A knock came at the door causing Sai and Kohana to look up. Walking slowly over to the door Sai called out.

"Who's there?"

"It's Kankuro."

Sai nodded at Kohana and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Sai opened the door to see the puppet master. Kankuro entered the room and Sai shut the door behind him.

"Naruto and Kakashi are with Gaara at the moment. Is there something you needed?"

"Yea, they're still with him right now but there's a message for you from Konoha. It says for your eyes only so Gaara and the others are waiting for you in his office."

Sai looked over at Kohana.

"Is it urgent or may we wait for Sakura?" Sai asked and the look on Kankuro's face told him that it was indeed urgent.

"Kohana, I have to go for a few minutes. Please, stay here until one of us returns."

Kohana looked nervous but nodded her head slowly in understanding.

"If you like I can keep her company until you get back."

"That's okay," she said, "I'll be fine by myself. Thank you."

Kohana didn't really want to be left by herself with this man. Something about his presence seemed off.

"You sure you will be okay, Kohana?" Sai asked and Kohana smiled before nodding.

"Alright, Sai are you ready?" Kankuro asked and Sai nodded. As he left the room he looked back to see her sitting on the edge of one of the beds. She suddenly looked very small in the open room. Shaking the feeling he followed Kankuro to the Kazekage Tower.

It wasn't long after Sai left that Kohana had a bad feeling. Something wasn't right. She had the feeling someone was watching her.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" she asked and not for the first time cursed her eyesight. Dark was still several hours away. A noise in the room had her jumping up.

"Who's there?" she called out. As she felt a hand with a cloth clasp over her mouth she tried to scream but it was cut short as she inhaled the noxious fumes of the cloth. She felt herself being lifted as the drug took effect and she lost consciousness.


Kankuro walked beside Sai all the way to the Kazekage Tower. He didn't make much small talk just the simple 'How are things in Konoha?' Sai had answered with a generic, 'Things are going well.' Was it just Sai or did they take a longer route than what there needed to be? As they arrived Kankuro spoke with the two guards at the entrance and the two of them headed up the stairs. They stopped just outside the door and Kankuro knocked.

"Come in," was the answer. Kankuro motioned for Sai to go in and turned around to go back down the steps. Sai looked at him oddly a moment as something was off by that. Turning back to the door he pushed it open and entered the room.

"Shit!" Instantly Sai was out of the room and flying back down the stairs headed towards the hotel. Passing the guards who were now laying on the ground.

Kakashi watched him go instantly alert. Even Naruto sat up from his chair.

"Is something amiss?" Gaara asked looking at his guests.

"Something's wrong. As socially tactless as Sai is he wouldn't run out like that unless something was wrong," Kakashi explained.

"Do you know what that could be?" Kankuro asked from beside the Kazekage.

"We had a girl with us. Something could have happened to her. Naruto, let's go!" Kakashi called and rushed out of the room with the yellow-haired boy in tow. Gaara issued orders to Kankuro to gather a team and search the city before following after Kakashi himself.

They caught up with Sai as he was rushing back out of the hotel.

"Sai, what happened?" Kakashi asked as he fell into step beside the ninja.

"Kankuro. I should have seen through it. He came to the door and said there was an urgent message for me and then led me all the way to the tower. Only when we arrived..."

"Kankuro had been in the room with us."

"Kohana isn't in the hotel room which means they must have taken her."

"What's going on? Why would they take the merchant's daughter?" Naruto asked as they rushed towards the gate.

"She's not the merchant's daughter. She was a prisoner that we helped escape."

"Do what?!"

"I didn't think Danzo had spies here in Suna."

Kakashi looked up as something cast a shadow above them.

"Looks like the Kazekage is going to help with our search."

"Of course he is, she was taken from the hotel in Suna. Even if he wasn't personally concerned he would have to be politically concerned that this happened on his turf."

"Where would they have taken her?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sure they won't go directly to Konoha. There's probably some kind of safe house. We have to pick up some kind of trail... Kakashi, what about your dogs?"

"No good, they would have to have something of hers to get her scent."

"Damn. You guys try to find her trail down here, I'm going up with Gaara," Sai said as he pulled out a scroll with a bird on it.


Kohana was jostled awake. Looking around her she couldn't remember where she was and then she realized why. Fear slammed into her. She was in a box. Tearing off the cloth over her eyes she looked around. She was definitely moving but there were no windows or holes she could see out of to be able to see what time it was or where they were.

"Let me out!" she screamed and instantly the box she was in was hit.

"Quiet down in there!"

"No! Let me go!"

The box was hit again causing the wood to splinter a little.

"Hey, be careful. We don't have another box to hide her in."

"I could always knock her back out. Then, we wouldn't have to listen to her whine all the way to Lord Danzo's."

Danzo! A panic unlike she had ever felt rose up inside of her. It almost felt as if she were burning up. Clutching at her chest she began hyperventilating.

"Hey! What are you doing in there?"

She wouldn't go back to Danzo's. She couldn't. A force rose up within her causing her to scream for all she was worth. Chakra chains erupted from her in all directions.


Gaara looked to the east upon hearing the scream. They had spread out to cover more ground so there was no time to go back for the others. Instead he moved in that direction immediately. He could feel something ominous, something familiar. He knew this chakra.

"Naruto..." he said fiercely as he rushed in that direction.


Kakashi stopped in his tracks when Naruto clutched his stomach.

"Naruto, what is it?"

"It's... It's the nine tails. He's reacting to something," Looking to the east he suddenly took off in that direction.

Kakashi rushed to catch up, "Naruto!"

"Something bad is happening, Kakashi! We have to hurry."


"What the..."

The box shattered into millions of pieces and Kohana was suspended in the air by the chains. Starting from the middle of her back deep red chakra engulfed her and her chains before turning black. She took on animal like qualities as fear and rage consumed her. The two guys that had been escorting her were on the ground looking up at her in fear.

"What are you?"

Even her voice was foreign as she snarled, "I am Kurai."

Suddenly, with a rush of chakra, Kohana spun drawing the chains from where they had stuck to the ground to whip around her like a barbed tornado. As one of the guys tried to make a break for it a chain shot out from the whirling vortex and struck the guy in the chest, going through. As he screamed and coughed up blood he was yanked back into the swirling chains. Blood splattered everywhere and mixed in with the chakra swirling around Kohana.

"No, please don't!," the other guy screamed and he too got up to run. A chain wrapped around his ankle causing him to fall to the ground. Scrambling and scratching at the ground desperately he screamed in wide-eyed terror. He grabbed on to a tree branch hugging it but the chain around his leg tightened beginning to crush his leg. Screaming in agony even as another chain wrapped around his waist and yanked him back into the razor sharp wind tunnel.

Blood rained to the ground and Kohana let out another scream. The chains whipped into the ground carving trenches as they came to a stop. The chakra that still boiled around her began to slowly dissipate as the chains retracted. The blood dropping to the ground around her splashing on to her. Coming back to normal, Kohana felt drained. She could feel herself losing consciousness again as she dropped to the ground barely able to stand on her own two feet. Her vision began to blur and she reached out in front of her.

"Sai..." she whispered while trying to take a step forward. She collapsed to the ground.


Gaara was the first to arrive. The carnage even surprising him. Everywhere he looked there was blood and in the midst of it all was a red headed girl. What had happened here?

As he stared Sai dropped from his bird and rushed forward to kneel beside the girl.

"Kohana?" he asked rolling her over. She was still breathing, that was a good sign but she was covered in blood. Not knowing if it was hers or not he lifted her and looked to Gaara.

"We need to get back to Suna, now!"

Gaara moved forward instantly, "Let me take her. It will be quicker and less complicated."

As Sai handed her over to the Kazekage, "It's okay, now, Princess. We've got you."

Gaara looked from the girl to Sai and nodded, "Find Kakashi and Naruto. Tell them I am taking her to the hospital in Suna."

Sai nodded and took back off in the direction he had last seen the two.


A few hours later Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Gaara were sitting in the waiting room.

"So, Kohana escaped from this guy Danzo, who is from the hidden leaf village?" Naruto asked.

"That's correct. Danzo has been experimenting on people for years under the pretext of training assassins," Sai explained.

"But, how can the Hokage allow that to happen?" Naruto asked punching his own hand.

"Danzo has had the council's ear for many years and explains away what he's doing or covers it up so no one knows about it. The Hokage has little choice in the matter," Kakashi said, "So long as there is no evidence against him."

"But we have Kohana now, surely that would be enough evidence," Sakura said.

"Not so. Danzo left Kohana in complete darkness, she wouldn't be able to describe where she was or who she had seen."

Gaara listened to them discuss the details but looked over at Sai. Sai smiled back at him.

"Kakashi and Naruto didn't get to see the scene in which we found Kohana but you did Sai. Can you explain to me how that happened?"

"I would have to say that the two bandits fought it out with each other," Sai said continuing with his 'trust me' smile. Gaara wasn't buying it. Seeing that much blood reminded him of the days he used to kill people. It reminded him of... him.

"You guys must be tired after today. Go ahead and relax in the hotel."

"I'll keep watch over Kohana," Sai said as Gaara had expected. While the others were reluctant, Kankuro ushered them out. Gaara looked at the pale artist smiling at him.

"You know that's not what happened, Sai. You felt it just like I did."

"The nine tailed fox."

"Yes. It was coming from her. Why didn't you want to tell the others?"

Sai looked almost thoughtful, "If we are correct and the nine tailed fox is inside of Kohana then how would you explain that to Naruto who had the fox sealed within him shortly after he was born? The fourth hokage and his wife sealed the fox inside Naruto before presumably sealing the rest away with Minato himself. What if Naruto was not the only one born that night?"

"Are you suggesting that Naruto might have a twin?" Gaara asked and thought back to when he carried her to the hospital.

"It's not entirely as far fetched as it may seem. It is my guess that the fox had been sealed inside both children but if Minato and Kushina were led to believe that only one of the children survived..."

"Not everyone can survive becoming a Jinchuuriki," Gaara said more to himself.

"Exactly, then they would have focused saving the child that remained living. Since very few people were actually present at the birth then who was to say what actually happened then. It also would explain how exactly the masked man knew precisely where Kushina would be. Someone inside the leaf must have tipped him off."

"Danzo?"

"I'm not sure it was Danzo that tipped him off but I would say he capitalized on it by swooping in and taking the other child before anyone else could confirm a still birth."

"Thinking he was a trusted ally, no one would question it." Gaara finished.

"Who would go looking for a dead child other than the parents? But they perished as they finished sealing the fox inside Naruto."

"You were right in not saying anything in front of Naruto."

"Naruto has a deep sense of justice and would rush off to confront Danzo but now is not the time for that. We need proof. In order to take down Danzo for good and release who knows how many others we have to be patient. It needs to be thought about it from a strategy point of view."

"Agreed. So what is it that you are asking of me?" Gaara asked.

"Simple. Announce to Suna and the world that Kohana is your sister."

"My sister!? Why?"

"Kohana is red headed just like you. It wouldn't be that far fetched to believe and once you have announced it, Kohana will be under your protection as well as a type of public protection. I don't think Danzo will try to recapture her straight away if you announce it. Even he wouldn't want to risk declaring war on another nation. He would immediately lose all favor with the council. Something he has worked very hard for over the years. So he will have to wait for an opportunity, an opening, and that will buy us time."

Gaara looked at the smiling ninja, "You are quite shrewd. So, I take Kohana in under my wing..."

"As a former Jinchuuriki you would be best at helping her."

"Right... You want me to train her as a shinobi."

"Precisely. How else will she learn to live without fear if she can't learn to protect herself."

Gaara thought about this. Thought about everything that was at stake. The possible problems for his village. The idea of training a Jinchuuriki. Then he thought about what he owed Naruto and that was what made the decision for him. If Kohana really was Naruto's sister then he as Naruto's friend had no choice but to protect her even if Naruto didn't realize she was family yet.

Gaara sighed and Sai smiled as a nurse came into the waiting room.

"She's starting to wake up if you would like to see her now."

"Come Gaara, let's go see your sister," Sai said happily.

Gaara looked over at that fake grin of his and closed his eyes, "Baka."