Chapter Text
Chapter 23
They stuck to the shadows as much as possible while following the blood trail to the edge of the square, where they rounded the corner on the right. This street was smaller than the ones they had previous walked through; all the doors of the houses here were closed. Walking past them, however, had the hairs in Sasuke's neck rising when his ears caught the muffled groaning behind those closed doors. The noise was muted, could almost be attributed to his own paranoid imagination, but when he shared a glance with his brother, Itachi nodded almost imperceptibly. He had heard the noises as well then, proving that Sasuke hadn't been imagining them.
There really were zombies trapped within these houses. f*cking hell.
"Going to take a guess here and say they didn't get around to releasing them here yet," Sasori muttered, looking critically at the door they just passed when the wood cracked, bending just a fraction. Either it was just a coincidence or the zombies within that house sensed their presence. "Let's get the hell out of here before we find out just how sturdy these doors actually are."
The trail of blood brought them straight to a second square, smaller than the previous one. Just like at the first square, though, destruction wrought by both the apocalypse and weather elements had occurred here. Cars were littered all over the square; some had crashed into trees, others remained smashed into each other, the metal husks twisted beyond repair. The municipal hall loomed in the centre; the outline of it against the dark grey sky providing a foreboding view. The sight definitely did not help improve the general atmosphere.
Amidst all the destruction and faded smears of blood left on wrought metal and weed covered stones, however, one thing was immediately noticeable: there were no zombies here.
"It's quiet," Itachi commented from their hiding spot behind a burnt out car.
The blood trail had become too faint – which might be a good sign depending on who had been the one bleeding – but the faded steps appeared to lead straight into the municipal hall. The glass door of it was splintered; the dark entrance looking remarkably well like a gaping hole.
Sasori grunted in agreement, peeking around the boot. "Like the calm before the storm if you ask me. You think he was brought straight into the hall?"
"Looks like it," Sasuke replied, pursing his lips as he shifted slightly. "It would explain why there aren't any zombies here."
There weren't even dead bodies discarded on the ground; like the one who had killed them had taken the time to clean them up. Or perhaps they had all been stuffed into the houses here? Sasuke didn't dare to contemplate just how many zombies were actually present in this own, waiting to be unleashed onto unsuspecting visitors.
"So how do you want - " Sasori cut himself off when voices suddenly filled the air. Voices which were approaching them at a steady pace.
All three men immediately ducked down further behind the car, remaining as motionless as possible in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Carefully peering through the gaps left in the ruined metal, Sasuke watched how a bald headed guy and a white haired woman wearing heavy robes walked across the square. The woman's light coloured hair was long, longer than Ino's even, and flowed behind her like a waterfall; nearly melting together with the light shade of her robes. She appeared almost ethereal; a sharp contrast to the man, whose shirt was torn in several places and had blood darkening the cloth. He seemed to favour his left side as he followed her, keeping a certain distance between himself and her.
"My lady, forgive my impertinence," the guy spoke.
They were getting closer to the burnt out car, allowing the group a good look at the many scars littering the man's head and arms. Some looked like they had been caused by a knife; others like the remains of a burn.
Next to Sasuke, Sasori mouthed, "My lady, my arse,", lifting his eyebrows in disbelief.
"However I don't understand why you would not allow me to get rid of them both," the man went on, sounding strangely anguished as if he was physically hurt by her apparent refusal. "He nearly ruined all your hard work by destroying our precious followers!"
Sasuke's heartbeat increased and his breathing hitched. Were they talking about Naruto? They had to be, right? Who else could they be talking about? Tobi was dead, so that only left Naruto. Did this mean that Naruto was still alive then?
"I know, Shin," the woman replied calmly.
They halted at just a short distance from the burnt car. Sasuke began breathing shallowly, not wanting to give away even the slightest hint of their presence here. Three against two should be doable, but not without knowing what kind of weapons they carried – and definitely not without knowing how exactly they released those zombies. The last thing they needed was to be suddenly surrounded by a hoard of those dead f*ckers.
"If this had been any other person, I would have allowed you to punish him. However, can't you see we have found something magnificent here?" The woman's voice was low, but carried a strange lilt of excitement. She brushed her hands over her robes, drawing attention to the many smudges that made them look a lot less ethereal from up close.
"Magnificent, my lady?" Shin echoed slowly, staring at her bewildered. "I am not sure … I fully understand."
She patted his cheek condescendingly; the slapping noise echoing through the square. "That does not surprise me one bit," she said, strangely fondly. "Let me make it clear for you: he is our ticket to even more greatness."
"In what way, my lady? How can he ensure more of your greatness when he murdered so many of them?"
"It's precisely because he did so," she retorted and sighed softly. "That kind of fearlessness … It's been so long since I last was witness to something like that. The way he so swiftly cut his way through them – he deserves nothing more than our admiration, Shin. Mind, there is one more reason why he is more useful to use while alive."
"Which is, my lady?" he asked intrigued.
The cold smile curling the corners of her red tinted mouth sent shivers straight down Sasuke's spine. "Did you not take notice, my dear Shin? He is not a wanderer. He looks too pristine to have been wandering around the earth. We will make him see the light and once he's on our side, we will send him back to his settlement and gain more followers through that."
Why did Sasuke somehow have the ugly feeling that turning their compound into her followers didn't necessarily equate to being her living followers?
"What will you do if he refuses to listen to reason, though?" Shin inquired cautiously. "My lady, I do understand your desire for more followers, especially now that he decimated a quarter of them, but he does not appear ready to acknowledge your greatness."
"We have to give him time," she replied calmly and began walking again, continuing their trek to the municipal hall. "If he happens to be too stubborn, however, you have my permission to punish him."
"Yes, my lady. Thank you, my lady, for being ever so gracious," he said reverently, trailing after her like some overgrown, f*cked up puppy.
The three men huddling behind the car kept silent until the two had entered the building, leaving behind an unsettled silence.
"Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong," Sasori started slowly, his lips thin, "but did that sound like they actually created some kind of cult … with zombies?"
"Sounds like it," Sasuke murmured and narrowed his eyes.
The apocalypse had seen him witness quite a lot of f*cked up things so far, but a zombie cult led by some kind of self-professed priestess was a new one for sure. It was not something he had seen coming even with the general f*ckery in the world nowadays. Somehow he preferred Sakon's brand of craziness over hers. Sakon, at least, hadn't rallied zombies together like they were mere sheep.
And somehow Naruto had been caught in the middle of this bullsh*t. Purely because of his skills with killing zombies. If this had been any other situation Sasuke might have enjoyed the irony of it all, but it was hard to feel any sort of enjoyment when those unhinged threats were ready to try to brainwash Naruto into betraying them. What hedidfeel, was an ever growing fury; rage simmering like heat right underneath his skin; the desire to cut those two down before they could lay another finger on Naruto nearly strong enough to make him forget about caution and simply march straight into the building.
Even with the rage clouding his mind, though, he still possessed enough presence of mind to realise that just storming in there without a plan would be f*cking stupid. Not only would it put them at risk, but it would definitely be even more dangerous for Naruto and they couldn't afford that. At this point Naruto was still alive, simply because of that crazy bitch's whim. If they attempted a full frontal attack, she might actually decide to get rid of Naruto straight away without bothering to try to convince him.
"We have to get inside and find out where they're keeping Naruto-kun," Itachi murmured; his gaze fixated on the building across from them. "Once we know where he is, we'll decide what to do next. We can't act rash now, not when Naruto-kun is still alive."
"Should have just stayed home like I normally do," Sasori sighed and rubbed his forehead aggrieved. Throwing a quick, but thorough look around them, he stood up and grabbed his gun. "All right, let's see what our little cult is up to now."
Sasuke was about to follow him, but Itachi stopped him with a hand curved around Sasuke's elbow.
"No matter what we find inside, don't act before we've got a plan ready," Itachi warned him in a low voice; his eyes intense.
"I won't, I'm not stupid," Sasuke retorted annoyed and jerked out of his hold. "I'm not going to risk Naruto's life."
"I know you wouldn't, but we haven't encountered a situation like this before either," Itachi said quietly.
"Thank Danzo for that," Sasuke riposted sarcastically and gestured impatiently at the municipal hall. "Now let's go. I really don't want to find out how much time that bitch is willing to give him."
Apparently the weird cultist lady and Shin had been quite confident that nobody would ever manage to get the jump on them. They had made the municipal hall their base, but hadn't made the slightest effort to conceal their presence within the place. The amount of dust covering everything from shattered desks to the moth eaten carpets easily revealed the path the two took every time they entered, leaving a small pathway of its own behind.
On the other hand, Sasuke considered idly as he and the other two men slowly but steadily made their way through the long winding corridors,when you apparently commandeer a miniature zombie army I guess being worried about enemies getting the jump on you would be low on the list.
Their only form of light was an occasional lit candle dripping wax onto the floor and offering just enough illumination to keep them from walking into something. They kept their ears pricked and their hands on their weapons, ready to draw them; their bodies tense, ready to hide in a room in a moment's notice if the woman or Shin would return on their steps. For all that they considered zombies to be their followers, though, there was not a single undead person present. Apparently they had no need for their followers in their base.
The mostly dust free path led them to the basem*nt where they narrowly avoided slipping off the narrow steps when they descended one more level. Most of the rooms here looked thoroughly thrashed, though it was hard to say whether zombies had been the cause of that or hooligans in the early days of the apocalypse. More candles were lit here; their flickering shadows illuminated old, dark red smears across the wall, looking morbidly a lot like bloodied hands had dragged across the wall. After several years of living in the apocalypse, the sight of such marks no longer deeply unnerved Sasuke, but after having overheard that duo he couldn't help but wonder whether that blood had been left by zombies – or by previous victims they had tried toconvince.
All of a sudden a shadow flitted past the entrance of the last remaining office in the back. They froze before immediately hunching down to melt with the shadows of the broken furniture. Itachi gained their attention with a quick gesture and pointed at the window looking into the office. A desk and some chairs had been upended in front of it as if someone had at one time tried to barricade themselves behind the furniture. Sasuke doubted they had succeeded for long. Itachi's unspoken order to get closer and take a peek through the window had him nodding in agreement.
Slowly they crept forwards, mindful of all the clutter on the floor; the jagged pieces of furniture strewn about carelessly. They managed to slip between the barricade and the window, peeking through the smudged glass. The blinds on the other end of the window had survived for the most part so they could only see slivers of what was happening inside.
The woman was circling around something, Sasuke noticed, and he narrowed his eyes. His fingers tightened reflexively around the hilt of the dagger when she stepped to the side, allowing him to catch a brief glance of blond hair.
They had found Naruto.
"It's been quite some time since we last had a new guest here," the woman was saying; her voice soft but clear even through the window.
Sasuke couldn't immediately spot Shin and wondered whether he was even in the room right now.
"You'd be a lot more welcoming if you didn't try to immediately kill everybody who sets foot in this sh*thole," Naruto quipped coolly.
For just a couple of seconds Sasuke allowed himself to close his eyes in relief; Naruto's voice managing to warm him even in this precarious situation. He was still alive. He might be injured – it was impossible to check his injuries with the way the woman kept blocking Naruto from sight – but he was still talking. As long as he could talk like that, he was okay.
She laughed; the sound high and carefree as if Naruto had just been joking around. "Hm, that only proves they weren't worthy of staying here," she riposted amused. "You on the other hand …" She halted in front of him. "You are more than worthy. You were utterly magnificent out there, much grander than Shin could ever hope to be."
"I wouldn't let your boytoy hear that," Naruto scoffed derisively. "You'd break his poor little psycho heart for sure."
"You are quite peculiar," she told him, sounding amused again. "You sit here, bound, yet your mouth still feels free to challenge. I can let Shin continue what he started to do to you."
"Please do so; I wasn't finished castrating him yet," he shot back coldly.
Instead of pissing her off, that only made her laugh again. Once more she walked to the side, this time revealing more of Naruto. Now Sasuke could see him bound to a chair; his arms tied behind his back. Blood sluggishly dripped down from a cut on his forehead and a bruise was already blossoming across his right cheek; dirt and blood mixing together to make him a sorry sight. Sasuke couldn't spot any other wounds, but that didn't necessarily have to mean anything. Naruto's jacket could be hiding them from view.
They had taken his crossbow and machete away, Sasuke was quick to notice, and he hoped they would be able to retrieve the crossbow at least, given its significance to both Naruto and Gaara.
"You can lead a glorious life here, you know," the woman went on conversationally. "We would treat you very well."
Even with the distance between them, it was difficult to miss how Naruto bared his teeth in response at her. "Maybe it's just me, but I don't equategloriouswith a bunch of dead f*ckers stuffed in houses. Just a teensy bit too morbid, even for my standards."
"Hm, I suppose it would be," she replied nonchalantly, crouching down next to him; her robes flowing out around her like a circle. "Because you're used to the luxuries in your settlement, aren't you?"
At once Naruto's face closed off, becoming completely blank. "Can't say I've ever been a fan of twenty questions, lady."
She chuckled, stroking a piece of her long hair behind her ear. "This wasn't a question, my dear. You can't hide it: you stink of roots, of settlements. You are no longer a wanderer."
That caused Naruto to make a show of slowly looking around the old office, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't look like you can call yourselves wanderers either."
"We are free in a way that you will never be if you let yourself be tied down to them," she said coolly; all her amusem*nt evaporating at once. "Those people clinging onto the silly illusion of days gone by will never make it. We are a species which is supposed to rise to the challenge, to adapt and survive! Settlements of old will not allow that to happen."
"Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer the old settlements over the stench of dead, thanks," Naruto said bored.
She smiled; her face turning cold and calculating when she rose up once more. She co*cked her head to the side. "Why insist on making it harder for yourself when you can live a life of freedom here? We can use someone with your skills, someone who so easily takes control over our followers."
She leant towards him and her hand snatched out to grab his face. Naruto tried to jerk out of her grip but she merely tightened it, twisting his head so that he was forced to look at her. A painful gasp escaped him before he bit down harshly on his lip until it turned bloodless.
"You and I can be really great together," she said almost lovingly, caressing his bruised cheek with her thumb.
Being forced to watch that had Sasuke seeing red; the fury, which had temporarily abated while they had made their way through the building, flared up again, hot and burning.
His eyes widened when Naruto abruptly spat at her, causing her to rear back in surprise and releasing his face at once.
"With no respect due at all," Naruto grinned ferociously, "but tit* and a c*nt don't do it for me at all. Even if they had, I've never been into cougars. Full offense meant."
"If he's trying his best to get himself killed," Sasori muttered underneath his breath, "he's doing a superior job of it."
The woman calmly wiped her face off. Whatever look she sported when she turned to face Naruto had him staring up at her defiantly; his mouth twisted into a sneer.
"I guess you already have a sweetheart waiting for you back there, don't you," she cooed; her grin rivalling the sharpness of a shark. "Those marks in your neck … they're quite the possessive type, hm?"
f*ck.Sasuke tightened his jaw, ruthlessly pushing down the phantom sensation of Naruto's body pliant underneath his just two days ago when they had hidden themselves away in Sasuke's bedroom during the few hours they had been alone in the house. He hadn't even considered how long his kisses in Naruto's neck would linger, visible to everyone who bothered to look. Frankly, he hadn't thought of anything at all during that time; all his focus on Naruto and his body spread underneath him, the easy way they had seemed to mould together.
Naruto remained silent now, glaring up at her.
The next second Naruto's howl of pain reverberated through the room before he cut it off, jerking forwards in the chair. She had placed her hand on his thigh and was digging her nails into a cut there, Sasuke realised with a sickening feeling.
The injury, which had stopped bleeding up until now, promptly re-opened again; beads of blood willing up and spilling out, darkening the light coloured jeans.
"You want to know something?" she said sweetly, digging her nails even further into his thigh.
Itachi snatched Sasuke's arm, forcefully keeping him seated while the younger man raged silently next to him.
"I've always loved the chase. It makes the reward that much sweeterwhen I win," she chuckled and straightened up, releasing her grip on Naruto's thigh.
He slumped forwards; a shock ran through him when she suddenly grabbed him by his throat, forcing his head upwards again.
"You know, there are more ways to break a person than just physical pain alone," she said casually. "It's been such a long time since I last had someone … You and I, we will have plenty of time to get to know each other better."
She released his throat and touched something on his skin that made him flinch away.
"And during that time, you will discover I can be just as possessive as that little sweethearts of yours."
Naruto recovered fast. "Seeing as we're exchanging pleasantries now," he snarked, "I feel obligated to inform you that the last person threatening me with that sh*t? Yeah, I f*cking slit his throat. You want to know something else about me? I've always been a firm believer of equal rights for everybody, meaning," he leant forwards and smiled darkly at her, "the second you lay those claws on me?I'll tear your throat out."
She hummed, appearing unimpressed. "A challenge never hurt anybody," she retorted and rubbed her hands down her robes, pressing the cloth flat as if she wanted to draw attention to her body. "Yes, you and I are going to have so much fun together."
"So do we have any plan in mind already?" Sasori questioned.
They ducked down when the woman drifted closer to the window, still humming to herself, but she didn't even cast a glance at the glass.
"Because I warn you, if I have to keep listening to her yapping for any longer, I might just stop caring about the whole not making noise thing and just shoot her now," Sasori finished flatly.
"You shoot and we'll attract too much attention," Itachi replied, but his jaw was clenched. "We have no idea where that man is and we can't have Naruto-kun being caught in the crossfire."
"So we're going for a distraction then?" Sasori suggested; his voice barely reaching above a whisper.
"That's probably for the best," Itachi agreed, nodding, "but it would have to - "
"We set it on fire," Sasuke decided abruptly, keeping his gaze fixated on the blinds. No more talking came from inside the room, only an endless humming.
"Set fire to what?" Sasori questioned, quirking an eyebrow.
Sasuke turned to look at him, uncaring that for the first time Sasori actually physically recoiled."We set the entire town on fire."
"Not that I particularly care about your pyromaniac tendencies," Sasori said dryly, recovering quickly, "but please do tell me how you're planning to set the entire town on fire? Not sure if you took notice of it, but this place isn't exactly small."
"I took notice of it, thanks," Sasuke said coldly. "But as you might have noticed, at least half of the houses here are built nearly entirely out of wood. It won't take more than a simple match to set those on fire. Doesn't matter how big the place is; wood always burns."
"We can use the bike's fuel for the sturdier buildings," Itachi added, quickly catching on. "The fire will do the rest then."
"Not to be a killjoy here, but I feel the need to point out that we could use that fuel for ourselves instead of wasting it on some buildings," Sasori said contemplatively.
"Not worth it to take it with us," Itachi dismissed the idea instantly. "It would be more trouble than it is worth. We're better off making use of it here."
Sasori lifted an eyebrow again. "Fine, whatever, you bunch of pyro freaks, I don't care. How are we going to do this then? All three of us can't set fire to the town; it would spread too quickly then. We might not be able to get Naruto out on time if everything's on fire."
"I'll go out," Itachi offered in a low voice, peeking through the gaps in the blinds. The woman was still humming, busying herself with whatever she was doing in there. "I'll set it on fire and the second it draws them out to investigate, you get Naruto and get out of here."
Sasuke felt torn between protesting Itachi's involvement when he was the one who had made the suggestion in the first place and being relieved that he could remain with Naruto instead of being out there.
Itachi, naturally, recognised the dilemma easily and he gave his brother a quick, reassuring smile, squeezing his forearm gently. "We'll meet at the car again. Be ready to move once she leaves."
Sasuke nodded while Sasori offered the barest of nods. Itachi slinked away, quickly but quietly disappearing out of sight. Not even his footsteps could be heard, no matter how hard Sasuke concentrated which put him at ease. Shin nor that woman could try to attack what they couldn't hear.
"Should have brought more bullets," Sasori muttered darkly. "Once that fire gets going, it's going to create one giant sh*t storm and we'll be in the middle of it."
Sasuke covered a snort on time. "And the noise of bullets wouldn't create noise?"
"Shooting won't make things worse once the dead start pouring into the streets," Sasori muttered. "We'll have to be extremely careful once we're out of here. I really don't want to get done in by some undead after escaping from these freaks."
"Noted," Sasuke said dryly.
They grew quiet then, pricking their ears for any sound that indicated Itachi had begun burning the place down. It was incredibly aggravating, being forced to sit here and wait while that woman kept talking and talking, attempting to convince Naruto to acknowledge her side. Naruto, for his part, had either grown bored or had fainted – Sasuke was hoping it wasn't the latter case – because he never replied, no matter how much she tried to taunt him. Knowing Naruto, though, he might very well have grown bored of her. If he could have, no doubt he would have left the room by now.
Sasuke couldn't say how long they had been hiding behind the pile of furniture – judging by the awful pinprick sensation in his legs and feet, though, it had been way too long – but thundering footsteps nearly jolted him. Sasori tensed up and they both ducked even lower, even though the shadows already hid their presence well.
"My lady, mistress!" Shin stuttered, sounding somehow both pissed off yet baffled at the same time. "You need to come with me now!"
"Shin, I told you I would be spending time with our guest here," she said icily; the simpering sweet tone she had been using on Naruto abruptly vanishing.
"But the houses in the north are on fire! Our followers – they're burning!"
"WHAT?!" Her shriek echoed through the corridor and Sasuke winced, honestly surprised that she hadn't managed to shatter the glass with that high pitched noise. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY'RE ON FIRE?!"
"Th-they're all on fire, mistress, I don't know what's going on!" Shin stammered.
"Well, don't just stand there, go fix it this instant!" she hissed furiously.
"M-my lady, I – I don't know where - "
"Are you seriously this inept?" she snapped outraged and stormed right past Sasuke and Sasori. Part of her robes got caught on the broken jagged leg of a chair making up the pile.
Sasuke's heart began thudding wildly and his hand was already at his katana when she cursed and pulled roughly at her robes. He was prepared to strike the second the pile came tumbling down, which would reveal their position, but she wrestled herself loose without noticing them, practically flying to the stairs.
"Come on, before the fire can spread further!" she snarled and Shin rushed after her; his heavy footsteps causing the floor to vibrate.
"Northern side, hm?" Sasori muttered. "That should give us enough time to get back to the car at least."
"Let's go!" Sasuke snapped and shot out of their hiding spot.
Time to get Naruto and get the hell out of this f*cked up place!
