Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Slayers, Ranma 1/2, or any David Weber characters.
All criticism is welcome, however, if you are going to try and flame me, at least be original. There are only so many times you can be told, "You Suck!!!" before it gets boring.
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Village Gate's…
It was a normal Konoha morning at the south east gate. Since their shift was almost over and they didn't expect anyone this time of morning, they were surprised to hear a not so subtle cough outside their post. Looking out, they saw an odd sight. Three travelers. Not so unusual in and of itself, except how the travelers looked.
One was huge, easily seven and a half feet tall and heavily muscled. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was faintly smiling, but one would have to look close to see it. He was wearing light brown pants with an off white long sleeved shirt, dark brown boots, and a black belt. A strange village symbol was being used as his belt buckle. It was solid black except the symbol was a silver crescent moon. On his back he carried a sword that looked to be about six feet long in total, but about a foot of that was the hilt, along with a large duffel bag that was strapped over the sheath of the sword, leaving it free to be drawn at a moments notice.
The second person looked extremely bored. He was tall, but it was hard to tell next to the first guy, probably just short of six feet tall. He, also, had dark brown hair, but his eye color was unknown due to the sunglasses he wore. He was wearing a solid black short sleeved shirt tucked into a pair of forest camouflage pants. He, too, was wearing the symbol of a crescent moon on his belt buckle. Black fingerless gloves on each hand, white bandages wrapping all the way up his arms, and black boots completed the ensemble. Strapped low on his left thigh was a kunai and shuriken pouch though.
The final member was short to begin with, but looked even shorter next to the first two. She was about four foot, nine inches. She had fiery orange/red hair going down to about her mid back. Her eyes were red in color. She was wearing a black headband, yellow short sleeved shirt, red pants, black boots, two belts that were crisscrossed in the front, a kunai and shuriken pouch on both legs and a wakizashi hanging behind her on the belts. She also was wearing the crescent moon belt buckle at the connection point of the two belts. The girl had what looked like tattoos or seals marked on the back of her hands and most of the way up her arms. She was also looking decidedly annoyed at something.
The two chunnins looked at each other, shrugged, and one walked to the travelers.
"Could we see your papers please?"
The bored looking one reached into a pocket most of the way down his right leg, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it to the guard. He opened it and looked through the contents.
"You three are genin sent here for the chunnin exam? Where's your jounin-sensei?"
The bored looking one started to speak, but the girl beat him to it.
"She had to go back to our home village for some reason; the note calling her back also said they would be sending someone else in her stead. And yes, we are here for the exams."
The guard nodded and rolled the scroll back up; handing it back to the one he received it from.
"Would you like an escort to the Hokage tower? The information said you would need to speak with him before the exam."
"That would be appreciated," said the one that had the scroll.
"Where is Yamigakure anyway? I have never heard of that Hidden Village before."
"If we told you that, then it wouldn't be the Village Hidden in Darkness anymore, would it?" asked the large one humorously.
The guard that asked the question chuckled a bit.
"No, I suppose it wouldn't then. I'm Ichiro, buy the way. The guy over there is Isamu."
"My name is Bahzell. These are my teammates, Inverse Lina and Jigoku no Ryouken."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lina," said the short redhead.
"I'm Ryouken."
Just after introducing himself, Ryouken glanced to a spot just to Isamu's left. Not even a second had passed when a jounin chewing on a senbon needle appeared in the spot he was looking.
"Yo, I'm Genma. You the three that want to see the Hokage?"
Ryouken nodded to him.
"Alright then, follow me."
With that he turned and began to walk toward a tower near the cliff. As they started to follow him, Ichiro yelled out as he returned to his guard post.
"Good luck on the exams."
Lina turned around, walking backwards for a second.
"Thanks."
And with that, the three followed Genma into Konoha.
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Hokage's Office…
"Hokage-sama, you have some visitors," said Genma as he knocked on a pair of ornate doors.
"Enter," said a voice from beyond the doors. As the doors opened, it was easy to connect the voice that spoke to the kindly looking old man sitting behind the desk. He appeared to be in his sixties to seventies, but still quite spry for his age. He had an easy smile as he watched Genma enter with the three visitors. The three Yami nins stopped in front of the Hokage's desk.
"What can I do for you three?" asked the Hokage.
Ryouken pulled out the same scroll he showed to the gate guards and handed it to the Hokage as he spoke.
"We would like permission to participate in the chunnin exams."
As the Hokage opened the scroll, he asked, "Why didn't your village send notification ahead of time asking for you?"
"They didn't receive an invitation for it and once they received info, we were the closest team of genin that could get here in time. Our jounin instructor had to return to our village and they are sending one to replace her soon."
The Hokage nods his head slightly as he listens to them while reading the scroll. Once he finishes reading, he rolls the scroll up and picks another scroll off his desk, and tosses both to Ryouken.
"How soon do you think your new sensei will be here?"
"If they send who I think they are, he should be here two days before the exam."
The Hokage nods his head again.
"I will allow you to participate if your sensei is here the day before the exam begins. I would also like to speak with you sensei when he or she arrives. Genma, if you don't mind, could you show them to the hotel for the exam participants, as well as a training ground that they can practice at?"
"It will be no problem, Hokage-sama."
"By the way, where is the village hidden in the Darkness, and when was it established?"
"My apologies, Hokage-sama, but only jounin and above are authorized to tell about our village outside of it," said Ryouken.
"I will ask your sensei when he or she arrives then. I hope you enjoy your stay in our village. If your sensei arrives on time, good luck on the exams."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
With that, Ryouken, Lina, and Bahzell left his office with Genma.
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In the Aoi Shishi Ryokan …
Bahzell and Ryouken waited in their room for Lina to join from hers while playing card games. Once they hear a knock at the door, they stopped, let Lina in and waited for her to speak.
She looks around for a minute, closed the curtain, and sat down next to both of them. She then touched both of their shoulders and began to speak.
"Into the darkness of the mind, allow us a place to speak. Mindscape Walker!"
As she said that, all three slumped down in their seats.
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Inside Lina's mind…
Lina, Ryouken, and Bahzell found themselves seated around a small table with four chairs. Everything else except for each other and a small circle around the table was shrouded in darkness.
"Okay, guys, once Fei gets here, if they send him, we will change plans as necessary. Till then, no using anything above basic techniques, no fighting any other people, and keep an eye out for any Jinchuuriki, or word on Tsunade of the Sannin. Unless we hear otherwise, we are to play our role as genin taking the exam until Orochimaru makes his move. Only then will we act unless a Jinchuuriki is in trouble or Akatsuki shows up."
"I still don't see why we don't just hunt them down and kill them now, instead of using this whole façade," says Bahzell.
"Can't. They need to battle a lot of this themselves, but if we come forward with info, they may or may not trust us, or it could change too much, too quickly. We are only here to create balance and move this reality farther from the main one," voiced Ryouken.
"Two last things before I release this spell. One; we need to keep a low profile as much as possible, so no spying or anything. Two; since I pulled you both into my mind, you are both going to have one hell of a headache when we wake up," says Lina as she grins.
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
As Ryouken and Bahzell started to speak, Lina said, "Mindscape Walker: Release."
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Back in the inn…
"Damn you, Lina. I'm going to kick your ass for that," shouted Ryouken as he woke up.
"Keep it down, please. She already left," said Bahzell.
"You got anything for headaches?"
"No, Lina is the support person for our team. She has all the medicine."
"Dammit. I'm going to bed then."
With that, Ryouken stalked to the bed and fell asleep. Bahzell just chuckled for a minute before laying as much of himself as he could on the other bed, leaving his feet and half his shins hanging off the end.
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Next day in the Konoha Market area…
Lina is sitting with Ryouken at a small street side café.
"Lina, remember, this is your treat for that stunt yesterday."
"Yeah, yeah, I know sheesh. Ya think you could take a joke."
As they say talking, they noticed a few of the villagers started to move away from a group of ninja walking down the street. One was tall with spiky silver hair and his village emblem slanted to cover his left eye. The second was raven haired with dark blue shirt and white shorts, and looked annoyed. The third had pink hair and seemed to be the reason for the second's annoyance. The final member appeared to be the reason for the villagers movement, as anything that orange would case anyone to move out of its way. Or that's what they would have thought if the looks weren't of hatred.
Both Lina and Ryouken looked at each other.
"You don't think that he's…?"
Just as Ryouken said that, one of the villagers nearby started muttering about how the demon brat should have died on his mission.
Ryouken looked like he was about to beat the villager when Lina stopped him. She grinned at him.
"Let's have a little fun with them."
"What do you mean?"
"Just watch," said Lina.
With that, Lina stood and walked to the villager.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Is there something wrong?"
The villager seemed startled for a minute until she saw it was Lina asking her.
"Oh, nothing much, just wishing that they would get rid of that demon."
"Maybe my teammate and I can help? Care to join us?"
"No, I couldn't ask you to do anything; it would just get you in trouble."
"I insist, if nothing else it will help you relax talking about it."
With that, Lina practically dragged the woman back to their table. As she sat down, Ryouken turns to her.
"How do you do, miss? My name is Jigoku no Ryouken, but everyone just calls me Ryouken. The one that dragged you over here is my teammate, Inverse Lina."
"Hello, I'm Yamanaka Hitomi. I suppose I'm doing okay, would be better if a little demon was dead."
"What demon are you speaking of? Maybe we can help get rid of it."
"I don't know if I can talk about it. It's not really allowed."
"Don't worry, I'm sure they won't mind if you tell us," Ryouken says as he smiles at her.
"O…okay. Have you heard about the demon fox that attacked our village years ago?"
"I've heard about it, but how does that pertain to this demon you are talking about? The demon fox was said to be killed by your Yondaime Hokage," asks Lina.
"Well, it is true he defeated it, but he couldn't kill it, so he sealed it into a child's form. It is just waiting for a chance to kill us all."
"So the demon you wish was dead is in this kid?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that."
"I have a question for you, Hitomi-san. Say a criminal killed someone you cared for, but he was captured and put into prison. Would you break the prison to try and kill the criminal?"
"No. If I tried that, there is a good chance the criminal would escape and either kill me or go on to kill others. Plus he is already serving his punishment for his crimes."
"Okay, then why would you want us to try and destroy the demon fox's prison," asks Ryouken.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the only seal he could use to defeat the demon fox would have to be the highest level of seal. Otherwise it could break free. The only one that is like that is the Shiki Fuuin. It calls upon the Shinigami to seal the soul of the target into something or someone else. Sometimes they have the Shinigami eat the soul. The price of this seal, though, is the soul of the user. So that means he didn't seal it into the kids form, he sealed it into the kid. Sort of like putting a criminal into prison, the criminal doesn't become the prison. So if we killed the kid, the demon fox would escape, and somehow, I don't think it would be happy after being imprisoned for, what, thirteen years?"
"So…you mean all this time…no…it can't be…"
"Yeah, everyone has been punishing an innocent for the crimes of someone else."
"I…I have to go. Thank you for helping me with my problems. Have a good day Lina-san, Ryouken-san."
"Ja ne, Hitomi-san."
After she left, Lina turned to Ryouken.
"I wonder how long it is before she tells everyone she knows."
"Well, she looks like a gossip monger, so it will probably take a while to get to everyone she knows, but it should spread to everyone in the village by the exams, if my guess it correct."
"Hmmm, you may be right. I see the Trust and Silence seals are working well."
"Nice how you slipped the Trust Seal on her. Lucky she was a civilian. It wouldn't have worked on a ninja."
"True. Shall we finish and head back to the inn?"
"Sure."
With that, Ryouken left some money on the table and they both left.
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Hokage's office…
The Sandaime Hokage leaned back from his scrying glass in thought about what he had just seen. They knew things they weren't supposed to, yet they seemed to be trying to help him with the information they knew. Were they friend or foe? He shakes his head. Just thinking about it won't find anything out. He reaches over and hits a button at the edge of his desk. Seconds later, an ANBU appears.
"I need you to keep an eye on the three from Yamigakure for the entire time they are here. And leave a message at the gate for them to send their jounin sensei directly here as soon as he arrives."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
The ANBU vanishes as suddenly as he appeared.
"Hmmm, now what will you three do?"
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In the Aoi Shishi Ryokan …
Bahzell looks up at the door as it opens, revealing Ryouken carrying some to-go food, Lina right behind him.
"Hey Bahzell. Brought you some take out. Hope you like ramen," said Lina as she walked in.
"Well, if that's what you got me, then I hope I like it as well," Bahzell answered with a slight smile, "So how was everything in the village? I haven't walked around yet to look."
"Like any other village, except more dangerous and peaceful at the same time. It's interesting to watch normal people walking around without a care in the world as ninja hop from rooftop to rooftop above them, or walk past openly carrying weapons. But then you watch one kid walk by and they act like he is the devil himself…except powerless and weak."
"So the villagers are making a self-fulfilling prophecy with the kid?"
"Yeah, but Lina and myself may have put a dent in that today."
"Nothing too drastic, I hope."
"No, just lay some gossip onto a gossip hound. If it works out, then by the end of the chunnin exams, every ones opinion of him will be shifted slightly, if not changed entirely."
"Well, that could be interesting. What happened to laying low till our sensei arrived?" asked Bahzell.
"It had very low risk and high rewards if it succeeded. It goes very far towards our goal of helping Jinchuuriki and accomplishing our mission. And if it backfires, it has low risk of causing our mission to fail or making it worse for the kid," answered Lina.
"Hey, Ryou, think you can pick me up some senbon needles next time you go out? I'm about 30 thousand short to complete my technique preparation. I could also use some blank scrolls and ink," said Bahzell.
"Yeah, I guess, although I don't think the weapon shops around here are going to have that amount on hand. Plus it might be noticed and raise questions with the Hokage about us."
"Yeah, Ryou's right," spoke Lina, "but I could use a few dozen myself as well as a new whetstone for my blades. Some ninja wire would be useful as well."
"Fine, I'll pick it up tomorrow, and if they don't have it, I'll order it for before the exams. Do you want anything else? Tell me now or I won't get it for you."
"Rations and sealing scrolls for them. They will probably have a survival exam," said Lina.
"Okay. Lucky the room is free for participants, otherwise we would be stretched thin till our sensei got here."
As they made random small talk, Bahzell was busy wrapping senbon needles with explosive tags, Lina was studying some scrolls, and Ryouken was doing handstand push-ups.
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Hokage's Office…
'What is there mission? These children are more and more mysterious the more I find out,' thought Sarutobi as he watched the three Yami nins through his scrying ball.
To Be Continued…
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A/N: I know, as overused as Yamigakure is, and how much I complain about unoriginal stuff, it is kind hypocritical of me to use it. I have a reason for using it though, as it shall be seen later on. Wouldn't want to spoil it for ya. Fair warning ahead of time for all the people that like to complain about people being OOC; I am the writer. I will write it how I see the character might react in that situation. I am neither the best writer in the world, nor am I psychic, and most likely, neither are you. There is no one hundred percent certain way people will react in a situation, I could be right in how I put it, or I could be wrong. And assuming the Great Wall of Writers Block doesn't fall on me, this will be epic length. I really hate that wall…