Ino scrunched her face up with as much dignity as an eleven year old girl could. "This is all an S-Class secret. I can't tell anybody about it. There's something you need me to be around for because some crow was complaining about something."
Inoichi sighed. "Actually, it was one of the Hokage's advisors. And the Hokage didn't see much harm in indulging it and thought it would be good experience for you as you are going to be head of the Yamanaka clan someday."
"Funny door," noted Ino as her father took a card of some kind and held it in front of the door.
Metal rods retracted into the wall, a disc rotated, there was a series of clunks, and then the door moved outward slightly before sliding to the side.
There was a small room on the other side, circular, with a funny light overhead. As soon as they had both entered, the door closed and made a bunch of clanks and clunks again.
A woman's voice spoke from somewhere Ino couldn't quite place. "Scan complete. Inoichi Yamanaka. Jonin. Torture & Interrogation Department. Security Clearance 7. Child genetic match. State name for record."
Ino blinked until her father nudged her. "Ino Yamanaka. Academy Student?"
"Ino Yamanaka found on guest list. Temporary Security Clearance of 3. Please note some areas will be off limits unless accompanied by higher level personnel," said the same woman's voice. Ino noticed there was a weird accent or something because the words were understandable but not sounding quite right. The woman continued after that brief pause. "Proceeding."
Ino briefly staggered as the room lurched into motion, heading down from the feel of it.
"Still working on getting that lurching sensation out?" asked Inoichi.
The woman's voice sounded slightly apologetic. "Yes, Jonin Yamanaka. New system developments proceed but it will take quite some time before fine-tuning of all systems can be accomplished."
"How's Naruto doing with that Shadow Clone technique?" asked Inoichi.
"It is quite odd to attempt to keep track of twelve copies of the same individual," said the woman as the room slowed and stopped. "Please watch your step. Tenten is currently in Room Three."
"NARUTO?!" asked Ino. The door opened and a large cavern with dim lighting was revealed. Ino had to climb over two large cables to keep up with her father. "Naruto like the one from class?! The one who's failing 'cause he's hardly ever IN class?"
Inoichi glanced down at his daughter before opening the next door.
"Hey, Inoichi-san!" yelled Naruto, sticking his head up over a large metal device. "Like the new place? Jiji noticed I could only make small devices with Fab-1 so after I got the Mark II Interface built I started the next upgrade and now I've got the Mark III just about up and running. So I can fab up much bigger pieces!"
"That's good," said Inoichi, watching as his little girl stared around herself with large eyes. He gently nudged her with one hand to get her attention.
"Tenten's about ready," said Naruto. "I made up her new set of limbs. Did you want to look at them?"
"No, that's fine," said Inoichi before dropping to one knee so he could look his daughter square in the eye. "Ino-chan? Tenten is someone a year older than you who lost her arm and both legs in an accident. Naruto builds her new ones every year."
"Wha?" asked Ino.
"One of the advisors felt it was appropriate to have some other girl watching while Naruto was working and Tenten was unconscious," explained Inoichi. "So you're getting a chance to work with top secret stuff early."
Another three Naruto ran by carrying parts.
"I take it the real one's with Tenten?" asked Inoichi.
"Yup!" said the Naruto who'd been speaking with them. "Right through there."
"What kind of cloth is this?" asked Tenten. "It looks kind of like dark gray silk but it's a little heavier and thicker."
"Yeah, not quite silk," said Naruto. "That's a micromesh armor. It'll also keep dust and dirt out of your joints."
"Hmmm," hmmmed Tenten, pointing her new metal arm at one wall. "This doesn't do 'Rocket Punch' does it?"
"No," said Naruto. "However it does have an insulation coating and there's a laser you can shoot from the palm once it's all charged up."
"No grappling hook?" asked Tenten.
"Not after what you told me about the last model," admitted Naruto. "And told me. And told me."
"This is SO weird," said Ino, breaking her silence of the last fifteen minutes.
"It's better than not having an arm," said Tenten, sounding a little defensive.
"You can't make it look like a normal arm?" asked Ino.
"Not until the final model when she's got her full growth," said Naruto. "I went over it with Fab-chan a few times. Apparently it's REALLY complicated to make artificial skin like that."
Tenten shrugged. "In the meantime, I'm told I'll be on a team soon and I've already got a cool ninja codename. I'm 'Full Metal' apparently."
"Not accurate," said Naruto huffily. "You have one arm and two legs, with minor reinforced structures to support the weight. Even so they're as light as I could make 'em."
"I think they wanted to be misleading," said Tenten. "And this facility is called the Batcave."
"Well, there were some bats here originally," said Naruto. "Hmmm. Maybe I could work that into a motif on the equipment. Those throwing wedges for example."
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(Posted Sat, 19 Jul 2014 12:53)
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