Chapter Text
“Tenzou, where are you? Are you hurt?” Kakashi clutched at the walkie talkie, eye darting around for any sign of the boy.
“I’m mostly fine.” Tenzou actually answered, proving that yes, he was alive. “In a bit of… uh, trouble though.”
“Where are you?” Kakashi asked again. “Is Itachi with you?”
“No, no he isn’t.” Gai slightly tapped Kakashi’s arm, pointing out at the destruction around them as Tenzou continued. “I can explain. Later.”
The huge holes, big enough for a car to pass through, in the walls were particularly not comforting.
“Tenzou-”
“Right... At the radio tower near the gas station.”
Kakashi looked around, spotting the radio tower in question in the distance.
“We’re on our way.” Kakashi and Gai moved towards their destiny.
“We? Are the kids with you? There’s a lot of infected in here, you shouldn’t come.” His voice was barely audible.
“They’re safe, I have help.”
Kakashi turned a corner and bumped into Gai, who stopped in front of him. A hand out to stop him.
“Uh, how much help?”
Kakashi could spot a handful of zombies scattered across the street, many more gathering further away. Gai and Kakashi ducked back behind cover.
Tenzou kept talking when Kakashi didn’t answer.
“There was this huge thing, I… I just ran to one of the safe houses but it started breaking down the door so I climbed up the radio tower and hid here. The stairs broke. I don’t know how to get out undetected. All I have is a rifle and this walkie talkie.”
“How many infected can you spot?” Kakashi asked.
Tenzou remained quiet for a second.
“Too many to count.”
Kakashi let the back of his head bang against the wall he leaned on, letting out a silent sigh.
He looked at Gai, who seemed to search his surroundings for something useful.
“We’ll think of something. Hang in there, Tenzou.”
“Thank you.”
Kakashi nodded, turning his head, only for the walkie talkie in his hand to buzz again.
“Kakashi… I’m… I’m glad you're okay.”
Kakashi stared dumbly at his hands.
“I’m glad you’re okay too.”
He kept staring at it for a few more seconds.
Gai poked him in the shoulder, breaking him out of his trance.
“What do you have in mind?” He mumbled to Kakashi, mindful of his volume.
Kakashi looked around the corner again.
The radio tower was still a few blocks away from his position. They’d have to take several streets to reach their destination, traversing through a possible mob of infected. Not really optimal.
Several small buildings stood between them and the tower.
He let a thought come.
“Do you remember our races near the park?” Kakashi asked.
Gai smirked at him in understanding.
“The rooftops?”
Kakashi nodded, unable to stop a smirk of his own.
“Try not to fall behind then.” Gai winked at him, taking a step back and looking for a place to hang on. He quickly found it, stepping on a loose brick and hauling himself up onto the roof. Kakashi followed closely behind once he realised he was falling behind.
Gai watched him get up to his feet on the roof. They were both too aware of the danger of the situation to truly race over rooftops like they’d do as children, noisy and carefree, but it still felt nostalgic to stand above the horizon together once more. The fresh air hitting them and the burning of their limbs from all their running.
They looked at eachother, almost mentally setting up a count.
3
2
1
When they were sure no zombie would spot them up there, they took off.
Kakashi picked up speed, easily making the first short jump into the next rooftop, never losing speed. Gai ran just ahead of him, headband flapping behind him as he went. Maybe mocking Kakashi to catch up.
Two rooftops later a big leap came up and Kakashi pushed himself to go faster , jumping over and landing with a stumble. Not enough to bring him down though. Heart leaping through his chest and going harder and harder until his lung threatened to burst inside his chest, shoulder to shoulder with his rival.
Concrete would pass under his feet, and with every leap the infected the only grew in number seemed to stray further and further away and the setting sun, closer and closer.
And then the gas station approached, and close to it, the radio tower. Kakashi and Gai slowed down, stopping completely as the buildings became too far away to hop to. They crouched down, catching their breaths.
On the street below them, a sea of infected murmured the chanting of the dead.
The base of the radio tower was inaccessible, the stairs broken off a few good meters away from the floor. He couldn’t see what was on the floor, but he could spot the closed doors of the convenience store in the gas station and the collapsed walls of a few nearby buildings.
Kakashi pulled out the walkie talkie.
“Tenzou.” He called out.
“Yes. I see you.” Tenzou answered quickly. Kakashi glanced up at the tower and spotted a silhouette up.
“Can you climb down?”
“Unsteadily, probably. I’m… a bit hurt. I can try.” He said hesitantly. And that was a no.
“We’ll think of something to get you down and high tailing out of here.”
“Okay.” He heard Tenzou breathe.
“Keep alert.”
“Okay.”
Gai looked at him expectantly.
Kakashi glanced down the street over his shoulder again.
A distraction. That’s all he needed.
Noises and sudden movement were all means to get the attention of an infected.
If they had something that made noise enough to call the horde away from the radio tower, they could sneak past them.
But still, that meant making a distraction.
But how?
Over the buildings, several meters away. Kakashi saw a few cars crashed, abandoned, scattered throughout the streets.
He pressed the button once again.
“Tenzou, how many shots do you have?”
“Five.” He quickly answered.
“Do you see those cars in the west?”
“Yes.” He answered after a second.
“I’ll need you to trigger the alarms, can you hit them?”
He waited in silence for a second.
“Yes.”
“Wait for my signal then. We’ll get that mob moving first, then we’re getting you down before any more show up.”
“O-okay.”
Kakashi turned to Gai.
“We’re gonna have to find a way to get up in that tower and get Tenzou down.” He mumbled.
Gai hummed, a hand on his chin. He looked down the street, seeking something to help them.
He pointed down.
“That trash container. We can drag it closer to the stairs. We’d have to help him down, but it beats not having anything.”
“I guess so…”
Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair.
It was now or never.
“Tenzou, we’re ready. Take your shot.”
“Okay.”
Gai and Kakashi waited, tense with anticipation. This was usually where things went either well or very terribly wrong. What choice did they have but prepare for the worst?
Kakashi had a tight grip on his machette, as useless as he’d be at the moment if something went wrong.
A loud shot rang through the air.
The zombies roared, swinging around and moving uneasy, unable to find the source of the noise. Kakashi ducked down flat against the roof, dragging Gai with him, hoping they hadn’t been accidentally spotted.
No alarms triggered. He was sure Tenzou had hit something. Unlucky.
Tenzou remained silent and crouched for a few seconds more, waiting for the movement underneath him to die down.
They waited a few more long seconds.
And a second shot rang out.
An alarm was triggered, blaring out through the open air and bringing a choir of barks and cries of infected as they made to chase the noise and destroy its source.
Kakashi could hear their voices going further away as the mob moved towards the sound, could almost feel the round rumble as they moved like a stampede. Mindlessly. Rabid. He risked a glance out and saw the last of the infected move.
When they were only two or three, moving too slow to keep up due to incapacitated or missing limbs, he hopped down.
They wouldn’t have much time before other infected started showing up.
He tucked and rolled, getting back on his feet and dashing to cut the closest infected before it could scream. He kept going and finished another that dragged itself through the floor. He turned and Gai already had taken out the third, crowbar coming out with blood dripping from it.
They moved fast grabbing onto the trash container and dragging it over uneven ground up to the base of the radio tower. Kakashi let go for a second to get the broken off stairs laying on the floor out of the way, while Gai adjusted the container under the still hanging part of the stairs. He nodded at Kakashi and Kakashi climbed up, using the metal structure of the tower to help him reach the stairs. From there, it was an easy climb up to where Tenzou had been hiding.
He could see him bundled up at a high platform.
Kakashi’s relief at seeing Tenzou again lasted the whole 2 seconds it took for him to see what state the boy was in.
Several purple bruises bloomed on his entire body, face not an exception. His left arm was rudimentary wrapped in bandages, a sniper rifle resting awkwardly against his body, handled only with his left hand. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a while.
There was also a distinct lack of supplies.
Tenzou visibly sighed at seeing Kakashi, and Kakashi felt immensely guilty (and angry) for letting this happen.
“I’m also very happy to see you.” He said tiredly, adding to his earlier statement.
“How long have you been up here?”
“A day… or a bit more” he answered sheepishly.
Gai reached the top of the stairs then, eyes quickly locking onto Tenzou.
“Here’s the help. This is Gai.” Kakashi pointed out as he approached Tenzou, helping him stand up, because he didn’t know what to say about what he just learned.
Tenzou wavered a bit before standing up properly.
“Ah, so it’s you.” Tenzou said, eyes wide with, wonder? Had they met?
Gai tilted his head at that.
“Do we know each other?”
Tenzou spluttered.
They must have.
“Nevermind that, we’re gonna need a little more help to get down than we first anticipated.” Kakashi interrupted.
Gai nodded.
“Wait here.” Kakashi ordered Tenzou, who’s attempt at pouting would draw a chuckle out of Kakashi in any other situation. “I’ll get something to help you down. Let me know if you can see anything helpful from up here”
“Alright.” He sighed.
Kakashi squeezed past Gai, making his way down once more.
He let himself drop from the stairs to the trash container, feeling the lid almost give in under the impact. He huffed, regaining his balance.
He jumped down to the floor and looked around for anything high enough to let Tenzou drop without hurting himself further.
If it came to it, maybe he could catch him if Tenzou just let go of the stairs.
Kakashi spotted a car abandoned close to an alley between two commercial buildings ahead. If he was lucky, it wouldn’t be locked and he could try pushing it closer. He approached it, making sure no other infected remained close.
The ground seemed to rumble for a second.
What the hell?
He glanced around trying to find out what could have done that.
Everything remained still.
No infected, no anything.
He took another cautious step.
He swear he could hear a strange roar.
His walkie talkie blared to life again.
“It’s back! Did you feel that? Get out of there Kakashi! It’s back! ” Tenzou yelled at the walkie talkie, making Kakashi almost jump out of his skin.
He reached for the walkie talkie, also meaning to ask Tenzou what it exactly was.
The ground shook beneath his feet and Kakashi stopped moving.
He could definitely hear something approaching.
Something heavy.
And then the wall just a few meters ahead of him exploded. Kakashi ducked, falling to his butt, arms raised to shield himself, trying to avoid the debri that flew in his direction.
He coughed the concrete smoke, arms dropping down to see just what the hell happened.
Standing at least 2 meters tall, a hunking mass of muscle and skin stood where an wall was before.
It was an infected.
He’d never seen anything like it before.
It roared at him
What the hell?!
It raised its two bulking arms to attack, crushing them against the floor and cracking the sidewalk.
It was quickly getting closer.
A shot rang out, the monster crying out in pain and only stumbling for a second. Recovering as angry as it was a second before.
“ WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!” A voice blared .
He didn’t need to be told twice.
Kakashi hurried to his feet, turning around and bolting for the stairs. He saw Gai climb down the stairs and wondered what the hell he was doing?! Gai took one of the canisters of gasoline and ran towards Kakashi.
Once they were close, Gai threw the canister over their heads. Kakashi watched it soar up in the air, and when it was close to the monster's face, another shot sounded, and fire rained on the creature, who grunted and cried in pain. It waved its long arms and hopped in place, trying to put fire out.
It failed.
It shook itself and turned towards Kakashi and Gai once more, not deterred, roaring.
“Fucking hell.” Kakashi murmured (or maybe shouted).
He grabbed Gai’s wrist and resumed running towards the tower, forcing Gai to climb up ahead of him. He leaped up and held onto the metal stairs, hands quickly finding a grip on the steps and he pulled himself up.
The whole structure shook when the creature slammed into it.
Kakashi kept climbing as fast as he could, glancing down and watching in absolute horror as the creature bent metal under its hands and pulled its huge body up, climbing after them.
Infected usually didn’t climb things like that.
Another shot rang out and Kakashi tucked his head in, glancing up briefly to see Tenzou standing atop the tower and aiming the rifle down.
He reloaded and pulled the trigger once more.
And nothing came out.
Kakashi couldn’t see him swearing, but he could see more metal bending and stranding as the still flaming monster kept making its way up. Bending under the monstrous hands, under the heat, the weight. The stairs started leaning sideways under Kakashi’s hands, starting to groan under the stress of the added weight.
It groaned and moved and in a loud “tang!”, it snapped.
Kakashi barely had time to gasp, feeling gravity start dragging him and the beast down at the roof of the gas station.
The air suddenly left his lungs when his descent stopped as quickly as it began, the straps of his backpack pulling painfully against his body from where he hung.
He looked up and saw Gai with a wide eyed look and a secure hold on his backpack on one hand, another one on the part of the stairs still holding strong.. Kakashi held onto the nearest piece of metal so he wasn’t being held up by his rival alone.
Beneath them, the flaming infected fell with a roar, down and down, and through the roof of the gas station, still alive.
Still on fire.
Shit.
“Move, move, move move move.” Kakashi warned Gai, holding back onto the remaining stairs as well and climbing up before the fire below inevitably reached all the gas stored down.
And it did.
The heat hit them as fast as the noise.
This time the whole radio tower bended, making them all hold tightly onto the structure as it shook. The heat kept up and then died down, and the tower kept leaning more, and more.
“SHIT!” Kakashi’s arms hurt with how hard he hugged the structure, unable to do anything to stop what was happening and begging whoever was listening to have mercy on them.
The tower bent and shook until they all stood perpendicular to the floor, laying down on the metal and close to slipping down. And then it broke with a loud noise. Kakashi could feel the air blowing past them, could hear screaming, and he felt the first impact of the tower against the first nearby building, the tallest around, and then the next impact, and then he felt nothing as he finally lost his grip on the tower and expected a long way down. But he just suddenly hit the ground painfully.
He coughed loudly, trying to get air back into his lungs and feeling smoke clog his airways instead. He didn’t fall much at all, which was a miracle.
He was starting to think that immune really did mean immortal.
He rolled sideways, taking another big gulp of air. He opened his eyes and saw the metal tower still hanging above him, stuck to the side of another building just a couple of meters above him. Ready to fall onto him any second.
Fucking hell.
He was alive. He could move. He was sore all over and his limbs felt strange from the adrenaline but he was moving. He got to his knees and then to his feet searching around for Gai and Tenzou.
Gai was on all fours, wheezing and holding a hand against his head.
Kakashi stumbled his way closer, accidentally almost dropping on his friend when he reached a hand out to touch. He leaned into him and Gai looked up, nodding his reassurances despite the blood that trailed down his temple.
He’d trust Gai on that. He was alive and conscious, that was enough for now.
He kept walking and right ahead he spotted Tenzou sprawled on the floor, unmoving.
Kakashi rushed over and dropped down on his knees and carefully turned Tenzou around so he was facing up.
There was more blood, no horribly mangled bones though, despite the longer fall he took.
Kakashi put two fingers against his neck, but he couldn’t feel anything. In fact, he couldn’t hear anything either. His hands were still numb and his heart was beating so loudly he couldn’t hear anything else.
Or maybe that was the explosion that just happened.
He tried taking a deep breath but it came in all wrong and he coughed again. No calming down then.
He splayed his hand on Tenzou’s chest instead, trying to concentrate.
He could see it now.
The rise and fall of his chest.
Kakashi closed his eyes, throwing his head back and breathing in just a bit slower.
He was fine. They were all fine.
For now.
He looked behind him and Gai was already up, stumbling his way next to him.
“Help me here.” He thought he said.
Gai luckily got the message and helped Kakashi take Tenzou off the ground, each of them holding an arm over their shoulders.
They needed to get the hell away, all those zombies would be back in a matter of seconds now as well. They tried taking the most hidden paths out of there.
They stumbled away and it all started coming back, slowly.
Kakashi could hear their steps, could hear their labored breathing.
Heard the noises of the undead.
His lungs burned and he really wanted to stop, but as long as he and Gai kept the pace he wouldn’t dare stop.
That is until, Gai stopped to puke.
Kakashi held onto Tenzou, watching worriedly as Gai tried to recompose himself.
“It’s fine.” Gai waved his hands trying to reassure Kakashi, but doing it so wobbly it just cemented his worries.
“Gai…” Kakashi warned when Gai tried to grab Tenzou again.
“No, seriously, this can barely stop me!” He wavered on his feet, with all the confidence of a drunk man.
Kakashi readjusted Tenzou’s weight on his back.
“Just don’t faint on me.” Kakashi grunted and Gai begrudgingly accepted just following him closely.
They kept walking and walking and at one point Kakashi saw Tenzou’s truck, and he realized they managed to head back the right way. So he kept walking more and more until they reached one of the empty houses they had seen earlier.
They crashed in, looking around for a place to drop Tenzou on.
The ratty couch would do.
Kakashi let him down gently, being mindful of any injuries. Tenzou was still out cold, but the bleeding seemed to die down, which was a relief. He was still bruised and battered but that would heal with time.
Kakashi pulled out his health kit and got to work. He checked Tenzou and wrapped up everything he could, including the old injuries. He couldn’t do anything for internal wounds so he hoped nothing too bad happened. He could only hope for the best. He noticed Gai stepping away to contact Genma while he worked, but didn’t pay much attention to it. He stared at the man wrapped up in bandages and felt a dread settle in his guts. He didn’t seem to be getting any more unstable. That had to be enough. And he kept telling himself that until he could pretend to believe it.
So, with Tenzou breathing fine, Kakashi dropped to the floor, not giving a fuck about the dirt, laying down and just breathing heavily.
What the fuck.
...
How the hell were they still alive?
“You… you alright?” Gai asked, approaching him.
Kakashi sent a shaky thumbs up as a reply.
Gai laughed. He sat down beside Kakashi breathing in deeply and out slowly.
Kakashi pulled down his mask, following Gai’s example to slow his breathing and unsteadily got himself in a sitting position as well, deciding to care for his friend.
“Are you alright?” He asked, turning to face Gai.
“I told you it’s nothing! My head is as strong as my body!” He exclaimed as his usual self, even with all the blood dripping through his face. He moved around too much for Kakashi’s taste, so Kakashi grabbed his head, a hand firmly pressed on each cheek, and turned it so he was facing him.
Gai did stop, eyebrows up and mouth stuck in a small “o” shape.
Kakashi hooked a thumb under Gai’s bandana and pulled up. He could see a quite deep cut on the right side of his forehead, tipping down towards his temple. Hopefully that didn't need stitches. Kakashi hummed, letting go of Gai’s face and turning to his bags.
He pulled out the medkit from where he left it and threw out his mask for now. He turned back to Gai who was helpfully still. Maybe a bit too much still.
Kakashi hesitated.
“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.
“Kakashi!” He half whispered, like a secret. “You took your mask off!”
Kakashi snickered.
“You’ve seen my face already.” He resumed his task, taking any supplies needed to clean Gai’s wound and holding his chin.
“Yes, but that was a long time ago! We were barely tall enough to do anything! And you definitely didn’t know how to treat wounds.” Gai unhelpfully decided to move his chin, as humorous as it was. Kakashi tried dabbing the wound carefully.
“Stop moving.”
“You’ve grown. In a lot of ways.” He spoke.
“You’ve definitely got a concussion if you forgot the concept of aging.”
Gai pouted.
“I mean it! Both of us have, for the better! And the handsomer! Ouch!”
“I told you to stop moving.” He chastised amused, and not at all sorry.
Gai continued pouting.
“I do mean it.” He mumbled, and then finally let Kakashi do his job. Kakashi dabbed the wound clean and placed a bandage on top.
He let his hand fall from Gai’s chin, down his neck and, slowly, he let it settle on the meeting of his shoulder. He kept it there, eye focused nowhere behind Gai’s head as all the buzz of adrenaline died down and his entire body felt jittery. Kakashi felt suddenly terrified of losing all of this.
Gai snapped him back to reality, hands resting against Kakashi’s cheeks in much the same manner Kakashi had done to him previously, squeezing his face a bit comically.
“What about you, Kakashi? How are you?” He asked once more. He ran his hands down, traveling by Kakashi’s shoulders and down his arms, lifting them up by the wrists.
“Hmm those look fine.” He inspected, lifting the arms up and down slightly. He let go and slapped a hand on top of Kakashi’s head, turning it to one side and then the other.
“No wounds here?” He then stopped, eyebrows going up again. He rubbed his hands on Kakashi’s head. “That’s soft, hmm..” he hummed as his fingers ran through his hair. Kakashi raised his hands to stop him, but Gai moved faster, hooking his arm behind Kakashi’s neck and pulling him closer, Kakashi’s face planting on Gai’s shoulder on an awkward hug.
“Ah, yes! Of course you’re well! Your bravery once again blows me away, Rival.”
Kakashi only groaned, breathing in Gai’s sweat and taking in his warmth. He couldn’t let Gai know he took the point this time though. He must have known though, for they stood like there for a while, in careful silence.
———
As soon as Tenzou started to stir, Kakashi hovered above him, setting Icha Icha aside for a moment, features covered by a new clean mask.
“Oooooi. Tenzoooou. Tenzoooooooou.” He started calling.
Tenzou grunted in reply.
“You need to give a sign you’re not dying.” Kakashi said monotonically.
At that Tenzou’s eyes snapped open. They darted around until meeting Kakashi’s.
“Yo.” He greeted.
“Oh my god…” Tenzou muttered under his breath.
“Yup.” Kakashi nodded, helping him sit up. Tenzou groaned as he moved. “How are you feeling?”
Tenzou moved his right arm in a circle, cringing as he did.
“Sore. Shitty. I’ll be fine I think.”
“Ah, good. It'd be embarrassing to come all this way to rescue you only for you to die now.”
Tenzou looked a bit pale at that, and Kakashi regretted his joke maybe a bit.
“Is… Gai…?” Tenzou asked.
“He’s fine. He flexed himself into exhaustion so he’s out cold. Just give him a few hours.”
Tenzou sighed in relief, running a hand through his hair.
“That’s good… that was all too dangerous.”
“Hmm yes. It all could’ve come straight out of a shitty action movie. Us as the heroes, you as the damsel in distress.”
Tenzou frowned, whining.
“That wasn’t a movie at all, senpai. It was all too real.”
“What was that?” Kakashi asked, suddenly noticing the change in title.
“Huh?” Tenzou didn’t quite seem to realize what he said. Or he avoided realizing it. He shook his head wildly for a second. “N-nevermind that. I have a lot of things to tell you.”
“Hmm.” Kakashi nodded, sitting down in front of the sofa, looking up at Tenzou. “Gai has seen Danzou’s base. He told me there was no one else left alive.”
“No one?” Tenzou asked, hands gripping his seat tightly.
So he didn’t know…
“Sorry…” Kakashi offered.
Tenzou shook his head again, gentler this time.
“It’s… it’s fine. I knew that would happen in the end. After those guys…”
Kakashi waited for him to recollect his thoughts.
Tenzou fixed his eyes on Kakashi’s.
“Itachi is alive. Most likely. I mean, he left the base. Or rather, he was taken.”
He sighed.
“Let me go from the beginning…”
——————
Going back to base was terrifying. He had just turned against Danzou. Yes, he managed to get the children and Kakashi out, but he couldn’t leave Itachi behind.
And honestly, he didn’t know if he could actually leave despite everything, no matter how much he wanted to.
Tenzou suddenly felt small and exposed in such a place. Still he came back, parking the now empty car into its spot and walking to the infirmary.
Itachi’s eyes were wide in surprise when he spotted him. Orochimaru’s were squinted in some sort of glee.
He already knew what Tenzou had done.
Danzou was already surrounded by his men, furious, clothes and skin stained with the blood he had passed out on top of. As soon as he spotted Tenzou, he ordered him to stand at his office.
And Tenzou obeyed, standing alone in the empty room and trembling with uncertainty, dreading what punishments would come. He realized he didn’t really matter to this man.
There wasn’t really forgiveness.
He was left standing trembling and feeling cold all over until Danzou finally walked in, wearing clean clothes and flanked by two guards. A much calmer demeanor surrounding him. It didn’t comfort Tenzou in the slightest.
He walked past Tenzou, settling down onto his seat slowly. His guards now flanked Tenzou.
He remained in silence. Tenzou didn’t dare speak.
They remained like that for a while longer.
“Why?” Danzou finally broke the silence.
Tenzou hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak, but Danzou raised a hand, and just like that he shut up.
“I give you a home. I give you food. I give you a family.” He spoke slowly.
His eyes burned into Tenzou’s.
“I give you everything. And ask for nothing but cooperation in return. And still, you decide to stab me in the back. Why?” He asked.
“You can’t do that.” Tenzou blurted out. “To people, they are alive. You can’t play with their lives like that. I’m thankful for everything you’ve done for me, but I don’t thin I-“
“ I don’t want to hear it.” Danzou cut through him, making Tenzou flinch back. “Some things are bigger than you, or me, or your desires or what you agree with.” He almost spat. “And you’re clearly too foolish to understand, risking the integrity of our people like that.”
Tenzou shut his mouth, perplexed.
He realized that Danzou didn’t see himself the same way Tenzou saw him. Danzou thought he was right.
Danzou sighed.
“You’re young and gullible and clearly too innocent to understand.” He signed for his guards. “Get things ready to accommodate the Akatsuki with the deal.” He asked one of them. “And take Tenzou to the fridges to think about his actions.”
Tenzou’s hairs stood up.
“The fridge? You don’t mean-?” The man grabbed Tenzou’s arm, dragging him out.
“Wait-!” Tenzou tried, but it was already too late. He was dragged out the office.
“Wait-!” He tried pleading to the guard instead, hoping to get some understanding.
He wasn’t even spared a glance.
He was flanked by another guard and dragged back into the infirmary and the back, over the corpses of the undead he shot earlier and shoved into the open fridge.
He then received the “moment to think” by the guards. Kicked and shoved onto the dirty floor as he tried desperately to protect his head and midriff. He swallowed back whines and endured it all until they got tired and closed the doors on him, leaving him in the complete darkness within. And Tenzou remained seated, clutching his arm and staring wide eyed at nowhere.
It was too dark. Too quiet. Tenzou couldn’t know how long he spent there, nor what happened around him as he sat still inside his made up cell. But it must have been at least a day before he saw light again.
He flinched, unsure if he was going to receive food or a death sentence.
It was none of those things.
A silhouette stood at the door, throwing it open. Tenzou lifted a hand, eyes trying to adjust to the sudden clarity.
“The hell is this?” A voice came up. One Tenzou didn’t know.
Tenzou got up, swaying on his feet. He blinked and noticed that actually two men stood at the door. They wore guns slung on their backs and dark clothes adorned with red clouds. They were definitely not from the base.
“Must be the immune kid that Orochimaru guy talked about.” He heard the other mumble.
“Ah…” the first one grinned. “I see… are we taking this one as well?”
“No. The Uchiha kid and Orochimaru is enough, just get it over with and let’s get going. We’re done with these people.”
The first man only stared Tenzou down.
“Don’t start it…” the second man grumbled.
Tenzou’s eyes finally adjusted properly.
The first man had white hair slicked back, wearing only a long vest over marred, bare skin on his upper torso. The other man stood tall and strong, long dark hair dropping down his shoulder and a mask over his mouth.
They had to be…
“How could I not! Am I not a messenger of our Lord?” The white haired man shouted at his partner.
The other simply grunted, leaving the infirmary.
“Don’t mind him. It’s me you’re talking to right now.” The white haired man said, as he noticed Tenzou’s eyes following the other man.
“Uhm.. sorry?” He said, confused.
The man clasped a hand on his shoulder.
“You see kid. I’m not a nice guy by all means. But I’m not mad. Our Lord has spoken, and I only follow His will.”
“Our… lord?” Tenzou asked confused, dazed.
“Yes.” The man nodded enthusiastically. “Jashin. He has chosen to punish humanity and purge it of it’s sins, and He has chosen the ones to survive through chaos, to spread bloodshed in His name, us. ” The man grinned, shaking Tenzou slightly for emphasis.
“Us?” Tenzou asked weary.
“Yes! Us! Who remain true and sane. The chosen, the blessed.” He pulled on his vest and Tenzou finally realized in dawning horror that several of the man’s scars were bite marks, littering his chest, beneath the necklace he wore, his arms, his neck.
Immune.
“Chosen?” Tenzou pulled away, trying to get out of the man’s grip.
“Hah. I see you are weak of faith.” He scoffed, letting go of Tenzou. “You’re lucky. Time has made me patient. It’s fine.” He walked away, further into the corridor, sniffing. “It’s fine, in time you’ll see what I mean, and you will join in the bloodshed.” The man suddenly stopped in front of another fridge.
He turned around on his heels slowly, facing Tenzou again.
“Actually, let me allow you to witness it! The miracle of Jashin!”
The man grabbed the opening mechanism of the door and turned, throwing the metal door open and cackling loudly.
Tenzou watched wide eyed as infected started pouring out the door slowly, groaning and grunting and squealing.
They walked out past the man, ignoring him completely.
He grinned.
The infected spotted Tenzou and screeched.
Tenzou ran.
He walked back into the infirmary and out, running from the man’s mad cackle.
And the whole place quickly had turned into hell.
He watched as the infected ran among people, shots fired to all directions. Tenzou ran, grabbing a sniper rifle from a downed man and yanking it out of his cold grasp.
He saw that first Akatsuki man walking away from the base into a car with Orochimaru in tow.
And Itachi.
Tenzou tried to shout for their attention, but to no avail. He moved again, running away from the chaos.
As he ran past the main building's doors, he saw an infected suddenly burst through the entrance doors, tackling a poor man.
Tenzou aimed at Danzou, eyes glazed over and mouth full of blood, screeching like an animal, and shot without hesitating.
Behind him, a tall blind creature stood, bulbs of infection glistening sickly protruding from its body. It screamed and wailed and the infected seemed to gather around like a lighthouse at sea.
So Tenzou ran away.
—————
“I think Danzou must have gotten infected that day we confronted him… with him down…” Tenzou remained in silence for a second.” Those two men… they were Akatsuki. They had the red cloud in their clothes. It’s a group of mercenaries. Danzou had a trade setup with them, we provided food, they provided guns and ammo.”
“I ran away from the base after that. The kids weren’t at the base I left them in anymore, so I hoped they followed my advice and sought the other camp that was nearby.”
He paused for a second.
“I needed to find Itachi. I know Danzou traded with the akatsuki but I never knew where they were settled or where their trading points were. But I knew one of the extras bases had that information. After all, Danzou’s men outside were the ones carrying out the trades. So I started scavenging the nearby bases for that information. That is, until that huge thing got me trapped on that tower about two days ago.”
Kakashi nodded, taking it all in.
“Do you know why they’d want Itachi, or Orochimaru for that matter?”
Tenzou shook his head.
“Orochimaru is a doctor, so maybe he has his uses. No idea about Itachi.”
Kakashi hummed, it wasn’t good, not knowing what would be of the kid.
“Did you manage to find anything on the Akatsuki though?”
Tenzou smiled.
He pulled a piece of paper from his pants pocket.
“Yes… I finally have something.”