He was dreaming, he realized. In the midst of burning people alive. He was dreaming, in the midst of swallowing humans whole. Dreaming, as he pierced his parent's chests, reveled in his final piece of revenge. Locked away away-
He was dreaming. As he apotheosized in the purification of fire and wind, cleansing vile creatures from the sins of their putrid existences. Feeding of the strength of their chakra, a tickling of his throat. The world shook underneath the grandness of his being. Bacchanal in the glory of his strength, the feast of their fear, their screams, their blood.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
-tails
The village burned in fire, in wind, in water, in earth, in lightning.
His howls caused earthquakes, a flick of his tails blew mountains away, a breath caused tsunamis.
Naruto woke up, and his screaming, his choked tears, body curled into itself,
the plea to just please stop no more please no please stop-
Was blown away by the winds of the dark forest night. Silence.
"My tiny little kiddies, no classes for today!" Mizuki-sensei bellowed, hands spread as if he were imparting the word of God, eyes glazed over as always. The sight made slightly more frightening by his bloodied visage. Sakura made sure to keep her eye on a glowering, even more blood-drenched Naruto, his arms folded over themselves, her idiot friend would pick a fight with Mizuki-sensei at the slightest provocation. Especially after that training exercise. The entire classroom stunk of coagulated blood, the only sound being their harshened breaths and the occasional whining of the Inuzuka dogs. She thought Sarutobi Mando actually may be unconscious.
A monotonous voice harkened for Mizuki-sensei's attention from behind her head, dark sunglasses glinting in the face of the spilling sunlight. Aburame's were quite the odd bunch. The idea that they were carrying bugs in their bodies still freaked her out, goosebumps gathering on her bloodied flesh at the thought.
"Why are our classes canceled Mizuki-sensei? Will we be permitted to relocate into our homes to refreshen ourselves in such a case?" Aburame Chiyome mumbled from behind her raised collar, head tilting at an angle. Bugs visibly buzzing over the bloodied spots on her clothing, Sakura narrowed her eyes, Aburame were difficult to read, but she thought the rigidity in her stance indicated either discomfort or anger. All of them had lived in the apartments on school grounds for weeks now, after all. Mizuki-sensei's broadening smile, white teeth juxtaposed by his pink gums, was all the answer required. She rubbed her bruised arms and looked away, trying not to think of her Mama all alone.
Surreptitiously glancing over the room, the three Nara in the class were all sleeping close to their future Clan leader, Shikamaru Nara's brows drawn uncomfortably close. All of their small, fragile hands close to form a jutsu at a moment's notice.
To the upper right corner, the five Uchiha of the class were playfully mocking one of the Clan head's sons, Uchiha Sasuke, for furiously scrubbing at his arms to try and get the blood off. His haunted black eyes scrubbing relentlessly, ignoring everything around him. Everyone in the class looked like some combination of discomforted or severely upset. Three days in the forest had traumatized them all for life, she didn't think she could look at a slug without screaming ever again.
There were tear tracks etched to her face, a shaking in her limbs she couldn't will away. The slick sensation of bear organs coating her skin, stomach fluids and regurgitated food her companions through a night of hiding from Sensei. She had been one of many to fail the test.
The only one to remain his cheery, unbothered self-was Naru-kun, yawning from his seated position, but other than that pleased and as energetic as always. Her inherited tick mark brimming under the surface at the mere sight of his ease. He hadn't been bothered by the hell they'd lived through at all.
"As I said, you get the day off kiddies, now get out of here. Yeah, you're allowed to clean off. Return to your barracks." Mizuki-sensei muttered gruffly, losing interest in the class at the sight of their unamusing reactions. Most of them shaking from where they were seated. She averted her eyes as the class filed out, the loud whining of suddenly awoken Nara, buzzing Aburame and the crunching of a couple Akimichi a stampeding force.
Naru-kun turned toward her excitedly, a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. Unbothered by the copious amounts of stinking blood stuck to his hair, the muddied red of it oddly suit him.
"Ne, ne Sakura-chan! I came up with a plan where we-" she flinched back, hand on her kunai-pack as Naru-kun was grabbed by the scruff of his kimono, flailing as he was lifted off the ground by Mizuki-sensei's hard-handed grip. Attempting to kick their sadistically smiling Sensei as he was playfully wiggled around mid-air.
"Jinchuuriki-sama," Mizuki-sensei drawled mockingly, too close to Naru-kun's face to be comfortable. Naru's tantrum imminent by sight of his nine-tailed shadows violently swooping across the room. She stiffly jumped over a desk to the left as one tail came too close, they were shadows, but that didn't make them any less creepy.
"You, on the other hand, can't escape from your training. And lucky, lucky you! You even get new teachers of the ANBU variation!" Naru-kun's body stilled entirely at that tidbit, making eye-contact with her. Their nonverbal communication wasn't the best, so she only stared back questioningly. Guessing this to do with his imprisoned older brother, guarded by ANBU and imprisoned somewhere. (The brother who was also an S-rank ninja! One of the 48 known ones of the Shinobi world! She'd nearly broken a chair in excitement upon that revelation.)
"They're waiting outside, now get out." Mizuki-sensei sniped long-sufferingly, his usual mixture of mocking sarcasm and underlying hostility as prevalent as always. He threw Naru-kun out the door one-handed, her friend comedically skidding face first before bellowing a quick goodbye and running away excitedly, torn skin healing in seconds.
Mizuki-sensei was a very tall adult, Sakura realized belatedly as he stared down at her dispassionately. Her neck still stiff from almost getting pummeled by a bear, flashing memories of the fierce whiplash and stress that had caused her to leave a trail of vomit through the air as she flailingly tree-jumped to safety in the dead of night. She still had crusted vomit on her shirt.
"And you get to meet the Sandaime Hokage-sama face to face! Aren't you excited? He's a bit curious about how you punched the head off a grown bear, you see, you see."
And so she was torn into a whirlwind, body thrown over Mizuki-sensei's shoulders. And unceremoniously thrown into a waiting room of some kind, butt smarting from the impact.
Naruto skidded across the halls with a bubbling joy inside his chest. Barely restraining himself from shouting in excitement and hope. Crusty, stale kimono slowing him down slightly as he dodged past students, equipment and the odd assortment of traps littered across the hallways. He had felt Bird-san only yesterday, only yesterday! As the man skulked around the edges of the Kurama Clan compound, his Nii-san's friend would help them meet, he totally would! Naruto twisted and flipped over Iruka-sensei's grumpy visage, the man shouting at him long-sufferingly as he hurled himself to the exit. Green leaves and fresh air enveloping his lungs. The morning Konoha sky matching his eyes.
"Hey, civilians aren't allowed on Main Konohas's Academy grounds!" a childish voice yelled out. Naruto skidded to a stop, dust raised behind him, in curiosity. The Academy grounds were usually so dull, he grinned at the prospect of joining a good fight.
Uchiha Itachi, the young prodigious 5th classer, was smiling benignly toward two civilian boys, a bright bruise on his face. Two old enough to almost be adults, with dulled eyes and what smelled like, he wrinkled his nose, enough alcohol to stink halfway across the schoolyard. But they felt very sad, shaking hands grasping on to their baseball bats, shifty eyes, sadness swept up in a heady mess of anger, resentment, hatred hatred hatred. He could never muster up the will to fight people who didn't wanna, not really.
Glancing around surreptitiously, arms now folded behind his back, most of the on break students were standing there staring in confusion and slight disgust. Ninja children didn't interact much with civilian ones. He could feel the horror, scary, help, no, of two women running toward them from up the road. Their gut-wrenching dread and the heaviness of their panicked steps resounding from afar. Why was everyone so tense? It was only a bruise, a weak one at that. Uchiha were just pale enough to bruise easily.
The only thing he had time to properly process after that was the sight of Mizuki-sensei's bloodcurdling smile and two mothers protectively embracing their children, on their knees, white-faced and pleading-
And then the world spun in the familiar sensation of a forced shunshin, he came face to face with Bird-san's masked visage.
Naruto's grin was bright enough to rival the sun.