Ayame's P.o.V.
I waited impatiently at Tori's Tea House for fifteen minutes. It felt like I needed something stronger than oolong to keep my nerves down. When I finally saw the damned Jonin that was my Kakashi-sensei, I waved him over to have a seat.
"Started without me, I see," he said flatly. "Not very polite."
"It's not polite to keep a girl waiting." A waitress passed by and I flagged her down. "Miss, can we please get two house specials."
"Two cups of mint green tea, coming up," she said with a smile, her brown pony tail swinging behind her.
"Sasuke's fine in case you were wondering," Kakashi said. "The injuries you gave him will keep him in bed for another day or two; I bet you're pretty proud."
"This meeting is not about Sasuke - start talking," I demanded, not waiting any longer. Besides, I didn't care is Sasuke was laid up for another week. He deserved it for being a jerk. Kakashi leaned foward and lowered his voice.
"When you first encountered Orochimaru, what did you experience?"
"What?"
"Tell me now."
The tea arrived and the steam kissed my cheeks. I began to describe the feeling that overwhelmed me. The feeling of a predator when Sasuke went down. That cold stare in Orochimaru's reptilian eyes. Recalling it nearly made my hands shake, but they steadied as I gripped my tea tightly.
"So, upon seeing him, your curse mark began to burn?" Kakashi asked for confirmation. I nodded. "How about after?" I furrowed my brow.
"After?" I repeated. "How long after?"
"Whenever," he shrugged. "Did you notice anything different about youself?"
"I still don't understand what he has to do with me." I shook my head, confused. "You're supposed to be . . ." My voice trailed off, a sudden epiphany donning over me. When I spoke again, my voice was but a breath of a whisper. "No."
"Answer my questions, Ayame," Kakashi said; it wasn't an order, but something kinder and more sympathetic. He knew that I knew.
"I was hungry," I said, leaning against the back of my seat as if I no longer had the energy to hold myself upright, "but not in the food sense. It felt like desire."
"Do you remember Orochimaru saying anything to you? Anything at all?" I turned my cup in my hands. The seramic was hot to the touch but it didn't phase me.
"He said someone's name," I said quickly. "Nogoi? Norai?"
"Noroi?"
"Yeah, that one." Kakashi sighed and his eyes looked sunken. "Who is he?"
"An underling of Orochimaru. We found his body - or what was left of it - some years ago. We had assumed that he betrayed Orochimaru and he was excuted, to say the least." I swallowed hard.
"What's it got to do with me?" I asked again.
"We believe," he began carefully, "that your curse mark is a byproduct of the teachings given by Orochimaru to Noroi. Meaning . . . " he stared into my eyes seriously, but with an almost paternal tenderness. "Orochimaru's jutsu is what made you what you are today."
"But . . ." I downed the rest of my tea to rid myself of the feeling of cotton mouth and to relax my tight throat. Closing my lids over my eyes, I took a breath, regain control of myself. I opened my eyes with a stern, otherwise emotionless, look. "Why am I not in search of power like Sasuke?"
"Theory: Sasuke had a 'certain someone'," Kakahsi said using air quotes, "to destroy. I'm sure you know who this person is."
"Uchiha Itachi: Slayer of the Uchiha clan."
"Precisely." He was all business now, and for that, I was grateful. "You on the other hand have no one. Your mother's murderer is dead, according to Akio, so you have no quarrels with anyone such as Sasuke does with Itachi."
"Do you know why this happened to me? Why Noroi did this?" Kakashi shook his head.
"Nothing is certain. It could be that he wanted to experiment. Pehaps he did it for reimbursment. Anyone who was alive at that time and place is dead now."
"Everyone but my brother," I said. I stood up abruptly, taking out some money to pay for the tea. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." I turned around. "This information is invaluable to me."
. . .
Akio's P.o.V.
"Hello, Onii-san," I heard Ayame's voice call fromthe from of the stand. Steam surrounded me, and I fanned it away so I could see my auburn-haired kin.
"Hey, Ayame," I said, putting away utensils. "I'm just closing up; I'll be out soon." A few clattering pans later, I was out the door and locking up for the night. It was a little early, but I was just covering for brown-haired Ayame, anyway. Besides, I just figured that Ayame needed my help in training.
"Congratulations," I said when I met her in the street. "I'm so proud of you for making it this far."
"Thanks," she said, lacking the actual tone of gratitude. "We need to talk."
"You know, I always hear this at beginning of break-ups," I regarded. "Are you disowning me?"
"No," she answered quickly, walking at a fast pace in the direction of my flat. "It's about Haruko."
I stopped in my tracks. I didn't want to go down this road; our father was the man that made me so full of hate and anger for most of my life. That was a deed I could never forgive, especially not when it drove me to nearly kill my own sister.
"Ayame . . . " I said, not knowing what elese to say.
"Please," she said, throwing up the mask of indifference her teachers had told me about. "Let's talk privately."
Reluctantly, I followed her as we continued toward my home. When we arrived, Ayame locked the front door and shut the curtains, as if we were going to talk about highly sensitive topics, but it was really just about my daddy issues.
"When Kitai was still pregnant with me," she asked me in a stern voice as she seated herself on my couch, "do you remmeber any strangers coming into the house?"
"Well, yeah," I answered, putting the kettle on to make tea. "She was pregnant. We always had people bringing meals and meat and baby clothes to us to help us out."
"I don't mean friendly neighbours," she corrected. "I mean . . . ninja. Think hard, Onii-san."
"I don't know," I pondered.
"Does the name Noroi mean anything to you?" I lifted my head to look into Ayame's grey eyes in the darkness. That name . . . certainly rings a few bells.
"Yeah, I think so. He went with Haruko and the other men on his last hunting trip. He said something about needing a guide. Why?" She didn't answer, didn't even look at me. "Ayame?" She rose to her feet and paced about the room.
"Kakashi thinks that Noroi was a suboordinate of Orochimaru," she explained. "He believes that Noroi was the one to implant the wolf's soul inside me. He's dead now, supposedly murdered by Orochimaru as a punishment for his betrayl."
"So, in short," I said slowly and carefully, "that's Orochimaru's jutsu on your arm."
"Yes."
"And it was never sealed, correct?"
"That's right. It was only . . . under control through my emotions."
"Ayame, this is crazy," I said. The high-pitched whistling of the kettle grasped my attention before I could continue. "You know you can't run off with that guy, don't you?" She didn't answer me as I poured the scalding water into the cups on the counter. "You have to fight it. You have to - " When I turned around to serve the tea, my living room was empty, my curtains fluttering in the breeze from the open window.
. . .
Yuki's P.o.V.
The sky was painted in layers of scarlet and crimson as the sun sank over the horizon. It was absolutely beautiful. If I won the Chuunin Exams, I would ask Momo to stay in Konoha longer, just so I could enjoy the weather as a reward. And, if I didn't win, I would ask to stay anyway, to recover.
I was strolling through the shopping district, hoping to find fruits and vegetables to help clean out my system in preperation for my upcoming weeks of training. Shops were closing, the street was nearly empty, and the lamps were lit, flames dancing inside the glass boxes. It felt docile.
Suddenly, I stopped. It felt as if those cold eyes were on me again - it felt like they were never off. I looked around, trying to find him. There was a hotel or apartment building nearby, and my eyes trailed up the side until they reached the roof.
There he was; perched like a bird of prey, he sat there, watching.
I dashed toward the building, discarding my bags on the ground so I could scale the structure by having my chakra cling to the wall. I was up there in no time, and the view was even more stunning than before. The sky had turned to a deep blood red-purple mix that tok my breath away.
"Well, well," I heard a voice that wasn't Gaara's and ducked behind a nearby chimney. I peeked out to find that boy who looked like a mummy from the Village Hidden in the Sound, Dosu, and Gaara. The latter was sitting on the peak of the roof, knees drawn to his chest while the former was standing a few feet in front of him.
"Why wait for the tournament," Dosu said, crouching low as if getting ready to lunge, "when I can take out some of the competition right now?"
I thought about helping Gaara for a moment, and I even stepped a foot around the corner, but I stopped. I receded back into the shadows. From what Himeko and Ryo told me, Gaara was brutal; I wanted to see this for myself.
Dosu pounced forward and groped the air, but Gaara was suddenly five feet back. I couldn't be sure, but I swear he just . . . vanished and reappeared.
"What the hell is this?" Dosu shouted. In the growing darkness, I wasn't sure what I was seeing. But, as I squinted my eyes and took a few steps forward from behind the chimney, I saw the gritty subtance encasing Dosu's body. Sand. My lips parted in surprise, but I didn't stop walking toward the scene. I didn't feel in danger.
Dosu's terrified eyes locked onto mine. Asking for help? Cursing me? Cursing Gaara? I wasn't sure.
"Sand Coffin," Gaara called, cleching his outstretched fist. The sand pod covering Dosu imploded, sending bursts of sand and blood in every direction. A speckle of hot, crimson liquid fell on my cheek. I turned to stare at Gaara and he looked at me.
"Don't tell anyone," he said. "Or I'll kill you." He turned his back to me. I could see the sand returning into the gourd on his back. I wasn't sure how he was able to keep this kind of manipulation jutsu going, but it was astonishing.
"No," I said suddenly, relaxing my facial muscles. He stopped abruptly, but didn't look at me. "You won't."
He turned his head over his shoulder, his teal eye training on me. He chuckled shortly, said goodnight, and vanished.