The Dragon Queen // (Under Revision)

Natsukashii's Birthday

Pure white light with a greenish tinge burst forth from Tsuyoi's mouth, bathing the bokushin in scorching heat. Tsuyoi roared in pain and triumph and her own voice was layered with another. It was the roar of a beast. It echoed through the clearing, ripping across the sky. The trees bent at the trunks under the force of the decibel Tsuyoi reached. The moment of sheer power and exhilaration last way too long and too short.

No, it's not just me. Tsuyoi thought. Natuskashii's in there now, too.

Her throat screamed in pain. The energy blast shrank, reducing itself to a wispy smoke circling from her mouth. She collapsed, sliding forward onto her knees. Naruto extinguished his Nine Tails chakra and bent on his knees, sliding his arms beneath her's so her head rested on his chest.

Tsuyoi didn't even have the strength to feel embarrassed. She leaned back against him, her head swimming. Her vision was murky, but through her haze she could see the spot-clean bones of the bokushin carcass. 

"I killed it, right?" Tsuyoi smiled weakly.

"Don't you ever do that again, you idiot!" Naruto's heart was beating fast beneath Tsuyoi's ear. She could hear the anger in his voice, but he was thinking that what she had just done was cool and crazy at the same time. How could she do something like that?

"You're welcome," she smiled, closing her eyes.

"Naruto! Tsuyoi!" Kakashi's voice rapidly approached, as well as his footsteps. He was running to them. Little late for that. "Is she dying?"

"No, I'm not dying, you fool," Tsuyoi muttered.

"She's fine," Naruto answered instead. "More or less."

"Hey! Can she let me out of here?" Sai's voice came from the other side of the field. Tsuyoi realized that she hadn't released him from his Earth Prison.

"Stop being so selfish, Sai!" Sakura called. "She just killed that monster thingy!"

Tsuyoi broke out in a smile. She felt Naruto's face twist into a grin against the back of her head. Happiness flooded her, and she felt Natsukashii's Spirit respond. Her joy poured out of her like a fountain. I know who I am!

I told you to name her, Naruto's thought pierced through.

You didn't think we knew what we were talking about, eh? A new voice joined the conversation.

Kurama?  Tsuyoi blinked, surprised.

Who else do you think it is?

Tsuyoi laughed. "Sorry, Your Nine-Tailiness." She muttered aloud.

She and Naruto burst into snickering. Kakashi, who had Sakura's good arm wrapped around his shoulder, gave them a strange look. It only made them laugh harder.

As happy as Tsuyoi was, she did her best to ignore Chizu's stare. Her patron hadn't moved at all, even when the bokushin had broke through the trees. Tsuyoi felt her eyes piercing her and Naruto from the shadows.

********

"Okay, it's time to eat!" Naruto declared, clapping his hands together.

"Fukuo and Tomoe made ramen for everyone!" Tsuyoi shouted. "With dangos and green tea for dessert!"

Naruto and Tsuyoi banged on the tables, roaring for food. Tsuyoi had patched everyone up after she had recovered some from the battle and then the bokushin attack. She and Sakura had healed each others' dislocated arms, calling a truce. Though Tsuyoi had made Sakura promise to have another punch-up when their arms healed. They both had their arms wrapped and put into casts, which Tsuyoi could hardly stand. She wasn't used to wearing sleeves because it blocked up her Dairokkan flow and this heavy gauze was almost too much to bear.

Naruto and Tsuyoi led Kakashi, Sai, Sakura and Tomoe into the large dining hall, where Fukuo was already waiting. The lanterns were lit and the table was set. Seven bowls of ramen were steaming, completed with chopsticks and low pillows for everyone to sit on. Naruto and Tsuyoi tried running to be the first ones at the table, but both of them were too sore and ended up on the floor.

"My legs!" Tsuyoi gasped.

"My whole body!" Naruto moaned.

"What do you mean, your whole body?" Tsuyoi rolled on her side to face him. "You're not the one who has a dragon inhabiting your body, you fool!" 

"Well, Me and Kurama have been at this longer than you, dummy!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh yeah? Dragon trumps fox, Hayride! I'll burn you to a crisp!" She shouted back as Kakashi stepped around her calmly.

"Huh?" Naruto and Kurama roared in unison. Though only Naruto and Tsuyoi could hear him.

"Will both of you shut up and come eat?" Sakura called from the table.

Naruto and Tsuyoi grumbled as they sat side by side, with Sai on Naruto's left and Kakashi on Tsuyoi's right. They dug in hungrily.

"So, Tsuyoi," Kakashi asked after a few moments of their slurping. "What happened out there? What was that thing?"

"Oh." Tsuyoi couldn't see Kakashi on her right side because of the huge eye patch she'd had to put over her eye from a bruise. She turned to face him. "It was a bokushin. They're monsters that live out in the forests around here."

"But where did it come from?"

"Reiki that had gone bad. Sometimes faulty reiki transfer results in a mutation of cells. Some beginners way back when messed with some deers and created bokushin. They somehow developed the ability to paralyze their victims with their eyes. Some scholars speculate and say that maybe the reiki wielders who did it had genkai kekkei blood that involved genjutsu, and that's how they got it. But no one really knows." Tsuyoi rubbed her eyepatch. "I hate them. A friend of mine from the orphanage was killed by one. They're completely indiscriminate in their killing."

"Don't you have some kind of protection from them?" Sakura offered.

"Usually, yes. Chizu has a reiki barrier that acts like an animal's scent markers. But it didn't work." Tsuyoi cast her eye down. "We'll just have to be really careful when we go outside."

SIlence broke over the group for some time as they ate. 

"What about your new power?" Kakashi pressed.

"Oh! I unlocked Dragon Daughter Mode!" Tsuyoi's good eye widened. "Well, let me explain. When I was seven, my predecessor, Hayate Ai, imparted her Dragon Spirit down to me. It's actually a reincarnation of an old Dragon that isn't around anymore. But today I actually woke up the Dragon Spirit, instead of just using her dormant power. I'll be much stronger with her awake. So today," Tsuyoi grinned big. "Is Natsukashii's birthday!"

Kakashi smiled back at her. Tsuyoi was so happy she thought her heart would explode.

"Ramen toast to Tsuyoi and Natsukashii!" Naruto shouted. Everyone raised their bowls.

"Happy birthday, Natsukashii!"

Tsuyoi couldn't stop the tears coming out of her eyes. "I know I just met you all yesterday," Tsuyoi said, choking on her words."But I think I love you guys!" She bawled. She buried her head in Naruto's shoulder, who gave her a noogie, grinning.

Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi laughed, and Tomoe and Fukuo did something between a laugh and a shuddering, hiccuping sob.

They all failed to notice Chizu watching from the doorway. No one saw her leave, either.