Shikamaru frowned as he determined that he hadn't been imagining things. The little stuffed rabbit actually was flying in the air as it followed the little girl around. Granted, said little girl was about two years younger than he was, but that still qualified her as a little girl in his mind.
They weren't the only guests it seemed, and the dinner had been set outside the Takamachi house in the yard at a long stretch table to accommodate the visitors more easily.
There were five, no six, other guests in the household sitting at the table as Enforcer Testarossa helped Captain Takamachi about in the kitchen. One of those was the little red-head that had given Kiba a new necklace made out of a kunai. Beside her was a tall blonde lady with a friendly expression and a severe looking woman with pink hair.
Apparently not every pinkette in existence was an over emotional fangirl.
A large blue wolf, another of those familiars apparently, though this one called himself a "guardian beast" sat nearby as well, having taken human form out of a sort of politeness for the guests. And a miniature girl a few inches tall had her own little seat. That was probably the strangest of the set.
Vivio was humming and carrying the finished dishes from the kitchen, sometimes with "Fate-mama" sometimes with "Mama" depending on which woman was in the middle of something.
"So, about those two?" Kiba asked, leaning forward. "Are they..."
The brown haired woman that completed the other set of guests smiled and leaned forward herself to whisper back.
"If you can confirm in either direction, you're doing better than everyone that's come before you," she said with a twinkling smile.
"It's not that big of a mystery," Zafira noted with a stretch. "And he's got enough of a sense of smell, I'm guessing that he'll likely know it before too long."
"Oh, you know, Zafira?" Shamal asked. "Then why haven't you said anything?"
"Because its nobody's business," Zafira said calmly.
"Anyway," Asuma said, as Fate and Nanoha both came out of the house with what seemed to be the last dishes. "You're Colonel Hayate?"
Shikamaru was focused on that woman as his sensei spoke. He couldn't sniff out chakra the way Akumaru could, but he still had the basic sense any good shinobi had. And he didn't need to have seen the way Akamaru had whined when the girl approached to just about feel the immense power that was kept under pressure within the girl's body.
"Lieutenant Colonel," Hayate corrected with a smile. "I'm not quite a Colonel yet. You are a jonin I believe?"
"Yes," Asuma said. "How much did Naruto and Hinata tell you about the village?"
"Apparently what any civilian or potential client might know," Hayate said, smiling as she guessed at the direction of their questioning.
"And that was enough for you?" Asuma asked.
"We do not interfere with non-administered worlds," Hayate said before continuing with a frown. "Though there are concerns, we will be making those to your Kage and trying to come to an arrangement. But let's talk about something else, before we get too much on work and Fate can go back obsessing over her current case."
Fate sighed and looked up toward the sky at the comment.
"It is a serious case," she protested firmly.
"I agree with Testarossa," Signum noted grimly. "It is not a matter to be taken lightly. Were I a member of the Enforcers I would likely be focusing as much of my attention on the matter as she is."
"Yes, but for now, all we can do is wait and thus, I'd like it if we discussed other things," Nanoha said in a calm, quiet manner that nonetheless conveyed a real sense of concern for her close friend. "You know, there are stories of ninja in my country back on the world I was born."
She sat down then.
"Really?" Chouji said, confused. "But if you have ninja, then what is so mysterious about what we can do?"
"Well, we have stories about ninja," Nanoha said. "And even the real ninja and samurai do not seem to have magical potential the way you do. Take my family for instance."
"Wait, you come from a ninja family?" Shikamaru asked.
"My father is a retired bodyguard," Nanoha said. "And my older brother and sister are inheritors of his Godly Twin style."
"How good can they be without chakra?" Kiba asked, crossing his arms.
"They are formidable," Signum noted with a nod. "Especially the brother."
"So, Earth is a world with ninja too then?" Asuma said.
"Only in my home country of Japan, really," Nanoha said. "Though China has stories about the Lin Kuei. And I'm sure that Korea has..."
"There's a Korea on your world?" Chouji said quickly. "Does it have barbeque?"
"Uh huh!" Vivio declared. "There is Korean Galbi, bulgogi, dakgalbi, bi bim bap, bossum, red kimchi, white kimchi...kimchi kinda smells, but it tastes good!"
"There's more to Korean than just barbeque?" Chouji asked with an almost reverent air to his voice.
"Korea is a country in your homeworld," Shikamaru said, setting aside Chouji's rapture for a moment. "And you have ninja."
Asuma and Shikamaru exchanged a look and then glanced toward the suddenly more serious Hayate and Nanoha.
"I see why you might be wanting to speak to the Kages," Asuma said. "That has disturbing implications."
"Is it all right if I ask what your specialties are?" Hayate asked, changing the topic.
"It's been discussed," Fate said. "They are primarily a reconnaissance and capture team."
"Ahh, you should be a perfect fit for the Enforcers then," Shamal said cheerfully. "I'm curious, are all your specialties genetic the way Naruto and Hinata's are? Or can they be picked up."
Shikamaru arched an eyebrow upon the blonde woman's mention of Naruto having a genetic advantage. Hinata Hyuga was obvious, but did Naruto have a bloodline?
"There's a mix," Asuma said. "And most families are rather secretive about which version they have for their specialties."
He turned to look at his three students with a smirk.
"I'm guessing it's the same here?" he said.
"Mostly," Hayate said. "For instance, most mages are capable of at least limited levitation. But only a handful seem capable of actual maneuverable flight. Though those handful take to it rather easily."
"How many are a handful?" Shikamaru asked.
"There are four aerial mages at this table," Vita said. "Myself, Signum, Fate Testarossa and Nanoha Takamachi."
"That's making things look a bit more common than they are," Nanoha said with a nervous smile. "But I suppose you could say that there are a lot of people with genetic advantages."
"Though not all of us were technically born," Fate muttered.
At which point, Vivio got up from her seat and practically tackled Fate around the waist.
"Fate-mama needs a hug!" Vivio declared cheerfully.
"I think you're right, Vivio?" Nanoha said with a smile before reaching over to hug her fervently flushing friend with a brief embrace before shifting back to her own seat.
"I do not see why this subject continuously causes you so much issue, Testarossa," Signum said seriously. "Most of the people at this table have similar origins to yours, including Vivio, and none of us have quite the same concerns over that origin."
"It does seem silly in that light," Fate said quietly, her face still red as Vivio sat in her lap.
Nanoha kept quiet, the facts of Fate's origin and case were in her file and obtainable by the Wolkenritter. The file, however, had little to say on how emotionally damaging Fate's relationship with her first mother had been, however. Perhaps Rein still remembered some of what her mother had put Fate through in that dream world? But Nanoha doubted it.
Shikamaru and Asume, for there part, sat bolt upright as they took in the implications of what had just been said.
"Most of the people here were artificially created?" Shikamaru thought.
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(Posted Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:49)
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