"Get her out of the team!!"

Ara flinched, letting out a sigh, as she turned to Minato, who was sitting in front of the group of Anbus. Kakashi was leaning on the wall beside the door, Yūgao on the other side, both are silently scolding Ara with their gaze. Ara herself was sitting on the windowsill, hugging her knees with a pout on her face.

"I know one day this will happen. But this soon? You just have your first mission, Kyūra." The Yondaime told the jinchūriki, calling her with her Anbu code name.

Ara scoffed, looking away as she stretched her arm out, soon having Yūsha landed on it as a crow.

"What is it that makes you despise me?" She asked, as she let out a huff.

"First: you can't use any jutsu."

"Second: it's suspicious how you insist on taking over the watch for the whole nights."

"Third: it's disturbing seeing how you talked with your tiger."

-Now I feel offended.- Yūsha commented, causing Ara to snicker at him.

"Well, I agree with you, Yūsha." She replied as he turned into a white tiger.

"You see that?! Is she even sane?!"

Ara shrugged at the question.

"Another thing that annoys me: she's eating f*cking lollipops from the beginning until the end of the mission! I mean, can't she focus on the task?!"

This comment caused her to glare at the speaker. "No rules banned it! And I still finish the mission, even twice sooner than the plan!"

"Your attitude pissed us off."

"Lies." Ara bluntly said, "Can't you just say what's in your mind? Or should I tell Yondaime for you?"

"You hate me. It's obvious." She announced, as she crossed her arms and looked out, now one of her legs is dangling outside the window.

"You hate me because I am the youngest among all of you, yet stronger than you. Of course, because I trained to the point of dying."

"You think I took away your captain's attention. For your information, idiots, he is my brother. He worries about me because he is a normal human."

"You hate me, because I'm the Kyūbi, as how people say. Oh, please, do I look like a demon for you? I am the prison, not the prisoner. Use your damn brain!"

"Additional note. I would really appreciate it if you just stand right in front of me, look straight at my eyes, and tell me how much you want me dead. It's much better than watching you whining in front of the Hokage asking for me to be kicked out of your team."

"You little-..."

"Enough." Minato commanded, looking at the masked Anbus in front of him, "You are all dismissed. I need to talk to Kyūra about this. Anyone who's on her side may stay."

Everyone left, only Ara, Minato, Kakashi, Yūgao, and Tenzō remained in the room.

Minato glanced at Yūgao, who opened her mask and shrugged. "Well, she is a good girl at heart. On mission, though, it's true that she is skillful, and very helpful, but I can hardly tolerate her."

"... I'll say that for this mission, I second that." The older Hatake surprisingly said.

"Hardly tolerate...? Was she that bad?" The Namikaze asked, earning a nervous chuckle from Tenzō.

"Well, you see, Lord Hokage..." The brunette trailed off, as flashback crossed his mind.

***

"I'll take watch, don't worry! You must be tired! Just get into the tent, Aniki, Yūgao!" The young silverette assured, ushering her brother and a certain purple-haired Anbu to enter a tent.

"Oi, Ara. Shouldn't I share a tent with Tenzō?" The older Hatake asked.

"Nah! Just use this one! I can watch you easier, and besides Tenzō's tent is already full!"

"But I still have some space here and-..." The said brunette stated, but he was cut off by Ara.

"No, don't, Aniki. Tenzō snores loudly, and he-..." Ara continued to ramble.

Kakashi turned at Yūgao. "Is it alright with you?"

Yūgao only shrugged, entering her tent.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Ara. "What is it that you are plotting right now...?"

Ara cringed, shaking her head. "Nothing, Aniki! Just go to sleep now! Everyone else is asleep already!"

Kakashi's eye twitched. He let out a heavy desperate sigh, and entered the tent he now shared with Yūgao.

As soon as he sounded asleep, Tenzō took a seat next to Ara.

"What was that?"

She gave him a grin. "That, is called ship."

He sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly. He was about to fell asleep, when Ara gave him a question he was hoping she would never ask.

"Tenzō, you were working for Danzo, right?"

"... I don't understand what are you talking about..."

Ara turned to him, tilting her head slightly. "I remember your chakra signature. It was you who brought me to the Hokage Office 5 years ago, locked me up in that cell, and injected that sleeping drugs when your group found me. It was also you who stood in front of my cell, at the left near the door, right?"

Tenzō glanced at her. He was surprised to find her expression totally calm and neutral.

"... I apologize for my actions."

She smiled, as she looked up, leaning on the tree behind her. "It's okay. You were following orders at that time, right, 'Kinoe'? That's how they called you, right?"

He slowly nodded, "But I prefer not to hear that name again."

"No worries," she assured him, "I won't mention it again, Tenzō-chan."

"Chan?!"

She grinned, and laughed. "I'm gonna call you with something as disturbing as 'Taichou', until you stopped calling Aniki that."

"... Kakashi-taichou is right. You indeed are difficult to handle."

"Thanks for the compliment, Tenzō-chan!"

***

"Ara forced Kakashi-taichou and Yūgao to share a tent."

"Hai! What Tenzō-chan said is right!"

Everyone in the room gave her an incredulous look at the nickname.

"Ara... I don't mind with your strange behaviour, but please, you are an Anbu now. Stop trying to get attention like this."

She jumped off the windowsill, leaning on the wall beside it. "You don't get it."

"No, Ara. Listen to me. I understand your feelings-..."

"NO, YOU DON'T!!" She exclaimed, clenching her fists, "You don't understand. You never understand how to be hated by everyone. How people hate me because I'm a freak, because I'm different. How people hurt me because they want me dead. They want their saviour dead." She sneered, as she walked up towards his desk.

"People love you. They praised you, they thanked you for my work. I don't mind, I'm fine with it. I'm used to how they say thank you to you for stopping the Kyūbi, and tried to kill me because I'm the demon."

Ara glared harder, now aiming at everyone inside the room, "You can say it easily that my behavior annoys you. I'm sorry, I want to change, but I can't. It's who am I. It runs in my blood. My whole clan has close connection with animals, with beasts. We are all born to be free, wild. I can't choose my own parents!" Tears began to fall from her eyes as she said that last sentence.

"I know I'm imperfect. But we are different. The way you and I were raised are different. I hate to say this, but I was raised by group of criminal. A group of monsters, of people who had done bad things in their life. They are no angels, so since long time ago, I am not innocent." She said, as she looked down, gently petting Yūsha's head.

"They have different perspective compared to loyal shinobis. And just like them, I did what I think is right. I don't care about my status. I will do what I think is the best. I don't mind if people hate me, as long as they admit it in front of me, as long as they show it, instead of giving me fake smiles and such."

Ara sighed, as she turned away, and approached the door.

"Forgive my actions, Lord Hokage. I can assure you it will not happen again. I accept my removal from team Ro, and I will complete only solo missions from now on." She said, bowing slightly to the Namikaze, and put her mask back on.

"If you would excuse me..." She trailed off, as she walked out of the room, followed by the tiger.

*/*\*/*\*

Ara was currently drowning in her mind.
With her separated from another jinchūriki, she felt as if she was alone. She got no one that can relate to her feelings. Bee and Gaara can understand her frustration, and with them gone, life felt harder to face.

Plus what happened in the morning. Another rejection, especially from her teammates, is almost too hard to handle. She was used to how the villagers treated her. She thought that if she became a shinobi, people, at least her fellow shinobis, would respect her.

Turns out that she was so wrong. And these thoughts were choking her.

Luckily, somehow saved her.

"HEYY! ARA-CHAAN~..." a cheerful voice called, snapping her back to reality. Karasu abruptly sat up, and tilted her head at the sight.

"... Shisui-kun...?"

The Uchiha tackled her into a tight hug. "It has been a long time! How are you?"

A frown made its way onto her face. "I'll survive."

Shisui smiled, as he stood up, alongside Ara. "Ne... Let's get going, shall we? I want to watch how Tachi-chan's plan unfolds!"

"Okay, let's-... Wait, WHAT?!"

"Eh? You don't know? He and Hana wrote love letters for Kakashi and his friend, Yūgao, I think her name is."

Ara groaned in annoyance. Ignoring her, Shisui dragged the Hatake around the village, before they finally stopped at the top of a tree not far from their ship targets.

"What the hell do you think you two are doing?!" Ara growled at her two best friends, smacking their heads.

The two, however, stayed silent.

"Well?"

The Inuzuka sighed. She turned her attention to the café below her, where the Anbu couple was eating together, before she looked back at Ara.

"I'll tell you later. But look! The plan's working!" Hana added, pointing at Kakashi and Yūgao, who were leaning closer to each other.

As they kissed, Shisui covered Itachi's eyes with his hand.

"Nah, nah, Tachi-chan. You're still too young. Let's go home, min'na, we've seen our success. And we should respect their privacy."

*/*\*/*\*

"I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not stupid," Hana started, looking at Ara. Shisui and Itachi had returned to their compound, and now the remaining two were making their way back, ignoring the glares they received from the villagers. "I can see how your mood dropped. Drastically."

Ara nodded curtly, looking away.

"And knowing how stubborn you are, it's useless to ask you what's wrong. So, I just want you to remember this."

Ara stopped, and turned at Hana, her eyes slightly widened, her shoulders tensed.

"You are not alone. I will always be here for you. If you want to talk, I'll be glad to listen to you. No matter what you do, no matter what happen, I trust you."

"Hana..."

The Inuzuka grinned. "Well, see you later, Crow!"

The next thing Ara knows, she was left alone in front of her house.

*/*\*/*\*

Hours later, Kakashi entered his house, to meet Ara who was sitting on the couch reading another scroll.

"Okaeri." She said, as he sat next to her.

"You know... About that whole Anbu thing..."

"Don't worry about that," she said with a smile, "Haven't I told you? I'm used to it."

"Ara, no one should get used to rejection." He stated firmly, but she only shrugged, putting down the scroll.

"I can't control that." She answered, pulling out a kunai and began to play with it, "It is indeed different compared to Kumo, but I can handle Konoha. It's still my... village."

Kakashi frowned, and turned his attention away from her. He noted how she felt unsure on how to call Konoha, and how she finally choose the word 'village' instead of 'home', unlike years ago.

"You hate it." He finally told her.

Ara bit her lip, and brought her knees up in front of her, and hugged her legs, as if she would gain some kind of protection.

"I'm not sure anymore, Aniki. I don't even understand my own thoughts, my own feelings."

"A part of me said that what they did is wrong, while a little voice in me agrees that I'm no human." She explained, "It's frustrating."

Kakashi sighed, staying silent, not knowing what to say. However, Ara grinned, and patted his back.

"Right! Now tell me about your girlfriend!" She exclaimed, changing the topic.

His eyes widened. "Wait. How could you know?!"

She gave him a wide, fake, grin. "Well, you know, it's-..."

"Don't tell me that it's your plan." He cut her off, now glaring. She cringed at his expression, and bit her lip, shaking her head slowly as she put up her hands in defense.

"Am I really that suspicious?!"

"... Yes."

She huffed. "Not mine. Shisui dragged me to watch you with Yūgao."

"So whose plan it was?" Kakashi asked, but Ara shrugged.

"Not telling."

He smirked. "Then I'm not going to tell you anything."

"Eh?!"

*/*\*/*\*

If it looks rushed, then you're right. The chapter is rushed.

But I have a reason. This chapter marks the end of Part 1 of MoAB. And I want to start Part 2 on 2016.

It would be about one and a half year timeskip. At the beginning of Part 2, Ara is 12. There will be more characters, there will be deaths, betrayal, heartbreaks, and maybe even war (not sure yet). Bonds will be broken, but trust will be gained. It will be full of tragedies, but there will be sweet moments too.

That's all I'll say. Thank you so much for your support. It's just Part 1 yet there's already about 100+K reads. You guys are the best ^.^ Your comments gives me motivation to keep writing!

I, Midnight Ravencrow, wish you a happy new year! Have a good day, and see you on 2016!