Chapter 17
Ayumi awoke in the trunk of a huge tree, and she opened her eyes to see an unconscious Sasuke and Naruto. Her gaze softened, until she turned her head to look up at the ceiling. She saw a Sound shinobi, with holes in his palms, about to kill them. Though she had a throbbing, merciless pain in her shoulder, she did a high kick to his face, hitting him away. She saw Hara, beaten unconscious, at her side, and her eyes grew steely as she stood. She grabbed her blades when she saw a Sound kunoichi holding Sakura by her hair. Ayumi's knees shook gently from weakness, and her shoulder and chest were wracked with pain. "What the HELL is going on?!" She demanded, holding her blades in a defensive pose.
When they didn't answer, her temper flared. Hara weakly whimpered, and Ayumi kneeled down, softly petting Hara's head. Ayumi didn't have a lot of chakra left, but she was determined to use it. She stood, and did some hand signs before saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" She held her blades out at arms length before moving a safe distance from the tree, and started spinning so fast that fire made a tornado around her. The tornado flew with deadly force at the other two Sound shinobi, but they dodged…barely… The fire dissipated because of Ayumi's lack of chakra, but she wasn't about to give up yet.
She gripped her blades tighter before running at one of the shinobi. When he held up a weird contraption that was on his arm, the Ayaka Sharingan flashed and she stopped, jumping back. "So YOU'RE the one with the Ayaka Sharingan." She didn't say anything as her mind raced to find a way to win. The Ayaka Sharingan flashed, but she didn't have time to move before the other shinobi blasted her with sound waves. She was able to shield her face and chest with her blades, but she was thrown back, and hit a tree. She slid down to the base of the trunk, feeling too weak to move. "Damn it all…"
She saw the shinobi that blasted her go towards where Sasuke and Naruto…to kill them. "Sasuke-nii-san…Naruto-kun…" She struggled to rise, but the other shinobi held her down, with his foot crushing her chest. She gritted her teeth in pain, but her strength was gone. She looked worriedly at her teammates, and noticed Lee on the ground, his ear bleeding badly. She struggled, but it was all in vain. She saw Sakura take out a kunai, but Ayumi knew it was futile. That's when Sakura surprised her. Sakura cut her long hair, and Ayumi's eyes widened in shock as Sakura's headband fell off. When the kunoichi went to kill her, Sakura used the Replacement jutsu, dodging.
As Sakura fought, Ayumi, with great difficulty, took out a kunai. When the Sound shinobi shouted something to his teammate, Ayumi stabbed the kunai into his leg. He cried out, jumping back. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs, before standing. She saw Sakura biting the other Sound shinobi's arm, but he was pummeling her head. "Sakura-chan!" She threw a blade at the Sound kunoichi, saying, "You want to fight somebody, then fight me." She pulled the blade back with her ninja wire, and Sakura was punched off. Ayumi ran in low, throwing kunai at the Sound shinobi, and standing in front of Sakura protectively. She was shaking from chakra exhaustion, and her breathing was labored.
She knew she didn't stand a chance now. But that wouldn't stop her from fighting. She felt her own strength being drained from her through her shoulder. She looked at her shoulder, and her eyes widened at the mark. It looked like the Mangekyou Sharingan. She looked away, not wanting to see what had burned its way onto her skin. "You know you can't win. Just die quietly." "Sorry…but I can't do that." She smiled. "I could never bring myself to die without a fight. Uchiha's are prideful, you know, and it's the honorable way to die…protecting those closest to you." She held her blades with shaking arms, but she didn't back down.
That's when Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji jumped in the way. Ayumi smiled, asking, "What took you so long?" before collapsing. Sakura caught her, but she was too weak to even speak. "Ayumi-chan! Ayumi-chan, are you okay?" Sakura questioned, keeping Ayumi from blacking out again. "…I'll…be fine…" Ayumi said, her breathing labored and heavy. When Ino's squad was losing, Neji and Tenten appeared. "…Hey, guys…" Ayumi said weakly, smiling softly. Neji activated the Byakugan, but deactivated it. Ayumi looked at him, confused, until she saw Sasuke. He had black, evil chakra around him. "Nii-san…?" He walked up to Sakura and Ayumi, asking, "Who did this to you?"
Ayumi was still trying to understand what was going on, and he turned to Sakura. That's when the Sound shinobi with holes in his palms said, "That would be me." Ayumi felt…afraid. "Nii-san…what are you going to…" Before she could finish, the Sound shinobi blasted at them, but Sasuke got all of them out of the way. Ayumi looked up at him surprised, and asked, "Nii-san…how did you…do that…?" "I…don't know…" But the next moment he was fighting the Sound shinobi. Ayumi closed her eyes, trying to regain strength, when she heard a horrible scream. Her eyes shot open, and she saw Sasuke had broken both of the Sound shinobi's arms.
Her eyes widened with innocence as she whispered, "Nii-san would NEVER do that…he doesn't hurt people unless it's necessary…" She saw him going to the other shinobi, and she shot up.
"Don't do it, nii-san!" She cried out, and Sakura ran up from behind him, hugging him. Ayumi could see Sakura's tears from a distance, and she stood, though her will was the only thing that kept her moving. She stood in front of him, saying, "You don't need to fight anymore, nii-san. Stop fighting…" Her eyes were begging him to stop, and the marks went back to the cursed seal on his own shoulder. 'The cursed seal…damn Orochimaru!' she thought, but to see the shock in Sasuke's eyes…it tore at her heart. "How…I didn't mean to…" Her gaze softened as she said, "Shhh…I know you didn't mean it…I don't blame you…" 'I blame Orochimaru…' she finished in her head.
She felt weakness claim her again, and her legs grew dangerously weak. She looked at Naruto, and said, "Take care of them, nii-san…" "Nii-chan, what's wrong?" She smiled weakly, saying, "I've used too much chakra…I'll be fine…" Her vision began to blur as she said, "…I'm sorry…I couldn't do more…to help…" With that, she collapsed, but Sasuke caught her. "Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Nii-chan, wake up! Stay with me, nii-chan!" She smiled weakly, though she was connected to the conscious world by a thread, and whispered, "…Take care of yourself…" before she was dragged into unconsciousness.