Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I shall glomp Kakashi to make up for the fact that I don't own him. –glomps Kakashi–
The Princess and the Rogue – His and her fairytale
I love Kakashi – normal
I love Asuma – Kurenai thinking (italics)I love Kurenai – Asuma thinking (bold)
Yay! Ramen with Hinata! – Naruto thinking (bold with italics)
Author's comments: Ok. I'm sorry. Why? Well… this story is becoming more crack-ish as chapters go by so if this chapter is way weird. I'm sorry. And Itachi can get very OoC in this chapter so bear with me. If there are still any loose ends, please tell me. So READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!
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Chapter 15 – A New Tomorrow
"When Kurenai was born…"
Crash. Boom. The sound of glass shattering filled the room.
"WHERE IS SHE? HINATA!" yelled the voice of the figure that broke through the window.
"HAHAHAHHAHAHHAA! Now the little girl is cheating on the princess!" came a voice in the hall.
"Forgive me your majesty, Anko – she wouldn't leave. She's extremely drunk – ignore her pl – " started Ibiki.
"There's noooothing wrong with meeee Ibiki. Heh. Wanna fight you writtle weasel boy? Think you can get awray writh breakin' windows?-hic-" Anko asked the dark figure that broke the window.
"Anko – fighting when drunk is not advisable."
"Shut up Ibiki, you'll get your lovin' -hic- when I beat dis guy up. K?" Flop went Anko as she fell to the ground. An awkward silence filled the room. Even the dark figure was still.
"Um… excuse me?" piped Hinata. "Itachi-san… why do you have a weird lolicon obsession with me?"
Everyone stared at Hinata in disbelief.
"How'd you know it was me?" asked Itachi.
"Who else in the story would seem like a dark mysterious figure who has a weird infatuation with me?"
Itachi did not reply.
"Now that I've answered your question, answer mine," she said bluntly.
My… she's really changed…Never thought I'd see the day this would happen…
"Didn't I say why last time?" asked Itachi.
"I don't recall. Either that or you scared me half to death for me to remember."
"Well… For someone like me, your innocence is alluring and –"
"I guess I could be considered the most innocent in the group but how would you know that?"
"Well, I've been watching you and following you, and –"
"For how long?"
"I think… since I saw you."
"That's creepy. Not to mention you're a criminal. And you have bad breath. Brush your teeth sometime. I don't like guys like you so leave me alone. If you don't I swear I'll train as hard as I can to beat you up so you will leave me alone."
Asuma and Kurenai were trying to hold back their laughter. Itachi had a stunned look on his face.
"Just when you think you saw it all…" muttered Asuma.
"By the way, why are you here anyways?" asked Hinata.
"I… I…" stuttered Itachi.
"And while we're on the topic of you Itachi," began the King. "The design for the tower was a mess! We didn't catch this young man whom I'm guessing saved my daughter but the little girl! And there I was bawling my eyes out with the fact that I had locked up my little girl for so long without seeing her just to know that the prophecy had screwed up!"
"You shouldn't have done such a stupid thing in the first place," stated Hinata.
"My, Itachi, I don't think Hinata is as innocent as you think she is," said Asuma.
"Yeah, so stop stalking me you creepy pervert."
"This… this was all a dream… I'm going back to bed…" said Itachi as he wandered out of the room aimlessly with a blank look in his eyes.
"That poor boy needs help," stated the Queen.
"A good psychiatrist more like," replied Hinata.
The King nodded in agreement and cleared his throat.
"Well, all interruptions aside, I guess it's time for us to expl – "
"IBIKI COOL! YOU HAVE SCARS UNDER YOUR SHIRT!" yelled a drunk Anko who basically just ripped off Ibiki's shirt.
"I'll… get her to her room and make sure she stays there," assured Ibiki.
"Teeheehee Ibiki you dirty ol – " A firm hand clamped over her mouth as she was lead out of her room.
"Are they always like this?" asked Asuma.
"I've got a feeling that the answer is yes," replied Kurenai.
"Well, they are reliable guards… most of the time," remarked the Queen.
The King cleared his throat once more.
"I shall now begin," said the King.
"Maybe you should get to the point," began Asuma. "So Kurenai got locked up in that place for all her life because of a prophecy. Care to tell her what it is?"
"During the day you were named dearest daughter, a soothsayer was invited to see what see would see in you. And this was the prophecy she made for you:
Kurenai will fall in love with the first man she sees.
Wow… I guess that prophecy did come true. I'll be less skeptical next time I encounter these things…
"We feared for this since you could've fallen for anyone unworthy of you so we thought that we would protect you until we found the perfect husband for you," said the Queen. "We thought the fortress was foolproof, until the gentleman here somehow broke into it."
"We thought that if someone did manage to break into the fortress, we would summon them here. If they were unworthy of you, we would kill him and somehow erase your memories and when you open your eyes, a more suitable gentleman will be there in front of you," continued the King.
"It was very surprising when we found out that you had escaped since Tsunade and Shizune were supposed to tell us if someone managed to come into the fortress."
"Wait – Tsunade, Shizune, how are they now?" inquired Kurenai.
"No worries, they were not punished," answered the King. "In fact, even if we wanted to punish them, it wouldn't be in our best interests to do so. A month ago, in the ninja village, your old nursemaid had defeated the corrupt hokage. She is now hokage of the hidden village of fire."
"That means… I can go back home!" said Asuma excitedly.
"Not so fast young man," interjected the Queen. "We were distressed when we discovered our daughter had run away with some man we didn't know. But luckily for you, the first thing Tsunade did as hokage was to send us a letter stating that you were a fine young man and you would make our daughter happy. We won't be so kind if you were to leave her to go home."
"I'm not leaving her, if she wants to, she's coming with me," he stated, holding Kurenai closer to him.
"I guess that fine…" said the King sadly. "You do have a younger brother – he's out hunting at his friend's manor – so he can rule the kingdom. But I haven't spent time with my little girl!" Taking Kurenai out of Asuma's arms, the King gave his daughter a big hug.
"Don't worry," the Queen whispered to Asuma. "He's always wanted a daughter and he has a huge daughter complex sort of thing. Maybe it's a good thing he didn't raise her. She'd be spoiled half to death."
"One more question," Hinata said boldly. "Why did you lock Kurenai-oneechan in that tower?"
"If the young man was worthy enough for my daughter then he'd be able to save her wouldn't he?" replied the King.
"I would've been able to if the window wasn't too small," grumbled Asuma.
"That was Itachi's fault. We agreed to not imprison him – he's quite a clever young man – in exchange for his service to us. But lately, he's become quite an unstable character," explained the Queen.
An awkward silence finally filled the room.
"So… is this the end of this adventure?" asked Kurenai as she got out of her father's strangling grasp.
"I guess so," replied the King. "Well, what we do now?"
"If I may say," began Hinata. "You two –" She pointed at the King and Queen should spend a little time with your daughter and probably her fiancée. Kurenai blushed at the comment. "After that, I'm guessing you'll marry Kurenai-oneechan right Asuma-oniisan?"
Asuma shyly nodded.
"Then the crew will go back to Konoha and then we'll visit my grand-ma. Right?"
"Never expected you'd get so darn clever Hina-chan," said Asuma teasingly.
"Perhaps it's time for all of us to get some rest now," declared the Queen. "It's been a long night, hasn't it?"
They all agreed and got the rest of the crew so that all could stay in the palace. When dawn came, they knew that it would be the beginning of a bright future of fun, adventure and joy.
Author: THE E –
Hinata's soothsayer granny: HEY! You aren't ending this story yet you young'in!
Author: But, it's been such a long story. It should end soon…
Granny: Not without my last word it won't!
Author: Fine. It's not the end yet. Granny has something to say.
Granny: I'll say it in the next chapter. The spotlights will be on me then! So tune in!
TBC…