Well, here comes the next big step on Teana & co.'s journey. Now, our rebellious redhead explores the world of her mother's birth, and fights alongside a ditzy yet gifted young man chosen by ancient prophecy to bring peace to the world.
And for those who can't find it, Book 3, which must be read for Book 4 to make sense, is in the 'Crossovers - Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Misc. Crossovers' section. Or you could just go to my page and find it there.
THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries
StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment
Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto
-BOOK 4 START-
Earth NTO-23
Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden Amongst the Leaves)
Hokage Tower
Tsunade Senju, 5th and current Hokage, sat at her desk, keeping some semblance of a calm exterior as the newcomers finally finished their explanations. To her left stood her faithful assistant Shizune and her old teammate and current top recon Jiraiya, to her right stood her five best Jōnin – Kakashi (fresh from the hospital), Might Guy, Asuma, Yamato, and Kurenai – , and against the left wall (well, her left) stood Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, who had been recently dwelling on their recent run-in with Orochimaru and Sasuke… and how Naruto had lost control and manifested the fourth tail.
The arrival of the starship, currently hovering 500 meters over the forest on the other side of Hokage Mountain, had caused quite a stir, but the people (humans and not) aboard had quickly proven their good intent. Their leaders – Ship-Master Zhal Arum, Special-Ops Force Leader Erohn Kilkar, and Colonel Urban Holland – and their unique six-girl Spec-Ops team had been escorted to the Hokage Tower (both by the ANBU and by eight of their own soldiers as guards) , and the head trio had spent the last few hours explaining their situation and origins. The shinobi had known of the existence of other planes, but to know that humans had come to exist on several of them was a surprise. Holland, equipped with some sort of 3D screen-less "holographic" version of a television, had given a run-down on the absolutely devastating Human-Covenant War and the abomination known as the Flood, and then the redheaded girl – Teana Lanstar – had, in brief, explained her life's ambitions, her leaving her homeworld, and her parts played in two interplanetary wars.
She and her team had explained their little dimension-hopping journeys, and how the ship's artificial intelligence had literally downloaded knowledge of chakra and how to use it and such directly into their brains, and had then pointed out the space-time coordinates for this planet. They had also – Teana begrudgingly, Marie freely – explained magic, while Ahsoka explained the Force; the idea of power forces that, rather than being generated from inside a user's body, were omnipresent throughout the Universe and were drawn through the user's body somehow were quite new, and quite intriguing, as had been the mysterious fourth – the Void – that Shion used (and didn't fully understand, the girl had admitted, as to fully understand the Void was "only for those who have returned to it", and even beings near 1,000 years of age couldn't fully grasp its innermost properties).
"Every time we follow the coordinates that the Starshot provides," the green-haired girl Shion said, "we wind up in a realm just in time to help the locals with some problem. Sometimes it's minor, sometimes it's major. And judging by the faint visions Ahsoka and I have had, something big's going to happen on this world; something we could be of help in handling."
"Plus," Ahsoka said, "we were hoping that maybe, if it wasn't too much trouble, you could… help us train? We've gotten a lot stronger with our jutsu since we got it a few weeks ago, but if we're gonna get even stronger, be able to handle bigger threats, we'll need guidance."
"…Very well" Tsunade finally said. "I'll have to discuss it formally with the daimyō, but I see no harm in you all staying here for a while. Just… don't freak the civilians out too much with your advanced tech, if you can avoid it. And please try not to let the civvies get hold of your weapons."
"No problem, ma'am" Col. Holland replied.
"There's… something else…" Teana said. "Another reason why we came here. Why I came here. During the tail end of my time on Halo-05, a bloodline-based ability inherited from my mother awakened in the battle against the Brute Alpha-Chieftain Tartarus, and it reached its final stage of standard-form development during my battle against Kerrigan, and its advanced form while fighting a kishin in our last realm. We delved into the all-dimensional archives, and found that my mother came from this planet…. and from this village."
The shinobi were paying very close attention now.
"My mother 'disappeared' on a mission on this world, 26 years ago. You guys declared her 'MIA – Assumed KIA', but she wound up on Midchilda. She met my father, had my brother three years later and then me six more years after that… and four years after that, she and my father were killed – murdered by an unknown assailant of extreme power… who apparently came back and killed my brother six years ago, or sent a subordinate to do it. In addition to a mage, my mother was a powerful Jōnin. I'm all that's left of her legacy, and I have inherited her ability. And now I've come here, to her home, seeking answers, to fill in the blanks of her tale and maybe find out who is responsible for killing my family."
Teana stepped back, making sure everyone could see her… and her blue eyes turned red, three comma marks appearing. The shinobi were completely shocked.
"I am the daughter of Sayuri Uchiha."
"…By the Sage…" Asuma whispered. "Sayuri-san? She… wound up on another world?"
Teana nodded. "I know that I and the two rogue brothers – my cousins - are the only known Uchiha still alive, and that my elder cousin Itachi massacred the clan for reasons unknown. I mean to find out exactly why he did that, and to see if his considerable intelligence network has even the slightest hint of who killed my family… so that I may take vengeance upon them. But I'm… not strong enough as I am right now. My team and I… we need your help, to find out who left me an orphan, and why."
Her eyes shifted to their Mangekyō form.
"And to make them pay."
Kakashi frowned slightly behind his mask. This girl, like Sasuke, had a powerful and potentially dangerous drive for revenge. However, unlike Sasuke this girl had a strong bond with her team, which would keep her from turning to the darkness like his old student had. Hopefully.
'Hmph. Well, she's definitely got Sayuri-chan's spirit' Jiraiya thought. 'A little darker, though; more brooding and serious than her mom was. Though, considering what she's been through…'
"…All right. We can start training you as soon as you six are officially registered as Leaf Village shinobi, which should take about four days. In the meantime, you can familiarize yourselves with the locale, and you can use the training grounds by yourselves until we can legally start helping you."
"Thank you, ma'am" Teana said and bowed.
"Lanstar" Kakashi said suddenly. "So you have the Mangekyō… how bad has your eyesight gotten?"
Teana smirked. "It's completely undamaged, Hatake-san. Forerunner biotech implants in my eyes repair the damage as it's done, so my eyesight will not deteriorate no matter how much I use the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Kakashi and Tsunade were thoroughly shocked.
"I have another set for your left eye; it will keep the eye in working order and repair any damage that's already been done. Though I should warn you; these implants do not mitigate the enormous cost in chakra that comes with using a Mangekyō technique, so the eyes must still be used sparingly."
"Although that isn't too much of a problem for Ms. Lanstar" Zhal cut in. "Her chakra reserves are extraordinary, approaching or perhaps even matching those of a Tailed-Beast Host. Simply put, she can keep fighting for a long time, and once she learns some heavier attacks she can use them with more impunity than most."
"Any more special abilities we don't know of?" Yamato asked.
"Mai-chan's regenerative abilities" Shion replied. "It puts what Tailed-Beast Hosts can do to shame. Theoretically, Mai could fully regenerate from a fragment of a single cell. I say theoretically because, in all her time with us, she hasn't yet taken any wounds that would kill even a normal person. It would take total atomic disruption to actually kill her."
"…Holy crap…"
"Yeah. And it's fast, too. During the battle against that humongous demon, she got her arm torn off at the elbow. It had completely grown back within 15 seconds. And when she got a three-centimeter-wide hole punched through her torso, all the damage to everything – organs, muscle, flesh – was completely repaired within about seven or eight seconds."
"I still feel all the pain of any injuries I get, though," Mai said, "so… please be careful."
"Of course" Tsunade said with a light but friendly smile. "Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, please give Gamma Team a tour of the city. The rest of us will finalize things on our end."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama"
"Sure thing, baa-chan"
-SCENE BREAK-
Four days later
"Well, now that we've determined Naruto's elemental affinity," Kakashi said, "let's see what you six have. Please step forward and grab one of these slips of special paper, then channel a small amount of your chakra through it and see what happens."
Teana stepped up first, grabbing a piece of chakra-reactant paper, closing her eyes and focusing a small portion of her power through it. The paper burst into flame at the top, and as it burned it suddenly split in half.
"Two affinities" Kakashi said with a very slight hint of surprise. "Fire and Wind - a potentially devastating combination in the right hands."
"How so?" Teana asked.
"A Wind jutsu can strengthen a Fire jutsu. At higher levels, you could, say, blast your foes with a horizontal tornado of flame, or shoot slicing wind waves through a fire wall that will then both cut and burn. There are all sorts of combination techniques; Wind can also strengthen Water techniques, while Fire can also boost Earth techniques, as can Lightning to Water techniques. Now, who's next?"
Shion walked up and grabbed a slip of paper, focusing her chakra into it. The tip caught fire, and then suddenly the paper vanished – not just from sight, but from existence.
"…Oookay…"
Shion chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that. That's probably my Void abilities. So… Fire, right?"
"Yep"
Kaede then walked up, grabbing a piece of paper and focusing on it. Everyone was startled as, within one second's time, the paper crumpled into a lightning pattern, then crumbled into dust, and then the pieces caught fire.
"…Three affinities?!"
"Wow, Kaede" Ahsoka said. "You've been holdin' out on us, maybe?"
"I swear, this is news to me, too" Kaede replied. "From my experimentation during earlier training, I thought I only had Lightning. To have Earth and Fire as well…"
"To have knowledge of three different elements of jutsu – or even all five – isn't too uncommon for more experienced shinobi," Kakashi said, "even I know attacks in all five, but to have three natural affinities… this is extremely rare. With proper training, Kaede, you could be the most versatile member of the team. So… next?"
Marie walked up and grabbed her slip of paper. It, too, burst into flame. Mai's paper crumpled and became wet, while Ahsoka's crumpled.
"Hm… a little unbalanced, aren't we?" Yamato said. "Between the six of you, we have one Water user, an Earth user, one Wind user, three Lightning users, and four Fire users."
"It can't be helped" Kakashi said. "Besides, just because someone doesn't have an affinity for an element, doesn't mean they can't use techniques from that element. Now, Naruto, start with the exercises I showed you. Teana, Marie, come with me. Yamato, start helping Mai and Kaede."
"Hai, sempai"
As the two Jōnin and their new unofficial trainees headed to spots around the training field, Kakashi's group received a sudden interruption.
"Um… K-Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi, Teana, and Marie turned to look as a girl shyly came out through the trees. She had long, blue-black hair, and a bulky jacket that nonetheless wasn't big enough to hide her considerable assets. Teana recognized from the records the pupiless light-violet eyes of one of the Village's most 'prestigious' clans.
"Ah, good afternoon, Hinata-san" Kakashi said with a smile (not that anyone who didn't know him well could tell). "What brings you here this afternoon? …Come to watch Naruto train?"
"U-um… actually…. Um… Pleasehelpmetrain!"
"…Huh?"
"P-Please… help me train… I… I need to broaden my skills… develop a wider range of capabilities beyond just my clan's taijutsu style. Element techniques, maybe the Kage Bunshin, or maybe some elements of whatever fighting styles that our new friends have."
"Hmm… alright!"
"But I promise I- …huh?"
"I said okay. I don't really see any problem in it. Truth be told, Kurenai and I have been waiting for one or both of us to train you, but we wanted to let you work up the courage to ask first, as a test."
"…Thank you" She turned to the girls. "Um, what fighting styles do you girls have? And your element affinities?"
"Marie and I both have Fire affinities," Teana replied, "and I also have Wind. Marie's fighting style is… improvisational. I don't think I can teach you mine, since it relies partly on the abilities I get from my augmentations."
"Augmentations?"
"Use those eyes of yours to check out my innards – specifically, my bones, muscles, and central nervous system."
Hinata activated her Byakugan, and gasped in shock as she examined Teana's body – the carbide ceramics on her skeleton; the enhanced density of her magic-fueled muscles; her nanotech-enhanced internal organs; the artificial enhancement of the nerves and neurons of her brain and spinal cord. Nigh-unbreakable bones, superhuman strength, ultra-durable self-repairing organs, and super-speed nerve signal transmissions… this girl was a cyborg the likes of which Hinata's world's top science-fiction writers couldn't even dream of, and yet unlike the externally-part-mechanical figures of local sci-fi (or the very real artificial figure of the deceased Akatsuki member Sasori), Teana, with her extraordinarily advanced biochemical and bio-mechanical enhancements, looked completely, indistinguishably human.
"Whoa…" Hinata whispered.
"I know, right?" Tia said. "You should see my powered armor that comes with all this. Anyway, shouldn't you start by finding out what your element affinity is?"
"Huh? Oh, right!"
Kakashi handed Hinata a slip of chakra-paper, and she channeled her power through it. Soon, the chakra flowing through it became water, the paper becoming wet. Kakashi turned to across the field.
"Yo! Yamato!" he shouted. "Got another one for ya!"
The others across the way turned to look, spotting Hinata.
"Water-user" Kakashi said, pointing his thumb at Hinata, who fidgeted. Yamato smiled and waved her over, and after a few seconds she worked up the courage to walk over to the other group. Naruto smiled at her, causing her to blush rather deeply (which Mai and Kaede noticed and giggled lightly about once they quickly put two & two together).
-SCENE BREAK-
Hokage's Office
Nine days later
"What do you have to report, Kakashi? What are the details on the 'minor incident' you contacted me about?"
"Well… long story short: three of the girls have new sources of power."
"Short story long, please?"
"Sorry. (sigh) Where to begin? Well, first off, it turns out that, through natural genetics or through manipulation by the Starshot or maybe just a one-in-a-billion random happening from traveling between dimensions, but Kaede Fuyō has a Kekkei Genkai – it manifested during a recent spar."
"And her ability is?"
"Shikotsumyaku – Dead Bone Pulse, the same ability possessed by the extinct Kaguya Clan."
"…You're not joking with me?"
"Nope" He revealed his Sharingan and used the memory-sharing technique he'd recently developed with it, allowing Tsunade to see the emergence of Kaede's ability in the middle of a spar… along with the girl freaking out at the sight of bones painlessly emerging from her flesh, which quickly healed itself upon the bones' 'retraction', until things were explained to her.
"Very interesting… but you said there were three of the girls. Who else?"
"Well, for the next parts I had to tap into the Starshot's trans-dimensional archives through Cross Mirage to get the full explanation. Mai and Shion have Tailed Beast chakra."
"…What?!"
"Believe me, I was damn shocked too when Mai and Shion flared up with that oh-so-familiar-feeling chakra – pale-red and bright-green, respectively. Mai is, apparently, something called a "Type-2 Jinchūriki". Rather than a Type-1, who has an actual Bijū sealed inside them, she has a significant amount of that Tailed Beast's chakra, along with the abilities that being a Type-1 for that particular beast grants. Though a Type-2 can't tap into all tails' worth of power like a Type-1 can."
"I've heard about Type-2s; they're even rarer than standard Jinchūriki. Which beast does Mai derive her power from?"
"The Eight-Tailed Ox, and scans suggest she could call up to five, maybe six tails of power."
"And… Shion?"
"She's a Type-1. It happened during her very first Void Jump, during her training on Shakuras, and apparently the Protoss somehow failed to notice it… or maybe they didn't and chose to keep quiet about it. It's not one of the nine Tailed Beasts of our world. From what Tano and the Starshot's Virtual Intelligence can discern, there was another world in another 'universe' somewhere that met an unpleasant fate. It had a set of Tailed Beasts different from our world's, and when things went really badly two of them managed to escape. One of them, the 5-Tailed Tiger, ended up in the Void, and when Shion pulled off her first successful Void Jump in training, for a brief moment the two… 'overlapped', for lack of a better word. This somehow resulted in the other 5-Tails being sealed inside her, and the disorientation and sense of 'disassociation' that came with her very first Void Jump was enough that she failed to notice her new 'hitchhiker'.
"Shion's abilities are exactly the same as Naruto's, except for her Beast chakra being green instead of Naruto's red. …And, if she were to lose control, she could transform into a 4-Tailed Form just like Naruto's; however, if she went to 5-Tails, it would not release the beast and kill her in the process. There's also a 7-Tailed Wolf Daemon out there somewhere in the multiverse, with the same properties except with blue chakra… and if the 7-Tails is inside someone, and they went to seven tails, it would have the same effect as if Naruto went to nine tails."
"…What are they all up to now?"
"Naruto is helping teach Mai and Shion how to tap into their power and still maintain control of it… without tapping into his own, of course, considering… recent happenings…"
"Of course. And Kaede?"
"Teana's teaching her some swordplay, since Kaede's already worked out the Humerus Sword that most Kaguya Clan members relied on. I came to ask if you still had the records of past Kaguya Clan engagements, as well as from Naruto, Rock Lee, & Gaara's fight against Kimimaro."
"Yes. Cabinet J-L, Drawer K2. About two-thirds of the way back."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
-SCENE BREAK-
Starshot – Gamma Team's Quarters section
Next morning
After she woke up, Teana chose to remain lying in bed pondering various things, especially the happenings of yesterday. Knowing that, at this time of morning, Kaede and Marie were probably already awake and… busy… Teana figured she'd ask Kaede how she was faring later on. That left Shion and Mai. She decided to check in on Shion first. She sat up, feeling the sheet slide down her nude form, exposing her assets to the cool morning air, and opened a silent one-way vid-channel to see if her Second was awake yet.
The screen showed Shion still asleep peacefully, a look of contentment on her face, the sheet pulled up to just below her chin. But they looked a little too bulky; Shion's breasts were big, but nowhere near that big… come to think of it, there was one lump in the sheet, not two. The answer came when something beneath the sheets twitched and wiggled, and then the sheets slid down to reveal a head of light-brown hair, revealing Mai sleeping peacefully using Shion's chest as a very soft, comfortable pillow. Both were quite obviously naked, with Shion's arms wrapped around Mai's body, and Mai's hugging Shion's waist.
Teana blushed brightly and terminated the connection. 'Again?!' she thought. 'Am I the only one not getting any?!' Just on a hunch, she checked on Ahsoka, finding the Togrutan girl sleeping alone and in her nightclothes. Closing that channel, Teana lay back and thought some more, her thoughts now of a considerably less innocent nature.
'So Shion's breasts are a little bigger than mine… And I didn't know she had a little freckle there…'
-SCENE BREAK-
Hokage Tower
11 Days Later
"We've received reports of the tombs of prominent members of the Fire Daimyō Guard being robbed. Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Shion, Ahsoka, you are to head to the temple marked on this map. There, you will meet up with the head monk Chiriku, who will direct you further."
"Yes, ma'am"
-CHAPTEREND-