Naruto's Peacetime Carol
A "Naruto" and "A Christmas Carol" Story
Arranged by blukmage19
»-Line Break-«
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction basically focused in the Winter Holiday Season.
Note that Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas doesn't really exist in the Ninja World, but they have their version of the season known as "Peacetime" and "All Souls Day" - the time where in the few weeks of the year where all the soldiers in the known world must cease wars, battles, and fighting with each other and other nations and must spend time with family and dear friends during the cold winter.
However, not everybody is into the festive season.
This is the story about one of those unfortunate people.
Tags: Alternate!Timeline , No!Bijuu, Stronger/Resourceful/Solitary!Naruto, Neglect!Story, Alternate!Christmas!Story
»-Line Break-«
Stave 1
Naruto's Peacetime Crisis / A Trip to the Past
§
[Winter in Konohagakure]
About every person in Konohagakure and the known Ninja World liked Peacetime a lot, but 16 year old Naruto, no given last name, did not. He lived just north of Konoha, in the reaches of The Forest of Death (Training Ground 44), in one of Orochimaru's abandoned bases.
Most of his young life is nothing but misery, misery, utter misery. Sure, Naruto worked hard to become one of Konoha's soldiers and budgeting his funds and has an apartment where the front door is hidden behind the sign, but what's a guy to do? He has no known living relatives, most of his classmates in his class weren't very close (let alone being very friendly) to him, and the majority of people simply wanted no business with the nobody and avoided him like the Plague.
Naruto had just recently made Genin after "failing" 3 times, due the teachers' rigged tests. He has a thirst for knowledge, but the libraries kicked him out. (Naruto isn't allowed and was immediately banned from them, and they let those with pets inside. So completely unfair, says Naruto.)
He tried to keep a good, steady diet, fit for the Ninja Life, but the markets and restaurants gave him the "boot" or were selling him rotten food. So he had to resort to stealing, farming in his secret garden hidden in the base, create some homemade butter and cheese from the sheep, goat, or cow's milk (with success), and hunt for food for sustenance and warmth. And when he tried to get clothing and necessary tools, the shops wouldn't let him gain admittance whatsoever, so he also resorted to wearing secondhand clothing (beg, borrow, and/or steal) and take weapons dropped or left behind by anything that crossed his path.
Speaking of the village, the ninja soldiers and the locals kept bullying Naruto to the breaking point, even the interrogators from T&I tried to torture him and threw him in jail to make him slip his tongue for his "crimes", but the young man is proud and stood his ground, even when he hasn't have the high end.
And when Naruto was supposed to have birthday parties or being invited to one, the children just attacked him like he was a fly, called him awful names, ruined his gifts that he bought with his hard-earned Ryo. But when some people tried to find Naruto either to comfort or torment him, depending on the person, Naruto was hiding himself too good for anybody to be found.
The current Hokagé, Hiruzen Sarutobi, tried to make his people explain about Naruto's situation, but he has his hands tied by the 3 councils - the Civilian Council (who acted like they're running the circus), the Ninja Council (who were bribed to keep a blind eye), and the Elder Council (who were in cahoots with the Civilian Council). They have treated Naruto with such contempt and are the main reason why the young man is so miserable. Why, they even "taxed" the heart and soul out of Naruto, making him hate his fellow citizens so much and became a solitary lone wolf - - or rather the lone fox.
The only people Naruto trusted are his 14 year old close friend and fellow Genin Hinata Hyuga (who graduated with Naruto; they first met during the Kumo kidnapping incident (Naruto was 5, Hinata turned 3 at the time); however, her father and the Hyuga clan councilmen despised her boy-friend), Anko Mitarashi (his older sister figure and the first person that really gained his trust), an older friend named Itachi Uchiha (who is often away during undercover missions after most of the Uchiha's clansmen were killed during the revolt), and Tsunade Senju (his mother-figure) and Shizune (another older sister-figure) who stood by the no-named boy for who he really is. And the 5 people treated Naruto like he's the only kind of family he has.
However, Naruto still couldn't seem to get to trust other people because years ago, he once trusted his teacher Iruka, but the latter's ignorances led to even more of Naruto's problems and the Chunin paid the price with his life by Mizuki and his betrayal, to which the latter also got himself killed; the Jonin teacher Kakashi for not giving enough attention to his student's problem and favoring Itachi's younger brother Sasuke, who is also another problem; his kunoichi comrade, Sakura Haruno, for always shooting off her mouth and hurting him for something that he did or didn't do; Jiraiya, the Sage of Toads, for keeping him in the dark and wasting his student's hard-earned Ryo; but most importantly was Hiruzen, because the old coot is the main problem for letting the poor boy down with his pitiful politics and not fixing the outrageous injustice in the village that accosted him too much to nearly get himself killed due to the village's sins of false testimonies, scapegoating, the councilmen letting them make laws and break them anytime they pleased and writing wrongful laws that were set against Naruto (and possibly even others with extreme prejudice).
-PC-
[Present Time]
It was a few days before the holiday known as the 12 Days of Peace, a less than 2-week event where the Daimyo and the Kagé agreed to let all wars and battles be ceased during the period; no questions, "ifs", "ands", or "buts". Just a momentary ceasefire.
Naruto had just returned from a mission from a neighboring Village and shopped for a few gifts along the way.
He found a scarf that was knitted that was stowed from one of the boxes that Tsunade found in the storage room. It also has some belongings and a letter from what appeared to be from his deceased parents. He wears the scarf and found some notes on how to make a do-it-yourself scarf with the tools and materials. (Naruto happens to be a good tailor from his side jobs.) So, he went to his apartment and summoned a double to help knit a good length to look good on Hinata while he (the original) went out on some errands. The double finished it as quickly as a flash and wrapped it in a package and also wrapped the other gifts for his close friends and put them into a fireproof box in a hidden cubbyhole so that nobody, but he, would find it.
Naruto is hoping that nothing would try and spoil everything as he went to a good store that somehow warmed up and let him buy at an honest price to find some sparkling juice and some fixings for the upcoming holiday, along with his daily provisions. He likes ramen once in a while, but the boy wanted something else to tempt the palate and also some refreshments for himself and the guests.
But while he and his doubles were carrying the groceries and some gifts for the orphans, the parentless, and the poor people, Naruto was singing a ditty of "Go for a Soda" when he was confronted by the really idiotic villagers and the usual group of ninja, comprised of Genin and Chunin tormentors, as one of the ringleaders declared, "There's no use running away, Baké-kitsuné! Your time for peace is running out and we'll be free of the curse!"
Naruto (the original) looked at the mob carrying weapons and anything not secured and let out a disappointed sigh and said with his fingers clenching the sacks, "You're being such fools, you idiots. Won't you ever learn about picking on a cornered fox? This so-called curse is nothing but a case of bad karma and poor judgment. Seems to me that you didn't learn your lesson in pain. How about we try again?"
"You will not, Baké-kitsuné!" another member of the rabble yelled and the crowd agreeingly shouted, "We just set your house on fire and there's nothing you can do about it! For the glory of the 4th Hokagé!"
That was the last straw. They not only were attempting to burn his house down but they also tried to take anybody else in their foolish ideals. He also worried that other people might be inside, particularly Hinata who worries about him. So Naruto declared, "That does it! Multi Shadow Doubles! Cha-a-arge!"
And he summons his doubles to fight their way out and to check his apartment. The ninja threw out their kunai and shuriken to try to slow Naruto down, but the severe numbers of the doubles and the agility of avoiding the darts, overwhelmed the mobsters as they ran to their destination.
By the time Naruto made his way there, the mob was right, his house was set on fire. What's worse is that Naruto and his remaining doubles hear voices from inside the burning building. They dropped whatever sacks they're carrying, removed their scarves, and used the cold water buckets (brrr, chilly) and dared to find anybody that needed rescuing. So far they found some trapped people and scared young children and carried them out into the clear. The original Naruto found Hinata in his apartment who got her leg stuck from the falling, burning timber. He used what strength he has and managed to move the helpless girl and carried her out of the burning apartment.
"*pant* Are… are you alright, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he checked her health.
"I'm okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered and winced in pain, "*Nnph* It's my leg. It must've been broken when the beam landed on me."
"You've been looking for me?"
"Mm-hmm," she worriedly said after she was glad that her boyfriend was safe.
After taking a breather from all the experience, the mob is approaching Naruto and the injured Hinata (with Naruto's scarf on to keep her warm) while Anko, Itachi, Tsunade, and Shizune arrived just in time to help with now homeless boy who is worn out mentally from summoning Shadow Doubles so much.
The ringleader of the mob said, "It's over, monster! Your house is burned down by your fire-starting and we have the proof to tell the Hokagé!"
Naruto briefed Itachi and Anko to take his recording device hidden in his pen, the hidden fireproof box, and the security cameras that caught real perpetrators who started the fire. Then he turned to the mob and declared, "You're just wasting your time, because this is supposed to be Peacetime where we are sharing the joy of helping others, not making everybody miserable from such troublemaking behavior, ya know!"
"Not if the ANBU has to say about this!" the ringleader shot back and the ANBU (some who were bribed by the Civilian Council) surrounded Naruto and dragged him to solitary confinement in the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility; no trial, no judge, and no Hokagé to see if any contradictions were pointed out, and Hiruzen was none the wiser about the situation.
Tsunade is absolutely furious at the way this village is going. So she requested an audience with the Daimyo of the Fire Region to hear about what is really going on behind the village's back. But right now, she and Shizune tend to Hinata's broken leg and hope to see that Hiashi (Hinata's father) doesn't go and brand her out of anger. So they and Itachi took Hinata with them on their pilgrimage to the Daimyo.
And when Anko noticed the sacks near where Naruto dropped them, she found that he (or rather one of his doubles) have a message written out in a few pages about what really happened and that most of the gifts in the box are for the unfortunate children and the sacks are food and drinks for the upcoming party at his house. The note also told them that the writer has a hidden base deep inside the Forest of Death where he keeps important things inside of Orochimaru's former bases which is actually his real humble abode.
To the 5 people, something has got to give about why Naruto is often becoming the scapegoat for the crimes.
-PC-
[Konoha Strict Correctional Facility, Solitary Confinement]
Naruto is bound with a straitjacket and his ankles are in iron shackles. The jail cell is a very tight 3x3x10 foot area, no TV, running water/toilet, and he still has a headache from all the doubles' information scrambling into his brain. And while he was resting, he began to dream.
›-Section Break-‹
-PC-
[Dream Plane]
Naruto finds himself in a world unlike his own. A crowded and smoky location where it's nothing but tall, 3-story buildings and what looked like the middle of winter but he doesn't know the exact date. The city looked like it can hardly tell whether it's day or night because of the smoke coming from the chimneys.
So he looked for a place to keep warm and to take inventory of his wares before moving on.
And as Naruto was walking along in his travelling Ninja wardrobe, a winter cape, staff, his trusty sandogasa straw hat, and carrying an oversized pack, the people were staring at what they called him a foreigner from the Orient.
Naruto came to a business where the sign is covered in snow. He used his walking staff to knock the snow off to find that is was read, M*****& Scrooge - Lending Firm.
Some person named Marley has his name crossed out for some reason. But as he was about to enter he heard the sound of an older man yelling, "Are you out of one's gourd? You know I can't eat that stuff at your house! Take that wreath, nephew, and out with you. Out, out, out!"
The door opened and the older man kicked the younger man out of the door and slammed it.
"Bah! Humbug."
But after a few awkward moments, the older man hears a knock on the door and he sees a taller man (from his perspective) wearing outlandish clothing, a straw hat, and holding a pack, while carrying a wreath in his hand and said in Japanese, "Ojamashimasu," and dusted off the snow from his shoes and clothing, removed his hat, and hang the wreath on the doornail.
The older man asked Naruto, "What was it that you said, man?"
Naruto replied, "It means, "Pardon the intrusion" in my native tongue, Mister…?"
"Scrooge. Ebenezer Scrooge," the older man grumpily introduced, "The pitiful man that works with me is Bob Cratchit."
"How do you do, sir," Bob greeted the guest. Naruto formally bowed, proving to them that he's not from London or even in the British Isles.
Then Naruto greeted, "Call me Naruto, a wanderer. More of a pilgrim, mind you. Say, who was that person that you just kicked out?"
"That would be young master Fred, Scrooge's late sister's son," Bob answered, "He's been trying to keep his uncle's spirits up, ever since he got a business of his own."
"Indubitably," Naruto remarked, "As you can see, I've been travelling westbound throughout the world on foot, a few wagons, and by boat for the last 5 years, just to find me a place to settle and I seemed to have lost track of the time and date. Can you tell me what time it is and the day?"
"It's the 24th of December, 1843. Christmas Eve, sir," Bob chirped, "It should be around 3:00 in the afternoon."
"Cratchit, you need not be a clockwatcher!" Scrooge rebuked, "Now get back to work or I have to dock your already miserable salary!"
"Yes, sir," Bob replied as he returned to his desk with ink and quill on paper.
"Now, be reasonable, sir," Naruto said to Ebenezer, "I'm sure that your clerk is as hard-working as you are in this cold, miserable winter. And by the by, do you know who is the current monarch of this country?"
Both men were practically in the dark about their current ruler of their home country in the British Isles. So Naruto said, "I don't blame you for not keeping up with the times. In case you've forgotten, this is an era where no king is ruling your native country when His former Majesty, King William IV passed away some years ago, just shy of his 7th year. The person ruling now is the former king's niece. Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, of the House of Hanover was her name, I presume?"
The men were astonished by the foreigner's knowledge, but Scrooge cleared his throat and he and Bob resumed working.
They don't have anything to keep count like an abacus and they don't have pencils and erasers to correct things and come up with ideas. But the real problem is that Ebenezer being, well, a scrooge for not keeping his building as "warm" as it should be, whether it's business or caring about his workers, or the stove is not burning enough heat as it ought to be.
So, Naruto dropped his pack to re-sort what he carried with him and readjusts his pocket watch. From his inventory, he has his tent, his cooking utensils, his saké (for cooking and cleaning purposes), his spices and salt, his funds from all over the world, his bow and arrows for hunting, some large kunai for digging, his ninjato for protection, and his banjo (for playing and entertainment) and tuned his strings to make it work like a song. Both men were rather curious about what the foreigner's occupation might be.
Then Bob suggested, "You know, Mr. Scrooge, since today is Christmas Eve, I would suppose that you would let me have a day off because... you know…"
Ebenezer grumbled in his own thoughts, but decided to give in and said, "Oh, all right. But you'll be docked a day's wage."
Naruto then remembered the sign at the establishment as he lit up a candlestick of his own from his lantern with a small Fire Art and asked, "Say, Scrooge-san, I am curious to know what happened to a person named Marley?"
"Jacob Marley was my business partner until he died 7 years ago on this very night before Christmas," the old grump replied, "He missed that first step leaving my house and met his untimely end. Jacob was later buried… at sea."
"Then my humblest sympathies towards his former life, Scrooge-san."
"'-san", Mr. Naruto?" Bob curiously asked.
"It's an androgynous term that means Mister or Miss in my language, Cratchit-san," Naruto replied.
And while Naruto was sorting, two men knocked on the door before entering to make a different kind of business, after they tipped their hats in greeting towards the men before turning to Ebenezer, "Scrooge and Marley, I presume?" the first man asked, "Are we addressing to a Mr. Scrooge or a Mr. Marley?"
"Marley-san has been deceased for some time and Scrooge-san seemed to forget to change the sign," Naruto explained, "I'm just temporarily staying before I hit the road again."
"Bah!" Ebenezer grumpily exclaimed before hearing what the two visitors have to say to him, "At this festive season of the year, sir, we have come here to endeavor a raising of a fund to help the less fortunate, the widows, and orphans with some food and someplace to keep warm."
"It's also for the poor," the second man said.
"But what about the prisons and the labor camps?" Ebenezer questioned.
"Yes, we do help those in need."
"And what about the tubercular wards and the insane asylums? If you give it to the poor and the unfortunate, you would be out of the business, am I wrong?"
The two men were speechless in Ebenezer's logical question before the proprietor "kindly" sent the two men out the door before slamming it shut.
And Naruto is not really happy with the old man's habits (or lack of generosity). So he gave Bob a bag containing some lumps of coal, some homemade matchsticks, and another small sack (which is actually some British Pounds from bartering) and whispered, "Don't tell nor show this to anybody yet. Consider this a gift. It's not blackmail nor it's a loan."
"But Mr. Naruto…" Bob tried to reason with the foreigner's generosity but Naruto said, "Keep it. You'll need it for your family more than I do and I have no family to call my own. You have a wife and 6 children, right?"
"That's right."
"And your oldest is a daughter of marriageable age, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes, that was Martha. She recently turned 16. There's also Belinda, Peter, Agatha, Paul, and my youngest boy."
"Yes, your youngest son; recently suffering from polio and the rickets?"
"Yes, but how did you know about Tiny Tim?"
"Oh, I have my ways of gathering information. Back in my homeland, bad information is worse than no information at all, so good information - whether it's great or not-so-great - are vital to one's life and safety."
And Naruto packed his belongings and put on his hat and bid a good day to Bob before turning to Scrooge, "You know, Scrooge-san, If you weren't so… well… "scroogy", being such a complete miser, it wouldn't hurt to think over your own actions that involve the root of all evil. Your wanting will become the end of you and anybody else caught in the things called "ignorance and indifference". And before I leave you two, if you think that there are no such things as ghosts, you better think again. So Godspeed to you on this Christmas Night, Cratchit-san, Scrooge-san. Sayonara."
And he sang a Yuletide ditty ("Put a Little Love in Your Heart") as he left the business firm. But when Bob tries to find the man who gave him a generous donation, the foreigner is gone.
And Ebenezer is left wondering who this mysterious man was but then he decided to let his clerk for the rest of the day off before sunset at the 5 o'clock hour.
›-Section Break-‹
-PC-
Naruto woke up from this dream with a bit of throbbing from his headache. But he couldn't seem to get his hands to move because of the straitjacket. He recalled that got himself in a trap set up by the wicked villagers and how they were not giving proper court procedures. And they're likely up to something nefarious as to try to bypass the Hokagé's orders just to make his life miserable.
But suddenly, a kunai was thrown through the open cell. It helped unbind the straitjacket and remove it and Naruto noticed a note attached to the kunai, written by Itachi which said,
To Naruto:
The village's people are blaming you for the fire burning at your apartment. It wasn't your fault. There were signs of accelerants near the residence and you don't use charcoal starters, kerosene, or any alcohol. Apparently, they don't care if anybody gets hurt just to make you feel utterly ridiculous.
Anyhow, your girlfriend suffered a broken tibia after you saved her from the fire and she thanked you. You know that she loved you from the very beginning. Her father, however, swore to put the Caged Bird Seal because of the accident. We're doing our best to stall for time before the head of the Hyuga Clan go and do something utterly stupid.
Right now, we - myself, Hinata, Shizune, Anko, and Tsunade-sama - are heading towards the Fire Daimyo to plead your case before him.
If you want to keep yourself alive, then head towards the direction that leads to the Daimyo's palace and tell them that Tsunade-sama sent you.
Signed,
Itachi Uchiha
P.S.: If any hostiles try to capture or torture you, you must either run away or fight them, but don't kill them. They must be kept alive for them to tell the tale. Their testimonies are valuable to be used against them.
You know your way to win the hearts of many. Let the Spirits of Heaven guide you.
"Itachi, my brother. You cared about me more than I can do for you. And Hinata-chan, Shizune-oneechan, Anko-sensei, and Tsunade-obaachan... You all are like family to me, dattébayo. For your sakes and the innocent people, I must find a way to get to the Daimyo," Naruto vowed as he used his ability to create an explosive seal to bust himself out of the prison.
And he did.
*BOOM!*
*Alarm Blaring*
§
To be continued…==»
»-Line Break-«
A/N: This is a story that occurred to me during the holiday season. It's like a ghost story that almost felt like a dream for Naruto.
As I said, this story is like an alternative Christmas-like story where the Holidays are different in their world. There's no such thing as Santa Claus or Saint Nicolas in the Naruto World, but the Sage of 6 Paths and his brother - the Sage of Rebirth - are closest to Santa Claus as he was revered as saints after they helped the people and established the clans.
The "Peacetime" Holiday was established by the First Kagés and the Daimyos after their wars tore their realm for too long, so during the first day of Winter, is when they established a ceasefire between the Nations for 12 days; "All Souls Day" is on the 4th day, "The Day of Giving" is on the 6th Day, and "New Year's" fell on the 10th Day before they resume whether they want to go to war or not.
Naruto (in this version without a surname), unfortunately, was one of those people who weren't treated fairly even during the Festive season. Most of Konoha's citizens are either being ignorant to the truth or were deliberately sabotaging his life just to say that the boy doesn't belong in the village, without the excuse of the Jinchuuriki or the Bijuu warping their minds.
And the heat will be on!
-blukmage19