Disclaimer: I'm not a man, so I think it's pretty clear that I don't own Naruto or any of the characters (well, except for that one guy...). All props go to Masashi Kishimoto. :)
Summary: Life has just one certainty: that it goes on. No matter what happens or how hard things get, life goes on-but when a strange new disease sweeps the world, even that truth will be tested. Can those who survive continue on? [In a considerably-less-dramatic-nutshell, this is the Zombie Apocalypse in the Naru-verse. :p]
AN: Hey everybody! Alright, this is the First Chapter so I'm going to keep this short and let y'all get to the story (which I hope you enjoy). Before I do though, I just wanted to publicly thank my wonderful Beta: CrazyInsomaniac ! You've been such a great help to me!
So, without further ado...
Zombiegakure
Chapter One – Exposure
Konohagakure – Main Gate
"Kami, I hate gate-duty." Hagane Kotestsu groaned and leaned back in his chair. "It's so boring." As if to prove his point, he yawned widely.
"Oh, come on, it's not all bad." His partner, cheerful as always, replied with a grin. "Just think, you get to spend all day with me!" Kotetsu rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.
"Just wake me when something actually happens, 'kay Izumo?" he propped his feet on the table, folded his hands over his stomach, and closed his eyes—the picture of comfort. Kamizuki Izumo chuckled softly and turned back to watching the gate.
"Sure thing." He mumbled, not in the least surprised by his partner's actions. Almost every time they had guard duty—which was frequently, ever since they lost the third member of their team—Kotetsu slept and left the 'boring' stuff to Izumo. It didn't really bother him, but sometimes he wondered how Kotetsu ever made Chunin in the first place; he had nearly as little motivation as the Nara boy did.
Unfortunately, it looked like Kotetsu's nap was to be short-lived today. Izumo narrowed his eyes slightly and cocked his head to the side as he looked down the road into Konoha.
What was this? He glanced quickly over the roster; there were an unusually small number of teams outside the village right now, and none of them were supposed to return for at least another few days. He shook off the slight tension that crept into his stomach, telling himself that it was probably just a messenger or visitor and that he wouldn't even need to wake Kotetsu. Instead, he continued to watch as the dark shadow made its way to the village.
He sighed heavily—whoever they were, they were taking forever. He glanced to the top of the wall where other guards were on watch and whistled once. One looked down to him and made a quick hand gesture.
Two people. He didn't know anything else yet.
Izumo frowned slightly at that. Two people? That was one too many for a simple messenger, but too few for just about any other mission. So were they civilian then? Yes, that was it. They were probably just civilians…
Again, he shook off a strange sense of unease and stared down the road. They seemed to move at a glacial pace. The closer they got, however, the stranger they seemed. He realized with a start that one of them was leaning heavily on the other, and that seemed to be a large part of why they were moving so slowly. Was one of them hurt? A movement from the wall caught his eye.
Shinobi. Unknown allegiance.
Shinobi? But there were only two of them… Izumo's eyes widened as his mind made a rapid series of connections: two shinobi, at least one injured, meant they were likely only part of a larger team. The most viable explanation was that they must have been attacked. These were just the survivors…?
Konohagakure.
Izumo cursed.
"Kotetsu-kun." He smacked his partner's stomach with the clipboard in his hand, his attention still on the road. "Kotetsu-kun, wake up!"
Konohagakure – Hokage Tower
"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" A distinctly feminine voice shouted through the door, accompanied by a pounding noise. With a nod from the Hokage, the ANBU nearest the door pulled it open. A harried-looking kunoichi with red hair rushed into the room, barely bowing to the Hokage before placing something on the desk in front of her.
"What's this?" Tsunade asked tersely, her voice and expression already distressed.
"A letter from Amegakure, ma'am. It's urgent." The red-haired woman seemed unusually upset, maintaining none of the calm attitude shinobi strived for.
"I presume you know its contents?" She nodded a little guiltily. "And?"
"It's the same as the others. They're closing off the village, no one in or out. They don't have any new information about the problem." Tsunade scowled at her words. This kunoichi wasn't from the code-breaking unit, she was from the hawk tower. The letter had never even been encoded.
"That's the third village today," Shizune said worriedly, glancing out the window and noting how early it still was. "And the fifth village total." Tsunade twined her fingers in front of her chin, still scowling as she thought.
"Thank you, Chiyoko." The kunoichi, clearly dismissed, bowed and backed out of the room. This was getting serious. Tsunade watched as Shizune put another red pin on the board, over Amegakure. She read the names by the four other pins: Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Shimogakure, and Takigakure.
It was getting uncomfortably close to her village. The others in the room—Shizune, and two ANBU members—were watching her anxiously. She had to make a decision, and quickly. Something had to be done, before whatever this was reached Konohagakure.
"Send for Nara Shikamaru. And for the time being, heighten border security. Assign a medic-nin at every gate."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." And then they were gone.
Konohagakure Main Gate
The tension was building in the air as they waited on the shinobi on the road to finally reach the gate. They had already sent for a medical team. Even Kotetsu, who had responded none too kindly to Izumo's awakening, was now leaned forward in his seat, watching the road. He was continually surveying the path as a whole, making sure the two in plain sight were not simply a diversion to allow someone else to sneak inside the village.
Izumo was standing in front of the little hut, his hand on the counter. His eyes were glued to the pair, who were making slow progress. The closer they came, the younger Kotetsu realized they were.
These had to be Genin, which significantly narrowed the list of teams they could be from. Only three teams containing Genin were outside the village at that moment, according to the roster: Team Makoto, Team Ebisu, and Team Yoshi. Two were just rookie teams, but all three of the Jonin team leaders were of Special-Jonin Rank.
What could possibly have happened that only these two would make it back?
A short, soft whistle sounded, drawing Kotetsu's attention to the shinobi on the wall. They had identified the two Genin.
Moegi.
Sarutobi Konohamaru.
Kumogakure – Raikage Tower
Days since Outbreak: 1
"It's panic in the streets, sir." The Jonin's voice was breathless and rough with emotion. "People are… are…" As if to explain what he could not vocalize, a shrill scream sounded from the street below the window.
"I see." And he did. The Raikage understood exactly what was going on in the village. Things were going precisely as they had predicted they would. Exactly like he had feared. "How many have we lost?"
"It's impossible to say, sir." The Raikage, who had long been the supporting pillar of Kumogakure, felt himself begin to crack at those words. How could things have gotten so bad so quickly? It had only been a day since the first case… As he sighed, he looked even older than he really was.
"And what do you know of the status of the village? What could you see coming here?" The Jonin had to stop and take a ragged, deep breath before he could speak; it was that bad out there.
"The East Quarter is completely lost." The Raikage nodded; he'd heard as much from the few other reports. "And the North Quarter is almost gone—literally, someone must have used Paper Bombs. I can't say anything about the South or West Quarters, but if the Tower Center is anything to judge by…" he trailed off, allowing the sounds of the panic outside to fill the room.
"The North Quarter?" The Raikage asked, worry tingeing his voice.
"Hai." He said it as though he were admitting a grave sin.
"And the Wall? The Gate?"
"The Gate itself is still secure. The Wall…" he paused and took another deep breath. "The Wall has sustained significant damage. It's been blown through in multiple areas."
The Raikage cursed, startling the Jonin. The crack in Kumogakure's pillar deepened. He had to do something… It was time for Plan B.
"Send the hawk. I want all the Shinobi in the village in this tower, as soon as possible. They have one hour." The Jonin's eyes widened, the dried blood on his forehead cracking and flaking to the floor.
"H-hai, Raikage-sama."
Konohagakure Main Gate
The medic-nin arrived just as the pair was reaching the gate. Two of the guards from the wall had already left their positions to help the Honorable Grandson and his teammate. Of the two, he looked to be the worse off.
"What the hell took you so long?" Kotetsu demanded, now standing in front of the hut with his partner. "They're over there!" he pointed to the gate, and all but one of the medic-nin rushed to them.
"Where are the gate guards?" The one who lingered asked, his tone official.
"Right here." Kotetsu answered harshly, pulling Izumo's arm and turning him to face the medic-nin.
"Wha—Kotetsu! What are you—?" He caught himself and cut off his own angry remark when he saw the other medic. "What do you want? They need your help!"
"I'm not here with that team." He explained quickly. "Hokage-sama sent me herself, to stay at the gate. Security is being heightened around the village; I'm to inspect anyone who tries to come through this gate. If they're not in perfect health, they don't get in."
The gate guards shared a confused glance. "What?" they demanded in unison.
"What do you mean they 'don't get in'?" Kotetsu's voice was angry now.
"Anyone I don't clear is to be immediately quarantined outside the gate. Hokage's orders. I'm sorry, I don't know anything else." He brushed past them then, moving toward the two who had just crossed under the gate. There was already a flurry of activity from the medics, and they could hear Moegi's distraught voice.
"Just what the hell is going on, anyway?" Izumo asked through gritted teeth, also angry.
"I don't know, Izumo-kun. But as soon as we're done here, I'm damn well going to find out."
Konohagakure – Hokage Tower
"As ordered, the highest-ranking medic-nin in the village—after yourself and Haruno-san—are now in position at the gates to the village." The Jonin knelt in front of Tsunade's desk, his hand on the floor and head bowed respectfully. She was visibly relieved, sighing deeply and allowing her shoulders to slump slightly.
"No problems, I take it?" She asked.
"None so far ma'am, although the Main Gate has yet to check in. We expect a report soon."
"Good. I'd like to see it as soon as it comes in."
"Of course, Hokage-sama."
"Dismissed." There was a brief flicker, and he was gone. From behind her chair, Tsunade heard Shizune sigh loudly in relief.
"We're safe." She commented, an unmistakably happy tone to her voice.
"For now." Shikamaru replied, his voice betraying his lingering fears. His sentiments were met with silence, and a disapproving glare from Shizune. "I still think we should close off the village, Hokage-sama. If our information is correct, whatever this is, is getting closer to the village." His eyes flicked quickly to the map, where a new pin had been added: Kusogakure. "Once it gets in, we may not be able to contain it. We should close the gates before it has a chance to get in at all."
But even as he was speaking, it was obvious that he didn't really agree with everything he was saying. Of course, his plan was the logical one, and the one with the greatest potential to save the highest number of lives, but it carried its own dangers.
Unfortunately, no matter what plan they chose there was still one big problem: the teams outside the village. How many had already been exposed to this… this… whatever it was? If they allowed them back in the gates, they would be endangering the whole village. But what if they hadn't been exposed and they shut the gates?
If they didn't make it back to the village before the gates were shut—because deep down, he knew it was only a matter of time—what would they do? What could they do?
"I understand, Shikamaru." Tsunade replied, her voice steady but weary. It was clear she was thinking along the same lines. "I've taken your concerns into consideration, trust me, but until we have further information I'm not going to abandon our men in the field." Shizune looked upset, as though she couldn't decide which side of the issue she was on.
"Hokage-sama!" The Jonin from earlier ran into the room, stopping any reply from Shikamaru or Shizune. He looked both confused and shocked, and was completely breathless. "Hokage-sama… urgent news!"
"What is it?" She snapped, fear laced beneath the hard voice.
"The report.… We have a… situation…" he stopped, looking uncharacteristically upset for one of the village's top security advisors. No one in the room liked where this was going.
"Where, Kamizuki-san?" She demanded loudly.
"At the Main Gate, ma'am."
AN: So, what did you think? Personally, I'm having a BLAST writing it... It's my first multi-chapter and my first (published) Naruto fanfic. How did I do? In other words: reviews would be lovely! After all, if I don't get any criticism how can I improve?
Coming Soon: Chapter Two - Beginning
See ya there! ;)