A recent addition to the list of recurring Naruto themes is Naruto's life becoming a video game. So in the spirit of that and the Halloween season, submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story...
The Video Game of Life
Naruto Uzumaki floated in a white void, he couldn't see, hear, or feel anything. There was nothing there but himself, and he couldn't even feel himself part of the time.
'Time? How long have I been here?' he wondered. His memory was hazy and jumbled; he knew he had fought somebody, but he didn't know who. He remembered Gaara telling him once that as he laid dying he felt his memories being stripped away. 'I miss him,' Naruto thought and then added, 'I wonder who he is."
And Naruto continued to float in the void, leaving him all alone with his fading memories.
"Hello there!" a voice shouted.
Naruto spun around trying to find the source of the voice. "Who's there?"
"Just your friendly neighborhood programmer," the Programmer replied.
"Programmer?"
"Tell me Naruto, do you want to die?"
"What?" Naruto asked. "Are you threatening me?"
"No, just asking. See right now you're in limbo, neither living or dead, one good shove either way is all it will take. So I'm asking, how do you want me to shove you?"
"Why are you asking?"
"There are all sorts of people who live their lives differently, some just drift, some treat every moment very seriously, and to others, life is a game. That's where I step in, I want to bring you back and turn your life into a video game."
"So you'd revive me from the moment I died?"
"Where's the fun in that?" the Programmer replied, teasingly. "I'm going to take you back to the beginning."
"The beginning..." Naruto had played a few video games in his life and the gears in his head started turning as he remembered them and the rules to them. His eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Would I remember this? Would I know I was in a video game? Could I change how things happened in the past?"
"Yes, yes, and...yes. You would have the same control as you would as if you were playing the game on a screen. Interested?"
Naruto thought it over for a moment, "I'm in."
"Excellent, well then...let the game begin." If Naruto could see the Programmer's face, he'd swear the person was smiling. Naruto blacked out for a moment and when he came to the world around him was solid black.
"What is this?" he asked.
*BIP*
Naruto swung his head around trying to find the source of the sound and then suddenly he saw a white cube flying toward him. Naruto's ninja training kicked in and the blond shinobi dove out of the way.
*BEEEP*
"What's going on?" Naruto looked upward and noticed a "0" floating above him. "This looks..."
*BIP*
Naruto's thoughts were cut off when another cube flew toward him, slower than before. Again Naruto dodged.
*BEEEP*
Naruto looked upward again, in the distance he could see another number floating, "2," and directly beneath it he caught a glimpse of a white...something.
*BIP*
A third cube came toward him.
"Let's try something." Naruto stood still and waiting for the cube to hit him. In a few short seconds that lasted forever, the cube finally connected with him...and bounced right off, flying away from Naruto slowly.
"Okay, so the cube doesn't hurt me and if it gets past me the number over there gets bigger...why does this seem so familiar?"
*BIP*
The cube was coming back his way but it was going toward his right.
"I won't get there in time. Unless..." Naruto brought his hands together in a familiar hand sign. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted...but nothing happened.
*BEEEP* 0-3
"Why isn't my chakra working? Enough of this. Programmer! What's going on?"
"Are we having trouble?" the Programmer's voice asked from nowhere in its teasing tone.
*BIP*
Naruto raced toward the incoming cube, connecting with it and sending it flying back quickly.
"What's going on?"
"It's the game you agreed to pay, is there something wrong?"
"This isn't my life!"
*BEEEP* 1-3
"I agreed to live in a game and you told me you were sending me back to the start of my life."
"No, I didn't."
*BIP*
The cube was close, too close, Naruto dove sending it back.
"You said you were taking me back to my beginning!"
"I said and I quote, 'I'm going to take you back to the beginning.' Not your beginning."
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"Incoming."
*BIP*
The cube was a ways away but by putting on more speed, Naruto was able to catch it in time.
"What does that mean?" Naruto repeated.
"This isn't the beginning of your history, this is the beginning of the history of videogames. Welcome to Pong!" The statement so surprised Naruto that his missed the cube coming his way.
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-4
"What happened to our deal?"
"I'm just doing what we agreed to, your life is a video game and that game is Pong."
*BIP*
Naruto struck the oncoming cube away. "How do I get out of this game?"
"You have to die in the game."
"And if I die here, you'll get me out of here?"
"Yes."
"It goes against my ninja way, but okay."
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-4
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-5
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-6
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-7
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-8
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-9
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-10
"Here we go," Naruto muttered.
*BIP* *BEEEP* 1-11
*BIP* *BEEEP* 0-1
"Wait what?" Naruto looked around, still where he was. "Programmer, what happened?"
"Oh, yeah sorry, I forgot to mention...you don't die in Pong, you'll just keep playing forever and ever and ever. Well, have fun!"
"Programmer! Programmer! I don't want to play anymore!"
*BIP* *BEEEP* 0-2
"Programmer! Where are you? Please, help me!"
*BIP* *BEEEP* 0-3
And with that our story ends. This story is dedicated to Al Alcorn, builder of the first commercially successful arcade game: Pong. If you're interested in a story where Naruto's life becomes a video game, check out Naruto: The Gamer Files by MaxFic, it has all the staples of video gaming you love and the author has a dedicated stat chart for every character. If that doesn't scream dedication I don't know what does. Maybe I'll come back to this theme again some time. Happy Halloween everybody!