Beauty and the Beast (Naruto Fanfic)

"What's next!" yelled the annoyed voice of the young prince. IT was his birthday and he wanted presents that he wanted, being a very selfish and greedy young man. He was a Fairly tall, lean young man with shoulder length blonde hair, He was very athletic and had lines on his face that looked like whiskers. HE was dressed in a white collared shirt that flowed freely about his body, he not able to fill it completely, but he liked that, giving him more room to move around. He had Fair fitting, dark blue slacks and leather boots that went to mid-shin, overlapping the pants.1

His servants began looking worrisome, wondering if nothing they did would make the young prince happy. Out of the back came a another young man with Black hair, and glowing red eyes. Another Servant, but one of the only people the prince could stand normal conversation with.2

"Prince Naruto" The young man began when he was cut off by and upheld hand from the prince.3

"Ah, Sasuke, i know you wouldn't let me down, but i'm not yet in the mood for your present. I know you will be able to satisfy me.." the young prince trailed off, a hint of greed in his beady blue eyes.4

IF not for the greed and foul temper that consumed the prince he would have been a catch to anyone. Exceedingly handsome, strong, fast, and a great hunter. Even the most skilled could barely keep up to scratch with him. Though that could be because the prince was a sore loser as well and they were afraid of punishment. Though, that aside he was a very talented young man.5

When the maid, Ino, came with her gift, there came a loud knocking from the doors. Prince Naruto Jumped up and went to go answer it. Striding out of the room in a bit of a temper, he reached the doors and wretched them open, and before him stood a wrinkly old lady, with a hood covering her face to hide it from view.6

She held up a rose and began to speak, "Please young prince, it is a dreadfully cold and wintry night out, please allow me to stay just this night and in exchange take this rose for your own."7

Naruto stared at the little lady then bursted out laughing, slamming the doors shut and yelling. "Sorry baa-chan, i don't run a boarding house, find someone else to take your ros-"8

His last words were cut off as the doors blew open with such a force that it was amazing the prince could still stand. When he caught himself and looked towards the door, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, and almost as if reading his mind, the Enchantress spoke in a loud, cold tone.9

"Young prince, because of your greed, rudeness and being most uncivilized, i place upon you a curse, upon you and the entire castle." She said, floating feet above the air, The enchantress Tsunade looked down upon him with glowing gold eyes. "As long as you continue to act like this, this curse shall remain, you must love and be loved in return to break the curse, you have until-" The rose appeared in front of the now changing Prince. "the last petal falls from this rose to meet that, if you cannot. You shall remain like this, Forever!" she disappeared but the last word echoed through out the entire castle, as it echoed an extremely cold wind blew, changing all the inhabitants in different kinds of furniture. 10

His "friend, Guy, was changed into a candle holder with bright red flames. Ino the maid was changed into a dusting broom, Neji, was changed into a table clock, shizune was changed into a teapot, while her pet pig was changed int a foot rest. Konohamaru was changed into a small teacup, and everyone else was changed into other, various items of furniture.11

Everything went blank to everyone in the castle that night, as they slept their first night of sleep, as cursed people.12

Meanwhile, in another part of the tiny village, a young woman was screaming, a horse-drawn cart nearly hitting her.13

A very pretty, purple haired girl with eerie gray eyes was stumbling into place beside a shop, her face beat red, her dress billowing and ruffled from the near death experience.14

"Are you okay, miss Hinata?" asked the man driving the cart. She gulped and nodded slowly, smiling weakling.15

"I'm ok, thank you, is everything alright in your cart?" as she said this her hands went back to the book in her hands and she growled at herself and apologized, dashing towards the library, reading the last 12 pages, again, ash she disappeared around the corner of the meat shop.16

All the single young women turned their heads, giving scowling looks of disapproval towards Hinata at the news they had just gotten.17

"Jiraiya wants her for a wife!" one of them said outraged.18

"Yes, it's so unfair, i mean, were prettier than she is!" another said.19

They all nodded agreement, giving death glares to the, Busy-with-her-book Hinata as she opened the door to the library, ringing a small bell on the counter.20

The book shop was very big, though it didn't look it from the outside, shelves upon shelves of books, Hinata's eyes grew large. No matter how times she's in there, she's still completely under the spell of amazement of the amount of books in there.21

An old man in the back heard the bell ring and sidled out of the back room to see who was in there, though like he couldn't guess. When he saw her, he smiled and said in a booming voice that nearly gave Hinata a heart attack.22

"Hinata my dear!" Boomed the excited book keeper.23

"Shikamaru!" she exclaimed, holding the spot over her heart. "you nearly gave me a heart attack." she pouted, restraining herself from sticking out her tongue.24

Shikamaru the book keep laughed and smiled. "Sorry, so what'll it be today?"25

Hinata smiled and held the book out to him. "Just today i need to return this book, i have chores to do when i get home" she mumbled "they always seem to pile up on me"26

Shikamaru reached out and patted her head, gently pushing the book back towards her. "no returning that book, it is your favorite book, right?"27

Hinata blushed slightly nodding her head slowly. "It is but, i have no mo-"28

Shikamaru held up a hand to silence her, able to guess what she was going to say. "you don't pay for it either, a gift, for my best and favorite customer!"29

Hinata smiled and heard a faint explosion in the distance and gasped. "That would be father, thank you so much Shikamaru, but i need to go see what that man's done this time." With a quick hug she disappeared from the store and headed for home.30

On her way home, a man hunting in the woods saw her and tried calling to her.31

"Hey gorgeous, why not come over here for a while?" He laughed loudly, sticking his chest out, but for all the notice she paid him, he may as well have been talking to a tree.32

Hinata saw her house in sight and saw dark clouds of billowing smoke coming from her cellar, as she ran into the cellar, she saw her father buried under a pile of coal, his latest invention spitting out smoke from it's pipe sticking out of the top.33

"Father!" she said, running beside him and beginning to throw the coal off his person. He coughed and spluttered, laughing slightly.34

"IT works! It works!" was all he repeated and smiled at her, throwing in coal into the wood burning belly of his log splitter. The log splitter sprang to life and slowly raised the axe attached arm and split a piece of wood clean in half.35

Hinata smiled warmly at her father and kissed his cheek.36

"Congratulati-" was all that was said as a big puff of black smoke was blown in their faces as the log splitter began going haywire and went up and out of the cellar, crashing into a nearby tree, stopping at once.37

Her father sighed and looked at his daughter.38

"Maybe next time, but right now, it's time for lunch, Come Hinata" was all he said as he slumped out of the cellar and headed for his front door, Hinata not too far behind him.39

Once in the old little cottage, she began cleaning the house while her father made a small lunch in the kitchen. She had the floors swept, the table cleaned, the shelves and furniture dusted, and the small flowered wreath hanging on the door, straightened and lively.40

Unknown to Hinata and her father, they were having and unexpected guest, coming to try and persuade Hinata for the umpteenth time to marry him. He had a preacher, some of the the town, his most faithful followers, and of course his little, faithful friend, Orochimaru.41

"Jiraiya! Jiraiya!" he squealed "your gonna get Hinata this time, aren't you?!"42

Jiraiya grinned and nodded. "Yes, and old man Sarutobi will be a little too distracted to get involved in the matter, Won't he?" he glared down at Orochimaru who nodded quickly.43

Orochimaru snuck around the house with a suit case and called loud enough for Jiraiya to hear. "Excuse me, Sarutobi, I have something that will help you greatly.." and then he began speaking so fast it didn't matter, Jiraiya however went and barged in through the door.44

Hinata gaped and stared, Jiraiya tracking in mud and dirt, getting it everywhere as he walked to the table and began to speak.45

"Hinata, it's your lucky day!" He announced, sitting at the table, propping his muddy boots on the table and kicking them off. "I have come to allow you to marry me" 46

Hinata rolled her eyes, not listening to a word Jiraiya was saying, just shaking her head, and saying 'yea' absentmindedly, until he finished and asked her, shaking her out of her own mind.47

"So, what do you say Hinata?" He grinned widely, waiting for the answer he knew was sure to come.48

"I'm sorry Jiraiya, i don't want to marry you." She said, picking his boots up like they were some disgusting animal and walking towards the door, Jiraiya right at her heels, a look of shock on his face.49

"But why, i'm the best at everything in town!" he cried as she started to open the door.50

"the one thing your lacking.." she smiled as she opened the top half of the door, he leaned against to prevent her from opening it as he tumbled backward and into a large pile of mud, she throwing his boots after him. "Is kindness and modesty, not to mention Hygiene. She giggled as she shut the door, orochimaru darting around to the puddle.51

"So how'd it go Jiraiya!" he asked excitedly, bouncing on the heels of his shoes.52

Jiraiya growled, grabbing Orochimaru by the neck and slamming him face down in the puddle and storming off towards town.53

As Orochimaru sat up, he leaned forward to stand up, finding his lips pressed against a pigs bottom, he pulled back coughing and spluttering, crawling away as fast he could.54

While in the house, Hinata was finishing the cleaning, again, her father bringing out their dinner, while they ate, he began speaking to his daughter.55

"Hinata, i'm gonna take Enma and the wagon and go into the next town for the inventors convention tomorrow, i'm going to leave early in the morning." He said, staring at the direction of the next town. "I'll win it this time.."56

Hinata smiled and nodded, "Alright Father, Just be careful, alright?"57

He agreed and after cleaning up the table and getting ready for bed. Early the next morning, Sarutobi sattled up Enma, their horse and prepared to leave, his latest invention on the back of his cart as he headed away from town and onto the next.58

After a couple hours had passed and dusk started setting in, he began to look around and up came a fork in the road, Not sure of which to take he decided he'd go left, but Enma wanted to head to the right, Sarutobi quickly pulled on the reins to make Enma go to the left, the horse whinnied once as a sign of not wanting to go this way but followed his masters directions.59

AS they went farther and farther left, everything started to get darker, a low mist swirling into view and eerie sounds starting to arise. The occasional hoot of an owl in the thick tree's the howling of a olf in the night, all the while he becoming more scared wondering if he had made the right choice, and finally, he began turning around, when half a pack of wolves jumped out and began to scare Enma, as the horse turned again the other half were there and that was it.60

Enma Whinnied loudly and ran foward, leaping over the front wolves and began to dash onward, Sarutobi unable to control him any longer, the wolves began giving chase, howling loudly in their pursuit.61

Thinking after a time they had lost the wolves, hearing nothing behind them, Enma slowed to a stop at another fork in the road. As the horse began to rest for a moment, the wolves jumped out of the brush and scared the horse, making him tip the carriage and owner.62

When the carriage tipped, Enma somehow got free and he ran off, leaving Sarutobi alone, The wolves coming closer as it began to pour. HE stood up and he darted for the right road, but was blocked off by leaping wolves, he ducked but one got hold of his cloak. He released his cloak and ran, The wolves being momentarily distracted by the coat, then darted after him.63

The rain came down like small pebbles falling from the sky as he ran faster, seeing a large set of gates in the distance, he ran harder and faster, trying desperately to make it to the gate, the wolves closing in every step he took until the cold, harsh steel beneath his hands as he pried the gate open far enough to get in, the wolves grabbing hold of one of his feet and trying to get him back out, but he kicked free and moved away from the gate.64

Standing up, looking at the departing wolves, he slowly turned around to see where he as, his chin hit his chest as he began to stare the enormous and elegant castle, that, though looked slightly worn, still had the elegance of when it was first built.65

As he approached, he remembered how hard it was raining, so he jogged to the large oaken doors, tapping the knocker lightly, though a great booming echo within.66

Slowly, he pushed the door open and shouted inside. "Hello? Is anyone home?" he repeated it a few times before actually entering the castle and looking inside.67

He was tired, cold, wet, and hungry and just wanted to rest, and he resumed his shouting. "Hello? i would like to rest here for the night if it would be okay. Please? Hello!"68

He heard a faint whisper and jumped, looking around. "Hello? whose there?" he looked at an old clock and a candle stick on the table beside him, both covered in a 2 inch thick layer of dust on them both. He blew the clock off and was stunned at it's lasting, natural beauty. Clocks weren't made like this for just anyone.69

He supposed this castle must have belonged to a very important person many years ago, though, the castle and all it's ancient knowledge of years it has seen, was in almost unbelievable shape, except for the dust, the slightly torn tapestries that lay on the walls throughout the castle, the furniture, with it's slightly worn and unpolished look.70

But he set the clock down and began heading farther into the castle, calling out even louder than before. "Hello?!" HE sighed and spotted a door off to his right, walking ever slowly towards the slightly gaped doors.Approaching with caution, he gently knocked and pushed on the double doors very slowly, a loud creaking echoing through out the castle.71

Making his way into the room, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The room had no dust at all inside of it, though dark inside, he could still see enough to guess that this was a den, and no dust because he stumbled and rested his hand on a table, feeling nothing but a smooth surface.72

He gave another shout of hello before he heard the whispering of two voices again, this time they didn't bother to keep there voice down.73

"-master this, master that, we have a guest and we will-" He was cut off, a loud thump and an ouch following the end of his sentence.74

"we will not disobey our master's order's!" another voice came, Sarutobi assuming the one who dealt the thump is the one's voice he was hearing now.75

As he turned to look towards the door, he saw two long shadows flitting in and out of what little light was shining inside, the rain finally starting to clear outside.76

Sarutobi darted for the chair in the center of the room and curled into a ball, listening to two arguing voices, getting closer every moment until finally it all stopped. After a passing moment however he heard a throat clearing and then talking.77

"Excuse me sir, but we couldn't help hearing you as you came in, you would like a place for the night? well you've come to the right place" and the voice prattled on about 'this' place. Now only if Sarutobi knew where 'this' was.78

"Um, Excuse me, but who are you?" Sarutobi asked nervously, waiting for a response.79

"Ah, pardon me sir, I am Guy, and this is Neji, we are delighted to meet you." Guy said, he sounded like a very kind character, and truth be told, he was.80

Sarutobi looked down and was astounded to see a candle holder and an old clock. The clock has it's arms curled across it's face plate, looking absolutely annoyed, The candle holder however had a wide smile on the center stick where it's face was held, moving his arms about, grinning with sly comments about muscles that were not existent on the candle holder. But if Sarutobi only knew the truth of it all.81

Sarutobi stared for minutes more until finally he spoke.82

"My word, this is amazing!" Sarutobi said with an air of excitement you might find in a little kid at a candy shop. "How do you little things talk and walk like such?" and Sarutobi kept babbling on with questions until Guy, the candle holder put up a 'hand'.83

"All in good time my friend, but for now-" he was cut off by an abrupt sneezing coming from Sarutobi. "-Some blankets and hot tea."84

Guy leaped down and beckoned Sarutobi to follow him, and Sarutobi did. He followed Guy into a large den where a very large, welcoming fire was waiting. Guy lead Sarutobi to the large-backed arm chair and told him to sit. 85

A Loud barking sound was then heard from the other side of the doors but what came through the doors was not a dog, it was a foot rest. 86

Guy laughed and said, "Meet Akamaru."87

Sarutobi sat chuckling and reached a hand down to pet the little foot rest.