Cursed Saint

13 - Secrets

Well, I only recently remembered I had more of this to update.  I wasn't going to because I wasn't sure I could write more of CS, but I figured I should go ahead and try in case I get my Naruto fanficiton mojo back.  And disclaimer, the series belongs to Kishimoto.  Not me.  As much as I wish.

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"Zenjin?"  Ino allowed the name the roll of her tongue, testing it as it left her lips.  She had never heard of it before, but it had definitely received a reaction from Ryu.  Even if she suspected he was waiting to hear the name, he became rigid once it was out.  "Is that a Wind country clan?" she asked, though still unsure why that would cause such a sudden change in the atmosphere.

Ryu slowly shook his head.  He bit the inside of his lip, wondering if he should have asked his question so openly.  Ino was right beside him, listening to every word that was   said.  A quick mental war broke loose within Ryu's mind.  It was just a surname, and that couldn't do any harm.  It just wasn't something he commonly gave out.  Neither was his homeland, but that couldn't hurt either.  "Zenjin is my true clan name, and it comes from the Lightning country," he explained.

Without meaning to, he began to remember his home country.  He unintentionally avoided saying it whenever he could, so it felt somewhat nostalgic to speak it again.  Images of soaring mountains, twisting rivers, foggy valleys, monstrous thunder storms, and occasional plains flashed through Ryu's mind.

While he was lost in thought, Ino had been studying him.  "So, you're from the Land of Lightning?"  There were many unknowns when it came to Ryu.  One of those included where he came from.  All anyone Ino knew was he was a kid the Hokage took under his wing.  Where he came from and who he really was had been a question of many during his first year, though it had mostly faded afterwards.  It was still a treat to find out anything about her mysterious team-mate, though.  Then it registered what that meant about Raido, and possibly his team.  "That would mean you're from the Lightning, too," she summarized as her focus turned to him.  "But then why did you say you're from the Sand Village?"

Raido sent Ryu a questioning look.  Ino barely caught it, but Ryu gave a small shake of his head.  Whatever the unspoken question was, Raido got his answer.  The man sighed before addressing her question.  "It was just a simple change.  I had already adopted Kaine and Hime-" for Ryu's benefit, Raido gestured toward the dark skinned boy and pink-clad girl- "and then I moved to the Sand Village.  The reason is personal, so I hope you don't mind if I keep that to myself."

It was a lie, and Ryu was in on what the truth was.  Ino glanced between both Zenjins.  Something told her no amount of prying would get the real answer.  "Is your reason for leaving personal, too, Ryu?"  She couldn't keep the suspicion out of her voice, and Ryu's guilty expression confirmed he was keeping something from her that he didn't plan on saying.

"Yeah, it was personal," he replied as he averted his gaze.  It must have dawned on him only three names were mentioned because he looked at the other boy on Raido's squad.  "So are you from the Sand Village?" Ryu asked.

He definitely didn't look like he was from the Lightning country.  Then again, Ryu didn't think those in the Sand Village had such vibrant green hair either.  His eyebrows were strangely a brown color, mismatching with his bangs.  "That's right," the boy replied.  "I'm from the Sand Village.  My name is Taiki.  It's nice to meet you."

Taiki grinned, and Ryu smiled in return.  Before long his eyes returned to Raido.  He still could not believe the twist of fate.  He had expected his jump off the waterfall to lead to his death at most, not a blast from his past.  Raido even looked familiar, but he could not place where he had seen him before.  Questions begged to be let free.  Ryu kept them under control, more aware of Ino's presence than he had been when he asked for Raido's clan name.  Did any of his squad members know?  His eyes slid over them, pausing on Kaine, who eyed him intently.