"I know where you hide alone in your car, know all of the things that make you who you are. I know that goodbye means nothing at all; comes back and begs to catch her every time she falls."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Minxie's POV
Ryuu had comforted me for a long while, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. But the tears just wouldn't stop coming.
Eventually, I got exhausted, and I just fell asleep.
I was a bit surprised, however, to find myself waking up in my own bed. I looked around my room, finally registering how long it was since I'd been there.
I had remodeled my room to be just as it was in the old house. I had pictures all over the walls, but they were more recent than those at the old house. Oh, and my new room was just as messy as my old one.
I got up, smoothing my hair down. I noticed a piece of paper on my desk, so I picked it up to read it, recognizing Ryuu's penmanship instantly.
Minxie,
I know you're probably confused as to how you're at the house, but there's nothing to be worried about. You cried yourself out, sis. You fell asleep at the training grounds, and I brought you home.
I know you didn't want me to leave you, and trust me, I feel terrible for doing so, but I really just needed to be alone. Don't worry; I'm not doing anything stupid. I will come back to the house, just not yet.
Please don't look for me. Chances are, you'll find me, and I really just need to be alone. I love you, sis. See you soon.
-Ryuu
I sighed, putting the note back down on my desk. Ryuu was handling Itachi's death a lot better than I thought he would.
Of course, I knew what he wrote on the paper was a bunch of lies. He may not have been planning to do anything stupid, but he would obviously be flipping out the second he was away from me.
I looked out the window, noticing that it was now night time. However, the night seemed a lot darker than usual. Plus, there were absolutely no stars to be seen.
A meowing distracted me, and I spun around to see two kittens emerge from under my bed. My eyes widened.
"Bear?" I said, staring at the gray kitten. "Teacup? Oh my gosh!"
I went over to them, scooping them up into my arms. They purred lovingly, and I scratched their ears comfortably.
"Where were you two hiding all of this time? What, is the underside of my bed your Narnia?" I inquired, petting them.
My kittens! I hadn't seen them in such a long time. I actually thought they had run away or something... I mean, I hadn't seen them in ages! I was going to look, but considering all of the crap I'd been dealing with lately, it really wasn't an option.
I remembered the day I had received these kittens: my fourteenth birthday. I smiled to myself at the memory. Mitchell and Kiba had given me Bear and Teacup.
"Never disappear from me ever again," I said, looking into their big blue eyes. They both meowed in response, and I shrugged, deciding that was good enough as an answer.
I put them down on the floor, placing their food in the corner and letting them play around. Currently, they were wrestling playfully with each other.
I shook my head, smiling and grabbing my things so I could take a quick shower. Once I was done, I changed into a more comfortable outfit consisting of a black sports bra, a light blue crop top that exposed a portion of my stomach, dark pants that ended directly above my knees, and black flats.
I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, so I decided to wait for them all to exit the living room. Then, I remembered... Why was I waiting? I'm a ninja, for crying out loud!
"I'll be back later, you two, I promise," I whispered to Bear and Teacup.
I opened my window and quickly jumped down onto the ground, my landing silent and swift. Doors were overrated, anyway.
I began to walk away from the house, enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty Konoha streets. Everyone in their right mind had to be sleeping by this hour.
I, however, was far from being in my right mind. I was completely all over the place, now. Sasuke and I had been together, until I finally became strong enough to let him go. And I did. I let him go. I was done crying over him.
But then there was Itachi. My sensei, my best friend, the only person who I could tell anything and everything to. He was gone, now. And it was because of Sasuke. I was alone.
Then there was my team. I was too exhausted to face my friends, but I was deeply afraid of what they'd think. Now that they knew the truth, there was no telling what would happen.
It wasn't worth getting smacked, but at least they knew the truth. I couldn't let them continue on in ignorance. They deserved to know, and honestly, I didn't regret my decision to train with Itachi. Being around him had changed my life for the better, even if things were a mess right now.
And then there was Naruto. Oh, Naruto. I felt so bad for him. And I shouldn't have felt like that. Not after the way he snapped at me.
Naruto was the one person I thought would never hurt me. Yet, when he'd snapped at me while I was trying to help him, he'd hurt me. He only said words, but his words hurt a lot more than I thought they would. I never thought Naruto could affect me so much. Why was Naruto affecting me so much?
He was my best friend, sure, and I'd be completely lost without him. But to feel this crappy and alone? You'd think that I was in love with him or something.
... Let's pretend I didn't think that.
I sighed, passing a convenience store and blowing my bangs out of my face.
What I didn't expect to see, however, was Naruto, sitting on a bench. He was looking down at the ground beneath him, completely unaware of my presence. A double popsicle was in his hand, dripping onto the floor, untouched.
I stared at him for a long while, completely silent. I coughed, and he looked up.
His eyes met mine, and then my frustration disappeared.
Third Person's POV
Naruto hadn't planned on any of this happened. He hadn't planned on failing to retrieve Sasuke... Again. He hadn't planned on losing his sensei, nor did he plan on snapping at Minxie.
But he certainly didn't plan on Minxie finding him when he was so desperately trying to escape the world.
But there she was, appearing before him like nothing. Her pale, cream-colored skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, and her emerald eyes sparkled, despite her mood.
She was dressed in a simple outfit. Her light blue crop top didn't cover her shoulders, allowing her black sports bra's straps to be exposed. The top showed a bit of her flat, slender stomach. She had on black pants and black flats. The necklaces she always wore around her neck tied the look together. Her hair was in a completely messy bun.
To everyone else, Minxie would've looked normal, casual. To Naruto, Minxie looked perfect. Absolutely perfect.
She was just so effortlessly beautiful.
And she probably hated him.
After what he said to her, he didn't blame her. But even then... He just wanted her forgiveness.
And Minxie knew that. She knew all of that, just by looking into his eyes.
She had been hurt by what Naruto said, sure. But the whole situation changed when she saw that he had been crying. His eyes were somewhat red, and his face was coated in dry tears.
Slowly, she walked over to him and sat beside him on the bench. They sat in silence for a while, neither of them sure how to start their conversation.
"The first night I spent with Itachi, he and I sat under the stars together," Minxie began, her voice soft. "He told me how much he envied the stars for just being in the sky, for being able to exist with no regrets."
Naruto stood silent, only listening to her voice.
"That sounded depressing, so I told him that I thought the stars symbolize hope," She continued. "I told him that the stars never lose their shine, no matter how dark the darkness that surrounds them is. Thinking about all that's happened... That memory stood out to me the most.
"We're the stars, Naruto. All of us. The darkness is all of the troubles we've faced, all of the troubles we will face. But no matter what, we've got to keep on shining. We've got to keep on trying. No matter how terrible things seem... We've got to look past them.
"Sometimes... The darkness gets really heavy, and some of the stars fade out, like the sky is tonight. Sometimes the stars even stop shining, and they reach their end. But at the end... There's always that one star that keeps on shining, despite all of the bad things they've faced."
Minxie lifted her hand, pointing to the star that was on the far right, the only star in the dark night sky.
"That star reminds me of you, Naruto," She said, and Naruto's attention went back to her. "I came to your house today feeling completely down. I was broken, alone. But when I was with you... I smiled. I didn't even have to try. You made me laugh, you made me forget all of the bad things. You helped me shine again.
"As ridiculous this sounds... What I'm really trying to say is... Things will get better, Naruto," She finished. "However hopeless life may seem, things will get better. They won't do so by themselves, of course. That's our job. It's so difficult to be strong when everything's going wrong... But it's not impossible."
And that was when Naruto once again realized exactly why he was in love with Minxie.
There she was, dressed completely casually. Her hair was completely insane, yet she was practically speaking prophecies like nothing.
Even when Naruto yelled at her, Minxie was still there for him. She was trying to make him feel better, even thought he hurt her.
"I was wrong," Naruto said suddenly. "I shouldn't have said what I said to you today. It was stupid, idiotic, and just completely wrong. I didn't mean any of it-"
"You did," Minxie interrupted softly. "But that's okay. I can't blame you for your assumptions. I understand why you said it."
"I'm sorry," He said, sighing.
"And I forgive you," She said, and for the first time in hours, Naruto actually felt like he was going to be okay.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Naruto murmured after a few moments of silence. "Pervy Sage was supposed to be around. I wanted him to watch me become Hokage... I wanted him to keep on watching me. But now... That's all gone."
"... My sensei was a martyr," Minxie said quietly. "I didn't expect any of this to happen. I guess you really just don't realize what you have until it's gone."
"He's gone," He said. "They're both... Gone."
"... Not necessarily," She decided. "So long as we have memories of them, our teachers will never really be gone. As much as we both want to just sit around and mourn... We can't. We're shinobi, Naruto. We're the new generation. We don't have the luxury of crying anymore. We're growing up. One day, we'll both be making big decisions, and they won't be easy. We'll get hurt. But we've got to trust that we'll be strong enough."
"Being strong is much easier in theory," He stated.
"I know," She assured. "I'm still learning how to be strong, too. I remember getting my strength from Itachi. But he's not here anymore." She took a brief pause. "Although you may not believe it, Naruto... I think that Jiraiya-sensei is still watching you, from wherever he is. And I know for a fact that he'd hate to see you as sad as you are now."
"... I didn't get to tell him anything," He murmured. "I didn't get to tell him how grateful I was to him... How lucky I was to have been trained by him... He just... Disappeared. All he ever saw was the bad side of me."
"Naruto, I know for a fact that he really cared about you," She said. "I watched how he was around you... He treated you like his grand-kid. He always had good things to say about you. And he'd be very unhappy to see you so down. He'd want you to be strong, like he know you can be. He'd want you to go back to being you, the real you, the you who never lets anything get him down. The you that I admire so much."
Naruto stared into her eyes for a long while. He looked at her smile, his heart skipping beats as she did so.
God... She was perfect.
"And... He might also tell you to share some of that popsicle with your best friend who is starving, but of course, that's only my opinion," Minxie said, raising up her hands innocently.
That made Naruto laugh, and she laughed along with him. He split the popsicle in half, handing her a piece.
She took it from him, smiling thankfully before licking it.
"You eat like a guy," Naruto noted, grinning at her.
"Oh, shut up," She said, rolling her eyes and nudging him. He laughed.
"Thank you, Minxie," He murmured, staring into her eyes with sincerity.
She smiled, making his heart swell. "You're welcome, Naruto."
They both ate their popsicles, and all was well.
At least, until the both of them got brain freeze, leading them both to say,
"OH MY GOD! IT'S COOOOLD! BRAIN FREEEEEEEEEZE!"
~*~
"And... We're here," Minxie said, stopping in front of her home. "Thanks for walking me back, Naruto."
"No problem," Naruto said. She smiled, putting her hand on the doorknob, but he stopped her. "I need to tell you something."
She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Um... Okay? What is it?"
"Remember when we all promised to tell each other the truth?" He inquired, and she nodded. "Well... I'm not sure if I want to say what I feel I should say right now."
"Why not?" She inquired.
"Because what I feel I should say is going to change everything," He said honestly. She was about to ask what he meant, but he continued. "After tonight, I'm sure of it. I know what you're going to say... But I need to tell you this. And you don't have to say anything back. I just need you to hear it. Just once. It'll just be you and I, telling the truth."
Minxie stared at him, trying to figure out what he was going to say.
"The truth is... That I love you, Minxie," Naruto said honestly, and Minxie's eyes went huge. "I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you since the day we met. And... I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be in love with you for the rest of my life."
"Naruto..." She didn't know what to say.
"I know," He said, cutting her off. "You don't have to say anything. I just... I needed you to hear it." He kissed her forehead softly. "Goodnight, Minxie."
And then, just like that, he walked away.
Minxie's POV
I stared at the space in front of me for the longest time. I had absolutely nothing to say at that moment.
Naruto... Was in love with me? What?
My head ached. The day's events were just too much.
When I finally regained control of myself, I opened the front door and stepped into the house. It was mostly silent, and I headed into the kitchen.
Mitchell, apparently, had the same idea, because he was sitting at the counter.
"Did Ryuu come home yet?" I inquired blankly.
"Not yet," He answered. "But he should be here soon."
I nodded and joined him, plopping onto a chair in front of the counter. Mitchell eyed me, raising an eyebrow.
"Wow," He said, noticing my look. "What happened to you?"
"I don't really want to talk about it," I said, sighing.
"You look like you need coffee," He noted.
"Yes, please," I said, placing my face on the counter. He poured me a cup and I took it gratefully, taking a sip.
"I was Itachi Uchiha's student for two years and a half years," I announced, my eyes never leaving my coffee cup. "Ryuu's a former Akatsuki member. I kissed Sasuke way too many times to tell anyone that I'm over him. I told everyone about the Itachi thing, and Sakura smacked me. Naruto yelled at me, we made up, and now, he told me that he's in love with me. Oh! And I found my kittens. They were apparently hibernating under my bed."
I waited for him to freak out, but he never did. Instead, he said, "Wow... That's... Wow."
"You're not freaking out?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Minxie, it's me you're talking to here," He said. "You could tell me that you ate a bug, and I'd still love you. I mean, sure, I probably won't ever want to kiss you... But I'd still love you."
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help the smile that formed onto my face. I had almost forgotten that Mitchell was... Well, he was Mitchell.
"I won't lie to you and say that I know everything's going to be okay, because that's not true," He continued. "But the one thing I do know is that you're stronger than this. You'll get through it."
"I'm so tired of having to be strong, Mitchell," I sighed, putting my coffee down.
He was silent for a few moments. "Then... Don't be. Tonight, I'll be strong for you." He stood up, moving in front of me; a gesture that said he wanted me to get onto his back. "Come on."
"You're serious?" I asked, a bit surprised.
"Completely," He assured. "Let's go, midget."
I smiled slightly, jumping onto his back. He stood up straighter, carrying me up the stairs and into my room. He gently dropped me onto my bed, covering my with my blankets.
"Now, tonight, I want you to get some sleep," He said. "All of your problems can wait for tomorrow. And if you need me there to help you face them, I'll be there."
I looked up at his violet eyes and smiled, nodding. "Thanks, Mitch."
"No problem," He said, kissing the top of my head. "Goodnight, Minxie."
"Night," I called, and he exited the room, closing the door behind him.
I closed my eyes, deciding to listen to his advice. And, although it wasn't easy at first, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
Third Person's POV
The atmosphere in the Hokage's office the next morning was completely silent. The Hokage was away from her desk, leaving her two young assistants, Kylie and Sakura, alone.
However, the girls weren't speaking to each other.
The silence got to a point where Sakura just couldn't take it anymore. She watched Kylie stand up and pull open a drawer, a folder in hand.
"So, what?" Sakura asked. "You're just going to stop talking to me?"
"It's better than pretending everything's okay," Kylie stated, placing the folder in the drawer. "And I really have no idea what to say to you anymore, Sakura."
"Why does everyone suddenly hate me now?" Sakura thought out loud.
"Oh, I don't know... Maybe because you smacked Minxie?" Kylie said sarcastically.
"She deserved it," Sakura reasoned.
"For what? For telling you the truth? For wanting to make things right between all of us?" Kylie inquired.
"She betrayed us," Sakura insisted.
"And you wonder why she didn't tell us," Kylie said, slamming the drawer door closed.
"Don't get mad at me," Sakura said. "What happened is between Minxie and I, not you. You shouldn't be this way."
"It does involve me, Sakura," Kylie said. "Now I don't know if it's safe or not to talk to you anymore. You might flip out and slap me."
"Real mature," Sakura sneered.
"And you're an adult?" Kylie inquired. "Adults don't hurt people. Adults don't lose their cool. And adults sure as hell don't smack their friends." She walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"Home," Kylie replied. "I need to check if Minxie's wound healed."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "It probably wasn't even that serious."
"You almost tore a part of her face off, Sakura!" Kylie exclaimed, spinning around to face the pinkette. "I had to heal her! Don't you get how serious that is!?"
"Yes, I do! I get it! I screwed up! I can't apologize if no one will freakin' speak to me anymore!" Sakura shouted.
"What is with you these days, Sakura?" Kylie asked. "Ever since you came back from that mission to look for Sasuke, you've been a whole different person."
"I don't know!" Sakura exclaimed. "I... I just don't know. I don't feel like myself... I don't know, all right!?" Unable to take it anymore, she turned away and stormed out of the room.
Kylie looked at the door for a few moments before sighing deeply. She wanted nothing to do with Sakura, but she just couldn't leave someone alone when they were so upset, no matter what they did.
She followed after the pinkette, knowing the familiar curves and turns of the halls like the back of her hand. Her eyes went wide at what she saw.
On the floor, eyes closed, was Sakura, unconscious.
Kylie rushed over to her, kneeling next to her fallen friend. "Sakura!" She called, shaking the girl in her arms. But Sakura wouldn't budge.
"Shizune! We need a medics team here, now!" Kylie called.
Kylie tried to heal Sakura in the meantime, but the healing wasn't working. Whatever had happened to Sakura was an inner problem, not outer.
She searched around for clues until she found what she was looking for. Not too far from Sakura was a small white pill bottle.
Kylie grabbed the pill bottle, examining it. These were the pills that Sakura always took, used for relieving stress. They were doctor-prescribed. What had happened?
She opened the pill bottle, her eyes locking on the several white pills that she found in there. Guided by her instincts, she grabbed one of the pulls and rubbed it in between her fingers. Her eyes widened when the dust that emitted from the pills was pink, not red, like they should have been. Someone had switched them.
Without a second thought, Kylie grabbed the medicine and put it into her pocket.
One way or another, she'd get to the bottom of this.
~*~
"You're still here?" a bell-chime voice inquired, surveying a brutally-training Ryuu.
"Go away, Scarlett," Ryuu said with no emotion whatsoever.
"Looks like you're still temperamental, even this early in the morning," Scarlett said, leaning against a tree. "You didn't come home last night. Everyone was worried."
"They shouldn't have been," Ryuu said, never taking his eyes off of the training dummy in front of him. "I left a note."
"Ah, yes, the note," She said. "Just because you left a note doesn't mean they were less worried. Everyone was scared out of their minds that you might be off doing something stupid. It was highly annoying, but I can't say I blame them. Now, why did you leave?"
"I wanted to be alone, Scarlett," He snapped. "I still do. So just waltz your way out of here, and go screw with someone who has the time."
She stared at him with her crimson eyes for a few moments. "You know, no matter how much you snap at me, I'm not going to go away. And no matter how angry you get, it won't change the fact that Itachi's gone."
He froze, his blood cold. He was in no condition to hear anyone speak about Itachi.
"We're shinobi, Ryuu," She continued. "Loss is inevitable. People die every day. Some deaths are harder to get over than others, sure, but you can't just shut out the world because you can't cope with it."
"You don't know anything," He snapped, his back to her.
"I don't?" She inquired. "Ryuu, I've lost more than all of your friends combined. Do you see me complaining about it? No. You're running away."
"Scarlett, you do nothing besides run away," He pointed out. "You always have."
"Yeah, I have," She agreed. "To save my life. You're running away because you can't face the truth. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, Ryuu. You're not the only one who's lost someone."
"So you want me to just get over it?"
"No. I want you to stop acting like a child and man up. We've still got to face the Final Battle, and no matter how much you try to deny it, you play a role in at, just like your sister does. From what I've noticed, Itachi apparently knew what he was doing. Whatever twisted reasoning there is behind that, I don't know, nor do I care. But I do know that staying here, taking your anger out on training dummies, won't bring him back."
Ryuu considered her words. As much as hated to admit it, Scarlett was right. No matter how angry he got, he'd never be able to bring Itachi back.
"... All right," He said. "What do we need to do?"
"For starters, we need to get stronger," Scarlett said. "And by we, I mean Minxie. I'm not sure if the fact that we can all possibly die in the Final Battle is settling into her mind correctly. I may not know what she's going to face, but I do know that it'll be terrible. And frankly? She's not strong enough to face it now. She needs to get stronger, fast. And she can't do it here in Konoha. The only setback is that there's only a handful of people who know how to properly train a Takeda."
Ryuu thought about that for a few seconds, when suddenly, he got an idea. "I've got it."
She raised an eyebrow. "You do?" He nodded. "Where?"
"The only place that knows how to properly train a Takeda," He answered. "We're going to the Hidden Dragon Village."
~*~
Kylie entered Mitchell's room without knocking, and she was a bit surprised to see Scarlett sitting at the side of his bed.
Mitchell sighed at his friend's presence. "Can't you knock?"
"Not when it's important," Kylie answered. "What are you doing with her in here? You know what, don't answer that. I don't want to know." She shook her head. "I need your help."
"With what?" He inquired.
"I want to know what these pills are," She said. She held up the pill bottle. "They look white, but when crushed, they turn pink. I've searched all the medical books I could get my hands on, but I can't find anything. I was hoping one of the books you found on the Takeda clan could help me."
"Don't bother," Scarlett interrupted. "I know what those are. They're Amplifiers."
"Amplifiers?" Kylie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Amplifiers," Scarlett confirmed. "They do exactly what the name suggests. They amplify the emotions of those who ingest them. Like... Instead of sadness, you feel despair. Anger becomes rage. They were used in war many years ago. They got recalled."
"For what?" Mitchell asked.
"They were effective, but they were dangerous, too," Scarlett answered. "They were fed to shinobi, so they could amplify the user's anger, making them more effective in battle. Of course, there was a long list of side effects."
"Like what?" Kylie inquired.
"They made people go crazy," Scarlett replied. "They threw the user's emotions so out of whack that the user's personality changed permanently. Or, the simplest effect, they caused death."
"When someone takes Amplifiers, are they in control of what they're doing?" Kylie asked.
"Of course not," Scarlett answered. "Everything about them is amplified. One little comment could make them snap."
"So they can do something completely out of character," Kylie murmured. "Like... Smacking one of their best friends."
"You think Sakura took Amplifiers?" Mitchell asked.
"I know she did," Kylie responded. She held up the pills again. "These pills are hers. She fainted this morning after taking one. Her pills are usually white."
"So you think someone switched them," He stated.
She nodded, and before she could help herself, she stared straight at Scarlett and said, "Yeah. Someone did."
"It wasn't me," Scarlett said, holding her hands up. "I haven't seen bubble gum girl since the mission." She paused. "But... I am a tad curious. Amplifiers are very rare. When they were recalled, every village made sure all of them were destroyed. Of course, that didn't really happen... But there shouldn't be a whole bottle in existence. Last I checked, the only amplifiers around were available at..."
"Where?" Kylie pressed, leaning forward.
"Tazanaka Town," Scarlett said, "but it's destroyed, so... Figuring out who got them here would be almost impossible."
"Sakura's life could be in danger," Kylie said. "And I know you don't care, but we're screwed if we can't find out who switched her pills."
"I said almost impossible," Scarlett reminded. "Fortunately, I've got a friend back in Tazanaka Town who can trace these pills."
"You mean the seer," Mitchell stated.
"Luna," Scarlett confirmed. "She can tell us where the pills came from, and who switched them with Sakura's ordinary medication."
"But Luna's all the way in Tazanaka Town," Kylie said, sighing. "What're we going to do?"
"The only thing we can do," Scarlett said, smirking widely. "We're taking a road trip to dear old Tazanaka Town."