Ibiki Morino was abruptly THERE, which was sufficiently scary that more experienced ninja would have been ready to flee.
That Chie attacked and most of the other pokegirls went to defensive positions was actually pleasing to Ibiki.
"What do you mean 'bullshit'?" asked Mitsuru. "If this boy is to be our leader, he has to be able to take care of all of us."
"You're not here for that," said Ibiki.
"Oh?" asked Mitsuru.
"Kirijo of the Kirijo Group," said Ibiki. "Wealthy heiress. NOT a pokegirl, though you have some strong bloodline abilities."
Mitsuru's eyes were narrowed but she didn't reply.
"Y-You're NOT?" asked Chie. "But how? You were in a pokeball!"
"Nowadays all you need is some strong pokegirl ancestry for that," said Rise thoughtfully.
"Eh? But?" Chie looked back and forth.
Rise nodded, looking thoughtful. "He's right. She has some ancestry, but her Thresholding was stopped. Just like Yukiko."
"WHAT?!" squeaked Chie, now staring at Yukiko.
"Oh? You noticed?" asked Yukiko.
"I'm completely lost," said Naruto to Sasuke.
"No surprise," said Sasuke automatically. Then he grimaced as he realized he was even more lost than Naruto.
"Okay, time out," said Sakura, holding hands up in a 'time out' gesture. "I know that pokegirls are the ancient bioweapons this Scott guy came up with. And that they've interbred with the humans of your world, so nearly everyone has pokegirl ancestry."
Sasuke nodded when Sakura glanced back at him, figuring out that her expository dialogue was for his benefit.
"I know 'threshold' is when a girl's ancestry is sufficient that she shifts into a pokegirl herself," continued Sakura. "But I thought it was unavoidable."
"For the most part, yes," said Yukiko, glancing at Chie but otherwise studying the floor. "It's experimental and very expensive. It also has... side effects."
"Such as?" asked Chie, continuing to stare at Yukiko. "Wait. That week you spent spewing from every orifice?"
Several of those in the room reacted appropriately to that mental image.
Yukiko nodded.
"Enough," said Mitsuru, looking at Ibiki. "What do you know?"
"You're not here for the boy," said Ibiki, a thumb jabbing in Naruto's general direction. "His teleport makes it possible, but it's not flocking to his cause that brought you. He didn't give you much time to react, but this was planned before he ever showed up - wasn't it?"
"Hmph." Mitsuru's thin-lipped expression edged more into a certain grudging respect. "There have been other dimension travellers before."
"So you were sufficiently close that you went immediately to where he was, so that you and some of the others could reach our world," said Ibiki. "This isn't an invasion though. You want something else."
"Oh? And that would be?" asked Mitsuru.
"A bolthole, a sanctuary, a place to escape to," said Ibiki.
Mitsuru's eyes narrowed again. "How do you know that?"
"I'm an expert in psychology, in getting information," said Ibiki. "I'm also pretty good at putting details together."
"I see," said Mitsuru.
"But why, Yukiko? Why didn't you tell me?" asked Chie.
"I would have, eventually," said Yukiko. "You were going through troubles yourself, remember? It was my turn to help and protect you!"
"Most of the pokegirls have no clue as to this, but a few did," said Ibiki. Theories confirmed. This 'Mitsuru' is a bit more guarded, but the others are as easy to read as any green genin fresh out of the Academy.
"So, what now?" asked Mitsuru, noting that Ibiki hadn't given details on why they'd be looking for a refuge. Though she wasn't sure if that was because he didn't have the details or if he was simply not wanting to show all his cards at this point. Actually that makes sense. He's confirming the information he does have, and he's fishing for additional details.
"I'm remaining with Master Naruto," said Yuri. "I don't know about any of the rest of this, but I've accepted him as my Master and that's that."
"That's conditional, and he hasn't even made genin yet," pointed out Ibiki to Yuri.
"I've got an idea," said Naruto.
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(Posted Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:31)
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