Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

The Long Run	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1940 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor make profit of it. Kishimoto owns it.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Author's note: To quote one of my friend's comments of the previous chapter: "more smut, more angst, a shocking twist". Because you all didn't think I would let you off this easily, hm? Just so you all know, I had a lot of fun writing this particular chapter and it contains a scene I've been planning for quite some time already.
Warnings: Character deaths; some angst; blowjob
I hope you'll like this!
Chapter 23
"But I'm the one desperate to mingle with dead arseholes," Naruto said amused, making Karin grin wider. "Anyone else joining us?"
"No, it's going to be you three only," Father said and picked up a map, folding it open. "It might be a little bit risky, but sending a large group doesn't seem like a good idea either."
"Where are we going then?" Karin asked curiously, drifting closer to the table.
"A lot further than I normally would send you," Father admitted and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He tapped at a place on the map; a city none of them had ever visited before because it would take at least a week to get there, if not longer. "But it can't really be helped. Tsunade-sama reminded me of a hospital up in the north that might be worth checking out."
"What's exactly in that hospital?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He was pretty certain there were hospitals closer to them that they hadn't checked yet.
"If we're lucky, there will still be prosthetics left, maybe even more medication that we could use," Father answered. "It's a big 'if' of course, but we have to try it."
"A prosthetic arm for Deidara?" Naruto asked curiously, studying the map carefully.
Father nodded. "Yes, he's been practicing to get used to having one arm, but it would be easier for him if we could find a decent prosthetic."
"Even if we find one, that doesn't mean it would fit perfectly," Sasuke cautioned. He barely knew anything about prosthetics, but he was nearly completely certain that a prosthetic needed to be adjusted to the size of the one who would wear it.
"I know, but Sasori-san said he would try doing the adjustments if there is a need for it," Father replied. "But that is a concern for later, if you actually do manage to find an arm prosthetic. Tsunade-sama remembers this hospital having had a department for that in the past, but that's quite a while ago, so we might end up with nothing after all."
"Then again," Karin said thoughtfully, "how many people would really be in need of prosthetics nowadays? Most people will have focused on medicine and food, not on prosthetics."
"I guess we'll find out when we get there," Naruto said nonchalantly; his fingers tracing the roads between their compound and the city. "This looks like it might take us nearly two weeks to go there and get back."
"Most likely. I'm not too happy about sending you that far, but if we can find a prosthetic that would help out Deidara-san …" Father trailed off and sighed. "It's why I'm sending you three instead of others, because you three have a lot of experience out there and know how to best handle yourselves. Itachi, Kisame-san and Ino-san will be doing a run a bit closer to home, so they're out for this run." He gave them an apologetic look.
"It's fine," Karin said soothingly. "We'll see how much we can take back with us."
Father nodded. "Well, if there are no other questions, you can spend today gathering supplies you want to take with you. You'll leave at eight tomorrow."
"We'll meet each other at the gates then?" Karin suggested, looking at them questioningly.
Sasuke inclined his head. "That's okay with me."
Naruto merely nodded his assent, throwing one more look at the map before he followed Sasuke and Karin outside. She offered them a cheerful wave before she made her way back to her own home in order to prepare for tomorrow.
"I'll see you in a bit at your apartment then?" Sasuke asked, watching how Naruto stretched his arms. "If we're leaving for such a long time, we're going to need enough supplies."
"Sounds good to me, I'll see you soon then," Naruto smiled and pecked his lips before walking away.
Itachi was still home when Sasuke entered the house, preparing a late breakfast. "Did father tell you about the hospital?" he asked when Sasuke walked into the kitchen. He was preparing a sandwich with homemade jam.
"Yeah, not sure whether we'll actually find a suitable prosthetic there, but we can try at least," Sasuke said, leaning against the kitchen counter. He eyed his brother. "Father's sending me, Naruto and Karin on this run."
"I know, he told me about it last night," Itachi confirmed. "He was trying to figure out who he could send with me and Kisame unable to go. I told him you three were the best choice."
"Why? Thought you didn't like me going on such a long run." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
Even nearly four years into the zombie apocalypse, Itachi still didn't like it when Sasuke went on runs that took longer than two days. Everyone had to pitch in, however, and Sasuke had never been the type to remain idle while the others did all the work. Did he like risking his life every time he went outside? No, definitely not, but it had become a part of their lives by now. They could whine and complain all they wanted, but it wouldn't change reality.
"I don't. I can't say I'm a fan of you risking your life," Itachi smiled wryly. "But I'm not going to belittle your skills either. I know you and Karin-san are one of the best around here and Naruto-kun knows probably better than any of us how to survive out there. If there is any group who could make it during such a long run, it would be you three. That said," his smile turned even wryer, "please do be careful out there. I don't think any of us made it out that far until now."
"When am I not careful?"
"Well, your luck has been a bit shaky lately," Itachi said apologetically.
Sasuke wanted to protest that, but then he thought about his run-in with Sakon's group and the town with the crazy priestess and yes, maybe his luck had been rather shaky lately. At the same time, however, he had always managed to make it out of those dangerous situations alive, so his luck hadn't turned that completely shitty yet.
"As you said, Karin is one of the best and Naruto knows how to survive; we'll be fine," Sasuke sighed and crossed his arms.
Itachi lowered his head; his smile faint. "You're going to prepare for tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'm going over to Naruto after that. We might show up for dinner here, don't know yet," Sasuke said.
Sometimes Naruto was in the mood to share dinner with Sasuke's family, sometimes he wasn't. It all seemed to depend on the day.
"Sounds good, I'll see you tonight then if you can come over," Itachi said and squeezed his shoulder gently before grabbing his sandwich and going to the living room.
Sasuke made his way upstairs, unearthing his biggest bag from the bottom of his wardrobe. He covered the bottom of it with extra clothes before adding his gun and extra bullets on top of them. He put a couple of knives in there as well before going back downstairs and rummaging through the cupboards for any kind of food that could be preserved for a while in a bag. With some luck they could catch something to eat while on the road, but it wasn't smart to count on something like that even with spring having arrived. Better to be prepared for everything.
The food packages were divided between the biggest bag and a smaller one, together with several bottles of water. A pouch with the most urgent medical aid supplies, considering out of bandages, disinfectant, a pair of scissors and even needle and thread, joined the water. Some blankets covered the water and the medical supplies from view and he zipped both bags shut. He debated whether to leave his bags here for now, but he wasn't sure whether Naruto would want to join them for dinner tonight. He could just go back home tonight on his own, but he didn't feel really comfortable leaving Naruto on his own. If he was with him, he could at least keep an eye on whether or not Naruto was actually eating enough.
At times Sasuke swore Naruto still seemed to be in the mindset of being on the road where he had to ration his food, because he was pretty certain that when he wasn't around, Naruto didn't eat the regular three meals a day if he wasn't feeling it.
"Fuck it," he sighed and snatched the bags from his bed after grabbing his katana.
He poked his head around the doorway of the living room, where Itachi was seated on the couch, writing something down in a notebook.
"Do we still have tents in the storage?" he asked curiously.
They would be taking a car, of course, but sleeping with three people in such a cramped space would get uncomfortable really fast, even if one of them remained awake at all times.
Itachi looked up and furrowed his eyebrows. "We should have at least two still," he said after a short pause. "You can take both of them if you want."
"You sure?"
"Yes, nobody else will be going on such a long trip, so you'll be able to make better use of it," Itachi stated, glancing at the hint of one of the bags peeking from behind the doorway. "You're going to Naruto-kun now?"
"Yep, I'll see if he wants to come over tonight."
"All right, enjoy your free day," Itachi chuckled and turned his attention back to his notebook.
Sasuke scoffed, a bit rankled at the amused tone, but decided to forego getting into an argument about this and left the house, making his way across the compound to Naruto's apartment building. His footsteps echoed through the staircase as he made his way up, passing a mother with her young son who were going downstairs. The moment he set foot in the hallway of the right floor, the door to Naruto's apartment already opened; the blond man supporting himself with his right shoulder against the doorframe.
"Fully packed?" Naruto questioned, glancing at the bags.
"Yeah, before we leave tomorrow, we'll have to go to the storage room and grab the tents there, but that can wait for now," Sasuke replied, walking into the apartment once Naruto took a step aside. "You ready?"
"Sure." Naruto waved at two bags resting on the table; his crossbow resting on top of one of them. "You want some water?"
"Yeah, thanks," Sasuke muttered absently, dropping his bags against the wall before walking over to the table, eyeing the two bags. He frowned, pressing down on the bags experimentally. "You only packed your weapons?" he called out and couldn't help but sound a bit disapproving.
"Yep, plus a change of clothes if we land in hot water," Naruto called back. A pause followed before he added, "Not exactly meant as a pun, that one. I meant, if we get covered in zombie guts and need to change clothes. Anyways, yes, weapons and clothes."
"No food?"
There was the sound of glass being placed onto a counter. "Don't see the need for it. I can always catch something on the road. I've got some water packed, though."
"Because that's going to get you far," Sasuke muttered darkly and he looked around the apartment; his stomach squirming uncomfortably.
Not for the first time since he'd been invited into Naruto's apartment did he take notice of just how bare the place still looked. Aside from the bag with weapons and the crossbow in view, there was nothing to really indicate that someone was living here. If one day Naruto would just disappear, there would be nothing left to show that he had ever lived here. The walls remained empty, the furniture was still the same as when he moved in and nothing had been added in the months he had been here. It was as if he was just a temporary resident, a traveller who would stay for a couple of days before leaving again.
Sasuke couldn't say why the sight of the bare apartment bothered him so much at the moment. Was it because even now Naruto seemed to not really care about his health, only making sure he had enough weapons so that he wouldn't die? Had his time on the road diminished his appetite so much that even now he didn't think that he should take some food with him? Sure, they could catch something on the road, but …
Or was it something else? Something Sasuke couldn't really figure out, but which set him on edge for some reason, making him scowl at the empty walls as if they had personally offended him.
"You keep glaring at those walls and you might actually succeed in setting them on fire," Naruto spoke idly, placing two glasses filled with water on the table. "What's on your mind?"
"Do you still want to leave the compound?"
The question escaped Sasuke before he could think twice about it and he blinked, his scowl deepening. That question sounded way too pathetic for his liking, but there was no taking it back now; no way to spin it into something else.
Naruto stilled, pursing his lips. "We're not simply talking about the run of tomorrow, right?" he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"No, we're not," Sasuke said curtly.
Silence reigned for a while between them. Sasuke waited for the answer Naruto was obviously thinking about; a contemplative look on his face as he stared down at the floor, his arms loosely crossed in front of him.
"I wasn't planning on getting settled in when I arrived here," Naruto eventually said; a tiny frown marring his forehead. "To be honest, I figured I would stay here for a month at best before leaving again. After all the shit from previous times I wasn't really in the mood to get stabbed in the back again, you know?" His chuckle was mirthless; his eyes darkening a shade.
"And now?"
Naruto looked at him; his face softening just a fraction. He shrugged. "Now I've got you."
"Does this mean you're staying here for good?" Sasuke questioned; his heart beating a bit quicker.
"It means that for now I don't have any reason to leave," Naruto said and reached out, grabbing his hands. "I can't promise I'll stay here for good, because nobody knows what's going to happen in the future, but for now I'm not planning on leaving any time soon."
Well, Sasuke supposed that was the best he could expect, especially when Naruto had never been planning on staying for long to begin with.
"What brought this up?" Naruto inquired, playing with his fingers.
"Just started thinking about how you don't have anything personal here," Sasuke admitted before raising an eyebrow. "And how you still refuse to take food with you on long runs."
That had Naruto rolling his eyes and squeezing Sasuke's fingers on the edge of painful. "Again, I find weapons to be a lot more useful than hauling around food. Food, which I might add, that I can catch myself if I need to."
"Ever heard of preparing yourself for everything?" Sasuke couldn't help but shoot back snarky.
"Ever heard of trusting the word of someone who has a lot of experience on the road?" Naruto retorted easily, raising both eyebrows.
"Do you even have food here that you can take with you?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
"Nothing that would keep fresh for at least a week," Naruto answered serenely. Then he frowned. "Are we really going to argue about this right now?"
"Fine, but can you at least add something to this place to make it more like a home and less like a sterile place?" Sasuke complained.
Something that would actually make it look like you're planning on staying here for real?
"You could always just keep some of your stuff here," Naruto said unruffled. "Might be easier even, considering you spend a lot of time here."
Sasuke opened his mouth, but paused, uncertain how to reply to that, because it sounded a whole lot like Naruto was asking him to –
"Now, seeing as we have the day off and we're ready for tomorrow, can I suck you off?"
The actual question didn't register at first, only the light-hearted tone did, but when Sasuke's brain caught up to what Naruto had asked, an embarrassing choking sound escaped him, making Naruto laugh in delight.
"What kind of question is that?!"
"A very serious one actually," Naruto said; his eyes glinting. "Going to be honest here: it's been a while since we last did something and I kind of really want to get my hands on your dick. Or my mouth. Or hell we can fuck, I'm up for anything to be honest, if you want?"
"You're fucking unbelievable," Sasuke muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
Naruto's look turned coy; a flash of white when his teeth dug down in his lower lip and he stepped closer. His hands left Sasuke's hands, dipping down to rest on his hips; his thumbs digging down right below the waistband.
"Doesn't look like you're disagreeing with my idea," he murmured; thumbs sliding closer to Sasuke's groin, putting pressure on either side of his dick.
It was hard to disagree with the way Naruto was looking at him; the way his blue eyes were glistening and his body pressing closely against Sasuke.
"Well," Sasuke mused, letting his own hands descend on Naruto's lower back, feeling him subtly arch his back, "I suppose we should take advantage of our free day together, hm?"
"Exactly what I was thinking," Naruto whispered before their mouths met in a deep kiss.
They stumbled their way into the bedroom and onto the bed; their clothes flying through the air as they eagerly divested each other. Their clothes landed somewhere on the ground, but Sasuke wasn't particularly interested in them, not when Naruto rolled the both of them around until Sasuke ended up on his back with Naruto between his legs.
"Oh fuck!" He screwed his eyes shut, his hands shooting down to grab silky smooth strands of hair when a hot mouth closed around his cock, a devious tongue probing at his slit before those lips sank lower, taking more and more of him inside.
This was apparently not a time for teasing, because Naruto took to sucking him off with such a focus and determination that Sasuke was seeing stars long before he actually came. Naruto bobbed his head back and forth with a single-minded focus that had Sasuke looking away before he could blow his load too soon, even as his hips started thrusting almost involuntarily into Naruto's mouth. He wanted to keep still, unwilling to potentially hurt Naruto even with the fire racing through his veins, but he lost the fight the second Naruto pulled away from his cock; a thread of saliva connecting his lips to the tip of Sasuke's cock before the thread snapped when Naruto lifted his head.
"You can use my mouth any way you like, I don't mind," he said almost casually, save for the rough undertone his voice had taken on as he wrapped his fingers around Sasuke's dick, continuing the pressure. Right before he lowered himself back onto Sasuke's cock, removing his hand, he added, "And you can come in my mouth too if you'd like."
Fucking hell, but he was going to be the death of him, Sasuke was sure. He moaned when Naruto's mouth closed around his cock again, his tongue sliding around the shaft as he gradually lowered himself again, stopping right before Sasuke would hit the back of his throat. There was no hands coming to hold down his hips when they started thrusting up, shoving himself deeper into Naruto's mouth, and Sasuke's legs spasmed; his fingers tightening around blond strands as the fire kept building and building up, spreading through all his veins, setting every single nerve alight until –
He came with a muffled shout, barely slamming a pillow over his head on time as he spilled into Naruto's mouth; his hips weakly rolling to chase after the high. There was a faint ringing in his ears and he couldn't help but blink fuzzily when the pillow was removed from his face, Naruto's face popping up above him.
"So," Naruto smiled almost Cheshire-like; licking his lips as he drew circles across Sasuke's chest. "Think you can get it up for a second round?"
Yeah, Naruto was definitely going to be the death of him. But fuck if this wasn't a death he would happily welcome.
"Oh, you found tents?" Karin asked; her eyes lightening up with excitement when Sasuke stuffed the dark green bags in the boot of the car.
This car had a particularly large boot; it was a vehicle Anko had found around seven months ago, pushing it all the way back from the place she'd found it. It had needed some new brake pads, which she'd taken from another car, but that had been all that had been wrong with it. The large boot would come in handy if they did find some good stuff.
"Yeah, the only two we still have," Sasuke confirmed and loaded the rest of their gathered bags into the boot, keeping the one with the medical supplies to the side so they could keep it with them.
"How big are they?" Naruto asked interestedly; his crossbow slung across his shoulder.
"Big enough that you can share it with two," she smirked, nudging him in his side.
He twitched as if to step away, but surprisingly didn't move. Instead he smirked in return. "You're going to feel pretty lonely then, huh?"
She gasped mock-offended, placing her hand on her chest. "Just because you're getting dick on the regular doesn't mean you have to remind the rest of us of our lonely existence," she sniffed.
"True and I'm enjoying every minute of it," Naruto said smugly.
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in, why don't you."
"You wish you could get it rubbed in," he responded just as quickly, making her laugh startled and swat his shoulder.
"Okay, that's the end of this particular conversation," Sasuke announced loudly and shut the boot extra loudly before their talk could spiral into details he didn't want anyone to know.
Especially not father and Itachi, who were making their way over to them right this very moment.
"You ready to go?" Father asked; his eyes flitting from Sasuke to Naruto to Karin and back.
"Yes, we've got everything," Sasuke answered and snatched the key from Karin's hand.
"Hey! I was going to drive!" she protested, attempting to get the key back.
He simply stepped out of her reach, pocketing the key for now. "You lost that privilege just now," he deadpanned.
"Me?" she gasped offended and pointed at Naruto. "Why am I the only one getting punished here? What about him then? Not like he didn't say anything!"
"Ah, but I'm the one who we-"
Before Naruto could finish that horrible sentence, Sasuke slapped a hand across his mouth, shutting him up; ignoring Itachi's amused look.
"I'll be the one driving today, end of story," he stated and jerked his head at the car. "Now get inside before I decide to leave without you two."
"Testy, testy," she grumbled, but opened the door to the backseat.
When Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's mouth – who was still looking way too smugly for someone who got shut up like that – he was surprised to see Deidara approaching them.
The end of his stump was still wrapped with a white bandage, but the colour had since long returned to his face and since a couple of weeks he was no longer confided to the infirmary; having picked up some chores again in the meantime.
"Leaving today, un?" he smiled, coming to a stop next to Itachi. "I'm glad I managed to get here before you left. Just wanted to say that you shouldn't put yourselves in danger for my sake. If the hospital is flooded with dead bastards or it gets dangerous in any other way, un, forget about the prosthetic and just get back here. No sense in giving your lives for a piece of equipment."
"We'll be careful," Sasuke promised, just as much to reassure Deidara as it was to soothe his family's worries.
Just because both father and Itachi had been in agreement about whom to send on the run didn't mean they were happy about it. Chances were that even with Sasuke's reassurance, they still wouldn't be at ease until they returned.
"All right, take care of yourselves, be careful and have a good run," Father said, taking a deep breath.
Sasuke glanced down when Naruto stroked the inside of his wrist. "Come on, let's go."
While Naruto got into the passenger's side of the car, Sasuke exchanged a quick hug with father and Itachi, allowing Deidara to embrace him fleetingly as well, before he grabbed the car key and slid behind the wheel.
"Okay," Karin said brightly as the gates slowly rolled open in front of them. "Let's get this road trip started!"
The first three days on the road were surprisingly uneventful. They drove past some small zombie herds, but none of them were big enough to be a cause for concern and the car was already long gone by the time the slow fuckers heeded the instinct to turn around and try to chase them.
They had a couple of jerrycans with petrol secured in the backseat as well, but instinct had them keeping an eye out for any abandoned cars at the side of the road. It would be better to take petrol from those cars first before they would start on the jerrycans; a matter of saving their small stock.
The nights were spent in the tents; both the tents and the car hidden from view with whatever they happened to find as coverage at that moment: bushes, thick trees, a plastic cover hiding rusty frames of what had once been cars …The three of them had agreed to try to catch their food as much as they could before they would eat the food they had taken with them. It was better to make their stock last as long as possible, because even though the trip was going well now, that didn't mean it would go this great the entire time.
That was perhaps a rather pessimistic way of looking at things, but if life had taught Sasuke something, it was that it was better to always expect the worst.
They had been driving for a week by now, only stopping to stretch their legs or spent the night in their tents when they finally reached the halfway point. They might have reached that point faster if they hadn't had to backtrack the other day when the bridge they should have taken, had turned out to be blown up quite a while ago. It was the first setback they had experienced, but all in all it had been a minor one and they had been able to find another way to continue their journey.
"You want to stretch your legs or something?" Sasuke questioned when he noticed the car slowing down.
Karin was behind the wheel this time; the three of them taking turns every day. A lull in the conversation had nearly sent Sasuke asleep, the sunlight peeking into the car turning it almost pleasantly warm, when he felt the car slowly down gradually.
"No, sorry, just noticed that bike," she muttered and pointed at something lying at the right side of the road.
Sasuke sat up straighter, but with how tall the grass had grown here, he could only spot something red and black gleaming a bit further down the road. It was only when Karin slowed to a complete stop in front of it that he realised he was looking at a relatively unscathed motorcycle. Not a lightweight either judging by the looks of it. A Yamaha perhaps? Sasuke wasn't sure, never having been good at guessing brands. He did know enough, however, to recognise what an absolute beauty this motorcycle was and he wondered why it had been left abandoned here. The frame seemed intact still; in fact, the motorcycle looked as if it had merely fallen over, waiting for its owner to return.
That thought made Sasuke cast a wary look around them, wondering if someone else was nearby. It would explain why the motorcycle still looked so decent.
"Think we can do something with it?" Karin wondered aloud; her eyes glued onto the motorcycle half hidden underneath the tall grass. "Even if it doesn't start, we could check the tank."
"Don't bother," Naruto piped up suddenly, startling them both.
"What? Why?" she asked somewhat perplexed. "It doesn't look like it got into an accident or so, so the tank might still have some left inside of it."
"It doesn't."
"And how would you know?" she challenged, staring at him through the rear view mirror.
"Because that's the motorcycle I had to abandon when it ran out of petrol," was Naruto's laconic answer. "There's nothing in the tank anymore and trying to take it with us would only drag us down."
"Oh." Karin flushed slightly, looking away.
Sasuke turned around to face him. Naruto sat almost slouched in the corner of the backseat, his face deceptively calm, but his eyes were too flat to be considered as calm. Realisation made Sasuke nearly slap his forehead.
"Is this the motorcycle of - "
"Yeah," Naruto cut him off before he could finished his question. "Told you I drove it back. I used it until it was no longer possible. As you might have noticed there's fuck all to find here so when I couldn't find any car to leech petrol from anymore, I left it behind." He shrugged stiffly and refused to look Sasuke straight in the eye. "Decided there was no reason to lug dead weight around anymore."
The bitterness tainting his voice at his last comment was nearly tangible and definitely had to be audible, but Karin didn't remark on it, fortunately. Instead she took a deep breath and started the car again.
"Well, we know where it is now, we can always go back for it at a later moment with one of the vans," she said cheerfully. "A sweet ride like that can't just be left behind and we can always use extra vehicles."
Naruto snorted, but didn't say anything and when Sasuke glanced at him, the other man was staring straight out of the window.
Turning back to face the road, Sasuke pondered about this new revelation. If Naruto had been forced to leave the motorcycle behind here, did that mean he had been walking all that time until he'd reached the compound? Even with the car it had still taken them a week to reach this spot; on foot it must have taken at least two weeks if not longer! All that time without any way to escape zombies quickly …
Not for the first time Sasuke was amazed at how long Naruto had managed to survive on his own. Especially with how many things and people he had been forced to leave behind every time.
He sneaked a glance at Naruto, who was still staring out of the window, lost in thought, clearly not ready or willing to start a conversation any time soon.
Karin was right: now that they knew where the motorcycle was, they could come back at a later date and pick it up. Naruto deserved to have something more than just a crossbow and some pictures to remember his family by and from the sound of it when he had been talking about it, this motorcycle had become as dear to him as the crossbow he wielded.
Sasuke had known their reprieve from the zombie bullshit wouldn't last that long. He just hadn't expected it to go to shit to this degree from the very start.
They had just finished lunch – a couple of hares courtesy of Naruto's quick draw – and had freshened up in the small stream adjacent to the field they had eaten in when out of nowhere, zombies surrounded them, blocking any form of escape. They weren't that far from the car, but the entire car had zombies swarming around it, cutting off their only means of escaping this madness.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Karin demanded, hissing while she snatched her knives from where she kept them strapped to her sides. "We only have a bit longer to go until we reach the hospital and they decide to start swarming now?!"
"We must have woken them up," Naruto sighed irritated, grabbing his dagger. At Sasuke's quick look, he elaborated, "Don't want to start wasting bolts just yet. I don't know how big this group is exactly and trying to retrieve them while these dead fuckers try to get a bite out of you is a pain in the arse, man."
The group was rather big, Sasuke quickly realised as he stabbed one zombie after the next one. They must have been in that weird kind of sleep modus most of them went into when there was no prey to be found. With the three of them here, however, the undead must have 'woken' up again and now they were hoping for some fresh meat.
"How many of these fuckers can there possibly be?!" Karin snarled, ducking out of the way of a zombie grasping for her. She stabbed him forcefully through the temple and he sagged down with a last gurgle.
"No clue, but we have to make our way to the car," Sasuke said curtly, slashing a young woman whose skin was pressed taught against her skull in two before she could do more than make a weak grab for him.
The sound of the undead moaning and groaning as they tried to reach for them was almost deafening and multiple times Sasuke lost sight of Karin and Naruto as one zombie after the next just kept coming for them. He hacked and slashed and stabbed his way through them on automatic pilot by now, trying to see where the other two had ended up. Ideally they would have remained back to back and made their way to the car like that, but of course as always with this shit storm nothing went according to plan.
Something slamming into his back had him hastily whirling around, his katana raised high and ready to slash down, before he caught sight of long, red hair and he halted his attack just in time, sighing in relief.
"Fuck, thought you were a zombie," he said and spun around, driving his katana straight through two skulls when one zombie lined up neatly behind the other one. If only they could all be so courteous, it would make killing them a lot easier and quicker to do.
"Well, fortunately I'm still alive, thank you very much for keeping me in this state," Karin muttered, grunting when a zombie child slammed into her right side. She kicked it away before he could open his little mouth and drove a knife straight through his forehead; some of the brain matter splattering onto the ground when she pulled out the blade.
"Have you seen Naruto?" Sasuke demanded, unwillingly growing more and more worried with each second that passed without him spotting blond hair or even hearing Naruto. They had got separated a little while ago and not having Naruto near him where he could see him was as annoying as an itch that wouldn't stop.
"Nope, sorry, am a bit busy here with remaining alive myself," she said breathlessly, springing forwards to drive her knives into two skulls simultaneously.
"Naruto, where the fuck are you?" Sasuke muttered and cut an old zombie man in two before using the butt of his gun to smash a hole through the fragile skull.
The good thing about this herd was that they were so old, their skulls had become too fragile with age and exposure to the nature elements, making it easier to kill them. The bad thing was that the size of this group was quite substantial and there didn't seem to be coming an end to this group soon.
How many of these fuckers could possibly be hiding in these woods?! Had they all been planning on a goddamn picnic or something?
A brief flash of blond in the corner of his eye had Sasuke spinning around; relief filling him at the sight of Naruto standing in the cover of the trees.
"Oh, thank fuck!" he breathed relieved before raising his voice at the same time he cut down another zombie, "Naruto, come here! We're going to make our way to the car!"
The group seemed to finally be thinning out at least, more and more dropping down to rest for good this time.
Naruto didn't react and Sasuke spared a moment to wonder whether he hadn't heard him, though that should have been impossible given that the distance between them wasn't that big.
"Naruto, did you hear me? Oh fuck off!" he snapped when a guy – he might have been a bodybuilder in his past life, judging by the muscles still clinging feebly onto his arms – grasped his arm. He kicked him in the gut and rammed his knife straight through his temple, killing him instantly.
"Naruto!" he snarled, growing pissed off when the other one still didn't react. "The fuck are you ignoring me for? Come here!"
But Naruto seemed to be frozen, which was fucking weird, because why would he freeze when they were surrounded by dead fuckers? God no, please, let him not have a mental breakdown right this moment!
"Karin, go help Naruto!" Sasuke shouted when his path to Naruto was blocked by what must have once been a family of four.
"Kind of in the middle of something here!" she yelled back a little bit hysterically and there was the squelching sound of skin and muscle being torn apart.
"Naruto, will you fucking move already!" Sasuke shouted and he knew he shouldn't be getting angry, not now, not when Naruto might actually be breaking down, but panic was threatening to drown him at the sight of Naruto just standing there, not doing anything while Sasuke struggled to get to him.
He was hacking down two more zombies when something red caught his attention and he whipped his head around.
A male zombie was stumbling his way over to Naruto. A zombie with red hair, milky white eyes with green bleeding between the dead colour. A zombie whose open jacket showed his ripped open stomach area, his intestines long gone, blood covering his jeans and feet as if the liquid had simply gushed out of him like a waterfall.
An alarm was blaring in the back of Sasuke's mind, panic close to exploding out of him as the zombie got closer and closer to Naruto with the man making no attempt to move out of the way.
"Naruto, FUCKING MOVE!" Sasuke roared, barely quick enough to duck out of the way of another pair of persistent hands trying to drag him down.
He kicked that one back and stabbed his katana straight through the skull of an elderly woman, nearly slipping in the pool of blood which had started to grow around him. He managed to keep himself upright just in time and whirled around, preparing to rush to Naruto when Naruto's voice drifted over to him. One word was enough to freeze him. His tone of voice, how broken, how small, enough to break his own heart into several pieces.
"Gaara …?"
Gaara. Naruto's best friend. The one who had kept him going during a time when he hadn't been able to take care of himself, the one who had been there for Naruto when no one else had. His best friend, the person he'd lost last, the one he'd been forced to abandon, leaving him all alone.
Gaara, Naruto's best friend, the one who was now stumbling over to Naruto, his arms outstretched, closing around Naruto in a mockery of a loving embrace. Motherfucker.
The alarm exploded into piercing wails in Sasuke's mind and he barely recognised his own voice when he shouted in desperation, "NARUTO, DUCK!"
Milky white eyes seemed to lock onto Sasuke over Naruto's shoulder even as Sasuke tried to duck past a zombie, desperate to reach Naruto on time. Right as Sasuke kicked the zombie viciously out of his way, Gaara's head dipped down.
And his unhinged jaw snapped down around Naruto's neck.
AN2: Oh yeah, I went there. :D For all you readers who wanted to see Naruto meeting Gaara again - still wishing for that now?
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review (even if it's to cuss me out); 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
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The Long Run