"He's got a few secrets of his own, I ain't worried about him," said Ranma.
Tarre was quiet for a little while. "I like Nanoha and Fate. Hayate a little scary I think."
"I ain't getting involved with any more crazy women," stated Ranma. "Nerima was bad enough. It was okay at first. I wasn't sure how to handle anything so I kept it all light and not getting too involved with anyone. Adapting fighting tactics to social stuff. That sure didn't work out well at the end."
"Ranma old enough, should consider mate," said Tarre.
"That's a whole level of trouble I'm avoiding at the moment, Tarre," said Ranma. "Besides, you just want to adopt my family and become an ancestral guardian like that little annoying guy."
As a black dragon, Tarre wasn't really constructed to be able to shrug. She just did the draconic equivelant. She certainly didn't deny it.
"*Target heading your way,*" came a voice over the headset. "*Oops. She apparently caught Tarre's scent. She just froze in place.*"
"*Got her.*" came Hinata's voice over the headset. "*Poor thing. She's stiff as a board and trembling.*"
"Tarre want to see that," said Tarre, sounding curious as she ambled in the direction of the cat.
"*Uhm, she just fainted.*" reported Hinata.
Ranma shrugged. Just because he no longer freaked and went into the catfist didn't mean that he was particularly at ease around the fuzzy little demon-beasts.
Tarre was a hatchling (or wyrmling) when Ranma had first found her. She was now considered a Young Adult. Part of it was artificial aging that she'd enthusiastically signed up for. Now, if she encountered goblins again, she could have her revenge. She even had several scenes planned out, most of which involved looming over little goblinses, and ended in body parts flying in slow motion.
Fifteen feet long, immune to acid, a good swimmer who could breathe water, with access to a Darkness spell she could use to hide in, and able to spit acid out and dissolve a great number of substances. She was a flier, but not terribly manueverable or even comfortable with the process. She would have much rather walked or (preferably) swam to get anywhere.
She had also discovered, to the detriment of Ranma's finances, pickles.
She also had a few odds and ends collected during some of Ranma's adventures. There was a bracer hammered onto one of her horns as an ornament, a necklace of beaten bronze around her neck, a ring on one foreclaw, and a belt of waterproofed leather that had a pair of saddlebags to either side.
When Team 8 came to town, and through town, there might have been those who would show their hostility to the Demon Fox.
Tarre tended to distract everyone from the whole Demon Fox thing. Some people stopped what they were doing, stared, and forgot entirely about Naruto's presence.
The whole scream-and-run-for-the-horizon impulse got a few other onlookers.
Those who saw Hinata Hyuga sitting on top of the beast's back tended to just stare a bit more.
"A-a-are you sure, Tarre-san? I'm not too heavy, am I?"
"Tarre not think so," replied the dragon. "It not your fault streets so small and crowded." Tarre avoided saying anything about Hinata being small and frail-looking, mainly because she remembered being a hatchling herself.
"So, we got the cat, what next?" asked Ranma.
"Since you are a taijutsu expert, can you help Hinata out?" asked Kurenai.
"Work with her on her forms?" asked Ranma. He shrugged after a few moments. "Sure, why not."
"Good, this afternoon is that meeting with the Hokage," said Kurenai. "I think that I and Naruto will be needed for that."
"Gotcha," said Ranma. "This is regarding that whole plan to emulate the Mid-Childan Intelligent Devices, right?"
Naruto startled, indicating he hadn't known that Ranma knew about that. From his look, Ranma decided he was probably worrying about how many Mid-Childans knew about it.
"Something like that, though I admit most of this is outside what I'm used to encountering," said Kurenai.
"Hear that," said Ranma, deciding to let Naruto sweat that detail for now. "That which does not kill you, can still screw you up pretty bad."
The Hokage's office was pretty crowded at the appointed time.
"Ah, let's see, where to begin," mused the Hokage as if he had NOT spent considerable time musing over this very difficulty.
"Allow me, gramps," said Naruto. "Some of you have heard already about the space/time jutsu going off, that I'm now four years older, and that I spent a lot of time in a war."
"A war?" asked one of the nin.
"Yes," said Naruto. "There are other worlds, other universes, and I was on one of those. That's where Mitternacht and I got acquainted."
A gemstone in his hand stretched, shifted, and became a black crystalline staff lit from within by red ripples.
[Active.]
"What about Obito and Rin?" asked Kakashi Hatake.
"They're dead, they remain dead," said Naruto. "However, for one reason or another, they're still around. Those that chose to move on to afterlife last night did so. Those that hesitated are still around. Mitternacht is working on another option that they might take though."
"Another option for DEAD PEOPLE?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka.
"Yes," said Naruto. "On those other worlds, we discovered something called Rune Weapons, we discovered Seals, and we discovered something called an Intelligent Device. Mitternacht is currently working on a process where the spirits of those who wish to aid the living, their families, their village, their friends - would be able to do so."
"What's an 'Intelligent Device'? Something like Mitternacht herself?" asked Kurenai, who already knew the answer but knew the question should be asked by someone not in shock over the concept.
"No, Mitternacht is different in many ways, but an Intelligent Device is similar in some respects." Naruto frowned. "It requires you have a pretty strong chakra - both your reservoir and use capacity. If you have those, an Intelligent Device can stay active longer. With one, it's like having a partner who can cast a jutsu for you while you're doing something else. Like if you were having to fight with taijutsu and a second assailant jumped out from concealment, an Intelligent Device could then fire off a Fireball Jutsu while you concentrate on the enemy in front of you. The exact capabilities depend on the device and your own talents."
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(Posted Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:13)
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