From the edge of the Honeycomb Warren, a human carrying a round fox descended a glistening gumdrop slope that opened onto a moonlit field filled with soft music, drifting laughter, and carousel lights that flickered like fireflies! Tents of pale lavender and silver shimmered in the dark, and rides floated on moonbeams anchored to the earth by golden cords.
"Welcome to the Moonlight Carnival." said Kyubi-kun "A place of forgotten joy—and buried sorrow. The third Bunny House is hidden here, somewhere between thrill and memory."
Naruto shivered, though not from cold. The air here pulsed with emotion, like an old song whose melody he almost knew.
At the Carnival gate, a bunny in a jester's outfit stood with a lantern shaped like a teardrop. "To find the House, you must earn three stars of joy,hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!" the bunny said, its voice lilting. "One from a game, one from a ride, and one from a memory. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"
The boy exchanged glances with his best friend, then nodded.
"I didn't get a thing from what this weird bunny said, I'm counting on you Kyubi-kun!" Whispered the boy to the still round like baloon fox in his arms, as they went to the first attraction.
The first tent he entered was glowing with iridescent lights. Inside, a glittery bunny hosted a booth with spinning hoops. "Catch the glimmer! Catch your joy!" it sang, well it did attempt to sing, as it was still just a bunny.
Naruto tossed a ring. It missed.
"Think of something that made you laugh." Advised the orange round ball of fur laying like a seal on the counter.
Our hero closed his eyes, he remembered the day he filled Iruka seinsei's tea cup with some ink once, and the face of his dear teacher after taking a sip in the middle of the class. He grinned. The next ring flew straight and landed perfectly.
A bell rang. One star shimmered into his hand, and he hearted a voice announce:
"10 points for Gryffindor!"
"Uh what was that?"Asked Naruto confused.
"Nothing, just a local tradition here." replied the fox. This one was on him, he was too tempted to resist his potterhead's habits and lost the inner struggle.
For the second star, our team boarded the Carousel of Echoes. Each animal shaped like seat was representing a memory—a rubber duck, a hobby horse, a stuffed rabbit and more. After multiple attemps it was decided that only Naruto would participate, as the fox was too cute but also too fat for this activity.
He chose a strange hybrid: a rabbit with wings. As the carousel spun, scenes projected around him: fragments of laughter, Sakura-tan, faces of people he almost remembered, Sakura-tan, places he'd never been—or had he?
At the highest point, our hero shouted into the wind, "I am still here!"
The carousel glowed gold. A second star drifted into his palm, and some one said something about some points going to Griffindor.
The final tent was silent. Inside, mirrors lined every wall, reflecting Naruto's face at different ages—some older, some younger, all wondering.
At the center sat a bunny in a cloak made of stardust.
"Give a memory to receive one!" Commanded-it.
The Boy hesitated. Then he touched a mirror but before he could say something, the little fox rolled over like a rolling balloon, and said:
"Skip that one it's a trap!"
The bunny nodded. And said in a very bunny way:
"The memories of the past are like carrots. Sweet. But they will never replace the carrots of today nor tomorrow!"
The third star floated into Naruto's hands.
A moonbeam formed a path to a tower, a whimsical tower built of carousel parts and carnival dreams. Inside, atop a stack of cloud-shaped cushions, sat the third Moon Fragment, proudly, like a prise.
Naruto took it, and the carnival vanished like stardust after Ziggy's hands were shattered by angry musicians.
"Three down." Kyubi-kun said. "Nine to go."
The young ninja looked up at the moon, now shining a little brighter. He didn't speak, but he smiled.
Beyond the fading lights of the Moonlight Carnival, our heroes entered a landscape unlike any they had yet seen. The cute little fox wasn't bloated anymore, and his foxidentification resulted as following: it was magic honey. The air turned thick with stillness, and the color bled from the world around them. Grass dulled to grey. Flowers wilted in slow motion. Trees stood with bent backs, their leaves sagging as though too tired to fall.
A sign carved into a brittle tree read: "The Carrotless Garden."
"This place drains the will," said the fox, still walking casually to the human's side. "If you stop moving, even your dreams will begin to rot."
Naruto said nothing. The silence here was different. It wasn't peaceful. It was heavy and oppressive.
As they entered deeper into the garden, the flowers around them began to whisper.
"You can't save her."
"You are no one."
"There are no carrots here!"
"You should never have come."
"She ate them all!"
They were not loud, but constant—like rain that could seep through skin.
Naruto pressed on, clutching his teeth, eyes filled with determination. Eventually, they reached a garden bed at the heart of the field where everything had turned to stone. Flowers, bushes, even the insects were frozen in rock, mid-motion. In the center sat a marble bench, and on it, a girl. A bunny girl!
She wore a crown of thorns made of rose stems. Her dress was made of dead leaves. Her eyes were closed. Her rabbit ears were hanging down, like ears of a carrotless rabit.
"Is that... Kaguya?" the boy whispered.
"No." said the cute little fox. "But a shadow of her. A fragment of her despair. To pass this trial, you must bring life back to her garden."
"How?" he asked.
His faithful friend pointed at his back, more precisely at a red carrot attached by a silk scarf.
"You have to plant a carrot here."
"Wow you are the most relliable fox in the world! You always have a solution for everything! Amazing!" Exclaimed Naruto, and started to work.
"They won't grow." whispered a vine.
"It's all for nothing." hissed a withered tulip.
Naruto dug anyway. With dry hands and cracking knuckles, he planted the carrot. As soon as he was done, a light beam crashed down from the sky, and many other carrots started to grow everywhere!
The bunny-girl on the bench opened her eyes. They glowed moonlight silver. She stood, her leaf-dress fluttering. The crown of thorns fell away, her cute bunny ears now energetic!
"Thank you," she said smiling softly.
She extended her hand. Floating above it was the fourth Moon Fragment, pure and gleaming.
Naruto reached out and took it.
The fox looked up and said:
"Remember Naruto, for rabits, everything is about carrots."
As they left the garden, the moon above seemed larger than before.