Naruto: Call of Cthulhu

"It had already gotten so late..."

On the streets of the Uchiha compound, Sasuke was jogging towards his home. For some reason, the teacher at the ninja academy kept him late into the evening today.

Why today of all days?

This left Sasuke, who normally had excellent grades and prided himself on being a good kid, feeling very confused.

At least I'm not alone in this. That idiot got held back too.

As he walked along the quiet street, he suddenly sensed a pair of eyes watching him. The gaze was filled with intense malice, and being from a shinobi family with a highly honed sixth sense, he immediately noticed it.

Something was coming from behind him, growing more intense, so clear that he was forced to stop in his tracks and instinctively look back. Under the bright red full moon, the tightly shut shops and the corner of the alley were clearly visible. There wasn't a single living being on the street.

Except for Sasuke himself.

I could've sworn... No, I must be imagining things, he tried to reassure himself.

He could still vaguely sense that the air behind him was unevenly distributed. It seemed to be undergoing some invisible change. This subtle, nearly imperceptible shift was caused by an unknown force. Though he couldn't see it, he could clearly feel this repulsive energy pushing against the surrounding air, creeping forward.

As he stopped walking, it felt like the strange thing was already closer than before.

Panicked, he quickly scanned his surroundings for any place a person might be hiding. Gripped by nervous tension, he tightly clutched the strap of his shoulder bag.

Was someone hiding in the alley?

Or behind the signboard in front of the store?

What is that? It's getting closer!

He could even feel the temperature around him dropping, disturbed by that thing he couldn't see. When humans are overwhelmed by extreme fear, their senses become unusually sharp, perceiving environmental changes they wouldn't normally notice.

This survival mechanism, developed through human evolution, increases the chances of surviving a crisis. As Sasuke's body triggered this mechanism, his already acute perception became even sharper.

In the air, he began to smell the scent of charred blood.

This strange and disturbing odor hadn't been there when he first entered the Uchiha compound, but as his awareness heightened, the bloody stench grew stronger. It was as if a bowl of fresh blood and a charred piece of meat had been placed right under his nose.

This indescribable, nameless feeling filled him with such dread that he could no longer afford to stop.

Home. I need to get home. It'll be safe there. He sprinted toward home.

As he ran, Sasuke moved one arm while the other gripped his shoulder bag. He did this to prevent the paper and pens inside the bag from making too much noise, so he could better listen for any faint sounds behind him.

Desperately, he ran forward, glancing behind him as he turned left. The street was silent, aside from the sound of his own breathing and footsteps. He still couldn't see anyone chasing him.

But he could still feel that something was pursuing him.

It was as though something invisible and terrifying was chasing him. And it was something he couldn't see or touch, and something he was powerless against.

What could it be?

Young Sasuke had no desire to find out. All he wanted now was to get home quickly.

Home would be safe!

A small figure was sprinting down the street.

Even though he had run a considerable distance, he still felt that strange thing hadn't let up; it was still chasing him. It seemed relentless, like it had locked onto him. And during this prolonged chase, he began to faintly hear a sharp, grating clicking sound.

Click, click.

The sound grew clearer and more distinct, and the frequency of the sound matched his own running pace!

It's really chasing me! That thing is behind me!

This realization grew stronger in Sasuke's mind, transforming what had been childhood fantasies of terror into a vivid reality.

He no longer even had the courage to look back. He was terrified that if he glanced back, he'd see that thing reaching out to grab him.

During his frantic escape, he noticed something even stranger.

It wasn't yet time for the lights to go out, so why were all the streetlights and shop lights off?

At first, he thought only the area near the compound entrance was like this, but even after running deep into the Uchiha territory, it was the same. What made things worse was that despite running through the compound for so long, he hadn't seen a single person!

Where is everyone?

Though he didn't know what was following him, he knew he was in danger. As he ran, he kept glancing around the streets, hoping to find someone who could help.

Then, he saw someone lying on the street, appearing to be a drunk who had passed out.

Maybe he can help.

Sasuke rushed over and shook the person.

"Heh, wake up!" The man didn't respond.

Sasuke then felt a chill from the body beneath his fingertips. He quickly turned the man over.

"Wake up…?"

When the body was fully turned around, he could see the man's face clearly. His head was a gruesome sight. One half of his face was frozen in an exaggerated expression of shock. The other half had been burned to a charred black, revealing his teeth beneath the disfigured, hole-ridden flesh. Where the eyes should have been, there were only dark, empty sockets.

"Ah!"

Sasuke fell to the ground, too scared to look at the face any longer. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward home again.

Are we under attack?

The footsteps behind him became even clearer, forcing him to give up checking on the others lying along the street. As he ran, he saw more and more clansmen lying in the shadows on both sides of the street.

Some lay in the middle of the road, and as he stepped over them, he could see their faces—twisted in the same expression as the man with the burned face.

It was hard to imagine what these Uchiha had gone through before their deaths.

What is going on?

Don't look. Just keep running. Don't look at their faces.

The bodies of the dead Uchiha were becoming more and more numerous along the streets, and the footsteps behind Sasuke were growing closer.

What's happening to our clan? Where's Nii-san? Where's father?

Why?

Why is it chasing me?

Stop chasing me!

He gritted his teeth and dashed the last stretch of the road. He then quickly opened the wooden house door, slammed it shut behind him, and jumped up to bolt the lock at the top of the door.

Only after doing all of this did young Sasuke let out a small breath of relief.

Is it gone? Did I make it?

He crouched behind the wooden door, gasping for breath. The extreme tension made even this short run leave him breathless. He glanced back at the door.

In Konoha, people didn't lock their doors or worry about theft, so doors weren't very sturdy. The upper half of this door was just a wooden lattice covered with paper, easy to break through with a single axe swing.

This wouldn't stop anyone who wanted to break in.

After waiting for a moment and hearing no sounds, he went to the door. He then pressed his ear against it to listen more carefully. Outside, it was quiet, as if the strange presence had disappeared.

Was it just my imagination?

Now that he was back in a safe environment, he found himself doubting whether the feeling of being chased had been real or just his imagination.

But one thing he was sure of: the dead Uchiha clan members he had seen were not illusions.

Then, the thought of his family struck him, and he called out.

"Father! Mother!"

He frantically searched each room to see if anyone was still alive. The patriarch's estate was enormous, and without any lights, he searched several rooms in vain. The once lively home now felt like it was occupied by him alone.

Just as he began searching a room near the main hall, a voice came from the neighboring tea room.

"Come in. We're here."

"Don't worry, there are no traps."

Sasuke immediately recognized the voice—it was his father. He walked into the tea room.

He found his parents kneeling on the floor with their backs turned to him. They sat there quietly, as if waiting for someone.

Why are they sitting like that? It's so dark...

"Father! Mother!"

Seeing his parents alive, he couldn't hold back his emotions anymore. He nearly cried out as he rushed into his mother's arms.

"Mother! I was so scared!"

Fugaku and Mikoto were both startled by Sasuke's sudden arrival. "Sasuke? Why are you back so early?" Fugaku asked as he exchanged a surprised look with his wife.

Sasuke pulled away from his mother's embrace, his eyes wet with tears, and looked at his father.

"Early? It's already late at night."

At Sasuke's reminder, Fugaku glanced toward the window and saw a blood-red full moon.

"So, it's already this time..."

Fugaku murmured something vague, leaving Sasuke puzzled by his unusual behavior.

"Sasuke, remember to always look after yourself," Mikoto said suddenly, her hand moving to rub her neck.

"What's going on?"

When Fugaku had called him over earlier, his words seemed like they weren't really meant for him.

What had his father meant by 'no traps'? Sasuke had no idea that his father had been struggling internally for days.

For the past three days, Fugaku had noticed Itachi's strange behavior. Normally busy with work, Itachi had stayed home for three days straight, wandering aimlessly around the village instead of training, which was very unlike him.

Combined with his behavior during the investigation of Shisui's death and the recent return of many long-absent Uchiha clan members, Fugaku had pieced things together.

That afternoon, when he noticed the ninja monitoring the Uchiha compound slowly disappearing, he knew Itachi would take action that night. To keep Sasuke out of harm's way, he had asked the ninja academy to come up with an excuse to keep him late at school.

After the unexpected blackout that night at the Uchiha compound, he had finally shared his thoughts with Mikoto: Itachi planned to help Konoha eliminate the Uchiha clan.

After much discussion, they decided not to resist and to allow themselves to be killed by their son. But Itachi had not yet come, and their younger son had returned instead.

He didn't want Sasuke to witness their deaths.

Fugaku glanced over at Mikoto, sharing a silent moment of understanding.

Her eyes were filled with concern, a tear slipping down her cheek as she returned his gaze. Sasuke's unexpected presence at home had reignited their parental instincts.

Seeing Sasuke alive and well stirred something in Mikoto. Though she had mentally prepared herself for death, the sight of her young son made her cling to life once more.

She feared that if she died, Sasuke would lose his childhood support. She longed to see him grow up, get married, have children of his own.

Fugaku, too, felt his will to die waver, but with Sasuke so close, he said nothing.

If Itachi arrived now, would Sasuke get caught in the crossfire? Would he see Itachi kill them?

At that moment, Sasuke suddenly remembered the horrific scene he had witnessed on the streets. He pulled himself out of his mother's arms and asked, "On my way home, I saw many dead Uchiha clan members. What happened?"

"This…"

Mikoto didn't know how to answer. She looked to Fugaku for help. Fugaku, of course, knew Itachi was responsible, but he couldn't tell Sasuke that.

How do I tell him? How can I protect him from this truth?

Silence filled the room as no one answered Sasuke's question.

Why won't they answer me? What aren't they telling me?

Something's not right. It's too quiet.

"Mother? Mother?"

Sasuke noticed that his mother had been frozen with the same expression for a while, so he called out and gently pushed her knee.

"Are you okay?"

But she didn't respond, her face still locked in a faint look of surprise.

Fugaku, sensing something was wrong, nudged her shoulder.

"Mikoto? Answer me!"

As he pushed her upper body, a thin red line appeared across Mikoto's neck. Tiny beads of blood seeped from the line, turning it into a crimson slash.

How? When? I didn't see anything!

Moments later, Mikoto's head slowly slipped from her neck and fell to the floor. Her head rolled several times before stopping.

Sasuke wanted to say something, but no words came out. It wasn't until Mikoto's lifeless eyes stared directly at him that he finally screamed.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"