Author’s Note: Yeah, here’s a Halloween special that just popped into my head. I might do some more holidays (Christmas, Easter) if this one turns out okay. Enjoy! Read and review, please!

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.

Gaara Discovers Halloween

It was Halloween. Of course, Gaara had no idea that it was. He simply watched in dumbstruck wonder as the citizens of his village paraded around in multi-colored costumes and masks, chatting with neighbors or purchasing candy from nearby stores. Strange decorations of skeletons and scarecrows hung on lampposts here and there, and hollowed-out pumpkins with ghoulish faces carved into them smiled wickedly upon the crowd from porches. Ghosts and goblins were tethered to trees, while orange and black streamers fluttered in the gentle breeze.

At first, Gaara had thought it was the end of the world. Who were these strange nightmarish creatures roaming the streets, with their horrifying expressions and lack-luster appearance? But upon closer inspection, Gaara realized that these so-called demons were merely normal people (some of whom he recognized) garbed in extravagant clothes and masks. Several people waved friendly ‘hello’s to the confused young man, who nervously returned their greetings with a tentative wave of his own. Gaara walked down the street as far away from the large crowd as possible, not wanting to get caught up in the frenzy of the townspeople.

Gaara had been wandering absently around the house that morning when he’d remembered Temari complaining the other morning about there not being enough cereal for breakfast because Kankuro kept eating out of the box when he was hungry. So, Gaara left and went to the grocery store, knocking on the window until someone answered. The storeowner had sleepily protested that the grocery only opened at seven, but one glare from Gaara had given him full access to all of the store’s facilities. After buying the needed comestibles, he’d run into Baki on the street, who had proceeded to launch into a lengthy description of an upcoming mission. Gaara had listened with only half an ear, as something had caught his eye. Children ran shrieking too and fro, clad in the most ridiculous apparel. More and more appeared every minute. That was when Gaara had known something wasn’t right.

He had to get home. The whole town had gone crazy. That was the only logical explanation he could think of.

“Kankuro?” Gaara asked as he opened the front door and walked in. “Where are you? I need to talk to you.” If anyone would know what on earth was going on, it would be Kankuro. His wisdom hadn’t failed Gaara yet.

“In here,” was the answer. Kankuro’s voice came from the direction of the living room. Gaara immediately started over. Entering through the door, he cast his eyes around for his brother, and saw him on the couch. Gaara moved toward his brother.

“Kankuro, can you tell me whaaa…” Gaara slowed and stopped abruptly. Kankuro had looked up when he’d heard his brother’s voice and was giving Gaara his full attention. But it wasn’t his thoughtfulness to his brother that put Gaara on edge. No, it was the black paint that coated all of Kankuro’s face. Gaara had seen Kankuro put plenty of face-paint on before, but this was going a bit overboard. Also unnerving was that along with the black coating, several whiskers and a pink nose had also been painted onto the shinobi’s face. With his trademark pointed hat and black jumpsuit, Kankuro looked almost exactly like a huge, black cat.

“What do you need to ask me, Gaara?” Kankuro had noticed Gaara’s frightened stare. Was one of his whiskers crooked? Was the paint smeared somewhere? Kankuro didn’t think so, as he’d been careful not to touch his face after applying his costume that morning. Gaara had already been gone by then, and Kankuro was disappointed at not being able to show his costume off. He stood, trying to put Gaara at ease. This, however, was a big mistake.

Gaara’s eyes widened. Protruding from Kankuro’s backside was a long, fluffy black tail. Gaara didn’t even wait to hear Kankuro speak again. He shot out of the room like a rocket and practically flew up the stairs to escape to the sanctity of his room. Slamming the door closed behind him, he immediately bolted the door securely, just in case Kankuro tried to get at him. He also shoved his desk in front of the door for good measure.

Damn this insanity! It had spread so far as his own house? What could he do? Gaara sat down heavily on his bed and tried to think of a solution. Or a reason, rather. Why was all of this happening? What was going on? Was it contagious? And why, o why did Kankuro have a tail?

Gaara held his head in his hands. This was all too much for him. Everyone had lost their minds. A knock on his door nearly made him jump in fright. Scuttling behind his bed for safety, he peeked out from his new blockade.

“…Who is it?”

“It’s me, Temari.” Her voice was a bit muffled by the thick door, but it was indeed Temari on the other side.

Temari! He’d forgotten all about his dear sister in his moment of terror. Was she alright? Had she been infected also? Gaara clambered out from behind his bed and went to the door. He pushed the desk away from the door before he came to his senses. He paused, his hand hovering over the protective metal bolt.

“…Are you sane? Have you also gone crazy?” He asked suspiciously.

“What? What are you talking about, Gaara? I’m fine! Open the door! What’s wrong?” Temari’s worried voice struck a chord in Gaara. He quickly unbolted the door and opened it wide.

“Temari, I’m so glad that…” Gaara’s voice trailed off as he laid eyes on his sister. Temari stood before him, in a white long-sleeved dress shirt and dark blue pants. However, it wasn’t her choice of clothing that caused Gaara’s throat to clench tight. It was her hair.

It was down. Temari’s. Her hair was down. Never once in his whole life had Gaara seen his sister with her hair down. Not only was it down, it was combed. Another first.

“What’s wrong, Gaara?” Temari asked, hand on her hip, brushing her hair out of her face. It had been combed neatly to the side and looked like it had even been washed. With conditioner. Gaara stared at it with a sort of horrified fascination. Temari couldn’t help but notice her brother’s eyes glued to her head. “What, you don’t like my hair?”

“It’s…it’s…” Gaara couldn’t even bring himself to speak of it. Temari caught on quickly.

“Yeah, I know. I styled it for my costume. You know, for Halloween.” Temari swiped her fingers through her still-wet hair. Gaara blinked in confusion.

“Ha…llo…ween?” Gaara sounded out the strange word. “What’s that?” Temari stared at her brother blankly.

“You’re kidding, right?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. Gaara shook his head solemnly. Temari heaved a sigh. “Kankuro!”

--

“…And so every Halloween, on the 31st of October, everyone dresses up like a monster or whatever they want, and go out a night, getting candy from all the neighbors. It’s called Trick-or-Treating,” Kankuro finished, winding down from his lengthy explanation of what Halloween was. Gaara sat attentively in front of him, soaking up every word.

“So…that’s why you’re dressed like that?”

“Yep. You like it?” Kankuro grinned, teeth flashing white against the black of his face and clothes. He stood up and showed off his costume, including his pride and joy, the fluffy tail. “I made it myself. Pretty sweet, huh?” Gaara grunted, not sure he trusted his voice at the moment. He personally thought Kankuro looked a bit silly.

“Why haven’t I ever heard of this ‘Halloween’ before?” Gaara asked, curious. Kankuro’s grin grew broader.

“Well, we never really could celebrate it before, since you were so… ‘temperamental’.” Gaara scowled with mock anger, pretending to seem offended. Kankuro wasn’t fooled and laughed at his brother’s antics. Gaara’s violent past had been left far behind the sand siblings, opening the doors to greater understanding of one another.

“So Gaara’s all filled in now?” Temari strode in, buttoning up her dress shirt. Kankuro turned and gave her an incredulous look.

“Who’re you supposed to be?” He asked, eyeing her up and down. Temari crossed her arms in annoyance and tossed her hair out of her face.

“You’ll see when Shikamaru gets here. We dressed as a couple.” A hint of smugness was laced into her voice, as well as a light shade of pink in her cheeks.

“He lays a hand on you and he’s gonna lose it.” Kankuro growled, eyes narrowing. Gaara swallowed a laugh before what Temari had said sank in.

“Shikamaru is coming? …Here? Why?” Gaara, apparently, still had questions.

“Oh, not just him,” Kankuro chuckled. “All the genin from Konohagakure are coming. We’re all gonna go out Trick-or-Treating and have fun.” Gaara smiled softly, then frowned.

“But…I don’t have a costume…” Gaara looked down. Kankuro clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder and smiled confidently.

“That’s where I come in.”

Temari snorted in disbelief.

--

It took a little time, but Kankuro finally found a costume for Gaara in his extensive collection. Since Gaara bluntly refused to don anything he deemed as silly or childish, his choices were somewhat limited. He also refused to wear a mask, as they interfered with both his vision and breathing, and face-paint was out of the question since Kankuro was quite reluctant to share from his enormous cache, even with his own brother. Therefore, only one costume stood out from the others and was deemed suitable for Gaara.

“Oh, Gaara! It’s perfect!” Temari laughed aloud when he emerged from Kankuro’s darkened room. On his head were pointed devil’s horns, he’d changed to his red suit, and he carried a three-pronged pitchfork. Gaara blushed in embarrassment. Kankuro grinned proudly, happy he’d found something Gaara had liked. Just then, someone knocked on the front door.

“Oh, that must be Shikamaru!” Temari gasped, suddenly nervous. “Is my hair okay? Are my clothes wrinkled? How do I look?” She glanced at her brothers anxiously. Kankuro gave her a sarcastic look.

“Why don’t you just answer the damn door?”

“Fine,” Temari huffed, turning away. “You guys are no help at all.” She stalked to the door and pulled it open. Standing in the doorway was, indeed, Shikamaru. Something about him was different, though…something…

Gaara and Kankuro’s eyes widened as they saw that Shikamaru’s usually pony-tailed hair was down. This was almost as shocking as their sister’s change of hairstyle, as the lazy boy always wore his hair up. The two brothers stared in awe as Shikamaru came in and stood next to Temari, who smiled happily. Both wore matching dark blue business suits with white undershirts. On Shikamaru’s forehead was a miniscule dot, and both their hair were down and combed neatly. Temari looked at her brothers.

“See? We’re Elena and Tseng from that Playstation video game, Final Fantasy VII.” She took hold of Shikamaru’s arm, who grunted.

“It was troublesome, but she made me,” he explained, rolling his eyes at Temari. One had to be blind not to see that he was actually enjoying his current situation and was simply trying to keep up his old act of not caring. Temari punched his shoulder.

“Oh, shut up. You love it.” She smiled at her brothers again. “I got the idea, because a bunch of the other genin are dressing like characters from the game.”

“Am I the only one whose costume is original?” Kankuro asked sarcastically. Shikamaru glanced behind him out the door.

“The others are here,” he reported. Indeed, a loud rabble of children was making its way to the sand sibling’s front step. Shikamaru and Temari moved out of the way, allowing the others to come in.

All the genin were there. Naruto made his presence quite noticeable, with his yelling and cheering, as he was quite excited on going out and receiving large amounts of candy. He wore dark overalls, a sleeveless blue turtleneck, and a shoulder pad on his left arm. He also toted around a large cardboard sword, which he swung at anyone who came within his vicinity.

“I’m Cloud Strife!” He declared when Gaara asked, bopping Sakura on the head with his sword and immediately regretting it.

“Naruto! You’re gonna get it!” Sakura, who was dressed in a long, white jacket with a stethoscope around her neck, whirled around and did the exact opposite of her profession – harmed him greatly. Sakura was obviously meant to be a doctor, but this didn’t stop her from slugging Naruto in the gut before storming away.

Gaara helped Naruto up from his place on the floor, and the injured genin began pointing out the others and who they were supposed to be.

“There’s Ino! She’s supposed to be a princess! Yeah, right!” Naruto laughed at the thought. Ino was dressed in a dazzling white gown with a tiara perched atop her head. She was smiling and fluttering her eyelashes at any boy who would talk to her. Gaara hoped she wouldn’t come over to him. “Oh, and that’s Hinata! She’s Yuffie, from Final Fantasy VII, too!”

“H-hello, G-Gaara…” Hinata stammered in her usual tone. She had on shorts, a sleeveless top, and a large shield clutched in her left hand. She also had a large shuriken in her other. Gaara quietly said hello and noticed Neji standing silently behind her. His hair was also down, and he wore a red and black robe with a crimson bandana. On his hip was a toy gun. Hinata saw Gaara’s inquisitive look and explained. “N-Neji is Vincent, from the s-same game.” Neji stared coldly at the sand shinobi, daring him to make fun of his outfit. It was quite obvious he wasn’t enjoying this. Gaara wisely kept his mouth shut.

Sasuke walked by, clothed in his usual blue and white outfit.

“There’s Sasuke, he’s being an a-hole for Halloween!” Naruto hollered, pointing his cardboard sword at the surly boy, who scowled and whirled around to face Naruto.

“Shut up, loser! I told you, I’m not dressing up like a little kid and parading around in some stupid outfit!” He growled. Naruto just nodded.

“Yeah! I know! That’s why you’re being an a-hole for Halloween! It’s perfect!” Naruto flashed Sasuke his trademark grin, who glared death threats at the boy before stalking off to a dark corner and brooding. Naruto elbowed Gaara to get his attention. “Don’t mind him. He’s just pissy because I’m so much more awesome than he is.” Naruto went back to naming the characters portrayed by the other genin. “Shino is…uh…Shino? Who are you, again?”

“…” Shino stared blankly at Naruto, adjusting his grip on the large samurai sword (which was fake, thank goodness) that was propped against his shoulder. Shino wore his usual pair of sunglasses, with a long, red robe and black boots. “…I am Auron, from the Playstation 2 game Final Fantasy X,” he replied solemnly. Naruto’s grin grew broader.

“Wow! Now that you mention it, you two do look alike! Ha ha!” Only several more genin were left unidentified. Choji, who was dressed in white clothes with small wings on the back and a stuffed cat on his shoulders, was Cait Sith, from the same video game as Naruto. Kiba, in a red kimono and long, white wig, was Inuyasha, another dog-boy from a show on TV, along with Akamaru, who had a small vest on and a large, poofy tail attached to his own, was Shippo, his cute demon-fox companion. Naruto made a face when he said ‘fox-demon’, clearly seeing the difference between the small and cute Shippo and the violent, blood-lusting Nine-tails who had taken residence in his own body.

“Heeee-yaw!” Rock Lee pulled off an impressive series of high-kicks and karate-chops before answering Gaara’s question. “I am the invincible Bruce Lee!” Rock Lee had cast off his normal green raiment and instead sported a yellow-and-black tracksuit, which suited him nicely.

“Hoooo-dah!” Tenten also launched into a fury of kicks and punches in quick succession. “I’m the strong and beautiful Chun Li, from Street Fighter!” Tenten’s adorable buns (the ones of her head) were capped in white cloth, and she wore a blue Chinese dress with leggings. She and Lee immediately began sparring, which was not a very good idea in the limited confines of the sand sibling’s living room.

“Tenten’s been spending too much time with Lee and Gai Sensei…” Neji mumbled, partly to himself. “Now I’m the only sane one left…”

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Temari looked around to make sure everyone had a bag for candy. “Alright! Let’s go!” Everyone cheered and poured out of the house into the waiting night.

--

The rest of the night was a blur for Gaara. The company went from house to house, Trick-or-Treating and receiving generous amounts of candy from the locals, mostly since their esteemed leader was among the group. As the hour grew late, several other groups of young adults in costumes attempted to ambush them to claim their hard-earned bounty, but the strength of Gaara’s friends were unparalleled and the attackers quickly learned their lessons and lost their own collection of sweets to the victors. Naruto, as mischievous as always, had brought along several rolls of toilet paper and eggs, and began hurling his projectiles at several houses, while Kiba and Kankuro took the rolls and decorated nearby trees. Lee and Tenten also did their part, drop-kicking random Jack O’ Lanterns into the next world. Gaara also joined in, albeit a little reluctant, feeling guilty but still strangely excited at the thought. That is, until he realized the house he was currently egging belonged to none other than his own team leader, Baki, who was awakened by the sound of eggs hitting his house and opened his window, furious.

“Hey! You damn kids! What the hell do you think you’re- Oh. Gaara-sama.” The team leader’s one visible eye had found Gaara and all anger vanished instantaneously. “Forgive me. Please continue.” The window closed and the light shut off again. Gaara stared in disbelief while Naruto and others busted up laughing.

The rest of the night was spent visiting several other houses that were still light and eating the rewards that had been reaped while chatting amongst one another. Sasuke, while still stubbornly refusing to be part of the Trick-or-Treating team, helped himself to Sakura’s bag of candy, to her delight. Kiba almost always received extra candy for his adorable canine companion, while Shino’s austere stare and blank “Trick… or… Treat…” earned him several uneasy glances. Ino, in her frilled gown and high-heels, ended up twisting her ankle and loudly complaining until Kankuro grudgingly carried her on his back the rest of the way. Somehow he was able to not only heave Ino around, but to keep an eye on Shikamaru at the same time.

All in all, Gaara had a wonderful first Halloween. He had sweets, his friends, and his brother and sister with him. The memories of this night would accompany him for many years to come. Knowing he had so many people who cared for him lightened his step and even provoked a small smile.

Too bad Halloween only came once a year.

But then again, there was always the next.

The End.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.

Author’s Note: Oh, man that was fun. I kinda had a hard time figuring out everyone’s costume, but ones that just instantly popped into my head were Shino’s and Rock Lee’s. I mean, come on! Who else are they supposed to be? Anyway, I hope you liked it. Review, please!