Strawberries and Cyanide.
By Xx_Sakura_Blossom_xX.
Chapter One: The Ring.
The sun shone brightly in the sky and a few clouds lazily swam across the blue expanse to the whim of a light breeze. It was summer and flowers were blooming everywhere and their sweet scent filled the air. A loud musical ringing broke the tranquil silence and was followed by cheers and whoops of delight as students left the school for the summer holidays.
One such student, Ruri Asakura smiled happily with her face to the sun, her friends Simon and Aine were chattering along excitedly about a pool party their mam was planning. Simon and Aine were twins, and so alike they could be identical if not for the different genders. They both had soft blond hair that whisped down to their shoulders and small pointed features with brown eyes. Ruri sighed when she looked at Aines hair and tugged self-consciously at her own vivid red locks. Completely natural, no matter what the teachers at school said. It was short as well, and spiky, like a hedgehog. Ruri sighed and her bony shoulders slumped.
Aine looked at her worridly and wrapped a small arm around her shoulders. "C'mon Ru, were gonna head to the park!" the blonde said in an attempt to cheer her up. Aine didn't quite know what her friend was upset about but everything could be solved by playing in the park. Simon nodded excitedly, the park was fun and they could play on the swings if none of the bigger kids were around. Simon frowned, it wasn't even like the big kids swang on the swings, they just sat in them and talked. Boo-ooring! Ruri smiled but shook her head and looked down the road.
"I can't guys, My nana said she'd collect me this time so I have to wait on her. She promised she'd be there so I can't come with you's or she wont know where I am." Ruri explained as she sat on the curb of the sidewalk. Aines frown matched Simons, Ruri's nana never collected her. Even when she said she would, she didn't. Ruri said she just forgot but Aine knew that her granny would never forget about her so why would Ruri's?.
"Pleeease Ru?" Simon begged giving her the puppy dog eyes. Ruri just smiled a little sadly and waved them on. Aine gave her a big hug and promised that they'd knock for her tomorrow, Simon nodded in agreement before running off in the direction of the park. Aine threw her friend on last pleading glance before following her twin. Ruri sighed and put her chin in her hands as she waited. If her nana didn't arrive within an hour Ruri would walk home alone, it wasn't all that far and she could take a shortcut through Moonys field. It was a large patch of land that lay undeveloped a few blocks from her house. It belonged to Rachel Moony, who never sold to any of the agent people despite being offered loads of money for the land. Everybody agreed that Rachel Moony was one crazy old lady.
The sun rose higher in the sky as the hour past, Ruri looked sadly at her watch before getting up off the pavement and walking slowly down the road. Nana hadn't come so she was probably watching a game show or sleeping. She lived around twenty minutes away so if she ran and cut through Moonys farm she'd make it in ten. With another long suffering sigh Ruri picked up the pace and ran down the street, red brick houses bluring in her peripheral vision. As she lept over the fence for Moonys field her foot landed on something small and slippy, she lost her balance and fell face foreward onto the grass. Ruri frowned and looked irritably at her now muddy school uniform.
The usually nice red blazer and navy skirt was now covered in mud and little stalks of grass. "Grrr." she growled as she looked around for the offending piece of, whatever the hell it was that she had tripped on. It was a ring. A small, rather pretty bone white ring. It was shaped like a snake with its tale in its mouth and the snake had two onyx eyes that glittered eirily. Despite the fact that Ruri had stepped on it the ring wasn't the least bit dirty. It shone brightly in the grass and when Ruri picked it up the white surface was smooth and almost warm to touch, kinda like skin. Eww, gross.
Forgetting her initial disgust Ruri slid the ring onto the middle finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly, like a proverbial glove. Ruri gasped as she felt warmth radiating from the ring and into her finger, up her arm, like liquid heat running trough her veins. The ring seemed to melt a little into her finger and when Ruri tried to pry it of the digit a shooting pain went up her arm. "Ookay, no touchie the creepy ring." Ruri muttered to herself. The ring was pretty and if it wanted to stay on her finger it was welcome to, as long as it didn't start talking or try to eat her.
Ruri walked a little slower the rest of the way home and made it back in around thirteen minutes. No-one answered the door when she knocked so Ruri used the spare key hidden under the flower pot. When she got inside the house was empty. Her nana was asleep, sitting upright on the couch with the remote clutched weakly in her hands. Ruri ran a hand down her face as she turned around and stomped upstairs with all the strength her little seven year old body could muster.
She entered her room which was depressingly utilitarian. White walls, white floor, single bed set against the wall with the window that overlooked the garden. A small desk with a small lamp, some blank pages and a few pens was in the corner. No teddies, no posters, no life. Anything cluttered or loud upset her nana so Ruri kept all her hidden in a box under her bed. She pulled out that box now. There were some manga; Naruto and Death Note mostly, some comics; Marvel, a jar of sweets and five cans of coke.
Ruri opened a Naruto manga, volume eighteen, she'd read it like a thousand times already but that was beside the point. Ruri opened the jar of sweets and popped one into her mouth. Mmm strawberry flavoured. Ruri settled down on the computer chair next to her desk and read the manga while sipping a can of coke. Ruri started when she heard shuffling downstairs and hastily shoved all her things back in the box and under the bed just as her nanas head poked in around the door.
"Hello Ruri, what are you doing home so early?" the old woman asked, her silver hair was cut just past her shoulders and it framed her small face perfectly, her pale blue eyes were dreamy as she looked happily around the room. Nana was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a white turtleneck. Depite the fact that she was in her late seventies she looked around forty and a childish smile lit her face as she looked down at her grandaughter.
Ruri had been with her grandmother since before she could remember. From what her nana had said it seemed her mother had a fling and got herself pregnant, gave birth to Ruri, dumped the baby at her mothers house and dissapeared. Ruri didn't care either way, the woman sounded like she would have made a shitty mother had she stuck around to try. Ruri looked back up at her nana and got up off the floor.
"Hey nana, uh, nope. School ended two hours ago. I got to walk home, it was fun 'cos it was sunny!" she said plastering a smile on her face and hugging the elderly woman. Her nana wobbled on her feet slightly before patting Ruri on the head. "Did you? That sounds like fun." she murmered before turning around and walking back down the stairs humming softly. As soon as she was out of hearing range Ruri sighed and kicked the leg of her desk. It hurt her foot. She swore. And kicked it again for good mesure.
She looked curiously down at the ring on her finger, it seemed . . . Happy. If jewlery can be happy. Its white surface was glowing slightly and it calmed Ruri down some what. She ran the fingers of her right hand over the ring and then lied down on her bed, the white sheets creased and the mattress squeaked a little bit. "Not hungry now so I guess I'll eat later." Ruri muttered to no-one in particular, the ring on her finger pulsed in agreement and Ruri petted it calmly. "I'm almost glad I slipped in the mud and found you, little ring . . . wait MUD! Oh shit!" Ruri gasped.
She sat up suddenly and shook her bangs out of her eyes as she looked down at her bed, she had forgotton to take off her dirty clothes and now the once pristine bed sheets were sprinkled with mud. Ruri cursed again and jumped up of the bed, she pulled off her school uniform and bundled it into the washbasket outside her bedroom door and then pulled on an oversized black t-shirt and a pair of dark green shorts. She then padded bare foot back over to the bed and stripped off the sheets before stuffing them in the basket along with her uniform.
Ruri looked at the mirror across the hall and met the irritated green eyes of her reflection. They were her best feature Ruri mused, big jade coloured eyes set in a small face below thin red eyebrows and surrounded by choppy, scarlet bangs. A frown creased her lips, and her brows furrowed making her even more unatractive. She was seven and not really supposed to care about looks and the like but at this moment she couldn't help but think of Aine, Simon and her sometimes babysitter Sandra. While Aine and Simon where bright and blond, Sandra was the exact opposite with coffee coloured skin and long straight black hair. Sandra was the one who had gotten her into manga.
"Gah." Ruri grumbled irritably, stomping back into her room and slamming the door loudly behind her. The ring on her finger pulsed again almost in reaction to her rage and Ruri gasped as her hand felt like it had been dumped in a bucket of boiling water. She looked down and from the ring small tendrils of white branched off and followed the patterns of her bones beneath the skin of her hands. The strands of white where cold to touch, contrasting with the heat radiating from her hand. Ruris eyes widened in surprise and she fell back onto her butt when a giant portal apeared in front of her.
Through it she could see trees, loads of them. It was very green and she could smell wild flowers, it was probably a wood. Ruris fingers gently traced the outline of the portal, it was like passing her hand through jelly or tar. She swallowed loudly and balled her hands into fists as she stood up shakily and walked through the portal. As long as it remained open she could just hop straight back through in time for dinner.
Ruri grimanced as she waded through the thick air, it was much longer than it had looked from her room and her legs were getting tired from pushing against the tar like atmosphere. Ruri covered her eyes with a hand as white lights erupted around her, she squinted against the brightness just in time to see two dark, shadow like hands shoot towards her, her knees buckled as one clawed hand tore through her chest. Ruri keened in agony and spat out blood as the second hand sliced at her right arm, tears of pain ran down her cheeks and mingled with the blood dripping down her chin. Ruri stumbled and fell forwards.
Her head met cool grass instead of the thick/tar/jelly feeling of the portal floor. Ruri coughed weekly and then screamed again, the sound tore at her throat and made the pain in her chest much worse, she cut off screaming abruptly and vomited blood all over the forest floor. It was cold. She was cold and in pain and alone. Hopefully nana would find her. Would save her. Somehow Ruri doubted her nana was even awake, she was old and tired and slept more often than she ate.
Ruris eyes slowly fluttered closed and she coughed up more blood, the grass beneath her was stained red and she felt so cold. "H-he-help" Ruri stuttered, her tongue felt heavy and she couldn't feel anything. Her body was numb, though compared to the pain of before it was a welcome relief. Ruri opened her mouth to call weakly again but slowly closed her mouth. No one would come, she was alone in some god-forsake forest and she was seriously injured. The ring on her finger sent pleasant jolts of warmth up her left arm, warning her not to close her eyes and go asleep but Ruri ignored it. She was so, so tired . . .
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A/N: Yes I know cliff hanger. -Chuckles Eviliy- I think I've changed this story over a hundred times before settling on a setting that I like and a Cannon-verse I can work with. Its been bugging me like crazy, damn evil plot bunnys from hell!!
Thanks for reading! ^^
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Chapter notes: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or Death Note.
If I did ItaNaru would be cannon and Mello would rule the world.
Please read and review and let me know what you think.