Disclaimer: If you think the Naruto series belongs to me and not all these other people writing about it, then we've got a problem. And if we've got a problem, you've got a problem. I love that line!
The Magic TV
Chapter 1
Better than a Movie
The evening begins when our favorite ninja cast waiting around in Naruto's apartment for him to get back with the new television set before the movie starts. Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino sat on the three cushion couch; Ino, Sakura, and Hinata squeezed together on the two cushion couch; Kankuro sat in the rocker; while Neji, TenTen, Kiba, Choji and Rock Lee sat on the floor. Gaara used his chakra to seat himself on the ceiling.
The door to the apartment flew open and everyone looked around to see Naruto walking in dragging a huge cardboard box.
He smiled loudly, "Hey everyone, I'm back! And look what I got!"
Shikamaru rolled over on his back on the floor, "It's about time you got here. What is that thing, a theater screen?"
"Nope," Naruto grinned.
He pushed it over to where the old television set used to be and tore away the cardboard. Everyone's jaw immediately dropped towards the floor, with the exception of the upside-down Gaara whose jaw rose towards the ceiling and Naruto who was smiling triumphantly. There sat a fancy, new, gleaming television set.
Tears were forming in Choji's eyes, "It's so beautiful."
Naruto leaned against it with a gloat full air about him over his new favorite toy in the house, "This baby is awesome. I'll have to go a while without food, but it was definitely worth it! And the best part…"
He retrieved the remote control from his pocket and pressed the power button, turning the set on. Suddenly the room around them became a tall grassy plain of African safari land.
"What the heck happened!" Ino shouted and jumped into Sasuke's arms. No one heard Sakura grumble.
And unfamiliar voice omnisciently spoke without a source.
The Serengeti of Africa experiences two seasons: the wet season and the dry season. It the wet season, the animals prosper in the vast vegetation for half a year, and then struggle to survive in the dry season.
"I get it," Shikamaru spoke up, "The TV puts us right in the middle of the program. The voice we heard was the narrator of the Discovery Channel."
Naruto spoke, "That's right Lazy bum. This is a magical television set. It puts you right in all the action of your favorite programs."
He took in a deep breath and exhaled, "Ah. You can even smell the nature."
Gaara, whom was now sitting upsides-down on a tree branch, made his presence known, "As…enriching as this is and all, weren't we here for a purpose other than exploring a continent we have no relevance to?"
Naruto looked as though a light went off in his head, "Oh yeah, the movie! Which channel is it on?"
"Forty-four," Kiba mumbled.
Shino looked at the watch around his wrist, "We have ten minutes until the movie begins."
Sakura jumped forward, "Hey, since we still have ten minutes and a whole scale of channels at our discretion, let's go on an adventure."
Neji spoke as he tightened his headband, "Sounds good to me."
"I believe we forgot something," everyone in the area looked towards the speaker, Sasuke.
"What is it, Uchiha jerk?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke, whom had gotten used to the nickname, responded, "The new channel arrangements. The stations decided to reorder and group channels accorded to type like sports, kid shows and cooking channels together. They started this morning, so we have no idea what channel the movie is really on."
Everyone, except the cool-as-a-cucumber few, gasped. It was true. They had remembered being told about the change, but no one remembered to apply it.
Back in Naruto's living room, a certain silver-haired Jounin had slipped into through the open door.
"Hello," Kakashi called into the house, "I believe I was invited to the movie."
He looked around. The living room was barren of his ex-students and their friends. There were a few pairs of sandals neatly placed beside the doorway and a candy wrapper or two on the floor. The kitchen that conjoined to it was vacant as well, with the exception of a medium-sized white dog curled up sound asleep in the corner beside a cleaned plate of some leftover. It was Kiba's dog, Akamaru. This was odd to the Copy-nin because Kiba never left his beloved pet alone if he could help it. No sounds were coming from the apartment other than the hum of the brand new TV left on in the living room.
"Well," Kakashi said to himself as he squat down in from of the new set, "This is a rather nice television set. It looks brand new."
His single eye gazed around on the floor for a moment, being caught by the glint of light reflecting from the black plastic remote. He reached for it and made a few observations as he scanned it over.
A glowing red light caught his eye, "What the..? What is Surround Experience? If that is what I think it is, the kids might hurt their ears with all that loud noise."
He pressed the button.
Sakura puffed a heavy breath and leaned against the tree Gaara was suspended from. It was a tall intricate tree with green leaves far to high for an animal besides a giraffe to reach.
"Am I the only one to notice that we've been sitting in a wildlife habitat and haven't made contact with any animals," Ino stated as she plopped down on a rock beside Temari.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to quake. Rock Lee looked up and pointed in the direction of a charging stampede rhino, "I think you spoke too soon!"
Everyone darted in a separate direction to flee from the rampaging beasts. Gaara had reached down and grabbed Sakura, hoisting her off the ground when he saw that her foot was tangled in a root overreaching the soil surface.
She watched as a river of huge, gray, stampeding animals trampled beneath her. Dust and dirt were clouding up around their feet. Sakura looked up towards her momentary hero.
"Thanks, Gaara." She smiled at him.
His face was turning red. After all, he had been upside down for the last fifteen minutes.
The last thing anyone heard was Naruto calling out after the rhinos had passed, "Is everyone all right?"
Then, everything went dark.
Kakashi gazed with a bored look at the screen, watching a traveling herd of rhinos roam across a grassy African plain, "I should watch this when I need something to put me to sleep."
He looked at the remote once more, "I guess Surround Experience has nothing to do with the sound. I guess it's one of those buttons they put on the remote to make you feel more special about your TV."
He pressed the button once more to turn it back on and moved back to sit down on the couch.
"I bet they all just went to get food really quick or something like that."
"Hey?" Naruto called out, "Where is everybody?"
To be Continued!
The Maiden of Light: What do you think? This is my first Naruto fic if you don't count the first five chapters of When the Cast of Naruto aren't on Camera. That's my brother's. Anyways, I know it doesn't have much to do with the series, but I thought this would be fun. This is just the intro. I will make this a funny adventure yet! Please review! Next chapter: Separated in TV land.
