The Willow Maiden [Naruto]

{11} Ruka's First Mission

The next day, Sasuke got up early to check on Ruka since she didn't go to her room until after midnight. He had watched roam the entire house, and compound, until she was ready to go to bed. 

Sasuke stands in front of Ruka's bedroom and knocks on the door while saying, "Ruka, are you up?" There was no answer form the other side of the door. Getting quickly worried about her, he opened the door to only see her looking out the window, staring up at the sky as the sunlight hit her fair skin. 

Noticing Sasuke standing at the doorway, Ruka slowly turns her head to him with a blank stare, then afterwards, giving him a kind smile with her dull eyes. "Good morning, Sasuke. Sorry for not answering. I was in admiring the beautiful sky."

Sasuke blushes and turns his head away as he mutters, "I-It's fine. . . Kakashi and the others are waiting for us. A-Are you ready to go?" 

"Mhm." Ruka smiles once more and gets off the window seal. Her and Sasuke walked to where the team was meeting for a small mission. Nothing to serious, nor dangerous. Something easy that Ruka can get use to. 

While they were walking, Sasuke notices that Ruka is still barefooted and the bottom of her feet were dirty. "Doesn't being barefoot bother you? You might step on something or get an infection." He informs her. 

"I don't really mind, and besides, I was born this way. My mother and I didn't need footwear during our time in the forest. With our abilites, our feet feel the earth so we can detect who, and what is near. We never had an infection of anything. It is what our kind is like." 

"Kind?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "There were more of you?" 

"Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if there were others like us. Being sheltered and having to keep yourself safe, there was nothing much mother could tell me. All she ever did was sing her songs to me and teaching me how to control my abilites." 

"And all your life you've been protected by your mother." 

"Half the time since. . .you know. . ." Ruka frowns, recalling to when her mother was taken from her, thus fading into a white bloom. Not wanting to see the sad look on Ruka's face, Sasuke gently takes her hand in his and says, 

"Things are different now. No matter what happens, I'll protect you." 

Hearing this made Ruka smile. Being filled with such joy, she wraps her arms around Sasuke's neck and shouts with glee, "Arigato, Sasuke!" She giggles as a tint of pink appears on her face. 

Sasuke blushes at this and could only turn his head away, not sure how to react to this. "Well, well. Looks like someone is getting along." Kakashi speaks out when Sasuke and Ruka have arrived to their meeting point. "I hope you slept well, Ruka. I hope Sasuke treated you well." 

"He gave me a room that had a perfect view of the village. I am very grateful. And he also said that he would protect me no matter what!" Ruka replies to Kakashi with a smile as she releases Sasuke from her gentle hold. 

"What!? No way! The only person who's gonna protect you, Ruka, is me, believe it!" Naruto takes Ruka's hands into his. "I promise that I will let nobody hurt you!" 

"Arigato, Naruto." Ruka gives him a closed eye smile. 

"We're all going to protect her. She's apart of the team now. Would you give it a rest already, Naruto?" Kakashi sighs before clearing his throat. "Alright, today's mission will be C-rank. It's simple. All you have to do is suppressing wild animals. It shouldn't be too hard of a job for Ruka, since she's dealt with animals before, right, Ruka?" 

"Sure." Ruka nods her head. 

"Alright, let's go!" Naruto cheers and runs off to the direction Kakashi pointed them in. The wild animal is a bull which is destroying everything in its path.