Naruto: Call of Cthulhu

"Dad, where are we going this time?"

"Hmm, we're heading to the southeast of the Land of Fire. There's a place there called Sakuhana. Based on the current season, it should be a vast canyon filled with blooming flowers."

"By the way, your mom and I fell in love there."

"Fell in love?"

The little girl in the carriage tilted her head in confusion, while the woman next to her felt a bit embarrassed. She said, "Is it really appropriate to talk about falling in love to her?"

The man driving the carriage didn't seem to mind and instead laughed, "Oh, what's the harm? Kids these days mature quickly. Our little Sakura will soon grow up into a young lady. When she meets a handsome guy like her dad, she'd better not let him go." Kizashi winked at his wife, who rolled her eyes.

"And as for why, let me tell you a story." he cleared his throat, looking like he was about to tell a serious, educational story.

"One day, a rock and a rice cake had a fight. The rock got so angry it kicked the rice cake into the sea."

"Later on, there was a couple in love. The boy had to go far away, so they made a promise to each other. He gave the girl a ring as a token of their love."

"Three years passed, but the boy never sent any word. The girl waited for him all that time, but he never came back. Heartbroken, she threw the ring into the sea and left the place where they had promised to meet."

"But in truth, the boy was also waiting for her. The girl had misunderstood where they were supposed to meet, and thus they missed their chance. A few more years passed, and one day the boy went fishing."

"Guess what he caught?" he asked his wife and daughter in the carriage.

"A fish!" the little girl answered first.

The man shook his head, his hair exaggeratedly styled like cherry blossom petals. "Nope."

"Their token of love, the ring?" This time, the mother answered.

"Also wrong."

"Then what was it?" Both mother and daughter asked in unison.

"Of course, it was the rice cake!"

"Hahahaha! That's hilarious!" The man laughed so hard that he almost lost his grip on the reins, while the mother and daughter behind him were left with weird looks on their faces.

"Honey, that was a really bad joke," Mebuki sighed.

"Daddy's jokes aren't funny at all."

This was an ordinary family from Konoha. The man's name was Kizashi, a cheerful guy who loved telling lame jokes. He had once been a ninja but now led a simple life in the village with an ordinary job. The woman's name was Mebuki, a strong-willed homemaker.

They'd been looking forward to this family trip for a long time. Instead of just hanging around village like usual, they rented a carriage to go somewhere way out of Konoha.

Throughout the journey, the family laughed and chatted. Kizashi occasionally told dad jokes to lighten the mood or bragged about his past adventures.

"Did you know, Sakura? Back in the day, your dad could run on top of trees faster than this carriage."

As he drove the carriage, Kizashi pointed with his whip at the tall trees on either side of the road. Sakura looked at the tall trees. To a three-year-old, these towering giants seemed impossible to even stand on, with their narrow branches making it obvious that you couldn't keep your balance.

So, she shook her head, "Daddy, you're exaggerating again. That's absolutely impossible."

"Hey now, how am I exaggerating? Don't believe me? Ask your mom! Isn't that true?"

Sakura turned to Mebuki, who smiled and nodded, "It's true. Your dad was a ninja back then."

"A ninja?" Three-year-old Sakura didn't fully understand the concept of a ninja. She tried to imagine her goofy father as one of the cool, mysterious figures she sometimes saw around the village.

"Yes, like those people in the village who jump from rooftop to rooftop, go on missions, and protect the people in Konoha. Your dad was once one of them too."

With this explanation from her mother, Sakura's gaze toward her father filled with admiration. But after a few seconds, her expression dimmed.

"Then why isn't Daddy a ninja anymore?"

"Uh..." The sudden question caught Kizashi off guard, and he didn't know how to respond.

Meibuki stepped in to answer, "Well, for various reasons, your dad…"

Suddenly, Kizashi raised his whip and pointed toward the other side of the forest. "Look! That's the Land of Bears."

The new information quickly grabbed Sakura's attention. She quickly looked out, but all she could see was more trees.

"There's nothing there," Sakura was disappointed that she didn't see anything exciting.

"The border between the Land of Bears and the Land of Fire has a place called Valley of Death. It's filled with poisonous gas and thorny bushes. It's too dangerous, so we can't get close to see it."

"But if you follow the Valley of Death further south, the gorge becomes shallower, and there's no more poisonous gas. In one section of the gorge, the whole place is filled with blooming flowers. That's where we're heading."

"So we haven't arrived yet..."

"We're almost there."

The long, boring carriage ride lasted almost the entire day. Finally, just before sunset, the Haruno family saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

"There it is!"

"Sakura, look! That's Sakuhana!"

Mebuki gently woke up Sakura and carried her to the window. The little girl rubbed her eyes sleepily.

At the edge of the forest, they saw a shallow, wide canyon. The sun shone through the clouds, casting a golden-red light. The rays illuminated a beautiful sea of flowers within the canyon.

This was something Sakura had never seen before, and it immediately captured her attention.

"Wow! It's so beautiful!"

"Yeah, like it was back then."

As Sakura and Mebuki admireed the view, the carriage came to an abrupt stop, causing Sakura's head to bump against the window frame.

This made Mebuki angry. She moved to the front of the carriage and lifted the curtain. "Why did you stop so suddenly? You made Sakura hit her head!"

But Kizashi wasn't paying attention to her complaints. He simply raised his hand and pointed ahead. Mebuki looked up and saw a few large trees lying across the road, completely blocking their path.

"Darling, how could there be so many trees here?"

"I don't know."

Kizashi carefully examined the fallen trees nearby and realized that the tall trees lining both sides of the road had collapsed, blocking the road.

As he walked to the fallen trees, he noticed something unusual on the stumps where the trees had broken off. Most of the trees appeared to have broken naturally, but about a third of the cuts were unnaturally smooth, as if they had been deliberately cut with a tool.

In other words, these trees hadn't fallen naturally; someone had intentionally caused them to collapse. Even worse, it seemed likely that someone had planned to use the fallen trees to block anyone trying to pass through. The precision of the placement was too perfect to be coincidental.

Kizashi straightened up and gazed into the dense forest. The rustling sounds of animals were absent. The silence was unnatural. Something's not right here.

Yet, for some reason, he had the feeling that something was watching him. He scanned the trees and bushes, searching for any movement.

After staring for a while without seeing anything unusual, he returned to the road at his wife's call. He tried to shake off the feeling of unease, not wanting to alarm his family.

"So?"

"Maybe some villagers from a nearby settlement cut down the trees and forgot to clear them away."

He didn't mention his suspicion that the trees had been deliberately placed there to block travelers, worried it would cause Mebuki unnecessary concern.

No need to scare them if I'm just being paranoid, he reasoned.

"What should we do now, Daddy?"

Beside Mebuki, their daughter Sakura asked in a soft, trembling voice, already on the verge of tears.

Kizashi knelt down quickly to comfort her, "Don't worry, Daddy will try to move these trees." He ruffled her pink hair gently, trying to project confidence he didn't entirely feel.

"Are you serious?" Mebuki grabbed his arm. She knew her husband's strength, but these trees were massive.

"Let me give it a try."

Kizashi patted her hand reassuringly and walked over to the trees.

The fallen trees were massive and thick that it would take at least two adults to wrap their arms around the trunks. Moving them would be impossible for even ten ordinary men.

Yet, he stood before one of the trunks, and placed his hands under one end. After closing his eyes for a few seconds, he let out a shout, and all his strength surged through his body. But the tree didn't budge at all.

"Go, Daddy!" Sakura cheered.

In response, Kizashi's face turned bright red, veins bulging in his arms, and miraculously, the massive tree trunk began to rise, slowly lifting off the ground under his strength. The wood creaked and groaned as it shifted.

He managed to raise one end of the tree to knee height. But after only a few seconds, the weight became too much. He had to let go and fell to the ground.

"Are you okay, honey?" Mebuki rushed over and knelt beside him.

Kizashi, still sitting on the ground, raised his trembling hands. I'm not the man I used to be, he thought ruefully. But he quickly replaced it with a relaxed smile.

"Sorry, seems I'm a bit rusty after not using my chakra for so long."

Hearing this, Mebuki lowered her head in silence, while Kizashi turned to his daugther, "I'm sorry, Sakura, Daddy couldn't move the trees either."

Tears welled up in her eyes before she burst into sobs, "Daddy, you lied! You're not even a ninja!"

"If you were a ninja, you'd be able to move those trees easily!"

"You're a liar, Daddy!"

"You're a big liar!"

She's right. Maybe I never was.

"Sakura, enough!" Mebuki, unable to listen any longer, shouted at her.

Since Sakura's birth, she had never raised her voice this much, and both Kizashi and Sakura were stunned.

"Sakura, go back to the carriage! Don't come out unless I say so!"

Sakura, still upset, glanced at her angry mother but reluctantly retreated to the carriage. Her small form disappeared into the vehicle, leaving her parents alone on the road.

After she left, Kizashi sighed, "Why are you so hard on her?"

"Because she's being unreasonable."

"Well, that's what kids do. Being unreasonable is a privilege only children get to enjoy."

"…"

"Let's not dwell on it. We need to find another way to deal with these trees."

Aside from moving the trees, the other option was to burn them. But with no nearby water source, the fire could easily spread into the forest if they lost control. The risk was too great, especially with night falling.

So, the couple decided to call in ninjas from Konoha to clear the trees instead. It wasn't the solution Kizashi had hoped for, but it was the safest option for his family.

There was no need to return to Konoha to request help, as most villagers traveling far from home brought pigeons with them to send distress signals. Once notified, Konoha's ninjas would come to the rescue.

While the trees didn't pose a serious danger, it was still a problem beyond what ordinary people could solve, so it would make for a good D-rank mission for the village ninjas.

After releasing the pigeon, it was already dusk. He drove the carriage back a short distance, just in case, then set up a campfire beside it. After lighting the fire and heating some food, he climbed into the carriage.

Inside, Sakura sat curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, her head buried deeply, clutching a cloth doll in her hands. The sight of his daughter so upset made his heart ache.

"Are you still mad at your mom? Don't be upset. She may be tough, but she loves you very much."

Sakura remained silent.

"Then, are you mad at me?"

Still, no response.

With no success in comforting her, Kizashi gently patted her, "I've notified the Konoha ninjas. They'll probably arrive by morning to clear the trees."

"When you wake up, you'll see a valley full of flowers. I've left dinner here. Eat it if you get hungry."

Kizashi placed the food next to her before climbing out of the carriage again. I hope tomorrow brings better things, he cast one last look at his daughter.

"How's she doing?" Mebuki asked, but Kizashi just shook his head.

At that moment, they heard a faint rustling sound coming from the nearby bushes. Though it was barely audible, Kizashi immediately tensed up, grabbing a burning log from the fire and aiming it at the dark forest edge.

"What's wrong?"

"Shh."

Though Mebuki hadn't noticed anything, he was certain there was something moving in the bushes. As the torchlight inched closer to the trees, a shadow suddenly darted out from the underbrush.

The shadow paused briefly on the grass beside the road, allowing the couple to finally see what it was.

Oh, it was just an adorable little chipmunk. The tiny creature sat up on its hind legs, whiskers quivering as it regarded the humans curiously.

The Kizashis relaxed, watching as the chipmunk disappeared back into the forest.

He tossed the log back into the fire. "Let's eat."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, the chipmunk ran deeper into the forest, occasionally pausing to dig up seeds hidden under the soil.

Suddenly, a shadow sprang from the bushes, snatching the agile chipmunk in an instant. Moments later, something was thrown out of the same bushes. 

Oh, it was just the cute little chipmunk's tail.