'I'm alright.'
He thought, a tear sliding down his cheek.
"You sick fuck..."
'I do not feel guilty.'
He thought, holding back the urge to clench his fist.
"Yeah, sure you could call me sick. And maybe you wouldn't be wrong. But the fact here is that if I hadn't done what I did, you wouldn't be standing there to insult me."
'Why am I saying this?'
He thought, unable to prevent a smile from stretching across his now crazed face.
"Don't you get it? If I wanted too, I could've just let your team die and save the two people I actually cared about. You only breath because I chose to save you on a whim. An accessory to the people I actually wanted to save."
He said, holding back the desire to cringe at seeing Naruko's and Sasuke's fear of him manifest.
'I feel sick.'
He thought, as he swallowed back the bile that rushed up his throat.
"I couldn't give less of a shit whether you were alive or dead. I honestly loath you. Do you even remember all the countless times you bullied and belittled me, or are you just too fucking dumb to remember?"
'Why do I feel sick?'
He thought as his stomach began to clench.
"The fact of the matter is you mean very little to me. As easy as I saved your live is as easily as I could take it away. Anyone who insults or threatens me or those I care about can go to hell. So yes, I don't care about the lives I took, and you should thank your lucky stars I don't, cuz if I did..."
'Oh, I know why...'
He thought as the reality fell upon him.
"You wouldn't even have had the opportunity to call me a freak or a monster."
'Because they're right. I am a monster. I am a freak. I killed those people and felt nothing. I'm a monster...I'm a freak...'
He thought, wiping his misty hand against his pants, trying to rid himself of the dirty feeling.
'Please stop looking at me like that Naruko and Sasuke...'
He thought, begging for their wordless judgement to end.
"Anyways, now that that is out of the way, lets hurry up and pass this exam! I need something to eat!"
'That's not true..'
He thought as he marched away.
'I just want to get away from anything that reminds me of...'
'How dirty I am.'
Yuma continued to walk to the tower, wiping his shadowy hands against his shirt, the dirty feeling increasing as he thought about the blood of the people he had killed bathing him.
He continued to march, until a hand grabbed at his back, stopping him in tracks.
"Yuma..."
Naruko's voice came from behind, making his heart began to beat faster.
"I-I want to talk...We want to talk...Me and Sasuke...We're here for you...Okay?" Naruko said.
But Yuma didn't care...
He just wanted to forget it...
A boys severed head laying in a bush came to the forefront of his mind.
He just wanted to forget it all...
A flash of him screaming as a bucket of toes laid beside him bubbled up into his memory.
He just wanted to forget everything...
A flash of him standing among a row of corpses with his arms outstretched in therapeutic glee surfaced.
He just wanted to forget everything that happened in that fucking forest.
"Leave me alone." Yuma said to Naruko, pulling away from her grasp as he walked forward and threw open the doors to the tower.
Naruko stared at his back, shocked at his response as he walked into the tower silently. Sasuke walked up beside her with a sigh.
"...He'll talk when he's ready Naruko." Sasuke said.
"...Yeah...You're right...Lets give him some space..." Naruko agreed and walked into the tower, the two of them following after Yuma with worry in their eyes.
As they stepped through the doorway, a wave of relief washed over Naruko and Sasuke. They sighed contently as they looked over the rooms interior. Yuma however, felt no such relief. Bitterness and anger blossomed anew within himself, as passing the second exam had reminded him of a simple fact.
'Its the Hokage's fault that I was forced to endure this hell. No...Not the Hokage...It was Minato's fault...He has lost my respect, and therefore he is no longer my Hokage...' He thought, looking back at Naruko with a blank expression.
Naruko noticed his stare, and raised a brow, before breaking out into a beautiful smile that was aimed his way.
'I hate him you know...Your bastard of a father...I wonder what she would say if I said that to her...'
Sasuke walked ahead of them all, eyeing the wall scroll before them.
"If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the field and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe ones. This is the secret of...It shall lead you on your way."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"Its missing something in the end...Guys...Do you think...Its telling us to open our scrolls?" Sasuke questioned.
"...Do it." Yuma spoke up, much to their surprise.
"B-But, we still don't know if-!?"
"Did I stutter? I said do it." Yuma snarled.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Yuma.
"Don't talk to her like that." Sasuke snarled back.
Yuma snorted, before disappearing from their eyes. Sasuke scowled with his eyes narrowing to a point, and quickly looked down at were he had been keeping the scrolls.
They were gone.
Yuma rose up from the shadow firmly planted where he previously stood, scrolls in hand and a smirk on his face. Sasuke scowled his way, but Yuma did not care, and before either Naruko and Sasuke could stop him...
He opened them.
As soon as he did so, smoke erupted from them, causing him to throw it away from him. He reached towards his kunai protectively as a figure could be seen behind the veil of mist.
And as the smoke dissipated, Naruko and Sasuke sighed in relief as the person behind the smoke could now be seen.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruko shouted in both surprise and happiness as Sasuke smirked.
Yuma however, did not share in their merriment.
Iruka smiled as he stepped forward.
"Hey guys! Congratulations on passing the Second phase of the Chunin Exams! Knowing you two, I doubt you had any troubles!" Iruka chirped, as the two prodigies chuckled nervously at his bold claim.
"Well uh, about that..." Naruko said awkwardly, her eyes shifting Yuma's way as Iruka followed her gaze and grew wide eyed.
"Yuma...Your arms...And your feet...What happened?"
Yuma scowled.
"Just get to the point." Yuma said as he evaded the question.
"Um...Okay...Well, I am here to congratulate you all on passing the exams, and explain the meaning behind the text on the wall to you all." Iruka said nervously, not liking the rage he felt in the young boys gaze.
"Sorry for his behavior sensei...So, uh, the meaning of the text on the wall! Please tell us!" Naruko requested with a smile.
Yuma frowned at that, but chose to leave it alone, knowing Naruko meant no ill-will behind her words.
He tuned out Iruka's speech, and leaned against the wall, closing his tired eyes with a sigh. He slicked back his hair with his clawed shadow hand, before noticing a golden light begin to flicker.
"And that's what the point of this test is, understand?"
"Who is this man Yuma?" A voice suddenly asked, catching Iruka's attention.
He looked around, confused as to who spoke.
"Yuma, did you...What is that?" He asked, spotting the golden orbs on Yuma's arm.
Yuma narrowed at the mans behavior.
It seemed...Almost forced.
He shook his head, and looked down at the golden orb in an annoyed manner.
"You really choose the worst times to speak up don't you Yumito?" Yuma complained.
"How long was I asleep? No...More importantly, you lost your feet?" Yumito questioned.
"Yeah, now I'm stuck with these annoying three pronged monstrosities. Look like alien feet to me, made of shadow too. So that rules out shoes ever being wearable again." He complained with a small smirk.
"Yes, well I apologize for not being there when needed...Although...It may have been a short time...But, you seem different Yuma...Oh...Oh..."
"What is it?" Yuma questioned as Yumito trailed off.
"I just saw your most recent memories...I...I'm so sorry Yuma..." Yumito spoke, a regretful tone being heard.
Yuma frowned.
"What's done is done. Please don't pity me." Yuma said.
"Yes...I understand. Now back to the matter at hand, who is the stranger? A friend of the simple one?"
Naruko pouted at her hated nickname as Iruka continued to gawk.
"Yuma, how are you doing that?"
"Its not a trick Iruka-sensei. Meet Yuma's parasite, Yumito." Naruko said with a mischievous smile.
Yuma huffed out in annoyance, turning to Iruka with a piercing glare.
"Iruka meet Yumito, Yumito meet Iruka. There. Now, are we done here?" Yuma snapped.
"Yes, I quickly grow tired of this whole ordeal as well." Yumito spoke out.
Iruka smiled awkwardly as Naruko and Sasuke frowned at their teammates rude demeanor. He sighed, wishing he hadn't lost the red arm bandages back in that cursed hell hole of a forest. He then grew annoyed even further realizing he had lost both his boots and jacket in the forest as well.
"Damn it, and they costed mister Danzo a ton too..." He cursed beneath his breath, rubbing his shadowy palm across his sweaty forehead as he pulled the tie holding his hair into a tail, letting it cascade down to the small of his back.
"What?" Sasuke asked with a lifted brow.
"Nothing, I just lost some things in the forest. Forget that, can we just hurry up and leave?" Yuma asked.
"I'm afraid not." A voice suddenly called out from above.
Yuma felt his entire being grow heated as he froze in his tracks. Naruko and Sasuke looked up with smiles.
Yuma however, could not share in their elation.
"Its nice to see my daughter and her team have passed. I'll take it from here Iruka." Minato said from the floor above with a kind smile, his hands resting upon the bars that kept one from falling off the edge.
"O-Of course sir! I'll leave it to you Hokage-Sama!" Iruka said, bowing respectively before taking his leave.
As soon as the doors closed shut, Naruko and Sasuke began to run up the staircase that led to the floor above. Yuma followed behind them, scowl firmly planted on his face as he remembered why he had been put through that hell.
Yuma watched as the goofy blonde ball of energy hugged her father, Sasuke smiling fondly at the sight. He continued to frown however, not feeling any joy out of this encounter. Minato got through singing his daughter praises, and turned to the others, eyes landing on Yuma's feet. Minato grew wide eyed as he brushed Naruko off and walked to the pale skinned and newly shadow footed boy.
"Your foot...What happened Yuma?" Minato asked with concern.
Yuma's fists clenched at his side as rage rekindled within.
"It was cut off...Slowly...By people who had a vendetta against you." Yuma said quietly, only allowing his voice to be loud enough for Minato to hear.
"...I'm sorry." Minato said with a look of regret and pity.
"...I hate you."
Minato narrowed his eyes.
"I hate you so much it hurts. But out of respect for Naruko i'm holding it all in..."
Minato looked into Yuma's angry eyes with a look that pissed off Yuma even further.
It was pity.
And it sickened him.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity." Yuma whispered, holding back tears.
"I'll make it up to you Yuma. I swear it."
Yuma held his head down, before walking one step past the blond haired man, making sure he was close enough for Minato alone to hear.
"Don't bother."
And with that, he continued walking, not bothering to look back as he walked down the stairs, sitting against a wall as soon as he made it to the bottom. He closed his tired eyes, waiting for sleep to take him.
And as his consciousness began to be swept up into the embrace of dreams, a nasty and vile feeling burst into bloom from within. A violent and hateful emotion born from the trauma he had been thrust into by those ninja from Iwagakure.
'...But...I hate those bastards more than him...If I ever meet them again...'
'I will kill them in the most painful and degrading way I can.'