"Yes, which is why there is a privacy seal of this level involved," pointed out Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Nothing said here will count for such purposes. I ask rather than spend a lot of time speaking of things you already know."
"I performed a few missions alongside Minato Namikaze when we were both younger, and I served a few missions with the Red Hot Habanero as well," said Hiashi. "I know that the boy is their son. I know that the Kyubi is sealed within him. I know he's often annoying, clueless, and lacks restraint."
"Did you know about the Toad Prophesy?" asked the Hokage, opening one of the drawers of his desk.
"I believe Jiraiya of the Sannin mentioned that once while we shared a few dishes of sake one night, saluting fallen comrades," said Hiashi slowly. "Are you saying THAT boy?"
"It seems likely from a conversation I had," said the Hokage, pulling an odd crystalline disc out of that drawer and laying it flat on the table.
Hiashi paused, then raised an eyebrow in silent question. The Hokage nodded slightly, after all the privacy seal would just disrupt attempts from the outside to perceive what was inside it.
Hiashi silently activated his Byakugan, then peered at the curious thing. A crystalline disc with many imperfections, six inches across with a single hole in the center. There was no deviation from a perfect circle on either the shape or the hole. It was when he looked closer at the imperfections that his eyes widened.
Fuuinjutsu of a type he'd never seen before. A literal maze of it, wending itself through the material extending in ways that made even his eyes begin to hurt.
"What is that?" asked Hiashi.
"An elder god, or something claiming to be an elder god, dropped this off," said Hiruzen, taking a deep drag of his pipe. "It made me a deal, the details of which I shall not expand upon. Save for this, which gives me information that I was just able to confirm with Naruto upon Team 7's return to the village."
"How does this explain that which was done to Hinata?" asked Hiashi, bringing the conversation back to the original purpose for consulting with the Hokage.
"Index," said Hiruzen.
A glow appeared over the center of the disc, reshaping itself to the form of a woman.
"Index," said the six-inch tall woman in odd raiment. "Default helper form Cortana."
"Search for," said Hiruzen, pausing for a moment before nodding. "Chakra regulation in others."
"Found. Defeated or helpless opponents may be outfitted with chakra regulators," said Index. "This is in keeping with medical functions. Such measures are temporary and only intended to keep individuals alive until actual medical assistance can be acquired. Regulators of this type can be preset to trigger under certain conditions to maintain such things as blood flow, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, chakra flow imbalances, and the like. While it can be used to disrupt genjutsu, it is not suggested for this purpose."
"'Temporary'," repeated Hiashi.
"Twenty four hour period," answered Index, turning to regard him instead of the Hokage. "Renewable through the Power Ring. Note that if the Ring is not recharged and runs out of power, constructs such as these will fail as well."
"This 'Cortana' is alive?" asked Hiashi, reactivating his Byakugan and trying to look. At first glance it looked as if the semi-transparent figure had a chakra network, but was that fuuinjutsu symbols speeding along the pathways?
"Incorrect," said Index. "Advanced parser with ability to adapt and learn."
"I see," said Hiashi, not understanding that but not willing to admit anything of the sort.
"Since you're here, I've been wanting to get someone else's reaction to something else here," said Hiruzen.
"So, boss, can you play ninja?" asked Konohamaru.
"What kind of ninja plays ninja?" asked Sakura.
"It's training," said Naruto.
"Right. Training," replied Sakura. She thought for a moment. "Just don't use - you know."
"Only passively," agreed Naruto.
"Passively?" asked Sakura.
"What are you talking about, boss?" asked Konohamaru.
"Team secrets," said Naruto with a conspiratorial wink.
"Oh," said Konohamaru, intrigued. He'd have to spy on them to figure it out. Speaking of which. "So, boss, are you and she?" He held up a pinky finger.
"What?! What kind of nonsense were you telling him?" asked Sakura, thinking that Naruto might have been telling Konohamaru something completely untrue.
"Nothing," said Naruto nervously. "Just that you're a member of my team."
"I was just asking if this was your girlfriend," said Konohamaru in an irritated tone himself. "Should have known."
"Right," said Sakura, walking away. After all, she was way too good for Naruto. Even with his new toy. And that he was acting more intelligent since getting it. And...
"Yeah, you're too violent, and you're way not good looking enough," said Konohamaru.
Sakura nodded a couple of times before the words penetrated. Then her reaction was completely predictable and understandable. She stopped walking away. She twitched.
Naruto saw the warning signs. "Konohamaru. Run!"
Konohamaru saw the expression on the pink-haired kunoichi as she turned and came to an identical conclusion. "Later boss!"
"KILL!" declared Sakura, giving chase.
"RUN AWAY!" declared Naruto, running after Konohamaru.
"AHHH!" screamed four civilians, turning and running alongside the ninja because if the ninja were running from something there was a good chance they'd need to be running too.
"AHHH!" screamed a shopkeeper as Udon ran through a display of silk scarves and continued running with several stuck to him. "Get back here!"
A group of Academy students walking dogs (they'd heard this was the typical D-Rank mission and were practicing) heard the screams and yelling and watched the first group pass them by. The dogs got excited and decided they wanted in on it, dragging their walkers along. At least until the young students looked back, saw what they thought was a hannya, and started running with everyone else.
Temari sniffed at the breeze. "Hmmm. That smells tasty."
"Meh, whatever," said Kankuro. "This is boring. Wish something interesting would happen."
CRASH! TRAMPLETRAMPLETRAMPLETRAMPLE!
Temari lifted herself off the sidewalk and looked over at where her brother was likewise lying on the sidewalk, covered with footprints. Also pawprints. "You had to say something, didn't you?"
Kankuro lifted himself up. "Aw c'mon. All I did was say that I wished that something not boring would happen."
TRAMPLETRAMPLETRAMPLETRAMPLE!
"SHANNARO!" yelled some pink-haired girl, holding a chair over her head as she chased the crowd.
Temari slowly lifted her head. "Not. A. Word."
A suspicious sound came from a nearby tree.
"Did... Gaara just chuckle?" asked Temari.
The sound repeated as if someone who didn't know how to laugh was trying to suppress the sound and didn't completely manage the feat.
"That's it, the world's coming to an end," said Kankuro.
Temari rolled abruptly off the path.
"AH! A HANNYA!" TRAMPLETRAMPLETRAMPLE!
"Who are you calling a hannya?!" TRAMPLE!
"I hate this village," decided Kankuro.
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(Posted Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:28)
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