"Suicide is the purest form of criticism life gets."

Nothing. Nothing but the forever abyss, a floor of darkness, and a streetlight which emulated such seldom light that a flashlight would have been brighter, but it was there that she sat.

She was crying but with no idea why. Her gut felt in knots, her head pounded in pain as if there was someone banging her head with a hammer, trying to get inside.

Questions she asked herself remained unanswered as there was no one to answer and nowhere to find them.

How old was she?

Where is she?

What's her name?

She didn't even have a clue on what her face looked like, only she was pale.

She wailed hard and called out another time to the void, "Hello?!"

Once silence answered back, she went back to cry on her knees. The only thing she could remember is the darkness and beady, orange eyes.

"Ruby Rose," a voice echoed from the void.

That's her name. She only just now remembered at the sound of it. But more importantly, there was a man's voice that called for her from each side of the darkness.

"Who's there?"

"Does the name of Summer Rose ring a bell, Ruby?"

Ruby looked at her damp knees, wet with her tears. Terrified for reasons unknown, she hugged them.

"That's my mother," she cried harder. "Why am I crying?"

"Because she died." The echo made no attempt to put it lightly.

"But that doesn't explain where I'm here." She wondered her eyes over the dark sky, which has now become full of speeding, gray clouds. "Where are you? What is this place?"

"Do you want another chance?" The voice echoed multiple times. Like five people were saying it.

As she heard this, her heart started to race. "Another chance? What do you-?"

A pain pierced her stomach and made her throw up. In a dizzy vision, she noticed the multiple, mixing colors of the vomit and something that looked like melted capsules. "Pills? Did I-?"

"You need to answer my question. There is not much time."

"Yes! Please! Give me another chance!"

"Very well."

And like that, the pain ceased making it easier to breathe once again. Ruby blinked and collapsed. Upon her slow blinks, she could see the bottom of a white kimono.

The same voice, no longer an echo, said one last thing to her, "You are going to a place very different where the turn of events has gone terribly wrong. And there, you will help a person. Then I will send you home."

Ruby tried to look at the man's face but she felt exhausted, like the essence of her being was being drained. She then met an even deeper darkness and rendered into a sleep.

Few would be happy to be surrounded by nothing but a clear sky, blazing sun, and rough sand. But after the black abyss, Ruby would welcome anything. At least that's what she initially thought but she dreaded it all. If it weren't for the hooded cloak, her pale skin would be her favorite color.

From under her cloak, she grabbed the water canteen and tilted her head to drink the last of the water, even tried to force more out of his like a bottle of sauce. Nothing. She groaned and placed it back under her cloak.

Her arms were bare but the cloak went around her entire body, so she kept her arms under it to prevent them from being burned. The cloak was like a giant cape, but it barely came down to her waist. Under it, she wore a shirt that matched the color of the sand.

Before dawn, she woke up in an oasis. Perfect grass, shady trees, and a small lake for her canteen. Ruby remembered only a few minor details of her old life. Mainly that she was around fourteen years of age and wanted to go to an Academy to be some sort of Huntress. She remembered her mother's name, Summer Rose, and that she just heard the news of her mother's death. And she couldn't take it.

Even in this heat, Ruby felt a chill over her skin. It made her slightly squirm. Could she really have done that?

Sand made a sand trail from her dragging feet. She's walked for the entire day in this direction. She wondered what part of the world she was in, but heeding the man's words, maybe it wasn't anywhere near her home. Although, she probably wouldn't recognize it at first.

She had no food, to begin with, and she was now out of the water. The sun mocked her as it begun its descent. A soft, irritated groan came from the girl, "Why do you get to sleep, sun?"

As the vibrant purple horizon rose behind her, a thought came to her. Before, she dreamed of being a hunter. But a hunter for what?

The night took sky away from the day and being in the desert, it's possibly the desert will get extremely cold. The thought of running to get out of the desert was tempting, but she figured it would only make her die faster. Instead, she looked in the bag that she woke up with. She had a kunai knife and a box of matches. However, there was nothing to ablaze, except, maybe she should burn the bag itself? Perhaps there'll be a tree ahead.

She thought she heard something behind and took a glance back. Nothing but her tracks in the sand, the circular, large moon, and the sensation of chilled air. Ruby gazed at the moon. Ruby didn't wake up until almost dawn, so she didn't see it last night, but now it was obvious she was in the past or someplace entirely different. The moon was whole.

It seems each time she sees or hears something of her previous life, she will remember more. She faced away from the moon only to face a giant scorpion. Pincers as large as her came striking but she jumped in the air and avoided it. However, it used its tail to knock her out of the sky.

Rolling onto the sand, Ruby rushed to stand up and sprint away from the scorpion and forward to a steep ridge. She looked over her shoulder and saw the scorpion galloping straight for her. "When have scorpions ever galloped?!"

She sprinted harder and jumped on the ridge. Her left hand slipped but she gripped with her right hand. Immediately, she grabbed hold one of the ridge's rocks and she climbed up. After she got to the top, she looked down to see the scorpion slowing and completely giving up. It dug into the sand and disappeared.

Ruby grinned as she sat her butt down at the top of the ridge and let her feet dangle. She then made a fart noise as she stuck her tongue out. After she took a breather, she scooted back on the sand to give her leg room and stood up to continue her travel.

As her heart calmed down, she realized the chilled air made her sweat even colder. She used both of her hands to rub her arms. "It's not as cold it could be but still, I need to find something to burn."

The sand underneath her started to rise. She tried to jump away, but a pincer swapped her away. The girl flopped on the sand, and although she was exhausted, she got to her knees. About to push from the sand to stand up, she noticed the giant scorpion. Out of options, and realization that the stinger was targeting her, she gave up. At its stinger's strike, she closed her eyes.

But nothing pierced her. Instead, she heard a voice as rough as the sand. "Are you just going to let yourself die?"

Her eyes popped open to see that a wall of sand stopped the scorpion's stinger. She glanced up and saw a young man with red hair stand on a blob of sand. It was a spectacular feat, like a cloud.

From where she was from, things similar to this might have been possible but this was amazing. He held his hand towards the scorpion, and like he was grabbed a fly out of the air, he closed his grasp. Sand around the scorpion moved like water, even giving the appearance that the scorpion was melting, and eventually, the scorpion disappeared under it. But this time it won't come back with a surprise attack.

The wall in front of Ruby collapsed but she still sat there. Why did she want to be a huntress? It couldn't have been to hunt creatures of similar caliber to the scorpion because that is a just sport. A huntress did it to protect. What were the things that they hunted?

"I sensed vibration and waited to meet whoever it was, but after sensing something bigger, I came. But now I must ask, who are you?" He had a rough voice and his eyes strained like he hasn't slept for days, maybe years. A white robe hanged around his body but nothing like the one that mysterious man had.

"You sensed through the sand?" She narrowed her eyes. Even his skin looked a bit rough.

He merely looked at her. "You are not a threat if you needed help with a scorpion. Are you looking for Suna?" Maybe? Was she? She has no idea what she's supposed to do. To answer, she slowly nodded.

"I'll take you there. The chunin exams were interrupted by an enemy so we've been keeping careful watch around the village."

"Village?" Despite not even knowing what a chunin was, she lightened up at the word 'village.'

"Yes."

Subtle. Has talking to people always been hard for her? It doesn't help when the boy is being anti-social. "My name is Ruby."

"Gaara, of the Sand." Fitting. She still sat on the sand, even when a cloud of it departed from the ground and to the air. As it followed close to Gaara's own sand cloud, she let herself collapse on it. Soon enough, even her mind was in the clouds.

Ruby woke up in a comfortable bed. It was a shame her dirty, smelly clothes made a mess of it. After she walked a whole day in the blazing sun yesterday, she felt blisters on the bottom of her feet. At least they had the courtesy to take off the sandals and socks.

Not yet up to face the land of the awake, she took the thin sheet and pulled it over her head. Her pillow almost split into two as hard she pushed her face into it. 'Just a few more hours.'

She heard a knock but not she didn't to deal with anyone right now and pretended to be asleep. Seconds later, she heard the door open, a few footsteps, and then the door close. She pushed the sheet off and looked at the wardrobe dresser by the wall. A note and some clothes. A smile broke through her face when she saw the red hooded cloak. It was a little battered, but she already liked it.

Ruby stood up, only to immediately sit back down. Her bare, blistered feet felt like fire on the hard, sandstone floor. Noticing the sandals by her bedside, she put them on and walked to the wardrobe to read the note. "Here are some clothes. Bathroom and shower all the way to the left on this side of the hallway. Then see Lord Gaara in the main room."

Lord Gaara?

She placed the note on the side and lifted the cloak. It would probably hang to the bottom of her waist and hide her entire face and body like her other one. Putting it to the side, she then looked at the clothes. Mesh armor shirt, a red, sleeveless midriff, and black shorts.

Instead of redressing, she exited and wandered down the hallway to locate what she assumed is the shower room. Best guess, this is the leader's own building due to the large hallway and rooms. She walked into a shower stall, undressed, placed her clothes on the shower door, and turned on the cold water. Too bad there was no shampoo, but cold water on her scalp and feet felt like heaven.

The shower stalls each had a small window at head length. Ruby built up enough courage to stand on her tippy toes, seeing the village through it. It was more like a city-state by how large it was.

After she dried off and walked back to the room, she suited up with the mesh armor under the shirt and finally stood in front of the door that said, 'Kazekage.' When her hand was an inch from knocking, she heard dull words of Gaara, "Come in."

She twisted the knob and squirmed in. It really was Gaara who was the leader, not even that much older than her. "Hello, Lord Gaara."

His eyes studied her before he locked his fingers together, "You don't belong to our village so there is no need for you to call me your Lord. I hope you enjoyed your night."

He sounded really bored, or tired. Ruby imagined it came with the job. A stressful job would do that. And there had to be nights where he didn't sleep, as his eyes strained like he hasn't slept in years.

"I did. Thank you very much, Lord Gaara," Ruby said as she bowed. Her composed nature was merely an act as in her mind, she screamed at herself. 'He just told you not to call him Lord Gaara and you did it anyways! Why are you like this?!'

"Bowing isn't necessary, either. But I do have some questions."

She doubted she could really answer anything unless it was about what breed a dog is. Nonetheless, she took a seat in front of his desk. "I'll try to answer what I can."

"First, I wondered where you are from. It's obvious you're not a shinobi."

"What's a shinobi?" When Gaara merely looked at her instead of explaining, she continued. "I remember almost nothing but I know I was training to be a hunter."

"Remember nothing? Are you saying you have amnesia?"

Ruby nodded her head for a yes.

"Kirigakure has the hunter-nin corps, do you think you may have come from there?"

She shook her head sideways, "I don't think I'm from this country at all."

Ruby had no idea where she is. She had no idea what Kirigakure was. She couldn't really concentrate as Gaara kept his glare on her. She resorted to looking around the room, anything to not make eye contact.

"You are in Sunagakure. I've already told you my name," Gaara explained. Ruby wondered if every village ended with 'gakure.'

"What do you know about chakra?"

She narrowed her eyes at such a weird question, "Chakra? Is that like an aura?"

Ruby only just now remembered anything about aura. If she recalled correctly, it was like the life force within a person. Visible, even. Making a person stronger in certain ways. But whatever aura is, it was now painfully clear that she is not from anywhere near here.

"Before you set out in this country, I must insist you train under one of my teams."

"Train?"

"Matsuri, you may come in now."

A young, brown-haired girl come in to stand by the seated Ruby. She was clearly outfitted correctly for combat tasks, although still appeared comfortable with what it was. "Good morning, Lord Gaara. Is this the girl you wanted me to take along?"

"Yes. This is Ruby."

"I'm Ruby! But you can just call me- uh, Ruby." She started off excitedly strong but fell short at the end.

Matsuri smiled, "Hey, I'm Matsuri."

Ruby was a little shorter than Matsuri, and her teammate, Yukata. But as they walked across the desert, she felt her vision deranged from the heat. Gaara gave them an easy mission to do, so Matsuri said there was no need to get Mikoshi, her third teammate. He would probably take a simple water gather too serious.

"It's sooooo hot! Why is it so hot?!" Ruby had her cloak on but she still held an arm in front of her eyes to block the sun. She gazed down and away from the bright sun and to her sandals.

Before they left, Matsuri saw that the sandals Ruby had were dreadful and bought her a more decent pair. Her socks still appeared at the toes, but straps wrapped around her feet and ankles.

Yukata laughed, "Because we are in a desert and it's daytime!"

"But it is sooooo hot, hot, hot, hot!" Ruby cried.

"Do you know any Jutsu, Ruby?" Matsuri inquired.

"Jutsus?" Ruby let it leaned under her cloak as it began to cook. "Nope. What are those?"

"Well, what did you do with this 'aura?' Any amazing abilities? That is what chakra does."

Ruby pouted, "Truth is, I don't remember much. I just know that aura represented our soul, made us stronger somehow."

"Are you saying you have amnesia?" Yukata asked.

Ruby swiped a drop of sweat from her forehead. "It sure feels like it."

"We are almost there! Halfway to be exact."

It's been around five hours since they left so the mission will take a total of around twenty hours. Better than being chased by a giant scorpion. Still...

"It's soooo hot!" Ruby groaned. "At least those trees will give us some shade. Where are we heading to, anyway?"

"There is a village that gives bilk of water," Matsuri informed. "They live by the sea and know how to purify it. The route there has never had any bandits or anything so it's easy."

"How are we going to carry so much water?" Ruby asked. It's no wonder why they need the water. They live in a desert.

"You'll see!"

As they reached the shaded trees, Ruby took her hood off. She had an asymmetrical bob, black hair with tips that faded to red. The back of her hair was a little shorter than the front, and her bangs tried their best to cover her forehead.

"Your hair is really pretty. And I've never seen silver-eyes before!" Yukata said.

"Silver-eyes? Sorry, I haven't looked in a mirror since..." Ruby wanted to finish that sentence but the shower room in the village had no mirror. How does the bathroom in the main building of a village surrounded by entirely of sand have no mirrors?

Matsuri halted in place, "You don't know what you look like?"

"Guess not."

Ruby looked at the top of her hands as she frowned. Just who is she?

Matsuri suggested settling down for the night. Ruby was no stranger to fire-making but the other two took care of it. After they illuminated a warm, orange glow upon sticks surrounded by rocks, the girls mimicked the rocks and surrounded the campfire. After Yukata turned to sleep on her mat, Matsuri wanted Ruby to try and accumulate her 'aura.'

"I have a theory that this aura might just be what we call chakra. Have you used this 'aura?'"

Ruby frowned, "I don't remember if I even had an aura."

Matsuri hummed thoughts to herself, "Well, everyone has chakra. Oh, I know! I'll show you a jutsu technique!"

Ruby paid attention to what Matsuri showed her. She did some hand gesture, focused before she rotated to a tree and walked up it. Amazed, Ruby watched carefully at Matsuri's feet. When they suddenly detached from the tree, Ruby rushed to catch Matsuri. But she flipped in the air and landed safely on her feet.

Matsuri chuckled when she saw the spooked Ruby, "Sorry for scaring you. Guess I should have told you I was going to jump down."

Ruby narrowed her skeptical eyes to Matusri. "So that little green glow around your body was chakra?"

Her grin went flat as she furrowed her eyes. Puzzled, she asked for Ruby to be less vague. "Green glow?"

"When you were focusing your chakra, you were emitting a very faint, green glow. I think that's what aura looked like."

Matsuri was still confused, "You mean, you can see chakra?"

"I guess so?" Maybe chakra is just aura but stronger? She had no way to be sure, it's just an assumption.

"Maybe you're a sensor type ninja and don't remember? You did say you were a hunter."

"Maybe."

"How about you try? Try to build up this... aura." Matsuri laced her fingers together, with the index and middle finger pointing up. "Use this hand sign. It is the tiger. Practically required for beginners."

"Okay." Ruby copied Matsuri's hands and closed her eyes. Chakra. Aura."How do you build up chakra?"

Matsuri put her finger on her bottom lip and hummed a thoughtful tune, "I don't really know how to explain it. It's kinda like looking within yourself. Molding your physical energy with your spiritual energy."

Ruby unfolded her fingers and placed them on the ground. "And everyone can do that?"

"Well, everyone has chakra but a good amount of the population don't know how to use it properly. In fact, there's a jutsu style that is completely independent of properly using it. It's called taijutsu."

"Do you know taijutsu?"

"Sure. Everyone knows at least some of it. It's just body techniques. However, some people go to the extreme with it. Shira, a boy I fought in the Chunin exams only had taijutsu."

Maybe she should learn some of the taijutsu. But, at this point, she'd really like a weapon of some kind.

"Okay. I'll give it another go." She did the tiger seal Matsuri showed her and closed her eyes. But after some time, there was nothing. "Pooh."

Matsuri laughed, "It's fine. I don't think anyone could get it on their first try. I begin when I was just seven."

Ruby fell backward onto the bedroll Matsuri was gracious enough to bring for her. "Oh, well! Tomorrow is a new day, right?"

The bedroll wasn't perfect but it was better than nothing. Ruby is just glad to be away from the desert. They were about an hour into the shaded forest, so hopefully, there won't be any more giant scorpions. Despite her earlier exhaustion, she felt awake enough to gaze at the stars. The only real problem was that the branches and leaves blocked her sight of the beautiful, twinkling dots that glittered the landscape above. And the moon.

"Hey, Ruby?"

Ruby turned her head to the right to see Matsuri gazed up to the sky, too. However, her face was much more concentrated than Ruby's carefree smile. "Yeah?"

"What do you think of Gaara?" She quietly asked.

Ruby has only talked to him twice. Although both times he was composed and serious, beyond that sand wall he appears to be a very kind individual. At least to her.

"If I said to round it up in one word, I would say amiable."

Eyes can only tell so much, but Ruby hasn't even known Matsuri that long, either. Eventually, Matsuri smiled and looked over at Ruby. She said the most grateful 'thank you' Ruby has ever heard before she turned around to sleep. Ruby wondered what that was about, but once she turned her head back to the stars, she heard Matsuri say something else, "Goodnight, Ruby."

Ruby smiled and closed her eyes, "Goodnight, Matsuri."

Darkness. It was the kind of darkness that isn't due to lack of light, but the lack of anything at all. Ruby has been familiar with it for a few days. It just sleep without dreams. Maybe dreams don't exist in the world? Or maybe a person can't dream in a world they don't belong to? Only sounds. A hard breathing. Ripping of fabric. The sounds of someone trying to fluster up what to say, and finally a shout.

"Wake up!"

Ruby popped her eyes opened and rolled to the side. She barely avoided what looked like a giant wolf's grasp. Another swipe, she rolled backward and noticed that Yukata grabbed her to keep her steady. To her side, Matsuri watched the beast carefully. It looked too familiar, like something she has seen in a bad dream. A muscular wolf slouching as it stood on its hind legs. Some skeleton parts protruded out of his flesh. Even as it growled, Ruby wasn't scared of it. The scorpion was much more fearsome.

"It won't be able to leap on us if we're in the forest," Ruby said. "The trees would get in the way."

Matsuri shooked her head, "But we wouldn't be able to see it without the fire. It's as black as charcoal, so it wouldn't need to leap if it could just sneak up on us."

Ruby glared at the beast. It hasn't attacked yet, instead, it opted for a long growl. It sniffed as it took turns staring at the girls. The fire was between them. Good thing they made it big.

"Fire. I have matches and my kunai in my bag," Ruby exclaimed.

Yukata was curious, "And what would we do with the matches?"

"Don't you two know Jutsus that fire burst of wind?" Ruby asked. Yukata and Matsuri looked at each other before they agreed. "I need to get my bag by my bedroll, distract him!"

"We can do that!" Matsuri said as she brought out her johyo. She ran to the side of the fire as Ruby and Yukata begin to run for the bag. The beast was about to slash for Ruby, but Matsuri used the rope of her johyo to keep his arm at bay.

Ruby grabbed her bag and jumped away from the wolf. Taking a match, she lit it, but instead of using that to fume the flame blast, she lit the whole box. Once it was a strong, single flame, she threw it at the beast and ducked. Matsuri pulled for the joyho to come back from the wolf's wrist and Yukata used a small wind jutsu, blasting the flame to cover the wolf. It made a sorrowful cry.

However, the fire ceased, and the wolf walked closer to Ruby. It looked weak. She got to her knee and reached into her bag. Out of her bag, she got her kunai knife and firmly grasped it. She struck with her kunai and stabbed the wolf's abdomen. It screeched and fell into the campfire before it scattered like a ceasing flame.

Matsuri used an upper arm to wipe her forehead and sat down, "That must have been some kind of summoning Jutsu. There's nothing left."

Ruby stared at the fire. "It didn't have an aura or anything. Like it was soulless."

"Whoever it was must have been too coward to attack us head on," Yukata said as she placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Not even being a ninja, Ruby was the one who was attacked. Any regular civilian would need to be comforted. It felt natural to fight something like that.

However, Ruby looked at Matsuri's bedroll. It was shredded to hell. "It was after you, Matsuri!"

Matsuri looked at the bedroll and gave a light, nervous chuckle, "Good thing I was away from the campfire to pee."

Ruby stared at the fire. Charcoal black. Soulless. Biological but not at the same time. While Yukata kept her stare at the bedroll and Ruby hard in thought, no one saw the person sneak up behind Matsuri. They wrapped a hand around her mouth and stomach and pulled her into the dark forest. If it weren't for her muffled scream, neither of them would have noticed. As both chased after her in the dark, Yukata shouted for her to keep screaming.

Ruby ran as fast as she could. It was extremely hard to see but Ruby ran to the muffled scream, but it became quieter with each shriek. She looked back for just a second, she noticed Yukata must not have been able to keep up.

Over the giant tree roots, she couldn't see anything but what was right in front of her. Mostly bushes. Finally, there was an orange glow ahead. She figured whoever took Matsuri had camp sat up there and likely had more people with him.

Ruby impulsively and bravely grabbed her kunai to attack whoever and rushed through the bushes, ready for anything. Or so she thought. There was no scary man in all black. Only a confused, shocked, blonde boy right in her way. Ruby eyes widened as she couldn't stop herself from running into him.

As Ruby pushed him down, the boy made a grunt as he fell backward. She only managed to stop a full trip on him because she reached her hands out to grab his shoulders. Still, she couldn't stop herself from falling with him. At least her knees and shins missed him and sat on the ground.

Good thing her shock of seeing the boy made her drop the kunai or it might have been stabbed into his shoulder right now. But while she sat on top of him, she basically held him hostage.

In her mind, she was screamed at herself. She's never been good at making friends but this? Scaring people in the middle of the night and holding them down? Because of how fast that happened and his eyes being closed, he probably doesn't even know what happened. She definitely didn't mean to terrify him.

Ruby was already embarrassed from accidentally jumping on top of this boy, but when his eyes opened and locked onto hers, she became mortified. Blue is a good color for them, though. Weird whiskers.

He stared at the girl sitting him and gulped. She pushed onto his shoulders and stood up. Dusting off her knees, she offered him a hand and helped him stand up. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" She apologized. By the campfire was a sleeping man with white hair.

From the woods, she heard Matsuris's screech and quickly ran to pursuit it. However, she took a glimpse back. He had two auras.

Not sure who to give credit to for the cover image. PM me their profile on devaint art or whatever and I'll credit them here.