Disclaimer: This characters in this story are mine, but belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
The Tale of Twelve Shinobi
Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a Hokage's son who had a bride that he loved very much. She was the sweetest and kindest of women who loved the Hokage's son as much as he loved her.
On a golden sunny day where he lay his head in her lap resting happily, the Hokage's son received a message. The message contained news that his father was ill, and was rapidly approaching death. His final wish before he passed onto the next world, was to see his son once more.
The young man sat up from his beloved's lap, his cheerful face filled with sorrow as he absorbed the news. His beloved -a young beautiful woman that made him think moonlight and shadows, read the message. She placed the letter back down, folding her hands on her lap as she waited patiently for her love to speak.
"Beloved, I must leave you now to go see my father. I give you my hitai-ite to remember me by. When I become Hokage, I will come back to get you." With that said, the young man left to go back to his village.
When the young man reached his village, he headed immediately to his father's room. He had just made it barely in time. His father was overjoyed to see him as that meant that it would mean that he would be able to express his last wishes. "My beloved Naruto, I had wished to see you again before I passed and here you are. Before I go, please promise me that you will marry as I wish so that peace may be maintained between our hidden villages." The dying Hokage named the a certain Kazekage's daughter, whom he wished to be his son's wife.
Naruto was in such despair over his father's oncoming death that he did not think of what he was doing as he agreed to the Hokage's wishes. Upon hearing Naruto's promise, the Hokage closed his eyes and died.
When Naruto had been proclaimed as Hokage to the village and the time of mourning was over, he was forced by the village elders to keep the promise that he had given to his father: he proposed marriage to the Kazekage's daughter.
When his first betrothed heard of this, she worried and fretted so much about the faithfulness of her beloved Naruto that she took ill and nearly died. Her father, unhappy at the turn of events, but so relieved that his daughter had escaped the hands of death, called her before him to speak to her.
"Hinata-chan, what is it that makes you so sad? Is there anything that I can do for you?"
Hinata twisted her fingers anxiously as she stared down at the tiles of the floor. "Otou-san… I have but two requests. Will you grant them for me?"
Hiashi reached forward to still his daughter's nervous hands. "If it is within my power child, I will."
Hinata stared at her father's hand before raising her eyes to meet his. "my first request is that I wish for eleven other kunoichi that have very strong skills in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu as me. My second father, is for you to let me go and travel the world with them."
Hiashi was silent for a moment. His beloved daughter wished to take eleven other kunoichi with her as she traveled. His breath came out in a sigh. "You will take care then dear daughter?"
Hinata nodded. "Hai otou-san."
"Then I wish you a safe journey daughter."
A search was made throughout the clan to find eleven kunoichi that met the requirement s of Hinata's request. When they stood before her, she told them of her desire: for them to look, dress, and act exactly like a shinobi of the hidden leaves. With their skills, the eleven kunoichi transformed themselves to match Hinata. Once it was completed, the young maiden took her leave of her father. She and the eleven other kunoichi set off to go to Konohagakure – the village of the hidden leaves where he beloved resided.
Upon her arrival to the village, she headed straight to the Hokage residence to offer her services. Naruto, who was overloaded with paperwork and missions, accepted her offer without looking, proclaiming Hinata and her kunoichi as the Hokage's twelve Shinobi.
Since his return to the village at the time of his father's death, Naruto had taken up companionship with a nine tailed demon fox. It was a wondrous animal, for not only did he know an extraordinary amount of jutsus that were useful to the new Hokage, but he always saw the truth of any situation.
It was on a sunny day –similar to the one when Naruto had received a message that notified him of his father's impending death, that the nine tailed demon fox spoke to him. "So Naruto… what do you think of those 12 shinobi that you have acquired? Do you think of them as shinobi?"
Naruto, who was reading a missive from one of the hidden villages replied with an absentminded yes.
The nine-tailed demon, not deterred by his friend's preoccupation with the village paperwork, continued on: "I believe you are mistaken Naruto, for they are not shinobi, but rather kunoichi."
More than a little bit annoyed by the fox demon, Naruto set the paper down as he replied, "That's not true. If they say that they are shinobi, then they are shinobi. What is their benefit to cross-dressing? And how are you going to prove this to me?"
"Let there be some make-up placed in the ante-chamber," replied the fox demon "And then you will see. No kunoichi could resist free make-up. They will rush forth to examine and try them out whereas real shinobi will just pass by them."
Amused with this advice given, Naruto agreed and ordered for make up to be placed in the antechamber.
There was however, a servant of the Hokage who favored the twelve kunoichi, Hinata in particular. When he heard that they were going to be put to this test, he went to Hinata and repeated the entire plan. "The fox demon wants the Hokage to believe that you are kunoichi" he finished.
Hinata thanked him for his kindness before she called her kunoichi together. "My clan-sisters, the fox demon that accompanies the Hokage everywhere wants him to believe that we are Kunoichi. We will pass through an ante-chamber tomorrow that will be strewn with free make up. Please take care to ignore them."
So the next morning when the Hokage summoned the twelve shinobi, they passed through the ante-chamber, not sparing a single glance to the make up that was liberally placed inside. He assigned them their mission for the day, waiting for them to leave before he spoke to the fox demon. "Maa maa Kyuubi. It looks as if you have deceived me. These shinobi are shinobi, not kunoichi for they have not once looked at the makeup placed in the ante-chamber."
At this comment, the fox demon replied "They were warned beforehand and as a result, were able to ignore the free make up. Next time, when you summon them again, place cute accessories in the room. They will go to them and spend time trying to pick the one that suits them best."
Amused once again, but not yet convinced, Naruto did as the fox demon requested.
The next day, when the Hinata and her eleven kunoichi were returning to the village, they were once again intercepted by the kind servant who warned them of the impending trick. Hinata thanked him for his kindness before she called her kunoichi together. "My clan-sisters, the fox demon once again wishes to prove that we are Kunoichi. We will pass through an ante-chamber tomorrow that will be strewn with accessories. Please take care to ignore them."
Once inside the village, Hinata and her eleven kunoichi headed towards the residence of the Hokage. They passed through the antechamber once more, not a single kunoichi sparing the cute accessories a glance as they entered the Hokage's office to debrief on the completed mission.
Naruto thanked them for their report and dismissed them for the day. When he was by himself again with the nine tailed fox demon, he spoke. "Oi Kyuubi. It appears that you're wrong yet again. I told you that they were shinobi, not kunoichi. When will you ever listen to me?"
The fox demon reiterated his statement earlier of the kunoichi being warned beforehand, but Naruto could not believe his friend.
The twelve shinobi always accompanied the Hokage whenever he had to leave Konohagakure for diplomatic trips and his fondness for them began to increase. Now it came to pass that once when they were returning to the village, news came of the Hokage's bride approaching. When Hinata heard this, it hurt her so much that she believed that her heart was breaking. She fell to the ground from her perch on a tree as she fainted. Naruto, worried that something had happened to one of his trusted shinobi, ran up to her. He cradled her carefully in his arms as the eleven other kunoichi drew close. "Move back," he called. "She needs air!" With that said, he pulled down the zipper of Hinata's parka, and saw the hitai-ite that he had given to her so long ago. He recognized it for what it was and made a seal as he quietly said, "Kai". The genjutsu released, Naruto found that he had his beloved Hinata in his arms. His heart was so moved by her love that he leaned forward to kiss her.
When she opened her eyes, Naruto said, "You are mine, and I am yours. There is no one in the world who can change that." With that statement, Naruto sent one of the eleven kunoichi with him to go to the Hidden Village of Sand to tell the Kazekage's daughter that she could stay in her native village for as long as she pleased for he had a wife already. After all, when someone finds what they cherish the most, they don't toss it aside for something new. Thereupon, a wedding was celebrated between Naruto and Hinata, and the fox demon was again taken into favor, because after all, he had told the truth.
OWARI
Author's note: It's been a while hasn't it? I hope you enjoyed this Naruto fairytale.