A/N: I do not own any part of Naruto or its characters, locations, titles, or attacks mentioned. If the title "A Feudal Fairy Tale" does in fact copyrighted to Inuyasha, then the title belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own the particular fairy tale mentioned here, and all it's characters and monsters. Just a work of fiction people. Thanks!
Naruto: A Feudal Fairy Tale
Chapter One: Down the Demon's Hole
"Once upon a time, back in the feudal era of Konohagakure, there lived a beautiful, young Konoichi named Ai. Back in those days, demons roamed our village as plainly as humans did, and do now. However, no matter how comfortable these demons of all classes felt in our land, they were cruel and blood thirsty, often for the blood of children, so it seemed. No human could destroy the demons, not even lay a mark or leave a bruise on them. One day, when their Queen, The Demon Lover Saya, rose from the underworld to reek more havoc than any demon could ever dream of doing, she laid a curse on the five year old Ai, transforming her into Saya's shadow, in return to spare the life of her baby sister Kannako (her parents were already killed). It was a heavy burden laid upon a small girl, but what Saya didn't know was that mostly, your shadow can be your worse enemy. In becoming Saya's shadow, and after years of rigoress training both in swordsmanship and ninjutsu, Ai soon came to realize that she could kill the demons that haunted her beloved Konohagakure with ease. This upset Saya to a high level, so she created only a handful of powerful demon minions; more powerful than any demon she created before. They plotted to seek revenge on Ai, and continue to destroy Konoha, soon after moving on to the rest of the world. A young priestess, Ruri, who died fifty years in the past during this era, over heard The Demon Lover's coo from Hell, and took to find Ai and report what she's heard. An epic battle in Konoha history, between the shadow and the organic, between lightness and darkness, was soon to take place. Nothing would stop them.
Quickly, our heroine Ai journeyed throughout the resources of her village to find any warriors who could be willing and able to assist her in fending off Saya and her thugs, or perhaps even destroy some (though the likely hood of this was low). Sadly, she found none. In the shadows, Ruri watched Ai's training and desperation at finding her own partners, and seeing all too how miserably she was failing. Then inspiration struck the dead teenage priestess, whose eyes were no longer there, instead only two black voids. She would find the help of Kanna, her close friend at the Temple of the Earth, where she once practiced in. Immediately, without informing neither Ai, Kannako, or any other resident of the village of her plan, she sought after the Temple of the Earth, as it's location constantly moved in an eerie mist, no one psychic could ever pin point it's next location or when it would move again. This would certainly be a periless journey.
For many risen suns Ruri paced across the Land of Fire, trying to relocate her once home. At last she found the temple, and hurried inside to meet her hold companion. Unfortunately, her friend has aged considerably, something Ruri should have known since fifty years ago when they were in training to become priestesses, both were fourteen years old. But she did indeed have the rare Holy power inside of her, just like Ruri, and could in fact help in the battle, even if it wasn't a considerable amount. Not only that, but the Holy power was also passed down to her twenty year old granddaughter, Botan who was also a priestess of the Temple of the Earth. She gladly volunteered to join the fight as well. Without another moment to waste, the trio headed straight for Konohagakure with haste. No one knew exactly if Saya and her minions would stay true to their governed word and strike out in a year (at that point, four more months). Something sinister and yet beautiful would coming closer to climax in Konoha.
When the last month arrived, along with our new found trio who would assist the first hero of Konoha, arrived with no action been taken place in the village, Ruri explained with the utmost enthusiasm to Ai and Kannako of her priestess friends, and the power all three of them possessed. Ai was overjoyed at the jubilant news, and that her young sister Kannako had already exceeded in medicine. Together, all five of these courageous women would challenge the Gods; them against the world with nothing but positive hope they would come out victorious."
"Did the girls defeat Saya?" asked a young girl, no more than six, who was listening attentively at Lady Tsunade's story, as was the rest of the rather large group of children.
"It's never been told if they in fact did, or did not. Who knows, maybe none of this is real, as it's just another feudal fairy tale."
"No way!" jumped up another girl, one who seemed more hyper than the first. "Girls rule! I know incredibly strong women lived back then, and that they did have the power to take on the under world!"
Iruka chuckled, standing against a wall in the back of the room, watching his younger students enjoy Lady Tsunade's tale. His tilted toward Kakashi's, who stood to the right of him. "Its nice kids can look up to these influential characters."
"Yeah, most likely they're better than the people you see on TV. I just wish people would find a new story to tell; this one's older than the hills." He too chuckled.
"I wish the story was true, however. It'd be nice to know of more greatness that spawned from our village. If only…"
