Forward Unto Dawn

by Bleedndreamz

He had come so far in the shinobi world by the age of 17. However now due to the circumstances of battle against the Akatsuki, he finds himself in a place far from home. What he now knows is that all that he can do is move forward. Forward Unto The Dawn.

15. The Man You Were Always Meant To Be

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

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"Damn..." Tajima muttered to himself as he looked down carefully at a message being carefully displayed on his cellphone, despite his current job of piloting the helicopter he was in.

Rika raised an eyebrow at her partner. The two had been on their journey pretty much in complete silence since they had left. There wasn't much small talk one could make about abandoning their post. It left an heavy feeling in the pit of their stomachs, surrounded by an air of shame. "What is it?" Rika asked, not wanting to be overly nosy and read over the man's shoulder in case the message was more personal.

"It's actually the Chief." Tajima said quietly as he carefully went about piloting the helicopter over the city. It was typically an easy task. However the task became much harder the more they saw people running away from those things, and the fact that they were ignoring them in favor of a personal quest. Admittedly if he had the opportunity to go back and change his current actions, the man didn't think he would. However that didn't reassure him or make the situation any easier.

"What did he say?" Rika asked quietly, trying to ignore her betrayal to the best of her ability while still appeasing her curiosity.

Tajima snorted as he glanced down for a moment before sparing his dark skinned partner a glance. "Don't worry about it." he said as he buckled his knees causing his phone to fall to the floor, and out of sight. "Life sometimes just gives you lemons."

Rika sent her partner a questioning gaze trying to sift out the hidden meaning behind his words.

"Rika you should go get a chute on. This thing doesn't have enough fuel for me to actually stop. So when we fly over our destination, you are going to need drop right away, 'cause I'm just going to fly past it." Tajima said without looking his teammate in the eye as he steered on ahead.

Rika pursed her lips for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright, be back in a sec'." she said calmly as she moved further back in the helicopter.

It was then that Tajima took the time to glance down at the watch on his wrist, and carefully set a timer for exactly an hour. "When life gives your lemons..." he told himself in amusement before he took one long gaze back toward his purple haired teammate strapping on her parachute with a light smile.

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"Fuck you."

"What the Ffff!"

Naruto's reaction was far swifter than both the attacking teenage girl, and the surprised male teen.

Naruto swept in front of Jin with an extended hand, elbowing Jin out of the way and deflecting the poorly crafted spear into the wall beside them. It was only then that Naruto took the plastic pipe that formed the spear, and gave it a vicious tug against the surprised girl, throwing her off balance, nearly stumbling forward on the stairs she was on as the pipe was ripped from her grasp.

Jin was quick to recover from his surprise as he lifted his crossbow. "You bitch!" he yelled in anger as he in an instant had the crossbow in his grasp resting on Naruto's shoulder.

"No!" Naruto commanded as he pushed the aimed crossbow up away from the fallen girl. However it was too late to escape an attack. The trigger had already been pulled.

The bolt sailed past the girl, cutting above her shoulder violently. It sailed through the air and quickly impacted into the shoulder of a tall lanky teen male behind her on the stairs.

"Oh son of a..." Jin began cursing to himself as he quickly notched another bolt in anger at his initial miss.

"Jin!" Naruto yelled coldly as he gave the tall teen a dark look, gripping the hand on his crossbow forcibly down.

"She just tried to kill me!" the angered teen quickly retorted, as he tried to brush past the blonde and kick the fallen girl down the stairs to her partner than was now crying out in pain.

Naruto pushed the teenage resident back against the wall with a yell, "Fucking calm yourself!" he proclaimed loudly, unable to stop an evident amount of killing intent bleeding into his words.

Jin stilled at that, and stopped going for an attack in a blind rage. But it was evident by his heavy breathing, and the look he was shooting the fallen girl that there was still a great deal of bitterness and anger in him.

"Look at them. They are scared fucking kids. Weren't you looking for you mom?" It was true. The group was admittedly a lot more diverse in age than their own group back at the apartment. The girl that had been wielding a spear was probably seventeen or eighteen. However there was definitely at least one kid from early middle school in their group.

Jin grit his teeth in anger, but Naruto's words served to remind him of his original goal for being at his house at all in the first place. He roughly shoved off Naruto's hand that was pinning him to the wall before hoisting his crossbow, and rushing down the stairs. Although his haste didn't prevent him from giving a knee to the fallen girl's shoulder as he passed. That or the dirty sneer he sent to the teenage boy who had crumpled with his back to the wall as a couple of his comrades came to his aid.

Naruto looked down with a heavy sigh. 'Heavy is the head that bares the crown...' Naruto remembered Konan's words quite vividly resounding to his mind. A saying that had been stuck in his head ever since he adopted such a prominent position in the shinobi world.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked the fallen girl whom was slowly lifting herself off the staircase.

"I-I nearly killed him..." she said quietly in shock as he hands started shaking, gripping tightly at her worn out cargo pants.

Naruto nodded his head lightly as he stepped down and gently put a hand on the girl's bare shoulder. She was in a bit of shock, not that he could particularly blame her. "Just breathe, everything's fine." Naruto said calmly, trying to reassure the girl even though he didn't particularly believe his own words.

Naruto took that time to look over the small group they stumbled upon.

The girl beside him seemed to be the de facto leader of the group. She stood perhaps around a handful of inches below Naruto at 5'6. She had hair as black as night with crestfallen emerald eyes. Her body was nicely toned and fit, with curves that further enhanced her attractive form, likely a swimmer or a runner. It was clear that exhaustion weighed down upon her form as she sat on her knees with her shaky arms extended down before her. Her look was completed with a tight black tank top and loose dark green cargo pants that had a bulging pocket.

The tall lanky boy with the crossbow bolt protruding from his shoulder had his eyes squinted shut in pain behind his glasses. He had unruly black hair that was impossible to be tamed. He was probably no more than fifteen years old, standing an inch or two shorter than Naruto at a height of 5'9. The boy didn't look like he did any form of physical exercise outside of what was required for him at his school, mainly relying on his probably high metabolism to stay skinny.

Hovering over the boy were two girls. One of them likely of equal age with him. She had dark brown hair and a focused expression on her face. She wasted no time in ripping the bottom half of her shirt, perfectly content with showing off her midriff in order to assist her comrade. She had long delicate and slender hands, perfect hands for a doctor or a musician. Her focus had left the shinobi on the stairs, and the angry teen that ventured off into the cellar the moment the crossbow bolt had struck true.

There was also a young boy in the group. He couldn't have been anything more than twelve years old. His dark hair cast shadows over his hazel eyes that seemed to piece through the dark. On different occasions, perhaps his stare would have been a bit unnerving. However that idea died upon seeing the pure look of worry and desire to assist on the boy's face.

The last person in the group was tall... a tall woman. Probably a couple inches taller than Jin at 6'2 or 6'3. She appeared to be probably around twenty-four years old. She had a vibrant blonde hair to couple with her blue eyes and quite the impressive bust that reminded Naruto quite clearly of another older blonde women he knew. In contrast to the women he had seen, both zombie and human. It was evident that the woman was at least quite a bit exotic at least in this part of the world. Particularly with her chiseled features, and piercing gaze. However despite how exotic she looked, what stood out most about her was the fact that it appeared she had looted an expensive clothing story as she was wearing a very fancy kimono with heels to match. The defensive posture she held also told stories of a woman that knew a bit about how to defend herself, at least more so than anyone else in her group.

Naruto looked back down to the girl at his side, and crouched beside her. His 'bedside talk' was quite excellent when he was younger. However a lot of the tact it used to have died as the war dragged on, and bedside lies and hope quickly proved to not be his style. "Hey, I know you're pretty shaken up. Me and my friend are looking for a black haired woman, probably in her mid to late thirties. Is she wi-"

It was then that Jin came storming back around the corner of the cellar calling out, "Damnit! Where the hell is my mother! I know she is here. Where the hell do you guys have her!" it was evident the stress bleeding onto the teen's features was causing him to see red as he stormed back up to the group, crossbow drawn.

"Jin control yourself!" Naruto barked at the teen, causing the girl resting on the stairs between them to flinch.

"W-what?" Jin sputtered in surprise at he continued to point his crossbow at the tall blonde woman, but was looking at Naruto in shock. "You serious?"

Naruto ignored the emotional teen as he gently shook the green eyed girl beside him. "Hey, do you know anything about my... partner's mother?" Naruto had to take a pause as he nearly let the term friend slip off his tongue, a habit that he had never gotten rid of since his childhood, getting attached too quickly.

The girl rapidly shook her head back and forth as she looked down, her shoulders visibly tense.

Naruto looked up to Jin from his place on the stairs with a frown.

Jin's grip tightened on his crossbow as his expression heated up at the girl's answer. "Man that's bullshit! I found my mom's coat upstairs! She doesn't go anywhere without it!"

"Jin!" Naruto tried to remind the teen, to no avail.

"How are you going to side with them? This bitch just tried to kill me! Surely will try and kill you the moment your back is turned! Why the hell do you trust her word?" Jin barked back in anger, hoisting his crossbow higher.

Naruto scowled, "Does this look like the form of a person who actually wanted to kill you?" Naruto asked gesturing to the shaking girl in front of him.

Jin clenched his jaw at that note and began lowering his weapon once again due to the constant mental conflict going through his head.

"Good to know you can at least keep the idiot from firing his weapon off a second time and injuring someone." The tall blonde haired woman said in a condescending tone.

Naruto shot the woman a look before shaking his head, "You are really in no position to be making such statements." Naruto said quietly. There was nothing more frustrating than first encounter scenarios that go south, and then when a cease fire is arranged, people in both groups feel some ridiculous sense of entitlement.

The blue eyed woman looked over Naruto with a piercing stare before shrugging her shoulders, seemingly not that interested in the blonde shinobi.

It was then that the girl with hair as black as night quietly said through shaky breaths, "I don't know where your mom is... but we are part of a bigger group."

"Miyuki!" The blonde woman hissed angrily as her eyes narrowed. "These two are dangerous!" she bit out harshly, still holding a relatively defensive stance against the two teens.

Naruto knew that snorting at the thought of him being dangerous definitely wouldn't win any points for him here, so he fought it down quite painfully. Even if it was an understatement of the century.

The now dubbed Miyuki didn't even bother to turn around, she continued to talk down to her hands in her lap. "It's his mother!" the teenage girl said loudly in exasperation, a tone that seemed to shut the blonde woman up quite soundly.

"A couple days ago a local gang started forcing people to hold up in one of the big business buildings not far from here as the place even had a cafeteria and a shower room. It also had multiple floors which made it ideal to defend. They took everyone in a few block radius there, as well as any struggling individuals that hadn't been bitten by those things. Some went on their own free will, others not so much. Some were forced to join up as it was 'What was best for them...' as they said. The past couple days, they've been sending out small teams to get supplies to bring back." Miyuki said quietly as she looked down at her hands. Silence filled the room outside of the pierced teen's pained gasp from the corner of the room. "If you are looking for your mom anywhere? Best bet is that she is there."

Naruto looked up from the girl who finished her brief explanation to share a look with Jin that spoke an entire conversation without saying a word.

They knew where their next destination would be...

But first...

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"Ugh that was just awful Saeko-san." Takashi groaned out in frustration as he took a seat on a car they had maneuvered to create the barricade opposite of the wall of dead zombies. He laid out the American designed Riot Shotgun gently to his left, absentmindedly fingering the shells that rested in his right pocket as he did so.

Saeko smiled weakly, and with a couple graceful leaps, she was quickly sitting down beside Takashi, her long legs casually laying off the side of the car. "I'm sorry Komuro-kun. I'll admit, I was hoping my advice would have been a bit more helpful, but I'll admit my experience with boys is a bit lacking." she admitted softly.

Takashi looked over to the purple haired woman as his right with a smile. "I thought you asked me to stop calling you Busujima-san? I figured you were going to at least call me by my first name Saeko." Takashi teased lightly as he lightly pushed her strong woman's shoulder, allowing their eyes met.

Saeko smiled despite the teasing, "It's a habit. I'm sorry." she said honestly as she turned to look off into the distance for any oncoming danger.

Takashi shook his head at that, "Don't be sorry." Takashi quickly said dismissively with a wave of the hand, "I was only teasing. You keep telling me you're sorry and seriously, you don't have to."

Saeko frowned but didn't look at the brown haired teen, instead opting to look off into the distance, "But I overheard your argument with Rei..." Saeko muttered with a pause, "You followed my advice and it blew up in your face. That? That is my fault Kom... Takashi-kun." Saeko finished her statement in a serious tone. Yet that serious tone in her voice was washed away with a yawn that was truthfully very unladylike and did indeed cause her to blush at her own display afterwards.

Takashi gave a small smirk at the action, but none the less shook his head. "That wasn't your fault Saeko. Your advice was sound. I just screwed up long before that. There is no way you could have known that." Takashi reasoned genuinely.

Saeko had a momentary crestfallen look come across her features. "Perhaps, but I should have know that before I tried to give you advice. My advice only served to make things worse."

Takashi sighed at the overly polite upperclassmen. "Like I said Saeko-san. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known the situation. Today I was just being stupid."

Saeko gave another yawn and nodded her head absentmindedly at the teen's words, which caused the brown haired boy to smile a bit. "Still... If I didn't know? I shouldn't have said anything."

"Tired Saeko-san?" Takashi asked dutifully ignoring the purple haired girls statement with a smirk playing across his features. He had no desire to stay on that particular subject any longer.

Saeko looked alarmed and despite her efforts, once again blushed under the scrutiny and the embarrassment. "I'm sorry, that was rude. Yes I'm tired. And I don't think your boring if that is what your thinking Komuro-kun. I just haven't slept."

Takashi gave the purple haired girl a grin, "It's fine. But Saeko-san, if you're tired? You should get some sleep." Takashi commented with a shrug of the shoulders

With a hand in front of her mouth, the purple haired female quickly shook her head, "No no..." she said tiredly. "I have to make sure everyone else is safe first before I can do that." emphasizing the statement with a closed eyed nod at the end.

Takashi smiled lightly at seeing how 'out of it' the normally collected girl carried herself. That however didn't stop him from letting out sigh and shaking his head as he asked, "You didn't go to sleep last night did you?"

Saeko only shook her head in response, her eyes still closed.

Takashi rolled his eyes and swung his legs over to hop off the car. "Alright Saeko, lets go, you're going to go get some sleep."

Saeko quickly and blindly gripped at Takashi's arm tightly. "No." she said in a tired voice, slowly opening her eyes to look over the empty streets before her. "Just talk to me, I'll stay awake." she said in a sleepy, but stubborn tone.

Takashi hung his head in response. It was like talking to a drunk person. And frankly the effects of extreme exhaustion and alcohol weren't much different from each other. "Saeko, you know what is on my mind. You should get some sleep." Takashi replied quietly, as he tried to lift his arm from the girl's grip.

"No, then I'll talk." Saeko quickly said, shaking her head a bit more than necessary in her tired state causing her purple hair to whip back and forth, only to fall back neatly into place as if guided by a higher power.

Takashi who had been formerly trying to gently pry his arm away from the his purple haired partner froze as he played over the words of the older girl. "Saeko... your tired. I don't want you sayi-"

"I envy you... Takashi." Saeko blurted out in a moments notice.

Takashi put a hand over his eyes briefly to block out the rising sun before pulling himself back up onto the car. "I don't understand Saeko-san." Takashi admitted. Envy him? There wasn't much to envy. He killed his crush's boyfriend, his crush hates him not only for his mistakes of the past, but also his actions of the present. His eye was still in pain from the punch he received from their blonde leader the other night, which he received when he needed to be rescued. He didn't even have any unique skills like the rest of the group had. He was just... average.

"You have someone who truly cares about you, and others that also pursue you for those same reasons." Saeko said as she shifted uncomfortably in her position.

Takashi however scoffed at the idea. "I don't have anyone Saeko-san. I don't know where you got that idea from."

Saeko held her hand to her mouth as she giggled a lightly, adopting a bit of a condescending tone as she spoke, "You don't see it do you Takashi? Takashi... girls that don't care? They don't get upset."

Takashi closed his mouth tightly at that comment. There was definitely merit to her words, but at the same time he had to doubt the situation at this point. He doubted at this point that either Rei or Yuuki wanted to spend any amount of time with him. "What about you Saeko?" Takashi asked, more than willing of directing the topic of conversation away from him.

"What about me?" she repeated in a carefree tone accompanied by a thin smile.

"Well you talk a lot about romance, is there anyone you like... liked before all of this happened?" Takashi corrected himself near the end realizing that the chances of the person even being alive at this point were slim to none.

Saeko seemed momentarily sad, but at the same time genuinely charmed at the thought, "I'm surprised you are so curious Komuro, with Miyamoto-san and all." Saeko finished with a sultry smile, gently pulling her legs up and bending them closer to her body so she could lean back.

"Kohta is working on the car, and well your the only one I've talked to since everything happened really. That and you are more approachable that Takagi." Takashi commented quietly which prompted a giggle from the woman beside him.

"Oh so it is because I'm the only one available is it?" she stated with amusement twinkling in her eye.

Takashi in an instant went wide eyed and turned to Saeko with his hands up in defense, "I didn't mean it like that." despite the purple haired female's continued giggles. Although it was with her giggling that he realized, "Are you having a go at me?" he asked with a frown gracing his features.

"It's fine Komuro-kun. We talk. And life is faster now. You want to get to know me. I get it." she said dismissively as Takashi continued to try and salvage his earlier comment. Saeko merely waved her hand before him dismissively.

"There were a couple men... that I liked... loved, really. Saeko said with a far off gaze as she turned away from Takashi. "However it was complicated." she finished with a grimace.

"Why was it complicated?" Takashi asked naturally in response.

Saeko's right hand involuntarily twitched at the recalled memory, an action that she quickly attempted to suppress with her free hand sweeping over to her disobedient one. She took one long look at the wooden blade that rested in her lap before turning to look the brown haired teen in the eyes and back. "No Takashi... it is really complicated. I don't think any of you would really understand." Saeko admitted to herself a bit reluctantly.

Takashi frowned at that, "Try me."

Saeko took a deep breath and looked away from the brown haired teen. "They were two students in Fukijima High whom hung out in a bigger group. One was a senior, the other was a year older than me, but a freshman." Saeko said as she spared Takashi a glance simply at that part, seeing if the age difference would put him off in the first place. However upon no reaction, she continued.

"It was just last year actually, before you all arrived. The spear club, kendo club, and the martial arts club were all joined together. I was a freshman. I had been training with my sword since I was a little girl alongside my... father." she began, tightening her jaw as she took pause before the word father.

Takashi raised an eyebrow at that bit of information. "Why did the clubs split up into separate groups? Rei mentioned to me something about that happening but she didn't know why."

Saeko closed her eyes and shook her head, "Not many people outside the club actually knew the reason. Honestly not many inside the club knew it either. However one of the members, the senior, he was a prodigy. Like I myself am a good fighter, but its as if from birth he was a hundred times the fighter I could ever dream of being. He swept over the country, and even some places out of the country in martial arts, wrestling, and kendo tournaments."

Takashi tilted his head lightly as he tried to understand the issue, "So what? Was the school worried about how skilled he was or something?" he was honestly surprised he hadn't heard about this person from Rei if he had this sort of fame. Particularly if it had anything to do with spear wielding.

Saeko in turn shook her head in response. "Oddly? The funny thing is that was never the case. The school always viewed having a student that skilled as a flight risk. However the fact that he was rather passive and never actively sought out fights with people actually left him relatively ignored. At least until..." Saeko mumbled off at the end, a frown gracing her features.

Not needing Takashi to tell her to not leave him with a cliffhanger, she continued her short story. "He was head of the Kendo club at the time, although truthfully it was widely believed that he was the most skilled in all three branches the clubs were composed of. One day after school, a small show match tournament was held. The head of the Martial Arts club ended up fighting against the head of the Kendo club. They both ended up taking things too far."

Takashi allowed the possibilities to sink in. However his mind quickly began to develop plenty of scenarios, far too many for his mind to keep track of. "How did things get out of hand?" Takashi asked as the question quickly began repeating in his mind.

Saeko hung her head for a good while as that question lingered in the air. It was only after a nearly a couple minutes of silence between the two of them that Saeko stood up on the car, wooden blade in hand. She looked down at Takashi with a serious stare, "The head of the Martial Arts club ended up killing not only the Kendo club captain on purpose, but the former school nurse arrived and threw herself into the crossfire between the two fighters only to fall as well."

Takashi's breath got caught in his throat at that note. He never once expected for Fukijima High to have such a bloody history, particularly one he had never heard about.

Saeko hopped off the top of the car, landing gracefully despite the grimacing face, Takashi sincerely doubted it was from physical pain. "Complicated?" Saeko asked with a half hearted smile.

Takashi gave the best smile he could manage with the revelation he had just heard, so naturally it wasn't very great. "Well not really." he said calmly trying his best to be some mix of reassuring, supportive, and caring. However it really just made him come off as an emotional tornado.

Saeko flashed another half hearted smile, "Then I guess it's not." although it was plainly evident that given her far off look she didn't believe her statement in the slightest.

However before their encounter could continue any further, a short chubby brown haired boy came running up, gun in his hands, cheeks red from being short of breath.

"Hey guys!" Kohta said loudly as he reached the two teenagers before jabbing a thumb back over his shoulder to the zombie wall. "We've got a problem!"

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"Why the fuck are we still here when my mother is blocks away!" Jin whispered harshly from his position next to Naruto as he leaned against the wall of the darkened room with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don't know that. And the boy is still wounded and needs to be stitched. However the girl is inexperienced. You have to give them time." Naruto replied back in a low voice as he observed the others around the room.

"We are better armed than they are! We can take one of them and go find my mother. We do not have to wait around for this." Jin continued to whisper with a raspy voice still filled with contempt towards the group.

Naruto continued to look forward from his position, not bothering to look Jin in the eye. "Just because we are better armed does not mean they are any less value as human beings. You would not be saying that if it was your mother on that table. The moment you start dismissing one person's life for another? Than none are of worth. We injured one of their own, we will wait until he is able."

Jin clenched his hands at that, "He is taking that bolt like a girl! We have been here for over an hour already, that pain is just going to get worse. We will never fucking leave this place."

"We will, and we will find your mother." Naruto replied quietly as he watched the teenage boy get his wound tightly wrapped by the fifteen year old girl.

"Empty promises hold no fucking comfort." Jin bit out as he roughly pushed himself off the wall, and moved up the stairs to the ground floor.

Naruto took a deep breath as a silence filled the room once again outside of a teenage boy's pained gasps and groans. Naruto gave a single look around to the group before giving a polite nod of the head as he followed Jin up the stairs.

It was only then that when the two boys were out of sight that the older blue eyed woman's eyes met with a younger girl's green. An unspoken conversation went between the two of them that prompted the green eyed girl to remove herself from her seat and follow the duo.

Naruto upon climbing to the top of the stairs took sight of Jin to the right banging on a closed door loudly with his hands and feet. Naruto was about to open his mouth and say something at the sight. But the footsteps behind him were quick to produce sound.

"Creating a loud racket is not going to get your mom back any sooner." Miyuki, the green eyed girl said in a dry tone.

Jin didn't turn around, but all of his actions stopped at the comment. He looked up the length of the door by tilting his head back and rolling his eyes. "I should have aimed for your mouth." Jin said in a groan before he reached back down to the doorknob and gave it a rough shake.

"Would have missed anyways." the girl quipped back with little interest.

Jin grit his teeth and clenched his hand tightly on his crossbow, fully prepared to spin around.

"Shut up, both of you." Naruto said coldly as he massaged his temples with his fingers. He was getting a headache again, similar to the feeling that caused him to let loose the contents of his lunch earlier in the morning that day.

Jin wisely choose to say nothing and turned his focus back to the doorknob, and more specifically how to open what it was attached to.

Miyuki however not knowing the blonde shinobi regretfully did not know that much about him. "And who the hell do you think you are?" she asked in a rather snotty tone, not very taken with the way the teen addressed her.

Jin snorted at that, "He's the leader of our company." he said quickly, not allowing Naruto a word in edgewise, knowing not just the blonde's skills, but his feats that he had performed since they met. "Strings up jumpy kids like you around the neck and off balconies with bedsheets." Jin taunted the green eyed girl.

Miyuki snorted, "Bullshit. This kid is probably younger than me. Same goes for you."

Naruto tightened his jaw at that remark. In the shinobi world it went without saying that age meant virtually nothing. Kakashi had said it best when he mentioned 'There are shinobi out there older than me that I am stronger than, just as there are shinobi younger than you that can defeat me.'

Uchiha Itachi captured this ideal quite effectively, and rumors of the passive aggressive 'pacifist' spread across the Elemental Nations like wild fire, and it wasn't necessarily all about his skill with genjutsu.

"Yet age does not determine skill." Naruto responded to the comment as he casually walked past the woman whom bristled at the comment.

Naruto stepped up to the door, only a couple feet behind Jin as he asked, "What is beyond this door?"

Miyuki butted into the conversation as she stepped up beside Naruto, "Don't bother. We tried to get this thing unlocked for nearly a half hour. It's going to stay closed."

Naruto didn't bother to spare her a glance as he scanned the door with his ringed eyes, taking in every little detail. "I was asking the person that actually lives here." Naruto replied in a bored tone to the green eyed girl, an action which caused Jin to let out a snort.

"My dad used this garage as his workspace and tool shed. That and a place to store alcohol where I couldn't get to it for parties or whatever. He kept quite a bit around the house mainly to keep up with his bartending skills. That and he found how my mom acted while drunk... it was pretty hilarious." Jin reported as he took a step back from the door, certain he had given his own fair crack at the thing already.

Naruto sighed and gently wrapped his hand around the doorknob comfortably and took a deep breath.

The sight was one that left the two other teens in disbelief. The young blonde one moment was wrapping his hand around the doorknob? The next moment we was casually holding the door up off it's hinges simply by the door knob. The entire weight of the door resting against the teen's body as if it was weightlessly suspended.

Naruto casually dropped the now splintered giant slab of wood that formerly made up the door, and stepped into the garage of the house. Although that didn't stop the familiar burning sensation to start to slowly begin to itch at Naruto's arm beneath the metal shackle.

"Woah... This stuff could totally help the people back at the base!" Miyuki said in surprise as she stepped into the room, the light switch having been flicked on by Jin leaving the room dimly lit.

It could be called pretty close to a "Man's Wetdream" all the things that lined the walls and filled the room. There were autographed posters of a particular American football team covering an entire front wall in the room.

In front of the wall was a large wooden cabinet, that was a few feet from the wall. It was expertly crafted with carved designs elegantly etched into the framework. The large S shaped glass symbol on the doors was the only way to get genuine insight as to what was contained within. The large bottles of various alcohols filled the cabinet with labels such as Vodka, Gin, Scotch, Rum, and many others.

The entire back wall, opposite of the cabinet was a large work bench that showcased a significant amount of wear and tear. Tools littered the desk top, as dust collected. It was as if the room hadn't been entered in months.

The wall behind the workbench however was what had Miyuki's attention, and quickly garnered the attention of others in the room.

On the wall was a large but elegant bow that gleamed in the dim light of the room. It was obvious to the onlookers that it was of high quality. However to the more experienced eyes, they would realize the unique choices made while crafting the said bow. Such as the bow's collapsing capabilities.

A quiver hung on the wall beside the bow, gleaming in the light due to it's similar color. While the tips of the arrows were invisible to the human eyes, it was easy to make out the fine craftsmanship of the feathered ends.

Beside the bow hung a crossbow that was obviously a work in progress. It was missing some parts in contrast to Jin's currently fully functioning crossbow.

Beyond the weapons on the wall, the room was littered with tools of all kinds. They ranged from tools used for car repairs to delicate tools used to repair pocket watches.

"You aren't taking anything." Jin said gritting his teeth as he pushed past the teenage girl as he proceeded to the wall where the weapons hung.

"What?" Miyuki asked quickly, her eyes narrowing in anger. "We found this place first!" She proclaimed with her hands crossed over her chest.

Jin turned to the girl with a dead stare that was truly questioning how serious the girl was with her statement. "Alright..." Jin began slowly, "I am just going to raise a hand for how many fucks I give."

Naruto who had been absentmindedly watching the display as he looked around the room fought down a snort as Jin proceeded to raise no hands as he continued to stare at the girl.

He personally was in a tad uncomfortable amount of pain. It wasn't anything to cry home about. However it was certainly... uncomfortable. He had taken to looking around the room casually. The truth was he cared very little for the weapons on the wall. It was obvious that they were going to take them, that much was certain.

He was far more interested in the large posters that hung on the wall featuring men dressed in vibrant flashy colors holding stand orange seed like objects. They were big men too. However Naruto had no idea what the significance of "Football" or what this "Superbowl" was.

It was a painful reminder of how far out of his element he was. The technological advancements and the changes to society from his own time was still something he was trying to wrap his head around. It was as if the need for villages or towns to have a standing military never even existed. All that was really needed seemed to be police.

If someone had ever come up to him in his time and tried to propose they disband their entire military, and only retain the Konoha Police force? He would have probably died of laughter at simply how idiotic the idea seemed. At least how idiotic it seemed at that time.

But times were different.

"Times are different. Yet it is a shinobi's ability to adapt that makes us who we are." a voice called out from the doorway behind Naruto.

Naruto made a rapid turn that spun him around in an instant, as he adopted a rather defensive posture. The action completely and utterly stopped any and all arguments from both Jin and Miyuki who froze at the display.

"Hey man you alright?" Jin asked quietly, his eyes showing a bit of concern as he reached for the weapons on the wall now that Miyuki's attention was no longer on him.

Naruto felt that familiar feeling of a lump in his throat appear as he looked on past the two teenagers to the faded blonde image in the doorway.

It was only seconds later that the blonde apparition shifted and walked out of the room into the hallway, unseen by others, as if it was beckoning Naruto to follow.

"I'm fine." Naruto grumbled through his teeth as he reached his free hand over to lightly grip at the glowing shackle, and gently rubbed the itchy skin around it. "Excuse me." Naruto said as he was quick to move past the two teenagers.

Nothing seemed off with Naruto as far as Miyuki was concerned while the blonde left the room. However Jin on the other hand had the sinking feeling as he caught the familiar look on the blonde's face that reminded him all too well of his earlier breakdown in that day.

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"How could this happen?" Takashi yelled as he rushed down the stairs from the apartment. Over his shoulder was several bags, as he was rushing down the stairs. Beside him ran a slightly younger pink haired girl. She was running loyally behind him with a shotgun in her grasp, carrying it dutifully.

Although they weren't the only ones running. It had been complete and utter chaos for the last few minutes. The only sounds going off were the rhythmic shots fired from none other than Kohta who was crouched down on top of a vehicle, his weapon of choice in hand.

"Saeko-san! How is she?" Takashi asked upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. There was a small group of females surrounded near by the car. Shizuka had moved into the back of the Hum Vee after having assisted Shido into the vehicle.

Rei, Saeko, Yuuki and Saya crowded around one particular frantic middle aged woman, now stripped down to her bra and panties.

"Sit the fuck down, and stay there." Yuuki said harshly as she pointed to a corner wall on the driveway for the woman to sit. Much to the visible displeasure of Saya and Rei whom both would have preferred a more delicate approach with the woman.

Saeko however had turned and was already prepared to report to Takashi before she stopped to take a glance at the younger pink haired girl.

Takashi caught the unspoken message, and dropped some of the bags on his shoulders to crouch down and talk to the young girl. "Hey Alice? I need you to go wait in the car for us, alright? We will be there in a second." Takashi then extended his hand for the shotgun she held, when she dutifully returned to her savior with a worried nod before taking off to the vehicle.

"Saito and Ayane are both upstairs getting Nana. She hasn't even come out of the bathroom since she went in earlier." Saeko reported to the closest thing she had to a friend in the group.

"Doesn't matter." Yuuki said dismissively as she joined the conversation alongside Rei and Saya. "What the hell are we going to do about this stupid bitch?" she asked clenching her teeth as she jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the woman huddled nearly naked in the corner of the drive way.

"Do you really need to be so rude to the woman?" Rei asked pointedly, her mood still sour with the girl and her encounter with Takashi earlier that day.

"You see that wall?" Yuuki asked in a condescending voice. "That wall is all that kept us from them. If her stupid group ten doors down couldn't make a damn proper barricade, and they all die? That is not our problem!" Yuuki said in a voice as if she was explaining first grade math to an eighth grader.

Before anyone could get a word in edgewise, Yuuki opted to finish her statement. Snapping her fingers like a idea just went off in her head, "Oh wait! This bitch made it our fucking problem. Now guess what? We're fucked." She gestured to the wall that was slowly starting to give way. The small funnel of zombies formerly moving in at one at a time had gone up to two or three at a time. Each shot drawing all of the zombies no longer focused on the bridge further in.

"What's her story beyond that though? Why is she... almost naked?" Takashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Pointed looks from the three females stopped Yuuki from going off on another vulgar tangent.

"As Yuuki said, they had a group in the house down the street. The one that Alice and her father tried to go to..." Saya gave a questioning look around to the group during the pause, wondering if she should even proceed further.

Rei however had no such qualms. "You opened the gate when you went to save alice. Then you attracted a bunch of attention to their house. They held out for awhile, but without a high rise like ours, their group fell. The majority of them were bitten. One of them took their own life. Kitami-san saw the wall and ran through the zombies to get here. She ended up knocking part of the wall down when she climbed it."

Takashi however took a step back on that note as if he physically recoiled from the comment. "Wait so I'm resp..." Takashi dropped the remainder of his bags to the ground as he ran a hand through his hair in disbelief.

Saya was quick to attempt to come to the aid of the situation, "Statistically the chanc-" however she was cut off by Rei.

"It's your fault Takashi." She said a bit pointedly, her words holding more weight than just their current situation, "Your actions have consequences." Rei finished bitterly.

Takashi flinched at the weight of the words railing against him as he gave a look over to the middle aged woman in the corner. "And what about-"

"She's fucking bitten." Yuuki butted in, her tone still carrying that of a significantly pissed off individual.

Takashi's eyes grew wide at that the sudden thought of being responsible flooding through his mind.

"Wait! We don't know that. Kitami-san says that she is positive she wasn't bitten." Saya said correcting the vulgar girl.

There was a mumbled 'bullshit' from Yuuki. However that didn't deter Takashi from pressing forward on the idea. "How do we know?"

Yuuki snorted at that comment.

"We don't." Saeko said calmly, one of the first times she actually opted to speak out on the situation. "She has an injury on her back. She says that one of the weapons from the people in her group gave it to her under friendly fire. However..."

Takashi tightened his grip upon his shotgun as he looked down in thought, before lifting his head and asking. "Well what are we going to do?"

The females of the group merely stared back at Takashi in silence as a response to that causing the teen to adopt a frown.

"Why do I have to be the one to make this decision. Naruto is the leader here." Takashi said, reminded far too much of his failure and his need to be rescued on his attempt to save Alice.

"Because Naruto is not here. He ran away. He's not coming back." Saya said cooly. Although she was not ignorant to the pointed looks she gained from both Rei and Saeko at the idea. It was obvious that they weren't entirely on the same page with that idea. Although both said nothing.

"We need a leader." Takashi mumbled, his jaw tightening at the sight of the fearful woman in the corner that was not outwardly showing any signs of turning.

"I agree!" was the call from a new voice upon the stairs. Saito and Ayane were both walking down the stairs, their arms wrapped around Nana, whom was unmoving. It was only upon closer inspection that it was easy to see the blood that soaked her left arm.

"We need to get her to Shizuka-san." Saito said as he reached the ground level, surprising the teens now with the up close look at Nana.

"Shizuka-sensei!" Saya called out into the vehicle, ahead of the duo carrying the bloody girl.

Takashi had since swept in to take Ayane's place with the girl, and opted to assist Saito with carrying her. Frankly it was also partly his own 'Get Out of Jail Free' card from the conversation at hand.

"What happened to her?" Saeko asked, giving a worried gaze to the back of the Hum Vee where the unconscious girl was being slid in beside an equally unconscious Shido.

Ayane tightened her jaw as she looked over the girls in the group. She hadn't tried to be even slightly social with anyone. It was an awkward position for her when she felt like she was obligated to give them an explanation.

"We went looking for Nana upstairs, and went to the bathroom. It was locked, as it had been ever since Kohta escorted her there earlier. There was no response when Saito called out, so we broke down the door. She was passed out on the floor, with blood and cuts on her left arm." Ayane reported calmly, not going into more detail than necessary.

Yuuki scoffed at that, "Cutting the wrists? A bit dramatic if you ask me." she finished in a rather amused tone.

If there was anything such as a comment in poor taste, that was it. It earned her a significant glare from Rei in response. "Yeah it is too bad that no one stepped in and helped her earlier." Rei said pointedly.

Yuuki nearly got defensive, but she just returned a taunting smile, "Well well! Isn't the officer's daughter just full of double layered statements today."

The result was only an oncoming glare from the young spear wielder.

Over by the vehicle, another conversation was going on amongst the young men.

"We need to make a decision soon." Saito said quietly as he tucked his laptop into his bookbag, and gently slid it into the back of the Hum Vee, most likely where he intended to sit when the group moved.

Takashi's jaw tightened at that. Once again he was looked to by others by the decision maker in the absence of both Naruto and Jin. "I know..." Takashi relented as his gaze fell upon the distraught but panicking woman.

"Look, Kohta is good. I never really paid attention to him in school, I honestly never expected this from him. However eventually he is going to run out of bullets, and we will all be dead. The sooner the decision is made, the less resources we waste, and the quicker we get to safety." Saito continued despite Takashi's acknowledgment. Apparently feeling the need to stress the dire situation they were in.

"Look I got it!" Takashi said loudly as he turned fully to face Saito, despite the glare Shizuka sent back to the the duo. Speaking in a lower tone, Takashi continued, "What the hell would you have me do? Condemn her to death? What if she hasn't been bitten, and we just leave her here? If I make that decision, her blood is solely on my hands." Takashi asked Saito in a bit of distress before moving over to the female group. "What would Naruto do?" He asked loudly to the group, still trying his best to defer to their absentee leader.

A weight of silence washed over everyone as they took account for everything they had seen their rather no nonsense tough leader do over the past few days. This answer was pretty obvious to all of the people present. If there was anything Naruto did? It was protect the group, at all costs, even if that required protecting them from themselves.

He would leave the woman.

"We need to vote." the brown haired teen said with conviction. "I am not going to be the only person to make this decision." Takashi said loudly. He was not going to become like Naruto.

"Kill her or leave her." Yuuki was quick to say, a bit too loud.

"Wait! Your going to kill me? Or leave me? Are those the only options!" the young woman cried out as she stood up, and began gathering on her clothes that had been discarded on the ground earlier when she was searched.

Pained grimaces collectively filled the group all through varying intensities. Even Yuuki cringed as her own statement was harder to go through knowing the woman was now aware.

"You are all just teenagers? How could you choose to do something like that to someone. Is this how you are all like now?" the woman asked teary eyed as she approached closer to the group.

The group of teenagers fell silent, with varying degrees of emotion in their eyes as they landed upon the woman. Some, like Yuuki and Ayane took a step away from the woman. Others looked on in shame or pity at what they were already talking about doing.

"We are looking out for our group." Saya said quietly as she pushed her glasses further up on her nose as a shot went off in the background.

The woman, Kitami, sniffed back a few tears at that note, "Well a lot of great that does me right?" she then quickly reached down and grasped the hand of the nearest male, which happened to be Saito, "Please I'll do anything just don't leave me out here to die." she pleaded, putting more than enough emphasis on the word 'anything' for a very clear image to flash through the minds particularly the men of the group.

Saito fought down a blush, and slowly pulled his hand away with a polite "No thank you." much to the agreement of a few women in the group.

Takashi absentmindedly wondered if he did that because he was legitimately not interested, or if the teen was just not interested with everyone watching him. It wasn't like the woman was bad looking by any means. Short shoulder length blonde hair, and dark eyes with fair skin. She could have passed for an older sister of Shizuka's perhaps had her chest been within the same ballpark of proportions.

"We haven't decided anything yet. However you aren't showing any signs of a person that is about to turn, so that is a good sign Kitami-san." Rei said politely with a smile trying to diffuse some of the gut wrenching tension.

This statement served to catch the attention of everyone in the group except for Takashi.

"What?"

"Miyamoto-san..."

"Wait!"

A whole slew of surprised statements varried from person to person as they heard the girl's confession. "Are you telling us you have actually seen someone become one of them?" Saya asked in a rather surprised tone.

Rei cringed at the memory, although tried her best to force herself to continue. At least she was going to, before Takashi spoke up for her so she wouldn't have to.

"It was her boyfriend, on the roof of the school." Takashi said quietly, remembering quite vividly what he had to do moments after the teen turned.

"Hisashi." Rei added to the statement as a bit of guilt ran through her system. She didn't want her former boyfriend, the boy who saved her life multiple times to just be remembered as 'a boyfriend' , he had a name, and she never planned on forgetting it.

Saya had a sick look suddenly flash across her face as she recalled her former attitude she had taken with Rei in the bathroom the night before. 'Oh no! Miyamoto wasn't just only nearly raped! She watched her boyfriend turn into one of those things, and then undoubtedly killed in front of her again.'

"I'm sorry." Saya was the first to say, and it was all she really could say, particularly given how she acted to the teen.

This prompted a small wave of "I'm sorry's" or "I'm sorry for your loss" "My condolences", you name it.

A rapid fire of five shots from Kohta back to back brought the group back to reality and the situation at hand really quickly.

"Alright we need to get this resolved now." Saeko said in urgence with an uncharacteristic stress and exhaustion added to her tone.

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Naruto stumbled down the hallway in a bleary eyed daze as he made his way to the back door of the house. The process of leaning against counters and walls as his vision swam.

He was in pursuit of the blonde haired blue eyed apparition garbed in a white cloak. To say it was a painful process was the understatement of the century. His body seemed to be thrown further and further into pain as he followed the apparition. If Naruto wasn't so curious, and desperately wanting to see the ghostly voice that seemed to know more about him than others? He probably would have figured chasing something that gives him pain was a bad idea.

It was like a never ending quest or journey. Every step he took, he would get closer to the apparition, almost to the point where he could touch it. However the moment he was within arms reach of his intended target. It would move away effortlessly presenting itself out of reach. He couldn't even make out the face of the person to be honest with himself. However the distinctive blonde hair and blue eyes with a white cloak? He knew of one man very well that had those features.

Naruto stumbled up to the door, putting a hand in front of his face as the light pierced through the windows burning his eyes like coals on a fire.

He viciously kicked the few objects in front of the door that had barricaded the back yard. The chair hooked under the door quickly buckled as if it was in pain as one of it's legs broke under the kick from Naruto's foot.

Naruto with a bit of subconsciously chakra enhanced strength busted the door down under distress following the blonde figure outside.

It was a completely different world. Truthfully it was a completely different everything. One moment he was looking out into the backyard from the window to a yard that had a fence, a flowerbed lining it, and a few bikes.

Now? Now he was stuck in a place he couldn't even begin to place. All he could say about the place was that it was faded... very faded. The skies had been turned into a cloudy red. The surroundings, the homes, all of the notable things. They all vanished. All that remained now was a bed of dirt with a complicated sealing array formed on the bloodied ground.

Yet the thing that stood out the most was that the figure was no longer a faded image, something Naruto took note of right away. The fact that he could now perfectly identify the person that ran through his mind constantly.

"You..."

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"Hey..." Miyuki said quietly as stepped closer to the tall teenager. He had been in the process of absentmindedly running a hand over the cabinet full of various alcoholic beverages, already done going through the room since Naruto left a good ten minutes before.

"What?" Jin asked dryly as he was pulled from his thoughts by the green eyed girl. He removed his hand from the wooden cabinet, taking a deep breath as he did so in order to turn to face the older girl.

"What are you thinking about?" Miyuki started quietly, fidgeting on her feet as she looked over her shoulder to the door, not paying much mind to what she was actually asking.

Jin's jaw tightened at the girl's question, particularly since he didn't find her quite pleasurable company. "My dad, my mom, my group." he listed off bitterly as he spared the raven haired girl a glance. "I have a lot to think about."

Miyuki pursed her lips as she turned and leaned back against the cabinet. "Look, I get that you don't like me..." a snort from Jin was quickly heard loud and clear, "But that doesn't mean we can't try and move forward."

Jin shook his head as that, rapping his fingers on the cabinet before him. "There is no we. There is just a me, me and Naruto. Just because your group decided to kidnap my mother doesn't mean I have to give the slightest shit about you." Jin finished with a pointed look, standing up straight letting his rather imposing size tower over the shorter woman. "The only reason we are even still here waiting on your little friend is because you are going to take me to my mom."

Miyuki's eyes dropped at that statement. It seemed her attempt at diplomacy had utterly failed, "Look, there is something I should tell you." Miyuki said quietly as she locked eyes with the teen beside her.

Jin held her gaze silently, while not caring for the girl, he was willing to listen to anything important she may have to say.

"I told you some of the people in the area that the gang have been taking? Well most of them... they haven't been going willingly. While the environment they have, its safe from the outside. However just be careful. This outbreak or whatever it is? It's changed people. If you find your mom, she might not be the same person you remember." Miyuki said cautiously in a quiet tone, delicately choosing her words.

Jin's eyes narrowed at that, "What?" he asked with a cold tone flowing into his voice.

Miyuki's lips tightened as she was prompted to repeat herself. "Just be careful, don't get your hopes up is all I'm trying to say." she said quietly, pursing her lips at the end of her statement.

Jin's hands clenched at the wooden desk he leaned upon as various scenarios flooded through his mind. None of them pleasant as he thought of the possible situations his mother could find herself in. "She's fine." Jin said tensely, as if he was trying to reaffirm the notion to himself.

"Look, I just want you to b-"

"She's fine alright? We are going to go there, I'm going to get her, then me and Naruto are going to get back to our group and everything is going to be just fine. Got it?" Jin said as he clenched his eyes shut alongside his fists.

Miyuki crossed her arms over her chest tightly, none too keen at being cut off. "Fine, think whatever you want. I don't care. While you hope for the ideal situation, I'll be sure to tell you 'I told you so' when the women you find is not the same woman you remember." Miyuki spat out before she began making her way to the door, an annoyed look on her features.

"Look..." Jin began with pursed lips, which was enough to give Miyuki pause at the doorway. "I just can't allow myself to think like that." Jin said with a tense heart as the possibilities of what could be happening to his mother floated through his head.

Miyuki gained a resigned look at that and in turn nodded her head slowly. "Alright, well I'm going to go look for that blonde friend of your's. You should get anything that would be valuable to us, and make a pile of it to carry or load into our car."

Jin nodded, not bothering to look towards the girl and give her any more confirmation than that.

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Miyuki sighed heavily as she stepped out of the room she had left the tall crossbow wielder. At this point it was habit how she went about her routine. Miyuki knew that deep down, anyone who had lived this long had developed a routine. That or they had submitted to those more capable than them.

Whenever she was going to go out, she had her routine. Grab her makeshift spear. Check her gear. Then perhaps most importantly? Her ties.

She reached into her bulky pocket, only to find her hand dipping into a large collection of shoe laces. Shoe laces of all kinds.

Miyuki spread a shoelace thinly, wrapping it tightly on two fingers on each hand before sweeping it down and under her hair. Bringing the lace up she pulled her hair into a long ponytail, tying her hair down several times down the length. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it kept her hair out of her face, and that was by far the most important when her life was at risk every moment she was outside.

Miyuki closed her eyes and pursed her lips as she wiped off the unmistakable scent off of her hands onto her clothes. She had coated the numerous shoe laces in alcohol. There were very few things that one could find to be actually useful on the streets. However rope was always useful, and the idea that every walking dead getting killed on the streets had about sixty inches of lace on their person? Someone could do a lot of things. Although that didn't stop her from dousing the laces in alcohol to prevent any possible diseases that those things may carry.

Upon tying up her hair, she clutched her spear in hand, adjusted her tight black tank top, and swept down the hallway. While the two teens she had met recently weren't the most social of sorts, but she knew that if their group was going to have any form of success, they needed to push their differences aside. If that meant getting the shorter blonde back his abrupt wanderings? Then so be it.

Miyuki leaned against the wall next to the back door for a few moments as she delicately peeled back the blinds to take a look out the window. She knew it really wasn't that big of a deal. The walkers around the town attacked through sound, they were by all means blind without it. Yet it didn't stop the instinctual feeling to hide one's self when trying to be stealthy.

The sight outside only rewarded her with the vision of the young blonde knelt on the ground clutching his wrist, appearing to be in considerable pain as he gazed upward.

Miyuki quickly moved to the door, throwing it open with little effort making it slam against the inside wall. Stepping out into the backyard of the house, of any house used to be easy. Yet the act of stepping outside anywhere was now adrenaline inducing. It was truly hard to really describe how stressful the situation they were in was. It didn't matter how special a person was in their past life. It didn't matter how bad a person was in their past life. All that mattered was the now. The fact that the moment you leave the safety of your home, you can die at any moment in the most brutal of fashions.

Before she made her move to reach Naruto, she gave a wide berth of the house's back wall as she checked around the corner, spear at the ready. It was only when she truly believed that she was safe and in the clear that she went to reach the blonde.

Or at least she tried to.

A silvery mist stopped her from moving any further, as if some form of invisible barrier was stopping her from moving any further. The barrier was a good five feet around Naruto in the center of the backyard. To say the situation disturbed her would be an understatement. Yet while every single instinct, every muscle, every bone in her body told her to run from the situation? That the circumstance was not normal, and therefore a danger? When the blonde started speaking, she couldn't force herself to leave.

"How are you here? It's not possible." Naruto said in disbelief with a shake of the head as he looked down to the ground beneath him, what he was seeing clearly different than the sights before Miyuki.

Miyuki shifted on her feet as her grip on her spear tightened despite her swelling fear in her gut.

"That's not possible." Naruto replied to apparently a half of the conversation that was completely lost on Miyuki. "I watched you die. What you're saying... it can't be true."

Miyuki's eyes widened a bit on that note. It was with that statement that it became apparent that the blonde wasn't simply trying to speak to her in his exhaustion, and that he was indeed seeing things that she simply couldn't. She took the end of her spear, and softly tried to poke the end of it into the blonde. Yet sure enough, a silvery mist barrier made itself known surrounding the blonde.

The blonde scoffed with a shake of his head as he stared up in defiance to an unknown individual. "What do you know? You died long before I even left. I watched you die!" The blonde repeated, giving only the briefest of a pause between this statement and Naruto's quick retort, "Oh bullshit. I wouldn't care if you were an Uchiha, a Rinnegan wielder, and I certainly don't care about the Senju."

Miyuki wanted desperately to ask about the names or titles she was hearing, and what they meant. However that desperation quickly died as the blonde's eyes started glowing. The pale ringed eyes that were so easy to ignore with all of the stress and hardships surrounding their now regular day to day lives burst forth in color. Misty wisps of energy rose out of the blonde's eyes like a colored steam.

It was at that moment that the misty substance seeping from the blonde's eyes started pouring out as if a floodgate had been broken. The entire aura quickly began covering him, all the while the blonde let out a blood curdling scream of agony.

"Hey!" Miyuki yelled in a panic as she slammed herself up against the invisible force. She rebounded just as hard off of it as if she was trying to tackle a wall of laced rubber bands.

"Hey damnit! How can I help you!" Miyuki yelled out doing her best to make her voice heard over the blonde's. Although she was quickly coming to realize that the groans and the scratching and banging on the gate behind her on the side of the house may very well becoming a more pressing matter.

"Leave child!" a female voice cut into the black haired girl's thoughts abruptly forcing her to spin back around to where the voice came from. She was only able to catch sight of the youthful looking blonde haired beauty staring back at her intently before her form vanished from existence in an instant as if it was never there to begin with.

She didn't need to be told twice. The dead rising out of their graves and killing people was one thing. She was already having to deal with that. She wasn't about to jump at the chance to introduce ghosts into the mix.

A loud groan alerted her to the new found presence of new but sickly familiar company. Although perhaps it was the stench that gave them away way before that.

The emerald eyed girl clutched her spear in one hand like a javelin and watch as the rotting being attempted to go for the loudest target in the area, Naruto.

The closest zombie, with its intestines hanging out pooling around it's legs, tried to barrel at the screaming blonde shinobi.

Miyuki had to admit that she probably would have found the situation comical if it weren't for the fact of how grave the situation actually was.

The zombie looked as if it dove head first into a wall, it's arms flailing about in the process. Upon bouncing backwards off of the wall, it's brainless back step caused it's intestines to rise up around the ankles and proceeded to trip itself.

Miyuki didn't even bother to look a gift horse in the mouth at the situation as the zombie proceeded to claw at the air, unable to figure out why it couldn't effectively get back up onto it's feet. The black haired girl merely stepped forward, spear in hand, and sunk the blade deep into the eye socket of the flailing zombie.

Although she knew now wasn't the time to clap and pat herself on the back. Just a single look down the side of the house told her than this was only the beginning.

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"I can't fucking believe this! Are you serious?" Yuuki yelled out in frustration as she spun around a full 360 in the process of her statement, her hands in her hair in a stressed outrage. She swelled up closer to the target of her outrage, "Takashi please, you can't be serio-" she said as she tried to place a hand on the young teen's chest.

"Back off." Saya said harshly as she leveled a glare at the older girl, stepping between her reach toward Takashi. "The leader made his decision." She said loudly to the entire group of people that had been swarming around Takashi the entire decision making process.

"Please don't call me that." Takashi said as a bitter feeling swelled up inside of his mouth.

This however did not stop the barely clothed woman, Kitami, from barreling into the brown haired boy with a teary eyed sob. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" Kitami gushed out, "I promise you wont regret this, I will do anything you all want, thank you! Thank you!"

Yuuki's jaw tightened as she took a step back from the collected group. "I can't believe you are all seriously think this is a good idea." she commented, trying her best to remain calm in the situation.

Rei pursed her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "There are worse things out there than just them, Yuuki-san." Rei said clearly recalling her encounter with the man at the gas station. An experience she had no desire to repeat, ever again.

"You're right! Worse like inviting someone who is going to turn into our car? She is going to undo us all!" Yuuki said brutally as she stabbed a finger in the older woman's direction. She then turned her gaze pointedly to Takashi, "And I want you to know it will be your fault when it fucking happens."

Takashi at the point garnered an incredulous look, "Why the hell is it my fault!" he yelled out as he locked eyes with Saito or Saeko trying to get clarification for the rather ridiculous accusation. "We had a damn vote!" he said loudly, following Saito's subtle nod in the direction of the Hummer in order to follow suit with some of the other members of the group that had already piled into the vehicle.

Takashi quickly began steering the group to the vehicle as he spoke. "If you don't like it?" he said loudly as he reached one of the side doors on the vehicle, "You can leave!"

Everyone took a moment on the side of the car to let those words sink in as the stared as Takashi, ready to pile everyone into the vehicle.

"I'm not this leader you all keep trying to make me out to be. There is not one damn thing special about me. I am not smart, I'm not taking college classes, I am not skilled with weapons, I'm not older than all of you. I'm just me. Stop treating me like I'm some damn leader all of a sudden. Just because Naruto is gone right now doesn't mean all the fucking decisions get delegated to me!" Takashi barked out, letting a huge weight roll off of his shoulders. "Now get in the fucking car."

The group was filled with varying reactions, but no one said anything. The look of a tired but sad understanding flashed over Saeko's features. A look which was much similar was shared by Saito as he wasted no time in climbing into the back of the vehicle and reaching his laptop, and immediately pulling it open.

Yuuki had a look of disgust as she watched Kitami climb into the back of the vehicle, following behind Saito. She made a point of locking eyes with Takashi before moving to the front and saying, "Whatever, I'm driving." she ground out as she swung the door open, and climbed in slamming the door shut before there could be adequate protest.

Rei looked as if she had magically had some large revelation about the situation, and a small bit of guilt washed over her. She gave a weak smile and a nod as she stepped up to Takashi whom was still holding the door open before. Although that was all that was shown between them as Yuuki wasted no time in honking her horn for Hirano to run up the long driveway, destroying any moment that the two teenagers could have shared there, prompting Rei to step into the car.

Saya, the last one to have yet to get into the vehicle crossed her arms in a familiar calculating look she had given the brown haired boy since childhood. "What are you doing?" she asked in a rather condescending tone as she shook her head in exasperation.

"What the hell do you mean what am I doing?" Takashi asked in frustration, the weight of their situation starting to pour onto him as he looked behind himself from the door to see Hirano back peddling up the driveway, loading shell after shell with the shotgun with practiced ease. How he was moving with those weapons so easily was beyond the brown haired teen.

Although this act of not looking as Saya merely gave her the opportunity to slap away Takashi's hand from the door, and proceed to slam the door shut.

"What the hell?" Takashi growled out as he tried to open the door again, but Saya pushed her hand firmly on the door preventing such an action from ever happening.

"Damnit Takashi. We need a leader. We don't need a damn democracy. You can be our leader." Saya said as she held the brown haired boy's gaze with conviction in her eyes.

Takashi shook his head, "Move Saya. If anything I'm the least qualified to be a leader. I'm not... like... some special person or any better than any of you."

"Takashi!" Saya snapped, not letting the boy go any further down that train of thought. "I have known you since we were kids. I have always been there for you, and I have watched you all of this time. The moment all of this happened? What did you do? You came into the classroom right away and took control of the situation." she said fighting down the wince of pain knowing that he had come in the classroom that day not for her, but for Rei.

Takashi gained a skeptical look despite the group being pressed for time. However Hirano was making his way slowly up the driveway. He apparently couldn't move that quickly with the weapons. However whatever kept him safe was best as far as he could see.

"Look, being a leader is something someone is born with. It's an instinct. Like all of us may one day be capable of being a leader, and we may all have our skills, fine. However none of us have that drive, that fire that would convince a person to follow them Takashi." Saya said proudly as she push a hand up to the brown haired boy's chest, or more specifically his heart when she spoke of fire.

"What about Naruto?" Takashi said with pursed lips.

"What about Naruto?" Saya repeated coldly, "Fuck Naruto, that's what." she said bluntly. "Naruto left us when we needed him. He is not a leader. Or perhaps, he is a leader? But he is not a leader for us. He doesn't care. You do Takashi. People look to you as a leader for that very reason."

Takashi's lips formed a thin line as he listened to Saya, and despite the fact that some people in the vehicle had slightly rolled down the windows to see what was being said, he didn't bother to stop his pink haired friend.

"I see you spend all of this time not sure of your decisions. You are constantly comparing yourself to Naruto. Why? Because he was our first leader?" Saya shook her head at that thought as she spoke with a passion. "No..." she said softly. "Naruto should be comparing himself to you."

Despite the gunshots in the background as Hirano climbed closer and closer, it felt like a silent night as Saya let loose that straw to break a camel's back.

"You seem so confused as to why people want you to be our leader Takashi. Why people look to you for guidance?" Saya shook her head with a weak smile, "You idiot." she mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Takashi finally made his voice known after it's long absence, thoroughly confused.

Saya shook her head once again as she said, "Takashi, the only person who is confused as to why you should be the leader is you." Saya said as she began to realize just how close the two had gotten ever since she put her hand on the teen's chest. Frankly, the two were nearly pressed up against each other.

Takashi stood there in a bit of a stunned trance as he let those words slam into him before glancing over the car, and realizing that indeed everyone was watching the scene play out with a similar gaze, which in turn caused the brown haired teen to stand up a bit straighter.

Saya however at this point was blushing up a storm, and was merely thankful her back was to the Hummer as her thoughts began to go haywire. She was always a fast thinker, but this was fast even for her. All of her thoughts pouring through her head in regards to Takashi, her crush, and their proximity. And perhaps the most important one flooding through her head. 'You may never get another chance.'

Takashi turned his gaze down to Saya and closed his eyes with a nod as he truly accepted her words. He then in turn reached behind her for the door, to finally move on from their situation with a newfound confidence.

However it was at that moment that Saya's confidence too swelled into full effect. She once again pushed back, preventing the door from opening. However time seemed to slow down for both Takashi, Saya, and all of the onlookers as Saya cupped the brown haired boy's cheek.

It was then that the scene unfolded in an instant, so that Saya knew she couldn't lose her nerve. She brought her lips up into a passionate kiss with Takashi, her childhood crush, and could only silently pray at that point that he in turn would kiss her back.

Which he did... after a moment of shock. However the moment was forced to be cut short as it was no where the time or the place.

"You're our leader. I want you to be who you were meant to be. Not later, or tomorrow, but now! So please. It doesn't matter what people think of you. What matters is what you think of yourself."

Takashi however was still a bit stunned by the kiss to truly process his friends words. He couldn't tell anyone if it was because he secretly had feelings for his friend? If he wanted to make Rei jealous? If he was just doing it to not hurt his friend? Or if perhaps it was just instinct to kiss back against a person who was kissing you. He had no idea at that moment. Yet one thing was certain? One person certainly didn't approve.

"Move Kohta!" Yuuki yelled as she stuck her head outside the window. It wasn't to say they were the best of friends. However they were certainly on a first name basis after the time they spent together worki ng on the car.

Both Takashi and Saya spun instantly to see the sight of Kohta immediately stopped still as he looked upon the kiss between Saya and Takashi. Those with a proper view may have even noticed the boy suddenly look down to the finger he had near the trigger of one of his many guns, before looking up once again to lock eyes with the brown haired boy he formerly would have called his friend as his finger slowly slid onto the trigger.

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Yo Dawg! Heard you guys hate cliffhangers! So I gave you guys another cliffhanger to fuel your rage against cliffhangers!

Alright well there we have it, a much longer chapter today. Probably twice as long as the last chapter, if just slightly less. So anyways I am giving a partial apology for how long this arc is lasting. Right now there is a split focus between following both Takashi as a main character and Naruto as a main character. Things will become more centered on Naruto after this arc, and therefore easier to write. That said, I don't think what I am showcasing is bad, just long. Thankfully though, this arc will be ending soon. I can't say for sure how many more chapters as it depends on the length. Although I'd say no more than 3 to sum everything up given my typical chapter length.

So thank you everyone who has stuck with the story and has been enjoying it thus far. It has been quite the blast to write.

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Onto some minor notes and insight for any readers. If you don't care, you can just skip this and go about your day.

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Saeko as you saw obviously has some changed history. The fact of the matter is that a lot of characters in this story have some changed history, or their history is just expanded on. I intend to stay true to the original characters, while at the same trying to make them feel more complete as characters. So each of the characters has their own backstory as well as personality and history being fleshed out. I felt the original characters with rather stereotypical flat characters, so I wanted to work on that as I moved forward, focusing on a few characters at a time.

On another note, the new group of OCs recently introduced are temporary. I don't want everyone feeling like they are having to keep track of suddenly 5 more people.

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Questions?

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Anyways I am really happy people liked Jin. I knew I would be walking on thin ice with trying to craft a character from scratch but at the same time not suffocate the audience in the said character. So hopefully I have done a good job with that.

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On the note of the Rinnegan being out in the open, but no one commenting on it? Same goes for his whiskers? As far as I feel, they are interesting features, sure. However unless they are actively trying to analyze Naruto's appearance? They aren't going to find it incredibly noteworthy. His eyes and whiskers are merely a small detail when they are in a world where the dead come back to life and try to kill you. I feel at that point in the eyes of the characters, you start describing others not by appearance, but by their actions.

Like... Naruto, the dependable leader

or Saeko, the young collected skilled swordswoman

etc etc etc

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On the note of Naruto's hatred for his family or Jiraiya. I don't necessarily want to call it a loathing hatred. However he is just frustrated with his situation. He doesn't actively mope about it or push his own problems onto others, he carries that weight of his on his own shoulders and lives the hand he is dealt. You merely get to see his thoughts because a lot of the story is written through Naruto's eyes.

Naruto doesn't hate them. He just feels that they could have done a lot more, or they could have done things differently. However they didn't. Yet he was the sole person that really got screwed over by their actions, because he didn't have a choice in the matter. Everyone else did. He feels that if they chose for him to live that life, then that is fine. However they shouldn't expect him to be on good terms with them when they condemned him to such a life when things could have been different.

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Anyways I will leave everything at that. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Although, frankly it is better to be put in a Review as then if anyone has a similar question, I can give everyone an answer at once. Nothing is more frustrating then responding to 5+ PMs the exact same way with different wording.

So read and review, I hope to hear from you all on how you feel about the chapter. Likes and dislikes. All of it helps with building the story. So best of luck to all of you.