Chapter 30

Ayumi was on her feet in a moment, taking a kunai from her shuriken holster, and throwing it with perfected accuracy at the rope that would snap Akira's neck. It cut it easily, making Akira fall safely to the ground. She pulled the kunai back, throwing it at the man at the gallows. She snapped the ninja wire, jumping away from Kaito. 'Help me, Naruto-kun!' The Ayaka Sharingan blazed fiercely, and she saw the disbelief in Kaito's eyes. "I guess you don't know as much about me as you thought! The Ayaka Sharingan has a special reserve of chakra, one that can't be drained." She cracked her knuckles. "Which means I can snap your neck."

She couldn't fight comfortably in what she was wearing, and both men could see that. But she was a stubborn kunoichi, and was willing to live with the handicap as long as she could punch his face in. She ran at him as fast as the dress would allow, when a kunai cut her cheek. She put a hand to the sharp, stinging cut, and glared at Kaito. "I'm not defenseless. I learned the way of the shinobi, just like you." Ayumi sighed, saying, "Well…it's a good thing I'm wearing my own clothes underneath this then." Naruto's eyes widened as he saw her fluidly remove the dress, showing her normal clothes underneath.

She put her hair up before saying, "Now I can beat you up." She raised a fist, punching the ground in front of her. The floor shattered like glass, and, through the smoke and debris, she ran at him, fist raised. He, amazingly, caught her fist, twisting it, and said, "You could try harder." He was mocking her, and her temper flared, making the commas on the Ayaka Sharingan swirl dangerously. She kicked him in the side, making him fly into a wall. "Naruto-kun!" Naruto was at her side in a moment, looking at her with a worried expression. "He's pretty strong. Take Akira while I hold him off."

Naruto got Akira, but came back to her side, saying, "I'll be back as soon as I can." She smiled. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Naru-kun." She gave him a swift kiss before he left, and planted herself firmly on the ground before Kaito rose. She glared at him, saying, "I won't let you live after all you've done." "And I won't let you leave here alive with that little weakling." Her eyes were on fire as she said, trying to suppress her rage, "Naruto is stronger than you'll EVER be!" She ran at him with almost unimaginable speed, faking a frontal attack, and appearing behind him, stabbing him in the back with a kunai.

He kicked her away. She slammed into the wall, gritting her teeth in pain, but regained her balance fairly quickly. He held a kunai to her throat, and she didn't move. He caressed her cheek, his face close to hers as he said, "You should be with me…not a little weakling like him…I'll make sure you stay with me…" Ayumi tried to move back, but the wall was in the way. His lips were getting closer to her own, and she didn't dare let them touch.

That's when a few Naruto clones pulled Kaito off, beating him up at the same time. Ayumi breathed deeply, a hand at her throat, as the real Naruto appeared at her side, making sure she wasn't hurt too bad. "I'm fine…" The worry didn't leave his eyes as he nodded slowly. She smiled softly, caressing his cheek slowly. "…I never want to be with anyone but you…" she whispered, her eyes bright and lively. He heard her words, smiling slightly, but her eyes widened with horror as she said, "Move!" But it was too late. A kunai hit him in the back, and he fell forward, unconscious…or worse…

Her heart seemed to stop as she caught him, and she whispered, "He can't leave me! He needs to stay! He's all I have left…" She pulled out the kunai, and started using a medical jutsu. He didn't seem to be coming back, and it brought tears to her eyes. 'It must have been worse than I thought…' she felt the mark spread, marking her pale skin, but her anger was too much to control as she carefully lay Naruto down and turned to face Kaito. "You don't know what you've done…" "I know exactly what I did. I got rid of him."

She smirked, saying, "But he was the only thing keeping you alive…you just unleashed the monster in me…" the marks, still glowing, spread onto her face and her arm. It almost felt like it was beckon, telling Orochimaru where she was, but she didn't care. She felt the same sense of revenge in her chest that Sasuke must have felt, and she understood why he left now. She ran at Kaito too fast to see, smacking him through a wall, and lifted him into the air by his throat. She squeezed it tight, saying, "You deserve every second of this torture…though I have to live with all of these scars…and my curse…"

That's when she heard Kakashi's familiar voice. "Ayumi! Don't kill him!" She didn't move. "I can't do that, Kakashi-san…he killed him…" Kakashi understood the next moment when Sakura ran to Naruto's body.

"Ayumi…I remember you saying that revenge was bittersweet…" Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "…It won't bring anyone back…" Ayumi's muscles relaxed, but Kaito was still choking. "But…Naru-kun…" Kakashi saw the tears in her eyes, dried on her cheeks, and wiped them away, saying, "I'm sure this is the last thing he would want." She glared at Kaito, and threw him against a wall. The marks glowed, but they didn't return to the seal. "Ayumi…" Ayumi's eyes were filled with bloodlust, something Kakashi never thought he'd see in the innocent white eyes. "Control yourself…"

That's when a familiar voice reached Ayumi's ears, making the mark recede and happy tears fill her eyes. "Ayu-chan…" "NARU-KUN!!!" she ran to his side, hugging him tight. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt her sobbing against his chest, whispering his name. "Ayu-chan, it's okay…I'm here…" 'I didn't mean to make her worry…' 'But that's exactly what you did! She was heartbroken!' 'I don't need a lecture from you, Kyuubi!' he turned back to comforting Ayumi, and Kakashi sighed, saying, "Well…our mission is complete. We'll leave in the morning."

All Ayumi remembered was refusing to leave Naruto's side, a fitful sleep, his heartbeat, and the relief as they made it back home…