Author's note: Only just finished this chapter. Other updates will be ready soon, I promise.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Guest; Richon; Weebio; solitare1

Warnings: Some drama; minor flashback

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

Small remark: Apparently I wrote a name incorrectly this entire time. When Tobi is mentioned, I actually mean Tobio. I keep it as Tobi now, but yeah, that was actually the character I meant.

I hope you'll like this chapter!

Chapter 21

They had only visited that particular town once and never again for a very good reason. As Sasuke rushed in a panic to the infirmary where he knew father would be right now, he wondered what the hell had changed for the Board to have sent Naruto to that godforsaken town. After that one time, nobody had gone to that town again, so where was the proof it was safe enough to go now for a supply run of all things?

Stumbling noises downstairs was what woke up Sasuke. Immediately on high alert, he snatched up one of his knives, before slipping silently out of the bed. Soundlessly he crept out of his room, but relaxed when he recognised those footsteps. Relief made quickly way for apprehension, however, and he frowned, realising it was rather late for him to return.

"Did the run go bad?" he questioned warily while descending the staircase.

He drew to an abrupt halt when he saw both Itachi and Kisame standing in the hallway. Aghast he took in their bloodied coats and trousers, even their shoes were coated with the stuff. His hands grew clammy with the first stirrings of panic when he couldn't immediately guess if the blood was old or fresh.

"Are you - "

"We're fine," Itachi was quick to reassure him and immediately removed his coat, proving he was unharmed.

Kisame followed swiftly, opening his coat for a quick check, looking oddly solemn.

"What's going on here?" Father asked bewildered, coming downstairs as well. He stopped right behind Sasuke, his voice sharp when he demanded, "What the hell happened? Wasn't the plan to stay the night there?"

"Too dangerous for that," Kisame answered grimly. "We managed to get away by the skin of our teeth, boss."

Sasuke could feel father tensing up. "Come, let's go to the living room. You can tell me everything there."

They all trooped into the living room and Sasuke stuffed his hands underneath his armpits in a useless attempt to stave off the cold. He should have grabbed a jacket or a robe on his way down, but his brother being unexpectedly home had distracted him.

"I thought you just had to check out the town?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. "What went wrong?"

"What didn't go wrong?" Itachi sighed wearily and ran a hand through his hair. He dropped down on the couch, rubbing his forehead. "I've never seen such a massive herd of zombies gathered in one place."

"There had to be at least a thousand of them, if not more," Kisame added; his face gaining an eerie look in the light of the candles that father was lightening up. "We didn't even notice them at first, that's the most fucked up thing about it all."

"How can you not notice so many zombies?" Sasuke asked incredulously. If they were actually at least a thousand of them in that town, shouldn't that have been pretty damn noticeable? Even in a massive town, a herd of that size would have been difficult to stay hidden from view!

"They'd been hiding inside those houses," Itachi said and rolled his shoulders, furrowing his eyebrows. "I think we triggered some kind of trap, because suddenly they all came pouring out from every corner. We got out of there while we still could; there's no way to enter that place safely. The herd is too big."

"You said they'd been hiding inside the houses," Father said warily. "You mean to tell me that someone went around and gathered them up? Like some kind of cattle?"

Kisame's mouth thinned. "We can't say for sure, because we didn't see anybody," he admitted begrudgingly. "For all we know, whoever pulled this stunt is long gone already. Who pulled that shit doesn't matter, though. There's no way to enter that town safely, no matter which direction you take. It's completely overrun by those dead sons of bitches, going back there would be suicide. Even with a bigger group, it just isn't safe enough."

"We could wait until they've dispersed," Father suggested tentatively, but he didn't seem too keen on his own idea.

Itachi disagreed as well. "That might take months if not longer. We assume the place might have been a community at one point, because they had the entire place surrounded with gates. The zombies are basically trapped there."

"Trapped and way too eager for some human flesh," Kisame added, grimacing. "I'm not the type to pull up my nose at some zombie killing, but trying to get rid of them all would be nigh impossible. We'd be wasting time, weapons and energy for nothing."

"Guess we can't always be so lucky," Father said sourly and placed his hands on his hips. "I will tell the Board what happened in the morning. We'll take that place off the list and change the roster in favour of other places. No point in risking lives for nothing. You two need Tsunade-sama to give you a check-up?"

"No need, I'm fine," Kisame grunted and rose up, stretching his back with a cracking noise. "Those bastards scared the shit out of me, but they didn't get to do anything else."

"I'm fine as well," Itachi confirmed. "We got out of there just in time. They didn't get to do much aside from some grabbing."

"So far the fun trip, I guess," Kisame sighed and left, returning to his own home.

"If they are with so many, shouldn't we be worried they'll eventually break through and make their way here?" Sasuke asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Call him cynical, but he didn't trust their luck enough to assume that the herd would go the other way instead. If the herd was indeed that massive – and he had no reason to doubt his brother – then the compound would be overrun in no time if they made their way here.

"Even if they manage to get out, I doubt the entire group would make their way over here," Itachi replied. "Even at full speed, the trip still took us four hours to get back here. In the event of the gates no longer holding them back, I'm fairly certain they would be distracted before they can make their way here. As long as they don't see any living people, they would have no reason to make their way here."

"Be that as it may," Father decided grimly, "we're not going to tempt fate either. We'll stay clear from that area. Under no circumstances will anyone be ever allowed to go back there."

And nobody had gone back – until today.

"I thought you had decided that nobody would be sent to that maple town again?" Sasuke snapped, storming into the infirmary.

Father was here to discuss something with Deidara and Tsunade, but Itachi was here too for some reason. Sasuke didn't pay him any mind, however, and demanded angrily, "What the hell were you thinking, sending Naruto there?! Did he piss you off or so?!"

"Hold on, what are you talking about?" Father asked confused. "Nobody is going to that town again; we decided that two weeks ago, remember?"

"I feel the need to remind you that this is an infirmary and not a meeting room," Tsunade commented casually, but narrowed her eyes warningly.

If this had been any other moment, Sasuke would easily acquiesced to retreat because an angry Tsunade was never to be taken lightly. He was too incensed now, though, too worried to heed the implicit warning in her remark.

"Then explain to me why Naruto left me a note, saying he's on a run there to check for supplies with Tobi?" Sasuke hissed enraged and slammed the damning note in question down on the desk. "It's not even with Gaara! Gaara doesn't even know about this trip, I have to tell him!"

"Tobi? He still shits his pants when he hears a zombie, no?" Deidara said perplexed. The bandages around his arm looked freshly wrapped.

"He is still working on his fear for them, yes," Itachi replied diplomatically and his eyebrows drew together when he picked up the nose. "We didn't send him, Sasuke. You know we wouldn't do that, especially not without telling you about it."

"Well, obviously somebody just fucking did!" Sasuke spat. "Why the fuck else would he leave me a note? There's no reason to lie about that shit! I'm going after him now, but I will fucking kill whoever sent him there when we're back."

"You can't go after them; it's too dangerous," Father refuted instantly. His lips thinned when he read the note after Itachi handed it over to him.

"He went after us and saved our arses that time," Sasuke hissed, gesturing at both himself and Deidara. "The hell I'm not going after him now, he could die out there! He believes he's going to check goods; he won't have enough weapons with him to defend himself! I'll take Gaara with me; he's a good fighter."

"The same can't be said for Tobi; the guy's a shit fighter, un," Deidara said soberly. "If they really end up in trouble, shit's going to hit the fan pretty hard if Naruto-kun has to protect Tobi."

"I'll go," Itachi offered. "We can take one of the cars; we might be fast enough to catch up to them depending on when they left."

"Even with two, going there is still too dangerous," Father said pinched, resting a hand on the desk. "You and Kisame-san barely made it out alive last time. Two people isn't enough for this."

"If you think for one second that I'm going to stay here while Naruto might - "

"I thought this was an infirmary, not a bar? My goodness, if you talk a bit louder, the entire compound can enjoy listening in." Sasori marched inside, carrying a bag with him that rattled a bit when he placed it on the desk. "I'm here with some new disinfectant, doctor."

"Thank you, Sasori," Tsunade murmured, pulling the bag towards her but not opening it.

"I could join," Deidara offered, picking up the conversation again as if Sasori's entrance hadn't even occurred.

"No, you won't," Tsunade instantly denied and scowled at him. "For god's sake, do you have a death wish after all? You don't have a prosthetic yet; you can't do anything out there with just one hand!"

"But we can't leave Naruto-kun on his own out there, un," Deidara argued; his eyes flashing.

"What's the deal here? What's got you all so fired up suddenly?" Sasori demanded annoyed; his eyebrows drawn together as his gaze flicked from one person to the other.

"Somebody sent Naruto-kun to that maple town," Itachi explained curtly and crossed his arms.

"Isn't that the one that nearly got you and Kisame killed?" Sasori questioned thoughtfully. When father nodded in confirmation, he said, "Hold up, Naruto? The new kid?"

"Can't really call him new still when he and his friend have been here for around half a year already, un," Deidara retorted dryly.

"So how come the new kid's going to that town if it's forbidden?" Sasori questioned, ignoring Deidara. That wasn't so unusual for those two; they had a weird dynamic.

"Because some fucker sent him there to kill him," Sasuke grounded out through gritted teeth. "I really don't care who joins me; I'm going after him now! I have to warn Gaara. I don't know when Naruto left, but the longer we keep arguing here the closer he gets to that town."

"I can come with you," Father offered, but this time it was surprisingly Sasori who shut down the idea instantly.

"Not a good idea at all," he said critically. "People aren't stupid – most of them aren't anyways – and they know the schedule. They know you aren't on the roster to leave the compound for at least the next two weeks. If they see you leave now, no doubt they'll start asking questions and I doubt you want them to know that one of our own got sent to a dangerous place somehow. Not exactly great for the general trust and all that."

"Two got sent actually," Itachi corrected him.

"Whatever, two of them, doesn't matter," Sasori waved off the correction bored. "My point still stands: you can't leave unless you want people to gossip and I can assure you, that is the last thing you want."

Tsunade worried her lip between her teeth. "I could - "

"I'll go," Sasori offered out of the blue.

Everybody stared at him and he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Why would you offer to join us?" Sasuke asked befuddled. "You don't even know Naruto."

To be quite frank, considering Sasori's personality it was probably safe to say that he didn't give a shit about any of them either. He wasn't an arsehole perse, but he didn't go out of his way to bond with other people either. Sasuke was more than aware that this was pure irony coming from him but Sasori tended to lock himself up in his own house, busying himself with creating medicine out of the meagre supplies they brought back from their runs.

"I don't, but even if you get that Gaara guy to come with you, four people would be better than three," Sasori answered casually. "And it's been a while since I last left the compound."

"That and you're stuck on your new projects because you don't have any new goods yet, un," Deidara added knowingly.

Sasori waved him off. "Are you really going to give me the third degree for offering my help?" he remarked unimpressed. "Look, you want to go after them or not? I doubt we'll just take an hour to get there."

"Father, we have to leave now," Sasuke pressed, clenching his fists. "Naruto doesn't have any clue what's waiting for him there!"

Father clenched his jaw, looking conflicted before he ordered, "Fine, take Gaara with you and you can go, but take as much ammunition with you as you can. I don't care about the stock; you're not going there emptyhanded."

"Wasn't exactly planning on going there without weapons," Sasori muttered.

Sasuke whirled around, rushing out of the door as anxiety and fear clumped together like a heavy boulder in the pit of his stomach. "Let's go!"

Leaving Itachi and Sasori to stock up on ammunition, Sasuke rushed to the field first where the defence classes were held. The children were on their way back home and Iruka looked up surprised when Sasuke skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Where's Gaara?" Sasuke demanded when he couldn't spot the familiar red hair anywhere. Had Gaara already gone back to the apartment?

"Ah, he got pulled to the side right as our class finished," Iruka answered bemused. "Didn't see who it was, but I think Gaara-san went to his apartment after that."

"Thanks!"

Sasuke ran all the way to the apartment building, practically flying up the stairs, ignoring how his heart thundered. He quickly knocked on the door to Naruto's and Gaara's apartment, uncaring if he was being too loud.

"Gaara, you there?" he called out urgently.

There was no reply in the tense silence that followed his call. He tested the doorknob, figuring he could try to ask a duplicate key if that failed, but the door easily swung open. When he walked inside, the first thing he spotted was a piece of paper lying on the table, propped up against an empty cup.

Naruto,

I've been asked to do a quick tour of a village up south, around an hour from here apparently. The one who should have done this got sick, so I'm their next best choice, I guess. I'll take a bike, shouldn't take me that long because it doesn't look that big on the map. I'll be back tonight by seven at the latest, don't worry.

Stay safe.

Gaara

Gaara had been sent out as well? Had there been plans to do a reconnaissance of a village in the south? That could be possible. Frankly, Sasuke was feeling too harried to be able to immediately recall the roster. It seems plans had been made if the original person had fallen sick.

Fuck, this meant he couldn't count on Gaara to go with them then. Naruto didn't have until seven tonight; Sasuke couldn't waste time here waiting for Gaara to show up again. Even if Gaara managed to return sooner, any second that Sasuke spent waiting here was one second too many.

Leaving the note on the table, he hurried to the bedroom to check if Naruto had taken any weapons with him. Just as he had feared, while Naruto had taken his crossbow and his gun with him – probably his dagger as well, hopefully his machete – he didn't have nearly enough munition with him to protect himself if shit hit the fan.

Gaara had taken his crossbow with him as well and Sasuke dropped to his knees on the floor, cursing when he snatched the duffel bag from underneath the bed, revealing a good amount of bolts still present when he unzipped the bag. Naruto had taken some bolts with him, but it would definitely not be enough to take on an entire herd.

"Fuck," he hissed and after a short bout of hesitation he stood up and took the bag with him, zipping it shut on his way out.

He had no clue what awaited him in that maple town, but it was likely safe to assume that Naruto could use a lot more bolts than he currently had with him. Unless they managed to catch up to him and Tobi, of course, before they reached the town but Sasuke's gut feeling told him they wouldn't be that lucky.

Finished at the apartment, he went straight to Anko next where Itachi and Sasori was stuffing bags containing weapons in one of the few cars they had available.

"What did Naruto pick when he left the compound?" he demanded. It was doubtful it would be one of the vans but they needed to know which vehicle to look out for when they would arrive there.

Anko blinked, taken aback by his brusque tone. "Erm, the same bike he and Gaara took when they came after us."

His lips thinned and he resisted the urge to close his eyes. Naturally that bike was also the fastest they had on their disposal. "How long ago did they leave?"

She tilted her head to the left and pursed her lips. "Man, it's not like I keep track of the clock," she sighed, bracing her hip against the work bench. "Could have been around two to three hours ago? Why the questions suddenly?"

"No reason, did you see Gaara leave?" he asked next.

"Yeah, he took one of the other bikes, why?" she asked confused.

"Nothing, thanks," he muttered and made a beeline for his brother, who waited for him at the car. "They took the fastest bike we have. Anko guesses they left around two or three hours ago."

"That's not good at all," Itachi mumbled; his eyebrows pinched.

No, it definitely wasn't because it meant that unless the bike gave the ghost all of a sudden, Naruto and Tobi would already have arrived at the town long before they would show up.

"Where's Gaara?" Itachi asked, frowning.

"Not here. Apparently he got tasked to check out a town in the south when the original person fell sick," Sasuke answered, pursing his lips.

Itachi's frown deepened. "I didn't know that had been put on the roster."

"I don't know either, but Gaara at least isn't going to a confirmed dangerous place," Sasuke said shortly.

Maybe Gaara's assignment stank as well, but Sasuke trusted the man to take care of himself. He wouldn't take any risks, not without Naruto there to back him up and he wasn't carrying around useless weight either like Naruto was. For now, Sasuke just had to believe that Gaara at least would be okay. Naruto was the most pressing priority now.

"I'd suggest we leave now instead of dawdling here," Sasori commented and opened the door to the backseat of the car. "The longer we wait here, the less chance we have of catching up to them."

"I'll drive," Itachi offered, catching the keys when Sasori threw them.

The two brothers got into the car as well, Sasuke in the front passenger seat, and after Itachi signed at a guard, the gates were opened for them, letting them drive out of the compound. By now the sky had turned overcast and Sasuke hoped they wouldn't have to deal with a severe downpour. For all he cared, it could rain as much as it wanted on their way back, but a downpour now would only delay them even further – something they couldn't afford at all.

"So tell me, how straightforward is the road to this village actually? I never got details," Sasori questioned idly after a short while.

He had been studying a map of the region, throwing the occasional glance outside the window as if he had wanted to compare the map with the reality.

"Quite straightforward," Itachi responded. "When Kisame and I drove there we didn't encounter any problems until after arriving at the town. I suppose that's why we had lowered our guards a bit," he added chagrined. "A mistake we shouldn't have made."

"What happened exactly? Like I said, I don't know the details," Sasori said, folding up the map. "Deidara only mentioned that you and Kisame nearly got yourselves killed when visiting that town and that that is the reason why the place got scrapped from the list."

Sasuke glanced at his brother. After they had returned that night and told their story to the entire Board, neither Itachi nor Kisame had brought it up again. Not really a surprise, that. There was no point in dwelling on failed runs and especially his brother had never been the type to stew in regret. What was there to be won by rehashing the story over and over again?

Retelling the story now, however, could potentially prepare them for whatever was awaiting them in that village. Maybe the majority of the zombies had cleared out by now, making the town a safer place, but Sasuke knew better than to hope for that. This apocalypse had proven that luck came by very sparsely and one shouldn't come to expect it.

"There isn't much to say, really," Itachi said and rolled his shoulders, keeping his gaze fixated on the road. "When we arrived there, nothing seemed out of place so after a first quick drive through of the town, we parked at the gates and went on foot. We suspect we triggered a trap somehow at one point, because all at once zombies started pouring out of every building."

His shoulders tensed and his fingers tightened their grip around the steering wheel so hard Sasuke was surprised the material wasn't protesting yet. "I've never seen so many zombies gathered together," Itachi went on softly; his entire face blank now. "It was as if someone had herded them into those buildings like sheep. That's the only conclusion Kisame and I could come up with, because until we triggered a trap, we hadn't come across a single one. We fought our way out of the mass, went back to the car and drove away."

Sasuke covered his grimace with his balled fist, staring out of his window. He didn't want to consider what kind of person would shepherd zombies and collect them into buildings before setting up traps that would deliberately free the undead. He would suspect that Orochimaru was pulling that shit if he hadn't seen with his own eyes that the bastard had got ripped to shreds by his beloved zombies.

"Any chance at all that the zombies might have cleared out by now?" Sasori inquired neutrally. He had two guns strapped to his side and a small bag rested next to him.

Itachi pursed his lips. "Doubt it. The town seemed to have been a sort of community at some point; all the walls were enforced and we only found one way out – the same way we had got in. With how many zombies were present back then …" he trailed off and shook his head. "Chances are nihil that they dispersed by now."

"They might have run each other over when trying to chase you and piled together," Sasori concluded thoughtfully. "If they're blocking the gates, I doubt either the new guy or Tobi would be stupid enough to try to enter."

"That's only if they're still blocking the gates and whoever rounded up those zombies in the first place hasn't done it again," Sasuke commented darkly. He looked at Sasori through the rear view mirror, watching him incline his head contemplatively.

"There's always that possibility," Itachi muttered; his face darkening a smidgen.

Given how fast Itachi and Kisame had been forced to clear out last time, they hadn't had any opportunity to check whether anyone was still alive in that town. Common sense and plenty of experience with zombie herds stated that nobody could still be alive if there were that many zombies wandering around, but someone had to have rounded them up in the first place in order to create that particular trap. If they had managed to do that the first time, it was safe to assume they might have done it again. After all, there had to be a reason why they had done that in the first place. A messed up security system?

"So who did your guy piss off badly enough from the Board that he was sent out on a suicide mission?" Sasori asked casually.

"So certain he must have pissed someone off," Sasuke murmured and narrowed his eyes.

Sasori lifted an eyebrow, resting his hands in his lap. "Let's consider the facts here. The only ones aware of the town and the danger there are the members of the Board. The only ones with the 'authority' to send people on runs are, again, part of the Board." His tone grew condescending when he continued, "So given that your guy was sent out on this run to this very dangerous place even though this place had been called off limits, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he must have pissed someone off. Keeping the current global state in mind, I'm highly curious as to what your guy did that was severe enough to have him sent to his grave, crudely put."

"That guy has a name, you know," Sasuke said irritated. "You know it very well, so stop being such a prick about it."

"Sasuke," Itachi sighed, but he ignored him.

"I didn't ask you to join us, so stop acting like we held you at gunpoint," Sasuke continued, turning around to glare at Sasori.

They held each other's stare for a while until Sasori cocked his head to the left and offered a small nod. "What did Naruto do that pissed off the Board?"

"Why the interest?" Itachi asked mildly. "You usually aren't bothered with their decisions."

Sasori clasped his hands together on his lap this time, tapping out a slow beat with this right thumb across his left one. "I normally don't care, that's true," he agreed easily. "In this case, though, I find it rather interesting that the Board – or at least someone from it – would actually willingly send out someone to their death. Word gets out about this, the entire compound will be in an uproar and the Board will be done for it, no doubt."

Sasuke shared a look with his brother. Itachi quirked an eyebrow and Sasuke pressed his lips together, but nodded.

"Around a month ago my run ended badly," Sasuke began in a neutral voice. He could feel Sasori's gaze piercing a hole in the back of his head, but he paid him no mind. "Because we weren't back yet by the time I had promised Naruto we would return, Naruto got a bad feeling about it, told Gaara about it and went to the Board to ask them permission to leave."

"But he didn't get it," Sasori guessed correctly.

"He didn't. They told him that he was worrying about nothing. He went to Itachi instead, who helped him and Gaara leave. Naruto and Gaara found us before …" Sasuke licked his lips, his mouth too dry all of a sudden, "before more of us could die. Some of the Board were less than impressed by the fact that they went against their decision."

"And with some of the Board you mean …" Sasori coaxed, raising an eyebrow.

Itachi took over. "Danzo was the main one who had problems with Naruto-kun and Gaara-kun driving out to find the group."

Sasuke looked at him, surprised at how easily he had admitted their suspicion. Because while Sasuke hadn't actively been thinking about it, he knew that only one person could really be responsible for this bullshit.

Danzo had sent Naruto and Tobi to their possible deaths.

Only Danzo had continued to make a fuss throughout that entire meeting after Naruto, Gaara and their group had returned. Danzo had been the one insisting on holding the meeting and had been the only one threatening Naruto and Gaara by extension with exile from the compound. Out of all the Board members he had been the least satisfied with how easily Naruto and Gaara had got away with what he had considered to be breaking a carnal rule.

Sasuke couldn't say he had ever liked the old man, but even so a part of him felt betrayed by Danzo now. If Danzo had indeed given Naruto the order to go to that town – and nobody but him could be a suspect – then he had willingly and knowingly sent two of their people to their graves. And because of what? All for a stupid grudge because Naruto had got away with breaking the rules without suffering any consequence? Because Danzo didn't like people going against him as openly and brutally as Naruto had done?

It made him sick.

It was one thing knowing that a stranger could easily kill and betray you nowadays as they were likely to help you – it was another thing being betrayed by someone belonging to your own group. If you couldn't even trust someone who was supposed to uphold the safety of the group, who could you still trust?

"Hm, doesn't really surprise me," Sasori mumbled. "Danzo never really struck me as a man who likes to play nice with others."

There was still a stark difference between not wanting to play nice with others and inadvertently causing someone's death because of an inane grudge.

"What's going to happen to Danzo after this?" Sasori asked curiously.

"That," Itachi's hands slowly relaxed around the steering wheel as they exchanged the main road for a smaller sideroad; his black eyes staring coldly into the distance, "is going to entirely depend on what we will find in that town."

AN2: For the ones who have read The Long Run before, you know what time it is :) Prepare yourselves because a lot of shit is about to hit the fan.

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.