Once Upon A Maybe
…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act Four ~

"Yesterday as I was in the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into the water. And because I cried so,
the frog brought it out again for me, and because he so insisted, I promised him he should be my companion,
but I never thought he would be able to come out of his water. And now he is outside there, and wants to come in to me."

- The Frog Prince

It's funny; really, it's alright to laugh at this.

At least, that's what I was telling myself as the burly man pushed me and prodded me down the hallway, Sasuke holding the very agitated Naruto at arm's length, both of them going at each other in gruff, hushed voices. Sasuke spoke through clenched teeth, and his eyes were shifting faster than ever, something that seemed to happen only when Naruto was around to instigate it. Silently, I tried to take in my surroundings, anything to pre-occupy my mind and perhaps facilitate if the chance to get out of here ever presented itself.

The room they brought us too was enormous; far bigger than any ballroom I'd ever been in, and I had been in some big ones. It dwarfed us all – making us merely pinpricks amongst the carved stone and burning torches that made everything glow eerily in a very dark, ancient way. Orochimaru was seated casually at a long table, fist gently upholding his sallow cheek as he watched our little parade shuffle in. With a snap of his fingers I was released, pushed forward onto my knees, the bones rattling against the cold floor making me hiss in air through my teeth.

"Tut tut! You look so surprised, the both of you…did you really think I was being serious at all about all that true love business? Well, dear. I would have thought both of you smart enough to understand a bit of dungeon humor, ne?" Orochimaru drawled as the Guard watched me grit my teeth and steel myself against the pain.

"Watch it." Naruto growled and I got up shakily, stumbling.

"You're wondering why I'm keeping you alive…especially after threatening to kill you I suppose." Orochimaru said softly, head tilting as he stood and walked to me, his hands folded behind him as he surveyed me. He chuckled, and it sounded like the stuttered 'S-S-S' of a snake. He let his hair fall over half of his face as he leaned in closer.

"To be quite honest Hinata-sama, I had all the intent in the world to kill you. It would have allowed the opening of more opportunities, more forceful, painful techniques I've learned. You were simply a matter of convenience…but thanks to Sasuke-kun's intelligence, he's reminded me that you could prove useful yet as perfectly good leverage."

"What does that mean?" I protested, still trying to gain my balance as my knees ached. Orochimaru waved me off, already moving on.

He straightened and I felt myself blanch, watching him direct himself past me to Sasuke, trailing a skeletal hand affectionately down his shoulder. The whole time Sasuke just stood there and took it; face impassive, Naruto seething as he fingered the material of Sasuke's shirt.

"Such tacky material…" He mused, as though the whole situation was an everyday occurrence that allowed for such changes of subject.

"Whatever you're planning on snake, you can bet it won't work!" Naruto shouted and Orochimaru's face dropped into a frown.

"Don't speak too soon Naruto-sama, a good Land God ought to know when to hold its tongue; but then again, Jiraiya didn't teach you any manners, now did he?" Naruto went beet red with fury and even I fell back a bit.

"Leave that pervy-sage out of this!" Naruto spat, froggish limbs straining against Sasuke's never changing hold. Orochimaru's mouth lifted back up into a shallow smirk, one that seemed a tad unconvincing.

Even he treaded softly around Naruto, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why. How much damage could one frog do?

"Did I hit a tender spot perhaps? Tell me Naruto-sama, what on Earth does he think he's proving putting such power in such a pitiful container? Truly, I do want to know why you are as you are. Were you unable to subdue him? Or perhaps, you were too afraid?" Naruto trembled as Orochimaru egged him on, and I watched with wide, silent eyes, taking it all in as it unfolded around me.

"He…It's…NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" He roared, but I could see the shreds, the barest threads of anger for this person that were beginning to surface. Orchimaru's smirk deepened as he gained his footing and I instinctively opened my mouth to say something, but the guard still behind me clapped his huge hand over my face and Sasuke let his eyes flit to me and then back to the conversation going on right before him. I struggled against the hand and then gave up, but my fingers engaged in an unrelenting battle to pry the saucer-sized thing off of my mouth. Naruto continued to fume but something was changing.

Something in the air was beginning to change. Kabuto, the kid who'd tried to kill me before (or was that all just charade? I wouldn't ever be really sure), sensed it, stiffening slightly.

"You know, don't you, Naruto-sama, that here you would have all the power in the world. I would never subjugate you to anything such as this, this humiliation, this torture…" Naruto growled something unintelligible and my eyes squinted in confusion. The whole air popped and fizzed slightly, like someone had lit a sparkler. Orochimaru looked theatrically taken-aback, stepping backwards and placing his arms on his chest defensively.

"You don't believe me do you? Well then…how about your friend Sasuke demonstrates just how much good I could do for you."

I watched as Naruto was deposited into another set of waiting hands and Sasuke moved to a more open spot.

In horror I witnessed just what power meant.

The lighting sparked around him, permeating the air and striking down the table, rattling the dishes that occupied it, but it didn't end just there. From the smallish point of his neck, slightly behind his ear, a small symbol rotated and spread down his body in a patchwork of shifting black masses. They engulfed him, consuming his whole body. His clothes rippled from the energy and dust flew up from the floor as his body mutated; the handsome, devilish boy vanished, replaced by the hard, cement grey skin and to the worst of my imagination, the wings that ripped out of the back of his shirt.

I couldn't shriek as they unfolded, the spiky-hand like appendages that emerged, unfurling and flapping. His hair was wild and his eyes spun frantically, making me dizzy. But it was different. Where whatever Naruto produced seemed warm, what Sasuke made was darker – colder. Something was there, some kind of deep-seeded pain that made the shadows spin around him; the torches flickered and Sasuke smirked, his fangs glistening.

"Impressive isn't it…" Orochimaru whispered, and I tore my eyes away from the place where Sasuke stood and my frantic eyes landed on Naruto, who was frozen. The snake continued to speak to him, his voice low and hypnotic.

"You could be equally as powerful…consider it Naruto-sama, reunited with your beloved friend…the one you called brother. You could help me…or rather, I could help you Naruto-sama. We could unlock your fullest potential, the very roots of your power, and the very essence of what you are. The pain, the anger, the hurt of the city that abandoned you…all of it, exploited. You could be their God again."

I struggled.

It wasn't right. No. Naruto wasn't evil. He wasn't bad. I may not have known much, but I knew that what this fiend was spilling was nothing but trouble. Naruto didn't hear me, or maybe it was that he couldn't. I fought but the Guard subdued me, with the help of his goon friends.

"Can't you imagine it? The humanity that cast you aside as a petty myth. Consider this Naruto-sama…" Orochimaru suddenly turned and looked at me, shockingly pleasant in his attitude.

"Let him see her." He said and I was let go. I panted and the urgency bubbled to my throat.

"NARUTO! This guy…this…guy he's, he's nuts! INSANE! He tried to kill me; he threw you against a wall! Don't listen to me!" I said, waving my arms frantically. Naruto blinked and Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

"Are you really going to believe her? She's just one of them, a petty human. One of thousands Naruto-sama. Even if she is important to you, she isn't your friend. She forgot you just as they all did, didn't she." My hands fell to my sides.

"T-that's n-not t-true!" I stuttered, trying to gain control, "I didn't know!"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Insignificant. She didn't know you Naruto-sama. To her, you are nothing but a legend, a story she grew out of." Naruto stared at me, eyes wide.

"Hina-chan?" I shook my head.

"That's not t-true N-naruto! I…I…I"

"She wanted to get rid of you Naruto-sama... She tricked you to get that ring back, didn't she? She isn't interested in you. You're just a frog Naruto-sama. She tried quite valiantly to get out of here when you were subdued." He continued and Naruto's face fell a fraction.

"Y-you subdued him!" I cried, but Orochimaru only smiled.

"I have always respected Naruto-sama's true power, what was I to do? He was becoming a bit too much for me to handle."

"He's lying…" I said weakly, already acknowledging that I was losing ground, but the strength pushed against my belly, "W-what's so wrong with humans a-anyway? We feel, just the same as you!" I accused and the snake lord blinked.

"You are fleeting, a blip on the radar…you look to us, the spirits of nature, for everything. This is true, especially of you, isn't it Hinata-sama. You were saved by Naruto-sama as a child, and looked to him as you grieved for your Grandmother, and yet, you could not repay a simple favor as you'd promised…" My mouth dropped open.

"I…I knew it…" I marveled, "It was…it was you…" But Naruto was no longer looking at me in the same way. His eyes were sad.

"Hinata." He murmured; the air popped and fizzed and I felt the tears prick my eyes.

"N-no…Naruto, I didn't…I didn't know…"

"All she saw was a disgusting frog Naruto-sama." Orochimaru finished and Naruto's eyes grew even sadder.

"I thought you'd be the one." He whispered, "I thought you'd be the one to help me…I thought…" He trailed off and Orochimaru interjected.

"She doesn't want to kiss you Naruto-kun, she never did. She wants to kiss someone else entirely, a boy she's never even met." The tears threatened. I didn't mean it that way. I just…I didn't know anymore! I wanted to help, I really did, but how could I? They were right, I was just a girl.

But something ate at me, gnawed at me, a big black ball of guilt. It took over I guess.

"NARUTO! P-please don't believe him! I-I don't even… I don't even care about him anymore…" Naruto's expression wavered.

"Don't say that Hina-chan, please don't say that." He whispered, and I could hear the agony in his voice. I really should have listened, but I couldn't help it.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT HIM!"

You know those times in movies when everything slows down and it focuses on two people? Normally, it happens right as someone is about to die, or right as they're about to fall in love, or right as someone is getting shot.

Everything slows down and it's just you. I guess what happened next was a lot like that.

Naruto was staring at me and the tear was running down my cheek.

"I just wanted to be your Prince."

The words rang against my entire being. They echoed over every memory, every tear I'd ever cried, every time I'd ever been alone, every moment I'd found the courage to make a friend, when I met Ino and Sakura, when I was sobbing for my Grandmother, when I felt as though my Father was so disappointed in me he couldn't look my way, when I was convinced that I was the worst heiress on the planet. I felt it all around me, it bounced around the room, it ruffled my bangs, and it tickled my ear and my face, like a great exhale of air.

And then it all exploded.

Where Naruto had once been there was nothing but a fiery mass, so bright and hot it seared the floor. The poor guy holding him had been obliterated and Orochimaru was looking on in awe as it all unfurled, and I could make out a stooped over, animalistic figure within the ball of flames.

I recalled Sasuke's explanation that it wasn't his place to talk about Naruto's true form…I wonder if that was because he was a scared as I was.

Naruto was blinding, and after a few moments my eyes began to water and I shielded my eyes as Sasuke charged at him, the lightning crackling in the air, but dwarfed in comparison to Naruto's own raging inferno. The tears hit the back of my hands as I stared at the floor, blocking out the roar. I didn't even realize I was crying.

This has gotten a bit out of hand…
The voice in my head was foreign because it didn't sound like my conscience, and it sure as heck didn't sound like Sasuke, who was a bit preoccupied at the moment. Dazed, my instincts told me to find the face of the person speaking, but as I looked up, I saw no one. The gravely, swampy voice went on, as though exasperated and I fought the urge to sob at the insanity of it all.

Would it ever end?

You know what you have to do now…this is your fault after all…

"MY FAULT?" I hissed as the battle raged behind me. A helpless guard went slamming into the opposite wall and the table had since caught on fire as Naruto continued to assault anything that moved. Whatever Orochimaru had done, he had planned it, and now he had unleashed Naruto's full potential as he said, and it was about to bring the house down.

You rejected him flat out…not quite a good idea.

"What are you talking about?" I continued trying to focus on the voice that was going dimmer, as if it were leaving, "I didn't reject him at all! I said I didn't care – !" The voice cut me off, impatient.

Do what you meant to do…prove it to him. It's the only way you'll end this…

The voice trailed off and I was left alone again, the sound infiltrating the room ballooning over me and roaring back into my brain. I turned over my shoulder and quickly turned back as Naruto skidded, his outline the only distinguishable thing within the mass of flames that shrouded him, his slide across the floor leaving deep cracks and crevices in the stone, as though ripped by claws.

No. This was way out of my hands now; this was far beyond my reach. Whatever had happened, even if it was my fault, there was nothing I could do now. The tears continued and I just tried to block out the sounds.

This wasn't my fault. It had all started with that stupid ring…if that stupid ring hadn't fallen in…if Naruto hadn't made the ball – no, if Neji had never given it to me in the first place. My eyes instantly went to the small band. I stared at it for the longest time.

"As long as you wear that ring…" "Naruto's signature is all over that…"

"The ring." I whispered, staring at the little simple band that hadn't left my finger all this time, a constant reminder of Naruto throughout this ordeal.

I just wanted to be your Prince.

"Prove it to him…" I muttered and then suddenly, like a wave, the epiphany hit me. The reason he couldn't tell me anything, the reason the spell had to be broken the way it was, the reason he'd known about the Wednesday boy.

It all became painfully clear - I had to love him for who he was. I had really rejected him, a part of him, even though that was just one part of many to Naruto, it still made the spell go haywire. It had only been because I'd previously known him all along that I was the one to break it, it was because I had to see that part of him, and accept the froggish parts.

Epiphanies were a funny thing; they seemed to happen at inconvenient times, especially for me.

Raising myself off the ground, I stared at the pair continuing to duel it out, and watched as Orochimaru talked lowly, positioning Guard's strategically around them. They were all doing something with their hands and great streams of Kabuto's green hand stuff was pillowing out and snaking across the floor towards Naruto. I was about to make it very clear just what I meant by 'A kiss that had nothing behind it couldn't do anything'.

There was no more time for hesitance. Running, it was easy to get passed the Guards that were backing up, away from me. Besides Sasuke, I seemed to be the only person bent on getting towards the fray, everyone else had learned that it was better to evade as oppose to invade their space. With a rush of courage I picked up my speed, rocketing across the huge room, as though my feet were on fire.

I would prove it, once and for all, that I could do something, even if I was a human girl. My wish was slowly coming true. I was going to help Naruto, finally, the best way I knew how.

As soon as I got close enough, I realized I was raising the bonds, or whatever they were hell bent on using to capture him. With a jump I kicked out my shoe and used it to distract the Guard across from me. It flew across the ground and I skidded slightly before getting closer. The air was burning like a candle flame and it smelled like cinders but I didn't care. I didn't care at all.

It was the most comforting smell in the world to me. Tears burned my eyes and streamed behind me as the green wavered, my shoe flying past the Guard's head and temporarily putting him off, which seemed to throw off the groove of everyone else. I leapt over the trickle of green and could start to define Naruto more clearly, though he and Sasuke were still going at it, ready to kill one another.

"SASUKE – THE GIRL!" Orochimaru yelled, and Sasuke turned to me for one blink of an eye. His eyes, so menacing, washed over me, but instead of pulling me down, they broke over me like a waterfall, like a curtain I could push past. He made a move, but I ducked down and he was too late. I was already there.

For the second time, my life, which was turning out to be more and more like a fantasy manga with every step, slowed to a screeching halt.

I felt my foot flex as I pushed off the ground and propelled myself towards the one person that mattered. I didn't care. I didn't care if he was a toad, or a burning fury, flaming ball that would probably kill me, or at least scar me for life.

I didn't care that the tears were blurring my vision, or that he looked pretty frightening bathed in red.

He was still Naruto. The Naruto, my Naruto.

My arms outstretched as he turned over his shoulder to watch Sasuke. I smiled, drifting towards him until my arms entered the flame and wound around his neck. He instantly stiffened, and I watched his eyes go wide.

"Baka…" I whispered into the sound that engulfed me, "You were always my Prince…from the very start…"

But that last part must have come out muffled, because my hands had locked around him, and my lips were pushed firmly against his own.

I wondered then, right before the light that wasn't red, but golden, if this was how Tenten felt when she went flying out of the window, if this is what it felt to be free to love someone, even if it meant you were scared. If this is what she felt when she left Neji, if she was so scared and apprehensive but at the same time assured that he would miss her…something strange like that. Like it was all a fairytale, and no matter what there was the insurance that you would all get out alright. I wondered, and then there was nothing but warmth and I felt very happy – so happy my heart was about to erupt.

Like I had passed the test, like I had won the game, like I had finally done something right.

It was like walking straight into the sun.

Even when we went tumbling backwards I could feel it, even when Naruto fell onto his side, skidding, and taking me with him. My knees didn't even hurt anymore

"Hina-chan!" Naruto shouted, hugging me so tightly I couldn't breathe, "HINA-CHAN I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT!" He shouted over and over, "I knew it! I knew it!" My eyelids drooped as my head fell backwards from his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun…" I muttered looking up into his bright blue eyes. It was the Wednesday boy, but I had already figured that out. I knew the instant I kissed him. The instant our lips touched, our fate was sealed. I knew then why I had been so desperate to talk to him – to give him my first kiss.

I had just taken the long-way round – bent a little fate as Naruto put it. I smiled at the anticlimactic part of it all as I grasped his cheeks in my hands, pinching them together. In his happiness he didn't even waver just beaming at me from there on the floor, still emitting that wonderful golden light. He was ten kinds of trouble, he was a toad, he was a monster, he was a friend, he was a weekday treasure, he was a trickster, he was a failure, he was a believer, he was crazy, he wasn't even part of this world, but that didn't bother me one bit.

No, it didn't even faze me, because all I could see was his blue eyes smiling down into mine, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"…Naruto-kun, you're just going to have to do." I finished, before dragging his face down to mine.

Ino once told me "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince…" I always waved it off as a fairytale, but it seems my life decided to take a more direct route as Orochimaru might have put it.

Once upon a maybe, I lost a ring, was imprisoned, got sand in my eyes, witnessed a battle of supernatural proportions, kissed a frog, and married a Prince, so to speak – and all in less than a handful of days.

Once upon a maybe, I fell head over heels, or more specifically, heels over head for a talking toad under a damnation of a spell.

Once upon a maybe, I proved that I loved him despite all that…

…and once upon a maybe, they all lived happily ever after.

Now, you might be wondering: "What happened after all that happily ever after?"
Well, I'll tell you now it isn't nearly as interesting as the story itself.

Tenten and Neji got married, but they let me keep the ring. Tenten says it smells like pond water now.

Sasuke is still attending ANBU, under the pretext that he was surveying me, but it's pretty clear what I said about Sakura stuck. Apparently, humans aren't as useless as he said they were.

Orochimaru has opened a fortune shop downtown; Naruto basically obliterated his hide out and his pride is pretty tarnished as of now. Kabuto went to medical school.

I never met Jiraiya, but I still hear his voice from time to time, especially when I least expect it.

As for Naruto? Starting that summer we decided to move his shrine and now people come all the time to leave prayers thanks to its new location and local advertising. He likes to pretend he's the monk that cares for it, but I think the kids are all on to him, especially when he decides to start fires randomly with the snap of his fingers.

Gaara is still Naruto's faithful servant. According to Sasuke, he escaped moments after they took him out of Naruto's cell left by turning into a raccoon and biting the guard and running out. To this day, Orochimaru still doesn't know how he got inside in the first place.

Iruka-sensei our homeroom teacher ended up getting a date with the volleyball coach, Anko, and she has somehow intimidated him into a second one. Kakashi-sensei still doesn't know what to do with himself, and Ino fights off Kiba every chance she can, continuing to wear her red hood up whenever possible, especially since they were assigned the same architecture project during the last quarter of the year – they were supposed to design three model houses out of three different materials, but when they presented, Kiba had the flu and ended up sneezing over the first two, leaving only the paper-Mache one standing.

My Father, after finally calling off the search squad when I returned home, as somehow realized that maybe I'm not cut out for heiress at all and has begun training my younger sister Hanabi, but I can't really say I mind.

With all this extra time, I've been able to focus on my writing – particularly a bit of an account of all that's ever happened to me, so maybe one day when Naruto and I are old, I can look back and remember just how much trouble he really is (if I ever forget).

And that, is exactly what you have just finished reading.

The End

The frog answered, "I do not care for your clothes, your pearls and jewels,
nor for your golden crown, but if you will love me and let me be your companion and play-fellow,
- if you will promise me this I will go down below, and bring you your golden ball up again."

...

"Oh yes," said she, "I promise you all you wish, if you will but bring me my ball back again."

...

But when he fell down he was no frog but a king's son with kind and beautiful eyes.
Then he told her how he had been bewitched by a wicked witch, and how no one could have
delivered him from the well but herself, and that tomorrow they would go together into his kingdom.

...

- The Frog Prince