Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [2]

☾ 60 ☽

Tsukiko and Naruto's clones spread across the region, reaching every single battle field that could be reached by them. One of the first they reached was in the barren terrain on the southern edge of the Land of Lightning where there was plenty of sand and several solitary rock formations that stood towering over them. In the distance, they found the first fight –

There was a man hanging in the air, aiming his Dust Style, a Kekkei Tota, upon two men – one of them being Gaara. Tsukiko moved ahead to do something about it but Naruto moved his arm in front of her, rushing at the man, Mu, with his Rasengan.

However, Mu managed to avoid Naruto's attack, causing him to fall past him and Tsukiko busied herself into an aerial Taijutsu with the mummified man.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed. "Tsukiko-Chan! Give me a moment!"

"Mu-Sama is a Sensory Shinobi!" informed the tiny old man with Gaara.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted. "Sand!"

Snapping out of his shock upon seeing Tsukiko and Naruto in the middle of the war without any prior notice, Gaara quickly created a base for the blond to use as a springboard. Naruto flew back at Mu as fast as he could while Mu was locked in with Tsukiko. The white-haired girl swung around and kicked Mu right into Naruto's trajectory and Mu was struck.

Mu went flying through the air with great speed, striking and tearing through stone and into the sandy ground. Tsukiko watched as the old man, Onoki, appeared behind Mu and used Earth Style: Added-Weight Rock Jutsu to weigh him down onto the floor.

"Now you're so heavy, you won't even be able to raise your arms," Onoki told him before suddenly grabbing his back, which seemed to be hurting. "Owww..."

"You used to hate the other villages, now you work so well with them," Mu mused.

"It's worth living a long life," Onoki replied. "You get to enjoy change,"

"Don't let down your guard," Mu told him. "I'm still..."

"We need to Seal him up!" Onoki called out. "Hurry!"

Just then, Tsukiko appeared behind them, placing her hand onto the man's bandaged head, using her Wood Style to construct a cloth around the man's body and promptly Sealed him up. Onoki turned to look at her in surprise as Naruto and Gaara landed next to them.

"You're always so cool, Tsukiko-Chan!" Naruto said, reaching out to high-five the girl and Tsukiko smiled at him. "You as well, Gaara, way to go!" He noticed Onoki. "Nice work too, Shorty Gramps!"

"I am the Tsuchikage, you know," Onoki responded. "By the way –"

"What are you doing on the battlefield?!" Gaara demanded, his voice louder and eyes wider than Tsukiko had ever seen them before. "Why did you come?! Tsukiko! I told you to stay safe!"

"Gaara!" Tsukiko responded, shocked as he firmly grabbed onto her shoulders.

"Hey, I'll explain, Gaara!" Naruto said, moving ahead to make sure Gaara wouldn't go too far with Tsukiko in his hysteria. "Let me explain..."

"You better have a good enough explanation to persuade me!" Gaara told him.

"That would be impossible," Shikaku spoke up, his voice sounding in their minds. "So, I will do the talking. This is Nara Shikaku at HQ. Both you and the Tsuchikage were in the middle of fighting, so I thought I'd save the complicated talk for later,"

"Let's hear it then," Onoki replied. "But the fighting is not over. We must head out immediately. You can brief us on the way. Kazekage, you should let go of her,"