I will say this: I wasn't so sure if I should write non-linear because then there's be severe gaps that are not touched upon. There are several stories before this I want to tell, but I've always wanted to tell this story, it was just very difficult to figure out how without a plan. I also wanted to do stories in a linear fashion, but things don't get done and they accumulate until you're overwhelmed.
I very much stressed at not being able to write what I want, limited by FIREBRAND and wondering what to work on. I still work on it, but I want to do this too. It's selfish but my choice. And yes it may not make sense, but that is because these stories have yet to be told. I'm not Hideo Kojima or a wizard for that matter, I'm just me.
The next few parts you'll be reading will be moments that Ayane had that pushed her to leave. It will also spoil future events as well as show how hurt she felt despite putting out her usual self.
Road to Journey to Now
"You're going to record this!?" yelled Ayane, her face turning red.
"Yeah, after all, this is a rare sight that I wish to keep for myself. A memento."
"Just promise me that you won't show anyone that recording." Naruto promised Ayane before telling her to do her thing, telling her to make her apology believable. Putting on a genuine cute and embarrassed look on her face, as her hair covered her eyes, Ayane starts her apology.
"I...I guess I o-o...overreacted a little...For that..." Naruto couldn't help but turn red in the face as Ayane continued. "I'm sorry for hitting you. P-Please, forgive me...Na-Na...Naruto-sama..." After finishing, she angrily asked Naruto if it was good enough, only to see a red-faced Naruto staring at her, having finished recording her.
"...I think I love you." This caught the girl off guard as Jiraiya and Ryu sport surprised looks on their faces.
"What...What did you say!?"
"I-I didn't say anything! You didn't hear anything!" he told her. "...I need 2 minutes." Wondering what Naruto meant by two minutes, Jiraiya watched as his apprentice ran off into the forest.
"I was sure he said something to me," Ayane said to herself. She was in so much shock that she couldn't remember what the blond said to her. Looking at the girl, Jiraiya told himself, "Must be great being young..."
"What the hell are you going on about?" When asked what Naruto told her, Ryu turned away and told her he didn't hear him say anything.
Journey to Now Part I
Night of the Ninja Festival
Chuuma Village
Naruto begins heading towards the spot he was supposed to meet Kureha and Momiji. He stops in his tracks when he heard boxes falling down along with some screaming. Rushing towards it, he sees a little girl crying, having just being saved by Ayane, whose feet were stuck under the boxes. As the mother of the little girl checked on her daughter, Naruto helped get the boxes off of Ayane.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I am fine. Those things didn't even- AH!" Checking her right foot, Naruto noticed a little bruising around the ankle. With a small smile, Naruto tells her he'll treat her foot.
"I can do it myself," she told him, Naruto telling her to not be so stubborn and allow him to help as he got a handkerchief and started bandaging her right foot.
"That was nice of you. To save that girl from the falling boxes." Ayane turned red as Naruto continued treating her foot. "...Hinata said you called her a coward. Mind telling me what that's about?"
"I was angry that she wasn't friends with you sooner...Otherwise, you'd..." Naruto smiles as her as he tells her, "I understand, just remember to pull back your "punches."
"Sometimes you have to be tough with people, or else they don't learn from their mistakes, or improve..." Wanting to change the subject, Ayane asked him what he was doing for the fireworks.
"I'm watching it with Kureha and Momiji. I was about to head there until I heard the boxes drop...There we go. Can you walk?"
"No...Seriously what the hell were in those boxes?"
"Who knows..." he told her, getting up.
"I'll be fine...Just...go meet up with Kureha for the fireworks..." To her surprise, he told her no. Next thing she knew, Naruto turned around and crouched down, telling her to get on his back. "What? But what about Kureha? Won't you miss-"
"I spent some time with her in Japan for a while before coming here. I'm sure she'll understand. Hurry..." Though a bit hesitant, Ayane slowly walks over and wraps her arms around Naruto as he carried her to where he was supposed to meet the shrine maiden.
9:58 pm
As Naruto carried her, he told her of his time in Japan with Kureha, sounding happy as he talked about his time with the shrine maiden, telling her of the places they visited and the pictures she took using the camera he bought for her.
"You make it sound like she's your mother..."
"You're not wrong there..." Naruto told her with a smile. "She does have that motherly presence...Did you have plans to watch the fireworks with someone?"
"I was going to watch it with Genra..." she told him. "Though I couldn't find him."
"Is that right..." Ayane sighed as she told him how she and her "father" would watch the fireworks together every year.
"You don't want to watch it with Kasumi and Hayate?" Ayane told her that, as a Hajinmon kunoichi, they had they don't celebrate it with the Tenjinmon. "That shouldn't stop you from watching it with them."
"Even so, it's the rule."
"Well, it's a stupid one, if I must say so myself...Are you okay? Your leg?"
"No...It still hurts," she told him, burying her blushing face into his back. In truth, she was able to walk, but she wasn't going to pass at this moment now. "I should be fine, as long as Genra and I are looking up at the same sky...Also..."
"Also?" Before she could say more, the two hear the fireworks explode above them. Looking up, the two viewed the bright colorful lights that illuminated the starry night sky.
"They're beautiful..." Naruto said to himself as Ayane looked at him.
"Yeah...They are, aren't they?" said Ayane. As the two watched them together, Genra watched them in secret, smiling to himself behind his mask. At other spots, Hinata watched the same fireworks with her family and Tenten while Kasumi and Hayate watched it with their parents. After the fireworks show was over, Naruto made it to the spot where he was supposed to meet Kureha, finding Momiji there with her.
"There you are Naruto!" said a smiling Kureha, noticing the blond carrying Ayane on his back. "So you were with Ayane? I guess you watched the fireworks with her?"
"Yeah, she hurt her leg earlier...How is it, Ayane?" She tells him she could walk now and to set her down. Putting her down, Naruto asked her why her face was red.
"Just...a small fever. I'll be fine." As Naruto went over to talk to the others about their night, Ayane turned to her right to read a sign explaining the many charms people could get at the festival. One of them was the relationship charm. "A man may propose marriage by offering his relationship charm to a woman...How simple and ridiculous can these things be?"
"So did you win anything during the festival?" Kureha asked the blond.
"I won mostly sweets, plus this charm I got from winning the top prize at a shuriken stall," he answered, holding it up, surprising Kureha and Momiji.
"Naruto, that's a-"
"However, it's not something someone like me should be carrying." Turning around he called Ayane's name.
"What is it?"
"Here, you can have this." Ayane reacts quickly when Naruto tossed the charm to her, catching it in her hands. Looking down, her eyes widened when she realized he just tossed her a relationship charm. At the same time, the two shrine maidens turned red in the face.
"Oh my..." Kureha said to herself, her left hand over her mouth.
"Wait...WHAT!?" Ayane yelled, her face turning tomato red as she looked up at Naruto before looking down at the charm. "You're not serious...about giving me this, ARE YOU!?"
"Why wouldn't I be? I want you to have it," he told her. "Besides, I think someone like you would like it." Backing away a bit, Ayane turned redder.
"What? You're...You're serious!?"
"Of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I-"
"Kyahh!" yelled Ayane, putting her arms behind her. "My sash..."
"What about it?"
"It's...un...unraveling..." Naruto's eyes slowly widened as he yelled, "EHHHHH!?"
"Oh my..."
"Do-Don't worry, I'll just go over and-" Ayane stops him, telling him to not come near her as her cleavage is exposed. "I...I can do this myself!"
"No, you can't!" Turning to Kureha and Momiji he asked them to help Ayane, only for them to look the other way as Kureha told him, "You should do it Naruto. After all, you have to take responsibility for her now..."
"I don't get what you mean, but okay." In an instant, Naruto appeared behind Ayane as he helps her fix her sash.
"It's your fault my sash unraveled." When asked how it was his fault, she told him he just had to give the charm to her.
"It's just a charm, I mean it's not like...I..." Turning to the Charm Board, Naruto read about the information about each one before noticing the information about the charm he gave her. Caught off guard, Naruto, now red in the face, accidentally lets go of the sash. The left sleeve of Ayane's yukata droops down, exposing her back and her left breast.
"IT"S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"
"MY SASH!"
Valley of the End (Rain)
After the battle with Sasuke
Arriving right after Sasuke defeats Naruto, Ayane's eyes widened when she saw the Uchiha standing over the blond. Forming a look of rage from seeing the state the blond was in, Ayane ran at Sasuke and sliced off his left arm, using her Fuma Kodachi. The Uchiha reeled back in pain as blood gushed out of his severed arm. The Hajinmon kunoichi then kicked him to the ground before preparing to finish him off. Before she could, Kabuto arrives and takes him away, receiving a diagonal cut on his face from Ayane's right blade. After Sasuke and Kabuto's escape, Ayane puts away her kodachis before turning around and going over to check up on Naruto, just as Kakashi and Pakkun arrive.
"Ayane, where's Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the girl.
"Gone..." she told him, clenching her fists in anger.
"I see...So we were too late..." Kakashi tells Ayane the other Jonins have found the others and that they were returning to Konoha. The Hajinmon kunoichi puts Naruto on her back before following the Jonin back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Journey to Now Part II (Unwritten story)
Raidou's Attack on the Mugen Tenshin Village
"I have come for the Torn Sky Blast!" yelled Raidou, a sinister smile on his face as he threw a Mugen Tenshin shinobi aside. Anger in her eyes, Ayane yelled Raidou's name, venom in her voice as she rushed at him and threw a few strikes and kicks at her father, only to have them blocked by him before he strikes her chest with his palm, sending her flying at one of the houses, her back hitting hard against the hard-wooded door. As Hayate checked on Ayane, Raidou insults him, voicing how weak he was to be protected by a girl.
Getting up, not looking away from his opponent, Hayate runs at Raidou, performing a spin kick. With a smirk, Raidou arched his back a bit to avoid his right foot before avoiding aright punch, and then a left one. With only his left hand, Raidou struck Hayate with a flurry of precision placed attacks, letting out a burst of evil laughter as he easily overpowered the young heir to the clan.
Getting up, not hearing Ayane's warning, Hayate prepares to use the Torn Sky Blast on Raidou. However, this was what the former Mugen Tenshin ninja wanted as he yelled, "NOW I HAVE THE TORN SKY BLAST AS WELL!" At the same time, both opponents launched their ninpos, engaging in a clash of power that results in an explosion that knocks Hayate back, cracking his spine against a tree.
"MASTER HAYATE!" yelled Ayane as Raidou laughed out loud, voicing how weak the current heir was. As he prepared to leave, he heard Naruto rush in the scene, stopping as he looked at the bodies of fallen Mugen Tenshin shinobi.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
Seeing Ayane hurt and struggling to get up, and Hayate in a critical condition, anger rose inside the blond shouts, "How dare you...HOW DARE YOU HURT THEM!" Running at the nukenin, Naruto threw his left fist forward. WIth a simple chuckle, he dodges the punch before preparing to strike the angry blond with his right elbow. Quickly turning around, Naruto caught it, amusing Raidou as the blond chunin repels him before striking his opponent's right shoulder with his right palm, and then performing a left palm strike to his opponent's left shoulder before finishing with a left forearm strike to his stomach.
The angered Naruto doesn't stop there as he throws his right foot forward, kicking Raidou back. Coughing into his right hand, Raidou looks down to see his own blood on it.
"You brat, how can you-" Before he could say another word, Naruto appears in front of him in an instant and pummels Raidou with his fists.
"You...You're the one who's caused Ayane so much pain..." The blond Chunin knocks Raidou down with a powerful right hook after saying that. "You are the reason she suffered..." Getting up quickly, Raidou uses the Torn Sky blast on Naruto, only to have the blond put his hand forward as the ninpo hits it. To the shock of Raidou, the technique forms into a spiraling white sphere surrounded by lightning in Naruto's hand. "For that, I won't forgive you! Ninpo: Rending Wind Rasengan!" Appearing in front of Raidou, he thrust the sphere into his chest, sending him flying out of the village, the blond Chunin in pursuit.
Recovering from the attack, Raidou is left badly wounded as Naruto slowly walks towards him, prepared to finish him off. Not wanting to die at the hands of a brat, the nukenin uses a teleportation ninpo to escape.
The next morning
"I DIDN'T NEED YOU TO COME HELP!" yelled a bed-ridden and bandaged Ayane, swatting a now-confused Naruto's hand away.
"Ayane, I just-"
"He was right there! I finally had the chance to kill my father, and you let him get away!"
"He was going to kill you. I saved you, your brother, and the villagers. A guy like him, like Raidou, you can't beat him," Naruto told her. Clenching her teeth in anger, Ayane asked him if it was because she was weak. "No, I didn't mean-"
"Don't lie to me! It's true isn't it!?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.
"Ayane..."
"Tell me!" Looking away, Naruto told her she wasn't strong enough to face him.
"It's because of you. Ever since I met you, I've forgotten my revenge...I've gotten soft..." Looking down, she told him to never show his face to her. This shocked Naruto as he heard those words come out of her mouth. "If I see you again, I won't forgive you..."
"...Very well, if that's what you want...then...this is goodbye." As soon as Naruto left, the kunoichi wept at her own weakness.
Journey to Now Part III (Unwritten Story)
The night Naruto found out Jiraiya had died
Hokage Rock
Alone, Naruto sat on top of the Fourth Hokage's head. As he was about to cry, he noticed Ayane's presence, turning around to meet her eyes.
"Ayane..."
"Why are you here? I thought you didn't-"
"I...I heard about Jiraiya..."
"I see...First Old Man Third, then Kureha, and now..." At this point, Naruto struggled to hold it in as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I-" Naruto stops as tears flowed down Ayane's face.
"Ayane, why are you..." Walking over to sit next to him, she told him she killed Genra, her "father", last night, having been turned into Omega by DOATEC. While Genra had to be stopped, he was still her "father", whom she cared for very much, enough to be the one to end him. As Ayane cried, Naruto held her, the two silently mourning someone they lost. As time went by, they eventually found themselves lying on their backs, looking up at the night sky.
"I'm...sorry I told you I didn't want to see you," Ayane told the blond before asking him if he missed her. She found herself slightly annoyed when he told her he was managing pretty well without her ever since that day. "You ass..."
"...I'm lying. It was pretty hard..." he tells her. "I really missed you. I even thought about coming to the village to visit, regardless of what you said. However...I wanted to give you some space so..." Ayane tells Naruto that even if he went to the village, she wouldn't have been home, having been in pursuit of Kasumi, having only returned to perform the funeral pyre for Genra, and to see the blond.
"You're going back out there?" asked Naruto, the Hajinmon kunoichi telling Naruto she had unfinished business with DOATEC. "I see..."
"I've had some time to think, before I had to kill Genra, and...I'm going to help my sister." Naruto lightly smiled at this. "It makes me happy to hear that..."
"Thank my mother..." When asked if she and her mother actually reconciled, Ayane simply nodded.
"...I missed this part of you the most. You should definitely bring it out more."
"Go to hell Naruto..." The blond simply closed his eyes and chuckled. "I'm glad that you're here, Ayane...I was in a very lonely place...in my heart...but...I don't know what I'd do without you..." The Hajinmon kunoichi said nothing as Naruto spoke to her. "Do you plan to leave at sunrise?"
"I have to..." Ayane responds, just as Naruto holds her left hand in his right one.
"Can you...stay for a while?" Ayane said yes, turning her head to the right to hide her blushing face. A few hours of sleep later, as the sun was about to come up, Ayane woke up turning to her left to see the sleeping blond. With a small smile, she gets up and goes into a kneeling position before looking at Naruto's lips. Gently brushing her hair aside, Ayane moved her head down to deliver a deep and passionate kiss on Naruto's lips. This lasted for 20 seconds before she parted lips with the sleeping Chunin, a faint redness on her face.
"When I get back...I will tell you how I feel about you. I want to try and make my own happiness, with you at my side. Just...wait for me until then, okay?" Having said that, Ayane left.
After the Fourth Great Ninja War
Naruto's House
Ayane smiles to herself as she made her way to Naruto's, wanting to confess her feelings to him. It was a surprise when he told her he wanted her to come to his place for something important he needed to tell her. Appearing from the balcony leading to the living room, Ayane stops after seeing Hinata and Naruto kissing. In her mind, she felt she was too late. She felt that Naruto chose Hinata over her. Why?
"I was wrong...Of course, I was wrong...I was stupid to think that he'd fall for someone like me...Hinata's a princess and I'm just..." Clenching her teeth, Ayane holds back tears as she turns and goes off into the night, heartbroken.
Village Gates
The Day Naruto leaves Konoha
"So you're leaving the Hidden Leaf?" asked Ayane, remaining distant from the blond as Rin stood behind Naruto.
"My work here is done. There's nothing keeping me here anymore, not to sound uncaring." Looking down Ayane sees a warm bowl of ramen in Naruto's hands, asking if it was for Kureha. "Yeah...I did promise her to take a bowl of ramen to her every time I visit the Hayabusa Village." Noticing how distant the Hajinmon kunoichi was, he asked her if she was okay. She said nothing, only looking away.
"...Whatever you're feeling, you can come to me about it...okay?"
"Maybe..."
"You make it sound like I won't see you again. We can still see each other. I mean, you're usually out doing missions and...when you're not busy, you can come to see me," he told her. Her hair covering her eyes, Ayane asked him why he'd tell her that before asking why he doesn't tell Hinata, unaware that Naruto and Hinata weren't boyfriend and girlfriend.
"I just...like having you around..." said Naruto, hiding the obvious fact that he was in love with her, but feeling unworthy of the Hajinmon kunoichi after Hinata came over to his place.
"You idiot...Saying stuff like that..." Naruto looked puzzled when she told him that.
"Naruto, we should hurry to the Hayabusa Village. We don't want to miss our flight," said Rin, Naruto nodding before he and Rin walked ahead.
"Naruto..." Turning around, he wondered what she wanted from him. "What did you want to tell me? At your place?" Though it pained him to say, he told her, "I was going to say that you are a very good person to have around and that I...I look forward to working with you more."
"Is that it?" Hiding his regret, he said yes.
"So our relationship's always going to be like this, huh...Naruto..."
Rosario Vampire Part II: THE BROKEN BOND (Unwritten Story)
The day before the Land of the Yuki-Onna Mission
Sushi Saito
"I'm glad you could make it, Ayane." Ayane looked annoyed as the blond smiled at her, rudely asking him why he didn't call Hinata or Sasuke to help him. "Hinata's busy with peace talks with the Prime Minister of Japan, Sasuke does not have a cellphone I can call him on, and Shikamaru's out with his girlfriend. You were the only option. Well, the best option..."
"Is that so..." When asked how she was doing, Ayane told the blond she was just peachy. In truth, she wasn't okay, having the blond in her mind, even as she was out on a mission. It was frustrating for her, even more, when Naruto called her.
"You don't know how much it means to me that you showed up..." Naruto told her, clenching his drink tight as he explains his fear of losing another important person in his life. Feeling some empathy towards Naruto, Ayane attempts to put an assuring hand on his hand, only to move it back, just as Kirigiri showed up.
Rosario Vampire Part II: THE BROKEN BOND (Unwritten Story)(Unwritten Scene)(Deleted Scene)
Land of the Yuki-Onna Mission
Naruto's Apartment
Hinami's Room
Checking Hinami's temperature, after administering the cure for her condition by Orochimaru, and feeding the girl rice porridge, Ayane tells Hinami she should get some rest. When asked where Naruto was, she told her he was out on a mission at Yokai Academy and would be back tomorrow.
"So he won't be back until tomorrow, huh..." said Hinami.
"To leave me to take care of a kid...That jerk...Always leaving me with the little things while handling the big ones...Why not ask Hinata to do it?"
"You're doing a great job taking care of me," Ayane looked surprised when the 14-year old told her that. "You would make a good mom..."
"A mom huh...Like that'll happen..." Seeing the frown on the kunoichi's face, Hinami covered her face with her blanket before asking the kunoichi why she said that. "Because...I..." Peeking up from her blanket, Hinami saw a frustrated look on Ayane's face.
"...Do you...love Naruto?"
"No...I hate him...Very very much..." Just by looking at her Hinami knew it wasn't true but decided to not press on it as she decided to learn more about Ayane and hopefully understand the kunoichi. "How much do you hate him?"
"Enough for my heart to remain at ease...To me, my hate towards him is...my self-defense. To deal with the pain I feel whenever I see him."
"So...by turning the pain you feel towards him into hate...your heart will remain at ease?" Ayane confirms it. "It must be hard...to be near him...especially when he has a..." Hinami covers her face to avoid what looked her glare from Ayane. However, that wasn't the case. As Ayane gently pats the top of Hinami's head, the latter looks out of the covers to see the sad but smiling kunoichi tell her, "I hope you don't grow up to feel the same hate I have towards someone..."
"...Ayane-san?"
"Yes?'
"...When you're ready...Can you maybe tell me how you really feel? About Naruto?"
"Unlike Naruto, you're not so oblivious...I'm sorry, but I can't promise you that, Hinami..." Understanding, Hinami asked her if she could at least sleep in her bed. "Y-Yes, of course..." Hours into the night, as Ayane woke up to see Hinami's arms wrapped around her waist as she cried in her sleep.
"Mom..." Ayane tried to take Hinami's hands off of her, but the girl unconsciously tightened her hold on the kunoichi. To her, having the girl form an attachment to her was an "inconvenience". Clenching her teeth, Ayane said to herself, "You're making this hard for me to hate you..."
Rosario Vampire x High School DxD: RISE OF DIO (Unwritten Story)
Occult Research Club Building
Waking up, a couple hours after getting her Power and Memory Discs back, Ayane rose from the bed before turning to her left to see Naruto sleeping next to her. Looking over, she saw a sleeping Hinata at his side, having been watching over them while the two were in their death-like coma caused by Enrico Pucci. Seeing the two, Ayane's gentle anger grew. This was the last straw for the Hajinmon kunoichi. Saying nothing, she discards her purple headband and gets out of bed before she approached the window and lept out.
Now
A month after Naruto: METAVERSE
Kamurocho, Japan
Rinko Residence
"Hotaruko, just wait!" Turning around, the 17-year old girl told her mother she wasn't having it. The girl had light purple hair and green eyes, and she wore a blue dress skirt with a black leather jacket and boots. Right now, her mother was holding her by the hand that was holding her luggage. "Don't go with him. That Hayashi's nothing but trouble! Please just-"
"Enough!" yelled the girl as she unintentionally pushed her mother down. Hotaruku looked shocked by this as her mother cried on the floor. Though remorseful, she calmly told her mother once more she was leaving before walking out the door.
Okubo Park
Walking along the cherry blossom trees, Hotaruko stops to see her boyfriend waiting for her. He was a male 3 years older than her, wearing a white t-shirt with a grey jacket hoodie and brown pants. He had a beanie cap over his long brown hair and a pair of sunglasses to cover his brown eyes.
"Sorry I'm late, Hayashi," said a still-remorseful Hotarubi. With a smile, he told her, "It's fine babe. I wasn't waiting long." Seeing her face, he asked her what was wrong.
"I...I hurt my Mom before I got here."
"Oh...Is that so...Well, nothing you can do about it. By now, she must hate you for doing that." Looking down, Hotaruka figures he was right. "Come on, let's go. My car's been running for-"
"Actually...I think...I think I should go back...Apologize to her," she told Hayashi, who looked annoyed.
"Are you serious? Do you actually want to go back? To your Mom? Your father? What if she still-"
"I don't care! I'm going back! It was wrong for me to just up and leave. I need to-" Seeing Hotarubi turn around, Hayashi grabs her hand and tightens his hold on it.
"Really? You're going back? Back to your normal life? What about all of the money I invested in you? In our date!?" he asked her, sounding angry.
"Hayashi, you're hurting me..."
"You're leaving a chance to live a life anyone would dream to have for your parents!? You're leaving me!?"
"Let go!" she yelled as she tried to free herself from Hayashi's grip.
"How are you going to pay me back for all that money I spent on you huh!? Huh!?"
"Hey, she told you to let go, so you better listen to her..."
"And why should I..." Hayashi stops when he sees Ayane glaring at him. The Hajinmon kunoichi had on a brown-and-red hoodie with a white minidress, a pair of sneakers, and a pendant necklace in the shape of a butterfly. Hayashi has a look of interest in his eyes.
"Well, I wasn't expecting to see the winner of the Third Dead or Alive Tournament!" he told her. "Can you please stay right there? I need to deal with a personal-" In an instant, Ayane appeared in front of him before shoving him away from the girl, knocking him down.
"You...You bitch!" Pulling out a gun, he prepares to threaten the purple-haired kunoichi, only to have her appear in front of him once more, swatting the gun away before punching him in the face, breaking his nose. When he threw a punch at her, Ayane simply caught his left fist and, using her ki to enhance her strength, broke the bones in his hand as she tightened her hold on it. Following that, the Hajinmon kunoichi struck the right side of Hayashi, breaking two of his ribs before spinning counterclockwise and kicking him in the face. Turning to Hotaruko, she told her to call the police, telling her to tell them that they were held at gunpoint and that she (Ayane) was acting on self-defense. As the girl made the call, Ayane made sure that Hayashi wasn't going anywhere.
"You...You have made a grave mistake honey..."
"Like I care," Ayane told the wounded Hayashi.
"You'll see. I'll make sure you rue this night. That, I promise you..."
Kamurocho Police Station
"Sorry, I can't go with you to visit him at the hospital, Haruhi. I have work I need to do," said the cop, talking to someone on his cell phone as he looked over his paperwork. He was a 31-year old man with a stubble that went with his shaved head. "I...My partner, Trent, had left without saying anything, leaving me to do his paperwork...I don't know why my boss lets him off the hook for leaving whenever he pleases...Yes, I promise to come to visit Dad with you next time, okay?" After saying bye to his sister, he hung up before sighing, looking over the paperwork Trent was supposed to work on.
"Kayden!" Turning his chair to the left, the cop looks up to see a fellow policeman telling him how one of Kouta's men was in the station, having been beaten by Ayane for pulling out a gun and threatening her life and Hotaruko's. "Do we have a name?"
"Hayashi..." Familiar with him, Kayden frowned. "He was threatening two girls, one of them being a previous Dead or Alive Tournament winner."
"...Bring him to interrogation. I'll talk to him personally."
Waiting Room
Hotaruko looked up to where she was sitting to see Ayane offer her a cherry soda. Grateful, she thanks the kunoichi as she takes it off her hands. Ayane sits down next to her, opening a can of cream soda and taking a sip out of it.
"...Thanks for...Helping me...with Hayashi..."
"...Are you really Ayane? The girl who won the third Dead or Alive Tournament?" Ayane sighs before confirming it. "I watched your fight...on TV...You were very graceful with the way you moved, you were like a badass ballerina. All my friends- well, former friends, liked you. I even dyed my hair-"
"I wasn't looking to be crowned the winner that time..." she told Hotaruko. After all, that was the tournament that forced her to kill Genra. "I'm not one to have fans."
"Still...I've always wanted to meet you, though not like...you know..." The kunoichi told her she wasn't planning to help her, but after hearing the girl telling Hayashi he was hurting her, and hearing that he didn't care about how she was feeling, she decided to intervene in order to protect the girl from whatever plans he had for her.
"...My name's Hotaruko Rinko."
"I don't care...I'm not going to remember it anyways..." said Ayane. "So what's the deal with that asshole?"
"He's my boy...ex-boyfriend. He and I bumped into each other and...It was love at first sight, for both me and Hayashi. He was someone with a lot of money and good looks, and I was a high school girl who fell for the bad boys...Parents didn't agree with our relationship, but we still saw each other, for a good 6 weeks. At some point..."
"What?"
"...I started wondering where my life was going. I was afraid for my future. I kept my grades up, all to make my mom and dad proud...But the pressure got to me and..." Hotaruko stops to sip her drink a bit before continuing. "After the first three weeks of dating, I started skipping school...partying, having fun, staying up late, not caring about my grades. Last night, my parents confronted me, telling me I was forbidden to see Hayashi. Like all parents, they said he was a bad influence on me."
"Let me guess, you didn't listen to them. At night, you snuck out of the house and went to see him. After talking about your problems to him, he decided you should leave with him, promising everything you could ever want, and you took it..." Hotaruko simply nods. "Typical..."
"Because of that, I...hurt my Mom and..." Looking at her, Ayane saw the girl preparing to cry her eyes out.
"Hey, don't you dare cry," said Ayane, getting the girl's attention. "If you're going to cry, save it for when you go home and apologize to your parents."
"Ayane..."
"You need to get your act together and go back to the way things were when you didn't meet your ex. If you have something to say to them, tell them as soon as you can...I'm sure they'll understand what you're going through and help you. That Hayashi, he won't understand anything...Not like your parents...All he thinks about is himself and sees you as his personal property...Take time to talk to your Mom and Dad...You'll be surprised." Motivated by her advice, Hotaruko thanked Ayane.
"Well, I better go-"
"Can you come with me? To my house?" Hotaruko interrupts.
"...Huh?" The girl tells Ayane she doesn't have the courage to confront her parents, and that she'd like to have someone like her to convey her feelings if she can't do it. "Did you not hear what I-"
"Please?" Seeing the girl beg her with sad eyes, Ayane, looking annoyed, sighed. "You're 17, yet...Fine...But I'm leaving right after..." After she said that, Ayane found herself being hugged by the girl.
"Thank you..."
Interrogation Room
Entering the room, Kayden was met with an injured but smiling Hayashi waiting for him. He had a bandage for his nose, bandages for his left hand, and a bruise on his left cheek. His right hand was cuffed to the table so he couldn't escape.
"Hello again Ellis..."
"Hayashi..."
"Hows Haru-"
"Don't you dare say her name..." Hayashi goes silent, keeping the smile on his face.
"Let me guess, you want the usual?" Kayden frowned when Hayashi told him how he knew him so well, and that he didn't mind meeting him like this.
"Now would you be a pal and take these cuffs off? I have somewhere I need to be." Kayden doesn't say a word as he walked towards Hayashi and uncuffed him. "Thank you so much...Pal..."
"Just get out of here...I don't want to catch you here again."
"I'll try my best...First, may I have a phone call?"
In a forest 17 miles from Kamurocho
5 minutes ago
Five Story Tower
In the middle of a spacious and bright yellow room, a nude and defiled woman lied on the floor, her arms and legs tied, and her eyes having no life in them as 10 men, having finished having their way with her, got dressed. One of them was an obese Japanese man with straight black hair that was kind of greasy and nearly shoulder length, and he had an unshaven but rough goatee. His attire consists of a pair of military surplus trousers paired with a green tracksuit.
"Huh, looks like we broke her..." With a snap of his finger, he tells some of his men to get rid of the body, seeing as how the woman they had their fun with no longer wanted to live. Nodding, three of them picked her body up and took her out of the room to "dispose of her". Lighting up a smoke, he gets a call from one of his contacts. Taking out his phone, he picks up.
"This is Kouta."
"The deal went the way we wanted without any trouble on both sides. We now have our hands at two shipments of UltraTech weapons and combat armor." Kouta smirked to himself as he congratulates his benefactor for getting it for him.
"Pretty soon, the Yomei Alliance will make their move, crushing both the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance." When can I expect the shipment?" It brought a huge smile to his face when his benefactor told him he should be getting it tomorrow morning. "Sounds good. I have to go." Hanging up, he turns to see his second in command enter the room. He was a built man with brown hair styled in a ponytail, that reached to his neck, and he wore a grey suit.
"You started the fun without me," he told Kouta.
"Apologies Haruka, that woman was too nice of a piece to wait. You understand how I live: Eat like a King, Fuck like an Animal, and Kill like a Predator."
"Of course..." When he asked about the shipment, a smile formed on his face when Kouta told him they got it, and that as soon as he's fitted with it, Haruka's skills would be deadlier than ever. "As it is, the world is only getting bigger, stranger even. What with aliens that can bust planets arriving on Earth, Humans developing Quirks, and Ninjas who can manipulate the elements. We need to up our game..."
"You don't have to tell me twi-" Kouta stops mid-sentence once his phone rings. "I have to get this. Hello?"
"Hey Kouta, I may have someone who may interest us both." His interest piqued, he asked him who this someone was. "She's a former winner of the Dead Or Alive Tournament. Her name's Ayane, and she is a beaut."
"That so..."
"Earlier, she beat me up in the middle of a quarrel between me and my girl-...ex-girlfriend. I want her to pay for what she did to me, with her body. You think you can help me arrange that?"
"I am more than happy to help you, Hayashi. Though it may take some time and planning. Don't want to face her at her best. Anything I should know?" Hayashi tells Kouta he wants to be the first to take the kunoichi as his while they pleasure themselves to the action before they finish the rest. "That can be arranged. We just need to find a way to attract her to us..."
Rinko Residence
Ringing the doorbell, Hotaruko and Ayane wait for a few seconds until the former's mother opens the door, surprised to see her daughter home safe as her father walks in. Shedding tears, Hotaruko apologized for knocking her down as she hugged her mother.
"You were right about Hayashi...I promise I will get my grades back up and-"
"You don't have to say more, Hotaruko. I'm just glad that you're back home safe," Mrs. Rinko interrupts, hugging her daughter back. Noticing Ayane, Mr. Rinko asked her who she was. Letting go of her mother and wiping her tears away, Hotaruko introduced the kunoichi to them.
"She's the former winner of the Dead or Alive Tournament." Ayane looked annoyed when the girl told her parents that, the two adults looking at the girl, familiar with her.
"Seeing you in person...Your purple hair is very pretty. I can see why our daughter dyed her hair purple." The Hajinmon kunoichi's expression changed from annoyed to embarrassed as she thanked the older woman. "Why don't you come in and have dinner with us?"
"Oh no, I'm okay. I was planning to head home and-"
"She'd love to join," Hotaruko interrupts, with Mrs. Rinko telling her she'll set up another plate and chair for the kunoichi at the table. Looking at the girl, Ayane demands an explanation. "It's not every day that a winner of a tournament comes over to your house for dinner."
"...I'm going home after..." Sitting down at the table, Mrs. Rinko sets down a Japanese hot pot and prepares to eat with her family and their guest.
"So tell us about yourself Ayane. Do you have a last name or-"
"No, I don't," she tells Mr. Rinko. My clan, the Mugen Tenshin, has no last names. "However, if I had one...since there are two sects in my clan...my name would be Ayane Hajinmon." Finished with her answer, she picks up a shrimp from the pot and eats it as Mr. Rinko tells her how their daughter would try to imitate her fighting style.
"Father!?" Hotaruko yelled, sounding embarrassed.
"What, I'm just trying to make conversation with the girl. Anyways, she just failed at getting the spinning motions and the kicks right. She even broke a vase one time. Oh how she-"
"Okay let's talk about something else! I know! Do you anyone you like or-" Ayane stops her chopsticks before putting them down. "A...Ayane?"
"No...I don't...Never will..." The dining room fell silent as the Rinko family looked at the sad look on Ayane's face.
"...You are a terrible liar, Ms. Hajinmon," Mrs. Rinko told the kunoichi. "Your face tells me a story."
"What sort of story?"
"A story of a girl who's been hurt by someone, who feels that she is better off alone." Mrs. Rinko tells Ayane, "Call it a mother's intuition. You DO have someone you love. Why say you don't, and never will. Did he do something wrong? To you?"
"...No, he didn't," she told the woman, looking down at her hands. "He's never done anything to me that I hated." When asked how long she knew him, she told her five years.
"There are others who knew him longer, but, for us, we connected more than the others. We understood each other..." Looking annoyed, she asked herself why she was telling a complete stranger about this.
"As William Yeats said, "There are no strangers here Ms. Hajinmon, only friends you haven't yet met." Well, I guess we're friends now...If he didn't do anything wrong...Why say those things?"
"I just...don't understand why he chose another girl over me...I have come to his aid more times than anyone he's ever known. I understood what it was like to be hated, to work hard to be where we are now...Yet...Why didn't he choose me?"
"You feel betrayed and hurt by his choice?" asked Mrs. Rinko.
"More than you know. In my head, I thought to myself, "There's no way he'd fall for me. Fall for someone who's a child born of...bad circumstances." But as I got to know him...I thought, "Maybe I was wrong. I may finally have a chance." In the end, it was all for nothing. Even so, I wanted to stick by him, despite the pain. I was fine with just staying by his side, as a friend, but it only made my heart ache more. I wanted to move on, date others, but I could never do it. I felt disgusted by the thought of it...Eventually, I had it and left him, and I haven't seen him since..."
"I understand the feelings you have, not being the one he chose, but...why haven't you told him how you feel? Why not get over it by confessing your feelings in full? Girls who've gone through the same feelings as you get better once they confront the one they still love and pour their heart out."
"I'm...I'm sc-..." She couldn't say it. She couldn't tell them she was scared. Scared of the outcome of being honest with Naruto. She was used to not being honest. Clenching her teeth, she got up and left.
"Ayane!" Mr. Rinko stops Hotaruko, telling her to let her go. "But-"
"She needs space," her father told her. "Girls like her, who are stubborn, they don't forget. Right now, she just needs to reflect. Don't worry about her."
Train to Shibuya
As she walked by herself, Ayane recalled her hesitation towards telling Mrs. Rinko more. The woman only wanted to help, yet she couldn't accept it. She was afraid of having herself exposed, to show the side of her no one would ever dare see. The only one who's ever seen her at her most vulnerable was "him." The only person she'd show her tears to. If anyone were to see this side of her...If she exposed more of that side...As she waited for her stop, she heard her phone ring. Looking at it, she saw Naruto calling her. Ayane simply left it ringing until it stopped.
Sainan Town, Japan
Uzumaki Residence
"Hey Ayane, it's Naruto again. As usual, I know you're ignoring me on purpose, for the 34th time...Which is...pretty creepy when I say it out loud...I don't understand why you're doing so, but...if it's something I've done...I'd like us to talk things through. Not on the phone...In person. I want to listen...I want to understand how you're feeling...Hinami's been asking for you. She misses you, every day, asking me if you were coming back whenever I come home. I find it difficult to give her a good answer, but I give her hope that she'll see you again. Hinami's turning 15 next month...She wants to invite you to her party...She's staying at Rito's since...I'm about to leave for a mission. I'm still recovering my powers from overusing it a month ago...Right now, Kirigiri has put me in charge of a squad, and they are something, from what I've read in their dossier...It's ridiculous, the random time intervals for when my full powers come back every time I go overboard...I won't be gone long since...Well, you know me...Again, when you're ready to talk...Let's set up a place to meet. I hope you listen to this and maybe...send a text or call back. If you listen to this, please delete the messages I recorded before this one, they're too embarrassing to listen to...I'll see you when you're able...Take care of yourself okay. I care about you...Bye." Naruto hung up, sighing before looking at the purple headband he gave Ayane. He had a sad expression on his face when he looked at it.
5 years ago
"Here...I made this for you. It's...for your hair."
"You made that for me?" Naruto simply nods, telling Ayane how he had been working on it during his spare time.
"I know it's nothing that special, but-"
"No, it's fine...I'd like to try it on." Taking the headband, Ayane wears it around her head. Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at her. Noticing this, the blushing kunoichi asked him how it looked.
"It looks great on you," he told her, blushing, Ayane doing the same.
Now
"This always did look great on you..." Clenching it tightly, Naruto wondered if the Hajinmon kunoichi was okay as he puts it in his pocket and left out the door, closing it shut and locking it.