"Stupid forehead girl, wake up!"

Sakura only rolled over, putting her pillow over her head so she can cover her ears.

"Let me do it mother…"

Deadly silence.

"WAKE UP UGLY FOREHEAD GIRL!!!"

The booming voice of Ami shrieking piercingly into her ear finally made Sakura snap and she promptly got out of bed, looking annoyed. "Huh? Hey! What's the matter with you guys?"

"In case you didn't know, a big commotion is going on outside, Your Highness." Ami drawled out in a bored voice, though if one would take the time to inspect her facial features more closely, one can come to the conclusion that she is still bitter.

"Hmph," Sakura headed towards the doorway. "A commotion? Why?"

"Are you sure you want to go out looking like that?" Ami asked, eyeing her half-sister disdainfully.

It was true that Sakura still looked like a mess, just recently rising out of her bed and all. But the stubborn girl only scratched her head, "Don't tell me how I should look! I'll dress up as I like and I'll come out dressed as I like!" She said defiantly.

"If you say so…" The mother-and-daughter combo exchanged looks and secretly snickered.

Meanwhile, outside the house, Lee was having some trouble holding up the mob of people gathering around the Haruno residence. After the international announcement of Haruno Sakura's engagement to Uchiha Sasuke on TV last night, reporters had flocked to her household to get an exclusive scoop. Rock Lee, who had taken his job as the Princess's bodyguard seriously, had been keeping them at bay since last night.

"Sir, is it true that the future Crown Princess lives here in this very house?" One pesky reporter asked.

"Her name is Haruno Sakura, right? Then she lives here right?" Another one asked, focusing his camera on Lee.

"Why do you have such bushy eyebrows, Mister?" One brave reporter inquired.

Lee, despite the intense training and preparation he obtained from his Gai-sensei, just cannot keep up. He simply was no match against the power of the gossipy media people. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Sakura coming out of the house. Alarmed, he called out, "Haruno-san! Haruno-san! Haruno-san! Go back! Don't come outside!"

"Hey, it's the Crown Princess!" One reported pointed out. Suddenly, flashes of camera could be heard.

Sakura, too shocked to move, was rooted to the spot thereby allowing the reporters to take various pictures of her from different angles. When she finally did regain her senses, she ran back to the house, dazed and frightened.

"Oh my gosh… Shucks, superstar!" She cried out to herself, banging her head with her fist. She then ran to the nearest mirror and inspected herself. Her pink hair was messy, her eyes look tired and droopy while her eyebags are more visible and a slight drool can be spotted on her mouth. To top it all off, she was still in her pajamas… Her kiddy pajamas! She looked horrified when she discovered that she forgot to button her top, exposing some of her cleavage.

"Noooooooo!"

♥ ♥ ♥

Naruto poured some hot water into his instant ramen, "Hey Uncle Iruka, you look tense. What's the deal?"

Umino Iruka, Naruto's guardian and father-figure for almost ten years, smiled a little bit forcibly. "N-Nothing Naruto. I'm just tired from teaching at the Academy. You know kids. They're too energetic for their own good."

"Okay…" Naruto answered with a smile even though there was a hint of doubt in his voice.

"By the way Naruto," Iruka coughed as he awkwardly tried to change the topic. "Have you ever watched the news today?"

"Nope!" Naruto cheerfully announced as he finished his bowl of instant ramen. He wiped his mouth clean as he continued, "You know me, I just can't stand boring stuff!"

"Ah, right. Er…" Iruka chuckled lightly before getting his own bowl at the kitchen.

Umino Iruka, now is the time. He has matured enough and has developed a better understanding about the world around him. Tell to him the truth and after that, you will cease to become his guardian.

Iruka's mind had unconsciously drifted back to the time when he had been assigned to take care of the former Crown Prince of Konoha, Uchiha Naruto. Fiercely loyal to the Palace, Iruka obliged though his heart felt heavy at the thought of raising a child whose memory had been technologically erased. Since then, he had felt it as his duty to protect Naruto from the cruel ways of the outside world. The boy had been abandoned, his right of being the next ruler of Konoha taken away from him. Iruka could feel his pain. It was the pain that the blonde teenager should feel, if it wasn't for Iruka shielding him from getting hurt.

Now, they were expecting him to leave this child after their ten years of living together? What do they want to imply here? Were they expecting him to ditch Naruto just like what they did to him a long time ago? It wouldn't be that simple to just walk away as if nothing happened. After all, a bond between them has already been formed.

"Uncle…" The blonde pensively watched his Uncle Iruka who was in deep thought.

Contrary to popular belief, Uzumaki Naruto was not an idiotic oaf. He could be observant and serious when the time calls for it. Many people only regard him as childish and even though he is childish ninety percent of the time, the ten percent occurs whenever he wants to think of something profound.

He is thinking about something really, really, really important! Naruto concluded. He observed as sweat trickled down his Uncle's forehead with the man not even showing any plans of wiping it.

"Uncle, don't worry!" Naruto suddenly slapped his Uncle on the back, as if it was his very own way of encouraging him. "Whatever it is that's bugging you, you can always talk about it with me!"

That's the problem! Iruka wanted to retort, but he felt his throat go dry when he heard…

DING DONG! DING DONG!

"Oh, I'll get it!" Naruto scrambled to the door to greet the sudden visitor. Iruka's heart beat faster as his mind raced, thinking of the different possibilities of how to tell the boy his secret.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" The stranger inquired almost immediately after Naruto opened the door.

"EH?" Naruto blinked when he saw a white-haired man with one eye partially covered by a forehead protector holding a red hardbound novel. "D-Do I know you?"

"I'm just here because I have been ordered by the Royal Family." The man explained, but Naruto just gave a blank look.

"Wait, hold up! Who the hell are you? And what is this Royal-Family-mumbo-jumbo you're talking about?" Naruto roughly asked the newcomer, bending over slightly to take in the sight of the man.

"Ah, I see…" The man, whom we all know as Konoha's very own Hatake Kakashi, closed his book and walked straight inside the room. He didn't even bother to throw the now-irritated Naruto a glance. "Iruka…"

When he heard Kakashi's recognizable voice, Iruka's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. Maybe the Council had decided that he was taking way too long to declare Naruto's true heritage and sent someone else- someone responsible and can say things without any hesitations- to do the job…?

He turned around and found himself looking at Kakashi himself. "Yo! No time no see, First Seat Representative Umino Iruka."

"Kakashi-san." Iruka, despite being nervous, bowed down slightly and turned back to face his acquaintance. "This is certainly a surprise, Kakashi-san. What brings you here to our humble apartment?"

Naruto looked confused more than ever. So his Uncle knows this strange guy?

"Iruka, you know very well why I am here. You have already exhausted your privilege of taking care of the boy. But I suppose that even if you knew that, you still didn't have the courage to tell Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he circled over the room, casually looking at the family pictures of Iruka and Naruto that were decorating the room.

Now Naruto's ears perked up. So this Kakashi-san guy really does know him too!

"You guys are cute." Kakashi said tonelessly as he inspected a picture of the two, who were both wearing a happy smile and waving at the camera. It seems as if the photo was taken on Christmas at least five years ago.

"Hey, hey, Mister!" Naruto could sense the apprehension that was rising from his Uncle. It was bad enough that he was acting awkwardly just a while ago! "You don't have the right to barge in at our apartment and say things that are apparently nonsense! Why don't you go and mess around with some other people, huh, buster?"

Kakashi didn't even look at the boy. "As feisty as your father, I see."

Iruka bowed his head in shame as Naruto stuttered unintelligibly. "W-What… Father? I mean, what the hell?"

"Naruto-kun," This time, the silver-haired man faced Naruto. "Did your Uncle Iruka ever tell you about your parents?"

"Why does that matter?" He snapped back, though inside, he was secretly wondering why his Uncle would suddenly get all gloomy and change the topic everytime his parents became an issue.

"Did you ever wonder how they looked like? Or at least, didn't you even ask yourself why Iruka hasn't shown you any pictures of them?" Kakashi asked mysteriously. He could see the bewilderment in the boy's blue eyes.

"My parents?" Try as hard as he wants to, he just couldn't hold back the excitement that was registering on his countenance.

Kakashi approached him slowly. "Do you want me to tell you?"

♥ ♥ ♥

The girl watched as the people staring at her gave her mixed looks: One was looking like she was about to cry and the other two were giving her amused glances and a thumbs-up.

"Why do I have to do THIS!" She screeched loudly as the young boy and the young girl placed their fingers on their ears. The other woman, definitely older than the other three, was crying in the background with the girl.

"It's the only way!" The boy flashed his sparkly whites and ushered the protesting girl to the doorway. "Just remember, you have done the Royal family a great deed." And with that, the boy with the weird haircut opened the door and pushed the screaming girl out.

The people from the press, who could smell fear from a mile away, locked eyes with the girl.

"Bye, Princess Sakura-san!" The boy cried out as the screaming girl ran away when the gossipy media people decided to follow her trail. He ignored the older woman's wails and turned to the other girl with him. "Okay! The coast is clear; quickly leave now before they realize that the one who just left was just a decoy and not the real Princess!"

"Thank you!" The girl hurriedly rushed to the back of the house and put on her skates and dashed off without even looking back.

"Don't worry! I'll take care of things around here! THE YOUTH WON'T FAIL ME!" She could here the boy exclaim from a distance.

Sakura sighed. When the paparazzi came at her house and had decided that it was okay for them to invade her privacy and take embarrassing pictures of her, she asked herself why the earth didn't open up and swallowed her whole.

Thankfully, her assigned bodyguard and new friend, Rock Lee, had come up with an amazing idea. He suggested that they dress up Ami as Sakura and have her run around to confuse the media so that they could give some time for the real Sakura to escape. Naturally, Ami and her mother Aki objected a little bit violently. Let's just say that a chair broke and they gave a screaming protest that would really match Gai's "youth speech." However, Lee pointed out that if they didn't cooperate, he would have to report them to the Palace. Hearing this, the two grudgingly accepted Lee's idea.

"Ah, this is the life!" Sakura cried out, raising her arms energetically, as cherry blossoms rained down on her. With a slight smile, she pumped some more energy to her legs and skated towards her destination…

♥ ♥ ♥

The Konoha Daigaku is considered as one of the most prestigious university in the world. It is a sprawling campus which offers four major program clusters: social sciences, arts and letters, management and economics, and science and technology. Every year, an astonishing 100,000 applicants come to take the Konoha Daigaku Admission Test. Unfortunately, only 20,000 qualifiers are admitted.

Most of the University students are upright citizens who are ready to rock the world with the knowledge and wisdom they acquired inside the University premises. They have been molded to have strong characters, encouraged to ignite the "will of fire."

However, that does not mean that they are immune to senseless rumors.

"Hey, did you hear? The princess-to-be is studying right here in KonohaDai!"

"Ooh! You mean, that Prince Sasuke and the Royal Princess are, you know… They already know each other and have… mutual understanding…?"

"What! Really? How did they keep their relationship a secret?"

"If you ask me, I think that this Pinky is a fugly girl. I mean, who would ever dye their hair pink?"

"Gah! I am sooo jealous of this Haruno Sakura!"

Yamanaka Ino didn't believe it when she heard about it last night. Without informing Sakura since it was urgent, she asked permission from her professors to cut off her next classes so that she could shoot her next pictorial. Being a model is hard since her photoshoots usually take up until night. When she did finish though, she thought of watching the TV at home just to relax and chill out. But…

"The Palace is now preparing for the Crown Prince's Engagement. This is the first time that in Konoha's history that a member of the royal family would be engaged to a girl who had an ordinary upbringing. Yes, we are proud to say that our son is now engaged to Haruno Sakura."

Ino promptly choked on her drink when the words "son," (spoken by the King of Konoha, automatically leading to hunky Prince Sasuke) "engaged" and "Haruno Sakura" registered inside her head.

"What made you choose this Haruno Sakura- a seemingly ordinary girl with no political or noble background- to be the fiancée of your son, Prince Uchiha Sasuke?" A reporter in the TV asked.

The blonde girl counted from 1 to 10 to calm down her nerves. She must be tired. Yes, that might be it! She is just too tired!

"It's a family secret actually." King Fugaku briefly stated.

"That's right. But what we do know is that Sakura is qualified to become as the next Queen of Konoha." Added Queen Mikoto. "We were informed of her grades in highschool. Straight As."

"And she's in a scholar in Konoha Daiga-"

Hearing enough rubbish for that night, Ino turned off the TV and finished her hot chocolate. Sleeping will do wonders, she thought to herself. In the morning, I'll just laugh my butt off because of this weird hallucination caused by stress…!

Oh, how she wished that it really was a hallucination! When she arrived at the University, countless reporters were surrounding the University gates, all shouting the name of her bestfriend.

And, flying gracefully from almost every corner of the University… were posters and flyers of the new Crown Princess… Haruno Sakura…

She couldn't believe it. No, she didn't want to believe it.

Sakura, for as long as she could she remember, had always hated a Cinderella type of romance. Whenever she would tell her friend her dreams of marrying Prince Sasuke and being transformed from an ordinary lass to an extraordinary beautiful princess, Sakura would stick a tongue out and tell her that she should focus on her studies first.

Now, Sakura being put into a position she has long desired, Ino couldn't help but feel being betrayed by her friend.

She thought about what the other students were saying. That the prince and Sakura have been going out since before since they were on the same campus anyway. If that was true, then why? Why didn't Sakura say anything about it?

♥ ♥ ♥

"W-What are you doing here?"

When Sakura had decided to take a shortcut and head for a hallway that few students in the University pass through, she didn't count on seeing Prince Sasuke on the way.

Sasuke, arms on his pockets, looked as calm and composed as ever. Unlike his, ehem, screaming side last night, he had an aura of coolness today. His eyes were flecked with irritation for the girl but he decided to ignore her and move onwards.

Sakura stayed quiet for a moment. She didn't want someone as smug as that guy to be her future husband. Glaring at his back, she was surprised when the Prince turned around and smirked at her.

"Like what you see?" He teased.

"Excuse me?" Sakura still had her pride and she refuses to be made fun of!

"You could at least try to keep me on my toes," The prince sighed. "But I guess that with that face, even entertaining me is impossible for you."

Sakura didn't know what to say. Her mouth closed and opened but nothing was coming out. And her mind was aching as she thought, What does he mean by entertaining him?

As if sensing what was on her mind, the Prince walked close to her, the distance between them now only an inch.

Dammit! Inner Sakura roared, her hands itching to strangle something or someone. Move Sakura, MOVE! SHANNARO!

Sasuke then leaned his face closer to her, making her gasp involuntarily. The pink-haired girl didn't know what to do. She looked around her but no one was around- just the two of them. Time seemed to stop for her as she struggled to move away or do something drastic to keep him away from her, like slapping the Prince hard on the face.

"Your face…" Sasuke drawled, the smirk still on his face.

"G-Go away!" Sakura managed to yelp as she moved away to another corner of the hallway. But Sasuke was faster than her, and had her in a deadlock. Now, poor Sakura was caught right between the Prince Sasuke and the wall and had no way of escaping. Now aware of their close proximity, Sakura racked her brains to say something intelligent or do something violent.

"Your face," Sasuke said after a few minutes. "is entertaining. You look like a funny cartoon character." He then pulled away, satisfied with seeing Sakura become flustered.

Her shocked expression quickly changed as annoyance crossed her features. "What do you want? Are you happy NOW?"

"As the third most important woman in Konoha, you have to be always ready." Sasuke informed her.

"Third most important?" Sakura parroted.

"Heh. And they said that you are one of the smartest students in the University." Sasuke mocked. "Either KonohaDai has low standards or you are just plain stupid, hiding behind your eyeglasses to appear smart."

"What are you implying?" Sakura snapped, unable to contain the anger in her voice.

"First, there's the Mother Empress. Following next is the Royal Queen. And the next on the line is the Crown Princess." And as if to emphasize his point, he poked at Sakura's larger-than-normal temple. "That's you, Forehead Girl."

He purposely turned around after that, pleased that he embarrassed Sakura. It was not an enough revenge for him after what happened but this would be enough. For now.

Sakura, her nostrils flaring and her cheeks reddening in embarrassment, pointed at the Crowd Prince and shouted at the top of her voice, "Hey chicken-head!"

The insult certainly worked. Time seemed to stay still as Sasuke stopped and slowly turned to Sakura, his expression unreadable, "What did you just call me?"

"Well, if I'm forehead girl, why can't you be chicken-head?" Sakura said confidently, not even showing any signs of panic when Sasuke started to advance towards her dangerously.

Sasuke's onyx eyes flashed ruthlessly.

His eyes met Sakura's own, though hers was a brilliant jade color.

But he turned on his heel again and walked away. The Crown Prince figured that it wouldn't be good for him if he was to exchange verbal mockery with the girl. After all, he had already done his plan. He wouldn't be foolish enough to actually let Sakura have the upper hand on him should he let his anger get the better of him.

Sakura watched as Sasuke ignored her. Outraged, she yelled again, "YOU BASTARD!" But then, something unexpected happen. She momentarily became off-balance, making her lose her footing. Collapsing painfully on the floor, Sakura could only stare as Sasuke looked down at her, still wearing his infamous smirk.

"A cartoon character indeed." Sakura wanted to wipe the conceited sneer on the Prince's face.

♥ ♥ ♥

Hyuuga Hinata feared when her father would ever talk to her again. Without Tenten, her trusted bodyguard and friend, she escaped the Hyuuga Manor to do some thinking and to reflect on some things.

She felt tears streaming down her face as she sat on the swing.

"Hey."

The Hyuuga heiress looked up, her pale white eyes seeing a young boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes staring back at her. Realizing that she had been crying all this time, she hurriedly wiped her tears using a handkerchief. "A-Ano… I'm really sorry. I didn't m-mean to…"

Naruto was at a loss. When he unceremoniously ran away after Kakashi told him the disturbing details of his past, he thought of going to his most favorite place to relax- the park. He really didn't believe all the lies that the silver-haired man told him. He was a Prince? No way! To calm down, he searched for the swing where he always sat on whenever he was down or feeling troubled. However, he didn't expect to see such a beautiful girl already seated on the swing.

"You were crying." Naruto said, concerned for the stranger. "Do you have a problem or something? Can I help?" For Naruto, others always came first, even before his personal worries. He had always been that way, a trusting young man.

Hinata had never before seen a stranger so warm before. Plus, the fact that the boy was looking at her with every ounce of sincerity built up an aura of familiarity around him. Or at least, that's what Hinata sensed.

"You know, the swing you're sitting down on," He pointed at the swing and grinned. "is magical."

The white-eyed girl blinked. She didn't know how to respond to that. When she was a little kid, she used to hear stories of magic and love from her mother. When her mother died, her father harshly told her to not believe in such fairy tales, saying that only a gullible fool believes in them.

"You don't believe me?" Naruto pouted.

"N-No! I-It's not like that!" Hinata did not want to offend the boy's feelings. Actually, she found it rather adorable that the boy still believes in magic.

"Whenever I am in trouble, I just sit down there and poof! All my worries are gone!" He shouted, raising his arms up in the air. "Hey, try it! It's okay! You're gonna be happier in no time!" Without waiting for the girl to reply, he jogged behind her and pushed her on the swing.

"Eeek!" Hinata screamed as she took up in the air.

"Doesn't it feel good?" The girl heard Naruto ask, as her hair bounced behind her, her body soaring lightly.

"Y-Yes!" She blushed, but thankfully, Naruto was at her back, unaware that her face already resembles a ripe tomato.

They continued like this for minutes, but Naruto suddenly stopped pushing when he saw something on the ground. Silence reigned between them for a while. The Hyuuga princess, worried, stood up and walked towards her companion. But her heart stopped when she saw a flyer of a pink-haired girl with green eyes and flashing a V-sign while smiling cheerily.

It was the picture of the new Crown Princess, Haruno Sakura.

♥ ♥ ♥

A/N:

Whoo! Chapter Five done! Actually, I already finished this last February which was ages I go I knowbut I was so busy with all the requirements needed for my third year in highschool. Har har. And furthermore, the stupid internet wasn't working…! –grumbles, grumbles- And I'm hooked on cosplay! Yeah!

And now I am so stressed because I am reviewing for my college entrance exams. I know I am not stupid but still...

Well, anyway, this chapter kinda freaked me out because a friend was like, "Omigod! You just put a KakaIru! I totally love it!" And I'm like, "BWUH?" because for all I know, I was focusing on SasuSaku and NaruHina.

Special Thanks To: Shinobi of life, tenshi, the light of hope, Falling Demon, mitzuki1290, HPBabe91, velcroSUNSHINE, rebel-girl, Crazy Gal42, jami16, Note-binder, Mieko Sakuya, Ur2tRoUbLeSoMe90, Sarah Rebecca, pei-chan, lolmonster, Rikku92, kuchiki-san

Replies: Tenshi no Hana-chan (Yay! I love Goong too! And when I read the synopsis, I was like, SasuSaku material! LOL! Well, you're right. Deviating from the plot was what I had in mind from the start? I mean, what good would it do if I write a story that I can watch in a Korean drama?) mulalaver (Yep, it's all part of the plan. Sakura-chwan's gonna get a makeover!) Tsukiko no Yuki (Wah! Well, I'm not watching a lot of Korean dramas right now. But I loved Full House, My Girl, Sassy Girl Chun-Hyang, Endless Love Series as well as many others out there!) Noodle-lub-Yooh (Ohoho! How did you know that there will be some Palace fluff?) lazybluishgurl013 (Haha, not disappointed at all! Well, about your question, as I stated in the first chapter, I really did it patterned it with Goong or more commonly called Princess Hours here in the Philippines) Pale Moonlit Nightsky (Ooh! I hate Mary Sue Cinderallas! I do not want to be my Sakura to be like that!) Suk-fong (Like I said, Sakura is going to get a makeover. SOON.) aya akkaime (Naruto is the rightful heir. The fact that naruto likes Sakura but is engaged to the Crown Prince which should be him was my idea for the usually happy-go-lucky Naruto to have some angstiness for the next two chapters or so.)

Please review! Reviews are my chicken soups for the soul!

♥ ♥ ♥

However, the blonde-haired girl flinched at the sudden physical contact and slapped Sakura's hand away. "Don't touch me!"

"Ino…" Sakura muttered the name of her bestfriend desperately as she tried to once again approach her friend. But Ino had other plans and didn't even wait for Sakura to make her move, awkwardly making her exit without even saying a word.

"Crown Princess…" Shikamaru arrived on the scene. He watched as Sakura kneeled down and picked up her fallen books. Sighing, he knelt down beside her and helped her. "This is so troublesome, Crown Princess."

"Please, don't call me that." Sakura pleaded the young man, her face covered by her pink hair.

"I can't do that. Even if I am just the Prince's tutor, I am still working for the Palace." He said politely, but as he looked up above, he suddenly remembered something. "Ah, about Ino…

Next Chapter: The Cry of Broken Hearts

"If there was one person in the world whom I would want to believe that I don't want to be a princess, I want it to be Ino." Sakura whispered softly, barely loud enough for Shikamaru to hear. "But I guess that won't happen." Smiling gratefully, she took the books that the ponytail-haired young man picked up and strolled off.

Shikamaru watched her leave before sighing. "Gee. How troublesome."