(Updated 6/14/18)

Here is chapter 4 guys. This is a mostly informative chapter, but I know it will clear some things up. Also this is where I start to deviate from the plot a bit. I have figured out what I want the conclusion of the story to be so here we go!

And thanks for all the support on this story. I really appreciate all of the positive feedback!

(I don't own any part of HOTD or Naruto)

Chapter 4

Preparation of the Dead

Saeko sat on the couch by the low table. Next to her sat Takashi and Kouta. The Otaku was having a hard time keeping his eyes off the pile of cash on the table in front of him. It wasn't that he wanted to steal it. It was just that he'd never seen so much physical money in one place before. It made him wonder, "How rich is this guy?"

This thought was shared by Takashi. But he was more worried about Rei, who was pacing the room like a dog worrying over a bone.

Saya was looking around the room. She prayed that when Naruto said supplies he didn't mean the lifetime supply of ramen displayed on one wall. The money on the table distracted her for a moment, but there were bigger issues at the moment. Like what would happen if Naruto didn't come back from his clean up job. In the short time since everything had gone to hell they'd quickly learned he was the man with the plan. The kick-ass guy who got them all here safely.

If he didn't come back then someone else would have to step up and take the lead. She didn't really mind that part. Who was in charge was a pointless formality at the moment. But she didn't like the idea of losing someone who could take out a dozen zombies with his bare hands. That kind of guy didn't just fall out of the sky every time you needed him.

It was another twenty minutes before the door clicked open and Naruto entered. He was now covered in much more blood than before, but still uninjured. He walked into the room and proceeded to pull off his soaked shirt.

Rei paced over to him, "What were you doing?! You took almost forty five minutes to..."

Naruto flicked her between the eyes with one finger.

"Ouch!"

He groaned as his shirt came off, revealing his chiseled muscles. Naruto glanced around at them. "Hey, what are you guys waiting for? We don't know if having their blood all over us will infect us. Strip off anything that has too much gore on it. It'll get washed later."

Rei snapped, "Tell us who you are first. We need to know what you're doing here now. It's a matter of survival."

Naruto threw his shirt to the side and sighed. "You sure don't beat around the bush do ya? Fine. Do you want the long complicated story that will likely put you to sleep, or would you prefer the short, impossible unbelievable version?"

She didn't answer for a moment and Naruto shrugged. "I'll take that as option two." He turned to one wall and walked towards it. When it looked like he was about to smack his head into it, he put his leg up.. and stepped onto the wall as if it were level ground.

Rei's jaw dropped, along with everyone else in the room.

Naruto walked up the wall and then onto the ceiling. He said, while still hanging upside down, "This is the super short version." He scowled and let the chakra pull away from the ceiling. He flipped to land on his feet. "You see, I'm NOT normal. In fact, I'm about as far from it as you can get. So before you start asking a ton of pointless questions... No, this isn't magic. Yes, I've always been able to do this to a certain extent. No, I probably can't teach you how to do it. And no, I'm not from around here."

Saeko stood and moved over to him. "So... what are you?"

He pointed to himself. "I am human, but where I come from there are a lot of people who can do what I do. The thing is... this whole world... is not mine. I was dropped here by accident… I think… and stranded. I've tried everything I could to get back home. Nothing works. So I'm stuck in some crazy world were everything's new and the people are weak, not to mention the government is so observant that I had to go to the black market to keep from being picked up as an illegal immigrant."

Kouta said. "You forgot about the dead coming back to life."

Naruto raised his eyebrow. Actually that's the one thing that seems to happen often in both our worlds. I mean... not in the same way, but still..." He cracked a sardonic smile. "As my old sensei might have said, "This is a refreshing return to normal."

They stared at him blankly. Rei asked horrified, "This happened in your world too?"

He shook his head. "No... not what I meant. People come back from the dead but you can talk with them or even have a game of chess if you wanted. They're still them. Here it's like their brains are rotted. But that isn't really important. You want to know who I am? I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm human, just like you, but I can manipulate the energy inside my body and around me to do things you would call magic. Simple enough?"

Saya muttered, "I'm just left with more questions that don't get me anywhere. Like how you knew all this was going down so quick when you don't even have a cell phone. It was like you just froze during lunch and bolted. When you came back you grab us and go."

Naruto nodded. "That's part of my power. I can sense danger instinctively. And when something really bad happens nearby I can tell immediately. Also... this... er.. world. It feels unclean to me. Like the entire planet is dying. I'm usually much more powerful than this. I could level towns in my world.. but here I can barely kill fifty weak humans without getting tired. I feel kinda pathetic." He smiled weakly. "It's just getting annoying is all. I hate feeling weak and tired all the time."

Kouta scratched his chin saying. "This is just like the one manga I read. It's about this guy who is super powerful in his own dimension, but when he is forced into another one, his powers don't mix with the new world and he's left weakened. Sounds like you have the same problem."

"Pretty much." Naruto walked over and put his back to the wall, sliding down it. He was very tired now. Too much chakra had been used in a short time. He wasn't a sensory type so reaching out to get a picture of the world around him was tiring as well as draining on his chakra.

The Kyuubi's voice rang in the back of his mind. "Was it wise to tell them about you?"

"They wanted an explanation. I'm sick and tired of lying and making up excuses anyway. Besides, how was I going to hide it? They knew what I did was physically impossible for human like them. I wasn't going to leave them just so I can preserve my image."

"I suppose you are correct on that much, though... what will you do now?"

"Ha! No fucking clue. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"You should find some way to teach them how to manipulate chakra... if it's possible. I know you aren't a teacher, however, it may become exceedingly tiresome to protect them constantly."

"Well it helps that I can be in more than one place at once huh?"

"True.. but still, don't become careless. You might as well be god compared to them. It's their lives you risk if something goes wrong because of you."

"I know... don't remind me..."

Naruto turned his attention to those around him. They were distraught, worried, afraid... and it was a bit unnerving how easily they accepted his explanation. He'd fully expected some half-assed joke about where the wires were. But... none was forthcoming.

He glanced at Saeko. She seemed to have relaxed more than anyone else. A calm veil had settled over her. He figured this was her combat training as opposed to her usual attitude. "I hope she stays composed though this. It would be great if I can have a level headed partner who actually can handle herself reasonably well."

Rei looked slightly shell-shocked, but she also kept together well. Saya was even more cool than Saeko, but he could smell the truth. She was one near death experience from a breakdown. Takashi also had the same look as Saya. Unstable. Naruto saw the same look in his eyes that he'd seen in Sakura a couple times. Then there was Kouta. The fat Otaku had put himself into a much brighter light in his eyes. He'd suddenly and without warning, turned into a stone cold killer with that modified nail gun of his.

"I'd bet all the ramen in the world that guy is secretly a gun nut."

"Done."

"Hey!? what was that!?"

"You better hope he's a weapon lunatic like Tenten."

"No fair! You didn't wager anything!"

"So...?"

"So I can't bet against myself!"

"Who said? It just means you have to give up your annoying ramen obsession whether your right or wrong."

"Like hell! You overgrown orange hairball!"

" t. Do you know what that spells Naruto?"

"Uh... no?"

"Naruto... Naruto... NARUTO!"

He snapped out of his thoughts to look up at Rei. She sighed, "Jeeze Naruto. Sometimes you just go all glassy eyed. Freaks me out."

He scratched his head nervously, "Uh... sorry about that. It's kinda hard to stop it happening sometimes."

"But you don't do it in class."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, but the Kyuubi tries not to talk to me during class unless I run into a hard question."

Saya, Rei, and Saeko shared a look. "Kyuubi?"

"KIT..."

"Oops... my bad. Did you want me to keep you a secret? Sorry Kurama."

"No wonder Kakashi was so exasperated all the time. Your jaw hangs loose and all kinds of secrets just come leaping out! For you information my mediocre container, I don't care if you tell them about me, but for Kami's sake ask first!"

"Jeeze, look who's the sensitive one now."

Naruto quickly cut the connection with Kurama and grinned at his guests uneasily. "Um... yeah, I never told you about my little friend"

Saya inquired, "Just what do you mean by that?"

He sighed and drew demonic chakra to the seal on his chest. The dark markings over his stomach glowed an evil red for a moment before it inked black. Saeko gasped. "What the hell?!"

"The thing is I have a demon spirit trapped inside me. He's not the soft cuddly type either. He's the really big and scary type. His name's Kurama. This thing on my stomach is his seal. When you see me space out it's usually because we're talking."

Saeko stepped forward and knelt by him. She reached out and ran her fingertips over the black seal. Her eyes lifted to his. "It doesn't feel strange... yet I get the feeling when so say demon you don't mean the biblical kind."

"I wouldn't know about that. Kurama looks like a huge nine tailed fox which is why he's called Kyuubi. I don't understand how this world works as far as magic and stuff goes. From what I've read most of your religions seem a bit stupid. It's all about sin and god, heaven and hell. I don't pay attention to that."

Takashi stood and walked over. "I don't really care if you're a demon or a human or whatever. You're the toughest finger I've ever met by a long shot. And you did get us out of that school... Plus you managed to save Rei... Thanks for the help."

"No problem."

He looked around at the other students. "But I have to ask. What are you doing here and what are you planning now?"

Naruto let himself relax a bit. "Listen. I've been acting like a loner for months. I'm not really like that. I wanted to make friends but I was trying hard to find a way home. I only just gave up on getting home quick. To be honest the way I was sent here might make it almost impossible to get back." His expression saddened. "Now that things have gone to shit here... I'll try to survive. And since I have you guys around I'll help protect you as much as I can. After all you're the only friends I have."

Saya stuttered. "B..but we hardly know you at all! Or the other way around! How can you call us friends or have any interest in protecting us?!"

"Why did I save you from being robbed and probably raped and murdered the other day? It wasn't because I really like you or anything. I couldn't stand back and watch it happen. It's part of my personal code. My way of living. I try to help people when I can."

Saeko had gone slightly pale. She looked to Saya. Still on the couch, Kouta asked, "Wow... he helped you too?!" The girls looked back at Kouta. "What? You think I'm too fat to get mugged?"

Saya asked, "But I thought you wanted to keep that a secret...?"

Naruto waved it off. "Listen. That was only because of the problems it would cause if you let it slip who I was. Now I can't keep secrets from everyone. I'll tell who what I'm capable of so you know what I can and can't do." He sighed, seeing their curious expressions. "For one thing I can't turn you back into a human after you've been infected or whatever turns you into a zombie. And none of us know how this spreads do we? So like I said before strip off the blood soaked clothes before you catch something a whole lot worse than the common cold."

Rei, Shizuka, and Takashi all looked embarrassed. Saeko looked down at herself. She had hardly any blood on her at all. No more than a few droplets. She shrugged. "Not a problem."

Saya imitated the Kendo club leader. Naruto saw the expression on the other three bloodied individuals and sighed. This was going nowhere fast. If they were going to live through this shit they'd have to start moving out of their comfort zone.

"Ya know where I come from killing people is a common profession. In fact it's easily the most common profession. When I'm sent on a mission modesty gets thrown out the window until I get home. Right now this is survival. And the more time we waste on things we take for granted the worse off we are."

Naruto stood up and went to the elevator and opened it with the his key card. "So let's get this straight. I'm not telling you to be comfortable with being naked in front of each other but we aren't going to be drowning in luxuries here. In an older building like this we might have real power for a day. And depending on if something goes wrong with the grid we could have backup for a week or two. So we're not going to even have water after that."

The elevator door slid open. He pointed into it. "If you have to preserve your modesty then go to the top floor. I have plenty of extra clothes in the big dresser on the left. Unless you want a nasty shock don't touch anything." He gave the whole room a withering glare. "And I mean anything."

Rei quickly moved to the elevator with Shizuka. Both girls waited for the doors to close. Naruto turned to the rest of them. "So... first things first. I think we need to be on the beach. Someplace where we can put up defenses. The sea can offer food and water and a means of escape. I doubt the zombies can swim." He glanced around at them. "But I need to know what you guys want. After all I just need a stable place with plenty of room to work on a way home. You're the ones with family."

Kouta coughed. "Well for me... my parents actually left yesterday to go to their different jobs. Both are out of the area. Mom is way up north and dad isn't even in Japan. So my family is out of the question." He sniffed. "I... I guess they're probably dead right now." He rubbed his hand over the side of his makeshift gun. I wish they were here now..."

Naruto looked away from Kouta. A much as he could empathize with him... he'd started out with no parents. He turned his attention to Takashi. "What about you?"

The boy pulled his fingers through his hair. "Arrg... My dad is gone and my mom works at a preschool the town over. I want to go look for her at least." He glanced up. "What about you Saeko? Isn't your dad an international Kendo master or something?"

"Yes. He was in Germany and most recently Brazil. He was supposed to come home soon. I didn't get a copy of his last schedule so I'm not sure." She closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter. If he's dead, I'll never see him again. If he's alive it's the same. Anything that spreads like this has to be worldwide by now. Airports are going to be down before they know it."

She smiled thinly. "Besides... school was boring anyway."

Naruto almost cracked up at that. "Now that's something I agree with 100%. I'm almost glad this happened. If it wasn't for the zombies I'd be happy to get out of school permanently."

Saya frowned at that. She put her hand under her chin in thought. After a second she turned to him with a confused look. "Wait. If that's the case then explain to me why you bother to have perfect grades? If you hate the school and you're trying to get home, why not hole yourself up in your room until you found a solution?"

"Well, about that. When I was dropped in this world it caused a bit of a commotion. The government has my picture... or had it let's say. They apparently we looking for me after the mess I caused because this investigator showed up at my apartment... not this one... and started badgering me for answers."

Saya blinked in surprise. "You had a government investigator track you down?"

Naruto shrugged. "It wasn't as if I knew what I was doing at the time. I had no clue how this world worked and I was still recovering from... injuries. Then this woman shows up threatening to throw me in jail. I took it in stride. Instead of talking, I grabbed her, tied her up in the living room and convinced her to tell me how most things worked here. Took a week before she gave in and told me what I wanted to know. But then again... It probably would have been quicker if I'd tortured her."

He tried to sound casual but by the looks on their faces... well, everyone's besides Saeko. They were shocked. Saya was somewhat slack jawed. "You kidnapped her?!"

"What else was I supposed to do?! I didn't even know where I was! And she thought I was insane since I didn't know about the most basic things. You all grew up taking technology for granted. I didn't grow up with half the stuff you have. Were I come from there are no cell phones. Only the most basic computers and even those aren't the same thing since they're powered by chakra and advanced Fuinjutsu!"

Saeko stared at him for a moment then asked, "All of that aside. You just mentioned chakra. Isn't that some kind of mystical energy that monks use to find enlightenment?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Um... Jeeze I was ever good and explaining it." He pulled a hand through his hair and tried to recall exactly how Iruka had explained it back in academy. "Chakra is the energy you get when you mix your physical energy and spiritual energy together. You only get chakra if you can combine them. For instance the monks and priests of this world might have a ton of spiritual energy, but your bodies are... well... weak. You don't have the physical potential to do a lot of the most basic jutsu. And besides that you have to be trained to combine them I the first place. I've met a two people who have chakra here. Two..."

She looked surprised. "I'm amazed that anyone would have the same power as you."

He shook his head. "Not like me. I mean I could tell they had chakra, not that they were powerful. To be honest they were pathetically weak as far as chakra went... sorry... I uh should probably just say this now..."

Takashi shifted in his seat and he asked, "Say what? You sound like this isn't good news."

Naruto glanced at Saya. "Well, it really depends on how you think about it. One of the people who have chakra is you Saya."

"WHAT!? How is that possible?! I don't know anything about that stuff!"

"It's only a tiny bit. I mean like the smallest sliver. I'd stopped thinking about it. My original plan was to be as much of a loner as I could so I would be forced to leave behind friends that I might never see again... so I put it out of my mind."

He stepped over to her grabbing her hand. "My point is that any of you could... technically use chakra if you could train hard enough to harness you physical and mental energy... and I taught you how to mix them. But you have natural chakra... basically you have an inborn reserve of energy that most people here don't have."

She looked down where he was holding her hand. "Um.. okay, but..."

"Now I'm going to send a tiny amount of my chakra through you hand to show you."

"Wait! What are...!" Saya went rigid and then relaxed as he sent a small pulse of chakra up her arm. Her eyes went wide and she looked down at her hand. "It feels... weird... like I don't know. Like I can feel the blood in my arteries, but it isn't blood."

Naruto smiled. "Exactly. That means you also have a chakra network." He stopped. "Actually that a much better description than Iruka sensei ever gave. Anyway.. I'll try to show you how to use it later. But I think we're getting off topic again." He let go of her hand asking, "Where do you want to go?"

She felt the pleasant sensation running up her arm dissipate as he let go... but it still lingered somewhat. It tingled through her shoulder and spread through her as she stood there. "This... it's so strange..." After a few second she shook herself and ignored the feeling. "Well, my father is a politician and my mom is in business. Our family has a large estate. They've probably holed up there." She ground her teeth together. "It's not too far from here. If we can... I need to see them. They're alive. I'm sure of that much."

Naruto asked Takashi. "Do you think your mother can be contacted?"

"Not really. She should be safe enough. That town has a pretty small population and it's mostly residential. I'd bet she's fine. Not like here with the massive amount of people."

There was a moment where Naruto wondered where they should head first. Then he heard the elevator come back down from the top floor. The door opened with a quiet ding!

Rei and Shizuka walked out. Naruto blinked and felt his face go red. The nurse was wearing an extremely baggy T-shirt which remained tantalizingly tight over her bust. Naruto decided that Tsunade had some serious competition. She also wore black sweat pants. Shizuka looked down at herself, obviously discontent with the available clothing upstairs.

Rei on the other hand was much closer to Naruto in both height and size, not having the blond's huge rack helped too. She had on a blue long sleeve shirt and one of his jackets. Naruto noted she had chosen one of the special one he'd bought from a shady tailor two towns over. It was lightly armored, being reinforced with Kevlar and metal plates over the chest and back. In addition to that she had a pair of his blue jeans, though the legs were baggy.

Naruto made a mental note to find something that would both fit and protect the busty nurse more than what she had on. "Good... you two are alright. Your turn Takashi."

The boy nodded and walked past the girls into the elevator. Naruto saw Takashi glance at Rei with a strange expression for a moment. He ignored it for the time being and asked Rei, "So we were just taking about where to go after this. Do you want to search for your parents or something?"

"I'm not sure. Mom… I don't know what she was doing today. Dad's a police officer. I already tried calling him. I didn't get anything. I have to assume he's working at his job right now. But I don't know if the police are holding together or not."

What she didn't say but thought was probably true was that her father would be on the front lines of this crisis. He most likely had fallen to "them". Naruto saw what she refused to say in her expression. He turned to Shizuka. "Anyone important to you that we might search for?"

She went still for a moment as if thinking hard. "Well... no. Not really... I do have a roommate but she's not here at the moment."

Naruto smiled a bit at how much of a ditz she was. It was comical to him, coming from a world like his. He looked to Saya again. She was rubbing her hand with a faraway look. Naruto heard Kurama speak low in his mind, "Naruto... Something Important. When you were funneling chakra into that girl just now.. it felt... familiar somehow."

"Really? I didn't sense anything like that. Her chakra just seems strange to me."

"I would advise that you pay attention next time... and you should definitely train her. From everything I've seen, see is a genius… unlike you. Actually she's a bit like the Uchiha. Smart and clever while at the same time arrogant and pissy."

"Sometimes I get this feeling like you really hated the Uchiha's before Sasuke or that other one came around."

"If you're speaking of Madara Uchiha... yes I despised that clan even before then. What of it? Almost as a rule, the Uchiha are arrogant and easily manipulated. A deadly combination. Sasuke is a prime example of the perfect Uchiha. Arrogant to a fault with extreme genius intellect and an insatiable thirst for power. He even had the perfect sob story."

Kurama chuckled, "On the other hand you're the anti-Uchiha. Extremely ignorant of nearly everything. You are unpredictable at the best of times and you seem to gain power without realizing it. You're the definition of an Idiot savant."

"What the heck is that?"

"My point exactly.

Naruto drifted back to reality as Shizuka finished a long winded... rather round about explanation of her living arrangements with her friend and roommate. Naruto realized he'd missed everything, but didn't particularly mind.

He felt a wave of lethargy roll over him and stifled a yawn. Saeko glanced at him. "You tired Naruto?"

"Exhausted... I need to rest after using so much chakra..."

Rei asked, "Um, what is that?"

Naruto groaned. "Long story short... it's the reason I'm so good at killing things." He moved to the couch next to Kouta. "Anyway. I'm not sure if you girls are tired since it's still fairly light outside... but I actually need to rest." He closed his eyes. "The bed upstairs is available and there's another one that is on this floor in the other room. They're both king-size so if you don't mind sharing there will be plenty of space."

He let himself relax. His muscles loosened slowly after the day's events. Rei seemed puzzled. "Are you just going to crash on the couch?"

Naruto muttered half heartedly. "A ninja must deal with adversity. This couch is only a small obstacle to me sleeping..."

Saeko watched Naruto literally drift off mid sentence. "He must be exhausted. He wasn't lying earlier when he said that using his powers here was tiring... And.. did he call himself a ninja?" She turned to Saya. "Since Naruto is willing to help us find our families first, where do you suppose we go first? I believe that either yours or Rei's families will be closest. But at the same time, those are both densely settled areas. Takashi's mother might be the easiest one to find."

Saya agreed. "That's true but my father will have more supplies then I see here. This place is bare. Honestly we need big guns and the people to shoot them before we go on any search and rescue missions."

Rei dipped her head. "Yes... I think that's right, but what about Naruto?"

Saeko shrugged. "He's helping us. And he's already doing a pretty damn good job. I see no reason not to take what help he offers. Do you think we would reach Saya's house unscathed without him?"

They all went silent, looking at Naruto, who might as well been dead for how still he was.

Kouta spoke up then. "Hey... Um, I don't know about you, but I think it would be a good idea to wait here a little bit..."

Saya raised her eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Well, because right now... we're all shaken up by this even if we don't show it. And it would be good to figure out a path to Takagi's house before we go. And if we took a few days then we could load the bus with all the supplies we needed before heading out. I just think if we rush things we're going to be in trouble..."

Saya laughed. "Wow... And the chubby has spoken. I didn't realize that brain of yours worked on real problems and strategy."

Kouta smiled nervously. "Yeah, sorry..."

Saeko's eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "About what? It was a good idea. We should stay here a few days. And Naruto looks like a few days rest would do him more good than a few hours. And this way he can explain his abilities to us and more on how his powers work. I have a feeling that his short version was microscopic compared to the whole truth."

Saya nodded. "I want to see what he meant by showing me how to use it."

Rei put her hands on her hips, feeling left out of the loop again. "Use what?!"

ooo

ooo

Takashi didn't know what Naruto meant by not touching stuff on the top floor. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary at all. It was by all accounts a perfectly normal... if luxurious room. A massive four-poster bed in the center of the back wall. There were four dressers. Two large and two small. One large dresser to either side of the room and on small flanking either side of the bed.

He raised an eyebrow to the empty room before moving to the left dresser. He opened the drawers, pulling out a few shirts and pants that might fit. Once he was done he stripped off his blood soaked shirt and pants. He'd removed his jacket already when he'd first encountered one of the dead. The festering creature had lunged at him, managing to get its teeth into the jacket. It had ripped beyond use. Naruto seemed to have a lot of jackets and for the most part... they came in various shades of orange and red.

This wasn't as annoying as it could have been, only because he was grateful Naruto kept so many spare clothes. "Why he would have enough clothes for an entire club of guys just for himself is beyond me though. And what is up with all the baggy clothes. It's almost like he makes sure that everything is a size too big..."

Takashi recalled what Naruto had looked like without a shirt. "Then again... that dude is ripped. So I guess these fit. I'm lanky compared to him." He sighed at that thought. "It's probably part of the reason why she likes him. I've always acted like the lazy bad boy. It's who I am, but Naruto is the mysterious bad boy with the ridiculous powers and crazy attitude. I'm almost surprised he didn't have a girlfriend at school to keep up appearances."

He tried to puzzle out some of Naruto's behavior, but came up blank on most of it. Either Naruto was a huge hypocrite or the world he came from was seriously fucked up. "It's probably the second one... hey... What's that?"

Takashi spotted something on the other side of the room. It seemed to have materialized out of thin air. It was the corner of a wooden table... seeming to float suspended in the air. Takashi stepped forward and leaned back and forth checking to see if it was real or not.

It was real alright. But it was just so weird. He took another step and felt something cut into the pad of his foot.

"OUCH SHIT!"

CRASH!

His dexterity was somewhat lacking as he tripped forward. The room spun crazily in his vision and suddenly... it was very full. Everything you could imagine was there. Six tables were laden with equipment. There were stacks of star shaped throwing disks, kunai hung in bundles, and there were at least twenty separate swords in the room. The edges of all these weapon gleamed in the light from the ceiling. One table was heaped with scrolls and little ink wells. Another had various... bottles and other chemical looking things. In the center of the room was a clear spot where it looked like the floor had been burned and scraped away. There was an odd looking circle drawn around it too. If he didn't know any better, it looked like the magic circles that were in all the supernatural anime.

Takashi looked back, rolling onto his butt. He had stepped on the razor edge of a long, curving... double edged dai-katana. It was easily as tall as he was. Perhaps as tall as Naruto.

And... he'd cut his foot open on the back edge. "How the hell, Was this stuff really invisible before?! It must have been cause I would have sworn it wasn't here!"

The elevator door dinged open and Naruto came in. Saya and Saeko were there too. Naruto took one look around the room and growled. It was almost like a bear. "I told you not to touch anything and to go directly left right?" He groaned. "Now you went and cut your foot open. Let's hope it isn't so bad that I need to get Kurama to heal you."

Takashi looked down at his foot where it was pulsing pain up his leg, while at the same time it was bleeding profusely. Naruto grabbed him by the ankle, lifting it to inspect the wound.

"Hey! be careful with.. OW!"

Naruto sighed. "This is annoying. And I was just going to rest a bit too." He turned to tell Saeko to get Shizuka, but she wasn't paying attention to him.

She was wide eyed; entranced by his weapons and all the dozens of different "things" he had everywhere. She stepped over to the table where half a dozen long blades were laid out. She brushed her finger over them then picked up a katana. It was almost straight, only having a slight curve near the tip. She tested the edge and smiled as blood immediately drew from her skin.

Naruto couldn't help grin too. He asked, "Do you like my collection Saeko-chan?"

She nodded, sucking on her finger. Then she spied his personal favorite blade. Her blue eyes lit up with something akin to greed. She moved to it.

It was a weapon from his world. A powerful artifact. It was known both as Dawn fang and Dusk fang. The sword was in the style of a bastard sword. It had a hand and a half handle with a large gemstone set in the pommel. The hilt was a wide cross guard, seemingly crafted of some amber colored metal. A second large stone in the center of the hilt pulsed dully.

The blade it's self was the most incredible feature. Very wide. It started out almost six inches wide and narrowed like a roman gladius to the tip. Twin tips as it were.. because halfway up the blade the blood channel actually split the blade in two. The gap in between the separate halves had been fashioned into razor sharp teeth. Naruto called the sword Dracula after a horror movie character in this world. Mainly because the sword fed on anything it cut. It literally ripped the victim's life energy out of them.

Thinking about it made him shiver slightly. He cautioned her, "Saeko-chan. That's a sword from my world. Don't let it draw blood. You would NOT like what happens to you."

From the doorway Saya asked, "What does that sword do if it cuts you?"

He grimaced. "It basically sucks your soul from your body to feed the weapon. You see, during the day the blade is unnaturally hot. And every time you kill something the edge heats up. After a few kills the sword's blade is literally white hot and will set plenty of stuff on fire just getting close... Also during the day it gives the user immunity to fire. And at night it does the opposite. Ice instead of fire and cold instead of heat."

"How many lives has this sword claimed?"

Naruto shrugged. "In my hands? About twenty. Since it was made? Probably hundreds. It's an ancient weapon, passed down through one of the powerful clans in my world. I only have it because I was given it by the last user. I still had it with me when I got stuck here."

Saya shivered. "Hundreds? That's freaky..." She shook her head violently and turned to Takashi. "Well... look what you've done now... idiot. How are you going to run or fight?"

Naruto coughed. "It's not really his fault. He was just curious. Until you go a certain way's into the room all this stuff is invisible. He disabled the illusion I set up when he stumbled into one of the invisible items. Unfortunately he stepped on something very... sharp."

He sighed. "But I suppose I don't really need to have all of these blades be as sharp as a razor. But one of the Kunoichi from my village had a saying."

"What saying? I'm interested in what wisdom you world has to offer."

Naruto smirked. "She used to say A dull blade is like a man without a dick... Useless."

The pinket's jaw dropped. "What!? That's the best quote from your world?!"

He shook his head. "No… She had way better ones, but most of those are sexual and didn't really match the situation. I might tell you some of them later." He scratched his head chuckling as he recalled some of the Anko's more colorful sayings. Then again Jiraiya had his fair share of sayings too. They'd probably get him castrated though… "Anyway, go get Shizuka so she can check this wound over. I'm not a medical nin."

"Is that like a ninja trained to heal other ninja on missions?"

"You bet. Most of the time we go in teams of four so there is always room for one medical nin on the squad."

Saeko stepped over to the table covered in scrolls and parchment. "What are these?"

"Oh? Those are some seals I was working on. My sensei had me start working on seals in the last few months of training with him. But it's really hard to do them here. Especially without the special parchment we use in our world."

"Is it some kind of paper that is made to absorb your power?"

He smirked. "Exactly. It's imbued with chakra already, so you don't have to worry so much about damaging the paper. When you make anything with an elemental release you have to worry about screwing up what your working on. If I use wind chakra then I might accidently shred the paper while activating the seal."

Naruto turned to Saya. "Hey... I think I'll bring Takashi downstairs. That way Shizuka will have more room to work.

"Good idea."

Takashi looked up at him agitated. "Hey! What do you mean by bring me?"

"I meant I'd carry you. Don't worry, I won't drop you."

The boy groaned as Naruto quickly lifted him up. "That is not what I meant! I can go on my own!"

ooo

ooo

Two hours later Naruto was out cold in his bed upstairs. Takashi was downstairs, resting on the couch. Shizuka had stitched the gash in his flesh with the copious amount of medical supplies Naruto had on hand.

Kouta had decided that a nap was defiantly in order and was snoozing on the downstairs bed. The rest of the group sat together around the small round table. The cash had been moved to the side and a few maps were laid over its surface. However they were done with planning for now. Takashi had agreed that they needed to get to Saya's house. It would be well guarded and would likely have power long after other places lost it. Also, she had admitted that she felt the need to see her mother again... though her father seemed forgotten.

Rei agreed as her home was in the area as well. Saeko had made it clear that she would go where they chose.

Saya undid her hair and ran a brush through it. She felt... undeniably dirty. Even though she hadn't clashed with the dead herself... the experience still left her unclean. Being drenched in sweat did not agree with her. Especially now that it was getting cold. I caused her skin to feel clammy. She groaned mentally and turned to the other girls. "So... When do we shower? I mean, we aren't going to have hot water for much longer. We should all enjoy it while we can."

Rei nodded. "I second that. Besides all I did was change clothes."

Shizuka stood and darted into the large bathroom. "I call dibs on tub!"

"HEY NO FAIR!" Rei charged after her. Saya muttered something about immaturity as Saeko stood. She walked to the elevator and passed their card over the scanner. The doors opened. Saya turned around asking, "Where are you going? Naruto's sleeping up there."

Saeko shrugged. "Obviously there's a bathroom on the top floor too. No point in fighting over this one." With that she stepped into the elevator. Saya hurriedly stood and stood next to her as the doors closed. Saeko glanced at her raising an eyebrow. "What makes you think I want company while I wash?"

Saya huffed. "Come on, you're not the kind of person to worry about modesty during the apocalypse." She eyed Saeko strangely. "Are you?"

The older girl smiled thinly. "Not really. It depends."

The doors opened again and Saeko walked out and into the room. Her eyes sweeping over the stacks of weapons and equipment. It made her a bit hot just looking at all the panoply of war. Naruto had enough swords alone to equip their group twice. She wondered what he was planning on taking when they left.

She glanced at Naruto where he lay curled up on the bed. Her cheeks darkened as she diverted from her original course to approach him. Saya hesitated behind her before following. They came to the foot of the bed. Naruto lay in the center. Neither could stop themselves admiring him. It looked like he'd already taken a shower. He was clean of blood and gore from the day's battles.

Saya glance at her with an interested look. "So Saeko... when you said your modesty depends on who is bathing with you... what exactly did you mean by that?"

Saeko turned away from the bed and into the bathroom. "Your the genius here aren't you? Figure it out. I won't lie. If you're right I'll let you know."

Saya quickly followed Saeko into the bathroom. "Yeah...? At least you're right about that!"

ooo

ooo

Back at the school Hisashi gritted his teeth as he pulled the needle through his skin, sewing the stab wound closed. It still bled, but fortunately he had a good tourniquet around his upper arm. Once again he thanked god that he bothered to get basic medical training aside from his black belt in Karate. He was lucky that the girl Yuuki had more in her head than sex. At least she'd grabbed a first aid kit from the nurse's office on the way through.

He looked around the dimly lighted room at those around him. Three girls and two other boys stood or sat in the room with him. They looked haggard. Two of them had already died... attacked and killed by "them" as he'd decided to call the living dead. Miura was bitten on the second floor. Then he was trampled by a horde of students trying to escape. Kurokami had his throat bitten out by one of them shortly afterward.

They'd lost track of the two girls Taniuchi and Kawamoto. Hiashi guessed both of them were dead too. So... here they were, trapped in the secondary storage room. Outside were at least ten of them. Hiashi didn't dare open the door and no one else was willing to take the chance to run the gauntlet.

And things were getting... strained inside. He'd already knocked some sense into the megalomaniac of a teacher he'd saved. The constant groaning and moaning from outside was grating on everyone's nerves. Hisashi worried what would happen to them. There didn't seem to be a way out. And with no way out... they were all guaranteed to die. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Ooo

Ooo

Ah... there we go. The next chapter will be more.. fun. Sort of, don't expect sunshine an daisies. This is a zombie fic. And I know what you're thinking... NARUTO'S A HOARER. Yes, this is true, but in a world where you don't know how everything works the Shinobi mentality is to hole up and stock up... and set lots of traps. See ya next time!