On the night of the third day, Inoichi and Sarutobi made their way through the Forest of Death, The Professor slaying everything in his path as they made their way to the tower. The reason for the urgency being that in order to justify moving their shinobi away from missions, and back to the village to prepare for a potential invasion that could potentially take place within the forseeable future, he would need to prove inconclusively that Orochimaru was within the village, and that there was some link between him and sound.
Now, while it may not be the best evidence, the only way to show that Orochimaru was a real threat, was to venture into the mind of a shinobi who'd faced against Sound Ninja before, and prove the snake sennin's involvement with Sound.
And by that, it meant Koten. Though it was a long shot, and potentially the memories could've been repressed or forgotten, it was still a good idea to get as much evidence to back his claims as possible. That's why he had brought Inoichi with him. While inside Koten's mind, they would quickly make a copy of the prevalent memories and place them within a Memory Crystal, a common tool for the Yamanaka when memories themselves had to serve as evidence. Either for legal/judicial means or otherwise.
Since it was the middle of the night, and Koten was still uncomfortable with people wandering around inside his head unless being told specifically why, and they couldn't tell him due to the potential breach in security, the best way to get the information without arousing suspicion was to do it that night, under the cover of darkness and hopefully out of the eyes of those who were potentially watching.
When Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji arrived at the tower, they were immediately confronted with an obscure riddle. After two seconds, Shikamaru just muttered "troublesome" before taking the two scrolls and tossing them over each other. After a puff of smoke, Asuma appeared and congratulated them on solving the riddle and making it that far. After being told that they had about a day and a half to two days to rest before the next exam, they were directed to the barracks they would be staying in before Asuma left.
However, when Ino spotted her father going down one of the hallways with the Hokage, there was a change of plans from the original 'get some sleep in a real bed' plan.
"Shikamaru. Choji. Follow me," Ino ordered as she snuck down the hall.
"Whyyyy?" Choji whined. "Can't we just sleep?"
"No. My dad's up to something, so I need the two of you to be lookouts and secure my escape route," Ino whispered, tiptoeing down the hall following her father and the Hokage.
"Troublesome wolf," Shikamaru muttered. Even though he slept practically all day on most days, nearly getting eaten by a giant razor-toothed squirrel took a toll on one's limits, and sleep's comforting embrace would be much welcomed.
"So you're sure he'll stay asleep?" Sarutobi asked as he and Inoichi tiptoed toward their designated mind walk target.
"I'm absolutely sure," Inoichi answered. "I've been doing this for years, and no one has ever woken up while I was performing this jutsu. It's highly unlikely he will when he's already asleep."
Sarutobi nodded as he put his right hand on Inoichi's shoulder, the Memory Crystal clutched in his left hand as he stuck it to his palm with chakra. "Okay then. Let's go before someone sees. The sooner we do, the less of a security risk we run."
Inoichi nodded as he performed a set of handsigns. "Yamanaka Style: Mind Walk Jutsu."
Moments later, Ino poked her head into the room through a ventilation shaft, seeing her father and the Hokage sitting in chairs beside Koten's bed. All of them were asleep, and Koten's two team mates were probably in separate rooms since they didn't have any real obligation to sleep in the same room.
After taking careful aim at the sleeping teen below, Ino ran through the handsigns before bringing her hands forward. "Yamanaka Style: Mind Walk Jutsu."
The next moment her body fell unconscious, her soul leaping into Koten's after a few seconds.
At the same time, Ino found herself within a darkened mindscape. The halls were pitch black, and there was no natural light, though she could still see herself and the sliding doors just fine, a dim glow shining behind the pressed squares of paper.
This is his mindscape huh? she said to herself as she looked around. It's kinda dark, but maybe that's just because he's sleeping. Now, what would my dad and the Hokage be doing in here?
"Are you sure no one else is around?" Sarutobi's voice asked from down the hall.
"I'm sure. There was no one inside the room when we went in," Inoichi's voice answered.
"Let's just get what we need and get out of here quickly," Sarutobi said as he turned the corner. "He may be asleep for now, but I don't want him waking up."
Upon seeing her father and the Hokage down the hallway, she quickly opened a random door and jumped in, hoping not to be discovered prematurely. Finding out what they were doing there would have to wait.
The next moment, Ino found herself in a darkened forest, the moon hanging over her head between massive trees, the sounds of ravenous wildlife echoing into her ears.
Looking around frantically, she saw that thankfully, she was still in Koten's head, and didn't wander back into the Forest of Death. After taking a few steps forward into the memory's mindscape, Ino saw a figure she didn't recognize. Yet anyway.
The figure had darkened shin, his hair tied up in a ponytail and his pupil-less eyes blue. He had the tattered remains of a dirt-colored cloak over his shoulders, leaving his arms and stomach exposed while he wore tattered shorts and no shoes. There were various scars across his body, though most were well-healed.
After a few seconds, she saw a brown-furred wolf's tail sticking out from the back of his shorts, and she realized that must've been Koten, probably around four to five years ago.
The next moment, Koten's tail twitched as he looked up from gutting the rabbit he'd captured. When he turned around, trudging through the bushes was a slightly beaten-up stone-nin, the cut across his hitae-ate signaling that he was a missing-nin. On his back and right side were a pair of sheathed katana.
Koten quickly repositioned the kunai he had in his hand as he turned on the intruder, said intruder regarding him for a moment before drawing his blades, the ends shining in the moonlight as his opponent's muscles tensed.
After a second, the stone-nin charged, Koten bringing up the kunai he was using to block the first swing before his kunai was knocked out of his hands. Before he could even blink, his opponent had driven the katana in his left hand through Koten's right hand and into a boulder, holding it in place to the point where he couldn't escape.
"Agh!" Koten grunted, trying to hide his pain. Then, the stone-nin mercilessly drove the sword in his right hand through Koten's left shoulder. "GAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he cried as the sound of muscle, tissue, and bone being cut pierced the air, Ino having to cover her mouth to stifle the scream at the horrifying sight before her.
"I don't know who the hell you are, but I'm just going to kill you," the stone-nin said darkly. "And with these supplies you've gathered, they'll keep me going for a good long time," he added as he looked around the tree hollows and under the makeshift lean-to.
The next moment Koten formed a handseal with his left hand after gathering as much chakra as he could into his lungs.
"Wind Style: Air Bullet!" Koten shouted in desperation, firing a large air blast at the stone-nin at point-blank range, sending him flying backwards after losing his grip on the two katana.
"GYAAAAH!" he cried as he flew through several trees due to the direct force of the air bullet, but suddenly stopped as he was impaled through the heart on a broken tree branch, killing him instantly as his head fell and his body grew limp.
The next moment, Ino heard Koten grunt, biting his lip to force his cries of pain down as he removed the katana through his left shoulder, blood pouring out of it as he clutched the other blade before removing it from his hand, blood flowing onto the ground as his breaths became ragged.
"No… I… I won't die like this," Koten huffed between breaths. "Not… now… Not…"
For a few seconds, Ino was completely shocked by what she saw. The sight of Koten nearly getting killed and the stone-nin had been killed so gruesomely made it hard for her to keep her focus.
The next moment when the branch the body was on fell to the ground with a thump, and Koten collapsed with blood flowing out of his shoulder, Ino screamed in horror before canceling the jutsu and returning to her body post-haste.
"Eyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Back in the outside world, Shikamaru and Choji sat on both sides of the air vent that Ino had crawled into in order to indirectly get into the room that her father, the Hokage, and Koten were in. After about twenty minutes, a loud clanging sound was heard. Much like that of a person jolting awake inside an air vent and banging their head on the inside.
"Owwwwww…" Ino's voice moaned from inside the vent, said girl rubbing her head. "My aching forehead."
"Troublesome blond," Shikamaru said as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a small fire jutsu.
"Shikamaru! You're smoking!" Choji stated completely appalled. "You're only fourteen!"
"Old enough to kill, old enough to drink, old enough to have sex, and old enough to smoke. That's the ninja way," Shikamaru replied taking a drag. Most Nara took to light smoking around the time they started the Chūnin Exams, and would use it to calm their nerves, but were generally too lazy to pick up another stick after the exams.
I mean, come on, you had to pull out the stick, light it, and smoke it in succession. Too much trouble for a brief high if you want a Nara's opinion.
At the same time back in Koten's mind, Inoichi and Sarutobi took their time sorting through the various memories in the teen's head. They had to be careful not to wake him up prematurely by opening the wrong door, or setting off some kind of defensive mechanism, since specialized mindscapes had at least one or two.
Inoichi only knew this fact too well, since on the rare occasions he had ventured into Naruto's mindscape when he was a child, that either bars of steel, bulkheads, or even columns of rushing water would stop his advancements if he were there for too long.
For a minute Inoichi thought he had seen a blond-haired figure in one of the hallways, but cast it aside as a stray memory of some kind. Mindscapes were still mainly unknown, and any theory as to how they actually worked was still up in debate, without any real template existing to make any information documented conclusive.
After looking into several doorways that emptied into forest-placed memories, the pair came upon a somewhat new-looking door that stood apart from the majority. This one had a slightly larger than normal kunai mounted on the door for the handle, and instead of a single hitae-ate on it like on the other memory's doors that showed when he'd faced ninja before, this one was practically covered in them in a random jumble.
"This is the one," Inoichi said as he placed his hand on the door handle.
"Let us make this quick," Sarutobi said holding the Memory Crystal in his hands. "The longer we're in here, the more likely we're to be discovered. And I know I heard footsteps and grumbling back in that last hallway."
"Potentially a stray memory I'm sure, but yes I'm aware that we've been in here a little too long for the boy's liking. Let's get in and get out quickly," Inoichi said as he opened the door, letting himself and Sarutobi in before it closed itself behind them.
At the same time just down the hall, a familiar wolf demon grumbled as he leaned against the wall. He never did like having other people in his host's mind. It was like a stray mutt was stepping into his territory and pissing on everything before stealing a juicy piece of meat at his own leisure.
"I'd have forced them out by now, but Koten's subconscious commands keep holding me back," Koga grumbled as he crossed his arms. "This better not become a habit is all I can say. This isn't some park that blondy can come and go in as he pleases."
Once they were inside Koten's memory, Sarutobi immediately brought out the Memory Crystal and got ready to activate it, holding it forward as he and Inoichi stepped out of the shadow of the tree line. Out in the open tending at a small fire was a year-younger Koten, an inch or two shorter than he was now, not as many scars across his arms and legs as he had now, which must've meant this battle was particularly damaging in general.
As the crackling of the embers pricked through the forest trees, the full moon handing over the air, Koten's tail suddenly twitched behind him before he leapt to his feet. A moment later, thirty grey-wearing ninja. Upon examination of their headbands, they were immediately identified as Sound-nin, if not only by that, but by the similarity in the outfits of them and the metal gauntlets on a third of the shinobi's arms.
"Well well well, looks like the reports were right," one of the Sound-nin stated as he stepped further into the clearing, Koten now on his feet and ready to fight. "Dark hair, lean but muscular build, and a wolf's tail of all things."
"I used to only think of the Okami Tribe as nothing but legend," another Sound-nin with pipes in his arms said. "Now that I see this, I'm not sure what to believe anymore."
"You think our master would let me have a bit of fun with him," a Sound-kunoichi in the back row asked huskily. "It's been a while since I've had some fresh meat."
"Keep it in your pants, we're here on a mission," another Sound-kunoichi spoke up. "Have your wet dreams after we bring him back to the lab."
As Sarutobi had a small nosebleed, and Inoichi tried to ignore that and maintain focus on his jutsu, Koten rubbed his hand across his throat and opened it a few times, acting like he was trying to get something to come out before he coughed into his hand a few times.
"*cough* You guy's don't have scratched headbands, though I really have no idea what that means," Koten said as he warily took a step to the right, trying to make himself as non-intimidating as possible before he figured out was going on. Why are there so many ninja here this time? his thoughts asked in a broadcast since this was a memory from his perspective. Sure I've handled two or three before at the same time, but I'm counting one, two, seven… thirty. "Why are you here? I already ate my roast rabbit, so you can't be here for the food."
"How observant of you," one Sound-nin said sarcastically.
"I'll make this as simple for you as I can," a Sound-nin with bells on the ends of the senbon he pulled out of his tool pouch said as he stepped forward. "Lord Orochimaru, whether or not you know who he is, wishes to use your body in his experiments, and we've been sent here to pick you up. He didn't say you had to be in one piece, but just that you had to be alive. So, it's your choice, either come with us quietly, or we'll have to rough you up a bit. What do you say wolf boy?"
The next moment Koten kicked the rusty bucket of water by the fire into it, extinguishing the flames and delivering darkness upon the clearing as he made a break for it, the shadows of the trees his only allies against overwhelming odds.
"I have the information we need, we don't need more than this," Sarutobi said as he held the Memory Crystal carefully in his palms. He had to be careful that no excess memories or thoughts got in the way of the important information. "This is a personal memory for him, and I don't think we need to see this."
"Then let us take our leave," Inoichi said putting his hands on the Hokage's shoulder. After releasing the technique, the two of them disappeared.
Once the two returned to their bodies, Sarutobi would begin redirecting whatever spare forces he could back to the village for whatever Orochimaru had planned.
He wouldn't let the snake bastard get away a third time.
At the same time in one of the barracks, Team 8 slept peacefully, thankful that the sounds of ravenous animals, the sounds of dying genin, and the sounds of ravenous animals eating dying genin, were muffled out by the silencing seals in the building. Shino opted to sleep by himself in a bed against the wall, and even then he remained as stoic as ever. At the same time, Hinata had asked Naruto to sleep with her that night. Not because of sexual desire let me remind you, but because she needed the comforting embrace of the man she loved as she tried to forget the shock of her first kill.
Though considering the word man, and Naruto being only fourteen, that word it a bit flimsy. Maybe. I don't give a damn.
Anyway, as the two of them slept, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo sat in a circle as their host's hands held one another, allowing the three to converse on the current issue at hand.
"I'm telling you, that Koten guy is definitely a descendant, a reincarnation, or something related to Koga," Inuyasha chided as he willed a saucer of sake to appear in his hand, hoping to alleviate the headache he was getting from the current situation. Whether the headache he was getting was self-inflicted he couldn't tell, but all he knew was this whole Koten/Koga issue was aggravating him to no end.
"Come on, just think about this. I mean sure the guy has a wolf tail, and he wears his hair in the same way, and he can create tornadoes, and he probably fights with his feet, but that doesn't mean he has anything to do with Koga," Kagome argued. "It could all probably be a cooincidence."
"But still, that's a chance we can't really take at the moment," Kikyo said. "Koten doesn't act like Koga, so it's likely Koga is a part of Koten, and not Koten himself."
"What do you suggest we do then?" Inuyasha asked. "Just go up to him and ask him?"
"No, that would be stupid," Kikyo said back. "We're just going to set up a three-way meeting and get this whole mess out of the way now, rather than later."
"But what if Koga isn't involved at all?" Kagome asked. "What if Koten's just a normal guy… who happens to have a wolf tail?"
"Then we ask him to keep it a secret and hope he does," Inuyasha asked. "I haven't completely been keeping track, but I think the guy may still owe Naruto one last favor. I say if the time comes, then we use it here and get this whole mess out of the way. I've been losing sleep for crying out loud."
Kagome sighed. Sometimes it hurts to be the sensible one in the group, she said to herself. "Okay, I think I may have something. This is what we're going to do…"
The next evening, Naruto received a note on his pillow. He picked it up and read it, instantly recognizing the writing as Hinata's.
Dear Naruto, tonight, I'd like to talk to you in room 509 at 11:00 tonight. It's important, so please come.
With love, Hinata.
Hinata herself didn't know why her 'tenants' had emplored her to write that note, and to such specific detail, but she figured they must've had a good reason, so she went with it.
A few minutes before Naruto received his note, Koten received a note as well. Though he didn't recognize the handwriting for obvious reasons that he hadn't seen it before, he could read the signature at the bottom.
Koten. Need to ask you a few questions. Meet me at 11:00 in room 509.
Naruto.
Inuyasha had convinced Naruto the previous evening to meet with Koten and get the whole Koga issue out of the way now by asking him some questions. He knew that at the same time, Hinata would be meeting him at that time, so he had Naruto write the note to Koten before he received his.
At the same time that the three figures headed up to room 509 the following evening, Inuyasha went over Kagome's plan in Naruto's head, but made sure to keep it to himself.
Kagome would have Hinata leave Naruto a note saying to meet her in room 509 at 11:00 that evening, while he had Naruto leave a note for Koten saying something along the same lines.
The plan itself was fairly simple, and relatively fool-proof providing a certain Tarzan-ish wolf-nin wasn't as uneducated as a person who lived in the wilderness. Though that itself may've been pushing it, the guy couldn't be a total stooge.
Anyway, back to the plan. It was to get Naruto, Hinata, and Koten into the same room at the same time, link their mindscapes together. After that, the plan would divide into two sub-tasks. The first would be to see if Koten and Koga were related directly, and the second would be to explain to both Hinata –and possibly Koten if he cared to know- why he had dog ears when he had the Kyuubi sealed inside him.
However, what he didn't know was that both Shino and Kurenai observed the leaving of the notes, and were curious as to the three-person meeting in the middle of the night. And of course, being ninja, it was their job to stick their noses into it.
At 11:00 that following evening in room 509
After receiving the suspicious note, Koten found himself in the room specified and opted to sit in the corner and wait for Naruto to show up. It was large like the room they would meet in for the Third Exam, supposedly, though there weren't a giant set of hands in a tiger sign or large TVs. Just a large room for sparring.
A few minutes later however, he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and, out of old habit, pressed himself into a corner and quieted his breathing in order to take up as little space and make as little noise as possible. A technique he had to perfect in order to avoid detection from those who would bring him harm during his ten years.
However, to his surprise, Hinata showed up of all people, looking like she was waiting for someone, but failing to notice she was there since he was both in the shadows, and was quiet enough to not be noticed at all. A few minutes later, the blond dog-eared-nin showed up, a bit surprised to see Hinata there, but suddenly rounded on the corner with his hand to his kunai pouch, his pale-eyed companion getting behind him.
"You there! You have the count to three to come out of there before I start throwing pointy objects!" Naruto ordered with narrow eyes.
"Hey what the hell man! First you call me out here in the middle of the night, and then you threaten to throw stuff at me?" Koten asked/argued as he stepped into the light. "That isn't a good way to treat a guy you may have to fight. Oh, evening Lady Hyuuga," he corrected himself with a slight bow.
"G-Good evening Lord Koten," Hinata replied formally with a slight bow.
"Wait a minute, Hinata, why exactly are we here, if you mind me asking?" Naruto asked.
"I should be asking why I'm here?" Koten asked.
"Something's up. Why would Naruto call us out here in the middle of the night?" Koga asked. "And it looks like Hinata just happened to call Naruto here at the same time. Something's fishy here."
"Something's fishy here," Koten repeated as he crossed his arms. "I hardly find it coincidence that I'd get called here by Naruto at the same time Hinata called him."
"W-Well actually, um…" Hinata stammered before she spoke up rom her tenants' request. "Does the name… Koga ring a bell to you?"
At that moment Koten froze as his hand went to his bokken, Naruto's going to his Tetsusaiga upon seeing that. "What are you implying?"
"Kid, repeat after me," Koga suddenly said as he began speaking once more into his host's head.
As Naruto faced Koten with his Tetsusaiga, said wolf-nin suddenly acted like he was talking to himself before narrowing his eyes at him in an almost mocking way.
"Hey Inuyasha, you puny mutt. Why don't you put the butter knife away and leave Kagome with me," Koten said, though not completely sure why his tenant had him say that. Or what any of it meant for that matter. Koga, what is this about? Is there something you're not telling me?
"K-Kagome?" Hinata asked in shock. How does he know her?
"Wait a minute, Kagome? What the heck is going on around here?" Naruto demanded. He was certain without a doubt that Koten was at least related to Koga, but now Kagome gets thrown into the mix.
At the same time outside the room on the opposite sides of the arch that led into the room, Kurenai and Shino listened in on the conversation as foreign names were exchanged.
"Inuyasha… Koga… Kagome… Who are they talking to in there?" Kurenai asked.
"My insects only detect Naruto, Koten, and Hinata within the room," Shino replied.
"And I don't sense any genjutsu in place either," Kurenai said. "Something weird's going on."
"To be frank, we're ninja. All of us are weird," Shino replied as he used a few of his insects to readjust this glasses for him. A handy trick he picked up from his mother when she needed her hands free in the kitchen, but didn't want her glasses to slide out of place.
"Let's continue listening, then ask questions later," Kurenai said as she continued to listen.
"How the hell do you know Inuyasha?" Naruto demanded as the familiar golden flash of light brought out with Naruto unsheathed his sword suddenly appeared, a light thud signaling that the massive blade of unknown origin had touched the floor..
"How the hell does Hinata know Koga?" Koten demanded. "Um, nevermind the prudent language."
"N-Naruto, this may sound weird, but is there a person named Inuyasha in your head?" Hinata asked nervously. "A-And Koten. Do you have a demon named Koga with you as well?"
" . . . I'm not sure I should answer that," Koten stated.
"Then why did you call me Inuyasha?" Naruto demanded. "I want answers, mangy wolf!" he said, his voice suddenly changing to Inuyasha's of its own volition. Inuyasha what the hell'd you make me say that for?
"Mangy wolf?" Hinata asked. "Um, did a person named Inuyasha used to call Koga that?"
"There are those names again," Kurenai whispered. "And what's with these weird insults. I don't think they'd normally say this to eachother."
"I'm still trying to figure out how Hinata fits into all this," Shino replied. "I had heard that Naruto had convinced Koten to come back to the village while on a mission, but as far as I know, aside from one clan meeting," Shino continued, which I hear was certainly interesting to say the least, he added to himself, "Hinata shouldn't have any other connection to Koten."
"I think we should listen to this for a bit more," Kurenai whispered. "Something weird is definitely going on around here."
As Naruto and Koten continued to glare at one another, both their gazes occasionally shifting back to Hinata, who in turn would shift hers to both of them, a sudden scent met a pair of noses.
"Whoever's down there, come out now," Koten said fingering his bokken once more as Naruto heaved his Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. "Its impolite to listen in on other people's conversations."
With that, the familiar visages of the genjutsu mistress and the kikkei wielder came out into the opening, stepping under the large arch that formed the room's entryway.
"I've sat on the sidelines for long enough I would think," Kurenai stated with her arms crossed. "These names, Inuyasha, Koga, Kagome. What do they mean, and did one of you say they were in your heads?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
"This would normally be a sign of multiple personality dysfunction," Shino started. "However, this would be a stretch for even the most extreme cases, since you three shouldn't know each other's supposed second."
"Look, all I know is that these two know the name Koga," Koten said looking at the other two genin. "Who, and I'll say this right now, may or may not exist."
"Ohhhhhh maaaaaaan. This plan is falling apart," Kagome whined.
"It'll look weird if Hinata and Naruto suddenly make physical contact for no reason," Kikyo stated. "Our only hope of resolving this without ending up in the funny farm is to trust Inuyasha, or Naruto, to bring the five of us into the same mindscape and sort this shit out."
At the same time, Inuyasha was thinking along the same lines, though a few steps ahead of his female companions.
"Kid, I need you to get everyone to put their hands together," Inuyasha stated to his host, earning a mental odd look.
Is this about the Koga thing? Naruto asked. And come to think of it, why- he began to ask, but changed his thoughts mid-thought. You know what, fuck this, I'll just pull our hands together and get this sorted out later. Thinking about it is making my head hurt. "Guys!" he shouted.
At that moment the four gathered there head Naruto's undivided attention, which, while it was what he wanted, was a little unnerving.
"Listen, I know this may sound a bit weird, but you need to put your hands in with mime," Naruto said holding out his right hand. "I know a lot of weird names are being thrown around right now, but I swear, this will all be resolved in a few minutes."
The tension in the air mounted, the group of five alternating between locking onto the eyes of the person who was to their left, right, or across from them. Cerulean blue eyes met pale lavender, pale lavender met pupil-less blue, then cerulean blue, which met pupil-less blue as well. Shaded met red, which met pale lavender then cerulean, shaded meeting pupil-less blue before those met red.
Slowly, Hinata and Koten brought their right hands out, their palms drawing closer to the others until they placed their hands atop one another, Hinata's hand between Naruto's and Kotens. At the last moment before their hands touched, Kurenai and Shino placed their hands on top as well, a warm, yet unknown feeling washing over them as they felt their consciousness slip.
For a moment, they stood in the empty stone room in the Forest of Deaths' tower. Now however, they stood in what appeared to be a mixture of grassy plane, rolling fog, and lush forest terrains.
Naruto, Hinata, and Koten noticed that standing behind them were their own familiars. Inuyasha regarded Kagome and Kikyo happily, but when Koga registered their presence, and then Inuyasha's, things started to get a little out of hand.
"You! I should've known I'd run into you again mutt!" Koga shouted as he ran up to Inuyasha, the two of them butting heads in a battle for dominance five seconds into seeing one another in decades, or possibly centuries.
"Stupid wolf! I'm a fox now! A fox! Get your facts straight!" Inuyasha growled as he readied his claws.
"Once a mutt always a mutt!" Koga said back as Kurenai and Shino finally regained their bearings.
"You can shove it up your ass! I'm a fox now!" Naruto said back, Kurenai and Shino instantly grabbing onto Naruto and Hinata's shoulders before pulling them a few feet back.
"Naruto, what's going on here? Who are those two over there, and why is the Kyuubi arguing with a guy that looks suspiciously like Koten?" Kurenai quickly asked as she pointed to both Kikyo and Kagome, then to Inuyasha who was still arguing with Koga, his tails billowing behind him. It didn't take a genius to recognize the nine-tailed biju, despite his change in appearance.
As Naruto and Hinata explained their circumstances to their team mate and sensei, then getting their explanations from one another, Koten stood off to the side by Kagome and Kikyo, the three of them feeling a bit left out for some reason.
"Sooooo… You two are Kikyo and Kagome huh?" Koten asked hoping to pierce the awkwardness.
"So you're Koten's host huh," Kagome asked, then turned to Koga who was still arguing with Inuyasha. "You don't seem as headstrong as your tenant."
"I was… raised differently I guess," Koten replied, then looked to Kikyo. "Koga said something about how you used to be a zombie of sorts. Is that true?"
"Sort of," Kikyo replied. "I was basically a resurrected soul attached to a clay doll. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious really," Koten replied as he willed a rock to appear out of nowhere and took a seat. "I guess that's just what happens when one has so many questions, but no one around to answer them."
"Dog breath!" Koga shouted.
"Mangy wolf!" Inuyasha argued back.
"So let me get this straight," Kurenai said trying to organize her thoughts. "The Nine Tailed Fox used to be a dog demon named Inuyasha, and Hinata, you're the reincarnation of a priestess that was reincarnated into another priestess, all of which came from another world?"
"That pretty much sums it up," Naruto said. "Though I wonder just how many people would believe I contain the Kyuubi when I have dog ears," he replied nervously, twitching his ears in emphasis.
"I was wondering about that too," Hinata replied. "I just would've never thought the Kyuubi came from such a different time. Or that he was anything but a fox."
"But what about Koten?" Shino asked turning to the wolf-nin who, at the moment, was chatting with the two priestesses while sitting on a rock. "I can understand Inuyasha's story, and reincarnation has never been completely ruled out through scientific or religious study, but how do we put logic to him?"
"Maybe it's a clan thing," Naruto replied. "I don't think he's a jinchuuriki in the traditional sense even though the demon inside him does have a tail, though I had my suspicions before once Inuyasha pointed it out because of the similarities they bear," he then took a look at Koga, then to Koten. "Though personality-wise, they clearly have some differences."
After arguing with Inuyasha after what felt like forever, Koga suddenly turned on his host, who at the moment, was sitting on a trio of rocks with Kagome and Kikyo.
"Hey! Koten!" Koga ordered drawing his host's attention. "I order you to claim that girl so I can take Kagome from that mutt!" he shouted pointing at Hinata. A moment later Naruto jumped between them and brought out his claws menacingly as the pale-eyed Hyuuga looked a little panic-stricken.
"Can't you see she's taken you ass!" Koten shouted as he suddenly appeared beside Koga and nailed him over the head, much to the surprise of Inuyasha, Kagome, Kikyo, and their respective hosts as the two Okami began fighting each other in a comical fight cloud. "I can kinda understand you wanting to see Kagome after all these years. But why the hell do you need me to claim Naruto's girlfriend?"
"Because for some reason, Kagome is in the pale-eyed girl's head!" Koga said back as he bit his host's ankle.
Meanwhile, Shino and Kurenai didn't even know what to make of this.
"Shino. How exactly did this all come about?" Kurenai asked.
"I'm still trying to process everything," Shino replied.
"Well, I think we've all seen enough," Kikyo said before bringing a large mallet out of nowhere, much to Kagome's apparent horror as she raised it above her head. "Time to wake up you five."
WHAM!
WHAM!
WHAM!
WHAM!
WHAM!
The next moment she nailed them all in the head, the three mindscapes separating into their own separate hosts once more.
When the five opened their eyes, they immediately drew their hands back and took a short leap away from each other. As their eyes darted around the room, they realized that barely any time had passed since they had placed their hands together. If anything, two to five minutes, eight at the most.
For a few minutes, things were silent as the group just stood there. Then, a voice rarely heard broke the silence.
"Well . . . That was certainly . . . interesting," Shino commented as he readjusted his glasses. All he had heard was a lot to take in.
"I agree," Kurenai responded as she made sure no one was listening in. "Naruto, does the Hokage know about this?"
"Yeah, but I haven't brought him inside the seal yet," the blond answered. "Couldn't find a good opportunity."
"At least now I don't have to feel like such a freak," Koten stated as he crossed his arms, popping his neck and shoulders as he arched his back, getting a few pops out of that as well.
"Why is that?" Hinata asked. "Is it because of the tail? Because if it is, I think you're still alone in that category."
"It isn't the tail. It's just because now I know I'm not the only one with a voice in their head," Koten replied, then grew silent for a minute before turning to Naruto. "Do you have any idea how to mute this guy?" he asked tapping on the side of his head. "I'm surprised I haven't lost my sanity yet. And I've only recently learned its definition."
"No idea," Naruto responded flatly. "Most of the time I just tune mine out."
"Please Kami let that work," Koten sighed.
"Well, what do we do now?" Shino asked.
"I say keep quiet about it," Naruto replied as Koten acted like he were ignoring something. "There's all sorts of weird stuff in this world, but even that is stretching it."
"I agree," Hinata stated. "If the wrong person found out about this, it could cause us some problems down the road."
"I'm used to keeping stuff to myself, so that isn't a problem for me," Shino stated as he headed off for his room.
"Since the Hokage already knows about this, I doubt I need to report this," Kurenai stated as she began to walk away too, leaving Naruto, Hinata, and Koten to themselves.
"So… You're a priestess huh?" Koten asked turning to Hinata, rubbing his temples.
"Well, not really, no, I only know a few things about that subject," Hinata answered.
"Just so we're clear, if you touch Hinata, you're dead," Naruto said flashing his claws with one hand while fingering his Tetsusaiga with the other.
"Hey, my mom always taught me, treat others the way you want to be treated," Koten said looking down on the blond jinchuuriki. "As long as you don't go flirting with my girlfriends in the future, I won't do the same with yours."
Naruto and Koten regarded each other silently for a few moments, their steely gaze locked onto each other until they both put their hands forward and shook on it.
"Glad we agree on that much," Naruto said back.
"Well, the Chunin Exam continues in a day or two," Koten said as he walked off. "I'm going to bed, and I'm staying there until it's time to get up."
"See you later Koten," Hinata regarded with a slight bow.
"See you too Hinata. I'll try to get Koga to break his old habits, so hopefully the two girls in your head won't have anything to worry about the next time we meet up. If we meet up I should say."
On the inside, the two priestesses sighed in relief. Koga was still as territorial as ever, and when it came to something as delicate as the human psyche, that could be a very bad thing.
"Oh, and play nice you two," he added, Naruto and Hinata blushing madly at the implications of Koten's statement.
"W-Well, shall we g-get going?" Hinata asked fighting off her blush.
"Yes. Let's," Naruto said as he and Hinata walked off.
With that exchange being completed, the group returned to their barracks in the tower's upper floors, a full day remaining until the next part of the exams began.
Author's Note:
The reason that Kurenai and Shino needed to know about the relationship between Naruto, Hinata, and Koten, is because A) Naruto promised himself he'd tell everyone about the Kyuubi. B) Naruto needed to confirm if Koten had Koga's soul inside him, and vice versa. C) Inuyasha needed Naruto to know about Kagome and Kikyo being close by. D) Given the fact that they'd been so secretive, Kurenai and Shino had to be let in on the secret, otherwise their trust could waver at a critical moment.
As to how the Mindscape thing works, the way I see it, they connect their chakra networks to one another through close physical contact, then, Naruto's seal acts as a catalyst and allows everyone to enter one combined mindscape (when the effort is put in). Time sort of slows inside the mindscape, but if someone walked into the room, the five would've sensed it, and had been able to safely break contact.
As for Koten's mindscape suddenly being a darkened set of corridors instead of a forest, that's only when he's asleep, since not as much his mind is actively running, and at night, it's mainly only memories that are being interpreted, and not conscious functions.
Omake (Title: Konoha Firsts, Part 3)
Setting: In front of the Adult Fiction store (Takes place before Wave)
"Skin Mag?" Koten asked as Kakashi passed him a magazine from his back pocket.
"Yup. Go ahead, take a peek," Kakashi said. "It's every man's right to look at these. Plus, it's totally legal, and no one will get mad at you for it… As long as you do it by yourself, or behind closed doors," he amended.
"But what's a Skin Mag?" Koten asked again, never having heard of one for obvious reasons.
"Oh, you know, magazines with… skin, in them," Kakashi said discretely.
"Hmmm. I have used animal skin before for different uses," Koten said as he moved to open the magazine. "But I didn't know they actually made magazines for-GYAAH!"
The moment he opened up the magazine, he suddenly had a nosebleed from what he saw and fell face-first into the dirt where his blood had accumulated.
"Hmm. Maybe he wasn't ready for this?" Kakashi asked himself as he picked up the magazine and turned a few pages. "Oooooh. Mid-December," he said perversely as he spun a kunai on his finger out of habit. "It looks cold in this pic. Heheheheheh."
A moment later, a young woman turned the corner and saw Koten face down in a pool of his own blood, and a masked figure standing over him with an impassive look in his face as he spun a kunai on his finger.
"EEEEEEEEK!" she suddenly cried. "MURDERER!"
"Huh?" Kakashi said as he looked up to see the semi-terrified-semi-angry woman down the street pointing a finger at him accusingly. He then looked down and saw that with Koten in a pool of his own blood, that this looked very bad. "Ah! No! Wait! I can explain!" he said desperately waving his hands in front of him, his magazine rolled up in his right.
"He's got the murder weapon!" a Koten fangirl screeched as she pointed at the kunai in his hand.
"You will be avenged Koten-sama!" another fangirl shrieked as at least two dozen other women suddenly formed into a raging mob and charged straight for Kakashi.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Kakashi screamed as he ran off, not wanting to be killed by the mob of angry women/fangirls.
A minute or so later, Koten shook himself awake, wiping the blood and dirt off his face as he looked around. After seeing the footprints all around him going down the street, he said to himself, "Am I beginning to see a pattern here?"
"The real question is, do you give a damn?"
"No, I suppose not," Koten sighed.
"Good boy. Now get cleaned up. Someone may see you like this and draw the wrong conclusion."
And oh how right he was.
