Chapter twenty five: Versus

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto, but I'm working on getting Gundam Wing, just go to see if the hostage situation goes as planned.

Naruto, Gaara, and Keiji were the first to show up to Sanjuro's warehouse, but found the man passed out on the floor drunk. They poured water on his face to wake him up, but the after affects were going to be harder. As soon as he woke up Sanjuro was spewing chunks all over the floor.

"Watch where that crap spills," exclaimed Keiji. "Jesus, you look beat the hell up."

"I just had a few drinks and don't call me Jesus," said Sanjuro. "I've got some pills for this; just take them out of the top drawer."

Naruto grabbed the pills from the drawer and handed them to Sanjuro along with a glass of water.

"Why did you get this drunk," said Naruto. "I think only a few drinks will satisfy you."

"Nothing satisfies me these days," said Sanjuro. "I'm a veteran soldier in the war of love and so far I've only lost battles."

"As many girls as you're seen with, you'd think you'd met someone," said Keiji.

"I did, but she's taken," said Sanjuro. He didn't give her name because he knew it would only make the situation awkward. He couldn't let Naruto know that he was in love with Hinata or that he was scheming to kill Naruto that very night. "But enough of my depressing life, let's get to the main attraction!"

"So how are we going to do this," asked Keiji. "We need someone to do the head slicing."

Naruto felt Hinata's warmth next to him as they walked in the familiar cold and lifeless halls that they had once met at. He knew that his presence made her feel safe and he began to rethink the idea, wanting not to destroy that safety that she found in him. A rock and hard place was where he was, for on the one hand, he may lose the woman he loved with all his heart, but on the other, he might just lose the respect of the guys. In the end it would have been him to break up the prank, but something else wished for that, something that had been hunting them for some time, tracking their every step.

"Did you know that a massacre too place here," asked Kiba. He didn't know who that question was cutting into like a sharp kunai.

"Yes, my entire clan was massacred here," replied Keiji, his voice hid his rage well. You wouldn't guess that he had the strongest urge to tear the boy limb from limb.

"And you've returned to complete the deed," said a raspy voice from the shadow. Out stepped something that was pale with a jaw hung off of one of its hinges and had a deep cut in the torso.

"What the fuck is this," asked Kankuro shocked and confused.

"I think it's one of the reanimated corpses of Keiji's clan," said Shino in his calm voice. "It's probably genjutsu the girls thought up."

When he tried to release nothing worked and the girls looked just as scared as the boys were. Just as Naruto was about to say something, a string of rotted hands shot up from the floor dragging Keiji down into the floorboard.

"KEIJI," cried Anko as she tried to pull her husband up from the hole, but the hands were to strong. "Don't just stand there you idiots, HELP ME!"

As soon as they moved to help the floor gave way dropping them into an underground passage. The dead were everywhere and they didn't look like the grateful dead, but the hungry late night horror movie zombies. One stretched its hand out to try and grab Hinata, but found it was missing from its wrist and soon, its head was missing from its neck.

"Hinata stay behind me," said Naruto pointing his sword. He spotted an unconscious Keiji being carried by the mysterious blue ninja that had plagued their lives for the past four years. "I'll go for Keiji, Sanjuro you stay with Hinata. I'll leave you to protect her. Everyone who wants to stay and help him can stay, but the ones who don't follow me."

Ino, Temari, Shikamaru, and Kankuro stayed while the others went to fight through the zombie hordes. Sanjuro seeing his opportune moment, decided totake his chance to set his plans in motion, but first thing was first. Store Hinata in a place where she wouldn't be hurt.

"I'm taking Hinata out of here, I'll need you guys to watch my six while I'm running," said Sanjuro.

"Okay," said Temari. "We should be able to keep them here while you get her out. Now go!"

Hotsuma felt like things were going his way when he saw the man named Sanjuro leave. He could tell that Sanjuro wanted that woman in his arms with all his heart and it was causing him to take her away from the safety of her comrades. Hotsuma didn't care about Keiji anymore. Though he might have some form of a chance, the one called Naruto would be an even bigger catch. He'd so wanted to fight the man, but instead he let damn Hanshin fight him, but it only helped to have another person take his place, someone with greater powers, who would weaken his prey more than the zombies would. Then again, he'd expected Ishikawa to be busy fighting Gaara, who would most likely kill Ishikawa. Hotsuma was clever enough to give Keiji a fake name instead of his real name so he couldn't track him, adding to his infuriation. He loved playing with people's heads, it gave him pleasure, but none as great as the pleasure he gained from fighting, the rush of adrenaline that came from putting one's life on the line.

Snapping himself out of his musings, Hotsuma dropped down on the man known as Sanjuro who put up a decent fight with his sword, but Hotsuma was just using a kunai. His sword strokes were a different story altogether.

"Who the hell are you," asked Sanjuro.

"As far as you're concerned, I am death," said Hotsuma dangerously. "Now, I'm afraid, it's time for your life to end."

"What do you want with me?"

"I don't want you! I want her! That will infuriate the Kyuubi to no end, I'm sure. What the hell were you thinking when you tried to kidnap her?"

"I wasn't thinking," said Sanjuro looking down in shame. He could feel Hinata's eyes on him. "This girl is something I need in my life, something makes everything else meaningless. Even she'll still be with Naruto in the end, I won't let you have her."

"Are a little crazy over there? I think you're crazy."

"Fuck you!"

Sanjuro charged at him with his sword and started using additional clones to assist in the attack on Hotsuma. Even though Hotsuma easily dispatched of the clones, he fell victim to a jutsu that trapped him in tornado of shuriken. Sanjuro could the see then smoke from the substitution jutsu and quickly turned to parry the thrust that was coming for him, but surprisingly a blast of chakra knocked him to the ground. When he tried to regain his feet, he felt a sword cut through him and then another. His body was cut to ribbons by a hail of shuriken and he could see the approaching figure. He could see the sword that would end his life being raised, but then he could see something else. He saw Hinata fighting off the zombies that served his murderer. At the end of his life, Sanjuro realized that his desire would not only claim his life, but also the life of the woman he loved. Tears fell down his cheek like raindrops as the sword reached the end of its journey up and it was going to be mercilessly slow coming down.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," said Sanjuro as he saw the sword come down. But it never reached his head, instead it was stopped midway by another sword, one made of sand.

"I believe we have a fight to continue," said Gaara as he pushed Hotsuma back with his sand sword.

"Oh yes, I thought you'd be fighting Ishikawa, since he believed that nonsense about having someone to fight you," said Hotsuma. He turned to the yellow figure that was hanging from the ceiling. "So are you going to be coming down anytime soon?"

"I was waiting for the other to show up," said Ishikawa. "Looks like he just got in."

"I sure did," said Naruto, appearing out of virtually nowhere.

"Well looks like it's two on two," said Hotsuma. He turned to Ishikawa and said, "You see Ishikawa, fate will always put us on the same side."

"When this is done, I will be your opponent," declared Ishikawa.

"Hey don't jump the gun, you forgot about me," said Narutp holding his sword out.

Gaara didn't say anything; he just sent his sand out to attack his enemies and the fight started just like that.