"Damn racoon."

"Yūsha, don't make it harder for me," Ara sighed, exasperated. She didn't fancy taming a tailed beast, but she really had no choice. If she wants to keep the peace between Suna and Konoha, she had to take care of Shukaku.

The girl tied her Suna headband around her neck, showing her ID to the guards before she entered the Kazekage building. A jounin accompanied her, updating her about the current situation inside. She was way beyond relieved when she found out that the place is empty, except for the remaining shinobi at the entrance and themselves.

"Are you going to stay here until I finish my job?"

"We were told to follow your orders."

Ara nodded, as she stopped in front of Gaara's room. Sands were leaking out of the door hinges, trailing along the corners as they made their way outside. She carefully pushed the door open, and the Suna nin took a step back out of surprise.

"You can leave if you want, but you can stay. I don't need any assistance on this, don't worry," Ara assured, her eyes never leaving the figure in front of her. Shukaku had taken over half of Gaara's body, while the little boy himself seemed to be asleep.

"How nice of you to visit me, jinchūriki. I thought I've been forgotten," his voice boomed, and a wave of was shot towards her neck. She dodged it with ease, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Don't feel so flattered. Yūsha, I'll be leaving for a while. Please take care of me."

Yūsha growled softly, and Ara approached Shukaku. The sands tried to stop her, but she fought back, and her hand touched Gaara's forehead before she went into their mindscape.

×××××

"It has been a while, Tamer," the large racoon growled mockingly, his tail brushing against Gaara's neck. The redhead was shaking in fear, and he immediately ran to Ara's side as soon as he saw her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, "You're breaking the deal. Get back to your cage and stay there."

"I'm not taking orders from a kid," Shukaku chuckled, before his gaze turned to Kurama, who had been standing behind the Hatake. "Did you miss me, brother?"

"Not in the slightest bit. You're still as selfish as ever; I guess you'll never change, Shukaku."

"How rude. If I may say, I don't think I'm breaking any deals here. You promised that my host will be stronger, but the boy is too weak to my liking."

"Patience. Everything takes time, Shukaku-sama. Gaara-kun still has a long way to go."

"And I'm tired of waiting." Shukaku growled, "How long do you think I've been sealed?! It's too damn long and I want my freedom now!!"

"All of us has been sealed for quite a while. It's not just you, Shukaku."

"When did you have your last rampage? Seven years ago? Do you really think you have any right to say that, Kurama?!" Before the Kyūbi could reply, he continued, "I don't get why you're still on your jinchūriki's side. That clan was the first ones who sealed us; if she's dead, it will be the end of them."

Ara clenched her fists, and much to her surprise, Kurama stepped forward, positioning himself between her and the One-Tail.

"Don't you dare, Ichibi."

"I don't have to be the one who killed her. Look at her; it will only take a little more to break her."

Gaara clutched the brim of her shirt tighter, and Ara could only stay silent as she watched the two Bijū.

"My host is stronger than you think."

"She's not even a human, she's not like them. You don't need to believe me, but I'm sure it won't take long before it shatters."

Kurama didn't reply, but he finally turned to the Hatake and said, "Just seal him. Completely, if you must. He might cause another problem in the future."

"... I don't want to do that. He still deserves some freedom."

Gaara pulled her hand, and she had to crouch down to his level as he whispered something in her ear.

"... Are you sure, Gaara-kun?"

The redhead nodded.

"Alright, I'll do just that."

*/*\*/*\*

When Ara returned back to the inn, she found Kō sitting on the windowsill, cleaning his katana as he watched the sun rises.

"Welcome back. How did it go?"

"Not so smoothly, but it's over."

"... Your chakra level is pretty low. What happened?" Kō asked, sheathing his blade and walked towards the girl. Ara only sighed, seating herself on the couch and rubbed her temples.

"The last time I did this, Shukaku was already sealed. This time, he fought back, though I managed."

Kō glanced at her sleeping teammates, making sure that they were still asleep, "What about the time 7 years ago? The Kyūbi was attacking the village."

"He was under someone's control, but he let me seal him because he didn't want to cause more damage." Ara huffed, "I haven't seen Aiko-san. Where is she?"

"Still in the hospital. Your team is allowed to go around Suna, as long as you're already back here at noon."

Yūsha jumped down from her arms and curled himself up on the floor. Ara frowned at the look Kō gave her, but he hardened his glare.

"I know what you're thinking. No, you're not going to help out at the hospital. Aiko's orders; you will not do more work than necessary."

"But-..."

"Don't bother. You need rest, you've been awake taking care of a raging Bijū. You've been to this village before, you need sleep more than a trip with your team."

"... You won't let me leave, will you, Kazuo-san?"

Kō shook his head, and Ara let out another sigh, "Are you sure-..."

"No. Go to bed."

"Can't I-..."

"Sleep. Now."

Ara groaned, finally laying down on the couch and closed her eyes.

*/*\*/*\*

"What's wrong, Yuito? This place is awesome, you should enjoy it while we're here!"

"... You're joking." The blond glared at Ryota, "Look around you. Sands, everywhere. It's burning hot here, not a single tree in sight, and you call it awesome? You're insane."

"It's a good change of view. The village's so different from Konoha," Ryota commented, not affected by his teammate's anger. He had been in a fairly good mood since he woke up, especially after Kazuo told him that they could spend half the day looking around the place.

"And I fucking hate it." Yuito growled, "It's too damn hot! I've never despised the sun before! And how come that freak is allowed to sleep in? Kazuo literally forced us to go sight-seeing -when there's nothing to see, for fuck's sake- while she is allowed to continue her nap like that!"

"Kazuo-san is older than us, have some respect."

"I respect people who deserve my respect."

"And that means no one."

Yuito almost punched Ryota in the gut, but the brunet dodged, "You need to try to accept things the way they are. Stop judging and just enjoy what you have while they last."

"I don't ask for a damn pep talk."

"You sure act like you need one." Ryota stopped in front of a bookstore, and Yuito rolled his eyes. Ryota took this as an 'okay' and entered the place before he started browsing through the shelves.

"I only have my sister, how am I supposed to be satisfied? She never meets our parents, do you expect me to be happy with that?!"

"You still have your sister," Ryota emphasized, "Look. Don't pity yourself or your sister. There's nothing special about your sob story, most us are orphans of war. Ask our old classmates, at least half of them already lost some of their family members. I'm not saying that you can't grieve over them, but you need to move on."

Yuito frowned, but Ryota kept his gaze on the books in front of him, carefully reading the titles one by one.

"What about that freak?"

"Stop calling her that. I know Ara can be really weird at times, but she's not a bad person at heart. Why do you hate her so much?"

"... I got bad feelings about her. I just do, since the first time I saw her. There's something... demonic... about her presence," Yuito explained, but as he was about to continue, he saw the strange look Ryota was giving him. "... What?"

Ryota grinned. "That's a lot of words you said. Are you starting to tolerate my existence, Yuito?"

"Can I kill you?"

The brunet laughed, "Totally! I can die happy knowing that this blob of hatred finally loves me!" He dodged another punch and ran out of the store, snickering while Yuito caught up to him.

"You didn't answer my question. What about her?"

Ryota shrugged. "Ask her yourself. But if I may say, Ara is the same like you. She only has Kakashi-san but she lives alone."

"... Is there anything special with that?"

"No. As I've said before, there's nothing special about that kind of sob story. Though I think there's something she's hiding from us."

"I know what you mean."

Ryota nodded, "She left our room last night. And Kazuo-san was there instead, wearing a full Anbu gear, as if staying on guard for something."

"Seriously? That's... suspicious."

*/*\*/*\*

"So? How do you like it here?" Aiko asked, her usual smile on her face. The team was currently sitting inside a small restaurant, since Aiko decided to treat them lunch. A compensation for disappearing most of the time to do her own job.

"I like it! Konoha's still better, but Suna is a really interesting place!" Ryota grinned as a waitress came with a tray. He helped her to set the food on the table, also thanking her before he sat back down.

Yuito gulped down one third of his drink, "I can hardly tolerate the weather and I want to return as soon as possible."

"... It's not that bad..." Ara muttered as she took a piece of meat with her chopsticks, about to give it to Yūsha. However, with Aiko's glare, the food unwillingly was eaten by the girl.

"Not that bad? You spend half the day sleeping in the inn." Yuito sighed, glaring at Ara, "I don't think you've gone anywhere else beside the inn and this place."

Aiko frowned, watching as the team bickered once again. Seeing that they all had finished their meals, Aiko slammed her chopsticks down onto the table, surprising the three kids.

"There's something I need to tell you." The serious look on Aiko's face made their bodies went rigid. She always had a smile on her face. Not this, not this rage.

"I'm sure you know Konoha will be holding the chūnin exams soon," she started. Ara and Yuito nodded.

"The chūnin exam? A test to determine if we will be promoted to chūnin?" Ryota asked.

Aiko nodded, "A series of exams, actually. It will test your knowledge, teamwork, survival skills and also one-on-one battles."

"After all the teams return to Konoha, the Hokage will hold a meeting with all the jōnin sensei to decided which teams will compete and which won't." Aiko's glare remained as she spoke up, "I'm not entering Team 4. Not anytime soon."

Ryota flinched, realizing full well that the reason wasn't an 'I-don't-want-you-to-get-hurt' kind. Ara seemed taken aback, but she said nothing. Yuito was now clenching his fists, but Aiko wasn't fazed.

"I'm not entering this team to the chūnin exam," Aiko repeated, "I'll be blunt here: The three of you don't deserve it."

*/*\*/*\*

So, yeah, another update. It's pretty short and all but I hope you don't mind, it's a good spot to end the chapter.

Things has been (is still) hard for me over here, I never want to bring up my irl life but I just want to apologize, in case if there's mistakes in this chapter, it probably sucks so I'm sorry. I hope you still enjoy it.

I think I know what to do with that war. And look, Aiko's mad. Whose fault is that? Not Ryota, obviously. That little ball of sunshine did nothing wrong.

But what did Shukaku mean about Ara not being human? And will Ryota and Yuito found out about her secret?

Well, anyways, thanks for still reading. And thank you for all your support so far. Reading your comments always makes me feel better.

Drop a comment or two, vote, and see you later!

- Rae