Title: The Beauty and the Beast
Author: Aurora Ciel
Characters/Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Kakashi (minor: Lee, Tsunade)
Rating: M
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: Thank you for the great reviews everyone! One of you asked if all the chapters are named after songs from the movie and yes, they're all songs from the movie or the show. They also give a little hint to what's going to come in the chapter, but that's all I'm going to say!

Chapter Three:
"Wolf Chase"

Sakura was fuming.

"'Weak human'…what an arrogant jerk!" she muttered to herself as she paced around her bedroom, where she'd locked herself inside for the past few hours. "How can someone be so rude? It's just…unbelievable!"

With a groan of frustration, Sakura threw herself onto the cushiony window seat. Her reflection glared back at her as she looked past the glass to view the dark grounds as the sun began to set.

I'm not a weakling…I'm Tsunade-shishou's apprentice, aren't I?! I'm stronger than most humans out there, that's for sure!

About an hour ago Kakashi had brought in a tray full of food but Sakura refused to even look at it until he was out of the room and well on his way down the hall. A part of her considered not eating it at all, not wanting to let Sasuke think he could so easily win her over, but another part of her—the medic part—knew that she needed food and therefore she'd gone against her stubbornness in favor of sustenance.

I need to get out of here, she thought to herself. But how? I'm sure Sasuke would hear me if I tried to go through the main door.

Pouting, Sakura leaned into the crook of her arm where her elbow was pressed against the window pane. Suddenly she perked up, staring at the forest at the edge of the grounds.

Maybe…maybe if I can get to the forest I can make my way around to the front and get through to Konoha! Excited, she glanced around. But how do I get out? The window?

She peered down, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. She was on the third level, quite a drop to the ground. Not a chance. Maybe if I'd had proper ninja training, but since my skills are honed on healing alone, there's no way I'd be able to support myself.

Looking back to her door, she remembered the door Hinata had led her through to get outside. The door that was exactly two floors below her, if she was remembering correctly. Cautiously, Sakura opened the door and peered down the hallway.

All was still.

She slipped her sandals off her feet, choosing to hold them in her hands to be quieter. She'd put them back on once she'd made her way to the forest. The door clicked quietly as she closed it behind her. The entire castle was completely silent as she made her trek to one of the stairwells, the stone steps cold against her bare feet.

Finally Sakura reached the main floor and she paused once more to listen for anyone. She was almost suspicious that she hadn't heard anyone, or worse, been found. Still, she knew she had come too far to just turn around like a dog with its tail between its legs. She had something to prove! Imagining the look of surprise on Sasuke's face when he'd discovered she'd managed to escape made the risk worth even more.

With an extra boost of determination, Sakura made her way down a dark hallway to where she found the door Hinata had brought her to that morning. She glanced behind her one last time and sensing no one around, she pushed past the heavy door, creeping along the wall towards the corner closest to the forest. Once she'd reached the farthest end of the castle, she took a deep breath, hiked up the skirts of her kimono, and made a run for it.

The ground was still frozen from the harsh winter; sections of the great lawn were covered in a few inches of snow, so Sakura had to maneuver her way around them to keep her bare feet safe. The grass was cold and wet between her toes and within minutes her feet were numb. Sakura was beginning to regret not wearing any footwear, but she was directly in the open now, it was too late for her to stop and put her sandals on.

The cold night air pressed against her chest, making her lungs feel rock hard in her chest. Her breath was coming out in puffs as her breathing staggered. Again the thought crossed her mind that she was somewhat surprised no one had caught her or made the attempt to stop her.

The thought cleared, however, when she finally reached the forest, allowing herself to stop and rest for a moment once she'd disappeared into the dark protection of the trees. She leaned against a tree, panting and clutching at her chest as she struggled to regain her breath.

I made it, she thought to herself, her chest filling with pride. She let out a small cheer and made a leap into the air. After she'd lowered her breathing to only a slight pant, she realized what a predicament she'd put herself in.

Instead of stopping right at the edge of the forest, Sakura had inadvertently run further into the forest than she'd realized. Now all she could see were trees and darkness. She thought she could see a faint light in one direction so she chose to walk that way.

A few minutes later and Sakura had decided she was most definitely lost. Goosebumps rose up on her skin and she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stand up. Finally remembering the sandals in her hands, she leaned up against a tree to secure them to her feet.

As she bent over, she heard a branch snap only a few feet away from her. Instinctively straightening up, Sakura narrowed her eyes to try to see into the darkness. More branches snapped and now she could hear crunching in the remaining snow.

She was not alone.

"H-Hello? Sasuke? Naruto?"

And suddenly there it was. A low growl that could only mean one thing: danger. Heart pounding, Sakura stepped backwards until she came in contact with the rough bark of a tree. She could hear more footsteps and the growling was coming closer, only now it was coming from more than one place.

A pair of beady red eyes appeared from behind a pine tree, its penetrating gaze looking up at her in hunger. Two more came out from behind a tree and suddenly there were at least half a dozen looking back at her. Sakura let a choked gasp as one thought went through her mind.

She was trapped.

One of them to her left snarled and finally she could see them—wolves, larger than any she'd seen before. Their fur was a dark charcoal gray, tangled and matted, some of it coated in something thick and dark. Blood.

The snarling one suddenly hurtled forward at her, she shrieked and chucked one of her sandals at it, hitting it right on the nose. It was startled for a minute before its snarls turned even more ravenous and it barked out to the others.

Apparently throwing the shoe was a bad choice because now the wolves were even more angry and bloodthirsty than before. They all closed in on her, crouching back, getting ready to pounce.

Sakura stepped on something hard. She looked down, a thick branch was resting against the tree trunk. Picking it up, she held it out in front of her, not intending to go down without a fight.

One of them closed in on her, its long claws ripping at the fabric of her kimono and barely grazing the top of her thigh. She screamed again, bringing the stick down hard on its head. A loud crack rang out in the forest and the wolf dropped, lying motionless on the ground.

Sakura stared at it in disbelief. She just killed something. She couldn't believe it, her head was spinning and suddenly it was getting hard to breathe. Turning around, the rest of the wolves growled with fury before they ran at her collectively.

Tucking herself into a small ball, she braced herself for the pain…but it never came. A ferocious roar echoed throughout the trees, but this time it was different from the wolves'. Peeking up slightly, Sakura was stunned to see Sasuke standing protectively in front of her.

She couldn't see his face, but she was sure it was a terrifying one because the wolves began to back up slowly. Sasuke turned back to her, his eyes gleaming a deadly crimson as they searched her body for wounds.

Movement behind him brought Sakura's attention back to the wolves and she shrieked once more as she saw one of them leap up at Sasuke.

"SASUKE, BEHIND YOU!"

Her warning hadn't come soon enough, however, and the wolf landed hard on Sasuke's back. He groaned as it bit down hard on his shoulder, before grabbing the wolf and throwing it off of him.

As he turned around, more of the wolves came at him. Sakura watched as Sasuke tossed them off like flies, many of them not even managing to land a scratch on him.

A few of them did, though, and every time Sakura watched jaws bite down or claws graze his dark skin, she felt like her heart was about to shatter into a million pieces. But Sasuke never faltered, always batting them away like it was nothing.

Just when Sakura thought Sasuke was going to end this, the wolves charged him at once, piling up on top of him until Sakura couldn't even see him anymore.

"Sasuke!" Looking down at the branch in her hands, she raced over towards him, hitting the wolves with all her might.

This isn't enough, she thought to herself. I need to do more, if only I could… Suddenly she felt a strange burst of power shoot through her arms, the branch connected with a body and one of the wolves flew into the trees.

Sakura stared at her hands in disbelief, she felt the same way she did when she used chakra to heal people. Was this what it was like to use chakra in battle?

She didn't have time to contemplate further, because she heard a frustrated growl and then Sasuke threw the rest of the wolves off of his body, sending them in all directions. A few of them connected with trees, letting out soft whines as they eased themselves up and scampered away. The rest of the wolves followed, scurrying away quickly.

Once they were sure the wolves were gone, they turned to each other—one in stunned silence, the other unable to speak from panting so hard. Taking in the scratches and bite marks that littered Sasuke's body, Sakura felt hot tears slide down her frozen cheeks.

She took a hesitant step forward, "S-Sasuke, I—"

Her words were unheard as, with one last heavy pant, Sasuke fell forward. Sakura darted over to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, his head pressed into the crook of her neck.

Startled, Sakura stood there for a few minutes, trying to process everything that had happened. Sasuke's staggered breathing was hot against her neck, she could feel his sweat dripping down from his face onto her shoulder.

After a while, his dead weight became too much for Sakura to support on her own. "Sasuke?" she whispered, reaching a tentative hand up to stroke his long dark hair. "Sasuke, do you think you can walk back?"

Her only response was a soft grunt.

"Sasuke…Sasuke-kun, you're too heavy for me. Please help me," she whispered, pressing her cheek against his.

Her words finally seemed to sink in, with a final groan, Sasuke lifted his head and managed to start walking in the direction of the castle. Sakura was thankful that he knew how to get back, because she sure didn't. Keeping an arm around her shoulders, Sasuke's weight was hard to bare, but Sakura was determined to help him back. It was the least she could do after he'd saved her life.

O-0-O

Sasuke and Sakura sat quietly by the fireplace, Sasuke slumped in an armchair with Sakura kneeling beside him. She'd offered to heal his wounds for him, saying it was the least she could do. Kakashi had brought her a bowl of warm water and a cloth for her to clean Sasuke's wounds before healing them.

Pressing the warm, wet cloth to a gash on Sasuke's shin, Sakura finally lifted her gaze from her hands. When her eyes met his penetrating ones, she bit her lip nervously.

Her voice was soft, "Those wolves sure were scary."

"Hn. They weren't wolves, they were wolf demons."

"Oh." Of course, those wolves seemed more vicious than normal. "What's the difference?"

"Wolf demons are more powerful and more dangerous."

They grew quiet again before another question that had been bothering Sakura had to come out, "How did you find me?"

He looked down at her smugly, "I heard you leave the castle and I watched you run into the woods."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"I wanted to see how far you would make it."

Suddenly Sakura felt very stupid. She'd obviously failed his test. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I was listening for you, so I started after you once I smelled the wolves. It wasn't until I'd heard you screaming that I realized I was almost too late."

Sakura sighed, "Sasuke, I'm sorry…."

"Hn."

At his blatant dismissal of her apology, her unease turned into anger. "Will you stop saying that?" she snapped.

Sasuke snarled as, in her anger, Sakura scrubbed a little too harshly at one of his wounds. Her anger sparked his temper and he jerked away from her. "If you hadn't run away, we wouldn't even be here!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, their color darkening to a striking shade of emerald. "Well can you blame me? Who would want to live with such a jerk?!"

"Who would want to live with such a stubborn brat?!"

Sakura huffed, about to retort when one of Sasuke's wounds caught her eye. Their arguing had caused one of the gashes she hadn't gotten to yet to open up even more, blood was now trickling down his side. Sakura's eyes softened and she quickly pressed her hand to it, releasing her warm chakra into his body.

Wiping the rest of the blood away, she moved in closer so her side was pressed up against his leg. Her fingers skimmed upwards to a bite mark on his left pectoral. She kept her gaze on her hands.

"By the way," her voice was so soft he almost thought he'd imagined it at first. He peered down at her from the corner of his eye but continued to keep his face turned away. Sakura smiled softly, "Thank you…for saving my life."

Sasuke turned to the girl in shock, when Sakura used her chakra to heal the wound over his heart. He felt a warmth seep into his heart and he wasn't sure if it was her chakra or something else. His eyes softened and he stared at her openly. With the light of the fire behind her, this woman looked stunning. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes glittered from the firelight, her light hair spread across her shoulders in loose waves. Her lips were slightly parted as she sat back, looking up at him.

He felt himself nodding at her, "Aa."

"And," she smiled sheepishly, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, "I promise not to try to run away anymore."

He smirked slightly, moving the leg she was leaning against so it was pressed against her soft body even more.

"Good."

O-0-O

Unbeknownst to the pair, a solitary eye was watching their exchange, a pleased smirk hidden behind the mask on his face. From the moment he'd first seen her, Kakashi had known this girl would be special. He had not only sensed a great amount of chakra within her, but a powerful and loving heart.

And now, watching these two, he knew there was a good chance Sakura could be the one to break Sasuke's curse. All they'd needed was a push in the right direction. Sakura stroked the strong muscles in Sasuke's forearm, before laughing lightheartedly at something Sasuke had said.

With a happy sigh, Kakashi left the two to carry on alone. He glanced back at them one last time and decided that it couldn't hurt to give them another little push.

A/N: Yes I know this chapter was a little shorter, but don't worry the next chapters are going to get longer! I just had to cut it off here for the sake of the story.

Please, please, please review!