Chapter 22

It had been a week or so since the Third Hokage's funeral, and Ayumi was still depressed and reserved. Naruto did his best to cheer her up, but he only got a weak smile at best, and it was usually forced, to make him feel better. She was using her super strength to lift a few heavy beams onto her shoulder and take them where they were needed, when Naruto ran up. "Hey, Ayumi-chan! Ero-sennin is taking me to find Tsunade!" "Really?" She questioned, putting the beams down. "Yeah. He wanted me to find you, so you could help us find her." "Sure. But I need to get ready first."

He nodded, running off to tell Jiraiya, while she ran to her house. She opened the door, and put on her armor, yelling, "KAKASHI-SAN!!! I'M GOING WITH JIRAIYA TO FIND TSUNADE-SENSEI!!" She had just finished, securing her headband around her neck, and put Hara's armor into her backpack, along with a change of clothes and food, before whistling. Hara ran in, overjoyed, and Ayumi took a headband, with Hara's name engraved on it, and tied it around the pup's neck snuggly. That's when Kakashi walked in, saying, "You should be careful, Ayumi. You never know what'll happen." "I'll be fine, Kakashi-san." She said with a small smile, putting her backpack on her shoulder.

"Jiraiya-sama will take care of me and Naruto-kun." She hugged him, saying, "Good bye." And left with a happy Hara. She met Jiraiya and Naruto at the gate, and Naruto was impatient to set off. They finally did, and Naruto explained that Jiraiya was going to teach him a new jutsu. "Really? What jutsu?" She questioned Jiraiya. "It's a secret…" "At LEAST tell me the element of the jutsu!" "Fine…it's a wind jutsu…" "Really? Can you teach me, too? PLEASE! I LOVE wind jutsu!" "…Fine…" She smiled, and Naruto was relieved to see the real Ayumi coming back.

They walked up to a bridge, when Jiraiya was fed up with Naruto calling him Ero-sennin, and did a dramatic speech, hopping around on the bridge, and saying how LEGENDARY he was…Ayumi just stared for a moment, uncaring, before both her and Naruto walked right by him without a word. Jiraiya eventually caught up with them, and they reached a city. Ayumi thought they were going to keep going, but Jiraiya bought a room. "Are you serious?! We have to keep moving!" "If you want to learn my jutsu, you have to do as I say." "Lazy son of a-" before she could finish her insult, Jiraiya saw a beautiful young woman and practically ran off with her, saying something about 'practice', 'chakra control', and 'the room'.

Luckily, he gave Naruto the key, and Ayumi sighed, saying, "Let's go." They walked into the room, and Ayumi sighed when she saw there were only two beds. "There are only two beds…Jiraiya's sleeping on the floor." She said the last part decidedly, sitting down on one of the beds.

She sat Indian-style on the bed, meditating, when Hara barked, snapping her out of it. "What is it, Hara?" She questioned, but Hara just ran around in a circle a couple of times before running under the bed. Ayumi quirked an eyebrow, confused, and Naruto asked, "Anything wrong?" "No…I don't think so…" She looked at the door uncertainly before closing her eyes, steadying her breathing. That's when someone knocked on the door. Hara whimpered audibly, and Ayumi tried to coax her out while Naruto went to open the door. In a moment, the room was silent, stifled by fear, and Ayumi felt a chill race up her spine before turning to see Naruto at the open door, scared stiff.

She was against the wall, and had instinctively masked her chakra. She couldn't hear the words exchanged, but she grabbed Hara's armor, calling her silently over, and put it on soundlessly before putting on her gloves. She saw Naruto go out into the hall, and moved right next to the doorway, pressing her ear to the wall. She hid a deeper voice say, "It'll be a hassle if he can run away. Maybe I should cut off a leg." Her heart nearly skipped a beat, and she didn't hear a reply from the second person. "Okay then." Fear constricted her throat, and Hara didn't move, paralyzed with fear, when Ayumi jumped out, standing in front of Naruto protectively.

"YOU'RE NOT CUTTING ANYONE!!" She hit the one with the sword with a chakra-filled punch, sending him all the way down the hall. "Ayumi-chan! I thought you would never come!" "Nonsense, Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" At that moment, she turned to see the other shinobi, and her heart beat with pain and joy to recognize her nii-san.

"I-Itachi? What are you doing here?"

"We came for Naruto." She felt uncomfortable, seeing those crimson eyes again. "You're going to hurt him, aren't you?" He didn't answer, but she knew the answer already. She'd always been able to read him, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
Before she could protest, the other man had gotten up and walked over. "I'm gonna kill her!" she slid into a fighting stance, daring him, and he swung his sword at her. She kicked the sword away, holding it down with her foot, before punching him in the stomach. He grabbed her wrist, but she locked her knees, holding fast, and threw him over her shoulder.

"Not so tough NOW, are you?" she mocked, hands on her hips. Naruto's jaw dropped, and Kisame must have been more surprised than he was. He stood, eyeing her warily, and said, "You might be harder to fight…" He raised his sword, making her tense. "But he isn't that tough at all." The sword was coming down on Naruto, and Ayumi moved without a moment's hesitation, pushing Naruto out of the way. She couldn't dodge in time, so the sword cut down the whole length of her left arm. She gritted her teeth in pain, holding the wound with her right hand.

She looked at her arm, feeling the blood seep through her fingers, and saw the blood glow with chakra, and start flowing back into the wound. Everyone stared, though she tried to hide it with her other arm as the wounds completely healed, not even leaving a scar. "I didn't know you had that ability…" Itachi said, still looking at her arm, where the armor and cloth had been ripped away. She saw Naruto on the other side of the hall, still scared, and she said, "Naruto-kun, get over here!" 'I can't protect him from this distance…' Naruto started moving, but Kisame stabbed his sword into the ground between them, making the floor shatter, making Naruto fall…

"NARUTO-KUN!!!" She jumped, grabbing his hand, and slammed onto the edge of the hole. "A-Ayumi-chan…" "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" "Y-Yeah…I'm fine…" She smiled, relieved, and was about to lift him up when something heavy slammed into her back, holding her down. She looked over her shoulder, glaring at Kisame. "God! How fat ARE you?" She complained, feeling like her spine was going to snap any second. "If you let him go, I'll get off." "NO!!" "Ayumi-chan…" Ayumi looked down at Naruto, feeling his grip weakening. "Just let me go…take care of yourself…" "I won't! If you wouldn't stop defending me, then why should I stop doing the same for you?!"

She was stubborn, that was her nature, and she was determined to see this through. She looked at the ceiling, saying, "Remember the tree climbing exercise, Naruto-kun?" He nodded, and she smiled, saying, "Good." He got her hint when she used her enormous strength to throw him feet-first at the ceiling. "Would you look at that! I let him go…" she gave Hara the signal, and she shot the poisoned senbon at Kisame, who jumped off. She stood, rubbing her stiff neck, and said, "Awww! My neck! Thanks for the stiffening pain, teme!" Naruto came down next to her, still looking worried, and Ayumi was able to loosen her neck muscles.

She sighed, cracking her fingers, before saying, "You know I'm not letting you take Naruto-kun without a fight, so who's first?" Hara snarled at both of them warningly, while standing beside Ayumi. Once Itachi glanced at Hara, she whimpered slightly, hiding behind Ayumi's legs. Kisame gave Itachi a questioning look, and he stepped forward. She activated the Ayaka Sharingan, staring unafraid into his Sharingan. She grabbed her blades, ready to move, when Itachi said, "It's been a while, Sasuke…" her heart beat wildly as she thought, 'Oh God! Not Sasuke! He'll get killed!' "Get away from her! You've hurt her enough!" Sasuke yelled at Itachi.

He used Chidori, and ran at Itachi full speed. Ayumi turned away, burying her face in Naruto's chest, when she felt the force of the impact against her back. She heard Naruto gasp, and looked up to see Itachi holding Sasuke's wrist, completely unharmed from Chidori. She knew what he was going to do, and yelled, "Don't hurt him, nii-san!" but it was too late. He snapped Sasuke's wrist, and he fell to the ground in pain. "SASUKE-NII-SAN!!!" She tried to run to his side, but Naruto held her back. "You can't help him now." Naruto said, feeling horrible when she said, "But I have to do SOMETHING!! He's my nii-san! Let me help him!"

Naruto turned her around to face him, saying, "You can't do anything for him now, so do what you were going to do before!" Her eyes widened slightly in understanding, and she nodded. She gripped her blades tighter, turning to face Itachi, and said, "I'm not going to hold back, nii-san." "I wouldn't want you to, nii-chan." Kisame was shocked for a moment before saying, "Wait a sec…you two are brother and sister?" "Well DUH, retard! Can't you see the family resemblance? Or are you as blind as you are stupid?!" "You know what, if you want to keep your tongue, you'd better stop that language!" "Make me." She dared, deadly calm.

"Kisame…this is my fight." "Okay, okay…" Ayumi faced her older brother, her eyes as red as the blood flowing in her veins, and she slid into a fighting stance. She thought she saw his hands move, but she wasn't sure. Her eyes widened for a moment, and she tried to move, but it was too late. She was caught in a Genjutsu. It was like the whole world was a glowing white color, like an empty space, and the only two people that were there were Ayumi and Itachi.

She looked around, wondering what it was supposed to be, when Itachi said, "This is your mind. Think of anything, and it'll appear." She looked around, thinking of her memories, and what looked like a movie slowly moved by her, showing the night that her, Sasuke, and Itachi had played board games because Sasuke hurt his ankle, and another flew by showing when she fought Zabuza. "Do you always do dangerous things?" Itachi questioned, looking at all of the screens flying around the space. A specific screen was much larger than the others, and moving at a snail-like speed. It showed her reaction to the Third's death.

'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!' It echoed in the space, though it wasn't enclosed, and Ayumi's knees shook. It then showed the funeral, and a tear slid down her cheek. "…It was all my fault…I shouldn't even be alive…I only bring pain…" she whispered, grabbing a kunai. Itachi grabbed her wrist, saying, "You shouldn't kill yourself for something like that." "Like I have anything else to live for! YOU killed the people I was training to protect!" She could feel his guilt now, and he said, "You don't know what they were going to do…" "Then TELL me!"

He seemed reluctant, and he said, "All you need to know is that it would have ruined your life." She looked up at him, and, after a moment, all her anger ebbed away. She felt tears building in her eyes as she hugged him tight, crying into his cloak. "I missed you! I missed you so much it hurt! I missed you as much as I miss mom…" She couldn't help it. He was still her nii-san. It was like he hadn't change at all, and he was still comforting her…like Naruto did… "If you really want to know what they were planning, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell Sasuke." She nodded, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes, something he'd never forgotten.

"Okay…Okay, I'll tell you…"