Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ Ｔｗｅｎｔｙ－Ｓｉｘ
"What's the plan, bestie?" y/n asked as she jumped around in the trees, her friend slung over one shoulder and the little toad he'd summoned tucked under her arm.
She was making an effort to lure Gaara away from Sasuke and Sakura, hoping that the stubborn Uchiha would get himself together and get Sakura to safety.
In the meantime... she had to worry about not getting hit by those sand bullets. She'd already been struck in the back by one and just barely managed to change direction midair to avoid slamming into a tree.
"I've got an idea! I just need you to distract this guy for as long as you can." Naruto replied and the oni nodded once, glancing at him with a grin.
"On it!"
She came to a halt on a branch, a fair distance away from Sakura and Sasuke so that they could fight without worrying about those two back there.
Y/n set Naruto back down though she decided to still carry the lil toad that her friend managed to summon.
"Come on, Gaara, let's talk about this!" y/n said nervously, "I get that I punched you into a tree but I'll share more of my snacks with you! Honest!"
"Tch, and what makes you think I care about you or your stupid gambling addiction?!" the very scary looking Gaara demanded, "You mean nothing to me!"
Y/n gasped, taking a small step back with a look of hurt in her eyes, "Wait... you seriously don't wanna be friends? I thought we were getting along well." 'And I don't have a gambling addiction, bruv.'
Even if y/n was just acting to keep Gaara busy while Naruto did whatever he needed to do to prepare his plan, she was genuinely hurt by the other genin's words.
Those words stung a lot more than they should've.
Maybe it's because she'd heard them before.
'It should've hurt less...' she thought as a saddened expression crossed her face, "Oh... I see..."
Silence.
It was almost as if Gaara was rethinking his words as he stared at the disheartened oni. Wtf was happening, it was like he could practically feel her feelings of sadness and betrayal.
Oh, she was angry now.
"Huh. Well, I guess I should be keeping your current state in mind." y/n said with a menacing smile as she began cracking her knuckles, "You're a little unstable, very emotional, and you're getting migraines every five seconds."
Y/n was 5% sure that those weren't migraines but the other 95%(the stupid part of her) was sure that they were.
"First I'll pound some sense into you, then I'll offer my friendship!" y/n declared with a malicious glint in her eyes, setting down the toad she'd held.
Suddenly, Gaara was under the impression that he was in big trouble. The smile on y/n's face didn't quite reach her eyes and now he was absolutely sure that the messy mix of emotions he felt were coming from her.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
By the time Gaara remembered that Naruto was there, it was too late. The blond was already charging at him with a ton of clones.
"Oho! I see!" y/n exclaimed, joining the clones as they rapidly approached the very angry Tanuki.
The angry lil tanuki only sneered before he pulled an Mrs. Incredible and basically fired his hand at the Oni and the clones.
Three of the clones were grabbed while y/n used them as a way to propel herself back into the air. Two more clones landed on the sand hand, one using it as a foothold as it threw another Naruto which was likely the real one.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Yep, that was the real one.
Another clone was used as a meat shield as Naruto flew over Gaara's head, descending towards the forest floor.
He wasn't done yet, summoning another clone beneath his feet and using it to propel himself back towards the angry Tanuki, "Konoha's Ultimate Secret Taijutsu Technique!!!"
It's not much of a secret now.
Naruto then proceeded to shove a whole kunai at the base of the sand tanuki's tail, "A thousand years of death!"
The toad was shook.
The pug y/n had only just spotted was shook.
Even Temari who was watching, AND DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP, was shook.
Y/n covered her mouth with a hand, "Oop..."
Gaara slowly turned his head to look at Naruto.
"...huh?"
He then proceeded to smack Naruto away with his tail, sending the boy flying. And not even a second later...
"Boom."
The paper bomb on the kunai exploded, obliterating part of the tree Gaara was perched on and seriously 🚚ing up the sand that covered his body.
Naruto was sent flying by Sasuke threw himself into the boy's path so that he wouldn't get seriously hurt.
Really just used himself as a pillow.
Y/n was glad that her bestie was alright but there was another issue. Her potential friend was in danger as well.
Sure, she was being pushy.
But something in her was determined to befriend this tanuki boy. She couldn't understand her own infatuation with him, all she knew was that she was drawn to him in the same way she was drawn to Naruto.
Hm...
'A kitsune... a tanuki...' y/n deadpanned, as her face went blank and she lost her voice, 'Huh. That's familiar. Now where have I...'
The Oni girl kinda froze up, her blank expression turning into a much more intense one as she stared down at Gaara from where she was perched on a branch above.
Gaara just so happened to glance up and nearly 💩 himself when he saw the unintentionally murderous look that the young Oni was giving him from above.
'What an intense stare...! Her presence is so much more overwhelming, even more than it was during the preliminaries for the Chunin Exam!' Gaara thought in alarm, uninjured but still not prepared to take another hit, 'The explosion didn't harm me but a hit from that Oni girl is sure to end this fight. I can't allow her to get close-!'
Y/n was just thinking very deeply.
Just when she was about to think something smart, the idiot kicked in again and she shrugged, "Meh, probably nothing."
She glanced over to Naruto who was monologuing about something and shrugged with a quiet, "Oh well, sometimes you've just gotta do stuff yourself."
She hopped down from her spot, her e/c eyes flashing as she descended with the intention to knock out the kid in one hit to avoid any prolonged fighting.
"G-Get away!" Gaara snapped, unshaken to move nor break his eye contact with the descending Oni.
"Nah, I think I'll get a little closer!" she shouted just before she made impact, slamming a fist on the poor kid's back and breaking the tree branch beneath him.
The duo fell to the forest floor, y/n using the angry tanuki as a means to lighten her fall as they hit the ground.
'I feel like a jerk.' she thought tearfully, 'How come making friends is so hard, huh? Is it the horns, maybe?'
Y/n sighed heavily and took a seat beside Gaara who had made a whole crater in the damn earth from how hard he'd hit the ground. His head was spinning and he was trying to process wtf happened and if he was dead.
He wasn't dead, that was for sure.
"Say, Gaara, I've got a question for ya!" the girl said out of the blue before pointing at him, "Am I annoying? Like... unpleasant to be around? Be a hundred percent honest!"
Gaara could only give her a look of shock.
"I know I just kicked you like a soccer ball but share some things about yourself! Hobbies, food you like to eat." y/n urged, "If it makes it a little easier to share something, I'll go first! I really like lollipops!"
"Hey, Gaara, wanna be my besto friendo?"
"I thought I was your best friend!" Naruto cried from above, looking absolutely heartbroken.
Y/n grinned up at him and formed a heart with her fingers on both hands, "You'll always be my number one, Naruto! The original besto friendo!"
Gaara was stumped.
Shell shocked.
Bamboozled.
Y/n was powerful for her age, a formidable opponent.
Yet she acted so care free and laid back, even in the middle of a fight. She proceeded to ask if she was unpleasant right after kicking him into the earth!
Sharing her favorite things with him, asking him about the things they liked, as if they weren't enemies!
It was infuriating!
The way she looked at him.
And her friend, that Naruto boy!
They were both beating the 💩 out of Gaara!
Those two losers!
The illiterate oni who was far too trusting!
The stupid blond boy who had a loud mouth!
There was no way Gaara was going to lose to people like them! No way! Absolutely no way!
Y/n's brows raised, noticing a slight change in the air as the sand around Gaara seemed to gather again.
"Ah, 💩."
She got hit by that sand all at once.
It was a reasonable reaction for her to black out.
She expected to wake up in a hospital or something.
But... she didn't wake up in a hospital.
Instead, she woke up in some dark 🍑 room with water all over the ground. It kinda looked like piss but y/n wasn't going to talk about it, in fear of actually discovering it to be piss.
And there, in front of her, was the biggest 🚚ing tanuki she'd ever seen in her twelve years of living.
Well, this was the first real tanuki she'd ever seen.
But she was sure tanuki weren't supposed to be that big. And definitely not made out of sand, no no.
"Huh? What's a brat doing here?!" the creature demanded and y/n tilted her head curiously.
"I dunno, I just got one shotted and popped up in here." y/n admitted before squinting, "Say... you look familiar."
The giant Tanuki was... very uncomfortable with how the young girl was observing him so intently. It was honestly terrifying how her eyes seemed to burn into him.
"You know my sleep paralysis demon?"
"How would I know some sleep paralysis demon, short stack?" the Tanuki challenged and y/n pouted.
"Hey, watch it, I'm tall for my age." she retorted before grinning, "This wild... what exactly is this place, Mister Tanuki? Is this perhaps your home?"
Y/n proceeded to start rambling, giving no chance for the massive Tanuki to speak as she started yapping.
If her presence alone was draining for the giant Tanuki, her talking made him even more exhausted.
She kept talking even when he started screaming at her about being disrespectful and 💩. The child paid him no mind whatsoever, continuing to talk about stuff that the Tanuki hardly even understood.
He had no idea how y/n got there.
And he knew she had no idea either.
Which meant... she would be there for a while.