You are my Star

Chapter 14 - Betrayl

"It's not fair!" Sora screamed, straining against the ANBU that held him. "I trusted you. All of you! I thought...I was weak, for some time," he said, hanging his head. "But never again. I've learned my lesson. I can't trust anyone but myself." He looked up, fire blazing in his eyes. 

The bandages on his arms fell off, revealing a monster's hand. His eyes widened, confusion flashing on his face for a moment. Then he seemed to accept it, only acknowledging that it was an advantage. A cry ripped from his throat, and he charged at the nearest person, who happened to be Asuma. He dodged the attack, and Sora smashed through the wall. He got back up and kicked Asuma. Thankfully, the sensei caught it, and pushed him to the ground. 

He winced. The mutated hand returned to normal. Asuma stood a few meters away, staring with narrowed eyes. Then suddenly, six shuriken appeared, heading straight for Sora. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come.

It never did. 

He slowly opened his eyes, and saw Naruto standing, six shuriken protruding from his back. Hoshiko landed behind Naruto, kunai in hand, and knocked away another half dozen shuriken. "Dammit, Naruto," she panted. "Do you always need to get yourself hurt?"

"Couldn't-pull out a kunai in time," he said, chuckling. 

Another dozen shuriken flew at Sora's other, exposed side. It fell away harmlessly as a barrier rose from the ground and blocked the knives. Then a dome appeared over Naruto, Hoshiko, and Sora, getting rid of all risk of attack completely. 

Hoshiko exhaled, then turned and glared at Sora. "What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" she asked as she healed Naruto's wounds. "You know we can't always be here to save you."

"Why- I didn't ask for your help."

Hoshiko shrugged, spinning a kunai around her finger. "When you see a comrade in need, you help. It's part of being a ninja, Sora. Even if it means getting hurt  so that they don't get hurt worse." She looked at Naruto. "Alright, you're basically patched up. But make sure to get checked out at the hospital either way."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks a lot, Hoshiko."

"No problem."

The pair looked around themselves, checking for the attacker. They saw, out of the corner of their eyes, a man in black. Just a glance, then he disappeared.

"The Foundation?" muttered Naruto. "What's he doing here?" 

Hoshiko slowly let the dome collapse. "Are you okay, Sora?"

Sora nodded, slightly dumbstruck by how they had readily stepped in to help. Then Lady Tsunade ran out from the room. "Sora! Are you okay?"

All the vulnerability drained from his face. "Stop pretending you care. You never did, and you never will. You were planning to kill me!"

Lady Tsunade shook her head. "I wasn't going to-"

"Stop lying! I heard you guys. You were discussing eliminating me. Because I have some sort of power." He looked down at his hand, lost in memories. He glared at everyone one last time, then stormed off. 

The hokage sighed tiredly. 

"What's going on?" asked Naruto. 

She explained everything that had happened, and the misunderstanding that had occurred. "So you see, I was about to tell them the option was ridiculous, but we were interrupted before I could say so."

Hoshiko and Naruto nodded, the concern for Sora gone. "We'll make sure to explain that to him when we find him," Naruto assured the hokage.

"Great," said Lady Tsunade. "I need a sake..." She turned on her heel and walked back into the tower, in search of alcohol.

                                                                                  * * *

Sora stormed through the village, a trail of dust following him. He had no destination, just needed to walk somewhere. He was confused about how he felt. The hokage had wanted to kill him! But then stupid Naruto and that damned Hoshiko had to save him and mess up his anger. 

Then a man landed behind him. "You've been making circles for a long time now."

Sora whipped around. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm here to help, son," he said with his back turned. "Let's go somewhere we can talk."

So Sora followed the man into the forest nearby. He finally turned around. Sora stumbled. That scar. He was one of the grave robbers!

"Y-you! You took the bodies of the four dead guardian shinobi! You're that white-haired man, aren't you? The one called Furido?"

The man help up his hands. "Yeah, but I have good cause. Just let me explain myself."

And so Furido explained. He explained his motives, how he wanted to kill the hokage so that the feudal lord could rightfully take over completely. Then he got to the topic of his dad.

"I...I knew your dad personally," he said. "Before he died, before Asuma killed him, he had the same intentions. He knew that there could only be one king, and that had to be the feudal lord. I'm here to make his dream a reality. And we want you to help, Sora. Come, and make yourself and your father a legend."