Ayame's P.o.V.

I didn't realise how much more powerful Sasuke was until I saw his match. He was so ravenous and merciless. And I don't know what it was, but I physically felt something when his marks started to spread like a cancer. As if I could feel the evil that Orochimaru had planted inside of him, but I longed for it. It felt as if someone had tied a string around my stomach and was tugging on it. Nothing I can think of would explain it for me. I wasn't injected with Orochimaru's poison, so why am I affected?

When Sasuke was taken away to the infirmary, I wanted to go to him - to see him and tell him that Yuki would be in the next round with us - but the guards told me no visitors were permitted and to go back to my team. Kakashi wasn't there, so he must have been with Sasuke. Why does our sensei get to visit him when no one else had gone to visit their pupils? Something felt wrong about it, like something was being kept from me personally.

On top of all of that, there was this constant nagging both in the back of my mind and on my curse mark. Like the beast inside of me was aching to burst out of my chest and roam free once again. Like something inside of me was about to snap. And that something was hungry for something, only I didn't know what that other something was. Whatever that something might have been, it felt like it was in the room with us.

"Hey, Onee-san," Naruto beckoned me, bright-eyed and excited. "Don't worry about Sasuke-teme. That guy won't go down without a fight, just you watch. We're all gonna win our matches and face off in the next round! Believe it!"

"Oh," I blinked, siderailed. I smiled at him and said, "Right. Thanks, Onii-san." I must have looked worried for him to tell me something like that. I was sitting next to him on the railings of the landing we were assigned to, gazing out at the entire room before us. These really were the best seats in the house. Sakura was standing at the other side of Naruto, her arms folded over her chest as she watched the other ninja in the room, analysing them with those jade eyes of hers.

"The matches are pretty intense," Sakura noted aloud. I nodded.

"Everyone has probably been training for this event for months," I said, gazing out at the other ninja in the room. "It's doubtful they want to go home empty-handed and have to explain why the aren't Chuunin. Plus, they'd have to wait another six months for their next opportunity to rank up."

"I know that," she sighed, shaking her head almost disapprovingly, "but it's like everyone is blood-thirsty out there. Like they would go to the death if they had to." I looked over at her and frowned in confusion.

"You wouldn't?" She gave gave me an odd look like she was thinking hard about something. She just sighed and looked away from me. Before she turned her head, she gave me that look I knew all too well. The look those people gave me before they really started to get to know me. That cold, judgmental stare as if I were a toxin.

"All righty, ladies and germs," the familiar voice of our proctor, Anko called to get our attention, "now that the place is all nice and shiny, let's get this road on the show, shall we?" Cheers and battle cries on anticipation exploded from the crowd. "Exactly the reaction I was hoping for."

We all seemed to hold our breaths as the screen flickered with white text. Everybody was both excited and terrified to have their names be chosen. The waiting is the worst part of this entire experience. And as the next two names finally appeared on the screen, one of them was someone named Asame Riko from Tsuchigakure.

The other name was mine.

"All right, Onee-chan!" Naruto cheered as he patted my shoulder. A playful half-smirk stretched across my face as I stood up from my sitting position. I looked over at all of the Konoha-nin - all of the kids I went to school with, but never really talked to or got to know. The kids I avoided so much as a child. And they were all cheering for me.

"Good luck, Ayame," Shikamaru said with a nod, his arms folded across his chest. "I know you can do it."

I nodded back at him with a small grin. I liked Shikamaru - I really did. I bounded off of the railing and landed safely on the ground below me. My opponent had been halfway down the stairs by the time I reached the ground. The guy looked thoroughly upset - a scowl on his face as he reached me. He seemed to be almost sneering at me.

"Asame Riko. Ayame no Konohagakure." Our proctor announced our names, but he sounded rather bored. He gave us the same speech he gave for every fight, but I was more focused on this guy's face. It looked twisted with a mix of disappointment and grief and anger. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes," Riko said in a low voice, as if to intimidate me.

"I am ready as well," I said, narrowing my eyes, putting on my mask of indifference Iruka taught me to keep on in times of extrenuating conditions.

"Very well. Begin!" And the proctor vanished.

Riko bounced back to get away from me so he could dodge my attacks, even though I hadn't even started.

"My teammates are stupid," Riko snarled. "Shirai-chan is impulsive and Kito is a quitter. I'm not like that. You'll have a harder time trying to finish me off."

"I like a challenge," I muttered in an indifferent tone, narrowing my stormy eyes at him.

I pulled my arms back and sprinted towards him, anticipaitng on landing a few hits on him. He jumped backwards, getting farther and farther away from me. I managed to catch that he was reaching into his weapon pouch as he was in mid-flight. I skidded to a halt as he threw three kunai at me with a grunt. I flipped backwards as they jammed into the ground. I looked down at them and saw tags fluttering down from the hilt.

Eyes widening for a fraction of a second, I leaped backwards as the paper bombs went off, sending bits of rumble and chucks of the flooring in every direction. Sloppy bangs fell in my face as I landed in a crouching position. This Tsuchi-nin was sneaky. Not a good thing on my part. I'll have to be faster than him to be able to beat him.

"You're quick for a kunoichi," Riko mused, coming back to the ground in a squatting position. He straighted himself up and cocked a hip, placing his hand on it mockingly. "So you're that Ayame girl I've been hearing about. The one who came from no where. Who just came out of thin air."

I furrowed my brow. What was he going on about? When I suddenly realised he was talking about how I stumbled to Konoha, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Where was this all coming from? It was so random. It had to have been a tactic to rattle me, but where did he get that information? There was no way he could have possibly known that he was going to be battling me, so how? Why? What was his game? Hardly anyone really talks about it all that much - not in public anyway. Those harsh rumours were exchanged behind closed doors . . .

"Yeah, everyone talks about it," he went on, encircling me like a shark circling a trapped diver in a cage. He began carrying himself differently. Instead of anger and determination, he strode with mockery on his face. "The outcast of the academy. The Freak of the Leaf. It must be quite the honour to have no friends - "

"Shut up," I told him. Why was I getting so angry? I knew better than to let my emotions get the best of me. Iruka trained me to keep my cool since I was five years old. How could I be shaken this easily? Riko smirked cynically, his eyes dancing with mischief and triumph.

"I see you aren't as level-headed as that other nin. Yuki was it? Maybe you should strive to be more like her." I barely even noticed he was getting closer to me as we circled around the room. I was growing angrier by every syllable that escaped his retched mouth. Teeth chattering in rage, fists clenching in fury, and curse mark burning like a red hot nail was being traced on it, I watched Riko with a longing to end him. "But nevermind her, let's get back to you, shall we? You, the loner. The loser. The failure of the village and the person who will always be seen as different because you aren't from here, are you? No, you're just an accident."

"Shut the hell up!" I growled through my teeth. My vision started to cloud as my eyes moistened. I kept my face composed, but eyes gave away my anger and hatred. His words affected me and I didn't even know why! All I knew was that I wanted him dead and I wanted him in pain. I didn't question how he knew all of this, but I continued to evolve in my rage.

"Tch, tch," he scolded, his smirk widening to a malicious grin. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that a lady shouldn't speak that way?" He chuckled, resting a hand on his cheek and turning his head to the side condescendingly as his subtly licked his lips. "Oh right. She's dead." And I couldn't hold back any more.

Running full speed with my kunai in hand, I headed straight for him. He meant to make me this way, because if a ninja attacks with emotion, they get sloppy and are more likely to make a mistake. He knew it and I knew it. But I didn't care. He needed to be punished and I wasn't about to hold back.

He was laughing at me when I first started running, but stopped abruptly when he realised how fast I was. I reached him in a matter of seconds. I meant to sliced his chest open with my kunai, but instead I landed a single hit that sent him flying backwards in a gasp of surprise and pain. I heard the shout and cheers, but it was all buzzing in my ears, as if I was adrenaline high and couldn't make sense of anything.

Soon enough, Riko regained his composure, and I wasn't hesitating. I could feel that wolf spirit inside of me begging to break free as it has since it was placed inside of me and I half thought about releasing it. But I've worked too hard to keep it under my control for all these years and I'm not about to let a little temper tantrum ruin all that effort.

Or was I?

Riko and I were running at each other, kunai in our hands and murder on our minds. We really did think about killing each other - I could see it in his eyes. Just as we reached one another in the centre of the room, everything went in slow motion. My hair wisped slowly behind me, a pool of auburn floating in midair. The cheers that reverberated off of the walls had slowed and quieted. And suddenly, I could see something that I hadn't noticed in Riko before. It was in his eyes. It was malicious and nearly inhuman. It sent a chill up my spine as everything around me went full speed and we threw each other in opposite directions.

I skid backwards in a crouching position low to the ground. I looked up through my thick eye lashes. Riko was sick. There was something wrong with him. I didn't know what it was - if he was just evil or if he was blood thirsty or what - but I needed to eliminate the threat. Therefore I had to eliminate him. By any means necessary.

There had to be a plan. I had to think of one quickly before he came up with one first.

Just let me out, that wolf spirit was calling to me. It couldn't talk, but that's what it felt like. Iruka told me that it had grown accustomed to me, but at the same time it wanted my body to channel its engery. I shook my head furiously. I couldn't give into temptation. Even though it was weighing me down like an anchor and I could feel myself getting ready to sink.

As I was having this internal comflict, Riko somehow appeared right next to me. He roundhouse kicked me in the abdonmine, sending a burning pain through my side as I flew backwards. I slid on the ground, loose bits of rubble cutting into my flesh. My stomach felt like it was about to empty its content, but I swallowed the urge. Before I could get up, positioned on my hands and knees, Riko kicked me in the ribs, forcing a heavy, pained grunt out of the back of my throat. If this kept up, he was going to break my bones.

"Poor, little Ayame," he said, looking down at me. I turned to look right back at him. There were those eyes again. Hungry, deadly, venomous. They seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place them. Riko used his sandalled foot to push me across the rough floor, causing more blood to seep through the cuts pieces of rock were slicing into me. "I thought you'd be more of a challenge. I thought ninja with tortured pasts were supposed to be valiant heroes or something." He shrugged. "I suppose I was wrong." One more swift kick to the side sent me reeling. My back was to him at this point, cringing in intense pain. I had to make my move soon or I'd give out.

"You know something else?" He asked, crouching to the ground, so he could get closer to my ear. His voice changed too. It was more menacing than it was before - malice took place of confidence. The sound of his words made my skin crawl. "You're a pathetic, good-for-nothing freak that should've died with dear old Mom. Daddy Dearest killed her, didn't he? Cut her throat and watched her bleed? Tch, tch. What a tragedy. Not that she died, but that you were spared."

"Summoning no Jutsu!" I shouted before slamming my hand on the scarred ground. Intricate patterns shot out from beneath my palm, a puff of smoke arising as I distributed my chakra. When Riko couldn't see my hands, I was weaving the signs I needed for this jutsu. Though it made him back off, I couldn't execute it in time.

An enormous red wolf appeared at my side, snarling at Riko, who was backing up, kunai already in his hands.

"Is that allowed?" Someone asked from the upper level. Murmurs spread throughout the crowd as the question was answered.

"It was a part of a jutsu, like an extension of herself." I think I registered that as the Third's voice, but he sounded inquisitive if anything else. "I'll allow it." The muttering around the crowd became concerned, but nobody spoke out against his ruling.

Still snarling at him, the beautiful beast kept her head low, never taking her fierce hazel eyes off of Riko. She turned to me.

Are you all right, child? I could hear her smooth voice in my head. When I looked up at her, her expression was still guarded. Did you summon me to this place? I nodded. Show me your wounds. Stand before me. It was slow and shaky, but I eventually came to my feet. Her head was a few inches above mine, those eyes looking surprised. You have one of my brethren inside of you, do you not?

I looked down. My fingernails had grown to sharpened points. The taste of blood flooded my mouth as my newly sharpened kanines cut the insides of my cheeks. My senses were heightened - I could smell my own blood, hear the soft whispering of others, see every hair on the wolf's magnificent face, feel my heart pound erratically through my body. But it wasn't really my body. It had taken over me.

"Sister," I said. My voice sounded detatched from my body, as if it wasn't me talking at all. "I have this beast trapped inside of me, you are right." She bowed her head.

A lost soul. I shall pray for you tonight. When she raised her head, a look of acceptance and willingness was on her face. She stepped forward and licked my face, but I didn't flinch at the sting of her saliva seeping into my injuries. After a second, I instantly began to feel better -my wounds closing and bruises healing simultaneously. My name is Akarai. I can sense a great bruden upon you. You have me by your side always, child. I will now take my leave. She bowed her head and I raised my clawed hand to place it atop her head. She vanished in a puff of smoke.

The anger that had taken over my body before Akarai's arrival surged back inside of me. Riko had that smug look on his face. He thought he knew everything. And as a result of his arrogant ignorance, he must pay. He must be punished. He must not live.

With a grunt, Riko threw the kunai at me. As it barrelled towards my head, all I did was tilt my head to the left to dodge it. It clanged on the ground somewhere behind me. I began walking towards him. He threw the other one at me and I dodged it the same way. Effortlessly. He backed away from me and I advanced him further, sprinting towards him with the leg strength of the spirit within me. I passed him, slashing open his arm and tearing his sleeve.

"Itai!" He hissed. "You little bitch!" His blood was dripping on the ground as I snarled at him. I adavanced again, this time cuting open his leg, sending him on one knee. "You really are a freak. A Kami-forsaken animal! Monster." I didn't like that word.

Positioned a little less than ten feet away from him, I crouched on all fours, spine curved to give me a hunched look. Growling at him, I locked my grey eyes onto his orbs and I lurched forward, running as fast as possible towards him. He threw a kunai at me, which lodged in my shoulder, but I kept going until my body collided with his. He was sent backwards with a pained yelp.

MY claws tore into his chest, shredding up his clothing as he tried to push me of of him. Try and try he might, but there was no stopping me. The smell of iron filled the air, crimson was flying from my finger tips as Riko's screams filled the air. I could hear people telling me to stop, but I couldn't. I just couldn't.

"Ayame, that's enough!" It was Asuma-sensei. He grabbed my waist to pull me back.

He smelled of cigarettes as he dragged me off of Riko. Kurenai-sensei and some other woman I assumed to be his sensei were standing over him. I thrashed against Asuma's grip, barely aware of the eyes on me as he struggled to keep his hold on my now stronger-than-usual self. I wriggled one of my arms free and I ripped the kunai out of my shoulder, ignoring the seething pain spreading down my arm.

"DIE!" I shrieked as I pulled my arm back, ready to have the weapon fly from my fingertips. But something caught my arm, not allowing me to follow through with the action. The usual bored look in his eye was gone and was replaced with disappointment and reluctance.

"Ayame . . . " It was Kakashi. "This is enough. I'm sorry." The next thing I knew, there was a pain in my pressure point and my vision faded to black . . .

. . .

HOLY SHIT

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IT'S BEEN FOREVER! I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH [VIRTUAL HUG]

Okay, so now that my computer is working again and is no longer being a big ole jerk face, I'm going to try to writing more often. Of course, I always say that, don't I? please, please, please don't lose faith in this story. It's going somewhere I swear, it's just having some problems getting there . . .

Like always, I want you guys to review - even if it's hate for me being a douch, I'll take it!

But really, I am so sorry it took this long :/ ily, you guys *heart*