No One Stands Alone

Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

  Hotaru's body went rigid, and a scream of pain was ripped from his lips.

  Suddenly, Tsukki was supporting the boy's weight. As he kept the unconscious boy upright, the blond caught sight of the weapons protruding from his back. He breathed out a string of curses, and immediately laid the boy on the ground with his back facing the sky. Tsukki peeled away the ruined shirt, and scanned over the boy's wounds. Acting quickly, he unsealed the first-aid kit Junko required each of them to carry.

  The blond felt the pressure of time weigh down on him, but he took a deep breath to focus. He couldn't afford to be distracted or hesitate; Hotaru already lost a significant amount of blood.

  Tsukki recalled the instructions Ai gave him and his teammates when she taught the three how to carry out the basic treatments—Junko insisted on the brief training with the girl. Following Ai's echoing words, he found the bandages in the small box and began treating the wounds after carefully removing the bloodied weapons. He wrapped them tightly, but left enough room for Hotaru's chest to expand.

  Tsukki breathed a sigh of relief when he was done, but when he looked up from his work, he was alone in the clearing. He wasn't sure when Daichi disappeared, and he criticised himself for not noticing earlier. How could he have been so ignorant of his surroundings to forget his other teammate?

  Suddenly, a teenage girl stepped out of the forest's shadow and halted several feet away.

  "Where's Einosuke?" Her voice came out angry and hard as if she already suspected the answer. He inhaled sharply. "What did you do to him?!"

  Tsukki met the girl's eyes with difficulty as he stood up and moved to stand in front of Hotaru's unconscious body. He tried to keep his back straight and his expression blank. "Where's my teammate?"

  In a second, she covered the distance between them and held a kunai to his throat. Her face was inches away from his as he felt the metal press against his skin. His blood leaked down his skin. "You don't get to ask the questions; I do. Where's Einosuke?"

  There was a brief flash of defiance that sparked in his heart, almost giving him enough courage to tell her the truth. But he was a coward, and nothing would change that. "I don't know."

  He watched the rage and grief in her eyes flare up as the words left his lips. As she raised the kunai above her head, Tsukki's mind froze. Time slowed as the weapon descended, and his emotions warred with each other, muddling his brain.

  The darker side of him, the selfish side, hissed at him to protect himself. Einosuke was an arrogant shinobi, and the world was better without someone like him. He wasn't the villain here.

  Another side, the side his mother nurtured and Kasumi witnessed every time he made a mistake, suggested he try and explain himself to her. He had to say that it was in self defense, and he didn't mean to kill her teammate. He had to seek for her forgiveness, for repentance.

  But it was his cowardly side that won out. He wasn't sure if he could live with the knowledge that he took another's life. Wouldn't that make him just like the monster that killed his mother? And if he chose not to—if he chose not to live with it—then he could finally see her. After six long years, he could see her again. So, he waited for the grief-driven girl to plunge her weapon into his throat and spill his blood.

  "Tsukki!" Daichi's voice broke through the haze.

  The blond blinked, released from the spell that gripped him. The kunai just missed his throat as the kunoichi was forced to jump back from a ball of fire that came surging towards her. He stumbled back from the heat, landing on the ground. Daichi planted himself in front the blond, his sword drawn and facing the kunoichi who quickly jumped to her feet.

   "Don't you dare think you can give up," the older boy demanded. He was shaking—either in rage, shock, or from the jutsu he casted. "Don't you ever make me watch you stand there staring death in the eyes, but not doing anything about it!"

  "D-Dai-Daichi, where did you—"

  "You killed today, Tsukki," Daichi said. He had tried to be gentle to ease the blond into accepting his actions, but right now he needed to use a more forceful approach. "Running from your actions and their repercussions is not the answer. You need to accept the you killed him, and move on."

  "No" the kunoichi whispered in disbelief, falling to her knees. "No, you're lying. I know it was a possibility that—but he's Einosuke! It's not possible. He-he can't be dead... right?"

  "Sorry, Kotone" a third voice spoke up, a sneer distorting the genin's words. "It was that blond brat over there who killed Einosuke and left his body to rot."

  All eyes trained on the newcomer. A male sauntered out of the forest. His body language screamed arrogance, but he couldn't hide his limp. The male threw a black dagger into the ground. Tsukki recognized it as his. Einosuke's blood was dried all over the blade and hilt.

  The male drew a pair of kamas, and twirled the deadly weapons in his hands. The sickle-like blades flashed dangerously in the morning sun. "What's your name, murderer?"

  Daichi tightened his grip, and shifted forward, bringing the male to a halt near Kotone. The male sneered at the blond. "What, can't answer a simple question?"

  Tsukki's mind was beginning to connect the dots after he noticed the the way Einosuke's teammate looked at Daichi in fear and wariness. As the blond's mind worked, there was little focus left for him to reply. Within seconds, he envisioned how the events unfolded:

  While he was helping Hotaru, Daichi must've distracted Einosuke's teammates so the blond had enough time work. Those two genin must have been trying to eliminate Daichi right after Hotaru, but it was taking too long. Kotone left her teammate to deal with the older boy while she confronted Tsukki herself. After the kunoichi left, Daichi injured the male—that was why the male was limping— and chased after the girl. The male must have discovered Einosuke's body before following Kotone.

  "Tsukki, get Hotaru and prepare to run," Daichi instructed, cutting into the blond's thoughts. The older boy tensed up in preparation to fight. But he didn't have to.

  "Susumu, let's leave." The kunoichi finally clambered to her feet. Tsukki could tell she was drained. "There's no point in staying here in this wretched forest."

  "Kotone?" her teammate asked in confusion.
Without warning, she reached into the pouch strapped to her leg and dropped a pale object onto the ground. Kotone spun on her heels in the direction where Einosuke laid in a pool of his own blood.

  "I'll need help carrying my brother, Susumu."

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Finally finished the editing, and decided to update with this little chapter! It was going to be longer, but since I'm stuck on that part, I thought it wouldn't be fair to keep this away from you all (especially after that cliffhanger; I hope you liked it!)

I posted this on my message board as well, but for those who don't follow me/don't see it: I have been finally roped into obsessing over BTS. They are all so cute! Suga is so adorable~!!

Delana (fandomsncrazystuff ) has written a Naruto fanfic, and I wanted to give her a shout out to her and The Assassination Squad! I recommend that you go check it out! ^_^

Please don't forget to comment and vote! ^_^