Naruto's Kit

Chapter 30

Hinata took Akane onto the roof of a building far away enough that nobody back at the tower could hear either of them, yet close enough that if something came up she could return quickly. She sat down, still holding Akane close to her and not interested in letting go anytime soon. The last time Hinata had felt this relieved and overjoyed was when Naruto returned from facing Pain solo.

Akane pushed away from Hinata's chest so she could look at her face. Hinata looked happy yet she had tears running down her cheeks, which confused the young girl. "Okaa-san, are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

Hinata wiped a few tears away before she answered. "I'm fine, just so happy you're back. I was so worried about you."

Akane tilted her head. "Then why were you crying?"

"Not all tears mean someone's sad, Akane-chan. Those were tears of joy."

Akane blinked. "You crying... because you were happy?" The idea sounded weird to her.

"Now tell me everything that happened when you were taken away. Everything." Hinata told her, praying that Akane was the same as she had been before this whole thing started. So far so good.

"Well..." Akane started, not sure exactly how to best phrase everything. Then she noticed something important. "Wait. Where's Otou-san?"

"He's busy taking care of a bad problem. Now tell me what happened to you."

"Well, I was with Jii-san showing him those moves I learned from you when some geezers came up and said they wanted ta mess with my memories and I said I'll hurt 'em if they tried. Jii-san told them to scram and they did, and boy did they look mad. After that, a bunch of foxes came from outta nowhere and... I think they teleported me to someplace. They and a bunch of retarded old foxes said they planned on bringing the old kyuubi back." Akane explained as best an eight year-old could.

Hinata gasped and her hold on her adopted daughter involuntarily tightened. Akane saw the fear in her mother's eyes and rushed to pacify her. "I'm fine Okaa-san. As good as ever. They tried but something went wrong with their plans."

Hinata gulped. "What something?"

Akane twiddled her fingers for a second. "It's... kinda hard to explain."

-Flashback-

"Huh? Where am I?" Akane said as her vision returned. She saw she was in her human/kyuubi hybrid form, standing in knee-high water in some kind of cellar. Then she saw some gigantic iron bars in front of her but no lock, making it hard for her to tell if she was inside a cell or outside it. On the other side of the bars, she saw a single large red slitted eye open and look at her.

Akane got frightened and stepped back, crossing her arms in front of her. If Neji had been there he might have thought she was acting just like Hinata in the chuunin preliminaries years ago. Whatever that eye belonged to, Akane didn't think she had the strength to fight it. The nerve, maybe, but not the strength.

For a moment, the eye did nothing. Then it slowly blinked and the sound of deep breathing could be heard, as if some giant had been holding its breath until now. "What the...? Who are you?" The voice was deep and gruff, but unmenacing.

Akane tried to steady herself. "You tell me first."

Two eyes became visible, and when the giant spoke the mouth and sharp teeth could be seen as well. "Well, doesn't this looks familiar, except for you. My container is supposed to be a blonde idiot, not some hanyou girl."