Forward Unto Dawn Chapter 12: Wear Your Past Like Your Armor, a Naruto + Highschool of the Dead Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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"Rika, got positive control of the copter. Starting take off." Tajima's voice funneled into Rika's ear via radio over the sounds of the helicopter.

"East and West, all clear." Rika replied back as she settled herself in on the helicopter.

"Roger that. Hostiles approaching from the north... May need... Belay that." Tajima said as he watched the winds from the helicopter blow a set of zombies onto their backs.

Rika gave a sigh as she watched the ground slowly but surely get further and further from her, thankful that whatever these creatures truly were lacked ranged capabilities.

"Well now Rika... Looks like you're going to get home!" Tajima's voice called out loudly to her as the reached higher in the sky.

'Home...' Rika thought to herself with a small smile on her face. That concept was completely foreign to her. It was frankly foreign to most people she was even close to. Even the small place she had in her name wasn't really home for her, it was more so just a resting place before her next assignment.

"Yeah I don't know about that Tajima." She called back with a small smile on her face as she let her mind drift toward seeing her friend after quite a long time.

"Did nothing get through that thick skull of your's Rika? Home isn't a place! It's where the heart is!" Tajima replied with conviction as he slowly operated the vehicle turning it's course to their destination.

Rika's train of thought about seeing Shizuka caused her to freeze as she let the foreign idea sink into her skin.

But family? Friends? That type of shit is our shoreline. When all other shit goes to hell, when all else fails? That is what guides you home. And trust me, as a person that has had that? You're always tryin' to get home.

Home is where the heart is.

Rika sat down and pursed her lips at that as she forced down her conscious thought to simply enjoy the sights of the world passing by her. At least... enjoy the cries of people, burning buildings, and sounds of gunshots to the best of her ability.

She liked to think that somewhere out there... there was a place that was free from the chaos. A place untouched by the misery.

XXXXXXXXX

Three and a Half hours earlier.

Naruto stood on a rooftop now several blocks from the house and looked down upon a crossbow wielding teen.

Oh he wanted to be mad. He wanted to be mad so badly. He had followed expecting to watch a complete and utter failure. He was expecting to be forced to save the larger teen only a couple blocks away from the house. He was perfectly willing to render the boy unconscious, and take him back before sealing the crossbow into a scroll so that the teen couldn't get his hands on it... like he always seemed to do. He was waiting for the teen's failure.

Yet it never came.

That was why as the journey went on, Naruto became less and less frustrated and annoyed, and more and more impressed. It was almost like watching a birds eye view replay of an infiltration mission. The teen was by no means stealthier than a ninja. However it was obvious to Naruto that his earlier assumption that the teen had no idea what he was doing with the crossbow was obviously false.

Jin's footsteps lacked stealth. Naruto knew that if he channeled chakra to his ears, he could probably hear them. It was probably the most basic of basic tactics taught to any and all shinobi in any village that one must subconsciously muffle their movements with a small cloud of chakra on top of being able to walk across creaky wooden floors silently. Jin obviously having no such training didn't have that level of stealth.

However by the same token, the zombies walking around didn't have shinobi training either, so most weren't able to pick up on the boy's movements.

Jin moved at a quick pace, from cover to cover which to Naruto was interesting to watch from a bird's eye view. Naruto came to realize that if the teen really had wanted to grab a weapon, he could have grabbed any weapon Hirano had found in the house. Something like those loud "guns" would have probably been the more impressive weapon. Their projectiles were fast... absurdly so. Naruto could barely see the projectiles that were being shot from those weapons. Although while they were a physical threat to him, they were also incredibly flawed from his point of view. The wielders were overly reliant on their weapons. Hirano could probably not even kill more than a couple zombies absent his projectile based weaponry.

However on top of the projectiles being fast, their power did not come without severe flaws. They were loud. Yet Jin's choice of weaponry, while technically ancient, was the best of both worlds. Incredibly fast and powerful. Yet still retaining it's deadly silence. It probably would have been utilized in the Shinobi world more often if the time it took to arm the weapon would have been shorter.

Jin was smart. Naruto would give him that. At least... tactically smart. Early on into the journey he had stumbled across a young dead child that had a toy slingshot clipped to his clothes. Alongside him even in death was his mother, clad in pink, bathed in blood.

He didn't hesitate. One silent shot sent the mother falling to the ground dead against a brick wall. The child almost as if sensing the disturbance, but not knowing where it came from turned to the loudest sound, which was the fall of his mother. And like a curious child, looked over his mother despite his blind state, before a bolt pierced the back of his skull causing him to collapse in a heap across his mother's legs.

It was at that moment that Jin had collected a tiny pouch of small rocks and glass marbles from the boy's pocket. To say these saved his life on occasion would be an understatement. If Naruto were to be completely honest? They probably saved his life more than the crossbow. He honestly wondered how much of it Jin knew to do on his own. And then how much of it Shido had to experimentally teach the students he escorted out of the school unarmed.

Naruto's expression soured at the thought of the teacher, and what he was going to do about him. What could he do about him? Kill him? He killed people for crimes. Killing people just because he didn't like him or they opposed him? That was beneath him. The moment he started doing that, he knew he would be no better than Gato. He himself didn't like the Tsuchikage. He felt the old man clung to outdated principles. He looked down on the younger generations while trying to retain a sense of authority despite the fact that he was physically on his last legs. A large contrast to other members of the older generation of the world such as Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Samurai Mifune. However just because he didn't like the Tsuchikage, or how the man treated others, or how he personally carried himself... that wasn't a grounds for killing him. Not in the world at war they were in. A world where everyone was trying to band together to survive.

Although with Shido... the man's seemingly lack of morals was disturbing. Naruto wouldn't go out of his way to compare the man to extremists he knew back from his own world like Orochimaru, Tobi, or even Pein. However by the same token, he knew there was something definitely wrong with the man, at least in contrast to the other company in the group.

Naruto couldn't say what had entirely went on downstairs, or even if everyone was completely aware of the situation. All he could legitimately confirm was the rape. Who was technically aware of it or even paying attention to it, or those that were letting it happen? He could not confirm. Far too often had he walked into the ANBU showers, and there would be a couple from a squad taking part in their own form of tension relief and they would be completely oblivious to their surroundings. A feeling he was personally all to familiar with when he spent his moments with Yugao. When absorbed intimately with someone, a lot of perception of the world went away. And it was only when a drastic contrast from the current situation presented itself does that perception shatter.

He smirked at that thought. He remembered walking in on borderline orgies in the shower rooms. Yet he could remember quite clearly in later years Kiba becoming quite the dog with women. So much so that he began to pick up different civilian girls daily. Despite Konoha being a shinobi village, with the sudden loss of the Uchiha Clan Police Force, and the anonymity of ANBU? Couple that with the fact that genin are often too young, Jounin in the village are often in company of children, and chunin are usually stationed at guard duty? The presence of shinobi in the actual village was rather rare.

So naturally the idea of sleeping with a shinobi grew to be almost a mythical conquest for many civilians. It was by no means some form of unheard rarity. However with a civilian population that outnumbers the shinobi population eight to one, and the rarity of shinobi in the village themselves? The idea of a sexual encounter with a shinobi was often a subject whispered about in the civilian educational systems.

Few ninja fancied themselves with civilians simply due to the stress and demand of a shinobi lifestyle numerous problems were faced. Honestly, how do you break it to your loved one that you were going to be gone sometimes weeks or months at a time? That you could potentially die on any trip you take? That you could potentially be asked to sleep with your mark should the situation call for it? Very few civilians could deal with such a situation.

However Kiba who didn't care about having a relationship in the slightest? Civilian women were practically a gold mine for the dog.

'Naruto! I'm telling you! I walk in with my flak vest and the leaf emblem and 9's and 10's are on my like white on rice! Whoever decided to spread rumors of Shinobi having far greater stamina sexually than civilians deserves a fucking medal!'

Naruto snorted at that thought. He wanted to say he could relate. However with being in ANBU and being the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. He lived a drastically different lifestyle than Kiba.

Naruto sighed as he continued to absentmindedly tail Jin. They were nearing the bridge. And while the teen had been successful thus far? His success was going to end as he reached a dead end ahead.

The bridge, while Jin couldn't see it, was filled with zombies. As was the entire opposite side of the small bridge. Trying to cross that with all of them there would be suicide. Or at least so he thought.

It wasn't even minutes later that Naruto was forced to raise an eyebrow at the balls on the teen before him. Whatever he was trying to do had to be important... very important.

'His muscles will give out before he gets across. He's getting desperate. I doubt the kid even realizes how tired he really is.' Naruto thought to himself with pursed lips at the sight before him.

There was a long beam that went along the underside of the bridge. It was easily strong enough to support the teen, and small enough to grapple on to and perhaps wrap his legs around it. The bridge even arched up over the beam in the middle. Yet all it would take would be one small mistake. One slip. One single second of lost determination, and he would be plummeting into the cold night waters in a rather strong current.

Although Naruto's thoughts were unknown to Jin, and for that reason unfazed the boy from his quest.

Naruto watched Jin from a significantly closer distance as he strapped the crossbow onto his back before securing the bolts carefully. It seemed he was extra mindful of the couple he had used repeatedly to kill the undead over the course of the night. Who could really blame him?

Naruto looked on in silence, his black attire making him invisible in the night, practically impossible to see even when being searched for.

Naruto would admit that for a teenage civilian? Jin was pretty impressive. He started off on a hill under the bridge before he proceeded to grip the beam with his two hands. He let go of them for a moment before shaking them quickly, and drying his palms on his shirt. It was clear the boy knew the risks involved with what he was trying to do if his visible nerves were anything to say about it.

He shook his head with a heavy breath before he reached up and decided to jump in feet first. He grabbed the beam and was quick to start moving arm after arm.

Naruto wasn't going to lie to himself, it was a bit stressful to watch. If he were to dub Hirano the most interesting in the house, and Saito the most useful? He didn't necessarily know what he should call the teen before him. However one thing he could call him now was determined, if not reckless.

He was now fifteen feet above ground from his own feet, above a rather hard slope that spilled into the river. He wasn't quite over the river yet. However if he were to fall from his current position? He probably would end up with some form of leg injury from falling wrong in his fatigue.

Naruto moved in closer to the bridge, just behind Jin. The teen would have noticed Naruto if he stopped and looked behind him, but he was in no position to even be thinking about turning around.

Naruto tightened his jaw at the sight before him. Jin practically yelled out in pain with each reach forward at an upwards incline of the bridge. He had made it perhaps twenty some odd pulls upward by this point, an amazing feat. Although also a worrisome one. The teen was now over the river.

Naruto watched carefullly as he channeled a bit of chakra to his eyes to see the scene before him vividly.

"Arrgghh!" he could hear Jin cry out from his suspended form as his arms were beginning to give out on him. And it was at this point he was forced to do one on the most painful things he would have to do on his taxed arms.

He swung back and forth with painful grunts and cries as he tried his very best to lift his legs up onto the beam, and lock them.

Naruto's formerly narrowed eyes however softened as he saw that the teen had gotten one leg up. He was home free for the first h-

'What!' Naruto thought to himself in a panic as he took a few steps forward.

Jin had just spontaneously lost his grip on one hand, causing the teen to lose his footing on the beam as well. He was dangling there suspended by one hand alone.

Naruto added additional chakra to his eyes ignoring the slight pain he was getting from the shackle in his wrist as he zoomed in on Jin's hands. Naruto's narrowed eyes returned as he caught the cause of Jin's predicament.

'Sweat...' Naruto thought to himself as he prepared to get ready to try his best to save the teen if he could even reach him before he hit the water in mid air given the distance he was at.

Jin hung there motionless for a good seven seconds. However those seven seconds felt like years for Naruto. One of the more advanced methods of shinobi training was free solo climbing. Your chakra is temporarily sealed, and you are forced to climb often times a cliff with no equipment. It developed strength and grip for shinobi. However more importantly, Naruto realized how awful sweat or wet surfaces were when trying to cling to something.

Jin was likely operating on both.

Jin visibly took a deep breath at the end of those seven seconds before he wiped his hand off and forced himself to pull up and grab the beam with his other arm. He repeated his earlier motion, this time in a significantly greater deal of pain than the first time.

Upon his success at wrapping his legs, Naruto fought the urge to clap for the teen. It wasn't so much the feat that was impressive. More so his determination in his fatigue. Strength of will and spirit was far more rare to find than strength of the body. That became quite apparent to him when he was forced to be in charge of all shinobi nations and saw all different kinds of people from across the land.

Naruto watched on as Jin used his legs to pull his upper body closer to the beam. He wrapped both of his arms around the beam tightly as he began panting in exhaustion before slowly but surely pulling himself along with his legs as a safety net.

However even Naruto knew the teen wasn't safe yet. If his legs gave out as well as his already exhausted arms, he was done for.

Naruto pursed his lips as he looked over to an identical twin beam not far from the one Jin was on before looking back out to Jin.

He would be lying to himself if he said he had not taken a personal interest in the teen. Hirano was skilled with weapons of this time. Saito apparently had some skill in the technology as well as the geography. Komuro had guts, no necessarily the skills to back it up, but he had a lot of guts. Jin on the other hand was determined. The only question really was what he was determined to do, that is what interested Naruto.

Naruto hopped onto the second beam and proceeded to carry himself across the belly of the bridge to match up with Jin.

Jin laid on top of the beam in the center of the bridge, hugging it to his torso as he panted heavily. Sweat marred his forehead as well as his hands. His muscles in his arms were shaking as he clung to the beam. His legs dangled as if they were lifeless from his position.

He looked down below him only to see a zombie caught by the current on the cement column holding the bridge up. It looked up at him, hearing his panting clearly over the sound of the water. It clawed upwards with scatching growls, only to be plagued by the reality of he would never reach his target... unless his target fell.

Jin squeezed his eyes shut in pain, his eyes fluttering occasionally from taxing and unusual form of physical exertion. Between his occasional slipping and tipping to the side, he felt as if he wanted throw up or collapse. One of the two. He couldn't tell between the pain he was feeling.

Naruto pursed his lips. Not thinking before he spoke was one of his childhood past times. However it had become something that grew to be a completely foreign concept to him over the years. So why Naruto had decided to break that fact, that reality that had sunk in over the years for the case of someone who he didn't care all that much about? He did not know.

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"Kid you... are an idiot. I don't know what you were thinking, because clearly, you aren't ready for this." Uzuki Yugao said as she looked down on a young twelve year old recently promoted chunin, and recently joined ANBU. He was currently sprawled on the floor with numerous cuts and bruises, looking up at the woman defiantly.

"ANBU represent the elite shinobi of Konoha. Not the jounin like the shinobi villages want the populace to believe. We are ghosts, spectres, shadows of society. We are the best and only the best. We risk our lives for the sake of the village, and put our lives on the line for our allies. Hundreds of shinobi apply to become ANBU yearly. Only a third usually make it past the application process. Only half them usually make it past our basic training. And then out of those often seven to thirteen prospectable recruits? Only a choice few believe that ANBU is the occupation for them. And now that brings me to you." Uzuki said before bending forward to get into Naruto's face, an intimidating feat since she was currently wearing her mask.

"Now you Uzumaki Naruto get a free pass. You get a free pass beyond all of these actual prospectable recruits simply because of you gifts. You are the Kyuubi brat, the jinchuriki." Yugao said in a cold tone from behind her mask.

Naruto clenched his jaw at that all to familiar comment. Something Yugao was more than willing to pick on.

"Oh did I offend you? Get over it. The Kyuubi is part of who you are. You should wear that seal like armor or a badge of honor. Accept that you are the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, and then that fact can never be used again to hurt you." Yugao said as she crossed her arms looking down on the blonde. "The Kyuubi is the only reason the Division leader saw fit to accept you application. You are nothing special Naruto. You are not some unique snowflake in Konoha. Every shinobi in our ranks could kill you right where you stand. Every shinobi applying to our ranks right now, I know for a fact could kill you right where you stand before your mortal heart beat even once." Uzuki now stood once again at her full height so she was looking down on Naruto.

"Now you have landed on my squad by chance. You could have been saddled with anyone. However for some awful reason, the Division Leader saw fit to put you with me. I have enough on my plate. You have come in here day after day, loud, obnoxious, lacking knowledge of the shinobi arts. Do not assume simply because your lucky win in the exams or your chance defeat of Suna's jinchuriki that you hold any of my respect." Yugao shook her head as she scolded the blonde before her.

"Go home Naruto. This division is not meant for you. You are weak, inexperienced, and you are irresponsible. You will never be an ANBU, and I'd never train someone like you." Yugao said coldly as she turned before walking away, her purple hair trailing behind her at her brisk pace as she left one of the many ANBU training grounds.

"Damnit!" Naruto bit out as he pushed himself of the floor. His nails collecting dirt and blood as he forced himself up. "Don't turn your back on me!" Naruto yelled out at the top of his lungs to the retreating Yugao despite the pain in his chest.

It was too fast for even Naruto to see. One moment there was merely a head of purple hair in the distance about to leave the darkened training ground. The next? A knee was planted roughly in his gut as blood sprayed out of his mouth from a bit tongue and potential internal bleeding.

However Naruto took this as a queue that they were still fighting from earlier. He latched on to the leg that kicked him, despite the pain throughout his body. "Arrgh!" he cried out with a yell as he began to push forward roughly, leaving Yugao with one leg for balance.

"Damn brat." she bit out from behind her mask as she began to deliver a series of strikes to the face of the blonde. "Let go! Or I'll really injure you! Your last warning!" she yelled out each between a strike with her first to his face, or an elbow to his skull.

"Fuck you." Naruto replied his body no longer registering anything that was happening. There was no pain. There was no thought. There was no tactic. There was only instinct and a will to win.

Yugao grit her teeth as she was forcibly hopping back from the charging blonde jinchuriki. She looked over her shoulder only to hiss. They were fighting above the fifty foot rock climbing wall. A fall from that height would surely hurt one of them. She wasn't intending for it to be her. "Last chance." Yugao said coldly as she reached for her kunai.

"For you!" Naruto yelled out as he surged forward for the final few steps before the edge of the cliff.

Uzuki grit her teeth at the young teen, and whipped out a kunai and stabbed the blonde in the back of his shoulder.

Naruto gave a cry, and pulled the leg in as he collapsed down and pinned Yugao with his smaller body.

Yugao however was rather amazed that instead of the blonde conceding defeat, and looking for medical attention for his now rather severe wound to his shoulder, he pressed on.

Naruto straddled the woman's waist before striking down with his right fist like a street brawler. However Yugao merely caught his arm in a lock.

Naruto grit his teeth at his failure, and swung down heavily with his stronger left arm. Yet that too only resulted in the same action. Although behind the woman's mask, she cringed quite heavily at the power behind that blow.

Naruto with a growl, reared his head back with a cry of, "I... wont... lose!" before ramming his head forward, his skull connecting directly with the masked female below him.

Blood splattered over the mask as the action created a gash on Naruto's forehead. The mask cracked heavily into several smaller pieces in an all to similar fashion for Naruto as he laid his forehead against the impact zone.

Piece after piece of the mask slowly fell off the side of the fifty foot cliff.

Yugao's soft attractive features didn't hold the stone faced gaze on a trained killer. At least they didn't to Naruto at that time. However perhaps that was because the woman's mind was elsewhere at that time.

"Uzumaki Naruto, 12 years old. Genin of Konoha. Failed the Genin exam twice. Fought against a Konoha chunin and won. On his first C-rank he fought the Demon Brothers, Zabuza Momochi, and a trained orphan member of the Yuki clan... and succeeded. During the chunin exams he fought against Orochimaru... and survived. In the finals he fought a Hyuuga in close combat... and triumped. He was faced with a battle against the One Tailed Jinchuriki... and did not falter." Yugao thought to herself as she gazed up into blue eyes, ignoring the small droplets of blood that were occasionally falling onto her forehead.

"You never give up do you?" she asked bluntly as she watched the boy's vision fade in and out.

Naruto shook his head, on the verge of fainting, "Please... I want you to teach me."

Uzuki took a deep breath despite being straddled by a young teen, before recalling words of someone close to her.

"I believe that the Samurai had it right all along. Even Hanzo of the Salamander believes this. They believed that no man was without worth. That every man has the potential for greatness with a strong enough will and a correct purpose. I only wish that people would stop looking down on others for their situation, disabilities, or lack of belonging to a clan... the village would probably be better off."

Yugao's gaze softened as she was forced to relive the recent memory of the loss of her lover as she remembered an ideal he had once told her. She forcibly brought herself back to reality as she pushed the blonde off of her. There was no way she was going to let a twelve year old runt see her get teary eyed.

"Go get your injuries treated by one of the ANBU division medics." Yugao said coldly as she walked past the exhausted teen. She then sighed before replaying everything that had just happened over in her head before looking over her shoulder, "Be here tomorrow at six." she called out before walking away.

"Thank you!" she heard the young blonde yell out to her. She resisted the urge to snort at the idea. He was completely ignorant to ANBU training.

"You wont be thanking me tomorrow!" she called back as she rounded the corner out of the training ground.

XXXXXXXX

Naruto dashed for his life as he vaulted over a wave of oncoming kunai aimed for his knees.

"Come on kid, lets go!" Yugao yelled over the rhythmic sounds of metal slicing through the wind.

Naruto rolled from his jump, and spring boarded onto all fours as he continued his dash like a wild animal as he rushed for a giant wall erected by earth jutsu earlier that day.

"Learn from your mistakes kid! Or you will get hurt!" Yugao yelled to the charging blonde. She remembered quite clearly how the blonde had charged directly into a torrent of flames coming out of the rock wall. He had been unable to properly grapple the rock wall from that point and was forced to see the medic.

Naruto gave a roar as he continued to charge at the rock wall. The very familiar jets making themselves known as he got within fifty yards of the wall.

"Damnit kid! If you do something stupid again I swear!" Yugao got out before the jets fired drowning out any and all sound except from a feral roar from Naruto.

The blonde went from all fours at the oncoming flame to his two feet before he proceeded to flip forward head on into the flame.

Yugao's eyes widened at the suicidal blonde's actions. 'Damnit!' she cursed to herself in her thoughts as she rushed forward. The blonde jinchuriki was by all accounts an idiot. He was reckless, and had no sense of self preservation. The young Uzumaki had taken to arriving every day at the ANBU training area at four or five in the morning. A good hour or two before schedule. Quite the impressive feat since Yugao was more than keen to work Naruto into the ground. However given the fact that the blonde seemed to never give up? She would work him sometimes to midnight or even two in the morning. The fact that the blonde was standing on such little sleep was impressive.

Yugao came as close as she possibly could without getting cooked alive herself. The flames that were shot from the jets in the rock formation were motion sensors. However they were specifically catered for training, and were susceptible to chakra manipulation and as such susceptible to genjutsu despite being machines. The standard way to get past the test was a water jutsu, or a low d-rank genjutsu that temporarily made a certain area appear motionless. However this blonde... this idiot.

She had told him to go to the library. To learn everything that he could. He didn't understand how valuable knowledge was. He didn't understand how gifted he could potentially be with his Kage Bushin. A hundred lifetimes of training could be accomplished in months by the blonde. Yet he was merely stubborn, headstrong, willful, and foolish.

She waited patiently for a good ten seconds for the flames to stop before her eyes narrowed.

'They should have stopped by now... unless...'

A pain filled roar gave way over the deafening flames. The sphere of flames burst forth shooting out fire in all directions, scorching the earth as the last remnants of chakra faded from the flames causing them to lose their form.

Yugao's eyes widened at the sight before her. There was Naruto, suspended in the air, a blood red cloak of chakra sprouting from his body. Three tails suspended behind him as he had a kunai stabbed painfully into his leg. A self inflicted wound no doubt.

Yugao's eyes followed the blonde's out stretched hand, and the wavy arm of chakra that launched through the oncoming flame and grabbed into the giant rock mass before him.

'You have to be shitting me...' The ANBU captain thought to herself dryly as her surprise at the situation dimmed, and it was replaced with annoyance.

A shattering sound reverberated through the underground complex as the entire stone column exploded with vibrant red cracks of chakra. Every piece of stone seared on the edges. The flames stopped in an instant, and the blonde propelled himself forward with his chakra extended arm flying through the shattered and crumbling rock.

His body skidded into a roll over the finish line before he stepped on a button on the ground with his feet.

"New Record!" a recording voice sounded over the speakers above the panting, and bloodied blonde.

Naruto looked to a corner wall to see a screen come up with the title "Timed Run" on it.

Timed Run:

1st: Future Hokage Naruto, 02:19

2nd: Uchiha Itachi, 3:12

3rd: Senju T., 3:16

4th: Orochimaru, 3:22

5th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:47

"Yes!" Naruto cried out as he suddenly had the energy to jump and give a cry of joy and accomplishment. He was so absorbed in his own success at the number one spot that he didn't even bother to read over the other names. That and his cloak of chakra disappearing.

Yugao on the other hand face palmed, 'That wasn't technically against the rules. However him doing that eliminated an entire third of the actual test.' she thought with her eyes twitching trying to figure out how she would describe the destruction on an obstacle course that had been in operation since the Second Hokage developed the ANBU Disivion.

'The entire Kunai throwing portion of the test that Itachi had spent months perfecting to achieve the top score was completely bypassed by one over determined blonde.' the purple haired captain thought with a twitching eyebrow.

Yugao shook her head as she walked over to a computer in the corner of the room that operated the course. It was only a few keystrokes and mouse clicks before the ANBU captain rained on the blonde's parade.

Timed Run:

1st: Uchiha Itachi, 3:12

2nd: Senju T., 3:16

3rd: Orochimaru, 3:22

4th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:37

5th: Hatake Kakashi, 3:54

"Hey what the hell!" Naruto yelled out as his accomplishment was ripped from him. He hobbled over to the ANBU captain at the computer screen, still having not pulled the kunai from his leg. "Damnit I worked hard for that!" he yelled out stubbornly.

"You ignored a third of the entire test and came out incredibly injured. You finished the test like some ridiculous barbarian, not a ninja." Yugao replied simply still wondering why the Division Leader ever thought it would be a good idea to give her the blonde.

"What?" Naruto yelled. "That's bullshit! You didn't tell my I had to finish the test in some certain way. You just said I had to finish the test. Look underneath the underneath! That is what Kakashi-sensei said!" continued in a loud voice.

"Naruto..." Uzuki began as she looked at the blonde.

"What?" Naruto asked tensely in a softer tone, still none too pleased.

"Shut up." she said simply as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'How had he even been able to access the Kyuubi's chakra like that? I thought that wasn't supposed to be able to happen... at least not yet.' she thought to herself as she clenched her jaw.

Naruto clenched his hands at the all too familiar feeling of being screwed over and set aside by someone he is supposed to look up to as a mentor or an adult.

"Naruto I have been training you for longer than I would have cared to now. You have made next to no progress. I told you to go to the library and learn more about chakra control and how you manipulate it. I told you to broaden your spectrum of shinobi techniques. Yet you have done none of that. You have only tried to train your body, neglecting your most powerful tool, which is your mind." Uzuki said as she spared the young blonde a glance.

"In a week's time, I'm supposed to take you on your first mission. Not only will you be alongside me, but you are supposed to be alongside other shinobi that have never even met you. You did not go through the standard ANBU initiation. However even worse than that? You aren't as skilled, and I can't even rely on you to do the simple things I ask of you like going to the library. How am I or anyone else for that matter supposed to trust you in the field?" Yugao said as she quietly scrolled a couple pages over in the timed run rankings to her number seventeen slot. "The saddest part is that you didn't even need to go yourself Naruto. You could have sent your clones to go read the material for you. Yet you didn't."

Naruto said silent as he let the weight of Yugao's words sink in. He hadn't even known he was supposed to go on a mission soon. He suddenly cursed himself for how ill prepared he had been coming out of the academy. The teachers simply didn't teach him or help him as much as other kids.

"I'm going to send in a request for you to be reassigned tomorrow morning so that you can resume your Chunin duties. I can't have you on my team in your current state. Perhaps you can try back in a few years when you are a bit more mature, capable and responsible." Yugao said as she initialized that activated a large sealing array that slowly but surely began to reform the broken areas of the course.

Naruto clenched his jaw and his fists at that. "I'm sorry alright!" He yelled in exasperation. "I don't get a lot of this... ninja stuff. I get that. When I was going through the academy, the teachers didn't rea-"

"I don't care what happened back then. This is what I'm talking about Naruto." Yugao said as she began to walk over to the giant stone column slowly trying to repair itself.

"What do you mean?" Naruto said in confusion. He was telling the truth, the academy teachers barely paid attention to him.

"You don't take responsibility for your own actions." Yugao said plainly.

"I'm serious though! The acade-"

"We are not in the academy anymore Naruto!" the purple haired woman fiercely said cutting the blonde off. "The moment that you realize that your failures in life are as just as much your fault as the people you choose to blame is only when you can improve as a person."

Naruto scoffed, "So it's my fault I'm the Jinchuriki then? I didn't choose to be this!" he replied passionately.

"No... You did not. However at the academy? You didn't go study on your own time. You instead pulled pranks. You skipped class. You can get yourself out of any situation you find yourself in. It is your responsibility to control the outcome of things in your life." Uzuki said parroting words her former captain Hatake Kakashi had told her.

"That's ridiculous. You can't get out of every situation damnit! Sometimes you just get stuck!" Naruto proceeded to cup a hand over the seal on his belly for emphasis.

Yugao shook her head, "You can get yourself out of any situation, you just need to find a way to do it." she shook her head as she looked about the rebuilding room.

"This room is going to be out of order for repairs for the rest of the night. From now on you should just report to your genin team in the mornings." Yugao said as she walked away from the young blonde, leaving him standing there defeated to mull over her words.

Yugao paused at the door of the underground training room before saying loud enough for Naruto to hear. "I hope to see you in our division when you are more mature Naruto. You are very brave and determined. However you are so determined to achieve your dream that you ignore crucial steps along the way. You are headstrong Naruto. Headstrong stubborn shinobi don't last long in our line of work. There have been very few." It was then that Yugao pressed a button near the doorway that prompted the systems to begin shutting down.

Naruto pursed his lips as he thought over Yugao's words before he looked up at all of the blacking lights. It was only then that his eye caught sight of something he had formerly ignored.

'4th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:37'

Naruto found himself standing in the blackness for a good twenty minutes lost in thought before he even decided to leave the compound that day to reevaluate what he was trying to accomplish.

XXXXXXXX

Ahhh. That was why.

"I didn't think you made it half way just to give up." Naruto said loudly over the sound of the water and dead below.

Jin nearly fell off the beam he was laying on at the announcement from the unknown presence. "What the hell are you doing here!"

Naruto spoke in a tone with an attitude he remembered all too well, "Watching you give up apparently."

Jin grit his teeth at the condescending tone, "Screw you. This shit is fucking hard." Jin spat out through ragged breaths.

"So that is the secrets to teenagers these days? Give up when the going gets tough?" Naruto taunted. "Thats fine. Your body will give out if you just decide to hang here. Although if you want me to collect the crossbow from your corpse, that is fine too."

Jin scowled, "Fuck you, I haven't given up." He said through heavy breaths.

"Really? Well then lets go." Naruto said as he dropped down and hung from the beam.

Jin clenched his jaw despite the pain throughout his upper body. "I just got here. How the hell aren't you tired!" Jin asked in frustration.

Naruto ignored the important question, "Who cares if you just got here. Whatever you are trying to do must be pretty important if you are willing to do all of this for it. So come out. Stop waiting around." Naruto said as he dangled from the beam.

The mention of Jin's apparent goal seemed to bring a renewed fire back to his eyes that at least temporarily masked his exhaustion and pain. Jin dropped down in similar fashion to Naruto, instantly regretting the blinding pain it brought to his body.

Naruto knew the face Jin was making all too well. "Force yourself!" Naruto commanded knowing very well how easy it is to listen to the part in your brain just telling you to let go.

Jin proceed to pull himself forward on the beam with groans, gasps and cries of pain. Every swing and lift of his arm more painful than the next.

"No giving up, come on!" Naruto pressed the teen on. It was times like these that Naruto had engraved into his memory from his shinobi life. The times that separated the good ninja from the great ninja.

Naruto proceeded to swing along forward with Jin's strained pace.

Jin stalled in mid air, over the water with a third left to go before he was in an area to safely land on the ground.

"Come on! Breathe! And push yourself!" Naruto yelled out as he moved on ahead, dropping down to the ground.

Jin yelled out in pain, but continued to place one arm in front of the other, his eyes focused on his destination.

Naruto hid his smile well as he witnessed Jin cross the land and water threshold before letting go of the beam above him letting him drop down. He laid unceremoniously for a couple moments on the ground before rising up on shaky legs, his hands on his hips while he panted heavily.

He had never taught anyone. And frankly he doubt he every really would. He had grown smarter over the years in regards to shinobi techniques. However he was still by all means a person that simply knew how to subconsciously apply his knowledge. He was able to do things many shinobi could not because he simply didn't think about what he wanted to do. Yet at the same time that also made him a horrible teacher.

For example he knew how to many the Rasengan. However he had no idea as to what step by step process he would go through to teach it to someone. He just sort of thought things through himself.

Yet as he saw Jin exhausted, but on his feet. The pain in his eyes along with the pride of accomplishment. He honestly wished he had taught some students if this was the feeling he got when he witnessed them accomplish things. He could actually have some sort of understanding as to why Uzuki had put up with him for so long.

"I don't get it!" Jin said through panted breaths breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

"Get what?" Naruto asked curiously busy looking out for any potential threats, not paying much attention to Jin.

"How are you not tired after all of that? You don't even look winded." Jin said as he hunched over for a moment before turning back upright taking large breaths of the cold air.

Naruto fought down a snort and opted to simply leave out the majority of the truth, "I'm in better shape than you." Naruto replied plainly.

Jin scoffed, "Bullshit! You don't look like you're in any better shape than me. You aren't even breathing heavy in the slightest."

Naruto actually snorted at that. 'Chakra condenses your muscles. Few shinobi ever grow large unless they were decendents of the Raikage in Kumogakure.' Naruto thought to himself always finding it funny how there were some shinobi smaller than him that could uproot the largest of trees. "Probably because I just had to follow your trail around while you actually had to do the work." Naruto said bluntly while shrugging his shoulders at his blatant lie.

Jin squeezed his eyes shut at that really wanting to give the blonde a piece of his mind, but he didn't even have the energy for it at this point.

Jin took a deep breath as he stood up straight on shaky legs, "But seriously." he began before taking a deep breath as he situated his hands on his hips. "What the hell are you doing here man?"

Naruto tightened his jaw at the question. He couldn't honestly answer that question himself. He had put the times where he went out of the way to help people he didn't know long behind him. The fact that he was doing anything of the sort at that current moment was more than enough to give his own mind pause.

In part due to his tired body he wanted to just be spiteful and say he was merely there for the crossbow. That he didn't care about the well being of the people he surrounded himself with. However that would be a lie, something that in his exhaustion he was getting tired of doing.

"I don't lie Naruto. I stopped telling lies after Yahiko's death. Lies hurt people and they are hard to keep track of."' the blue haired former Akatsuki said calmly as she held a hand out in the rain from a balcony overlooking Amegakure.

"But the truth hurts people as well Konan." Naruto replied as he leaned against the metal construction that made up the walls of Amegakure. His mind drifting to the moment when Mizuki revealed to him he was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. The moment when he discovered the truth of his parents. The moment Yugao had beaten down his ability as a shinobi.

Konan pursed her lips, nibbling lightly on the piercing on the inside of her lip. "Yes the truth hurts as well." she admitted. "However I suppose it just comes down to if you can handle lying to those close to you."

Naruto spared Konan a glance as she stood across from him before he turned his attention back to the storm, "They'll live." Naruto said quietly, thinking of the people he left behind as he left Konoha.

Konan stood up straight at that before wiping her hand off on her cloak. "It isn't a question of whether or not the people around you will live Naruto." Konan said seriously as she turned to the fifteen year old teen that lacked experience, but had power beyond his years. "The question is whether or not you will be able to live with yourself and your lies forever."

Naruto clenched his jaw at the memory uncontrollably faded into his thoughts.

"I don't know. I guess I was curious as to why you left. Figured it had to be important if you were willing to threaten me with your crossbow. That and you were running off with a weapon." Naruto admitted, telling the honest truth.

Jin looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow as he steadied his breathing. He searched the blonde's face in the darkness for any hints of deception before nodding his head. He slung the strap holding his crossbow a bit higher on his shoulder before point out past Naruto's form. "Alright, well I'm headed that way." Jin said as he continued once again on his journey. Although that was completely stopped short by Naruto.

"Not without telling me why." Naruto said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Jin looked down at the hand on his chest blocking him from proceeding before turning to the blonde shinobi beside him. In most cases he wouldn't have stopped moving if it were anyone else, particularly at school. He was a bit of a giant at his Highschool standing a good head over everyone else. However Naruto seemed quite close to his own height, and given the fact that the blonde didn't even look the slightest bit winded from a workout Jin was sure he thought would kill him mere moments before? He wasn't too keen on crotch checking the blonde beside him.

"A family friend." Jin said a bit reluctantly. "She lives a few miles from here." he added as he spared the blonde his gaze.

Naruto tightened his jaw at that. Family friend? That wasn't something he was ever privileged to have in the typical sense. Although he understood the concept of going through hell and back for his loved ones and those he considered family. Particularly the shinobi he had come to see as his own family on his ANBU squad.

Naruto looked back across the dark side of the bridge in the direction he had left numerous teenage civilians he had told himself that he would protect. Hundreds of thoughts and scenarios flooded through the blonde's mind. Would they be alright? Would zombies break in? Would some crazy like at the gas station show up? Heck, would ninja from his time show up and terrorize them? Anything could happen in a world he knew nothing about.

'Yet...' Naruto thought to himself with a pause as his gaze connected with Jin's. 'If I can't help some teen find a simple family friend? I may not be cut out to lead here after all.' Naruto finished dryly.

"Alright then. However if we are going to do this? We are going to do it safe and quickly. My way." Naruto reaffirmed at the end.

Jin straightened up at the unexpected help he realized he was about to receive, "Are you sure? What about everyone back at the house?" Jin asked, not willing to get into something with someone who may bail on him half way through.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he thought about the question. There was frankly a lot of gray areas for him when he thought about the crew he had left sleeping at the house. If he were being perfectly honest? He would be better off without the group. The only thing tying him down to it was the promises he had made and the weak bonds he had formed. "I'm sure they will be fine." Naruto said dismissively not wanting to share his personal thoughts on the matter.

Jin took a moment before he nodded, putting his crossbow into his grasp. "Alright, then come on. However keep quiet." he said before he began moving out from under the bridge in a low crouch.

Naruto didn't feel the need to tell the boy that his footsteps were about as subtle as a thunder storm to his ears.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Guess who's back? Back again... Bleed is back... Tell a friend...

But on a more serious note. I have been sitting on this chapter for awhile. I have just been slowly writing away on the story. I at first was intending for it to just be Naruto and Jin. However the constant back to back two person scenes with the same characters slowly drove me insane. So I went back and reevaluated the chapters. Often times going back and adding in additional scenes with the rest of the cast.

The update speed is a bit slower mainly because right now I'm essentially writing an entire non-canon side arc. So the readers essentially have no mental image or anything to reference when they are viewing the scenes. So I am just trying to work slowly on it while making the area come alive I suppose. I want the place to be a believable environment.

So skimming over this chapter, this looks like the Naruto tailing Jin segment? You see a bit of Naruto's past, as well as him getting some personal respect for Jin even if he is annoyed with him.

In regards to Naruto's past. I am constantly having to evaluate what I want to do in those situations, and how I want to make the characters develop. I think I did justice to Naruto's early days trying to join ANBU. Trying to make the believable transition from the Naruto we know in canon to the Naruto you see here. I just hope you enjoyed it. If not? Tell me what I can work on to further improve.

One thing to note, and I am bolding this now before I really get into her character. Alice is going to be older in this story. She is going to be maybe 10 or 11. There are reasons why, but I'm not going to get into them. Frankly this changes nothing in the story thus far. And really changes nothing in how things have been dealt with. It merely changes her age.

XXXX

Now some questions.

"Bleed! Y U NO UPDATE?"

Trollface . jpg

"Bleed, will Naruto get his powers back? Will he get a girl?"

I won't answer some questions like the first, as it is a major plot point. I think it is pretty obvious that one of the plots in this story is him trying to get his powers back, and get back home. However as I said. It's a major plot point, so I won't say how or if that ever gets resoled. Yes Naruto will get a girl. I'm not sure who he will get though. I haven't really decided. Whoever fits the best will end up with him in some sort of fashion. And it won't necessarily be the first girl he may get close to either. So we will have to see.

"1337 items list"

Thank you everyone that gave me a list of household items. I actually will be using some of these at a later date for sure. Admittedly some of them couldn't really be used in the given circumstances. However others will definitely be making their appearance. I doubt I will ever really say it in the story, unless it is a passing note. However essentially the house they went into at least in my opinion belonged to a fun lesbian couple with a knack for for art, particularly costumes. Naturally you won't see them in the story. However I just wanted to give the house a personality I suppose, despite it being empty. So some items listed, I couldn't necessarily do.

"Why doesn't Naruto just cut off his hand and remove the shackle?"

Well Naruto doesn't know a thing about the shackle. He believes it has capabilities to send him to another world though. However he knows nothing beyond that outside of the fact that it reacts to his chakra. So for all he knows, i may slide up his arm if he cut off his hand trying to remove the thing. Another thing of note is that if he can't reattach his hand? He can't do any ninjutsu. So if he were to get the shackle off, and then go home? If he can't do any jutsu and is handicapped while fighting? He is still pretty much as useless as being outright absent.

"Cloud's MIA lifestream dive, not caring about other characters outside of Naruto."

Yes I understand where people can definitely get that idea going through their head. I bet a lot more people know of Naruto than they know of Highschool of the Dead. So I can understand the frustration.

However when I'm writing this Zombie Apocalypse story. I'm writing it a bit like The Walking Dead(Comic) or Mass Effect. Character driven, with influence from the protagonist. The reality is that even though you may not necessarily like it? Every character needs to be built up. Drama in the story essentially is the audience wanting to see characters they know or like succeed, and not wanting to see them fail.

However in fan fiction there is always the unspoken idea that "Naruto never dies." so building up Naruto over and over and over. While it may be interesting? It is not going to provide a lot of drama in the long run. He is not going to die. So if I focus solely on Naruto and neglect other people? Where is the drama? What if Naruto is pressed by time, and has to save someone? Yet that "Someone" I decided to never build up as a character? Suddenly it doesn't matter whether she lives or dies. And suddenly the scene doesn't matter because you know Naruto isn't going to die in it.

So what stops the average reader from skimming over a scene? Not because they are invested in Naruto. But because they are invested in the characters around Naruto, and they don't want to see them fail, or die on Naruto's watch. They don't want to see Naruto go through the emotional struggle if he fails. They care about what happens not only to Naruto, but the character as well.

So while people may say, "I don't care about these characters. This is boring. Bring Naruto back." The reality is that while you may not see it now? You are going to wish the characters were built up instead of being neglected in the long run for the above mentioned reasons. Otherwise the story will end up dull.

(Ever been into one of those stories that focuses heavily on Naruto? However 40chapters in you start skimming over his fights, because you already know "The hero never dies." yet once you start skimming over all the bad things that could happen to Naruto? You realize there isn't much more to the story? Yes? No? Well bottom line I don't want that to happen here.)

Anyways that is enough questions answered here. Tell me what you thought of the chapter. In particular, did you enjoy Naruto's memories with Yugao? Or do you have any ideas on how I could improve it? Anyways Read and Review.