"Goodnight, you said; goodbye, I said. And you never thought twice about it."
Dusk came fast and rendered the clouds became outlined with a vivid orange as they slowly paced through the sky. Kakashi suggested a break for the group, mainly him and Naruto, as they were the ones who fought. Naruto, more eager than others, wanted to keep going but was convinced by Kakashi that it would be faster this way.
Ruby sat on the opposite side of a near tree, turned away from the campfire Sakura made. She hoped she could be left alone with her thoughts, but Naruto sat right next to her to lean against the same tree.
"Thanks for coming, it means a lot."
"Sure, but why are you thanking me?" She pulled off her hood. It was dark, anyway.
"Well, coming to save Gaara even though he's a Jinchuriki."
"Why does it matter he's a Jinchuriki? He was always nice to me."
That was not entirely true. She only talked to the boy three times in total, and the third time he was unnerving silent.
He peered down to the leaves that his foot rubbed on top of, "It is usually because of what is inside a jinchuuriki that makes people afraid."
"Then the people should be thanking them for keeping that power inside, not fearing them."
"Yeah, keep that power inside," Naruto quietly repeated to himself. "I should probably get some rest before we take off again."
But as he stood up, he glimpsed a single eye at Ruby.
"Aren't you going to get some rest, too? That tree doesn't seem like a good bed. You could borrow my mat if you want."
"I'll be fine. Thanks."
She rested her head on the chitin of the tree looked at the moon. It brought great aspiration to her when the moon is in sight when she let herself slip away. Without a struggle, Ruby closed her eyes.
"There is so much pain."
Ruby jerked her face to the child's voice, only to see the same boy she saw that night she took Matsuri to her room. He had glaring as he held a teddy bear.
With his empty hand, he held his palm stretched out towards her. He then dispersed. Not like a clone, but sand being blown away. Spooked, she looked around the tree and saw Chiyo sitting in front of the campfire, Naruto and Sakura slept on their mats, and Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.
She looked back to the dark. Was someone playing a mean trick on her? Opting to return to some form of illumination, Ruby gripped her scythe and went to go sit next to Chiyo by the campfire.
"Nice of you to join us, Ruby," a familiar voice said. Ruby looked up to a tree and saw Kakashi sitting on a branch.
"Hi, Kakashi Sir."
"You move quickly for someone that can't use chakra."
"I was hoping to keep that a secret, actually," Ruby stated as she looked at the sleeping Naruto.
"Sorry," he chuckled. "It was obvious. But Chiyo told me after she released you from Itachi's genjutsu."
"Figures," she mumbled.
"There's no reason to feel bad about it," Chiyo said. "What did you feel when I poured chakra into you?"
"I felt very… light. It didn't last very long."
"That's because your body worked out my chakra like calories. You'll need to generate your own," Chiyo explained. "When someone channels chakra into another, they aren't able to use it to its full extent."
When under Itachi's genjutsu, he said something like that. It had no flow because it didn't mix.
"That's easier said than done," Ruby remarked.
"I had a question," Kakashi stated. "How are you so pale yet live in the Sunagakure"
"I'm not from Sunagakure. I was walking the desert and Gaara found me when I was being attacked by a giant scorpion."
"That explains your skin, but even other countries use chakra. Where are you from, exactly?"
"Oh, just, you know. The one by the sand."
Kakashi stared at her with his single eye. Even in this darkness, his silence was enough to let Ruby know he didn't believe her.
"I have amnesia. I don't know where exactly. I woke up in that desert, under a tree in a small oasis."
She shouldn't speak about that man she saw or anything of her old life. Even the moon being shattered. It might make people not believe her, even more. Or that she was crazy. But after she saw that boy in the dark, maybe she is?
"Hm, okay. If you say you can't remember, I can't really ask any more questions, huh?" Kakashi hummed a thought to himself, "Guess we should head out."
He jumped from the tree branch and walked towards the two asleep teenagers. "Wake up, you two. We're leaving."
As she yawned, Sakura slowly stood up.
Naruto laid there, completely ignorant of his surroundings. Ruby remembered when Jiraiya threw him into the water. He would not wake up.
Kakashi sighed, "Ever since he came back from his training, he's been a pain to wake up."
He flipped Naruto over so his butt was in the air. Chiyo and Ruby were confused as to what was happening, but Sakura smiled as she looked away to pack.
Kakashi did a hand seal, the tiger seal. "He either needs to be hit hard by Sakura, get a bucket of cold water poured on him or this. Thousand Years of Death!"
Naruto twisted his body around and sat up before Kakashi did... whatever.
"I'm up! I'm up!"
Ruby tilted her head and she narrowed an eye. Just what was she about to witness? Does Kakashi always do such weird things?
As Naruto got his backpack ready, he looked to Ruby. "Sleep well?"
"Not really, but hey. I'm ready.
"We need to save Gaara as soon as we can, right?"
She smiled back, "Yeah, we do."
As the two were prepared to leave, Kakashi waved for Ruby to come closer. "We'll get there faster if one of us funnel chakra into your system. How long did Chiyo's chakra last?"
"Until I jumped from Itachi's fireblast."
"That'll be good enough," Kakashi said as he placed a hand on Ruby's shoulders. Even with his mask, she could tell he pleasant expression. Probably from the eye, it gave that cheerful appearance.
Before she knew it, she felt weightless. Even lighter than when Chiyo released her from the genjutsu. The color of Kakashi's chakra was lightning blue.
"I don't think you'll need it but it will keep you feeling exhausted," Kakashi said before he looked at the approaching Sakura and Naruto. "You two ready?"
"Yep!" Sakura said.
As the four of them started to run, Ruby took a where she had seen that boy before she followed. She wondered what that was all about.
"Maybe I'm crazy and I don't know it."
After a while, they came to a huge clearing by a river. And of course, this group of ninjas had no problem with jumping into the river and standing on it. Why was she even surprised at this point?
They stood in front of another team of four, all stranger to Ruby. Their leader had a black bowl cut and was obviously the father of one of them. In fact, he like he was an exact clone. Another was a girl with brown hair. The last was a boy with long brown hair and pale, featureless eyes.
Ruby stood on the edge of the river. She didn't want to get wet.
These were obviously allies that came to help. The two leaders started talking to each other as the other team's clone greeted Naruto and Sakura
But all their eyes fixated at this huge boulder with a sheet of paper on it. Whatever. Ruby wasn't really interested in anything down there, anyway! If they wanted to talk to her, they can go up there, instead!
But, she caught a glance of a small brown creature around their legs and saw something she has long since missed. Something she has wanted to see since her time in the desert.
"A DOG!" She squealed loudly. Without a second thought, she walked closer and fell into the water.
After being Rock Lee, the clone of their Jounin, Might Guy, the others joined her on the ground. As she wrung out her cloak into the creek, Tenten, the brown haired girl smiled. Neji was the opposite and had a menacing glare.
Guy tried busting through the rock. Apparently, that's where Gaara is. Too bad the rock was mightier than even Might Guy. Lee, who is apparently not a clone or even related to Guy, asked what the plan was.
"First, we have to remove the barrier, Lee," Guy exclaimed.
"How do we do that?" TenTen asked. Ruby could already feel she could relate to TenTen the most. She seemed normal compared to everyone else. Even Sakura.
Even Sakura, "We need to figure out what kind of barrier it is, right?"
Guy nodded, "Yeah. All right. First, we need to find out what type of barrier this is!"
Ruby looked at him funny. Isn't that Sakura just said?
"Isn't that right, Kakashi? Guy added. Somehow, him repeating it made a lot more sense.
"Right." He didn't seem so happy saying it. He looked to the 'Forbidden' tag, "This is… a Five-Seal barrier."
"What's a Five-Seal barrier?" Ruby asked.
"A Five-Seal Barrier is created by placing paper tags with 'Forbidden' written on them in five locations in the area."
"How do we remove them?" Guy asked.
"We can't remove the barrier unless we remove the tags in all five locations."
"It must be done simultaneously, huh?" Sakura asked.
"That's right. The barrier can't be removed unless the five tags are removed at the same time. That's how it's been set up." Kakashi pointed to the tag that laid on the giant boulder. "That tag there."
"And there are four others," Guy added.
Kakashi looked at Neji, who nodded at him.
Ruby watched him as he closed his eyes his eyes. She could see a faint yellow aura in them. He had chakra in his eyes, and it started to become more pronounced. The veins in his face flexed as his eyes opened.
He started looking in dozens of directions, "There's one on a boulder about 500 meter Northeast of here. The second one, is on the trunk of a tree growing along a riverbank. 350 meters to the South-Southeast. Third one, is one a cliff about 650 meters to the Northwest. The last one, is in a forest a little less than 800 meters to the southwest."
"If so, then they are pretty far away," Sakura stated. "What will the signal be?"
Guy started taking off his backpack, "No problem there! At that distance, we should be able to use wireless radios."
"Wireless radios, that's neat," Naruto said.
Wireless radios. Ruby remembered what those were. Is this world a lot more advanced than she thought it would have been? Do they have computers? She could faintly remember what those are, that and trucks.
Guy gave a thumbs up. "Okay, we'll all stay in communication and find the tags with Neji's directions!"
He then gave a radio to TenTen, Neji, and Lee. After giving Kakashi his, he pointed to Ruby. "You should probably let her handle the closer one. The real threat is inside. She's pretty fast, nonetheless."
With a smile, Guy showed his pure, white teeth. "Exactly what I was thinking, my worthy adversary."
After she was handed the radio, she looked to Kakashi. "You can do it. I know you can."
Naruto nudged her arm. "You'll be fine. Just follow Neji's instructions."
"Alright," Ruby sighed. She took the earpiece and placed it under her hood, to her ear.
"You head for the northwest forest, Lee!" Guy commanded.
"Yes, Guy Sensei!"
"You'll be heading for the northwest cliff., Neji."
"Roger."
"You take the south-southeast, Tenten."
"Understood."
"And, Ruby, is it?"
"Yes, sir."
He smiled, "I leave the Northwest boulder to you."
"What's the frequency?" Kakashi asked.
"174."
"Roger."
Lee took a deep breath, which Ruby thought nothing of as she tuned to the right frequency.
"Can you hear me, guys?" Lee said into the mic, unknown to him that his voice was a dreadful screech into the other radios.
Ruby ripped out the earpiece of the radio.
TenTen had her hands over her ears but didn't take out her radio. "Lee! You've got your microphone turned up too high!"
Ruby, without thought, placed her radio back in. She felt it reminded her of something from her old life.
"Oh!" Lee said as bowed. "I'm sorry!"
And again, Ruby ripped the earpiece out of her ear. She wondered why she put it back in after the first incident.
Guy laughed. Good thing he hadn't put on his own headphone and gave it to Ruby. As Ruby gave him a frustrated look, he gave her a smile that glinted like the sun.
Finally, Lee turned down the radio and made a meaningful apology.
Team Guy made his team and Ruby come into a group circle. "All right, Team Guy!"
The man then held out his hand as he made an exaggerated groan noise.
Lee was the first to catch on, "Right!"
He placed his hand over Guy's. With his mouth shut, Guy made chuckle. But as he looked at cringing Tenten, he made the same groan.
"Okay, okay." She gave in and placed her hand over Lee's.
He chuckled, and like before, made the same groan noise as he looked across to Neji.
Neji was not having it. He gave Guy most irritated, unimpressed glare towards Guy. However, Guy countered it with his own sincere, disgusted, and disappointed glare.
'What the hell is going on?' Ruby thought.
Ruby looked back to Neji. His eyebrows twitched.
This went on for a minute. A whole damn minute, before Guy made his groaning noise even louder. She bet whoever was inside that cave could hear it.
After Neji gave in, Guy looked at Ruby. He smiled. Ruby instantly gave in and placed her hand on Neji's. Guy's smiled bigger than a horse's smile.
"With the power of youth! Fight!" Guy shouted.
"Yeah!" Rock Lee shouted with.
"And an extra fight! Scatter!"
Ruby was left standing, very confused on... everything. Kakashi pointed the direction of Northwest, and she ran that way. Although she wanted to say goodbye to Paku, she had a feeling that she'll meet other dogs in the Konohagakure.
Neji gave directions for anyone who needed them, but the boulder Ruby was looking for was easy to find. It was surrounded by a cluster of the same type of rock as it marked the edge of the forest. She could see mountains in the distance. It was a neat area, perfect for camping and picnicking.
"Ruby here. I've found the tag."
She was the last one to call in, just a minute after Lee.
"All right, on the count of three remove the tag," Kakashi instructed.
Ruby grabbed the tag.
"One! Two! Three!"
The tag easily came off.
She had a great feeling in her gut from doing something helpful in the mission.
However, it didn't come without it's own surprise. The once flat grass in front of her became a shape as it grew in a abnormal way. Like there was someone standing up under it or a puddle elevating.
"Neji," TenTen called for her teammate over the radio. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Yeah. The same is happening here."
"A strange shadow appeared in the forest as soon as I removed the tag," Lee radioed in. "It's probably an enemy trap."
The three confirmed that they were seeing was what Ruby was seeing. Honestly, at first, Ruby didn't even recognize who it was.
This would be the first real opponent she would face in this world.
She studied the face, the clothes, the body.
Probably the only person she would have a fair fight against.
Ruby looked in the eye of her replica. She remembered her third morning here when she looked at the reflection in the water. Her eyes were silver, just like Yukata said. But this replica's eyes didn't have that sad, yet hopeful glint.
It had a blank expression.
She gripped the scythe just like Ruby was, leaned on her shoulder.
Ruby tried to see symbolism behind this. That in order to get farther into this world, she needs to get pass herself. But this just a trap.
Over the radio, the others talked about how a ninja team usually has three or four members, and in order to get past the seal, a second team is required. They didn't count Ruby being here as a fifth member, and because of that, there was two Jounin faced the Akatsuki.
She reminisced her first consciousness in that void, about what that man said. The order of events in this world have gone astray and basically told Ruby to fix it. Didn't even tell her what went wrong.
The replica merely stood there. Ruby couldn't keep track of time because of her dizzy head. It's not everyday you see a exact clone of yourself. Unless you're Naruto, that is.
She smiled. She should probably get back to him. Ruby gripped her sweaty scythe and started to run in just that way.
However, the replica appeared in front of her and pushed her. Unlike when Matsuri playfully pushed her in her bedroom, this made Ruby fall to her ass.
"Annoying," Ruby said.
Ruby got up and took a step back. She grabbed her scythe from the ground and wielded it with two hands. The replica did the same, but much more intently.
The replica won't let her leave, so she either beat it or wait here to be rescued by one of the others. Both seem equally impossible.
"How can I say I've done my part when I can do more to help!" Ruby gripped her scythe and swung it at the replica.
Fake Ruby blocked it with the scythe's handle and swung it backward. The pole hit the bottom of Ruby's chin.
She growled at the replica. Ruby sliced rapidly. Each being either dodged or blocked with the replica's scythe's pole.
The clone started to attack. Ruby was able to dodge and block in the same fashion that the fake had done. She never thought of how small she is to be wielding such a big weapon.
Fake Ruby held the scythe high up in the air to do a vertical slash down, but Ruby held the scythe diagonally and blocked it. Ruby tried kicking the clone in the gut, but it grabbed her ankle just as she made the kick connect.
It raised her ankle to make her lose balance, but Ruby let her scythe drop so she could balance herself with her hands and kicked the replica in the face. But it didn't even budge and gripped her ankle. She then kicked her over and over.
"Let go!"
For some reason, the clone wouldn't drop the scythe.
"Uh-oh."
Fake Ruby raised her scythe with her lone hand. After Ruby rolled to her side, the scythe's chine lodged in the ground. However, the replica twisted Ruby's ankle before she let go.
"Ow! Damn it!"
Ruby grabbed her scythe and used it like a cane to stand up. She could hear Kakashi asking for conditions of the team members, but each one seemed to be having trouble.
The others said it was impossible to get away. However, Ruby was at most disadvantaged because she couldn't fight well. She was already out of breath, while this clone was good as new.
Good enough to throw a direct punch at the poor Ruby.
This is the second time she was knocked on her ass, but it was much harder to stand up. The clone kept swung her scythe and made Ruby back off onto the rock wall. At least she won't get knocked down anymore. But this gives much less leisure room between her and the replica.
Neji's struggled voice came from her ear. "It looks like the fight's been settled."
"Sakura. What's going on with Sakura?" Lee asked.
The Ruby replica held her scythe up for another vertical slash, and Ruby used the same blocked maneuver as before. Except for this time, the clone didn't let up and pushed the perpendicular pole over Ruby's.
"Sakura's okay. They're all walking."
"So they beat one of the Akatsuki," Tenten said.
"I expected no less from Sakura and our sensei!"
"But things have gotten problematic," Neji stated.
"You're telling me," Ruby said. She had no hands freed to radio in so she was talking to herself. Literally.
"There was actually two Akatsuki members in the hideout. Even though one of them has been defeated, this Jutsu hasn't worn off!"
Ruby was glad to know it wasn't just her having a hard time with this.
"It's a Jutsu that won't wear off even if the caster has been defeated?" TenTen asked.
"There's a possibility," answered Neji.
"That means we just have to defeat our clones, right?!" Lee questioned.
Easier said than done. Ruby was basically looking at her death. Herself.
She felt shivers go through her entire body.
The thought of symbolism, or metaphor, or the horrible, dreadful irony that if she dies here, she would have killed herself.
Ruby shredded a tear. What a cruel world.
"It was a mistake!" Ruby shouted in the air. "I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry I took my own life!"
She remembered the colors of the vomit on the black void's floor. Her mother, she died in a war. Ruby could remember it so faintly because it caused her so much distress.
"Are these guys becoming stronger than before?" TenTen asked.
Ruby can't die here. She promised to save Gaara for Matsuri. She promised the man to fix the events for her second chance. She promised herself.
"Indeed, he's begun hitting me with powerful shots," Lee added.
With her back still to the rock wall, Ruby slid down to a sit as the clone put more pressure on the pole. Good thing it was made for this combat. Wonderous on why it was, as scythes used to be garden tools.
"That's not it," Neji said, out of breath. "We've gotten weaker."
"We've gotten weaker? What do you mean, Neji?" TenTen begged for an answer.
"It's very simple. This Jutsu probably copies precisely at that moment, the ability and form of the person who removed the tags, and then they attack. That's why we've had trouble finishing them off. But unlike them, we're flesh-and-blood humans. If a fight drags on, we get tired."
"And the execution of our Jutsu and our movements worsen. So it feels like the enemies have gotten a lot stronger," Lee stated.
"Then the longer the fight drags on, the more fatigued we become and we'll be at a disadvantage!" TenTen added.
The replica lifted her scythe and went in for another attack, but Ruby managed to fall to her side and dodged it.
"Even so, we must not lose here!" Lee encouraged.
Fake Ruby couldn't get the scythe out of the wall as it went in too deep in. Instead, it let the scythe be and walked over to the fallen Ruby and sat on top of her. Her hands went for a tight grip on Ruby's throat, but she tried to push her hands away.
"It's so simple," Lee said before he laughed through the radio. What a horrible way to go. Being strangled by yourself and all you hear is laughter.
"What do you mean?" Neji asked.
Ruby could feel her breath being blocked. Must be true, that the replica does not exhaust as it was much stronger than her right now.
"I figured it out! How to beat these guys!"
Ruby couldn't listen due to the panic of being strangled. Lee began to explain, but her body going into full survival instinct, where all that matters was living.
"Stronger than we were yesterday!" Lee shouted. Ruby could hear that, and it made perfect sense.
She could feel her muscles tense up as she pried the replica's hands away. Even as annoying Lee could be, he has determination. Still, he's not as vexing as Naruto.
The replica was still at her throat. As she braced herself, she titled her head back and threw her noggin onto the replica's.
When once wasn't enough, she did it again.
When twice wasn't enough, she did it a third time!
When the third wasn't good enough, she took a deep breath, pried the hands away, and thrusted the top of her head onto the replica's chin. It went limp.
Freedom, at last. Relieved, Ruby rubbed her neck. That was worth the massive headache. Being strangled isn't much of a kink, and she doubted she'll develop anything but a phobia after that. In fact, she'll probably have nightmares. But, for noow, the replica dissolved back into the grass.
To get up, Ruby used her scythe as a cane to sit on the boulder. She pressed the radio button, "Hey, Neji?"
"Ruby? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I twisted my ankle, can you come help me?"
"I'm already on my way."
"Good job, Ruby!" Lee shouted through the radio.
She smiled. As weird as they are, these people are alright.
Ruby rested easy as Neji piggybacked her on the way. He wasn't too gentle as he ran, but at least she was off her feet. It was torture for her head, though.
"TenTen will have something for your ankle."
"Sorry I couldn't be much help."
"Fate has it ways. You definitely weren't the most suitable for this mission, but you being here might had accomplished it. Guy, Chiyo, and Sakura were able to beat one of the Akatsuki members easily," Neji informed.
"Fate, huh?" She wondered if she met Gaara, to only meet Matsuri, then Naruto, and then finally be here to help was fate. Or if she killed herself in her hold life was 'fate.' When she was young, she remembered someone told her stories like that. Something about a pale woman and a mirror.
Neji managed to catch up to Lee, who gave a thumbs up to Ruby, and TenTen, who was also glad to see that Ruby pulled through.
"Neji, we can't get a hold of Kakashi, they must have went out of range," TenTen exclaimed.
"I'll see. It looks like they're still fighting the one from the Akatsuki. But it seems they've succeeded in retrieving the Kazekage. However.."
"Neji, what about Naruto? Is he alright?" Ruby asked with a worry expression.
He hesitated, but he said yes.
Minutes later, after Neji had spotted the enemy hiding in the forest, he placed Ruby to her feet.
"Stay here," he whispered.
"Alright."
She sat against a tree to rest. After a moment, Ruby could hear a fight in the distance.
"Get back quickly, everyone!" Someone shouted.
From this distance, she had no idea what was happening, but as she stood up, she fell to the ground. From faint combustion sound, she put her arms in front of her face and body. But it was no use because the massive explosion came right for her.
But in the blink of the eye, it ceased to exist. Debris, dust, and smoke covered the area but was vacuumed up into the sky like a black hole.
"I think I liked walking the desert better," she said.
After the panic, which thanks to Kakashi's they escaped unscathed, Kakashi and Chiyo sat from exhaustion. Ruby sat, too. Her headache has left but her ankle was still in pain.
Sakura observed Gaara for any sign of life, but shook head sideways, as there was no way to resuscitate him. Just as they all feared, Gaara had the Tailed Beast extracted and was gone from this world. It was a cruel one, anyway.
Ruby looked up at Naruto, his usual determined eyes were filled with teary sparkles. "Why is it always Gaara? Did he have to die like this? He's the Kazekage. He just became the Kazekage."
"Calm down, Naruto," Chiyo asked faintly.
"Shut up!" Naruto shouted. "This wouldn't have happened if you Sand Shinobi hadn't put a monster inside Gaara! Did you even ask Gaara at all about how he felt? Jinchuuriki, my ass. You've no right to act so self-important by labeling us."
Ruby frowned to her hand that gripped the cloth of her cloak. He was the most affected by Gaara's capture, and now, death. Honestly, she wished people were more like Gaara and Naruto. All they ever wanted to do was help people.
Chiyo stood up and walked to Gaara. She placed a hand on his chest, and a huge burst of chakra came from her hands. Kinda like when she and Kakashi funneled chakra into Ruby.
Except, this was significantly more extreme.
"Granny Chiyo! That Jutsu-" Sakura exclaimed.
Chiyo looked at her, as she knew all too well. The old lady smiled.
Ruby knew what was happening, too. The chakra in the lady was going into Gaara. All of it.
Giving him something a lot of people wished they had.
Is this how she was brought back herself? Like this?
Everyone waited patiently, even Naruto, now that he's calmed down. Ruby looked up at him, who gave her the same sad eyes before they both looked back to Chiyo.
She struggled to funnel the chakra at the center point before Naruto came to the opposite side of Gaara. Ruby could see it. She didn't have enough chakra.
Naruto offered his hands.
"You can use my chakra. Would that be possible?"
Chiyo was out of breath, barely able to speak. "Place your hands on top of mine."
The blue chakra that emitted on Gaara's chest increased in size and power.
"Amidst this Shinobi World created by us foolish old people, I am glad a person like you showed up," Chiyo said in weakness. "The things I did in the past were nothing but mistakes. But, in my last hour, it seems I shall finally able to do the right thing."-
"Our villages. The future is likely to be different from the way things were in our time. Your mysterious power that Kakashi spoke of, that power is likely to alter the future greatly. When you become a Hokage like none before."-
"Sakura. Next time, help the person you cherish most, not an old lady with one foot in the grave. You are very much like me. There are not many women who have a man's courage. You will probably become a Kunoichi who surpasses her master. Ruby, for someone so shy and unsure of themselves, you make friends very easily. I'm glad I was able to make some more at this time."
Chiyo turned her attention back to Naruto.
"Naruto, this old lady has a favor to ask you. You are the one and only person who is capable of knowing the extent of Gaara's pain. And Gaara knows your pain, too. So, please, help Gaara."
Ruby was unable to hold her tears when Gaara eyes begin to open, just as Chiyo fell over into Sakura.
Later that night, a hundred of Sand Shinobi flooded the area that Gaara resurrected. Matsuri was the happiest. Temari even had to block her from hugging Gaara. It was funny, yet lively, how Gaara could barely walk after being dead for so long. Amazing he could walk at all.
Ruby was given a bandage for her ankle, but she could feel it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. But that's probably because Sakura did some Medical Jutsu. She could walk on it, at least.
While the entire group of people laughed and cheered in the forest, Ruby sat where the campfire's warm glow could barely touch.
"Hey," greeted a familiar voice.
She looked up to see Naruto. "Hey, you."
"So, guess it's not a secret anymore."
Ruby stood up and patted away the dirt she sat on.
"Yeah, it isn't that much of a mystery from how you've been acting."
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. I get pretty wild up about things."
The girl smiled, "We're a lot alike. I want to protect my friends, too."
"Yeah. We are."
Behind Naruto, she saw a familiar man lean against a tree. Jiraiya. As soon he caught Ruby eyes, he smiled, pointed towards the dark of the forest, and walked off.
She looked back at Naruto, "Thank you, by the way. Matsuri really appreciates it."
"No problem. Anytime."
Ruby took a step closer, balanced herself on her tippy toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"No, really. Thank you."
Naruto was stunned at being hugged, but wrapped his arms under hers.
"Yeah, you're welcome."
It was a long hug, nothing cheap but a warm embrace. The girl let go, and each smiled at each other for a slight second before Naruto retreated back to the mass.
As she was sure she wasn't in anyone's sight, Ruby walked into the darkness, away from the entire group. Time to go. How could she say goodbye when everyone is having such a good time?
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
Ruby looked back to see Matsuri standing. Even if this dark, she could see Matsuri was sad to see her leave.
"Sorry, everyone is so happy. I didn't want to ruin it by saying goodbye."
"I guess you got a point, but I don't think it's a good one. Gaara is too busy with everyone else to talk to me, so I noticed you were leaving."
Matsuri walked closer, and begin to hug Ruby.
"I'm going to miss you, Rubes. Thank you so much for bringing him back to me and for being there."
"It's no problem. I'll miss you, too, Mats."
Once they stopped their hug and Ruby tried to regain her personal space, Matsuri gently touched her face. Ruby's curiously looked towards her. Unexpectedly, Matsuri planted a slow kiss on Ruby's lower lip.
Extremely shocked, and uncomfortable. Disoriented, even. Ruby wanted to put her hood on and hide away so she didn't have to deal with this. Instead, she stood like a statue. In the dark, Matsuri eyes found Ruby's wide eyes and leaned herself to kiss her again. She pushed Ruby's back to a tree.
Ruby dropped her scythe to the ground as Matsuri pushed her more developed body against Ruby's as if she tried to fuse them together. She felt a big sense of claustrophobia from being confined like this.
Matsuri was a few inches taller so she used her hands to tilt Ruby's head up. Even if Ruby felt immensely uneasy, she couldn't help but kiss back and pull on Matsuri's lips with her own.
Her stomach felt at knots at being so vulnerable, she didn't even know what to do with her hands. They felt clamped, but eventually found their way to Matsuri's hips to pull her closer.
She never expected her first kiss to be a girl, much less out of the bloom like this. It felt wrong to do, but she couldn't exactly push her away. She didn't want Matsuri to feel bad just because she misplaced her feelings for Gaara onto her.
The short moment felt like it lasted eternity before Matsuri started to push her leg onto her. Ruby pushed her away.
"Matsuri, I- no. I don't like, you know, girls."
From the look inMatsuri'ss eyes, she already felt guilty. "Sorry, I don't either, I don't know what I was doing. I kind of just did it. You were there for me when-"
"It's fine, it's just, I don't know. Unexpected. And with Gaara going missing, and your parent-" She understood that Matsuri was under a lot of stress. She always looked up to Gaara, and to find out Chiyo gave her life to save him might have made her feel ashamed.
"You know about my parents?"
"Yeah, I do. Yukata told me that night I brought you home."
"Figures," Matusri stated. "Promise you'll come back to visit."
"Of course I will," Ruby said as she pulled her hood on. She picked up her scythe and leaned it over her shoulder. She couldn't look back. Not yet. Ruby just hope that with Gaara returned, Matsuri will be alright.
Eventually, she found her way to the other side of the woods, to a huge, clear field.
Jiraiya waited as he looked up to the moon. It hasn't been long since it was dusk. He had his arms folded. The soft wind made a cool breeze and made soundless chimes out of his long hair.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, let's go."
The man looked at her with a warm smile before he waved for her to follow.
"You're gonna need some new clothes. Those are shredded, and won't look good in Konohagakure."
Her gut felt strange from what just occurred in the forest. But the crescent moon made a smile at her, and around it, the dark night was glittered with stars, shining onto the knee-touching grass. It tickled her toes and legs, actually.
She needs to get stronger to protect her friends. Like the ones she made today. The Leaf Village, Konohagakure awaited her just like how Sunagakure waited for Gaara.
Ruby felt blissful, chirpy even, to be able to say that Gaara of the Sand was given Another Chance. And maybe she will, too.
12/16/2017 Edit: Same thing. The number of times I watched "A Retired Granny's Determination" episode to get everything right is infuriating.
Not a Ruby and Matsuri pairing. Just expanding on people's relationships with each other, and Matsuri herself. She's just a fangirl in canon, and wanted to expand from that. If I get complaints then I'll edit it to just be a simple farewell. (Sasuke and Naruto kissed in the weirdest way possible in canon, anyway.)
Thanks to Beta Skeletickles.