Aah, I've revised the chapter at last! uvu Sorry for taking so long with this, ahaaa. Inspiration vanished almost instantaneously. D; How sad. I appreciate all the reviews and follows so far and I'm really hoping I can keep up with this! ;cc; I do have a few things planned out for this story. x) I probably still won't be very fast with this as my writing inspiration doesn't come so commonly with me, but I'll maybe possibly try at least a chapter a month from here on, LOLOL. /sobs forever. (Imakenopromises.)

Naruto (c) M. Kishimoto

Series Warning: Rated M for strong language, various implications, multitude of violence, possible sexual conduct, etc...

"Everywhere's a graveyard these days... No rest for the living. No rest for the dead." A zombie apocalypse hit the world hard, spreading faster than a flame on oil it seemed. Bodies laid everywhere - walked everywhere. Was there any chance of survival? Uchiha Sasuke & his group suffer through hardships, deaths and revelations in search of hope, a cure, and life. Can they find them?"

"Shit, shit! I'm out of bullets!"

"The hell you mean, you're out of bullets!?"

"I'm out of fucking - !" Uzumaki Naruto yelped and ducked down a millisecond too late - at least for his hair, a bullet whizzing over his head, barely grazing by. As a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek, his crystal orbs watched as the glimmering strands scattered softly on the pavement. He scowled. It was personal now. "Motherfucker!" Despite the fact the gunman, whom was so crudely spitting bullets like a mad man, hadn't seized fire, Naruto erupted to his feet and mustered his full force into hurling his gun across the way, utterly ignoring the shouts and orders for him to get down.

To alls amazement including Naruto's, the piece slammed square in the face of the enemy, the barrel of the gun reeming into his forehead hard, causing him to stumble back a step, focus momentarily lost. Without a beat missed, a bullet drove straight into the man's temple. The body stilled, the sound of Naruto's gun bouncing off the pavement below heard as the upright body hung for a middle of a second before it dropped into a bleeding, ungraceful heap, the weapon the man was holding clattering heavily to the ground beside it.

Cold ebony eyes narrowed as the AWM sniper rifle was lowered. The firing pin was pulled back as Naruto looked over his shoulder towards the raven-haired shooter.

The blond snorted. "I could've got him!" Doubting he'd receive a reply and not bothering to wait for the possibility, he turned back around and headed for the body. His chest rose and fell rather quickly from the heat of his adrenaline and he swallowed dryly, bringing the back of his wrist across his forehead as he glared bitterly at the corpse below. He nudged him a bit with his boot, if not for the sole purpose in making sure he was really dead. Couldn't trust a damn thing these days. He spat on the ground nearby, nose crinkling in irritation. He lifted his attention to scout about the battle field, eyes narrowed as he took in details.

Their healthy group of four had fallen under aim of a larger group of selfish bandits, the lowsome bastards. Eight of them versus half. Hardly fair. Well, if Naruto were to really think about it, both he and their captain of sorts could count for two people themselves, but either way, that still added up to be less. Not that Naruto thought they were looking for a fair fight to begin with. In the end, Naruto found it hard to blame them doing such a thing in these times, however, being sympathetic wouldn't get him anywhere. He frowned, watching as another of his group shoved a body over the harbor just off the street, the woman having given a soft grunt as her foot shoved him afar. He sighed quietly before returning his eyes to the body at his feet. He knelt down, placing an elbow on his knee before grabbing up his gun with a miffed expression. "Piece a crap..."

"Ain't a piece of crap just cuz it's empty - don't you throw that out."

Naruto flicked his orbs to the brunet that spoke to him. "Why? I doubt we're gonna find any ammo for this gun in the future. We haven't found a damn gun that's been the same yet. Doubt those odds are gonna change. It's just extra luggage for us at this point," he reasoned, looking back to the piece.

"I guess you have a point there..." Inuzuka Kiba mumbled reluctantly, also looking to the gun. "What about his gun?" He nodded towards the late bandit.

Naruto turned and whipped the gun into the harbor, it disappearing with a resounding plunk. He bent over and lazily snatched up the other gun, making a face of disgust as he shook off some droplets of red. He opened up the magazine and gave a gutteral snort. "One fuckin' bullet. What shit."

"A bullet more than you have now," Kiba stated with a shrug.

"Annoying... You search the guy you shot?"

"Yeah. Actually," a crooked grin came onto the brunet's face as he rose his hand to gesture in the direction he'd come, "He had some - "

"Ow!" Naruto suddenly yelped aloud, hands reeling to his assaulted cranium after he was clocked upside the head with the butt of a pistol. "The bloody hell was that - ?!"

"Don't you even dare fucking ask me, you son of a bitch!" Yamanaka Ino snarled viciously, causing Naruto to shrink back in a start. It caused Kiba to shift uncomfortably, too. Yelling women were once something familiar in his life, but that didn't mean he ever enjoyed the volume. And the shouting was usually followed by violence. Always violence. Though apparently with Ino, the violence came first. "The fuck was that, Uzumaki?! Are you crazy?! You could've been fucking shot! You're lucky that fuckface had terrible aim and you're lucky you hit you're fucking target! Think with your head, moron!"

"I was!" Naruto angrily defended, hands dropping from his welting wound to coil into angry fists. He stiffly cut his hand through the air as he returned Ino's glare full force, "I was out of fucking bullets and nobody else seemed to be able to get a good goddamn shot in! You guys can't even aim with fucking bullets and I can aim with a whole goddamn gun - who's the one who needs to be lectured here?! How 'bout you step the fuck up, Yamanaka, and back the fuck off?! You're not the leader of this group so quit acting like your panties run the goddamn crew!" Even if he couldn't believe his aim had been spot on himself, no need for her to know that.

Ino reared her head, her eyes welling with pure fury. "Excuse me, you little pint-sized dickshit?!"

"Enough," came a cool and annoyed tone as a pair of black boots skulked up to the electrified two. A cigarette was poised between two pale lips, a hand dressed in a leather fingerless glove raised to flick a lighter once, twice before it burned a good cherry into the paper roll of toxins. He shoved away the lighter and drew in a deep, cycling hit. "We don't need this shit right now," he began after a moment, having momentarily plucked the cigarette from his mouth as he spoke, smoke seeping from his lips as they moved. "Save it or pitch it, I don't care, but not now," was the cemented order, charcoal pools giving a single hard glance to the both of them before he turned his head, gazing over the lot of the gunman that had ambushed them. "... It's not safe here. The sound of the shots might as well have been a dinner bell for them, even clear across town. We need to move. Now. Loot what you can and regroup at the bus." Uchiha Sasuke turned with that, replacing the cancer stick to its rightful place. He had but two left, and he used them sparingly - unlike Ino and Naruto did with their bullets. No matter the piece, Sasuke was diligent in each bullet not being a waste - he wasn't the frontman for a reason.

The group resided in an old traveler bus - it looked like a piece of groaning trash, but it did what it needed to and kept them safe so far. It acted as their base, their safe house, and their protection. To them, it was the best thing to call home. As they were driving by the harbor, a seemingly injured man stumbled his way in their path, begging for help for his injured daughter. Before Sasuke could give the order to ignore and floor it instead, bullets were peppring the windows of their shelter. They had no choice but to quickly descend off the bus to have at the opposition. Other broken down cars and debris all around acted as their barricades easy enough, and it helped the bandits were laughable shooters. Sasuke, however, had remained on the bus, allowing the ambushers themselves to decide their crew consisted of only three people. Within their base, it was easy to pick off the more difficult thieves with his sniper rifle; every time he fired, a body dropped. He killed four of the men, Naruto killing two, Kiba one and Ino one. The last one, however... If it hadn't been for Naruto's random and moronic act, he would've wasted perhaps a single bullet in trying to shoot the fucker since he'd been rather like an ugly rat, dodging and diving behind all possible barricades - but Sasuke wasn't about to praise the idiot. As Ino said, Naruto was lucky. But the blond always seemed to be lucky. Even before hell claimed the Earth's surface. But luck didn't last forever.

Sasuke moved the cigarette from his lips and gave a quiet sigh, smoke spilling about as he stopped in his path and turned his focus elsewhere, making an idle mental note to scold Naruto later about the haphazardous and breakneck incident; having a spitfire like that around was dangerous for everyone, but Sasuke was also overall concerned for Naruto's lack of self-safety. Idiot... he thought quietly, feet taking him in a different direction as he replaced the tube of cancer to his lips, his rifle hanging readily from his shoulder by its strap, pointed down for now while his hand remained over the handle, finger ghosting over the trigger. He needed to reload it when they returned on the bus. Walking around with a single bullet didn't offer much comfort. Setting Naruto's moronic tendencies aside, they had other priorities right now.

He stopped just behind a head of bobbing chocolate hair, lifting his chin a slight in tilt of his head. "Inuzuka...?" he spoke inquisitively, faintly raising a brow.

"I was telling Uzumaki earlier that I got a handheld transceiver off that guy over there earlier. This guy has one, too. We should check the others in case they have any. It'd be nice for us all to communicate if we aren't in form." Kiba looked over his shoulder, body turning just a slight with the motion. "Oi, Yamanaka! See if that fuck's got a walkie-talkie on him, too! I've already found two and - "

"Kiss my ass!"

Kiba's brow twitched. "Such a fuckin' peach, she is." He faced forward again, turning over the device in his hand, taking off the back and smirking. "Batteries... Has batteries." He wiggle the thing in his hand some as he showed Sasuke with his pleased expression. It almost faltered at Sasuke's return of a blank mask for a face. Could nothing make this guy's mug budge at all anymore? The most this guy seemed to muster was a smidge of slipped agitation, mainly at their group clown.

"We don't know how much juice they have in them... We'll eventually need more batteries for them. We've already got dead flashlights. We can't have too many items that require the same materials," he stated, looking over the contraption. HTs could be convenient, but the unofficial leader wasn't too keen on having the group split at any given time, no matter the reason; he wasn't fond of the idea of ever giving these devices a legitimate purpose.

Kiba frowned, dropping his eyes as well. "Yeah... Those guys were probably shootin' us up for supplies, hopin' we had somethin' good... Tch. Assholes. Promise me we'll never resort to that kind of shit." The brunet stood, shaking his head some. "There's gotta be some sort of good guys remaining in this world."

"Go right ahead and be one then," Sasuke said dispondantly.

Kiba handed him a look. "You sound so passionate. You don't give a fuck about much, do you?"

"Just what I need to," Sasuke admitted.

A corner of Kiba's lips tugged back. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that sort of answer. Sasuke wasn't a bad guy, but he certainly wasn't a hero either. Anti-hero...? He thought with a perked brow. Whatever... He just let it go and returned his focus to the situation at hand. "... That whole sh'bang was a large waste of ammo for us. And in general." He licked over his teeth some as he took it all in.

"Yeah... I got one bullet left in my magazine and only one cartridge left on the bus for this gun," Sasuke stated, sounding none too pleased at this fact. (1)

"If we don't find stock soon, we'll be left with melee weapons. You and Naruto are good at close combat, and I don't think I'm too shit, but Ino..." He flicked a look to the other that wrote everything he shouldn't say.

Sasuke easily understood the message before his own eyes fell shut, lungs raking in more toxins as he remained silent.

"We could try to track down where the rest of these guys' group members are?" Kiba offered as the next plan of action, looking for a direction from the other.

Sasuke met his gaze. "I thought you wanted to be the good guy?"

"I didn't say I'd agree with it."

"Then don't suggest it," Sasuke remarked, turning with that said and heading back towards the bus. "Bring the HTs. Just in case," he ordered the other over his shoulder. "We'll have to find more supplies here soon regardless."

Kiba watched his back before giving out a huff. He says such things... No, he's not a bad guy. Just a stubborn fuck. "Tsundere, I bet..." he muttered, watching the others retreating back.

Sasuke felt conflicted. His face remained impassive but he inwardly frowned. He hated supply searching. It was the most dangerous thing to do, but also the most necessary. As he went, he peered to his left, watching as Ino took a blade to another gunman's head before sufficiently kicking him in the side angrily and cursing at him. He'd already been shot in the head - the woman must've been relieving further anger or frustrating. Wasn't uncommon with her. Sasuke turned away from her direction to give a brief scan over the grounds. Naruto wasn't in sight. That was always a worrisome thing. "... Tch. Yamanaka," he called, approaching her some, "Where's Naruto?"

She replied with a snort. "Who gives a squated shit," she hissed, face contorting to show the pure love she had for the other said member of their team.

Sasuke felt agitated at the tension the two somehow developed toward one another. It was overall detrimental to the group, but more than anything - it was just fucking annoying. If the team could be a bit less contentious, it would make things just that much easier. He turned, heading for their rather beat-up-looking traveler bus. Luckily, it hadn't sustained that much damage. Most of the windows were officially shot out, which particularly sucked, and there were some holes on her exterior, but nothing above what she could handle. In these times anymore, the bus probably seemed like a sparkling Porsche to the vulnerable. Or a shining target to enemies. It was a win-lose situation at times. "Naruto!" he called into the beast, leaning forward a tad, a forearm on the door frame. "Oi!"

"What is it?" came a rather curt reply, causing Sasuke to look leftward as Naruto appeared from around the back of the bus, holding a new weapon Sasuke wasn't familiar with his team having. The raven nodded curiously at the thing. "The fuck that was shooting from the vendor stall had it," the blond answered the silent question, turning over the piece speculatively. "Ino didn't check him over so I did. I'm not sure what kinda gun it is, but it's got about half a load left - and it's got a silencer on it." He stopped before Sasuke and held out the weapon, the raven taking it to look over himself. "I think he was relatively their sniper of sorts. Fuckin' sucked." He smirked, "Then again, none of them knew you were in the bus, so he didn't have a chance before you got 'im."

Sasuke's eyes briefly flicked up to meet with Naruto's before dropping back to the gun. "It's a Desert Eagle, fifty cal... Good gun in shit hands... Figures." He held it out for the blond to take, which he did, before his fingers removed the cancer stick from his lips. "Keep that gun for yourself. Store the other one on the bus with the others."

"You want the silencer?"

"I already have one. Keep that. Just don't be retarded with it." He gestured his gun a bit, glancing at it before taking a quick hit of his cigarette, looking at Naruto directly now. "... That was stupid."

Naruto was quiet a moment before he exchanged the guns in his holster, his thick coat rustling with his movements. He removed the last bullet from the one gun and looked it over in his palm, mainly to avoid eye contact. "... I know. I'm sorry. I was just..."

"Getting frustrated in that sort of situation isn't acceptable," Sasuke stated flatly. He shared no sympathy with Naruto's lack of emotional control. It was always a problem of the other's, even before. Sasuke plenty tolerated it, but the blond pushed limits at times, like now. "You're not a one-man squad, Naruto. When you do that, it jeapardizeseveryone."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I know."

"If you know, then work on it."

"I - " Naruto began, piercing a glare at the other before his teeth grit and gaze fell away, his spark dimming as quickly as it had come. "... Yes, sir."

An edge took place in Sasuke's eyes that Naruto failed to see. The raven merely turned himself, looking towards Yamanaka. He wanted to scold her as well for her childish conduct towards her comrade but that notion dispersed instantly due to what caught his attention in his peripheral. He frowned and cursed as he squinted irritably, "Shit." He bit down on his cigarette, cutting his arm through the air. "Time's up! Load up now!" he barked, eyes staring into the distance at the movement he saw. His finger anxiously hovered over the trigger of his rifle.

Naruto peered off in the direction the raven was boring a hole into. He gave a gruff snort before tossing himself quickly onto the bus.

Ino stood and looked to Sasuke before following his line of sight. She cursed as well, moving with haste. "Already? I thought we'd have a little more time!" She jogged over and lifted herself into the bus with a sort of bouncing grace and into a seat, staring hard through the broken windshield, her gun ready for anything. Her nerves hadn't settled from their previous bout in the least. Her finger was itchy on the trigger.

Kiba was the next to go on with Sasuke quickly following behind, closing the door after his entrance. The brunet dumped his loot into a duffel bag under a seat before throwing himself into the drivers seat, revving the rustic engine to life. The bus roared obnoxiously at first and only for a few seconds before it quieted down to a grated purr. "Yamanaka, did that guy have a walkie-talkie?" He glanced at her in the mirror, watching her nod.

"Yeah, I put it in the bag already."

"Good. That makes three," the brunet murmured, focusing ahead for a second, eyes burning the fuckers he saw in the distance as he began reversing the bus. "Those straggling bags of rotting flesh are faster than one would fuckin' think," he commented bitterly, "At least some of the fuckers are." He shifted gears and turned the bus with a practiced ease, pulling away gingerly before making their way.

Ino watched as the scenery began to promptly fade behind them. "... Why do they come in herds...?" she questioned softly, brows knit down. "Pack seems hella more fitting, if you ask me..." she grumbled. "Things are worse than the wildest beasts children could ever have nightmares about..."

Sasuke watched Ino, the blond taking out a used cloth from one of their supply bags and wiping down her dagger, silently stewing. The raven turned his attention out the back window before looking to Naruto, who was seated on the walkway floor, trifling through the duffel bag Kiba had tossed the HTs into.

"Fighting amongst ourselves is such a damn waste," Kiba griped, shaking his head. "Sometimes, I think a good lot of mankind deserves this kind of petty fate."

"The world doesn't deserve this," Ino commented tightly, "Not a single soul deserves this, Inuzuka."

Kiba glanced in his rear-view mirror before his eyes fell away, silence befalling the brunet.

"These things work, Kiba?" Naruto inquired, holding up one of the devices for the other to see.

"Dunno. They should. They got batteries. Give 'em a shot."

And the blond did so, twisting the knobs to turn two of them on and reaching one out to the left while speaking into the one on his right. A grin cracked on his face when he heard the crackle of his voice echo from one walkie-talkie to the other. "Son of a bitch..."

Kiba couldn't help but catch Naruto's smile. Even Ino gave a small curve of her lips at the news. Sasuke merely huffed with a silent content.

The blond dove back into the bag for the third one, pulling it out and turning it on as well. He did the same thing, but frowned when he heard no echo. He brought the silent device back and looked over it, noticing the screen didn't display the same digits and coding as the previous two. He turned it over and checked the back cartridge. It had batteries. He tried again and frowned even further. "... Guess it doesn't work. Might've gotten damaged in the fight or something."

Kiba's nose twitched. "Great."

"At least we have two," Naruto said, trying to think more positively. "Two is a good amount for our group."

"Three would've been better," Ino griped, causing Naruto to cast her petulant look.

"My guess is the group was part of a larger faction," Kiba commented, trying to drive between the developing tension of the two blonds.

"Probably," Sasuke murmured.

"What d'you wanna do?" the brunet inquired, glancing at the sniper in his mirror.

"For now, you'll turn them off and quit wasting the battery," the raven remarked, handing Naruto a pointed look. The blond made a face but turned off the devices. "We don't need them now. We'll use them to our best advantage if the neccessity arises. We aren't separated often and it's best to keep it that way. If anything, we should hope not to have a need for them," he said, meeting Naruto's gaze.

He gave a stern nod before shuffling the devices back in the sack, zipping it up and shoving it away. He then stood, moving to sit down in the seat just in front of their makeshift commander.

"I found a radio, too," Kiba announced as he took a turn. "But it needs batteries."

"Course it does," Ino said with a bitter snort. "What good would a damn radio do us anyway? I doubt anyone is broadcasting."

"Someone could be. There could be someone trying to reach out to people," Naruto said, looking to his lap. It wasn't an argumentative statement so much as Naruto trying to think that himself. It was a nice thought, but delivered mostly false comfort, he was sure.

Ino snorted. "If that's so, then they've probably been shot and run-over by other lowlives and - "

"Enough."

Ino blinked in a start, eyes flicking to meet Sasuke's piercing gaze. She'd annoyed him with her pessimistic words. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she just looked out her window, falling silent.

"We have a few doubles," Naruto said, referring to batteries, trying his best to ignore Ino's words. He looked to Kiba hopefully but instantly deflated when Kiba shook is head. "Triples?"

"Triples," the brunet confirmed with a strong huff. They didn't have any AAA batteries.

"Fuckin' triples," Naruto grumbled, wrinkling his nose at the side in vexation. He slowly blinked as his mind began cranking some gears, a hand raising to rub at the back of his neck. His hand stilled before he suddenly removed himself from his seat, crawling off the bench and to a different bag, yanking it out from beneath a stall and began thoroughly searching through it before plucking out a rolled up piece of paper. He could feel Ino and Sasuke's eyes on him but he focused on undoing the curled map, spreading it out over the seat he had just been in. His arms were spread out with his palms pressing down the map edges to keep it flat, his mind calculating the routes they've traversed and the routes nearby, as well as other things.

"What is it?" Ino inquired a bit indignantly, earning a brief acuate glance from Sasuke.

"Remember the drug store I pointed on when we passed it?" Naruto spoke, ignoring the tone the other blond spoke with for the moment.

"You mean the one that was crawling with the man-eaters?" Ino said with a curl of her lip and a skeptical face.

"Yeah. I think that place will probably have some batteries. May have a lot of things untouched there since it's so heavily covered with those things."

Ino scowled. "After the damn gun range practice we just had, we don't have the bullets for that sort of mission now, idiot! And a damn drug store sure as hell isn't going to provide us with ammunition!"

Naruto turned a glare to her. "We don't need just bullets to take these guys down!"

"I'm not going into a herd of damn zombies just waving a fucking knife around, you jackass! Four of us versus thirty of them - not my kind of odds!" Ino growled.

"What else do you suggest, Yamanaka?!" Naruto said fiercely. "We need supplies! Medicine, food, batteries, and plenty of other shit that drug store can possibly give us! We're running low on everything!"

"God, I'm willing to do it just for some fuckin' food," Kiba mildly chimed in, not caring to think about how hungry he was.

"We can find stuff like that elsewhere! Where it's safer!" Ino argued.

"And that's exactly what other passer-bys have probably thought, which is probably why that place may still be stocked and other 'safer' areas are picked clean!"

"You're a fucking idiot!" Ino snarled, Naruto growling in anger.

"I am not!"

"Are too, you fuckin' lunatic!"

"He has a point."

"I'm not a fuckin' luna - ! ... Wait, what?"

"What?" Ino echoed, both the blonds looking to Sasuke in unison.

"It makes sense," the raven commented, now standing, eyes on the map Naruto was still holding flat.

"What?" Ino said more incredulously.

Naruto just sort of stared, surprised at the taller male who moved an arm over the back of his bench seat and leaned over to better view the map.

"It's extremely dangerous, but there's logic in it. Yamanaka's way of thought is exactly what people would think - to move on in hopes of something with less risk."

"But Sasuke - we need a fuckin' tank to get through them..." Ino almost pleaded, not liking where this was going in the damn least.

"Which means there's a strong possibility that store hasn't been looted yet," Sasuke continued, ignoring the girl mewls.

"But how in the fuck would we pull that the fuck off?" Kiba remarked from his position. His question was earnest. "I get your logic n' all, but c'mon... Unless we sacrifice ole Birtha here," he patted a hand on the bus' steering wheel, "And just ram all the damn fuckers with the horn blaring to distract the whole damn neighborhood lot of them, there's not a lot we can do with the few bit of manpower we got, Cap'n."

"We can't sacrifice the bus," Ino said in an almost panic, eyes widening as she flicked her gaze to Sasuke. She almost felt herself begin to tremble. "This - This is our base. This is our haven - our place of safety! We can't use the bus! Sasuke - !"

"We're not using the bus," Sasuke cut her off coldly, giving her a settling look.

"But there may be other vehicles around that we can set off the horn or alarm to," Naruto said, looking at Kiba with a smirk before looking up to Sasuke. "That'll draw them away easy enough."

The raven nodded. "We need to hide the bus though when we get in the area. Most of the streets were narrow there before and traveling will just attract them again..."

"That was fun..." Naruto murmured blandly, recalling the soulless followers they'd obtained on their first come-through.

Ino was now rubbing nervously over her arm, eyes staring a hole into the floor of the bus. She was scared, Sasuke could plainly see it. He wasn't sure if he felt annoyed or sympathetic to the woman. Probably annoyed.

He said nothing to her either way and just removed his gaze from her, focusing back on the map. "I want one person remaining somewhere safely outside - "

"Safely outside - you're using that loosely, right?" Kiba remarked.

Sasuke ignored him. "Just in case anything goes wrong, they can be used as a sort of back-up. The rest of us will go inside for the supplies."

"Who's stayin' out?" Naruto asked, looking to the face of their unofficial leader.

No one had actually elected Sasuke as the head of the group - Sasuke himself surely didn't. But naturally, everyone automatically fell into line that way, since Sasuke had the best skills and most experience out of all of them, having combat dexterity and undisclosed military training of sorts, and he was the best at keeping a level head. That was a treasured thing in these times, along with his other laundry list of assets. He was their deadliest weapon and their most valuable piece. Normally, it'd feel like a lot of pressure, and Sasuke felt that pressure every once in a while, but ignoring it helped; shoving it away and focusing on other things was what really aided him in not falling apart like others he had seen far too many times now. The strain and struggle of life was real, and Sasuke didn't have just his own to worry about any longer. Though they were stronger in numbers, it only added further to Sasuke's stress of trying to keep everyone safe when the group grew. It was a double-edged sword for him, but he would tell no one. He'd take that sword and cover it away with a black cloth, not to be seen for a long time.

The raven sighed heavily, rubbing at the back of his neck as he tried to calculate who'd be best to leave outside - they wouldn't be in any less or more danger than the three inside, but they'd be alone and unable to have back-up for themselves. He knew Ino was utterly no good. She had her moments; she was useful, but in a crowd of these things, she froze. She had limits. They'd almost lost her once before by a similar instance. To a blind eye, she'd seem over it by now, but she wasn't. She was affected by everything straight to her core, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, but in the end - she wasn't an Uchiha. She wasn't used to masking her emotions like it was a hobby since she was born. Her fears slipped out and quietly (or sometimes not so quietly) made themselves known. If Sasuke could, he would leave her on the bus, but that was even worse. He didn't care to leave her so far and alone. He needed to keep her in the group. She would go inside with the other two.

Naruto was on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum from Ino - sort of. Instead of exuding fear, he exuded adrenaline and stupidity. He was strong, granted, he had his moments of brilliance (extremely rare), yes. But Sasuke honestly didn't trust the blond to behave himself if left alone. He couldn't leave Naruto outside. What about Kiba? He'd been useful before as a look-out. So it's either me or Kiba... He frowned. He didn't want the group to enter the building without him. They needed leadership on the inside, didn't they? Could they do it without him right there? Would Ino shut down again? Would Naruto go ballistic? Would Kiba be aware enough? His jaw clenched as a dull headache began to pulse at the back of his head. He closed his eyes and rubbed over his face.

"You should stay outside."

Sasuke lowered his hand just enough for this dark eyes to drop down to Naruto, who looked back at him with a seriousness in his gaze. "... And why do you think that?"

"It's the smartest choice. Kiba and I can handle things inside if anything gets hazy," Naruto said, a little quietly as he gave a sideways glance at Ino, who seemed to have gotten lost in her own little world, which probably wasn't a good thing. Whenever that girl crawled into her own mind for too long, things got iffy with her. He looked back to Sasuke. "Besides, you're a sniper. You can hide somewhere across from the pharmacy and scope out anything that might take us by surprise on the outside. Kiba can't do that if you leave him outside."

Sasuke's chin elevated a centimeter.

"We can execute this not that much differently than we did with the bandits - you stay behind and let us go ahead. Kiba's a good look-out, but even so, he doesn't possess your experience or your way with a sniper rifle."

The raven took note of how Naruto didn't even suggest himself to be stationed outside. He was curious as to why the blond wouldn't nominate himself for the job since he was typically bullheaded, but he wouldn't ask. It just made things easier for once. The blond understood, and that's all he needed. Sasuke was debating a moment before looking between Kiba and Naruto. "You two can handle yourselves inside?"'

"All three of us can," Ino meekly pitched in with a raised eyebrow. She didn't like herself having been exclusively let out by the other.

Kiba nodded, glancing at their commander in the mirror. "Yeah. We got two talkies now - we can communicate with those on low volume."

Naruto beamed a grin. "Oh, yeah! Sweet - what luck!"

Sasuke faintly made a face. Wasn't I just saying earlier that it's best to avoid a situation where we're separated...? He sighed heavily again, looking out the side window. ... I don't like this... But what other choice is there...? He had to trust that they could fend for themselves in there. Naruto was right - he was the best piece to position outside of the pharmacy; he could best handle himself alone and knock away any undesired surprises from outside. And with the handheld transceivers they now possessed - hell of a timing in getting them, he thought - it would make this whole operation smoother. Well, as smooth as it could get. A corner of his lips pulled back in dissatisfaction at the whole situation, eyes turning back to glower at the map.

"Alright," he said sternly, causing everyone to look to him. "I'll remain outside then. First, Kiba and Naruto will locate a vehicle to set off while Ino remains with me. After most of the dead have cycled away, Ino, Kiba and Naruto - you guys will infiltrate the pharmacy. Be ready, be alarmed - do not let your guards down - not a single one of you." He looked at them all pointedly. "Do not get distracted. We are there for all supplies we can manage to obtain. Ino - try to reorganize the duffel bags to free some up for you guys to take. I'm not sure how much supplies will be there, but it's best to be prepared just in case. This could be a good haul or not, but I don't want any of you getting your hopes up because we do not need the drama of picking up the pieces if things go south. Understood?" The lot of them nodded, Ino moving from her spot to do just as she was ordered before the raven continued. "You all watch each other's backs. There will be no arguing," he looked between Ino and Naruto, "You will be quiet. You will be quick. You will be efficient. You will be focused and keep only the goal and the safety of you and your comrades in mind. Understood?" They nodded again. "Batteries, food, water, medical supplies, medicine, weapons of any sort or things we can construct into weapons: all are top priorities to grab. Do nothing unnecessary - efforts must not be wasted. Understood?" Another round of nods came before Sasuke let out a small huff. He briefly watched as Ino went through the things in the duffel bag before his eyes flicked to Naruto as he stood, hands moving to roll up the map.

"You look exhausted," Naruto said quietly to him.

"... We're all exhausted," Sasuke responded even quieter, eyes moving to look out his window to the left. He could feel blue crystals driving into him but he just lowered himself into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, his gun laying at his side. He honestly couldn't remember the last time they all had a decent night of rest. He knew it felt long over due, though. ... God... Please, just don't let this go to hell... He wasn't sure if that was a prayer, a plead, or what, but he said it a few more times regardless, his arms tightening.

Naruto observed the raven with a frown. Faded memories danced across the back of his eyes but dispersed as quickly as they'd come. Now wasn't the time to be caught up in such things. He looked to the rolled map, a look of determination setting in his eyes.

His jaw didn't relax; his shoulders didn't relax; his whole body overall just couldn't relax. Sasuke was as rigid as a board and he kept having to stretch out his fingers to save them from freezing so stiffly in position, but he'd immediately replace his hand on his gun and give a weary glance around the perimeter. It'd be a lie if the raven said he wasn't nervous or on edge. It was almost making him jumpy, which just pissed himself off. He needed to calm down. He needed to trust. They'd been separated before, but no one had yet ever been out of sight like this. He drew in a slow breath and softly placed his finger over the trigger once more, one eye falling shut as the other pressed against the scope of his gun, evaluating the area in front of the drug store. As he removed himself from the scope, he cautiously lifted his walkie-talkie, pressing down on the side button. "How is it...?" He hadn't heard too much commotion from inside quite yet but even in the silence didn't settle him any.

A crackle was heard for a moment. "There was three rot-sacks walking around in here but Naruto and Ino took care of 'em," Kiba responded in a low voice. "There's a few others, but they're trapped by obstacles. Looks like one of them was the pharmacist..."

Sasuke dismissed the pharmacist comment instantly and instead felt somewhat eased Ino seemed to be in her right mind. "Copy that," he murmured, eyes sliding over towards the direction the blaring horn was coming from. It was a good mile down the road or so. The dead were making their way to it like flies on shit, or perhaps vultures on a corpse.

Onyx orbs narrowed before one was placed to his scope again. He could slightly make out his teammates' figures beyond the dingy and grimy glass of the pharmacy, but he could only see two, and he wasn't even sure which one was who. A good five minutes passed before Sasuke's worry grew a little too much. "... Have you guys found anything yet?" he inquired after a small bit of hesitation. Using the two-way made him nervous for mutiple reasons, the main one being if he spoke when he shouldn't have and gave away any sort of position, which he dearly hoped he hadn't just done. Perhaps it would've been best for him to remain silent and the others communicate with him instead? Why was that tactic just now coming to him? His judgement felt clouded. His lips pinched in a corner as a frown dawned his face, his eyes falling to the handheld transceiver.

There hadn't been a response.

He stared hard at it, willing for a reply. He brought it towards his mouth again but paused, lowering it a moment, his previous thought cycling back. His eyes peered through his scope as he brought the device up and pressed on the button. "Kiba?" He couldn't see anything in the windows.

More silence followed.

Sasuke's jaw clenched. "Kiba, do you copy?" he spoke urgently, eyes narrowing as if that'd help his visual focus any further. His brow slowly furrowed. There were no longer two silhouettes through the filthy windows of the run down structure. Where did...? "Ki - " he began but was startled when an obnoxious beeping yelped back at him, making him instantly release the button, eyes falling to the contraption. The hell? He stared sharply at the HT before stiffening. In a mere blink, Sasuke's left hand drew his dagger from an inner holster of his coat, his body swiveling around leftward to drive the tip of his blade straight into the forehead of a crawling dead man. Sasuke's eyes stared down coldly as the creature sputtered before going limp, his knife making a sort of shlnk sound as it slid free. Son of a bitch... Quickly, he scanned his area for any further threat and after deeming no further immediate threats, he threw his attention back through his scope. Where did they go...?! He couldn't see any movement at all. Why is their radio off...? "God, damn it, Kiba...!" he hissed, slamming his dagger back in its holster as well as shoving the HT in a pocket before bringing up both his hands to man his weapon.

His eyes shot wide when he suddenly heard the explosion of three rounds sound off.

Author Note(s) -

1) I know next to nothing about guns, so from here on out, I apologize for any mistakes in firearms talk. |"D