Yu Yu Hakusho/Naruto

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto.

Spirit world had its share of clerical errors- souls shuffled into the wrong department, bizarre dress code regulations, and promotional mishaps to name a few- but Koenma only had to deal with a big mistake about once every ten years. There'd been a short string of catastrophes a few years back after he'd made Yusuke spirit detective, but things had quieted down since then.

Demon world had promised not to interfere with the humans, and though he'd risen well into the ranks of s-class demon-hood Yusuke had conveniently enough come back to open up a ramen shop and could be easily coerced into dealing with any problems that sprouted up. By Koenma's calculations, he was due at least another five solid years of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, as Koenma looked up from his desk to see a strung out reaper ushering two identical pink haired girls into his office he decided it was time to readjust his disaster ratio.

A cursory glance at the two young women did not bode well. Only one of them was physically present, and her spiritual and chakra energies were unusually unbalanced. The other girl was a mere spirit, and seemed on the verge of a breakdown.

Koenma turned unhappily towards the remaining traumatized female. "What is the meaning of this Megumi?"

"I'm sorry Lord Koenma!" Megumi said hastily, "I messed up a routine soul return." She pulled out a small book. "Haruno Sakura, age 12, died of choking on a piece of celebratory chocolate at 8 pm yesterday. I arrived on the scene ten minutes later to help her reintegrate with her body since she fell within our death reversal policy for the Forbidden Realms."

Koenma stiffened. "Forbidden Realms?"

"Yes," Megumi said anxiously, "as you know we reverse whatever discretion will allow thanks to our immense daily intake of souls. In any case, I arrived at the scene to find Sakura's soul missing from the immediate vicinity and assumed she had ascended to spirit world. In my rush to locate her spirit I'm ashamed to say I grabbed the first pink haired girl I saw and immediately started the transfer. I didn't discover my mistake until she was already integrated into the new body. I then tracked down the real Haruno Sakura and found her attempting to catch the attention of Uchiha Sasuke."

Koenma resisted the urge to start screaming at the downcast Megumi. What a disaster. Now that Sakura's body had joined with a new soul it would be months, possibly years before they could reverse the operation.

"So who exactly did you so hastily snatch from Spirit world?" Koenma spat out between gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure." Megumi glanced nervously at her mistake. "She wouldn't tell me, just demanded I bring her to you."

Koenma paled. He only knew one recently deceased pink-haired woman and, if he was right, this would be her second impromptu trip out of Spirit world. "Genkai?"

"Koenma." Genkai said flatly. "Care to explain why you're authorizing so many soul returns. I was under the impression such things were highly frowned upon."

"Yes, quite correct, they are," Koenma blustered, "but the Forbidden Reams are another matter entirely."

Genkai quirked a petal pink eyebrow. "Are they."

Koenma deflated under her piercing stare. Genkai was terrifying, and it wasn't just her glares, or the knowledge that she could and would beat you to a pulp if you got in her way, it was her connections. She was smart, and she always seemed to know where to drop bits of incriminating information, and who to find when digging up dirt. Before her deaths she'd been a strong ally, but there were iron clad limits to her patience.

"Orders from the higher ups," he said weakly "the Forbidden Realms really are a mess, humans sealed away on the very bottom of demon world with a set of nine irritatingly powerful, irrational, and ego-maniacal tailed beasts. They aren't really under Demon or Spirit world control, so we're at a stalemate when problems crop up. I've been meaning to talk to Enki about the situation sometime soon, but work has been incessant." Koenma waved at his piles of paperwork and sighed when one went crashing to the ground.

Koenma watched warily as Genkai's look turned thoughtful. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the soul placement tecnique that your reaper thoroughly butchered has trapped me in this body for a while."

The real Sakura whimpered off to the side and Megumi laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Koenma spared a moment to wonder how much Genkai had contributed to their harried and terror stricken states.

"Yes, we won't be able to correct the error until both your spirit energies are aligned so that Sakura's spirit can naturally pull you out of her body, and that could take..."

"Years." Genkai supplied.

"Years." Koenma agreed.

"And I suppose killing myself to speed up the process..."

"would be highly inadvisable." Koenma quickly finished.

"Very well," Genkai said briskly "Then are you going to tell me about these 'problems' in the so called 'Forbidden Realms.'"

Koenma stuttered something about regulations and confidentiality, but quickly realized his protestations were falling on deaf ears and an increasingly irritated face.

"Let's be frank for once Koenma. I think we both know you can't resist an opportunity like this. Don't think I didn't notice how you pulled me into the Dark Tournament and Sensui disasters just because Yusuke was my apprentice."

Koenma winced but shot back defensively "You volunteered to go along with both of those operations."

"No, I simply didn't mind tagging along to keep my dimwitted student from getting himself killed, so I stepped forward before you could slap on a few misdemeanors to coerce me into 'cooperation.'"

Koenma quickly checked to see how Megumi was taking his utter humiliation, but fortunately she seemed to be too preoccupied with comforting Sakura to notice. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Megumi, please take Sakura to one of our spirit lounges for now and keep an eye on her."

"But Koenma Sir, soul collection has already fallen behind in the few hours I've been gone, they urgently need my help."

"Fine, get George to look after her, that lazy ogre always has too much time on his hands."

Megumi bowed her head eagerly in assent and gently shepherded Sakura out the door.

As soon as the door shut Genkai spoke up. "That bad?"

"You have no idea; we're still backed up on paperwork from the third ninja war that ended over ten years ago."

"Ninja you say?"

"Absurdly powerful ninja." Koenma affirmed, "To make matters worse, quite a few of them have demon blood which manifests in 'bloodlines.' It seems like whenever they aren't surviving attacks from a bijuu they're committing genocides or starting another war. As if that isn't bad enough, now that they've figured out ways to deal with the bijuu the problems have escalated into the realm of the truly bizarre and potentially disastrous. We're coping with unauthorized deals with death gods, an immortality obsessed freak named Orochimaru messing with snake summon sacrifices and soul-altering curse seals, and a highly suspicious group called the Akatsuki that possesses a statue capable of breaking through the barrier separating the Forbidden Realms from demon world."

Koenma was mildly gratified by the impressed look on Genkai's face as she absorbed the scope of his dilemna. "If I send a spirit detective in their spirit energy advantage will be negated by the ninja's expert use of chakra, and they'd probably end up being tortured for information and dissected to better understand their unique powers."

"Which is why I'm in the perfect situation to infiltrate the ninja society." Genkai supplied.

"Quite."

"However, I fail to see how one agent could solve your problems, particularly one in a 12 year old body."

"Ah, well, you see, your mission would be to assess how well the Forbidden Realms would incorporate into Demon World if the barrier were to fall. Long term goals would preferably include infiltration of the Akatsuki, assassination of Orochimaru, and subjugation of the bijuu as was necessary." Koenma peered tentatively at Genkai to see how she'd take his to do list.

"I never tagged you as delusional Koenma" Genkai said dryly, "but I may have to reassess my opinions."

"I suppose it is an intimidating task, perhaps a little unreasonable—"

"Absolutely ridiculous you mean." Genkai interrupted. "At the very least you should be collaborating with Enki on this, you did say Demon and Spirit world have joint jurisdiction over the Forbidden Realms. Going behind his back is hardly the way to promote future amicability."

"Yes, but—"

"and there is no way I'm going in alone. We'll need at least three more people, one to infiltrate Akatsuki, one to shadow this Orochimaru creature, and one to back me up preferably with mind manipulation capabilities and stealth training. Hiei would be perfect." she mused.

"I hardly think—"

"Yes, you do seem to avoid thinking whenever possible. I however, do not intend to pointlessly die a third time."

"I can attempt to form an agreement with Enki," Koenma conceded, "but it could take days, weeks even to schedule a meeting never mind draw up a mutually accepted plan, and in the meantime your cover will have been blown! We need you back there tomorrow morning at the latest!"

"I suggest you drop the formalities then Koenma and get moving because I refuse to do your dirty work without assistance or even a sensible plan."

Koenma stared dumbstruck at Genkai's unyielding form for a moment, trapped and cornered. His mind stuttered back to life, stumbling through possibilities. Yusuke could probably be convinced to drop everything and help out, and Enki was relatively amiable, hopefully he'd go along with even a hastily drawn up strategy. Hiei would be difficult, but with Enki's backing... He had no idea who else to drag in, Kurama was an almost definite no, he'd vowed to stay in human world until death, and the monotonous routines of daily life hadn't quite worn him down yet. Perhaps the real Sakura, as a spirit she'd be an ideal spy, though there was no knowing with those ninjas. Still, perhaps it was doable.

Koenma visibly brightened, drawing another expectant eyebrow quirk from Genkai.

"Very well, you'll have your team."

"Before morning?"

"Naturally."

"Good."

A/N: This story is pretty self explanatory. It's the version of the Yu Yu Hakuso/Naruto crossover that I'd probably use if I were to continue with the Genkai gets mixed up with Sakura idea. I had some ideas sketched out... Yusuke shows up at Akatsuki and demands to join up, Sakura spies on Orochimaru and is thoroughly creeped out, possibly captured, Hiei lurks in Konoha, has to keep on hypnotizing Kakashi, potentially causes brain damage, unnerves Sasuke with red eyes, Kurama gives in eventually and takes over the spying on snake man job... If I ever finish my current stories this is probably what I'd start on next.