The Beast and His Youthful Beauty (GaaLee)

The Beast and his Youthful Beauty: GaaLee

Chapter 1: The Curse

Once upon a time in the far away kingdom of Konoha, there once lived a king, his queen, and his three children. These children consisted of two sons and a daughter. The eldest had long ago moved to create a small kingdom to the east and the daughter was far too young to understand much at the time. The middle child had been give the name Gaara. Gaara was an illegitimate son but was still loved greatly by the queen. If anything, the queen favored the boy over her other children. She showed her son off to the other ladies of high rank and put him upon a pedestal of great honor. He was beautiful with his fury of red hair that he never cut. The pale skin that stretched across his features was like porcelain on a doll. His blank green eyes showed no emotion yet captured you into their abyss.

Once and a while, the king and his queen would be invited to other kingdoms for feasts or balls. Gaara, being only half royalty, was never allowed to such honorable and high-standing session. He never minded much. What was there to miss? A bunch of snooty, bratty, little kids in fancy dresses, that's what. Never having been to a ball, Gaara wasn't aware that it was quite a place to be seen. In fact, many people outside of Konoha didn't even know of Gaara's existence. Being illegitimate, Gaara had not been given a ceremony after his birth. The world knew nothing of Gaara's existence. That was his downfall.

At the strong age of seventeen, Gaara was left at the castle alone again. Tonight was the wedding between two lovers in the west. Gaara's father, step-mother, and step-sister, were all to attend for the ceremony and after-banquet. The queen had pronounced it as "utterly shameless to marry one of

the same gender." Gaara simply didn't care.

As the carriage finally left, Gaara was free to step down from the pedestal. How tiring it was to be in perfect health and stature for the queen. Gaara was always pretending nowadays.

Hearing small pitter-patters coming from outside, the red-head looked out of one of the large stain glass window of the castle. It was starting to rain. A beautiful storm it would be. The royal family would probably be stuck at the kingdom in the west for the night at least. Ignoring the twist in his gut, Gaara returned to his book.

"There was no one in sight, but on the table was laid a delicious supper. The merchant was very hungry and sat down to eat. Still no one appeared, but in the next room he spied a bed and slept there for the rest of the night. In the morning he got up and started home. But just he passed a bush of beautiful red roses, he remembered— " Gaara was mumbling the words to himself as he read along, when he was disturbed by a knock on his bedroom door. A servant by the name of Neji walked in, bowed respectively, and whispered, "There is an elder women requesting your presence. She says that she has something very valuable of yours, sire."

Gaara had not heard a knock on the large doors below. Plus he knew no one from the outside of these walls. Whomever the women was must have the wrong residence. Pushing himself off the window seat, the half-prince closed his book and started down the halls to the parlor.

In the parlor sat a well-aged women who had fading pink hair and wrinkles in the corners of her eyes from years of smiling. This elder women had lived a long life and seemed to have many great memories.

"Hello, ma'am," Gaara's low tenor voice spoke into the room. The women did not look up. Her eyes remained on the dwindling fire in the place. Perhaps she was deaf? Preparing to speak up, Gaara was stopped by the aged voice of the women, "No need to shout now. I heard you the first time."

Shaking, the pink-haired senior stood up from the queen's sewing chair. Her smile was genuine and warm. Gaara relaxed by just the sight of her. "You must be Gaara, eh? Well, hello, I'm Sakura. I am here to give you a gift. A gift you have never been offered before. Will you accept my gift?"

How could Gaara deny the gift of such an elderly women? He nodded his head, speechless.

"How kind of you."

Sakura picked up her cane from where it was leaning against the chair. Mumbling something muted to Gaara, she pointed the cane at his chest. A flash of blue light exploded from the end of the cane. With force, the half-prince was pushed immobile against the wall of the parlor. After the initial blast, Gaara fell from his position on the wall and fell face first onto the carpeted floor of the parlor. Groaning, he held his head where it had hit the wall.

Hearing a quiet tsk-tsk noise from above, the half-prince looked up. The aged women was standing there with a sorry look upon her face. "I'm sorry, young prince, but it was necessary."

A confused looked replaced the injured one on Gaara's face. Beginning to speak, the boy stopped immediately after hearing a strange growl coming forth instead of his usual low tenor.

"Try not to speak. I'll explain—" before she was able to finish, Gaara had stood up, pushed her aside and sauntered over to the hanging mirror in the hallway. What was reflected back was not his gorgeous features but those of a beast. A hideous and inhuman monster. His red hair had been replaced with a bland shade of blonde that reach down his back and tickled his ankles. Porcelain skin was covered by a scratching sand that made his skin a pale, sun yellow. Where the green, beautiful eyes had once been, were blazing bloody eyes that burned in the center of the pale yellow skin he had. Gaara's eyes looked up and down his body, analyzing what had happened to his shell of a life. In the mirror a claw-like hand reached up and dragged itself across the glass. A screeching noise filled the castle. Five misshapen marks appeared on the silver picture.

"What have you done to me?" yelled Gaara. His voice was a guttural growl that made said boy flinch. Spinning around, he rushed over to the witch. She was smiling at his anger. Sakura lifted her cane and Gaara flew over at her, thinking she would change him further into beast-hood. The blue light didn't come towards Gaara. No, instead, it consumed the aged pink-haired woman. In a blinding light, she too transformed. Instead of an unnatural beast, Sakura turned stunningly pretty. Her skin lost all signs of wrinkles, her hair gained a sparkling glow, and her eyes still twinkled like stars. She had lost many years and was overly beautiful. It made Gaara's eyes widen and his mouth go dry. How he had been tricked! His eyes flashed an even brighter shade of bloody red as his anger rushed through his veins.

As he started to walk closer to the younger Sakura, she started to speak. Her voice was much the same and soothed Gaara enough to have him stop and listen, for now. "I have given you a chance to find true love. What you have here in this castle, is not love. Your step-mother is using you to gain further status, your father has always hated you, and your step-sister is kept as far away from you as possible. This, this isn't love. By changing you into a beast, I have given you the chance to find true love. A love that will change both you, and whomever the other is. I hope, in time you will learn to appreciate this wonderful gift I have given you." With that she started to place her shawl back on and walk towards the front door.

"Wait!" Gaara's animal voice called to her. "There...there has to be a catch, right?" He wasn't going to stay like this forever. Was he?

Sakura stopped, looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Yes, there are a few conditions. First: this person has to honestly love you. Gaara, this means you cannot force this person to love you. Got it?" she questioned. Gaara nodded quickly in response. "Second: I have given you the ability to mask this beast. If you will," she raised her hands up in a prayer like fold, "repeat after me 'Te iubesc şi întotdeauna va.'"

Gaara repeated the strange language and felt himself transform again. This time though he wasn't shoved into a wall and there was no blue light. Walking back over to the mirror, Gaara saw himself around the marred mirror. He looked almost exactly as he had before to first transformation. Around his eyes though, were black marks that completely encircled each abyss. Also, above his forehead was a red tattoo that Gaara could not understand.

Turning back, Gaara walked back to where the once old women stood. Just as he was about to ask about the small changes, Sakura started talking again. "Three: when you turn 19, I will revisit to see if you have found love. If you have not by that age, you will remain a monster for the rest of your life. Four: if you try to kill yourself, you will only be brought back. So please don't turn suicidal. Five: this person must have also see you without your mask. If they love you after see you as such, then you have found the one." She smiled once more and left the castle. Leaving Gaara to find someone who would love his hideous shell and what lay beneath it.