Disclaimer: Do I actually have to say this? It's in chapter two, blind mumbles violently

Chapter 4: Enemies Made

Sakura Haruno walked the streets of Konoha, her eyebrows pulled into a deep frown. I'm worried about Sasuke…whoever did that to him must have been really strong to have beaten him so badly. I hope he gets better soon.

Sakura then got the magnificent idea to visit Sasuke in the hospital, when she spotted that strange girl from the other day inside a nearby shop. Oh, I suppose I should tell her about what happened…but I don't really like her. She barely noticed me when Naruto introduced her to us. Whatever, I'll tell her.

Ayumi heard the bell ring, and turned around to see Sakura waving to her. Oh, great. The pink-haired one is here to cry about Sasuke. I wonder what her reaction will be when she discovers it was me that damaged him so badly. She'll probably want to attack me for hurting her 'precious Sasuke' so much. Like she could.

"Uh, hey."

"Hello."

Sakura shuffled her feet nervously, and stuttered "Hey, did you hear about what happened to Sasuke? He was attacked this morning, and he's badly hurt in the hospital."

Ayumi turned to Sakura, an expression of utmost sorrow on her face, and said "Yes, I did hear. It's strange, isn't it, though? Sasuke is a strong ninja, from what I heard. The person that hurt him so badly must have been quite powerful."

Sakura nodded her head, agreeing. "Yeah…I'm kind of scared, actually. If there is a ninja powerful enough to injure Sasuke wandering around, what if he comes after me next?"

Ayumi scoffed at this statement. "Please, Sakura. Think about it. If the ninja attacked Sasuke, they were after Sasuke. I think it is safe to say you are in no danger whatsoever of being attacked."

The bubblegum-hair-colored kunoichi blinked for a minute, considering the stranger's argument.

Trust me Sakura, I would not bother to spare the three seconds it would take to kill you.

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Ayumi smirked in triumph. "Whoever attacked Sasuke was probably aiming for him, anyway, and now that their mission in done, they'll leave!"

Ayumi's smirk fell right off her face. "No, Sakura." The girl gave Ayumi a confusing look. "If the ninja was sent to attack Sasuke, they were probably sent to kill. This means, they'll be back. But I could be wrong. Sasuke could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten beaten for it. You never know."

Ayumi turned to leave the store, and Sakura followed. Ayumi pulled out her fan and proceeded to hold it over her mouth.

"Sakura, if Sasuke is in the hospital, isn't this a good time to go train?" Anything to get rid of this whiny, worthless, maybe I should kill-

She sighed and shook her head no. "I would, and I tried, but I can't get Sasuke out of my head. I'm just worried about him."

"You have a crush on him."

Sakura blushed. "Yeah, I do. But I'm not the only one. Almost every girl in town does."

Ayumi turned to the younger girl with a curious look. "You say 'almost' every girl. Who are the ones that don't?"

Sakura just shrugged. "Well, there's Hinata Hyuga. She has a crush on Naruto, which I don't get. And I don't think Tenten likes him either. Other than that, I think just about every girl has a crush on him."

"I see." Ayumi sensed four people walking toward them, and looked up to see four people walking down the street.

The only girl was on the far right of the group, and she kept glancing nervously to the boy on her left. She had pale skin, and her eyes had a pale center. The boy on her left kept glancing at her, and she would look away whenever he did. He looked much like her, same eyes, and they could almost pass for brother and sister, but there was just enough difference. Maybe it was their confidence. The girl shuffled her feet, and kept her head down, but he walked with pride, a certain aura of confidence in the area surrounding him. To his left was another boy, this one wearing black sunglasses, and a high-collared coat that hid most of his face. An ordinary person would not be able to tell, but he kept shooting looks at the pale-eyed boy whenever he looked toward the girl. Finally, on the far left, was another boy, and this one had strange red marks on his face. He was wearing a grey coat, and a small white dog popped out of the hood and settled on his head.

Sakura seemed to recognize these people, as she waved them over and dragged Ayumi toward them.

"Hello, Hinata, Neji, Shino, Kiba. This is Ayumi."

The girl waved toward the older woman, but quickly withdrew again as the boy glared at her. "My name is Neji Hyuga. This is my cousin, Hinata."

The boy with the dark glasses stepped forward and offered a bug-covered hand. "My name is Aburame Shino. And this is my teammate—"

"Hiya! I'm Kiba!" The dog-boy shouted, and also offered his hand.

Ayumi shook both of their hands with her left one and Kiba's dog barked menacingly at her. "What's the matter, Akamaru?" The dog then proceeded to growl again before whimpering and crawling back into his master's hood. "Uh, I'm sorry about Akamaru, usually he likes strangers."

Ayumi just fanned herself. "It's no problem."

Sakura interrupted. "Hey, Neji? Why are you hanging out with Team 8?"

The pale-eyed boy glared at her before responding. "I am not hanging out. We are on our way to train, and I was asked to escort Hinata." At this last comment, he glared at his cousin, a look of utmost contempt on his face.

Sakura blinked. "Oh, I see."

Ayumi watched this conversation with interest. So, this is the Hinata Hyuga that has a crush on Naruto. I sympathize for her. She has no confidence, and her cousin, who should be supportive of her, hates her. But she is the heiress to the Hyuga name; she must learn to be strong, for her village and clan. That boy, Neji, must be in the branch family, to hate her so much. But he is her guardian, from his birth he was expected to take care of Hinata. I can see how he resents her so. Maybe if she was stronger, more confident, he would be kinder. But anyway, it is sad. Sad that I will kill the one she likes.

The Aburame boy interrupted her thoughts. "Excuse me, Ayumi, was it? What is your last name?" Shino could have cared less about the girl's name; but the conversation with Neji was taking a dangerous turn. Nobody on Team 8 wanted Neji along for their training, but the boy had said that his uncle had ordered him to watch over Hinata. And none of them were stupid enough to challenge the older boy.

Ayumi was about to answer his question when Sakura cut in, again. "Her last name is Kinahaku, right Ayumi?"

Ayumi fanned herself a bit and said "Yes, it is." But it's not, poor Sakura. Delusional kunoichi, you have no clue what my last name really is, and even if you did, it would mean nothing. In fact, I would have given my real name had Hatake not been present at the time. Damn Copy-Cat ninja. He's probably already told the Hokage about me.

There was a few seconds of awkward silence between the ninja, before Kiba suddenly spoke. "Hey, Sakura? Are the rumors about Sasuke true? Is he really injured and in the hospital?" All eyes were on Sakura, and she sighed. "Yeah, Kiba. I'm afraid they're true. Somebody attacked Sasuke this morning, and he was found outside the hospital a few hours ago. I was on my way to visit him when I ran into Ayumi here."

Before you ran into me? You followed me into that store! And you haven't ever said anything about visiting the Uchiha all the time you were with me!

Neji frowned as Sakura finished her story. "Isn't it strange, though? Who would attack the Uchiha and then take him to the hospital?"

Ayumi mentally rolled her eyes. Finally, somebody sees it! I was getting frustrated that nobody would notice what I had done. This village is full of sentimental idiots. Including that damn blonde. Also this pink...leech. How I despise them all.

Shino looked at Neji. "Yes, it is strange. And how did this person go undetected throughout the entire village?"

Sakura butted in yet again, this time firmly disagreeing with the two. "Guys, it doesn't matter who did it or how. What matters is that Sasuke is in the hospital, and recovering. Now, you all have to go practice, Ayumi and I are off to visit Sasuke."

And with that, Sakura walked off, dragging Ayumi's right elbow along. Ayumi stood her ground, though, and Sakura stopped. "You go ahead, Sakura. I'm going to run some errands first. I'll see if I can come later." In reality, Ayumi had no intentions of going to the hospital later; she just didn't want to be around the kunoichi any longer. She began to walk the other way, and Sakura just shrugged and continued. If that girl didn't want to go see if Sasuke was okay, then that was fine. Sakura would just have him all to herself. Something about her creeped Sakura out, anyway.

Team 8 and Neji just stared at the girl's retreating back. Something was off about her. She wasn't energetically squealing with Sakura and the other girls about her 'poor injured beloved Sasuke'. Not that it was bad, but it was strange. The only other people that didn't go crazy over the Uchiha were Tenten and Hinata. Well, Hinata had a crush on Naruto, and Tenten was actually a serious kunoichi. But what about this girl? She didn't have a headband, and she didn't act like a lovesick fool. She scared Hinata, the girl had never smiled or anything. Neji discarded her as just a strange person. Shino was suspicious. Who was Ayumi Kinahaku? Was that even her real name? Kiba was concerned that Akamaru had been scared of her. Akamaru had only ever been scared of Gaara. And if this girl was as strong as him, then it very well could have been her that attacked Sasuke.

Ayumi, however, just kept walking, leaving many questions unanswered. She was going to visit the Hokage.

Bleh. I don't like this chapter. At all. It just sounds all weird and whatever. . But, cameos by Team 8 and Neji! Whoo? Next chapter, as it says right there, will have Hokage! Yay? But no. I don't think I write Tsunade well. --;;; Double post, be happy and review, damn it!