The Willow Maiden [Naruto]

{24} Try To Remember, Ruka!

Meanwhile in the Akatsuki, Ruka walked around in her special garden while the other Akatsuki members were in a meeting. She walked on the bridge and looked down at the lake below as the cherry blossoms floated onto the water. 

'Why is it so hard for me to remember? . . . I saw a girl and then something slashed that image out of my memory. . .What could that mean? . . . Is she evil? Or good?' Ruka thought with an emotionless expression. 

She wanted to know why these images were popping up in her head, then being slashed out the moment she sees it. It could be a bad sign for her, convincing her to not remember those people in her life. 

"Who is there? . . ." Ruka feels somebody nearby, since she can feel the earth and anybody's movements. 

"It is me, Ruka. No need to be alarmed." Itachi had entered into the garden. "I want to talk to you about something." 

"What is it?" Ruka turns her head to look at Itachi then looks back down at the water. 

"Do you know a boy that goes by the name Sasuke Uchiha?" Itachi asks her. 

"Sasuke. . .Uchiha. . ." Ruka repeats the name and thinks long and hard, but nothing comes to mind. She remembers the features but know who Sasuke was. "The name. . .does sound familiar but. . .I cannot remember what he is like or who he was. . . Does he have. . .blue hair, and onyx eyes?" 

"Yes." Itachi nods his head. 

"It does ring a bell, but I do not seem to remember." 

"You don't have to push yourself to remember, Ruka. I just want to see what you know and what you can remember." 

"There is not much I can remember, Itachi. . . My mind is blurry and what I do remember is my mother and the recent ambushes from the village hidden in the rain. That is all that I remember. . . I believe. . .that no matter where I go. . .I am never safe. . ." Ruka frowns. "Day in and day out, many soldiers tried to take me and use me for my power so that I may become a special tool. It is something I cannot bear, nor will I do. . . Which is why my only option is to kill. . ." 

Ruka turns back to Itachi with a cold look and at the same time the garden darkens. Thorns begin to stretch out from beneath Ruka's feet and wrap around her in a protective manner. 

"Old wounds is all I can remember and the pain I had to deal with when my mother faded into the flower in our very birth place. I had to kill in order to protect myself when I had no other choice. . . This world is filled with cruelty and it is something I will not tolerate. . ." Ruka continued as she continued to give Itachi a cold look. 

To Ruka, it felt like her wounds were opening back up to the times where the Grass Village Warriors tried to kidnap her. 

Throwing their kunai knives and shuriken at her, causing her to bleed out the color green. She also remembers her time in the land of snow where Doto and his men mistreated her.

It was clear that Ruka wasn't going to be the same. . . 

"Ruka." Itachi calls out her name, making her blink slowly and coming back to her senses. "You are safe now. The Akatsuki won't let that happen to you. You can trust us." 

"Can I really? . . . Do you promise?" 

"Yes. We all promise." 

"Good. . ." Ruka nods her head and walks back inside the hideout with Itachi to discuss the mission. But, Ruka stood outside of the hideout with Zetsu while the Akatsuki discussed about the mission. 

"Don't take it personal, Ruka. They always do this when they're in a meeting to talk about tailed beast. We're only the spy, and so are you. Do you got that?" Zetsu told her.