The Angel's Ambivalence [Naruto]

The Prophecy Child and the Savior

"Pain makes you stronger. Fear makes you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the real world. I grinned at Ryuu, who was still sitting in front of me, and I was granted the pleasure of seeing one of his rare, small, genuine smiles grace his face. Reuniting with our mother had definitely given us both a joy that couldn't be forgotten nor contained. I was so happy, I wanted to jump up, sing, and frolic through a meadow.

But sadly, Naruto was in the way of my jumping, I was a horrible singer, and there was no meadow to frolic in. So with a heavy heart, I resorted to looking up at Naruto, who was already looking at me.

His smile was bright and large, as it always was, but it was his eyes that I found the difference. He was no longer at risk of being controlled by Nine-Tails. Now, he was the one in control. He had successfully tamed his beast, and more than that, he had most likely met with his mother, just as I had.

"Did you meet yours, too?" He asked, confirming my assumption.

I nodded in response, smiling brightly at him and standing up so that I was beside him. "Yup!"

"Did you meet your what? Who did you meet? Why are you all talking in riddles!?" Yamato-sensei exclaimed, practically pulling his hair out. "Gah! You're doing this on purpose, I can tell!"

"Jeez, Yamato-sensei, relax! You're all worked up over nothing, believe it!" Naruto commented, crossing his arms over his chest with a victorious grin on his face.

"He's probably just emotional since he's carrying Kakashi-sensei's love child," I announced, shrugging my shoulders, "You know how people can get during pregnancy."

Naruto and Bee burst into laughter, Ryuu sighed deeply, and Yamato-sensei gasped, anime falling. When he didn't rise from the floor, however, I got a little worried. Lady Hokage would never let me hear the end of it if I emotionally scarred another sensei. Apparently, I'd already scarred Kakashi-sensei by stealing his infamous books, which, in my defense, wasn't even fully my fault. Okay, so it was my idea, but Naruto helped, too! And yet somehow, I'm the bad guy. That's favoritism right there, I'm telling you.

"I think you broke our sensei, believe it!" Naruto announced.

I shrugged. "If anything, Kakashi-sensei broke him first, if you know what I mean." On the floor, Yamato-sensei let out an odd cry. I winked at him and wiggled my eyebrows, and Naruto and Bee started laughing again. Even Ryuu couldn't hide his amused smirk at my dirty implications.

"Aw, come on, Yamato-sensei. I was only teasing," I told him, helping him up from the floor. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that everyone's a little gay for Kakashi-sensei."

He scowled at me, removing his arm from my grasp. "You're a horrible person."

"I try my best," I said, winking at him. "Now, do you want to see the Creator's chakra or not?"

He was still scowling at me, but I could tell that my words had captured his interest. I smiled at him and manipulated my chakra, allowing my chakra mode to activate. Everyone's eyes widened at my new appearance, except for Ryuu, who had already seen it.

Naruto smiled, recognition in his eyes. He must have remembered that this chakra coat was the same one that I had acquired in the Land of Waves. "I haven't seen that color in a while. It looks good on you."

I smiled, feeling my cheeks redden considerably. Naruto had complimented me hundreds of times before, but now, it felt different. It was a good different, though, one that made my heart flutter in my chest. "Thanks, even though I'm really mad that I'm in a dress. If only Kimi could see me now. Who knew that the Creator could be fashionable? Maybe designing was its hobby. You know, when it wasn't plotting the destruction of humanity."

"Well, I think it makes you look beautiful," He replied honestly, making me blush even more. "Not that you weren't beautiful before, because you were. You're, like, really beautiful. Gorgeous, even. I mean, your eyes are- And the dress just- You have this smile that- Your dress looks nice." As he continued to speak, the tips of his ears grew redder and redder. When he finally stopped, they were a bright crimson color.

I smiled at him, knowing that my cheeks were as red as his ears. "Thank you, Naruto."

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Heh, you're welcome." We remained like that for a few moments, blushing and staring at each other with huge smiles on our faces.

Ryuu cleared his throat loudly, interrupting us, "Well, if you two are done..." His words only made us blush even more, and he rolled his eyes at our action. I undid my chakra mode, and my twin asked, "What does your chakra mode look like, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked. "My what?"

Ryuu let out a sigh at Naruto's lack of knowledge. "What happens when you use Nine-Tails' chakra?"

"Oh!" the blonde exclaimed. He scrunched up his nose, "Well why didn't you just say that, then!?" Ryuu glared at him, and I giggled. "I've stored Nine-Tails' chakra in a different place within me, so that I'm not using it all the time. This is what it looks like when I use it!"

He manipulated his chakra, and his entire appearance transformed. His whole body glowed a bright yellow, reminding me of the sun. Black symbols covered his chest and abdomen. It was like he had become a beacon of light. But then again, hadn't Naruto always been a beacon of light, guiding others and shining even in infinite darkness? The thought made me smile.

I was about to comment on his new appearance when I noticed something. I felt my face pale and my eyes widen. I briefly heard the sound of Yamato-sensei's voice, but all I could focus on was the object strapped to Bee's back.

It was a sword, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I knew that sword. I'd seen it dozens of times on someone who wasn't Bee, someone much, much different than Bee, someone who was definitely not supposed to be here.

"Bee, where did you get that sword?" I blurted, once I found my voice.

"Oh, this thing here?" the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki patted Samehada's hilt proudly, obviously not sensing the urgency in my tone. "It took a liking to me. I got it from a battle, it was no contest~ I was the winner, 'cause I'm the best~"

I turned to Ryuu with pleading eyes. He was the only one here who would understand why I was so worried, because he knew who the sword's real owner was. More specifically, he knew the owner's ability, and if my gut instinct was correct, we were in big trouble.

Mentally, I cursed myself for being so stupid. How could I not have noticed that Bee was carrying around Samehada? I knew Kisame's sword, front and back. There was no mistaking it for anything else, and yet I had failed to notice that Bee had been lugging it around this whole time. Then again, Bee had more than one weapon. He had swords strapped all over him, so I hardly paid attention to what any of them looked like. Now, I wished that I had.

"Bee," Ryuu began, "How long have you had that sword?" His tone was calm and steady, giving nothing away, but I knew that my twin was up to something. My suspicions were confirmed when he lifted a hand behind his back, preparing to make the seals for one of his ice jutsus. He was going for a surprise attack, not to harm Bee, but to remove Samehada from his back, in case Kisame had fused with it.

Ryuu's careful movements were completely ruined when Naruto tilted his head at Bee, "You really think you're hidden?"

For a moment, I was completely confused, but then I realized that he wasn't talking to Bee. He was looking at Samehada, and that was when my initial suspicion was confirmed. Kisame really had fused with Samehada, disguising his presence.

Yamato-sensei looked around, confusion in his eyes. "You're sensing some other chakra?"

"Yeah, he senses another's presence~" Bee confirmed, "That I didn't was careless of me, I must do penance~"

"It's not chakra!" Naruto exclaimed, "It's something else. Something bad! Coming from there, from your blade!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Samehada jumped into the air and spun, landing a good distance away from us. Kisame's head sprouted out of its mouth. Although he had fused with his sword, it was impossible to mistake him for anyone else. His outer appearance had changed drastically to accommodate the transformation, but his face and voice were still the same.

"It appears you can sense hate and other negative emotions," Kisame deduced, looking at Naruto, "That doesn't fit any known sensory type, so it must be a power of a Jinchuriki who has received control over Nine-Tails."

"Kisame..." I muttered.

Ryuu stared at him, his emerald eyes wide. "I thought you were dead."

"Come now, Ryuu, you know me better than that," Kisame chided with a sharkish grin, "Did you really believe that I'd be taken out so easily? I'm hurt."

"But how? We chopped his head off a-ways back~" Bee said, appearing genuinely confused, "How did you evade me and my brother's tag team attack~!?"

"I switched out while we battled inside the bubble of water," Kisame replied easily. "You killed my clone."

"But clones disappear when you kill them," Yamato-sensei objected, frowning.

Bee nodded in agreement. "The corpse remained post-mortem, no question~ And if someone else had transformed into you, Cee would have sensed it, so still a perplexing consternation~" I literally had no idea what half of those words meant, so I just focused on Kisame.

"That was a special type of clone... A parasitic clone that can be remotely operated by the caster," Kisame explained. "We'll leave it at that, for now."

"It was Zetsu, wasn't it?" I asked. "At the last second, you switched out with one of his clones." I wasn't an expert on Zetsu's abilities, but I knew enough. Itachi had made sure of that.

"Right on the money, as usual. I expected no less from you, Minxie. Itachi taught you well," He commented. At the mention of my last sensei, my stomach shifted uncomfortably. Even though it'd been months since Itachi had passed, I couldn't help the distant sadness I felt whenever someone mentioned him. I couldn't even tell if it was guilt or grief anymore. "However, this situation... To be facing three Jinchuriki, a Takeda, and a mokuton user is honestly very tough, even for me." Kisame tapped a specific spot on the wall, and the door to the room opened.

"Huh!?" Bee exclaimed. "How did you know how to open the door to this room!?"

"Silly question," Kisame called as he headed for the door, "I came here as a spy, you know..."

The next thing I knew, Kisame was grunting in pain, spitting out blood everywhere. Naruto had appeared next to him and slammed him right into the wall with incredible force. It had happened so fast. None of us had seen it coming. I was barely able to process it.

"Was that teleportation jutsu?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Looks like it," Ryuu muttered, activating his Heart's Eyes to get a better look.

"First at bat, quite a smash~ That was just like the Yellow Flash~" Bee sang.

My eyes widened. The Yellow Flash? Wasn't that the Fourth Hokage's nickname? Wow. Looks like controlling Nine-Tails really gave Naruto a new edge. Despite his amazing teleportation skills, however, Kisame was able to get away. He escaped out the door. Naruto was quick to go after him, but for some reason, he couldn't. He remained stuck in the wall.

"My leg! Damnit!" Naruto cursed. "I hit the wall too hard. I'm stuck!"

I sympathized with him. I had experienced being stuck in a wall firsthand -albeit drastically- and it wasn't fun at all. It definitely wasn't something I'd wish on anyone else. Except for Madara. Madara should get stuck in all the walls. Maybe that'll give him time to contemplate his insanity and realize that trapping the world in an eternal genjutsu is bad and really rude.

"I'll help Naruto," I volunteered. "You guys go after Kisame!"

"Right!" Yamato-sensei, Ryuu, and Bee ran out the door while I manipulated my chakra so that I could float. I helped Naruto remove his foot from the wall, and he winced in pain. When I placed him back down on the ground, he released his chakra mode, returning to his regular self. He was clutching his ankle in pain.

"Gah," He cursed. "Ow... This hurts, believe it!"

"It looks like you twisted your ankle," I told him. I shuffled through my bag, pulling out some bandages. "I can't heal it, but I should be able to make you a splint so that you can walk. Just stay still, okay?" He nodded, and I used my jutsu to create a small piece of wood that I could use for the splint.

I straightened his ankle and pressed the wood against it. I wrapped the bandages around the wood, strapping it to his ankle securely.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Sakura taught me," I replied, "I figured it'd come in handy one day. I guess I was right."

"So you were interested in medical ninjutsu?"

"Not really. I'm a horrible medic. I just figured that learning to make a splint would be useful, especially since I have you, a class-A reckless shinobi, on my team."

The real reason that I had asked Sakura to teach me wasn't because I had wanted to become a medical ninja. It was because I felt like I had to. When Naruto had gotten hurt at Tenchi Bridge after he'd transformed into Nine-Tails, it was Sakura who was able to heal him, not me. When it came to medical ninjutsu, I was nothing compared to Sakura.

And honestly, the entire situation had made me feel useless. What good was I if all that I could when Naruto got hurt was cry? The only time my tears had ever been useful was in the Land of Waves, but that was, apparently, a one time thing. On a good day, I could heal tiny cuts, but other than that, I was hopeless.

Knowing that had made me all the more grateful for Sakura's talents, but what if she hadn't been there? What if she hadn't been with us at Tenchi Bridge? I wouldn't have been able to heal Naruto. I wouldn't have been able to do anything except sob and hope he'd survive. He would've ended up dead if Sakura hadn't been there.

I knew I would never be able to learn proper medical ninjutsu. I just wasn't cut out for it, not the way Sakura was. I was born with quite a few skills, but none of them were the skills a medical ninja needed. My chakra control was decent and good for casting jutsus, but not near the level Sakura's was on. That was an area in which she bested all the members of our team. Medical ninjutsu also required patience and a level head, both of which I completely lacked.

So, I had settled for learning the small things, like creating ankle splints and properly bandaging wounds. At least this way, I'd be able to help. I'd be able to do something other than hope for the best whenever someone I cared about was injured.

"Look, the power you've received from Nine-Tails is incredible," I continued, once I had finally snapped out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, but it's useless if I can't control it," Naruto grumbled, pouting.

"You'll learn how to control it," I assured him. "But until then, you have to be careful with it, all right? We both have to be careful. Otherwise we'll need more bandages, and I didn't even bring that many." He nodded with a small smile on his face, and I finished setting up his splint. "There, all done. Let's go." I helped him up, and the two of us ran outside to join the others.

When we reached the forest, we saw Bee, Ryuu, and Yamato-sensei gathered with Motoi and that shades-wearing Konoha ninja that had accompanied us on the way here. The ground beneath us shook, and I looked up to see waves of chakra blasting towards the sky. It looked like it was coming from the direction of the water.

"What is that!?" Motoi exclaimed.

"That's Guy's Eight Inner Gates move, the Hirudora, the Afternoon Tiger!" Yamato-sensei replied.

"The Hirudora?" Naruto repeated. "... Pretty lame name for a jutsu. I thought Guy-sensei wanted to sound like a young shinobi, not an old fart, believe it!"

"At least he didn't name it Sexy Jutsu, unlike some people I know," I countered, shooting Naruto a flat look.

The blonde sweatdropped. "You're never gonna let that go, aren't you?"

"Nope, never," I replied with a large smile, "I'm going to make sure everyone knows that you're a pervert who uses Sexy Jutsu in order to get what you want. Teenage girls, beware!"

"That was one time!" He objected. Everyone turned to look at him in disbelief, and he sighed. "That was several times! But that doesn't mean I'm a pervert!"

"This is no time to discuss whether or not Naruto is a pervert, even though he is!" Yamato-sensei cut in, making me laugh and Naruto scowl, "The Hirudora has a wide blast radius, and it's about to hit! Brace yourselves!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the impact of the Hirudora hit. A large wave of chakra hit us, sending rocks and plants flying. I had to send chakra to the soles of my feet just to prevent myself from being blown backward by the force of the jutsu.

Many moments later, Guy-sensei returned with Kisame in tow. He had successfully recovered the scroll with intel that Kisame had planned to send to Madara, and he had also defeated the Akatsuki member. He kept Kisame alive, and even though I wasn't supposed to be, I was happy.

Truth was, I didn't want Kisame dead. Besides Ryuu and Itachi, he was the only other member of the Akatsuki who I had actually grown attached to. I had never meant to care for him, but since he was Itachi's partner, he was always around. I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. And despite his sometimes barbaric and violent antics, he grew on me.

But my personal feelings didn't change who he was. He was an Akatsuki member who had infiltrated the island to gather intel on all of us. I wasn't supposed to feel sympathy for him.

Yet there I was, watching Yamato-sensei trap Kisame with his wood jutsu and feeling sick to my stomach about the whole thing.

Ryuu stood beside me, both of us with our arms crossed over our chests. Both of us standing there, having to watch Kisame being trapped and not being able to do a damn thing about it without being branded as traitors.

"He's a criminal," I spoke up quietly, not entirely sure who I was speaking to, or why I was even speaking at all. Maybe I was speaking to myself. Maybe I needed to say it out loud so that I could convince myself that I had no reason to feel guilty about what I was watching.

"So was I," Ryuu shot back, harshness in his tone. I finally looked at him, noticing the tightness of his jaw, the quiet anger and guilt in his dark emerald eyes. What I felt was nothing compared to what he was probably feeling. Ryuu, who had grown up alongside Itachi and Kisame. Ryuu, who had spent half his life around members of an organization that we were all trying to kill.

It was those memories that seemed to drive him, making him take a step forward. I, however, stopped him, grabbing his hand and locking it in mine.

"Don't," I warned quietly, making sure no one else would hear us. "Not everyone here knows about you, about your past. It was pure luck that Kisame didn't mention anything back there. If you do something stupid, it'll blow up in your face. We can't risk it. Trust me. You know we can't do anything."

"We can," He countered in a quiet voice. "We just won't." I looked down, hating the fact that he was right, as usual. However, his stance no longer worried me. He relaxed his hand, letting his fingers wind with mine in a comforting gesture. "At least know I understand it."

"Understand what?" I asked curiously.

"Why you were so angry with us. Why you refused to agree with us when we decided we were going to kill Sasuke," He answered.

His reply caught me off guard. Having him mention Sasuke wasn't helping me forget about the Uchiha, like I had wanted to. It seemed like the more I tried to forget Sasuke, the more he seemed to be brought up. Every time I tried to put him out of my head, someone would mention him to me. And honestly, it wasn't at all helpful. How was I supposed to forget about him if everyone kept bringing him up?

But since Ryuu seemed so serious, I let him continue. My curiosity won out in the end, as it always did, and I wanted him to finish what he wanted to say. Besides, he knew that I wanted to forget Sasuke. He wouldn't bring the topic up unless it was really important.

"I thought you were just being stubborn. I thought that your feelings for him were blinding you and clouding your judgment, but I was wrong. You knew exactly what he was, what he had become, but it didn't matter, because your instinct to protect the person you loved was so much stronger than your instinct to be a proper shinobi. Because even though I know what Kisame is, even though I know what he's done... There's nothing more I want to do right now than rip those wooden restraints off of him and protect him from the people I call my friends."

And despite the sadness of his words, I smiled, squeezing his hand, because he was right. Because I knew better than anyone what it was like to love someone that you shouldn't.

"And now I understand why you all did what you did," I said. "You made a hard decision and chose the well-being of many over the well-being of one, because you thought ahead. Because no matter how much you wanted to protect me, you knew that you couldn't let the other villagers suffer. You couldn't let the rest of the world suffer. I know that now."

It was Naruto's loud voice that brought us back to reality. "Wow, Guy-sensei, you really took him down!"

"You're capable despite your looks, uber-brows~" Bee commented. "But that blue sweat of yours got quite a stench, it packs some pows~"

Bee was referring to the blue sweat that Guy-sensei was currently emitting. It was an effect of opening the Seventh Gate. The jutsu he had performed was incredible, but the odor that was rolling off of him in waves made me wonder if the whole thing was even worth it. I wasn't sure how many showers he'd have to take until he smelled clean again.

Thankfully, Ryuu and I were standing far enough away from him to not die by fume inhalation. I had no idea how the others were able to stand so close to Guy-sensei without having asthma attacks or dropping dead from the stench alone.

The other Konoha shinobi -who I was still going to refer to as Slim Shady until his real name was discovered- placed his palm onto Kisame's forehead.

"If this goes well, we'll have the Akatsuki's plans and other information, even their leader's identity," He said. "I'm not as adept as Inoichi-sensei, but I'm going in for the intel!" He placed his other palm on his own forehead and began his jutsu.

I assumed that he was doing some sort of mind jutsu, both because of his motions and because of the mention of Ino's father. I doubted he'd be able to find anything in Kisame's head, though. Kisame was an Akatsuki member, sure, but Madara didn't seem like the type to give away precious information to anyone, even his subordinates. But then again, he was supposed to be dead. He was just full of surprises.

It was quiet for a while. No one spoke as Slim Shady browsed through Kisame's mind. None of us wanted to risk disturbing him, so we remained silent.

I, however, was bored out of my mind. I was just about to ask Naruto to thumb wrestle with me when Slim Shady gasped. My jaw dropped as Kisame bit his own tongue, forcing himself awake. Blood pooled out of his mouth, staining the green grass below him.

"He bit his own tongue!" Slim Shady exclaimed, as if we hadn't noticed it yet. "He willed himself awake in order to prevent me from extracting intel!"

Kisame laughed and used his immense strength to break free from Yamato-sensei's wooden restraints. I couldn't believe that he still had so much power left after the way that Guy-sensei had pummeled him. Slim Shady went flying backward, and wooden splinters flew into the air.

"Sore loser!" Guy-sensei exclaimed. "Your youth is nothing compared to mine!" Oh, Lord.

"Please recapture him alive!" Slim Shady begged from the ground. "It's our last chance! We need his intel!"

Kisame used the Water Prison Jutsu, creating a sphere of water around himself. For a moment, I thought back to my team's fight with Zabuza, which seemed like a lifetime ago. I supposed that in a sense, it was.

Guy-sensei tried to break through the water prison, but it was pointless. The water was thick with chakra. It couldn't be broken by a simple punch. Kisame summoned sharks inside the water prison.

"That's the Water Prison Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Don't panic. He still can't do anything," Yamato-sensei assured. "I'll grab him!" He summoned wood into his palm, preparing his attack.

I activated my Mind's Eyes, prepared for Kisame's retaliating jutsu, but it never came. And suddenly, with the aid of my kekkei genkai, I realized what he was going to do. I saw the thought cross his mind before solidifying as he made his decision. And I watched, horrified, as that thought was transformed into a reality.

"Kisame, NO!" I screamed, rushing forward to stop him.

But I was too late. In a swift movement, the sharks he had summoned attacked, tearing him apart. The blue water turned red, and blood filled the prison until it could hold no more. The jutsu came undone, and the blood exploded out of it and onto the grass. The sharks disappeared, leaving nothing but red in their wake.

The red liquid splashed my face, but Ryuu wrapped his arms around me before I could fall into the pool of Kisame's blood. I fell on the clean grass instead, with Ryuu kneeling behind me, his arms holding me securely. My mouth was hanging open as I stared at the sight in front of me, completely horrified. When I finally closed my mouth, I felt the drops of blood that had landed on my face drip down my cheek. But I made no move to wipe them away.

All I could do was sit there, Ryuu's arms wrapped around me. The two of us, sitting there, staring at all that was left of the Mist ninja we had grown to care for.

Flashback::

"Uncle Fishstick? Uncle Fishstick, where are you? Uncle Fishstick! UNCLE FISHSTICK- Ah, there you are!" I grinned, fourteen-years-old once again, as I spotted Kisame sitting behind the couch. "Finally found you! I was starting to think that you were hiding from me or something."

"Of course not. Why would I ever hide from you?" He questioned innocently. "Of course I wanted you to find me. Why else would I be sitting behind the couch and not on it?"

"For your sake, I'm going to pretend that I did not hear those sarcastic remarks. Now, entertain me, Uncle Fishstick."

He groaned. "I told you to quit calling me that."

"But I have to!" I exclaimed. "You're like an uncle to me, and you're a fish, so therefore, I must call you Uncle Fishstick! Gosh, get with the times."

He scowled at me. "I'm not a fish."

"You're blue," I deadpanned.

"I'm-"

"Blue. You're blue. You're a fish. Accept it."

He groaned, rubbing his temples. "Why can't you bother your brother or Itachi?"

"Okay, firstly, I do not bother anyone. My presence is angelic, a gift from above, and it should be treated as such."

He snorted. "All right, then, why haven't you graced them with your 'angelic presence' yet, hm?" He inquired, putting up air quotes around the words angelic presence.

"Because Ryuu is in one of his diva moods," I replied simply, plopping myself down next to him. The floor was, oddly, more comfortable than the couch. I decided to blame Deidara. We all blamed Deidara whenever something didn't work right. "And Itachi's reading."

He held up the book in his hand, waving it in front of my face. "So was I, before you rudely interrupted me. Why didn't you disrupt Itachi, hm?"

I thought about it for a few moments. "Um... Well... He looked busy?"

He snorted. "Yeah, right. You just didn't want him to use his Mangekyo on you, scaredy-cat."

"Itachi's not scary!" I argued defiantly. "He's fabulous."

"That's not exactly what I'd call it," He replied with a chuckle. "I was going more for terrifying."

"But he's more fabulous than terrifying. I mean, have you seen his hair? It's so glossy. I don't know how he gets it that shiny. He must use a special shampoo. I think he uses Pantene. Maybe Garnier? That would explain the smell. His hair always smells like fruits and sunshine. Oh! And sunflowers."

Kisame eyed me weirdly. "You sniffed Itachi's hair?"

My eyes widened. "Um... No?"

"Oh, my... You sniffed Itachi's hair!"

"I didn't mean to!" I exclaimed in defense. "He was just walking by and I happened to lift my nose and I sniffed, okay!? Stop blaming me for what my nostrils did! I didn't ask for a nose, but I got one, anyway! So quit judging me! My goodness, all you do is judge! IS IT BECAUSE I'M FAT!? WHY DO YOU PLAY GAMES WITH MY HEART!?"

"Jeez, kid, is it your time of the month or something?"

"KISAME!" I shrieked, my cheeks flushing.

"I'm just kidding. It's not my fault you're being an emotional wreck. Man, I can't wait to tell Itachi about this."

I gasped in horror. "You can't tell Itachi! What if he never uses his special shampoo again!? Then I'll have nothing to smell!" He busted out laughing, and I scowled at him. "This isn't funny! Stop laughing at me! This is serious!"

"I just- You're just- You sniff hair and I can't-" He could barely form a sentence since he was laughing so much. I sat there, glaring murderously at him and pouting, until his laugh attack ended. He wiped tears from his eyes, composing himself. "Ah, much better. I'll make you a deal, kid. You stop calling me Uncle Fishstick, and I'll keep quiet about your fetish for Itachi's hair."

"But... That's not fair!" I whined.

"Then I guess I have no choice," He said with a sigh. "OH, ITACHI-"

"Okay, okay, fine!" I relented.

He grinned at me, showing his sharp teeth. "Smart choice, kid."

"Whatever..." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and scowling at the space in front of me. Then, I got an idea and grinned to myself. "... Baby Jaws."

His face fell. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, Baby Jaws, this is no joke. You see, Baby Jaws, your little deal has taken the name of Uncle Fishstick. Therefore, Baby Jaws, I am left with no choice. Since I cannot call you Uncle Fishstick, Baby Jaws, I must think of an alternative. And Baby Jaws is-"

"All right, all right!" He exclaimed, cutting me off. "You can call me Uncle Fishstick!"

I grinned at him. Being annoying sure did come in handy. "Thought so, Uncle Fishstick."

He groaned.

Present Time::

And now, I'd never be able to call him Uncle Fishstick again. I'd never even be able to look at him to say a proper goodbye, because now, his body had been torn to shreds. He'd fed himself to his sharks, and I'd be haunted by the memory forever.

I could feel the others' gazes on me. By now, the shock of Kisame's death had subsided for them, and they were looking at me, wondering why I was still on the ground with a look of complete horror on my face. They had probably expected my reaction to be frazzled, of course, because who the hell would move on after seeing something like that up close? But while they had recovered, while they had pulled themselves together, I was a mess.

And then I realized why they were looking at me. They didn't know. With the exception of Naruto and maybe my two senseis, none of them knew of my relationship with Kisame. None of them knew that I hadn't just watched an enemy shinobi feed himself to his sharks. None of them knew that I had actually witnessed the death of a friend.

But there was no time to mourn, not now, and certainly not here, on an island we hardly knew anything about. So with a steeliness I didn't know I possessed, I rose from the ground, pulling Ryuu along with me. As we stood up, the pained expression on his face vanished. It was replaced by the stoic mask that he had spent years perfecting. He was retreating into himself, hiding his emotions, just as he had been trained to do whenever something like this happened.

And I envied that. I envied him for being able to do that, for being able to act as if he had no emotions whatsoever, to shut it all off in the blink of any eye. One of the basic rules of conduct for all shinobi was to never show emotion. The mission was the priority. All emotion had to be pushed aside, because emotion was dangerous. It was emotion that made people act irrationally. It was emotion that caused accidents and mission failures.

This was a skill that I never mastered and probably never would master, one that I knew would eventually blow up in my face. Sometimes I really wished that I could mask my emotions. Maybe then, it wouldn't hurt so damn much.

"He fed himself to his own sharks..." Slim Shady muttered, breaking the long silence that had ensued. "He was pretty debilitated... He must have figured that he couldn't escape us."

"He was an Akatsuki member powerful enough to be paired with Itachi," Yamato-sensei continued, "He was long feared as the scourge of the Mist... I never imagined this would be his manner of death."

"He did it so that we wouldn't collect any intel. He did it to protect his comrades," I stated, my voice hollow, "He did what any other shinobi would do. He sacrificed himself for his comrades." Because in the end, Kisame wasn't an Akatsuki member or a criminal or a killer. He was just a simple shinobi who chose to die out of loyalty to his comrades.

"Is he really dead?" Motoi asked. In response, Samehada let out a whine.

"This fella's crying sorrowfully~" Bee said, kneeling beside the sword and petting it, "So it seems this time, he truly is dead, fully~"

"But... What Minxie said is true. He died instead of giving up intel on his comrades," Naruto said, "So even some of the Akatsuki are loyal to their own."

Guy-sensei placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "That was admirable, though he was an enemy! The measure of a shinobi's life is determined by his manner of death!"

And that was something that I agreed wholeheartedly with. It was one of the many lessons Itachi had taught me. Because no matter who you are, you never know what kind of human you are until the very end.

And in the end, Kisame was a better human than most.

"Kisame Hoshigaki... I swear to remember you for the rest of my life!" Guy-sensei proclaimed. He held out the scroll that he had procured. "And now, we've averted our intel from being leaked to the Akatsuki."

"So he had recorded information about us on that scroll and was intending to smuggle it out of here, eh?" Slim Shady guessed. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Well, duh. What else would the scroll have? A recipe for cupcakes?

"We should confirm the contents of the contents of the scroll," Motoi suggested, "If we know what they were interested in, then we can plan a counter."

And although that was a good strategy, I had to fight off another eye roll. It was obvious that Madara's interest was in capturing the remaining Jinchuriki. The scroll would no doubt have the location of the island as well as information on the Allied Nations battle strength. If Madara had that intel, he'd be able to win the war in the blink of an eye.

"Right!" Guy-sensei said. He made a motion to open the scroll, but I stopped him.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. Everyone paused to look at me. "What if it's a trap? There's no telling what's in that scroll. Don't you think we should be cautious with opening it?"

"Kisame intended for this scroll to reach his subordinates," Yamato-sensei reminded rationally, "Why would he inconvenience them with a trap? I doubt he'd arm the scroll in such a manner."

"You don't know Kisame," Ryuu spoke up. His face paled a little as he looked back at the pile of blood on the grass. "Or you didn't know him," He corrected himself, trying to hide his wince at the reminder.

"And you did?" Motoi countered, squinting his eyes in question.

"Look, we're just saying we should be careful," I intervened quickly, so that Ryuu wouldn't have to explain himself. I highly doubted that Motoi would be as understanding as the Hokage had been about Ryuu's past. Telling Motoi that Ryuu was an ex-Akatsuki member would so not end in our favor. "I mean, the last time I opened a scroll in a strange forest was at the Chunin Exams, and one of my old senseis popped out. Something tells me that whatever comes out of this scroll won't be as friendly."

"Well, we won't know what's inside of it until we open it," Yamato-sensei replied.

"But what if whatever's inside of it is dangerous? What if whatever's inside of it is something we don't want to be inside of it that ends up making us wish we kept it inside of it?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips. Everyone stared at me with confused expressions, tilting their heads as they tried to understand my jumbled up explanation.

Naruto blinked. "You just lost me, believe it!" The others nodded in agreement.

I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. "I'm saying that I think this is a bad idea."

"Like I said, we won't know what's inside until we open it," Yamato-sensei continued. "If it's a trap, I'm sure we'll be able to take care of it. We'll just have to be on our guard." He nodded at Guy-sensei. "We're ready when you are, Guy."

Guy-sensei flashed a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, Minxie! I will tackle whatever obstacle this scroll throws at us with the power of youth!"

I sweatdropped. "Oh, just open the damn thing, sensei."

He nodded and peeled open the scroll. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting. Honestly, I had thought a giant shark would appear and try to eat our faces off, since after all, Kisame was the one who had designed this scroll. But what happened was much worse.

Just as I had feared, the scroll was armed with a trap. As soon as it was opened, water sprung from inside of it. It wrapped around us, forming spheres that trapped and separated each of us. We were bound by the water prison jutsu.

I would have been able to deal with that, but of course, that wasn't where the trap ended. In each of our water prisons, a shark appeared.

"It was a booby trap!" Slim Shady cried, "Watch out for the shark!"

"No, really? I didn't see it!" I barked at him furiously. I swear, if I wasn't trapped in this damned water prison, I would have attacked him. "I told you idiots it was a trap, and now Jaws is trying to freakin' eat me! But of course, who ever listens to Minxie?" If I wasn't surrounded by water with a shark about to rip me to bits, I would have started my 'I told you so' dance. "UGH! Let go!"

I furiously kicked at the shark, which only made it angrier and more intent on ripping me apart. It opened its wide jaws, baring its razor sharp teeth. I tried to grab my katana, but I could barely move. Before I could grab my weapon, it tried to take a bite out of me. I grabbed its nose and placed a foot against its jaw in an attempt to push it away.

I heard the shouts of the others as they tried to defeat their sharks, but I knew they were struggling. Since the water was heavy with chakra, moving was almost impossible. Plus, the prison was pretty small. Trying to defeat a shark while drowning in limited space was pretty damn difficult, even for a shinobi.

While we struggled against the sharks, another shark swam away from us in its own water prison, holding the scroll in its mouth.

"It's headed out to sea!" Motoi shouted. "We need to stop it!"

But stopping it was out of the question. Even if we escaped our water prisons, the shark was too far away. By the time we escaped, we'd be too late.

To make matters worse, Guy-sensei decided that now would be the perfect time to pass out from using his Eight Gates jutsu. I wanted to kick him on top of that, but sadly, there was a water prison and an angry shark in the way of that.

This entire situation was getting on my nerves. I did not conquer the Creator just to get eaten by a freakin' shark. I had standards, and becoming a meal for a hungry shark was not the manner of death that I wanted.

"This is ridiculous!" I shouted to no one in particular as I fended off the shark. "We're shinobi! Why are we getting our asses whooped by a bunch of sharks!?"

"Girl has a point," Bee called, "Fool, ya fool!" He punched the shark that was trapped with him, sending it straight into the ground.

Deciding to take a cue from Bee, I also punched the shark in my prison, sending it a good distance away from me. While it was down, I quickly manipulated my chakra to stream Chidori throughout my body. The electricity from the Chidori carried throughout the sea water of the prison, electrocuting the shark and killing it instantly. The water prison itself was destroyed by my jutsu, and I landed on my feet, greedily taking large gulps of oxygen.

Once a sufficient amount of oxygen had returned to my lungs, I quickly worked to free the others from their water prisons. Ryuu, apparently, wasn't in need of any assistance, because when I looked at him, he was kneeling on the grass with a dead shark next to him. I stabbed at another shark and destroyed Naruto's water prison, setting the blonde free.

I then quickly went to Guy-sensei, who had, surprisingly, not been eaten by a shark. Before the animal could take a bite out of him, I sliced at it with my katana. It died almost instantly, and once the jutsu was released, I gently set Guy-sensei on the ground. He was pretty much comatose, but I knew that his muscles would be in intense, probably excruciating pain, for a while. Touching him would only make things worse.

Bee and Ryuu, who were already freed from their water prisons, quickly went out in search of the shark who had escaped, but I feared that the shark had already gotten away.

Naruto knelt next to Guy-sensei, "Hey, Mega-Brows-sensei, are you okay? Can I help?!"

Knowing what he was going to do, I called out to him, "Wait, Naruto, don't-"

"AARGH!" Guy-sensei screamed loudly as soon as Naruto's hand came in contact with the older man's arm.

"What'd I do!?" Naruto asked frantically, his blue eyes wide.

I sighed exasperatedly, rubbing my temples. "Don't touch him! Using the Eight Gates jutsu ruptured all of his muscle fibers."

"But I barely touched him!" He protested.

"Even the slightest touch will cause him immense pain," Yamato-sensei added.

I nodded in agreement. "Exactly, so just put him down before-"

Naruto released Guy-sensei, not bothering to be gentle. My former sensei let out another cry of pain in response as his body hit the ground.

"GENTLY, NARUTO, GENTLY!" I shouted, flailing my arms around.

"I'M SORRY!" Naruto cried. "It's okay, I can just move him again and-"

"NO!" Yamato-sensei and I yelled in unison, frantically rushing over to the blonde to stop him from hurting Guy-sensei any more than he already had.

Naruto held up his hands in attempted innocence, "I was just trying to help, believe it!"

Yamato-sensei sighed. "I understand that, Naruto, but right now he's experiencing loads of pain and- QUIT POKING HIM!"

Naruto's finger froze in its place. Yamato-sensei's eye was twitching. The entire scene made me want to laugh, but I feared that giggling would give my poor sensei a heart attack. I was pretty sure that the antics of Naruto and I combined gave him high blood pressure. He, like Kakashi-sensei, was most likely not paid enough for the job of looking after Naruto and I.

I saw Ryuu return, but Bee wasn't with him. He walked over to Motoi and Slim Shady, and I quickly stood up to join them.

"The shark got away, huh?" I asked, even though I had already guessed the answer. The shark was probably already miles off the coast of the island.

My twin nodded. "Bee's still out looking in the ocean, but it's pointless. The shark's long gone, along with the scroll full of intel."

"That water prison jutsu seriously delayed me from getting the word out about our intel leak," Motoi said, quickly jotting down a message on a piece of paper. "I'll send word now, but I'm afraid that the Akatsuki will receive the scroll of intel before the Gokage know about the intel leak."

"So what happens now?" I questioned. "We all know that the shark is heading straight for Madara, meaning he knows where us remaining Jinchuriki are. He'll be coming after us any minute now."

"She's right," Slim Shady agreed, "The enemy will soon be upon us. We have to get her, Bee, and Naruto off this island!"

Motoi summoned a messenger owl, strapping the message securely to the owl's leg. "We'll move them, but not by boat. All three of them will stay on this island." The owl quickly took off into the sky.

"You're keeping us here even though the enemy knows our location?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of protecting us?"

I mean, I was all for staying on the island and waiting for Madara. Better for me to get rid of him now than to wait to meet him in the war, which I would so be participating in no matter what anyone else said. But if I stayed, so would Bee and Naruto, and I didn't want either of them put in harm's way. More importantly, I didn't want either of them putting themselves in harm's way, which was bound to happen since the two of them were as reckless as can be.

"This island isn't on any map. Even if you know it exists, it's impossible to find because it's actually a mobile stronghold, an island that can move," Motoi explained. "It's a massive turtle that Kumogakure has been rearing since ancient times."

My eyes widened. This entire island was actually a turtle? I was on a turtle right now? Where does one even find a turtle so large?

"Well, damn," I muttered, "And I thought the gorilla was big..."

Motoi smiled. "Of course, we can assume that the enemy knows this now, too, but this island is still far safer than any boat to travel to Kumogakure. Besides, we told Naruto that he was on a top secret mission to perform an ecological survey of this island. If we move him off the island, he'll get suspicious." He turned to me. "This is where your role becomes crucial, Minxie. We need you to make sure that Naruto remains ignorant to the truth of the war, no matter what you have to do."

I frowned. I didn't like those words one bit. 'No matter what you have to do' meant that I'd be doing something I wouldn't want to do. And suddenly, I realized exactly what that something was. "You mean you want me to lie to him, don't you?"

"No, we want you to distract him," He corrected. "He needs to believe that this is all really for a mission. You have to convince him of it and make sure he doesn't find out about the war."

"Either way, I'm still keeping a secret from him," I objected, "He's my best friend. I hate lying to him. Have any of you considered that maybe we could help? I know the Akatsuki is after us, but if we helped on the battlefield, maybe we could-"

"Not an option," Ryuu interrupted, cutting me off, "and you know that. Minxie, you know Naruto, and now you know Bee. Do you think those two will listen to reason on the battlefield? They'll rush into the war without thinking twice."

I bit my lip. He was right. Naruto and Bee were impulsive, and together, they'd only be worse. But still... "Well, Bee knows about the war. He can look after Naruto, and then maybe I could-"

He shook his head, and I stopped speaking. "You're as impulsive as they are, especially when it comes to the people you care about. I know you want to help, but your role is here. This war is to protect you. Don't forget that."

"And that's exactly why I'm so determined to help," I said. "I hate sitting here, pretending that people aren't going to die for me. You say I'm doing the right thing, but I don't agree. I'm not saving anyone here. All I'm doing here is hiding."

At this point, Motoi saw it fit to excuse himself, along with Slim Shady. Apparently, neither of them were quite equipped to deal with a stubborn Takeda like me. They must have thought I'd go quietly, which was so beyond impossible that I wanted to laugh. Unfortunately, however, that left Ryuu, who was also a stubborn Takeda.

My twin sighed, "Minxie, we discussed this already."

"That's just it, Ryuu. We haven't discussed anything. You and the Gokage have discussed this. I had no say in any of this. At the Summit, Gaara was the one who said I'd stay out of the war, not me. I've cooperated so far simply because he asked me to. But now, you're asking me to lie to Naruto."

"I'm not asking you to lie."

"No, you're just asking me to not tell the truth," I shot back sarcastically. "It's the same thing, Ryuu, and you know it. Would you lie to me about something like this the way you're asking me to lie to Naruto?"

"If it meant keeping you safe, I'd do it in a heartbeat," He answered without a moment's hesitation. "I'd lie whenever to whoever if it meant you'd be protected. Don't you want to keep Naruto safe?"

"Of course I do. It's just... It's different, now."

"Why? Why is it different?" He asked. "You cooperated on the boat. You agreed to come here, knowing the real reason you were being sent here. So why the sudden change of heart?"

There was exhaustion in his voice that I hadn't noticed before, one that made me feel horrible for questioning him in the first place. His eyes seemed tired now, dark circles forming under them. Ryuu was always taking care of me, always doing what he could to protect me, the way a big brother should. He did his job so well that it was easy to forget that he was just a teenager. A teenager who should have been with his girlfriend, not attending war councils and devising battle plans all to protect me, the Jinchuriki sister that he'd been cursed with.

It was hard to argue with him when all I wanted to do was help him. I wanted to send him to a place where he'd actually be able to get some sleep, a place where he wouldn't have to worry about keeping me alive or protecting me from Madara, but he'd never agree. It was just impossible. He had no problems risking his life for mine, but if I were to do the same for him and participate in the war, it was absolutely unacceptable.

Instead of snapping at him the way I'd initially intended to, I answered calmly, "Because now I know that it's real. Before, I thought Madara's declaration of war was just that: a declaration, an empty promise. But now I know that it's not. He's making moves and preparing himself for war. He proved that much by sending Kisame here, and now, Kisame's dead. He's dead, Ryuu, because of a war over the remaining Jinchuriki, a group that -in case you've forgotten- includes me!"

"Is that what this is about? You think you're responsible?" He inquired. "Minxie, what happened to Kisame... It wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't my fault," I replied, making his eyes widen a fraction, "But if I stay here, if I keep letting people die for me, if I just sit here and do nothing the way you want me to... Then it will be my fault."

I didn't wait for him to answer me after that. I simply walked away, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly. On my way back to Yamato-sensei and Naruto, I ran into Scarlett. It was weird that she kept wandering off, but I knew better than to question it. Scarlett would only tell me what she wanted me to know, and I didn't feel like interrogating her after everything else that'd happened.

For once, my Doppelganger looked completely confused. "What's with all the blood on the grass? How much did I miss?"

"A lot. Naruto gained control of Nine-Tails, and I gained control of the Creator," I told her.

"Wow," She said, sounding almost impressed. "Who knew you two had it in you? Although that still doesn't explain all the blood."

I looked away. "Kisame infiltrated the island. He'd fused with Samehada, which Bee had been carrying. Guy-sensei captured Kisame to extract intel, but... He sacrificed himself so we wouldn't get any information."

She blinked. "Hm... A true comrade to the end, I suppose, though that doesn't make him any less of a criminal."

I glared at her. "Don't be disrespectful. Not to him."

She held up her hands in defense. "All right, fine, I'll shut up."

I ignored her, stepping around her and walking over to a tree where I could keep an eye on the others without being bothered. I sat at its trunk, leaning my back against its bark and hugging my knees up to my chest. Unfortunately, Scarlett followed me. She didn't sit down, but she did lean against the same tree, which still annoyed me.

"You're in a mood," She commented, her red eyes looking down at me.

"I saw someone I cared about get torn to bits right in front of me. Madara is starting a war over the remaining Jinchuriki -over me- and I'm stuck here on this turtle island. I'm supposed to sit here and pretend that I'm okay with people risking their lives for me while I do absolutely nothing," I snapped, more bitterly than I'd intended to sound, "So yes, I'm in a mood. Sorry if that displeases you."

"Surprisingly, it doesn't displease me. It annoys me, but then again, your entire existence annoys me, so I'm used to it." She sat down next to me, crossing her legs. "If you knew what war was really like, you wouldn't be in a such a rush to get involved."

I snorted. "Yeah, right, because you know so much more about war than I do."

She glared at me. "In fact, I do," she snapped, "War destroyed my home, but of course, what does that matter? I'm your heartless Doppelganger who isn't allowed to have feelings or remember the life she had before all of this prophecy crap. How could I have forgotten?"

Suddenly, I felt horrible for what I had said. Who was I to say that Scarlett hadn't suffered? She'd done a lot of things to make me and my friends miserable, but I'd never considered the reason why, not even once. No one starts out evil, not even someone like her. There's a reason behind every villain's malice. That was something I'd always known, but it was also something easily forgotten once she started messing with us. Back then, I couldn't have cared less about understanding her or figuring out why she was the way she was. All I could ever think about was how horrible she was for trying to ruin my life.

But now, Scarlett was more than just my Doppelganger. Neither of us would ever say it out loud, but I liked to think that despite everything, we were becoming friends. We probably wouldn't be having sleepovers anytime soon, but we could at least have civil conversations in which I didn't say something thoughtless and stupid. It was hard to imagine Scarlett having a life before all of this Doppelganger crap that didn't involve inflicting misery upon others, but for the sake of our tiny budding friendship, I would try to.

"Sorry," I apologized sincerely, "I didn't mean that."

She regarded me coldly with her crimson eyes for a few moments. Finally, she let out a sigh and looked away, pursing her lips. "I know you didn't."

That was probably as close to a 'you're forgiven' that I'd ever get from her, so I nodded in response. Her words had made me curious, however, so I tilted my head at her, "When you said war destroyed your home, did you mean Tazanaka Town?" Even though she was my Doppelganger, I hardly knew anything about her. Her home in Tazanaka Town was one of the few things I did know.

Scarlett nodded. "Yes, I did. It wasn't a Great Shinobi War that destroyed it, or anything like that. It was war with a neighboring city. Tazanaka Town had many rivals. It grew rich from its port, and its neighbors grew jealous. When the fighting started, the town was completely obliterated. Hundreds of lives were lost. Those who weren't killed fled. Families were separated, and homes were ransacked and burned to the ground, mine and Luna's included. In the end, nothing was left but ashes. That's what war is, Minxie, so if I were you, I'd enjoy my time on this turtle island that you hate so much, because once war reaches you, you're going to wish it never had."

I sighed, leaning my head back against the tree trunk. "You're probably right, but I hate sitting here and feeling useless. No matter what anyone says, I'm never going to be okay with letting people die for me."

"You don't have to be okay with it. All you have to do is cooperate. You told Gaara you would, remember?" She reminded, standing up. "So quit whining and do your job. You might know about the war, but Naruto doesn't, and that's exactly how things should stay." She held out her hand to me.

I took it, allowing her to help me up off the ground. Honestly, everything that was going on was making me exhausted, and I wasn't even on the battlefield. "Ugh, I'm so over the whole concept of war. Can't we just have a giant rap battle instead? We could wear matching snapbacks and everything!"

She stared at me doubtfully. "A rap battle? Seriously?"

"Why not? It'd be way cooler than an actual war, and way less bloody. I bet Bee would agree with me."

Scarlett snorted. "With the way he raps, he'd cost you the entire battle."

I sweatdropped. "Not completely! I mean, he has potential..."

"Yeah, if you're deaf."

That made me laugh. When she saw that I was finally forgetting about the war, she allowed herself a small smirk. Still, I was doubtful and stubborn, and nothing, not even rap jokes, could make me forget the war so easily. "Naruto won't believe this mission farce forever, you know. He will get curious eventually, and once that happens, we won't be able to keep the war a secret."

Scarlett scoffed. "You give him too much credit. Naruto might be a hero, but he's still an idiot. He won't figure it out, and if by some chance he does get suspicious... Well, that's what you're here for. Distract him."

"With what?" I demanded. "A magic trick? Do I tackle him into the ground to prevent him from going anywhere? Wrap him in wooden chains?"

She rolled her eyes distastefully, quirking an eyebrow in my direction, "Do all your deception tactics center around violence?"

"Uh, yeah?" I replied obviously. "How could they not? I'm a shinobi, duh. Violence is my middle name. Well, not really... I don't even have a middle name. Maybe that's why my life is so hard." Scarlett looked about 300% done with me, which I didn't even notice until I stopped talking. "What? My tactics work! Well, mostly... Look, I'm never the distraction in missions, okay?"

"Of course you aren't. If you were, the mission would be failed right off the bat," She deadpanned, making me scowl at her. "You're a kunoichi, Minxie, remember that. Kunai and katana blades aren't a woman's only weapons." She smirked at me, waiting for me to understand what she meant.

When I finally did, my jaw dropped, and my cheeks reddened. "You're digusting!"

"I'm honest," She corrected.

"Yeah, honestly digusting!" I exclaimed. "God, I can't believe you'd think that I would... To use a tactic like that... And on Naruto, of all people!"

She snorted. "Oh, please, as if you haven't kissed him already."

"That was different!" I objected. "Before, when I kissed him, it was because I wanted to, not because I wanted to distract him!"

"Trust me, he wouldn't complain, and neither would you, so quit looking so scandalized."

I scowled at her, despite my red cheeks. "I'm not scandalized." But I so was, and she knew it, too. The entire thing just made me uncomfortable. No matter what my love life was like, I would never be chill when it came to boys. I would forever be a flustered, actual awkward turtle, but that didn't mean that Scarlett had to remind me of it!

"You totally are. You look completely horrified," She stated. "I didn't tell you to kill a puppy. I just told you to put your looks to use if Naruto gets a little too curious. A little flirting, a kiss here and there, a-"

I groaned, cutting her off before she could finish the rest of her sentence and make me feel even more uncomfortable than I already did. "Can we please just stop talking about this?" I whined.

"Fine, whatever. Don't take my suggestion, but if Naruto finds out about the war, I'm so going to blame you," She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I can live with that," I muttered, sweatdropping. "That way, I'll have a shred of innocence left."

By the time the two of us returned from the tree, the others had already started moving. Ryuu appeared in front of us.

"Where's everybody going?" I asked.

"There's a chance that the Akatsuki will come here, now that our intel has been leaked," He answered. "Motoi wants to-"

"Woah, wait a minute," Scarlett interrupted. "There was an intel leak? How the hell did that happen?"

"Kisame sent out one of his sharks with a scroll of intel before he died," I explained. "We were all trapped in water prisons, so it got away before we could reach it. With the scroll, Madara will know all he needs to about us, including our location."

"If that's the case, how the hell are you so calm about this? You do remember that Madara wants to steal the Creator from you, right?" She questioned. "Shouldn't you be doing something more productive, like, I don't know, running to save your life? And, more importantly, mine?"

"She doesn't have to. The island's actually a giant turtle. It's moving right now, so that the Akatsuki won't be able to find us," Ryuu continued. "But if they do, Motoi wants us to be prepared. We're going to round up all the animals and evacuate them inside the giant turtle's shell, just in case. Naruto thinks we're rounding them up so that he can take an ecological gender survey. It's ridiculous, but it should keep him occupied."

My eye twitched. I loved Naruto, but how was it possible that none of this seemed fishy to him? I suppose it worked in our favor. The last thing any of us needed was for him to learn about the war. It'd be chaos if he learned why we were really here in the first place. "In what world does an ecological gender survey count as an S-ranked mission?"

"In this one, as far as Naruto's concerned. It's your mission as well, so you better get going. You'll help Bee and Naruto round up the animals while Scarlett and I scout the island's perimeter," Ryuu said.

"Oh, come on! That is so not fair!" I objected. "Why do you two get the cool job while I'm stuck herding animals!? I'm not even qualified for that!"

"Right now, we're standing on a giant turtle that moves," He deadpanned. "Qualifications mean nothing. Just go with Naruto, all right? And make sure he stays occupied."

"You heard him," Scarlett mocked, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk on her face, "Have fun with your ecological survey!"

I glared at her. "You be quiet!"

"Look, you know that if it were under any other circumstances, I'd let you come along," Ryuu spoke up, "But you're a target, and I'm not risking you. I'm doing this for your own protection."

I mockingly put a hand over my heart, "Aw, thanks, bro... FOR BEING THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!" I tried to make a sassy exit, but when I heard Scarlett's smug laughter from behind me, I changed my mind. I picked up a rock and flung it at her, but because she is a rat bastard, she caught it between her fingers, smirking even more smugly than before. Even Ryuu seemed amused.

"Yes, ha ha, making Minxie miserable is so much fun," I said. "The two of you are so off my friends list."

"Whatever you say, sis," Ryuu called, "See you later." And with that, he and Scarlett jumped into the air and disappeared beyond the trees, leaving me to conduct a stupid, fake ecological survey. Not having much of a choice, I went after Naruto and Bee.

It took the three of us over an hour to round up all the animals. Some of them were easy enough to guide, but others sure made our job difficult. However, since we had Bee with us, the overall process went smoothly. The animals on the island respected him and listened to his orders, making our job much easier.

There were times when Naruto asked where Ryuu and Scarlett had gone, but instead of answering him, I distracted him by pointing out the wildlife on the island. When that stopped working, I resorted to purposely tripping and falling. It was the only sure way I had of effectively interrupting his questions. Whenever he saw me fall, he'd rush over to me to make sure I was okay, which was so beyond sweet that I felt horrible for distracting him in the first place. I wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, but I knew that I couldn't, not if I wanted to keep him safe.

Eventually, we organized the animals into a single file, where they would enter the shell of the giant turtle.

Instead of helping us, Bee devoted his time to playing rock-paper-scissors with a crab, which made no sense at all. Of course Bee kept winning. All the crab could ever throw was scissors! And since the crab was, after all, enormous, Bee half-transformed into Eight-Tails. His body remained human, but there were tentacles fused into his back and two giant fists at his sides. He said he transformed in order to play on an even scale, but I doubted that. We all knew he was just showing off. Strong shinobi can be such divas.

Meanwhile, Naruto was walking around, clipboard in hand. (No idea where he got the clipboard from, by the way). He was shouting orders at the animals, telling them to line up for the survey. I, on the other hand, was gazing up at the animals in wonder. I recognized the kind of animals that they were, but for some reason, they were all freakishly huge. Even the smallest animal on the island was still about four heads taller than me.

I ended up bonding with a giant panda, whose name was -albeit stereo typically- Spot. His unoriginal name did not affect his wonderful personality, however. He let me relax on his furry back, and I gathered bamboo for him in return. It was the start of a great friendship.

Naruto, apparently, did not agree. "MINXIE!" He shouted. "How many times do I have to tell you to let the panda go? He's holding up the line!"

"But Narutoooo! He's so comfy!" I exclaimed, hugging Spot's side. "And cuddly! Can I keep him?"

"NO! I'm leader of this mission, and he belongs in the wild!" Naruto insisted.

"SO DO YOU!" I barked.

He gasped, offended, placing a hand over his heart. "Oh, really!? That's it! Spot's going into the stronghold right now!"

"Naruto, no! I didn't mean it! Leave Spot alone! STOP TEARING US APART!" But alas, Naruto paid no mind to my objections. He stomped over to Spot, shouting orders at the panda. Spot laid down in response. When shouting didn't work, he resorted to trying to pull Spot away, which made the panda roll over, engulfing Naruto with his body.

Whatever shouts the blonde made in protest were muffled by Spot's fur, which made me laugh even more. Somehow, he managed to crawl his way out from under the panda. He looked disheveled and exhausted, as if he'd just come off the battlefield.

"Thanks for the help," He said sarcastically. "I almost died, believe it!"

"Hey, you set this on yourself when you tried to separate Spot and I. He's my cuddle buddy, and you should never, under any circumstances, try to tear apart cuddle buddies," I replied smartly. "Besides, did you really think you could move him? He's ten times your size."

That made him pout. Suddenly, a grin spread across his face. "He is, but you aren't."

I felt the color drain from my face. "Oh, no."

He grinned mischievously, "Oh, yes." And with that, he tackled me to the floor. I landed on my stomach, while he sat perched on my lower back.

"Naruto, get off! You're killing my spine!" I exclaimed.

"But Minxieeee!" He whined in his best impression of my voice, stretching out his body over mine. It was times like these that made me hate how short and small I was. Naruto was like a giant bear compared to me, and that only made it easier for him to crush me with his weight. "You're so comfy! And cuddly!" To prove his point, he nuzzled his nose into my hair, which would have been extremely cute if, you know, he wasn't suffocating me.

"I will set you on fire," I threatened.

"Oh, I love it when you threaten me with fire," He cooed. "It's so cute." He reached out to pinch my cheek, but I bit his hand instead, making him immediately retract it back to his side. "Ow! What are you, a rabid cat!?"

"A rabid leopard, actually," I corrected smugly, turning my head to look up at him, "Or have you forgotten my lineage?"

"Smartass," He scolded, flicking my nose. This time, when I tried to bite him, he got away. Damnit. I'm losing my biting skills.

"More like numb ass," I complained, "Seriously, Naruto, I can't feel my butt, or my back, for that matter. I think you've paralyzed me."

"Are you calling me fat?" He questioned, squinting his eyes at me.

I blinked, "Uh... No?"

He gave an offended gasp. "You're rude, believe it!"

"And sitting on a defenseless teenage girl isn't rude!?"

"Nope, not when the teenage girl is you."

My eye twitched. "I regret teaching you to have an answer for everything."

He only grinned back, "I regret not learning sooner."

"Touché."

We passed the next few seconds in silence, me dying as his weight was practically crushing me, and him sitting, happy as a clam. I've always found that expression weird. Are clams really happy? What about their aquatic lifestyle is so joyful? The world may never know.

Shaking my head, I decided to focus on the task at hand: making Naruto get the hell up. Obviously, being a sarcastic fudge monkey was so not going to help, so I would have to find another way to distract him. Now, what's his ultimate weakness?

When I had my answer, I grinned to myself. I channeled all my acting skills into tilting my head and saying, "Spot, are you holding ramen?"

"Ramen? Where?" Naruto asked immediately, sitting up to look at Spot. I seized the opportunity, pushing him off me and reversing our position so that I could sit on his stomach. When he realized what had happened, he groaned. "Oh, come on! That's so not fair!"

"Oh, it so was," I said with a giggle. "It's not my fault you think with your stomach."

"Like you're one to talk," He shot back, snorting. "You'd sell your soul for a batch of chocolate chip cookies."

"That's where you're wrong, Naruto. Gosh, what do you take me for? I have standards. If I'm going to sell my soul, you'd best believe it'll be for more than a batch of chocolate chip cookies. It'd be for an unlimited supply of chocolate chip cookies, along with strawberries, peanut butter, and ice cream."

"I can't believe you don't have diabetes yet."

"I can't believe you think that would actually stop me."

"Touché."

"HA! Now we're even. We have tied our touché scores. I can almost taste the victory."

"I can't believe this! You tricked me! You know how I feel about ramen, Minxie!"

"You know how I feel about suffocating, Naruto!" I exclaimed, mocking him.

He stuck up his nose stubbornly, "I'm not saying touché again."

"And I'm not getting up. So, either way, I win."

"Damnit." He sighed. "What do I have to do for you to get up?"

"Hm..." I tapped my chin in thought, thinking it over. "Aha! Say 'Minxie is the most fabulous, smartest, and most freakin' awesome girl in the world.'"

"Seriously?"

"I don't joke about how fabulous I am, Naruto. You know that."

He sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. Minxie is the most fabulous, smartest, and most awesome girl in the world."

"You forgot the freakin'."

"Oh, for the love of... Minxie is the most fabulous, smartest, and most freakin' awesome girl in the world. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic! You're free to go." With a large smile on my face, I stood up. Because I am such a nice person, I helped Naruto up, too, and the two of us went back to rounding up the animals. I wasn't even surprised that Bee was still playing rock-paper-scissors with the crab. At least he kept himself entertained. I, on the other hand, was bored out of my mind. And when I'm bored... Well, bad things happen.

In this case, the bad thing that happened was me stealing Naruto's precious clipboard. I grabbed it while his back was turned, sprinting off into the woods before he even knew what had happened. The only inclination I had of him realizing what I'd done was his angry shout of my name in the distance, which made me giggle.

I had a pretty good head start, and all that training with Guy-sensei made my speed almost unbeatable, so I believed Naruto would never catch me. At least, until I felt hands on either side of my waist. Out of nowhere, I was lifted into the air and spun around. I let out a squeal, and Naruto placed me back on the ground, but he didn't remove his hands from my waist.

I scowled at the yellow chakra surrounding his body, "You cheater! You're using your chakra mode!" Absorbing Nine-Tails' chakra had made Naruto some kind of expert at teleportation, which was so beyond unfair. How come he got cool teleportation abilities when all I got was a stupid dress? I can hardly move in a dress, much less defeat Madara in one. Unless the fabric of the dress would make me immune to his powers, the material was useless.

"How else was I supposed to catch you?" He questioned. "You may be small, but you're incredibly fast, and you had a head start. It was the only way, believe it! Besides, you're the one who stole my clipboard."

"What clipboard?" I questioned innocently, hiding the clipboard behind my back. He shot me a flat look, so I sighed, "Okay, in my defense, I was bored. I knew you'd chase me if I stole your clipboard, so I thought, why not? But then you used your chakra mode to catch me, which I am so judging you for."

He sighed deeply, letting his chakra mode fade away. "There, it's gone. Now, are you going to give me my clipboard, or will I have to take drastic measures?"

"You mean give you your clipboard and admit defeat? Never."

"Well, I tried." And then he tickled me right near my neck, which, for those of you who don't know, is my most ticklish spot. I immediately burst into a fit of giggles, flinging the clipboard away from me. It landed at the base of a tree trunk a few feet away from us. The two of us shared a look before dashing for the clipboard. Because Naruto no longer had on his chakra mode, his speed was no match for mine. I reached the clipboard before he could, scooping it up into my hand.

Before I could even start my victory dance, Naruto pinned me against the tree trunk. My back was against the bark, his arms were on either side of my head, and the clipboard... Suddenly didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that he was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my face. My hand moved of its own accord, and I touched his face, running my thumb across his bottom lip. He brushed a loose curl from my face, tucking it behind my ear.

"Is this okay?" He asked, his voice a low, almost husky whisper.

"Yeah, it is," I replied quietly. I took his free hand in my own and guided it down my side until it was resting on my hip. "But this is better."

In that moment, I was beyond happy. Every single time we got close like this on the island or turtle or whatever the hell it was, we were always interrupted. But now, the two of us were completely alone in the middle of the forest, surrounded by nothing but the trees and the insects who I refused to acknowledge since I absolutely loathed bugs. It gave me the perfect opportunity to kiss him.

Still, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It wasn't because I didn't want to kiss him, because I really, really wanted to. And it wasn't because I doubted my feelings, either. I knew for a fact that Naruto loved me, and despite all of my efforts to refrain completely from romance, I loved him, too. The reason I felt guilty was because when we were finally alone and free to do what we wanted, I was still keeping the war a secret from him.

This moment could possibly have been what finally began my official relationship with Naruto, and I was keeping a huge secret from him.

I should tell him, I thought. I should tell him right now, before anything else happens.

But I knew exactly what would happen once I told him. He'd freak and rush straight to the battlefield, putting himself in danger. And although it was selfish of me, I didn't want to risk losing him. If I told him about the war, I'd be indirectly breaking my agreement with Gaara, as well as disappointing the rest of the Gokage.

But if I didn't tell Naruto about the war, he'd never forgive me. I knew I'd be reluctant to forgive him if he ever kept something like this from me, so why would he be any different? He'd probably hate me. Or worse, he'd be disappointed in me.

No matter what I chose, I'd still lose.

It was Naruto who ended up making my choice for me by placing a hand on my cheek and connecting his lips with mine. The second our lips touched, any thoughts I had about morality and rationality completely went from my mind. The clipboard fell from my hand, landing near my feet with a soft thump, but neither of cared. All I could think about was Naruto and how warm his hands were and how amazing his lips felt against mine.

The last time we'd kissed, I had been too surprised to do anything. Now, though, I made sure I participated, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my body against his. My hands knotted in his hair, and his grip on my waist tightened. I bit down on his bottom lip softly, and he parted his lips slightly, allowing our tongues to meet. I leaned my back off the tree trunk, leading him backwards, and suddenly we were falling.

Naruto took the worst of the fall, while I landed on his chest with a solid thump. The two of us turned to see a overgrown tree root poking out of the ground. Naruto must have tripped over it, resulting into our fall. Even though we'd been interrupted by the root, I couldn't help but giggle at the situation. Naruto added his laugh to my own.

"We should have seen that coming," He said, his face sporting a large, goofy grin that I knew I was mirroring.

"Definitely, but if you think about it, it's pretty fitting. For us, anyway," I replied, sitting up. He followed suit, sitting up as well so that we were facing each other. "And here I thought I was the clumsy one in our relationship."

"Wait, relationship?" He repeated, his eyes widening. "Like boyfriend-girlfriend relationship? As in I'm the boyfriend?"

"Well, yeah... I mean, if you want to be the girlfriend, I suppose we could switch," I said with a shrug. "I've always wondered what I'd look like with a beard."

He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "That's not what I meant. I meant... Do you really want to be in an actual relationship with me?"

"Of course I do," I replied immediately. I blinked. "Unless... You don't want to?" I know I can be oblivious, but Naruto's feelings for me were something that I was sure of. When everything in my life went haywire, his feelings for me were the only constant. Was it possible that even they had changed without me noticing? I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle that.

"Are you kidding? Minxie, I love you. Of course I want to be in a relationship with you," He said. He hesitated, "I just... It's just not really something I expected."

I tilted my head at him. "Is it really that hard to believe? That I actually want you to be my boyfriend?"

"Well... Sort of, yeah," He admitted, scratching the back of his head. He looked away from me, staring at the trees around us instead as he spoke, "I've always loved you, Minxie, even when we were kids. But you were... Well, you were Minxie. You were beautiful, smart, and outgoing, but you were also brave, funny, and strong, and I knew that I wasn't the only guy who noticed it. I was just your goofy best friend who hoped that maybe one day we could be more, and I was okay with that. I didn't mind standing on the sidelines or watching you be with other people because all I ever wanted was for you to be happy, even if it wasn't with me.

"And now... Well, now, you're still beautiful, smart and outgoing, and you're still brave, funny, and strong. The only difference now is that for some reason, you want to be with me, which is literally all I've ever wanted, besides becoming Hokage, of course. And after all this time, I finally have a chance with you, but I'm scared. I'm scared because I'm a screw-up, Minxie, and I'll never forgive myself if I screw this up, too."

Naruto never failed to surprise me with his honesty. I had no idea that he'd been keeping all of this bottled up inside. It amazed me that he thought he was a screw-up when he was a hero. It was almost like everyone in the world had accepted the truth of that except him.

"You're not a screw-up, Naruto," I said. He was looking at the ground, tearing up the blades of grass beneath his feet. I placed my hand under his chin, turning his face so that he could look at me. "You are not a screw-up. You're a hero, Naruto! You always have been. You want to know why I want to be with you? Here's why: because I love you. I know it took me forever to admit it, but I know now more than ever that it's true. I want to be with you because when life completely sucks, you're the one who puts a smile on my face. You're always there for me, even when I don't deserve it, and I've hardly ever deserved it, Naruto. You say you don't deserve me, but you're wrong. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you. I've been selfish and indecisive and sometimes downright horrible, and I'm going to spend every moment that I can making it up to you. I want to be with you because you're always on my side, even when I'm wrong. When I'm suffocating under the weight of all my problems, you're the one who teaches me to breathe again. You're my person, Naruto, and I want to be with you."

One second, he was staring at me with an emotion I couldn't identify in his eyes, and the next, he was kissing me. Somewhere amidst lips and tongue and breath, he began smiling into the kiss, and I followed soon after, parting from him.

"I want to be with you, too," He murmured, touching his forehead to mine. "But in order to make it official, I'm going to ask you."

"Oh, yeah?" I inquired playfully. "And what if I wanted to ask instead?"

"The guys are always supposed to ask out the girls," He replied logically. "It's like boyfriend-girlfriend code. It's written in the handbook."

I poked his chest, "Well, I regret to inform you that your handbook is outdated. Us girls are perfectly capable of asking guys out on our own."

He sighed. "You are the most stubborn person in the entire world."

"But you love me for it!" I countered.

He smiled, brushing a stray curl from my face. "Yeah, I do." His words made me blush, and he took my hands into his own. "Minxie Takeda, will you be my girlfriend?"

I giggled, nodding my head. "It'd be my honor, Naruto Uzumaki," I told him. He grinned at me, and I gave him one last kiss on the lips before standing up. "We should head back now. Yamato-sensei's most likely going out of his mind with worry. He's probably going to chew our heads off when we get back. Or lock us in a wooden cage like he threatened to do that one time, which was totally terrifying."

"I still can't believe he used that as a threat," Naruto muttered, taking my hand and pulling himself up. He held my left hand with his right one, interlocking out fingers before we began walking back to join the others. "And then he thought that a trip to the hot springs would make things better."

"If you think about it, he was pretty justified," I decided, "Not the hot spring thing, because that was just plain disturbing, but the wooden cage thing, I understood. You and Sai were at each other's throats the moment the mission started. It really hindered our teamwork."

"Says the girl who held her katana to his neck!" He exclaimed.

"He was asking for it!" I defended. We both laughed.

"It's so weird how things ended up," He continued. "We couldn't stand him, and now he's one of our closest friends."

"Which was totally your doing, by the way. Naruto Uzumaki, making the world a better place, one enemy turned friend at a time! You should start your own business. You can make little cards and everything. Oh, and cookies!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Why would I make cookies if I wanted to start a business?"

"Because cookies are delicious, duh," I said in an obvious voice. "And they'd attract customers."

"Right. How could I forget?"

"No idea. It's shameful, honestly. Your ancestors would be disappointed."

"I must repent."

"Repent, you must. Ha, ha, get it? I said it backwards!" I'm so hilarious. I don't understand why I'm not famous.

He gave me a weird look. "You talk about me, but that joke was shameful, believe it!"

"Hey, I'm your girlfriend!" I protested. "You're supposed to be nice to me!"

"Honesty is a key part to every relationship, babe," He reminded, grinning cheekily at me.

I rolled my eyes, elbowing him and trying not to smile too wide at the word 'babe.' "Oh, shut up." He laughed. As I thought more about his words, I realized that he was right. We were dating now, and I wasn't being honest with him. If I wanted to be with him, I had to tell him the truth about everything, including the war.

Before I could change my mind and chicken out, I blurted, "There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" He asked, a curious look in his eyes.

I took a deep breath. "Well... The reason we're here is-"

"To complete an ecological survey," a familiar voice interrupted. Naruto and I turned in its direction to see that it belonged to Scarlett, who was standing on a tree branch, looking down at us. "It's your S-ranked mission at the heart of the island, which is where the two of you should be."

"Yeah... Well, we got a little side-tracked," Naruto spoke up, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"I can see that," She observed, her eyes flickering to our interlocked hands. "At least now I know why you wandered off."

"We were on our way back," He defended.

She held up her hands in surrender. "Look, if the two of you want to sneak off and make out in the woods, be my guests. Just make sure you do it after you've completed your mission." Naruto blushed a bit at her words, but I was too angry at her for interrupting to do the same.

"What are you even doing out here?" I inquired. "I thought you were with Ryuu."

"I was, but we came back. When we saw that the two of you weren't there, we split up to look for you. I just happened to find you first," She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She jumped down from the tree, landing in front of us. She stood up straight so that she could meet my eyes, "If you ask me, I arrived just in time."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "I had no idea you were so punctual."

"Well, that just goes to show you how little you know about me," She said, smirking. "So why don't you and I take a walk so that I can give you a little 411? I'm sure Naruto can find his way back on his own."

"Naruto and I have a mission to complete," I said, "As you so kindly reminded us."

"He can manage it by himself for a little while. He's the village hero, after all," She said, sending a wink in his direction. The compliment she gave him was well-placed, I had to give her that. By saying he was a hero, she was pretty much ensuring that he'd be so flattered that he'd cooperate with her wishes without a second thought. She placed a hand on her hip. "Besides, I won't take up much of your time. I know that you're oh so busy."

"Uh, sure?" Naruto said, although it sounded more like a question. I couldn't blame him for deciding to leave, however. It wasn't his fault that he was ignorant to the underlying meaning in my conversation with my Doppelganger. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

Not having much of a choice, I nodded, smiling at his departing figure. Once he was out of sight, I turned to Scarlett, my face contorted into a glare, "Did you seriously just do that?"

"You bet your Jinchuriki ass I did," She snapped back, returning the glare with a fierce one of her own. "You're lucky I got here before you could screw everything up. You should be thanking me."

"I'm not going to thank you for making me keep secrets from my boyfriend," I scoffed.

"Boyfriend, huh? Is that what this is about?" She questioned, letting out a laugh. "You and Naruto kissed a few times in the woods, and now you're going to spill your guts to him? Are you that in love, or are you just stupid? You know full well what will happen if he finds out about the war!"

"Of course I know what'll happen! He'll want to participate immediately, and is that really such a bad thing? Did you ever stop to think that maybe we'd all be better off if us Jinchuriki actually joined the war?"

"Don't pretend to talk strategy," She said, rolling her eyes. "You're as impulsive as it gets. People like you don't use strategy. We both know that the only reason you want to tell Naruto the truth is because it'll give you the opening you need to join the war yourself."

"Okay, fine, you caught me," I surrendered. "I want to join the war. You're right, like you always are. Is that what you wanted to hear, Scarlett?"

"What I wanted to hear was that you'll be a good little Jinchuriki and keep your damn mouth shut, but obviously, my expectations for you were too high," She said, shooting me a bitter look. "Did you even understand a word of what I told you earlier? What part of 'war is devastation' is so hard for your righteous little Takeda brain to comprehend?"

"That's just it, Scarlett. I understood everything you said earlier. I listened to you as you described the destruction of your home. I heard you say how you lost everything because of war. The loss of lives, the loss of your home, the loss of everything you ever knew. Tazanaka Town was obliterated by a war between cities. Do you have any idea how much damage a Great Shinobi War will cause?"

"I can guarantee you that whatever damage ensues from a Great Shinobi War will be nothing compared to what'll happen if Madara gets his hands on you. Minxie, the future of humanity is riding on your decision between Light and Dark. Why is it that everyone seems to know that except for you?"

"I know that, Scarlett, and that's how I know that I can end this before it really begins."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" She questioned, a challenge in her eyes. "You think that just because you have control over the Creator's chakra, you're suddenly immune to damage? Madara knows how the Creator's chakra works, Minxie, and he knows how you think. If you think defeating him is going to be easy, you're dead wrong."

"I know it won't be easy, but it won't be impossible, either. I'm not letting people die for me, Scarlett."

"This might be hard for your precious hero ears to understand, but you can't save everyone. It's war. People will die, no matter what you do to stop it. The only thing you can do is make sure that their deaths aren't meaningless, and you can do that by staying on this island and keeping your annoying little mouth shut."

I sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you, Scarlett. I've made my choice." I turned to walk away, but before I could go anywhere, she appeared in front of me, grabbing my wrist and keeping me in place.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I exclaimed, glaring at her.

"Perhaps I haven't been making myself clear enough," She said, digging her manicured nails into the skin of my wrist. Her nails were almost as sharp as claws. I was positive that they'd leave a mark. "You will stay on this island, Minxie, and you will keep quiet about the war, because if you don't, there will be consequences."

"What're you gonna do, huh? Lock me up so I can't tell Naruto the truth? Your threats don't work on me anymore, Scarlett," I told her honestly, "I'm not afraid of you."

She smirked. "That's just it, Minxie. You don't have to be afraid of me. You've known me long enough to know that my threats are never empty. You think that just because I've been playing nice, I've lost my edge, but you couldn't be more wrong. I'm still deadly, and if I say there'll be consequences, rest assured, there will be consequences. I don't care what I have to do or who I have to kill to get you to cooperate, but you do, which is why you'll cooperate. And don't think that being my Doppelganger gives you a free pass, either. I don't care what physical injury I have to withstand. If I have to break your legs to keep you from leaving, I'll do it, even though the same thing will happen to me. Right now, I'm giving you a choice. Stay on the island, keep the war a secret, and everything will be fine. If you chose not to, well... You've played this game with me before. You should know how it goes."

I glared at her, snatching my wrist out of her tight grip and turning to walk away. Before I could, she grabbed my wrist again, forcing me to look at her.

"Have I made myself clear?" She inquired, raising an eyebrow.

I only glared at her even more. "Crystal."

"Fantastic," She replied, releasing my wrist with a large smirk on her face. "Now, let's go. We've left your boyfriend waiting for far too long, don't you think?"

The two of us walked back to join the others, me ignoring her all the while. Every single time I thought Scarlett was actually becoming my friend, she had to go and screw it up by doing something stupid. Okay, she didn't want me to tell Naruto about the war, I get that, but did she have to threaten me? Was that the only way she knew how to deal with people? I didn't know, and frankly, I didn't care. I was too angry at her to actually give a damn. If our lives weren't connected, I probably would've broken her arm or something violent like that.

Naruto was still checking the animals' genders by the time we got back to the heart of the island. I felt bad for leaving him to do most of the work. I knew that the mission was nothing but a farce, but he didn't, and for that reason, he was much more dedicated to its completion than I ever would be. When I joined him, he immediately realized that something was up. Then again, anyone would've been able to notice, since I probably looked like I wanted to set everything within a thirty mile radius of me on fire.

"What's wrong?" He questioned, concern showing in his eyes.

"Nothing," I answered, forcing a smile. "Scarlett's just being Scarlett again."

"Yeah, well, Scarlett's a jerk," He said, loud enough for her to hear. When she did, she shot an annoyed scowl in our direction followed by an eye roll, making both Naruto and I smile. "Just ignore her."

"I plan to," I replied, feeling my mood uplift almost instantly. No matter what, it was impossible to stay mad around Naruto. He always found a way to cheer me up. That was how I knew I made the right decision in agreeing to be his girlfriend. "Thanks for making me feel better."

"Anytime," He said, giving me a kiss on my cheek. That action got us many wide-eyed looks, specifically from Bee and Yamato-sensei. "Oh, right... We didn't tell them yet. Well, the thing is... Minxie's my girlfriend now, believe it!"

"Oh, yeah!? Two Jinchuriki that share one heart~ I knew you'd be together, right from the start~" Bee exclaimed, flashing us a thumbs up. "Good job, fools, ya fools!"

"Thanks, Bee," I said, laughing. I'd come to the realization that Bee used the word 'fool' as a term of an endearment.

Yamato-sensei smiled fondly at us. "Congrats, you two. Looks like all that time you spent practicing how you were going to ask her out in front of the mirror really paid off, huh, Naruto?"

A blush spread across Naruto's face, and he looked completely horrified. "YAMATO-SENSEI!!! You promised you'd keep that a secret!"

Our sensei only grinned in response. "Oh, did I? It must have slipped my mind. Maybe that'll teach you not to wander off when you've got a mission to complete."

I giggled, and Naruto pouted, although he also appeared guilty at the reminder that he'd gone after me instead of staying to finish his supposed S-ranked mission. Knowing he probably just felt embarrassed, I nudged him with my shoulder. "Hey, the only reason he left was because I stole his clipboard, so I take full responsibility. Then again, you should know enough to make sure that I don't get bored, Yamato-sensei. And as for the mirror thing, I think it's cute."

"Really?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"Really," I confirmed, smiling at him. He grinned back, scratching the back of his head in that way that made him a hundred times more adorable.

"Okay, the two of you are disgusting," Scarlett put in, scrunching up her nose at us, "Can we finish this mission before I end up vomiting?"

"Sorry, I can't hear you over my boyfriend's pretty eyes," I said, making her scowl at me. Naruto chuckled. Even Bee and Yamato-sensei smiled. Annoying Scarlett made everyone happy. Well, except for Scarlett herself, but that was a given.

Ryuu had been surprisingly quiet throughout this entire exchange, so much so that I forgot he was even there. When I finally noticed him, I panicked, because no matter what the circumstances were, brother + boyfriend = trouble. It was an equation I knew far too well.

Naruto seemed to realize this at the same time that I did, because he gave my twin a nervous look. "So, uh... Does this mean you hate me now?"

"I'm never going to like the idea of my little sister dating," Ryuu said. Well, that's just a great way to begin.

I rolled my eyes, "Little? We're like five minutes apart! There is literally nothing you could have absorbed in those five minutes of existing before I did that would make you superior to me. Get real, bro."

He, as expected, ignore me. "But... She could do much worse than you. She already has, actually, but let's not get into that." Wow, Ryuu, tell me how you really feel, why don't you!? So maybe I goofed in the love department once or twice. That didn't mean that I had to be reminded by my brother, of all people. His life choices weren't exactly stellar, either, if you catch my drift. "So no, I don't hate you, Naruto. But if you hurt her, hero or not, I will rip you in half."

"Understood," Naruto replied, saluting him and making me giggle.

Ryuu, being Ryuu, didn't even do anything to acknowledge my boyfriend. He simply turned and went back to doing whatever it was he'd been doing before, which was talking to Yamato-sensei and Motoi.

There was a moment of silence before Naruto asked, "Did he just give us his blessing?"

"Oddly enough, I think he did," I replied. "He was weirdly accepting, which must be because he likes you."

"He threatened to rip me in half," He said flatly.

"Exactly. All things considered, that's a pretty quick death. Normally, he would have threatened you with worse," I pointed out, shrugging my shoulders. "Considering how he opted for a simpler manner of death for you, should you ever hurt me, it's clear that he doesn't hate you, which is a huge deal since he's super overprotective, and my relationship track record is pitiful, to say the least."

"Well, he won't have to worry," He assured, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me against his chest. "Because I am going to spend every moment making sure that I never hurt you."

I smiled at him, knowing that he was being completely truthful. It was refreshing to finally be with someone who would actually make an effort to not damage me emotionally, unlike a certain unforgivable ex of mine. "I know."

He reflected his smile back with a large one of his own and leaned in to kiss me, but I stopped him by putting a finger to his lips, because while my brother approved of Naruto as a boyfriend, he would definitely not approve of any PDA. 

"Nope, uh-uh. None of that," I interrupted, scolding him. "Mission first." He pouted, and I giggled at his expression. "Later, though. Definitely later." He grinned at me, and I smiled back. I picked up his clipboard, skimming over it. "Next up on our list is the armadillo."

"Got it," He said, going over to the armadillo -which was huge, by the way. Pretty much everything on this island/turtle was. However, when Naruto tried to find out the armadillo's gender, it curled itself up and hid beneath its shell. No amount of coaxing from the blonde could get the armadillo out of its shell. When he looked to me for assistance, I pointed to Bee, who was, after all, the animal expert.

"Hey, Octopops!" Naruto called. "I can't tell if this one's a boy or a girl. It's all curled up."

"This one's always been real shy~" Bee informed us. "Who's to say if it's a girl or a guy~?"

"But I gotta!" Naruto exclaimed, whining slightly. "It's the only way I can complete my S-ranked mission!"

Bee shrugged, uncaring. "It don't really matter which it is~ Just say it's a girl and finish this biz~"

"Yeah, just yolo with it," I advised easily. I mean, the armadillo looked girly enough to me. Well, if armadillos can look girly... It just gave off that vibe, you know? I mean, I could be wrong, but this mission was pointless anyway, so why bother?

"But its back is covered with the kanji for 'male'!" Naruto objected.

"It's just a pattern," Bee replied logically.

"Could you just ask it, please?" Naruto requested. "You're their boss, right?"

Bee nodded and went over to communicate with the armadillo. I know, I don't get it, either. Apparently Bee can speak armadillo. Is armadillo even a language? Ugh, I should have stayed home.

"Well? What did it say?" Naruto pressed on.

"It says its privates are a private matter," Bee answered, making Naruto gain a major eye twitch.

"Wow. That is one sassy armadillo," I noted.

"Gah!" Naruto threw his hands up in the air, but alas, he did not wave them like he just didn't care. He waved them in a more frustrated manner, which was more acceptable yet a bit disappointing. "This mission sure is living up to its ranking!"

"I'm telling you, Naruto, just yolo with it!"

"I'm telling you, Minxie, I don't know what 'yolo' means!"

"My references are wasted on you, I swear. And I'm still not saying touché."

"Damnit, so close!"

Bee paid no mind to our bickering. He was pretty much used to it by now, just like we were used to his rapping. "Male and female... Some species can switch between both."

"You mean like Orochimaru?" I questioned, tilting my head. My theory was overall pretty accurate. Orochimaru's gender was always a question mark for me. It was probably a question mark for him, too. Maybe that's why he was such a pedophile who tricked teenage boys into going to live with him by promising them power and then later planning to use their bodies for his own purposes.

Naruto laughed. "Sounds logical enough to me, believe it!" See? He sees it. This is why Naruto and I are meant for each other.

"The gender can be either or, but the heavens and earth never trade places!" Bee announced. "Fools, ya fools!"

"What does that even mean... You know what? Nevermind. I don't want to know," I muttered, shaking my head. I swear, Bee only made sense 2% of the time. The rest of the time was full of raps and weird sayings that no one could ever understand, much less reply to. "You know, Bee, you're really powerful, but sometimes-"

And that was when my sentence was completely cut off. I wasn't even cut off by a person. No, I was cut off by a damn earthquake, which made zero sense because this wasn't even an island, it was a turtle. How does a turtle earthquake? Just how?

As the ground shook underneath us, the animals roared and shrieked in surprise and fear. All of us ended up falling to the floor. My clumsy self ended up falling completely flat on the ground. I was so done with everything that I didn't even bother to sit up, like the others did. I just chose to lay there, accepting defeat by earthquake. You win this round, mother nature.

Apparently, mother nature wasn't done, because another earthquake struck right after that. I thought that the first earthquake was big, but this one was massive. The entire turtle flipped over, and everyone, including the animals, was thrown into the air. While we were airborne, a forest sprung up on the underside of the turtle, which I assumed was Yamato-sensei's doing. You know my sensei, always casually creating forests like it's no big deal.

I hit the ground with a hard thud, landing on my stomach. I groaned. The impact had practically knocked the air out of my lungs. It took a great deal of effort, but I managed to sit up, leaning on my elbows for support.

"Ow," Naruto groaned, "That was a serious earthquake, believe it!"

Bee struggled to lean up on his elbows, similar to how I had, "The heavens and earth really did trade places! Fool, ya fool!" Of course that's what Bee says. He doesn't question the earthquake or why we flipped over. Nope, he just wants everyone to know that he was right. I'm telling you: he's a diva.

Meanwhile, Naruto was more interested in the armadillo, who had landed on its shell, its body sprawled out for all the world to see. "The world might flip over... But male is still male, believe it!" He exclaimed, grabbing the clipboard and jotting the information down. My boyfriend sure has his priorities in place, note the sarcasm. He's cute though, so whatever.

While Yamato-sensei yelled at Naruto in his familiarly dramatic way, I lugged myself over to Ryuu, who was sitting next to Scarlett. "Are you guys okay?"

"I'll let you know when my head stops spinning," Scarlett muttered, rubbing her head in an attempt to soothe the area. I tried not to smile at her pain, because I was kind of still mad at her. Not angry enough to want to kill her or anything, but angry enough to enjoy seeing her in pain.

"I'm fine," Ryuu replied, although he was clutching his shoulder. "Are you?"

"Well, I probably left some of my internal organs at the spot where I landed, but other than that, I'm dandy," I answered, shooting him a smile. "What the hell happened? That was way too much for an earthquake."

"I have no idea," He said. "But I'm going to find out. Keep Naruto occupied while I go check outside."

"What? No way," I refused. "Whatever's out there was powerful enough to make a giant turtle flip over. You're not going out there by yourself."

"Minxie, now's not the time to be difficult," He said in his oh so serious voice.

"The joke's on you, bro. I'm always difficult," I shot back smartly, smiling smugly at him. His face hardened into a glare, which I returned with one of my own. "Ryuu, if you go out there, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. So you either stay here with me, or I go out there with you. Make your choice."

It took a few minutes of me glaring right back at him, but finally he gave in. "All right, fine. Just make sure Naruto believes it was an earthquake, okay?"

I didn't want to lie, but Ryuu wasn't giving me much of a choice. "Fine." I grudgingly walked over to Naruto, plastering a smile onto my face. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Naruto answered, "You?"

I nodded. "For the most part, yeah." I drummed my fingers against my knees. "Pretty crazy earthquakes today, huh?"

"A little too crazy, if you ask me. Way too crazy to be natural," He said. "And since when does a little earthquake problem flip the whole world over?"

"Uh... Global warming?" I suggested, biting my lip nervously. Everyone, with the exception of Bee and Naruto, turned to glare at me. "What? Global warming makes weird things happen! I bet none of you recycle. Planet killers, that's what you are! Shame on you!"

My outburst seemed to diffuse Naruto's suspicion, but that didn't make everyone else stop glaring at me. I only shrugged at them in response. Global warming was the first thing that popped into my head, even though it made no sense whatsoever.

I didn't even know why they thought I could lie to Naruto. I was a horrible liar, even when I actually meant to lie. Not meaning nor wanting to lie just made my limited fibbing abilities that much worse. It's good for them, anyway. This is what they get for being little deceivers.

"That was just an illusion, Naruto," Yamato-sensei put in, trying to smooth over my words, "Nothing actually happened."

I resisted the urge to facepalm. An illusion? That's what he was going with? That was even worse than my global warming excuse! But of course, no one glared at Yamato-sensei the way they glared at me. Ugh, everyone sucks.

"For real?" Naruto inquired, squinting his eyes at our sensei. "Hm... Let me take a look outside! That way, I can see it for myself!"

"No!" Yamato-sensei exclaimed, making the blonde lean back a little in surprise. "You need to continue your vital S-ranked mission, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but it'll just be a quick peek! I won't goof off or anything," Naruto promised. "All I want is to check outside and-"

"NO!" Yamato-sensei shouted fiercely, practically growling. "A shinobi must fully complete every mission! This mission is your responsibility! Only you can perform this particular task! That's why you're here, Naruto! You and Minxie are here to conduct a survey, and that is your primary focus, nothing else!"

Naruto stared at our sensei for a few moments, a frown etched onto his face. No matter what anyone said, he wasn't stupid. He had to know that something was going on, and Yamato-sensei's behavior was only confirming it. It wouldn't be long before he figured out that-

"All right! Gotcha!" He exclaimed, smiling. "I'll focus on the mission!" Well, then. Nevermind. Naruto's as clueless as Spot. Sigh.

Yamato-sensei went with Motoi and Slim Shady to investigate the "earthquakes", which meant they were really going to check what was going on outside. Naruto and I couldn't do much else besides go back to conducting the survey, which is what we did. I tried to help, but I was so distracted that he ended up doing most of the work.

All I could think about was what was going on outside. It was safe to assume that Madara knew our location, so was that him outside? Was he the one responsible for the supposed earthquakes? Did that mean that Yamato-sensei was out there fighting Madara? The thought made me sick. Yamato-sensei was strong, but Madara was on an entirely different scale.

But if Madara was responsible for the disturbance outside, why were Naruto, Bee, and I still alive? If it was him out there, he would have gone straight for us. We were the only things standing between him and total domination, so we'd be his primary targets. I knew that he could destroy the island completely if he wanted to, so why hadn't he? Why were we all still here, alive and well?

That was when I began to think that it wasn't him. But if it wasn't him, who else could it be? It was obviously an Akatsuki member, because no one else would be after us Jinchuriki except for the Akatsuki. The only problem with that theory was that there were hardly any Akatsuki members left. Pain, Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Kisame were all dead. Hidan wasn't dead, persay, but he wasn't putting his body parts back together anytime soon. Konan had left the Akatsuki right after Nagato's death. The only remaining members were Zetsu and Madara, but Zetsu wasn't a battle type, and I'd already ruled Madara out with my previous theory.

So then who the hell was out there and what exactly were they after? The possibilities were endless, and I wouldn't be able to relax until I figured out exactly what was going on. My anxiety only grew worse when Yamato-sensei didn't return. It'd been almost 20 minutes, and he still wasn't here. When Ryuu saw that my nerves were getting a little out of control, he walked over to me, reassuring me that Yamato-sensei was just being thorough. That calmed me down a little bit, and I was able to finish conducting the survey with Naruto without losing my mind.

I was grateful to have my brother still with me. If he had gone out there with Yamato-sensei, my nerves would only be a hundred times worse. I would have already gone out there to check on him myself, if that had been the case, no matter who tried to stop me. I did wonder if I'd made the right choice, however. What if Yamato-sensei needed help that Ryuu could have provided, had I not convinced my brother to stay? What if Yamato-sensei was in trouble, and neither Ryuu nor I could help him?

I was probably over-thinking things, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't used to doing nothing. I was used to being right in the middle of all the action, where I couldn't think about anything except what was happening right in that moment. Doing nothing gave me time to think, and thinking gave me time to worry, and worrying was absolutely horrible.

My worrying took a brief pause when the island shook again. Ryuu called it another earthquake, for Naruto's sake, but I knew better. I was thankful that this "earthquake" wasn't as bad as the last one, however. It was only a light tremor that somehow resulted in the turtle being placed upright again. We all remained in the turtle's shell, but now, we were standing on the turtle's back instead of its underside.

Naruto stared at the trees and grass that had grown into the ceiling, courtesy of Yamato-sensei's jutsu, with a frown on his face. "The world flipped over again. What is up with this island?"

I honestly had no answer to that except for the truth, but I knew I couldn't say anything about it. Scarlett had apparently mentioned our earlier encounter to Ryuu, and now I had both of them breathing down my neck. Every time I got too close to Naruto, they would find a way to interrupt. I knew that they were just trying to make sure that I didn't say anything, but they could have at least let me hold my boyfriend's hand without throwing a fit.

I didn't even know what I wanted to do anymore. I didn't want to lie, I didn't want to tell the truth, and honestly, I didn't care about either anymore. I just wanted Yamato-sensei back. I also wanted Madara to crawl into a hole and die, among other things, but I'd settle for my sensei's safe return.

When Motoi and Slim Shady entered the shell, I looked up eagerly, expecting to see Yamato-sensei behind them. I even waited a few minutes, but my sensei was nowhere to be found. The realization made me feel like my heart had dropped to my stomach.

"And where the heck is Yamato-sensei?" Naruto asked loudly. The question made me wince, but thankfully, he didn't notice. "He better not have been hurt in the earthquake!"

"He's still investigating," Slim Shady answered, but I knew it was nothing but a lie. "Don't you worry."

"But I've finished the mission!" Naruto protested. "I want to go home to Konoha and wait for Sasuke! I made an oath!"

I looked down. I remembered that oath all too well. It was that oath that, followed by Sasuke's attempt to strike me with his Chidori, caused me to snap. It was that oath that angered me and terrified me at the same time.

When I looked up, Naruto, Scarlett, and Ryuu were all staring at me, and I knew why, too. It was because they, just like me, remembered Naruto's oath, as well as all the hardship it had caused. I wasn't sure if they were expecting me to be angry or sad at the reminder, but I wasn't either. I was just tired, which none of them seemed to understand, since they continued to stare at me.

Naruto's stare was guilty, Scarlett's cautious, and Ryuu's protective. I did my best to send them a reassuring smile to convince them that I wasn't going to snap and start hating everything again, because I honestly wasn't. I'd never be okay with Naruto fighting to the death, but maybe a fight is what Sasuke needed. Maybe he needed Naruto to kick his ass and knock some sense into him. I wouldn't let Naruto die, of course, but he didn't need to know that right now. All he needed to know was that for the time being, I was okay.

And honestly, to hell with Sasuke. I had better things to worry about, like Yamato-sensei's true whereabouts, for example.

While Motoi and Slim Shady escourted the animals out of the turtle's shell, I went over to Ryuu's side, whispering, "Yamato-sensei's not investigating." It wasn't a question, and my twin knew that, because he nodded solemnly. I took a deep breath, not wanting to ask the question, but wanting to know more than anything, "... Is he dead?"

"... I don't know," Ryuu answered in a low voice, making sure Naruto couldn't hear us, "He was taken."

"By who?" I questioned. "Who took him?" Who would want to take Yamato-sensei when there were three Jinchuriki waiting right inside the island? I mean, he was valuable because of his mokuton, but you'd think that us Jinchuriki would be the priority here.

"Kabuto," my twin replied.

I was at a complete loss for words. "Kabuto? Are you serious?" He nodded, which only confused me all the more. Kabuto was the last person I'd expected. He wasn't even in my guesses. The last time I'd seen him, he'd been looking for Sasuke to "deal" with the Uchiha -whatever the hell that meant- while simultaneously transforming himself into Orochimaru 2.0, which was extremely gross. Kabuto was still an enemy to Konoha, but he'd also given us that book containing intel on the Akatsuki. "This makes no sense. Why would Kabuto go after Yamato-sensei? How would he even know that Yamato-sensei was here?"

"I don't know, and neither does anyone else. We're all as confused as you are. Kabuto's an enemy, but as far as we know, he's not in league with the Akatsuki, so he'd have no way of knowing our location unless he intercepted the scroll. He could be allied with the Akatsuki and therefore have their information, but Madara's not the type to trust easily, and Kabuto's as untrustworthy as they come, considering he was a spy for most of his life. Him wanting Yamato makes no sense, either. It was hard to tell if Kabuto was after anyone in particular. At this point, we have nothing but speculation and guesses. The Tsuchikage was here earlier. He's the one who flipped the island upright again. He transported us away from the scene."

I nodded. Kabuto teaming up with Madara would be a nightmare. Both of them were insane. Together, they'd be a hundred times worse. "So, basically, we know nothing for sure except that Kabuto took Yamato-sensei and that Madara is the worst person ever?"

Ryuu didn't even try to deny it. "Until we receive word from the rest of the Gokage, pretty much, yeah."

I looked up, determination in my eyes, "I have to find him. I have to go outside and-"

"No, Minxie, you don't," He interrupted.

"Ryuu, it's Yamato-sensei," I reminded, unable to believe that he was actually trying to keep me here. "I'm going after him. I have to. He's a part of my team. Look, I know I said that I'd cooperate, but Kabuto just made this whole thing personal. So no matter what you say, I'll-"

"You'll what, Minxie? Don't you think that if Yamato could be found, we would've found him already? Kabuto took him and vanished without a trace. Say I let you go outside. You'll have no leads, no scents to follow, no anything. There's absolutely nothing you can do to search for him. Your sensei is gone."

My brother's words were harsh and quick. I looked down, feeling tears gather at the edges of my eyes. "... We're never going to find him, are we?"

Hearing my voice crack, his eyes widened, and he appeared as if he regretted his words. "Don't say that," He muttered, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Right now, the Tsuchikage's going to report what happened here to the rest of the Gokage. They'll send out tracking units-"

"No, they won't," I denied quietly. "You're right about what you said. Yamato-sensei is gone. The Gokage can't spare anyone to form tracking units. We're going to war, remember? They'll need every shinobi they have. They won't waste time on a man who they think is going to die anyway."

He turned to me, his emerald eyes wide. "Minxie..."

"I know, I know. It's not like me to say things like that. I'm usually annoyingly positive, right? And unrealistically optimistic. But if the speculation is correct, if Kabuto and Madara really are working together, then that means Kabuto took Yamato-sensei to Madara. And if that's true... No matter how strong Yamato-sensei is, he can't face Madara. You and I know that better than anyone." The feeling of finally understanding how this worked was bitter, to say the least. "Scarlett was right. I can't save everyone, no matter how much I want to."

He looked down. "I'm sorry."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. Me too." I ran a hand through my hair. "What am I supposed to say to Naruto?"

"Nothing. You tell him nothing. You can't mention anything that I just told you, Minxie. I wasn't even supposed to tell you about Yamato in the first place," Ryuu said. "The only reason I mentioned it was because I knew you'd never stop until you figured it out. As far as Naruto knows, Yamato is still here, safe and sound. I'm not asking you to lie to Naruto anymore. Bee will take care of that. Just don't say anything about what you know."

I was too exhausted and too sad to even put up a fight. I only nodded, said a brief "okay," and walked away from him. If Ryuu had any concerns about my change in demeanor, he didn't voice them. Naruto was, as usual, completely oblivious to my entire conversation with Ryuu. The blonde was more focused on the animals who were exiting the turtle's shell.

"How come the animals can go outside, but not me!?" Naruto demanded, pointing to the exit.

"Impatient Naruto, cool it~ Rush too much, and you'll rue it~" Bee advised. "You and Minxie still haven't mastered biju chakra control~ So your training I shall personally patrol~" He drew two of his swords, allowing eight octopus tentacles to sprout from his back. "When we finish these drills, biju chakra will feel like an extension of you~ Not to be mistaken for what's actual or true~" He slammed his tentacles against the floor, breaking the ground. He jumped into the air and sliced at the broken fragments of the floor with his swords, cutting them into blocks of various shapes and sizes.

"Catch 'em with biju chakra~" He instructed, using his tentacles to grab the blocks. "Then stack 'em like building blocks, ya~ And make 'em balance using biju and your own chakra~" He stacked the blocks into a large tower before landing gracefully in front of us. This would have been normal, except for the fact that not all of the blocks were cubes. Some of the blocks were cones, prisms, and cylinders, yet despite this, the tower somehow remained balanced. I guessed that Bee's chakra was keeping it upright.

Bee divided the blocks between Naruto and I so that we could both create our own towers. Before I began, I wondered how ridiculous we looked, since we were three grown-up Jinchuriki playing with blocks. It was a training drill to teach us control, but it was still pretty silly. Either way, I welcomed the distraction. Training made me forget about everything else around me.

I activated my chakra mode and did my best to focus solely on the task Bee had given me. Since I hadn't fully mastered using the Creator's chakra, I knew my power would most likely be out of whack, so I decided to think about my next move before I ended up destroying everything with my chakra. Bee said that biju chakra was like an extension of yourself, which reminded me of practicing with my katana. The man at the weapons store who taught me how to wield it all those years ago had said that the blade was an extension of the arm. It wasn't exactly the same principle, but it made enough sense for me to at least try it out.

I envisioned my biju chakra as extensions of my arms, and I felt two clawed arms sprout out of my back. The arms were composed entirely of the green-gold chakra that was currently surrounding the rest of my body. Carefully, I picked up one of the blocks using my chakra arm. A crack appeared in the block, and for a moment I panicked, thinking I was going to completely demolish the block. However, by some miracle, it remained intact. Being as gentle as I could possibly be, I began to stack the blocks on top of one another. It took a while since I was being so careful, but I continued stacking until my tower reached the ceiling.

Beside me, Bee grinned at my progress. "Good job, kid, you sure pick up fast~ The way Naruto's going, he'll be finishing last~" I giggled, and Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Hey, I'm trying my best here!" my blonde boyfriend complained. "My biju chakra keeps destroying the blocks!" Around him were the ruins of the blocks he had destroyed while trying to grasp them with his chakra.

"Your chakra is too wild~" Bee commented. "You may have some control, but it needs to be fine-tuned, child~"

"Don't think about it like it's a stranger," I advised. "Think about it like it's a part of you. It's just an extension of your arm."

Naruto tilted his head at me in that adorable way of his. "You mean like your katana?"

I nodded, smiling at him, "Yeah, exactly like that. Using that example is how I ended up completing my tower." If I hadn't used my katana knowledge as a guide, I'd probably be breaking rocks like Naruto was.

"All right, I'll try that!" Using my advice, he was able to start stacking the blocks without breaking them. While he formed his tower, I de-stacked and re-stacked my blocks a couple more times, wanting to make sure that I had complete mastery of that skill.

It took Naruto only a few more seconds to completely stack all of his blocks. "YEAH!" He cheered, jumping into the air happily. "I did it!"

"Nicely done," Bee said. "Next is the final drill... Sad but true, it's hard to proceed~ But we must move forward with the deed~"

Naruto and I exchanged confused glances, but we let Bee lead us away, anyway. Leaving the others behind, Bee escorted Naruto and I back to the waterfall we'd visited previously. The three of us went back under the waterfall and to the large stone area that apparently had more than one room. Bee led us to a different part of the room that had another stone structure carved into the wall. This time, the carving was of Eight-Tails' head.

While Naruto searched for the switch, complaining about how absolutely done he was with secret rooms and stone carvings, Bee spoke up, "To yet another room, leads this door here~" He pointed to the wooden panels next to the statue of Eight-Tails. "The last stage of biju training awaits! So quit grumbling, hear~?"

Naruto only rolled his eyes and flicked the switch, causing the wooden panels to open. The three of us entered yet another white room through the opening.

"Now it's time to learn the ultimate Jinchuriki jutsu, hear what I say~?" Bee announced. "If you're ready, give me the okay~!" Naruto and I both nodded in response.

"We're ready," I said. I placed my hands on my hips. "So, what do we do?"

"Enter biju mode and undergo biju transformation! That's your first step to learn, yup!" Bee replied. Effortlessly, he transformed into Eight-Tails, making my eyes widen a fraction. This was nothing like the half-transformation I'd seen him do. This was the real thing. He was in the actual form of Eight-Tails, yet he was still in complete control. "Now, it's your turn!"

Naruto seemed to share my concern for transforming. "Uh, isn't that risky?" He inquired. "I mean, total biju transformation... I'll have to fully become Nine-Tails."

"You should be fine, fool, ya fool!" Bee assured. "You only extracted biju chakra pure~ So you won't rampage, I'm sure~"

Naruto nodded eagerly and activated his chakra mode, but I was still hesitant. The Creator had never spoken to me unless it was trying to persuade me to unleash its power and kill everyone around me. We didn't exactly have a model biju to host relationship. I spent my whole life trying to make sure that I never became like the Creator, and now I was supposed to willingly transform into it. Somehow, I knew this wouldn't go well.

"If something does go wrong... This room will be able to seal the Creator away, right? Just in case?" I asked, looking up at Bee, who was ridiculously tall since he was now Eight-Tails. He nodded, so with nothing much to lose -except for maybe my life and quite possibly my sanity- I activated my chakra mode. "So... Now what? Do we just close our eyes and hope for the best? Because I'm totally cool with that. It's easier than everything else we've had to do."

"All you gotta do~ Is visualize your biju~" Bee said. I nodded, turning to Naruto with an expectant look on my face.

The blonde sighed, "Let me guess. I'm going first?"

I smiled cheerfully at him. "Right you are, honey. Good luck!"

He sighed, but because he is a fantastic boyfriend, he did as I asked. He shut his eyes, pressing his hands together in concentration. He let out a growl as he began to transform... Into an adorable little fox.

Seriously. I'm not even kidding. I'd expected large and terrifying Nine-Tails, but Naruto had transformed into a little baby fox that barely reached my knees. I let out a large 'aww' at the sight of him, because he was literally the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.

Before I could scoop him up into my arms and hug him to death, he transformed back into his regular human self with another 'poof.' He looked more exhausted than ever, and he collapsed flat on his back.

"That was not fun," He muttered, groaning.

"Fun? Are you kidding me? It was adorable!" I squealed girlishly, jumping up and down. "You were like a tiny little bundle of fox cuteness, and oh my gosh, I wanted to hug you forever!"

"You're so not helping, believe it," He murmured, another unhappy groan escaping from his lips. "Having your masculinity being downgraded by your girlfriend of all people because you transformed into a baby fox is just cruel."

"Sorry," I apologized, sweatdropping. "I'm just being truthful. You were so cute!"

"But I don't want to be cute," He whined from his position on the floor. "I want to be badass!"

"We can't always get the things that we want, Naruto," I told him in my best 'wise old man' voice. I'd spent a lot of time around the Third Hokage. It was the reason why my 'wise old man' voice was so convincing. "I mean, there was this one time that I wanted a cupcake for breakfast, but Ryuu said it was unhealthy and took it from me. I got it back eventually and ate it, just to spite him. Moral of the story? Ryuu is a giant buzzkill."

He lifted his head from the floor, an eyebrow raised in question, "I thought the moral of the story would be that you can't always get the things that you want?"

"Oh... Yeah! That, too. Definitely." Not.

Naruto groaned again at my response, letting his head fall back onto the floor.

"So it's a no go, huh?" Bee sighed in disappointment. "Too bad. Well, it's not like you became chummy with Nine-Tails, so... I guess biju transformation is an utter failure."

"I'm not exactly bffs with my biju, either... So I'm guessing I won't be able to transform?" I inquired, looking up at the octopus-bull hybrid.

"Most likely, no, you won't, but you won't be sure until you try. So why not give it a go, kid?"

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess." I shut my eyes and placed my palms together, envisioning the Creator in my mind. I felt my body transform completely. My hands and feet became paws, my nails became claws, and my skin became black fur. Wings sprouted from my back, and I grew a tail. I looked just like the Creator, only I was much smaller than it was.

For a split second, everything was okay. But then I felt something inside of me shift, and that's when I knew something was wrong. Whatever tiny bit of control I had over my transformation completely vanished. My fur continued to change between black and white, and my wings continued to change between red and rainbow-colored. Eventually, the changing stopped, and I was tossed back into my human form without warning. I landed on my back, right next to Naruto. The fall had practically knocked the wind out of me.

Before, I'd thought that Naruto was just being dramatic, like he usually was, but now that I was experiencing the same thing that he was, I realized that he hadn't been dramatic at all. Transforming into a biju was absolutely exhausting. I felt like my chakra was only moments away from being drained down to zero.

"Okay," I began, struggling to sit up beside Naruto, "What the hell just happened?"

Bee sighed. "I hand over the baton for the mumble-jumble~ Saves me from verbal fumble~"

I blinked at him. I looked to Naruto for help, but the blonde looked about as confused as me. I sighed, looking up at Bee, "Okay, you're great and all, but seriously, dude, I have no idea what you just said."

Suddenly, his voice completely transformed. "Don't be alarmed, Minxie. Bee switched out with me. Right now, this is Eight-Tails speaking, not Bee." Ah, that makes more sense.

"Oh, thank goodness," I muttered in relief. Don't get me wrong, Bee was great and all, but it was hard to understand him sometimes. "No more weird rhymes... Now, do you know what happened to me just now? Because I think that it was a little too much to be just a failed transformation."

"I'll do my best to explain, but it's a bit of a mouthful, so pay attention," Eight-Tails spoke. I nodded, so it went on to say, "You and the Creator aren't friends. That much is obvious, and it's also the reason why you couldn't transform. But the thing that just happened to you, you switching between fur and wing colors... That's the result of two opposing forces."

"Two opposing forces?" I repeated. "You mean Light and Dark?"

"Precisely. However, these two opposing forces are not the opposing forces that exist within you. These two opposing forces are the ones that exist within the Creator itself."

"Hold up. You're telling me that the Creator has a Light side and a Dark side, just like I do?"

"The Creator has two forms, Minxie. One form is the one that you're used to, the bitter side that, angered by its captivity, is consumed in darkness. The second form is a much more agreeable form. It's the form the Creator had before it was sealed away, the form that had nothing but good intentions and pure chakra. The reason your experience felt worse than a simple failed transformation is because you finally got a taste of the battle that's occurring within the Creator. As long as you and the Creator are enemies, as long as the Creator continues to struggle between its two forms... You won't be able to use biju transformation."

"Well... Damn."

That seriously sucked. I had half a mind to lay back down on the floor and give up on life, but I decided against it. Instead, I slumped my shoulders and sulked silently. Right when I thought I was actually controlling the Creator, it had to go and pull this nonsense. I didn't want it to be, but I knew that what Eight-Tails said was true. The Creator really did have two forms, both of which I'd seen while battling it. If I wanted to use biju transformation, I'd have to make it so that the Creator only had one form, the good form.

But doing that would be practically impossible. It was hard enough to gain control of its bad side. I couldn't even fathom how hard it'd be to actually eliminate its bad side. If I tried to eliminate its bad side, there was no telling how my life would suffer. But if I did nothing, I would never be able to transform into my biju.

... The Creator has really got to stop putting me in these lose-lose situations.

"But that's not the only thing I came to tell you," Eight-Tails spoke again, returning my attention to it. "This is something both you and Naruto need to understand. Your chakra modes come with risks."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Risks?" He repeated incredulously. "There are risks to our chakra modes!?"

"Of course! While you're using your chakra modes, your biju spirits are siphoning away your own chakras! Because you're temporarily shelving away your regular chakras in order to use their chakras," It explained. "And, obviously, if your biju spirits drain your regular chakras to zero... Well, you'll be off to the afterlife."

My eye twitched. "And Bee couldn't mention this before!? Seriously, the guy had one job. Ugh." I rubbed my temples.

"How come Octopops is always okay!?" Naruto demanded.

"You two don't seem to quite understand this yet, but the thing is... You haven't tamed your biju. All you've done is take their chakras from them," Eight-Tails announced. "Bee and I used to be like that too, long ago, fighting over each other's chakra. Oh, and I wouldn't advise using shadow clones in your chakra modes. Your biju will take an equal amount of chakra from each clone, so you'll be drained instantly and die."

"Sweet fudge monkeys, is there maybe an outcome that doesn't end in death? For once!?" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Don't sweat it, Minx," Naruto assured easily, a calm smile on his face. His expression concerned me. Was he not grasping the part that we could die? "You and I have plenty of chakra to spare, right?"

"FOOL!!!" Eight-Tails yelled, making Naruto and I yelp. I quickly hid behind my boyfriend, because Eight-Tails was sufficiently terrifying, and I was not about to get eaten if it decided to go rabid or anything like that. I mean, just imagine getting yelled at by a biju that's a thousand times your size. It's so not fun. Besides, I was entitled to use Naruto as a shield, anyway, since it was his fault for making Eight-Tails mad.

"The power of the biju is not something to be mocked! Nine-Tails will suck your chakra right out of you!" Eight-Tails scolded, glaring at Naruto. "It takes a fair amount of time to restore any of your original chakra. Be real careful! If you use your chakra modes excessively during a battle, you'll be dead before you know it! Normally, you'd negotiate with your biju and agree on the parameters of the chakra exchange, but Nine-Tails and the Creator aren't the negotiating types. Finally, there's a limit to the chakra pulled forcibly from your biju."

Naruto sighed, slumping his shoulders. "... It's too risky."

I placed a hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture, ignoring my own disappointment. I bit my lip and looked up at Eight-Tails, asking, "So there's no way we can perform that ultimate Jinchuriki jutsu that Bee was telling us about?"

"You'd best give up on the biju bomb," Eight-Tails advised honestly. "Focus on polishing up your own special moves."

At the mention of the jutsu, Naruto's ears perked up. "Biju bomb? What jutsu is that?"

"It's simple. You change your chakra's form, pool it in your mouth, compress it, and then release it," Eight-Tails explained. "That's all there is to it."

Eight-Tails spoke as if the biju bomb was nothing, but I knew that it was way more powerful than he let on. At Tenchi Bridge, Naruto had lost control and transformed into Nine-Tails. That was the first time I'd ever seen the biju bomb in action. The jutsu was so fearsome that it ended up destroying the bridge. I'd also witnessed the Creator use the biju bomb while I fought with it. All in all, it was a kickass jutsu when it, you know, wasn't being used against me. I hated knowing that I wouldn't be able to learn it.

"We're Jinchuriki who can't use the ultimate Jinchuriki jutsu," I muttered, shaking my head. "That's got to be a record."

"Don't get too down about it," Eight-Tails said, "Honestly, while performing the biju bomb, the sensation is just like that of vomiting."

I scrunched up my nose because ew, vomiting. Naruto didn't seem disturbed by that at all, which kind of scared me because again: ew, vomiting. Instead, he actually looked quite determined and ready for anything.

"I'll just try it in this mode!" He announced, activating his chakra mode. Before I could ask what he meant, he shoved two of his fingers down his throat in attempt to... Okay, I'm gonna be real here. I had no idea what he was attempting to do. Maybe induce vomiting and therefore induce the biju bomb? Whatever his intentions, it was still gross.

In the end, all he succeeded in doing was making himself sick. He also got me to judge him hardcore, but that was a given. Even Eight-Tails looked a little disturbed, and that was saying something.

"It's impossible without biju transformation," Eight-Tails stated.

"So you're saying he shoved his fingers down his throat for nothing? Bummer," I noted, shaking my head. "Naruto, you better have packed a toothbrush or so help me, I'll never buy you ramen again."

The blonde gasped in horror. "Minxie, why would you say such a thing!?"

"Because I have issues with vomiting, which you know better than anyone since you're partially the reason why I have issues with it," I reminded. "Or have you forgotten our trip to the Land of the Waves, during which you were so obsessed with training that you ate bowl after bowl until you threw it all up?" He pouted. "Aw, don't worry, I still love you." His face brightened. "I just won't be kissing you anytime soon." He anime fell.

"Now that I've explained everything, I'll go back to Bee," Eight-Tails said, paying no mind to my little squabble with Naruto. With that, he began to shrink until all that was left was the normal, human Bee that we all knew and sort of loved, I guess. Maybe if we squinted and covered our ears while he's rapping.

"Well, it can't be helped, we must relent~ The only thing left is to try your special move in biju chakra mode. We must be diligent~" Bee sang. And that, my friends, was the first time in my life I had ever actually missed the presence of a biju.

I activated my chakra mode and prepared to create a Rasen-Chidori, but Naruto's voice stopped me.

"But I can't do Rasengan without a shadow clone. I can't do it in this mode!" the blonde was objecting, a frown on his face. "I need two pairs of hands, one to handle chakra emission and one to perform the rotation, compression, and containment of the change in form."

"Biju chakra feels like an extension of your limbs~" Bee reminded. "Not to be mistaken for your actual arms and legs, hmm~?"

"Okay..." Naruto muttered, focusing his chakra. Out of his chakra coat branched two yellow limbs composed entirely of chakra. "You mean like this?"

"Very nice, a good start~" Bee congratulated. "Now both of ya'll bring up your special moves, and let's see if we can use any part~"

Naruto got a head start on creating his Rasengan, but instead of the chakra forming into a blue sphere like it usually did, it formed into a black sphere, surprising all of us. Naruto couldn't handle the force of the chakra building in his palms, so he lost control of it. The chakra dispersed into the air, and he fell backwards.

"Naruto, who taught you that jutsu, ya dimwit fool!?" Bee demanded.

Naruto seemed too surprised to even be offended by Bee calling him a dimwit fool. "Pervy Sage taught it to me. I mean, Jiraiya-sensei, although it was the Fourth Hokage who invented it."

"The Rasengan is put together just like a biju bomb! They're completely the same~" Bee exclaimed, beaming down at Naruto. "The Rasengan must have been modeled on this biju mode move! It's like it was developed to bestow the biju bomb upon you! How insane!"

Well, yeah, that was insanely cool. I mean, seriously, knowing the Rasengan meant that both Naruto and I could learn the biju bomb! Thank goodness for the Fourth Hokage. Naruto's dad sure saved us a lot of trouble.

"It's easy to achieve in biju state," Bee continued, "But when still human, the change in form is difficult, almost impossible~ If you add rotation, that makes it more plausible~"

"But..." Naruto looked down at his right hand. "It's not working as well as my regular Rasengan."

"Biju chakra is composed of positive black chakra and negative white chakra, and their ratio is the key!" Bee explained. "When you're compressing it, make the white to black ratio two to eight and it'll form a sphere!"

Ratios? Oh sweet lord, I haven't done math in ages. I resisted the urge to groan dramatically. Not only would I have to deal with math, but I'd also have to deal with finding a balance between the two ratios, which wouldn't have been a problem if balance wasn't my weak point. Still, I had to at least try the jutsu out for myself and just hope things wouldn't get too complicated.

"Now try it, you two!" Bee commanded, his mouth spreading into a grin. He seemed very excited that we'd be able to use the biju bomb, probably a little more excited than even Naruto and I were. Either way, we listened to him and began to start our jutsus.

After all my training at the Hidden Dragon Village, I was a definite pro at my Rasen-Chidori. However, creating one in my chakra mode was way harder than it looked. The Chidori part of the jutsu was perfectly functional, considering Chidori was one of my oldest jutsus. The Rasengan portion, on the other hand, was a different story. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get the white to black ratio that Bee had described. And since my Rasengan was off, it ended up throwing my Chidori off, too. Still, I continued to work at mastering the jutsu until my hands blistered, and I was thrown out of my chakra mode.

Bee, seeing the condition of my hands, advised me to take a break, which I did very gratefully. Thanks to the Creator, I could heal really fast, but that didn't make my hands hurt any less. The chakra I'd been using to form the Rasengan was far more dense than regular chakra. It was not only hard to hold, but also dangerous if I couldn't control it. And apparently, it could also be pretty toxic, considering that my hands still weren't healed yet.

Sighing, I rummaged through my bag until I found a simple medical ointment. It was one of Kylie's own personal creations. She'd given it to me before I left for the island just in case I'd need it. I smiled to myself. She was right; I did need it. I wondered where she was now... Oh, right. She was fighting in the war, like everyone else I cared about.

Knowing that I'd only get myself worked up if I continued to think about it, I chose not to dwell on it. Instead, I rubbed the ointment on my wounds, sighing in content at the relief that it gave me. It had pretty much drained the pain right out of me.

When I saw Naruto fall to the ground, I knew he wasn't making much progress, either. His chakra mode faded away, leaving him in his regular human form. I didn't think it was possible, but his hands were in a worse condition than mine. I gestured for him to sit beside me, but instead of getting up and walking over to me, he simply crawled along the floor until he was next to me.

I giggled at that. Naruto was always full of energy, but even he had his lazy moments, and now was one of them. When I grabbed the ointment, he raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?" He questioned, eyeing the tube of ointment.

"Kylie gave it to me. It'll help. Just hold out your hands," I directed. He did as I asked, holding out his hands and turning his palms upwards. I applied the ointment to his injured hands. As I treated his wounds, Bee began to lecture us, which was pretty hilarious considering he spent most of his time thinking up rhymes.

"No, no, your ratio's still out of whack~" the older Jinchuriki scolded. "That was black 9.5 to white 0.5! It's much harder than it sounds, to grasp the knack~"

"I'm confused, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Positive, negative, white chakra, black chakra, ratios... What the heck does any of that even mean? I learn by doing, ya know!? Besides, this Rasengan is so heavy! If I don't use both hands, it falls apart! How do I focus on the details!? Hm... You know what? I'm just gonna keep at it until I get it! I'll keep trying until I own this jutsu! That way I'll-" He winced as I rubbed the ointment into his palms, and I whispered an apology. His wounds were really a lot more serious than mine had been. Just how much had he been over-exerting himself?

"You're handicapped in human form... It's a tougher toil~ Rest a bit, those wounds on your hands are a type of jutsu recoil~" Bee advised.

"I already said I can't worry about the details!" Naruto said fiercely. "I'll just have to keep trying!" He stood up suddenly, surprising me. Before I could protest, he activated his chakra mode. "Octopops, tell me when I hit an 8-to-2 ratio! I'm gonna try to learn it by feel!"

Bee couldn't hide his smile. "You sure are persistent... Very well~ I'll swallow my words and help you tell~"

He was true to his word, and he continued to guide Naruto and I as we attempted to nail the proper black-to-white ratio. I wasn't sure how long we stayed in that room, practicing our biju bombs. Still, by the end of it all, we hadn't made much progress. I groaned as I fell back to the floor, my chakra mode fading away. Seriously, I had one job. Why was this damn jutsu so hard to grasp?

"Hey, Bee, do you think I could get Ryuu to join us over here?" I asked, turning to the older Jinchuriki. "Last time I couldn't get a jutsu right, he helped me out, and I was able to master it. Maybe if he helps me again, I'll be able to get the biju bomb down pact."

"Sorry, kid, but you'll have to go at it alone~ This right here is a Jinchuriki-only zone~" Bee said.

That made me frown. The room we were in now was exactly the same as the room we'd been in before. That time, both Yamato-sensei and Ryuu had gone with us, even though neither of them were Jinchuriki. So why was this room suddenly a 'Jinchuriki-only' zone? It didn't make any sense. But if this room wasn't a Jinchuriki-only zone, then that meant that Bee was lying to me, which also made no sense. Why would Bee lie to me? He and I both knew about the war, so what other secret could he possibly be keeping from me?

Deciding to investigate, I stood up. "Where's the bathroom?"

"The first doorway on the left, outside~" Bee replied. "But why the sudden rush, I ask, if you've got nothing to hide~?" Even Naruto seemed curious, because he tilted his head to look at me questionably.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, no reason. Just some girl stuff. You know, I haven't fixed my eye liner once since we got here! Honestly, it's tragic. I wanted to add a wing, but I feel like that's too much, especially since we're only training, but maybe I'll just-"

"All right, all right!" Bee exclaimed, cutting me off. "No need to explain~ I'll let you go without a pain~"

I grinned victoriously. The second I mentioned any sort of girl stuff, Bee and Naruto had lost interest. It was actually pretty funny, despite the circumstances. At least now I knew a way to divert their attention from me. "Good. I'll be back in a few minutes." I left the room, making sure that I didn't walk too fast so as to not arouse suspicion.

When I got outside, I kept a similar pace. I flickered my Mind's Eyes on carefully, and I was able to spot two lookouts hidden above me. Further down was a group of shinobi that guarded the entrance. I recognized a few, like Scarlett, Iruka-sensei, and Shino's dad, but other than that, I had no clue who the rest of them where. I could feel everyone staring at me suspiciously, but they seemed to relax once I turned to the left. Scarlett, however, didn't seem to relax until I was safely shut up in the bathroom.

Once I was in the bathroom, I let my neutral expression be replaced by one of confusion. Why was Iruka-sensei here? And Shino's dad? Where had all those other guards come from? Where were Motoi and Slim Shady? Where was Guy-sensei? And where the hell was my brother? I knew he wouldn't just leave, especially not without saying goodbye. Besides, he had made it clear he didn't trust me enough to keep the secret about the war. There was no way he'd just leave me to my own devices, knowing I could let the truth slip to Naruto at any given moment.

I knew that staying the bathroom thinking up theories would be completely pointless, so I decided to get my answers by eavesdropping. I used my Mind's Eyes to see past the walls of the bathroom and into the minds of the group of shinobi at the entrance. Normally, I didn't use my kekkei genkai for things like this, since reading someone's mind was a total invasion of privacy. However, considering the circumstances, I decided that invading their privacy was worth it. Scarlett's mind was the first I read.

'What the hell is she up to? As if she's really just going to the bathroom... Bee shouldn't have even let her out the door in the first place,' she was thinking. 'I knew we shouldn't have entrusted him with both Naruto and Minxie. Everyone here is an idiot. They think she'll be proud when she hears the news, but they couldn't be more wrong. She'll completely flip. Let's just hope Bee can actually keep quiet about what happened.'

I frowned. What news was Scarlett talking about? It couldn't be the war, so what was it? Why was Bee keeping a secret from me? What was so important that it'd make me flip if I found out? I tried rummaging through her mind for some more answers, but I couldn't find anything else. Scarlett's thoughts were jumbled in riddles, just like the rest of her was. Trying to figure them out would be a total waste of time.

So instead, I decided to peruse through Iruka-sensei's thoughts. 'Lady Fifth was wrong to send me here,' he thought, and I could almost hear his internal sigh. 'If Naruto does find out the truth about the war, I won't be able to stop him. Still, I have to try. It might be selfish, but I don't want him to get hurt, even if it means that I have to lie to him.'

I sighed. You and me both, Iruka-sensei. His thoughts continued to be centered around Naruto, so I moved on to Shino's dad. Shino's dad's thoughts went something like this: '...' And yeah, that was it. Super informative. Not. Apparently, most Aburame were silent.

This was taking forever. I was just about to give up when I focused on the thoughts of another guard shinobi. From his appearance, I assumed that he was a part of the Nara clan.

'It's imperative that Minxie and Naruto remain here, away from the messiness of the war,' He thought. 'Although I do not quite understand the Doppelganger's hesitation. If anything, Minxie should be proud about the news. Few people are chosen to be war generals at only seventeen.'

His thoughts continued after that, but I paid no mind to them. Once I heard the part about the war general, my heart almost stopped. This was the secret Bee was keeping from me. Ryuu couldn't help me train because he was no longer here. He had left to serve as a war general. He was going to lead other shinobi into a war. My twin brother, the only family I had left, was going off to war.

From the beginning, I had hated the idea of hiding away while everyone else risked themselves for me. I had cooperated, however, because Gaara had asked me to. And it's not like the rest of the Gokage were being cruel, either. They may have sent me to a turtle island, but they had at least allowed my brother to accompany me, and that made me more inclined to play along. Now, however, Ryuu was gone, and that meant I had no reason to stay here.

I didn't even have to think about it. My Mind's Eyes morphed into my Heart's Eyes, and I manipulated both my Light and Dark chakras at the same time. In a mere second, I was airborne. I slipped through the walls of the bathroom, past the guards, and into the outside world. Once I was on solid ground again, I blinked, taking in my surroundings. I was past the waterfall, but I was still on the island.

My eyes narrowed at the barrier that was now surrounding the island. Was it possible that the guards already knew I had escaped, or was this just a precaution in the event that I did manage to evade them? Either way, I had to get rid of it, which would be no easy task. The barrier had 36 layers in total, extending miles off the coast. Getting past it would be a challenge, even with my Jinchuriki talents.

A biju bomb or two would have probably gotten rid of the barrier completely, but I still didn't know how to control one since I had skipped out on training with Bee to escape. A part of me wondered how angry he'd be at me for bailing on my training as well as how angry Naruto would be at me for leaving him behind. In any other situation, I would have invited them to come along with me, but Bee probably would have stopped me, and if I invited Naruto, I'd have to tell him about the war, which would only make things even more complicated. Besides, it was too late to even consider doing any of that. I was already out here, and going back was not an option.

I knew my time was limited. It wouldn't be long before someone realized that I was no longer in the bathroom, and once they did, I'd have a lot of explaining to do. The barrier was strong, so I'd have to use my most powerful jutsu in order to destroy it. I hoped that a Rasen-Chidori would cut it, because if my suspicions were correct, once I touched the barrier, I'd be announcing to the world that I was escaping.

I couldn't control Rasen-Chidori in my chakra mode, so I settled for creating one in my regular human mode with my own personal chakra. The chakra in the barrier was evenly distributed, so I couldn't locate a weak point, which led to me aiming my jutsu at the spot closest to me. My jutsu cut away at the barrier, creating large cracks in its surface. Once my palm touched the barrier, however, I was knocked backward.

I groaned when I realized that my jutsu hadn't worked. Sure, it'd created a giant hole in the barrier, but it had only penetrated half of its layers. Besides, the hole was already repairing itself, which made me groan in frustration even more. Fantastic. The barrier could regenerate. As if my life wasn't hard enough.

I didn't have much time to feel sorry for myself, however. I could hear shouts in the distance, which meant that everyone knew what I was doing. I made another Rasen-Chidori and used it on the same spot before. The barrier wasn't done regenerating, so my jutsu was able to penetrate a third of its layers. All I needed was another hit, and the barrier would fall. Maybe I couldn't destroy it completely, but I could at least keep it open long enough to get through it.

I made another Rasen-Chidori, but before I could use it, something sharp struck my hand. My jutsu spiraled out of control, colliding with the ground beneath me instead of the barrier in front of me. The force of the collision sent me flying. I hit the ground with a solid thump.

I looked down at my hand and spotted a shuriken lodged into my palm. The weapon had punctured my flesh hard enough to get past at least two dozen layers of skin. It had gotten stuck in the bone, which is what prevented it from going straight through my hand. Pulling the shuriken out of my hand was one of the most painful things I'd ever done. Once it was removed, a steady flow of blood streamed from the newly created wound.

The smoke that my jutsu had created finally cleared, and I looked up to glare at my attacker. I wasn't even surprised to see Scarlett standing a few feet away from me. Only she was ruthless enough to practically destroy my hand. It was a stupid move, really, considering that our lives were connected, and any injury done to me was done to her as well. That much was proven true when I saw her bloody right hand. She paid no mind to her injury, turning her gaze to me instead.

Guess she wasn't kidding when she said she'd use force to stop me, even at the expense of her own well-being, I thought bitterly. I'm just glad she stabbed my hand instead of breaking my legs.

"Honestly, Minxie," She began, heaving a sigh. "Was any of this even worth it? You made me stab your hand, resulting in not only your injury, but in mine... And for what? The barrier's already regenerated."

I glanced at the barrier and saw that she was right. The barrier had completely regenerated itself. There wasn't a hole; there wasn't even a scratch. The only evidence that I was even there was the hole in the ground from my Rasen-Chidori.

"It's 36 layers of self-repairing chakra... But you knew that already, didn't you?" She quirked an eyebrow in my direction, amusement dancing in her crimson eyes. "You had to have known, with that pesky kekkei genkai of yours, yet you still made an effort. Granted, it was a pointless one, but an effort nonetheless. Hm... I'm not sure if that makes you brave or pathetic. What do you think?"

I sat up and glared at her, but I remained silent.

"Nothing to say for yourself?" She questioned, edging closer to me. "No explanation, no pathetic excuse, no sarcastic one-liner? Nothing?" She sighed dramatically. "How disappointing."

"You made Bee lie to me," I spoke up suddenly.

She placed her un-injured hand on her hip. "I make a lot of people do a lot of things. You'll have to be a little more specific."

Her tone was so mocking that I didn't even both gracing her with a response. I merely stood up and turned away from her. My hand was beginning to heal, but just barely. I'd have to wait before I was able to properly weave hand signs again. In the meantime, I'd try to find other ways to take down the barrier. I took a step towards said barrier, and a hand grabbed my wrist in an iron grip. Without thinking twice about it, I formed a fist and connected it with Scarlett's cheek.

My Doppelganger catapulted backwards, landing on her side. I ignored the stinging pain in my own cheek as a result of the punch and glared at her. I saw movement from the corner of my eye, and I spotted two of the guards running to Scarlett's aid. She raised her good hand, and they stopped. With a single wave of her hand, she shooed them away, they retreated back to their original places. She ran her fingers over the bruise that I'd created on her cheek. Her expression was one of quiet fury mixed with pleasant surprise, which made no sense at all.

"You hit me," She stated, as if she couldn't believe it. "You, Minxie Takeda, actually hit me. I know you haven't stopped caring again, so this was your actual, sane doing." She sat up. "Now, before I hit you back, is there a reason behind your sudden anger, or are you just letting off some steam?"

I let out a humorless laugh. "Wow. You really are incredible, you know that? You know exactly why I'm angry, and yet you still sit there, pretending to be oblivious. It's amazing, really. I knew you were a good actress before, but this is just mind-blowing. You know what else is mind-blowing, Scarlett? The fact that my brother was called to be a war general -a position that not only paints a giant target on his back, but also puts his life at risk- and people on this island actually thought I'd be proud of that."

The oblivious facade she'd been portraying faded away as soon as my words reached her ears. She let out a sigh, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance. "How'd you find out?"

"Well, when I realized that Bee was keeping a secret from me, I figured that I was justified in using my kekkei genkai on the rest of you," I replied. "I read your minds. Apparently, it's the only place anyone on this island is truthful, myself included. But I am done with the secrecy and the half-truths and the-"

"Okay, all right!" She interrupted. "Before you continue with your whole 'I'm done with everything' rant, you should know that Ryuu was the one who insisted that we keep his departure a secret. He knew you'd freak out and try to go after him, and as usual, he was right."

"Of course I'd freak out and try to go after him!" I exclaimed. "He's my brother! He's the only family that I have left, and you, of all people, should know exactly what that's like!"

She laughed. "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone who actually cares, Minxie. Your efforts to sympathize with me are adorable, really, they are, but the fundamental difference between you and I is that I just don't give a damn."

"Oh, cut the crap, Scarlett," I said, rolling my eyes. "You act like you don't have feelings, but we both know that you do. You might not have any blood relatives left, but I know you see Luna as your family, and that simple fact alone proves that you do care. So it really amazes me that you're trying to stop me from going after Ryuu when you would do the exact same thing if Luna was in his position."

"And it really amazes me that even with your ocular kekkei genkai, you're still completely blind," She shot back. "You're blind to the fact that in order for this war to be won, you have to stay alive. The moment Madara gets his hands on you, Bee, and Naruto, this world is finished. Unlike you, Ryuu knows that. He knows exactly what he's risking by serving as a war general, but he's doing it anyway because he understands the threat that Madara poses. Ryuu is doing what he needs to do in order to protect you!"

"I don't want him to protect me!" I yelled. "I can do that myself! I don't want him or anyone protecting me!"

"It's not about what you want, you idiot! You need to be protected!"

"From what!? From Madara, from the Akatsuki!?"

"From your future!"

Was she being serious right now? "Are you telling me that the reason you're keeping me from going after my brother is to protect me from my future? Do you have any idea how absolutely ridiculous that sounds?"

"I don't mean future in a general sense, you moron." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm talking about the future that the prophecy says you'll have. Your destiny."

"Neji used to believe in destiny. Naruto beat the crap out of him during the Chunin Exams, and suddenly, he had an epiphany in which he realized that destiny isn't real. Should I ask that Naruto do the same for you?"

"Joke all you want. It won't change anything. I don't believe in destiny, either. At least, I didn't, until I inevitably became your Doppelganger, regardless of how many times I tried to change it."

That was new information. "You tried to get out of being the Doppelganger?"

"Of course I did. Do you really think I wanted to spend my life being connected to someone I didn't even know, much less cared about? You were nothing to me, so why did I have to worry about your life? I did everything I could to avoid it, but in the end, I couldn't. I spent so many years running, but destiny finally caught up to me, like the bitch that it is. Sure, not all futures are set in stone, but the prophecy about you makes itself pretty clear. Well, as clear as prophecies go."

"Look, all I remember about the prophecy was that it was an overly long, rhyming chant. All it talked about was my hair and how I was going to choose what the world fell to or some crap like that. Honestly, I didn't give it much thought considering I was suffering from Orochimaru's weird curse hickey, which I will never forgive him and his pedophile ass for, even if he is dead."

"You know parts of the prophecy, I won't argue that. But there's a key verse you're missing, one that entails the future that Ryuu is trying so hard to protect you from. 'With two forces to choose between, this child won't live past seventeen.' Once you make your choice between Light and Dark, Minxie, you die."

Death. That's the future Ryuu was trying to prevent. My inevitable destiny wasn't to save the world. It was to die.

There were a number of ways to handle the news, but I was too shocked to consider any of them. Instead, I took a seat next to my Doppleganger and hugged my knees to my chest, creating a long silence that I broke myself, of course.

"... If I die, what happens to you?" I questioned.

Scarlett scoffed in disbelief. "I just told you that your destiny is to die, and you're worried about what happens to me?" I shrugged in response. "You know, you make it really hard to hate you."

That made me smile, despite the situation. "Well, you make it really easy to hate you, so I guess that's just another one of our opposite Doppelganger qualities." She smirked slightly. "But seriously, what's going to happen to you? You said our lives wouldn't be connected during the Final Battle -which I assume means when we fight Madara- so doesn't that mean that you'll live even if I die?"

Her smirk faded away, leaving her to stare at the space in front of her. "Our connection might be broken during the Final Battle, but that doesn't change anything. I still end up dead, regardless of what happens to you. We both die; we just do so separately."

"Okay, seriously, who made up these rules? In what world is it fair for your life to completely suck and for me to pick what the world falls to when we're both going to end up dead at seventeen?"

"Well, if you want to get technical, the Council directed our particular prophecy."

I raised an eyebrow. "The Council? What's that?"

"Basically a group of celestial forces that govern life as we know it. Fate, destiny, all that other nonsense." She waved a hand dismissively. "It's confusing even for me, and I'm the one who knows the most about them. At least, I think."

"Sadly, that is not the strangest thing I've ever heard. Does this Council have any real reason to want us dead, or do they just hate brunettes?"

"I won't pretend to understand their motives, but if you think about it, our deaths are logical solutions. You were able to get the Creator under control, Minxie. The Creator is unlike any other biju. It created Ten-Tails, of all things. Your power over it makes you a huge threat. Once you die, the threat you present dies with you. The prophecy is there to ensure that you won't live long enough to cause any imbalances in nature."

"All right, I can sort of see the point of it, as twisted as it all is. I don't plan on dying, but I can at least see why the prophecy was created in the first place. But where does any of this leave you? It's not like you have of the Creator's chakra under your control... You don't have any of its chakra, right?"

"Of course not. If I did, there'd be hell to pay. Don't get me wrong, I love having power, but from what I've seen, the Creator's power is more trouble than it's worth. I much prefer my own strength."

"Trust me, you have no idea how right you are," I muttered, shuddering slightly. "I'm still confused, though. If you're not a threat power-wise, why do you have to die if we won't even be connected anymore?"

"Because as your Doppelganger, that's my future. My whole purpose in life stems from your existence. Once you're dead, there's no reason for me to exist. According to the prophecy, anyway."

"You don't really believe that, do you? That your purpose in life ends once I die?"

She scoffed. "Of course I don't believe that. As if my purpose should really depend on whether or not you're breathing... It's ridiculous, and, quite frankly, insulting. But I don't get a say in the matter. My future, as well as yours, has already been decided."

"So what you're saying is that we're both screwed?"

"Pretty much. I tagged along on this island trip because I thought I'd be able to find something to change things. I knew changing the prophecy would be too much to ask for, but I was at least hoping for some kind of loophole. In the end, it was pointless. All I really have is speculation, and the prophecy still stands. It still ends in our deaths, along with a third death that I still haven't figured out. I'm positive that it's going to be one of your friends because let's face it: you idiots are always involved in crap like this. But as for the specific who, I've got no idea. I don't suppose you do, either."

"Nope, not a clue," I replied. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I have no intentions of letting the prophecy be fulfilled. We're not going to die, and neither will any of my friends. I'm not going to let that happen."

She shook her head at me. "You're really not getting the whole death-by-prophecy thing, are you?"

"I'm never going to get it, Scarlett, because it's not real," I said seriously. "I still don't believe in prophecy, and I don't believe in destiny, either. I make my own future, and when I die, it will be on my terms, not anyone else's. And no one, not even the Council, will ever take that away from me. I'm surprised you're letting them take that away from you."

"What is it with you Takedas and believing that I'm giving up? Do you really think I plan on dying so easily?"

"Woah, wait a second." My eyes widened. "Ryuu knew about this? About all of this?"

"Well, I suppose there's no point in keeping it a secret anymore..." She sighed. "Yes, he knew. I told him before we came here."

"He knew that I was destined to die, and he still didn't say anything about it? Didn't he think that was something I at least deserved to know!?"

"Oh, calm down. He and I made a deal not to tell anyone about it. He was just as reluctant to believe in a prophecy as you are right now. Besides, do you really think he wants to believe in something that foretells his precious sister's death?"

"I guess not... Still, I deserved to know. But knowing Ryuu, he probably thought he was sparing my feelings by keeping it quiet. God, he's such an idiot. You said he was reluctant to believe in the prophecy, so why did he let you come here? Was he just being cautious, as usual?"

"Not quite. He, like you, doesn't believe in destiny or prophecies... But then he met Luna. When he realized that her power was real, he finally started understanding that her predictions were important. Apparently, when he and I went to Tazanaka Town, she told him that he, you, and all of his friends were going to die. He didn't quite believe her. At least, until he saw her gift in action."

My eye twitched. "A seer told my brother that practically everyone he knew was going to die, and he didn't believe her!?"

She shrugged. "You know Ryuu. He doesn't believe in anything until it hits him in the face."

"I'm half tempted to hit him in the face right now!" I exclaimed. "God! Seriously, future death predictions of everyone you love are not things that you keep to yourself."

"Honestly, Minxie, if you and your friends had known that you were all supposed to die, do you really think that everything would've happened the way it has so far?"

"Well... No..." I admitted, biting my lip. "But he still should've told us."

"If he would've told you, you'd all be either living recklessly or living in constant fear that Luna's prediction would come true," She stated. "If you ask me, Ryuu did you a favor by keeping it a secret." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes effortlessly. "Besides, you no longer have to worry about everyone. Before we came here, Luna said that the death toll changed to three. You and I are two of that three, leaving only the third unaccounted for."

"I don't want anyone to die."

She turned her body to the side so that she was fully facing me and said, "Then don't let anyone die. Change the prophecy."

That left me confused. "I thought you said you couldn't change the prophecy?"

"I can't change the prophecy," She agreed. "... But you can."

"Me?" I repeated, incredulous. "How on earth can I change it? I'm just one person!"

"True as that may be, you're the one person with the Creator's chakra," She reminded. "Over and over again, you've had it drilled into your head that you have to choose between Light and Dark. You're going to have to make a choice no matter what, but who says that those are your only options?"

"Literally everyone says that those are my only options," I deadpanned. "The prophecy itself even says that."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. As if you really believe in the prophecy. You don't believe it when it says that you're meant to die, so why should you believe it when it says that Light and Dark are your only options? After all, it is your choice, right? So what if you don't choose Light or Dark?"

"You mean if I don't make a decision at all?"

"Oh, no. You have to make a decision, but what that decision is entirely up to you. Light and Dark are two of your options... But what if you pick a third?"

"There is no third option, Scarlett. You are talking to a girl who still has trouble choosing what kind of cereal she wants in the morning. I can't just make up my own option."

"That's the beauty of it, Minxie. You can. You can choose whatever the hell you want. Your will is backed by the Creator's chakra. If you say that there's a third option, there will be a third option. And if you choose that third option, then the prophecy cancels out. And if it cancels out..." Her voice trailed off, and she stared at me with mischievous crimson eyes as she waited for me to catch her drift.

Once I finally did, my eyes widened. "... Then no one has to die."

"Exactly," She finished with a proud, victorious smirk. "The prophecy will become void, and there won't be any death. You'll be able to continue your incredibly annoying hero complex, that mystery third person will be able to continue breathing in blissful ignorance, and I'll be able to continue messing with everyone." She stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "And just like that, crisis averted."

I couldn't help the rush of joy I felt at the realization. All this time, the prophecy had been nothing but an obstacle to block my path, and now, Scarlett had figured out a way to get past it. By choosing an option different from Light or Dark, I'd be able to change the inevitable future that'd been forced upon me. I could save Scarlett, one of my friends, and myself. I had no idea what that third option of mine would be, but I didn't waste time thinking about it. It'd most likely be an in the moment thing, just like the rest of my decisions were. I had more than enough to worry about in the present. Pondering the future would do more bad than good.

I bounced up into a standing position. "Scarlett, you're a genius!" I exclaimed. Without thinking twice about it, I hugged her.

She, of course, did not return the embrace. "Of course I am, now get the hell off of me, you freak." She pushed me away from her, but I was too happy to be offended.

"Sorry," I apologized, sticking my tongue out and smiling sheepishly. "I'm a hugger."

"Yeah, I've noticed, and it's disgusting," She snapped, making me sweatdrop. "Don't do it again." She brushed herself off, as if she didn't want to be infected with my weirdness. "Now, let's go back inside. I'm sure there's a medic that can properly heal our hands."

I'd been so focused on my conversation with Scarlett that I had completely forgotten that she'd injured my hand. I looked down at said hand, frowning slightly at the wound. It was healing due to my Jinchuriki status, but it was still pretty much a bloody mess. Scarlett sure had messed up my hand. Then again, she was also suffering from the same injury as I was, so I couldn't complain too much.

"Do you really expect me to go back inside after everything you just told me?" I asked her in disbelief.

"I expect you to go back inside because of everything I just told you," She replied in a serious tone. "I just gave you a loophole to cancel out the prophecy and save everyone. Why do you need to rush to the battlefield? You don't have to make your decision right now."

"Until I make my decision, the prophecy won't cancel out," I said. "That means there's still time for that mystery third person to die. That person could be my brother, Scarlett. I have to get out there and choose right now, before that can happen."

"Minxie, that loophole I gave you is still just a theory," She said. "There's no telling if it'll actually work. If it doesn't work, you'll die."

"No prophecy gets to tell me when I live or when I die. That's just another decision that the Council will have to deal with me making on my own. The same goes for you," I told her. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off before she could start, "I know you'd do the same for Luna. He's my family, Scarlett, the only family I have left. Please don't make me give him up." Her eyes narrowed at me, and I knew I was treading dangerously, so I continued quickly, "You're always talking about how much you love games. Well, now, it's time for one last game... Only this time, we'll both win."

I honestly had no idea what effect my words would have on her, but I just hoped that they'd be able to convince her. Her eyes, however, gave nothing away. They remained their usual piercing shade of crimson, her gaze cold and calculating as usual, yet still somehow neutral.

"... The barrier was made specifically to keep you here," She spoke finally, her tone blank and unreadable. "You'll never get past it. It can withstand a Jinchuriki." I stared at her in confusion, and then her eyes darted to the side. Curiously, I followed her gaze and spotted Naruto jumping from tree to tree.

Suddenly, Scarlett's words made sense. She wasn't trying to belittle my attempts at getting past the barrier. She was actually giving me a hint. The barrier could handle one Jinchuriki, not two. Now that Naruto was here, I'd have a chance at getting past it... Assuming he knew about the war and didn't hate me for keeping it a secret, of course.

The second he landed on the ground, I jumped in front of him. He had to dig his heels into the dirt to keep from knocking into me, but I didn't care. The moment we were facing each other, I said, "I guess you found out about the war, huh?"

Naruto looked down at me. "Yeah, I did, and you've known about it this whole time." He didn't even look upset. He just looked disappointed, and honestly, that hurt a lot worse. I supposed I deserved it for lying to him in the first place.

"Okay, I know you probably hate me now, but I had my reasons for not telling you. Gaara made me agree to cooperate at the Summit, and for a while, I thought I could do it, but in the end, I just couldn't. I hated keeping a secret from you so much. I wanted to tell you the truth so bad, but Ryuu and Scarlett kept getting in the way. And when they said that lying to you would protect you, I wanted to believe them so badly that I guess I convinced myself that what they said was actually true. I'm so, so sorry, Naruto, and I know that a lousy apology won't fix things, but I really do mean it. And I swear to you, everything that happened between us here was completely real. Loving you and wanting to be with you were things that I never lied to you about. And I know that you have no reason to believe me, but that's the complete truth this time. And I also know that you have every right to hate me, but I really, really hope you don't."

Once I was finally done with my little monologue, I took a huge breath. I hadn't breathed in between any of those sentences, and I knew I was babbling, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want to lose Naruto because of my dumbass mistake.

"I don't hate you," He said finally, making my jaw drop. "Yeah, I wish you would've told me, and it really sucks that you didn't, but... Well, if I was in your place, I can't say that I would've told you the truth, either, not if keeping a secret would keep you safe. I'll admit, I'm still pretty ticked off about the whole thing, but I could never hate you, Minxie."

Without giving it a second though, I leaned up and kissed him. It was a short kiss, but hopefully, it was enough to convey my feelings. I pulled away from him, "How about next war, you get to keep a secret from me?"

That got a grin out of him. "Deal."

"Oh, as much I hate interrupting your precious couple moment," Scarlett drawled sarcastically, "we're running on a tight schedule here. Disobeying direct orders from the Gokage isn't a task you should dawdle on. So, with that said, can the two of you hurry the hell up and get this barrier down? Seriously, if I hear anything else about your oh so special love, I'm going to vomit."

"She's got a point," I muttered, and Naruto nodded in agreement. "Okay, the barrier can hold up against one Jinchuriki, but against two, it should fail. At least, I think. I'm just going by what Scarlett said."

"Actually, you're going by what I implied," Scarlett corrected. I shot her a look, and she stared back. "What? I'm not getting chewed out by the Hokage just because the two of you want to join the war. Getting past the barrier will be your doing, not mine."

"Whatever. Let's just get started," I said, making my hand signs. I hit the barrier with a Rasen-Chidori. The barrier quickly worked to regenerate itself, and it got so close to closing that I'd wondered if my jutsu was pointless. I was proven wrong, however, when a black sphere of chakra hit the barrier, shattering it even further.

"Octopops!" Naruto exclaimed gleefully, mid-hand sign.

"Ya'll tried to skip out on training!" Bee shouted, already transformed into Eight-Tails. "Fools, ya fools! Now, let's break this shield! Heads up, blonde fool!" He tossed a biju bomb to Naruto, who quickly caught jumped into the air. While he was in the air, he activated his chakra mode and caught the biju bomb in his hand. He hit the barrier with the biju bomb in the same spot Bee and I had hit earlier, and just like that, the barrier came completely undone. It shattered right before our eyes.

We all quickly passed through the broken barrier, knowing we couldn't risk it regenerating again. I was actually surprised when Scarlett followed us.

"I thought you said this would be our doing and not yours?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

Gracefully running across the water, she replied, "Getting past the barrier was your doing. Everything else, however, is another matter entirely. The three of you might be Jinchuriki, but you're still idiots. There's no way I'm letting you do this on your own."

My eyes widened. "You came to help us?"

"Better," She said with a smirk. "I came to win."

I shot her a large smile, and she gave me a wide smirk in return. Together, the four of us finally reached the coastline. There was a collection of spiked rocks positioned across the coastline, but they actually looked pretty natural, so I didn't worry. We jumped across the spikes and finally reached regular land away from the island.

"I thought we were on an island?" Naruto asked, confusion in his eyes. "Why are we so close to land?"

"The island's actually a giant turtle," I answered. "All those earthquakes we felt earlier was actually the turtle moving."

He nodded, and we began moving again. As we made our way across the terrain, jumping from rock to rock, I filled Naruto in on all the information I knew. We kept a very fast pace, knowing that there were probably people tailing us. If there weren't, we'd sure as hell encounter a problem soon. The clouds overhead darkened, the sky following soon after, signaling nightfall.

"Save your power~" Bee advised Naruto, who still hadn't released his chakra mode. "You'll need it for the final hour~"

"There's no time to waste!" Naruto exclaimed, speeding ahead of us. I sighed deeply at his impatience, while Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"He's being an idiot," my Doppelganger announced pointedly. "He's wasting chakra for nothing."

"Nine-Tails' chakra lights up the night~" Bee said. "It's worth the power risk to keep it bright~"

I couldn't argue with him, because he wasn't wrong. The night around had grown even darker as more time passed. The Nine-Tails chakra that Naruto was emitting illuminated our path, granting us safe passage over the treacherous terrain. However, Scarlett also had a point. The more Nine-Tails chakra Naruto used, the more his own regular chakra would be drained.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something shift. I quickly activated my Mind's Eyes to get a better look, and I frowned at the land in front of us. "Naruto!" I called out. "Be careful! There's something up ahead!"

The blonde skidded to a stop just in time to see the Raikage and the Hokage appear in front of us. We all came to a halt, eyes wide. Internally, I groaned. I didn't think any of the Kages would come themselves to stop us. I was hoping for a regular shinobi platoon. That would've been less troublesome.

"Bro?" Bee said, eyeing his brother. His gaze fell on Lady Tsunade. "Bro... Bbb... Bra?" Scarlett and I both facepalmed. Why were all the men in my life such perverts?

"BEE!" the Raikage hollered. "Eyes up! Have some respect!"

"Oh, no! I meant no disrespect!" Bee promised. "I can't help it that the Hokage's so hot!"

"We are here to stop you!" the Raikage announced. "You will not pass!"

"Bro, Naruto's gotta get through~" Bee said. "I'll make sure he do what he gotta do~"

"All right, before we continue with this whole 'none shall pass' thing, can I just say something?" I asked. When no one spoke to deny me, I continued, "Okay, so, the point is that we're going to get through. Lord Raikage, you can yell and scream at us all you like, but once Naruto uses his therapy jutsu on you, you'll be finished."

That left everyone confused, even Naruto. Said blonde furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "My therapy jutsu?"

"Yeah! You know, your miracle talent that somehow allows you to change people and make them see the error of their ways," I replied cheerfully. "You usually start it by bonding with someone over their tragic past. I'm not really sure if the Raikage has a tragic past, but I'm sure you'll find someway to make it work. The point is: you're gonna convince him, anyway. So why are we all wasting our time here?"

The Raikage fumed. "I will never agree to letting any of you pass! You fools oppose me! All this is to keep the three of you safe! If they get ahold of you..."

"... Then Madara will cast his jutsu, and the world will end," I finished for him. "Trust me, we know. And we don't care."

He glared harshly at me. "How can you be so foolish!? You were specifically charged with keeping the war a secret, Takeda brat! You were present when Madara made his declaration, and yet you willingly disregard it!?"

"I haven't disregarded anything! I remember Madara's declaration vividly, and that's exactly why I'm getting involved!" I shouted. "I know I told you I'd cooperate, but I couldn't, especially not with my brother in the fray!"

"Your brother understands the stakes of this war, unlike you," He hissed. "You knew what was at risk, but you told the Nine-Tails brat about it, anyway!"

I was going to snap back at him because he was completely wrong, but Naruto spoke for me, "She didn't tell me about the war. I sensed it in Sage Mode. The point is that now I know, and I'm going to stop it!"

"You arrogant little fool!" the Raikage growled fiercely. "The rest of us are doing are part in the war! The part you play is back on the island, not here!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "I hate it that people are dying for me! Even if we win this war, what if I'm the only one left standing at the end? It's not worth it! I don't want it!"

"It's better than the world ending!" the Raikage argued. "That's why people are prepared to sacrifice themselves to protect you!"

"I can't just sit here!" Naruto shouted back. "Not when people are fighting for me! I won't!"

"Enough!" the Raikage bellowed. "You still shall not pass!"

The two charged for each other, matching one another's speeds equally. I wasn't really surprised. Naruto's chakra mode made him incredibly fast, but the Raikage's speed was just as fearsome. He sent a punch the Naruto had to use both arms to block.

"Granny Tsunade, you know me!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll stop this war, so let me go!"

Lady Tsunade sent him a sad look. She had a copy of Katsuyu, her small slug, perched on your shoulder. "Naruto... I'm part of the Allied Shinobi Forces right now. I've been ordered to stop you. Even the Hokage cannot act independently on this one."

He sighed. "Fine. It's politics. It's not your fault. So... I'll force my way past you!" He charged again, but the Raikage was there to counter him. Naruto smirked, "You're a fast old man, Raikage."

"There is no shinobi faster than me," the Raikage boasted in his booming voice. "Not since the Fourth Hokage died!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You knew my father?"

"We exchanged blows several times," the Raikage replied. "He was a noble man. A finer shinobi never lived. One of Konoha's Sanin, Jiraiya, called him a child of prophecy, a savior. But even so, with all his power, why do you think he is not here today to help stop this crisis? Because he underestimated the danger of the tailed beasts! You are his son. Have you truly learned nothing from his sacrifice?"

I was ready to smack the Raikage upside his head. What gave him the right to talk about Naruto's father like that?

"Don't talk about my father," Naruto warned. My eyes widened at the threatening tone his voice had taken. "The Fourth Hokage did not make any mistakes!"

The Raikage narrowed his eyes, facing Naruto fully. "Stand down! If you don't, I will kill you!"

"What!?" Lady Tsunade shouted. "Raikage! You can't!"

"Are you out of your mind!?" I yelled. "You can't do that!"

"That will at least buy us some time until Nine-Tails comes back to life!" the Raikage said. "And our enemy will be forced to delay his plans!"

Instead of standing down, Naruto prepared his hand signs. The Raikage growled, lifting a fist. I immediately charged forward, praying that I'd be fast enough, but it turns out that I didn't have to be because Bee got there before I did. He caught the Raikage's fist in his own Eight-Tails morphed one, standing in front of Naruto protectively.

"Bee?" the Raikage said, completely shocked.

"You kill him, you kill me and Eight-Tails too~" Bee proclaimed. "Standing here yelling, acting like a fool~ It's time for Naruto to make a new rule~"

"Lord Raikage, you may not make any permanent decisions without consulting the other Allied Shinobi Forces leaders!" Lady Tsunade exclaimed fiercely. "Supreme Commander or not, I will not allow it!"

"I have the responsibility to ensure victory in this war, and I'll do anything to achieve that!" the Raikage snapped back.

"Then why target Naruto instead of Bee!?" She demanded.

"If push comes to shove, I'll be prepared to kill anyone, even Bee! But if I have to choose, I choose Naruto!" He shouted. "Bee is a greater military asset because he can produce and control biju bombs!"

"Bee is not just a military asset! He isn't just a weapon you can control to do whatever you like!" I yelled, glaring at him. "None of us are! Jinchuriki can make their own choices! We are not weapons! We're people, damnit! And no one has the right to treat us otherwise!"

"You Jinchuriki are not free!" He bellowed. "You belong to your nation and your village, and you keep the balance of power for your people! You think you can do whatever you want? Do you understand nothing of your positions!? I know you know better than this, Bee! Yet you still stand in my way! Why are you defending this boy!?"

Bee released his partial Eight-Tails transformation, leaving him with his normal human arm. "Fist bump. Read my soul, brother."

"Soul reading? We're wasting time with soul reading?" Scarlett said with a scoff. "I've grown tired of this farce." She ran chakra to her feet, surrounding them with a purple glow. "Get past him now, while he's distracted!"

Apparently, there actually was some soul reading going on, because the Raikage didn't sense us until the last second. It was thanks to his incredible speed that he was able to block our path. He sent Naruto flying with a chakra-packed punch and sent Scarlett skidding across the ground. With a swing of his arm, I was tossed backwards, but I landed on all fours, silently thanking my ancestors for making a pact with leopards in the first place. That sure came in handy.

Naruto jumped into the air, only to be thrown by the Raikage again. We were all pretty much getting our asses kicked, honestly. I could only imagine how worse off things would've been if the Raikage had both arms to fight us with. Thankfully, he didn't, courtesy of Sasuke, who threw his Amaterasu around more than pitchers threw baseballs.

Bee was able to sneak past his brother's guard, but the Raikage got him in the side with a chakra-packed lariat. The Raikage then focused his glare on Naruto and I. Before he could charge at us, a tentacle that most definitely belong to Bee wrapped around his waist, stopping his advances.

"You know your lariat can't beat mine, Bee! Why are you doing this!?" the Raikage demanded angrily.

"Because you're a fool, bro! You still don't get it!" Bee exclaimed.

The Raikage growled, wrapping his arm around Bee's tentacle. He swung the tentacle and Bee along with it, knocking into Naruto and I. The three of us Jinchuriki ended up on the ground, a mess of limbs and chakra all over the place.

"Lady Hokage!" the Raikage barked. "You help, too!"

Lady Tsunade shut her eyes and moved her feet. Instead of going over to join him, however, she stood in front of Bee, Naruto, and I, facing the Raikage.

The Raikage growled. "You better have a real good excuse for this, Hokage!"

"Even if you kill Naruto to buy us some time until Nine-Tails returns to life, I can't see his next Jinchuriki managing to control Nine-Tails' power to this degree!" Lady Tsunade announced. "We have no idea which way this war will go. You called Jinchuriki weapons. Well, I say we use them! I will let them pass!"

Naruto grinned. "Nice excuse! I mean... Nice explanation! That's the Granny Hokage I remember, believe it!"

The Raikage's frown deepened. "Who's the one making permanent decisions now!? You're all fools. What evidence do we have that they will succeed!?" Bee charged for him, and he glared, "I told you your lariat won't work against me!"

"Bro, ever since you became Raikage, you've been underestimating my power like a fool!" Bee said, hitting his fist against his brother's. They appeared to be evenly matched, because they jumped away from each other, landing on opposite sides of the field.

"Bee, you, Naruto, and Minxie are precious Jinchuriki," the Raikage stated. "You're special to your villages and nations. I won't let either of you pass! No matter how powerful you three are, don't forget that our enemy, the Akatsuki, has already taken down and sealed away all the other Jinchuriki!"

"We won't be defeated!" Bee proclaimed.

"Very well! Then let's test it out! Your lariat versus mine!" the Raikage challenged. The two brothers charged for each other, only this time, Bee triumphed. His lariat was so powerful that it knocked the Raikage off his feet. The Cloud leader slammed against the ground, and the force broke up the rocks beneath him. It was such an incredible punch that I was surprised the Raikage was able to sit up.

Bee stood tall in front of his brother, "Being Jinchuriki isn't our only power source~ The three of us possess an even bigger force~ Before I received Eight-Tails, truer words you never spoke~ So long as I have them, I truly believe I can stay strong, my power's no joke~"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently, the Raikage did. "You mean... Those words I said to you in front of the Waterfall of Truth?" Bee grinned in response, nodding. "'For you're special to me. We're the ultimate tag team.' I said those words to you, that's true... But just those simple words are enough to keep you strong?"

"I don't live and fight for my village and nation! I live and fight for you, bro!" Bee announced. "But you gotta let me go~ You gotta trust in my power, bro~ The world is dark and full of pain when you're Jinchuriki~ You gotta find a light that can let yourself see~ Biju are not our only source of power! Our own selves, what we were before biju helps in our weakest hour. Our true selves shine like the sun~ Our true strength means we will never have to run~ Only I could control Eight-Tails, only I could win that fight~ Inside them, Naruto and Minxie have got that same bright light~"

"A bright light?" the Raikage repeated. He glanced at me, and his gaze narrowed. "You speak of light, but the Takeda clan was buried in darkness!"

"Maybe it was, but my parents weren't," I stated strongly. "They didn't seal the Creator inside of me because they wanted power, like the rest of my clan did. They did it because they wanted to protect me, because they believed in me. They loved my brother and I so much that they died for us. My mom sealed away my memories to protect me, so I don't remember the six years I spent with them and my brother, but I do remember that they loved us more than anything. Every single act they committed was out of love, and they showed me to be the same way."

"People used to say I was the weakest link in my clan because of that, but I proved them wrong," I continued. "And I will prove you wrong, too. Bee fights for you because you're his brother and he loves you. I fight for my brother because I love him. My clan may have been buried in darkness, but the part of their legacy that I'll always remember is that family is above all. I intend to upholad that legacy."

"I was lucky enough to find a new family in my friends, and I will fight for that family," I finished. "I've made some questionable decisions, but this isn't one of them. I know I have to pick between good and bad, but right now, I pick my brother. And when the times comes, I'll make the right choice as to what the world will fall to. But I can't do that if I stay here. You know that, Lord Raikage."

The Raikage looked down at his lap, furrowing his eyebrows. "You fight for your family, you say... That's the bright light Bee said you possessed. Naruto Uzumaki," he looked up at the blonde, "tell me of your light."

"That the thing. I don't have just one light. I have two," Naruto replied with a grin, holding up two fingers. "And those two are my mother and father!"

"Your parents? The Fourth Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina?" the Raikage guessed. "They died when you were an infant."

"When I was trying to control Nine-Tails, my dad make sure I got to meet my mom! He said he'd woven her chakra into the seal, so I met her when I undid Nine-Tails' seal!" Naruto explained. "They did that all for me! My mom helped me get this power, and she told me everything. My dad once fought this guy in a mask, and he learned two things. One was that this masked guy was gonna try to destroy the future. The other was that I could stop him, but only if I learned to control Nine-Tails!"

The Raikage raised an eyebrow. "You're saying that Minato entrusted everything to you? He knew he wasn't the savior?"

"I don't know if my dad was the savior or not," Naruto replied honestly. "Pervy Sa- Jiraiya-sensei called him a child of prophecy."

The Raikage remained skeptical. "Don't you remember what I told you? That savior, Minato, died. You don't think that was a failure?"

"My father died. He and my mother died protecting Konoha from the enemy and the Nine-Tailed Fox! They died protecting me! It only took a second, but they left me so much. What they gave me will make me win! I will be the savior!" Naruto announced, adjusting his ninja headband.

I smiled at him, feeling incredibly proud. Even Scarlett looked impressed, although she also seemed to be a little annoyed. I assumed that was only because she was tired of all the speeches. I didn't really blame her. We had a war to win, and the Raikage really wasn't making things any easier for us by making us delve into these deep explanations.

"Raikage, if you kill Naruto today to delay our enemy's plans, Madara will definitely take Nine-Tails the next time! The world will come to an end! And if you go after Minxie instead, our world will never have the peace that she is meant to restore!" Lady Tsunade spoke up. "We need to let Minxie, Naruto, and Bee go. They can protect the shinobi! I bet on them! What about you!?"

"They're not particularly bright, but I'm going to bet on them, as well," Scarlett added, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I don't make bets unless I know I'll win."

"You heard the ladies, bro~" Bee said. "Don't think about it, just go~"

The Raikage shut his eyes in contemplation. For a moment, everything was silent. Then, all hell broke loose. The Raikage punched Bee in the stomach, knocking him dozens of feet away from him. He surrounded himself with his powerful chakra, only this time, it was even worse. This was the first time I'd seen him look so strong. I didn't need my Mind's Eye to know that he was finally at full power.

"You're so stubborn!" Lady Tsunade cursed. "But you have to go through me!"

Naruto obviously had no intentions of letting her fight his battles, so he sped towards the Raikage, saying, "So many people are trusting me..." The Raikage's fist was just about to hit Naruto in the face, but at the last second, Naruto appeared behind him. "... I won't fail them!"

Lady Tsunade's jaw dropped, and Scarlett's eyes widened. Even Bee, who was still lying on the floor, seemed shock. I, on the other hand, was grinning like I just won the lottery. The last time Naruto had used teleportation jutsu, he'd ended up twisting his ankle because he couldn't control his new power. Now, however, he had total control of it. He'd out-sped the Raikage, for crying out loud! That was simply amazing.

"Like you said, Lord Raikage..." Naruto continued, "If I fail, I'm not a savior, so I won't fail. I'm my father's son! He taught me to be the savior!"

"Heh..." the Raikage let out a brief chuckle. "My attack was simply a test. You're only the second to have ever outrun my fastest punch. The first was your father." The blonde's eyes widened, but the Cloud leader wasn't finished, "It seems that we have a savior after all. It's you." He turned to look at me. "Takeda brat... You proved me wrong, after all. Your brother will be waiting for you. I trust that your Doppelganger and Bee will look after you."

Naruto and I grinned, while Scarlett and Bee smirked.

"The four of you may pass. Go."

And that was exactly what we did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay, so, before you all try to come at me with pitch forks, I'm going to apologize for how late this is. I blame it on school and how many finals and regents I endured, but that's only half the reason. The rest of it is that I've had the biggest case of writer's block ever. This was a really hard chapter to write, which might make no sense to you guys, but it was hard for me. I wanted so badly to just skip to the war already, but I couldn't skip over this arc since it was actually pretty crucial to the storyline. I really am sorry though, and I hope you can forgive me. That's actually one of the reasons why this chapter is so long. It'll take you guys forever to read, but at least now we can get on to the action part of the story. So yay, war time! (Real war is not yay. In no way am I giving you guys permission to start wars. So you better not start any wars in this story's name because that's just rude.)

A lot happened in this chapter. The development in Naruto and Minxie's relationship played a big role in this chapter, which is why I went along with the song on the side. It's 'You and Me' by Lifehouse, and it was suggested by wattpad user Shamikh14 last chapter, so shout out to you for that! It's a fantastic song, and it goes really well with Naruto and Minxie's relationship.

For the rest of you who suggested songs, I will be adding them in future chapters! I really do thank you guys for actually suggesting songs. You did a great job. Seriously, you guys have A+ music taste.

I'd also like to give a shoutout to wattpad user emerden101, who did me the honor of creating yet another beautiful fanart drawing for this story! Her art is amazing. You guys have got to check out her profile on devianart. I have links to the drawings on my own profile, so feel free to check those out as well! The picture on the side is her most recent drawing of baby Ryuu and baby Minxie, and it's so cute that I want to cry.

Another shoutout goes to wattpad user UchihaZeenah, who messaged me a few days ago. We had a very funny conversation that I enjoyed very much. So shout out to you for being hilarious and amazing!

Friendly reminder that you guys can message me whenever about whatever you'd like. Literally, you can inform me of your lives if you want to, because although I do love my friends, their group chats send my phone into cardiac arrest. Messaging on wattpad is much safer.

I was also wondering if maybe you guys would like more movie-based chapters? The Road to Ninja one I wrote ended up being a success, so I wanted to know if you'd be interested in more. I haven't seen all the Naruto movies, but it's all up to you guys.

In other news: I GOT MY BEST FRIEND TIFFANY (wattpad user mentalhelpneeded) TO WATCH NARUTO. THIS IS GROUNDBREAKING. OUR FANDOM HAS GROWN. It looks like all that time she and I spent playing a Naruto videogame actually paid off. She only just started, but she's doing very well. She messages me while she watches the episodes, and her reactions are priceless. She loves Kakashi, so she's doing it right. I'm so proud of her. (I'm actually talking to her right now, and she swears that she's female Gaara, even though it makes no sense. She's not a redhead though, so don't fangirl too hard.)

Again, I am so sorry for the wait! Hopefully, this chapter's long enough to get you guys to forgive me. I should be more motivated now that I've reached the war arc, which should make updates faster. If the updates do end up being faster, they'll probably be shorter, too, but at least they'll be more consistent.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE NARUTO MANGA THOUGH. THERE IS LITERALLY SO MUCH TO SCREAM ABOUT BUT THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE IS ALREADY LONG ENOUGH SO I GOTTA STOP.

Thanks so much for sticking with me. I love you guys!

-smilescutie3311 xoxoxo