Unmei: Okay, I am soo, soo, very, very, extremely sorry I haven't updated this FOREVER! I hate to make excuses, but this time I really have to blame it on my 3-week long vacation to Japan, church retreat, and I just had to update my other fic because I hadn't updated that in an even longer amount of time. So, thankfully since I have nothing coming up (except dreaded school next Thursday), I hope to be much quicker on my updates. But, at the same time I'm trying to balance this story with another one I have so it might not be as quick as some of you guys like it to be—sorry!
Disclaimer: I would have to be one rich 14, almost 15, year old to be able to own BOTH Naruto and Goong.
Unmei: Okies, onto the story. Hope you all ENJOY! Oh, and if you haven't read the edit for chapter 2 you might want to, because I changed some things up that are quite vital to the story.
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Chapter 4: Entering the Palace
Princess Hours
Unmei no Hana
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(Hi no Kuni Palace)
Yoshino-sama was shuffling through old photos with a small, almost reminiscent, smile upon her face.
"The King wouldn't have made such a promise if he had seen her today." Yoshino-sama looked up at the speaker, Queen Mikoto, for a moment before turning her head down to look at the pictures once again. "Although she may be a modern child, her manners and speech is fit for a princess. We are from a different class than she is. How could he have picked someone like her?" Still not looking up, Yoshino-sama heaved a great sigh.
"Shall I ask him why then?" She looked up at Queen Mikoto with piercing eyes. Guiltily, Queen Mikoto replied,
"That is not needed. I am sorry for what I said, Yoshino-sama." Yoshino-sama heaved another great sigh, obviously not believing Queen Mikoto, before handing to Queen Mikoto a large roll of paper. Queen Mikoto opened the roll of paper as Yoshino-sama explained to her.
"You see? This letter is proof that rank does not matter in this marriage." Queen Mikoto, despite the look of reluctant defeat on her face, said nothing. "This child's speech may not be good and her manners may be lacking. However, her eyes are clear and her personality is bright and pure. I believe she suits the prince very well and is an apt bride for him. The King thought carefully about this decision and about the future before he made this agreement. Therefore, we do not have the right to break it!" Yoshino-sama told Queen Mikoto severely. "Do not complain about his decision." This was no question, but instead a command. Queen Mikoto, still reluctant, bowed slightly before she turned to leave. Yoshino heaved one last sigh before she once again turned to pictures. One the top most one stood a man in traditional Hi no Kuni garments. Yoshino-sama carefully traced his outline with her finger.
"You always chose correctly in the past. I hope that this time, you chose correctly once more. For not only the sake of the Imperial Family, but for the sake of Sakura as well."
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(Konoha High School, Art Room)
Sakura and her friends sat in the corner of the art room after school. While Ino and Tenten fooled around as Hinata nervously watched them and Temari rolled her eyes, Sakura sat quietly, staring down at a flower in her hand that she had picked earlier that day. She began to pluck off its petals, one by one, as she muttered to herself,
"I will get married… I won't gonna get married… I will get married… I won't gonna get married…" And she continued this until just one more petal was left. Seemingly in slow motion, Sakura grasped the petal in between her two fingers and painfully plucked it off and whispered, "I will get… married." Suddenly a thought seemed to strike her and she looked up at her friends. "Hey guys…" Sakura began hesitantly, "have you ever thought about marriage?" The four of them looked at each other before Ino and Tenten burst out laughing.
"You're joking right Sakura?"
"We're still students, for crying out loud."
"I-It does seem rather early to be thinking about that Sakura…"
"You idiot! Marriage? You're kidding." Temari told her in a no-nonsense tone of voice. She adjusted the glasses that sat upon her nose before continuing. "The average lifespan of a Hi-no-Kuni citizen is just around 80 years. If you married at our age—19 years old—then do you know how long you're gonna spend living with that person? 61 years, Sakura. Don't you think that would be rather tiring?"
"H-hai, Temari-senpai is right. You would have many restraints upon you at such a young age."
"I know! Let's say you got married but then fell in love with someone else. What will you do?"
"I know! My suggestion is you don't marry until you find someone you truly love, ne? I mean if you married now, you won't be even able to go out on dates with your true love. That stinks, don't you think?"
While her friends were talking Sakura was slowly eating her rice and seaweed that she packed as a snack, digesting what all her friends had to say. Once Tenten had said her last statement, Sakura abruptly stood up, chopsticks still in hands and turned to face her friends.
"You're right! I never thought about it like that. How could I think about marriage when I still have my whole life ahead of me? Thanks guys for your help." She then shoved the rest of her snack into her mouth before grabbing her bag and exiting the room, leaving her friends behind with looks of utter confusion upon their faces.
"Do you know what's up with her?" Ino asked the rest of them, breaking the long silence. They all shrugged and went back to eating.
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(Haruno household)
Shouta, a goofy smile upon his face, thinking who knows what, fiddled with Sakura's golden promise ring. He looked at in closely and noticed tiny scribbles on the inside of the ring.
"Oi, otou-san, what's with these scribbles on the inside of this ring?" Keito stuck is head out of the kitchen to see what Shouta was talking about. When he saw the ring his face light up instantly and he came out of the kitchen and into the living room where Shouta was, wiping his hands on the yellow apron that he wore. He took the ring from Shouta's hands, scooping up the token that was on the table at the same time, and sat down in front of Shouta.
"Inside this ring is an encryption—." Keito proudly began until Shouta cut him off.
"I know that! But what do they say? What are they for?" Keito gave him a bewildered look.
"How would I know?" At this Shouta dropped his head in defeat, muttering about his useless father. Keito however seemed unfazed by this and continued. "Now, you can fit this into here—." Keito told Shouta as he fitted the ring into a groove on the token, "—and when you place the other half next to it…" Once again, Keito was unable to finish his sentence for Sakura hurriedly ran into the room, kicking off her shoes at the entrance.
"Dad, dad!" Hearing her voice, Keito frantically concealed both the ring and token into a jar, fearing what his daughter had to say. However he was not fast enough and was still in the process of hiding the items when she stormed to him.
"This marriage is invalid! Where's that engagement cup with the token and ring? Where are you hiding it?" Sakura demanded, too mad to see the cup that was right in front of her. She turned around and began opening various drawers and cabinets searching for the cup that held the token and ring inside. Keito finished putting the items away before hastily looking for a place to hide it. Just when Sakura was about to turn around he looked at Shouta—who had his back facing Sakura—and shoved it down his shirt.
"Where is it?" Sakura cried out hysterically. Shouta, curious as to why his father had shoved the cold, ceramic cup down his shirt pulled it out and handed it to her.
"This?" Sakura grabbed the container and pried off the lid, satisfied to see both the token and ring safely inside. She then turned around to leave the house. Keito groaned and smacked Shouta on the head as he tried to follow after Sakura, unsuccessfully.
"Hey, Sakura… Sakura!"
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(Downtown Konoha)
Sakura ran out of her neighborhood and into downtown Konoha, still clutching the cup in her hands. She had been running for quite awhile before she came to a bus stop and leaned against a wall, trying to catch her breath.
'When I get to the palace, I'm going to give that stuck-up prince a piece of my mind. Just wait until then Uchiha. You're dead!'
As Sakura not-so-patiently waited for the bus to take her to the palace, a man ran by, throwing ads into the air and shouting out. There were still many people out who caught the ads, read them, and then once again discarded them onto the sidewalk. At first, Sakura paid no attention to the man and what he shouted, too busy in her thoughts. However, when she started to pay attention to him, she heard him shout out,
"The Prince's engagement! The Prince is engaged! Royal Family marriage soon!" Once she heard this, Sakura stood up abruptly, thousands of thoughts running through her head. She quickly caught on of the ads that floated near her and frantically read it. A huge picture of Sasuke with his trademark smirk covered most of the front page with the head title 'Royal Marriage.' Underneath the large picture was a smaller one of a small girl with bubblegum pink hair and emerald eyes, holding the cup that Sakura was holding right at that moment and smiling. Sakura read the blurb next to picture and was horrified to see that it revealed all her personal info: name, age, address, telephone number, even her weight and bra size!
"Oh my god. Someone save me!" Sakura whispered, stunned. The ad slipped out of her grasp and, caught by a sudden gust of wind, was whisked away.
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(Hi no Kuni Palace)
Sasuke and the current king, King Fugaku, sat in what seemed to be a study, a very elegant one. Fugaku's face was covered by the same ad Sakura had just read. He sighed and placed the ad onto his desk and looked across to his son, who, to put quite frankly, looked utterly bored.
"We have to grab this chance. We must rush the Royal Family's official announcement about this marriage." King Fugaku looked expectantly at Sasuke, as if waiting for him to retort something back. However when he did not, he looked at Kakashi, who bowed respectfully and left to go report the news. Fugaku then laid some documents in front of Sasuke and started to inform him of various events occurring. Sasuke gazed disdainfully at them for a moment before sighing and running a careless hand through is raven locks. King Fugaku gave him a perplexed look.
"What is it? Are you like this because of the engagement announcement? Or are you worried about how publicized it's going to be? As Crown Prince you should've expected this. Now, where were we?" Fugaku continued on his previous topic. Sasuke had no other choice but to grudgingly listen to his father as he subconsciously thought of his dilemmas—not only his duties as a member of the Royal family, but also those that involved relationships.
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(Haruno Residence)
"Princess, come out and eat! Your father and I grilled meat just for you!" Atsumi and Keito, with smiles upon their faces, huddled around a large pot, upon which they grilled succulent pieces of meat—a rare delicacy for families of such low income as their own.
"Oi, billboard brow, come out! If you don't, this little prince will eat your serving as well." Shouta shouted into Sakura's room. When Sakura didn't come out for a long period of time, Atsumi sighed in frustration and moved the pot from off the heat and, along with Shouta and Keito, entered Sakura's room, only to find her upon her bed, the ad in front of her, crying. Keito, sympathetically grabbed Sakura's hands in his own and told her soothingly,
"I know. I know how you feel." Sakura looked at him reproachfully as she wailed,
"What do you know? What do any of you know?"
"I know, I'm telling you. Your mother cried too when we announced our engagement." Keito said. Sakura, after hearing this, yanked her hand away from him, and began crying even harder.
"What do I do? What do I do now?" She mumbled. She leaned over and began crying on Atsumi's shoulder, who patted her gently on the back.
"There, there. Really, it isn't all that bad Sakura. Just think about it!" Sakura obviously did not agree with her mother, for her crying did not cease. Finally, she bawled,
"Why does it has to be this picture?" At this, the three other members of the family looked at each other, partly in surprise, partly in disbelief. Sakura, taking no notice of this, continued her lamentation. "Why this picture? My grade school graduation picture! I was in a period of my life when I was fat and ugly. My image is ruined! I'll never be able to walk outside again." Suddenly, her mood changed and she looked at her family with accusing eyes. "Who gave it to them? Who gave them this revolting picture!" Keito, Atsumi, and Shouta slowly turned around, trying to hide their guilty faces. Sakura, knowing her answer, got up, fully ready to punish them. However, right at that moment, the three of them got up as well and began to frantically run out of her room. Sakura, screaming threats, ran right after them.
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Loud screams, slightly muffled by the thick walls of the house, entered the room of a certain sleeping princess-to-be, a.k.a. Sakura Haruno, awakening her from her pleasant slumber. Sakura fluttered her eyes open before closing them tightly shut and burying her head underneath layers of blankets and pillows in an attempt to block the noise out and therefore, get more rest. Perhaps if the world was a perfect, ideal world, she would have been able to rest in peace once again, but unfortunately, her world was nowhere close to that. Right at that moment, Shouta decided to burst into her room and ran over to her bundled figure. He then proceeded to shake her violently while shouting out.
"Oi, forehead girl! Big trouble outside. Your enemies have come to take you down!" Sakura mumbled incoherently from underneath her pillows.
"Shouta, go away! I'm tired."
"But there's such a big fuss outside, sis. I don't know if mom and dad can take them out!" Grumbling, Sakura got up and with a huge yawn, walked outside the front door to see what this "big fuss" was really all about. This was apparently not the reaction Shouta expected for he trailed after her.
"Sis, you can't go out there! Not in that condition. You're enemies are far too strong." Sakura did not care it seemed for she stumbled outside, ignoring him completely. Squinting her eyes slightly at the bright daylight, Sakura looked around for the so-called "big fuss" and found it immediately. Atsumi and Keito were attempting to shut tens of hundreds of reporters out, and were failing miserably. Suddenly, one reporter seemed to notice Sakura and screamed out.
"There she is! The princess-to-be!" At this Keito and Atsumi turned around horrified.
"Sakura, what are you doing standing there? Go back inside!"
"Go, before they take any pictures. Hurry up!" Sakura however was too shocked to move. She stood rooted to that spot as the reporters took picture after picture. Finally she seemed to come to her senses and with a look of utter horror ran back into the house and straight to her room. She stared at her image in the mirror and was horror-struck at what she saw. A very messy ponytail with strands falling out, droopy, crusty eyes, a slight stream of drool, and to top it off, horribly embarrassing pajamas that had cheesy animals all over it. So, Sakura did the first thing that came to her mind when she saw this image—scream.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
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(Konoha High School)
'Damn it. If I knew I had to go through such an ordeal just to get to school, I wouldn't have agreed to that stupid agreement.' Sakura thought to herself as she chained her bicycle up in front of the school. 'Those stupid reporters…Argh, just thinking about them makes me mad.'
Flashback
Sakura, after cleaning up her appearance, prepared to go to school. However, there was just one problem. A very huge one. She had no way to get out of her house. Although Atsumi and Keito were able to finally close the gate on the many reporters, locking them outside, they subsequently locked themselves in as well. As time passed, and the time for her class to start approached, Sakura got more and more frantic. Finally, after many minutes of thinking, she came up with a brilliant plan… or at least she thought so. Shouta vehemently disagreed, but was forced to grudgingly accept it. And so, Sakura and her parents crouched behind the gate, Sakura's bicycle behind them, and heaved the gate doors open. The reporters began to surge into the house until a hooded figure ran past them and onto the streets.
"It's the Crown Princess, follow her!" The reporters, as well as other spectators, began to run after the figure soon after someone had shouted that. When the crowd had cleared, Sakura jumped onto her bike and began to pedal as fast as she could, away from the mob. It wasn't until she was a good five minutes away from home that her pace slowed down to a more leisurely one.
End Flashback
When she was finished chaining her bicycle up, Sakura hesitantly made her way into the school, unsure as to what reaction her friends would have. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, for her, Tenten and Ino, as well as Temari, were standing by their lockers. Ino and Tenten where inspecting their faces, while Temari was impatiently waiting for them to finish. Taking this opportunity, Sakura stealthily snuck up behind the three of them, and poked each one lightly. They spun around, ready to punish the person, until they saw Sakura's smiling face. Soon their angered faces were replaced by ones of disgust. Temari began to walk away causing Sakura to reach out and grab onto her arm.
"Hey Temari, where are you going." Temari said nothing in reply and instead yanked her arm away from Sakura and stalked off. Sakura, although she was confused, brushed it off, thinking Temari was just having a bad day, and linked arms with Tenten and Ino.
"Let's go you guys." She began to walk towards the classroom, but stopped when she realized Tenten and Ino weren't walking as well.
"You guys…" Sakura began before Ino cut her off.
"Sakura, is it true?" Sakura knew immediately what she meant and guiltily lowered her head.
"I knew it! It's true. I'm ruined!" Ino whined. She quickly unlinked her arms from Sakura's and stared at her, looking as if she was going to cry. "The Prince is mine. He's mine!"
"How dare you deceive us Sakura! You're such an evil girl." Tenten sobbed as well.
"What are you talking about? I'm frustrated as well!" Sakura tried to reason with her friends. They however paid no attention to her and continued wailing. "You guys… don't do this to me. Please stop it!" Sakura tried to soothe her friends but to no avail. Finally, she gave up and glumly walked away to class as the bell rang.
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Lunchtime came and Sakura walked around the cafeteria looking for a place to sit down. She spotted Ino, Hinata, Temari, and Tenten eating at one table and began to approach there before stopping and dejectedly walking to sit at a nearby table. She began to eat her food until a group of giggling girls approached her.
"Sakura-nee-san, can I have a picture with you?"
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Me too!"
At the nearby table, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, and Temari watched all this commotion.
"Look at that. She's suddenly being treated like some Cinderella," Tenten said somewhat longingly.
"Who cares? Sakura and Sasuke don't even look good together. I'll never accept it!" Ino burst out.
"Hey, Temari, why are you so quiet?" Tenten suddenly inquired. Temari remained quiet and continued to eat. Ino leaned close to Tenten and whispered to her,
"Don't you remember? She's been like this from the start. She hates Cinderella girls. She wants to cut their throats." Ino said, complete with motions.
"Hey guys!" The four girls turned to see Sakura sitting down next to Hinata. They all turned away. Sakura however was not discouraged and told her friends, "I'm sorry. I love you guys!" When they still continued to ignore her, Sakura saddened. "You guys… I really wanted to tell you, honestly! There was just no good time to! Please believe me."
"Whatever."
"Let's go." Ino and Tenten began to get up to leave.
"Fine, leave! But before you guys do, let me tell you this. I'm not some kind of Cinderella!" Sakura said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Defiantly, she lowered her face and began stuffing it with her lunch.
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(Konoha Airport)
Fuyuno Mika, walking to her terminal, stopped briefly to watch the news that was playing on the television. On it, showed pictures of the Prince and Sakura. Quickly, Mika turned away from it and hurriedly continued to walk. However, she did not notice the man in front of her and ran into him, thus causing her bag to fall and its contents to spill all over the floor. Mumbling a quick apology she bent over to put up her belongings. The man she bumped into also bent down to help her.
"Are you alright? You look troubled." Mika looked at him perplexed.
"I'm alri… actually I'm not alright." The man decided not to press any further and picked up Mika's cell phone. It had opened when it fell and on the screen displayed a picture of Mika and Sasuke together. The man stared at the picture, stunned.
'Who is this girl and how does she know Sasuke? Is she the girl Sasuke is engaged to? But her picture doesn't match the one from the TV…'
Mika, when she noticed that the man was staring at her cell phone, grabbed it from his hands and stuffed it into her bag. With a frightened look upon her face, she bowed slightly to him for his help and rushed away. The man stood there for a couple seconds more, thoughts racing through his brain. In the background, the television displayed more pictures of Sasuke and Sakura while the announcer spoke.
"It is said that this engagement has been planned for a long time. What's even more interesting is that by some odd turn of events, the Crown Prince and his fiancée both attend the same school. The Palace has not released any more information on the girl the Crown Prince is engaged to and her family refuses to speak with the media. For the time being, the citizens of Hi no Kuni are all wondering what kind of person this Haruno Sakura is."
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(Hi no Kuni Palace)
The man who had previously helped Fuyuno Mika out at the airport walked around the Hi no Kuni Palace. He had come to a rather deserted looking section of the Palace where an old, run down building stood. He entered it and looked at the various pictures that stood on a table at the entrance. He picked up a particular one of a man in traditional Hi no Kuni clothing. Smiling slightly, he told it,
"Father… Sai is back."
The man, named Sai, placed the picture back in its proper place and exited from the building. He leisurely walked around, viewing the scenery.
'Not much has changed since 14 years ago. The Palace still seems the same…' Sai was shaken from his thoughts when a voice behind him spoke.
"…Sai?" Sai turned around and saw Kakashi with a look of mild surprise upon his face. Kakashi rushed to face him and with a smile bowed.
"Sai, it's good to have you back." Sai smiled as well at seeing Kakashi.
"It's good to see you too Kakashi. I'm surprised you still recognize me. Have I really not changed that much since I left for Kiri no Kuni?"
"It's not that, you have changed a lot. But, how could I forget you? After all, I was the one who you forced to give you piggyback rides before you left for Kiri no Kuni."
"Ah, now I remember that. You haven't changed much Kakashi. Do you still read those perverted books of yours?" Kakashi ignored that question, a slight blush upon his face, and instead replied,
"Yoshino-sama and the King have missed you very much. The King is out right now, but Yoshino-sama will be delighted to see you. Let's go in."
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Yoshino-sama and Sai sat together on a bench, Yoshino-sama clutching Sai's hands and saying,
"It's been so long since you've left. Look at you! You're already a grown man now. For these past years while you were away, I have never ceased to think of you and your mother. Come to think of it, where is your mother? Why did you come alone?"
"Mother said she has some business to take care of before she is able to return. But, she said she'll return eventually."
"Then, are you thinking of staying here forever?"
"Yes, Yoshino-sama, my mother and I are planning to return to Hi no Kuni for good."
"I'm so glad." Queen Mikoto, who had been sitting in another chair with a displeased look upon her face, finally spoke up.
"Then where shall you be staying?" Both Yoshino-sama and Sai looked at her. There was a brief pause in the conversation before Sai said,
"I'll be living in a rented apartment. Mother will live there with me as well when she arrives."
"Oh, but you should stay in the Kumohara pavilion. Isn't that where your father's memorial is?" Yoshino-sama said, a concern present upon her face.
"Yes, that is true. However, the Kumohara pavilion is quite run down and is need of repairs."
"Yes… I forgot about that. Then, how about you more into the Palace? It's not right for you to have to live in a rented apartment." At this statement, Queen Mikoto interjected.
"Excuse me Yoshino-sama, but the law states that the old King's son is to be living outside of the Palace."
"That's right. I wasn't thinking properly because I was so excited." Yoshino-sama said in a crestfallen tone. Sai remained quite throughout this and did not speak up until Yoshino-sama had finished talking.
"With all due respect, Yoshino-sama, Mikoto-jyou-sama, but I must be leaving soon." And with that he bowed and exited.
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(Konoha High School)
Sakura was walking to her next class when somebody suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up, startled, only to be greeted by Sasuke's smirking face.
"Oh, I must've taken the wrong route." Sakura said as she turned around and began walking away.
"We need to speak. I'm surprised you can still face a camera with your mentality."
"What? Mentality?"
"I'm assuming you've been preparing recently."
"Preparing…? For what?"
"To enter the Palace. Someone should be stopping by your house sometime soon."
"Entering… the Palace?" Sasuke gave Sakura an exasperated look.
"You didn't know about this? It's for the Crown Princess's education. I doubt you can cope with it." Sakura gave him an irritated look at this comment. "What's with that look? You're the one who agreed to this marriage while asking for money at the same time."
"What?" Sakura asked dumbly.
"Anyways, this doesn't concern me. Just be fully prepared and be sure not to get me into a bad situation because this isn't some kind of joke." After he said this, Sasuke began to walk away.
"Hey, Rooster hair!" When he heard this name, Sasuke whipped around, an angry glint in his eyes.
"Rooster hair?"
"Yes, Rooster hair. Let me ask you something. Why did you agree to this marriage? I know perfectly well that you could've rejected it and proposed to any girl you wanted to. Why didn't you take that chance and propose to the girl you wanted to? I know you have a girl you'd much rather marry."
"You seem to know nothing. Do you really expect me to allow the girl I like to be trapped inside of the Palace as the princess?"
"Then…then what about me?" Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his raven locks.
"I thought I told you before. You and I have nothing in relation. I could care less what happens to you. That's why I'm marrying you."
"What did you say?" Sakura asked with a look of disbelief upon her face.
"Shouldn't you be grateful that I'm marrying you without any complaints?" Sakura let out a harsh laugh before saying,
"Did you really say what I thought you said? Are you saying that instead of your girlfriend, you'd much rather me be trapped and stuck in the Palace?" Once again, Sasuke ignored her question and instead said,
"Nonetheless, you should never forget, the fact is that you're going to become a princess. If you want to be my bride, then you'll have to upgrade your level or else you'll be in serious trouble. Do you know? Do you know that your level of being a princess is low?"
"Level?"
"I just don't want your stupidity to interfere with me. Got it?" Sasuke said this and walked away, leaving a fuming Sakura in his wake. She began to make faces at him and pretended to punch him. Abruptly, Sasuke stopped in his tracks and turned around, ignoring the faces Sakura was giving him.
"And one more thing. Take off those dirty sweatpants of yours. If you're unable of doing so by yourself, I'll call someone who'll do it for you and teach you some manners as well." Sakura had taken enough and screamed at him,
"Go learn some yourself, jerk!" She attempted to kick him, but was too far away. With nothing to stop its momentum, Sakura's leg flew higher than it should have and caused Sakura to fall flat on her back. Whimpering slightly, Sakura opened her shuteyes and saw a smirking Sasuke above her. With a mocking tone, he told her,
"You never seem to alter my expectations of you."
-----
Her back aching with a tremendous amount of pain, Sakura stiffly walked to her next class. Remembering what Sasuke had said, she pulled out the knee-high socks required by the school from out of her pockets and began to slip her gym pants off. However, luck was not on her side, for as she began to do so, a teacher happened to pass by.
"What's this? What are you doing?" Sakura, in a state of panic, started to rush away, with the teacher in close pursuit.
-----
Sai entered his new high school and went to what seemed to be the front desk. However, nobody was there. This greatly confused him and he looked around for someone to help him, but found no one. Suddenly, he heard a loud clatter and saw a girl running past him.
"Wait a moment. Can you tell me where to find the arts office?" The girl, who had a curious shade of bubblegum pink hair, stopped running. She looked around frantically first before beginning to slip off the odd gym pants that were under her skirt and saying,
"Arts? It's next to this building on the second floor."
"Thank you." Sai told the girl. However, he did not walk away. Instead, he stared curiously at what the girl was doing. She had finally succeeded in slipping her gym pants off and were about to put on socks when what seemed to be a teacher appeared. Cursing, the girl grabbed her socks, slipped on her shoes, and ran away. Sai was left there dumbfounded. He looked at the floor and saw the girl's gym pants. Picking them up, he smirked slightly to himself.
"What a day this already has been."
-----
Sakura had finally succeeded in running away from the teacher and was able to pull her socks on. After catching her breath for a moment, she began to walk back to her classroom, only to be stopped by a pair of very familiar Palace officials.
"We need to prepare for the marriage faster. Because of that, you must come with us right now."
"But, it's still school. Can't this wait till afterwards."
"I'm afraid we cannot. The Queen ordered so."
"I can't go yet. I left my backpack in the room." The two palace officials however were one step ahead of Sakura and from behind their backs pulled out both her backpack and shoes. With a chagrined face Sakura reluctantly followed them out of the school grounds.
-----
The bell indicating the start of class rang and the students in a particular classroom began scurrying to their seats before the teacher walked in. A couple of seconds later, the teacher, who's name was Mizuhara-sensei, walked in with a stranger walking behind her—a very find looking stranger. The girl squealed at the sight of him and hearts appeared in their eyes. Mizuhara-sensei slammed her books on her desk and shouted,
"Everyone, quiet down now. Today, a new alien joins us." The stranger had a confused look upon his face.
'Alien?' He looked around the classroom and quickly found a colorful poster saying: "Planet Room." He smiled slightly at this and turned his attention back to the teacher.
"His name is Yamamoto Sai." The teacher noticed that all the girls where paying no attention to what she was saying, but instead to Sai. "He's a very fine looking alien isn't he?"
"Yes!" All the girls shouted in agreement.
"Anyways, Sai has lived in Kiri no Kuni since he was 5 years old. Because of this, he will need all your help. Please be sure to help whenever he has trouble and don't isolate him. Understand?" Mizuhara-sensei then motioned for Sai to take a seat in one of the two empty desks and began to teach.
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(Haruno Household)
Outside of Sakura's house a mob of girls with posters were gathered. They were all chanting the same phrase.
"BRING BACK THE PRINCE! BRING HIM BACK!"
Sakura stared out the window and saw the crowd of people in front of her house. Little did she know what they were chanting and happily waved to them all.
'Look, I'm so famous!' However, as soon as she did, the mob of girls began to chant once again.
"HARUNO SAKURA, YOU MUST KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOUSELF, KILL YOURSELF!" At this, Sakura dropped her hand and horrified look appeared on her face. A young woman appeared behind Sakura and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Miss, we must get your measurements. Please can you stand over here?" Sakura did as she was told. She allowed the girls to measure her as she gazed out the window and at the mob of girls still shouting at her.
'What did I get myself into?'
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"How is it? Is it too tight?"
"No it's just fine."
"You remind me of my grandmother…."
"Really?"
It was early the next day when Sakura stood outside, dressed in traditional Hi no Kuni clothing. Her hair was fashioned into a bun and intricate ornaments decorated with gems and gold where in her hair as well. A happy expression was upon her face as she struggled to fine her hands within the folds of fabric that made up the sleeves of her garment.
"Yes, you do. Very pretty." Keito told her. Atsumi worriedly grabbed hold of Sakura's arm and said,
"Eat well and don't get stomach aches, okay?" Sakura nodded her heads.
"Oh, that's right. I packed extra medicine for you." Keito said, holding up Sakura's pink bag. The happy expression melted from Sakura's face and was replaced by a glum one. She looked at Shouta and told him,
"Listen to mom and dad, okay?"
"Don't worry forehead girl. Next time you come and visit, I'll show you my muscles, okay? You'll be so surprised at how much they'll grow!" Sakura giggled at this slightly. Her family joined in for a brief period of time only to be stopped by a palace official.
"We had better hurry up." Once he said this, the laughter subsided and Sakura's face became gloomy again. She began to walk forward then turned around.
"I made this choice. I'll take responsibility for my life. Please don't beat yourselves up over it." Keito and Atsumi nodded slightly. Sakura turned around again. Two maids opened the large gates and Sakura was instantly blinded by the flashes of thousands of cameras. Sakura slowly advanced towards the car that was parked in front of her house. Ignoring the thousands of people who were screaming at her and the cameras taking pictures, Sakura, with the same sad expression on her face, began to get into the car. As she was about to so, she turned around one last time to look at her family. They were all smiling brightly at her. Smiling back, Sakura stepped into the car. Guards began to push the crowd from out of the middle of road the car began to slowly make its way down the road. The road all the way to the Palace was lined with spectators holding up colorful signs. On every rooftop and balcony stood even more spectators and news reporters. Sakura however never once throughout the journey looked out the window to view all the people who had come to catch a glimpse of her. Instead she sat quietly in the back of the car looking at her folded hands.
'Mom… Dad… Shouta… I'll miss you. I just hope I've made the right decision.'
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Sakura has finally entered the palace. What troubles and difficulties are in store for her? Who is this Sai and why were he and his mother living in Kiri no Kuni for 14 years? How does he know Yoshino-sama and the rest of the imperial family? And what will Sasuke do about his relationship with Fuyuno Mika? Stay tuned to Princess Hours to find out!
Next time, Chapter 5: Royal Marriage
"We're friends of the Crown
Princess. Of course she'll wave to us, just you watch!"
-Tenten
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Unmei: I am FINALLY done! My gosh, this chapter took me forever! I'm so sorry it took me so long, but hopefully it being longer than all my chapters will make up for that. School has finally started for me, and I have so much homework compared to last year, that I'll only be able to write on the weekends. Because of that, it will take me half a month, to a month to finish a chapter. I'm so sorry it's going to take me so long, but I'm just swamped with homework, viola, and writing my other fic. I hope this doesn't discourage any of you guys from reading my fic. I'll really try to update as fast I can—and don't worry, I'm going to finish this fic. Even if I'm old and senile. Even if it takes me a thousand years. I promise you all that I will finish this fic! And, thank you to all my reviewers (Epiff Annie, saki, Gaara's desert blossom, KessaBrenton, Anime Fr3ak, kunoichi haruhana, sasusaku4eva101, Yucina101, and Sakura4eva). You guys have no idea how much your reviews really encourage me to continue writing. If it weren't for you guys, I would've quit this fic after just the first couple of chapters. So thank you, I love you all! So, for all of you guys reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please keep on reading, REVIEWING, and of course enjoying this fic. Till next time, ja!