Chapter Four.
The wall of noise and odor rising up from the masses bellow her seemed far off and muted. The task of searching the entire neighborhood for survivors now seemed daunting to the point of impossible. Finding Hinata alive and rescuing her again, even more so.
She looked down at the small grates than collected water runoff for the drainage tunnels, thinking she might catch a glimpse of Hinata running through them. She fancied she could see movement; too much to be Hinata, but enough to be her pursuers. It meant nothing. Dozens might have followed her in and were now chasing her all over. Or perhaps they had caught her already and now couldn't find their way out.
She had a decision to make: leave Hinata for dead and try her luck elsewhere, or make an attempt to find out what happened to her. Searching the entire city without a Byakugan user now seemed silly, but going after Hinata into the drainage tunnels seemed suicidal.
The idea of using her chakra to stick to the tunnels side to keep from being soaked in the purple fluid floated into her mind, making her pay more attention to the ground bellow. She was looking for a good spot to bust through and make a run for it, when she heard something slap onto the roof behind her.
She spun around with her weapons drawn, thinking the zombies had learned to climb. Her heart nearly exploded from joy as she saw Hinata crawling up onto the roof, looking a little haggard but none the worse for wear.
"Hinata!" Sakura shouted, running over towards her and looking her over for wounds. Her feet looked dry as well.
Hinata was breathing hard, but managed a weak smile. "Looks like I went the wrong way," she said.
Sakura wanted to apologize for seemingly abandoning her, but agreed that Hinata had gone in the wrong direction. "How did you…?"
"I ran down the side of the tunnel. Used my chakra to stick to the wall. When I got far enough ahead of them, I sort of came to my senses. I know a chakra technique that keeps enemies away and attacks at the same time."
Sakura grinned, reminding herself that Hinata wasn't exactly helpless. In a pinch, the two of them could likely take many, many, zombies down with them; even more if Tsunade and Shikamaru were there as well. Perhaps after all of the survivors had been found, they could go on a cleanup mission, but right now, they needed to conserve their energy.
"Should we try the tunnels again?" Sakura asked.
Hinata shook her head. "They're not safe anymore. And even if we did stick to the walls, the smell is enough to make you faint. My chakra moved some of the air around, and that's the only reason I could breath."
Hinata slumped down on the roof and began taking deep breaths. The air of Konoha had been fouled by the teeming masses of corpses beneath their feet. Still, it was preferable to the air in the tunnels bellow. "So rooftops it is then," Sakura said, picking up the grappling hook.
"No," Hinata said, standing up again. "I ran a long way before I stopped. I got to see the rest of the neighborhood. We can go."
There, that was it. the entire Hyuga clan, save one, had been wiped out. Another little piece adding to the realization that Konoha, her home, was no more. It made Sakura want to cry again, but like before, no tears came. "Alright then. Let's scan the rest of my area and then we'll go meet up with the others. We might end up using you to look over the whole village."
Hinata nodded, happy to be useful. Using the grappling hook along with patience, they made their way to the wall surrounding the Hyuga homes. Using the rooftops, they began canvassing Sakura's third of Konoha.
Sakura was elated at the speed in which they covered ground. Hinata's Byakugan was saving her an unfathomable amount of trouble, plus it was far more reliable than searching the normal way.
Her good feeling came to and end when Hinata stopped and grew silent. "What is it?" Sakura asked.
"It's…wait…we have to hurry," Hinata said, pointing to a hotel on the other side of the street surrounded by zombies.
"What, why, is someone alive?" Sakura asked, following Hinata over to a section of housing with its roof a little closer to the hotel than the one they were on.
"It's Ino," Hinata said. "She's locked in a bathroom and she's hurt."
"Hurt, how?" Sakura asked, hurling the grappling hook over to the hotel and watching the hook smash through one of the windows.
"Her leg looks hurt," Hinata said. "Choji is there too, only he's…"
"A zombie," Sakura said, fixing the other end of the rope around a ventilation stack. Making the rope tight, she used her chakra to walk across, thinking about how she was going to have to kill Choji in a few minutes. She caught herself wondering if his eating habits from life had carried over and made him an even fiercer zombie than normal, but shook that thought for Ino.
Her friend was alive. All of that patching up they had done hadn't been a waste after all. The real waste was the years they spent as rivals, Sakura thought. If she could rescue Ino, they might end up having even more years to make up for the mistake.
Sakura peered through the window as she entered, making sure it was clear. She waited for Hinata to come in before proceeding forward, trusting her to warn of threats before she opened any doors.
"Which way?" Sakura said, going out into the hall.
"Left." Hinata's voice was distant, but held a ring of urgency. "Watch out, there are a few of them around the corner."
As if on cue, four zombies came around the bend in the hallway. Three civilians and one shinobi. The Shinobi was covered in bite marks, mostly on the face. The soft flesh covering his teeth had been torn off and he was missing an eye. Sakura thought he looked familiar, but with his wounds, it was impossible to tell who he had been.
Sakura sent a kunai flying at the shinobi and let out a small gasp when he ducked. The weapon embedded into the wall behind the zombies as they came lurching forward, the shinobi taking the lead.
She rushed forward to meet them and planted a powerful kick into the chest of the zombified shinobi. He flew backward, knocking down two zombies behind him. Sakura thought they might be women, but they had been torn up to the point where it was too hard to tell in the heat of the moment.
The third zombie, a teenage boy, lunged at Sakura. She drove her elbow into the side of his head, crushing his skull and sending him to the ground. "Duck!" Hinata shouted.
Sakura ducked and watched two flashes of metal go above her head where she had been standing. One struck a zombie in the temple, making it shudder and go limp. The other hit the shinobi in the throat as he stood up; if he felt pain or even noticed the knife sticking out of his trachea, he gave no sign.
Taking a few steps back to the stairwell that would have taken them downstairs, she grabbed into the banister and pulled, taking a two meter section of thick wood with her.
The shinobi was charging again. This time, Sakura met him with the chunk of wood, driving it into face with all of her strength. The front of his skull caved like a melon and he dropped to his knees, finally dead. Using the wood like a javelin, Sakura hurled it at the last zombie. The shot went low and penetrated the things chest, imbedding itself in the wall and pinning the zombie.
Plucking the kunai from the throat of the downed shinobi, she drove it through the temple of the one she had pinned. Now that the battle was over, an eerie silence had passed over the house, broken only by a rhythmic pounding, coming from down the hallway.
"That's Choji," Hinata said. "We should hurry."
Sakura gave the carnage one look, picked up their weapons, and ran towards the sound of Choji pounding on the bathroom door. There was no time to reflect on the brutality she had just committed. Her one thought as she ran was that if she didn't think about any of it now, there would be less to remember later. Perhaps her brain would let her forget so long as she didn't dwell on anything.
The pounding stopped as Sakura reached the door to the room Ino and Choji were in. It was slightly ajar and Sakura wasted no time in kicking it the rest of the way open. Choji was standing still by the bathroom door, the thick wood scratched and dented from his efforts to enter. Given more time, Sakura thought he would've been able to break through.
His hair and face were stained purple and his face sported deep scratches. "Sakura," he said taking a step towards her with his arms outstretched. "Sakura."
Sakura was paralyzed. He was saying her name. He recognized her. Was there something of the real Choji still left inside him? Before he had spoken, Sakura had been ready to kill Choji; the rationalization being that he was no longer the boy she had known for years. It had been the same with Neji, only killing Neji had taken less mental prepping.
"Choji?" she said, taking a step back and getting ready to knock him backward if and when he attacked her. "Choji, it's me, Sakura. Say something."
"Sakura," Choji said, licking his lips. Dark fluid coated his tongue and teeth. She now noticed the large amount of dried blood on his chest. Choji had been eating.
"Sakura," he said again, knocking over a coffee table. "Meat…eat…"
She had to end this and she had to end it now. Seeing someone she had known and liked reduced to such a state was too much. It was like seeing Shizune all over again. Air brushed past her hear and suddenly there was a blade sticking out of Choji's eye. Sakura turned to see Hinata with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be," Sakura said, rushing over to the bathroom door. It was locked, so she tore the knob off. On the floor was Ino, who began sliding herself backward towards the bathtub with one leg. The other was bent at a horribly odd angle at the knee; the flesh surrounding it a deep shade of purple.
"Ino, it's me," Sakura said, rushing over to her friend.
"Sakura," Ino said, breathing heavily, her fear subsiding as she saw that Sakura wasn't a zombie. "C-Choji, he, he's…"
"At peace now," Sakura said. "How's your leg?"
Ino looked down at her bent knee. "Broken," she said. "At the knee. I was running up the stairs and got knocked backward."
"You haven't been bitten, have you?" Sakura said, hoping that finding Ino alive wasn't too good to be true.
"No," Ino said defensively. "I wasn't rained on either, in case you couldn't tell."
Sakura smiled, glad to see Ino was still Ino. "I'm just glad you're alive," Sakura said. "So many people are dead."
Ino's face fell and the pain in her leg seemed to show more on her face. "I know…my parents are dead…so is Choji."
"Shikamaru is alive," Sakura said. "So is the Hokage. Hinata is with me, too."
"He is?" Ino said, her face brightening. "Where is he?"
"Searching Konoha for survivors along with the Hokage. I found Hinata earlier today. She found you with her Byakugan."
Ino nodded, giving her leg a wary look. "I haven't been able to do much with my leg…not with Choji out there."
Sakura reached into a pouch in her belt and fished out a small pill. "Pain killer," she said. "We'll wait for it to take effect, then I'll set your leg and heal it."
Ino took the pill and swallowed it. Sakura noticed that Ino didn't have a side pouch in which she would have carried her own medical equipment. Either she had used it all, or had been caught off guard. "Are we going to be safe for a while, Hinata?" Sakura asked, looking at Ino's knee, thinking about which direction it needed to be bent before she made the cells regenerate.
"Downstairs isn't safe, but I don't think any of them know we're up here," Hinata said, turning her head. "We should be quiet though."
They passed a few minutes in silence, waiting for the pain medication to take effect. "I think it's ready," Ino said, looking uncertain.
Sakura grabbed Ino by the ankle and just above the knee. "On three. One, two, three." Sakura straitened Ino's leg with a sickening crunch. Ino let out a squeak of pain, shut her eyes and gritted her teeth so hard Sakura thought she might chip a tooth. "There, I think everything's straight," Sakura said.
Ino opened her eyes, now shiny with tears. "It had better be, because we're not doing that again." Ino's pained smile made Sakura feel a little more confident. With the knee straight, she began pouring chakra into the wound, evening out Ino's own chakra and causing the swelling to go down.
By the time the treatment was complete, Ino's knee still looked bruised. "Nothing to do but let it heal," Sakura said. "Can you stand?"
Ino could, but needed Sakura's help. Together, they limped out into the room to see if Ino could stand. For a second it looked like she might fall, but she steadied herself and attempted to hobble on her own with success. She wouldn't be able to outrun anything or climb very well, but she was still mobile. "Give me a few more of those pills," Ino said. "In case."
Sakura passed her two pills and noticed that Hinata had covered Choji's body with part of the rug. She thought she saw Ino giving the lump a glance, but couldn't tell. "Thanks," Ino said, stuffing the pills into her pocket. "What now?"
Both Hinata and Ino were looking at Sakura. She suddenly felt unsure of herself with two people, one of them injured, looking to her to make decisions. Decisions that, if wrong, could end their lives. She didn't know what to do.
"Okay…" Sakura said, thinking. "Well, we need to finish our sweep. But Ino, you can't get around with your leg like it is."
Ino put a little more weight on her leg and winced. "No, not really. Maybe if you went and found the Hokage, she could do a better job."
It sounded like Ino had insulted Sakura, but she knew it was true. Tsunade would be able to fix Ino's leg within minutes and have her ready to travel. "Alright, here's the plan," Sakura said. "I want you two to hide here. Hinata, you can keep an eye out in case the zombies decide there's something up here for them to eat. If they come, Ino, you swallow another pill and get onto the roof. We'll worry about the added damage to it later."
"Where are you going?" Hinata asked.
"To find the Hokage. Like Ino said, she's a much better healer than I am. She'll have Ino walking in no time and then we can search for more survivors without having to leave Ino alone someplace." Aside from thinking this was the smart thing to do, she was also curious to know how Tsunade and Shikamaru were doing. If they were alive and if they had found anybody had been pressing questions on her mind, although she hadn't quite realized it until now.
"When should we expect you back?" Ino asked.
"I don't know," Sakura said. "We're supposed to meet up before dark near the Hokage's office building. If I don't find her before then, I'll lead her back her when we meet. So, shortly after dark at the latest."
Ino raised an eyebrow. "That's a long time to wait." Her gaze had drifted back over to Choji's covered body. "I'm not waiting in this room, regardless."
"I understand," Sakura said. "Anyone will do, just so long as you can bar the door and keep out of sight. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Alright then," Ino said. "I guess it's the best course of action. We'll be down the hall."
They parted with nods, refusing to say goodbye. Sakura made her way back down the hall, wanting to exit onto the roof where the least amount of zombies would notice her and come near the walls. She didn't want anymore than was necessary finding their way into the building.
Houses were clustered tighter towards the center of the village and there were more trees between the buildings. Sakura took no chances and slowly made her way towards the center of town where she hoped she would spot Tsunade, or be spotted in turn.
The zombie population was heaviest in the town square. Standing atop a high building and looking down on what had once been a bustling center of activity and life, Sakura had time to think. That wasn't a good thing, as she had no new information. Who had done this to them and why was still a mystery. Nor did she have the luxury of mourning the loss of her home, family, and friends.
She let out a loud, shrill scream, pouring all of her confusion, despair and anger into her throat, letting some of the emotions go. She took a deep breath and screamed again, this time slumping down and beginning to sob. What she felt was pain, but it felt good to let it out.
The soft sound of feet hitting the roof behind her made her turn her head sharply. It was Tsunade. The Hokage looked none the worse for wear, but looked worried as she walked towards Sakura. "What happened? Did you finish your sweep already?"
Coughing and rubbing her eyes hard, she choked back the flood of emotions that had overtaken her and stood up, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."
"I'm not one to talk," Tsunade said. "It's actually amazing how well you and Shikamaru have kept it together."
Shikamaru. Ino wanted to see Shikamaru. Shaking her head to clear it, Sakura pointed back the way she came. "I found Hinata Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka. Well, Hinata found Ino, but I found Hinata and…"
"So why aren't they with you?" Tsunade asked.
"Ino's leg is injured. I fixed the worst of it, but she still can't run or climb. I thought you might be able to fully restore it so she could move around on her own again."
Nodding, Tsunade extended her hand and helped Sakura to her feet. "And you left Hinata with her for protection. Good thinking."
The compliment made her feel a little better about having a breakdown as well as her decision to leave the two other girls. Her chief worry had been returning only to find them both dead. "Have you found anyone?" she asked.
Tsunade closed her eyes briefly. "Not alive. Most of what I've been doing is mercy killings. Just the people I knew well, or liked. We don't have the time right now to do them all."
The idea of having to kill everyone in Konoha at some point was not pleasant. She supposed that, given enough time, they could accomplish it. "Do you think that whoever did this will come here?" Sakura asked. "You know, to see their handiwork?"
Tsunade looked up at the sky, now clear and blue. "I don't know anymore than you do, but my instinct is telling me that this wasn't the work of enemy shinobi."
"Maybe it was some country then. A science project gone wrong or…"
"That could be it. Like I said, I really don't know. Still…"
The Hokage's face had taken on a thoughtful, distant tone. Sakura got the impression that the Hokage might have a better informed opinion on what had happened, but for some reason wasn't sharing. "What? What is it?"
Tsunade looked sharply at Sakura. For a moment it looked as though she would chastise her and tell her not to ask anymore questions, but her look softened. "That cloud was dropping that purple substance all over the ground as it came at us, and I'd guess that it kept doing so after it passed over. That means, that whoever unleashed it, if it was anybody at all, infected a massive, massive area of land and running water."
Her stomach felt like it might jump out of her body and leave forever. Her only thoughts had been of Konoha. She hadn't given consideration to whomever else might have been hit. "H-how far do you think it got?"
"Why don't we go see Ino?" Tsunade said, running over the edge of the building, slow enough to encourage Sakura to follow. As they ran over rooftops and leapt over tree branches to get across streets, Sakura shouted more questions.
"How bad do you think it is?" she shouted.
"I can't say for sure," Tsunade shouted back. "Lead the way; I don't know where you left them."
Out in front, it was harder to press Tsunade for her opinion. She had to think about their route and remember where the building she had left Ino and Hinata in was located.
When they reach the rooftop of their destination, Sakura stopped. "Hold up," she said. "At least tell me who you know is dead. Start with people I know."
Tsunade looked annoyed. "Why don't I tell the four of you together so I only have to say it once?"
Sakura nodded, ashamed for not thinking of that. She led Tsunade into the building and towards where she had first met up with Ino. Hinata walked out into the hallway to greet them. "Hokage," Hinata said. "It's good to see you." She bowed slightly.
"Could you all stop calling me Hokage?" she said, walking past Hinata and into the room she had come out of. Ino was lying on a couch with her wounded leg propped up on a pillow. "There's no more village to be a Hokage of."
None of them argued the point while she began focusing chakra into Ino's leg. A smile spread across the young woman's face as her knee healed before her eyes. She gave it a practice bend and immediately stood up. "No pain. Thanks, Ho…Tsunade."
"Don't mention it," Tsunade said. "And here we thought we'd have large clumps of survivors to look after…" her tone was light and playful, but everyone knew it really wasn't. "Ino, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Your Mind Body Switch technique…will it work on a zombie?"
All of them went quiet, especially Ino. She seemed to be more appalled at the idea rather than confused by its logistics. "I…I don't know."
"How would you like to try it out?"
Once again, all were silent. The idea of being inside one of those creatures was quite possibly the most disturbing thing any of them had heard recently. "I-I guess I'd really rather not. With all do respect."
"Hinata can see through walls with her Byakugan. It keeps her, and anyone she's searching with, from needlessly risking their lives by going into a building where there's no one alive. If you could enter the mind of one of those things, you could do roughly the same thing."
Now Ino actually seemed to be considering it. "I guess I could try."
They were on the roof in short order. All eyes were on Ino as she selected a target at random and preformed her jutsu; the one that would put her mind into the body of a zombie, allowing her to control it. Tsunade stood behind her, waiting to catch her limp form after her mind left it.
Ino preformed the technique. Her hands fell from her forehead and her body went slack into Tsunade's arms. She let Ino gently down as she looked to see the results. The body of a young male zombie, a civilian who wasn't sporting too many wounds, went rigid and then slack.
Now it was looking around and down at itself as though it were someone who had just woken up from a bout of sleepwalking. It looked around with wide, fearful eyes, but wasn't attacked. It looked over at the rooftop and waved. "Looks like it worked," Sakura said.
The body of the zombie suddenly stumbled and collapsed. Ino's body twitched and sat up quickly, steadied by Tsunade. "Oh, dear God, it's awful," Ino said. "They still have minds but…"
Tsunade shook her a little. "But? But what? How much of them is left?" Her words were almost shouts, and Sakura now saw the other reason Tsunade had Ino do the Mind Body Switch technique.
"N-nothing," Ino said. "Aside from the basics and a little memory. Mostly they only want to eat."
"Why don't they eat one another?" Tsunade asked.
Ino looked confused. She had been put in quite a difficult spot without preparation. "I, uh…they want to eat…people. Fresh people…please, I don't want to think about it."
"You have to,' Tsunade said. "I need to know more about them. Is there anything in there on why they want to eat living human flesh?"
Ino shook her head, hard, sending her pony-tail whipping around. "No, no, no. There's no reason. They just want to eat people, I don't know why."
"Leave her alone," Sakura said. "Their brains won't tell us anything we don't already know."
Tsunade turned sharply on Sakura and looked like she was about to say something she had been meaning to say for a while. Instead, she seemed to deflate. Blowing a strand of hair from her face, she let go of Ino. "I'm sorry. I hate to admit this, but I'm completely in dark here. Any little bit we can learn would be invaluable."
"It's alright," Ino said. "I understand. I can go back in and use their bodies as scouts…"
"Good," Tsunade said. "That was my intention all along, I just thought…"
"Why don't Hinata and I finish my section of the town," Sakura said. "You and Ino can do yours."
"Actually, we'll find Shikamaru and Ino will help him. No offense kids, but I've got more tricks than all of you combined."
"We'll still meet before dark like we planned, right?" Sakura said.
"Of course. Shikamaru has to be brought up to speed. Assuming he hasn't already figured everything out."
Tsunade and Ino left, heading back towards the center of town. She was glad she wasn't going to be the one to tell Shikamaru that Choji was dead. They had been friends since they were young. Sakura didn't picture it being a pretty scene. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to be in the secret room come nightfall. It would be then that Tsunade would list off the dead.
"Let's get this done," Sakura said.
"Okay," Hinata said, sounding tired. Together, they continued their search using Hinata's Byakugan.
To be continued…