Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [2]

☾ 37 ☽

"There... I did it!" Naruto said, giving them thumbs up from the ground, trying to catch his breath after the Jutsu. Tsukiko reached to help him sit up.

"Hey, he's not getting up!" Ino said.

"Naruto!" Chouji shouted as he and Ino hurried over to where Tsukiko and Naruto were sitting. "Are you okay?"

"Okay, Chouji, hold him like this," Ino said, getting into healing him. Tsukiko stared at Naruto's condition, almost opening her Byakugan to have a look until –

"Don't," Usajii told her and Tsukiko halteTsukiko halted, letting out a sigh. She glanced at Kakashi and Yamato, who were looking at each other.

"I can only give him first aid for now," Ino said. "But you know, I never would have thought you two would work together like that – disguising him as a Kunai and then travelling with it behind Kakuzu,"

"It was Naruto's idea," Tsukiko muttered with a small smile as she leaned back. "Naruto has become pretty observant, too, you know, Usa?"

"You're not quite at Shikamaru's level, but you're pretty smart, too, Naruto," Chouji said, chuckling.

"You can't compare me to Shikamaru..." Naruto replied. Tsukiko smiled slightly at the blond, shaking her head at him as well.

"I'm amazed that he managed to use the new Jutsu three times," Yamato said. "He barely got to two during our last training session,"

"His quick thinking and strong self-confidence allow him to try again if he fails," Kakashi replied. "It seems like he has started to learn how to work with Tsukiko, too. She usually works better with guys like Sasuke,"

Tsukiko pushed herself onto her feet and walked over to the crater where Kakuzu's body was. She skidded down to where he was and stared down at him, her facial expression dissolving as she stared down at him – he was still alive, of course. There was something she needed to know.

Fuu...

"Where's Fuu?" Tsukiko asked coldly. She kicked his head over until his eyes were facing her.

"Who the hell is that?" Kakuzu retorted back. "I don't know any kid named Fuu," Tsukiko pressed her foot down on his face, closing her eyes in anger.

"The Seven-Tails," Tsukiko breathed. "Where is the Seven-Tails? I know that Nanabi was last in Takigakure, and I'm sure you made a little detour to your old village at some point,"

"So, that's what that kid's name was?" Kakuzu responded. Tsukiko swallowed and looked down at him in anger. "The kid's gone now, it's been about a year now,"

Tsukiko took another deep breath, trying to control her emotions as her hands curled up into fists. If Kakuzu is speaking the truth... There is no why Fuu was killed immediately after the Chunin Exams...

Not right after she finally made friends...

"I can't believe... I lost... to a bunch of children..." Kakuzu spat out, glaring up at the white-haired girl. "Looking at your forehead protector and that expression reminds me of the first Konoha Shinobi I fought... the First Hokage, that is,"

"It's only fitting that your end is in the hands of a Konoha Shinobi, too," Tsukiko said. "I have absolutely no doubt that I look like a kid to someone who has fought my Oji-Sama. But to me, you're not just any washed-up decrepit old man. That's why you're beneath my foot, grovelling as you're about to die. The next generation will always surpass the previous one and take their place,"

"Are you going to be the one to kill me?" Kakuzu said. "I don't think so. You're just a kid, your anger doesn't reach your eyes,"

"You don't know what I'm feeling!" Tsukiko replied, boiling with rage at his words. "You killed my friends and their loved ones – there's some things that aren't to be forgiven! It's time for you to go, you greedy old man!"