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Necropolis: City of the dead

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SCROLL I- Genesis

(Session#1- Day 64 )

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(Naruto's memory- Summer of 2007)

The sun was setting, a bright explosion of red lights against a background of darkness. I swung my legs over the ledge and ran after Sasuke. The wind whipped against me in a natural resistance, and the smell of the sea… The breezy cool rush of endless water that knew no boundaries. My home.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as I childishly doused him with salt water… but the truth was, we were still children, back then. He kicked watery sand onto my legs and swam away, probably grinning under all that serious looks he gave me.

The waves welcomed both of us.

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(2008/6/1- Outter Necropolis, Day 64 )

The rundown streets reeked of rust; the metal bridge that connected inner Necropolis to the outer had been corroding for ages. Naruto scrunched his face up at the metallic odor, and hugged the thick bag of groceries tighter to his chest with his right arm, his left one dragging loosely an Mp5 that was strapped to the entire length of his arm.

It was already a little over 7, and the streets were already half empty. Only a few shifty looking people were hanging about, and even they were in a hurry.

No one wished to cross the drifters.

Naruto ran down the streets, lest the drifters catch him; the sun was setting in a background of destruction.

He assumed the sundown he was viewing right now was the same as the one Sasuke was watching from his hospital room back in Konoha.

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The room was dimly lit with a low watt bulb, hardly any furniture furnishing the drab vacant room.

It seemed hardly unlikely that there were any inhabitants present, but actually there stood five unruly army cots aligned in one corner of the room and two lone figures perched on the other corner, shaded by the cast shadows.

"When do you think… Naruto and Shikamaru-kun would be back? "

A girl with a cascading soft raven hair and an uncertain look spoke up meekly, her hand wrought around her legs childishly. Her eyes were tinted lavender and took in too much of her dismal surroundings.

The man, or boy, that was sitting next to her spoke up quietly, setting down a revolver he had been cleaning.

"He'd be back by 7 at least. Any time after the sundown, the drifters start roaming. "

"…b…but. Gaara kun. It 'is' 7… look. "

With trembling hands, she held up her cracked wristwatch that was indeed, indicating that it was 7. A little over 7, in all truth.

"Then they'll have to be fast. "

Gaara was intolerably impassive, not a single twitch of his muscle letting him on. He resumed his act of cleaning out his batch of revolvers, completely ignoring the agitated Hinata next to him.

Biting her lip, she spoke up again.

"…aren't you worried? "

Hinata studied Gaara's detached profile, his deadpan eyes.

He should have looked his own age, 19, but his eyes made him look far older than his years. It was a queer color of cerulean, running lighter than Naruto's own set of sapphire eyes.

His thick curling maroon hair that ran the length down to the nape of his neck hid most of his forehead, hiding the tattoo that was engraved deeply on it. The red tattoo was a shocking contrast against the snowy white skin that somehow made his countenance seem vulnerable, but not necessarily weak.

And he wasn't vulnerable, Hinata knew that from experience.

"Why should I be? The less competition, the better. "

The way he said it was more aggravating. Too calm for his own good.

Hinata angrily bristled and trembled, both afraid and overwhelmed by his presence. She had meant to say something cutting back to him, some insult to throw back, but all she succeeded in doing was hold back the tears that were chocking her.

She swiftly turned towards the walls to hide her shame.

"…you don't belong here."

She did not turn, her head defiantly propped up by sheer dogged determination. She was trembling.

"Let me repeat that. You don't belong he…"

"Why are y…?! "

She cut him off in mid-sentence, her voice choked full of tears. He betted her eyes were too.

Gaara waited for her to finish.

"Why are you so… cruel to me? Aren't we… a team? "

She mumbled into the darkness, her back still turned. He answered without grace, a dull curt swift reply.

"We are. "

Her head snapped up an inch.

"T…Then why? "

"I don't trust you. Not yet. "

Hinata literally flinched. Then her shoulders sagged, and she finally turned to look at him. Gaara continued as if she had not moved.

"It was Naruto's idea, his idea of saving a stray kitten I'll bet, to put you in the team. And you're weak. And you haven't told us about your past yet, when everyone else had said it. There's no reason for me to trust you. "

Surprisingly so, she gave him a weak teary smile, martyr-like.

"…t…Thank you for not lying and telling me frankly. It… would have been worse if you told me a lie and said you trusted… me. "

"Stop crying. "

She burst into tears, all thin veneer of composure dropping off her.

"Oi, oi you guys! Why the long faces?! "

Naruto suddenly crashed in, holding two paper bags full to brim with groceries—it's only a mystery how he got hold to that much food. Food is scarce now here in Necropolis.

"Hey, you made her cry. "

Shikamaru entered next, his brow shooting up quizzically. He looked at the bawling Hinata, then looked back at Gaara, as if trying to weigh the situation at hand. His comment set Hinata off even more, and she desperately tried to tone down, in vain, her volume of sobbing.

"You scared her to death, didn'tcha? With the ghostly face and all… shtt. Hinata girl, you shouldn't mind this guy! He only 'looks' scary! "

Naruto chuckled at his own wit as he set down the pack of groceries on the damp floor. Shikamaru set down his own backpack full to brim with stray bullets he's collected during the day. He poured them out now on the floor, satisfied with the amount he's gathered.

"Hey, any for me? I think my Mp5's running low. "

"You shouldn't have blown away the damned building, you idiot. Stop wasting your bullets, Naruto, or I'll stop being nice and start collecting only my share. "

Shikamaru grumbled as he gestured nonchalantly at the pile on the floor.

Naruto grinned and jumped on him, opening his arm wide.

"Stop it!! You're st…you still have your gun strapped… it fucking hurts like hell… Damn you Naruto! That's gonna leave a bruise…"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he slumped on his cot, stripping off his shirt without getting up.

"You guys didn't meet any drifters along the way? "

Gaara commented, eyeing the sudden commotion in the normally hushed room.

"Almost. Close call. But we were both already close to the sanctuary areas anyways, so there was no point in chasing us. "

Shikamaru answered, his eyes closed and already halfway into sleep.

"Hinata….Hinata? Hello? Come on, don't cry! Don't tell me Gaara's really that ugly... oops, joking man, didn't mean it. "

Naruto grinned, alarmingly jovial for someone who's spent over two months inside this hellhole of a city.

Necropolis. City of the dead. It was an appropriate but ironic name.

"I… I'm not crying. "

Hinata defiantly lifted her head, the rims of her eyes red and nose puffy.

She quickly walked over to the pile of groceries and started dividing them, allocating each portion into the different compartments of the rundown fridge they all shared.

"Well good night people, I've been up since four am this mornin', and I ain't aiming to stay awake! "

Naruto, without a speck of embarrassment, stripped off his shirt and pants, and jumped into his cot with a crash loud enough to rouse the Shikamaru who had been already asleep.

"…damn you, dobe, shush it alright. "

"Sorry, sorry. "

The showers were only open in the morning, so none of them had an actual shower before sleeping… which meant the room reeked of the mixed smell of sweat and blood.

Hinata worked furiously, rigidly setting the bread into the breadbox, for she noticed that it was only her and Gaara left again. She worked even faster, the bags of cup-noodle and condiments set in their right places in no time.

She heard the noise of Gaara standing up, probably to get out on the balcony and have his last smoke before he returned to have his sleep. But for some reason, he did not proceed directly to the balcony, but instead, came over to the table where she stood, still organizing the groceries.

Without a word, he set something down on the table, and walked off, his eyes still void of anything but nothing. Whatever it was he put down, it was shining.

Hinata looked down at the table, her expression a bit lost.

The revolver lay, gleaming in all its glory, clean of any speck of dust that might have polluted its surface and insides.

He had cleaned it for her.

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(bloodiedsug's words on NCD-

This one, I had been longing to write for ages.

I'm afraid it's going to be really… really depressing, lmao.

But I wanted to write this so bad .… oh well, if you're looking for cheery things, go look at… wait. I don't really have that much cheerful writing lol. Go look at the earlier parts of deathplay, that would be cheerful enough XD..

Bear with me)