Gaara is done with this crap
Izuku stood in the middle of a clearing next to Gaara and Kankuro, listening to the instructions on the Forest of Death.
His only problem with the thing is that, well, they could die.
Izuku'd faced a forest before, and he survived, but that was supervised, and his classmates weren't trying to kill him.
This one would be terrible.
He scooted closer to Gaara, who stepped away, so Izuku scooted closer.
Gaara gave up, seemingly, and Izuku leaned on his shoulder.
Anko had explained that killing was okay, and you can't quit the exams, open the scrolls until you finish, or finish the exams without both the Heaven and Earth scrolls.
It was barbaric, but seemed easy enough.
He was with Gaara, who could blow people up with sand, Kankuro, who went by the badass title "Puppet Master," and himself, who could poke a person in the forehead and their skull would collapse.
He was aware they weren't the most powerful, but considering the fact Naruto couldn't even dodge a kunai that was going at about 170 km/h, directly at eye level, his hopes weren't too high.
He was wary of the snake lady who caught the kunai and licked blood off his face, and really just being a creep.
Gaara scowled at Anko, Kankuro scowled at nothing at all, and Izuku was creeped out as heck when the snake lady started talking.
"I'm sorry, I just get a bit. . . exited at the sight of blood."
Izuku shuddered.
"Well, save it for the forest," Anko said.
She was actually quite pretty, in a rugged sort of way.
She wore her hair in a ponytail that flopped hair in all directions, a fishnet shirt, a tan jacket that that looked like it came right out of Attack On Titan, an orange skirt, and weird shoes.
Kankuro decided he'd be the one to receive the scroll, which was probably a good decision since Gaara seemed preoccupied and Izuku was prone to losing things.
Izuku and Gaara sat by a rock, Gaara standing on top of the rock and Izuku sitting on the ground using it as a backrest.
"This is only somewhat awkward," Izuku muttered. Always the one to make things less weird, as Kacchan would have spat sarcastically.
"I suppose it's normal," Gaara responded flatly. "We know each other's secrets and yet I don't even know if you're gay or straight or whatever the frick it's called when you don't fall in love with people."
"Aromatic," Izuku said, not knowing why he knew that.
"Yeah. And I still don't know if you're gay or straight or aromatic or a pomegranate or whatever."
"I put the bi in bitch."
"I put the 'dumbass' in 'you dumbass.'"
Izuku barked a laugh, then didn't stop laughing, probably because he kept thinking of memes that only fueled the laughter."
"Why are you laughing?"
Izuku only laughed harder, calming down a bit and then thinking of something funny and going back at it.
It wasn't cute laughing, either. He was actually gasping for air, and looked like a little bitch.
Gaara went to find Kankuro.
Even after their return, Izuku was still in an endless cycle of laughter.
"This- is- really- painful-" he laughed.
"What's so funny, anyways?" Kankuro asked, judging.
"Seven!" Izuku cackled.
Kankuro fell into a fit of laughter as well.
Gaara covered his mouth, restraining a smile, and said,
"I have a-" he looked around. "Goodbye."
He left.
Kankuro and Izuku were doomed.
They weren't doomed, actually, because Anko kicked them in the ass and told them to get the shit into the forest of death before she killed them herself.
That shut them up.
Gaara found the encounter humorous.
Of course, Deku was still snickering.
But all three fell silent as they saw the forest looming over them, all too silent.
Gaara shivered, his pale skin not used to the shade, a consequence of growing up in Suna.
Kankuro seemed fine, wearing his cat-eared sweatshirt.
Looking at Deku, Gaara could tell he was scared. There was a bead of sweat on his forehead, and his shoulders were hunched up. Gaara resisted patting him on the shoulder.
Deku noticed Gaara looking at him, and smile reassuringly. He still looked scared.
Gaara huffed and looked at his feet, a small reminder on how easily flustered he was.
A bit of sand, he realized, flew out of his gourd and swirled at his feet, a reminder of the monster he was.
He kicked at it, and started walking.
Deku ran up next to him, and they walked at a comfortable pace.
Kankuro decided to lead, probably realizing Gaara wouldn't kill him with Deku there.
They walked for a number of hours. There was the occasional rustle in the leaves, made by big creatures, but they stayed far away.
Kankuro stopped when he made it to a clearing, and Gaara stalked next to him. Deku was already there. Gaara was mildly disturbed by how fast he got there.
There were three shinobi standing in front of them, looking pissed.
They were forgettable enough.
Izuku sighed, relieved.
"I was getting worried we were the only people in this forest," he laughed.
The ninja leader scowled.
He had a scar over his eye and a headband, and it seemed the corners of his lips were stapled together.
Kankuro smirked boldly, and Gaara stepped forward.
"Sand coffin?" he asked, glancing at Izuku, who nodded and grinned.
The ninja scoffed. Faster than Izuku's eyes could detect, he sent a wave of needles at Gaara, who. . .
Made an egg of sand around himself.
The ninja grit his teeth in frustration.
"Is that all you can do?" Gaara asked, seeming bored.
"It- can't be! He didn't move! Impossible!" The man made a hand sign. "All right. . ."
More needles came flying from somewhere or another, but Izuku was more focused on Gaara. How he would play this.
He used more sand to block the needles, looking incredibly sad in his egg of death.
"Some part of you is fucked up," he muttered. Izuku smothered a laugh. "I have an idea. . . let's make it rain blood instead."
Izuku grinned, not exactly happy about blood, but he could finally see the technicalities of Sand Coffin!
The freckled child's ear twitched, and he glanced toward a bush.
Three kids, looking maybe twelve, were watching the fight.
"Wow, his chakra's so powerful!" a kid said. He had a dog on his head and triangles on his cheek.
There was also Blue Girl and Trenchcoat Guy, the people trying to calm Naruto down during the last trial.
"And that sand. . . do you smell that odor? It stinks."
"Odor?" Trenchcoat Guy asked. Dog Man nodded.
"It smells like blood."
The ninja Gaara was fighting grit his teeth again.
"He's created a wall of sand!" yelled the ninja.
Izuku "tch"ed.
"Thanks, captain obvious," he muttered.
"That's right," Kankuro chimed in. "It's a defense, you useless excuse for a shinobi, and nothing can get through it. He carries around-"
Izuku clamped his hand around Kankuro's mouth, then quickly let go.
"Sorry," he said, "but do you really want them to know just how he does that?"
Kankuro shrugged.
"What's the point? They're gonna die anyways."
Izuku sighed in exasperation.
"There are kids hiding in the bushes," he said.
Kankuro glared at the bushes, and the kids ducked down, scared for their life.
Gaara looked at them as well, but disregarded them as scum or something.
The redhead did an odd symbol, likely another hand sign, and dramatically trapped the ninja in sand.
The man yelled out for help, but his useless teammates just stood and watched, and the kids in the bushes didn't have enough sense to leave.
"All I have to do is cover your big mouth and you'll be dead," Gaara said darkly, "but that really wouldn't be any fun, and far too easy."
Izuku smiled, like a kid on Christmas, but if kid meant teen, and if Christmas meant watching your friend explode somebody.
Gaara spread his arms apart, in unison with the ball of sand floating off the ground.
The ninja yelled.
Izuku squinted.
Gaara closed his hand into a fist.
"SAND COFFIN."
The sand, as Izuku could tell, went inward slightly, then outward, sand making blood look like black sludge.
Izuku noticed the children behind the bushes. They looked utterly traumatized. Izuku winked at them.
The other ninjas seemed scared, one of them groaning.
"There wasn't any pain," Gaara assured someone, possibly himself. "I crushed him with more force than necessary so it was over quickly." Yeah, he was definitely talking to himself.
Izuku braced himself for the sadistic monologue sure to come, considering he was the villain in this scenario and in movies, the villains always said something about the blood of their enemies.
"The corpse's bitter crimson tears flow in unison with the endless sand, feeding the chaos within me. Making me stronger."
Izuku swallowed a snicker, biting his lip.
"Just take the scroll!" A ninja set the scroll on the ground and backed away from it, hands in the air. "Just- TAKE IT! PLEASE SPARE US!" Izuku scoffed at their selfishness.
Gaara stepped forward, to kill the them, when Izuku placed a hand on his back gently.
"I can take them," he said, noticing Gaara repressed a shudder.
He walked forward in poorly repressed anger.
"You didn't fight?" Izuku asked.
"He would have killed us!" one said.
"Now I'll kill you." Izuku suddenly thought, Would All Might kill them? The answer was no, so he sighed. "Nevermind. I'll leave you for dead. There's a difference!" he protested, noticing Kankuro's raised eyebrows, or lack of, since he didn't have any either, instead face paint or whatever the heck it was.
Izuku cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'd like to ask you two a question." He glared at them, his hair falling into his eyes. "WOULD A TRUE HE- SHINOBI ABANDON THEIR FRIEND, THEIR COMRADE, IN FEAR OF DEATH!?" Izuku internally grimaced at almost saying "hero," and hoped "shinobi" was the right term.
"I- I suppose not," one said, lowering his head.
"Does it matter?" asked the other. "He's dead now."
Izuku walked up to him and punched him in the face, but not before adding a little bit of One For All into it.
He slammed into a tree and immediately died.
"Oh crap, too much," Izuku said anticlimactically.
"Gosh diddly damn it now there's two kids stronger than me!?" Kankuro yelled. "Fuck this shit, I'm out."
He left, Gaara looking confused, probably because Kankuro snapped and actually cursed for once.
Gaara blinked, shrugged, then walked up next to Izuku and grabbed the scroll.
"I was unaware you could kill so. . . easily," Gaara said.
"Physically or mentally?" Izuku asked, his green eyes wide.
"Both, I guess." The redhead immediately waved his hand, dismissing the thought. "Just speculation."
"Yeah, but," Izuku looked at the other guy, standing and looking at his arrogant friend's corpse. "I feel bad for that person."
"Don't," Gaara said. "It's easier."
"We all know I don't take the easy way out," Izuku laughed, but stayed silent the rest of the time.
The walk to the tower was surprisingly uneventful, probably because of the blood on Izuku's hands and Gaara's cheek and Kankuro glaring at the ground, angry about feeling weak or unappreciated or something.
Gaara was worried he'd said something to upset Deku, but then remembered he'd exploded a man, so that was why he wasn't speaking or making eye contact with anything but the ground.
Still, he didn't want to risk their. . . companionship.
(He was far too afraid to say friendship.)
"Did I say something?" Gaara asked. "If I did, I apologise."
"Huh?" Deku looked at him, surprised. "Oh, no! Sorry. . . I was thinking."
Gaara tilted his head, to show curiosity.
"Well. . ." Deku launched into a ramble about how it seemed that the sand dug into the person's skin before FWOOSHING out, using momentum or something to explode the person.
"In conclusion," the freckled child said, "I'm not mad."
Gaara wasn't sure that was completely true, but he didn't dare insist Deku was lying.
Well, he wouldn't dare say it.
"You think I'm lying," Deku said. Gaara shrugged.
"It's okay." Deku smiled. "I don't blame you. I'm a little shaken up. I did kill someone after all."
He laughed, but Gaara could see the guilt in his eyes. The guilt that wouldn't cease until you convinced yourself that you were just bringing the inevitable, or that it was mercy.
The redhead grabbed Deku's hand, his small hand tightly gripping Deku's. He panicked, not knowing what to do, but decided.
He lightly traced his thumb over Deku's knuckles.
He noticed an irregularity in his skin, and looking at his hand, saw several uneven scars.
He didn't ask.
The two stayed in a state of hand-holding until they got to the tower, and when they walked inside, they were the only ones there.
There were instructions, written on a whiteboard on the wall, to open the scrolls.
Gaara was too tired for this crap.