A child is sitting in front of so many corpses. Her eyes are full of blankness while staring at them. She doesn't have any idea what just happened. She just remembers the blessing that keeps repeating in her ears like a broken tape.

"The prophecy has chosen you, my child"

"A prophecy that will bless our empire with prosperity and a prophecy that will curse our empire with destruction. You are chosen to lead our empire, my child."

"Upon the time has come, I see men who will love you and men you will love. Men who will kill you and men you will kill"

"You don't have a choice but to accept my blessing, may it be your life and death, ups and downs, past and future. It was your choice, what crossroads ahead of you is your destiny."

The light shines and touches the white and soft skin of the pinkette's beauty that comes from her window and wakes her up. She stared at her ceiling for two minutes before getting up.

"Again, that horrible dream," she mumbled while sighing, before getting up off of her bed. She then fixed her bed before taking a bath.

Afterwards, she put on her light green tight low round dress with long sleeves, tied her green hanfu face veil below her eyes, and then put on her color red wig to stay incognito to the public. She didn't tie her wig and simply let it loose so people wouldn't easily notice her pink hair inside of it. Before she left her chamber, she put on her cherry blossom necklace. An heirloom from the Haruno clan that was given to her by her late father.

The pinkette glanced at the sky after locking her door and saw the beauty and warmth of the sunlight touching through her delicate skin.

"I hope that everything should stay this peaceful," she mumbled before proceeding to where she was going.

***

Meanwhile, at the Konoha Empire, the Third Emperor of the Konoha Empire and the other nobles are discussing the beautillion partner of the son of the late Fourth Emperor of the Konoha. The son is now turning into a young man, but they can't deny that he is still immature despite being the son of the great Hero of the Konoha. Since he grew up without having a parent, people judged him as an ill-mannered and lowly child without any knowledge about etiquette as a prince. The young prince knows that all of the nobles who attended the assembly solely want their reputation to increase, even though they despise his immature behavior.

He is so sick of them. No, he is so sick of being a noble and arranging this useless beautillion ball. Because in the first place he doesn't need this kind of tradition, since almost everyone, even the other country knew him as being the Konoha Hero's son. However, this is their tradition as a noble so he can't avoid it, since he is a Prince and an important Royal Member of the Konoha Empire. Sometimes he can't help but wish to Kami that he should just die right now and get reincarnated as a commoner so he can gain more liberty to do whatever he wants without upholding a reputation. But that won't happen since he doesn't believe in Kami.

"Now, would you like to accept the delegation, Marques of the Hyuga clan?" Asked the Emperor while staring at the General Defense of the Konoha waiting for his response. He is sitting at the right side of the long table and, in return stares at the blonde prince with aversion.

"It is an honor to have a son of the Fourth Emperor or the Hero of the Konoha to be a beautillion partner of my daughter. I only hope that this son of this hero won't do anything such as reckless to humiliate my daughter in public," he said looking detested at the young Prince standing beside the emperor. By his chosen words and tone it is obvious that he doesn't want to acknowledge the prince as the Son of the Hero.

"You hear that, Naruto?"

"Hai, it is also an honor for me to become a partner of your daughter on my beautillion ball, General Hyuga-sama. And, I Prince Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto would never humiliate Lady Hinata in public," he answered while bowing respectfully pushing himself not to put any wrong expression to not humiliate his late parent's name anymore. The General stared at him with displeasure at his chosen words, because it lacks decency. Or rather he prefers to hear him say "As a Prince" rather than saying his full name and he should avoid saying "Hai!" because it lacks decency.

The emperor read the atmosphere to what the General is sending and this may provoke the Hyuuga clan to deviate from the decision.

"Alright, everything is settled!" he deliberately inserted while smiling, getting the Marques's attention. He nodded in return at the Emperor and never said anything to not create any more dissension glance to the Prince to affect his clan's reputation. As much as he dislikes the Prince who is nothing but an unsophisticated boy, he is still useful to increase his reputation and gain more favor from the Emperor.

"Very well. Before I make a dismissal to our minor assembly, let me remind you of the issues and crisis the Konoha Empire is encountering, currently..." The Emperor discussed all the issues that needed to be settled as soon as possible before it impacted the whole empire. Especially the crisis regarding the missing mages and the inadequate medical mages.

After a while, the assembly is finished without any problems coming from the young prince for the first time. The clan that is part of the assembly left wishing the emperor a long life leaving the prince and the emperor inside the conference hall.

"You did a great job earlier..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said while bowing.

"But regardless of your nice and great posture while standing earlier, you still lack appropriateness when it comes to your vocabulary etiquette. Haven't I made Iruka to teach you those lessons? Or is he not—" he added but was cut by Naruto.

"Iruka-sensei haven't done anything, but push me to learn those lessons. But, I refuse, and it is my fault for neglecting such an important lesson. Forgive me, your Majesty," he said making the Emperor surprised and impressed at his behavior.

"*Sigh* It is fine, for now. Don't ever neglect such an essential lesson next time...". The prince nodded respectfully like he was a different person. It impressed him so he decided to multiply his budget for his beautillion ball and call his Chancellor and told him to give the budget to the Prince.

"You can ask Tsunade to help you manage your beautillion ball with the budget I have given you. Furthermore, don't forget to ask a Priest to attend your beautillion ball to give you a blessing,".

"Hai!... Is that all?" The blonde asked while scratching his butt getting back to his usual self.

The Third Emperor's sweat dropped and thanked Kami that the nobles of the assembly had already left and didn't see this side of him. He thought that the Prince's behavior earlier would last longer, but to his expectation, it was only temporary.

"Is there something wrong?". The third emperor gets annoyed at his change of tone towards him.

"Naruto, I thought you already learned your lesson. If you try to show this side of yours to the public. It will not just affect your reputation but also..."

"My Parent's reputation" he added. He didn't just hear this word for the second time, but he heard it a hundred times already. "Yeah-yeah, I knew that already, old man emperor. If you don't have anything to say. Can you excuse me now 'cause I haven't eaten breakfast yet, Dattebayo".

The Third Emperor's annoyance pops up at his forehead but he chooses to control his emotions and sighs again at this young prince's behavior. If his parents were still alive right now, would his behavior become the opposite? He excused the prince and then went back to his office to continue his pile of work.

The old emperor sighed and gazed outside of his office, while his chancellor was fixing the mess on his table.

"Do you think that child would mature?" he asked his chancellor who took paused and thought about who was the child the emperor was talking about.

"Uhm, is it the Prince?"

"No...Nothing. Just forget about it." he said disregarding his question to his chancellor who also dislikes the Prince.

***

Naruto rode his horse and went to the Village to eat some ramen before proceeding to the temple. While he was peacefully eating his Ramen, an annoying rival of his noticed him eating peasant food.

"Hn."

"What are you doing in here, teme?" the blonde started while glaring at his rival who was just standing beside him.

"Patrolling." He answered with a straight face.

"Then if you're on a patrol, why are bothering me?"

"Hn. I'm roaming around, dobe," he answered now glaring at him.

The blonde ignored him and kept on eating. However, he got distracted again when his rival purposely coughed at his back getting his attention more. But more importantly, he finished his ramen first, before facing his rival.

"Why are you still here, teme?"

"Waiting for criminals."

Naruto stands up out of his chair and starts looking around.

"Look, there is no criminal around here, teme. So just roam in there and get out of here. 'Cause I also have a place I need to go to. Dattebayo!" he said before leaving his rival behind. But before he stepped further, his rival stopped him by placing his sword on his belt making Naruto's face fall on the floor.

"TEME!"

The blonde pointed his sword toward his rival and it was immediately stopped by the raven boy shielding it using his sword.

"I am not here to fight you. I just wanna ask. Hn,... where. are. you. going?" he said reluctantly while feeling embarrassed.

Naruto was shocked by the question. Has this guy in front of him been possessed by something? This was the first time his rival asked him without them fighting. Or does he have an ill motive?

The blonde grinned widely before deciding to mock his rival. "I'm. not. gon. na. tell. you, TEME".

After that, he rode his horse and left his rival dumbfounded on the ground. He can't help but feel humiliated because it just stabbed his pride.

Actually, he asked Naruto that question not because he had ill motives, but because he heard that the dobe was going to the temple. The word 'going to the temple' means he wants to ask Naruto to invite him to the temple, moreover, it's because he has something he wants to discuss with the Cardinal. Regardless, this is certainly not an excuse that the Ravenette boy would choose to lose his pride just to go to the temple. Honestly, he wishes to see again the silhouette of this beautiful red-haired woman with emerald eyes praying in front of the Kaguya's Statue. To confirm if this woman is not just a glimpse, but a real lady.

The blonde finally arrived at the temple of the Konoha. He entered the rear of the temple and saw a man with shoulder-length white hair, pale skin, and vivid green eyes. He was wearing an alb with a lavender stole hanging on his right arm. But the two scarlet dots on his forehead caught the prince in wonder.

"Excuse me, Deacon-san. I am Prince Naruto Namikaze, here to ask a priest to bless my beautillion ball." he started while bowing.

"Greetings to the son of the hero. I am Kimimaro an acolyte, your highness" he responded in return while bowing. It turns out he knew the Blonde Prince and aside from that, he is not a deacon but an acolyte.

"Eh!?, I thought you were a deacon"

"Pardon me, Your Highness. You misunderstood, this stole on my arm is not mine. And, Deacon never wears a commoner's alb," he said still respectful to the prince while still in his straight face.

"But deacons are also commoners. They both go to the same seminary and study to become a priest. What's the big deal of the differences between the clothes of the commoners and the priest clothes?" he stated feeling obnoxious about the prejudice, even though that's not about the conversation.

The young acolyte just sweat dropped at the prince's response. He was gonna explain the differences between a deacon and an acolyte, however, it would only waste his time. So he chooses not to extend the conversation to this kind of topic. Since he also knew what this prince was renowned for.

"Uh, forget about it, Your Highness. Let me assist you to the sacristy. Here is the way,". He said while assisting the Prince inside the temple ignoring his argument between commoners and deacons to not further extend the conversation.

After the blonde prince stepped inside the temple's hall his jaw dropped. He thought the rear of the temple was not as big as its sanctuary, where the mass takes place. The exterior of the temple was designed with two high pointed triangular shapes at the roof signifying a woman and a man that was created into the Earth. The platform of the temple was made of silver mud brick. It may look slightly big on the outside, but it is more immensely huge on the inside. In the interior, there are a lot of columns carved inside supporting the roof. It has a lot of rooms and spaces but the major predominant at the temple are the four gardens, two on the right and two on the left side.

"What is inside those Gardens?" the blonde prince asked curiously while walking. The acolyte takes a glance at each of the gardens before explaining.

"Each garden had a sculpture engraved inside of it, namely the Main Great Gods we worshipped. The first garden had a statue of Hagoromo known as the god of Light and Virtues. The second garden had a statue of Hagoromo's First Son Indra as the god of War and Wisdom. The third garden had a statue of Hagoromo's Second Son Asura as the god of Peace and Harvest. And the fourth garden had a statue of Hamura, Hagoromo's twin brother as the god of Darkness and Evil." He paused and looked at the Prince who was confused at the last-mentioned garden.

"You may be confused, as to why would we worship a god of darkness, right?" He asked while tilting his head towards Naruto who immediately nodded showing an interest in the topic.

"I was also confused at first, but this red-haired lady explained to me that being the god of darkness doesn't mean Hamura is an evil god. He became a god of Darkness to punish all the bad people in the World. And that is why he is my Favorite to worship among them all," he added while being proud of his favorite god but with a straight face.

Yes, the Prince was interested just now, but he still loses interest in any of the gods the acolyte mentioned, since he doesn't believe in gods. Anyway, they were just mere humans who are just incredibly powerful. However, the word red-haired caught his attention. By any chance, does this Acolyte know his cousin? No, that will never happen—ever. Because Naruto's cousin is not fond of such as reading scriptures and visiting the temple. It is a miracle if his cousin happens to come to this kind of place. However, having a handsome priest in such a place is not an exception. Especially, the Acolyte in front of him could be his cousin's target. Despite this fact about his cousin, there are still a lot of men wooing her.

"Ano-san, the red-haired lady you mentioned. Was it Princess Karin?"

"Princess Karin?" he asked while raising his left eyebrow. Without a doubt, his expression simply means he doesn't know who is Princess Karin of the Uzumaki, who was famous as the most influential noble lady that exists and known by every man.

"YOU DON'T KNOW KARIN?!" Naruto yelled making the acolyte cover his ears to this prince's loud voice.

"Uh, I'm sorry, your highness. But it is my first time hearing her name," he said. Naruto can't believe what he just heard. There has been no man alive who said those words. Because every time his cousin was mentioned, they all knew that she was a powerful woman with so much influence. However, when he reminisced his thoughts earlier about his cousin visiting such a place. He then realizes that he shouldn't doubt the situation because it would be a miracle.

"Actually, I don't know if the red-haired lady I saw was a Princess since I could barely see her face because she was wearing a net mask under her eyes and her eyes were hidden underneath her hair. Also, her dress is too simple for a noble lady to wear," he added. Naruto placed his hand under his chin and stared at the acolyte. The acolyte felt uncomfortable with the Prince's stares so he couldn't help but ask.

"What is it, your highness?"

"Hmm, yeah, you are right. You don't know my cousin," he said before walking inside the temple leaving the Acolyte baffled about the situation. The acolyte's mind just nodded at his thoughts that this Prince in front of him was really a simple-minded boy.

After a while of walking straight inside the temple, the Prince halted in front of a large entrance to another Garden. He turns around to the acolyte to fill his confusion.

"I thought there are only four gardens inside the temple?".

"No, Your Highness. There are five gardens built inside the temple. Yet, this fifth garden is still unknown to the public since it is built in the middle of the rear that only the priest and nobles can pass through. However, the Cardinal modified the rule and renovated the Garden. Inside was a sculpture of Goddess Kaguya the Mother of Hagoromo and Hamura and the Goddess of Love and Fertility. In addition, according to the scriptures, she was also the Goddess of Balance and Prophecy." he explained while staring at the fountain inside the Garden.

"Also, this is where I met the red-haired lady I was talking about earlier. Some of the nobles who came in here to pray to Goddess Kaguya-sama said she was spirited away..."

The blonde prince felt goosebumps all over his body. It is unbelievable that an extremely enthusiastic boy could be scared of Ghosts. He gulped and tilted his head slowly while trembling at the Garden in front of him.

"D-don't wo-wor-ry I am not s-s-sca-scared of go-ghosts" he utters while trembling, before walking straight to the garden like a robot.

"Uh, Your Highness. That is not the way to the Sacristy,".

The Prince sighed in relief and went back to where the acolyte is standing, who just saved his life just now. The Acolyte pointed towards the right corridor where they will go through, which is just adjacent to the Garden, and proceeded to the Sacristy.

"Anyway, she is not a spirited away. That is just a rumor...But I hope to see her here again," he added before proceeding.

Before Naruto walked and came next to the acolyte he flinched and noticed something in the corner of his left eye. A silhouette of a person who just passed by. No matter how scared he was of what he just saw, he still tilted his head. When he took a glance there was nothing but a fountain and trees full of flowers on the ground and that made him run towards Acolyte who just walked through without looking at him.

The Blonde Prince arrived at the sacristy while sweating and trembling in fear.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

"I-I am fine hehe. I don't know that the temple could be this hot..." he said while waving his hand like a fan to his face pretending to feel hot. The Acolyte was confused because there were a lot of open windows on the way to the Sacristy and even if you were inside the temple you could still feel the breeze of the wind.

"But the breeze is so cold, your highness. Or perhaps you need water?" he asked being hospitable to the Prince.

The Prince can't help but nod to the question. Because he may be exposed if he doesn't accept the offer.

After a while, the request for a priest to attend his beautillion ball was finished voluntarily by the Pope. All the preachers were surprised by the sudden change from the Pope, who is well-known for his cold personality and hate towards royalty. Though the Prince who will be having a beautillion ball doesn't even care who's going to bless him since he doesn't even care about his beautillion ball.

Specifically, he only wanted to finish this beautillion ball as soon as possible so his only focus, for now, is being promoted to a Knight. Especially, he can't wait any longer to be given a handkerchief by a Lady to wish him luck or to show affection towards him when events like hunting, jousting, horse-riding, and single combat occur in the future.

The Prince was dismissed early after the Pope declared himself to attend his ball. At the moment, he is now walking towards the entrance again to go home. It was almost midday so there was a shadow coming from the open window of the temple. The acolyte was ordered by the Priest to fetch something so there is no attendant left to assist him outside the temple. The peaceful temple felt so eerie every time he stepped in his direction. This frightened him, and that is why he walked faster than the average, but still, his feet halted in front of the fifth garden. He doesn't know why he feels like he wants to enter the garden. He couldn't help himself and entered the garden without thinking twice about what could happen to him.

After he entered he didn't feel anything frightening or eerie at all, like earlier. He only felt astonished by how sparkling and beautiful the garden was. It feels so relaxing and comfortable inside, contrary to how he felt earlier. While roaming inside the garden, glancing at every flower you could think of, he heard the soothing voice of a woman humming inside. He followed the voice and saw a statue engraved on the wall from afar behind the fountain. He halted once again because of the red-haired lady he noticed. Only her hair can be noticed behind the fountain, therefore he steps forward a little more so he can see her face but before he can move once more a hand grabs his left shoulder. He looked around and saw his squire companions, the chubby cheek boy, and the pineapple head boy.

"What are you doing in here?" the pineapple head boy started.

"Eh?... I should be the one asking that, why are you two doing in here?" he asked in return.

"I ask first Naruto," the pineapple head boy said wearing a lazy face.

"I was looking to the red-haired lady, there behind the fount—" he didn't finish his sentence since he felt goosebumps all over his body after realizing that there was no lady or woman behind the fountain. The two squires looked behind the fountain and saw nothing but the statue of Kaguya-sama.

"Are you fooling with us, Naruto?" the pineapple head asked while raising his eyebrow.

"Do I look like I am FOOLING?"

"Choji, when is the time Naruto never fools us?"

"Hmm, none," Chouji replied while eating his chips.

"Hey, there was a time when I didn't fool you two,"

"When?".

The blonde prince makes a flashback to everything he did in the past to the extent that there is nothing he can think of but his Prank and tricky jokes to his companions and professors. He felt defeated at the question and just chose to give up.

"Fine, if you don't want to believe me then don't. But then what are you two doing in here?"

"The Third Emperor ordered us to help the temple move all the relief goods to the village and give it to them..."

"Yeah, and it was such a drag 'cause the Hyuga and the Uchiha are so troublesome," he added while rolling his eyes feeling irritated with the two prodigies who can't even get along.

"Eh? Teme is also here?!" he shouted.

"Yes, I am here, dobe" the ravenette boy spoke out intruding on their conversation who just arrived perfectly at the time when his name was mentioned.

Naruto once again yelled, "Eh?!" while pointing his finger at his rival. It felt like his rival was following him everywhere like some stalker.

"You followed me here, didn't you? Teme stalker," he said, adding his new nickname to his rival. The ravenette glared at him.

"I would never follow a dumb-dobe, who turns into a squire merely because of sympathy," he said mocking the Prince. Naruto felt his rage rising towards his rival's words. He gripped the handle of his sword strapped to his waist and controlled his emotion. The word of his rival hit him deeply since it is true yet humiliating if it was leaked to the public.

"Hey-hey stop it you two. Can't you please not quarrel just for a day? We still need to move those cargoes of goods to the carriage. You two are such a drag. Geez, Choji let's go!" the pineapple head sighed before turning around to go to the exit and leave the two behind since he can't take any more quarreling coming from his fellow squire who acts like a child. The chubby boy followed him without saying anything.

After the two left, the atmosphere became intense.

"Yeah, you are right. I became a squire because of Iruka-sensei's sympathy since that is what you heard. But even if I told you the truth you would never believe me. I have been titled a Prince since birth, but I would never make this title just to manipulate people and take it for my benefit." he stated staring seriously at his rival.

"Hn." was the only word the ravenette said before going towards the Kaguya Statue like he was looking for someone.

He stared at the statue before looking back at his rival. "Then, let's fight at the training ground tonight. When all of the squire and knights fall asleep," he declared before leaving his rival behind. The Prince touched his stomach and felt the adrenaline running like crazy inside. He can't help but feel excited because finally, his rival acknowledges him.

Then, the Prince left the Garden forgetting the silhouette of the red-haired lady he saw.

To be continued...

***

~Credits to the owner of the photo from Pinterest.~