Some Choice!
ôThe rules to the kingÆs justice were elegant in their simplicity,ö Hiashi remarked. ôThe methods were repeated time and time again with no deviation, so there was never any chance of inequity. Look at the wall opposite the one our young visitor walked out from. You will see two massive stone doors placed side by side.ö He made a series of signals. Men ran to lit a number of fresh bundles of wood in metal braziers on either side of each door. ôThe doors are identical. Great pains were taken so that no sound could be heard behind themà no scents could give a hint of mysteries they hidà and no vibrations could be felt upon touching them.ö
ôThat doesnÆt sound so bad,ö Naruto said to the guard on his left. He then looked over at the man on his other side. ôI hope one of them is a bathroom. I have to take a wicked piss.ô His words carried throughout the large room, bringing about different reactions. Hinata blushed. Neji shook his head. Hanabi smiled.
ôA-h-e-màö Hiashi looked down at Naruto. The boy was certainly unique.
ôWell I do!ö Naruto glared at Hiashi again. ôIf youÆre going to kidnap someone, donÆt do it right after theyÆve had ten bowls of noodles and broth, and six cups of tea.ö He grumbled under his breath ôIÆd like to see you hold it this long
<hr>
"Okay, look. This is how we do it, Gaia's Protectors: First, you take a guy who is Kin. That means he's got wolf blood in him. Kin, uh... copulates with a werewolf or maybe even another kin, or even a regular human, and sometimes one of us is born. Then puberty happens, and we get acne, our voices crack, and then we turn into werewolves. In that order. But not all at once. That'd be embarassing."
<hr>
Mnemon Explains...
More Wyld Hunts than even I care to admit have ended badly when the newly-exalted child picks up, oh, I dunno, a shovel, declares "I am the Invincible Spear Princess", and proceeds to kill everyone. It's terribly humiliating when your own nephew is decapitated by a prancing thirteen year old with a garden implement.
<hr>
Burning Youth of Konoha
Nobegami rolled his eyes. It would be untrue to say that his old teacher hadn't changed since they parted ways after Nobegami was promoted - the mustache was an affront to all that was good in the world - but this, at least, he could deal with.
Rat, Horse, Bull. "Gai," he said seriously, forming several handseals. "The power of youth compels you."
"But..."
Monkey, Boar, Rabbit. "The power of youth compels you."
"The..."
Scissors, Rock, Paper, Bomb. "The power of YOUTH compels you."
"You are right, of course, my wise student!" Gai exclaimed, seizing the somewhat smaller shinobi in an enthusaistic bear hug. "We shall follow my great rival's plan." He began to rush off, then paused and released Nobegami before continuing.
Nobegami turned to see Kakashi staring at him with both eyes wide open, sharingan clearly visible in his left eye. "What?" he asked.
"Could you do that again," the jonin asked. "I didn't quite catch all the seals you used, but I'm ready now."
The chunin sighed and pulled several sheets of paper out of his vest, fanning them in one hand. "I'm not going to teach you it, sir."
"But it would be so useful," whined Kakashi.
"You'd use it all the time," Nobegami predicted reasonably, "and I think it destroys a few more brain cells everytime it's used. He's got few enough left as it is."
<hr>
Team Explosive Youth
"From now on," he said, "I will only allow you to communicate me in two ways: writing," he passed Naruto a notepad and pen, "and hand signals."
"But I don't know hand signals," Naruto protested.
Shikanenai put his little fingers into his ears. "I can't hear you," he said brightly.
Naruto scribbled on the note pad.
'DON'T KNOW HAND SIGNS!!'
"Well I guess this is your chance to learn," Shikanenai replied after reading the note.
<hr>
Team Seven: Substitute Shinobi
"Ohayo!" Kakashi said, poofing into existence on the bridge.
"Hope we didn't rush you," said one of the two genin waiting for him.
Hmmm, something wrong there, Kakashi thought. One, two... Neshan, Katsu... "Ara... where's Shikanenai?"
At that point he felt a hand latch onto his ankles and with a crash was dragged through the wooden decking to land on the water underneath. And since the water wasn't all that far below the bridge, promptly cracked his head on one of the support beams.
"I don't think the Groundhog Technique Decaptitation is supposed to be used like that," he told boy who melted out of the shadows under the bridge.
Shikanenai grunted something about lazy assholes deserving a bath and swung himself up through the new hole in the decking two seconds before the explosive tags in the water disrupted the water tension that Kakashi's chakra was latching onto.
~
Kakashi was still soaked as he made his way into the Hokage Tower. Several of the ninja he passed stifled laughter at the sight of his dripping silver hair. The previous 'brushhead' appearance now looked like more of a mophead.
Sandaime raised one grey eyebrow as the jounin entered the debriefing room. "What happened to you, Kakashi-kun?" he asked.
"Shikanenai-kun decided to practise a minor doton jutsu on the bridge," Kakashi said as drily as he could manage. "There's a sizeable hole in it, by the way."
"I can understand that might put you onto the water, Kakashi," Ebisu asked curiously, "But how did it put you into it? You were waterwalking almost before you could walk on dry land, the way I heard it."
"Shikanenai-kun also likes to play with explosive tags. I can't stand on the water when it's flying in all directions at once."
"I'm glad that you're finding your new team such a challenge to your abilities," the Hokage said with am almost straight face. "You always have the best stories out of the jounin-sensei."
~
There's a little bar not far from the Academy where the teachers gather when they need to let off a little steam. They can be surprisingly territorial about the bar as being their place. The owner doesn't mind - teachers are steady custom and reasonably unlikely to break the furniture. And very few ninja are willing to contest the teacher's dominance, since it was virtually certain that one of them will remember some blackmail-worthy anecdote about your Academy days.
Jounin-sensei are allowed in as honorary members. These days Kakashi hardly ever had to pay for his drinks when he dropped in there.
This wasn't just because Kurenai Yuuhi had offered a week of neck rubs to anyone who could find out what was under his mask, although hope sprang eternal among some of the younger teachers.
No, it was because after a couple of beers in that particular bar, Hatake Kakashi would spill all, proving that even he, the mighty Sharingan Kakashi, Copy-Ninja of Konoha, had trouble dealing with ninja brats.
It just gave the teachers a warm feeling.
~
Shikanenai hummed a happy tune as he leant on the rail that was all that stood between him and plunging headfirst into the Chuunin Exam's arena. Notionally he was supposed to be waiting for his match on a balcony set aside for contest. Like most rules he encountered, however, Shikanenai was treating that expectation as the merest of guidelines, easily set aside should the need arise.
A few yards along the rail stood Shikamaru, who, having lost his own preliminary match was in fact more or less where he should be - the three of them were standing between the rail and the rank of frontrow seats reserved for the genin who had failed to secure a place in the finals.
Three?
Yes, for between the two Nara boys stood another genin, this one not looking at all her usual meek self.
Hyuuga Hinata looked down at the arena where Neshan and Neji were about to engage in one of the spectacles of chakra-driven carnage that most of the audience had come to see.
Almost idly she tested the restraint of the dual shadow-binding that the two shinobi had laid upon her. Nope. She still couldn't move, although the black markings of Orochimaru's curse seal still rose and fell up and down her neck towards her pale face.
"If you let me go, I promise that I'll only maim him severely?" she offered grudgingly, eyes still fixed on her cousin.
"Is that a promise in the same sense of your promise to prevent either of us from ever siring another generation of the Nara clan if we didn't let you go an hour ago?" Shikanenai asked absently.
Hinata growled softly and from well behind her, Ino and Kiba cowered behind the mass of Chouji. Shikamaru was severely tempted to join them. Bloodline heiresses with cursed chakra-boosting seals were so troublesome...
<hr>
Here's Your Accordion
Once he turned of course, he saw me stood in the middle of the alley, left hand supporting right elbow, right hand cupping my chin in thought. ôSo,ö I told him. ôWhat brings a big strong... man, chasing after me down dark alleys? I know IÆm looking good, but thatÆs ridiculous.ö
He looked slightly stunned for a moment and then rallied his long abused social skills. ôI know what youÆre thinking.ö
ôOh, I really doubt that,ö I told him dryly. ôÆCuz if you did, youÆd probably be trying to hit me. Note that I didnÆt use the word æonÆ there.ö
ôDonÆt worry,ö he said. ôI donÆt bite.ö
ôCan we just get to the bit where you tell me what you want?ö
ôI want the same thing you do.ö
ôOh!ö I said perkily. ôI understand. I know this football player whoÆs gay û itÆs really not that uncommon these days... YouÆve got nothing to be ashamed of.ö
Angel blinks at me like cow blinks at an oncoming train. ôWhat?ö
ôItÆs okay, the jacket and the hair gel pretty much gave it away,ö I assure him. ôAlthough if youÆre like that, why are you following me around?ö
ôLike wha-ô His eyes widened in shock. ôI am not gay!ö
~
ôWell,ö Cordelia said, leaning back, ôI exhibit no surprise.ö This unfortunately took her eyes off Harmony just as the blonde saw me standing behind Cordelia û unfortunate for Queen C that is.
ôWhy was she...ö The boy saw me and hesitated ôKicked out?ö he finished after I smiled thinly at him.
Cordelia gave him a withering look and then caught HarmonyÆs warning gaze and turned to see me looking down on her. I smiled sweetly at the look of surprise that flickered across her face. ItÆs surprising how effective that trick can be, fortunately I was wearing sneakers, not BuffyÆs preferred heels. It would require a whole new level of stealth to creep up on someone wearing those monstrosities.
I waited as long as I dared for the moment to last and then reached over and scritched CordyÆs head, as I would a dog. ôYouÆd be cute if you werenÆt so boring,ö
<hr>
Trading Places
ôSo how long do you think this jutsu could last?ö Tsunade asked in an urgent tone.
ôWellö Ino hesitated ôIf it had been just my charka to power it, a day or less, but I think that Sound NinÆs charka got caught up aswell and he was a chunin soàmaybe three, four days?ö She finished quietly.
Tsunade relaxed, this wouldnÆt be so bad the situation would resolve itself and sheÆd have her twelve genin back in action and ready for the C rank missions that were piling up in no time.
ôExcept wait, NarutoÆs charka got caught up in it aswell and heÆs a bit of a stamina freak so that might add another few daysàI guessö
Tsunade had stiffened.
ôInoàto make this jutsu permanent what would you have to do?ö
Ino laughed nervously ôThere are seals, but I hadnÆt used any of them but with just the jutsu? On twelve people? Hokage-sama youÆd need more charka than a Hokage, maybe three Hokages charka. No human has that much power.ö
<hr>
Let's Do the Time Warp Again
Harry settled down and began to read, the first few pages were rather boring, giving an overview of the house structure. The next few hundred pages weren't so bad as they mainly covered with the formation of the castle and it was interesting to see what spells and wards were used int the construction. After that, after that it started to get weird.
"I never knew that Hogwarts a History had things like this," Harry turned the book sideways to get a better look at the centerfold. After several minutes of admiration, Harry turned to the next page. "How to drive any woman wild in bed?" Unable to turn away, Harry read that section, and the next, and the next.
By the end of the night, Harry's face was so red that it would have been hard to convince an outside observer that it could have ever been another shade.
"And this is Hermione's favorite book?" Harry turned the book sideways to admire another centerfold, "guess I don't know her as well as I thought I did . . . I wonder if Ron knows about this."
<hr>
Upon A Fiery Steed
Jacob raised the other brow. "Aldwin. This is no time to be overreacting-"
"Overreacting?" The Tok'ra's cheeks flushed mordant red. "Our sentries at the 'Gate were ambushed. The ring controls were overridden. The entire base was rendered unconscious." He stopped for a few, furious breaths. "And in the central bathing pools, someone decked one of our agents in obscene glitter, mixed depilatory and neon-blue dye with the hair rinses, and scrawled Kilroy was here!"
"Oh," Jacob said numbly. Yep. That was O'Neill, all right. "Is that all?"
"Is that all?" Aldwin reached out as if he wanted to strangle Jacob's image. And began listing, chapter and verse, exactly what someone had done to the Vorash base with tinsel, glue, firecrackers, popcorn, fifteen unopposed minutes, and a liberal use of imagination.
Jacob listened. And nodded. And kept a straight face.
For all of thirty seconds.
A mental snicker. Oh, stars. Oh, my....
"...'For a good time call Anise; she'll light your masochistic fire! Whips and chains optional.' All over Freya's walls! And then when Garshaw opened the storage cabinet for a towel, it set off a mousetrap which flung a marble which dropped into a vial which splashed onto the tinsel which hid a fuse which set off sparklers over the whole chamber! And Lyde! He was glued to the floor of the main hall, we had to cut him out of his clothes with a laser and - Jacob! This isn't funny!"
<hr>
A Year in the Life
ôAnd youÆre so much more advanced and superior?ö Xander snorted.
ôThe TokÆra are far beyond such a primitive society as yours.ö
ôHuh... really... and ya still canÆt come up with implants that donÆt look like floatation devices.ö
Sam squeaked. Janet nearly choked.
ôOoo, Xander, way to channel your inner bitch,ö Cordelia hooted.
<hr>
Flop, Flop and Fly
Now, being a genius and well-trained FBI agent, Itachi did what every sane man would do when some lunatic with possibly lethal weapons attacked them. He screamed like a girl and ran in the opposite direction, zigzagging between the trees to avoid the weapons thrown after him. If Misao had been there she would have insisted that he was doing his Jack Sparrow-impersonation again. Either way, he ended up hiding behind one of the animal-masked people û all who seemed thoroughly amused.
Fugaku, on the other hand, was far from amused. ôStop making a scene!ö he hissed.
ôItÆs your fault IÆm making a scene in the first place!ö Itachi protested as he peeked out form behind the man he was using as a humanoid shield.
ôExcuse me?ö
ôIf you hadnÆt suddenly gone all crazy on me and hadnÆt attacked me with sharp implements of possible doom, then I wouldnÆt have had the need to run away and hide, thusly we would have avoided making a scene. Ergo, itÆs your fault.ö The teen slowly came out from his hiding place and sketched a quick bow in thanks to his amused human shield, then turned back to his newly-discovered biological father. ôWhy the hell did you attack me anyway?ö
ôTo test your skills in taijutsu.ö Came the stoic reply, though Fugaku was frowning a lot more than usual.
ôWhat skills?ö
<hr>
Spying no Jutsu
Shizune put the almost-forgotten pot of coffee on the desk. ôSo, we need to send a spy to the hot springs. A ninja that can spy on kage-level women in the bath.ö
ôJiraiya already volunteered,ö Tsunande said sourly, ôbut the idea is not to unite them against the leaf.ö She grabbed the pot and refilled her cup.
~
ôAhh,ö Motoko said, sighing as she set the plant down by the riverbank, ôthat was a good exercise! I could really feel the burn.ö
ôMotoko-chan,ö Kurenai said, ôwhat burn? You can't actually feel the chakra in your body. Unless you begin to burn... out... your chakra circulatory system.ö Kurenai suddenly felt like she needed to sit down.
ôAh, so that's what that is!ö Motoko said cheerfully. ôI just know I have an easier time controlling the chakra during training, when I can feel the pain in my body!ö
Kurenai squeezed her eyes shut. ôMotoko-chan,ö Kurenai began, ôif you'd payed any attention at all in your Academy lectures, you'd know that 'burn' is the feeling of your chakra cooking your body. Too much and you could cripple yourself.ö
Motoko blinked. ôReally?ö She sat down, rather heavily. ôI guess it's a good thing I heal so well, then!ö
Kurenai nodded, slightly dumbstruck. This kid was nuts.
~
OMAKE
ôFor the next 72 hours,ö Itachi intoned, ôI will slap you with this trout.ö
<hr>
At the Hands of the Other
ôI will admit I never in my wildest dreams expected to see a sexual spell used in battle.ö
ôHey, I am a sixteen year old male. Hormones make me do crazy things.ö
ôYes, about thatà Must you torture my death eaters?ö
ôYou do it all the time.ö
ôBut I use spells! You use your blasted metamorph abilities to start a strip tease as a sexy young woman only to become Severus Snape as soon as you remove anything interesting. There are some things even I donÆt do! No one should be subjected to a naked Snape.ö
ôItÆs their own fault for looking. I am of the opinion that my psychological torture will stick with them far longer than your Crucio spell. IÆve suffered both, but IÆve never woke up screaming from a nightmare involving being Crucio-ed. Nightmares of a naked Snape howeverà Those will never go away.ö
<hr>
Harry Potter crack ficlets
Sasuke scowled, and interrupted her before she could babble more. "You know what snakes say?"
"... Yes?"
"Any snakes?"
"Yes, even magical snakes. ... Why?"
"There's a man, who I think speaks your language. He... said things to me. I want to know what they were." Sasuke looked away briefly, trying to remember the sounds, then started reproducing them to the best of his abilities.
"Well, you've got a bit of an accent, but so far it sounds like -- BLOODY HELL." Harry sputtered, turning a violent red.
Naruto leaned toward him, almost bouncing. "What? What? What did the old snake pervert say?"
"I am certainly NOT translating that!" Harry retorted, mortally embarrassed. "But, uhm. If he said -- I mean..." Naruto HAD called the guy the snake-pervert, though, and now Harry was uncomfortably aware of how appropriate and yet totally inadequate that was. "I would advise you to watch your rea-- YOUR BACK. Watch your back."
<hr>
No One Saw This Coming
Naruto shrugged. ôDidnÆt hear the name of the jutsu, but afterwards he did this lame laugh and screamed like a little girl, æNow you are cursed to suffer as no man has ever suffered before! The one closest to you will be the cause of your suffering, and it will last for three seasons and maybe a little more if youÆre unlucky! Ahahahaha!Æ and then some other shit, but after that he ran into an explosion note trap IÆd set up earlier and nothing happened, so I kind of forgot about it.ö
Now there were three people staring at him. By mutual (and silent) consensus it was Sakura as the closest who reached over and slapped Naruto upside the head. ôYou idiot, the jutsu that guy used on you must have made you pregnant! æNow you are cursed to suffer as no man has ever suffered before,Æ yeah, but that just means youÆre going to suffer like a woman!ö
<hr>
Accounting no Jutsu
What really got Hiashi's goat, though, was when he realized that his own Hyuuga House was witnessing the same sort of radical new efficiencies. He tracked it to his own daughter, Hinata, who was suddenly the overwhelmingly popular choice for Heir with the Elders (ôNot like the Head fights much anyways,ö one particularly venerable grandfather had remarked. ôBetter a Head that's good with moneyö).
That wasn't the infuriating part. The infuriating part was when Neji passingly remarked that Naruto had been coaching Hinata's accounting. The sudden financial windfall was just a side-effect of his oldest daughter trying to get the Fox to date her!
<hr>
Girl Days
Shampoo released her hold, and drew back. ôBut.. but... why Akane dressed like Ranma?ö
ôI ainÆt dressed like Ranma,ö replied Akane, with technical accuracy. Ranma wasnÆt dressed like this right now after all.
ôWhy Akane TALK like Ranma?ö demanded Shampoo.
ôAw, Shampoo, Ranma donÆt talk like I do.ö At the moment, this ALSO was factual.
ôBut... but...ö
ôRAMEN-GIRL GET AWAY FROM AIREN!ö
If the sight of Akane dressed like Ranma - and TALKING like Ranma - wasnÆt enough, the sight of Ranma dressed like herself and TALKING like herself was. Shampoo began to edge towards the door. (Not the one sheÆd just made - the real door. THATÆS how rattled she was.)
Ranma advanced, bonbori in hand. ôAkane RANMAÆS Airen, not ramen-girlÆs! Ramen-girl leave Akane alone!ö
Shampoo began to sweat. ôWhy... why Ranma dressed like... ô
ôRamen-girl leave Akane alone, or Ranma get very upset!ö
<hr>
Lesser Known Villages
"I am The Great Genius Ninja Souryuu Asuka Langely, from the Village of the Hidden Angel, and if any of you losers can't remember those names by the time this test is over, it'll be because you died before you got the chance to be defeated by me personally!"
<hr>
Heir to Empire
"You let my youma get away!" Ranma bit back sharply, then turned to her supposive daughter with an evil thought that made her smile. The smile wasn't a pleasant one. "You say you're engaged to this idiot?" Usagi nodded her head in slow shock. Something wasn't right hereà.
"Not anymore."
"WHAT!" The word came from every direction at once and the evil grin grew in intensity
"But you can't! He'sà I'mà! MOM!" The blonde wailed plaintively. Tuxedo Kamen simply blinked with confusion
Ranma Saotome savored the chaos of the moment. If they were going to saddle her with this queen thing and the mother bit, she was damn well going to have fun with it. "Nope. No way am I letting my daughter marry a Kuno."
<hr>
Gendo's Need
Sighing, he started the same speech his first lawyer had prepared for him. ôMy name is Shinji Ikari. Though I am ashamed to admit it, my father is Gendo Ikari. No, I cannot be named as a defendant in any lawsuit against him. No, I am not responsible if he had your parents killed, commit suicide, commit treason, slaughter your pets, blow up your city, smash you with giant robots, or anything and everything dealing with his usual cult activities. If you have any questions, please contact my lawyer at this number,ö finished the boy, writing the number on the board. ôThank you.ö
<hr>
Hate and a Stolen Dream
ôIf I hated you I wouldnÆt kill you. Instead I would leave Konoha in search of the Akatsuki. When I found them and Itachi with them, I would kill him. Then I would come back to Konoha. And IÆd be the one drenched in his blood and IÆd be the one holding his head and I would be the one laughing when you finally realize that everything youÆve done to achieve power,ö - the cursed seal, Orochimaru, the valley of the end û ôwas all for nothing.ö
Kakashi and Sakura sit in stunned silence while Sasuke somehow achieves a new level of paleness. Naruto rises, slowly and deliberately, from his seat between Sasuke and Sakura before looking Sasuke straight in the eye. The Uchiha resists the urge to activate the sharingan.
ôArenÆt you glad I donÆt hate you?ö
<hr>
Strange Mission
ôColonel OÆNeill, I am going to ask you this one more time. Did anything out the ordinary happen on that mission?ö
Jack was a surprised by the question. ôNothing Sir. Just like we reported in the briefing. We got to the planet. ItÆs not currently inhabited. Daniel found a couple of rocks. He said there was nothing special about them. It was a quiet mission Sir.ö
ôSon, do you realize what you just said?ö Hammond asked.
ôSir?ö
ôSG-1 went through the gate and nothing happened,ö Hammond said.
JackÆs eyes went wide as he suddenly realized what Hammond had said. He was out of his chair in a second and heading for the door. ôCARTER!ö