Author's note: Prepare yourselves :)

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

Warnings: Violence; suspense; angst; character deaths

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

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 41

"Any idea how we're going to get out of here with the kid?" Karin whispered, worrying her lip between her teeth.

It was completely dark outside now that night had fallen a few hours ago. After they had given Konohamaru a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water to get something in his stomach already, the boy had promptly fallen asleep on Naruto's lap; his head slumped against his shoulder. The biscuits and the water were unlikely to do much for Konohamaru when he probably hadn't had any decent food in more than a week, but it would have to do for now until they reached the car. Getting back to their car, though, was a whole other and a more complicated matter.

"The only way to leave is how we got in," Sasuke murmured. "We can't exactly risk leaving through the front if those cameras work."

"We're going to have to stay at least another day, though," Naruto commented. He had one arm loosely wrapped around Konohamaru's back while the other was curled around his crossbow. "To figure out if they have some kind of schedule. The main staircase is used by everybody, so if we go at the wrong time …"

"Staying another whole day is risky," Karin cautioned, rubbing her knee in a nervous gesture she didn't show often.

"I know," Naruto sighed and rolled his head against the wall. "Do we have another choice, though? We can't just go downstairs without even the slightest clue as to whether they've a fixed schedule or not."

"One day to figure out their schedule isn't exactly long enough, but we might find out at least how many of them are here," Gaara muttered. He was nearly entirely cloaked in darkness from his position in the corner right next to the window. Only the tip of his elbow from his crossed arms was visible in the moonlight pouring through the cracked glass. "It won't be much, but it's better than nothing."

"I really don't like this," she muttered, shaking her head in frustration.

Sasuke wasn't exactly a fan of this plan either, but it wasn't as if they had other choices. If they decided to chance using the staircase, banking on good luck to get them downstairs without being caught … Sasuke didn't have much trust in their good luck; not after how much of a fuck fest this trip had been so far. At the same time staying here for another day wasn't particularly enticing either; the longer they stayed, the more at risk they were of being caught. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place; whatever they ended up doing, they risked getting caught.

A shadow flitted past the broken window then, quick and silent, followed by an eerie ooohooo. The noise didn't even cause them to flinch – they would only start becoming concerned if animals started making those god awful dying moaning sounds as well – but it did manage to startle Konohamaru. The boy shot up straight, his eyes flitting around wildly even as he clasped a hand across his mouth, presumably to keep himself quiet. Sasuke didn't want to think about how a kid this young already knew how to keep himself quiet even when spooked.

"Easy, it's okay," Naruto soothed him, carefully patting his shoulder. "Just an owl, nothing else."

Konohamaru gazed at him with large eyes, ones still shining with fright, before he slowly nodded; his shoulders slumping a bit. He didn't lie back down, however; his eyes flickered from Naruto to Sasuke to Gaara to Karin and back to Naruto, studying them with an intensity rarely seen in somebody this young.

"Why are you here?" he questioned, picking nervously at the raffles of his torn sleeve. "You weren't here when we got here. I know, because I didn't see any of you here before."

It looked like it was question time after all. Frankly Sasuke was surprised Konohamaru hadn't started asking questions sooner. After he had stopped crying, he had accepted the water and the biscuits before promptly falling asleep. Sasuke would have questioned why the kid had been so easy to trust the four of them so soon after having lost both parents to the freaks inhabiting this hospital, but he assumed Konohamaru had overhead them discussing their escape. From there it was an easy assumption to make that they weren't part of the cannibals.

That didn't negate the fact that it wasn't a good idea for a kid this young to be so trusting of strangers still, but Sasuke wasn't about to scold him for it either. His quiet reaction was very much preferable to the alternative, which would have been him running away screaming, alerting the cannibals downstairs.

"You know how some people have fake arms and fake legs?" Karin asked, shuffling closer so that she ended up sitting next to Naruto now; their arms brushing against each other.

Konohamaru nodded slowly, obviously confused.

"Well, you see, it's like this: one of our friends was badly hurt a while ago and now he needs a fake arm," she went on. "We heard that this hospital might have fake arms stashed somewhere so we came here to search for them. Except we didn't expect … other people to be here."

Gaara snorted quietly.

"They're bad people," Konohamaru said hushed, frowning heavily. "They-they hurt mum and dad."

"We know," she said quietly. "Which is why we're now trying to figure out how we're going to escape here without them noticing us."

"Do you have the fake arm already?" he inquired curiously, glancing at their bags as if he expected to see a prosthetic peeking out from one of them.

"Nah, we got no clue where they are in the hospital and it's too dangerous to search for them," Naruto answered and his eyes flicked down to the floor for a second. "Don't want them to hear us and find us."

Konohamaru cocked his head to the left. "I think they're on this floor," he said to their surprise. "I – I saw something that looked like a fake arm while I was hiding."

"Where did you see them?" Sasuke asked taken aback, exchanging a look with the others.

Depending on where the prosthetics had been stocked, they might still be able to call this a victorious trip. At the very least they wouldn't have put themselves in danger for nothing then.

Konohamaru pointed at the wall behind them. "In the last room, I saw some there."

"We can't go into that room, though," Karin remarked, frowning. "The entire corridor is littered with shi-garbage, there's no way we can even do so much as tiptoe around all that. They'll hear us the second we walk through that part. How did you manage to get into that room, Konohamaru-kun?"

"I crawl through the holes in the walls here, but I only saw the fake arms from one of the other rooms," he replied, blinked confused.

"Even if we would be small enough to fit through those holes, there's still no way to reach that room quietly," Sasuke murmured, considering it.

When Konohamaru had crawled out of the wardrobe, Sasuke had seen the hole in the wall that the wardrobe had barely covered up. There was no way for either of them to fit through that, not even Karin with her slim figure. Only someone the size of a young child would be able to crawl through those spaces without becoming stuck. Even if Konohamaru would be able to crawl back to the room closest to where the prosthetics were stored, he would still need to cross the debris covered floor. At his age it was very doubtful he would succeed in being completely silent and stealthy even when he had done an amazing job in hiding from the cannibals so far.

Hiding in small crawlspaces and crossing a floor quietly were two entirely different things, though.

"There might be a way actually," Naruto said slowly.

Gaara seemed to guess what he was thinking, because he remarked, "The hole in the ceiling?"

"Which hole?" Sasuke frowned. They couldn't be talking about this room because the ceiling was intact here.

"There's a hole in the ceiling right in front of the prosthetic storage," Naruto replied. "I can go a floor higher and let myself drop from there. If I time it right, then I can land right in front of the door where there isn't too much garbage."

"A superhero solution for sure," Karin said dryly, "but how exactly are you planning to drop from that hole without making any noise? You jump and they will hear you, no matter if there's garbage left on the floor or not. You're not a cat."

Naruto patted his bag, flashing a quick but grim smile at her. "With the rope in my bag. As long as I can tie it to something, I'll be fine."

Sasuke stared at him. "So you take rope with you, but not food," he said incredulously.

"Gaara's got rope in his bag too. Besides, food can always be caught on the road; rope on the other hand doesn't tend to fall out of trees," Naruto retorted flippantly.

"Have you even done something like that before?" Sasuke demanded and narrowed his eyes.

"A couple of times, yeah." Naruto turned to Gaara. "The last time was when you lowered me in that well, right? When those shitheads threw out their stash?"

Gaara nodded. "Yeah, that was back then."

"Why did they throw out their stash?" Karin asked bewildered.

"Hm, well, it was a last ditch effort to spite us before they died," Naruto smiled thinly. The look on his face couldn't be mistaken: it was best not to push him further on this.

"And that effort was as useless as they had been," Gaara smiled razor sharp.

Sasuke could hazard a guess as to what might have happened back then and once again he couldn't help but be impressed at how long they had managed to survive.

"But do you really think you can land silently?" Sasuke persisted, still feeling dubious about the idea.

He supposed the plan was decent in theory, but with it being the middle of the night now, the rooms and corridors were painted a near pitch black save for the moonlight sparsely filtering through the gaps in the windows and the cracks in the walls. One wrong move could send Naruto crashing down to the floor and all hell would break loose then. None of the furniture still lying around would be decent enough to act as a barricade and they had no idea yet how many people they would be fighting.

"I learnt to be stealthy from a young age with a mum who had a bat's hearing," Naruto scoffed before coaxing Konohamaru from his lap.

The boy, however, was quite reluctant to release him and his hands shot out to snatch the flaps of Naruto's jacket, clinging onto him. Naruto's face softened and for a moment he paused.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll be back before you even know it," he said softly and nodded at Sasuke, Gaara and Karin. "In the meantime you stay with them, okay? They'll keep you safe."

"Want to stay with you," Konohamaru replied; his voice small but stubborn at the same time.

"What I'm planning to do isn't exactly safe," Naruto smiled wryly. "You helped out a lot with pointing us in the right direction. I'll just go upstairs quickly, lower myself through the hole, go into the room and grab the prosthetic. I'll be right back, I promise. Won't even take me more than fifteen minutes tops."

Konohamaru still appeared quite doubtful, unwilling to let go of Naruto. He was similar to a duckling in that way: imprinting on the first person he had lain eyes on.

"What if they hear you?" he whispered worriedly; stubbornness making way for fear in his eyes.

"I'll be going with Naruto upstairs to guard him," Gaara commented, pushing himself away from the wall and snatching up his crossbow.

"How about this," Sasuke spoke up, attracting everybody's attention, "you stay with Karin here. Naruto will go up to the next floor together with Gaara, who will keep an eye on him there. Meanwhile I will keep watch in the corridor just in case someone tries to come up. If someone does show up, I'll take care of them."

"See, both Sasuke and Gaara will have my back; nothing is going to happen," Naruto smiled reassuringly.

Sasuke wouldn't dare to go as far as claim that, but this plan was somewhat concrete at least. Karin could keep an eye on Konohamaru and Sasuke would feel more at ease with both himself and Gaara keeping an eye on Naruto. There hadn't been any noise from the floors above them, so it was fairly safe to assume that the cannibals were only occupying the hospital until the second floor. Still, he wouldn't dare to bank on their luck too much. The plan was still risky as hell. The least Sasuke could do, was ensure that nobody would try to sneak up on them.

"All three of them are very badass, they can take care of themselves," Karin reassured Konohamaru and patted the floor next to her. "Trust me, you won't ever see people more badass than these three, they'll be okay."

"Coming from you, that's a major compliment," Naruto snorted.

This time when he coaxed Konohamaru to release him, the boy complied, albeit very reluctantly. He shuffled over to Karin, quietly taking a seat next to her while he watched how Sasuke and Naruto stood up.

The three men slipped out of the room; Naruto riffling in his bag to retrieve the rope.

"You sure you can do this?" Sasuke asked quietly, looking around.

The darkness, barely broken up by some smudges of moonlight fighting its way through some of the windows in the rooms, felt oppressing now, more than before. The knowledge that just one floor below them there were people sleeping who hunted their own kind in order to slaughter and eat them sent shivers of revulsion running down his spine and he became hyper alert of even the tiniest of sounds. Zombies had turned into a known entity by now, something he had become adapt at handling. Cannibals? That was something unknown, somehow even more horrific than the literal dead wandering around.

A quick kiss to his mouth had Sasuke jerking back in surprise.

"I'll be fine," Naruto promised, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "I wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't know I could pull this off. Trust me, Gaara and I have been in worse shit than this. Besides, Gaara will be with me and you know this dude's a protective tank; nothing gets past him," he smirked.

Gaara rolled his eyes, snorting quietly.

"We're dealing with cannibals here," Sasuke riposted flatly. "You're not being as reassuring as you think you are."

"Too bad we haven't seen any propane tanks here," Naruto mumbled while they cautiously made their way back to the door leading to the staircase. "I'd love to set this shithole on fire."

"Should have brought Itachi with us," Sasuke murmured.

They shared an amused grin for a couple of seconds before sobering up again.

"All right, going to make my way up now," Naruto announced, looping the rope around his arm while he raised his crossbow. Gaara prepared his own crossbow; a grim look settling on his face. "Give us ten minutes. If you don't see me appearing through the hole then, come check up on us."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare at him. "You're actually requesting my help now?" he asked amazed.

Not that Naruto was always so difficult about accepting help – no, wait, both he and Gaara were actually absolute pricks about it actually, which made it all the more astonishing that Naruto was actually giving him a time limit to work with now.

"I'm giving you a timeframe now because I know you're going to eat yourself up in worry otherwise," Naruto answered unruffled. "This way you don't have to explode from sheer concern."

"I apologise for caring about you," Sasuke said snarky.

Naruto grinned while Gaara huffed amused. "Apology accepted." Both friends went into the main staircase then, letting the door swing shut behind them.

Through the matted window Sasuke caught a glimpse of their shadows pausing before they disappeared completely from view.

"I absolutely don't like this," Sasuke murmured underneath his breath before slowly making his way to the debris covered part of the corridor.

The room containing the prosthetics was located at the end of the corridor; its doors hanging off its hinges. With no light inside the actual room to work with, Sasuke could only trust Konohamaru's word that the prosthetics were actually there. He didn't believe the kid would lie about that, but it would have been a lot handier if they could have done this during the day when they would actually have natural light to work with.

All he could see now was a gaping black space at the end of the hallway, the whiteness of the doorframe the only way to indicate there was even a door opening there. Likewise he couldn't see the hole in the ceiling Naruto had mentioned, but the blond man had no reason to lie about that, so Sasuke would trust that it was there. Gaara after all had known what Naruto had been talking about before Naruto had even explained his idea. Sasuke would almost feel jealous at how well those two could read each other, but that came as no surprise when they had been best friends for years and had basically been living in each other's pockets for the past couple of years.

He stopped right in front of a wooden beam which had fallen down from the ceiling at one point in time. It acted as some kind of barrier between the part of the corridor that was completely filled with trash and shattered glass and the part that was manageable. Even in the darkness the outlines of broken chairs and bricks strewn about could be seen.

Knowing how bad this corridor looked from when they had entered this floor earlier today, he wondered why the cannibals were only taking up the ground floor to the second floor and none above this one. Maybe they weren't with that many? That would work in their favour if that was the case and it would certainly explain why they hadn't taken over the rest of the hospital. Perhaps it was easier to take care of just the first couple of floors instead? Or could there be zombies locked up in the higher floors? No, that was doubtful because they would certainly have picked up some noise of the undead if that were the case.

Maybe there was just no reason. They were humans eating other humans; reason had left them a long time ago. Could eating human flesh affect the brain in –

Something seemed to move at the end of the corridor.

Sasuke squinted into the darkness and breathed out when he saw a vague form slowly descending. No need for the time limit of ten minutes then.

Being forced to linger at this side of the hallway while witnessing his lover slowly making his way down a rope of all things through a goddamn hole in the ceiling was kind of nerve-wracking actually, Sasuke wasn't going to lie. He knew he could trust Gaara to take care of Naruto, like the red haired man had been doing for several years. He just didn't like being separated in this kind of manner, in a place where they had no idea what else might lurk behind the corners. Out of all the places they had been at so far, this hospital seemed the most likely to actually harbour boogeymen – dead or alive.

He watched Naruto silently dropping on the floor, bending down slightly to deal with the impact. There was no movement for a little while until a quiet click echoed through the corridor. A small flame sprang to life and Naruto's face was illuminated by it for a couple of seconds before he turned around, disappearing into the room.

The flame danced in and out of Sasuke's view while Naruto made his way through the room in search of a prosthetic. Suddenly Sasuke realised they hadn't agreed upon a timeframe of how long Naruto should be in that room before help might be necessary. He comforted himself with the thought that if a zombie had been in there, they would have heard the moaning already.

Considering what they knew about the people inhabiting this hospital, zombies might actually be something they didn't need to worry about this time.

The flame danced back in sight and Sasuke straightened up. Naruto didn't sign anything at him, but the flame disappeared as soon as he was near the rope again. Up he went, climbing back up to the fourth floor. Any other moment and Sasuke would have admired how limber Naruto was but now he could only stand there tersely, his ears pricked, trying to hear if anything was amiss. He thought he could hear some faint whispering between Naruto and Gaara, but that could easily just be the wind.

He didn't even hear them making their way to the stairs above him, but the door suddenly swung open. Sasuke whirled around, already raising his katana just in case.

"It's just us, no need to make someone into shish kebab," Naruto whispered, walking over to Sasuke with Gaara following him.

"You found a prosthetic?" Sasuke questioned, more at ease now that the two of them were back with him.

"Yep." Naruto patted his bag. "Grabbed one that looks like it'll fit Deidara the best. I didn't dare to grab more because they're heavier than they look like and I don't want to be dragged down by extra weight when we get the hell out of here."

"Especially because we already have extra weight in the form of a kid," Gaara muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good idea," Sasuke mumbled and they snuck back into the room.

As soon as Naruto lowered himself onto the floor, Konohamaru practically leaped away from Karin's side, latching onto the blond again, making him huff amused.

"You found anything?" Karin inquired curiously.

"Yeah, think this one might fit Deidara."

"Can't believe you used a rope to drop yourself down a hole in the ceiling," she snorted incredulously, shaking her head. "You really are quite something."

He winked. "I aim to please."

"So we'll stay one more day and then leave during the night?" Sasuke asked, sitting down next to Naruto.

"In the dark the zombies might take us by surprise," Karin warned, but she sounded subdued, exhausted.

"Yeah, but it also might give us enough cover in case someone spots us," Gaara said, crouching down in the nearest corner.

"It's not ideal," Naruto admitted, "but if we leave during the day, they might still spot us if we screw up their schedule."

"So stay during the day, leave when it's night," Sasuke concluded.

Karin uttered a huge sigh, thumping her head quietly against the wall. "I'm going to be so happy once we're home."

It was a sentiment they all shared, Sasuke was certain.

"We'll need to be careful that he doesn't see his parents when we leave," Naruto said and came to stand next to him.

The room they currently were in looked out at the front entrance. They were careful to remain out of view every time they peeked through the window, but so far they hadn't spotted any of the cannibals outside. They could be heard rummaging around on the lower floors, though; sometimes laughing loudly and chattering amicably as if they were just a regular community.

Karin was in the room they had spent the night in, together with Konohamaru, informing him about their compound and preparing him for when they would leave during the night. The kid appeared cautiously optimistic about going with them. Gaara was examining the other rooms, trying to see if there was anything of use still left here.

"That's not a sight either one of us wants to see again," Sasuke murmured peeking through the window. Still nobody out there. They really did wait until their victims entered the hospital themselves, huh? An actual walking dinner in a morbid kind of way when you thought about it.

Naruto hummed in agreement. "You think your dad will cause a fuss if we take Konohamaru with us?"

"No." Sasuke shook his head. "Expansion isn't forbidden. Mei will have a baby soon and I bet that won't be the last baby either. We also took in Moegi. He won't mind. Where else would Konohamaru even go?"

"True," Naruto sighed and crossed his arms. His crossbow was slung across his shoulder but his machete and dagger were in reach, strapped to his thigh and side respectively. "I hate being reminded how shit this world is now. That kid shouldn't have had to lose his parents this early already. It wasn't even zombies who got them, for fuck's sake."

"You're good with him, though," Sasuke remarked, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "He clearly likes you."

A bit more than he seemed to like Gaara. Perhaps the red haired man was just a tad too intimidating for someone as young as Konohamaru.

"He just latched on to the first person he saw," Naruto denied. "That could easily have been you, Gaara or Karin. Doesn't mean anything in particular that he latched onto me."

"Still, you're good with kids; Itachi mentioned it as well," Sasuke recalled his brother making the offhanded comment after Naruto had taken over some lessons from him. "He was impressed with how quickly you managed to corral them and get their attention – in ways that didn't mean intimidating them like Gaara apparently did," he added with a faint smile.

He wished he could have been present during those lessons, curious just how intimidating Gaara had truly been.

Naruto stretched his arms before linking them behind his head. He gazed up at the ceiling, popping his lips quietly. "I grew up with a lot of kids in my street," he said and smiled faintly. "It was as if every year there was yet another baby popping out. Mum and dad never had another kid after they had me. Don't know if that was their own decision or if mum wasn't able to have more, but … Gaara and I ended up spending a lot of time with the neighbour kids, no matter their age. As we got older, Gaara started tinkering with motorcycles while I started babysitting, so … Taking care of a kid isn't that weird to me."

He side-eyed Sasuke. "What about you? You popular with the neighbourhood kids back in the day?" he asked teasingly.

"Popular for my looks but that was about it," Sasuke scoffed. "I never really have been a people person, not even when I was a kid. Itachi on the other hand, he was like a magnet for kids. Mum used to reminisce about how when I was a baby Itachi used to carry me around everywhere, said at times that not even she could get me to calm down. Itachi managed to calm down every kid, though, fussy or not. It's why he's in charge of the defence classes because he connects with them easily."

"Mah, I'd say you aren't doing such a shabby job now, you know," Naruto commented lightly. "Hell, you got him to calm down last night too, so you aren't that much of a Grinch when it comes to kids."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Doesn't count, I was just expanding on the plan to show him that we had it under control."

"Man, you suck at accepting compliments," Naruto said amused and lowered his arms, bumping their shoulders together. "Just accept it: you're good with kids too."

"You're better, though."

"Practice, that's all that it is," Naruto laughed quietly before turning a bit contemplative. "I hope Konohamaru-kun and Moegi-chan will get along with each other. They could do with some friends their own age."

"That'd be nice," Sasuke muttered in agreement.

They stood side by side in silence for a while , listening to the birds chirping outside. With spring well under way, the days were getting warmer and the sun had reached its highest point now, high and bright up in the sky; fluffy white clouds dotting the bright blue sky. If they weren't hiding from cannibals in a downtrodden hospital this day could be considered quite peaceful.

"We're going to make it out of here, all five of us," Naruto said softly, twisting around to close his arms around Sasuke's waist. "We managed well so far, we're going to stretch this streak all the way back to our car."

"Yeah," Sasuke breathed out slowly and returned the embrace, closing his eyes while he buried his face in Naruto's neck, listening to his breathing.

They had to believe they were going to be okay. Because without faith what did they even have left?

The crossbow was both a reassuringly familiar and alien weight in his hands.

They had decided that one of them would carry Konohamaru while they made their escape. The young boy was still rather weak even with the biscuits and water they had been given him, looking like he could sink through his legs at any given second, and they couldn't afford to lose time by walking at his pace now. When Karin had suggested this plan to him, Konohamaru had instantly turned towards Naruto with a pleading look on his face. It didn't take a genius to know that he wanted Naruto to be the one carrying him around.

Naruto had easily acquiesced, but he had ended up shoving his crossbow in Sasuke's hands before lifting up Konohamaru.

"If shit hits the fan, you'll be able to react quicker than I will," Naruto had explained, nodding down at Konohamaru who had wrapped his limbs around him in an imitation of a monkey. "Can't exactly aim with a crossbow and carry him at the same time."

"You're handy, but not that handy," Gaara had agreed; his tone light but his eyes dark.

They ended up waiting until it was nearly midnight before they made their way back to the staircase. All they had to do was descend the staircase and sneak out the way they had snuck in. Then make their way through the forest, giving the hospital a wide berth once more and get to their car as fast as they could so they could get the hell out of this place finally. The plan was simple and the cover of the night would ensure they would be able to sneak away undetected. They might be forced to deal with some zombies, but they couldn't risk waiting yet another day. The food and water had run out earlier this evening and at some point one of the cannibals might actually decide to come upstairs after all.

The four of them heaved a relieved sigh when they finally set foot on the ground floor. The stench of death and the rusty scent of blood still clung thickly to the air here, smothering their sigh as soon as they inhaled. Konohamaru scrunched up his nose before digging his face into Naruto's shoulder, hiding in his jacket. Sasuke wished he could do the same. The smell was so repugnant, it caused bile to nearly rise up, burning his throat.

Karin gestured at the door at the end of the hallway and silently they crept forwards, on high alert, inching closer and closer to the exit. The sight of the door settled some of Sasuke's nerves, knowing they were close to getting out of this hellhole.

"Who the hell are you?"

Bright light instantly flooded the corridor, nearly blinding Sasuke and he hissed; the brightness stinging his eyes. He whirled around immediately, ignoring the annoying pain, and came face to face with a petite, curly, blonde woman. Her light purple eyes were lined with yellow eyeshadow with her lips matching the colour. She wore a simple green tunic, but her hands and legs were smudged with blood as if she hadn't cared to wash off yet. Her eyes widened when she took in their little group before a cold smirk graced her yellow painted lips.

"Oh, look who we have here, our little piggy finally showed up!" she cooed; her eyes like ice when she regarded them. "Why don't we have a nice chat together somewhere else, hm? You four must be exhausted."

Her hand slipped down almost imperceptibly to a walkie-talkie hanging near her hip.

Instantly Sasuke aimed the crossbow at her, adrenaline making him pull back the bow quickly as he took aim. He was barely aware of Gaara doing the same thing, cocking his own crossbow instantly.

"ISSHI-!" Before she could finish her scream, a bolt shot straight in the middle of her forehead, followed lightening quick by a second one through her throat and a third one hitting her in her heart.

"We have to leave now!" Sasuke snapped as the sound of thundering footsteps approached them way too quickly.

Forget sneaking out. They broke out in a sprint, Konohamaru crying out in fear as they slammed straight through the door into the narrow corridor.

A man roared "DELTA!" right as they stormed outside; the fresh night air smacking them in the face after having suffered that awful stench of death for way too long. They bolted straight into the woods, discarding their attempt to be silent about it. No point in trying to be quiet now when all the cannibals had now been alerted to their presence. They had to get the fuck away from here and fast.

Twigs snapped underneath their feet and branches were smacked out of the way as they rushed through the trees, trying to put enough distance between them and the group hollering in fury behind them. Light beams occasionally danced over them and Sasuke ducked away just in time before a bullet hit a tree, sending trunk shrapnel all around them.

"KILL THEM!" the same man from before roared enraged and as if that was the sign, that awful rattling moaning and groaning started and shadows began moving all around them, seemingly detaching themselves from the trees.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke slashed at any zombie stupid enough to get too close, stabbing them through the head or simply cutting it off. Cutting it off wouldn't really kill them but at this point he was just trying to keep all of them alive until they reached the car.

The cannibals were quickly gaining up on them, clearly familiar with these woods even in the dark and from somewhere to his left he could hear Karin whispering, "Shit, shit, shit!"

Then one shocked scream after the other erupted, followed by a salvo of gunshots and Sasuke realised that while the cannibals might know the woods better than they did, they clearly hadn't counted on being attacked by the zombies lingering around. They couldn't slow down, though, because even amidst the screaming, there was the noise of footsteps coming ever so closer, nearing them at an alarmingly rapid pace.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU ALL! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART AND SKIN YOU ALIVE!" the man from before screamed.

In a fit of desperation, Sasuke grabbed his gun, briefly turned around and fired off a shot. There was a yelp, but the footsteps only slowed down a bit.

"How much further?" he asked; his lungs already on fire from how fast he was running. He was pushing himself now, his legs burning and threatening to become like jelly, but there was no way he could stop now. If he stopped, he was dead, simple as that.

"Almost there, I think!" Karin panted, nearly stumbling over the upended root of a tree.

A startled shout and a kid's terrified scream had Sasuke whirling around and his heart threatened to stop when he saw Naruto going down – zombie hands grabbing at his legs and at Konohamaru, trying to pull the boy out of Naruto's arms.

"Go get fucked, dipshits!" Naruto snarled and his machete flashed up briefly before he cleaved one of the zombies' head in two.

But there were more crawling towards him and Konohamaru was wailing now. Naruto was having trouble getting up with the boy clinging on to him while zombies grabbled at him. Sasuke was there in a flash and together with Gaara, he hastily stabbed several ones through their head before snatching Naruto's wrist and pulling him up roughly. Naruto stumbled a bit, thrown off balance by the abrupt handling and Konohamaru still clinging onto him, but he recovered quickly; Gaara slashing off a pair of dead hands before they could latch onto the blond.

"Right, thanks for not letting us die," Naruto panted and then they were off again.

They had to jump across a creek and circle all the way around the town; Sasuke losing sight of the others several times in the dark forest. Somehow, through sheer dumb luck or the intervention of some kind of divine being, they managed to stumble out of the town without any of the cannibals trailing after them. If Sasuke concentrated hard, he thought he could still hear furious screaming echoing through the forest, but the cannibals seemed more occupied with zombies at this moment than with chasing them.

This was their only chance.

They dashed towards the car but right before Sasuke could fling open the door and throw himself inside, he suddenly noticed something was wrong. Karin was about to jump into the car, but halted when she saw Sasuke's horrified look.

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?"

Sasuke saw the exact second Gaara realised something was wrong as well; the man's pale skin turning even paler.

Sasuke's mouth was dry, too dry, his throat burning when he rasped out, "Where are Naruto and Konohamaru?"

AN2: We're deviating from the original story once more :)

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.