Another Nine-Tails?!

Rematch

Naruto's voice echoed throughout the room as he shouted his teammates name. His own kunai was thrown as Kabuto's, knocking it off course. "Sakura. Don't' believe a word out of this guy's mouth!" The blonde boy jumped in front of the pink-haired hair. "He's full of it!" His aggression faltered as she realized Akiko stood in front of the medic, much like him with Sakura.

"Well, would you look at that? I just figured you had drowned by now, Naruto."

"Whenever I make a promise, I don't give up on it. That's my ninja way, pal! And until we get Sasuke back, nothing on earth is gonna stop me! I'm getting my sister back too."

The medic hummed. "Interesting."

"Don't do it!" Akiko turned, giving him a glare. He ignored it her warning.

"Well, would you look at that?" He pushed the Jinchuriki off to the side, throwing kunai at the younger blonde.

Naruto and Sakura jumped back avoiding the weapons. "Give me my sister back, you jerk! She's not like Sasuke, so why is she here?!" The boy shouted, creating shadow clones. They each hid behind a pillar, acting as bait.

Akiko and Sakura watched at the males fought, Naruto getting the upper hand. The pink-haired girl made her way behind the older girl, trying not the be noticed. The Jinchuriki knew what she was doing, she just didn't care. "What happened, Akiko-sensei? You've been missing for months. Was Orochimaru behind your disappearance? Has he hurt you?" The redhead spun around, bringing her claws to the green-eyed girl's throat. She stopped when she saw the tears in Sakura's eyes. This was wrong. She was just a child. "I never meant to- I never wanted to make you hate me. I didn't like Naruto, and Sasuke was close to you. I was... jealous. I'm sorry. I should've been nicer to Naruto."

"You clung to Sasuke. You beat my brother when he even looked your way, even though he just wanted a friend. I had hope for you when you were a kid, truly. But, it changed once I knew you were just like everyone else. Sasuke is the last Uchiha, and he's a looker. That's all you cared about. You didn't care about all the trauma he went through when his... our brother killed his family and disappeared." She dropped her claws to her sides and moved away from the younger girl.

"I sorry, I just-"

"It doesn't matter. The past is the past, and that's where it should stay."

"You can come back to the village. I'm sure Lady Tsunade will let you if you just explain what happen."

"No. I'm not going back. The village has done nothing but hurt me. The only thing I left there is Naruto, and even then, I know he has people that will protect him. Like you. And Kakashi. Promise me that he's not doing anything especially dangerous, or stupid. Please." The pink-haired girl slowly nodded. A large crash interrupted their moment. "What the-!!" She got cut off by a burning pain in her stomach.

"Are you alright?"

"Naruto..." Sakura gasped, helping Akiko over to her brother. He was fine. Kabuto was the injured one. He was leaning against a wall, his hair was out of it's ponytail and his clothes were torn.

"Naruto?!" The blonde whipped his head around, staring at his teammate. He spotted his sister behind her.

"Sis!" He noticed that she was in pain. He looked worried for a second, but turned his attention back to the enemy at hand. "If you and Orochimaru are here, then Sasuke is too. We want the truth. Now!" The last word came out as a growl. He suddenly stopped moving.

Akiko watched the medic for a moment before she caught sight of blue threats. She followed the line to her brother. She recognized them as chakra threats that puppet-users used. Kabuto explained what the threads were and what was going on. Naruto and his hearts were beginning to become a single organ; if one sped up, the other did too. And if one stopped, the other did too. The genin all watched in horror as the ash-haired boy reached into his body and out his beating heart.

"Now, all I have to do is squeeze and than I'll die. And so will you!" Naruto yelled out in agony as the older boy squeezed his heart. "Hurts, doesn't it? Having your heart crushed inside of your own chest." The chakra threads glowed a bright green.

Sakura tried to cut it with a simple kunai. "It won't cut. Akiko! Help me, please!!" The Jinchuriki collapsed to the ground, her heart tightening as she locked onto her brother.

The girl that led them to the hideout, Sasame, ran into the room and gave Sakura a tag. The Leaf genin was instructed to wrap the tag around her weapon, which glowed a bright yellow, and then cut the threads. Blue lightning attacked the males at both ends of the severed thread. Naruto went flying backwards.

Akiko watched the green-eyed girl cried on her brother's chest. She believed that he was dead. She tore her eyes away from her brother and stared at Kabuto, his non-beating heart in his hand.

Her thoughts were cut off by her brothers voice. "Sis..?"

She tore look at the blonde, a soft smile on her lips. "Little brother."

The boy looked between her and the girl that pretended to be Kabuto, confusion flooding his systems. "I-I don't understand." He remembered how she had stopped Kabuto from killing him during that fight with Orochimaru. But now she had just let him die. It didn't make sense to him. "You stopped him before. And you healed him. Why'd you let him die!? Unless, you did it so you can come home." A smile grew on his face as hope filled his veins.

"No." His hope disappeared at her simple response. "The Leaf Village values their comrades above everything. I was taught those fundamentals, even though I'm not a part of the village anymore. If that really was Kabuto, then I would have stepped in a lot sooner. Believe me. But it's not him, now is it? Besides, he can't use chakra threads." She back away as Naruto moved towards her. "You need to leave. Get Master Jiraiya, and get out of here before it comes crashing down on your heads." Red charka swallowed her, and then she was gone.