After all, their Ashikabi acted like he was afraid of them or something.
Wait, he couldn't be one of those guys who only liked other guys could he?
Ikki frowned slightly as she watched her Ashikabi sitting on the stool in front of the little food vendor.
"So, uhm, Nina?" asked Naruto. "You're a 'healer type' you said? So you can heal other Sekirei?"
"Yes," said Nina, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "That is so. Also my Ashikabi if necessary. My techniques do take a bit of time and physical contact to be effective."
"And you said an 'information' type secondary," continued Naruto. "How does that work?"
"Ah, I have an exceptional memory and the ability to scan things to determine what's wrong with them," said Nina. "It's related to my medical talents - diagnosing problems so they can be treated."
"Huh," said Naruto, wondering if Sakura could do that.
"Ah, Ashikabi-sama," said Ikki, blushing acutely. "Are you... gay?"
"No, I'm not all that happy at the moment but I'm not exactly unhappy I guess," responded Naruto.
"Uhm, that's not quite what I meant," offered Ikki.
"She wants to know if you're the kind of guy who only finds guys attractive," said Katsuragi.
"Oh, so that's what you mean. Gee, I was kinda wondering what you were... No. No I am not 'gay'," said Naruto. "That is NOT funny."
"If our Ashikabi were homosexual, I doubt he would be anything other than embarrassed or repelled when we kissed him," said Nina. "That was not the case. Blood pressure and heart rate spiked, there was a release of endorphins and he had a particular reaction-"
"ACK!" said Naruto, making warding gestures. "Can we NOT have this conversation? Especially while sitting in front of a food stand?"
"Ah," said Nina. "So what subject do you wish to converse regarding? My hobbies are reading, sewing, and I'm rather fond of the 'arts and crafts' hobby angle."
"I like to fish," said Katsuragi, her usual melancholy lifting just a bit. "Also I like to eat fish. Grilled is good."
"I like historical dramas," said Ikki. "When I got the chance back at the labs, I'd watch those. Particularly the Warring States dramas."
"Okay," said Naruto. "That gives us something to go on. What do you say we-"
At which point a pink-haired blur appeared in front of him and was sending a punch towards his face. For a moment he'd thought that Sakura-chan had managed to track him down.
Then Naruto was aware of Katsuragi's heel smashing aside that fist.
Nina was quite aware of what was going on the moment that Benitsubasa had attacked their Ashikabi.
The members of the Disciplinary Squad were known to her, and if Benitsubasa had managed to kill their Ashikabi - they'd be shut down immediately.
As it was, she didn't rate their chances as particularly high. The Disciplinary Squad wasn't exactly known for being kind and understanding souls. Deadly and efficient was more their modus operandi.
Naruto was gawping. No help there.
Benitsubasa was being held off by Katsuragi. If things remained one on one - the battle would take some time to resolve and the outcome not particularly clear.
Ikki was completely occupied by Haihane, dual-wielder of kodachi versus dual-wielder of clawed gauntlets. Again, a near thing if left to their own devices.
Which left the most dangerous Sekirei in the Plan.
Nina put her back against a power pole, scanning the area. If the Black Sekirei were here - she was either watching the battle to gauge their strength or she was-
There was an abrupt sharp pain in her chest and Nina knew where the Black Sekirei was to be found.
Naruto was a little taken aback by the sudden overwhelming violence. Even Zabuza, supposedly the master of Silent Killing techniques, had talked during a fight.
One second, he was learning that his Sekirei were people who had hobbies and such. He was trying to come to terms with the apparent fact that he had three girls who were devoted to him. Like his own ninja team and stuff!
Next second, he had some gal trying to push his face to the back of his head and things were going off.
His hands came up into a familiar seal and sixteen Naruto scattered to assist his Sekirei.
Nina had a sword coming out of her chest, and the sword-wielder just planted one foot against her back and pulled her sword out while throwing the medic-type to the ground in one movement.
Katsuragi was being pressed by the not-Sakura. Ikki was fighting some woman with claws.
Naruto had two clones with him forming a Rasengan when the sword-wielder was slicing through one clone and jabbing her blade through his right shoulder.
"I don't know what you were doing." The woman wrenched her sword out, twisting it as she did. "On the other hand." She brought her sword up and licked blood off the side. "I don't need to know."
She was dog-piled by shadow clones at that point.
"This is nice," said the woman, slicing away and grinning in an insane manner. "I get to kill you more than once!"
He was curious. That boy was not a Sekirei. Yet he was able to briefly form some spinning ball of shimmer in his hands while making duplicates of himself.
Still, of the three Sekirei that the boy had - one was down and the other two would be dealt with quickly enough. Yes, he was confident that these Ashikabi would be dealt with soon enough and then they could go after the elder of the two.
He never saw the fist coming that caught him above one temple with enough force that he slid across the ground three feet.
"You guys might want to stop, or this guy is going to end up deader than free ramen around Naruto."
This did the trick, bringing the three members of the Disciplinary Squad to a halt. The various copies of Naruto draped over them and trying to stick kunai into various portions of anatomy also stopped.
Katsuragi picked herself up off the ground, glanced in that direction once, and then returned her full attention to the pinkette.
Nina was face down on the pavement.
Ikki was dealing with the stump of one sword and the other held in a clawed gauntlet. She blinked as if trying to process just what it was she was seeing.
"HEY!" The pinkette pointed at the newcomer. "Attacking an Ashikabi is forbidden!"
"Oh?" said Jiraiya, the hand holding up the unconscious man giving him a little shake. "Then what would you call what it is you're doing?"
"You better turn him loose or I'll crush you!" promised the pinkette.
"Oh really?" asked Jiraiya.
"You turn him loose or I'll put my sword through this one's neck," said the Black Sekirei, pointing at the bleeding Naruto. "I'm pretty sure he's the real one."
"I see," said Jiraiya. "Well then. Maybe I should-"
"Rasengan!" said the real Jiraiya as the shadow clone poofed away and Natsuo began falling towards the ground again.
Karasuba was fast, no doubt about it, turning and bringing her sword to a guard position before the first syllable had finished.
As a result the edge of her blade met the spinning ball of chakra. A masterwork katana became shrapnel but managed to cancel the attack.
Jiraiya immediately flashed through hand-seals as the Sekirei reacted to the destruction of her weapon with a slight widening of the eyes and paused during battle.
Fire Release: Flame Bullet was sprayed into that slightly surprised face.
He trusted his instincts. They were telling him that this woman was as dangerous as Orochimaru and crazier than a bag of rabid weasels.
He was going for the Overwhelming Violence option.
It appeared she was not needed after all. It was intriguing to see an Ashikabi who was himself powerful enough that he didn't need to be protected, and was capable of going one-on-one with Karasuba.
No. Correct that. It was downright impressive. Karasuba was going fast enough that a normal human and a number of Sekirei wouldn't even be able to see a blur. This man was keeping up and throwing attacks out that rivaled element-type Sekirei attacks. Then he was using unarmed fighting techniques against his opponent that were apparently sufficiently powerful that even Karasuba was thrown off of him.
Yes, it was impressive and... wasn't that Akitsu - who had been a Scrapped Number the last she'd heard. Was that a Norito?
The scene of battle was unmistakable, her Ashikabi was fighting the Black Sekirei. No, she would NOT lose him after she'd finally gotten winged. And oh how she'd been winged!
"Breath of Jotunheim,
Encase the enemy of my Ashikabi,
And shatter their dreams,
Absolute Zero."
Jagged ice formed paths, shooting towards Karasuba.
Tatsuhara had been the proprietor of The Snickery Snack for three years now. A small cart selling food in a park near a few tables and benches, nothing fancy but it made ends meet.
He was aware of MBI as a massive conglomerate but nothing more than that.
His first impression of the blonde had been some mixed-blood Westerner. He knew a few people who would look down on such things, but he was a businessman and a bit more open-minded about such things anyway. If anything, he was a bit jealous of the way those three girls had looked at the boy.
Ah well, such was the ways of youth. Let them enjoy it while they could and all - soon enough they'd be facing the typical drudgery that most people ended up with. Very few people, after all, seemed to find their niche where they could work and actually enjoy themselves doing it.
Tatsuhara enjoyed making quick little dishes and selling hot food to people who were out and about. Quite often he got to overhear conversations and get a peek into lives unlike his own. He felt it broadened his own horizons and allowed him to better appreciate what he had.
There were the overheard comments that he didn't know what to make of. What was an 'Ashikabi' anyway?
Everything had come apart abruptly. Some other girls had shown up and attacked his customers. At first he'd thought it some kind of lover's spat, maybe the attacking girls were after the guy too? No, that theory had been discarded pretty quick.
Was it gangs maybe? Some cult? Perhaps Yakuza or some other group disputing things?
When one of his customers, the one with the opera gloves, had gotten a sword rammed through her - he'd already hit the speed dial on his phone for police assistance. Dropping behind the counter, he'd listened for the expected sound of an emergency dispatcher.
Instead he'd gotten a "no signal" message, which had to be wrong as he knew darn well he could get a signal there as he'd done so for years.
When things went quiet, he slowly brought his head up to peek over the counter.
There were large chunks of ice over there, one of the tables was on fire, there had to be fifty identical copies of that blond kid, and there was a really tall guy with gray hair sitting atop the biggest damn toad he'd ever seen.
What the heck was going on here?
Minaka Hiroto was checking on aspects of his Sekirei Plan as he usually did. For some people, they checked their Twitter account or e-mail. For him, it was the bank of screens and displays that showed him what was going on throughout his city.
THUD!
The odd noise drew his attention and he had to admit that the picture of a shibari-tied Karasuba lying on the floor was probably something he'd remember for the rest of his life.
Minaka licked lips a little nervously though, because for her to show up here without any prior warning meant something had gone seriously wrong and off-script.
"So, you're this 'Minaka' guy," said an unfamiliar voice.
"That's right," said Minaka, backing towards a console that had a nice big red emergency button.
"Now now," said the big guy who absolutely could not have been there, but was. Said impossibility tapped a section of Natsuo's skull and the Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad went limp. "No need for that. We're just going to have a talk."
"A talk?" asked Minaka, backed up against the console and reaching backwards for a red button.
The big guy was suddenly there and holding that arm in a manner that suggested he could crush the limb without half-trying. "Yes, we're just going to have a pleasant chat. Then me and my Sekirei will go one way, and you and your little plan will go your own way."
"Oh? Is that all?" asked Minaka, now thinking that maybe he should have gone for the escape-chair instead.
"Oh, yes," said the big guy, somehow reminding Minaka of an amiable bear. Friendly but very very dangerous. "Now, what ever shall we talk about?"
"Okay, I'm back," said Jiraiya two hours later.
"About time, Pervy Sage," grumbled Naruto.
"How about it, Nina? You recovered enough to take a trip?" asked Jiraiya.
"Yes, as long as I don't move around too much," stated the healer Sekirei.
"What about you?" asked Jiraiya, directing his attention to a tree.
A very buxom form came out from behind the tree. "I was right. You do appear interesting. Where are we going?"
Jiraiya went through hand-seals quickly, summoning a toad that was almost Gamabunta's size. "Sort of a reverse summoning. It'll be a bit wet and slimy, but we leave here - go to the toad mountain, and from there back to my own world."
"About time!" declared Naruto.
"Another world?" asked Kazehana. "This I have to see."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:46)
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.