Another Nine-Tails?!

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"Is- Is Lord Orochimaru alright?" Akiko laid her head on Kabuto's shoulder, her bright blue contacts long forgotten. He glanced down at her momentarily, thinking his answer through thoroughly.

"He could be better. It could've gone better."

"What do you mean?"

"The old man managed to sealed our masters arms away as he died." He saw the terror in her eyes. It made him chuckle for a moment. "He didn't lose his arms. I mean he can't use chakra in his arms anymore. To him, it's a fate worse than death. Not being able to do what he's dedicated his life to." It was silent between the two from then on.

Once they reached the hideout, he let her walk on her own. They made their way to his room, leaving her alone. He knew she would want some time to process what had happened, but he didn't just know how much time he could let her have. Their master would desire to see her at some point. He watched her crawl into bed without a word. As much as he wanted to comfort her, the aura she gave off told him to leave her along.

-:-

2 days was all she got to process and to rethink her life. She now stood off to the side as Kabuto helped their master sit down on his throne. Maru sat beside her, watching as well. He had gotten bigger over the month or so that she was gone. He was now tall enough to reach her knees, at least when he stood on all four feet.

Akiko hated being a sensor type for a multitude of reasons, one of them being she was able to feel Orochimaru's pain. Her arms felt like they were on fire, and she could barely move them.

"Sarutobi... you..!" He growled out the old man's name as he sat down.

"Well, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. After all, we did take on the Hokage fully knowing his reputation as the strongest user of the five main chakra natures. Besides, you did extremely well. You defeated 2 of the 5 Kage." Kabuto stopped talking at the look he was given.

"I will not be patronized, do you understand me!? I will kill you!" He tone held no warning, but a threat.

"That was not my intention, of course. Perhaps we were not able to take down the village, but in term of your other goal; Sasuke Uchiha. You placed a curse mark on him. And Akiko got to see her brothers again." He looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

Their master laughed dryly. "At the cost of these arms and all my jutsu. This all wouldn't have happened if I had been able to rope in Itachi Uchiha from the beginning. But that dream had died. He is strong than me. That's why I broke away from that organization." He paused, looking past his right-hand. "Akiko, come here." The girl come to kneel before him, her head down. She grit her teeth as he moved one of his arms, placing the hand on her head. Kabuto took this as a sign to leave.

"How was the trip?"

She looked up, moving to sit down on the cold ground. "It was fun. I had fun. Though, I kinda wish I was able to bring Maru." She smiled sadly before standing up. She placed her hands on the arm he touched her with, gently to not cause him more pain.

"No." He moved the limb away from her, trying to make her leave it alone. He knew what she wanted.

"Let me try to help-"

"I said no!" His shout echoed around the room. The girl jerked back in fear, sinking to ground.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was meek, showing her desire to not wish to anger him again.

"Leave me." She stood up, hesitant on leaving. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. He let her enjoy her moment.

"Thank you." She wasn't sure what she was thanking him for, or why, but she did. She made her way out of the room without looking back.

"Why did he yell?" She jumped at Kabuto's voice. Another thing she hated; she was somehow blind to his chakra signature sometimes, which made it easy for him to sneak up on her.

"I was stubborn."

"Oh, that's surprising." She rolled her eyes at the sarcasm he emitted. The medic wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him. "Let's head back to the room, hm?"

"Yeah," she nodded slightly. "That sound good." Her voice became quiet at the end, her eyes closing for a moment.