Ayame's P.o.V.
Our fight started out with explosive connections of kunai-on-kunai; sparks flew as our weapons clanked together. People roared at our use of taijutsu. I had to wonder why Yuki didn't start using her ice needle things on me immediately as she threw her fists my way. She had boasted to that Tsuchi girl that it was easy for her to do it. Maybe she just didn't want to hurt me. Either way, I had to watch out for that ice of hers. I couldn't let my guard down.
I was mad Sasuke wasn't there. I hoped he would be able to see my fight and be proud of me - be proud of how strong I've become during my month of training with Akarai. He's been so aloof these past weeks that I didn't even get to tell him about my training. Fighting Yuki felt like a good way to vent my anger.
"You're not nervous, are you?" I asked as I landed a back flip to dodge her blow. Yuki skittered to a halt, gracefully pivoting on the ball of her foot as she pulled something out of her weapons pouch.
"Never," she answered, throwing several shuriken at once. Swiftly pulling out a kunai, I deflected each of the flying weapons. My forehead creased in thought. Where is her ice? Why isn't she using it?
Yuki jumped closer to me, kicking and punching towards me. Taijutsu. Why isn't she using ninjutsu to get rid of me quickly? There's a bigger plan at play here, but I needed to figure out what.
I jumped away back, keeping my grey eyes on her. What is your goal, Yuki? Focusing my chakra in my ears, I tried hard to replicate what happened earlier in the exams, before the writing portion. Beyond the shouting of the spectators, I could hear birds soaring above. I could hear the wind blowing on the rooftops. I could hear Yuki when she wasn't even speaking.
When will she use her chakra already? I heard her thoughts. Despite Akio's training, I can't keep up this constant taijutsu for long. I smirked. Akarai taught me how to do this. She said that wolves and dogs are very intuitive on what people are thinking and feeling; add that to my hearing and I can literally hear someone's thoughts - or at least get a pretty good idea.
"Well," I chuckled under my breath, "so that's what you're playing at."
"What?" Yuki asked in her combat-ready stance: feet shoulder-width apart and fists tight in front of her. I realised then what she wanted. But if I could tire her out before me, I'd be using her own tactic against her.
"Let's get serious!" I said before sprinting towards her. If she was surprised, she rebounded quickly and managed to block a kick with her forearms. The crowd surged once again as we wailed at each other. Yuki kicked towards my face, but I did a back bend to avoid it.
When I rebound to punch her, she firmly caught my fist in her hand. She used her free hand to try to jab at my stomach, but I caught her blow. We were stalemated. I chuckled under my breath. Yuki gave me a questioning look.
"Let's be fair about this," I suggested. "Jump back on three?" Yuki nearly snorted as she shook her head. Those dark red eyes seemed to sparkle.
"One," she started. A grin spread on my face.
"Two," I followed.
"Three!" We both jumped back. I was surprised she went along with it, and I found myself smiling. I loved fighting her. I feel like we were (almost) equally matched. But I wanted to know who was stronger.
"Enough child's play, Yuki!" I said, standing in front of her, twenty feet away. "Show me what you can really do." I made a few handsigns and jammed my fingers into the ground. "Earth Style: Helping Hand no Jutsu!" Two arms made of earth emerged from the ground on either side of Yuki, making a loud ripping sound and shaking the foundation. Her eyes were wide for a brief moment before the hands trapped her.
The silence following felt loud. I stood up straight again, admiring my work. Genma was about to speak when gasps and murmurs unsettled the crowd. I strained to see what the fuss was about. I began to walk toward the trap until I saw the frost forming on the sediment fingers that held Yuki in place. It was spreading quickly, until it reached the wrists. My ears twitched as I heard a splintering sound.
"Oh, hell," I muttered. I shielded my face as the cupped hands shattered, sending bits and hunks of debris everywhere. They hit my arms I could feel the cold and gritty chunks, but they thankfully didn't break skin.
Lowering my arms, Yuki was looking cool and collected where she stood. Fog from the cold ground around her flowed about, her midnight blue hair spilled over her shoulders. She tilted her neck to each side, popping her joints. When she tied her hair back up I started to laugh out loud.
"Why are you laughing?" She asked, pulling her hair tight into a ponytail.
"I'm just excited," I said with a big grin. "Show me what you're made of, Yuki-chan."
"Aren't you afraid of getting tired?" She wondered, clouds of fog puffing out from her nose and mouth. Ah, reverse psychology. "That jutsu of yours - didn't it take a lot out of you?"
"Enough talk," I said, "you'll need a better plan if you want to beat me. I've got more chakra than you think - plenty to take you down before you can tire me out." She looked startled as the clouds swirled around her. "That was your plan, wasn't it? Using taijutsu to make me retaliate with ninjutsu so I would run out of chakra before you?"
"You're right," she said, a new look of determination on her as she raised her fingers to her lips. "Enough talk!" The ice was coming out. I smirked and made hand signs as she forged her weapons. She drew back her hand, ready to fling the deadly daggers at me.
"Earth Style: Armour no Jutsu!" Immediately, hunks of loose earth and rubble flew towards me, clinging to my body with the chakra I summoned. When the dirt chest plate was set in place, I could feel the thunks of Yuki's ice hitting me.
I sprinted towards her, and she continued to try to break into my armour. Soon, she realised her efforts were futile as I crashed into her, landing hits on her arms and directly into the middle of her torso. She leapt backwards. I was surprised she was still standing, but I should know better than to underestimate her. However, I noticed the clouds in her breath ceased.
"I'll let you try again," I offered confidently. I dismissed part of the jutsu on my arm and held it out. "Go ahead." I could see Yuki's jaw clench. I dismissed the entire jutsu, not wanting to waste any extra chakra. The rocks thudded to the ground and the ice that stuck out of them shattered.
"Pretty clever," she said, standing up straight. "But I'm tired of this. Let's finish it." She began to weave handsigns and so did I.
"Winner buys dinner, right?" I asked. My heartrate quadrupled, nearly beating out of my chest. It would be over soon, but would my jutsu be more powerful than hers? There was only one way to find out.
"Ice Dragon no Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Fire Ball no Jutsu!"
Our jutsus manifested simultaneously. The heat of the jutsu Sasuke taught me escaped from my breath and out of my hands and shot forward in an enormous glowing sphere of flames, only to be swallowed my Yuki's own jutsu. I could just barely see it, but from what I could see the ice took the form of an incredible being - a snow-white dragon with feather-like scales and sapphire eyes.
People shouted from the seats high above, I could feel myself losing confidence, but I blew the fire out harder. The dragon's jaws were wide open, as if it were inhaling my jutsu. But it was made of ice, so wouldn't it be melting? And if my jutsu hadn't been in the way, would Yuki's dragon have devoured me instead?
Embers and crystals spat out chaotically in every direction. I wasn't sure how much longer
I could hold this jutsu, and I didn't know how much of a strain this was putting on Yuki. Akarai dabbled in teaching me how to use my secondary chakra type, which was fire, but to hardly any avail. Realising I couldn't hold it anymore, I leapt to my left, leaving the ball of fire suspended momentarily in the air.
Sitting in the dirt like a fool, I watched as the bleached dragon ate the ball of inferno energy. Steam sizzled out of its nose. I looked at Yuki, who was holding both arms out in front of her from which the dragon came. The end of the dragon reached to her elbows. There was a strained look on her face as crimson liquid dripped down her nose, staining her white pants. Her feet were planted so firmly in the ground, I thought they were actually inserted into the dirt.
The dragon turned to face me. Its blue eyes glimmered sharply, its nostrils flared wide. I inched backwards. Idiot. Get up! I couldn't listen to myself.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ayame!" Naruto's upset and energetic voice brought me to my senses. "Get up already!" I jumped up and away just in time to dodge the dragon lunging toward me and plunging its way into the dirt, exploding bits of rubble from the impact.
I ran around the arena. If I could rattle Yuki in some way, I could get that dragon off my back. The only problem was that I couldn't get near her. An idea donned on me. Grabbing a kunai from my pouch, I looked over my shoulder to locate the dragon. When I spotted it, floating a good distance away, I flung my weapon at it with great velocity and it stuck in its side.
Of course, this did nothing. I slid to a halt, a dust cloud sifting into the air. I sprinted in the opposite direction from which I came, until I was face to face with the dragon. We locked eyes as I slowly receded until my back hit the arena wall. The silent being stared me, but not with contempt nor bloodlust. It was inanimate; completely made of ice.
It suddenly launched toward me at full speed, growing larger and larger the closer it got. I bounced on the balls of my feet, breathing short, heavy breaths. As the reptile closed in on me, opening its mouth wide, I leapt as high as I could into the air. The thunderous sound of the dragon's head embedding itself deep within the wall of the arena made my expert ears ring.
I landed on the thing's back, using the chakra I had put in my legs for the jump to send myself as fast as I could go down the spine. I reached Yuki in no time, her now-clean face not even changing expressions as I stomped on her chest with both super-powered feet, sending her into the ground as the dragon sent itself into the wall. A puff of smoke dismissed the dragon.
I scrambled to get off of her and took a knee in front of her semi-buried body. Something wasn't right. Where did her blood go? Yuki's body suddenly lost all of its colour and began to melt. My eyes widened and as I was about to turn around, a cold metal object pressed itself against my neck. I clenched my fists and slowly rose to my feet. The real Yuki's kunai moved with me. Keeping the blade to my skin, she walked around to face me, red smudges on her mouth and chin.
"Dammit," I sighed with a half-smile. "A clone. That's why there was no blood."
"I made it while you were running away from Kohaku," she explained. We stood before each other: filthy, sweaty, and in pain. But only one of us stood victorious. "It was clever how you thwarted him. You stuck a kunai in him to see if he was a solid mass all the way around. If I hadn't figured it out, you would have pummeled me into the ground instead of my ice clone."
"Dammit," I repeated, though my throat was tight. "I really wanted to win."
"You will someday," Yuki reassured. "Just not today."
"Winner: Yukigakure no Yuki."
The crowd exploded with cheers at our amazing fight. Yuki dropped her weapon and stuck out her hand for me to shake. I made a weak smile and accepted it. I was so certain I would win. I guess Yuki was stronger than me after all. I raised Yuki's hand to present her to the crowd and the cheers grew louder. She looked up at all of them with so much pride, I could barely stand to watch
"Do either of you need medical attention?" Genma asked.
"I'm fine," I said. I began to walk back to the stairs that led to the observation terrace, leaving Yuki behind with her new fans. Hearing the crowd cheer Yuki's name felt like a dagger twisting in my gut. I really wanted to win. For my village, my team, my mom and Akio, and for myself. I wanted to prove to the Hokage that I could use the wolf in me to succeed. But I failed. I failed everyone.
"Hey," Yuki called as I was about to mount the second flight of stairs. I paused and waited for her to catch up to me. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine," I said, continuing to walk. "My pride hurts, but that's a different story."
"Ayame," Yuki said in a very solemn tone. I stopped two steps above her and waited. "Do not feel ashamed at this loss. You are one of the strongest opponents I have ever faced. You were the only one to halt Kohaku with that fire jutsu. You performed exceptionally. Victory or defeat does not define you as a ninja. The heart you put into the fight does."
I stared at her. She was so profound and she was only a year or two older than me. She was right. If I kept looking down on myself as a result of this loss, I would never grow. Being a ninja is my favourite thing, and I wasn't about to give up because she beat me. I looked at the ceiling, whose shape was jagged from the indentation of stairs.
"Thanks, Yuki," I finally said before locking eyes with her. "I really appreciate that."
"Of course," she said. As we climbed the stairs once again, I decided that I really wanted these exams to be over and done with. I felt like I couldn't possibly handle anymore stress.