Author's note: Sorry for the shorter length. Not feeling well at the moment so I'm going to try to sleep it off.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Weebio; leighd1314; solitare1; Iraheta 127; Richon; Kalos

Warnings: Mention past character death

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

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 8

Sasuke whirled around, unsheathing his katana instantly. A woman with short, blue hair stood not that far away from them, dressed in a long trench coat, ripped slim jeans and a dark red sweater. Her grey eyes regarded them calmly and her hands were free, resting loosely at her sides. If she carried weapons, they were hidden within her long coat or in the large duffle bag she had slung over her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I don't mean any harm," she said calmly and her eyes drifted to the side. "I'm glad to see more life in you this time."

When Sasuke quickly glanced to the side, unwilling to have her out of his sight for too long, he saw Naruto hobbling his way over to them, his hand resting on his machete. In spite of the familiarity she had greeted him with, Naruto stared at her bemused.

"Sorry, have we met before?" he asked befuddled.

"Didn't expect to see you here," Gaara said unexpectedly.

He came to stand next to Sasuke and while the dark haired man could feel the tension in his body, Gaara didn't make any direct move to attack. Despite that he, contrarily to Naruto, obviously did recognise her, though, he didn't appear very happy.

"Just going through," she said and shrugged. "I'll be meeting up with my group. I had been sent out to gather supplies, but it's been a meagre bounty," she smiled grimly.

Her eyes flitted towards Naruto again, which made Gaara take several steps towards him until he half blocked Naruto from her view. It made the woman appear amused while Sasuke and Naruto shared a confused look behind Gaara's back. Sasuke raised an eyebrow inquiringly, but Naruto merely shrugged, seemingly not knowing either what was going on.

"How about a small trade?" she suggested abruptly. "I've got some bandages with me that can help support your ankle."

"What do you want in exchange?" Sasuke asked warily.

It wasn't as if they never did trades with outsiders, but past experience had taught them that nobody could be trusted at face value anymore. Not when it came down to something as precious as supplies.

"You got some bottles of water you can spare?" she asked in return. "I ran out of purification tablets a while ago and haven't been able to find non-polluted water yet."

"Sure, it's a deal," Sasuke decided after thinking about it.

They could miss a couple of bottles and the bandages would be able to help Naruto at least somewhat until he managed to see Tsunade. Honestly, she could have asked for a more impressive item in return; some bottles of water in exchange for bandages was a decent deal.

He walked past her to the van, trusting that both Naruto and Gaara would keep an eye on her. She would be stupid to try to pull shit when it was three to one, but it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to do stupid shit in spite of having the odds against them. He opened the back of the van and climbed into it, aiming for the bag he had packed with several bottles. He grabbed three of them, figuring that would be a decent amount in exchange for the bandages. He took the cream for Gaara as well and jumped out of the van, slamming the door shut.

The blue haired woman was still in the same spot, looking almost tranquil even when facing Gaara's frown and Naruto's bemused but wary look. Personally Sasuke didn't immediately get any bad vibes from the woman, but there seemed to be some kind of history between her and Gaara that made the man rather unhappy with her presence. A bad breakup? Sasuke dismissed the idea as soon as it popped up in his mind. Naruto seemed to have no idea who she was and considering he had been best friends with Gaara for years now, it seemed impossible that he wouldn't know who Gaara had dated in the past.

"Here you go," Sasuke said and held out the three bottles.

She nodded in thanks and offered him the bandages before accepting the bottles. She put them in her duffle bag and adjusted the strap across her shoulder.

"Safe trip to you," she murmured and left just as quietly as she had shown up.

Sasuke watched her pass by the lake and cross the treeline before the small forest swallowed up her lithe frame. Once he was certain she was no longer nearby, he spoke up.

"You two know each other or something?"

Gaara snorted, studying the tube of cream with narrowed eyes when Sasuke handed it over. "Not at all. We came across her once some time ago when we were on the road. Honestly am surprised she still remembered us."

"We did?" Naruto asked befuddled.

"Yeah." Gaara glanced at him before focusing on rolling up his trousers so that he could rub the cream on his leg. "Was back during that time."

The stress on the time period meant nothing to Sasuke, but it clearly meant a lot to Naruto judging by the complicated look that crossed his face for a moment.

When neither of them were more forthcoming with information, Sasuke sighed. "Do you think she'll be a problem?"

"Doubt it," Gaara muttered and finished rubbing the cream onto his leg. "She left us alone last time and didn't send her group after us, so I doubt she'll be a problem now. Doesn't mean we should keep lingering here, though."

"If we leave now, we should still make it back home before it gets dark," Sasuke estimated and walked over to Naruto. "Come on, let's get your ankle bandaged first and then we'll leave again."

If the woman hadn't attacked Gaara and Naruto before, chances of her changing her mind now were slim but not non-existent. Better to be gone before she would have the time to decide that attacking them might be a good idea after all.

The sun was starting to set by the time they arrived at the compound. As soon as their van approached they gates, they opened, leaving a gap just big enough to squeeze the vehicle through. The second they were inside the gates slammed shut again and became locked for the upcoming night.

A small entourage was awaiting their arrival: father and Itachi were waiting for him naturally, but so were Shikamaru and Deidara; Deidara mostly appearing interested while the other three men were trying to mask their concern and failing at it. It made Sasuke sigh quietly, because he knew that at the very least Itachi would be fussing over him tonight. Like it had been their fault that the dead had decided it was opportune to swarm that goddamn town, delaying their return.

"Ran into trouble?" Father questioned mildly; his eyes narrowing as he catalogued the dried blood and gore on their clothes, his gaze switching from Sasuke to Naruto to Gaara and back.

Naruto snorted and leant against the van, letting it support his weight. "One way of putting it, I guess. Were a bit side-tracked by some dead arseholes, but hey, we got the stuff at least." He gestured at the back of the van. "Knock yourselves out. Lots of shit in there."

"Zombies overran the street we were in," Sasuke explained. "We had to hole up in an apartment for a couple of days before we came up with a way to escape."

"It took you that long to come up with a plan?" Shikamaru inquired bemused.

"Hey, man, we can't all be genius' like you, smarty pants," Naruto retorted, smiling thinly.

"That wasn't it," Sasuke sighed. "We had to wait a couple of days because - "

"Any of you seriously injured?" Tsunade came over to them; her pace brisk and her brown eyes sharp as she took them in. They honed in like a laser on Naruto, who stiffened underneath the critical assessment. "You love that van so much you can't stand to be apart from it? Or did you fuck up one of your legs?"

"Nothing's wrong," Naruto huffed predictably and rolled his eyes. "Can't a guy just fucking lean against a car without getting the third degree about it?"

Gaara met Sasuke's eyes and he mouthed, "Told you so."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in return, growing annoyed with the blond's stubbornness. He had been doing so well back at that apartment too. "Don't listen to him. He twisted his left ankle when we were fighting that herd. It's healed somewhat and we bandaged it, but I doubt it's a hundred percent yet."

"What the fuck does it even matter, man?" Naruto snapped equally annoyed and pushed himself away from the van. "I'm good enough to walk around and jump out of a fucking apartment; the hell you're still whiny about?"

"Why was there a need to jump out of an apartment, un?" Deidara asked, both equal sides confused and intrigued; his blue eyes regarding the younger man with a lot more interest now.

"You can fuck up your ankle beyond repair if you don't get some decent rest," Tsunade warned and beckoned him closer. "Let me take a look at it, see how bad the damage is."

"You don't need to take a look at it, I told you I'm fine," Naruto refused and scowled, jerking his thumb in Sasuke's direction. "Mother Hen over there fussed enough to fill the quote for the goddamn year, I don't need your help."

"I wasn't fussing; I was keeping you from fucking up your ankle even further!" Sasuke bit out, glaring at him. "You couldn't even fucking lean on it for the first few days, you damn moron!"

"Don't need to lean on my ankle to shoot you," Naruto hissed.

Gaara sighed, shaking his head, before he touched Naruto's arm in a silent attempt to calm him down.

"We sent you away for just a couple of days," Itachi said wryly, shaking his head.

"Okay, let's simmer down with the threats here before things are said that shouldn't be said," Tsunade stated and approached Naruto. "Just let me take a look at it."

"It's not bad, you don't need to take a look at it," Naruto insisted stubbornly like the idiot he was and limped out of her reach. "I'll be good by tomorrow. Got a bandage around it and everything."

"God, so fucking stubborn," Tsunade groaned and placed her hands on her hips. She glowered at him; her lips thinning. "You remind me of that damn pervert I had the misfortune of calling my friend. Stubborn as hell too; kept claiming he was fine even after every single one of his paramours beat the crap out of him." She looked away frowning for a moment. "That said, would be nice to talk to Jiraiya again, even if it's just to - "

"You know Jiraiya?"

Naruto's abrupt question had the small group staring at him, but he didn't seem to notice, his attention wholly focused on the doctor now. Gaara stilled; something shuttering close behind his eyes.

"Tall, broad, long white hair, kept writing those awful porn books – that Jiraiya?" Naruto went on in an odd voice.

Tsunade lit up; a surprised smile brightening her face. "Yeah, him!" You know him? Where is he? I tried to get a hold of him when this shit started, but he wouldn't pick up," she said eagerly; her eyes glistening.

"He's my godfather," Naruto murmured.

Sasuke eyed him, having a bad feeling about this. Naruto and Gaara had become way too still in comparison to Tsunade's unusual bout of enthusiasm.

"Your godfather?" she echoed before chuckling and shaking her head. "Oh man, you must be the brat then he kept boasting about when we were still in contact with each other! He just couldn't shut up about you, sometimes I thought you were his actual son. You know where he's holed up now?"

Naruto cleared his throat and crossed his arms; an uncomfortable look flickering across his face as Gaara reached out silently and grasped his elbow. "Either buried underneath a pile of zombies or torn apart. When our first camp became overrun, he – he held them off. Gave us a chance to escape. Saw him going down. Nothing we could do about it." His eyes shuttered close, his voice turning quieter and quieter with each word he pushed past his lips.

"Well shit," Deidara muttered stunned; his eyes widening.

They all looked at Tsunade, saw her crestfallen face before she forced back the mask of professionalism she had been donning ever since they had encountered her in her previous practice. Grief brimmed in her eyes for just a mere moment, before that was also snuffed out. Just one more person to add to the growing list of losses.

"Well," she cleared her throat; her cheeks turning a ruddy red colour that had nothing to do with the harsh wind whistling around them. "He always said he wanted to go out with a bang. Guess he was stubborn about that too."

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologised awkwardly, meeting her eyes for a couple of seconds before his gaze fell onto the ground. "He spoke a lot about you. Never mentioned your name, mind, but always called you the 'fair maiden' of his heart. I think he'd made plans to go look for you before … before it went all to hell."

She chuckled watery and father briefly clasped her shoulder in support. "Idiot always thought he was some kind of amazing poet," she scoffed and took a deep breath. "He wasn't. Far from it actually. Now come on, let me examine your ankle."

Naruto looked ready to protest, but then he looked at her. He must have seen something in her face that managed to sway him after all, because instead of continuing his protest, he simply grunted, shook off Gaara's hand and hobbled over to her.

Right before he reached her side, he said, "He also said you were a nagging hag with a penchant for sake."

Sasuke winced, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion that would occur now. Tsunade was the best doctor they could have wished for, but she also had a temper shorter than that of Deidara's – which was saying something when you knew the man in question – and Naruto was basically begging for an absolute beatdown at this point with his comment. He really was a fucking idiot, wasn't he?

Instead of exploding however, Tsunade shocked them all by laughing, throwing her head back as sheer joy filled her face.

"Never thought I'd say this, un, but a laughing Tsunade is somehow more terrifying to me than those dead fucktwits," Deidara muttered underneath his breath, taking a few furtive steps away from her.

She was still chortling when she wrapped her arm around Naruto's waist and threw his own arm around her neck in an imitation of how Sasuke had dragged him into the apartment building just a few days ago. Had it really been less than a week still since they had left the compound? It felt much longer than that somehow.

"He would know. He was the one causing me to drink because of his stupidity," she snorted derisively. "Fucker probably didn't want to own up to our last bet and send me the bottle of sake he owned me. Apparently taking down a herd is more preferable than admitting he lost our bet, the arsehole."

Sasuke watched them leave with one eyebrow raised. At least Naruto would finally have some actual medical attention and let someone take properly care of his ankle without needing to be knocked out for it. Still …

"He going to be fine?" he questioned quietly, not referring to his ankle.

Gaara glanced at him before his eyes switched to the retreating back of his best friend. "Yeah, he will be. He's a tough one."

"Seems like you had quite the eventful trip," Father commented carefully while Shikamaru and Deidara walked to the back of the van, ready to inspect the new supplies.

Sasuke released a sigh, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "You don't know half of it."

AN2: Not as long as the previous ones I know, but I'm not feeling well right now. I still wanted to give you something, though, so. Normally the next chapters should be longer again. Now I'm off to bed.

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.