Yuki's P.o.V.

Ryo and Himeko's fight was the last one and all the victors were assembled in the centre of the arena to listen to the instructions given to us by the Third Hokage. There were Suna ninjas Gaara, Temari and Kankuro; Konoha ninjas Shikamaru, Shino, Naruto and Neji - Ayame and Sasuke were still in the infirmary; one Oto ninja Dosu; and one Ame ninja. Me. I missed most of these matches, which will definitely cost me dearly in the proceeding round, but at least I'll be in Konoha for a little longer. I like it here. The lack of rain is very refreshing. I can look up at the sky, now, and know that others are looking up at the same sky.

"Congratulations to all who have passed the preliminaries," a voice snapped me out of my sentimental thoughts. The Third Hokage was speaking at the front of the room, flanked on either side by Chuunin and Jonin alike. His voice was ancient, yet strong; Wise, yet open-minded; loud, yet kind. I liked it.

The Hokage began to explain what the next stage of the Chuunin Exams would be about. I took mental notes so I would know what to tell Ayame when I go back to Sasuke's room in the infirmary. He was saying that the finalists would have competitions consisting of brackets.

"The brackets consist of Nara Shikamaru versus Sabaku no Temari; Dosu Kinuta versus Nara Shikamaru - "

"Wait," the tanned boy in question interrupted. "I have to fight twice?"

"We have an odd number of finalists," the Hokage answered not impatiently. "I hope you can forgive the extra burden."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. I noticed another Jonin shoot him a glare from the Hokage's side. The striking resemblance the boy and he bore told me they were father and son.

"As I was saying," the Hokage continued, "it will then be Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuuga Neji; Ayame no Konoha versus Yuki no Yukigakure; Sabaku no Gaara versus Uchiha Sasuke; and finally Aburame Shino versus Sabaku no Kankuro."

I was taken aback. Why did it have to be Ayame? I had heard that her fight was intense; that therewas no mercy being shown on the other ninja. Even though her body language towards me seemed friendly, will that change now that we are turned against each other?

"Some luck," I heard Ryo say as he stood amongst the others, "getting the Freak of the Leaf as her opponent."

"Shut up," Himeko hissed. "I'm trying to listen."

"The final portion of the Chunin Exams, in which these brackets will take place, will be one month from today. Good luck to all of you in your future ninja careers and in the end of the Exams. You are dismissed!" And with a puff of smoke, he vanished, leaving murmurs of the children behind.

"Momo- sensei!" Ryo shouted amongst the masses, successfully towing his sister to their sensei. Then, after taking hold of myself and, failing to drag me as well, just stood there, he screamed, "Party time!"

"I don't party," I reminded him. I shrugged him off of me and walked to Momo, who continued to look tired as the day went on. "I would like to begin training as soon as - "

"Absolutely not," she snapped at me. I blinked.

"Excuse me?" I asked, thinking I misheard.

"You may not train. Yet." She began to walk out of the arena, the rest of her team following cloesly behind. "As my students, it is my job to look out for you. I forbid you to work yourselves any harder for the time being." Outside, the air was warm, the sky clear, birds singing. This weather is rather beautiful.

"Ryo and Himeko," Momo continued, turning around to face them. "I want you to enjoy the rest of your stay. Help Yuki if she needs it. And know that I am so very proud of you for making it this far." She gingerly touched each of their faces, her pruple eyes filled with caring and kindness. She nodded to the side. "Go. Enjoy the day." They each looked at me and smiled before parting.

"What about me?" I asked to Momo's back, who turned to watch after her students longingly. A moment passed where I didn't think she had heard me, so I called her. "Sensei?"

"Let's go for a walk," Momo suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

This behaviour was so unusual for my sensei. I wondered what was the matter. It felt as if she was going to tell me bad news - that gut-wrenching feeling of impending doom had its hooks in me. We ended up on a dirt path, a building that appeared to be the ninja academy was on our right. I looked in one of the windows and I could have sworn that I saw a smaller, more youthful version of Ayame sitting at a table. In a blink of an eye, she was gone.

"Fourteen years ago," Momo began, looking ahead, "I was on a mission with my teammates, who are no longer with us. On this mission, in beautiful snowy mountains, we came across a baby. A small one, very pale and very cold. I wasn't sure she would survive. I brought that child back to Amegakure to see what could be done. But some miracle, the baby survived, with a strong heart like a snow leopard." Momo chuckled and finally looked at me. "I named her Yuki."

"I know this story," I said. "Why are you telling me it?"

"Yuki," she seated us on a bench that faced a lush, green forest. Her face grew sombre. "As you also know, I cannot have children. It is a curse being a woman who cannot bear her kin." A small smile graced her face when she looked at me. "But I have felt like a mother to you everyday. I have watched you grow, and work hard, and blossom into a beautifully skilled kunoichi. I want you to know I am so proud of you."

"Sensei," was all I could say. Her words were very touching to me, and I tried hard not to become too emotional. She was a hero to me, everything I wanted to be as a ninja. I wanted to be as strong and as selfless as her andknowing I made her proud is the best gift I could have received. "Thank you."

"But I would like to warn you," she said, suddenly serious, ditching the sentimentalities. "Your opponent - I know she has been kind to you during your stay, but you cannot trust her."

"I won't be training with her during this month, I can guarantee," I replied dubiously. Momo shook her head, auburn locks swishing from side to side.

"I mean on a social level as well," she reasoned. Leaning in closer and lowering her voice, she continued. "You didn't see her fight. She had no clemency whatsoever. If it hadn't been for the Jonin who stopped her, that boy would have died. I need you to be careful."

It felt like all I could do in that moment was stare. I looked at my sensei, but I couldn't see her. My mind was filled with what exactly it was Ayame could have done. I thought about how ginerly she treated her fallen comrade, and wondered if someone that caring could also be as dangerous. Maybe Momo was right. Maybe I couldn't trust my new friend, afterall.

"Hai, sensei," I finally said with a nod. "Understood."

. . .

Ayame's P.o.V.

Sasuke was transported to the hospital soon after preliminaries were over. The rest of my team was sitting in Sasuke's sterile-looking room, waiting for him to wake up. I wondered how Sakura felt being the only one in her team that didn't make it. Apparently if didn't phase her too much because she was just sitting next to my boyfriend's bed, skinning apples for him to eat when he woke up.

Also, I was told that my opponent for the Final round would be - guess who - Yuki. Needless to say, I was pumped. I couldn't wait for Sauske to wake up so I could tell him. Frowning internally, I shook my head. He wouldn't care. He doesn't even like Yuki, despite the fact that she asn't done anything wrong.

"Hello?" A voice and a knock at the door told me that Yuki came to visit. "I hope I'm not interrupting." She held a bouqet of purple flowers in her hand.

"You're not," I said, approaching her. "Sakura, you remember Yuki."

"Yeah," she said, looking up without standing to greet her. "Nice to see you again." Yuki bowed politely.

"These are for him," Yuki said, holding them out to me while simultaneously nodding at Sasuke. "I hope he recovers well."

"I appreciate that," I said, taking the flowers and walking to Sasuke's nightstand so I could put them in a vase. "So, we'll be fighting together."

"Yes, it seems so." We stood there, looking at each other without saying anything.

"I hope, no matter what the outcome, we can still be friends." Muchto my surprise, it wasn't I who had said that. Yuki had, all by herself. I blinked and smiled.

"I'd like that," I agreed. "Feel free to come visit any time you like. Maybe if I ever find myself in Ame, you could house me for a little bit." I chuckled at myself and Yuki smiled politely. I stopped laughing. Something felt strange in her gesutre. I'm sure Sasuke was just rubbing off on me.

"I'll be going, now," Yuki said, bowing once more before taking her leave.

"Weirdo," I heard Sakura mutter under her breath.

"Sakura," I said in a deep voice, sounding menacingly enough to make her head snap up. "If you want to pick a fight with someone, just say so. Otherwise, say nothing."

"What makes you think you're so tough?" Sakura asked, setting her basket of apples on the ground and standing up. "Because you're dating an Uchiha? Because the Hokage adores you? Because you're some kind of - " she stopped abruptly as a look of terror siezed her face. She looked down at her wrist and I followed her gaze. Sasuke's hand was gripped like a vice around her arm, while the rest of him remained motionless.

"S-Sasuke?" She meeped. She winced, as if his hold tightened.

"Sasuke-kun, let go," I said, but no answer. "Sasuke, let go right - " A searing hot pain spread across my cheek from where he hit me. I was more shocked than angry as I fell back against the wall for support. Sakura wasn't even smug at the gesture, if anything she looked horrified.

"S-Sasuke - "

"Shut. Up." He growled at Sakura. I stood there, motionless. His eyes looked vacant and dead. His jaw flexed from clenching his teeth. Sakura yelped as he tightened her grasp.

"Uchiha Sasuke," I finally said when I found my voice. "You look at me right now." He didn't. "I said look at me, dammit!"

Quick like a flash, he jumped out of bed and got right in my face. I stood up straight and looked right into his dark eyes. Except they weren't his. They felt foreign and hateful and animal. His jaw was set, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared.

"What?" He hissed.

"What's the matter with you?" I whsipered, as if his voice took my breath away. This time he grabbed my arm and began to drag me out of the room, Sakura following closely behind us. I protested, but if he had heard me, he pretended not to. WE eventually made it up a few flights of stairs and onto the roof. He released my arm harshly, making me stagger towards the centre of the roof. Clothes lines with bed sheets were spotted around us, the cloth fluttering in the wind.

"Fight me," Sasuke said, finally calm. I could still feel the heat in my cheek, but I still wasn't angry. Despite how I wanted to be angry, I wasn't. Kind of like the inverse of my entire fight.

"No," I said, standing upright. "I'm not going to fight you. We can train when you're healed, but not - "

"This isn't about training," Sasuke said. I saw him flinch, but at what, I didn't know. "It's about getting stronger."

"I think you're just tired," I said, shaking my head. "I don't want to fight you."

"I want to see what you can really do," he said before sprinting right towards me.

I managed to jump out of his way, but not before he was able to grab my arm and fling me in the opposite direction. Lnading on the ground with a thud, I unsteadily got to my feet. The Hokage would never let me keep the beast if I allowed it to come out now, and it felt like the beast knew that. If I allowed Sasuke to push my buttons, it would all be over.

"Sasuke, I mean it," I said. "You're going up a slippery slope and I don't want to watch you fall."

He went back to ignoring me as he hurled himself straight towards me again, but this time, I copied his move and threw him across the roof. I was thankful for the fence keeping us from falling off as he slammed into it with a grunt. He was still injured, and if I was lucky he wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer.

We began to sprint at each other before I realised what was happening to him. If he goes in search of that power, that's it. Was this Sasuke trying to find the power that the mark desired? We caught each other's fists in the middle of the roof, both of us wavering at the other's strength.

"I've never gotten to fight you before," Sasuke realised, and for a split second, I saw the Sasuke I knew in his eyes before the cruelty returned. "It's a pleasure."

"I'm sorry," I said before ripping my hand away from his and punching him in the gut. He doubled over but I wouldn't stop. Sakura had run off to get help, so I had to continue to stall Sasuke at any cost.

I kicked him, punched him, scratched him; anything to make him slow down, even if I made him bleed. When I moved to kick him, he caught my ankle and looked up at me, looking hurt. I couldn't turst if it was a rouse, so I pulled my foot back to bring him closer and punched him in his beautiful face, officially knocking him out.

"Lover's quarrel?" Kakashi asked, standing behind me. We both looked at Sasuke's heap of a body on the floor, breathing labouriously.

"To be fair, he started it," I said. I looped his arm over my shoulder, but Kakashi took the boy in his arms as we began to head inside. Sakura wasn't around, so I assumed she was told to stay put or go home. "I think tat mark is making him crazy."

"Curse marks can do that to people," Kakashi answered. As we entered the hospital again, I conintued to speak.

"But that didn't happen to me. I was born with it, so does that make me used to its draw?"

"Perhaps," Kakashi said. Ipointed a finger at him.

"Stop being cryptic," I demanded. "You promised."

With a sigh, he said, "Fine. After I take him back to his room, I'll meet you at Tori's and tell you anything you want to know."

"Swear?" I asked immediately. He nodded. The hallway we reached forked off into two directions, and he went left. I walked in the opposite direction and felt anxiousness wash over me like a tidal wave. But I wasn't going to back out. Almost ten years of not knowing anything to soon understanding everying. I was ready.

Or so I hoped.

. . .

Fancy meeting you here.

I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm a liar who never sticks to her words, but I got two reviews telling em to update (and they said please!) so I had to.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

xoxo - Jazz