A Public Service Announcement
A Naruto Short by:
Kiel Chenier
Naruto wiped his chin as he lowered a now empty ramen bowl onto the counter. He breathed a deep sigh of comfort, smiling big. He sat comfortably on a stool in his favourite restaurant, Ichiraku ramen. The head chef gave him a warm look of satisfaction.
"Was it good?" he asked, his eyes were careworn with age, crow's feet edging along the sides of them.
Naruto smiled and put down his chopsticks. "Fantastic, as usual. Thanks again, old man!"
"Anytime," he said, collecting the boy's bowl, "say, have you heard about the storms recently?"
Naruto cocked his head, he hadn't.
"Apparently there've been weird lightning storms out in the Sunagakure. Lightning causing all of the power to go out. It's been on the news for the past day!" he finished.
"Hmmm, is that so," Naruto said, not really paying much attention. He didn't listen to the news, so he hadn't heard anything about it. The news didn't really interest him. It was way too boring, "well, I've got to get going. Sakura-chan and Sasuke are waiting for me at their place. Take it easy!"
"No time for seconds?" the chef asked, chuckling.
"Sorry, next time for sure." He waved to the old man and headed out on his way. The air around him was cold, the skies stormy. A powerful wind was rushing down the streets, causing trash to scatter about and window shutters to shake. Naruto shivered and brought his hands around his chest for warmth. Maybe the old man was right Naruto thought, seems to be kinda stormy here too.
Naruto continued a few blocks, fighting against the wind. He saw a few people getting out of their houses to look up at the sky, which was swirling with clouds. He continued on his way, ignoring most of them and their gasps of fascination.
I've still got at least ten blocks to go he thought; don't wanna get caught out here if it starts to rain…or thunder and lightni-
His thoughts were cut short as an explosion of light burst only meters away. It knocked Naruto backwards, sending him sprawling. Light and noise filled his senses, making him numb to everything else.
His ears hurt, feeling like he was hit with a jackhammer, Naruto struggled to get up. As he reached his feet he felt the earth quake with another explosion, light filing his eyes. This experience happened a few more times, shredding Naruto's eardrums.
"K-KUSO!" he screamed as he huddled into a little ball on the road. He waited for the awful noise and light to pass.
Seconds went by, turning into minutes. He opened his eyes.
Crowds of people had gathered around, all of them were staring at the ground near Naruto. He saw a small patch of the road was smoldering, smoke rising from the asphalt. People began to whisper, trying to assess what had happened.
"Lighting," Naruto heard someone say, "God damn lightning! I aint never seen lighting like that before"
"It couldn't have been lighting," he heard another say, "lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. Whatever hit this spot hit it at least a dozen times!"
"Eh? Nani?" Naruto asked blearily as he got to his feet. Someone nearby helped him along, grabbing his arm.
"You almost got fried, little buddy. Never seen anything quite like it…lightning striking so many times on the same spot" the person said, releasing him.
Naruto looked down at the ground nearby him. It was cracked and uprooted, like someone had smashed it with an enormous hammer. The cracks spread along for at least a radius of a metre. "Sugoi…" Naruto gaped. He guessed that the old man at the ramen stand was right about freak lightning storms.
"Hey," someone called out, "do you feel that?"
Naruto felt his surroundings. He noticed something as well. The air seemed to be charged with something. The ground seemed to hum under his feet. Slowly, the hum became a rumble; the earth beneath him began to shake.
"What is that?" A Jounin called, "The water pipes?" Another person shook their head, telling her that the water piping wasn't anywhere near this area. Naruto backed away from the cracked ground a bit. He looked up at the sky. It had cleared almost completely; not a trace of cloud in the sky.
Suddenly the shaking of the earth intensified. Tremors ran through the ground so violently that Naruto knew it couldn't be anything other than an earthquake. He stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the cracking ground. He saw cracks in the asphalt spread along the road like snakes slithering. They slithered past him and crept up a building. The building then began to collapse!
Panic erupted in the crowd. Everyone turned and ran as fast as they could. Naruto stumbled but managed to retreat backwards as quickly as he could. He tripped at the edge of the cracks and landed on his back. He got a clear view of the amount of damage the quake had done to the area.
It seemed impossible. There was a circular patch of ground that was completely destroyed, lying in rubble. The rest seemed in less dire condition. The round area of the road and surrounding buildings suddenly lurched to the left, sending shops and buildings toppling over. Then the ground rose upward about a foot, and then collapsed upon itself, creating a large cloud of dust.
Naruto shielded his eyes, but took in all of what he could see.
A large shape, bigger than anything he had ever seen before.
It came out of the ground; a loud crunch came from his side. He turned to see a massive leg crushing a nearby post.
A massive orb; glowing a fiery red.
The sound; a deafening roar, like a baritone horn, but thousands of times louder.
People began to scream and run all around Naruto. He saw them disappear as they passed him, exploding into clouds of dust.
He turned, seeing the massive fiery orb loom over him.
Naruto ran.
…
Sakura emerged from under a nearby table. She looked around, checking to see if everything was in order.
"Boy, that sure was scary, wasn't it Sasuke-kun?" she asked the boy standing near her. The boy's expression carried a less than subtle twinge of irritation. He seemed put off by what had just occurred.
"Stupid lighting…" he mumbled, "it's taken out the power…hindering us. Naruto-baka isn't here yet either."
Sakura put on a fake smile. She disliked the lightning just as much as Sasuke did, but she didn't share his sentiment for Naruto. She was actually quite worried about how he was doing.
"I'm sure he'll be here any minute," she said at last, "Why don't I go check the door for him. He's probably on his way" she walked along towards Sasuke's front door. They had agreed earlier to meet at Sasuke's house. They had planned on going out to the woods to train. Naruto mentioned something about wanting to get something to eat beforehand, but Sakura dismissed it.
"Ah, here he comes now!" she called back to Sasuke. She saw the bright orange of his jacket in the distance. Naruto was running towards the house quite quickly.
Sakura opened the door for him. She decided she'd find out if he'd been delayed by the lighting storm before scolding him for being late. "Oi, Naruto! Did you see that lighting! It was so intense…" he words fell flat at the sight of the boy. Her eyes widened.
She'd never seen Naruto look like this. He looked completely exhausted. His brow was slick with perspiration, his mouth a tight grim line, but it was his eyes that really unnerved her. Naruto's bright blue eyes were usually vibrant and brimming with energy. Now, they seemed sunken and wide, awash with fear.
"N-Naruto? Daijoubu ka?" she asked, concerned.
He didn't speak; he simply walked past her into Sasuke's house.
Sakura turned around and followed him. She saw Sasuke flash her a look of confusion. He too seemed weirded out by Naruto's disquieting entrance.
"Oi, Naruto" Sasuke said at last, breaking a lengthy silence. "Are you okay?"
Naruto collapsed against the table; he curled his arms around his legs. His eyes were wide as saucers. He stared off into the distance, not looking at any of them.
Sakura turned to him and raised her hand to touch his shoulder. He gave a spasm when she touched him, as if he was completely on edge. He shook and recoiled from her.
Oh my God…Sakura thought, he's trembling…trembling in fear!
"Naruto?" Sakura said softly, slowly moving towards him. "Naruto, what happened?"
She saw his mouth open, his lip quivering slightly. "I…I think…I…we…soon…" he mumbled. Sakura saw his eyes flash wider still. Naruto bolted up, standing so quickly it surprised both her and Sasuke.
Suddenly Naruto's eyes became very grave. She saw a small drop of sweat slide down from his temple.
"We're going to leave this house in sixty seconds!" he said quickly, his voice no more than a whisper. "Sasuke!" he called to his comrade, "Go get a box! Fill it with food, not a huge amount, just enough…find some batteries…batteries, get some!"
Sakura felt a prickle of fear go down her spine. Naruto's voice was authoritative but filled with panic. He began to rush around Sasuke's home, grabbing up whatever he could and thrusting it into Sasuke's arms.
"Oi! What the hell!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto as he ran around. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
Naruto turned to him and grabbed his arm. His voice was not angry, but truly afraid, "J-just…do it!" he pleaded.
Sakura felt a small tear run down her cheek. Why is Naruto acting like this? What's going on!
"Alright, c'mon…we-we've got to hurry" Naruto called after them, "we've only got about a minute to go."
They were on the streets of Konoha following Naruto as he led them along. Sasuke was carrying a cardboard box filled with a variety of things they had collected from his house. Sakura was at his side as they hurried along.
Sakura couldn't stand not knowing what was going on. She asked Naruto again "What's going on! Where are we going!"
"Away…far away" Naruto answered. He had given the same answer three times before.
Sakura looked around, realizing they weren't alone.
The streets were crowded with people, all of them running around aimlessly in a sense of panic. Screams filled the grey air around them. The entire village looked like a battle zone.
"This way!" Naruto called after them. He was moving at such a pace that it was difficult for them to do otherwise. They continued to walk at a feverish pace for another minute or so. Occasionally Naruto would stop and look around frantically for a few seconds, as if looking for something, but he would continue on again.
"Oi! Sakura! Naruto!" a voice called from the side.
Sakura turned to see Kiba running up to them. A grin on his face. He moved to keep up with Naruto.
"Oi, Naruto! Did you hear all of that lightning! Kyeeeeh! So exciting!" he cried, "C'mon, you guys should all come see it with me! I bet the road's all messed up and everything!"
Naruto cut him short. "Kiba…come with us!"
Kiba looked to Sakura. "Hey, what's wrong with him?" he asked.
Sakura turned to answer but Naruto interrupted. "Kiba, come with us now!"
"Naruto, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.
"That's what we'd like to know!" Sasuke yelled.
Naruto, keeping his frantic pace, leaned over and looked Kiba right in the eyes.
"Follow us Kiba or you're gonna die!" he yelled.
Sakura tried to protest, but her words didn't make it.
A massive shockwave exploded around them…
…
…brilliant light filled Sakura's eyes. She hard screams from all around her.
She looked up…
…a fiery orb was hanging in the sky.
It looked down ominously on all of them.
…
No one would have believed in the early years of the twenty-first century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, they observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiple in a drop of water. With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us.
We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man; we can never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may come upon us suddenly out of space.
-H.G. Wells