"A lot heavier back home," said the second.
"Yeah," agreed the first. "Still, it'll make our ambush more plausible."
A flash and boom indicated the approaching storm was going to be very heavy by the local standards. Also something else.
The two grabbed kunai and went back to back.
"You saw it too then," said the first.
"Motion. Lots of motion. We're surrounded," agreed number two. "Too bad - for them."
Both made wide sweeping gestures that sent a spray of poisoned senbon needles out. The poison wouldn't last long in the rain but the rain hadn't hit yet at least.
"Whoever you are, that was Suna king cobra venom. You're already dead," said the first Demon Brother with a chuckle.
Another flash revealed more of the forms shambling out of the woods.
"Zombies?!" asked the first Demon Brother.
"What the hell?!" asked the second one. "Chain. We can still shred 'em!"
"That's gonna be a nasty storm, Kakashi-sensei," noted Naruto.
"All the more reason to take what shelter we can," said Tazuna. "Nights like this - you don't want to be caught outside."
"We covered basic camping practices in the Academy, no problem," said Sakura, trying to reassure the client.
"It's not that. We're close to the ruins of Ushiogakure," said Tazuna, moving closer to the fire so it lit his face from below.
Kakashi, experienced enough that he wasn't looking anywhere near the small campfire, made a soft noise from where he was looking out into the dark.
"'Uzushiogakure'?" asked Sakura. "I've never heard of it."
"Uzushiogakure was the staunchest ally of Konohagakure," said Kakashi. "It took an invasion of three other villages while we fought off one ourselves to take it down."
"Take it down they did, but not without consequence," said Tazuna.
"Why didn't they teach this in the Academy?" asked Sakura.
"It's not exactly a bright spot in our history, that our strongest ally was destroyed," said Kakashi. "Though the spiral on our flak jackets remains a reminder of our tie to Uzushio."
"I wondered about the kid, you said his last name was 'Uzumaki' but he doesn't have the red hair," noted Tazuna.
"Uzumaki."
"Who said that?" asked Naruto, not recognizing the voice.
"Tazuna was just talking, baka," said Sakura.
"Yes, the Uzumaki family came from Uzushio. Nobility within the village." Tazuna shrugged. "I might not have ever been a ninja, but I know that much. Too bad about the curse."
"Curse?" asked Sakura.
"Just an old wives' tale," said Kakashi. "That the Uzumaki had observed a forbidden jutsu - the 'Impure World Resurrection' - and had been working on a perfected version of it. That the invasion was organized to stop them before they could finish it. That the last of their number readied an imperfect version of the jutsu before being killed by an attacker - and the blood of that sacrifice activating that jutsu. There's never been any evidence of it though."
"Uzumaki."
"There it went again," said Naruto, looking around. "Someone calling me?"
"You're hearing things..." Sasuke's voice trailed off and he jerked his head up.
"What?" asked Sakura.
"Something. Lots of somethings," said Kakashi, looking out into the night. A flash of lightning from the distant storm revealed something to him. "Oh. Well, perhaps this might constitute some evidence."
"Evidence, evidence of what?" asked Sakura as Kakashi backed into the house. At which point a shambling form clawed its way out of a shallow grave near the house. "Z-z-zombies?!"
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(Posted Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:44)
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