Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Fairy Tale ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

A/N: This is an experimental fanfic because I've never written one that revolves in a different universe from the original series. At first I thought of this plot for my very first Tagalog fanfic, but when I finished the whole outline, I figured I might as well write in English because, after all, I haven't written a SasuNaru fanfic for me to be called a full-blown shipper. I must warn you though, that chapters don't come out in a regular basis because I only write when I feel like it xD; But I'll try as much as possible to update as fast as I can and send them immediately to my beta readers. I give my warm thanks to Sinful-Serenity, Unce, and XiaoBai for being such wonderful beta-readers. -glomps- Since this AU, there will be some cases of them being OOC. But I'll try to make them IC as much as I can.

Warnings: YAOI, AU, OOC, and some profanity.

Dedicated to Aoi Megumi, Sinful-Serenity, Kooriyoukai, tracy-kin, and fiery-frost -huggles them all-

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Fairy Tale

By Wowie

 

Prologue

 

Once upon a time, in the Tsukiyomi Kingdom situated in the land of Fire, there lived a boy with golden-blond hair, sun-kissed skin, and eyes that could rival the blue of the sky. He was known as little Lord Rasengan to the nobles, the only son of the fourth Duke of Konoha, but was more commonly known as the prankster Naruto who never let a day go by without brewing some form of trouble or disaster. The six whisker-like scars on both his cheeks were proof of his mischief when he tried to show off to his friends by annoying the nine-tailed fox, which his father had caught, by poking it with a stick. The fox, in retaliation, clawed him on both cheeks. Its marks remained even after the wound healed. Despite being notorious for his pranks, the people of the duke's estate Ichiraku Court were very fond of him. For behind his mischievous nature lie the brightest smile and the purest heart.

 

Naruto grew up without a mother's love. The Duchess of Konoha died right after giving birth to him and so the duke was the only one left to play both the roles of a father and a mother. The two of them were very close, even though the duke was often away for business trips. Whenever the duke would come back from his travels, Naruto would make it a point to prepare something special for his beloved father. And by something special, it meant a well-crafted prank that would make the duke both annoyed and proud of his son at the same time. Of course the people already knew that no matter how much trouble his son gets into, the duke would always let his son off the hook easily, especially since he was a prankster himself during his younger days.

 

It was only when Naruto turned eleven when things started to change. The duke, on his part, thought that it was high time for his son to have a mother figure in his life since he was entering the age of puberty.

 

Among the number of women the duke had been acquainted to, the widow Anko Mitarashi, Baroness Oto, was the only one fit to be his new wife, being a mother to two daughters. He'd known Anko way back during his years as a bachelor and found her to be a witty and strong-willed woman who knows how to keep good company. Also, from the way her two daughters were turning out, the duke knew that his son will be in good, loving hands. Lady Ino and Lady Sakura were both sweet, beautiful, and intelligent young women. He was very sure that they would easily get along with Naruto since the boy loves to make friends to any one he comes across to. It would also be an added bonus because now, Naruto would be able to have sisters of his own, even if they were not really blood-related.

 

And so the Duke of Konoha had asked the widow baroness' hand in marriage, in which the latter had more than willingly accepted. They were married immediately and as soon as the ceremony ended, journeyed back to Ichiraku Court along with his two new stepdaughters.

 

Back at home, Naruto was eagerly anticipating his father's arrival. He had received a letter from him saying that he has a surprise for him and that it would make him very glad if he would be a good boy and would not welcome him with another prank. This was the first time his father asked something like this from him and so he figured that it wouldn't hurt to skip tradition just this one time.

 

The duke had arrived safely back to Konoha Mansion and had introduced his new wife and stepdaughters to the servants and finally, to his son, whose face was mixed with emotions of awe and joy. In a matter of seconds he was found clinging to his new stepmother while laughing excitedly. Baroness Oto was not used to these kind of emotional displays but awkwardly embraced the boy back so as not to displease her new husband.

 

Naruto also seemed to have immediately taken a liking to his two new cute stepsisters and actually fell for Lady Sakura's pink hair and emerald green eyes. He thought that Lady Ino was also pretty but since she also has blonde hair and blue eyes, Lady Sakura looked much prettier in his eyes.

 

Unfortunately, the Duke of Konoha wasn't able to stay long enough for him to see his son grow up into a fine man. Just a fortnight after they've arrived back to Ichiraku Court, the duke died from a heart attack, something which really came as a shock to all the people because he never seemed to be the type who would acquire that kind of ailment.

 

Poor little Lord Rasengan was in shock for the next few days. He still couldn't believe after finally having a complete family, his father had to die and leave them all mourning.

 

The duke was not able to make a Last Will and Testament because he didn't anticipate that he'd be dying any time soon. By law, all his estate was named after his new wife and will be transferred to his son's name, being his sole heir to his dukedom, until he enters the legal age of eighteen.

 

The baroness, who, after being married for the second time and for a short while became a widow again, was very much distressed by the fact that she was left all alone to take care of the whole estate along with his dead husband's brat of a son. She was used to living in the city and has no idea how to run a farm. Also, the idea of taking care of a boy whom obviously was a brute and a nuisance was too much for her to comprehend.

 

During this time the true nature of the baroness resurfaced. Beneath the fair façade lies a vicious and ill-tempered woman. Most of the tenants were not very pleased with the way she ran the estate and so little by little they left Ichiraku Court. And since there were only a few workers left to tend the fields and the animals, she sold off most of the land and the animals, which meant only a few horses for her carriage, a number of chickens for their eggs, a cow for their milk, and the small patch of land surrounding Konoha Mansion for some vegetables and fruit bearing trees. Since she hadn't been paying the servants fairly, the only ones left to take care of what little left to their property were those loyal to the duke who couldn't leave his orphaned boy all alone with that selfish old wench.

 

And what happened to our little Naruto? Gone were his days of carefree living and joyful pranks. He had already recovered a bit from his father's death and had somehow gotten a bit of his old self back. But he was not allowed to do as he pleases anymore simply because he was made a servant of his own home. The baroness and her daughters were used to living capriciously and since there were only a few servants left to serve their whims, she thought that at least having the boy serve them will be compensation enough for what his father had put them all through.

 

Every morning, Naruto would wake up early to feed the chickens, milk the cow, and prepare breakfast for his stepmother and stepsisters. And then he would proceed to help the other servants clean the house, do the laundry and the pressing, and other mundane chores his stepmother or stepsisters would think of. By the time he'd be finished with all his work, night would have fallen by then. And even if he did finish before the sun goes down, he would be too tired to even think of doing anything else other than sleep in his not so comfortable bed in his room in the attic. The only time he could actually relax was when it was time for him to go to the market at the town surrounding the Sharingan Castle. At least he could make side trips to the river of Kiri and take a plunge in the crystal clear water. And if time allowed, he would visit his godmother and godfathers who lived in a small cottage in the woods of Akahagara.

 

This routine repeated over and over again until the fifth summer after the fourth Duke of Konoha's death, in which our story begins.

 

As always, comments and criticisms are welcome.