Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 15: Heaven is Falling

They wound slowly through the streets of Konoha in a cold November rain, stopping only once for gas, and luckily meeting no zombies. Naruto didn't think it possible to meet any more zombies… It seemed like all of them had attacked the Uchiha compound at once, and they couldn't have survived the conflagration that lit up the sky even though they were now ten miles outside of the ravaged town.

"Where do you think we're going?" someone asked quietly.

"Dunno," the blond said. "There's only one place I can think of that's so far out this way, and that's the Hyuuga compound."

Sai looked at him oddly.

"The Hyuuga compound? How do you know where they live?"

They slowly ground to a halt, and a voice came floating through the gray downpour to them.

"Everyone out now!" shouted the voice.

"Aw shit, 'ttebayo," groaned Naruto.

"It's necessary," said Sai, shaking Naruko awake. "After what happened to our compound, they need to make sure no one who escaped is bitten."

"Ne, what will happen to those who have been bitten?" asked Naruko.

"They'll get shot," Sasuke said bluntly, standing up.

"I thought you were asleep, 'ttebayo," said Naruto quietly.

"If only," murmured the raven absently. The depth of the emptiness in his deep blue eyes scared Naruto a little.

They jumped down, and were immediately met by the sight of a pile of dead corpses. Each one had been shot thought the head. Every single one of them was naked. Every single one of them also had a bite wound somewhere on their body, including some in some really awkward places.

"Well, this is a nice welcome," Naruto mumbled to himself. Sasuke heard him and nodded grimly, then shivered.

"You cold?" the blond asked his lover.

"Nothing I can't handle," he was rebuffed coldly.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Sasuke instantly felt guilty. Why was he taking his grief and anger out on his boyfriend?

"Sorry," he said, amending his attitude, trying to smile a little, despite the fact that his heart wasn't in it.

Naruto gave him a sad half-smile back.

"It's okay, koishii," he said softly. "We're all grieving." He put an arm around the raven, who leaned into the embrace, finding comfort in Naruto's embrace.

"Naruto?!"

The couple broke apart and turned around. Naruto was surprised to be met with a pair of pale gray eyes…

And a pair of lips that were not Sasuke's all over his own.

Shock and anger coursed through his body, and he pushed back violently, making the other teenager stumble. Beside him, Sasuke looked positively murderous and was clenching his fists in an attempt to not kill the guy who had just kissed his boyfriend.

"Really, Neji!?" the blond snarled at the long-haired offender, who was looking at him as if he'd never quite seen him before. "This is why I broke up with you; you were always too damn pushy, 'ttebayo!"

"What?" said Hyuuga Neji, massaging his chest where Naruto had pushed him off. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

"No, not particularly," spat the blond, "especially not when you just practically assaulted me!"

"I just gave you a kiss!"

"Yeah, that's great and all," said Naruto sarcastically, "except that I didn't want it, seeing as I have no feelings for you at all and don't plan to have any for the foreseeable future, and you did it in front of my boyfriend!"

Neji did a double-take.

"You have a new boyfriend?" he asked.

"What," Naruto said, rolling his eyes, "are you really so conceited as to think that I've been pining for you for three years, 'ttebayo?"

"Lay off of Naruto, Hyuuga," said Sasuke softly, edging closer to Naruto and putting a hand in the blond's. "He's mine."

Behind them, they heard "flaming goddamn queers" and all three turned to glare at Sai, who was looking pointedly away.

"One more word in front of us about what you think of the GLBT community, you fucking prick," Naruto growled, "and I'll rip off your balls and toss 'em on that pile. Let's see you try and get my sister pregnant without that, 'ttebayo."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Sai, behave," Naruko scolded him.

"He'd better behave, 'ttebayo," said Naruto threateningly, "or I'll fucking kill him."

His twin glared at him.

"You too, Naruto, or I'll rip off your balls," she snapped.

"Is that your sister?" asked Neji, practically drooling. "The last time I saw her she had such short hair, and she was as flat as a board…"

"She's taken too," Naruto deadpanned, and Neji sighed in disappointment. "He's bisexual," he added to Sasuke.

"Oh," said the dark-haired teenager, who had lost interest in what was happening and was staring off into the distance, back in the direction of where they'd come. The darkening sky was illuminated by the distant inferno that was the remains of the Uchiha compound. Naruto noticed tears in his boyfriend's eyes and pulled him close again.

"Wow, your current boyfriend's really short," Neji observed.

Both boys glared at him.

"May I kill him?" asked Sasuke.

"When I'm done with him," said Naruto. "I'm still pissed about his conceited attitude, 'ttebayo."

Just then there was a commotion at the back of the group. The guards pulled out an old woman whose graying hair was coming out of the crisp bun she had put it in when she woke up this morning. Her inky black eyes were wild with fear, and she looked pleadingly at the crowd and at the guards.

"It's just a small bite!" she pleaded. "Please, don't put me on that pile!"

"Look, I'm sorry, lady, but the rules are that anyone with a festering bite wound gets shot," said the guard, looking supremely uncomfortable. He tried to put his pistol to her head, but she was thrashing around so much that he couldn't do it; plus, Naruto saw that he was reluctant to do it anyway; Japanese culture taught younger people to respect their elders, and this act of violence was in complete violation of that which had been ingrained in the youth of Japan for centuries.

"When I was little," Sasuke whispered to him, eyes fixed on the old woman, "she took care of me and my brother. Her name is Hana."

Naruto thought for a moment, and then gently pulled his boyfriend over to the old lady. Her eyes widened at their approach, and she stretched her hands out, pleading.

"Sasuke-chan," she begged, "please…"

Naruto saw his boyfriend's eyes, full of helplessness and indecision, as he knelt beside the old woman and took her hands.

"Hana-baachan, I can't do anything," he said gently, though, his body was shaking, whether from the cold or from the stress Naruto couldn't tell.

"B-but-"

"Please, Hana-baachan, this is a stressful position for all of us," said the raven. "The best I can do is promise you a respectful burial in a marked grave."

"Not on that pile?"

"I swear on the honor of the clan."

The old woman seemed to be comforted by this and took out the ivory comb that held her hair back, letting it fall down her back in waves. She pressed it into Sasuke's hand and closed his fingers around it.

"This was my husband Mashiro's wedding gift to me," she said. "Take good care of it, Sasuke-chan."

The young raven nodded, not trusting himself to speak; if he did, he might end up crying again, and he was sick of crying.

When he stepped away, Hana pulled Naruto closer.

"Young man," she whispered, "I have seen you and Sasuke-chan together. I know what young love looks like. Listen to me; more are going to die. Whether he likes it or not, Sasuke-chan is now the head of the Uchiha clan. He will have to make some tough decisions. You need to be his anchor to sanity. Take care of him. Do not let him forget who he is."

Naruto nodded. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he fought them back.

"I promise I'll take care of him," he whispered back. "You can count on it."

Hana smiled at him.

"I'm glad. Now go."

Naruto stood up and stepped back. His lover buried his face in his chest, and the blond held him there.

"What did she say?" Naruko asked quietly.

"We'll talk some other time, 'ttebayo," said Naruto grimly.

A shot rang out, and Hana's body splashed into the mud. Her black eyes were glazed. Naruto buried his face in Sasuke's hair, willing himself not to throw up.

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"You really should come to bed, 'ttebayo," Naruto said.

"There's no point," mumbled Sasuke. "I can't sleep."

The blond sighed and got off of the bed, sitting next to his lover and placing a hand over his. The raven turned his eyes to him. They weren't the eyes of a sixteen-year-old; they were the eyes of someone much older, who had been through much more suffering than a sixteen-year-old should have to go through.

"I can't believe this," he said. "Yesterday everything was as fine as it could be in the middle of an epidemic of the walking dead, and today everything's gone to shit. The world has gone completely crazy. I've seen enough of death in one day to last me two lifetimes, and there will very likely be more in the future. It makes you wonder what the point of living is when you could die at any minute."

'Oh boy,' Naruto's inner voice told him, and he mentally agreed with it. In the meantime, Sasuke continued on.

"And in the meantime, I've gotten the mantle of head of the Uchiha clan thrust upon me. I can't give it to anyone else. This means that the lives of however many Uchihas who survived the attack on our compound are now in my hands, which is a huge responsibility for anyone to take on, especially someone who's not even out of high school yet."

"You're thinking about Hana, koishii," stated Naruto quietly.

"Yes," sighed his lover. "I could have done something more for her… After all, she took care of me and Itachi when we were kids. She deserved better than she got, and it's my fault."

"No it's not," said the blond, putting an arm around him. "You really need to stop blaming yourself for everything that happens to the people around you. You tried to make the best out of a bad situation for her, and I think it worked. I mean, you helped oversee her burial, which was a pretty decent thing to do. So don't go blaming yourself, 'ttebayo."

Sasuke said nothing, but pressed his body closer to Naruto's. Naruto felt him shivering, though whether from the cold or from the stress he didn't know.

"Hey, you really should go to bed."

"I'm fine, Naruto… Hey, put me down!"

"Since you weren't gonna go under your own steam, I'm taking you there myself," said Naruto reasonably as Sasuke struggled against him, though greatly weakened by exhaustion, grief, and shock. "Hey, stop that," he admonished gently, setting his boyfriend down on the bed. "I could've dropped you and accidentally hurt you, 'ttebayo."

"Well, then you shouldn't have picked me up in the first place," said the raven-haired teen brusquely. "Dobe…"

"Heh," snorted the blond teenager, sitting down on Sasuke's side of the bed and running a hand gently through his lover's ebony locks. Then he let his hand rest on the raven's forehead.

"You've got a fever," he said in concern.

Sasuke swatted his hand away in annoyance.

"I'm fine, dammit," he said. "Are you trying to be my mother?"

There was an awkward silence between them as Sasuke processed what he'd just said, and then the raven looked down guiltily.

"I'm sorry, koishii," he said softly.

"There's no need to apologize, 'ttebayo," said Naruto with a gentle smile. "I understand that you're under a lot of stress."

The dark-haired teenager nodded wearily, stifling the urge to cough… The last thing he needed was to come down with a cold. Naruto was still looking at him in concern, and he tried to put on a small smile to reassure his blond lover.

"I swear I'll be fine," he intoned softly, as Naruto pulled the sheets and the quilt over him.

Naruto's face said that he knew that Sasuke wasn't all right, and the raven took it as a great accomplishment that the blond kept whatever he must be thinking to himself… He wasn't in the mood for sympathy; just for a good rest.

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Sasuke woke up in a strange place. He didn't know where he was; only that he'd never been here before and that it seemed empty, devoid of life.

"Hello?" he called, but his voice just echoed through the empty chamber, coming back to him a hundred fold.

Curious, he got up and started exploring the empty room. Surely there was a door around here somewhere, maybe a hidden door. But no, all the wall spaces he explored were smooth. There were no cracks to indicate any hidden doors.

As he puzzled over how this could be true, he noticed a door finally. That was strange, because Sasuke had already explored the wall that it was on, and there was nothing there before. Curious, he went up to it and opened it.

A blast of heat pushed him back, and he cried out in shock, shielding his face with his arms. It was a wall of flames, and he panicked, trying to shut the door, but for some reason it wouldn't shut.

Within the flames, human forms appeared. Sasuke wanted to look away, but he stood transfixed as they moved closer… His mother, dead by his hands; his father, with whom he had exchanged few words since he'd come to grips with his own sexual orientation; Itachi and Kyuubi, holding hands; Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina; his classmates and teachers and clansmen, all dead. And at the front of them all, a person Sasuke had tried to forget for over two years…

Finally, with a cry of horror, he managed to shut the door and turn his back on it.

The room was no longer empty or just a blank white; blood now adorned the walls, trickling from it, and dripping from the ceiling to the floor. And in the middle of the floor was Naruto, lying on his back. There was a bite on his arm, and a bullet wound in his forehead. His blue eyes were open, staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

"NO!" screamed Sasuke, bringing his hands up to his face, but when they were in front of him, he realized they were covered in blood too. Sobbing, he reached behind him for the door -facing the countless dead and the flames behind that door was better than the sight of his boyfriend lying dead in the center of the room- but there was no door any more, and he was left in the room with Naruto's corpse. With a choked cry, he fell to the ground in shock. Reaching a hand out to break his fall, he felt metal and tightened his hand around it. When he was safely on the ground where he couldn't fall again, he picked up the object.

It was a gun, still smoking. Sasuke looked at it, confused.

"It was you," said a voice.

Looking up, the raven saw that there were now two Narutos… There was the corpse in the middle of the room, and there was the shade of Naruto, unblemished, standing before him.

"What?" he said, unable to breathe.

"You shot me," said Naruto, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"No…"

"You shot me," Naruto insisted.

"No!" cried Sasuke, throwing the weapon away from him like it had just bitten him. "I couldn't have; I love you!"

"You killed me."

"NOOOOOO!"

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"NOOOOO!" yelled the raven, sitting bolt upright in bed, his eyes wide and scared.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on, 'ttebayo!?" said Naruto, rushing out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "Are you okay?!" he added as he took in Sasuke's paler-than-usual countenance, the wide eyes, the heavy breathing as if the smaller teen had just run a marathon.

The dark-haired teenager shook his head, trying to bring his breathing under control… He was dangerously close to having an asthma attack, and he had realized belatedly that he had no inhaler, having forgotten it in the dojo at the by now incinerated Uchiha compound, which in retrospect had not been a good idea.

Naruto came and sat down on the bed next to him and put an arm around him. Sasuke wrapped his arms around the blond's muscular torso and held on. Naruto smoothed his boyfriend's hair soothingly.

"Oi, koishii," he said softly, "what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," said Sasuke, his voice slightly muffled as his face was still buried in the blond's shoulder.

"D'you wanna talk about it?" asked Naruto.

The raven shook his head.

"Hey, can I get some nightclothes on, 'ttebayo? I promise I'll come right back."

Sasuke was reluctant to let go, but he did so anyway, and Naruto got off the bed and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The raven heard him bustling around, rustling clothes, running water, getting ready for bed. He sighed wearily, running his fingers through his hair.

The little sleep he'd gotten hadn't helped his headache at all; on the contrary, it now felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to the inside of his skull. He gritted his teeth as a particularly bad wave of pain coursed through his head, and closed his eyes against the onslaught.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

He opened his eyes. Naruto was back in bed, dressed in a pair of black boxers and a matching T-shirt, and he was looking at his boyfriend in concern. The dark-haired teenager tried to smile, to reassure Naruto that he was all right, but the smile became a grimace as another wave of pain blotted out everything in his vision.

"You really aren't feeling well," stated the blond, turning off the bedside lamp.

"What clued you in?" asked Sasuke sarcastically, massaging his forehead.

"Well, first you don't want me to act all caring, and then you get all bitchy when I try to ignore it!" said Naruto, rolling his eyes. "Which one d'you-?" He was cut off by his lover's lips on his own.

"Shut up, dobe," said the other teen, snuggling into his boyfriend's arms.

Naruto chuckled.

"You're so temperamental I could swear you're a girl," he kidded.

"Don't ruin the moment, bitch," came Sasuke's muffled reply.

"Just a moment?" Naruto teased him.

The raven rolled his eyes, and then gritted his teeth against another wave of pain, though it wasn't as intense as it had been when the light was on.

Before they drifted off, Naruto pushed back the hair on Sasuke's forehead and kissed the pale flesh.

"I love you," he said sleepily.

"I love you too, Naruto," came the drowsy reply.

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AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

See, whenever I see two boys being all lovey-dovey with each other, like legitimately lovey-dovey, I can't stop what I like to call my "Awwww!" reflex. It's a quirk of mine. Basically I go "Awww!" when stuff like that happens. Like, with NaruSasu, or with my friend and his ex-boyfriend. It happens with other lesbian couples too, but I find it more adorable than sexy when it's two guys. Two chics making out, now that just turns me on. That's not just "Aww"; it's also "Hot damn, I want me some of that!"

But anyways, review! And just an FYI, the person Sasuke was trying to forget this chapter and the unknown incident that Fugaku referred to last chapter will have significance later in the story, so stay on your toes!

Yes, I only promised chapters 13 and 14, but think of chapters 15 and 16 as an extra treat. And why are they coming earlier than I projected? Well, I was promised a new laptop in June as part of my graduation present, and here it is, less than two weeks before college starts, but at least it's in time... :)

Hold on to your seats, ladies and gents! Next chapter brings more drama, more silliness, and more yaoi, especially yaoi! So please, sit back and enjoy the show!