CyberPunk Solar Eclipse
Chapter Three: Country Roads
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto or Cyberpunk 2077 or Edgerunners. This is a fanfiction.
Somewhere in Nevada 2068
Naruto didn't know how long he had been driving for, but it had been nighttime when the Chevillon Emperor finally ran out of CHOOH2 and rolled to a stop. Exhausted but aware that staying in the broken down SUV with Arasaka markings was a horrible idea, Naruto took the time to look through the vehicle for anything of use. There were a couple of Eurodollars in the passenger-side glove compartment and a large Arasaka jacket lay in the back seat. Naruto quickly donned the oversized jacket knowing that it was going to be cold outside and stuffed the Eurodollars into one of its pockets. Getting out of the Emperor Naruto looked around the area. It was hot, there was a lot of sand and a few shrubs and twiggy trees dotted the landscape. It was at this moment Naruto really wished that the Arasaka Netrunning suits had shoes or something built in instead of the tiny straps that crossed under the soles of his feet.
A sign he had passed not too long ago had proudly announced that Carson City was only 200 miles away, so he now knew he was in Nevada somewhere. Remembering one of the basic history lessons he was given, Naruto knew that Carson City was decently sized and (like all of the cities in Nevada) was a semi-autonomous city meaning Arasaka's influence and indeed the influence of most Corporations was minimal. Naruto grunted as he stumbled over a small rock before he righted himself. He was tired both emotionally and physically, he needed to find somewhere safe to rest, but he also needed to get enough distance from the Emperor that he wouldn't be found when Arasaka eventually caught up.
All things considered and the day that Naruto had just lived, he wanted to cry. But he knew that crying would just make him lose precious liquids as he walked through the desert. Memories of Yelena and Tobias laying in pools of blood and imagining Hubert, Midori and Lucy doing the same bothered Naruto, haunted him as he walked. The guilt of knowing that one of his friends was still alive, still trying to escape when he had been forced to flee, tormented him.
Naruto walked for an indeterminate amount of time before eventually he realized he was barely stumbling forward. His body was at the point of exhaustion. Considering that he and the other children had never had to do any physically strenuous activity before he wasn't too surprised. Netrunning was exhausting in a different way, it strained your mind and your nervous system. Feeling an ungodly burning in his legs and lungs Naruto knew he couldn't push any further right now and began to look for somewhere to rest.
Spying a rocky outcropping nearby Naruto wandered over to it before realizing that for the first time today he was in luck. There was a small indentation in the rocky wall, just small enough for him to curl up in and be protected from the elements. Naruto crawled into the small spot and took off the Arasaka jacket before he tossed it over himself like a blanket before he closed his eyes and let exhaustion take over.
Waking up the next morning Naruto slowly rose and rubbed the gunk from his eyes before donning his coat. Ignoring the grumbling of his stomach, Naruto began to walk. Honestly Naruto wasn't sure how far he was from Carson City but he had to be getting reasonably close. Growing bored of just walking, Naruto quickly accessed his hidden music files. Letting out a giddy laugh as he realized at this point hiding them didn't matter anymore Naruto unencrypted them and moved them closer to the surface of his files before picking one. The Ballad of Buck Ravers began to blare as Naruto smiled. Digging into his pockets Naruto retrieved the Eurodollars from the day before and counted them out. All in all Naruto's roll totalled Seventy-five Eurodollars. Enough to feed himself for a little while whenever he reached civilization.
Naruto had gone through his Samurai album twice by the time he started to tire. Seeing a rock formation that cast a very inviting looking shadow, Naruto turned off his music before moving to sit down. Finding a large flat stone in the shade Naruto sat down and took a breather. Staring up at the blue sky Naruto hummed to himself sadly. He really didn't expect to be doing this alone. Thinking about his friends hurt right now and he had all the time in the world to think. So after a small amount of time staring at the sky and the clouds Naruto stood and once again began to walk.
Eventually after another two hours Naruto was feeling tired and sick. His head hurt and his mouth was dry and it was very hard to focus. Luckily he could see a road again so deciding that following the road was the best idea Naruto kept walking. For a long time there was nothing but the heat of the road and the sound of the odd bird overhead. Birds of prey were rare but still not extinct funnily enough. Naruto grimaced as he lost his footing, exhaustion and dehydration finally winning as darkness claimed him.
When he next regained awareness it was to the sound of voices. Naruto was in a green canvas structure, a tent his mind helpfully supplied, on a rudimentary but comfortable bed.
"I don't know where I am or who found me. I should probably try to listen if they give anything away." Naruto thought to himself.
Straining to hear wasn't necessary as the voices had stopped pretty much outside the tent for their conversation.
"Any news on our guest?" A man's voice asked, it was no nonsense and gruff but not aggressive which was a relief. A woman's voice responded, "Well according to our good Doctor Zed the kid is suffering from heatstroke and exhaustion, which I could've told you. But it was the scans of the kids' Cyberware that's interesting."
Naruto winced, the Lab Techs at Arasaka had told them about the outside world, about how scavengers and gangs would rip people apart for their implants. Was this what was going to happen to him? Killed for the pieces of Arasaka tech grafted into his body? Naruto tried to stand but found that he was still weak, his legs refusing to obey him.
"High end Arasaka implants, the kind they like to keep in-house." The woman's voice explained.
"Well that's not a good sign, a beat up kid all alone in the middle of nowhere, wearing an Arasaka jacket chromed out with Arasaka implants." There was a pause before the man continued, "Somehow I don't think the kid was given a severance pay and allowed to leave with a good work reference."
There was a snort of derision from the woman, "Yeah Arasaka is known for worker's satisfaction. It's exactly as you said, putting the pieces together isn't hard but that doesn't make it any easier to accept."
Naruto felt himself relax a bit, by the sounds of it whoever had found him didn't like Arasaka and they didn't seem all that interested in removing his cyberware. Hesitantly Naruto would say that he was safe or at least not in immediate danger.
Naruto looked up at the doorway as footsteps approached. A tall, tanned, muscular man entered the tent. His dark hair was long and windswept and he had a rough beard and mustache combo. He had a stern face but his dark eyes did have a glimmer of kindness in them, certainly more than any other adult Naruto had met. The man walked into the tent before sitting on an overturned barrel next to the bed.
"Glad to see you're awake, kid. My name's Saul. Me and some friends found you collapsed in the middle of nowhere so we brought you back to camp." The man, now known as Saul said.
"Thank you for your help Mr. Saul. I'm Naruto." Naruto politely introduced himself to his apparent savior. The man chuckled as he rubbed a grimy hand through his hair.
"Mr. Saul huh? No need for that kiddo. Just Saul is fine." He smiled. Naruto nodded as he tried not to fidget, "Right, Saul. Thanks for saving me." Naruto said.
Saul nodded before his smile abated, "That said Naruto, I have some questions."
Naruto nodded knowing that this was coming, "I'll answer what I can."
Naruto felt a little on edge, after all the only adults he had known his whole life were Arasaka employees. But his instincts said that Saul wasn't a bad person, plus he did owe the man his life.
"We found you a long way from anything interesting kid, where are you from?" Saul asked. Naruto thought about his response for a moment before deciding on complete honesty.
"I ran away from the lab." Naruto began. Saul's eyes widened before a look of (pain, resignation?) crossed his face before he managed to hide it, "A lab? What kind of lab kid?" Saul asked gently.
"Arasaka used my friends and I to search the Old Net for anything they could use." Naruto answered. Saul swore under his breath, everyone knew Arasaka was bad news but this was a new low. Arasaka was known for screwing everyone over, their subcontractors, their employees, their business partners, no one was safe. It was cutthroat but Saul had thought that there were still some lines that the 'Civilized' Corporations wouldn't cross. But living proof sat opposite him.
The blonde haired Japanese boy was small and though the kid was putting on a good tough-guy act he was scared. Saul suppressed the anger at Arasaka, the kid was already barely holding up there was no need to make things worse.
"I'm guessing they didn't just let you go." Saul prompted.
The following tale of escape was impressive, Saul thought, especially for children. As the story spilled from Naruto's mouth Saul found himself dumbfounded at the resourcefulness and resilience of the kid. As Naruto's tale came to an end, Saul sat deeply in thought thinking it best to ignore the small tears in the kid's eyes. The kid was alone now, the fate of his friends had him clenching his hands and wishing for a smoke. As the kid (Naruto he reminded himself) sat there waiting Saul took the story in. Saul's first thought was "Fuck Arasaka" followed closely by "I need a drink" but his first important thought was "If I don't do anything the world will eat this kid alive".
"Well Naruto, thank you for being honest with me. That said, you should probably keep that story to yourself." Saul said. Naruto looked at the man confused, "But why? I didn't lie and you don't really seem like the type to work for Arasaka."
Saul guffawed, "Well that's true, but you can't afford to trust just anyone you meet kid. While I wouldn't work for Arasaka there are people out there who would hand you over to them in a heartbeat." He explained. Naruto nodded resolutely at the advice.
"Now I want you to know, you are safe here. None of my people will sell you out but in the future you really need to be more careful." Saul told him.
"You said your people, who are you? Where am I?" Naruto asked. Saul smiled as he stood up, "Well I'll just duck out, you can get changed into the spare clothes we found for you and you can see for yourself." He gestured. Naruto glanced to his right and saw a bundle of clothes and his Arasaka jacket on a small nightstand. Looking down, Naruto realized that he was still in his net-runner suit.
"There's also a pair of socks and boots at the foot of the bed, our Doctor Zed also wanted me to tell you to drink that glass of water too." Saul said as he reached the door of the tent. Naruto looked at the pile of clothes and there was indeed a glass of water next to them. As Naruto turned back to thank Saul he realized that the man was already gone and the tent flap was now closed giving him privacy. Naruto grabbed the glass of water and took a few deep mouthfuls before placing it back down. Quickly stripping out of the net-running suit Naruto checked the clothes. Fresh underwear, a pair of black cargo pants that were a little short on him and a dark green t-shirt. Naruto quickly put them on before donning the socks staring at the boots Naruto grinned, they were a bit big but beggars can't be choosy. Thankfully the extra space in the boots meant that the blisters on his feet weren't being painfully rubbed. Now fully dressed Naruto turned and stared at his pilfered Arasaka Jacket. Deciding that the Arasaka logo wasn't enough to justify throwing such a useful piece of clothing away Naruto put the oversized thing back on before emerging from the tent.
The bright glare of the sun was the first thing to greet Naruto as he left the tent. The second thing to greet him was Saul who gave him a quick once over before nodding in approval. Saul smiled before gesturing to the bustling camp of people. There were tents and camper vans everywhere, and a few heavy trucks that had been converted into collapsible buildings were set up around the area and off-road vehicles sat on the outskirts. Bright colors and graffiti decorated almost everything and people happily chatted as they worked and bustled around the campsite.
"Welcome to the Aldecaldos Naruto." Saul proudly crowed.
"There are so many people." Naruto whispered. Saul looked at the boy sympathetically, he was sheltered in a way but had also seen far too much for a child. Saul clapped a hand on the Blonde's shoulder.
"C'mon kid, I'll show you around." Saul said. Naruto looked up at the older man before nodding.
As Saul steered Naruto through the camp a lot of people shot the boy curious glances but what stuck out to Naruto the most were the looks at Saul. They were the same respectful looks that the Arasaka bigwigs were given when they visited the Lab but Saul's people had none of the fear that the Arasaka staff always had. People were happy to see Saul, they respected and looked up to him.
"Are you in charge of all of these people?" Naruto asked after yet another passerby had greeted Saul and asked for advice. Saul gave a small smirk as he made a so-so motion.
"In charge isn't how I'd exactly put it. I am the head of this family but I'm not some leader who decides everything. I do make a lot of tough decisions but I always ask my people for their thoughts and ideas too. Mostly I just give advice." He explained.
Naruto nodded resolutely as they approached another tent, "So you're the boss."
A loud guffaw interrupted Saul's response, "Kid's only just arrived and he's got you pegged Saul. Time for you to just admit you're in charge now." a man chortled. From the tent emerged two people.
The first was the man who had just spoken. The first thought Naruto had was 'cowboy' and indeed the man did look the part. Tall with graying hair covered by a cowboy hat and a big bushy mustache the man was wearing cowboy boots, denim jeans and a flannel shirt.
The man was a little intimidating at first but the twinkle of amusement in his eyes immediately set Naruto at ease. The other person was an older woman with long black hair, one side of her head was shaved short. She had a pair of sunglasses on and some neural interface around her head. Her neck was covered in tattoos and she wore jeans and a tank top with arm warmers, an old school cyber-deck was in a strap around her right bicep.
"I'm Carol and this old Cowpoke is Cassidy but we all just call him Cass." The woman introduced herself casually. The man now known as Cassidy touched his hat casually, "Nice to see you up and about kid."
Naruto bowed politely to the pair, "It's nice to meet you both, I'm Naruto." he said trying to make a good impression. Naruto blushed as Cassidy chuckled quietly.
"No need to bow kiddo, we aren't exactly royalty." The cowboy said. Carol grinned as she punched Cassidy in the arm, "Don't play with the kid, he looks nervous enough as it is." she scolded. Saul smiled down at Naruto, "Bowing is generally only something the suits in Arasaka care about, most people are far more informal." He explained. Naruto felt a little silly in retrospect, the Lab Techs had only made them bow when an Arasaka executive was visiting.
"Don't worry about it Naruto, we're easy going around here." Carol soothed.
The rest of the day was spent being introduced to people and shown around the camp, Saul had introduced Naruto to his 'inner circle' as it were. Cassidy and Carol were the main two followed by a balding but kind man in a green jumpsuit named Mitch who was quarreling playfully with a hooded Asian man with cybernetic arms called Scorpion. When Naruto asked if that was his real name Mitch had chuckled and began to answer before Scorpion had hushed him and replied with yes. Next were Bob Sagan and Teddy Simos who had been working on an impressive looking car.
By the time they were done with the introductions the sun was starting to get low. The skies had gone from blue to an array of pinks, oranges and reds. Saul sat down on a rock just outside of camp and gestured to a rock next to him. Naruto sat and breathed deeply as he stared at the sky in awe. A stir of pity arose in Saul as he saw the boy be awestruck by something as simple as a sunset. That might have been Arasaka's biggest crime in Saul's opinion, robbing children of something as majestic and common as a sunset.
"Pretty beautiful ain't it kid." Saul remarked. Naruto looked over at the man before nodding giddily.
"I…I never knew there were that many colors." The boy grinned. Saul smiled as the boy went back to staring at the sky.
"As much as I enjoy a good sunset I did bring you out here to talk." Saul began. Naruto turned his head from the sky and looked at Saul curiously. The nomad leader scratched his beard thoughtfully before deciding to be blunt.
"What do you plan on doing now, Naruto?" He asked, "We're happy to have you along if you wanna join. But we can't afford charity, I'm afraid. If you stick with us you'll have to pull your weight." Saul explained, "It's how we operate, everyone is welcome if they do their fair share."
The blonde Net-runner was quiet for a moment before he responded, "I would like to join you but Arasaka will be looking for me and I don't want to bring you any trouble."
Saul exhaled sharply before leaning backwards to stare at the clouds, "What do you plan on doing then?" He asked.
"I plan on going somewhere crowded, somewhere so busy that Arasaka couldn't find me." Naruto replied. Saul was silent for a moment as he thought before he sat up.
"Night City would probably be your best bet. It's got a huge population and Arasaka has no presence there." Saul drawled.
"We're heading that way soon too. Got a contract to run some contraband there from Vegas. So how about you run with us for now, give a helping hand, do some work around camp and in exchange we'll teach you some survival skills, feed you and when we get to Night City we'll give you some cash and wish you luck. Who knows though you might decide you like it here and decide to stay." Saul offered.
Naruto looked up at the man before he nodded, "I… Thank you. That sounds great." Saul grinned as he stood up from his seat, Naruto following quickly before he held a hand out to the pre-teen.
"Well men should always shake on a deal. It's their way of giving their word that they'll follow through." Saul explained. Naruto grinned as he shook the Aldecaldos hand, "It's a deal then."
Later on that night after dinner when an exhausted Naruto had trotted off to the spare tent that he had been given, Saul sat at a table sipping a beer as his inner circle gathered around him.
"So what's the story with the kid?" Cassidy asked. Carol, Mitch and Bob all sat down around the table as Saul took another swig.
"He's on the run from Arasaka, as we expected." Saul began, "He's been raised in containment and knows next to nothing about the outside world." The nomad scoffed.
"Shit." Carol opened a bottle and took a mouthful, "I thought Arasaka had been booted from the country after Johnny Silverhand nuked them."
"Officially they were, unofficially I guess they never left." Saul replied. Cassidy let out a puff of smoke as he lit a cigarette, "So do you think they'll be looking for him?" The cowboy asked.
"Not openly, it's already bad enough that he's running around in an Arasaka jacket, can you imagine what'd happen if the Government saw Arasaka vehicles or suits running around?" Saul grinned, "If Arasaka is smart they'll have destroyed the lab and any evidence and fled back to Japan. If the New United States Government discovered that Arasaka was still here there'd be hell to pay."
Mitch took a sip of his broseph, "So what are we doing then?" He asked.
Saul finished the last of his beer before looking around at his friends, "We're going to teach the kid how to survive and in exchange he's going to help around camp." He explained.
Bob scoffed, "While I'm sure Carol wouldn't mind an assistant, assuming that Deep Dive port isn't for show, we don't really need a net-runner." he griped. Carol tossed a scrunched up napkin at him, "That boy is a sweetheart and I COULD use the help. Do I want to know how much experience Naruto has in Net-running?" She asked Saul. The table grew silent at the grim question as everyone waited for Saul's response.
Saul looked around the table at the expectant stares before he sighed "According to Naruto he's been trained since birth to be a Net-runner. And for the last three years he's been forced to Dive into the Old Net every day." he said dropping the bomb. The reaction was instant, Carol cursed black and blue as Mitch choked on a mouthful of beer. Cassidy's knuckles whitened as he gripped his beer tightly and Bob looked like he sucked on a lemon.
"They were sending children into the Pre Data-Krash net?" Carol asked quietly. Saul nodded, "There were apparently a little over a dozen of them when they began…Naruto's all that's left now." Saul admitted. The table was silent as the grave as the group mulled the new info over.
"Okay so we teach Naruto how to survive." Bob agreed. The man was a grump but nobody liked the idea of kids dying. Cassidy stretched languidly before resting his hand on his revolver.
"I'll teach him to shoot, Mitch and Scorpion can teach him to fix cars, Carol will teach him more net-running magic and Bob can teach him how to whine." The cowboy drawled. Mitch guffawed as Bob gave Cassidy the finger, "Buzz off Cass, I'll teach the kid how to build stuff from scratch."
Saul grinned, "We can take turns teaching him to drive, once he can reach the pedals." The Aldecaldos leader laughed.
"So are you ready to go gray early?" Mitch asked casually sipping his beer. Saul stopped as he was about to take a mouthful of his own beer, "What do you mean?" He asked.
Mitch's shit-eating grin was a little too wide now and Saul was starting to feel like he'd made a mistake and overlooked something important.
"Well we can only hope you can wrangle both Panam and Naruto. Why can you imagine if they hit it off and he starts to learn her bad habits?" Mitch slyly said. This time no one could hide their laughs as Saul swore black and blue.
