That she'd been around, floating near her body as John-117 had put her keepsake in her hands had not been something that she'd been prepared for. That there was anything real about the occasional show of religion she'd seen among regular troopers had been something she had honestly never considered.
It had been then that she'd realized that she was hearing something, a call. A request for a friend and an offer to help. At first she'd thought perhaps it was a civilian left behind, or perhaps a Covenant trick.
It hadn't been either.
Finally the door opened, and the two exiting nin just glanced at her before exiting. She stepped next to the door and rapped once as she understood the local custom.
"Yes?" asked the Hokage, raising an eyebrow at the young woman. A young woman of about sixteen who was already one of the tallest and strongest in his village.
"Sir, Daisy-023 reporting."
"Ah yes, well, at ease then," said the Hokage. "I heard you did exceptionally well in that little matter. Were there any problems?"
"None sir," said Daisy, placing the parcel on his desk. "Sir? May I ask about the matter of my earlier request?"
"Approved," said the Hokage. "I had some research done on the matter, and it appears Sunagakure did something like this when their Daimyo downsized their ninja forces due to budgetary concerns. The discharged ninja were placed in civilian positions, but a report or two indicates many of those 'civilians' can be returned to their ninja forces should some event occur requiring a greater troop strength."
"Ah," said Daisy.
"Hopefully you won't see any action," said the Hokage, smiling wistfully. "Hopefully the last ninja war was quite enough. However, if things ever do turn out poorly, a Reserve Force could turn out to be very handy indeed."
Suzume didn't really look like a ninja. She looked very prim and proper and would be perfectly suited to a library or as an attendant of some high ranking lady.
In point of fact, she had been such an attendant at one point in her life. She was an infiltration specialist after all.
She had not been too fond of the Kyuubi child at first. There was what he had within him, plus the fact that this was a child of a childhood not-friend, plus the obnoxious little pranks. Once he'd developed his 'rescue girls' jutsu, she'd been forced to look things over a bit and revise her opinion.
It was one of the marks of an infiltration specialist to be observant and be able to alter one's plans as the situation changed.
The 'rescue girls no jutsu' had brought a number of girls and young women into the village. Some, like Ryuuko, could act the part of young lady of some court with skill. Though in the case of Ryuuko and Shiroko, they both needed a henge to appear fully human to play that role.
Suzume had watched the little boy lose much of the qualities she'd found objectionable, and observed the behavior of this group calling themselves his "harem" and come to a conclusion. This little boy was an asset to their village and treated the girls who wanted to be his friend in a friendly manner.
That made Naruto all right in her book, anything sealed in his belly to the side.
Suzume glanced up from where she was grading tests, hearing a voice raised. It appeared a certain confrontation was underway, and she ought to hold herself ready just in case.
"Sasuke! Wait up!"
Sasuke Uchiha half-turned, something in his posture indicating that he was less than pleased.
Ami was flanked by her two friends as usual. Their own little clique unto themselves, also as usual.
"Sasuke, I was hoping we could compare..."
"No," said Sasuke, turning completely away from Ami.
"But Sasuke!"
"Why are you bothering me?" Sasuke didn't sound pleased either.
"Because, Sasuke, well, I..." Ami clearly wasn't sure what was going on and looked to her two friends.
"You know, I was going to just ignore all of you and this 'fanclub' but this is as good a time to just come out and say it." Sasuke slowly turned towards where the three girls were now taking a step closer towards each other in some sort of survival instinct.
Sasuke Uchiha may have been a twelve year old boy and therefore not capable of towering over the three. Nonetheless, he gave that impression while mostly ignoring the various other girls who were his 'fanclub' who were nearby. He also mostly ignored the presence of one teacher and two members of Naruto's "harem." Though Ryuuko was coiled on the roof, apparently sunning herself and not paying any attention. The other was Higure, one of the dark elves skulking in the shadows - either that or asleep.
"You were going to say something stupid like how much you like me or something like that, weren't you?" asked the slowly advancing Sasuke.
"Uhm, yes?" asked Ami, taking a step back with both of her friends.
"It's 'stupid' because none of you KNOW me," said Sasuke. "Do any of you know anything about me?"
Ryuuko uncurled slightly.
"Not you! Stay out of this," said Sasuke, pointing at Ryuuko. "I already know you've researched me."
"Actually, it was Shiroko," said the dragon-girl. "Yes, I've gotten information on the one Lord Naruto considers his rival."
Sasuke made a hacking noise at the title, but turned his full attention to Ami and her friends, occasionally shooting a glare at others from among the circle of girls who normally hung around admiring him. "Well?"
"Uhm, you're the coolest guy in the whole Academy?" tried Ami.
Sasuke waited a few moments before looking up at the dragon-girl on the roof.
"My turn?" asked Ryuuko.
Sasuke nodded and folded his arms in front of himself.
Ryuuko produced a fan from one sleeve, then used it as visual punctuation while she spoke. "Sasuke Uchiha, age twelve, Konoha Ninja Academy. Top marks, upper percentile in all aspects taught there. Likes tomatos, though not with mayonnaise. Last survivor of the Uchiha clan, save for one I will not name here and rumors of another."
Sasuke lost his scowl for a moment to raise an eyebrow and decide he wanted details from the dragon-girl later. For now, he was making a point.
"He is the possessor of two bloodline abilities common to the Uchiha clan. First is the affinity for the element of fire, which is reflected by the Uchiha clan crest of a fan. The second is the dojutsu of the Sharingan, which has a number of abilities at the higher level but at lower levels still allows you to see through genjutsu and analyze and copy various ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques. Currently your Sharingan is trauma locked by the events of a night of which details are highly classified. Save that your lifelong goal is vengeance against the person responsible for that night."
Sasuke nodded once, turned back to the girls who'd approached him and frowned. "She isn't my fan, but she knows more about me than any of you."
"Lord Naruto considers you his ninja rival," repeated Ryuuko, snapping her fan closed in dramatic fashion. "Therefore knowing something of you was indicated."
Sasuke grunted at that.
"B-But Sasuke-kun," began Ami.
"But nothing," said Sasuke, looking out among those girls who tended to congregate around him. He duly noted how many of them flinched and failed to meet his gaze. "I didn't know any better until I saw Naruto's group, but all of you FAIL."
"What?!" squeaked Ami.
"His group cooperates, works on getting stronger," said Sasuke. "THEY get it. We're training to be ninja, we'll be in dangerous situations where we can be killed or injured at any time. What is it that you're doing?"
Silence followed that question.
Sasuke shook his head, turned, and started walking away. "You're not even worth this much effort."
Naruto sat on the railing, watching the sunset, apparently content for the moment. An unusual number of birds and small animals moved around nearby, including a very unusually colored winged cat.
"Well, Naruto," said Mizuki, coming up behind the brat. "I've got some bad news and some good news."
"What's the bad news?" asked Naruto, not getting up from where he was sitting.
"You failed the written test, so that ends your chances to become a ninja," lied Mizuki. "Unless..."
"There's a way I can still pass?" asked Naruto.
"Ah, yes," said Mizuki, it registering that Naruto wasn't acting particularly surprised.
"Okay, how do I do that?" asked Naruto.
"There's a secret scroll of kinjutsu in the Hokage Tower," said Mizuki. "If you bring that, and your summoning scrolls, to a certain place in the forest just outside Konoha - it will allow you to pass the exam and become a ninja."
"Right," said Naruto, sounding almost bored now. "Secret ninja test, steal the scroll and escape with it. Almost like a high level ninja mission simulation. Got it."
"Didn't you want to pass?" asked Mizuki, getting irritated.
"Really, Mizuki-sensei, couldn't you come up with something better than this?" asked Naruto.
"What?" asked Mizuki, taking a step back.
"I mean, really, you've been planning this for the past year, and you couldn't come up with something a little more likely? Maybe if it hadn't been from the Hokage Tower, like a safe on the Academy grounds or something," said Naruto, making a gesture with a paper fan. "You're a teacher, for crying out loud. You should have SOME idea of what your students are capable of."
"You're that snake girl?" asked Mizuki, drawing a kunai as he noted the habit of using a paper fan to gesture with. "I can't let you live if you know of my plans."
'Naruto' rolled his eyes. "Oh dear. A kunai. A repurposed masonry tool. Do you want to surrender now, Mizuki-sensei? I can't promise it won't hurt, but it won't hurt immediately at least."
"Why should I surrender?" asked Mizuki, sneering at the false Naruto. "I'm a full chunin, and you're just one freak Academy student."
"No clue at all," said a potted plant.
"Geez, Mizuki-sensei, I didn't know I'd given you any respect until I lost it," complained a small bird nesting in a nearby tree.
"Ryuuko, you were right. Practicing our henge and trying to maintain it IS useful," said a rabbit that popped up out of her hole.
"But of course," said a pile of leaves before giving off Demented Noblewoman Laugh #3. "Oh hoh hoh hoh."
"Well, you're still just a bunch of Academy students," said Mizuki. "You can't prove anything."
"Oh?" said someone who threw an odango skewer through Mizuki's left foot and pinned it to the ground.
Mizuki's eyes widened, not from the pain, as he realized just WHO would do such a thing. No, panic was washing away the pain for the moment. "M-Mitarashi?"
POFF!
"Those of you who don't want to watch an interrogation session," said Anko as she drew a wicked-looking blade, "might want to be elsewhere."
KA-POFF!
Various transformations were dropped.
One of the dark elves held up a hand. "What if we want to help?"
Anko smiled. "Well, those who want to help, I might just have a use for."
"I think, Lord Naruto," said Ryuuko. "Tis best if we leave this to the professionals."
Seeing Mizuki trying to rip his foot loose and escape, tears and whimpering indicating he had SOME idea of what was coming, Naruto reluctantly agreed.
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(Posted Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:16)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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