A/N - Yeah I know, just work with me. I liked this idea and decided to put it down real quick. Going to be a side project that I'll be working on.

Hope you enjoy it. First shipping romance story that isn't a Ino and Sakura.

So of course, it's going to be a tad different and more adventurous!

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Naruto


What happened to this world, I'm not sure. One moment it was thriving, living… breathing… The next moment it was slowly dying, collapsing in its own fatigue. No one is sure what happened, maybe it just couldn't support us anymore; maybe we leached from the world to its breaking point. All I know is that it isn't what it used to be- it isn't the same.

This dying world lost its order- and with that lose chaos was born. What used to be a place with a sense of community turned into an arena for survival. There were no more rules, no more government to protect us from ourselves. We reverted to our animalistic nature- kill or be killed; steal or be stolen from; Survive or fall into nothingness. There was no community, just a band of the strong and the toss of the weak.

This place I call a home, because there is no other world I can run to, is not for the affectionate or the humane. Only the forlorn could bear surviving in this place- only the forsaken could continue with this life.

X

The moment I saw her, I stopped dead. Every muscle in my body suddenly froze. Her blue eyes stared at mine, wide and scared. How could I have missed her in my check? How could she be here? Where did she come from?

All these questions shot through my mind as I darted her, grabbing her shoulder and whispering frantically, "Are those your people downstairs? Do you live here?"

"No," She stumbled out in a daze, knowing we didn't have time but still in shock as well, "No I don't know them and I just climbed in here in search of food."

"Follow me," I told her as I grabbed her wrist and yanked her to the closet next to us. Pushing her in, I quickly followed. That was until I realized someone was missing.

"Wick?" I called, opening the door and checking around for the dog that had been right behind me, "Wick, come here boy." I called, whistling this very low pitched sound.

"They are coming," the girl whispered from behind me.

Cursing because I knew she was right, I whispered out frantically, "Warwick stay. Quiet."

I hoped he heard me as I shut the door. It was completely dark, no way to see anything. My eyes slowly adjusted as I turned to the girl, her blond hair and amazing blue eyes surprisingly easy to see. I watched as they darted to me, wondering why I was moving. Grabbing her shoulder to steady myself, I leaned in close and mumbled, "We are going to climb up to the roof."

She pulled away, giving me a look that was complete confusion. I put my finger to my lips and pointed to the ceiling. Watching as she found the secret passage, I indicated that I will be going first. It was rough trying to shift and climb with two people in the closet. Earlier when I checked the house, as soon as I scouted this potential get away, I stopped searching for any more ways to leave. It's hard to waste time that you don't have, so saving it to have more time to search for food seemed like a great idea at the time.

Now, as I was climbing up into the small square in the ceiling, I wondered if this could in fact lead to the roof. I didn't speak my fears as I popped my head over the exit, waving the girl to climb up. Instead, I quietly pulled her the rest of the way and silently placed the ceiling board back over the hole.

"Will your dog be fine?" She whispered to me as I maneuvered to walk through the attic.

The thought of anything happening to Warwick caused my heart to beat a painful throb in my chest. I pushed away my fears though, and mumbled, "If he heard my command, he's hiding under the bed or in a closet somewhere. I'll have to come back for him, because he won't move unless I say something, find him, or he is attacked."

The answer eased neither of us, but we didn't say anything more. Instead, we carefully balanced on the wood planks. The fluff on either side made it a bit distracting as we tried not to fall. As we creaked as quietly as we could, I reached a point where we heard people talking.

"I'm telling you, I saw someone in here." A man said gruffly. Grinding his teeth together, he snapped, "They must have gotten away. No way I imagined a shadow in here."

"Doesn't matter," Another man grumbled, obviously pissed he was dragged in the house, "whoever it was, they took the food and left- if there was any that is. Let's just get the hell out of here and finish the search."

"I'm telling you…" The other man mumbled as they creaked and pushed open the door, "someone was in here."

The screen door slammed shut, and after a couple of minutes of silence, the mystery girl and I started to move once again. Eventually, on the other side of the attic, we found an old dusty window. It took both of us to heave it open, and when we did I nicked my hand on something. Blood started to flow as I hissed in pain.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked quietly, looking worriedly at my wound.

"It's fine," I assured, rubbing the blood on my pants, "Just go out the window quickly before they come back."

Without any further discussion, she climbed out the window and shuffled to the side, giving me room to climb out as well. When I was standing outside, a low breeze threatening to tumble me down to the ground, we both moved as quickly as possible to get to more solid ground. Eventually, with a good footing and help, we ended up on the other side of the house where the porch was. Grimancing, I noticed the height of the jump.

"This is going to hurt," I warned, already feeling my bruising muscles, "Just bend your knees and as soon as you land, roll to the side."

"Ok," she replied, standing behind me as I bent down to get as low as I could. It didn't help at all; I was still pretty high up.

Letting out a quick huff for confidence, I held my breath and dropped. My stomach quickly turned weightless, if only for a moment, before I was slamming into the ground. Tilting and pushing my body to slam to the side, I groaned as knees seared with pain.

"Fuck," I mumbled into the dirt, shifting in pain with another small groan.

Soon, I was able to stand up, but there was a small limp to my step. I looked around carefully, making sure there was no one around. After I felt comfortable, I turned my gaze upward and informed, "I think they are gone, but don't jump that fall is too much."

"But," the blond started uneasily, "How will I get down?"

"Go back around," I explained, "All the way back to the window and through the attic. Trust me, it's better than jumping."

She didn't like plan, but she didn't argue either. Instead, she shuffled back around from where we came. As she disappeared, I bent my knees to work them before limping to the front door. As quietly as I could, I creaked it open and shut it slowly. As I walked inside of the house, I bent slightly- a habit of mine. My eyes scanned the area while my ears strained to hear anything out of the ordinary. After several minutes of nothing being heard, I stood up and started to walk about normal, convinced that they men had in fact left.

"Wick," I called quietly, letting out a quick low whistle, "Come. Quiet."

I wanted to make sure he was safe, and quick commands are what he comprehended the most. Usually I would talk to him like regular person, but I didn't want him scratching his claws against the wooden floor just in case someone was still in the house. So, in silence, I waited for him to appear.

After maybe a solid minute, I watched him peak his head around the corner quietly. His all black face with yellow eyes made contact with me instantly. He blinked and then sniffed the air before making his way around the corner. I hadn't given him the command to stop being quiet, so he was still crawling on the floor, his belly rubbing against the ground. As he made his way, I bent to him, my hand automatically going to behind his ears, "Good job Warwick. Now stand."

He obeyed, pawing his way up to sit straight. Still scratching his ear, I mumbled, "You had me worried, next time follow me."

His tongue flopped out as he smiled, which I then gave him one in return. His thick fur ran against my spread fingers as I scratched off some of his shedding. With a clump of hair in my hand, I carefully pulled it off and put it in my other free hand. As soon as my hand was clear though, I felt his tongue lap around my fingers. Glancing at what he was doing, I noticed he was licking my hurt finger in particular. With another soft smile, I allowed him to keep going until he was satisfied. When he finally stopped, he gave his muzzle a long lick before rolling his tongue out again.

"Thanks buddy," I mumbled with another scratch at his ear. Then, I commanded softly, "Stay. Watch."

He went completely still with his mouth closing and his ears perking all the way up. Patting his head, I passed him and slowly climbed the steps. The creaks that were echoing around the house from my footsteps had me wary, but I knew I had to find the girl and bring her down myself so Warwick wouldn't attack her. So, despite my body screaming for me to stand still and wait, I kept going down the hall to the room where the escape closet was.

As I entered, I watched a girl stumble out, her face dirty and shirt ripped. When she spotted me, she gave out a weak smile, "Got caught on a nail."

I didn't reply, because I wasn't quite sure what to say. As she brushed her hands against her clothes, I watched without any words being exchanged. Then, when she was done, she looked up at me and asked, "What's your name?"

"Um," I started with a shift, "My name is Tayuya… you?"

"Ino," She replied, another smile slipping her face. Taking a few steps, she continued, "Were you searching for food too?"

"Yeah," I mumbled with a glance towards the door, "and I place to sleep, but… well no way in hell I'm staying here now. Going to keep moving, there are some woods nearby so…"

I fell quiet. Ino nodded at my silence and admitted, "Yeah, I was looking for some useful stuff, until I found you and saw there were others here as well."

I swallowed, watching as she grabbed her dropped bag that was across the room. As she slung it over her shoulder, I croaked, "Do you travel with anyone?"

"No," She mumbled back, looking down at her chest as she clipped on the backpack straps around her stomach. With a tight tug on some strings, she forced her bag to be all the way pressed against her, "What about you?"

"Uh just my dog," I answered as she blinked at the information. Then, with a little cough, I informed, "He's down stairs, guarding for me. Uh. In order for him not to attack you on your way out, I need to bring you down."

"Oh, ok." She replied, giving her cooperation. With a nod, I turned and lead the way back down stairs. I felt a bit more at ease now that I had Ino following me and hadn't heard any noise from Wick about intruders. So, I walked down the stairs comfortably, but not hard enough to produce too much noise. As I came down and went around the corner, I saw Warwick still in his spot, his ears twitching back and forth as he listened out for anything out of the ordinary. As soon as he heard two footsteps, he turned around and bent his knees with a low growl.

"Whoa there Wick," I murmured soothingly with a smile as I walked towards him, "Down boy. Sit."

I could tell by the way he shifted that he wasn't comfortable with the command. He still sat obediently, all though his front legs jumped up and down a bit when Ino turned the corner. She stopped, her eyes wide as she took in the dog who was now growling again.

"Down." I commanded with a hard tone, one in which he whined and flattened his ears to. Bowing his head slightly he whined again, knowing he was in trouble. Satisfied that he would keep quiet, I turned to Ino and said, "It's alright, he won't bite. Just let him sniff you so he can get comfortable."

She obeyed to the suggestion, but looked very uneasy doing it. Slowly moving towards the dog, she raised her iffy hand with her fingers slightly flexed. The moment she was in reach, Warwick jumped to sniff her. His nose puffed air every few seconds as he sniffed all angles of her hand and then leaned forward to sniff her legs and shoes.

After his whole inspection finally surpassed, her rolled out his tongue and looked up at Ino in expectation. She glanced at me with a raise of her eyebrows, and with a smile I stated, "Usually he gets a 'good job' ruffle for obeying."

She looked amused as she turned her outstretched hand into and cupping scratch as her fingers worked behind his ear and down his neck, "Well aren't you a good boy. All black too? Such a handsome German Shepherd."

His tale wagged at the complements. Front legs jumping up and down, he pressed his head against her hand and licked at his muzzle again.

"Looks like he likes you," I commented, now standing up, "Which means you can't be a threat. Where were you heading?"

"Um," Ino started as she stood up straight as well, "I was just kind of wandering. I don't… I don't really have anywhere to go."

"Oh," I mumbled, glancing outside and watching the raincloud tumbling in. With a wary glance back, I warned, "You know you are going to have to find a place to stay, a storm is coming in."

"I noticed," She mumbled with glance outside as well, "I just don't know the area very well. It's hard finding a cave, let alone a house that isn't molded, burnt down, or invaded."

"Are there more people around here?" I asked, feeling uneasy that there could be more than those two guys we had just encountered.

"It seems there is some sort of village here," She informed with a cross of her arms, "Those guys weren't the only ones walking about in this area, and they aren't the first to talk about 'finishing the search'. I'm guessing they have a small community not too far from here; traveling in a group."

"Fuck," I cursed with a deep frown. Looking at Warwick, I stated, "Then we are getting the hell out of here. They'll probably try to eat Wick for dinner." When silence settled us both, I looked up and asked, "What will you do?"

"Wander." She answered with a shrug and small frown, "Try to find another house that might have food."

"Are you low?" I asked, wondering why she was so determined to stay in the area if she just told me that there were people here.

"Just ran out today," her answer caused me to frown. With an uncomfortable shift, I offered, "You should come with us. I have enough food to feed us both."

Swallowing at the offering, she croaked, "I couldn't. That is your supply."

"I don't mind another traveler for a day or two," I pressed, glancing back out the window, "Honestly, it isn't a big deal. I just don't want you wandering around here with those guys somewhere near. They will kill you the moment they see you."

"How do you know?" She challenged.

I grimaced, "Because everyone now days think the same; Food, water, and survival. They will take the bag on your back and even steal your clothes without a second thought."

It took a moment, but after it the silence she mumbled, "Alright. Let's go."

We didn't need to discuss it any further. Patting Warwick's head, I informed, "Time to go boy, scope outside."

With a jump to his feet, he ran to the door and danced impatiently for it to be opened. When I did, he wiggled out and darted around the house. Ino and I followed with a jog, watching as Warwick looked around outside, twirling in a circle with his ears perked and eyes sharp. With I whistle to him, he sprinted to my side, circling around us and jogging with us as we left the area. There were moments he would stop dead and listen, but it was usually a rabbit that he wanted to chase but I commanded him not to. With a whine, he followed obediently each time.

After maybe ten minutes of us jogging, we stopped and reached another house. Behind it was the bag I left for safe keeping. I ran up to it and slung it around my shoulder. Looking back at Ino with a tired breath, I pointed in the distance and informed, "I left some supplies further down, near some woods. We can stay there for tonight and move further inside in the morning."

She nodded in response and followed as we started to jog again.

I don't know who this girl was, or what had brought her to this part of town, but deep down I was happy I wasn't alone and that she could follow simple orders.


Thereeee we go. One more. Two chapter post thing. I know crazy.