Title: Affirmation

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

So it turns out that Aya was only descendant of one of the longest lines of ninja prodigy clans known to mankind. This certainly explained her capacity to grow and propensity to excel. However, even given this special cookie of divulgence, Sakura was still unsatisfied. Somehow, Aya being an "Uchiha" simply did not suffice as an explanation for her overall level of competence.

After all, Sasuke was also a member of the Uchiha clan and his genes had gotten him to a high pedal stone of recognition and power, but the rest of his abilities would still take years to develop.

Sakura tried her best to avoid glancing over at Aya too much. It was rude; Aya had already told her far more information than she bothered to tell anyone thus far. Besides, it would be a dead giveaway to the fact that for the past half hour Sakura had been mulling over this new revelation. Unfortunately, her tactics of discretion were in vain, because Aya subsequently called her on it.

"I know what you're thinking." Aya inhaled deeply. "I'd just believe it and move on, Sakura. There are a lot of people out there who wish it wasn't true, namely family, that I was born from a different family or perhaps not at all." Looking up, Aya shielded her eyes from the setting sun and made a face. "We should keep going. It's getting dark."

"Wait—" Sakura stopped Aya by sidestepping in front of her, a concerned look on her face. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here? You're already so powerful, and you're teamed up by someone who you just suggested wouldn't wish for your existence. Isn't it painful?"

Aya smiled gently at Sakura. "That is asking a little bit much. But I don't mind." Grabbing onto Sakura's wrist gently, the two of them began walking again. "I have something I want to tell the world. I want them to know my name, and my face, and my abilities. Essentially, I'd like to tell my clan 'suck it!' for not believing in me."

"But the Uchiha clan was…" Sakura began, but thought better of it. "Sasuke is of the Uchiha clan, why is it that he doesn't even recognize your name or acknowledge that he even has a sister?"

"Probably because he just never knew I existed. When Itachi killed our family, he took me with him when we left. I was a notoriety among the previous generation—I know for sure my parents went through great lengths to keep me a secret, even from Itachi. Now, if you don't mind, enough of this topic."

"Itachi trained you, right? Is that why you're so powerful? I can only presume that genetics have some limit to your power. Am I right?'

Aya giggled. "My parents do have something to do with my… well, reservoir, so-to-speak. "Don't worry, come the Final Exam, you'll know the truth." Indeed, along with the rest of Konoha. This was the agreement she and Itachi had made together. How she loved the idea of the spotlight.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Hearing Sasuke's yells of pain were nearly unbearable. Covering her own seal painfully, Anko crouched down quietly on the ground and bit her lip to distract herself from the pain. Suddenly, two arms were around her, and helping her back onto her feet.

"Anko, are you alright?" Kakashi asked, setting her against the stool and tilting her chin up. "Do you need to be examined?"

"No." Anko replied curtly, since short sentences were about all she could manage. "The boy. Is he okay?"

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the room in which Naruto had been resting. "He's… fine. There's something peculiar about the seal on his stomach, but the fox is still constrained and Naruto seems to be just fine. Just tired."

"What?" Anko asked bitterly, her eyebrows furrowing together. "That boy isn't important! I'm talking about Sasuke—he's got a ten percent chance of survival and you are talking to me about the Nine-tails de—"

"—Keep in mind that this is my subordinate you're talking about," Kakashi interjected tersely. "You and I have been comrades a long time now, but I will not let it go easily if you insult him."

Anko leaned back and gave a sigh. "You're right, I'm sorry. This whole thing with Orochimaru finding a new host is making me tense."

"Naruto doesn't seem like much, but over the short time I've been watching over him, he's proven to be a very important person to Sasuke. If it hadn't been for him, I doubt Sasuke would've been nearly as important to Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke… they feed off each other."

"True. At least these two had some purpose. When I got there, Sakura was too afraid to even move."

Kakashi looked over at her inquisitively. "And the other girl? Aya, what was she doing?"

"She… wasn't harmed. Orochimaru tried to bite her neck, but because she'd already witnessed him bite Sasuke she was unreasonably fast with her reflexes given her age." Anko held her chin up with her fist pensively. "You'd think she'd been in battle before, given the way that she moved. You can't mould moves like that working with a tree."

"Wait, you're saying that Orochimaru targeted her, yet you didn't feel the need to bring her here?"

"That is exactly what happened. This girl is strong, crazy strong. And I don't know what she wants. With all the flattery she must feel from being given a B-rank mission, being trained specially under you, and being favourably incorporated into this year's Chuunin exam, I find no need to give her a swelled head. Besides, the forest is littered with ANBU members. He won't come after her twice."

This was true. Aya seemed too modest to see the type to get a swelled head so easily, but Orochimaru would probably not come after her again. Besides, if Aya was as good of a ninja as the two of them had evaluated, then she should be able to protect herself in an area filled with high rank ninja.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Five days later, there were quite a bit of people still left in the running. Sakura had not heard a word from anyone about Sasuke nor Naruto, and it was making her nervous. "Anko said she'd be bringing them back here on the last day in time for the preliminary finals, right? It's already noon—shouldn't they have been here already?"

"I'm not sure. Do you think something's happened?" Aya asked, her large eyes wide. "What if Naruto had some seriously internal bleeding? He torpedoed through so many trees when he was battling Orochimaru. And Sasuke's wound could've been fatal, I couldn't tell because Anko rushed them both out so quick."

"I think you two are just being paranoid." Hinata said confidently, "Naruto will be fine! He's very… um, driven."

"Of course they're being paranoid. Here they are!" Ino whispered excitedly, bounding over to the newly open doors where Sasuke and Naruto were slumped over groggily.

Sakura approached Sasuke, almost scared, and touched his wrist lightly with a concerned look on her face. Her eyes drifted over to his shoulder, where she'd seen that strange bruise. Giving her a dark look, Sasuke shook his head and released himself from her grasp.

"Welcome back." Aya grinned, throwing an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "How's your head? Everything screwed right?"

Naruto and Aya then commenced an enthusiastic and obnoxiously loud conversation about his state of unconsciousness and the remainder of the exam during which he'd been absent, when a large monitor began to digitally scramble names.

"You were told, right? Preliminary finals. They're randomly pulling names for one-on-one matches." Aya whispered to Naruto, gripping onto his sleeve nervously. "This is pretty brutal."

"This is true. What if your opponent is a teammate?"

Aya turned slightly to see a friend of hers, Lee, looking intently down at the arena. "Part one and two of the finals were all about teamwork and cooperation; this one tears it all apart."

"Sometimes a ninja's opponent and objective are conflicting. This match emphasizes the need to push past the emotional barrier. Remember the rules of the ninja know how: you must be strong even when times are sad."

Sasuke looked over at Naruto. "Maybe you and I will end up fighting." He murmured quietly. "You've gotten stronger." But I still need affirmation. Am I the strongest here?

Naruto would have probably answered, if the screen hadn't finalized the first match up right at that very moment.

"No way." Kakashi muttered under his breath, looking over the two in question who were busy shooting each other surprised looks. "Interesting" would be putting this fight mildly. The new girl versus Konoha's number one rookie.

"Uchiha Sasuke versus Ayame." The examiner shouted out, beckoning to the crowd for them to approach the center of the arena. Sasuke had exceptional talent, as anyone in Konoha could attest, but his array of ninjutsu still leaved much to be desired.

Aya, on the other hand, was an enigma. Nobody knew how much training she had, who she had training from, what type of skills she possessed (except in the brief few moments that Anko had witnessed her…), and was literally a little package full of surprises. No matter how careless, or sloppy, or without regard for forethought when planning and executing her moves, she still performed admirably.

Facing her brother, Aya looked as if her puppy just died. "A teammate? Really?"

"Listen to me." Sasuke cut in sharply, and grabbed her arm. "I have no qualms with you, I really don't. I like you. But I am not going to go easy on you, so it'll be best if you grow some balls and attack me with all you've got. Okay?"

This petite girl had somehow managed to fend off against Orochimaru, someone he couldn't successfully defend himself from back in the forest. There was no way that he, an Uchiha and a training avenger, could not match this little Genin.

"Ready? Begin!" The examiner shouted out, chopping through the air with an open hand.

As far as he'd seen, Aya seemed to always let the opponent make the first move. His eyes showing no more room for conversation, Sasuke quickly held up a seal. Amidst his concentration, Aya couldn't help but stifle a giggle. She was sure he meant to look intimidating, but to her he just looked constipated. Not exactly a novel to glorify his facial expression.

So, he wanted her to "grow some balls." In short, he wanted to get his ass beat.

"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Quickly focusing his Chakra, hot flames shot directly at Aya. Pressing her entire body quickly onto the floor, Aya rolled away and rolled onto her feet, not at all scorched.

This is good. My reflexes are getting better. Aya thought with a grin. Still a little too slow for what I would like, but still better.

Lunging forward like a tiger from her squatting position, Aya grabbed Sasuke's arm and pounced onto his chest at the same time her water clone attacked Sasuke from the back. Doing a series of punches, Aya was briefly caught off guard when Sasuke destroyed her clone with a stab of a kunai and grabbed her wrist.

"This is over for you."

Lifting her up into the air, he planted his left foot onto the floor and kicked Aya upwards. Propelling himself from the ground, he began knocking her higher and higher. Sakura, who was watching intently, clutched the metal banister nervously. This move was easily recognized from the technique Lee had used on him earlier. Sasuke was one hell of a chameleon, alright.

"Shadow Dance!"

Aya looked like a deer caught in headlights before Sasuke managed to successfully unleash what he called an "Uchiha Lion's Combo" which basically had her ass kicked to the curb as her body smashed into the ground with a severity that would have made any normal person's bones break."

"Damn it." Aya groaned, as she rolled over and shakily got back to her feet. A blue glow shone all down her backside, before fading away. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. What the hell was that? Why was she still moving?

"She is incredible with Chakra control." Gai murmured to Lee, and looked over at Kakashi. "Focusing her Chakra as a cushion. That's something she must have been taught."

Kakashi looked back in his accusing eyes for a brief moment before returning his attention to the center. "Probably, but I wasn't the one who taught her."

I'm really rusty. Aya regained her composure shortly. Sasuke leapt backwards and his arms flew in front of him in an "X" shape just in case Aya turned to the offensive side. Taking that gesture as her cue to begin, Aya decided now was as good a time as any to begin her ninjutsu.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"

The jaws of the ANBU members surrounding them dropped. This girl was clearly too young and too unknown o be a member of ANBU, nor was she born from one as a parent as far as they knew. It was impossible for her to have learned ANBU ninjutsu without having actually been one, right? So what the fuck was going on?

"You can't move, can you?" Aya asked, before taking out several ninja stars and throwing them at her brother. Each star successfully knocked Sasuke off his feet and pinned his clothes to the wall.

Giving out a strangled cry, Sasuke's body seemed to go limp. Aya watched in horror as a dirty aura of Chakra began to form around him, and red flames began to stretch across his skin.

"Are you okay?" Cancelling the jutsu immediately, Aya began to run over to him as he dropped to his knees gasping for breath. He clutched his shoulder with his fingernails digging into his skin, trying his best to supress the seal. Slowly but surely, the flames began to retreat back to the reservoir of his seal.

Swatting her away bitterly, he rolled to the side and held out a kunai. "I don't need your help! This is a match, not practice!"

Aya got to her feet and dusted herself off. It would certainly appear that Sasuke fought off the seal's power by bringing out his own. The frightening, rare sight of Sasuke's Sharingan bore into her as he took out his shuriken. "Come."

"One moment. I'm going to put on my forehead protector."

Sasuke hesitated, and froze in a defensive position. Reaching into her shuriken holder, she took out the familiar metal plate sewn onto a dark red strip. He was using his Sharingan, so why shouldn't she use this? He hadn't used "it" in a while. Strapping the forehead protector over her eyes, she tied it and her hands formed a seal.

Her indicated her conception. Her secrets. She would not reveal them in a place like this. "Sharinkugan." She murmured, her voice barely audible. Feeling the familiar surge of power rush over her eyes, she attacked Sasuke.

"It would truly be a waste if either one fails." The Kazekage told the Hokage, tilting his head slightly. "I know for certain that if this was the final exam, revenues would be incredible."

The Hokage did not even glance over at him, his eyes intent on the match. "They are both giving me techniques worthy of the Final Exam, but that could be said about everyone else present. If I gave her a special allowance, I'd be favouring her." Letting out a breath, the Hokage rose to his feet.

"Are you going to take her out of the exam?" Kazekage asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"It would be unfair for Sasuke to fail this exam, given the circumstances." Hokage replied with a nod. He turned to the arena just in time to see Aya whip out a large shuriken from her back.

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" She quickly flung the large weapon with impressive force given her small frame at Sasuke before he could make out exactly what it was she had said.

This was child's play. He could simply knock that shuriken down, and simultaneously do damage to her. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" Taking out his own shuriken, he hurled it at her just in time for the both of them to hit each other. They ricocheted off each other and imbedded themselves into the walls on opposite ends of the arena, and that's when their shadow shuriken came into play.

Since it was clear that the second shuriken would simply do the same thing as the first pair of shuriken had, Aya took this opportunity to literally dive into the fray and tackle Sasuke to the ground.

Luckily enough, between him and her, their strengths when it came to a mere wrestling match had a large disparity in his favour. Noticing that Aya's back was to a nearby wall, he gave her stomach a final kick against it before rolling away to safety.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" Scramblign to her feet, Aya held out what looked like a paper talisman and did some sort of wild sweeping gesture before a gust of wind spun toward Sasuke. Somewhat recognizing this technique from Temari's fight, Sasuke grabbed Aya's wrist and pulled her into his arms.

"Smart choice," Kakashi murmured. "It was unwise of her to use an attack of that calibre in such close range to the enemy."

"Stop!" The Examiner yelled out suddenly, and immediately the observing Jounin appeared inbetween the wind and the examinees, negating the attack.

"It has been brought to my attention that one of the participants has violated the terms of the Chunin Exam. Ayame, is it true that you are already a Chunin graduate?" The Hokage asked, and Aya sent the Kazekage an accusing stare.

So Aya and the Kazekage had some sort of connection? This was why she was able to sneak into the exam without a team of three, and moreover was able to do a Rank-B mission? Still, this was a little too much for Sasuke to handle. Releasing his sister, she smacked him away from her.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Aya, but I have no choice but to disqualify you. Sasuke Uchiha, congratulations, you have made it into the Finals." The Hokage said conclusively, before turning his back on the arena.

"Ugh! Dammit." Aya swore to herself, wiping the sweat from the side of her face. "That's not even fair."

She was about to turn and exit as well when Sasuke grabbed her wrist. "Wait, Aya, what's going on?"

"Didn't you hear what just happened? I'm a Chunin—I got disqualified." Aya summarized, her eyes a little watery. "I can't believe this! Why let me in if they're not even going to let me participate in the Finals?"

"I don't think you understand the violations at play, Aya." Kakashi said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You've deceived a village leader and countless upper soldiers."

"My question is: if she was a Chunin all along, why would she want to take the exam again?" Anko asked, frowning. "See, I knew there was something fishy about you."

"I'm undergoing training." Aya said sternly, trying her best to look brave amongst a sea of accusing faces. Turning around and loosening the buttons on her shirt, Aya showed what Sasuke had originally thought was a tattoo on her shoulder blade.

"A suppression seal?" Kakashi asked, staring at Aya inquisitively. "I must admit, for a trained Chunin your ninjutsu leave much to be desired; a seal does account for the disparity. But why would you do that?"

"There's part of me that still remains untapped. Dormant, if you will. I'm doing this in the hope that I will ultimately become stronger. So in some aspects, I am a Genin. This is so unfair."

"Unfair is stripping the right for a real Genin to pass this exam. It would be like the same as parading Iruka or another overqualified ninja as a Genin during the preliminaries. I hope you understand."

"More importantly," Kakashi interrupted, putting a hand on Aya's shoulder. "I didn't get the chance to speak with you on this topic earlier, but that man Orochimaru is a dangerous criminal. As your teacher, I ask that you not go near him ever again whether or not he provokes you. Just get away as fast as possible, because if he bites you..."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I saw that move clear as day when he bit Sasuke." Aya assured him, raising her eyebrows quizzically.

"Not just that. Just don't go near him again, promise me. Playing games is his favourite pastime, and it would probably take the Hokage's power to defeat him."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Author's Note: Yeah, I understand that the Final Exams were like… weeks after the secondary exams, but as you probably know, I'm really adjusting the real story for my convenience.)

Neji's eyes glossed over as his gaze ran across the sea of people stacked high in stands encircling the parameter of the much larger arena than the preliminary finals. He could taste the anticipation brewing in the air, the tense atmosphere as villagers, ninja, and clansmen all sat like hawks peering down at the gladiators that would soon emerge.

Above all, he could sense a presence. This dark, twisted presence that bothered him from the first moment he'd been in same proximity as her. Eyeing Aya with a frown tugging on the corner of his lips, he began to weave through the crowd to approach her.

"Neji, good morning." Aya said with a bright smile when she caught sight of him. "It's… quite a turnout, isn't it? Are you nervous?"

"You wish you were out there, don't you?" Neji said rudely, his violet eyes bearing into her as he neglected her greeting completely. "You regret being disqualified, because you think you're better than everyone."

Aya's mouth closed, and her friendly expression became somewhat of a grimace. "Excuse me? What is your problem?"

"You're my problem." Neji retorted, his eyebrows knitting together. "You simply annoy me. Parading around like you're this and that, pretending to be a better ninja, when you're really just a failure Chunin. Kakashi said himself, you have no school as a ninja greater than a mere Genin."

"And you felt the need to come all the way over here and say that to me?" Aya rose to her feet and looked up at him so not to appear small and intimidated. Given, she was small and her petite frame didn't give her a very menacing appearance, but she bet the scorn in her eyes could outmatch his any day. "You're standing here spouting nonsense about how I am weak and a failure, the implication being that you think you can beat me?"

"I am a scholar of the Hyuuga bloodline limit techniques." Neji replied with absolute certainty. "You wouldn't stand a chance. You don't even know the first thing about the eye of the Hyuuga."

Suddenly, the seal on her shoulder rotated slightly, and Aya turned to Neji, a mixture of hate and amusement dancing in her eyes. "That's when you're wrong, you arrogant shithead. I'm positive that I can execute any fucking move I want, and that includes your fancy little Hyuuga eye tricks."

"What?" Ordinarily, Neji would have mentioned something about her sudden change in character, because it was indeed very peculiar. As far as he'd seen when he'd been in her presence, she was a fairly modest and exuded a quiet confidence. Now, if anything, she was offensive and vulgar—with an almost dangerous edge to her. But he was too angry to bring that up. How dare this imposter claim to know the way of his clan? "You don't know shit! Who do you think you are? I had to go through years of suffering to get where I am, and you think you can just waltz into this village and boast about being able to—"

"—Yes, yes I can." Tilting her head and smiling in an overtly condescending manner, Aya tapped Neji's forehead protector lightly with her fingertip. "Don't get angry. Some of us are just better than others."

"Henge no Jutsu."

Entering the arena without any difficulty whatsoever, he managed to bypass the other lords, rulers, ninja, and townsfolk until he reached an area where he could inconspicuously view the Chuunin competitors.

Itachi.

Aya caught his eye immediately, as she was one of the shortest girls of the bunch, and the only female with hair of that particular hue. She must've felt his gaze because she looked up immediately. That small gesture, however, was not lost on Sasuke.

"Who's that?" He asked, despite it not being any of his concern. "Boyfriend?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Aya smiled, "I just saw him, is all. It's not like I can identify him with that mask on anyway."

"That's a lie. You can see past that big rectangle of metal and fabric, what's stopping you from looking through a porcelain mask?"

"Neji Hyuuga versus Naruto Uzumaki!" The next Examiner exclaimed to the crowd.

"Just one moment." Neji said to the examiner. "Before we begin, I have a request: I want to fight this Ayame girl."

"What?" The examiner asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "This is the Chunin final exams; you are not ordering satay. You don't get to choose who you fight against."

"Come out!" Neji shouted into the crowd. "I know I can beat you!"

"Hey! That's my teammate you're talking about." Naruto shouted angrily, stepping forward in the gravel. "What makes you think you'll beat her, anyways? She held her own not only against Gaara, but against Sasuke. Moreover, I'm your opponent! Are you trying to run away from our match?"

"I know your weakness now," he proclaimed haughtily, "you depend overly on long-range techniques. You can't do any close range ninjutsu. The Uchiha's fire spells should be more than enough."

Aya looked at him, mildly surprised. She, in fact, was better at close combat than she was at long-range. She'd exposed her Hotaru no Jutsu to him, which depended entirely on close proximity, but then again he was probably knocked out by then. Either by Orochimaru, or by Sakura strangling him in her embrace.

"On the contrary. I can do anything the Uchiha clan throws at me. I am perfectly capable of pulling those off too." Aya snapped. Behind him, in the bleachers, she heard Neji yell out a few choice words even from this fair distance away.

Sasuke must have heard as well, because the next thing he knew a challenge escaped his lips. "Really? If you think you're so able to execute Uchiha ninjutsu, why not just claim to be able to use Hyuuga-style techniques as well? Or how about Gai-sensei—and Rock Lee's—taijutsu? You can't, can you?"

"Oh, I can."

She knew she sounded cocky, but so what? If there was something she could pull off in her present "condition," it would be these types of fancy eye displays.

"For the sake of my sanity, would someone tell me who that girl is?" An outraged Hyuuga head member scowled angrily, gripping onto the seat of his chair as if his life depended on it. "I have never even seen that girl before in all my life!"

The volume of his voice caused Hanabi to tense and cock her head to one side with curiosity and fear. "Daddy…?"

"All Hyuuga members are introduced to me. Who does she think she is claiming to be able to fight with the Hyuuga eye? It's insult!"

Gai, from across the arena, seemed angered at the magnitude of Aya's claim. "She is no genius of hard work. She is not a genius from some prestigious family. In fact, nobody even knows who she is or where she's from! How dare she assume she is proficient in our methods?"

Kakashi, beside him, leaned over the bar and let out a loud sigh, examining Aya's confident expression some more. "I do believe in you, Aya," he murmured softly, "but even I do not believe you can do what you say."

Red. All he could see was red.

I want to crush her. I want to crush her so that she'll know she'll never be able to execute the Hyuuga techniques she brags she is capable of. Hyuuga Neji clenched his fists so tight his fingernails dug deep into the palms of his hands.

Sasuke looked Aya up and down, before giving a derisive snort and standing back, his hands crossed over his chest with one eyebrow raised. "Very well then." He said finally, "You can fight me with the Uchiha techniques you claim to have mastered."

"You mean the Sharingan?"

"An Uchiha member requires the concentration of a large amount of Chakra to their eyes only once they've attained it." Sasuke instructed vaguely, somewhat sarcastically. "Let's see you try."

Stupid. Gaara thought, sadistic thoughts running through his head making the scowl on his face look something of a smile and the look in his eyes all the more murderous. How could I have lost against such an arrogant little brat? Like hell she could be able to summon a Sharingan.

Looking somewhat curious, as if she were doing it for the first time, Aya closed her eyes. Suddenly, a wave of purplish-blue Chakra the color of the Hotaru no Jutsu surrounded her. "Okay, concentrate Chakra into my eyes, was it?" Without another second, her eyes shot open, their color a blood-ruby red, the marks of the Sharingan biting into her pupils.

Choking back the urge to say something in spite of his shock, Sasuke couldn't help but move back a step and having his eyes temporarily widen to astronomical proportions. What was this magic?She couldn't have been able to of something like that—especially not from those brief details. Yes, they were probably illusionary.

"And I'm sure that you believe I am incapable of taking out the Byakugan as well, right, Neji?" Aya spun around to face Neji, close by in the stands. His face was pale, and if looks could kill, the intensity in his eyes would've ripped her apart in a heartbeat.

"No."

Suddenly, it occurred to Sasuke that perhaps it was the Sharingan and/or Byakugan that Aya had used during the secondary exam, hence the forehead protector. It was quite likely. However, it must've only been one and not the other, as they were of two completely different clans.

"Show me what you used back then," Sasuke almost demanded, stepping forward. "Back when you covered your eyes with your protector. Is that what you're trying to show us now?" He felt the cursed seal beginning to bite at his skin, clawing to try and get out. It was beyond obvious Orochimaru was in close proximity, the seal reacting to both his presence and Sasuke's anger.

Aya looked thoughtful for a moment, before quickly running her eyes over the crowd again. Sasuke looked in the direction to try to see what she was looking for, but couldn't think of anyone as her eyes didn't stop at any individual in particular. "Well, if you ask politely…"

"Please."

"Sharinkyakugan!"

The moment she opened her eyes again and glanced up to face both Sasuke and the crowd—you could only imagine the shock that arose. Even the Hokage looked absolutely terrified. You could tell by the fact that both he and the Kazekage guest were both sitting on the edge of their chairs, horrified by what they saw.

It was gruesome. It was beautiful. It was a curse. It was a gift.

There it was: a huge cross between the Byakugan and the SHaringan. Aya turned slightly so that she could catch the look registered on Neji's face. "This is what you wanted to see, wasn't it? Do you doubt that I am capable of doing both types of techniques now?" She turned out to the crowd and threw her protector on the ground. "What do you consider me now?" She shouted out into the crowd over the clanging of the metal hitting the gravel. "A genius, or a monster?"

The bob-headed boy nearly collapsed scrambling to the front of the bleachers in his section to try to get a better look just to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. "Gai-sensei! How could that be? How could she have attained both the—"

"How could she have attained both the Sharingan and the Byakugan?" Hiashi and Kakashi, all on different sections of the arena, mumbled in sheer horror and puzzlement at the same time.

"You're stunned, aren't you. I see that you're angry. That had better not be jealousy I see in your eyes, because I've gone through more in my fifteen (Author's Note: yes, fifteen. That makes the rest of them fifteen/sixteen.) years than you have."

"Who are you? What are you?" Sasuke muttered, stepping back another step to further increase the space between them. "Nobody human should have more than one Bloodline Limit! Don't go mouthing off about your life—I've gone through a lot in mine as well. I speak on behalf of all the people here! The hell?"

"I told you: my name is Aya. I'm a human being. You may call me by my less appreciated but still existent alter name, Aino. Maybe one of these days you'll figure out exactly what I mean by that." She turned a gaze over to her uncle out in the audience. "So, you can either call me Ayame Uchiha or-," she paused. "Aino Hyuuga."

Hiashi's shocked expression froze immediately on his face and crashed right onto the ground. Getting up from his chair, he promptly made his way to exit the arena, Hanabi at his side.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked, feeling the inferiority boil inside of him. At this rate, she isn't just slightly better than I—she's much better than I'll ever be.

"Yes. Leave! That's what you're good at." Aya called after Hiashi, before turning to Sasuke. "This means that a scandal is about to be revealed, and our uncle doesn't even have the courtesy to hear about it."

"What?"

"Hizashi had an affair with our mother—who as you know, was also a strong wielder of the Sharingan. With the aid of Neji's father, I was the end product of that relationship."

"Fuck you!" Sasuke blurted out, the seal burning red in color, a furious one that did not at all match the Sharingan that were now intense in his eyes. "I don't believe my mother would do such a thing! You are lying, and you're solely trying to dishonour the Uchiha family. In front of all these people, no less!"

"Does it look like I'm trying to insult anybody? I'm trying to tell you the facts!" Aya shouted out with such surprising strength that Sasuke almost flinched. "I was a hidden product of sin, and I was to remain a secret lest my parents and clans be ostracized and shamed. Which is why, up to today, nobody has ever known my last name."