The Pink Haired Pirate: An Old Norse Saying
Rated: M for language, future mature themes, violence, gore
Warnings: Spoiler alert for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
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Chihiro has been staring at Marcurio for a while. And the tall, Imperial mage, was waiting for an answer as well. Sakura was trusting him. He knew she was a mermaid, he knew who she really was... and also knew that Chihiro herself was not a simple house cat or pet. But his trust was bought.
'Yet he stayed long after their 'contract' was done.'
The cats would maul him to death if he decided to step wrong, anyways.
"Well, I have a... gift for you. How much has Sakura told you about summoning contracts?"
Marcurio stared down at the Ragdoll cat and the freshly summoned scroll which appeared in a cloud of smoke right next to Chihiro. When has she done the handsigns and how? Paws worked as well?
"Little to no information." The gears inside his head started to spin, however. A gift. Summoning contract. Cats. "Do you want me to sign a summoning contract?" He rose his eyebrow, incredulously.
Chihiro merely grinned. "You're too smart for your own good, aren't you, Ponytail? Well, I have a feeling that you might need it. But the process is a little complicated and you will have to earn the trust of the other cats. You won't be able to directly summon me, since I'm bound specifically to Saku-chan as her personal summon."
Marcurio sat down on the chair in his room. He looked at Chihiro, then at the large scroll which took most of the space of his desk. Even if they haven't known each other for too long... he trusted Sakura. And Sakura trusted him back. Dwarven ruins dwelling truly brought people together, since they had to watch their backs many times, in order not to get killed. Initially, she hired him. Now, he felt the need to assist her with no money involved. He supposed it was bad for business... but he couldn't say that he cared really much.
"So? Do you accept?"
Marcurio nodded. "I do. What do I have to do?"
Chihiro almost grinned. "Okay, first of all, open this scroll on the floor. But let's be quick, Sakura will freak out if she realizes it's missing."
"Then shouldn't we be putting this back?" Marcurio sat down crosslegged on the floor, anyways. He laid down the wide scroll and opened it. Several names were written downwards in red ink. The first set of characters was strongly look-alike too. Right bellow every single writing, was a set of fingerprints. The last one was particularly smaller. Too small to belong to an adult or even a teen. They were tiny.
"It's fine, as long as you don't stare at it too much. The summoners were generally from the Uchiha clan. See?" They have written their last names first, in their own pellicular language. "The last one is Saku-chan. We have signed the contract when she was young...very young. She was about 9 or 10. Unsurprisingly, we are very good at reconnaissance, espionage and all kinds of stealth-involving missions. Something which she has needed dearly even at that frail age." Chihiro shook her head.
"I see." There was also a red paw-print blotched in the bottom-right corner of her name. "So, what do I have to do?"
"Bite your thumb until it draws blood. You will have to write your name downwards, but the characters don't really matter. Afterward, leave your fingerprints."
"With...my blood?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"It's a serious thing. But that's how it works with all other summoning contracts. Snakes, toads, slugs, hawks, salamanders...now chop-chop!"
Marcurio sighed and stared at Chihiro, before biting hard on his thumb. He hissed a little, before pressing his bleeding finger over the paper, right next to Sakura's name. How did the little Sakura withstand the whole process?
"You will have to get used to it. Each summoning requires a bit of your blood to be correctly performed. Afterward, I will teach you the handsigns."
The last name followed first, then his first name completed the contract bound in blood.
'MOTIERRE MARCURIO'
Motierre. A name that has haunted his childhood for a very long time. His father served in the Imperial army before his leg injury could not allow him to go on the battlefield anymore. His uncle was a member of the Elder Council. His grandfather was, too. And the father of his grandfather. It was only his own father who betrayed the family tradition and picked up the sword, along with marrying a commoner. But Giovanni Motierre was proud of his own heritage and proud of his own family to let the worn-out ideals cloud his judgment.
How much weight could a simple surname carry?
But being an arcane prodigy, helped him use his surname much to his benefit. Despite his deflection, nobody sought to bring him back home by force. He was allowed to do as he pleased, so his 'running away' was more symbolic than anything. Except for her mother who wanted to hunt him down.
Chihiro looked over and examined his name. She smiled. "Very good, very good." She rolled the scroll back in place with her muzzle, sealing it in a storage scroll. "Now, I will teach you the required hand signs to perform the summoning technique. The procedure is simple: bite your thumb, smear some blood anywhere on your hand - palm, arm, whatever, do the hand signs and place the bloody hand on the floor. Are you ready?"
Marcurio nodded his head. If he fought a Centurion and lived, learning a few handsigns will be a piece of cake. Or so he thought.
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"I'm sorry, Chihiro, but these are confusing. And you're telling me that ninjas like Sakura are able to do these and even more complex hand signs very fast?" He almost tangled his fingers a few times.
Chihiro sighed, exasperatedly. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu or Summoning Technique or Shinobi Conjuration is not a lesser technique. I mean I know that you mages just focus the chakra in your hands, raise your arms or whatever, but the hand signs are the ways we unseal certain chakra gates. The stances could look awfully similar. You want to extinguish a fire and you will in turn cast great fireballs. Now, again."
Marcurio sighed. "So. Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey and Ram. Right?"
Chihiro inspected him and nodded. "Not bad. You will have to work on your speed, though. You won't have the time to tangle your fingers on the battlefield. But I think it's time for you to cast the real deal. Do as instructed."
Marcurio bit his thumb - again - and smeared the blood in his palm. He did the hand signs, correctly this time, and slammed the hand on top of the floor. His eyes widened as black markings started to spread out on the wooden floor before white clouds of smoke emerged. They soon dissipated, revealing a small brown cat with an ugly red bow tied around its neck.
"Tora-chan?"
'Tora' looked around, a little puzzled, skittish.
"Chihiro-chan? Where are we? We're not in Konoha, right?"
"We're not, Tora-chan."
Tora visibly sighed. Marcurio could not understand their conversation, just yet, but the look of relief was visible on his summoned cat's face.
"Thanks, Kami-sama! I couldn't bear that old hag anymore! She squishes the hell out of me! And when I finally manage to escape, she goes to Hokage-sama to send a bunch of brats on my tail!"
Chihiro was pitying the cat. But they had business to settle.
"Wait there for a second..." Tora sat up and spotted Marcurio standing in the room. His thumb was bleeding, and Tora briefly saw the dark marks of the summoning seal disappear on the floor. "I've...been summoned?"
The older cat merely grinned. "Tora-chan, meet Marcurio, your new master!" She then turned to Marcurio. "Ponytail, this is Tora, your new summoned ally in battle."
Marcurio nodded his head and crouched, shaking the brown cat's paw.
"He doesn't speak Japanese."
Tora's eyes widened. "Whaa? Then where exactly are we?" She sniffed him briefly. "And he doesn't smell like an Uchiha either."
The only word Marcurio could make out from their conversation was 'Uchiha', Sakura's clan.
Chihiro shrugged. "We're in Skyrim right now. It's far away from home, but it's pretty nice. And cold. Marcurio is a friend of Saku-chan, you can trust him. I offered him the chance to sign the cat contract because I thought it would prove itself to be useful later on. It will take some time until he'll learn to speak the language, but don't worry! Body language has always proven itself to be useful in battle!"
Tora looked a little suspicious about it. "Alright then. I suppose it's time for him to meet the Cat Chief, don't you think?"
Chihiro froze in her place. "I knew I have forgotten something to tell him."
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Marcurio has learned a few new things about cats during the past half an hour. First of all, they all lived in an abandoned city at the periphery of the Hidden Village in the Leaves, Sakura's home village. Or simply, Konoha. There resided only two humans inside: an elderly lady they called Neko-baa-san and her younger granddaughter. If his memory served right, neko meant cat and obaa-san was grandmother. So she was called...the cat granny?
"Tora-chan is basically a master of espionage missions. Breaking and entering, infiltration and silent assassinations. You see, she was commanded by her former summoner to spy on the Fire Daimyo. His wife was a known cat-lover so the appearance of a basic house cat was the perfect disguise. Poor Tora-chan put up with the woman's antics for years. When her summoner died in the Uchiha Clan massacre, she was also broken free from her mission and duty, but the woman would not let her escape. Every attempt was ruined by a team of small three genins catching and bringing her back to her. She loves cats in a bone-breaking manner."
'Uchiha Clan massacre?' Marcurio nodded grimly. Tora was walking a few feet in front of them, leading the way to the mansion. The brown cat let them catch up in the back, keeping him updated.
"I see..."
"Tora-chan may not show it but she's glad she has a new master. Now she's basically free to roam the cat mansion day and night until you summon her. You have actually done her a favor." Marcurio couldn't help but return Chihiro's smile just slightly.
"But what happened... to the Uchiha clan?" He watched as Chihiro's expression turned sober.
"That will be a story for another time, Ponytail. It's not my place to say it either." Chihiro shook her head. "Anyways, welcome to Sora-ku."
The sights of a rundown city entered his field of vision. The desolate landscape was depressing as they walked through the dry streets amongst the blocks of buildings. They walked closer and closer to the periphery.
"This place might look like a hell hole, but it's not. Look." Chihiro sat down as Tora waited for her friend to undo the illusion cast over the entire city. The largest building was a traditional styled mansion. Marcurio rubbed his eyes as the building held itself with a stark contrast between the rest of the city.
That was the real power of the illusions? All they have been casting back at the University and in battles were mere toys? Shadows of what they were truly capable of? Chihiro merely grinned at his look of disbelief.
"That's...impressive...I admit."
"I'm glad you think so. Now, when you enter, just bow your head lightly and I will do the talking. Nekobaa-san might have a solution to the language barrier. At least a temporary one."
"Alright, do your thing."
Chihiro motioned him to push open the shoji doors of the mansion. The welcoming space was illuminated by paper lanterns. A few pairs of shoes lined neatly against the wall, next to the door, were telling him to take his shoes off, at least temporarily, until they'd meet the Cat Elder. Tora smiled, approvingly, as Marcurio took off his shoes.
One of the doors slid open, allowing a stocky, short old woman step inside the chamber. The gray hair was pulled back by something which resembled a black cat ear headband. Over her hunched back was draped and tied an orange dress with green trims and a light purple or beige scarf was wrapped around her neck.
"Chihiro-chan? I thought I've heard your voice. You just missed Tamaki-chan, she has left to see that Inuzuka boy." The woman's kind, foreign, voice echoed through the hallway as she stepped inside. She squinted her eyes, spotting Sakura's partner, Tora-chan and a tall young man who looked a bit too different than all kinds of people the old woman has encountered in her lifetime.
The young man bowed his head in respect, as Chihiro spoke for him.
"It's great to see you again, Obaa-chan. This is Motierre Marcurio. He has signed a contract with the cats...he's Sakura-chan's friend." She paused. "But there's a little problem. You see, Tora-chan has already accepted him as her new summoner, but we have a little language problem. He's not from the Elemental continent and neither from the islands close by."
Nekobaa scratched her cheek and nodded. "I see...I see. I know what must be done. Follow me."
Chihiro watched as the old woman entered back the hallway where she came from. "She's telling us to follow, come on." Marcurio did nothing more but comply and move.
Nekobaa motioned them to sit down on a brown couch, as she looked through a small, wooden chest of trinkets. The woman stepped closer to Marcurio and without a warning, she placed an amulet around his neck. Much to his surprise, he could understand what was she talking about. The amulet seemed to be made of silver.
"This should be enough. You will understand what are we speaking, and you should be able to speak back. Try it."
Marcurio looked a little skeptical but still followed the old lady's instructions. "Did it work?"
"Keep it until you learn to speak our language, Initiate." Nekobaa stepped away from him. She reached through one of the bookshelves and pulled out a small, pink book. The cover was spotted with several brown-colored cat paw-prints.
The strange thing about the book was its opening. They were opening exactly from the opposite side than the books back home.
"Thank you, Nekobaa-san." Marcurio bowed his head again. The name rolled of his tongue in a strange, foreign manner. The necklace was not fixing the accent problems, however.
The old woman smiled, benevolently. "Tora-chan accepted you already. But to be truly bound to the contract of the cats, you have to be accepted and welcomed in their glaring. And for that, I will have you collect one last paw print from Richie the Lion."
"Collect...a paw print?"
"Exactly. Chihiro-chan and Tora-chan will guide and tell you what do you have to do. Wait up here, I will be back." Nekobaa handed him the Paw Encyclopedia. "Denka, Hina, come on!" The two said cats dressed up in matching kimonos jumped off their respective seats.
"Hai hai!"
But Marcurio was too busy looking through the pink book of red-colored paw prints. At least he was now sure the red ink was actually ink and not blood, or else it would have left a dark brown stain.
"Oh, the Kikukyu Taizen! The Paw Encyclopedia! I remember when Sakura-chan was this small and she kept running and running after the cats."
"Sakura collected all of these?"
"She was not alone. You see, shortly after she was brought back to the Uchiha Clan with her family, Uchiha Itachi, his little brother Sasuke, Uchiha Shisui and his proclaimed little sister, Sakura, visited Nekobaa because their parents were all away on duty. Itachi and Shisui came up with a game to keep little Sasuke and Sakura entertained. That's how they founded the Paw Encyclopedia, as a result of their game."
Marcurio spotted a framed photo on top of the shelves. Next, the ones of an old woman, Nekobaa and a younger girl he guessed she was her granddaughter, were a few pictures of four children. And one of them was definitely Sakura. Her pink hair was contrasting the other three black-haired kids.
The first one had longer black hair, tied in a ponytail. That was Itachi. He held his hands on the shoulders of his little brother, Sasuke. He was smiling brightly, and if Marcurio was to be honest, his hair looked a little like the hind feathers of a duck. An even taller kid with shorter, spikier hair was Shisui, who was grinning widely besides a little 8 years old Sakura. They seemed happy.
A few pictures forward, there was an older Sasuke and a blonde boy their age. Sakura was sitting in the middle. Above them smiled a masked man. Sure, he was masked, but his visible eye was closed and turned into a 'u' shape. The other was covered by a headband cloth on top of which was sewn a metal plate. But all four of them bore it on their foreheads, displaying their village's crest.
The final picture was taken on a crumbled battlefield. But everybody was smiling. The blonde boy and Sasuke from before were smiling as well, but one was doing better to hide it...despite the stumps which replaced one of their arms, each. In the middle was Sakura. Blood was caked bellow her eyes, and the purple, diamond-shaped symbol was gone, left bare in the middle of her forehead, except for strange black markings which spread across her body like a butterfly made out of ribbons. There were several other people in the picture, as banged up as the trio has been, but the spiked boy from earlier, Shisui, was missing.
"A lot has happened during the Fourth Shinobi World War." Nekobaa entered the room. She has been standing in the doorway for a few minutes actually. "A lot of lives were lost that day...but for the first time, each of the Great Shinobi Nations was raised under a single flag. Under a single regimental leader, commanding several shinobi from different villages, working together in a perfect harmony of death." Nekobaa stood next to him.
"But if all the countries were allied...who were they fighting against?" The look on Nekobaa's face promised a not so pretty answer.
The old woman picked one of the frames up. A much taller man, an obvious Uchiha with pitch-black eyes and equally dark hair, long and spiky which almost fell to his knees, was sitting beside a chair, where a woman with pink tresses was holding a child with similar petal-colored locks. "Her father."
But how could a simple man raise the whole nations against himself?
"Uchiha Madara was one of Konoha's two founders. A man who manipulated an S-class organization from the dark to gather the tailed demon beasts to create a surge of immense power." Nekobaa stared at the happy, joyful and victorious, but worn out faces of Konoha 12. The war was finally won.
"How is she adjusting to the life there, young man?"
"She's...fine. She tries to help everybody she can." Marcurio kept the answer short.
Neko-baa merely smiled. "That sounds like Sakura-chan, alright. I'm glad to finally see her in charge of her own fate, for once. Now, you should meet the Cat Elder. But not without this."
Marcurio stared in horror at the headband presented. He took it, feeling his eye twitch. It was white, fuzzy, with a pair of distinguishing cat ears on top. They were white as well, with pink in the middle. He gulped.
"Is this necessa-"
"Absolutely. This way the cats won't attack you because they will think you're one of our own. It's crucial, in fact." Neko-baa-san nudged him to put the headband on.
He sighed and stopped staring at the headband any longer. He just slid it on his head, carefully not to mess up his hair. The tips of his ears burning in embarrassment. Chihiro snickered in the background.
"You look adorable, Ponytail. Wait til Saku-chan sees you. Neko-baa-san, do you still have your camera? You should definitely take a picture!"
Marcurio glared down at her. "I will turn you into a pair of gloves if you don't quit it ."
Tora jumped off the couch and right onto Marcurio's shoulder.
"Shut up both of you and let's get going. Come on then, Mar-kun. It's rude to leave your elders waiting for you, you know."
Marcurio broke out of his trance and nodded, swallowing the lump which unknowingly formed in his throat.
"Alright. Thank you, Neko-baa-san." He bowed his head a little, much like he has seen Sakura doing, and stepped inside the dark corridor of the manor. Chihiro followed as well, but she would not interfere with Marcurio's trial.
"I think that you know where are we, right?" Chihiro asked from behind, breaking the ice. They have already walked a few hundreds of meters actually, through the dark corridor. He did not dare to open a door on either side of the hallway. The whole point was to maintain focus, right? Marcurio frowned.
"We are not on Nirn, are we?"
"Nirn, Earth, mud ball floating through space; same thing." She commented. "Theoretically... yes. Practically... no. It's almost impossible to find this place if you don't know how. If you don't, you at least need to find a medium, either a summoner or a cat summon to take you here. The mansion is placed under a heavy set of illusions to keep away rogue shinobi or raiders. Neko-baa-san usually sits outside, until official matters, like these, occur, to greet the potential summoner, or to provide weapons for a price."
"Toads live in Mount Myōboku. Snakes live in the Ryūchi Cave. Slugs live in Shikkotsu Forest and hawks fly above the Hikari Peak." Chihiro lectured him as Marcurio navigated through the maze of doors and corridors, making it a little hard for him to focus on two things at the same time.
"We live in Yōkai Town. Just for your information. Have you figured it out? I'm sick of walking."
Marcurio's eye twitched.
"Figure? Figure what? What's to fi-"
It suddenly occurred to him. It hit him like a ton of bricks. They have passed the same painting, the same doors, the same vase, over and over. And he hasn't even noticed. All he was focused on was reaching the door in the back of the corridor which only got farther and farther away.
"It's...it's an illusion, is it?" Tora smiled proudly.
"Took you some time. Now, dispel it."
Wait, what?
"Dispel? How am I even supposed to do that? Is there a way I could dispel it? Without killing the caster?"
Tora snorted. "Easy there, tiger. The caster is not in the room. I have forgotten that you are not a shinobi." She replied, taking in Marcurio's surprised expression. It was genuine too, and not many fooled the 'apprentice wizard'.
"It's not hard. But I suppose that at your fancy magic school, they taught you how to blow some fire and cast a simple illusion, but you've not been taught what's inside of you. And how to truly manipulate it."
Marcurio was listening to Tora, carefully enough so she would not miss a single little detail about...anything.
"A genjutsu is the way the caster influences the victim's sensors. Your eyes, your ears or hell - your nose even. Maybe. If there's a way you can disrupt your chakra flow, the caster's influence on the genjutsu will falter. Makes sense?"
Well, it did. But there was a small little problem with it.
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
Tora shook her head. "Meditation, Mar-kun. Me-di-ta-tion. Hold your hands in the Tiger seal. Yes, that's good. Now close your eyes and focus. Feel the chakra running through your pathways."
He's been taught to cast illusions before. But not as ...pellicular as these.
And he's never been taught to touch something which couldn't actually be palpable. Like chakra. Or mana. Or life force.
But he could feel it. He visibly relaxed, as he felt the air around him started feeling different. He tried to play around with the chakra flow. It was a strange sensation.
Tora almost beamed.
"You're doing it, Mar-kun. Just a little bit."
His eyes opened just slightly. The door which seemed so far away flickered before his sight. He touched the chakra coils a little more. Harder this time. He felt the reality shatter. His knees gave under him, as he grit his teeth.
Both cats immediately padded over.
"I...did it work?"
Tora nodded. "Good job. I suppose it takes some practice to break out genjutsu without breaking your head as well. Don't worry, we'll practice. Or you could ask Saku-tan to tell you a thing or two about it. Her clan was a genjutsu specialist after all." She grinned slightly.
She brushed her head against his shoulder. "Now get up, a weak genjutsu is barely the first step of your initiation in our glaring. And eventually, summoning your own glaring as well."
Marcurio nodded numbly, making sure that the horrid headband hasn't fallen off his head completely.
"Yeah...I get it. So everybody has to go through this initiation process?"
"Not really."
He raised an eyebrow. Chihiro continued, doing her task of serving as his guide through his path.
"Uchihas are naturally connected to cats. Sure, each can summon whatever animal accepts them, but they were naturally connected to cats which requires no trial. But Sakura and even together with her genin team, has already collected paw prints. But it was just for fun. You're the only true outsider who signed up to summon cats."
"Guided by who?"
"That's beside the point. There's only one paw print left to collect. The only official one, that's it. The kittens do not count."
It took a little while to walk and get to the main hall. Chihiro was following them, silently, staying behind. Matatabi-sama was waiting for them. Chihiro wanted to jump in, boast how Sakura-chan hasn't dispelled her in so long and that she would be her boss cat but...
She might screw Ponytail's trial. And the bragging might turn her into a crisp. It was a bad idea.
Marcurio knocked on the door and waited. A growled 'Come in.' was heard from the other side. He gulped and pushed the gigantic door open. His jaw almost dropped, but he had more composure than that.
The cat, staring down at him, was enormous. The ceilings were also raised and much higher than the chambers he's been through so far too. The cat was blue, it had dark stripes and spots all over the body. An eye was yellow and the other was green.
But the MOST notable feature was her tail. Tails. Two tails were swinging to left and right in mild impatience. And thankfully, Tora stepped to talk to her Chief first and foremost.
"Greetings, Matatabi-sama." The small brown cat was not afraid, but she was certainly holding a tremendous amount of respect for the former Tailed Beast - still as strong as ever.
"Tora. You're back." Matatabi eyed the small brown cat who bowed in respect, who motioned the young man standing next to her to do it as well.
"And I see that you've brought a guest."
"Indeed, Matatabi-sama. He has summoned me and ensured that I was free to roam once again."
Matatabi sat up and walked a little closer, looking down at the small cat. She circled them around, her scorching eyes not missing Sakura-chan's cat companion and the strange young man, who wore a pair of cat ears headband. That alone let her know why were they there, and that they were not intruders.
They were guests of Nekobaa herself.
"I see. So he's an initiate then." She walked back to the immense bundle of pillows, sitting down. She was calm, but her forked tails were swaying around.
"Which means he's after Richie's paw print."
Marcurio gulped. The large feline was radiating power. And mana.
"I only seek the completion of my initiation, ma'am. I mean no disrespect or anything to jeopardize the bond between humans and the summoned cats." He bowed his head. As much as he hated it to admit, Imperials were known for their silver tongues and diplomatic skills, after all.
Matatabi sounded pleased to have to work with potential initiate, who knew something more than being a knucklehead blinded by their own ninja way. Who knew something about respect for their elders. And that was good. Very good. She bared her teeth.
"Someone with a brain to back up all that brawn. I'm pleasantly surprised. Nekobaa-san has started working on the Paw Encyclopedia fourteen years ago. After the cats reach a certain age, their paw prints are used as a registration method for all nekonin. If your paw is not registered, you can not be summoned."
All of this seemingly complex system has stemmed from a simple game?
"Now, your task is to collect the pawprint of my mate, Richie. He will be waiting for you. If you succeed, you will be granted the blessings of our glaring. If you don't... let's just hope you heal fast."
Richie was has left his mate's side right before Marcurio could start his trial. Chihiro walked close behind them, mostly to monitor and report if foul play was involved. The objective was to get a paw print, not his whole head was a trophy, so killing him was out of the question.
Even if he did succeed, Matatabi would hang his head right next to his. No, pissing off a cat demon was not wise at all.
Richie was laying in wait. Truth to be told... he couldn't wait to finally be summoned. He missed battling, but unless he was registered as a special cat summon... he could not come to assist anyone in battle. And yet he couldn't make the trial too easy for the new flesh. Where would the fun in that be? He sighed. He will just focus on not killing the fresh blood. Both his dear mate and Sakura-sama would be pissed if he did so, would they?
Tora was sitting comfortably on Marcurio's shoulder as he pushed open the door. He let it close itself with a small creak, and Chihiro waited for the battle to happen. To his right, was a gigantic sheet of paper and a whole bucket of red paint to assist him in capturing the print.
Marcurio walked closer, his breath hitching in his throat, as the shadow laying down was much more enormous than he thought it was. It moved - no he - moved, and stared down at him. In the little light the chamber had, he could make out the soft, pastel green fur and the large, luscious purple mane.
He'd comment on it but the cat outside had blue fur and two tails so who was he to judge?
"Well. I guess this is it. I have to get your paw print. It's not going to hurt you at all... hopefully..." He readied in an offensive stance. He channelized his mana and with soft light and a small sound, his arms were engulfed in a blue aura. He armored himself with mana before he ran at him.
Despite its size, the lion seemed to be pretty swift, dodging the chains of lighting sent in his way. But Marcurio couldn't leave a window of breath for the lion to take. He just hoped he wouldn't run out of mana before Richie would finally be exhausted.
Richie charged at full speed and when he was close enough, he swung his paw with a force, not even he knew he could muster. A shield made out of sheer mana force protected his body from the impact, but that still flung him away like a rag doll. He cursed.
Tora jumped off Marcurio's shoulder just in time, before being crushed against the wall. The small cat hissed.
"We need a plan. Richie-sama is very strong."
But her words fell on deaf ears.
The man was up on his feet again. Two balls of lighting sparked loudly and they soon connected with the gigantic beast. He hollowed in pain as his fur shook and frizzed. Richie succumbed to his paws, breathing heavily. Marcurio walked closer, carefully, to the howling animal. The lighting ceased, and Marcurio raised a hand to touch the mane.
Richie's golden eye opened out of a sudden.
Marcurio's features exhibited pain and through and through, as the jaws clenched against his clothes did a little bit more than just graze his skin. He was almost positive he was bleeding too. He wheezed before the lion slammed him into a wall with a loud crash. His entire body twitched and spasmed.
Stoneflesh absorbed most of the blow... but it was far from invincible. Stone was not that hard to crack.
He watched the contents of his bag being spilled on the floor beneath him, and among the copious amount of paper sheets and notes - his precious research notes, he flinched - he also noticed several soul gems spilled on the floor. He looked at Tora, who immediately hopped to his aid. She bit the lobe of his ear, to give him the necessary flinch to get the hell up.
"Tora. I have a plan. You cats can make those weird clones, right?"
The cat nodded. "Yes, we do."
Marcurio looked at Richie, who seemed to have backed away. The lion's objective was to defend his paw print until the pursuer was incapacitated... not to kill the man and the cat, after all.
"Good. I need about..." He counted the amount of soul gems. "Five. I need five clones to take these. They are charged so at my signal you will ..." he bent down to whisper down to the small cat. Tora simply grinned back and nodded.
Marcurio shrugged off his bag of scrolls and turned to face the lion again. His hands sparked again, and he started to run. Richie was back on his tail, carefully not to step on the lighting circular runes dropped on the floor. They glowed brightly in the dark.
"Come on, I only need one paw print and I will leave you alone." He dodged a swinging paw to his left and right. A paw slammed down on the wooden floor made it crack almost beneath Marcurio's feet.
He just remembered he has forgotten his boots in the mansion's lobby. He had to be careful not to get splinters.
The ward was wavering around his left arm with each hit. Marcurio glanced to left and right, before disappearing in plain sight, without a single sound.
Richie looked around confused. He stepped carefully, but he could sense that something was wrong. He heard footsteps after all.
Five small silhouettes jumped from the shadows. A spark of chakra emerged from the five gems Tora's clones were holding. A strand of lighting shot out and Richie flinched, but it did not strike him. It shot right next to its left, connecting to the second soul gem. The second strand connected to its third and all the way back to the first, forming a pentagon-shaped lighting enclosure.
Marcurio's spell faded, making him visible once again.
"There's one way out of there, buddy. Sign the paw print and you'll be left alone." The real Tora pushed him the bucket of paint and a large sheet of paper beneath the strand of lighting.
The lion was trapped, he knew that much. Reluctantly, he dipped his paw in the paint. But just as he wanted to stamp it on the paper... he decided against it. Instead, he growled and swung his paw, spraying paint all over the place.
Tora lost control as the paint covered her entire face and senses. Marcurio lost control too. The clones poofed away from existence and the empty soul gems were discarded on the floor.
Richie walked closer and closer. He was not mad. He was furious. A hind leg stuck inside the paint can and flew the bucket as soon as he freed himself.
Chihiro was watching everything with hawk-like eyes. So she never missed how the paint-stained hind leg stamped right the sheet of paper, so she sprinted out of the chamber. And it was a good thing she called right for Matatabi and Neko-baa-sama, before Richie could incapacitate the new summoner.
As soon as the doors opened, Richie sat down, and Marcurio was helped onto his feet by the cat lady.
"Is it..."
"Yes, Initiate. It's over. We've been told you have used quite unconventional methods and techniques, but in the end, you managed to get the paw print which will register Richie the Lion right on the active neko nin roster. Congratulations!"
Marcurio blinked, before exhaling and bowing just slightly.
"Thank you."
"Welcome to the glaring. Don't make us regret our decision."
"You won't."
Matatabi smiled just slightly.
Marcurio stayed behind for a little bit to gather his notes and bag back. Tora and Chihiro stayed behind to help him out. At least he was finally done. And best of all... he could get his boots back and take off that horribly fuzzy headband off. Finally!
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"Well, now that was an adventure. But look at the bright side, Mar-kun! You're a cat summoner now!" Tora grinned as she perched herself on top of his right shoulder. "Hey, maybe in a few years, you could be unlocking your sage mode!"
"Sage mode?"
Chihiro shook her head.
"Don't get so ahead of yourself, Tora-chan. He still has a lot to learn. But meanwhile...let's eat!" She couldn't help but grin as they walked through the streets of Konoha.
Marcurio has met two Chūnin at the gates, as soon as they left Sora-ku and headed for the village. Chihiro was more than adamant to give him a tour.
Their names were Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki. They were an interesting pair of best friends and battle partners that, after the war was over, they resumed their Gate guarding duty.
There was a time of peace, he learned. But it did not mean that rogue ninja would not try to infiltrate and sack a healing village. They were known opportunists, after all. Now that he thought a little better.. they were not so different from the bandits back home.
He has also learned that they were very familiar with Sakura. They knew her since she could barely hit their knees with the top of her head, unsurprisingly, and has more often than not trained her along with the rest of the team whenever their sensei was not around. Or Shiranui. Who the hell was Shiranui?
Even if Konoha was still healing, it certainly held an unmistaken beauty at dawn. The lanterns and street lights were glowing in the dark, and the stalls were still open til late into the night. You could purchase food, masks, sweets, drinks, books and anything else you could think of.
Marcurio walked closer to the mask stall of all kinds.
Masquerade.
Animal masks.
Made out of porcelain, paper or plastic.
Painted or blank.
Feathers or no feathers.
Shiny or matte.
Needless to say, he was having a hard time deciding on what to buy, thinking of his family back home. He couldn't go empty-handed after all.
"Buying souvenirs?" Tora looked over his shoulder. She replaced that ugly red bow with a simple black ribbon, acting instead of a hitai-ate.
She was summoned by an outsider, in Tamriel. Marcurio was not a ninja so her immediate allegiance laid with him. There was no point in wearing Konoha's crest.
Marcurio simply nodded, looking at the mask. He tapped his pocket. He had septims on him, on top of a few gemstones found in Mzinchaleft's chests. Maybe a garnet could cover the cost of two masks, right? And the septims were coins made out of solid gold.
"Yes... My siblings will hang me if I don't get them any souvenirs." He replied, grimly.
The booth owner couldn't help but chuckle.
"What a pair of siblings you have. You don't seem to be from around here. Tell me; what do your siblings like?"
Marcurio scratched his chin to think. The last time he saw them was 9 years ago. His mother filled him in with a few details in the letter but...
"My little sister wants to be a bard. Her twin brother is working with father, mostly. But they're a duo of mischief, really."
The booth vendor listened and nodded. He looked through his stock of masks and he hummed, before pulling out two similar masks. They were both white. One was crying and the other was laughing; a known symbol of the world of theatre.
"How about these matching masks for the troublemaking duet?"
Marcurio weighed them. They were both made of porcelain, and the details were painted with great care. He eyed the salesman. Most likely he has chosen these particular products because they were expensive. And that he was a tourist.
He internally snorted.
He dug inside his pocket and pulled out a polished garnet gem stone.
"Would this suffice? It's a veritable garnet gemstone. It's ancient too." He has found it in a tomb after he was sought by a treasure hunter who needed some help.
The man's eyes sparkled. He gingerly took the gemstone and raised it, up, looking at it through the dim light of the lanterns. He was pleasantly surprised that it was not only genuine but also very beautiful. He'd look for a jeweler in the morning. Maybe he could even have a beautiful necklace made for his wife.
"Oh, it's more than enough, young man. I hope your siblings will enjoy their masks." He smiled.
"I'm sure they will."
The vendor wrapped the porcelain masks carefully and let Marcurio tuck them inside his bag, before resuming his way through Konoha's streets.
But no visit would be complete without trying out the local food, so Chihiro nudged them to head over to Ichiraku's ramen stand. A few stools were already occupied. The owner was constantly boiling water and preparing the noodles, mostly for a certain client who kept downed down bowl after bowl.
How did somebody even have that kind of a bottomless stomach?
Marcurio sat down on the stool, a little uncertain. The air around him screamed foreigner. He looked a little above the stove, trying to make something out of the menu. There were pictures of what the food should have been like, but he couldn't really make out much of the description and ingredients.
He guessed that the amulet was mostly tied to speech.
Teuchi noticed the foreign customer visiting his stand, but he recognized the summon of Naruto's dear sister in everything but blood.
The man in question had a hard time deciding what to order, appearing to be in deep thought.
He walked closer.
"Good evening. How can I help you?" He smiled friendly.
"Good evening. I'm not sure of it myself. A lot of the ingredients are foreign for me, so I will take the house's specialty." Marcurio replied smoothly before Chihiro intentionally bumped against his side. He grunted.
"And two ramen with ... fish? for these two balls of fur."
Teuchi noticed a heavy accent that laced his words, on top of the strange clothes and overall appearance. Yes, he was a foreigner... but how far was he from home?
"Alright then. Three bowls of ramen, coming up!"
It took him a few good minutes for the broth to heat up, before he poured it over the bowls of pasta, along with the other ingredients and the narutomaki. Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, and waitress, put her kindest smile and served the bowls.
Marcurio mimicked the actions of the other patrons, as he separated the chopsticks. He found it a little difficult to eat, and he was even more surprised to see the cats use then with relative ease. How was it possible? Well, they were able to perform handsigns too, right?
"Oh, Chihiro-chan!" He heard the waitress exclaim.
"I almost didn't see you there! How are you doing?"
Chihiro licked the bit of the fish broth off her nose with her pink tongue.
"Oh, I'm finally back in the game! Saku-chan finally got to her senses and we're finally fighting again. But it's far away. She is kinda busy right now; but we'll bring souvenirs." The cat grinned, before resuming to much on a narutomaki.
"This is Saku's friend; he became a cat summoner recently."
"I have a name, you know?" Marcurio sighed, looking at Chihiro. It would be embarrassing to argue with a cat... would it?
"Yeah yeah. Details."
"So you guys got the pawprint!?" Their eyes darted towards the blonde young man sitting right next to Chihiro. There was a mini tower of empty bowls right in front of him, with a rather pretty young woman. The most notable of her features were the milky white eyes.
Was she blind?
Or were they just a weird genetic anomaly, like Sakura's hair?
But the blond... as much as a normal hair color could it be... he had whiskers-like marks on his face. Not actual whiskers, but they looked more like scars or permanent birthmarks, rather than anything else. He started to talk again.
"Last time I visited Neko-baa and saw Richie, I actually started to feel bad for the poor fella who'd have to collect his paw print. Where the hell has Sakura-chan found him... it's beyond me." He continued.
"Or the genin team. You saved the asses of a team of genin, 'ttebayo!" Naruto grinned widely.
"Wait there a minute. So Neko-baa-sama would have hired a team of brats to collect a pawprint as big as that?" Marcurio's eyebrows rose up into his hairline in surprise.
"Mhm." Naruto resumed his bowl, stuffing noodles in his mouth.
"I mean, we have collected Matatabi's. Sort of. It was just a fragment of her Yugito Nii has lent us. We didn't, and I doubt that Neko-baa knew that Matatabi was together with us for all this time.."
"Naruto-kun... you're getting ahead of yourself." Hinata shook her head softly, noticing the visible looks of confusion on the foreigner's face, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
"Start from the beginning, he's confused." His fiancée patted his shoulder.
Naruto-blinked a few times before wiping his mouth. He pulled put a grin akin to Sakura's whenever she was excited or very sure of something.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my fiancée, Hinata." He quickly introduced her, and for Marcurio, everything was getting clearer and clearer. He has recognized the two faces from the framed pictures inside the living room. Nobody could forget that whiskered-face and that obnoxious smile, dulling out the mangled landscape of the battlefield.
But he wasn't missing an arm. Actually, the supposed 'missing arm' was wrapped in white bandages that disappeared under the short, orange sleeves of the collared jacket.
"Sakura-chan is my little sister and our friend. We've been in the same team for years... and one of the missions assigned to us was to collect Matatabi's paw print. But she was much larger."
Naruto related, as he pushed away the tall stack of empty ramen bowls.
Matatabi in her relative mortal, physical body was roughly the size of Richie. And even like that, the lion proved himself to be quite a challenge, because of the cats' unwillingness to give out their paw prints.
"What do you mean by.. larger...?"
"Matatabi-chan was a Tailed Beast; made of chakra. A demon of sorts. She was sealed inside Saku-chan, just like I have Kurama, but after the war, Saku babbled something about keeping a promise, so that why she has a physical body. Saku still kept a tail-worth of chakra."
Naruto explained, rather casually. Wasn't this classified information?
"Well... that explains her obvious fondness with Sakura if she'd been her 'tenant' for so many years." He concluded. It also explained her physical prowess and endurance, and rapid healing rate. The wound on her back from Calixto's dagger was gone within hours.
He twirled the last set of noodles on the chopsticks. It would be a shame to let it go cold.
Ramen was actually very tasty.
Naruto shrugged.
"Mata-chan has always been nicer than this grumpy old fox." He laughed, but his face suddenly contorted in an expression of pain.
"Sorry, Kurama..." he muttered mostly to himself.
Must have been the fox.
The cats has finished their bowls of ramen by the time their chatted has died down. Teuchi turned off the stove, a thing which has greatly puzzled Naruto. Was he closing right now? The night was still young; the stall was supposed to be open for at least a few more hours.
"Alright, closing times. And don't worry about the bowls; they're on the house."
Naruto's eyes also spotted a few planks, nails, hammer, and a sign.
"Don't tell me you're closing down the stall, old man!"
Ayame giggled as she gathered the kitchen tools and to wash and pack them up. Teuchi shook his head.
"Only temporary, Naruto. We are opening a big place here. And just in time for the Rinne Festival. You won't have to freeze to death while eating ramen."
Naruto's expression was all he needed to laugh even harder.
"So. What's the Rinne Festival?" Marcurio found himself asking, out of curiosity. He was walking alongside the couple, with Tora on his shoulder and Chihiro to his left. They were more than happy to show him around, as long as Tora could hide from all genin teams.
"It's a winter holiday we celebrate at the end of December. It was initially made to pray for our deceased ones but it has turned into a gift-giving celebration." Naruto quickly explained.
Chihiro looked up to him.
"December as in Evening Star."
That clarified it for Marcurio.
"That sounds like Saturnalia. It's a holiday celebrated all over Tamriel." It's been 9 years since he has last celebrated it with his family. He'd hide in his room, burying his face in the books, until his mother and siblings would drag him out quite literally. He'd scoff and cross his arms, but truthfully, he actually enjoyed his family's company.
And he realized that only a year or so after he left, and when Keevara was hanging out the Saturnalia decorations around Bee and Barb.
Naruto thought that Marcurio seemed like a genuinely good guy. Maybe a little like Sasuke, but less emotionally stunted. And cats liked him. Maybe that's why he became a cat summoner; if he had Sakura-chan as an acquittance, then he had the means to sign the contract as well.
"Hey, you should come with us at Yakiniku Q. We are meeting the rest of the Konoha 12 who's not on missions right now." Naruto smiled friendly, and Marcurio looked immediately down at Chihiro. She simply shrugged.
"Why not, I guess."
And that's how he has met the band of ninjas; Sakura's friends. Konoha 12 consisted of the three teams of rookie once-genin who were recommended right away by their teachers in the chuunin exams, plus another team who graduated the Academy a year earlier, but they all became really close friends in the end.
They went through hell and back together, and Marcurio could easily recognize their faces from the photos.
Sakura's other brother was missing, however. Instead, a man with paper-white skin sitting next to a rather loud woman with blonde hair was occasionally commenting on the subjects at hand. Naruto especially seemed to be annoyed by his choice of words and the smiles as fake as plastic.
But he's been let known that the man, Sai, has gotten way better at expressing his emotions.
They were, at the very least, an interesting and welcoming bunch. They were more than happy to introduce him to their village, explain how everything went, and the more he stayed with them having a second dinner, the more he understood his new pink-haired battle partner.
He's been asked several questions, about his occupation, about where was he coming from and of course, what the hell was that pink devil up to all this time. Apparently, she has neglected the simple aspect of keeping your friends and family updated with your location and health, which tended to make one worry.
"I'm a mercenary primarily. But I mostly get hired by those who need a hand with sensitive jobs like ruin dwelling and relic retrieving." He commented as he took a bite from his grilled meat.
He has also described Skyrim as best as he could. It was cold, torn away by a civil war nobody really wanted to take a part of, you had to watch every single step you could and a wrong offend might have sent you to the block because immediate execution was an acceptable punishment... on top of the many dungeons filled with damned souls, ruins of the past, giants and all sorts of creatures which could bite you and not make you human anymore.
"But living in Skyrim truly shapes your character. Keeps you sharp and on the edge... and for some reason, Sakura loves it."
"Well, Forehead Girl always loved weird stuff." The blonde woman, Ino, commented, chuckling. "Well, as long as she's happy and healthy, I don't care. Just bug her to write us more often."
Marcurio... made a mental note to tell her about it next time he saw her.
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"So? What do you think of Konoha so far?" They were looking to get to a safe place so they could leave for Skyrim safely. Chihiro focused heavily on the several seals her master has scattered across the discovered locations. Tora was perched on top of Marcurio's shoulder, ducking her head, so nobody would recognize her.
"Konoha..." he scratched his chin. "The people are friendly, so far. It's warmer than Riften too. What were the chances of meeting one of Sakura's brothers so soon?"
Tora shrugged.
"Ichiraku's is his favorite restaurant and food place. I'd be worried if he hadn't shown up there, eating his weight in ramen. Regardless. Maybe you and Sakura-san could come over for the Rinne Festival. Or at least for the New Year."
Marcurio pondered the idea. "Maybe. I should definitely let Sakura know I've been here." He checked inside the bag. Two masks were laying inside, wrapped, along with the dreaded pair of fuzzy cat ears.
"Can you point me at a weapon shop? I want to get Alessio something as well... if the brat hears that his sister got two gifts instead of one, like him, will throw a fit." He already felt a headache incoming."
"A new detour is it then!" Chihiro grinned and cackled, scouting ahead.
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The sight of Sakura laying down inside her own room greeted their eyes when Chihiro undid the seals of her room in Bee and Barb. They were late, and everyone was asleep, she included.
Marcurio did notice the fact that she has not changed before falling asleep, and has also noticed the armor of the thieves he has fought more often than not to protect the loot he has gathered. The thought of her being a thief angered him. Somehow. He had his own ways of making coin... and she had her own.
"Well, give me the scroll. You have your own now." Chihiro motioned Marcurio to place the gigantic summoning scroll and lean it against her desk.
Marcurio was given his own copy of the cat summoning scroll which could be even passed down to a disciple if he ever reached to attain one. It was a gift from Matatabi.
"Thank you for the experience, Chihiro. Thank Sakura on my behalf as well."
"For nothing, Ponytail." The cat grinned. "But you know... you still owe me fish."
He sighed.
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A/N: The first omake is officially done! As you have noticed, the protagonists of the Omake were Marcurio and Chihiro, plus his new summon... Tora-chan!
Yes. Tora. The Fire Daimyo's wife's cat. She has finally gotten rid of that fat lady and can go on missions again. And by missions, I mean assisting Marcurio with his jobs. Fun, eh?
Marcurio has also met the Rookie 9. In case you're wondering.. yes, Neji is alive. I have already reached this point in the original story so it wouldn't hurt to let you guys know that Neji was apart of the squad that brought Sakura's ass back from the Grand Line after the Impel Down breakout. So that's how his ass got saved. It's not really a spoiler. Ace is alive too. It's something which's been settled since the dawn of time.
How do you guys like him tho? Marcurio honestly grew on me. A lot. It's been totally accidental and yet he became one of my favorite characters. I'm very tempted to make him her official love interest in the favor of others. Very tempted.
But even so, it's evident that romance in my story is very very slow-burn. A friend pointed out that Sakura is like a typical shounen anime/manga protagonist. Nobody can confess their love for her stupid ass because it's not yet necessary for her character development. Heh. XD
Well. I gotta go back to writing! See ya!