The Perfect Princess

summary—"Sasuke, you have seven days to find a bride, or you lose the crown." Well, this was gonna be a royal pain in the ass. SASUSAKU. AU.
disclaimer I own Naruto the same way Mitt Romney is president.

first version; unedited.

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notes—Yeah, I know. Sorry. Ummmmm, at least you guys are getting back-to-back updates this week. Yay. I should be wearing my contacts right now, but I'm not so I can't really see anything. Also, trying to clean up the pre-story area, not sure if I like it this way or not yet. Eh.


The Perfect Princess

Chapter 8

Day Four—


No.

No.

No no no no no no

Hell no.

Now he'd done it. Sasuke's father had finally succeeded in making him pissed to the point of no return.

All he wanted was to go on his already second date with Sakura at noon, but no, because King Fugaku just had to bring princesses and nobles and basially everyone he could get his hands on.

This was gonna be such a major headache.

"Sasuke." Fugaku approached his son, the ever-familiar frown planted firmly on his face. "Are you ready?"

"Tch, no." grunted the prince. He glared at his father intensely, crossing his arms indignantly across his chest. Sasuke and the king disagreed on many thingss, especially on Sasuke's progress in life compared to Itachi. The older boy interacted with civilians often, reaching out to those in need and visiting hospitals. He was very well-liked in Konoha, and many were disappointed when he conceded the crown to Sasuke. Now if only Sasuke had a younger sibling.

"You're going to do this whether you like it or not, Sasuke."

Not bothering to answer, the younger Uchiha pulled a blue jacket over his gray tank, zipping it all the way up dramatically as he could. No doubt he'd get some kind of lecture later about how Itachi wouldn't do such a thing or how he always took things gracefully. Personally, Sasuke could care less about what Itachi did or didn't do; they weren't the same person.

He followed his father down the stairs, lagging many steps behind. Halfway down, Sasuke saw a group of women lined up side by side in the ballroom. Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

"I thought I was engaged to Ino until I proved I found someone?" Sasuke hissed.

"Well, you obviously didn't like that, so why not give you options?" replied Fugaku, looking ahead.

"Of course this was something you did because you wanted to, " mumbled the teen. "And not because Okaa-chan threatened you."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."


Really? Lady Hinata? Sasuke couldn't help but think. The second he saw the timid blunette standing in line, shying away from everyone else and twiddling her fingers, he knew his father had gotten desperate. Also joining her in the line was Princess Temari from Suna; Lady Ino (ugh); the Princess of Mist, Mei-something-or-other; among others he didn't recognize.

We're screwed, man. It's already past eleven and this thing hasen't even started; at this rate, you're not gonna make it in time for your date with Saks.

Tell me about it.

Taking his place in the throne next to his father's, Sasuke immediately rested his cheek on his hand, a look of boredom already on his features. When the first girl came up, from Wave or whatever, the prince didn't even let her say her name before saying no. He did that with each and every girl, save for Hinata, because she was the kind of girl you just didn't want to be mean to, even if you were Sasuke.

"G-good m-morning, P-p-purinsusasuke." Sasuke shuddered at his royal name. "I-I'm su-sure you know my-my name is H-Hina-t-ta Hyu-g-ga. I-I-I am fr-from Ko-Konoha, and a-a no-noble-woma-man." stuttered the girl, avoiding the prince's eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Thank you, Hinata-san. My time was not wasted with you." He might have found many other females annoying, but Hinata, Sakura and his mother were exceptions. As children, they sometimes played with each other, Hinata more siting out than actual playing. Sasuke didn't mind her at all, although he wished she'd finally gather up enough confidence to get rid of that stutter. The only time she seemed to stop was when chastising her family members, or when she was with—

Naruto.

Huh. How strange. Come to think of it, Hinata blushed profusely around the dobe but no one else. Her stutter also worsened, if that was possible. Funny though, how Naruto would probably never notice.

Some thirty minutes later, Sasuke felt like he did in chapter 2—er, day 1. He was exasperated, tired and angry to a large extent, so much so he did the following:

"Well, I do like—"

"Stop talking." Sasuke held his hand up in front of the girl, stopping her suddenly. She emitted a small "eek!" and her mouth closed almost comically. The girl stepped back in line, looking at the floor in shame. The prince stood up dramatically, much to the alarm of his father. He threw an angry glare at Sasuke, his eyes taking on a strange red hue.

"What, might you be doing, Sasuke?" he said in a very low voice. "We are not finished here."

Sasuke huffed, "I am going to go meet someone, if you don't mind." He stormed out of the room, leaving behind a stunned King Fugaku and around thirty very disappointed ladies.

It's like one, dude.

I know.

She's gonna be pissed.

I know.

She might punch you again.

I fucking know.

Because last time, that hurt like h—

Shut the hell up.

He started to run in the direction he was sure Sakura's house was in, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead from the blistering heat.

Sasuke found Sakura waiting on the front steps, a large hat on her head and a strange man sitting next to her. She was chatting with him animatedly, laughing and smiling. The man held a large sketchpad in his lap. He seemed to be drawing something as Sakura continued to talk.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, approaching her. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but..."

When he saw the girl's green eyes dart away from his, he felt awful. It was sweltering today, and he'd left her to wait on the front steps, but at least she wasn't by herself. There was something about the man sitting next to her that put him off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Oh, are you Sasuke?" he asked, putting on a smile that didn't fully reach his dark eyes. "I'm Sai. It's...very nice to meet you."


notes—I know it's a little shorter than usual, but don't worry cause there's gonna be another chapter tomorrow! As always, please review, favorite, follow, anything and everything means a lot!

Love!