Forward Unto Dawn Chapter 13: A Sickness of the Soul, a Naruto + Highschool of the Dead Crossover fanfic

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

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Present Time

Saeko snapped up from her seated position on the kitchen counter. The sword that was formerly in her lap was in her hand in an instant as the front door slammed open.

"Don't fucking speak to me Takashi!" was the cry of Rei that Saeko heard quite clearly as the sound of stomping footsteps flooded through the house entrance.

Saeko quickly moved to the inside stairway right near the entrance. "Miyamoto-san?" Saeko questioned in a deal of surprise at the earlier outburst.

Rei gave Saeko a heated glare, but said nothing as she brushed passed the purple haired swordswoman and stomped up the stairs.

Saeko pursed her lips at the sight but before Rei made it all the way up, she felt it would be important to point out a key detail. "Miyamoto-san, Shido-san is sleeping upstairs!" she didn't say it for Shido's personal comfort, but more so due to the girl's obvious problems with the teacher.

Rei paused mid way up the stairs as she heard that. Saeko could only watch the girl's face darken considerably before she looked downstairs before schooling her features and continuing up the stairs.

Saeko looked on in concealed surprise as Rei went on into the room Shido resided in regardless. She turned her head to the door at that moment just in time to see a defeated looking Takashi walk through the door.

"Komuro-kun? What happened to Miyamoto-san?" Saeko asked in an ever polite tone that she always utilized.

Takashi's face gained a gravely look at that. "It's nothing Busuj-" he caught himself as he recalled the conversation he shared with the purple haired female just the other night, "Saeko-san." he corrected.

Saeko smiled weakly at the brown haired boy who remembered her request. Although that didn't stop from the next question to catch her off guard a bit.

"Saeko-san, when I spoke to you the other night. I told you something." Takashi said with a frown as he cast his glance upstairs.

"That you felt that Miyamoto-san was hiding things from you?" Saeko asked for clarification.

Takashi turned his head back to face the purple haired team member, "Yeah..." Takashi admitted slowly. "Well when I asked you about that, you gave me some advice..." Takashi said again as if he was treading carefully.

"Relax Komuro-kun. I remember our conversation." Saeko said as she crossed her arms over her chest, this time considerably more clothed.

Takashi pursed his lips, "Well you told me that at times girls were weak. That sometimes they just need to let their emotions out, and be held in trying times." Takashi said with a heavy heart.

Saeko nodded as she cast a glance upstairs before adopting a knowing look. "I'm guessing you had a fight with Miyamoto-san?" Saeko asked sadly.

Takashi sighed before replying, "Something like that."

Saeko gave an understanding smile before she teased trying to lighten the mood, "It's not admirable for boys to sigh Komuro-kun."

Takashi smiled lightly at that, "Well you will have to cut me some slack today Saeko-san." Takashi replied as he straightened up. "So you say girls want to be held in trying times Saeko-san, does that include you?"

Saeko's smile weakened a bit as the question she was able to dodge the night before was asked of her once again. "Yes Komuro." she said weakly, "Even me."

Takashi paused as he thought over the brown haired girl upstairs. "Would you still want to be held like that if the reason you were upset was because of the person holding you?" Takashi asked seriously as he looked Saeko in the eyes.

Saeko tensed for a moment on that note as she thought it over. Particularly as she thought over her time with him. "Well Komuro-kun... I would. Although... I'm not like most girls Komuro." Saeko said quietly, before walking away no longer wanting to take the discussion down that road.

Takashi bit the insides of his cheeks in thought as he looked up the staircase to the level of the house Rei undoubtedly would be. Then on top of that, what he felt was more important to ask himself. Did he even want to go up there and try to mend things?

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"Damn." Jin cursed in a whisper as he glanced away from what he just witnessed. "This is the third street in a row that is crawling with these damn things." he spat out in frustration.

Naruto said nothing as he merely admired their situation and looked for any possible ways around the sights before them. Just because he had shown Rei a great deal about himself, and the fact that she had accepted him didn't mean others would. Most likely Jin, the headstrong teen that he was, would probably blab about any skills he showcased to everyone. At least in the current state of things.

Naruto wasn't keen on becoming the groups cornerstone, and had no intention of straying anywhere near that position.

"Maybe one of these cars has the owner near by, or we could search a house for some keys." Jin voiced his thoughts as he aimed his readied crossbow to the ground.

Naruto pursed his lips at that thought. That was basically taking a gamble with a huge chance for it to just be wasted time. And as far as Naruto could tell? Time was the most important currency in this given world. How much time are you willing to put into something, and how much time you can afford to put into something.

"What about that?" Naruto asked slowly, pointing towards a larger vehicle with an attachment that stood out quite clearly. It had seemingly crashed onto the sidewalk phone pole, and scaped up against one of the house's stone walls.

"The cable truck?" Jin asked with a raised eyebrow. He had truthfully had his sights set on the few cars parked behind the gated fences. They were the safest to deal with in his opinion. The cable truck was wide out in the open.

Naruto nodded his head not entirely sure what the difference between a car and a cable truck was. He could only hope that Jin was thinking along the same lines as him.

Jin clenched his jaw as he thought over the suggestion. "I don't know. Out of all of the cars on the street, that one is the least likely to find keys for. I mean if we find someone in a cable outfit, then sure I mean we could go for it. However it doesn't change the fact that its wide in the open, and we lack the keys for it. One of the cars behind some of the fences in the area would probably be better to drive."

Naruto shook his head. From everything he had learned of 'cars' in this world, he had personally grown a bit of a dislike for them. Sure there was potential in them such as a means of quickly transporting civilians. However it made the few being transported sitting ducks as far as he was concerned. "I wasn't talking about... driving." he said quietly as to not alert the zombies not far from them. "I meant using that." Naruto finished pointing his finger.

Jin's gaze followed Naruto's finger as it lead him to not specifically the cable car, but the large extending ladder that rested on top of it. Jin turned back to Naruto with a bit of surprise, however Naruto didn't stop talking.

"The ladder seems to collapse so it would be easy to carry it if we really needed to. I think we should use it to get up onto the roofs. This seems to be a residential area. The roofs around here are only a handful of feet apart. We can jump the roof gaps while staying clear of the zombies below, and keeping a good watch on the street." Naruto said as he did his best to tactically analyze the situation with Jin in mind, which was by all means an astounding handicap.

Jin's eyebrows had momentarily rose to his hairline as he looked over the idea Naruto had apparently gained from simply observing this street for the first time. 'I went down this street nearly every day coming home from school. Why didn't I think of something as simple as that.' Jin thought to himself with a frown.

Jin looked around once again trying to give his head a clean and clear perspective of his surroundings before shaking his head in failure. The only thing that would be even remotely useful was-

"There is a childhood rope swing on the second house down the street, we could collect that as it would probably be of use." Naruto mumbled under his breath. The rope wouldn't really be much use to him in his opinion, however perhaps it may save Jin's life.

Jin recovered briefly from his thoughts seemingly being read as he nodded his head. "Yeah, never know when that could be useful. Wouldn't want to have to use a bedsheet." he said, dragging out the final word.

Naruto was unfazed at the jab to his role in hanging the teenager. He didn't care what world he was in, as far as he was concerned forcing one's self on a women was a no brainer taboo. There were few exceptions to that rule, such as the few nomadic barbarian camps in Kusa or Suna. And even then, Naruto had to admit he found them a bit distasteful.

Naruto abruptly stood up with a purpose only for his vision to swim as faded images of memories passed flooded his vision.

"Uzumaki! Hatake! We recovered a former Team 7 member that has been MIA for nearly fifteen years!" An Anbu said as he walked across Naruto's field of vision before disappearing.

"Naruto... we captured one of the resurrected. She goes by the name of Haku, she wishes to speak with you." Yugao's voice said in Naruto's ear as if she was standing at his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, you've grown so much." was the soft voice of a faded image in the distance. "I wish I could have been there. And Kakashi-kun? Long time." she finished in a regretful voice.

"You have no idea." was the easily recognizable voice of the silver haired jounin practically choking on her words.

"There is something you need to know about your enemy who calls himself 'Tobi'. He's not who he says he is Naruto." a young woman said quietly.

"Naruto! We need to get out of here! Shes gone! We can't save her!" was the cry from Shikamaru that Naruto remembered all too well.

"Naruto!" Jin yelled at the top of his lungs from the top of the cable car, forcing the blonde back to reality.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he realized that he had a good seven zombies closing in on him from all directions, nearly in lunging distance.

Naruto bit out a curse as he took an abrupt step back away from a zombie that had taken to lunging at him. "Fuck off." Naruto spat out slowly as he yanked open the near by car door in the process.

The bottom corner of the door clipped the lunging zombie right at the back of his knee. It stumbled to the ground, only for his face to get acquainted to Naruto's knee mid fall.

Naruto kicked the car door back, only serving to cause a zombie to rebound and stumble backwards from the impact.

Naruto held his head as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over his senses. A feeling he was quickly becoming more familiar with than he would have liked.

Naruto vaulted over the car, toward Jin and away from the zombies. He pinched the bridge of his nose before shaking his head trying to regain focus. He wish he knew why the sudden spell of dizzy exhaustion had been nearly absent, only to hit him like train moments later.

"Naruto! Any day now!" was Jin's yell that attracted Naruto's attention. It only became apparent to the blonde that his earlier yell had attracted far more attention than just his own. There was a good horde of the dead approaching the teen on top of the car. Albeit they were moving at a slow pace. If the teen wasn't waiting for someone, Naruto was sure he could just as easily jog away from the scene and be fine.

Naruto wasted no time, his zoning out forcing him to forget the rope, and focus on preserving their lives in the mean time. Naruto rushed over to the teen who no longer felt he had any time to waste.

Jin unfolded the ladder quickly on top of the car, before letting it drop between the roof of the car and the stone wall that guarded off the house instead of opting to use the gate.

Jin had taken to begin wobbling across the ladder by the time Naruto had safely arrived. "Grab the cable wire!" Jin said quickly, despite his stress even though he had reached the wall.

Naruto felt a lump rise in his throat as he looked down with bleary eyes. However that didn't stop him from bending over to capture the neat coil of cord. He honestly doubted he was in any shape to be giving orders or questioning things at the moment.

However it was then as he picked up that cord that he found at least part of the reason he was seemingly feeling sick.

The shackle, his ball and chain to this world was no longer the standard steel gray color he had become used to. It was riddled with bright red scalding cracks that looked as if they were trying to tear the damn thing asunder. It was even dripping red fluid.

'Oh wait... That's my blood.' Naruto thought as he fought with his own body rejecting him.

Naruto spared the ladder no mind as he was suddenly having trouble standing on his feet effectively.

He opted to leap the small gap between the car, and the gated yard. He made the utmost care in kicking the back end of the ladder forcing it to tip like a tree into the yard behind him. Although the impressive feat fell on deaf ears as Naruto entered the yard.

Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees as he gripped at the dirt and grass beneath his fingertips. He closed his eyes as he breathed heavily. He was just telling himself not to throw up at the moment.

Naruto looked up ahead of his with glazed eyes on for his breath to be caught in his throat.

'It can't be...' he thought despite his strained patentience.

A character dressed in white with a head of blonde hair stared down upon Naruto with it's hazy image. However it didn't stick around long as it all but faded away in an instantaneous yellow flash.

"Get up! I knew you were weak! I didn't know you were this weak!" a female voice taunted through the halls of Naruto's mind.

"I thought that was the last time I was ever going to see you..." Naruto thought to himself despite the pain throughout his body.

"I thought so too... I guess we both thought wrong eh?" the blonde haired blue eyed image said with a weak smirk. "Just make sure you tend to your arm. No point in dying to due to your stubborn unattentiveness." the ghostly voice echoed it's suggestion in Naruto's mind.

"But... how?" Naruto struggled to think in his head as he looked down at the shackle doing his best to swallow the lump in his throat.

The blonde hair blue eyed apparation rolled it's eyes with a scoff. "Figure it out. I can't bail you out every time Naruto... but I know you can do it." was all it said before fading out of existence.

"Wait!" Naruto pleaded. However it was to no avail.

Naruto's eyes regained the light they once held as the entire sick and unsettling feeling he held surrounding him faded in an instant. However as the entire group of sensations he had felt mere moments before vanished? They left him with one sickening feeling on his tongue that he had formerly been trying to suppress.

However it was the feeling of the skin on his arm being burned under the shackle that did it for him.

Bile spewed from Naruto's mouth as he heaved and attempted to let loose contents from Naruto's nearly empty stomach. The sight of a few strands of noodles littering the ground in a clear but foggy puddle on the ground was not the most pleasing one.

"Were you bitten?" Naruto heard Jin ask cautiously from the left of him.

Naruto spared the taller teen a glance with one eye, only to catch sight of a notched crossbow bolt.

"No." Naruto growled out in annoyance. As far he was concerned, if he was bitten by any of the things walking around, no one would have to kill him. He would kill himself. He no longer deserved to be a ninja at that point. "However if you keep pointing that damn thing at me, I may fire it off up your ass." he bit out in a frustrated tone as he pushed himself to his feet.

Jin appeared to size the blonde up for a moment before tightening his jaw. It was a rapid change. One minute the blonde was spewing his guts out onto the floor. The next he was appearing completely and utterly unfazed. No sigh of fatigue in the slightest. The only even remotely notable sigh of his former state was the slightest bit of sweat on his face. Even that bracelet or whatever the blonde was wearing that for all he could tell was catching the light in an odd way had since ceased.

And so Jin ceased. He lowered his crossbow and swung it onto his back with a respectful nod despite the blonde's less than respectful tone. "Are you good to move?" Jin asked with minimal concern in his voice.

Naruto shot an annoyed look up to the sky as he turned his body away from Jin to grab the ladder.

'Great...' Naruto drawled in his mind, 'This kid is going to act like I have a weak stomach for the rest of my fucking days.' Naruto thought as he lifted the ladder with one hand.

Naruto flung the ladder from his position toward the wall of the house, watching it rocket and fold up against it violently. The act even caused a great deal of the wall he threw the ladder against to chip away under the force. "Perfectly fine." Naruto said through clenched teeth before quickly playing the part of a civilian and scaling the wall with a ladder.

Jin grimaced and gave one last glance to the gate behind him, holding back a horde of death and decay before proceeding on with their journey. He only hoped that the remainder wasn't as stressful as it had been thus far.

He turned his gaze to Naruto now standing on the roof. He frowned lightly as a thought passed through him, 'I hope whatever happened here...' he thought as his gaze turned to the puddle of bodily fluids on the ground, 'Doesn't happen again...'

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"Wow... now that is not what I was expecting to find." Miku said as she joined a portion of their group gathered in a room of the house they were exploring.

Saito, Kohta, and Saya were all split up amongst various areas of the room looking at a large variety of assorted items hung up on tables and walls around the rooms.

"So I got that they were a rather artsy couple. However this... this is impressive." Kohta mumbled under his breath as he ran his hand over a large metal plate.

"They must have been costume designers for some place." Saito said as he traced his hand over a barbaric outfit.

Saya pushed her glasses up further before she shook her head. "No, they made these costumes for themselves. They must have cosplayed at conventions or something."

Saito raised an eyebrow as he turned to the pink haired star student, "How do you figure that?" he asked in a neutral tone.

Saya frowned as she looked over a dress laid out on the closest work bench. "When we went upstairs in search of medicine, one of the rooms had a costume hanging from the wall. I thought the couple was well..." She paused as a light blush appeared on her face. "Well regardless, in short most of these costumes are of high quality, particularly the dresses. They would need to be tailored to size, a size that matches some of the clothing we have seen around the house already." Saya replied simply as she let go of the fabric.

"However that is not why we're here." she said as she turned away to the work bench, and pointed to Kohta.

The said boy blushed under the scrutiny, particularly the attention from his crush.

"Miyamoto pointed out that metal plate to me earlier. She figured it was likely used to make some of the various pieces of armor around the room. However I feel that we could use the metal plate to reinforce the the car somehow, and I need a few people to help do that." Saya said in a commanding tone.

Saito frowned at that, "Couldn't we use the plate to create melee weapons for the rest of the group? The car seems pretty strong as it is."

Saya sighed heavily at that, "Melee weapons are unfavorable. They are inferior to the ranged weapons we have recently gained. On top of that they are useless against a horde of them. So unless you are as skilled as Busujima-san? We aren't going to be making melee weapons. Besides... if you really want one, look around. They are pretty common."

Saito held his hands up in defense. He was only giving a suggestion. He personally wasn't much of a fighter. Tech was his thing. Physical performance? Not so much.

"What about this?" Miku called out from the corner of the room, her hand gripping a wrapped leather handle.

Everyone in the room turned to the short haired girl, as they watched her grab the handle of something with both hands, and heaved it up. "Fuck this thing is heavy." she bit out with clenched teeth.

"Woah..." was all Kohta could say in regards to the sight before him, and it summed up the thoughts of everyone else in the room.

Miku despite the heavy weight of the blade was amused. "I didn't know cosplay supported real swords?" she said to not one in particular with a bit of humor in her tone. "The couple that lived here were quite interesting."

The sword was great in size. Remarkably so. The blade was easily four feet long, perhaps a tad bit longer. It was crude as well. It was covered in scratch marks. The former elegance the blade likely had after being forged had completely faded away. Even parts of the edge of the greatsword had chipped away, as if it had been used in a considerable amount of battles.

However the thing that truly made the blade stand out was it's sheer weight along with it's size. It was no doubt a real blade even if the edges had been dulled, and the blade appeared battle worn.

Miku couldn't even begin to guess the weight of the blade, except that it was just for show. She knew that if any grown man attempted to use the weapon for any extended period of time, they would probably wear out. At least, that was what she believed. She could be wrong, and Jin may be able to swing the sword for days on end. Although she personally felt that was doubtful.

Saya admired the blade for a few moments before shaking her head. As far as she was concerned, anything that didn't have any practical use wasn't worth a second glance.

"Do you think Busujima-san would be able to wield that?" Saito asked as he eyed the blade.

"To heavy." was a reply that came at the same time by both Kohta and Saya. Although the reactions to the situation differed drastically.

Kohta shrunk under the gaze of the group in the room, silently wishing he hadn't opened his mouth. On the other hand, there was Saya, who had taken to glaring a the young brown haired glasses wearing teen. However it was just in an instant that the tension that was formerly there had all but vanished as Saya chose to speak out.

"Anyways there are enough tools in my bag, and around the house in order to attach this thing. I just need some extra hands that know how to listen." Saya said slowly as she looked around the group. She hoped one of them would step up, she was in no mood to even think about talking to Komuro.

"Don't bother sticking around Pinky. I can do it." Miku called out as she rested the heavy dull blade against the wall.

This garnered a collection of raised eyebrows from the other individuals in the room.

"Seriously?" Saito asked, not entirely believing the brown haired girl.

Miku rolled her eyes, before putting her hands on her hips, "I've worked on or around cars since I was eight. I know what I'm doing." she spat out bitterly.

Despite that being said, the rest of the group still seemed quite skeptical at the idea, judging from their looks. A fact that didn't leave Miku in the best of moods.

"Or fuck it. You all can figure it out." she ground out as she stomped over to the doorway of the room.

Saya stepped into the shorter haired girl's path with a raised hand. "No it's fine. If you can do it, that's great." she said albeit reluctantly. It was evident from the moment the two were forced to lock eyes that they were probably the other's least liked person in their group. Not to mention the earlier events with Takashi.

A staring contest ensued between the couple as they maintained an unwavering of the eyes. Kohta and Saito were off to the sides shooting occasional worried glances between each other. They didn't really want to get in the way if some sort of fight broke out, particularly in a room full of tools like the one they were currently in.

"Great." Miku said through her teeth, barely moving her mouth as she stood face to face with the pink haired star student. "I can do it myself..."

Saya put up a strong front with the other girl no more than a foot away from her. However she wasn't planning on starting a fight with the other teen.

"Why don't you go see your boyfriend Takashi?" Miku taunted with a dirty smirk.

'Planning...' Saya thought bitterly as she clenched her right fist fully prepared to let her hand fly across the girl's face.

"Well now Kohta! Why don't you stick with Miku and help her with anything she needs! I'm going to take Saya, and we will see if we can find anything else of value in other houses." Saito said, forcing himself between the two girls as he practically forced Saya to leave the room.

Miku's grin threatened to split her cheeks as she watched Saya dragged away. She even gave an overexaggerated playful wave that included her wagging all of her fingers as the girl looked at her from over Saito's shoulder.

The few moments of silence were broken shortly after by the short chubby brown haired teen.

"Why do you keep starting fights with the group?" Kohta asked with a frown coming onto his face.

Miku turned and looked over her shoulder, forcing herself to stop admiring her own work in her mind. "What?" she asked casually in an almost dangerous tone, a bit shocked that Hirano of all people would be calling her on something. As far as she was concerned, he had always been the boy that was bullied and teased while he remained in the shadows. He was by all means nothing special. Where he got off on calling her on something was frankly ridiculous.

Kohta's fist clenched briefly as he took a deep breath. He was standing before one of his many tormentors in school. 'Deep breaths Hirano.' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. "You heard me." he said with a tight jaw.

Miku rolled her eyes at the reply. Yeah, she had heard him. However that didn't mean she was going to give the teen the time of day. "Whatever, we need to get the car over here. I'm not carrying the plate." she commented before walking out of the room. She honestly wished she had been stuck with Komuro for help... even though it would probably... hopefully... end up in not much work getting finished.

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"Not the most charming parts of town." Naruto said in mild amusement as he walked down the ruined streets. The real question about the current area he was in was if the streets were ruined after the outbreak... or before it.

Jin appeared a bit embarrassed at that note as he looked around the street. Sure enough there were blood stains, and guts splattered on the street and sidewalk. However having been down this street before in the past, while it may not look it, he knew the boarded up windows and locked gated fences were there before everything happened.

The broken and flickering street lights in the darkness. The smell of gasoline and smoke filling the air.

"Must be some family friend of yours for them to live here." Naruto said quietly as they walked down the street. Something was slightly off as far as Naruto was concerned. There were plenty of blood stains and guts. Some wrecked cars and broken windows. However no one was out on the streets. There were no zombies. Yet there were also no people either. It was like they were walking down a street that not just people, but everything feared to tread.

Jin frowned as he took in those worlds with the surroundings. "Yeah well she ran into some financial trouble when her husband died. So she was forced to move here from some of the friendlier areas of town. She was one of those 'Stay at home' wives. So her work experience had become outdated. However she has always looked after me until recently, so I owe it to her to at least go and get her." Jin said with his eyes forward, a determined look coming onto his face.

Naruto weighed the teens words as the continued walking down the barren streets of the rather seedy area of town.

"Do you live here as well?" Naruto asked casually, holding back the frown that threatened to grace his face. The place they were walking through was completely foreign and yet at the same time sadly familiar. The run down houses and buildings. The graffiti covering various walls and light posts. The ground was thick with litter, from soda cans to finished cigarettes.

Where he grew up in Konoha, and stayed until he had joined ANBU was a ruined residential district which later became the "Red Light District 2.0" in his early years. The Kyuubi never made it to Konoha's doorstep. Not like many of the new generation were lead to believe, and were told about the 'Oh so terrible monster'. The idea of Kyuubi wrecking havoc on the village itself for hours on end like some of the tales made it out to be were ridiculous.

However what did indeed happen was the tale of the Kyuubi's tails crushing mountains and causing Tsunamis? Those tales weren't that far off. However even then, they were still tales. During the Kyuubi attack, the residential district he ended up growing up in was the closest to the Kyuubi's earliest position. The earth around the buildings was heavily and quickly supplemented by weak support earthen support beams. This was so the earth users in Konoha could create numerous defenses, as well as stall the fox, and in truth... it worked.

Although once the giant fox started thrashing about, and slamming it's tails into the ground. The weakened foundations of the apartments and homes collapsed, and entire districts were wiped out.

Later on the former red light district which was essentially the area furthest from both the Uchiha Clan Police Force, and the Hokage Tower had changed.

Although while not the greatest place to grow up, Naruto would surely admit. Living in an apartment complex frequented by a wide range of common flesh peddlers, to fancy call girls. From smugglers to drug dealers that often sold shinobi licensed drugs. Naruto liked to think the entire experience made him stronger, and frankly prepared him for the days when he had to interact with the more "civilized" areas of Konoha.

In the district he lived in? No one payed attention to him. Very few actually gave a damn about him. Outside of the few call girls from all walks of life that would spare him a few dollars, as he later in life found them to be. The fact that he grew up with people ignoring him just because they had better things to do prepared him for being ignored for housing the Kyuubi. A fact that allowed him to stay virtually ignorant for the majority of his days at the academy. He still wasn't quite sure how he felt about that part.

Jin had stayed silent the entire time Naruto continued along his train of thought.

"Well?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as they turned a corner, only to view another barren street.

Jin was closing and opening his fists impatiently as he sped up his step toward a particular house with a metal gated fence, and dying plants. "It's there." Jin said as he tightened his jaw on the move, his eyes scanning around as he approached the gate.

However upon arrival, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he caught a piece of information from the mailbox.

J. A. Homura

Michiko Homura

J. J. Homura

"Family friend?" Naruto asked dryly as he ran his fingers over the small nameplates on the mailbox.

Jin grimaced as he spared the blonde a glance over his shoulder, before proceeding on without a word as he drew his crossbow.

XXXXXXXX

Rei grit her teeth as she stormed up stairs in her effort to escape Takashi. 'That fool! That idiot! The idea! The sheer fucking idea! 'Are you mad?' Rei scoffed at the thought. 'Of course I'm fucking mad.' she told herself bitterly, even though she knew Takashi would never hear it. Not to say that the point hadn't been broadcasted clearly by then.

Rei upon arrival upstairs bit the inside of her lip at the sight on the bed right beside here. There was Shido, sleeping in as comfortable of a slumber as one could achieve with a broken nose. Draped across his chest was a young dark haired student that clung to the older male like a life line. In a chair beside the bed, Shizuka gave Rei a very weak smile upon seeing her enter the room. She had been digging in her small medical purse for stronger medication. However all she had ended up finding seemed to be along the lines of brand names such as Advil or Ibeprofin.

Rei's features tightened as she looked at the teacher who had ruined her school life, and brought shame upon her family. It was really no laughing matter. And yet she couldn't help herself from almost being amused with how ridiculous the situation was. It was no longer a question of her hating Shido. She doubted that would ever change. However with everything that had happened, everything that had been revealed to her.

The situation with Jin. Takashi being an idiot. Naruto dropping an otherworldly bomb on her. Her near rape experience. The tense situation between her and the other girls in the house ever since that failed bathroom experience. The thought of finding and reuniting with her father.

The idea of petty highschool grudges had suddenly become so small in her eyes. She didn't quite know how to feel about that idea. Did that just mean she had already come to terms with leaving her old life behind her? Or was she merely temporarily adapting to her knew one?

Rei returned her smile to Shizuka as she stepped out onto the balcony and closed the sliding door behind her.

"Miyamoto." a voice said plainly the moment she made her way onto the balcony.

Rei stood up straighter at being addressed before allowing her eyes to fall on the platinum blonde hair that belonged to the rather enigmatic Sinjah Ayane. She sat in a small but comfortable beach reclining chair that had seemed to find it's home on the balcony. She sat with her legs crossed, her hands clutching an item gently in her lap, her eyes closed. Her breathing seemed to be under stress, as if she was forcing herself to focus and remember how to breath correctly.

If Rei were perfectly honest, the girl amused yet confused her all at the same time. She very rarely talked at all, and the only person she seemed to even care the slightest about was Naruto. Approaching her on virtually any subject was only rewarded a cold gaze, and almost immediate dismissal.

Despite all of the clothes in the house being laid out before the group, she had simply opted to dress in essentially workout clothes. She wore purple sweatpants with a black hooded sweatshirt. It contrasted quite heavily with the girl's hair. Although she didn't seem to care that much about that. It was no different that Naruto's completely black attire meeting his golden blonde hair.

"Hello Sinjah-san." Rei replied civilly to the girl. She had enough problems with other people in the house, she should at least be civil with the people that had minimal problem with her. "What are you doing?"

Ayane opened a single eye as she shot Rei a calculating gaze, before relenting and opening both as she adopted relaxed her posture. "I was thinking." she replied simply as she raised an eyebrow at Rei's presence. "Why are you here?" she asked as she ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out. Not that it needed any help, her hair was softer than silk, and seemed to constantly be in this perfected level of straightness. Although the process of doing that revealed the small chain she had been clutching, along with the flat silver ring the size of an American half dollar, with a tiny indentation hinting at there being more to the object that wasn't there.

Rei's lips thinned into a line at the girl. "I came here for a break." Rei commented noncommitally as she sat in the other free chair on the balcony, doing well to keep the hanging bedsheet off the side far from her mind.

Ayane looked thoughtful for a moment, before she stood up. "Alright, I'll leave then." she mumbled.

Rei adopted an almost alarmed look for a moment, "You don't have to do that, you were here first. I just came here to relax a bit, and get away from everyone else."

Ayane closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, "So did I." she replied.

Rei frowned at that revelation, "You don't have to leave though. I'm just looking for some silence." she quickly commented, hoping she wasn't the reason for the girl feeling like she was forced to leave.

Ayane clutched at the necklace in her hand, running her finger on the silver edge of the ring as she weighed her options. "Alright... if you'll be quiet." Ayane relented as she settled back into her still warm seat, before lifting up her legs and crossing them in the chair. A tight fit it appeared. However it seemed she was comfortable with it. She pulled her hood over her hair before she slung her arms into the other's sleeves, bowing her head quietly.

Honestly the actions confused Rei. At first she wanted to take a stab at the girl being cold. However she doubted that. It was nice out, and it was even warmer inside. She could only wonder what the girl was silently doing as her fingers shifted on the silver necklace inside her sleeves.

Rei took a deep breath allowing a smile to break onto her face as she looked out over the balcony. A lot of zombies that had been in the streets the following night had left to go elsewhere, with only a few staying behind. If she ignored what they brought to the scenery, and the giant wall of death? The sight before her was almost... peaceful.

Although this peace for her was interrupted by a knock on the window by none other than Takashi.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Alright so that wraps up what? Chapter 13 I suppose. Truthfully? I was actually going to hold off a bit longer on posting this chapter. However when I decided to try and find some fan fiction to read, particularly in this category I found myself slamming my head on my desk. This is mostly due to my personal experiences, and as such my opinions on why harems don't work. And why this story likely won't go down that route.

That all being said? If you like harem stories, there is a new Highschool of the Dead story that recently was released. It looks to be like some full on rather ridiculous harem of like...

Narutox Sayax Shizukax Saekox Reix SuppressedTeacherx Yuukix Rika?xThose two girls running hand and hand at schoolx Alice's mom x Saya's mom...

Something like that. So if you are into that sort of thing... its like two chapters in. Check it out!

Meanwhile I will face desk.

So I will jump right into questions.

"Bleed. Slow Story. What do?"

When I started this story I knew I would be having to work on a lot of the characters a great deal in order to make them full characters. So like right now I'm about 15k words ahead of this chapter right here. All the "OC's" (Which were just characters not expanded on in the canon story). I needed to build completely.

Rei? I needed to flesh out her better qualities in order to make her likable, and not just a walking embodiment of jealousy.

Takashi needed to be built essentially from the ground up since he wasn't the center focus of the story, and the story no longer revolved around him (entirely).

Saeko... She is interesting. She is essentially a year older than the majority of the original cast. Rei is her age, but she has a year on Rei in education. So I decided to play a bit on that, and I think you will like where I take her in the later chapters.

But over all the story is moving slow not just due to additional characters. But there are other plots I just want to get out into the open. For example, you all still have no idea what the hell the significance of the shackle is. I intend for some information to be further given in regards to that in the coming chapters.

"Semi-Small groups of characters is what authors do, otherwise the story feels like it isn't moving anywhere."

This is true in some stories. However not in all. When I set out to write this, I wanted a larger cast for a few reasons. Number 1? A bit of my story telling for this story is going to be a mix of The Walking Dead, Mass Effect, and Lost. Uses of flashbacks to learn more about given character's pasts much like Lost. Naruto or Takashi will almost always be the center focus in the story, and you get to see how the other characters surrounding them grow through their eyes (much like Mass Effect 2). And finally both The Walking Dead, and Mass Effect 2 have huge casts. And in regards to The Walking Dead, these casts are constantly shifting as people leave the group, people get turned into zombies, or people disagree with each other.

With a simple 6 person group? You can't really do any of that without it having major major impacts on the story. The idea that everyone in this group is going to survive to the end of the story is just silly. I am putting it out there now to crush the hopes of anyone looking for that to happen. People will die. However the effects of a person dying in a 14 person casts of characters you know relatively intimately where they all bring their individuals skills to the table. Or a person dying in a 6 person cast? Well the effects are drastically different.

Killing a person in a 6 person cast is essentially killing off a 6th of a "surviving a zombie apocalypse" story. Killing off multiple members would essentially kill the story entirely. However if you are simply worried about the plot being "halted"? Things should be picking up rather quickly within the next chapter or so.

"I thought Naruto was exhausted?"

Naruto is quite tired at this point. However I didn't think it was really in his character to complain about how tired he was, even if it was in his thoughts. He is tired, however this isn't the first time he has been at this point of exhaustion.

"Naruto Leaving the group for Jin? You betray his character Bleed!"

I actually really wanted to touch on this, but honestly I still haven't even found the point to really do so adequately. The fact of the matter is that Naruto's first and foremost goal right now is him getting home. It has always been that thus far. The fact that he is with the group is mainly because he doesn't know where to start doing such a task. However he is keeping them safe. Yet the fact that they aren't listening to him and what not, what would that tell you in his shoes? That they don't want or appreciate his help?

He is stuck in this situation that is a delicate one because the group may very well die without him there. Yet at the same time, he is starting to think he would be better off on his own.

Again I haven't been able to really add in how he feels on the matter, even 15k words further into the story. I think that it is pretty easy to see where his frustration stems from if you really wanted to analyze the situation. However I just haven't pointed it out.

"The Anbu rankings! I do not agree!"

Rankings are rankings. They only apply stats. They don't apply how much effort a person put into those stats. Or how hard they tried to complete that course. When I made that, I imagined that it was really just something invented by the Nidaime Hokage as a bit of an aptitude test for ANBU that they had to past. And then his own amusement, he ran the course himself, and told people to try and beat his time.

I am sure that shinobi like Minato, or Hiruzen, or Danzo could have beaten those times. However while they could have been running that course? They were in reality out at war killing people.

Now some people that are obsessive and headstrong came back to the course (EX: Orochimaru, Kushina). While others were more so just perfectionists (EX: Itachi). The obstacle course is simply that, an obstacle course. It really means nothing when everything gets boiled down.

The idea would be you would just need to pass X course under Y time in order to continue your active duty in ANBU services. The top numbers after that were really just bragging rights.

However in specific regards to Kakashi beating Itachi? I call bullshit. Also in regards to Jounin being village elite, not ANBU. Again, I call bullshit. ANBU are essentially the closest thing to Special Operations the village has. There are strong jounin, that is without a doubt. However jounin eventually end up spending their time training the future generation. Jounin are essentially the public face of shinobi that you want the public to see. You don't want the public to see the killers that hide behind masks, and assassinate civilians out of countries, and burn down bridges and disrupt trade caravans when it suits their village.

"Can I have a cookie?" - Im Not Itachi

Sorry, I only share my cookies with Itachi.

Anyways that looks like it wraps up all of the actual questions/statements asked and given in the reviews. Don't know how much longer I will be able to continue to respond to all of them. However I hope you enjoyed it.

Read and Review. :)