Chapter 2

"Wake up Ayame," Kurenai said softly, shaking me. I jumped awake, almost smacking her in the face while doing so. I steadied myself, holding onto the desk I'd been leaning against. "Kakashi wants you to go with him on his team's mission today. You'll have to be tested to see what level ninja you'd be, but that'll be another day. For now, they'll assume you're a genin."

I nodded, knowing I would at least be chunin, if not jounin when I tested. My mother was one of the most renowned ninjas in Konaha before she left there with me. She's been training me ever since I was small, for my self defense, not to go out and pick fights. I guess this would be a way for Father and me to become close maybe? I don't know. It's probably a lost cause. "Don't look so sad. His students are the same age as you, so I'm sure you'll have fun making new friends! And I'll be out on missions with my squad too, so if you don't get along with them, you can come with me!" she tried to keep upbeat. I just nodded, and once she left I got dressed in ninja worthy clothes. Just some plain navy blue pants and a light blue t shirt. I let my hair out of my pigtails and brushed it quickly, clipping it back with a blue hair clip.

Once I was ready, Father and I walked silently, side by side, out of the apartment building. I looked around Konaha, since I had come at night and didn't really notice the small town. It was cute and cozy, like I could like it here, if it wasn't under these circumstances. As we walked to the bridge where the squad met up, the silence became unbearable for my father. "So…you've grown," he said awkwardly.

"People tend to do that in six years," I answered back coldly.

"Right…" he mumbled. That was the end of our conversation. As the bridge came into view, I saw the rest of his squad. There was a pink haired girl, who looked like she was swooning over this moody looking raven haired boy, and some blonde kid in an overly bright jumpsuit, talking about something that neither of them was listening to. I wasn't sure what to think.

"Hi Kakashi sensei!" The pink hair girl said, and then she turned to me and looked me up and down a few times. "Who is this Sensei?"

"Team, I'd like you to meet our new member, Ayame. Ayame, this is Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto," he said. They all let out a chorus of "hi". I nodded and followed them as we walked to receive our mission.

"I've never seen you before. Are you new?" Sakura said, linking her arm in mine, like we'd be "besties".

"Sort of. I lived here a long time ago, when I was little," I said quietly. She was grinning from ear to ear, like she was excited to have any other female in this squad.

"That's neat! Say, I hate to sound rude, but are you related to Kakashi sensei? You look very similar!"

"Yes, he's my father," I said back. Suddenly, a kind of silence dropped over everyone. I guess they didn't know I existed. That wasn't surprising though.

"Oh," she said, still having her arm linked in mine. "Well that's neat! Are you a ninja in a different village then?"

"Not exactly… I'm not really certified…" I began before I was interrupted by a really tall man in a green jumpsuit. Standing next to him was a boy who looked like he was an exact clone, as if he'd spawned from him or something.

"Kakashi, I think the challenge this time should be..." The tall weirdo began.

"No challenges today Guy. I'm busy," my father said back. The clone weirdo was staring at me, to the point where I wanted to hide behind the father who wouldn't even admit I was his.

"Oh! Is that Ayame?" Guy asked, staring at me like the Guy clone had been. "Wow, she's a tall one isn't she? That's surprising since her lovely mother had been so short. What brings her here?"

"Miku passed away," he said simply, as if it were nothing. Guy looked more upset than my father ever did, but it passed quickly.

"Well I'm sure she trained Ayame very well. She seems like she's strong. Maybe even stronger than Rock Lee," Guy said, putting his hand on the shoulder of his clone. Was that his son?

"I'm not sure. I wouldn't know." Of course he wouldn't know. He wasn't there.

"Sensei, how about I challenge Ayame to a challenge instead! We could become rivals, just like you and Kakashi sensei!" Rock Lee said excitedly. I didn't like the sound of spending anytime with him, even if it was in a rivalry.

"That sounds like a splendid idea Lee! But, I'm not sure your rivalry would be fair. After all, she hasn't had the intense training you've had….and," he paused, but he didn't need to say what everyone knew he was thinking. And I was a girl. Not the perfect rival that my brother would've been.

"I accept your challenge. What is it?" I said, determined. Lee closed his eyes, as if he was thinking and then snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

"I challenge you to a battle. First one down loses," he said, staring up at his teacher, smiling.

"Deal," I said before anyone could interject. We all went to the practice field and stood on apposing sides.

"Alright, now let's have a fair fight," Guy said, standing between us. As he stood there pep talking Lee, I realized something. This was my chance to prove myself to my father. I could prove that I'm just as good of a ninja as Amaya would've been, maybe even better. I could show him that I'm not useless, that I'm not invisible. "One, two, three, go!" He called, waving his hand. The fight began and I blurred out. I follow all of the things that my mother grained into my instincts. I didn't even know what happened until I heard Guy yelling. "STOP STOP! AYAME!" he yelled. Father grabbed my shoulders and yanked me back. My eyes unblurred and I saw the curled up Guy clone lying in the grass. I had blood all over my knuckles.

Guy helped Lee to his feet. "A perfect rival indeed," he mumbled, wiping the blood off his chin. "You may have one this time, but next time I will be victorious!" Lee cheered, standing because he was leaning against his sensei. My father was still holding my shoulders, the closest thing he's ever done to showing affection. Guy and Lee went off, probably to the hospital to get him fixed up. I was still staring at my knuckles.

"Are you alright Ayame?" my father asked as he let go of my shoulders. I nodded and we walked on, to the place where we received missions.

"THAT WAS SO COOL! YOU WERE ALL POW BAM KICK! AND LEE WAS ALL OUCH NOOOOOO!" Naruto cheered and praised as we walked. Sakura looped her arm back through mine again.

"We need someone like you on our team, to make up for having a goof like Naruto on it!" she jabbed at the blonde ninja. They quarreled until we got our mission and headed out. We had to go deliver mail. My father said he was going to sit this one out and stick around there, probably to see Kurenai. Sasuke and Sakura went together to deliver the north side of Konaha's mail, which left me with the hyper blondie on the south side.

We walked out of the offices and started delivering the mail to different houses and apartment buildings. He was still raving about how cool I was. I didn't even notice when he'd stopped talking since it'd just become background noise after a while. I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't touched my shoulder. "Hey, are you ok? You seem out of it," he said, showing true concern through his blue eyes.

I nodded. "Yea, I'm ok. Just a lot has changed. Just last month I was living somewhere completely different with my mother. Now my mother's dead and I'm living with my father that I haven't seen in six years," I said, and then instantly regretted. "Sorry, that's not really your concern."

"Oh! No, its fine. That makes everything make more sense. And I understand. My parents are dead too. At least you have a cool dad like Kakashi sensei," he smiled. I nodded, not wanting to talk anymore. We delivered the last of the mail in plenty of time. "Hey, how about we go get some ramen? My treat," he said, grinning.

"Sure, but I'll pay for myself," I said, as he grabbed my arm and rushed me over to a ramen restaurant. He pulled me onto one of the bar stools and sat next to me.

"Two ramens please!" he said to the chef, who went to work making our ramen. I didn't even realize how hungry I was until I smelled the ramen. I haven't eaten since breakfast two days ago. The chef set two ramens in front of us, we thanked him, and then I began to eat ravenously. I didn't even notice Naruto staring at me until I had finished eating. He blushed and started eating his own ramen. I got myself a tea, since we were there.

"I think you'll really like it here Ayame," he said after he inhaled his ramen. "It can be a fun place."

"I hope so," I said, watching my tea get cold. Suddenly I felt two hands grab my shoulders.

"Hey Ayame! Sorry for having to leave you with this loser, but I wanted to hang out with Sasuke. You understand right?" Sakura said while I tried to calm back down after her startling me so badly.

"I am not a loser Sakura!" Naruto yelled back, his face red. Sasuke was standing quietly near Sakura. There was no way he liked her.

"Are we done for the day?" I asked, really just wanting to go home.

"Well, we're supposed to go report to sensei, but if you're tired you can head home. We'll tell him where you went," Sakura said. I nodded, paid for my ramen and tea, and went home. When I got there, my furniture was in my room, bed made and everything. Kurenai had left a note on my dresser, but I didn't want to read it right now. I just collapsed on my bed and cried myself to sleep.