Ara took a deep breath, before she opened the door, and entered the office.
The blonde man gasped. "A-Ara?!"
She nodded. "For now, I will call you Tou-san." She said, as she walked towards him. She stretched out her right hand. "I don't want to have any misunderstanding between us, so I think we need to talk. I hold no grudges against you, I don't hate you, and you are still my father, because all that happened was not your fault. That time when you visited me, I wasn't in my best mental state. As what you asked me, I will give you a second chance. And I forgive you. Deal?"
Minato slowly stood up, and crouched in front of the young Hatake. Slowly, he took her hand, and shook it firmly, before pulling her into a hug.
"Thank you so much. I owe you a lot, Ara. For the Kyūbi, saving my son, and protect Konoha. And yet I almost got you killed. You don't know how many times my wife scolds me, how many times Kakashi punched me." He said, as he sighed heavily, "Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked, as he let her go.
"Actually... there is. I want to be a kunoichi. And I will skip the Academy. So... What should I do to get my rank?"
Minato raised an eyebrow. "You never cease to amuse me." He said, shaking his head disapprovingly, chuckling lightly, "Next year, on 1st October, there will be an event that usually called the Jōnin Exam. I guess you can participate. I'll see how you fight, and I'll decide what rank you are."
"... Jōnin Exam?"
"It's an exam for shinobis on chūnin rank or above who wants to get a higher rank without waiting for the Hokage's promotion. The Hokage will choose who fights who, and decides their ranks. Genins are on D and C rank. Chūnins on C and B rank. Jōnins on B and A rank. ANBUs are usually S rank. But if the shinobi fights horribly, he can get a lower rank."
Ara nodded in understanding. "That sounds cool."
"This event took place in Konoha every 5 years. So, what do you think?"
"... I guess I'll participate."
"Good. Have you start your training? Do you want me to help you?"
Ara shrugged. "I already start training with Yūsha and the Kyūbi. I almost mastered the third stage of my kekkei genkai. And I think my current senseis wouldn't like to have you help me. I mean, they and Kakashi still hold grudges against you."
Minato huffed. "Yeah... Wait a minute. What's your kekkei genkai, if I may ask?"
"This." Ara said, before she disappeared. She re-appeared behind the Namikaze, causing him to gasp in shock.
"Invisibility. Awesome, right? It can't be detected at all. I became a ghost, and I can go through everything. Originally, I can't be seen, heard, smelt, or touched."
"I take it Yūsha's the one who trains you on this?"
"Yup. And Kyūbi trains me on my strength, endurance, and speed. After it's perfected, he will train me on using his chakra."
"What do you have to do, anyways?"
Ara sighed. "That damned fox told me to climb the Training Ground #66."
Minato's eyes widened.
"Without chakra."
His jaws fell agape.
"And... I succeed."
He scoffed. "I'm not surprised at all."
"Glad to hear that." Ara replied sarcastically, crossing her arms, as she walked towards the door.
"See you later, Tou-san!"
*/*\*/*\*
Ara walked back to her house, hands in her pocket. To be truthful, she feels happy, and free, as if a heavy weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. At least she and Minato are in good terms now. She had fully recovered from her trauma.
She stopped in front of her house, and opened the door. To meet a very unpleasant sight.
She closed the door quietly, and scanned the room. One of the chairs is flipped upside down. There's a few broken glass in the kitchen. The floors were covered by muddy footprints. There's some bloodstains on the door handle, and on the edge of the doorway.
She narrowed her eyes.
She approached her brother's room, and knocked on the door. She received no response. Without anymore delay, she kicked the door open. And she almost screamed. More in anger than shock.
Crumpled papers were scattered everywhere around the room. Kakashi was sitting in front of his desk, with his headband and his mask off, snoring while his face was buried in his arms.
Ara growled, approaching her brother. Without warning, she slammed her hand onto his back, causing him to jolted up awake.
Kakashi turned his head at his sister. Still sleepy, he didn't react.
"You jerk." She stated bluntly, as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the kitchen, "What is this? I came home from the Hokage Office, to see this?! What the hell did you do? You destroyed the whole kitchen! I had just cleaned it all yesterday! And you haven't even check yourself up to the hospital! I can clearly smell your blood!"
"A-Ara, I-.."
"I'm not done yet, Kakashi," she growled, "Check up your wounds, finish your mission report, and clean this up. I want you to cook dinner, or you will get my silent treatment. Oh, one more thing. Apologize to Tou-san."
"But Ara, you-..." Kakashi stopped talking when he saw his sister's glare. He sighed, taking a deep breath.
"Fine..." The older Hatake muttered, before he walked out of the room.
Ara sighed. Turning her attention back at the destroyed kitchen, she slammed her palm onto her forehead.
"Good thing he's still underage. Who knows what will happen when he's drunk." Ara muttered, before she entered her room, and slammed the door shut.
*/*\*/*\*
Kakashi entered the hospital, still frowning. He understands why Ara is mad. He has to admit that he really should have done her order's. It was for his own good, after all.
And now here he is, sitting in and empty room, waiting for a medic nin to check him up.
The door was suddenly slammed open.
"Aiko Morino, at your service!"
"... Aiko-san?"
"Ah, Hatake! What brings you here!"
"My sister scolds me and kick me out of the house."
The woman raised an eyebrow, before she bursted out laughing.
"I should have predicted that!" She said, before she approached him and starts healing his wounds.
"You know, when you have no parents, your sister would have her mother instincts kicked in sooner. She would be so overprotective. She would make sure that you eat properly, that you get enough sleep, and that you keep yourself healthy. But she would also scolds you for the tiniest mess you made. It's the proof that she cares about you. That's what my little brother said, at least."
"We're not related by blood. And she's younger than me. Besides, she never know her mother, just like me."
"That doesn't make any difference, Hatake. Sometimes a sister can be very selfless. That's why you must keep an eye on her." Aiko paused for a while, before she continued.
"Ara seemed like a good kid. I think you should listen to her. And make sure that she took care of herself. There you go, Hatake. It's all healed."
With that, the Morino left the room.
*/*\*/*\*
Kakashi entered the Hokage Office, his hands in his pockets. Without saying anything, he walked towards the Hokage, before he stopped right in front of his desk.
He stretched out his right hand, while he used his left hand to remove his ANBU mask.
"Okay, let's just make this as simple as possible. Peace treaty, Sensei?"
The Namikaze smiled, and shook his hand gently. "I never had a war against you, Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded, letting out a sigh. "Ara has some temper just like Kushina-san." He said, causing Minato to chuckle.
"She's a girl full of surprises. This morning she had just asked to participate in Jōnin Exam."
"... Figured." Kakashi muttered, "I'm participating, too. I want to be a captain."
"Alright." Minato muttered, as he wrote something, "Now, your mission report?"
*/*\*/*\*
"So, the scroll is stolen, the Daimyo and his family were almost dead, and all the other ANBUs in your team were heavily injured?"
"... Yes." Kakashi muttered.
Minato ran fingers through his hair. "... You're dismissed. And tell Ara I said thank you."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He gave his sensei a small nod, before he teleported away.
He appeared in front of his house. He grabbed the door handle, but he couldn't open the door. It was locked.
He rummaged through his pockets, to find his key missing.
"Sh*t." He muttered, "Ara, can you please open the door?" He asked, knocking wildly on the door.
No response.
He growled, before he teleported inside the house.
Ara was sitting upside down, sticking on the roof, reading a scroll, eating a lollipop.
"Uh... Ara? What are you doing there?"
"The floor's dirty." She replied.
He let out a sigh, staring at her with an 'are-you-serious' look.
"... And you just can't sit on the couch, or on the kitchen table, like how you usually do?"
"I won't disturb you in your work."
"What work do I have to-... Oh. Right." The older Hatake muttered in realization. He still has to clean up all the mess he made.
And that's what he did.
*/*\*/*\*
"You really need to improve your cooking skill." Ara calmly said, taking a sip of the soup, "This one has too much salt."
Kakashi groaned, slamming his palm onto his forehead. "And you're just a 6 years old..." He muttered, "Why do I even have to cook?"
"Well, I'm sure you won't have any girlfriend soon, and you can't always come to Kaa-san's place to eat. Besides, I won't be able to cook everyday for you."
"Why?"
She sighed, turning away. "I will be a shinobi. I will have missions, I can get injured. Anything can happen."
He bit his lip, his eyes showed many emotions that Ara couldn't decipher.
Finally, he exhaled, "You won't die before me... right?"
Ara's gaze soften. "No. I'll stay here. I promise you won't see my gravestone."
*/*\*/*\*
Konan unfolded the paper plane that had just flew into her room. She smiled softly, as she read the note on it.
Dear Nee-chan...
It's me. I know it has been, well, about two years. And I'm currently training. I will take part in the Jōnin Exam, which is on 1st October next year. So, I have about one year left to train. Can you come here? I need your help. Also, you might want to see my Aniki. Oh, one more thing. Can you ask your boyfriend (by the way, has he proposed to you yet?) to allow Saso-kun and Sharky to go with you, too? I have many things to show to the 3 of you.
From: your little raven
*/*\*/*\*
The blue-haired woman raised an eyebrow. "So, you think that my 'turn into paper thingy' is cool, and you want to do that, too?"
The six-years-old nodded.
"Konan has her papers. But what about you?" The redhead asked, still amused by the girl's idea.
The white-haired girl grinned. "I have metal. And metal can turn into many more things!"
Kisame grinned. "Alright, kiddo, let's turn you into a walking weaponstore." The shark-hybrid stated, smirking at his 'sister'.
*/*\*/*\*
It's more like a filler, I know... But believe me, you will need this calm-and-steady chapter before chapter 32.
I wrote that chapter for weeks, and there's a time when I even forget how to breath when I wrote that. The suspense... Believe me when I said that writing fighting scenes is far from easy...
Coming on Next Chapter:
The Jōnin Exam!
Whom will Ara be fighting against?
"Sh*t, the world's ending. The great Itachi Uchiha doesn't know something."~Hana
"I... forfeit..."
"See you at hospital! Hope they'll have enough bandages for you!" ~Aiko
Next chapter coming on 4th August!