Another Nine-Tails?!

What's Next?

About an hour later they were in a hotel room. "Finally..." Akiko said as she flopped on the bed. She heard her boyfriend chuckle before the door closed.

He walked over to the mirror in the room and discarded both shirts. On his right side was a large bruise. He felt around softly, poking each rib experimentally. He winced as he touched the third one from the bottom. He got the same result with the last two. "Well, no broken or cracked ribs, thankfully. But, not only is my side bruised, but I believe the bones are too." He said, turning around to face Akiko, who was now sitting up.

"Sorry." She apologized, looking off to the side.

"Eh, I'll heal." He said and turned his attention to the window. The sun was setting and the stars were beginning to come out. "Are you going to check on your brother at some point?"

"Maybe." She shrugged before continuing. "Kakashi's probably gonna be watching them like a hawk just to make sure we don't try and take them from the village." She paused before asking about the boy from Kankuro's team. "There's a redhead from the Sand village. Who is he?"

"Gaara. He's a Jinchuriki." He said and sat down beside her. "What's running through that head of yours, Akiko?"

"I wanna talk to him."

"Why?"

"I just do."

He let out a sigh and gave in. "Okay. I'll be nearby if anything happens."

"Thank you." She turned and pecked his cheek before heading to the window. She opened it, heading to the roof. She got a closer look at the boy that fought Lee. He was Naruto's age and had a gourd resting beside him. "Your name is Gaara, right?" She asked. He looked over his shoulder, a blank look on his face.

"Who are you? And what do you want?"

"My name is Akiko Uzumaki. I just wanna talk."

"Why?"

"Because you have a beast inside of you, right? A monster?" His eyes narrowed, slightly confused as to what her point was. "I have one too. My entire life, the village has ignored and hated me for what I am."

"Don't you want to hurt them because of it?"

"I did, at one point. But now I don't really care what happens to the village anymore. As long as my brothers live, I'll be fine." She paused, deciding to change the subject to something more friendly. "Do you have any siblings?"

It took him a moment to respond, deciding whether or not she was worth his time. "Two older ones."

"I have an older brother, and two younger ones." She gave him a soft smile. That just meant she was right; Kankuro is his brother. She had a hunch.

Gaara tilted his head slightly, confused as to how she could smile when everyone thought she was a monster. "What about your parents?"

"What about them?"

"Haven't they tried to kill you?"

"No, because they're dead. They died the day my younger brother was born and after they made us into what we are." She looked down at her hands. "Did yours try to kill you because of what you are." He gave her a slow nod. "They shouldn't have done that. It's a parents job to protect their children. I'm guessing you don't like your family very much, do you?"

"I don't like anyone and I don't need anyone. Go away." He growled before turning back around. Akiko opened her mouth to talk to him some more until her eyes landed on his gourd.

"What's in the gourd?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the object.

"Sand. And if you don't leave me alone; I'll use it to bury you." His treat was clear as day, but she ignored it.

"Oh don't be grumpy." She felt something move around her feet all of a sudden. Looking down, she saw sand moving like water around her ankles. She looked up and noticed him in front of her. She jerked back, trying to step back. The sand immobilized her and denied her from moving.

"What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you. I just wanna be your friend."

"I don't need friends." Sand flaring out behind him. Some kunai flew at Gaara, although his sand blocked the weapons.

Kabuto stood there, glaring at the younger boy. "Let her go. I don't want to hurt you."

"I won't be the one getting hurt." His sand began to crawl over Akiko's body. She watched in fear and astonishment as the material move over her.

"Please. She's the only thing I have in this world." The sand tightened around her legs making her yelp loudly.

"Kabuto..!" She warned while alarm etched into her tone.

He racked his brain for any answers that could help. He couldn't let her die. "Karma!" Her bright blue eyes turned red, and shout left the girl.

"Shukaku!" Her voice was different, surprising both the medic and young redhead.

"What-?!" He asked before his sand was thrown off of her. He stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of him. She had a monster, just like him. He quickly composed himself before bringing his sand back into the gourd. He disappeared without another word.

Kabuto turned to Akiko as her eyes returned to normal. "Next time you want to talk with someone like him, I'm not letting you." He said, putting his hands on his hips.

She shrugged. "I didn't die, now did I? It could've ended up worse. He was fun to talk to." She began walking to the edge until she was suddenly picked up. He jumped down onto the balcony connected to their room. "Why'd you do that?"

"You've strained yourself too much these past weeks. Now, you just need to rest."

"I. Not. Tired!" She yelled as she tried to get out of his grip. He let out a sigh before dropping her. She landed with a loud thud on the ground before groaning.

"Owww..!" She whined while rubbing her sore butt. "That was mean!"

"You two are quite cute." She recognized the voice in an instant, a smile growing. She closed her eyes and saw nothing but black. From the distance, she watched as a large fox walked forward. Her fur was orange with the tips of her tail being red-orange. Her eyes were bright red and her ears were black. "Hello, Akiko." She greeted.

'Karma.' The she-beast laid down, five of her tails resting on her left side while the remaining four were on her right. She let the girl hug her nose.

"Its been far too long without a visit. I've become bored and restless." The fox let out a large yawn, showing off her large and sharp teeth.

'I'm sorry.'

"No need to worry, I'm not going anywhere. You, however, should go back to boy. He is worried about you right now. It's quite amusing to watch." She chuckled before leaning down to touch the human girl with her nose.

Akiko snapped her eyes open and she was shaken harshly. Onyx eyes locked with hers worriedly. "Are you okay?!" He said as he pulled her up and into his chest.

"Yeah... I'm fine." She mumbled into his purple shirt.

"After I dropped you, you closed your eyes and just collapsed. I thought you were being dramatic at first until you wouldn't wake up. I told you that you were tired and that you've been pushing yourself too much." His arms squeezed her tightly enough to hurt. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I just had a small chat with Karma." He finally let her go before sitting back to let her breathe. "So, what's gonna happen next?"

"We'll lay low in the Village for right now. You can go out and talk to your brother using Uta. Just try not to draw any attention to yourself. And be careful not to be caught by Kakashi." He warned. She nodded before a yawn passed by her lips. "Sleep. I'll go check on Maru and tell you how he's doing in the morning." He knelt down and kissed her forehead before disappearing.

Akiko smiled lightly as her face began to heat up. "Adorable..!" Karma spoke in her head.

"Shut up!" She whined. covering her burning face with her hands. The Vixen's laugh echoed in her head.