Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [3]

☾ 1 ☽

It was nearly a year after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and Tsukiko was a few months away from turning seventeen. Things were slowly moving on in the world and people were slowly starting to adjust back to the 'normality' of life. Tsukiko was one of them, working constantly to keep herself occupied yet still found time for her friends and her boyfriend, Gaara.

Even at this moment, Tsukiko found herself in the company of her friends and old teammates, Uzumaki Naruto and Sai. But the situation couldn't be further from relaxation as she stood atop the Chinese phoenix that Sai had created with his Super Beast Imitating Drawing.

In a cold February night, the three of them were flying through the air about five hundred metres above the ground. Sai glanced over his shoulder at Tsukiko and Naruto.

"You sure you're going by yourselves, Tsukiko, Naruto?" Sai inquired, although he was sure that the two of them always worked very well together.

"We'll be alright, Sai," Tsukiko replied. "Naruto's got me, after all,"

"Would that still be alright?" Sai asked, still concerned. "I mean to say, Naruto's hand is still –"

"I can take these guys with one hand," Naruto interjected confidently, his eyes far below on the ground where the enemy territory laid.

Without insisting any further, Sai redirected his Ink Phoenix as the three of them slipped through the shadows in the deepness of the night, unseen and unheard from the ground below. Although it was past midnight, the scene below was not hard to see – for from above, the vigil of the night watch below burned bright, standing out against the wild mountain valley.

This was exactly where the target of their covert mission lay hiding, and they needed to be careful of the Ninjas who stood in watch for protection of that very target. The moonlight that fell upon them was cold and it reflected off the needle-like ridgeline of rising stonewall.

"Just as expected," Tsukiko observed, tracing the length of the wall all the way around with her eyes. "Not only does he have a stronghold, it is enforced by natural defences as well,"

"So, Garyo's been running around and hiding in places like this, huh?" Sai commented.

"While he kills the people of the Land of Waves," Naruto muttered through gritted teeth.

At that moment, a cold and powerful wind blew by them, ripping through the valley and howling in their ears. The Ink Phoenix soared along the wind, making a wide turn that led to them catching sight of Garyo's base, now directly below them.

"Don't think too hard about it, Naruto," Sai said, noticing that unlike Tsukiko's cool-headedness in the battle field, Naruto was still prone to bursts of anger. "It's not like the Fourth Great Ninja War's going to be the last war humanity fights. As much as I hate it, we're still going to see people who sympathise with Madara's thinking,"

"Like Garyo, y'know," Naruto responded before jumping down from the large Ink Phoenix. Tsukiko shook her head and followed after him.

"See you in a bit, Sai," Tsukiko told him, her wave of long white hair whipping around in the moonlight before she vanished from next to him.

The wind whistled through Tsukiko's ears as she descended to the ground with the gravity's pull, and she diminished her fall by releasing a bit of the Yang Seal on her palm. Unlike Naruto and Sasuke, she was still able to tap into it, as long as she did not touch her eyes.

Seeing that the Tenseigan was far too overbearing on her human body despite her being blessed enough as an Otsutsuki to be Usajii's Jinchuriki, she had left it down as a last resort.