"You do realize that the bill from your dinner has reduced our finances to practically nothing?" asked Ifurita.
"So we get a few jobs to pay for it," said Lina. "You noticed that I ordered everything on the menu and the waiter just wrote it down as an 'Akimichi Special'?"
"Yes, I did," said Ifurita. "However we have no rank within the village system and getting work is likely to be difficult."
"You're such a worrywart - you'll get wrinkles," said Lina.
"Unlikely." Ifurita stopped walking, looking skyward.
"Still going, eh?" asked Lina without looking up.
"Yes," agreed Ifurita.
Lina watched as streaks of light slammed into the growing dot. "I kinda wonder what anyone else is making out of this."
"Beautiful," said Deidara.
"Hmmph. Not bad," said Sasori.
"You know, I think that's the first time we've agreed on anything's artistic merits," noted Deidara.
"Destructive force being used to create something longer lasting," noted Sasori. "It's interesting."
"True," said Deidara, putting his eye back on the telescope's eyepiece so he could watch the spectacle of comets and meteors smashing into the central mass.
"Hmmmm," hmmmed Sasori, continuing to watch as a moon was built up bit by bit. No, not a moon. This was an entire world being made.
Perhaps it wasn't art. Perhaps though - this was the ultimate in art. Sasori wasn't quite sure.
Konan walked through the forest, her eyes flicking around as she felt the changes in her environment.
Getting to within a few miles of Konohagakure wasn't a big problem. One of Hiruzen Sarutobi's faults was that he was an old man with old habits. If something didn't indicate a need for immediate change, he tended to put it off. There was also the problem of his councillors and advisors, who tended to throw every piece of conceivable paperwork at him to look at or sign off on.
There was also Danzo and various others who wanted Sarutobi to fail spectacularly and so quietly encouraged fail.
In this case though, she had stopped well short of the village and walked towards the point where her paper doll scouts had simply ceased to be.
She wasn't as aware of chakra as a Byakugan user, she didn't have the does-everything Sharingan, and she certainly didn't have a Rinnegan to wield to perceive the chakra flows.
That didn't mean that she was chakra-blind though.
She stopped and regarded two trees on either side of the road. As with all the forest surrounding Konoha, the trees were of truly majestic size. These were exceptional even among these, being as wide across as she was tall. In almost any other area, these would have been giants of a forest.
There was something peculiar about them though. Both had a trace of presence not normally found in trees. It was as if she were looking at them, and that they were looking back.
Another presence flickered into being, not far away.
Konan's eyes narrowed as she considered that tidbit, and as the presence approached without attempt to conceal itself.
When it was finally revealed to her normal eyesight, the presence turned out to be something she wouldn't have been surprised to see in a genjutsu.
The girl was nearly a parody of the sort of woman in THOSE sorts of novels. Her apparent grace, flawless skin, long silken hair, and exaggerated female figure were all ridiculous. That her hair was leaf green was noted but not particularly jarring.
The green-haired woman stopped some distance away. "Identification?"
Konan didn't allow a single trace of emotion to show in voice or face. "Refused."
"Then I must refuse passage," said the woman.
"Are you the one who has disrupted my scouts?" asked Konan.
"What if I am? If you are a spy from a foreign power, I do not think the Hokage would allow it," said the woman, making a gesture to the side.
Konan didn't make a move as vines and creepers erupted from the brush, linking together to form a fence that effectively blocked progress towards the village.
She considered her options carefully.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:22)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.