"The Hokage just arrived," said Sasuke.
"Eh?" asked Sakura, suddenly worried about how she looked. She spotted another arrival. "Hey, Hinata! Over here!"
The shy looking girl nodded and waved weakly at them but apparently felt it better to stay next to her father.
Sasuke had already noted that there were five circles within a larger circle, and that only four of those inner circles had people in them.
"This will have to do," said Naruto eventually, going to the center of the larger circle. Mitternacht was abruptly in his hands, the ripples of light within the black staff revealing that it was already active and doing something.
Fog appeared around Naruto's feet, about a foot high and thick. Sasuke watched it as it rolled across the grass. He noted that it lapped up against the edge of the outer circle and stopped. He also noted, in a further manner atypical of fog, that it didn't cross the inner circles as well.
Naruto stopped and looked over the dozen people as well. "This is a security measure. It shouldn't be necessary but, well, there are dangers involved in this casting and it's better to be safe."
That said, Naruto turned his attention back to what he was doing and began chanting in some unknown language. As he went, his voice changed as if he and some woman with an odd accent were both speaking through his mouth at the same time. Intoning each syllable together.
Sasuke heard Sakura gasp as another form appeared, this one directly behind Naruto.
The woman was tall, with long dark hair, her clothes of an unfamiliar-but-expensive looking sort. That she was transparent and that her motions exactly mirrored Naruto's was also noted by Sasuke.
"Who?" asked Sakura.
"I'm guessing that's Mitternacht," said Sasuke. "The others I'm not so sure about."
"What oth- oh," said Sakura as others did fade into place next to Naruto.
An old man, a large book under one arm. A woman clad in armor, her skin dark and her hair pale, a long sword of some foreign make in one hand. Another form, only vaguely identifiable as some other woman. A fifth, this one one-handed and somewhat barbaric looking, also clad in armor. Another armored man, this one wearing a set of armor that completely encased him, the armor decorated with eye-symbols.
A gleaming gate appeared and slowly opened, allowing a shining light to spill forth.
Sasuke ignored the frightened squeak from Sakura, and how she moved a little closer to him, when the ghosts started appearing within the mists.
The ages ran from a man stooped over with age to children who would have been barely able to walk. Many, if not most, were ninja from the number of hitai-ate.
Sasuke noted that while the spiral-leaf of Konohagakure was the most common, it was hardly the only one showing. The only one he did NOT see represented amongst the luminescent transparent forms was that of the Village Hidden Among The Sound. There were a number of symbols that he didn't even recognize.
That there were a number of Uchiha present, and that he recognized them as having died years ago, did not particularly surprise him at this point.
Naruto brought the staff Mitternacht up and when he brought it down again it had changed to sword form. The blade was driven point-first into the ground, and then Naruto stepped back and gave a quick series of hand-seals that ended in Ram.
Some ghostly forms stood and watched. Some made their way to the gleaming gate from which light spilled.
Others, including the one he recognized as his mother, reached out to touch the sword and vanished as soon as they did so.
"Those who wish to pass beyond, the door is open to do so," said Naruto. "Those who wish to continue as they had, you are free to do so. Those who wish to dwell on this earth for a time, to freely aid and assist, to prepare for the research to be complete and the vessels prepared for you - that way has also been prepared for you."
Yugao Uzuki stirred behind Sasuke and Sakura, clamping one hand down on a shoulder of each of her students. "Do not leave the circle."
"M-Mother?!" came Hinata's voice, the longing plain to hear.
"What's he doing?!" asked Sakura, only realizing after she'd spoken that it had automatically come out in a whisper.
"He spoke of it already, didn't he?" asked Yugao, her own voice harsh-sounding as if having to force herself to speak. "The dead can continue on to their rest. Or they can take the chance of becoming something like Mitternacht."
Sasuke watched the crowd of ghosts thin until only a few were left near the edge of the outer circle. Then these last turned away, leaving the circle and fading still further until they were gone.
The fog around their feet dissipated before Naruto sagged and nearly fell, the ghostly forms that had appeared near him apparently returning to that sword.
"The ritual magic has ended," said a suddenly tired-sounding Naruto as he leaned on the sword. "You can leave the circles whenever you want."
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(Posted Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:17)
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