Yoshi's POV
Once we were in the forest, Sora and I decided to stay put after a few miles of travel. Hashiro was by my side, smelling the air. He was trying to pick up a scent, one that belonged to Beehive. I wanted to find her before tonight. When darkness fell, she'd have no one take watch while she slept. Meaning, she wouldn't sleep at all.
"You think he'll be able to sniff her out?" Sora asked, watching Tori hover above us in the sky.
"Hopefully," I nodded. I looked pass the tress, "we need to start walking. Maybe we can find some signs of her."
"Let's just hope we find her before they do. I prefer it if we get this done quickly," Sora replied. His left eye was pale and pupiless, indicating that he was using Tori's sight. "It's hard to scout her out like this. The forest leaves are too thick. I can barely make out the streams."
"Then we'll have to track her by foot," Yoshi claimed. We began walking further into the forest, not missing a single detail. We couldn't afford to not be observant, reuniting with Beehive was our goal. I just hoped she's holding up and isn't in any trouble.
***********
Ruri's POV
"Where are you?" I called out again. He had to be here somewhere. I heard his voice. It was the most recognizable sound. One that I wouldn't forget, even after a thousand years. It's a voice that only ever lived in unattainable dreams and memories.
'Why Ruri?' the voice asked. I stopped in my tracks, trying to listen for its source. The voice was hypnotic music, cutting me out of the fabric of reality. The edges of my vision fogged up, concentrating on one single thing: Ren.
"Why what?" I questioned, slowly turning to see the boy I had been seeing in my dreams for months. He looked back at me through cold, betrayed eyes. Eyes mirroring my own. Same color, different contents. I missed those eyes greatly.
'You have so much faith in this team of yours,' he muttered, basically disgusted. 'Do you not remember what happens when we rely so much on others? First comes their failure, than your disappointment. Oh and you know how us Fuyu can be with handling that particular emotion.'
I did. I broke a bond with that emotion not so long ago. The one that makes you drop fifty feet below when you believe you are walking on air. The one that knocks you down right when you thought you had finally managed to get back on your feet. It makes you isolate yourself. Disappointment is a selfish friend, one that keeps you to itself.
'They care about me,' I opposed. 'I care about them too. I wish you could see that.'
'Don't count on it,' he said. 'I rather not see my sister get- turn around!'
I did as told. My arms instinctively go up in an 'x'. A kunai digs into my right forearm, pushing the wielder from coming closer. I gritted my teeth and swallowed the yelp of pain wanting to exit my mouth as I glared up at the Leaf Ninja.
The attacker was a boy with brown hair and black eyes. He was only a few years older than me. There were two other girls on his team. One with black hair, the other with dark purple. His grip was still on the kunai, penetrating deeper into the wound. I could smell the blood that was being absorbed by the soil underneath our feet.
My stupid mistake became a miracle as I realized
Hashiro would be able to track me through the smell. I just had to hold my own for now. Still, there's three of them and one of me.
"How stupid can you be? Standing in the middle of nowhere?" The boy spat.
"Not only that, but we could hear you calling out from the distance," the purple-haired girl added.
They were right, I had to admit. I was so spaced out that I forgot where I was and what I was doing. My dreams suddenly entered the hours I was awake. I had to get a grip.
I was pushed down, struggling under the weight of my opponent. He sat on top of me, still pushing the kunai down. They had caught me off guard, now here I was. It was my turn to undo the mess I entangled myself in.
"You could have made this more entertaining," the other girl complained. "I wasn't expecting it to be this easy."
"Don't underestimate me," I mumbled.
"What was that?" the boy asked, leaning in closer to me. "Couldn't hear you..."He seemed genuinely curious, wondering what I had said. Well, curiousity did indeed kill the cat.
"I said," I tilted my head upwards. "Don't underestimate me."
My forehead harshly collided with his. He grabbed onto his head with both hands, groaning in pain. I took advantage of this and slammed my fist into his stomach.
"What the hell?!" he screamed.
I was now free from his weight. His teammates wasted no time in trying to restrain me. I distanced myself from them, simultaneously ripping the kunai from my arm and using it as my own weapon. In hindsight this would be a moronic move, but the adrenaline would beg to differ.
The purple haired ninja lunged at me, fist targeting my face. I duck underneath it, grabbing it with one hand. With the other hand, I swiped the kunai towards her. She grabbed it with her bare hands. I felt two arms wrap around me neck, trying to force me to let go of their teammate.
I only kicked upwards, my foot slamming into the purple-haired girl's jaw. I was still struggling under the girl's grip, backing us both into a tree. Her arms closed in on my neck, slowly cutting me away from
oxygen. I choked and struggled, trying to pry her arms off. It was no use for she was much stronger than I.
"Stay still, damnit!" she yelled at me.
Her teammates were recovering from my blows. I glared at them, fighting under her grip. Three of them against me. I had to get out of this.
'You need help, Ruri?' his voice rang in my head. 'I think you know what you need to do.'
At the sounds of his voice, the haziness began to take over the world yet again. I wasn't sure if it was because of him or because of the lack of oxygen reaching my lungs. It could have been both.
'Concentrate on them!' my brother's voice snapped. 'Don't lose sight of the situation!'
I blinked a few times, regaining awareness of my surroundings. I couldn't breathe. My arms fell to my sides and I hear his voice directing me again.
'Do it Ruri,' he ordered. 'No one can save you like yourself.'
That bright force surrounded me yet again, prompting her to let go of me. The force pushed back, leaving them with no choice, but retreat for cover. It was quick, but the damage it left was grand. I looked below me to see a crater, branches of trees
laid at my feet. I never knew I was capable of this much damage.
'See, you're just as fine without your team,' Ren whispered. I whirled around, expecting to see him, but was left searching for nothing.
The pain in my forearm was outperformed by the pain in my chest. I gasped for air, my throat burning.
Yet again I didn't know if it was because of Ren or the lack of oxygen: Could be both.
I stepped back from my own destruction. After everything, he was always disappearing.
************
Sora's POV
"What the hell was that?!" Yoshi yelled. The earth had shook and we could see a bright light not too far away.
"It's Ruri, it's the same jutsu she was ready to use against Boruto," I recalled. I had to wonder, what exactly was that jutsu. Ruri appeared to be unaware of it herself.
"Don't just stand there, c'mon!" Yoshi shouted, breaking into a run.
"Yos- Hold up!" I called out to my impulsive partner, running after him. The only time I witnessed Ruri use that ability was when Boruto surprised her with his own power. Does this mean Ruri was in danger? Did she have no other choice? "Yoshi, slow down!"
"This is Ruri we're talking about!" he argued, eyes glaring up ahead. "Slowing down isn't an option! I'd die before I let her down!"
I was left in wonder with the blonde's proclamation. I knew the two were best friends, but I didn't anticipate the extent of their bond up until now. If Yoshi would die for her, would she do the same for him? For me? Have I somehow crashed into their bond, inserting myself many years late.
Would I die for them? For Yoshi? For Ruri? Would they for me?
My chain of overthinking was broken, by a destroyed scene. I land right in the middle of a crater, one I believed to be created by Ruri.
Hashiro barked, growling at the grass. At this moment, Yoshi also tensed along with his partner. He bared his teeth, "Ruri's blood."
"Alright, Yoshi," I sighed. "I need you to calm down and tell me what else?" His anger was starting to cloud his judgment. We needed him to get himself straight.
"Someone's else blood was here. We're picking up three other scents," he explained, barely managing his anger. "Beehive's definitely getting further away, but those three are scattered around."
"What a pain, am I right?!"
Our heads snapped up to a tree branch above of us. A ninja, much older than us. He wore glasses, hair stiff and vertical. I didn't recognize him as one of the competitors from before.
"Who the hell are you?" Yoshi demanded to know. He's definitely losing a grip on his temper- not that he had a tight grip to begin with.
"I'm Udon, one of the many supervisors of this exam," he informed us. What's this about? Why all of a sudden, right in the middle of the exams. "I see your teammate has created quite the mess. Not only that, but the Cat group will soon be on her tail."
"Really? Couldn't tell," Yoshi sassed, crossing his arm across his chest.
"Listen up, I have a proposition for you," he told us. "There's a way for this exam to end right now."
We exchanged dubious expressions. There definitely was something off about this. I asked, "what proposition?"
"You can finish without your teammate."
********
Ruri's POV
'Where are you going, Ruri?' he asked me. I ignored the voice and focused on the environment around me. I hadn't notice I was shaking until I leaned against the trunk of a tree. The sun was setting and rain started to fall down on me.
"Get a grip," I muttered to myself. Ren was gone. I had to accept that. The voice was created by me, denying the fact that he's tone. It was just an hallucination, a dream, a mere delusion.
'Oh, yes, get a grip. If you pretend it isn't real, then surely it isn't,' Ren shrugged, sitting on fallen log a few feet from me. 'Pretend they won't leave you and they won't. Pretend, pretend, pretend.'
I thought I was over this. That I had healed from
Ren's passing. Why am I creating a fake version of him in my head.
I shakily reached into my weapons pouch, rummaging for a roll of band-aids. The wound in my forearm was deep, too deep. Bone was beginning to show and blood was gushing out. I'd need stitches and antibiotic. I'd need more than the measly roll of bandages and hydrogen peroxide.
The red bandana Gaara once used to tend to a cut came to mind. Quickly, I worked it out of my pouch and pressed it onto the wound. I needed to stop the bleeding before anything. I leaned my forehead on my knee, still applying pressure to my injury. Even when he wasn't here, Gaara's pressence was still prominent.
'You really put so much of your hope in one person,' Ren scoffed. 'Remember when it was just you?'
I peered at him through tired eyes and he came closer. He crouched down in front of me, eyes as hard as stones. That coldness never once lived in my twin brother's eyes. Why do I imagine him like this?
'Do you remember?' he repeated. My eyes met his and I nodded. I did remember. 'It was much more simple then. Wanna know why?'
I remained quiet, carefully observing him. He took this as a signal to continue, 'you had nothing to lose. Nothing. Now look at you so commited, so in love with this new life. When it can be taken away just like that.' He snapped his fingers as if he was doing magic. A magic thay dusted everything I learned to love away from me.
"Stop," I shook my head. I wanted the voice to be gone, but I also wanted to continue hearing him. I missed it so much.Even if it was poison, I was still willing to take a sip. Just to hear his voice, just to listen to it again.
'Stop what? Telling you the truth,' he insisted. 'You know how this goes. You and I both know what happens, how easily something can be ripped away from you once you love it enough. Don't do this to yourself.'
I closed my eyes, hands covering my ears, "Stop, please just shut up.'
'You'll lose them, just like how you lost me, and Nozomi. All of them, they'll either abandon you or die staying.'
His voice was inescapable.
********
Sora's POV
"You can finish without your teammate."
"I don't want to hear this nonsense!" Yoshi yelled at the overseer. "We're not leaving our friend behind."
"Why not?" Udon asked us. "It happens all the time. Ninja leave their teammates for the sake of the majority. Besides, your friend got caught and that's her fault. Either way, she deserved it for her carelessness. Is she really worth saving?"
"You think we'd leave our friend over that?" I rose a brow. "Chunin rank is worth nothing compared to Ruri."
"But-,"
"Agh! We don't have time for this! Ruri's in trouble!" Yoshi snapped, running up ahead.
Udon was taken aback by our lack of hesitation. Perhaps he asked the same question to the others. Did they cave in? Did they take longer to come to a decision that had such an obvious answer.
I bowed to him, "Sorry about him, but you did ask a stupid question."
I had ask myself would I die for them. I never had to ask myself that before. Maybe it was because I never had anyone to want to die for. Maybe it was because I never had friends such as these. Friends that would easily throw themselves in front of me when I'm in harms way.
I had everything to lose now.
********
Ruri's POV
'I fell and never saw you again,' he told me. 'That could easily be those two teammates.'
'And what about Nozomi?' he went on. 'He couldn't stand the sight of you anymore, so he left. When will the red head do the same?'
'Don't you understand, Ruri? Everything you've loved has been ripped away. Everything. This new family you've replaced our old one with will indefinitely wither away.'
'Everything you and I come into contact with. It all dies.'
Would they? Would they go away? I couldn't imagine, yet somehow I could? I could because it happened before.
My hands pushed down deeper into my head. My eyes were tightly shut. Ren wouldn't stop talking. The words kept going around my head, over and over again.
Trust, abandon, lost. I never had control to begin with. I trusted people and they either left or ended up dead. I was left on my own to put myself together. To defend myself and make sure I never had to face that disappointment ever again. That's how it was up until I reached the Sand.
"Be quiet, stop. I want it to stop," I muttered.
'You're starting to understand,' Ren noted. 'It's better to live with nothing to lose.
"Be quiet," I muttered.
"Aww, but I thought you enjoyed the sound of my voice," someone said meekly. Their hands covered my ears. "But I guess even you need a break from me, huh?"
My eyes blinked wide, seeing the goofy blonde smile at me. His smile staggered at eye contact. He looked worried, I didn't mean to worry him.
"I know it can get a little too much," he told me. "I notice, eventhough you try to hide it from me. Just breathe, the noise will go away."
The noise?
I saw him behind my friend. Ren shot me a knowing look. Sullen, angry, disappointed. More so, frustrated. With me? I frustrated him.
"Please," I hummed.
"What is it, Ru?" I could hear Sora, but didn't see him.
"Yeah, tell us," Yoshi encouraged, hands still protecting my ears.
I spoke without thinking, I just saw my brother. Despite my hands holding onto Yoshi's wrist I still said these words:
"Just leave me alone."
So that is thay for this chapter. Hope you enjoy reading and I'll see you guys later. Thanks for reading!