Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Cinderella.

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The Pink Haired Cinderella

Chapter 1: Sweep Her Off Her Feet

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Long time ago in a faraway land there lived fair maiden. She was as lovely as a goddess and as gentle as an angel.

Her stepmother and stepsisters coveted her for every good she had. Because of this, they treated her with utmost hostility and swore to make her life miserable.

In spite of these, the maiden never held even the slightest grudge against them. She continued serving her stepmother and stepsisters without complaints.

Unlike them, she was pure and innocent. She never wished for anyone's misery…neither had she hoped for riches nor fame.

Her only wish was to meet the prince. She had always dreamt of being able to dance with him…with her Prince Charming.

The heavens took a quick response to the gentle soul's wish and an invitation from the King to all maidens in town requesting for their presence for a grand ball was announced. The maiden was truly delighted upon hearing the news that she immediately went to her room in search for a dress. She succeeded on finding one - a dress of her deceased mother - albeit it completely looked plain. She repaired the dress with some discarded ornaments of her stepsisters and transformed the simple dress into an elegant gown.

And so the day for the grand ball came…

As soon as the maiden finished all of her chores, she went up to her room to prepare for the ball. Soon enough, the carriage came. Her stepmother and stepsisters were all dressed up and was about leave when the dandified maiden came downstairs and requested for them to wait for her. They were astounded by her sheer beauty. The maiden impeccably overwhelmed the shining jewelries and vivid gowns of her stepsisters.

And so the stepmother envied the maiden. She knew very well that her daughters would never stand a chance to be the prince's bride if the prince was to see such a lovely maiden.

Suddenly, one of the stepsisters noticed familiarity with her accessory. The younger sister exclaimed for her ribbons which was on the maiden's dress. They then started mercilessly tearing off the maiden's dress bit by bit as they discerned their respective belongings.

The stepmother watched in amusement as the maiden helplessly protested on her stepsisters forcefully ripping off her gown. Soon enough, they left the dilapidated girl and headed to the ball.

And so the forsaken maiden cried…

…for all of her dreams were slowly fading away

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"Very stereotypical…"

A pair of pale hands closed an old story book. The owner of the hands reached up to seize a piece of parchment and a velvet ballpoint pen from a night table nearby.

"It needs a LOT of revision."

.o.O.o.

Here at Leafville, every Sunday morning is a peaceful day.

Take it from the abundant lively cherry blossom trees at bloom, together with the chill zephyr of the spring morning — everything's definitely wonderful… plus the jolly townspeople relishing the glorious day with their loved ones (because it's FREE day!) — What more can be said?

Screams.

Okay, time to break the sublimity…

Everybody ceases on whatever they are doing to lay their eyes on the cause of the commotion.

"OMG! It's her!"

Black shirt with striped black and white long sleeves.

"For real…"

Black tattered cargo pants.

"Catch me, oh, I'm gonna faint!"

Bright cool eyes.

"Oh, she's so cool!"

Pink short hair.

"It's the Pink Haired Cinderella!"

Enter the dynamic pink head lass of Leafville: Haruno Sakura, the labeled 'Pink Haired Cinderella' of the town. Now, now…don't get it wrong. She's not just your average Cinderella. She's one kick-ass princess!

Our heroine nonchalantly made her way through the crowd who seemed to be dazzled by her aura.

"Um…ano…hime-sama…" A random boy from the dumbfounded mob summoned all of his courage to isolate himself from the mesmerized crowd and face our heroine.

Sakura gradually slowed her pace and stopped in front of the timid boy before her. She gave him one of her famous deadpanned gazes.

The boy uncomfortably fidgeted and swallowed hard before returning the gaze. He took a single step backwards and bowed.

"Please go out with me!"

Silence.

There was a nagging tension on the atmosphere. Not a single individual dared to make a sound as they waited for the Pink Haired Cinderella to give her answer…

"Not interested."

…

Okay, so that's the answer.

And so our pink head heroine walked pass the dumbfounded boy whom she had just rejected. The crowd was mute; all eyes watching the retreating back of the Cinderella. Then their heads slowly turned to spare a sympathetic glance at the dumped guy.

"Poor guy…he's the 267th one Cinderella has dumped."

"Yeah…they just don't learn. She's just way too cool for them."

"You're right…I feel for them."

And little by little, the mob resumed to their respective businesses, leaving the still-flabbergasted poor boy on his petrified position.

.o.O.o.

"Now, where's Sakura?" A brown haired lady in her early forties asked impatiently as she fixed her hair in front of the mirror.

"I saw Sakura-san exit the mansion this morning. She told me that she's running an errand for Grandfather." A red haired girl retorted while flipping the page of the magazine at hand.

The addressed mother clicked her tongue and stood up from the stool she was sitting on. "That girl is trying to get father's attention. Hasn't she had enough of the townspeople?" she spat angrily.

"Unfortunately Mizuno-san, I'm not trying to get Grandfather's favor, for I already have it even before you became father's second wife."

Mizuno froze. She nervously turned her head around and to her horror, she saw her stepdaughter. "Oh, Sakura-chan how long have you been there?" she asked sweetly, pulling out a phony smile.

"Long enough to hear your 'insights', oba-san." Sakura answered, smiling sardonically. This got her aunt speechless.

She smirked triumphantly and turned her heel. That sure got her. Haha. She laughed to herself and went upstairs to her room.

Meanwhile, back at the lounge…

The red haired girl approached her mother who was still dumbfounded from her defeat. Once again, she ended up speechless in front of her stepdaughter.

Mother just never learns the red head thought and waved a hand on her mother's face. "She went dead again…" the red haired girl sighed and scratched her head dumbly.

.o.O.o.

"You summoned me Your Majesty?"

The addressed person lifted his gaze from the stack of papers on his table to the person in front of him.

"Uh…hai, hai Tenjo. I want you to give me the profiles of the bachelors officially endorsed by the royal clans of Fire Nation."

The black haired man nodded and bowed. "Right away, Your Majesty."

A silver haired masked man standing beside the seated old man turned his head to the latter. "Sarutobi-sama, are you planning to…"

"Yes, Kakashi." The older one cut off his adviser's question with an abrupt answer. "I think it is the right time. I am not getting any younger, you know." he chuckled and leaned back to his wooden chair.

.o.O.o.

"Oh crap! I'm late!"

Successive hurried footfalls filled the corridors of Leaf High. The maker of the noise? None other than our pink head heroine!

The princess was running ungracefully along the hallway. She maneuvered her way to the right without decreasing her velocity when…

BUMP!

And she was ricocheted by the sudden impact. She hastily got to her feet and grabbed her things. She spared a glance at the guy who she bumped on for a few seconds but sped off nonetheless to her room. There's no time to waste. She's freaking late DAMN IT! No time to apologize!

"What the heck?" the guy groaned and got to his feet. He scratched his head and noticed a black leather wallet lying on the tiled pavement. He turned his head to look at where the girl had been but saw not a single trace of her. Oh great! She left her wallet he mused and scratched his head exasperatedly.

.o.O.o.

"Sa-ku-ra-chaaaan!"

Our pink haired heroine vehemently threw her head to the cause of the noise.

The blonde boy who exclaimed suddenly slowed his pace to gulp but laugh sheepishly nonetheless at his friend's reaction. "Now, now Sakura-chan, don't tell me you got detention again?" he asked teasingly, walking by the pink head's side.

The Cinderella spared him an annoyed glance before heaving a very exasperated sigh. "Yeah. Stupid defective alarm clock of mine…didn't alarm on the supposed time."

Naruto let out an awfully loud guffaw.

Sakura threw him one of her 'this-dude-is-oh-so-insane' looks. "What's so funny?"

Naruto gradually ceased on his laughs and grinned at his best friend. "You're always funny Sakura-chan." He retorted which made Sakura roll her eyes.

"Whatever."

.o.O.o.

"Chotto matte kudasai, Sasuke-sama!"

A group of tall, masculine men in black was running after a raven-haired young man along the streets of Leafville.

Damn these men the chased raven head cursed as he frantically ran towards an upcoming wall of busy crowd. He smirked at the sudden extending hand of help from fate and made his way through the crowd.

"Sasuke-sama! Don't go! Master Fugaku will punish us if you get away!" The men exclaimed as they gradually lost track of their young master.

Meanwhile across the sea of people…

The black haired lad finally got out of the suffocating crowd. I'll never do this ever again! He told himself as he clung on a street light post for support all the while taking the time to regain his normal breathing pace. "I hate this life…" he muttered under his breath and lifted his face only to be greeted by an enticing smell of grilled steak coming from the restaurant before him. His stomach instantly growled just as he remembered that he had skipped breakfast and lunch due to his predicament. He straightened his posture and entered the restaurant.

.o.O.o.

"So Sakura-chan, when will you be officially crowned as the Emperor's heiress?" Naruto asked as they passed through Leafville's Town Center.

Sakura scratched her head. "I dunno. It's fine with me if I stay like this for the mean time. I actually enjoy this kind of life, you know." She answered.

Her blonde friend nodded in contemplation when something caught his eyes. "Hey, why are goons all around the town?"

"Hm?" Sakura turned her head to see a group of men in black walking around the town. A single man approached them.

"Excuse me but did you happen to see this lad?"

The goon shoved a photograph of a raven haired young man with onyx eyes in front of the two. The duo took a close look at the picture but failed to recognize someone in familiarity on those they have known or even seen to the person on the picture.

"Nope." They answered in unison.

"Uh…thanks. But if you happen to see him, please contact us." The man handed them a calling card. The man then bowed before them and walked towards his comrades.

Naruto looked at the card at his hand. "Uchiha Fugaku…" he read. "This name sounds kinda familiar…"

"He's the head of the famous royal clan of Uchiha - the legendary wealthy and powerful clan on the South of Fire Nation." Sakura interjected and started walking.

Naruto looked up and ran after her. "So, what's a royalty in the South doing here at Leafville?" he asked as they passed a chain of random shops.

"Maybe he's looking for his son. I heard that his last child is giving him much headache." She retorted as they took a right turn.

"Hmm…you seem to know a lot about this Sakura-chan."

Sakura smirked and dropped her head lazily to her right shoulder to look at Naruto. "Of course, I'm a princess after all."

"Haha…I almost forgot about that one." Naruto laughed sheepishly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the street…

The raven haired lad stood up from his seat and left a wad of cash on the table. He was about to leave when the waiter called out to him.

"Wait sir! You forgot your change!"

"Keep it." He retorted bluntly and pushed the door open. He immediately caught the sight of his bodyguards. Tsk, they're here. He looked around and found an opening. He wasted no time and ran.

"Wait! That's Sasuke-sama!"

"Go get him!"

"Hai!"

Sasuke was running in full speed and turned a sharp turn to the left when…

SLAM!

Thud!

"Oww…"

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

He lifted his face to see that he had bumped on a girl. He immediately stood up from his previous sitting position and took a quick glance at his back. Damn, they're here! He cursed and immediately took his leave.

Naruto hurled around. "Hey you bastard! Come back here and apologize to Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed but failed to make the boy stop and turn around.

"It's okay Naruto, I'm fine." Sakura said and tried to stand up, only to fail when she felt a bolt of pain from her knees.

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto immediately caught Sakura who was clutching her bruised knee.

"That bastard, he sure is going to pay for this…" Naruto gritted as a group of men passed them.

"Wait! Sasuke-sama!"

"So, it's the Uchiha bastard. He's such a prick." Naruto spat and bent slightly. He placed his hands under Sakura's knees and back.

"Hey…oi, Naruto…What are you doing?"

Naruto effortlessly lifted her from the ground, bridal style. "Duh…I'm carrying you, princess."

A blush crept from the pink haired princess's cheeks. "Put me down now Naruto! I can walk on my own!" she exclaimed and wriggled free from her best friend's arms.

"Nope. You're so stubborn Sakura-chan. I'll carry you home." He retorted and started walking towards her house.

"…" Sakura gradually stopped struggling and looked down. "Am I heavy?" she asked softly all of a sudden.

Naruto looked down at her and pulled a charming smile. "You weigh like a feather." He grinned.

"Yeah right." Sakura muttered and hid a smile. Naruto's always here for me. She mused and leaned her head on her best friend's warm chest. She eventually dropped her eyelids and relished the moment. That's why I like this kind of life…

.o.O.o.

"Your Majesty, here are the profiles of the bachelors endorsed by the royal clans."

"Thank you Tenjo, you may take your leave."

The black haired man bowed politely and exited the room.

"Hmm…let's see…" The Emperor opened the envelope and pulled out the papers. He looked at them one by one.

"Hyuuga Neji of Hyuuga Clan…hmm…an ideal bachelor, I may say." He commented and looked at the next profile.

"Nara Shikamaru of Nara Clan…" he read aloud.

"The famous genius with an IQ of over 200…" Kakashi added.

"Hm…very interesting." The emperor said and flipped over the page.

"Inuzuka Kiba of Inuzuka Clan…a very friendly clan." He said and nodded. He then looked at the next profile.

"Aburame Shino of Aburame Clan…" he read.

"The famous clan of weird bug fetishes…" The Emperor's adviser commented and snickered.

"Haha…you're right Kakashi, but Aburames are indeed good leaders." Sarutobi added and looked at the last profile.

"Hmm…Uchiha Sasuke of Uchiha Clan…"

"The Uchiha rebel…" The silver haired man said.

"How interesting…" Sarutobi smirked. "So, Fugaku decided to endorse his rebellious son eh…let's see…" he put down the files and turned to his adviser.

"Kakashi, set everything." He said and stood up from his seat. "We are officially crowning Sakura tomorrow. I want her to live here from now on."

"Yes Your Majesty!"

.o.O.o.

Once upon a time, there lived a lovely maiden. Her mother died after giving birth to her and her father followed after marrying another woman. Thus, the maiden was left with her stepmother together with a stepsister.

The maiden lived the way she wanted it to be. She never agreed to have her stepmother control her own life for according to her philosophy, no one controls a person's life except for the person himself and the Ultimate. So the maiden grew up independently.

She never cared for money, not like her stepmother. All she ever wanted was freedom.

One fateful day while walking down the streets of their town, she heard an announcement from the king declaring that a Grand Ball was about to occur and that, all of the maidens on the town were requested to attend.

And so it clicked. Being able to marry the prince spells F-R-E-E-D-O-M!

The maiden then immediately headed back home to prepare herself for the ball.

When she entered their abode, she informed her stepmother about the matter of her attending the ball. The stepmother seemed against it for the maiden was a possible candidate for the prince's bride. And the selfish stepmother wanted her own daughter to be the prince's bride…for money and for the luxuries.

So the stepmother made a plan to keep the maiden from attending the ball.

The night of the Grand Ball came. The maiden came down from her room in utter beauty. The stepmother was intimidated by her loveliness. That added more reason for her to prevent the maiden from attending the ball.

So the stepmother initiated her plan. When they reached the carriage, the stepmother asked the maiden for a favor. The stepmother requested the maiden to go to her room and get her silver pouch which she had apparently forgotten to bring. The maiden, being completely clueless about the stepmother's evil scheme, complied with the request.

Unknowingly for the maiden, the stepmother stealthily followed her as she went back to their abode. And when the maiden spotted the silver pouch on a night table in her stepmother's room, the door instantly closed. The maiden hurried to the closed door and tried to open it but with no avail. On the other side of the door, the cruel stepmother was viciously laughing as she held the key to the door. She then exited the house and headed to the ball with her daughters.

On the dim locked up room, the maiden tried her best to open the door. After a couple of futile attempts, she leaned on the door and closed her eyes. So this was what her stepmother was planning, she thought. She immediately opened her eyes and pulled out a smirk.

Her stepmother should know that it takes more than these to stop her.

The maiden stood up and went to the window. She was on the second floor of their house but this matter did not falter her spirits. The maiden stepped on the window sill and took a deep breath.

She then jumped off.

.o.O.o.

Pen up.

Smirk.

"Now that's what I call story."

Triumphant laughs.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Head up.

"Come in."

The door of the dimly lit room opened, revealing a red haired bespectacled young woman with a tall glass of milk in her hands.

"Ah…Sakura-san…I have you your glass of cold milk." The red head muttered as she entered the room.

The pink haired lass sitting atop the bed set aside the things on her hands and reached for the glass of milk she was offered with. She ungraciously drank it down.

"Arigato Karin." She uttered and handed the red haired girl the empty glass.

Karin nodded and was about to exit the room when the pink haired girl remembered something.

"Oh…and Karin, take those." She pointed out a laundry basket filled with dirty clothes. "Be sure to be able to wash them tomorrow for I'm running out of clean clothes…" the pink haired lass muttered as she laid flat on her back.

The red haired girl nodded timidly and went further inside the dim room to gather the basket of dirty clothes. She then lifted it on her side and walked towards the door.

"Oyasumi!" the pink head chirped as the red haired girl was about to close the door.

Karin bowed her head a bit before completely closing the door. "Oyasumi nasai, Sakura-san."

.o.O.o.

They call her princess.

They call her Cinderella.

But she's different from any other princess…

And she's totally different from Cinderella…

Because unlike Cinderella, she stands up on her own. Unlike Cinderella, she doesn't let anyone do everything they want her to do. She has her own will. And she lives her life the way she wants it to be.

And thus, Haruno Sakura was labeled…

…the Pink Haired Cinderella

.end of the chapter.

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Some facts you might already know:

Hime – princess

Oba-san – usually used to address old women, also used to address an aunt or a grandmother

Chotto matte – wait ("kudasai" equates to please; for courtesy)

Oyasumi – goodnight ("-nasai" is added for politeness)

05/26/12: Chapter 1 editing complete