Akiko blinked, trying to clear her eyes of whatever was blocking her vision. She quickly realised that there was nothing as her eyes adjusted to the dim light and the sight that she beheld was more than enough to freak anyone out. But she was Uzumaki freakin' Akiko, and there was no way that she was going to be intimidated by the three gargantuan foxes that had nine tails flailing about standing in front of her. She was just shivering due to the cold air. 'That's all it is. Just the air,' she mentally reassured herself.
The white fox leaned forward, coming to rest her head in front of Akiko. She said, "Fear not child. We won't harm you." Even as she said it, Akiko got the feeling that the vixen was only talking about one of the other Ninetails' with her.
"Yeah, okay, sure," Akiko said, not really reassured by the ninetails' assertion.
"My name is Kiyoko."
"Uhhh…Akiko."
"Okay, with introductions over, exactly what are you doing here, and why do you have Kumiko's chakra?"
"Kumiko? Who's that?"
"My sister, and a fellow Ninetails of the Kitsune Clan."
"Wait! You mean that the Kyūbi's real name is…heh," Akiko said, "Well, I guess 'fuzzball' is out from now on."
"Fuzzball!?" Kiyoko tersely said, her amicability fading at her sister being referred to as such.
"Heh hey!" Akiko said. "Calm down would you, Kyū…uhh…Kumiko was sealed into me right after I was born after attacking Konoha. That's all anyone knows and I was either blamed for the death of the one that did the sealing, or seen as Kumiko herself! You can imagine that that didn't get me too many friends as I was growing up."
Kiyoko sighed and said, "Very well then." She then stood back up and went back to stand with the two other Ninetails and asked, "Was that to your satisfaction, Father?"
The fox that Akiko had been sensing belligerence from grunted and said, "Well, it'll do."
Kiyoko let out a sigh of relief at that and went back to Akiko and asked, "So, how exactly did you get to be here?"
Akiko sighed and said, "I've no idea. The only thing that I can think of that could have caused this to happen, is that I changed my name after I signed the Toad Contract. Since 'Uzumaki Naruto' has signed the Toad Contract, he is able to summon them, but now that he no longer exists…"
"I see," Kiyoko said. "You may be right. It's not well known, but if someone yet to sign a contract makes the seals for a summoning, they will be transported to the realm of the creature that they have the greatest affinity to. I'm not sure if my sister being sealed inside you affected the process, or if you are naturally affiliated with us, but that's what happened."
"That's great 'n' all," Akiko said, "but my village is under attack by an Ichibi, so I need to…"
"Did you say an Ichibi!?" Kiyoko's father asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Akiko asked.
"What creature did it resemble?"
"It looked kind of liked a tanuki. Why?"
Kiyoko's father looked at the fox next to him, silently asking a question that the third had known was coming. When the third fox nodded, Kiyoko's father said, "Kiyoko, give her yours."
"Mine?" Kiyoko asked, surprised that her father would suggest such a thing.
Her father nodded and said, "You are the only one among us that it still young enough, as well as wise enough, to deal with a Tanuki Ichibi."
Kiyoko nodded and tapped the ground in front of Akiko, a contract scroll rising up from where she had tapped it. She said, "If you've already signed a contract, then you should know what to do."
Akiko nodded as she slit her palm to draw enough blood to sign the Kitsune Contract. When she was done, Akiko rolled up the contract and said, "Okay, now what?"
"Now," Kiyoko's father said, "we send you back to where you came from and you summon my daughter to defeat the threat of the Ichibi. Although, given the amount of chakra that you currently possess, you will need Kumiko's chakra as well."
"Akiko closed her eyes as she nodded and said, "Do it," as she opened her eyes, looking straight at Kiyoko's father, a fierce determination to do whatever was needed to protect her home reflected throughout her body. With that done, Kiyoko lightly flicked Akiko with one of her fingers and Akiko disappeared, consumed by a flash of white fire.
XXXXX
As Akiko stumbled from the burst of flame, coughing ads she regained her balance, she felt someone grab her and whisk her away from where she was, which turned out to be a good thing as she would have been trampled under the Ichibi's great leg. She heard her name being called out from above her and looked up to see a mass of dark hair roiling as hers had been earlier and asked, "Who are…" and was mildly confused as the face smiled down at her in relief. She shook her head though, clearing the confusion as the lady that had hold of her used the Shunshin jutsu again. This time they landed at the side of three men, including the procter of her match. She said, "Uhh…what's going on?"
Genma said, "We're about to take that," nodding at the Ichibi, "out of here."
"Uhh…no offence," Akiko said, "but I don't think that any of you are big enough to do that," eyeing all of the shinobi present.
"Wow, looks like she can even outdo you, Genma," Iwashi said.
"Shut it," Genma said before he turned back to Akiko. He asked, "Where did you get teleported to just now?"
"The Kitsune Realm," Akiko said as if it were the most mundane thing in the world, which freaked out Iwashi and Raido even more than the fact that she had gone to the Kyūbi's homeland, and come back…alive that is. Akiko said, "It's really dark there," her face morphing into something resembling concerned disgust.
"So…since you're back, that means that you've signed their contract, right?"
"That's right," Akiko nodded.
"Alright. Then in that case, Rin, go and get Jiraiya. He's the only one here that stands a chance of breaking through that Shishienjin that those four have set up." Rin nodded and let go of her armour, sighing as the weight disappeared. She then used the Shunshin jutsu with a dust distraction to move from the stadium to begin her search.
"Uhh…What about me?" Akiko asked, pointing at herself.
"You," Genma said, "are going to get that chance to finish your match."
"Really?" Akiko asked, actually happy at the possibility.
Iwashi said, "Don't be so cavalier with your life, girlie," before moving to the right of the Ichibi.
Akiko looked up at Genma and said, "But I don't like horses," almost causing Raido to fall over as he stepped away.
Genma said, "Alright Akiko, for this to work, I'm going to need you to hold on to me, otherwise this won't work and you'll be left behind."
"That's no good!" Akiko exclaimed, and grabbed a hold of Genma's flak vest.
When Genma saw Iwashi and Raido in position, he went through a seal sequence at the same time as the other two in his squad and said, "Fūin: Hiraido!" and all four, along with the Ichibi, disappeared from the stadium in a yellow flash.
XXXXX
Meanwhile, Sasuke was fuming. He thought, 'Damn this stupid invasion!' as he blocked a thrown kunai with one of his own, defending the hospital as he had been ordered to by Kakashi. He crossed the distance to the one that had thrown the kunai at a truly incredible speed and said, "Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!" using only one handseal before firing it at the fodder, blasting him away. 'These guys are too weak! I should have been the one fighting against Gaara! Not…whoever that was supposed to be down there! I am descended from one of the founding fathers of Konoha! If there is anyone from our class that should be fighting whatever that thing was, it should be me! So why? WHY am I forced to face such weaklings!? While that bitch, gets to take on the one that I should be fighting?' He paused in his rambling to intercept a barrage of wind bullets with his Katon: Hōsenka no jutsu.
Sakura saw the marks of the Cursed Seal spread over Sasuke's face again and he started moving a lot faster than he had been earlier, and his attacks were clearly no longer aiming to guard against the enemies' assault on the hospital, rather focused completely on the vital organs of the shinobi from Otogakure. She bit her lip as she focused on doing what they had been ordered, now taking on the added burden of defending against the attacks that the enraged Sasuke was letting through. Luckily, the appearance of Kiba, Akamaru and Shino was making up for Sasuke's lunacy, which even she was being forced to admit.
That was when the unthinkable(for Sakura) happened. Someone actually managed to defend against Sasuke's seal-empowered strike. The woman said, "So, you are the one that Orochimaru-sama has such high hopes for?"
Sasuke grunted and said, "I don't care," and flung a kunai at her with his other hand.
"Yikes!" the woman said, her hair turning purple as her legs gained bone-like armour resembling the thigh-high boots that she had been wearing along with some opera-length gloves made of the same material. A crown made of the same material appeared circling her brow, blocking the kunai that Sasuke had flicked at her. She chidingly said, "You know, children shouldn't play with knives. They can be dangerous if handled incorrectly."
Sasuke grunted and said, "Who the hell are you?"
"Me?" the woman rhetorically asked. "I'm Uzumaki Aya. You, you little brat, are Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke gruffly said, "I'm no child!" and did a rapid sequence of handseals, announcing, "Chidori!" before charging at her at his top speed.
"Ohh! So, Kakashi taught you his own personal jutsu, did he? I didn't think that a student of the fourth Hokage would show such blatant favouritism. But, I guess that sometimes the teachings of a master do fail to take."
One of the Oto-nin asked, "Can we leave him to you?"
"Yeah yeah, it's no problem," Aya said, waving her hand, flippantly dismissing the thought that she needed any help in taking on the Uchiha.
"Alright," the Oto-nin said, and ran on to attack the hospital defenders.
Aya then brought the hand that she was waving down on Sasuke's and held it inches away from her body. She said, "You need to go over your basics, brat," and twisted her hand, breaking Sasuke's wrist and putting an end to the Chidori.
"What the hell do you mean by that, you harridan?"
"Hey! I told you earlier, my name is Aya! Not Harry! Geez, guess even with a Sharingan, even an Uchiha can still be as blind as a bat."
"What the hell?" Sasuke said, incredulously, unsure what to make of his opponent.
Kiba though, did. He said to himself, "She's just as stupid as Naruto."
Shino said, "You mean Akiko, Kiba. The reason is that she has returned to her true form," remembering that his friend had transformed into her current form in that black chakra sphere, not that anyone had been able to tell, even Kiba.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Kiba said.
Sakura said, "HEY! FOcus you two! We have a job to do!"
Kiba grunted and thought, 'This could be what Shikamaru has to deal with. How does Akiko cope?' before launching into a Fang Over Fang to deflect another barrage of kunai, courtesy of a shinobi on the rooftop opposite the hospital.
XXXXXXX
A/N
Attacks
Fūin: Hiraido (Seal: Flying Thunder Ride)