning at her. One of them winked when she realized which room the medic had just come from.

"That boy has been rambling on about you for nearly two weeks now," one of the older nurses teased, sending the younger nurses into a giggle fit.

"I don't see why you don't just let him take you on a date, Sakura-sama."

"Oh please, you girls crave your gossip, don't you?" Sakura groaned, pulling her hair out of its clip, only to rewind her hair into a twist and pin it up again. "Can one of you discharge him and get him out of my hair please?"

The younger nurses giggled behind her as she walked down the hall, whispering to each other behind their hands about the brave ninja who was pursuing the beautiful new medic, while the older ones shook their heads as they remembered their days of youth.

"That Rock Lee is a ninja! I can't believe Sakura-sama isn't interested in him!" a younger nurse whispered; she was loud enough, however, for Sakura to hear.

An older nurse swatted the girl with one of the files in her hand, "tsk"ing loudly. Another sat back in her chair, "Sakura-sama is a quiet girl; very kind and hard working, of course, but she seems to prefer to keep to herself."

Another young nurse leaned over the counter to watch the pink-haired medic walk down the hall, "I don't get it, she's hand-selected by the Godaime to work in the hospital and she has tons of guys—both ninja and citizens alike—practically begging her to go out with them, and what does she choose to do on her Friday nights? Go home and read a book."

"That girl is just plain weird."

Choosing to ignore the gossiping women behind her, Sakura let out a deep sigh, relieved the day was over. Despite her sore feet, she hurried her pace, eager to get back to her apartment and relax with a warm cup of tea and a good book.

O-0-O

"Finally," Sakura murmured to herself as she pushed past the heavy glass doors of the Konoha General Hospital. She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, welcoming the scent of fresh pine trees to replace the sterile bleach smell of the hospital.

A gust of wind blew and she shivered, clutching her coat tighter around her body and tucking her nose into her warm wool scarf. Sakura frowned, it was mid-February and Konoha's harsh winter still had yet to let up. Back at her old village, the snow would have already begun to melt, spring would have been just around the corner. Tsunade told her that in Konoha, spring wouldn't come until closer to the end of March, the same time as Sakura's twentieth birthday.

Thinking about her old village caused Sakura to frown. Whenever she thought about her hometown, a strong case of homesickness filled Sakura's heart. Despite the fact that this was the first time she'd ever moved out of her village, she knew that the true reason she longed for her previous home was because of how much of an outsider she felt here. Sure everyone was nice enough, but they had all grown up together, they all had histories here.

Tsunade herself had requested that Sakura come to Konoha because of her unmatchable chakra abilities, but Sakura had never felt more like she had nothing to offer the world than she did now.

"Haruno-san!" Sakura paused in her mental quest for purpose and bristled when she recognized the voice.

"Lee-san," she greeted to the person ninja who fell into pace with her. "You can't have been discharged more than ten minutes ago, I hope you're not injured again already."

Lee laughed harder than was probably necessary at her sarcasm (joke, if she were trying to be polite). "Oh Haruno-san, your wit simply astounds me. You are one of the most intelligent people I know."

Sakura snorted, "And yet I'm not allowed to be a ninja, where's the fairness in that?" She could sense Lee's discomfiture, but she couldn't help it. Since her amazing chakra skills had been discovered when she was a little girl, all Sakura had ever dreamed about was becoming a powerful ninja. But the laws of the land stated that no woman—no matter what her chakra control was like, no matter how powerful she was or how many times she'd proved herself—could become a ninja. The only option for a woman with skills in chakra control was the medical field, usually a healer. Sakura, however, was an exception, and was expected to follow in Tsunade's footsteps as her new apprentice.

"Erm, yes, well…you are an amazing healer, Haruno-san!" Lee continued, scratching the back of his head. "Or, may I call you Sakura?"

She watched him out of the corner of her eyes for a moment before nodding. Unfortunately, Lee seemed to take this as the "go ahead" and stepped closer to her.

"Well then, Sakura-san, how would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Sakura practically choked as she gasped and swallowed at the same time, her jaw clenching as she cleared her throat. "Um, Lee-san, I really—"

"I understand that it is far too late for dinner tonight, but perhaps tomorrow night?" Lee interrupted eagerly.

"Oh, well, I'm not sure I—"

"Then again, I completely forgot the hectic schedule of a doctor, maybe it would just be easier for you to tell me the next night you have off and I'll work my schedule around it!" he continued, beginning to babble about several nice restaurants and a new movie he was looking forward to seeing.

"Lee-san please," Sakura said with a stern tone, finally ceasing in her walk home so Lee could understand how serious she was being. "I appreciate your offer, really I do, but I just can't accept it."

Seeing Lee begin to open his mouth in protest as his eyebrows drooped, she lifted a hand up, "I just moved here a few months ago, I'm still trying to get my bearings here. I haven't even unpacked all of my boxes. I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to go out with you. And please don't take this as a hint to try later on, I really am just not interested in seeing anyone."

When Lee made no move to speak again, Sakura gave him a final apologetic smile before setting on her way home. She held her breath, praying to anyone who was listening that Lee would just leave it at that.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side tonight.

"You'd truly rather be alone?" he called out, now several meters behind her.

Sakura stopped walking, but didn't turn around, "For now, yes. Good night, Lee-san."

"Good night, Sakura-san," Lee breathed out, still standing in the middle of the street, his hands tucked half-heartedly into the pockets of his ninja uniform.

"That girl is quite a mystery," he said to himself—not noticing the small group of old men and women who had been watching his interaction with Konoha's newest medic. "And so beautiful, too. I swear, beauty like that can only be a curse, a curse by some love-hating demon."

Not that he truly believed Sakura to be cursed—although with her exotic looks, it would have made sense not to rule it out entirely—but he felt as if an angry demon who had once been rejected put a curse on Sakura to make her the most beautiful woman in the world, only to reject every suitor she came across.

With a final rejected sigh, Lee kicked at a stone on the road before making his way down to the local bar to meet with some friends.

Unbeknownst to the bowl-cutted ninja, the small group of elders stood together in silent shock.

"The girl has been cursed," an old woman whispered.

"Have you seen her hair? No one could ever be born with hair of that color," another said.

"This is the work of a demon."

An old man slammed his wooden cane on the ground, "We must get rid of her, before she can cause further havoc for the young men of our town."

O-0-O

It was nearly midnight by the time Sakura had gotten into her warm futon. She pulled her quilts up around her so only her hair was visible. Sleep was just around the corner when suddenly there was a harsh knock on the door.

"What the—" She sat up, listening to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Once again, someone pounded on the door, only this time the noise was accompanied by various angry shouts. "Haruno Sakura, open up at once!"

Sakura barely had time to get to her feet before her door was kicked open. About a dozen and a half people crowded into her small apartment, all glaring at her. Several were holding holy books, others carried flashlights. What alarmed Sakura most though, was the rope two men were holding, and the pure white silk kimono another woman held.

"W-What's going on?"

"We know what you are!" a woman snapped.

"You're cursed!"

"You're a danger to our children!"

"What in the world are you talking about? I'm not—"

"Your hair is pink and your eyes shine like emeralds," the first woman snapped. "You have a perfect figure and your skin looks white as the snow outside. There's no way you got your appearance naturally.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sakura insisted. "My skin is so pale because I never get outside from working so much, and my hair is this color because my mother had red hair and my father had white! I swear!"

"Listen to her lie freely!" an old man called from the back.

"Enough of this!" another man ordered, "Grab her!"

Sakura yelped, attempting to jump back but two of the men grabbed her arms and before she knew it, she was unconscious.

O-0-O

By the time she woke up, Sakura was being carried in the back of an old wagon. She shivered in the cold and looked down to see that she was clothed only in a thin white kimono with doves detailed on the sleeves and the hem. Her hands and feet were bound and her hair had been roughly pulled into a bun on top of her head. Whether they truly shone like emeralds or not, her eyes widened as she realized that these people were taking the notion of "sacrifice" pretty seriously.

Just as she was about to peek her head up to see where they were heading, a large dark castle came into view. It looked to be centuries old, she could hardly believe anyone actually lived there.

The cart jolted to a stop and suddenly two hands reached down to yank her up and out. The crowd passed her up towards the front entrance of the huge castle and Sakura immediately sensed a dark aura coming from inside.

"What is this place?" she asked, looking to the person closest to her.

"It is the manor of the demon clan Uchiha," an older man sneered as he shoved her towards the door.

"You can't really be serious about sacrificing me!"

"We want nothing to do with a cursed woman," an old woman hissed from the back of the crowd as two men opened the front doors. "Let the heartless demon deal with you now."

"Wait, no!" Sakura was shoved unceremoniously into the entryway of the castle, unable to brace herself for the fall, seeing as her hands were tied. She fell face first onto the wooden floor, her hair beginning to fall from its bun into her face.

"What is going on here?" a new voice asked quietly. The crowd behind Sakura gasped and backed away quickly.

"Well?" the voice continued. In her position, Sakura was unable to maneuver herself up to get a good look at the person standing above her, all she could see was a pair of black shoes about an inch away from her face.

"Th-that woman has been cursed! See her unnatural beauty!"

The man standing over her reached down and hoisted her up by the collar, finally giving Sakura a good look at him. He had long silver hair and wore a mysterious mask over half his face. His lone eye moved up and down her form, seemingly appraising her.

"I sense nothing spiritual about this woman," he said calmly. "Only that she has an amazing amount of chakra."

"Take her to Sasuke!" another man shouted, "We don't want her!" And with that they took off.

The silver haired man looked at Sakura once more before lifting her into his arms. She gasped and clutched her bound wrists to her chest at his movements, but remained silent otherwise. If this was the castle of a demon, surely this man was some sort of demon as well? Truthfully, Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

"Do not be afraid, young lady," he said quietly, his unmasked eye staring straight forward as he walked them up a staircase and down a dark wing. "I know you're not cursed. You're not going to be sacrificed."

Sakura wanted to know what he planned to do with her then, but she was too terrified to ask. She chose to remain silent and kept her gaze on her lap as the man continued down the hall, occasionally shifting his grip under her knees or around her shoulders.

Eventually they came to a tall wooden door. The man finally set Sakura upright on her feet, pausing a moment to knock on the door before entering some sort of silent answer.

"What do you want Kakashi," a voice growled from a shadowed corner. Sakura gasped, she hadn't even seen anyone in the room.

The man—Kakashi—pushed Sakura towards the direction the voice came from. "This girl is from Konoha, they believed her to be cursed and wanted to sacrifice her to you."

Sakura barely had a moment to be curious about the sarcastic tone Kakashi used when he spoke of her intended sacrifice, before she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and goose bumps rise up on her skin. She knew instantly she was being watched by whoever it was in the corner.

"Tch. Why have you brought her to me?"

"Konoha wants nothing to do with her, she has nowhere else to go. I came to see if you wanted to keep her," he said simply.

"Actually, I only moved here recently," Sakura said quietly. "I could just go back to my old home—"

"Bring her into the light," the voice intoned. Kakashi pushed Sakura forward until she was standing next to a window, bathed in the moonlight. By now her hair had fallen completely out of the bun and rested in an unruly manner on her shoulders, the thin kimono about to slide off one of her shoulders. Her jaw clenched as she could feel a pair of eyes look her up and down.

"Very well, she will stay here."

"You can't be serious!" Sakura snapped, her eyes widening as she looked back at Kakashi. His eye crinkled a bit but she couldn't tell what facial expression he was making under the mask. He stepped up to her again and hoisted her over one shoulder, much to her protest.

"Put her in the dungeons."

"Sasuke," Kakashi hesitated as he made his way towards the door, "are you sure that's the best place for her? After all, who knows how long she'll be staying here. Why not let her at least be comfortable, if you're going to keep her prisoner."

The being in the corner remained silent for a moment, considering. Sakura could barely make out his figure, red eyes glared back at her and her stomach somersaulted when she thought she saw the outline of wings.

"Fine. Take her to a room in the east wing."

Kakashi nodded once more and started towards the door. Despite being bound, Sakura kicked and swung her fists to his back as hard as she could. "Damn it! You can't do this! Let me go!"

She swung her head up to face her captor, not minding the way her hair fell in front of her face or how exposed her chest was by the way the kimono fell from this angle. "You bastard! I swear, I'm going to—"

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw him in full light. She had never seen anything like him before in her entire life. Something that looked so evil, so angry, the very epitome of hatred. He snarled at her reaction before jumping back into the shadows, his dark blue hair swishing behind him.

For the rest of the trip to her new room, Sakura remained silent, unable to get past the sadness she saw in the demon's eyes behind the angry face. Kakashi paused to unlock another large wooden door, and then dumped her gently on a large four poster bed. He reached behind him and grabbed a knife. She gasped at first but relaxed once she realized he was merely cutting the ropes that bound her.

The room was nearly entirely dark, but she could still make out his relaxed pose as he stopped in the doorway. "By the way, what is your name?"

Sakura stiffened, but answered anyway, "Sakura. My name is Sakura."

"Well Sakura, I truly hope you enjoy your stay." And with that, he closed the door behind him. She gritted her teeth when she heard the sound of the door being locked.

"Damn it!" She grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the door, continuing to fume until she worked herself into exhaustion.

Unbeknownst to the girl, a pair of red eyes watched her from the shadows, slightly amused at her little temper tantrum. Truthfully, Sasuke had no idea why he had decided to keep the girl. Sure she was beautiful but that was no reason for him to keep her prisoner.

While he hated to admit it, the desperation in this girl's eyes—Sakura, she'd said her name was—reminded him of the loneliness he felt every day in his icy heart. Though he doubted she could ever learn to love him, she was the first person he'd come in contact with besides Naruto and Kakashi in nearly one hundred years, and he couldn't help but seek out the companionship.

Author's Note: Sorry I took kind of a while to update! I was very busy this week—I finally turned 18! And I've been doing all kinds of things now that I'm a legal adult :)

Anyway, I'd love to hear your feedback!