Too Much to Stomach

After making the long journey from Haven to Kumo, Royalty was finally here. Eager to find out the fate of his parents, he wasted no time. Walking passed a parade of people, maneuvering through the bodies in the way, he would walk towards his home. It really has been years since he had walked through these streets. As he got closer and closer the stares would start to build up. It seemed as if people recognized that one little kid that used to live in the area. The one that had escaped to find a solution for all of his problems; was all grown up. 

Finally reaching his front gate, the Yuka jumped over it with no hesitation. Taking one last deep breath, he entered through the front door. Silence...

"Mom.... Dad....... Ashura...?" Looking left and right, he saw no signs of a response. He rushed through the house frantically. Where could everyone be? Royalty walked into the basement. As he was getting closer he could hear heavy panting. It sounded as if somebody was going through something severe. 

Entering the basement, he saw his uncle laying in a stretcher with tubes and monitors surrounding him. He was going into shock. The most important detail was his left leg being severed at the kneecap. His right arm had also been severed up to the triceps. Ashura was patched up previously but it still looked bad. Roy's presence had alerted his mom. The two locked eyes and were speechless for a few seconds.

"Mo...," Royalty was cut off as his mother ran to him. 

"My baby boy.." Tears started to rain down her face. "I thought you were.. dead. I can't believe you're back." Royalty couldn't seem to hold back his tears as well. It had been so long. The feeling was so nice, he didn't even want to ask questions. He just wanted to live in this moment. 

"I know mom..... I thought the same.."

As Kyson was laying in his bed, the rain had woke him up. His eyes opening, it felt like an average day for him. As he got up from his bed and walked over towards the window, looking outside and not seeing as much people as usual. As the day had a weird feeling to it, Kyson just wasn't feeling it today for some odd reason. Wasn't really sad or anything, just didn't feel like doing anything. He was kind of bored so he thought he'd go see Royalty today. The two could catch up since its been years since they have been home. Plus he hasn't seen his teacher aka Royalty's dad since they left the village years ago. So it was settled, the boy went to freshen up and got ready to head out.

Putting on his trench, putting his hood over his head as he shielded the rain. Most people didn't really like like the rain but Kyson loved it. It was always refreshing to him, rain to him was like a sunny day to the normal person. Walking down memory lane through the village as he was walking towards Royalty's house. He had almost forgot where it was, its been so long since he had even been here. I think it was this way. He thought as he made a turn to walk towards some more houses. Having his chakra suppressed, he wanted to surprise his family. Since his dad could easily sense his chakra, though he doubt he'd still rememeber his chakra signature.

Walking towards his front door, the Hozuki took a deep breathe. Its been years since he had seen them. They were almost like family to him since they saw him as one of their own. The rain was steadily pouring on Kyson as he almost lost track of where he was as he was reminiscing.

*Knock Knock*

He waited to see if someone was going to open the door. A smirk would come off his face as he was getting a bit excited. Hopefully everyone was home so he would wait patiently to see if someone would open the door. As he waited for a couple minutes. He decided to check the door to see if it was open. And to his surprised, his front door was open. It be rude to just walk into someone house without permission to enter. But he was practically family so he would just walk on in. But he would at least unsuppress his chakra so he was at least able to be sensed. Feeling chakra signatures coming from below them, they must be in the basement. Kyson looks for the door and decides to enter the basement.

As he walks down the stairs and see's everything that's down there. He didn't know what to say.. he was speechless. Ashura was all bandaged up and was missing limbs. Looking towards Royalty and his mother.. he had a shocked confused look on his face. "W-what.. happened."

Looking into his mother's eyes, he could see signs of happiness. Alongside that emotion, came a frightful feeling. Something made his mother uneasy. The curiosity was eating him alive. He had to know what happened.

"Mom.. Wh," Royalty had gotten cut off again. Mothers know everything. Even the things they're child would ask. It was like she was reading his mind. 

"Your father tried to look for you and Kyson... He was apprehended and sentenced to execution..... They thought he had helped you two escape. Ashura tried to sacrifice himself for your father.. They tortured him. He's undergoing surgery because he's suffering from organ failure. I'm trying to help him to the best of my ability."

Everything he had been told put him in shock. Royalty had always experienced nightmares of his parents' death. Having seen his mother, he thought everything would be alright.. Just as Royalty mustered the courage to speak, he felt the presence of Kyson upstairs. As he walked down, Royalty looked into his eyes with nothing but pain. It would speak for itself.

After he went down into the basement, seeing what was down there left him with a lot of questions. Looking towards Royalty, it was nothing but sorrow within his eyes. A look he hasn't see in a while since the Suna takeover. Just as things were starting to lighten up for Kyson as he adjusted to thie new way of living. It seemed like the two could never catch a break. But other than seeing Ashura in his condition, Kyson was still wondering where his sensei was. 

"W-What happened to Ashura... and where's your father?" Kyson said. He wanted to know what was going on and why all of this was happening. He didn't have much say, but from the look of things... something had happened. Looking back towards Ashura, he had no words to describe his condition. But even after seeing that, he was still curious to see where his teacher was.

Hoping that Kyson would guess the answer to his questions from the look on Roy's face, he didn't get it. It was already too much to handle. The shock had still been there. Roy would let go on his mom and turn towards Kyson. Right as he tried to speak..

"He's.." Before he could say anything else, Ashura's body started to shake violently. Royalty and his mom rushed towards his body. His mother grabbed some equipment and attempted to inject him with a sedative while Roy would hold him down. After given the sedative, Ashura's body would calm down. His breathing was slow down as well. Moments later, his heart rate would stop. 

"No.... I can't lose both.." Royalty then frantically tried to grab the defibrillator. His mother would halt him from using it. She nodded no very slowly. It was over for him. It was time for him to rest. Royalty then looked back over to Kyson. Tears flooded his eyes. This was one of the hardest moments he'd have to live through.

After Kyson had asked about the situation at hand. He finally had gotten the idea of what happened but he still didn't believe it. Royalty was cut off as Ashura's body began going into a seizure state. It seemed like his body moved on his own, Kyson hurried towards him just like Royalty and his mother did. He would help Royalty hold down Ashura as his body went into shock. Not knowing what to do in the situation at moment. He woke up today like any other average day, he wasn't prepared to be going through something like this. But luckily, Ashura's body began to calm down. He started to feel relieved until.. they noticed his heart rate began to slow down by the second. 

He just stood there and watched his heart beat become slower and slower. Kyson being able to sense energy more efficiently due to his sage senses. What was just a little small portion of life, was decreasing. As He attempted to put his hand out to see if he could just help with anything or maybe help heal. He heard Royalty mention he didn't want to lose both. At that moment, his entire body froze. His eye's grew wide as he didn't know what to even say at the moment. If he was lost of words before, he definitely was now. Losing both? N-no.. it can't be...

Kyson backed up from the three of them. Walking back and almost falling over a stool, but he was able to catch himself by falling back onto the stool as he sat there with a hurt look on his face. The worst part about it was that he didn't even cry.. only because he couldn't. It was like all of his tears ran out after the Suna invasion. He just, couldn't take in what was going on in front of him. But not only that, seeing the pain in Royalty's face. Kyson almost felt like coming back to Kumo was a huge mistake. If they never came back here, they wouldn't have witnessed any of this. But he knew that wasn't what he wanted. The two always wanted to come back here deep down. Whether it was for a good or bad cause. 

With all of this happening, almost felt like it was his fault. If they had never left, none of this would have happened. His dad wouldn't have risked trying to find us and Ashura wouldn't have been tortured. "Was leaving a big mistake?" Kyson said faintly. Almost feeling like it was his fault this all happened. If he knew all of this would have happpened, he would've never escaped in the first place..

Not wanting to spend his time mourning too much over his losses, Royalty tried fixing his composure. He was more mature than he was before. With this life, comes wins and losses. Although the losses were starting to overshadow the wins, a glimmer of hope still shined upon them. It was time to handle this not like a child, but like a matured adult. He got up and thought it over. With his head facing the ground, he muttered.

"Mom. Collect your things. You're not staying here. There is too much painful memories that haunt this place. My intentions were never to leave you guys. I just had to get strong enough to handle myself. I was always such a disappointment to father. He didn't see it in me to be like him. We're leaving in an hour. Hurry up." His mother had never heard him act so assertive before. It was like he was a whole different person. This is what happens when you let experiences define you. 

After his remarks, he got up and went upstairs. While rustling in the kitchen, he found a box of matches. Slipping them into his coat pocket, he then sat on the counter to reflect on his past and future decisions. The old him would have put the blame entirely on himself. Although he still does feel as if he is somewhat at fault, it was the cruel world he lived in that forced these rash decisions. He sat back until his head hit the overhead cabinets. What's done is done. His mind had been made up.

Still sitting on the stool, taking in what just happened. Witnessing not 1 but 2 difficult tragedies at the moment. Its almost like a good ending never comes out of this place. But that was the reason he was here. Faith brought him back here for a reason, and it was to prevent even more tragedies like this. Though it be unrealistic to stop death completely, but he wanted to lower those numbers. 

Kyson took notice as to what Royalty was doing. Telling his mother to pack her things as they were preparing to head out soon. Royalty would then head upstairs. Kyson would take his time walking back up there. Saw as he was in the kitchen sitting alone, he would walk in and lean back against the wall. Both of his arms crossed as he was speechless for a moment. 


"Where do you plan on taking her?" Kyson said out of curiosity. It was obviously a lot going on in his mind right now. Seeing two of his closest relatives pass away. But he wanted to know what his plan was, so if there was anyway he could help. They were best friends after all, though the word "best friends" was probably an understatement. They were more like brothers if anything.

Roy expected Kyson to come up to him. It wasn't smart leaving him in the dark but he couldn't muster up the courage to tell him right away. The truth is, his plan wasn't specific. It just had an outline. It still needed to be filled in with details somehow. Both of the shinobi sat in silence for a while after Kyson had asked him question. Roy felt that Kyson would think the idea would be stupid but he gave it a shot anyway. Kyson never judged him no matter what.

"Away," was all Roy could say right now. He began to be silent for a few more moments until getting down from the counter. He looked at Kyson with a bit of determination in his eyes. "Away from here.. Somewhere where nobody resides. I can't lose everyone.." Royalty looked up at the ceiling trying not to cry once again. He kept his composure. "There were plenty of empty places when we traveled. Just gotta pick one," he said with a shrug. It was all he had to say right now.

Hearing his words, what Kyson thought he meant turned out to be right. Looking outside as the rain was falling upon the village. Its funny, wanting to run away and get out of this place. It was no different than 5 years ago. Accept its the exact opposite, we're the ones staying and telling others to leave. If this all occurred sometime before, it be almost impossible. But in the position they are in now, it wouldn't be difficult. "I see..." Kyson said.

Looking around his pockets on his jacket. he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. He would then begin to check his pants pockets and his few pouches where he keeps certain items. "Where is it.. I don't think I ever took it out........ here it it is." Kyson said as he took out a map. It was the same map Maku had gave him to find Hoshi. As Kyson unfolded it and took a look at it. He walked over to Royalty and placed it on the counter, right next to him. "There's a few places where she can go, but I'm not sure which one you'd rather take her." Kyson said as he looked at it. Letting Royalty look at it. He'll let him make the decision on where to go.