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Welcome to Chapter 13: Chunin Exams Pt.4

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy



Flashback Start:



"That can't be possible," Aiko breathed as she turns back around, "that version of me is dead." Aiko shook her head a just shoved that thought to her back of her mind. She couldn't focus on that right now. She left the bathroom as Naruto brushed past her. Naruto slapped his hand on Aiko's rear, enlisting a yelp from the Kunoichi and a playful glare in his direction. Aiko climbed back into the bed and noticed that they were new sheets. She didn't question it, mostly because she knew Naruto changed the sheets because he wouldn't want to sleep in a bed with that kind of mess on it. Aiko thought of ways to train with the four days remaining, as her eyelids grew ever heavier until they closed completely, letting the comforting embrace of sleep take her.



Flashback End:



Aiko was looking around in her mindscape with a curious and confused look. "Why am I here?" Aiko questioned. She looked around for Yuna but couldn't find her. Just before she was going to call out for her, Yuna called out to her first. "Mama! Where are you!" Aiko exclaimed as she looked around. "She's right here, Aiko-chan," A vice that Aikio never wanted to hear again spoke. Aiko faced the direction where the voice came with dread. What she saw made her heart stop. 

Yuna was in her Tailed Beast form; the only difference was that now she was suspended in the air on a large, rock-like sphere. Four massive wooden poles pierced Yuna's stomach, hands, and feet. The wooden poles had also pierced each of Yuna's eleven tails. "MAMA!" Aiko shouted in horror. Tears were on the verge of falling from Aiko's eyes when she spotted a figure step out from behind Yuna, the figure looking like her. Aiko's hand shot up, pointing an accusing finger towards the figure. "Who the hell are you, and what the hell did you do to Mama!" Aiko snarled. 

The figure ran their hand across the massive spherical stone that suspended Yuna. She looked over at Aiko with a hand placed on her hip. "Isn't it obvious, Aiko-chan?" The figure questioned before disappearing in a blur and reappearing in front of Aiko. Aiko flinched and stepped back, immediately grabbing a kunai from her holster. "I'm you." Aiko scoffed at the figure's statement, "Yeah right, the last time someone said that to me, they got beat. So don't feed me the same bullshit line. I know you're not real".

Aiko felt a fist bury itself deep into her stomach. "Ack!". The Dark Figure stepped back as she let Aiko fall to the ground, clutching her stomach in pain. "Real enough for you, Aiko-chan?" The figure asked as she crouched down next to the Ice Kunoichi. "You're supposed to be dead...Aiko," Aiko spat out. Dark Aiko giggled before standing up and kicking Aiko in the stomach; Dark Aiko giggled again before standing next to Aiko's figure. "You see, the funny thing about that Aiko-chan is that the other version of me is actually dead," Dark Aiko said with an almost happy tone.

Aiko's eyes grew wide with shock. "Then how are you here!" Aiko shouted. Dark Aiko put a finger up to her chin and looked up in thought. "I would really have to thank that Shinobi, Orochimaru, for giving me life. When he put that Curse mark on me, he gave me life and made me stronger. Especially now that he gave me the Uchiha brat's Sharingan". To prove her point, Dark Aiko's eyes changed from their cold Ice-White color to a blood-red color, two black tomoe marks in each eye surrounding her slitted pupil. 

Aiko's eyes grew wide with surprise and shock, as well as horror. "That's how I was able to restrain that massive beast over there," Dark Aiko said while nonchalantly throwing her thumb back at Yuna. Aiko struggled to get up and shakily stood on her feet. "What's your goal then?" Aiko questioned Dark Aiko. Dark Aiko looked towards Aiko with a sickly gleeful smile on her face. "I'm going to keep you locked up here, and I'm going take your body over."

Without warning, Dark Aiko shot forward in a burst of speed. Aiko blocked Dark Aiko's attack but got pushed back. Aiko threw the kunai that was in her hand towards Dark Aiko. Dark Aiko dodged the flying blade but missed the fact that it had an explosion tag on it. Aiko brought the tiger seal up and activated the explosive tag. Dark Aiko's eyes looked over and didn't react at all. Dark Aiko, in fact, smirked before covering herself in chakra as the explosive went off. 

Smoke covered the area where Dark Aiko was. Aiko peered into the smoke to look for her. "I don't think she'll be dealt with that easily," Aiko muttered. Suddenly, an intense wind caused the smoke to blow away in an instant. Aiko had to cover her eyes, and when she looked back up, she saw amethyst-colored chakra started to swirl around her violently. Aiko looked at Dark Aiko's body and saw the curse mark on her shoulder start glowing orange-red and spreading across her body, stopping halfway.

When the transformation stopped, Dark Aiko looked up at Aiko with a smile on her face. "Come on, Aiko-chan! Let us have a real battle to see who is to control this body!" Dark Aiko shouted. Aiko's narrowed her eyes at Dark Aiko before her slitted pupils narrowed into an almost thin line. Aiko's canines grew longer, as well as her nails. Red chakra started to bubble up to the surface of Aiko's skin, surrounding her in a cloak of red bubbling chakra. A red-tail started to grow out of Aiko; a second tail followed soon after that. 

"Let's dance," Aiko said. The two stared at each other before charging straight at one another. They collided, sending shockwaves across the mindscape. They began to engage in an intense match of Taijutsu. For every punch the other blocked, they received two in return. This continued until Dark Aiko jumped back and threw up the Horse Handsign. Dark Aiko took in a deep breath before landing and spewing a massive wave of fire towards Aiko. 

Aiko created two Ice Clones seamlessly. The three began to weave, handing with lining speed, making it look like they threw a single hand sign. Aiko and each of her Ice Clones to a deep breath before spewing water from their mouths. The water that spewed from their mouths formed walls, one in front of the other. When the fire made contact with the defensive wall of water, it started to produce steam. Aiko and her clones kept the wall up before Aiko created yet another clone that weaved another set of hand signs. 

The new Aiko Clone fished the weaving and blew out an icy wind from her mouth, resembling a blizzard. The wall of water froze over, allowing Aiko and the two original clones to stop the Jutsu they were performing. Dark Aiko smirked before creating a shadow clone of herself. "Two can play the clone game," Dark Aiko thought as the Shadow Clone weaved the single hand sign and performed the same Jutsu as Dark Aiko. 

A new wave of fire rushed towards Aiko's defense, breaking through all the walls easily. Just before the Fire reached Aiko, her three clones grabbed her and used their strength to throw her way above the wave of fire that came at them. The fire reached them and melted them from existence. When Aiko landed again, she looked around the smoke-filled area. Aiko dodged a fist flying for her and ax kicked her attacker. More smoke filled the area as Aiko defeated Dark Aiko's Shadow Clone. 

Aiko let out a pulse of Chakra to clear the smoke. When the smoke cleared out, Aiko could not find Dark Aiko anywhere. "Where did she go?" Aiko wondered before jumping up to avoid punch aimed at her back. When she landed, she channeled her Ice chakra to her fist, and alongside her tailed beast chakra, she threw a chakra enhanced punch towards her target. Dark Aiko didn't attempt to dodge the punch as it moved towards her and struck her stomach. "What! How did she not feel anything" Aiko shouted in her head.

"If you're asking why I didn't feel your attack, it's simple. I used a Jutsu that harder my skin so that it's as hard diamonds," Dark Aiko explained before a grin spread across her face. "Now you're trapped!". Dark Aiko giggled before placing her hands on Aiko's arm. "Ninja Art: Ice Body Seal!" Dark Aiko shouted. Aiko could feel her Chakra being cut off from her, and she could feel her Tailed Beast Chakra recced back into her body. Aiko tried to move but couldn't budge. "I used this Jutsu on 'Mama' over there," Dark Aiko said, gesturing to Yuna, "I also used a different seal on her so that she wouldn't be able to move around, but I could still use her chakra."

Aiko glared at Dark Aiko in anger before she felt herself disappear from view and appear in front of Yuna. "Now, you'll just be hanging out here in your mindscape while I take the driver's seat," Dark Aiko said as she started to fade from the mindscape. Aiko hung her head low as the realization hit her; she had lost. "Naruto-Kun...Please help me," Aiko said in her head before closing her eyes from exhaustion. 

The four days since Team 7 arrived at the tower and since Aiko was trapped inside her mindscape by a darker version of Dark Aiko. No one had really noticed the difference in Aiko's behavior except for Hinata and especially Naruto. The two noticed that ever since the day they arrived at the tower, Aiko became more ruthless with her fighting. For example, when she sparred with Hinata, Naruto had to use his Flying Raijin to teleport an obviously defeated Hinata out of the way of Aiko's Wind Style Jutsu.

When Naruto attempted to talk to Aiko about what she did, she brushed him off. When Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder to make her stop walking away from him, he swore he could see blood-red eyes with two tomoe marks glare at him. He released his grip on Ako's shoulder from confusion, and she Body Flickered away. Naruto stared at where Aiko was before she Shunshined away. Hinata stepped up to NAruot while clutching her arm. "I could sense her chakra Naruto. That didn't feel like the Aiko we know," Hinata stated. Naruto clenched his hand into a tight fist, "I think your right, Hinata, and that mark on Aiko's shoulder has something to do with it."

At the end of the five days, all the teams that made it through the second stage of the Chunin exams were summoned to an arena-type area inside the tower. The Third Hokage stood in front of all the Genin that passed the second stage. He stood alongside the Sensei of each team that passed. The Third Hokage cleared his throat before he took a step forward. "First off, I would like to congratulate all the Genin that passed the Second Stage of the Chunin exams," The Hokage said before scanning the Genin. "Since there are more of you than expected, we will be holding the preliminary round before the Third Round of the Exam," Tha Hokage said.

He was about to continue when a man with short brown hair, dark-colored eyes, and dark markings under his eyes landed inform of the Hokage. He coughed a few times before standing up completely from his landing position. "If you don't mind, Lord Hokage, I would like to explain this portion, please," The man asked before he cough once again. The Hokage nodded his head, allowing the man to continue. The man looked back out at the Genin before he spoke. 

"If you don't know it already, my name is Hayate Gekko, and I'm the Procter for the Third Round of the Chunin Exams," Hayate explained. Some of the Genin stared at Hayate with wide eyes, "Seriously! This is our Proctor!" were the thoughts of a few Genin. "Since seven teams somehow managed to pass, we'll be holding these preliminaries to cut the numbers down a bit," Hayate stated. After Hayate finished speaking, the Genin were told to walk to the spectator's area and wait for their name. 

The screen started to shuffle the names of the Genin around until they stopped on two names. "Will Aiko Yanaka and Yoroi Akado come down here, please" Hayate shouted. Aiko got up on the handrails but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at the hand's owner and saw Naruto. "Good luck Aiko-chan" Naruto said with a smile. Aiko didn't say a word, just stared at him until she jumped down into the arena where Yoroi was waiting. When Aiko landed on the ground, she walked towards the middle of the arena where Hayate and Yoroi waited.

"All right, begin on my word," Hayate said as he got into position with his handheld high in the air. "Begin!" Hayate shouted while jumping out of the way. Yoroi charged at Aiko, but she simply dodged his attack and used a backspin heel kick and knocked him forward into the ground. Yoroi got up from the ground while Aiko took a few steps back and got into her fighting stance. Yoroi faced Aiko with a slightly angered look behind his mask and glasses. "Let's dance!" Aiko said, activating the crimson-colored Sharingan with two Tomoe marks with a narrow slit going down the middle. 

Yoroi charged towards Aiko and threw chakra-covered punches towards her. She just dodged every strike thrown at her. "Yosh, Kakashi! That student of yours is good!" A Jonin named Might Guy standing next to Kakashi exclaimed, slapping his fellow Jonin on the back. "Yeah..." Kakashi responded. He was too distracted to give a proper response. He saw the interaction between Naruto and Aiko and saw how she gave Naruto the cold shoulder. He knew that Aiko would never do that unless something happened to her. 

Aiko yawned at the boring battle that was happening between her and this other Genin. She caught the man's fist but immediately felt her chakra drain out of her. Aiko grunted as she fell to the ground on one knee. She felt a kick connect with the side of her head, causing her to fly across the stadium a little. As Yoroi walked over to Aiko to finish her, he, along with everyone else in the arena, heard laughter coming from Aiko. Aiko slowly stood up from the ground as the injury on the side of her head had steam coming from it before it healed. 

"Thanks for that; I really needed that," Aiko giggled before she stood up, "Now I know you can actually fight, but it's a shame because it has to end here." Aiko had a crazed look in her eye as her curse mark grew slightly but not enough to be noticed. She channeled some of Yuna's chakra into her fist and disappeared from sight. Yoroi looked around for her before he felt a fist pierce his chest. He spat blood onto his mask before he fell to his knees. "Ice Style: Body Crystiliation,"  Aiko muttered. 

Aiko encased Yoroi's body in ice before Aiko extracted her fist and weaved the Horse Handsign. She took in a breath and spewed a very scaled-down version of the Fire Jutsu. When she finished the Jutsu, she cracked her neck before turning to Hayate, who was staring at what Aiko just did. "I don't think he can continue, Proctor," Aiko said, gesturing towards whatever remained of Yoroi. She Shunshinned back to the spectator's area and landed next to her team. 

The next fight was called down to the arena. Kakashi took this as an opportunity to speak to his Genin. "Hey Aiko," Kakashi said, calling the Ice-White-haired Kunoichi over. "What is it, Kakashi" Aiko huffed as she folded her arms, her breast being pushed up slightly. Kakashi raised a single eyebrow at his student before giving her an eye smile. "I just want to congratulate you on making it to the Third Round of the Chunin exams. Yuna would be round of you," Kakashi said. 

He watched Aiko's reaction and saw her flinch slightly as she froze. To Kakashi, it looked like her entire body froze; nothing was moving. But that only lasted a few seconds before her body started moving again. "I don't care what she thinks," Aiko stated with a snarl. She turned away from Kakashi and continued to spectate the fights. Kakashi eyed Aiko suspiciously. "I don't think that's Aiko there. Something happened during the Second Round of the Chunin Exams that changed her," Kakashi mused. 

He walked over to Naruto and Hinata and motioned them discretely to follow him. One at a time, both Hinata and Naruto followed Kakashi out of the arena and into the training hall in the tower. When they got to the training hall, Kakashi stopped and faced his team. "What happened to Aiko during the Second Stage of the Exams?" Kakashi asked bluntly. Naruto and Hinata looked at their Sensei before looking at each other. "We'll tell you Kakashi Sensei, but you can't take Aiko out of the exams," Hinata stated.

Kakashi tilted his head curiously before he motioned for them to continue. "Early in the Chunin exams, a powerful Wind Style: Great Breakthrough separated us from each other for about an hour. Hinata and I regrouped for an hour, and both of us said that we fought someone who summoned snakes on us. We searched for Aiko and found her knocked out with a strange mark on her left shoulder," Naruto explained. 

Kakashi's eyes widened, and his stance became uneasy. "You said the person you fought summoned snakes and left a strange mark on her left shoulder?" Kakashi questioned. "That is correct, Sensei," Naruto said, nodding in confirmation. Kakashi placed his head in his hand and shook it. "If that's the case, then I fear the worse. The Shinobi you fight is one of the Legendary Sannin named Orochimaru. He's an S-Rank Missin Nin of Konohagakure," Kakashi said, informing his team. 

Hinata and Naruto's eyes widened slightly before Hinata stepped forward with her hands clasped together and cover her chest. "Then what is that strange mark on her shoulder?" She questioned. "That Mark, Hinata...Is a Curse Mark. The Cursed Seal of Heaven," Kakashi stated. The three stood there as they thought over the new information they received. "When we went to the Land of Lighting and to that Island, we had to battle out dark selves. Do you think when she got the Curse Mark that somehow revived the Dark Aiko, and she somehow took over her body?" Naruto asked. 

"That may be the case, Naruto, and if that is, Aiko is trapped in her Mindscape somehow. I assume the only way for Aiko to take her body back is if it were to have some sort of jolt or something," Kakashi guessed. "Whatever we have to do, we'll have to keep a close eye on her from now on," Naruto said before he started walking back to the arena. The Preliminaries finished soon after that, and the Third Hokage said that there would be a month before the final round so that the Genin that passed could train.

Kakashi informed Naruto that another Sannin by the name of Jiraiya wanted to train him. Hinata went to train with her father, who wanted to show her a powerful Jutsu. On the other hand, Aiko walked aimlessly around the village a day or two after the preliminaries were over. When she passed an alleyway, she looked over and saw a familiar sight. She smirked before walking down the dark Alleyway. "Kukuku looks like you actually got my message," A pale-looking man said with a smirk. "I got your message," Aiko said. "When are we going to start my training...Lord Orochimaru". 



(A/N)



Published: Tuesday - December 14th, 2021 - 3:25 P.M.