Nighttime Terrors

I don't own Naruto. As you can probably tell, I'm very much in the holiday spirit. Symbolism is used a lot in this one. To be honest, I don't know why I cast Sai as Naruto's most loyal helper. I blame it on how the character is in the series.

The night began again. A raven flew to the top of the monument in the village, on top of the head of the Yondaime Hokage, heading towards its master.

"What have you found?" the blond with red eyes asked as it landed on his forearm, "What was in the village?"

"There are some with a trace of the legends in them," the raven responded, "A werewolf, a vampire, a goblin, and many others. I though I even saw a horse-rider in one."

"Very good," the blond said with a manic grin, "You know what you must do. I release your form. Now is the time for us all to return."

With the blond's last words, the raven flew off of his arm and landed in front of him, taking the shape of a pale, black-haired boy in a cloak of black feathers, who knelt before the blond and said, "Thank you, my lord. I will break the seals."

"Good," the blond said to his familiar, "Also, send my thanks to the spirit that summoned me."

"It was no spirit, my lord," the boy said, "'Twas a witch unaware who released you."

"Really?" the demon contemplated, "You will take me to her once you have broken the seals."

"Yes, my lord," the boy said, transforming into a cross between his current form and his raven form. He then flew away. He had a task to do, after all. These mortals would be in for a surprise soon enough.

The familiar flew to the nearest house. Inside the abandoned blacksmith shop, a girl was sleeping in a torn armchair, having long ago made this place her home after the owner had died of old age. The raven creature entered the building, careful to avoid the iron as he moved to land on the bannister made of wood from an elder tree. Reaching down toward the brunette, he grabbed at the air just below her sleeping head. A complicated seal appeared at her throat, all along the base of her neck. A simple tap to the center using a splinter of elder, and she was freed from her bonds. Now, he need only find her horse.

Looking around, he found nothing that could be the horse until he was struck by his stupidity. A rider of her kind would never be far from her horse when the night claimed the world. Nodding his head, he stabbed the needle directly into the armchair, transforming it into a black steed worthy of its rider. As for the sword, the familiar was certain she would have no trouble locating one here, and so he flew off to his next destination.


The next house held several people bound to dogs, but only the son of the alpha held any importance for the familiar, as his was the generation that held what was necessary. A simple seal was revealed on his forehead when the familiar pulled the seal out of it's hiding place. A wolf's fang hanging off the top of the bed was grabbed by the raven creature and pressed against the seal, dispelling it immediately, though it would not affect him at the moment. The moon wasn't right for him. Yet.

The pink haired girl was sleeping in her room when the familiar entered soundlessly. She was not a restful sleeper, as the familiar noticed. She had been turning onto her sides the entire time he had been there. Perhaps she could feel her true form. Leaving the subject to later ruminations, he pulled the seal out from between her shoulder blades. Taking a willow leaf, he brushed the entire seal, erasing it. Looking around, he was pleased to see there was no silver or iron in her room, and the handle of her door was made of copper, so she would not be harmed. With that settled, he left, heading for his next destination.

The familiar continued his route. The blonde girl had been interesting, as the familiar had not expected her to be awake. She had, of course, deduced his purpose and extended her wrist. The familiar unsealed her with a cedar stalk and left. The bug user had been released with cypress, with the familiar leaving the sleeping boy's room quickly, not wanting to see what would happen when his colony noticed they had no flesh to rest in, only bones. He had, of course, left the scythe, though he believed the boys hooded jacket would suit in place of the cloak.

The green clad boy was easy to locate, though the familiar had to search the room for a glove of some kind to unbind him with the iron needed. Once he had accomplished his goal, he tossed the merciless metal away from himself and quickly removed the glove, tossing it with the metal. He didn't need to see the goblin's form just yet.

The pale eyed boy was easier, as he only needed to pull out both that seal from his chest and the seal attached to his forehead. Really, that second seal shouldn't have been there anyway, and the familiar did not think that a golem should have a seal like that on its forehead. He had to skip the next room for the moment, but he would return later.

When Sai found the black haired boy with no one around, he found himself somewhat amused as he pulled out the sharpened cherry twig and dragged it along the boy's jugular, where his seal was displayed. Once he had settled that matter, the pale boy closed the thick curtains and covered the boy completely. The familiar knew that the sun only weakened a vampire, but prolonged exposure could kill him, and his lord master would be displeased by that.

The one with the pineapple hair, he pressed the lead spike against the seal on the chest of. He immediately left the room as soon as that happened. No one would want to be in a room when a draugr woke. The large one, he pressed the gold coin against the seal on his stomach, releasing the troll. The draugr could be the one to deal with him.

There was one last stop for the familiar before he had to bring his lord master to give the witch unaware his compliments for her aid. With that, the familiar headed to the Kurama estate.


"What are you doing here?" the girl in question inquired, placing her paintbrush down, "Who are you?"

"I am called Sai," the familiar responded, taking on his more human appearance, "I am the familiar to my lord master. I am here to free you of a seal that has been given to you before you were born."

"What?" she asked. This was an odd week for her. First, Kurenai sealed off her power and Ido, now this boy arrives, telling her about seals and lord masters.

"It would be easier if I started at the beginning," Sai responded, "There was a village, years ago, called The Village Hidden in the Night. This village was ruled by nine demons, who ruled over all manners of creatures: Ghosts, goblins, witches, and the like. Now, the nine were bound to this land, and the land was bound to them. Eventually, however, the nine demons were attacked by several powerful humans, who banished them from this realm, never to return. The vampires were the first to fall after that. The seals these humans designed bound us to different forms, keeping our kind trapped while they created a village over this one, Konoha, they called it. Unfortunately for our kind, we had no method of defending our lands from this, as they had the seals each time we attempted to escape, and without the demon lords, we were incapable of retaliating as they bound our kind and erased memories of all that had occurred. We were made to be them, and the power slowly left, leaving only one in several generations to have the power sealed off inside them, with the rest having nothing.

"Recently, however, my lord master was freed by a witch who is not truly aware of her power. This evening, my lord master returned and freed me from my eternity as a raven, and he has had me removing the seals since I informed him that this generation is the one with our kind. You are on my list for the unsealing."

"Will it hurt?" she asked, reaching for her paint and brushes, her sole comfort since she had her other forcibly blocked off from her.

"I do not know if it will or not," he admitted gently, taking a brush made of cedar out of her hand, "I will not lie, but I do not believe it will. It should only free you from this form and release what was taken from you."

Yakumo's eyes widened at the idea of having Ido back, so she said, "I'll do it."

Sai pulled the seal out, getting it out of her chest. Turning the brush so that the bristles faced him, he drew the brush down the center of the seal, breaking it. Yakumo immediately began to become translucent. Once she was capable of been seen through to an extent, a smile bloomed across her face. She could hear Ido again. Grinning from ear to ear, she said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It was my pleasure," Sai responded, "Now, I'm afraid I must leave for now. My master has business elsewhere. Enjoy your freedom, Yakumo Kurama."


"How did it go?" the blond asked, "Did you succeed?"

"Yes, my lord," Sai responded, "All that is left is for you to meet the witch unaware and we can have her unsealed."

"Very good, Sai," the blond said, "Were there any complications?"

"The shinobi Hatake Kakashi was wandering where he should not have been, my lord," Sai admitted, "I had to redirect him. He will wake up and be very confused as to why he's tied up in the house of the kunoichi Anko Mitarashi."

"I knew you had a sense of humor, Sai," the blond said cheerfully, patting the familiar on the back, "Are you ready to meet the witch?"

"Yes, my lord," Sai responded. taking flight in his hybrid form while his lord master followed below at the same speed.

Hinata Hyuuga was sitting in her room, reading a book that had been gathering dust in the family library. It was titled The Book of Witchcraft, and she had grabbed it because it seemed to call to her. The text was so small and covered each of the large pages that she had only finished reading the first spell in the book, titled Return of the Nine. She had read it quietly out loud to herself unconsciously, and then moved onto the next page.

Suddenly, the lights in her room went out, only to return with a handsome whiskered blond dressed in orange armor now sitting in front of her, a raven on his extended forearm.

"Hello, Ms. Hinata Hyuuga," the blond said, staring at her with his red eyes with black slitted pupils, "I am here to thank you for freeing me with that spell, as well as unseal what you really are."

"What?" Hinata asked, confused by this strange boy.

Suddenly, to her surprise, the bird leapt off of his arm and transformed into a boy in a black feathered cloak, who said, "You reading of that book activated some of your latent power, which summoned him, and he has had me unseal everyone with a magical nature inside them."

"And with that, I release your magic," the blond said, pointing at Hinata. Then much to her surprise, she felt better than she'd ever felt in her life. She felt this mysterious power flowing through her, making her feel strangely giddy.

"What did you do?" she asked breathlessly.

"I've only freed you," he responded, heading off to her balcony, "Now, Witch Hinata Hyuuga, I must step outside for a moment."

"What is he doing now?" she asked the raven boy, before adding, "And what are your names?"

"My lord is merely bringing the sky back to the way it should be," Sai said, "This village will have eternal night once more. As for my name, I am called Sai, so that will suffice."

"And who is he?" she asked, pointing at the blond who was still facing the sky.

"My name is Lord Naruto Uzumaki," he responded, "I am the Nine Tailed Demon Fox and the master of the Village Hidden in the Night. Now, would you mind giving me your assistance?"

"What do you need me to do?" she inquired, very interested in this blond and what he had planned.

"I'm going to need you to repeat the spell you used eight more times," he admitted, "If we're going to return this village to the proud state it once was, then we will need the rest of the founders to reclaim it."