Inari lazily slurped up the noodle broth that settled at the bottom of his bowl. He had his chin resting in the palm of his hand that was propped up by his elbow resting on the table. Kisame ordered another bowl from the waitress working at the diner they were situated in. The waitress looked visibly freaked out by the mans sharkskin features, but took every chance she could to flirt with Hidan.
'If she only knew who the real freak at this table was. Kisame may look weird but he certainly isn't the one you gotta watch out for.' Inari though to himself, his eyes shifting over to Hidan with worry.
Inari thought back to the bandits that attempted robbing them on their way here with a shutter. The bandits weren't just murdered, they were butchered like pigs. Sure they deserved it, and yeah they might've attacked other people who didn't deserve it if nothing was done, but still...
The level of ritualistic brutality Hidan employed in battle was enough to make a person wretch and vomit.
Hidan began ravaging his plate of fried frog legs, looking more like a wild beast than a handsome man like his looks would lead you to believe.
"So...The hidden frost village huh? I wonder what it looks like over there..." Inari mumbled aloud.
"Neither of us have been there either kid. We're not heading over there for sight-seeing, we got a mission. Capture the Two Tails." Kisame said.
"I know that, i'm just a little excited is all. This is my first time seeing another village other then my home or the Hidden Rain." Inari grumbled into his arms as he put his red face into his crossed arms on the table.
"Leave the kid alone Kisame! Let him have a little fun! Still hungry squirt?" Hidan chuckled, throwing Yuma another menu.
"Uh, no, but thanks anyways..." Inari said.
"Oh well, more for me! Hey, waitress make some more frog legs, a mans gotta eat ya know!" He said, winking at the now blushing waitress.
Inari chuckled, despite how utterly psychotic the immortal man was, he still had his charming side. He began to think about all that had happened in his life recently. It had changed a lot over the course of just a few weeks. He thought back to the time he had met them.
His fist clinched in anger.
'I trusted them, and they brought death to everyone I loved...' He thought in anger.
His spoon bent in his hand as he remembered the golden haired girl he met on that fateful day, causing him to snap out of his angry stupor.
'Since that day, food hasn't tasted as good as before. I wonder why?' He thought to himself.
"Hey kid, are you alright?" Kisame asked.
"Y-Yeah, sorry, got a little too lost in thought there..." Inari excused.
Kisame shrugged, not thinking too much into it, before gulping the rest of his noodle broth, and showing off his shark-like grin after doing so.
"Well lets get going then. We need to get to the frost village within the next four days. I don't want the Jinchuriki leaving before we get there." Kisame said, standing up from his seat, throwing a wad of yen onto the table to pay for their meal.
Inari nodded, his determined expression flaring back to life as he followed after the grinning Kisame and the child-like gluttonous Hidan.
〰️➿〰️
Yuma sat at the edge of the pond they had set up camp near as the moon took form in the waters reflection. He let himself relax as his legs finally got to rest. They had been travelling through the forest for four hours before finally deciding to call it a day. They had ran into no one so far, but that only made Yuma all the more weary.
'Why? Why has it been so easy going so far? I don't like this. Its almost too easy...' Yuma thought warily.
Naruko and Sasuke sat around the fire they had made, roasting fish over the fire. Naruko looked over at Yuma with a frown.
"Why does he never sit with us, jerk." Naruko pouted.
"Leave him be Naruko. He's not hurting anyone." Sasuke said.
"Nope! I'm gonna go talk to him." Naruko said standing up from the fire, leaving a annoyed Sasuke behind her.
Yuma was staring at the moons reflection in the water when she sat down next to him, snapping him out of his train of thought. He frowned at her prescence while letting out a sigh.
"What is it Naruko?" He asked.
"What? I can't sit down and try to talk about things with my teammate?" Naruko asked with a smile.
"You do know we're not friends right? I might've promised to hang out with you guys more and try to get along, but that doesn't make us best buddies. We're just acquaintances." Yuma said, making Naruko frown.
"And how do you expect us to become friends if I let you be grumpy by yourself all the time huh?" Naruko asked sarcastically, as Yuma rolled his eyes at her.
"What do you want to talk about anyway?" He asked.
"Well, I just wanted to say sorry for earlier." She said, looking down at the water in embarrassment.
Yuma's brows lifted in confusion, not understanding what she was talking about.
"Sorry for what?" Yuma asked.
"Its just...I know I can be a little dumb sometimes, I have a hard time reading the mood ya know. You were probably really worried and trying to come up with ideas on how to pass this test. Meanwhile I'm acting all cocky and completely ignoring how you must be feeling."
Yuma went quiet.
"Its just...Ya know, since I was little I've always been surrounded by people as strong as or nearly as talented as me. For the longest it was just me and Sasuke Ya know...I guess because of that, I don't really know how to behave and act around people who weren't so lucky to be born as gifted." Naruko said, shocking Yuma.
"So, I just wanted to say i'm sorry for not understanding how you feel. As you're teammate I promise to try to understand your feelings in certain situations!" Naruko declared with a smile.
Yuma blushed.
"Uh, well, you don't have to feel sorry. I certainly don't make it easy with how reclusive I can be..." He said scratching his chin, trying to look at anything and anywhere other then Naruko.
Naruko giggled and stood up, walking onto the waters surface before turning to him with a grin.
"You're right about that!" She giggled.
Yuma froze, his heart beating softly in his chest. His face became really red as he realized how long he had stared at her.
"Well...While we're at it, I should say sorry too I guess..." Yuma said, looking at the grass.
"Huh? For what?" She asked.
"I...Shouldn't have called your dad an idiot. That was wrong of me. If anyone said that about mister Danzo I would've got mad too. I'm sorry." He said.
"Its fine Yuma, I know you didn't mean anything by it." She said with a smile.
"Also...About the things I had said back at the wave...I never apologize to you for calling you a monster...I'm sorry about that, you don't look anything like a monster...You're um...too cute to be called something like that." He sputtered, unable to control what he was saying, eyes going wide in embarrassment when he realized he had called Naruko cute.
She became beet red, looking down at the water in embarrassment
"I-Its alright Y-Yuma..." She said, trying to avoid looking at Yuma in the face.
'C-Cute? He called me cute?'
'What the hell is wrong with me!? Why the hell did I say that! She's never gonna let me live that down!' Yuma freaked out in his head.
Yuma was about to attempt to take back what he had said, until-
"GET DOWN!" Sasuke shouted, pushing Naruko across the ponds surface as a giant tendril of sand wrapped around where she had been standing.
Yuma immediately pulled out his Taichi blades, infusing them with chakra to cut through the gust of wind that threatened to split him in two. A second gust of wind sent his body flying, coughing up spit as his back slammed into a tree. He quickly jumped upwards, landing on a branch as another tendril of sand slammed where he once stood. Right across from him stood the blond haired teammate of the red headed psycho; Temari of the Sand.
"Nothing personal, but if I don't listen to him, he'll kill me. Sorry." Temari called out to him, readying her fan for another attack.
Before Yuma could escape, a puppet appeared from behind, holding him in place. Yuma cursed aloud, closing his eyes to brace for the impact. He was sent flying, coughing up a bit of blood as his body slammed against the forest floor. He rolled his body away, narrowly avoiding a paper bomb. He stood up, and closed his eyes.
"Yumito, Yumito wake up! We're in deep shit here!" Yuma called out to him.
"DUCK!"
Yuma did what he was told, a large hand made out of sand passing over his head. He ran forward, jumping onto the branch Temari stood on. Before she could respond, he slammed his fist into her face, and melded into the shadow forming underneath her falling body on the forest floor. He shot up, slamming into her back as she let out a scream in pain.
He dashed away, trying to get back to the pond he knew Sasuke and Naruko most likely were at. He narrowly dodged a blade that protruded out of a puppet that landed in front of him, cutting him off from his escape. He had tried turning the other way only for Temari to cut him off.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the hell is this bullshit luck of mine!" Yuma cursed, bringing a smirk to Kankuro's face.
"Someone has a colorful vocabulary huh?" Kankuro said with a smirk.
'Damn it all...If I try and meld into a shadow, he'll just use a paper bomb to light up the area and force me out, and if I try to run, the girl will just blow me back with her fan. What the hell am I supposed to do.' Yuma thought to himself, scrunching his eyes closed a he pondered on what to do.
'Damn it...I guess I only have one option here huh...'
He rushed forward, catching Kankuro off guard as he punched the guy in the face. Temari unleashed her fan, a large wind heading his way. He erected a stone wall using his earth ninjutsu. The puppet lurched at Yuma, blade extended. Yuma pulled his headband down to his neck, narrowly avoiding a stab in the neck courtesy of a puppet. He ran back to Temari, pulling his taichi blade out, forcing her to back up to avoid getting slashed.
He used earth jutsu to make a groove in the ground, causing her to slip and fall to her back. He looked down at her, and was about to stab her in the stomach, before shoved into tree bark by Kankuro. He coughed up blood and wiped it off his lip, looking at the furious older brother.
"You're dead." Kankuro said with a furious gaze, angry at the guy who was seconds away from killing his sister.
Yuma glared right back, and prepared himself for bloody combat.
〰️➿〰️
Naruko rolled across the waters surface as she saw the tendril of sand wrap around where she had been standing. Sasuke came to her side, his teeth gritted in pain as sand cut into his shoulder. Naruko looked over to the other side of the pond to see Yuma sent flying into the trees.
"Yuma!" Naruko yelled in worry.
She tried dashing forward, only to be blocked off by another tendril of sand, as Gaara descended upon them from above. She backpedaled quickly avoiding being crushed in sand. Sasuke fired off a Great Fire Ball Jutsu to keep Gaara at bay as he tried to think of a way out of this. Sasuke quickly encased his hand in electricity, charging up a chidori and running at the demented boy.
His electricity clad fist completely missed Gaara's head however, as he tilted his standing position and then slammed Sasuke in the stomach with a pillar of sand. Sasuke landed on the waters surface as he ran through hand signs for another fire ball jutsu, wiping away the spittle he coughed up from his lip. Naruko created a shadow clone and began charging a Rasengan, ready to go to on the offensive.
She ran at Gaara who stood still and without worry, the same dead and murderous eyes locked on the quickly approaching Naruko. A tendril of shadow quickly shadowed over the boy, confusing Naruko. As soon as the tendril was gone, she was upon him, rasengan in hand. She slammed it into his stomach, the blue ball of spiraling chakra ripping in to him.
"Yes! Take that bastard!" Naruko shouted in victory.
...Only for Gaara to burst into sand, shocking her as it converged upon her. It seemed that before she had attacked him with the rasengan, he used a tendril of sand to cover himself as he created a sand clone to take his place. Naruko cursed as the sand flew at her, fearing the worst. Sasuke quickly shot a ball of fire, dispersing the sand before it could crush Naruko to death.
She jumped backwards to Sasuke, both of them standing back to back as they surveyed the area for any sign of Gaara. Naruko was sweating, it having been awhile since she had battled anyone she truly was wary of.
"Any ideas?" Naruko asked Sasuke.
"Sad to say no. I got nothing." Sasuke said.
"Damn it! We have to hope Yuma! We can't be stuck here!" Naruko yelled in frustration.
"I'm disappointed in you Naruko Namikaze. I thought you would be more of a challenge then this. With you putting up such a poor fight like this, I feel like mother will not be satiated by your blood alone. What about you're friend there? Or that Yuma boy you had prevented me from killing before?" Gaara's voice sounded out from somewhere in the surrounding trees.
"You're a monster!" She shouted in anger.
"Monster? Why do you call me such a thing? For trying to prove my existence, for wanting to leave my mark on this world? No, the real monster is you, Naruko Namikaze." Gaara's voice carried over the area.
"Don't listen to him!" Sasuke chided her.
"You who attempts to be something you're not, you who acts human despite being a jinchuriki, you who feigns compassion for the weak despite having a demon sealed within your belly same as me." Gaara said.
"You're wrong! She's nothing like you!" Sasuke yelled out.
"I wasn't talking to you." Gaara's voice said from above.
Sasuke looked up quickly, but it was too late. Gaara stood atop a large hand made out of sand that remained suspended in air. Sand shot out and wrapped around Sasuke's neck and threw him across the field, into a tree. The sand then wrapped around him, entrapping his body to the tree. He tried clawing at the sand sticking to him, but to no avail.
"Sasuke!" Naruko shouted, only to be forced to jump away from the hand made out of sand that Gaara stood upon slamming into the water.
She crossed her fingers together, making several dozen shadow clones to attack Gaara. Each clone was easily dispatched as Naruko created more and more, blending in with the crowd she had created. She slipped past the crowd and to Sasuke's side.
"Sasuke, any idea on how to get you out of this!?" She asked hastily.
"I have one, but its not a good one..." He muttered tiredly.
"What is it!? Hurry up, we don't have a lot of time before he notices the real me!" Naruko said with haste.
"All right, all right...If I use a high enough fire jutsu blast, it should tear me off this tree, but if I do that..."
Naruko's eyes widened in horror.
"No...Sasuke you can't! Its too dangerous!" She said, shaking her head.
"We don't have any other option Naruko!" Sasuke said.
"B-But-!?"
"If we don't hurry Yuma might die!" Sasuke shouted, cutting her off.
"...Fine, hurry it up." Naruko said, looking away in fear as he brought his hands up into a sign.
"...Great Fire Ball Jutsu. Great Fire ball Justu, GREAT FIRE BALL JUTSU, GREAT FIRE BALL JUTSU!"
Sasuke spammed the jutsu repeatedly, each time burning himself in the proccess as the tree shook from each consecutive blast. It went on for a few more blasts until the sand finally turned to glass from the heat. Sasuke's semi-smoked body fell to the floor as his eyes closed shut, going unconscious from the pain. Naruko picked up the downed Uchiha and put him on her back, creating a sea of Naruko clones to occupy Gaara as they made their escape.
Naruko had tears in her determined eyes, racing through the woods, the sound of a madly cackling Gaara being left in her wake. She soon began to hear the sound of combat northward, signalling where Yuma may be.
'We're coming Yuma! Please hold out til we get there!'
〰️➿〰️
Yuma butted heads with the grimacing Kankuro, flinching as skull bashed against skull. He pivoted back, pulling his other taichi blade out.
'Calm down Yuma, remember what mister Danzo taught you...' Yuma thought, breathing in and out to calm his nerves.
He threw the blades into the air, taking a stance as he held onto the sickle-like kunai Zabuza had gifted him. He caught one of the taichi blades in between his shoulder and armpit, and the other beneath his ankle, holding them in a manner that made Kankuro begin to guffaw.
"Hahahaha, you really have lost it! How in the hell is that ridiculous pose gonna change any-!?" Before the puppeteer could finish his sentence, Yuma dashed at him, twisting and turning in way that one could call graceful.
"Fuck! What the hell is this!" Kankuro yelled out, as his sister stood to her feet.
"He's using the Taijutsu Form: Acrobat!" Temari said, impressed that someone as green as him knew such a technique.
Kankuro brought back up his puppet as his sister brought up her fan for another attack. Yuma, anticipating this used his free hands to create a stone slab of earth to protect him from any wind based attacks. Temari cursed aloud as her attack met stone, allowing Yuma the time he needed to pivot around the puppet, and infuse his blades with enough chakra to cut through the chakra threads controlling the puppet.
Kankuro tried backing away, but was stabbed through the left shoulder by Yuma's onslaught. He cursed in pain, turning around and attempting to kick Yuma in the stomach, only for him to jump up and slam his feet down directly onto Kankuro's head with enough force to knock him out cold. After doing so, he dropped his blade to the floor. And kicked it into the air while putting the other back into its sheath. He ran at Temari as he created a wall of earth behind her and then jumped skyward, avoiding another gust of wind.
His airborne taichi blade fell into his hands as he landed back onto the forest floor, swinging the blade he held in his hands at Temari's neck, forcing her to back up against the wall of stone Yuma had erected previously. She gulped the spit in her throat in fear as Yuma held the blade at her neck in a threatening manner.
"W-Wait, Gaara forced us into this, p-please don't kill me!" She said in fear, a bead of sweat falling off her forehead and landing onto the blade.
Yuma stood poised to strike, not wanting to take any chances, before...
"Yuma!" The voice of Naruko carried over the forest floor, snapping him out of his battle hardened mindset.
He turned around, only to see a heavily breathing Naruko carrying a smoking Sasuke. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the teary eyed Naruko.
"Please heal him!" She shouted, running over to him.
"Where's Gaara!?" He asked, being overwhelmed with the situation.
"I was able to escape! Now please help!" She screamed in worry.
"Alright. but before that we need to get far way from here." He said eyeing the unconscious Kankuro and Temari who was currently slumped on the floor, breathing deeply.
Naruko nodded, running in tandem with Yuma as the two of them dashed far away from the area, trying to put as much distance between them and Gaara's team as possible. As they did so, Yuma cursed in his head.
'I knew things were going too easy...'
As he cursed Kami and ran with Naruko in search for a resting place to set camp and heal Sasuke, the moon shined ever-bright overhead. He looked over at the teary eyed Naruko, eyes panning to the unconscious and badly burned Sasuke.
'Don't worry Sasuke...We'll find a way to save you...' Yuma thought, determined to rescue his teammate from deaths door.
And so their test would continue.