AN: Hello and welcome to my fairy tale AU! For those of you who are here from Alley (or another of my works), I hope you enjoy this one as much as you've enjoyed the others. For new readers: welcome! This fic will take Alley's place in my rotation (for new readers: I have 3 ongoing fics, and I rotate between which I update at a time).

Really quick before we begin: this fic is currently rated T for violence and language (I like to cuss and my characters do too). I have the entire fic planned out already (just splitting into chapters) which is impressive for me. There are spots where the rating can be upped to M (or left at T) without changing the plot at all. And when I say M, you know I mean smut. I'll bring it up as wel get closer, but the rating change is up to you guys.

And one last thing (this will probably be the longest AN i swear I'll try to keep them shorter): Sasuke talks in this fic. I know that's a little OOC to some people, but for the sake of this AU (and because I want him to) he says more than just "hn". That's the only warning I have for this chapter, so without further ado please enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

Rapunzel's Tower

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl with long, golden hair. She had been locked in a tall tower with one window and no doors as a baby, never allowed to venture outside. Many a thief and a hero would try to break into the mysterious tower with no door, thinking it held riches or spells. They would yell things like 'Open Sesame!' or 'I command thee to let me enter!' But no door ever appeared, and the stone walls were too smooth for them to climb. Eventually, dejected, the men would disappear, looking elsewhere for adventure. The witch would chuckle at the knowledge her secret was safe; for only she knew the way up, only she knew the sacred words needed to get into the castle: 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!'

Naruto closed the old tome, releasing dust into the air. He placed the book back in his saddle bag before dismounting his horse. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," he muttered to himself under his breath, committing the words to memory. "Stay here, Kurama." The blond man ordered his horse. "I'll be back soon with a princess."

He walked forward, leaving his now grazing steed behind in the forest, emerging into a clearing. A tall tower bearing a single window stood before him. According to all his research – and the helpful, magical book – this was the tower that held the damsel, Rapunzel, within its walls. Naruto wondered idly if it were important he repeat the name of his soon-to-be princess twice or if that just made the story flow smoother. He decided not to risk it; twice was probably best.

The blond man paused just before reaching the tower. This was it; after months of searching, he was finally going to realize his dream. Naruto Uzumaki – or as he was known back in the Fire Country 'The Golden Prince' – was finally going to get his princess. It was important, after all, that all princes journey off on a great adventure at the age of 18 and return with a beautiful woman, worthy of being their country's future queen. He'd read about adventures and potential damsels in distress all his life; it was what he was trained to do as soon as he could walk.

And now, he was gonna do it.

With a deep breath, the blond approached the tower just below the window, calling out as he went. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" He flung his arms out to the side, closing his eyes as he prepared for the braid to fall. A few minutes he stood like that, and nothing happened.

Finally, a blue eye popped open. No braid. The other opened as well. He spun around, looking everywhere to find a golden waterfall of hair. Nothing. He stopped, facing the wall. He squinted.

There, swaying in the breeze, was a brown rope. Naruto scratched his head. He distinctly remembered reading that the girl lowered her hair down. It was golden, and she had a lot of it. This was just a small, ordinary looking rope. He walked up to it and gave it an experimental tug. It swung a bit, but didn't fall.

Naruto looked left and right, making sure no one was watching, before jumping onto the rope, putting his whole weight onto it. It held. Warily, he started climbing. Hand over hand, feet braced against the wall. It was certainly no flowing golden waterfall of hair, but it was a way up. And hey, who was he to think the stories were 100% accurate 100% of the time? The damsel – Rapunzel, he reminded himself sharply – would probably snap her neck trying to hold his weight up anyway.

The blond prince slowed his pace as he reached the top, making sure not to bump his head on the windowsill. He grabbed hold of the ledge, not letting go with the rope, and pulled a bit to make sure it wasn't going to snap off. It didn't.

With a grunt, Naruto pulled himself over the ledge and into the room, collapsing on the ground in a heap. He leapt back up almost immediately, looking around again to make sure no one saw his brief moment of gracelessness. The last thing he needed was his future wife thinking he was a klutz.

Speaking of the future queen of Fire Country…where was she? He knew a girl who had been locked in a tower for the better part of 18 years would be shy, but he thought she would've popped out at the sight of his handsomeness by now. "Uh…Hello? Rapunzel?" He called into the tower.

The sound of metal clattering to the ground replied. Naruto spun around and saw a golden bowl roll towards him. He stared at it as it spun around his legs, hit his foot, and fell over with one last clang. Blinking in confusion, the blond looked up to where the bowl had come from. It was a tapestry. Just an old tapestry.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when it moved, grabbing blindly for his sword. A figure draped in black walked out of it, carrying a large pile of gold and jewels in his hands. Naruto's jaw dropped. "Where's Rapunzel?!" He exclaimed.

The man turned to look at him. He was tall, pale, and had raven black hair. His eyes were almost as dark, and they gazed at Naruto seemingly unsurprised to find him standing there. They flicked over him, pausing briefly where his hand still gripped the sword sheathed at his waist, before turning away.

The apparent lack of interest from the other man irked Naruto for some reason. He approached the guy, following him as he crossed the room to the large king-sized bed. "Who the hell are you? And where's Rapunzel?"

With a loud clatter, the raven dropped what he'd been holding into a large cloth bag on the mattress. He glanced up at Naruto, wearing a bored expression, and the blond glared right back. "Hn." The man said finally, and that sound alone made a blue eye twitch. "Why don't you take it up with the guy who was here before me?" And he turned away, testing the walls for more secret doors, Naruto had no doubt.

"Excuse you? Who do you think you are?" He'd been in this room for maybe five minutes and he already despised this man.

The raven turned back and narrowed his eyes. "Who I am is none of your business, prince."

Naruto smirked, standing up straighter. Finally, he had one up on this guy. "Good, so you know who I am."

"I know what you are by those ridiculous robes you're wearing. A cape, really? And bright orange to boot. All you princes are the same; dressing like goddammed clowns."

The blond pulled out his sword, gripping it with both his hands. "You watch your mouth."

The man's eyes flicked over the blade before he returned to his task of hitting his fist against the walls. "Put that away before you hurt yourself, little prince." The way the man said prince really pissed Naruto off. He growled.

"I'll have you know I've been trained in the art of swordsmanship since I was able to walk, rogue." He spat the word rogue. "Now, you'll do well to tell me where my princess has gone, or so help me I will remove your head from your shoulders."

The raven, apparently giving up on his quest to find another trap door, quirked an eyebrow at Naruto but made no other move. "Rogue, am I? Huh. Never been called that before." Sarcasm dripped from his words.

"Don't get sassy with me, rogue." He emphasized it this time, just in case he didn't get his point across sooner. "I'll have your tongue."

"Oooh. Testy little prince, aren't we? And which kingdom are you from?" He was smirking now. The nerve!

"None of your business." Naruto stepped closer, still steadily holding his sword up. His eyes glanced down, and he noticed a cutlass laying on the bed between them. The puzzle clicked together in Naruto's head, and he knew exactly what kind of thief he was dealing with. "Now you can either tell me where my princess is, or you can clear out and take your…loot with you."

The raven's smirk grew. "Oh, I don't think she's your princess. Not after the mess I found on the bed when I arrived."

It took him a second to understand. "No."

The other man flicked the covers up, revealing a dried white and pink mess underneath, before covering it once more.

The blond scrunched his nose. "That's disgusting."

"Hn."

Naruto sheathed his sword, concluding that Rapunzel was a lost cause. "So what are you doing here anyway, pirate?"

"I'm a pirate now? I thought I was a rogue." The man had gone back to glancing through the pile on the bed, occasionally throwing items onto the floor.

The blond shrugged, wandering around the room to look at the paintings. "Black tunic, faded boots, and a cutlass – not to mention your apparent love of treasure – all leading to one conclusion: you're a pirate."

A clattering came from the bed, and Naruto turned to see the other gathering everything into a brown cloth bag. "Not bad for an idiot prince." He walked over to the window, tossing the bag over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked, hand once more on his sword hilt.

The raven was already on the ledge, hands wrapped around the rope. "Well, you did tell me to clear out. Farewell, idiot prince," he said, disappearing down the side. Naruto ran to the window, but by the time he got there, the man had already reached the ground and was sprinting off into the forest. The blond wasted a moment, cursing himself for leaving his horse unattended, before descending. He was slower than the pirate; he tried sliding down the way the other must have, but it gave him rope burn, and he had to go hand over hand instead.

He raced out of the clearing, into the trees where he left his horse and breathed a sigh of relief to find him still grazing. "Hey Kurama." The horse looked up as he approached at a slow walk. Naruto reached up and patted Kurama on his nose. "Sorry, but I this princess didn't work out. The next one will though, I just know it." He gathered the reins and mounted, turning his horse in the direction they'd come. They raced back to the fire country while Naruto racked his brains for what he'd tell his father.

They must've seen him coming from miles away, because there was a welcome party ready at the gates. Naruto dropped his reins to his page, Konohamaru, and dismounted. He ignored the questioning looks everyone was giving him, racing instead to the throne room where his father was bound to be. The guards opened the doors to the castle for him, and he marched through without wiping his boots.

Naruto threw the doors to the throne room open, storming in and glad to see his father was only meeting with his advisor, Shikaku. "Father," Naruto said, kneeling once he was at the base of the stairs leading to the throne.

"Naruto? Back so soon?"

The prince stood from his kneel. "I was gone for months, father."

The king nodded. "And yet here you stand, without a princess. Was Rapunzel not in her tower? I know you had your heart set on that one."

Naruto hung his head, not daring to look at his dad or Shikaku. "I am sorry. It seems another had gotten there first."

"Hmm. It happens sometimes. I confess; I did not expect your first attempt to be successful."

"Father?" Naruto looked up at the king in confusion.

The man smiled genially at him, and Naruto felt his mood lighten. "Walk with me." The king stood up, nodding to his advisor before he looped his arm through Naruto's and led the two of them from the room. Once they were outside – and out of earshot of the guards – the king grinned, his eyes winking mischievously. Everyone always said Naruto looked just like his father, but it was moments like this that it really showed through.

"Phew," the king said, his tone different than it had been inside. "Being so formal all the time wears me out."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, it totally sucks that I have to talk to you the same way the knights do."

His dad shrugged carelessly. "Shikaku's always telling me the men respect me more from a distance, and I should be less personable. Can you believe that? People in the damn Kingdom of Water are running from their king because he makes their children fight to the death once they come of age and I'm too personable!"

The blond just smiled, letting his father rant; he'd heard it all before. King Minato, or 'The Yellow King', was the most beloved monarch in the five great nations. He was known for being fair and gentle, even though his wife had died when Naruto was a baby. He'd never taken another queen, and the citizens never thought he needed one. Naruto often feared he'd never be able to fill his dad's shoes when the time came for him to take the throne. He pushed that thought down, instead focusing on more recent matters.

"Dad, what do I do? I'm supposed to have a princess."

"No, Naruto. If you think the end goal is a princess, then you're missing the point."

The prince sighed, having heard this lecture just before he'd left. "You said that before, but you won't tell me what the end goal is. I thought I needed to bring back a princess."

"Well that would be nice, but that isn't all you'll bring back."

"What then? Gold? Riches? We already have enough of that, and besides Kurama can only carry so much."

The king looked down at Naruto, his expression clearly stating that he wasn't going to tell the prince what he was supposed to be looking for. "You know I won't tell you, son." He continued hastily as Naruto opened his mouth to retort. "But I can tell you that you need to get out there and keep searching. Who was next on your list? You can rest and start gathering research before you head out again."

Naruto pouted up at his dad, knowing he was just being thrown a bone. "I don't remember, but I can check once I look at the book."

Minato nodded, turning them back to the castle. "Get unpacked and grab the book. It's getting close to sunset; we'll have dinner in the grand dining room to celebrate your return."

The prince followed, making a mental list of the things he had to do that night. Then he remembered something. "Dad, I think I met a pirate. Up in Rapunzel's tower I mean."

The king waved his hand dismissively. "Empty towers and places where witches used to live are prime hunting grounds for thieves and pirates. I'm not surprised you ran into one."

"What do they want in there? The princess is gone already."

"Well, like you said, you can only carry so much on one horse. Many of the adventurers are princes like you or men working for a reward; they don't need the treasure. Others, though, wait for the damsels to be saved and the witches to be killed. They take the gold and spells left behind. You'll probably run into more before your adventures are done." Naruto nodded to himself. That made sense; rogues and cowards wait for the strong to defeat the evil creature and then break in and steal what's left.

He trailed the king up the stairs, thinking about the rogue with raven black hair. He probably would never see that particular pirate again. But as the thought crossed his mind, Naruto wasn't sure he liked it.