Fairy Tale

Disclaimer: :swims in the nonexistent sea of money:

Author’s Notes: Lalalalalala… It was a result of boredom. I SO want to make a mini-Naruto shrine to house my ranting about the series. Now if only I was good at designing graphics…

In case anyone screams, this has implied shoujo ai and shounen ai. (Well, depending on how you see it.) You might be able to miss it, but you can still see it if you look.

SPOILERS for most recent chapters

Summary: She always thought kisses were supposed to be more romantic. Sequel to “Admiration”.

Fairy Tale

Written by Ayako

A fairy tale started with an evil witch taking the kind, beautiful princess away from her family. Skip a few years and the princess would be in a tower waiting for her prince. Now, she wasn’t limited to just a tower. There were many places she could be: a cottage, a castle, or even the woods. But for the sake of simplicity, she was in a tower. It wasn’t that she met a prince sometime ago, told him she would be imprisoned, and gave him instructions. After all, she was taken away before she ever had the chance to meet one. And yet somehow, she knew. She would wait even if it would take a hundred years.

By some demented turn of events, the evil witch gave her an apple for lunch that caused her to sleep. It wasn’t until a hundred years later until she was revived with love’s first kiss. Upon awakening, the princess would cry tears of joy and hug the prince, telling him to never leave her, to stay with her forever. He would agree instantly, embracing her with promises of happily forever after.

When Sakura was a child, she always wanted to be a princess. But because she was always made fun of because of her large forehead, it seemed impossible. Before that, she never thought her forehead was really different from everyone else at the time. Sometimes she was even tempted to measure it to see if it were true.

“It’s only because you’re trying to hide it… You have a cute face, Sakura. You should show it.”

Somehow, she never got around to doing it.

Sakura wasn’t sure if pink hair and green eyes were much of a combination. She never really felt beautiful until Ino had given her confidence in her appearance. Chinese-style dresses and red ribbons-no, blue headbands. She always wanted to have a more princess-like appearance. Princesses usually had golden hair and bright, blue eyes.

A princess wouldn’t forsake her friends for love… She was just too nice. So how was it a princess never seemed to have real friends in stories? Each one either had none in the first place or left them with her prince.

What Sakura learned from fairy tales was that for love, you had to leave many things behind. You had to leave behind what you once had to pursue the other things in life like love.

Sakura remembered a time when everyone declared they would marry their best friend. She was never sure why they wanted to. It didn’t work with the rules of a fairy tale and she knew that every girl wanted to be a princess. Everyone wanted to be someone that was beautiful and loved by all except the wicked ones. A best friend was usually not involved in the equation—if not ever.

How? Just how did it fit?

“Life isn’t a fairytale, Sakura. We aren’t ever going to be princesses.”

The prince was usually a kind, gentle man. In some cases, he was cold and emotionless. If he fell under the second condition, the story would go on with its ups and downs until the princess met her doom. Upon discovering her condition, he would be horrified. His emotions in turmoil, he becomes a broken man, lost to unfamiliar feelings. Helplessly wishing for her to awaken, he hugs her close to him and cry to make up for those years he had forgotten. … And then she would open her eyes.

“I don’t see why you like him…”

Sakura saw Sasuke as a person that could do anything. He was handsome and talented just as Ino was beautiful and well rounded. She wanted to be able to do anything she put her mind to. She was more of a book person; it was a lot easier to absorb over the many days it took to train physically.

A princess didn’t give up. Sakura decided that the accelerated heartbeat meant she was in love with Sasuke. If she thought of it in a different way, she would’ve thought she was having a heart attack. No mistake, she told herself. A princess had long hair and from rumors, he liked that. It was another way to back up the idea of Sasuke being a prince.

Sasuke seemed to warm up a little. He didn’t look as irritated as he used to during their academy days. She never saw him smile, but a confident smirk was good enough. His face seemed to come to life and his eyes seemed to glint at a challenge.

She used to hope that he felt that way simply because of the friendship the three of them shared. Only, out of them, she was probably spoken to the least.

Rivalry seemed to spark the oddest of changes. She always thought love was what gave people happiness.

But wasn’t it her rivalry with Ino that gave her what she needed? What made her feel alive? Every time she did something, it felt like she was being recognized for being Haruno Sakura.

With two stamina-crazed boys, it was hard to get any recognition.

“I never even considered you my rival.”

Ideas of princesses and princes disappeared when Sasuke refused to stop when she pleaded. A spark of hope had appeared the instant he gave her his customary smirk and the words she never thought she’d hear him say. That was all she got out of everything: shorn hair, “Thank you”, and a punch in the stomach.

The only time he ever listened was when the seal had taken over his body.

She didn’t know why she asked Naruto to accomplish what she couldn’t. He was the idiot, the clown… but somehow, he had something that she didn’t, something that drew even the most regal and most silent of princes.

“I’ll protect you with all my strength.”

Lee was definitely not the definition of prince.

He didn’t have the right kind of hair, the right kind of eyes, or the right kind of face. He didn’t have the perfect nose, chin, or maybe even anything. But somehow… she noticed him.

Sakura always planned to wait for Sasuke. She refused any offers and leapt away in disgust if anyone dared to come close. If there was anyone that she’d notice, he’d be tall, dark, and handsome—just like Sasuke, but never coming close.

Like she said, Lee was definitely not the definition of prince.

He was determined to reach for his dreams regardless of the obstacles. His strength was something truly admirable. Never giving up, always trying so hard…

The words of a boy that would never feel the same way she did killed her motivation. And yet, he continued to stand by her side, promising to protect her even though he was the injured one.

“I told you I would protect you… always. Even twenty years from now when you’re married to someone, I’ll remember. I never forget my promises.”

It was simply a brush on the cheek. A warm feeling that disappeared as quickly as it came.

A kiss from a prince was usually romantic. Lee wasn’t her prince, so she never did expected it to be if it came from him, but…

“We aren’t ever going to be princesses. We’re shinobi.”

If a girl couldn’t be a princess, she couldn’t have a prince… so how did it work in this case?

In order to be a princess, you had to be beautiful and kind and leave everything behind that you used to have. Maybe that was why she could never be a princess. She tried, she honestly did, but she felt horrible. A princess had no need for motivation after she got her prince because she already got what she wanted: a happily ever after.

Maybe Princesses were sixteen for a reason. You were either too young to understand or understood it too much. Even after those years of watching, thirteen years old wasn’t enough to understand.

“… There’s a difference between admiration and love, Sakura.”

She remembered how dead Sasuke seemed to look after the exam when he was separated from his rival, his friend.

She remembered how lonely she felt when again her advances were ignored without a friend to laugh with or to cry with.

Maybe that was why she asked Naruto to bring him back. In some strange, fascinating, un-logical way, friends did that sort of thing. She could never see a boy comforting another boy; they probably felt too manly for that sort of thing.

Luckily for her, she was a girl.

Ino wouldn’t call her a wimp if she cried.

“Why are you crying? He’s not worth crying over!”

Lecturing her was a different story.

OWARI