Chapter 28: What's Left Behind
They thought they were safe.
Juro had led the group into a grove of thick trees and soft moss-covered ground. It was a quiet place, shielded from the road by dense forest. Birds chirped. The wind whispered through branches. For a fleeting moment, Ren allowed himself to believe it was over.
But Juro's eyes were sharp. His instincts honed through war. As the children helped the elders settle down to rest, he suddenly froze. His body went still. A moment later, his voice rang out.
"Everyone, up. Move."
No hesitation. Just command.
Ren's heart dropped. "Sensei?"
Juro's eyes didn't leave the forest edge. "They followed us."
From the brush stepped five figures. One tall and masked, flanked by a lean Cloud chunin and three teenage genin with cruel grins.
Ren's blood ran cold.
Tetsu appeared by Juro's side like a shadow. "Orders?"
Juro's voice was low. "You take the civilians and flank wide. I'll hold the jonin. The rest… defend yourselves."
Then he dashed forward.
The jonin met him in a blur of fists and sparks, both of them vanishing into the trees, clashing like titans. The air crackled with chakra. The battle had begun.
"Taro! Aki! Kota!" Ren shouted. "With me!"
Tetsu was already herding the civilians through the trees, deflecting kunai and intercepting the chunin. They split. The kids broke the opposite way.
But the three genin didn't let them go far.
Steel rang out as one of the Cloud genin cut them off. Another dropped in from the branches above. The third moved to circle behind them.
"We've got the rats," one of them sneered.
Taro was the first to react. He rushed forward without hesitation, clashing with the larger of the enemy genin. Metal struck metal as they exchanged wild blows, Taro blocking with his kunai, ducking low.
Ren moved to help—but the second enemy blocked him, kunai whistling past his ear.
"Go!" Aki shouted. "Ren, take Kota and circle wide!"
"No!" Ren barked, already throwing a handful of shuriken. "We stay together!"
Kota hesitated, fear in his eyes.
Taro fought desperately, but it was clear—he was outmatched. The enemy genin was older, faster, more experienced. A knee slammed into Taro's side, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Taro!" Ren yelled.
He darted forward, ducking under a slash. Chakra surged to his feet—barely controlled, raw and wild. He slid beside Taro and blocked a killing blow with his kunai.
"Get up," Ren growled. "Get up, damn it."
Taro coughed, blood staining his lips. "Too fast…"
"Not alone," Ren whispered.
The enemy genin raised his arm for another strike.
Ren didn't think—he acted.
He surged forward, pouring chakra into his legs. The burst carried him low and fast. He twisted, planted his foot, and drove his kunai into the surprised genin's side.
The enemy choked in shock.
Then collapsed.
Ren stared at the boy he'd just killed. His hand trembled.
But there was no time.
Another scream—a sharp, painful one.
Aki was locked in combat with the third enemy genin. Kota was behind him, trying to stay alive, flinging rocks and desperate punches.
Ren turned just in time to see the second genin—the one Taro had fought—still alive. Still moving. With a twisted grin, he lunged for Ren.
And then—
"AAAHHHH!"
Taro tackled him.
The two hit the ground hard.
Ren's world slowed. He turned and saw Taro wrestle the blade from the genin's hand. But then—too slow.
A kunai drove into Taro's stomach.
"No!" Ren cried.
He leapt forward. Kicked the genin off. Drove another strike into the enemy's throat.
Blood sprayed. The genin stilled.
But so did Taro.
Ren dropped beside him. "Taro, no. Stay with me—hey!"
Taro's eyes fluttered. His lips moved.
"I couldn't… protect you."
Ren grabbed his shirt. "You idiot—you did! You saved me!"
But Taro's hand dropped limp.
His body still.
Ren sat there, stunned.
The sound of a jutsu being charged pulled him back.
He looked up—and saw it.
The last enemy genin, the strongest of the three, was surrounded by lightning. His jutsu crackled like a living storm.
The Cloud genin stood in a wide stance, fingers locked in a final seal. Lightning surged from his arms, spiraling around his body, growing louder, brighter, faster.
Aki didn't move.
He stood between the jutsu and Kota, arms spread wide, his body a wall.
Kota screamed, "Aki, run!"
Ren's breath caught in his throat as he dashed toward them. His legs burned. His chakra screamed through his limbs.
But he wouldn't make it in time.
The genin shouted the jutsu's name—words lost in the roar of chakra—and hurled the blast.
It ripped through the air like a dragon made of thunder.
Ren saw Aki twist, pushing Kota behind a tree with everything he had.
Then the jutsu hit.
Aki's body was flung backward, crashing into the dirt with a sickening thud. Smoke rose from his chest, his jacket torn, his side bleeding and scorched.
"No—AKI!" Ren screamed.
He didn't think.
Chakra surged into his feet as if guided by instinct—not forced, not commanded, but allowed.
He moved like lightning.
The enemy genin turned, eyes wide, caught off guard.
Ren was already there.
He struck low with a kunai, but the genin barely dodged, skidding backward, hand crackling with residual chakra.
"You pests just keep getting in my way," he growled.
He launched forward again, kunai raised, aiming straight for Ren's heart.
Ren couldn't dodge this time.
But before the blade could land—
Thunk.
A single kunai embedded itself deep in the enemy's throat.
The genin staggered.
His eyes went wide with shock.
He dropped to his knees. Then fell, twitching once, and was still.
Ren stood frozen.
Behind him, Aki's hand dropped, the kunai he'd thrown now gone.
Ren turned, eyes filling with tears as he dropped beside him.
"Aki… You…"
Aki coughed blood, each breath a struggle. "He was… gonna kill you."
Ren grabbed his hand. "Don't talk. We'll find a healer. You'll be fine. Just don't—"
"I'm not fine," Aki whispered, smiling weakly. "You know it."
Ren choked. "I couldn't save Taro. I couldn't save anyone."
"You saved Kota." Aki's voice was faint but firm. "If you hadn't taken out that first one… we'd all be dead."
Ren shook his head. "Don't say that. Don't…"
"You've always been calm," Aki said, eyes fluttering. "Even when we were scared. So… stay calm. Get stronger."
Ren's grip trembled. "Please don't die."
Aki coughed again, then smiled.
"Thank you… for being my friend."
His eyes closed.
Ren's shoulders slumped forward. The silence pressed against his chest like a weight.
He screamed.
It wasn't a scream of rage. It was grief. Raw and broken.
He clutched Aki's body, sobbing like a child, because that's what he was.
A child who had just lost everything.
---
Elsewhere in the Forest…
Juro's foot slid back across the dirt, barely avoiding a sweeping strike from the Cloud jonin's blade. He ducked low and retaliated with a burst of fire from his palms—only to watch it be dispersed with a crackling wind technique.
"You're holding back, Uchiha," the jonin growled.
Juro's eyes narrowed. "Am I?"
"You haven't even activated that famous eye of yours."
Juro exhaled slowly. The weight of the battle pressed on his shoulders—not from the fight itself, but from what he knew was happening deeper in the forest. The kids were fighting for their lives.
He had hoped… desperately hoped to avoid this.
Earlier, when Kota went missing, he'd chosen not to use the Sharingan.
He could have found the boy instantly. But he wanted the children to learn. To stumble, to grow, to try. That's why he'd used a summoning jutsu instead—one they'd never seen before. Something to spark curiosity. To light the first fire of learning.
That was what he wanted for them.
Now he feared it had cost them everything.
The jonin came at him again.
And this time, Juro let go.
He pushed chakra into his eyes.
The world slowed.
The tomoe spun.
The Sharingan bloomed red.
The jonin faltered for a second, just a second, as the air changed.
"I gave you a chance," Juro said coldly. "You wasted it."
He moved.
---
Back at the clearing…
Ren sat among the bodies of his friends, breathing shallow, skin pale. Kota knelt beside him, shaking with sobs, but alive.
And slowly… Ren opened his eyes.
For the first time, he felt it.
The chakra in his body wasn't meant to be dominated. It wasn't a beast to be tamed.
It wanted to move.
To flow.
To breathe.
He sat in silence as it pulsed faintly under his skin—not in harsh bursts, but like a gentle stream.
A strange clarity settled over him.
His journey had only begun.
And already, the cost was so high.
hands weaved signs too fast to follow.
"Time to die," the boy hissed.
Aki stood in front of Kota, arms spread wide.
"No!" Ren shouted.