Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and all other related companies and/or people.
Once upon a time, there lived a girl who wanted to fly, two boys, one who was determined to defeat the odds, while the other yearned for freedom, and a man, who many thought was certifiably insane. To say they were friends would be incorrect; rather, they were a family. The man guided the three well, even if the girl and one of the boys decided that he got a bit overexcited at times.
The family battled enemies, each other, and even themselves at times, but at the end of the day, they still stuck together.
Time went on, and the girl flew, the boy beat the odds, and the other spread his wings just a little more. The man was still the same, but as the times grew darker, he began to grow more serious as the days passed.
The four did not do many missions together very often now, and each member of the family was assigned various individual wartime missions. The level of danger increased a little more with each assignment, and the four saw each other less and less.
Until one day, when the man no longer gave his speeches, posed, or challenged his rival to compete. The girl and the boy cried for hours; the other was silent for days. The funeral was held on a cloudy, grey day. The girl and the two boys sat together, nodding politely when others gave their condolences.
The family began to splinter, if only a little bit.
The girl and the other boy threw themselves into missions, keeping busy to numb their pain. They soon found themselves at the front lines, in the heat of intense battle. They fought fiercely, were injured, healed, and sent back out, only to return again within a few days.
The boy who was closest to the man busied himself with office work. He sent the other two messages of how the war was almost over, and that they were only weeks away from victory, but the increased attacks on the country led him to doubt the words of the hokage. Surely increased attacks could only mean that the fighting was nowhere near ending.
Within a few weeks, though, all was quiet.
When the girl and the other boy returned home, the girl threw herself into the arms of the comrade who had stayed behind and wept tears of joy. The other boy stood back, but traces of a relieved half-smile were visible.
That night, they watched the man's favorite movie. The family reunited.
Time went on, and the boy began to notice that the girl who flew and the boy whose wings were spread even farther became closer. It was a gradual thing, one which he and the man had predicted and laughed about with each other for years.
The boy eventually found himself a girlfriend, and finally, after four long years, all seemed right with the world once more.
Then the girl and the boy whose wings were now completely spread decided to marry.
It had been a chaotic time, those months before the wedding. The girl was driven to
near-insanity by those who were supposedly helping her plan the wedding, specifically two kunoichi whose explosive friendship would be talked about for generations. There had been more than a few emergencies, but finally, the wedding occurred without a problem. Except for the reception, where the boy became rather inebriated, but that is a different story for a different time.
The boy was so happy for them; he knew the man was ecstatic as well.
Not much later, the boy also married. He was happy, his wife was happy, the girl was happy, and the other boy was happy. Life was bright once more, and the boy was looking only towards the future.
Things came full circle just weeks later.
The girl who flew was now a woman who flew, the boy who desperately yearned for freedom had spread his wings, and the boy who had beaten the odds had become a man who had beaten the odds.
The man smiled down on the boy, now a man, as he sat with the three newest additions to his ever-expanding family: a girl who dreamt of touching stars, a boy who was determined to prove his worth, and another boy who reached for greatness.
THE END
And so begins my foray into Naruto fandom. Any and all advice is welcomed, as per usual, and I hope you enjoyed!
Miss Informed, December 26, '06