Hello again. No, I'm not dead. I've just haven't had the drive to continue these projects ever since I've started on my own original projects that I'll talk about later. Anyway, I'm going to try and finnish these now that school is almost over.

Thanks to all my reviewers for pushing me forward, edwardelric16, BIG BOY LLOYD, Aisuma, narutodippy, doryishness, CandyGirl999, AJW1893, Dr.Doom23, kaiju3, t-fly (you especially), Chromde, EvilFaeirie17, killroy777, I have no name, LordFrieza, and Big Daddy Cool.

The sun was setting against the green hillsides, disappearing behind the treetops and igniting the sky in a beautiful mixture of red and orange. At the edge of the forest the trees cast long, dark shadows against an open field, contrasting with the yellowish tint the ground had taken from the sun.

Unfortunately for the two men walking across the field, they had no time to take in the beauty around them as they were preoccupied looking for a pair of teenagers.

"I swear, when I get my hands on that boy…" one of them grumbled, keeping a sharp eye towards the woods.

His friend chuckled, "Oh lay off him a bit. They're young and in love, course they're going to run off a few times. Remember when you where that age?"

"Bah."

The man sighed at his friend's lack of romantic thoughts, "I don't see how you ever got married. Come on then, we'll check by the river once more before heading back to the village."

Without any argument the two set off for the river, hoping to find those two before it got dark.

Little did the two know that had they simply taken the time to search the woods they would have discovered exactly what had become of their children.

"How many?"

Perched on a high tree branch, Neji sat watching the two peasants making their way across the field. Their chakra signatures, though no where near shinobi level, where like glowing beacons standing out in the darkness. Never in all his life could Neji remember seeing something so beautiful, so tempting. He felt the hunger rising within him…

"Neji!"

Kakashi's stern voice broke him out of his daze. "Only dwo," he answered, "I imagine dhey'll bring bacg more dhough when dhey don'd find anydhing."

Kakashi nodded, turning back to their "campsite," a small opening surrounded by thick trees. The remains of the two lovers lay strewn about in a bloody mess. Bit's and pieces of the girl, no older than sixteen, covered the forest floor staining the dirt crimson and filling the air with the sickening smell of meat left out in the sun.

Might Gai sat in the middle of the gore, the boy leaning against his chest as bit into his neck. Blood flowed out in streams as he tore out huge chunks of flesh, causing the boys body to spasm uncontrollably. Against all odds, the boy was still alive. His tears mixed with the blood running down his face as he stared at the body of his love, desecrated beyond recognition. Rock Lee was kneeling over her, gnawing on the remaining flesh of her once beautiful face, her one remaining eye staring at him lifelessly.

"Yo Gai," Kakashi called out, already having eaten his fill, "finish him off already. You wait to long he's going to come back, and you know what a pain that will be."

Without another word of motivation Gai lifted his fist and slammed it down on the boys head. A sickening crunch filled the air as it came down, shattering the boy's skull and causing bone fragments to rip their way past his skin and hair. The boy's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body gave one last jerk before all life faded from him, and after a few more tries Gai finally managed to crack open a large enough hole for him to rip out the brains which he eagerly stuffed into his mouth.

While this was happening Kakashi made his way towards a slowly moving lump on the ground. As he watched the severed head of Kabuto was trying desperately to maneuver his way over to a lump of meat they had left out specifically for him. He was only a few inches away at by this point, which prompted a spattering of curses from him as Kakashi lifted him up by his pony-tail.

"Are you ready to talk?" The copy-nin asked.

Kabuto's eyes looked at him desperately though his broken glasses, "Yes, yes, God yes! I'll tell you anything!"

Kakashi held up a fistful of meat, giving it a tender squeeze so that the blood ran down his arm. "I imagine you'll want this before it goes bad," he said as Kabuto stuck his tongue out in an attempt to catch one of the droplets. "So tell me, where did this start?"

"Orochimaru," Kabuto said without hesitation. "He created this virus somehow. His plan was to infect ninja from Konoha, who afterwards he expected to return home to spread the infection." A smirk grew on Kabuto's face despite his overwhelming hunger, a remnant of his own odd personality. "It appears he underestimated your intelligence."

Kakashi gave the piece of meat another squeeze, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

Kabuto dropped his smile, turning his attention back to the object of his desire. "I told you what you wanted to know, now give it to me!"

"Not yet," said Kakashi, "What about…" His words trailed off momentarily, knowing the answer before it even left his lips. "What about a cure?"

Kabuto scoffed, "Look around you, do you honestly think anything could cure this?"

Kakashi didn't bother to respond, accepting it as the truth. It was odd though. He knew that if by some miracle he could be cured of this infection and return to the way things where he would have never been able to live with what he had done. Whatever force was driving him on, the hunger or some depraved will to survive it was stronger than the honor and morals he had held so highly in life.

That terrified him.

Satisfied Kakashi lifted the piece of meat to Kabuto's mouth, almost losing a finger to the hungry set of jaws. The copy-nin watched in disgust as Kabuto greedily chewed on the raw meat, the remains of which slid out his throat hole and plopped on the ground.

Sighing he let Kabuto drop to the ground and turned back to face his teammates who were still feasting. Neji had abandoned his post to fight with Lee over one of the boys legs, and Kakashi had to give him a kick in the head to break them apart.

"Knock it off," he chastised. "Your ninja, act like it."

His discipline the only thing holding him back, Neji gave Kakashi an apologetic bow. "My abologies Gagashi-san, bud I was sdarding do ged hungry again."

"We've all had plenty to eat already." Kakashi said with a glare, "You can hold out for a little while longer."

Neji didn't argue. "So whad's ned? Do we addack dhad village as blanned?"

Kakashi considered it, and had he not had several pounds of girl meat resting in his stomach he would have probably consented, but as of now his instincts of a ninja where stronger than his hunger.

"No, Naruto and the rest will in all likelihood have returned to Konoha by now. We can't risk leaving to obvious a trail for them to follow us."

"So what then? Do we have some sort of destination?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, we're going to pay a visit to Orochimaru." He pointed a finger at Kabuto's head, making sure his intentions were clear, "And you're going to lead us to him.

"Whatever," the head said unenthusiastically.

Tsunade felt her fists clench underneath the table. Slowly, she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding and placed her hands back on her desk, locking her fingers and putting up the demeanor of one who was in complete control.

"Alright," she spoke calmly, "Tell me again what happened."

"It's exactly what we told you!" An angry Naruto shouted at her, jumping from his seat in his frustration. The two ANBU guards posted in the room shifted slightly at his outburst, but made no move to restrain him after a gesture from the Hokage.

"I know that," the Hokage said with a firm voice, "but I want to hear it again, and this time without any outbursts."

That wasn't good enough for Naruto. "But Tsunade…!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto grimaced, knowing that he needed to calm down but not liking it, sat back in his chair next to Sakura who had her eyes cast down at the floor. Across from them Sai stood leaning against the wall, his face as impassive as ever.

Satisfied, Tsunade began "Now, Sai arrived some time before you did and gave us a rundown of what had happened in the village." She glanced between the two of them. "But I want to go over the fact again. Naruto, you said…"

"It's as they said," Sakura interrupted, looking up at her sensei. "The mission was a trap. It was simply a lure to try and infect us with a new virus, presumably created by Orochimaru."

Tsunade nodded, that was a good call based on the evidence they provided. "And this virus, you're telling me it turned people into…"

"Zombies," Sai finished.

Tsunade put her hand to her head, "You expect me to believe…"

'I personally preformed on one of them and Neji before he turned," Sakura testified, now in full medic mode. "Physically, their bodies were dead. All major organs and bodily functions had shut down and where showing signs of decay. The brain, nerves, and chakra system were the only remaining functional systems, although they did not respond to external stimuli such as pain."

Tsunade looked at Sakura, her eyes telling her everything she needed. Sakura had the eyes of someone who had seen people they cared about being torn from them, and something even more horrifying Tsunade couldn't place. Whatever happened out there, zombies or no, would scar her student for the rest of her life. She recognized those eyes.

"Alright then," Tsunade stood up and looked at her guards, a thousand thoughts going through her head.

"I want the council assembled within the next half-hour, and the head of every major family there."

"The Hyuuga are currently-"one of the ANBU began.

"I don't give a damn!" She shot back. "Make it happen, and I want messages for every team on a non-essential mission to return home ready to be sent on my order."

The ANBU nodded and disappeared in a flash of speed, leaving Tsunade alone with the three ninja.

Carefully Tsunade approached Naruto, who was shaking in his seat. She placed a calming hand on his shoulder though she knew it would be little consolation.

"They're really dead..." Naruto whispered.

"I know," the Hokage whispered back.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, staring off into space.

"Yes Sakura?"

"How is Tenten doing?"

Tsunade glanced out the window, "She'll be fine. We have a specialist in the Hyuuga technique looking at her, so she should be healed in a day or two."

Tsunade gritted her teeth and turned away from her student. She knew it wouldn't be long before the Hyuuga where pounding at her door demanding why they needed one of their medics, and why Neji had not returned with his teammate. She wouldn't be able to keep this under wraps for long.

This was the biggest security breach in the history of Konoha. Four high-class ninja, two of them among the most skilled and respected in the village, were possible now working against them. Added to that, if all of what she had been told was true, they could have reinforcements added to their numbers in a relatively short amount of time.

"So what happens now?" Sai asked.

Tsunade wished she had the answer to that.

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