Ayame woke with a start, her body jumping from the sudden hand touching her. Her eyes flickered over to the person in question and she saw an extremely tired Kiba, dark bags underneath his eyes.

"We're moving out. Come on." His voice was scratchy and low, just the sound of it causing Ayame's face to burn and turn a bright red. She rubbed her face, her eyes closing for a moment. She could still sense Kiba watching her causing her to open her eyes and just narrow them at him, urging him to get out.

Kiba just rose his eyebrows, holding his hands up in a surrender form and stood up, groaning slightly from having a stiff back. The tent flap shut right after the boy and Ayame stood up instantly. She quickly tied her hair back and grabbed her backpack. She attached her weapons pouch to her left thigh and her headband in its usual position.

Ayame rubbed the sleep from her eyes before she left the tent, her eyes searching for her team. She noticed them standing against the trees and jumped when Shino spoke from right next to her since she hadn't noticed him.

"I'll pack up the tent seeing as it is my tent."

Ayame should have known that the boy would pop out at any given moment but that didn't stop her from nearly having a heart attack. She glared at Shino but knew that the boy couldn't see her. Ayame waited with Hinata while Shino was packing up the tent and Kiba was off doing god knows what.

Ayame shook her head, ridding her thoughts of the Inuzuka, she didn't understand why her thoughts kept drifting to him nor why her face burned whenever he did something even remotely cute.

That was when Ayame noticed it, the chakra was faint but she knew that he was watching them.

Hinata noticed Ayame stiffen next to her and without question activated her Byakugan. Veins formed around the Hyuga's eyes and she searched for the person. Her eyes searched until they came not even forty feet away from their camp and landed on the very person that Hinata had saw in their camp last night.

Hinata glanced at Ayame as if asking the red-head what they should do but widened her eyes when Ayame just put a finger to her mouth, telling the girl to be quiet. Shino noticed both the girls behavior and pretended he was still packing the tent when it was bluntly obvious he was done.

Hinata watched when the person was startled by the loud barking of Akamaru and ran off in the opposite direction. Ayame turned and glared at Kiba who looked confused by his teams behavior, did he miss something?

"You idiot!" Ayame went to smack the boy but was stopped when Shino held up his hand. She glared at both of them before crossing her arms across her chest, a frown now on her face. She had known that chakra signature, Kabuto had been watching them and she wanted to know why. She wanted to capture him and torture him like he had all those years she was stuck with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Ayame wanted to murder Kabuto and she was going to make sure that she did.

"Let's continue on our way." Shino's voice was smooth but demanding which Ayame obeyed immediately. She didn't want Shino to use his bugs on her, this made her shudder just from the thought of it.

The team continued to move and soon enough the tower came into their view and Ayame couldn't help the smile that came across her face because she knew that they had made it. This made her question if her team would be the first team there and she pushed herself faster, her teammates rushing too keep up with her.

Ayame was gasping for breath by the time she came up in front of a door, her teammates jumping down not even seconds after her. She grinned at them, looking at the doors. They seemed to stand there for hours before Shino finally walked over to the door and opened it.

Inside was a large room with a piece of stone hanging on the wall. When Ayame looked closer she noted there were words written on the stone and tried to decipher them. However, since Ayame wasn't very skilled in reading and writing, she failed miserably.

"Hinata, may I have the scrolls?" Shino's voice once again made Ayame jump, a scowl appearing on her face. She hated being surprised whenever he spoke or when he randomly appeared next to her.

Hinata took the scrolls from her weapons pouch, putting them into Shino's outstretched hand. Kiba freaked out when Shino opened the scrolls, claiming they would now be disqualified and jumped back when smoke appeared from the scrolls.

A squeak came from Hinata's mouth and Ayame just got into a fighting stance. She watched with narrowed eyes as the smoke cleared and relaxed instantly when Kurenai appeared. Ayame couldn't stop herself when she ran at the women, hugging her with the biggest smile she could ever possibly do.

"We made it!"

Kurenai laughed, surprised that Ayame was acting like this but didn't say anything. She watched all of her other students, their faces beaming with pride.

"Yes, you all did pass, you even got the second best time! You have four more days to rest while we await the rest of the teams. Come, your rooms are this way!" Kurenai turned, obviously ignoring the looks her team gave her and laughed quietly to herself. She was having fun messing with her genin and she was sure they just wanted to rest, therefore she was giving them that privilege.

Ayame didn't allow Kurenai to separate herself from the young girl, holding the older women tightly, her face still in the same happy expression as earlier. Her face was starting to hurt from the pain of smiling so much, however, no matter what she did the smile just wouldn't go away.

Ayame clung to the older women all the way until they reached a room made for their team and finally the red-head let go of Kurenai. The women pretended to be relieved and Ayame glared at her playfully before running over to the bed closest to the window. Her face was that of a child as she looked out of the window, her eyes filled with the light of joy. She watched as the wind made the trees rustle and she swore she could see the teams. Her eyes landed on smoke that was trailing up into the sky before an explosion sounded, fairly close to the tower.

Kurenai smiled at all of the genuine who had now chosen their beds before ushering them out of the room, "We're getting food."

Ayame's face changed from joy to fear and Kurenai, of course, noticed this change. She narrowed her eyes at her but the red-head turned her face the opposite way, pretending that she didn't notice. The older women sighed, making a note in her that reminding herself to force Ayame to go to a doctor's appointment and to make her eat.

Kiba whopped in excitement and ran at the table in front of him, grabbing some meat and any other food he could get his hands on, as well as feeding some to Akamaru. The others sat around the small table as well and Ayame picked at her food, only taking a few bites when Kurenai was looking.

+++++++++++++

Five days later, Ayame was refreshed and ready for the second round to be over with. She was tired of hearing screams and animals in the forest and just wanted to go home and have some of Kurenai's rice balls.

Ayame rocked on her heels, her eyes catching sight of another red-head standing not too far from her. She shivered under the glare from his blue eyes, the memory of the word 'love' being imprinted on his forehead, forever in her mind.

Ayame once again turned towards the Hokage, who seemed to be explaining the second exam. Ayame didn't pay any attention too this until she heard a voice call out and her blood ran cold. She was hoping that Kabuto had been eaten or even killed by something in the forest but he was still here and that meant Orochimaru was as well.

"I'm quitting!"

Ayame ignored the enraged Naruto, her eyes darting around the sensei's, trying to locate Orochimaru and her eyes landed on a male from the sound village, the long tongue sweeping out of the person's mouth every so often. Ayame wanted to scream, shout that this man was Orochimaru so he couldn't do any harm to the village she was growing to love but her body was frozen and her mouth dry.

Ayame doesn't even remembering moving into the stands, her eyes glazed over as she watched Orochimaru's every move. The man seemed to be staring at Ayame as well, a smirk placed firmly on his face and Ayame gasped when she felt a familiar tension in the air; one that she remembered all too well.

Her eyes flickered over to Sasuke, who was fighting a male that was on Kabuto's "team." A black mark was slowly spreading out across the Uchiha's body, his eyes scrunched in pain and Ayame turned to Orochimaru once more, her blood boiling. He had given the Uchiha a curse mark, another thing that she could never forgive him for.

Ayame may not have known Sasuke that well, no one really did, but that didn't mean the male wasn't apart of the village and a comrade was a comrade and she didn't want to see Sasuke go through that pain. Ayame gasped when the curse mark slowly started to recede and he did a move that she had never seen before.

Ayame cheered with the rest of her comrades, watching as Kakashi went down the stairs and said something to one of the medics. He then walked away, Sasuke following behind him, a scowl placed on the Uchiha's face.

Next was Shino's fight and Ayame was excited, seeing as he was her teammate and she never really saw him use his bugs to fight.

Ayame barely remembers the fight, just remembers that Shino's opponent had lost. Her eyes were still wide, terrified that Shino would end up doing something like that to her and then dismissed the thought. he wouldn't hurt his teammate, would he?

Ayame zoned out once again, until she saw her friend Tenten go out onto the battlefield. She hadn't even noticed how many fights had passed and started cheering on the brunette, who gave Ayame a thumbs up in return.

Ayame watched in awe as Tenten gracefully moved with her weapons, wishing that she could learn to do that. Her eyes widened however when Tenten was beaten and Temari was going to throw her onto the weapon filled floor. She went to jump down to catch her but Rock Lee beat her, catching his teammate in his arms.

Ayame didn't know what he said, her heart thudding in her ears as she watched Tenten be hauled away by the medics.

"Aw man, why does she get to go before me?!"

Ayame jumped, startled by Kiba's loud remark and slapped the boy upside the head without thinking. She turned towards the board and felt her throat go dry as she started at the names.

Ayame Yuhei vs. Aoi Himiwura

The image of a girl with long reddish-blonde hair flashed across her mind before she jumped down into the arena. Her eyes widened when she saw the girl in front of her and the girl seemed to have the same reaction.

"No way! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

Ayame hadn't expected those words to come from the girls mouth and barely dodged her punch. She knew this girl but couldn't remember where from, she was so busy trying to remember that she was punched right in the face, flying straight into the wall.

Ayame sat up slowly, her red hair draping across her face like a veil, starting to hyperventilate and more memories of her with the girl came up -ones of them laughing, crying, eating, doing all sorts of things- and she was kicked across the room, her body skidding across the ground.

"Come on, Ayame-chan!" Her head snapped up, tears going down her face as her eyes located Naruto's face. She barely knew the boy, yet here he was, cheering her on like she was his teammate. Ayame stood up, wobbling slightly and started making hand signs of a jutsu that Orochimaru had taught her.

She could instantly feel Kurenai's confusion and the smirk widening on Orochimaru's face. As the finished the last hand sign, she slammed her palm onto the floor, shouting the name of the jutsu, "Earth Style: Spikes of death!"

Ayame didn't know why she heard multiple jounin gasp as the spikes of Earth began shooting out of the ground towards the girl that was causing Ayame pain. She didn't like this new feeling, the feeling were her heart was being squeezed. She hated the feeling of the wetness on her cheeks.

Kiba watched his teammate, his eyes wide. He always knew she wasn't the strongest but at that moment, her eyes were wild and tears were flowing freely from Ayame's eyes. Her hair was now loose from the ponytail it had been in, looking like a wild mane. Her forehead protector was long gone, having fallen off sometime when Ayame was being beaten to a pulp.

The obviously older female genin jumped up, her laugh sounding crazed, her eyes wider then saucers. She dodged all of the spikes but was scratched in multiple places, the blood running down her face making her look even crazier.

"What? Trying to kill me, little sister?!"

Kiba hadn't expected Ayame to do what she did next.

The red-head bent down, her hands covering her ears as her eyes seemed to stretch beyond the limits. "No. . . no! NO! HE SAID YOU DIED!"

Ayame's screamed echoed throughout the arena before her head snapped up, her eyes now a blazing gold. Her red-hair turned ebony and a burst of chakra seemed to come from the girl.

Aoi seemed frightened now, stumbling backwards, "Oh my god! I'm sorry, please forgive me lady Kuri!" The girl landed on her butt, her arms in front of her face defensively. Everyone was confused on why she had suddenly changed her attitude, her teammates, a boy and another girl, looked absolutely terrified as well.

"You will pay for causing this brat so much stress," Ayame's body flashed forward, suddenly in front of Aoi who screamed and fainted from fear. "Oh dear. Did I go too far?" Kuri mumbled to herself but knew she was attracting attention.

Her eyes snapped towards the man who had sealed her inside the brat, and she disappeared. Everyone was baffled, wondering where Ayame had gone before she reappeared in front of Orochimaru. "YOU DIRTY, DISGUSTING LIAR!"

She jumped on top of the man, his eyes widening and jounin ran over, trying to separate the girl. "He isn't who he says he is! ARE YOU ALL BLIND?!?"

Another burst of chakra sent the jounin flying, and Kuri went to slam Ayame's hand through Orochimaru's chest but stopped when someone hugged her from behind. "Ayame-chan, it's okay, you won, please stop."

Kuri turned her head, glaring the person and hissed, struggling to push them away. Kurenai just shook her head, holding the young girl tighter and watched as her hair turned back to red and her eyes back to green.

"Mom. . . " That was the last thing Ayame said before she slumped forward, her chakra levels dropping quickly. Kurenai's eyes widened and she noticed Ayame paling rather quickly.

"I need a medical ninja! Quickly!"

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Hi everyone! Hehe, so if you didn't guess, Aoi is Ayame's older sister. >:) i never said that her clan had really died, just that she didn't remember.

Anyways, drawing of Ayame to the side!