Chapter 8

"Wake up! Come on, Ayumi!" Ayumi slowly awoke to Kakashi's yelling. "Five more minutes!" she yelled back, covering her head with a pillow. "Come on! You don't want to be late!" "I don't care!" He appeared at her door, saying, "Get up already!" She threw a pillow at him, yelling, "Let me sleep!" Before flopping back down on the bed.

"Do you really want them to wait?" "They'll live." "You wouldn't want to FAIL, now would you?" She sat up slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?" "If you don't go, I'll have to fail you." Before he was even done speaking, she had grabbed a white tank top and jean shorts before running to the bathroom. She changed quickly, putting her hair up, and ran back out, pulling her shoes on. She grabbed her weapons and blades before tying her headband around her forehead. Her blades were handles, with the blade coming out of one end and running parallel with her forearm until her elbow.

"Come ON, Kakashi!" She yelled, putting her blades on her belt before running downstairs. She grabbed a few breakfast bars before looking behind at Kakashi. "Can you BE any slower?" She questioned, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. "Why are we rushing? We're already late…" "WHAT!?!" She was running, dragging him behind her, and they made it to the bridge in a fraction of the normal time. "What took you guys so long?" Naruto questioned, walking towards them. "Ask…him…" Ayumi said between breaths, pointing at Kakashi.

"So…what's this test about, sensei?" Sakura questioned, walking up with Sasuke. "We need to go to the training ground…" Kakashi noticed Ayumi had her hands stuck in her pockets, refusing to pull them out, but didn't question it. When they got there, Sakura saw the stump Ayumi had been pummeling the day before, and gasped at the hole going straight through it. "What…did THAT?!" She asked, surprised. Kakashi looked at Ayumi, who wanted to run, and said, "Ask Ayumi." "Why?" Sakura asked, looking at Kakashi with curiosity.

"Because…I did it…" Ayumi said, taking her hands out of her pockets and taking off the bandages. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the scars and cuts overlapped over her knuckles. "What did you do? Punch through wood?!" Ayumi's gaze flickered to the stump as she said, "You could say that…" "You PUNCHED THROUGH wood?!" Naruto exclaimed, eyes wide. "Kinda…" "Why do you do this to yourself?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes narrowing. "It was…kind of an accident…" "How was it an accident?" He pressed. "I really wasn't thinking…and I was angry…and I didn't feel the pain until I snapped out of it…" She said, giving a weak smile.

"That's a horrible excuse." He retorted. "Like you could think of something better!" She snapped back. "Actually, I could." "You're annoying for a little nii-san, you know that." "I'm only younger by an hour!" "But I'm older by an hour, and that's all that matters." She said with a sly smile. "You're a moron…" "But I'm YOUR moron!" she said, her smile widening. "I hate you!" "I know you don't mean it! You love me!" "No I don't…" "Stop lying to yourself." "I'm not…" "You're lying to yourself again." "At least I'm not hurting myself…" "At least I'm not out for my nii-san's blood…" She retorted, making this serious.

Kakashi's visible eye widened and he was about to stop the fight when Sasuke said coldly, "At least I care enough about our family to avenge them!" Ayumi's eyes widened, and Naruto said, "Teme! You don't understand…" "D-Do you…really think that, n-nii-san?" Sasuke looked at her, noting the unfamiliar stutter, and saw her eyes were shiny with tears. 'Shit.' He thought. "I…really care for them…I was heartbroken when they died…and I didn't want to lose you, too…do you really think I'm that selfish? That I'd let the past stop me from mourning they're passing? Nii-san…I just don't want to experience that feeling again…" Naruto walked up to her, saying, "its okay, Ayumi-chan…just…don't cry…"

She choked back the sobs, saying, "I-I won't…" Naruto looked at her with a worried expression. She hadn't cried for six years. She hadn't even teared up. 'To have someone say that about you…especially someone so close to you…it must hurt…' he thought. Kakashi sighed, and walked over, wrapping up her hands. "Are you going to be okay, Ayumi?" He questioned as he worked. She nodded, saying, "I'll be fine, Kakashi-san…" "Okay…" He looked at her uncertainly before saying, to everyone, "We'll be having a bell test. I have three bells. The ones that are able to steal a bell from me pass…and get a lunch." Their stomachs rumbled, and Ayumi said, "You woke me up late on purpose…"

He smiled underneath his mask, saying, "Maybe…" "Teme…" She said under her breath as he tied the bandages.
"Okay, if you're all ready, let's start." He said, standing and taking out his book. A vein pulsed in Ayumi's head, but she quickly disappeared, watching from a safe perch in a tree. She saw Naruto fight Kakashi, and winced in sympathy when Kakashi used A Thousand Years of Pain. 'Yeah…for your ass!' she thought, feeling bad for her friend, but moved lower down, ready to attack, when she heard a strange whimpering sound.

She followed the sound, and soon saw a wolf cub, barely two months old, lying on the ground in pain. She approached, but stopped when it looked up at her, frightened. "Shhhh….it's okay…I'm not going to hurt you…I just want to help…" She knew that it couldn't understand, but a soothing voice seemed all the wolf cub really wanted. It relaxed, and she moved closer. She kneeled next to it, looking at it for a moment, a reassuring hand on the cub's head, and noticed that it didn't move its right forepaw. She sighed, and took out some extra bandages and wrapped the foot tightly. She then took out a breakfast bar, and slowly fed the wolf cub.

Afterwards, she ate a breakfast bar, with the cub on her lap, happily sleeping. When she was done, she carefully lifted the cub, realizing it was a SHE, and started walking again. After a while, she saw Sasuke buried up to his neck and an unconscious Sakura. Her eye twitched as she said, "I can practically SEE what happened here…" "Can you help me, nii-chan?" She looked at him coldly, but sighed, saying, "Sometimes, I'm too nice…" Sasuke already knew she'd help him out, and it was confirmed when she walked over, and started digging him out with a kunai.

When he was finally out, she said, "Sasuke…I need to tell you something important…" He looked at her, obviously listening. "I don't like shedding blood for no reason…or for revenge…revenge is something that eats away at us…turns us into something ugly…something we've always hated…I don't want to end up like that, and I don't want that to happen to you, either." After a moment of silence, she asked, "Can you watch her for me?" He nodded, taking the cub, and she smiled, saying, "Arigato!" Before leaving.

She soon found Kakashi, and took out some kunai. She threw them before silently slipping into the shadows, and coming at him from behind, her blades nearly slashing him in half. He blocked with a kunai, and she tried to kick him in the stomach. He blocked with his other hand, and she used one hand to reach for a bell. She almost had one when he kicked her away. She flew back, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach, saying, "You didn't need to hit me so hard…" She then positioned the blades in front of her in a defensive pose, but ran at him.

He dodged a deadly slice, and she did rapid hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" The attack seemed to hit him, but she'd trained with him enough to know he wasn't defeated. She looked around for him calmly, and activated the Ayaka Sharingan a moment before suddenly deactivating it and spinning around, blocking his kunai. She smirked, saying, "I don't think I've shown you this jutsu…" She jumped back, throwing her blades into the air as she did some hand signs. She landed on her feet, catching the blades as she said, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" Her blades started glowing with her chakra, and it looked like wind was starting to form around them.

She ran at Kakashi, but stopped in front of him, slashing the blades just in front of his abdomen. The wind and chakra from the blades smacked into him, sending him into a tree, and she smirked, running over, when he poofed. She cursed rather loudly, and Kakashi asked, "Who teaches you those words?" Ayumi, feeling nostalgic lately, was reminded of Itachi by that familiar question, but fought the tears, saying, "I just pick them up." She took out a kunai, throwing it at him before running at him. He knocked the kunai off course, and their weapons locked. "Where'd you learn a wind jutsu?" He questioned, curious.

"I just learned it…I don't remember where…" She kicked him in the side of the knee, and almost had a bell when a ringing entered her ears. "Time's up." Kakashi said with a smile. "No fair!" Ayumi said with a childish pout, but followed Kakashi. They soon regrouped with the others, and Sasuke handed over the wolf cub. "What's that?" Kakashi questioned. "Can I keep her? Please!!" "No." "Please!!!" "No!" "PLEASE!!!" "Fine…but YOU'RE picking up after her!" "Okay!" She said, happy. "I'll name her…Hara." "Wilderness…that's a good name for a wolf cub." Kakashi said.

Ayumi smiled, until she noticed Naruto was tied to a stump. "Why is Naruto tied to a stump?" "He tried to eat the lunches." Ayumi turned to Naruto. "How could you do that…" Everyone else tensed, ready to stop her from pummeling Naruto, "…without me?!" Everyone else did an anime fall, and Naruto said, "I couldn't find you…" "That's a horrible excuse!" "Déjà vu…" Sasuke commented, smirking, as Ayumi turned to glare at him. "Okay! Okay! Let's stop this before someone gets hurt." Kakashi said, trying to calm them.

After making them take seats beside Naruto, with Hara on Ayumi's lap, Kakashi said, "Well…none of you are going back to the Academy…" Naruto and Sakura thought that they had passed, but Ayumi could tell he wasn't finished, and waited silently. "…Instead, I'm dropping you from the program…permanently." Ayumi's heart felt like it was trying to come out her mouth as she said, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!" "Why didn't we pass?!" Naruto yelled, not about to give up. "It should be obvious." After a moment of thought, Ayumi said, "We wouldn't have been able to get a bell by ourselves, with the obvious difference in strength and experience…" realization dawned on her, "…but we outnumber him, so we should have worked together to get the bells."

"But there are three bells, and four of us, which would mean one of us wouldn't get a bell, and the squad would break up." Sakura said. "But you should have been able to put the team before yourselves." Kakashi said. Ayumi sighed, asking, "Can you give us another chance? Please?" Hara even gave him the puppy-dog eyes, and he said, "Okay…you have two hours to get these bells from me, and you can eat lunch now, but Naruto doesn't get any." "Why not?!" Naruto yelled, indignant. "Because you tried to eat without the others." Kakashi said matter-of-factly before leaving. Ayumi opened a lunch, but noticed how hungry Naruto looked.

"Naruto-kun…you can have mine." Naruto looked at her, wide-eyed, as she held out the lunch. "But…what about you, Ayumi-chan?" "I already ate something earlier. It'll last me." She said with a smile. Sasuke and Sakura agreed, and Ayumi got onto her knees. She got some food, feeding it to an immobile Naruto. When he swallowed the food, lightning streaked the sky, and thunder boomed as the sky turned gray with clouds. Kakashi appeared, and he looked angry. "You deliberately disobeyed me. Now you have to pay the price. What's your excuse?"

"I don't betray my friends." Ayumi said, her eyes icy. "Naruto is my best friend, and I'd do anything for him, just like I'd do anything for Sasuke or Sakura. You can't scare me off." She smirked. "And you know I have a problem with following orders." The others agreed, and Kakashi asked, "That's your excuse?" "It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" Ayumi said defiantly. After a moment, Kakashi smiled, saying, "You pass." As the sky cleared. Ayumi looked at him curiously, asking, "We passed?" Kakashi nodded, and a wide smile spread across her face as she said, "WE PASSED!!!!"

Everyone was happy, and they started to leave. Naruto, still tied to the stump, yelled, "HELLO!! YOU FORGOT ME!!!" Ayumi giggled, and went to untie him. "Thanks, Ayumi-chan!" He said with a smile, and he went after the others. She smiled, thinking, 'Well, at least it won't be boring…'