?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter Twelve — Lost and Drowned ~ ?￢ﾜ ?ￂﾠ
Night shrouded the woods Team 5 found themselves in. The stars were covered by thick unforgiving clouds. Flickers of flame and the crackles of wood lit the faces of Aiko, Kusari, Gosei, and Shinrai. All four were tense. Shinrai had his hand gripping the hilt of Yora with his eyes peering into the fire he started. Subdued orange burned in the reflection of coal black. He kept his eyes off of the woman near him. If he laid eyes on her, he couldn't trust what would happen next.
"When is sensei going to return?" Gosei asked. A gritted edge scratched against his words.
Blood and chakra flushed into Kusari's stoic eyes. "He's not near… at all." Her bandaged hand clenched into a fist.
"Damn it all," grumbled Gosei, slamming his fist on the log he sat on.
Shinrai's eyes drawled toward Gosei. "Stay calm," he commanded tersely.
Gosei ignored the blatant order from someone who had no right to order him around. "If Ryujin-sensei hasn't returned by sundown tomorrow, we return to Konoha."
"Sounds reasonable," Shinrai agreed.
Kusari's Byakugan receded, and she stared down the two boys. "We can't just leave him. What if he's injured? What if he dies because we weren't there to save him? We need to go looking."
"And put ourselves in the line of fire of a fucking Jinchuriki? Yeah, no." Shinrai shook his head. "Ryu is more than capable of handling himself. I trust him."
Gosei nodded in agreement, gritting his teeth. "Even without the Kyuubi, he's a capable Jonin."
"That doesn't mean he's invincible," Kusari argued. "Don't be so naïve."
Gosei narrowed his eyes. "You're naïve enough to believe that we'd make a difference; it's better to escape while we still can."
"While we're in the village, we can tell the Hokage what happened to Ryu, and then he can send people that'll actually help," Shinrai added.
Chakra flared and her Byakugan glared. "Shinrai, if this was Naruto, you'd stop at nothing to get him back."
"Yeah, this isn't Naruto," he countered dryly.
Kusari grit her teeth. She opened her mouth to speak, but a voice previously silent spoke up.
"How could you two be so heartless?" Aiko questioned.
Waves of heat seared Shinrai's blood. Gosei sighed in response. "Listen, I want to go out and help him just like you all do!" His fists clenched with visible chakra pouring from his hand. "But, realistically, we can't do anything."
"Ryu risked his life for your sake, and you can't be bothered to return the favor? Shinrai—" At the utterance of his name, the sound of an unsheathed blade sliced the campfire's ambience.
Aiko's blood ran cold as she felt a blade little more than an inch away from her throat.
"Don't you dare speak my name, you fucking bitch," he snarled.
Gosei grabbed Shinrai's arm and pulled it back. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Ignoring Gosei's words, Shinrai glared at Aiko. His eyes itched with chakra and his fists clenched around Yora's hilt. "Listen to me, Aiko, and listen close. The next time you see Ryu, you better grovel at his feet and thank him until your fucking lungs pop. Because he is the only—and I mean only—reason why I haven't ended your pathetic existence. You understand me?"
Kusari stepped in front of Shinrai. "Leave her alone." Her tone was cold and coiled. Like a snake waiting to strike.
"I'm sorry…" Aiko apologized, shutting her eyes as a wave of depression weighed her down. "I was wrong to yell at her, to say what I said… It's my fault, and there will never be a day where I don't acknowledge that." She opened her mouth to speak… to say Yoraika's name, but she decided that wasn't the best decision.
"She was an amazing person. I'll forever regret that it was I that led to her death," concluded Aiko.
He didn't respond. "We are leaving by sundown if Ryu hasn't returned by then," Shinrai stated. Pulling his hand from Gosei's grip, he sheathed his blade with a click. He sat down. Aiko moved as far away from him as possible.
Kusari gave a last glare toward the two boys before walking over to Aiko. Sighing, Gosei shot a disbelieving look at his teammate. "What you did was totally uncalled for!"
"She's the reason why Yora is dead," Shinrai said simply. "Every fiber of my being wants her dead."
"Don't you dare endanger her life," Gosei warned. Emerald flared with orange reflected off the flames.
"I can't. Ryu cares about her for some ungodly reason." The campfire's crackling heat caressed Shinrai's face. "I'll never let her die."
Gosei barked out a sigh. "I'll never understand you…"
"I don't even understand myself," responded Shinrai with a chuckle. He shook the smile off his face. "Thanks, by the way."
Bemusement crossed Gosei's face. "For what?"
"Helping Yora, arguing against Sensei with her." Shinrai's fists clenched. "I wasn't much help then. You did more than I did for her at that moment. I… don't think I hate you anymore."
Gosei narrowed his eyes. "I was simply arguing for what the right thing is."
"Do that more. It makes you tolerable," Shinrai suggested.
Gosei scoffed. "Being less violent will make you tolerable."
Laughter filled the forest. "You should become a comedian, since the whole Hokage thing isn't going to work out."
Gosei rolled his eyes. "This is why I dislike you."
"So, it's simply my existence that irks you?" asked Shinrai in a novel tone.
He nodded in agreement.
Shinrai chuckled. The sound of the crackling campfire overtook all once again.
Finally looking away from the entrancing flames, coal met emerald. "If my—quote unquote—betrayal really hurt your feelings, then I apologize for that."
Gosei's eyes widened, but they quickly shrunk with suspicion. "Why do you word it like that?"
"Because I'm not sorry for helping my brother against someone who was against him. If you try to crush my brother's dreams again, then I'm going to beat your ass again. I'm apologizing for the mental pain that it may have caused," Shinrai explained.
Gosei grumbled. Then he sighed. "Then I apologize for any hurt I may have caused before that point. However, I do not apologize for trying to put you in your place when you attempt to leave it."
With a chuckle, Shinrai outstretched his hand. "Apology accepted."
"Apology accepted," responded Gosei as he shook Shinrai's hand.
—⊱✿⊰—
An ashen forest of barren trees was shrouded with a thick fog. Amber eyes peered into the endless expanse of gray. He could breathe clearly, there was no pain in his body. This was not reality.
Ryujin's jet black hair blew into his face from a sudden gust behind him. His heart couldn't help but plummet into his churning gut. A wave of goosebumps rose his chilled body hair.
As a voice in his head, it was tolerable.
But meeting the beast itself was an entirely different story.
Ryujin didn't face it. "What do you want?" His voice was shaken by the mere presence of The Keeper of Chaos and Order, The Warden of the World.
The Kyuubi.
"Your body is vulnerable," it began. The beast's voice quaked the landscape and chilled Ryujin's blood. "Without my chakra, you'd be dead."
Ryujin clenched his fist. "It was your chakra that weakened me to this extent in the first place!" Despite the rage in his tone, his words trembled like the lips of a crying child.
"You are aware of the dichotomy of my chakra. You used it to save that Uzumaki brat's life. Now, I'm allowing you to use it so save your own. However, I can only do so much from behind this seal, loosen it so you can recover faster," the Kyuubi argued. Its ancient, devilish tone brimmed with temptation. The beast was calm; it was in control, there was no threat.
"How about I slit my throat so we can both die?" Ryujin threatened. He saw through the Kyuubi's ploy.
The Bijuu was unphased. "If you wanted to kill us, then you would've done so long ago. Every single threat you've made to me was empty because you either lack the power or the will to go through with them."
"I could say the same about you," argued Ryujin. His heartbeat raced as the shrouded forest bled to crimson. No, it was that fog—that tortuous fog that tormented him.
"I once told you that the moment I was out of this seal, I'd destroy everything you loved, everything you cared about." The crimson fog morphed.
Ryujin placed his hand into a seal. "Release!" he yelled with a desperate cry. He knew what was coming, the visions that haunted him in his sleep. He knew they would be forced upon him again, and he refused.
His puny flare of chakra was no match for the Kyuubi's. The fog opaqued into black, shrouded with red. The Kyuubi's chakra spiked into Ryujin's and he gasped—
—Jiraiya laid in a pool of his own blood, white hair stained red. Hiruzen, his Hokage was burned, barely recognizable. Miya… his family—his only family was—
—Ryujin screamed, and his chakra flared to the utmost. The fog faded. Ryujin fell to his knees. The Kyuubi's demonic laughter shook the dead forest.
"I followed through with that threat."
Its voice was like ice and fire and Ryujin shuddered, the smell of coppery blood staying with him still and the red, the red—he screamed. "THEN I HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE A WORD YOU SAY!To take any offer you propose! The only reason you help me is because you don't want to die!"
"Exactly," agreed the Kyuubi. "You're in a position where we could both die. Because of this damned seal, there's only so much chakra I can forcibly inject into your system.
"You need to call upon my chakra so you can be healed enough to return to your village, find the Genin you abandoned, the friend you haven't seen in years," tempted the Kyuubi, its intent made the fog shiver and the dead trees shriveled.
Ryujin let out a final breath. "No," he denied. He proceeded to cut the Kyuubi's chakra. The Bijuu roared as the world faded to black. Ryujin's mind returned to the depths of unconsciousness, and the Kyuubi was left imprisoned in solitude.
—⊱✿⊰—
Evening came, but one could barely tell behind the thick clouds. Sunken sun and sunken spirits. Ash fell from the sky like depressing snow. Aiko let out a heavy sigh, Kusari shut her eyes, Gosei sucked his teeth, and Shinrai stood.
"He's not here…" Kusari lamented. A worrying shake rattled her to her core. Her sensei could be dead and there was little she could do about it. Especially since both Gosei and Shinrai were against looking for him. As a team, maybe something could've been done… but that possibility was gone.
Aiko remained silent. Her last interaction with Ryu was one of anger and resentment… and that might've been the last interaction they'd ever had. She tried to put her emotions aside, but it wasn't enough. Once they reached Konoha, she had no clue what she was going to do. Freezing hands of guilt and regret clasped her. All she could do was trust in Ryu.
"Damn it all," grumbled Gosei. As much as he argued against helping his sensei, he wanted to with every fiber of his being. Powerlessness strangled him and his morality could barely breathe. Trying to help would only make things worse for his sensei and he loathed that feeling—loathed his weakness… He needed to be stronger.
"That means we need to go," Shinrai said simply. The same chilling, numb ache enveloped his entire being. It was stronger… but he ignored it. Just like he had been doing these past couple of days. He needed to keep moving. He needed to return to Naruto.
"Is that all you have to say?" Kusari asked, eyes narrowed.
"It is," he answered tersely. "Someone carry her; we need to return as fast as possible," he ordered, pointing at Aiko.
With a sigh, Kusari walked over to her. "I will…"
"The Land of Fire is east of here," Gosei stated.
Shinrai furrowed his brow. "Huh? I thought it was south?"
"No, south is the Land of Rain," he answered.
Shinrai chuckled. "Well, shit…" He chuckled more and pointed at Gosei. "Let's follow the leader!"
"This is why you need to read non-fiction books in addition to fiction," suggested The Leader as he walked eastward, his back facing the sun.
The Three Genin dashed into the trees, passing by the falling ash and leaves on their way… home.
?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter End ~ ?￢ﾜ ?