Naruto: Halloween Nights
By SapphireWhiteTigress

Chapter I – The Pumpkin King

------

Tsunade-sama had summoned each and every one of the rookie nine and Gai's team to her office, ready to debrief them on their next mission. Tsunade was uncertain about sending twelve teenagers out to take care of this problem, but she had no other choice. Taking a deep breath, she begins the speech that she prepared ten minutes before their arrival, their Jounins standing behind her desk.

"Listen carefully, for I will not repeat myself," she stated, giving Naruto a pointed glare.

Naruto was blissfully unaware of the look Tsunade shot him.

The others just nodded and urged her to continue.

"A situation has arisen and Konoha needs you to take care of it," she raised a hand to put a halt to anything the children might have to say. "There is a prophecy, and that song that you have heard earlier this morning was the start of it. I do not know where it has come from, but resources tell me that there is a special tree hidden in the Forest of Death that will lead you into another world."

Naruto blinked. "Huh? There's a tree that leads you into another world?" He paused to contemplate this before shouting, "That's so cool!"

Sakura twitched and smacked him senseless. "Naruto, shut up!"

Naruto winced and grabbed his head in pain. "Alright, alright…"

Tsunade continued talking as if nothing happened, although there was a slight roll of her eyes. She rested her elbows on her desk and folded her hands in front of her, resting her chin in the cup of her folded hands. "In this other world, or dimension – whatever you will – is the Pumpkin King. The Pumpkin King holds the fate of Konoha and it is up to you twelve to bring him down. If you fail…" She trailed off, leaving it hanging between them. They got the gist of what she was hinting at.

If they failed, Konoha would fall.

Sasuke gave a smug little smirk. "All we have to do is take out this 'Pumpkin King'? Should be easy, even for this dobe."

Naruto growled at Sasuke and pointed an index finger at him. "Shut up, Sasuke! You're not better than me!"

Sasuke turned to him and glared. "I'm better than you'll ever be dobe."

Before Naruto could retort, Tsunade slammed her hands on the desk, startling everyone. "We do not have time for this bickering! I need each and every one of you to cooperate for a successful mission. Am I understood?" At their nods, Tsunade sat back down in her seat and resumed her earlier posture. "Good, now that we have established that, we shall move on. The exact location of this tree that leads into the other dimension is currently unknown—"

Sakura interrupted her. "But if it's unknown, than how do you know that it's located in the Forest of Death?"

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temple. "A minute I waste in explaining this to you is a minute closer to the ultimate destruction of Konoha. Now, getting back to business, we know that the tree is in the Forest of Death, but what we do not know is where in the forest of death. In order to locate this tree quickly, I would need to split you up into two teams of six—"

"Groups of six? Wouldn't it be faster if we were in our own teams of three?" Naruto said in confusion.

Tsunade was increasingly becoming annoyed with all the interruptions. "There will be two teams of six because the Forest of Death has grown ten times as dangerous as it was during the chuunin exams." Everyone nodded to confirm that they understood now. "I'll also be sending two Jounins with each team to escort you. However, they will not be able to go further then the gates."

Everyone blinked, or, almost everyone blinked. Sasuke doesn't like to show surprise and Neji was too preoccupied with the thought that he would have to go on a tiring mission with Naruto and Lee. It wasn't that he minded them, because he didn't, but what bothered him most was the fact that Naruto complains a lot and Lee doesn't shut up about youth, love, and Sakura.

"Why wouldn't they be able to come with us, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shrugged. "Honestly? I don't really know. Now, you have three hours to find the door—" Once again, she was interrupted and her left eye started to twitch dangerously.

"What happens after three hours?" Kiba, for the first time since arriving at the Hokage's office, said.

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade calmed herself from lashing out at Kiba and doing un-Hokage-like things to him. "Kiba," she grounded out between clenched teeth.

Kiba started to nervously sweat. "Um, yes…Hokage-sama?"

"If you interrupt me one more time…" She left the threat hanging in the air, causing the boy to gulp in fear.

Kiba cowered and thought: '…I've only said something once! This is so unfair!'

Tsunade sighed. She was really beginning to get a headache. "Your assigned Jounins will explain the rest to you. Before you are dismissed, I will assign you all to your teams. Team 1 will consist of: Neji, Lee, Naruto, Tenten, Sakura and Hinata."

Hinata blushed and nodded firmly. She was nervous about being placed in the same time as Naruto. Naruto grinned. "Great! I get to be the leader, right?"

"No." Tsunade said firmly, causing Naruto to frown.

"Why not?!"

"Because I said so. When you are Hokage, you can make the team arrangements, until then, I am placing Neji as team captain." Tsunade said before turning to the other half. "The rest of you will be assigned as Team 2. Shikamaru will be assigned leadership." Then she addressed the whole group, "Until you are able to defeat this 'Pumpkin King', the town will forever be in a deep, gloomy slumber. Please, do as best as you can. The entire town is counting on you." She concluded.

"Hai!" They all saluted their Hokage.

"Good, Kakashi, Gai, take Team 1 into the Forest of Death. Kurenai and Asuma, you will escort Team 2 there as well. Good luck everyone." And with that said, they were dismissed.

---

Within a few minutes both teams reached the gates to the Forest of Death. Before they entered, their four jounins decided to explain a few things to them.

"The forest is far worst than it was back when you all took the chuunin exams," started Kurenai.

Asuma took a drag of his cigarette before exhaling slowly and saying, "Yeah, the creatures have become far more hostile and violent, not to mention ten times as strong."

"How is it that the creatures increased in strength?" Sakura asked with curiosity.

Asuma shrugged and said nothing as he took another long drag of his cigarette and blowing out a cloud of gray smoke. Tenten, who was standing next to him, quickly got out of range and gave him a glare.

Kakashi only continued to read his book as he dangled the keys to the East Gate in his hand.

"Is there anything else we should know about the Forest of Death or this tree?" Kiba asked.

Gai stepped in. "We cannot enter the forest with you, however, if you are ever in need of assistant, you must rely on each other! For the power of team work is YOUTHFUL!" He threw his fist into the air in a triumphant manner.

Lee joined in.

Silence followed.

And there was a cricket somewhere.

Gai slumped dejectedly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and unlocked the gate. "Okay. Go in. Don't get killed." He said dispassionately. He was a little worried about them, but not enough to actually show it. He was confident that they would get the job done.

The two teams charged into the Forest of Death, leaping into different directions. Hopefully, this way, they can cover more ground and find this tree in half the time. Team 1 headed south while Team 2 headed north.

The four jounins stood there in silence as they watched the teenagers disappear into the deep forest. Asuma coughed. "How long you think it'll take them to find this tree?" He asked.

Kakashi shrugged.

"I hope that they will be okay." Kurenai said a bit worriedly.

Gai grinned. "They will be fine! The power of youth burns strongly within them!"

---

Three hours passed and still, there was so sign of this stupid tree that they were supposed to find. Within that time, they were greeted with ten giant forest creatures that wanted to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they found out that Asuma wasn't lying when he told them that these creatures were indeed stronger.

"Ugh, why won't you die?" Naruto yelled as he threw yet another attack at a gigantic snake that just kept coming back for more. By this time, the snake's skin was piling off, as well as some of its flesh, and the skeleton of the snake could be seen through holes on its gross body.

Sakura was grossed out by the sight. "Naruto, kill it already!"

Naruto growled in annoyance. "I'm trying!" He said as he formed the seals necessary for his next move. However, before he could complete it, the enormous snake-creature swiped out its tail and knocked Naruto off his feet and into a tree – head first.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out as she ran over to him.

That was when Lee jumped into the fight and gave the snake a hard kick to its face, focusing a lot of chakra into it. The kick did no damage to it. It hissed and snapped its unearthly large mouth at Lee, almost capturing the small teenager within its jaws of death. Lee, ever the one quick on his feet, was able to dodge the incoming attack before he was consumed. The snake found its jaws buried within the ground. It growled, which was unusual for a snake and tried to strike Lee once again. Unfortunately, with the fierce movement it was making, the snake's eye…popped right out of its socket and right onto Lee.

Lee gave out a manly yell of 'surprise'.

Neji, finally growing extremely annoyed, stepped into the battle and took up his traditional stance, with his Byakugan activated. Immediately, he lurched into a powerful array of attacks, hitting all the chakra points on the reptilian creature. Soon, it dropped down to the ground, finally defeated. As soon as it touched the dirt covered ground, it dissolved into nothing.

As soon as the creature disappeared, Naruto finally came to. Hinata glanced down at him with his head resting on her lap and blushed a deep crimson when she noticed that he has awoken. He jumped up and looked around, unaware of Hinata having cared for him. "Huh? What happened?"

Sakura, who was as far away from Lee as possible (because of the whole eyeball incident), glared at Naruto from afar. "Neji defeated the snake."

Naruto stopped and glared at Neji. "Hey, I almost had him!"

Neji rolled his eyes and crossed his eyes. "You looked to have been knocked out to me." He said mockingly.

Before Naruto would retort, a rustle was heard coming from the shadows. All eyes turned to it.

"What was that?" Tenten asked as she stepped closer to where the noise came from.

A shadowy figure, which was really short, ran from one spot to another, followed shortly by two others. And that was when the music started. Everyone blinked in surprise. After a few seconds, three different vocals were heard.

"Laa, la, la, la, la, laa!
La, la, la, la, laa!
Laa, la, la, la, la, laa!
La, la, la, la, laa!"

"Hail to Mister Oogie!
Jack will never win!
When you find our booby traps,
They will do you in!"

"What on earth?" Sakura said in confusion.

"Where's that music coming from? Who's there?" Naruto asked, looking around. As he said that, the female voice took control of the vocals.

"First we brought the Master back,
To take this town away from Jack!
We knew he'd fight to set things right,
So we got bad guys who attack!"

"Does anyone else find this a little weird?" Tenten asked the others. They nodded.

Suddenly, there was another voice, different from the ones that they just heard.

"Stop! I've had enough of you!
Your punishment is overdue!
You've instigated chaos here,
And turned this town onto its ear!"

There was a taller shadow chasing after the smaller ones and that was when the group decided that it was time to follow. They chased after them, leading deeper into the forest.

"Hail to Mister Oogie!
Put Jack to the test!
Keep him guessing all the time,
Never let him rest!"

"Then Mister Oogie Boogie Man,"

"Can take the whole town over then!"

"He'll be so pleased, I do declare!"

"The whole world should beware! Wheee!"

Naruto led the pack into the unknown as they continued to chase after the four mysterious figures. It was getting darker and darker and harder to see as they ran.

"Now, that Oogie is king,
We get away with everything!
You cannot scold us for our pranks!
The new King Oogie, let's give thanks!"

Sakura was growing annoyed as she said, "What are they singing about?"

Lee, who wanted to run next to Sakura, looked over to her. "I do not really know. I believe it has something to do with this…'Mr. Oogie' person." Lee, who was still looking at Sakura, suddenly stopped short as a random branch appeared seemingly from nowhere to halt his movement. Lee flew into a nearby tree.

Sakura stopped and winced as she ran over to see if he was okay, or at least still alive. "Lee-san? Are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down beside him.

Lee winced as he lifted himself up, having landed head first into the unfortunate tree. Being captivated by Sakura's beauty during a mission wasn't something that should happen too often, lest he end up getting himself killed. He nodded at Sakura's question, feeling slightly embarrassed. He quickly shook away his embarrassment. "We should catch up with the others," he said and hurriedly ran after them with Sakura by his side.

They chased the figures for a good ten minutes before all four disappeared inside of a weird looking tree. Naruto stopped to catch his breath, leaning up against a tree opposite of the one the shadowy figures disappeared into. "That must be…the tree…that obaachan was talking about…" he said between pants.

Neji nodded as he studied the tree with his Byakugan. The tree was surrounded by a weird energy force that neither Neji nor Hinata has ever seen before. Once deactivating his Byakugan and analyzing the situation, he concluded with the inevitable.

"We have to go through." He stated calmly, crossing his arms over his chest with his prominent scowl in place.

Naruto frowned. "We don't even know where that leads!"

They all stared at the looming, darkening tree for a few short seconds. Neji then decided to take initiative and skillfully shoved Naruto through the small opening in the tree. Naruto's eyes widen in shock and disbelief as he found himself falling through the tree.

"AHHH!! NEJI, YOU JERK!!" And soon, his voice disappeared. Everyone stood in silence.

"Um, is…is Na-Naruto-kun…going to…going to be o-okay?" Hinata stammered, tapping both of her index fingers together, worried about her crush.

"How do we know if it's safe to go through?" Sakura asked, staring skeptically at the tree.

Neji looked thoughtful. "Naruto's particles didn't separate as he passed through the barrier. It's probably safe to go through." He said, still unsure of what would happen after passing through.

Lee nodded with a determined frown on his face. His eyes lit up with such passion, it was almost scary. He quickly, without a single word, dashed into the tree and disappearing in the same fashion that Naruto had only moments before.

The others sighed at Lee's recklessness and followed suit, wondering where they would end up now.

---

Elsewhere in The Forest of Death, Shikamaru and his group found themselves surrounded by a number of overgrown chipmunks, rabbits, snakes, and other creatures. Ino would have thought that the rabbits and chipmunks were cute, if it weren't for the murderous intent and hunger that lingered in their blood-shot eyes.

"Uh, this can't be good, can it?" She asked, glancing towards their team leader.

Shikamaru sighed. "This is so troublesome…"

---

AN: Well, here's chapter two. You try spelling Byakugan right when inside of your mind all you see is Byakuya (from Bleach). Hearing Naruto pronounce Byakugan made me realize how to pronounce Byakuya correctly. Please review. They encourage me to not wait three years before I update something (though, this has been proven false. –Embarrassed-). Also, I'm sorry for the mistakes, this chapter is unbeta-ed. I was unable to find someone to look over it for me. I still hope that you liked it!