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Former Team 7 and Team 8 both ran through the trees in a staggered formation, keeping eyes out for anything out of the ordinary. Inuzuka Kiba grumbled under his breath “It’s cold and creepy. Why did WE have to draw border patrol duty this time of year? And two teams at that? One could have taken care of anything we might have to fight.”
Aburame Shino spoke up from his position to the front and right of the Inuzuka. “The teams on this patrol have had disappearances every year for the last several years. That is why two teams of chunin and jounin with exceptional records and ability to work together were chosen. Hokage-sama is hoping we will be able to uncover what has been happening to the patrols and stop it.”
“Whaaaat?!?! The least Granny could’ve done is told us! I mean, of course she would send me, I’ll stop whoever is killing our shinobi, believe it! But she could’ve at least told us what we're supposed to do!” exclaimed Uzumaki Naruto.
Haruno Sakura pulled out a rock from the pouch she kept on her belt just for this purpose and threw it at Naruto’s head, causing the jinchuriki to stumble slightly before reclaiming his balance. “Shut up, Naruto! Hokage-sama obviously thought we were capable if she chose us specifically.” Naruto whined back at her, rubbing the back of his head. Uchiha Sasuke sighed and Hyuuga Hinata giggled at the two’s interaction.
The patrol continued well into the night until they came to a clearing. Shino called for everyone to halt. “I think this is a good place to make camp for the night. Inuzuka, you and Hinata do a perimeter check and make sure there’s no signs of anyone having been nearby recently and put a warning system in place. Uchiha, I want you to set up traps just outside the clearing in case they get past the warning system. I will gather wood, Uzumaki and Haruno, set up camp.” With that, everyone went their separate ways to prepare for the night.
Everyone was soon done with their tasks and they sat around a fire roasting some rabbits that Akamaru had tracked while Kiba had been doing the perimeter check. After the rabbits had been skinned, Hinata had rubbed them down with some herbs for flavor. Naruto rubbed his hands together and held them close to the fire. “Brr.. it’s getting cold. Why is it cold? I hate the cold! It makes me sleepy.” He whined.
Sakura, huddled under a blanket with Hinata, spoke up. “Yeah, it’s pretty chilly for this early in the year. I don’t remember it ever getting this cold this early.”
The group continued to make small talk as they ate and then turned in for the night. “Naruto, you’re first watch.” Said Shino as they stood to crawl into their sleeping bags a bit away from the fire so they wouldn’t be burned.
“Um.. I’ll take first watch, Shino.” volunteered Sakura, glancing at the shivering Jinchuriki. “Naruto really doesn’t do well in the cold, and it’s already dropped several degrees since sunset.”
Shino looked at the miserable blonde’s shivering and nodded in agreement. “Then, Haruno, first watch, Inuzuka second, and Uchiha last watch.” The others nodded and they went to their sleeping bags.
Sasuke looked over and saw Naruto curled up in his sleeping bag, shivering. He sighed and rolled his eyes before climbing out of his bag and picking it up. He walked over to the blonde and gently kicked his back. “Hey, scoot.”
Naruto looked up at the last Uchiha, pure misery in his blue eyes, and smiled gratefully as he opened and crawled out of his sleeping bag. Sasuke put his own bag inside of Naruto’s and the two crawled into the double-layered bag, turning and lying back-to-back. They were quiet a few minutes before Naruto whispered “Thanks, teme.”
Sasuke snorted. “Don’t mention it, Dobe. Can’t have you freezing in the middle of a mission.”
With that, the two drifted off and joined the others in dreamland. Sakura looked over everyone from where she was keeping watch on a tree branch. She smiled softly as she spied her teammates. She and her teammates had rotated out of that same position on cold nights and in cold climates during missions in order to keep them all warm while they sleep. The fact that they preferred the extra warmth even when Naruto was the one on watch made the blonde feel better about the situation. Sasuke, while not likely to admit it, was primarily a fire-jutsu user and was also more susceptible to cold than average. Sakura just enjoyed not being cold, the extra insulation and body warmth a boon, especially when they couldn’t risk having a fire going through the night.
A cold, white speck landed on her nose and she blinked in shock, her eyes crossing to see what it was. Looking up, she saw snow start to fall from the sky. Her jaw dropped open. “Snowing? Why is it snowing in October?!” She murmured, pulling her blanket more tightly around herself. She searched the sky, but couldn’t find any clouds. It was a clear night and all of the stars were visible. “Where is the snow coming from?” She wondered.
The pinkette didn’t notice as her eyelids became heavy and started to droop. She slumped against the trunk of the tree and fell fast asleep.
Naruto blinked sleepily, scrunching his nose as he felt something wet and cold frosting over it. He looked around in confusion and saw the clearing and trees surrounding them covered in snow. The fire in the middle of the camp was still going, but the flames were an eerie blue. Sitting up, he saw all of his teammates were still fast asleep. He looked down at Sasuke, and saw he was breathing shallowly, his lips blue.
His heartbeat quickened in panic and he shook the Uchiha heir. “Sasuke, come on teme, wake up. I’m the one that’s supposed to be the lazy one, remember?”
When the raven-hair shinobi didn’t wake up, he climbed out of the sleeping bag and went over to Hinata. She was fast asleep as well, her lips also blue. He went to Shino, and then to Kiba. Neither of them stirred, even Akamaru stayed asleep.
Looking around frantically, he spied Sakura asleep on the tree branch where she had been keeping watch. Hoping against hope, he ran up to the branch and tried to wake her, but like the others, she wouldn’t respond.
Not sure what to do, he started searching around the clearing for any clue as to what was going on with his teammates. He saw a light in the corner of his eyes and turned to look. There was a column of light illuminating a marble staircase leading up the side of a mountain that Naruto knew for sure had not been there before. He slowly approached the staircase, focusing his chakra into his nose to sharpen his already heightened sense of smell and tried to see if he could sniff out any information. All he could pick up were different flowers and herbs, lavender and lilies, and a hint of something minty.
Small, white figures with heads the size of their bodies started to emerge from the trees surrounding the clearing and walking towards the stairs. Their heads shook back and forth, causing a rattling sound as they walked. The creatures were little higher than his ankle, and had to assist each other in climbing the steps.
The blonde felt a tug on his pants leg, and looking down he saw where one was pulling on him. Naruto knelt down and addressed the little creature. “Hey there, my friends won’t wake up. Do you know how I can help them?” He asked. The little creature nodded and pulled on pants leg in the direction of the steps. “So, if I go up there, someone will be able to help my friends?”
The little creature nodded again and kept tugging. Naruto nodded at it. “Okay then, up we go, I guess.” He picked it up and put it on his shoulder and headed to the steps. He stopped at the bottom and looked up. He couldn’t see more than fifteen steps up as a thick fog was obscuring the view. He glanced back at his sleeping teammates and hoped that the protections they had put up would be enough to protect them until he returned, and then started up the steps.
Naruto lost track of time as he climbed the marble stairs, surrounded by the small creatures that were also making their way up. “Do these steps ever end? It feels like I’ve been climbing forever!” He grumbled. He stopped short and slapped a hand to his face. “Oh duh.. I’m Konoha’s number 1 shinobi and future hokage!” With a foxy grin, he pumped chakra into his legs and feet. “Hold on!” He told his passenger before taking off.
As he sped up the side of the mountain, he didn’t notice the bits of red chakra that started flowing more and more with his own. As the red chakra increased, his features changed. Two furry ears sprouted on the top of his head, and his whisker-like markings on his face popped out of his skin into real whiskers. A red tail sprouted out of the back of his pants and split into three, and his fingernails sharpened and grew slightly into small claws, his eye-teeth growing slightly as well. As soon as the red chakra had fully overtaken his own, the steps ended and he came to an abrupt stop on a plateau. The ground was covered by patterned tiles and stalls and laterns were set up. Women in red kimonos with long black hair and their faces covered in plain white masked glided between the stalls. Different creatures with animal-like ears and tails played games and snacked on odd foods that Naruto had never seen before.
“Woah.. what is this place?” He asked the passenger on his shoulder. The little creature rattled cheerfully. It tugged on his ear and when he glanced at it, it pointed to a path through the middle of the stalls. “Go that way? Okay..” He followed the path pointed out to him.
He came found his way to the middle of the festival and found a large, stone alter. The phases of the moon were inscribed around the to top of the sides, and the scenes of many creatures and spirits performing dances were carved into the sides. “Woah..” he said in amazement.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” A voice asked behind him, causing him to startle. He spun around and his face lit up in a bright blush when he saw who had spoken. A short, willowy male with long, curly black hair and bright green eyes smiled gently at him. The figure was pale, made even more so by the white ceremonial robes he wore.
“WHO ARE YOU?!” yelled Naruto, too flustered to come up with anything else to say. His blushed deepened as he realized how rude he sounded.
The male didn’t seem to mind. He laughed happily, his green eyes gleaming in humor. “I’m Hari, and you’re Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed fox Kurama.” He said.
Naruto’s face went from red to chalk-white and he froze. “H-how do you know that?!”
Hari smiled softly and approached the shocked shinobi, resting a gentle hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Naruto. You are among friends here. You and Kurama both.” He said, smirking mischievously and reaching up to tug a furry ear on top of the blond’s head.
The shinobi jumped in shock and put both of his hand on to of his head, yelping when he felt the two ears. The raven-haired male giggled and held up a mirror, letting Naruto see the changes that had taken place since he was in the clearing.
“Gah! What happened to me?! Pervy-sensei said that the seal would keep that damn fox from taking over me!” He exclaimed in panic.
“Be calm, Naruto. Kurama is not taking over your body.” soothed the green-eyed male. He hid a smile when Naruto noticed his tails twitching in agitation behind him, drawing another yelp from him. He reached up and took the mirror out of the blonde’s hands. Handing it off to a creature in a black cloak with a white mask, he slipped his hand into the crook of Naruto’s arm and led him towards the altar. “Do you know what tonight is, Naruto?” He asked.
Naruto blinked and his brain stuttered at the sudden shift in tracts. “Um.. It’s 31st of October, I think. We left on the 28th three days ago.” He said, wracking his brain.
Hari nodded. “Yes, it is. Do you know what the 31st of October is?” He asked.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. “I think it’s a Tuesday.”
Hari chuckled. “Yes, it’s a Tuesday, but it is also All Hallow’s Eve.”
Naruto blinked. “All Hallow’s Eve? What’s that?”
“All Hallow’s Eve is the night of the year when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the spirits is thinnest. It is the night that spirits are able to come back and walk the earth, and the night that spirits who have lost their way may cross over.” He explained.
When they were in front of the alter, he released Naruto’s arm and turned to face him. “All Hallow’s Eve is when two worlds, the living and the spirit, intersect. For a few short hours, they become one.”
Green eyes bore deeply into blue, and Naruto gulped, feeling as if his very soul was being weighed and judged. Hari spoke again. “You house the spirit of the great fox demon Kurama. Tonight, here, where the worlds are intersected, should the two of you agree, I can help you to merge. Your spirit and Kurama’s will become one. You will be one person, mind, spirit, and chakra. You will no longer be prison and prisoner, but one being.” He told the young man.
Naruto stopped breathing as the implications of what the raven was saying hit him. “Join with the fox? Will I still be me?” He asked.
Hari nodded. “Yes, he won’t be able to take over you because you will both be one person. There will be no separation between you. You will gain some of his personality traits and instincts, you will have his memories. Think carefully on this. In some ways this will be even more of a burden than being a Jinchuriki. Kurama has done things that you, as a human, would never contemplate. There will be times that your thought process won’t make sense because it will be the thoughts and instincts of a fox spirit and not a human. But, you won’t be a prison. You won’t have to fight him for control. You will have access to his experience and chakra without risking being taken over and losing yourself.” Here the green-eyed male smiled. “I will be back just before midnight. Think on it, and you can give me your answer then.” He turned and disappeared into the crowd of what Naruto now knew was spirits.
Naruto heaved a sigh and thought deeply about the raven-haired male’s words. A gravelly voice echoed in his mind. “Do it, little Jinchuriki.”
Naruto jumped at the unexpected voice. “Kurama?” He asked and then scowled. “Why do you want me to do it? What do you get out of it?” He growled. “I’m not going destroy any villages.”
A deep chuckle sounded. “Never say never, little Jinchuriki.” The fox sighed, and Naruto could hear the weariness. His heart clenched. “I am tired. I have been imprisoned for many of your human lifetimes, transferred from one jailer to the next. Except for the brief time I escaped sixteen years ago, I have not been free in centuries. I am tired, little Jailer. If we join, when you die, so will I, and I will finally be free. This is no longer my world. My kind migrated long ago, and other than the others that were captured, I am alone.” He explained, more gently and patiently than Naruto ever remembered hearing him.
Naruto thought hard on both Kurama’s words, and Hari’s explanation. He weighed the possible pros and cons, and eventually made a decision. As if reading his mind, Hari appeared at his side. “Have you made a decision?’
Naruto looked down into the patient face of the not-quite-human and, after one last moment of hesitation, nodded. “Yes, I have. Kurama and I would like to be merged.”
Hari beamed happily up at the blonde. He gestured towards the altar. “Alright, I just lie down and relax. I will do the rest.” He said.
Naruto walked up to the altar. He looked to his shoulder and picked up his little passenger, putting it down on the ground. “Sorry, little guy, but I don’t think you want to be part of this.”
The creature nodded and toddled away but sat down not far from the two. Naruto hopped on the altar and lied down. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. Hari approached the altar and smiled reassuringly. “Just relax. This will be over before you know it.”
Closing his eyes, the curly-haired male raised a string of bells that Naruto hadn’t even noticed before, and began to chant. Naruto’s eyes slipped shut as the melodic chanting floated into his ears and filled up his body. Energy filled him slowly at first, but as the chanting increased in volume and urgency, the energy became hotter and more erratic. The chanting and energy both increased, faster and hotter. Naruto began to feel as if he were on fire. He couldn’t see, but his body was encased in red and gold flames, and when he yelled out in pain, two voices came from his throat.
Images began flashing through his mind. A black female kitsune with two tails, pouncing playfully. The same female nudging three kits as they played. Running, fighting, trying to be enough of a threat that his mate and kits could escape. Seeing the corpse of his mate and unable to locate his kits. Rage, destruction. Being captured. Cold, alone. Bitterness. Being transferred from solitary cage to solitary cage over and over and over. Breaking free. A man with wild blonde hair. A woman with long, red hair holding a newborn human babe. Destruction. Cage.
And then it stopped. Naruto gasped a deep breath of blessedly cold air as his eyes snapped open. Sights assaulted his vision. Everything was clearer, sharper than it had ever been. He could hear sounds more distinctly than he ever could before, able to differentiate between them. He could smell all of the different scents of the forest, including the indescribable scent that something in the back of his mind identified as the smell of spirits. It was knowledge from Kurama.
Naruto sat up and looked around. He was back in the clearing where he and the others had set up camp. The air had warmed, and there was no sign of the snow that had fallen. Sasuke was sleeping peacefully beside him, and the others were all still asleep as well. Kiba and Akamaru were both sprawled out and grumbling in their sleep. Hinata was curled into a ball, and Shino lied on his back, stiff as a bored and doing a good impression of a dango stick.
A hand touched his shoulder and Naruto started. He whirled around, jostling Sasuke awake. “Wah? What’s wrong?” he grumbled. Naruto couldn’t help but be amused in the back of his mind. What would all of the fangirls back in the academy have thought if they knew what a grumpy not-morning person their dreamboat was?
“Sorry,” Said Sakura apologetically. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You startled awake pretty badly. Did you have a nightmare?” She asked, her green eyes, reminiscent of another set he had seen but couldn’t quite remember, searched his face in concern.
Naruto shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Sorry, Sasuke, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
The raven grunted, dismissing the apology in his own way, and turned over, falling back asleep immediately. Naruto rubbed his eyes and looked up at the pinkette. “Everything okay?”
Sakura nodded. “All is quiet. It’s warmed up, weirdly enough. It is just after midnight and I’m about to wake up Kiba for his watch.”
Naruto shook his head. “Nah, I’ll take second watch. I was supposed to have watch tonight anyway, and I don’t think I’ll be able to fall back asleep. I feel full of energy for some reason.” He said.
Sakura looked over him once more in concern. “If you’re sure you’re feeling okay. Wake Kiba up if you start feeling bad or it gets cold again, though. We still have another week and a half on patrol, and you getting sick is just going to slow everything down.” She cautioned him.
The blonde crawled out of the sleeping bag and Sakura happily took his place, glad to have an already warm sleeping spot even if the air had warmed back up from earlier. It was still fall and there was a slight chill in the air at night.
Naruto took his place on the branch that Sakura had vacated earlier and watched as she drifted off to sleep. His mind went over his memories from that night. Had it all been a dream? He didn’t see how that much snow could melt and not leave the ground soaked. He also couldn’t see the stairs he had traveled up, or even a mountain for the stairs to be carved into. The sky was clear and there was no sign of the fog that had impeded his vision on his journey up the mountain earlier that night.
“Nah.. must’ve been a weird dream.” He muttered to himself uncomfortably. But.. he noticed that his mind felt clearer and more quiet than it ever had. His chakra flowed through his body in massive rivers, stretching his channels in much the same way newly built muscles stretch the skin. Biting his lip, he raised a hand and ran it through his hair, letting out a sigh of relief when he didn’t feel any extra furry appendages.
Crossing his arms, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree and made himself comfortable, settling in for the next few hours. His eyes drifted up to the full moon that was just past being straight over their campsite. Not quite sure what prompted him, he spoke softly to it. “Thank you.” After a moment, he remembered something. "Oh, and, if you've been letting shinobi from Konohagakure come to your festival, can you make sure they make it back to their teams before you take off? Tsunade-sama is steamed because her shinobi keep disappearing." A breeze ruffled his hair and he could have sworn he heard an echo of delighted laughter. From somewhere in the trees, a single, happy rattle sounded before all went quiet. The normal sounds of the forest started back up, more clear and musical to his ears than they had ever been.