a/n: and…welcome to my new story! This one is based on the Grimm fairy tale 'thousand furs'. I obviously don't own the fairytale or naruto. Warnings: None for the prologue except for minor character death.

Enjoy!

Prologue

A winter storm of sleet, snow and rain raged outside, rattling the windows of the castle and demanding the occupant's attention.

Hiashi Hyuga took no notice of the storm as he sat by his wife's bedside and held her hand, his brow creased in worriment. His daughter-son stood on the other side of the bed wringing out a cool, damp cloth in an attempt to bring down his mother's temperature.

The Queen stirred faintly and Hiashi leaned forward intently.

"Don't…" she whispered hoarsely. "Don't…don't ever marry again unless you find someone more beautiful than me."

Hiashi smiled fondly at her and kissed her fingers. "Dear-"

"Promise!" the queen snarled and she struggled to sit up. "Promise me!"

Neji quickly pushed his mother back down on to the bed gently. "You mustn't overexert yourself, Mother."

The queen ignored her son and gripped Hiashi's hand tightly. "Promise," she croaked. "Promise me that you'll never re-marry unless that person is more beautiful than I."

Hiashi sighed softly; his wife's obsession with her appearance was well known throughout the kingdom, and particularly in the royal household. "Love, I promise: I shall never marry another person who is less beautiful than you are."

The queen leaned back and sighed softly before turning towards her son. "You know I love you, Neji."

"Yes, I know," Neji responded softly, touching her cheek. "I love you too."

The queen passed away a few hours later. Father and son sat solemnly by her bedside until Hiashi sent Neji away to go call the Royal Physician and confirm the death of the queen.

Hiashi observed his son with a critical eye. His beloved wife had greatly desired a daughter although she had given birth to a son. She had remedied the problem by dressing and raising Neji to be a girl, and since the other kingdoms and the country and accepted it well enough Hiashi had made no effort to stop it. It had gone on for fifteen years now, and Neji had blossomed in to a beautiful youth.

Hiashi shook his head and turned back to his deceased wife. Neji could never grow to be a greater beauty than his mother. He pressed a kiss to his wife's quickly cooling skin before calling a gruff "Enter" when his son knocked on the door.

Neji slipped inside along with the royal physician. Hiashi turned towards his son, not bothering to watch the examination; instead, he opened his arms and allowed his son to sob in to his arms. Neji had been particularly close to his mother, and she had been involved in nearly every aspect of his life and training. Both men knew that they would not have a chance to mourn so openly later in the event of the queen's funeral.

Hiashi gently patted his son's back before releasing him and cupping his face in his hands. "…You know what to do, Neji."

Neji nodded dully and wiped his eyes before gliding out of the room to sound the death toll; now, the whole kingdom would be informed of the death of the queen.

a/n: And…that's the prologue! I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think and please read the next chapter if you're still interested :)