The Dragon Queen // (Under Revision)

Decision

"Tsuyoi..."Sakura put a hand on Tsuyoi's shoulder, barely smothering a laugh. "Are...you okay?"

"I can't believe I lost..." Tsuyoi mumbled. She was sitting at the dining hall table, face buried in her crossed arms. Next to her was 21 empty bowls that had held miso pork ramen about fifteen minutes before. Naruto, dead asleep on the floor, had 22 bowls stacked on the table.

"It's okay, Tsuyoi," Sai said, patting her shoulder. "It's only by one."

"Losing sucks." Tsuyoi mumbled, lifting her head. "And I think I have indigestion." Kakashi, who had joined the festivities along with Fukuo, and Sai were lifting the snoring Naruto up by his arms to drag him to bed. Tsuyoi watched his face as they moved him, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, mess stains from the ramen dotting his face.

"Wait, you guys," she said, standing up. She around the corner to the the small sink in the kitchen and retrieved a hand towel. When she came back, the boys had hoisted Naruto into a chair. She bent over him, gently lifting his chin with one hand, and wiped his face with the other.

Up close, he looked like a little kid. She wanted his eyes opened, his eyes that told stories, but then she inwardly snickered at her selfishness.

Naruto recoiled away from the towel's cold touch in his sleep, sluggishly shaking his head in protest. She held his face a little tighter and ran the towel over his whisker-marks again. Once she pulled her hand away, he snored softly and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

She felt a small smile drift over her features, but it quickly turned into a frown when Sai and Sakura began to giggle. She spun around and stomped over to Sai, flicking him in the head with the towel like a bullwhip. The boy didn't cry out, but gripped his head and backed out of her reach, eyeing her like she was dangerous.

"Out of here, you idiots! Go to bed!" Tsuyoi shouted. "And take the bottomless pit with you!" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards Naruto.

Tomoe and Fukuo, seated at the other side of the table, laughed aloud. Tsuyoi's shoulders flinched. It occurred to her then that once the shinobi left, she'd be alone with her patrons, and she wasn't prepared to confront them yet. She felt this strange squirming in her stomach, a tight discomfort. She noticed their questioning looks, and she didn't like the growing feeling in her belly,  so she turned and left without saying anything else.

"Tsuyoi?" Sakura called after her.

She ignored her, headed down the hallway, and trooped up the stairs.

With every step, her heartbeat seemed to shudder. She made herself stop and take a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. Guilt, she realized, was a tricky emotion. It was like a swarm of bees, constantly buzzing around her head, reminding her of all the bad things she'd ever done. Guilt ate at you slowly. It didn't let up, and it didn't let you forget.

And what was stranger still was the fact that she was sure she'd never experience it before. At least, not in a long time.

She took in another breath, let it out, and started to walk again.

She was approaching the spot where Naruto had went through the wall on their way downstairs. She glanced at it as she walked by.

Everything else that had happened after that replayed in her head. She'd truly seen a person. She had seen the things within that had made him who he was. It was mind blowing.

And what was even more mind blowing, was the circumstances that had brought everything together. Inside the walls of the place that was designed to strip her of hope, she was feeling it now. Against all the odds.