Recap: The chirping emitted from my hand, sounding like the cries of hundreds of birds.
I let out another breath. It's now or never...
And that's when I charged for the wall of the sand prison.
Story Start::
The whole Chidori thing? Yeah... It didn't work out as well as I planned. The sand wall shattered, sure... But the aftermath was worse than I imagined. It's like I basically just blew myself up.
My clothes were covered in soot, and I plummeted down to the trees below me, half-asleep. A fall from this height... No. My team needed me, and I wasn't gonna die falling towards the earth. No.
I made my hand signs quickly, drawing chakra out from the depths of my core. "Summoning Jutsu!" I shouted.
When the smoke cleared, I was completely confused.
"What in the... Why the heck am I so high up?" I asked myself, wondering where the cheese I was. Under me wasn't Mai's usual snow white fur. Therefore... What the heck did I summon!?
When what was under me started moving, I completely freaked out.
"OH MY MONKEYS, THE GROUND IS MOVING! THE GROUND IS MOVING, THE GROUND IS MOVING, THE GROUND IS MOVI- Oh, no, wait. You're not the ground! You're a leopard. Silly me," I said, smiling brightly at the large creature I was standing on.
The creature's head moved, its eyes looking up to see why I was on top of their head. "You... You summoned me!? What the... Oh. You're Mai's charge..." She muttered.
Her fur was different. She had fur as soft and as white as Mai's, but instead of being all white, black stripes went across her fur coat. Her eyes were a bright emerald green, and her teeth large and sharp.
"You, child! Why did you summon me?" She asked.
"Because I was plummeting to my death and decided that I didn't want to end up like soup on the ground. I really meant to summon Mai, but... Who are you, anyway?" I asked, tilting my head.
"My name is Rei. I am an elder; the oldest and most powerful leopard of all time. Your guardian, Mai, is a part of the same council as I... But she follows my command. A mere child like you... How you found the power to summon me is beyond my understanding," She said. She looked around, taking in the disastrous scene.
"What happened here? Practically half of this forest is destroyed," She noted. I looked around as well, seeing that she was right. Trees were knocked over, the ground was split... The scene was terrible.
I freaked out a bit when I couldn't locate my team, but I sighed in relief when I saw Sasuke on one of the tree branches. He seemed a lot better. Sure, the marks were still all over his body, but at least he was well enough to sit up.
Wait... Marks... Oh, hell.
I glared at my hand, gaining an eye twitch when I saw that I, too, had the black marks spread all over my body. Thanks to the leader of KISS and his pedophile ways, I look like someone decided to get creative with a black Sharpie on my face. Lovely.
"Wait... What the... What is that!?" I exclaimed, gasping with wide eyes. Not too far from where Sakura was pinned to the tree, two large creatures were fighting. One of them was a toad, who had... Naruto on his head!? SAY WHAT!?
And... What the flip is that tan thing with all the black markings and those creepy eyes!? Jeez... How much did I miss!?
I almost fell off of Rei's head as I realized what that thing was. Those eyes... I had seen them before. When I touched Gaara, that's the same eye that glinted to life. Then... Then that thing... It's...
It's Gaara. Well, it's the monster that's inside of Gaara.
Oh, this is bad.
"Rei... Do you think you can help me out here? That blonde kid on the toad's head is my friend, and we need to take down that evil monster thing that's fighting him!" I said.
The large leopard sighed. "Oh, dear... It seems that the Shukaku has gone on a rampage again. I suppose that I can help you... So long as you make sure that beast gets sealed. Understood?" Rei said, blinking her emerald eyes up at me.
I nodded. "I understand... Now, how are we gonna get all the way over there when we're all the way over- HOLY FUDGE!"
Without any warning, Rei leaped with grace, pouncing over to Shukaku and Naruto in seconds. If I hadn't held onto her fur, I would've fallen off.
"Hey! You couldn't warn me!? I almost died!" I barked, glaring at her striped head.
"I'm helping you fight, here. What more do you want?" She said, and my eye twitched.
"Fine... Naruto!" I shouted, waving my hands to get the blonde's attention.
"Minx... Minxie!? But... How'd you get out of the sand prison!?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide.
"That's not important now! The important thing is to take this thing down so we can smack some sense into Gaara!" I shouted, and he nodded.
"But... How the heck are we gonna do that!? Chief Toad and I here have been fighting him, trying to land a hit... But he's too powerful!" He said, and I bit my lip. It's just what I thought...
"Wait... Gamabunta? What are you doing, in a mess like this?" Rei asked, blinking her large emerald eyes at the toad Naruto stood on.
"I could ask you the same question, Rei. It seems that both of our summonings were quite unfortunate... Fighting Shukaku, the sand spirit, of all things," The toad, Gamabunta, replied.
"What can I say? This girl on top of my head intrigues me. She's of the Takeda clan, you know," She said. Oh my... Why the flip are they catching up at a time like this!? HELLO!? Huge sand spirit RIGHT THERE!
"Hm... How will we do this?" Gamabunta said, staring at the Shukaku. "We'll need to block his movements and strike, knocking the redheaded fellow awake! I lack the claws and teeth to do so, however..."
"But I have the claws and teeth to stop his movements," Rei said, smiling in the same leopard-like way Mai did.
"Wonderful. Listen well, you two. Rei will keep him in place, and I'll get you close to him. When the time comes... You hit the host with everything you've got! Understand!?" Gamabunta shouted. Naruto and I looked at each other, and then nodded, determination on our faces.
"Well... Might as well get it started," Rei said, backing up. Her enormous paws crushed the trees under her as if they were mere twigs.
After dodging one of Shukaku's dangerously powerful chakra balls, Rei pounced on the sand monster, keeping him securely in plaw with her large and sharp claws.
"Now, Minxie, Naruto! Go!" She shouted. Naruto jumped off of Gamabunta's head, charging straight for Gaara. The redhead, however, was already prepared. He sent his sand, making it slither up Naruto's legs, even with the Chief Toad's tongue protecting the blonde.
They, however, all seemed to have forgotten about me. I grabbed my katana, closing my eyes and focusing whatever chakra I had left onto the blade. Coursing my Chidori through it, I lifted my katana up and swung it down on the sand.
The sand immediately shattered, setting Naruto free.
"Go, Naruto! Finish it!" I shouted as I hacked off whatever sand came towards us.
"You're... You're right. I'm... I'm ending this battle, even if it costs me my life!" Naruto shouted, charging for Gaara once again. The redhead's sand swirled around him, ready to attack... But he never got the chance. Naruto, using incredible force, headbutted the redhead.
Instantly, Shukaku began to shatter right before our eyes. The sand that was making its way up my leg became useless, sinking towards the earth.
With nothing to stand on, Naruto, Gaara, and I started plummeting towards the ground, but Rei was still there. She caught us on her long back, gently positioning herself so we slid off to the ground easily.
I was exhausted. Blood was trickling down my leg, and my chakra level was close to zero. All I had left was one blow...
"I'm proud of you, child. One day, sometime in the future... You will summon me again. And I look forward to it, dear one. Good luck," Rei whispered to me, smiling her leopard-like smile at me and disappearing in a puff of smoke.
The world started spinning, and my vision became blurrier. Gaara and Naruto were both on a tree branch, their foreheads bloody. They seemed as exhausted as I was.
They charged for each other once more, and somehow, they both ended up on the ground, completely exhausted.
The two boys began talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was just so tired... Consciousness was slipping away from me.
I felt someone land next to me, but I used no strength to open my eyes and see who it was. When I felt a familiar hand on my cheek, I knew who it was in seconds. I was picked up into strong arms, cradled in my exhaustion.
"Sa... Sasuke... You're okay...?" I breathed out, struggling to keep my eyes open.
"I'm fine. Sakura's okay, too... Naruto's fine... We're all fine. You don't have to worry about anything. I'm here," He whispered so just I could hear.
"Oh... That's good... And... And Kimi and Hayato... Daisuke... What about them...?" I asked, forcing myself to stay awake.
"We're here! Minxie, oh, Minxie... We're here, we're safe..." Kylie whispered to me. When did she get here? Oh, I don't know anymore... But she's safe. They all were.
"Minx, stay awake. Just for a few more seconds... I'll help you walk again, okay?" She said, her blue eyes teary. She made her hand signs, placing a hand on my stomach. After a few seconds, I gasped, eyes wide. My vision was clear now. The pain... It wasn't as bad as before.
"What... Where's Naruto? Where is he!?" I asked frantically, my head whirling between Sasuke, Josh, and Mitchell. They had all made a sort of circle around me, and I was getting claustrophobic.
"Shh... He's here," Mitchell assured.
"Take... Take me to him. Please?" I begged, looking up at Sasuke. Taking a deep breath, he slung my arm around his shoulders and slid an arm around my waist. We made our way over to Naruto, who was laying on the ground, exhausted.
Gaara wasn't too far away from him, and he was now joined by his siblings. He stared at me, this far away look in his beautiful sea foam green eyes.
Limping slightly, I made Sasuke walk me over to the redhead, whose eyes widened when he saw me.
"Minxie... Minxie..." Gaara muttered, his eyes wide.
I let go of Sasuke, falling next to the redhead on my knees. "You... You protected me. You saved me from this battle... By trapping me in that prison. So... I'm not mad at you," I said. I reached out my fingers to run them along his cool cheek.
"More than anything... I'm grateful. Heh... Guess you're not that bad after all, huh?" I said, smiling at him. "I mean... Who knows? Maybe someday... You'll see what I see whenever I look at you."
I looked up at his siblings, knowing that Gaara's eyes never left my face.
"Go ahead," I told them with sincere, "Go back to your village... Take care of him for me. We're not opponents anymore, and I don't hold grudges, so... Don't worry about us tailing you. Go on."
They looked at me, and nodded thankfully. Kankuro picked Gaara up, slinging the redhead's arm around his shoulders, and then, they disappeared.
I stared at the grass underneath me, staying quiet for a while. I looked up at Sasuke, who was next to me, the marks all over his body.
"People say it's cute for boyfriends and girlfriends to match, but I really doubt they'd take it as far as we have," I said, smiling a little. "I mean, look at us. We have matching curse marks, for crying out loud!"
He stared at me, and after a long while, a smirk took over his expression.
"Hn... I think I prefer our matching necklaces. They're a lot less dangerous," He muttered, making me grin at him.
"We do win points for originality, though, right?"
"Oh, definitely. I think it's safe to say that we are one of the few -if not the only- couple with matching curse marks."
"Ah, I knew we were meant to be."
He smirked, and I smiled brightly at him. He hoisted me up off the ground, wrapping an arm around my waist and letting me lean on him for support.
I let myself collapse next to Naruto, my back on the ground. I turned to the blonde, smiling.
"Not bad... For a blonde, you know," I teased, smirking.
He smiled. "Not bad... For a girl," He teased back. I laughed.
I looked around me, seeing my old friends and my new ninja friends, all gathered around. They shared solemn expressions, but with my joking, they mellowed up.
Sasuke sat down next to me, laying down on the grass just like I was. His hand searched for mine, intertwining our fingers together and making me smile. Kylie laid down on the grass as well, followed by Mitchell and Josh.
"Hm... Despite all that's happened... Today turned out to be a beautiful day," I said, looking up at the blue sky. Now, clouds had decided to pass by, looking like perfect little cotton balls in the sky. All different, all unique, all beautiful in their own way, just like my friends.
Looking around me, seeing my friends laying down and gazing at the sky together... It felt good. Sure, we were all exhausted, and sure, when we got home, our village would be a mess. But, all in all... We had done it. Shukaku was defeated, Gaara was changing... And now, we all lay together on the ground.
"You did it," I whispered to Naruto, grinning happily at him.
"No, Minxie. We did it," He said, grinning back at me.
And indeed, we did.
~*~
When I woke up, I was back at home. Everyone had gathered at my house, letting Kylie tend to their wounds. Whatever she couldn't fix was sent to the hospital. I had immediately fallen asleep on the way home. Now was the first time I was opening my eyes in hours.
I looked around my room, seeing no one. It was very quiet downstairs, too, which worried me. Dragging myself off the bed, I went to the balcony, peeking through the door. Yeah, I had limped the whole way. My leg wasn't exactly doing great, but it was better than before.
Outside was ugly. It was raining like crazy. The sky was overcast by dark gray clouds. No color was in the sky whatsoever. I felt depressed just looked outside.
"Minxie?" Someone called, and I turned and saw Kylie. She was dressed in a black dress with long sleeves and black ninja shoes. Her face was solemn, which scared the hell out of me. Kylie was never NOT happy. She was the optimist; always smiling and laughing. What the heck happened?
"Kylie... What's wrong?" I asked immediately, tilting my head.
She closed her eyes. "Are you well enough to walk?" She asked.
"Yeah... Why?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Because... We're all gathering near the Hokage Mountain," She answered.
"What... Why?" I asked.
She took a deep breath, opening her sad blue eyes and saying with a solemn expression, "Because, Minxie... The Third Hokage's dead."