(Updated 6/14/18)
Hello everybody! I got my studying done early so I had a little time to do some writing this weekend! HAHAHA! Suck that college exams!
Anyway, I have a lot of questions that people are asking me about this story, but I think I've answered some of these already.
The big one seems to be centered around Naruto's lack of chakra. I'm getting tired of writing this explanation, so here it is ONE MORE TIME. Naruto is a freaking bad ass at the worst of times. He took out half of the six paths of pain in minutes when the whole village couldn't take on one. The HOTD world is comprised of characters that are near human combat level. Despite the fact that there is an abnormal level of martial prowess among the characters... My point is simple, it is lame when the main character is walking through the zombie apocalypse like it isn't even there. Naruto would be the God/hero and the whole fic would degenerate into some hero-worship story. I hate hero-worship stories. I want my main character to experience challenges of some kind. I want PROBLEMS.
Some of you out there have flamed me for either the way I took Naruto's power down a level... while others are pissed simply because I did it at all.
Well for all of you I have a message and it's an important one. If you are so obsessed over Naruto that you actually become bored reading a story just because a plot is similar to another you have read, then you need to close your lap-top or put down you I-pad and do something constructive,
AND, for all of you who have taken the time to tell me how I suck, or that I fucked up my a story... I can safely say... go to hell. This is my story and if you don't have something constructive to say... don't say anything at all. AND FOR GODS SAKE! I don't need you to tell me that you've stopped following my story or that it's no longer a favorite.
Oh... and one more thing for any of you (disliking) more than one of my fics because I change the way a character acts or the way a particular thing works... take a chill pill
Now, on to the good stuff. Here is chapter 3 of this story. And remember, I'm still studying for exams. Do not expect regular updates!
Chapter 3
Vision of the Dead
Saeko woke with a start. Every part of her going rigid as she almost leapt out of her bed. Sweat covered her, soaking her white shift. "What was that...dream?!"
She swung her feet over the side of her bed and caught her breath. That dream was eerie and haunting.
Yesterday she'd followed Naruto out of school. She lived near him so it wasn't a large change in direction. So she had been a block or so behind him when she saw him dash to his right and into an alley.
She ran over to see what was going on. When she caught up and peeked into the alley...she saw the bodies. Naruto was half in and half out of the shadows, pulling a bloody knife from a body on the ground. With a smooth movement he wiped it off and tucked it away. Then he stood up and turned away from her.
Ducking away she'd run back to the end of the block. There she had waited for a minute. When she looked back in the alley...the bodies were still there, but Naruto was gone.
Again, the image of Naruto pulling the blade from the body... her imagination added a slick squelching sound. And the groan of someone who wasn't quite dead. Then Naruto plunging it back in at the throat. Blood spurting around the knife and over his hand. Saeko's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were open wide as her mind assaulted her with a flood of images.
A vision of Naruto... A murderer, an assassin. The thought brought a haze of redness to her cheeks. She felt it as heat. First her throat, then her face. She let out a long shuddering breath.
"Naruto...killed someone. He killed that person in the alley." Saeko dropped back onto the bed, biting her lip. This had been a part of her for... a long.. time. The desire to feel other's pain...through the hilt of a sword. The jarring of bones through the grip. Even the slick sound of steel pulled through flesh. But these things she wanted. They only manifested in her thoughts and her dreams. Until yesterday she'd never seen someone... die.
It was exhilarating. It made her heart beat faster. The feeling of being alive, of making one's self real though the erasure of others. Taking her time to cool down wasn't an option though... It was time for school. She'd already slept late.
"Naruto..."
She raised herself to get ready. Changing clothes quickly, she then headed into the bath room. Even in the dim light from the window her face was flushed. "I need to calm my nerves, but I'll be late if I don't leave now...damn..."
ooo
ooo
Naruto met Rei and Saeko as they walked down the sidewalk. Apparently they were waiting for him again. Naruto's cheeks flushed pink.
"Someone is happy to see you."
"Zip it Kurama."
Saeko smelled...enticing. Her red cheeks weren't covered by makeup. Mainly because she didn't wear any. And combined with the strong scent of arousal that tainted the air around her... it wasn't hard to tell what she was feeling. It was rather unsettling. If he'd been back home he would have asked what was making her flushed, but he didn't dare here.
But all the same. He was unable to keep himself from stepping closer to her. His mouth opened to catch a bit more of that taint. Saeko's blue eyes couldn't match his when he looked right at her, but as soon as he looked away..."
They headed inside the school, Saeko walking a bit closer than was necessary. Naruto thought he heard Kurama chuckling in the back of his mind.
"My...my...She must know about yesterday. She smells ever so faintly of blood. Naruto's senses aren't enough to pick up on it. She was following us after all. And for some reason this girl isn't frightened of him despite seeing him kill… interesting..."
Rei watched silently as they parted company with Saeko. Rei couldn't be sure but Saeko had looked... flustered the whole time. And Naruto kept... "I'm sure he was sniffing her but she wasn't wearing any perfume. I'm sure of that. Did they...? Yes they did walk home in the same direction yesterday! No… no they didn't...!"
Naruto turned and walked through the door into their class room. Rei followed him in, fuming.
ooo
Saya watched as Naruto took his seat. Her heart was jack-hammering away in her chest. Fear, like a newly fledged bird beating at a cage, was blooming in her chest. There was something about Naruto now. As though she as suddenly able to see through his mask. His personality that he projected. It was a mask, quite similar to hers, but his normal attitude was almost as scary.
The veil as they say had been lifted. Naruto was a killer. From the easy... no not easy, the effortless way he moved, to the efficient manner in which he interacted with people. He might not have revealed exactly who he was but to a certain extent she knew him. "I wonder… Does he trust me to keep it a secret that he killed those guys? Or is he keeping an eye on me at all times, waiting for me to crack?"
Saya saw Naruto turn and glance at her. He was smirking. Saya realized that he wasn't smirking at her. He was looking behind him to where Rei was sitting. She didn't hear what he said, but an overwhelming feeling of relief hit her and she relaxed back into her seat. "Thank god that look wasn't for me. I was about to die..."
Then Naruto's eyes flicked to her and...he winked.
ooo
ooo
Shizuka stood and moved to her own desk in the nurse's office. There were still reports to sort through. A few injury reports from the Kendo and boxing clubs needed to be processed. But other than that she was free today. So unless someone was injured she would be able to use the rest of her time for her own purposes.
She intended on looking into Naruto's family situation. It worried her that he was a loner. And with him entering martial arts matches as a minor it would be negligent of her not to find out as much as she cloud about his situation. He was quite capable. She knew that he was ranked number 2 in Kendo club. She had been told by Saeko herself that he was more skilled than her and merely lacked experience.
Shizuka thought about it as she finished up on her reports. "Naruto lives alone and acts as a loner at school. He has no friends and gets perfect grades. At the same time he says that he's not good at getting a job and so he enters arena fights. How he makes so much money is beyond me. If he entered enough fights to make so much money he wouldn't have any time to study. So with that in mind his parents must be wealthy. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to rent the top two floors of an apartment building."
Taking the time to properly think about it she thought that something else had been skipped over. "Yes...! His scars. He said that he didn't get them fighting. But they were so brutal... He must have had some kind of terrible accident to get even one of them. If he didn't get them from fighting then where was he injured like that? He's so much of a mystery. If only he wasn't so secretive."
She completed filing her reports and switched on her laptop. It was time to do some digging. She didn't know what she could dig up with her minor admin code, but there was always a chance she could find something important.
ooo
ooo
The lunch bell rang and classes emptied. Naruto found himself sitting at a table with the rest of Kendo club. Saeko sat to his left. Rei sat to his right. Naruto figured that this would probably end up being a regular thing. He sighed. "It's not like I really have the right to complain. I mean, any other time I'd be happy to have two girls jumping through hoops to be around me. It's just that it's so inconvenient right now."
One of his fellow Kendo members caught his mournful look. "Hey Naruto-sempai, what's got you down all of a sudden?"
Naruto did his best to keep his expression neutral. "Well... There are just these two particular pains in my neck right now. I just can't seem to shake them off." He didn't look to either side of him and wink. But if he'd been back at the village... he would have.
The boy asked, "Something to do with home huh? I heard from someone that you missed school. And you didn't show up for Kendo the other day."
Naruto nodded. "Yep, it was the day after I fainted. But I'm better now." Naruto looked back to his food. It was so hard not to be his regular self right then. The members of Kendo club shared a camaraderie that he liked. It wasn't as serious as the squads back home, but it was still trust and friendship. And it made him desperately want to crack open his shell and be the spark in the room again. Maybe pull some pranks, fill the handles of all the bamboo practice swords with sand and coat the sparring room floor with floor wax.
A small smirk tilted the corner of his mouth thinking about all the things he pulled on his own team. Like when he magnetized all of Kakashi's shuriken... or the time he'd coated the inside of Sasuke's water flask with liquorish powder. Or even better. He remembered the prank he'd played on Kiba. "Ah... reverse sexy jutsu... It was kinda scary. Kiba looked pretty hot as a chick... pity he was trying to kill me for the next two weeks."
Naruto recalled Kiba's priceless expression when they were on their mission to escort a merchant through the Land of Wind. He'd caught Kiba with a version of the Sexy jutsu that temporarily turned the target into a female.
The expression on Hinata's face had been worth all the shit he got for it and more. It had been utterly priceless.
Abruptly Naruto stopped. He froze so completely that the girls on either side of him almost jumped out of their skin. A wave of dread sent a chill down his spine and it felt... like the room had become close and cramped. Claustrophobia bit sharply, causing him to cringe.
Rei asked, "Naruto-kun? Did something happen? Are you feeling okay?"
"Something happened."
"I know... It's awful... But what is it? It almost feels like being trapped in a genjutsu."
"No... stay still... try to enter sage mode."
Naruto mentally nodded and closed his eyes. The instant he entered his meditative trance and reached out for the nature energy around him he felt an overpowering urge to vomit. Nausea almost made him choke. His eyes flew open and he jerked out of his seat.
"Naruto-sempai?!"
"Naruto-kun?!"
The door to the cafeteria closed with a snap. The bolt that kept the doors in place flying off as the door fell flat with a bang.
Saeko and Rei shared a look before getting out of their seats and following.
ooo
ooo
Naruto dashed through the school at a speed that an Olympic athlete would have envied. His lighting movements and agility carried him through the halls and past students in a blur. This was a fast as he could go without using any chakra. Still... it wasn't fast enough. He had to get to the roof where there wasn't so much distortion from the students around him.
He took the stairs to the roof five at a time, leaping goat like past two girls as they descended to the second floor. They cried out and almost fell, but he was already on the fourth floor.
The door to the roof burst open and he stumbled out into the bright mid day sun. Everything seemed calm, but... he knew... something horrible was happening. Naruto threw caution aside and leaped thirty feet into the air, landing on the very top of the roof. He looked around at the city. It seemed normal... It wasn't.
Naruto pulled his mind inward, concentrating on stillness. The he pushed his thoughts outward in a rapidly expanding sphere. Five minutes passed before he felt it again. The corruption...
It was at least twenty miles away, but it was spreading fast in all directions. It seemed to fill an entire part of the city already. He turned inward again. "Kurama! What is happening? It's like... I don't know. I've felt this before. It's... it's..."
"It feels disturbingly similar to a technique invented by the Second Hokage. It was called Edo Tensei. The Reanimation jutsu. This presence... it feels as though..."
BOOM!
"Kurama... what was that?"
"An explosion... obviously." Kurama shifted in his mind. "Let me take over for a few moments. I will use my eyes to see what happened. It's too far for you to see even with your chakra enhancement."
"Okay... fine! Just don't get any ideas."
"Upstart pup."
ooo
ooo
The two girls separated to look for Naruto. And it was Saeko who at last ran out onto the roof. She had taken a tip from two girls coming down the stairs and sprinted up them as fast as she could. She had a bad feeling now. It was becoming more solid in the back of her mind. A creeping premonition about what she would find when she reached the top. "Naruto rarely acts rash like that. He doesn't make sudden inexplicable movements. It calls too much attention to himself and he doesn't do that."
Her eyes caught the top of the roof and she froze.
Naruto stood, immersed in a pillar of red flame. It swirled around him even as she watched. The tongues of liquid fire lashed out and split apart. Each time it caused the air to ripple, turning the air it's self into the surface of a red lake.
Saeko caught her breath as a wave of heat washed over her. She closed her eyes against the burning light. It was too much. She back away into the doorway.
Then the light vanished, the split flames seeming to swarm around Naruto for a moment before disappearing completely. She blinked as Naruto stiffened and turned on his heel. She ducked out of the doorway. She didn't want him to know she was there. "I don't know what he is now... Is he human?! And if he isn't then why is he here and... oh shit... We were giving him such a hard time about staying here. What if he's some kind of monster from legend? Or some demon like in story books..."
She bit her lip as she felt the temperature fluctuate wildly around her. "Would he kill to keep this secret?"
Naruto's breath ghosted past her ear. "You saw it didn't you."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact. And he asked it in such a way that made her skin crawl. She turned her head to look at him. His blue eyes were different, just like they had been... only for a second when he woke in the nurses office. A deep blue with a slit pupil. Up close it made him look like an animal.
He grabbed her hand. "It doesn't matter. Something bad happened down town. Shit is rolling uphill if you get my meaning. We have to get out of this school before we're stuck in it!"
Saeko snapped out of her trance as she was almost dragged down the stairs.
"Naruto! Wha...!
Naruto looked back and growled, "Jeeze, I forgot." She let out a girlish shout as he yanked her forward. The move caused her to fall into his arms. He snapped, "Hold on."
She grabbed onto his shirt as they were suddenly falling... fast. Naruto ricocheted off the third floor landing and bolted down the next flight of stairs. He came down without a sound on the second floor. Gasping she wrapped her other arm around his shoulder as he pushed off. They were across the hundred foot long hall in seconds.
Saeko forced herself to shout, "Naruto! What's going on!?"
Naruto didn't look down at her as he bladed down the corridors of the school, but he said. "I'm not sure and I couldn't explain how it feels well enough for it to make sense to you."
He stopped in front the cafeteria. He dropped her on her feet saying, "Listen. I don't want everyone panicking. I'm going to the administration office. I'll get them to evacuate the school. Once you guys get home, hole yourselves up."
"Wait!"
She snatched his wrist before he could disappear. "I want to come with you! I don't know what's going on either!"
He groaned. "I don't have time to play hero right now Saeko! Don't you get it? I'm not even from here."
"And just where are you from? And what the hell is going on?!"
Naruto turned to see Saya Takagi in the doorway. She held up her phone in one hand. "I just got a voicemail from my mom that said something horrible is happening. And you vanished two seconds before I got it. You must know something!"
He groaned wondering how much she knew. "How many people in there look like they got the same message?"
She shrugged, "Ten maybe. A couple kids just got up and left after you did."
"And why didn't you leave? You're parents are some wealthy politicians or something. Wouldn't they want you to go home?"
Saya frowned. "When I said something horrible it means that they can't even send someone to pick me up! And besides I figured you had something to do with it!" She bit her lip. "After all you're the only guy I know with crazy secrets."
He glanced at Saeko then back to her, "Fine. There's something coming from downtown. I don't know how to describe it. It's spreading fast. I could see people running in every direction... some of them were attacking each other. I've got a really bad feeling that it's worse than that though. I just know that the whole school is going to go crazy if I shouted what I thought it was."
Naruto grimaced. "Or they'd just think I was insane. I was about to head to the headmaster's office and convince him to evacuate the school."
Saya looked back inside the cafeteria. "I'll take care of the students here. You take care of the staff. If the headmaster just evacuated the school like that, there'd be just as big a panic."
Saeko nodded. "I go with her."
Naruto gave her the thumbs up. "Got it. I'll take care o..."
"ATTENTION! ALL STUDENTS MUST EVACUALTE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS! I REPEAT. ALL STUDENTS MUST EVACUATE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS! RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!"
The intercom cut out for a moment and there was a harsh ringing sound from the nearest speakers. Saya glanced at the wall. "That wasn't the normal alert for an emergency. He didn't even tell us to follow the teachers out. What the hell?!"
Then it came back on.
"Oh Shit! Get away from me! Get AWAY is Said GET AWAY!"
They were frozen as a scream echoed through the school, emanating from the intercom. They heard crunching and the grinding of bone. Saya held her hand to her mouth to avoid ejecting her recently consumed lunch as they heard the distinctive sound of flesh tearing. A meaty squelch and a clank followed. Then the speaker cut out again.
Naruto's face set. "Forget about not causing a panic. Come on!"
He grabbed Saya and Saeko and ran down the hall, almost dragging them along behind him. Saeko gasped between steps. "Hey, Why not just carry us! You... picked me up like I was nothing! It would be... faster...!"
Naruto grunted as he kicked open a door. It flew right off its hinges. He growled. "I can't keep that up for too long. I need to rest every once in a while or I'll collapse like that time in Kendo!"
He was about to charge though the door way when he saw that he'd knocked someone flat with the door. He pushed forward. "Hey! Are you okay?!..."
The blond pushed the door aside. "Owie... That wasn't nice..."
Naruto recognized Shizuka immediately. She looked up as him. "Oh.. Naruto. I was just going to find you when they made the announcement. Then..."
"I know, shit hit the fan right." He jerked her to her feet. Naruto took one look at her constrictive dress and high heels. He said quickly, "Shoes off and rip that skirt or you won't be able to run properly."
Shizuka blinked in blatant horror. "But! This is Christian Dior!"
Naruto glanced at Saeko. The Kendo president asked bluntly, "Your clothes or your life?"
The blond school nurse cried, "BOTH!"
Naruto growled and allowed Kurama's chakra to leak through. He brought his hand to her hip as a claw pushed out of his skin, then drew it downward, shearing through the thin fabric. "There, now you don't have to decide. Let's go before we get swarmed by students."
Shizuka whined loudly, but fell in behind them. Naruto didn't bother holding on the any of them. He wouldn't be able to rush all three of them out of danger so easily. Saeko stopped him quickly as they came to an intersection in the school hall. "Naruto where are we going?"
"Across the overpass and into the management building. Less people there and we can get keys to one of the staff cars or the bus. Once we have that we get out of the building and head to my place."
Saya asked uneasy, "W..why?"
Naruto felt a sickening feeling rising in his chest. "Nevermind why! I have supplies and plenty of equipment there. Now can we go before something happens? I can tell something bad is happening right this second!"
He darted down the hall to his right and saw the door that led to the overpass. Just before that was the Kendo room. A flash of an idea came to him a second before Saeko ran past him, flinging open the door. Naruto followed after her. Shizuka and Saya waited outside.
A moment later Saeko emerged with her long reinforced bokken. She had also strapped on bracers and knee protection. Naruto had grabbed fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. Saeko glanced at Naruto. "Not going to get a sword?"
He cracked his knuckles and lashed out at the door frame. It cracked and splintered as his fist buried itself a foot into the wall beyond. Naruto pulled his arm back grinning, "Don't need a wooden sword. I have mine own if it's really needed, but I have much more experience with my hands." He dusted his hands off and lost his grin as a scream sounded down the hall from them. It died out quickly leaving them silent.
Shizuka looked down. "I know it's a bad time to ask… but what are you?"
Naruto glanced back at the two of them. "Complicated. Really complicated."
ooo
ooo
Rei dodged aside as one of the... things clawed past her head. She grabbed a textbook from the top of a nearby desk and spun. The spine of the heavy volume smashed into the thinks head, knocking it sprawling. Rei didn't bother to finish it off. She was on the first floor and it was swarming with "them".
She darted through the room and out the other side. She was in the administration building and she had yet to see a single living person for five minutes. It was unnerving. Rei saw the stairs were blocked by another one of them. She hissed and doubled back. The creature lunged after her. The one she'd knocked down was up again and on the attack.
Rei shouted, leaping clear over one of the desks as both crashed into it. She landed on the other side and twisted around. They pushed the desk over, but she was already going back around. She flew up the steps to the second floor.
She stopped there. Four figures shambled inside. Rei grimaced and tried to sneak through the room to the other side. Then her foot connected with something on the floor. It groaned and she looked down. "SHIT!"
It was one of the creatures. She gave it a hard kick and jumped over it. Her fingers closed around the keys to the school bus as the four others turned on her. Rei hissed and grabbed for the nearest approximation of a weapon. A long broom. Eyes narrowed as her hands worked furiously to get the brush off.
They started towards her...
ooo
ooo
Naruto encountered the first of monsters on the third floor of the management building. A woman from the staff he recognized. Her jaw hung slack and she was covered in black blood.
He spat. "I hate my life."
The heel of his palm crashed into her forehead.
SNAP!
Her head smack wetly against the wall behind her. Saeko stopped to admire his handiwork. "Nice..."
Naruto ignored her and continued through the room. His senses told him that there was something... else there. And he was right. A second later one of them pulled free of the shadows at the back of the room. Naruto stepped forward and snapped his foot upwards.
CRACK!
Naruto watched as the creature dropped like a sack. He looked around the room, but didn't see what he was looking for. He turned to Shizuka. "Where would the keys to the staff vehicles be?"
She scratched her chin, "Um... I think on the second floor, but... they might be on the fourth. I don't know for sure." Naruto growled in annoyance and turned to Saeko. She had quickly regained her composer once she was in possession of a weapon. He admired that. She appeared almost as calm as he was. "She would make a good kunoichi if she could use chakra. To be a civilian like her and have the guts to fight well... Even the rest of Kendo club is probably shitting themselves right now... if they aren't dead."
"Do you know which?"
Saeko nodded, "It'll be the second floor, but this room isn't connected. We have to make our way to the west side of the building."
He tilted his head in acknowledgement and they moved off.
The rooms were mostly empty. It seemed that the staff had abandoned shit very quickly. It made him slightly sick. They'd abandoned their students before anyone even bothered to warn them it seemed. That was disgusting. It made him want to smash a few heads together.
"Don't worry Naruto. You'll get plenty of opportunities to do that. No need to take your anger out on the living."
He pushed Kurama out of his mind as he opened a door to his left. Nothing inside. The doors after showed nothing either. Saya pointed. "Hey, there's the stairs. Let's go!" Naruto pushed ahead of her, heading for the door that led downwards.
He pulled it open and caught the overpowering scent of blood. There was one of them inches from him. Naruto flung his head forward with enough force to send the creature tumbling down the stairs to crack her head on the floor below. Then he was descending, ignoring the startled looks from the girls following him.
ooo
ooo
Takashi swung his improvised mace with as much force as he could. The ungainly weapon smashed his opponent back and down. The two behind it were taken down as well. He yelled to Kouta who brought up the rear. "Keep from shooting as much as you can or we'll run out of ammo!"
"Got it bro, let's get going before more of em come out of the class room!"
He nodded and ran around the fallen creatures. They ran as fast as they could without making a wrong turn. Takashi turned a corner. There were the stairs to go to the next level. He stopped.
"HELP!"
Takashi whipped back to see Kouta turning in the other direction, dashing after the scream. Takashi realized who it was a second later. It was without a doubt Rei. He swore loudly and flung himself down the hall.
ooo
ooo
Rei screamed as her sharpened broom handle was yanked from her hand. She turned and ran. The garage with the bus was large... and there were at least a dozen of them there. Fumbling for the keys as she ran, she managed to get them in her hand. Rei slammed into the bus door. She opened it and jumped in. Then she quickly closed them and pulled off her shoe. She jammed the heel in the opening mechanism.
Even as she did it one of them crashed into it. She screamed again "HELP!"
ooo
ooo
Naruto opened the door to the bottom floor of the management building where the garage was. The school tour bus was there. He took in the scene in a moment. Twenty of the creatures were clustered around the bus. Naruto knew who had screamed and he saw Rei's face through the door window.
"That window won't hold long DAMN IT!"
"No need to hold back now."
Behind him Saeko as well as Saya and Shizuka stopped. They saw the situation with different eyes than he did. Saeko cringed inwardly. "Rei's in big trouble, but how can we..."
Naruto heard a crash from nearby and turned to his left. Just then the door burst open on the other side of the room. He saw Takashi and Kouta there.
"Screw this."
Naruto charged forward. Behind him Saeko shouted, "NARUTO!"
He plunged into the pack of dead. He twisted his wrist and sent a burst of chakra to the seal. There was a flash of blue light and an explosion of smoke.
Naruto roared out his battle cry as he gripped the huge sword he'd summoned in one hand. He sent chakra to his arms and shoulders as he dropped to the floor. The creatures around him were already turning away from the bus to latch on to the figure in their midst. Naruto flung his legs around, using the momentum to bring the heavy blade of the sword around to cleave through at least ten of his enemies. Bone was sliced through with ease as he funneled a small amount of wind chakra up the edge. Just enough to make it inhumanly sharp.
They dropped around him like severed bowling pins. Naruto buried the blade in the floor vertically and pumped more chakra into his arms. He flipped upward. Then while in midair he drew his kunai from his sleeves. In a flash the two monsters still clawing at the bus were slain.
He came down, landing on the pommel of his sword. The rest of them were still alive. Naruto's eyes sharpened as he lashed out, faster than the eye could see. Four sharp cracks sounded as he leaped off his perch and came down again.
His knuckles were bloody as he stepped close to each standing corpse and delivered a surgical strike to the head. It took less than five seconds to drop all of the creatures left standing. 'I need to finish this quick.'
Then he proceeded to smash the head of those who were missing legs to stand on.
As he crushed the last head the door to the bus creaked open. Rei was looking at him with shock and relief fighting for control over her expression. Naruto glanced around the room searching for more of the undead to cleanse. There were none. Only dumbfounded students and one school nurse.
He placed his hand on the pommel of his massive blade and it vanished in a puff of smoke. Saya was running forward then, closely followed by Saeko and Shizuka. "How did you do that!?"
Naruto shook his head. "Not right now! Get on the bus already." He turned to Takashi and Kouta. "Do I need to write you an invitation?! You're not getting another opportunity ya know!"
Barely five minutes later the garage door opened and Naruto climbed in beside Shizuka. He hurriedly wiped his kunai clean and stowed them away. The blond nurse glanced at him, but didn't speak her thoughts. Instead she cranked the engine. Naruto grimaced as the bus started. It was too loud. Way to loud. But it would have to do.
Shizuka put the vehicle in gear and slammed on the gas. The engine roared like a dragon and they shot forward into sunlight. The first thing Naruto saw was a horde of the undead, seeming like every student in the school had showed up as their un-welcoming committee. Naruto growled and shouted.
"RUN THEM DOWN!"
The school nurse nodded and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. Their speed doubled as the first student smeared herself over the front of the bus. Behind him he heard the rest of the small group shouting as they plowed through the mass of bodies.
Blood sprayed over the windshield and Shizuka put on the wipers. Naruto cracked a smile at that even as a man he recognized... Professor Michel... face planted on the hood. The bus blasted through the gates of the school and out onto the open street a moment later. Bodies continued to impact the front as the few stragglers outside the school were mowed down.
Naruto saw that the road ahead was clear of them. He looked behind through the windows. The school was behind them. Thankfully... finally, behind them. Naruto turned back to look out the front. "Say good bye Old Fucked Up life and say hello to the new and improved Fucked Up Everything."
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They drove for ten minutes. It was a necessity as some of the streets they passed were so clogged with abandoned cars and trucks that they couldn't get through. Riding in silence, they didn't take time to consider what might happen next. That was thinking way too far ahead. Even the cool and collected Saeko was shaken up. And Saya, while not having a mental breakdown at the moment, was certainly looking pale.
Naruto focused on what he could sense around him. He stopped Shizuka from turning left. "Wait. Go straight and then go around the block."
She didn't question him and as they passed the street she had been about to turn on they saw dozens of them.. maybe a hundred. Too many to fight. Shizuka followed his directions for another ten minutes as they moved through the city as a snail's pace.
At least to Naruto it felt that way. He wondered if this felt fast to those who didn't have his abilities.
Then he called them to stop. He turned to everyone on board. "Okay, from here on we go on foot. It's only a block and a half to my apartment so it won't be a problem."
Takashi asked, "Why not drive all the way there. Then we could load supplies directly into the bus."
Naruto shook his head. "Were you paying attention inside the school? Those things can barely see anything. They certainly can't distinguish between one of them and one of us. They use hearing to find prey. This bus is way too loud and if we park it right on the front step we are going to have every single zombie in ten blocks zooming in on us."
Shizuka stood looking confused, "Zombies?"
"I use that word loosely but I don't have a better one right now. So can we go already? I am already running low on energy. I need to rest before we have to fight our way through another group of those things."
Saeko nodded. "Naruto's right, we need to be careful from here on out. Make as little noise as we can. Besides, the sooner we can get to his apartment the better off we'll be. It's on the eighth floor so we'll be much safer from most of those things."
They agreed and funneled out of the bus. Shizuka closed the doors and trooped after the rest. Naruto headed the group as they ran as silently as possible down the sidewalk. "I can't really use the term "silent" with these guys. Saeko is as stealthy as they come and I've heard pregnant kunoichi move quieter. I'll have to show them have to move properly if a group this large is going to survive."
The group turned the corner and almost ran into three of them, standing there like apocalyptic manikins. Naruto reflexively took them down. One fist hammered into heads on either side while he kicked out with his foot, sending the other one to crack it's head on the pavement.
Kouta whispered, "Awesome! you gotta teach me how to do that."
Naruto smirked but felt himself tiring. Kurama had used a lot of his reserves while heightening his vision. It required an immense amount of chakra to give yourself better vision than a hawk. It was no wonder that Sharingan took so much out of Kakashi.
He nodded down the street and they continued along.
They stopped at the entrance to the building. Naruto strained to reach out with his senses. There was nothing immediately nearby, but on the upper floors... "But how did stupid zombies get into locked rooms? It doesn't make any sense... but then again most of this doesn't."
He turned to them. "Guys, the electricity isn't out in the city yet. This is an industrial area so there will be a ton of backup power even when the people making energy are eating each other. But we can't use the elevator unless we need to move something really heavy. It makes too much noise and there are a lot of zombies in the different rooms."
Rei asked, "But how can you...?"
"I'll explain later. Here's the key to my apartment. It's impossible for any of them to get inside once you lock it. Go to the seventh floor, got it! The elevator entrance to the eighth is rigged."
They nodded mutely. Takashi spoke up. "What will you be doing?"
"I'm going to take care of my fellow tenants if you get my meaning. Since I have no clue how they got killed or bitten or whatever... I need to take care of them now. If this spreads in some way other than how the horror books say, we'd be in serious trouble."
Takashi blinked in surprise but nodded. "I'm not going to suggest you can't handle yourself, but be careful."
Naruto smirked. "Who the hell do you think I am? I'm not a careful kind of person." With that he dashed into the lobby, heading for the stairs. Saeko took charge with Takashi. They led the way to the stairs on the other side of the lobby.
They weren't even in the stairwell before the sound of Naruto kicking a door open sounded behind them.
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Hello, so there is. Now I've been having a minor/major problem. And I want some feedback.
The problem is that I try to look up info on the series, As is specific details about stuff in the anime and or manga. Details I need to knew if I want to write an accurate story that matches at least a little with the original manga.
So now here are the questions.
Q - Does anyone know where I can get good and accurate details about HOTD?
Q #2 - How does everyone feel about me making up a bunch of stuff in order to make it smoother with the story line? Keep in mind that I haven's read the rest of the manga.
Oh and one more thing. I have ironed out Naruto's harem. Saeko - Rei - Saya. No he will not be in a sexual relationship with Shizuka or any other girls. And yes, I have my reasons. Feel free to instant message me if you want more info