Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 36 WORTH IT

“Bathroom’s free,” Shizuoka yelled happily. All the girls were in tight towels as they marched out of the bathroom. I caught a nice eyeful of mountains of cleavage. 

“Dibs,” I said. Walking to the bathroom I was stopped by Saeko.

“Throw your clothes out, we will add them to our loads for the washer,” she said in a flat tone. I nodded. In the bathroom there were somehow still towels left. Disrobing I threw my clothes out of the room and took a shower. It was long and wonderful. 

Going Merry was a nice ship, but there was no heater for the water. Every shower was a cold one. Naruto’s world was more advanced, but my house only had a bath. While hot, it didn’t replace a shower. As an American I was taught baths were more wasteful water-wise, and I wasn’t a fan of sitting in my own filth. I wasn’t about to pre-wash then take a bath. They were meant to be in and out, not an hour-long affair. 

I soaked a little in the hot water and was stuck with some cocoa butter shampoo to use. Making a mental list of things to steal I also added robbing a bank to things I needed to do. I had a shop that took real money. There was no reason we couldn’t have everything on the shopping list. 

Wrapping a towel around my waist I cringed. The girls had taken the bigger towels. I had to hold the small white cloth on to keep it in place. It covered my flaccid dick, if just barely. The Chikyugi had transferred to this body as well, which was nice, but I still wasn’t comfortable being half naked in front of a bunch of people. 

Stepping out, Kohta moved up to have his turn. He looked me up and down. Giving me a thumbs up I nodded. My six-pack abs and chest bulged with every movement. I wasn’t Arnold size, but I was still very muscular. More like male model than anything. 

“Woah,” Shizu said, stopping to look at me. “How old are you again?” She was wearing a tight tanktop and booty shorts. Her nipples poking out I locked my eyes with them and struggled to pull them away.

“Old enough,” I said walking past her. Pushing through my embarrassment I tried to act like this was normal. But that lasted only a few steps. In view of the small kitchen, Saeko was wearing only a white apron and her black panties. 

My dick bulged a little, and I sat down quickly to try to hide it. “There a reason everyone is barely clothed?” I asked the cooking Saeko.

“Nothing fit,” she said. “Why? You don’t like?” She wore a mischievous style, knowing exactly what it was doing to the other guys. 

“Didn’t say that. Any clothes my size?” I asked. I hadn’t thought to grab any and was in too much of a rush to shower to think of what to wear. 

“I doubt it. The cabinets were pretty bare since my friend is out of town,” Shizu said. Her eyes quickly moved down to the very slight tent in my towel then back up to my face. A blush crossing her lips she clapped. “Who wants a drink?” 

“Me,” I said. “You got one of the bigger towels, at least?” 

“All dirty,” Shizu said walking to the fridge. “You’re a little young for alcohol, though.”

“They literally just declared Martial Law. I think they have more important fish to fry than some underage drinking.” 

She nodded and pulled out some beers. They were a Japanese brand I didn’t know. Cracking the can open it was hitting the spot. One Piece wasn’t big on beer. All rum or ale. I let out a long sigh as I tasted it.

“To survival,” Shizu said clanking our cans together. Leaning over the island counter she gave me a nice view of her cleavage. I was losing the battle to stay flaccid.

“Here,” a voice said. I looked over to Emi handing me one of the towels. She wore very baggy clothes. The tanktop barely covered her nipples, and she had to hold the shorts up to keep them up. 

“Thank you, Emi,” I said. Standing up I tied it around my waist and dropped the smaller towel. “I’m glad you stuck with me. There any special reason?” 

“Uh um,” she stammered. 

“She has a crush on you,” Shizu slurred. Downing her beer, her cheeks were already rosy. The poor girl blushed deeply. Apparently they had gotten closer in the bathroom. “She told us you saved all those kids in the faculty room before we came.” 

“I gathered them,” I said. Pulling a chair out from next to me I waved for Emi to sit. “They were pretty hopeless. Probably dead now.” I let out a sigh. It had been worth it though since I got more money from my quest.

“Think so?” Saeko asked. “Regret sticking your neck out?” 

“Nope,” I said. “The strong should protect the weak. They’re just scared kids. Can’t blame them for looking up to that snake of a teacher.” 

“I loved it when you threw that knife at him,” Shizu laughed. She was on her second beer as I was half-way through my first. “You should show me how to do that.” 

“If you want,” I said. “Not terribly hard. Just a lot of practice.” It helped that I didn’t have to learn it. The Naruto version of me had.

“What a weird skill to work for,” Saeko said. 

“And kendo isn’t?” I asked. She blushed but turned back to the soup she was making. “Where are the others?” 

“Takashi and Rei have been arguing for a while out back,” Shizu said, blowing a raspberry. Sauntering over to me she pushed my shoulder making me scoot back. Sitting on my lap I couldn’t help but stare down at her chest. “Tell me young Weston, who are you really? I seem to remember a stammering little kid a few weeks ago in my office when he fell down.” 

“Oh, no one special,” I said. My hand moved to her back, becoming more bold. “Tell me, nurse Shizu, were you always such a touchy drinker?”

“Yep,” she said. “My one weakness.” I considered using a little Lust Chakra on her, but thought better of it. It was fine with the maids, but these were normal people. I wanted to, but for now I had the strength to resist. “You planning on sticking with us?”

“For now,” I said. “Saeko still needs to teach me the sword.” Kohta walked out of the bathroom. Choosing to don his old clothes I was regretting not doing the same. He took a chair at the dining table. The guns laid out on top he began to look them over. Checking out the sights and magazines. Loading bullets up he was completely focused on the guns in a room of half naked women. 

“Your form was not good,” Saeko said. Turning off the burners of the stovetop she began spooning out some soup. 

“Yeah, once I get my clothes back I’d-” 

“There’s people getting attacked,” Takashi said coming from the back. Shizu groaned, getting up from my lap. I walked over to join him. Kohta hefted up the sniper rifle as we looked from the balcony to the street below. There were zombies filling the streets between walled in homes. Down the street some people were being attacked by zombies. Yelling loudly as they called for help. 

“We need to turn off the lights,” Saeko said, drawing our eyes. 

“Why?” Takashi asked. 

“We can’t house many others, and who knows what kind of people we could draw to us,” She said. “We don’t have the power to protect everyone.” 

“Fine, but-” 

“Dad!” A little girl yelled. “No! Dad!” Our gazes drawn to a little girl she was a good 5 houses away, down near the bulk of zombies. 

“What’s happening?” I asked Kohta. He was looking through the scope of his sniper rifle. 

“I don’t know. Some older guy looks like he’s dying. His daughter is crying over him outside of a house,” he said. 

I grumbled. “Alright,” I said. Jumping up to the railing I looked down to find a target. “Kill the zombies that get close to her,” I told Kohta. He looked at me, then nodded before focusing back on the scope. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Saeko asked. 

“We at least have the power to save those around us,” I told her. Dropping my towel I jumped down to the cement wall around the apartment building. Landing easily I found my target as I pulled the Jitte out. 

Coating it in water chakra I hit the zombie in the arms. Breaking them at the shoulders I did the same to its legs. It dropped to the ground. Quickly disrobing it as it bit at me and tried to move it’s arms I put on the sweats he had been wearing. I bashed it’s head in. Brains spraying on the naked zombie. Then I was on my way to the screaming girl as Kohta began to fire. 

I was in the thick of zombies in a few strides. Knocking those in my way down. My water flowed more smoothly as blood and brains sprayed around me. Still without shoes on the sweats smelled, but it was better than being nude. 

Kohta firing the gun was drawing more zombie eyes and I was met with dozens of them. Too bad for them I had a pretty nice break. Reinvigorated, I swung the Jitte. Making sure I placed my thumbs in the correct place as I swung my weapon I did feel a difference. Having reflected on what Saeko told me, I felt like I understood what she was trying to convey more easily. 

It wasn’t simply your arm strength when handling a blade. It was your whole body. Your leg muscles, back muscles, abs, toes, everything was used. When twisting this way or that with a slash you had to put all of your focus into your body moving. In the hopes of hitting more swiftly it was a goal that I needed to strive to reach. 

Before I knew it I was next to the house the girl was still crying at. 3 quick hits dropped the zombies moving toward her. A pile of 6 zombies in front of her, Kohta had done well with protecting her. The girl cried over her father, oblivious or uncaring of the danger. A small black and white dog barked at me as it moved to put itself in between us. 

“You alright?” I asked the small pink haired girl as she looked up. 

“He’s dead,” she sobbed. I frowned, nodding. 

“Was he bit?” I asked. 

“No, the people inside killed him,” she said pointing to the house behind her. 

My anger flared as I noticed lights on inside. There were shadows in the windows. I considered knocking down their front door, but held off. I didn’t know their situation. 

“Let’s go, kid,” I said. Extending my arm I held it out to her. She looked up at it. 

“Bu-but my dad,” she said, wiping her tears and sniffing her snot. 

“He would want to know you’re safe, right?” I asked. Zombies began groaning behind me. “Kid, now or never,” I said. 

She wiped her nose. Picking up the small puppy in front of her she grabbed my hand. I picked them both up. Turning her to face my chest I decided to work on my 1-handed blade style. “What’s your name?” I asked. 

“Alice,” she mumbled. 

“I’m Weston. Close your eyes, Alice” I said. She nodded, the puppy whimpering between us. 

I slashed a zombie that got close enough. His body thrown away I was in the thick of them again. Slashing, diving forward and back, thrusting, slicing, hacking, and puncturing; my water coated blade did it all. 

I began to play with it. Like a living thing I could control every droplet in the sword. Condensing it into a rounded edge, sharpening it slightly, extending it to reach a little further, it was an amazing weapon that I was slowly understanding. All the while I held the girl and dog to my chest. 

By the time I made it through the bulk I realized I couldn’t lead them to where we were staying. Running to the side I jumped up to the cement walls that lined the yards of the homes around us. Atop the 6 inch thick walls it was easy to keep my balance at near my full speed. Going around the perimeter of the house I circled back to the apartments we were staying in. 

Jumping down to the grass I noticed the others in the yard. “What’s up?” I asked. 

“Weston, what the hell,” Saeto said. “We were just going to save you.” 

I bent down dropping the kid. The dog was quickly barking excitedly as we walked up to the others. “Don’t really need saving,” I said. “Come on. I think we’ve had enough excitement for today.