The Willow Maiden [Naruto]

{1} Ruka Of The Forest

She panted as she hid from the people who were after her. She was running through the forest for a long while that she had to rest. She couldn't run anymore. 

"Find her! She has to be around here somewhere!" One of the men in the group shouts out nearby. 

Ruka covers her mouth and breathes through her nose so that her breathing won't give her away. She peeks her head from behind the tree to see the group slowly making their way to where she is. 

It was a group of men with kunai knives and katanas in their hands. "Once we find her, knock her unconscious and tie her down." The ring leader gives out the order. 

Ruka's eyes widen with horror as she keeps her hand over her mouth. They were coming closer to her, and Ruka had to think of a way to get out of this situation. 

Thinking quickly, Ruka climbed up the tree and sat on the tree branch as she watched the group walk pass the tree she was in. For a moment, she thought she was safe and sighed in relief. But her foot stepped and she nearly fell off the tree. 

She gasped sharply as she caught herself from falling. She used both of her arms to hold onto the tree branch, but her gasp gave her away. 

"There she is!" One of the men in the group pointed up to the tree where Ruka was hanging. 

"Catch her!" The ring leader ordered. 

Him and his men started throwing kunai at her as one of them jumped up to where she was, attempting to slice her with their katana. 

Ruka ducked in just time and fled, going on the run again. "After her!" One of the men shouted and started to chase her again. 

"Please! Leave me alone!" Ruka shouted at the men. 

"You're not getting away from us this time!" A man smirked. 

Another kunai was thrown at the girl, but slightly missing her as she was jumping from branch to branch. But what she didn't notice was that kunai had a tag bomb on it. 

Ruka had landed on the branch where the tag bomb attached to the kunai had hit, and exploded in her face. 

Ruka fell to the ground hard and grunted in pain. She slowly crawled to a tree and sat against it as she held her arm since she fell on it. 

"Got you now, girly~" The ring leader walked up to her with his men behind him. "Why don't you be a good little girl and come with us, okay?~ That way things will be a lot easier for the both of us." He smirked. 

Ruka glared at him as she pulled her feet up to her chest and held onto the tree she was sitting against. "Never. . ." 

The girl's eyes glowed and thorns had reached out from the forest, and wrapped around the group's limbs. They were raised in the air as they struggled to get out of the thorn's grip. But it only caused them to get cut. 

Ruka stares at the struggling men in the air with eyed wide eyes as the thorns tightened around their bodies. 

The thorns tightens around their bodies until the limbs have torn off. Blood was splattered everywhere, and Ruka didn't seem scared by this. 

She looked at the body parts all around before burying them deep beneath the earth, one by one, before walking away and going deeper into the forest. 

She walked for so long that she had to take another break. Ruka leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky with a frown on her face. 

Her lip quivered as a tear rolled down her cheek while whispering, "I'm sorry. . ." She dropped to her knees and began crying in her hands.