Naruto loves fighting. He likes to follow that dance, as Madara called it, and lose himself in it until his breathing becomes heavy and the muscles become sore but light. It's exhilarating. The pumping of his heart as adrenaline engulfs his body just to make it react quicker, and work better. The necessary concentration he needs to give his opponent to be able to follow their movements while keeping aware of one's surroundings. The way limbs move and the power they can give. How one needs to think fast and counter even faster. The challenge is frightening and exciting and Naruto loves every second of it, not caring if he ends up as a bloody mess who can't even feel his aches.
Even deathmatches have their appeal. He doesn't love them or even likes them, but they're special in the way that they are more real. The threat of death is there but there's uncertainty too, as one feels the other's emotions, the passion behind each punch, even if they're strangers. It doesn't carry the lightheartedness of a spar or the fun and challenge of it, but it helps make one aware of their mortality. And to someone who's been looked down on as less than human, barely above a monster, it also helps him to feel more human.
He still doesn't like them though, even if lately they've become quite frequent in his life.
So, Naruto loves fighting and he's always thought that he'd like whatever form that comes from or any kind of opponent it offers.
Well, not anymore. It seems he was wrong. Because he really, really doesn't like fighting against the Edo Tensei-wannabes. And it shows as Clementine says, "That's another bump from Andrea for swearing."
He glares at her as he digs a kunai into another walker, even if he knows she can't see him.
"You finished already, Clem?"
The girl turns briefly from where she's trying to fill another bag to stick her tongue out at him before she returns to her task
"Cut her some slack, kid," Andrea breathes out, knocking another walker with Naruto's pretty orange bat. "Why is this happening again?"
Naruto doesn't bother to look at Andrea; she's alive and that's all that he needs to know. "Hey, it was your idea so don't try to dump the blame on others."
Michonne, who is a couple of meters away, finishes two of those walkers before she turns to give Naruto a knowing, small smirk. "I agree. It's not your fault. This time, at least."
"Hey!"
Even if he shouts, Naruto doesn't add anything else because his luck has followed him even in this world. He knows that the last three times they've tried to sleep inside houses, they ended up ambushed by walkers because of him.
He also doesn't answer anything because that's the moment Clementine stands up, trying to lift the two small bags, having finished passing the things they retrieved from the broken bags into another, sturdier ones.
Naruto shoots a look at Michonne as he sees Clementine's strain before going to help her. When the bags are secured in his hands, he motions the others to retreat to the wall. They follow his lead even if with some difficulty because of the walkers on their trail.
"Naruto, give me a hand!"
Throwing a glance at the attackers, Naruto helps Andrea climb up to go past the wall surrounding the house they used for the night before he goes and helps Clem do the same while Michonne is behind, trying to keep them clear from walkers.
"Michonne, come on!"
Michonne's the one who is more fit so she doesn't need that much help aside from using his interlaced hands to propel herself. And that's good when doing this kind of thing. Quickly separating his intertwined fingers, Naruto grabs the handy bat that Andrea left behind to keep the walkers at bay, not wanting to accidentally lose another kunai, and gives the others some time and doesn't go to follow them until he hears the "Ready!" from Clementine.
"Where's Michonne?" Naruto asks when he meets them in the park.
"Here."
Turning around, Naruto sees Michone with her walker trailing behind, their luggage on its back.
"You've got the bags?" she asks and Naruto answers by patting the bags twice before giving them to Andrea who gives him a strained smile, sweat trailing down her forehead as she looks for her prize.
"You're so lucky you're a man, kid."
Naruto chuckles, remembering Sakura saying something familiar, though with an added, "Though I'm luckier I'm a doctor."
"We're going to some house or camping again?" Clementine asks, clearly uncomfortable with the prospect of what she's going to suffer in later years and probably with no medicine.
"The weather is not that bad. We're camping," Michonne answers, not even bothering to look up.
Clementine gives a tired sigh as if she knew the result but was hoping for the best, and Naruto feels slightly guilty as it's kind of his fault they try to not sleep inside houses or the kind unless they're one hundred percent sure they're completely alone. Because they've all realized that for some reason walkers always manage to find him.
He's lucky that by that time, they were already fond of him.
"I suppose we can head to the last camping point," he murmurs because even if he's shit at reading maps, he's good with directions and he knows they are close to their last spot.
This time Michone does look up and Naruto follows her gaze to see the blue lazy sky that's darker than it should be. It takes her a second longer before she gives an affirmative.
.
Three hours later, they're setting camp. Andrea's influenza has gotten slightly better thanks to the meds Naruto carried but it wasn't enough and it shows on her face. The blood loss and pains from her period aren't helping either. Naruto only hopes that the meds they found will help her at least with that.
"I hope this works," Andrea says as she sits on the hard ground and groans, looking at the boiling sea sponge she will have to use later. She takes a glance at the bag with the pills but Michonne shakes her head and gives her a bottle of clean water instead.
Naruto doesn't look up from the tramps he's setting but he makes sure he's not breathing through his nose, faintly uncomfortable at the smell of boiling blood. Is not the thought of men menstruating that makes him uneased. He even took a class in the Academy most guys scrunched their noses at while the girls blushed as they listened to the teacher with hard, solemn faces, paying more attention than they'd done before.
Naruto's also spent most of his teenage years with Jiraiya so he knows more about women's biology than he'd probably need. Not to mention his teammate is a woman and a medic to boot. So is not as if the concept of menstruation bothers him – it's his training that sharpens his other senses whenever he smells the barest hint of blood, making him suspicious of every sound. And that tires him greatly—always being in that constant paranoid state of mind.
Kunoichis have to take pills to cut their periods so it won't interrupt a mission or make the enemy aware of their presence fast his body doesn't feel like bursting at the seams this day, though Naruto still concentrates some of his energy into his palm and pushes it into the tree to have a decent sleep without waking up panicked, with an excess of energy that feels more exhausting than it should be.
Glancing down to check the others, Naruto sees Clementine preparing to sleep next to Andrea, Michonne staying up for the first shift, and he closes his eyes, knowing he'll have three hours of sleep before she wakes him up as he's always the one who does the second shift whenever they camp outside with Andrea doing just one hour.
Being the one who needs less sleep than the others and at the same time is more used to these kinds of nights. If nothing, ninja life gives you some habits that work amazingly for these kinds of situations.
Academy hasn't taught him how to survive some kind of Zombie Apocalypse, but it does have taught him how to survive. And considering how his childhood has been, Naruto is an expert in surviving.
.
"Oh my God, you too?" Naruto wails at Michonne as he turns in her direction, looking utterly miserable with the bags under his eyes and the slump of his shoulders that hadn't managed to ease completely while his hand twitches for the kunai inside his pouch, more of a reflex than anything.
It's almost three days later when Naruto is taking a break, standing where the wind is strong, his usual turtle neck down to his chin, no longer making him look like the second coming Kakashi, that he realizes Michonne's blood problem. He's glad that the last couple of days there were no walkers near to surprise them because he wouldn't have been able to detect them in time with his nose covered, but he thought his torment would almost be over. It seems that's not the case.
"It's weird how you know the instant it comes," she says, giving him a flat look, the tight hold on her sword loosening. "Get a grip. Believe me, if I could, I'd stop it."
Naruto rubs the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at her. She's already picked that his senses are sharper than normal because of how he knows when they're close to towns or walkers. "Sorry."
Andrea chuckles from behind them but it comes out as weak. "We're not that far from that prison you wanted to reach. I'd advise from being so loud, kid."
Naruto sighs as he puts the turtle neck up again, preparing himself for long days with twitching and almost stabbing whoever tries to wake him up. Though they kind of learned after the first two times and now just throw him small rocks when he stays sleeping longer than the usual.
It doesn't matter. Naruto is the kind of person that looks at the glass half full so maybe, this means his luck will change for the better soon.
.
Fuck his luck. Sakura would have probably punched him already for tempting fate that way, or that's what Naruto thinks as he tries to help Clementine stand up while kicking a walker in the face. He knew they shouldn't have stopped but honestly, that highway seemed lonely enough and those cars looked homey with the pouring rain. They didn't think that the sound of the girls trying to fix a car would make that many walkers appear.
Also, has he mentioned how it was raining? They needed to stop and this place was the better option.
"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.