Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Rot, Another One Bites the Dust	By : LucklessMallory Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1219 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I make no profit from the distribution of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
“I believe, Mr. Nara, that my four of a kind beats your flush.” Baki intoned in a deep voice as he laid down his cards. Shikamaru groaned and flicked the plastic poker chip towards the older man. Another round passed with Neji raising his bet and drawing another card.
The game room was fast becoming everyone’s favorite place to pass the time in. It was the hotel’s gentlemen’s club before the outbreak, and there were bookshelves adorning every wall, intercepted only by large windows that looked out on the desert horizon. A billiard table was set in one side, a portable roulette with plastic chips resting on one end, and board and card games were littered all over the room. There were always people in there when they weren’t eating downstairs or lounging about, since the best part about it was that it was on the fourth floor and facing away from the city-- far away from the sight of zombies downstairs and the moans.
Temari smirked behind her set of cards and began arranging them while Moegi peered with interest behind her. “See this hand? You can double your bet with this.” She told the girl, taking on the task of teaching her the rules of poker. Udon sat back to back with Moegi, an adventure book in hand as he read close to the windows.
Over on the raised side of the room, Gaara worked on modifying scrapped bits and pieces into a serviceable weapon with Lee beside him, adding spikes to his own baseball bat. He kept glancing at his sister, who’d locked gazes with Shikamaru as both players kept their expressions from showing what cards they had. Despite Shikamaru’s initial losses, he’d managed to amass a good pile of plastic chips and was now locked in a duel with the remaining high-roller after Neji folded, and Baki decided to deflect to Temari’s side.
Drawing one card from the deck, Temari let a smirk cross her face with onlookers holding their breath. “The action’s on you.” She challenged.
Shikamaru just met her with a raised brow. By the time Temari laid down her cards, she announced confidently. “Full house, Mr. Nara.”
“Eh, that’s fine.” Shikamaru scratched at his temple then carelessly set down his cards. “I’ll take your pot, Miss Sabaku. Royal flush.”
“What?! That’s impossible!” Temari scowled at the cards, “Roll up your sleeves!”
“Maa~ so troublesome.” Shikamaru complied, holding both bare forearms up then leaning over to rake in his winnings.
Snorting, Gaara’s lips twitched up at the dark scowl on his sister’s face as she demanded a rematch. Their family was normally collected and calculating, but there were also some things that had their tempers flaring, like Temari’s pride.
Lee glanced over at the group, and couldn’t help chuckling. It was incredibly easy to underestimate Shikamaru.
In the doorway to the game room, Hinata appeared quietly and smiled at everyone. She waved at Gaara, but then made her way to the poker table to sit next to Neji. He smiled at her in greeting.
“Hello, Neji,” she murmured, looking around as they doled out a new set of cards for the rematch.
“How are you doing today, Hinata?” he asked as he rearranged his chips. He glanced up curiously. “I was expecting to see that man with you, with the brown hair.”
“Kiba,” she said, shrugging. “He’s somewhere in the hotel. He might come up and join us.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about him,” Neji’s eyes glinted a little tighter. He hadn’t had a chance to talk openly about why his cousin and the rude man seemed to spend so much time together, and were even sleeping in the same room, though they had two beds. “What exactly is your relationship with Kiba?”
“We’re childhood friends.” Hinata replied, missing the glint in Neji’s eyes while she watched the new game being set. “He was my classmate since grade school, and my best friend together with- with Shino. We’re the only ones left though.” Her brows arched down at the memory before she shook her head and smiled up at her cousin. “He’s been teaching me how to defend myself and surviving in the wild. He’s very good at that.”
Neji’s mouth pulled into a tight frown, though most of it was directed at him. When Hinata had been in grade school, he’d vented his anger and frustrations with their family on the young girl. There was even a time he’d seriously injured her, after his father died taking the place of his brother in a kidnapping incident. Hinata had moved to a private school after that, and the guilt followed him well into adulthood, even when Hinata forgave him for it. “He’s from the Inuzuka family, isn’t he? The one that breeds dogs for police work and rehabilitation?”
“Yes,” Hinata brightened up. “Kiba has a really cute dog called Akamaru. We had to leave him at the mall but I think you’d like him.”
“Perhaps.” Neji replied, gathering his cards and carefully fanning them out. “I would feel safer if you stayed close by. Would you like to share my room with me? I’m usually out so it would be like you had the room to yourself.”
“Really?” Hinata blinked before a smile broke out on her face. She’d always looked up to Neji as an older brother, and tried to earn his respect, so his offer sounded like an opportunity for the two cousins to spend time together. “Maybe I can stay with you a few nights a week. I’m sure Kiba wouldn’t mind.”
“Wouldn’t mind what?”
Plopping down beside Hinata, Kiba grinned wolfishly at his friend. “Missed me? I found some dried fruit in the pantry. Thought you’d want something sweet to snack on.” He held out a small packet of dried fruit bits.
“Oh, thank you,” Hinata smiled at her friend and took the packet, looking it over with appreciation. She didn’t notice the scrutiny in Neji’s expression on the other side of her as she spoke to Kiba. “Neji just offered to let me stay with him. I was thinking of spending a few days a week with him, and a few with you, if you don’t mind.”
Kiba’s friendly expression faltered and a small frown tugged at his mouth. He glanced over at Neji, who was eyeing him without blinking. His brows pulled down.
“What’s wrong with our sleeping arrangement now? We get along great,” he defended.
“There’s nothing wrong,” Hinata said quickly. She tore open the fruit packet and pulled out a piece of a banana for herself, then handed a piece of apple to Neji. He accepted it with a smile and a thank you, and flashed Kiba a superior look when Hinata turned away.
“It’s just, I haven’t spent much time with Neji.” Hinata chewed and swallowed the piece of fruit as she watched the game commence. “Don’t worry, I won’t miss my training lessons with you. Oh! And Gaara said he has a weapon in mind for me to use.”
“What weapon?” Both men almost simultaneously asked, causing them to glare over Hinata’s head.
“Keep it down.” Temari said icily, turning her annoyance on them before getting back into the game. That smirk on the Nara boy’s face was aimed towards her, she just knew it.
Flushing at Temari’s scrutiny, and Neji and Kiba’s question, she sank into her hoodie and said in a very small voice. “G-Gaara said I’d be good at handling a sharpened umbrella, and t-that it would be g-good defense.”
Kiba sighed shortly, shooting a returned glare at Temari and Neji. He slid a hand over Hinata’s shoulder and rubbed her back soothingly, aware that her self-concious stutter had returned. “We can work with that during our lessons, but I’d still feel better if you stuck to long ranged weapons, so you’re not at risk.”
“I’d have to agree with that,” Neji said, frowning as he picked up his cards and threw in his bet. “Any form of fighting is dangerous, but it would be safer if you stayed away from any short range threats.”
“I should st-still know how, j-just in case,” she said, her brows furrowed as she examined the poker chips in the middle of the table, fiddling with her fingers and leaning against Kiba’s hand on her back. “I was gonna ask Gaara t-to show me what he had in m-mind.”
“I would appreciate it if you stayed away from him. He’s not a good role model to follow.” Neji studied his cards before discarding one on his turn and drawing another. Temari looked over at him with a thin-lipped frown, but didn’t call him out on it. “It’s enough that you’re being tutored in basic self-defense. I won’t let anything harm you.”
Bristling at Neji’s subtle jab, Kiba pulled Hinata close and spoke to her gently. “Look, Hinata, you’re getting better alright? As much as I’d hate to admit it, I agree with your cousin.” He clasped the back of her neck and patted her head. “I’ll teach you what you want to know; you don’t need to be on the frontlines anyway.”
“S-Stop it, b-both of you. I-I want to learn and t-that’s my choice to make.” Hinata finally said, pulling away from Kiba’s hands and taking the packet of dried fruits. She kept her head bowed as she stood up. “T-Thank you for the fruits, Kiba. I-I think I’ll g-go over there first.”
She held the packet against her chest and walked briskly towards where Lee and Gaara were.

Lee was standing at the front doors of the hotel, looking out the windows as he waited. He had a question for Sasori, who was usually found at the front desk with Zetsu, but both men had gone somewhere and left a “out for lunch” sign on the desk. Lee thought it was odd, since they usually just brought their food with them wherever they went, but he wasn’t one to scrutinize.
It was only a few minutes later that Sasori appeared behind the desk from the offices behind, and raised a brow at Lee blankly. “You need something?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, I was just wondering,” Lee started to turn around, and yelped loudly when he realized that Zetsu had been right behind him, standing incredibly close without explanation. He took a step back, and put a hand over his chest with a long, relieved exhale. “Wow! Sorry, I did not see you there. You startled me.”
“What does this one want with us? He has shiny, shiny hair.” Zetsu mumbled to himself as he slowly walked around Lee to stand next to him, looking at the far wall.
Sasori pulled down the sign on the desk and rang the little silver with a bored look on his face. “What’s with the ugly green sweater? With a name like Rock, you sure don’t look that hardcore.” He said, pulling out an outdated Time magazine and flipping through the glossy pages. “What do you want?”
“Oh, um, I heard you had a copy of the scouting schedule. I was just hoping to take a look at it.” Lee looked down at his sweater, wondering why anyone would call it ugly. Green was the color of springtime and hope! Plus it was warm. He approached the desk, trying to get some distance from Zetsu while also speaking with Sasori. He smiled at the man politely. “How are you doing today, Sasori?”
“I’m stuck in a hotel with the zombie apocalypse outside, and I’ve been downgraded from guest to receptionist. Not to mention, I can’t even get a decent lunch break without some dork with caterpillar brows pestering me.” Sasori said in just two breaths, reaching below the desk without taking his eyes off the magazine and sliding a record book towards Lee. “Knock yourself out.”
Zetsu brought both hands up to grip the collar of his long coat, holding both ends close as if trying to wrap himself in them. “Caterpillars have fur all over. They itch when you touch them but the caterpillar dies when you pluck the big ones off.”
“That’s not hair, Zetsu. You probably plucked out their legs.” Sasori commented.
Lee’s eyes were wide as he glanced between the two men. He still had Gaara’s advice in mind, but at the same time he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt for how they behave in this time of crisis. This dialogue however, was getting creepy.
“Thanks,” Lee muttered, picking up the schedule and looking it over. He pulled out a pocket sized notebook from his jeans and quickly jotted down some names and times, for future reference. He handed it back after a moment, and put his notepad away. He decided to give the men one more shot. “I have heard about all the work you have put in, keeping things organized and manning the desk. It may not seem like a big job now, but I admire your dedication! You have undoubtedly become a strong source of support for the survivors in the building.”
Sasori looked up at Lee. His red hair was much longer than Gaara’s after his hair cut, but it looked almost the same shade as the other redhead’s. “That so?” He set down his magazine flat on the desk, keeping a hand on the page he’d been reading. Titling his head slightly to the side, he eyed Lee up and down. “No one likes a suck-up. You know what I think? I’d be a strong source of support if Temari would let me kick out the useless bags of flesh in this hotel. They don’t deserve the luxury of lazing around while everyone does the work.”
“If they’d act as meat barriers in a zombie attack though, well, that’s a different story.” Sasori said, going back to reading his magazine without a shift in his expression.
Lee’s jaw dropped as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out. That... was incredibly disturbing. Lee shook his head, and muttered a quick “thank you for your time” and turned around, yelping as he came face to face with Zetsu once again. He laughed nervously, and left the reception area. Gaara was right- these people were just a little crazy.

Lee ducked one of Gaara’s swings and leaped back, giving himself some room to counter. He grinned in triumph as he tried sweeping at the redhead’s legs with one of his own, trying to knock him to the ground.
Lately during Lee’s training routine, he’d gotten in the habit of sparring with Gaara if his friend wasn’t busy. Most of the hand to hand moves they used wouldn’t be put on them by a stiff zombie, but they were good methods for self defense and keeping up on agility.
Lee cried out with a loud ‘hya!” of effort as he swung his leg harder.
Instead of moving away, Gaara simply leaped up when Lee swept his leg. The movement propelled him forward and gave him some force in kicking it away with both legs. He tried getting a punch in, but missed Lee’s face by inches.
Gaara was panting and sweating at the workout he was getting, gloomily noting that Lee barely looked tired. His friend was even beaming at him. The redhead was good at killing zombies and utilizing anything nearby as weapons, but fighting hand-to-hand was not appreciated by his aching body. It was better than the first time Lee asked to spar with him though. Gaara found out the hard way how fast Lee could move and how accurate his hits were.
Taking in a breath, he suddenly kicked out low, aiming for Lee’s lower leg while already swinging his arm from the same side to go with the momentum of his body.
Lee only had a split second to react; he didn’t hesitate, didn’t try to think it through as his body moved. He saw both Gaara’s leg and arm, and knew he couldn’t duck both, so instead he lifted his hands and caught Gaara’s arm in both of his. As the redhead’s legs continued momentum to sweep Lee’s out from under him, Lee tugged Gaara down onto the ground with him.
Grunting as he landed sharply on his shoulder, Lee rolled and shoved Gaara’s shoulders to the ground, pinning him. His grin flashed deviantly, and his hair fell down around his face. “Give up yet?” he asked, tightening his knees around Gaara’s waist to hold him down.
It was over in a second and Gaara blinked up in a daze as he was pinned to the ground. Lee’s face swam in his vision, his grin and the thick shroud of hair framing it prompting a hitch in his breath. This wasn’t the first time he got served by his friend’s superior hand-to-hand skills, and in every single spar he somehow ended up flat on his back.
Gaara glared up as his chest heaved in exhaustion, cheeks flushed from the blood rushing to his face. And it wasn’t because Lee’s confidence was attractive. “No.” He managed to say before sliding his arms between Lee’s to dislodge the hold on his shoulders, but found himself unable to throw off the other man on top of him while he was sitting that high up. Grabbing the front of Lee’s shirt with both hands, he threw his weight to the right and lifted his hips up to reverse their positions.
Lee huffed in surprise as Gaara knocked his arms loose and rolled him onto his back. He tried to use the momentum to keep rolling until he was on top again, but Gaara wasn’t letting go of his shirt or leverage, causing them to roll once more until Lee was on his back again, grunting low as Gaara’s hands dug into his chest, still gripping his shirt.
Lee only needed half a second to formulate a new plan, and quickly grabbed Gaara’s wrists in each of his hands, forcing them wide apart so that the redhead’s upper body fell onto his. His knees were still on either side of Gaara’s waist, and he hooked his ankles behind the man’s back to hold him in place.
“You are on top now, but you still cannot move,” Lee stated, squeezing the other man’s wrists and pulling his arms wider. “I do not think you can get out of this one.”
“Hngh.” One of Gaara’s eyes were shut as his cheek and chin pressed against Lee’s face. The grip on his wrists was tight, almost as tight as Lee’s thighs squeezing his torso. He breathed in with effort and slid his chin back so he could face the other man, keeping one eye shut to avoid going cross-eyed with their noses just an inch away from each other. He breathed rapidly through his nose, testing the strength of Lee’s hold on him by pulling his arms back and struggling.
“You’re...squeezing...my ribs.” He ground out, lips brushing against Lee’s jaw as he spoke.
“Does that mean you give up?” Lee asked, not relenting in the least. Lee was all compassion and sympathy in most cases, but this was a challenge between men! His face flushed as he held Gaara’s arms wide and felt breath and lips at his jaw, but his grin never faltered. He tipped his head up in effort as Gaara jerked against him, managing to bend his arms for a split second before his grip snapped them back into place.
His face was almost touching Gaara’s shoulder. Lee turned his head and his mouth brushed against Gaara’s ear as he spoke. His legs squeezed. “You can always give up now, and you might win the next round. Or you can stay here on top of me until you cannot take it anymore.”
Gaara was stubborn and he shook his head once. Not even Lee’s offer or the brush of his mouth against his ear had him relenting. But damn if he was starting to grow light-headed from the tightness around his waist. Both eyes shut tight, his cheeks a warm red against his normally pale skin, as his useless struggling only served to tire him out. He didn’t want to just give up. When his lungs started to burn though, the tension along his arms and body flowed out in one long breath, leaving him slumping limply against the other man.
His head fell against Lee’s neck as his vision darkened for a moment, circles of light dancing behind his eyelids as he sucked in precious air.
As soon as Gaara stopped struggling Lee unhooked his ankles and let his legs slide to the ground on either side of Gaara’s body. The redhead felt heavier than he looked now that his body was fetched so limply. Lee blinked owlishly as he felt Gaara panting desperately on top of him. He let go of the man’s wrists and put his hands on Gaara’s ribs, feeling the way they expanded and contracted so fast and deep. He must’ve had a tighter grip than he’d thought. Lee chuckled to himself. It was Gaara’s fault for not admitting defeat sooner!
“That felt good,” he commented, still chuckling. “We should do this more often.”
“And what were you two doing, exactly?” asked a low voice slowly on the other side of the room. Neji was standing in the doorway, his brows pulled together tightly in confusion and some alarm at the state he’d find the two men in.
The sound of Neji’s voice brought a small groan from Gaara, soft enough that only Lee would hear it. His body felt like jelly as oxygen flowed into his lungs, and he wanted to just lie there for a minute or two to recover. Pressing his palms on either side of Lee’s head, Gaara lifted his chest off of Lee and looked blearily at Neji.
His unruly hair and the sweat on his skin earned him a disturbed look from the other man. He glanced down at Lee with his cheeks still flushed, before rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. The cool ceramic tiles of the hotel function room felt good against his heated skin. “Lee wanted to spar.” He breathed out.
Neji frowned and walked over to his friend, offering a hand up. “You could have asked me if you wanted to spar.” He said, still shifting his gaze between Lee and Gaara suspiciously. “That looked like more than sparring to me.”
“Oh, I did not think to ask you, Neji,” Lee said, his voice surprised at the idea. He took his friend’s hand and pulled himself onto his feet, then brushed himself off. He glanced down at Gaara and his ears turned red as he realized what that must have looked like to Neji. Even without lying on top of him anymore, Gaara’s messy hair, sweaty and flushed skin, and the dazed look on his face seemed suspicious.
“Um, Gaara would not give up, so I had to suffocate him a little,” Lee explained, flushing harder at the scrutiny Neji was throwing at him. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “You and I can spar next time.”
“Hn,” Neji said, seemingly unconvinced.
Getting his strength back, Gaara got up on his own and pulled his loose shirt up, pressing his face against the fabric to get the sweat out of his eyes. It bared his midriff, where a red tattoo flashed briefly close to his pelvis. Gaara didn’t have the good set of abs that Lee had, but his body was leaner with a lot of his strength coming from his arms and back. Swinging golf clubs and training with the crossbow had developed what used to be just thin arms and a freckled back.
“Lee has pincers for legs.” He countered, ignoring the insinuation in Neji’s words and the pounding in his chest. Hinata’s cousin had already made his dislike for him clear earlier on.
Turning to Lee, Neji’s eyes still held that stern scrutiny in them as he wiped his hand on his pants. “Spar in the upper floors next time. If anyone else had seen you, they would have assumed you were intimate.” He frowned at Gaara before turning to other matters. “I’d appreciate it if you accompanied me when I escort the repair team tomorrow. We’re carrying more equipment to the solar plant.”
“Sure,” Lee replied, his cheeks a slightly deeper shade of red at Neji’s blunt words, though he was trying to smile and shrug it off. He nodded avidly and gave his friend a thumbs up. “I would love to join you tomorrow. I will rest up and be ready to carry whatever you need!”
“We’re meeting in the lounge next to the lobby. We start early.” Neji nodded curtly at Lee and turned on his heel, leaving the room and taking a sharp turn down the hall. Lee sighed and relaxed, propping a hand on his hip and wishing his friend didn’t have to be so stiff and moody.
Turning back to Gaara again, Lee shook his head. “I am usually pretty dense, but even I thought that was a bit awkward. He walked in on us at a unique moment,” he said, smirking at Gaara. His eyes slid down the other man’s torso and zeroed in on the tattoo above his pelvis. He pointed at it and raised his brow. “What is that? I thought desk workers were not supposed to have tattoos.”
There was a strained look on Gaara’s face that easily slid into stoicism. Lee didn’t need to know that he’d liked the easy closeness between them, and his hands pressed against his sides. “Nobody can see it when I have a shirt on.” He lowered his shirt over the tattoo and found his hotel slippers kicked under a table.
He craned his head towards Lee, trying to deflect interest from the mark. “Your friend doesn’t like me. He said I should stay away from Hinata.”
“He said that?” Lee asked, his smile wilting. He glanced at the door Neji had left through. That sounded like his friend. “I am sorry about him. He has a complicated history with his family, but he seems protective of Hinata.”
Lee reached his arms above his head and stretched the muscles along his ribs. He dropped them again after a pause and sighed. “And to be honest, he has been good friends with Tenten and I since we were all in school together. I told him what happened to her, and he is... he has mixed feelings about it.”
So that was it. Gaara nodded once with his eyes lingering briefly on Lee’s form. Now he knew where Neji was coming from, though that didn’t mean he’d do anything about it. “His feelings shouldn’t interfere with Hinata’s safety. I showed her how to use an umbrella as a weapon. She can defend herself short range now with less chance of getting bitten.”
He could feel the sweat drying on his skin, and the chill reaching him quickly through it. Walking over to his friend, he touched his forearm briefly with quiet intent in his eyes. “The odds were against you meeting Neji again. Spend as much time with him as you need to, but be careful tomorrow. I won’t be there to protect you.”
“I will be careful,” Lee said, regarding Gaara with a slowly rising smile. It always seemed to make his head and chest pleasantly light when Gaara showed concern for him like this. It was touching. Gaara tended to prefer showing tough love over anything else, and when he thought someone wasn’t strong enough he told them so, so that they wouldn’t put themselves at risk. It wasn’t often that Gaara admitted he cared.
“Right!” Lee declared loudly, making a resolute fist with a youthful glint in his eye. He leaped back into a stance and held up one hand, putting the other behind his back. He grinned in challenge. “Are you ready for the next round? Or are you still too light headed?”
Gaara’s brows raised slightly but he kicked off the slippers again and took a similar stance across from Lee. “Let’s go.”

Wind and sand buffeted the large cement structure that housed Suna’s solar power plant. It was a low squat building from afar with solar panels angled out towards the hot desert, but once the group had climbed on top, the middle portion spiraled down until it reached a heavily plated platform that served as the entrance inside. Lowering down the new generator salvaged from the city, the repairmen called out to each other with their mouths and noses covered as they carefully made their way to the platform.
Standing on top of the building with his rifle slung over his shoulder, Neji placed a hand on Lee’s shoulder, his pale eyes scanning the horizon behind clear goggles. “Keep your eyes open out here. Few zombies ever make it through the desert, but we’ve had run-ins with raiders this month.”
“Raiders?” Lee repeated, looking at his friend from behind a similar pair of goggles. His bowl cut ruffled lightly in the wind, but not a hair wasn’t shining and neat. He glanced around at the other men, and gave an occasional thumbs up in support of all the hard work. They only nodded back to him, or kept working. “Do you mean other survivors? Why would they not join us?”
“They’ve never initiated conversation in the past times they’d tried to take over the plant. This building has good security, and they know the only way they’ll get in is with the right keys to it. They’ve shot at us before.” Neji replied, glancing at his friend before taking stock of his surroundings again. “There are people who think the epidemic is a blessing. Who enjoy looting and killing over resources.”
“That is horrible,” Lee said, jaw dropped in shock under his face mask. It was hard to believe that there were people out there who wouldn’t pull together in a time of crisis, or only worked to take care of themselves at the cost of others. Lee shook his head. “I will keep an eye out and tell you if I notice anything. What do you need me to do now that we have the equipment here?”
Neji paused in thought as he leaned over the building. The repairmen had pulled the platform’s door open and one was making his way down inside while holding on to one side of the generator. “If you help them install the new generator and do the systems check, we can head back to the city quickly. I’ll give a signal if I see anyone coming.”
“Alright! Will do,” Lee nodded in affirmative and left to join the rest of the group with the generator. The group was mostly composed of people he hadn’t gotten to know yet, who’d been at the hotel since the beginning of the outbreak. They were still a little wary of him, as a somewhat inclusive group, but Neji said he was okay and they weren’t unfriendly to him. Lee got to work with the heavy lifting and lowering, since that tended to be what he was best at. His muscles bulged until his sweater and coat with effort, and sweat strained across his brow, but his smile was strong without fail.
The plant was hot inside, but there were fans working over time from the sides and even under the grillwork on the floors. One of the repairmen switched off the power for a moment as they unhooked one of the generators from the slot. The generators were heavy by themselves, and it took the coordinated efforts of both men to haul the part out of its slot.
The Crimson Sand regularly replaced and recharged their generators at the plant, giving the hotel a lot of backup power in case one generator broke down. But with the outbreak, Temari’s orders were to keep each generator charged and fully maintained, even going so far as to salvage similar parts from the city whenever they could.
After an hour’s work of testing if everything ran smoothly, one of the repairmen returned Lee’s thumbs up as the plant was turned back on. The place hummed with banked up power just as a sharp bang fired off from above ground. “We need to get this junk to the truck.” One of the repairmen said urgently, already picking up one end of the busted generator they’d replaced. The other man shook his head, still checking the levels to make sure they were stable. “Can you help me get this up, Lee? Neji will cover our backs.”
“Of course,” Lee said, grabbing the other side immediately. He shot a worried glance at the wide window, but then focused on the task at hand as they lifted and began to move the generator. They moved carefully as they carried it through the building, trying not to trip or loose their grip, but also struggling to move quickly. Another shot was heard just as they stepped out to the building lip, and the men gave each other an uneasy glance.
“Careful now,” Lee murmured as they lifted the generator higher, positioning it to be put on the truck. He could feel sweat on the back of his neck, thick and grimy as the wind whipped sand and dirt against him.
In an instant things seemed to move in slow motion as yet another shot was fired. Lee barely had time to blink before the bullet hit him, but it seemed like several minutes had gone by as he glanced over the edge and saw the raiders aiming their gun at him, Neji shouting close by with his weapon aimed on the enemy. Lee’s eyes squeezed shut behind his goggles in shock and pain, and his precarious grip on the generator slipped.
A shout rang out and was swallowed by the wind as the generator fell against the other man, the remaining repairman hurriedly stumbling over the building’s lip and past Lee to catch the generator from sliding down all the way. He spared a glance at Lee and paled when he saw the blood blooming over Lee’s clothed limb. There was little time to spare as the generator was hauled onto the back of the truck and both men scrambled to get the vehicle started.
Neji appeared at the top of the building, firing two shots behind him before leaping over the building’s edge. He grabbed hold of Lee on the way and manhandled him onto the back of the truck, jumping in after him. Three figures appeared just as they sped off into the desert back to the city, Neji managing to take one out before they disappeared over the horizon.

Lee ground his teeth and groaned in pain. He was losing blood fast.
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Rot, Another One Bites the Dust