Sleep Sonnets
The children of the village were always told the wonderful story of sleeping beauty. The story of how their prince found the princess under a wicked curse and gave her a true love's kiss, waking her from her slumber and bla bla bla.
The first time Temari heard the old lady telling the children her story, she was so furious that she stormed right into the middle of their "story circle" and gave out to the old lady for circulating false information.
She sat herself down in the middle of the circle and began telling the truth which, granted, wasn't half as romantic as the one that the elderly lady told, but it was the truth, and that was what mattered.
§
She entered the chamber where it was promised she'd find a sleeping prince.
A beautiful sleeping prince.
To say she was disappointed would be an understatement.
He wasn't bad looking per se but he wasn't exactly prince charming.
He had the dark hair from the stories and the same unimpressed expression she'd been warned of.
"You mean to tell me I travelled all this way to wake up a 6/10 ?" She grumbled, seating herself beside his bed and watching the prince's face as he slept.
There was only one problem.
"How do I wake him up?"
There came no answer.
She sighed and stood up, pacing around the small room for any clues.
Chess board, books, clothes... Nothing out of the ordinary for a rumoured prodigy. A kiss would be far to generic, and the Knight of Sand refused to stoop down to the level of fairy tales.
Violence wasn't the answer.
She looked at him again.
She really wanted to kick him.
He had a face that asked to be kicked.
Violence was not the answer.
It was the question.
The answer was yes.
She grabbed him by the hair that was tied in a stupid little ponytail and lifted his head up.
"W-WHAT THE-?!"
He flailed and his eyes opened instantly.
"Ah, you're awake." She observed, letting him go before he woke everyone up.
"Of course I'm awake! " he yelped, " You just tried to scalp me!"
He rubbed his head with a frustrated frown etched upon his features.
"What are you even doing here, troublesome woman?"
She raised an eyebrow at him and started explaining.
"I was sent to wake up the 'sleeping beauty' of a prince. I was disappointed to find a mediocre dude- that would be you-" she pointed at him " - in his place. Hence the lack of tenderness as I woke you up."
He looked confused for a moment before he broke into a smile.
"You got the wrong castle."
"... Excuse me?"
"That wasn't me. It's the Uchiha prince who was cursed, not me."
"But you were asleep..."
"I do that a lot." He retied his hair.
" You didn't wake up when I came in..."
"Heavy sleeper." He shrugged and observed his cuticles from a short distance.
"The dark hair?"
"Coincidence."
"Eyes?"
"Beats me."
"Pissed off expression?"
"When you've finished comparing me to the Uchiha prick, you can leave."
She stared at him incredulously.
"I can't believe this."
"Well, I can give you directions to the Uchiha palace since you're soooo desperate." he rolled his eyes and waited for her to decide.
When she said nothing, he sat up and studied her face before carefully choosing his words.
"Why did you want to find Sasuke? He's the Uchiha by the way."
She thought about it for a moment before shrugging.
"Sounded like a challenge, figured it could be fun."
He stared.
"You do know that the woman who wakes him up has to marry him, right?"
"W-What?!"
He smiled.
"Yup!"
She felt sick.
"I'm... Gonna go home..."
She just dodged a bullet.
"Stay, you're welcome to stay a while."
She thought about it for a moment before sinking back down at the foot of his bed.
"Do you play chess?"
She nodded.
Wordlessly, he set up the board and they played two games. She lost them both.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. Thanks."
§
A small girl raised her hand.
"B-but, my lady..."
Temari turned to her and smiled, a clear invitation to keep talking.
"How come you guys got married?"
Temari's smile darkened.
"Ohoho, that happened a good while later."
§
"So..."
"Hn?"
"I need to tell you something."
"I'm all ears, Nara. Fire away."
"... I lied."
"About?"
"Prince Uchiha?"
She propped herself up on her elbow and narrowed her eyes at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I... Well... If you were the one to wake him up, you wouldn't have to marry him. You just got a reward of your choice."
"... You mean to tell me... That that pink haired bitch... Chose to marry that arrogant prick?"
Shikamaru nodded.
"And I could have had anything I wanted?"
"Within reason, yes."
"But instead I played chess with you?"
"That is correct."
"..."
"..."
"Nara, you'd do well to run before I kill you and use your pelt as parchment."
"You wouldn't do that though."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I know you love me."
"Do I now?"
"Yes."
"I can't love someone who's lied to me."
"I only said that to get revenge on you waking me up, and honestly? I don't think you regret staying."
"You sure about that?"
"Yes."
"And why is that?"
"Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to say that you're engaged to a prince."
"... I'm not."
"Well, you are now."
§
"That's so unromantic!" The girl scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue.
"Welcome to the real world, kid."
"Tem?"
She turned around and saw Shikamaru standing a little further away, arms crossed.
"Yes?"
"Tell the kids the moral of this story."
Temari rolled her eyes and turned back to the group.
"The moral of this story kids is never, ever wake someone up, otherwise you might end up being stuck with them for longer than you'd like."
After the bored and disappointed group dispersed, Temari turned to her husband.
"You're awake."
"I am."
"Well done."
"I woke up alone, it was awfully sad."
"Mmm, I'm sure."
"At least I wasn't woken up by a dragon..."
She smacked him on the arm and they made their way back to the castle.
"Don't test me Nara. We both know that I haven't gone soft."
"You haven't gone soft, but I know your weakness."
"Oh, you do? What might that be?"
He angled her face and caught her lips with his, smiling when he felt her breath catch.
"It's always been me."
A/N: Hehe, whaddaya think? I just felt like writing a light fluffy little story before I do another multi-chaptered one. I hope you like it.
Please leave a review and let me know what you think!
Also, if you have any fairy tale requests, I'd love to hear them!
Thanks!
~Lee