Fairy Tale - Millua - Naruto (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

It was in those moments that Naruto realized how much his life had changed. While watching his children playing on the living room rug, he found himself dwelling on the memories of his sad and lonely childhood. At that time, all he wanted most was to have a family, and now, so many years later, he was experiencing it.

In the beginning, when he discovered he was going to be a father for the first time, besides the feeling of happiness, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Growing up without a father figure, Naruto feared he might not become a good father. However, as time passed and the children grew, he understood that fatherhood was something to be practiced day by day. And no matter how challenging it was, the effort was well worth it.

His house, once empty and silent, now seemed small for the mess the children made. If before there was no one to welcome him, now, when he arrived, he found the people he loved most in the world.

“Boruto, Himawari...” he said, calling the attention of the little ones. “Dinner is served. Let's eat before it gets cold.”

The little ones got up from the floor, leaving toys scattered on the rug, and followed their father to the kitchen, sitting in their respective places. That night, his wife wasn't home, so it would just be the three of them having dinner there.

“What time is mommy coming back, daddy?” Himawari asked, casually stirring the food on her plate.

“Probably, you’ll already be asleep, dear,” Naruto replied. “Your grandfather said he had some matters to discuss with her. So, she might take a while to get back.”

The girl made a sad face, visibly missing her mother. Hinata hardly ever left them alone at night, but Hiashi had called her at the last minute to discuss some matter that Naruto still didn’t know what it was.

“You need to eat the vegetables, Boruto,” he said, looking at his son who was staring at the greens on his plate with visible distaste.

“But I don't like them...” he whined.

“That’s no excuse,” Naruto retorted, but by the look on the boy’s face, the blonde saw it wouldn’t be easy to convince him. In a way, Naruto understood, since he himself took some time to introduce those foods into his diet. When he was a child, he practically lived on ramen, which only changed after he promised his mother he would eat better. Hinata helped him a lot with that after they got married. And thinking of his wife, he had a brilliant idea. “If you don’t eat, I’ll tell your mother.”

The boy’s eyes widened in fright. And, reluctantly, he picked up a piece of broccoli and put it in his mouth, eating sullenly.

Naruto smiled victoriously. That was a tactic that never failed. His children even tried to bend him sometimes, but with Hinata, things were different. He might be the most feared ninja in the world, but at home, his wife was in charge. And no one there was crazy enough to defy her, including him.

After finishing dinner, the blonde cleared the table and took care of washing the dishes, cleaning the rest of the kitchen afterward. Boruto went up to his room and Himawari stayed in the living room watching cartoons on TV until he saw it was time for them to sleep.

Picking the little one up, he climbed the stairs toward the bedroom, and as he passed Boruto’s room, he noticed the boy was still awake. And playing, no less? Oh, that kid...

He sighed.

As soon as he put Himawari to bed, he would deal with that.

“All set!” He put the little one in bed, covering her with the pink sheets and watching her hug her inseparable stuffed bear. “Good night, dear.”

“Wait, daddy,” the girl called, making the blonde turn back and approach the bed again.

“Yes?”

“Will you tell me a story?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.

Naruto blinked, surprised by the unexpected request.

“A story?”

“Yes,” the girl reaffirmed. “Mommy always tells me a story before I sleep.”

“I know...” He scratched his neck, cornered. He was starting to feel a little lost without Hinata around. “But I’m not as good at it as your mother. Why don’t we wait until tomorrow for her to tell you something?”

The girl pouted, looking at him with her teary blue eyes. Oh, that expression! He knew it very well. It had already cost him dearly. Despite being small, his daughter knew how to be manipulative when she wanted. And he always fell for her little game.

“All right, all right...” he sighed, defeated. “I’ll tell you a story.”

Himawari beamed and clapped her hands, celebrating enthusiastically. Naruto sighed again and sat on the edge of the bed, unsure of what to say.

“So... what story do you want me to tell?” he asked, somewhat awkwardly. “Cinderella, Snow White...?”

“No,” the girl shook her head decisively. “I already know those. I want to hear a different story.”

The blonde gave a nervous laugh. His daughter was definitely not making things easy for him that night. He doubted he even remembered the stories he had mentioned before, let alone invent a new one. That was asking too much.

“A different story...” he murmured, trying to think of something. At that moment, his gaze met the window, seeing the sky through the glass. The full moon shone majestically, and he could see part of the Hokage Monument in the distance. That’s when he remembered something. “I’ve got it!” He turned to his daughter, slightly excited. “I know which story to tell!”

The girl smiled, seeming as excited as he was.

“Tell me, daddy!”

“Well...” He settled on the mattress, looking for the best way to start. “It’s a story I heard a long time ago.” He cleared his throat, warming up his voice. “Once upon a time, there was a princess with long red hair.”

“Like Rapunzel?”

“Yes, like Rapunzel,” he couldn’t help but smile at the comparison. Indeed, it made a lot of sense. “But unlike her, the princess hated her own hair. She lived in a very powerful kingdom, and red hair, just like a difficult temper, was a trait passed down from generation to generation among her family’s descendants. However, a terrible war happened. The kingdom where she lived was completely destroyed, and the princess had to leave her homeland.”

“How sad,” the girl lamented. “Where did she go?”

“She was taken to another country,” Naruto continued. “But in this place, people didn’t receive her very well. She was seen as a foreigner, and her red hair was a source of ridicule among the other children. Especially among the boys.”

“Oh, I know!” Himawari said excitedly. “That’s when the prince appeared to defend her, right? He must have given those boys a good lesson!”

Naruto opened his mouth, unable to hide his surprise. Coincidentally, that’s the same thing he thought when he heard that story years ago. And he couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I thought that too.” He smiled amused. “But that’s not what happened. The girl was strong and knew how to defend herself very well. No one was a match for her. Those who dared challenge her ended up very badly.”

“Wow...” the little one said, slightly scared. “She must have been really scary.”

“You have no idea...” He laughed nervously. He still remembered the slap she gave him when they met for the first time. It hurt. A lot. At that moment, he confirmed what both Kiba and Shikamaru always said: moms were scary. “But the story doesn’t end there. One night, she was kidnapped by bad men who took her far away from the village. Along the way, she left pieces of her hair in the hope that someone would find them and rescue her. However, hours passed, and no one appeared. As a foreigner, she believed no one would care about her disappearance. And when she had already given up on being rescued, the person she least expected appeared.”

“Who?” the girl asked, curious.

“A boy she couldn’t stand,” Naruto replied, laughing. “Although he wasn’t like the others who tormented her, since she met him, the girl didn’t trust him. She considered him a weakling. But that night, he proved otherwise. Alone, he defeated her captors and brought her safely back home.”

At that moment, the girl yawned. Sleep seemed to be coming, yet she kept her eyes fixed on him, interested in the rest of the story.

“How did he find her?”

“Do you remember she made a trail with the hair strands?” The girl nodded, yawning again afterward. “At that moment, he revealed he had found her because of that and that he always thought her red hair was very beautiful. The princess was very surprised because no one had ever praised her hair like he did. She thought it was so ugly, but it was because of it that the boy found her. So, after that night, she not only began to love her own hair but also fell in love with the prince who saved her.”

After finishing the story, the blonde smiled as he saw his daughter asleep, hugging her stuffed bear. Pulling the covers, he tucked her in properly and placed a sweet kiss on her forehead before getting up and heading toward the door.

“Daddy?”

He stopped, turning to find the little one with her eyes open, sleepily staring at him.

“They lived happily ever after, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Naruto smiled. “They lived happily ever after.”