Tale of the Setting Sun.

Chūnin Exams IV

Chapter 11: "Confrontation of the Black Shadow"

October 10th, the day of Naruto's eight birthday and every birthday before that, was Memorial Day at Konoha. It was always a cold, dark and somber day, as though the skies themselves were in mourning. The sun hid itself behind its clouds, which loomed heavily and slowly over the village. The villagers, all garbed in black, gathered around the memorial marker for the fallen heroes of the day the Nine-tails attacked.

Even at the Academy, there was always a special history lesson to begin the day for every class. The year before, when Naruto had been in Iruka's class, the chūnin had recounted for them how the shinobi of the village had fought bravely, holding off the Nine-tails from the rest of the village as they waited for the Fourth to arrive. Then, they had a moment of silence, before they resumed normal class activities.

But Naruto had been transferred to a new class two years his senior, and he found this year that his new instructor, a chūnin named Mizuki, conducted the lesson rather differently. Glossing cursorily over what the ninja had done, the man seemed to relish in describing the Nine-tails in detail. According to him, it was a colossal leviathan and each lashing tail rained destruction on the world every time it was swung. It was an uncontrollable force of nature, with fangs as long as a grown man and eyes that seethed with the burning fires of hell. The Nine-tails was a roiling, churning ball of evil, with only one intention in mind: to destroy anything and anyone in its path.

A student raised his trembling hand and asked, "But the Fourth killed it, right sensei?" A murmur of uncomfortable agreement spread throughout the classroom. The students had all of course grown up hearing in their bedtime stories about the monster that had terrorized the prior generation, but they'd never had reason to fear it.

Because always, at the end of every story, their mother or father had finished the story by saying, "The Fourth Hokage, a hero who loved his village and who was loved by the village, was able to protect us. At the cost of his life, he defeated the Nine-tails so that the future generation...so that you, could in turn grow up to be fine shinobi and continue protecting Konoha." With a kiss to their forehead, and a click as the light turned off, they had always fallen asleep with smiles on their faces and dreams of becoming the next hero to save their village.

But a strange, sly smile stretched across Mizuki-sensei's face as he heard the student's question.

"Well," he said, "the Fourth certainly...dealt with it for us. And that is why he is today, a hero." The chūnin bowed his head downwards in a show of respect, and all the students automatically copied his gesture. However, just before Naruto obediently complied, Mizuki tilted his head and glanced in his direction. And for a moment, Naruto thought that the chūnin's eyes had lingered on him with a cold glint. But an instant later Mizuki's gaze moved on to look fondly over the students. After a moment's hesitation, Naruto thought it more likely the fault of his overactive paranoia: Mizuki-sensei had treated him fairly over the past year, and seemed to bear no ill will against him. It wouldn't do for him to poison the opinion of his instructor, when he had so little support as it was.

As he lowered his head, Naruto wondered briefly what Mizuki-sensei had meant by 'dealt.' He hadn't directly answered the student's question – could that mean that the Nine-tails was still alive and roaming the wilderness? Naruto's head hurt at the possibility, and he instantly dismissed it. The Fourth had been too great a man to have simply chased the beast away. He would have dealt with it in the best way possible for the village. And what else could that be, but to kill such an untamable monster?