Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This disclaimer is for the whole story and all chapters that will be made.
Alright people, this chapter should be a bit more spicy.
"Chiru-chan."
Mhmm…
"Chiru-chan, wake up."
…What?
Chiruchi slowly opened her eyes to see her father sitting in her bed, staring at her with his brown eyes.
She suddenly snapped awake and smiled.
"Dad! What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see if you were ready for the ceremony and I find you sleeping in bed instead." He gave her a reprimanding but joking look. Chiruchi knew what he was getting at and bolted out of the bed.
"Yes sir!"
As she struggled to put pants on she halted as her father spoke.
"No Chiru-chan, you'll have to wear this."
He pulled up a simple silver dress, if anything it looked like a sack with a belt in the middle, a silver sack though mind you, and a silver cloak along with the dress.
"Huh.." She said as she stared at the clothes.
When she was finished dressing she looked in the mirror and was shocked to see that the silver color, or was it silver?, acted as a dense mirror, mirroring her reflection. Her father smiled.
"You look beautiful, Chiru-chan."
"Thanks dad!" She smiled.
"Now, come on, you don't need anything else, a part of the ritual is to come undone, in nothing else but the Clans protection." He said as he mentioned to her dress and cloak.
He stood up and she followed, they walked out of the house and Chiruchi couldn't help but notice that there was no one out in the streets and homes looked abandoned.
"Where are everybody, dad?" She said with astonishment. "It doesn't seem like there's anybody here at all…"
"That's because they're all waiting for you Chiru-chan."
"Eh?! Really?" She said smiling. "Because of the ceremony? The test?"
"Yes, they've all gathered to see you succeed."
"Dad?"
"Mhm?"
"What does succeed mean?"
Suddenly, as they walked into the Akanomi's Temple, Chiruchi couldn't help but notice how many people were there and how she just wasn't as excited as before, but nervous.
They were all watching her, as soon as she stepped into the temple, in her mirror like clothing. The temple was dark with only two torches which were positioned in front of a staircase leading into the ground. The darkness contrasted strongly against the bright sunlight of the entrance.
Everywhere Chiruchi looked, there was a somewhat familiar face staring at her, that old lady at the shop, her friends and their parents, and somewhat related family members, everyone in the clan had shown up. Their expressions varied, from pride, happiness, impartial, jealousy and finally worry.
Matsui, with his blond hair and light pink eyes was staring at her with uneasiness, he gave a hesitant thumps up. She absently noted that Matsui did not stand next to her mother, or where the rest of her closely related family was, rather he seemed to be standing where the rest of the Clan was, people which she hadn't really talked to before. As her eyes wandered she noted a man she had not seen much of, her uncle, standing by, not that far from her family and watching her with intense interest. His eyes seemed almost like fire.
"Chiru-chan." Whispered her father.
She turned around and looked up at the tall man. She was alarmed for a quick moment, for she felt that the man towering over her was not her real father, but an imposter. Ridiculous as the thought was, the warmness seemed to have left his eyes, replaced by cold tenacity and something else…
Greed?
He squatted down to the balls of his feet so he could look her in the eyes and even though she knew this was still her same father, she couldn't help but be distrustful against him.
"Now, grandfather will come along and he will start the ritual, when he is finished he will motion you to go down those stairs-" He nodded towards the staircase. "Down there, you will find three mirrors, choose the one in the middle. It may seem like any regular mirror at first sight, but if you wait long enough, you will be able to enter it. When you have entered through the mirror you will face an important challenge, only you will be able to defeat it."
"I believe in you." He added.
And with that he stood up and Chiruchi saw that her grandpa was standing behind him. Her father turned around and bowed and walked to his place besides his wife.
Everything was silent as the elder gazed upon the crowd, he had seen them all grow up, he knew their flaws and weaknesses, their mistakes and errors. Finally, his eyes rested upon the small child and Chiruchi was shocked by the knowledge that seemed to radiate from his small brown eyes.
"Chiruchi Akanomi, daughter of Katsuro Akanomi, son of the Akanomi Clan Head, will you accept the title as Clan head?"
"Yes." Oh, Kami-sama her voice sounded so minor and unimportant in the large temple.
Everybody is watching.
"Do you swear to always put the Clan first, needs and personal longings the second? Do you pledge your utmost loyalty and devotion, your life, soul, mind and body to the Akanomi?"
"Yes!"
His eyes narrowed.
"And most importantly, do you think you are worthy of that title?"
"YES!" She spoke loudly, her nervousness making her panic under the scrutiny of her grandfather's gaze.
"Bring me your right hand child, and know that should one tear fall you will forfeit your right to the title."
Hesitantly, she brought her hand up and cursed herself for it could not stop trembling.
The elder brought up a small dagger and for a half a second, Chiruchi could see her own brown eyes in the shiny reflection of the knife, not unlike the color of her grandfather.
As the dagger he held broke her skin Chiruchi was about to cry out when she spotted her father watching her, his gaze so penetrating that she willed herself with all her might to be quiet.
A painful minute later, her grandfather let her hand retreat. She looked on the sore flesh and observed the marking on her hand.
"The kanji for mirror, reflected." He explained said with a powerful voice.
And sure enough, on the underside of her wrist was a mirrored kanji, which could only be read properly by the means of using a mirror. The pattern did not escape her. Mirror ritual. Mirror dress. Mirror scarring.
"Chiruchi Akanomi, should you truly desire to become Clan Head, descend into the darkest place of this temple…"
She looked to him, as he paused to give it more value.
"And face Yourself."
As she turned around, she felt all eyes on her, her footsteps echoed each time she placed her foot on the floor, the fire of the torches fluctuated as there seemed like a gust of wind entered the temple.
She slowly lost sight of the Clan members as she descended down the stairs. She stood in a hallway and about ten meters or so in front of her were three mirrors.
She walked until she was in front of the middle mirror, she looked in the one in the right and was shocked when her reflection winked at her mischievously. She turned her head around and looked at the left and her reflection frowned at her.
It was only instinct that told Chiruchi to look away from the self-behaving reflections and focus on the middle mirror.
Chiruchi wasn't stupid or uneducated. She knew that she had basically been bred for her future job, the Akanomi Clan had been struggling for years to regain their former glory, but they had been a somewhat known Clan, famous for their Mirroring Jutsus.
However their Clan plummeted down when the financial crisis hit fifty years ago, their current Clan Head was around when the Akanomi´s where at their fullest, both financially and power wise.
Chiruchi had been trained though not much as physically as more mentally. She could do the occasional large jumps using her chakra or sprint really fast. She however knew no Jutsus except for the clone technique for it was somewhat popular amongst her clan. Her teachers had focused on teaching her the basics for all their Mirror jutus, the signs, chakra theory and all that.
One could not use a mirror jutsu without having completed the mirror ceremony and only few had a chance to try it. Those included where individuals who showed great potential and/or those in the direct descent from the Original Clan Head, he was called Kami Akanomi and was almost worshipped by the clan like a deity. Chiruchi was Kami Akanomi's descendant along with her family and therefore had a chance to prove herself.
Chiruchi stood face to face to the mirror and complete silence seemed to reign, she wasn't sure how much time had passed but she knew she had been staring at the mirror for a while now. Was the Clan still up there? Or had they left, deciding that she wasn't worth waiting for?
Suddenly, a very strange sight happened, the mirror started to alter, she couldn't explain what had changed but she knew something was astray.
Slowly, her hand reached forward, and touched the mirror gently, her reflection obeyed her, same face, same movements.
Abruptly, Chiruchi saw something flash in her eyes, no, her reflection's eyes and the hand of the reflection reached out of the mirror, startling her.
She watched in wonder as the reflection started to act on its own, she slowly took Chiruchi's hand and smiled gently, to show that she did not mean any harm. Chiruchi smiled hesitantly back at the mirror image, until that is, the face of her reflection grimaced into an ugly scowl.
Chiruchi was entirely unprepared when the Reflection hauled her into the mirror and to her surprise she went completely through it. She crashed harshly face-first into the hard stone ground.
"Ow!" She yelled out.
"Serves you right." The copy spat out.
"What? Why?" Chiruchi spluttered.
The copy narrowed her eyes and shifted her back leg to the side.
"You're trying to kill me."
Chiruchi blinked at the copy. Blood started to run down her temple from where she had fallen.
"Could you repeat that?"
That answer almost seemed to set the Copy on fire, the only warning Chiruchi got was an outraged hiss.
That and the foot to the face.
She yelped as she was thrown backwards, skidding after the ground. She sobbed pathetically as she felt pain engulf her and a weird cracking noise came from her spine. The Copy briskly walked over to her, looking as though she had been the one thrown into a wall.
Punches, punches and more punches was the bane of Chiruchi's existence for the next three minutes. She weakly tried to struggle back but the fury and ferocity that her Doppler seemed to inhabit was plain ridiculous.
She choked when the Copy grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled her halfway up from the floor.
"Now, you listen, you little bitch-" The copy was hindered from speaking when Chiruchi gave her a classic head butt to the forehead, however, head butts are painful for both participants and it sadly did not give her much of an edge.
The Copy's face twisted with anger and she smashed Chiruchi's head against the floor.
Chiruchi was crying, she was totally unprepared for a conflict of this caliber, she had sparred a couple of times with some of the other prodigious students but it was always that, a spar. Sparring didn't focus on killing the other opponent or striking blows that would cripple you for the rest of your life, that just wasn't how it worked.
"STOP IT! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She cried out desperately.
"You are pathetic!" The Copy yelled back, a blow following each word.
I have to get out of here or else I'll be killed… She thought frantically.
The mirror!
But how am I going to get even close to it without getting hurt by her in the process?
Chiruchi searched her mind furiously for the lessons she had learned from her teachers, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to defeat the Copy, but however she might just be able to distract her for a while.
The Copy suddenly backed off, taking a few steps back she raised her hand, obviously going for the killing blow, a punch so strong that it would splatter Chiruchi's skull.
"HHHHAAAAAAAAHHH!" The demonic Copy yelled out as she jumped to attack Chiruchi for the last time.
Oh no she's coming and I'm gonna die andI'llneverseemomanddadagainorMatsui-
Suddenly, the same instinct that had protected her from before acted out, a movement that her teachers had tried to engrave in her mind during their spars time and again suddenly responded rapidly and Chiruchi kicked as hard as she could in the air in front of her with all her might.
The Copy's speed made her unable to stop herself as she was rammed onto the oncoming foot and let out a pained moan. Her fist uncurled and her hand slowly returned to her side.
A pained cough.
Chiruchi could almost scream as the blood splatters that followed the cough dripped on her face. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly and closed again. She hesitantly drew her foot back and the Copy fell to Chiruchi's side on her stomach.
Chiruchi slowly turned her face to look at the Copy, who was staring back at her with utter disbelief, face pressed against the dirt.
The astonishment quickly turned into what seemed to Chiruchi hell's wrath and she quickly scrambled up, biting back the pain before the Copy could stand up again.
"Noohh…" The Copy groaned as it tried to force itself to stand up.
Chiruchi slumped into the mirror and emerged from the other side. She shakily looked back and saw the Copy looking at her with vary eyes. The eeriness of watching your own face being distorted in disgust while looking at yourself was magnified by the dark shadow underneath her eyes and the deadly words she spat out next.
"Next time you come here, I'll kill you."
Chiruchi said nothing, only stared back slightly before she turned around and started climbing up the stairs.
She felt the dense tension in the air and knew that everybody were still up there waiting, to see how it went. When Chiruchi entered the mirror she didn't know what her task was but she was fairly sure now what it was.
She failed.
Please review and tell me what you thought about it, if there are any errors or something, or simply tell me how your day was.
I have over 6666 words typed up of this baby.