"No, I waited over a week before taking this chance to contact you," said Kabuto, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. "Tissue samples and photographs. These 'elves' apparently have longevity that puts the Uzumaki clan to shame, high chakra and hand-eye coordination, and have exceptional sensory acuity."
"Interesting indeed," said Orochimaru. "When the time comes, I'll have to try and acquire a few of their bodies. Maybe even a live specimen."
"Do you want me to contact the child who summoned them?" asked Kabuto.
"No, a one-trick pony does not interest me," said Orochimaru after a moment's consideration. "If he develops something else of interest - perhaps."
"There he is," noted Ino.
"He's changed," added Sakura.
"Hard to believe a month and a half ago he was such a loser," added Ibuki.
Hinata, hanging a bit away from the other girls, muttered something under her breath that might have indicated some other sort of opinion.
"He's not up to Sasuke's level at least," said Ami.
"Silly schoolgirls," muttered Misao as she took her own seat.
"Hey, we're a month from graduating, at which point we'll be kunoichi - this is our last chance to act like schoolgirls," pointed out Ino.
"Somehow I doubt that'll be the last time you act like that," noted Misao, stifling a yawn.
"Testing of skills is complete, Hokage-sama."
"Finally, what took so long?" asked the Hokage, putting aside a report on sorghum production in the border near River Country.
"Some training in chakra was necessary for some of them in order to make use of their old skills here in our world," said Shigeru. "Which do you want first?"
"The ones closest to Naruto."
"Yessir. That would be the maids then as they interact with him everyday," said Shigeru, shuffling papers. "Here we are.
"Musei, Occupation: Ninja Maid. Dark elf. Water Release once we were able to test for it, and has learned three D-Rank techniques. Has been tapped for volunteer fire fighting in Naruto's district. Fair strength, excellent manual dexterity, stamina isn't so good though. Apparently damage to one lung some time in her past - as a result she tires quickly."
"Well, she can work on that but isn't a candidate for a ninja program, though the ability to do Suiton techniques and willingness to assist the community speaks well for her." The Hokage nodded pleasantly. "Though I'd heard of the Suiton previously. Apparently when someone thought to say something unpleasant about Naruto in her hearing last week, she used a technique to cause the contents of a bucket to spray up and hit the speaker."
"Ah yes, well, that person DID refer to Naruto as a demon," said Shigeru. "So it was deemed acceptable by those in the know."
"Agreed, proceed." After all, that WAS skirting close to the Law and since death was the penalty for breaking that Law - trying to skirt around it was certainly grounds for a someone to get their head soaked.
"Myucel Foaran," said Shigeru. "Also Water Release. Half-elf. Less powerful than Musei in that, but also has a technique close to the Mystical Palm jutsu - and is fairly skilled at it. She was asked to volunteer work at the hospital, as this would help with the general perception of Naruto."
"Oh? Has that worked?" asked the Hokage.
"She has started work there, and yes - he is very proud of his 'rescue girls' jutsu and that has begun building him some support," said Shigeru. "Though it may just be my cynical side to point out that he rescued a number of very attractive women and their appearance factors into that."
"Perhaps," admitted the Hokage. "The others?"
"Higure - dark elf," said Shigeru. "Profession prior to coming here was assassin. Skills are jonin-level in Silent Killing, stealth, poison use, traps, throwing knives and darts, and evasion. High chunin-level skills demonstrated in kenjutsu and tracking. High chakra levels and is taking to ninjutsu, well, like an Uchiha except for the lack of anything like a Sharingan. Element testing revealed an aptitude for Earth Release techniques. ANBU Commander Falcon is requesting that she be inducted into ANBU and assigned to a squad as soon as psych testing is completed."
"It was completed," said the Hokage, steepling his hands in front of him. "With her cooperation, Inoichi Yamanaka did a mind-walk on her. She has experience roughly equal to two ninja wars and is capable of killing without remorse. She dotes on Naruto though, viewing him as a sort of little brother who has to be protected. Provisionally accepted to ANBU under Falcon then."
"As to Lady Arrna Sunstrider - she is having some trouble adapting to our culture and her reduction in status," said Shigeru. "A 'minstrel' is apparently a combination of historian and musician. She has shown some aptitude with genjutsu and has recently found employment at a bar providing dinner music. To say she isn't cut out for the ninja lifestyle is putting it mildly."
"Noted. Hisakata of the Lythari has been more-or-less adopted by the Inuzuka clan, so you can skip her for now. As for our minstrel, I've a notice of interest from the Fire Daimyo and sending her to that court to satisfy curiosities might work out best for all concerned. What of the gladiators?" asked the Hokage.
"Deba, Gusari, Yari, Tate," said Shigeru. "Dark elves who were gladiators specializing in a style of combat. Deba uses dual weapons - knives. Gusari favors a kusari-gama. Yari uses spears. Tate uses a shield and weapon style, favoring single-edge swords for the weapon. Skill in their weapons is high chunin or low jonin level, evasion skills are high chunin level as well. Other skills are mostly rank beginner, excepting stealth which is roughly genin level."
"As to the two sea elves, Kairyuu is Water Release and interested in working in the village. Kanpa is getting ill, apparently being used to dwelling in much deeper water. She is requesting permission to explore the deeps until she can recover."
"We really don't know much about their physiology," admitted the Hokage. "Plausible. See if she can be convinced to act as a scout and agent for the village with a contact point equally accessible from ground or ocean. Skip the pixies and dryads, they already have distinguished themselves."
"The winged one then, the avariel Nina," said Shigeru, carefully pronouncing the odd word. "According to the report I received, she could easily do scout or courier duties. Not really good at stealth or ninjutsu, she's having trouble learning it - but if she manages a henge it might help her adapt. She's also had four offers of people trying to get her into their clan, starting with the Hyuga."
"Yes, well, that's probably why she's 'out of the village training'," noted the Hokage.
"Which brings us to the 'mage'," said Shigeru. "Kanbou of the Gray Tower, which I understand is some sort of research academy. Moon elf, their equivelant of a ninjutsu specialist."
"I take it that 'Kanbou' is a localized name?" asked the Hokage, expecting something more elaborate.
"Yes, as with most of these elves - their actual name is something exceedingly difficult to pronounce. Apparently it refers to her specialization - sealing and dispelling."
"Like fuuinjutsu?" asked the Hokage, more interested now. Ninjutsu specialists they had aplenty, even if this elf-woman's were new ninjutsu he'd expect the effects to be similar. Fuuinjutsu though? Masters of that art were much fewer.
"She's taken to fuuinjutsu quite readily," admitted Shigeru. "Though only basics have been shown to her as she is still a civilian."
"If she's willing to take loyalty oaths, then she can be a civilian specialist," decided the Hokage. "Mid-chunin techniques to further test her skills, let me know the results when those are available."
"She's already indicated a willingness to do so," said Shigeru, making a note in her file. "She's pretty much hopeless in taijutsu and wouldn't make a very good ninja, sadly. There are, however, two who have such skills and are interested. Both moon elves."
"The archer and the scout," said the Hokage.
"Seko and Ryoushi," confirmed Shigeru. "As to their skills and proficiencies-"
It wasn't the security around the Hokage Tower that kept her from spying on the meeting. It was the consequences that kept her from doing more than hiding on a rooftop, using elven hearing to listen to the occasional word being spoken near a cracked open window, and trying to fill in the gaps.
Her real name was in a moon elven variant of Elvish and meant 'Moonlight filtering through the willow leaves in the cool of late evening' - but the local language was very unlike Elvish and she'd used the name "Huntress" before - usually combined with her favorite color of dark blue. Here she'd asked someone what the word for a hunter who flushed out prey was called and decided to go with that. It was better than listening to the locals try to mangle some component of her real name.
So she was "Seko" now, here in this village and living this life.
She had many skills to bring to bear in this village. Their "ninja" seemed to be similar to her own profession in some respects. So much so that she'd done well in their tests and she was hardly averse to some of the duties with their job.
Seko had performed many of the same duties through her life. Go spy on this group, deliver this message, find this bandit camp, explore this trap-filled ruin, and so on. She was decent with a bow, better with using two knives or a shortsword-dagger combination, and still better with stealth techniques. In the parlance of the locals she was a close combat/stealth specialist.
As to other skills, well, she could do infiltration as long as she could keep that disguise spell the locals had tried teaching her. If she was accepted into these 'ninja forces' - she'd be able to learn some of their local magic too. She'd never be an expert, but some of those little tricks could certainly enhance her all-around usefulness.
In her world-of-origin, she was considered a fighter/thief. While she had other skills, they were mainly things that went along with her main professional focus. Trapmaking for example. She could and had learned a few other skills in order to impersonate others or fill the time between other jobs. She'd been a courtesan and a noblewoman for example, both roles she'd played during infiltration assignments.
Then the spellplague. Unfortunately, she'd been using a Rope Of Climbing at the time to get over a pit of poisoned spikes. Having that tool suddenly erupt in magical fire and turning decidedly NONmagical had been unexpected. She'd missed a handhold by less than a finger's width in trying to recover from that surprise.
Considering what she'd been going through when the Call had come, which had involved a barbed spike two fists wide coming out of her back and emerging from the region of her navel, she felt that she could be forgiven the various oaths she'd sworn if someone would just heal her up. That the person she'd sworn those oaths regarding turned out to be human wasn't a terribly big deal to her. Unlike some of her fellow elves - she'd interacted with humans and found some of them crude and ignorant and terribly short-sighted. Others had been any number of other things.
That the summoner was TWELVE in human years had been quite disappointing as she'd wanted to get right to some of the life-affirming activities involved in a couple of those oaths.
Instead she'd started working on his stealth skills whenever she had the chance. Not nearly so much fun, but it would improve his survival skills in his chosen profession.
It would have to do for now.
She'd chose the name Ryoushi, mainly because everyone else was using local words to form localized names. When among dwarves and all that sort of thing.
She was a Ranger, a bow specialist and woodscrafter. She wasn't too sure about her current situation, but she wasn't about to let that tart Seko get her hooks into the young lord.
Not that she was a prude or anything, but the young lord was apparently the last heir of what had once been a noble clan of a land that had been conquered by the forces of darkness. Which was a familiar enough tale that she was sure he had to end up with someone a bit less likely to run around seducing (or at least flirting with) half the higher-ranked ninja and most of her fellow refugees.
Ryoushi was honest enough and could admit most of her distrust of the rogue was from the quite uninvited peeping and groping session that had happened about the second day after their arrival in Konoha.
"Giant tigers?" asked Ryoushi to herself, intrigued as she observed another species in this Forest Of Death. An animal companion would be nice after all. During that spellplague, she'd lost her direhound and it hadn't been resurrected on this side. So, perhaps a tiger would make a suitable hunting partner.
In fact, such might make a suitable mount for both her and for Naruto-sama. Better than those giant leeches at least.
Whereas the giant centipedes were just plain disgusting. They didn't even taste that good, rather like eel.
Hopefully she'd be accepted to these ninja forces and she could get a steady income. Living off the land was all well and good, but getting some societal acceptance was better in the long run.
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(Posted Sat, 02 Aug 2014 17:33)
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