She looked so beautiful sleeping. More beautiful than I had ever seen her.
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[WARNING: THIS CHAPTER WILL BE QUITE LONG. Sorry for the longness in advance, :)]
[sasuke pov]
That night, while Ayame rested and the rain poured and the wind howled and I felt like ripping the tree apart to get those annoying stupid birds to shut up...I thought about Itachi. How was I going to kill him now? This girl, who's a year younger than me, and has never had the special training that I have- is ten times if not more, stronger than me. She may not be fast, and long distance is not her strong suit...but she's smart and cunning and quick thinking and amazing.
She has this great power, and she refuses to use it during training, and she makes sure her teammates are out of harms way. She can actually kill with no regrets. No hesitation. And to think, Kai is much stronger than her..they are probably at Jonin level. And Kai could probably give a fair fight to the hokage and the sanin. I wonder what his power is.
I wonder if I can ever be as strong as Itachi, Ayame, and Kai. I want to be so badly but I'm not sure I can. Why is it so difficult for me!? Why can't I rise to greatness like ITACHI! Ahh!
[your pov]
I opened my eyes with a gasp. The ringing of crying metal pounded my ears. I saw Sasuke had thrown a kunai into the tree. It shook from the force. And Sasuke...the poor guy was sitting there, fists clenched, teeth bared, and his mind in a whirl wind.
"Sasuke." I sat up, ignoring the pain. He looked over at me sharply and he tried to bring his indifferent expression back into his mind.
"Ayame, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, Sasuke, are you alright?" I just realized we were still in our bathing suits. And he had kept the towel over me.
"Yeah. You know, Kai saved us back there. I couldn't do..anything."
"Sasuke? Why does it matter what you did? We got away alive, and I know Kai is alright. So.."
"I couldn't protect you like he did. He's always there isn't he? He follows you and make sure you keep out of trouble. Doesn't he? He always protects you." What was he trying to get at?
"Yes, Kai believes he owes it to my older brother, that he has to protect me because my brother isn't here."
"Your older brother? What happened to him?" Something in his eye changed..it was cold, restless.
"He was killed. I don't know by who, just Kai said he wore a black cloak...with red clouds, and thats all I know. Kai said there were other people there too, they were trying to kill my brother too, and the man in the cloak. But thats all I really know."
"The Akatsuki."
"What?"
"Someone from a terrible organization killed your brother, they call them selves the Akatsuki. They're worse than any demon you can imagine. Theyre terrible monsters!" His hands bled from him clenching his fists so tightly. I took his hands and peeled them open.
"Sasuke, I don't know what grudge you hold against them, but its no reason to hurt yourself."
"But you don't understand! MY older brother killed my family! He..destroyed everything. And now, his stupid friends killed your brother too! I..can't let him live even more now!"
"You want to kill your own brother?!"
"AYAME! He killed my ENTIRE family! Would you let him live!?" the intensity of his gaze and the pounding of our hearts and the strain on our brains collided and I couldn't think clearly. Sasuke wanted to kill...his brother?
"No Sasuke!" I slapped him across the face. "I feel your pain, I want to kill whoever killed my brother, but I don't think I'm strong enough."
"You're kidding right? What could you understand about that? Being humble about your strength is going to be your downfall Ayame. I wish I could be as strong as you. But I can't. As much as I try, it doesnt matter. At the rate I'm going, I'm never going to be able to beat my brother. Its always been that way. He's been stronger than me, and Father, and all the rest, and I..I'm useless." He looked at me and I could hardly return the gaze. He looked insane, like he was fighting a pointless battle, laughing. "And you, you have this great power that can take out high level ninja in minutes. You posses a power I don't think i can ever match!"
"But Sasuke, its not what you think. When people have power, they have limits, and I have extreme limits. If I'm not carefull, I lose control, If I can't plan, I die, if I cant hold on to my sword, my arm is ripped to shreds, if I can't convince you to stop pitying yourself, then I've failed at everything!"
"Pitying myself!?" He stood up. I followed.
"YES SASUKE! Thats what you're doing, sitting here feeling sorry for yourself, doing nothing to help your cause. If you really want to get revenge, and avenge your family because you can't find anything else to do with your life then go ahead. I'm going to try to do the same, but I won't ever feel sorry for my self.l I will take life as it comes and if it takes me my entire life to kill who ever destoryed my brother then so be it! I don't care! I'd rather live alive, than walk the earth as a half dead avenger. My brother would not want that of me. So I will keep training and I will beome stronger, and I won't fail, and I most certianly will not only live my life as an avenger. I have no desire to."
[sasuke pov]
I didn't know what to say, she knows exactly what she wants to do.. She'll look for the killer of her brother, and at the same time she follows an unkown path, and she uncovers it and takes it head on with the knowing of what may happen. And look at me, my path is still blocked and I'm too stupid to turn the key.
"Ayame. I'm sorry. Let's go home." She shook her head and backed away from me. She looked scared, and sad and confused.
"I'm sorry too Sasuke, tell the hokage, and everyone else, that I can't be at the village anymore. I'm going to leave."
"But why!!?" She came back up to me and held my hands.
"Only because Sasuke, I can't stay. I realize staying with you will only endanger your lives and I just can't let the people I've come to care about die." She was crying. And I then knew why. Kai was there standing in the front of the tree.
"Ayame. Let's go."
"Why does she have to go with you!? Let her choose!"
"Sasuke, there are enemies outside, Kai and I have to battle them, when the sun rises, promise me you'll go straight back to the village, and you will focus on your training and you'll become stronger. And I will promise to be there for you when you fight your brother. I know I can't stop you, but I can be there beside you to make sure you come out alive. So Sasuke, please don't follow me and don't come out of this tree until the sun rises." She closed her eyes and tears flowed out of her eyes she tightened her grip on my wrists and I felt so bad. My whining had only caused her pain, and now she has to battle again.
"I promise." I pulled her into a hug and she cried on my shoulder for a little while.
"Ayame." Kai's deep voice stopped her crying instantly. She pulled away and didn't look back. And I cursed myself for letting her leave. But I intended to keep my promise.
[I know it was long, I'm sorry, I hope you liked it!!! Chapter 13 coming soon!]
