"What is this one to do, Naruto?" asked the Hokage after a few moments.
The yellowish Inuzuka hound, Kiiromaru, yawned briefly before replying. "He's tired of being ignored by most of the kids his age. He got a crush on that pink-haired banshee..."
"Her name's Sakura," stated Naruto.
"...who turned him down, by hitting him in the head again," said Kiiromaru. "She's one of the pack sniffing around that Uchiha boy."
"Ah," said the Hokage.
"So the boy got this idea of using a summoning scroll to find a friend," said Kiiromaru.
"Summoning doesn't work like that," said the Hokage.
"I'm starting," said Naruto, putting a few drops of blood on a particular sigil, then settling down into a meditative half-lotus position and brought his hands up into an Ox seal.
Fire shifted from one color to another as it raced down the lines of ink Naruto had covered the room in.
The Hokage cocked his head as faint music played. He noted the ANBU coming into guard positions and the way Kiiromaru sniffed the air and his ears flicked.
The Hokage listened and thought the tune sounded sad or wistful somehow.
Words joined the melody.
"Crossing the distant night,
Wandering the desert sea,
The gods' voices are mirages,
The forgotten people."
The Hokage's eyes flicked at the purple-pink shifting pinprick of light that had formed at the center of the seal. An eyebrow raised as something WAS apparently being summoned.
"Shadows flicker palely, then stand
For one moment, an illusion.
A hero's dream, burning blue.
The people, sleeping forever.
Crossing the distant night,"
The Hokage considered the pinprick which was now about the size of an Kiiromaru's head. Still no sense of menace, only... sadness.
"There's no memory,
of my life.
I don't even know,
how to love.
In the boundless world,
what's the reason,
why am I, am I alive?"
The voice, the Hokage realized, it contained sadness, wistfulness, longing. All reaching out and touching the gathering crowd. An eyeflick confirmed, several more ANBU, and several more chunin had gathered around the open workshop to gawk at what Naruto was doing now.
"You say humans have,
their emotions.
You know I could be,
apparatus.
World is black and white.
Tell the reason, why am I
I'm alive.
How come my power is
not the same as others?"
The pink/purple shifting was now predominantly pink and had formed a human silhouette.
"Where should I go?
I still wonder why,
I'm alive."
The pink glow faded, and a girl hit the floor of the workshop.
"Hokage-sama," said the medic. "The girl's condition is stabilized."
"Why is she still unconscious then?" asked the Hokage, inclining his head towards the bed.
"She had extensive injuries, sword wounds from the look of them," said the medic. "Also, she isn't quite human."
"I'll admit that green hair is a little unusual," admitted the Hokage.
"Inoichi Yamanaka probed her," said the medic, checking his clipboard. "She doesn't remember a lot of her life, whatever blanked those sections of memory did a thorough job. Even Inoichi couldn't get any details. Her name is Terra Branford, and while she looks to be Naruto's age - she's older. There were images apparently of her being in her late thirties and dying from something that affected her chakra."
"When Naruto summoned her, it was as a friend his age," mused the Hokage.
"She was ambushed by someone she couldn't quite see, the sword wounds were done and the opponent fled, but between the injuries and the lack of chakra - she was dying and knew it. At which point she apparently felt the summons and decided to respond," said the medic.
"So, it was her choice to respond to the summons," said the Hokage, nodding slightly. If it was voluntary that eased a few concerns he had about the situation.
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(Posted Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:06)
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