FicWad

Dead Rising

Chapter 1

“What is your name child?”

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I don't remember where I live. Where I came from. I don't even remember the day I was born...only the month.” Was Naruto's almost bored tone as he spoke into the radio recorder the German scientist provided him.

Sitting opposite him was a bald elderly man with a white scruffy beard. His name is Ludvig Maxis. The leader of the organisation who had found him, bloodied and unconscious in the middle of nowhere a few miles from Der Riese. That was three days ago and the blue eyed whisker faced blonde hadn't regained his memories as of yet.

“What is the furthest you can remember?” Ludvig asked as he leaned forward on the table.

Naruto scrunched up his face as he tried to think. He eventually shrugged, coming up with a blank. “The furthest I can remember is literally three days ago when I woke up here.”

Ludvig sighed and stopped the tape recorder from playing, having heard all he needed to from the Asian in front of him. “It appears, young one, that you have a severe case of amnesia. Now I see two possibilities. Either it will resolve itself in time, or you may never regain your memories.”

Naruto shrugged his shoulders not looking bothered at all. “Oh well. It's just memories. I can easy replace those with new ones.”

Ludvig narrowed his eyes confusingly at the blonde. “Do you not wish to know of your own past?”

Naruto crossed his arms against his chest and negatively shook his head. “No, I don't. Why should I bother if I can't remember anything about that is worth bothering?”

X.X.X.X

The Elemental Nations is in a middle of a crisis. Three years ago a month after the disappearance of one Naruto Uzumaki, the elemental countries was suddenly invaded by an enemy the likes no one had ever seen. With no explanation at all the dead started to rise from their graves and attack the living. In the beginning of the crisis the conflicts was easy. The shinobi and kunoichi's of each hidden village were able to fend off the zombies during the first few weeks and were able to push them back.

Just when the undead were close to being defeated something completely unexpected had happened: the zombies began to adapt to their method of attacks and the ninjas learnt that some of their attacks had little to no effect on the zombies themselves. It was quickly learned that genjutsu was completely useless against the dead. Most ninja techniques that involves disturbing an individuals chakra network was also proven to be useless. Fortunately lot of the offensive techniques are still effective against the zombies and were able to keep the undead at bay.

It was then they discovered another setback. The zombies adapted once again to their method of attacks and all of a sudden they became faster and more agile. They're now able to jump up several feet in the air, being able to reach places a normal person wouldn't be able to. All without the use of chakra. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, more and more different type of zombies began to appear across the nations, over running countries that were not protected by a Hidden Ninja Village within the span of a month.

Within the first two years of this only the Five Hidden Villages and a few others were left standing from the continuous onslaught of the undead. Humanity as a whole had suffered heavy casualties during the first two years. The zombies being able to adapt with each encounter and with new type of zombies appearing out of nowhere it was beginning to take its toll on the survivors.

For two years it had gone like this. Two years that the hidden villages fought against the onslaught alone. And very rarely fought together. Two years since the zombies appeared out of nowhere, Tsunade Senju the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, knew unless they did something the complete and total annihilation of the human race would be inevitable. She called a Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, and with all the Kage's from their respective countries in one place Tsunade began to discuss the enemy that threatens all life as they knew it and suggested that they all band together to face their common foe as one, or die as many.

It was the shortest Kage Summit in the history of the Elemental Nations. Not only did the Kage agree with Tsunade they began to share information on what type of zombies they have encountered thus far and to their shock and horror they realised just how many there are. In total there was six types of undead. Kumogakure was where the sixth zombie type was spotted. It was almost completely impervious to damage and powered itself on electricity. The Raikage Ay had learnt this the hard way when he tried to use his lightening armour against it, only for said armour to get absorbed and regenerate the zombie from any damage it had sustained.

In the end, the Kage Summit ended up with all the villages allying together and sharing their resources with one another and experiences with the different types of zombies they came across and what strategy they use to take them down when they're encountered.

It was one year later and the alliance was still going strong but were at a stalemate with the undead legions that seemingly keeps on growing every day. And on the anniversary of Naruto's disappearance the Elemental Nations is about to receive a visitor from a familiar face who was long thought to be dead...

X.X.X.X

We find Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, Samantha and Naruto standing in front of a bridge. They're all staring up at the sign that had Japanese writing on it. For some reason Naruto was getting some weird Deja vu vibes from just looking at it. It was like he had been here before, but he just can't remember when.

“Hey Takeo, what does that say?” Dempsey asked as he jerked a thumb at the sign that is on top of a bridge the five were standing in front of.

“...The Great Naruto Bridge.” Takeo translated after a short bout of silence. The writing is in his language so Takeo was easily able to translate the kanji to English. The samurai looked at the craftsmanship and added; “The bridge appears to have been recently crafted. Two to three years if I am correct.”

Naruto arched an eyebrow before chortling in amusement. “Well, isn't that a kicker? There's a big ass bridge that has my name on it.” The whisker faced blonde said with a shake of his head.

Dempsey scanned the landscape on the opposite side of the bridge with narrowed eyes and saw it was in far better condition over there. There is a village on both sides of the bridge with a lighthouse on the right side. However being on the mainland that is only connected to the island through a bridge – which is almost a mile long – made the village appear abandoned to the naked eye.

If they want to get a better look then they'll have to get closer.

“What do you say we cross the bridge and see what's what?” Dempsey asked, turning to the others with an expectant look.

“Well we have nothing better to do than wander around aimlessly.” Naruto answered with an almost bored sigh. He squinted his eyes, noticing the village up ahead. “We might as well. If there are people in that village up ahead then they can at least tell us where we are in terms of location.”

Dempsey nodded in complete agreement with Naruto's assessment. They have no idea on where they are and information is something they sorely need. The only place that has this information happens to be the village on the opposite side of the Great Naruto Bridge.

“Alright. Keep your eyes peeled and your weapons ready. With zombies lurking about we don't know what state the village up ahead is in. So get ready for the worst.” Dempsey told them and upon seeing them all nod their head in agreement he turned around and walked across the bridge cautiously with the others following.

Hopefully the inhabitants speak English too. If they don't they're going to have a problem. Unless Takeo translates what they are saying word for word for them.

As for Naruto, the further he crossed the bridge the stronger his deja vu became. He narrowed his eyes as he looked around and they slowly lit up in recognition. He had been here before. The country they were about to go into was called the...

“Land of Waves...” Naruto uttered to himself causing everyone to look at him. Seeing the looks he was getting Naruto added, “That is what the island we're going to is called: Land of Waves.”

“A memory from your past?” Nikolai asked.

“Do you know anything else about the island?” Dempsey questioned Naruto after the blonde nodded in confirmation.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to remember anything else from his already fractured memories. After a moment of tense silence the whisker faced blonde finally got what information he was looking for and nodded. “From what little I remember, where we're going to is a trading island. It stays on its feet by its shipping for trading and commerce with its neighbours. After that nothing much except for some fighting.”

Which was true Naruto could not remember much else after that. He remembers fighting against a man with no eyebrows who had a big ass sword. Some bratty little kid who thought he had it worse than anyone else in the world. More fighting against the eyebrow-less man on the bridge they're walking on and after that nothing much else.

“Vhat do you remember of the fighting?” Samantha asked as she was genuinely curious.

Naruto shrugged. “I don't remember much. There was a man with no eyebrows who had a sword that was three times his size. A masked man with gravity defying silver hair who had a forehead protector slanted over one eye was fighting him. After that it gets a little blurry. But the eyebrow-less man was fighting again with the silver haired man on this very bridge when it was still unfinished... That's it.”

“That's it?”

“That's it.” Naruto reaffirmed, smiling slightly at the disappointed look Samantha was sending him. Oh well its not like all stories have to be exciting. After all there are thousand of stories being made every day and not all of them are interesting.

Too bad Naruto never realised his story was one where he and the people he was with liberated an entire country, and he himself helped bring back hope for the villagers and became a hero to the inhabitants.

It took them a while but they eventually reached the other side of the bridge and as they looked up they saw another sign had the name of the bridge on it.

“Huh, the name of the bridge is down here as well.” Dempsey remarked before turning to the teen the bridge was - unknowingly to them - named after. “Whoever named and built this bridge wanted to make sure the people who crossed it to remember the name.”

Naruto blinked at a thought that came up before shaking his head dismissively. “I was here at one point a long time ago if you remember me saying. But I doubt whatever I had done back then, was enough cause for someone to actually name a bridge after me.”

“Excuse me.” A deep, gruff masculine voice called out.

The group of five turned and saw a large grey-haired, bespectacled elderly man with a large beard and dark eyes approaching them with a few people armed with crossbows, swords and kunai's following him. The man’s attire consists a dark sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi tied around the waist line of his pants and a pair of sandals. The man and the group of people following stopped before the group, and warily eyed at their odd attire and equipment.

Pausing for a moment he took in the entire of their appearance in case he needed to identify them later on, the man coughed into his hand and said; “I'm afraid the Land of Waves is on lock down, so, you'll have to move on. With the dead rising from their graves and turning anyone they get their hands on, one cannot be too sure as to who is bitten and who is not.”

“How long has it been like this? The dead rising I mean?” Dempsey being the reasonable one out of the group asked, fishing for information. The more they know about the situation in the Elemental Nations the better understanding they'll know of what they're dealing with, apart from the completely obvious.

The elder sighed stressfully as he rubbed his forehead. “It's been like this for 3 years now. And the dead have been getting smarter and stronger through every encounter they have with the ninjas of the hidden villages...” He paused mid-answer, the question he was asked finally registering in his head. He stared at the group hard, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Just where have you been living for the past three years? Under a rock? Just about everyone in the Elemental Nations knows of the dire situation we're facing now.”

Takeo quickly answered before anyone else in the group could respond. “We are foreigners from a distant land from across the seas. We have recently arrived and are not knowledgeable in the ways of this land.”

It was partially true. Everyone in the group with Naruto being the sole exception are foreigners. But not from the sea; and they did recently arrive to the Elemental Nations. Plus they don't know the current status of the country they're in.

Besides it's not like they can just go and say, “We came from a different dimension and we just arrived here recently. Please tell us what is happening because we have no idea.” otherwise everyone would look at them as if they are a bunch of nut-cases.

The elder scratched his chin and stared at the group for a long and tense moment. Eventually he nodded his head, believing that Takeo was telling the truth and bowed to them. “In that case, I apologize for my behaviour earlier. The recent attacks by the walking dead have taken a toll on all of us. My name is Tazuna, former bridge builder and acting leader of the Land of Waves.” The man introduced himself.

No one noticed the wince and subtle side-head grabbing from Naruto. The blonde quickly recovered however just as Dempsey introduced himself.

“I am Tank Dempsey.” Dempsey introduced himself he jerked a thumb at the Russian standing next to him. “The fat bastard next to me is Nikolai Belinski-”

“Fuck you, American!” Shouted the Russian in retaliation to the insult.

“The guy with the katana is Takeo Masaki.” Dempsey continued as if he were never interrupted with Takeo nodding to Tazuna from beneath his cap. “The girl beside blondie here is Samantha Maxis and lastly the blond himself is Naruto.”

Dempsey purposely neglected to say Naruto's surname because of Tazuna's former occupation: bridge builder. When the Great Naruto Bridge was being built when Naruto himself was here, there is a good chance that the man in front of them was one of the many that helped to construct it.

And with Naruto being here three years ago... You get the idea.

“Naruto...?” Tazuna said, now looking at the younger blonde with arched brows. “That name takes me back. There was a young boy called Naruto Uzumaki who came to Wave Country as part of a mission I paid for three years ago. In fact, this bridge was named after him after he helped return the freedom we've lost to a tyrant.”

Everyone that crossed the bridge gave Naruto a meaningful look at that. Naruto himself was astonished at the fact these people have named a bridge of all things after him! He takes what he said earlier back; what he did here three years ago was enough cause for a bridge to be named after him!

“What did the other Naruto look like?” Naruto asked. While he didn't much care about his own past, this is an opportunity to learn what he was like back then.

Way to contradict your own words kiddo.

“The kid had blue eyes and blonde spiky hair. Three whisker marks on both cheeks. He wore an orange tracksuit with blue on the shoulders and on the waist and a large white collar. There...was a red swirl crest on the back of the orange tracksuit. The kid had orange pants with a shuriken holster attached to his right knee. He wore a pair blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector.” Tazuna answered he squinted his eyes as he got a closer look at Naruto. “Now that I think about it, you look a little like him. The same spiky hair, blue eyes and...” Tazuna's eyes slowly went wide in shocked disbelief upon realising who was in front of him. His mouth dropped open soon after as he stared at the missing hero who was long thought dead.

Naruto blinked when he saw the man literally go immobile upon realising who he is. He was as still as a statue and only the sound of his breathing told him that the old man was alive, amusingly enough Tazuna's eyes were so wide that they looked as if they were about to bulge out of their sockets. He gazed at the men behind Tazuna and saw they were in a similar condition.

The bulgy eyes and the gaping mouth. It was amusing.

There was an awkward silence between the two groups. Who knew they would react like this? “I think it's safe to say he found out who I am.” Naruto stated with a sigh, as he shifted his M-14 so it was resting on his shoulder.

“Hold on a minute. Naruto, if he knows who you are and that you are a hero of this place would that mean he'll let us in?”

“I'm not sure Tank. A lot of things can change in three years. Hero or not, I don't think he'll just let us waltz on in willy-nilly.”

It was by this time that Tazuna snapped out of his shock just in time to hear what Naruto said. “You would be right on that part. However, I can let you five in the land of waves if and only if you promise to help us with our undead problem.”

“Well...” Naruto trailed off as he slowly turned to stare at Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha to gauge their reactions to the offer. They seem indifferent to the offer given to them. But Naruto knew better. Being with them for three years he learnt a thing or two about their reactions.

The slight twitch in the eye from Dempsey told Naruto he was mildly irritated at the offer; take the job being offered or they can fuck off. It was obvious what Dempsey was going to choose.

Takeo was the most calm. His face held a look of indifferent. However the drumming of fingers on the hilt of the katana hanging from his belt showed how displeased he was. The fingers were tapping against the hilt rapidly and the noise emitting from the finger movement was loud enough for Takeo to convey his annoyance, even if no one else could not pick up on it.

Nikolai...well...he was completely hammered from the vodka. So he wasn't paying attention. Samantha had a sickeningly sweet smile as she stared at Tazuna. Naruto would have freaked out at the dangerous glint in her eyes. Seeing their reactions Naruto internally nodded to himself. Knowing what he had to do...

“Sure! Point us in the direction they're at?” The blonde asked cheerfully as he pointedly ignored the scathing glares he was given from his companions.

Tazuna let out a relieved sigh and as he turned around, he gestured the group to follow him as he walked towards the Wave Village with his guards following. As the group made their way back Tazuna began to tell them everything they needed to know.

“The dead have been attacking the village every night for the past week. As far as we know, the undead always come out of the tree line to the north. No one ventured into the woods because we are stretched too thin as it is and need all able men and women to help defend the village.” Tazuna sighed in exhaustion and ran a hand through his hair. “We were lucky enough to have suffered no casualties so far since the attacks begun. We made spiked barricades to help defend the village from the onslaught. It's been effective so far but I know it is only a matter of time before they break through.”

“Do you know what types these zombies are?” Naruto asked the elderly man.

Tazuna looked over his shoulder questionably at Naruto. “Types?”

“Yeah there are several types of zombies. The first type are walkers. You usually see them stumbling or limping around with their arms outstretched in front of them. They are the most common you'll encounter. The second type are runners. These are zombies that run instead of walking. The third type are the sprinters; they're just like runners, but are much faster and can easily catch up to you in a matter of seconds.” Naruto paused a moment to catch his breath and to see if Tazuna was following word for word.

Seeing that he was Naruto continued. “The fourth zombie type are undead animals such as dogs and monkeys. These zombies are usually as tall as a pre-teen, perhaps even taller and some have a special ability that makes them unique to the others. An example would be being able to teleport a few yards in front of you. The fifth zombie types are are able to use a single element such as fire or wind. Everyone in the group I'm with apart from Samantha has encountered two zombies who are part of the fifth type. They were able to use fire and wind against us. The first one, the pyro zombie, was able to burn anything it touches and would explode whenever we got close to it. What was worse was that it is impervious to damage-”

“They were tough bastards too. We had to get close to it in order to get rid of the fucking things.” Dempsey interrupted bitterly as he emphasised the word 'had'.

“Yeah. We had to get close to it so it would fucking explode. Don't get me started on the wind user. That fucker could use wind to disorientate and blind us with just a wave of its hand. Not to mention the fucker was fast moving.” Naruto and everyone in the group nodded in complete agreement to Nikolai's words.

“And then there's the last type; super zombies.” Naruto spat the word out like acid. “These ass holes are the worst sort of zombies you can encounter. Not only are they inhumanely strong, they are almost impervious to damage, have unlimited stamina and are able to do feats that should not be possible.”

With every sentence spoken Tazuna and the men following him began to pale slowly with each zombie type being revealed.

Never in all his years did he think there are six different type of zombies. All of them much deadly than the last. And from what Naruto revealed they've been dealing with the first and second types. The third and over are the only ones they haven't faced against, and from what Naruto says they are in a whole another league.

“So which type of zombies are you up against here?” Naruto questioned.

“The first and second. We haven't encountered the third and above, thankfully.”

Naruto nodded at that and shared a look with his group who were staring at him with grim but determined looks. While they are not happy about being dragged in to this dilemma without being asked first, they knew the situation had to be resolved. It might as well be the ones who are properly equipped to deal with them to resolve the attacks.

“So we got walkers and runners attacking your village every night from the tree line to the North. You had no casualties since the attacks so far, and you've held the walking dead back for the past seven days. You've done well in keeping your village up and running.”

Tazuna inclined his head at the complement given to him. “Keeping order was difficult. During the first day people have panicked; but we kept order once we gave them a choice: Defend or die.” The group frowned but nodded in understanding. “As you now know the entire Elemental Nations have been under constant attack for three years. With the Hidden Villages stretching themselves thin with keeping the dead in check and overrunning their countries we have been unable to request aid.”

“And since you've been fighting the zombies for an entire week you were unable to send people out to get help. Because everyone has been trying to keep the barricades up and making sure they have enough food and water to last.” Dempsey said in revelation.

When Tazuna nodded in confirmation the group of zombie slayers could not help but shake their heads in disapproval. It was rather stupid to not try and send someone out to get help from these so called 'Hidden Villages', which were not really hidden if they are found so easily. But with the mainland in the same crisis it would not have been a good idea.

Although the group did find it strange that the zombies had lasted this long if the military force of this dimension is able to pull off god-like shit out of their ass as if it were an every day thing.

“While we have done a good job keeping the dead at bay, the smart thing would have been going to the mainland and get help. But with the Elemental Nations under the same crisis as we are, there was a good chance anyone we would send out would get attacked by the walking dead before they would reach the nearest Hidden Village.” Tazuna said grimly. “Plus, the dead seem to be getting smarter with every encounter and adapt accordingly to their experiences.”

“Mother fucker! This is just like back at home!” Dempsey cursed.

“You all have been facing the same crisis as we are?” Tazuna asked in surprise.

“Yeah, been fighting the walking dead ever since I can remember.” Naruto replied a little bitterly. “Zombies were overrunning entire cities and countries at a rapid pace. We basically had to destroy everything in the end.”

“'Ever since I can remember'? What do you mean by that?”

“The kid has amnesia.” Dempsey revealed for Naruto's benefit. “The furthest he can remember is three years ago, and ever since he has been fighting zombies with us. The only reason all of us as a group are here, is because the kid recently remembered where he came from and wanted us to come with him.”

Dempsey had wisely told the man the partial truth. Leaving out where Naruto along with Takeo, Nikolai and himself were experimented on by an organisation who wanted to win a war they had started and were the main cause of the zombie outbreak from where they came from. Who knows how they would react to that?

Tazuna nodded his head in understanding. Any questions he wanted to ask died in his mouth. He wanted to know why the kid never tried to make contact with Konoha; the answer provided by Dempsey had gave him that answer. Still the kid has people back home who miss him. Konoha had to know that one of their own is back and has amnesia.

X.X.X.X

As the group conversed time flew by and before they knew it, they were standing in the middle of the village. There are several spiked barricades with rotten corpses of the dead impaled on them in the streets. The doors and windows have been boarded up to keep the civilians safe. As for the civilians themselves, they were either carrying makeshift weapons like knives and cleavers or real weaponry like katana's and crossbows as protection from the zombies.

The citizens who had crossbows were on the rooftops acting as lookouts.

The group consisting Naruto, Tank, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha were looking cautiously around. The only ones outside were all adults, or teenagers who are well in their way in to adulthood. There are no children in sight whatsoever and while concerning they pushed it to the back of their heads.

It wasn't something that was at all interesting. The most likely explanation is they are more likely to be inside the safety of buildings, rather than outside where the danger is.

As they walked through the village everyone pretty much stopped what they were doing and stared as if they had seen a ghost.

Naruto to his credit ignored the staring and whispering in the background, though he was tempted to fire his M-16 in the sky just to make them shut up he resisted the urge. Such an action would bring repercussions on the group as a whole, as it would bring attention on them quicker than it is needed.

Not to mention it would be a needless waste of ammo.

Eventually the group of five were led through a spiked barricade that was littered with dried blood and rotten decaying corpses, that was currently being yanked off and taken to a large pile of corpses that is nearby waiting to be burnt, and were brought before the treelike on the outskirts of the village where the zombies would emerge every single night for the past week.

“So this is where the unholy demons appear every night?” Takeo asked staring at the tree line with suspicion. Tazuna nodded once and the Imperial Army Samurai grunted as he shouldered his Type 100 sub-machine gun. “Humph, then this is where we shall part ways for now.”

Samantha narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she stared at the tree line. There was a presence out there. Something old and ancient that was rooted to the very earth. What she found unnerving about this is the fact she could tell it is watching them.

“Yeah, don't worry old man we'll be back before you know it.” Naruto added in confidence as he gave the bridge builder an assured look complete with a thumbs up.

Tazuna nodded again and stared at the back of the group as they walked in and past the tree line. Waiting a few minutes to make sure they were out of ear shot, Tazuna suddenly turned to the man next to him a serious expression on his face.

“Get me a messenger bird and a sheet of paper. I need to send a message to Konohagakure and inform them that a member of Kakashi's team is alive.”

X.X.X.X

“How much you want to bet whatever the situation here is, is a lot more complicated than it looks?” Naruto suddenly asked aloud a few minutes after they breached the tree line.

“Pretty much like everything else we do?” Nikolai asked.

“Nah, not everything we do is complicated.” Dempsey replied in dismissal.

“Oh really?” Naruto said, giving Dempsey a raised brow. “Then let me give you a few examples.” He raised his forefinger. “Ascension where we had to do a very complicated puzzle in order to rescue a mysterious voice from Samantha-”

“Hey!” Said girl cried out indignity.

“Then there is Shangri-la; where we had to go into the past to rescue two people from being killed by zombies repeatingly.” Naruto added as if he weren't interrupted by Samantha's outcry, while putting up his middle finger to tick it off. “And then there was the moon--” He paused and gave Dempsey a pointed stare. “--do I need to remind you what happened back there?”

“No. No you don't.” Dempsey replied with a light scowl. The moon was still a sore subject for the group. Fucking Richtofen for tricking them. Fucking Maxis for getting them to blow up the Earth...

“Sooo...” Nikolai drawled out. “...in other words...everything we do...we make worse?”

Naruto shook his head negatively. “Not exactly. We did do some good in the places we've been to, and we did what we could. It's just the four of us were played for fools all along by Richtofen, who made us believe Samantha was the enemy when in actually was him all along, and we never knew until it was too late.”

Samantha as she listened to them became depressed and angry at herself for trying to kill the other four. Naruto particularly who has been nothing but kind to her ever since she and Richtofen had switched bodies. While Naruto, Nikolai, Takeo, Dempsey and Richtofen were fighting her armies in multiple locations she had come to learn, she could have contacted them at any time by electronic devices. But she didn't. She did not try to warn them that Richtofen is the cause for all the problems they've faced since the zombie outbreak.

She could have told them that Edward Richtofen is the real enemy not her and that she was trying to kill him. She could have told them that Richtofen was just using them to fulfil his own ends. She could have told them but she never did.

Naruto sensing the depressing aura around Samantha put a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her to turn and look at him. He smiled reassuringly at her, his way of telling her that he did not blame her for what had happened. Samantha seeing the reassuring smile the whisker faced blonde was giving her returned it.

Takeo scowled bitterly at the grim reminder and clenched his fist tightly. He looked down at his katana and wondered if he should commit seppuku for the atrocity he had had helped commit against humanity? He would regain the honour he had lost once he did, but, was it the right thing to do?

As if to answer this question the former Imperial officer turned his eyes to Naruto, thinking of everything they went through together and how they had helped one another during the undead crisis, and how close he and the young teen had become. Naruto wouldn't want him to commit suicide. In fact if he knew the blonde, he would, dare he say it, smack him across the back of the head for thinking of doing such a thing.

Protecting one another. Helping one another. Watching each others backs, coming to aid one another when they are in a tight spot and trying to save the world... Yes. Now that the samurai thought about it he still had honour left in him. That alone will be enough to keep him from commiting seppuku.

A short while later the group of six came to a scene that put them all on guard. For almost two yards the earths soil was dead. The trees surrounding the soil was dying too, the leaves are a rotten brown and the treebarks are a twisted sick parody of its former self. The soil was also upturned looking as if someone or something was either digging down or trying to get out.

Samantha shook her head she felt the presence from before once again. This time however the presence was closer to them. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion she suddenly started walking forward, ignoring the others calling for her, and stood in the epicentre of the rotten ground. Closing her eyes in concentration Samantha got down on one knee and set her MP40 on the ground beside her.

“What the hell is she doin'?” Dempsey asked himself aloud with astonishment in his voice as Samantha began to look like she was about to prey.

“I am not to sure.” Naruto replied slowly with his eyes narrowed. “It's like she's preying or something...?” He trailed off questioningly.

“Perhaps the child is contacting the spirits of this place? To know where our enemies lie?” Takeo suggested as he surveyed their surroundings cautiously.

“Possibly.” Naruto began contemplatively. “Samantha is technically a spirit, so maybe she can contact with people who are on the other side?”

Dempsey stroked his chin as he stared at the kneeling girl with interest. “Uh-huh, if that is the case, then we may know just what is going down quicker than we first thought.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to Dempsey's words. Since Samantha has supernatural powers, she is able to do things that normal people are unable to do. With the execption of Samantha herself, Naruto is the only unnormal person in the entire group as he is able to do supernatural things too. Even though he can't remember much of his abilities.

A comfortable silence settled among the group as they watched Samantha do her thing. Only for it to be suddenly broken by Nikolai who just remembered the lack of reaction old man Tazuna had when he saw their weapons.

“Hey... I just remembered something odd...” When everyone turned to look at him questioningly, they gestured him to continue, so he did. “That fucking old man...he had serious lack of reaction to our guns. For something so advanced in his eyes, he should have been more 'interested' in knowing what our guns can do.”

Everyone narrowed their eyes, realising Nikolai was right. Tazuna did have a serious lack in surprise and interest in their guns. Considering how technically underdeveloped this dimension is, they'd have thought everyone would have been more interested in their technology and what they can do.

But instead they weren't.

“Very odd indeed.” Takeo said with narrowed eyes.

Dempsey slowly nodded and said. “Yeah... If I were in his place I would've been more aware of something I had never seen before. I would have been curious to know what it was too.”

“Perhaps he had seen something like it before?” Nikolai suggested reasonably.

“Probable. But not likely.” Naruto answered in response as he scratched the side of his neck to get rid of an itch that was beginning to annoy him.“If there are guns in this dimension they would have in terms of the weaponry we use, obsolete flintlock pistols, muskets and blunderbusses; or something similiar to them.”

“But with the chakra they use to fight...” Dempsey began, before he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance upon realising just how screwed these people are.

You have to understand; since these people have been using chakra against the zombies in. Every. Single. Encounter. The undead have quickly adapted to their method of attacks and now their chakra is almost ineffective against them.

With six different types of zombies, chakra would still likely be effective against the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th types for a while before they adapt themselves to avoid and dodge those attacks. The 5th and 6th zombie types would likely be close to immunity to chakra oriented attacks.

Talk about severely fucking themselves over.

“The undead was able to adapt to their method of attacks with each encounter.” Naruto finished with a grim look.

“They've become so dependable on this energy of theirs they won't be as effective without it.” The former marine scoffed in disgust. “I won't be surprised that once they find themselves unable to use their energy, they'd find themselves as weak as a child.”

As the group quietly talked among themselves Samantha had discovered what the presense she sensed before is.

She learnt the presense is in actually an ancient spirit who was awoken from its slumber when someone from the village they had come from took something that did not belong to them. An image of a teenage boy, wearing a dark grey sleeveless v-neck shirt, dark pants and a pair of sandals flashed in her mind, showing her who the perpetrator is.

The spirit then sent Samantha an image of the stolen object in question; it is an elemental staff that is capable of unleashing balls of molten rock. Strangely enough Samantha thought she had seen someone who looked like a younger version of Takeo Masaki wielding the elemental staff, and was in a war torn battlefield with trenches and bodies impaled on spikes in the background.

The next image sent to her had the boy shown to her previously holding the staff in his hands before taking it away from its resting place. In retaliation the spirit raised a small army of the walking dead and sent them to the village she and the others had came from with the intent on taking back the elemental staff that was stolen from its resting place.

Opening her eyes and knowing the true reasion behind the attacks, Samantha grabbed her MP-40 submachine gun off the ground, stood up and turned to face the others and walked to them.

“Did you get anything useful out of whatever you were doing over there?”

Samantha stared Dempsey unflinchingly in the eyes and said, “Yes, and I now know the true reason behind these attacks.”

The others were taken aback at the belief in her voice. However their surprise at her conviciton did not stem the unconvinced looks she was being given. Naruto on the other hand knew something was up and knowing Samantha is able to see things that they are unable to because of her 'condition' he gave her a chance.

“What did you see?” The whisker face blonde asked.

Samantha told them everything she had seen. She told them about the spirit that was in the area. She told them about the elemental staff and the boy who stole it from its resting place. She told them of the mental image of a younger version of Takeo Masaki, using the elemental staff in the midst of a wartorn battlefield that had trenches and corpses impaled on spikes. Then she told them the reason behind the attacks so far.

“So let me recap on what we've all learnt so far; we got an ancient spirit who got robbed. An elemental staff that fires balls of molten lava. A teenage boy that took the elemental staff from its resting place and now the spirit is pissed and raised the dead in an attempt to take back the staff.” Dempsey said, raising a finger to mark off everything they had learnt so far. “Anything we miss?”

“What about the guy who looks like a younger version of Takeo using the elemental staff?” Naruto pointed out.

Dempsey snapped his fingers in remembrance. “Oh, yeah, that as well.”

Samantha shook her head negatively. “Nien. Zhat is everything.”

“The child-thief has unleashed an army of fallen warriors upon his home.” The samurai, a veteran of two World Wars, said in a disgusted tone as his lips pulled back in a nasty scowl. “He has brought shame and dishonour upon himself and his family!”

“The thief is only a kid!” Naruto fiercely said in the childs defense. “We don't know the reason behind the thieving. So before we make any judgement, we get some answers. Then we judge him upon with what we've learnt being the catalyst.”

While reluctant Takeo had to concede to Naruto. The young blonde had a point after all; not only do they not know the whole story, they can't judge someone when they only had one perspective. But that never stopped anyone from judging people since the beginning of time.

Knowing what they had to do Dempsey layed out their choices; they either had to take back the elemental staff and bring it to its resting place, or, ignore the spirits request to bring it back' and try to stop the zombies right there.

“I don't know about you but I say we go find staff of element.” Nikolai slurred out his suggestion. He hicupped and added, “I have enough of zombies for one lifetime, so, let us do first choice.”

“I agree with the Russian. For once I'd like to not fight any zombies while trying to complete an objective.” Dempsey said with his head nodding in agreement to the Soviet's words.

“I'm all for not re-killing zombies. Lets get the staff back.” Naruto supported.

Dempsey nodded in satisfaction seeing everyone in the group wanted to avoid re-killing the undead. The former marine shouldered his M-14 assault rifle and said, “It's settled then; we go look for the staff back in the Wave village and bring it back here?”

“And we have until sun goes down before another attack comes.” Nikolai reminded them helpfully as they turned and went back in the direction they came from. Since they were on the clock the group of five were running back to the village.

They kept their guard up along the way though; just in case the spirit Samantha discovered decides to pull a fast one on them.

As they ran Takeo left some parting words that spoke of what would happen if they don't get the elemental staff back in time. “The light keeps the dead at bay. Once it leaves, the fallen, will rise once more amongst the living.”

Naruto and the others nod their heads in agreement, and Naruto concluded by saying; “Once the zombies are back, we'll have no choice but to fight. So lets get this done before it comes to that!”

The group made it back to the Wave village in record time and stopped to regain their breath just out of the barricade. Because they were running for most of the way three of them were out of breath. Naruto and Samantha being a former ninja and a spirit were in better condition; they were panting but not completely out of breath like their companions. The villagers standing guard over their village were surprised at their quick reappearane.

“Did you find a way to stop the dead?” One of the villagers asked in a hopeful voice.

“We may have found a way. But we need to see old man Tazuna to tell him the situation first.” Naruto answered for everyone else, seeing as they – excluding Samantha – were out of breath.

Another villager directed the way to Tazuna's house, and gave them a description of the house and told them it is near the Great Naruto Bridge and they couldn't miss it. They had to look out for a two floor house, with a windmill in front of it, that sat on stilts over the water.

...Basically like nearly every other house in the village.

Still it couldn't be that difficult to find a single house near a bridge that was named after him could it? It turns out it wasn't.

When the man told them Tazuna's house was near the bridge they didn't think that the house was literally a yard away from it. And unlike the other houses that were on land, the houses here were held up by wood platforms and stilts. Another thing they realised the houses that were built on land they look new as if they were recently built. The ones that are on top of water, those ones look more worn and aged but are still in good living condition.

Plus the man they were looking for was outside of the house. And there was a pigeon that with a message tied to its leg standing on his arm. As they approached him the pigeon leapt off of Tazuna's arm and flew off in the distance. Towards the mainland.

Hearing footsteps Tazuna turned and was surprised to see Naruto and his companions back in the village so quickly. “Did you resolve our undead situation?” The former bridge builder asked, trying not to sound to hopeful.

The group negatively shook their heads causing Tazuna to sigh in disappointment. “Oh. Well, if you haven't taken care of our problem then maybe you've found something that had caused it?”

“Well...” Naruto began almost hesitantly. “...we have in a sense. Samantha here is able to see things that others cannot.” He explained as he gestured to the girl in question. “When we found the origins of the zombies, she had a vision of a teenage boy holding a staff of somekind and took it from its resting place. The five of us believe that this teenager is the reasion behind the attacks your village has suffered, and, if we return the staff that was taken from its resting place, the undead will stop attacking.”

Tazuna narrowed his eyes in thought. Now that he thought about it his grandson was acting a little strange the day before the attacks happened and he was carrying something wrapped up that was twice his size up into his room. But just to be sure... “What did the teenage boy look like?”

It was Samantha who answered seeing as she was the one who saw what he looked like. “He vas vearing a dark grey sleeveless v-neck shirt, dark pants and a pair of sandals.”

Closing his eyes Tazuna exhaled triedly knowing from the basic description he was given that they were looking for his grandson Inari. “From that basic description you have given me, it looks like you're looking for my grandson Inari.” He told them.

The former bridge builder then gestured the group to follow him as he turned and walked in his house. The zombie slayers shared a look with one another before following Tazuna inside.

“What makes you think we are looking for grandson?” Nikolai asked as he and the others followed Tazuna into the frontroom where the former bridge builder sat on a couch.

“A few things actually; Inari was acting a little strange a day before the attacks. Plus on that same day I saw him carrying something wrapped up that was twice his size up into his room. It looked like a seven foot pole with the top end looking wider than the rest. Plus when I asked him what it was he would act secretively and be evasive.” He revealed to them as the group either sat down on the couch or on the floor itself.

“Has the child revealed the location of the device to you at all?” Takeo asked stoically.

His stoicism was good at hiding what he truely felt about the situation. They first had to find a staff; now to find that staff they have to look for a teenage boy who had hidden the staff somewhere. If they find out that Inari had moved the staff and they had to find the kid in order to know where he put it; then fuck this he was going to murder people.

Tazuna negatively shook his head and scratched the back of his head as he leaned back on the couch. “No he has not. However there is a chance he kept it in his room. He hardly takes anything out of there so there is a good chance it may still be up there collecting dust.”

Dempsey aburptly sat up. “What are we waiting for? Christmas? Let's get up there!” He exclaimed, and everyone in the room got to their feet.

“Right. Follow me and I'll take you to his room.” Tazuna instructed as he coughed into his hand. The others followed the elder upstairs where he took them to his grandsons room. The group stopped outside of the doorway. “Well, here it is. Do you know what you're looking for?” He asked as he turned to the group.

The group nodded and Tazuna stepped aside sighing through his nose. Hoping beyond hope that the staff they need to find is in Inari's room. Because if it isn't, then they are going to have problems. As Naruto and the others walked into Inari's room Tazuna went back downstairs to get a bottle of sake.

Meanwhile in Inari's room the group of zombie slayers slung their weapons over their shoulders. thanks to the sling that is connected to their respective weapons. Then Naruto, Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Samantha got to searching the room thoroughly for the elemental staff. Tazuna had said Inari carried something up to his room so bearing that in mind there is a good chance the kid may not have moved it since the attacks begun.

A few minutes is all it took them to find what they were looking for. With a triumpant yell Nikolai pulled a wrapped up object out from beneath Inari's bed and set it flat in the middle of the room. It had the description that Tazuna gave them; a seven foot pole with the top being wider than the rest. Underneath your bed is not an ideal hiding place for things but it worked out for them.

Taking off the cloth the elemental staff was revealed to them. Everyone arched their eyes in awe. It was something that not even they were expecting. They were expecting a staff that was made out of wood, and had a magistical feel to it. Instead the elemental staff was mechanical and very futuristic in its appearance.

“Holy shit.” Naruto breathed out in awe. “THAT'S the elemental staff you were talking about Samantha?”

Samantha merely nodded in response. She too was in awe at the sight. Seeing it in your memories was one thing, but to see it up close was a different experience. Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey however felt there was something very deja vu-ish about the mechanical looking staff.

“American, Russian,” Takeo suddenly said, prompting Nikolai and Tank to stare at the Asian with questioning looks. “Do you two feel...something familiar about this staff?” He asked, his eyes never leaving the staff.

Dempsey slowly nodded and looked down at the elemental staff with a contemplative look. “Yeah...I think I saw this staff before. I can't place where I had seen it though.”

“Now that you mention it, I had seen this shortly after I was exiled from the Motherland.” Nikolai told them. “That was almost 30 or so years ago in France I think?” He finished looking and sounding a little unsure.

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. All three of them had seen the elemental staff before. Nikolai mentioned he saw it in France shortly after he was exiled from his home 30 years ago. Samantha said the spirit implanted an image of a man who looked like a younger version of Takeo wielding the staff they were looking at right now.

“You three say you saw this thing before. Samantha said she saw a man who is a younger version of Takeo using the staff. Nikolai says he saw the staff in France 30 years ago. You know what I think? I think, that the staff came from your dimension and ended up here somehow.”

“How'd you figure that?” Dempsey asked Naruto as he and the others stared at the younger blonde with a questioning look.

“Call it a hunch. But if you think about it, it makes sense.” Naruto replied. The blonde got to his feet and added. “Now, we'd better get this back before night falls. I'd rather not face another horde of seemingly endless zombies thank you very much.”

The group nodded in agreement and stood up as well, with Takeo taking the elemetal staff and made their way out of Inari's room and back downstairs. They went without fighting any zombies at all up until now and they'd rather they keep it that way for a little longer.