"Let me take his place, Your Majesty."

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

It was just any other ordinary day, with the same ordinary people walking around the streets, with the same ordinary stalls in the marketplace, except for the father of a certain girl who, oh-so-carelessly landed himself in the Dowager's garden, and so happened to mistakenly chop down her favorite oak. The Emperor was neither a patient nor a forgiving monarch, and when he was just about to announce the poor fellow's death sentence, a certain lad barged into the court, in nothing but an old cap, a ragged shirt, and a pair or baggy trousers with holes in it. Another of those peasant hooligans thought the impatient monarch.

"Who are you? Barging in like that! Name?"

"Sakura, Haruno Sakura. I am his daughter. I see- "

She was cut off without any courtesy.

"Aha! Like father like daughter! No manners at all. The same way this peasant here barged into my gardens a while ago."

"Please accept my apologies, Your Highness. My father is not in the right state of mind, and he often loses his way, even in our backyard, and-" She was cut off again.

"Nonsense! I will be expecting his head on a platter by dinner!"

"No! Please, I beg you!"

"I will have none of that-"

"Let me take his place. Your Majesty."

There was a long pause. The king silenced at her request. It would make a fine bargain. Though humble she may be, Sakura was drop-dead gorgeous, where her looks definitely made women gape and men ogle. Her emerald spheres seemed so lustrous, yet secretive, and the presence of it simply made diamonds feel ashamed. Her lips overwhelmed the best of the ripest cherries, and glowed a healthy pinkish hue without the addition of lipstick. Though catchy and unusual her hair color may be, the pink flounce seemed to add to the perfection of her whole being, along with the translucent complexion and flawless skin, she was simply an oriental version of Snow White – no, better even – even the oriental snow white herself would grow jealous of such beauty, as if the face itself was carved out by the angels themselves.

She's definitely going to make a good wife for my son the confused monarch was thinking, but… The Prince of Konoha had refused every single woman who had come to ask to be his bride, he turned down the most beautiful and richest and influential of all the suitors in a matter of seconds but will he accept this one? A plan came to his mind in the wink of a second. He could make this girl his handmaid and after getting to know each other, he would drug their wine and make it seem as if they had bedded each other with accident, and to save face, the prince would just have to marry her off and BOOM! Mission accomplished.

"Alright, I will let you take his place-"

"Oh thank you Your Majesty! I really don't know how to thank you for your kindness and -"

"Let me finish my sentence. Your father seems to be innocent, and furthermore, it is very lucky of you (looks at Mr. Haruno )to have such a caring daughter. So I intend to lessen the penalty, and instead of a death sentence, you, young lady, shall serve in the palace for the rest of your life. Is that clear?"

"Yes, I shall do as you have commanded."

"Your punishment starts now."

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Sakura was given half an hour to pack her luggage and report to the palace grounds. She wasn't rich and had little to pack, with her father as her only living relative, so the job was done in a bit. After waving her father goodbye she alighted the carriage that had awaited her at her door, slinging her dainty bundle over her shoulder.

"Papa! I'll write to you everyday! And don't worry about the money! I'll send them to you every month! Take care, I love you!" and Sakura's voice trailed off as the strong wind lapped up her hair and attacked her face with it.

A/N :
I've finally written my first story. Sorry to those who had experienced the technical problem. I uploaded the wrong file and left the story blank :( So how was it? How did it go? Excellent?Good?Average?Bad?Hate it? Oh no please don't hate it. I know its a bit short, but I'm already finished with what I wanna write(I can't go beyond anything that's irrelevant to "Enter Sakura", so, ya, I promise future chapters are gonna be much longer). Tell me how you want the story to be, and i'll keep adding to it! I do love novels so i intend to keep writing until the story ends naturally, I mean I won't be rushing it, so I suppose CDCD's(short term for China Doll, China Doll) gonna go up to, I dunno, a hundred chapters? for those who do want to read on, please read and review! This is my first story, so please give suggestions and if you wanna give critism, PLEASE GO AHEAD. I really need your help in order to make this a wonderful fanfic, so again, R&R.