A/N: Hello again, readers. Here is the next instalment of Depth. Sorry for the wait. I had meant to update last week but I caught a bout of the flu so I was bedridden and I wasn't going to update until chapter 4 was well under way – which it is now (hopefully it'll be finished either today or tomorrow). However, the next update still won't be until next week.

Some of you mentioned developing Ayaka's character out a bit more and, to be honest, there was supposed to be another chapter between 1 and 2 that expanded upon her relationship between Ayaka and her parents and sister but it just wasn't coming out right. So I scrapped it.

Thank you everyone who has favourite, followed and – especially – reviewed. It's so exciting getting email notifications that someone has reviewed/etc. XD

So without further ado, I present to you~ (omg that rhymed, I'm a poet, and I didn't even know it) ;) This is my longest chapter yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Canon characters that we all know and love. That pleasure belongs to one Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 3: Tea Parties and Other Deadly Things

It turns out that Takahata-sensei didn't actually have the authority to expel students from the Academy, it seemed like he just liked to mess with our heads. He also made it very clear that should he ever wield the power to throw students out of the Academy, he'd take great delight in abusing it to the fullest extent.

By this stage I was positive that the job of teaching at the Academy had to have been through some sort of conscription – or perhaps punishment. I made a mental note to ask Papa later. There was no way that Takahata-sensei would have volunteered for this sort of a job. He made frequent references to his lousy pay.

It seemed that that much wasn't different between this world and my old one.

I wondered if he'd ever heard the saying "if you're no good at it, teach it". I'm sure he would tear through anyone who would say that to his face.

I couldn't help it. I giggled.

Anko, who was sitting next to me in class, gave me a curious look but I waved her off. Now was definitely not the time to explain something to Anko. Takahata-sensei was at the front of the class teaching us the fundamentals such as the concept of chakra, chakra coils and the various types of jutsu that ninja used.

"Yūhi-chan." Takahata-sensei was suddenly bearing down on me and I realised that perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to sit in the front row.

"Hai!" I shot to my feet, nearly knocking over my chair in my haste.

"Perhaps you would like to share with the class what you find so funny?"

Not on my life.

"A-ano…"

"Yes?"

"I-it was n-nothing, sensei!" I was sure that I was flushing a deep red but he kept me pinned with his gaze, eyeing me closely.

"Sit back down and pay attention." He relinquished with a sigh, moving back to the board at the front of our classroom. "Now, which of you little dickheads know how many tenketsu the human body has…?"

I sat down back down. I felt Anko nudge me and I glanced at her. She gave me a pointed look, and then looked at Takahata-sensei, then back at me, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

No…

She couldn't be insinuating…

That was just wrong—he could get in a lot of trouble—how could she just—had she no shame?

Was she even really aware of what she was implying? By the lewd grin on her face, I'd have to say yes, Anko Mitarashi knew exactly what she insinuating.

It didn't help that I blushed a deep red again. I was five years old, for Christ's sake!

After Takahata-sensei's class, Anko and I made our way to our kunoichi training lessons, which were usually held in either a small pretty training ground not far from Konoha's gates, or – on rainy days – inside a regular Academy classroom. On those wet days, the most fun we had was scouting out empty classrooms for our class to use and reporting them back to our teacher. Then we'd have a tea ceremony, where our teacher would talk us through the proper ways to prepare tea and who was to serve it in various scenarios.

On sunny days, we'd go to our little training ground and pick wild flowers to arrange into artful bouquets. I didn't see any particular usefulness for this skill. It wasn't like there would ever be a scenario where a rogue ninja was holding a kunai to your throat and would kill you unless you made him the most beautiful flower bouquet in the world.

It was, to be honest, a little sexist to make all the prospective kunoichi take these classes whilst the boys got the free time to train, wrestle, or do whatever else boys did when they weren't being annoying. And if it weren't for the in depth details we were getting about poisons and how to ascertain which mushrooms were safe to eat and which plants could be mixed together to make an effective poultice for wounds, I would have complained to Papa a long time ago.

But Anko loved the tea ceremonies.

And I loved learning how best to slip a poison into those tea ceremonies.

So although we both hated arranging flowers into bouquets, we decided that we'd both just have to put up with it.

"Hey Anko-san."

"Mmm?"

"I keep meaning to ask you; how did you get smash through the Academy classroom wall the first day that we started at the Academy?" I had been meaning to ask her for a while, ever since we'd first become friends all those weeks ago.

"Paper bombs."

Oh. Well that made a lot of sense.

"How did you get your hands on those? We're not even allowed to even touch real kunai at the Academy, let alone a paper bomb."

"Paper bombs. I had meh. I stole them off some genin punk who was swaggering around Konoha like he owned the place."

I stared at her. This was Anko's logic – if she thought someone to be too cocky or stuck-up, then she took it upon herself to give that person her personal brand of retribution.

"Wow…"

"Yup."

There was a short pause in our conversation as we approached the other group of girls standing in the clearing for our kunoichi classes.

"You're so cool, Anko-san."

"You're pretty sexy yourself."

I made my own way home after those classes. I had split up from Anko after we had reached her apartment building. Our kunoichi sensei insisted that we spend the afternoon picking wildflowers and arranging them into bouquets – again – to take back home with us and give to our families. Anko had taken to plucking the petals off of her flowers on the walk home and so by the time we'd passed through the market district, her bouquet was nothing more than a bunch of green stalks clasped in her hand.

She'd thrown them away shortly afterwards, where they accidentally smacked an old lady in the face. We spent the next hour trying to evade the surprisingly spritely old lady's attempts to bring us to justice.

And during all that running around and hiding from irate old women, I still had my sad bouquet of flowers clutched tightly in my hand.

"Ayaka-chan!" The greeting came from above and I had just enough time to take a hesitant step backwards as Sakumo Hatake landed in front of me.

He looked great for a man who would be dead within the next few years.

Wait—what?

Sakumo wasn't going to die. Where had that thought come from? He was supposed to be as strong as the sannin. Who on earth could kill such a great shinobi?

A series of images flashed through my head. Eyes narrowed with judgement, an isolated figure, a silver blade, a dark shape collapsed on bloodstained tatami mats…

No… This was from my old life. These images – memories – belonged to me. Was this Sakumo's sad fate? No, I couldn't let it end for him like this. It was unacceptable. I must have been born into this world for a reason; perhaps this reason was to help save lives. Lives like Sakumo's.

"Hello? Ayaka-chan? Please say something. Your dad will kill me if I've frightened you to death."

Sakumo.

I snapped to attention. "Ah! Hatake-sama! Good evening! Did you need something?"

He chuckled. "Always so polite. I suppose I shouldn't expect anything different from the kids of a stiff-neck like Kurei. I was actually on my way to your home when I spotted you. And please, call me Sakumo."

"H-hai, Sakumo-sama!"

"No, I mean just call me Sa… Ah, nevermind. So what's a little squirt like you doing out so late? The Academy should have finished ages ago." He began walking in the direction to my home and I had to suddenly jog to keep up with him.

"Ano… I had my kunoichi classes today."

"Ah, so that's why you're carrying around flowers," Sakumo said, gesturing to the bouquet in my hand. "They look quite… um… original."

I glared at the badly presented bouquet and the sorry state of the flowers themselves. Ibara had snatched the bouquet out of my hand and had kicked it like a ball until Anko had come and discouraged the mean-spirited little girl with a punch to the face.

I won't lie, it had felt good to see. Really, really good.

"You don't have to lie, Sakumo-sama. They look terrible." I deadpanned.

"Well, not terrible-terrible. Maybe more like an original-terrible. An original-terrible-beauty. I'm sure that all the other girls in your class can't make a flower arrangement into a representation of such terrible beauty. It's an art-form, really." He made it seem like he was paying me a complement, but it was almost like he was only succeeding in digging upwards. Sakumo kept talking and talking, and I'm sure that even he was aware that his rambling sentences weren't getting him anywhere. To be frank, if I even cared in the slightest about my bouquet, I might have been a little offended by some of the ill-thought-out complements he was paying me.

"…but they're really quite—"

"Sakumo-sama."

"—Yes?"

"You can stop talking now."

His eyes crinkled as he gave me an apologetic smile. "Sure."

We continued walking, neither of us paying attention to the food stalls and the cacophony of raucous vendors shouting out offers for the various goods they sold in the hopes of luring in prospective clientele. Usually I was hassled a bit more when I walked through this part of the market district, but with Sakumo – with hitai-ate, flak-jacket and the kunai he was idly twirling around his index finger – no one seemed to want to catch our attention, much less approach us.

It was handy. Although that it wouldn't be helpful when he was trying to do his shopping.

"Why, exactly, are you coming to our house, Sakumo-sama?" I asked, and then winced. I hadn't meant for my words to come out so direct and accusatory.

"Didn't your parents tell you? My son and I are having dinner at your home tonight." He smiled warmly at me. "It's been a while since we've had a home cooked meal."

"Your son?" I vaguely remembered that the first time I had met Sakumo he had mentioned that he had had a son. "He's a chūnin now, isn't he? I remember you mentioning that he was being promoted when we spoke on my first day at the Academy."

"That's right." Sakumo's eyes practically glowed with pride.

"Where is he now?" I looked around us as if expecting Sakumo's son to appear out of thin air.

"He's been going on a lot of missions lately. The amount of missions he's been doing is phenomenal. He barely has a moment to sit still before he's off on another mission."

"And that… doesn't make you happy?" I enquired. Sakumo's face had darkened and his eyes had fallen downcast in reverie as he had spoken and I could make out a trace of – worry? Sadness? – in his voice that pulled at my heartstrings.

He wants to spend more time with his son.

But when Sakumo looked up again that dark expression had lifted from his features, and his face was back to neutral.

He didn't get the chance to answer my question because, at that moment, we had reached my front door and Kurenai had come out in a flash, bounding into me.

"Mama is opening up a teahouse!" She crowed, hugging me as she jumped up and down.

What?

"Nee-san – what? Mama is… Why would Mama open up a teahouse…?" I trailed off, rationally assessing the situation.

Mama was a stay-at-home mother. She was always there – she had to be if she wanted to look after us herself and not hire a babysitter or child day-care services. Mama wasn't a fan of either, apparently. But now that Kurenai and I were at the Academy most days of the week, I suppose that she no longer had to stay at home. She could return to the workforce. I knew that. I did. I had thought about it before, during the times that I noticed that she was getting restless at home. Though I had always just assumed that she would return to working as a kunoichi. I had heard stories of mothers that were so hell-bent on getting back into shinobi work that they'd leave for mission's just days after giving birth to their baby.

But never had I ever had an inkling that Mama was thinking about opening her own teahouse. From a kunoichi, to a mother, then to become a teahouse owner… it quite a bit of a jump. Although, I supposed that if the Yamanaka's could own a flower shop, why couldn't the Yūhi's own a teahouse?

It didn't seem so farfetched when I put it like that. So I laughed and jumped around hugging Kurenai and tried not to think about how… ecstatic Anko would be once she heard the news. It was only after a short moment that Kurenai realised that I wasn't alone and, blushing furiously, invited Sakumo inside.

I followed Kurenai and Sakumo into the dining area where we could see Mama bustling around the adjoining kitchen. I ran to her, hugging her tight, letting her know my excitement about her plans. And I was excited. What better way was there to practice slipping poisons into tea than in a teahouse?

Mama greeted Sakumo brightly before ushering him outside to where Papa apparently was sharpening his kunai in the shed towards the back of our property.

I held out my bouquet towards Mama. "Kaa-san, these are for you."

"Oh my," Mama breathed, looking at the bouquet from various angles. "What an… original design."

I saw Sakumo give me a pointed look before slid the door closed and leave to find Papa.

"I hate kunoichi class," I grumbled.

"But it's so easy," Kurenai burst out. "It's pretty much just free time."

"No. It's a waste of free time." I griped. "All the boys get to go do whatever they want – eat dango, train, study – but we have to do stupid pointless things. Like collecting flowers and making tea! How is tea making supposed to help me in the middle of a fight?"

"Maybe you throw the tea at them…" Kurenai giggled.

I glared at her.

"Now, now, Ayaka-chan." Mama said patiently, turning back to the oven where she was turning over the saury she was grilling for dinner. Saury? We never have saury? "Your kunoichi lessons aren't supposed to be about fighting head on. They're used for teaching you skills that a civilian would know."

"Why do we have to learn civilian skills, Kaa-san?" Kurenai asked, standing beside me as Mama continued to bustle around the kitchen.

"They come in handy in missions where seduction and espionage is required.

If the enemy were able to tell that a kunoichi from an enemy village was snooping around their business then you would be an easy target to eliminate. But disguise yourself as a civilian working in a flower shop or for a teahouse and…" Mama trailed off, leaving us to draw up our own conclusions.

"And…" Kurenai began. "And then you're disguised as an ordinary person!"

"Exactly," Mama praised. "And why would we want to be able to be disguised as an ordinary person?"

I had this one. "So that we blend in and are above suspicion."

"Correct," she praised once again. "You'll find that often women are weaker than men. Even most kunoichi are physically weaker than male shinobi." At our scandalised looks she quickly added, "Although, we are also more likely to be underestimated, which, in itself, is more than capable of allowing us to win in a fight."

Mama looked upwards and smiled at someone standing in the doorway. Kurenai and I whirled around to find both Sakumo and Papa standing in the entryway to the kitchen, both looking amused at our reaction to their silent approach.

"You should have seen how badly your mother used to beat me into the ground," Papa said, moving forward and kissing Mama. "But, of course, I won in the end."

Kurenai and I gaped at him. Mama had beaten Papa that badly? It was impossible to contemplate; Papa was such a strong shinobi and Mama was… was, well, was bustling around the kitchen in a faded floral apron. I could never imagine that the woman making us dinner – who had always made us dinner – could beat up a jōnin like Papa.

And suddenly, Mama's point about being able to blend in with civilian skills made sense.

"You were such a sore loser, Kurei." Mama said, her eyes fluttering coquettishly, her smile turning a little too sharp.

Wait. Were they… flirting?

"OH MY GOD! MY EYES! THEY'RE BURNING! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!" I howled clutching at my eyes while Kurenai made small gagging sounds. I stumbled up to Sakumo and clutched onto his leg tightly. "Take me away from here!" I begged. "Don't make me live with… with these people!"

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen," Mama admonished whilst Sakumo howled with laughter, bending over forwards and putting his hands on his knees. He's laughter continued for several seconds before they faded into chuckles and hiccups. Seeing me still clinging to his leg, Sakumo scooped me up and sat me on his shoulder, chuckling softly.

I felt like a queen gazing down at her subjects. I grinned down at Kurenai's pouting, envious face.

"How's the view from up there, Ayaka-hime?" Sakumo asked.

I looked at Kurenai pouting and my parents' grins before replying that it was – in my most pompous take of Grandmama's voice – "adequate".

Everyone laughed again.

"You sound like Baa-san!" Kurenai called.

Papa glared at her.

"Father…"

We all started at the voice coming from behind Sakumo and I. Sakumo turned so quickly that I nearly fell off his shoulder.

A boy around Kurenai's age stood at our open backdoor, in easy view of the antics going on in the kitchen and dining room. He stood only a little taller than Kurenai did but had a shock of silver-grey hair on his head and a mask from his uniform stretched over the lower half of his face.

And without ever seeing this boy before I knew exactly who he was. Although the colour of his hair was a dead giveaway, I felt like I knew him from somewhere. I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew him very, very well.

But, of course, that would be ridiculous.

"Kakashi…" Sakumo said, the smile slipping from his face. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable sitting on Sakumo's shoulder as the boy's – Kakashi's – dark expressionless eyes slid over from his father to me then back again. Even I, the least trained shinobi in the room, could tell that he was noting down and processing everything he saw. In that one moment of silence I felt every little thing about me – every nervous tick and out-of-place hair – being evaluated.

I didn't even notice that I was shuffling uncomfortably on Sakumo's shoulder until he lifted me again and deposited me on the ground.

Sakumo cleared his throat and moved towards Kakashi, before turning to face my parents. "Kurei, Kagura-san. This is my son, Kakashi. Kakashi, this Kurei and Kagura-san, and their daughters Kurenai-chan and Ayaka-hime." He added the honorific to my name in a painfully obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

Suddenly nervous, I shuffled forward to meet the boy. This was Sakumo's son, and I had promised myself that I would make friends with him as best I could.

I smiled at him broadly. "Hi, I'm Ayaka. Sakumo-sama has told me so much about you, Kakashi-kun," I introduced, proffering my hand out to him. I waited for him to reply and shake my hand… For him to smile and say that it was a pleasure to meet me too. That Sakumo had spoken of me also. That he'd been looking forward to becoming friends with me.

And waited…

And waited…

Had I been too overly familiar by calling him Kakashi-kun? Perhaps I should have started with Kakashi-san, instead? Or maybe I should have just gone completely formal with Hatake-san? And why was he just staring at me?

For an uncomfortably long moment my hand just stayed held out in front of me and susceptible to Kakashi's gaze and judgement where he was staring down at my proffered hand.

I managed to catch his gaze and a flash of intense dislike cross his feature. It surprised me so much so that I stumbled back a step.

My hand fell.

"Kakashi!" Sakumo scolded harshly. "What's gotten into you?"

Kakashi turned to his father, his face blank. "Forgive me, Father. I don't feel well. I don't want to spoil your evening so I'll go."

"Wait," Mama said, moving forward quickly. "You're welcome to stay. I'm making salt-broiled saury, your father tells me it's your—"

"Kakashi, you're not going anywhere," Sakumo commanded, placing a restricting hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "You're going to apologise to Ayaka here, as well as to Kagura-san and Kurei for your rudeness inside their home."

Kakashi looked at the floor and scuffed his feet uncomfortably.

Mama opened her mouth. "Sakumo-san, an apology isn't—"

"—Is entirely necessary, Kagura," Papa cut in. He was looking down at Kakashi quietly, his anger only evident in his eyes and the puckering corners of his lips. It gave me shivers. The last time I had seen him this mad was when I had graphitied his bingo book by drawing devil horns, moustaches and lipstick over the faces of most of the criminals in it. I had thought it hilarious at the time, though after the punishment that had followed, I would not be hurrying to do that again.

Papa turned away from Mama to face Kakashi. "You were invited into my house, where my wife was preparing your favourite dish for dinner, and have the audacity to insult my daughter under my own roof! I'm sorry, Sakumo, but I feel like your son does owe my family an apology for his rude behaviour in the sixty seconds that he's been on my property."

I turned to Papa horrified. I didn't want Kakashi to apologise to me; I just wanted to be friends. You couldn't force a friendship.

"No – no. I agree Kurei. I'm sorry that your wife went to so much trouble for my son," Sakumo said.

"Oh no, Sakumo-san! It was no trouble!" Mama protested.

"I apologise for my misconduct, everyone." Everyone's eyes fell on Kakashi, and he swallowed audibly. He scuffed his foot again nervously before stepping in front of me and offering his hand to me. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, Yūhi-san."

I hesitated a heartbeat before grasping his hand in mine. "You can just call me Ayaka," I said; glad to have the awkward tension broken. But his body language spoke volumes. He remained indifferent and although his tone was polite it held only mild disinterest.

He was uncomfortable.

Papa gave Kakashi one final glare before relenting. "Okay. Now that that's over, who wants to help me set the table? I'm guessing the saury is nearly finished, Kagura?"

Mama's face fell. "The saury!" She raced back into the kitchen and, as she opened the oven, the smell of our burnt dinner reached my nose. An awkward silence fell over the room and Kakashi shifted uncomfortably in front of me.

After a moment, Mama came out of the kitchen, smiling brightly.

Both Sakumo and Papa tensed at the fake brightness of her smile.

"Is… everything alright, Honey?" Papa started cautiously.

Mama turned him and he took a step back. "Of course!" She grinned. "Most of the saury will be fine. You, however, and Ayaka-chan will have to undergo some endurance training during dinner tonight."

Papa vainly tried not to wince.

"What?" I burst out. "What did I do wrong?"

Mama head rotated slowly to look at me and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end in response. Her grin had suddenly turned sadistic.

"Ah. Kurei." Sakumo said, lifting a hand to cover the small smile adorning his face. I glared at him. "I was actually hoping to see Kurenai undergo some training. You've already said that she has a natural aptitude for genjutsu, and I've heard that her taijutsu techniques are flawless." He smiled at Kurenai, who ducked her head and blushed faintly.

"Sure, we'll go outside." Papa said, shepherding us all away from Mama. "Kurenai does have a natural aptitude for genjutsu. It's nothing short of amazing, how she has been able to pick up techniques so well."

We assembled in the small clearing in backyard where Kurenai and I usually performed our morning exercises and katas.

"Otou-san!" I dashed forward and glomped his leg. "Can I join in too?"

"Yeah!" Kurenai agreed, jumping onto Papa's other leg.

Papa frowned. "I don't think that that's a—"

"Why not?" Kurenai pouted, letting go of Papa's leg she put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. "I could use a partner. And Ayaka's not that far behind me. She started at the Academy a year earlier than I did!"

He looked down at me and I gazed up at him, giving him my best puppy-dog look. I added in a quivering bottom lip for extra effect.

"C'mon, Kurei," Sakumo laughed. "The girls seem determined."

Kakashi remained silent next to his father, watching.

When Papa sighed through his nose I knew that we had won. "Alright. A single spar. Taijutsu only, Kurenai. Your sister doesn't know much else besides that." He turned to me. "Ayaka, don't be discouraged if you're beaten, okay? There's no shame in losing to your sister – she's had a lot more training than you. Just remember—"

"—Whoever loses gets kicked out of the family and has to live in shame forever!" Mama cheered from the kitchen window.

"You're not helping, Kagura!"

"Love you too, darling!"

"Ignore your mother, Ayaka," Papa said, sounding only a little exasperated. "What I was going to say was – remember how to dodge."

I nodded and excitedly clapped hands with my sister.

Papa looked between the two of us. "Taijutsu only."

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "We know, Otou-san. We heard you the first time."

Kurenai and I backed up from each other before we both slid into mirror image stances, our feet shoulder-width apart and our arms lifted to guard our faces. We stood like that, making eye contact, and then I blinked and Kurenai was moving forward, her leg rising to present a high-roundhouse kick to my head.

I hit the ground and rolled out of the way, quickly clambering back to me feet.

Kurenai was already rushing at me again.

I blocked her right cross with my shoulder and followed up with a quick jab that would have smacked into her nose had she not quickly backed up.

Her guard opened up as her arms spread too wide.

Pressing the offensive, I darted forward and landed a snap kick straight to her chest.

She fell backwards onto her back but swept a leg out and took me down with her. I landed on my tailbone. Hard. I needed to go over my falls with Papa once this was over.

Kurenai was back on her feet in a flash and I found that I was still struggling to get my feet beneath me. Her snap kick sent me sprawling backwards into the grass again.

I stayed down. I was panting and perspiring slightly, though not from exertion. If anything I felt full to the brim with energy. But before I could even attempt to get up, Kurenai was above me, her leg raised to deliver a devastating axe kick. Her form was perfect, I'm sure Papa was proud of her.

Unlike me.

I loved my sister dearly, but I was envious of everything she had that I did not. She was Papa's pride. Top of her class in genjutsu. Her katas had been perfected. She was older and prettier than me. Stronger than me too.

What could I do? I was second rate compared to her.

There was a small sensation at the back of my skull, like many hands tickling the back of my brain.

Thinking quickly, I gathered my meagre reserves of chakra to perform the genjutsu I had been practicing in my room for the past few weeks. I would show them that I was capable too.

Genjutsu: Afterimage.

I rolled out of the reach of Kurenai's leg before she could bring it down, leaving behind an image of my prone form as she brought her heel down on my form. Her foot slide straight through the illusion and slammed into the earth, kicking up a small cloud of dirt.

She looked down bemusedly for a moment before she looked up to see me climbing to my feet a short distance away from her.

"You… you used genjutsu!" She seemed delighted by the prospect. And proud.

I grinned at her, my stomach flooding with warmth.

The tickling sensation was now spidering throughout my head, sharp hot burning wires of pain spreading fire, and the hands scraping along my scalp with invisible claws.

I winced. It hurt.

Kurenai moved forward again, but stuck only to taijutsu, and I suddenly found myself on the defensive. A punch bounced off of my collarbone and I grunted. Neither of our attacks was chakra-enhanced, otherwise her attacks would be doing a whole lot more damage to me.

It was all I could do to bring my hands up to fend off the blows that Kurenai rained down upon me. My head was on fire. I couldn't think. I couldn't concentrate or keep up with Kurenai's attacks.

Something struck me under the chin and I flew backwards. I was so out of it that I didn't even know if it was a fist from an uppercut that had hit me, or a foot from a jump-kick.

Pain exploded from behind my eyes and the hands in my head clawed into my eyes.

Everything went black. No – that wasn't quite right. Everything had gone dark, smudged, but I could still make out Papa, Kurenai and the others as I managed to climb to my feet once again.

It all looked the same, yet everything looked different. I couldn't see their distinctive features, but I could feel them. Their individual warmth's. Like a cold blind man could feel the warmth from a light bulb. The hands twitched and twisted restlessly, aching to reach out to their warmth. To strew it about. To render it to its very foundations.

They were evil. The hands scared me.

They fed off of my chakra supply, and I felt my reserves plummet, like water in a bathtub getting sucked down a drain.

The hands only had a short opportunity to tear – to shred – before the chakra they thrived on ran out.

Kurenai was suddenly in front of me, spinning and about to bring home another roundhouse kick that would land in my side.

And I reached out, drawn by some incomprehensible magnetism, and placed my fingers to her forehead.

The hands crawled forward, clambering over each other in haste into the golden knot of sparking threads that emanated the warmth I could sense pressing against me.

She froze.

Her body literally stopped, frozen in the pirouette that would deliver her roundhouse to my kidney.

I quivered. I could feel the hands in her mind, cutting strings, reattaching them here and there. Plucking, tugging, strumming the strings almost playfully.

Then their nails dug in and the tearing began.

Kurenai screamed and I felt the pain as though it were my own. As though my head were being to torn into pieces, not by two hands but by twenty, two hundred, two thousand.

I clutched my hands to my head and screamed alongside her.

Broken sentences and exclamations made themselves known to me ears briefly before I was deafened in overwhelming waves of pain.

"Kurenai – Ayaka – going on?!"

"—happening?!"

"—speak—!"

My chakra ran out and the hands dissipated. I collapsed. I couldn't see and there was a heavy weight on my chest pressing down, but that was okay, I couldn't feel any pain either. What I could feel was the foreboding burning sensation in the back of my mind.

I blacked out.

A/N: What? What just happened? :O

So? What do you think? Kakashi's in this chapter - and Anko. Do you guys understand why Kakashi doesn't like Ayaka? I tried to allude to it rather than state it outright.

Do you guys like Anko? I love her.

And what did you make of the sparring match? Fight scenes are notoriously hard to write, but I do enjoy reading them. I hope that you guys liked this one too.

Interesting but useless information about the author and other stuff:

When I write that "Interesting but useless…etc." title down, I sing it out as a little jingle.

I'm trialling how italics look as opposed to having bold A/Ns.

Golf balls have 336 dimples.

In 1938, Time Magazine chose Adolf Hitler for man of the year.

Humans are the only creatures that cry because of feelings.

I don't like the taste of coffee and will only drink it if I have to stay up late studying – it's the taste that keeps me awake not the caffeine.

Owls are the only birds that can see the colour blue.

I live in Australia (G'day, mate.) And contrary to popular opinion, most Australians actually live in urbanised cities on the east coast. Myself included.

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years old or older.

Reviews result in good karma ;)