A/N: I sincerely apologize for the VERY long wait! I have been to New York, then Berlin, I have had a little writer's block and then someone, who stood my family very close, have just lost the battle against cancer T_T But now, I am back again!
The royal gathering has now begun! New characters are introduced and the true enemy has entered the scene.
I hope you all will enjoy it very much! Happy reading everyone!
I apologize for any grammar errors /spelling mistakes there may or might be. I try my best to avoid as many as possible.
Main pairing: Nejiten
Side pairing(s): Naruhina, possible Kibaino, Sakura x ? and possible others
Warning(s): Possible OOCness, medieval era, mild mature hints
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
A Sense of Duty
Chapter 14: A Sense of Royalty
It was going to be big day today in the kingdom of Konoha. Today was the day of the royal gathering between the Suna Kingdom and the Konoha kingdom. Today was going to determine the future of the Konoha Kingdom.
"Today we will determine if you are going to join the Konoha household or not, my dear little brother" A woman with sandy blond hair riding elegantly on a black house told her red-haired younger brother, who was riding next to her on a beige-colored house. The woman was wearing a sand colored cloak that covered most of her body and her hair was in a messy ponytail while her brother was dressed in very formal robes indicating his importance and statues.
"Temari, please stop calling me 'your dear little brother' all the time, it getting quite annoying to me. I am NOT little nor am I dear" The red-haired younger brother informed his older sister, Temari, with a somewhat annoyed look on his face.
"Hehe you will always be my dear little brother, whether you like it or not, Gaara" Temari chuckled at him while she teasefully patted him on the head.
"Hn" Gaara responded.
"Geez, Gaara, grown up a bit. You are on your way to meet your maybe soon-to-be-fiancée, smile a bit for once" A man with messy brown hair, riding on a brown house on the other side of Gaara, told Gaara while he ruffled Gaara's hair a bit with a grin on his face. The man was wearing a sand colored cloak similar to Temari's.
Gaara covered his hair with his hands while he said:
"Quit messing with my hair, Kankuro"
Kankuro's grin widened while he chuckled:
"You are no fun, Gaara"
"Temari, Kankuro, stop annoying your brother. He has too many things to think about right now. He does not have the time to fool around with you too now! We are on our way to the Konoha kingdom and I will not let our pride get ruined because you two cannot take things serious enough! Please behave like proper members of this family" The harsh voice of the three siblings' father, the king, could be heard from behind the siblings. Both Temari and Kankuro turned to look at their father, who was riding on an armored white house.
"Take it easy, father, no one knows we are your son or daughter anyway. We are in disguise, no need on worrying" Kankuro informed his father with a smug grin on his face while referred to the clothing they were wearing.
"Kankuro is right, father, we are not dresses as prince nor princess, so there is no need to fear for our family pride. When we enter the boarders of the Konoha kingdom we are no longer prince Kankuro and Princess Temari of Suna. Instead we are the bodyguards of our dear little brother, Gaara" Temari explained to her father with a calm tone.
"Still, you must behave properly, especially in the presence of the people of Konoha. I will not let my name or my kingdom be disgraced by my own children, even if they are in disguise as nobodies. Also, even if you are disguised as a bodyguard of Gaara, you are still a woman, my dear daughter. Please do not forget what your mother has taught you, Temari" Their father, the king, told his only daughter while he gently touched her on the cheek in a fatherly, caring manner.
Temari took her father's hand and held on to it while she closed her eyes and said:
"Of course, father"
"It is not like I am dressed like one, so why is it even important? Father can be so old-fashioned sometimes" The blond woman thought to herself.
"Good," The harsh Suna king pulled his hand away and turned to Kankuro, "And Kankuro, please try to control yourself when you are in the presence of the female guests, I must remind you that you are engaged and not a bachelor anymore, my son"
Kankuro grinned awkwardly at his father while he tried to explain himself:
"Geez, father, are you still mad at that little misunderstanding back in Suna, it was an accident! I promise it will not happen again! My pretty little wife-to-be got nothing to be worried about, I swear!"
Kankuro's father looked at him with his eyes narrowed and muttered in a warning tone:
"I will keep an eye on you, son, I can assure you of that. There will be no fooling around my watch, son" The prideful father then turned to Temari and whispered to her:
"Please keep him as far away from women as you possibly can, I will not let him ruin yet another engagement because of his irresponsible way of behaving. He is after all going to be king someday"
"I will try my best, father, but you could always put him on a leach, a very short one" Temari suggested as she was tired of babysitting her older brother.
"I heard that, Temari, you traitor!" Kankuro yelled at Temari with a pointy finger.
"Grow up, Kankuro! Sometimes I wonder if it really is you, who are the youngest in our family and not Gaara" Temari admitted.
"Hn, both of you is acting like children, it is really embarrassing" Gaara commented.
"Kankuro is! I am not!" Temari defended herself, although Gaara choice to ignore both her and Kankuro.
"Quit acting so almighty, Temari, just admit it! You are such a-OW!" Kankuro teased Temari until Temari cut him shut by slamming him on the head.
"Leave me alone" Temari muttered under her breath and ran up to join her younger brother, Gaara, in the front.
"Using violence does not make you appear anymore mature, just so you know, Temari!" Kankuro called after her as he ran up to join her and Gaara in the front as well.
"You two, behave" Gaara ordered them both.
"Why?" Kankuro asked his brother.
"Because we are here, you moron" Temari told him.
"Where?" Kankuro asked confusedly.
"The Kingdom of Konoha" Gaara answered with a calm, yet serious tone.
Kankuro looked ahead of him and his eyes widened in amazement.
The stories about the Konoha kingdom were truly telling the true. The Konoha kingdom was indeed a shunning sight that took the breath from anyone who saw it in its glory.
What a shame it would be to see it fall.
Hinata looked at her own reflection through the large body sizes mirror. Turning her body around to look at herself from different angles.
"I wonder if this is fitting for a royal gathering, I have never attended one before so I really do not know if this dress will fit well into the environment, I must not cause any harm to my family's pride" Hinata thought to herself as she lifted the skirt of her purple dress up to look at her shoes.
Hinata had decided to wear a two-layered dress. The top dress had a pattern on and was in the colors of a pale purple while the pattern was in a golden copper color. The dress beneath was completely pale purple. Her sleeves where long and wide open at the end while two elegant copper colored buttons were holding the top dress together at the front. No changes had been done to her hair aside from a beautiful small braid that rested over her shoulder on her left side.
Hinata looked once more herself over, feeling a bit unsure of her own clothing taste while being scared that she might embarrasses her father in front of the royal family and their wealthy friends.
"Why did I have to come along?" Hinata wondered miserable to herself.
"Why I am so unsure of myself? Is it because father told me that Naruto was to come along too? What if Naruto falls from one of those beautiful girls at the gathering? How can I compete with them?" Hinata asked herself feeling completely distressed.
"Hinata, your cousin needs your help with Tenten" Ino suddenly walked in.
Hinata was startled and covered her chest for no real reason.
"Oh, it is just you Ino" Hinata sighed out in relief.
Ino smiled sympatric at Hinata before she answered:
"Yes, just harmless, little, old me"
"Harmless is an underestimate" Hinata commented to herself while she recalled the times Ino had lost her temper.
"Hinata" Ino called out, trying to get Hinata's attention.
"What? I mean yes!" Hinata said in a panic, blushing a deep red out of embarrassment.
"You look really beautiful, no need to fear those evil spoiled girls at the gathering" Ino comforted Hinata with a sincere look in her eyes. Hinata looked at Ino at bit shocked before she smiled softly back and said:
"Thank you, Ino"
"You are quite welcome! Now, go help your cousin!" Ino slowly began to lead Hinata over towards the exit, giving her a light push to push her through the door.
"Oh and Hinata?" Ino stopped Hinata before she even got the chance to start walking.
"Eh yes, Ino?" Hinata turned around to look at Ino with confused looking eyes.
"Remember that you are not alone at the royal gathering, I am there too! Someone has to make sure those spoiled… well you know, treats you well" Ino grinned brightly as she finished.
Hinata giggled at Ino before she began walking away to go help her cousin, Neji, with Tenten.
"I wonder what he needs help with?" Hinata wondered to herself as she made her way toward the hallway that leaded to her cousin's chamber where she would most likely find both her cousin and Tenten.
At the other end of the hallway, inside the chamber belonging to Neji Hyuuga things was… a little chaotic, to put in nice way.
On one side of the room Neji was standing with an irritated look on his pale face while blushing furiously as he was holding a dress forward in his hands. On the opposite side of the room was Tenten standing wearing only a long underskirt and nothing else.
Luckily for Neji, Tenten long, curly a bit messy hair was covering most her exposed chest, although it did not help very much.
Neji was nicely dressed in formal attire consisting of a very dark blue doublet, dark gray trousers and black boots. His sword was attached to the belt hanging loose around his hips and his long brown hair had been pulled into a very low ponytail.
"Tenten, I know you do not like it. I do not enjoy it much either, but please put the dress on, it will not kill you just to wear it once!" Neji growled at Tenten, who stubbornly refused, saying loudly:
"How many times do I have to say it? I refuse to wear such evil creation!"
"Evil creation? It is just a dress! A harmless piece of fabric! What about what you normally wear? What will you call that? A tunic?" Neji hissed at Tenten as he grew even more tired of Tenten's childish behavior.
"Hmph, that ugly garment and my clothes is not the same! There is a difference!" Tenten loudly claimed with her arms crossed over her bare chest.
"Difference? You mean that while this dress makes you look like a real lady your own clothes makes you look like you are the service at one of those perverted places that some men likes to visit behind the backs of their wives?" Neji snapped, spitting out venom with his harsh words.
Tenten froze and Neji quickly regretted his choice of words, mentally slapping himself for his own stupidity.
"Great job, Neji! Fantastic job making her NOT trust you!" Neji cursed himself, already having a really bad taste in his mouth.
Of course Tenten was not one of those women. She had way too much pride in herself to sink so low.
Neji was still awaiting Tenten's reaction, although her silence told him well enough.
His words had hurt her, deeply.
"Tenten, I-" Neji began, but he was cut off by Tenten, who placed a finger over his mouth, silencing him and said:
"Please, do not say a word. I know you did not mean what you said… I guess I do dress less proper than most women you are familiar with and I might run from life, but I do know who I am and who I am not. And I am not a harlot nor am I a prostitute or someone who does sexual favors for men, who are not man enough to admit that they might not love their wives as much as they should and too afraid to admit it. I could care less about what people think of me, so quit the sympathy act and man up"
Neji removed Tenten's finger from his lips and grabbed her by both of her wrist while he slowly proceeded forward, leaning in on her closely, not caring about her lack of clothes, nor the closeness of their bodies.
"Man up, you say? Well then… okay. I hate to force you, but you will wear this dress today whether you want to or not, Tenten" Tenten could feel Neji breath on her face, which gave her a chilling feeling that seemed somewhat arousing to her. That dangerous glint in his eyes was something she had never experienced before. And she quite liked it, oddly enough. This different side of Neji.
"Ehm am I interrupting something?" A shy voice asked from afar causing both Tenten and Neji too froze.
These bad timing was really starting to turn into a really bad habit to the annoyance of both Neji and Tenten.
"We need to time these awkward moments better" Both Neji and Tenten thought to themselves as they once again found themselves in a rather awkward situation.
The sound of sackbuts played loudly through the royal quarters, giving the whole royal castle a completely new life as the brass instruments played alongside a regal, which played with great power in sync with the sackbuts.
The whole castle was lightening up, full of life. Not just because of the music playing, but because of all the people inside it. For once in a very long time the castle was going to host not just the queen, her family, the queen's closes friends and the royal staff, but people from far away.
In order to enter the castle itself, each guest had to go through a checkpoint, where a guard was to make sure that no uninvited guests entered the castle without the queen's permission. The guards where to make sure the ones who were allowed inside the royal castle was not there to cause any harm or trouble.
Not an easy task. But necessary it was, very necessary indeed.
The whole castle was the edge. Everyone was working hard to make sure that nothing went wrong whether it was the food, the security, the decoration or simply the atmosphere. Everything was going to be perfect, flawless. Everyone was stressed out, over the edge of themselves.
Except for the queen.
She was calm as stone.
Dressed in the royal colors of red, gold and white, she stood tall on the staircase. Long, blond hair pulled up into a tight bun with a golden crown on top of her head. A stunningly beautiful crown decorated with the most beautiful jewels many had ever seen.
"Your majesty, the princess is nowhere to be found and the guests are arriving! What are we supposed to do?" A maid asked the blond-haired queen in a panic.
The queen sighed.
"Oh Sakura my dear child, are you already having second thoughts?"
"There is no need to worry, I will find her. I have a feeling I know where she is, leave her to me and tell the rest of the staff to proceed as planned" The queen explained to the maid, who nodded her head and said:
"Of course, your majesty" The maid then ran off in a hurry leaving the queen alone.
"I guess I better find her" The queen spoke out loud to herself as she made her way towards the place, she had a feeling her granddaughter will be at.
Her own private garden.
"Sakura!" Tsunade called out her granddaughter's name as she entered the garden and saw the pink haired princess sitting on a bench, looking at a red flower in her hand.
The pink haired princess looked up with a surprised look on her face.
"Oh, it is just you, grandmother, you startled me there" Sakura told Tsunade.
The pretty, pink haired princess was dressed in a beautiful deep red colored dress with a golden colored skirt peeking between the open front of the skirt of the dress. Long sleeves, a gold belt around her waist and a beautiful gold necklace around her elegant neck. Her long pink hair had been braided beautifully around her head like a crown, showing off her flawless, porcelain skin and her shunning emerald eyes.
The princess was a truly heavenly sight and the aging queen felt proud to have her as her only heiress.
"Sakura, the maids has been looking all over for you, why are you hiding? Are you having second thoughts about meeting your maybe fiancé-to-be?" The queen asked with a soft expression as she took a seat down next to the pink-haired princess.
The princess shook her head.
"No, I am not having second thoughts, I am just… nervous… I guess… what if the prince does not like me?" The princess asked Tsunade with an unsure look on her face, clenching her hand tightly to her necklace around her neck.
Tsunade started to laugh.
"Why are you laughing? What is so funny, grandmother?" Sakura asked her grandmother confusedly.
"Nothing really, it is just. Why would he not like you, my dear? You are beautiful, clever and very kind, what is there not to love? You have no reason to feel neither nervous nor afraid, just be yourself, my dear, and everything will be fine, I promise you" Tsunade placed a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder while giving her a sincere, soft smile.
The young princess smiled softly back and said:
"Thank you, you are the best" The princess then wrapped her arms around Tsunade, giving her a hug, which Tsunade returned gladly.
The queen looked down at her heiress, smiling to herself while she thought:
"You have nothing to fear, my dear child, love will come to you I just know it"
Tenten pulled on the top of her dress a little, trying to loose it up a bit around her chest because my lord it was tight, too tight for Tenten's comfort at least. The brunette frowned while she tried to sketch the fabric, which did not help at all.
"Psst Tenten, stop pulling at your dress, we are almost there and I would rather not have you walk in with a frown on your face, smile and leave your dress be" Neji whispered to Tenten.
The two was sitting in a carriage, all by themselves except for the horseman, who controlled the two horses that drove the carriage.
They looked like a true couple.
Tenten was wearing a beautiful deep dark green colored dress. The skirt was large with white ruffles at the bottom of it. The skirt was open in the front, showing off the white skirt beneath. The green dress had short, slightly puffy sleeves and the sleeves of the white dress where long and tight fitting. The neckline of the dress was slightly low, but still left some to the fantasy and the lower back of the dress was styled like a corset, showing off the curves of waist nicely. Tenten's long hair had been pulled up into a slightly messy, yet tight bun on the back of her head.
While Neji was wearing the same formal attire he wore when he was dealing with Tenten and her dress back at the manor.
"To think someone so stubborn and so annoying can look so beautiful is a wonder to me" Neji thought to himself as he remembered how his cousin, Hinata, had come and helped him with Tenten.
What a nightmare it had been.
FLASHBACK
"Ehm am I interrupting something?" A shy voice asked from afar causing both Tenten and Neji took froze up still.
Both Neji and Tenten felt beyond humiliated over their own misfortune. They were both quickly to push away from each other with bright red cheeks.
"Ehm sorry?" Hinata looked at the two with a confused expression. Unsure of what to do or how to deal with the fact that Tenten was lacking clothes in places where you normally wore clothes and the fact that Tenten's clothing lacking body had been pressed against her cousin's fully clothed body just moments ago.
Neji notices his cousin's nervousness and took the abandoned dress on the floor up to throw it at Tenten while he said:
"Tenten, take that stupid dress on, you are making Hinata think weird thoughts about this already awkward situation!"
Tenten barely had time to react before she found herself face full of dress.
"Why you!" Tenten hissed under the dress while she forcefully pulled it off her head, leaving her hair looking rather messy and very out of place.
"And now I need to brush my hair as well, just great!" Tenten thought to herself sarcastically.
Neji chose to ignore Tenten and turned to his blushing cousin, Hinata.
"Okay, Hinata, now please tell me why you are here?" Neji asked. Hinata blinked confusedly before she gave him a judging look and said:
"Why are asking me? I should be the one asking, Ino told me you needed my head"
"Oh right, I did ask Ino to get you here" Neji remembered, feeling quite stupid for having forgot.
Hinata snickered.
"Okay, so what do you need help with then?" Hinata then asked looking at her cousin with curiosity.
"Take a look at her and you will know pretty well what I need help with" Neji referred to Tenten, who was looking at the dress in her arms with disgust.
"Curse you dress" Tenten mumbled to the dress like it was an insect or something similar.
Hinata quickly got Neji's vibe and nodded her head:
"I get it" She then walked over to Tenten and whispered something in the brunette's ear. A moment after Neji found himself being pushed out of the room and the door was closed behind him.
For what felt like an hour or maybe a little less Neji waited before the door to his chamber opened up again and his cousin walked out with a proud smile on her pretty, pale face.
"So? Did you manage? Where is she?" Neji asked his cousin, who grinned at him and answered:
"She is right here," Hinata referred to the door, "You can come out, Tenten, there is no need to hide!"
A few seconds after Tenten walked out and Neji was shocked beyond his own imagination. He simply could not believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.
Tenten looked beautiful!
She looked like a lady, for once.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Hinata, did indeed make the ugly duckling turn into a beautiful swan, although Tenten was never really bad looking before this transformation, just less polished and more rouge on the edges- Wait a minute! What am I saying? Since then did I thought Tenten was beautiful?" Neji shook his head in frustration of his own thoughts. He was not finding Tenten attractive! No way by the Lord's name was he!
"You are staring" Tenten suddenly pointed out to Neji with an annoyed look on her face, "Stop that right now"
"No, I was not!" Neji denied plainly. A faint pinkish blush spread across his face.
Tenten pulled Neji by his hair while she looked him with poufy cheeks.
"Yes, you were, I saw you! Admit you and I might not hit you!" Tenten told Neji. Neji gave Tenten a look and pulled his hair out of her grip.
"Tenten, can you save your petty little threats till we return back to the manor, right now I will not take part in you acting like a child" Neji informed Tenten calmly, which caused Tenten to pout her lips cutely.
"Cute" Neji thought to himself before he paled and shook his head, "I did not just think that? There is nothing cute about Tenten pouting her lips like a child, nothing at all!" Neji told himself.
"Are you okay, Neji? You seem a little pale, are feeling nauseous? Because if you are, then why not just go back to the manor and have a good spar with me?" Tenten suggested. Neji gave Tenten a judging look.
"If I was feeling nauseous the last thing I would do would be sparing and no, Tenten, we are not going to leave. We were invited and it would be very rude of us to leave when we have just arrived!" Neji informed Tenten harshly while he lifted his hand forward, showing Tenten that they were right in front of the royal castle.
In other words: It was too late to leave now!
"Bloody Lord I do not want be here looking like THIS!" Tenten looked down at her dress with hateful eyes as she cursed out loud, which caused the guards at the gate to look at them oddly.
Neji sighed deeply and said to Tenten as he made his way out of the carriage:
"Tenten, will you do me a favor, and try to act just a little less loud and obnoxious just for tonight? Did we not promise each other to trust one another, now that promise is put to the test. Trust me that your pride will not take any damage of this evening. Everyone here will respect you if you play the part of a true lady and they will not look down upon you because of your gender, why would they anyway? You are a beau-pretty looking woman with a mind of her own, what is there not to respects? So please, trust me and stop being so difficult" Neji looked into Tenten's eyes intensely while he spoke words coming deeply from his heart, hoping it would bear fruit and make this evening go smooth without any pointless fighting or arguments.
Just one night of peace. Just one.
Tenten was looking at Neji for quite some time before she with red cheeks looked to the other side and said:
"Fine, you win! I will do my best to fit in and I will try not to be difficult, but I swear by my name that if someone looks down upon me because of my gender I will not play the part of little miss lady, understood?"
Neji nodded his head while he tried to keep himself from grinning at Tenten's cleverly use of the words miss and lady.
"I understand, little miss lady" He spoke teasefully, earning a slap on the shoulder from a red-faced Tenten.
"Do not ca-" Tenten was stopped by Neji, who pressed a finger against her lips, silencing her.
"I know, do not call you by your gender, but you said it yourself and I simply could not resist" Neji admitted.
Tenten blinked at him while she looked at him suspiciously.
"What?" Neji asked Tenten as he noticed the way she was looking at him.
"You have changed," Tenten spoke, "At least a little compared to before" Neji raised an eyebrow at her and asked:
"And how have I changed, if I may ask?"
"You are teasing, not to mention grinning. The Neji I meet in that alley always tried to act all calm and calculated, he had no sense of humor at all and was easy to anger, but now you are… different. Less tense and more open, which I… kind of like. I really like this new you, Neji" Tenten told Neji as she looked him in the eyes with a soft, small smile on her lips.
Neji felt his cheeks heat up.
"Why is my heart suddenly beating faster than before?" Neji asked himself as he found himself lost in Tenten's eyes.
"Hello you two lovebirds, you are making a queue. Please get out of the carriage so we can move it and go inside to the castle" One of the guards informed Neji and Tenten, ruining the moment between them.
"Oh right, sorry! Tenten, come on down, let us go inside" Neji held his hand out for Tenten in order to help her out of the carriage.
Once she was out they both walked past the guards and through the gates. On their way past the guards, one of the guards whispered to them:
"Have a lovely evening, lovebirds, remember not to get lost in each other's eyes"
Emerald orbs looked down upon the ballroom, watching with wonder as more and more people entered through the entrance. Against the walls of the ballroom table with all kinds of colorful food stood lined up. The sweet, romantic aroma of roses combined with the much sharper aroma of the red vine, which was being served alongside the food, created this almost dreamlike atmosphere.
At least, to the princess herself, Sakura.
Never had she experienced anything like this before in her life, despite what her grandmother had said to her earlier the nerves was starting to return to her and she began feeling rather insecure. What if she tripped? Or maybe tripped someone? What if she got red vine all over herself? Or perhaps lost her voice while trying to speak with her fiancé-to-be? So many fears started to haunt her pretty, little head.
Sakura was feeling so nervous that she had to bit her own lip in order to keep herself from looking weird in front of all those important people. She was the heiress to the throne after all, therefore she had to appear and act like one.
As she glanced down at the people, who may in the future become her people she could not stop herself to wonder about the prince she was to meet and maybe later marry. What kind of person was he? Was he kind? Was he handsome? Was he humble? Was he arrogant? Would he like her? Love her? Would she? And if not, then would the pressure she may end up feeling make her marry him anyway? Could she even refuse?
So many questions stuck in her head and so very few of them were she even able to answer herself.
"Why am I feeling like this? I was fine with everything a month ago, two weeks ago, one week ago, even a day ago! Why now? Why am I so confused and so unsure?" The pink haired princess asked herself, feeling deeply depressed.
She needed air! She needed to breathe somewhere, anywhere! Whether it is outside or inside, she just needed to get away from where she was standing now!
Turning around to walk up to her grandmother and parents, who were standing a little further behind where she was standing. They were having a conversation and Sakura interrupted it as politely as she could.
"I am so sorry to interrupt, but can I have a moment with grandmother?" Sakura asked with a polite sounding tone.
"Sure, dear" Her mother told her before she and her father walked away to leave their daughter along with the queen.
Tsunade looked at Sakura and asked softly:
"So, tell me what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Can I go look around, standing on the balcony is not really helping my nerves and I think it would help me quite a bit if I did something aside from just standing there doing nothing, but stare at people and yeah wait" Sakura explained to grandmother, who smiled at her and said:
"Of course, you are free to go, just come back when your name is called after I have finished my speech, alright my dear child?"
Sakura smiled brightly and nodded her head as she with joy said:
"Thank you so much! I promise I will!" The pink haired princess then skimped happily down the long stairs and down into the ballroom.
In the ballroom many couples had let the music take them over and they were now waltzing with their partners in the middle of the ballroom while others were watching them.
It looked so beautiful!
How each couple moved in sync with each other, it was almost like they had rehearsed it beforehand. How the men would lift up their ladies at the same time, following the rhythm of the music perfectly.
"I wish I could dance alongside them, but… my fiancé-to-be has yet to arrive and what if he does not like dancing?" Sakura thought to herself, feeling slightly depressed again until…
"What is with the sad face there, Milady?" A soft-spoken male voice asked from behind her.
Sakura turned around quickly and found herself blushing.
"Oh my, he is handsome!" She thought to herself as she looked at the handsome looking man with deep onyx eyes and short, dark hair in a little ponytail before her.
"Do I have something on my face, Milady?" The handsome man asked confusedly, making Sakura's face heat up wildly.
"No, it looks perf-I mean fine! I was just startled a little, that is all, sir" Sakura lied with pink cheeks.
"Well then I apologize for startling you, I did not mean to, Milady" The handsome man apologized, bowing his head down politely.
"It is fine, there is nothing to apologize, sir" Sakura assured him. The man smiled softly and asked:
"Okay, well are you going to tell my why you looked so sad back then, Milady?"
"Oh it is nothing, just me thinking too much, sir" Sakura explained, she was NOT going to admit that she wanted to dance and that she was unsure of her maybe-engagement!
"Then, Milady, would it be okay for me to ask you to waltz with me?" The handsome man asked Sakura, who blushed.
"Ehm well I really do not know if it is a good idea, you see I am… maybe to be en-en-enga-a-" Sakura was unable to finish her sentences before the handsome man took her by the hand and led her to the waltzing crowd of couples, placing his hand on her waist while she unconscious placed hers on his shoulder and the waltz began.
"Oh my, what have I gotten myself into?" The princess asked herself with a red face as she danced across the floor with the handsome man.
Neji and Tenten stepped into the castle. Neji was trying to hide his own amazement by a calm expression, but Tenten was doing nothing to hide her amazement at all.
"Oh my, this is sooo huge! And I thought I had seen enough big houses to know what huge means, but apparently I have not" Tenten admitted openly.
"Tenten, it is not a house, it is a castle, there is a clear difference" Neji corrected Tenten in a teaseful way, causing the stubborn brunette to stuck her tongue out at him.
"I thought the Konoha people had class, apparently not all of them have" A cocky sounding voice commented behind Neji and Tenten.
Both Neji and Tenten turned towards the rude voice. Right before them stood two swordsmen wearing uniforms in the colors of the Suna Kingdom. One was blond-haired with a very feminine facial features while the other was brown-haired with boyish features.
"Have your king never taught you two that it is rude to make fun of people you barely know or it is just a common behavior of your kind, sir" Neji asked the brown-haired swordsman, who had been the one to make the comment, with calm tone.
The brown-haired warrior blushed out of anger and hissed:
"Why you, Konoha scum!" The brown-haired swordsman looked like he was ready to draw his sword, but he was stopped by the blond.
"Behave, brother, we are guests here, remember? Do I need to repeat what father told you" The blond informed the brown-haired , giving him a warning glare before the blond looked at Tenten and Neji.
"I must apologize for my obnoxious brother's behavior, he has quite a short temper and he is not the brightest in my family, sadly, please forgive him for his behavior" The blond bowed apologetic down.
Neji looked skeptically at the blond before he shrugged his shoulders and said:
"It is fine. Just try to avoid getting into other argument with Konoha warriors, some have less tolerance than I" Neji explained calmly.
The blond nodded.
"Of course," The blond then turned to the brown-haired, "We better go and by our father's name quit acting like you are back at home"
The siblings then began walking off, but before they were out of ear react Neji and Tenten heard something that turned their heads upside down.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, I will try not to, sister" The brown-haired brother promised his… eh sister?
Both Neji and Tenten looked at the siblings' backs with frozen expressions.
"He was a she? B-but I t-thought?" Both Neji and Tenten thought in pure shock.
"Ehm Tenten?" Neji looked at Tenten, who looked back at him and replied:
"Yeah, Neji?"
"What just happened, stays between us, okay?" Neji asked Tenten, who nodded her head and said:
"Yeah, it is for the best"
After the information had finally sunk in, Tenten and Neji made their way into the ballroom. Although Tenten did not desire to go there, it was a ballroom after all. Ballroom means dancing and dancing was such a humiliation act!
For Tenten, at least.
Inside the ballroom, many couples were… dancing well actually they were waltzing.
Tenten looked with a disturbed look on her face. Neji looked at Tenten with a raised eyebrow and asked:
"Ehm Tenten, are you okay? You look a bit pale"
"I am fine, I just… do not like dancing. It is just so… feminine and ladylike" Tenten explained to Neji with a faint blush on her face. Neji could not help, but to chuckle at Tenten, which caused Tenten's face to turn red.
"Do not laugh at me!" Tenten pouted her lips at Neji.
"Awww look at them dear, they are teasing each other, how adorable" A woman spoke loudly about from afar, which caused not just the already red Tenten to blush, but Neji as well.
"Those eyes seems awful familiar, is he the infamous nephew of Lord Hiashi perhaps?" Another woman asked one of her friends, who said:
"Yeah, you are right. Quite unbelievable, rumors have always said that he was not interested in women at all, but here he is and with a woman, a beautiful one"
Both Neji and Tenten's faces were red like tomatoes.
"This is so humiliating! I hate being the center of attention, especially dressed like THIS!" Tenten thought to herself, feeling how her pride was slowly crumbling.
"Why did I agree to go to this gathering again? Why did I not let Tenten convince me to skip it?" Neji asked himself, regretting not letting Tenten convince him to play sick.
"Hiashi Junior, ask your beautiful lady to waltz with you!" One of the women told Neji, who blushed even harder than before.
"His name is Neji, not Hiashi Junior! And I think I will have to pass, I do not dance and I especially do not waltz" Tenten informed the eager women.
"And why not? Waltzing is such a romantic and elegant dance, my dear" One of the women asked Tenten out of curiosity.
"Because it is… humiliation to me, dancing, being all… ladylike" Tenten explained in a stutter.
"Humiliating? Who have put that idea into your head? There is no better way of getting respect than to waltz with elegance, my dear. Now you take your man and swing your hips with him, off you two go!" One of the women bossed both Neji and Tenten into the crowd of waltzing couples, giving them no chance on refusing.
Neji and Tenten stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before Neji managed to regain his cool again.
"Tenten, I know you dislike dancing, but there is no way out now, we have to waltz. You have to trust me on this one and follow my lead, okay? Just remember what we did back at the manor a few weeks ago and everything will go fine, I promise you that" Neji promised Tenten as he placed one hand on her waist and held her other one in his other hand.
Tenten looked up at him silently for a moment, she took a deep breath with her eyes closed and said:
"Okay, I will give it a try, but I am not really good at dancing…" Tenten looked slightly downwards.
Neji smiled softly and took Tenten's chin in his hand to make her look at him again.
"Simply follow my lead, I will not let you fall from grace, especially not in front of those eager, very demanding women" Neji grinned at Tenten slightly flirtatiously, which caused Tenten to blush a bit as they suddenly began to waltz in the middle of the ballroom, among all the other waltzing love birds.
As they waltzed both Neji and Tenten felt this odd feeling. It felt almost like they were in their own little world with no one, but each other. Neither of them really understood why they suddenly felt like this. Why it for some reason felt so content, so right.
Suddenly the sound of brass instruments singing loudly, indicating that the gathering at official begun. The entire ballroom stopped in what they were doing and looked up toward the balcony where the queen stood proudly with two of her royal knights by her side.
As all the waltzing couples stopped dancing, Neji and Tenten did so too, although the moment after they had stopped turned into a rather awkward moment where they both seemed to act rather awkward, fumbling with their clothes and avoiding eye contract. Neither of them knew what to say or do, everything was just… awkward.
"Welcome dear guests to this extraordinary gathering between our lovely kingdom, Konoha, and our loyal allies and close friends from the Suna Kingdom. We are here, gathered together not just to strengthened our long alliance with the Sunas, but to encourage the bonding of our crown princess, Sakura, and the Suna kingdom's youngest son, Gaara" The blond-haired queen spoke with her chin held high and with a warm voice.
Both Neji and Tenten looked up at the queen with a look of amazement, especially Tenten seemed spellbound by the stunning queen.
"She is even more amazing in real life" Tenten told herself as she looked at the queen. The queen, who had inspired her. Her source of inspiration.
"Now, I will not bore you all with a long speech as some of you might be expecting. Instead, I will pass the word on to my dear granddaughter, your crown princess and the heiress to the throne, Sakura" The queen called out her granddaughter's name, but then no one turned up silenced hit the entire ballroom. Where was the crown princess?
The queen looked just as confused as her guests. The queen then went over to one her knights, a knight that to both Neji and Tenten reminded them of the knight they had run into at the bar a few weeks ago, and whispered in his ear. The knight nodded his head and left the balcony. The queen then turned around to face the crowd once again and said:
"It appears that my dear granddaughter either has gotten lost somewhere in the castle or is hiding. She has been pretty nervous the entire day, so I think it is better if we postpone her speech for later till we have found her. Let the gathering continue, music please!" The queen ordered the musicians to begin playing once again as she left the balcony with her other knight following her closely.
"That was quite… odd" Neji mumbled, having a bad feeling about this whole 'missing princess' situation.
"Yeah, it is, but I am sure they will find her. I would be hiding too if I had to talk to such a big crowd of people wearing a dress" Tenten commented casually, although she was feeling even more anxious about the current situation than Neji was.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Tenten thought to herself as she looked around at the people surrounding them.
Outside the castle, a handsome man with a beautiful woman by his side ran across the beautiful flower covered field.
"Where are you taking me, sir?" The woman asked as she looked up at the handsome man stealing her away from the party. Her party.
"Outside, to see the world, my world, Milady" The man spoke while he looked at the beautiful young lady, he had stolen away into the night. Kind-looking dark eyes with dark intensions looked into innocent emerald eyes with no idea of these dark intentions.
The crown jewel was now in his grasps.
"Let the real revenge begin" He thought to himself.
To be continued…
A/N: Done! Oh, oh someone stole the princess away! Who and why? What will the queen do and more important what will our two stars do?
Next chapter will be the one to shock you, so look forward to the big surprise that will happen in the next chapter! I have already writing notes down about what there will happen in chapter 15, so I am hoping it will be up a LOT sooner than this chapter, although I will be working on my exams project throughout this whole month.
Leave a review and tell me what you think ^^