Within The Light

History Repeats Itself

Instead of pushing Yoshi away, I hugged him again -much to his surprise. I knew I just had to figure it out on my own, just for a little longer, "I'm sorry."
Those words bounced around the walls, cutting into a room filled of guilt. Everyone here, we all felt guilt.
Each of us for different reasons, I believed.

To that, Yoshi whispered for my ears only, "I give you my word: I'll become strong enough so that you never have to worry about me again."

How he read me like a book. A book that barely ever opened. When I did allow a peek, he'd read so fast as if he may never get a chance to again. Does he know I worry about him being alone too? That I caught the sadness running off his face when he was thinking just a little too hard.

I pulled away, taking a seat at the edge of the bed, "what happened?"

"You were out cold and needed treatment. We got you out and passed the second exam," Sora summarized, quite vaguely may I add. "That's gonna leave a scar."

He gestured to my forearm. I hadn't even noticed the recently treated injury until Sora pointed it out. Thread was woven neatly, rejoining pieces of broken flesh. It was clean, healing. It was ugly.

Being a ninja, scars were normal -expected really. I had quite a few, but none this size. I didn't care if my skin wasn't perfect, but somehow this felt out of place? Like some failure that had been etched into my skin. It took up half my foream and screamed the events of that evening. It screamed carelessness. It screamed Ren.

Sora noticed my prolong attention for it. He shook off his hoodie, tossing it into my lap. "You'll get used to it, Ruri. Just takes a bit of time."

**********

I zipped up Sora's grey hoodie, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. The remaining participants were lined up in a room with their respective teams. To say the least, not many made it.
Some weren't able to make it out of the forest on time, while others had no teammate to retrieve. Out of the few participants that had remained, only six teams were left. Two from the Leaf, two from the Sand, and two from Mist.

Gaara had explained to me before how when too many teams passed, a preliminary round would be set in place. It was a rare occurrence, one Gaara had experienced. When little teams passed, it meant the proctors did their job in limiting the amount of people who would become Chunin. They wanted only the strongest candidates.

I could only wish we could leave it at this number and be through with it. But 18 was a huge number. How many people did Gaara said remained for his exam? 21?

There were eighten of us here. Moreru and his goons. Shikadai and Boruto's teams aswell. Then, there were the two lines of Mist Ninja.

I look forward to see the many adults. Faces such as Neji, Temari, Shikamru, and others who helped set up the exam. So were the proctors Sai and Kiba. Our Senseis were also there to add to the audience. Amongst them stood the Hokage. Oddly enough, I was relieved Gaara wasn't present. The thought of him seeing me this worn out was quite troubling. I really hated concerning people.

"You paying attention, Ruri?" I heard Shikadai ask me by a whisper. He was next to me, also at the back of his team. He gave me his best lazy smirk.

"I'm glad to see you guys made it," Kiba commented not caring for professionalism. "That exam was not only there to test you tracking and survival skills, but your loyalty."

Loyalty? Did I miss something. I caught Sora looking back at me. In return to his stare, I rose a brow. He shrugged, turning back. Of course...

He left many details out.

"Those who were mice were given the offer to move on without their teammate. While the Cats were asked to give up a teammate. Those who accepted the offer automatically failed. They chose to leave behind teammates who were too injured to move on their own. Some gave a teammate up out of desperation to pass," Kiba articulated.

"Way to leave that out Sora," I smarted. So they carried my unconscious body and refused to give me up. Not that I'm surprised. I expected nothing less from them. That didn't lessen the intense gratitude I had for them. How could Ren ever accuse them of turning on me.? Still, they were too quick to step in front of me. As if their lives held no value compared to mine.

"Payback for worrying us," he shot back. Well that reasoning was just shameless. True, but shameless.

"If you're so willing to give up a comrade, you're not worthy of Chunin. Actually, you're not even worthy of being a ninja." Kiba critized those who failed by giving up their teammate. "Anyways, well done."

Naruto came forward with a grin, "I'd like to congratulate each and every one of you for coming so far. Someone once told me, 'those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' What I'm trying to tell you is that you and your squad are one. They are apart of you as much as you are apart of them. Never allow an objective lead you to betraying a friend. I'll turn this over to the proctor of the third exam."

The third proctor was a woman, around the same age as Gaara. Her hair was up in two buns and she greeted us with a determined smile. Anyone could tell that she was more than excited to be here.

"I'm TenTen the proctor of the Third Exams," she introduced herself. "Now I know each and everyone of you are tired, maybe too tired to fight. But the fact of the matter is that there are way too many of you. So to lower the numbers, we'll have to hold a Preliminary Round."

Predictably, this aroused a lot of commotion. TenTen sighed, "Sorry, but this is how it is. We can only let the strongest move on to the next round. If anyone would like to quit now, it will not effect your teammates. Please speak if you feel physically incapable."

Two Mist ninja rose their hands and left. They were at their limit from encounters with enemies. No one else hand intentions of leaving. TenTen continued, "sixteen, meaning eight matches will be held. The board on the wall will chose at random. Now let's not waste anymore time."

Third Person's POV

They all feasted their eyes on the digital board, names turning over and over. Anticipation radiated throughout the room. Everyone waited and waited, wondering who would be first.

The names stopped. The grown ups there were staring in amazement. It had to be a coincidence, right?

"Alright!" Boruto and Yoshi cheered. The two were at the front of their teams, confident as ever.

They paused and traded looks. Why you may ask? Well the board had the answer:

Yoshi Ito- Inuzuka vs. Boruto Uzumaki

Naruto and Kiba were instantly in awe by the two names displayed. Shikamaru smirked teasingly, "I guess history really does repeat itself."

The same match that took place twenty years, will take place again. This time at the hands of the next generation. An Inuzuka and an Uzumaki. Two over energetic, overconfident, idiots.

"And you all said destiny was a myth," Neji shook his head, comedically.

Here is the chapter, hope you all enjoy the ending to it. Thanks a lot for reading and have beautiful day!