Chapter 49 - N

"I'm out of shots!" Andrea says and Naruto doesn't waste any time throwing her his faithful bat as he pulls out a kunai for himself.

"There are more coming!" Clementine shouts from where she's doing lookout, keeping everyone on their toes. She hadn't liked it at first but with Michonne's glare and Andrea's big sister look, it was impossible to say no. And he has to admit that having her in a high place to let them know when a walker is behind or too close for comfort has been. Michonne is good but not even she has shinobi's reflexes.

Naruto finishes two more before jumping to the roof of the biggest car, fucking sore muscles aching once again as he meets Clementine to check how many more are coming and… well. It seems that the sound from Andrea's gun has attracted more attention from the dead than Naruto would have expected. He curses and jumps to the center, next to Michonne and Andrea.

"I'll finish these off and you go moving back to Clem's point. There are not that many from the border to her left," he says, kicking a walker and pushing his kunai into another's.

But the first walker's body was too frail and his foot stays inside the torso. He loses momentarily his balance and falls. Palms press to the ground to steady him as his feet go into the air, tearing the walker's body with another kick. Blood splatters on his shirt and pants but he doesn't have time to be disgusted. Naruto leans his weight on his elbows, body forming a curve as it tenses for a jump.

"Are you fine? " Andrea, who is closer, asks when he's on his feet.

Naruto doesn't bother to grab the kunai from the ground. He pulls another one and slashes the head from one's body. "Never been better! Go back to—"

Familiar energy appears.

Head-turning to the west, Naruto takes a sharp breath, because that's—that's Kurama"s chakra. He's felt it once before, just after he saw the man dying in what he now knows is a helicopter. It's vague but he can feel traces of natural energy combined with what's a dimmer quantity of Kurama's chakra.

There's a sound of a body hitting the ground and Naruto turns to see Andrea with the bat on top of a walker's destroyed head.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto's about to answer when there's another familiar something that stirs. He sees Andrea shiver slightly as she hunches inwards, letting him know that he's not the only one who has felt it. He even catches the walkers stopping to turn to the direction where the sensation seems to come from—where Naruto can feel Kurama's chakra.

"Cover me," he says, loud enough to snap Andrea out of it. She starts but her grip on the bat tightens again and he can see her glancing at Michonne who is inspecting the walkers.

Naruto doesn't wait for an answer to come from her. Andrea is closer and she's good enough with the bat to cover him alone.

Closing his eyes, Naruto reaches for Nature's energy. It's become easier to do it even if can't yet mix his chakra with it. He hasn't even tried, afraid of what Kurama's volatile chakra can do with it as wild as it currently is. He opens his eyes when he can map the place, knowing he only has at least five seconds to look for Kurama without Nature energy trying to engulf him and probably turn him into stone.

There! his mind says, giving him a vague direction of where Kurama is. He tries to get closer but suddenly it disappears. Naruto lets out an irritated breath as he can no longer sense his friend, small as his presence now is.

Ready to push Nature's energy away, Naruto concentrates on the energy that's become clingier every time he keeps using it. It's strangely sticky, like gum on one's shoe. But Naruto is not a sage for nothing. And while it's become harder to keep it away from his being, at the same time it's easier to distinguish what's not part of him and push it away.

The last trail is almost gone when something tells him to look up. He opens his eyes and does just that, only to see a helicopter falling from the sky, smoke trailing down its tail. It's falling on the contrary direction where he felt Kurama but he's worried about the people there.

"Naruto, to your left!"

Reflexes make the hand holding a kunai go to the left, piercing it into a walker's eye. He looks to the side to see a breathless-looking Andrea behind him with Michonne at her side.

"They seem slower," Clementine says from her spot. And her words are right. Whatever Kurama's done, the walkers seem sluggish. Clementine goes down and runs to where Michonne's walker is to grab the chains. "I've got the bags. Let's go."

Naruto nods at her, thankful for helping him. They retreat, taking advantage of the distracted walkers.

"Does someone knows what happened back there?" Andrea asks once they're far enough, eyes on him, their expert on everything weird.

Naruto knows Clementine recommended him to stay silent about his abilities, but… Naruto's never been one to lie to people he considers friends. He can lie, of course. And pretty well, if he says so himself. Mostly because Ero-Senin has not wasted time teaching him everything he could so he'd throw it at Naruto so he could spend more time doing 'research'. And after learning how easily Naruto could gain the trust and loyalty of others, he taught him how to work his spy network.

And one of the things he first learned was how dangerous information can be. That and to not call his informants' pen pals.

So yeah, Naruto knows it's probably a dumb move, but he knows Michonne and Andrea are good people; his gut tells him that, so he doesn't regret sharing some of his histories.

Besides, he felt guilty seeing them hungry, injured, and carrying heavy bags when he had some meds and food inside his storage scrolls.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto nods. "I think it was a friend of mine—Wait, no. I'm sure it's a friend of mine. I could detect his vague position but I think he did the same. He's probably coming."

"Do you know which one?" Clementine asks.

"Kurama," he says, giving a name instead of saying he's talking about the demon fox that used to live inside his navel. He may have told them about his powers and not common knowledge but he hasn't told them everything. Mostly because he doesn't think they'd believe the whole fighting a goddess and then falling into another world thingy.

Michone looks at him for a long moment before she sighs. "We shouldn't change directions. Your idea of forming a base in the prison is good and we should stick to it."

"Yeah, and your friend is coming towards here, right? Better to stay stationary in one safe place," Andrea adds quickly, trying to soften Michonne's blunt words. Not that it bothers him; he's been in the same team with Sasuke and Sai, after all. Michonne at least is somewhat nice and he can't deny she's right even if Naruto prefers to rush headfirst, consequences be damned, if it's with the end to help his friends.

He's glad she has a level head on her shoulders as it has done wonders to his impulsive side. It also helps she can give a mean glare that reminds him of Tsunade Baa-chan and that she doesn't punch him.

So he nods.

Clementine points to where they're going. "We are going where the helicopter fell, right?"

"Yeah, of course. We aren't that far so we should check for survivors, believe it."

Andrea gives him a look accompanied with a smile, the one she gives him when he does something she considers naïve or cute. "That too. Though I've to admit there may be some weapons or ammo there, too. I only have one gun left."

Naruto grumbles at not thinking about that first but they agree to take a small ten-minute break before moving.

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