Akira looked at the two Otome who appeared without warning in Zipang.
"I see things have gotten bad, if you're wearing your true robes Naruko-san," said Akira.
As Clan Head of the Uzumaki, Akira should normally call her Naruko-sama. However Naruko understood that Akira and most of the clan were still loyal to Takumi, so she suggested that Akira treat her like an equal instead.
"Nagi and the Schwarz have made their move. They've disrupted the Otome system. Only Otome with Masters can still fight...or those who operate on a completely different system," said Naruko, removing her mask.
Nina turned off her robes and waited patiently behind Naruko.
"Zipang will not get involved in this dispute...not immediately at any rate."
"I'm not asking Zipang to do anything... I'm asking that you help me train my Otome in the ways of the shinobi."
Akira looked at the surprised Nina.
"Your...Otome?"
Naruko showed her ring...and Akira could see the counterpart on Nina's left ear.
"I see. Well that's an entirely different matter. Training the clan head's Otome in how to fight like a shinobi is perfectly acceptable, especially since you don't actually hold any allegiance to Windbloom," said Akira.
"And I can help Nina unlock her chakra coils."
"How?"
"The Ninth of Ten is in me, and I have someone who knows how to transfer a tail to a secondary host. It would only be temporary, but she should be able to hold onto enough to be a journeyman and hopefully practice can turn her into an Elite."
"First let's get you settled inside the clan and alert them to what's going on," said Akira.
"Uzumaki-san," said Takumi.
"Takumi-san," said Naruko with a wave.
"I hear you took on an Otome."
"It was either take her under my wing, or allow Artai to use the cursed Otome Gem that went missing. Frankly I think we could all use a break from him unleashing the Harmonium on us," said Naruko.
"Duke Nagi has the Harmonium?"
"It's directly under Fuka Palace. All he would need is an Otome, someone with the song...and the rightful heir of Windbloom."
"So he needs someone other than Mashiro-san," said Takumi.
"Nina Wang is the true Princess of Windbloom, but she chose to become an Otome instead. Should Nagi get his claws into her, he would have all he needed to activate and control the Harmonium. You can see why I was quick to have Nina become my Otome, despite the fact I was supposed to remain undercover as a Coral until graduation," said Naruko.
"Why did you come to Zipang? We cannot interfere in this matter, no matter what Nagi has, unless they threaten us directly," asked Takumi.
"You are aware of the origins behind Akira's clan are you not? Less than fifty years ago, the Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure went missing during a battle for their village. Many assume them to be wiped out...as did I until Akira informed me of her original name. I came not to ask for help from Zipang, but from my clan to train Nina Wang in the ways of the shinobi."
"Which is something that doesn't involve the country of Zipang directly, but from a specific clan," said Takumi, seeing her idea.
"I plan to reopen the path from this world and the one that was lost. And I will restore the clan and the village we once had back to it's original state. But in order for the path to be opened both ways, we have to deal with Nagi first. The only thing I ask of Zipang is that you lend us your shinobi during the final battle between the Otome and the Slaves."
"Which is something we can do without getting into trouble later."
"So, do you think my plan will work?"
"We can only hope," said Takumi.
Akira looked at Nina.
"Lady Naruko may have chosen you for an Otome, but here you will find your robes are useless except as armor. We are going to bring you up to speed in how to fight like a shinobi."
"I'm ready," said Nina.
She had gotten word through Jiraiya that her father was secured far from the fighting. The last thing they needed was for Nagi to use Sergay against Nina.
"A shinobi must be a master of silent movement. Let's see how well you do," said Akira.
Nina had to go through an exhausting obstacle course, all without making a small meter move too far. If she made too much noise, then she had to start again.
Just to prove a point, Naruko flew through the course and barely made the needle move. All while wearing her usual weights.
Nina could barely make it through ten traps without the needle being in the red.
"Not bad for someone who's never trained in silent movement. But it could be better. Next is the fighting exams."
Nina thought she could do better in that...but she ended up being beaten by a ten year old.
"A shinobi is not an Otome. We don't fight fair, and we'll use any dirty trick we need to win. Even if it's something that you might consider cruel. We are masters of disguise, and we can kill without leaving evidence of what we've done."
Next came the physical challenges. Here she was at least able to pass, barely.
"Much better. A shinobi is not some lumbering oaf or a drunken brawler. We must be able to move and move quickly in order to complete a task."
"Otome are good fighters," said Nina.
"Yes, but they also fight under a strict set of rules. Shinobi will do anything to win. And to do that, we need to be in top shape."
The last test was a basic history exam. Nina flunked that one, but she expected to.
"All in all, you are an excellent Otome...but a lack-luster shinobi. We'll have to work on that," said Akira.
Nina was clearly confused as to why Naruko wanted her to go through this training in the first place.
"You don't get why Naruko-sama asked us to train you, right?" asked Akira.
"No, I don't."
"It's simple really. She has to go back to her own world eventually, and she wants you to come with her. Once the path is reopened, we'll be able to bring back a lot of lost knowledge. She chose you to be her partner, which means she thinks you have the potential to keep up with her. The fact she chose you to be her partner shows how much she trusts you."
"So what do I need to do?" asked Nina.
"First we need to get you up to speed. At least chunin level. Then we'll start on the things Naruko brought back to us."
"You mean her jutsu?"
"Our clan had slowly lost our knowledge of jutsu. She brought back what we forgot. Once you can handle the easy stuff, we'll teach you how to do the same thing...and all without your robes."
"Let's get started then."
Alyssa was back. And this time she brought someone with her.
"Naruko-chan, meet Fumi...or as the Otome call her, the Predecessor."
Naruko bowed to Lady Fumi.
"I'm sorry about the mess my Otome system has caused. I can't believe the Schwarz were so callous as to use the body of Arika's mother to disable the system! It's a complete mockery of my work!" said Fumi.
"At least we were able to stop the Harmonium from falling into their hands. The amount of destruction they could have caused alone with just that..."
"When do you plan to give Nina the tail?" asked Alyssa.
"Once she understands about the demon, and has managed to pass most of Akira's tests."
"I'm glad you found someone you can trust, Naruko-chan," said Alyssa.
Naruko smiled. It was long past time she had someone she knew would accept her completely.
Nina leaned against the chair exhausted. Akira was a stricter task master than Ms. Maria ever was. Now, however, was time for more scholarly activities. Namely the history of the Elemental Countries, and the politics behind the Hidden Villages.
Naruko would give a basic overview, but it was Jiraiya who would bring her up to speed.
So Naruko stared on the Leaf village and worked her way down from what she remembered after that raid on the Academy library. It was about time all those boring as hell books were put to good use.
The fact Nina wasn't alone in her suffering meant she had to answer questions from Akira, among others.
Meanwhile, Arika and Mashiro were having their own troubles. They had to find a way to undo the damage Nagi and the Schwarz did to the Otome system in order to regain control of Windbloom. They had no idea where Nina and Naruko were, only that they hadn't been captured by Nagi just yet.
Naruko had Jiraiya teach the class about the Bijuu, since this particular subject hit a little too close to home for her. She did however gauge Nina's reaction to the beasts and their containers.
Nina was horrified that these people would take monsters made of energy and shove them into children without any regards to the consequences, and then treat the children like an extension of the demon they carried as if it was their fault they had a demon sealed in them.
Then came the real shock.
Finding out her partner had the strongest of the nine demons sealed inside her. The other shinobi who mostly listened in for a refresher course, didn't look a bit surprised at the news.
According to Jiraiya, the Uzumaki came up with the first seals for the bijuu...and Mito was the first of the three containers for the fox and she had done it without any help from her clan. Hearing about the Bijuu and still treating Naruko like she should have been treated, with respect and dignity, was a real eye opener.
Which was why Naruko decided to let Nina meet the fox face-to-face.
He had already agreed to help her bring Nina up to speed in the shinobi arts since she had told him of her plans to kill the traitorous Uchiha brat who sent her here. He never liked Sasuke, and would gladly see the boy dead for the insult.
Nina was knobby-kneed when she came face to face with a fox easily the size of the Predecessor's Tomb, if not bigger. Suddenly the idea of a monster capable of destroying mountains didn't seem so far-fetched.
"So you are the little runt my jailor wants me to help. I must say I am impressed you were able to drill into her rather thick head about how to act around important people."
"Oi, Chuckles, drop the mightier-than-thou speech," said Naruko with a scowl.
"Hmph. Well it's still an improvement."
Nina finally found her voice.
"This is the demon sealed inside of you?"
"His name is the Kyuubi no Yoko...if he has a real name I have yet to learn it. I just call him Chuckles to piss him off," said Naruko.
"And that village...they treated you like scum just because they sealed him in you without even giving you a choice in the matter?" said Nina.
She had heard how most villages treated their 'living weapons' and she was appalled. Naruko didn't act or behave like a demon, but like someone abused and neglected most of their life. She was cheerful, naïve, and unusually blunt when annoyed. She wasn't a demon.
Hearing about Konoha from Naruko while they made her go through counseling sessions had hammered home how biased they were about her existence. Seeing how the shinobi here treated her only made her blood boil at the thought of someone hurting Naruko like that ever again.
Sure, this demon was terrifying...but he wasn't Naruko and never would be.
"So what do you say Nina-chan? Still want to be around me even after meeting Chuckles here?" asked Naruko.
Nina saw from her eyes that she didn't want to believe Nina would stay, but still had hope she would.
Nina walked up to Naruko...and instead of slapping her (her first instinct) she did something the girl was very familiar with.
She pinched her whisker marks on each cheek.
"He doesn't have any tears from this, which means you are still the same Naruko I agreed to be my Master. I'm not going to leave you because you have a tall, fuzzy fox in your stomach. Face it Naruko, you're stuck with me until you decide to end our contract," said Nina flatly.
Naruko had tears in her eyes, and they weren't from the pain of having her cheeks pinched so hard.
"Nina-chan!" she said crying.
The fox chuckled. It was about time his jailor had someone who accepted her completely and didn't want to steal his power from him.
"So how are we going to do this?" asked Akira.
"I have a plan in progress. The Kyuubi has agreed to donate an entire tail to Nina to wake up her chakra network, provided that when she finally figures out how to maintain it on her own that she give back most of what he gives her."
"Basically once she gets the hang of water-walking, right?" said Akira.
"Exactly. By that time her own system of chakra coils will be as fully formed as a chunin at the very least, which is more than enough to get something done."
"So how do you plan to transfer the chakra?" asked Akira. Even she had started this training when she was a child...five at the most.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Naruko.
"We'll have the infirmary ready for her," said Akira.
Nina was sitting down on a sealing circle while Naruko worked. Once she settled into a meditative state, she opened her eyes.
"Let's begin. Alyssa, Fumi, you go first."
Nina saw to whispers of what had once been living people settle down on the other two spots.
Fumi, who looked far too much like the Predecessor to be a coincidence, was in the circle directly above her. Alyssa, who looked a lot like Naruko only without the whisker marks and with some innocence left, took one of the spots at her feet.
Naruko released some of her bijuu chakra into the circle...where it went through Alyssa and was directed towards Fumi.
Fumi used her presence and the Administrative power of the familiar blue star above the planet to direct the chakra through her Gem. Nina could feel the Neptune Emerald acknowledging Fumi's presence, despite the fact she had been dead for hundreds of years. It warmed up on her skin, but it never grew so hot that she had to take it off.
She could feel her nanomachines responding to the new energy, and since it came from her master it accepted it with minimal protest. Once she felt full to bursting with this odd power, she felt it cut off without warning.
"Now comes the unpleasant part. Nina, I want you to feel this new energy and direct it where it needs to go. We'll get you started on basic exercises once this is over. We'll skip leaf spinning...that crap is only good for increasing already small reserves. Tree walking would be your best bet," said Naruko, remembering her rather painful foray into chakra control.