Chapter 8– The Name of All Things
For the past two weeks, all newly minted Genin teams had been stuck in an endless cycle of D-rank missions, mundane, soul-draining tasks that had nothing to do with being a real shinobi.
Chores.
That was what they were.
Weeding gardens.
Walking dogs.
Painting fences.
Carrying groceries.
Some genin found solace in the simplicity, embracing the chance to bond with their teams. Others were one more errand away from losing their minds.
One of the latter?
Naruto Uzumaki
From an outsider's perspective, Naruto was a boisterous ball of sunshine he'd always been, loud, grinning, and full of boundless energy. But beneath the surface, behind that ever-present smile, lay something much darker. A predator. A force of nature wrapped in ink and deception. But no one saw it.
And that was the way he liked it.
By the third week, the teams rotated.
Team 7 (formerly Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Asuma) became Kurenai, Naruto, Ino, and Shino.
Team 8 (formerly Kiba, Ino, Sasuke, and Kurenai) became Sasuke, Kakashi, Choji, and Hinata.
Team 10 (formerly Kakashi, Sakura, Choji, and Shino) became Shikamaru, Asuma, Kiba, and Sakura.
---
A New Team, A New Introduction
Naruto stood before Kurenai, the red-eyed Jonin who now led his squad.
She was already familiar with Ino, Naruto and Shino were still new pieces to her puzzle.
"I'm Yūhi Kurenai. Genjutsu specialist. I look forward to working with you."
She offered a small smile, careful, watching. Assessing.
Ino was next.
Hands on her hips, she grinned. "Ino Yamanaka. Bla bla bla."
Naruto exhaled through his nose, amused.
Then, his turn.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki. The Monk who calls the True Name."
Silence.
Shino tilted his head. "Monk who calls the True Name?"
Kurenai's eyes sharpened. That title…
Ino frowned, confused. "The hell does that mean?"
Naruto smiled.
"It means I know the true name of all living things."
A weight settled over the group.
Shino's fingers twitched slightly at his sides. He adjusted his sunglasses, but his curiosity was evident.
Kurenai's breath hitched, her mind flickering back to Kakashi's warning during the Jonin report.
"Naruto is a Jonin-level threat."
She had prayed,prayed, that he would not walk the same road.
And now, here he was, speaking of true names.
Ino, less restrained, scoffed. "Sounds like a load of crap. What's that even supposed to mean?"
Naruto chuckled darkly. "It means when I call your true name, you will obey."
The words hung heavy in the air.
A chill crept up Ino's spine.
Shino remained still, but Kurenai… she felt a ripple of unease. Was this the power that made him so dangerous?
Naruto smiled as if nothing had happened.
Then, as if sensing their tension, he moved on, finishing his introduction.
But the air between them had already changed.
---
One Week Later – The Mission
Team 7's first C-rank mission arrived.
The mission was different a usual C-rank mission.
Not just an escort mission.
Not just a delivery gig.
This was different.
A village plagued by ghostly apparitions.
Terrified people whispering of haunted shadows.
A mystery waiting to be unraveled.
Naruto grinned as they left the village gates.
This?
This was going to be fun.
___
The Haunted Village arc
Chapter 9: The Phantom Village
The road to the village was uneventful, the silence broken only by the rustling of leaves and the crunch of gravel beneath their feet. Shino walked at the front, his insects humming softly in the air. Kurenai-sensei stayed at the center, exuding a quiet authority. Ino kept pace beside Naruto, her usual sharp attitude tempered by the eerie nature of their mission.
"You know," Naruto said, lacing his hands behind his head, "for a place that's supposed to be haunted, it sure doesn't look spooky yet."
"Give it time," Ino muttered, eyeing the dense forest around them. "We're not even there yet."
Shino adjusted his glasses. "The villagers reported ghost sightings primarily at night. If the cause is genjutsu, as Kurenai-sensei suspects, we may not notice anything until we get closer."
"Ohhh, spooky." Naruto wiggled his fingers. "Maybe we'll see a ghost and"
"Focus, Naruto," Kurenai said, though there was no real bite to it. "We need to approach this with a clear mind."
"Yeah, yeah." He waved a hand. "I just think we should prepare for every possibility. Maybe it's not genjutsu. Maybe it's real."
Shino didn't rise to the bait, but Ino scoffed. "Ghosts aren't real, Naruto."
Naruto's grin widened. If only they knew.
---
Arrival at the Village
By the time they reached the village, the sun had begun to set, casting long shadows across the wooden homes. The place felt wrong. Not in an obvious, "oh no, there's blood on the walls" kind of way, but in the air itself.
It was too quiet.
Too still.
As if the village itself was holding its breath.
The few villagers outside stared at them with wide, haunted eyes. Others peeked from behind closed shutters, barely daring to look. Even the animals seemed subdued, no barking dogs, no chirping birds.
Naruto's grin didn't falter, but inside?
Oh, he loved this.
Fear clung to these people like ink on paper. Thick. Unshakable. All-consuming.
A hunched old man, the village elder, presumably, approached hesitantly. His hands trembled as he clasped them together. "You, you're the shinobi from Konoha?"
Kurenai stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Yes. I am Yūhi Kurenai, and these are my students. We've been assigned to investigate your village's disturbances."
The old man nodded rapidly. "Please, come inside. Quickly. It's not safe out here after dark."
Ino shot Naruto a wary glance. "Okay, now it's starting to feel like a horror story."
Naruto only smiled wider.
---
Inside the Elder's Home
The interior of the house was cramped but warm, lit by flickering oil lamps. The elder, who introduced himself as Daichi, wasted no time explaining their plight.
"It started about a month ago," he said, voice low. "People began seeing…things in the night. Shadows moving where no shadows should be. Figures watching from the treetops. Then the whispers started."
"Whispers?" Shino asked.
The old man swallowed hard. "Soft voices… calling people by name. Luring them away from their homes. Those who followed… they were never the same afterward."
Naruto's fingers twitched. Now this was interesting.
"Define 'never the same,'" Kurenai pressed.
Daichi's lips tightened. "Distant. Hollow-eyed. As if something took a piece of them."
Silence hung thick in the room.
"Have you noticed any patterns?" Shino asked. "Do the apparitions appear in specific locations?"
Daichi nodded. "Always near the old shrine at the edge of the village."
A shrine, huh? Classic.
Naruto leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands. "So… we're dealing with ghosts that lure people into the dark, drain their souls, and vanish into thin air?"
Ino shot him a glare. "Not ghosts. Genjutsu."
Naruto's smile didn't waver.
Maybe.
Or maybe not.
---
Nightfall
As the last traces of daylight faded, the village changed.
The stillness deepened. Shadows stretched unnaturally, curling at the edges of buildings like grasping fingers. And then, faint but unmistakable
A whisper.
Naruto tilted his head, listening. The voice was soft, inviting, as if speaking just for him.
It called his name.
"Naruto…"
His grin widened.
"Oh," he murmured under his breath, "this just got even better."