Summary: Recca, Kagero, and a SI are placed in the world of the Nine Tails
Crossover: Flame of Recca, Naruto
Disclaimer: I don't own what other people do. I do own me, though.
Feedback: Sure thing... I like hearing how I can improve :)
Pre-fic Comments:
ranma hibiki: First review for this fic V Thanks for the comment! So far, this fic is only since I don't know of any Naruto mailing lists... as for how it is going to turn out, I have some ideas for the SI character, but telling them now would ruin the story :)
Alex DarkFire: Thanks... I'm working on this fic when I run out of fic to read, so it's been turning over nicely so far. As for Recca's Bloodline... yes, it does mesh nicely. When are you going to continue that Buffy/Inuyasha/(many) fic?
I'm not entirely sure how each of these people would use the -san, -sama and so on. Made up a few techniques, mainly for the Morino family. In case you don't pick it up, the two are father and son. I'm guessing re Ibiki's father's name and Fuuko's mother's name.
Is it me, or does Kyuubi look more like a mutant rabbit than a fox?
Sarutobi sighed, then took a long drag off his pipe. This was going to be a long night.
He knew that taking back the office of Hokage was a mistake, even if Yondaime had died performing the seal that had sealed away the fox demon.
"So they appeared in mid air?," he asked. "Hiashi?"
The guard nodded. "A blue disc of lightning appeared, directly where the kyuubi last stood, and the two adults and the two children passed through it."
Hyuuga Hiashi stared at the area where the guard had indicated the portal had appeared. Veins around his eyes stood out, inflated unnaturally as he used the Hyuuga 'Byakugan' ability to see things that others could not. "A lot of chakra was used here, Sandaime, but it is strange, and is dissipating fast."
"The form it took seems... wild, and strange in pattern," Hyuuga Hizashi, his brother, pointed out. "As if this was a reaction of some sort, an accident."
The short, elderly leader wandered closer to the small heap, crouching by the woman who held the two children close. "Hmmm... I want these people moved to a secure ward at the hospital, and Morino Ibiki present when one of them wakes."
"Hokage-sama!," another guard called out, running up to him. "Houses have appeared! Out of nowhere!"
Sarutobi took another drag from his pipe. Make that a long, troublesome night, as Naru-san would say.
Kagero groaned as she slowly regained consciousness.
She was in what felt like a bed, in strange clothes, bound by strapping. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being sucked into a portal with the strange man, and--!
"Recca! Matora!," she cried out, testing the straps. "Where are my children!"
A tall man in a trenchcoat stepped forwards as her eyesight cleared. White walls and the smell of disinfectant. Ah, she was in a hospital.
"You can see them after you tell us who you are, how you arrived, why you're here, and where you're from."
The slim, blackhaired kunoichi fell back into the bed. "I am Kage Houshi, I arrived by interfering with the Time Manipulation Technique after a long time, I have no idea why I'm here, and I'm from most recently Tokyo, Japan."
Her interrogator's eyes narrowed, as if trying to divine her truthfulness from her appearance. "Do you have anything to prove this?"
"I might be able to help you if I knew where I was," Kagero said sharply. "I swear I have no idea what the Hidden Leaf is!"
"You are in the hospital of the Hidden Leaf Village," the man said. After a pause, he began making hand seals, but with both hands. "Truthfind no Jutsu!"
Kagero shivered as a faint trail of coldness floated through her.
"You are telling the truth," the man allowed. "Hokage-sama will talk to you further."
"Hokage?," Kagero asked sharply.
"The leader of the Hidden Leaf," the man expanded. "You truly are not from around here, if you did not know that."
"I... I was born into the Hokage Ninja," Kagero said slowly. "I think that Jikuuryuuri threw me into another world."
Faintly, in the distance, an indignant female voice rose in volume.
"How dare you insinuate that I, Ishijima Kasumi, am a spy! I am an honest woman who sells flowers! But then again, a hag like you has no use for blossoms! And if you've hurt my baby Domon-chan, I'll make you wish you were never born!"
The man sighed. "Anko... so enthusiastic, but... ma, ma."
Leaning back, managing to look relaxed despite being strapped to the bed, Kagero leant back with a slight smile on her face. "Go on. I know you have someone to dress down for poor technique."
Not saying a word, the man left the room, saying to the guards, "Unbind her, and return the two infants to her."
Ishijima Kasumi glared at the woman in front of her, who glared right back. She might be a widow at twenty four, but that didn't mean that punks could push her around!
"I only want to know if you are a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village! How did your house appear in the middle of the village? Why are you here?"
"I sell flowers, how dangerous do you think I am?," Ishijima said snidely back.
"Anko," a man said from the doorway. "I'll take care of the rest."
The woman got up and left, leaving Ishijima alone with the man.
"I demand you untie me and return Domon-chan to me!"
"In a moment," Morino said calmly. The woman was already wound up -- putting her back up further would be detrimental. In a show of good will, he untied her upper torso. She didn't look strong enough to be a threat... but one could never be sure, which was why her legs were left tied -- they would slow her down. "We only want to know if you are a threat to the people living here, then we'll let you go. I'm sure you can understand that."
"Ahhh... such a nice man," Ishijima Kasumi smiled. "They should have sent you in first, even if you do look like yakuza with that coat. No, I really don't know what's going on. I just want my baby back, and to return to my home."
Morino nodded. "I'll tell the guards to return your baby, then you just have to speak to Hokage-sama, then you'll be free to go."
"Hokage-sama?," Ishijima asked politely.
"The leader," Morino explained, getting up. He then left, saying to the guards, "Give her child back, and escort her to Hokage-sama."
Hanabishi Shigeo was really, really confused at this point. He'd been walking back home after going to the corner shop, then he'd come across a couple of babies lying on the ground. He'd picked them up, and from there it had gotten really weird, culminating in him being knocked out and waking up to being tied to a hospital bed.
A very elderly man walked into the room, studying him. The old man's hands seemed to flicker through a few positions as he mumbled to himself, sitting on a chair by Shigeo's bed.
"Oi, ojiisan, can I at least have one of my smokes?," Shigeo asked.
"Not quite yet. You gave us all quite a shock, appearing in front of the village gates like you did. I am Morino Shinji, and you are...?"
"Hanabishi Shigeo," Shigeo said. "I make fireworks for a living."
"Really?," Shinji asked. "It's been too long since we've had fireworks here. Where did you come from?"
"Tokyo, Japan. I don't know where the hell I am... say, is that woman who was with me okay? I mean, I hate to see a woman crying."
"Oh, she's fine, and your concern speaks well of you," Shinji said. "I'm here to find out if you're a threat to the village."
"Me?," Shigeo asked. He laughed. "Only if I'm smoking around the fireworks again. Man, my oyaji hated that."
Shinji laughed at that, too. He got up... his Truthspeak no Jutsu he'd done when entering had indicated that the man was speaking only the truth (in the man's opinion, anyway). "I'll have the guards untye you, then escort you to speak to Sandaime-sama."
"Who's Sandaime-sama?," Shigeo asked.
"The leader of this village."
Oh. And him in his work clothes, too.
Kirisawa Raiko was not a happy woman.
Her husband, Kirisawa Mizu was even less happy.
They had been at home, playing with their child Fuuko, when for some reason they had all blacked out. Then they had woken up in some strange white hospital, separated from Fuuko-chan and then interrogated.
Now they were in front of the guy running this joint, along with some other abductees, and they could get some answers.
"Where are we, and why are we here?," Ishijima Kasumi asked, politely yet firmly. A year old baby was cradled in her arms protectively.
"From what we've been able to determine..." the Hokage said. He was an old, old man in strange looking ceremonial robes. "You were hit by random fluxes of some... out of control portal or summons."
"Kage Houshi-san, I believe you may have some answers for us," Morino Ibiki said. This way, everyone else would put pressure on her to explain as well.
"It is painful still to think of it," Kagero said. Her grip on Recca and Matora tightened, causing Recca to cry momentarily and Matora to look around warily. "Please, do not make me tell you."
Demands broke out among the other time travellers to know what was happening, save Shigeo.
"Okay," Kagero capitulated. "But first, I want your word that this won't leave this room."
"You have it," Hokage said. "Continue."
"Long ago in our world, the warlord Oda Nobunaga laid his eyes on the Hokage Ninja, and our mystical Madougu weapons. He felt that our weapons would be of more use in his hands, and declared war on us."
"Why didn't you stand against them, or run?," one of the men behind Hokage asked.
"A flood of insects can kill even a tiger," Kagero said. "It would have been a war of attrition, and Oda would have taken our madougu bit by bit, until the Hokage were a pale remnant, and he had everything we held of value."
"So your leader sent away your... madougu... to be hidden," Hokage surmised.
"Ouka-dono did, yes. I ran from the battle with our two children. I would not and will not let my children die! I used the forbidden time manipulation technique, Jikuuryuuri, and sent them ahead in time."
"Hold on," Mizu said. "How did we get sucked into it, then?"
"There are penalties for using forbidden techniques," Kagero said. Her grip tightened on her two children once more as she thought on them. "To use Jikuuryuuri is to be cursed by Time itself, and to be forever unable to touch those who go through the portal."
"So... when you picked up Recca and Matora... that wasn't supposed to happen, so the portal thing went mad?," Shigeo summed up.
Hokage sighed, exhaling smoke from his pipe. "So... travellers from another world. What to do, what to do..."
"Mister Fireworks can get a job here, but what about me?," Mizu asked. "I don't think a place like this would have much work for an accountant and his assistant!"
"Accountant?," the Hokage asked, not sure what the unusual word meant.
"I deal with budgets, numbers, money, making sure of how money is used," Mizu said. He ran his fingers through his hair.
"The Hidden Leaf village has many clients, and we have trouble keeping the books straight sometimes," Hokage admitted. "After a trial period, we could hire someone of your ability."
"I don't know what I'll do," Kagero sighed. She rose to her feet. "I won't bother you any more..."
"No, I think it would be... beneficial if you were to stay, all of you," Hokage said, eyes thoughtful. Input of new, strange ideas and thoughts would be a good experience for the people of Konoha after the ruin and devastation of the Kyuubi. "Hmmm... Kirisawa-san, Ishijima-san, your houses were... brought with you?"
They nodded.
"Shigeo-san, while we have a shed and open area you can work in, I'm afraid that housing is still at a minimum, so you'll have to share with Kage Houshi."
"Why is housing so short?," Kagero asked.
"A demon destroyed much of the village, and killed many people," Morino Shinji offered. "We're still recovering."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Kagero said, head inclined.
Hokage rose to his feet. "Well, let's go have a look at things."
I sighed.
The front door to the apartment that Hokage had loaned to Shigeo and Kagero-kaasan looked familiar, for some reason. I couldn't quite put my finger on why, though. Kagero-kaasan had laid out some blankets and put Recca and I down to sleep, and then she and Shigeo sat in the other room, discussing matters.
So far, they had agreed to keep matters as they were. Kagero-kaasan planned to raise us for a few years, teaching us the ways of the Hokage ninja before we entered school here.
School.
I hadn't thought of that, yet. What would I specialise in?
Most of the high-end ninja I had seen in the Naruto manga specialised in something. Zabuza was a water specialist, Kakashi was a sneaky bastard with a hell of a memory, Maito Gai had more drive than a Chevy big block, Gaara would specialise in sand, and Shikamaru would specialise in tactics and shadow manipulation...
The last thought tugged at my memory for a moment.
Shadows...
The Eikai ball! Crystal Madougu of shadow, it allowed the user to fall into shadow like someone slipping through the surface of water, and to divine far away scenes. From memory, Kagero-kaasan possessed it. I liked the idea of using it... although, it would probably be a good idea to have some other aces.
My one year old brow crinkled, as Recca slept beside me.
Well, what worked in other worlds?
The first thing that sprang to mind was the 'Shifter' prestige class, from Neverwinter Nights. A user of that could shapeshift into other species, the pinnacle of the Shifter's class an Ancient Dragon. That was one possibility.
What else was there?
Well, I had always liked the Necromancer and Pale Master classes, but they were likely to get me lynched, even in a shinobi village.
Maybe inspiration from the original Flame of Recca series? No, most of the other madougu were too difficult to replicate without the actual weapon. The only one that could be copied, from memory, was the madougu of illusion, which was admittedly extremely limited. I suspected that that was one area in which the Naruto series outstripped Flame of Recca -- illusions, the art of Genjutsu.
That was it!
Genjutsu! Hiding in the shadows, turning my opponent against themselves. The only problem was what if I came across someone resistant to illusion, like the Byakugan eyes of the Hyuuga clan, or the spinning Sharingan eyes of the Uchiha?
I turned as I thought it over. The eyes saw through the immaterial illusion created by the genjutsu user. Well, if we created illusion in the mind rather than the real world, then the enhanced eyes would not see the illusion, but the brain still would.
I'd have to make nice nice with the Morino clan, I thought as I yawned and went to sleep.
Post-fic Comments:
Re music, I used to think the band 'Hammerfall' was cheesy. Then I heard the band 'Dragonforce', even cheesier. Then I heard the band 'Holy Knight', finding entirely new levels of 'ye gods, do they really believe that?!'. It probably says something about me that I still quite like those bands, yet hate boybands and the like, and Britney Whatshername.
I know it might seem to you 'Good grief, another I Am God fic, but bear in mind that the SI character hasn't actually managed to do anything, and plans don't always work in real life.