Author's note: Well, I didn't quite expect the enthusiastic responses I got LOL I'm glad to see that people are still interested in this universe! We start deviating more in this chapter, though some elements do remain similar.
Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; leighd1314; Guest; Iraheta 127; solitare1; GLORIA; JaiJayce; Kalos
Warnings: Some minor zombie deaths; nothing in particular
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 2
"There's only one bed, but we should be able to find a second mattress normally," Sasuke said, slightly apologetic as he showed Gaara and Naruto around in the apartment.
It was the only empty one in this building, but it used to belong to a woman before she had perished when the zombies had overrun the compound, which was why there was only a single bed. Sasuke wasn't sure whether they actually had an extra bed, but at the very least they should have another mattress or a futon in the storage room.
"Don't bother, it's fine," Gaara said stoically, barely even casting the bedroom a second glance.
"We're used to living in each other's pockets by now," Naruto snorted.
"So you're fine with sharing one bed?" Sasuke asked sceptically.
While they might be at best just a couple of years younger than Sasuke and their time on the road had left their marks behind on their bodies, neither one of them was by any means that particularly small. Wouldn't the bed feel cramped eventually? Well, not his problem. He had offered them a solution and they didn't want it.
"Why wouldn't we be?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Hell, at this point a bed is a goddamn luxury."
"At least you outgrew your kicking habit," Gaara murmured; an amused glint in his eyes. It earnt him a raised middle finger in return.
"There are towels in the cabinet in the bathroom, so you can take a shower if you want," Sasuke informed them. "I'll be back soon with a new set of clothes."
"Sure," Naruto agreed, while Gaara barely managed a nod.
Sasuke left them in the apartment while he made his way outside again, nodding at the people he passed by on his way to the storage room. Early on in the apocalypse they had divided the storage room into two parts: the main part held all the food, both fresh and canned, basically everything they could find during their runs. The smaller part was where they kept all the clothes they found whilst scavenging, running from the smallest children clothes to all types of adults clothes, ranging from underwear to trousers, skirts and pyjamas. Whatever they found, they brought back with them. With the undead roaming around there was no time to be picky or choosy anymore.
Mei looked up when he walked into the storage room. "Looking for some clothes?" she greeted him, pausing in her organisation of the children's section.
"Hm, we got two new arrivals today and they need some clothes to start with," he confirmed. "You mind if I take a look around and see which ones would fit them?"
"Go ahead, I hope you find something in their size."
"Yeah, me too," he muttered, mentally envisioning their forms again.
The shirts were easily gathered, but the trousers took a bit longer as it was difficult to imagine their size compared to the ones they had available here. He settled for some cargo trousers and jeans, figuring they could decide between themselves who would be wearing which pair. Some socks and new sets of underwear – still packaged – were added and after nodding goodbye at Mei he left the storage room, heading back to Block A.
Tugging fruitlessly at the doorknob made it clear that one of them had closed the door after he had left, so he had to resort to knocking on the wood to announce his presence. It took a little while, but then the door swung open, revealing Gaara half-naked with a towel wrapped around his waist. Sasuke managed to catch sight of something that looked akin to a scar on Gaara's leg before the man turned around, wandering into the living room. He left the door open, which Sasuke assumed was as much as a "Come in" as he was going to get. He had a feeling the red haired man wasn't much of a talker.
"I managed to find new clothes for the both of you," he mentioned, holding the pile up. "I hope they fit, but if they don't, you can always try to search for others in the storage room."
The door to the bathroom was left open, he noticed, and he heard the water shut off. Apparently neither of them wanted to revel in having an actual shower for what might have been the first time in months.
"It's fine," Gaara said disinterestedly, barely glancing at the clothes Sasuke placed on the table. He grabbed the maroon coloured shirt and the jeans, pushing the rest to the side. "Naruto, we've got new clothes."
"Is there by any chance anything orange?" Naruto called out.
From the corner of his eye Sasuke saw him moving and he automatically turned his head – only to rapidly twist around upon realising that Naruto was completely naked and apparently wholly unbothered that the door was open.
"No, because this compound has taste," Gaara retorted dryly.
"You hurt my feelings, you truly do, Gaara," Naruto said sombrely.
"Hm, you'll have to make do with cargo trousers and a blue shirt, sorry," Gaara said, sounding entirely unapologetic.
He did grab the remaining clothes and walked to the bathroom to hand them over. Sasuke kept his back turned to them to offer them some privacy while he waited for them to get dressed.
"How soundproof are these walls?" Gaara asked abruptly.
Sasuke twitched, not having expected him to get dressed that quickly. He turned around, taking note of the door to the bathroom which was now ajar; a bit late to do that. Gaara was staring at him with his arms crossed; his shirt clinging to his arms and chest.
"Excuse me?" Sasuke asked blankly, not understanding where the sudden question came from.
"I'd think in this day and age, you'd know the value of silence. You're going to tell me that you've never been overrun?" Gaara riposted sarcastically.
Sasuke pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes slightly. As a matter of fact they had indeed been overrun in the past, but that wasn't any of Gaara's business.
His silence must have been enough of an answer, however, because Gaara snorted. "Thought so."
"Don't antagonise the cute guy!" Naruto scolded from behind the half closed door.
"Why would I antagonise myself?" Gaara droned.
"Funny, your humour is intact as ever," Naruto muttered and walked out of the bathroom, tugging at his shirt. "Don't mind him; sometimes he thinks he's funny."
Sasuke turned around at the sound of his voice, a bit stunned at the sight greeting him. Sasuke had been correct: Naruto was indeed blond. A bright shade of blond even, now that all the dirt, blood and gore had been washed out. The shower, quick as it had been, had given his hair a healthy shine again; there were still some water drops clinging to the end of the strands that had managed to escape the towel. His skin was flushed pink from where he had scrubbed himself raw, but he looked better now that he was no longer covered with gunk. His skin was beautifully light tanned; his blue eyes bigger and brighter now that they were no longer smudged with filth. Sasuke thought he could spot some faint straight lines on Naruto's cheeks, but he wasn't sure what they were: birthmarks or scars? The other man was a lot leaner than Sasuke had initially suspected because his cargo trousers hung low on his hips and the shirt he was still plucking at was slightly too big. Aside from the clothes he had managed to clean up really nicely, though.
"I'm absolutely hilarious," Gaara said flatly and flicked his eyes at Sasuke. "You got us clothes, but where are our weapons?"
Distracted by the question, Sasuke raised a derisive eyebrow. "You two just arrived at our compound and no offense, but we have no idea whether we can trust you. Safety measures, I'm sure you can understand. You'll get your stuff back in a couple of days, don't worry."
"If I really wanted to, I wouldn't need any of my weapons to off you," Gaara murmured; his gaze turning calculating.
Before Sasuke could point out that that was not the way to get their weapons back soon, Naruto asked, "What if we want to leave earlier? Gonna keep a hold on our weapons then?"
"Do you want to leave?" Sasuke shot back a question of his own.
Naruto pursed his lips and exchanged a glance with Gaara before he and Sasuke stared at each other for a long moment. The stare match was broken when Naruto released a huge sigh and rolled his shoulders, rubbing the towel over his head one last time before slinging the cloth across the back of chair.
"I suppose not for a while at least," he admitted reluctantly and Gaara huffed quietly. "Can't remember the last time we were able to take a damn shower." He winced then, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Hell, it's only now that I realise just how awful we smelled."
"Speak for yourself," Gaara muttered, leaning against the table.
"Yeah, you didn't exactly smell like roses either, dude."
"If it's any consolation, you two smell a lot better now," Sasuke snorted. "Less death like, more like actual human beings now."
"Arsehole," Naruto said, but there was a hint of amusement colouring his voice. "So what's going to happen now? You're our guard or something?"
"Far from it," Sasuke denied and crossed his arms. "I'll show you two around the place, so that you know where to find everything. A very, very local tour if you will."
"Except for the weapons storage, I suppose," Naruto smirked and tilted his head slightly back. "Wouldn't want us to get any weird ideas, right?"
"I'm certain that if you two really wanted to, you would be able to find our storage even without me pointing it out," Sasuke remarked.
"Our bags better be complete when we get them back," Gaara said darkly.
"We've got enough weapons of our own," Sasuke retorted. "There's no reason for us to bother stealing yours."
"Fine, you're going to hold our hands now and lead us around?" Naruto asked; the corners of his mouth twitching.
"You need someone to hold your hand?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow while Gaara shook his head.
Naruto spread his arms and smirked; his eyes gleaming. "Hey, if they're sending a cute guy like you, might as well try to take advantage of it, no?"
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Gaara rolled his eyes.
Naruto patted his arm consolingly. "Sorry, dude, got too used to your cuteness."
"Fuck off," Gaara riposted amused.
"You usually quick to hit on guys?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow again, quite bemused at the turn this conversation had taken just now.
"Dude, in case you haven't noticed it yet, it's not exactly a free for all out there." Naruto jerked his thumb backwards, pointing it in the vicinity of the gate. "Once you're knee deep in shit and gore and you see more dead people than alive ones, you start to appreciate beauty a hell of a lot more when you see it. 'S all I'm saying. Not that you're ugly, man," he added apologetically to Gaara, who scoffed.
"Never thought dead bastards would make someone philosophical," Sasuke commented.
"Mah, when you're just with two you have a lot of time to think," Naruto retorted lightly. "So suppose it's time to show us around. Don't want to waste daylight and all that. Pretty sure you've got other stuff to do than lead the newbies around, huh."
Sasuke placed a hand on his chest. "Are you trying to get rid of me already? And here I thought we were building a connection," he gasped mockingly. "You're wounding me truly."
"Please don't encourage him," Gaara sighed.
His friend snickered; his eyes lightening up just a smidgen. "Can't have all my options shut down already, can I? I need to see what else kind of fish is in the sea here; Gaara doesn't count."
"I'm feeling the love," Gaara droned.
"Oh ouch, thinking you can find better than me?" Sasuke smirked and lowered his hand.
"Well, you're definitely winning in the field of cockiness, that's for sure," Naruto snorted.
"It's not co - " Sasuke started to say, but was cut off by a sharp knock on the door. "The hell?"
"Not even half an hour here and we're already getting house calls," Naruto said lightly, but he was clearly on guard. "Tightknit community, hm?"
Gaara didn't say anything, but he straightened up; his green eyes sharp and intense as he came to stand closer next to Naruto. Sasuke had no doubt that even without weapons, Gaara wouldn't hesitate to attack if he deemed it necessary.
Sasuke himself cursed inwardly as he made his way over to the door. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to announce themselves without any warning to the new people? It was an unspoken rule in the compound that newcomers would only see a couple of people at first in order not to overwhelm them and trigger their possible jumpy nature. The last thing any of them needed was a fight between the new arrivals and their people because the newcomers were still on edge.
He opened the door and frowned when he saw who it was. Tsunade's assistant, Sakura, gasped in surprise when she noticed it was him who was standing in front of her. She reddened slightly, tightening her grip around her bag with basic medical supplies she tended to carry everywhere with her.
"Sorry for disturbing!" she said quickly. "I'm here to check on the new arrivals."
Right, because after so long on the road they might have injured themselves. Sasuke clucked his tongue, exasperated with himself for not having thought to ask them whether either of them required medical assistance.
"One of you hurt?" he asked and turned his head, barely keeping himself from jumping in surprise when he noticed how close Naruto and Gaara suddenly stood behind him. He stepped to the side and gestured at Sakura. "She's a medical assistant. Unless it's something really serious, she can patch you up quickly."
Naruto shrugged. "Nah, just some bruises and some scratches. None of those infected, though, and I didn't get bit," he added before he smirked and winked at Sasuke. "You're free to check for any bites, though, if you want."
Sasuke snorted, amused in spite of himself when Sakura blushed even harder.
"Nothing that requires assistance," Gaara answered curtly.
Sasuke had the absurd mental image of Naruto playing the part of the good cop and Gaara that of the bad one. Or less good cop and more a neutral one, he supposed, noticing how on guard Naruto still was.
"You're sure neither of you need anything?" Sakura asked, studying them carefully. "Maybe some ointment for those scratches?"
"Nah, keep that stuff for the actual serious cases," Naruto dismissed her question. "I'm fine, don't need any help."
She nodded in compliance, but instead of turning around and going back to the infirmary, she remained standing in the doorway, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked between the two men.
"Something wrong?" Sasuke inquired and placed a hand on his hip.
She twitched as if he had startled her out of her thoughts. "No, erm, just …" Her frown deepened and she leant forwards, closer to Naruto and Gaara, who both took a wary step back. If she wanted to test how trigger happy they were, she was doing a damn good job of it.
Sasuke thought he could see Gaara's fingers twitching and even though neither of them carried any weapons at the moment, he shifted nonetheless, putting himself between them and Sakura. He made a mental note to talk to Sakura later on to remind her that it wasn't exactly a smart idea to get up and close to people who had been on the road for god knew how long. Naruto and Gaara didn't give off the impression of being too jumpy, but it was clear that they didn't appreciate how close she had come. Sasuke could understand that and didn't blame them for it. Even before the Rising, he had never been fond of having people in his personal bubble and the walking dead had only increased his need to be on his own. Father and Itachi were the rare exceptions to that.
At having her view of them blocked so abruptly, Sakura blinked in surprise and straightened back up, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry, it's just – have we met before? You two look somewhat familiar for some reason."
"Nah, can't say we have," Naruto replied after a short terse moment. The corners of his mouth twitched in a facsimile of a smile if one was quite optimistic. "Think I would remember pink hair like yours."
"Anyone would be hard pressed to forget a hair colour like that," Gaara said curtly; a faint hint of a sneer present in his voice.
She frowned, looking like she was trying to decide whether he had insulted her or had merely offered a comment on her bright hair colour. Either she decided that Gaara's comment was harmless or she figured there was no point in getting into an argument with him about it, but she smiled unsurely and shook her head.
"Yeah, I suppose my hair colour is hard to forget, huh? Sorry, must have confused you two with other people." She inclined her head. "Welcome to the compound. You can visit the infirmary if you do change your mind about the ointment."
"Sure," Naruto said, but it was clear that he wasn't going to take her up on that offer.
She turned around and walked away; her footsteps echoing as she descended the staircase. Once her footsteps were no longer audible, Naruto stirred.
"She your girlfriend?" he asked offhandedly.
A scoff escaped Sasuke before he could censor himself. "No, she isn't. Not interested in her," he replied curtly.
"Don't think the same can be said for her," Naruto commented idly.
"At least you've got better taste than women with pink hair," Gaara muttered.
Sasuke side-eyed him. "You're quite rude about someone you haven't met before." Which was rich coming from him, he knew, but Sakura tended to get along with nearly everybody. Usually newcomers were grateful for her offer of medical help; it hadn't happened before that she was so easily dismissed.
"I'm not fond of strangers," Gaara answered simply, which was fair.
If Sasuke had been on the road for months on end with only his brother as companion and he ended up in an unknown environment, he couldn't say he would be particularly enthusiastic about strangers either. The dead roamed around, but that didn't mean that they were the only threat anymore.
"Anyway, I've made it quite clear where she and I stand and it's not in a relationship," Sasuke concluded and gestured to the corridor. "Come on, I'll give you two a tour."
"So, you the heartbreaker of the town or so?" Naruto questioned, looking like he was holding back a smile when they walked away from the apartment building.
"What are you – ah." Sasuke quickly realised where the odd question was coming from when he took a quick look around.
A couple of women were ogling him, turning their heads quickly with a blush once they saw he had noticed them. Some of their gazes lingered on Naruto and Gaara as well, though, but he didn't know whether the two men were aware of that. Newcomers always attracted attention, but he supposed part of the attention this time was because they weren't bad-looking either, especially now that they were clean and no longer covered in guts and gore.
"Can't be held responsible for someone I never wanted," Sasuke replied.
"Oh, ouch," Naruto chuckled. "Poor them."
Sasuke simply shrugged. He had never led anyone of them on, so if any of the girls here, including Sakura, insisted on clinging to their crush, that was on them not him. He had always been honest about how he felt.
He pointed at the first building they passed by; at one time it had been a spacious home, including a porch which circled all the way to the back. "Here's the infirmary. Tsunade is our main doctor; Sakura assists her and they're teaching a couple of others the ropes so to speak. Either of you two by any chance any good with medicine or sewing injuries?"
"Nah, wish I was, but I only know the basics at best," Naruto answered and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I know enough of medicine not to poison myself when I find them, but that's about the full extent of my knowledge."
"If pressed, I might be able to sew a wound shut, but don't bet on it," Gaara said.
"You're good at mending clothes, though," Naruto remarked. "So you're not completely hopeless with a thread and needle."
"Pretty sure sticking a needle through cloth or into skin is different, but what do I know?" Gaara riposted dryly.
"We'll leave the medicine part up to the others then," Sasuke said.
They walked past a couple of regular homes before they approached their own makeshift supermarket. It was basically a storage where they kept all the vegetables, fruits and canned goods they found on the road.
"You can get food here. It's rationed, of course, because we depend a lot on our own fields and what we can grab on the road, but in some cases you'll be permitted to take more."
Next he pointed at the open stable where Kakashi and Kiba were currently slicing a deer apart, removing everything they could use from it. The blood was collected in some buckets around the table and the fur hung up to dry.
"Do you have any experience with hunting?"
Gaara nodded. "Yeah, we had to learn the hard way to get good at it."
"One of the reasons why we're still alive," Naruto added and rubbed the back of his head. "I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything like that, Gaara is better than me when it comes to that, but I'm good enough that I won't starve at least."
"Don't let him fool you," Gaara told Sasuke. "He's just as good as I am."
"Aw, high praise from my best friend. Don't know how objective that is," Naruto snickered.
"We could use your help with tracking and hunting then," Sasuke mused aloud. "More hands are always welcome."
"You often go hunting or on supply runs?" Naruto asked curiously when they passed the garage where they kept the few running vehicles they still had left.
Anko was tinkering with a motorcycle, lifting her hand just enough to wave in greeting.
"Hunting at least three times a week, more depending on the season," Sasuke informed him. "Supply runs are weekly. We've divided everyone in groups, so the same people aren't always risking their lives."
"Makes sense," Naruto mumbled and looked up at the sky.
The rain had shifted from a downpour to a light shower by now, but the dark clouds weren't entirely gone yet.
"The woods around here have enough game to last you throughout the seasons?" Gaara questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"You'd be surprised at how large these woods are," Sasuke replied. "We're also careful not to catch too many animals at once. We give them time to keep up their population."
That wasn't always easy, especially when some people would insist that they needed more food, but keeping up the population of animals around them was in their best interest.
"Smart," Gaara muttered.
"Have to tell you, though, that it's a waste of time to go up north unless you're planning on travelling for weeks," Naruto remarked. "Fuck all to find there. Everything'd been looted by the time we got there."
"Yeah, we'll have to adjust our route for this week," Sasuke sighed, making a mental note to talk to Shikamaru and Karin about it. "The fields are at the other end of the compound; we're keeping livestock there as well so that we don't rely too much on the animals in the woods."
"Man, you all thought about everything here, huh?" Naruto whistled and shook his head. "If it weren't for those fuckers stinking up the place right behind the wall, I'd think the apocalypse never happened."
"A hell of a lot better prepared than other places we've been at," Gaara murmured, looking around carefully.
"We make do with what we have," Sasuke said and hesitated for a moment before admitting, "And we had more time to prepare than others. Father had an early warning."
"I figured," Gaara said and eyed the walls critically. "You don't reach this particular size without some prior warning as to what was happening."
Naruto hummed. "You got a leader here?"
Sasuke eyed him shrewdly. "What makes you think we have a leader?"
"Oh please," Naruto snorted derisively and waved his hand around the place. They were close to the gates now; Ino was talking to some guys of the next shift. "There's no way in hell I'm going to believe you got this entire place running without any leader in place. Don't care how optimistic you are, there's no way a bunch of random people are just cooperating that smoothly without at least someone running interference."
"None of the other places we've passed through managed that for long," Gaara added.
"Always been that cynical?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Being surrounded by fuckers and dead people will do that to you," Naruto smiled sharply while Gaara snorted quietly.
"We have some kind of Board," Sasuke admitted after a pause. "They oversee the main decisions that need to be taken here."
No need yet to tell them that father was the de facto leader. Neither of them immediately struck Sasuke as actually dangerous – at least not to their community – but some caution never hurt. Not until he was completely certain that they could be trusted.
"For the time being you two can help Iruka and the others on the field," Sasuke informed them when they had made the entire loop around the compound. He doubted they wanted to be separated right now and this way Iruka could keep an eye on them just in case.
The new arrivals had piqued people's interest for sure, several of them stopping in their tasks to look at Naruto and Gaara, but they weren't about to stop their work for idle chitchat. The actual interrogation would probably occur later on tonight during dinner.
"That way you won't get bored," he added when they stared at him with raised eyebrows. It was almost eerie how in synch they were with each other.
There was that twitching of Naruto's mouth again. "You mean, that way we can't possibly plan something to take over this place," he said lightly.
"Unless you are complete dumbasses I think you could plan something whilst working the field," Sasuke snorted and turned left to guide them to the fields in question. "But no, everyone's doing their part here. You're not on the roster for runs yet, so this is the next best option."
"I doubt we're on the roster for guard shifts yet either," Gaara scoffed.
Sasuke glanced at him. "No, you're not. Not until we're certain we can trust you," he stated bluntly.
"Thought that was why we got interrogated?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow.
"That's a start, doesn't mean we're going to trust you two based on one single conversation," Sasuke smiled thinly. Especially because the last time they had done such a thing, they had ended up being invaded.
Instead of being offended or mad, Naruto simply shrugged. "Just as long as you keep in mind that us staying here doesn't mean we trust you all either."
"Far from it," Gaara muttered, rolling his shoulders.
"You'll have to eventually if you plan to stay here," Sasuke said and stopped at the fence that separated the fields from the rest of the compound. "Iruka!"
"Yeah well, I can say the same to you," Naruto retorted. He shut up when Iruka marched over to them.
Before the apocalypse he had been a teacher and while he still taught the kids a couple of hours every week, most of his focus was now on the crops, ensuring that they would always have enough to eat.
"Good afternoon, Sasuke-san," Iruka greeted him; his brown eyes regarding him calmly before they switched over to Naruto and Gaara, studying them with interest.
"Got some new people to help you out for a bit," Sasuke announced. "Iruka, these are Naruto and Gaara. Naruto, Gaara, this is Iruka, he's in charge of the fields here."
"Nice to meet you," Iruka smiled and offered a small bow.
There was an awkward pause before seemingly both Naruto's brain and Gaara's brain seemed to reboot themselves simultaneously, reminding them of civil gestures of the past and they both offered a quick but stiff bow back.
"Yeah, likewise. What do you need us to do?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke left them to it, knowing Iruka would take over from here. He was going to need to find Shikamaru and Karin now, seeing as their original plan was now shot to hell.
"We could go south, I suppose," Karin muttered; her eyebrows pinched as she studied the map carefully. "We haven't hit many targets there yet."
"Because most of them are not exactly close by," Shikamaru commented; his hands braced on the desk as he studied the map as well.
"Close by or not, we won't have much choice," Sasuke said and tapped the town closest to their location.
Closest was perhaps an overstatement here; reaching that town would take at least three hours and that was if they could go in a straight line and didn't have to take any detours because of blocked roads or zombie herds.
"We could still check north," Karin suggested tentatively. "I mean, we only got the newcomers' word for it and it's not like we can exactly trust them already."
"Perhaps not, but Itachi-san does believe they were speaking the truth," Shikamaru said. "And I'm inclined to believe Itachi-san when he says there wouldn't be any point for Naruto-san and Gaara-san to come all the way here if they could find supplies up north. They're putting themselves at risk by staying here just as much as we are by letting them."
"So we'll go south," Sasuke decided, resting his fingers against his mouth. "We hit the first town, see how much we can scavenge there. We can decide about the other towns once we're there and get a feel of the surroundings."
"What if the town's already been taking over by others?" she asked troubled. "We could be in some deep shit then."
"Then we'll try to find a way around it – or try to find a way inside anyways, depending on how many there are," Sasuke replied. He wasn't one to advocate for the cold blooded murder of random people, but if he had to choose between his people surviving another day or some strangers who might attack them … That choice had become easy.
"We'll have to leave the car at least a mile away from the town just in case," Shikamaru said and they both nodded, because it was what they always did when entering new locations.
Driving a car would always attract attention, be it from zombies or the living and neither one's attention was something they wanted to have. Leaving the car behind was risky on its own of course, because if shit went south it would take them a bit before they would reach the vehicle, but that was why they would sneak around the place first, try to assess whether there was anyone there and if so which ones were dead and which ones were still alive.
"Once winter hits we'll need the van," Karin remarked after a short bout of silence.
Sasuke glanced at her. "Anything in particular that came up?"
"Mei's pregnant," she admitted; a wry smile tugging at her mouth. "Still in the early stage, but she came up to me yesterday, asking if we had stuff because she'd seen me doing inventory."
"Do we?"
She sighed loudly, straightening out to stretch her back. "Not much," she said begrudgingly, frowning. "To be honest, nothing at all. Maybe a blanket at best. We don't even have any bottles, let alone diapers."
"Well, we'll add that to the list for the coming months then," Sasuke said, pondering over the map. "We'll definitely have to go further south then, maybe hit the west then as well. Pretty sure there are some malls there."
"That's if they haven't been looted already," Shikamaru said, scratching his head.
Sasuke shrugged. Well, that was the risk they always took when they ventured out. Eventually there would come a time when all the places around them would be completely stripped, but that was a worry for later. Now they just had to focus on hitting new targets, getting as many supplies as they could find and head back – preferably in one living piece.
They ended up having to drive for three and a half hours, having needed to make a detour when the bridge they originally had planned to use had been destroyed by a flood in the past.
After hiding the car behind some overgrown bushes, they crept towards the edge of the town, each holding their weapon ready in case they needed to defend themselves.
It was rather chilly today, but no rain fortunately and all Sasuke heard was the chirping of the birds. They crawled through a hole in the fence on the eastern side of the town and remained hidden behind a dumpster for a moment, trying to gauge the situation.
Like every other town they had hit before this one also showed signs of a civilisation long gone. Cars had been left abandoned on the road; one of them had driven straight through a clothing store, debris strewn all around it. The windows were either cracked or completely busted, which made the chances of finding something already somewhat smaller. They couldn't be the first ones to visit this town in search of loot.
The question was: were they the only ones now?
"We'll go left first," Shikamaru whispered; his voice barely carrying over. "Seems we ended up right in the main street."
Sasuke and Karin nodded quietly, because the less words used, the better. Keeping their backs to the wall, they shuffled from behind the corner, carefully looking around. The road was cracked in several places already, weed busting through the gaps. The branches of the trees on each side of the road hung low; ivy already covering several walls from view. In a couple of years this place would probably be completely overrun by nature.
A low groaning noise from the alley next to him alerted him just in time and Sasuke's katana ended up straight into the zombie's head before the dead guy could even reach out his hands to grab at him.
Karin gave him a thumbs up and he nodded in return, signing they should move on.
The first shop they came across was a small grocery store and after killing two more zombies who had been stuck behind the register, he and the others methodically went through each aisle, inspecting every nook, cranny and shelf for anything that could still be used. Sasuke found some canned beans in the back and he heard Karin shoving some boxes to the side somewhere behind him.
There was a door right next to the shelves he had been inspecting and he rapped against the doorframe quickly, holding his breath. No moaning or groaning; coast was clear then. He tried the doorknob, breathing out quietly when it easily gave away underneath his grip. He tested the hinges by slowly opening the door, but the door opened rather quietly, revealing a dusty backroom.
Some boxes had been completely trampled over already and a lonely scarf was flung over the dead lamp. He riffled through the remaining boxes, not expecting much when it was clear that others had been here before them.
His fingers touched something smooth and cold. Holding it up in the thin beam of daylight filtering through the smudgy window, he had to smother his laugh when he realised what it was.
A tube of strawberry flavoured lip gloss.
Well, he did have a special request. Smirking, he stuffed the tube in his pocket, checking the other boxes quickly. He could find two more cans of peaches and three with peas, which he dumped in his bag. After thinking a bit, he jumped up and snatched the scarf from the lamp as well. They could use everything nowadays and a scarf would come in handy for one of the younger kids this upcoming winter.
He met the others at the door and from there they quickly checked the other shops, keeping an eye out for both the dead and the living. They only encountered a couple more zombies, one stuck underneath a cabinet which had fallen over – and which Karin quickly killed off by ramming her dagger into the girl's head – and two more trapped inside a car, which they left alone. No need to put themselves into danger when the zombies were trapped anyways.
In the end their haul consisted mostly out of some canned food, the scarf Sasuke had found, and a bunch of clothes Karin had snatched from the clothing store.
"We'll have to hit the other locations if we want to find anything baby related," Karin sighed when they made their way back to the car.
"At least we found something," Shikamaru said, stepping to the side quickly to get rid of a zombie ambling towards them. "Better than nothing."
"We could make that our motto," she smiled darkly.
The look on Ino's face when Sasuke presented her the lip gloss was utterly priceless.
"Well, you did say you'd be happy with a gloss already," he smirked, ducking when she went to smack him.
"You're such a dick!" she groaned, but her eyes were glistening when she accepted the gloss, opening it almost immediately. "Oh god, never thought I'd be so happy to smell some damn gloss."
"It's the little things in life," Sasuke said gravelly.
When he glanced to the right, he saw Naruto and Gaara walking back from the fields to their apartment. For a couple of seconds his gaze crossed with Naruto's. Then Naruto shrugged, offered a little wave and disappeared behind the corner, following his friend.
"Hey, if I ask you for some lipstick and mascara next, you think you'll find that too?" Ino asked, dragging his attention back.
"Don't push it," he snorted and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I'm not a miracle worker."
They both ignored the gurgled groaning of some zombies stuck to the pikes on the other side of the wall. Just another day in the compound.
AN2: Let's see if I can keep up a weekly updating schedule for this one LOL Happy New Year to all of you!
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.