Author's note: Quite tired, but I managed to bang out this chapter in just a couple of hours nonetheless! And it's even longer than the previous one! Again this scene will be somewhat familiar if you have read The Long Run, but that can't be helped.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; leighd1314; Richon; Iraheta 127; darkhuntressxir

Warnings: Some minor drama

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 12

"I don't think you understand what we're talking about here," Anko said rather condescendingly. "We aren't talking here about a quick trip to a hospital, but about a fucked up road filled with a herd of zombies all while you're trying to keep control over a fast bike with an extra passenger in the back."

"Yeah, I understand," Naruto said and lifted an eyebrow. He sounded equally condescending when he added, "You think Gaara and I never dealt with herds before? Common as shit out there, trust me."

"Too common for my liking," Gaara muttered, but he was still frowning.

He looked like he didn't exactly agree with Naruto's suggestion, which Sasuke completely understood, yet at the same time he wasn't protesting either. Sasuke couldn't tell what he was thinking about this plan exactly. It was clear he wasn't exactly happy, but he wasn't doing anything yet to change Naruto's mind either.

"Driving with a bike through them, though, is different from simply - " Suigetsu began, but Naruto shook his head, shutting him down.

"I got experience with that. After we lost the caravan a while back, Gaara and I switched sides every day," he said and shrugged. "You need someone for this gig, I'm your best bet."

Oh hell no. If Gaara wasn't going to speak up, Sasuke would. He opened his mouth, getting pissed off at Naruto's blatant disregard for his own life, but Kisame beat him to it.

"Like the enthusiasm, kid," Kisame drawled and serenely ignored Naruto's bristling upon being called a kid, "but the doctor said you shouldn't strain your foot too much yet and speeding through a damn herd across a busted road of all places sounds a lot like straining it to me."

"My ankle is just fine," Naruto bit out and narrowed his eyes. "I can easily wipe the fucking floor with you, big guy!"

"Okay, how about we tone down the violence here?" Anko demanded exasperatedly.

Kisame grinned, however, and cracked his knuckles. "You know what? I like your guts, kid! All right, you manage to get me on the ground and we'll let you take the bike."

"Oh, now he's done it," Gaara muttered and crossed his arms.

"Are you mad?" Sasuke snapped.

"Aw, don't worry, Sasuke-kun," Kisame grinned and clapped his shoulder. "I won't hurt your little boyfriend too much."

"He's not my fucking - "

"Come on, old man, I don't have all day," Naruto sneered and beckoned Kisame out of the garage.

"He's going to regret this," Gaara remarked cryptically, but it was anyone's guess whether he was referring to Kisame or Naruto.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, really?" Sasuke muttered darkly and glowered as he watched Kisame accept the taunt easily.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Mah, this is the best damn entertainment I've had in weeks," Suigetsu grinned and linked his hands behind his head. "You think Naruto has any chance? Kisame is fucking huge, man."

"You're all a bunch of idiots," Anko growled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"All right," Kisame called out; a smug grin already lingering around his mouth. "You get me to hit the ground even once, kid, and we'll consider you - "

It happened so fast Sasuke wasn't even entirely certain what exactly had happened. One second Kisame was still grinning, the next he was knocked out flat on his arse; his grin immediately replaced by a stunned look as he hit the ground with a 'thump'. Naruto rose up calmly, shaking out his left foot from where he had dropped down to swing Kisame's legs from underneath him.

"I said he was going to regret it," Gaara remarked blankly. "Naruto's been wiping the floor with bullies bigger than him since we were kids. Kisame's got nothing on them."

"Look, ma, no hands," Naruto commented sarcastically and dusted off his hands. He turned to face them and rested his hands on his hips. "So, is that enough evidence that I'm fine or do I need to wipe the floor with some of you too? Just say the word."

"What the hell?" Suigetsu breathed out; his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He whooped then, punching the air. "That was fucking awesome, holy shit! How the hell are you so quick?"

"He's just slow," Naruto dismissed the compliment and paid no mind to Sakura gaping at him shocked. He looked expectantly at Anko. "So does this prove that I'm up for the task?"

"Like hell you're going to do it!" Sasuke bit out, snapping out of his shock.

Fuck, he had known Naruto wasn't exactly weak – nobody could be weak when they had survived months on the road with only one companion – but he had never witnessed Kisame hitting the floor that quickly. Frankly, he couldn't even remember a time when he had seen someone winning against Kisame, save for his own brother.

"Erm, yeah, I'm going. You need the supplies and I'm the only one who can handle a bike in those circumstances," Naruto said calmly.

It had Gaara pursing his lips, but once again he remained silent, brooding almost.

Naruto's calmness was a specific sort of calm that Sasuke had come to loathe, though, because it made Naruto sound as if he was being reasonable when he certainly wasn't at all. There was nothing reasonable whatsoever about speeding on a goddamn bike through a fucking herd in bumfuck nowhere!

"It's way too dangerous!" Sasuke insisted and scowled at him.

"Is this what we would call a lover's spat?" Suigetsu wondered aloud, grinning sheepishly when Gaara shot him an unimpressed look.

Sasuke would have punched Suigetsu if he wasn't occupied at the moment with trying to keep Naruto from being a fucking idiot, because clearly Gaara wasn't going to do it. He would make sure to get back at Suigetsu for that dumb comment later on.

"It's not anymore dangerous than what we've done before," Naruto replied flippantly. "Ask Gaara."

But Sasuke wasn't going to ask Gaara. Instead he grasped Naruto by his arm and dragged him away from the garage. "Okay, yeah, no, come here!"

He pulled him past the empty shed on the right, aware of Gaara following along, and pushed Naruto behind the building, barely restraining himself from slamming him against the wall.

"Are you insane?" he demanded pissed off.

"Well, I suppose it can be argued if I don't have a few screws loose, but overall I like to think I'm as sane as anyone still is in this apocalyptic shit world," Naruto replied contemplatively.

"This isn't a joke, Naruto!" Sasuke hissed. "You can't go out there!" He whirled around to Gaara, who was watching the two of them intently. "And why the fuck are you going along with this bullshit? Aren't you supposed to be his best friend and stop him from being a stupid idiot?!"

"I take offense to that," Naruto sniffed, scowling at Sasuke.

"You think I'm a fan of this idea?" Gaara glared at Sasuke. "Once Naruto's decided on something, good luck getting him to change his fucking mind."

"Why does it sound like you're actually on Sasuke's side, Gaara?" Naruto whined before turning to Sasuke and asking, "And why can't I go out there, huh?"

"Why?! Because it's too damn dangerous! There's an entire goddamn herd there and you think it's a smart idea to go cruising there with a bike?" Sasuke demanded in disbelief.

"It's actually no more dangerous than walking around the woods here is," Naruto riposted almost snootily and rolled his shoulders. "Or hell, no more dangerous than our run in that one town was, really."

"The woods near the walls here are nowhere near as dangerous as going to that place will be," Sasuke argued. "Do you have a fucking death wish?"

"That can be argued," Gaara murmured which earnt him a middle finger from his friend.

"I know what I'm doing." Naruto had the actual gall to roll his eyes. "Even though Gaara's a bit of a prick right now, he'll agree that we would never have got as far as we did if we avoided all the areas with herds. We learnt to adapt with the bike and obviously we adapted well."

"It's way too dangerous. You can't go, you heard the others: the road is shit and there are too many of the undead there!" Sasuke insisted.

"The compound needs the supplies and I'm the only one who can drive a bike in those circumstances!" Naruto shot back and glowered at him. "I thought you're all for stocking up on supplies? Medical shit kind of seems necessary to me, genius."

"It's not necessary enough to risk your life!" Sasuke snapped annoyed. "You don't see Gaara suggesting he risks his life for some goddamn supplies!"

"That's because my bum leg wouldn't really allow me to drive in those circumstances to begin with," Gaara said dryly. "Ignoring the fact that this plan is fucking stupid - "

"Thanks, Gaara, I'm really feeling the support here."

"Naruto's right," Gaara went on, ignoring Naruto's interruption. "He's the only one who would be able to drive a bike in those circumstances and actually make it out alive."

"Look, going there isn't any more dangerous than leaving the walls is and walking through the forest," Naruto said and narrowed his eyes. "So I don't understand what your damn pro-"

"Visiting the forest directly next to the compound is fucking less dangerous than driving straight into a damn herd in an unknown place!" Sasuke hissed and jabbed his finger into Naruto's chest, pushing him into the wall. "We can already retreat behind the walls if shit hits the fan, but you have no idea if you can find a place to hide there when you get into trouble!"

"Walls won't do shit if a herd gets big enough," Naruto retorted flatly.

"It's still way better than driving straight into the unknown!"

"Save your breath, he's not going to change his mind," Gaara murmured, bracing his shoulder against the wall.

He looked resigned, something which Sasuke refused to be yet. He had to get through this idiot somehow! Yet when he looked at Naruto, there was a peculiar glint in those blue eyes of his that had Sasuke regarding him warily.

"Sasuke, how many zombies did we just kill before we came back here?"

"What does that have to do with our discussion now?" Sasuke demanded irritated. "I don't see how that has anything to - "

"We put down six zombies in the woods right next to the compound," Naruto answered neutrally, but quirked an eyebrow. "If the woods are that much safer, we wouldn't have had to kill that many undead douchebags in the couple of hours we spent there. Literally every step we take outside, hell, every bloody step we take inside, something can happen that can kill us. That's just how it is."

"Six stragglers is nothing compared to the massive group that's awaiting you there! There's a reason why the previous group came back instead of pushing through!" Sasuke said exasperatedly. Why the fuck was Naruto being so stubborn about this? Why couldn't he just see sense?

"Unlike the previous group, though, we actually know we'll be dealing with a large herd now," Naruto argued; his lips thinning. "We know the road's shit, we know we'll have to evade a bunch of those dead fuckers, so we're better prepared than the first group."

"Knowing that and actually being able to evade them on top of finding a safe place in case of trouble are two entirely different things, you idiot!"

Naruto heaved a huge sigh and threw his hands up in the air. "Why are you being so difficult about this? I didn't hear you trying to keep that group here when they went out to investigate that place! They were literally in more danger back then than we'll be now! So why don't you want me to go?" He whirled around and jabbed his finger in Gaara's direction. "And why the fuck aren't you having my back here, huh?"

"Because it's honestly a stupid fucking idea," Gaara told him bluntly and clenched his jaw. "I'm not exactly a fan of your plan either and you know that very well. I also know that no matter what I say you'll end up doing it anyways."

"You make me sound like such a shitty friend," Naruto muttered, frowning.

Why did Sasuke not want him to go? Because it's too fucking dangerous, he wanted to yell at that idiot. Because Sakura won't be able to have your back like I or Gaara would, because she's not as strong as we are. Because driving at a crazy high speed through a damn heard of the undead is the stupidest idea I've ever heard and that includes coating myself in zombie guts!

Because I don't want you to die.

He felt close to exploding, wanted to grab Naruto by his shoulders and shake him back and forth to knock some sense back into him. He wanted to scream at him, yell at him, call him a selfish fucker for taking on such a dangerous run with no other backup than Sakura.

His mouth refused to open, however; his vocal cords completely numb all of a sudden, preventing him from speaking up.

He froze up when Naruto stepped away from the wall and towards him. Black eyes tracked the hand reaching out to him before it disappeared from his field of vision, sliding straight past his head. His eyes widened when that hand settled on the back of his head and then all of a sudden his vision was filled with nothing but pure blue eyes when Naruto pressed their foreheads together, their breath intermingling. The world narrowed down to only that pair of bright blue eyes.

"I promise I'll be back," Naruto murmured; all the fight abruptly drained out of him. "I've done more insane shit than this with Gaara, trust me."

"You can't promise me that," Sasuke said and to his horror his voice was rather thick. Acutely he became aware that they weren't not alone, but Naruto's eyes arrested him to the point that he couldn't look away, not even to check what Gaara thought of this.

"Others can't, but I've never broken a promise," Naruto stated resolutely. "So if I promise you I'll be back, I will be back. You won't get rid of me that easily, you know."

Sasuke shook his head, however, pressing his lips tightly together. A promise like that was impossible to keep in the world they lived in nowadays. You couldn't promise you would be fine because that wasn't how it worked. Not anymore. Everything could happen now, especially in a place as unknown as the area around that hospital in the north. Driving a bike at high speed through a large group of zombies on a fucked up road? That was just asking for bad shit to happen.

Naruto sighed softly; his warm breath caressed Sasuke's mouth, causing a stupid, inane shiver to dance down his spine that didn't appear to have anything to do with the cold winter air.

"Okay, if the both of you refuse to believe me, here."

To Sasuke's shock Naruto stepped backwards, his hand dropping before he unhooked his crossbow, pushing it into Gaara's arms and forcing the other man to accept it or risk having it fall onto the ground. Naruto wasn't finished yet. His hand dipped into his right pocket next and retrieved something from it. When he held it up in the air, it dangled and caught the light. It was a necklace, the cord made of a simple black rope with a blueish stone hanging from it.

"This is a necklace mum gave to me for my birthday once," Naruto explained and Gaara's eyes widened a notch with recognition. "She had inherited it from her own mother and she passed it on to me, so just in case it's not clear yet, this necklace means a hell of a lot to me. I want you to hold onto it."

"What …." Sasuke could do nothing but stare at the necklace incomprehensibly. Naruto wanted him to hold onto it?

"You two don't trust that I'll be back on my own, well, here, you keep my crossbow safe for me and you, Sasuke, keep my necklace safe for me," Naruto said curtly and pressed the stone into Sasuke's slack hand. "You two know how much these two mean to me, so you'll know I'll be back for this. In the meantime, keep these safe for me. I'm sure Gaara will let you borrow the crossbow to train with it if you want, Sasuke."

Sasuke shook his head and took a step back, pulling his hand away from the stone as if it was on fire. "No way, I can't keep that with me," he refused incredulously.

"Why not? That way you know I'll be back; I wouldn't just leave it behind," Naruto retorted.

"Naruto, I can't just keep your crossbow," Gaara said, frowning.

"Yeah, you can," Naruto shot back. "It's not like I can use it when I'm steering the bike. We've tried that before and it didn't work out as you can remember. There's no way to keep control over a bike at high speed and still aim well at the zombies. I'll take my gun and my dagger, but that's all that'll be useful to me for this run. So in the meantime you keep my crossbow safe and you, Sasuke," he shot forwards and nearly smacked the necklace into Sasuke's hand forcing his fingers to curl around it or have it drop onto the ground, "keep this safe for me."

"I can't keep your necklace!" Sasuke snapped; the idea of Naruto freely offering something so emotionally precious to him making him feel odd.

"Sure you can," Naruto said laconically. "Just keep it in your pocket or wear it around your neck. I'll be back for it, so make sure you don't lose it."

Sasuke tightened his hold around the stone, feeling the edges of it dig into the flesh of his palm. He glared at Naruto. "You don't come back, you best pray I won't find you," he promised darkly.

"Dito," Gaara agreed; his jaw set. "You won't like what I'll end up doing then."

"I promised, remember," Naruto reminded the both of them and squeezed Sasuke's upper left arm first before touching Gaara's arm. He sidestepped his friend and turned around the corner.

"I don't like this," Sasuke muttered.

"You think I'm a fan of this?" Gaara retorted and slung the strap of the crossbow over his shoulder before he followed Naruto around the corner.

Sasuke remained standing there for a couple of seconds longer, anger and frustration and even something akin to fear swirling darkly in the pit of his stomach. He forced himself to put the necklace in his pocket before turning the corner as well.

As he walked to the garage, he heard Naruto ask, "How long will it take to drive there?"

"If you're lucky, I'd say around a week," Kisame replied; his eyebrows furrowed.

Suigetsu had already left, but Sakura was still here, worrying her lip between her teeth; her green eyes shooting back and forth between Naruto and Kisame as if she was following a tennis match. Anko had her arse braced against the table she had deemed to be her working desk and her mouth was pursed so tightly together, her lips were nothing but a thin line.

"And if I drive straight through?" Naruto questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

"You're fucking insane," Sasuke muttered darkly and shook his head.

Gaara sighed and crossed his arms around the crossbow.

"If you drive straight through, you're planning your suicide, kid," Kisame cautioned him.

"That's what you think," Naruto retorted impatiently. "If I drive straight through, how long? That's all I need to know, big guy."

Kisame hesitated and glanced at Anko, who merely looked back unimpressed. "Maybe three to four days?" he replied reluctantly. "But then you need a shit ton of luck and I don't see how that's - "

"Okay, let's meet back here in twenty minutes and then we'll leave," Naruto told Sakura, cutting off Kisame.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise before she nodded furiously.

"Thank you, we really need these supplies!" she said gratefully and rushed away towards the infirmary.

"It's your funeral, dude," Kisame remarked morosely.

Naruto merely hummed and looked at Gaara, who fell into step with him when the blond started walking to their apartment, not looking back even once.

"You really don't like this, huh?" Kisame murmured, side-eyeing Sasuke.

Anko pushed the bike onto the road before returning to the back of the garage where she began to tinker with something that might be a car battery.

"Is there anything to like about this insane plan?" Sasuke asked bitterly.

"I suppose not," Kisame admitted with a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "Thing is, though, we actually do need the supplies. The doctor doesn't have any thread left to sew and Sasori is still trying to figure out whether he can create disinfectant with the stuff he has here. Never mind that the anaesthesia ran out about two weeks ago. I don't like it, but the chances of us finding a safer hospital to raid soon …"

"Yeah, I know," Sasuke said sourly.

Kisame didn't need to spell it out to him, he knew they needed all the medical supplies that they could find, okay, but that didn't mean he liked the fact that Naruto was going to put his life in danger to retrieve them. Runs always carried the risk of danger, naturally, but normally they avoided large zombie herds instead of driving straight through them.

"You got a necklace?" Kisame asked suddenly.

Sasuke looked down, only realising then that his fingers had retrieved the necklace from his pocket without him being fully aware of it. He curled his fingers around the stone, hiding it from view while the black cord dangled limply down.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, it's Naruto's. He gave it to me for safekeeping."

Kisame looked like he wanted to remark on that, but he shook his head and jerked his thumb to the right. "I'm going to let the Board know the run is happening."

The bag Sakura had packed looked so heavy she seemed ready to topple over from the weight already.

"Bunch of bags, bullets, food and water for at least a week," Sakura explained when Naruto eyed the bulging bag dubiously.

He himself carried only a very thin knapsack; his dagger strapped to his thigh like usually and his gun at his hip.

"Ready to go," he said brusquely and climbed onto the bike with enough confidence that Sasuke at least didn't have to worry about his skills with it. His leather jacket groaned slightly when he handed the only available helmet to Sakura.

Gaara came to stand next to Sasuke, his arms crossed.

"Maybe you should wear it," Sakura said concerned, but Naruto shook his head.

"Put it on, I'm used to driving without one," he said curtly.

She acquiesced far easier than Sasuke would have done if he had been in her place and sat down behind him after putting on the helmet. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her shoulders hunched up with tension.

"Don't die," Sasuke warned him and hovered next to the bike while the ones manning the gates started rolling them open.

Naruto smirked. "What, no goodbye kiss?" he jested, making Sakura jerk in surprise and Gaara sigh loudly. He didn't pay either of them any mind.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I will kill you if you don't come back alive."

"I will help him," Gaara offered helpfully.

"Such encouraging words," Naruto cooed but his eyes softened a fraction when he reached out and patted Sasuke's stomach once. "I'll be back in four days, you'll see. Don't lose too many bolts when you practice and you two, behave, okay?"

Ignoring Sakura's intense gaze, Sasuke scoffed and stepped back. The roaring of the bike was loud enough to make everyone wince in response and then Naruto and Sakura were off, driving straight to what might possibly be pure hell on earth right now.

Before Sasuke could make his way up the scaffold to begin his guard duty and ignore why exactly he was going to hate these upcoming four days when he had never been worried about a run before, Gaara's hand unexpectedly landed on his arm, pulling him to a halt.

"What?" he asked surprised.

"If you dare to hurt him even once, whether you hurt him physically, emotionally or fuck, mentally, whatever, I will hunt you down, string you up by your thumbs, gut you like a fish, skin you and use your skin as a goddamn flag," Gaara told him bluntly; his green eyes fierce.

"The hell? There's nothing going on between me and Naruto!" Sasuke protested instantly.

Where the fuck was this coming from all of a sudden? What the hell had he done?

"Yeah, and I'm the goddamn emperor of Japan," Gaara retorted sarcastically and narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I haven't seen you looking at him."

"What the hell is wrong with the way I look at him?" Sasuke demanded irritated.

"You know perfectly well what's wrong with it," Gaara said warningly. "I'm keeping my eye on you, Uchiha, don't think I don't."

With that threat hanging ominously in the air, he whirled around and stalked away, leaving Sasuke to wonder just what the fuck had just happened.

AN2: I have waited for so long to add that last piece of conversation to this story; I'm so happy the moment finally arrived LOL

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.