Yuma sighed as he walked down the trail to Third Training Ground, the spot he and the rest of team seven usually meet up and the grounds named after the the Third Hokage, who had held jurisdiction over these grounds before his passing. He was down in the dumps for his inability to gather up the courage to apologize to Naruko for ruining the get together. He had attempted going to the infamous home of the Hokage, the Hokage's Manor, but chickened out once he got there.
'Damn it, I suck so hard.' Yuma said, down in the dumps over his inability to admit he was wrong.
'I can't believe I chickened out at the last second, it's just two words. 'I'm sorry.', yet I can't even say it!' He complained to himself, his wrapped arms and hands in his pockets as he looked at the ground solemnly.
A golden hue shown from beneath the bandages wrapped around his arms, a light shining from his forearm.
"What seems to be the matter?" Yumito asked suddenly, a light tiredness evident in its tone.
"Oh, hey. You woke up." Yuma said, surprised at its sudden voice.
"Yes, I needed only around twenty-four hours of rest. I am now fully revitalized." Yumito spoke, its voice now more resembling a static like copy of Yuma's voice.
"That's weird, your voice is different. What happened?" Yuma asked.
"Nothing. I just felt like you were often put off by my previous voice, so I assumed yours." Yumito mused.
"Yeah, but your voice will always be weird, whatever..." Yuma said, his voice trailing off, his mood still in the dumps.
"You seem troubled." Yumito said.
"That's an understatement..." Yuma complained.
"Tell me what is wrong Yuma, and I shall help you in any way I can." Yumito said.
"Nah, I just ruined someones meal, I already know what to do. I'm just too scared to do it." Yuma said, his eyes downcast.
"That's it?" Yumito said, still not accustomed to the concept of human guilt.
"And that's why I can't talk to you about these things Yumito...You wouldn't get it." Yuma said with a huff.
The light beneath his bandages began to dim.
"I see...I'm sorry." Yumito said, a strange inflection in its voice.
"Yumito?" Yuma said, worry for his body's occupant evident in his tone.
"There is plenty I have to learn of you humans...So plenty..." Yumito said.
"Yumito...Sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude..." Yuma said, now feeling guilty over him not allowing Yumito to help him.
'There I go again, why am I so terrible at talking to others? Its one thing to be that way toward others, but to be that way even to a being I myself created? How socially inept can I be...' Yuma lamented.
"You needn't apologize, it-!?"
Suddenly, Yuma heard a swishing sound, almost like sand paper being rubbed against grass. It sounded as if it were rushing at him from behind in a quick manner. He turned around, and-!?
"YUMA!"
Suddenly, Yuma was dragged into his own shadow, he looked outward from within the shadow and found that a sharp pillar of sand had pierced the spot his body was once standing. Before he could come to terms what was happening, he felt his shadow being pulled by some unseen force. The plot of land his shadow was situated on, was turned into sand, forcing him out of the shadow, leaving a black stain. His body flew, as he tried regaining his footing after being seeming pushed from out of his shadow. He brought his feet down onto the ground, biting onto his tongue due to the force of the forceful landing.
Yuma began to cough and grunt in pain, the rough coppery taste of blood oozing from his tongue.
"Who are you?" A dark voice that sounded cold and hallow called out to the know shaking Yuma.
Yuma turned and saw a red haired boy with a tattoo on his forehead. Yuma began to have flash backs to when he was ambushed by Kimimaro and began to hyperventilate. His mind was racing, unable to grasp why this cold and hallow eyed boy had tried to kill him moments ago.
"W-What?" Yuma muttered out, as the sand began floating within the air, turning into sharp daggers.
"I asked who you are. Mother wishes to feast upon you for some reason. So tell me..."
The daggers of sand that floated in the air, all pointed at Yuma, causing him to flinch. He began to shake; every ounce of his body was telling him to run.
"Who are you?"
The daggers of sand flew at Yuma, Yumito pulled him into his own shadow, narrowly pulling Yuma from the clutches of death. Before the red headed boy with murderous intent could lift the plot of land once more, Yumito moved the shadow onto the base of a tree trunk. Yuma then vegan to become aware of the deadly situation he was in.
Do not falter Yuma! We will make it out of this, just follow my instructions, understood!" Yumito yelled in encouragement to his host.
"Y-Yes!" Yuma said, his pupils dilating as he was overtaken with all encompassing fear.
The red headed boy turned to Yuma, a look of cold indifference on his face.
A look a predator gives its prey.
"Into the trees, now!" Yumito ordered.
Yuma nodded his head, and jumped for the tree line, a large pillar of sand stabbing into air. Yuma rolled into the bushes, before making for the trees, blood dribbling down his lip from his tongue he had bitten.
"Now turn into a shadow!" Yuimto screamed.
Yuma instinctively melded into his shadow. It seemed all he had to do was exert chakra from his feet into the shadow to do so. While within the shadow, he felt as if his body had completely disappeared, all that was left was shadow.
"Move your chakra north!"
"H-How!?"
"Move your chakra to the center most point of the shadow, imagine your shadow as a steering wheel, and your chakra being the hand that guides it!"
Yuma did so, narrowly avoiding a dagger of sand stabbing into the spot his shadow was on.
"Jump out of the shadow by exerting your chakra outward!" Yumito barked.
"R-Right!" Yuma said with an adrenaline filled grin, his desire to live over riding his fear of death.
He flew from out of the shadow at an alarming speed. He grabbed onto the first tree branch he saw, spinning around it, before flying into a new tree.A large dagger of sand flew overhead, barely missing his skull. The red headed boy appeared above him, having used his sand to throw him upward. Yuma exerted his chakra, the pull of shadow dragging him into the shadow on the forest floor below.
'D-Damn it, what the hell is wrong with this guy!? How did he get into the leaf Village, and why is he trying to kill me!?' Yuma thought as adrenaline coursed through his veins, moving his shadow across the forest floor, dodging several sand daggers.
"JUMP OUT!"
Yuma forced himself out once more, noting the lack of tree's for him to grasp onto. He looked below as he began to fall, the tattooed boy had his hands clenched, a ball of sand floated above were he was before he had jumped out. Yuma cursed aloud, noting he was falling to the ground with nothing to grab or break his fall.
"UNRAVEL YOUR BANDAGES!"
Yuma immediately followed Yumito's orders, his shadow like arms immediately tripling in size, bursting from out of the bandages allowing him to walk on the ground with his now mammoth sized arms while his body remained suspended in air. The red haired boy's eyes widened in shock briefly, affording Yuma the time to push his now mammoth size arms against the ground and thus propelling off the ground as he headed for the tree line. One he got to the tree's, Yumito helped Yuma by dwarfing the arms back to normal size to allow him to grasp onto a branch.
He looked down at the now frowning psychopath who was attempting to take his life. A wall of sand right in front of Yuma, as he swiftly jumped away, avoiding the wall of spikes that was now closing in on him. A second wall of spikes appeared directly behind him.
The red headed and tattooed boys' expression contorted into a sadistic and manic visage as the walls of sand closed in on Yuma. Yuma had no time to think, and closed his eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"YUMMMMAAAAAAA!"
Yuma heard Yumito shriek in his head, as Yuma braced himself for the inevitable crunch awaiting his body.
"YES, NOW MOTHER SHALL FEA-!?" The red haired boy yelled out sadistically, before being cut off.
The red headed boy coughed out saliva after being hit by something from behind, causing him to lose concentration. The walls of sand began dismantling before they could crush Yuma to death. Yuma fell to the ground, being caught by a very familiar blond haired girl.
Sasuke stood in the spot formerly held by the red headed boy, leg outstretched from slamming into the boys back. He glared ferociously at the boy had attempted to murder his teammate.
Naruko was holding the shaking Yuma bridal style as she glared at the boy, a red aura beginning to envelope her body. She was about to go into Nine Tails Chakra mode, before she heard Yuma yelp in pain caused by the toxic chakra, snapping her out of it.
"Yuma! What the hell is going on, are your okay, why are you shaking, do you need-!?"
"Shut up Naruko, he's hyperventilating!" Sasuke shouted at the blond haired girl.
Naruko let him down, and began to tend to him, as Sasuke continued to glare at the red haired menace.
"Yuma come on, calm down, take a deep breath okay?" Naruko said gently, trying to calm the Yuma who had a few moments ago been so close to death.
"I-Wha-...Whats going on?" Yuma muttered out after breathing and out several times
'Fuck, I feel like i'm gonna vomit.'
"Thank goodness you came when you did dumb one, Yuma was almost crushed to death." Yumito spoke to Naruko.
"Who is this guy and why did he attack you two? Also what do you mean dumb one?" Naruko asked, a dark glint forming in her eye near the last sentence.
"We do not know. Yuma was on a stroll attempting to think of a way to apologize to you for some reason, and then he appeared."
"Y-Yuma..." Naruko said with a light hue of red on her face, surprised at Yuma apparently wanting to apologize to them.
"You appear to be, as they say, easy. I do not understand why Yuma was afraid to apologize to someone as simple as you." Yumito said.
"Oi. What's that supposed to mean?" Naruko asked.
"It means I view you as a buffoon." Yumito said bluntly.
"...Your lucky I can't kick your ass without hurting Yuma."
"Shut up both of you! And you, your not from the Leaf are you!? What is a ninja from the Hidden Sand doing in the leaf!?" Sasuke yelled, authority oozing from his tone.
The red headed boy did not look bothered by Sasuke's heated gaze, tilting his head to the side in a curious manner.
"You are correct. I am from the sand. The reason I am here is for the Chunin Exams. However, I do not understand how either question is related to the matter at hand. Please move, mother is hungry." The read haired boy spoke in a eerily calm manner, as if he weren't trying to murder someone a few moments prior.
"The Chunin Exams? And who the hell is mother!?" Sasuke yelled.
"Mother is everything, mother is the voice within me, my tailed beast." The red headed boy said, causing Naruko to freeze up.
"W-What did you say?" Naruko asked.
"I am the Jinchuriki of the One Tailed Beast. Mother is that beast. She was hungry for that boy's flesh-"
The red headed boy pointed at Yuma, causing him to flinch.
"So I was attempting to hand over him to her."
'He's like me!?' Naruko thought to herself, beginning to shake as well.
"Huh, what is that mother, you say you want her too?" The red headed boy suddenly spoke.
"W-What!?" Naruko sputtered.
"Okay then..." He said, beginning to walk to her, before...
"H-Hey Gaara! What are you doing?" A voice said, cutting through the tension.
Gaara stopped in his tracks, turning over to two individuals who had appeared right before things could get ugly. Naruko released a sigh if relief, looking at the two individuals, she found the same hand bands on their person. She immediately became uncomfortable seeing two people from the same village as this maniac appearing before them. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in distrust as the two individuals approached the group.
Sasuke noted on of them wore an all black outfit and was wearing some form of war paint. The other was a blond girl, a large fan resting on her back. They seemed almost as afraid of Gaara as they were, fake smiles adorning their faces.
"What I am doing is feeding mother." Gaara stated bluntly and without a ounce of mercy on his face.
The two fellow sand ninja that Gaara seemed to be acquainted with noticeably blanched at that, faces turning pale. The one with face paint began approaching him, slowly and fearful.
"N-Now Gaara, you know that Baki-Sensei said to wait for the Chunin Exams right?" The boy with war paint said, trying to placate the deranged boy.
"Y-Yeah! Once the Chunin Exams begin, y-you can kill whoever you want! So just wait a little longer then, o-okay?" The blond haired girl said, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.
Sasuke continued to glare at the red haired psychopath, as the two Sand ninja tried calming him.
"...Fine."
Sand slithered back into his gourd from seemingly everywhere, scaring Yuma as he realized how close he was to dying that day. Once all the sand had finally gathered back up and slid into his gourd, Gaara turned to the three members of Team Seven.
"Your name, I wish to know them." Gaara said with a passive expression.
"Yours first." Sasuke said, a scowl planted firmly on his face.
"My names Gaara of the Sand, And these are my brother and sister, Temari and Kankuro." Gaara said.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, that's Naruko Namikaze, and my friend you tried to kill is named Yuma Ito, now get lost." Sasuke forced out with a snarl.
Gaara's face morphed into one of a dark expression, freezing Yuma to his spot, breath hitching in his throat.
"I'm gonna enjoy feeding all three of you to mother."
And with that, Gaara turned away from the tense group, his siblings awkwardly walking with him as they left the plains. Once he was gone, Yuma finally became able to breath once more. Sasuke rushed to his side as Naruko began pestering him like he was a baby.
"Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?" Naruko asked, frantically checking him over for bruises, much to Yuma's embarrassment.
"Jeez, get off me! I'm okay! How did you guys find me anyway!?" Yuma barked with a red face.
"You were lucky, I was heading to the training grounds to train. I happened to see you floating over the tree's with your huge mammoth sized barrel arms. How did you do that anyway?" Sasuke asked.
"It seems I can increase the range of my arms, since they're all shadow. I was freaked out when Yumito did that myself." Yuma explained with a huff.
"Well, if you die, I die. I was merely looking out for both of our best interests." Yumito said, its golden orbs coming to life, shining from beneath the cloth.
"I know, thanks Yumito, if it weren't for you i'd be dead!" Yuma said, smiling at his arm.
"Your thanks is not necessary, I was merely looking out for myself...but...Your welcome, I guess." Yumito said, before the light began to go out, signalling Yumito falling into a slumber to recharge.
Naruko stared in fascination at the light disappearing, the bandages wrapping back around Yuma's arm.
"That's so weird..." Naruko said.
"Say's the girl with a fox in her gut." Sasuke remarked with a hint of snark.
"Oi, watch it asshole. Oh! Speaking of assholes!" NAruko started.
"Nice seg-way moron." Sasuke said with a snort.
"Your pal Yumito is a total prick Yuma! He kept calling me moron, or simple and even easy!" Naruko complained.
"Because you are." Sasuke deadpanned.
"Asshole." Naruko muttered.
"Dumb Ass." Sasuke muttered back.
"Your both wrong, your annoying." Yuma deadpanned.
A small gust of wind flew through the plains. All was silent for a good ten seconds, until the entire team erupted into laughter, the uneasiness finally drifting away.
"Well then, what should we do today?" Sasuke asks the both of them, shocking Naruko and Yuma from their laughter.
"Huh?" Yuma asks dumbly.
"I assume you would want to go somewhere for lunch. You know, to make up for the fiasco that was last nights dinner?" Sasuke said with a glint in his eye, Naruko stood up with a frown.
"Sasuke, you shouldn't say tha-!?" Naruko began to berate him, only for Yuma to hold his hand in front of her with a solemn shake of his head.
"No, he's right. I did ruin the dinner and its all because of my lack of tact. I apologize." Yuma said, bowing before them in an apology.
Naruko stood with a dropped jaw while Sasuke gave Yuma a genuine smile.
"Its alright, your forgiven. Now then, why don't we get some lunch and try to make this sour day better?" Sasuke said, patting Yuma on the back in a brotherly manner, much to the shock of Yuma, who was unused to such friendliness being shown to him.
"Yeah! Lets go eat something, i'm starving you know!" Naruko cheered with a fist bump, bringing a small smile to Yuma's face.
The three ninja of Team Seven began making their way back to the village district, a joivial atmosphere quickly taking over as they tried forgetting of the days troubles. Yuma would be the mediator as Naruko and Sasuke began their usual banter. Fore the first time in a long time, Yuma could actually say with confidence that he was...
Happy.
As they made their way out of the plains, they were unaware of the several animal masked individuals watching them from up high on the tree tops. One of tsuch several individuals pulled out a transceiver, putting it to his mouth.
"This is Sai, Lord Danzo. Yuma is unharmed and has survived his encounter with the One Tailed Jinchuriki. Your next orders my lord." Sai said, completely monotone.
"No further actions will be required. Report back to me and give a full report." The voice of Danzo came out through the the transceivers of every masked individual, all of them disappearing in a burst of leaves.
All of them, except for Sai that is.
Sai pulled out a second transceiver from his back pocket, pulling it up to his mouth.
"Lord Orochimaru, the pet subject Yuma has seemed to begun using his abilities. I suspect it is only a matter of time until that occurs." Sai said.
"...Excellent. Thats good news. Remember to keep in touch to tell me all the juicy new details on my precious Yuma. Won't you, my dearest Sai?" The static like voice of Orochimaru purred into Sai's ear, bringing a small frown onto the pale boys face.
Sai looked down at the forest floor beneath him in content, closing his eyes in irritation.
"...Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
And with that, the double spy child known as Sai departed from the forest, returning to his life of constant lies and the betrayal of others.
For that life was all he knew.
〰️➿〰️
Rain. That was the first sound he had awoken to.
Lightning. That was the first sight he saw as he rubbed his bleary eyes, a window to his side.
and then...
The deafening sound of thunder was the second sound he heard, making him jump of out of bed in a fright.
The boy fell onto his back with a very audible thump, causing him to curse. He rubbed the back of his back as he continued to rub his bleary eyes with the other. The boy had no idea where he was, the first thing he noticed about his new location was that it was a cavernous room. He looked around himself, fear and annoyance in his eyes. The boy noticed a door, and decided his next course of action would be to open it.
He pulled the door open, the sight of a pipe like infrastructure city meeting his eyes. He noticed two things; one, he was in what looked to be a cavernous area most probably carved into a mount or tower; Two, he was no longer in the wave.
The boy walked forward, cautiously, walking past a bench and desk made of stone. He peered out into the steam punkish looking city, a slight feeling of dread overcoming him. He was about to take another fearful step forward, until...
"Hello little one, I see you have finally awoken." The sudden voice startled him, as he looked all around himself, trying to find out where it came from.
"What a funny one, look up child." The voice said.
And so, he looked up.
And all he could thing of to describe the sight was the word "Angelic.".
Above him, was a purple haired woman with piercings, adorned with the most beautiful wings that seemed to be made up of paper. When gazing upon a pristine being such as her, all he could compare her to was an angel. He immediately reddened in the face, causing the seemingly angelic beauty to lightly giggle.
"What is your name, child?" The angel like woman asked.
For awhile, all the astonished boy could do was stand there with his mouth agape. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was really but a instant, he spoke.
"My name is Inari, what is yours ma'am?"
The angel smiled.
"Konan, little one."
And with that, the boy from the wave, Inari's destiny began to take form.