-You're wasting time here, foolish mortal.- The voice inside her head told Ara. And somehow, she's already used to it. Having a grumpy voice inside your head isn't that bad.

Even she began to enjoy his company.

'Well, what should I do, then?'

-Can't you just go training, or something?-

'As much as I want to do that, I can't.' Ara calmly said.

-Hm? Your point?-

'I don't know how long am I going to be locked here, so I can't waste any chakra.'

She can feel the voice hummed in agreement.

-Ah. Point taken.-

CRASH!!!

Ara's eyes snapped open. Her head turned towards the small ventilation. Someone had destroyed it, creating a large hole. An escape.

But the one standing above her is not her Otou-sama. It's not Yūsha.

It's not her Aniki, either.

*/*\*/*\*

"WHAT? What do you mean she's missing?!" Danzo's angry voice was heard throughout the Root's base.

"It seems like she managed to break the entrance, and ran away." The ANBU professionally reported.

The elder slammed his cane angrily onto the floor.

"I don't care what it takes, just FIND HER! Find that Kyūbi brat and lock her up in that place!"

*/*\*/*\*

Ara didn't react, and keep her eyes closed as someone put a chain around her ankle, and another around one of her wrist.

As she felt the person left the place, she opened her eyes.

To find herself in the middle of a cage.

'Ah.... crap. I'm chained again.'

-What worse, now they chained your wrist, too.-

'What do they want, anyways?'

-I'm sure they want to use you as their weapon.- the voice said.

Ara sighed.

*/*\*/*\*

Kakashi can only looked at the tiger cub in frustration. Yūsha couldn't keep his adult form for too long, due to the fact that he had been separated from Ara for almost a month.

-Stop staring.-

'Sorry.' The Hatake replied solemnly, and turned at Ara's bed in front of him.

Who else has a shark plushie? A snake keychain? A rose origami?

Okay, the last one is actually amazing.

But still!

Kami, how much he miss his sister.

Now don't get the wrong idea. It's not like he wants to sit in Ara's room, waiting for the Hokage to knock his door and said that he found Ara.

That is most unlikely wouldn't happen.

And like he had told him, Kakashi doesn't trust Minato.

Kakashi could just ran out of the village and find her.

And after that, he will be put in prison and got Ara scolding him for hours.

Or the second scenario, he and Yūsha could wait in the village, while Sukoshi is searching for Ara in the forest outside Konoha. When he found valuable clues, Kakashi will starts searching, with Yūsha as the tracker.

The closer they got to Ara, the stronger the tiger will be. Right?

Kakashi is a genius. He graduated from academy at the age of five! He himself doesn't understand why the hell haven't he found his sister.

He really wants to starts his 'hunting', but he finally choose the plan B. The second scenario, if you don't understand.

He knows that he is panicking, and taking action now means suicide. Literally.

For him, and for Ara.

-Kakashi, calm down.-

'I just... I don't want to see you die.' He told Yūsha.

Yūsha let out a soft growl. -I won't die. Not until I found her.-

*/*\*/*\*

Ara hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. Ever since the attack, she has insomnia. It has been weeks, and with her caged and chained, her nightmares just got worse.

"Please... Let me have a peaceful sleep... Just tonight..." She whispered, as she fell into a deep slumber.

><><><><><

Now, Karasu was standing in front of a large cave. The girl shivered, and reached for her axe on her back.

The weapon's gone.

She gulped, as she entered the cave.

"Aniki? Yūsha? Anyone?" She called out, and receive no answer.

She keep walking, using the rocky wall as her support. Then she froze.

Something was carved onto the cave wall.

When she turned, she almost scream.

On the wall, there were many large scratches, and blood stains. Some word were written there, in blood or carved deeply.

'HURT'

'TRAITOR'

'LOST'

'HATE'

'LIES'

'BETRAYAL'

'FREEDOM'

'GONE'

'PAIN'

'INSANE'

'REVENGE'

'ALONE'

The word 'ALONE' is carved so deep on the wall. Many scratches covered it.

Ara's eyes softened. She traced her fingers along the word with a sad smile on her face. Whoever wrote that must have been gone through a great pain.

Ara bit he thumb, and with her blood, she wrote something under the hateful word. Grinning at her work, she clasped her hands together, and turned.

This time, she did scream at the view.

In front of her, is a very large cage. It was dark, so she couldn't see who's locked there. She walked towards it, and entered the cage without any fear.

Now, she could see a pair of orange and black paws inside. Being the smart girl she is, she immediately know who's that.

"Are you... The Kyūbi?" She asked nervously.

"No, Miss Obvious. I'm a white rabbit." A gruff voice replied.

"Oh. So you are. You're nice."

"Nice? You call me nice?" The voice asked back in disbelief, and a hint of annoyance.

"Well, Mr. Kyūbi, you're actually nicer than I thought."

In an instant, Ara was pinned onto the wall by an orange tail.

"Am I still nice now? I can kill you right here and right now." The voice asked tauntingly.

Ara looked at the pair of red eyes in front of her. Then she whispered, "Go on."

She can feel his grip on her neck loosened a bit, but she made no attempt to escape.

"Go on. Kill me." She continued, "But both of us are inside my mind. If I die, then you're dead as well."

The Kyūbi laughed. "I can't die, brat! My whole body is made of pure chakra, a Bijū's chakra! Even if I was killed, in a few years, I will be reformed again, and free! Even I might be stronger than now."

"And you will only get sealed again." Ara bluntly said, "Maybe with a seal stronger than mine. The history will always repeat itself, you know?"

"At least I won't get sealed in a girl like you."

"But no one wants to be a jinchūriki. In the end, you will be sealed inside an orphan newborn baby. He will grow up as an idiot prankster who knows nothing about you."

"So? What's the difference with being sealed in you? You're just a weak girl, who is addicted to sweets." The Kyūbi retorted.

"For your information, I'm the last Kigaeru in this world. I know many things about poisons, and I can make antidotes. I was raised in an organization full of S-rank criminals for the first 4 years in my life. And I, at least, know how to argue with a Tailed Beast." She explained calmly, emphasizing the last part.

The Kyūbi chuckled. "You sure know how to promote yourself." He said, before his grip tightened, choking her harder, "For me, however, you know nothing."

Ara coughed, as she said, "I do know something." She took a raspy breath, before saying, "I know how do you feel. You feel lonely, being locked up inside this cage for a long time. You just want some freedom."

The Kyūbi lifted Ara, before slamming her on the wall again.

"Then why did you seal me?!" He yelled angrily. Ara gave him a weak smile.

"I... I can't... l-let you destroy... K-Konoha... M-My h-home..."

"And you let me destroy you?" He asked again.

Ara nodded. The Kyūbi dropped her.

"Fine. I'll stay here. Besides, you're quite amusing." The Kyūbi mused out, smirking.

Ara grinned, as she leaned on the cave wall, rubbing her head.

"Ne... You don't need to hit me that hard, Kyubi-kun."

"Kyūbi-...kun?" The Kyūbi asked, his eyes twitched.

"Well, what do you want me to call you, Kyūbi-kun?"

"Don't call me that."

"Then tell me your name!"

"I don't feel like I have to answer that."

"If you didn't tell me your name, I'll call you Foxy-chan!" Ara cheered.

Kyūbi's jaws fell agape. He soon regained his composure.

"Kurama..." He muttered. Ara weren't supposed to hear that, but her trained ears caught it.

"Well, Kurama, my name is Karasu-"

"Use '-sama'." The Kyūbi growled, already pissed with his host's cheerful behavior.

"Okay! Kusama sounds nice!"

"That's not what I mean!!"

Ara shrugged. "Kurama-sama is too long. So, I shortened it. K-U-S-A-M-A! It sounds good, doesn't it?"

Kurama slammed his head on the metal bars of the cage. 'Kusama'. Seriously?! He's the strongest of all the Bijū! And now a 5-years-old girl gave him a ridiculous name such as 'Kusama'?!

Kyūbi is now mourning over his poor reputation.

"Ne... Kusama? You okay? You're slamming your head onto the cage. What's wrong?"

"... I hate the fact that you, ungrateful little brat, are my host for the next 50 years."

"... Don't be rude..." Ara muttered.

"Why wouldn't I? Remember, I'm a Bijū, Kasu."

"Eh?! Kasu?! Why did you call me that?!"

"Karasu is too long. Besides, it sounds like 'Kuso'."

Ara gaped at the fox in front of her.

"... Alright. You call me Kasu, I call you Kusama. That's just fair." She finally said.

The Kyūbi merely nodded in agreement.

"You know, You must stop acting like a grumpy old fox. You should try to be nice to everyone."

The Kyūbi scoffed. "I don't have that in my dictionary."

"Really? You said that not long ago."

"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't say 'nice'."

"Ha!" Ara yelled in victory, "You said it again!"

Kyūbi had his eyes twitched. "Whatever." He muttered, "Just leave already, Bara."

"Eh? Now you compliment me?"

"No. Bara is 'Baka-Karasu'."

Ara frowned. She stayed silent, before saying, "I think you haven't got any friend for years. So I guess it's okay, you may call me whatever you like."

Kyūbi didn't say anything.

"Can I visit you again?" Ara asked softly, as she stood up.

The Kyūbi can feel a smile crept onto his face.

"Come here whenever you feel like it, Kasu." He replied calmly.

The girl grinned. "Thank you! Oh, by the way, Kusama, thanks for calming me down in my panic attack at my first day being chained!" She said,and ran out of the cave in excitement.

Kurama let out a soft chuckle. Interesting girl, indeed.

His gaze landed on the wall across him. Where he carved all the words that resembled his rage.

Under the word 'ALONE', written neatly in blood, there's a word his host wrote for him.

'HOPE'

><><><><><

Ara slowly opened her eyes. She smiled. "Even the most cursed beings deserved love." she whispered, recalling her meeting with the Bijū.

She doesn't realize that the Kyūbi heard this.

*/*\*/*\*

"So, you're saying that due to the fact that Yūsha is still alive, that means Ara is not killed, and still alive as well. Right, dattebane?"

"Yeah..." Kakashi muttered.

Kushina took a sip of her tea. "As much as I hate to say this, dattebane, it has been a month. I think Danzo wouldn't bothered to feed her. If she's still alive, it must have involves the Kyūbi's chakra. Either she became friends with Kyūbi, or Kyūbi had controlled her body."

Kakashi looked down, clenching his fists.

"But the first option is almost impossible. Kyūbi is very stubborn and self-centered. He's a hateful creature who thinks that he's the strongest in this world, and he hates the fact that he was sealed inside someone. He's just... A horrible, evil fox, dattebane."

Kakashi sighed. Kyūbi had controlled her body...

Kakashi stood up. "Thank you, Kushina-san. I should get going now."

Kushina smiled sadly. "Kakashi, don't beat yourself up like this. This is not your fault. Ara will be okay."

Kakashi just nodded.

*/*\*/*\*

I had this chapter finished already yesterday...

This morning, I woke up at 5 a.m., and turned on my laptop. I was going to publish this chapter when... Let's just say that because of my mother, my 1700+ words chapter were deleted. All of them.

I was really pissed off. 1700+ words, damnit!

For the next 2 and a half hours, I rewrite it again. And here you go, Chapter 20 second edition (insert facepalm here)! And this rewrite version has 2000+ words (surprisingly). I don't know what else to say. I'm tired of this. Can't I have my ideas wrote themselves for me?!

Just.... Comment. Tell me what do you think.

And Vote. But most important, Comment.

I'll try to update ASAP. This laptop sucks, my family sucks, internet connection sucks.

And I already have another story idea -_-"

Spoiler: Next chapter will have Kakuzu! He saw Ara and........ XD I'm not telling you!

More Comments = Faster updates!