Started on April 28, 2019| Philippines| 22:13 hours

WARNING: HOTD Characters will be OoC (Out of Character). You have been warned.

Tokonosu Meets Hell

Dawn arrives on the Land of the Rising Sun. The air is quiet as the birds do not chirp, nor do the crows caw. A flight of three black hawks patrol the skies of Tokonosu City. The black hawks never notice the three dots in the distance that are closing in from the sea to the south.

All the while, the three dots, the Pelicans, climb in altitude and get above the clouds. Inside the lead Pelican, Naruto's eyes glow a beautiful blue and his vision is then changed to see through the Pelican and the clouds to take in the city below.

"Sir, do you want us to prepare for a drop?" One of the Helghast ask as his and his brothers' goggles glow orange, his vision and theirs doing the same as Naruto's.

"No." Naruto says with a blank look on his face. "Let's keep watch. It looks as though the infection has yet to spread."

"Sir, if I may, you may want to see this." The copilot of the Pelican says before a holographic projection pops up in front of him and he swipes his hand passing it onto Naruto.

The projection shows a dark alley in Tokyo where the man who was bound in a hospital stumbles around before two officers show up with guns trained on him. He charges them but they fire killing him.

Unfortunately for the two and the rest of Tokyo, they never noticed what Naruto did. The man's blood entering their eyes.

"How long ago was this?" Naruto asks as he swipes the feed away.

"Around an hour or two ago sir. Do you think it could have made its way here by now?"

Naruto gives a grim look. "Were we stuck in feudal Japan? No, but with the trains?" He looks to some nearby buildings and nods. "Yeah, it might have already made its way all over the country."

"What now sir?"

Naruto's vision zooms in on a set of buildings nearby with three that stand out to him, namely a business building around twenty stories high located five buildings away from the center building in his vision, an office building and with five stories across a school, and the school being the central building with four stories.

An image is then sent to the pilots that have the three buildings highlighted..

"I want one bird to drop off a team on that business building." He says and a Pelican lowers its altitude accordingly. He speaks again as it continues its descent. "It's still early, and the black hawks already finished their rounds, get inside but secure the rooftop while you can. Designated Team Name: Black Team, do you copy?"

"Black Leader, Copy." One of the men designated as the team's leader by the team replies over the radio.

"The second Pelican, drop off at that office building, designated Team Name: White Team, do you copy?" He says and the other Pelican goes in for a landing.

"White Leader, Copy."

"What about us sir?" The pilot asks as he circles around.

"Maintain altitude. The two other Pelicans, head back for base. Await further instructions."

"Copy that, Caesar." The four pilots reply as they head off back to the south sea they came from.

"So what now?" One of the Helghast asks.

"Now?" Naruto sighs. "We play a waiting game."

===== 07:00 hours =====

Two hours have passed since the landing of black team and white team. Black team has by now secured the roof top and tapped into the security feed of the cameras of their assigned building. White team has done the same, but considering their building is far smaller than that of black team's, they are able to do a physical search to get the layout of the building. Both teams now lie in wait on the roofs, each member ready with suppressed sniper-assault rifles while each also keep ready their spatha and gladius.

Naruto and his team still shadow the city from the skies and finally, after waiting, they find movement.

"Sir…"

"Yeah…" Naruto confirms with a nod. "They're not yet infected."

"That's not good is it?"

"Ignorance is bliss…but for how long?" Naruto asks no one in particular before he sighs. "We can't save everyone, but we can ensure that a ton will survive, if only they allow us to."

"Yeah, some people don't want help." One Helghast says before another replies with a scoff, "Yeah, and sometimes those that do just use those who help them."

All the while, the streets now crowd with people heading to work, school, and wherever else they need to be using trains, cars, or simply by walking. They remain unaware of the eyes that watch them and of the looming threat drawing ever closer.

===== 07:45 hours =====

White team watches from the building roof they occupy and one radios in a report. "Two O'clock, staggering fool or infected?" He asks and another sniper checks.

"Infected. Permission to open fire."

Naruto's voice comes on the radio. "Permission granted. Single shots only. No need to waste more than necessary."

"Copy that." The Helghast says before taking a breath. Time slows for him as he aims and then squeezes the trigger.

PFFT!

The suppressed shot rings out in his ears and the bullet travels, its 50 caliber shell hitting the infected's head and splattering blood and brain on the ground bellow. The body stumbles for but a moment, its knees finally finding rest before the rest follow.

"Tango down."

"Caesar, this is White Leader. If the infected get inside the school, it will be all over for them."

"Copy, White Leader. Take down any infected you can."

"White Leader, this is Black Leader. Convoy of four EGO armoured sedans heading your way."

"Shit." White Leader says before looking to his men and nods. "Drop down. Don't let them spot you. We can't have them know we're in Japan."

In the skies, Naruto clenches his fist. His Pelican has yet to be spotted. Radar doesn't pick it up since it's been heavily modified for stealth roles just as much as combat, but being stuck up there to make sure everything goes well on the ground is starting to frustrate the blonde.

His eyes then catch something on the ground that makes his blood boil; a man hitting the school gates and a group of teachers confronting him. The teacher closes to the man moves to grab him and gets bitten before falling, dead, only to be surrounded by the other teachers.

Naruto's mind then races. "Something is wrong. This isn't a normal infection… not even the Virals were like this." He continues to watch as the male teacher rises from his spot and grabs the female teacher and bites her neck. With a frustrated sigh, Naruto heads over to the pilots and says, "Take us down. Gray Team is active."

"Roger." The pilot says and the pelican tilts as its altitude lowers.

"Helghast Legionaries!" Naruto shouts and they stand in attention, their bodies seemingly ignoring the jerking of their dropship. "Ready for battle!"

"Ha-oh! Ha-oh! Ha-oh!"

Naruto watches as the female teacher suddenly runs in an astounding burst of speed and manages to tackle one of the other teachers into the school building via window.

"Naruto, come in. This is Cortana. Channel is secure."

"Speak."

"I found something interesting. Do you want me to send it to you or do you want me to run you through it?"

"Run me through." He says and checks the time in his bracer.

08:01 hours.

"I'm about to get busy."

===== 08:05 | Fujimi Academy rooftop =====

Three students make their way up the rooftop of their school, two males, one female, the girl having a pole, while one male has a bat.

The trio bursts through the door leading to the rooftop only to see that there were students unlucky enough to get there before them and turn. They run past lumbering infected and make their way to a still higher level near the end of the rooftop where they can remain out of reach.

Unfortunately for the girl, she makes the mistake of stabbing one infected through the heart as it lumbers after them up the few steps of stairs instead of striking it through the head. The infected grabs the pole and the girl is knocked back onto a wall to her left.

The teen without a weapon, a white-haired boy, grabs the bat from the other teen and whacks the infected in the head, killing it, before explaining to the girl that that was the way to take care of them.

Before the scene could progress any further, the three teens and the infected hear a rough humming and turn to look at the back building to see a jet powered ship lower itself. It turns to show its back to the building as dust and wind pick up before it opens and a ramp lowers.

Out steps a boy no older than the teens, perhaps even younger. He is dressed in a black military coat that flows freely in the wind. His combat boots making no sound as he steps off the ramp and onto the building. His short blonde hair rustles calmly, and his cerulean eyes, now devoid of their glow, scan the roof as if taking into account everything else. He is followed by two others dressed similarly to him, but the two wear helmets attached with a special full-faced respirator with orange glowing eyes that seem to darken the world around them.

"The rest of you, help out the others." The teen says and the Pelican leaves, its other eighteen Helghast Legionaries never leaving it.

The three armed men in black on the roof watch in amusement.

"Talk about easy mode, ey, boss?"

"Pfft! Yeah. Hell, those dudes back in Guam were far tougher than these dudes here." The two men joke while the man in the middle smiles.

"Do a sweep until the door that leads up here. I'll talk to the kids."

The two Helghasts' body language change from that of lax people to that of veterans ready for battle. The two unsling their suppressed SCAR rifles and make short work on their end.

The teen without a helmet on the other hand calmly makes his way to the trio on the still higher position and uses his spatha to cut off the heads of any infected stupid enough to get near him, which was pretty much all the other infected on his side.

When he finished, a strewn of decapitated bodies lie flat on the ground with brown blood seeping out from their sliced heads. He steps up the stairs only for the kid with the bat to hold him a glare and readies the bat threateningly.

"Who are you?" Takashi asks as he readies his bat.

Naruto smiles, his tone calm yet cheerful. "A dead man walking. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I believe there is someone that is bitten in your party?"

"What-"

In a burst of speed, Naruto jumps over the boy and lands with a swipe of his spatha cutting the bat off its handle missing the boy's hand by mere millimeters. "I have no time for your bullshit." He says and goes for the teen with the silver/grayish hair.

The girl moves to block him, but a simple glance with his eyes freezes her in place. "Know your place." He says commandingly before moving towards the teen known as Hisashi. "Show me your bite."

"What-"

"Do it or I kick you off the roof and you join the rest of the student body." Naruto says, his voice no longer holding its cheerful tone.

Hisashi looks to his friends for help only for the the blonde's eyes to narrow at him. With a sigh, he shows him the bide on his upper arm and Naruto rips the entire sleeve.

Takashi and Rei gasp as they see his entire upper arm sporting black veins.

"How long has it been since you were bitten?" Naruto asks as he examines Hisashi's eyes.

"Around a few minutes now."

Naruto clicks his tongue in annoyance. "So some were already infected inside the school… damn."

"What do you-"

"You'll turn in a few minutes. Do you want to die a human or as a zombie?"

"Zombie?"

Naruto groans. "YES! For fuck sake! Call them what they are! Or at least 'Infected', alright?! Sheesh, you kids have got one bad sense of originality."

"Are you bipolar?" Hisashi asks in confusion. One moment the man before him is serious, the next he's acting like a child smarter than his parents.

Naruto sighs and looks at him with a bored expression on his face. "Just answer the question?"

"But-"

"Nope, too late. Don't have time to deal with your bullshit." Naruto says with a shrug and turns to face the two other teens who glare at him. "You, missy, kill him before he turns."

"I won't kill my boyfriend!"

Naruto groans again as a chant starts up in his head. "Dumb decision. Dumb decisions. Dumb decisions all around." The chant turns into a song as he looks at the other male teen, the one who nearly had his hands cut off. "You, kid with no balls, kill him."

"W-what? Why don't you do it?"

"TAKASHI! He's your friend!"

Naruto raises a brow before shrugging. "I don't have time for this." He says before grabbing the boy with no balls and drags him away while leaving his spatha in the hands of the girl. He then says while dragging the boy away, "Girl, either kill him or get killed."

Takashi grunts and pants as he is dragged down the stairs and is being brought over to where the two Helghast wait. "What the hell man? And I do have balls!"

"Blue balls, that's for sure." Naruto comments without a care and his troops laugh as he looks at the building across the front of the school. Flashes of light show through the windows showing that an interior sweep was still happening.

"Why do you have to be dick, huh?" Takashi grunts in annoyance. The reply he receives silences him.

"Because I have one."

The troops chuckle before one sighs and looks to the rooftop door. "It's clear for now. Should I ask for a status update"

"Please do." Naruto says with a wave of his hand and the Legionary gets to work.

"Black Team, this is Gray One, report."

"Gray One, Black Leader, we are heading down via rappelling. Too many inside. Zero casualties on both my team and the support team."

"Good. Clear as many as you can while you're at it. No unnecessary risks." He switches his attention to the building across the school's entrance and calls in. "White Team, this is Gray One, report."

Sounds of unmuffled gunfire cracks through the radio before a voice comes in. "Gray One, White Leader. Request assistance ASAP. EGO forces in building. Gray Team Support of six men are still alive and kicking, but we're pinned down."

Naruto is then the one to speak. "Copy, White Leader. What floor are you on now?"

"Third sir, but they have men covering the streets. It's weird, they aren't being attacked at all so long as they stand still."

Naruto hums before nodding. "Very well. Black Team, head over to support." He receives confirmation before he turns to the two Helghast with him. "You two, sniping positions for five minutes. Clear out infected and EGO forces alike."

"Copy." Both say before they take their spots on the edge of the roof and start their one minute clean up.

"What are you?" Takashi asks with a raised brow only to stop after hearing a scream from Rei's location. "Rei!" He shouts and moves to rush over only for a hand to grab his shoulder and hold him in place.

"You kids are getting annoying." Naruto says plainly while keeping his eyes on where the shout came from.

Rei's form steps out, bloodied, but her hand still holding the sword.

"Kids?! You don't look any older!" Takashi scolds before being flung back onto the door that separates them from the rest of the building. His back lands with a thud and he gasps before falling, unable to do anything as the blonde approaches his friend. "Stop! Don't touch her!"

Naruto ignores him and walks up to the girl. "So… Rei, huh?"

The girls eyes are shadowed by her hair which is now disheveled and free flowing, her hair tie lost. She can feel Naruto's eyes roaming her, checking her, yet the feeling… was not uncomfortable. More of a man trying to see if she was hurt.

If she should die next.

"Don't worry… I'm not bitten." She manages to get out and moves to rub her eyes.

Naruto's hand stops her. "Unless you want to turn, I suggest you let me." Naruto says and uses his free hand to wipe her tears. "I'm not going to apologize." He says and brings her over to Takashi and his men. "You kids need to learn. Much of the world has been fighting these things for months now and yet only now do you get to experience it? Yeah, no, not gonna make things easy on you." He then takes his spatha and flicks the blood off. "I'll help you survive. What you do from then on will be up to you, but I won't waste my time with weaklings. Prove me right, and you just might live to see your family."

"Wait dammit! What happened up there Rei? And you!" Takashi points with a glare. "Who the hell are you?"

Naruto smirks. "The one who will right the wrongs of this world."

"Sir." One of the two Helghast speaks as he approaches. "You'll want to get out of sight. A flight of SDF helicopters are on their way. They aren't friendlies."

Naruto nods and a map pops up in the right side of his vision showing the flight heading for them. "ETA: twenty seconds. Black Team, how far down are you?" He starts as he, the two other teens, and his two Legionaries head down from the roof.

"Third floor, sir."

"Drop. SDF helicopters heading your way. Support white team. Stay out of any additional combat unless unavoidable."

"Copy, Caesar."

Naruto then unsheathes his spatha as he rounds a corner and cuts a head off an infected. He grins after seeing all the infected turn to him. His eyes glow blue for a second and his vision switches to a hybrid between x-ray and thermal vision.

That second was all he needed as he finally pieced something together. "They're dead. Their bodies are cold and their hearts are hardly beating."

He flicks his left arm and a titanium scutum materializes and he is joined by his two legionaries. They form a shield wall with the hall big enough to fit three of them. Four would have been ideal, but the undead here were far more tame than those Virals back in Guam so none of them saw any problem with it.

The three begin to systematically carve a path through the hall with Takashi and Rei keeping close, all the while watching in fascination on how three people could bring forth such destruction to these… zombies.

"Hey, kids, here the hell do we go from here? Outside is too crowded with them to out on foot." Naruto asks.

"The faculty room should be just a floor bellow us." Takashi replies all the while keeping his eyes on Rei.

Naruto nods before he slams his scutum on the ground dematerializing it. That makes the remaining zombies turn to him but something about that behavior catches his attention. He taps his legionaries who nod and stand in attention, their shields still out and ready. The blonde picks up a pen from one of the dead students and throws it.

The pen clatters bringing the attention of the zombies with it.

"Well now this is boring." Naruto says with a frustrated sigh. "Looks like they're blind, and stupid." He says before walking past one in boredom. He makes it to the stairs and continues downward while his men shrug and follow.

Takashi would have made a shout of protest for leaving him and Rei alone only for Rei to stop him before he could even try. "No time Takashi. Let's just follow them." She says while her mind goes back to how thins went with Hisashi.

===== Earlier on the rooftop with Rei and Hisashi =====

Rei walks over to Hisashi who smiles at her. "It's okay, Rei. Do it. I want to go out like this. As a human."

"Hisashi, no! You're stronger than this!"

Hisashi smiles. "No, I can feel it. Please. Do it. Before I change."

Rei shakes her head. "No! I won't do it." Tears threaten for fall from her eye and Hisashi gives her a sad smile.

"Please. I don't want to turn into them. Please Rei?"

Rei backs away. "No! You'll survive this! I know you will. We'll find a cure and we'll be fine! We-"

"Rei!" Hisashi shouts before coughing up blood. "Dammit, just do it." He scolds her, his hair becoming disheveled. He looks her in the eyes, pleading, before he coughs again, this time with even more blood coming out. "Do it you WEAK BITCH!" He shouts before lunging for the sword and kicking Rei away and pulling her hair undoing her tie. He stabs himself through the throat and through the back of his skull to make sure he'd never turn.

"HISASHI!" Rei shouts and runs to get him, but he stumbles along and falls. The only thing she could even grab hold of was Naruto's spatha, and all she could do was watch as Hisashi's body fell into the reach of the undead on the school grounds below. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

===== Present =====

"You seem to have much on your mind." Naruto's voice cuts through her thoughts in a whisper. "I'm surprised you actually manage to make it here on autopilot you know. I thought you'd bump into one of them and get eaten or turned. Turns out you're lucky enough to survive that." He says, now his voice clearly from behind her.

Rei looks around and takes everything in. "The faculty?"

"Yup. Autopilot, like I said." Naruto replies with a tap to her shoulder. "I can guess what's going on in there, but that will have to wait." He says and heads over to Takashi and now, a few others.

First, Naruto heads over to the big boy with glasses. "I never got your name." Naruto says with a raised brow.

"Kouta, sir. Kouta Hirano"

Naruto nods. "Good man. You have balls. Becoming an instant killing machine with that nail gun? Yeah. Pity Takashi has bigger ones than you"

"Hey!" Kouta shouts in protest at that last comment.

Takashi on other hand has other thoughts racing through his head. One of them being, "alright, take what I can get from that guy I suppose."

"What do you mean by that exactly?!" Kouta shouts in outrage and embarrassment.

Naruto raises a brow. "What do you mean?" He points to himself and his legionaries and says, "You ran out of nails. I don't care. I'm not giving you a gun. You're also those types who says guns are better and blah-blah-blah. Well, now, you have no gun. Live with it."

"Woah, who the hell brought mister harsh-truth-bringer over here?" The pink-haired girl asks no one in particular all the while enjoying the show.

Naruto snorts. "Saya Takagi." He says making the girls eyes go wide. "Don't be so surprised." He waves her off."Besides, your smarts are worth jack shit in this situation. You may know stuff, but knowing won't help you survive if you won't be doing."

"Hey!" Saya shouts. "I'll have you know-"

Naruto raises a finger to her silencing her. "Shut up. Don't care. Prove me wrong if you think you can."

Rei and the two Helghasts simply look and listen on as Naruto continues.

"Saeko Busujima." The girl with purple hair says. She doesn't follow it up with anything making Naruto look at her quizzically.

The blonde teen gives her a smile. "Cute. I think I like you already." He says and then laughs as the girl blushes up a storm. He spares her no second glance and faces the nurse.

"Uh… um…" the nurse starts out, nervous, but Naruto's eyes glare at her.

"Shizuka Marikawa. Please, drop the act." Naruto says with a smile. He gets closer and utters a whisper. "I'm sure the EGO would be happy to know that you were the one who manage to get this strain of the virus out, and on school grounds no less."

Shizuka's eyes narrow before she smiles. "Well, you're right, I'm not stupid, but I usually am this cheerful." It is then her turn to whisper into his ear. "So, you'll kill me now?"

Naruto smirks smugly before backing away. "Let's wait out here for an hour. We'll use that coaster, but everyone better be well rested. We're going to be running."

Rei raises a brow and voices her thoughts on the matter. "Wow… is he always an ass?"

One Helghast chuckles before replying. "Nope. Probably just stressed at how things turned." The other one would have replied were it not for the status update given through their comms.

"Gray Leader, Caesar, this is White Leader. EGO forces are withdrawing."

Naruto looks to his men and nods. He steps to their corner so only they, and in this case Rei, can hear him. "Good. Secure vehicles. I don't want anymore shit to go down in possible."

"Copy, Gray Leader. White Leader out."

Naruto sighs before slumping into the corner, but his eyes harden as they lock with Shizuka's. "Time to get busy again."

===== TBC =====

Finished on May 3, 2019| Philippines| 15:31 hours

Not yet proofread.

Rate and/or Review please!