Dark •Sequel to Bright!•

The Twin Returns

-Akari POV-

I walked out onto the balcony where a certain red haired teen was standing. Watching over his village like always. For three months now Gaara had been keeping my location a secret, promising me he would wait until I was ready for them to know where I was. It had been a year since I broke away from.. them.. I traveled for quite a few months, and even almost accidentally crossed paths with Naruto. I won't lie I followed him for awhile, which is what led me to the Hidden Sand. For some reason it clicked in my head while seeing Naruto that I knew there was someone who would be willing to help me. Especially since I knew I was being hunted too.

"You leave this morning, don't you?" Gaara turned around to look at me, and I smiled at him sadly.

"I wish I could just stay here with you, but you won't allow that will you?" I sighed walking up to stand next to him. I leaned against the railing and looked up Gaara who was already looking at me.

"Naruto helped me see a different path, which led me to becoming the protector of my village instead of just a weapon, so I have to repay the favor," Gaara's voice was monotone but his eyes told me he was sad to see me go. Over the last three months we found ourselves growing closer, and actually becoming friends. A vast difference than when we were younger and he terrified me.

"What if he isn't happy to see me return?" I had a fear that Naruto wouldn't be excited to have me return, and that he would actually turn me away if I returned home.

"I had the opportunity of crossing paths with Naruto before he left for his training," Gaara had never mentioned this to me in the three months I had been here, "All he could speak about was how he had to get stronger so he could bring you and Sasuke home."

My heart felt a small stab of pain, and I wasn't sure if it was because of my brother or because of the mention of him.

"That's another thing, how am I going to go home and face everyone just to tell them there's no saving their comrade," I sighed sadly, I didn't want to be the one to tell them that I was unable to keep him from going dark. I was supposed to be his light at the end of the tunnel after all.

"I have a feeling they will all have a positive response to your return, so you might want to begin your journey soon, but I have someone to escort you safely." Gaara began leading me back into the building, and I quietly went along with him not wanting to argue too much. Gaara had been more than generous by giving me refuge here, he knew that it could very easily spark war with the Hidden Leaf. Tensions had already been raised since the whole incident during the chunin exams. Tsunade had no issues, but her advisors did.

We walked quietly along until we reached the entry corridor. As we stepped through the door I felt a familiar chakra that I hadn't sensed in a long time. A feeling of relief washed over me, but was quickly replaced with anxiety once I realized how long it had been... And what happened the last time I saw him..

"Gaara, why is-" I paused my sentence when my eyes met a pair of black ones.. Black slitted ones that were underneath furrowed eyebrows.

Kiba looked a lot more mature now, his face had thinned out drastically, and he had grown a lot taller than when I last saw him. His grey fur jacket was replaced with a black leather one. His whole outfit had been turned to black actually.

There was one thing that was the same though, the look in his eyes as he stared at me.

"Akari, I am going to give you ten seconds to start explaining why you've been this close to us and haven't come home." Kiba pinched the bridge of his nose, and before I could answer I was tackled by a very large dog. I looked up at him and grinned.

"Akamaru! Look at you!" I laughed as I hugged the overgrown puppy. I felt my eyes sting a little bit, the tears started to come forward. I buried my face in his fur and let a few tears escape my eyes. I had missed so much.

"Akari, answer me." Kiba grumbled, and I looked up at him. His hardened facial expression softened at the sight of the tears going down my cheeks.

"I was too scared to, okay? I was waiting it out before I had to face all of you," I stood up and looked at Kiba, he had definitely grown a lot taller.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you? How much time I've spent trying to figure out where that bastard took you?" Kiba's voice raised a little bit and I flinched back before I stood my ground.

"Do you know how long I've been trying to get away from him?! How long I've regretted leaving all of you behind?!" I was in his face now, my chest huffing up and down, "I was a stupid naive little girl who thought the first boy I kissed would be the boy I was with forever."

Kiba was staring at me in shock, and in the reflection of his headband I could see why. My eyes were red, guess I let my pent up anger get the best of me.

Calm down beast.

I stepped back and took a deep breath. Letting myself calm down a little bit.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to lose control, we've been working on that." I looked down at the ground shuffling my feet slightly, turns out Kiba still thought the same thing of me that he did the day I left. Still just a demon fox to him.

"Akari, you've been able to?"

"Control him? Yeah, we have an agreement that I won't be a weak host, and he doesn't possess my body and destroy everything." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him. The look of fear in his eyes just a moment ago was enough to make me not want to look at him ever again.

My breath hitched when I felt Kiba wrap his arms around me. I froze in place, taking in his all too familiar scent, beside the faint smell of Akamaru, he still smelled like sweet cinnamon. I buried my face into his chest and wrapped my arms back around him.

"How long have you been running from him?" Kiba wouldn't let go of the grip he had on me.

"A year now, but I have a feeling he is closing in on me everyday." I mumbled against him, and he tightened his grip again.

"I won't let him get to you, but for now, let's go home." Kiba pulled back and looked at me with a small grin on his face that seemed to make all the anxiety in my stomach disappear.

"I'm ready."

We both said our goodbyes to Gaara, and set out towards home. Temari was only a day or so ahead of us. She had to make it to the village in time to help them get ready for the Chunin Exams. As we set out towards the village all I could think about was how everyone was going to react to me coming back.

How was Naruto going to react?