AN Merry Christmas!
The walk further north was quiet. Too quiet for any trip that involved Naruto.
Eventually, Jiraiya decided to break the silence, the cool air breezing over him. "So, how did you...know what was going on, exactly?"
He expected a smartass remark about how big his ears were or something like that. But Naruto only hummed a low rumble in his throat.
"Come on, Brat. Talk to me," Jiraiya prompted.
"How do you think I did it?" Naruto countered.
Jiraiya sighed. "Naruto, this isn't the time for games."
Naruto grunted. "Feels like a sick game to me. I rush off to stop this thing; it reappears to attack someplace else."
"Now you're just dodging the question," Jiraiya pointed out.
"I didn't hear it from the beach if that's what you're asking," Naruto answered with an eye roll. "I...felt the chakra. And I could feel it wanted nothing good. So I ran to stop it. Then I heard people dying, and I ran faster."
Jiraiya turned grim at that. "I shouldn't be surprised that Bijuu might all have some chakra sensory abilities."
"Well, I'm made of it, s-" Naruto suddenly stopped. Both talking and walking.
The Toad Sage tensed, eyes narrowed. "Naruto...?"
"It's up ahead," Naruto answered, squinting his massive eyes. "It doesn't see us. Or just doesn't care while we're not attacking, hell if I know."
"What is it doing though?" Jiraiya questioned.
"Not sleeping, but it's just a black blob to me right now," Naruto answered as he started to circle around. Never drawing closer, but never moving further away. "I think it's looking for something."
Jiraiya pulled out his binoculars, having a decent idea of where Naruto was looking now. It was faint in this darkness, but something was moving…slowly.
Rattling rung out in the air, followed by a loud but dull thud.
"I...he just sat down," Naruto said in surprise.
"Just sitting there?" Jiraiya inquired.
"As far as I can tell," Naruto murmured, scratching the side of his head.
Jiraiya winced. Not from how close the giant claws were, no, but the scratching noise was rather unpleasant at that volume and range. "Well, I guess we just settle down and watch. Sunrise will be soon; maybe we'll see what it's looking for."
Naruto glanced to the north. Yes, just what could it be looking for? Naruto would be the last to claim to be all-knowing, but there were two things north that were bad news. The Valley of The End, and Orochimaru. He wasn't sure which was worse right now.
With a great sigh, Naruto placed one hand on his back leg and closed his eyes, his ears raised.
The creature before him was an impossible thing to miss, the distinct sound of rattling bones present when it was still, even if faintly.
Beyond that, he heard the other villages. The people he saved, the ones he couldn't and the ninjas that came to help.
People weren't dying anymore. Thank Kami for Medical Jutsu. But people had died and the living were scared; Scared of giant monsters attacking their homes and doing battle outside their towns.
Monsters, Plural.
It was so easy to hear their fear, smell their anger and feel their hate.
So, so easy to be soaked in every horrible emotion, he almost missed some good.
"It's alright, Mommy! The Kyuubi saved us!"
"Did you want the fox to let us die? That bone monster's hand was THIS close to me!"
"Thank Kami he dragged it away before it got further."
'Lord Kyuubi. Please. Avenge my family. Please."
Naruto lowered his ears. Sasuke had, in a way, been the first "prayer" for vengeance he had received. He obliged to take that on principle of Itachi sounding like a horrible person to call family. But these prayers-
And damn was it weird to think about people praying to him!
- he'd answer gladly. As soon as he knew how.
"Naruto," Jiraiya dragged him back to the immediate area.
"What?" Naruto asked, glancing around warily.
"What had you so spooked earlier?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Is this the time?" Naruto grumbled in irritation.
"Yes. If we're going to fight this thing, I need to know why you freaked out every time we talk about it. You're obviously more than a match for it," Jiraiya stated.
"...I'm not worried about me, Jiraiya," Naruto almost snarled.
Jiraiya jerked at the use of his name, not Pervy Sage.
"The minute I thought this was a zombie Bijuu, that it could...spread like a plague, I-" Naruto took a moment to calm down. "I imagined failing. For a moment, I imagined a world where everyone I know, everyone I love is dead, and I'm still here. Alone, forever this time. Then it dawned on me. I'm a Bijuu!"
Jiraiya frowned as he realized how little this had to do with their foe. He was worried had been unaware of some phobia or something that Naruto had, that this creature was triggering. But it was something both less and more concern than that.
"I have what Orochimaru wants. I am probably going to live forever. So, yes, I was having a bit of an existential crisis and I was pouring it into rage to just fight and not think until you had to pry," Naruto finished, struggling not to yell, but his lips curled back in anger.
"...I'm sorry, okay," Jiraiya said with a sigh. "I thought it was...look, what you said is important, but it's not mission-important-"
"Fuck off, Pervy Sage. I know it's not relevant, I know me freaking out helps nothing. "I" was trying to be the good shinobi here and deal with my emotional mess after the monster was dealt with," Naruto said with a grunt.
Jiraiya fell silent. Anything he said wouldn't help the situation right now. It was the wrong place and time for this kind of talk. And Naruto had known that, apparently; Force-learned patience indeed.
Still, he looked out and noticed something. "The sun is rising."
Indeed it was, the first rays of light came up from over the horizon, the dark of night giving way to shades of purple and red that would fade to blue in a short time.
But as the sun started to rise, their foe became far more visible. And Jiraiya could say that for civilians, it was something out of legends and nightmares. A giant shadow, looming over the lands, pitch blackness worn like a cloak. But with the sunlight pouring in, that dark shroud began to fade like the petals of a morbid flower or great ashes in the wind. As if pulling down a hood to the shroud, they saw the great head of the monster.
The reptilian skull looked about in a slow but wild fashion, from northeast to northwest and back again.
"It's looking for something, but what?" Jiraiya wondered.
"This feels...weird," Naruto said with a scowl. "There's a feeling in the air. I'm not sure what, but..."
He trailed off and they both resigned to watching the beast.
The skeleton opened its jaw as if to call out to the dawning day, but no sound emerged…only the rattling of bones.
The very loud rattling, the screaming of bones that came with each "roar" it opened its maw for.
Then, finally, the sun rose enough so that light fell on the creature.
It looked to the sunrise, baleful eyes taking in the light of dawn until-
-it was gone.
Naruto inhaled, watching as the beast instantly dissolved into nothing.
Nothing, but shadows and dust.
"...Naruto?" Jiraiya asked after a moment.
"He's gone. For now," Naruto said, glancing at the sun. "He can't exist in daylight? I thought that was a vampire thing."
"We're not going to debate the semantics between vampires and zombies," Jiraiya said with a sigh. "Nothing at all?"
"Pervy Sage, he is nowhere. Whenever he vanished before, I could tell he was still out there, but now? If he's anywhere, it's too far for me to sense," Naruto explained.
It went without saying that, being close to the relative center of the Elemental Nations, Naruto could probably sense this creature anywhere in the five major nations, except maybe Water Country…maybe.
"Should we head back to the village?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, and you might be staying there. Kami only knows we'll need you to react instantly to this thing," Jiraiya forewarned.
"Trust me, I...I could use some time at the village right now," Naruto said with a sigh as he turned and began to walk south.
Then he stopped.
"Brat?" Jiraiya asked in concern.
"...Well, we ARE near the Valley of Ends," Naruto reminded. "And you said you weren't convinced."
Jiraiya's face-palmed. "Naruto, that valley is literally the end of Fire Country. You know how many alarms you'll raise by getting that close to another nation?"
"As opposed to how many are already raised?" Naruto countered, looking pointedly to the north. "Fine, I'll stop this time, but I am going back there eventually."
"Why would you even want to?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.
"Jiraiya."
There was neither bark to Naruto's voice…nor any sadness. It just...was. And it made the Toad Sage uneasy.
"That's my grave."
Later
No one was sure what to think when the mountainous form of Naruto came back to Konoha. The normally grumpy yet friendly demeanor of the Bijuu was absent. He did not lay on top of the Hokage Monument, instead sitting a half-mile or so away from it, gazing northward with an unnervingly serious look on his face.
Unlike usual, he didn't try to stop the ANBU that kept his friends from visiting him right now. He needed some time to himself. Actually, he needed some alone time on the beach or, hell, in the ocean!
"A Skeleton Bijuu," Tsunade summarized. "I know Gai already explained it, but still. And it just...vanished?"
"Naruto's sure it'll be back, but it seems like it can only appear when the sun is down," Jiraiya elaborated.
"Naruto said it had Bijuu chakra, but could it be a summon?" Tsunade asked, furrowing her brow in thought.
"It might be, but I've never seen one leave like that before," Jiraiya mused. "I'll ask the toads if they know anything like this."
"If not..." Tsunade scowled. "You think it has to do with the Shinigami?"
There was a soft growl in the air…soft, but displeased.
Jiraiya winced. "Yeah, he's a little annoyed we never actually told him a God of Death was involved in the sealing."
"I assumed you told him when you were trying to teach him to use the old Kyuubi's chakra," Tsunade said dryly. "So, how powerful was this thing?"
"Honestly? About as much as the average Summon Boss," Jiraiya admitted. "The problem comes from its stealth and, well, killing it isn't as simple as ripping its head off."
"And the fact that it can teleport to some degree doesn't help," Tsunade mused with a scowl. "Katsuyu isn't built for speed. Besides you and Naruto, there's only a handful of people in the village who could help drive this thing off. Even then, Naruto seems to be the only one that can sense the thing so far."
"No offense, but I think you're both forgetting something."
Both turned to the side, Shikamaru sitting on a couch, hunched forward in thought.
"You notice something I didn't, kid?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"I'm going to assume you're both considering the Hyuuga and Inuzuka Clans. Maybe the Aburame," Shikamaru started off. "But beyond all that, last night was a new moon, when the night is darkest. Which means only two possibilities. The first is that this thing only appears when it's dark enough to be practically invisible. The second is that it doesn't. If it appears any other night, the moonlight would help see it."
"That is a fair point. We either have more time, or we have better odds," Tsunade mused.
A knock on the door interrupted them. "Lady Hokage! I have an urgent message from the Fire Daimyo."
"Come in," Tsunade ordered, prompting a Chunin to enter and hand her a scroll. Tsunade nodded, prompting him to leave. Jiraiya and Shikamaru watched her as she opened and read the scroll. "It seems the Daimyo heard about the battles last night."
"Not surprised. The capital is halfway between here and about where the attacks happened," Jiraiya mused.
"He..." Tsunade furrowed her brow. "He wants Naruto stationed closer to the capital while this monster is on the loose."
Shikamaru scowled. That made some sense, but in some ways, it didn't. Sure, the Daimyo wanting his home protected by Naruto was logical, one giant monster to ward off another. But this seemed a bit quick, didn't it? How did the Daimyo find out about the acts fast enough to send a letter to Konoha? How did he even know the creature was still at large?
"Did he say how close?" Jiraiya asked skeptically. "Does he want Naruto right at his doorstep or just lounging at the nearest mountain?"
"I'm sure he'll specify it if he feels the need," Tsunade said idly glancing up. "Naruto?"
"I heard! I'll go when I know what the hell you are all doing. Or before sundown. Whichever happens first," Naruto called back.
"Fair enough," Tsunade said with a sigh, looking at Shikamaru. "Thank you, Shikamaru. If you remember anything else, please put it in your full report."
"Got it," Shikamaru said with a nod, knowing a dismissal when he saw it.
Once he was sure the young Chunin was gone, Jiraiya looked to Tsunade with a frown. "Anything else happen in all this panic?"
"Nothing too important. Danzo, believe it or not, is somewhat supporting Naruto right now," Tsunade explained.
"I'm not surprised. Whatever his opinion on Naruto's situation aside, he knows that having the appearance of the Kyuubi defending Fire Country is a strong image for Konoha," Jiraiya accepted with some distaste.
Tsunade nodded. "There was one other thing," she said with great annoyance. "The Goose is loose."
Jiraiya blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The golden goose we pulled out of Naruto's nose? Yeah, it managed to get out somehow during the commotion Naruto caused when he ran by the village," Tsunade informed.
"Well, that's...annoying but not really bad, I suppose, "Jiraiya said. "It's not exactly dangerous, right?"
"Not that we could tell. It only ever attacked one person who joked about eating it," Tsunade explained
"Nothing to do about that. The question is, what do we do while trying to figure out how to deal with this skeleton problem?" Jiraiya wondered.
Tsunade nodded, knowing they'd need a battle strategy.
Naruto tuned them out for now. He didn't care to listen to the rough draft of plans he wasn't helping think up. If he did, he'd just get confused about when parts got scrapped and accepted later.
There was still no sign of that creature returning, so Naruto took that as a sign that the "only appears at night" thing was true.
With that, he allowed his hearing to drift to the village. Everyone was going about their day, but they were nervous. They were talking about the various rumors that started after he ran by the village in the middle of the night.
But that was fine, he decided while closing his eyes. He took in all the sounds and chatter of Konoha and took it as a comfort. Everyone was still here, everyone was fine. And if he soaked that in enough, maybe it would chase away the terrible images in his head of a desolate village, filled with corpses or the undead, and being alone again and-
"Naruto."
He wasn't the first to call out to him, but his voice was always hard to ignore.
He glanced to the side, towards the village but trying not to focus on it. Instead, he focused on the monument, the spot nearby where he usually lay down. There stood Iruka, his scarred face looking up at him in concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just pissed off," he lied, knowing his old sensei wouldn't buy it, but hoped he wouldn't pry right now.
Iruka said nothing for a moment before sighing. "What I wouldn't give for a giant bowl of ramen to give you."
"Ugh, don't remind me, I'm already starting to forget what ramen tasted like," Naruto lamented with a snarling snort. "Kids giving you trouble?"
"Less than you ever did, though not from lack of trying," Iruka answered with a smile. "Konohamaru and his friends were hoping to hear your, in their words, "Kickass report" on whatever you went off and fought."
"Well, can't tell much, but...," Naruto trailed off before finally, finally letting himself look at the village. "I bathed that asshole in flames, Konohamaru!" he called out, hand to his snout.
He heard Konohamaru whooping and cheering him on with Udon and Meogi, making him chuckle in appreciation. He looked over the village. Fear and hate were always easy to see, and easy to smell. They stood out, they were harsher things he supposed. But every now and then, he caught someone looking at him in...concern, maybe? Sakura and his friends were happy he was back and, finally acknowledged them. He gave them a small, sheepish wave. "Sakura, Hinata, guys," he greeted, seeing some of them sitting or standing on a roof- wait, what? "Why are you guys on my old roof?"
"Where would you like us to get your attention?" Ino asked with hands on her hips. "And another thing, why are Hinata and Sakura the only ones to get greeted by name!?"
Naruto chuckled, a bit harder than he intended, but he needed a laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Ino Yamanaka. I'll be sure to address you formally at all times."
"Please don't, you furry ass," Ino deadpanned.
"Be nice, Ino," Sakura said pointedly before looking back to Naruto. "Is everything okay now, Naruto?"
His scowl told them, no, the situation was not resolved in any way.
"And he probably can't tell us anything since, you know, he'd tell everyone," Kiba realized, leaning against the railing.
"Yes, Kiba, as if I wasn't wonderfully aware of that fact every time I come home," Naruto said flatly.
"You're...not hurt, right?" Hinata asked curiously.
"Eh. Nothing I can't shrug off. Your cousin hurt more," Naruto assured with a shrug. "Speaking of, what is Ne- dammit, Lee! Stop trying to break out of the hospital! I know, it's rich from me, but still. Gai-sensei, please, for the love of all noodles, go visit him before he breaks a bone again and pisses Tsunade off. She doesn't need that right now. And you're welcome, Old Hag."
Iruka smiled as he watched Naruto. He was lying earlier, yes, but he might be okay now. If not, he would be.
End of Chapter
Okay, so, giant skeleton monster is gone wit te sunrise, now everyone is worrying about when, no if, it'll show baack up. Naruto also had a mini crisis and is being sent to the daimyo's apalace. Cause you're the ruler of a country, and you hear a giant undead monster is lurking about? You want you're own giant monster nearby, just in case.
Early viewing of chapters 21-22 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64