The Angel's Ambivalence [Naruto]

The New Minxie

"Something keeps me hanging onto nothing."

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"Did I miss something?" Mitchell asked, breaking the long silence that had ensued after Minxie's sudden and unexplainable departure. "She's bored? She doesn't care that we're talking about killing Sasuke?"

"Earlier today, she hated us for manipulating her," Rin said. "Now... It's almost like she doesn't feel anything towards us at all."

"She's been distant the past few hours," Sakura stated quietly. "I know it's the aftermath of seeing Sasuke again, but... I didn't expect it to be this bad."

"So, what?" Kiba asked. "She just turned around and decided to stop caring?"

"It wasn't like that," Naruto objected. "Minxie isn't like that."

"Then what is she like? Because that person that just left us is acting nothing like my sister," Ryuu said.

"It all seems to lead back to Sasuke," Shikamaru stated.

"Like it always does," Mitchell muttered bitterly. He looked at Naruto. "Which brings us back to our earlier argument. Why did you let Sasuke get away?"

"Like Kiba said, you are really strong, Naruto," Tenten reminded, "You should've been able to-"

"That's not the point," Naruto said, cutting her off. "You can't beat Sasuke just by being strong... Now I know..."

"What do you mean?" Choji inquired.

"You guys can't fight Sasuke, okay?" Naruto said. "Only me... That's all I can say."

"What in the world went down?" Neji asked. "You need to explain, man. Especially since whatever happened with Sasuke... Might be linked to Minxie's change in behavior."

"... I'll tell you everything when I can," Naruto promised. "But right now... I need to find Minxie. Plus, I'm starving. I'm going to Ichiraku's!" And with that, the blonde left the group.

"Well, that went well," Kylie announced sarcastically. She sighed deeply. "Just one more thing to add to our increasingly long list of problems."

"We don't know if it's a problem yet," Ryuu said. "Minxie might just be coping."

"You said it yourself, Ryuu, that girl who just left us is nothing like your sister," Ino reminded. "She's nothing like our friend, either."

"Did you see the blank look in her eyes?" Kylie asked. "I've never seen her look like that before."

"Her chakra didn't jump, not once," Rin stated. "She was completely serious. Whatever's happening to her... We've got to stop it, before it gets out of hand."

"I'll go talk to Scarlett. She might know something about what's going on with Minxie. Better yet, Scarlett might be the one who did this to Minxie. She might even be impersonating Minxie, so I'll find out," Ryuu offered.

"I doubt Scarlett's impersonating Minxie again," Mitchell spoke up.

Ryuu raised an eyebrow, "Are you defending her?"

"No," Mitchell objected quickly. "It's just... What would Scarlett get out of impersonating Minxie again?"

"The satisfaction of screwing around with us," Rin deadpanned. "Look, I get why you think she's not suspect, but right now, anything is possible. We've got to explore all of our options."

"Fine," Mitchell sighed, giving in. "But at least let me go with you, Ryuu. If you say the wrong thing, Scarlett won't help us at all."

Ryuu nodded. "Sounds fair enough. You and I will talk to her."