Forward Unto Dawn Chapter 16: Ain't No Sunshine, a Naruto + Highschool of the Dead Crossover fanfic

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

This chapter essentially is going to wrap up this arc of the story. However I didn't originally intend to do that. So I will be posting the ideas/concepts that were cut from this arc at the bottom if you have any questions in this chapter.

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"Did you ever think it would come to this Takashi?" a young female asked as she laid back in the chair of a recently acquired means of transportation.

The boy in question gave a grimace in response. "Is that a trick question?" the brown haired teen asked tiredly as he looked out the window to the fading darkness in the sky, gently letting his fingers scrape across the fancy leather seats.

The purple haired warrior smiled in return despite the avoidance as she casually shifted her wooden practice blade to her side. "No." she said quietly in response as she cast a glance to the woman, Kitami, in the corner of their vehicle.

Kitami was bound at the ankles with a pair of pant legs tied together. In her mouth, a small piece of cloth was located, and tied around the back of her head. Although despite the restraints, a complete and utter calm on her face showed through her blissful sleep as she curled up in the corner on the rounding cushions.

"Then no Saeko, I never thought that the dead would one day come back to life and kill everyone I have ever known, and completely ruin my day at school." Takashi quickly bit out in bitter frustration, before slapping a wooden window cover closed in disgust as he looked out across the streets.

Saeko sighed as she looked down and shook her head. "You know we need that open Komuro-kun." Saeko addressed politely.

Takashi tightened his jaw at the realization before conceding and slowly opening the wooden seal on the window once again. "You're right." he admitted as he slid it open and leaned back. Although not before checking back over his shoulder to Kitami in the back corner of the vehicle.

"So are you." Saeko commented. "About both things." she said as she analyzed every inch of the young man before her.

"Excuse me? Both things?" Takashi asked in confusion.

"Both things." Saeko reaffirmed. "You are right that there is no way you could have possibly expected for any of this to happen. No one saw it coming. However you were also right with her." Saeko stated, inclining her head just slightly towards Kitami resting in the back.

Takashi shook his head at that thought. That was a whole different matter entirely. "We'll see." he muttered as he cautiously glanced back at the sleeping woman. His overly critical stare picking up on more than typical.

"Hey, you guys back there alright?" the voice of Saito queued in over a radio along with a good portion of static and background noise.

Takashi kept a staring contest with Saeko as the moments of silence went by between the two of them.

"Hey you guys alright?" Saito's voice rang out of the black radio dangling in between both the purple haired swordswoman and the brown haired teen.

It was like a battle of wills between the two parties on whose stubborn mentality would give in first. However Takashi's gaze was no match for the older girl's stare.

Takashi reached up and grabbed the black radio and cupped it in his hand clicking in the button, "We're alright." he muttered before looking up to the girl across from him. "Saeko is just getting pretty tired and is falling asleep." Takashi added on, making the young woman in question snap up right.

"No I'm not, I'm fine!" she tried to quickly say loudly back over the radio, but it was to no avail as the radio had long since cut off on their side.

"Why did you say that?" Saeko asked bitterly, only to be nearly drowned out by Saya's voice coming in over the radio.

"Do you need someone to switch with Busujima-san?"

Takashi moved to grab the radio once again. However the purple haired female was not having any of that, not without a fight. A scramble occurred within moments.

Saeko slapped Takashi's arm up to the roof of the vehicle, pinning it to the ceiling with her wooden kendo blade.

Takashi in turn simply dropped the radio from his grasp and let it free fall through the air into the grasp of his free hand. It was a rather smooth plan. It probably would have gotten the jump of surprise out of anyone in their group currently... but not Saeko.

Saeko lashed out and gripped Takashi's wrist as he tightly held the radio in his grasp. Although that wasn't Saeko's full plan. She showed off her considerable skill as she lashed out with one of her heeled boots, and trapped Takashi's neck under her foot pinned to the window behind him.

And then she began to pull on his hand.

"No I'm fine." Saeko said with an even tone into the radio she had pried from Takashi's grasp, as the brown haired teen wasn't too fond of the idea of choking just for a radio. "But we should be finding a place to rest for the day. While we did only just leave Rika-san's house, we don't know how often we will be able to consistently find places to rest. We should take the ones we find."

"I agree." Saito queued in over the radio before the radio feed abruptly stopped as if there was a scramble for it.

"Hey how is the boat holding together?" Yuuki asked quickly. Although there seemed to be a bit of agitation in her voice as both vehicles shook as she made a rather sharp turn, slamming right into one of the walking dead.

Takashi and Saeko both locked eyes as if they were both wondering how to go about answering the question.

The boat they had found had a lot of space for it's size. It had a small lounging area below the deck which they were currently located in. The fact that it was also comfy was just a bonus, a large bonus. They were in dire need of extra space. Even with the fact that two members of their group left? The addition of a new member only served to enhance the cramping feeling.

The area they were in was dimly lit, with comfy brown leather seats. It was even accompanied by with large silky soft blankets and big fluffy pillows. Although that wasn't to say there wasn't any downsides.

While the area appeared clean, they knew better due to when both Takashi and Saeko had taken stock of the things. The fact that there was a dirty blanket kicked and stuffed into a low compartment. The bowl of condoms that rests on a small desk like surface in the corner. There was even a pair of panties stuck between a pair of seat cushions. So despite the boat being nice, and appearing clean? Looks could be rather deceiving.

"Everything is fine back here." Takashi said over the radio as he locked eyes with his purple haired partner, pushing her foot out of the way.

"Good." Yuuki replied back, "Because we are about an hour out."

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"Wake up." a female voice called out in the mind of the sleeping figure, only to receive no response or indication that he heard her in return.

"Oh get off your ass you little shit. There is no way you are going to die in this mundane existence. Now wake up! We have things to do." the feisty voice yelled throughout the halls of his mind serving to garner a groan from the sleeping blonde. Yet his body still refused to open it's eyes.

"What the hell do you want from us? Where is my mother!" Jin's yelling voice carried through the room as he struggled against two armed men.

"Forget your mother. They took our weapons! Your bows? Our guns? We're trapped here." Miyuki yelled out only for her voice to die off near the end of her statement. "I can't believe Kagura betrayed me." she whispered to herself harshly.

"Calm down, both of you. Yelling does nothing for us. We are her prisoner, and wont see her until she wants to see us." A new female voice said softly but with confidence.

"Calm down?" Jin ground out. "My mom is held up with these thugs, the only person who I trust is in some kind of god damn coma, we are stuck in this damn room like prisoners, and you want me to calm down? Who the hell are you to tell me that?" Jin bit back in response.

The woman's retort was a tight grip on Jin's wrist, and pinning it behind the young teen's back as she forced him flat against a cold wooden table, his head rebounding off the surface. "I'm a soldier boy, who the fuck are you?" the woman asked as she kept Jin pinned down to the table.

"A soldier?" another female voice said in an appraising yet condescending tone. "Aren't you supposed to protect the people?" she asked, her voice growing louder as she stepped into the room. "Get off him." the woman stated, her tone leaving little room to argue.

The female soldier pinning Jin down to the table took a step back with her hands raised. Jin's response to the action was a glare and nearly a growl as he roughly whipped his arms straightening out his clothes.

"So you have the scout?" the woman began with a level of authority as she sent a pointed gaze to Miyuki, "A hunter?" she gaze a suggested title in Jin's direction. "A soldier." she stated as she turned her gaze to the female standing a few feet from Jin. "And a broken boy in a coma." she finished sourly as her gaze fell on Naruto. "Sounds like mighty long odds. A fools errand without proper guidance."

"Naruto is a fine leader." Jin quickly spat out, his loyalty bleeding through.

"And here I thought since you all arrived together, you were being lead by the soldier? Or are you truly following a man named after a ramen topping?" the woman in charge said as she turned to the female soldier.

"Acquaintances." she said quickly with a level of distaste. She apparently didn't like the thought of being associated with the other three individuals she arrived with.

"I see. Well your name soldier? I could use more people like you. The fact that you are a woman only sweetens the deal."

"Rika." the soldier stiffly answered.

"Well then Rika, I'm Kagura. And you three? You three are welcome to stay here as long as you like as long as you pull some of the weight." Kagura said as she locked eyes with everyone in the room.

"Easily said when we are all prisoners here Kagura." Miyuki bit out, betrayal sticking to her features.

Jin however had something else in mind, "The three of us? What about Naruto?" He said uneasily as he gazed over to the blonde laying prone.

"The sick and needy are of no concern to me." Kagura stated bluntly with little regard to the blonde. However before there could be any response, she snapped her fingers. "And you're not prisoners here, you're guests."

Two guards stepped into the room, carrying numerous firearms, a spear, a bow, and a crossbow.

"Your weapons, kindly returned." Kagura stated with an over exaggerated bow. "Welcome home." Kagura muttered as she locked eyes with Miyuki before she gestured them out of the room to their freedom.

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"It is hard to believe this place is secure." Rika said as she walked alongside the young emerald eyed female as the slowly trailed behind a frantically searching Jin.

Miyuki's lips tightened into a thin line at those words. "The upper floors are secure." she said slowly as they rounded around a corner only to spot Jin nearing the end of the hall, having peeked into cubicle after cubicle that had went on to serve as rooms for the people staying there.

"Just the upper floors?" Rika asked with a heightened eyebrow as she suddenly found her gaze lingering on the stairway exit.

Miyuki weakly nodded in response. "The stairwell is guarded by armed and armored men. They mainly use fire axes or pipes in order to conserve the small amount of fire arm ammunition we have. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't take your weapons permanently. They could use gear like that now more than ever."

"They?" Rika asked the younger woman.

Miyuki's shoulders slumped at the unspoken question. "It wasn't even more than a few hours ago where I would have considered this place to be my family and home since that day. Yet after being out there... with them? While people like Kagura get to rest in some throne of power here? I don't want to be a part of that. I don't want to be thrown away like cannon fodder to those things."

"I won't let that happen to you." Rika said in an assuring voice despite having only just recently met the raven haired girl.

"Yeah, we'll see." Miyuki said in a worn and tired tone.

"You should have a little bit more faith. I'm going to go meet with a friend of mine. If you want to come? You and your friend can both join me." Rika revealed as they rounded yet another corner following the tall crossbow wielding teenager.

"I don't see that happening. They will never let us leave this place." Miyuki said, her voice going into a low whisper as they passed by a particular group of men and women sitting in a crowded cubicle.

"I'd like to see them try and keep me here." Rika stated in a cold amusement as she calmly ran a hand over one of her large assortment of weapons. It was true. Rika was decked out from head to toe, something that everyone was able to observe.

With a large sniper rifle slung over her back, a M4 and an MP5 slung across her chest, and two hand guns strapped to her separate legs? It was a wonder that the woman was still walking with a elegant hip swaying stride. She was carrying far more than she was, with just a spear, and even she was walking a bit offset.

Miyuki smiled at the grave mental image of anyone attempting to stop Rika with the amount of fire power she was carrying. The mental image often ended with the men looking more disfigured than the dead walking around on the lower floors.

"Perhaps you are right. Although there is no way Jin would leave without his mother, and I honestly doubt he would leave without Naruto either. Frankly for that matter... I honestly doubt I would leave without the blonde." Miyuki muttered at the end as if she was tasting her own words.

Rika furrowed her brow at the mention of the young teen, "You both show an awful lot of loyalty to that unconscious boy in there."

"He kind of saved my life." Miyuki admitted slowly and a bit reluctantly. "And there is... something wrong with him. I have no idea what it is, but it is just... wrong." she quickly added on as she allowed her mouth to keep up with her mind.

"Wrong?" Rika repeated trying to make sense of the situation. She undoubtedly understood loyalty. Yet that was loyalty built over years and years of training and trust. Not a couple of days out in the world, a messed up world, but a world none the less.

"I'm going to check the last floor!" Jin called out from down the hall before Miyuki could respond as he stepped into an Elevator only to go up a single floor.

Miyuki looked around as she chose her moment to speak carefully. She watched ahead as Jin stepped into the elevator, and having no interest in waiting for both Rika and herself to catch up to him.

Miyuki pressed the "up" button several times as she turned to make eye contact with Rika who was still patiently waiting for an answer.

"In here." Miyuki muttered as she gestured with her head to another elevator door that had recently opened.

There was a deathly silence between the female duo as they waited patiently for the elevator doors to slide closed.

"So?" Rika questioned quietly as Miyuki pressed the button to take them up a final floor.

Miyuki took a deep breath as she spared the purple haired woman a glance before she tightened her jaw. "It's going to sound ridiculous." she muttered distastefully as the Elevator began to move.

"I don't think things can get much more ridiculous than they are now." Rika commented as she stood at ease with her head hung high but her eyes appearing far off and lost.

Miyuki scoffed quietly to herself before she asked in a low voice, "Do you believe in God?"

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"Leave us." Kagura said coldly to her two armed brutish guards as she observed the prone form of the blonde haired teen on the bed beside her. They didn't dare oppose her, despite their great difference in size and appearance.

Kagura was a young woman with a unique look to her. She wasn't the most beautiful, nor was she the most intelligent looking individual. She appeared to be in her mid twenties despite having a youthful face. Her dark brown hair was fashioned in a pony tail which served to keep her hair out of her face, framing it with two bangs. The absence of hair in her face, and fair skin served to accentuate a dark red scar she had going down between her eyes and across the bridge of her nose.

"I know you can hear me." Kagura whispered into Naruto's ear as she sat herself down on the bed the blonde shinobi was laying on. "Medically induced paralysis." She stated as she used her fingers to open the blonde's eyes for him.

Naruto's eyes shifted over toward the brown haired woman, despite the fact that he could not move his body.

"It is too bad that we are forced to meet under these circumstances..." she paused as she closed her eyes scanning her memory, "Naruto correct?" she asked rhetorically, knowing full and well the blonde couldn't respond. "Let me tell you a story Naruto." Kagura said softly as she ran her hand through the blonde's hair.

"A long time ago there was a little girl and her mother. A mother that she loved so much. Yet this was a mother that had lost a husband to criminals and the corrupt. This mother loved her daughter, but she loved her needles more." Kagura began as she leaned down towards Naruto, locking eyes with him.

"One day, the daughter decides to help her mother. One day she decides to help her get off her drugs, to throw them away so that the mother can get her life back. Yet mommy turns on the daughter. Angrily she gets the kitchen knife to teach her daughter a lesson. To teach her daughter that mommy doesn't need any help. She lashes out at her daughter... literally." Kagura said as she lifted her head allowing her scarred face to become more visible in the light.

"Needless to say the daughter stopped trying to help mommy. Yet the daughter always hoped. Do you know what happened to the mother?" Kagura asked as she stared down at Naruto.

"The mother died, killing herself on the drugs that her daughter tried to throw away." Kagura stated coldly, as if the emotion that used to be behind those words had long since faded. "That little girl was me. Do you know what I realized as I had to bury my own mother?" Kagura asked pointedly.

"That people want to be ruled, that they crave it. Whether it be laws, drugs, leaders? That things like freedom? Peace? These things are all a lie. These ideals are merely things that people strive towards so that they will fall and stumble in this scramble for unobtainable goals." Kagura preached.

"From that day forward, I knew that I could not let people lead themselves astray. They simply do not know what is best for them. Their freedom is what gets them into trouble. So... I took away their freedom. And now, everyone is safe... which brings me to you." She finished slowly as she stood up beside Naruto's bed.

"You see? I don't know what you did to young Miyuki when you met out there in the city. Yet you seem to be the born leader. You give them a goal to strive towards, and they will chase after it stumbling and falling all the while. You give those two children hope, and hope..." Kagura paused as she distastefully added, "Hope is a cancer. I simply cannot allow your presence to unravel everything I have built here. I'm sorry." Kagura said, seemingly with genuine remorse.

"Weak foundations if merely my presence unravels everything you've established."

Kagura's eyes snapped open wider as she looked over Naruto's form. "I'm surprised you can still talk while under the medication." she said in a deal of surprise, ignoring the blonde's statement. "For that, I'm sorry."

Kagura then gestured with a wave of her hand to the door. "This would have otherwise been painless."

Two large guards walked in with one of the walking dead, gagged and in shackles.

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"God?" Rika snorted as she stared incredulously at the girl before rolling her eyes a pressing the 'Door Open' button. "And here I thought you were at least relatively sane, unlike the rest of these sheep." she stated a tad bitterly as the sliding metal doors moved open. "If you honestly think that boy you saved is a god then you have seriou-"

"Look, I told you it sounded ridiculous, but hear me out for a second okay?" Miyuki said in frustration, as she was expecting the reaction, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with.

Rika huffed lightly as she continued to trail along, partially listening to the younger girl as she scanned down the various halls for wherever Jin had run off to.

"That guy... earlier today, he was injured or passed out or something like that. I tried to approach him so that I could help him, and there was a magical glowing barrier that surrounded him. I couldn't pass through it no matter how hard I tried. Honestly how many people does that happen to?" Miyuki said in amazement thinking back to her earlier encounter with the blnode.

"No one." Rika said in her own sour amusement, "That is why it sounds ridiculous." she revealed as she cut down a corner while maintaining her pace. "It's not possible." she muttered as she clutched at the weapon in her hands.

Miyuki didn't bother to hold back her condescending laugh, "Not possible? Like how the dead come back to life to eat people was completely possible. I don't understand how you are looking at me like I'm a crazy person after everything you have seen." Miyuki proclaimed in frustration.

Rika's silence as she walked along the dark halls of the upper floor was deafening, and all the answer Miyuki needed. Yet the silence didn't last, as in that instant two very distinct things happened that shook the foundations of everything they stood upon.

"She's not here!" Jin's cry rang throughout the entire floor followed by a large crash. Yet even this crash was drowned out by the vibration that shook the building as if a train had crashed into it.

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"Kohta, are you alright?" Rei asked as she pulled herself onto the roof of the hummer, the roaring wind serving to drown out the majority of her voice, and keeping their conversation private despite the people below.

"Of course Miyamoto-san. Just hoping that we find a spot to rest soon." Kohta responded evenly as he looked out into the night, with his weapon of choice resting firmly in his hands.

Rei gave a weak smile as she saw through the shorter boy, but she opted to not voice it. "I agree. After tonight... I can't help but wonder if we made the right choice leaving Rika-san's home."

Kohta's gaze darkened as he thought back to the events that had taken mere hours before. "Yeah well... the leader made the decision." Kohta stated coldly his eyes focused before him despite his grip tightening on his weapon.

Rei gave a heavy sigh at that note. "Takashi our leader..." she muttered with a shake of the head. "How did that happen?" she wondered outloud.

"Miyamoto-san." Kohta began attempting to gain the girl's attention.

Rei looked up with a raised eyebrow, that prompted the weapon's expert to continue.

"What is so special about Takashi, or even Jin... or Naruto?" Kohta asked with a frown that he did his best to hide in the darkness of the night.

"What do you mean special about them?" Rei questioned curiously. She didn't quite understand what the boy was going for.

"You know what, never mind, forget I asked." Kohta said in frustration. He didn't want to go into detail on the subject. He was hoping that he could just get the most basic of answers. To figure out what they had that he didn't.

"Kohta, there is nothing anymore special about them than there is about you." Rei said before she bit her tongue to not add on the very true, 'Except for Naruto...' comment that she wanted to add.

"Now why do I have a hard time believing that? All through school, Jin and Takashi had huge groups of friends, girls would chase after them, and even you... were center of their attention." Kohta said bitterly. "Then Naruto... I could never be like him..." he said thinking back to the blonde throwing another boy out the window, effectively hanging him with a bed sheet.

Rei sighed as she realized what the short boy was feeling. "It's complicated." Rei reluctantly admitted as she thought of the two boys that she went to school with.

Kohta snorted a laugh, "Yeah, it's always complicated." he said bitterly as he allowed his mind to wander to memories he had once tried to bury.

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"It's complicated." the girl said as she stood before Kohta, as they took a moment to talk after class.

"What do you mean it's complicated? I like you, and I know you like me Kokoro. How is it complicated? This should be simple." Kohta said with a frown coming onto his features.

"Kohta, I have a lot going on in my life right now... and really. I don't do relationships." Kokoro, the young cute brunette girl said as she ran a hand through her hair, a weak smile on her face.

Kohta shook his head, "That's bullshit... and you know the worst part? You know its bullshit too Kokoro. I've known you for... forever, I thought you would at least be honest with me."

"But Kohta, I am being honest! You're right. I do like you Kohta. However I'm just not ready. I'm not ready to go into a relationship with someone like that." Kokoro tried to explain, trying to save face.

Kohta frowned as he took in her words, "So... it isn't that you don't want to, it is just that you aren't ready for a relationship?" Kohta asked trying to make adequate sense of the young woman.

Kokoro nodded her head quickly, "Exactly. Kohta, I like you. I really do. It's just... I'm not ready for a relationship."

Kohta sighed and took a deep breath before returning a nod, "Alright, I understand." he said with a weak smile.

"Great!" Kokoro cried in joy as she quickly moved in and gave her long time friend a hug.

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"What do you mean it's always complicated?" Rei asked curiously, seeing the look on Kohta's face gradually change. She knew there was far more to what he had let on.

Kohta lightened his hands around his weapon as he looked off into the dark of the night. "Nothing." he said with a sigh before he looked down into the car toward a prone, injured high school teacher. Although before anything could be said?

Everything changed.

"Everyone! We have company!" Yuuki's voice yelled throughout the car, and over the radio, piercing through the night.

It was at that moment a giant explosion erupted, coating the sky in fire.

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"This building is falling apart! We need to get out of here now!" Rika yelled while she ran alongside Miyuki as the building's very foundations shook at it's core, and began to tilt in this and that direction.

Miyuki panting heavily and stumbling as she ran, diving under a rolling cubicle before rolling into a crouch. "Jin!" she screeched out at the top of her lungs as her fingers clutching around her spear and digging into the carpeted floor as the building slowly began to tilt.

Jin however was barely paying attention as he had since collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees, his eyes hallow as he gazed at the floor beneath him.

Rika continued running toward the collapsed teen, "On your feet, we need to keep moving!" she yelled, as she vaulted over a large table that had quickly begun to slide towards the opposite side of the top floor.

She quickly crouched down as she ran, and ripped as one of the numerous ethernet cables that ran along the floor from all of the fallen hardware. Twisting and turning, she was forced to dodge past people quickly as the barrelled for the elevators and the stairs. Sadly, both of which were terrible options given their current location.

"Jin!" Miyuki yelled once again as she got closer to tall teenager only to be forced to collapse to the ground to roll away from an oncoming shelf. Being in the building was like being in a boat on the harsh sea.

Miyuki crawled over on her hands and knees toward Jin, reaching him in a timely, yet uncomfortable manner from her position on the floor. "Jin..." Miyuki panted out with a heavy breath as she reached out and touched the young teen's hand's that were dug into the carpet, the only sense of life in there was the hold he maintained on his bows in the chaos.

"She's not here." he muttered, a shadow cast over his face. Although you could hear the pain in his voice. The disbelief his voice held hurt the emerald eyed girl beside him despite her earlier warning.

"Jin, I know, I know." she said quickly as she tightened her grip on the young teen, before shaking his arm, "But there is nothing we can do about that now. We need to go." Miyuki said as she gripped the bow wielding teen.

"Miyuki! Your spear!" Rika yelled out from a few meters away. She was busy in the act of ripping up one of the floorboards under the carpet, yanking out the ends of ethernet cables resting in their jacks.

"What?" Miyuki asked wide eyed at the fierceness in Rika's tone, particularly given her confusing actions.

"Now!" the purple haired soldier snapped angrily as she began whipping the cables around as they quickly began to twist.

Miyuki flinched under the woman's gaze, and quickly spun her makeshift spear in her hand, giving the woman the safer end up weapon.

"Come on." Rika said quickly as she rushed off into the nearest open office.

Miyuki helped the shaken Jin onto his feet, being mindful to grab his crossbow to ensure that he wouldn't end up leaving it behind. She was following Rika to the best of her ability. Although she would only later admit to questioning the woman's sanity at the sight before her.

Rika had picked up the office chair from behind the desk. It was at this point that with a rapid speed, she withdrew her sidearm with her free hand, and let loose a bullet straight through the window. This action was shortly followed by the large wooden chair flying through the window as if chasing the bullet, causing the entire window to fall in tiny shards of glass.

"Get that end." Rika ordered as she motioned to one end of large wooden desk as she moved over to the other.

Miyuki set the larger teen down, leaning him in his shocked state against the office wall, before she positioned herself opposite on Rika.

"Alright - Flip!" Rika ordered without warning and without wait as she heaved the large wooden desk onto it's side.

"What are we doing? We need to get out of here!" Miyuki said loudly trying to make sense of the woman's actions, as her mind was clearly working overtime.

"What do you think I'm doing? How do you plan to get out of here? The elevator in a collapsing building? The stairwell full of zombies?" Rika quickly bit out as she took the collection of cables, and looped it through the thickest part of the desk that laid on it's side, before tying them off.

"So you choose to jump out of the top story of the largest building in town?" Miyuki nearly yelled in disbelief as she moved over to the window where Rika had relocated to briefly.

"Hopefully we wont be jumping far." Rika said as she looked over the side at the same time as Miyuki, taking in the sight of a window washer's platform, three to four stories below.

Miyuki gulped briefly in fear as she looked between both Jin and Rika. Although she wasn't allowed to dwell on the idea for long as the building went through another quaking movement. Yet that didn't stop her from asking the question that plagued her mind.

"Rika, this isn't an earthquake... what is this?" Miyuki asked in a bit of fear.

Rika tightened her lips as she took pause in her action breaking open a painting on the wall, and using the parchment as a protective mat from the remaining glass on the window sill. "I don't know..." Rika admitted slowly as she began to funnel the line of cables out the window.

"An act of god maybe?" Miyuki said pointedly towards the purple headed woman.

Rika frowned as she allowed that statement to linger in silence.

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"Who are you?" Kagura spat out to the figure hidden in the dark from her position against a large window that would have formerly overlooked quite a beautiful city. Yet now as her own blood began to pool where she was seated, the window behind her covered in blood splatters.

The blonde shinobi stepped out of the darkness, his body encased in a flaming energy. The suffocating pressure of his mere presence was causing paint and plaster to peal from the walls. Windows began to crack in his presence rapidly, hairline fractures quickly collecting behind the corrupt leader.

"It doesn't matter who I am." Naruto said in a low tone, his voice full of distinct power as it filled every corner of the room. "What matters... is what." Naruto said as he fully came into the light.

Kagura to her credit maintained a strong face, even though her eyes showed her fear. A rabid bite that was located on the blonde's neck was beginning to stitch itself back together before her very eyes. Sickly black puss seeping out of the wound before being burned off his body by the unfathomable energy that was being produced, shaking the very foundations of the building as infrastructure began to twist and warp. "What do you mean what?" she attempted to ask harshly, but her shaky voice preventing her from doing so as she applied pressure to her wound.

"Precisely what I said." the blonde voiced, "It is not about the who... but about the what. Where I come from, I was a warrior." The blonde said as he spiraled eyes glowed with energy and power. The large metallic shackle on his wrist, slowly crumbling to tiny pieces like ash.

"Was?" Kagura asked with a snort, before hacking up a good portion of blood which she did her best to spit to her side. "There is nothing special about you. You think you can lead these people? You can't. It doesn't matter who or what you are. So tell me genius? What are you now blondie?" the woman taunted off in the face of death.

Naruto took a grand look out the window behind the woman, the expansive view of the world he found himself in. The tall buildings that resembled nothing of a time he was from. The large metallic objects used for transportation. The complete and utter lack of any visible signs of chakra.

He looked down to his wrist as he watched the last piece of the shackle that had been holding him down to mortal capabilities fall away into dust in the wind as if it never existed in the first place. He could feel his powers that he had formerly lost come back to him at full force.

"Out here?" The blonde said out loud as he looked down to his hand that had formerly been chained down to reality before he lifted it up, a flat palm toward the direction on the woman. "I'm god." the blonde said as the window completely shattered, launching the woman from the building barreling into the city below. The entire hallway ripped to shreds from the sheer force of the power.

Naruto closed his eyes as he shifted his hand downward.

"Are you sure?" a female voice called out to the blonde from behind him, with a sudden clarity that had formerly been absent.

The blonde turned his head to look over his shoulder, catching sight of the equally blonde haired beauty, her eyes penetrating back directly through him.

"There is nothing left here. Nothing except pain... and tragedy." the blonde said as he closed his eyes, feeling the emotions of every suffering soul in the building.

"And what of your friends? Climbing down the side of the building? Are you willing to lose them too?" the blonde woman from Naruto's past asked.

The blonde's conviction faltered for a moment as he thought toward Jin and Miyuki both. His promise to Ayane's sister. His obligations to their group. His friendship with Rei...

"Get them out of here." the blonde said coldly, as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for merely a moment.

By the time he opened them, the blonde was gone.

Naruto turned back towards the window to overlook the city one last time, before his eyes wandered to the sky. The rising sun, and the cloudless sky. The blonde shinobi general cupped put his hands loosely together, and whispered two words he at one point hoped he would never have to whisper.

"Chibaku Tensei."

XXXXXXXXX

Naturally this chapter was a long time coming. And through the course of getting 2-3 different jobs while attempting to write this story. It has been slow moving. That said? I finally delivered the chapter. Although it did not come without a cost. I ended up cutting a lot from this arc of the story simply because I had to keep taking breaks between when I could sit down and actually write. And I felt that if I kept trying to continue with my original ideas? The continuity of the story would have been compromised, not just in this chapter/arc, but also in coming chapters due to me making mistakes here and now.

So as mentioned above, I said that I was going to outline what I originally wanted to showcase in this arc, but really wasn't able to.

What I wanted to accomplish? I feel that I did.

I wanted to finally take off Naruto's shackle. I felt that it is important for pretty much any crossover story with a main hero that is so "Super" like this, it is important for him to experience humanity. He won't necessarily fit in with it, as the character may not strictly be human or that weak. However it is through the experience that you can have your hero develop a realistic empathy for the situation at hand. A good example of this would be Thor. A god comes to Earth, doesn't fit in, but sees the terrors and decides to help only after experiencing earth through mortal eyes.

Another thing that I was glad that I accomplished was Jin's initial story. When I originally started writing this story, I was writing the supporting characters similar to how the Mass Effect characters (in ME2) were done. Recruiting them. Their initial mission. Then eventually their loyalty mission. This is a mindset that is going to follow many of the characters. I feel it adequately introduces and allows you to get used to each and every character, while at the same time not taking away from the main hero that is doing a lot of the problem solving for their team. (Main heroes here being both Takashi and Naruto.)

Similarly, I introduced Miyuki, a character I originally planned to kill off at the end here. However I felt that every girl in the HOTD universe is such a strong know it all type character. While they may not be as blatant as Saya? There is no one that is really a follower. That is capable, but refuses to step up to the plate and lead. I felt she filled a very real role that was formerly not present in the story, so I kept her.

Now my regrets...

Rika, you get to see her here and there throughout the arc, and then she just pretty much shows up in the thick of it all. This was actually going to originally be addressed in this big rescue mission. I won't go into details, because I plan to address it later. However originally Naruto was never going to fall unconscious, and need Miyuki and Jin's help. Originally they were going to make it to the tower, the three of them, and then stumble upon Rika in need of assistance.

Kagura, if there was ever a moment that I felt I handled a character poorly? It was Kagura. You cannot believe the amount of corrupt leader esque qualities I had lined up for her. I had planned for her to be shown slowly but surely sacrificing/getting rid of women, because she enjoyed having the men to herself. To be highly sexual and having the men wrapped around her fingers, and sleeping with other women's husbands. She was slated originally to be a woman that would initially capture Naruto's interests actually due to her strong firm ruling hand. And you would then gradually get to see just how messed up the situation at the tower truly was.

For example. Note how I mentioned the stairwell full of zombies? That stairwell was originally empty, until Kagura was running low on supplies, and locked off a middle floor with zombies, promptly damning everyone on the middle floor and below. However these were things I never really got to show with her, as I wanted to wrap the arc up and it would have just taken too long.

I had initially hoped to be able to establish a greater connection with all of you during the search for Jin's mother. However I then realized that the only way I would have really been able to do that would have been by having Naruto present during the search. Although that was out of the question due to me rushing the arc.

Finally Kohta. I left everyone with a pretty huge cliffhanger not that long ago with Kohta having a gun. Yet here I don't even address it the next time you see him. The problem for me was that once I got back to him, I didn't really have a way to address it while on the road. It gave me an excuse to start developing his character a bit earlier than intended, and to give you some insight into his character. But it is a bit of a shame.

Anyways...

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Personally I wasn't a big fan of it, nor the conclusion. It is just one of those cases where you end up feeling "Wow this could have been great... but it was just alright."

I'd love to hear what you all think about it though. So leave a review, tell me your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully now I can get the ball rolling once again.

Preview

"So you think you are God hmm?" A fiery red headed vixen taunted in amusement, as she crouched down next to her blonde companion amidst the smoke, ash, and rubble in the darkness of the moon.

The blonde shinobi looked up towards the red headed woman for the first time, his bleeding arms hanging at his sides. "God doesn't bleed." the blonde replied coldly as he forced himself up off of the ruined ground.