Because I've been enthralled by the idea of Halloween this year, I decided to write a special for you all to tide you over! I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year :o so there won't be much in November from me! I'll be posting my novel on my devART / Wattpad pages so you can follow it there, if you'd like! I'm also more than half-way through my next chap (24) of SC so you CAN expect that soon! I promise! *grin* Also, I ask that you take this chapter with the necessary pinch of salt and accept the artistic licence with the fact that the times of year haven't correlated very well! My bad, about that (:O I just wanted to include Halloween so badly! ^_^)
Oh and you'll find a small glossary for the most obscure Japanese words I've used at the bottom of this chapter! :3
Storm Cloud – Halloween Special – Tricks and Treats
Kakashi's bad day was getting worse and worse. He was on his way back from a single-day solo – a rarity, to be sure, but it was an utter hell of a mission…it had been to escort an older, rich father and his three children to Tanzaku Gai so that the 'business man' could make a transaction without fear that his competitors wouldn't use the opportunity of his bodyguards being away to try and attack him or his children. So, over the course of eighteen and a half hours, Kakashi had been the subject of both intense argument among the three children, and later, the object of their immature mischievousness…and of course, with the next day being Halloween (a Western holiday that had very strongly caught on in Fire in the past few years) the children were convinced Kakashi had a number of jutsus devoted to scaring them.
Well, he did, but he doubted he'd be able to get away with terrifying the children of an important figure in Fire so badly, they'd never want to so much as hear about another ninja again. Shame, they were really asking for it, though.
Still, the Copy Nin breathed a near audible sigh of relief as he dropped down, out of the tree line and onto the pathway which lead him in through Konoha's main gate; the air had been unusually warm over the past day or so, and that had meant that a thick layer of fog had settled itself into the fairly low lying area of Konoha. Kakashi wasn't much romanced by the idea of Halloween, but even he had to admit that the weather had very nice timing.
Someone had even gone to the trouble (probably the ghoulishly-crazy Nara clan) of placing lanterns up in the eyes of the monuments to make they seem more like conscious spectors than inert testaments. So too had there been placed around the trees throughout the hidden village small, though exquisitely crafted paper lanterns in the shapes of cutsey-miniature Kadoma – they perfectly depicting the little tree-spirits curious to observe the holiday so specially reserved for spirits and ghosts of every sort.
Kakashi ambled through the already-bustling village – despite it being only about half-past seven in the morning, there were still plenty of people organising the daily markets and produce for sale (the Copy Nin even spied a sutra or two, slapped upon a few doors, in anticipation of some less-than-welcome 'visitors'). Just as he rounded the corner, to head onto the next street, a yelp of surprise drew his attention and caused him to face into a nasty gust of cold air; upon seeing only children playing, he subtly tensed his muscles a little in an effort to warm up – he too quickened his pace to get to the Hokage office. The quicker he found himself at his house (thankfully away from the centre of Konoha, and thus any prank-crazy children), with a pot of hot tea and his own peace and quiet, the far, far better.
Just as Kakashi allowed the door of the building's main entrance to swing, gently closed behind him, he came face to face with one of the many 'admin-residents' who were mostly civilian, but permanently employed to help organise all of the paperwork involved in mobilising and recording the movements of a village's shinobi. One of these staffers was Tsubaki – a beautiful woman by any man's standards, but she was also a woman who was very aware of herself and had no shame in using her 'feminine charms' to get whatever she wanted.
Apparently for the special occasion of the day, she was dressed in a skin-tight, short black dress, decorated little orange silhouette motifs of spiders, pumpkins and cobwebs. The neckline dipped so low, Kakashi guessed that her bellybutton might soon be at risk of peeking out (not daring himself to give too much thought to the gravity defying disks of material holding in her ample chest). Apparently she was one who thoroughly subscribed to the 'holiday'.
"Oh! Kakashi-san! How lovely to see you again," Her voice was sweet, if a little high-pitched and her eyes strangely lingered over his hair. Strange.
"Tsubaki-san," He greeted politely, as she leaned over the edge of the desk slightly, resting her chin on her up-turned palms;
"What are you doing here?"
"Just back from a mission, reporting into Tsunade-sama,"
"Ahh…it wasn't too taxing for your mighty skills, I trust?" He merely blinked at the cheap compliment, deciding it was time to move on, he wandered away, with a half-hearted wave out of politeness, ignoring the woman's pout – it might work on others, but not Kakashi. The halls were well decorated in the building, too, many paper ghosts, onryuu and gremlins were dotted around…remarkable how a few whispers of the supernatural brought out the child in everybody.
"Kakashi-san?" The slightly wary voice of Shizune was the next to draw his consideration, she too gave him a thorough looking over and apparently had to reign in a smile, "I didn't realise you were a fan of this holiday,"
"I'm not," He rebutted, almost instinctively, his confusion now drawing into a definitive (and damn-near flashing) question-mark within him,
"…Oh, oh," She smirked, "Well, never mind, Tsunade-sama should have just finished a meeting by now, if you hurry, you can catch her with a free moment," Kakashi eyed his old age-mate carefully, but brushed aside her comment, she might have a cheeky streak in her, but Shizune was among the least vindictive women he knew;
"Thanks,"
"Will I see you at the party tonight?"
"Probably not," He saw no reason to embellish his predicable answer…why was she even asking?
"Really? It will be a lot of fun – a masquerade ball, you know – no one will even know it's you," The Copy Nin resisted the urge to roll his eyes,
"Shizune-san…"
"Alright, alright, it's only your choice, but it would be nice to have you more included in the village's festivities, especially since you're now living outside the walls," He nodded in understanding, but gave no further answer – it was such an old argument.
…
There were days when Kakashi wondered why he'd moved back into his father's old house, so far outside of Konoha, but it always came rushing back to him as soon as he slid his front door home and took in the feel of his own house. This feeling was amplified whenever he stepped under his (recently supped-up) power shower and allowed the droplets of hot water to beat the fatigue from his muscles.
His clothes had been surprisingly damp when he'd peeled them off, the hours of running through fog must have gotten to them more than he'd realised; though it made him all the more glad to get under the hot water and allow it to chase the chill from his bones. He scrubbed carefully at his body to rid himself of the sweat and fatigue of the mission, though as he washed his hair, he noticed rather a lot of black appearing in the water at his feet – his silver quiff must really have been grubby, he supposed – perhaps that was what was earning him so many funny looks.
Before long the water temperature began to flag, and rather than waste it all, he hopped out and immediately dried the worst of the moisture from himself with a towel, before securing it around his waist and, using the second towel that had dried his hair, to wipe the steam from the mirror. Shock was a rare thing for Kakashi to experience, but whenever it occurred, it was never a pleasant sensation to enjoy – as he swiped the steam from the mirror, his reflection was revealed to him – as well as an…addition.
The tip of Kakashi's hair had been dyed orange and black. As though someone had held him upside down and dunked him, alternately in pots of orange and black paint. After staring for a moment or two in astonishment he turned around and re-flicked on the shower head. Unfortunately, for an increasingly frustrated shinobi, the dye would simply not wash out. After some seven sessions of lather, rinse, repeat, he could stand no more and was forced to resign himself to his new hair-style. Some of the streaks, though narrow, ran down right down to his roots, so cutting out of the dyed hair wasn't an option.
Kami help him if he ever found the unfortunate soul that had chosen to do this to him. They would wish they'd never been born!
After another few minutes of grumbling and cursing under his breath whilst scowling at the dye-job, he unfolded his arms from across his bare chest and tried to ignore it, instead busying himself with another job – shaving. He could feel his chin-ful of silvery stubble catching on the fabric of his mask and it had been driving him crazy all through the mission; he lathered his face and fetched a kunai.
He'd tried to use the new-fangled razors imported into Konoha, but found that he simply couldn't get a shave close enough (it was Gai, in fact who'd tried to convince him of the 'hip new technology' after stumbling across his friend, face covered in foam and a kunai at his cheek. The Green Beast had, of course, laughed himself silly at the image, before asking if Kakashi, too, still considered leeches a viable form of medicine; a then young Copy Nin had been duly unimpressed and promptly banished Gai from ever visiting him at his apartment. The Beast had, of course, ignored this, but even so, Kakashi had not changed his shaving habits.)
As Kakashi stood in front of the mirror, he was greeted by the image of his father – a man of remarkable class and composure – and someone only Kakashi had ever really seen at his most human. He struggled to bring the memory into full focus, but the longer he focussed on it, the more he dredged; it had been a few weeks after the fateful mission, and Sakumo had allowed his personal hygiene to waste. A young Kakashi, desperate to fix what he didn't fully understand, tried to convince his father to shave again and he'd dragged the man as far as the bathroom. The eldest Hatake's beard had grown long – into one any sorcerer would be proud of – but the long tasselled strands of wiry hair had aged the man terribly, never before had Sakumo looked so tired.
A five year-old Kakashi hadn't fully acknowledge or understood the feeling then, but as matured, he realised his fear back then had been of the instinctive understanding that he was really going to lose his father. A sudden crash outside, on his garden engawa forced Kakashi from his reminiscing and he jerked sharply, the edge of the blade dragged painfully across his jaw and he drew blood. He cursed under his breath – the great Copy Nin – cutting himself shaving! Pathetic. He quickly grabbed a few sheets of toilet paper and pressed it to the stinging wound, stemming the flow of blood as he dropped his kunai, and moved out to discover what had caused the noise – he still had enough shaving foam over the lower half of his face that he wasn't worried about any undue exposure.
Sliding back the shōji, he looked out his garden, expecting to find some folly intruder of one sort or another – and indeed he found one, many in fact, though there were certainly of the least threatening nature he'd ever encountered. Dotted around his small, ornamental garden in the centre of his house, were tens of Kadoma lanterns.
"What…the…" Kakashi stared near blankly at all of the little lantern-figurines that were peeking out from the vegetation, back at him like a crèche of cheeky children; the still thick fog and cool breeze of air had Kakashi sigh a short breath of irritation before turning back to go and dress himself before investigating more thoroughly. Much to an already disgruntled shinobi, a visitor to his hallway ceiling drew his eye – a large and unmistakable cobweb was strung between the inverse pyramid of the top corner. Kakashi scowled at it and moved on to his bedroom (after speedily finishing his shaving), fetching out a fresh uniform and mask and returned to begin clearing up his garden.
Before he could turn to his task, however, there was a knock at his door and he was compelled to answer it – though not before noticing three, three further, but separate cobwebs in other corners of his house. What cur was playing these games with him? He jerked open his door to face a Naruto and Sakura, both of whose expressions morphed very quickly from passive expectancy to incredulous disbelief;
"What?" He demanded, not sure he wanted to hear their…remarks upon his hair;
"Kakashi," Sakura began, a touch tentatively, "What's with your mask?"
"Eh?" Naruto, apparently unable to resist any longer nearly burst with his laughter,
"Hahah, Kakashi! I didn't realise you like Halloween so much! That mask is so cool!" Kakashi stared blankly at the two for a moment before turning on his heel and marching back towards his bathroom, closely followed by his two former students – and, as though the mirror was a mocking curse, he saw his reflection – and his mask, instead of being a solid issue-black colour, had large patches of while material – in the outline of facial bone structure…making him look like a skeleton from the eyes down – and with an appropriately ghastly blood stain where he'd earlier cut his chin.
"Hahah, Kakashi, you've never taken this interest in Halloween before…what's changed?" Naruto asked in his typically gleeful timbre;
"…I think I have a poltergeist…"
His two former students had inflicted themselves upon him – and in true Naruto style – Kakashi had simply been unable to refuse their demands to come in and drink tea with him. Admittedly it had been well over two weeks since he'd set eyes on them (they'd both been away on respective missions). Once they were all-too-comfortably settled in his kitchen and Naruto had happily got the chattering about his latest mission out of his system, the topic of conversation had (inevitably, Kakashi thought contritely) turned to the subject of the Halloween dance that was being hosted that evening for any and all shinobi of Konoha. The silver-haired Jounin thought the entire idea somewhat preposterous – what would be the point of a masquerade ball among ninjas?
"You're missing the point," Sakura explained somewhat exasperatedly, "No one will choose to employ their skills because that's what makes it fun…I for one am actually looking forward to an evening of not irrefutably knowing who it is right next to me," Her voice and manner was utterly casual, but something about her words struck Kakashi's attention – that was a bonus, wasn't it? He'd have the opportunity to be near her…stop! Don't be such an idiot! The Copy Nin knew very well that he had no business even supposing that Sakura might want to explore a little further what was happening between them – it had been months since their last 'encounter' and discussions between them had been avoided to say the least.
Was Kakashi alone in his desire to take things further? To possibly push their boundaries a little further? Or had it been a one off that Sakura had tried once and decided she wanted no more of? Kakashi shook his head – he was tying himself into knots when it came to Sakura and their kiss, everything about it just threw him. She, too, was a master of keeping her thoughts close to her chest and the (formerly) silver-haired Jounin couldn't read between the lines of her passive, but engaged facial expression – Kakashi had to admit, he'd never before realised just how frustrating it was to have an opponent who could duck and weave away from his analysis quicker than he could form it.
"Yea, c'mon Kakashi! It wouldn't be any fun without you and no one even needs to know it's you!"
"Then how will you know that I'm there to have fun?" Kakashi rebutted casually lifting a fresh pot of tea to the small chabudai between them,
"What he means, Kakashi," Sakura interrupted before Naruto could get his own offended rebuttal out, "Is that you never join us for any social gatherings, yea we can drag you out to the bar ever now and then, but we'd actually like to celebrate a proper holiday with you," Finished Sakura, rather eloquently, (and Naruto threw in a marginally less eloquent, "Yea!" by means of support). The two shinobi locked eyes for a few moments and Kakashi's tongue, apparently, had decided to slip,
"Why do you want me there so badly?" It was a perfectly innocent question under the circumstances, but between the two nin the subtext was a great dragon in the room – Kakashi instinctively knew that the question he'd asked was a good deal more…sensitive than, thankfully, Naruto might notice, but it had not passed Sakura by. The kuniochi hesitated in her answer as her mouth gaped slightly, but before she could find the right words, a sharp rap at the door had Kakashi roll his eyes – was he destined to get no peace on this blasted day?
This time it was Gai at the door. And he'd brought his gleaming teeth and raised thumbs with him.
"My rival! How are you on this fine day?" The Green Beast, upon fully taking note of the shinobi in front of him, amended his opening sentence, "Uh…what are you wearing? And why have you died your hair?" Kakashi merely issued a short, but suitably irritated breath before turning his back in a silent allowance for Gai to follow – by now the Copy Nin had stopped even trying to deal with Gai at the door.
"Naruto-kun! Sakura-san! My heart is warmed to see you again!" Gai spoke as he entered the kitchen and took a seat, "What are you both doing here?"
"Just for tea…and to convince Kakashi to come to the party tonight,"
"Oh yes! The Halloween party! …Oh! Sakura-san, you must forgive me!" The inherent sense of flamboyancy returned with a vengeance;
"What?"
"I accidentally saw you in the costume shop!" Sakura's previously relaxed eyebrows slowly rose,
"Gai, what are you talking about?"
"When you were trying on your dress, and you stepped out of the changing room, I happened to be walking past…I'm so sorry!"
"Haha, it's okay – it's just a costume, there's no need to worry about it," She shrugged nonchalantly as Gai's 'tears of sorrow' immediately dried up and were replaced by a grin;
"Oh I'm so relieved! And may I say, Sakura-san, that the dress you have chosen is most beautiful! You will surely be the most stunning kuniochi at the party!" Sakura coughed lightly as a slight blush rose to her cheeks,
"There's…there's no need for that, Gai,"
"What's her dress like? What's it like?" Naruto queried greedily, as Kakashi remained silent, doing his very best to make it seem as though his interest hadn't been piqued,
"Oh no! I will not breathe a word of it to anyone! But you will be pleasantly surprised, I think! Oh ho ho!"
"Aww!"
"Oh shut it, Naruto, have you even found a costume yet?" Kakashi took the opportunity to rise to his feet and wander away whilst the two youngest shinobi squabbled, as soon as the haunted nin was out of the door Gai sprang into action, he whipped a weird mass of white thread from his pocket and opened one of Kakashi's cupboards.
"Gai? What are you doing?"
"Shh! I think my rival has too little fun in his life, don't you think?" The Azure Beast's grin was maniacal and really quite infectious,
"…So you're the reason Kakashi looks like he fell into a pot of paint?"
"Hahaha! It suits him, don't you think?" Naruto grinned and nodded with his usual enthusiasm,
"How on earth did you manage it?" Gai, finished stringing more cobwebs around the place and quickly sat back down, whipping his cup into his hand in a seamless transition out of the mischievousness – and just in time, for Kakashi reappeared with a slight frown on his face, as he look up to the ceiling above the frame of the door,
"I don't know where the hell these things keep coming from, but…" He reached up to try and grab the pesky cobweb, but it suddenly twitched as though it could tell it was about to be wrested from its spot and dodged out of the way. Kakashi, aware he was being watched looked back down to find all three of his guests faces looking thoroughly confused. He left the cobweb be for a moment whilst he decided to throw out a far more irritating 'addition' to his house.
"Alright, all of you leave me alone…don't you all have a 'party' to prepare for?" Naruto couldn't quite resist a laugh – it was the closest any of them had come to seeing Kakashi pout;
"Haha – you won't even need a costume at this rate Kakashi! You already look like a phantom!" Kakashi's frown – although often a scary prospect – fitted right in with his current sense of dress, and only elicited more laughter from the trio of troublesome guests; Kakashi merely raised his arm and pointed sharply at the door. The three filed out, Sakura last and as Kakashi was finally left to his own devices, he was only left with the lingering voice of Sakura,
"See you later, Kakashi."
…
The great Copy Nin, easily swayed by none, could not believe that he'd actually turned up. Damn how that kuniochi affected him. He couldn't help but feel himself still ill at ease with the fact he wasn't wearing his normal mask. His face was covered, to be sure, and so was his hair, but he just couldn't seem to help shake the paranoia that it was glaringly obvious that it was Hatake Kakashi beneath the cloak of his character Urashima Tarō - a character from classic Japanese folklore.
The Copy Nin wore a dark wig and a loose cloth over the bottom of his face (combined with a small henge, to change his eyes) completing the image of his traditionally garbed body. Kakashi wove himself through the crowd, feeling somewhat aimless, he didn't know how to being looking for Sakura – though a larger part of him was terrified by the very idea that she was his only reason for attending. As his eyes drifted from person to person, he saw many different outfits and costumes – some poor in both imagination and effort as well as how well they disguised the person beneath – and others, which he really had no idea who was hiding behind the façade.
It didn't take long for Kakashi to find himself in an empty spot of the well-decorated room, close to the wall, where there were numerous chairs lined as well as a few tables dotted with snacks. Kakashi immediately spotted a lone figure sat alone on the chairs – it might have been against the rules of the night, but Kakashi opened his chakra a little, to sense the party-goers own and smiled a little as he realised it was the kuniochi he was in search of.
He held his distance for a few moments, taking in the simple elegance of her dress, it was long –down to her ankles and was predominantly a crimson colour, though was tempered by flashes of black and silver detail. Her head was almost entirely covered by a mask, it covered her eyes and top of her head, with great tendrils of feathers that reached down to her mid back, effectively covering her hair.
The only bit of her that was showing, were her cheeks, chin and neck – the top of the dress high, but of a netted material. Sexy, but tasteful. He stepped forward, not taking long to gain her attention, but someone else had also stepped up to her, Kakashi – engulfed in the power of his new mask – didn't give it a second thought to slap a hand on his shoulder and give him a slight push. The signal to move on couldn't have been mistaken, but even so the lesser man hesitated, apparently irritated that the kuniochi never seemed to remain unattended for long.
It was more exhilarating than Kakashi might have imagined as he took hold of Sakura's hand and led her further into the crowd; for all of the bustle and confusion of the crowd, it was all too easy to focus solely on the woman in front of him. Her still-green eyes peered out from the sharp, golden edges of the mask, making her eyes seem huge and all seeing; but it was precisely because of that mask, that made it so easy to pretend the night had no repercussions.
As soon as he'd found an adequate space, he tugged suddenly on the hand that was connected to hers and she found herself suddenly close enough that his other arm had curled around her waist, and his face merely inches from hers. Neither shinobi was entirely sure what it was about the situation, but they were layered in a world of their own, closed by the crowd and hidden in the thumping music – it was only the space they needed as Kakashi continually stepped forward, or the left and right, trying to keep close to the kuniochi who was continually pulling away from him. Whether it was intentional or not, it was an unbelievable tease of a dance – just as Kakashi got close enough to press his body flush to hers, she'd pull back, and maintain the inch-or-so's distance between them.
The Copy Nin, normally a well restrained man, had been tested by the day's frustrations and pranks – and the playful weaving of the kuniochi in his arms wasn't easily tolerated; the adrenaline and arousal coursing through him had the man ignore everything else – including the mischievous spirit in the corner of the room flicking his hands together and casting a jutsu that had a roughly human shape, created out of mist. It flew specially over to its short-fused target and – just as the victim had leaned forward, intent on pressing his lips to those of his partner's – the ghostly apparition got itself exactly in the way and 'danced' (or at least, wiggled) an irritating sort of jig between the two shinobi.
Kakashi couldn't reign in the barked growl from his throat as he let go of Sakura's hand enough to swipe his fist through the 'ghost', just as it dissipated into nothing, his hand immediately returned to Sakura and tugged her around, spinning them 180 degrees. He would not be denied this time. Sakura was equally prepared and as he pushed his chin forward, her hand jumped up to pull aside the cloth and, despite the flash of concern that his face would be seen, he was rewarded with the sweet taste of Sakura's lips on his own.
He'd found himself enjoying the kiss they'd shared in and alley some months previous, but it was nothing compared to the feeling unrestricted by cloth, she was a fiery a kisser as she was a shinobi, her lips demanded as much as he could give, and all the while pleading for more by pulling the last of his attention far from his surroundings and only onto the woman in his arms. Stolen kisses through masks just didn't cut it anymore, not with how this one sent great spurs of electricity chasing through his veins. Neither would waiting so long for another be possible- unfortunately for Kakashi, just as the day had cursed him with poor timing and bad jokes, the Copy Nin's attention was forced from its current resting place and onto the swiftly approaching target.
A great mannequin flew towards them, skimming the top of the crowd and Kakashi was forced to let go of Sakura to bring his arms up to block the strike aimed for him; the figurine collided with the steel-like forearms of the Copy Ninja and ricocheted backwards – in the same instant, however Sakura had slipped away into the crowd – though it wasn't easy to tell if this was due to embarrassment or perhaps she'd just come to her senses, but it was the final straw for Kakashi.
Before he'd even fully registered his frustration and anger at the day from both heaven and hell, his hands flicked together and span through the seals for a complex genjutsu; he opened his sharingan eye (which dispelled the small henge over it, to make it seems as though his eye was open and of a more natural hue). As he finished casting the jutsu, every person in the room was caught under the monstrous jutsu which had them believe a gigantic and thoroughly enraged baku, his great, striped legs were plonked throughout the crowd – each one of its tiger-like talons were as long as a man's leg. Its great tapir-like trunk reared up and it let out a great, though foul roar – its rage a direct reflection of that which its creator felt.
The crowd was a mix of screams, gasps and , 'oohs' – as it was, ironically the perfect complement to a night of Hallow'd fun; the great beast being the divine creature sent to eat bad dreams and dark things. Kakashi himself swiftly left the scene, as his adrenaline died, it was replaced only with disappointment that his partner had left him and he had, potentially, some nasty broken pieces to pick up tomorrow…amid the lingering loneliness.
Unbeknownst to Kakashi, Sakura paused as soon as she was out in the cool night air, she pushed her mask from her head and rubbed an hand over her face – to her silent observer, her concern and remorse at the swift end to the 'festivities' was obvious as she lightly (and thoughtfully) chewed on her lip. He let out his classic sparkly grin as the kuniochi darted away, only just missing her admirer, himself who left by the same egress moments later, his own disappointment and thwarted satisfaction equally as obvious. Gai, who was beginning to feel sorry for his opponent after all the day's trickery, had been amazed to witness the interaction between him and his former student – Sakura had indeed become a beautiful young woman, but he had not anticipated Kakashi to be the one to give such youthful chase.
As the silver shinobi darted away into the night Gai couldn't keep the grin off his face – take heart, rival, you day has been far more successful than you might think!
..
.
Kadoma – They are depicted in many ways, but according to Japanese mythology, they are 'tree-spirits' who may be seen as protectors of the trees or merely just dwellers. There is no consistent agreement on what Kadoma look like, but an example of one form would be the little bobble-headed fellows in Princess Mononoke (damn I love that film! ^_^)
Urashima Tarō – Japanese folklore tale – a young man rescues a turtle from torture by children and sets it free back to the ocean, later he told that small turtle he saved was the daughter of the Emperor of the Sea, and is called to go down to the palace of the Dragon God. Here he fidns the small turtle he rescued is a beautiful princess called Otohime. After three days he requests to go home – the Dragon agrees and Otoshime, sad he's leaving, gives him a box (a tamatebako) but warns him not to open it. He returns to the surface and finds 300 years have passed, in despair he opens the box and suddenly grows long white hair, loses his teeth and his back bends, from the sea a sad, sweet voice calls, "I told you not to open the box, for it contains your old age,"
Baku – a mythical beast with (according to some) the body a bear, the head of an elephant (or a tapir), the legs/feet of a tiger, the tail of an ox and the eyes of a rhinoceros; these animals reportedly eat bad dreams – though according to some, they also eat all types of dreams, not just nightmares!