What?
"Minato, what were you thinking? You put the Ninetailed Demon Fox in your own daughter."
Excuse me?
The ghostly Naruto pointed down at the crying baby. I'm a girl?!
Ghost-Naruto shifted abruptly, becoming considerably less male in appearance.
AGH! Waitaminute. There are buttons here. 'Fast-Forward' and 'Help' and 'Save' and 'Delete'? Well, what happens if I delete?
Save File 1: Normal Naruto, deleted.
Huh? What does that mean. Let's try help.
Normal Naruto, male identity, deleted. Remember to Save and Save often.
I deleted my male self?! THIS SUCKS!
"Sounds like someone needs her diaper changed."
How about 'Fast Forward' then? Maybe I'll find a place I can stop this and go back?
Things blurred, the child growing slightly with the blur surrounding her.
Uhm, if I hit it again? Oh good, it's back to normal speed. Looks like I'm a little older at least.
"Someone tried to kill her?" asked Jiraiya. "Name the person responsible. I'll make sure the body is never found."
"Already dealt with," said the Hokage. "However, someone on the Council likely instigated it."
"Name a name, I'll handle it," promised Jiraiya.
"I want you to take the child with you," said the Hokage.
"Are you nuts? I've got a spy network to maintain," said Jiraiya. "Lugging around a baby?"
"Is there anyone else I can truly trust with this?" asked the Hokage.
Jiraiya looked down at the little girl, who quieted and looked back up at him with liquid blue eyes.
"Don't look at me like that," said Jiraiya. "I can't do it!"
The baby gurgled.
"I'm entirely too busy," argued Jiraiya. "You'd be in constant danger."
The baby cooed.
"You ARE her godfather," said the Hokage. "Just pass her off as that or as the child of orphaned friends you've been stuck with."
"Both of which have the benefit of being true," admitted Jiraiya. "Absolutely not though. No. Not going to happen."
The baby girl giggled.
The Hokage looked at the way Jiraiya tickled the child under the chin while arguing that he absolutely could NOT do this.
The outcome was never really in doubt.
Five years later:
"You let a little girl in here?" asked the bartender.
"Yeah," said Jiraiya, hefting the little girl onto one stool before taking the next one himself. "You do serve non-alcoholic drinks, right?"
"Well, yeah," admitted the bartender.
"She'll have a milk then, I'll have a beer," said Jiraiya. "It's a dusty road and been a dusty day."
The little blonde girl nodded.
"But..." the bartender inclined his head towards the stage.
"Naru-chan," said Jiraiya. "What do YOU think of this place?"
"It's much nicer than the last place we stopped, Unca," said Naruko. "Much cleaner."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the bartender.
The bartender shook his head and simply poured the drinks.
"What about the road conditions around here? Any bandits or other hazards?" asked Jiraiya.
"Oh, just the usual," said the bartender. "Here this close to the Leaf border, there tends to be more ninja patrols."
"Hey," said Jiraiya, motioning someone he'd spotted closer. "You seem pretty good, can you show her the basics?"
Taking the coin from the older man, the musician considered that for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure I suppose."
Satisfied that he could turn his attention to his spy contacts for a few minutes, Jiraiya nonetheless kept an eye on the two.
"You're bringing a child HERE?" asked the madame.
"She's staying in the lobby, unless of course you don't think she'd be safe here?" asked Jiraiya.
"Pfeh, of course she's safe here," said the madame, waving a heavily be-ringed hand dismissively. "Still..."
"She's actually one of the reasons I picked your particular house for my business," said Jiraiya, couching his voice a bit lower.
"Eh?" asked the madame.
"Yours is a classy operation," said Jiraiya. "Some of my contacts are a bit put off by you being so upscale. Hmmm. Look at her."
The madame did look, noting the child was watching as a samisen player plucked the strings of her instrument.
"She has musical talent," said Jiraiya, his voice pitched a bit louder than when he'd been discussing meeting "business contacts" - causing some of the other customers to glance his way. "I'm on the road and have no such talents myself, so getting her an education in music..."
"Ah," said the madame, taking the hint and the folded bit of money with an inclination of her head. "I see your point."
"Uncle Jiraiya, not that I mind, but WHY am I learning this?" asked Naruko, stopping the fingering of the battered old guitar.
"Do you want the official reason or the ninja reason?" asked Jiraiya.
"Both please," said Naruko after making a show of looking for hidden eavesdroppers around their campsite.
"Officially," said Jiraiya. "It's because you have talent in that regard and I'm a doting godfather who wants his poor orphaned godchild to do well in life."
"I see," said Naruko. "I like music. Not so much the samisen though. And the ninja reason?"
"We'll have to see what instrument you prefer then," said Jiraiya. "As for the 'ninja reason' - it allows me to set up certain places to meet contacts with while maintaining my guise as a harmless wandering old pervert."
"'Harmless' - yeah sh'right," said Naruko. "So what's tonight? Kunai practice? Taijutsu?"
"I thought we'd start with a little genjutsu practice, you're showing talent in that direction," said Jiraiya. "Maybe eventually you can combine the two, casting a genjutsu through music. Then chakra control and building exercises."
Naruko scowled at the thought. "Not more tree climbing!"
"More tree climbing," said Jiraiya with a chuckle. "Next time we're near water though I'll start you on water walking."
Waitaminute! I'm learning tree-climbing and waterwalking, when I'm FIVE?!
Looks that way.
I've been gypped! Swindled! I didn't learn treeclimbing until Wave! I didn't learn waterwalking until he taught me during the CHUNIN EXAM!
Jiraiya didn't associate with you back then because he thought it would have served to make you more of a target, plus he was away trying to spy for Konoha.
THAT'S SCREWED UP!
Didn't say he was right. That was his primary motivation though.
Dirty ratzin fratzin. Fast forward, like I need to watch this part... what's this?
Age eight:
"Hey!" said Naruko, drawing a startled squeak from the girl she'd surprised. "That isn't the answer you know."
"Wh-what do you know?" asked the girl.
"Well, I think if things are that bad, you should talk it over with a friend," said Naruko, latching onto the girl's hand and prying the tanto out of it. "Now come on, I've found this place where the ramen's really good."
Was... she was going to...?!
What did you THINK she meant when she was talking about 'going down the wrong path'?
So that means that I - oh man.
So in this lifetime, as in yours, you redeemed her - showed her an alternate path. Instead of giving into despair, you gave her hope. Is that really so bad?
Uhm. I guess not.
Let's just cut forward past your training, your record contract, your journey learning music and becoming an idol singer.
A what?
Sorting day:
"Before we sort out the teams, we have one more student arriving," said Iruka. "She's already been okayed for this by the Hokage, but I'm not sure about this. Uhm, Naruko?"
Sakura petals swirled in through a window, twirled briefly near the teacher's desk, then dispersed in a burst of pink.
When they dispersed, there was a girl there with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a skirt/boots/tight top/vest combination in various shades of blue. "HEYAHEY! It's Naruko!"
Everyone stared. Then jumped when one girl in the back clapped a few times before coming to an embarassed stop.
"Wow, usually in any crowd there'd be at least a few more fans," said the girl, her cheerful demeanor slipping for a moment. "HEYA HINATA!"
The embarassed girl in the back seemed to get even more so, but managed a wave and a smile anyway. "Eh to. Naruko-chan. Th-the Council has banned sales of your albums in Konoha..."
Naruko blinked at that and then muttered something Iruka could barely hear. "I swear, sometimes it seems those geezers are trying to get me to defect to another village."
"So, Naruko, can you demonstrate your knowledge of ninja techniques?" asked Iruka, wanting a change of subject from imminent village abandonment.
"Sure thing sensei!" said Naruko, back to bouncy and bubbly. "Let's see. Ah. I know! Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
(BA-DOMPF!)
"Huh, small crowd," said the toad drummer as he settled into place.
"Eh, we've worked smaller gigs," said the frog on the bass guitar.
"Okay, I did something like this in my concert in Sand," said Naruko to Iruka. "First, KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
Two more Naruko poofed in.
"Are we ready?!" yelled the leftmost Naruko.
"Let's rock, Konoha!" yelled out the rightmost Naruko.
The band started playing something upbeat as the classroom wavered to be replaced with a land of wind-swept deserts.
"Even if the dry wind confronts me
blowing intensively
if I use my jutsu
everything turns to my pace
I will not forgive any beautiful faces
that envy my power
my will burns
I won't back down!"
The desert was replaced with an ancient-seeming city with elaborate murals on the walls, Naruko could be seen running in and out of shops in various clothing.
"I want to do that I want to do this
even if i look like a girl
if you are off guard you'll go to hell
because i won't tolerate annoyances!"
A brief image of Naruko using a pair of kodachi to slice her way through a group of bandits was replaced by Naruko on the bow of a ship far out at sea.
"Far away
I want to continue my journey
as I please
smiling even in the difficult days."
The waves and ship faded away, replaced with a mountainscape and now Naruko was standing with a staff in one hand. Breathing fog in front of her, she stood atop a mountain crag looking out at a green landscape below her in the distance.
"Far away
I want to finish this today
embracing my
and heading towards
my infinite dreams
get along
Try again!"
The classroom faded back into place as the last note sounded. The summoned frogs vanished a moment later, along with their instruments.
"How was that?" asked Naruko of Iruka-sensei.
"Wha-?" asked Iruka.
"That was a Summoning Jutsu using my contract with the toads," said Naruko. "Followed by Kage Bunshin. I used various genjutsu for the visual effects, ninjutsu to provide the desert heat and the wind off the ocean, and showed you a bit of my skill with weapons in that scene with the Waga Bandits."
"Ah, I see," said Iruka. "Very well. Pass."
"Okay, I'll sit with the cutie while you go over the team stuff then," said Naruko, disappearing abruptly.
Sakura was about to have a fit about someone making the move on HER Sasuke when she realized that Naruko had reappeared and was asking if this seat was taken, and that seat was NOT next to Sasuke.
What was more odd to Sakura's perception was that Naruko was seating herself next to:
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(Posted Thu, 13 May 2010 16:56)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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