A/N: I would just like to give a quick heartfelt apology for my lack of updates lately. College, work, and other time consuming responsibilities/hobbies have been hogging my time. I can't promise updates will automatically become more frequent from now on, but I will try, since this school semester is over and I have more free time during the day. Broken, Bring Me To Life, Waging Tails, and any of my other stories will be updated soon, since I have been working on them in the little bits of free time that I've had while I was gone. So hold tight guys. I'm not done with FanFiction just yet. Just been busy as all hell. :)

And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays btw!

The next few hours, dawn approached over the apocalyptic looking remains of a village known as Konohagakure. Diseased humans were outside, simply walking around, on a never ending hunt for sustenance. However, four survivors were at rest in a big estate, safe from them thanks to a barrier seal.

The sun's rays began to tap upon Naruto's eyelids through the window, waking him up from his slumber. He groaned and flinched when he tried to open his eyes, his retina's having yet to adjust to such a sudden source of light.

His senses slowly started back up, and could feel a pressure atop of his chest. He managed to open his eyes up enough to see a head surrounded by messy blonde hair laying on his left pectoral muscle. Naruto smiles warmly. The thought of what happened last night couldn't prevent his smile from coming. Ino had her arm wrapped around him affectionately as well. The air coming from her nose from her breathing had tickled Naruto's chest slightly.

He stayed like this for a few minutes before deciding to get up to see whats up with Shikamaru and Tenten.

"Ino-chan." Naruto whispered, gently shaking her arm to rouse her.

"H-Hm...?" She mumbled lightly without opening her eyes. Naruto had found Ino's 'tired voice' adorable.

He kissed her forehead, "I don't mean to wake you Ino-chan, but I have to get up." He says softly.

"M'kay..." She whispered tiredly after nodding. She lazily lifted her head off of Naruto's chest and retracted her arm to let him free. Naruto sat up and looked back at Ino to see her getting comfortable to resume her slumber. He grinned when he saw the sheet covering only the lower half of her body.

He leaned over her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, which Ino gave a delayed reaction to.

He moved the sheet completely over her nude body, stopping it just before her chin, "I love you." Naruto whispered into her ear.

"I love you, too..." She mumbled, still half-asleep. Naruto smiled and decided to leave Ino alone to resume her rest. He was about to leave the room before realizing that he was still nude himself. Finding the discarded clothes from last night on the floor, Naruto exited, making sure to close the door gently behind him.

Naruto walked to where Tenten and Shikamaru's rooms were. He cracked Shikamaru's door and saw him in his bed, still sleeping. He then cracked Tenten's, only to see her not in bed. He then closed the door and listened carefully for any rummaging around or footsteps in the house. He heard none. But of course, the estate was big, so Tenten could still be pretty much anywhere.

Naruto decided to simply ask Shikamaru. He walked in the room, and shook his shoulder, "Shikamaru. Shikamaru."

The pineapple headed boy groaned lazily, "Hm...? What happened...?" He asked, creaking his eyes open, rubbing the crust out of them.

"Do you know where Tenten is? She's not in her room." Said Naruto.

Shikamaru sat up, "Yeah, she's in here with me." As if in response, a body turned over next to Shikamaru in the bed. Naruto looked, and saw Tenten's face.

He stared at him in surprise. Before Naruto could vocalize any of his assumptions, Shikamaru held a hand up, "It's not like that. I heard Tenten scream in the middle of the night, and she told me she couldn't sleep without nightmares waking her up. So I let her sleep here so she could feel protected."

Naruto nodded slowly. He could relate to her on that. "Oh."

"How's Ino? Is she alright?" He asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, she's still sleeping. You can go back to sleep if you want. I was just checking on you both."

Shikamaru dropped his head back onto his pillow, "You don't have to tell me twice." He mumbled, closing his eyes. Naruto grinned and exited the room. Now, he was the only one awake, and found that he had nothing to do.

"Might as well train." He thought.

Naruto walked to the main room of the mansion and summoned over one-hundred clones. He commanded them to go outside of the building, and fight the infected. He knew his clones stood hardly any chance against them, but he figured that he could recall some of their memories when they disperse, and find out if they have any weaknesses or handicaps that he may not know of already.

The clones left and did as they were told. Next, Naruto summoned a few more clones and worked on his hand-to-hand combat.

Ino woke to the sound of a loud crash. One that sounded nothing short of an explosion. Her mind and eyes were rudely turned on, and she immediately jerked her body forward, and looked around the room.

She wondered if she was dreaming. She waited and listened carefully, but heard nothing. Until-

CRASH.

Ino felt the room shake as the sound repeated. She was now sure that it came from beyond the room she's in.

It was then that she remembered Naruto wasn't in here.

She flipped the covers off of her, quickly put on her underwear and night gown, and left the room to investigate.

As she ran down the hallway, a door to her right opened. Shikamaru and Tenten hurried out of it.

"Did you guys hear those crashing sounds, too?" She asked.

The pair nodded, "Yeah, I'm not sure what it was, but-"

CRASH. CRASH.

The three became stiff with alarm. They all looked at each other and ran to the source of the sound.

As they ran, a familiar voice started becoming more coherent, "S-Shit...! Guys, help!"

They knew it was Naruto. And they knew he was in danger.

Once they reached the main room of the estate from the upper level, they looked down toward the entrance, and were welcomed to a very shocking sight.

Dozens of them. Inside.

Naruto and his clones were down there with them, attempting to fight back and hold them back from advancing, only to find that he wasn't doing so well.

Shikamaru was the first to act, and wrapped a kunai in a paper bomb. He tossed into into the heart of the crowd of undead shinobi, hitting one of them in the head. Then, body parts, blood, and organs were seen flying once the bomb detonated. Naruto was still struggling with some of the mutants at the front of the crowd, fighting them off as best as he could.

The door to the mansion was still open, and more of them began to charge inside.

Shikamaru clenched his teeth, "This isn't good... How did they manage to break in...?!"

"That's not important right now!" Ino said, "Naruto needs help! There's no way he can take on that many by himself!" Ino started to leap from the balcony she was standing on to assist Naruto, but Shikamaru stopped her.

"And I don't think you going down there with him will help him much." He said, firmly holding her arm. Ino glared back at him.

"Let me go! What else are we supposed to do, just sit here and watch?!"

"No," he said, "I still have a few Identiprofin needles back in my room, you and Tenten go in there and get them. I'll stay here and back up Naruto as much as I can."

Ino and Tenten hesitated, "Go! Now!" He exclaimed. Ino didn't particularly enjoy the idea of leaving Naruto and Shikamaru alone like this, but nodded and ran with Tenten back to his room.

He drew his last three kunai and paper bombs, and combined them. The first one went to the entrance, the second one was targeted for the middle of the crowd, and the third was aimed at the zombie that was grappling Naruto.

"Naruto, fall back! Those things are going to explode!" Shikamaru advised. Naruto heard him, and thanks to the kunai that dispatched the infected being holding him, he was able to retreat back up the staircase just before the bombs let off.

He was still thrown back, up the staircase by the force of the explosions, causing him to fall on his back, and skidded to a halt right by Shikamaru.

"Sorry about that." Shikamaru said, helping Naruto back onto his feet. He saw how much he had been roughed up, due to the bruises, gashes, and the rips in his clothing.

"I should be thanking you." Naruto mumbled. He was in pain, but could practically feel the power of Kyuubi healing his wounds already.

"Come on," said Shikamaru, "We can't stay here. Ino and Tenten are getting more Identiprofin, so we have to get injected before more of them come."

"Right." Naruto agreed, and took off to where Ino and Tenten were located.

After turning a corner, Naruto had no time to react to the body being thrown against him. He flew around 20 feet back down the opposite hallway with the body, and groaned in pain when his back slammed against the door at the end.

Naruto opened his eyes, and saw that the body belonged to Tenten.

Shikamaru looked at them, then at the area Tenten was thrown from. Ino was there, running toward him.

"They're coming through the windows!" She yelled. Behind her, was another undead being attempting to get through the window at the end of the hallway. She passed Shikamaru, and went to assist Tenten and Naruto. Tenten was now unconscious, but Naruto seemed to be fine.

"Did you get the needles?" He asked.

"I only found two." She said, while taking one out, and injecting it into Tenten's arm. "Tenten's unconscious, so she definitely needs it."

Shikamaru nodded, then heard the window smash.

"Come on guys! They're coming in quick!"

Without hesitation, Naruto picked up Tenten and held her on his back. The group then ran together, heading back to the main entrance.

Ino knew they were getting chased without bothering to look back, "Where should we go? We can't stay in here any longer." She said.

"We have to head outside and find a bit of refuge for a while." Said Shikamaru.

"Outside? There's thousands of them out there!" Exclaimed Naruto.

"But it beats running from them inside this mansion. There's more room outside, and they'll have us surrounded if we stay- Aaagh!" Shikamaru exclaimed when he feels a sharp pain in the back of his left thigh. He was ahead of the group, so the two blondes saw what hit him.

"They can throw weapons?!" Said Naruto incredulously as Shikamaru collapsed and skid to a halt. Ino and Naruto stopped by his side, but saw the dozens of infected beings heading straight for them.

Thinking fast, Naruto performed his Multi-shadow clone technique, and blocked their path with presumably one hundred clones. He turned around and did the same with the other side, using his clones as a temporary barricade.

Ino knelt by a wincing Shikamaru and took out the last Identiprofin needle, "This is the last one. You're hurt, so you need it more than us." She says, handing him the seringe.

He took the needle, then stabbed Ino in the arm with it, quickly injecting it's substance.

"Sh-Shikamaru! What the hell are you doing?!"

Shikamaru pulled the kunai out of his thigh, and pocketed it. He grinned up at his sister-like comrade, "Heh, a troublesome woman like you needs it more than me."

"But Shika, you're wounded! You won't be able to run as fast!"

Shikamaru shrugged, and Naruto looked over his shoulder, "Are you guys done back there?! I can't hold them off much longer!" He asks, as creating more and more shadow clones was not only eating away at his chakra, but was providing them less protection as they drew closer.

"Ino, take Tenten, and find another house or building to settle in at. You're both protected now, so you wont have to worry much." Shikamaru says.

"But Shikamaru..."

"Listen to me, Ino." He said strongly, "Do as I say. You're already injected. So the best thing to do would be to protect yourself and Tenten while you still can. Naruto and I will be right behind you."

Ino knew that Shikamaru was lying to her. She knew that they, especially Shikamaru, might not make it out of this.

But she knew he was right. She took Tenten off of Naruto's back, and placed her on her own.

Before taking off towards the exit, she looked back toward them, "...Be careful." She advised.

Shikamaru nodded, "Don't worry about us. Just go."

Ino hesitated for a moment, before following Shikamaru's orders.

Naruto was still busy making more shadow clones, although the zombies were getting past them faster than the rate he was making them.

"Damn it... Shikamaru, what do you think we should do?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru stood up and took the kunai he just pocketed.

"We do this." He infuses his chakra with the kunai and tosses it past the shadow clones, on the floor, in front of the large crowd of zombies.

"You missed!" Naruto says.

"No, I didn't." He replies. "Send your clones to the other side of us. The ones over there are immobilized."

Naruto was a bit skeptical, but complied. He sent his clones past them, to the other crowd of zombies to assist the other clones. And to Naruto's amazement, the other side of infected were indeed, incapable of moving.

"Their shadows are connected." Shikamaru answered Naruto's question before he could ask it, "It's my Shadow Imitation Shuriken Technique. I used it back when we fought Kakuzu and Hidan. And with a large group of zombies huddled up together like that, it makes using this technique more useful."

Naruto always wondered how Shikamaru had a normal sized head, with that big brain of his, "Ah... I don't suppose you can do the same thing with the other side?"

"Unless you have another kunai on you." He said. Naruto shook his head, seeing as he was still in his pajama pants, "Didn't think so. Besides, all we have to do is get past them." He pointed at the crowd of immobilized undead shinobi and citizens. Naruto gave him a hesitant look before complying and began walking into the crowd.

Naruto and Shikamaru squeezed themselves past all of the zombies. It crept both Naruto and Shikamaru out how even though they were immobilized, they would react to their presence as they got closer. They would snarl, hiss, and chomp their teeth at them, getting more frantic as they drew near. They made no attempt to hide their lust for carnage and blood.

But soon, the two shinobi make it to the other side.

"So, now what?" Naruto asked, supporting his wounded friend.

"We can finally get the hell outta here." Shikamaru replies through his teeth, which were clenched because of the pain in his leg.

"How are we gonna do that? You practically sealed off the exit..."

"I don't really know." he said, just now remembering the infected have been coming through the windows. Naruto knew hearing those words from Shikamaru practically meant they were screwed, "The windows aren't an option. There's no other exits, and we can't burst our way out the walls since we don't have bombs of any kind... and even if we did, these walls are reinforced. This place is like a castle."

"So is there anything we can do?!" Naruto asked frantically.

"Just... let me think for a minute..."

"I hate to sound pessimistic, Shika, but I think you have a little less than a minute." Naruto utters, watching more and more zombies attempt to get past the immobilize ones.

"I'm aware, Naruto..." He replies with closed eyes, his mind trying to process a plan for their predicament.

Naruto sighs as he watches the undead get closer to them, "Hey, Fox."

"Oh, in trouble, hm?" Kyuubi taunts, making Naruto roll his eyes.

"Yes, gimme some of your chakra!"

"And if I say no?"

"We both die!"

"...I suppose I can lend you a portion of it." She hums. "Make your stupid Rasengan."

Naruto doesn't hesitate to create another clone and begin creating one of his most prized jutsu. As the clone swirls the chakra he emits out of his hand, he can see the color of it has changed from an oceanic blue to a fire red.

"N-Naruto...?" Shikamaru mumbles in awe, seeing the red chakra flowing around Naruto and his clone. He knew about him being the holder of Kyuubi no Yoko, but never saw Naruto's eyes change to blood red and have slitted pupils. Not to mention his more pronounced whisker marks and extended razor sharp canines.

Naruto's clone then dispersed, leaving him with a large, demonic swirling ball of chakra in his hand.

The zombies began to approach, eager to claw at him and feast on his flesh.

As they drew closer, the growling Naruto... grinned.

"You guys don't know who you're messing with." He declared. He charged for the closest undead being and rammed his Rasengan straight into its face.

Then, seconds after impact, the Rasengan expands and blasts anything in its path in a dark red beam of raw evil chakra, incinerating everything it comes in contact with. The blast stretches out for over a mile, exiting out all the way through the other side of the mansion.

"Whoa...!" Shikamaru utters in awe once the jutsu passed. Anything that came in contact with the jutsu was absolutely demolished. It blasted all the way straight through the other side if the mansion, exposing a large hole to the outside. Blood and body parts decorated the wrecked halls of the mansion, proof that the dozens of zombies after them were no more.

Shikamaru jumped when Naruto's demonic eyes landed on him.

"Come on, we gotta go before more shows up." He told him. Shikamaru was relieved, he was unsure if Naruto was going to turn against him in this state.

"R-Right."

"Stupid Shikamaru..." Ino whispered under her breath. She pushed past many of undead civilians and ninja, unable to find a location she could settle herself and Tenten at while the effects of the drugs were still kicked in. "What was he thinking, splitting us up like this... Now how are they supposed to find u-"

Her words were cut off by a light rumbling of the ground. She looks behind her and sees an unreal blast of chakra bursting out of the side of the building she was just in a few minutes ago.

"Wh... what the hell was that...?!" she pondered to herself, "Could that have been Naruto?"

Before she could have even completed her sentence, the dozens upon dozens of rotten and diseased ninja around her begin to swarm over to that area.

"No, no, no... shit!" She growled. Her first instinct was to head in that direction as well, to help her lover and best friend. But she remembered she's currently carrying an unconscious friend on her back, with a time limit regarding how long she can stay out there before they begin to attract the undead like moths to a flame.

She tried to calm herself down, "Okay Ino, just do as Shikamaru said... They'll both be fine. They'll be okay..." she attempted to convince herself before moving forward.

"I need a place I can hold Tenten and I temporarily while we wait for them. Somewhere close by, so they don't have to travel far." After turning down one of the main roads, Ino looked up and spotted a third story balcony on an apartment complex with many dead plants and flowers. She then looked behind her and noted that the balcony stood over many other buildings, so she could most likely see the entrance to the Hyuuga compound from there.

"Perfect."' Ino mumbled. She jumped up to the balcony, and placed Tenten carefully on the ground while she went inside the room to check if it's clear. She opened the door slowly and peered inside.

"Too dark..." Ino said subconsciously. She then grabbed a pot from off the balcony and tossed it in the room, which crashed with a loud shatter once it hit the floor.

She waited for a response, but heard nothing. She then slowly entered the dark room, with a kunai in her hand. She tiptoed along the creaky floorboards, hands slowly running up and down the walls for a light switch. Once she found one, she took a deep breath and turned it on.

With a sigh of relief, she relaxed upon seeing that the room was empty. She then turned around to grab Tenten and pull her inside. She hoped Tenten would wake up soon, since-

"O-Oh..." Ino froze as she saw something on the dresser near the bed. She then looked around the apartment and collapsed on the floor, her face in her palms.

On the dresser, was a framed picture of her deceased sensei, Asuma Sorutobi.

"Damn it...!" she choked. She was shocked to see that she hadn't realized who's apartment this was earlier, telling from it's location, and the rotted flowers... She was Ino's best customer when she ran her flower shop.

"Okay..." Ino sniffled, standing up, "Now isn't the time to mourn. We have to get this place sealed up before this repellent or whatever wears off." She then stepped out onto the balcony to go and pull Tenten inside.

She opened the door. Her eyes widened.

Tenten wasn't there.

She quickly looked around over the balcony, searching to see if maybe Tenten woke up and ran off because she got scared. The infected couldn't have gotten her, the Identiprofin still has maybe ten or so minutes of time left until it wears off. And even if it did wear off, the infected eat the living, not kidnap... or maybe some of them do. She just recently discovered that they can throw kunai, after all.

"Tenten!" she called out at the top of her lungs. She frantically turned her head back and forth, trying to find a moving figure in the streets, or possibly along the rooftops...

Looking to her right, she spotted movement around 100 meters away on top of a building. She squinted her eyes to see if it was Tenten, but only saw three figures moving about the rooftops. As she strained to look closer, she barely made out the shape of an unconscious body being carried by the figure in the middle. The figure seemed to be cloaked, and Ino was pretty sure it wasn't one of the infected.

"Hey!" Ino called out. Just as she put her foot on the balcony railing to leap off of it, she looked down and saw two Jounin and two Chuunin zombies who turned around and reacted to her outburst. They clearly were looking up toward her, and leaped up after her.

"Shit!" She gasped and receded back into the building, quickly closing the door and pressing her weight against it. She struggled to keep the door closed against the undead beings banging against the door. Four against one were not good odds, Ino quickly realized. They growled at her ferociously, and made it clear they wanted to rip her apart.

"God, please get me out of this..." she quickly prayed. Her strength to keep the door shut was deteriorating fast, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep them out much longer. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and ran to the other side of the room. She turned around and got into fighting position, with her kunai ready in her palm.

"If I'm going down, I'm gonna at least take a few with me." she declared, staring intently at the door that was about to be ripped off its hinges. Not a second later, the infected broke the door down, and the first two that entered had clumsily lost their balance once the door fell, and fell onto the floor along with it. Ino quickly took advantage of this and pierced the back of their skulls with the kunai, dispatching them immediately. The two other zombies crept in after her, and Ino sharply got up to ram the bloody kunai into one of their heads. The zombie went limp with a strained gurgle, but the other one had lunged at her while her hands were occupied.

The remaining undead being tackled her to the floor, pinning her below him. Ino held the zombie by its throat, making sure to keep it's eager mouth away from her flesh. She used all her strength to keep it at bay, and Ino was becoming convinced this was it for her. It drooled and hissed at Ino's face, which was less than a foot away from his teeth, and was very slowly closing the gap as Ino's strength started withering away. Her nails dug into it's diseased throat and slimy skin in an attempt to weaken him, only to find that the zombified Chuunin seemingly was unaffected as blood poured down her hands.

The zombie, getting more wild and irritated by the second, grabbed at Ino's arms. It's nails dug into her forearms, piercing into her skin and muscle.

"Aaghh!" she cried out in pain. Due to the adrenaline, she didn't feel it as much as she should, but that soon wouldn't matter as her now damaged arms was quickly losing strength. It's rancid teeth got closer to her face, ready to rip away the first thing it comes in contact with.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Was her last thought as her arms finally gave away. The zombie then pressed forward, and-

*SPLAT*

The pressure from the zombie was lifted off Ino's body. Expecting to be in excruciating pain, Ino opened her eyes.

She jumped a bit once she saw his bubbly red cloak all around him.

"I refuse... to just let you die."

Ino could only stare in awe at Naruto, who was at her feet on all fours, with three red, slightly transparent tails made of pure evil chakra flowing behind him. She looked to her right, only to see a splattered mess on the wall. She could only guess it was the zombie that was on top of her, as whatever was left of it looked like someone threw a tomato at a wall at 85 mph.

"Na... Naruto...?" she asked, frightened. His blood red eyes were set solely on her, and she was unsure if she should be relieved or afraid.

"Ino, it's okay." said another voice, behind Naruto. A limping Shikamaru emerged from the balcony and stood beside Naruto. "He's okay, it's just the Kyuubi's chakra."

She looked back at him, who was still staring at her. Naruto, after seeing the fear in Ino's eyes, closed his own. One by one, his chakra tails slowly receded back into its cloak. Then, the cloak itself started to dissipate, and Naruto got off his hands and stood up.

"The barrier jutsu is up, guys. So we'll be safe here for a bit." Shikamaru stated, "Ino, are you alright?"

Ino couldn't respond, and continued to stare into Naruto's red eyes. She was still in shock. She was ready to die. And Naruto saved her life, only to see Naruto three-tails deep into his Kyuubi state. She wanted to say something, but her brain needed a second to reboot.

She flinched a little on reflex once Naruto knelt beside her and raised his hand toward her, unsure of what he was going to do. A clawed finger gently dragged down her face. A small soft smile was plastered on his Kyuubi-like features, "... I'm sorry, Ino-chan."

Ino raised her bloody hand to caress Naruto's clawed one. His skin was still hot from the boiling cloak, but Ino didn't care.

She looked deep into his eyes, and her fear and caution was replaced with adoration and love as she realized that these were still Naruto's eyes looking at her, "Don't be... you saved me."

Naruto smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss. She gladly accepted, although she could feel his sharp canines poking at her lips.

Once they separated, Naruto's eyes returned to blue, and his features were normal again. He got up, and carried Ino onto the nearby bed. He sat beside her, and Shikamaru did the same on the other side of the bed.

"I told you we'll be okay." Shikamaru said with a smile.

Ino looked at him, "So you did... how did you guys find me?"

"We heard your obnoxious voice." Shikamaru taunted. Ino sent him a playful glare.

"We followed it until we saw the four zombies trying to break in here from a distance, so we figured you had to be inside." said Naruto. He then sighed, "...Once I saw them go in thought I was going to lose you, Ino-chan."

Ino reached to hold Naruto's hand, even though it hurt to do so with her punctured forearms, "I thought I was done, too. But it looks like I managed to hold them off just in time." she caressed his hand with her thumb, and looked at the Nara Boy, "My heroes."

Naruto looked down and saw the condition of Ino's arms. Ino followed his gaze, then looked at him reassuringly, "It's nothing, Naruto-kun. I can heal this easily."

Naruto slowly nodded, then looked around, "...Where's Tenten?"

Ino avoided eye contact.