One, reincarnate - would have been to infuse the spirit/power/chakra of the First Hokage into Naruto. Using the Blend tool he'd worked out would be the easiest method of doing so. Having Naruto actually being a reincarnated Hashirama Senju would certainly change a few things.
The other method was to go with something similar, but different. Yes, it would be Wood Release - but not quite.
The scene was frozen in time - with Hinata on all fours before the bullies and Naruto about to get punched by a kid two years older and having the luxury of backup.
In some worlds there was a literal "world-spirit" - sometimes beneficial, sometimes capricious, other times ignoring the lifeforms on the surface. Cosmic grab-bag actually.
Well, what if he manipulated things like so?
Naruto felt the impact on his face, fell backwards and kept falling.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" asked one of the bullies as the kid he'd just hit sunk into the ground like it was air. Then the annoying kid was gone - the ground having swallowed him up.
"Was that some kind of jutsu?" asked another one.
"EEEK!" managed Hinata before she was suddenly sucked underground.
"AHHHHHHH!" screamed all three kids, running away before whatever-it-was could get them too.
He could feel it. All around him there was a web of life.
He could feel the girl above him, and reached out and pulled her close.
On feeling the rapidfire beat of her heart, the taste of her panic, the despair in her bones - he quelled those. Calming, reassuring, touching her innermost being.
When it was safe, he moved her back up - a pillar of stone that melted away to reveal the little girl with the pale eyes.
As to him, he was curious. What was this that he had connected to? What did it do?
Ah. There were others here. Spirits of stone and wood, water and wind.
This bore investigation.
"So, Naruto, you had something you wanted to show me?" asked Hiruzen Sarutobi. He truly enjoyed any excuse to get out of his office and see the village. He didn't remember this park here though.
"Yeah, Jiji, I learned a new jutsu!" declared the eight-year-old.
"Oh? That's nice," said the Hokage, thinking the boy had learned henge or perhaps kawarimi.
Naruto nodded and clapped his hands together. A tree erupted from the ground, going from empty ground to a sapling and then spreading further to an adult tree. Fruit appeared on its branches a moment later.
"Apple?" asked Naruto, looking thoroughly proud of himself.
There was a soft sound from the Hokage's pipe hitting the ground.
Hiruzen Sarutobi blinked for a moment. "Naruto? Did you do that?"
"Yeah, Jiji!" said Naruto. "My new jutsu."
"I see," said the Hokage. He reached out and touched the tree. Solid, a bit warmer than he'd have expected though.
Naruto reached out himself. "Come out!"
The wood shivered, and a moment later the wood extruded a crude human form. As he watched, the figure went from a sort of rough approximation of human form to a sort of wooden puppet. It continued to shape itself though - details shifting further to make it even more human-looking.
When it looked like a very realistic carving of a young girl, the eyes opened, and she yawned and stretched as if waking up from a long nap.
The Third Hokage considered that. This was NOT the Wood Release he'd seen his own sensei use. While it was similar in some respects, it was different in others. "Is this a puppet, Naruto?"
"No, she's a nature spirit," said Naruto, sounding as if he thought it should be obvious. "I planted the apple core yesterday and put some chakra in."
"A nature spirit?" asked the Third Hokage. "What exactly is this new jutsu of yours?"
"Spirits of nature," said Naruto. "I can talk to 'em, ask 'em to do things for me. Right, Apple?"
The little girl with the gold-green hair and light brown skin nodded and turned a bright smile at the Hokage.
"I think I want to hear some more details," stated the Hokage. "Also, can you get her something to wear?"
The various ANBU stared. The Hokage merely looked bemused.
"What ARE those?" asked Cat. "Some form of puppetry?"
"No," said Hiruzen Sarutobi, ignoring the faces the little girls made as they reacted to Cat's question. That they were all a year or two older than Naruto's own age had long been noted by the Hokage - and he had asked Naruto about it. Naruto, on the other hand, said that he had them all wanting to be his "big sister" and that was why and other than that he had no idea.
"Would this have anything to do with the rumor that an empty lot two days ago is now a park with fruit trees?" asked Boar.
One of the girls smiled and gave Boar a thumb's up. Boar, quite obviously confused despite his mask, had no idea how he was supposed to react to that.
"Yes," said the Hokage. "These are representatives of the nature spirits that have apparently befriended Naruto Uzumaki."
"Why are they all young girls of about ten years?" asked the ANBU with the Badger markings on his mask.
"Apparently they like the idea of being Naruto's 'big sister'," said the Hokage. "The reason I gathered you here is so that the information gets out within our own organization. Do not harm the trees or plants in that park if you can help it. If you see one of these, consider them a friend unless you have clear reason not to. In return for certain considerations, they will assist you in and around the village."
"How?" asked Dog.
"The dryads," said Hiruzen Sarutobi, prompting one of the girls to hold up her hand and rise up to tiptoes, "will let you know of intruders in the woods around Konoha. Likewise, if you are injured and can get their attention - they can help to hide you from such intruders."
"They are 'wood spirits' then?" asked Dog.
The dryad clapped her hands and nodded, flashing another smile.
"The 'naiads' are these," said the Hokage, indicating a blue-green girl. "Water spirits. Mainly in the river or other waterways around Konoha. The ones with the wings are 'sylphs' and can be used as couriers or messengers. Finally there are oriads - who are spirits of earth and rock."
The marble statue nodded at them, apparently more solemn than her sisters.
"As near as I can tell, it's something related to the seal his father put on him when he was less than three hours old," said the Hokage. "More a 'Nature Spirit Release' than 'Wood Release' actually. Still, it seems like it might be useful."
"All right, Naruto," said Iruka Umino, jotting down notes. "Clone jutsu."
"Wood Clone!" said Naruto, forming a handseal.
The wooden floor deformed, shifting into a column which reshaped into a likeness of Naruto.
Iruka blinked.
Mizuki gaped.
His classmates stared.
Hinata smiled.
"WHAT?!" erupted from multiple mouths simultaneously.
"What? Not good enough?" complained Naruto.
"Mokuton? You have Wood Release?" asked Iruka.
"Sort of, kind of," said Naruto.
"Earth Release! Spirit of the land!"
The ground bulged and began building up. Instead of a near-human statue though, this became a rough featureless form about three times the size of an adult human. Entirely composed of rock, it straightened itself up and went into a pose that looked like it was trying to crack knuckles.
Iruka shook his head. "No, Naruto. YOUR taijutsu skills. Not a summoned spirit's taijutsu."
thump!
Iruka looked down at where Ino Yamanaka had just fainted. "Nice intimidation though, I'll grant you that much."
"Oh," said Naruto. He cocked his head, as if listening to something as his summoned spirit re-merged with the ground.
Choji seemed a little unsure of himself as he got into the sparring circle. He seemed to think Naruto was going to do something tricky.
He turned out to be right.
"So, same as usual, Naruto?" asked Teuchi.
"How much ramen can these buy?" asked Naruto dropping a handful of rocks on the counter.
Teuchi looked closer. "Is that a ruby?"
"One of the earth spirits gave me these," said Naruto. "Said they wanted to be pretty."
"Naruto. I'm not set up for the barter system," said Teuchi. "I'll let it go this time, but please don't do this in the future. I have to go find a jeweler for these or send them off to be auctioned away."
"Oh. So I should sell these first," mused Naruto. What was a jeweler anyway?
Danzo frowned. The rough humanoid figure frowned back.
"I'm just doing this for the boy's own sake," argued Danzo.
The earth elemental continued to frown.
"You spirits don't know humanity at all," argued Danzo. "Unless the boy is controlled, he'll be seen as a threat. As a threat, he'll be hated. If he is hated, he will be killed. That is the way of the ninja world!"
The earth elemental reshaped its right hand from three fingers and a thumb to four fingers and thumb specifically to make a gesture with that hand, then slowly merged with the ground again.
Danzo shook his head. He knew he was right, but how to convince an inhuman spirit of the earth element? Whatever he decided though, it would have to be somewhere other than underground. Apparently the walls really did have ears down here.
"Fire, earth, air, water, lightning," said Iruka, putting each element on the the chalkboard.
"What about wood?" asked Naruto.
"Wood is a combination of earth and water," said Iruka, drawing lines to each of those elements to where he could put the kanji for 'wood' up.
"What about gems?" asked Naruto.
"Gem isn't an element," answered Iruka.
Naruto gestured. A woman entirely formed of ruby leaned in the window and waved at the teacher.
"Clothes, Naruto. When you summon them, remember the clothes," said Iruka, who reflected that he was getting so used to this sort of thing that it hardly phased him at all anymore. "And no, she's an earth elemental."
"Show off, teacher's pet," said Kiba.
"Arf!" added Akamaru.
"Now each element is strong against another element and weak against a third," said Iruka, linking the elements with arrows. "Wind is weak against fire, but if two elemental jutsu like that are used together against the same target - they strengthen each other. Does anyone know what that's called?"
"Really cool?" tried Naruto.
"Sasuke is so cool!" said Ino, watching Sasuke from the sidelines as he threw kunai.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun," sighed Sakura.
"Sasuke is the coolest guy in class," agreed Ami.
"I disagree, I think Naruto-kun is cool."
"No, he's not cool at all," disagreed Sakura. "Strong, yes. Freaky, yes. He's such a goofball."
"Yeah," agreed Ino. "Naruto's not even a little cool."
"He's nice though," said Hinata quietly.
"Yes, he is that."
Ino frowned. "Wait a minute, who said that?"
"Me?" asked Hinata, pointing at herself and trying to shrink within her own clothes.
"Not you," said Ino, having not recognized the voice.
Sakura was the first to look up and see the winged girl sitting on a tree branch.
"What?" asked the sylph.
"You TALKED?!" asked Ino, used to seeing Naruto summon things which couldn't do that.
"Well, yeah. Duh." The sylph went back to watching kunai practice with a bored expression.
"Why didn't you talk prior to this?" asked Ino. "Can all of you talk?!"
"To Naruto - yes," said the sylph. "No, most of us can't 'humanize' enough to speak to humans. We're really not that similar to you even when we manifest a human form."
"Then why are you-" said Ino.
"Because Hinata offered to share lunch with Naruto when he forgot his," said the sylph. "So he asked me to see what I could do to help her. So I started working on being more human-like to better understand."
"Ah, I mean, that is," said Hinata, turning bright red and making warding gestures.
"So, when she's asleep, I've merged with her three times now," said the sylph. "There's still a lot I don't understand."
"'Merge'?" asked Ino.
"Easier if I demonstrate. Hinata? Do you mind?" asked the sylph. "You're conscious now, so I'll need you to relax."
"Wh-wha-what?" asked the very self-conscious Hinata.
As he was the head of his clan, he had to know what was going on at any given moment.
Hiashi Hyuga watched then as his eldest daughter did a collaboration jutsu with one of the elemental spirits summoned up by that Uzumaki boy.
"Fusion... HA!"
In a moment the eleven year old girl and the wind spirit seemed to fade, and someone else appeared.
The girl looked to be another sylph, including the long wings extending from her back. Her hair was halfway in length between the waist-length of the sylph and Hinata's bob-cut. Long tapered ears twitched once as the girl rose slightly from the ground and hovered there.
The eyes opened, revealing the Byakugan.
"Interesting," allowed Hiashi, his voice not giving away any approval or disapproval.
"So, Kakashi, you're actually requesting a team this year?" asked Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Well, I wouldn't put it exactly like that," hedged the jonin.
"Was there a particular reason?" asked the Hokage.
"Naruto Uzumaki is sensei's kid, Sasuke Uchiha is the Last Uchiha," said Kakashi. "If both of them graduate, my being their sensei would allow me to help both of them. If they can pass the second test of course."
"What about the third member? Traditionally a kunoichi." The Hokage checked stacks of paperwork, before snapping his fingers and getting a curious chunin to open the door and check. "Graduating genin candidates."
"Ah, they're still on my desk from the last one," said the chunin, quickly going to a stack.
"The 'last one'?" asked Kakashi as a stack of files was brought in and before the chunin could turn around and leave again.
"Yeah, you're the third jonin to request whatever it is in those files," said the chunin cheerfully. "Nice to see you guys taking your team assignments so seriously!"
The door closed behind the chunin, and Kakashi just raised an eyebrow at the Hokage.
"Yes, three of the jonin taking teams have come in and requested Uzumaki be assigned to them," said the Hokage, sounding almost jovial. "So. You want Uchiha, Uzumaki, and who else? Uchiha was 'Rookie Of The Year' but has also become somewhat brittle as he feels Naruto overshadows him in some areas. Young genin and their pride."
"I'm not going to get both of them, am I?" asked Kakashi.
"Depends on your argument on your choices," said the Hokage. "I'm open to be persuaded."
"Let's see," said Kakashi. "Ino Yamanaka - probably not. I see that a Nara and Akimichi graduated, so it would be best not to break up a group that works."
"Perhaps," said the Hokage.
"Sakura Haruno - top kunoichi of her class in overall scores," said Kakashi after glancing at the file. "She'd be a good choice."
"Perhaps," admitted the Hokage.
"Hinata Hyuga, excellent control of her Byakugan, and a sensor type is always a good thing to have," said Kakashi after glancing over the next file.
"True, a little warning can really be a life saver out in the field," agreed the Hokage.
"Let's see," said Kakashi, flipping open the next file. "Natsuko Uzumi. Good score on thrown weapons. Average everywhere else though. I'll pass on that one."
"Ah," said the Hokage. "Pity, but if you're wanting a dream team."
"Actually it's the note in her file that says that her passion for using poisons is greater than her actual skill with such," said Kakashi. "Not good."
"True enough," admitted the Hokage.
"Elissa Powers," read Kakashi at the next one. "Ninja wire specialist in the making, who managed to hogtie herself and three other students during trap class? Pass."
"Understandable, though she has gotten better since then," said the Hokage.
Kakashi frowned as he opened the next one. "Pass."
"No assessment?" asked the Hokage.
Kakashi flipped the file towards the Hokage.
"Ah. Well. She's young. She might overcome odious personal habits like that."
Kakashi just looked at the Hokage.
"I understand," agreed the Hokage.
"Next is... oh, this is interesting," said Kakashi as he glanced at the next one and saw enough to actually read more.
The Hokage glanced at it and nodded. "You remember last year? Big Bob's House O' Noodles?"
Kakashi shuddered.
"Yes," agreed the Hokage. "Many a proud shinobi of the Leaf has some trauma regarding that. That's why the entire incident was classified to the extent that it was."
Kakashi pointed at the picture. "Her?"
"Yes, as you might imagine, requiring new employment after those events," admitted the Hokage. "Joined the Ninja Academy."
"Ibuki? Maybe," said Kakashi. "Decent scores in ninja skills, not so much in the academics."
"Perhaps," admitted the Hokage.
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(Posted Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:50)
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