The presence of the Shikon Jewel Shards leads Inuyasha and the others through a large forest that hides a village. Its inhabitants are the Hidden Leaf ninja and it is they who now possess the Jewel Shards, and they won't just hand them over, especially with all the power it holds.
The ninjas of Konoha Village don't take strangers lightly either and when a strange group of individuals with great strength show up to take the shards, it won't be easy, for either side.
Ninjas will give them hell... but the Inu-tachi are no one to mess around with, underestimate or push over. Will the groups ever earn each other's trust and will romance finally bloom for them, especially for two who share a similar past?
Feelings never really felt before are arising.
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha. Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I am neither of them therefore I don't own either series. There dammit.
SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU READ:
A/N: The time line here is a little difficult to explain... So Inuyasha and others are still all their normal ages (from the manga) so that makes them all around 16 to 19. (Kagome16, Inuyasha18, Sango17, Miroku19, Koga18, Ginta/Hakkaku18?) They are still searching for the shards of course. BTW, MIROKU DID NOT PROPOSE TO SANGO!!!!
For the Naruto gang, this takes place AFTER Orochimaru, sorry, I don't know the Naruto storyline by heart or memory, just from what I've heard. I know Sasuke comes back moodier and meaner after training with Orochimaru, BUT NOT IN THIS FIC. So it has been a couple of years for them ok? They're all 17 or 18... (Nar17, Sas18, Sak18, Ino17, Shika18, Cho17, Hin17, Kiba18, Shino18, Nej18, Rock18, Ten18) BTW, they are all CHUNIN!
Hope that wasn't too complicated for you guys!! Enjoy and review!!!!
Journey to Konoha Village
Chapter One: New Mission! Prepare for Battle
The group continued on their way hoping that they would reach a destination soon. They were tired of walking for a full day and a half straight without seeing any villages. They all wanted to find one fast.
It was very strange that they hadn't seen one in so long. Villages were usually about a mile or so apart. No matter, the old group continued on, but with new additions. Koga, the alpha wolf demon, and Ginta and Hakkaku, his loyal followers.
Inuyasha couldn't stand having Koga in the group but Inuyasha had to admit, he was better than nothing. During their last battle with Naraku, it turned out the evil hanyou had gotten stronger, now that he wasn't even a half-demon anymore. He was now a full-fledged pure evil demon spawned from the very depths of Hell.
If it weren't for Koga's aid, then they would have been in worse conditions.
"A helping hand is always welcome!" Kagome told Koga and the other two a few weeks ago. That scene just kept playing over and over in Inuyasha's temperamental head.
'How irritating!' Was the only thing the hanyou thought to himself.
"How much longer? I really want to rest you guys!" Shippou jumped on Kagome's shoulders.
"Not much longer, we'll stop in a minute alright?" Kagome smiled at the little demon child and handed him a small candy while wondering why he was always complaining.
Inuyasha looked over and rolled his eyes.
"It's not like you walked a lot anyway, you always climb on one of us so quite complaining you dumb baby! Feh."
"Inuyasha! Stop being so mean!" Kagome shouted, not even glancing at Inuyasha.
Sango looked toward the two fighting. Again. The slayer let out a small laugh. Always for some reason they end up fighting, they can never hold up a conversation of their own. But when it came to each other's safety, you can tell how much they cared for each other.
Even Koga just stared at them, like it was hopeless that they would ever shut up.
"Inuyasha's such an idiot." He mumbled to himself. It was a good thing Inuyasha was too busy bickering with Kagome not to hear.
It was sunny, too sunny. It was no wonder Shippou was complaining a lot. The heat was just too much for him. There wasn't even a breeze. Nothing.
'Wow, Feudal Era Japan's temperature's is a lot hotter...' Kagome thought remembering how cold it is in her time.
They day was hot, and something loomed in the air, something mysterious. Sango, as a slayer trained since childhood, knew to always trust her instincts. It was one of the most important rules to learn, something all slayers had drilled in their heads. It was a rule all types of slayers lived by. From trainees to masters in extermination.
'But no one else can feel it... Inuyasha, Koga and Kilala are usually the first to sense these things.' Sango opened her kimono a little and looked at the sky.
'There's not a cloud in sight... that's what it is, the heat.' The slayer began to fan herself with her hand.
"Finally! Some shade! Ugh... this sun is killing me!" Miroku pointed to a dense forest in between hills.
"Come on boss!" Ginta and Hakkaku howled with happiness, stuck their tongues out and went straight for the forest.
"All we have to do is take a short cut through there. This is perfect!" Miroku and others began to head toward the forest.
"I looks pretty big, what if we get lost?" Kagome stopped before entering.
Everyone looked at her. All of the sudden, they burst out laughing.
"What!?" She yelled blushing.
Miroku calmed himself down a little, she was so naive and cute.
"Heh... come on Kagome, we have a half-demon who can smell about ten miles away, wolf demons who can smell fifteen miles away, a fox demon who knows his way around forests, a fire cat demon who can FLY, a slayer who can clear out ANYTHING–"
"Alright, alright! I get your point, okay? Sheesh..." Kagome proceeded into the forest with the rest of the group in a pout.
The first thing they noticed when they entered the forest was how healthy and beautiful it was. The trees were so tall and their shade made the temperature about 40 degrees cooler. It reminded them of Inuyasha's Forest.
It was all so green and flowers peeked from the bottom of trees. Everything was so big, the butterflies were huge, and they landed on leaves big enough to be parasols. They continued walking for about 10 minutes. Calmness was clearly present in the forest but so was something else...
Something none of them could point out...
"There are jewel shards here in this forest...!" Everyone turned to the miko who was trying to determine how many there were.
"I knew there was something fishy about this place." Inuyasha began to sniff the air for any sign of misplaced scents. Sango changed into her slayer's uniform and joined them in the search.
Kagome pointed out the direction of the jewel shards' location, but before continuing, they all searched the trees a while longer.
There was a hidden entity in the forest, something was hiding some where, but its location was too difficult to find.
Its smell was undetectable, and its aura was barely there. It was as if they were just imagining it...
Koga, Ginta and Hakkaku began to sniff around the forest too. Even with their stronger sense of smell, they couldn't find what was making them all antsy.
Miroku tried sensing its presence, but nothing. Sango too, but had no luck as well.
"I haven't found anything." she said with a sigh, and petted little Kilala who had the same luck as the others.
Inuyasha stopped and let out an irritated growl.
"Forget it, it's probably nothing. I can't smell or hear it, neither can Kilala or these wolves, and I don't even think it has an aura. It's obvious we're being paranoid so let's just get the hell on our way!" He turned sharply on his heel and headed toward the jewel shard's direction.
"Ugh... must you always be so aggressive when it comes to the jewel shards, Inuyasha?" Kagome sighed and followed him.
Miroku just shrugged. Koga quickly ran up to Kagome and walked beside her like an obedient puppy.
The others followed behind and continued to walk through the large, dense forest.
'Inuyasha's right, we probably are just being paranoid. Besides, as if we can pass something with out detecting it at all. Ha! They'd have to be COMPLETELY undetectable for us to pass them by.' Sango thought with an almost 'Inuyasha smirk.' The gorgeous slayer followed behind her friends with confidence.
"Come on Kilala." The small demon ran beside her master.
The absence of wind was luck to the one hidden at the base of a large tree, covered completely in mud.
The trained ninja opened his eyes and let out a careful breath through his nose and waited a little longer. He lifted himself up and without a sound, climbed the tree and watched the group walk off toward his village.
The Konohagakure always births the best ninjas. Their scouting ninjas are no different.
With the short conversation the group had amongst themselves, he could already tell what their motives were.
The stances they took when they felt his aura for a mere second, their weapons, clothing, armor, strengths... he knew some of them possessed spiritual energy, and the others great strength and fighting capabilities... he had plenty of information to deliver to the Hokage and ninjas of his village.
These people were no ordinary people though. They were able to detect his aura, even if it was just for seconds, it took a lot of chakra to keep it under control.
Most who encounter Hidden Leaf Ninja never even know it.
Another piece of information he had inferred was that the group wasn't all human. No. Some were demons, and one seemed to be both.
He wasn't too sure, perhaps that one was half-demon, half-human. His aura was almost like that of a determined occupant ninja of Hidden Leaf's. Such a prankster that one STILL.
Whatever it is, demons are never a good sign. And it was obvious they were after something. The prized jewel shards the village recently acquired from a strange man clothed in baboon fur, captured before he entered the village.
He swiftly jumped from tree to tree, and knowing the forest like the back of his hand, arrived in Konoha in zero time.
-
--
He passed through the gates in a rush. The ninja guarding the village can already tell one of their scouters had serious and important news.
Word spread like wildfire around the village. Genin everywhere were excited.
"If they enter Hidden Leaf they'll die on the spot!" One said.
"Totally, they won't have a chance! If they even try to take that jewel shard, I bet us genin can take 'em on!" Throughout Hidden Leaf, commotion and rumors sprang that the genin were going to take care of the intruders, but that soon changed when the jounin yelled at them for acting like idiots and on impulse.
A blonde haired chunin saw how fast the whole thing blew up and exploded in seconds.
The genin were too cocky this year.
"Ugh, were WE that moronic when we were genin?" Naruto said toward his companions.
The aloof teen lying on the grass let out a sigh.
"Huh... You were. More moronic than they were, and way too troublesome." Shikamaru said knowing that the hot headed blond was bound to yell at him, but frankly, didn't care.
Naruto did exactly as he thought and yelled on and on at him about... stupid stuff. The other chunin teenagers looked on with annoyance.
All have grown physically, emotionally, and mentally. At this time of day, if they weren't doing missions, the now seventeen and eighteen year old boys, or 'young men,' usually hung out, doing either nothing or fighting, verbally and or physically.
It's usually Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Rock Lee, Shino, and Chouji. They were all still in their original teams of course. None of the shinobi could honestly bear leaving their rookie teams... after all, they had all gone through so much together.
Sometimes the girls would hang out with them, but after awhile leave because the boys were either 'too boring' or 'so impulsive.'
After Orochimaru's disappearance, everything was calm. No serious problems at least. The villages still had their fights. The occasional enemies still wanting to destroy and sabotage the other's plans, people, houses, secretes, whatever.
They of course, had all gotten taller, they were now 17 and 18 years old and respected chunin, and they were, no doubt, handsome.
Sasuke just became even more of an eye-catcher for the ladies. It's not like the others cared though, they finally had their share of girls at their feet too, especially since they were the generation that survived Orochimaru.
But some of the boys had girlfriends now, so they didn't really care for the fan girls. It was funny... the boys dated within the Rookie-Nine and Team Gai.
It took Naruto a couple years before he'd realized that Hinata really loved him and in reality has always been there for him as well. The dim-witted blonde finally asked the shy Hinata out, and resulting in completing each other at last.
Shikamaru caught Ino in his Me-and-my-Shadow technique to keep her from chasing Sasuke some years ago and they've been together ever since. She personally LOVES that technique now and for various reasons... Tenten confessed her feelings to Neji Hyuga for her own sake. She was tired of hiding her feelings, so when she did confess, she learned, at the same time, that the Byakugan-user felt the same way to her incredible surprise.
Kiba was still trying to gather up courage to ask the beautiful medic-ninja Sakura... he was definitely a confident ninja... but when it came to love... the green-eyed girl seemed to make him bite his own tongue. Sakura knew Kiba was always trying to tell her something important, and by the way he got nervous... she pretty much got the idea. The thoughts of her actually going out with Kiba weren't bad ones either, if she said so herself... oh no... they were FAR from bad...
They girls grew also. Pleasantly too. The kunoichi were as beautiful as they were deadly. They just happen to be even more beautiful and deadlier now.
When the girls got together, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten hung out on the rooftops of Konoha's many buildings.
Sakura and Ino had finally put the past behind them about three years ago with Sakura realizing how much she missed the friendship Ino had given to her.
In their eyes, Sasuke was still the hottest guy in Konoha Village, but Ino of course, lost interest after Shikamaru drove her mad with his whole being! She never realized how much she loved everything about the cloud-envying boy. And Sakura realized not too long ago how much Kiba's confidence was, well... undeniably sexy. And as much as she wanted to get even closer to Sasuke than she already was, Kiba was finding a brand new and welcoming place in her heart.
But after all of those years of trying to get close to Sasuke, still no success for the rose-haired girl.
After Orochimaru and another fierce battle with his older brother Itachi, he did loosen up more, now he actually had friends, people he can talk to, but it made no difference. He still wasn't happy... his brother was alive.
To him, his pain is something they just can't understand.
Sakura noticed that Sasuke doesn't shrug people off now, but even so, his past keeps up with a steady and constant pace.
His attitude is always present, and of course, he still doesn't let anyone push him around, but at least he can take a joke now. Even if he's gained and earned trust, his friends know not to get on certain subjects if they don't wants their necks threatened with a snap.
"You guys!" Sakura yelled running toward the boys' location. "We have to go. Our sensei want us."
"Don't tell me its because of those stupid rumors the genin are spreading." Sasuke said looking down from the tree he was resting on.
"Well, I don't know but..."Sakura looked at them.
Kiba sat up to listen to the cute girl in front of him with a now large Akamaru by his side.
"they want to send us on a mission." The kunoichi told them.
Neji and Sasuke suddenly directed their attention toward the gate of Konoha Village. A sudden burst of surprisingly powerful energy was sensed by the byakugan and sharingan. The two activated their bloodlines to see what it was.
"What is it?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head with a worried look on his face, his sharingan didn't give him an image, but a strong presence. He just sensed the immense energy coming from a small group of individuals, some of them weren't even human.
Neji's eyes were wide with surprise. Such power from a small group of travelers? Who were they?
"Nine travelers. Three females, two of them are human, one is a demon. Six males, four demons, one human, and the other is half." he answered. His byakugan, on the other hand, did give him an image and the intimidating power level they possessed.
"That many demons!? What is that like 6?" Naruto looked at Neji.
"Five and a half stupid." Shino told the blond ninja. Naruto shot him a glare. A couple of the guys laughed.
"Are they really that powerful?" Shikamaru asked Neji and Sasuke. He knew that when they were worried, they should all be worried.
"Yeah." Neji and Sasuke replied at the same time. The byakugan-wielder shook his attention toward Sakura. "What do our sensei want again?"
"They want to brief us on our next mission." The rose-haired turned and motioned them to follow.
-
--
The four chunin teams stood before their old sensei in a large room. They knew their mission was going to involve those strange travelers headed toward the village.
The teenagers all gathered in front of their teachers and waited for their orders. Four elite jounin stood in front of their students but said nothing. Finally one of them spoke.
"Your orders won't necessarily be coming from us." Kakashi said to them all. They all gave him confused looks.
"Kakashi-sensei, what are you talking about?" Naruto asked.
"That's because your orders will be coming directly from me." Everyone turned to see the woman enter their presence. Lady (Granny in Naruto's case) Tsunade. Hokage of Konohagakure.
Everyone showed their respects by saluting. She gave them a comforting smile and proceeded to her chair.
"As you have heard, there are travelers headed toward the village. But these are no ordinary travelers. Our scouter ninja has informed us that they possess far more strength than many you have all encountered."
The chunin continued to give the respected Hokage their attention. The more she described the travelers though, the more the mission seemed tougher.
"That group is coming here. They are after the jewel shards that we acquired a few days ago. Now I don't know why they want them, but its obvious that these jewel pieces possess great spiritual power. Just one shard can tremendously increase the power of a single ninja. Gai's team will be exempt from the mission. I have another job for you." Tsunade said looking at Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee.
"Yes, Hokage." They said in unison and went off to the side.
"Your mission," she said looking at the others, "is to prevent them from entering Konoha Village. Is that understood?" She asked the group. They all agreed.
"But if they defeat you, then you have to let them in." Everyone gave confused looks to each other, but didn't question the hokage.
"There are nine travelers. Three females, six males. Ladies first. One of them has incredible amounts of spiritual energy. Our scouter ninja informed us that is was she who knew where the jewel shards were. We have reason to believe she is a priestess, a strange one. She carries a bow and a quiver of arrows. They are most likely sacred so they might do more than just pierce the skin. We have no further information on her." Lady Tsunade continued on.
"The other human female is a slayer, a demon slayer to be exact. She most likely knows how to interpret her enemies the most out of the whole group. She also possess an array of weapons. She's fast, strong, and smart. It might make using your weapons against her difficult since she knows her way around them. Of them all, she's also the one who has probably had the most training in combat. You'll have to figure out how to defeat her on your own."
"The last female is a demon, but she's small, about the size of a kitten. Heh, we don't have much to say about that demon... but it can't be good."
Akamaru growled, "Heh, he seems excited already." Kiba said petting his loyal dog.
Naruto chuckled, "A kitty! What the hell, we're gonna fight a cat!?"
Tsunade glared at Naruto, automatically shutting him up. "She does seem to be loyal to the slayer, which seems awfully contradicting. But don't underestimate her. What we don't know about that demon could be a big disadvantage to us. I want you all to tell me you won't underestimate that cat demon."
"We won't underestimate the cat demon." They all said in unison, lazily and without any seriousness.
Tsunade just rolled her eyes. 'Teenagers.'
"Males next. One is a monk. We don't know too much about him either. But one rather odd detail about him was his right hand. It's wrapped in a rosary. He obviously possess spiritual energy also, so don't take him lightly either."
"There's also a fox demon. He is also rather small. We aren't sure what abilities he possess. Possibly uses fox magic. Most likely trickery and evasion."
Tsunade laid back into her chair but kept her eyes focused on her teams.
"There are three wolf demons traveling with them also. One of them seems to be the leader of the other two. He has a better sense of smell than the other demons in the group. From what we know, wolves tend to be aggressive, fast, and incredibly determined. His followers will be easier to take down. The leader on the other hand, will be difficult and a lot harder to fight."
"The last is a half-demon, half-human male. He has a strong sense of smell, plenty of strength, he and that Alpha wolf demon probably have the most power. He carries around a sword, but from what the scouter saw, it looked rusted. He also informed us that he had the temper of the group, so Naruto," Tsunade turned her head toward the most energetic of the group.
"Yes Granny Tsunade?"
"Try to avoid him. We can't have two individuals with short-fuses fighting each other, now can we?" She said with a smile.
Naruto crossed his arms and looked away. "I guess." The Hokage gave them a giant smile and stood up.
"Shikamaru and Sasuke, you two will be the team leaders. Now you all know what you have to do. Remember if they beat you, let them in. Now go."
"Yes Hokage." The chunin all left and headed toward outside of the village.
-
--
"I can feel them, we're getting closer to the jewel shards you guys. I think about 10 minutes more and we'll reach its location." The young and beautiful miko told her friends.
They were all running to its location, except for Kagome and Shippou who were on Inuyasha's back, and Kilala was riding on Sango's shoulder. Who knows why the location of the jewel shards was where it was. Naraku must have been behind it.
"Finally, I was so sick and tired of just looking for them, I need some action, maybe the ones who have a hold of the jewel shards will be more interesting than stupid low-life demons." Inuyasha said with another growl and a smirk.
"Yeah right, with your luck, you'll probably get exactly what you DIDN'T ask for!" The alpha wolf replied with a laugh. Ginta and Hakkaku decided it was best not to say anything to Koga, they hated getting caught in between.
"WHAT did you say wolf? Then I guess I'll have to take out my frustration on you!"
"Mutt, you'd like that, too bad your bite isn't as tough as your BARK!"
The young slayer rolled her eyes, "Ugh, no matter what you guys say, it always tends to direct toward each other."
"Well, at least we're used to it by now." Miroku said almost tripping at his own lie, but caught himself with his staff.
"Yeah right, we'll never get used to it." Ginta and Hakkaku said simultaneously.
"Mmm-Hmm!" Kagome and Shippou said in agreement with the two wolves.
They group continued running toward their destination, getting closer and closer with every leap their legs took.
"Meow!" Kilala let out, everyone stopped. Automatically the taijiya alerted herself as did the others. Inuyasha, Koga and the beta wolves began smelling their surroundings.
There were people in the forest.
Kagome and Shippou were let down and they too braced themselves.
"Yup, there are about twelve of them and a dog," Koga said informing the group, "they're all human... I think..."
"What the hell do you mean 'I think?'" Inuyasha asked, confused by what he said. His ears twitched. "Huh?"
"What is it Inuyasha?" Kagome looked at the hanyou.
Inuyasha looked around, he thought he heard something, but it was too faint to know where it came from.
The chunin ninja of Konoha stopped to gather together and discuss their plans. They all whispered.
"So what is Lady Tsunade asking you guys to do?" Shikamaru asked Neji and his team.
They looked at each other. "Well... we're here to make sure none of you get beaten to a pulp or die, and we're here to give you guys some back-up, just in case some of you're in trouble." The Byakugan-wielder told him.
"Heh, Yeah right. I mean, they might be hard, but come on, I think we've all been through worse." Naruto said to Neji's team.
Neji nodded his head in such a way saying he wouldn't understand.
Sasuke looked at his teams and then to Neji and his, "So, you three are pretty much refereeing or something?"
"Pretty much." replied Lee to the three chunin teams.
"Man, this mission is already troublesome." Shikamaru sat on the thick tree branch they were on.
"Well, we have to take care of it anyway, so let's do what we can from far away." Ino said turning toward the direction of their objective.
"She's right, Hinata, could you?" Sasuke said jumping to a higher branch, Shikamaru followed.
The Hyuga Clan successor followed them to the other branch .Hinata sat on the branch and activated her Byakugan.
The four chunin teams waited for her information patiently. Meanwhile, Kiba looked at Akamaru, who automatically knew that his master wanted the distance determined.
The dog barked a very low bark to his master giving him his answer.
"Well, they're about a kilometer away." Kiba told Shikamaru and Sasuke.
"Well, then that makes us in their 'Now Know' distance." Shikamaru said.
"Yes, he's right, they know we are here, they're searching for us and they already know how many of us there are. All are accounted for, none of them are missing. And they're heading our way...!" Hinata said surprised. All the ninja stood around their leaders and waited for instructions.
"Alright you guys, first formation! You know the drill." Shikamaru said. The three ninja teams spilt up surrounding their targets.
Neji and his team on the other hand had another mission to accomplish and waited for it all to begin.
"Remember what the Hokage told us. Watch out for them alright?" Neji told his team. They nodded in agreement, surrounded their own teams and observed the others' actions.
The Hidden Leaf ninjas waited for them to get just a little bit closer.
Ino looked from behind a branch to Sakura.
"Watch my back Sakura." The blue-eyed kunoichi told her from a tree away.
"Trust me." She said with a smile. Even though Sakura was trained under Hokage Tsunade, the blonde kunoichi still surpassed her in skill.
No doubt Sakura had gotten a lot stronger since her genin times and of course she was second-best in being medic-nin with the first being the Hokage, but Ino Yamanaka had always been the number one female genin in Konoha, and even now, she was number one female chunin. The lazuline-eyed kunoichi excelled in so many aspects. She was truly unique.
All of the trained chunin waited.
Inuyasha's group stopped proceeding and formed a defensive half circle. They knew they were in the middle of their attackers' trap. Inuyasha cracked his neck and knuckles and smirked.
"Show yourselves cowards!" Inuyasha yelled at the trees. "Or don't unless you'd all like to be pulled out one by one!"
Shikamaru looked across to another tree where Sasuke hid. The genius ninja pointed to the group below them and Sasuke nodded. The two leader ninjas leaped down from the ancient trees landing a couple feet in front of their objective.
Inuyasha and the others kept their guard up and waited for an explanation as to why they were in the way. Patience growing thin for the moody hanyou.
Please review!!!! Tell me what you guys think! AND what you think of the pairing!!!! Sasuke and Sango! Please don't just stop reading this because of the pairing! You have to be open-minded!
I'm trying to have it appeal to ALL readers, not just certain fans, so help me out and let people know about this story, please, and let me know how it's going!!! Thanks!
Well, you know what you have to do!