Chapter 19

She was walking around with Hara, thinking of someone to help her train, when she saw Naruto with Jiraiya. She froze, and then walked up. "Hey, Naruto-kun!" "Hi, Ayumi-chan! Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I just got out of the hospital." She turned to Jiraiya, saying, "You're one of the Sannin?" He nodded. "I need help. Do you know where Tsunade is?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "She should be coming here today to go 'sightseeing'. Why?" "I need someone to train me for the finals of the Chuunin exam." "YOU made it to the finals." A vein pulsed in her head as she asked, "And why wouldn't I have?"

Naruto whispered something in Jiraiya's ear, and he nodded. "Well…she should be at the gates." Ayumi shrugged off her anger, and smiled, saying, "Arigato, Jiraiya-sama!" before running off. She ran to the gates, and saw some people coming in. She looked at all of them, looking for the one that looked anything like the Tsunade she'd heard of, and saw her walk in the gates and go to the right of the gate, parallel to the wall. Ayumi followed like a shadow, leaving Hara behind, and, when they were in the training grounds, Tsunade stopped, asking, "What do you want?"

Ayumi came out of the shadows, saying, "I'm sorry to have followed you, Tsunade-sama…I'm Ayumi Uchiha, and I was wondering…if you could train me for the Chuunin exams in a month…?" Tsunade sighed, and she was about to decline when Ayumi said, "Please! I want to be strong…like you…" Tsunade turned to look at her as Ayumi said, "I want to be able to rely on my own strength…but I need to be stronger…please! I just need you to teach me!" "Why do you want to be stronger? Just for yourself?" "No…I want to protect what's left of my family…and my friends…" Tsunade sighed, saying, "Then I'll teach you…but you have to be willing to work hard!" "Of course!" Ayumi said, smiling.

They started training that day, and it was the most rigorous, demanding training Ayumi had ever done. The next day, she said, "Tsunade-sensei…could I get half of the day off…?" "Why?" "…It's the anniversary…" Tsunade's gaze softened, and she said, "Okay…we'll train extra hard this morning, and you'll get the rest of the day off." Ayumi smiled, saying, "Arigato, Tsunade-sensei." After training that morning, Ayumi went to the flower shop, too deep in thought to notice Naruto was following her, wondering what she was doing. She bought a bouquet of white roses, and headed to the Uchiha complex.

They had made a monument there, engraving all of their names onto a huge stone. Ayumi put the bouquet on the stone, saying, "Here, mom. Remember, their your favorites…'innocent love'…" a sob wracked Ayumi's throat. "That's all you ever gave us…and you died…" she hadn't brought Hara, preferring to be alone on this one day of the year, and she felt tears slide down her cheeks. She only cried on this day, when no one else was around to judge her. She just didn't notice Naruto was watching her. Naruto felt horrible…and was scared out of his wits when Jiraiya appeared behind him. "Why are you following her around?"

Jiraiya got a sly smile on his face as he whispered, "You like her, don't you?" Naruto blushed, whispering, "Wh-What makes you think th-that?!" Jiraiya didn't need to say it, because it was obvious how he found out, and Naruto shied his eyes away as he said, "I always knew she was broken on the inside, but…she always seemed so happy, so…I just shook off the feeling. But…she'd always go off on this day, every year, and cry. She's been holding in all of her pain…all of her sadness…and I was too closed-minded to notice!" Jiraiya studied him a moment, thinking, 'This isn't just a childish crush…this is love…it's real, and it's hurting him.'

Ayumi wiped her tears away, saying, "Now what would happen if Sasuke saw me crying? He'd probably want to kill Itachi more than he already does." She sniffed, tracing her mothers name with her pointer finger. "I think everyone except mom, Sasuke, and Itachi would care less if I came into the world…and would probably celebrate it if I left it."
She looked up at the sky, whispering, "I wish Itachi-nii-san would come back…I don't care why he came back…I just want to see him again…" She wiped the rest of her tears away, looked at the monument one last time, and left in a flash. She landed in the training grounds, and sat in a densely foliaged tree.

She leaned against the trunk, deep in thought. She closed her eyes, remembering her old life. She felt a chakra close by, so she opened her eyes, looking around. She felt the presence closing in on her, and sat up straight, all her senses on the alert. A kunai hit the trunk of the tree next to her head, and she noticed a note on it. She took it, and read the note: 'It's been a while, nii-chan. I see you've gotten better at detecting people's presences. Unfortunately, I can't see you yet. Maybe another time.' She already knew who it was, and jumped down from the tree, looking around. She thought she heard something, but turned only to see Hara.

"Hara, see if anyone's in the area!" Hara seemed to nod, and sniffed around. She didn't find him, and Ayumi sighed. She wondered if she'd EVER see him again…