Author's Notes:

Like every trilogy, there is the introduction… and then there is the climax.

Dedication: Clockwork Starlight, for agreeing to the insane job of cowriting Pandemonium. I love you lots and lots.

Disclaimer: not mine.

Warning: Sasuke's language get's a teeny bit explicit here.

Fairytale

Chapter Two: Of Kings

"Ne, Naruto… what do you know about Hinata?"

Sasuke froze.

"Eh… you mean Hina-chan?"

They were in the student government lounge. Although technically it could be used by any senior student, it was unofficially "Uchiha Sasuke's domain" and only his friends (the incorrigible Student President and Secretary) were fool enough to encroach on his territory.

"Who else would I be talking about, moron?" Sakura snapped absent-mindedly as she drank her usual coffee.

"No need to get snappy princess… anyway, I don't know a lot. She's really shy and quiet and doesn't really talk with a lot of people besides probably Kiba and Shino. Kinda weird actually."

"That's not nice Naruto! Anyway, um, isn't she the Heiress to the Hyuuga?" Sakura said, trying her best to act casual. It was hard to when she felt like such a gossiping bitch but she honestly wanted to know.

"Er, yeah," Naruto said, a bit confused—it was common knowledge that everyone knew so he hadn't felt the need to mention it.

"Then… how come she isn't like… you know… popular?" Sakura's embarrassment was obvious from her bright blushing but her voice was steady.

"Huh?"

"You know," Sakura waved her cup in the air in casual flourishes. "Like you and Sasuke. Or like Ino and even Shikamaru… you know, people who come from rich old families and stuff. And it's not like she has a bad personality! She's really sweet!"

"I'm not exactly rich Sakura or belong to an old family," Naruto said wryly.

"You're the Prime Minister's son. Basically, to put it bluntly, why don't I see hordes of people trying to kiss up to her? Heck, why isn't she on the student council? I mean, even Ino is and she doesn't do anything!"

It was one of the uglier facts about Konoha High. Although they did their best to include scholarship students such as Sakura, it was an old tradition that the student council was occupied by students belonging to the oldest, illustrious families. Hence, it was indeed strange that Hyuuga Hinata didn't occupy some spot or the other on the student council. An outsider would have even expected her to be president by default.

The Hyuuga were that prestigious.

Well, if there was one thing Sasuke couldn't help admiring about Sakura, it was her brutal honesty and candor.

"Er, well… that's a good point. What do you think Sasuke?" Naruto swiveled his head as he attempted to glance at Sasuke from his sprawled position on the couch.

Sasuke, who was calmly reading over the last minute details of the upcoming winter formal, didn't even bother to look up from his task. "It would in your best interest to forget about Hyuuga Hinata," he said calmly.

"Eh? Why?" Sakura sputtered. Naruto echoed her astonishment.

"C'mon, what's wrong with Hina-chan? Sure she's weird but she's not mean!"

"You, Naruto, are an idiot," Sasuke said calmly. "At least Sakura has the excuse for being a relative newcomer, having transferred here only last year. You, however, have been here since freshman year."

"Eh? Damnit Sasuke, you're not answering the question!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh. "If you have this much time to gossip about other people, maybe you should get around to actually doing these proposals, Mr. Stugov president!" As if to accentuate his point, he held up and waved the papers he had been working on.

"But this is much more interesting!"

'Honestly, I thought I knew the definition of idiot… until I met Naruto,' Sasuke thought darkly.

"I want to know…" Sakura chimed in.

Sasuke glared. "Annoying," he muttered, ignoring Sakura's flinch.

"Stop being such a bastard!" Naruto said defensively.

"You stop being an idiot," retorted Sasuke. "I swear, all the ramen must have rotted your brain."

"Eh?! How can you deny the godliness of ramen?" As Naruto launched into his age-old ramen speech, Sasuke thanked the gods for Naruto's characteristic flightiness.

Nonetheless, Sakura was not to be deterred. This time though, she waited until Naruto left the room to get more coffee before she reopened the topic again.

"Ne Sasuke… what is it about Hinata that you're not telling me?"

"What part of staying away from the dragon do you not get, princess," Sasuke hissed, purposefully using the nickname Naruto had given her.

"B-but…"

"Hyuuga Hinata may look very sweet and I admit, for a Hyuuga she may very well be. But no matter how sweet she is she's still a Hyuuga and a very dangerous one at that."

"I-I.."

"So, princess, if you can stop butting your nose in business you really shouldn't touch, perhaps you will let me get back to work?"

The king impassively watched the princess crumpled. While there was some part of him that felt a sliver of guilt for crushing the princess' romantic outlook toward life, for the most part he could care less. While the princess and prince may spend their days in a fairy tale killing dragons and finding fairy godmothers, the king had a kingdom to run and he knew the shadowy back alleys of grimy politics and backstabbing all too well.

Idly, the king wondered whether the witch was as dirty as he.

"Hey Hina-chan! Come sit with us!"

"I…" Hinata's eyes flicked back and forth warily.

"C'mon!"

Sasuke impassively watched as the girl shyly take seat next to a too-stiff Sakura. Naruto seemed not to notice the heavy atmosphere and continued to glibly chatter.

"Ne, Hina-chan are you going to the upcoming dance?"

"No…" She tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Eh?! Why not?"

"I-I…"

"If Hinata doesn't want to go that's her business Naruto!" Sakura snapped.

"Neh… but it will be fun! It's the winter formal!" Naruto cajoled.

Hinata gave a small fake smile even as she hid her pain. No one would possibly have fun with the witch around.

"Shut up Naruto," Sasuke sneered as he viciously bit into his lunch.

"Aww, Sasuke… speaking of which, are you going?"

"No."

"Why not?!" Naruto whined.

"Because it's boring," Sasuke enunciated slowly as if he were talking to a toddler.

"As the Stugov President I'm ordering you to go!"

Sasuke muttered, "You can't be serious… "

"Do you want me to make it an official decree?"

Sasuke glanced at his friend and almost reeled when he saw the insane gleam in the blonde's eyes. It was the same gleam that had gotten Sasuke into trouble many, many times.

"… damnit Naruto." Despite Sasuke's sour face, Sakura giggled as she tried to hide her enthusiasm at the idea. Sasuke in a suit was always nice.

Naruto then turned the topic to other more mundane things. For a moment, Sasuke actually thought it was safe.

"I know!" Naruto suddenly said, snapping his fingers.

Both Hinata and Sasuke immediately tensed, sensing bad news on the horizon.

"Sasuke can go with Hinata!"

Shocked silence.

"No, no it's f-fine," Hinata sputtered even as Sakura leaped to her feet.

"You can't just force people together like that!" Sakura shrieked.

"C'mon princess. Since we're already going together, Sasuke and Hinata can go together and we can all have fun!"

Sakura flushed unhappily. It was only because she presumed Sasuke would not go that she had agreed to be Naruto's "date". However, no matter how irrational she was at times, even she knew how crass it would be to state her true intentions.

"C'mon Hinata, please?"

Hinata vigorously shook her head even as her mouth moved to make vehement denials. Nonetheless, Naruto was not to be deterred. He quickly leaped out of his seat and walked around the table to kneel before her.

"C'mon, please?" he said imploring as he knelt on a knee and clasped her hand.

The resemblance to a proposal was not lost Hinata. It was much too similar to Hinata's daydreams of being rescued by a blonde prince on a white horse and although she really wanted to say no—

Those blue eyes should be listed as weapon of mass destruction.

"… okay," she said weakly.

What the prince wanted, the prince got.

"Yay Hina-chan! You're the best!" Naruto crowed, reaching up to hug the girl. Hinata flushed and almost looked as if she would faint.

Meanwhile, the king and the princess wondered if the kingdom could possibly survive.

"You look nice." His voice was indifferent as he offered his arm.

"Thank you. You look nice too," she said politely, gingerly placing her fingers on the crook of his arm. Their interaction was so scripted it felt like a piece of bad fanfiction. Nonetheless, there were rules both had to follow—even the witch.

Although both were dressed in conservative wear, somehow the effect was totally different. While Sasuke looked confident and sexy in his black suit, Hinata looked meek and boring in her simple white dress. (She had originally wanted to wear black, but it was something of a Hyuuga tradition not to wear black except when mourning and she'd already worn all her dark blue dresses once already and hadn't had time to buy a new one. God forbid she wear the same dress twice—it would make the Hyuuga look bad. Hence, she had been forced to wear a white dress the family stylist had bought for her that she'd never worn.)

"Where are Naruto and Sakura?" Hinata murmured. Sasuke had to lean down to hear her due to the loud booming music.

"They aren't here yet… never mind, there they are."

"Yo Sasuke!"

Hinata's eyes immediately latched the triangle of bare skin Naruto revealed. Even in a former suit he had discarded the tie and left his cuffs open. Although he had made an effort to comb his hair, it seemed as (sexily) mussed as ever.

"Hello Sasuke, Hinata," Sakura demurred. Hinata could feel herself shrinking as she saw how just unbelievably gorgeous Sakura looked in a strapless red dress. It was no wonder Naruto couldn't keep her eyes of her.

Hinata felt something in her die.

"C'mon Sakura, let's dance!"

"Um…" Sakura hesitated, glanced at Sasuke—and then something in her stood straight. There was sudden steel in her expression and for once, the girl seemed to have a backbone.

"Fine, let's go Naruto." She flipped her hair and vanished all too soon with the blonde.

"Do you want to dance?" Sasuke intoned, his voice utterly detached. He couldn't help feeling relieved when Hinata vigorously shook her head.

"The music…" Hinata weakly said. Sasuke nodded. While Hinata could ballroom or waltz with the best of them, the techno music that was being blasted by the speakers demanded dancing that involved gyrating hips and sinuous movement was obviously beyond her comprehension.

For a good part of the evening, they sat in a corner in awkward silence. Hinata somehow couldn't keep her eyes off Naruto and Sakura, and Sasuke couldn't help but observe her observe them. It was an interesting sight, to say the least. While her face was stoic, her eyes shifted through more emotions than Sasuke could name. He was sure, however, that the last one was resignation.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke was actually surprised to hear the sincerity in his voice. Hinata didn't seem to notice however.

"I'm fine," she said softly. Neither had to clarify what Sasuke felt sorry for. It was that obvious.

Only when the DJ began to switch to slow music (which was actually classical, much to the aghast of the teenagers, but they knew better than to complain since it was their parents paying for it all) did things become interesting.

"W…would you like to dance?"

"No," Sasuke said curtly.

As the girl ran away, Hinata could not help but marvel, "That's… the tenth one, right?"

"Hm." Although the king wasn't quite as popular as the prince, even he had his admirers. It was something that awed the witch who hadn't even been asked once.

"Hey, how come you guys aren't dancing?"

"Hello Naruto," Hinata greeted softly even as Sasuke snorted.

"C'mon, dance, dance!"

"I-It's fine…" Hinata tried to say but Sasuke knew better. Without even asking, he grabbed the girl's hand and literally dragged her toward the dance floor. Hinata was too surprised to resist and before she could even blink she found herself in the arms of an irked Uchiha.

"You didn't have to," Hinata said, her body automatically allowing him to lead her in a slow waltz.

"Che, it was either this or endure his whining for the rest of the night," Sasuke snorted. Hinata accepted his answer and let the awkward silence grow. They danced robotically, their bodies instinctively knowing the routines that had been carefully groomed into them. They danced without looking at one another.

As Hinata scanned the room (looking anywhere except her partner's face), she couldn't help flinching at the few dark looks that were thrown her way. Nonetheless, she tried to accept the unfriendliness with the same calm she accepted her lot in life. After all, it wasn't everyday that the witch and the king got together for a dance—no matter how cold and informal and utterly lacking in emotion.

"Thank you," Hinata suddenly said.

"Huh?" Sasuke glanced down to meet her gray eyes, a distinctive Hyuuga trait that remained pure even after all these generations.

"Thank you for coming with me," she said sincerely.

Sasuke's face was incredulous. "Naruto forced us together," he said flatly.

"Still," she softly insisted. "It was nice of you to do so."

"It's no big deal Hyuuga."

Hinata hesitated for a moment before she spoke. "I've never gone to a school dance before with anyone," she said quietly, a little sadly.

"Hm." Sasuke's face became blank again, but inwardly he couldn't help but reel at the emotion in her face. No Hyuuga had the right to look like that. They were already icily beautiful as it was. When they were full of emotion like hers was…

Hinata laughed softly. "I'm sorry—that was inappropriate of me. What I meant to say—"

"It's fine."Despite his curt tone, his hands and arms were gentler than they were before as he gracefully led her through the dance. Hinata blushed and glanced down again. If she had enough nerve to look up, she would have seen a small smile playing on his lips.

"Thank you."

It was night time and like the regal king he was, he had walked her to her door. Ironically, while he seemed to blend into the night with his black suit, Hinata's white dressed reflected even the tiniest light. She seemed to notice what her dress was doing, and gave a small abashed blush.

For a witch, she looked quite the angel.

"You've already thanked me once Hyuuga," Sasuke said stiffly as he shoved his hands into his pockets uncomfortably. The king, who could rule the kingdom with an iron fist, was out of his element here. What did one say when one walked witches back to their coven?

She gave a small but sincere smile that made her eyes crinkle. "Still. Thank you. It was… fun."

Sasuke's eyes widened just slightly and he searched her face for signs of artifice. His eyes seemed to widen even further when he found none on her small face.

"I enjoyed it," she said honestly.

"Hm."

"Anyway," Hinata hastily said, blushing at his close scrutiny. "Good night."

"Good night," Sasuke said quietly to the closed door.

"Hey… thanks for going with Hinata the other day."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his best friend. "It's fine," he muttered.

"It's just… I didn't want Sakura…" Naruto trailed off.

"Ah." Even princes could be insecure at times. It was, however, a luxury that the king could not afford.

"Anyway… it was nice of you to do it. Although, I'm honestly surprised you actually danced with her," Naruto chirped, giving a mischievous smile.

"It was that or endure your whining," Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah, yeah… but you looked like you were enjoying it."

"Whatever."

"I'm serious! Don't believe me?" Naruto growled before he shoved a hand into his backpack. "Where is it... here!" Pulling out something that looked suspiciously like a photo, he gave a triumphant smirk before he shoved it in Sasuke's face. "Look!"

Sasuke glanced at the photo, glanced away—and the whipped his head back.

"Where did you get this?"

"The Photography Club took it. They're all selling it except for Shikamaru who says it's too troublesome. I got mine from Ino," Naruto said, blithely ignoring Sasuke's deadly tone and darkening look.

I'm going to kill Shikamaru for allowing that damn club of his to run wild.

"Hey!" But it was too late—Sasuke had promptly ripped the photo in two.

"Now I have to go buy another one," Naruto whined. Sasuke ignored him and threw the scraps into his own folder, determined to forget about the whole incident.

Later that day, in the privacy of his own room, he would take the picture out and stare. He would stare at the unmistakable glow on Hinata's face and then he would stare at the small smile on his own.

And wonder why the hell his chest felt tighter than usual.

How did one dance create such a mess?

While Hinata was indeed the Hyuuga Heiress and that did provide her certain immunity, it didn't provide her total immunity. Especially not from fangirls that were out for blood.

For the whole week, Hinata had been plagued by fangirl after fangirl. Worst of at all, they were fangirls that belonged to the lower echelons of society, which meant if Hinata did report such incidents they would be unduly punished and their families crushed. Hinata was annoyed, but she wasn't that unreasonable. The fangirls were just obviously going through a stage that most adolescents went through at one time or the other. Hinata herself had unreasonable desires… unreasonable desires she was determined to give up ever since she saw Naruto dance with Sakura.

Hinata continuously told herself that it would wear off over time. Besides, she was always careful not to be alone.

She'd underestimated the commoners' fervor for witch hunting.

They had cornered her in the changing rooms after dance class.

"You witch!"

Hinata bit back a cry as she was shoved into the shower. Before she could even think about defending herself, the water suddenly turned on, full blast.

It was cold and it was December.

Hinata hastily tried to run out but the girls shoved her back in. She was forced to blindly search for the knob to turn it off. By the time she had turned off the water it was too late—she was soaked through and the culprits had long vanished. She found her books and backpack in the next shower stall and was not surprised to find them also wet.

The irony of it all didn't escape her. Where witches had once burned, she had been dunked in water.

Oh how low the Hyuuga Heiress had fallen.

Hinata shivered as she grabbed her stuff and ran out the shower stalls and into the hall ways. The water on her face concealed her frustrated tears and her wet hair obscured her already cloudy vision.

The Physical Education Department was situated in a separate building from the rest of the school. To her great dismay, Hinata was actually forced to run out into the cold. The school was cold enough…

Hinata braced herself and then flew outside.

The cold was so painful she found herself shutting her eyes and running blindly.

No surprise she was more than a little unaware of her surroundings.

Hinata squeaked when she ran into something. Her wet shoes skidded on the slippery floor and she would have fallen if an arm hadn't suddenly curled itself around her waist and pressed her against a warm chest.

"Fuck… what happened to you Hyuuga?" growled a familiar voice.

Only until Hinata was sure she was steady did she dare look up and peer through her soggy bangs.

"Hello Sasuke," she said weakly before she sneezed.

"Fuck." Sasuke released her. Hinata couldn't help whimpering at the lost warmth. She scrunched her eyes for another sneeze, but the feeling of scratchy dry fabric on her wet neck made her eyes fly open again.

"Your jacket!" Hinata cried, dismayed.

"Just shut up Hyuuga," Sasuke snarled. His hands were gentle however as he draped his outer uniform on the drenched girl, leaving him in only a thin white dress shirt.

"Your scarf," Hinata weakly said but it was in vian. Sasuke resolutely wrapped his scarf around her neck snuggly, ignoring her weak protests that it was cashmere.

"Let's get you to the nurse," Sasuke murmured as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Hinata couldn't help but agree. The jacket and scarf still retained his warmth and it felt wonderful next to her sticky skin.

The nurse, of course, had been alarmed when Sasuke walked in with a drenched female student. She almost flew into hysterics however when she realized just exactly who said drenched female student was.

"Hyuuga-san, I'm going to go call your parents—"

"No!" The force of her outburst made Sasuke blink and the nurse look taken aback.

"But—surely you don't want to go to class!"

"I… just… don't tell my parents." It took every bit of Uchiha in him to keep Sasuke from not looking as dumbfounded as the nurse.

"But—"

"I'll call someone else to pick me up. Just… I'll call."

"Hyuuga-san, I really think—"

"I'll deal with it." Her voice was clipped and firm and it was enough to make the nurse obey. "Can I please borrow the phone? My cell phone got wet."

"Of course Hyuuga-san…" The nurse led the wet girl to the next room, leaving Sasuke to his disturbing thoughts.

The call was short and soon Hinata was back, still shivering in wet clothes.

"Let's get you in some dry clothes," the nurse cooed.

Unfortunately, the nurse didn't have any spare winter uniforms and in the end was forced to dress the girl in Konoha High's thin summer uniform. Thankfully, the nurse did have nice warm fluffy towels and Hinata was literally swathed in a cocoon of white. A quick glare from Sasuke was more than enough to send the nurse scurrying away and soon the two were left alone.

After a moment of indecision, Sasuke awkwardly sat down next to the shivering girl on the cot. Hinata tensed at his close proximity but did not shield away.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke finally asked.

"I'm fine." Still, despite her words, her posture was defensive and scared.

"… why didn't you want to contact your parents?" It was a prickly question, but one Sasuke felt he needed to ask.

Hinata's eyes flicked to the floor and she gave one great shudder.

"If my family had found out…"

"What those girls did was inexcusable," Sasuke said evenly.

"Still, it's not enough to merit… what my family might do," Hinata whispered, hiding behind her bangs. She looked very small and very fragile.

A pregnant silence.

"… I still don't know whether to think your generosity is just plain bullshit or sheer idiocy," snorted Sasuke.

Hinata gave a small smile. "Is it too hard to believe generosity is just what it is?"

"Coming from a Hyuuga?"

"That does sound pretty incongruous…" Hinata admitted after a moment. "Still, I was never the ideal Hyuuga," she sighed.

"It's fine."

"Huh?"

"You're fine the way you are."

Hinata was stunned speechless. She fumbled for words that she could not find and by the time she could even find her voice her face had reddened to a bright pink. She squeaked and buried her face in her towels.

Sasuke was just thankful Hinata hadn't noticed his own blush.

"I'm sorry I got your jacket and scarf wet." Her voice was muffled by the towels, but it was still intelligible.

"It's fine."

"I'll wash it before I return it."

"Don't worry about it."

"It was… very kind of you to help me. Thank you," Hinata said hesitantly as she peeked over her towels to glance at the young man. To her astonishment, there was a light dusting of pink across his pale cheeks.

"It's fine," Sasuke said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in a gesture so Naruto-like Hinata could not help but giggle.

She looked relaxed when she giggled. She looked… actually attractive when she smiled sincerely.

Sasuke wasn't even consciously aware he was leaning close until he literally felt her scent wash over him. She smelled of musk, moss, and vanilla.

Hinata didn't know exactly why Sasuke was leaning ever close but she had a terrible hunch—what was even more disturbing was that she didn't know exactly why she wasn't moving or telling him to back off.

It must be because his eyes were so mesmerizing. They were so dark and polished and perfect. Hinata would never laugh again when a fangirl gushed rainbows and stars about Sasuke's eyes.

The sound of the door slamming open made Sasuke and Hinata jerk away however, and all thoughts of mesmerizing eyes flew out the window.

His unannounced entrance was startling enough.

But it wasn't half as startling as his identity.

"Are you alright Hinata?" his voice was actually worried as he took long, swift steps toward the girl.

"I'm fine..." Hinata said softly, clutching the towels tightly. She squeaked when she was suddenly hugged tightly. Despite her surprise, her eyes softened and she relaxed in the protection and warmth his embrace provided.

"Are you sure?" The man withdrew slightly to rest a hand on Hinata's forehead.

"I d-don't have a fever…" Hinata stuttered, her face flushing pink.

"Thank goodness." The hand left her forehead but it did not leave her face. As he cradled her cheek with one large hand, his thumb idly brushed her feathery cheek. Hinata unconsciously leant into the warm palm.

"Nii-san…"

"What are you doing here otouto?" Uchiha Itachi asked with narrowed eyes.

Sasuke was stunned.

In the course of one minute, he'd seen more emotions on his brother's face than he had seen in years. And never, in his whole life, would Sasuke ever had dreamed he'll ever see his brother so gently hold a girl with that soft look in his eyes.

It was, at first glance, an odd sight. A young man dressed in a full business suit cradling a girl with wet hair wrapped in fluffy towels. Nonetheless, no matter how many times Sasuke blinked or subtly pinched himself, the sight still remained. He'd known his brother had been under orders to acquaint himself with the eldest Hyuuga—but never would Sasuke have believed that Itachi would actually develop affection for his prearranged fiancée. Itachi never showed any sign, any hint—

Sasuke hated the bitter taste in his mouth.

"... Hinata called you?" Sasuke blurted out. It was obviously, oh so obvious, and Sasuke couldn't believe he had just spoken so—

"Is that so surprising?" Uchiha Itachi answered calmly. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Sasuke-san didn't do anything! He was kind enough to bring me to the nurse—" Hinata hastily said, grabbing Itachi's arms imploringly.

"Ah, I see. Thank you otouto. Hinata, do you want to go home now?"

The girl mutely nodded.

"Come on." Itachi carefully helped the girl out of her many towels. His eyes narrowed at the sight of her thin uniform. Almost as if without a second thought, he shrugged off his own jacket and scarf and wrapped it around the girl tightly.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Sasuke. This time however, Hinata did not protest and only quietly thanked the man.

"I'll see you later otouto. Tell okaa-san I'll be back for dinner," was all Itachi said before he guided the girl out. Hinata only had time to spare one last glance back at Sasuke before she vanished.

For some reason, long after they were gone, Sasuke's hands remained clenched in tight fists.

For some unknown reason, the king couldn't help but feel angry that his kingdom's trademark witch had been so cunningly stolen away. Although it should have been a blessing, somehow he couldn't help feeling it was a curse.

And you all thought that the Itachi comment in chapter one was just a casual remark…

Like all fairytales, the princes and princesses often have to overcome a big obstacle such as an evil stepmother, a dragon, etc. Well, since this is a story of a witch and a king, I made it a la Final Fantasy: one obstacle and then the big boss!

[ cackles ]

Review. Or else I'll threaten you not to finish this. =) Remember the golden cycle.