Hello and welcome to Hikaru Hanabi-chan's first fanfic! Read on! We hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: We do not, and never will, own Get Backers or Naruto!!
o----x0x----o
The UnEXpected
Written by Hikaru Hanabi
o----x0x----o
Prologue
It was a hot summer day in Shinjuku. To be more exact, the Honky Tonk café. The airconditioner was on full blast, but it gave no comfort whatsoever to the few people inside it.
"Ban! Ban! Ban!" Ginji Amano wailed childishly. He looked like a child; he was in his chibi form. He pranced around the restaurant waving two white fans.
Ban Mido, his partner, placed his glass of water on the table.
"What do you want now, Ginji?" he asked lazily. He was far too tired and worn down by the heat to take part in any of his friend's stupid fantasies.
"I'm hungry…" Ginji groaned. His spirited attitude suddenly disappeared in an instant. The blonde man slumped into the seat.
Ban sighed heavily. Their tab was increasing in amount. Whenever they got a new job from their very few clients, they would have to use the money they had earned to pay for damages. Their hopes of eating luxurious food always went down the drain…
Speaking of 'drain', their clients also began to diminish in quantity lately.
"I'm so hot as well…" Ginji continued to whine. "I hope it rains…" he said giving a sigh.
'I hope it rains of customers.' Ban thought sourly. 'I wonder if they evaporated cause of this heat.'
----//o//----
"Hello everyone!" a female voice greeted them from the door. A teenage girl walked in, carrying a bag full of snacks.
"Natsumi!" the two men chirped. They gazed hungrily at the items she held in her arms.
The red-haired owner of Honky Tonk looked up at her from where he was crouched behind the counter.
"Hello, Natsumi. I thought you went on a trip. Why are you back so soon?" Paul inquired.
"Because Kami-sama answered our prayers for food!" Ban stated, his mouth watering as he peered at the bag of snacks Natsumi bought.
"Natsumi-chan, you're an angel!" Ginji said, in chibi form, hugging Natsumi with tears of joy flowing from his eyes.
After Ginji finally released her, Natsumi pulled back one of the stools and sat down. "Well, a problem occurred while our class was on that field trip to Okinawa. Apparently, the employees of the resort we were supposed to stay at were on strike." She said, waving her hand in the air.
Ban snorted. "That's no surprise. The heat would kill anyone!"
The others in the café stared at him.
"Um, Ban…I don't think this has anything to do with the temperature." Ginji mumbled, a sweatdrop evident on his head.
"Yeah. The owner of the resort just wasn't paying them well, that's all." Natsumi added. She picked up the bag once more and shoved it into Paul's face.
"Here. These are souvenirs I bought for all of you while we were at the airport."
Paul held up one of the candy bars. "You can buy these from the stores here in the city!"
"Don't complain Paul! At least she can afford one!" Ginji said grabbing the candy bar from him and munching it enthusiastically.
"I know that. But if you buy them at an airport, they're special!" Natsumi chirped happily as she patted chibi Ginji on the head who was helping himself to another candy bar after finishing one in a matter of seconds.
"Now I don't understand you." Ban said sitting on the stool beside her.
"It's something I can't explain." Natsumi responded. "Go ask someone else."
"Eh!? How can you tell us such a confusing thing and not explain?" Ginji queried, showing his famous puppy-dog eyes.
Natsumi stuck out her tongue. "That's not gonna work on me Ginji! Remember, I'm a cat person! Anyway, I'm not explaining because I can…and I want to."
Ban rose from his seat and glared at her. Being hungry, he was easily annoyed.
"Now you listen here Natsumi! Just because you have filled our stomach with mouthwatering, lip-smacking, breathtaking-!" But before he could add more descriptions to the snacks- or finally get to the point, the door swung open- with much force, to be precise, that it nearly came off its hinges!
"CONGRATULATIONS!" another female voice shrieked. A woman wearing a blue dress and pink sash pranced in, doing an occasional twirl. She had long, flowing, hazel brown hair.
"What the!?" Paul gasped, dropping the bar of chocolate that was so close to his mouth. The other three were completely speechless.
"Ginji Amano and Ban Mido!" the woman squealed. Only then did the said two recognize her.
"S-Sakura!?" Ginji gawked in disbelief. When had she become so hyper-active? And where did she learn how to do ballet?
"Yes, it is I!" Sakura declared in a dramatic tone, still twirling around.
"Why are you here anyway?" Ginji inquired still staring at her in shock.
"I come carrying a letter from Makubex."
"From Makubex?" Ban repeated. He simply couldn't believe that suicidal brat was trying to get in contact with them again.
Sakura fished out a white envelope from her pouch.
It had a few coffee stains on it.
"Oh great. Now the kid drinks coffee!?" Ban chortled.
"H-he stays up late, you know!" Sakura retorted, crossing her arms.
Ginji took the letter from Sakura and stared at it in disbelief.
"I thought he'd send us an e-mail or a text message to communicate. I never knew he was this… old fashioned." Ginji said sweat dropping a bit.
"I bet that brat thinks we're so poor we couldn't even afford a computer or a cellphone!" Ban said, emitting a fiery red aura.
"Nobody says you're poor Ban." Natsumi said trying to calm him down.
"And you don't own a computer, you just borrow it from me." Paul said nonchalantly.
"Are you trying to point out to me that- wffffmff!" Natsumi stuck a lollipop into his mouth to avoid further arguments.
Boy, was Ban's temper just as high as the temperature outside!
Ginji decided to tear open the envelope before Ban could start shouting at Natsumi. He carefully ripped the edge and pulled out the single piece of paper.
Everyone leaned in to get a closer look, even Sakura.
Written in very curly handwriting, it read:
Hello Ginji.
We are doing fine here in Maze City. But this letter is not of
plain, friendly words and updates of our lives. It is an invitation.
I, Makubex, hereby invite you to participate in a tournament. It is
fairly new, and we would like you to join.
The ExGames. The reason for it being called such, I will not tell you.
It is not a tournament of combat, but a contest of strength and will power.
There will be other teams participating and the reward is 50,000 yen.
I hope that is sufficient in convincing you to join.
Oh, and bring your snot-nosed partner Ban with you.
Sincerely, Makubex.
----//o//----
"I never knew someone in this generation could write so formal." Natsumi commented.
"I never knew he could write! I thought he depended only on keyboards." Paul said.
"Snot-nosed!?" Ban snarled, his blood pressure going up again. "How dare he call me that!" He waved his lollipop in the air like a sword.
"Come on, he was just making fun of you!" Natsumi teased.
Ginji, on the other hand, did not notice the comment. He was too busy reading the message over and over. Finally he looked at Ban with a hopeful expression.
Ban noticed this and shook his head violently. "Oh no. There is no way we are joining!"
"Please Ban? Please!?" Ginji smiled, showing his puppy-dog eyes once more. Ban turned away. It was a clear 'no'.
"I heard that it will be a nice tournament!" Sakura said, turning desperate. Makubex had entrusted her with this mission and she needed to fulfill his wishes; no matter what the cost.
"What does he mean by 'a contest of strength and will power'?" Paul asked, pointing to the sentence in the letter.
Sakura shrugged. "Well, he didn't tell me anything about his plans…all he said was that he was sure Ginji and Ban would enjoy it."
The Get Backers exchanged glances. Something was extremely fishy about this. They strayed away from the others in order to discuss the offer.
"It might be a trap." Ban whispered.
Ginji immediately disagreed. "I'm sure Makubex would never do that!"
"How can you trust him so darn easily?" Ban jeered. He realized that that was a rather stupid question.
"He may have wanted to kill me a while back but he's okay now." The other replied confidently.
Ban looked his partner in the eye. He knew Ginji wouldn't lie about this type of thing. With another long sigh, Ban spoke. "Alright."
"Yay!" Ginji yelled. "Thanks a lot!"
Ban wasn't finished yet. "But we're only going to do this because of that 50,000 yen reward, got it!?" If it was not a fluke, they'd be able to eat good food and actually pay off some of their debts!
Ginji nodded quickly. He ran over to Sakura and told her they had accepted.
"If it's a trap, we're going to kill that Makubex." Ban thought as he joined the others. For all he knew, this woman who was shaking Ginji's hand might not actually be Sakura…or the one who wrote that letter wasn't actually Makubex, but someone else who threatened Sakura to bring it because they took him hostage.
Many horrible things went through Ban's mind. He decided to ignore them. "So…when do we leave?"
"Huh? Oh…right now, if possible." Sakura answered.
----//o//----
"Good luck, you guys!!" Natsumi cheered as the three exited the café. They smiled at her while Ginji waved frantically.
"We'll be back real soon, Natsumi-chan!" he hollered.
The countless skyscrapers of the Infinity Fortress, also known as Maze City, loomed high above the buildings of Shinjuku. Paul and Natsumi watched them until they disappeared down the street.
"To Maze City!" Ginji shouted, punching the air for effect.
"Yeah!" Sakura yelled and began to twirl like a ballerina again.
"…Stop doing that! It's annoying." Ban snapped.
Unknown to the Get Backers, though, this event, the ExGames, would be one hell of a ride that they would never forget.
to be continued…
----------------///------------------
Well, there ya have it. The start of the fanfiction! Thank you so much for reading it, and please come back to read the coming chapters as well! R&R please. Onegai shimasu! Now let us bring in Naruto from… Naruto!
Naruto: Wait, wait, wait! What am I doing in this fic!?
HiNa: Technically, you're not actually in it…you're just a commentator in the sidelines and stuff.
Naruto: Aw…I wanted to kick Kazuki's butt!
HiNa: Um…why?
Naruto: Hm…never thought about that…
The next chapter will be up soon! We promise!
