Sheploo: For a normal Saiyan yeah, but it's explained in this chapter, and touched on in the previous.
Hybrid Genesis: You da real MVP, Gen. Also I would say I'm quite partial to green, as I have green eyes and am a narcissist.
Guest: Fear not Guest-kun! Raxychaz-sama has not forgotten about the sweet booty of ME!
Gawain-Knight of the Sun: Thought about a pure ME/Menma cross but every time I go to start it, it doesn't seem right. I'll definitely get one out at some point though.
LordGhostStriker: Hype-Boner. The strongest of all Boners. For it is the boner to boner the stars.
Hopes you guys enjoy this chapter, and on a side note, holy shit these are like 2-3 times longer than most of my other stuff, this hasn't happened since my 'Menma of Azeroth' series. Good times.
Start!
Menma had done the rounds to say his farewells. Taino wept like a baby and almost refused to let him go, Menma did his best to placate the Majin but that did little to assuage her tears, the armour on his arms had to be melted into a much simpler pair of bracers, the hooks getting in the way too much, and instead had small pads over his palms. Next he'd met up with his first teacher, he figured it'd have some kind of full-circle resolution.
"Oh I saw." Commented Cell before the youth could speak, "I must say, for all my perfection you Saiyans are quite terrifying." Praised the Android.
"Well you have Saiyan cells right? Can't you just blow yourself up a bunch and get stronger from the Zenkai?" Menma questioned idly, Cell paused for a moment.
"I suppose I'll have to give it a go, if all else fails it'll be amusing to see the expression on my next students face when I explode." Cell grinned broadly and chuckled whilst the student shook his head in amusement.
"Thank you, for everything Sensei." Sincerity to be sure, Cell nodded.
"Well it does take perfection to predict a students worth." The pair shook hands, one of the few times Cell get even remotely touchy-feely.
"If you see Vegeta around here, cracking his skull for me." Requested the youth as he walked off, towards the Time Nest, a final stop on his metaphorical road home. Towa had been beside him his entire little trip around the city and had barely made a peep, nerves had gripped her guts as she realised this was her first time leaving the safety of the Time Patrol, but she'd be damned if she didn't go with her partner.
Menma approached the Time Vault and heard steps approaching, looking over his shoulder he saw Trunks, he nodded to the youth who quietly offered his hand, "Mistakes or not, it's been an honour working with you, Menma." The Briefs said, Menma grinned widely despite himself and accepted the shake as he took his hand away Trunks tossed something to him.
Menma looked at it, a scroll. A scroll with glossy, star-studded scroll. Menma looked to Trunks, demanding an explanation with his eyes.
"You're the only one that can even use this scroll, after a little convincing I managed to make it... your domain. To look after." Menma's eyes shot wide at that, once more his grin growing, "I even tested it, no one else can even enter it, so were something to go wrong you're the only person that could fix it."
"You just handed me a universe." Menma said, rolling the scroll in his palm, "I'm holding a universe right now."
"More a gateway to one, but pretty much... Good luck, buddy. I'll miss ya." Menma gave an 'aww' and pulled the smaller male into a bear hug.
"You're the best guy around Trunks, don't listen to what they say." Menma praised, spinning on his heel and dropping the boy on his feet.
"Wait, what who say-Menma!?" Demanded Trunks in a fluster as the youth waved his hands, vanishing with Towa in a shaft of light.
Konohagakure no Sato, 72 Days After Menma's 'Training Trip' Began.
There had been relative calm in the few months without their resident monkey boy, Kushina had become generally more social as a consequence of her sons absence, and found herself reconnecting with her old friends, the judgment she'd expected for her misspent youth never really came. The best friend of her past, Mikoto welcomed her with open arms, her little boy, Itachi was cute as could be, her partner, Fugaku was a staunch traditionalist so was a complete stick in the mud.
Tsume Inuzuka, the now-head of the Inuzuka Clan, and her little girl Hana. Even seeing Sakumo and his son Kakashi again. Kushina's general outlook on life got a lot brighter, but that made her guilty, "Am I so much happier without my son around..? What kind of mother am I to think like that? He's my little man. My baby boy who cares about me so much but I... don't miss him as much as I thought I would." Were the traitorous thoughts that ran in her mind when she wasn't really concentrating.
But that was wrong of her, sure she had to give up some stuff to raise him, but he'd turned into a good boy, he made some questionable, very questionable choices, but when it came down to it he did what he felt was right, and was willing to throw caution to the wind just to protect her from an army of Kumo shinobi, when he was five.
"I'm a horrible mother." She thought to herself, scornfully. She was thankful for the distraction the fussing Itachi gave her as Mikoto began giggling to herself as the baby girgled and spluttered incoherently.
Elsewhere, Orochimaru was looking over a few reports and tiredly sighed to himself, he pressed the intercom and called for his assistant, "Himeko-chan, could I impose on you to collect some coffee for me?" The man all but pleaded, the dark haired assistant refrained from laughing at the pitiful expression on the Hokage's face and nodded brightly.
Orochimaru looked up to the monument, doing so every day for the past three-and-a-bit, months. Today however there was a change, the air bent in on itself and, waved about for a moment before a familiar shaft of light appeared, Orochimaru rose from his chair and rushed to the window.
Two figures appeared he could barely make them out though, one was obviously male and seemed quite physically able, the other was definitely female. An even smaller thing appeared behind the male, "A tail? So he has returned!" Orochimaru grinned broadly before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"So this is my home." Menma said grandiosly, looking to Towa who stepped forward slightly to take it all in, "Sorry if it's a little more... low tech, than you're used to." Added the god with a small frown.
"It's... rather lovely, everything feel fresh, the air tingles though." Admitted the woman as she rubbed her fingers together.
"That is probably the chakra in the air, our energy." Menma informed easily, his hair drifting in the breeze, he took a deep breath, grinning brightly throwing and arm around Towa and pulling her in, "You're the best, you know that?"
"Oh?" Towa asked with a smirk, her hands on his chest as she looked up at him, "Do tell."
"Comin' with me, always watching my back. I couldn't ask for a better partner."
"Just partner?" Towa teased knowingly.
Menma's grin died somewhat as he felt a heat rising in his gut, "You know what I mean." He said, jostling her slightly, foreheads touching, but Towa's little smirk never wavered.
"Come on big boy, or do I need to drag it out of you." Menma frowned making her impish smirk widen.
"You witch." He cursed.
"'s what I do." Quoted the woman.
Sighing the god leant back slightly and looked at her in full, "Fine. Towa, I'd be lost without you and you're the best. Are you happy now?" He admitted with a frown.
"Don't pout dear, you'll get wrinkles." The demon woman advised, kissing his nose.
"Menma?" Questioned a familiar, serpent-like voice, the red-furred god separated from his partner and looked to see the arrival of man with deathly pale skin, golden, serpentine eyes with a dark purple hue around them, long black hair and wearing a white robe a diamond-shaped hat on his back, caught around his neck by a simple string.
"Orochi-oji!" Declared the youth with a wide smile, the mans gaze glittered as the much taller youth flashed forward and hugged him with a crushing ferocity.
"Lungs... breath... dying!" Gasped out the usually composed Hokage, Menma relented by the energy he'd seemingly drawn from his own enthusiasm still made his whole face light up with unequal amounts of joy.
"It's so good to see you! It feels like it's been forever." Menma commented hands in his hips, "Man five years..." He looked wistful, Orochimaru saw wisdom beyond the boys years reflect in his eyes. "It's been quite the little adventure, but I'm back for good now. No more trips necessary for me." Menma said with a firm nod, crossing his arms, Orochimaru noticed the red fur first, then the pointed ears, the hair was a given, and even his teeth.
"You have certainly changed quite a lot." Commented the Hokage with a smirk.
Menma nodded, "Saiyans transform a lot, at first it was just a bit of extra fluff on my shoulders, longer ears, sharper nails and I got a bit stronger. The second form was a little more extreme, my body grew rapidly, developing into a young man, my hair got a little longer and all but the front of my torso had fur. There was supposed to be another one at least but I kind of skipped over them and ended up in this state... that's a bit more than a simple chat can really convey." Menma admitted, patting his own shoulders, "Really soft though." Added the Primal Saiyan God with another chuckle.
"I'm sure." Orochimaru acquiessed, looking to the other person with his protégé, "And this is..?"
"This is Towa, Towa this is Orochimaru, the leader of the village and my surrogate uncle." Menma introduced standing to the side and presenting the man like a son would his father, Towa stepped forward and curtsied, Orochimaru looked her over eyes slightly critical before returning the gesture with a bow.
"A pleasure... I believe it best if we go to my office, do either of you require food at the moment?" Questioned the Fire Shadow.
Menma looked to Towa who shrugged, "I mean, I'm basically a walking black hole... so I could eat. What're you in the mood for?" He asked the older man.
"Honestly I'm running on coffee at the moment, I was up all night doing paperwork just to catch up on all the new forms that came with official changes to the Academy." Admitted the Serpent Sage, looking exhausted, "I'm good with anything."
"Haven't had ramen in a while I suppose, it'd go well with some steak or something." Menma thought aloud for a moment.
"Ramen and steak?" Questioned Towa, amused.
"Yeah, something soothing and savoury and something I can actually sink my teeth into." He said making biting motions.
"Didn't peg you for a ramen eater." Admitted Orochimaru as they began the descent into the village, down the natural pathway carved from people walking through here.
"I'm not, but there's nothing wrong with it either. Thus the steak, ramen is barely filling, noodles are useless as actual food, but as an appetizer, it works."
The trio collected a small feast of take-away and returned to the Hokage tower, passing Orochimaru's assistant who informed the Hokage his coffee would be waiting for him, after sitting down the small collection of food was placed on the desk, in a very unprofessional manner Orochimaru, his returned son-nephew-assistant mad scientist began explaining in detail all that he'd done.
How he'd gotten chewed up and spat out numerous times on his road to being as strong as he is at the moment, a few of the more interesting trials and tribulations, a quick overview of just how much destructive power he now possessed, some stories about the people he'd met, and ended up at the final story.
"Then we stood in a circle, crazy shit went down I ended up transcending my own evolutionary cycle and became a God, skipping forward a bit I also ate another god by turning him into a jaw-breaker." Menma said, straight faced and stone serious.
"That's stupid." Orochimaru said, sipping from his cup.
"Extremely, but true." Menma said with a nod, "Need I remind you of the pink man who turned people into candy?"
"No... you really don't." Orochimaru said with a deadpan, "Nevertheless since you're not going anywhere anymore would you like to officially enlist in the Shinobi corps?" The Hokage questioned, taking his final sip and tossing the cup in a small rubbish bin set beside his desk.
"I don't mind." Menma said with a shrug, "Aside from killing whatever space-goblins come down the whole point of my growing stronger was to make sure everything stays relatively calm. Plus money." Menma smiled brightly as Orochimaru nodded, removing any other grubbiness from his hands and face with a napkin.
"Very well, for the moment consider yourself hired, Shinobi Uzumaki Menma." Orochimaru fished out a headband with a deep purple cloth and a larger than usual metal 'face' it had the symbol of Konoha on it, brandished proudly a glossier finish than he'd have expected. Menma held it in his hands as he looked at Orochimaru.
"How long have you had this?" Menma questioned, this wasn't something one just had in their draw for any random ninja.
"Since I took the hat." Orochimaru admitted, "I knew you were a special kid, didn't expect all this but I stand by my instincts. Plus, it'll be the only nepotism you'll get from during work from here on."
"I'm cool with that." Menma said, Orochimaru looked to Towa who waved the offer off.
"I'm quite content with observing your world for now, I'd rather orient myself with everything before I pin myself down to a government of some kind." The snake man could appreciate that.
"So long as you don't do anything against us, you're with us." Orochimaru said simply.
"Easy rules to follow."
"Easier to break." Menma said absent, placing the headband around his sarong, his armour opened up and at it, the metal remaining in place but the purple began to show through as a serpentine, wavey pattern along the outer edges of the cloth-bio armour.
"Marvelous." Menma said with a smile, "Right, we should probably get outta your hair..." Menma said idly, looking at the paperwork that had been set aside for this little social gathering, "Sorry about messing up your day." Appologised the youth, bowing his head slightly.
"I enjoyed the distraction, if anything I feel revitalized, so thank you." Orochimaru said as he stood up and gave the boy one last hug, "Welcome home, Menma-kun." Two pats on the back and the pair separated, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Towa-san."
"And you, Lord Hokage."
Uzumaki Household
Menma and Towa entered the apartment, the young man took in a breath as a wave of nostalgia hit him, "Too long." He said softly, Towa took in the relatively humble abode. Menma almost shot through the house towards one of the rooms and opened it, revealing a single bed beside a window, a snowy coloured blanket laid over it for presentation purposes, as no proper covering was necessary at the moment.
The floor was as spotless as when he'd left it, "Looks like no-ones even been in here..." He said, oddly amused at the idea. Stepping out he sighed to himself, "Have you ever felt an indescribably ominous sensation?" Menma asked his partner whom was looking at some of the photos set around the house.
"Not particularly. Why? Something on your mind?" Questioned the demon woman.
"I dunno I just feel like... something's kinda weird. It's hard to really put into words, 'wrong' is too strong but it's not exactly 'right' either." He fumbled to explain the sensation, Towa just shrugged once more not sure how she could help.
"Hmm." Menma hummed, opening one of the windows and letting in the breeze more, "I suppose... I figured coming home would be more... monumental. It's been five years for me but only a few months for everyone else so I suppose that it's a given but..."
"I just doesn't meet up to your expectations?" Towa finished, having come over to stand beside him, looking at the village through the window.
"Yeah." Menma affirmed with a nod, "Orochi-oji was happy to see me, us, but even when we were out getting food, it's like no one really even noticed I was gone."
"Did you get ramen often? It might have just been that they didn't recognise you." Pointed out Towa.
"That's a good point." Accepted the younger of the two. "But no I never found much good to it, I usually go for more filling meals, so they wouldn't recognise me, but even the people I'd pass every day when I was training didn't seem to bat an eye at me. I mean I'd figure a large, red furred man would cause at least a few curious looks."
"Maybe you're just overthinking it all, it has been an eventful few hours." Towa placated gently.
"That's an understatement." Menma said with a chuckle. "You're probably right though, I guess I'm just caught up in the moment."
"Just leave the thinking to me, darling." Jibbed the demon, getting a scoff in return as the God rolled his eyes.
"Oh yesh baws, Imma leave all the brain-stuff to you."
"The voice, really isn't necessary." Towa wrinkled her nose at it and shook her head.
"It's pretty annoying I'll admit, but my point remains."
"And that point was?"
"I'll do as I damn well please, this includes overthinking and being paranoid."
"Charming as ever, my love." Said the woman with a drawl, Menma chuckled.
"C'mon I'll see if we can track down some of my friends, it'll give you some context for the kind of person I may have ended up as." Menma said taking her hand and walking out the door, locking it behind them.
"On a scale of one to ten how much am I not going to like this?" Questioned the long haired, blue woman.
"Probably like eight." Replied the god with a mixed expression of mischief and glee.
Elsewhere; Konoha
Maito Dai, and his son Maito Gai were currently running about the village, the younger man was trying to scrape out all the practice he could in order to make it into the academy, the older man just smiled at his sons determination.
The duo came across an interesting pair, the one that stood out most was the man with wild silver hair and blood-coloured red fur covering all but his pectoral muscles, throat and face. As Dai took in this persons face he noticed something very familiar about their jawline, and their eyes, not the colour mind you but the shape.
"Menma-kun! You have returned!" Announced Dai, with a boisterous shout, Gai perked up and looked to the red furred man whom had turned to them a wild grin on his lips.
"Hello you glorious, mustachioed man you." Menma said with a laugh as he shook the man's hand firmly, Dai matched the grin and then some.
"Menma-san!" Greeted Gai with a salute, Menma grinned and squatted down, sitting on his haunches to meet Gai at eye level, "Nice hair." Commented the youth with a thumbs up.
"Good to see you again, Gai." Menma said, ruffling his now juniors hair, "Don't suppose you two would mind me joining in on your morning jogs again?"
"Of course, Menma-kun! Come Gai we still have so much to do!" Cheered Dai as his son fell into step, Mnema grinned whilst Towa blinked.
"They're certainly... energetic." Towa commented hesitantly.
"Yeah, they're pretty great." Agreed Menma with a chuckle.
"Sure." Towa said blithely.
"Alright... next should be Anko. She's usually at a dango stand stuffing her face when not with Orochi-oji..." Menma rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, "Either that or practicing one thing or another."
"Or on a mission!" Said a little voice, Menma blinked and looked down to see a little girl with brown hair pulled into a short ponytail, with familiar fang-markings on her cheeks and lightly tanned skin. She was wearing a dark green singlet and grey shorts.
"Correct!" Menma said exuberantly, once more sitting on his haunches to seem less imposing, "What's your name little miss?" He asked, leaning on the palm of his hand, he loved kids especially the cute ones.
"I'm Inuzuka Hana, what's your name?" She said, then got distracted, rubbing his furred arm, "You're really soft, Nii-chan." She stated in amazement, Towa's scoff lead into an amused chuckle as mirth rolled off her, Menma smile widened slightly at that.
"I'm Uzumaki Menma, and thank you." He pat her head, getting a pout and a declaration that it took a lot of time to get it into the ponytail, "Where's your mama, Hana-chan? Surely you're not supposed to be wandering about on your own."
"I snuck out." Whispered the little cherub conspiratorially. Menma shook his head and sighed in amusement.
"Well we can't have that, your mama is probably worried sick at the moment. C'mon, we'll get you home." He said, lifting her up onto his shoulder.
"It's so high up!" She exclaimed with wonder.
"Maybe you're just small." Towa commented, getting another pout from the pup.
The small group began walking towards the Inuzuka Compound, a fairly easy place to find, especially with Menma's sense of smell, go to the dogs and therein lie the Inuzuka.
So they did just that, all the while Hana chatted absently to him, occasionally commenting on somebody part of his, how his ears were so strange but his earrings were pretty, how long it must take to wash his hair or how he keeps its so clean.
It was all rather amusing.
When the arrived at the front of the compound they were greeted by the sight of an amused pair of men guarding the front, their hounds sitting at attention, "The little on here snuck out, figured I'd bring her back." Menma said, jostling his shoulder slightly, bouncing the girl about, Hana squealed and hugged at his head to avoid falling off.
"We'll alert Tsume-sama about it, thank you very much for returning her." Said one of the guards accepting the girl from the taller, furrier, man's grip, Hana pouted and muttered something about 'traitorous Nii-chans'.
"Well well well, looks like puberty did you right squirt." Speak of the devil and she shall appear. A rough looking woman in a jounin uniform appeared, tanned skin and black eyes that sparked with instinctual pride, wild black hair and the usual Inuzuka markings on her cheeks.
"Getting in touch with your femininity Tsume-chan? Didn't take you for one to wear eyeliner." Menma jabbed with a smile leaning closer and eyeing her critically, "And lipstick! Purples a good colour for you." He added, only to cop a flick to the nose that made him wrinkle it reflexively.
"You're one to talk, Mr. Flamboyant. Red fur, earrings and a skirt? Really?" Goaded the clan head with a scoff.
"It's a sarong, darling. I know how little you know about fashion in most respects but do try harder." The God shot back, getting wide eyes and a wide, feral grin in response.
"Didn't think you had any balls without your mama around, squirt. Good to see some improvement." Menma paused at Tsume's jab and rubbed his chin.
"Nah, fair play. Point to you." The clan head laughed boisterously at that, "Come on bring it in you know you missed me!" He said with spread arms as he swept the woman into a bear-hug, Tsume scoffed good naturedly.
"Yeah, with every kunai so far." He set her down and she put her hands on her hips looking him over properly, Kuromaru sniffed at him for a moment.
"Hey pal, been a while eh?" He greeted the wolf-dog, offering his hand, the one-eyed beast sniffed at it before realisation shon, it barked at him as though demanding an answer. "Evolution my good man, evolution." Menma said, as though it answered everything.
"I'll say. What'd you do, hit the juice or something?" Tsume questioned, grabbing Hana before she could run away again.
"Genetics. And mutated ones at that, get it from my dad's side, it was all silver before actually." Answered the youth, Tsume nodded just accepting it as something akin to a bloodline.
"Alright then, so how'd you get so much bigger then?"
"That's an understatement." Towa said with a chuckle, mostly to herself but Tsume leant around the red god to see a blue skinned woman.
"Ah, sorry this is Towa, Towa this is Inuzuka Tsume. She was my mother's teammate, I saved her ass during a war."
"Still have nightmares about that." Commented Tsume blithely. Menma looked at her, unsure if she was joking or not, but the deadpan expression didn't really give him much to go on.
"Pleasure." Towa cut off that particular exchange and shook the woman's hand.
"Blue huh? Interesting." Commented Tsume, blunt as ever.
"Tactful." Menma commented from the side, Hana being bounced about by his tail, screaming in mirth and glee. "Anyway, it was good to see you again, Tsume. And to meet you..." He threw Hana over his shoulder with his tail and caught her, he was able to feel her little heart racing like a piston, "Should probably avoid running away from home little missy, who knows what kind of dastardly figure could swoop in at a moments notice."
Elsewhere
"So, I've come to the realisation I've been a poor tour guide." Menma said abruptly as the two were passing through the market district arm in arm, now people were giving him odd looks. "Still counts as being noticed, score one for me!"
"That's true, but I've been enjoying the little trip nonetheless. Why, wanna play tour-guide?" She asked with amusement.
"Well I figured if we're gonna be here you may as well know what's what." Rationalized the younger of the two, "Like for instance... The academy." He said pointing to the roof of said building not too far off from their current position, "That's where the young go to train, nowadays it's more focused on practical knowledge, history and theoretical knowledge used to have a much larger place there."
"Somewhat explains the young ones with the headbands like your own." Towa commented, nodding her head in the direction of a Genin team eating together at a food stand.
"Exactly. The reason they start so young is because it makes molding and manipulating chakra much easier, at a certain age our biological clocks make it so the pathways all but seal up completely. It's sort of a catch 22, whilst some people don't want their children growing up to be killers, it's the lifeblood of our economy. The shinobi is trained, goes on missions, brings in money, spends the money ressuplying, that money then gets put back into the village and spread out amongst the traders and the people." Menma lectured lightly before smiling, "Rinse, repeat, profit." He said with a chuckle.
"And how does this energy of yours actually work?" Questioned Towa, that lead to a rather lengthy conversation about chakra, the various natures, the source and the theorized origin, Towa found it all interesting to be sure, but she had the sneaking suspicion there was more to all of this than what appeared the on surface.
Somehow they'd ended up at the far end of town, leading towards a dense forest, "Huh... must've taken a wrong turn." Menma observed with a thoughtful expression, "The turn always looked a little further than it did today."
"Well you are taller." Commented Towa.
"Here I was trying to get all philosophical about the road of life and how aging make everything seem shorter because of mortality but no, you can't even let me have that, can you?" He asked animatedly with mock frustration.
"Nope." Answered the demon simply.
"Can you two keep it down I'm trying to concentrate!" Snapped a voice, Menma and Towa turned to see a young woman coming out from Training Ground 44, aka the Forest of Death. The densest concentration of forestry and murderous animals in all of Fire Country.
Menma narrowed his gaze before shaking his head, "What are the chances? I swear my body must be on autopilot to find my friends." He took a few steps forward, the young woman, roughly 11 years old had purple hair that was done in a ponytail, currently styled like some odd pineapple, "For reasons." Menma remembered her 'explanation' for such a style well. Sporting a purple top and black shorts.
"Been a bit, Anko." Menma greeted with a nod.
"Huh?" Replied the girl, looking at him curiously, "Who the heck are you?" She questioned.
"Uzumaki Menma. I'm back early from my training trip." Menma informed.
"Prove it." Anko ordered, crossing her arms, "And don't think the tail will convince me, I've seen weirder things." She said, pointing to the red appendage.
"Very well... how about... the day before the big skirmish/war with Kumo and Iwa I was sleeping on Orochi-oji's couch and it started raining, the first thing you said was 'Get dressed dumbass I'm taking you to a safe place'."
Anko, one hand on her hip, cocked her stance and looked him over, "Huh... Well done puberty I guess." She commented absently.
"I know right?" Menma agreed with a grin, "What've you been up to that would require you to be out here though?" He questioned.
"Training." Anko answered simply, and vaguely.
Menma blinked for a moment, spotting a black seal on her neck, "Oh, so he did get it working?" Questioned the youth, now that he looked at her he could see a visible strain to her stance, it appeared that she'd been working quite hard for quite a while.
Anko nodded, "The boost is good and all, but it's really draining."
"Still require the soul fragment?" He prodded.
"No, now it's just linked to my chakra core and a summon for a... second stage." Revealed the now younger of the two.
"Ominous." Towa commented.
"Somewhat." Agreed the purple haired girl, "Mitarashi Anko." She greeted, offering a hand.
"Towa. I've heard some things about you, Anko. Good things I assure you." Informed the demon with a small smile.
"Then they're probably lies." Anko waved off with a straight face, Menma released a single, mirth filled 'Ha!' At that, "Gone to see your old lady yet?" Questioned the young girl.
"Didn't see her at home, figured she was either busy or on a mission. Either way I'll see her sooner or later." Menma explained briefly.
"Hmph, when did you gain independence?"
"About the same time I ended up becoming a God." Menma answered with a half lidded gaze, Anko looked at him and snorted, "Speaking of..." His eyes turned upwards, whilst it was still midday the moon was a celestial body visible if the clouds didn't cover it. "I sense something..." He said quietly.
"What is it?" Asked Towa, not able to sense Godly energy herself, and in that respect had to now rely on her partner.
"A powerful signature, either in or on the moon." Menma said, crossing his arms and frowning in thought.
"Powerful by your standards or by normal standards." Questioned Towa.
"Pfft, 'normal people' she says." He muttered to himself, "Normal people, yeah. I mean I'm still not really sure the limits of what I can do, I could definitely break a planet, maybe a solar system? But yeah, this power's no threat to me, but it could kill little Anko here with it's presence alone." Menma said matter-a-factly.
"Jeeze thanks, any more praise you got in that head'a yours?" Questioned the purple haired girl.
"Hey, I already had my time with being weak. I'm gonna be damn proud of where I am now... even though it's kind of a hollow pride. Super Saiyan God... pheh." He spat with a shake of his head, unconsciously touching the jewel in his chest, eyes returning to the moon. "Without this it'd already be gone. Lucky or fortunate?" He queried.
"Riiiight." Drawled Anko, "I'm gonna go back to training, it was good to see you back." Menma looked away from the moon and nodded to her, "Nice to meet you Towa-san." She bid them farewell and hopped back over the fence.
"Getting introspective, darling?" Questioned Towa idly, looking to the gem in his chest it was an almost completely black orb, roughly the size of a bottle-cap.
"Just a thought occurring to me, Goku's transformation died away in a few minutes of continuous fighting, but because of this..." He gestured to the gem, tapping it with his finger. "My transformation remains, and I haven't really been able to do anything with it, Demigra was pathetically weak, he got most of his power through manipulation and mind-control, and my fight with Beerus was ruined because of that. He'd turned Beerus feral, and removed his ability to think straight. Here's hoping that the 'God of Destruction' is a sore loser. He might end up coming my way." Menma thought, tilting his head and resting his cheek against his fist.
"Well... what do you want to do?" Towa asked.
"That's the question isn't it?" Menma thought aloud, looking into her eyes, as though searching for his own answers, "What will I do? I already had some things set up for my return, Saiyan pods that we're researching, a prisoner with potential after either myself or the reprogrammers get to her."
"The Saiyan woman? Do you think something as severe as mental-reprogramming could be done in... long have we been 'gone'." She added air quotes to that.
"72 days... give or take a bit." Menma answered. "But you're not wrong. It'd take longer to do that through normal means, but we shinobi... we're a real sick bunch." He admitted, "We've got seals that do it for us. Remove everything from a person, rip it all away and leave them fresh as a baby." Menma frowned lightly, Towa blinked.
"Well that certainly is quite the dastardly technique. How complex must it be to perform?" She wondered aloud.
"Well it's a seal, so anyone with the knowledge and the skill could do it, but there's a lot of risks involved, one of the most common ones being the complete and utter destruction of the person's mind, literally melting their brain. I can't imagine it's a pretty sight." He informed, somewhere inside himself he kept telling himself to never look at Towa's tattoo's during conversations like this, and kept his eyes on other things, like her hair, her eyes, her lips. Something to fix his gaze on.
"That certainly is a risk... but you're amazing at seals, why haven't you done it?" She questioned.
"Well when I left I only had a little bit of know-how when it came to seals, everything I know is self-taught, I label is 'Body Sealing' because I don't use paper like most Seal Masters. I use my own body, or my targets, as a catalyst for the seal. It's a bit complex to explain off the bat, suffice to say though at this moment I can, before I left I couldn't. I'll go and check on her tomorrow... I wonder what kind of person she'll be... ya know. Afterwards."
"I'm sure it'll be fine." She assured.
"Do you mind if I... make her seal look like your tattoo, just to make it less suspicious?" He asked quietly.
Towa blinked for a moment, looking at the symmetrical, branching swirl on her chest, "I don't mind. It'll certainly help with any cover story you concoct." She acquiesced with a smile.
"You're the best." He said, "I am a bad, bad person." Privately, his mind brought up how this could only help him in the long run, even with the numerous transportation techniques at his disposal, and the best of them all, Instant Transmission, he couldn't be everywhere. His children would be the last line of defence for the planet.
"I know." Towa said, leaning up and pecking his cheek, "Now come on, I want to meet this mother of yours, she must be something."
"Curb your expectations, if what she said before I left is anything to go by, I doubt she'll have missed me." Thought a mutinous part of his mind, unbidden. Menma blinked, "Paranoia aside... that's not unfeasible."
Well... looks like he'd have to be moving out soon anyway, what with the fact he had things he needed to work on in private, Towa had her own studies to conduct and he'd imposed on his mother for too many years, his existence, his attitude, his presence.
"Heh, a God getting upset that ihs mother might not even love him? Pathetic." He looked up to the sky once more, his arms loosely around Towa's shoulders. "I'll do better. I'll be better. When I'm a father. It will be because I'm ready for it, because my partner is ready for it. No rushing. No unnecessary mistakes." With that oath sworn, upon the moon itself, his guiding light, his shining star.
Menma, the Primal Saiyan God had returned home. The planet, nay, the galaxy would know his name, and tremble at his approach.
End
Did you like it? Lemme know. If you didn't... fair game, one point. If you too, struggle to come up with humorous witticisms at the end of stories because you've made it a trend and you can't stop now or you'll let everyone down-OH GOD IT'S HARDER THAN I THOUGHT!
….
Anyway.
Obviously this chapter is an establisher, setting up a lot of things to be dealt with soon. And all the other stuff, with the Saiyans, the Cold Empire, stuff like that, will be dealt with when it comes up.
Okay? Okay! Fun times all 'round.
Raxychan!