"…so the Arthra can't get near that system, but I can," Naruto finished.
"Did you understand any of that?" Kiba asked Naruko.
"No," the fox-girl replied. "Neither did Naruto. That's why he stumbled around the big words."
"HEY!"
Kurenai nodded to herself. The familiar was good at looking underneath the underneath. "Bottom line, you accepted a mission to go to an uninhabited world, that is on the way home, where the TSAB was running an experiment, and push the off button."
"Um, yes," Naruto said.
Kurenai regarded the genin for a moment. She didn't like that he was comfortable accepting a mission without her, but she guessed with them having been alone for so long, doing things without asking an adult was to be expected. She smiled sadly. It had been amusing to see how much they had grown up before, but not it was…she had sympathy for their lost childhoods. They should be older before having to deal with that sort of thing. "Well, if you've already accepted I guess I can't object, but in the future you are to run such requests by me, first, Naruto. Remember, you're not a freelance "mage" anymore. You are a genin of Konohagakure. Your missions are the village's missions."
Naruto ducked his head. "Sorry, sensei. I didn't think."
"Obviously," Kurenai said slyly. "But this seems simple enough that there shouldn't be a problem."
Kiba looked up expectantly…then frowned. "Shouldn't there be ominous thunder?"
"That's only for tempting fate," Naruto said. "This is a simple job. What could possibly go wrong?"
Kiba started sweating and Naruko joined him in looking for something, anything, that could be classified as ominous thunder. "He didn't just say that, did he?" she whimpered.
"Ano," Hinata mumbled. "I think Naruto is right. What's the worst that could happen?"
Akamaru face-pawed. "Arf."
"What he said," Naruko and Kiba muttered.
Fate blinked and looked to Naruto. "What should I be tempted by?" she asked, confused.
The ground shook at the assembled face fault.
They were transported onto the Arthra in short order.
Kurenai didn't remember much of the next few moments. Kiba was freaking out and being calmed down while she was left alone with her thoughts. So much metal and…other stuff. She'd never seen construction like this. Was this really a ship? Where was the deck? What did that writing say? How…Kurenai resisted the urge to shake her head to clear it. She was a jonin and a genjutsu specialist. She had complete control of what she showed people. They saw her taking this in stride, not freaking out.
Kurenai noticed the captain smile slightly at her and raise her tea cup in a small salute. Okay, maybe they were familiar enough with other cultures to recognize that this was all a bit overwhelming no matter what she was showing.
Once Kiba had settled down and Kurenai was able to focus on something other than controlling her reactions, they went to a small conference room with a young boy that Kurenai was not surprised to learn was another powerful mage.
Chrono was, in Kurenai's mind, a bit more impressive than Fate. Even if he was the same age, he carried himself as a veteran. Any scars he carried were dealt with in the ways a proper ninja could respect and approve of. "What can you tell us about this experiment?"
"After the Book of Darkness incident it was decided that some worlds should be quarantined for the safety of the rest of existence," Chrono said stiffly. "Uninhabited World 760a9 was chosen to field test a dimensional barrier generator that could achieve such a quarantine. However, the device has proven too successful. We cannot transmit through the field to send the shutdown signal."
"Sounds like a successful experiment," Kiba said.
"No," Chrono said. "Isolating a world to that extent would be dangerous for us and cruel to them. We cannot scan inside the field, so anything could be going on inside. And the communications blackout would preclude negotiation and commerce of any kind. This is not supposed to be a weapon, merely a shield."
"Thin line between them," Kurenai said, glancing at Naruto. The boy's powers were very defensive, and it made him a dangerous powerhouse.
"True," Chrono admitted. "But this still goes too far."
"Very well. How do you intend to proceed?"
"The Arthra is capable of teleporting ground squads on its own," Chrono said. "We're flying as close to the barrier as we can. Then we'll activate that system and aim it at the barrier."
"I thought you said you couldn't teleport through it," Hinata said.
"True, that's where Uzumaki comes in. Naruto, you need to teleport along that system. Hopefully the power of your spell and the Arthra's systems will be enough to push through."
"Wouldn't Yuuno be better at that?" Naruko wondered.
"Possibly," Chrono agreed. "But there are three things there. First, you asked for a job. Second, Scrya uses the same magic the Arthra does. Uzumaki can't harmonize with it as well, but his different magic might give him an edge. And third, you."
"Me?" Naruko asked.
"Scrya doesn't have a familiar, unless you count himself. Your ritual pulls down a lot more magic than he can generate alone."
Naruko nodded slightly. That was true.
Lindy's voice entered their minds all at once. "We have reached optimal transmission distance. Strike team report to the transport pad. Good luck."
Naruto planted Gungnir in the teleport chamber and brought his jutsu circle into being. “Link up!”
[Dimensional lock established,] Gungnir reported. [Power up, stand by.]
Naruko took position to the rear of the circle and entered the traditional two-handed meditation pose they taught at the academy. Her own jutsu circle spread from her feet and interlocked with Naruto's.
Hinata glanced up as she walked in. A Midchildan magic circle was slowly spinning on the ceiling. “Stay away from the eddies,” she recommended.
“What eddies?” Kurenai asked. A bolt of...something shot between floor and ceiling a few inches from her foot. “Oh.”
“The link up is flawed,” Hinata said apologetically.
“No harm done,” Kurenai said dubiously. Not yet, anyway.
Hinata nodded and ran a finger over her ring. “Renard.”
[Okay, hime. Set up. Device mode.]
Hinata planted her staff in the floor. “Stabilize.”
[Okay, hime. Chakra stabilize.]
Hinata nodded. “That should help,” she said with a very small hint of pride.
“Spell synchronization has jumped 23%,” someone called out. “Power output is approaching normal. I don't think it will get better than this.”
Chrono shot his arm out dramatically. “Okay then, time to start! Arthra, deploy strike team!”
[Engage.]
Power flowed through the teleport room. Hinata, both hands on Renard, felt a quiet shout build inside her as she focused on the power and calmed it, shaped it.
Naruto and Naruko were a bit louder as they pumped chakra out to match the Arthra's magic. After a few moments of building power everything seemed to snap into place. Time stopped. Three lips spoke as one.
“Dimensional transfer!”
[On it, boss.]
[Okay, hime.]
The world went orange.
“They're away,” one of the technicians reported excitedly.
“Time to impact the barrier?” Lindy asked.
“Fifteen seconds.”
“Split the main display. I want the live feed and the analysis.”
“Yes ma'am!”
Lindy sat back and looked at the new images. A countdown ticked off the last few seconds, then an empty point in space became a clash between a blue-white dome and an orange spear.
Teleporting is kinda boring half way through. Usually. This wasn't a typical teleport. They couldn't talk, but the mages had telepathy going on.
“We're getting a lot of chop,” Naruko complained.
“I can hold it,” Naruto said confidently.
“I know you can,” Hinata encouraged. “But I don't think we're going anywhere. This is taking too long.”
“She's right,” Naruko replied. “We're not strong enough to break the barrier.”
“So we give it some more chakra,” Naruto yelled.
“I'm not sure we have enough to give it!” Naruko yelled back.
A giant blood red eye snapped open.
Lindy gasped. All the readouts redlined then dropped to zero. At the same moment, the orange spear flashed red and pushed through the barrier.
Naruto groaned and opened his eyes. He could feel Gungnir in his hand. It hurt, like he'd had a deathgrip on it for hours. “That wasn't a smooth ride,” he mumbled, looking around.
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(Posted Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:15)
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