Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...but in my dreams, I dream of being the greatest Hokage that ever lived...not really, but it would be cool if I did.
Outbreak
Chapter Four: Pursuit and Retreat
Naruto felt the cool wind blew as the group of sixteen shinobi stood outside in the woods surrounding a small village. It appeared to be safe, but one could never be quite sure.
"I don't like it; it just seems to quiet here." Anko spoke, kunai in hand. Her eyes were constantly watching their surroundings as they slowly began to walk into the village.
"It's not like we have much of a choice though. We're officially out of provisions, and our medical supplies are almost gone. This place is in the mountains, and quite isolated, so perhaps the infected didn't reach them yet." Kakashi spoke as they walked onto the main road of the village. It was a small community, bordering the land of Wind and Land of Fire, inside the mountain range area. Hopefully the place was still isolated enough that it hadn't been hit by the attacks.
Sakura had her eyes closed as she seemed to be in a deep mode of thought. Everyone stopped to look at her, and waited until her eyes opened.
"Well?" Kakashi asked her, and the others gave her looks that silently voiced Kakashi's own question.
"I don't sense any of the infected here. We're safe for now." she spoke as a smile crept onto her face. The others let out a breath as they let themselves relax a little.
It had been a whole two weeks since the group started their travel to Wind country. It would have taken less time, if not for the fact that they had to be careful to avoid any encounters with the infected. They were hungry, sore, and above all, exhausted. The short four hours they took every eighteen hours didn't help either. They couldn't afford to stop though, not after having survived this long.
So they decided that they should look into getting a room at an inn or something, and buy some provisions with the money they had...that is, if there was anyone to buy from in this quiet mountain village.
"Hana, Hanabi, Iruka, Anko, and Kiba, go and see if you can find a market to buy food in. Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Tenten, and Moegi, you try and see if it's possible to find an inn or a place to stay for a night. Asuma, Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Hinata, and myself will see if we can find the people in charge of this village. Be on your guard at all times, understood?" Kakashi said, having been the person in charge of this whole trip by seemingly unanimous choice.
The group nodded, and proceeded to complete their tasks.
A short while passed before Kakashi's group felt a presence while walking through the village.
"We're being followed," Hinata stated quietly, her Byakugan active, "They don't appear to be shinobi though."
Kakashi nodded, "You can come out, we're not here to cause any harm."
Moments later, two men no older than their mid twenties stepped out from an alleyway, crossbows at ready. They frowned at the unexpected guests, but upon seeing the insignia for the Leaf village, they lessened the grip on their weapons a little.
"You're all from Konoha?" the taller one asked.
"Yes, we're refugee ninja. Konoha is as of now, in ruin. We're not sure if others have survived, but currently there are sixteen of us." Asuma answered, pulling out his cigarette to exhale a plume of smoke.
"Konoha's destroyed too?" asked the other man in disbelief.
Kakashi nodded, "The infection spread rapidly through the village, and within a month's time, the place had become overrun with the infected."
The men dropped their weapons to their sides, clearly awestruck by this fact of information, "How though? Konohagakure is supposed to be the most powerful shinobi village."
"It's also one of the most populated of the villages among the five great shinobi nations. That makes spreading the infection easier." Shikamaru spoke, a frown on his face.
"Ah...I guess that would make sense...why have you come here?" the taller man asked.
"We're not intending to stay long. We've merely come for food, supplies, and other provisions." Kakashi replied, placing his hands in his pockets, now feeling a bit at ease. Clearly these people heard of the current crisis going on around the continent.
"We can give you some supplies and food, but I'm afraid that we don't have much. We've been trying to keep our village's presence hidden from unwanted eyes, so our farming hasn't been as productive as usual. We're also not really stocked up on medical supplies..." the taller man said with a defeated look, "We're lucky that we got word of the problem before it hit us. We've been ready for an attack for two months now, but apparantly being a mountain village has its advantages in remaining hidden."
"We've been on the move for about two weeks now, and I can assure you that things aren't nearly as well off as they are here. The infected shinobi are still able to use their jutsu...and we've passed by villages that are completely burnt to the ground...yet no bodies have been found." Jiraiya added with a somber look.
The two men shivered knowing full well what that meant, "Well, we'll get you what you need. In exchange, would you be able to watch over our village for the night that you stay here? One of our children has gone missing, and its been almost three days since they dissapeared...we're hoping they're just lost in the wilderness, but even that seems unlikely since our people know these woods better than anyone else."
The group of ninja gave each other a look, "That's fine...how old was the child?" Kakashi asked.
"The child was a ten year-old boy, and he is pretty familiar with these woods..." replied the shorter man.
"You do understand that we'll have to destroy him if he's..." Asuma started.
The two men slowly nodded, and nothing further was said.
-ooOoo-
Two weeks...
It had been two weeks since Sasuke had made allies with Deidara, and the two had been on the move since. The two weren't particularly fond of each other, but as the saying goes, there's strength in numbers.
"So, what exactly do you plan to do now that Orochimaru is dead?" Deidara asked as they sat in the branches of a ancient tree. The branches provided enough room for the two to both have room to set up there places for the night.
"I plan to kill Itachi...then restore my clan."
Deidara frowned, clearly not happy with the short--not to mention emotionless--response. Sure, Sasuke was reliable, and actually helped out the clay user, but other than that, he showed no signs of acknowleging the blonde man's existence.
"Heh, I hate to break it to you kid, but it will be much harder to find Itachi now. Oh, he's alive...I know that. Uninfected too, if I'm right. Kisame though...not so sure. Kakuzu split when things went to hell, and Hidan's probably dea- oh wait...he's immortal...well regardless, Akatsuki's gone, and the members are on their own now. I was hoping to leave that organization anyway. It seems you and I share a common enemy in your brother though."
Sasuke gave the man a hard glare, but then went back to his indifferent scowl, "Hn."
A distant screech teared through the night, and the two immediately sat up, "Damn it...well, they could be trying to draw us out." Deidara whispered. Sasuke merely nodded, pulling out his sword as the two remained silent.
Deidara had about two dozen little clay spiders crawling around the area as traps. They were set to explode on his command, that way, if they could make an escape without being noticed, the explosive artwork would be rendered useless and the infected would never know anyone was here.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and scanned the area from where the scream was heard, "I think we should get moving. I don't see anything...but I'm sure we would run into trouble if we stayed here."
"Agreed." Deidara nodded. As much as he enjoyed blowing up things, he wasn't stupid. They could be overrun with those vampiric humanoids in minutes. Infected humans with shinobi training would make things only worse.
The two darted through the foilage like animals, only sparing second-long glance behind to see if they were being followed.
Unfortunately, today wasn't their lucky day...
"Two Grass-nin are following us." Deidara said, followed by a grunt of annoyance.
Sasuke gave him a look, then spoke, "Well, we can't have them knowing about us and tell the others."
Deidara felt like laughing, but settled for a smirk. With a simple lifting of two fingers, two little clay spiders jumped onto the enemies' heads, and quickly crawled into the nearest oriface of their target.
"Boom." Deidara said quietly.
A sickening sound of skulls rupturing open followed by brain and flesh hitting trees went off throughout the woods. Not a deafening explosion like what would have otherwise happened.
"Nice work, less attention for us to worry about." Sasuke said as the continued to move.
"Heh, I'd rather cause an explosion, but I'll settle for that I suppose." Deidara replied as the two continued westward. The night gave no indication of the two missing nin being there aside from two headless corpses lying on the ground. By morning their teammates would find them, but no one would know what caused such a thing to happen.
-ooOoo-
Naruto and Sakura sat in the room given to them for the night at the small tavern in the village. The team was spread out through the village, from the spare rooms of some houses, rooms in attics, and the few rooms in the tavern. Aside from the two of them, Hinata, Moegi, and Kiba were in the room next to them, while Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Asuma had the room across the hall. Anko, Iruka, Shikamaru, Shizune, Hana, Hanabi, Lee, and Tenten were patrolling the small village. Eventually a few would switch with Asuma, Kiba, and Jiraiya to take a rest.
The two lay in the bed, a bit cramped since the size was made for one person. Not that Naruto was complaining.
Sakura slowly pulled her head back as she licked the warm liquid off her lips. Naruto was actually getting used to the feeling of Sakura's fangs puncturing his skin, and also found the feeling of her breath on his neck almost pleasant.
"Done?" Naruto asked quietly, seeing as they didn't want to ruin the otherwise quiet atmosphere.
Sakura nodded, and lifted her head so Naruto could look into her almost slit-like eyes. He found Sakura's new emerald, animal-like pupils a little entrancing, and was sure it had something to do with Sakura and her condition, "Yeah...thanks again, Naruto. I still can't thank you enough for letting me do this." She gave him a light peck on the cheek, and then cuddled under his arm. Naruto was blushing like tomato, but luckily the room was dark.
Sakura, however, could feel the blood flow rising to his cheeks, "Naruto...you really are fun to tease, you know that?"
"I...um-" he was cut off by a finger being placed against his lips.
"Shh. I understand. I would have to have been an idiot to not know that you like me...well, back when we were young at least." Sakura whispered, and pulled her finger away to hold the blonde against her. She wouldn't deny the fact that she was feeling very comfortable in his arms right now, and didn't plan on moving anytime soon.
"I...still feel that way about you...Sakura-chan." Naruto said quietly, and felt the kunoichi's grip on him tighten a little. He looked down, and was amazed at the sight he saw when faced Sakura.
Two, shimmering eyes, and a beautiful smile that glowed in the pale moonlight, "You still do?" she asked, and even Naruto could tell that there was a hint of desperation in her voice. The kind that was demanding an answer to an unspoken question.
"Yeah. Always have...and I'm almost positive I always will." Naruto spoke, and was suprised when a pair of lips stopped him from speaking further. Just as quickly as it happened, Sakura pulled away, and her face was absolutely red.
"Naruto...thank you..." she said in a quiet voice, not letting his eyes leave hers for a second.
Naruto felt a knot form in his stomach. This was starting to turn more and more into a scene from one of Jiraiya's books. He beat down such thoughts, and grinned, "No need to thank me. I'm just telling you the truth."
The pink-haired kunoichi didn't stop smiling as she nipped his ear, earning a quiet yelp from Naruto. She gave him a grin, "Then I guess we should stop pretending to not act the way we feel for each other, eh?" She cupped a hand around his cheek, and Naruto was positively trembling. Sakura Haruno, his long-time crush, was laying next to him, and giving him all the signals that Jiraiya had told him about.
"Um...S-Sakura-chan...as much as I feel that way too...I-I think we're still a bit t-too young to-"
Sakura gave the boy a light smack on the head, "I don't mean that, idiot. I meant, we should start being a bit more open to each other, and not pretend that we're less than that around the others. It doesn't mean we have to be all over each other in public, but I think that there's ways of letting the others know." She then looked away, and quietly added, "That's not to say we may eventually do that..."
Naruto seemed to catch on, and nodded, "Oh, I get it. In other words, we should act like a boyfriend and girlfriend."
Sakura let out a chuckle at the way Naruto could be so blunt about such things, "Yes, exactly. Boyfriend and girlfriend."
Naruto suddenly frowned, "What about...Sasuke?"
Sakura stiffened, but managed to smile, if not sadly, "Sasuke-kun's...not with us Naruto. He left, for power...while you tried to bring him back. I know that you didn't do it just for me, but I could tell that you wanted to make me happy, even if it meant destroying the chance of dating me...that speaks volumes on its own on how much you care. I'm pretty sure I can at least try and give you a chance." she winked at the last part.
Naruto seemed to relax as he heard this, and grinned, "Then it's official, Sakura-chan. We're boyfriend and girlfriend."
Sakura said noting, but gave him another kiss on the cheek. The two eventually slipped into a state of sleep they hadn't felt for more than a whole two weeks. Yes, things were looking dreary for them in general, but at least they could rely on each other for comforting each other's pain and suffering when needed.
-ooOoo-
Shikamaru sat on the roof of a building, a few feet away from a rather quiet Hanabi Hyuuga. The younger of the Hyuuga sisters hadn't said much since they arrived to the village, and anything that she did say was towards Hinata, or Moegi. While Shikamaru wasn't one to usually strike up a conversation--especially with women--he felt the need to talk. The past few weeks had been horrible to him, and he felt he was going to snap if he didn't say something.
"Stars sure are bright tonight." Shikamaru said, and mentally slapped his forehead. Oh, that was brilliant. Score one for Captain Obvious.
To his surprise, the famous cold-hearted girl spoke, "I agree...it's nice to watch them sometimes..."
Shikamaru decided to ease into another subject, "So...how long do you think it will be before we finally reach Suna? I'd say another two weeks at the rate we're moving."
Hanabi sighed, "I wouldn't know...I've never been there before. I hear that's it's nice place, despite it being in the middle of a desert."
Shikamaru nodded, "Well, I have yet to see it myself, but I know a few people there. Hopefully they're okay."
Hanabi scooted closer, "S-Shikamaru-sempai?"
The shadow-user raised an eyebrow. Sempai? She never called him that before, so obviously something was bothering her, "Yeah?"
"Um...if it's not too personal..."
"Hanabi, almost nothing could bother me right now. Ask me anything, and I'll give you an answer, no matter how troublesome it may be." Shikamaru asked, a small smirk on his face. He needed this just about as much as her.
"Okay then...um...are you the only survivor of your clan?" Hanabi asked, looking away.
Shikamaru looked back to the sky, "Yeah."
Hanabi winced at the rather quick response, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Shikamaru shrugged, "It's okay...well, no it isn't. I'm sad about it...but as a shinobi, you got expect stuff like death." Oh, that was nice. Real compelling, he thought.
Hanabi nodded, but seemed to be even more distraught, "It's hard to believe that my sister and I are the only living Hyuuga...well, as far as we know anyway."
Shikamaru again nodded, and sighed. He wasn't exactly happy to hear that Neji had been killed. In fact, he was feeling awful right now. First his best friend Chouji, then Ino, who though troublesome, was still a good friend. His mother and father died in the massive attack right before he left Konoha. Asuma was the closest thing he had to family right now. He held back his tears, and had yet to cry...
...and at that point, his mask cracked, and a few tears fell down his cheek. No sobbing...just a few tears.
Hanabi saw this, and felt her own cheeks moisten up. She had been on the move constantly in the last two weeks, and never took the time to really think about what had happened. Now it was finally hitting her.
"I...I want to be strong for nee-san...but it's hard to not feel..." Hanabi was unable to finish as the sobs racked her body.
Shikamaru sat up, and to Hanabi and his great surprise, hugged her. For a few seconds, he held the young genin in his arms, and let her sob into his shoulders. She said nothing, simply cried. He himself let out a few tears, but remained strong as he could.
Shikamaru pulled away, and had the decency to blush, "Er...sorry about that."
Hanabi gave a small smile, "It's okay. I feel a little better now." She gave him another hug, "Thanks, Shikamaru-sempai."
They smiled, and both knew that they were merely trying to seek comfort from each other. Nothing romantic, and certainly nothing sexual. Just two people, lost in this dark world, trying to find hope.
"Well, I suppose it's time we check with the others, and see if they found anything suspicious around the area." Shikamaru said as the two got up, and jumped off to meet the others in the center of the village.
-ooOoo-
A few silhouettes stood in the border of the village and the woods. They didn't move, aside from the blinking of slitted pupils.
"Looks like they've settled here for the night." spoke a larger figure, whose figure was bulky and rotund at the same time.
"Sakura's with them..." spoke another one, a more feminine figure. She brushed away a few stray bangs from her face, and turned to the larger figure.
Among the group stood the forms of Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi, Ibiki Morino, Ebisu, Yuugao Uzuki, Yamato, and others. However, one figure stepped before the others.
"What are your orders?" asked Ino, turning to the figure.
"We remain low, and follow them."
"What about when we need to feed?" asked Ibiki, remaining motionless.
"Take what you need from here, but don't make a scene, and be sure to hide any evidence. They don't know we're here. Understood?" the figure asked sternly.
The others all bowed quietly, jumped off, except for Yamato, "You needed something from me?"
"Yes, just thought I'd warn you to be ready for Naruto. You know that he has the Kyuubi, and you're the ony one among us with the ability to calm him down if things get out of control with him." replied the figure.
Yamato bowed, "Very well, Hokage-sama." With that, he jumped into the shadows, waiting for the time to begin their plans.
Tsunade stood alone, a sad smile on her face. She had survived the fire and roof collapse, but she didn't get past the infection. She planned on bringing back her ninja...alive. Despite her new needs, she refused to let go of her friends and family; namely Shizune, Sakura, and Naruto. She was aware that it wouldn't be easy, if not impossible to convince them. That's why she brought her best shinobi with her. If she planned on bringing them all back safely and alive, then she needed it done right.
"Well, Shizune...Naruto...Sakura...I hope that this reunion won't be one I regret. Jiraiya, if I'm doing the wrong thing here, you better be ready to stop me then, because I won't give up on this." spoke the Godaime, and then dissapeared in a whirl of leaves.
Meanwhile, in the room where Naruto and Sakura slept, Sakura's eyes snapped open. She felt it...
"There here..." she whispered.
end of Chapter 4- Hey, been a while, hasn't it? Well, here's chapter 4 in all it's semi-supernatural/horror/romance glory. I'll be continuing with the whole Sasuke and Deidara/Konoha survivors/Suna story breaks. I like switching points of view throughout chapters, and I feel that it keeps things interesting. I hope you liked this chapter, I sure enjoyed writing it! Not much else to say other than thanks for those who are leaving me reviews and feeback, I appreciate it! I'll continue to work on this and my other stories, so keep your eyes peeled! Until we meet again, happy reading...sorry, that was a bit corny, eh?