My Little Spitfire

Prologue

A kunai slashes my cheek. The ninja throws me back against a tree.

"Tell me where it is!" he yells, punching me in the stomach.

I refuse to cry out with the pain I feel.

He punches me again and again with each word he says. "Tell me where it is, you freak! I swear that I'll kill you if you don't!"

I claw him across the face, trying to make a run for it. The ninja grabs my tail, making me hit the ground. He puts his foot against my throat, making it near impossible for me to breathe.

"Tell me where the Jinchūriki is!"

I flatten my ears against my head, hissing and clawing the ninja's leg. He holds a kunai against my throat as I thrash under the pressure of his foot.

"Listen here, kitty girl. I have neither the time nor the patience for your rebelliousness. Tell me where the Jinchūriki is!" he yells, pressing harder against my throat and stepping on my tail, breaking it..

I squirm, gasping for the air that I can't breathe. Black spots dance across my vision, and my hearing dulls. Suddenly, an explosion occurs next to the ninja's head, blowing it off in the blast and splattering blood all over my already torn and bloody body. I shove the foot off of my throat, scurrying away from the body, breathing with heavy pants, and shaking from head to toe. I curl into a ball on the ground and close my eyes, too tired and weak to move.

A light tap on my arm startles me, but I only have the strength enough to crack open my eyes and glance at a mass of yellow hair that's crouching next to me before I close my eyes, letting out a sigh.

The person breathes out a sigh as well, murmuring, "Good. You aren't dead, un." I feel my body being lifted, but I'm too weak to fight. "You sure are a little spitfire, aren't you, un?" A door opens and shuts as the boy sighs. He carries me into a separate room, laying me on what I presume is a bed or futon. "Tsuchikage-sensei, un!" he yells. "I need your help!"

I hear the shuffling of feet and the rustling of cloth as a person enters the room, smelling of clay.

"What now, Dei-…Who is this?" a rough, deep voice asks.

"I don't know, un. She was being beat up by a really big, scary ninja. And he was about to kill her, un, but I used the explosion jutsu that you taught me with the clay to kill him, un," the boy called Dei says.

The man grunts, coming closer to the bed. My tail twitches as I feel my chakra levels surge, making me leap out of the bed onto the opposite side of the floor as the two ninja. Blood drips on the floor from the multiple gashes I received from the rogue ninja.

My ears flatten against my head as I stare at the older ninja. He stares at me intently, making my tail swish over the floor. A growl rises from deep in my throat. My gaze switches to the boy. The sight of him shocks me. He has long, straight yellow hair and bright blue eyes. He appears to be only a year or two older than me, making him twelve at the most. He's incredibly thin and about four and a half feet in height. The boy is wearing a black shirt and pants with a gray belt and a ninja headband. Blood covers his arms and hands. His eyes are wide, but not with fear. The emotions I see confuse me.

Suddenly, hands press rapidly on the pressure points along my neck and spine. I lose consciousness.