October 10th
“But, Alpha Kakashi,” Naruto whined, ice blue eyes wide and pleading. “Sass says they’re having a festival. Itachi and him are going, why can’t we?”
Their leader sighed, kneeling down to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry, Naruto, it’s just too dangerous. This night of all nights especially. I don’t want you getting hurt because some civilian got a stupid idea.”
The blond scowled, crossing his arms. “It’s not fair. You, Hana-sensei, Tenzo-sensei, Shisui-sensei, Itachi-sensei and Sasuke get to go and we don’t.”
“Ruto, we’ve been over this,” Alpha sighed again, reaching up to set a hand on the blond’s head. “The Uchiha have to go because of Clan duties, Tenzo and I are ANBU, we’re the ones that make sure the civilians don’t end up burning the village down.”
And Naruto knew what Hana-sensei was doing. As it so happened, Shisui-sensei’s clan duties involved taking the Inuzuka on a date because Shisui wasn’t anything but a hound dog in heat.
“Fine,” he relented.
Alpha’s eye closed with his smile and he ruffled Naruto’s hair before standing up again. The blond would never admit it but their leader made an intimidating figure in the white and grey ANBU garb he’d come to associate with their working outfit. “There’s no training tonight so you can do whatever you want. If you behave I’ll bring back treats for all of you.”
“Ramen?” the eight year old perked up.
Kakashi nodded. “Ten bowls worth.”
“Make it twenty and you have a deal.”
Their Alpha looked thoughtful before he chuckled, pulling the porcelain mask from his belt. Every time he saw it, Naruto always remembered the Lone that saved their lives on the rocky shore. “Twenty bowls it is, I’ll be back after dawn, please don’t burn the forest down.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
With that, wolfinhumanskin was gone. Naruto stood there for a bit longer before fur brushed against his side. He reached down with one hand, scratching Kirum behind his ear.
“We’re going to the festival, aren’t we?”
“Yup,” Naruto grinned and walked back to the den where his family sat on the engawa. There was still light in the sky despite it being dusk and they were enjoying the remains of the afternoon heat.
He jumped up to sit beside Gumo, falling back to lie on the deck while his legs hung off, freely swinging. Cyan eyes followed the motion and his brother arched a brow. “When do we leave?”
“Dark.” the blond chirped, closing his eyes while they waited.
“You know Pakkun-Inu is going to tell Alpha.”
Naruto shook his head, using his elbows to prop himself up and looked at the pug laying on the other side of the porch. “Pakkun-Inu,” he called, “Deer heart and liver for your silence?”
“I saw nothing.” The dog huffed, rolling on his back with his legs in the air.
The blond laid back down, arms behind his head, “As long as we’re back by dawn it shouldn’t be a problem.”
XxX
Somehow, Naruto should’ve known he’d be eating his words.
The festival was amazing. Strings of lights decorated the streets, lanterns of all colors hung from windows and doorways. Music almost seemed to layer the air for blocks at a time, and the smell of food from the street vendors was enough to make more than one mouth water.
But that was all on the streets.
Darting from alley to alley as they’d always done, Naruto and his siblings only saw glimpses of the grandeur. Snapshots of lights and laughter at the end of the tunnel. What they hadn’t counted on was the amount of humans that included.
At the end of every alley there was a throng of villagers, the mass thrumming with the festivities. And with ANBU darting across the rooftops in patrol patterns, they couldn’t go up to get around. It truely put their training to the test to avoid being caught.
They were almost to the foot of the Hokage monument by the time the crowd thinned enough for them to slip closer to the roads. Even then, they were wary, ducking into shadows and avoiding the eyes of any who looked their way.
Naruto wanted to see though. He wanted to know what caused the laughter and where the music came from, wanted to taste the food that made his mouth water. Closer and closer he crept to the edge of the shadows, blue eyes wide as he saw more and more of the wondrous decorations.
It was only Kirum’s teeth on his shorts that kept him from stepping into the light. Alpha’s warning ringing in his ears and his siblings’ presence that prevented him from taking the final step.
A loud cheer went up, starling him from his trance, and he followed the direction the villagers were looking. There, in the square at the foot of the mountain stood a large statue built of wood. It had a short, narrow snout, and the ears were elongated, resembling a rabbit’s. The body was thin, proportioned for the ability to slink through brush and under tree roots but the most startling part was the tail that curved up, it was slender and bushy.
There were nine of them in total, splayed out in such a way as to resemble a sun.
“The Kyubi,” he gasped when the realization struck. They’d created a wooden replica of the Nine-Tailed Fox in his gut.
The cheers increased, hurting even his ears with their volume and with dawning horror, he watched flames lick up the legs of the statue. As the fire grew, so too did the terror he felt. This festival was to celebrate the destruction of the Kyubi. This day…he’d forgotten, so caught up in his pack. Today was the anniversary of the day his tenant had broken free and attacked the village.
Now his Alpha’s warning made sense. The villagers who hated him so much, who feared his responsibility, if they saw him, he had no doubt they would do the same to him. Suddenly, Naruto didn’t want to be there anymore.
He stumbled back, kicking a can in his haste, and turned to the others. Fall Back the blond signed, eyes burning. The others, having seen what he had, didn’t argue, they fell in, following him back through the alleys. If the villagers hated him so much, so be it. He’d make sure they never saw him.