Thanks to orangesage on Tumblr for giving this wonderful head canon:I have this headcanon where Naruto writes his own fairy tales to his children and when he tells them the stories, Sakura sits outside the room and listens to his stories and sometimes cries since many of them are similair to their own lives. All credit goes to Kishi.


Fairy Tales

Sakura huffed as she picked up the discarded clothes that lay strewn around her house. Her day had been hectic with a double shift at the hospital due to an extensive surgery and was glad to be home with her family. Her oldest daughter finally started at the academy while her youngest two girls had had to stay with Tsunade all day. Pounding noises coming from upstairs alerted Sakura. She smiled softly. They must have gotten done with their bath and were now getting herded to their beds by Naruto. Sakura bent down and picked up his discarded kage hat that their three-year old had earlier worn proudly around the house, giving orders like her daddy did. She looked down at the hat while pride surged through her body. He had finally done it; Naruto had finally achieved all of his dreams. He'd brought his friend home, started a family, and had secured the spot of Hokage.

Yes, Sasuke had finally returned to the Leaf Village after one final argument with Naruto. Granted, it was a full year after the war, but he was finally back with his family. He and Karin had married a year later and they were now succeeding at reviving the Uchiha clan with five rowdy children.

Sakura clambered up the stairs to check on her own family. It had gotten far too quiet for her comfort. She crept down the hallway until she heard voices coming from the girls' bedroom. Sakura stopped short of the doorway to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Daddy, are you going to tell us a bedtime story?" Demanded Kushina, their oldest girl. She had inherited red hair (the reason for her namesake) and Naruto's eyes, though she took after Sakura in her fiery spirit and intelligence. She had already gotten in trouble at the academy for starting fights with the boys. From what she had heard from Naruto, it seemed to Sakura that Kushina was living up to her grandmother's namesake just fine. Sakura heard a chuckle from Naruto.

"Of course, Kushina, sweetie. Which one do you want to hear tonight?" He asked. The three girls yelled and Sakura didn't know how Naruto would be able to comprehend their answer. "Ah, the one about the town girl and the lost prince. Alright, you girls have to sit still if you want to hear all of it." The room silenced and Sakura decided to slide down the wall to take a seat on the floor to listen as well.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl with pink hair. She was from a normal family; no wealth, no status. On the way to school one day, she ran into a filthy little street urchin. The little boy was trying to steal her lunch, but stopped when he saw her beautiful pink hair. The little girl almost decided to turn the boy in, but noticed how hungry the little boy looked so she decided to give him her lunch after all. Everyday after that, the little girl always brought extra food to give to the little boy. As they grew older, the girl and boy became fast friends and were almost always together. Then one day, a neighboring country invaded the town where the boy and girl lived. By this time, the boy and girl had grown much. The girl was no longer little. She had grown into a beautiful woman who now helped her parents in their book store. The boy was no longer a boy either. He grew into a man and now worked as a errand boy for the palace. During the war, many knights came to pledge their support to the regent ruler. One such knight was famed throughout the land. He was handsome and every girl flocked to see him. It just so happened that during one invasion during the war, the girl's family's bookstore got caught up in the fighting and the girl was trapped in the burning building. The handsome knight came to her rescue and admired her great beauty."

A cold sensation went through Sakura's body as she heard the tale. The dark knight But Naruto's voice soon broke through her thoughts again.

"The knight went on to pledge his love for the girl and soon, the girl fell in love with the knight. She immediately went to tell her friend all about the knight. As an errand boy, the boy had heard terrible things about this knight and tried to warn the girl about him, but she didn't listen. Soon after the battle in the town, the handsome knight betrayed the regent and left to join the enemy. He did not even leave a note for the girl. She was heartbroken."

Sakura felt tears build up in her eyes as she relived that night so long ago. Don't leave me, Sasuke-kun! If you leave I'll scream!

"Ewww, what a jerk!" Kushina cried, her anger clearly evident in her voice. Naruto chuckled slightly at his daughter's reaction.

" The knight was just doing what he thought was best for him. Let's continue the story, alright? After the knight betrayed the kingdom, a decree was sent out that every young and able-bodied man was to go to war. And that meant that the page boy was to go to war. Before he left, he went to visit the girl to tell her goodbye. When he told her the news, the girl did the only thing she could think of: she told the boy that she loved him and that she would die if he left her as well. But the boy knew that the girl was still in love with the knight, so the boy merely smiled and promised her that he would return to her and when he did, it would be with the knight as well."

What I said, Naruto, is that I love you! Sakura had spent years trying to not think about that moment. She now looked back and regretted being so blunt to Naruto. It had almost torn them apart. If only she'd had more time to explain and if only she hadn't been so confused about her feelings then.

"The boy was gone for a good long time and so the girl spent that time apprenticing under the medicine worker to learn more about healing so that she could help the many injured soldiers that returned from war. As time went on, the girl began to think more about the page boy and not the knight. The war waged for ages and the front line kept being pushed closer and closer to their kingdom until their town was finally invaded. The army prepared for one last battle to push back the enemy. During this time, the girl was now on the front line with the other men, healing all she could. It was then that she spotted her blonde headed friend fighting with the king of the enemy. She tried to cry his name out, hoping to save him, but she watched in terror as the king thrust his sword through the boy's stomach. The king left the boy for dead and continued on. The girl ran to the boy, praying that she wouldn't be too late. She brought the dying boy into her arms began to try and heal the wound. The wound was terrible and the girl thought for one minute that the boy might die."

At this, Naruto's voice broke slightly, so slightly that even the girls would have missed it. But Sakura knew this voice. It was the voice that he always had whenever they talked about this. When Sakura held a dead Naruto in her arms. They tried to not bring it up a lot, but sometimes as they held each other at night, the dark memory would come sweeping through them. They still hadn't told the girls about the war, but Sakura knew that Kushina would soon learn about it at the academy.

"But the girl was able to save the boy. And as she held him in her arms, the boy finally confessed how he felt for her. He didn't want to live with any regrets and so he told the pink headed girl that he had loved her since they were little. He also told her that if she still picked the knight over him, that he understood and would be happy for her."

Tears rolled down Sakura's face as she thought back on that moment. The moment when Naruto told Sakura that wouldn't die with regrets. The look on his face would shake her to her core to this day. It was the moment that Sakura would see for the first time the extent of Naruto's love for her. Before that, Sakura had only been told of Naruto's feelings for her and it had been the first time that she had heard Naruto say it himself. And for the first time, Sakura saw the man in her arms clearly.

"The king then saw that the boy was still alive and returned to finish him and the girl off. He was stopped though, by the girl. She demanded why the king was so determined to kill the poor boy. The king then replied: 'that boy is the prince that has been missing since the last war and I have now come to finally finish the royal family off for good.' This shocked the boy and girl since neither knew that the boy was the lost prince. And just as the evil king went to deliver the final blow to them, the knight swept in and defeated the evil king. The boy and girl, in shock, demanded to know why the knight helped them. He then confessed that he had made a mistake and asked for the forgiveness of the girl and boy, especially of the girl. The girl gave him the forgiveness, but apologized in kind to the knight and that her heart had always been with another. The knight accepted and went back to his country. He would continue to be fast friends with the two for the rest of his life. As for the boy, the story of the evil king was confirmed and the boy was soon crowned the king of the land. The girl went back home, thinking that the boy would now forget all about her. Two weeks later though, he showed up at her house alone to ask her two important questions: if she would attend his coronation and if she would do it as his soon-to-be-wife. The girl tearfully accepted. The two reigned over the land for many years and brought peace and prosperity. They were adored by all. The end."

Naruto's voice finally went silent and Sakura wasn't even aware until Kushina's voice rang out.

"I just love the ending! I'm so glad the girl chose the boy instead of the knight. What did she see in him anyway?" She scoffed and Sakura gave out a choked laugh between her silent sobs. If only she knew that that girl and knight were her mother and Uncle Sasuke. Naruto let out an audible chuckle in response the girl.

"Alright, girls, time to get to bed. I'll go get your mother to tell you goodnight, but you better be under the covers by the time she gets here." Naruto instructed and the room filled with little squeals as the girls rushed to their perspective beds. Sakura hurriedly tried to dry her face before Naruto found her, but she was too slow.

"Sakura-chan?" He whispered so that the girls couldn't hear him. Granted, he knew that Sakura might be waiting outside for him to finish the story, but he never expected to find her crying on the floor. He knelt down next to her. "Babe, are you alright? What's wrong? Did something happen at the hospital?" Sakura placed a hand on his face and gave a weak smile.

"No, it's just...your bedtime story..." She manage to say. Naruto's face went from worried to apologetic in an instant. He gathered Sakura in his arms and moved them to their bedroom down the hall. The girls didn't need to hear this.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. If I had known it would make you sad...I just wanted to tell the girls a story." Naruto rambled, but Sakura put a finger to his lips.

"You have no need to apologize, Naruto. They should know our story. These are tears of sadness and happiness. Sadness over how I acted when I was younger and happiness that you still chose me despite that." Sakura replied softly. Naruto brushed some hair out of her face.

"I would never give up on you. You know that, Sakura-chan. You are my precious person. Especially after all you've done for me." He said, ending with tears in his eyes. His hand went down to the long scar on his chest Sakura had given to him. Sakura's hand joined his and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Well, we did need a matching set." She teased and Naruto smiled widely. It was a running joke after the war that they each had a scar given from each other; Naruto's on his chest and Sakura's on her arm. Naruto gave her a kiss before extending a hand out to her.

"So, how about we go tell the girls goodnight? They're probably getting into trouble as we speak." Naruto said teasingly. Sakura returned his grin.

"Well, they are your children." She shoot back and Naruto gave a chuckle.