This longer chapter should make up for last week, heh. Also since I'll be busy this week/weekend, I'll probably add Chapter 4 a couple days sooner than normal, as soon as I look through it again to make sure I'm satisfied with it. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up with this and reviewing!

*Disclaimer* Original writing, plot and characters are borrowed from their respective creators.

It was almost nightfall when she was brought to a large and daunting castle. She never realized there was such a structure here, but then again, they were a good ways away from the village, and she had never wandered this far out of the village before. She saw movement nearby from the corner of her eye and realized it was her father's cloak hooked onto a bare tree's branch. She urged the horse onward, but he refused to move. So instead she got off and walked the rest of the way to the gargantuan doors. She looked around; it looked abandoned and uncared for, so she pushed her way inside, staying cautious all the same.

"Hello?" she called, in case there really was someone inhabiting this dark castle. "Is there anyone here? I'm looking for my father, have you seen him?" she thought she heard something down the hall, like a soft tapping, so she followed the noise, still calling out. There was no response except for the continuous unidentifiable noise, which she followed up a set of stairs, spiraling upward, higher and higher. She reached what she realized was a bleak and dank tower, with stone walls providing no sort of insulation, the moon the only source of light coming through an opening in the wall that was to represent a window. She also realized it was a dead end, with only what looked like jail cells before her. "Hello?" she called out again, and this time she heard a response.

"Sakura?" a familiar voice sounded.

"Otousan?!" she ran towards his voice and could barely make out the figure of him in a corner cell hidden in the dark, huddled to keep himself warm. "What happened to you?"

"What are you doing here?" Kizashi asked. "You shouldn't be here, you need to get out of here now!"

"Not until I get you out of here!" she stood up, feeling her way through the dark for the lock, as her father continued pleading for her to escape while she could. Suddenly she was knocked to the ground by a massive force, and her father shouted her name in anguish.

"Who are you?" a new voice, a deep, intimidating voice, bellowed out. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura recovered, getting on her feet as she tried to identify the speaker in the dark. "Please," she begged to the invisible voice, "I just want to bring my father home."

"He's my prisoner," the loud voice echoed throughout the tower, "he shouldn't have come into my castle if he didn't want to face such a fate."

"I'm sure he didn't mean you any harm," Sakura cried, still trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious speaker of the booming voice. "Please, just let him go, and you'll never hear from us again."

"Never," the dark voice shouted, "he was caught trespassing and must face the consequences. He is to be imprisoned here forever."

Sakura looked to her father in the cell, slowly but surely freezing in there. She couldn't bear living her life knowing he was trapped here and doing nothing about it. "If that's the case," she said, her voice shaking, "then take me in his place."

There was a pause.

"Please!" Sakura begged again, ignoring her father's orders of leaving him be.

"You would do that?" the voice softened slightly, a hint of confusion evident in his voice. He couldn't understand why someone would put their life on the line like that, knowing very well they were going to be imprisoned forever. And with a monster like himself to keep her company, he thought grimly.

"Yes, I would!" Sakura exclaimed. "He's my father; this isn't a proper environment for him. Can't you see he's freezing here? He needs to be home where it's safe and warm."

"Sakura, don't!" Kizashi's voice broke into a coughing fit, further proving her point.

The voice didn't answer right away, and Sakura listened hard for any movement that would give away his position; with the way his voice echoed in the tower it was hard to pinpoint his location. Then –

"Fine," it said gruffly, and she heard steps moving forward. In the moonlight she caught a sign of movement, something large, moving towards her father's cell. She heard the movement of the lock, a squeak of the door, and soon her father was in her arms.

"Sakura, don't do this! You have your whole life ahead of you, you shouldn't be spending it locked up in a tower guarded by a –" he didn't finish his sentence because he gave a shout of surprise as he was suddenly dragged away from her. "Sakura!" he called.

"Wait! Otousan!" she got up and starting running, following her father. She stopped in her tracks when she finally got a better look at what was dragging her father down the stairs. A large, misshapen creature, unlike anything she had ever seen before. She stood, petrified, as realization sunk in, that she would never see her father again, that she was now a prisoner in this miserable tower, with a…with a…

She heard noises outside and ran to the only window, where she saw a horseless, driverless carriage pulling away, and she saw the amorphous figure walking back towards the castle. Without reason, she ran down the spiral stairs, down the hall, and rounded the corner when –

She gasped when she saw what was in front of her. It was a massive, tan creature, with a pattern of intricate black markings covering its entirety. A large tail stood out, equally decorated with the markings, and its face consisted of large pointed ears, a black mask of markings, and glaring yellow eyes, looking right at her.

Sakura stood, terrified, as the beast came nearer. She realized this was why her father wanted her to get away as quickly as possible, even if it meant leaving him. But no, she was glad that her father was safe; she stood her ground, preparing herself for what the monster might do to her.

"Follow me; I'll show you to your room."

She wasn't prepared for that.

"What?"

"You're going to stay here for the rest of your life," it growled, "unless you want to stay up in that tower you described as an unsuitable environment."

He did have a point.

She had no choice but to follow the brute, up a different set of stairs, down a large corridor, up another set of stairs, until they reached a door. Upon opening it, she saw an enormous bedroom, the walls a beautiful crimson color, with a large four-poster bed adorned with a fine-looking floral bedspread complementing the color theme of the room. Next to the bed was a massive wardrobe and desk, and on the opposite wall was a window that reached from floor to ceiling, curtains matching the bedspread. It was a marvelous sight, and Sakura would have thought that, had it not been for the reason she was brought to that room.

"You are free to wander anywhere in the castle," the monster said, "except the West Wing. That is forbidden to you. You are also to join me at all meals and whenever I request your presence." With that, he slammed the door, leaving Sakura to her room.

Sakura furrowed her brow at the door; she was given almost unlimited access to the castle, but had to follow his orders whenever he wished for her attendance. In what such situations, she couldn't help but wonder. She walked to the window, staring out at it. All she could see beyond her, shining in the pale moonlight, were leafless trees upon trees upon trees. She fought back tears as she realized this would be her view for the rest of her life; she wouldn't be going home, she wouldn't get to go on adventures, she –

She gasped as she turned when she heard a noise behind her. She thought she was alone. It still looked like she was alone. Why did that noise sound so close to her? She gasped again when she saw movement; the wardrobe? She took a step towards it, reaching for its door, not sure what would be behind it, when suddenly it opened on its own. She jumped backwards with a yelp, falling onto the carpet floor, and stared up at it, scared stiff, when it looked to be walking towards her. And then, it spoke.

"Finally, someone who can actually wear these dresses!" The door opened widely once more, and with a shriek, Sakura scurried backwards as quickly as possible from the inanimate – no, it was supposed to be inanimate, but –

"Well don't you wanna wear something pretty when you go to dinner?!" it called out to her as Sakura still backed away, until she reached the wall. She gasped when she heard a knock at the door then, glancing warily at the wardrobe once more, edged her way to the door as quickly as possible. She opened the door and saw…no one. Then –

"I thought you'd like some tea after what you just went through," a soft voice below her said, and when she looked down, she saw a teakettle, a moving teakettle, as it hopped lively across the floor into her room. Following her was a small teacup, and at this point all Sakura could do was stare. What was going on? She watched as the teakettle poured itself tea into the little cup, and the cup made its way over to Sakura, and that was when she saw a face etched onto it, smiling up at her.

"It's ok, I don't bite!" it said in a childlike voice. Reluctantly, Sakura knelt down and picked up the cup, examining it, the dark eyes, the grin with a missing tooth. She brought the cup towards her, convinced herself she was going out of her mind, and took a sip of some of the most delicious tea she ever had.

After finishing her tea, she set the cup down, and it hurriedly hopped away to the kettle, which Sakura realized also had a face imprinted on, one with large pale eyes staring at her, smiling. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Hinata," the teakettle said warmly, "this is Konohamaru."

"And…" Sakura looked up, her attention back on the wardrobe. With a clear head, she inspected it closer, and saw a face as part of the molding above the door, smiling down at her.

"I'm Ino," it said. "Now do you wanna change into something for dinner?"

"But…I don't understand…" Sakura stammered. "Why are you all - ?"

"We've all fallen under a curse," Hinata explained. "When the prince was cursed, it affected the entire kingdom, servants and all."

"So…you're all…human?" Sakura asked, bewildered. This was nothing like any of the books she had read.

"Well, currently, no," Ino said matter-of-factly. "But at some point in our lives, we were. Including the prince."

"The prince?"

"You know, that tanuki-looking guy?"

"He's the…prince? But he's…" she trailed off.

"It's ok, you can say it," Konohamaru said frankly after a brief pause. "Even he knows he's a big, rude, brute."

"Konohamaru," Hinata scolded.

"Well it's true!"

"But really," Hinata said, covering up Konohamaru's protests, "he's not that bad once you get to know him."

"Once I get to know him?" Sakura repeated in disbelief, reflecting on her impressions based on their encounter; it seemed highly unlikely. "He threw my father into an old, dark cell, and in a split second all my dreams and aspirations had been decimated. And he never even gave us a chance to say goodbye; he just tore my father away from me, and I'll never see him again! How can such a thing really not be that bad? He's just a selfish, obstinate - !"

At that point there was another knock at the door. Sakura got up to answer it, and when she saw no one at her eye level, she knew this time to look down to see her visitor. This time it was a small clock.

"Hello, Shikamaru," Hinata greeted happily with a smile, "what brings you here?"

"I was told to come up here to fetch the girl so she could attend dinner," the clock named Shikamaru replied lazily. He looked up at Sakura. "Are you ready?"

Sakura looked down at the clock, then at her door, knowing that if she went downstairs she would have to face him again. "No," she said blatantly. "I'm not hungry."

Shikamaru and Hinata exchanged glances, and then Shikamaru rolled his dark, shrewd eyes. "This is gonna be troublesome," he muttered as he tottered off out of the room.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Hinata asked worriedly once the door was shut. She knew the prince would not take Sakura's decision lightly, and wanted to try to avoid more problems for the two. After all, all of their fates depended on the two of them.

"I've had a rough day," Sakura said, sitting on her bed. "My appetite's the least of my worries."

"But maybe if you get some food in your stomach you'll feel a bit better about being here," Hinata tried for reasoning. "After all, Chouji's cooking is absolutely –"

Suddenly a loud shout was heard, then stomping feet, frantic yells, all of which were getting closer and closer until finally she heard banging on her door, and she didn't have to ask who it was.

"You're supposed to come down to dinner!" the tanuki's voice shouted so loudly it was like he was actually in the room.

"I'm not hungry!" Sakura repeated, shouting as well. She stood cautiously by the door, ready to jump out of the way in case he decided to break the door down, but all she heard was muffled voices. Then she heard his voice again, much calmer, though aggravation was still seeping through.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you please accompanied me to dinner. Please."

He wasn't going to win her over that easily, even if he begged.

"No, thanks!"

"So you're just gonna stay in there forever? Because the only way you're gonna eat is if you eat with me!"

"Fine by me!" Sakura shouted, and it took all her strength not to punctuate her argument with a kick of the door.

"Then so be it!" he growled, and it wasn't until she heard him storm away that she stomped off to her bed and threw herself across it in anger.