Chapter 23
At that moment, she felt arms wrap around her stomach, but she didn't see anybody else. "Ayumi-chan…" She heard Naruto's voice faintly call out her name. "Naruto-kun…" she whispered, and she wanted to get out. She wanted, NEEDED, to see Naruto again, and she tried to move away from Itachi. "Forget about him, nii-chan…he'll cause you nothing but pain…" "But…I love him…" she whispered almost too softly to hear. "I love him, so I can't forget him!" she said, louder this time. She thought she felt a rapid heartbeat in her back, and she said, "I need to see him again…" she said, her voice faltering as tears weld up in her eyes. "Ayumi-chan…Ayumi-chan…" "Naruto-kun!"
She tried to see him, but he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, he appeared, hugging her from behind, but he seemed almost like a ghost. "Naruto-kun!" "Ayumi-chan…I love you, too…" "Naruto-kun…" she felt a tear, and turned away from Itachi, hugging Naruto. She saw that he was becoming more solid, and that the world was starting to…dissolve…if only slightly. "Naruto-kun…" he looked at her curiously, and she smiled, saying, "I've wanted to do this so many times…" she put her hands on both cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss. She heard more than one gasp, but it was a sweet, innocent kiss, and it broke the Genjutsu.
She felt Naruto's shock, but it disappeared, and he kissed her back. The ones who were REALLY surprised were her brothers, who remembered every single time she said she'd NEVER fall in love, NEVER have a boyfriend, and NEVER kiss a guy. It was like the F!$#$ing Apocalypse! She smiled when they separated, and Naruto blushed, saying, "You…you really mean it?" "I mean it, Naruto-kun! I'd never lie to you!" "Awww…and that cute?" she glared at Kisame, tensing. "Maybe I should kill him in front of you…just to see what you'd do…"
Naruto saw the curse mark start glowing, and saw the marks start spreading down her exposed arm. "If you do…I'll get to see what color your blood is…" Naruto said, "Ayumi-chan! Don't!" the marks were already taking over, and the bloodlust came with it. "I'm gonna kill you!" She ran at him, hitting him so hard he almost went through the wall. She gripped his throat tight, saying, "Prepare to die!" That's when Naruto came up to her, saying, "Ayumi-chan! Snap out of it!" "Stay out of this, Naruto-kun!" He turned her around so she'd face him, and kissed her. Surprise turned to realization as the marks started receding back into the mark, and she cried, saying, "Why am I cursed? What did I ever do to anybody?"
"You didn't do anything, Ayumi-chan…its just greed…" He hugged her tight, walking away with her, trying to get away from Kisame before he blew up like a volcano…which he did…"I'M GONNA KILL HER!!!" Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as if that would shield her from all the pain and sorrow in the world. When Kisame was about to strike them with his sword, there was a puff of smoke, and a giant frog protected them. "Jiraiya-sama…" Ayumi said through her tears as he appeared behind them. He said this retarded speech, and Naruto yelled at him for being late and all that. "What happened to her?" That's when Jiraiya saw her curse mark. "Oh God…"
"Orochimaru marked her." Jiraiya looked up at Itachi. "And why would YOU care?" "She's my nii-chan, whatever happens to her IS my business." "I can't…even control myself…what kind of shinobi AM I…" she whispered, her words muffled by Naruto's jacket. "You're a powerful kunoichi! Even without the Ayaka Sharingan! You just need to learn how to control yourself…" Jiraiya could see her suffering, and said, "Well…I'll destroy these two…" "NO!" Even Ayumi's head snapped up to see Sasuke standing. "The only one destroying Itachi is me!" Sasuke ran at Itachi, about to punch him, but Itachi easily dodged and hit him away. "Sasuke-nii-san…"
Naruto put her head in his chest, not wanting her to see the beating. "He's going to die! I'm going to lose him…" she whispered, crying. That's when Itachi used the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Sasuke's screams echoed throughout the hall. "SASUKE-NII-SAN!!" She broke from Naruto's hug and ran to her brother, though Kisame was prepared to kill her. "AYUMI-CHAN!!" She grabbed Itachi's arm, saying, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Stop, nii-san! Stop hurting him!" That's when Jiraiya said, "Frog Stomach jutsu!" The walls turned soft and pink, and it sucked Sasuke in, though he was unconscious.
She sighed with relief, though the tears still wouldn't stop, and Naruto yelled, "AYUMI-CHAN!! LOOK OUT!!" At that moment, Itachi grabbed her by the throat and held her up. "If you really want to know what they were going to you, I'll just show you." He activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, and her eyes widened in fear as she activated the Ayaka Sharingan at the last moment. She was dragged into the world of black, white, and red, and she looked around fearfully.
She seemed almost like a ghost as she saw the entire Uchiha clan, except the children, in the meeting hall. "Since we finally have another descendant with the Ayaka Sharingan, she must be engaged immediately, before she becomes anymore rebellious!" "E-Engaged?" Ayumi whispered, disbelieving. "As tradition states, the one with the Ayaka Sharingan must marry the one with the strongest Sharingan of the opposite gender." It hit Ayumi like a million kunai. 'Itachi-nii-san…' "We all know who that is, so we need not go into long introductions. We'll tell her on the day of the next full moon." "Wait…that's the day they died…" she whispered, shaking. "What happens if she refuses?" a voice questioned. "She'll be forced! Unfortunately, we can't kill her, but we can make her do it." "And it would have killed me on the inside…" she whispered, the tears coming back. "Itachi-nii-san! Let me out!" The commas on the Ayaka Sharingan began to spin, and he appeared behind her, saying, "You finally understand…" She turned away from all of them, saying, "They really…didn't care…" "There's one more thing they hid from you…" she looked up at him with hurt, innocent eyes, and he continued. "The only way for you to achieve the same power as the Mangekyou Sharingan, which is called the Yamashita Sharingan, is to kill the one you love." Ayumi backed away, saying, "I couldn't! I couldn't! It would be like killing myself!" "You need to learn that emotions are what are killing you." "But I'm only human! I can't be perfect! Stop acting like dad!" That obviously hit a nerve, and she said, "Just let me out…" He didn't answer, but it seemed Naruto had appeared. "Naruto-kun!" she ran to him, but Itachi was faster. He stood behind Naruto with a sword, and her eyes widened as he slashed Naruto in the back, making his blood splash onto her. "NARUTO-KUN!!" Her tears mixed with the blood, and the mark started glowing, adding strength to the Ayaka Sharingan. "I loved him…I LOVED HIM, AND YOU KILLED HIM!!!" She ran at him, lashing out furiously, when, suddenly, the world seemed to suddenly disappear, and she was back in the hallway, the mark agitated but sealed, and the Ayaka Sharingan flickering weakly with draining power.
Itachi dropped her, and both him and Kisame ran. She sat there, processing all that she had heard, when Naruto ran to her side. "Ayumi-chan! Ayumi-chan, are you okay?" She smiled weakly, saying, "Yeah…he didn't really hurt me in that world…"
'He hurt you…' she thought as the marks glow died away. Naruto looked around as the pink flesh turned back into the normal wall, and Sasuke was against the wall. Jiraiya went up to him, saying, "The technique made him unconscious. The only one who could heal him is Tsunade…" That's when Gai kicked him in the face through the hole in the wall. After getting pissed at Gai, Jiraiya let Gai take Sasuke. "What about Ayumi?" Gai questioned. "I'll be fine." She smiled. "And I need to learn a new jutsu anyway!" 'Just like Naruto…only thinking of training…' Gai thought as he left. Naruto lifted Ayumi into his arms bridal style, saying, "What now, Ero-sennin?"
"We keep moving." 'I hope we find Tsunade-sensei soon…I really miss her…' that was Ayumi's last thought before she fell asleep in Naruto's arms.