Chapter 26 By the Shore Part 3
Meiko was happy to leave the mound of the dead behind her as they returned to Main Street, here it was not as bad and she was upwind from the large mound of the dead so she could not smell it. She still remembered those eyes but she forced that from her mind as they met up in what had to be a top of the line-clothing store. The other team of Hinata, Samui, Karui and Tenten had already arrived and had started to pick out what they wanted from the racks of cloths. The store had a large selection but it was clear that it was a specialty store and they would have to go to many different stores to get everything they needed. Luckily there where multiple stores selling everything from clothing to furniture all gathered near the restaurant that was the false front to Orochimaru's base.
"Get start, take whatever you want." said Karui as she flipped through some cloths on the rack. "The owner will not care."
"How do you know that?" inquired Ino as Karui pointed toward a door, which likely led up to a small apartment which sat above the store. There hanging on the wall was a warning about someone being in medical isolation. The seal was still intact meaning that no one had gone in in a while.
"There is a woman up there, dead." confirmed Hinata "I saw her with my byakugan."
Meiko still was not sure but she needed some cloths and unless she took up knitting and sewing she wasn't going to find anything else. She moved toward a ruby colored top she liked, her eyes widened as she saw the price tag of the single item. She was about to say something then she saw Sakura looking at a blood red top which had a price tag even higher than the one she was looking at.
"Doesn't this stuff feel good?" inquired Meiko
"It should give everything that it is made out of silk." stated Sakura before pausing for a moment. "Ah…do you have to drop your hedge? I mean you are a kitsune not a human, will this stuff fit you?"
Meiko blinked as she thought about it for a moment.
"It should, I will may have to do some editing of the clothing for my tail and my legs but that should be all I have to do. I don't have wings on my back like some." Stated Meiko before she thought of it some more. "Well aside from shoes, that may be a problem. Also I was never that good at sewing, they taught it in school to fix clothing in the field but not modifications."
"Well I can help with that," offered Hinata as she moved forward with some cloths in her hands. Sakura looked at the items she had picked up and they were of a style and cut she would normally guess of Ino not the reserve and shy Hinata.
"What is she up to?" thought Sakura
"She is trying to get Naruto!" yelled Inner Sakura "Show off that chest of hers and Naruto-kun who is already in need for sex because of the Kyuubi dyeing will give in."
"And she is getting friendly with Meiko to get closer to Naruto-kun." added Sakura as her inner self nodded in agreement.
A couple of buildings away Naruto and the other men had met up to do the same thing at an upper end man clothing store.
"Damn have you seen these prices?" laughed Kiba as he threw a new fur lined jacket worth more than he made in two weeks over his shoulder.
"Ya, hard to believe someone would drop this amount of money of stuff like this?" inquired Naruto who was used to watching what he spent, he had to be carefully on what he spent his money one most of all before he was a ninja. The village game him a certain amount of money each month and after rent, bills and food was taken out he never had much. He had gotten most of his cloths from the discount stores or as gifts from Iruka and the Third Hokage.
"I wonder if the old man did all that stuff for me because I was the son of the 4thand he felt guilty about the life I had to live to keep me safe?" thought Naruto, he knew that the Namikaze clan wasn't one of the major clans in the Leaf. The Namikaze clan did not own banks like the Hyuuga clan did, they didn't own massive amounts of farmlands and restaurants like the Akimichi clan, they didn't have a corner on medical skills like the Nara clan did with their deer or multiple small business like the Yamanaka clan. No the Namikaze clan was a lower level clan, a working class clan but judging from the house that would have been his home he wouldn't have gotten his cloths second hand and he wouldn't have to worry about if he had enough money to eat at the end of the month. His mind went to the fact that he would have been Ino's neighbor and therefor would have had friends in Shikamaru and Choji and know Sakura a lot more through being Ino's neighbor. "No, the 3rd was too kind for that. He cared for me just like Iruka and Ayame and her father, they have always cared about me."
"Naruto why don't you grab some cloths?" inquired Sai
"I have enough stuff." explained Naruto "Before I left the Leaf, I grab a lot of things. I have enough cloths."
"And how old are most of them?" inquired Sasuke "How many of them have patches in them? Just grab some things."
Naruto gave in and finally started to seal different cloths he liked, he tried not to look at the prices but every so often did only to shake his head at the cost before sealing it away.
Hundreds of miles away in the Leaf, Shizune moved like walking dead, all her muscles where screaming at her and her mind was clouding over as she moved up the stairs to her apartment. The elevator was still out so she had to walk up to her seventh story apartment near the heart of the village. The sun was now high in the sky and outside people where still coming to grip with what the world had become, a world she had helped made. She reached her apartment and on the third attempt, she got the key into the hole and walked inside. The apartment was rather large for a single woman but she had been the aid to the Hokage and that meant special benefits. She moved past her full kitchen and living room toward the master bedroom. She did not even take the time to undress or get under the covers and instead fell face first onto the pillow. She kicked off her shoes and closed her eyes, she had been up for almost 50 hours and her body had only kept moving due to multiple stimulus drugs.
Sleep took her in an instant as her mind went to a different bedroom with a different view, instead of a view of the Hokage building and the stone faces of the Hokage Mountain it showed a sand covered beach. People were enjoying themselves in the ocean and having a wonderful time not realizing what was coming.
Shizune stood before a full body mirror looking at herself in her new swimsuit; it was a sexy golden color one piece swimsuit which she had picked up on her way to the medical conference that was taking place in the hotel she was in. The suit was golden with white trim and had a deep cut, which actually went below her breasts only to come back together about half way between her chest and her belly button. A single strap connected the two parts to make sure no accidents happened. She ran her hands down her side enjoying how it looked just then their was a knock at the door and a file was pushed under.
Instantly her mood saddened as she remembered why she was here, she was here not only to talk to other doctors but to make them sick. She was here to infect the doctors who had come from all over the world with a deadly flu she had made. Millions would die but her race would live on, she moved toward the file and picked it up, it had the list of different conference events and which ones she was to spread the virus at. She looked at the list and then back up at the mirror, she saw a human, she always saw a human. She had spent so many days looking at a false front it was hard for her to sometimes remember what she was.
Slowly she reached up and undid a small necklace which hung around her neck, with that off it was as simple as releasing the justu. The necklace had a seal, which helped hold the hedge in place that made her look human. With that gone, she could see what she really was, a Bai Ze a race that had been around far before humanity and was now on the edge of dyeing off. Her black fur stood out even more against the gold and white of the suit, white fur ran down her neck and over her breasts to her belly button. She knew the streak of white stopped just past her belly button. She had some spots on the side of her neck and on her cheek, she had spots there ever since she was a small child. Her face had pushed out a little and her ears poked out from her longer hair at the top of her head, hidden in the hair was a pair of short antlers. All Bai Ze's had antlers but males had a full rack of antlers while females had short ones. She turned around and saw a bulge in the suit where her short deer like tail was pushing against the material of the suit.
"I can't even get cloths that are designed for me." stated Shizune to herself as a knock at the door caused her head to spin.
"Shizune are you there?" asked a male voice as Shizune quickly put the necklace back on and reformed the hedge.
"Coming." replied Shizune as she opened the door to see Iruka standing there in his shorts and a light T-shirt. Tsunade had ordered him and a genin team to come with her to provide some protection to the conference and to her. In truth it was more like a paid vacation for the team but Shizune smiled as she saw how Iruka's eyes did a quick glace at her body.
"Maybe, I will find a way to enjoy myself this week." thought Shizune before frowning. "If he saw what I truly am he would try to kill me."
The next thing she knew the memory dream changed as Iruka shoved a kunai into her gut causing blood to spill out to cover the carpet of the hotel room. Her eyes widened as Iruka glared at her with pure hate.
"Die, demon scum!" growled Iruka "Rot in hell!"
Then everything changed, she was still bleeding but the hotel was gone and so was Iruka. He had been replaced by countless faces, some of whom she knew by name and others she only recognized from around the village. Lady Tsunade was there, Choji was there, Sakura, Ino, Naruto and others all looking at her with either accusing eyes or eyes unblinking in death.
"You did this…You did this…you did this…" they all kept repeating until Shizune could do nothing more then cover hear but she could still hear their voices until suddenly they stopped. For a moment, there was nothing then as one they all screamed. "YOU KILLED US!"
Shizune's eyes opened as she looked into her pillow, she sat up and looked at the clock she had been asleep for only two hours. Her body was screaming at her to close her eyes and sleep but she knew what she would dream of, if it wasn't a man who she loved killing her it would all those other faces. Maybe it was fate being kind to her but just then, a knock at the door caused her to get out of her bed and forces her to go to the door. She opened it to see a Bakeneko standing there.
She had black fur over her body, with grey strips running down her neck, the strips where also in her hair. She wore a leaf ninja medical uniform but since it was a male uniform it was clearly not her own. It took Shizune a moment to recognize who she was because of her cat like appearance.
"Nurse Oyone?" inquired Shizune
"Doctor." said her once friend with hate in her voice as she used her title instead of her name. Shizune lowered her head in shame at the lost of a friend. "They finished looking over Lee and they want you to be there when they turn him."
"Ok, I am on my way," said Shizune as Oyone turned and walked away.
"Murder." spat Oyone who she had known for years.
Back at Nysa they had been gathering supplies for a good while and a pattern was inescapable for Sakura. While they did pick up normal, every day wear they also picked up things that they would not take into the field. Down deep Sakura knew that these items were meant to give them a boost to their moral by letting them reclaim something they lost. It was fun to grab a dress that you knew you would never get if the world hadn't fallen apart, it was fun to grab music players and items to personalize your room in the base.
It first the pattern appeared when they grabbed the cloths they wanted from the store, while everything was pricey since they were all brand name designer cloths Karin and Ino where going out of their way to grab the most pricy things they could grab. Ino was not a surprise to Sakura, her best friend loved fashion and having stores full of designer cloths all "free" was probably, a fantasy to her but Karin surprised her. She did not know the woman for long but she was grabbing everything that caught her eye. She had grabbed seven designer dresses worth more then what a Jonnin could make in a multiple years and then grabbed a necklace that even Hinata who came from the wealthiest family in the Leaf said was expensive.
They all did grab what they wanted and she herself grabbed a handful of things that she wanted that she would not have grabbed elsewise. Along with her luxuries, she did grab normal everyday cloths and some workout gear she found in a sports store, when Karin explained that the base had a pool and a hot spring for relaxing she also grabbed a swimsuit. They were about to leave a small store full of scented lotions and shampoos when Meiko spoke up.
"Where did everyone go?" inquired Meiko as Sakura looked around the small shop, aside from herself, Karui, Samui, Hinata and Meiko everyone was gone. Sound coming from a back room with the sign that said Private told her the answer.
"They must have gone into the back." Said Sakura as she grabbed the scented lotion and moved toward the back. She pushed open the door only to find that it was not a backroom but an hidden addition to the store. Her eyes widened as she saw that the back room was full of different sexual message oils, sexy lingerie, and sex toys. Karin was looking at the a something she liked, while Tenten and Ino where doing the same.
"Ah, forehead." said Ino as she noticed Sakura in the doorway. "Turns out the community didn't want a sex shop to display on their street."
"But everyone who lived here knew about it." explained Karin as she looked at a sexy outfit in front of a mirror. "I think Sasuke-kun will enjoy this."
"Ah…I think we better get going to meet the boys." Stated Sakura
"Come on forehead pick something out, you never know if you can get your fox." Offered Ino as Tenten's head turned from what appeared to be special lingerie designed for wedding nights.
"Shouldn't be hard, he may be a little crazy for sex." laughed Fu as the others looked at her. "When the demons died in me, it made me well a little crazy for sex. I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto is the same."
Sakura was about to leave when she saw something that caught her eye, she turned back to see that Hinata had not noticed anything and neither did the others.
"Well if Hinata is trying to go after Naruto-kun, I can get an upper hand with some of this stuff." Thought Sakura as she was about to close the door to join Ino, Tenten, Karin and Fu when Fu yelled out the door.
"Ladies! If your interested there is some lingerie back here and some other items." Yelled Fu as everyone else looked at Sakura standing in the door.
"Damn it." added Sakura as the others moved into the room, only Meiko being the youngest didn't grab at least one thing from the room.
There was a large cannel, which they had to cross in order to get their destination, the Daimyo's summer home on the southern coast of the Land of Fire. The cannel was wide and used to bring food from small farms down to the larger cities on the coast with ease. Normally crossing this channel would not be an issue for the small gathering of Leaf ninjas on the far side. They could have walked across the water with their chakra or walked to one of the drawbridges that allowed normal people to cross. Those bridges had been destroyed to try to stop the spread of the virus, which started from the coast before making its way inland. That defense had not worked but the water was now being used by the demons. There were four of them gathered on the far side, three of them stood out in the open while another one rested in the water, her arms resting on the ground.
"I have never seen that type before," stated Hanabi Hyuuga as she pointed toward the one in the water, she seemed to have webfeet and judging by how long she stayed under the water she must have gills. The other three where ones they had seen, a male kitsune with a long sword hanging from his hip and a shorter one opposite of it. A minotaur like create stood there with a giant ax on her back and the last one was the most worrisome, it was one of those flying fairy like creatures with a thin needle like sword hanging on his belt.
The moment that they would attempt a crossing either they would hit the radio which the fox was carrying, the wire of the ear piece clear for all of them to see or the fairy like creature would take to the air. If they got word out then it was only a matter of time until more demons came for the small groups.
"We need to find another way to cross," reported Anko as she looked over her shoulder, in the distance staying far away was Kurenia and her daughter. Only a few weeks old, she had been born during the height of the outbreak in the Leaf, it was a rare moment of sunshine to her friends but right now the baby was a threat. One cry would alert the demons that they were in the area, her head was turn so she didn't see how it started but soon the sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.
She turned back to see a figure dress in green with his back to her, she could see the tip of a sword sticking out from his form but it was a yellowish color instead of the darkened steel. He had gone after the fox, who had pulled his own sword to block the attack.
"That is Guy." reported Iruka as he recognized the training machine first. Before their eyes Guy used the kitsune's own knee as a step stool to flip over him, at the same moment he dropped the sword down slipping past the own sword of the kitsune. This brought Guy's sword down against the demon's neck, the kitsune's sword did cut into Guy's arms causing his blood to fall to the ground but Guy's own sword did not cut through the demon's neck. Instead, the demon began to scream in pain as Guy stood back to back with the demon, his arms stretched out so that he held the tip of his own sword as well as the handle using more like a staff then a sword. He trapped the demon's head between the blade and his shoulder. The demon screamed in pain as the other demons backed off in surprise as they pulled their own weapon.
It took a few moments but the demon fox became quiet and fell limp, that is went Guy released him. The demon fell to the ground with a thump as Guy swung the sword around allowing Anko to see that the sword was golden in color because it was made out of bronze. The two demons who were on land began to back up as the one in the water swam away from the blood covered guy.
"They are afraid." stated Hana "Why? Guy has a bronze weapon and they outnumber him."
"Look at the demon he killed." Explained Hanabi as Anko looked at the fox herself, her eyes widened as she saw that the demon's neck, the spot that the sword had touched was blacked and burned.
"How is that possible?" said Shikaku Nara as he moved forward to get a better view.
"Get airborne." ordered the minotaur like demon as the fairy like man took off and headed away, Guy made no attempt to stop the demon but instead bolted toward the minotaur. She swung her ax toward the Leaf ninja who slide under the blade and between her thick legs before jumping up behind her. She didn't have time to react as Guy brought his leg around and kicked her across the back of her head. She stumbled away but remained standing.
"Water style…" yelled the water demon but she never got to finish as Guy pulled a ninja star and with a skill and priesion that even Tenten would have been impressed with he flung the star into the demon's right eyes. She screamed in pain as her own blood fell into the water.
"Not so much fun when people fight back." Stated Guy as the minotaur like demon got back into a stance her own axes ready once again.
"You will pay for that human." grumbled the Minotaur as her nose let out a burst of hot breath.
"Maybe." admitted Guy as he spun the sword in his hand "But it doesn't matter."
Guy charged again and once again the demon lashed out with her ax but instead of going under the blade he went over and he went for the killing blow. He drove the tip of the dull bronze blade designed for display into the demon's eye. The blade wasn't strong enough to break the skull but it did burn the flesh of the demon from the instead, she let out a booming scream of pain as Guy pulled a normal kunai and ran it across her neck just deep enough to kill but not a fast death. It was slow as her blood trickle down her neck and armored chest.
Seeing two of her squad mates dead the demon in the water who still had a ninja star in her eye dove under the water and disappeared. With his dirty work done Guy pulled his bronze weapon out of the demon's eye.
Slowly Anko, Hana, Hanabi, Shikaku, Iruka, Yoshina, Inoichi, Kurenia and two others came out of the brush and into view of Guy. Guy turned and looked at them, his green cloths was stained with dirt like everyone's but fresh blood ran down his front, some of it his from his wrist wounds some from the demons all of them red.
"How did you do that?" inquired Anko
"Are you human?" inquired Guy back.
"As far as we know." added Hanabi as she looked at Iruka.
"Well there is a way to find out," said Guy as he pointed the bronze sword toward the group from the Leaf, his friends. "The demon's skin burns if they contact with bronze."
"What?" inquired Inoichi "That doesn't make any sense, bronze?"
"That would explain how humans without ninja skills defeated them in the past, if bronze burns them then it would be as if all the weapons were on fire." stated Shikaku as he walked forward using chakra to stand on the water. He stopped within arm's reach of the sword and extended his arm to touch the blade. It didn't burn him showing that he was human. One by one they all followed suit, each one of them proving that they were human until the last on Hana Inuzuka walked across and hesitated. Everyone tensed up as she extended her hand and touched the blade, her hand came away red but not burned.
"I have an allergy to bronze and other metals." explained Hana as the others looked at her with accusing eyes. "See it just turned red, I didn't burn and it runs in the family."
"The part of it running in her family is true." stated Yoshino "Her mother and father both had the alliergy and my grandmother was from the Inuzuka clan and she had it."
"And it isn't a burn." added Shikaku
"Alright." said Hanabi "I guess we are all human but what do we do now, those demons Guy let get away will come back with reinforcements."
"Good." stated Guy "Every moment they are looking for us is a moment they are not looking for Naruto and his team, wherever they are."
They moved down a small gain track, the sound of the ocean could be heard in the distance as Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, two leaf civilians followed the two older ninjas Tsume Inuzuka and Utakata moved toward the sound of the waves. As they moved the dark soil of the ground turned sandy, the cry of sea gulls could be heard as they moved out from the cover of the trees into tall grass.
"This isn't a good idea, we don't have cover out here." advised Moegi as she moved up toward Tsume who was walking as if she was keeping an eye on the grass instead of the sky. "We can be spotted from the sky with ease."
"Don't worry about it," advised Utakata calmly as they moved up a sand dune only give them a view of the small bay surrounded by large sand dunes. Sitting next to the edge of the water was what looked to be a small boat club. Docks shot out into the water with a couple of buildings on the beach, the normal ships that would docks would have been pleasure ships but now cruise ships where either sitting off the beach or had been run aground. A single figure could be seen running from one of the outbuildings to the main building.
"Are we going to get on one of those ships?" inquired Udon
"No, those are dead ships," explained Tsume "There are bays full of dead ships, this is a great place to come ashore which is why so many ships are here but there is nothing but the dead on those ships."
They moved down the sand dunes taking cover as a demon flew past in the distance but it was so far away they could not even tell what type of demon it was. As they approached the building they saw eyes looking at them from the windows of the larger building. A man stepped out dressed in a shirt that was stained with dirt, he had a large amount of dull pink facial hair that needed to be trimmed.
"Get in here, before they spot you," ordered the man as they moved inside to find about 18 people of all different ages and genders.
"Konohamaru?" inquired a woman who walked up to him, she like the man was dirty and her blonde hair was longer then the last time he had seen her.
"Mrs. Haruno?" inquired Konohamaru as the woman nodded her head, Konohamaru turned back to the man with new eyes. "Mr. Haruno?"
"Yes." confirmed Kizashi Haruno "Have you seen our daughter?"
"No, I haven't." confirmed Konohamaru
"Last we heard she was with Naruto." Explained a new voice as the young ninjas turned to see another woman. This one he knew well, having spent many times eating at the Romon Stand with Naruto.
"Sorry Ayame, but we did run into someone who claimed that Naruto was behind that flash of chakra." explained Konohamaru as Ayame nodded her head as if he was only giving information that she already knew. "Yes, we heard that he was there along with Sakura and Sasuke."
"Sasuke?" inquired Moeji "Naruto and Sasuke together again? That is surprising."
"What are we going to do, how are we going to fight back against the demons?" inquired Konohamaru
"Right now we are trying to get as many people as we can together but that is hard," explained Kizashi as the senior member of the Leaf ninja supply department ran the numbers through his head. "The Leaf was on track to reach 75,000 people in two years and 4 out 5 die from this virus, that means that only 15,000 would be alive and let's say only 1 in 10 of those got away. That would mean that there is only 1,500 people of the entire population that got away and the demons have teams searching for them and if we use prison breaks as an example most are caught within a day or two."
"We have to find them and bring them here." stated Konohamaru as he slammed his fist into his palm.
"Don't worry about that right now, let's get you something to eat and rest." offered Mebuki Haruno as Sakura's mother guided the children and the two other civilians deeper into boat club building. When they were out of view Ayame broke the hedge as her brown hair changed to a shade closer to the color of bark, two insect like wings both of them where semi clear but with patches of lime and Kelly green.
"Tsume get everything ready to turn them," ordered the pure demon to Tsume
"Do it yourself, I am going to find my children." Snapped Kizashi "That is why we are going along with this masquerade. We all want our children."
"Alright." said Ayame as she avoided the fight.
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.