I've been meaning to do this for a while. A long while, in fact. Now that one of my multiple projects is almost finished (my Gal Gohan story), I can finally post this fic which has been in the works for quite some time. So, what's this, you wonder? To put it simply, a crossover between Naruto and the Walking Dead (the Telltale Games' series). This is one of my favorite games of all time, so I hope I can provide you all with something worth reading.
What exactly is it that I'm looking to do with these two IPs? Frankly, I intend this story to cover most seasons released by Telltale, including a New Frontier, but not 100 Days, which makes this a large scale project that's going to take a while to complete. Probably more than a year. But like I always say, if I'm doing something, I'm going all in. For that purpose, this crossover will be divided into seasons, with this installment marking the beginning of Season One. I have S1 planned already, and it'll be around 15 to 18 chapters.
Now this story in particular will be different to all my other fics, which mainly revolve around romance. Of course, there's bound to be some romantic development at some point, especially since the main pairing will be Naruto x Clementine, but I want to focus on other topics I rarely ever explore. At least for the first season.
Another thing worth pointing out is that Clementine will be 9 years of age instead of 8 like in the first game, whereas Naruto will be 10.
Something very important I'd like to mention is that all chapters will be Naruto and Clementine centric for the most part. We'll still get to see other characters interacting among themselves in separate scenes, but not very often. Clementine and Lee, as you may have guessed, will be two very important characters in this story, so they will also enjoy plenty of screen time.
Anyhow, if you want to keep reading my thoughts for this fic, I'll leave an author's note at the end. For now, enjoy!
SEASON ONE
~ Chapter 1 : A Fateful Encounter ~
"No, no, no, no, no, stay back! Get away from me! Somebody, please, help me!"
From her sitting position in the confines of a treehouse, Clementine heard the terrified cries of her babysitter, Sandra, trying to fight back the monster that had broken into their house a few moments earlier. The little nine-year-old girl could do nothing but bury her face in her knees and hug them in hopes of shutting off from what was transpiring within the walls of her home.
"NO! STAY AWAY, STAY- AHHHHH!"
All of a sudden, those screams and pleads for help abruptly stopped, giving way to muffled sounds of moans and other horrific sounds coming from beyond the glass door that separated the backyard from the house. Clementine was trembling in fear as tears fell down her cheeks. Sandra was gone – she had died protecting her, shielding her from the creature that'd tried to grab her. And now, Clem was all alone.
'I want mum and dad to come home. Please, please, be safe', she begged in her mind, clutching onto her knees.
Her parents were in Savannah, away on a business trip. Her mum had said they would be back soon, though when would that happen, the girl didn't know. Especially not with all the monsters roaming the streets and going after every person that crossed their path. Clem briefly wondered if highways were safe to travel at the moment, or maybe if this was only happening in her city. Maybe the rest of the world was okay. She tried to remain positive and calm, although that soon proved to be a titanic task with all the chaos that was going on all around.
People screamed, and weapons were fired in the distance. From time to time, Clementine could hear people running by or even cars bumping into stuff along the road, or even the monsters' moans as they chased them all around. She had seen one of them from up close. They looked like something straight out of a nightmare, like... like... demons. Their eyes were white and empty, and they smelled awful, like rotten food. Worse, they couldn't speak. They just grunted and moaned.
Sandra had told her earlier these monsters were dead people coming back to life, that they didn't care for anything or anyone. The idea of a dead person getting up as one of them sent shivers down the girl's spine. Clementine silently prayed that her parents wouldn't end up like that.
For hours, Clem sat alone in her tree house, trying to find comfort in imagining her parents getting home the following day and taking her away from the monsters, to a safe place where all the people she knew had gone to. It was hard, but she knew her daddy was strong. He'd protect her mummy from anything. Then, they'd come back for her and together they would hide away until the police dealt with the monsters.
It was late. Nightfall was already upon the city, and now an almost eerie silence surrounded the whole place. No longer did she hear the scary sounds of people running or monsters moaning, though the absence of such noises left her with an empty feeling. She thought everyone was hiding now, and would come out during the day. That was smart, she resolved, as the monsters could be hiding in the dark.
As she sat there, the girl absently ate some cookies from a packet she had brought days earlier on one of her usual trips to the treehouse. She was happy her mum hadn't found them, otherwise she wouldn't have had anything to eat right then. She just wished there was some water too. It'd been hours since she'd had anything to drink and it was scary to get down and head to the kitchen to look for some. Especially now. Maybe in the morning, if she didn't hear anything, she'd try.
Clementine shook her head as she looked around the treehouse, leaving some cookies for later. There wasn't much inside. Some dolls, a walkie-talkie she and her dad used to play with sometimes, a hammer she'd managed to get on her way out the house, a tea set, an old flashlight, and some drawing books Clem liked. She then a risked a glance outside, slowly and carefully taking her head out the side window in case any monster was out there looking for her.
Her backyard was empty. And there were no lights coming from the house, no sound, nothing. She tried looking for Sandra, childishly hoping she'd managed to survive the attack, but didn't see the babysitter anywhere. 'It's too dark', she thought, her face adopting a downcast look. She'd have to wait until morning to look around. But what if the monsters got into the treehouse while she slept? What if they could climb even if the stairs that led there were broken?
As she was going over those thoughts and feeling very afraid of what could happen to her, a low, creaking noise directly behind her made her freeze in place, her eyes widening. Clementine stood still for what felt like hours to her but that in reality were only seconds, inwardly praying nothing bad happened.
No sound came after that, though it was only when Clem began to calm down that she felt something land on her shoulder.
A hand.
"Yo!"
Before she could even control herself, a loud, fearful scream came out her mouth and she tried to get the intruder off of her, blindly attempting to slap the monster or person's hand away. "N-No, get away from me!"
She tried to turn around and face whatever was behind her, but in the process slipped and fell on her back, hitting her head. With blurry eyes, Clem tried to protect herself by placing her arms over her face and bringing her knees up to her chest, sending kicks in the intruder's direction. She only hit air, but she kept trying, shedding tears and begging for help in the process.
"Please, don't hurt me, please, d-don't..."
Clem was expecting pain, but it never came. Even after several minutes went by, nothing happened to her. Eventually, she stopped crying and dared to take a peek from behind her arms covering her face.
What she saw then, made all her fears go away in a second.
There was no monster or bad person in her treehouse. Nobody was trying to hurt her. All that she saw... was a boy. A blond, blue-eyed boy with a pair of goggles on his forehead who sat on his knees, a worried look on his face. He had three identical scars like whiskers on each cheek, and his hair was all spiky, like the porcupines she had learned about in Ms. Brown's class.
The boy looked to be around her age. Clem wasn't sure. He was talking to her in a language that was clearly not English, though it was easy to see he was worried about her. When he saw her looking his way, the boy raised his hands in a clear sign of friendliness while shaking his head frantically.
"It's okay", Clementine finally said, sitting up slowly. She saw the blond calming down at that and imitating her, both sitting cross legged on the floor. He then offered her a big, goofy smile that she found funny and was soon returning with one of her own.
The blond said something then, pointing her way. Clem shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, I don't understand", she said, feeling bad all of a sudden. This was the first person she had seen in hours and he didn't seem to speak her language.
He seemed to look downcast at her inability to comprehend him, but only for a moment before his face brightened all of a sudden. "Naruto", he pressed his thumb against his chest, grinning broadly. "Naruto Uzumaki."
"Your name is Naruto?", Clem asked hopefully. Naruto could only nod, clapping his hands as a sign of happiness at finally being able to communicate with her. A feeling that was reciprocated by the girl in front of him. "That's a pretty name. Mine is Clementine. Clementine", she pointed at herself this time, and Naruto widened his grin. "Nice to meet you Naruto."
She extended her hand in the blond's way and watched as the Uzumaki stared at it in confusion for a moment, before he slowly did the same with his own appendage and clasped it around hers'. She smiled at him and shook his hand. "That's how we say hi here", she explained to him, and then immediately realized he wouldn't really understand the concept.
Though Clem didn't really care. She was happy. Naruto seemed nice. He was a kid like her and she hated being alone. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder how had he gotten there and where his parents, or family were. She hoped they were okay.
"Where are your parents?"
Naruto tilted his head to a side, humming in confusion.
"Parents. Dad. Mum", Clementine tried making hand-gestures in hopes of making communication easier, though the blond kept on staring at her with a dumb look as if he had no idea what on earth she was talking about.
Clem pouted. This was going to be hard. She looked around the treehouse in search of something that could help her and soon found her drawing book. She stood up and grabbed the book plus the flashlight that lied next to it. Clementine then walked up to a curious blond and sat down next to him on the floor, turning on the flashlight and using it to shed light upon the pages of her drawing book.
Naruto looked with innocent eyes as she turned page after page until she found what she was looking for. It was a drawing of her parents, standing in a green field beside some buildings. She then proceeded to point her finger at each character in it. "This is me. Clementine", Naruto by her side nodded. "And these are my parents. Mum and dad. Mum. Dad. They are in Savannah. Savannah", as she mentioned the place, the girl moved her finger around the picture, signalling that the whole place that surrounded them was the city their parents were staying at.
She was happy when the blond seemed to understand and repeated after her. "Mum. Dad", he cautiously said, watching her smile and nod at him. "Kaachan. Touchan."
"Huh, so that's what you call them. Kaachan and touchan?", it was Naruto's turn to be pleased as he eagerly nodded, giving her a thumbs up. He spoke some more words, but soon shut up at seeing Clem was not following. She then pointed her finger the blond's way. "Where is your mum and dad? Your... kaachan, touchan?"
As Naruto finally understood what she meant to ask, his face became void of any cheerfulness and previous happiness he'd been showing so far, those feelings replaced with a downcast look. "Dead", he simply said, and Clem grew sad.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, Naruto", she offered him a hug, which he returned absently. "Mum... Kaachan says that when people die, they go to a better place. Maybe they-"
Suddenly, something that the blond had said earlier came back to her mind and the little girl found herself pulling away from him and gasping. "Dead. You said dead! How did you know that word?"
Naruto could only tilt his head to the side, not really sure what was going on. He managed to indicate with gestures that he had heard that word in the street, as he cupped his ear with a hand and then pointed to the road beyond Clem's house.
"That's good", Clem smiled, feeling somewhat relieved. If he had heard someone else saying that, it meant there were people alive in her neighborhood. Maybe they could help them the following day. Give them shelter until her parents returned.
She turned her eyes back to Naruto and found him grasping his stomach and looking the way of her cookies. That was followed by a rumbling noise that made her giggle.
"Are you hungry?"
The blond glanced her way with a pleading look, that being more than a clear and straight answer to her question.
"You can have them. I already ate some, so it's fine."
After nodding encouragingly at him, Naruto broke into a happy grin before proceeding to devour the last cookies that he had found, eating so fast that he almost seemed inhuman. There were only a bunch of them, so the blond looked a bit sad there wasn't anything else to eat, though he still nodded at Clem in evident appreciation.
"You're welcome", she said. "I wish we had some water. Do you have water?"
"...?"
"Water", Clem repeated, pretending like she was drinking from a glass.
Naruto's face brightened up like a Christmas tree and he nodded happily, giving the girl some hope. She half expected to pull a bottle from his strange blue-orange jacket, but when he suddenly indicated her to wait there and jumped out the window she gasped in shock. "Naruto? Naruto, wait!", she ran up to her window, trying to see if he had fallen from the house but she saw nothing.
Below there was no trace, no sign of Naruto. She tried looking in different directions, hoping to see him somewhere, but to no avail.
He was gone.
Clementine grew more worried by the minute. She kept calling his name, quietly at first and then a little louder, though even after a while of doing so he was nowhere to be seen. He didn't reply, nor show himself for some time, and Clem started to think something bad had happened to him. There were even some tears in her eyes as she thought about it, but all of her fears and worries were proven wrong when she heard someone crouching down right in her treehouse, behind her.
She turned around in a blur and there he was, Naruto Uzumaki, crouching down with that goofy grin of his etched on his lips. "Water", he happily said, handing her a bottle filled with the precious liquid.
Clem stood there, blinking her hazel eyes in silence. Seconds went by, with neither saying a word, until the girl faced Naruto with a worried look. "You... You disappeared! I thought-"
Naruto's smiled turned gentle and he patted her head, calming her down. He told her something in that strange language of his before signalling her to drink the water he'd brought her, which Clementine did after a moment, greedily gulping down half the content of the plastic container.
Because she'd drank so fast, she choked a bit on the water, coughing slightly to expel the liquid that had gone through the wrong place. Naruto laughed, much to her embarrassment, before drinking a bit of it himself. Clem watched him put down the bottle and sit down next to the treehouse's window, letting out a sigh. He looked calm. Even in spite of everything that was going on, Naruto didn't seem scared, or worried, or afraid. He was simply... there. His smile was nice, Clem thought, it was bright and honest, and it made her feel a bit better.
Her thoughts then drifted to other questions she wanted to ask him; her face scrunched up in curiosity. 'I want to know where's he from, or how did he find me. But, how...?'
It was then that she thought about using the drawing book, just like before, to find the best way to communicate with her new friend. With an excited smile, Clem picked up said book and approached a curious looking Naruto, sitting next to him. "Look Naruto! We can use this to understand each other. Okay?"
His azure eyes moved from her to the blank page she was showing him, not really getting what was she trying to show him but nodding anyway, intending to find out in a moment. Clem proceeded to draw a blue sky with clouds, a golden sun and buildings, stores, streets everywhere. She tried to be as accurate as possible, given that there wasn't much space to add a lot of detail. After finishing, she wrote "Georgia" on top, with big letters that stretched all over the tallest buildings in the drawing.
Naruto stared for a moment at it, taking in every single aspect of it, before his orbs caught notice of the word atop. He squinted his eyes and tried to make sense of it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand.
"Georgia. G-E-O-R-G-I-A", Clementine spelled it out for him, gesturing towards the city beyond the walls of the treehouse. It didn't take long for Naruto's mouth to resemble an 'o' as he nodded. The latter reached for Clem's crayon and, upon seeing her nodding in approval, wrote something below it. It was a word in very strange characters, nothing like the English alphabet. The little girl immediately realized they must have been from an Asian country, as she knew she had seen them once in a cartoon she used to watch. Not exactly the same, but similar.
"Georgia", Naruto pointed at the word with what was clearly his trademark grin, and Clem smiled.
"Ohhh, so that's how it's written in your language", she thought for a bit, never allowing her orbs to move away from the strange characters, before something clicked in her mind. "Wait, I think you could be Chinese!", she excitedly claimed, turning to her friend with an innocent look. "Are you from China, Naruto?"
She had to point to her drawing and then to him, repeating the word 'China' several times with an interrogative intonation so that the Uzumaki would understand what she wanted to find out.
Clem was a bit disappointed when he finally shook his head. "No", he said, before proceeding to gently take the book off her hands and turn the page. He grabbed all her crayons and started to draw. Unlike the girl, who had only needed a few minutes to draw, Naruto needed more than half an hour before he was finally done, and while he'd been at it, he didn't allow her to take a look, not even one.
Whenever she tried to, he'd just click his tongue, as if to show it wasn't ready yet.
"Finished?", Clementine wondered aloud for the tenth time that night, half expecting him to just carry on with whatever he was doing.
Though this time, she was happy at seeing him grinning. Naruto chuckled at seeing a job well done before finally presenting it to an eager Clem, who took the book off his hands and allowed her eyes to roam around the drawing.
The drawing wasn't anything too spectacular, though Clementine took notice of the amount of detail he'd added to it. From the big walls that surrounded the many buildings leading to a tall tower and faces that seemed to be carved in a mountain, to what she guessed was the main entrance –a giant door with a strange drawing on it–, everything looked unlike any city she'd ever seen. That place was like a... like a...
'I think Alfred said these are called fortresses, or something. Definitely not a castle', she inwardly mused, her eyes going all over the drawing again and again.
Until Naruto said: "Konoha."
"Uhm, what?"
"Konoha", he repeated calmly. "Ko-no-ha", he watched as Clem wrote the word above, just like he'd done on her own drawing before.
"Konoha... That's where you come from, Naruto?"
Naruto gave her an emphatic nod as he placed both arms behind his head, grinning like a madman as he talked some more. Clementine turned back to the word in the meantime. She had never heard of such a place. Maybe somebody knew where it was? That was likely to be the case. Though if he was indeed from a faraway place like she thought he was, it'd be hard for him to go back home.
If her parents came back home the following morning, they could help him, right? She shook her head. She wanted to help him, but at the same time, Clem didn't want him to leave her yet. It was bad to think like that, but if he left, she'd be scared and alone again. That Naruto didn't seem to be afraid or even care about the monsters that roamed the streets below helped her take her mind off what was going on at the moment.
Clem and her new friend talked some more into the night with the assistance of her drawing book. She told him about her school, her hamster and fish, and a little bit of her friend Alfred, who lived on the other side of the city and would no doubt be super scared right now. The girl was really glad to have been found by Naruto. He was funny and his life was cool too.
So far, the Uzumaki had showed her how he'd prank bad people because they laughed or insulted at him for no reason. He had made crude drawings of his friends, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and of a boy whom she understood was called Sasuke, or something like that. Whenever Naruto spoke of him, his face would twist into a scowl and he'd clench his fist, as if he really disliked that kid. He must have been a bad person, she thought.
He also drew himself as a 'shinobi', whatever that was. A kind of warrior that used powers and strange weapons to fight villains. Or bad shinobi, so Naruto said. Clem had seen the clear enthusiasm in his eyes as he went on and on about it, and inwardly wondered if that had been taken from his favorite cartoon or comic. After all, there was no way such things existed in real life.
When Clementine woke up the following morning, she found herself sleeping on the floor –Naruto's jacket covering her. She let out a quiet yawn as she sat up, rubbing the sleep off her tired eyes as she lazily eyed the sun that was filtering through the open door of her treehouse.
"Good morning, Naruto", the little girl said as she took a moment to stretch her limbs. But as soon as she did so, she caught sight of the blond crouching down by the entrance, his back facing her. "Naruto? What's going on?"
Said boy promptly turned her way and pressed a finger to his lips, shushing her. Then, he gestured below, as if to indicate there was something, or someone, in her backyard.
Soon enough, a subsequent yell to Naruto's indication put Clem on edge, and all remaining sleepiness was gone in a moment. She stood up in a blur, dropping her friend's jacket and going straight for her hammer. Her small hands trembled as she clutched onto it, her eyes wide and focused on the blond.
"Hey kid! Just help me get up already! Hurry! I'm going to die if I stay down here any longer!"
The voice belonged to a man, Clem realized. A very nervous man if the tone he used to address her friend was of any indication. He was yelling too, which made her scared.
Though Naruto didn't even seem phased at all by his demands. On the contrary, he looked more annoyed than anything.
"Shh!", he hushed him, saying something else afterwards that didn't sound too nice in Clem's opinion.
"You stupid brat! Wait 'till I find the way to get there, you-"
The intruder couldn't finish what he wanted to say as Naruto had seized the chance to throw a... water balloon at his face; the sound of it popping echoed around the silent neighborhood.
"Agh!", Naruto began laughing out loud as the man's hair and upper clothes got drenched in water. "That's it, you're dead! Dead!"
Because the stairs leading to her treehouse were broken, Clem was confident the man wouldn't be able to reach them. At least not that way. But what if he found a different way in? What if he got there and hurt them, or worse? Those thoughts plagued Clementine's mind as seconds went by and the intruder didn't seem willing to give up just yet, his anger rising by the minute.
Or it did, until it was replaced by fear.
Both Clementine and Naruto suddenly heard the man gasp in horror, the former forgetting about her own worries to approach her friend and see what was going on. The sight that greeted her was far from being reassuring.
Probably attracted by all the ruckus he was making, two monsters had slowly but surely made their way towards the man, whom Clem noticed had messy dark hair and tanned skin. He was leaning against the tree, eyes widened and a knife on his right hand. The monsters looked horrible, even more so than the one that had attacked her and Sandra the day before. The first one had the side of its face exposed, like something had torn the flesh off his cheek and jaw by biting on it, while the second lacked an arm and an eye, blood still pouring from its wounds.
Both were pale and gross, and Clem didn't hesitate to hide behind Naruto, holding onto his arm for support.
"H-Help! Please!"
Naruto became deadly quiet as he watched the man trying to plunge his knife into the head of the dead closest to him. He missed by a wide margin, and it only graced its cheek, making it moan angrily. The monster lunged in his direction with a growl, and the man screamed in horror, dodging it at the very last second. He fell to the ground and crawled backwards as both creatures realized their prey was getting away, now going after him as fast as their slow limbs allowed them to go.
"Shit!"
Both kids observed in silence as he clumsily stood up and ran away without paying them a passing glance. The children dashed to the window, pushed it open, and saw the intruder hurriedly leaving the house through a side gate. His feet hitting the road could be heard from the treehouse, something that drew more dead out of some nearby houses before they slowly went after him as he tried to get away as fast as possible.
Clementine stood still for a few more minutes, neither she nor Naruto making any noise in fear of attracting nearby monsters onto them. When they were sure nothing could hear them, she let out a calming sigh. "That was close", she whispered, letting her friend's arm go. "Where did you get that balloon anyway?"
Naruto seemed to understand as soon as she made some hand gestures and merely shrugged, a mysterious smile in place.
"Aww, come on, we're friends. Friends don't keep secrets from each other", he chuckled and patted her head, making her pout. "You're not nice, Naruto."
But the boy kept on smiling her way and acting as if he wasn't planning on revealing his secret so soon. Then, he pulled something out of his pocket and gave it to her, saying: "for you."
It was a red apple. The girl eyed it like it was a gift from the gods for a full minute before she gave Naruto a happy smile. Honestly, she was so hungry she could cry. "I love apples! Thank you, Naruto", taking it into her small hands, Clem didn't hesitate to give it a good bite.
It tasted very good. Though she missed eating her daily bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast, she wasn't complaining. The boy had gone and got her her favorite fruit for breakfast, which she appreciated.
As she munched on the apple, her hazel eyes shifted Naruto's way. He too was eating an apple, a green one instead, his jacket now back on. He gave her a smile when he noticed she was looking his way. Then, he gestured with his chin towards the snack on her hand, almost as if asking whether it was good or not.
"It's really tasty", she said with a thumbs up, and Naruto nodded. A sudden thought materialized itself in her mind, making Clementine stop eating and look downwards. "Did you... Did you go out when I was sleeping?"
The blond tilted his head to a side, blinking his azure orbs several times. Clem absently grabbed her drawing book and quickly drew Naruto leaving the treehouse while she calmly slept on the floor. Her friend took a quick look at it and grew sheepish all of a sudden, his hand now rubbing the back of his head. All he could manage was an awkward nod, which was met with a frown from the girl.
"You need to be careful", she told him, her face softening at the way he looked at her. "Please. Be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."
There was no need for a drawing this time, as Naruto seemed to understand what she was trying to tell him. But even though she expected him to nod and agree with her, he just shrugged and shook his head before mustering one of his famous grins.
"Daijobu, daijobu!", he said proudly, though Clem didn't like his answer. She really didn't want him falling victim to the monsters, even though he seemed to know his way around them. He'd gone away while she was sleeping, and came back without a single scratch on him.
"Please", she stood up and approached Naruto, kneeling down beside him. "Promise me you will be careful."
For several seconds, the blond just stared into her eyes, the distant sound of moans and some birds nearby being the only thing that broke the silence that had settled around them. And it was after a while that the Uzumaki finally inclined his head in a careful nod, his face dead serious.
Relief filled Clem and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Good. So... what do we do now? Do you want to play?"
Naruto shrugged as a way to show his lack of comprehension. And that's when Clem had a sudden idea.
For hours, Clementine had tried to teach her new friend whatever English word she could think of. She focused on things that could be useful for him to learn, like phrases or easy questions and answers. Her drawing book was getting filled with drawings to help him understand, though she didn't mind; Naruto soon proved to be a fast learner, although sometimes he mixed structures, mispronounced some words or used them in places these didn't belong.
Seeing him struggle to say things like "My name is Naruto and I'm 10 years old", made Clem giggle. She'd just learned he was slightly older than her through showing the Uzumaki how to say his age in English.
And so, both children spent the majority of the morning and afternoon working on Naruto's English and taking breaks to play and have lunch. In spite of Clem telling him not to go, the blond had gone down once again to get them something to eat and more water. It'd taken him twenty long minutes to come back with two identical cups of warm noodles, which he ate with gusto using a spoon, though not without difficulty.
He'd mentioned with gestures that noodles, or ramen, as he called it, was his favorite food. Clem had never eaten something like that, though she did like it. It was like pasta but with different seasoning.
After lunch, the kids had poked their heads out of the wooden board that covered the window of the treehouse. Their eyes looked around, in hopes of seeing anyone else. Clem was thinking about going down and use the phone, try to call her parents. And if that didn't work... head for the neighbors' house and ask for help. Being with Naruto was nice, but she missed sleeping on a bed and being inside a real house with other people.
"What do you think Naruto? Should we go?"
She put emphasis on the last word as she spoke, knowing the blond knew its meaning thanks to her teachings. "No", he shook his head. "I go."
"I want to go too", Clem insisted, tugging on his shirt. "I want to help you look for other people."
Naruto was about to say something else when they both heard it:
A gunshot.
Their heads turned in the direction it'd come from. There was a forest beyond Clem's backyard, with a wooden fence being the only thing that stood between both areas. The kids had to get outside the treehouse to try and see whether they could find whoever had made that shot.
"I don't see anything...", Clementine whispered, squinting her eyes.
By her side, Naruto narrowed his orbs. He didn't like that noise. He'd heard it before, when he'd first woken up in that city, a day ago. It was loud and attracted the dead's attention. Probably the reason why so many people were dying as they sat there, because they didn't have the skills of a trained ninja.
The blond was sure that if this had been Konoha, the many chunnins and jounins that lived in the village would have already wiped the monsters out.
'I should go take a look. Just to be sure', Naruto inadvertently shifted his eyes in Clem's way. She was scared. He could tell. But he didn't want her to come, as he moved faster on his own.
After making up his mind, the blond suddenly stood up. "I go. Clem, stay."
She frowned. "No. I'm not staying", with determination burning in her eyes, she fixed her hat and dress and grabbed her hammer. "I'll protect you."
Naruto saw no point in arguing any further, knowing she could very well get out the house without him being around and nodded. "Okay."
Lee Everett panted as the adrenaline going through his veins made his heart pound like mad in his chest. Beside him lied the remnants of very same police officer that had been driving him to prison before the accident took place. Blood poured out of the hole Lee's shotgun had made on the bald man's head – a crimson puddle slowly spread around him.
Lee was in shock. Just moments ago, that nosy policeman that drove them out the city had tried to attack him, his skin pale and his eyes all white and unfocused. It was like seeing a rabid dog in a fit of madness. In his thirty-seven years of age, Lee had never seen anyone so out of it, not even when he'd become blinded by rage and killed his wife and lover upon finding them in the same bed.
This... was different. Worse, even. He had a very bad feeling about it, for whatever reason.
He was beginning to hyperventilate when his dark eyes caught sight of a kid standing in the distance. It was a little girl, and she looked cautious as she took a look around from where she stood.
"H-Help! Go get someone!", Lee shouted, alerting the girl. He waved an arm to signal his position. "There's been a shooting!"
The man watched as the girl took a fearful step back and left in a hurry not long afterwards. He gulped, hoping the police would understand his predicament when they found him next to the corpse of a fellow police officer.
Lee moved his eyes about, trying to see if he could find someone else in the vicinity. As he did so, a small rustling sound came from one of the bushes nearby, and as he turned his head in said direction, he was immediately horrified at what he saw.
Lee didn't know how things could have gone so wrong for him in such a short amount of time.
He was just talking to a little girl called Clementine on the walkie-talkie he'd found in a drawer when all of a sudden one of those things he'd seen back at the woods had jumped on him from behind. Fear crept up on Lee as he tried to push off of him that who had once been a girl in her late teens but was now a monster. Its brown, putrid teeth tried to sink on his flesh, her bony arms trying to get a hold of his face as they struggled.
Lee managed to place a well-aimed punch to the creature's face, sending it back. It fell and slammed its skull against the ground, something that'd have knocked anyone out. Yet Lee was shocked at seeing the creature, for a lack of a better word, crawling his way again after letting out a guttural growl. To make matters worse, he had no weapon to defend himself with and his leg was swollen after the accident he'd suffered, which meant he wouldn't get far if he wanted to run away.
Backing from the monster had managed to put some sort of distance between them, but it was almost immediately shortened by the monster. At some point, Lee found himself bumping into the glass door he'd used to enter the house a few minutes ago. He watched in horror as the dead girl approached him fast, despite its decaying state, standing back on its two bony legs.
Though just as he started to think he was done for, the glass door behind him suddenly opened and the little girl from before showed up, holding a hammer on her small hands. She looked absolutely terrified of the monster.
And seeing just that, prodded him into action.
Before he knew it, he was grabbing the hammer and aiming a strong blow at the monster's skull. There was a disgusting 'crack' as the dead woman fell backwards, moaning weakly. Guided by his pumping adrenaline, Lee climbed on top of the monster and bashed her head with his newly acquired weapon repeatedly. All his previous anxiety and fear turned into rage as blood and brains went flying in all directions. He hit her multiple times, venting his ire, and only did he stop when its face was beyond the point of recognition.
"Hah... Hah... Man..."
Lee tried to regain his breath and composure as he stood up, his heart still going a hundred miles per hour. As he did so, he realized that the little girl from before was still there, looking in shock at the scene before her.
"Hi there...", he managed to say, standing straight.
Clementine took a step back and resisted the urge to look away. Who'd once been her babysitter, Sandra, now laid on the ground, dead. It pained Clem to see her in that state, becoming one of the things she'd tried to protect her from.
"Did you kill it?", she slowly asked, her tone low and cautious. She was afraid Sandra would come back to life and attack them again.
"I... I think someone else must have killed her before."
"Oh."
Clem nodded. She too knew one of the monsters had gotten to Sandra before, taking her life.
Only then did Lee realize this kid had just witnessed something nobody should ever lay eyes on. And though glad as he was of seeing a normal person for a change, he could not help but grow worried about her. "You've been all by yourself through this?"
He was afraid of whatever answer she was going to give her. It didn't look like there was anyone else there with her, but Lee still clung onto the hope that her parents or any other relative was watching over her. A kid, alone and defenseless against those... those things, whatever they were, sounded traumatic enough.
Clem remained silent for a moment, turning her head in the direction of her treehouse. The man noticed a sad look on her face as she glanced in said way, though Lee couldn't see anything there. "No", she finally said, her shoulders slumping. "There is a boy with me. His name is Naruto. He found me in my treehouse yesterday. We have been taking care of each other since then."
"I see", Lee let out a calming sigh. Instead of one, there were two kids looking out for each other. He didn't like the fact that there were no adults around, but still... at least she wasn't alone. "So where is he now? Up there, in the treehouse?"
Her initial response was to shake her head and look downcast once again. "I don't know where he is. He told me to stay after we went back from exploring and left again, said he wanted to check something", her innocent expression became filled with worry and fear, and Lee knelt down beside her. "I hope he's okay."
"So he must be around here, somewhere. Right?", Lee offered the preoccupied girl a smile. "Did you see where he went?"
Clem shook her head dejectedly. "No..."
"All right then", the man inched a little closer to her. "I don't know what happened, but I can look after you until we find your parents. And your friend", he added as an afterthought. "I'm sure he's fine. He must be very brave to go out by himself."
A smile was drawn on Clementine's face. "Yes! He's super brave. And nice. He got me food and water, and played with me", her face brightened as she spoke more about this 'Naruto' Lee had yet to meet. "He doesn't speak English though. But that's fine. I'm teaching him."
"Is that so?"
"Yup. He's from a place called 'Konoha'. They speak a different language there. I think it must be some Asian language. Definitely not Chinese."
Lee raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"
"I asked him."
"Oh, okay."
A small silence settled between them. Clementine was eyeing the treehouse and its surroundings in search of her lost friend, afraid he'd come back when she wasn't looking. Lee shook his head as he realized it was getting dark. There was no way he was leaving her alone.
They needed to make a plan, fast.
"What do we do now?"
Her question took him by surprise, but it was only a mere moment before he said, "I don't want to hang around until night, but if your friend is out there, maybe we should wait for a bit until he comes back. You know, just in case."
"You're right. He will be back soon. We shouldn't leave before he does", Clem didn't like the idea of Naruto coming back and not finding her. And she wasn't leaving without him. "We can wait in my treehouse."
Lee sighed. There was a small chance the poor kid didn't make it back, and with his leg in its current state, there was no way he was going to be able to go around the neighborhood looking for him. It was just too dangerous. Plus, Clementine was with him now. He wasn't going to expose her to any more danger unless it was absolutely necessary.
"All right. Lead the way."
Two hours had gone by, and day had eventually given way to night. The moon was high in the horizon, casting its pale rays of light over the whole city. All that had transpired up until then seemed like an eternity ago to Lee, though the piercing pain on his leg didn't make things any better for him. He'd tried to think about something else, distract himself with Clementine's drawings or by talking to her about that kid, Naruto, who was the sole reason they hadn't gone out to ask for help, but after a minute or two, his thoughts would go back to that swollen leg of his.
He needed someone to take a look at it, and the sooner he did that, the better.
Still... The girl that kept looking out the treehouse's window every now and then didn't seem in a hurry to leave before her friend came back. Lee hated to think that something could have happened to that friend of hers, and yet the possibility was there. They couldn't stay much longer though. If they didn't move soon, his condition would worsen, and he would not be able to go far.
"Any sight of him yet?"
"N-No", Clem mumbled, sounding anxious.
Lee looked at her, and then at the moon.
They had to go.
"Clementine, maybe we should go."
He felt his heart clenching at the way she looked at him then. Almost as if someone was telling her to do something horrible. "But what if he comes back and we are not here?"
A sad expression was etched on his face. He hated doing this, but there was no other choice. "I know you don't like this, but we need to see if we can find other people. It's not safe here."
Lee expected the little girl to start crying and refuse to go, yet after a few moments of silence and internal conflict, she did the exact same opposite: she nodded. "I know", Clem admitted with a sad expression, which then turned hopeful. "Maybe we could come back tomorrow after we find help? I'm sure he will be back by then."
"Of course", he agreed with a smile. It was actually a sensible idea, despite the circumstances. "We'll return with more people and look for him in the morning."
"I like that plan", there was now a smile on Clem's face as she turned back to the window, placing her small hands on her lap. "Be safe Naruto. I'll come back for you."
She was talking in a low tone, most likely to avoid being heard by the monsters, but it still managed to move Lee a little. It was clear that boy was someone important to her. He just wished he was okay, wherever he was.
Clem kept on tossing and turning around in her makeshift bed, which consisted of an old mattress, a pillow and some blankets that old farmer, Hershel Green, had given them to pass the night at the barn. It wasn't very comfortable. The barn smelled like 'doo-dee' and the constant snoring of the other family sleeping there didn't make things easier for her to just close her eyes and try to get some sleep. Lee had passed out like a feather as soon as he laid down, which had left Clem alone and with no one to talk to.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Naruto. She was very worried something bad could have happened to him. After they had been forced to leave the city and head for the countryside, Clem had started fearing the worst. It'd be quite hard to go back and look for her friend, especially since Lee wasn't so keen on doing so. They had talked a bit about it before, in Shawn's truck, and she had noticed the way both Lee and Shawn had looked at each other, as if the idea was bad.
Worse, when Shawn had asked him about it, Lee had told him he'd just found her, alone and scared, with no sign of her friend. He also explained it was the reason they decided to wait a bit longer in case he showed up. The young man driving the truck had frowned at what he heard, but understood the need for them to get help. Clem noticed he did his best not to say Naruto could be dead, but he said it'd be difficult to find him if they went back. Which they would, anyway, if Lee wanted to.
The latter had grown silent and glanced at Clementine out the corner of his eyes. Even to her, it was clear he was debating himself whether to go and search for the boy or keep moving.
It wasn't Lee's fault. She understood going back was very dangerous. But Naruto was her friend. He had taken care of her when she most needed it, so she should do the same now. Even though they had just met, she missed him. And his goofy grin.
But there was no way she could find the way back on her own. The city was far, and if she left now she'd have to go on foot. What if she got lost or monsters found her? She needed Lee to help her, as he had promised he'd do so. Maybe before leaving they could ask Shawn to give them a ride and look for him.
As more and more ideas formed in her mind, Clem kept on tossing and turning on the mattress, never realizing that the door to the barn was slowly opening until it made a soft creaking sound. Startled, the little girl froze in place and widened her eyes, trying to hold in her breathing. Did a monster find them? Were they in danger? She had to wake Lee but how would she do so without alerting it? Perhaps it had yet to see them, she told herself while hoping and praying it wouldn't get to them before she reacted.
"Clem? Clem...!"
The aforementioned froze again, though not in fear like before. Even if those words had been but mere whispers, she immediately recognized the voice behind it.
"Naruto?", she finally sat up in her bed, and sure enough, there he was, standing at the entrance. His golden hair shining under the moonlight.
Clementine was jumping out of bed and running into his arms in the blink of the eye. Her short arms embraced Naruto, relief and happiness filling her visage as she felt him hugging her back. He was there. Safe and sound. He smelled a bit like blood, but other than that he was fine. She pulled away to look at him, and smiled when she saw that huge grin of his.
"You found me!", she happily said, staring into his eyes. "Are you okay? You didn't get into any trouble, did you?"
Naruto nodded. "I'm okay."
"That's good. I was worried", true enough, he looked exactly the same way she'd seen him hours ago. His jacket had a bit of dried blood on it, which explained the smell, but she ignored it and took his hand. "Why did you leave me alone?"
She tried using some hand gestures to make him understand, but it wasn't necessary. It was almost as if he'd been expecting that question, and he gestured in Lee's way with a frown.
"Oh, right!", she said, a little louder now. All the time, she had kept her voice low so as not to wake anybody up, but now she didn't feel that was necessary. "Let's go meet Lee. He saved me from the monsters!"
Clem tugged on his hand and started to walk in the man's direction, but Naruto didn't budge. She turned to him with a confused look and saw him looking down.
"What's... wrong, Naruto?", he shook his head, and the girl's face grew worried. "It's okay, he's a nice man. He said he'll take care of me until we find my parents."
There was a troubled expression on the Uzumaki's face as he shook his head again, this time more slowly and carefully. He didn't know the words to say what was on his mind, so he just smiled at her. "You stay. I go."
"You're leaving?", once again, fear and confusion had made their way through to her tone, and Naruto didn't fail to notice it.
"Yes", he said. He then used his free hand to gesture around the farm, Clem following the direction he pointed at with a worried look.
"Oh. You want to explore, again."
He nodded.
"Uh-hum."
"But you don't have to. This place is safe", she insisted, tugging on his hand once more. She didn't want him to leave. Not again. Why couldn't he stay and meet Lee?
Yet Naruto showed no desire to stick around. Although he didn't understand every single thing she said to him, it was clear she was trying to convince him not to go. But he had to. Even though Clem didn't seem in any immediate danger around the others in the barn, he didn't trust those people enough to be certain no monsters would attack while everyone slept. That guy Lee was sleeping like a log, so it was on him to make sure the perimeter was safe.
Clem lowered her head and released his hand when she saw he wasn't going to stay. It made her sad, but Naruto had proved he could take care of himself. He had disappeared and found her again, even though she'd gone out of the city. She wanted to know how he did it, but right now Clem just hoped he'd change his mind.
Which he didn't.
"Be careful, Naruto."
He gave her a thumbs up.
"Promise?"
"Promise", he repeated with a grin, patting her head.
"Okay. Don't go too far."
The blond pressed two fingers against his goggles and saluted Clem with them, saying something in his language. Then, he turned around and jumped really high in the sky, making Clementine's eyes go wide in shock. He landed a moment after on the Green family's house's roof, waved his hand for the last time at her and soon disappeared in the darkness of the night.
"W-Whoa..."
Clem was speechless. That was incredible! Naruto had just made an impossible jump, one that no human being could ever hope of doing and landed safely onto a nearby roof. She already felt he was special but that? That seemed like the stuff she'd only get to see in a movie or in a fantasy book. Maybe he really was one of those warriors he'd described earlier, a shinobi, Clem thought in awe.
Did people like that existed in real life? And if so, what else could they do? Clementine kept trying to picture how shinobi would look like and the different powers and abilities they possessed as she went back to bed, fantasizing about a place where people like Naruto lived. Soon, very soon, and before she could even realize it, her eyes fluttered close and sleep claimed her mind.
Tomorrow would be a long day.
To be continued...
Already, we can see some small changes brought about by the inclusion of our favorite shinobi. At first, alterations on the plot will be minimal, but I definitely have plans to modify things in Lee's and Clem's story the more Naruto interacts with the group.
On a side note, the cover for this fic was made with AI. I'd have loved to commission someone to draw it for me, but I can't afford it at the moment. In any case, I like how it came out in the end, so I'll be leaving it there for the time being.
If you have any suggestions, questions or just want to talk about this fic with me, let me know and I'll come back to you as soon as I can.
As always, take care everyone. Luke, signing out!