Chapter 20
After training all month, the finals for the Chuunin exams had finally arrived. Ayumi wore what looked like ANBU armor, only lighter and it was all white except for the black edges. She had it specially made, and was pulling it on with pride. Once every little piece was on, she smiled, pulling her hair into a ponytail and brushing her bangs to the sides of the face with her hand. Once she was done, Kakashi came in, saying, "You look like you belong in ANBU…" "Maybe I will…someday." "I need to get Sasuke anyway. If I don't make it in time, I want to wish you good luck in your fight." She smiled brightly, saying, "I'll be fine, but thanks for the luck."
She then called Hara over, and put armor plating on her back and the fronts of her legs. Under the back plates, she hid a packet of senbon with poison on the tips. She had already taught Hara to lightly kick the front of her hind legs to make the senbon appear, and to do it again to shoot them. But Ayumi was careful not to give her the signal. She left an hour early, and made it there with fifteen minutes to spare. The only thing that worried her was that Naruto and Sasuke weren't there yet. Naruto was almost late, but he flew into the arena. Ayumi looked up at the stands, but didn't even look for Tsunade's face. Tsunade had left early that morning, to go gambling, but wished Ayumi luck.
Naruto asked, "Where'd you get the cool armor, Ayumi-chan?" "I had it custom-made. It has everything I could ever need." "I wish I had something like that…" She smiled warmly. "You just need yourself, Naruto-kun. You're strong, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." That's when the proctor said that the matches would be starting. The first match was between Naruto and Neji. "Good luck, Naruto-kun. I know you'll beat him." With that, she went with the other shinobi to the viewing station. She saw the Sand shinobi, but she stayed a fair distance away, since Hara was scared of Gaara. She watched Naruto's fight with confidence, cheering him on enthusiastically.
When Naruto won, Ayumi cheered as loudly as Naruto was below. Kankurou forfeited his match, and Shikamaru's was next. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, and Naruto came back up, accidentally hitting Shikamaru over the railing. "NARUTO-KUN!!" she smacked Naruto upside the head before calling down, "SHIKAMARU-KUN!!! YOU OKAY!?!" "Yeah…I'm fine…" She studied this fight closely, and pulled on her black gloves, with a silver plating on the back, when Shikamaru forfeited. "WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, almost falling over the railing. "The next match will be Temari vs. Ayumi!" The proctor announced. Ayumi picked Hara up and jumped down.
She set her down, and Temari said, "You might as well forfeit now. You'll never win." "On the contrary: YOU'LL never win." She said this with a sly smile, and got into a fighting stance as the proctor said, "Begin!" Temari waved her fan, making the slicing wind race at Ayumi. She already knew that was coming, and punched the ground so hard that rock and earth flew up in front of her, taking the attack. She disappeared in a moment, and appeared behind Temari, and aimed a chakra-filled kick to Temari's side, making her fly away. She slid into her fighting stance again, saying, "I thought this would have been harder. Guess I was wrong."
She ran at Temari before she could raise her fan, and hit her with a chakra-filled punch in the stomach, making her fly into the wall, making a crater. She was beaten, and Ayumi hadn't even needed to use the Ayaka Sharingan. She smiled brightly as she was proclaimed the winner, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that…someone was watching her. Someone evil. Naruto was cheering for her, and she smiled broadly, picking Hara up. She was walking towards the stairs, but she looked back at the arena, wondering if Sasuke was going to make it in time, when both him and Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. She smiled, relieved, before saying, "Thank God! You guys finally got here! They were about to disqualify you!"
She turned to Kakashi. "Do you know what I would have done to you if you had gotten my nii-san disqualified? …No? Well, you don't want to know!" "Okay! Okay! Calm down! I didn't, so chill!" She breathed deeply, and said, "Good luck, nii-san. Your fight's next." "How'd your fight go?" Kakashi questioned. "I won easily." She said with a smile, and Hara barked happily. "Good. I knew you'd do well. Go up with Naruto, okay?" She nodded, and headed for the stairs. As she walked up, Hara whimpered, hiding her head under Ayumi's arm, and she looked over the railing to see Gaara mercilessly kill two men. She froze with fear, her heart beating wildly against her ribcage.
He walked past her silently, but it felt like an eternity before she could calm her racing heart. 'Oh my God! Nii-san!' she ran up the stairs, heading for the stands, and ran in, seeing Naruto and Shikamaru already there. "Kakashi-san! Stop the fight!" Kakashi turned to her, giving her a questioningly look. "I don't want him to die! Stop the fight!" Naruto tried to calm her, but her fear was too wild. "Ayumi, calm down. He'll be fine." She looked at the fight to see a huge ball of sand, which she guessed was Gaara, and Sasuke on the wall…using Chidori. "…Y-You taught him th-that?" Kakashi nodded, and Gai started boasting about its power, and its nickname, 'Lightning Blade'.
Ayumi looked uncertainly at the fight as Sasuke ran at the ball of sand, piercing it. An ear-piercing scream erupted from Gaara. "MY BLOOD!!!" It made Ayumi quake, and Hara hide her head deeper under Ayumi's arm. Sasuke jumped back, showing a strange arm. Ayumi froze with terror at the sight, and the ball of sand broke down. An explosion erupted from the platform where the Hokage was sitting, and Temari and Kankurou took Gaara away, with Sasuke following close behind. Ayumi was about to follow when strange feathers filled the air. She did a hand sign, saying, "Dispel!" She turned to see only Kakashi, Gai, and Sakura were still awake. She asked, "What's going on?"
"We're under attack." Kakashi said, trying to act calm. Ayumi put Hara down, and said, "Well, I'll kill every single enemy. No one attacks MY home and gets away with it!" she was about to go after Sasuke when an ANBU appeared in front of her. She had a curious look before a few Sound shinobi appeared behind him. "Traitor!" She spat, and Hara growled. The Sound shinobi jumped at her all at once, and she did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" she started spinning, and the fire burned all of the shinobi out of commission. She stopped spinning, and slid into a fighting stance, daring the ANBU traitor to fight her.
"Maybe I won't…but I bet Orochimaru liked your rapid progress. He must have enjoyed the show." Ayumi's heart almost stopped, but she kept on her impassive face as well as Itachi could, and said, "I'm not going anywhere, if that's what you want. I'm staying in Konoha. I'm going to protect my family." "Isn't your family dead?" She flinched. "They're not blood related, so how are they family?" "They helped me through the hardest time of my life! Stayed with me through everything! Just like a family should! We may not be blood-related, but we have the same home, the same goal…" She stabbed a Sound shinobi in the heart as he came up behind her. "And our Will of Fire binds us together as strong as blood!"
"A Touching speech…but you're still coming with me." "I thought I said I wasn't going to." She punched the floor, making a crater. "And I don't think you're in a position to boss me around." The Ayaka Sharingan blazed as she stood up straight, and Hara snarled beside her, bristling. "I'd leave if I were you. You can't win." She ran at him at a fast pace, punching him hard in the stomach, but he smirked under his mask, grabbing her wrist, and squeezed her neck with his other hand. "So this is what the Ayaka Sharingan looks like…" He studied her eyes, and she spat into his face. "A little temperamental, I see." "Stuck up teme!" she snarled, and she gave Hara the sign.
Hara tapped her hind legs twice, and five poisoned senbon flew at the ANBU, hitting him either in the arm or the side. He released Ayumi, who smirked, saying, "Paralysis poison. Soon, you won't be able to move." Hara snarled at him as he glared at Ayumi. "You're pretty good. No wonder Orochimaru favors you over Sasuke." "We're basically the same." "Of course. You're twins. I remember now. But you're the older." "Only by an hour." She said, and she did a powerful spinning kick, hitting two Sound shinobi unconscious. "You can't distract me that easily." She said triumphantly. She then looked up where the Hokage was, and saw him fighting…Orochimaru…
She gasped slightly, but held back most of it, managing to say, "He came here…" "To destroy your precious home and family, and take you as a prize." She glared at the ANBU, saying, "You don't know if it'll work…" "But you don't know if it won't." She glared at him, before noticing that Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru were gone. The ANBU left, and she ran to Kakashi, asking, "Where are they?" "They went to get Sasuke." Ayumi's eyes widened in shock, and she raced after them, Hara sniffing the way. She soon found Naruto fighting Gaara all on his own, with Sakura being choked by a sand arm and the curse mark taking Sasuke over.
She saw Gaara was like a small sand raccoon, and she hid in the shadows, watching curiously. Gaara swung at Naruto, and Ayumi intervened, doing some hand signs and saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" The sand turned to glass, and she jumped down in front of Naruto. "Ayumi-chan!" "Be careful, Naruto-kun."
She saw Gaara's sand regenerate, reminding her of her own healing abilities. "Ayumi…why are you interfering? Why can't you let me kill them?" "They're precious to me, and I'll protect them with my life." She slid into her fighting stance, ready to fight. Gaara swung at her, and she punched the hand, shattering the sand. The other hand went to hit Naruto, but she pushed him out of the way, and the hand grabbed her. He lifted her into the air, crushing the air from her body. She coughed up blood, gritting her teeth in pain. "You care too much for others. You should care only for yourself. Forget about them and live only for yourself…"
Ayumi gave him a stubborn look, saying, "When I protect them…it's like protecting a piece of my heart…its nice…living to protect others…" "AYUMI-CHAN!!!" Ayumi turned her head to look at Naruto, and smiled weakly, saying, "Naruto-kun…protect nii-san…and Sakura-chan…" "But…Ayumi-chan…" "Promise me!" After a moment of silence, Naruto nodded, saying, "I promise I'll protect them, Ayumi-chan." She nodded, and aimed a chakra-filled kick at Gaara's arm. It struck, shattering the sand, but his hold became a death grip. She coughed up blood as Naruto cried out, "AYUMI-CHAN!!!!!" The hand fell off, and made her impact on the ground even harder.
Her breathing was becoming difficult, and Gaara said, "The sand will crush her soon. Unless you defeat me, she'll die." Naruto looked down at her, saying, "She's the most selfless person I know. She's never done anything for herself. She helped all of us through the hardest times of our lives…now its time I returned the favor." Ayumi watched the fight, though her mind was darkening, and she soon blacked out altogether. She woke up as her breathing became easier, and looked around to see that the sand had fallen away. She sat up, a hand to her heart, and tried to calm herself. 'Thank God! Naruto did it! Wait…NARUTO-KUN!!' she stood up in a flash, looking around frantically for him, and saw him lying on the ground.
"Naruto-kun!" She called, running towards him. She kneeled down beside him, whispering, "Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun, are you alright?" "Yeah…I guess I'm okay…" "Thank God! You're going to be okay, Naruto-kun." She looked up to see Sasuke, and said, "Nii-san…your mark…" "I know…" She stood, putting a hand on his shoulder, and whispered, "But I thought Kakashi sealed it?" "I used too much chakra."
She turned to Sasuke, saying, "I'll carry you guys back. We're not too far…" "You can't carry all three of us!" Ayumi smiled, saying, "I trained in strength, nii-san. I think I can manage." She lifted Naruto into her arms, and Sasuke put Sakura on her back. They sped to Konoha, and Ayumi expected to be met with the Third Hokage's wide smile, but it seemed to have…disappeared. She searched for Kakashi, and found him. "Kakashi-san, what's wrong-" She was cut short at the sight before her. The Third Hokage was dead.
Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, "Why is it that everyone I love dies?" "Ayumi, it wasn't your fault. He did it for the village…" "Because Orochimaru wanted me!" She yelled, her temper flaring in her emotionally weakened state. "He wanted the Ayaka Sharingan, and he was willing to destroy all of Konoha to get it! It's my fault! It's always my fault when people die!" With that, she disappeared, and Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, worried, and asked, "What are you going to do?" Kakashi sighed. "…I don't…she's always been fragile when it comes to the loss of the people closest to her…since her clan was nearly wiped out…" "…That's why she protects her friends so fiercely…"
"Especially Naruto and Sasuke…" "I see why she protects Sasuke, but why Naruto?" Kakashi looked thoughtful as he said, "I think she loves him. But I don't know for sure…" Jiraiya nodded. ANYWAY…back with Ayumi. She had raced to the Uchiha monument, and sat on top of it, crying. The tears couldn't be held back. Every special memory she'd ever shared with the Third Hokage flashed before her eyes, and the tears became heavier. She heard footsteps, but she couldn't hide if she'd wanted to. Naruto walked up, looking downhearted, and said, "Ayumi-chan…come here…" Ayumi got down, and hugged him tight, crying into his shirt.
"…He's GONE…he can't be gone! …He was always there! He can't just DIE like that!" she said into his shirt, muffling the words. "I know…we're all going to miss him…" Naruto said soothingly, stroking her head. "…It's all because of me…" "It's not your fault! The Third knew what he had to do, and he did it. You can't keep blaming yourself…" Kakashi was watching them from a distance, thinking, 'Naruto is actually UNDERSTANDING? This is a weird day…but I'm sure they'll show their feelings to each other soon enough…'