In a way, what had been told to Naruto was completely true. With the pactio in force, her strength and speed and durability were all increased. Her ability to recover her chakra was on a level with Naruto while the pactio was running.
Now, he just had to let her know about this. Place a few dreams in a few appropriate minds. Hinata's would be mostly copied over, with a few changes so that it fit the individual. Oh to be sure - not all of those who'd get the dreams would follow up and make a pactio with Naruto. They'd remember though. There would always be that temptation to go for a kiss, to get a quick power boost whenever they might need it. They could certainly find ways to rationalize it.
Let's see, Hinata Hyuga of course.
Ino Yamanaka. Why not?
Sakura Haruno was angry that her dream of Sasuke Uchiha and tapioca pudding was interrupted. Oh well.
Shizune - done. The age difference was bigger now than it would be in five years or so. There might be other things he could do with her. That was SUCH an unamusing way for her to die after all.
Temari - didn't know Naruto YET but would recognize him and remember the dream when she DID.
Tenten - was oddly resistant to it. Wanted to succeed on her own merits apparently. Well, maybe she'd change her mind later.
Tsunade. Who was pretty sarcastic about the whole thing. Oh well, can't win them all.
Oh that was interesting. That young girl was good enough at illusions that she could tell the dream was sent from elsewhere. Now if she could slip the bonds of her captors/family enough to chase down Naruto.
The girl modified with fish parts saw the opportunity to return to closer to human and was understandably intrigued.
Village of the Stars? Eh. Why not. They'd have an opportunity sooner or later.
Four more. Reincarnates he'd inserted into this world himself for just such a possibility. You had to plan ahead for the really good pranks after all.
"I am Inari," said the golden fox, making sure the Aura Of Near Divinity and shrine background was running smoothly. It was a little tricky, keeping everything static inside someone's dreamscape. That was what made it interesting though.
"Where? What?" asked Hinata.
"Fourteen years ago, the Ninetailed Demon Fox was summoned and sent to attack the village of Konoha," said Inari. "The Fourth Hokage split the Ninetails into two pieces and sealed it away. I'm the good-yet-mischievous often-misunderstood half known as Inari, who is sealed inside Naruto Uzumaki."
"Ah, pleased to meet you," said Hinata, bowing politely. No reason NOT to be polite after all.
"I'm also the smarter and better looking half," said Inari.
"Of course," agreed Hinata, taking the fox's word for it.
"While here I discovered that Naruto's bloodline allows him the use of a powerful kekkei genkai," lied Inari. "I have strengthened it. He can now form a pactio - a bond with another person that will allow him to channel his chakra to them. It will manifest in a card form because it is similar to a summons, however the card has special powers."
"That's nice," said Hinata, finding herself seated at a table. She poured herself some tea while she waited for this dream to get to the point.
"The card will allow communication between Naruto, the magister, and the contracted individual - the ministra. Are you following this?" asked Inari.
"Oh yes," said Hinata. "I was just surprised that I could taste the tea. This IS a dream, right?"
"Well, yes," said Inari. "It's a form of dream projection. Easiest way to do it."
"All right, pactio. Naruto is the contractOR and the 'magister' while whoever contracts with him is the 'ministra' or contractEE," said Hinata, proving she'd been paying attention.
"Right," said Inari. "When the contract is active - for a maximum of five minutes to start with, your strength and speed and resistance to injury are much greater. You will also have an Artifact - a piece of equipment or a weapon that gives you even more of an edge. When you want to access your Artifact without transforming, simply hold the card in your hand and say 'Adeat' while 'Abeat' returns it to card form."
"That could be handy," said Hinata.
"Your relationship with Naruto will increase the length of time you can stay transformed," said Inaba. "The stronger the bond, the more power the pactio grants you. In addition the card can allow you to speak to each other within eleven kilometers of each other - or for one of you to summon the other to your side with about half that range."
"Ouch," said Hinata, spilling some tea on herself as she refilled her cup. "Wait. I felt that."
Poof! went the dream as Hinata woke up.
"Why should I trust anything you say?" said Tsunade.
"You shouldn't trust me completely," admitted Inari. "Can you completely disregard what I say?"
"There is absolutely no way I can enter some 'pactio' with a snot-nosed brat right out of school," stated Tsunade.
"What about Shizune?" asked Inari.
"She's old enough to make her own mistakes," stated Tsunade.
"I've seen the futures, you might consider encouraging her," said Inari.
"I don't think I believe in fate or predestination," said Tsunade. "How bad could it be?"
Inari showed her.
"If I see any indication that something like that is going to happen," said Tsunade, "I'll paralyze her and have her 'pactio' this kid by force if I need to."
"Now THAT sounds amusing," said Inari with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Look, I've seen the kid," said Hana Inazuka. "He seems like a good kid, but I don't know about kissing him. He's KIBA'S age for crying out loud."
"All I'm saying is keep an open mind about it," said Inari. "Just a possibility for you to consider. That's all."
Of course, just changing Hinata into a foxgirl for the length of time that the pactio was active wouldn't be all that much fun. That was why the girl with the fox ears and tail was dressed as a:
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(Posted Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:15)
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