FicWad

Dead Rising

Chapter 13

It had been a few minutes after the discovery of survivors within Iwagakure. Kurotsuchi who's the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage, is the de-facto leader of the survivors within her grandfather's residence. While Kurotsuchi was explaining to Takeo and Dempsey what was going on Naruto was surveyed the overrun Hidden Village from the window. Nikolai was sitting behind the teachers desk while taking mouthfuls of vodka from one of his many bottles.

All of them had the slings of their guns hanging from their necks; leaving their primary weapon hanging down in front of their stomach.

"Just how did this place end up the way it is now?" Dempsey asked.

Kurotsuchi shrugged her shoulders cluelessly. "No one exactly knows. All this happened around three or four days ago." She frowned momentarily. "It all started when some of us began to get sick. No one knew why. My grandfather was being stubborn and thick headed; he didn't want to call for outside help from any of the other Hidden Villages to aid with the sickness the populace was contracting."

"And before you knew it people started to die." The marine grimly added.

The granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage nodded with a dark look on her face. "After three days, those who were sick had died. My grandfather and father being two of the victims." She paused for a moment, and closed her eyes shaking her head depressingly. "Only a few of us were able enough to actively move around Iwa. Before then it was too late. The dead rose up and began to attack; killing and turning anyone that was still alive."

"Why have you not asked for aid?" Takeo questioned.

"Because everyone around us was falling like flies." The girl replied with distraught. "It would have taken too long for anyone to get from one country to another and make it back here in time to help. Not to mention the rocky terrain surrounding us would have taken anyone brave enough to venture outside to get out and back again days, or possibly weeks. It would have been too late by then!"

"Not to mention that whatever was causing the people here to get sick and die would have quickly spread outside of the Land of Earth if they brought anyone in. Not to mention there is a high possibility that the people here who are still psychically able will be infected too. And if that's the case, then what ever was causing everyone to get sick and die, would inevitably spread out to other countries. So there's that to consider." Dempsey helpfully pointed out for Kurotsuchi's benefit.

"So... why exactly is the Mysterious five here anyway?" Kurotsuchi questioned looking between the four men with a curious expression. The civilians and the ninja who were in the room also gave the four curious looks. They wanted to know why a group as infamous as them were all the way out here.

"'Mysterious Five'? That's what we're called?" Dempsey said upon hearing what everyone has been calling them in amused astonishment.

"It seemed to fit." Kurotsuchi replied with a shrug. "The five of you just appeared out of nowhere almost a month ago. No one knew a thing about you. You were and still are mysterious to us."

"Makes sense I 'suppose." Dempsey rubbed the back of his neck as he nodded thoughtfully, before he got himself back on track. "And to answer your original question, we're here because we are looking for something."

Kurotsuchi furrowed her brow. "What are you looking for?" She asked, giving the marine a look of suspicion. If this thing they were looking for was going to endanger them, then, as a kunoichi she had a duty to stop them.

In response to her question Takeo raised his arm and the Staff of Fire materialised in his palm. Those who had never seen the Staff of Fire before were awed at the very sight of it. Kurotsuchi on the other hand, was not stunned, instead she was surprised as she recognised it. Or more correctly she recognised something eerily similar to the one in Takeo's hand.

"We're lookin' for a very futuristic looking staff that is similar to this one." Dempsey began as he gestured to the Staff of Fire. "We believe there is one here, inside of this 'Hidden Village' of yours. The problem is we don't know where to find it. We came to this building so we can get a better vantage point, and find out the most likely place the Elemental Staff would be."

"Why do you call it an Elemental Staff?" Asked a nameless Iwa shinobi.

"Because each staff uses a particular element. The one my friend standing beside me has uses fire." To show this, Takeo aimed the top end of the staff at the broken window. And fired a small fireball out of the building. "The one the kid has uses lightning."

Naruto proceeded to show them by summoning the Staff of Lightning and proceeded to do the same thing Takeo had done. The two then made their Elemental Staves dematerialise once their use was used.

"The one that is located here happens to be known as the Staff of Ice." Dempsey concluded.

"How effective are those things against the zombies?" Kurotsuchi asked as she gave the elemental staves a gluttonous look, before the look went away as quickly as it appeared.

"They're pretty effective against the walking dead." Dempsey answered before adding on when he saw the brief look of greed in her eyes. "Of course they won't work for just anyone that gets their hands on one; so get that thought out of your head."

That was a lie. It would work for anyone, but what would happen to the person that is exposed to the power the staves give off every time it is used are at times down right lethal. That is if you're not immune to it. Because if you are immune then you would have nothing to worry about.

"What?! Why not!?" She demanded.

"Because what powers these staves, is also the cause of all of these corpses walking around." Naruto answered sternly shocking everyone in the room, apart from his own group since they already knew of it. He gave the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage a hard stare. "Unless you're immune to it, like we are, then there is a good chance that you'll end up like the others outside of this building."

"We'll turn into those flesh eating things outside?!"

"Yes. I just said that."

"Then how come you can use it?!"

Dempsey and Takeo, Naruto and Nikolai all gave Kurotsuchi flat looks. "...Because my young comrade just said we are immune to it." Nikolai answered, his tone matching his expression before he began to vehemently talk to himself in Russian, much to the dumbfoundment and astonishment of the Iwa-nin and civilians in the room who had never heard another language such as Nikolai's before.

Naruto despite not knowing what Nikolai was saying, had a feeling the drunk Russian was talking about Kurotsuchi and how stupid she was. Or something along those lines.

"So... if you're all immune... how exactly did you find out?" Another nameless Iwa ninja asked, this one being a kunoichi.

Dempsey, Takeo, Naruto and Nikolai all shared looks. Wondering if they should divulge them their experiences. Seeing as they were indecisive Naruto sighed and spoke up, "You're the unofficial leader of this group, Tank. It's your decision." He told the man.

Dempsey nodded in response to what Naruto said with a light frown. He turned to face the others in the room, his decision to tell him made. He was not going to tell them everything that happened to them mind you. That would be very, very stupid. But he was going to tell them enough to state their curiosity for the moment.

"Let's just say that we were takin' against our will, and were forced to under go some... unpleasant' research. Research that killed 9 out of 10 of its subjects." The American told them, his tone telling them that he wasn't going to budge on the matter.

Kurotsuchi and the Iwa-nin on the other hand had gotten the brief idea on what the former United States Marine Marine and the others with him had been through. And considering their statement to being immune to what is bringing the dead to life, what ever had been done to them was not a pleasant thought.

"So... you all are here to find the Elemental Staff?" When Dempsey and his companions confirmedly nodded, Kurotsuchi smirked and as she jerked a thumb at herself she added. "Luckily for you I know where it is. My Grandfather had it hidden in one of the many vaults on the top floor of this very building."

"Really? That is rather convenient." Dempsey stated with crossed arms. He turned to his companions and said, "Our luck is just off the roof nowadays." He said with a small amount of amusement in his tone.

"Hopefully we will be able to get through this with no problems, no?" Said Nikolai who stood up from his seat and moved in front of the desk where he then went to sit on top of it.

"Yeah. I hope you didn't jinx it though. Because that is one thing neither of us need." Naruto pointed out to the Russian.

"When was last time I jinxed us?"

"How about the time in Kino Der Toten where you said 'What could go wrong?', and then everything did go wrong?"

Nikolai furrowed his brow; and then he began to think back...

X.X.X.X

Nikolai Spartan kicked a zombie in the stomach, sending it stumbling to the ground before he stood on its chest to keep it from getting up. He aimed his M-14 Battle Rifle in between the zombie's eyes and pulled the trigger, blowing off almost half of its head off of its shoulders.

The Russian looked around the lobby and found Takeo, Dempsey and Richtofen just finishing off the remaining zombie horde that was trying to get inside of the building with the M-14. Naruto had thrown a cooked grenade at one zombie; blowing off its legs and reducing it to a crawler.

"How long have we been in this room for?" Dempsey called out inquisitively to the others.

"We've been here for at least four waves, Tank." Was Naruto's response. "Wanna stay here for another wave? Or move on?"

"Let us stay here for one more round? I mean, what could go wrong?" Nikolai said from his side of the lobby.

As if a higher being was going against his words, the entire theatre they were in was covered in a heavy fog. Everyone quickly got together on top of the second floor of the lobby and glared at Nikolai as the sounds of a howling dog filled the air.

Nikolai had the decency to look sheepish."I just jinxed us did I not?"

"Oh yeah." Dempsey growled in confirmation. "You jinxed us alright."

"C'mon guys, let's just get a weapon that can fight off the dogs." Naruto said as he opened the door leading to the upper hall, and walked through the doorway. The four men weren't about to argue with the teenager, knowing that whatever gun was on the upper hall was enough to beat back the hellhounds that would be teleporting in the theatre to attack them at any second.

X.X.X.X

As Nikolai came back from his flashback he drove his fist into his palm in remembrance. "I remember now! We had to fight hellhounds just after I jinxed us, did we not?"

"Yeah. And then we almost got mauled to death." Dempsey answered who was staring at Nikolai with a blank expression.

"Are you able to take us to the staff that is located in this building?" Takeo asked Kurotsuchi who closed her eyes and rubbed her chin in thought.

"I could take you there, but, what is it in for us if I do?" There was no way she's going to bring the four of them to the vault. Not unless they give her something in return.

Naruto snorted and gave the girl a blank look. "How about the fact that you'll still be alive and kicking, and NOT becoming one of those walking sacks of flesh out there?" He said, jerking his thumb towards the broken window.

"What Naruto MEANS to say-" Dempsey shook his head disapprovingly at Naruto at this point. "-is that we have someone topside who can get us out of here. If you help us find what we came for, we can have her search for any survivors from where she is, and teleport them and you out of here and to a location of your choosing."

Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes and looked at the ground in thought. After several moments the Jonin looked at Dempsey and questioningly asked him, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

In response to her question Naruto looked up to the ceiling and called out. "Samantha! Are you up there now?"

The Iwa-nin stared at Naruto as if he were insane, while Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai all palmed their face in disbelief. The looks on the faces of the ninja were quickly taken off when they heard someone actually reply.

"Ja, I am here." Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all let out relieved sighs when Samantha responded. Something that thankfully for them went unnoticed by the others in the room. "Somezhing has captured mien attention, so I am sorry for any inconvenience mien absence may have caused you. Vhere are you all now?" Questioned Samantha.

"Look for the building that has the cone-shaped roof. That's where we are." Replied Dempsey.

"Got it! As I try and locate you all, can you please tell me vhat is zhe situation down zhere?"

"Long story short: We found a few survivors in Iwa, the granddaughter of the leader knows where the Staff of Ice is, but won't do anything unless she knows what is in it for her. Tank offered a way to get her and the remaining survivors out of here once the staff has been found. And she wants to know how we're telling the truth. And so I called you." Naruto replied all in a single breath, and without stopping to revitalise his lungs with fresh air.

"...Allow me to guess: you vant me to get all of zhe survivors out of zhere once you are all done?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. Think you can do it?"

"Of course I can!" She said in exclamation."Who do you think you are talking do? Just say zhe vord and I vill get everyone out of zhere!"

"Thank you, Samantha! You're the best!" Naruto praised her with a smile.

Samantha let out a child like giggle. "I know I am."

Knowing that the conversation Naruto had with Samantha was now over, Dempsey with confidence, turned to Kurotsuchi who was still gob smacked at hearing a teenage girl talking to them out of thin air.

"Was that enough proof for you?" He said to her rhetorically.

Kurotsuchi glanced at the American and robotic-ally motioned her head up and down. She laughed nervously as she pointed toward' the ceiling. "So that's what you meant by 'topside'."

"Yep and she is the last person in our little group." The marine replied. He then gestured to the door. "So now that we got that straightened out would you care to lead us to this vault of yours?"

"Of course." Kurotsuchi replied with compliance. She turned to one of the senior ninjas, "Arata, while I'm gone leading these people to the vault you're in command. Barricade the doors and don't let anyone inside unless you hear my voice. Understand?"

The named ninja nodded with obedience and saluted. Returning the nod the young Jonin looked at Dempsey and his companions and gestured them to follow her before making her way out of the room. Shrugging Dempsey motioned his companions to follow as he moved to follow the girl.

Once Kurotsuchi, Dempsey, Naruto, Nikolai and Takeo were out of the room and in the bloodied hallway, the group turned to look over their shoulders when they heard someone exclaim "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" behind them. They stared in surprise when the doorway was blocked off by a wall of earth that rose up from the ground.

"Damn. That's a pretty effective way to block off an entrance!" Dempsey whistled in exclamation.

"It won't keep the zombies out for long though." Naruto pointed out re-mindfully. "They are able to tunnel their way through concrete if you remember."

Dempsey nodded in admittance but added, "True. But that doesn't mean it won't slow down their progress." The three men, plus teenager, then followed Kurotsuchi through the body ridden, and blood covered hall. Now that they were no longer inside the classroom, Dempsey and the others had their weapons at the ready.

Dempsey looked at his team mates. "Alright, Naruto you're on point. Takeo watch our six. Nikolai you an' me are going to be watchin' our flanks. We have one shot at finding the Elemental Staff, so let's not mess this up."

With the orders lain out Takeo, Nikolai and Naruto all got themselves in position. With Kurotsuchi being in front Naruto was beside her. Sharing a look between one another Naruto gestured for the girl to lead the way.

As Kurotsuchi lead them to the vault located at top floor of the Tsuchikage tower, she looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but feel a little curious about him. She knew he was Konoha's Jinchuuriki; she knew he went missing during the ill fated mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha and was presumed Killed In Action by his superiors.

So, if the rumours surrounding the group were true, how did Naruto end up on the other side of the world? How come no one from the Elemental Nations knew about it? Is the situation just bad over there than it is here? What kind of things was he and his companions forced into long before they came here?

Feeling eyes on him Naruto looked to his side and found Kurotsuchi glancing at him. He chuckled when her eyes quickly turned away from him and looked ahead. After several minutes Naruto had managed to spot her glancing repeatedly at him from the corner of her eye.

"You know if you have any questions I will be happy to try and answer them to the best of my ability."

Kurotsuchi was quick to latch on to that offer. "How did you find yourself on the other side of the world? Is the situation over there as bad as it is over here? What were you forced into doing before you came here?"

"In answer to the order you asked: I have no idea. The last thing I remember was waking up in some kind of cell. I was told I had been stuck in a coma for 7 months." He paused as he tried to recall what else had happened. "As for your second question; the situation is worse over there than it is here." Which was true. By the time they reached the Russian Cosmodrone several countries throughout the entire world was infected. "The situation got so bad that they had to resort to country wide purging just to try and stop the zombies from spreading. Imagine a weapon that is powerful enough to wipe out an entire Hidden Village and multiply that by 10."

That one was a lie. A very downscaled lie but still true in a sense. They – Samantha, Nikolai and Takeo, Dempsey and himself – had blown up the Earth under the guidance of Samantha's father.

Kurotsuchi glanced at Naruto with a frown pulling at her lips. He was partially lying to her. But what it was he was lying about she didn't know. However she couldn't help but feel disappointed at the revelation. "So we won't be getting help any time soon?"

"I wouldn't bet on it, no." The blonde replied with a shake of his head. "As I said the situation over there was so bad, they wiped out a lot of places just so they could try and contain the outbreak."

Kurotsuchi looked at Naruto with a look that had a mixture of dismayed astonishment, and desperation. "They were that desperate?" She breathed out questioningly her voice lathed in disbelief.

"We didn't have much of a choice." Was Dempsey's bitter answer, prompting Kurotsuchi to glance over her shoulder to look at the marine. "Everywhere we went was overrun with those maggot sacks. With the way things were going we were just prolonging the inevitable. And with most of our villages, towns and cities – with the cities being the equivalent of your Hidden Villages – overrun with the walking dead, we had little choice." He exhaled with an aura of bitterness around him.

"It didn't work though." Naruto picked up where Dempsey left off prompting the girl to turn her gaze from Dempsey to Naruto. "When those places were blown up, it didn't make things better, it made things worse. Now instead of there being zombies in the hundreds or thousands they're now in the millions." He paused and looked Kurotsuchi directly in the eyes. "Now after hearing all of that, can you honestly tell me that they are in any condition of coming to a place, on the other side of the world, that is in just a bad situation as theirs?"

With a frown on her face Kurotsuchi knew there was another partial lie in there. But she knew they were telling the truth of them blowing up their cities, villages and towns just so they could try and contain the zombies.

She slowly shook her head from left to right. A lie or not, he was right, what happened to their people they would be in no condition to help. However something they said was nagging at her.

"If that's the case then how come you're here?" She questioned with a look of suspicion.

Kurotsuchi glanced over her shoulder to look at Dempsey as he said, "We wouldn't have known about this place if it weren't for Naruto. He partially remembered where he came from shortly after everything was destroyed."

"Indeed. We had managed to locate an old facility that would allow us to travel place to place instantaneously through the use of teleportation. We used that contraption to get here." Takeo added.

"It was highly unstable from what Samantha said." Nikolai in-putted. "Was likely to go 'boom!' if used." He added mimicking an explosion.

"Luckily it didn't." Dempsey pointed out.

"The teleporter could have blown up once we went through it."

"Oh right. There is that."

That was, after all, a possibility and no one knew what happened to both the facility and the teleporter after they went through it.

For all they know there could be a crater in the ground after they walked into the portal.

Naruto blinked momentarily before his face settled in a deadpan. "So the likelihood of anyone following us is very unlikely. Including us finding a way back." He pointed out with slowly dawning realization and from the looks he was getting from Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey he knew they came to the same conclusion as he did.

They were likely trapped here.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in dismay. "God fucking dammit."

While the group was conversing Kurotsuchi was looking between them with mounting disbelief and astonishment. Most of what they were saying was going over her head but she got the gist of it.

Whatever they used to get here – something they called a teleporter – was likely destroyed and the likelihood of anyone coming to follow them is very unlikely. So any chances of them going back to where ever they came from is going to be very unlikely. Bordering impossible if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.

After a few minutes went by the three men and teenager had ceased their conversation and went back to following her direction. And after another couple of minutes went by she had taken them to one of the many doors that lead to the outside. After one of them asked her if there was a way to get to their destination quickly she decided to take them to one of the many short cuts that would bypass many of the staircases and hallways.

This short cut just so happened to take them outside, where behind the door she opened was a mile long wooden bridge with rope guardrails at the sides. The end of the bridge was connected to another building, that had another bridge that went back to the building they're in. After taking a look at its destination they learnt the bridge had lead up to the top floor where they needed to go.

Naruto let out an impressed whistle. "That is a long way across." He looked around and found more wooden bridges that were connected from building to building. "Never saw those bridges before when we were on the ground."

"That's because they are blended in with their surroundings. So on the ground unless you know where to look for them you won't be able to see them." Kurotsuchi replied, sounding rather proud of that.

Dempsey looked at the bridge and winced when he looked down past the planks. "If one of the planks suddenly gives on us it will be a long fall down." He stated aloud. "But it is the quickest way for us to get to our destination."

"Yes. A perilous wooden bridge that acts as a short cut, and a height where we are guaranteed to die if we fall." Naruto looked at his companions and asked, "It's not Monday today is it?"

Takeo shook his head with an amused smirk. "No. I think it is Tuesday." Was his answer.

"Eh, I thought was a common occurrence for us. You you, like every other Friday." Dempsey added on with an amused smirk of his own.

"No! It must be Wednesday!" Nikolai exclaimed joining in on the joke. "No Bad Luck has happened to us on any other day except Wednesdays!"

Naruto drove his fist into his palm with mock fierceness as he exclaimed, "Yes! That must be it! Today is the dreaded Unlucky Wednesday!"

"No!/No!" Both Dempsey and Naruto fell to their knees as they cried out to the sky in an overly dramatic manner. Only for them to abruptly stop and let out a pained yelp when Takeo whacked them on the back of their heads.

"Revealing. Presence. To. The. Enemy!" The man aggressively hissed out, a look of irritation on his face.

As this was happening Kurotsuchi couldn't help but palm her face as she stared at them with disbelief. Were they like this all the time? Just what did she get herself into!?

Then Dempsey and Naruto got back to their feet, and looked out toward the wooden bridge with a serious look on their faces. Acting what had happened a few seconds earlier had never occurred.

"It looks like the bridge is wide enough for two people to cross at a time." The marine informed; knowing that he was stating the obvious to them.

"I wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing." Naruto rhetorically questioned.

"Nikolai, you and I are heading out first. Takeo, you're going to be second. Naruto and... girly-"

"It's Kurotsuchi." She corrected him with dull eyes.

"-you both are going third." The marine continued to speak as if he weren't interrupted.

Kurotsuchi stared blankly at the marines back as he and the Russian walked out of the building and steadily across the bridge. Takeo followed after them. Looking at Naruto the blonde haired teenager felt her eyes on him and looked back at the Jonin with arched brows.

Seeing the blank expression on her face, Naruto immediately knew what she was thinking as he had that expression on his own face many-a-times in the past.

"You get used to it." He told her.

Kurotsuchi silently nodded and brought her gaze back on the open doorway in front of her. Both Naruto and herself then walked out of the building and across the bridge. Seeing as Takeo and the others had a decent head start on them, the two teenagers power-walked along the wooden structure to catch up to them.

When they caught up to them the two teenagers walked at their own pace. Naruto would gaze down from the bridge with curiosity; this being the first Hidden Village he has been officially been inside. It was very different from what little he remembered of Konoha. Everything over there was surrounded by trees for miles on end. Iwagakure on the other hand was covered completely by mountains, rocks and hills. A lot of their buildings were built inside of the mountains surrounding them.

While he was busy surveying his surroundings, Kurotsuchi was staring at Naruto and the others with an unimpressed look. And Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo were keeping their eyes and ears open for any zombie activity.

Suddenly Naruto stopped moving and leaned over the guardrail to look down when he saw something strange happening. Hearing someone stop everyone stopped moving and looked over their shoulder to see Naruto leaning over the guardrail.

"Naruto?" Dempsey called out questioningly.

"Kurotsuchi, was there any particular zombie capable of jumping to great heights?" Was Naruto's seemingly innocent question. To anyone else that question would have come off as odd. But to Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo that to them was a legitimate question and is rightful for concern.

Kurotsuchi gave Naruto an odd look but nevertheless answered him. "There were a few zombies like that. But they were never able to reach any higher than 20 feet off the ground."

Naruto looked up at Kurotsuchi with a slightly unnerved expression. "Ah." He said his tone coming out a little nervous as he glanced back down uneasily. "Then we may want to get across the bridge as fast as humanly possible."

"Why?" Questioned a squinted eye Dempsey.

Naruto looked up at the marine and as he went to check how much ammo he had in his magazine he replied, "Because we've got several zombies down below leaping their way up along the edges of the buildings around us." By the time he finished his sentence, he had finished weighting the magazine and was in the process of putting it back in the slot of his assault rifle.

With wide eyes the others turned and looked over and under the guardrail. It was just as Naruto said the zombies were slowly making their way up the edges of the buildings. Thankfully it wasn't the gas zombies/creepy crawler's that were making their way up the building otherwise they would've been halfway up their level of height by now.

Instead what was making their way up along the sides of the buildings around them was the Type 2s. The Runners. But that didn't mean they weren't on the clock. The bridge was long and the zombies were many.

So they did what anyone would have done in their situation. They ran as fast as they could across the bridge. Well, in Kurotsuchi's case, she leapt over the others and ran across to the end of the bridge in several seconds flat.

Dempsey stared with surprised eyes. "Oh... that's cheating. Cool. But cheating." He said, his tone a mixture of complimentary and complaint.

"I wish we were able to move that fast." Nikolai said.

"One of us can." Naruto knew Takeo was referring to him. He was the only one in the group that was born and raised on this planet for 13 years after all.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Cried out an amazed Dempsey and Nikolai. "Holy shit, she's spitting out fucking lava!" The American exclaimed with amazement in his voice.

True to Dempsey's words Kurotsuchi was spitting out large globs of lava out of her mouth and onto the zombies leaping their way up the buildings. She was currently trying to melt the ones closest to her and the bridge and was making sure that the lava itself would not burn down the bridge.

"Huh... she's good." Nikolai stated, sounding unimpressed, and acting as if this was an every day occurrence for him.

"You're not impressed that she's spitting out mother-fucking-lava?!"

"I'm drunk, American. Should I be impressed with all the shit I've seen?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Well fuck you! I'm drunk! I not always impressed when drunk!"

"That's something I can believe."

Naruto and Takeo stared at the arguing men with dry looks. The two Asians glanced at one another and almost immediately they knew they shared the same thought: they aren't getting involved in that. Despite their arguing however the four of them were able to get across the bridge with no problems.

When Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Naruto all reached the end of the bridge Kurotsuchi had just finished making another sequence of hand seals and was just about to let out another stream of lava on a large group of zombies that were getting close to reaching the top.

"Lava style: Quicklime Congealing Technique!"

Now that they were close to her Dempsey and the others were able to get a much better view at her technique. It sprayed out of her mouth taking the form of quicklime and effortlessly engulfed the large group of zombies. Because they were decaying and falling apart at the seems the heat of the quicklime was able to effortlessly melt any zombies it touched into paste.

Dempsey let out an impressed whistle at the sight before turning to look at the Iwa Jonin. "Okay. Remind me to never piss you off." Kurotsuchi merely stared at the marine with a slightly amused look.

"Tank, don't piss her off." Naruto told him with a straight face. Dempsey gave the teenager a flat look before flipping him off.

"C'mon! Let us get moving before we are overrun!" Nikolai exclaimed before running up the next bridge. The others were quick to follow his example.

Seconds later the zombies reached the top and were running on the bridge after them. Looking over his shoulder Takeo narrowed his eyes and stopped running. He turned around and upon seeing a large crowd of zombies descending upon him, the samurai decided he needed a stronger weapon to take care of them all. He slung his Type 100 over his shoulder and brought out the Galil to use against the Type 2 zombies.

Closing his right eye Takeo looked through the sights of his assault rifle aimed at the zombies' heads. He fired in short bursts, adjusting his aim when needed. The bullets easily tore through the zombies' heads like a hot knife through butter. They dropped like flies but were too numerous. Takeo had to back away from the walking dead as they kept on advancing, the piles of bodies at their feet doing nothing to hinder their progress.

When he finally had to reload Takeo turned and ran to catch up to the others. All the while changing out the empty magazine with a newer one. Dempsey had eventually taken notice that Takeo was not with them, he looked over his shoulder and found the samurai a bit a ways behind them. He noticed the samurai was using the Cold War Era assault rifle instead of his WW2 Era SMG.

Stopping Dempsey swiftly turned on the heels of his boots and once he was facing the direction he came from he took aim with his M16.

"Takeo, get down!" He ordered.

Takeo saw Dempsey taking aim and crouched down as he asked. Seeing Takeo was not in his line of sight the marine opened fire. The bullets quicker than the eyes could see raced over Takeo's head, and ripped into the zombies behind him. Making sure to keep his head down, lest he got shot, the samurai slowly continued on his way while still reloading his assault rifle.

By the time Dempsey had unloaded the entirety of his magazine, Takeo had completed reloading his Galil. He got back up and turned around once again and took aim at the zombies. The superior fire power of his assault rifle had taken down another large group of zombies with a single magazine alone. But the pile of corpses that filled up the bridge was not enough to slow them down. Some corpses had fallen off the bridge itself as they kept being pushed forward by the unending wave of zombies.

Scowling Takeo quickly turned around and put a distance between him and them. He did not fancy getting overrun and then devoured by them thank you very much!

The others at this point had seen what Takeo and Dempsey were doing, and Naruto and Nikolai both were quick to lend them some help. If they managed to kill a whole lot of zombies that would mean less for them to deal with later. Kurotsuchi was the only one out of them all who didn't do anything.

Not because she didn't want to. Because she did. She wanted to get back at the walking dead for killing almost everyone in her home. She didn't take part because she didn't have anything to use. Sure she could use her techniques, but they were destructive and would either burn the bridge (if she used her quicklime like lava) or would badly damage it if she were to use her water techniques. She didn't have any kunai or shuriken left in her possession either.

So she settled for watching the three men plus teenager in action. And she was damned impressed with their kunai launchers. From what she could see, each of them looked different, but were effective at long to medium range and are very accurate. The barely seen projectiles were able to meet all its marks with little to no misses. Not to mention they were more advanced and more easier to carry than the kunai launchers Konohagakure has.

She saw the objects that were in the slots had to be changed every 30 seconds or minutes depending on how much you're holding down the trigger. And they also had smaller kunai launchers in their possession as well. Small enough for it to be held by a single hand at least.

Having his assault rifle click Dempsey scowled. "We're falling back. Everyone back up!" He ordered.

"Understood! Nikolai, Naruto you heard the American!"

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed in acknowledgement over the gun fire. "Moving back!"

"Same here!" Nikolai said in exclamation. "Let us see those hellpigs get close to us now that we're working together!"

The four of them proceeded to back up away from the zombies as they got closer. The two in front – Takeo and Dempsey – were crouched down to allow the two in the back – Nikolai and Naruto - aim over their heads and fire at the zombies. The four, Kurotsuchi observed, work well together like a very well oiled machine. They worked together so well, that the four of them knew each others habits, and seemingly knew what everyone in the group was about to do before it actually happened.

The sight of them working together like that was in Kurotsuchi's mind awe inspiring. It was so inspiring that she forgot what they were like before they entered combat. They were professional. Experienced. Serious. With just a look Kurotsuchi could see all four of them trusted one another. With one look, she knew that if any one of them were to find themselves in trouble, then the others would not hesitate to try and bail them out of it.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Dempsey cried out commandingly. With the zombies being close to overrunning them they had to put a distance between themselves and the walking dead. What was worse they emptied nearly 3 magazines for their primary weapons and they were beginning to run low on ammo.

Nikolai switched to his Stakeout as his PPSh-41 would be ineffective at this range. Aiming at their heads Nikolai opened fire on the walking corpses that were closest to them. And because he was aiming at their heads when he opened fire, the dozens of pellets inside the cartridges completely destroyed the brain and the top of the head with a single shot.

When he finally had to reload his shotgun Nikolai turned and made his retreat across the bridge. He saw Takeo, Dempsey, Kurotsuchi and Naruto all running ahead of him. Although Naruto and Takeo did stop and turn around in order to give him covering fire. The Russian didn't bother stopping when he completely reloaded his secondary weapon. He kept on running up the bridge. He did duck as the bullets whistled over his head and into the zombies behind him.

By the time Nikolai reached Takeo and Naruto, both Dempsey and Kurotsuchi were already at the other end of the bridge waiting for them. Dempsey was firing in short controlled bursts at the zombies hoping to take a few of them down to lessen the amount of them by the time they reached the top of the Tsuchikage's residential building.

"Nice for you to join us." Naruto joked when Nikolai reached him and Takeo. Nikolai chuckled heartedly as Naruto turned around and gestured for the Russian to follow him as he and Takeo ran to the other end of the bridge where Dempsey and Kurotsuchi were waiting for them.

Now that they were all off the bridge they were now one step closer to getting to their objective. However there was still the zombies making their way to them they had to deal with. Slinging the sling on his Galil over his shoulder Takeo pulled out his katana from its sheath, and slashed at the supporting ropes that are holding the bridge up.

With nothing to support it, combined with the added weight of the zombies and corpses, the bridge collapsed. Takeo re-sheathed his katana as he and the other four watched the zombies as well as their fallen comrades' falling to their re-death.

The bridge still being held up on the other side had collided against the surface of the building opposite the group.

Takeo and Naruto reloaded their weapons while the others stared at the falling bodies.

"Well. There's go going back that way." Dempsey pointedly stated the obvious. He turned to Kurotsuchi. "Alright, girlie," said person gave Dempsey an irritated look at being called 'girlie'. "you're going to be leading us again with Naruto by your side once more."

Kurotsuchi answered silently with an affirmative nod. As Naruto made his way to her side, she gestured for everyone to follow her lead before walking to the door leading to the inside of the Tsuchikage's building.

Once they were back inside Kurotsuchi led the others down through a seemingly random corridor. It was anything but. She was leading them to the Tsuchikage's office. If they were going to retrieve the Staff of Ice then they would have to go to the Tsuchikage's office first. That room had one of the many vaults located in the overrun Hidden Village directly underneath the room itself, blocked off by a specific blood seal that only someone who's closely related to the current Tsuchikage can open.

And since her father and grandfather are no longer amongst the living, that currently made her the only person in Iwagakure who's capable of opening that vault.

"So this is the office, eh?" Dempsey said questioningly as he and the others entered Kurotsuchi's grandfather's office. He surveyed the rather plain looking room with an unimpressed expression and shrugged dismissively. "I've seen better offices than this one."

"It is one of the highest points of the entire Hidden Village though." Naruto pointed out to him re-mindfully. "So I'm guessing your grandfather has the Staff of Ice somewhere inside of this office?" This question was directed at Kurotsuchi, who nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. As I said before our many vaults are located on the top floor. I've only seen what you're all looking for once. And it was in this very room."

Kurotsuchi walked behind the desk and started her search. She rummaged through its drawers, reading sheet of paper that was kept in said drawers to find any information as to where the Staff of Ice was located; or to find where the seal to the vault is. She went so far as to looking underneath the desk itself to see if the seal was there.

Takeo and Naruto helped in the search as well. Seeing as they both could read kanji, they felt it would be best if they were to go over the sheets of paper and see if they could discern anything that would lead them to the vault. Nikolai and Dempsey on the other hand, seeing as they had no idea how to read Japanese, decided they would sit this one out and do what they did best; standing guard at the doorway to make sure no zombies would get in.

It was a boring but vital task.

After a few minutes of reading through the sheets of paper Naruto asked, "So what exactly are you lookin' for?"

"A blood seal. It bares the kanji of 'Tsuchi' on it, which is also the symbol of the Tsuchikage. It shouldn't be hard to miss." She informed without stopping her search.

Thankfully Takeo and Naruto both knew what the kanji looked like. And what it meant when translated to English. 'Tsuchi' literally translates to 'Earth' in English. And it wasn't that hard to find, as the kanji is on the office desk, on the walls and even on the door. So it wasn't that hard to miss. Unless you happen to be Nikolai and Dempsey.

After several more minutes past by, Kurotsuchi let out a sound of accomplishment. The next thing they knew, a large seal baring the kanji of earth' appeared in the middle of the room. The others watched in silence as the floor separated, revealing a staircase underneath said floor.

Naruto, Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo all assembled in front of the staircase and looked down with a mixture of caution and suspicion.

"A hidden staircase that only has one way in and one way out. That is a death trap just waiting to happen." Dempsey tutted while shaking his head.

"Won't be the first time we walked into a death trap, Tank. Remember those spiked traps in Shangri-la?" Dempsey shuddered in remembrance. How could he forget? Those things had come close to turning him and the others into a shish kabob the first time they came across it.

"Let us move!" Nikolai exclaimed impatiently. "The sooner we get the fucking stick the quicker we can get out of here!" Before the others mount a response Nikolai ran down the staircase. Exhaling with a mild look of irritation Dempsey shook his head and followed after the Russian.

Who knows what kind of trouble the man would get himself into?

Naruto and Takeo shared a look before directing their gaze back to the formerly hidden staircase. Letting out a low frustrated growl Takeo followed after Dempsey and Nikolai. That left Kurotsuchi and Naruto alone in the Tsuchikage's office.

"Out of curiosity..." Naruto looked over his shoulder at Kurotsuchi as she spoke. "...what's the furthest you can remember?" She asked with a small frown.

"The furthest I can remember, huh?" Naruto mused. He turned to her completely and stared. "The furthest I can remember is 3 years ago. I do, however, remember some bits and pieces of my childhood concerning the Elemental Nations. But that's it." He said to her truthfully, making the girl put herself in his place were she in his situation.

He turned to the staircase leading to the vault underneath the office, before looking back at Kurotsuchi. "C'mon. Before they do something potentially stupid."

Seeing Naruto walking down the staircase Kurotsuchi followed after him. "You make it sound as if they had done something stupid." She cracked in good nature. His silence made her stare at the teens' back with a look of disbelief. "They actually did something stupid before?"

"They have. Well, Dempsey and Nikolai have." Naruto quickly corrected himself. The two of them blowing up a 500ft tall missile in the Russian Cosmodrone with a Ray Gun came to mind. A drunk Nikolai stumbling in front of an active Flogger trap and almost getting himself killed to it in Shi No Numa came next.

To be honest, Naruto was wondering just how they all had survived for this long considering all the inane shit they get themselves into. Then he realised it was because they had some competent people, like Dempsey and Takeo, in this misfit of a team they're a part of.

With a sigh Kurotsuchi shook her head. "I really don't want to know."

"As you wish." Naruto replied acknowledgedly.

After a full minute of traversing down the stairway the two teenagers reached the bottom. Ahead of them was a passageway, thin enough for three people to walk through side by side. At the end of it was a 20ft tall steel door with seals engraved on it. In front of it was Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai who were waiting patently for both Naruto and their guide.

"Now that we're all here how do we get in?" Dempsey, once the two teenagers joined them in front of the vault asked the million dollar question.

Kurotsuchi stepped forward until she was standing directly in front of the vault. "My grandfather was a paranoid old man. But he wasn't stupid." She reached into one of her pockets in her flak jacket and took out a kunai. "He wanted to keep anything that couldn't be used, but too dangerous to destroy inside of this vault that is only accessible to those descended to him."

"Yes you mentioned that before up top." Dempsey interjected. "And you claim to be able to open it since you're his granddaughter?"

If Kurotsuchi was annoyed at Dempsey's interruption she didn't show it. She nodded in confirmation. "I don't claim to be able of opening it." She pricked her finger with the kunai causing it to bleed and pressed her bloodied digit on the seal. It suddenly lit up, surprising everyone except her when the vault began to automatically open. "I AM able of opening it."

Takeo and Nikolai, Naruto and Dempsey and Kurotsuchi all took a few steps back from the vault when its door opened outwards. Inside the vault, placed upright on a pedestal, similar to the one they found at Wave Country was the Staff of Ice.

The second the vault door was completely open Dempsey and Takeo, Naruto and Nikolai all went inside. The three men, plus teenager, all stopped when they were inside of the room and stared at the third Elemental Staff.

"The third staff. That means one more is left, no?" Nikolai asked looking at the others for verification.

Naruto nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. The Staff of Wind. We'll be heading for that one next." He said before looking at the floating Ice staff with comprehension. The blonde peered up at Dempsey and Nikolai with a look of mild wonderment. "Considering Takeo and I already have an Elemental Staff, who out of you two will be getting this one?"

Dempsey reached behind the Russian and shoved him forward. As Nikolai stumbled toward the pedestal he heard Dempsey say, "I'll let Nikolai take this staff. I'll be taking the last one."

Regaining his footing Nikolai turned and shot Dempsey a dark look before bringing his gaze to the Staff of Ice. Straightening himself the man slung his PPSh-41 over his shoulder and walked up to the pedestal. He yanked the futuristic staff off of it. Holding the metal staff with both hands, the Russian along with Dempsey and Naruto, all looked around the room waiting for something to happen now that they got the staff in their possession. After a full minute Nikolai looked at his comrades and shrugged before making his way back to them.

Now that they've gotten what they came for it was time for them to fulfil their side of the bargain. Naruto looked up at the ceiling and called out. "Samantha, we got what we came for. How long will it take for you to get everyone still alive out of Iwagakure?"

They didn't get an answer out of Samantha for nearly half a minute. "I can attempt to get everyone out of zhere right now if you vish." She answered when 30 seconds had passed.

"I can sense a 'but' coming up." Dempsey said dryly.

Naruto could almost picture the dry look on his friends' face when she said. "'But', I vould have to personally search through zhe entire complex for any survivors." She sighed and with a regret filled voice she added, "If I do zhis you vould have to fend for yourselves."

Naruto and the others looked at Kurotsuchi and she nodded in acceptance. Sighing Naruto looked up at the ceiling and asked his friend. "How much time will you need to get this done?"

"10 minutes at best." Was Samantha's quick answer. "I know vhere you are, so I can start vith any survivors in zhere before moving on throughout zhe rest of zhe Hidden Village."

"Get it done, Samantha. Oh, and while you're at it, can you send down some things to help us with our survival?" Kurotsuchi looked at Naruto oddly. How could someone in a different place from them help?

She got her answer when thunder was heard outside. Everyone closed their eyes when the entire room was covered in a bright light, along with the sounds of... music? When the light died down Kurotsuchi cautiously opened her eyes before they shot open in shock and astonishment when the vault was filled with cola machines that had words she couldn't make out on them. Another thing that was different with the vault were the many chalk outlines on the walls. And there was a long rectangular box as well with question marks on it as well.

"Done! I know these will be of use to you. I also sent the mystery box just in case you're going to need stronger weapons in the future." Kurotsuchi was once more surprised when she heard the girl speak in another accent, and that she was the one who had done this. She however did not question it. She thought it would be good for her sanity if she didn't question what was going on.

"Thank you Samantha! These will help us out greatly!"

"Just stay alive, okay? I don't know what I'd do if any of you were to die because of me..." Dempsey, Naruto and Takeo and Nikolai all stared at the ceiling in silence before they winced simultaneously. The thought of her going nuts brought up unwanted memories to the surface.

A thought they all shared went through their heads.

New objective: avoid dying at all costs.

Hey! Don't judge them! They all know what Samantha is capable of despite her weakened state! This is a legit objective for them if it concerned Samantha's happiness; and kept her from going bat-shit crazy.

"We can't make any promises." Dempsey replied. "But we'll try nonetheless."

Samantha didn't reply but they knew she heard him. Kurotsuchi detected the odd energy blanketing the entire building. She wasn't much of a sensor in that regard, but with that strange energy associated with the Mysterious Five, literally overlapping her grandfathers residential building it was hard to not notice it. She guessed it was just about to start its job on getting people, civilian and ninja alike out of Iwagakure no Sato.

Kurotsuchi scoffed darkly. "10 minutes? That's easier said than done. There's four of us and thousands of them wanting to tear us to shreds." She glanced at Naruto when she heard him scoff dismissively.

"It's not the first time those odds were against us." He informed the Jonin as he walked to one of the perk machines. "Those kind of odds are practically ritualistic to us now."

Pressing a button, Kurotsuchi heard the a feminine voice exclaim from the machine 'Reach for Juggernog tonight!'. Taking the glass bottle Naruto uncapped it and turned around as he took a swig of the body enhancing liquid.

Hearing the others going to the other perk machines to get at the body enhancing drinks, Naruto shrugged and chugged down the whole bottle before tossing the empty bottle aside.

Kurotsuchi looked between them all with a small frown. "Does that drink actually do anything?"

"It enhances our body. Increases our chances of survival against the zombies." Dempsey said. "And no you can't drink them since the main ingredient in the drinks is the very thing that made the zombies in the first place." The marine added upon seeing the acquisitive look on her face. He was slightly amused at the disappointed look on her face when she got called out on it.

Remembering the reanimation side effects of whatever reanimated the zombies, she quickly discovered a flaw. "But if you're immune to it how come you get stronger? Since you all are immune wouldn't that mean you would not be able to get any benefits from it?"

"A good question; and the answer to that question is we have no fucking idea. " Naruto answered with a careless shrug.

"Maybe why it works on us could be because the negative side effects don't affect us, but the benefits do." Dempsey added his input after he drank the contents from the green bottle in his hand. "We don't really know. So we stopped questioning it. Only the people who worked on the damn things would've known; but, they're either all dead or missing."

Kurotsuchi begrudgingly accepted that explanation. "What exactly are you going to do?" She asked them. "The walking dead will get here sooner or later."

"We are going to lay out some explosive traps for the zombies." Dempsey told the girl as he, Nikolai and Takeo walked to one of the chalk layouts that were on the wall. Two objects with bamboo spikes attached to it emerged from the wall and fell into Dempsey's hands much to Kurotsuchi's astonishment.

"Spikemores? I'll take what I can get." The marine said. "I'm going to set these traps down. I'll see you all later on." He said to the others as he walked out of the vault.

"I'll be right with you, Tank!" Nikolai exclaimed, following the marine with Spikemores of his own in hand.

"Naruto, I will be lending them my assistance. Will you be fine on your own?" Naruto nodded in response to Takeo's question. The Asian man returned the nod and after getting his own Spikemores he joined Nikolai and Dempsey up top, leaving the two teenagers alone.

There was a moderate sense of silence in the room; it was eventually broken by a question from Kurotsuchi that Naruto was expecting. "Let me guess... that also has to do with your power your group has?" She asked, gesturing to the Spikemore that was hanging on the way in a gravity defying manner.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Jonin. She was asking too many questions. And he already told her a few things about his group. And knowing her profession she was probably going to use it against them later on. Or spread the information to the other Hidden Villages just so they know what they're going to be up against if they decide to try and gain their alliance through any means necessary.

While he provided some information about their group to the teenage girl, he decided it was time he kept a tight lip. Seeing Naruto was now being unresponsive Kurotsuchi tried a few more times to get more information on his group only for him to remain silent on the matter.

Kurostuchi sighed and went to lean against one of the cola machines. "This is going to be a loooong 10 minutes." She drawled out as she crossed her arms. Seeing as they're likely to be fighting against the zombies soon enough she asked Naruto. "Is it okay if I were to use any of those weaponry you have?"

Naruto looked at her for long second before nodding affirmatively. "Yeah. Let's get you armed up." He gestured her to follow as he walked to one of the chalk outlines. "This one right here is the weakest weapon you can possibly have. Seeing as you're a beginner at handling these weapons, having that one would be beneficial." He told Kurotsuchi as he pointed at the chalk outline for a Colt. M1911.

"What do I do?" She asked looking at Naruto inquisitively.

"Just touch the chalk outline and it will fall into your hands."

She did as he instructed. Suddenly she felt a drain on her physique the second she touched the chalk. The Colt. M1911 emerged from the wall and fell into her hands. She almost took a kneel from the sudden drainage but Naruto kept her on her feet.

"What... Was that?" She demanded from him.

"That was you buying your first weapon. Congrats. Don't worry about the drain though. You get used to it." Naruto answered dismissively.

Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Something tells me you knew that was going to happen!"

"I didn't know that was going to happen." The Jonin gave him a blank look. She didn't believe that innocent look he was giving her for a second.