Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Harold of Konoha
Chapter twenty: Halloween hijinks (AKA the obligatory Halloween Episode)
One autumn morning in the village of Konohagakure, Inoichi Yamanaka had accompanied his adult daughter Ino to a party store; Ino was doing some preparation for Halloween, including taking her four-year-old daughter Inohime shopping for a costume. "I'm surprised that you offered to come along with us, dad," Ino remarked as they browsed through the aisles.
"Your mother asked me to grab a few bags of candy from this place," Inoichi explained, "As handing out candy to trick-or-treaters has always been something she does. Harold's wife is the same."
"Well I'm glad to see that mom and Mrs. Fisher still have the holiday spirit," Ino said as they continued their browsing.
"Also, Harold and I have something of a Halloween tradition," Inoichi added.
"…Tradition?" Ino repeated in a confused and mildly worried tone.
"Every year, we both stay home to help our respective wives with the handing out of candy to trick-or-treaters," Inoichi began.
Sighing in relief, Ino said, "Well that was nowhere near as bad as I thought it-"
"We also take a tally of how many times we see a particular costume being worn by the trick-or-treaters," Inoichi continued, "The day after Halloween, Harold, Tsume and I all head to the local bar, and we each take shots equal to the number of trick-or-treaters dressed in the costume that has the highest overall count."
"…Of course," Ino remarked in a tone that practically said 'I should have seen that one coming'.
"Last year the winner was Elsa from Frozen," Inoichi commented, "Harold, Tsume and I each took a total of thirty-two shots."
"Thirty-two shots?!" Ino exclaimed, "H-how did you not- That shouldn't even be- How did you live?!"
"I am immortal!" Inoichi proclaimed as he sounded like he was about to sing, "I have inside me blood of kings! I have no-"
"Okay, dad, I get it," Ino interrupted, "You and your friends can pull of stunts that would kill most other people. There's no need to sing about it." (1)
"Excuse me, folks," a voice from behind Inoichi and Ino, getting them to turn around to face the store clerk who was standing behind them. She was an early twenties woman, with light brown hair tied back into a ponytail save for bangs which framed her face. She had fair skin, wore an orange t-shirt (that was slightly baggy on her) under a white store clerk's apron, light blue pants, and shinobi sandals (the clerk wasn't a shinobi, however).
"Is there anything I can help you with?" the clerk asked in as friendly a manner as possible.
"Ah yes, I'm trying to find the aisle with costumes for young children like my daughter here," Ino explained to the clerk as she gestured to Inohime. Pulling out a costume guide that was printed out by the party store they were all in, Inohime showed the clerk a page that had one of the costume options circled in pen.
"Inohime want Judy Hopps costume!" Inohime said to the clerk.
"At least Zootopia got my daughter to stop attempting to sing that one song from Frozen," Ino said to the clerk.
"I think that we have one more of the Judy Hopps costumes left for girls her size," the clerk said to Ino and Inoichi, "Is there anything else I can help you folks with?"
"Yeah, where is the aisle with the candy?" Inoichi asked, "My wife asked me to pick up a bag or two so she'd have some candy to hand out on Halloween."
"That will be over in aisle one," the clerk replied.
"Alright, I'll go grab a few," Inoichi said as he went off to get the candy. Ino, in the meanwhile, took her daughter and followed the clerk to the appropriate aisle for the costume Inohime wanted.
The next day, Harold Fisher was hanging at the local bar with Inoichi, Tsume Inuzuka and Tsume's ninja dog Kuromaru. "So after Ino found the costume that Inohime wanted, I decided to get into the Halloween spirit and get myself a costume," Inoichi said to his friends after taking a swig from his mug of lager, "I'll be dressing up as Bender from Futurama."
"I got a costume myself," Tsume stated, "I'm going to be that black chick with the katana from 'The Walking Dead'."
"You mean Michonne?" Harold asked.
"…Is that what her name was?" Tsume asked in a mildly surprised tone, "I thought that her name was Rick."
"My owner, ladies and gentlemen!" Kuromaru declared, getting a chuckle out of some of the other folks in the bar at the time.
"…Well anywho, I'm also in on the dressing up for Halloween," Harold said to his friends, "I'll shall be dressing up as the greatest hero ever known to animation."
"…Duffman?" Kuromaru asked in a tone that strongly suggested that he thought he got it right on the first guess.
"Duffman," Harold repeated in a tone of confirmation.
"So Inoichi," Tsume began, "Who's going to take your grandkids trick-or-treating?"
"Shikaru is actually going to some party for kids his age," Inoichi explained, "And I don't quite know who's going to take Inohime."
"Oh, your grandson's going to that party, too?" Harold asked.
"Yeah," Inoichi answered, "Why? Is your grandnephew going as well?"
"Yeah," Harold replied in a casual tone, "He's going dressed up as Iron Man."
"Shikaru's going dressed up as Hawkeye," Inoichi stated.
"I'm not sure what Bankai plans to dress up as, but he told me that he's intending on going to that same party," Tsume said before draining off the remainder of her mug of lager.
"Say, where is this party for the kids even going to take place?" Harold asked aloud.
"Oh, it's going to be hosted at the Hyuga clan's main household estate," a familiar voice said to Harold and the others, "The one sparring room is more than sufficiently large enough to host a Halloween-themed party for most of the youth in Konoha."
Harold and company all turned to see Hiashi Hyuga standing there. "Hiashi!" Harold greeted with a high five. As it was a gesture that the Hyuga clan lord didn't quite know how to respond to, Hiashi instead shook Harold's offered hand. "…That was a weak high five, dude," the fisher patriarch remarked in a mildly disappointed monotone.
"So why are you hosting the Halloween party for the kids?" Inoichi asked.
"Well the party for the kids is eventually going to lead into a party for adults," Hiashi explained, "Folks our age and the age of our grown children need a party too."
"So you're hosting TWO parties then?" Tsume remarked in a mildly amazed tone, "Wow, what I've been telling my grandson about you is wrong. You AREN'T boring!
"…And that leads into another one of the reasons why I'm throwing the parties," Hiashi continued, "Your grandson and a few of his friends called me, and I'm quoting them on this one, an 'overly strict, tyrannical, boring Drill Sergeant Nasty.' Right in front of my granddaughter, who by the way immediately tried shooting down the claims your grandson and his friends were making."
"Wait a minute," Inoichi replied, "Which kids were making that claim?"
"Aside from Tsume's grandson," Hiashi began to list off for Inoichi, "There was also your grandson Shikaru, and that Tenlee girl than my grandniece Tenji is friends with."
"Rock Lee's daughter joined the boys in mocking you?" Tsume remarked, "Woah. That's actually pretty funny."
"I'd apologize on behalf of my grandson for mocking you," Inoichi said to the Hyuga clan lord, "But I'm going to have to side with him on this one, given that you have quite the history."
"Which I am trying to make up for," Hiashi declared, "Also, after I decided to throw both parties at the Hyuga clan main household estate, I took my granddaughter out shopping for a Halloween costume for her. She's going as that blonde Viking girl from those dragon training movies."
"Oh yeah, she likes dragons," Harold remarked as he took another chug from his mug of lager.
"I also got a costume for myself," Hiashi added, "I'll be dressed as Loki from the marvel comics."
"Then be careful," Inoichi warned, "Shikaru's going to be Hawkeye and Haru's going to be Iron Man. Those are both Avengers, and you'll be a villain that the Avengers usually face."
"Now I remember!" Tsume exclaimed, "Bankai's going to be Captain America!"
"You know, I've always wondered what this 'America' place that they keep talking about in the comics is," Harold remarked in a conversational tone. (2)
"Hey Hiashi," Inoichi said, "As you'll be having a Halloween party for adults, can the boys and I come? We all got costumes for Halloween as well."
"Well I don't see why not," Hiashi replied in a friendly manner, "The party for the kids will start at seven. There will be games and special little grab bags for them. The party for adults will begin at around nine."
"I'll have to ask Sophia to keep a tally of all the kinds of costumes that she sees, then," Harold remarked, "I cannot go forgetting that most sacred of Halloween traditions."
"I wonder how many shots the lot of you will each take on November the first?" Kuromaru remarked in a snarky tone.
On the evening of Halloween, a number of Konoha youth had come to the party being thrown at the Hyuga clan main household estate, where they and their parents were greeted by Hiashi, the Norse god of mischief. Some of the parents also showed up in costume, as they were planning to stick around for the adult party that was going to start around nine.
Among the number of adults who showed up in costume were Harold, Inoichi and Tsume. "Why didn't Kuromaru want to come to the party again?" Harold asked Tsume as they and Inoichi each got a soda (alcohol couldn't be served until nine, as that when all of the minors who were present were expected to leave).
"He says he doesn't want to risk being fed a chocolate candy by some child who doesn't know better," Tsume stated, "But I think that's just an excuse because he does not like going to parties if he can help it."
"Well I'm glad that the kids that are here are enjoying themselves," Inoichi said, getting his friends to turn and see a number of kids around the age of their grandkids having fun with the various party activities.
"Hey Inoichi, glad to see you could make it!" called out a voice that made Inoichi turn around and see his fellow Ino-Shika-Cho trio members, Shikaku and Choza, both walk up (it was Choza who had called out). Shikaku was dressed in a giant hot dog costume and Choza was dressed as Homer Simpson.
"Nice costumes, bros," Inoichi complemented, giving Shikaku and Choza both a thumbs up.
"Yeah, you should see the costume theme that Choba and his friends are going for," Choza replied, "They're all dressed up as Avengers."
"Even Choba?" Harold asked.
"He's the Hulk," Choba answered with a nod in the affirmative.
"Now all they're missing is Black Widow and Thor, and they can go take on Hiashi," Tsume laughed.
"Oh yeah, he's dressed as Loki," Choza remarked.
"Hiashi said he chose his costume mostly because he thought his granddaughter would get a kick out of it," Shikaku stated.
"He's really coming around, huh?" Inoichi remarked, "I mean, think back to how he used to be when his first born was around twelve. Now flash-forward to today. Would you ever in your wildest dreams think that past Hiashi would become current Hiashi?"
"Would you ever in your wildest dreams think that Vol'jin, upon his death, would make Sylvanas the new Warchief of the Horde?" (3) Tsume retorted.
"…Touché, Tsume," Inoichi conceded, "Touché."
Over by the one table that had party snacks and a large bowl of punch, Iruka Umino (who was wearing a dolphin costume) said under his breath, "Pfft, whatever."
"So when is the party for adults going to start?" Harold asked, "I want to get right to the Pape Konoha's Brand Lager already!"
"Actually, Hiashi said that the adult drink that he got is some sort of cranberry ale from a micro-brewery over in Suna," Shikaku pointed out.
Turning to face Inoichi, Harold said, "You know what we must do."
"Exactly," Inoichi replied, giving his best friend a nod to show that they were both, indeed, thinking the exact same thing. As Shikaku was preparing to chew the two out for planning to do something stupid, a cranky, older woman's voice shouted out over the party.
"How dare you spill punch on my robes!" the old woman, dressed as a hooded witch, shrieked at a Konoha citizen child, a rather slin eight-year-old girl dressed as Elsa from Frozen.
"I'm sorry, miss!" the girl apologized.
"No way will I accept the apology!" the woman exclaimed as she levitated above the crowd of party-goers.
As she flew up, Shikaku moaned, "Oh hell. I think I can see where this is going."
"Attention to all of those here at the party!" the old woman shouted as she flew above the masses, "As punishment for the child pissing me off by spilling punch on my robe, I shall use my magical powers to turn everyone in Konoha into a real-life version of whatever they've dressed up as for Halloween!"
"Wait a second," Inoichi shouted, "You're a real witch?"
"Yes, yes I AM a real witch!" the old woman shouted.
"I wish that there weren't any tween pop stars!" Inoichi yelled.
"Witches don't grant wishes!" the witch shouted back, "You're thinking of genies!" (4)
"Ah snap!" Inoichi exclaimed angrily. Raising her hands above her head, the witch let smoky plumes of magical energy fly out from her sleeves. That magical energy went on to fly over Konoha air space, and blind everyone with a flash of light.
When the light faded and everyone could see again, the first noise that someone made was a woman screaming. And who could blame that woman? Everyone at the party who had dressed up in a costume was now a real-life version of what they dressed up as. "Dudes, check it!" Tsume exclaimed in a not-so-worried tone, "I'm a black chick!"
"And I'm Duffman!" Harold proclaimed, "Oh yeah!"
"Hey Harold, toss me a Duff, will you?" Choza asked.
"Sure thing, my man," Harold replied, taking a real can of Duff beer off of his Belt of Duff and tossing it to Choza.
"Hey, let me grab one," Inoichi said, using his robotic arm to stretch over and snag a can of Duff off of Harold's Belt of Duff.
When Tsume looked to the floor and saw a giant hot dog laying there, her first reaction was to burst out laughing. "…Oh yeah, Shikaku's a hot dog now," Harold remarked as he saw the giant hot dog.
"Nobody eat him!" Choza said, "There's a chance we can undo the witch's magic if we find her and kick her ass until she agrees to undo what she did!"
"Hey, where's Tsume?" Inoichi asked; looking around, the men saw that Tsume had suddenly disappeared. A few seconds later, Tsume walked back and joined the group.
"Sorry, there were some zombies over there," Tsume replied to the guys as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "Don't worry, though. I killed them."
"…In her defense, there's no way of knowing whether or not that people turned into zombies by the witch's magic can spread like the virus," Inoichi said when Choza gave the older Inuzuka woman a 'really?' look.
After he face-palmed, Choza said, "Whatever. Let's just try to stop the witch."
As Harold, Inoichi, Tsume and Choza journeyed beyond the Hyuga clan grounds, they were stopped by a group of five people dressed as Power Rangers; there was a red ranger, a blue ranger, a yellow ranger, a green ranger and a pink ranger. "Stop right there, citizens," the red ranger said, "As heroes, we cannot permit you to try and stop the witch that turned everyone in Konoha into what they dressed up as for Halloween. That job falls to us and us alone."
"Shouldn't dorks like you be trying to protect the people who didn't dress up for Halloween?" Tsume asked.
"Tsume actually raises a valid point concerning scenarios like this," Choza added, "If everyone who dressed up has been turned into whatever they dressed up as, what does that mean for those who didn't dress up?"
"That's…" the pink ranger of the group said, "…A very good question."
"Sorry, but we all got grandkids and a friend who dressed up as a hot dog to save," Harold replied to the Power Rangers, "Oh yeah!"
"And I repeat, we cannot allow you to proceed," the red ranger said.
"Hey, I got a quick question," Inoichi began, "Are you Power Rangers specifically, or are you the Super Sentai versions?"
"We're all Power Rangers specifically," the blue ranger replied, "Why do you ask?"
"Pfft," Harold and the others laughed as they brushed past the Power Rangers.
When the Power Rangers failed to try and stop them, Tsume said to the boys in a conversational manner, "You know, I really hate what Power Rangers did with Kyoryu Gold." (5)
"I myself am not all that fond of it either, Tsume," Choza agreed, "That move made my grandson give up on Power Rangers entirely and made him stick exclusively with Super Sentai."
"Your grandson is wise beyond his years, Choza," Harold remarked in a tone of praise, "He is wise beyond his years."
As Harold and company continued to walk, Tsume looked over to the one side of the street and said, "Excuse me, boys." Tsume ran over, made sounds like she was attacking something, then ran back over. "Sorry about that," Tsume replied, "But I saw another zombie, so I had to kill it."
"Remember Choza," Inoichi said, "There's no way of knowing if there's a potential for the virus, so we cannot afford to take any risks."
"I'll just hope that kicking the witch's ass and changing everyone back will also fix what Tsume did," Choza replied.
As the seniors continued their walk, they heard a fierce roaring overhead. Looking up, they saw Stormfly from How to train your Dragon. Seating on the dragon's back was Astrid, but she had the Byakugan.
"Hey, man dressed as Duffman," Astrid called down to the group, "Are you familiar with Haru Uchiha?"
"My grandnephew?" Harold called up, "Yeah, he's dressed as Iron Man so I wait a minute are you Haru's nerdy little girlfriend?"
"I am NOT a nerd, Mr. Fisher!" Astrid called back.
To the other seniors, Harold said as he pointed up at Astrid, "Dudes, it's Hiashi's granddaughter! Maybe she and her dragon can help us fight the wait what's Hiashi's granddaughter doing with a dragon?"
Looking up, Choza called up, "Hey Natsu, did you see the witch at the party who turned everyone into what they dressed up as for Halloween?"
"Yes, Mr. Choba's grandfather," Natsu called back down.
"Did you see what direction she flew off in?" Choba asked.
"No, sorry," Natsu replied, "Stormfly and I are more focused on getting Inohime someplace safe."
"Wait, you have my granddaughter?" Inoichi called up.
"Yeah, she's sitting in front of me on Stormfly," Natsu called down. At that moment, Judy Hopps peeked out and saw the seniors standing on the ground.
Pointing at Inoichi, Judy exclaimed in a childish tone, "Grandpa!"
"Hey Inohime, are you okay sweetie?" Inoichi asked.
"Inohime is real Judy, grandpa!" Inohime called back down.
"Okay, that's nice," Inoichi replied, "Now listen, dear. Me and my friends are going to find the person who did all of this, make them clean up their mess, and everyone will be normal again. Until then, I need you to listen to your friend and her dragon, alright?"
"Natsu onee-chan's dragon likes gummies!" Inohime said excitedly.
"Inohime, please quit feeding candy to Stormfly," said the Byakugan-wielding Viking.
After Natsu and Inohime flew off on the back of a mighty dragon, Tsume said, "Hey boys, I just had a thought just now."
"And what would that be?" Choza asked.
"The witch's magic turned everyone who dressed up for Halloween into whatever they dressed up as, correct?" Tsume began.
"That's why I'm a robot," Inoichi replied.
Continuing, Tsume said, "With that out of the way, I have two things to ask. First, who dressed up as the dragon that Hiashi's granddaughter was riding?"
"Actually, she was carrying a twelve-inch-tall plushy of that dragon at the party," Choza explained, "Hiashi told me that he bought it for his granddaughter when she mentioned that she didn't own a plushy of the dragon used by the character she dressed up as. The witch's magic must have turned the plushy into a real-life dragon."
"Now I move on to question number two," Tsume said, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to gather the help of some people who were transformed by the witch's magic?"
"What do you mean?" Harold asked.
"Think about it," Tsume began to explain, "The magic turned everyone into what they dressed up as. Hardly anyone dressed up in traditional Halloween costumes. We got a mix of various fictional characters all capable of throwing down. Hell, even that Ice Queen chick from that movie Inoichi's granddaughter likes so much is capable of some serious damage. If we get enough folks like that on our side before the final confrontation, then we'll end up giving the witch one hell of a curb-stomp!"
"That's…" Choza replied, "…Actually a really good idea."
"Hey, yeah!" Harold exclaimed, "I have no frigg'en idea why I was so worried about confronting the witch in the first place!"
"Let's gather a posse and kick the witch's ass!" Inoichi declared, getting everyone else to cheer.
The following day, Harold and his friends, plus Kuromaru who was brought along by Tsume, were standing in Naruto's office at the Hokage office building. In an interesting twist, Choza was also along with Harold and the others. They stood before Naruto's desk, at which Naruto himself was seated. He was looking at a sheet of paper, which a report was written on. After looking at the paper for about a minute or so, Naruto shifted his gaze over to the seniors. "…So, this is the report you guys wrote up about last night," Naruto began, "Where you defeated the witch who turned everyone into what they dressed up as for Halloween."
"Yes sir, Lord Sixth," Harold replied respectfully, and with a nod.
Looking at the sheet of paper again, Naruto said, "It says here that you gathered a number of people who were affected by the witch's magic to assist in taking the witch down."
"Given what some of Konoha's residents were dressed up as, we thought that it would have made things easier if we, for lack of a better way to describe it, use the witch's power against her," Inoichi explained.
"Well," Naruto replied as his gaze shifted from Inoichi back to the list, "That explains the rather…diverse posse that the four of you gathered. According to the report, aside from what the four of you were dressed up as, the witch was defeated by twelve Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, seven Transformers, five sexy nurses, four Iron Men, seven Captain Americas, three Hawkeyes, six Black Widows, three Thors, one Loki, one Nick Fury, four Supermen, twenty-one Batmen, nine Wonder Women, two Dr. Manhattans, six Sonic the Hedgehogs, two Tails, five Knuckles the Echidnas, one Amy Rose, fourteen Sticks the jungle badgers, five Shadow the hedgehogs, one Astrid Hofferson, one Stormfly, two Pikachus, five Power Rangers, seventeen Hulks and a Spider-Man."
"Given what the witch was capable of, we did not want to take any chances," Tsume explained.
"Well that makes sense," Naruto replied. Looking at the report's second part, Naruto said, "Now I would like to talk about what Mrs. Inuzuka included in the report, about her slaying multiple Konoha citizens who, due to the witch's magic, were turned into zombies."
"As they were real zombies at the time, I did not want to take the chance of the virus spreading," Tsume explained.
"You claim in the report that you killed thirty-seven people," Naruto pointed out.
"They were real zombies at the time!" Tsume insisted, "If there was even the smallest chance that it would lead to a spreading of the virus, then I wouldn't want to take any chances!"
"You specifically identified one of the zombies you've killed as Shino's mother-in-law," (6) Naruto pointed out, "You said about this, and I'm quoting from the report on this one, 'I borrowed a gun from someone who was turned into Rick Grimes and used it to shoot Shino's mother-in-law in the forehead at point-blank range, killing her instantly'." (7)
"I'm sorry but maybe Shino's mother-in-law shouldn't have dressed up as a zombie!" Tsume declared.
Sighing, Naruto replied, "…Whatever. Can you at the very least refrain from acting disrespectful when those you killed last night have to be buried?"
"I can very much do that, Lord Sixth," Tsume replied with a salute.
"Also, Shino's wife tells me that you aren't allowed to attend her mother's funeral," Naruto stated.
"That is completely understandable," Tsume agreed.
"…Alright, you're all dismissed," Naruto said, "I need to look over what events the village is planning for this month."
"Ah yes, November," Choza remarked as he rubbed his hands together, "The month of the year with my favorite holiday." (8)
After Harold and company left Naruto's office, Kuromaru said as the group walked out of the office building, "I heard about the chaos that happened last night on the news, since Tsume's daughter-in-law was over and turned the TV on for me." Shaking his head, the Inuzuka ninja dog added, "Boy, am I glad that I decided to skip Halloween this year!"
"Why? What were you planning on dressing up as?" Harold asked.
"I wasn't planning on dressing up as anything," Kuromaru replied, "Because like I said, I decided to skip Halloween this year. Although Sakaki was trying to convince me to wear a taco costume she found for dogs my size."
"Shikaku was turned into a human-sized hot dog by the witch's magic," Tsume pointed out, "That being said, maybe you skipping Halloween was for the best."
"Wait, Shikaku was turned into a hot dog?!" Kuromaru exclaimed, "Is he okay?"
"Yeah, nothing bad happened to him, and he changed back when the witch was taken down," Harold replied, "But I was told that the instant he turned back, he tore his costume off, stuffed it into the nearest trash can he could find, and set the contents of said trash can on fire with a lighter, while shouting every profanity he could think of while he was doing all of that."
As the seniors and one ninja dog exited the Hokage office building, they were confronted by Shino Aburame and his son Shibei. "…My wife was crying when I had to leave this morning to report to Naruto," Shino began at Tsume, "Mrs. Inuzuka, what the hell?!"
"Your mother-in-law dressed up as a zombie," Tsume defended, "And as a result was turned into a real zombie by the witch's magic! You saw it!"
"Yeah," Shino relented, "Shibei also saw it, as he was one of the ones who helped you take down the witch."
"I was the only Spider-Man there," Shibei remarked in a tone that clearly showed that the young Aburame was upset.
"I'm just glad you didn't try to kill my wife," Shino said to Tsume.
"Why? Was she a zombie too?" Tsume asked.
"Sylvanas Windrunner, to be specific," Shino replied, "My wife's an avid player of WoW."
"Well again, I'm sorry for what had to be done," Tsume said to Shino. To Shibei, Tsume said, "You aren't going to hate Bankai because of what I did, are you?"
"With all due respect, I'm not immature like that," Shibei replied.
"Well that's good," Tsume remarked. Turning to face her friends, Tsume said, "Alright boys. Let's bounce." And with that, the group took their leave.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY
Author's Notes:
(1) It's a good song by a good band, though.
(2) America doesn't exist in the world of Naruto, remember?
(3) I don't play WoW, but I'd roll an Undead character (probably a Destruction Warlock) if I did. That being said, hooray for Sylvanas.
(4) More's the shame, really.
(5) Why go from a samurai to a knight? Samurais are awesome, dude.
(6) I was originally planning on making it Shino's wife, but I thought that it would just be too damn cruel to make Shino a widower. So as an alternative, I made it Shino's mother-in-law instead.
(7) It's probably the only way any sort of actual gun would ever exist in the world of Naruto.
(8) You have one guess what it is.
So that's chapter twenty done and over with. I have some working ideas for more chapters, including one that will be a tribute to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Pokémon that I will try to have ready for the week that Sun and Moon come out. After that point, I will be occupied kicking Team Skull's ass and journeying through the Alola region, so releases of new chapters may become sporadic for a period.
I will pick Litten the instant I see it.