Calm Before the Hurricane

Gathering Clouds~Chapter 1

Calm Before the Hurricane

Summary: Naruto is not at all what he seems. He is intelligent and knows what's going on around him, furthermore he possesses a power never before seen in the ninja world. On his quest to become the Hokage he encounters many troubles but faces them like the stubborn blond he is....

Listening to... Twice by Little Dragon, Comatose by Skillet, Riverside by Agnes Obel, Monster by Skillet, Raised by Wolves by Falling in Reverse.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything made by any of the artists I listen to or Naruto...if I would I would be able to keep my sanity...just kidding...?

Chapter 1-Gathering Clouds

I approached the cage, fearful, yet curious. The gigantic bars loomed over me, reaching impossibly to the high ceiling. The bars were at least thrice my width, the interior shadowy and foreboding. I stared inside, something flickered. I slipped through the bars, my malnourished body allowed me to creep in without a sound. Around me the pipes that lined the walls dripped, making puddles on the already damp floor. I looked in front of me and saw nothingness.

A warm blanket of heat emanated from a hidden source in the cage. The dark did not scare me as much as it used to, my dark cupboard, unconsciousness, the haunting forest I wasn't scared of anymore. I reached out in front of me, expecting to hit something only to sweep my arms into the nothingness of the dark room. I kept walking, arms sweeping in front of me trying to find the source of the heat.

The heat, it wasn't stifling, it was warm and comfortable, like the rays of the sun on a fine day. It must have been what a hug felt like, my arms faltered in their sweeping. My thoughts reminding me of what I never had. When all the other children had their parents and friends, he had no one and nothing, all alone. But now was not the time to feel melancholy, now was the time to find out what was hidden within the abyss.

With my recovered determination I resumed my sweeping, I closed my eyes there was no point to keep them open if I couldn't see anything anyway. My ears sensitive to sound pricked up at the sound of a low grumbling, I froze listening to the sound I soon realised that the grumble was a purr. It was an animal of some sort, but what sort of animal would need a giant cage and lives in the dark? I thought to myself. So I did the only thing I could think of.

"Hello? Is anything there?" I asked into the darkness.

Then after a short pause the purring turned into a low growl. The heat that once wrapped like a blanket started to feel suffocating and the atmosphere began to make the hair at the back of my neck stand. All my instincts were telling me to run to safety and not see this monster. Something large shifted in front of me, it sounded like a broom being swept over the ground.

But being the stubborn kid I was I stayed my ground and decided to meet the monster, anyway what was the worst it could do? I asked myself. Then I thought to myself, what was so large and dangerous that it would need a darkened, thick barred cell? But at the back of my mind something told me to stay, an instinct, it was nagging me despite my blatant fear.

I slowly cracked my eyes open. Though it was still dark, a strange orange mist surrounded me, twirling in wisps like smoke from a fire. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light soon seeing shapes. Something stood in the shadows, the light shadowing the large form that towered above me. I looked up, and was met with two blood ruby eyes.

The white’s around its eyes were bloodshot, almost as if it didn’t get enough sleep. It's iris showed power, blood, hate and anger. A murderous aura surrounded me, the orange mist fluttered about touching me, giving me goose bumps. In all actual fact I had already felt this before, but at a much lower intensity. The familiarity made me falter my gaze from the great beast.