Hey all this is a short little one shot I've been thinking of for a while now. I'm having some writers' block with my other stories, but as I sit here in bed I just have to get this out. I also realize that the timeline may be a bit screwy, but I had to play around with it to get this to work. Also please excuse any grammar and spelling mistakes as I have a major migraine so big I couldn't even go to school today. Sorry if some of the characters are OOC.
I will admit this isn't my best work, but it certainly could be worse, so I'm proud of it for the most part.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Naruto except what you can't find on any website or other Internet source.
Enjoy!
The First Days of October
One-Shot
At Midnight on the First of October, Naruto would cry one tear of blood from his right eye. No more, no less.
At Dawn on the Second of October, Naruto would cry one tear of blood from his right eye and one tear of pure water from his left eye. No more, no less.
At Noon on the Third of October, he would cry two tears of blood from his right eye and one tear of pure water from his left eye. No more, no less.
At Dusk on the Fourth of October, the boy would cry two tears of blood from his right eye and two tears of pure water from his left eye. No more, no less.
At Night on the Fifth of October, he would cry three tears of blood from his right eye and two tears of pure water from his left eye. No more, no less.
At Midnight on the Sixth of October, Naruto would cry three tears of blood from his right eye and three tears of pure water from his left eye. No more and no less.
At Dawn on the Seventh of October, the blond would cry four tears of blood from his right eye and three tears of pure water from his left eye. No more and no less.
At Noon on the Eighth of October, Naruto would cry four tears of blood from his right eye and four tears of pure water from his left eye. No more, no less.
At Dusk on the Ninth of October, the whiskered boy would cry five tears of blood from his right eye and four tears of pure water from his left eye. No more and no less.
At Night on the Tenth of October, the Jinchuuriki would not cry five tears of blood from his right eye or five tears of pure water from his left eye. No, at Night on the Tenth of October, Naruto would cry five thousand tears of blood and five thousand tears of pure water. No more, no less.
He would still be crying at Midnight on the Eleventh of October, and at Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Night. At Midnight on the Twelfth of October, Naruto would cry two more tears. One tear of blood would escape his right eye and one tear of pure water would escape his left eye.
Naruto would not cry the rest of the year.
For thirteen years exactly, Naruto held true to this by hiding himself away for the first Twelve Days of October. This year, however, the boy would find that it was much harder to disappear when there are people around who want you.
After the failed mission to rescue Sasuke, the Rookie Eight (formerly Rookie Nine) along with Team Gai would meet up every other day if they had no pressing matters to attend to. It was a way for them to just forget how real death was now and just sit around and be friends.
It had gotten to the point where they even had a routine on what everyone would bring to these little picnic gatherings. Chouji would obviously bring the majority of the food, which was usually made from scratch, and Naruto would bring the rest (usually consisting mainly of ramen).
Ino and Sakura would bring magazines and medical scrolls to read and study from as Tenten brought weapons just in case the two girls felt the need to practice the medical justus on anyone. Hinata would bring herbs and attempt to teach the other two girls how to make the medical creams and other things she had picked up from her studying.
Shikamaru as Ino would have it, would bring blankets for them all to rest on even though he found it "too troublesome" to even do that much. The others in the group would usually bring whatever stuck their fancy for the day, whether it be more weapons, chew toys (for Akamaru), or even more food. Today, however, the group would find that their happy time in a semi-normal world was about to come crashing down upon their heads.
It was Midnight on the First of October. A boy walked to the center of the barren land and sat, shedding the first tear from his right eye. He sat there until Dawn when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day in that one spot.
At noon on the first of October, about a month after Sasuke's defection, and everyone had gathered in the center of the Konoha Park. Well, almost everyone.
"NARUTO!" The yell echoed throughout the resounding area and the group had to cover their ears lest they fear burst eardrums.
Said boy however, was not at the designated meeting place on time. Normally, if one of the group couldn't make it, they would inform someone and the rest of the gathering would go on as planned; Naruto had left no such notice.
He was an hour late.
"C'mon, Sakura," Ino said, exasperated. "Maybe he had to do something important, so let's stop waiting already."
"Yeah," Kiba moaned. "If the idiot hasn't shown up now then he's not gonna show up. Besides the food is getting cold and I don't like cold food!"
"So?" A tick appeared on the pink-haired girl's head. "Eat a dog biscuit."
"One time!" The Inuzuka leapt to his feet in retaliation to the comment. "One frickin' time and you feel the need to keep saying it!"
"Actually, it was twice." The stoic Aburame boy stated as all eyes landed on him. "I distinctly remember seeing you ingest dog biscuits on our last mission."
Kiba's face turned red as the assembled group laughed at his expense, Sakura's triumphant smirk burning into his mind. He quickly sat back down with a humph and tried to ignore Akamaru's sudden need to not look him in the eye.
"I have to agree with Kiba though." Chouji said as he eyed the food his mom had made. "The food is gonna get cold if we wait around too long."
"I guess." With a sigh, Sakura walked over towards the picnic blanket her friends were lounging on.
"Besides, Naruto may just be running a little late. You know him." Ino tried to comfort the girl and got a small smile in return.
"Yeah," The other girl said with a relieved smile. "But the next time I see him I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!" Her smile disappeared in a flash as she raised a fist to the air as if she were already punching her teammate.
The group nodded weakly, slightly afraid, and went about eating the rest of the food. They would chew Naruto out during the next meeting…
It was Dawn on the Second of October. The blond sat down once more and shed two tears. He sat like that until Noon, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day unmoving.
It was Noon on the Third of October. The child sat down once more and shed three tears. He sat like that until Dusk, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day in his spot.
But Naruto did not show up on the third of October…
It was Dusk on the Fourth of October. The whiskered boy sat down once more and shed four tears. He sat like that until Night, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of night without movement.
Nor did he show up on the fifth…
It was Night on the Fifth of October. The boy sat down once more and shed five tears. He sat like that until Midnight, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day unmoving.
It was Midnight on the Sixth of October. The blond sat down once more and shed six tears. He sat like that until Dawn, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day in one spot.
It was Dawn on the Seventh of October. The child sat down once more and shed seven tears. He sat like that until Noon, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day without moving.
By time the seventh had rolled around, his friends were beginning to get concerned. They had not seen the blond at all in the last few days and they knew he wasn't on a mission because Jiraiya and Kakashi were still in the Village. It was beginning to unsettle them to the point of actually bringing it up with their teachers.
It was Noon on the Eighth of October. The boy sat down once more and shed eight tears. He sat like that until Dusk, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day unmoving.
Sakura at this point wasn't training so much with Kakashi as with Tsunade, so that was to whom she went to talk to after the group had decided to raise questions. It was about noon on the eighth of October that Sakura waltzed into the Hokage's office and stood before the unconscious woman.
Tsunade was drunk.
At this point, the pink-haired girl had reached a dilemma. She could either wake the woman up and face her wrath or she could leave the drunken Sannin to her alcohol filled dreams and not get any of her questions answered. So she picked option C.
Walking out of the room, Sakura walked over to Shizune who was trying to file some papers in an adjacent room and kindly told her of Tsunade's current condition. In any other situation it may have been funny to see the older girl's face blow up like a swelled tomato, but Sakura felt that her current problem was much more pressing.
Following a safe distance behind Shizune, the young genin paused outside the door and waited until she was sure it was safe to go in. Sure enough, five minutes after a resounding "TSUNADE-SAMA!" and a number of curses the girl didn't even think could exist, Shizune walked out a little red and motioned the girl to enter.
Sakura entered slowly, slightly scared, but determined as she approached an annoyed Hokage.
Tsunade's ire seemed to double the longer she stayed awake, so Sakura felt that getting straight to the point would help in the matter. Not to mention that Tsunade was obviously still slightly intoxicated so her tongue should be slightly loose.
"Tsunade-sama?" She asked cautiously, aware that any wrong move could be the end.
The older woman's gaze settled on her newest student and suddenly Sakura felt very small.
"What?" The tone was crisp and annoyed yet Sakura wouldn't back down.
"Umm, I was just wondering if you knew where Naruto was?" Seeing Tsunade's gaze harden, the girl started to explain. "It's just he hasn't been showing up for our meetings and he didn't tell anyone anything and we thought-"
But Sakura was not able to finish her sentence as Tsunade swiftly raised her hand for silence, her gaze uncharacteristically hard and blank.
"I'm afraid there are too many things you don't know Sakura." Her voice was firm, but gentle as if telling a child right from wrong. "Naruto is fine. I suggest you enjoy the rest of week without worry. Go to the festival on the Tenth and I'll make sure Naruto is back by the Thirteenth. Is that understood?" She leveled the younger girl with a firm gaze.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama." The reply was hesitant, but the girl knew when to back down. Giving a small bow, Sakura almost fled the room in order to escape the suffocating atmosphere. Had she lingered just a bit more, she might have noticed a Genjutsu being undone in the room she was just in.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You know she's not gonna give up, right?" Jiraiya appeared next to his former teammate as the genin left the room. "She's eventually going to find him."
Giving a sigh at his uncharacteristic seriousness, the old woman nodded her head. "Maybe, but you never know."
"You're right, maybe they'll all find him."
She growled. "That's not what I meant and you know it." She took a long shot of sake before letting her eyes wonder to the scenery outside her window. "You know he wants to be alone during this."
"Of course he wants to be alone." Jiraiya's voice was surprisingly firm. "All the boy's ever known is how to be alone. Heck, the only people outside of us two who know about Naruto's "problem" are Iruka-san and Kakashi, and Naruto won't even let them help him during this time."
"You're certainly taking this seriously Jiraiya." Tsunade's eyebrow rose is suspicion. "What happened?"
A perverted grin settled over his features. "The ladies dig a serious man so I decided to-"
Tsunade's fist silenced the other Sannin as a tick appeared on her forehead. "Pervert."
After five minutes of groaning and moaning, the two had once more rested in a comfortable silence, each caught in their own thoughts. It was Jiraiya though who decided to take the initiative and speak again.
"There is another reason I'm here though." Her silence told him to continue and the Toad Sennin pulled out a small scroll. "I managed to get samples of Naruto's tears. He didn't seem to notice me. I got them tested by the medical staff for anything special, just in case. I think the results will surprise you."
He handed the scroll over to his former teammate and watched as her eyes widened. If it was anything else, the pervert may have laughed, but this was anything but funny.
"Th-this is impossible." She stuttered in shock, her mind not fully being able to comprehend what it was she was reading.
"Impossible, no. Unexpected, oh yeah." Jiraiya nodded and gave a stern look at the village outside.
"So then, Naruto…" She trailed off, not even able to form the words that desperately wanted to escape her mouth.
"Yeah," He paused. "Naruto's tears…are not his own."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was Dusk on the Ninth of October. The boy sat down once more and shed eight tears. He sat like that until Night, when he finally rose. Naruto stood the rest of day in his spot.
"Did you find anything?" Sakura asked, and watched in dismay as she got negative nods from her friends. She sighed, as their questions seemed to have gone unanswered.
"Maybe he'll show up for the festival tomorrow." Tenten said with a shrug. She had asked Gai, but he had seemed just as perplexed as they all were that Naruto wasn't around.
"N-Na-Naruto-k-kun d-doesn't g-go to the f-festival." Hinata stuttered out from behind her coat collar.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Since when?" Were the general words that came out of the group's mouths.
Hinata, not liking to be the center of attention, just hid further in her coat, praying to disappear. Thankfully, Shino seemed to notice and spoke out loud in order to gain the others' attention.
"I must conclude with Hinata-san statement." His voice drew the attention of everyone else as he continued to speak. "I cannot remember ever seeing Naruto-san at the festival, nor can I recall him being around during the beginning of October."
As Shino fell silent, Shikamaru let his own observation be known with sigh. "Troublesome. Naruto was never in school during the first few days of October remember? He would always disappear."
"Hey," Kiba said as it dawned on him. "Yeah, it was the only time Iruka-sensei never yelled at him for skipping."
"Do you think Iruka-sensei knows where Naruto is?" Chouji asked as he looked around at the group, trying to skip over Lee who looked ready to explode with 'Youth.'
"He might." Sakura nodded slowly, "Tsunade-sama said that Naruto would be back by the thirteenth. Isn't that the day he always came back to school?"
"Yeah," Ino agreed. "If it wasn't a weekend, he would always come back on the thirteenth."
"Iruka-sensei always used to be extra nice to Naruto on that day too, right?" Chouji asked as he opened another bag of chips.
"YOSH!" The serious atmosphere was broken as Lee yelled and pumped his fist in the air. "We must go and ask the youthful Iruka-sensei where Naruto-san is! If not, I will run around Konoha five hundred times on my hands while-" Lee was swiftly quieted by a firm fist to the head courtesy of Neji who's ear he had just destroyed.
"If you don't shut up right now I will make sure you can't run anywhere." The Hyuuga threatened and with a stern glare from Tenten the excited boy was successfully cowed.
"So, let's go find Iruka-sensei and ask him if he knows anything." Chouji spoke through his chips. Eager to leave, the group didn't notice the pair of eyes watching them from the bushes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As one might expect, the Kyuubi Festival was one of the most celebrated and looked forward to by the villagers of Konoha. Games of all sorts were played, bets were placed on who would get drunk first, and enough food to feed the Akimichi Clan for a year were placed on booths along the streets.
Yet, as the group of worried friends raced along the busy streets preparing for the festival they couldn't quite quell the feelings of uneasiness resting within them. As questions raced through their minds, none of them could quite let go of the silent mocking Kyuubi piñatas seemed to give them or characteristics that Yondaime statues hinted at.
Reaching the academy, the genin (and one Chuunin) noticed something they never had before. While the school was decked out for the festival, Iruka-sensei's classroom seemed almost dull.
Most of the teachers would have their students do little projects to commemorate the triumph and then display them in the classrooms, but all Iruka had were a few extra pictures of his family and a small Yondaime statue. There were no pictures of brave shinobi destroying the Kyuubi or stories about how wonderful the defeat was. No, just photos on his desk and nothing else.
It made them wonder why Iruka didn't celebrate with the rest of them.
As it would appear, the teacher was so caught up in his work that he failed to notice the group enter his room until a slight tap on the shoulder by Sakura forced him to look up.
Well, actually it's more like jump up, since that's what he did, but that's just small technicality.
"Sorry Iruka-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as her former teacher tried to regain control over his breathing.
"It's fine Sakura, it's fine." He said once he had control over his own airways again. Looking around at the group, Iruka began to fidget slightly. He had a feeling on what this was about, but he hoped he was wrong.
"So, what did you need me for? It's not everyday I get such a large group of people come and seek me out."
"Well…" The group shuffled nervously, and Hinata appeared to be trying to bury herself in her coat again. "We were wondering if you knew where Naruto was?"
"Naruto?" Iruka began to sweat slightly. " Why do you ask?"
"It's just you seem really close to him and you never yelled at him for skipping school during this time of the year, so…" Ino trailed off and looked at her friends for help.
"I see." And he did, but it was not his place to say anything. "I'm afraid I can't help you."
"Can't or won't, sensei?" Shikamaru asked, suspiciously eyeing the other Chuunin.
Iruka gave them a long stare that made them all feel very small.
"Both." Iruka's eyes seemed to harden after a minute of staring. "He will be back on the thirteenth, so you may wait till then."
"That's what Tsunade-sama said, but-" Sakura was once again cut off by someone on the matter.
"Then you should listen to us." The older shinobi said in a rare firm voice. "Sometimes secrets are meant to be just that, secrets. I cannot stop you from looking for him, but I will ask you to respect his privacy. Some things are not meant to be shared."
It was a clear dismissal and the group left the room rather quickly, unnerved by the severity they caught in Iruka's voice. The older man didn't usually raise his voice to them, but it gave them something to think on.
As they left the academy, the group traveled in silence each caught up in what their former teacher had and had not said. He had told them that there was something going on, but he hadn't told them not to go looking for him, just to be respectful of his privacy.
"I say we wait till the thirteenth and ask Naruto where he was." Neji said in a calm voice, breaking the silence they had been suffocating in.
"I agree." Shikamaru stated. "It would be too troublesome to go looking for him and Iruka-sensei said to respect his privacy."
"But what if something happened to him? He could be hurt!" Sakura exclaimed, worried for her only remaining teammate.
"Sakura, he's apparently done this before, I'm sure he's fine." Tenten reasoned and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"You don't know that!"
Sighing, Shikamaru came up with a way to get them out of the situation. "Tell you what, we'll meet back at the park when the festival starts tomorrow. If we have no new information, we'll wait. If something new comes up we'll look into it, okay?"
He saw hesitant nods as the group agreed to the plan. They continued in silence for a while before they began to break apart to go back home for dinner, each of them caught up in what they had been told that day.
As it would turn out, Kiba and Akamaru had the furthest to walk and as such were outside when it got dark. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but with everything on his mind, the boy and his pet took a wrong turn and ended up in a rather bad section of the district. It was actually rather fortunate that Kiba realized his mistake early enough to be able to find his way back.
A soft bark from Akamaru alerted him to another presence in the alley as the dog began to growl.
"How many, Akamaru?" Kiba could only sense two, but a real dog's sense of smell was still much better than his.
The puppy barked softly into his ear.
"Three shinobi, eh? C'mon." He placed the pup back into his coat and took refuge on the roof of a nearby building.
Despite Kiba's normally brash nature, the boy was still a shinobi and knew that attacking them if they were allies would be stupid to the point where he would admit to Naruto being smarter. If they weren't allies, but were still stronger than him, well, Kiba hoped they were drunk.
Stretching his hearing range to listen to the three men that had come slipping into the alley, Kiba managed to overhear a conversation that would undoubtedly put him on edge.
"Did you find him?" The first asked the other two. He was a large fellow, with the standard Chuunin uniform and appeared to be the boss as he was the one giving orders.
The other two shook their heads in a negative way.
"Iie. We found his friends though." The second Chuunin smirked. "They couldn't find the brat either."
"I told you to find the brat, Akira, not his little 'friends'" The first one smacked the other over the head. "Are you that stupid that you can't even follow those simple directions?"
"But no one knows where he is!" The third one stated. "Those that do know are too powerful for us to attempt to interrogate."
"I thought you said Umino Iruka knew. Don't tell me one academy teacher is too much for you?" The first one mocked.
"No, Tatsuda-san, but Umino-san used to be in the ANBU, remember?" Akira replied with a sneer, earning him another whack from the first man.
"Of course I remember!" Tatsuda shouted. "Well then, we'll just have to do a little searching on our own tomorrow. Iroko, gather the rest of the party. Tomorrow we're going to go on a little hunt for the Kyuubi-brat."
As the men left, Kiba let out the breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. Looking down at Akamaru, the boy shakily pet the puppy's head before speaking aloud.
"Why do I feel like Naruto's in the middle of this, Akamaru?" The pup barked in reply.
"Because he is?" Kiba raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Your probably right."
Kiba walked the rest of the way home, determined to speak to the rest of the group as soon as he was able.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To the Inuzuka, the beginning of the Kyuubi festival couldn't start soon enough. His mom had gone on a rampage the night before about how much he had worried her and had almost forbid him from going to the party at all. Even he didn't know how he had managed to placate her, but somehow she had relented. So arriving a half-hour early (which was rare in and of itself), Kiba sat down to mull over what he was going to say to the rest when they got there.
It wouldn't do to unnecessarily scare them, but as all Kiba had were negative thoughts about the conversation he had…conveniently walked past…he really couldn't sugar coat it. There was also the fact that it might not have anything to do with Naruto, although the dog boy highly doubted it.
As Shikamaru would say, "Troublesome."
It wasn't until dusk that his friends began to arrive. Shino arrived first, followed closely by Hinata and Neji, and then by Lee. Tenten arrived a few minutes before Sakura who was followed by an irate Ino dragging Shikamaru and a content Chouji as he snacked on a bunch of chips.
By time the last group had arrived, Kiba was getting nervous, something rather foreign to him and Akamaru began to whine, picking up on his human's discomfort.
After getting comfortable, Shikamaru, the designated leader of this current get together, began to speak.
"So anything new?" The lazy genius looked around and nodded expectantly when his question turned out with negative answers. "Alright, so-"
"Actually," Kiba, uncharacteristically subdued, stated as all eyes turned to him. "I have something to say."
With a nod from Shikamaru, Kiba related the events of the night before, watching as his friends' faces began to darken. Even Shino showed physical discomfort by having his eyes narrow so much that his eyebrows couldn't be seen from behind his glasses. The buzzing in the air wasn't helping.
As he finished, the tension in the air was so thick only a sharp kunai would be able to pierce it.
"So," Ino began. "You think that these guys want to go after Naruto?"
Kiba nodded and the tension thickened.
"It would make sense." Shikamaru stated slowly. "Those three men were obviously spying on us and to mention Iruka-sensei like that would only enforce the idea."
"Did you overhear any other information slip?" Shino asked quietly.
"Umm, yeah." The Inuzuka paused and wondered how to say it. He looked down at Akamaru in askance, but the puppy seemed to be wondering the same thing. Deciding that beating around the bush wasn't going to help much, Kiba swallowed his slight fear and told them what Tatsuda had said.
"He called Naruto the 'Kyuubi-brat.'"
Dead silence. That was the only thing that could describe what was permeating the air. It was even more palpable than the tension from before.
"Kyuubi-brat?" Sakura whispered in slight fear. Seeing Kiba's nod, the pink haired girl seemed to slip into a shocked silence all the while reviewing in her head why it made sense.
"You don't think Naruto is…" Chouji trailed off, looking at Shikamaru who was deep in concentration.
Soon everyone was looking at the resident Chuunin, who had entered his thinking position. A few moments of tense silence sat with the group before Shikamaru opened his eyes in realization.
"…Gaara…" He whispered as if he suddenly understood everything.
"Gaara-san?" Lee asked, for once not annoyingly loud. "What does he have to do with the Kyuubi?"
"Not the Kyuubi." Neji said, as his eyes too seemed wide in realization. "The Ichibi." Looks of understanding began to dawn on most of the others' faces. "Gaara has the Ichibi sealed inside him, who's do say the Kyuubi wasn't sealed as well?"
"But the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi!" Ino said in faint denial.
Shikamaru turned to her and gave her a stern look. "How do you kill a demon, Ino?" Silence. "Simple. You don't."
"T-then N-Na-Naruto-k-kun…" Hinata trailed off.
Shikamaru nodded. "Naruto may be the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."
"Jinchuuriki?" Tenten asked, having never heard the term. "What's that?"
"Troublesome. It literally means 'the power of human sacrifice' and is the term used for people who hold demons inside them." Shikamaru explained, having read about them when he was younger and not quite as lazy. "It requires someone to be sacrificed in order to seal the demon within a newborn baby."
"A newborn?" Shino asked. "So as to allow for adaption in the chakra coils?"
Shikamaru nodded again. "But what puzzles me is how new the child must be. If Naruto is the Jinchuuriki, then his birthday would have to be soon."
"I-it's Oc-October t-tenth." Hinata said. "T-today." She looked around at the stunned faces of her friends.
"Well, he'd certainly be a newborn." Kiba whispered in dismay, hoping their theory would be disproven by Naruto either being too old or too young.
"Okay, well has anyone every seen Naruto do anything odd with his chakra?" Shikamaru asked, hoping they could find some reason for Naruto not to be the Jinchuuriki.
After a slight pause, Sakura told them of the malicious chakra she had felt during the wave mission and how Naruto had been the fake Hunter-nin. This didn't help in disproving the theory.
"I have also encountered something similar during the Chuunin Exams." Neji spoke up. "When Naruto gathered the red chakra I could have sworn I saw a fox smiling at me from his naval."
"He also managed to frighten Gaara and beat him." Sakura said.
"Okay, so we're all pretty much sold on Naruto being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." The others nodded slightly. "So now what?"
"Well, from what I overheard, these guys had a whole group who wanted to go and hurt him. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not gonna let Naruto get hurt just cuz of Kyuubi." Kiba said, for once acting mature about a situation.
"Yeah, if this is true, then Naruto's the only one keeping the Kyuubi at bay. Konoha who have been destroyed if he hadn't beaten Gaara." Tenten said, daring anyone to think differently.
"And if you really think about it," Shikamaru began. "Nothing's really changed. Naruto's had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him this entire time and he's only used that power to help us not hurt us. The only difference is now we know."
"Besides," Sakura said getting her courage back from the former shock of her teammate being a demon host. "He's still Naruto. Crazy, ramen addicted, orange-loving, unpredictable, hyperactive Naruto. If he can control the Kyuubi as well as he has been then we have nothing to worry about."
Her friends nodded in agreement. It would be an understatement to say that they still weren't uneasy about the whole thing, but they were willing to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt until they got the whole story from him.
"So what do we do about Tatsuda and his little group?" The former atmosphere plummeted at the mention of the group.
"YOSH! We must go find Naruto-san and help him against those who wish to harm him!" Lee let out the cry he had been holding in, fire practically dancing in his eyes.
"While I agree with that," Neji said, trying to get the ringing out of his ears. "We don't have any clues as to where Naruto might be and informing anyone else might let Tatsuda know we're on to him."
"So how do we find him?" Shikamaru said and looked towards Team 8.
"I could send out my Kikai in search of Naruto." Shino said a bit louder than usual, which for an Aburame showed just how angered he was with the situation.
"Yeah," Kiba said, exuberantly. "Akamaru and I could try and pick up his scent."
"N-Neji-n-nii-san a-and I c-could use the B-Byakugan." Hinata stuttered as Neji nodded in agreement.
"Good, now do any of you have any ideas where he might be, because we know it's not in town." Shikamaru asked. He highly doubted Naruto would stay in the Village proper during the festival if he really was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.
" H-he m-m-might be i-in the F-F-Forbidden A-Area." The shy Hyuuga Heiress stated.
"What? Why?" Chouji asked as he opened another bag of chips.
"I-It's w-where the K-K-Kyuubi a-attacked." She explained. "I've s-seen N-N-Naruto-k-kun go there b-before a-around t-this time."
"Around this time?" Sakura asked. "You mean before October first?"
The shy kunoichi nodded. "H-he w-would just stand t-there and s-stare at the g-gates."
"Well, it looks like we've got something to look into." Shikamaru said. "We should get going then. The sooner we find Naruto the better."
The children got up again to leave and as soon as they left, a man by the name of Urohiro Tatsuda emerged from the bushes.
He smiled eerily and said, "Hook, line, and sinker." And he ran off to inform his group that the search was off. All they had to do was follow the genin in order to find the monster.
How he loved being the one to screw people over.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was Night on the Tenth of October. The Jinchuuriki sat down once more and shed ten thousand tears. He did not rise as he cried.
Hinata had never been the most confident person. She was shy, quiet, and in her opinion, painfully weak. But as time went by, Hinata's concern for Naruto made her forget all that and the kunoichi that stood in her place was everything Hinata thought she wasn't. Strong and determined, the girl pushed on ahead of the others, leading them towards the Forbidden Area.
The Area was aptly named as only a select few people were allowed to enter it, mainly the Hokage and a select few of the Elite. Oh, and Naruto. Apparently, outside of releasing it, the group had deduced that anything having to do with the Kyuubi was Naruto's decision to deal with as he saw fit. The Forbidden Area, as that the was the ground upon which the Kyuubi had attacked, probably fell into that category.
However, the remaining members of the Konoha 12 did not fall under those select few allowed in, so despite some misgivings, the group snuck over the (usually guarded) fence surrounding the area. One would think the Hokage wanted Naruto to be found by his friends. That is of course absurd.
"Hinata, Neji can you see anything?" Shikamaru asked as they all followed the outlines of the cousins in the dark.
"Iie. I cannot see anything different to the right or back." Neji replied as he scanned the aforementioned places.
"N-no, I-wait, I-I think I see someone!" She managed to shout out, only stuttering a few times.
"What is it?" Tenten asked as the group picked up the pace.
"I-it looks like N-Naruto-kun, b-but…" She trailed off, unable to clearly identify what he was doing.
"He appears to be sitting completely still in the middle of the Area." Neji said, looking in Hinata's direction.
"The middle?" Sakura asked. Everyone knew that the very middle of the clearing was where the Kyuubi was finally dest-sealed.
"Yea, everything around him is like a barren wasteland."
"Is he okay?" Ino asked, worried about their wayward friend.
"He appears to be, besides sitting completely still that is." Neji answered.
"How far ahead would you estimate?" Shikamaru asked again.
"About six kilometers, so probably another half hour or so." The designated team leader nodded and the group pushed on ahead without anymore speaking.
Neji's time estimate was only off by about five minutes as the group arrived silently, at about nine o'clock, thirty-five minutes after Neji's assessment. It unnerved the group how Naruto didn't even seem to acknowledge them.
Making their way up to their friend, the genin (and once Chuunin) took the time to observe their surroundings. It was certainly how they had all imagined it; barren of all life to the point where even weeds and grass didn't dare grow. The ground was lumpy and hard, while scorch marks still remained even after all these years. The very air around the large space seemed to tingle with irrefutable evil and malice that they had never encountered before. The only sign of any life in the area was Naruto who sat at the edge of an eerily still, slightly red, pond, but even he could be overlooked as he did not appear to even be breathing and he was sitting uncharacteristically still.
The only source of light was the moon reflecting off the pool's water giving Naruto an almost divine outline about him. He didn't appear to have noticed any change to his environment, so his friends walked slowly so as not to startle him. The silence needed to be broken somehow.
"Naruto." Sakura called out softly, but the boy did not turn around to acknowledge that he had heard her.
"Naruto." She tried a bit louder, but she still got no response.
"Naruto!" As annoyance kicked in, her voice raised even more and she was about to start yelling at him for ignoring her when the blond spoke.
"I heard you the first time, Sakura-chan. There was no need to repeat what you said." The way Naruto spoke raised many eyebrows. He had not shouted or yelled in an obnoxious voice, but rather had calmly reprimanded Sakura for her error in a smooth and haunting voice.
"Well, you could have answered me." Sakura replied, quieter this time.
"Yes, I apologize for that, but you needn't have yelled." He still hadn't turned around to face them.
"Could you at least turn around to talk to us. We've been looking for you for days." Sakura said, he worry turning to slight anger.
"I'm sorry to have worried you all," His voice was like a whisper. "I'm afraid that I cannot turn around lest my tears miss the pool."
"What?" Kiba asked. He hadn't understood a word of what had been said.
"I cannot let my tears miss the pool. To do so would mean terrible things."
"Why are you talking like this Naruto?" Ino asked. " You've never talked this mature before. And what tears?"
"The tears that must run down my face from the First to the Twelfth of October." He took a slight breath. "Come closer to the pool. You will see what I mean."
So the group did as he told, albeit hesitantly, and turned to look at Naruto's reflection. What they saw would probably haunt them for the rest of their lives. Running one drop at a time for each eye, a red tear would escape his right eye, while a clear one would escape the left eye, both tears landing in the pool at the exact same time.
"Naruto," Sakura stated hesitantly. "Why are you crying blood?" Her voice was shaky as if she didn't really want to know.
"If you all want, I'll tell you a story." He whispered as the tears continued to fall. "Sit down, but do not touch the pool under any circumstances."
They all nodded and proceed to sit behind the boy that was slowly becoming a enigma to them all.
"On the First of October thirteen years ago, a little girl of about five years old, wandered off from the people who were watching her. She thought a game of hide-and-seek would be fun. Finding a cave to hid in, the little girl wandered farther and farther back until it seemed the cave would have no end. Just when she decided to go back, she fell and she kept falling until she hit the ground and died. A tiny drop of her blood mixed into the pool next to her. She was the Kyuubi's sacrifice to enter the world. The blood of an innocent for the power of the tainted. She died at Midnight. I cry a tear of the blood that was spilt."
"On the Second of October thirteen years ago, an old retired shinobi was sleeping in his home near the border of Hi no Kuni. Hearing a rumbling in the distance that didn't quite sound like thunder, the man left his house to scout the surroundings for enemy shinobi. He would not come back. The man found what made the rumbling, right before the Kyuubi bent its head and eat him. The old shinobi died at Dawn. I cry a tear of the blood that was spilt and a tear of water to cleans him of the sins he committed as a shinobi.
"On the Third of October thirteen years ago, a Chuunin from Konoha was escorting the son of a merchant home when they crossed paths with the Kyuubi. The demon stepped on them, killing them instantly. They died at Noon. I cry a tear of each of the blood that was split and a tear of water to heal the shinobi of his sins in the afterlife.
"On the Fourth of October thirteen years ago, two ANBU from Konoha were making their way back home after a mission gone wrong. They felt the Kyuubi nearby and decided to investigate. They would not come back as the Kyuubi ate them rather quickly. They died at Dusk. I cry a tear of each blood that was spilt and two tears of water to cleanse them of the sins they committed.
"On the Fifth of October thirteen years ago, two Jounin, a married couple, were also returning to Konoha, eager to get back to their son. They would never get back. The Kyuubi's fifth tail had killed them before they knew it. They died at Night. I cry a tear of each blood that was spilt and two tears of water to cleanse their sins, as well as an additional drop of blood for the son that died that night.
"On the Sixth of October thirteen years ago, three genin who had just made their first kills were wandering too far from camp. They came upon the demon and got in its way. The Kyuubi's claws ripped them open faster than they knew it. They died at Midnight. I cry a tear of blood for each of the blood that was spilt and three tears of water to cleanse them of the sins of first kill.
"On the Seventh of October thirteen years ago, three rookie ANBU had heard of the incoming demon and wanted to test themselves. Along the way, they met up with a very nice young woman who offered them a bite to eat. The Kyuubi, however, was closer than the ANBU thought. The beast ate them all without even batting a tail. They died at Noon. I cry a tear of blood for each of the blood that was spilt and three tears of water to cleanse them of the sins they committed as shinobi and arrogance they showed in their final moments.
"On the Eighth of October thirteen years ago, four Chuunin were on guard duty on the outer gates of Konoha. When the Kyuubi attacked the four were killed instantly. They died at Dawn. I cry a tear of blood for each of the blood that was spilt and four tears of water to cleanse them of the sins they had committed as shinobi.
"On the Ninth of October thirteen years ago, four war-torn genin and one of their siblings were out too far when they heard the demon approaching. They were each flattened by the beast's tails before they could even register to pain. They died at Dusk. I cry a tear of blood for each of the young blood that was spilt and four tears of water to cleanse them of the sins the genin did in the life of a shinobi.
"On the Tenth of October thirteen years ago, Night fell over our beloved village of Konoha. It was then that the Kyuubi finally made it's way here and those brave men and women went to fight the demon to keep everyone else safe. They needed a miracle to survive. They got one."
Here Naruto paused in his story, but his friends were too enthralled by the story to comment on anything. A minute passed before Naruto started his story once more
"At the time, a man by the name of Namikaze Minato was not on the battlefield, but rather in the hospital. His wife, Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina was in labor and as much as it pained him, the man had to use his unborn child as a sacrifice. When the baby boy was finally born, Kushina smiled and died, the stress having been too much for her. Having no time to grieve for the loss of his wife, the man also known as the Yondaime Hokage, took his crying son and brought him to sealed room very close to where the battle was taking place.
"It pained the man to have to do this to his own son, but he did not have any other option. Using his own blood, man drew his experimental seal on the baby's stomach and lay him on a cushioned alter surrounded by six candles. Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Sannin, Sharingan no Kakashi, the Sandaime Hokage, and a little boy under the Sandaime's care by the name of Umino Iruka were the only ones there to witness the sealing and to make sure nothing went wrong.
"And so the Yondaime went out to the battlefield and summoned the Shinigami to seal the Kyuubi's soul and chakra within his son. The Shinigami agreed and took the Yondaime's soul as payment. But with then sealing was complete, the Death God decided that he need to remind people of what they really lost that night.
"So he made sure I remembered for everyone. By Nightfall on the Tenth of October I cry five thousand tears of blood for the people who died that night and five thousand tears of water to release their souls into redemption. I will cry through Nightfall on the Tenth till Nightfall on the Eleventh, as I cry tears not only for the dead, but also for those left behind as well.
"At Midnight on the Twelfth of October I will cry just two more sets of tears. The first set, I will cry one tear of blood for the Yondaime as he sacrificed his own life for those of others and one tear of water to give him strength as he battles for eternity in the Shinigami's stomach."
Naruto paused again and when he did not restart, Sakura was forced to ask her question.
"What about the last set?" She whispered, as anything louder would almost seem profane.
"The last set of tears I cry for myself. I cry one tear of blood for all that I would shed as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and I cry one tear of pure water for the innocence I never got to have.
"In a way, I cry the countdown to the anniversary of the Kyuubi. I don't know why the beast was summoned by that girl's blood, but I know there was someone pulling strings. I just do not know whom, maybe I never will. Until then, I will continue to cry for those who no longer can."
He fell silent, and his friends knew that the story was over. They didn't know how long they sat there and it wasn't until the telltale crunch of someone not trying to be sneaky reached their ears that ten of them spun around.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Tatsuda mocked. Falling in behind him was a large group of drunken men who were holding various weapons in their hands. "Looks like the Kyuubi-brat has some little friends."
Naruto's friends got into a fighting stance around him, knowing that Naruto would not be able to defend himself in his present condition. As for the Jinchuuriki, he had yet to move as the tears continued to fall.
"What's that boy? Too scared to look at us." Tatsuda walked towards the other end of the pool and his little group followed him, trying to surround Naruto.
The genin (and one Chuunin) got ready to attack, but Naruto held up his hand to stop them. They gave him a questioning glance, but agreed, and kept their hands on their kunai pouches just in case.
"I wouldn't recommend touching the water if I were you." The boy said quietly, but his friends could distinctly pick up a bit of the Naruto mischief they were so used to.
"Oh, you wouldn't would ya?" He laughed and his group laughed with him. "Then you wouldn't mind if we did just that." With that said, the entire "Anti-Kyuubi" group placed their hands in the water.
If you were to ask the remaining members of the Konoha 12 what exactly happened you would probably get an incredible amount of answers. The only real way to describe it would be that the bloody water itself came to life and pulled each of the screaming men in. Within moments the Konoha 11 was all that was left.
The shocked silence held until, Naruto spoke began to speak.
"I will not cry for them." He stated in a rough voice as if all the crying was starting to finally ware him down.
"Naruto," Neji began. "What was that?" The rest of the group turned to the blond expectantly.
"When I cry, I do not cry my own blood or my own tears. Each drop of blood and each drop of water belong completely to the people who died during the First Days of October. I am just a way for them live on and let their sacrifices be known. In a way, each drop carries a piece all of their souls." He paused. "The pool you see before you will never shrink or disappear. I have been coming to this spot every year during those first few days of October even before my first birthday. I don't know how I got here the first few times, but it was natural to do so. My first tear of blood started this pool and every year it grows bigger. This pool has a life of its own and you should remember that."
The group nodded in understanding. They wouldn't touch the pool.
"So, now what?" Kiba asked and looked at everyone.
"Now, you will return to Konoha, before anyone notices you're all gone." They saw Naruto's reflection smile. "I must remain here until the Thirteenth as the pool can get a bit finicky during the Twelfth when no more tears are added."
"But what about food?" Chouji exclaimed. No food was like a death sentence for an Akimichi.
"I do not require food or sleep during these days, don't worry."
"A-are you sure N-Naruto-k-kun?" Hinata implored and looked intently at her crush.
"I'm sure Hinata, thank you." Naruto's reflection seemed to gaze at each of them. "Thank you all for taking this so well."
"Tch, it's troublesome, but you're still you, just a bit more unique."
Naruto gave a small laugh. "Thanks. Don't worry about me, I'll be back to normal on the Thirteenth, okay?"
He got hesitant nods, but that was enough. After a few moments, Naruto was the only one left in the clearing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Naruto was right. By the Thirteenth of October, he was back to his loud, obnoxious, Hokage-obsessed self. It was so normal, that it made some of his friends question if the Tenth had been a dream, but no, sadly it was not.
Every year after though, the group would make a special trip to the Area on the Tenth of October, even after Naruto went off on his training trip. It was weird during those two years, but for those First Twelve Days, the boy would appear on that barren land before disappearing off to Jiraiya.
Even after he returned, the group would go and sit with Naruto in silence as he cried on the Tenth of October. Every other day, they would leave him be. And life went on as such, until all of them were finally gone many years later.
The pool was the only thing that remained of those First Days of October.
Well, it's not my greatest and it's slightly AU, but I'm happy with it. If you have any questions or requests, feel free to PM me.
Thank you for reading!
BYE!
~TimeMage0955