Sasori grunted, having caught the tail end of it and now watching tumbling moon-chunks moving away from each other. "Impressive display of power, maybe. Beautiful, not so much."
"How could it NOT be beautiful?" asked Deidara, incredulous. "Someone blew up the MOON!"
Sasori made his puppet-body shrug. "It took a lot of power to do that. I can respect that part. Beauty, pfeh. Gone in a few moments and now there's no moon."
"I just do not understand you, Sasori my man."
"Good."
Pein considered what he had seen through several sets of eyes. One had noticed it at first, the motion of the line of chakra drawing his attention. Then all had looked.
"Pein-sama," said Konan, stepping into the room.
"I know, I saw."
"Of course," acknowledged Konan.
"I am triangulating," said Pein a moment later.
"It came from Konohagakure, I had a paper doll sentry near there," said Konan.
"Oh."
"Sorry," said Konan.
Pein nodded and was silent for a few more moments before he continued speaking. "If Konoha had a Tailed Beast Weapon such as we are planning to build, then we would know such a thing."
"We are keeping track of several jinchuriki until we can properly claim their beasts," agreed Konan.
"So the village of the Leaf has a power to rival that of the combined Tailed Beasts," mused Pein. "If we simply assault that village, it will cause the other villages to respond."
"We are not ready to 'go public' yet, are we?" asked Konan.
"No," answered Pein. "We need more information about this weapon that they used. We'll need to send a spy."
"What's a 'dryad'?" asked one of the jonin.
[If I understand correctly the terms in your world - a race of Wood chakra spirits.]
"Like a tailed beast?" asked the same jonin.
[Not quite.]
"Would they, by any chance," asked the Hokage in a perfectly calm voice, "look like human women except for the pointed ears, green hair, and the fact that they can apparently move in and out of trees at will?"
[Ah. You spotted her. She's trying to determine if it's safe for her to approach.]
"This would be the one who has sworn service to Naruto?" asked the Hokage, trying not to do anything that would spook the girl in question.
[Correct. Her name is -] There came a sound as if a wind blew through trees.
"A bit hard to pronounce," noted the Hokage.
[Shadeleaf is a shortened human name she's gone by.]
"A very auspicious name for one who seeks to associate with our village," noted the Hokage.
Shadeleaf edged forward, ready to phase into the tree at the first sign of danger.
She'd managed to hide a leaf on Naruto some time ago, and though she was young - it was still her intent to personally assist Naruto in his mission. She'd been able to teleport to where the leaf was, unfortunately finding herself in a large basket where dirty clothes had been thrown. Still, she was sure that when he was old enough, she would be - and she'd be there.
He'd sworn after all.
"'I'll do everything I can to help you plant-ladies with yer population problem!'" Naruto had declared. This coming from a human who had not yet had their puberty was considered a promise for the future.
Then, of course, there had been talk of his homeland. A 'village hidden in the leaves' full of strong males like he promised to be. A land of majestic trees.
The land had turned to be exactly as the dryads and other nature spirits of Aetheria had fantasized over. As a dryad herself, she could tell the soil was fertile and rich in minerals. The water wasn't completely pure, but it was close. There were fields of flowers and tall grasses, large old trees full of stories and life, and strong ley lines that ran through the whole thing.
"Well well, what do we have here?"
"EEP!" squeaked Shadeleaf, diving into the trunk of the tree and vanishing.
The ninja who had appeared behind her stopped with one hand extended and still holding a dress that the girl had been wearing. "Okay, that might be useful."
"Tenzou?"
"Hokage-sama?"
"Can you track her?" asked the Hokage.
"Yes sir," said the ANBU.
"See if you can catch her without frightening her too much," suggested the Hokage.
"Sir!" said Tenzou, reaching out one hand.
[That won't work, you know.]
"Eh? Why not?" asked the Hokage.
[She's a dryad. She can phase through or merge with wood.]
Tenzou nonetheless tried. The result was a series of screams and squeals (from the dryad), groans and swearing (from Tenzou), laughter (from the Hokage after the nature of the mismatch became clear), and finally terminating when one of the ANBU surrounded a tree with a ring of fire.
[Enough. Shadeleaf. This is the leader of Naruto's village. Show him some respect.]
After the fire went out, the girl came forward and the Hokage got his first really good look at the dryad.
She appeared to be twelve or so, of a thin build. Pale skin, pointed ears, with green eyes and hair. Also naked except for a pair of panties as one of the ANBU still had her dress.
Upon reaching a spot in front of the Hokage, she gave a nervous look around and then knelt. "Sir. I am Shadeleaf. Dryad servant to Sir Naruto of Uzumaki."
[You.]
Me?
[You see other Elder Gods running around here?]
Well, no. Not at the moment.
[You got me involved with this kid. Now I'm making a request, using that association as payment.]
What would the request be?
[I am able to do most of this on my own, however the stabilization of planetary masses in specific orbits that would allow the planned moon to be able to support life - that's a bit tricky even for an evolved Device of Mass Destruction.]
I see. So what do you want from me?
"Well, certainly we need to get some basic information from you," said the Hokage.
"Uhm? What's this?" asked the jonin holding the girl's dress, holding up a metal device in the other hand.
"Interdimensional locator beacon," stated Shadeleaf.
"Oh?" asked the Hokage.
"Does the little blinking light mean what I think it does?" asked the jonin.
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(Posted Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:53)
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