It was silent as we all sat on the bird’s back, occasionally brushing strands of hair out of our face from the wind. Other than that, we were all lost in thought. Sakura’s eyes flickered to me once again, before quickly snapping to the horizon.
“What?” I asked, curious as to why she seemed so nervous. Slowly, her eyes returned to me, before she sighed heavily. The corners of my mouth twitched down, and I started getting rather suspicious as to what she was going to say.
“I’ve talked it over with Naruto, Kakashi and Sai….” Said blonde avoided eye contact, and I braced myself. This couldn’t be good. “We want to know if you’re okay.”
My eyes panned over my three comrades, confused. “What do you mean?”
“What she’s saying is,” Naruto piped, “We want to know how you’ve been handling your… Abduction.” Naruto grimaced, and it was then that I realised I hadn’t shown much negative emotion towards my kidnapping. In fact, I had brushed it off as if it were nothing.
“When did you talk about this?” I questioned, trying to buy myself time to answer. I didn’t want to say anything wrong about Sasuke, so I had to think it over.
“We all talked it over a few days after you got back.” Sai answered calmly, “We noticed that you didn’t seem to be reacting the way we all predicted.”
“I-I’m fine.” I murmured, pulling my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.
“Ayame,” Sakura placed her hand over my knee, trying to comfort me. “That… meeting… must’ve stirred up some memories. Please,” Her eyes softened, “We’re here if you need to talk.”
“And, about what Sasuke said when we found you…” Naruto continued, his fists clenching. “Don’t worry about him. You don’t deserve someone who treats you like that,” Naruto’s temper simmered down slightly, and the familiar determination set itself into his blue orbs. “We won’t ever treat you like that, Ayame.” Naruto assured, “Family doesn’t abandon each other.” My bottom lip quivered, and all my emotions bubbled up into my chest, threatening to explode.
“Guys…” I whimpered, for that was the only word I got out before my internal bomb of emotions set off, causing tears to pour from my eyes, and childish whines to leave my mouth. It was all rather embarrassing, but neither Naruto, Sakura, nor Sai, seemed to care. They all coddled me, uttering words that only encouraged my tears.
Out of the blue, however, Sai’s bird shook, as if it’s been hit by a force. Emotional moment gone, we all stood, on the ready. “Put your masks back on.” I ordered, before slipping on my mask once again. “Sai, try to-“ The bird quaked again, and I stumbled to the edge, sucking in a breath.
“Ayame!” Naruto cried, reaching for me. But, the bird shook again, and I lost my footing. The blonde managed to grab my hand, however, and held on to me as I dangled of the edge. “Sai, move the-“ The bird shook again, and I heard Sai curse. I looked around, trying to use my position to find the source of the shaking.
Immediately, my eyes zoned in on a water spot. The ink was slowly leaking out of the birds stomach, which must’ve been weakening jutsu. I was about to call out, to tell Sai to land the bird, but then the head appeared.
“Shh~!” Suigetsu’s head hissed, “Get off the bird, Sasuke wants to see you.” I stared, not saying anything.
“Ayame,” Naruto grunted, for he was unaware of the sharp toothed man clinging to the bird. “Pull yourself up, quick!” I tilted my head up at him, and loosened my grip.
“Let go,” I ordered, “I know what’s attacking the bird, and I’ll stop it.”
“Ayame, stop!” Naruto swung his other arm down, holding me with both hands now. “Don’t try to be a hero! We’ll work it out together.”
“Naruto, let go.” He didn’t. “That’s an order.” He tensed, silent. Finally, his grip tightened further, and I felt him pulling me up slowly. I dimly wondered what Sakura and Sai were doing, but ended up not caring. Sasuke was below, and he wanted to see me.
“What’s gotten into you?” I briefly considered using a jutsu, but quickly thought against it, following up with harsh inward scolding. “Ayame, stop being difficult!” Naruto finally managed to hoist me up, and I then noticed that Sai and Sakura were, in fact, holding onto Naruto’s legs so he wouldn’t fall overboard.
“Why were you-“ Sakura was cut off as the bird shook again, and I took their bewilderment as my chance to escape. I ran for the edge, and jumped. Screams were heard from behind me, but I didn’t panic as I fell. I knew for a fact that Suigetsu would help me, for I would imagined Sasuke would be rather irritated to find me splattered on the forest floor.
On cue, a water appeared beside me. “What are you doing?!” Gurgled Suigetsu, “I can’t do anything for you while you’re falling this fast!”
“Well, damn.” Still, I didn’t panic. I’d figure something out eventually, I figured. From beside me, Suigetsu cursed. Ignoring him, my body braced for impact. The trees approached fast, and I sucked in a breath.
And then BAM. I flew to the right as something hit me, the impact knocking the wind out of me. Was this Sasuke’s doing, or was I attacked by an animal? With my eyes squeezed shut, I prepared myself to find out.
“Are you hurt?” I slowly blinked open my eyes, and noticed my mask had flown off in the process.
“My mask!” I gasped, trying to struggle out of the man’s grip. Not bothering to think who had saved me, I struggled to the forest floor. “It wasn’t mine! I was borrowing it!”
“Ayame, are you hurt?” I turned, finally acknowledging my rescuer. My eyes honed in on an orange haired man, who looked rather muscular. I hadn’t, however, seen him before. Well, not that I could remember. “Juugo,” He greeted, “I’m partners with Sasuke.”
“Right…” I turned to face him from where he stood in the tree, temporarily abandoning my mask. “Thank you, by the way.” I smiled at him from under my mask, “I’d be a puddle on the ground if it weren’t for you.” Juugo stared at me for a moment, before jumping to the ground to join me.
“Sasuke was the one who told me to help you, so you must be special. Follow me.” Grinning, I followed obediently.
“I must be, hm?” Juugo’s eyes flickered to me, before returning to the front.
“I must warn you, if you hurt Sasuke in any way, or put him in any danger, I will kill you.” He spoke casually, and I acted as so.
“I can guarantee you, Juugo,” I assured, “I am nothing special when it comes to fighting, and if I tried anything, he’d be able to get rid of me with a flick of the wrist.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it. Sasuke doesn’t associate with those who he deems too weak.” I closed my eyes and chuckled lightly, noticing the break in the trees just ahead.
“I guess I should be flattered.” Juugo didn’t answer, for we’d already broken through the trees, and I was met with the sight of Sasuke, Karin, and a flustered Suigetsu. A smile stretched itself across my face, and I resisted the urge to run at him. “Sasuke.” I swallowed down my excitement, trying to act as normal as possible.
“Hn.” He turned, walking the opposite direction. “Come with me.” I pursed my lips, but followed regardless. He took me a fair ways away from his camp, all the while not saying a word. Internally, I was panicking. He hadn’t done this to me before- ignoring me, I mean. I felt like he was in his own little world, and I was a meaningless spirit following behind.
“Sasuke,” I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. “What is it?”
_________________________________________
well, arn't I evil?? c: sorry it's taken so long, schools been absolutely hectic. actually, after this, i have to practice my essay writing, do my science homework, finish two art assignments, and then go over a 5 paged english assesment, SINCE IT'S ALL DUE TOMORROW! -kills self- and then I have to study for my yearlies. INSERT UGLY SOBBING HERE! well, on the bright side, im going to go see Paranormal Activity 4 tomorrow c: :D imactuallygoingoutsidewat
anyway, i hoped you liked this chapter. vote, comment, fan, blah blah blah LOL AND RIGHT NAO I NEED TO WRITE DOWN A TIMELINE OF WHATS HAPPENING IN THE STORY SO I REMEMBER GHUGHUGH I ONLY JUST REMEMBERED OKAY BIEBIE BEFORE I FORGET OKOK
YOU ARE READING
Daughter of the Copy Cat, Rescuer of the Raven
FanfictionSEQUAL TO: Kakashi's daughter, Sasuke's lover? What? Ayame is all grown up now, engaged, in love, she has everything. Well, everything BUT happiness. The man she is engaged to is NOT Sasuke. And the man she loves is the most wanted man in the land...
