Pseudo Styles V-II: A Naruto Fanfiction: Chapter 8: Lore of Aspiring Shinobi: Parts 1-2
Alpha sighs, "Well the fate of the C.O.P. is undecided. The current chapter will contain the naming of the Vii clan's weapon shop; as well as the first segments of Ambiances promise to make Naruto into a legendary prankster. The third scene is currently unplanned but the Karmic dice are already in the air. Let's not abuse these notes any more than necessary:"
CRACK
===Chapter 8===
—Part 1: Red tape—
Ambiance stretched as she exited the shop. She was followed by Enigma and Phantom and the former did not look happy.
Enigma whined, "Is there any particular reason why you choose to do this at 6:00am? I prefer to sleep till eight; short of an emergency."
Phantom shrugged, "Guess you'll have to settle for urgency today."
Ambiance gave a proud smile as she looked over the building, "Well, it's not home just yet, but it will suffice to start making an honest living."
Enigma frowned, "Why does home include seven training grounds?"
Ambiance pouted, "Seven chakra gates. Use it or lose it, and there's no chance in hell I'm wasting our natural skills on half assed training. Every week we'll contribute something to one of the zen grounds. And I expect to see you guys to be flexing your cores regularly; be it passively or actively."
Phantom sighed, "Well you know I'm doing so passively. I'm not wasting whole minutes on chakra exercises daily."
Enigma shrugged, "You're probably going to see me doing both. I'm not about to contract your indoor zen garden as a routine, but I'll contribute when I find something practical."
Ambiance seemed to mull it over, "Well, I guess it's something." She shook herself before turning to the shop and a prideful smile, "Let's get this ball rolling!"
The three Vii kids went through brief stances before eventually lunging towards the shop. A billboard on the second floor glowed briefly before a large section sank back about two inches. The remaining portion began to creak and a number of different colors imbued into the wood.
—
Minato had just arrived in the Kage office and begun setting up when a low glow drew his attention. Looking up he noted the header on the Vii's poster began to reveal the name of the shop. His eyes widened when he realized that the 'vapor trails' from the logo were far more directly symbolic than he'd given credit for.
Minato smirked, "'The Buki Biju' huh? Well, that will turn a few heads." 'I wonder how the old war hawk will react?'
—
As The Vii settled down Enigma asked nervously, "What exactly are the working hours?"
Ambiance sighed, "Don't worry. We'll take requests from 7-9am and 4-6pm." Phantoms chuckle drew her attention, "What's so funny?"
Phantom had a rather smug grin, "Just remembering that time when Enigma told Sarutobi about shadow clones."
Enigma groaned, "Do we even have the chakra for that?"
Phantom stood up before going through a large stance. He thrust one arm above his head and the other to the side. The chakra around him warped briefly and a second Phantom appeared. The second spoke as he folded his arms, "It helps, but we never strictly relied on chakra before. Why start limiting ourselves now?"
Ambiance sighed before flying through the stance in a single leap.
The two pairs of eyes watching shot open as twenty clones appeared.
Enigma shook himself, "How…?"
Ambiance smirked, "I've been given a rather useful tip. Chi schisms somewhat empower clone techniques. Multi schism approximately amounts to multi shadow clones."
Enigma took up the stance for a moment before he stopped, "I can't do it here."
Ambiance pouted, "Why not?"
Enigma smirked, "Meet me at T.G: 3."
The boy vanished in a blur.
Ambiance sighed, "He'd better send a clone back to the shop when he's done." Ambiance turned to her clones and spoke, "Alright you ten; we're tailing the knucklehead. You seven; take rotating shifts manning the shop. If someone tries any funny business spoof the hell out of 'em. One maiden manning the desk with Phantom. For the last three; The Yondaime gave us the okay to harvest minerals from one of the vacant plots near the hot-springs. If Jiraiya stops by I'm authorizing you to raise hell on his ass. If that perv smites you, I'll personally bring the wrath of Poseidon and Hephaestus on him."
Phantom raised an eyebrow, "You don't mess around. I'll have Enigma retrieve iron from outside the village." The boy vanished in a blur.
Ambiance smirked, "Ready?" A poof sounded and fractals were burned into the ground as Ambiance vanished.
—
Phantom arrived at training ground three only to discover Ambiance standing proudly. A cry of protest sounded and Phantom noticed Enigma at the end of a large skid mark.
Enigma flexed his KI and a large amount of ash and dust was blown off his cloak as the stains of dirt and grass were burned off, "You did that on purpose!"
Ambiance turned to him and shrugged, "Out shunshin Phantom? How could I resist? Send you skidding on your ass was more of a bonus."
Enigma frowned, "Yada yada yada. Anyway, you two might want to back up. I think I might pull an…excessive variant."
Phantom tensed before pointedly gathering a few strides of distance.
Ambiance smirked, "Now this I gotta see."
Enigma flowed through a far different stance and a determined fire lit within his eyes. He ended with his arms in a rather familiar defensive X, "Helix Clone Technique!"
Four jets of KI distortions emanated up, down, left, and rightwards from his splayed arms and to the front and back a wave of energy flooded the clearing.
Ambiance's eyes widened as several illusory clones attempted to form from the KI field before the wave seemed to still.
Enigma turned to ambiance before noticing the lack of clones, "Holy shit. I over did it!"
Ambiance folded her arms, "Well that was a colossal waste of chakra."
Enigma smirked, "Yo! Warning shots!"
Ambiance cocked her head before she felt someone tap her shoulder. A moment later her eyes widened, "You made a visual null zone?"
Enigma's voice sounded from right in front of her, "We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
Ambiance scoffed before chuckling, "How to does thou proceed with such an action!?"
Phantom looked around before groaning, "It's the minefield from hell. My eyes are barely tolerating the idea of footprints regarding your clones. A tracker could run through here and never know they were close to your location. It's an AOE technique right?"
Enigma shrugged, "I would have to assume. I've never used this variant before."
Ambiance walked over to her brother and quickly sniffed his shoulder, "Nothing. Your presence is so thoroughly dispersed I don't think it matters if they can detect you. It's more an issue of sensory denial. They wont detect you unless you're aggressively revealing yourself. An Inuzuka's smell would only affirm the illusion. Can you dispel it or does it have to fade?"
Enigma held out his arms for a moment, "I think I can polarize it…but I'm convinced the overall effect will last for a few hours before the nature chakra reabsorbs the energy."
Phantom held his arms crossed, "We need to warn the Yondaime about this then. Can you still use the shadow clones?"
Enigma nodded, "I already did. I just need to stick with the basic stance. I've been needing to vent for a while so the excess manifested in the technique before I was expecting it to."
Ambiance pouted, "Why do you get all the cool toys?"
Enigma frowned and looked at Ambiance. A devilish (Disgust) pout began to fester, 'She has no idea what she just started.'
Phantom sighed, "Send some of your fancy clones to gather iron rich soil and well as any superficial iron veins you can track down. Stick to areas of neglect as well as rust patches outside the village. No need to spook any of the village civs into thinking we're parasites."
Enigma groaned before placing his hands on his hips, "Fine, but when we meet with the Yondaime we're asking about dilapidated equipment. I'm not eager to use natural resources if shinobi are just going to ditch their equipment."
Phantom rubbed his brow, "I might have a decent pitch for that."
—
Minato was looking over a list weapon merchants as well as some of the corresponding civilian properties when a blinking light drew his attention. Placing the Documents to the side he prepared a space on his desk to accommodate the meeting. When the knock sounded he spoke up, "Ready when you are."
A slightly unnerved Mebuki entered the office. After checking the a notepad she occasionally carried the Councilor spoke, "Hokage-sama (I'm guessing based on the nature of 'lordship'), I've been hearing a number of rather disturbing rumors about the new clan we accepted quite some time ago. Has the rumor of a possessed child reached your ear?"
Minato's eyes narrowed, 'Not this again.' "Can you supply some context from these rumors?"
Mebuki nodded before amending, "They typically cycle when the Vii girl is brought up. The descriptions range from 'a nightmare of a vengeful succubi' to the 'daughter of the shinigami himself'." (Man, we're going to town on this 'rumor' thing.)
Minato took a moment, 'where have I heard that be…' His eyes widened, 'Damn, she just won the controversial lottery!'. He shook it off and schooled his face, "Well, actually, I have. The Inuzuka clan head was rather smug when she told me that the girl in question is a master interrogator. She somehow scared the Inuzuka heir into reassessing his sexist outlook. Ambiance may very well have saved his life, as prior to that incident Kiba inuzuka could have been slain by any Kunoichi worth their salt. By the sound of it; her method leaves very little trace of her presence within her targets and is nearly impossible to back trace to the actual time where the incident took place. It's making the Yamanaka rather interested in her abilities and I've actually had two separate requests to have Ambiance meet with their clan."
Mebuki frowned, "So the succubi story…You know not what she did during those instances?" (Voila! Can of worms has been opened!)
Minato cringed, 'Well it's all a pile of shit from here.' "Not of the event themselves, but she has been very direct in relaying who was targeted to the high council and myself. That we've encountered, the only physical sign that she's actually encountered these people is that their either disoriented or measurably paranoid within the immediate aftermath. The symptoms are typically gone after a few hours and other than a slight spike of adrenaline there's nothing to be seen. I've seen Killing Intent that does more damage, but even that is only a spiritual technique."
Mebuki's frown doubled, "So she is possessed."
Minato rubbed his brow, "Are you satisfied Haruno-san?" 'Please say yes.'
Mebuki let out a huff, "Not by a long shot…"
'Shit'
"But for now I've got more important matters to attend to"
Minato permit a smile of victory before he remembered that 'important matters' involved organizing community groups. As Mebuki left he obtained a pensive look, "Did Karma just flip me off?"
—
Mebuki trekked down the tower hall before her blood ran cold.
Phantom, Enigma and the "Demon brat" walked by. As they passed Ambiance tensed before rolling her head back and giving a groan of despair.
To Mebuki it looked like the figure-head of hell had just missed a rather pleasant meal.
A.N: Alpha shrugs, "Well, Qi flows both ways. This is a unique scenario I think of as 'cursed twice and blessed elsewhere'. It's the basis of the sneezing cliche, without the cute 'dejavu' popup, and on a timed delay. Granted the effect is rarely so quick unless there was a direct impact on your life."
—
At a knock on his Door Minato looked up, "Forget something?"
Ambiance glanced through the door and asked, "Is this a bad time?"
Minato narrowed his eyes, 'Yeah no, Karma's screwing with me'.
A.N: Alpha looks at a few of the the dice from earlier, "You'd think Karma would be more subtle about it. Granted, I'm not a professional author so maybe I'm just overly bold and that's that. Still bugs me though. I wasn't the one to design Minato, and yet he's very aware that there are other forces at play. Par and parcel of space time techniques I guess." [Space and time are two separate forces of nature in case you've forgotten]
The last Namikaze answered, "Not really. Is there any way we could discuss your interrogation techniques at some point today?"
Ambiance shrugged, "As long as you don't go making it into a political movement without telling us." Ambiance entered with Enigma and Phantom following behind as she added, "Actually there's something we needed to run by you anyway."
Minato released a baited breath and asked, "Prey tell what mess have you created this time?"
Enigma turned to Phantom. The taller boy nodded, "The Vii clan has been working on clone variation techniques. Ranging from elemental to forming an alternative to the basic clone technique. Due to our unique situation, illusions without a physical element to anchor them are unsustainable. They are much like genjutsu in that regard. While attempting to produce a physical clone we had used the effects of the 'shadow clone' as a basis for physical standardization. By mistake, the Vii actually discovered how to reproduce the jutsu. We've been working variants ever since."
Minato cocked an eyebrow, "What kind of variants?"
Ambiance sighed, "Let's just say the jutsu basis was a rather advantageous one for future clone technique. My delinquent brother just overhauled the original technique and the result is rather impressive."
After a few moments Minato finally processed the notion, "You're five?"
Enigma shrugged, "Qi is a potent energy."
Again the notion set in and Minato sighed, "Alright then. Why does this technique warrant more scrutiny than the original technique being leaked?"
Ambiance pouted, "So seeing a dozen of the same jonin surrounding a neighboring estate counts as a leak?"
Enigma waved his hands, "Priorities, Ambiance. The technique is…umm…"
Phantom rolled his eyes, "I'd be easier if we could just show you, but the technique produces a null field. Any shadow clones within the area of effect are rendered invisible and other than the original the clones are undetectable. You could splash paint on them and your eyes would still fail to comprehend that there's a physical body two feet in front of you. It's a reverse-nature genjutsu using his KI to mask his presence. We bring this to you because until we know it's weakness and constraints the jutsu puts any other assassination jutsu to shame. At point blank range a person could be surrounded and never know. It's too dangerous for a shinobi to wield without countermeasures present within their homeland."
Minato began to tense before pulling out a note pad, "What exactly do you want me to do? Store the technique in a kinjutsu scroll?"
Ambiance barred her hands, "Hell no! Don't write it anywhere until there's at least two basic countermeasures!"
Minato narrowed his eyes, "How exactly?"
Ambiance looked at Enigma.
The boy had a rather disturbed look on his face, "Well, the idea is that a few shinobi correspond while the jutsu is activated to find weaknesses in the AOE as well as weather there's a way to counter the visual handicap."
Ambiance's eyes suddenly widened, "Genjutsu tags! Disrupt the individual illusions by making an illusion that you CAN see! As long as the person targets the illusions, and by extension, a clone; a single blow will still destroy them!"
Enigma nodded, "But unless a shinobi brings a myriad of tags, they won't be able to mark all of the clones."
Phantom pitched his own two cents, "If a person remains unaffected outside the AOE then they could remotely target the clones. Also, If you produce a damaging effect like fire or acid throughout the AOE then the clones will be dispelled, that is unless the AOE somehow increases their vitality. Either way the clones wont be as eager to cross such an area if only out of temporary doubt."
Minato chimed in for a moment, "Can this area be released manually?"
Enigma sighed, "It can be adjusted to accommodate different purposes. I imagine a client could be concealed within the AOE if they were keyed in. However the jutsu lingers in a fixed area."
Ambiance's eyes narrowed, "But does the effect apply to the shadow clones?"
Phantom tensed, "That…would probably have been a good thing to check before we sent Enigma's clones to gather ore for the shop."
Enigma smacked his face, "There were dozens of them. You think I'd send a small army out for ore?"
Minato cocked his head, "So you got their memories?"
Ambiance pouted before turning to Enigma, "How did you know their numbers?"
Enigma cocked his head, "Oh. I thought that memory looked weird! Yeah, shadow clones can render each other…but I don't know that they knew what they saw. Is it like seeing a ghost in a camera? You know; how genjutsu only affect…animals…"
Phantom smirked, "Ye olde tome of illusion spoofing." He turned to the Yondaime and asked, "Do you have access to a mirror?"
—Three hours later—
Minato entered training ground three before noting a newer skid mark, "What exactly where you doing here? This is a shinobi training ground."
Ambiance turned to a stone in the distance before turning to the Hokage, "Are you saying civs can't even access a memorial stone?"
Minato tilted his head, "You noticed?"
Enigma folded his arms, "Kinda ornate for a training ground. Are you going to answer her question?"
Minato raised his hands, "I never said these training grounds were off limits." Placing his hands by his side he turned back to the skid, "What were you doing? Dragging a body?"
Ambiance blushed.
Enigma scoffed, "Something like that. Shunshin slip up. I misplaced my footing and fell on my ass."
Ambiance turned to her brother, 'Why are you covering for me?'
Enigma smirked, "Wasn't five minutes later when Ambiance did the same thing. Came in like a fresh cannon shot and tried to plow the field with her landing."
Said girl faulted rather slowly before draconic wings formed behind her, "You manipulative troll!"
Enigma smirked and gave a V pose, "I shall not tell lies."
A.N: Alpha strolls onto a stage and shouts, "What time is it?! NAME - THAT - REFERENCE! It has come to my attention that I might be being a bit under-challenging with these analogies, but this is a game I want understood before it's undertaken. Granted I'll lay a few more challenging ones out every now and then."
Phantom sighed, "He's got you there."
Minato turned to the grounds and asked, "Can you activate the technique?"
Enigma scratched his head, "It's still functioning. Hang on." Enigma took the initial stance and held one arm out to his left and the other upwards. He shouted, "Shadow clone…wait a minute why is the Yondaime inside the AOE to see this?"
Minato shrugged, "Ever heard of the Hiraishin?"
Enigma shrugged, "The selfie summoning of Tobirama senju?"
Minato faulted rather impressively, "S-Selfie summoning? Where the hell did you hear that?!"
Phantom sighed, "Any technique that is so sensitive as to be keyed to a heretic gene is on par with a summoning contract. We've heard of it. We're just surprised you survived altering his jutsu."
Enigma shrugged, "Well, I guess if your speed can prevent an accident from escalating, it's good enough." Enigma reformed the stance before calling, "Shadow clone jutsu!"
About ten Enigmas appeared. Ambiance placed her hands on her hips, "You called the new technique something else."
Enigma grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, The version that produces the AOE I refer to as 'Helix Clone technique'."
Minato sighed, "I'm still seeing those clones."
Enigma shrugged, "Well now you know where they are. I'm going to readjust the KI field still looming. For safety reasons I'm going to reduces the null fields potency so they can be semi-detectable." He reached out with both his arms and a strange presence filled the clearing.
Minato's eyes widened when the clones seemed to become translucent. They looked like glass in his eyes and every now and then he lost track of one or two of the clones. He formed the Shadow clone handseal and a second Minato appeared. The second Minato shrugged, "Yeah, no, I can't make heads or tails of this beyond what any of you are seeing." With quick motion the clone dispelled.
Minato looked over the memories, "Oddly enough, even though my clone had trouble perceiving the other clones, his memories look as normal as if you were using the normal shadow clones."
Ambiance held up a mirror and honed in on Enigma, "Mirrors remove the illusion, but there's still the disconnect between the angle and my eyes. I couldn't fight against that without a few minutes to gain my bearings. Even afterwards I'd still be disoriented and at a huge mobility disadvantage."
Phantom had taken advantage of the distraction to get some distance. Suddenly he spoke, "I've reached a perimeter. The clones are visible, but I'm convinced the AOE is degrading at a steady rate. I'd give it about forty more minutes before the AOE degrades completely.
Ambiance shrugged, "That's still a bloody persistent jutsu. Now to see if glass can affect the illusion." pulling out a scroll Ambiance unsealed some of the surviving glass panes from their original building. Picking up a smaller pane she held it towards Enigma. After a moment she tilted her head, "Okay that's weird. Enigma, can you up the potency a margin?"
Enigma turned to the Yondaime, "Hokage-san?"
Minato nodded, "Go ahead, but try to keep them somewhat trackable."
Enigma seemed to weigh a few things. He held out his arms and seemed to still for a moment.
The clones briefly flickered out of existence before marginal disruptions were detected.
Ambiance called over, "Alright, I think this works. The Illusions still present through glass, but the clones are slightly more visible. I can still tell their humanoid from here and occasionally a margin of detail is visible."
Enigma quickly lowered the potency, "Man this technique is tedious to adjust. Adjust the technique to fast or too often and it's psychologically draining. It's more suited for hiding an ambush or disguising a small camp from bandits or shinobi. If this technique gets inscribed it should be in a steel plate and anchored firmly to the ground. Short of a multi-lineal blood seal AND a lock I'm not about to see this put into a 'scroll'."
Minato scratched his head, "So you'd have it in the open. Where anyone can read it?"
Ambiance huffed, "'Oh sure. We'll be the first clan ever to make a public assassination grade jutsu.' Need I remind you that our clan appalls killing? I assume there's a secure basement somewhere in the leaf village where such a location can be rendered safe from prying eyes."
Minato rubbed his forehead, "Anything stored in such a place would need to be run by the council."
Phantom cocked his head, "Are you telling me that anything above an A-rank jutsu are advertised to every branch of the leaf? The Yamanaka head mentioned you had an infiltration issue, but this is…well…"
Enigma crossed his arms, "I'd understand if a civilian village was so lax, but S-class jutsu are freaking scary. Councilors have families. Even if they keep it localized, a spy could just as easily tail a council member to a 'more secure' location where they would feel adequately protected. Ever heard of an external monologue? They could have intel by breakfast. One well prepared genjutsu and the all of Kami's provinces can hear about it!"
Minato folded his arms, "What exactly are you suggesting would be more secure than safe?"
Ambiance cocked an eye, "I'll assume, since you've earned the position of Kage, that your alluding to wherever the location is, because that phrase sent up ALL the red flags. The shinobi council knows about the techniques present, but if the method of storage is integrated more deeply than a spy's intel could reveal, then there's a layer of security that infiltration groups wont be able to account for. You could make the intel hell to cart off, hell to gather, and hell to read into. It reduces intel mobility, but by the time such a place is compromised the village's situation should have already been forced into a significantly higher plane of crisis."
Enigma raised his hand and waved a bit, "Actually, I've been wondering: Did Yamanaka-san mention the countermeasures we had suggested to the council?"
Minato turned to the boy, "What countermeasures?"
Ambiance sighed before looking at a notepad, "If infiltration is an underlying issue, try raising the citizens above the issue."
Phantom groaned, "Basically add features to the village that can act as counter-phrases in identifying intel. In addition; any newer infiltration where the person climbs through some kind of rank will create a gap in exposure to recent changes in the village. Their lack of familiarity would have them stand out for a measure of time. If the person's genuine then they eventually fit in. If they're avoiding making ties then they'll stand out more."
Enigma shrugged, "Basically: instead of making the village adverse to infiltration; make infiltrators adverse to the village."
Minato tapped his chin, "So if someone is resistant to fitting in?"
Ambiance shrugged, "Then you ask. If it's an issue with how they're fitting in, then they're versatile. However if the person's issues are with the entirety of the village and their vocal about it, then have the anbu keep an extra eye out for suspicious activity. Granted don't go gluing red flags to people, but ensure they don't do something stupid while the flags are in the air."
A.N: Alpha pouts, "Well this sucks. I just got a great line for the Kabuto/chunin-exam scene. It sucks because we're still around six chapters out; give or take two. Foresight is brilliant, but like hindsight, there's not much you can do outside of the event. And I'm not about to plow through arcs again."
Minato looked towards the village, "I'll consider bringing it before the council." He turned back to the Vii before sighing, "Just before you showed up, I got a visit from a councilor."
Ambiance groaned, "She had 'those' eyes. The ones that scream 'cease and desist' like a bloody ward. The eyes that claim your very existence is a burden. The ones that have introverts crawl into their shells and seal the door and key. The ones that have extroverts go ballistic at any attempt of manipulation. As a retrovert I sympathize with both parties and yearn for a chance to provide them with a peace of mind."
Minato sighed, "Remember your crusade on that stigma a while back?"
Ambiance pouted, "Did that demon expose it private face again?"
The Hokage folded his arms, "Well, It seems there are some after effects. You've been remarked as the shinigami's daughter and…something else."
Ambiance placed her hands on her hips, "Lay it on me flash."
Minato scratched his head, "As long as you don't go using that technique on me."
Ambiance pouted, "Spill!"
Minato raised his hands, "A succubus." He tested his chakra coils slightly before noticing her face.
Ambiance's deadpan grew into a mini smirked.
Phantom whistled, "The iconic demon? The one that represents the attributes of a woman scorn?"
Enigma shook himself, "Well that's a promotion if I ever heard one. A creature that preys on spiritual energy tethered to ones life force. They did the technique justice, that's for sure. Even that shinobi…Anko isn't referred to as a succubi, and she's actively trying."
Ambiance smirked, "I am very proud of that technique and if it's referred to as a 'succubi's kiss' (Name a reference!) I'll be proud to call it my own." She frowned, "That said, if some drunk or cocky civ starts eyeing me funny; they'll quickly be reminded that succubi are NOT to be trifled with, myth or lore."
Minato looked over his shoulder before asking, "You realize that Mebuki Haruno will be on you like a blood hound. I'm not about to condone an assault on a Council member."
Ambiance shrugged, "Same here. If her beef is just with me and my technique I'm absolutely fine. As long as my friends don't suffer adverse effects of her ire I'm content to let her glare at me. That said if she shows up in my house with a kunai; I am scaring the hell outa her. I'm fine with personal beefs, but you don't go raiding a family's home to do so. If she sends a riot I will put the fear of god in them and she'll lose a chunk of her credibility. If she puts up offensive posters about me I'll shrug, pout and maybe even laugh if she's clever about it. But the moment she uses someone else's reputation or name to do so; I'm plugging the hole myself and staging an intervention. I'll tolerate Identity theft, It happens all the time. But Identity manipulation? Welcome to the first gate of hell."
Minato smiled before shrugging, "I can approve of that. Is there any way you'd accept the Yamanaka's invitation to discuss the technique? The clan has set their sights on you."
Ambiance tapped her chin, "When Inoichi asks, I intend to find out how committed he is. If it's just a passing interest; then there's no point. If he's really looking to branch out…I'll pursue a consultation. I'm not about to commit to something without knowing a collaboration has a chance of working out. I don't do halfway. It either works or it doesn't. I'm willing to foot my patience, but I need to know that a partnership is truly to our combined advantage. Impatience is several times more deadly than arrogance."
Minato nodded before checking the position of the sun. He checked two landmarks before checking one last time, "Well, the late morning paperwork rush is about to start, and I need to make sure there are no undesired surprises. Last thing I want is to discover there's a surplus at last minute."
Phantom smirked, "While the Vii typically avoid fixed routines, tactically that's a very good call."
—Part 2: Returning to a Nostalgic Era—
While Enigma and Phantom left to gather navigational data for their map, Ambiance made a beeline for the parks at the heart of Konoha.
As she scouted for Naruto she found a rather familiar patch of dilapidated forestry. Looking around for loose patches of brittle barks she carved a number of trail blazers and propped them against the trees as she entered the forest. After a few minutes of exploring she reached a rather familiar pit, 'Wait a minute…' She made a brief orbit of the pit and her eyes narrowed, "This shouldn't be here." 'This is the pit Enigma and Phantom made with the seven pillars technique. It shouldn't have already been here…unless…' Ambiance looked around. As she anticipated; there were patches of stone where the pillars would have formed the inner perimeter. She slapped a hand to her mouth as tears poured out, "You remembered us. You knew we were coming, and you waited for us." She fell to her knees and hit the ground, {Alpha, you manipulative…}
A.N: Alpha raises his hands, "Hey, hey! I wasn't planning on picking a lore stone yet until Ambiance went all sentimental and accelerated the issue. Do me a favor Ambiance and don't leave people hanging."
Ambiance managed to shake herself loose and looked around, "Well there's no way I can leave this place behind with this much catalyzed Chi present. Looks like the C.O.P. is getting a second take. Granted, I don't think loud and proud is the way to get this started…" She turned to the pit at the center before the stones at the perimeter, "But maybe it's time to go for the underground approach." Ambiance turned to the C.O.P. foundation and laid her hand on the foundation. A tear entered each of her eyes and she spoke in a whimper, "Show us your dreams old friend."
Ambiance looked up as a vibrant light permeated the forest. The tree's appeared to glow and the grass flourished in pristine patches. Flowers bloomed in swaths of sunlight and the sound of children playing and little ghosts of foot strides showed the children would feel at home within the forest. Her tears began to grace her cheeks as she felt a sense of life underground. Rabbits inhabiting the tree roots, gophers digging burrows and raising their young and beneath all that…a community of close friends would flourish.
"Aura?"
Ambiance relented the technique as she spoke to the the boy with her back turned, "H-Hey Naruto. Did you like the trail I left?"
Naruto hopped onto the trunk of a fallen tree and nodded, "Easier than running in circles. This place is a dump though. Why meet here?"
Ambiance smiled despite the blunt observation, "First two lessons:
First: A shinobi must be able to make themselves invisible; this means making yourself at peace and pace within the environment. Make your presence as indistinguishable from your surroundings as possible. If that means dress as a clown; do it. If that means dress like a farm hand; do it. If that means roll around and mud and look miserable; do it. If that means dressing up and acting like a snob; do it. There's no one size fits all disguise.
I want you to try and sneak up on me seven days in a row. Once you can tap my shoulder without me noticing you on all seven days in a row; we'll move on to another step in training.
Today's lesson will be about making due with what's around you. Do you have any weapons or tools on you?
Naruto nodded, "I have kunai and shi…Those star things."
Ambiance nodded, "Alright; Leave those with me and keep one of those kunai."
Naruto handed her the pouches and asked, "What now?"
Ambiance sealed the weapons in a scroll and handed it to him, "With that one kunai, I'm going to teach you how to make a basic shelter and catch food."
Naruto looked at the weapon and asked, "Why just one kunai?"
Ambiance pulled a whetstone out of one of her pouches, "Because you'd used up the other ones. This is your last kunai, and if it breaks you'll be stuck using a rock, and that would take too long. Keep it sharp and use it wisely."
Naruto glanced at the woods and asked, "Where do I build it?"
Ambiance raised her arms to either side, "Right here, in this dump. First step; find a place to set up. Don't go for pretty, but look for a useful spot."
Naruto glanced between a few trees. After a moment he noticed three trees that shared a rather intimate proximity. He went over to them and asked, "What's step two?"
Ambiance grinned, 'He's not wasting time by asking if he picked right.' "Next you find a source of material. You need a source of both green and dry wood that wont take long to carry to your location. Meanwhile keep an eye out for rocks and moss. Remember where they are and you'll thank yourself later."
Naruto managed to find a tree with a number of branches that splayed close to the ground. Using his kunai he used the trick Enigma showed with the bamboo. He cut around a fixed height and narrowed the core of the wood.
A few minutes passed and Naruto got rather annoyed that the tree was still standing. Finally he kicked it out of frustration. He tilted his head when the tree gave a loud crack. looking at the place he'd narrowed the trunk, he found a rather big split. Naruto took a few steps back before tackling the tree. The narrow trunk creaked before it toppled to the ground.
Naruto pulled the downed tree to his 'camp'. He wiped his brow afterwards, "What next?"
Ambiance came over and noted the green lumber, "Can I give you a tip?"
Naruto seemed to think it over, "Sure?"
Ambiance nodded, "Green bark is rather stringy when you tear off long strips of it. If you can tie one end of this trunk to another tree, you can lay smaller sections against it and make a shallow roof. If you can get the strands, I'll show you how to make lashings."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Why do I want that?"
Ambiance shrugged, "It'll keep the trunk from slipping and falling on you."
Naruto scratched his head, "Oh."
—One hour later—
Naruto had managed to get a simple lean to set up. He rubbed some of the moss off of his hands, "What next?"
Ambiance folded her arms, "Now you've got shelter. You still need food and water. You collected some of that bark right?"
Naruto nodded hesitantly.
Ambiance smirked, "Now to make your first fishing trap."
—
Kushina was wandering through the Central parks within Konoha. After a length of time searching for her son along the main paths she began searching the surrounding forests. Eventually she came upon a trail of wooden chunks. At first she decided to ignore the litter but she happened to notice, as she passed, that they each had a rather familiar symbol carved into them. Looking along the trail she noted it went into a less maintained part of the forest. With a pout she shook her head, "Are those three ever direct?"
A.N: Alpha sighs, "I'm trying lady. I'm trying with what I can do, but if my greatest weakness was being up front, Then my greatest strength would have been subtlety. Anyone who's read this far should know that's not quite the case. Actually one of those higher strengths is versery articulation so until I know what the hell that means in context I haven't hit my peak. I do know I'm good at controversy, adversity, diversity, etc. basically I'm going through the context dictionary and listing plot devices. But other than writing; my knowledge of plot devices within real life can be a bit…weird, to talk about. It's good for avoiding being manipulated as well as choosing my battles, but It's terrible for making live conversation. Why does 'con' have to be in the name?"
After following the trail for several minutes, Kushina noticed a conversation not to far away.
"Sucker. Better luck next time fish."
—
Ambiance looked up from the river bank as Kushina stormed in.
The redhead scowled, "What kind of training is that?"
Ambiance's eye turned towards the river before looking at the kunoichi, "Fishing?"
Kushina look to the bank and noticed Naruto raising a rather large woven bark net. He brought it to the side and propped it against a rock.
Naruto jumped down and made to grab the rather troubled fish.
Ambiance waived a hand, "Hey hey hey, knock him out first. Let's not make him any more desperate than he is."
Naruto looked around and found a rock about the size of his palm. He turned to the fish and spoke briefly, "Gomen-ne." With a quick strike he struck the fish in the head and the creature laid still.
Ambiance bowed briefly, "Thank you for your blessings dear swimmer. May your lineage welcome you within the gate of aftermath."
Kushina sighed, "My apologies. I assumed you two were…well, alone."
Ambiance smirked, "You ever heard the phrase 'you're never alone'? Well this is one of those moments you can be grateful for such a notion."
Kushina folded her arms, "Isn't that a civilian line?"
Ambiance shrugged, "I always assumed it was a human line, but maybe there's a shinobi variant circulating that I haven't heard yet. 'Watch your back' is more of a situational assessment than a lifestyle and 'no man left behind' is up to the shinobi themself to employ."
Kushina tapped her foot as she went over the key phrases in her head, "I guess I see your point. Shinobi tend to refer to 'the human factor' as a weakness."
Ambiance shrugged, "Humans can't shed their human factor. It's like telling a cat it needs to be a dog and expecting a perfect transformation. We've seen humanity being called into question. The issue isn't with being human. It's with defining what makes us humane. Dogs can be very humane if you let them. So can cats. We refer to both, as partners, as long as we can accommodate them. As long as we remain humane, the Vii can be accepted within humanity, but in deciding that we raise a very vital question. What makes a creature humane?"
Kushina and Ambiance had come down the river bank and met with Naruto. Said boy was cradling the fish he'd just knocked out.
Kushina seemed rather troubled that the boy was acting so familiar with the fish.
Ambiance smiled gently, "I think your little swimmer will appreciate that you would show such care for his host body. Since you've shown such reverence for his species, I'll see if Enigma will build a fish tank so your future meals can know you a bit better. I think they may come to respect you almost as much as I do." Giving a stern look to the boy she added, "When a creature is killed; It's life is inherited by those who knew them best. If you really want to get to know that fish, put his skills to good use."
Naruto frowned, "How do I do that?"
Kushina folded her arms, "How indeed?"
Ambiance smirked and pointed at the fish, "Learn to swim. Make fish proud to have inspired you. Swim so that you might surpass all shinobi who may oppose you!"
Kushina raised her eyebrows.
Naruto looked down at the fish. Taking in all he could before looking up with a grin, "How soon can I start?"
Ambiance ribbed Kushina and spoke, "Well, if you ask nicely, maybe your mom can prepare lunch. I'm not quite ready to prepare a fresh kill yet, but I do know a few different styles for swimming. Granted I anticipate you can improve beyond what your teachers show you, but you do need a place to start."
Naruto smirked, "You better be ready, Dattebayo, I'm going to be the fasted swimmer to ever live!"
Kushina tapped Ambiance's arm and whispered, "How?"
Ambiance smirked, "People frequently assess parents as knowing best, but In terms of feeling; a child has no parallel. Let a child think with their heart and they may revolutionize the art of love. Let them think with their gut, and you've already changed the world."
Kushina frowned, "I've already changed more than that."
Ambiance took a moment before she growled out, "That's dangerously close to a poop joke. And you thought I might teach it to him!"
Kushina twitched before turning to the girl, "You picked up on that?"
Ambiance sighed, "Uzumaki-san, kids pick up on everything. Subtlety to a kid equals an intriguing mystery. If they don't pick up on it, it's because the teacher sounded lame." Ambiance walked over to the river and wove her hands through patterns. She slammed her hands into the ground and called, "Rotary summoning jutsu!"
Kushina's eyes widened as a thin amount of smoke appeared. She faulted momentarily when she saw Ambiance in a set of armor that was more like a one piece swimsuit.
Again Ambiance wove her hands together before a dense presence was felt. She called in a primal voice, "Earth/Water nature; Lulling Depth Ninshu!"
Naruto crouched down when the forest began to tremble.
Kushina's eyes widened when a number of roots and stones were shifted beneath the river. A large basin was drawn out and the water level stooped before the river began to fill the new trench.
Ambiance smiled, 'Thanks dear friend. I'll see to it your dreams are pursued. May we never forget the phoenixes of this land.' Wiping the tears from her eyes ambiance turned to Naruto, "Well, let's get started!
A.N: Alpha sighs, "Well, this went on for longer than I thought. I'm going to cut the chapter here, but I'll be posting again soon.
===Chapter 8 End===
