Tausha Matsumoto is a beautiful and strong kunoichi who simply wants to have fun and live a normal life with her beloved husband-to-be.  Kohana Kurayami is a lonely, young exile who just wants to help her precious person and do the right thing for once.  When these two meet under unfortunate circumstances, something is bound to happen.  Can Kohana show Tausha, who still bears a deep hate for Akatsuki, that a book shouldn't be judged by it's cover, or rather, cloak?  And can Tausha be the friend that Kohana needs?  And gain the respect of the dark and reclusive Freya while she's at it?  Is it considered betrayal if it's to help your new friend?

Tausha grinned happily as she pocketed her now much lighter wallet, and picked up her bags.  She took off down the street towards her home with a cheerful bounce in her step.  She knew that she must look silly, but she really didn't care at the moment.  She also knew that what she did was irresponsible, but again, the Suna kunoichi couldn't bring herself to care.

'I can't believe it!  Gaara...he...proposed to me!  This calls for celebration!'  The large grin on the 18-year old's face widened further and she giggled happily at the memory of the previous evening.  She was in a good mood, and nothing was going to ruin her day or keep her from partying like crazy.  She had just just spent nearly all of her latest paycheck on two bags worth of sake and all kinds of other alcohols, specifically for a special celebration.  And she intended to party hard.  After Gaara was done with his paper work, she planned on going back to visit him so they could celebrate together.

The young kazekage had proposed to her under the beautiful night sky in the most romantic place in Suna.  Unfortunately, he'd been very busy for the rest of the night, and up until now, but he had promised to take Tausha out for a romantic dinner as soon as he was done with all his paperwork.  After that, Tausha planned on them drinking the rest of the night away, together.  She resisted the urge to do a happy dance as she neared her home.

The brunette stopped suddenly and looked up when she felt an unfamiliar wet substance hit her.  “Rain?” she concluded, puzzled.  “That's odd.  It almost never rains here...  I wonder if it's a bad omen?”  She shrugged slightly and quickened her pace as the rain increased.  Not even the very rare rain was going to bring her down.

It didn't take her long to reach her door, and she shifted her bags to one hand so she could open the door.  Absentmindedly, she swung open her door and stepped inside, turning to shut it.  What she saw when she turned back to face her living room shocked her, causing her to drop her 'precious cargo,' and she let out a small squeak of surprise.

A strange, young girl with short red hair was lounging on her couch with her feet rudely propped up on the coffee table.  She was reading what looked like a romance manga, and had a rather curious look on her face.  Her single emerald eye had a weird glint in it, and there was a stick of strawberry pocky sticking lazily out of her mouth.  Perched on her shoulder was an odd ...thing, that looked somewhat like a round, white hamster.  

Tausha's eyes skimmed over the girl before noticing what the girl was wearing.  An Akatsuki cloak, which looked like it was a bit too large.  The hamster-like object made a mechanical squeaking sound, and Tausha narrowed her eyes as the girl looked up.

The girl (who Tausha was certain was an enemy) grinned childishly before setting the manga down and shoving the rest of the pocky stick into her mouth.  She licked her lips with a content smile before swinging her legs off the table and getting up.  Tausha immediately tensed and took a step back.

“Oh good!  Tausha-san is back!” the girl said happily.  “And Kohana is sorry, Kohana didn't mean to scare Tausha-san,” she added as an afterthought.  The sand-nin blinked, slightly confused.  How did this...girl know her name, and who was she?  Her hands instantly flew to her weapon pouches when the girl hopped over the low table and took a step towards her, and a second later, a kunai embedded itself in the wall behind the intruder.  The projectile's path was purposely a mere few millimeters off target, and the girl put a gloved hand to her cheek, gingerly touching the shallow, slightly bleeding cut.

To her surprise, instead of drawing a weapon of her own, the girl backed up and waved her hands in front of her face in a defensive manner, with a worried look on her face.  In fact, she almost looked like she was about to cry.

“Oh no, please do not get mad!  Kohana does not want you to hurt her!  Kohana only wants to talk to Tausha-san!”  

Tausha's eyes hardened with suspicion, but she lowered her hands, nevertheless.  She still remained tense and alert, ready to draw another weapon if needed.

“Who are you?” she bit out icily.  “And what are you doing in my home?”

The girl looked surprised for a moment, but the grin quickly returned to her features.  Tausha briefly wondered if it was possible for the girl to do anything else.  The girl clapped her hands together and hastily bowed a few times before speaking.

“Ah!  Kohana is an idiot!  Please forgive Kohana!  Kohana is still learning these 'manners!'  Kohana is Kohana!”  She faltered for a second before correcting herself.  “Er...I mean....I am Kohana!  And this is Dango-chan!” she beamed, gesturing to the robotic pet on her shoulder.  The girl, now identified as Kohana, grinned again.  “Will Tausha-san talk with K...me now?”  Tausha raised an eyebrow at Kohana's odd behavior.  

Tausha really didn't trust the girl at all, but she figured it would be best to play along for now, lest she somehow anger Kohana.  Even though she seemed innocent and harmless enough, Tausha had no idea what Kohana could do, and she had learned never to underestimate her opponent.  After all, this was an Akatsuki she was dealing with.  

“Um, alright?” she replied, choosing her words carefully.  “Kohana, was it?  Since you already seem to know me, I don't have to introduce myself.”  She smirked slightly.  “I'm honored that someone of the legendary Akatsuki has heard of me.”

Kohana closed her eyes and smiled.  “Yep, I have been studying hard before my mission!  Onee-sama told me 'learn all you can about our target,' so I did!” She nodded after her explanation, proud of herself.  

Mission?  Target?  Tausha's heart began to beat faster in her chest, and the natural shinobi paranoia started to creep into her system.  Just what did Akatsuki want with her?  She eyed the hyper redhead with suspicion.  Her gaze then traveled across the room, judging her position and planning an attack or escape route.

“And....just what is it that you wish to....speak to me about?”

Kohana rubbed the back of her neck with her hand and laughed nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.  “Oh!  Well, Kohana has a very important question to ask Tausha-san!” She paused for a moment, and at Tausha's silence, she continued.  “May....may I kidnap you?”

Tausha's shot up to meet Kohana's innocently happy one.  Her entire body tensed.  “W...what?” she managed to whisper out.  Her eyes widened when she sensed a weak, but deadly presence behind her, and noticed a white blur out of the corner of her eye.  All too suddenly, she felt an intense pain in her back, and the last thing she was aware of before darkness claimed her was the surprised face of Kohana.

The girl's body fell to the floor and Kohana looked up at the attacker.  She frowned.  “Onee-sama, that wasn't necessary!”

A large, white demon wolf stepped out from behind the attacker, surveying the scene.  “Calm down, Kohana-san,” the wolf said gently, “Freya-chan didn't harm her.”

Freya frowned and took a step away from Tausha's body, as if disgusted.  “Imouto, when you are trying to kidnap someone, you don't ask for their permission.” she hissed lowly.  

“Kohana was trying to be polite!” the younger girl retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

Freya sighed in annoyance and knelt down next to Tausha.  “You're too naïve.  It's going to get you killed one day,” she muttered, feeling around until she touched one of the bags Tausha had been carrying.  With one fluid motion, she pulled out one of the bottles and pulled the cork out.  The blind kunoichi sniffed the contents of the bottle before smirking slightly and taking a long sip.  The wolf growled softly in displeasure, but otherwise did nothing.

“Onee-sama, what the hell are you doing!?  This isn't the time to be drinking!” Kohana pointed an accusing finger at Freya, who ignored her and promptly took another drink from the sake bottle.  “And didn't anyone every teach you that it wasn't nice to take other people's things?”  The girl blinked.  “How can you drink that stuff anyway?”

Freya simply sighed once more, and rose to her feet.  She turned around and lightly smacked her sister on the head with her free hand, making the girl yelp.  “You'll understand when you're older, kiddo.  Now come on, let's go before someone catches us.  I'm tired.”  With one arm, she scooped up Tausha's limp body and flung her towards Kohana.

“Here, take her.”

Kohana squeaked and caught the body, being very careful not to hurt the brunette.  “Onee-sama!  Why can't you carry Tausha-san!  You're taller!”

Freya raised an amused eyebrow at her sister.  “Simple.  Because this whole thing was your idea to begin with.  Not to mention, if I carry any extra weight, it will slow us down.”

“Well what about Eclipse, then?” the girl demanded, gesturing to the wolf standing patiently next to Freya.

“Eclipse is a wolf, not a pack mule.  This was not her idea, and it was not her decision to come, therefore she should have no part in this.  Now put that nice, pretty little body of yours to work.  You could use the work,” she replied snidely.  “And don't forget to destroy any evidence that shows you were here.”

Kohana gaped at her older sister's retreating back, and her face heated up in anger.  She grabbed her manga and box of pocky before carefully adjusting her 'captive' on her back and darting clumsily after the older woman and her pet.  

“Onee-sama!  I hate you!”

--

Consciousness slowly returned to Tausha, but she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to wake up yet.  Funny, she didn't remember ever going to bed last night.  Nor did she remember her bed being this...well, hard...and cold.  She heard the faint sounds of chains clinking and finally she realized she wasn't in her room anymore.  The events in her living room came back to her, and she almost groaned at her foolishness.  What would Gaara think of it?  The kunoichi remained still, attempting to feign sleep and analyze her surroundings.

“So Matsumoto-san is awake.”

Well, screw feigning sleep, then.  She slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to get her vision to focus.  Tausha then pulled her body into a sitting position, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through her when she moved.  Her weapons had been confiscated, but her chakra still remain, which surprised her.  Looking around the dark room, she was able to discern that she was in a prison cell, probably underground somewhere, judging from the dark and musty feel to it.  She had been lying on the stone floor, but thankfully she wasn't restrained.

Tausha then looked over to where the voice had come from.  She had half expected to see Kohana, but the voice was too monotone and polite to belong to the cheerful girl.  Instead, she saw another woman who looked to be a few years older than herself, sitting lazily against the wall.  Her long white hair was spread all over the dungeon floor, as if she just didn't care enough to keep it all together.  She was wearing a cloak like the one Kohana had, but Tausha was still able to see the chains wrapped around the woman's arms, legs, and neck, and she was intrigued by them.  Lying next to her was a beautiful, snow colored wolf with blue markings on its face, seemingly asleep.  The woman held a book in her gloved hand, and her grayish-white eyes stared blankly at the pages, uncaring.

How the girl could see to read in this horrible, dark dungeon was beyond her, and Tausha found herself voicing the question without meaning to.  She half expected the woman to get angry, although she didn't see a reason to be.  Tausha had no idea how Akatsuki treated their prisoners, and she didn't want to do anything that would provoke the woman in front of her.

To her relief, however, the woman simply gave an amused smirk and raised an eyebrow at the sand nin's question.  Slowly, she tilted the book until Tausha could make out the small, but unmistakable dots of braille.  

“I can't.”

“Oh.”  Tausha blinked, and she felt a slight blush appear on her cheeks.  “Um, sorry,” she mummbled, averting her gaze.  She froze, wondering if the woman would kill her for saying something that could have potentially just offended her.  Although this woman didn't have near the amount of chakra Kohana (or any normal shinobi, for that matter) had, it was obvious she was much more dangerous, and Tausha really didn't want to find out what she could do.

Five minutes passed by in awkward silence, and it was starting to make Tausha nervous.  She found herself wishing for conversation, anything to end this damn silence.  But something told her the woman in front of her wasn't much of a talkative person.  After all, she hadn't really done anything to instigate a conversation, or show that she was interested in talking at all.  She'd made no move to introduce herself, so Tausha didn't bother asking, figuring the kunoichi would just continue to ignore her.  Criminals didn't really seem like the type of people to randomly give away personal information or start conversations.

So she let her mind wonder, and she began to question what exactly Akatsuki wanted her for.  Being the girlfriend of a former jinchuuriki, Tausha had learned a little about this organization.  She didn't have a demon inside her, and as far as she knew, she didn't have a super amazing bloodline limit.  She was broken out of her pondering by sound of shifting fabric and moving chains, and the woman's dull voice.

“Kohana was the one who brought you here.”  Tausha looked up to see that the quiet woman had closed the book and risen to her feet, and was staring at her with that creepy blind gaze.  “And before you ask, Akatsuki wants nothing to do with you.  This is my sister's own personal task.  The idea of kidnapping you was entirely my imouto's idea, so I don't feel as if I have the right to disclose the full details of your capture.  That I will leave to her, since everything about this...mission, if you will, was planned by Imouto.”

Freya gave her captive a serious look.  “You are a key to making this mission a success for Kohana.  Therefore,” her eyes narrowed, “I would advise you to be very cooperative here.  It is in your best interest to do as my imouto asks, or there will be certain...consequences to pay.”  She turned as if planning to leave, but was stopped by an outburst from the Sand kunoichi.

“Are you serious!?  So you expect me to just sit back and do whatever Kohana says?  I'm not stupid!  I know what Akatsuki does...what it did to Gaara...” she yelled harshly, but the last part came out as a whisper.  “Who the hell does your sister think she is?!  Like I'd betray my village by taking orders from a criminal!  She must be more stupid than I first thought!” she shouted back in response, glaring daggers at the older kunoichi.  

However, Tausha regretted those words almost as soon as they left her lips.  She saw the Akatsuki kunoichi visibly tense, and she felt the deadly aura coming from her.  She knew then that she'd said the wrong thing.  Still, she couldn't help but be surprised when less than half a second later, she found herself pinned rather violently to the wall.  She withheld a shiver when she felt the cold metal of chains wrapping tightly around her body.

Freya's grip tightened around the brown-haired kunoichi's neck and Tausha gasped softly.  She felt herself being lifted off the ground until she was face to face with Freya's angry glare.  

“You should...” the older woman began, slowly leaning forward until her lips were right next to Tausha's ear.  “...learn to watch that pretty little mouth of yours, girl,” she hissed softly, voice laced with malice.

Tausha forced herself to keep still as Freya's hand left her neck, and traveled up to her cheek, and over her face.  Her gloved hand then made its way back down over the rest of her body, feeling every detail.  The sand kunoichi twitched angrily, her face flushing in anger.  Because of the restraints, she couldn't move her hands to use her chakra needles.  

'Calm down,' she told herself.  'She's not feeling you up.  She's blind.  She's just trying to see you.  Don't you dare try and attack her.  Wait until the right moment!'

“Tausha Matsumoto,” Freya whispered quietly, seeming to be out of breath.  “Brown hair, blue eyes...Born January 21, age 18...Suna Jounin...Fiancé to the kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara...no?”  She remained still for a moment, before slowly pulling away, leaving Tausha suspended in the air by the chains.  Tausha blinked, happy to be able to breath again, even though Freya stood no more than two feet away, yet she could still clearly see the anger in the woman's eyes.

“What you saw in your living room was true.  My imouto is generally a very kind and understanding person...She does not belong here.  However....” she paused to cough lightly.  “Please understand that this mission is very important to Kohana, and she will do anything she can to make it a success.  And you, Matsumoto-san...are a crucial player...  Despite her...rather innocent personality...I cannot guarantee your safety...or survival, should you choose to...provoke her...by refusing, that is...”

Tausha opened her mouth to retort, but when she noticed the twisted smirk on Freya's now-bloody lips, her would-be brave response came out as a small whisper.  “I...can't...”  There was no way she would ever do anything they asked of her.  

“Of course, if you are still not willing...I myself have ways to...encourage you otherwise...  I wouldn't be above using my own...methods...or torture, if you will...”  The woman leaned forward once more, and her hand ghosted over Tausha's cheek before it grasped her chin and forced her to make eye contact.  Tausha felt a sense of slight fear and déja-vu come over her as Freya put her blood-covered lips to her ear once more.

“And I certainly wouldn't want to harm that pretty little body of yours...” she whispered in a sinister, but barely audible voice.

The prison door was suddenly thrust open none-too-gently, and a dim light flooded into the room, and a figure stepped into the room.  “Onee-sama, let Tausha-san go,” Kohana growled angrily.  Tausha's eyes darted to where Kohana stood, and she was able to see the angry half pout, half glare on the girl's face.  She closed the door, more gently this time, and took a step towards them, arms crossed over her chest.

“As you wish, little sister.”  Freya grinned slightly and pulled away, but not before murmuring a final warning into the younger kunoichi's ear.  “Well, the choice is yours, Matsumoto-san.  Hmm...?”  She gave Tausha a playful pat on the head, but otherwise made no move to release the sand ninja from her chains.  Tausha gave her an odd, slightly disgusted face before turning her attention back to Kohana.

“Freya, release her,” she hissed in a deadly, warning tone.  The chains gave off a dangerous spark, and Freya winced and gave off a loud, pained hiss, though Tausha felt no pain.  The metal bindings unwrapped themselves from the brunette and retreating to their original position around Freya's arms and legs, causing Tausha to drop gracefully back to the floor.  The blind kunoichi immediately leaped back, panting.

Kohana frowned.  “Onee-sama, what the hell were you doing to my captive?  Kohana told you to watch her, not hit on her!  She doesn't share your sexual preferences, Onee-sama.”

“I was merely helping you out, Imouto,” Freya reasoned.  However, this only seemed to fuel Kohana's anger, and the two sisters began arguing with each other.  While the two were busy throwing insults at one another, Tausha grinned inwardly and discretely prepared chakra for her prized needle burst.  Seeing her chance, the skilled kunoichi lunged forward, drawing back her hand for an attack, reasoning that the smart thing to do would be to go for the weaker one, Freya, first.

Freya spun around just in time to dodge an extremely damaging blow, and instead Tausha's needle-like chakra stabbed into her shoulder.  Freya's eyes widened very slightly and she made a small noise of pain.  Freya's tall figure nearly threw Tausha off balance, but she was able to avoid falling over.  With a smirk of satisfaction on her face, she yanked her arm back, causing Freya to stumble a few steps back.

“Onee-sama!” Kohana yelled, a small trace of concern detectable in her voice, and she ran forward to steady her sister.  “Is Onee-sama okay?”

“Goddamn clever brat,” Freya murmured before falling backwards, only to be caught by her little sister.  

Tausha hardly had time do anything else, because less than a second later, a strong force collided with, knocking the air out of her, and she toppled to the floor.  She heard a angry growl, and looked up to see the wolf that had been sleeping in the corner on top of her, effectively pining her to the floor.  The wolf growled again, baring its teeth, and Tausha froze, not sure what to do.  This was certainly unexpected.  

“Whoa, easy there,” she cooed nervously, trying desperately to figure out a way to escape with all her limbs.  Fortunately, the problem was resolved for her.

“Eclipse...stop it...”

Tausha turned to look towards Freya, who had risen to her feet, with Kohana still holding on to her, and had a rather disturbing smirk on her face.

Eclipse also turned to look towards her master with a concerned look on her face.  “Freya-chan, are you alright?” she asked gently, still not moving off of Tausha.  “This human...hurt you.  You should let me punish her,” Eclipse snarled, nudging at Tausha.

Tausha frowned, but refrained from saying anything.  She figured she was already in enough trouble, as it is.  'Punish me?  I did nothing wrong!  I don't have any reason to be nice to these criminals!  You stupid talking mutt, just wait until I get my hands on you!'

Freya laughed softly and shook her head.  She pulled out of her sister's grip and stumbled a few steps towards the door.  “I'm fine, Imouto,” she told the girl.  “Eclipse, I'm just fine.  I've felt worse pain.  Save your anger for if she tries to harm Imouto.  Now come on,” she urged gently, beckoning the wolf over.  “Let's not interfere with Kohana's plans anymore.

Eclipse gave a final growl before jumping off of the stunned kunoichi and following loyally after her master.  Freya rested her hand on the handle of the door, pulled it open, and turned to look back at Kohana.  “Imouto, you've got yourself quite a fine kunoichi here.  I've already warned her, but you should be careful with her.”  Just after the last words left her lips, the blind kunoichi began coughing harshly, and a thin trail of blood fell from the corners of her mouth.  Tausha nearly blushed at the compliment, before she realized just who was saying it.  

“Onee-sama!  Now what are you doing?” the red-head demanded, concerned, though trying not to show it.

Freya grinned and wiped the blood away with one swift motion.  “Me?  I'm going to get drunk...and...maybe make a few extra dollars, of course.”  Both Tausha and Kohana's faces twisted into a disgusted look, except Kohana looked angrier.  But Freya was already out of the room by the time the kunai embedded itself into the door, where her head had been just seconds earlier.  They could hear her soft laughing, and Kohana pouted angrily.  She crossed her arms over her chest and sulked, with her back turned to Tausha.  The sand kunoichi was mildly surprised.  What kind of ninja would turn their back to an enemy?

“Onee-sama!  Kohana was worried about you!” she yelled after her sister.  Tausha looked around her nervously, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the events that just occurred.  She decided that she really didn't want to be stuck here with Kohana, who, for some reason, freaked her out more than Freya had.  She briefly wondered if she had enough chakra for another needle burst.  

'What the hell...'  She shrugged inwardly.  'May as well give it a shot.  After all, if I can at least paralyze her, I think I have a good chance of escaping.'  She flexed her hand and felt the familiar rush of chakra that created the needle-like extensions on her fingers.  With chakra needles on her right hand she dashed forward with chakra-induced speed and appeared directly behind Kohana, once again preparing for an attack.

The girl tensed, and, at the last minute, spun around with a wide eye.  Dango-chan, who until now had been silent, squeaked loudly and leaped away from the two.  Kohana's hand darted out and grabbed the offending hand before it could reach her, and yanked it to the side, holding it high above her head.  

“Damn it!”  Tausha scowled and began creating a second needle burst in her left hand, but before she could finish it, a second red-gloved hand shot out and tightly grabbed her own, holding it down and out of the way.  A black chakra sparked where Kohana held Tausha's hand, and the brunette winced from the stinging pain it caused.  She cursed silently when she realized that she could no longer mold chakra into that hand.  Tausha looked up and met the shocked and worried face of Kohana.

“Don't do that!” the girl hissed, her single green eye wide with...fear?  “Sorry for this, but Kohana does not like needles!”  Dango-chan had returned to her master's shoulder and was repeating the phrase 'not like, not like' over and over with a frown on its face.

“Let me go!” the Suna jounin growled threateningly as she attempted to free her hand.  “I'm not going to help you!”  She gasped when she mistakenly made eye contact with the red-head, and was met with not only one emerald-green eye, but also a strange demonic one.  The hair covering the eye had been pushed aside, and the bandages that had been wrapped around her face had fallen off, and hung loosely from her shoulders.  The eye had a black sclera and a thin red iris, with a diagonal scar going across it, and two dark green markings right underneath, on her right cheek.  The room turned black for a moment and felt as if it were spinning, and all she could see was a glowing pair of mismatched eyes.

“Fukaikan...” she heard a voice say softly, in a dreamlike tone.

And all of a sudden, Tausha was pulled back to the real world.  She broke away from Kohana's gaze, panting.  She couldn't feel any of her chakra anymore, and she sighed, not knowing what to do, defeated.  Gaara would be so disappointed if he knew she fell for something like this.  The girl was broken out of her thoughts when she heard Kohana speak, and she lifted her head to look at the redhead, but avoiding direct eye contact.

“Tausha-san...” she began slowly, also looking unsure of herself.  Suddenly, Kohana's face broke out into a wide grin.  “Did you like that?” she asked excitedly, as if she were a child asking their parents for a reward.  “Kohana is not good at genjutsu, but she is still practicing!  Kohana has been trying to perfect that technique for a long time, but she can never get very far!”

Tausha's eyes widened in astonishment.  What the hell was this girl going on about?  “Of course I didn't enjoy that!  You just attacked me!  Now let...go...of...me!”

Kohana's grin disappeared, and she pouted.  But in a few seconds, the pout faded and she was left with a slight frown.  “Tausha-san...you hurt my onee-sama...and you tried to hurt me...” she said sadly, and Tausha nodded.

“But...Kohana will let go of you...if you promise not to try and attack Kohana again...and just hear me out.”  The unsure look returned to Kohana's face, and Tausha thought she could see sadness in the girl's eyes.  “Please?”

Tausha sighed again, and her head dropped in defeat.  After all, what more could she do?  “Alright,” she mumbled quietly.  “I'll hear you out...”

Kohana was silent for a moment, before slowly releasing her grip on Tausha's hands, and immediately backing up, as if she expected to be attacked.  When Tausha made no move to harm her, the frown instantly disappeared, and a wide grin blossomed onto her face once more.  She quickly rewrapped the bandages around her eye and nodded happily.  “Great!” she squealed childishly.  “But Kohana does not like this prison cell, so we'll talk somewhere else!”  In an instant, Kohana had grabbed Tausha's hand, and was pulling her down a stone hallway, out of the horrible dungeon.  Tausha was worried about running into other criminals, but fortunately, Kohana seemed to know how to avoid them.

“Whoa, wait!  Not so fast!” Tausha warned the overly excited girl.  “It's dark in here, you're gonna-”

THUD

Tausha winced.  “Fall...” she finished.  On the ground, Kohana's eye quickly filled with tears, and she sniffed.  Her little robotic hamster nuzzled her face, trying to comfort her, but to no avail.

“Kohana...does not like this cloak...It's too big!”  Her bottom lip began to quiver and soon after, she started wailing loudly.  Tausha hung her head again, sighing.  How did she get stuck in a situation like this?  And how did she manage to get captured by such an idiot?

'What an odd girl...  Maybe she really doesn't belong here...with a bunch of deadly criminals...'