Chapter 3: The Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The streets were full of the dead. Whatever caused people to turn into zombies had spread so fast that many had little or no time to respond. Panicked people had tried to escape in vain, judging by the wrecked cars and strewn luggage that lined the streets. The survivors on the bus tried not to look too hard at the writhing shapes inside of them, but Naruto could feel the tension permeating the air. He understood; it was difficult for him to keep focused on the task at hand when he was worried about whether his parents and siblings were safe.

"Holy shit!"

His momentary lapse in concentration had almost run them into a car stalled in front of them and he jammed on the brakes, throwing everyone out of their seats. The seatbelt cut into his shoulder hard enough to leave a mark.

"I thought you knew how to drive!" groaned Kiba, picking himself off the floor.

"We're stuck, 'ttebayo," countered Naruto, waving his hand at the traffic jam going up the side of the cliff. "There's no way we can get through with this; we're gonna have to get out and walk."

"Mendokuse," muttered Shikamaru, rubbing his forehead.

"Lovely," said Kiba. "We're as good as zombie fodder now."

"Shut up, Inuzuka," said Sasuke quietly. "You're gonna scare the others."

"Make me, pretty boy," Kiba growled, poking him in the chest.

"You really shouldn't have done that," said Gaara.

Before Kiba could ask why, Sasuke had him backed up against the window of the bus with his sword digging into the brunet's neck. "Don't fucking touch me, dog breath."

"Calm down dude, I didn't mean anything by it!" Kiba squeaked as Gaara and Naruto separated the two of them. "Are you crazy?!"

"No, I'm tired of your shit!" Sasuke retorted, yanking his arm out of Gaara's grasp. "You've done nothing but whine the entire time! We're all tired and scared, stop acting like you're special!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Naruto yelled. "Both of you, cut it out and take a seat! Sasuke, put the sword away! There will be no murder on the bus! Kiba, Sasuke's right! We're all scared and exhausted but the only one I've heard complaining constantly is you! Cut it the fuck out!"

Sasuke sheathed his sword and sank into his seat, his features more worn than they had been when he stood up. Kiba moved to the back and crossed his arms. "Sure, side with your boyfriend," he muttered.

"I heard that, Kiba," snarled Naruto. "One more word and the next time you piss Sasuke off I'm gonna let him dismember you." In the rear-view mirror he watched Kiba's face go pale and smirked.

When he had fully composed himself he turned around. "Okay, so the road is blocked. That doesn't mean we can't get through. I'm gonna go scope out the way ahead and make sure that we can get up safely. Everyone else stay here. If I don't come back take the bus and get out of here. Go back to the school and hole up somewhere."

"We're not going back to the school!" snapped Sasaki. "We'll get eaten if we do that! And Saya can't run, she'd be an easy target."

"You got a better idea, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked her. "You saw the roads on the way here, everywhere is like this. We don't have many options."

"I'm going with you," said Sasuke. "Somebody needs to watch your loser ass in case of attack."

"You're just saying that so you can get quality time with Naru-chan," said Kiba in a weird falsetto.

"I'm saying it because if I stay on here with you any longer I'm going to kill you," replied Sasuke with a disdainful glance in Kiba's direction.

"Well then, that's settled," said Naruto over Kiba's attempted retort. "Shikamaru, Gaara, you're in charge. Sasuke, you're with me. Kiba, shut up."

"Bye bye kids!" Kiba yelled as the boys got off the bus. "Have fun storming the castle!"

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"So did you really volunteer because Kiba was getting on your nerves or could you not bear to see me go?" Naruto teased.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I came to keep your dumb ass out of trouble, and because I was going to kill Inuzuka if he said another word."

"Aww, so you were worried about me!"

"You're the only one who can drive."

"Not that that's doing much good now."

"Shut up, dobe."

"Temee."

They walked in silence for a bit, each searching intently for a clear path through the debris and trying not to look at the other. There didn't seem to be any zombies on the road with them, but there were plenty in the cars. Sasuke supposed that they'd been bitten, tried to get themselves to the hospital, and died and reanimated while still in the car.

Some cars had whole families inside. Naruto cringed as a baby opened and closed its mouth, as if without its teeth it could somehow chew through the glass and get to the two living people on the other side. "I wonder if it's just Japan," he commented, "or if it's the whole world."

"Let's just focus on finding a good route to your house," said Sasuke, suppressing a shudder as a very rotund zombie banged its head on the window of one of the cars, smearing it with blood.

Just as they got to the top of the cliff and what looked like a seven-car pile-up, something behind them broke with a resounding crash.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Naruto as he spun around, searching for the source of the noise.

"I don't know," murmured Sasuke, taking out his kusanagi and looking warily around. At that moment something grazed his shoulder and he nearly dropped his weapon as a burning pain raced through his left arm.

"Are you okay Sasuke?"

"Yeah, it's just a scratch," he replied with a grimace. "At least we know that it's not a zombie."

Just then a head of red hair popped over the pile-up.

"State your names!" the person shouted.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Kurama?!" he called. "Is that you, Kura-nii? It's me, Naruto!"

After sizing them up for a moment the red-haired man jumped over the barricade and crushed Naruto in a hug.

"Holy shit, Naruto!" he cried. "I was so worried, 'ttedana! Have you seen Mom, Dad, and Naruko?"

"You mean they're not here with you, 'ttebayo?" asked Naruto worriedly. "I haven't seen them since this morning. There's a busload of people a little ways down the hill though, can we go get them?"

"Are they safe?" asked Kurama suspiciously. He turned to Sasuke. "And who are you?"

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, one of Naruto's classmates," replied Sasuke as Kurama checked him over for bites. "And yes, we made sure no one was bitten before they got on the bus. There's a girl with a sprained ankle though."

"So you're Sasuke," said Kurama thoughtfully. Sasuke squirmed internally under his blue gaze for a moment before he turned his eyes toward the bus that Naruto was indicating. "Lead the way. I'll carry the injured girl."

Naruto led them back toward the bus, carefully picking his way back through the cars and the rubble as Sasuke and Kurama kept watch for any sign that the zombies were about to break out of their cars.

"Is it safe?"

"Who's the redhead?"

"Did anyone get bitten?"

"All right, quiet down!" called Naruto. "We found my brother Kurama and he's going to help us get to the house. Saya, Nii-san offered to carry you up so you'll be fine. We just need to move the barricade at the end of the road. Any questions?"

"Yeah, since when are you in command?" piped up Kiba.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're my best friend but you're really starting to irritate me. Let's go."

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"So how did you escape, Naruto?" Kurama asked as they sat down around the fireplace in the Uzumaki-Namikaze family's living room after helping Sasaki move Saya to the downstairs bedroom. "It couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't," Naruto replied, rubbing his hands on his sweatpants. "Kiba and I were trapped up on the school roof and Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Gaara helped us get untrapped. We rescued Saya and Sasaki and then dipped. How in the hell did you get here from Tokyo?"

"I took a plane this morning, 'ttedana," deadpanned Kurama, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "Fall break started today."

"How d'you expect me to remember your college schedule?" snapped Naruto.

"Pay attention to the emails I send you guys?" said his brother. "I know that's a novel idea. By the way," he asked Sasuke, "do you happen to be related to an Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yeah, that's my older brother," Sasuke replied. "He got home this morning. How do you know him?"

"He's in all of my classes, 'ttedana," said Kurama with a grin. "We have the same major. Does he have a stick up his ass all the time or just sometimes?"

"I think having sticks up their asses is an Uchiha trait," Kiba cut in, putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulders, "because I'm pretty sure the princess here is growing a tree up there."

Sasuke hissed in pain as Kiba's hand brushed his bandaged sholuder and shrugged his arm off. "How would you like me to take that tree and shove it up your ass?" he asked. Kurama and Naruto burst out laughing, not stopping even when Sasuke turned his murderous gaze on them.

"I can see why you like him, Naruto," said Kurama as he wiped tears from his eyes. "He's got a good sense of humour."

Naruto blushed furiously. "Shut up, Nii-san, you're embarrassing," he muttered.

"Will you guys shut up in there?" hissed Sasaki, poking her head out of the downstairs bedroom. "We're trying to sleep!"

"Sorry, 'ttedana," giggled Kurama.

Just then something thumped against the front door. Sasaki jumped and let out a squeak, and Naruto walked out of the room and came back with a hunting rifle.

"Do you know how to shoot that?" Gaara asked him.

"Yep," he said quietly, creeping toward the front door with the rifle in firing position. "Who's there?" he called out.

"Open up shithead, it's me!" a female voice called back.

"Holy shit!" said Naruto excitedly, throwing open the door and dragging the person on the other side into a hug. "We were worried out of our fucking skulls, Naruko!"

Sasuke looked Naruko up and down. She looked exactly how he imagined Naruto would look as a girl. "I didn't know you had a twin."

"Yep, double trouble," Kurama chortled. "Naruto's older by three minutes. You need to check if she's bitten, idiot."

"Oh, right!" said Naruto, facepalming. "Show me your arms, Naruko."

"I didn't get bitten but I had a few close shaves on the way here," said Naruko as she rolled up her sleeves. "I came by myself."

"None of your friends came with?" asked Naruto incredulously.

"Megumi and Akane, they got bitten," Naruko explained, her voice wavering. "Akane first; we had to… We had t-t-to…" She broke down.

Naruto looked at Kurama for help. "Come on Naruko," he said soothingly, "let's get you upstairs… Take a warm shower…" The two brothers led their sister up the stairs, trying to comfort her.

"That's fucked up," said Kiba.

"It will only get worse," Sasuke assured him grimly.

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So I have a painting commission for my friend that might take a bit. I'll definitely add more of the revised chapters when I'm done with that, but for now you'll have to settle for these first three chapters. Hopefully they're better than their predecessors, haha. Let me know what you think, and shout out to those who notice the Princess Bride easter egg that I put in this chapter!

~CaelansFollly92