They're Just Toys
*don't own Naruto*
*in Konoha*
"So we get a full week off just to do some silly scavenger hunt mission" Naruto said looking at the letter he was sent by messenger hawk.
"Oh stop complaining Naruto, it could be fun" Sakura said, just happy to be on the same team with Sasuke as she looked around at the group already in their teams.
"Don't you think it's a little strange how we were invited too?" Kankuro asked looking down at the letter in his hand while Temari said to live a little and they needed a break after all they done.
"See it as the vacation you was asking for" Gaara said while Kankuro grumbled he wanted to spend his vacation in peace not with a bunch of people going on a scavenger hunt.
"I for one find it quite interesting, maybe it's a way to work on our team work" Sai stated, looking around at the groups who muttered maybe before Naruto stuck his letter with the instructions in his pocket.
"Fine, let's get this over with" Shikamaru sighed as the first of the three teams, Team 1 consisting of Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Temari, and Sai, walked through the gate and toward their destination to get started on their mission.
"Alright, what is our destination and what do we need to find?" Naruto asked loudly as he pulled out his list again to see they were headed to a supposedly haunted house to collect some scrolls. "Okay then off to Tanzaku castle" Naruto said running forward, making the others sigh before Gaara and Sai carried the rest on sand and ink birds to the location, Naruto riding along after they had picked him up.
"Wait, Tanzaku castle, wasn't that the place baa-chan and Orochimaru destroyed?" Naruto muttered to himself while Hinata said they might have rebuilt it in which he nodded, a suspicious feeling on the whole mission thing as they flew toward the city, the feeling that they were being watched the whole time.
*time skip*
"This p-place feels real creepy" Hinata said softly looking at Naruto who she noticed was having seconds thoughts about entering as he started to back up, walking right into Neji who was behind him, a frown on his face as he asked if he was scared.
"N-no I'm not scared" Naruto said with a chuckle but his eyes gave him away as he glanced at the castle, whimpering a bit.
"It's o-okay Naruto-kun, we're here together" Hinata said encouraging him as he nodded and said alright as they made their way up the stairs into the castle. Opening the door, with a chill in the air, they walked to the center of the room before looking at what they needed to find.
"3 orphaned scrolls" Gaara read while Naruto wondered where they would find 3 scrolls in the place.
"Maybe we should check the library" Sai suggested, Neji saying that was a good start as they split into two groups of three before they went searching for the library. Going down several halls, Neji, Sai, and Temari found the library while Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara went exploring, hearing the others yell they found it.
"All right, 3 orphaned-oh there they are" Temari said as she, Neji, and Sai picked up the three scrolls that were left on the desk, away from the others.
"We got the scrolls, let's go find the others" Neji said as he place his scroll in his bag before leaving the room, glancing around as he felt a strange presence in the room. Checking it off as his imagination, they went back the way they came, searching for the others when they heard Naruto cry out not too far from where they were standing.
"Whoa, this is awesome" they heard Naruto yell, making them curious as to what he found, the trio quickly going to find him, Hinata, and Gaara.
"Knowing Naruto, he found something related to ramen" Neji muttered making Temari chuckle as she, Sai, and Neji followed Naruto voice to a room that had its door close. Wondering what was inside they opened up to find the room filled with toys, shocking them more when they saw Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara were playing with the toys in the room.
"Why are you playing with children's toys?" Sai asked while Temari and Neji gave Hinata and Gaara a strange look, wondering themselves.
"We heard you found the scrolls so we decided to explore a bit and found the room. I saw most of these toys when I was younger but never got the chance to play with them so kind of having a second childhood I guess you could say" Naruto answered as Hinata and Gaara muttered in agreement, not having much time to play in their lives either.
"Wow, I never thought of that" Temari muttered as she knew the life Gaara had as she realized that none of them really had a nice childhood as they all seemed to be shunned or had big responsibilities since they were young.
"Well we found the scrolls and technically still have a few hours before we are to return to Konoha how about we play a little but this doesn't get back to the others" Neji said looking at Naruto who grinned and said alright before they started looking around at all the things, thinking you could never be too old to have a second chance at being a kid.
"Yay, now I can finally be with the tall kids" Naruto said as he stood on some stilts looking down on them which made them laugh, knowing how Naruto was made front of sometimes for being short.
"I think I remember kaachan flying one of these during a windy day in Konoha" Hinata said as she held up a kite, a yin-yang symbol made of a tiger and dragon that she showed to Neji who said he thought so too.
"Yes she did, I remember because my father was playing with a kendoma, laughing every time he missed. He would smile, saying that the byakugan could see great distances and chakra points but it couldn't help him get a simple ball in a cup" Neji replied as he held the toy in his hand, a soft smile on his face as he thought about his father.
"Temari, didn't Kankuro used to have a collection of koma? He used to use chakra strings to spin them when I was younger, that was one of the rare times we actually did something together as a family" Gaara said softly, looking at the 13 spinning tops in his lap, each with a different picture of a zodiac animal, including the cat.
"Yes it was, I also remember on New Year's we would play hanetsuki and there was one time dad had knocked the shuttlecock too high and it was about to fall, you came in and kept it going, I think that was one of the rare times I actually saw father smile and have fun" Temari said, playing with the hanetsuki paddle in her hand, trying to keep the little shuttlecock in the air without letting it fall.
"You are all lucky to have precious bonds and memories like that, I only had my brother Shin but he's gone now. It's funny how easily I forgot about how he convinced me to take up drawing by showing me his origami. I thought it was strange he knew how but he was really good at it. He told me it was something he did when he was stressed or feeling like he was losing himself, it calmed him" Sai muttered, looking at an origami book while sheets of colorful paper was nearby as he tried to create an owl, something Shin was good at.
"I'm king of the village" Naruto said before he lost his balance and fell, landing on a pile of pillows that was in the corner, making the rest laugh while Naruto got up, coughing at all the dust that he disturbed on the pillows. The group asked if he was alright when they heard a giggle, making them stop playing with the toys and look around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Naruto said he was fine, sitting up and dusting himself off before he grabbed the stilts, getting back on them as he said that no one could bring down him that easily. The group heard another giggle that made Naruto stop, looking around frantically before he got off the stilts saying almost nothing.
"Okay I think we spent enough time playing, let's get out of here" Naruto said as the others agreed quickly standing up and heading for the door when they heard soft music playing. "Please tell me this play is not haunted" Naruto whimpered while Hinata pointed to the corner of pillows where Naruto had landed.
"No, it's a music box" Hinata said as Neji went over and unearthed the forgotten music maker from underneath the pillows, making sure it wasn't damaged from Naruto's fall.
"I guess when Naruto fell on the pillows he caused it to play" Temari said Neji brought it over to them, opening it up for them all to look inside to find 6 different color keys.
"What are the keys too?" Sai asked curiously as they each picked one up while Gaara looked around, noticing 6 chests of the same colors in the corner which he swore weren't there before.
"Let's open it to see what's inside" Naruto said going to the first chest while Neji said for them to check out first but the eager blonde had the key in and unlocked it before he could activate his byakugan. "Cool, there's a scroll, a plush, and some stilts in here" Naruto said as he pulled out the things from the chest, showing them a fox plush and stilts that were blue with orange whirlpools on them.
"Awesome, there are fire and wind jutsus on this scroll" Naruto said as he opened it up the scroll to see what it held.
'That's odd, almost like they were made for him' Gaara thought as he and the rest went to their chest which they opened up to find similar things to Naruto, making them curious as to who left them there.
"I got a water and wind scroll with some taijutsu, a wolf plush, and a kite with a picture of a field of sunflowers" Hinata said as she looked at everybody else who was suddenly suspicious of the chest.
"I got jutsu of water and lightning, a panther plush, and a kendoma with yellow lines and a ball like a sun" Neji said as he placed the ball in the cup, noticing the way the yellow lines resembled sunlight from the ball which made him uneasy as he thought of his father who's name meant sunlight.
"I got earth and wind jutsus, a panda plush and some koma that look like cacti" Gaara said looking at Temari who was staring at their findings then at hers, wondering what it all meant.
"I got some wind and lightning jutsu a weasel plush and a hanetsuki which a picture of a six tailed weasel on it."
"Interesting, we all seemed to have received things that are special to us or can be used to our benefit" Sai said as he looked down at the ink set along with a scroll explaining elemental ink jutsu plus the owl plush and origami book that specialized in birds.
"Alright who's there, who left the gifts" Temari yelled as she drew her fan, Neji and Hinata activating their byakugan to find the source of the toys when the door closed suddenly surprising them until the lights dimmed and they watched as a pale glow appeared from the music box before it shaped into a small child.
"Wah, there really are ghost in this house" Naruto said sliding back before the ghost giggled and came closer, the others backing up as well.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you" the little ghost girl said as they stopped, looking at each other as they wondered if there attacks would even affect her at all.
"I'm here and I was the one who left you the gifts because you deserve them."
"How do we deserve them, not that I'm complaining or anything?" Naruto said, not wanting to offend the ghost as he wanted to make it out of the castle alive.
"As you said earlier all of you had a bad childhood, having to tackle the hardships of live too early an age. You only get to be a child once in your life and if it's taken away then you have nothing to look back at to make you happy. I've been watching over you and heard what you said which has filled me with joy. Please enjoy the gifts, the scrolls are jutsu that I have taken from the library, the plush are real summoning animals that have been changed by my presence in the castle and the toys are toys for you to enjoy."
"Thank you for the gifts" Hinata said bowing, the rest doing the same while Gaara asked who was she in which she giggled as she slowly started to fade.
"Read the scrolls for it's time for me to go. Thank you."
"What did we do to be thanks?" Neji asked as the ghost girl as she gave them a happy smile.
"You set my soul free" she said before she vanished, the room growing warmer as the lights came on and the door opened again. The 6 looked around in surprise before they looked down at the scrolls that were on the table where they had left them. Going over, they unraveled the scrolls to find it was articles about the fire that had destroyed the castle they were in before it had been rebuilt years ago.
"Aiko, an orphan for most of her life, was adopted by the rich family of Tanzaku…gave toys away to her fellow orphans and children who had a bad childhood…invented orphanage to play in large toy room…one night assassination attempt on Tanzaku, set house on fire to burn family inside…Aiko died when building collapsed after helping her orphan friends escape…went back inside for the music box in the toy room…belonged to birth mother who left it as to remember her after she had died…"
Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Temari, and Sai all went quiet as they looked around the room, thinking of what they had just read before they smiled, rolling up the scrolls.
"I'm glad we were able to help her find peace when we found the music box" Naruto said as they left the room to return the scrolls to the library, seeing as their use for them was complete before heading back to the toy room.
"What are we going to do with all the toys?" Sai asked just as Naruto grinned, saying he had the perfect idea as he brought out 2 large scrolls and with help from Neji began to seal it all away.
"Easy, we give it to the orphanage in Konoha and Suna I know they would love the new toys and it's the right thing to do too instead of leaving them here to collect dust."
After finishing that task, the group replaced their toys back into the chest, locked them, and sealed them away in scrolls with the key before they left the castle, hearts a lot lighter.
"What about the music box?" Temari asked as she noticed the box that was still in Naruto's hands as he looked around before they all noticed a memorial next to a big tree. Going over, they read the name to find out that it was dedicated to Aiko in which they left the music box in front of, saying she gave her life for the box and that it was only right to return it. After playing their respects the group headed back to Konoha, talking about some of their favorite childhood activities that they could remember, Naruto mostly talking about all the pranks he pulled on people which had them laughing, unknown of the soft giggle that followed them.
"Enjoy your new gifts and thank you for all you done" the voice of the ghost girl said before it disappeared as the Tanzuka castle slowly faded, revealing the rubble that was left of the castle after it was destroyed by Orochimaru and Tsunade. Team 1 quickly found themselves back in Konoha, talking about their experience at the castle to pass the time just as the others joined them, asking how their search went.
"It went well, found what we needed to get, had a little fun, learned something new, and paid our respects to an orphan named Aiko" Naruto said with a smile on his face as he looked at the group weird expressions as they said okay.
"By the way, what's in the scroll?"
Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Temari, and Sai just looked at each other before giving the rest a smile and shrugged.
"They're just toys."