Chapter 28: Why wolves never throw Halloween parties.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or other characters of said manga.
Now as we last left off Naruto and his friends were getting ready to have a Christmas party, but one thing that I never did tell you about was Halloween or thanksgiving. Now due to the fact that only few people can give a crap or two about Thanksgiving, I'm not going to tell about that story unless it is absolutely demanded of me by over ten people. Right now I will give you the story of what went on during the crazy time of Halloween and give you the explanation to a question I was asked by a reader on what Shenlong's favorite holiday is. I hope that this will give you exactly the answer you are looking for.
Now then getting into the story
Naruto and friends were all seated around the table enjoying the breakfast that was in front of them as their get together to celebrate the birthday of Anko, who was born on the twenty fourth of October. It was something that was required because she was not only the wife of one of the top jonins of Konoha, but she was also one of the top Jonins in Konoha and the only one that was as feared as ibiki was. It was customary for the group to celebrate each other's birthdays with a birthday breakfast and a birthday dinner that would be very much like a party. Gaara was visiting on business for a meeting to discuss recent issues and as always he was accompanied by Shenlong, who was never in a different country without his wife by his side. This was not only something made mandatory by him, but also by the elders of Suna who saw Yuki as the holder of his leash.
"Well then it is good to see that you two are getting along better," said Naruto as he looked at Shenlong and his father both talking to each other casually without the air of tension that once settled over the two.
"I buried the past so there is no longer any misgivings between the two of us," replied Shenlong as he sipped his coffee and then looked at the paper while his wife pulled out a package and placed it right beside him.
"Oh is that the preset you two got for Anko," asked Naruto as he grabbed the package only to have his hand hit with a wooden spoon. "Ow, that didn't break the skin or really do that much damage but ow."
"That's for Shenlong, I had a hard time finding him a birthday present," scolded Yuki as she began to tap her hand with the wooden spoon.
"Which reminds me, we have to have these two decide on where they want their birthday to be," said Gaara as he looked at the two, while most of the table stared in shock at Shenlong.
"Today is Shenlong's birthday," gasped Keiji as he had never known when Shenlong celebrated his birthday.
"Shenlong has a birthday," gasped Kiba, who had never known that Shenlong even celebrated a birthday. The rest of the party just turned to look at Kiba, who had only begun to realize what he had just said and started to blush.
"Now that we've had our daily dose of stupid, yes it is my birthday today," said Shenlong as he started to write in the crossword puzzle. "Thank you dear."
Just at that moment Tsunade burst into the room, her breath was very labored, indicating that she may have had to run a long distance and her clothes were slightly ruffled which was a dangerous game with her chest size and shirt. There was a paper still stuck to her forehead, probably got attached there from her sleeping on her desk so they could tell that she had urgency. Her eyes were dead locked onto Shenlong, which caused the group to all turn their eyes once more to the mysterious and sometimes stoic wolf ninja. Whatever she needed him for was probably the equivalent of sending someone to Ibiki, there was nothing good that could happen to anyone who participated in his games. Actually the exception was for people who paid for the game, but Shenlong was often a wild card in the deck.
"How would you like to be in charge of the Halloween festivities in Konoha," asked Tsunade as soon as the H left her mouth, Temari and Kankuro broke out into violent tremors. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"You'll have to forgive them, I have some horror to my own name," replied Shenlong with a bit of a grin on his face, the grin that would send shivers down even Orochimaru's spine. "You do realize that the Elders are bound to be pissed off if they don't get a heart attack from the events that I have planned in this twisted mind of mine."
"They apparently didn't like the last one, said it wasn't scary enough, well now I'll show those old farts what's scary," declared Tsunade as she smashed her fist into the table, causing those with pancakes (CHouji, Naruto, Kiba, Shino, and Sai) to be hit with a plate full of pancakes. "Whoops sorry about that I seemed to have forgotten my own strength…anyways I need you to put together a Halloween celebration so terrifying that no one will ever come to me complaining about that."
"Um…Tsunade…I'm Hokage," said Naruto as he started to wipe his face off. "Why would you be concerning yourself with what the Elders have problems with?"
"Someone didn't teach you everything about the politics did they," replied Tsunade as she started to sit back. "I've been stuck with that duty for so long ever since Kurenai got knocked up and all I hear is this complaining from the men about how women can't scare right. This is the last time I do this and I want to scare those sexist bastards to a heart attack."
"Oh you have just got to do it Shenlong," cried Sakura as she banged her fist on the table and sent the pancakes back up to give their owners another syrupy kiss. "I guess I've got that power problem too….anyway you have just got to do it to scare those men and then let a woman be known for throwing the most horrifying Halloween celebration in Konoha."
"Yeah do it for women," cheered every woman at the table.
"Sorry, not enough incentive," said Shenlong before Yuki leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Okay then I'll do it, but I need complete cooperation from everyone I decide I want to be a part of it and the ability to do whatever I want to do. This will be confined to one place; I'm thinking a place with a history of violence like the Uchiha mansion or Keiji's mansion. Then I'll need a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis."
"What the hell is that," asked Tsunade as she eyed weirdly like Shenlong had just sprouted alien antenna from his head with cute little butterfly wings on his back.
"The Book of Dead Names, containing the names of the Old Ones and a means to bring them back," replied Shenlong as he started to wash his plate with something very odd impressed into his pants. "It's been written many ways, including being bound by human flesh and inked in blood."
"Do you think we even carry that in the library," asked Tsunade as she slapped her forehead. "Oh, gee, where would I find this book, maybe in the kid section?"
"I guess I can use my copy but be noted that I'm taking it out of its protective case," said Shenlong as he started to walk out the door with a mysterious furry thing poking out of his left pant leg.
"Does anyone know what that is or do we even want to know," asked Naruto as he looked at it.
The days passed by with anticipation for the most elaborately made haunted house in the history of a hidden village and few people even knew every single detail with a secrecy being kept that would make any Hokage envious. Anyone who worked on the project only did partial things and wasn't involved in full production leaving that work to Shenlong who was about as silent about the project as a corpse is to the weather. Even the people who didn't get into scary things were curious about the haunted house because of the talk that was spreading around town as well as the sometimes strange objects that would pass through the town to the Uchiha Mansion. To add onto the mystery was the dwindling appearance of Shenlong who now seemed to have more oddities about his appearance with the inclusion of a fedora hat that he wore at all times. Every time when his wife was asked about she would reply that he was planning to reveal it when the time for Halloween came.
It was a cold and windy day when it came with a strange cloudy sky that cast gloom and dread all over Konoha, the perfect Halloween night to unveil a new haunted house on. Even jounin from the other hidden villages had come with the exception of the Rock nation that refused to go as long as Minato was there. Naruto was ready at the long crimson ribbon that was in front of the door way with the eager Tsunade right next to him as well as his wife on the other side. The only person to not show up was Shenlong himself, who had not been seen the whole day, presumably to keep the mystery of his big reveal to everyone. It was getting to be 6:00 P.M. when he finally arrived dressed in a very odd fashion of only a black vest and pants, but even odder was the fluffy tail that was behind him and the cute wolf ears on him. The shades had been removed to show off his red wolf eyes to everyone as he started to get up to the podium to address everyone.
"For years it has always been that wolves would only be observers in Halloween, but never would we be performers," spoke Shenlong in a loud barking voice that seemed to give people tremors. "This haunted house that stands behind me will make everything you have seen before look like a kiddy carnival and you will all see horror as you have never imagined before being displayed in this place. As a predator I pull no punches and this house will reflect that as I consider every last person who enters this place to be my prey. Instead of telling you the process and how hard it was to make something of this magnitude I will instead let this speak for itself. Before I let the Hokage cut the rope, I'd like to recite a piece from the Necronomicon:
'That is dead which can eternal lie,
And with many strange aeons even death may die.'"
He then turned around to give Naruto a look to cut the rope and then proceeded to walk into the haunted house as Naruto proceeded to follow with Tsunade. As they entered the home they noticed that the doors proceeded to shut behind them and their host was nowhere to be found, leaving them stuck in the entry room that had an oppressive cold air to it that felt like the icy breath of a corpse. Immediately there was the presence of something sinister, something that felt like the presence of chaos, death, destruction, pain, suffering, and bleeding. Naruto was the first to walk further to find that as soon as he stepped into the other room he found that he was staring at a strange chamber room made of an odd black marble that had a strange feel from it, a sensation that made him feel uncomfortable. Then he started to hear a series of wet footsteps on the stone that were coming closer to him prompting him to go into defensive mode until he could see that there were wet footprints on the marble.
In fear, Naruto ran back only to find that the way was not there anymore as he saw that a tentacle was shooting out as he tried to struggle to get away. Even more shocking was that he noticed that something was moving out of a body of water, a very dreadful squid head with multiple feelers peering out. Naruto lashed out, but he found that even his power was no match for the many tentacles that were grabbing his arm and legs to drag him into the water with the creature that grabbed him.
TO BE CONTINUED
