His eyes followed the movement of the pink-haired girl as she strolled down the forest, humming.

In his eyes, she was the personification of a goddess of the rainforest where he lives. Where she walks, he swore he could see the flowers blossoming underneath her feet.

That was how golden the Lady Haruno Sakura was in his eyes.

He longed to walk towards her, to introduce himself, and to let him know how much he venerated her.

But the only thing that would come out of him whenever he opens his mouth was not the most coherent thing to say to a human.

Kokak.

…

The Frog and the Princess

This fairy tale is dedicated to Mendori-chan, TK-san, WormKaizer, GoddessLD (who constantly reads whatever fandom this authoress manages to trespass ) and Xoni Newcomer. Thanks for the read and the reviews!

….

Once upon a time, in a far, far away kingdom—as in really, REALLY far that it was totally inaccessible through aircraft, bullet trains, cruiser ships and Mars space probes—there lived a dashing young man who incidentally was also the newly crowned prince and ruler of Kingdom Inaccessible. This was Uchiha Sasuke, a young man who carried an aura of enigma around him. He never spoke much, even when destructive rumors involving him circulated in the whole kingdom. Rumors saying that he apparently killed his entire clan to obtain the throne.

He didn't say anything to deny the gossips, nor did he affirm. He just stayed silent, and his constituents –mostly the female population—stayed loyal to His Majesty.

One of the people who were ready to die for His (snobbish) Majesty was the daughter of one of the earls in the court. Beautiful, sassy, schizophrenic Lady Haruno Sakura, who had already been living in the court even before she knew how to speak, had already made up her mind that she was the rightful queen that would sit beside the Lord Sasuke and rule over the kingdom.

Now if only she could have her way…for in the court too lived her former-best-friend-now-rival-for-love Ino. (She would remain surname-less for this narration because the storyteller still doesn't know her family name.) Now Ino-chan here was not lagging behind the rose-haired girl in terms of beauty, intelligence, and combat skills.

Well, at least that was what Ino's personal butler as well as her father's personal political strategist, Shikamaru (check my aforementioned statement concerning this young man's last name) thinks. THINKS, because he would never, EVER allow himself the liberty to voice his…uh…very favorable opinions regarding the blonde mistress. It would break his personal work ethics…and he had a reputation to live with—he was insurmountable against all odds, even against the impetuous private ladylove of his.

Fortunately, his secret was safe from the food-saddled mind of his assistant butler, Choji. It would never do that complications arise in guarding one of the women that may penetrate the vacant seat next to the crown prince and its attached authority and influence.

Choji here was always cheerful and laidback, just don't vex him regarding his…horizontal proportion. And yes, if you were one of those damn ants would couldn't keep out of his beloved meals, then stay away. STAY FAR AWAY. You wouldn't want to see him mad. AND hungry.

Needless to say, the mysterious Aburame Shino, whose role would still remain unrevealed, was not in the good terms with him. But come to think of it, no one was ever in good terms with this vocally undemonstrative character—he had always shown preference of having insects for company than men.

He was not the lone pet lover though. Cynophile Inuzuka Kiba, the head of the Royal Ranch in the kingdom, adored his puppy, Akamaru, strengthening the cliché: dogs make a better man's best friend than man himself. However, he still had eyes for human beings too. In his opinion, one of the few humans who were worth their biological nomenclature was Hinata-chan.

Hinata arrived in the kingdom months ago, applying as a maid. She was received as an assistant to the head of the Royal Ranch, but later on, she was also awarded the job of looking after the Lady Haruno, one of the forerunners in the race to the heart of the popularly called Ice Prince. She was perpetually reserved and shy, but she had ready smiles for anyone—smiles that could make even the Prince Sasuke or the distant Shino pause.

Yet her smile fails when it comes to the proxy earl of the Hyuuga court, Hyuuga Neji. The indifferent young man who looks at Prince Sasuke as his main enemy and rival, and bothers not to hide that fact. He would always challenge the prince when it comes to court decisions and proclamations.

He was not alone in challenging the prince. Rock Lee, the most persistent of Lady Haruno's turned down suitors, had taken it as a personal crusade to win one over the crown prince—may it be in combat skills, debates, or hair. However, the hair was out of the question—this hair was painstakingly styled according to the Sir Gai way—his guardian and number one idol.

Sir Gai, the showbiz-like mentor of Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten the wise mage, was one of the many men and women who compose the independent council of the kingdom, advising the crown prince on his decisions and actions. The grand council, known collectively as the Hidden Leaf Starlets (yes, it was the great Sir Gai who baptized the council), boasted of its most dynamic member and premier team mascot, Hatake Kakashi.

The 26-year-old worshipper of Come, Come Paradise novels, however, mustn't be taken lightly. Having mastered the mimicked art of 1000 techniques, he had been a member of the Starlets since he was six. Among the councilmen, it was only he whom Sasuke would consider earnestly a suggestion from.

This, more or less, makes up the Uchiha Court. They were the fibers that shape the excitement, intrigue, and affairs of the Hidden Leaf kingdom.

Which will make you think where the hell did the frog mentioned in the first sentences of the maiden chapter fits in.

All shall be revealed in due time, folks.

Now let us go back to the scene where we left off before the storyteller (thoughtlessly) interrupted with her dedications.

.

.

.

The frog summoned his guts, and then carefully, he drew towards the princess of his froggy, froggy life.

He croaked out a 'Hi!'.

She whirled around, face pale, mouth open in utter horror.

"Aiiiee! A frog, a FROG!" she screamed.

He sweatdropped, eyes narrowed. "Excuse me, I'm not a frog! I'm a Rana esculenta!"

He shouldn't have expected for a response; he was used to humans not understanding him anyway.

"Hinata! Get that icky dicky yucky dirty slimy warty frog AWAY from meeeee!" Sakura screeched.

"Y-Yes, Lady Sakura…" A raven-haired girl appeared from out of nowhere, panicked. It wouldn't do that the Lord Haruno would know that she wasn't able to respond quickly to the needs of his apple of the eye.

"Okaaaay, I know when I'm not wanted! You don't have to be so brutally verbal about it!" yelled a male voice, making Hinata stiffen. She turned around, looking for the source of the voice.

No one in the vicinity.

Then who talked?

"Byakugan!" She scanned the surroundings for any sign of life.

Negative. Save for the fuming frog which was hopping away…

Suddenly, the frog turned around as if shaking its front leg like a fist. "Someday, Lady Sakura, you would kiss this icky dicky yucky dirty slimy warty froggie! Mark my words!" it croaked.

"Ugh! Look at it! It's looking at me! Eew!" Sakura shivered, face contorted in disgust. "Hinata, I will not follow Lord Sasuke anymore in his hunt to the forest. I will just wait for him in the palace!" With that, she marched out of the woods, head held up high.

Leaving Hinata standing still in the forest. She looked around, hoping to catch the frog who talked.

"Froggie! Froggie, if you can hear me…no, if you are listening to me…" She bowed down apologetically. "I-I'm sorry for what she said. She's…she's royalty. She isn't used to creatures that are not like her."

From the bushes, the red-green frog hopped out cautiously, eyes glinting in curiosity.

"Y-You can understand me?" asked the amphibian, eyes wide.

"Of course!" She smiled gently. "You speak clearly and loudly."

"N-No…I mean, you're a human and I'm a…er…frog." Its eyes saddened.

"But your being a frog doesn't affect the tone of your voice—vibrant, firm, and lucid. Few people speak that way, especially in the court where I work…" She sat down in front of the animal and offered her hand. "My name is Hinata."

"N-Naruto." The frog seemed to shrug. "I don't have a hand to shake yours with—" Before he could finish his sentence, the girl had scooped him up already with her hands and placed him directly in front of her face.

"Your eyes…" she murmured. "They have character."

"How can you say that to a frog?" asked Naruto, puzzled.

"I say what I see in them, Naru-chan." She put him back down. "Be careful on your journey."

"A-Ah, Hinata! Wait!"

She turned to the animal expectantly.

"Y-You shouldn't have hold me," said the amphibian, using its front leg to scratch its head. "N-Now you got slimed…"

"I love animals," she said truthfully, blushing faintly. "B-But if I offended you in any way…"

"Of course not!" The frog grinned. "Thanks again, Hinata." He watched as the girl bowed and disappeared slowly from the forest.

"Now that was weird."

Naruto looked up and saw Sir Iruka on the treetop, looking down at him. It was easy to deduce that his mentor had witnessed the whole exchange freely.

The man jumped down. "Naruto, why didn't you transform?"

"Beats me." The frog groaned. "Life had never been easy for me ever since that weirdo with the pale skin placed that scary seal on me."

Orochimarou. Iruka clenched his fists. The all-powerful threat that everyone thought only existed in legends. It was unfortunate that it had to be his unwitting student, Uzumaki Naruto, who would see the face of this evil incarnated. Now the only way to get his normal life back was if he could face the devil again.

But how?

He looked at the seal that the frog kept hidden on his stomach. A curse that turned him into this animal, and could only transform into his original persona if touched by the opposite sex.

"Oh well, it was getting late anyway. We better get started on dinner." Iruka started to walk away, followed by the hopping Naruto.

"Flies in the soup?" asked the man teasingly.

"Heeeey!" whined the frog-boy.

And from this, readers, we would start the fairy tale of the Princess and the Frog.

:: to be continued ::