Sorry it took so long to get this up. But, here it is. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Just read the previous chapters. It says the same, or close to the same thing for each one. We do not own Naruto, the Miami Dolphins, Final Fantasy, Christmas, or anything else in here that owning would make the person extremely wealthy.

Chapter 10: A Few Days Later

Christmas was here. At least, it was the day before Christmas Eve. Kakashi was gone, having hitched a ride back to Kyle's. For Mandy, that was the ultimate Christmas gift. Now all she needed was a DS and this would be a perfect Christmas. Alas, she didn't get the DS, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

Naruto and Hinata had finally calmed down and were getting used to a world where they didn't have to worry about getting killed in the field.(1) They did have to worry about the impromptu snowball fight Samantha had dragged them all into, and Mandy had been forced to participate by her creation. The result was Mandy and Hinata's team being beaten by an almost literal landslide, due to Naruto and Samantha's team's fort being on the hill (and the fact that Naruto was getting a little TOO carried away with the snowballs, even making giant ones to roll down the hill at them). However, when it was all over and everyone was heading inside, it was Hinata who saw their visitor.

"Look." She pointed towards the forest behind them. For a second, Mandy and Samantha were afraid that the local Sasquatch had decided to pay a visit. The last time it (if it was really a Sasquatch and not a guy wearing fake feet) had been in the area, Mandy and her brother had been very young, in elementary and preschool respectively, and the footprints were right at the bottom of the very hill they were now playing on.

Thankfully, it wasn't Bigfoot. Mandy had handled inter-dimensional guests, but she didn't think she could handle a close encounter with a cryptid. It was a fox. That was all. Just a orange-brown fox in the trees, watching them from a safe distance.

"So pretty…" Mandy whispered as it calmly turned around and trotted back into the white forest. "That's the first time I've seen one here."

"You've never seen a wild fox?"

"From a distance." Mandy explained as they resumed trudging up the hill in the now knee-deep snow. "Me and my dad were heading out to meet mom at the mall, and it was in a field by the road."

"Oh." Naruto looked towards the forest. Nothing was there. So why did he still feel that they were being watched?

Later that night…

"What the hell IS that?!" Mandy wondered as she sat up in bed. It was the middle of the night, and it definitely wasn't a silent one. The dog was barking and howling, the cats were freaking out, and Naruto was yelling. Yep. This could almost be a normal night at her house, if Naruto and his friends weren't there. She stepped onto the floor and slammed open the door.

"What's got everybody worked up?" she asked her bleary eyed mother. Donna blinked sleepily before realized her daughter had just spoken to her.

"Something's outside…I think."

"No shit! Why is everyone freaking out?" Mandy snapped. Samantha interrupted when she charged in, followed by a grinning Keith.

"Guys! Guys, listen!" Everything seemed to stop for a moment. In the distance, a faint cry could be heard from the woods.

"What the hell is that?" Donna asked.

"It sounds like someone screaming." Mandy shuddered. "I'm gonna go get the baseball bat." She ran to her brother's door and- "Dammit! He locked it!"

"Go AWAY!" Brain shouted from inside his room. Mandy was really freaking out now. Samantha put a reassuring hand on her friends' shoulder.

"Dude, there's a fox outside!" she laughed. "I thought that noise sounded familiar."

"The cats are all inside, right?" Mandy asked, panicking.

"Yes." Keith interjected before she could get very far. Mandy was visibly relieved.

"Well, I'm going back to bed." She yawned and turned towards the door. "Hey, Naruto-nii. What's wrong?"

"Did you say that there's a fox outside?" the boy asked, and for a second, fear danced across his eyes like a man covered in flames. Mandy nodded.

"Yeaaahhhh…" she stifled a huge yawn and headed back towards her room. "Oh, and Naruto-nii? The foxes you're familiar with aren't native to this region."

"It's sad when spirits are driven out of existence." Samantha nodded. "I remember reading that fox spirits were once plentiful in Japan. Then the second World War came, and many of them seemed to vanish, driven deep into the mountains and to the remaining forests."

"…World War?" Naruto asked. Mandy nodded, and seeing that Hinata was now in the hallway, beckoned for her to join in the conversation.

"Shinobi aren't the only ones to go all out in cruelty in combat."

"Cruelty?"

"…You have no idea. The things people have done in war here are nothing to laugh at." Samantha spoke up, before adding "Can we not talk about this right now? I really want to get some sleep tonight."

"Okay." Naruto nodded and turned towards the door and walked into the hallway. However, he ended up going into Mandy's room. The girl in question was now laying on her back in the bed, with that damn cat stretched out at her side. He blinked as he realized that her room-was almost as bad as his was.

"Why are you in here?" Mandy asked. Naruto stepped back, and ran out of the room and down the hall, apparently bumping into Keith along the way, judging by her dad's cursing. She shook her head as she remembered the look on his face when he realized where he was. "The kid's still a kid." She told Seppy. The cat yawned and stretched, butting his head into her armpit. Mandy really wished she could be just as carefree. 'Man, Naruto-nii has absolutely no control over his life whatsoever. Then again, none of the characters do. Their lives are dictated by their creators, and the directors of the anime adaptations, and their pain is our entertainment. I don't want to be that way with Samantha. I don't want to control every aspect of her world. She's real. She's real. What am I gonna do? I can't just write to that Kishimoto guy and that Kanzaka guy and whoever created Getbackers and tell them that their characters are real. Hell, they probably already know that to an extent. Oh brother, the cat just farted.' She yawned, and winced. "God, cat!" she grumbled, pushing the limp cat out of her arm. "Get outta here!" Seppy ignored her. Hell, he probably hadn't even heard her. He just rolled over and stretched, yawning quietly. Mandy took this opportunity to pick up the cat and dump him on the floor. Within minutes, the cat was gone, and Mandy could hear Naruto loudly complaining in the living room (thankfully, not as loud as the last time) when Seppy began to bother him. She shook her head and tried to get to sleep.

'I wonder how the new Die Hard movie will be. Or that Transformers one. God, that one'll probably be a disaster. Hmm, I hope Tales from Earthsea gets released here sometime before 2009. Stupid Sci-Fi and their licensing issues.' It took a while, but Mandy finally got to sleep. Until Naruto barged in three hours later and dumped Seppy on her. Then she couldn't get back to sleep, so she just played Final Fantasy I&II. She had had to start a new game, since Kuchisake Kakashi had erased the 97 completed one she had. Damn ninjas, always ruining your stuff.

Later that day:

"That dog looks like Akamaru." This surprised Mandy, as A.) It was Hinata that had spoken, and B.) She hadn't stuttered. Mandy looked to the television screen, where Snoopy was dancing on Schroder's piano. She thought back to what Naruto manga she had read before asking the question that bubbled up out of the depths of her mind.

"Who's Akamaru?" She noted that Hinata's expression, the look that was best described by Jean Shepherd (They looked at me as though I had lobsters crawling out of my ears), to be exact

"Ki-Kiba-kun's dog."

"Kiba's that feral kid, right?" Mandy asked. "The one with face tattoos like Mononoke Hime?" Seeing the look on Hinata's face, she quickly added "It's a long story. You'll have to watch it later." 'Oh yes.' Her mind added, remembering Sasuke covered in strange markings. 'You'll all have to watch it later. It should teach you a lot, if you're willing to listen. I know you will, Hinata, but I'm not sure about the others.' Part of Mandy was relieved that they hadn't gotten to finish the Kill Bill movies. From what she had read up on Sasuke, she strongly suspected that he would have wanted to learn the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique just to kill his older brother and that group of Manson Family wanna-bees. 'A few weeks ago, I wouldn't have given a damn about these series. Now I'm actually worrying about their safety!' she mused as the family rushed about, getting ready for the Christmas Mass that night. This was definitely going to be interesting, since the characters would be coming along. Donna was chasing down Naruto to get some makeup on his face ("It has stealth value!" Mandy had shouted at the irritated boy. "Now let her put the damn stuff on already!")and Hinata would be wearing a pair of Mandy's old sunglasses, to hide the Hyuuga family bloodline. As useless as it now was, it still drew unneeded attention, and that was the last thing the characters needed. Mandy had heard horror stories from Kyle about Sakura beating someone up at the Mall in his city for commenting about her hair, and Venus had said that Orochimaru was behaving rather well, except for the time he scared the bejeezus out of her grandmother. Apparently, he had contented himself with skulking around Venus' family residence, and her family was finding it very hard to sleep at night. And Neji….well, Neji wasn't helping any, needless to say.

Christmas Eve, 4:00 PM.

St. Augustine Church

"I'm bored!" Naruto whisper-hissed to Mandy as he fidgeted in the pew. The family was sitting in the church, waiting for the grandparents to arrive for the Children's Mass. "Why the hell are we here?" A few heads turned and several people glared or stared at the boy, who thankfully was unrecognizable as Uzumaki Naruto thanks to the concealer on his face and the lack of the Konoha headband and orange jumpsuit (which was currently being washed).

"We're here because it's a tradition." Brian said, trying to stifle a laugh. "And it's the only time of the year that Dad goes to church-" ("Hey!") "and you need to blend in, kid."

"Kid?! I'm U-" Naruto's little snafu was interrupted by Samantha grabbing his collar and bringing him close to her face.

"Listen, kid," she whispered. "I'm trying to enjoy myself here, and it's hard for any of us to relax with you yapping like this. Now will you please shut up?" A few kids behind them cheered.

A Few Hours Later:

"So….why are we heading up to Sonata again?" Naruto asked from the back seat, where he was sitting between Samantha and Hinata, while Mandy sat in the front, and Brian was driving with a bored look on his face.

"We're going to Uncle Max's place for the party." Mandy explained as a Trans-Siberian CD played merrily in the back. "And, you'll get to meet the family. Dammit, Naruto, stop scratching your face! The makeup'll come off!"

"But it itches!" Naruto whined.

"It's not burning, is it?" Brian asked wearily. When Naruto answered that no, his face wasn't burning, Brian, Mandy, and Samantha were obviously relieved. The last thing they needed now (besides a horde of rabid fangirls) was for Naruto to have an allergic reaction to makeup, of all things! As they pulled down dreary Frank Avenue,-

"What the hell is that thing?" Samantha asked incredulously as they pulled into Uncle Max's driveway. It took a moment for everyone to realize just what she was talking about.

"…It's a… what is that?" Mandy asked, before she snorted. "It looks like a sperm!" she guffawed, now unable to breathe due to her laughter. Indeed, the strange object in their uncle's yard looked like a bizarre rocking, lit up sperm. Naruto, of course, had no idea what was so funny, while everyone else was laughing. It looked like one of the tomoe from a Sharingan, while Hinata was blushing as she remembered what a "sperm" was.

"It's a fricking dolphin." Brian remarked, and this only made the siblings laugh harder. Seeing the looks from the characters (very verbal looks), he explained. "Uncle Max likes the Miami Dolphins."

"The who?"

"The Miami Dolphins. They're a football team." Mandy explained.

"What's football?"

"….Remember what Grandpa Dennis was watching when we were all making cookies? That's football. It's like a second religion." Mandy frowned. "Speaking of which, I can't wait to see Rick. I wonder how his trip to Rome was."

Naruto remembered how Mandy and her family had been talking about this "cousin Rick" and how he had met someone they called "The Pope", someone of very high standing, a 'Kage of his own country, as Kitty had explained. Apparently, Mandy thought this new "Pope" looked like an old school bully, and preferred the old one. "He apologized for the atrocities that were the Crusades. Naruto-nii, imagine that the Hokage gave orders to convert the Oto-nin to Konoha-nin. And they refused. Imagine him then giving the order to eradicate each and every Otokagure citizen, down to the last child." Seeing the horrified look on Naruto and Hinata's faces, she continued. "See, while that sort of act is near impossible in these days, years ago, great horrors could be carried out in the name of religion and no one would bat an eye or do anything about it."

"Uh…Mandy, we're getting off topic." Kitty had explained. Mandy had agreed, and then changed the topic to lawnmowers.

" …" Naruto was silent as he was dragged from the car and into the house. Mandy was cheerfully introducing him as "Naru" to everyone else, and he smiled at everyone that he met. Hinata was now wearing some colored contacts that had been bought at the last minute, and was easily blending in. It was a relief, Mandy thought, to see her so…happy. She had done some more detailed research on the Hyuuga family, and was pleased to see that things would look up for Hinata soon. And for Naruto as well, well, in a sense.

"Naru has the worst luck." She said dryly to her uncle.

"How's that?"

"You can say that Fate dealt him a shitty hand." Donna smacked her daughter across the back of the head.

"There's children present!"

It had been a long night for everyone involved. Naruto was sleeping in the back of the car, his head lolled over on Samantha's shoulder. Hinata looked like she was going to fall asleep any second, and Mandy was still laughing about the men all getting drunk and singing "Feed The World".

"They kept playing the same damn CD over and over!" Mandy was ranting. "If I had to hear that damn 'Dominic the Christmas Donkey' song one more time, I'd have ended up hurting someone!" Brian ignored her. He had learned to tune her out a long time ago.

"I know what you mean." Samantha remarked. "Sometimes I feel the same way about my sister and her band." This caught Brian's interest.

"Your sister has a band?" he asked. Samantha did an awkward half-nod, and Naruto snapped awake, wearily blinking.

"Where am I?"

"You're back in the car on the way back to our house." Brian answered, before discussing music and guitars with Samantha. Naruto, meanwhile, was asking Hinata what she had thought of the O'Reilly family.

"That Uncle Max is awesome! Did you see all the "foot-ball" stuff? How about that "San-Ta" guy? Don't you think he looks a little like Jiraiya? I don't understand why people let some strange old guy in their houses while they sleep."

Notes.

1.However, there had been the time that Naruto booby-trapped Grandma Lois' front porch after seeing a stranger on there. The mailman was scarred for life when a bunch of smokebombs went off and he had fallen off the porch in the ensuing chaos. Mr. Johnson declined to press charges after Mandy explained that Mingren(2) had grown up in a war zone in Cambodia, and was determined to protect himself and his adoptive family. However, it was noted later that the man tended to avoid the house unless he was met at the porch.

2. Mingren is the name Naruto was given in the Chinese version of the first Naruto movie. Our advice, dont watch anything downloaded by someone else if you have no idea who the characters are. Its really confusing. Especially if the subtitles are translated from Japanese to Chinese to English.

Please. As always leave a review by pressing the bluish purplish button just below. We like reading opinions. Especially honest ones.