Sitting on a large patch of grass, the beach before him and the forest behind him, Haruto waited patiently. He wasn't annoyed that he had to wait for his partner, but was more worried were something to happen to her. Hearing the dead leaves that littered the floor crumple under the feet of someone behind him, Haruto didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that Ruby had arrived. The furious under-the-breath-mutterings gave her away almost immediately.
"You're finally here. Glad to see that you're fine."
"Ugh." She brushed chunks of dirt off her robes. "Yeah. Just really fucking dirty after they buried me so fucking deep into the ground."
"Buried you?"
Ruby hummed, "That ice punk's senbons pretty much killed me, or put me into a near death state. They must've thought I was dead, which was a good thing since I wouldn't have had an excuse if I was still alive. I only just woke up only a while ago underground."
"Speaking of which, were you there when my sister—"
"Yep. But at that point I was already passing out. So I don't know much of what happened afterwards." Ruby glanced at Haruto, who had discarded his mask to his side. His face was emotionless, but she could easily see the worry that plagued him earlier on. It made her smile to see the man she cared for care so deeply for his family. She thought it was a pretty attractive trait. "That must've sucked, huh? She's right there, not too far from you, and you can't do anything to help her. And you're afraid that she'll slip right out of your fingers. I know that feeling"
Ruby's eyes grew tired and old as she stared out at the sea. The unforgettable image of a woman with beautiful black and red hair, smiling down at her despite the bruises on her face and body came fresh into her mind. "Speaking from experience, I get how you must've felt... But how did you know that she'd be able to beat the Kyuubi?" Haruto obviously hadn't intervened to stop Naruko's anger.
Haruto closed his eyes as he listened to the gentle waves crashing into the shore. Words from so long ago reminded him of why he had held his ground and believed in Naruko.
"Haru-nii! I'm gonna be the Hokage, so you better trust me and my decisions, 'kay?! I'll make Konoha super awesome! If you don't believe me I'm gonna be really mad!"
Opening his eyes, Haruto joined Ruby at staring out at the setting sun and orange sea, "Because I trust her."
Ruby grinned and socked Haruto in the arm again, "I also noticed that you didn't blow the bridge up. I was pretty disappointed by that. Because of you I had to dig my way out of my own grave instead of disappearing with the explosion. You know how damn troublesome it is?"
"I wouldn't know." Haruto smirked as he dusted sand off of his mask, "I tend not to die so easily."
His retort earned him a scowl. "You're the worst." She gave him a thumbs down and poked her tongue out at him. They descended into silence before Haruto spoke up.
"So... Did you enjoy making friends with my sister?"
"Yeah, I—Eh?!" Ruby recoiled in shock, "How'd you—?" Immediately after, she covered her mouth, realising that she had given herself away regardless if or not he had been lying. Hell. They just had an entire conversation about Naruko. "Shit! You tricked me!"
"No. I didn't trick you. You're just dumb, Ruby." A middle finger was sent his way, "After a little bit of thinking, I could tell that you were meeting my sister." Haruto admitted. While he had been working in the cave, painting the paper bombs and testing out a new technique that he was developing, Haruto had picked up on the faint scent that lingered on Ruby. It was only after a few days that he finally pieced together where that smell was from. A conditioner Naruko used for her hair. "She also has a strange knack for making friends with anyone she wants to."
"Yeah, well... Naruko-chan's pretty cool. I'm her big sister, y'know? So it kinda sucks that she thinks I'm dead. Eh, I'm sure I can surprise her in the future." Ruby stood up and started to shake her feet vigorously, sending sand in all directions. Getting sand in her sandals annoyed her greatly.
Haruto stood as well, placing his mask on his forehead. "Here." Haruto pulled the twin swords out from behind him and tossed them towards her. She plucked them out of the air, examining them on both sides.
"Oooh." They were sharp and shiny. She liked sharp and shiny. "I can just picture these babies in fresh blood!" With some help from Haruto, she sealed her new weapons into the seals in her palms. Haruto had modified it not too long ago to store even more objects.
"I noticed you didn't take Kubikiribocho with you?"
"Nah. Those damned villagers would probably flip if I did. Naruko-chan would too." The idea of angering her little sister after tricking her into thinking that she had died was not a pleasant one. And she knew that Naruko wouldn't take too kindly to the violation of the dead's graves.
"Ruby respecting the dead...?" He muttered absently with a soft chuckle, "That's a first." Ruby shrugged and proceeded to hug her scythe, nearly impaling her own face on it.
"I'm happy enough with my scythe as it is. So I guess it ain't that big of a loss." She gave it a big kiss on the middle blade and Haruto grimaced a little, hoping that she had at least washed it since she last used it.
In fact, he just hoped she had washed it at all. Then again, it's owner was Ruby—so probably not.
"We'd better get moving soon." Haruto slid his mask over his face and readjusted his bag on his back. "I don't want us to get caught lingering around Wave. I'm quite tired of fighting for today." Haruto started walking on the beach away from the way they had entered Wave from, going in the complete opposite direction. It was a long detour, but it ensured that they didn't get caught by shinobi who would recognise him and under the guise of evening, they could hide even better.
Few recognised Ruby for many reasons. Mainly because she lingered around Yugakure before her time with Haruto, thus narrowing her notoriety. Not to mention that she was considered to be a rumour and a myth, cooked up by the locals of Yugakure to keep people away. Many shinobi were also unwilling to go to the distant Yugakure to search for an apparently unkillable shinobi. What kind of idiot would do that? It was a waste of time and effort. There were many factors in play for why she was unrecognisable, and Haruto attributed this to Ruby's ever-changing luck.
Ruby joined him in standing, "Where we headed to next? Oooh~! Can we go to a casino? I really want to try gambling." Knowing her fluctuating luck, it probably wasn't that good of an idea. Haruto didn't have to think twice about it.
"You'd just get mad after you lose your money and start killing everyone. So no."
Ruby sneered at the idea, "Whaaaat... What a ridiculous assumption! You wanna fuckin' die?!" Bursting out into laughter, the two walked together with the intention of leaving the country they had a hand in saving.
"Aww... I think they're cute together. I can tell that they like each other a lot—"
"Quiet, fool." Black Zetsu hissed harshly to his white counter part. "Akatsuki needs three more members before it is completed. If the two of them join, then only one will be left."
"Yeah, that's if nobody else betrays us." White Zetsu giggled happily, "I hope they do though. And if they do, I hope they're chewy too! It's been a while since we've eaten unique shinobi." He sighed sadly, shaking their heads much to Black Zetsu's annoyance, "All the other shinobi have been so subpar in taste!"
Black Zetsu sighed before they sunk back into the tree branch, leaving the two unaware shinobi to their next adventure while the split-personality plant man headed to Iwagakure to scout out the potential last member.