Chapter 5: Losing It All

Several days had passed since Naruto used his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to clear out Tanzaku Town of all its supplies for the group. As the days pressed on, Naruto found himself more and more reserved from the rest of the group. He was still torn about whether to stay or brave the outside world and search for Sakura and the rest of his team. Naruto was spending most of his day sitting in the back of the cave where it was the light was dimmer than the rest of the cave. Shikamaru would occasinally ask if he was okay which Naruto would just lie and tell him yes. He didn't want to bother anyone with his dilemma. As Shikamaru would just brush it off, Ino kept her eye on the blonde knowing something was really bothering him. It was funny, before the world turned to shit, she would have never cared about Naruto's well being as she had found the blonde annoying and weak. I guess living the way they were now can change a person, now would it?

As the Yamanaka continued on her buisness of passing out food rations to the civilians, she found herself focusing back to Naruto, who was trying to hide from everyone. After she finished, she decided to something Shikamaru wouldn't, get Naruto to spill his guts out. Ino walked over to Naruto and sat down next to him. She could tell he didn't even notice. Ino sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder but it didn't phase Naruto one bit. Ino shook Naruto's shoulder gently but it didn't work so she decided to something a bit more brash.

SLAP!

Naruto stumbled out of his thoughts and looked to see Ino sitting next to him, "Kami Ino, why the hell did you do that for?"

Ino smiled, "I'm sorry but I tried to get your attention and nothing else worked."

Naruto continued to rub his check where the blonde girl slapped him, "You didn't have to go and slap the shit out of me!"

"Again, I'm sorry but I couldn't help to notice you've been quiet for the last couple of days, is something bothering you?"

Naruto sighed, "I'm fine."

"You're lying, I can tell something is easy away at you," Ino said. She was going to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering the usually cheerful blonde. Although, Naruto hadn't been very cheerful since he was found by Shikamaru.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said, hoping Ino would just leave him be.

"It's got us all worried, you haven't moved from this spot much at all," Ino said, hoping to finally get the blonde to open up.

Naruto got up from his his spot which surprised Ino to say the least. He said nothing and walked towards the narrow part of the tunnel. Was he leaving?

"Maybe he's just been cooped up in this cave too long," Ino said to herself as she watched Naruto head into the narrow part of the cave. She didn't know why, but her legs pushed her to go and follow Naruto. Unbeknownst to anyone, where Naruto was sitting, the imprint of his back was made into the wall, it looked to be soft.

Naruto continued to use the hand seal that would open up and close the boulder but to no use. He stopped practicing a few days ago and it hurt him. He wanted out of the cave for the moment to get some fresh air. Naruto felt like he was losing his mind sitting in the cave, lost in wonder over his pink-haired teammate. He also worried about his sensei and Yamato and even Sai too. However, the woman that held his heart was the one he thought about the most. He cursed himself for not being able to get the jutsu down to move the damned boulder. Suddenly it opened, however, he had not tried to use the hand seal this time around. The blonde turned around to find Ino had followed him. Will this girl take a hint? He didn't want to talk.

Naruto peeked outside and looked around and he found no Walkers were around. He climbed to the top of the cave and there were no Walkers around there either and sat down looking over the horizon. He wanted to see if he could at least see the walls of Konohagakure from the height but all he could see was the forest, Tanzaku Town and the late afternoon sun.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong now that it's just us out here?" asked Ino. Her voice brought Naruto out of his thoughts.

"You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you what's wrong, are you?" asked Naruto. Ino nodded and sighed.

"It's just I want to go off and search for Sakura but I also want to stay here and help you guys out..."

"Then go," Ino interrupted. "It's not like Shikamaru is a dictator and he'll bar you from going."

"I know that but you guys took me in when you didn't hae to and I don't want to leave the group high and dry," Naruto continued.

"Look, I know I haven't been the nicest person towards you, heck, we're barely friends now," Ino began, "And from what I've seen from you is you deeply care for Sakura and I can see how much she really means to you so you don't need to feel like you're obligated to stay with us, please, go and find her."

"I'm also afraid I'll never find her and I'll be stuck wondering around Hi no Kuni by myself again," said Naruto.

"Well with all the food and supplies you managed to round up from Tanzaku Town with your bunshin, we won't be moving from this cave any time soon," Ino said, trying to convince Naruto to do what he needs to do.

Naruto sighed and he decided to go, "Thank you Ino, I really needed that. I've decided I'm going."

Ino smiled, "Now you're being Naruto again."

"Well, well, isn't this a surprise Uzumaki, I didn't know you had a think for Ino," Kotetsu said as Naruto and Ino walked back inside the cave.

The two blondes just ignored Kotetsu's comment. Ino went back to tending to the civilians while Naruto walked over to Shikamaru.

"Hey, can I talk to you real quick?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I'm very grateful you took me in when you didn't have to, but I need to leave. I have to find Sakura if it kills me. I'll never be able to rest if I don't know if she's safe or..."

"I understand completely man," Shikamaru said. "I'm actually surprised it took you this long to split."

"Yeah, Ino helped me understand no one will be mad if I did," Naruto said.

"So are you leaving now?" Shikamaru wondered.

"In a couple of horus," Naruto replied. "I like to use the cover of darkness to move through the trees and staying undetected by Walkers."

Shikamaru nodded and Naruto went to his original spot in the cave and began packing his things for the long journey ahead of him. In a couple of hours he'd be on his own again but it was something he must do. He had to find Sakura or at least her fate. He packed a few of the scrolls of food and water he had found for the group. He didn't pack very many because the group needed them more than he did. He was ready for the dangerous mission.

Just as Naruto was ready, the wall in the back of the cave collapsed. Screaming filled the cave as Walkers came through where the wall had collapsed. Everyone was caught off guard as the Walkers bit into two female townspeople. Their screams of pain sickened Naruto as he watched Shikamaru, Choji and Kotetsu began stabbing Walkers in the head with their kunai. Naruto, after the initial shock, began ushering the remaining three townspeople to the front of the cave. He prayed to Kami just once the jutsu would work and the boulder would open. As he reached the cave enterance, the three civilians panicing, he performed the hand seal but nothing happened.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted and he kept trying.

Finally the damned thing opened and he peeked outside and found no Walkers were wondering around the front of the cave. Naruto ushered the civilians out of the cave. Shikamaru and Choji exited the cave just a few minutes later, covered in blood from the Walkers they had killed. Kotetsu was next to come out running, he too covered in blood from the Walkers he had killed.

"Wait, where's Ino?" asked Naruto.

"She was right behind..." Kotetsu stopped in mid sentence when he realize the blonde girl wasn't with him.

Naruto heard Ino scream from inside the cave.

"Fuck, Ino!" yelled Shikamaru.

Naruto sprinted into action and ran back inside the cave to find Ino being surrounded. She tried her best to fight them off, stabbing the ones that got close in the head with her kunai. This was one of the times she wished she had other jutsu at her disposal. She hadn't got bit yet but she was soon going to be overwhelmed.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as hundreds of bunshin formed.

They all dashed into the group of Walkers and began killing them with the kunai Naruto provided. Naruto's bunshin made a pathway for him to grab Ino by the arm and get her out of the cave. After Naruto and Ino ran outside, Shikamaru sealed off the cave.

"We lost it all," he said quietly.

Naruto was about to console Shikamaru when he was blindsided by a bone crushing hug from Ino and kept repeating 'thank you' over and over again. The sudden closeness caught Naruto off guard and he didn't know how to react. He half-heartedly returned the hug and told her she didn't need to thank him. Ino finally let him go which allowed Naruto to walk up to Shikamaru and place a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry man," Naruto said.

"I worked so hard to make the cave safe for everyone and I failed," Shikamaru said.

"It's not your fault, who know the wall would collapse and a bunch of Walkers would come through," Naruto said.

"Yeah, but obviously now that wall was unstable dirt which means I didn't do a good enough job making sure the entire cave was actually safe," continued Shikamaru.

"Come on Shikamaru, we all did what we could," Choji said, adding to the conversation. "It wasn't anyone's fault."

"No one is blaming you man, it was nice while it lasted," Kotetsu said. He turned to find the surviving civilians they were protecting were gone. "Hey, where the hell did Ami, Hashi and Aki go?"

Everyone turned to see no one else was with them.

"Shit! They must have been so scared that they kept running!" exclaimed Naruto.

The five Konoha-nin ran down the side of the hill to the tree line before the road to find several Walkers eating on three people. It was the civilians that went missing.

"God damn it! They ran right into more Walkers!" yelled Shikamaru.

"It's my fault Shikamaru, I should of made sure they stayed put before I ran off to save Ino," Naruto said.

"No, it wasn't your fault Naruto. You did what you thought was necessary and that was saving Ino," replied Shikamaru. "I'm mad at myself for allowing this to happen in the first place."

"What are we going to do now?" replied Choji.

Although Naruto's hope for Konohagakure still standing had died weeks ago, somehow this turn of events renewed the spirit of that hope and Naruto decided maybe that's where they should head to next.

"Maybe we should go and find out if Konohagakure is still standing," Naruto suggested. Everyone looked at each other and Shikamaru looked at Naruto.

"You're right, maybe we should," Shikamaru said.

"How are we going to do that?" asked Choji. "The only road to Konohagakure from here goes right through Tanzaku Town."

"Sorry Choji, but we're going to have to go up into the trees and travel that way," replied Shikamaru.

"Oh man," Choji whined, he was not thrilled about it.

Several hours had passed since the group had lost the cave. The group was resting in the tree tops so Walkers below would not disturb them. They went around Tanzaku Town and now where in route to Konohagakure, which would only take a few more hours to reach.

Naruto was sitting on a tree by himself near the group. He stared at the only picture he had of Sakura, which was their Genin team photo.

'She's just gotten more beautiful since then,' he thought as he stared.

Tears threatened to fall again as he just wish he could find her already just to know she was okay. He should of believed Kakashi and Yamato would be able to keep her safe but he was weak. What the world had become just weakened him to the core. Ever since waking up from his coma, all the people he's seen getting devoured by Walkers made him so weak. Saving Ino from the same fate was the first time he felt like he had accomplished anything because it was the first life he managed to save from being eaten alive by Walkers. Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt the branch he was on shake a little, he looked up and found Ino standing in front of him. Naruto repositioned himself to allow Ino to sit next to him.

"You okay?" Naruto asked. Ino had been unusually quiet since they had left for Konohagakure.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the girl replied. "I want to thank you again for saving my life. If it wasn't for you..."

"You don't need to thank me," Naruto interrupted. "I would have done it a thousand times, I'm tired of losing my friends to these Walkers."

Ino's tears finally stopped and she managed to smile. The two sat quietly until Shikamaru called out that they were leaving. The two blondes got up and followed the rest of the group.

Morning had finally come and Shikamaru's group were on the road knowing that there were no villages or towns nearby so there shouldn't be any Walkers around. The forest around the group was dense and they knew they'd be come across a river soon. The group would cross the river and within an hour, they'd be standing at the gates of Konohagakure, if it was still standing that is. As the Konoha-nin kept walking, the sound of water got closer and closer. The group reached the river and they had to stop in their tracks. Near the bridge was a group of Walkers and Naruto watched as one fell into the river and get swept away. Shikamaru sighed because that means the bridge was no longer there.

"Shit, the bridge is out," Shikamaru whispered to Kotetsu.

"What are we going to do?" asked Kotetsu, whispering back.

"This river comes from the Valley of The End, we'll have to go there to cross this river safely."

"Why can't Naruto just make a bridge out of his Kage Bunshin?" asked Choji, whispering.

"Because the pressure of our weight might disperse the bunshin and we'd fall into the river and get swept away," Shikamaru explained while whispering. "We have to travel the long way around, which means it will take another day before we reach Konohagakure."

Choji groaned as Shikamaru looked at the group of Walkers, it looked like there were about a dozen, something they could handle. Naruto saw Shikamaru staring at the Walkers.

"What's up?" asked Naruto, whispering.

"I think we should take out this small group of Walkers so they don't follow us but instead of us putting our lives in danger, why don't you make a few Kage Bunshin to take them out," Shikamaru answered, whispering.

Naruto nodded and silently created a dozen bunshin who ran to the bridge and into the group of Walkers. The bunshin all impaled the Walkers in the head with kunai given to them by the real Naruto. In a matter of seconds, the group of Walkers were dead and the group was safe to leave.

"Alright, come on," Shikamaru said.

The group jumped back into the trees to follow the river upstream on their journey to the Valley of The End. It was a detour Shikamaru did not want to take but it was the only option.

"I noticed something about that bridge," Kotetsu said, breaking a long silence that had fallen over the group. "The parts of the bridge that were still holding up on the river bank were charred. I think the bridge was purposely destroyed."

"You think Konoha did it to keep Walkers from reaching the village?" asked Naruto.

"It's possible," Kotetsu replied.

"So there is some hope Konohagakure still stands," Shikamaru said.

"If that's the case, I hope to Kami Sakura-chan is there," Naruto said with a restored hope that his beloved village had not fallen.