Calling Upon the Shadows of the Past

By: TheDeadGirlRisen

Beta'ed by: SirKnightChase816, RikuKingdomHearts, and TMartX13

Chapter Seven Teaser: Birthday Memories.

Author Notes: *Grins* I haven't even started writing this yet, but I've been excited for this chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Naruto age and Month: 6 years old, October 10th

Original Word Count: 0

New Word Count: 5140

Date Written: 7/9/19 - 7/12/19

Date Posted: 7/13/19

Arc 1: The First Year of the Academy

Part Seven

Naruto woke up excited, today was his birthday and he was now six years old. The old man Hokage would be visiting him after the academy. Tobirama would probably come around then as well. He finished his leftovers of duck soup for breakfast. He went to the academy with an extra hop in his step, though the sky seemed unusually cloudy today. He hoped it didn't rain, still he continued on with a large grin on his face even if the villagers were extra mean today. They were always extra vicious on his birthday.

He was pretty sure it was because he had been born on the day the Kyuubi attacked. Huh, maybe that was the reason why the villagers hated him. Though he didn't know how they knew when his birthday was.

As the young blonde sat down and listened to the teachers, it just so happened they decided to talk about the Kyuubi's attack. He then noticed Hinoka and Akumajo giving him glares, as if he was the reason the Kyuubi attacked the village. He did his best to ignore it, remembering one of the pieces of advice Tobirama had given him, back when he only knew the spirit as Ghost. "Ignore the glares for they do not understand. One day they will realize you are a strong ninja, and will then respect you. Until then, study and train."

He didn't understand what the villagers didn't understand, but Tobirama didn't tell him why, saying it wasn't his place. It was a bit easier to ignore the glares though since today was his birthday and the Hokage-jiji would be visiting him later, maybe the man would even bring him a cake.

Last year he had been given his apartment, but he didn't know what he would be getting this year. The academy day seemed to drag on and on and on. It was lasting forever, each passing second seemed like an eternity. As the day continued it's slow crawl, he became more and more twitchy. He wanted to get out of here and celebrate his birthday. Not be stuck behind a desk learning boring stuff.

It was finally nearing the end of the day when an argument broke out. This wasn't completely uncommon, but when he turned to see, Naruto was surprised to witness that Kiba Inuzuka and Kanro Saimon were the ones arguing.

After the first day, the two both connected over the both of them loving dogs and had become fast friends. Kiba wasn't really friends with anyone else, but Kanro did hang out with Ruisu Burindorī pretty often.

Before he had a chance to understand what the argument was about, the two suddenly began attacking each other. The teachers quickly jumped in and pulled the two boys apart. Shaking his head, he left and decided he could figure out what happened with that tomorrow.

Today instead of picking him up, Madara and Hashirama were waiting for him at his apartment, Naruto had told them how his Jiji would becoming to pick him up and they said they didn't want to distract him by being there.

Walking out of the academy, he paused as he noticed that the clouds were still there hanging in the sky, they seemed even darker. Naruto grinned as he spotted Hokage-jiji standing next to the swing waiting for him. Tobirama-sama was standing behind him as well and dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement.

Naruto waved back, his Jiji would just think he was waving at him. "Naruto-kun, how have you been?" The old man asked.

"Good! I've been training really hard over the past couple of weeks!" Naruto excitedly told the Hokage.

The man chuckled, "That's good, let's get you some ramen."

"Yay!" Naruto cheered. He loved ramen, but Hashirama and Madara said that he shouldn't eat it so often in order to grow stronger. Seeing as the two of them were the strongest shinobi ever, he believed them, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. However, that meant that eating ramen was even better now since he didn't eat it so often.

As he and the Hokage walked to Ichiraku's he rambled on about different things, though as he had promised Tobirama he kept the fact he could see spirits a secret. He had tried telling the man before, but the Hokage just thought he had imaginary friends.

The Hokage was pretty awesome, much better than most of the people of Konoha, but sometimes Naruto caught a strange look in the man's eyes when the Hokage looked at him. It wasn't the same look the villagers eyes, but it wasn't really friendly either.

He didn't know what that look was, but he didn't like it either, so he ignored the look when it came into the Hokage's eyes. At least his Jiji was trying. Soon he had eaten his fill on ramen and his Jiji told him there would be a surprise waiting back at his apartment.

Happily he started to dash towards his apartment pulling the Hokage along, though noticing a disapproving look from Tobirama he stopped pulling so much. Glancing at Tobirama again, he noticed some of the disapproval was gone, though he still seemed slightly disapproving.

Probably from him showing his excitement so much. Naruto tried to make his wide beaming grin smaller.

It was impossible though as he was just to excited. A rumble in the distance came and Naruto noticed a flash in the sky. It seemed that it would be raining in a little bit. Finally he made it to his apartment and ran in with the old man not to far behind him. Tobirama was only a couple steps behind the Hokage.

When Tobirama stepped in tension filled the air as the Nidaime glared at Madara who glared right back. Hashirama started to glance between the two, a worried look on his face. "Naruto-kun?" The Hokage questioned.

He blinked and looked at the man who seemed to be waiting for some kind of response. The young blonde then noticed he was standing next to a small orange cake, "Wow, thanks Jiji! It looks amazing!"

For now he would have to ignore the tense atmosphere from the spirits. The Hokage lit a candle with the number six, "Go ahead make a wish."

Naruto closed his eyes, 'I wish to be able to become as strong as Tobirama and Hashirama and Madara and protect Konoha and be the pillar of support just like the Hokage's.' He thought as he blew out the candle.

The fire flickered out and a small stream of smoke drifted up, sending his wish to the heavens. The Hokage gave him a grin and cut into the cake, it was small, meant for only a single person, but it was perfect for the two of them. Naruto dug into his piece with relish, he rarely got to eat something like cake.

Hashirama smiled at him, "I hope that whatever you wish for comes true Naruto-kun."

Glancing at Tobirama and Madara he saw the two also giving him encouraging looks in their own way. Madara via a small smirk, and Tobirama with a slight dip of his head in acknowledgement.

When they finished the cake the Hokage slid one of two presents over to him. Beaming he opened the first box, it contained several shirts and shorts. Naruto beamed happy, glad to get the new clothes, his old ones had started to get really small. "Go ahead open your second present."

Naruto did and found that it contained a basic set of Kunai and shuriken, blunted of course, but they were perfect for a starter. "Thank you!" Naruto beamed and launched himself at the old man in a flying tackling hug.

The Hokage gave a chuckle and returned the hug, "I have to go now, but I'll see you later, okay?"

"Alright!" Naruto agreed with a large grin.

The Hokage left and the tense feeling seemed to become heavier. Naruto glanced at the three spirits who continued to glare at each other, "Tobirama, how are you?" Hashirama asked a bit of nervous laughter heard clearly in his tone.

"Brother. I'm surprised to see you here, especially… with him. I thought you had moved on to the pure world," Tobirama stated, his red eyes seeming to burn in anger.

It was the most emotion he had seen from the man… and it was scary. Naruto shuddered as he watched. He could see that Tobirama seemed to flicker slightly. Tobirama glanced down at his own hands in surprise.

The Nidaime took a deep breath and the flickering stopped. Once it looked like things were more relaxed, Naruto released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. If even Tobirama could go unstable… Naruto shuddered. That would be horrible.

Hashirama gave an awkward laugh. "Seems that I somehow ended up bound to Madara after my death, and he ended up bound to me…"

"And in all this time you haven't visited me?" Tobirama questioned. His voice was laced with anger, the man was obviously trying to control his emotions, but he seemed to be getting angrier. There was a glint in his eyes that was showing what he wanted to feel.

Naruto could sense the pressure from the three, it seemed to be crushing and heavy. "I bet it was his fault that you stayed away, he probably prevented you from coming to see me," Tobirama spat. His form flickering again, distorting slightly. It was quick, barely noticeable to even him.

Naruto shivered and stepped back, away from Tobirama's flickering form. He could feel an uneasy knot tying up in his stomach.

"I did no such thing Senju!" Madara responded glaring at Tobirama.

Tobirama sneered, his lip curling down. Something so extreme from the man was terrifying. Tobirama had always seemed so calm. However, this was the total opposite, making it far from normal. "Just as you never tried to destroy Konoha," Tobirama sarcastically retorted.

Another distortion and Naruto caught a glimpse of the snarling monster. Hashirama and Madara noticed it as well. "W-what was that?" Hashirama asked wide eyed.

Naruto realized though that Tobirama wouldn't be able to answer. He was trying to control his emotions. So instead Naruto thought he would have to do what he could to give the answers needed. "He's unstable…" Naruto informed them, quietly.

They looked at him and noticed his fearful expression. Tobirama's form stabilized a bit and stopped flickering. "I am leaving," Tobirama stated as he turned to face him, "You have them now, you no longer need me around, so I will be returning to my duties. Goodbye."

The shimmer turned and floated out of the room quickly. Naruto stared in shock, not believing what he had just heard. The knot tightened, making him feel worse than before. Did that mean Tobirama wouldn't be coming to visit anymore? To give him advice? To protect him?

Naruto felt his eyes water, even as he thought about why Tobirama would do what he did. The sad thing was that he was pretty sure he knew why the man had done it. Being around Hashirama and Madara made him unstable. Thus, he was dangerous to be around. It seemed the reaction was triggered more by Madara than Hashirama though.

Looking at the pair he saw Hashirama looking like he wanted to go after the man. "Don't, you will only make it worse," Naruto warned them, his voice wavering.

Hashirama gazed at him confused. "He was becoming unstable. I guess you haven't met any before, or found yourself becoming unstable…" Naruto didn't want to talk about this, but even from the little time he had been around them he knew he needed to explain so they would understand why going after Tobirama was a bad idea.

"You keep mentioning that, unstable. What is it?"

"When a spirit is overcome by an emotion, usually anger, they start to lose themselves, causing their forms to distort and change. They will become a monster and attack the person or thing that 'triggers' the reaction. If they kill the person they unstable form grows stronger and it can completely lose itself, attacking every spirit and person in sight," Naruto shuddered the memories of that night returning to him as he spoke of the unstable spirits.

"You sound like you had a personal experience with them," Hashirama stated frowning a bit.

He had, "Two years ago to this day in fact…" Naruto started and began to tell of what happened that night, he may not want to relive it, but he knew that after what happened he would once again be experiencing the nightmare memory of what happened.

§Flashback§

It had been a wonderful day. The old man in the cool looking hat had visited him and spoke with him like he was a normal child. He hadn't glared at him like most of those other villagers did. Though the old man did bring along that scary looking ghost. The ghost with the white hair and red eyes and the lines on his face.

The ghost never spoke, but he also never flickered in and out of existence as the other ghosts normally did. Still, they were gone now and he was all alone, and the mean lady of the place told him to scram so he didn't taint the other kids with his 'weirdness.' She wouldn't let him back in until tomorrow morning.

So now he was all alone on the streets with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Deciding to explore, he spun and started off in a random direction. He walked at a slow pace, looking around and just exploring the nearby area of Konoha. He gave a slight smile as a breeze ruffled his hair, the sun slowly setting behind him and making his shadow stretch out in front of him.

Ten minutes quickly passed by and he currently found himself in an abandoned looking district. The sun was low to the ground, giving the sky a deep bloody orange coloring and making the shadows on the ground darken. The towering buildings were in disarray, pieces of them laying about or completely gone. A breeze passed through the seemingly empty streets, creating an eerie whistling sound that sung of tragedy.

Small sapphire blue eyes shot to left as a strange flickering in the distance caught his attention. The soft heart clenching sounds of crying reached his ears. Hesitantly, he made his way over to the sound of sobbing. As he got closer to the sound, he got his first sight of the crying, flickering and fading spirit that seemed to barely cling to the world. He didn't know why the spirit was crying, but he wanted to try and comfort him. The spirit sound so sad, and alone.

The man continued to stumble his way down the deserted district, his head looking down at the ground with an aura of depression. His short, curly, mousy brown hair laid flat against his head. He wore a uniform similar to others he had seen jumping around the village before. A long sleeved dark blue shirt with a red swirl on his shoulder and a forest green vest overtop. Matching pants with white training bandages around his thigh and ankles, and black open toed sandals. He also noticed a black pouch around his upper thigh with a dark metal hoop sticking out.

"Hello?" he gently called out, not wanting to startle the saddened spirit.

The spirit froze in place, flickering out of existence for a few seconds when he reappeared he raised his head up ever so slightly before gradually turning towards him. His bluish green eyes locked onto his own, and he noticed faint tear tracks running down his cheeks. A faint, but ugly scar went across his lips giving him a permanent scowl.

His face went blank as he stared at the small blond child in front of him before a realization dawned on him. The spirit flickered again and reappeared. Anger welled up inside of the spirits eyes, turning blueish green eyes icy in anger, as his body began rapidly distorting. "You…" the spirit snarled, "You're the one who killed them! You killed my family you monster!" the man screamed, his body shifting into something straight out of a nightmare.

Naruto took a step back as he watched in a horrified curiosity as the man changed right in front of his eyes. The man's head sharply bent to the right. His face lost whatever fat it had and sunk in until it tightly clung to the bones which looked like they would break through the skin at the slightest disturbance. The spirits sclera turned a deep black and his irises turned from a normal bluish green to an ominous seemingly glowing yellow.

The spirit flickered out of existence and when he reappeared, the hair on his head was falling off and fading into nothingness just before reaching the ground. His body stretched and pulled itself apart as screams of anger and pain echoed around the abandoned district. The clothes he wore tore until they were barely hung on his distorted body. The bones in his fingers and toes ripped through his flesh turning into sharp, dagger like claws. The groans stopped suddenly as he stood up, looming over Naruto. The man no longer resembled anything vaguely human. It was a monster, with it's yellow eyes hungering for his pain and suffering. The monster opened its mouth and let out a dangerous, feral hissing that revealed sharp, pointed teeth.

A scream escaped Naruto's throat as the monster lashed out at him, barely missing his head. He stumbled backward and tripped in his haste falling onto his rear and quickly began scooting further away. The monster walked to him in a strange gait, it's clawed toes dragging against the ground; yet, they made no sound as it took each step slowly toward him.

The monster didn't flicker out of existence though, and it seemed solid, almost real. It wasn't see through like normal spirits though. He didn't know if the creature was real or a spirit, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Though the monster's eyes revealed nothing on the outside, they boiled with a deep seated hatred that twisted and burned within them. Naruto cried out in fear and scrambled to his feet to escape this horrid twisted creature. As he bolted away, he noticed the other spirits gathering around. Their cries of anger and hate filled the air, and dark shadows formed around him. He twisted his head around and his eyes widened when he noticed how close the monster was behind him. However, the sight of more of these creatures behind him, fighting each other scared him even more. Each and every one of the monsters looked different, all of them inhuman.

He turned back in front of him and continued running away from the original one. Using his small frame, he turned down one of the streets as his heart pounded in his chest painfully. Shadows appeared to reach out for him, others jumping toward him from the roofs; but he tried to focus on only escaping.

The cries, screams, and horrid laughter echoed off each of the buildings, reverberating around him. It was a choir of tortured souls, a symphony only he was invited to hear. He turned into an alleyway and noticed the monster no longer was following him. He leaned against the shadowed wall, breathing heavily and gulping down the much needed oxygen.

After a few steadying breaths of air and his heart starting to calm, he felt a painful grip on his shoulder. A chill washed over the burning sensation and he quickly tore himself away from it. His shirt tore from the grip and his warm scarlet blood leaked down his shoulder. He turned toward the attacker in shock only to see the hand reaching through a solid wall.

The hand flickered from the monster's hand to a normal one as the man from before slowly walked through the wall, seeming to struggle as it pulled itself through the wall. His body flickered back and forth a few times before settling back on the nightmare inducing one. A mocking grin formed on his face as Naruto turned away and fled while desperately holding onto his bleeding shoulder. The skin on the outside felt so cold, but it burned with pain.

He risked a glance at his wound and noticed the skin where the monster's hand had grabbed him is a black, nauseous looking color with little trails of blood running down his arm. He touched the wound with his healthy hand and he felt a coldness emanating from it. He shifted his head to look back again and didn't see anything chasing him anymore.

His eyes turned toward his surroundings, looking for a good place to hide when he saw a building with an open door. He rushed inside to get away from the dangers the outdoors held. He didn't know why those things were after him, and he didn't want to ask.

He collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. That was the most he had ever ran in one go before. His legs felt like they were burning, and his shoulder where the monster had grabbed him throbbed painfully still burning, but still freezing cold.

Naruto froze when he heard a clicking sound from behind him. Scared he turned around the monster was grinning at him through the window of the front door, it's yellow eyes glowing menacingly. Slowly it came through the door. Inch by inch the monster came through the now closed door into the building and Naruto was frozen in horror.

"Such a de•light•ful chase," the monster rasped out in a gleeful tone, "Run for me lit•tle one… let me hunt you…"

Naruto fled turning and running further into the building. Night had fallen and the building was now pitch black. Naruto could barely see the walls or what was two feet in front of him, he kept running though. Finding stairs he started up them. He had nowhere to go, how was he supposed to escape this thing?

Mocking laughter rang through the air sending shivers crawling down his spine. The hair on his arms was standing straight up. Naruto stopped trying to catch his breath but soon continued to walk on, he opened doors, looking for anything that could help him escape the building.

The lights flickered on for a brief second. Blindly bright. Making his heart skip a beat. Then they went back off and he couldn't see anything his slight night vision he had; gone.

A chilling laughter rang out, "I en•joy your fear… I will fe•ast upon you and get ev•en stron•ger," The monster called out, strange pauses in some of its words. Causing its voice to come out stuttered and broken sounding. The monster sounded alien, strange, the words had a faint echoing quality to them.

Naruto stumbled over to a wall tripping upon something. "I hear you~" The monster taunted, and its voice seemed louder, closer than before.

He felt his way out of the room and continued further down the hall, slowly regaining his night vision. The lights flickered on again, sending him stumbling. This time the lights remained on.

"Th•ere you are~" The monster called out.

Naruto didn't bother to turn and look, he ran for all he was worth even as the monster laughed crazily, "You can run~ but you can't hi•de~"

He suspected that the monster was letting him run away and chasing after him like this. It was playing with him. Toying with him. Naruto though had to play this game with it if he wanted a chance to find a way to escape. This building was empty though, nothing seemed to be in any of it's rooms. At least now he could quickly glance and see what was in it before continuing on.

The lights flickered and then plunged him into darkness again and everything was pitch black. He stood still, not wanting to trip or stumble and alert the monster to where he was.

Everything was quiet.

He shivered, as it had never seemed this cold to him before.

Breathing out, he noticed his breath hanging in the air for a brief moment.

An icy cold hand grabbed his ankle and he screamed at the piercing cold even as he yanked his foot away. He stumbled away his ankle pulsated in agony as each step he took. It felt like an icy lead had formed where the monster had touched his skin. He could feel a liquid trickling down from his ankle. He knew that if he looked he would see three blackened claw marks surrounding three gashes on his ankle.

He found another staircase and started to make his way down, back to the ground floor, maybe he could break the glass or something. Laughter, stuttering and distorted followed him mockingly.

Darkness surrounded him and he had once again regained his night vision as he made his way down the stairs when the monster made the lights turn on blinding him again. He screamed as he tripped and fell down the stairs as the lights quickly turned back off. Wildly reaching forward to try and stop his fall, his arm hit the ground first and it broke with a sickeningly loud snap.

He cried out in pain and he couldn't move to stand. His right arm was broken, and his left arm still throbbed from where the monster had grabbed him. He could barely move his ankle.

He was going to die.

"You are mi•ne now~" The monster called out laughing as it slowly descended the stairs to him.

Bursting through the wall came another spirit. He glared at the monster and stood protectively over Naruto. It took the boy a minute, but he recognized the spirit as the one that always seemed to be following the man in the cool hat. He stared at the back of the spirits, seeing him wearing a black bodysuit that was covered with a blue armour with some white fur around his neck. Strapped to his waist was a sword.

The ghost formed hand signs and Naruto watched as a ghostly water dragon seemed to form and attack the monster, forcing it to back away. "Come, we have to get you out of here," the ghost stated turning to him, piercing red eyes staring at him.

Shakily, Naruto stood and followed the ghost as it gestured for him too. "NO!" The monster screeched out it's voice wavering and distorting, "I wo•n't let you take my prey a•way from me!"

"Quickly. This way," the ghost told him and it led him to a section of the wall that seemed mostly destroyed. "Kick it, or punch it, enough force and this section should crumble."

Naruto obeyed without question, to scared to do anything else. He punched the wall with his unbroke arm, over and over again, until his knuckles bleed and the wall slowly crumbled away until at last it fell.

It was just in time as the monster appeared again. The ghost formed some hand signs again and this time a ghostly water wolf attacked the monster. "Follow," the spirits commanded leading him out of the building.

So he followed the red eyed ghost through the streets, turning and twisting down alleyways. "In there, you'll be safe," the man commanded pointing to a temple. "Do not come out until sunrise, no matter what."

Naruto entered the building, which seemed surprisingly intact. Though windows lay broken and shattered. How this place was supposed to keep him safe he didn't know. Once inside he turned and looked to see that the ghost who had helped him stayed outside. Slowly as he watched more and more monsters gathered around outside the building, but none entered. It seemed none of them could enter. A barrier seemed to be blocking them, preventing them from entering the temple.

The first monster appeared and it snarled before turning to the ghost who was starting to jump away. "You sto•le my prey!" The monster snarled and leapt after the ghost. Some of the monsters followed him, others stayed outside the church, watching him and waiting. They called out to him jeering and taunting, trying to get him to exit the building. But he stayed inside, rooted by fear.

Naruto kept watching fearfully until he passed out in a fitful sleep. He woke up to inhuman screaming and slowly and painfully stood up, staring outside the window again. The sun was starting to rise and the monsters were turning back into spirits and then fading away. Even when the sun had fully risen he didn't exit. He was scared that they would reappear as soon as he left.

Eventually he saw the ghost that had rescued him appear at the edge of the church. "Naruto, it's okay to exit now, let's get you to the hospital," the ghost commanded gently.

Hesitantly, he did. The ghost gazed at him and started walking, so Naruto stumbled after him. His ankle and shoulder still burned in pain, even as it remained cold to the touch. His broken arm gave an agonizing throb with every step.

He silently followed after the ghost, his throat sore from his screams last night. He would have nightmares for the next few months and was unwilling to speak of what happened with anyone.

§End Flashback§

Hashirama and Madara were staring at him. Naruto shifted the shoulder of his shirt down, revealing a scar in the shape of a hand print, the edges of it were blackened and raised, making it seem like a tattoo.

"From what I understand, the Hokage of yours does not know you can see spirits, so how did you explain this?" Madara questioned, tilting his head.

Naruto grimaced, "I told him the truth, but the Hokage believes I was attacked by some foregin bloodline shinobi."

"So that's why you didn't want to enter the abandoned district… but you said they disappeared when the sun rose."

"People consider the end of the day at midnight, but that is not what the world considers the end of the day. October tenth began at sunrise and ended on the next sunrise, and those spirits are only able to appear on that day, and only in that location," Naruto explained, glancing out of his window to see the rain pouring down.

"Why do you fear to enter even when it is not the tenth?"

Naruto shuddered, "Because… whenever I near that district… I feel the monster watching me, like it's waiting for me to make a mistake."

Lightning flashed out the window as silence descended on the apartment.

End Note: Bet you didn't expect that, yeah? I had foreshadowed to it a bit through the chapters. No spirit is safe from being unstable, and they can have an affect on the living, Naruto more than most though. I don't know when I will update next.