A/n: I know it's officially Konoha Eleven, but I wanted to do one on all the twelve people in the generation. So sorry I'm so inactive. You see, my iPad screen cracked and it's falling apart but I'm in China right now and I'll be here for five weeks (around slightly more than a week more?) So I can't get it fixed just yet. . I'll try my best to write?
Warning: Unedited, strays a bit from canon (?)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor earn money from writing this fanfiction.
They were the most hailed the most brilliant batch of shinobi, each with their own weaknesses, but together, they were whole.
The Konoha Twelve, Ending and Beginning.
It was the Chuunin exams that had brought them together. It was the Chuunin exams from which the Konoha Twelve began. It was the beginning of lifelong and beautiful friendships, and it was the beginning of the legend of the twelve brilliant shinobi of Konoha. The most prestigious batch of shinobi for years to come.
They were a group of rookies, albeit three of the Konoha Twelve then were slightly more experienced. They came in separate pieces, some broken, some barely held together by smiles, but in each other they found strength. They found forgiveness and they found acceptance.
Neji with his superior attitude and hatred towards the main house found light in Naruto. He found a way out of the endless world of hatred in Naruto. He found a friend in Naruto. And after a while, he found himself trusting Naruto and the rest of the Konoha Twelve. He never really expressed it, but he is grateful, far beyond words can express to Naruto and to the Konoha Twelve for their acceptance of him. He found his closest friends, and despite his short life, he will no longer bemoan fate, for he is grateful that he met them. In them he found a family, where status does not matter, because they were comrades and they were equal.
Lee found belief in his strength in Konoha Twelve. He found trust and he found hope. He found that perhaps he could really be a Shinobi after all. Because no matter how confident he acted, a little part of him was always hoping to find people who would tell him that he can become a Shinobi even with all his shortcomings. He is grateful for this ragtag group of friends, drawn together by circumstance but staying together through it all. If he was asked about them, he would surely flash his toothy smile and call them "Youthful!". But he knew they were brilliant beyond words, and 'youthful' could not describe the brilliance that is the greatest group of shinobi Konoha has ever seen.
In the Konoha Twelve, Tenten found will. She found strength and will and hope in becoming a brilliant Kunoichi. She found her dreams in Konoha Twelve, because there was light there, and with everyone around her, all working to become stronger, all working towards a goal, her dream did not seem so impossible after all. She had always admired Tsunade, despite all her shortcomings because Tsunade had survived the shinobi world, because she could still stand despite the prejudice and the horrors she must have faced. Because Tsunade was strong beyond words, figuratively and literally. With Konoha Twelve, she understands that even if she never becomes as brilliant as Tsunade, she is a great kunoichi anyway.
Kiba found an anchor in Konoha Twelve. The ties that could not be broken with eleven other shinobi tied him down and taught him much qualities of a shinobi. While Kurenai-sensei had played a big part in teaching him, he found that he learnt much from his comrades in Konoha Twelve. He found himself much more grounded that he had been before. They had matured together, through the Chuunin exams, where many lessons were learnt and taught, through Sasuke leaving, through the death of people they know. No shinobi ever comes out the same after the shinobi world, and he is grateful that through the years, Konoha Twelve has remained his anchor, calming his mind through the deaths, the loss, the horrors caused by the shinobi world.
Shino found friendship in Konoha Twelve. He was an Aburame, he was thought of as weird and people avoided him, but being part of this group of twelve made him feel warm and fuzzy. It made him feel happiness he never felt, and although he never showed it, he was happy and satisfied being a part of the group. He was quiet and awkward and often forgotten by practically everyone, but he is okay with that. Many in his group of shinobi shone brightly, from saviors to the whole world to brilliant kunoichis, they all shone in their own special way. He was alright with being forgotten he did not see the need to stand out anyway, but he could not deny the warm feeling he felt whenever he found himself being dragged into conversations or activities with the Konoha Twelve.
In Konoha Twelve, Hinata found the confidence she never had. She found trust and belief in her abilities. They were the first group to believe in her, and she will forever be grateful for the boost of confidence they gave her. They were the first of many comrades and she trusted them with her life. It was in them she found the confidence to fix her once broken and timid self, and it was in them that she found the will to fight, to harm for the sake of her comrades. She was a scared little girl once, skilled enough to be a kunoichi but with a heart that was too kind. The Hyuuga clan was an unforgiving one. Their fighting style was brutal and dangerous and too harming for Hinata's taste, but the Konoha Twelve made her understand that to be a shinobi did not mean one had to be ruthless, a shinobi with a heart with the will to protect the village and their loved ones is often just as if not stronger than a ruthless shinobi fighting blindly.
In the group of twelve, Ino found the fight she never knew she had. She had scoffed at the hardheaded idiots of the group who worked hard but did not shine as brightly as Sasuke. She had scoffed at kunoichi who came back dirty and tired and unfashionable. Yet it was through their shared bonds and the many things she learnt observing at her friends that she understood what it meant to be a kunoichi and how much she wanted to be one. She was not kunoichi-material then, and even now there lingers some qualities she tries her best to hide, but watching her closest comrades risking their lives over and over again, she realises being a kunoichi was no game, and it was not all fun and laughter, because being a kunoichi, being a shinobi meant willingness to die for the better good. A shinobi may fear death, but a shinobi faces it headfirst every day. Who was Ino to spit on the values of a shinobi and take life as a game?
In the group of twelve people, Chouji found a shared bond and understanding that with them, looks do not matter so much. He may have been childhood friends with Ino and Shikamaru, but besides them, he really did not have any friends. The eleven others taught him about friendship, taught him that he could be strong, and made him realise he would do anything that was in his power to protect his friends. There were no judgements in his group of friends, only acknowledgements and belief in each others' strength. With them, he has found people he's willing to trust his back to, to believe that they would not ever betray him. In the shinobi world, that was a rare find, because in this world, anyone and anything can turn against you in a split second. He's found a purpose in life, a way of life that many people in his group of friends have devoted themselves to: protecting their comrades. He had found strength now, and he's no longer that weak boy he once was. For his precious people, he will not hesitate to kill.
He would never admit it, but this group of people were slightly less troublesome than most. With them, Shikamaru's learnt that sometimes, even when everything is telling him to give up, even when the odds are stacked against him, even if he mind tells him he cannot succeed, he should not give up. He is no longer the genin of the past, who would willingly surrender, he's learnt that in real life, there is no surrender. It is a fight to death for shinobi. He would not claim to be another Naruto, that he would be so hardheaded and never give up, but he has learnt enough to know better than to give up so easily. He's no longer the boy that gave up. If he could change something, it would be the fact that he earned his chuunin status simply by taking the easy way out. All the experiences he's had in the years with his comrades had showed him time and time again that sometimes, even when outclassed, the strength to never give up is what makes a shinobi strong.
Sakura was the only one from a civilian family in the group of twelve friends, she barely knew any jutsus and she was a major fangirl. She had nothing going for her, and thinking back, she knew she would have died if not for her friends. The leaving of Sasuke made her realize how lost she was without him, and Naruto made her realize how weak she was, she was being left behind in the dust by her teammates and the bitterness in her mouth made her come to a realisation. She did not want to become a weakling. She wanted to become a true kunoichi. Sakura found the strength and the will to protect. She understands that she wants to heal and protect her comrades, and this is something Konoha Twelve has taught her. All her experiences, her discoveries of her different sides, she knows she owes it to the members of Konoha Twelve, her precious precious comrades she would die to protect. With them, she feels alive, like there is no fear of death, like they were invincible. With her own two hands, she will heal her comrades and cause the destruction of her enemies.
Sasuke has found peace in Konoha Twelve. All his life he chased after a shadow, thirsting for revenge, dreaming of power, and he has made so many mistakes, and he has grown and learnt that it is his place of birth, it is his old group of acquaintances that could finally settle him down enough to pursue peace instead of hatred. It is with them that Sasuke found a home again. it is because of them that he's finally found his old crying self, and instead of hiding his inner hurt with anger, he's grown to embrace that scared little child then, to accept that he had felt helpless and weak then. He has learnt how to help himself, that revenge was never the answer. After all, even after all those years, he was still that little child that cried and hid his tears, his weaknesses, with a strong front. It was
Konoha Twelve that made him embrace the little child then, and tell him that everything would be okay, that revenge is not the answer, that it was okay to break down and cry once in a while.
Naruto has found maturity and strength in Konoha Twelve. He had found a home and comrades. He had never experienced the warmth of home before, but with them, there is a sense of belonging. The deaths and strength of people precious to them have matured him over the years. He is no longer the same naive boy that became a shinobi all those years ago. He has understood that being a shinobi was not all noble sacrifices and cool jutsus. It was a dark dirty job where children not yet grown are made to kill. Yet he retains his cheerful outlook because he understands that with all the darkness in the shinobi world, his friends found he was a source of happiness, of brightness even in this dark world, and he would not snatch that little bit of happiness from them. He's become a man worthy of being Hokage. He understands more now, that there were no lengths he would not go to for his friends, for his comrades, that he would sacrifice even his life for his comrades. He fights to protect them, the people who have taught him so so much.
Konoha Twelve, a ragtag group of shinobi no one ever thought would stay together, but through the years, they continue to be together, standing united as one.
Together, they are strong.