And The Winner Is…
(A/N: This chapter is action packed and is dedicated to my loyal readers. Thank you for your support… and this is not the last chapter. Enjoy.)
~xxx~
Itachi sat on the couch watching the clock. It was 10:58 in the evening; they should be walking through the door any minute now. Duke lay with his head on Itachi's lap, eyes glued on the hallway. Something shifted; the air seemed to become heavier as a minute ticked by on the clock. Duke sensed it too. His ears popped up as he lifted his head, turning it toward the window. A snarl slipped passed the Dane's jowls as he leaped for the window, growling and barking at something unseen.
A second later, Itachi felt the ominous chakra surge that brought the dog to the window. Itachi was off the couch and heading up the stairs in a flash. Sakura sprang out of bed when the door thrust open and Itachi swooped in, grabbing a weapons pouch from the closet.
"W-what's going on?" she asked, bewildered by his flurrying movements.
"Wake Sasuke and stay with the boys." He said in a clipped tone; he meant business.
"It's Ayako… isn't it?" Itachi didn't answer right away. Instead, he paused in his movements and turned to face her. The barking downstairs grew louder, angrier. "Bring her home, ok?" he nodded to her and vanished from sight. Without further delay, Sakura rushed out of her room and woke Sasuke who left immediately. She then went to the boys' room and got them out of bed, leading them into the council chambers to wait for Itachi and Ayako.
~xxx~
Hinato moved to stand between the Akatsuki and the couple he was assigned to protect. Surprised was hardly the word to describe the emotion running through his body. Acting on instinct, Hinato reached for a kunai only to stop… the big blue fish took a step closer.
"Get out of the way or I'll cleave you in half." Kisame growled eyes focused on the raven haired girl glaring at him from behind the blonde. Letting his chakra leak out, Hinato glared at Kisame and let his hand rise, reaching behind his shoulder for his katana.
"Carful," Ayako warned. "His sword eats chakra." Hinato nodded at her words as he fell into a fighting stance.
"And the other?" he asked chancing a glance over his shoulder to his long time friend.
"Puppet master." She answered lips thinning to a grim line. "Lend me a kunai." Ayako said as he reached forward and slipped a sharp tool from his holster.
A grin found its way to Kisame's lips. He wanted nothing more than to beat her senseless for the low blow back at base but he was told not to get carried away. So, he settled on not killing her until she fulfilled her purpose.
"Ruff, ruff." A dog barked off in the distance then the proud Uchiha Itachi appeared in a plume of smoke followed shortly by Sasuke. Sharingan flashed dangerously in the moonlight, and not just Itachi's and Sasuke's, Ayako had activated hers while the two Akatsuki members split their attention between the groups in front and behind them.
"Duke," Itachi spoke quietly. "Take them home." The ninken gave a grunt of acknowledgement while Ayako and Hideki moved cautiously around the two black clad men staring her down. As soon as they passed Sasori and Kisame, Ayako paused and looked to her father.
"Be careful, otousan." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "You too, ojisan," Sasuke and Itachi inclined their heads in response. Then she grabbed Hideki's hand and took off after the grey ninken that stopped and waited for them. Damn smart for a puppy if you asked her. They reached the main house in no time, barreling through the front door and into the living room.
"Ayako, this way," Sakura called from down the hall. Without hesitating, Ayako tugged Hideki down the hall and into the chambers. The room was dark, the only light coming from a candle on the desk. Sakura thought it wise to keep the house dark… just in case.
"Aneki, I have your gear." Shiro said as the door closed behind them. Ayako strode over to her brother and took her things from his outstretched hands. Walking over to the dark corner, Ayako faced the wall and removed her shirt, depositing it on the chair before dawning her ANBU top and chest plate.
"We have to move to a safer location and evacuate the compound before someone gets hurt." Ayako commanded as she strapped her short sword to her back and reached for her med kit and kunai holster.
"Why? We're safe here." Akito said as he clung to Sakura's hip. Ayako sighed and knelt before her brother.
"Do you remember those bad guys I told you about?" at his nod, she continued. "They're fighting with otousan, Sasuke-ojisan and Hinato-niisan right now and they're just down the road. Someone is bound to get hurt in the cross fire and there could be more bad guys on the way." She explained to him with a frown.
"She's right, otouto, we have to leave." Shiro said with a nod.
"We'll go out the back. Shiro, take your brother and Hideki-sama to Tsunade's office and don't leave her sight." Sakura said while reaching for her stored weapons pouch.
"Demo…" he began to protest but Ayako cut him off.
"This is your first S-class mission, Uchiha Shiro. Do as you are told." This wasn't his sister talking, but the captain of ANBU squad three. And when she gave you a task, you did it… no questions asked. He suddenly straightened and gave her a salute; cute despite the situation.
"You can count on me." The eleven-year-old said with a grin.
"Is there anything I can do?" Akito asked as he looked up at his sister. Onyx orbs softened as she looked at her scared brother.
"Yes there is. Look after Duke for me. It's too dangerous for him to be out there." She said with a soft smile. "I'm intrusting him to you until I come get you." Akito nodded and hugged her waist. Then Ayako turned her attention to Hideki. He looked out of place at the moment; wide-eyed and shocked yet remained as calm as possible.
"Be careful out there." He commented lightly as she walked towards him. She nodded to him in response and handed the kunai she liberated from Hinato.
"Take care of them for me." She whispered to him while her hands wrapped around his. He nodded to her. "And don't do anything stupid to get yourself hurt, ok?" she snickered at his scowl.
"I can say the same for you." Hideki snapped back with a playful smile. Ayako leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his lips before stepping away. They had wasted enough time already.
"I'll see you later boys." And just like that, Ayako and Sakura slipped out the office window as the boys took to the hallways and out the back of the house.
~xxx~
Only five minutes had passed in the time Itachi and Sasuke had arrived. Kisame had made the first move, charging the two with a wide swing of the sword. It was easily dodged as the pair crisscrossed paths with weapons drawn. Sasori's puppet lurched forward; poisoned blades peered menacingly from under its robes as it came closer to its target. Hinato sidestepped and rocketed towards the puppet master, eyes glowing angrily as he punched said Akatsuki member.
Bam, bam, crash, thud
A white-haired man was tumbling through the wall on the east side. From the hole emerged Ayako in all her glory.
"You're not the one I want." She hissed at the Jashinist with a malicious smirk.
"Fuck… that hurt." Hidan snapped as he struggled to stand. Stunned, Ayako stepped around the fallen man, preparing a fire jutsu. There was a sudden burst of chakra to the south. She turned to see another Akatsuki member making his way towards her at lightning speed. "'Bout time you fucking showed up Kakuzu."
Itachi and Sasuke were by Ayako's side in a flash, all three prepared to unleash hell.
"Where are the boys?" Itachi asked as Hinato joined their group, each facing a different direction.
Gong, gong, gong… that was the alarm at the tower, the boys made it.
Ayako smirked. "By the sound of it, it seems they've made it to Tsunade." She glanced at her father. "Mom's on the other side with ANBU evacuating the compound."
Sasori sighed. Their mission was to get the girl and get out, simple as that. Now, the whole village knew and he could sense more ANBU on their way. "Let's finish this and get back." He growled. "Kisame, get the girl."
"With pleasure." The Kiri-nin grinned and licked his lips.
"Oh, goody… just the one I wanted." Ayako grinned back and reached for her sword. She charged the two men before her, using Sasori's shoulder as a spring board to launch herself into the air. Gathering chakra in her fist, Ayako landed a monstrous blow that knocked Kisame on his back, sliding to a halt with his feet over his head.
Not taking any chances, Ayako began a string of hand signs and hopped back a few feet.
"Katon Housenka!" her voice was loud and clear in Kisame's ears despite his concussion. The fire jutsu reached him before he could get to his feet and it was damn hot too; burning his blue skin in seconds. There was a sudden rush of water. The fucker worked a jutsu in within the time it took her to form the seals. Shit!
"Water beats fire, bitch." She heard him say as he laughed. Lucky for Ayako, she was a wind user too. Kisame had summoned his sharks while he grinned at her. "I think you can still work for us with only one leg." Ayako could see the big, blue beasts circling under her; she had to think of something… and quick.
'Well, I haven't gone ice skating in a while.' That was it! Her hands moved in a blur, forming the correct signs for the blizzard jutsu. Thrusting her hands into the water, the bitter cold wind froze everything it touched which included the sharks that were a few feet away.
"Wind beats water, dumbass!" she snapped back and stood. Ayako and Itachi had trained like this before, forming her chakra into blades under her feet. She had found that it was easier to control her movements better this way then trying to run with chakra infused steps. Drag was minimal as was the risk of sliding out of control while she 'skated' across the freshly iced streets.
Hands ablaze with blue chakra, Ayako sped towards the lumbering blue figure. Kisame planted his chakra infused feet on the ice; he had never come across anything like this before. He was stunned to silence when everything around him froze in thick ice. She moved faster than he could track; gliding past him as her hand stretched out and touched his leg.
"What the fuck did you do to me?" he roared as his leg buckled under him. Kisame slipped on the ice and fell to his knees. Samehada slid from his grasp, unable to keep a good hold on the sword any longer. She had touched his arm without him realizing it.
"I cut your chakra circulation off and immobilized your limbs." Ayako stated matter-of-factly with a sly grin on her plump lips. It all happened so fast, Kisame had no time to register what happened. One second he was on his knees glaring at her and the next, there was this incredible pain in his chest as he feel back and stared unseeingly up at the sky. Kisame was dead before he hit the ground.
Her fingers tingled from the lightning attack but that was expected. Ayako stared down and the pool of blood under the blue-skinned Kiri-nin and smirked. But her smirk faded when she felt an ominous chakra surge erupt from around the corner. Itachi flew by, skidding to a halt on the ice. He stood at full height while wiping blood from his lip. Her gaze landed on Madara as he emerged from the shadows, smirking like the devil himself.
Madara turned his gaze to her then back to Itachi. "It seems I've chosen well." His smirk grew wider as Itachi growled at him. "Her eyes are perfect and she's close to the Kyuubi containers." Madara was practically glowing with mirth as he looked from father and daughter. "She's perfect for luring Kyuubi to me." Then he was running, charging forward towards Itachi with a sword at the ready.
There was no time to think… or even breathe for that matter. Ayako raced towards them, chakra enhanced feet carried her faster than she thought possible. In the blink of an eye, she found herself standing between her father and the madman that was her ancestor with her arms spread out. Madara didn't register her presence until the sword had run her through.
"Why?" he questioned in a whisper as her blood seeped through her shirt.
"I would rather die than serve you or let my family fall at your whim." She hissed in return and grabbed his arm, forcing the sword to bury itself to the hilt. "You have nothing without my eyes and my brothers will never go through the pain to gain Mangekyou," Ayako spat as blood bubbled from her lips. "No matter what dimension you zap yourself to, you will not escape this attack."
Madara could only stair as Ayako's eyes faded from their crimson color, turning an off shade of gray –cataracts, blood running down her pale cheeks.
"Amaterasu," she breathed and a black flame ignited on his chest… and there was no way to stop the all-consuming fire once it started. Madara released his grip on the sword and flew backwards, swatting vigorously at his chest. But it didn't matter, Amaterasu burns for seven days and seven nights before it extinguishes itself. For the lack of better term, Madara was screwed. He vanished from sight, and finally, Ayako allowed herself to feel the pain in her abdomen.
She had won the fight but at a price. To release such an attack used a considerable amount of chakra and strained the eyes tremendously. Ayako blinded herself with the attack. And because Madara was such a powerful opponent, Ayako sacrificed the sight in both her eyes in the point-blank attack.
She fell to her knees, unable to keep standing any longer. Itachi hadn't moved from his spot, his eyes glued on the girl who just saved his life at the cost of her vision. It wasn't until she cried out for him that Itachi allowed his feet to carry him the short distance to her side. And when she spoke again, he knew she needed Tsunade's help.
"Hospital… now…"
~xxx~
Rumors spread quickly, about a half hour after they received the news of Ayako's victory, Hideki had heard at least nine different versions of the same story. Sitting in the hospital with the gossip mongers right around the corner wasn't much of a help either. He heard what they said, about how Ayako was stabbed a hundred times and then set on fire… things that made him cringe.
"Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear." He told himself as his eyes closed in silent prayer. Itachi looked to high strung to talk, Sasuke sat in the corner with his head hung low and Hinato had just checked out of the hospital ten minutes ago with minor injuries. Hideki wanted to ask them what happened but the boys were sitting with Itachi, wide awake and clutching to Itachi's arms. Sakura was in the operating room assisting Tsunade, so really, there was no one he could ask… nor could he talk about it without alarming the boys. He sighed, it was damn close to 1:30 in the morning and his parents were probably worried sick. Speaking of which, they had just entered the building with an ANBU escort.
"Is everyone alright?" Haruka asked as she, Ken and Aki walked briskly towards the group.
"We don't know anything just yet." Sasuke responded without moving from his position.
"It's ok ojisan. Aya-chan is strong… I know she'll make it." Akito said as he stood and walked over to him. Sasuke allowed the young boy to sit on his lap. Switching gears, Sasuke looked around to find Hideki staring at his hands, as if trying to figure them out. Hakura and Ken sat on either side of him with Aki on Ken's lap.
"How was your date… other than the obvious?" he asked as Hideki looked up at him. All attention turned to Hideki, eyes glued to the teen with interest.
"We had a great time. A walk in the park, dinner and then we walked back to the district…" he trailed off then, not wanting to re-live the meeting with the two Akatsuki members. "We talked about many things during dinner; friends, family, the future… many things. We even talked about our time at the Akatsuki base."
"And what was your conclusion on the matter?" Itachi finally asked after being quiet for so long.
"We hadn't really decided anything when we left the restaurant." He answered and looked back to his hands. At that moment the OR light turned off and Tsunade stepped into the hall, a small smile on her lips. Everyone stood to greet her, the obvious questions in their eyes.
"She's fine now. We're moving her to recovery right now." As if on cue, the door opened again and Sakura pushed the gurney out of the room. Ayako looked a little worse for wear but better than she had when she was first brought in. Itachi and Hideki moved to either side of the gurney and helped Sakura push the bed down the hall to the appointed room. After everything was situated in the room, everyone left to get some much needed rest.
~xxx~
She sat up on the bed, sore, stiff and blind. There was no telling what time it was or how long she had been out but Ayako knew she didn't have to worry anymore. With a sigh, Ayako slipped out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Though she was blind, Ayako knew every room in the hospital by heart and she made it without tripping. One accomplishment down next was to shower.
On instinct, her hand reached for the light switch and flicked it up. And she sighed again. It's not like she could actually see the blinding light in the bathroom flicker to life, though she did hear the slight hum of the florescent bulb. Either way, it was her decision to sacrifice her sight now she had to get used to it. With her other hand on the wall, Ayako made her way to the sink and searched for the shampoo and soap. Five minutes of searching yielded a number of items including a clean gown. She put the toilet lid down and set the items on top before reaching into the shower and turning on the water. It was hot but not too hot that it would burn her freshly healed wounds. Carefully slipping the gown off, Ayako sat down on the shower floor and let the water wash over her. So many things ran through her mind at that moment, all she could do was laugh.
It was a bitter laugh, she was alive and blind to the world. Yet, it was her choice. Did she regret her decision? No. She would just have to make due. Training would have to change; missions were plausible but not impossible but escorting the noble family would be. She was going to have to rely on help getting through the village. The bathroom door opening broke her from her thoughts as Tsunade poked her head in. Again, instinct took over and Ayako looked towards the door. Unseeing eyes blinked a few times before Tsunade spoke.
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" she joked while walking over to the girl on the floor. Ayako leaned back against the wall as Tsunade sat down on the other side of the curtain. "You know, just because you're blind doesn't mean it's the end of the world." She sighed, watching as Ayako reached for the soap. Surprisingly, she found it without trouble.
"If I know where it is I can find it… I know this place like the back of my hand." Ayako said while lathering the soap in her hands with a wash cloth. "I guess this means I'm off the active duty roster for a while."
"Only until we find a way to heal your eyes," Tsunade stated as she reached for the shampoo. "I haven't washed your hair for you since you were four, I'd love to do it again if you don't mind." This was the grandmotherly side of Tsunade that few had ever seen. And it had always been an honor to Ayako to witness it for herself. Ayako could practically feel the big, shit-eating-grin on Tsunade's lips as she spoke.
"Sure, I don't mind at all."
The pair spent the next ten minutes chatting while Tsunade helped Ayako bathe and then she checked Ayako's wounds over.
~xxx~
Seeing her normally shining dark orbs now dull and gray was a sharp blow to Hideki's heart. Next to her smile, Hideki loved staring into her eyes the most… and now they were gone; replaced with a lifeless look that pained him every time gazed upon them. He listened intently as Ayako explained to her young brothers the events surrounding her loss of sight.
"Well, this'll make playing pranks on you a lot easier." Shiro joked while hugging Ayako tightly. "But I'm glad you're ok, aneki."
"I swear on all that is holy, if you play one prank on me… it'll be the end of you." She shot back playfully.
"Then let's not tell Hinato. You know how he is." Akito chimed in from his seat on Ayako's lap.
"He's going to find out one way or another." Sakura said while checking the charts for the umpteenth time in the last twenty minutes.
"Mom, put the clipboard down and back away slowly. Nothing has changed in the last five minutes, so there's no need to keep reading it." Ayako snapped as she heard the papers shifting again.
"I was just checking it sweetie, just in case I missed something." Sakura defended while placing the clipboard back on the foot of the bed.
"You never miss anything, especially when it comes to us, mom." Ayako said in reference to herself and her brothers. She had a point; Sakura was just trying to ease her mind with paperwork again.
"Tsunade-shishou says you can go home today, so let's get you dressed."
"May I speak with Hideki-sama for a minute before we get going?" she asked with her head turned to the side… trying to hide her blush. The room went silent for a moment before everyone complied.
"How are you really feeling?" he asked once the door closed and everyone was outside.
Ayako gave a small sigh. "I'm tired Hideki." She said while her hands played the sheets. "You should know this is the kind of life you should expect if we decide to stay together." God, she wanted to cry right now but that wouldn't do her any good.
Hideki walked over to the bed and pulled her into a tight hug. "Well then, I guess I'm going to have to train with your father so that I can protect you better." With his words, Ayako's arms wrapped around his waist as she buried her face in his chest, tears slipping from her eyes.
"Thank you." She whispered to him as her unseeing eyes closed in gratitude. This was why she loved Hideki; he understood and was willing to do whatever it took to keep them going. "What about your position? Surely, Ken-sama will not be pleased if you walked away from them."
Hideki chuckled. "I have the right to choose to take the title since I have a younger brother to take my place." He answered with a smirk.
"You do realize that when we wed, you have to take my name? After all, you will be marrying the heiress to a great clan of ninja." She said as she looked up at him. Ayako could feel his smile as he pressed his lips to hers.
"I wouldn't mind that. As long as it means we can be together, I'd do anything." Hideki whispered against her lips.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up… I've been busy with a new puppy and work along with a billion things all at once. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Don't miss 'Seeing You Clearly,' coming soon. Thank you for your support.