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We The Forsaken by Tragedy

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“We the forsaken, plead for mercy
Plead forgiveness of our unjust sins, known or unknown.
We the forsaken, plead for mercy
If death over life, may swift death be all we know.
Thus is the prayer, of we the forsaken.”

Tears streaked down Tenten’s cheeks as she finished the chant. Reluctantly, she unclasped the hands of Neji and a kid who smelled like dogs and shook slightly, whom sat on either side of her. She hated it; it was almost like quitting, like giving up. She, with eleven others had been sacrificed for the alleged peace, strength and stability of the village. Its safety and prosperity. She tried to understand, but this was bullshit.

Every year in Konohagakure, all the kids who had turned twelve or would turn twelve from that January to that December would have their name’s entered into The Pot on a piece of paper. Thirteen year olds were included in this process, but it was still called the Rite of Twelve’s because once all the names were entered, a flame that burned of a supernatural essence. When the flame extinguished itself, 12 names were always left in The Pot, unharmed and uncharred. Nine of the children were always twelve. Three of them were always thirteen.

And Tenten cried because she had almost made it, dammit. She was thirteen. She had survived last year’s Pot, and she had almost made it this year. She almost had a shot at life. Her tears were light, and they did not blur her eyes as she looked around at the other kids. She was sure that the other nine in the circle were feeling very much like herself, Forsaken. For their village had forsaken them all to their fates. They all disengaged themselves from one another and broke away from the fire after the chant had been completed. Yes, there was a fire, but there was only one, as there was no fire inside any of them.

Some of them knew each other, and huddled together, while others preferred to be alone. A blonde girl with really long hair, a fat kid with swirls on his face, and a really skinny looking kid with spiky brown hair that made his head look like a pineapple all sat together in their own little bubble, obvious that they’d grown up together. There was a kid Tenten was sure always had a dog with him, and now he just looked plain old lost without it, as he tried to comfort a blind blue haired girl. A kid with sunglasses stared at them but said nothing. Then there was this really pale looking kid. He was twelve too and nobody knew of him. It was said that his parents had tried to hide his existence, and didn’t even add his name to the pot, yet it was there when the fire died. He walked around the cave, staring at the weird designs, going further and further in now… she imagined that Sasuke kid did the same as he was no where to be seen when they entered.

As the kid walked further in, he passed one of the few people Tenten did know in here, though only through passing. They had been in the same grade at school. His name was Lee, and she wanted to invite him to sit with her and Neji, whom had not really left her side, if only for familiarities sake, but he was laying on his side down on the floor with his back against the wall. He kind of zoned out and his sniffling was the only clue to his presence or his crying.

With eyes now downcast, Tenten’s mind was invaded by memories she knew that she would not forget in the short lifespan she had left. Memories of a pink haired girl with eyes so wide and scared. Her green eyes had looked to be at the bottom of a lake the last time that Tenten had seen them. Though the thought was weird for the time, Tenten had thought the pinkette to be really pretty. If her mother and her elder sister were anything to go by, she would have been a really beautiful lady one day.

But on the morning of June 30th, she was bound and blindfolded, and then led outside of the Village gates, with Sarutobi sensei, the Village Leader, leading the way. Two men, not overly large or anything walked on either side of her, the rest of the Twelve behind her, and followed by the Village itself. About six miles outside of the village, they came across a waterfall with a cave behind it.

As the dawn broke over the horizon, Sarutobi sensei had walked towards the waterfall, followed by the two men and the little girl. It had occurred to Tenten that the girl was only a year younger than Tenten, but she looked so… young. She was forced to her knees as a villager stepped forward with two long wooden poles. The villager handed the poles to her guards and then held her steady as the guards had proceeded to cut the girl free, pull her arms behind her back, and then retie them, with the poles now added to the bindings.

That was when the cries started. At first she could not be heard over the running water, but she picked up. She cried and then she begged, pleading for her life, apologizing for whatever she did wrong. She said she was sorry and although she didn’t know what she did wrong, she promised to be a good child from now on. And as if to prove her childhood innocence, she called out for her mother. “I want my mommy,” she said.

That was probably the worst.

When the bindings were complete, the villager reclaimed his spot amongst the crowd, one cheek wet from a fallen tear, and the little girl was hoisted into the air via the poles. Sarutobi sensei proceeded to address the crowd but Tenten could not focus on what he was saying due to the pitiful wailing of the beautiful child behind him. She was sure he started praying at one point, but she really couldn’t focus, fear squeezing and gripping at her own heart. It was when the sun itself made its debut behind the waterfall that the old man turned around as rose his hands before him, palms touching as if praying a silent prayer to himself.

The screams got worse. Tenten did not know that they could get worst. In fact the girl shook so violently that the guards needed help holding her steady. And then she fell limp, and Tenten suddenly remembered her name as a long thin slit drew itself across her neck from the left side to its right. It was Sakura. Haruno Sakura, with the forehead too big, but impossibly pretty hair that was as pink as Cherry Blossoms.

k20;•••k20;

The poles were wedged into the ground beneath the flowing water, leaving Haruno suspended above the river. The Village Elder then walked over towards the rest of us Twelve, and the tension became unbearable, all eleven of us terrified beyond belief. Behind him and the hanging girl, the waterfall parted itself, revealing a cave with a glow somewhere deep inside.

“I need but one of you. One of you shall go before the others.” Sarutobi sensei pointed towards the mouth of the cave. Predictably, no one volunteered. After looking like he went through some ful musings, he pointed to a kid somewhere around the middle or the back, but definitely behind Tenten. Everyone turned slowly to face the unfortunate child.

“M-me?”

“You. What’s your name?”

The boy stood up on scuffed up knees, with black pupils that mirrored the wide-eyed fear that everyone else was resigned to. Only Neji seemed almost apathetic; he’d accepted this as his fate shortly after having his name drawn back from The Pot.

“What’s your name?”

“S-sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke.”

“Ahh. I knew your brother, young Sasuke. Cheek up, for surely he would be proud of you.” A sad smile crossed his lips, and Tenten could not decipher how sincere the man actually was. He placed his hand on the young Uchiha’s shoulder and led him away, as an elderly lady and a man just as old came forward to the group. They introduced themselves as Homura and Komaru, under the pretense of teaching them everything they needed to know upon entering the cave, including the Chant of The Forsaken. Tenten couldn’t help but look past the elderly two into the backdrop, where Sarutobi sensei and the Sasuke kid had emerged from a secret passage. The old guy apparently said something to the young boy, and then sent him on his way. That was the last time she had seen little Sasuke.



Tenten now found herself crying, and a little unsure of how she found herself nestled up into Neji’s chest with a somewhat protective arm draped around her shoulder. Ashamed and more than a little embarrassed, she withdrew from his chest, where there was a small damp spot from where tears met cloth. She noticed that the fire was still going, despite there being a lack of signs of anyone feeding it.

She also didn’t see the paled skinned boy anymore, either.

“Tenten, was it?” she turned around to see that it was Neji who was talking to her. Taking a deep breath as part of the end process of crying, she nodded in affirmative that her name was Tenten.

“Could you please check to see if my cousin is ok?” he raised his hand and pointed a long finger across the chamber towards the blind blue haired girl. When Tenten looked back at him with a curious expression on his face he explained.

“We… don’t get along very well, but she’s still my cousin.” After giving him another nod, Tenten crawled away a little before finding the strength to stand up. Even though the cave was more than tall enough to stand up in, she found herself hunched over, as if it would be in violation of some code or secret law to stand up all the way. When she walked past the kid with the glasses, he looked up at her but didn’t say anything.

Giving a small, hopeful smile to the lost boy with no dog, she asked how everybody was holding up. Even as she asked she thought it sounded like the stupidest question she could have possibly thought to have asked. In fact, it was probably the stupidest thing she could have said at all, yet she was met with a small nod from the girl and them both of them echoing alrights. Glasses boy didn’t respond, but somehow Tenten didn’t expect him to.

The girl was huddled up into Lost Dog boy’s side, much like Tenten had been in Neji’s, and Tenten suspected that she had been crying as well, but didn’t push the subject. After all it was very understandable.

Seeing as she was up and had already started moving and checking on people and what not, Tenten thought that she might as well check on the other juniors, though she wasn’t sure if it would make much difference regardless. Afterall, they weren’t supposed to survive the night. As she approached, she almost immediately wished that she had just gone back to Neji’s side.

“But I don’t wanna be here!” wailed the blonde girl from earlier. She was visibly fighting a losing battle against her tears.

“I know, Ino-chan, I know.” Pineapple Ponytail sounded exasperated with the girl, and Tenten could guess that this wasn’t her first time going through the motions tonight.

“S-sakura’s dead, Sasuke’s gone, and Chouji almost died,” she whined. The chubby boy next to Tenten flinched at the mention of Chouji, and Tenten guessed he either knew Chouji… or he was Chouji. She shot Pineapple a questioning look, so explained, though only after shrugging and sighing in a manner that he was waay too young to know how to do.

“The waterfall. Chouji tried to exit and go back through the hidden passage they made us walk to get here, but the Waterfall closed off again.” He waved his hand in the direction of the mouth of the cave. “But the waterfall covers that path as well. On top of not being able to see, the water is really heavy, and in about two minutes you’d probably die of the pressure. Maybe less. That’s what happened to Chouji.

Pineapple Ponytail raised the hand that wasn’t draped across the girl Ino’s shoulders, and pointed at the heavyset guy who was still seated next to Tenten’s leg. He shivered, probably more from the memory than the cold and shook his head, causing water to fling free of his brown hair.

“By the way, I’m Shikamaru, but it’s such a drag to say my whole name, I know. You can just call me Shika.” Tenten looked back at the boy and gave him a smile that was mostly genuine. He was kind of cute, she thought, but she didn’t want to test out the meaning behind the glare Blondie was giving her. She was pretty even when she cried, but angry, the girl really did resemble a wild pig.

Regardless, Tenten had more pressing things to worry about, and started to head over to where Lee was before noticing that he had cried himself to sleep. With a half a mind to veer off the chosen path and let him sleep, something tugged at the back of her mind begging to be noticed until she gave in. she inched her way closer to the boy with spiky black hair, impossibly long eyelashes and really thick eyebrows.

It became completely inexplicable to her why she kept coming closer until she was crouched right over him, and yet she still had to fight the urge to come closer. Partly to satisfy her urge to get closer, Tenten reached out to push a stray lock of hair behind his ear, and gasped when her hand wrapped around her wrist.

His eyes snapped open, as big and wide as she’d remembered, a mercurial fear dancing around in them.

“Shhh…” he whispered, desperation in his voice. He was terrified, and Tenten could feel his hand shaking. Instinctively she looked to Neji, who hopped up and started to come over. When she looked back at Lee she saw that he was repeatedly glancing between her and something else that she couldn’t see. Following his line of sight, she noticed a passage way that she had not seen before. Lee pointed towards it as he spoke.

“The kid, the pale kid, he walked that way. A-a few minutes after I couldn’t see him anymore, I felt a-a presence. Something evil, is down that hallway.”

He looked back up at Tenten and Neji who had by now joined them, a silent plea in his eyes.

“There’s no way out, is there?”

Neji said nothing. Tenten wanted to reassure the boy and comfort him, but she could not find it in her heart to lie to him. After all, the Rite of The Twelves was ageless as far as anyone knew. It had been around for at least as long as Sarutobi sensei was an infant, and the old man was at least seventy or eighty something years old.every year they had sacrificed Twelves. Never, had anyone survived. Ever. And Tenten just could not find it in her heart to tell Lee any different.

Aqs if to spare her the burden, there appeared a reddish orange glow from somewhere along the passage way. Captivated, Tenten moved to go forward, but was stopped by Neji’s hand on her shoulder, lee’s hand finding her wrist again a split second later. She glanced at the two boys then looked back in the direction of the glow.

It diminished and then vanished as the young teens watched and waited. Nothing happened, not at first. And then they could hear the soft shuffling of feet. Tenten looked around and saw that no one took notice, save for the three teens themselves. She looked back towards the path as a soft sniffling emerged from within.

Waiting, calmed only by the hands still holding down her person, Tenten watched until a little boy emerged from within. It was not a boy that she was familiar with, but then again, she was not familiar with hardly any of The Twelve either, and they were her age group. The boy had tussled blond hair and tattered clothes that were different shades of red and orange. Dangling from his wrist seemed to be very old charms with tags hanging off of the ends of them.

Breaking away from the restraining hands of her peers, Tenten rushed towards the boy and caught him as he wobbled, falling into her arms. His skin was pale an ashen and as his had lolled back she could see deep scratch marks along his cheeks that made it seem as if he had whiskers.

“Tenten,” Neji called out cautiously, but she ignored it. A quick look around told her that her sudden movement had caught the attention of all the other kids, but she hardly cared. She rocked the small boy very gently back and forth, cooing over him, her heart wrenching for some unknown reason. He looked to be maybe twelve if she had to guess, based on his face, but he was so small and light and malnourished that his body still seemed to be eight.

But he had not come in here with her group, so then then he was at least… what, thirteen? Maybe he came in here with last year’s group. Did that mean that he survived? Were there more survivors? She wanted to know.

When at last he woke up, his bright blue eyes looked up into her chocolate ones before he snuggled his face into her breast, making Tenten blush. Then he pulled himself away from her, knees shaking only slightly before stopping.

“Arigatou.” It was all that he said, with a sly smile, so small, but oh so fox like. Tenten was hardly aware of something moving behind him, barely aware of the voices calling her.

“Tenten…! Tenten!!”

The little boy leaned forward and in a weirdly smooth way, although his positioning was totally unnatural. He was on hands and feet, limbs locked out but completely limber, it seemed. It was then that Tenten noticed two ethereal tails on the side of him, dragging something. At first she heard gasps, then screams as people panicked, crying and screaming and running or whatever their panic of preference was.

It was then that she saw what he drug up behind him, by their feet. In one tail was poor little Sasuke Uchiha, and in the other tail was the little pale kid whose parents had failed at hiding him away. She randomly thought that they should have left the village, or at least sent him out of it. Then a third tail grew from between the first two, which had taken on a reddish orange color that matched the glow from before. It dangled over the demon child’s head, and it’s face began to contort, his teeth growing sharper and his nails extending.


“Tenten!!!!!!” it was the last thing she heard, before bells began to ring in her ears. she could feel the blood start to pool up in her mouth and dribble over the edge of her lips, and through watery eyes she could see where the ethereal tail pierced through her chest.






















“We the forsaken, plead for mercy
Plead forgiveness of our unjust sins, known or unknown.
We the forsaken, plead for mercy
If death over life, may swift death be all we know.
Thus is the prayer, of we the forsaken.”
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