Chapter Fifteen - All Bugged Out
Aiko dashed out of the hospital bed, looking left and right for the person she had deemed the true monster of Konohagakure. Ripping off her disguise, she collapsed against the wall, her whole body screaming with exhaustion. She held her breath, almost sensing the beast was near, but she knew there was nothing she could do. He always found her. Always.
"Most youthful child, by any chance have you seen the Jonin known as Hatake Kakashi around here?"
"No!" Aiko half-yelled at him, knowing that it was hopeless.
"Hmm… there is something about you," Gai murmured, rubbing his chin as he leaned forward to take in her face. "Something most… familiar."
She knew he was taunting her. Any moment now, he would call for a hundred push ups, five hundred laps, or perhaps the worst… a spar.
"I must have asked you before," he grinned, giving her a thumbs up. "Thanks for your help, Konohagakure citizen!"
Aiko blinked at him as he ran off. There was no way he didn't recognise her without her disguise or Ame headband. Her left eye twitched, laughter creeping out her mouth as she rocked back and forth. He didn't recognise her without a headband. It had been that simple this entire time. Brushing herself off, Aiko declared she would never speak of this past month ever again. Whistling, she turned into Lee's room, taking in the stoic faces of Naruto and Shikamaru.
"Yo!" she greeted them, her eyes widening as she realised her hand had shot up in what was supposedly Kakashi's typical greeting.
She clamped her hand on her mouth. She hadn't even met the guy and yet she had picked up his apparent mannerisms. Guess that's what you get for posing as someone for almost a month.
"Oh, hey Suki," Naruto greeted her half-heartedly.
"Why so down, Naruto?" Aiko inquired, letting out an 'eep' as she pulled her hands from her pockets, having found them sliding into them as her body relaxed into a lazy slouch. "The finals are tomorrow. Aren't you excited?"
"I guess," the boy shrugged.
Aiko frowned. Was it another deception? Was he acting like he wasn't looking forward to a massacre?
"We just had a run in with Gaara," Shikamaru inputted in response to her questioning look.
Ahh. So that was it. The nine tails was obviously upset with his counterpart who had no finesse when it came to the killing arts. She nodded in understanding, having found his technique rather dull to watch herself.
"Don't let him get to you," Aiko told him, eyes hardened. "You told me that you wanted to meet me in that final, Naruto. Don't disappoint me now."
Their blue eyes locked on each other, Aiko's mouth tilting upwards as the fox acknowledged her challenge and began to smile, a steel determination in his eyes that she was sure was the promise of a glorious death.
"That's more like it," she muttered lowly, accepting the challenge from the beast.
"Good luck, Suki."
"Yeah," Aiko murmured, one hand resting on the doorway. "Good luck to you too."
You'll be needing it, she thought as she slipped out the door.
XxX
"You should heed my warning, Suki. Why?" Shino began. "Because you are at a severe disadvantage, just like a pond-skater without a water source."
"Wooooo!" Aiko cheered, grinning as she entered the arena, lifting her arms to egg the audience on. "Let me hear you; Su-ki, Su-ki, Su-ki."
Shino watched stoically as she punched a fist into the air.
"Isn't this great, bug boy?" she grinned, finally acknowledging him. "I have to admit, Konohogakure sure knows how to put together a tournament!"
"My name is not bug boy."
"No?" she grinned. "How about fly-guy?"
"No."
"Buzzy-wuzz?" Aiko stared at her opponent, her grin faltering as she let out a huff at his stoic silence. "Looks like pond-skater is the best trash talk I'm going to get. Well then, shall we?"
"Aburame Shino vs. Suki of Amegakure, begin!" called the proctor, Genma, with a wave of his arms.
Aiko furrowed her eyebrows as Shino arms began to crawl with singular bugs that soon became a swarm. They raced forward to meet her, only to meet a shuriken, a paper tag folded around it, which proceeded to explode mid air. Her jaw clenched as the bugs reformed, coming from behind and once again facing her explosive shuriken.
"You are overwhelmed by my bugs," came his monotone from behind.
She reacted by slashing her sword into his body, which only dispersed into a swarm. At that moment, both the swarms from in front and behind began to attack her. Her hands formed three signs as quick as she could manage, her neck stretching upward as she released a torrent of water, watching it fall on her form in a healthy drizzle. Aiko sucked in her breath, relieved she had managed to make it just in time.
"You're not an opponent suited to my fighting style," she admitted, watching as his body reformed at a distance, "but if there is one thing I know about bugs, it's that they don't come out in the rain."
"Then it seems that this will be a battle of stamina," Shino declared.
"Unfortunately so," she sighed.
Aiko lurched forward, leaving a trail of paper bombs behind her like breadcrumbs, exploding them as she swiped at Shino with her sword. He jumped back, running up the wall with chakra coated feet before blasting off, landing behind her at a crouch. She grinned, exploding the remaining paper bombs. However, her smile soon dropped as he emerged, the sleeve of his jacket burnt and his arm red with blisters, but otherwise unharmed.
"I survived your explosion. Why? Because your tactics were expected."
It was then that Aiko threw a smoke bomb, concealing herself within the smoke as she allowed herself a brief reprieve. However, it was short-lived as the bugs surrounded her anyway, resulting in her using another water jutsu to prevent the bugs from draining her chakra. She squinted at Shino, one eye closed as she tried to catch her breath.
The bugs pressed on, twirling around the now expected shuriken explosions. She let out a breath of irritation, drawing them closer before she kicked off the ground and released another smoke bomb. Several explosions rang out across the arena, causing the smoke to light up in flashes before revealing to the audience that the bugs had swarmed upon a single spot en masse, the audience squinting to see an Ame hitai-ate disappearing into the swarm.
The spot exploded and Aiko jumped from the still clearing smoke, a final water jutsu enveloping Shino and his remaining bugs. Shino fell to the ground and Aiko lifted up her sword, ready to plunge it in his chest before it was knocked from her hand.
"Senbon?" Aiko panted, looking down at her opponent with confusion.
"Winner: Suki!" the proctor announced, turning to the girl who was half collapsed over the Abarame's body. "He's out of chakra. If your sword had landed, he would have died."
Aiko nodded, looking down at her opponent to see his cheeks had taken on a pink hue. Noticing her position, she scrambled to remove herself from the boy, trying to look dignified as she stood up, presenting herself to the arena in nothing but a vest top and her underwear.
"Look away you perverts!" she yelled at the audience, her cheeks becoming scarlet as most of the male population of the audience suddenly became interested in their shoes.
Well, most of them. One Inuzuka Kiba shoved his fingers in his mouth to let out a wolf whistle, earning himself the attention of an angry kunoichi who slapped him silly. She looked up as Genma handed over her pile of clothes, which he had collected from where the bugs had last swarmed en masse. She muttered a 'thank you' before rushing to pull on her trousers, falling flat on her face as she tripped over their fabric as it caught around her legs.
"Did you see the bug on your hitai-ate?" came Shino's voice as he lay on the ground.
She sighed.
"All I knew was that you could locate me and you used bugs. It didn't take much to put the two together," she informed him, hating to admit this was more of a tricky match than it should have been. "My last move was a calculated risk depending on whether the bug was on my clothes or my skin."
She shrugged.
"I see."
"Thank you for the match, Abarame Shino," she acknowledged, pulling on her shirt. "It will be one I'm unlikely to forget."
"For me as well," Shino muttered, his cheeks still pink.
Now fully dressed, complete with Ame hitai-ate, Aiko made her way back to the competitor box, glaring at Shikamaru, almost daring him to say something.
"Troublesome," was all he murmured, turning his head away.
Then she blinked, realising a certain demonic mastermind was missing.
"Don't worry," Temari smirked. "I think the kunoichi in the audience got all of the peeping toms, including this one."
Aiko looked down at Naruto, his cheek bright red from a slap the Sand kunoichi must have delivered to him, then back to Terami. She had survived a long time with Gaara and now had the fox in hand. A talented kunoichi to be sure.
"Hey, I'm no pervert!" the boy complained, rubbing his cheek as the kunoichi lifted her foot to free him.
Aiko resisted the urge to huff, wishing she could erase the Harem no Jutsu from her mind.
"Thank you," Aiko nodded, watching as the kunoichi unfolded her fan and used it to enter the arena for the next match.
"Alright, Shikamaru!" Naruto cheered, pushing the boy over the railings. "Go for it."
Aiko laughed, finding herself in brighter spirits as Shikamaru frowned up at them from the arena, Naruto shouting his support for their deaths from the box.
"So peeping, huh?" Aiko glared, having thought the fox could do no worse.
"I wasn't peeping! I was just wondering why your boxers had lace!"
Aiko's eyebrow twitched, great fireballs appearing within her eyes as she punched him in the head, watching gleefully as he fell to the ground with swirling eyes.
"Good luck, Temari," she called out, sitting herself down on the boy's body, finding him an adequate seat to enjoy the next match from.
XxX
Aiko's eyes blinked as feathers floated before her eyes.
"Kai!" she cried, countering the genjutsu.
She almost wished she hadn't as she began to realise the extent of the chaos that enfolded before her eyes. There was a huge explosion from the Kage box, massive white snakes appearing from beyond the arena, all whilst hordes of Sand and Sound shinobi flooded the place. She had found herself in the middle of a war, none of which the sides battling were her own. Hands shaking, she drew out a piece of paper, scribbling the word 'help' on it before moulding it with her chakra into a butterfly and watching it fly away.
From there, her plan was simple: stay alive. Aiko turned towards Naruto's sleeping form with a frown, poking his cheek as she admired his dedication to deception. She would have thought he would prefer to watch a war, most likely wanting a front row seat before wiping out the victors like the demon he was. Yet here he was, pretending to sleep like a baby and murmuring about noodles. Aiko loomed over him, poking at his whiskered cheeks. They really were terribly adorable. Next, she swung back her foot, kicking him in the side with a chakra fueled foot, causing him to lurch upright.
"MISO-PORK-SHIO," he screamed, looking around in a daze before settling on Aiko and rubbing his eyes. "Wha- what happened, Suki?"
"War," she replied, her voice empty as she stared into the widening blue eyes of the demon fox.
"OWWWW."
Aiko lifted an eyebrow as Shikamaru shrieked, finding Naruto's pink-haired teammate had joined them, her face a vision of anger as she accused Shikamaru of 'playing possum'. Slowly, her eyes passed over the pinkette before resting on…
"Sooo cute!" Aiko squealed, her eyes sparkling as she dove to the floor to scratch the pug under the chin before slapping away Shikamaru's hand, who was most likely seeking payback for the bite marks on his leg.
"Cute?" Shikamaru scoffed, his eyebrows downturned as he scowled at the dog. "That dog is going to get me killed. Who cares about Sasuke?"
Aiko grinned, watching as the cute doggy snapped at the boy's hand, her sword lashing out as she sensed an incoming threat, making the pinkette shriek. Her sword cut through his chest, blood spurting from the wound as the enemy shinobi fell to the ground.
"Suki," Naruto breathed, looking towards the girl who was omitting a dark aura towards the Sound shinobi. "You sav-"
"Are you okay, cute doggy?" she interrupted, turning to Pakkun as Naruto sweat-dropped.
Behind her, the Sound shinobi jumped back up, finding his body pummelled into the back wall courtesy of Maito Gai, the wall collapsing through at the furiously of his single punch.
"My most youthful stud- err, I mean, Chunin exam participant who I have never trained!" Gai yelled, flashing her a twinkling smile, thumbs up and (just to top it off) a not-so-secretive wink.
Behind him, Kakashi appeared holding a kunai in his hand, looking towards the group as he relayed his orders to retrieve Sasuke.
"Ugh, why me?" Shikamaru muttered to himself, following Naruto, the pinkette and the cute doggy out the hole in the wall.
Aiko couldn't help but agree, sweat dropping as she shifted away from Gai to follow them, finding her path blocked by Kakashi's outstretched arm.
"Not so fast," Gai warned, giving her a serious look. "You are under Konohagakure's protection, therefore we can not risk you getting killed out there."
Before she even had a chance to protest, a Sand shinobi threw himself at her, only to find himself launched across the arena by Gai's kick. From behind Gai a kunai twinkled, Aiko launching herself at the Jonin's back to deflect it with a swipe of her sword. She wished that was it, but the war was only beginning. She found herself swiping at the flesh of both Sand and Sound shinobi left and right, picking off what Gai deemed her good enough to handle.
Her next opponent wore a mask, one she knew to be one of Konohagakure's ANBU, but right now they weren't to be trusted. Gai launched himself in front of her, using himself as a shield, arms outstretched before they dropped to his side, his whole body going slack. She lifted her sword, finding it knocked from her hand with ease. Her adrenaline surged, paper peeling from her hands as she sent it forth towards the ANBU. However, the girl's body soon collapsed under his gaze, allowing the ANBU to pick up the Ame genin and run from the arena, her body thrown over his shoulder.
A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN! So, who do you think kidnapped Aiko? Who was behind the mask? Find out next week on Akatsuki's Child! *snorts*
I also just realised this story has 99 followers... that's so exciting! Thank you!
