Chapter 22: The Northeastern Outpost
Three days had passed since Naruto and Lee left the Konoha Prison, heading to the Northeastern Outpost. They leaped through trees, bypassing Walkers lurking on the ground below. Naruto would stop and kill small groups of them that were walking in the direction of the prison while Lee would rest. They were traveling almost non-stop but did sleep a couple of hours at night above the ground below.
Naruto had asked about why Yamato made a outpost on the border, but Lee told Naruto that Yamato himself could explain it better.
"How much further is this outpost?" Naruto asked. It was the first time he spoke all day.
"We should be get there before nightfall," Lee answered.
Silence fell on the two again as they kept pushing forward as the sun crept lower and lower to the western horizon. Suddenly the lush forest turned into rocky ground with jagged mountains on the horizon. Naruto and Lee was forced to travel on the rocky ground as a wooden wall came into the view.
"There is the wall, we're nearly there," Lee stated.
Naruto felt a small ping of happiness inside as he was about to reunite with someone from his team.
Two guards in a guard tower overlooking a wooden gate stared off into the ocean of rocks and dirt. One guard wore a silver flak jacket with only one strap that went over his left shoulder. He wore a hi-ate with clouds symbols on it. The other wore a brown Chunin flak jacket, the colors of Konoha.
"It's so boring doing this job," said the Kumo-nin.
"Wait, there's two people coming," said the Konoha-nin. "They're moving too fast to be Lurkers."
The Kumo-nin guard looked and recognized the green track suit.
"That's Lee, they've been missing for weeks!" said the Kumo-nin. "I don't recognize the blonde that's with him."
"Holy shit, that's Uzumaki Naruto," said the Konoha Chunin. "I must notify Yamato-sama right away!"
The Konoha Chunin left the guard tower and ran off in search for Yamato while the Kumo-nin got off the tower to open the gate. Once the gate was opened enough, Lee and Naruto walked in.
"Lee-san, are you okay? Where's the rest of your team?" asked the Kumo-nin. "Yamato thought the worst after you guys never returned from your scouting mission."
"Me and Tenten are fine, I don't know about Gai-sensei, we got seperated," Lee lied. "But Naruto-kun found me and took me into his hideout."
Naruto just looked at Lee knowing Lee was lying but didn't say anything.
"Lee! Naruto!" exclaimed Yamato as he approached them.
"Yamato-teichou!" Naruto yelled.
"I'm glad you have awaken from your coma," stated Yamato.
Naruto was taken back with what Yamato just said. "How did you know about that?"
"Kakashi-senpai told me, he said he was deeply sorry for leaving you in that cottage," Yamato said. "But I think it's best if Kakashi-senpai told you what happened."
Naruto nodded but inside he wanted to know why Kakashi would leave him like that and why he never went back for him but Naruto decided to leave it alone and ask the other question he wanted an answer to.
"Why did you create this place and create it here?" Naruto asked.
"Follow me to my hut, I'll explain everything on the way," Yamato said.
Naruto and Lee followed Yamato and Naruto awaited what Yamato had to say.
"The reason why I established this outpost is because the surviving Shinobi are preparing to take back our lands lost by the rising of the dead," Yamato began. "Kakashi was named the Rokudaime Hokage and is working with the other nations in building up another Shinobi Alliance army to rid the dead."
"Wait, it Kakashi-sensei is Hokage now, what happened to Tsunade-baachan?" asked Naruto.
"We actually don't know, she never made it to Nami no Kuni," Yamato answered. "But as I was saying, Kakashi has established four different outposts throughout Hi no Kuni and are were preparing for a massive push to kill all the undead. However, supplies from headquarters have stopped, we haven't recieved anything in two weeks."
Naruto sighed, "That means you won't be able to help us with getting some supplies ourselves."
Yamato looked at Naruto surprised, "You're not going to to link back up with Kakashi to know you're out of your coma?"
"I don't know, I have to see him and ask him why the hell he left me to die," Naruto said sternly.
"You do know if you decide not to follow orders, you'll probably be labeled a..."
"What does it matter?" Naruto said sternly, the intensity in his voice caught Yamato off guard. "There's no fucking shinobi system anymore. Look at yourselves, you're all split around the country acting like you're all are going to be able to contain whatever the fuck is going on. Hell, you might be able to contain it but you're not going to stop it from ever happening again."
"Don't say that Naruto, once the Shinobi Alliance wipes out all the undead, everything will return to normal," Yamato said, trying to get the blonde to calm down and look at the bigger picture.
"It's not going to matter," Naruto said.
"Why do you say that?" asked Yamato.
Naruto turned and looked Yamato in the eye, "It doesn't matter if you get bit or not, you die, you turn."
Yamato eyes widened at Naruto's words. Yamato began questioning it in his mind and couldn't believe such a thing.
"Now you're just making things up to stay pissed at Kakashi-senpai..."
"I'm not making anything up, Shikamaru and I saw it first hand. We went out looking for Kotetsu, we found him as a Walker but he didn't have any bite marks on him. The only wound on Kotetsu was a stab wound in his stomach."
"Kotetsu? Wasn't he one of the main gate guards?" asked Yamato.
"Yes, he was originally with a group with Shikamaru when I found them near Tanzaku Town," Naruto answered.
"Now that you've told me this, I'm going to have to rethink how we're going to approach the assault on the undead," Yamato said.
Naruto decided he wasn't going to fight Yamato anymore, they were going to do what they were going to do and nothing he said was going to change even if he still felt like this assault would be all for nothing in the end. Naruto turned and began walking back to the gate of the outpost.
"Where are you going?" asked Yamato.
"I'm going to Nami no Kuni to face Kakashi and get an answer and then I'll decide if I will still cooperate with everyone or just return to the prison and survive," Naruto answered.
"Well if you decide to cooperate, see if you can get them to release supplies to the outposts," Yamato.
Lee turned and began following Naruto but was stopped when Yamato called out to him.
"Aren't you staying Lee? You were assigned to this outpost after all." Yamato said.
"If I may, I would like to return with Naruto," Lee said politely. "Besides I need to return to the prison and bring back Tenten if we decide to come back."
"Very well then," Yamato stated. "However, wouldn't you guys like to wait until tomorrow to leave, it's getting late."
Naruto and Lee stopped, they looked to the sky and sure enough the sun was setting. Naruto sighed but felt the need to rest before making a new journey.
"Now that I think about it, I am pretty tired. We'll stay the night to rest," Naruto said.
Yamato motioned Naruto and Lee to follow him in which they did. Yamato took them to rows of barracks near the back of the outpost.
"Here's two empty rooms for you to sleep for the night," Yamato said. "Naruto, make sure you see me in the morning before you leave. I think I can spare a few supplies for you and your group, what do you need?"
"Mostly just food and medical supplies," Naruto responded and began digging into his shuriken pouch and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is a list Hinata made for me with the medical supplies we need, if you have them."
Yamato took the paper and read over the list, "I might be able to gather most of what's on this list. I'll give it to our supply commander and they'll have what we can spare ready for you before you leave tomorrow."
Naruto nodded, "Thanks."
Yamato left and Naruto and Lee entered the barrack they were given which had two beds and two small chest drawers.
Naruto chose the bed on his left and laid down. Lee laid down on the bed to his right. Naruto laid in silence staring at the ceiling. Lee did the same before he decided to break the silence.
"Do you really think that this Shinobi Alliance trying to clear our lands of the undead for nothing?"
Naruto kept staring at the ceiling when he answered, "I don't know, I feel like it is but at the same time, I feel like if they do clear out all the undead, we can keep the people that sadly die from turning."
"And are you really going to defect if Kakashi left you for dead on purpose?" Lee asked.
"I'm going to be honest with you Centipede Brows, as much as I hate to do it, but if Kakashi did just leave me die thinking I wasn't going to wake up from my coma, then yes, I'm not going to serve someone that would do that to anyone," Naruto answered.
"Centipede Brows, Yamato said you were assigned here which means you already knew Kakashi, why didn't you tell me?" asked Naruto.
"I just assumed you knew and that Kakashi sent you all to take over that prison," Lee answered.
"Is Sakura-chan okay?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know," Lee responded. "I never saw her because in the three months we were in Nami no Kuni, I was with Gai-sensei helping him in his rehabilitation and once Gai-sensei was walking about, Yamato-san asked us to come with him to establish this outpost."
Silence fell on the two again as Naruto felt Lee was lying to him for some reason. In his mind, he questioned how he didn't see her if he was there for three months. Naruto's trust in Lee faultered a bit now.
Naruto woke up, he looked out the window to see it was day time once again. He looked over to his right to find Lee already gone. Naruto gathered his belongings and walked out of the barrack. He walked down the pathway where he found Lee talking to Yamato.
"Ah Naruto, you're finally awake. You must have been tired, it's nearly 11 am," Yamato said.
"Yeah, I guess I was," Naruto said.
Yamato gave a backpack to Naruto. Naruto took it and placed it on his back.
"Inside that bag contains sealing scrolls with prepackage meals and the medical supplies Hinata asked for," Yamato explained.
"Thank you," Naruto said.
"What is your plan now?" asked Yamato.
"I'm going to Nami no Kuni to find some things out," Naruto said.
Yamato walked Naruto and Lee to the outpost gate. Before they left Naruto turned to Yamato.
"Is Sakura-chan okay?" Naruto asked. The question caught Yamato off guard.
"Yes she's fine, she spends most of her time as Kakashi's advisor. She hardly leaves the headquarters," Yamato answered.
Naruto's distrust of Lee faded as it may have been possible he never ran into her after all. Naruto then nodded and left the outpost. Lee and Naruto ran across the rocky terrain until the forest of Hi no Kuni came into view. Naruto stopped short of jumping into the trees which caused Lee to stop.
"What is it Naruto-kun? Do you sense something?" asked Lee.
Naruto took off the backpack that was given to him by Yamato and handed it off to Lee.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Can you do me a favor and deliver these supplies back to the prison?" asked Naruto.
"Why? Aren't you coming?" Lee asked.
"Not yet, I need to find out from Kakashi himself why he just left me in that cottage," Naruto replied. "I'm going to Nami no Kuni first."
"What do I tell everyone back at the prison?" asked Lee.
"Just tell them I'm trying to get more supplies because what's in the backpack isn't going to last very long anyway," Naruto replied.
Lee nodded and the two went their seperate ways.
Three Days Earlier
Gai looked around and sure enough, the prison was pretty empty.
"Why are you guys here anyway?" asked Gai.
"Naruto and Sasuke led an assault on this prison a few weeks ago, we caught them completely off guard and defeated them and took over the prison," Kiba answered.
"Did you find Lee and Tenten?" asked Gai.
"Naruto did, they were locked up in some cells the Saints called The Box," Kiba answered again.
"Where are they? I need to speak to them," Gai asked, his tone changed.
"Lee isn't here, he and Naruto left for the Northeastern Outpost to get supplies for us," Shikamaru said as he walked up to Kiba and Shino.
"Shikamaru," Gai-sensei said, surprised. "Who is all staying here?"
"Naruto is the leader of the group, his second in command is Sasuke, me and Choji are here as well along with Hinata, Kiba and Shino and Tenten and Lee," Shikamaru answered.
"Where's Tenten?" Gai asked again.
"She's asleep, she's been in the guard tower all day," Shikamaru said.
"Wake her," Gai-sensei demanded.
Shikamaru felt the anger in his voice, "Is something wrong?"
"Tenten and Lee betrayed me, I want to know why," Gai stated.
"We were scared and we didn't know what to do," Tenten said.
Shikamaru looked back to find Tenten standing there. He was surprised she was even awake and walking around.
"You were scared? That's your answer?" Gai asked.
"They had us on our knees and threatening to kill us, we got scared and we didn't know what else to do at the time," Tenten replied. "Had we known the ropes he had on us was just regular rope at the time, we would of fought back."
Gai looked at Tenten as she explained herself but couldn't find it in him to stay mad, he was just glad she and Lee were okay after all and didn't get brain washed by those lunatics.
"I forgive you," Gai said.
"I am glad The Saints didn't manage to kill you after all," Tenten said.
"Of course not! The power of youth still flows through me!" Gai shouted.
Shikamaru motioned Gai to the prison
"So I guess you're going to stay?" asked Shikamaru.
"For now, but I must get back to the Northeastern Outpost, Yamato-san will need me," Gai said.
Shikamaru nodded and had Gai follow him into the prison. They went to the first cell block as they entered the prison.
"These are all the cells we've been using as our beds," Shikamaru said.
"This one you can use," Shikamaru said.
"Thanks," Gai said and entered the open cell.
Three days passed since Lee and Naruto left the Northeastern Outpost. Lee jumped down once the prison walls were in view. He ran to the front gate where Tenten and Choji were in the watch tower.
"Where's Naruto?!" asked Tenten, shouting.
"I'll tell you once I get inside!" Lee yelled back.
Tenten and Choji opened the gate to allow Lee back inside the prison, they closed the gates quickly before any nearby Walkers could get inside.
"So where's Naruto?" asked Choji.
"Naruto went to Nami no Kuni for more supplies," Lee answered.
"Why did he go there?" asked Choji.
"That's where Konoha's headquarters are for the moment," Tenten answered.
"What? Why didn't you tell us that before?!" asked Choji.
"We thought you all knew already," Lee answered. "We thought Kakashi-san sent you here to defeat The Saints and keep the prison as an outpost."
"Lee!" shouted a voice Lee recognized. He looked past Choji to find Gai standing in the middle of the courtyard.
"Gai-sensei," Lee said surprised to see his sensei.
Gai ran up to Lee and punched in straight in the face. The force of the blow knocked Lee backwards into the prison gate. Lee sat up and rub his cheek where Gai had just punched him and began to tear up.
"Don't ever do that to me again, you hear!" Gai said.
"Gai-sensei..." Lee said.
"Oh Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
They both cried as the embraced like they always did.
Tenten sighed at their display, "Give me a break, they never change."
Choji turned to Tenten, "I'm going to bring everyone out, because you and Lee need to tell us everything that's really going on."
Choji got Shikamaru, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba and Shino to the courtyard.
"What's this all about Choji?" asked Shikamaru.
"Tell them," Choji said to Tenten.
"We thought you guys knew all this so I want to first say I'm sorry," Tenten began. "Even though the village itself was over run with Walkers, Konoha is still operating in headquarters established in Nami no Kuni where Kakashi-sensei is now the Hokage that Tsunade-sama herself named. He established several outposts across Hi no Kuni and will be launching a Shinobi Alliance assault on our lands to clear out Walkers but as of right now we were just gathering supplies and planning out our attack routes."
"So all the surviving shinobi are getting ready to push through each land and eliminate Walkers?" Shikamaru question. "If it were only just as easy as that."
"What are you saying?" Tenten asked.
"Me and one of Naruto's clones discovered something bothersome," Shikamaru began. "We were searching for Kotetsu, he had disappeared when we were forced to leave Konoha when another horde of Walkers wondered inside through a wall that had been attacked, well when we found Kotetsu, he had turned but he didn't have any bites just been stabbed through the stomach."
"Are you trying to say you don't have to get bit to turn?" Tenten questioned.
"You just have to die to turn," Shikamaru said. "So even if we wipe out all of the Walkers roaming around the nations, we'd still have to worry about making sure that anyone dies they have to be stabbed through the head immediately."
"So what Kakashi-sensei and the other surviving village leaders are planning is for nothing then?" Tenten asked.
"I wouldn't say it's all for nothing, but I will say there will be a time where someone will die unknowningly and it could lead to another over running of Walkers, so for this plan to work, afterwards there would have to be some sort of system in place to make sure anyone that dies is made unable to trun." Shikamaru answered.
"This news is a bit disheartening," Lee said. "It looks we may never be able to live normally again."
Shikamaru sighed, "It looks that way."
Naruto stared at the bridge just a few feet away from him. He was standing on a tree limb watching a few Walkers walking toward the bridge. Naruto jumped from the tree and quickly made his way to the Walkers, taking a kunai from his holster on on his right thigh and stabbing them in the head. After it was clear, he stopped in his tracks as he gazed at the very bridge that was named after him. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was he actually getting cold feet in confronting Kakashi? Or was he more scared of the answer that he would receive? Naruto sighed and shook the uneasy feeling away and began walking across the bridge.
Just an FYI, I have rewritten the first chapter and will be going through and either rewriting chapters or just fixing typo's and grammar mistakes with the previous chapters.