A/N: The moderators at FF seems to really cracking down on things and even my Random Stories file was threatened to being automatically deleted because I think some of my stories came from different genres or something. They restored it, but I've decided to separate the various stories ideas into their proper slots, just in case.

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned Masashi Kishimoto and the Slayers is by Hajime Kanzaka. Neither of whom is me.

The Ninja Slayer

Chapter 1: The Chimera Meets a Fox

Zelgadis Greywords studied the amulet and traced the edges of the red jewel with his fingers gently. Reverently. It was the only thing that he had found that led him to believe that the others were somewhere in this strange new world. He wondered if they were alright. He wondered if it had been as long for them as it had been for him. Nearly fifty years now. Fifty long and lonely years wandering throughout the Elemental Countries for any sign of his companions. For his friends.

He sighed as he tucked the amulet protectively in his pocket and adjusted the heavy hood of his cloak. After all, Lina would never forgive him if he damaged one of her precious amulets.

These humans on this plane of existence were a truly bizarre lot. They didn't use magic as he recognized it. Most of them used 'lectrickey' which was some sort of bottled lightning spell that powered some even odder 'magenes' which were some sort of metal golems or boxes of various sizes that did all sorts of things. But it was all a mishmash. Some places had some, other places had other things, and a lot of it didn't seem to fit together.

One thing that they didn't seem to have were those guns or cannons that Jillas was so damn fond of; though he suspected that he might find a few places that did eventually. Hell, he could probably build some himself if he bothered to. He had taken the time to study a few examples of Jillas' firearms and even take it apart. It wasn't that difficult. And from what he had seen, the humans of this world could make it themselves. It wasn't impossible given what he could determine from their level of metallurgy and chemistry.

And even weirder were the ninjas that populated some of the countries. They used some pretty odd spells that appeared to rely on hand gestures rather than Chaos Words. He had tried to pick some of them up but none of the ninjas would show him how they did their little tricks. Most of them weren't quite as powerful or versatile as his own arsenal of spells, but he had to admit that that trick of a short range displacement or creating doppelgangers was something he wouldn't mind adding to his bag of tricks.

While normal civilians remained leery of him, ninjas tended to be more tolerant of his odd appearance than he would have expected. There seemed to be a few bizarre genealogical mutations that many ninjas seem to prize highly for their combat abilities. A few of them had even asked if he was one of those mutants or if he would be willing to ally himself with them; offering money, women, or even teaching him their spells. Of course even if he was interested in fathering any offspring, which he wasn't; it would mean settling down and allying himself with their villages.

But quite frankly, he was starting to lose hope. Lina Inverse was not the most subtle personalities. He long expected to hear rumors of some terror stricken bandits getting blown up by a trigger happy, flat chested fiend or some random city getting annihilated by a massive explosion. But so far nothing.

Gourry himself tended to attract attention as well. Although not as much. People tended to remember him simply because men over six feet tall, heavily armored and muscled, long blonde hair, with an appetite to bankrupt nobles would be remembered. Not to mention the Sword of Light he was packing would definitely have attracted a raised eyebrow. Or so he would have thought. But there seemed to be quite a few unique weapons including swords here. He lost nearly a decade hunting around the Land of Water after hearing a story about some powerful swordsmen there.

Not to mention Ameila tended to make waves wherever she went. The sight of some injustice would have her going on an oratorical rant and when that failed to force everyone else to see the proper point of view (namely her side), she was perfectly willing to resort to violent force. In some ways, he really felt that Ameila meeting up with Lina all those years ago was a very, very bad thing as Ameila had eagerly embraced Lina's "might makes right" philosophy.

At this point of time, he wouldn't mind finding Filia or even … Xellos. He winced at that thought. He did not think that. He did not think that, he repeated his mental mantra.

So far though … nothing. The Elemental Countries weren't the most peaceful of places, but frankly even they would have managed to stick out. Providing that they were still alive… he shook his head. No! He would not think that! They were alive! They had to be. They had to be.

He paused as he saw the small city and the gigantic mountain range in the background with four human faces carved into it. He scratched his head. Huh. And here he thought he had seen everything…

"DEMON!"

"MONSTER!"

Zelgadis instinctively glanced over his shoulder, tensing. He frowned as he noted that there were no rampaging mobs with burning torches. Huh. That was odd. He carefully adjusted his mask and hood for better concealment and listened.

What was this? Sounded like… then a small figure came running around the street corner, his feet pattering and rammed into him full force. Zel barely felt the impact but the child was knocked back on his ass with a cry of pain.

Suddenly he saw something glowing in his pocket, throwing a reddish light. He reached in and pulled out … the Demon Blood Talisman? He stared at the pulsating light and then looked at the child. His shirt collar was hanging open and he saw something glowing on his chest.

He crouched down and peered seeing a perfect mate to his own talisman hung on a grubby cord.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!" Zel screamed, grabbing the boy's shirt.

"It's mine!" the boy shouted, wriggling and struggling to escape Zel's hold but he tightened his grip. "I didn't steal it! It's mine! It really is!" the child screamed.

Zel was furious. He gritted his teeth and shook the little thief. Lina would never voluntarily part with something so valuable. "DON'T LIE!" he roared, "Where's the woman this belonged to?" he demanded as a part of him felt excited, exhilarated to suddenly find a scrap, a clue to his long lost friends.

"The old man said it was my mother's! It's all I have of her!" the boy shouted back, teary eyed. Zel's eyes widened in shock and surprise, inadvertently releasing the boy. He scrambled away, cradling the talisman carefully, frantically. "It's mine! You can't have it!" he sobbed.

"There he is!"

Zel turned and found a crowd of people, all of them seemed focused on … on the kid? He frowned and then settled himself in front of the boy in a protective stance. "Back off," he growled in a deep and threatening voice. He couldn't get any more answers out of the brat if this bunch of morons killed him accidentally.

One of the more foolhardy specimens scoffed. "Yeah right! There's twenty of us and only one of you!"

He never particularly cared too much for rampaging mobs; not to mention that the past fifty years of searching for any sign, any hint of Lina and the others had taken a toll on his patience for idiots. And this particular bunch were standing between him and his first real clue for nearly thirty-odd years. Zel grinned demonically and dropped into a casting stance. "Do you know what I call that?"

He waited a beat before answering his question. "A bigger target. BOMB DI WIND!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi studied the stranger dressed in hard worn off-white traveling clothes. Physically, he bore some vague resemblance to Kisame Hoshigaki of Kirigakure. Mainly in coloration that is. Hoshigaki was not only taller and more broadly built, he also had the sharpened teeth and gill-like facial markings.

Zelgadis on the other hand had a pair of prominent pointed ears and strange protrusions all over his face that looked like bits of rock. He carried a sword belted to his waist; but despite Sarutobi's age and experience, he didn't recognize the style. It was rather unlike katanas used by samurai or the ninjato used by ninjas with a very broad width with a very straight length.

He rather thought it looked somewhat clumsy to wield, but would reserve judgment until he actually saw it in action. Some ninjas wielded zanbato sized blades with deadly skill; but Zelgadis did not appear to have the massive build needed of such swordsmen to wield his own oversized blade. Even katana-sized blade required some muscle to wield for extended periods, unless Zelgadis was so skilled that he could finish off his opponents quickly.

Zelgadis was giving him a beady eyed glare as well. It took him a bit but he finally recognized the geezer as being one of those gigantic carved faces in the mountainside … albeit several decades older.

"Who are you?" Koharu demanded, her eyes pinched so tightly shut that she looked constipated, Sarutobi noted idly.

Zelgadis didn't much care for her tone and considered Fireballing her ass just on principle before he inwardly winced when he realized that was something that Lina would do. It didn't really cost him anything to tell them his name. "Zelgadis Greywords."

Homura jumped in, "What Ninja Village are you affiliated with?"

Again, Zel didn't much care for their attitude and considered not saying anything but again, it didn't cost him anything to tell the truth. "I'm not."

Apparently unwilling to hand off the interrogation, Koharu continued. "How did you enter Konoha with identification?"

"I wasn't aware I needed one. No one stopped me to ask for any," Zelgadis shrugged dismissively. Konoha's exterior wall made for an impressive barrier. For anyone without knowledge of the Raywing spell though.

Koharu swelled up. "You expect us to believe you bypassed our security—"

Sarutobi coughed, regaining control of the conversation. "Thank you for answering our questions … do you prefer Zelgadis-san or Greywords-san?"

"Either is fine," Zel lied, sensing that the first two were arrogant and clumsy idiots, but the leader was the real power here. He did not want to give anything away to this one. Most leaders did not live to be of advanced age by being idiots.

The Hokage gave a polite head bow. "First, I wish to thank you for your defense of young Naruto. Your prompt actions no doubt saved him from some scrapes and bruises."

Some scrapes and bruises? Zelgadis mentally scoffed at this dismissive lie. The old man knew that the kid had been in danger of losing his life but was trying to play this off as some roughhousing that had gotten out of hand. He had been the target of enough angry mobs to identify one on sight; even if he had not been the objective.

"I wish to assure you that although there were numerous causalities, none of them were fatalities or life threatening. Given the instigation, there will be no criminal charges or a case being filed against you for those injuries sustained," the old man continued smoothly.

Zel caught the other two geezers bristling and frowning at that and smirked. They hadn't liked that obviously.

"Next, I wish apologize for our rudeness, but this is a military village and security is a concern to us. Anyone entering our village usually has some sort of pass and a routine security screening before being permitted access. You on the other hand, seem to have evaded such a check as we have no records of you."

Explained like that, Zel could admit that some of their bluster might conceal actual fear and concern at a genuine security threat. He could also appreciate how the Hokage, which was some sort of rank Zelgadis guessed, simply had used his advisors' behavior to 'test the waters' so to speak. Showing the bared fist before the velvet glove approach. He also caught and filed Naruto as a name for the blonde brat. He raised an amused eyebrow and resisted the urge to bare his teeth, "So you believe I'm sort of spy or espionage agent?"

"Not really. A spy or espionage agent would hardly seek to attract attention to himself as you did. Nor would they allow the security forces to take them into custody as you allowed my men to do so."

Zel relaxed fractionally. OK, this guy was a lot sharper than he had given them credit for.

"You also displayed some impressive ninjutsu skills according to one witness."

Ah. The brat.

"And you seem to have some interest in young Naruto as well."

Zel frowned. Again, the old man was a lot sharper than Zel would have liked. He could have bluffed or lied but felt that the Hokage would be able to see through them. That left the truth.

He reached into his pocket and produced the Demon Blood Talisman. "This is one of four identical talismans. There were last in possession of a close friend that is missing and that I have been searching for over a decade. That kid happens to holding onto one of the missing three. I want to know how that talisman fell into his hands."

He saw an eyebrow twitch momentarily on the Hokage's otherwise impassive face at Zelgadis' revelation. He knew something, Zel realized instinctively.

Finally, the Hokage looked at Homura and Koharu. "Leave us," he barked. The two looked like they would have loved to protest but filed out. The doors slammed shut behind them.

The Hokage seemed to be tracing idly on the desktop with one finger, lost in thought. Then, he spoke. "That talisman belonged to Naruto's mother, who was a refugee from Uzushiogakure. She proclaimed that it was one of the few objects she retained. Kushina Uzumaki was adopted into the Uzumaki Clan as a young teenager when she washed up on the shores of Uzu no Kuni with no memory of her past. She was one of the few survivors of Uzushiogakure and later moved to Konohagakure where she later gave birth to Naruto Uzumaki. She died shortly after his birth, eight years ago."

Zel frowned.

The Hokage studied him for a long moment, clearly weighing things carefully. "I told Naruto that there are no surviving pictures or photographs of his mother. That they were destroyed when he was still a baby. That is untrue," he said heavily, clearly wracked with guilt. "If the truth about his parentage were revealed, he would be in grave danger. His father was one of the greatest warriors I have ever seen and he had many, many people who would love to have killed his wife, much less his son. Naruto's … anonymity has been for his own safety."

He unlocked a drawer in his desk and extracted a photograph that he presented to Zelgadis.

Zelgadis stared at the photograph and his shoulders began to shake. "Lina…" he said softly. His hand came up and covered his eyes, but not before Sarutobi saw the glint of tears streaming down his cheeks and a choked sob. He bowed his head and wept.

A/N: I started this a few years ago when I first heard about Naruto's mom was a hot tempered redhead and for some reason, I instantly flashed to an image of Gourry Gabriev and Lina Inverse from The Slayers! So I thought it might be interesting to have Lina as Kushina and Gourry and Minato and came up with a change at the end of the Slayers Try! anime series where instead of them defeating Dark Star; the battle literally blows them into another dimension—Naruto World. I imagined that the strain of dimensional travel would have caused Lina and Gourry would lose their memories and become Kushina and Minato respectively and becoming ninjas and then having Naruto. I thought it sort of neat that despite everything—stranded in another dimension, losing their memories—they would find each other again.

Zelgadis on the other hand, managed to retain his memory as he is considerably hardier than the others and tries to hunt the rest of the group down before stumbling across Naruto who is Lina and Gourry's kid and "adopts" him, training him in swordsmanship and magic.

Zel would later discover that the rest of the cast also survived; Amelia, Filia, and even Valgaav also end up but the explosion scattered them not only through space—but time as well. Zelgadis for example, ended up about 50 years in the past while Lina and Gourry arrived about 20 or so years ago.

But I ultimately chose to abandon this story as I felt it was repetitive; unknown stranger shows up, rescues Naruto, and trains him to be an Über-Ninja Warrior. Not to mention that I thought it would not work as Gourry who is a bit of moron—could become some sort of Genius Ninja Prodigy as the Yellow Flash. My prereader Arthur Hansen had an interesting suggestion to fix that problem and I've already doing a rewrite that but I thought the rest of you might like to see what I came up with in this original draft. As a bonus, I've tacked on some incomplete scenes and stuff that I had worked up.

Vote in my poll at the top of my page if you want to see this story continued!

Future Scenes:

"GOURRY?"

Sarutobi stared in shock as Zelgadis started howling in laughter, collapsing and rolling on the floor, holding his sides as tears ran down his cheeks and he pounded the floor with a fist.

"It's so—so appropriate!" Zel gasped out. "Those two—even across time, space, distance, they found each other. Again!" he grinned sadly at the photograph of the pair. "You two …" he shook his head fondly.

"You suck kid," Zelgadis said bluntly.

"Casting spells is about power, focus, will, and control," Zelgadis said and ticked off each point with a finger, "You have loads of power, an insane amount actually and you certainly have extraordinary strength of will …"

Naruto immediately brightened and his chest puffed out proudly.

"… but you're easily distracted so your focus is terrible and your control basically stinks."

Naruto's chest quickly deflated.

Zelgadis smirked slightly as he tapped his chin thoughtfully with a finger. "Basically we will have to concentrate on your weak points. Focus and control. They sound basically the same but they do differ on specific points. Magic power isn't something you can increase overnight. It takes time and effort. It's sort of like a muscle, by working it regularly like exercising, you can increase it but it takes effort and hard work. And you don't use it, you lose it so remember that.

"As for your control issues," Zelgadis remarked, "I think your problem may lay in your … tenant. I think we should forget about teaching you spells that require control or precision. Instead, you need a spell that doesn't require those things but instead relies on pure power," Zelgadis mused and then smirked. "and as it happens, I know of one. It was invented by a friend of mine. It's a bit crude but I think it's perfect for you."

"Really?" Naruto perked up.

Zelgadis nodded, "It's called … Visfarank," and lowered himself into a stance and raised his arms up and balled his hands into fists.

Zelgadis nodded to himself as he watched Naruto scream and lashed out with a fist glowing with raw magical energy. The offending tree never stood a chance and it's trunk was instantly shattered by the blow and toppled over. Naruto instantly began jumping up and down laughing.

Ameila had only used her power to envelop her fist to augment their striking power, but Naruto had quickly begun playing around with the Visfarank to ultimately surround his whole body. Zelgadis discovered that this aspect gave him a level of durability almost equal to his own. While the spell lasted of course. But Zelgadis quickly found that Naruto could barely hold it for more than twenty seconds.

Over the course of the next year, Naruto managed to increase that to last almost three minutes and thicken the layers of magic to increase its durability enabling him to shrug off any low to mid level attack spells that Zelgadis could throw at him. Only the higher end of his offensive spell arsenal could actually knock through Naruto's barrier but Zelgadis felt that with time and practice, Naruto might actually be able to withstand even a full force Fireball.

Naruto also discovered that this method of casting the Visfarank boosted his strength to superhuman levels. It made sense when Zelgadis thought about it. Naruto's Barrier acted as a sort of exo-skeleton, enabling him to lift tremendous weights without that force being transferred to his muscular and skeletal structure.

It was funny as hell though, when Naruto came running up to him excited while holding a large boulder above his head and boasting about he was so strong now when his time limit expired and he suddenly collapsed with the boulder on top of him. Zel had burst out laughing before he rushed over and hefted the gigantic rock off before it could crush his student. The look on his face was priceless.

"What was my father like?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"He was an idiot." Zelgadis said promptly.

There was a pause. Then, "WHAT?" Naruto spat out shocked.

"B-but-but-but—"

"Well, let me rephrase that," Zel paused thoughtfully. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a long moment before nodding and opening his eyes. "He was a complete idiot," he informed Naruto calmly.

"Let me explain," Zel said holding up a hand, "on the battlefield, he was incredibly gifted. A genius in combat, a natural athlete. But other than that, he was a dimwit. The only thing in that pea sized brain of his that he thought about was food … and your mother."

"What about my mother?"

"She was greedy, materialistic, a tightwad, arrogant, an egomaniac, a glutton," Zel said promptly.

Naruto blink blinked.

"overly violent, had a bad temper, wasn't above stealing from other people," Zel continued, clearly no sign of slowing.

Naruto sweat dropped.

"rude, easily offended, really peculiar, extremely loud, immature, a bit strange… and she was probably my best friend. She was unquestionably loyal to her friends, accepting of anyone no matter how different. She was the strongest person I ever met. The most brilliant sorceress I ever faced," Zel finished softly.