Back at their homebase classroom:
Ino, Sakura and Tenten were in the corner towards the back of the room. Sakura had pulled up three chairs and arranged them to face each other.
"Tenten, are you alright? Were you by yourself this entire time?" Sakura whispered.
Tenten Higurashi is a naturally beautiful girl. She has deep chocolate brown eyes and hair that's always styled into two buns. She has athletic build and is taller than most girls in their school. She's currently a senior at Konoha university and has a close friendship with Neji Hyuga.
The three girls always got along since Elementary. Ino and Sakura have admired Tenten for both her beauty and ability to stand up for herself. Both girls frowned slightly at the sight of their friend in such a tragic state. Tenten was wearing a baggy white long-sleeved sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up, red high waisted shorts and black trainers. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood and dirt. The girl's arms and legs were covered in blood, dirt, and bruises.
"I'm alright. I'm just exhausted," Tenten whispered back.
"Tenten, is that blood yours?" Ino whispered.
Tenten finally looked at the state of her body and clothes. She tried wiping off the dried blood on her arms and legs. "I don't think so," Tenten whispered.
Ino grabbed a handkerchief out of the first aide bag and the bottled water that was on the floor. She poured some water onto the handkerchief and started cleaning up Tenten. Thankfully, after the blood and grim was wiped off there were no visible wounds on her. Ino sighs in relief.
"Tenten, I have an extra shirt in my bag. You can have it," Ino whispered. 'Please, please, Kami-sama let Tenten be in the clear.' She prayed.
"You do? Only if you don't mind," Tenten whispered back with a smile on her face.
Ino pulled out a plain black t-shirt out of her bag and handed it to Tenten. Ino looked back at Shikamaru and gave him a knowing look. Shikamaru took the hint and motioned the guys to face away from the girls. Tenten saw the opportunity and got up to remove her shirt. Ino held her breath as she eyed the girl changing carefully. She sighs in relief again. Her friend was in the clear. She didn't have any scratches or bites on her body.
"Thank you Ino. I feel so much better," Tenten whispered as she hugged Ino.
Ino held the girl tightly and single tear fell. "I'm so glad your safe Tenten." Ino whispered back to her friend.
Sakura joined in the hug and sobbed quietly. Shikamaru watched the three of them have their moment. He went up to Sai who was dutifully on watch and whispered to him "Tenten's in the clear."
Sai nodded. "I'm glad. I don't think the others would have let me dispose of that girl if she was infected. That would have been a big issue, Captain," Sai whispered back.
Shikamaru swallowed an imaginary lump that he felt in his throat as walked away from Sai. 'Should I be worried about Sai? That's not what you would normally say about a friend..' Shikamaru thought.
*Buzz, Buzz*
"Shikamaru, our classroom is getting pretty full. We're going to the staircase now." Gaara said on the radio.
"Great. I'll signal Hinata and Sasuke." Shikamaru replied as he switched to Hinata and Sasuke's channel and signaled them to start luring the second half of the undead to them.
To Naruto and Gaara at the staircase:
"Gaara, keep watch behind us and I'll be on the look out for an opportunity to close our door and Sasuke and Hinata's door," Naruto whispered to him.
Gaara nodded and climbed up the stairs to check if the coast was clear. Surprisingly, he did not see any undead on the fourth floor. Gaara has a lot of things on his mind. He was worried about his siblings, about Hinata and the task Commander Uchiha had assigned to them. 'Worrying is going to solve anything. I need to be strong just like Shikamaru and Sasuke. They're so levelheaded and quick on their feet,' Gaara thought to himself.
"Oi, Gaara! It's time. I'll shut Sasuke and Hinata's door and you shut ours," instructed Naruto.
"Got it," Gaara said as he headed down to accomplish his task.
They were still undead exiting from their assigned classroom. Gaara was able to time it right to able to kick the undead that was about to exit the classroom and he shut the door. Naruto did the same for Sasuke and Hinata's door. Once their task was done Naruto knocked on the window to their home base. Sai let them in. Shikamaru gave them a thumbs up and relayed to Hinata and Sasuke they were good to go. Not even two minutes after giving them the okay to leave. Shikamaru hears Hinata's voice and his heart drops.
"What? Jammed? Choji, Gaara, Naurto! Come with me. Hinata and Sasuke are in trouble." Shikamaru says aloud.
Gaara quickly looks at Shikamaru and see a bit of panic on his face. "What's happening Shikamaru?" Gaara asked with concern written all over his face.
"Come on we gotta go now," Shikamaru says as he and Sai start moving the tables again.
Present time: Hinata's POV
My vision started to blur, but I managed to snap out of the stupor and continued to push against the club to keep the walker away from me. "Fuck," I cursed under my breath. The chomping noise from the walker got louder and louder. The rotting smell was agonizing.
Sasuke tried letting go of the table to come and help me, but I yelled at him, "No, Sasuke! You can't. We'll be both dead if you do!"
Sasuke glared at Gaara and Choji. "HURRY THE FUCK UP!" he yelled.
"FUCK!" Gaara yelled in anger and started wildly swinging his club at the window. "Why isn't this piece of shit window breaking!?"
"Gaara! Wait, I have an idea," Choji said as he grabbed the redhead's shoulder. "You have one of the homemade knives, right? Get it out and hold it against the window like a nail."
Gaara quickly did as Choji instructed. "Hold it steady!" Choji yelled and he hit the makeshift knife as hard as he could. The window cracked. "Again, Gaara! Hold it steady!"
Sasuke watched me struggle with the walker. His usual stoic face was not replaced with worry and anger. "Hinata! Don't you dare give up. Damn it!" Sasuke yelled. "Get it together!"
His voice rang in my ears. I tightened my grip on the club and pushed as hard as I could then I let it go. I grabbed the makeshift knife that was in my back pocket and slammed my foot onto the walker's knee. *CRUNCH* Once the walker fell to ground, I held it down with my foot and stabbed it in right in the eye. Sasuke watched the whole thing transpired and I could hear sigh in relief.
"Good job, Hinata," said Sasuke softly.
*SHATTER*
"Hinata!" Gaara called out. He held his hand out. "C'mon, grab my hand."
"Sasuke, let's go!" I yelled out.
"Get out first. Gaara, get her outta here," said Sasuke annoyedly.
I glanced back at Sasuke worriedly.
"Don't worry, Hinata. I'm fine. Once you're out I'll follow," Sasuke said reassuringly.
I climbed onto the chair and made my way out the window. Sasuke looked back and saw I was out of the classroom. He let go of the table and the undead started to push through to get to him. He jogged towards the chair and jumped out the window with ease. Not even a minute has passed by, and every inch of the window Sasuke and I jumped out of was covered by the undead's mangled arms reaching out to grab anything in sight. Sasuke went up to me and poked my forehead. He had a small smile on his face.
I blushed. 'Why doesn't he smile more often? It's so cute. Wait cute? Sasuke and cute do not sound right.' I thought to myself.
"Hinata!" Shikamaru called out while running up to me. He reached out to me and hugged me tightly. He rested his head on my shoulder and whispered, "I'm glad you're okay, Hina."
I hugged him back and said a small apology. "I can't promise I'll stop making you worry," I whispered back while giggling.
Shikamaru finally let me go and I think he finally realized what he did was totally out of character from others point of view. A small blush started to spread on his face. "Ahem. What a drag. Let's get back to the classroom." Said Shikamaru as he started walking to the door.
"I'm glad you're okay Hina!" Naruto said.
"I'm also glad you're safe Hinata," said Choji.
Shikamaru and I gotten close during our special task force academy days, but he's always tried to keep his distance from me whenever we were in public. I assumed it was to ensure that no could suspect our friendship as favoritism because the other cadets already thought I got in because I was sleeping with Commander Uchiha. I sigh at the thought of those rumors.
Everyone except Gaara followed Shikamaru's lead to go back into the classroom. Gaara grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. This caught Sasuke's attention and it looked like it piqued his interest. Instead of going inside the classroom, he leaned against the wall. Gaara didn't notice, but I did. I glanced at him curiously.
"Hinata.." Gaara says.
"Yes, Gaara?" I asked confused.
"I-I.. Ah, never mind. It's not important! I'm just glad you're safe. I'll see you inside!" Gaara exclaimed nervously and jogged into the classroom passing Sasuke who was leaning near the door.
Sasuke gave me a quick glance and chuckled at me. Everything was so confusing. I shook my head and just followed Sasuke in. I heard a gasp. I looked up to see it came from Sakura. She ran up to Sasuke and hugged him. "Sasuke! I was so worried! You're covered in blood! Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Sakura exclaimed with worry laced into her voice.
General POV
"Sakura. Let go. I'm fine. It's not my blood," Sasuke says stoically.
Sakura reluctantly let Sasuke go. She watched him walk away towards the windows facing the entrance of the university. Ino walked up to Sakura and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Come on, Sasuke must be tired. Let's give him some space," Ino softly said to Sakura.
Shikamaru went around the room gathering the following people to the supply table; Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto, Sai and Tenten. "Tenten, could you tell us where you were before the whole incident?" asked Shikamaru.
"Oh, my god," Tenten exclaimed as he looked at Hinata and Gaara. "I was with Lee, Neji and Temari before everything went down."
Gaara's eyes widen and asked, "You were with Nee-chan?"
"Yes!" Tenten continued. "The three of us ended up at the library with maybe 10 other people. Everyone was so freaked out, but we were managing until we made a mistake... We didn't know that if you were bitten or scratched by one of those things, you'll eventually turn into one of them. One of the guys from the group ended up turning and chaos started to spread through the library. Three more people were bitten before Neji killed the guy who turned. More panic started to spread because everyone accused Neji of murder, but that wasn't the worst part. All the screaming and chaos in the library attracted a large group of undead to us. While In was helping the other strengthen the barricades on the front entrance, I noticed one of the girls staring at one of the undead banging on one of the doors. I tried talking, but it was too late. I think the stress got to her and she opened the door letting in the undead. The four of us managed to escape the library unscathed, but another group of the undead ended up separating me from them and that's how I ended up here..."
"So, you don't know where Nee-chan went?" Gaara asked.
There was a moment of silence until Tenten rose from her seat. "Wait! Neji said something about meeting on the rooftop in case anything happened and that's why I ran up here because I was trying to get to the roof!" Tenten exclaimed.
Gaara and Hinata's head shot up. "What are we waiting for? Let's go get them!" Gaara shouted.
Shikamaru stood up. "Wait a minute. You don't even know if they're truly up there. We need time to prepare and plan before even thinking of going up to the roof." Shikamaru said while turning to Tenten. "Why the roof? Why would Neji choose the roof?"
Tenten shrugged her shoulder and said, "I don't know. He didn't say why."
Hinata noticed the map was laid out on the table and started flipping to the roof section. Her eyes widen and she quickly spoke up, "Neji nii-san decided on the roof because of the fire escape!"
Shikamaru also took a look at the map, and he smirked.
Hi guys! I was able to finish another chapter!
Thank you so much to the people who leave a review. It really does motivate me to continue to write.
The pairings are still undecided at the moment. I hope this doesn't bother anyone!
Whelp, that's all I wanted to say. Please enjoy Chapter 6 and don't forget to leave a review! (: