Chapter 7 – To be Caught
Ryoka's head whipped left and right in frustration. Why was this city so confusing? All of the buildings looked the same, made out of the same dull brown clay. She turned another corner, leaping from roof to roof. She was angry. That red haired boy was just like her. He was alone, and he had been cast out by his friends. Ryoka had no idea what Temari's relationship to him was, but it was clear that she along with the rest of the she village feared him and kept her distance. It was infuriating.
There can be no happiness in a world where the undesirables are thrown away, she seethed. She skidded to a stop, finally recognizing where she was.
Gaara was standing alone on the roof, eyes downcast.
She had gone in a circle. She was about to turn when a familiar glint of silver caught her eye. She whirled around in time to see a kunai spinning out of nowhere, directly towards the red haired boy. Before she had a chance to blink, a wall of sand deflected the knife and the boy looked up in surprise. Ryoka's head whipped around to where the kunai had come from, just in time to see a masked ninja shimmer out of sight. Her eyes narrowed. They were sending assassins after him as well?
Her chest ached with a familiar pain. Loneliness and bitterness built in her chest as she watched the young boy wipe his eyes, his mouth locked in a grimace of pain, his teal eyes watering.
She froze as she overheard low voices below her on the ground.
"Did you hear about the Kazekage?"
"Ah, can't believe that jinchuriki problem has gotten so large."
"To think he'd send assassins after his own son."
"Son? That boy is a cold blooded killer. He's a monster."
"Shh, we shouldn't talk about him. His name's taboo."
Ryoka froze, her eyes tracing her way up the buildings to what was unmistakably the Kazekage's quarters. Her fists clenched at her sides.
Gaara the jinchuriki was the son of the Kazekage? The Kazekage had ordered assassins after his son? Her teeth ground together.
She couldn't take the complete unfairness of it all. They weren't the beasts they held! The world just needed to open their blind eyes!
The Kazekage building a little ways away caught her eye, and before she was fully aware of it, she realized she was heading in the direction, smoothly leaping across the tops of the buildings. She climbed up the back wall, and peered through one of the small round windows. Her heartbeat sped up. The Kazekage was there, not two yards away from her. Her blood boiled, her eyes narrowing in hate. This man was like a symbol to her. A symbol of what caused the loneliness of that boy and herself. She drew back her fist and punched through the window hard, the glass shattering. The Kazekage turned calmly, gazing at her with cool, calculating eyes.
"Who are you?" He questioned, his voice icy.
She didn't answer and leapt through the window, ignoring the sharp cuts she received in her arms and shoulders from the glass. A voice of rationality was pleading for her to leave and not do anything stupid, but her rage only increased as she saw the resemblance between the man and his son.
Trembling in rage, she slowly took out a kunai knife. She swiftly and silently charged him, despising everything about him. He wasn't a human to her. Let alone a father. He was the king of the assassins. The enemy. She stabbed at his neck and he stopped her with one hand, grabbing her wrist painfully. He stared down at her, almost bored.
"You'll have to do better than that, child."
His hand tightened and she hissed in pain, but didn't let go of the knife.
"I asked you a question."
He hit her shoulder with the palm of his hand and her torso snapped back. He let go and she smacked into the wall, breaking a vase that fell with a crash. She lifted her head, eyes cold and hard.
"Just what… do you take your son for?" she spat hatefully, glaring up at him.
His eyes widened slightly, and his expression contorted. For a moment there was a tense silence, and Ryoka knew she had inevitably struck a nerve.
"Get out of my village," he snapped.
"You are banned from Suna for as long as I am alive, for attacking the Kazekage. Get out!"
Shuddering in pain, she gave him one last glare, but knowing she was lucky to be leaving with her life, vanished out the window. From the Kazekage's headquarters you could clearly see the main gate. She sprinted through it, ignoring the guards, who probably didn't care when people left the village anyways, towards the forest, her shoulder numbing from the pain.
She hated herself for running. Who knew what would happen to that boy? She wondered where the other jinchuriki were, and if they suffered the way she did. She ran into the forest, leaping from branch to branch. Her teeth clenched. Why was the world such a hateful place? She found herself missing the security of her little hidden village tucked away in the shadows, now reduced to nothing but a pile of rubble and ash.
She wasn't looking where she was going, and in a misplaced step, hurtled towards a tree and smacked her face into one of its thicker branches, hard. With a startled grunt she stumbled and fell to the ground, rubbing her face and wincing. She stood up unsteadily, blinking at her surroundings and realizing for the first time that she was not alone. She tensed, her gaze turning up towards the trees above her head. A bad feeling settled in her gut. A hazy figure approached her from above and leapt lightly from the branch she was on to the ground in front of Ryoka. Ryoka looked up at the woman and froze in recognition. It was Ameyuri Ringo, one of the Seven Great Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. The woman grinned wickedly.
"Hey kid, I don't know who you are, but my buddies and I haven't been able to toy with a mouse in ages. Bad luck running into me, probably the worst luck of your life, but enough chatter. Let's get movin'."
