Sage of Hearts

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?

"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)

'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought

Tremaine Estate, Courtyard, early evening…

Naruto was a simple person – when he was suddenly whisked away from his routine checking of the estate grounds in a flash of light, he was relatively unfazed by the sudden change in his surroundings since he could teleport too. However, when he saw Ella crying her heart out in a ragged dress, he could feel his very heartstrings being pulled out his chest and his body moved on autopilot; he couldn't bear to see her so sad. He rushed over to her, ignoring the smiling old woman and quickly hugging the poor girl, smoothing her hair and stroking her cheeks softly as he tried to comfort her.

"Ella? What happened to you? What happened to your dress?" Naruto asked Ella gently, noticing her lost, glassy eyed look change to a warmer and more grounded one.

"N-naruto? I-it's a bit of a long story…I don't know how you'll react when I tell you what happened…"

"Don't worry about that – I just want to know how I can help you feel better now. Take your time and tell me what happened – deep breaths now…" Naruto said as Ella schooled her features and turned away for a moment, nervously playing with some of her hair as she did so.

"A-alright. Well what happened was…"

One quiet confession later…

Naruto was mad – no scratch that, he was furious! That old slag Madonna and her harpies had the gall to tear Ella's dress apart simply because she made them look like donkeys in dresses?! And who was that old lady watching them have their heart to heart?!

"Okay. That's a lot to process – I am going to get some retribution but all that can wait, at least for a while. I need to know who this lady is, since I have a sneaking suspicion that she's responsible for a lot of things, the least of which being the reason why I suddenly appeared to comfort you in your time of need." Naruto said as he pulled Ella to her feet, the girl humming in discomfort before nuzzling her head into his shoulder, the man looking towards the Fairy Godmother with a scrutinizing look.

"Oh don't look at me like that my dear boy. I assure you that I mean you no harm – after all, I am personally invested in the destiny of Ella, who I presume is quite dear to you. Perhaps in ways you have yet to grasp I feel…" The fairy said as she hovered over to the two, twirling her wand whimsically as she did so.

"Let me introduce myself – I am the Fairy Godmother of dear Ella here and I am in charge of making sure she achieves the happily ever after she was fated to have!"

Ella was understandably quite confused – she had a fairy godmother? Why would she have one? How did that even happen?

"Excuse me…you said you were my fairy godmother? What does that mean and how did I come to get one of my own?" She asked as Naruto looked at the fairy with a suspicious eye – the old lady looked as harmless as one could possibly be but looks were deceiving. After all, he spent most of his formative years around magical creatures so he knew that they were capable of illusions and other methods to fool or otherwise ensnare humans.

"Yes dear – I am your guardian so to speak. I have been watching over you for your whole life, ever since your late mother Josephine prayed for your safety and well being when you were born. My job is to make your wishes come true! Within reason of course…" The fairy said as she hid a teasing look behind the billowing sleeves of the robe she wore.

"Then you must be really terrible at your job then old lady!"

"Naruto! That was very rude!" Ella said, mortified that Naruto would be so harsh to the old woman, although a part of her couldn't help but agree with Naruto's assessment.

"I am sorry Ella but this fairy of yours has done a barely passable job looking over you as you grew up – why if it wasn't for me and the ladies, you would have been a literal slave to the Tremaines!" Naruto said as he crossed his arms and gave the fairy a stony look as she gave him a stern one in return.

"What a crude young man you are. You may have a good heart but the chaos you have sown has rent the fabric of destiny in the fates of many since you took your first breath. As her godmother, I reserve the right to make the most effective decisions to shape her life for the better and help her journey along with my magic! Why, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here to comfort her and would still be out in the wilderness somewhere." She said as Naruto snorted amusedly at her belief that she was so integral to Ella's life.

"Sure, sure lady. Whatever you say…so Ella, what do you want to do? Do you still want to go to the ball? I can call Spirit over and we can go to the palace right now – I just don't know what to do about your outfit though…" Naruto said, ignoring the fairy completely (who was seething silently at that – she was a magical fairy for Christ's sake! She should be worth more than a passing glance…).

Ella on the other hand, was more than a little confused. She had a fairy who could grant her a wish but she wasn't too sure about what she wanted right now. The anguish and the fervent desire to go to the ball had all but evaporated when she beheld Naruto appearing to comfort her when all seemed lost. After thinking about Naruto's question for a few seconds though, she looked towards the fairy with a determined gaze.

"Fairy godmother, I would like to have a dress please, and a horse drawn carriage if you can manage it. I will be going to the ball tonight – I will just have my sights set on two possible suitors tonight…" Ella said, turning to look at Naruto for a brief moment (he had no idea what she meant about suitors but figured she was talking about the Prince and some other noble or something) before turning to look at the fairy who clapped her hands merrily.

"OF course dear! That would be child's play for someone like me – now, I will need some assistance for the carriage but your dress is an easy fix. Behold my magic and let your wildest dreams come true~!" The fairy exclaimed, hovering above Ella as she waved her wand over her, a shower of light washing over the confused girl. Naruto then stepped away from Ella as the light got blindingly bright for a second before easing off to reveal Ella's new outfit.

"So…how do I look?" Ella asked, doing a little twirl on the spot, her dress billowing around her. She then noticed Naruto's slack jawed expression before giggling a bit, walking over to the flabbergasted man to close his hanging jaw for him.

Ella's new dress was a beautiful white dress that looked to be made of a fabric smoother than silk and bejeweled with crystals brighter than any gem. On her head, a majestic crown, tastefully decorated with a scinitillating crystal array reminiscent of a queen but still maintaining the dainty innocence of youth rested on her strawberry blonde hair which was wrapped around her head in a tight chignon knot. And to wrap it all up, she wore a pair of clear glass slippers, a testament to their wearer's grace and balance.

All in all, she looked dazzling – Naruto's brain was on a soft reboot until he noticed Ella's knowing looks and the fairy's smug face at his surprise. Quickly gathering his wits about him (and wiping off a stray line of drool-don't judge him!), he laughed bashfully before grinning at Ella.

"Damn Ella, you look gorgeous! The prince is not going to know how to even approach you – he probably will feel underdressed compared to you, your Majesty~!" Naruto said, nudging Ella teasingly as she blushed and huffed at him.

'It's not just the Prince I am trying to impress here! Oh dear, how can such a man exist – he is the living definition of temptation, can recognize beauty when he sees it but can't decipher a woman's flirtations? Well at least I have the whole night to change his mind…' Ella mused as she traced a finger across Naruto's jaw, a slight shiver of pleasure running through the man as her gloved hands danced across his flushed skin.

"Now that your dress is done, you need a carriage! Luckily for us, there's plenty of material to use for my spells~!" The fairy godmother said as she raised her wand to the sky, her magic expanding over the entire courtyard before it grabbed Jaq, Gus, Major, some other mice and…a pumpkin? That last one had Naruto scratching his head a little.

With a merry tune, the fairy then turned the mice into fine horses, Major into a footman and the pumpkin into a fancy white carriage (suspiciously resembling a pumpkin…or was it garlic now…it was white now after all…Naruto really couldn't say at this point). When all was said and done, the fairy then turned to the young people before giving a warning.

"There you have it my dear – my magic will hold until you go to the ball and meet your prince. But beware the clock my child. Once the clock hits midnight, the spell will break and you must be home by then." She said, Ella nodding her head seriously – it was currently eight O'clock so she had around three hours to revel before returning. Before she boarded the carriage though, she had one last request.

"Naruto. Won't you please be my coachman for tonight? I know you don't like these kinds of things but I would really love it if you came along with me…" She said, shyly looking over to him as she played with the hem of her dress.

"Alright, alright, no need to lay it on so thick. Sure! I'll tag along with you – might even give Major a couple of pointers on how to be a coachman instead of the horse for a change!" Naruto said as he walked over to the carriage and jumped over to the coachman's seat next to Major.

"In that case, you need a makeover as well. I can't have you making Ella look bad now can I?" The fairy said, casting some magic on Naruto, giving him a princely outfit. He was now wearing a black silk coat with coat tails, a blue pleated shirt, suit trousers and a pair of black leather shoes. His hair was slicked back into a reverse mane and tied with three hair ties, giving him the look of a charming swashbuckler. All in all, he looked great (Ella certainly wasn't complaining – the pants did amazing things for his 'buns of steel' as it were).

 Now that everything was done, Naruto then pulled at the horse's reins to get to start moving towards the castle. As the carriage quickly got out of sight for the fairy godmother, she started to fade away but not before muttering a last, ominous sentence…

"That boy is an anomaly…he cannot be allowed to warp fate to his whims…"

Palace, half an hour later…

"Well here we are Ella – the royal palace. I'll guide you into the ballroom so you can try your luck with the Prince. I think I'll try to find Snow and Grimhilde while you go do that." Naruto said, gently taking Ella's hand and leading her to the ballroom as he spoke.

"But I wanted to dance with you too Naruto – promise me we'll get some time for a waltz at least?"

"Sure! I just want you to have the best time possible here ya know…I'll be in the ballroom anyway to dance with Snow or Grimhilde anyway – if they haven't been mobbed by people yet that is." Naruto said, reassuring Ella as they entered the ballroom.

With the Prince and the King…

Prince Charming was bored. His father was insistent on hosting this 'ball' but he knew that it was a poorly veiled attempt to try and set his only son up with a wife before he kicked the bucket. Only one problem though – as charming and wealthy as he was, the prince wanted to marry for love; he had no intentions of securing a trophy wife or a political ally. Unfortunately, this meant that the Prince was very picky about who could even catch his eye. When the ball started, he noticed two ladies that looked like mother and daughter and tried his luck with wooing either one of them, asking them for a dance.

Much to his shock, he was turned down – gently of course as Snow courteously told him that they had a prior engagement with another gentleman who had yet to arrive (Grimhilde stayed quiet but the prince was quickly cowed by her domineering matron look – he knew he wasn't man enough to handle her…).So he now was waiting for any woman to try and save him from the snoozefest the ball ended up being. On the corner of his eye, he saw two, let's say, 'plain-faced' women try to act seductive with him but he looked away, shuddering in slight revulsion as their get ups made them resemble multicolor hens instead of dames. He recognized their mother as Lady Tremaine though - her coachman had ended up being a household name throughout the kingdom however.

Upstairs, the king and his main aide were at their wits end.

"What's wrong with my boy? All these fine women here and he can't even muster the energy to even stay awake?! I am going to die before I see my grandchildren at this rate!" The king said, his walrus mustache moving wildly as he shook his aide around like a ragdoll.

"P-please be patient sire…he might find one lady that catches his eye just yet- the night is still young and the two ladies that the prince propositioned still haven't met their date for the night!" The aide said as he tried to regain his bearing, the man's lanky frame still shaken from the portly king's deceptively strong manhandling session.

"Yes…those ladies are truly beautiful aren't they? Well-if their so called date doesn't show up, I suppose I can get my son to court them seriously…" The king said, his thoughts being side tracked as he thought of all the beautiful grandchildren he could expect from such a union.

However, his daydreams were interrupted when the royal announcer suddenly stopped talking, the entire ballroom going silent as two people entered the room.

The new arrivals were one man and woman, the first being primally handsome and the second looking like an ethereal beauty. Nobody seemed to be able to recognize them(except for Snow and Grimhilde, who were blushing furiously at how genteel Naruto looked while still looking so wild) and as they made their way to the center of the ballroom, the Prince rose from his seat to receive them.

"Welcome, my lord and lady. I do hope that this ball is to your preference. Now, my lady, if I may be so bold, could I ask for a dance? That is, if your escort wouldn't mind?" The prince said, bowing to Ella, kissing her hand and finally looking over to Naruto, who was looking amused at Ella's slightly flustered look at being mistaken for royalty by the prince.

"No need to be so serious man! I have some ladies in mind for a dance already so you two lovebirds can dance the night away!" Naruto said as he lightly bowed to the two before heading over to Snow and Grimhilde.

"Hello ladies! Looking good – I can see that you two were enjoying a lot of attention before we came along and stole the show~…" Naruto said as the two women laughed at his playful ribbing before taking one arm each as they took him to an isolated part of the dance floor as they danced together.

"Oh yes! Everyone was so nice and asked us for a lot of dances! We didn't accept any of them though…the prince was a little let down by that…" Snow said as she cutely nuzzled her head into his chest, Grimhilde tittering a little behind her hand at her adoptive daughter's childish behavior.

"Ah yes, the crown prince. Charming fellow, true to his name but a little too simple for our tastes I am afraid. You've spoiled us for other men darling – they simply can't hope to compare with you~." Grimhilde said as she moved over to his back and whispered hotly into his ear, quickly sucking on his earlobe before leaning into him, the three of them locked in some form of slow dance with Naruto alternating between the two ladies as they danced.

Back with the Prince and Ella, the Tremaines were busy trying to get a good look at this newcomer, feeling as though she looked familiar (to Madonna in particular).

'She looks like someone I've seen before – I just can't seem to put my finger on when…" Madonna mused as the Prince took Ella for a waltz, noticing that off the corner of vision that Snow and Grimhilde appeared to have been waiting for the male part of the enchanting newcomer duo.

'So he was the one they were waiting for it seems. No matter – at least the beauty before my eyes was willing to dance with me~…' The prince thought, getting lost in Ella's eyes as they danced, the hours melting away like so much butter.

Oh yes, the prince was instantly besotted by Ella (his father and aide were celebrating on the balcony above).The same couldn't be said for Ella though – she found herself growing slightly bored by the second hour, the tame dance really doing nothing for her.

'My much anticipated dance with Prince Charming and yet I find myself bored. Why is he so conventional – where's the adrenaline, the excitement?! Dances are supposed to free the soul but his is so…so plain!'

Yes, Ella found out the hard way that fairytale princes usually had the personality of a cardboard cutout, with a character depth akin to a puddle.

Fortunately (or unfortunately if you asked the Prince…) time marches on inexorably and soon, the dreaded hour of midnight began.

The castle clock rang once for the midnight toll, taking Naruto and Ella by surprise. Knowing that he had to act fast, he extricated himself from Snow and Grimhilde (promising that he'd explain later) before running over to Ella, the girl nodding at him as the two of them ran from the ballroom, the prince following them after he shook off the surprise from their sudden exit.

"Wait! My lady, wait!"

"Sorry my good man – time waits for no man, woman or child! We simply must leave!" Naruto said as he took Ella's hand and began to run in earnest. As they began going down the stairs, the two of them could feel the magic wearing off, the clock's ringing a dull throb in their chests. Ella, incapable of keeping up with Naruto, lost one of her glass slippers on the stairs.

"Naruto! My slipper!"

"Never mind that Ella – the magic will see it disappear soon enough anyway!"

Saying that, he then took Ella into his arms in a princess carry as he leaped over to the carriage, just in time to see the Prince at the top of the stairs, looking amazed that a man like him was a mere coachman of the beauty he was dancing with all night.

"Looks like this is goodbye! Thanks for the great ball!" Naruto said before cracking the reins, the horses rearing in surprise before galloping at full speed away from the palace, leaving the poor prince to pick up Ella's lost slipper and glance at it longingly.

'My lady…I will find you. Wait for me…'

Tremaine Estate, three minutes later…

Magic was a fickle thing, Naruto mused. A whole lot of smoke and mirrors but at least the spell on the carriage held until they entered the chateau's garden, Ella left sitting on a pumpkin as everything returned to normal.

"Well – that was certainly a wild ride! Did you enjoy your time with the Prince Ella?" Naruto asked as Ella looked away from him, now back in her tattered dress.

"Well, not really. I guess your dreams tend to ruin the real thing for you sometimes I guess…" Ella said as she wiped at her face, rubbing away a stray tear.

"Oh don't be sad Ella! Your true love is out there – you just need to be persistent! Tell you what – we never did get that dance did we? Let's have one right now before the others get back home!" Naruto said as Ella gasped in surprise.

"B-but my dress! I look terrible right now…I-I don-" As she stammered at him, Naruto simply moved close to her and hugged her tightly, cutting her speech short.

"You are beautiful Ella. It's not the clothes you wear that make you attractive you know? Let's dance – I remember that you wanted a waltz right? Ha – I remember when you and Snow used to dance with me when you were younger…" Naruto said as they began a slow waltz, Ella slowly easing into it as she smiled and burrowed her face into the crook of his neck, a warm blush on her face.

'Yes. This is it – I am in love with Naruto. I cannot deny any longer – he drives my heart aflame with passion and my soul takes flight when infected with his contagious energy…no more delays…' Ella thought as she stopped Naruto with a hand to his chest, the man confusedly looking at her.

"Ella?"

"Shhh…let me do this. Let me show you how much you mean to me, Naruto…"

With that, Ella took Naruto's lips with her own in a passionate kiss, the two of them holding each other tightly in the deserted garden as the moon shone brightly above their heads, illuminating the new couple born under its pearlescent light.

That wraps up chapter 14 – I figure I can finish the Cinderella arc and add an interlude in a single chapter – this one seemed to go on forever. Speaking of interludes, should I add a full lemon with Naruto and his ladies? I feel like I should (earn that M rating at least). The fairy godmother doesn't like Naruto – what does that mean for our sage? Is the Disney world rejecting his presence and the universe warping to accommodate him? We'll find out in the next chapter!

If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link: p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!