Chapter 39: Zombies
"So, are you ready?"
No. "Yes, Aya-sensei," Yuki replied, her voice shaking.
Aya clasped her on the back, sensing her distress. "Don't worry so much, Yuki-san. You'll be fine. I believe in you!"
Yuku blinked down at her shorter sensei and just shrugged. She was afraid if she said anything, she would betray her anxiety again.
Tama nudged Yuki with her nose. "Remember, you won't be alone."
"I know," Yuki replied with a sigh. She faced Aya once more, who was chuckling to herself. "You know, sensei, you sure have a weird sense of humor, considering who we're up against."
"All the more reason to laugh, Yuki-chan. The Slaughterer killed my father, you know, but I don't let that defeat me. Anyway, I'm feeling optimistic about the upcoming battle—that's all," she replied with a grin.
"Your father? He—really?" Yuki asked, her eyes wide. Aya had never offered this information before.
Aya nodded, her countenance still cheerful. "We just have to do one last thing before we can return," Aya replied, "and that is a visit with Lady Death."
#
"Yo, zombies, I'm going to like, totally kick your asses—BELIEVE IT!" an army of Naruto clones proclaimed from the top of a nearby hill.
His clones waved wildly, giving the raspberry, and otherwise exhibiting lewd gestures to the undead army. His display was met by a volley of projectiles which the clones avoided; those who could not dodge dissolved themselves before they were hit. Feigning fright, the clones retreated, followed by a large segment of the edo tensei army.
Of course, when the zombies came into the valley in pursuit of their prey, the clones vanished. The army looked around in bemusement when suddenly, Sakura slammed her fists into the ground, causing a fissure to yawn beneath their feet. A series of huge boulders were rolled on top of them from Choji's vantage point on top of another nearby hill, sealing the deal.
"Yosh! That must have been at least a hundred of them!" Naruto called with pride. But his joy was short-lived: hundreds of hands erupted from the earth like freakish flowers.
"Shit!" Ino shrieked. "What the hell are we going to do now?"
"Never fear, your Hokage is here!" Naruto chimed, cheerful as ever. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Sakura would have slapped him. She curled her hands into fists and watched as Naruto bit his thumb and slammed it down on the ground, summoning the boss toad. Soon, the valley was filled with oil and then set aflame with explosive tags.
"See," Naruto called, triumphant, "no problem!"
"Naruto—they're still alive!" Karin screamed from the safety of the forest. Indeed, as smoke cleared in the valley, it revealed the charred forms of about one hundred zombies lurching to their feet. In the distance, another legion of undead were cresting the hillside and zeroing in on their location.
Naruto pressed a button on his walkie talkie. "Shino, activate the sealing dome. Hurry!"
At his order, a scroll unrolled across the sky and swooped down like a hawk on top of the army, sealing them before they could counter attack.
At least that worked, Sakura sighed inwardly. She bit her lip as a new group of undead came closer. "What now, Naruto-kun?" she asked.
"Run like hell!" he shouted as he booked it for the next valley.
"Kami-sama," Sakura wailed as she followed, "Naruto, do you even have a plan?!"
"Of course I do! Divide and conquer, that's what I always say!"
Sakura gritted her teeth and dodged a poisoned kunai. There had to be a better way...
About an hour later, the only group that seemed to have been divided and conquered were the Konoha nin. A grim Sakura and Naruto stood back to back, surrounded by a horde of zombies.
Naruto called into his walkie talkie, "Oi, Shino, some ABNU back up would be nice right about now?" Even Sakura could hear the desperation in his voice.
"Kchhh. Sorry. Everyone is currently engaged, Hokage-sama..."
"Damn it!" Naruto stuffed his walkie-talkie into his pocket and formed a clone. "Go back to Konoha," he ordered it, "and conscript a few more teams of ANBU—now!"
His clone saluted its maker before disappearing in a yellow flash. Just as the first poison-tipped arrows were hurtling towards them, Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm and hiraishined away.
Once they were safe, Naruto keyed into the communications device again.
"Shino! Shino, are you there? I want you to make sure Karin stays out of harm's way. She's the only one who understands how these zombie guys work. I'm going to gather up the rest of our force—we're going to reconvene in the forest at the rendezvous point."
"Kchh. Roger, Hokage-sama."
Naruto ran a hand through his tangled hair as he regarded his companion. "We're doing good, Sakura-chan. We've already eliminated more than half of their army—we should be able to get to Sasuke in no time."
Sakura exhaled sharply. "Okay. Let's retreat for now and form a plan." She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but she couldn't stop herself from digging her nails into her palm.
As she was caught up in the motions of the hiraishin, a horrifying thought came to her: when they finally found Sasuke, what would they do? According to Neji, he was already partially merged with Madara.
Sakura gritted her teeth and waited for the nausea from the hiraishin to pass, chiding herself for her anxious thoughts. When they found Sasuke, they would deal with the situation. Until then, they had to concentrate on disabling some zombies.
Hang in there Sasuke, please...
#
"Saki, are you sure this is going to work?"
"Hoshiko, for the last time, this is going to be just fine!" Saki retorted. Everything had gone without a hitch so far: Hoshiko had gotten them into the Hokage's tower no questions asked, and she had procured one of her dad's keys to the ANBU storage closet. The four genin had henged and dressed in authentic ANBU garb. Of course, they could have just as easily henged their ANBU outfits, but Hayato thought flinching the actual uniforms would make for a more convincing disguise.
"Okay guys, just hold still while I cast the genjutsu. It will fuzz out the lines of the henge, making our chakra impossible to sense!" Saki called, pride evident in her tone. She wove through a complicated series of hand-signs. She liked to think that her otousan would be proud of her expertly executed genjutsu, instead of appalled that she was committing high treason by bamboozling the Hokage.
Whatever, Saki thought, her brows furrowed in concentration. To make an omelet, you had to break a few eggs. With a flick of her wrist, she finished weaving the illusion. "There," she beamed, "perfect-o!"
"I just hope this works, Saki-san..." Cho said apprehensively.
"We'll be fine, Cho-san. Remember, we have a back-up plan," Hayato replied, his tone serene.
"What?" Hoshiko muttered, "You mean the plan where if we get caught by my dad, I start crying?"
"Yeah, that one. It's fool proof," Saki countered cheerfully while Hoshiko slapped herself in the face. "Now, we just wait for the signal..."
They didn't have to wait long. In a few minutes, Zeke and Clementine, the two cats who lived next to the Hokage's tower, came sneaking in through the ajar door. "Saki-chan, the Hokage is back!" Clementine mewed.
"He's asking for ANBU back up!" Zeke practically purred.
"You guys are getting a tuna fish feast when we get back!" Saki squealed. "All right team, let's go!" The four put their masks on and were in the Hokage's office in a flash.
Hayato bowed deeply to Naruto's clone. "You requested back-up, Hokage-sama?" he said in his best impression of a baritone.
Naruto smiled brightly. "That was fast. All right, I'm going to hiraishin you over!" As Naruto got ready to make the seals, he frowned for a moment. "Wait a minute—which team are you, anyway?"
Saki didn't bother to even use genjutsu. In an offended tone, she replied, "You don't recognize your own ANBU, Hokage-sama?"
Naruto waved defensively. "Of course I recognize you four! What kind of Hokage would I be if I didn't recognize my own ANBU? Heh, heh. Okay everyone—let's go!"
With that, they were caught up in the whirl of the hiraishin. It was unfortunate that no one could see Hoshiko's facial expression under her mask, which was caught between incredulous and flabbergasted at her father's own gullibility.
When they made it to the oak grove, Saki made a pretense of vomiting in a bush, when in reality she wove more hand-signs for a genjutsu.
There! This will make it so that no one will question who we are; when they try and decipher our exact identities, they'll get distracted by something else. Brilliant! She mentally thanked her father for teaching her that particular genjutsu and smiled. Don't worry otousan, we're coming for you!
#
Yuki steadied herself after the last portal jump. She found herself in an opulent parlor, where the wooden walls were polished and inlaid with gold. Many brocaded silk couches stood before tables shining with mother-of-pearl, though at the moment, the room was empty except for one person.
In the center of the room sat a regal old woman in a white kimono who held a porcelain cup. She drank from it slowly, as if savoring the rich flavor of her steaming tea. The woman's gray eyes flickered to Yuki, who bowed low in response.
"No need to be so formal child. I am grandmother to all who call me. Come," she said, motioning to the empty silver chair next to hers, "sit by me. Would you like some tea?"
"No thank you, my lady," Yuki managed as politely as she could. Aya had already told her not to eat or drink anything in death's house: doing so would bind her to the next world.
The old woman chuckled. "Oh, can't blame me for trying, young spirit walker." She eyed the young girl with humor and put her cup down on the shell table. It made a high pitched clinking sound that seemed to reverberate throughout the room. "Consider this your exit interview. By my grace, I have allowed you access into the outer realms. But," she continued with a coy smile, "there is something I want in return for granting you this power."
Yuki paled at that. Aya hadn't mentioned anything about giving something to Lady Death. However, she steadied her voice and replied, as calmly as she could, "What is it that you require?"
Chuckling, the Lady rested her elbows on the table, then set her chin on her palm. "I know about your plan regarding Madara, and I approve. Mostly..." She winked. "The last part needs some reworking. When you defeat Madara, I want his soul to come directly to me. Doesn't that sound fair?"
Yuku swallowed thickly. She really didn't know if that was a good idea or not. However, she figured that it was unwise to argue with Lady Death at such a delicate time. As long as Madara was banished from the world, she supposed it was all right.
"Of course my Lady," Yuki replied at last, her voice grave.
"Good girl. Come here and let me tweak your mangekyo just a tiny bit..." The lady placed both palms on Yuki's forehead, and she felt a warm, light feeling, like being kissed by sunlight. In a moment, it was over.
"Very good!" The lady clapped her hands and all at once the room began to fade. "Best of luck my dear!"
Yuki fell into darkness, and then swam through a silvery portal. She wondered, dimly, if she was finally going back to the earthly plane...
#
The extra influx of ANBU began turning the tide of the battle: the rolling hillsides were all marred with fire and giant ravines, where the bodies of the undead army were trapped, incinerated, sealed, and incapacitated by various and sundry means.
Saki was panting heavily. For one thing, her damn ANBU mask really hindered her use of the sharingan; for another, more than half of her chakra was being used to maintain genjutsu against their discovery by the other Konoha nin. If she was going to survive the zombie apocalypse, she was going to need to dispel the genjutsu.
"Red Butterfly, activate communication!" Saki yelped.
'What the hell do you need?' was the terse reply. 'I'm busy trying not to be killed here!'
'Relay this everyone: I need to dispel the genjutsu.'
'What? Saki, you like, can't!'
'Cho, if I'm going to fight zombies, I need more juice. Plus, I think the other ANBU are going to be too busy with the zombies to probe our chakra...'
'Hello? Earth to Saki! If my dad is in Sage Mode, he's going to figure us out for sure!'
Saki sighed. Apparently, Hoshiko was already 'plugged in' to their telepathic conversation. Saki had to pause a moment as a zombie came her way. Using her expert chakra control, she thrust her fist into the earth and forced up sharp rocks right into the zombie's heart.
The stabbed organ came right out of the decrepit corpse's back and beat a few more times on the earth spear until she incinerated it with a katon.
She winced. In all honesty, this was the first time Saki was seeing combat, and even though her enemies were technically already dead, it was still really disturbing to rip out their hearts and then light them on fire.
She was never going to eat kabobs again.
'Guys? I seriously can't go on like this. Not if you need me to kill my own enemies, then toast the hearts you dismember from your own zombies like marshmallows on a stick. I'm letting it go now before I get myself killed.'
'This is Hayato, Saki. We've just been ordered to retreat and reconvene. The point is moot: hold the genjutsu.'
Saki gnashed her teeth and then spun around. Just as Hayato said, there was a Naruto clone about to whisk them all of to a rendezvous point.
Damn Hayato. I may be an Uchiha, but I'm not freakin' invincible! Saki was exhausted. But she had no time to contemplate her miserable state, for in a moment her and her clandestine friends were transported to a clearing via the hiraishin along with the other ANBU.
Saki spotted her mother and began to sweat, and in that instant, was glad that one: she had not dispelled her genjutsu, and two: that her ANBU mask was hiding her face.
"All right, everyone! We've sealed up most of the zombies!" Naruto roared. There was a smattering of applause before the Hokage continued, "Best of all, we've only had a handful of injured ninja. Not to worry, they've all been hiraishined back to Konoha for treatment. Here's my latest strategy. I need the remaining ANBU to break up into two groups..."
Naruto went on to explain: while the two groups of ANBU would sandwich the remaining group of zombies, which were now concentrated by the main cave entrance, Naruto and Sakura would enter in the cave and deal with Madara themselves.
"Naruto!" Ino screeched, "You can't go in there with just the two of you. You should bring back up."
Naruto shook his head. "Let Sakura and I deal with Sasuke, okay Ino? I want you and Choji to deal with the zombie hordes, along with the rest of the jonin I brought—"
"Kchhh! Hokage-sama!"
Naruto brought out his walkie talkie and replied, "Shino? What's wrong?"
"The zombies—they're gone."
It was silent for a moment before Naruto responded. "They're...gone?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"It's probably a trap," Hayato drawled before he could stop himself. Saki glared at him from behind her mask. Stupid freakin' twerp! He's going to get us into trouble!
Fortunately for them, Neji promptly agreed with the 'mysterious' ANBU member. "Naruto—it probably is a trap."
Shit shit shit. Saki silently cursed to herself as she looked up at the sky through the eye slits in her mask. The bright autumn light had faded to murky blue tinged with red; the setting sun colored everything with a crimson wash, and a red, full moon rose like a dead, bloated fish in the east. Saki shivered. Something did not feel right about this.
"Change of plans. I want everyone besides Sakura and myself on standby—"
"Naruto, you can't walk right into a trap without backup," Ino protested.
"Ino!" Naruto barked, drawing himself up to his full height. In that moment, he truly looked like the Hokage. His face was grave, and deep lines furrowed his brow. Perhaps it was the gravity of the situation, or the way the setting sun colored one side of Naruto's face orange, while the other side was bathed in red and blue shadows. In any event, his presence commanded attention.
"If it is a trap," Naruto continued more softly, but still with every ounce of authority, "all the more reason for only Sakura and I to go. I won't risk any of my people unless I have to. I'll station enough clones with you—" here Naruto gestured widely to the assembled ninja "—and I'll call for back up as I need it. Sakura-chan, are you ready?"
She nodded grimly.
"Hokage-sama, take me with you, too," Karin said harshly.
Naruto shook his head. "No, Karin, absolutely not—"
"Listen. I'm not going for Sasuke. I'm going because you'll need my help as a sensor."
"Thanks Karin, but I think I'm getting the hang of sensing these zombie guys. Plus," Naruto continued in a hushed voice, "I can sense a change in the battle field right now. I can feel Sasuke and Madara's chakra signatures. You all are staying, Sakura and I are going. That's final."
And with that, Naruto created a dozen clones who all sat in the clearing and began gathering nature chakra. In a flash, the original Naruto was gone with Sakura in tow.
Saki could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. She nudged Cho with her shoulder. Even with the older girl's face covered by a mask, Saki could sense her exasperation. 'What, Saki? You know it's dangerous for me to use this technique with my mom so close by!'
Saki sighed and warily eyed the other ninja around them. The atmosphere was tense as they awaited further instructions from their Hokage. 'Cho-san. Open up a psychic connection with everyone. Because we're moving out.'
'WHAT?'
'I said...er, thought, that we're going to follow Naruto-sama and my mom.'
'Hayato,' Cho thought menacingly, 'Tell Saki that she's crazy!'
Saki wasn't sure, but she thought that she could feel Hayato mentally shrug. 'It wouldn't be a bad idea to be on call if there are any medical emergencies on the front line. Hokage-sama tends to be overconfident. He often leaves without back-up when he could really use the help. That's why we came here, after all.'
'This is Hoshiko. Guys. Seriously. You want a bunch of genin to go out into a field of potential zombies so we can give back up to my dad—who, by the way, if he finds out that it's us, will have a fit?'
Saki smiled. 'Yep Hoshiko-chan, pretty much. Hey, come on, remember how we're going to stick up for our comrades and all of that? I have a gut feeling that this is the right thing to do... Anyway, we've made it this far. Come on everyone—for Ryuu-kun!'
Hoshiko mentally sighed, loud enough for everyone to hear it. 'Okay Saki-chan. Let's do it.'
'Saki-san, this is Hayato. Do you have enough chakra to fuel a good concealing genjutsu to get us to the front lines?'
'Already on it.' Saki discretely turned away from the majority of ninja and began weaving hand-signs. Their group was already on the outskirts of the assembled ANBU, and it only took a little bit of chakra to make them disappear further into the shadows. 'Ok, I can only hold this for a minute— let's move out!'
'Saki-chan,' an exasperated Hoshiko replied, 'you're insane.' Saki could tell though from Hoshiko's tone that she was actually quite proud of her, and Saki grinned.
'Let's go!' In a moment, the squad of genin disappeared into the brush, making their way up to the front lines. They were stopped once or twice by ANBU on patrol, but between Saki's genjutsu and Cho's mental nudges, they didn't have too much trouble reaching the outskirts of the clearing in front of the cave.
"Let's stop here," Saki whispered as the team halted under a copse of trees. "Hoshiko, use your byakugan and keep tabs on our parents. What are they up to now?"
Hoshiko nodded and activated her doujutsu. "I don't see them yet. Hold on..."
While she searched, Cho whispered to Saki, "Does it bother you that a group of piddly genin were able to get past the Hokage...and entire squads of elite ninja?"
Saki blinked. "No, not really. Should it?"
Cho just shook her head. She didn't have time to respond to Saki, however, as Hoshiko let out a little gasp of surprise. "I found them! It looks like—oh, no…"
"What? What!" Saki yelped. She was shushed by Cho.
Hayato quickly gave out out orders: "Cho, can you mentally connect us to Hoshiko? We should all see what she's seeing."
Cho bit her dirty fingernails. "Okay..." In a moment, they were all looking through Hoshiko's eyes.
"Who is that? I can make out the chakra signatures of my mom and Naruto, but who's that other guy?" Saki wondered aloud.
They had no time for further questions. The earth rumbled and shifted out from under them as lightning forked across sky.
"Take cover!" Saki screamed, but her voice was lost in the roar of thunder.
#
"Sakura—you ready?" Naruto whispered. They stood under a cluster of pine trees just on the outskirts of what had been the main battle field. All around them, the landscape was eerily quiet, except for the pounding of their hearts.
Sakura gulped. "Naruto,what if he's already been taken over?" she asked, a tremor in her voice.
Naruto forced himself to smile. "Then we'll kick some sense into Sasuke and bring him back. Just like we did last time, Sakura-chan. We can do it. Believe it!" Sakura smiled bittersweetly and nodded before the two strode out into the field.
"Can you sense him, Naruto?"
Naruto stopped abruptly and rubbed the back of his head. "I could a minute ago—I could have sworn..."
Suddenly, the space around them started to dematerialize into a thick mist. Naruto grabbed Sakura by the hand and jumped back several feet as Sasuke appeared from the center of the spiraling air.
"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, despite herself, while beside her, Naruto growled.
"It's not Sasuke, Sakura-chan."
"Well, hello! If it isn't my favorite little ninjas from the Hidden Leaf. So good to see you," he murmured.
Sakura gapped at him. It looked like Sasuke, but that voice—that sick, twisted, falsely cheerful voice—that voice was not. Sakura thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. Sasuke's features were contorted into a face that was not his own. His lips were curled up in an animal snarl, and madness glinted from his gaze. Madara chortled, and his eyes caught the light of the red moon.
He looked more demon than person.
Sakura clenched her fists, pure, unadulterated rage filling her being: how dare Madara do this to Sasuke!
Madara continued in a haughty tone, "It certainly took you long enough to get here. But it looks like it's too late for poor little Sasuke-chan, hey?"
"Shut up, Uchiha Madara," Naruto snarled. "What have you done to Sasuke?"
"Tch. Isn't that obvious, Naruto-kun? I see you are as dense as ever."
"Give him back!" Sakura roared, her anger and desperation flaring. She leapt forward and pummeled the ground beneath Madara's feet in an attempt to unbalance him. But he merely laughed, the sick sound ringing throughout the clearing. Just as the ancient Uchiha dodged her attack, the clearing flashed with lightning.
She cursed herself for being hasty, but she couldn't help it. Sakura would have continued to fling herself at Madara— and likely killed herself in the process— had Naruto not grabbed her and hiraishined her back to the clearing's edge.
"Sakura," he ground out harshly between clenched teeth, "I will bring Sasuke back. You wait here!"
"Let me come with you, Naruto—don't leave me out!" Sakura hissed.
Naruto shook his head and patted Sakura on her belly. "Sakura, you're pregnant. Please. I swear I will bring him back. Just like I did last time," he added more softly.
Sakura brought a shaky hand up to her face and wiped away her tears. "Please..." was all she managed to say before she became too choked up to speak.
Naruto kissed her on the forehead and was gone in a flash. All she could do was watch from the sidelines, worry and fear etched in the lines of her face, as her hands rested on her stomach. Sasuke, you stupid bastard. You had better snap out of it...
Her one solace was that at the very least, her two youngest children were safe at home in the village.
:D Thanks for reading. Please review!