From the petals of celebration to the gears of precision, the journey took a solemn turn. Kyubi-kun led Naruto trough a spiraling petal-bridge that led them into a landscape shaped by time itself, how a landscape can be shaped by time itself you may ask? Well find a bunny engineer and ask him!
Towers shaped like grandfather clocks and giant watch faces rose from rolling hills of ticking grass. Every flower opened and closed like minute hands. The air pulsed with rhythm, and tiny carrots resonated with each other producing a glasslike himing sound.
"This is Clockhare Spire," said the little cute fox. "Where time remembers all—and forgets nothing."
Ahead loomed a spiraling tower built from bronze and brass, its windows shaped like rabbit ears and each level spinning slightly slower than the one below it. A pendulum swayed before the grand doors, etched with constellations and clocks.
A rabbit in a tailcoat stood at the entrance, his monocle as pink as pure maiden's love!
"You are late, yet also on time," he said. "Typical."
"Will this be as fun as the parade?" the boy asked.
"To pass, you must find a moment you've lost—and choose whether to keep it."
Our heroes exchanged glances, then stepped inside.
"He was probably talking about a carrot, right?" Asked Naruto as he got used to it.
"Probably!" Confirmed the nice little truthworthy fox.
As they climbed, they discovered that each floor of Clockhare Spire had a different style, some looked traditional, others more modern, or even like playgrounds!
They didn't linger in any room though, as a princess' fate was at stake, and they could not fail their quest for any reason! At the final landing was a chamber of ticking stars and the walls turned slowly, constellations aligning above. There was the constellation of the cute bunny, the constellation of the annoying bunny, the constellation of the silly bunny, the constellation of the big fat chongus bunny... A man or a woman of culture would have already imagined it ordering two number 9s, one number 9 large, one number six with extra dip, one number 7 and two number 45s, one simple the other with extra cheese and a large soda! What a cute bunny!
In the center stood a clockwork rabbit with a heart-shaped key embedded in its chest.
"This moment is yours," it said, it's voice ressembled echoing chimes. "You may claim it, or let it go."
But Naruto was not a fool, he chose to take the carrot boldy planted in font of the clock rabbit, and pulled hard!
It trembled, golden and fragile.
"I will take it, you better believe it!" Said Naruto pulling extra-hard!
As soon as the carrot was pulled out, a Moon Fragment rose from the heart of the rabbit, the deceitful metalic rabbit.
"You chose to see what a key for a rabbit was, without turning away," the little fox said. "That's all time ever asks."
The Boy pocketed the ninth fragment. But as he was about to eat the golden an juicy carrot, it transformed into the tenth fragment!
Outside, the Spire's chimes rang for the first time in years and the path ahead coiled like a ribbon toward a floating island of clouds and candles.
"Two more!" Yelled Naruto with vigor! "Kaguya we are nearly there! We will save you, you know!"
They skipped the tenth Bunny House as they got the prize in advance by outsmarting the mechanical steam-punk rabbit. As the chimes of Clockhare Spire faded into the distance, the path they were rushing trough became gentler, the air thicker with warmth and the scent of vanilla and old books. Naruto and Kyubi-kun arrived at a cloud-draped hill, where giant cushions and plush animals dotted the landscape like sleepy constellations.
Here, even the wind seemed to whisper in lullabies:
"Carrots... yummi carrots! Juicy carrots for my soft bunny ball of fur!"
"This place feels... too gentle."
"Exactly," answered the cute little fox. "The Sanctuary of Soft Things isn't about ease. It's about letting go."
The eleventh Bunny House was a cottage woven from quilts, nestled inside a blanket fort large enough to hide a cathedral. The walls swayed with the breeze, embroidered with scenes of sleeping rabbits and stars curled like kittens.
At the entrance sat a plush rabbit larger than a wagon, with button eyes and a stitched smile. Its ears drooped with kindness.
"To enter," it said in a sleepy hum, "you must leave your weight behind."
The Boy looked not foolishly at all at the fox and asked:
"But we don't have a back pack? Do we?"
"It wants you to take a nap in its soft bunny embrace." Explained the adorable fox, already walking to a giant plush rabbit. Then he leaped into its embrace and fell asleep.
Naruto was tired too, he was runing and dancing for two days straight already! He had to do it for Kaguya anyway, and so following the little fox's exemple, he too fell asleep.
After a good deserved rest, our two questing protagonists received the eleventh Moon Fragment, and finally, they headed to the twelfth house, where the poor bunny princess, Kaguya was held prisonner!