Tsubaki, stand down!" Kakashi ordered. "You may not be injured, but you sure as hell look like it!" It was true, I was panting, eyes wide in a panic, clothes battered, and hair sticking out of its bun.
Too bad I didn't care.
'I... want something...'
Actually, it's more like,
'I don't want something.' I swayed on my feet, but managed to stabilize myself. 'I don't want there to be death... I don't want anyone here to die...'
But, I saw Gato and his men come onto the bridge.
'Haku, Zabuza, Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto... Sakura... No... I don't want their deaths... but they're being threatened...'
Everyone looked over to Gato and his army, seeing them all smirk and threaten them.
I could hear something; the loud beat of a drum. I heard it again, and recognized it as my heartbeat, forcing blood into my ears.
"I want something..." I finally let my selfishness take over. "I want none of us to die... and if it means your massacre... so be it..."
The world darkened, and white-hot flashes took over.
Chakra.
Chakra, the greatest life force... it caused Gato and his army's death.
I released my chakra.
Light burst out from me, shooting out to cover the entirety of Gato's army. When the light subsided, all of them were unconscious or dead... some snoring loudly, some not breathing whatsoever. Everything else was silent, until a noise interrupted the deafening quiet. It was the sound of something cracking, ripping apart flesh. It was the sound of a gemstone shattering.
Actually, it was the sound of multiple gemstones shattering.
I looked around me, then saw that my chakra diamonds were no longer glowing. In fact, they were each cracked. I coughed, and blood appeared on the ground in front of me.
"Uh..." that's not supposed to happen.
I came to the sickening realization that I was out of chakra.
Completely.
Nothing left; nope, nada, zilch.
To confirm this, I attempted to send a pulse of chakra up to my eyes... but my vision stayed the same.
"Onee-chan?" Sakura's voice whispered.
I fell to my knees, my white hair cascading down and out of its bun. It was long enough to reach the ground from this point... I would need to cut it soon.
I fell forwards.
Everything is so... cold...
"Tsubaki!" Kakashi exclaimed, running over to me. "No, no, no, no, no, don't die! Not again," he flipped up his forehead protector, Sharingan swirling to life. He let out a curse. "Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura, get over here!"
Once again, I was forced out of my own body. However, this time, I did not feel the hope nor determination to come back.
Why?
Because everyone was safe.
...
This whole 'dying' things has got to be detrimental to my overall health...
The entirety of Team Seven quickly discussed ideas of how to keep me from dying, but only came up with the fact that I need to get a supply of chakra and FAST.
'Naruto has a ton of chakra,' thought Kakashi quickly. The only problem was there was no way to transfer it into Tsubaki's corpse.
...I didn't want to leave Sakura, but I've always desperately wanted to be free.
Maybe death truly is the freedom that I've been seeking...
The world around me darkened, and faded into a muffled quiet. Team 7's screams of anger, anguish, and grief were merely background noise to me. I suddenly sensed a great presence behind me, but before I could turn around, the voice echoed around me.
"I even gave you your own special dojutsu, but you've still managed to die again," it growled, displeased. A large, transparent grey-white hand reached out and enveloped my shoulder, pulling me back even though I wasn't even solid. I bumped into another thing that wasn't solid either. Shaggy blonde hair, not my own, tickled over my shoulders, and a tanto blade fell to my feet. "Do I need to give you a weapon as well?"
My silence was calculated, but my thoughts were all chaos, chanting one phrase louder than the others.
"Who are you?"
The response was laughter.
Very, very scratchy laughter.
And, though I could infer that I was already dead, I could hear my heartbeat again. Perhaps it was my mind trying to create a logical reaction for me to process.
"I am the Shinigami."
"Am I dead this time?"
"You were dead last time," was the god's response.
"No," I restarted, "Am I dead forever now?"
"No," was the reply. I was dumbfounded; this was the second time I've been given a second chance to live. "Death does not yet accept you, Haruno Tsubaki."
"And why not?" I asked back. "I don't have a will to survive anymore. It's fate that I come back here again and again..." and it hurts every time I die, but I wouldn't dare say that; it shows my sensitivity. That is something a good Shinobi, a true protector, can never do.
"You still have someone that needs you," said the Shinigami simply. Anger suddenly rushed through my veins.
"Someone still needs me?! And what about me?! What about when I still needed-"
"I know, but this time, I can oblige to their wishes," he interrupted. I scowled.
"Continue," I demanded, not at all caring about the obvious hierarchy. The Shinigami then... sat down.
"This may take a while. Sit."
I slid down, allowing gravity to aid me in sitting down.
"I know you have questions. Start asking some, and I shall answer to the best of my ability."
