"The 'Fool'?" asked Jiraiya, nodding. "Appropriate."
"WHAT?!" asked Naruto with a snarl.
"It signifies someone beginning a journey," said Kahyusa. "Someone walking along a precipice. It also signifies someone who has the potential for many things."
"Oh," said Naruto, who'd thought they were making fun that he wasn't exactly book-smart. Well, that kind of explained the artwork on the card.
Kahyusa sighed and made a gesture. Cards flipped into neat little rows without being touched. One flipped over as it did so.
One by one, Kahyusa tapped a card. The card then flipped over and she studied it briefly with her fingers lightly running across its surface.. Each card produced a thoughtful sound from the Prophet Of Stones. When all nine cards had been looked over she sat back and her blind eyes regarded the ceiling.
"So, you gonna say something?" asked an impatient Naruto.
"Ah, the impatience of youth," said Kahyusa. "I have to finish fitting everything together now. Not only the meaning of each card, but in its relationship to the other cards."
"Yeah, so?" asked Naruto.
"You are not alone," said Kahyusa. "Destiny swirls around you. If you take the correct path, you will continue to accrue friends and fame. The solitude of your youth will fade. There are several junctures though, and how you react will determine the fate that eventually befalls you."
"Uh huh," said Naruto skeptically. "That could be true for anyone."
"If you do nothing unusual, if you follow the path that would normally fall to you," said Kahyusa, "this is what will happen. You will gain much, but you will lose the one you regard as a brother. He already walks a dark path and it will get much darker. It will consume him, leaving him naught but a shadow of bloody vengeance."
Naruto lost whatever sarcastic comment he was going to say. Partly because this DIDN'T sound like a generic fortuneteller spiel, partly because the shadows in the little shop had just gone deeper and darker, and partly because the Seer's eyes were glowing silver. All of which got him to take this a bit more seriously.
Jiraiya merely scribbled down notes so that he could consult them later.
When Kahyusa next spoke, her voice had changed. It seemed as if there was a faint echo or as if two voices were saying the same words. "Death is your constant companion. One mentor has already died. Your current mentor shall also die, facing a failure from his past that he believes dead and buried. Those who seek a new dawn have many agendas, and seek your death, but they are not your only enemies or even the worst of your enemies. Your most potent and terrible enemy is hidden underground, amongst where the tree takes in nourishment, and it is there that he has provided the poisoning of the life you have led so far. Your mentors have shielded you, and the beast within you has healed your flesh, but he has always sought your discredit and destruction."
Naruto swallowed the questions that sought to boil out when Jiraiya nudged him and shook his head once.
Kahyusa's eyes flicked around as if she were reading something in mid-air. "The village of the trees shall suffer, and many deaths occur. Webs of lies and deceit from within and without. Death. Many deaths as a shroud of pain covers your homeland. Your not-brother seeks and finds his foe, and as many who seek vengeance find, has no satisfaction in that ending. More deaths, more deceit, and you fail to act on two who confess their love. You do not even acknowledge them, so focussed on your own tasks are you. The end of this road I cannot clearly see, as it is not completely written. You may end up grasping your dream, and as your not-brother, finding it is not as fulfilling as the dream itself was. You may die, and in that dying save many lives but also cause despair and suffering. You may fall in battle, and serve the purpose of one of the groups who have sought your suffering."
Jiraiya's frown deepened, having heard and interpreted the part about HIM dying. "What of the failure of the past that slays the mentor? Is there anything else you can see?"
"Three lives met three lives on a battlefield. Three sages confer, two walk away. One sought prophesy's hope. The enemy hidden in the forest poisoned that hope, turned it to destruction. The one you sought to turn to hope survived and is now with the dawn-seekers, and follows a path of pain and suffering," said the Prophet. Her eyes closed and the shadows faded back from starkness to normal.
"It can't be him, can it?" asked Jiraiya.
"Pervy sage," said Naruto in an unusually somber voice. "I think we really need to get serious about my training."
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(Posted Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:07)
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