The Willow Maiden [Naruto]

{33} Why Are You Doing This? Please Stop. . .

Sakura, Naruto, and Ruka stood in front Yamato and Sai as they introduced themselves to each other. Sai couldn't stop looking at Ruka, which made her uncomfortable and hide behind Naruto. 

Sai wasn't very good at making friends, and his first impressions were bad. He already insulted Naruto, which got Naruto into a fit and wanted to fight Sai on the spot. 

"That wasn't very nice, Sai. You're not going to make any friends this way. They're not going to like you." Sakura warns him. 

"Yet I like everyone. Even you, ugly." Sai smiles and Sakura attacks him, but Yamato held her back before she could demolish him.

"Easy Sakura! Follow your own advice!" Yamato says while holding her back. "Wh-Why don't we start by introducing ourselves." 

"Fine." Naruto sighs. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki." 

"Sakura Haruno..." Sakura grits her teeth together while glaring at Sai. 

"I am Sai." Sai smiles. 

"And you?" Yamato looks at Ruka. The maiden walks from behind Naruto and looks down at her feet as she introduces herself, 

"I am. . . Ruka. . ." 

"It's nice to meet you Ruka. Let's work together, okay?" Yamato extends his hand, but Ruka refuses to shake it. Yamato blinks at her expression, but lets it go. "Now that we have that covered, let's go over Team Kakashi's new mission." 

Yamato explains the mission about Orochimaru and Sasuke, but before they could proceed in this mission, they had to do a training exercise, which will begin tomorrow, so that they could work together like a team. 

Later that day, Ruka went on her own, into the forest, to have time to herself. As much as she wanted to be with Naruto, she just wanted to be alone for a while. 

As she walked through the forest, she stumbled upon the old playground that she created for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura when they were younger. But she couldn't remember. However, she knew that it came from her power. She could feel it. 

'Did I. . .create this? . . . It is so beautiful. . .' She thought to herself. She walked on the logs and giant roots that we over the lake, and twirled a few times while singing to herself. 

"Fan~ Ima tu rima nis~
San ta limen ver pa~
Scrif tu mobis forra~
Vato cris forten no ko reha
Vos tera not ver pa
In nuviste terana ver pu~ 
Scrif tu mov ta~" 

As she sung, the all Greens grew larger around her. The grass, the tress, the roots, the flowers, the wind blowing against the water of the lake, tree branches bending in different ways. 

Ruka had made the playground even more beautiful than it already was. She smiled at her work and giggled as she began to play in her own playground. 

"My, you really have a lovely talent." Sai suddenly appears before Ruka's eyes, startling her. 

"Wh-What are you doing here? Were you following me?" Ruka took a few steps back as Sai approached her. 

"I was." Sai answers with a closed eye smile. "I wanted to take this opportunity to get to know you better. Naruto got in the way last time. You seem rather close to him." 

"He is my friend." Ruka defends. "He protects me. . ." 

"Do you rely on him?" 

"Sometimes. . ." Ruka frowns, taking another step back. Already feeling uncomfortable, Ruka turns her head away and says, "I do not want you here. . . I will have to ask you to leave this place. . ." 

"But why? I just want to get to know you." Sai slowly takes out his small katana, which alarms Ruka in a terrified state. "After all, you are the Maiden that use to live in the Willow Forest."

"H-How do you know that!?" Ruka's eyes widen. 

Instead of answering, Sai charges at Ruka with the small katana in hand. Ruka shields herself with her arms, having thorns rise up from beneath her feet and wrap around Sai's wrist tightly. 

The thorns flung Sai into the forest and Ruka made a run for it. But not knowing her way around the forest, she just kept running in one direction. 

As she ran, a kunai was thrown at her, hitting the tree beside her, which caused her to stop. When she turned around, nobody was there. Her heart raced, pounding against her chest as her body shook with fear. 

'Why is he doing this?! Why!?' The maiden thought with a panic. She saw something blind her eye for a moment, making her turn to her left to see Sai small katana being flung at her like a boomerang. 

With her reflexes, Ruka spun around and kicked the katana away from her. She may be scared to death, but she knows how to defend herself thanks to the Akatsuki. 

But she didn't see Sai coming from the front of her, who had grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the ground. Ruka grunts hard from Sai's tight grip on her wrists. 

"You are very strong, Ruka. I never knew you were so skilled. And here I thought all this time that you were a weak girl who always relied on her comrades too much." Sai complimented as he smiled down at the girl below him. 

"Ika sete kudasai!" Ruka shouted. {Please let me go!} 

"I simply can't do that. Not yet anyway. I still have to get to know you." 

"Why are you doing this? . . ." Ruka began to whimper. Sai ignores the girl's question and takes out a kunai, bringing it to her cheek as he held her wrists with one hand. 

"I hear that since you're half human, you wounds can't heal. So I wonder," Sai presses the kunai against Ruka's cheek. 

Seeing that kunai made Ruka's eyes widen. Flashbacks of her past come into mind, causing old wounds to appear on her skin. Sai takes notice of this and begins to question what could be the cause of it. 

Ruka's eyes turned dark red as she glared up at Sai. "Shinu, ningen." {Die, human.} Thorns from beneath the ground shot out from the surface and pushed Sai away from her. Ruka slowly sat up from the ground as the wind blew heavily, and the trees started to bend with a dark creaking around. 

"Stay calm, Ruka. . ." She heard her mother's voice within the wind. Ruka's eyes became dark as she looked at the ground, stopping what she was doing just now. 

Ruka calmed herself down and turned on her heels, leaving the forest, not caring where Sai was at the moment. She didn't dare speak a word of what happened just now. Instead, she went to Tsunade. 

'Nothing has changed. . .' 

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