Mikoto handed over the picture album with a flourish, then went back to the board to await the next round.
A hand quickly snatched the book away from Naruto, who didn't really try to hold onto it. Kushina then flipped through the book. "Who are these girls?"
"Oh, you wouldn't recognize them, that's how they all look when Naruto would be sixteen," said Toltiir. "Which, of course, means sixteen years after your death."
"This one looks familiar, didn't I see her as a genin fresh out of the Academy?" asked Minato.
"Ah, Kurenai Yuhi," said Toltiir. "Genjutsu expert. Of course she looks a bit different there due to the Compatibility Curse."
"'Compatibility Curse'?" asked Kushina, not looking up from the book she was flipping through.
"Oh yes, to be compatible with Naruto, there would have to be some alterations in her base equations," said Toltiir with a nod. "Age, for example, so as to fit as close within the cultural boundaries as such a relationship is ever likely to get. It's technically a Curse because it would activate and function despite the wishes of any individual involved."
"Oh, these are the names then," said Kushina as she inspected the book.
"What's in there?" asked Minato, craning his neck to try and see despite Kushina's manuevering the book to block him.
"A name and series of photographs," said Kushina, flipping through the book. "Some pictures are perfectly normal, some are not so normal. Taken five years in the future."
"Potential future," corrected Toltiir. "We ready to get back to the game yet?"
"Just a moment," said Kushina, flipping through. "Here we are. You said 'Hinata' earlier."
Minato and Naruto craned closer to look at the picture spread, except for one photo that Kushina's fingers managed to cover for some reason. There was an older, longer haired, Hinata. The first picture, she was looking up while slurping noodles at the counter of some ramen bar. The second picture showed her in a summer yukata with a little fan, looking very shy but happy for some reason. The third showed her sparring against someone a little younger who had the same eyes. The fourth photo showed her apparently relaxing in a hot spring, mostly concealed by the water. The fifth photo was concealed. The sixth photo showed a Hinata that was standing on the top of the Hokage monument, looking out at a sunset, her expression captured from the side and serene.
"These are typical of the other photos?" asked Minato.
"Yes," said Kushina, glancing at the cat. "I honestly expected more than one nude shot."
Toltiir shrugged.
"Okay, back to the game," said Minato finally, judging that they needed to get through this. "Then the final wish."
"Right," said Toltiir. "Now, Naruto... next question!"
"You didn't answer my last question," complained Naruto.
"Eh?" asked Toltiir.
"What am I supposed to do with 'Hot Kunoichi Pictures'?" asked Naruto.
"They may be useful in bribing Jiraiya for training," said Toltiir. "There are also some magical qualities regarding the book and the photos. If you break off the pattern that would have you end up with one of these girls, the wedding picture will fade out."
"I dunno," said Naruto as his mother flipped through the book quickly to find the Wedding Photo page.
"Why are there pictures with more than one bride?" asked Kushina, who then quickly noted a resemblence between certain models and certain potential brides.
"It's funnier and more chaos is available, and would certainly torque the shorts of certain individuals who are suffering from a humor deficit," said Toltiir.
Kushina fought down the sudden impulse to break out victory fans and say something about how manly her son was, correctly deducing that such a thing was from an outside influence.
Toltiir winked at the mother, confirming where that impulse had originated.
"Excuse me," said Mikoto. "That question wasn't on the board either, was it?"
"That was during a pause," said Toltiir. "Please. I'm already giving you a free ride on so much. Don't push it."
"Okay," said Naruto, rolling up his sleeves. "Next question! That board says '[Secrets My Enemies Don't Even Know]' so - who are my enemies?"
"Right now, most of the village," answered Toltiir as one of the other cards was turned around by a model and the total of Naruto's ryo went down a corresponding amount. "There are also enemies that you'll make in the future, especially if certain vengeance-obsessed ninja get their chance to betray their village later. The ones you have right now at this moment?"
Naruto nodded, a little intimidated by the expression on two of the models. Not that it was there when he looked again.
"Right now, there's your teacher Mizuki, and also the teachers Sune and Shimizu to a lesser extent," said Toltiir. "Orochimaru will be your enemy on several occasions though he doesn't hold you in high enough regard to really consider you an enemy. Then there's Madara Uchiha, who will be your enemy as soon as he learns that you still exist and aren't a complete idiot and therefore of no consequence."
The shinigami stirred in his seat in the audience, somehow giving off both annoyance and anticipation.
"Yes, yes, I know," said Toltiir with a nod in the direction of the death-spirit. "Then, of course, as a ninja of Konoha - there are the villages not currently at war with Konoha but who would just as soon kill you than tolerate you. There's the Akatsuki members. There are some who would want to kill you because of your father. There are even the two councillors and Danzo and members of ROOT who'd just as soon throw you into a dark dungeon and only turn you loose when they needed a weapon."
"Oh," said Naruto. "Bad guys, huh?"
"Yes, bad guys," agreed Toltiir as another card flipped over on the board and Naruto's account went down a smaller amount.
"So, if I gots enemies," said Naruto. "I need friends then. Uhm. Wait a minute."
Minato gave his son's shoulder a squeeze, then shook his head once when Naruto looked up at him. "Let your mother deal with some icky old paperwork. You know paperwork is something all Hokage have to do, but all Hokage that I've ever met really don't LIKE to deal with the paperwork."
"Oh," said Naruto, glancing at where the models were scribbling out something on paper with his mother. Well, whatever. "Well, uhm. What exactly IS this demon fox thing?"
"Once upon a time, there was a worldwide civilization," said Toltiir. "It wasn't a Golden Age exactly. It had its problems, some bigger than others. You can see buildings and such left over from that age in places like Sora-ku. Then came the Ten Tailed Beast. The devices of that age failed as the Beast's coming altered the laws of physics just enough to turn their devices of science inoperable. This Age of the Beast ended when the Sage Of Six Paths split the Ten Tails into nine different Tailed Beasts. Each of whom is a powerful beast sealed inside what is termed a jinchuriki."
"You've gotta be kidding me."
Everyone glanced at Minato.
"The Sage Of The Six Paths? The Ten Tailed Beast? They aren't just myths?" asked Minato.
"No, and it's been less than a thousand years," noted Toltiir. "You'd think better records would have survived. When the Beast arrived, physics were changed. Magic returned to the world. In order to use anything that requires electricity, a means of using lightning-aspect chakra had to be found instead. Of course, a lot of records of that time were lost because they WERE all digital at that time. Then during the Age of the Beast, large population concentrations were targetted by that Beast - making survival enough of a priority that a good deal of knowledge was lost."
Naruto, his parents, and the models all looked at the images of the World Before, the Beast, and the Sage as Toltiir floated them by. It might not be true in ALL timelines with Naruto in them, but it was true of this one in particular.
"So, the Nine Tails is the biggest portion of the Ten Tailed Beast," said Toltiir. "Now. Next question?"
"Actually," said Kushina, handing Naruto a piece of paper. "I think it's time for that third wish before something goes wrong."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sun, 18 Jul 2010 05:29)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.