By Any Other Name…
Date: May 22nd, 13 years aNb
Days since Team 11 left Mizumiyo Palace: 19
Time: 5:35 PM
"We have to WHAT?!" Motoko Hata's dismay came out as a slightly terrified squeak. "You didn't say ANYTHING about being naked when you invited us to this naming ceremony!"
"I didn't say you had to be naked, Momo… I said you had to be NATURAL." The scarred blonde said calmly. "It's the way of the panthers – nothing metal or manufactured is permitted."
Raiden put his hand to his face as he laughed. "You're saying that every weekend you go out with the Pride you've been letting it all hang out for two days straight? Damn, Takahashi…"
"Well, yes, but also no." The neko-nin trainer replied. "Kyouran?" The panther cub hopped onto his partner's shoulder, glowing faintly as he poured his bestial chakra into Takahashi's body. "Kemono no mohougeijutsu: Ningen pansa!" The Genin doubled over as the jutsu began to overcome him.
Takahashi's body began to morph, his shoulder-length hair elongating to the middle of his back and becoming rigid, almost like a lion's mane. Blonde fur sprouted from his arms – hiding the skin entirely – and panther-like claws capped all ten fingers. A low rumble, more appropriate for a great cat than a human as he pulled off his top, revealing fur everywhere except for a wedge shape that started from just inside shoulder blades down to his sternum.
"Holy fuck, DUDE THAT IS AWESOME!" Raiden said excitedly. "We've GOT to…"
With a feral snarl, Takahashi jerked up, revealing that his brown eyes had turned a dark forest green, with yellow sclera and catlike vertical irises.
"Oh, fuck, he's entered berserk mode!" The male Hata cried out as he and his twin both dropped into combat stances.
Kyouran suddenly jumped between his partner and their teammates. [ Pack Brother, come back to yourself! ]
A moan crawled from Takahashi's mouth. "I am not feral… I am a civilized human…" He uttered, mantra-like, several times before he rose up on his feet. He gave a fang-filled smile to his partner. "Thanks, buddy."
[ You're welcome. ]
Takahashi looked at his teammates, who were still standing defensively. "Sorry about that… My 'berserk mode' is a side effect of this." He tapped the scar still visible on his forehead. "My training to sync with Kyouran to use this jutsu, Beast Imitation Art: Human Panther, gets tapped into if I get too stressed out or angry, but without his minimally Senjutsu-laced chakra the transformation is incomplete." One green and yellow eye twitched slightly as a look of discomfort crossed his human features.
"What's wrong, Takahashi?" Motoko asked worriedly; concerned since he'd only had about a week of recovery since the surgery on his feet.
"It's just that I normally strip before I use this jutsu…" He murmured as he instinctively turned away from her. There was the sound of a zipper being undone and suddenly a thick panther-like tail – the same golden yellow as the rest of his fur – popped out of the back of his pants; thrashing like it had a mind of its own. A gasp of surprise escaped the kunoichi. "Oh, that is SO much better..!" Takahashi moaned in relief. The trousers fell to the ground, leaving him seeming nude, but because of the thick fur covering him from mid-chest to his clawed toes, nothing embarrassing was visible. The Genin stepped out of the article of clothing, revealing that his legs were now reverse-articulated like the panther he'd assumed the hybrid from of.
"Shit, dude…" Raiden said, clearly impressed. "Why didn't you ever break this out in Taijutsu class, like Kiba did in our last year?"
"Well, you saw how easy it is to lose myself in the primal instincts of this form… And it's even STRONGER than when I go berserk as myself… At least three or four times more."
A grimace creased the male Hata's face. Takahashi's berserker rage could barely be contained by the Chuunin Taijutsu instructor at the Academy… "So you're basically saying we need Might Guy on standby if you lose it."
"Or someone like me." Okito Tanaka's voice echoed in the wooded space as he landed heavily. "Sorry I'm late; the closing rush was a little heavier tonight than usual."
Takahashi's fanged grin would have unnerved most people in the Village, although it didn't phase his teammates. "You're here in plenty of time, Tanaka-sensei. The sun hasn't really begun to set, so most of the Pride will still be sleeping. Were you able..?"
The Jonin nodded to his student, tapping a pouch on his hip. "Yes; the Inuzaka tanner had them ready the other day." Okito made a quick gesture and three stone chambers popped up from the ground. He pulled two dark objects in plastic bags from his pouch, offering them to the twins. "Here you two go; clothing appropriate for tonight's ritual."
Motoko frowned, pulling out the object. It was had black fur on one side, tanned leather on the other, and had laces that looked as if they'd been crafted from sinew. "Is… Is this a fur leotard?" She squeaked.
The blonde werepanther nodded. "Last week, some outsiders were hunting in the Senju Forest Pride's territory and refused to leave or pay tribute to Lord Ryoushi. They challenged the Forest Lord for control."
Raiden chuckled as he held up his panther leather shorts. "Clearly that didn't go well for them."
"He spared one of the three, the one who had tried to convince his companions that they were in the wrong, and sent him back to his territory up in Katsuragi Forest."
"Isn't that the one that is perpetually surrounded by a fog that not even the Byakugan can see through?" Motoko asked as she contemplated the clothing clearly made from the invaders' pelts. "The one said to be haunted by beings that steal people's souls?"
"That's what they say…" Okito Tanaka agreed as he stepped into one of the stone cubbies and disappeared around the corner. "I've passed it many times, but I've never seen anyone except for wild animals there. There is a power in the very soil of that region that my innate connection with Earth Release can sense, but not touch. But there are many places like that I've seen in my travels across the continent." The Diamond Turtle of Konoha emerged from his cubby, wearing nothing but a pair of furred shorts that showed off the large man's chiseled muscles and a number of very old scars.
'I know we want Sho-sa above all, but YUM!' Motoko's naughty side whispered in the back of her mind. 'Dr. Mao is a lucky woman…'
"Shut uuu~up!" The lone kunoichi whispered to herself as she entered the middle cubby while her twin entered the last one.
Hata disrobed in silence – both externally and internally – as her mind flickered to Sho-sa's latest video letter. His clone had had a number of new burn scars on his face that had made him twitch in pain on occasion. The clone had assured her they were only temporary, but that Sho-sa had not included any information as to the nature or source of the scars.
She could have SWORN she'd seen scars like that before, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall where…
And that had hardly been the weirdest part of his letter… Sho had told her about his bet with Kimiko's cousin and had even demonstrated how he'd settled the debt. Motoko had laughed herself to tears when he regaled her with the story of how he'd gone a few kilometers in her shoes and the stymied reactions of his teammates when his identity had been revealed.
She'd flushed with a little bit of embarrassment when he showed off as Shion wearing a copy of the same undergarments she'd been wearing as Naru Narusegawa, but not for the same reason as Haruno and Itou had... As someone who had paid attention to Iruka-sensei's lecture on the Transformation technique, she knew the jutsu merely altered the topography of the human body: a man in female form was still male, no matter how accurate the simulation of the opposite gender.
'I know he's in training to be a doctor and Lord knows he got a really good view of my body, but it was eerie seeing Sho-sa as a woman. He was so spot on I don't know if I would have been able to pick him out of a group without my sensory abilities…' Hata thought to herself as she cinched up the sinew straps so her furry leotard hugged her curves tightly enough to be comfortable but still baggy enough to not be form fitting.
'Don't give us that!' Her Naughty side chided. 'That's NOT what weirded you out… It was the fact that we were wondering for a half second if Sho had been born a girl if we'd go lesbian to be with her. He's hot as a boy, so fine as a girl, and yummy looking either way!'
"Oh, God, I really am turning into a horny beast like Rai, aren't I…" The kunoichi moaned in frustration, rubbing her temples.
She glanced at herself in a polished rock and briefly ran her hands over her body through the fur-covered leather before a sighing moan escaped her. "It just doesn't feel even close to the same as his touch… But the trial of that Akechi guy is in nine days, so Sho-sa should be home in under two weeks…" The kunoichi emerged from her cubby last, thanks to the detour her thoughts had taken.
"Finally done mooning over your missing medic?" Her twin said, sounding exasperated with her; briefly running his own hands down his only slightly-less-chiseled-than-Tanaka body the way she'd just been as an unspoken reminder that their bond was a two way street now.
He scowled at her appearance. 'Shit; that would look hot if it wasn't on my sister… She'll probably wear that for Inugami at least once before they… Ugh! Why did just think that?!'
Motoko grit her teeth and she glared at her brother before freezing in shock… Raiden had new scars on his chest – not unusual for her fight-happy twin – that were similar to the ones on Sho-sa's face…
'No, they're identical!' She realized suddenly.
"What happened to you, Nii-san?" She asked, worriedly touching the fractal pattern on the left side of his chest. She suddenly realized why the scars on Inugami's face had looked familiar – she'd briefly had similar ones thanks to the psychosomatic feedback between Raiden and herself.
Rai gave her an odd look, like she should know the answer. "Uh, you did…"
"What?!" The kunoichi breathed in shock.
"During that training last week; you clipped me on this side with your Lightning Bolt jutsu, remember?" He pointed to a spot where the various fractal arms came together. "Right here. All these lines are from that current that zapped me overloading my nervous system and damaging my skin. The hospital said they look bad, but with the right treatment they'll fade soon enough."
"Oh… Oh no, no, no…" Tears began to stream from her eyes in horror. "His scars! I hurt my Sho-sa?! Did I screw up that jutsu he taught me?"
Her Jonin instructor looked at the other two. Takahashi shrugged, clueless, but Raiden paused for a second. "She's gotten at least two letters from him since we got home, but I have no clue what she means."
Tanaka nodded acknowledgement as he gently touched Motoko's shoulder. "What are you talking about, Motoko-chan?"
Hata reached for the bag she'd tucked her clothes into, pulled out Inugami's latest letter – she had planned on meeting up with Karin after the Naming Ceremony to ask her about the burn scars – and triggered it.
The wind clone of Sho Inugami materialized, causing everyone but Motoko to startle for a brief second. The medic-nin's entire face was spider-webbed with the fractal burn scars, causing Raiden to snort in amusement before a tear-filled glare from his twin shut him up. Tanaka frowned contemplatively as he briefly put his fingers into Inugami's shoulder and felt the gentle breeze.
"Hello, Motoko-sa." Sho's clone spoke with a yawn and a wince. "It is around 4 AM on May the 16th. I just finished replaying your letter until it ran completely out of charge; I love you, too." The clone smiled, remaining still.
"Very interesting; he's using a C Rank combat technique at a lesser strength to act as a messenger…" Tanaka murmured to himself.
"Lesser strength, Sensei?" The kunoichi asked in confusion.
Okito nodded. "Elemental Clones normally break or unleash an offensive burst of energy when their 'skin' is pierced, but this one doesn't." He glanced at her. "I take from your earlier words, Inugami tried to teach you how to do this?"
The fur-clad swordswoman nodded. "He said the jutsu is the same for other elements, you just have to adjust the final seal for the appropriate nature release." She looked at Sho's image and more tears welled up. "If I was supposed to use less Raiken, that means I'm responsible for his injuries…"
"That's not entirely accurate, Motoko-chan." Okito said, gripping both of her shoulders firmly enough to startle her out of her burgeoning cycle of self-blame. "Take it from someone who has accidentally hit a Raibushin clone made by a Jonin before… THAT level of damage?" He pointed to Inugami's face. "Is NOT something you get from contact with a single clone."
Hata looked up at her sensei, hope filling her chest. "It doesn't? But Rai…"
"Was hit by what is at least a B Rank lightning technique, which means it packs at least ten times the power of a C Rank Lightning Clone, Motoko-chan. You might have put a little too much power into the clone trying to replicate what Inugami did here, but he did THAT to himself… I can't even begin to guess how many times, though."
Motoko Hata grit her teeth, feeling a flash of annoyance at her boyfriend's tendency to put his own health at risk for inexplicable reasons. "Sho-sa! How many times?! How many times did you let yourself be hit by my flawed technique?!"
"Hata, it's not a Shadow Clone, it can't…"
Sho Inugami's clone suddenly let out a sigh of frustration, causing the jaws of the four males in the group to hit the loamy floor of the forest. "I strongly suspected that you'd be curious enough about this mess on my face that you'd figure it out eventually… I realized after the first clone floored me I'd forgotten to include the extra seals for power attenuation. My mistake, not yours, Motoko-sa."
"How… Many… Times?!" She practically growled at him, setting both Kyouran and Takahashi's fur on edge.
The medic sighed again. "Thirty-five." He mumbled, clearly looking embarrassed.
Tanaka whistled. "Yeah, that would do it…"
Motoko tried to grab Sho, but her hands just passed through him. "Why would you do this to yourself? Answer me!"
Inugami gave the woman he loved a sad smile. "Because the pain of this…" He gestured to his face with its spider webbing of burn scars. "…made the pain here…" He put his hand on his heart. "…that comes from missing you hurt just a little less for a few seconds. And hearing you say you love me…" Sho chuckled ruefully as he gently caressed her face. "…made it worth every scrambled neuron and overloaded pain receptor worth it."
"Sho-sa…" Motoko moaned, feeling frustrated and giddy at the same time.
"Let's face it, Nee-chan, you fell in love with the dumbest genius in the Village." Raiden said with a chuckle. "It's nauseatingly sappy…"
Before the kunoichi could retort, a deep roar echoed through the darkening forest. "That's the call to gather." Takahashi informed the others. "We aren't going far – Lord Ryoushi knows bare human feet aren't as resilient as panther paws."
Motoko quickly deactivated the clone of the medic-nin and put her bag back in the cave before slipping off her shoes. "This doesn't feel quite as bad as I was afraid of…" She admitted out loud as she stepped onto the mossy loam of the wilderness.
Tanaka nodded, patting the furry shoulder of his former ANBU mentors' child. He had a momentary image of Takahashi's mother, Knight, who had occasionally used a technique similar to this, although he'd never known her to have an animal companion; it must have died before he'd joined the black ops unit. "It's your show, Takahashi; lead on, son."
~•~
"Not far" ended up being about half a kilometer into the forest, ending in a natural amphitheater covered in mossy rocks. The massive form of Ryoushi and the more lithe form of his primary mate, Kyoubou – Kyouran's parents – sat on the "stage," surrounded by another thirty or so panthers: Kyouran's surviving siblings and, for those at least two years old, their mates from other Prides for genetic diversity. While Kyoubou was a trained neko-nin and Ryoushi was, well, Ryoushi, the rest of the Pride were normal panthers – lethal predators to be certain, but still subject to the laws of nature and the forest – and, as such, their numbers waxed and waned from one season to the next.
Kyoubou rose, a swirl of blue chakra whirling about her. » Neko-ka doubutsu no geijutsu: Hon'yaku no ryouiki « The gathered energy pulsed outward, forming a dome over the amphitheater, before she laid back down beside her mate.
» I, Ryoushi, Panther Lord of Senju Forest have called for this gathering of the full Pride. « The great panther spoke solely in Feline, but whatever power Kyouran's mother had just manifested was providing a real-time translation in the ears of the gathered humans. » This night the Senju Forest Pride adds a human for the first time in the lifespans of all the current members of the Pride, save for myself and my mate Kyoubou. «
Tanaka frowned to himself at the massive panther's words; there had been another human that had been a part of the Pride?
'Maybe he means Hiruzen-sensei's daughter; the one that trained Kyoubou as a neko-nin? I've honestly never met her... The Sandaime is an amazing father figure to the Village, but apparently he wasn't the greatest Dad. I remember when Asuma left to join the 12 Guardian Ninja of the Lord Daimyo around the time I was assigned to the Hokage's security detail; a year before Rook and Knight were killed… Hiruzen was disconsolate that he was estranged from all of his children. I'm glad he's been able to mend fences with Asuma and I know he's working on Konohamaru's parents, but he's never really talked about his daughter. I just hope he is able to deal with that before…' Okito sighed softly. 'I know Ryoushi's prophecies always come true, even if it's not in an expected way, but the thought that Hiruzen-sensei's only got a few months left…'
Ever the empath, Motoko glanced at her Jonin and briefly manifested her Reikigan. Despite the happy occasion this ceremony represented, the kunoichi could see darker shades of orange and indigo, the combination suggesting Tanaka was feeling helpless and insecure about something. She reached up and patted the tall man's shoulder, causing him to squeeze her hand thankfully without looking at her.
Kyouran and Takahashi descended to the center of the bowl arena as Ryoushi wrapped up his part of the naming ceremony. » And now our youngest member, Kyouran, will officially introduce the Genin teaching him how to follow in the footsteps of his mother so that, as the Prince of Senju Forest, he will be ready to be the one to succeed me when my time comes to enter the Eternal Jungle. «
Raiden blinked in surprise and turned to his sensei as Kyouran began regaling the others with the story of the fight with the Sand ninja. "Wait… Did I just hear that right? The furball is going to be the next Forest Lord?"
Tanaka nodded. "While Kyoubou's had a number of litters in the last 15 years, Kyouran was apparently the first one with detectable levels of chakra from the time he was whelped last year. Takahashi's aptitude scores indicated that, of all the non-Inuzaka in the Academy, he was best suited to be partnered with the cub. Since the Cat style is a mostly lost art, the Hokage taught Takahashi the basics of the human portion during the summer break while Kyoubou has been supervising them since."
The female Hata shook her head in awe. "Oh, wow; has it really only been a year since they got partnered together? It feels like it's been so much longer…"
Her twin chuckled ruefully. "I remember when classes resumed back in August. Takahashi used to be middle of the class in Taijutsu and suddenly he had the furball, his berserk mode, and jumped up the ranks until it was typically a neck-and-neck toss-up between Kiba, 'Hito, Takahashi, Naruto, and me for spots 2 through 6. Uchiha was ALWAYS in the #1 spot." He glowered at Motoko. "I'm still pissed that Inugami was sandbagging. I could accept the fact that I was NEVER going to get the top spot from Sasuke, but the fact that I thought I had the silver medal a few times, when I should have been topping out with the bronze is galling."
His sister pulled down her right eyelid and stuck out her tongue in the akanbe gesture. "Sho-sa had his reasons to do what he did. Stop making what he did or didn't do about you, Nii-chan; you're just irritated because it pricks at your pride..."
Suddenly the entire amphitheater was filled with the appreciative, echoing roars of the other panthers as Kyouran finished sharing with the group. The three pelt-clad humans ceased talking to pay attention to the events below; this next part was what they were here for, after all…
» Well done, son. « Kyoubou said, rubbing her muzzle on the younger panther's head. Kyouran's tail twitched with excitement and pride.
Ryoushi rose to his feet. » This human has been an outsider among us for nearly a year now, but he has shown prudence, care, and respect for the trust and responsibility that were placed on his shoulders as well as for the ways of the Pride. As such, from this day forth, I, Lord of Senju Forest, declare you to be an outsider no longer, but a member of the Pride from now until you breathe your last. «
The Pride let out a chorus of roars as Takahashi's teammates cheered and his sensei nodded appreciatively.
» As you are human, your duties to the Pride will differ from your brothers and sisters. In addition to continuing the Forest Prince's training in his gifts and the ways of the human world, you will now be the Pride's liaison with Konoha, to speak on my behalf with them regarding any issues that may arise in the Forest that are of concern to them. You will be the base of our bridge to the humans to help ensure a minimum of friction between the natural and modern worlds. «
» From this day forward, I give you a new name. Your own name… We shall no longer call you Pack Brother; from this day hence you shall be known as Hashimoto, the bridge between humans and panthers. «
At the top of the amphitheater, Okito Tanaka felt himself go weak in the knees. 'How? How could Ryoushi POSSIBLY know that name?!'
Before the prisoner had killed Rook, Takahashi's father and a skilled golem maker, and Knight, the boy's mother gifted in Beast Imitation Arts, resulting in the injury that had nearly killed the young man Okito himself had been babysitting as a favor to his ANBU mentors, Takahashi's birth name had been Hashimoto Saikou.
But just as had been the case of Naruto Uzumaki, as Tanaka had learned from the Inugami-senseis, the boy's name had been changed to protect his identity from reprisals from Rook & Knight's numerous enemies… The boy's amnesia had left him a blank slate and he had still been in the homeschooling phase of early education, so no one had ever really known Hashimoto.
'I'm going to need to discuss this with Hiruzen-sensei… Tonight.' Tanaka thought to himself. 'It could just be something as simple as Ryoushi having a vision of Takahashi being called by his birth name.'
The golden blonde werepanther knelt before Ryoushi and bowed his head. "I, Hashimoto of the Senju Forest Pride, humbly accept my new name and duties. I shall serve this Pride – my family – to the best of my capabilities."
» I know that you will, Hashimoto. « Ryoushi said with immense gravitas in his voice, causing Tanaka to further wonder if the Forest Lord had received a vision regarding his mentors' son. » And now, let us HUNT with our newest Pride member! «
"I'll catch up shortly; I need to guide my team back to their belongings." Hashimoto said, getting a nod from the Forest Lord. "Kyouran!"
As the Pride melted into the increasing gloom of the forest as night, the young man previously named Takahashi and his partner climbed up to the rest of their human team.
"Congratulations, Ta…" Motoko paused. "Hashimoto."
"Thanks, Motoko. I guess my old nickname of 'Hashi still works with my new name." Their teammate said, scratching the back of his head with a smile. "It means a lot that the three of you came… I honestly wasn't expecting to be given such a prominent position."
Tanaka nodded. "I'll talk with the Sandaime and see if he can spare the time to go over the assorted details of our deals with Lord Ryoushi. You'll basically be to Ryoushi and Kyouran what Shao Fukamichu is to Lord Daimyo Mizuzaki."
Hashimoto's eyes gleamed in the dimming light. "That actually helps me understand things so much better; thank you, Tanaka-sensei!"
Raiden Hata looked around; squinting as he had difficulty seeing his own arm. "Damn, it got dark really fast… And we don't have our flashlights."
Okito Tanaka made a slight gesture. "Yin Release: Onibi Guides." A set of small orbs, no bigger than the flames of a candle began to cast a soft light as they floated into the woods like the will o' wisps the jutsu replicated, casting spectral light enough for the normal humans to see without the risk of starting a fire in the forest. "Straight this way, right?" The Jonin asked, pointing to the southeast to verify his spatial memory, and getting a nod in return. "Then go join in with the hunt, Hashimoto. We'll be fine."
"Are… are you sure? It's no trouble…" His teacher made a "Go on" gesture. "All right, then; I'll see you three after the weekend. Let's go, Kyouran!"
The werepanther and his partner disappeared into the night.
* * *