--I don't own YuYu Hakusho--

Happy Birthday Mistress of Hiei Spasms, Ak118, ren, and whoever else I forgot!!

::hugs tree:: It's o.k. tree. ::crys:: How could you!?! You hurt the poor tree!! ::yells at Okhira as they lie in pain on the ground:: :::picks up buttered toast and runs away with it:::

George… ::sniffles:: George is so cool.

Gaby backwards spells ybag. I wonder what a ybag is…

And this chapter was very difficult to type because someone poured skittles all over my keyboard. I'm not saying any names cough Arano cough Honou cough. Erm… And because FanFiction is acting weird.

On with the chapter!

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"You would think if they had the time to hold a tournament, they'd have the time to make a path or at least put up some signs or something," Yusuke grumbled as he pushed through the tree limbs. He was in a bad mood, so he let the branches swing back and hit Botan, who was behind him. In the past 45 minutes he'd been bitten by every kind of bug, scratched by every sticker bush, and now he was growing rashes on both of his arms. He was definately feeling the wrath of nature.

"Yusuke, could you be a little bit more careful? I'm getting hit with branches here."

Botan had hovered in on her oar, not long ago, talking about how Koenma had sent her to 'help with their mission' and some other junk.

He rolled his eyes and kept following behind Julie. Kurama was in front of her, and Kuwabara was leading them. Hiei was somewhere, bounding in the trees, like his usual self.

The line stopped moving. Yusuke looked ahead at the front of the line. Hiei was talking to Kurama, announcing that the tournament was indeed ahead and that there was no obvious traps.

"So what are we waiting for?" He was tired of walking through this god forsaken hell of a forest. He pushed back the thinning trees, revealing a small clearing. About 300ft within the clearing was just what he needed, a mile worth of stone steps. The steps climbed up to a miniature town with the arena in the center. Next to it was a red building where the fighters met and waited their turns. The whole place had a giant, stone wall surrounding it. Guess they didn't like visitors much. In the back was a small, but still cool, castle. It looked like a picture of medieval Japan in his history book.

Julie could feel everyone's defenses, including hers, rise even more as they began climbing the stairs. She half-way listened to the soft scraping noise of their feet as they climbed, a feeling of annoyance tugging in the back of her mind. Ever since they'd arrived at the mountains, the boys had been acting protective of her, even now.

She knew that this tournament wasn't just about the teams fighting. There was a dangerous,underlying current waiting for her to slip and tumble in. It was so obvious in the air. She knew that they just didn't want anything happening but really, she'd been training all these months. She wasn't that weak anymore.

Just when she thought the accused steps would never end, they reached the top. The different Spirit Energy signals she'd been sensing registered to the various groups standing around the arena.

"I guess that's where we go," Botan said absent-mindedly. She was too caught-up, like everyone else, in examining the fighters.

"Guess so." Yusuke shifted the luggage in his hands and began walking towards the arena, returning the glare the other fighters gave him. Apparently they didn't like humans.

Everyone else followed.

They found an empty spot on the right side of the arena. Some of the more cocky demons were yelling across the arena at them, already challenging them to a match.

"Well, it seems we're the center of attention, today," Yusuke pointed his thumb towards the demons making all the noise.

Julie gave a soft smile. "Ya, I think we've made a lot of new friends,"she replied.

Yusuke smirked.

The other fighters suddenly grew quite. They turned around and watched as a figure stepped into the center of the arena. He was a middle-aged man with a neat, trimmed mustache and a very expensive, silk kimono. His dress style suggested that he was a higher-up servant of a wealthy lord,most likely the holder of the tournament.

"Ladies, Gentlemen. I bid thee welcome," he started. His voice carried across, throughout the mountain village. "Since we are all accounted for, shall we start the tournament?"

There were various whoops and yells.

The man waited patiently for the crowd to settle, an amused look on his face. He continued when they did, "Very well. The rules are simple: all moves and weapons allowed and your opponent must either be killed, knocked out of the ring, forfeit, or be disqualified for you to win.

Each team will be given room and board offered graciously by the holder of this tournament," his right hand gestured towards the many houses circling the ring. "If your team loses, I ask you to please depart shortly afterwards. This tournament is not for the public, only contestants. Also, there will be no fighting outside of the ring. If your teams or team members are caught fighting, you will be disqualified."

The man then gestured towards the palace, "The castle is well guarded so for any of you…" he smirked, "treasure hunters feel obligated to enter the castle, you have been warned. Now if you will please follow me," he bowed and began walking towards the red building.

Within a few minutes, the room was filled with the various fighters. The building was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside.

There were two rooms. The first was a lounge with several chairs and mats, the room they were standing in. There was two doors leading to a room behind the first one, but the doors were closed. There was also two side exits along with the main, front one.

On the lounge wall was a large piece of paper with the outline of the tournament already drawn. The spaces for the teams were blank.

"Now, I would like one member from each team to step forward and bring their invitation." He stood next to the chart.

Yusuke looked at Botan, "Invitation? What invitation?"

She blinked then laughed at herself, "Now I remember why Koenma sent me!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes as she fumbled inside her jacket pocket. A moment later, she revealed a slip of parchment. "Here it is! Good thing I didn't loose it while I was flying on my oar." She handed it to him.

"And what did you expect us to do if you hadn't shown-up?" he asked, irritated.

"O, you worry too much," Botan gave him a push towards the invitation line. "Well, go sign us up."

He mumbled something then walked over and got his place in line.

He was the last one. The man took his slip then wrote Urameshi on the paper, underneath the other team names. He wrote Urameshi, again,on a slip and placed it in a small pot.

Julie read the names on the list. There were six in all, Team Kyuujutsuka, Team Ishtirra, Team Senshi, Team Hirosaka, Team Kariudo, and finally, Team Urameshi. The tournament hadn't turned out to be a bad size.

She was broken from her thought as she felt Kurama lightly nudged her on her side. "How are you doing?" he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I'm o.k. I'm not as nervous as I thought I'd be." Did they really have to be this protective over her?

He gave a small smile, "That's good."

The man finished with his ink. She watched as he closed the lid on the pot and shook it. He then motioned towards the first fighter in line,a very beautiful, brown-haired women wearing blue, shrine maiden pants and a white, sleeveless shirt. She drew a slip.

"Team Ishtirra against Team Senshi," he shouted across the room.

Team Ishtirra consisted of four women and a young boy. The first girl had black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a beige, v-necked shirt, blue jean shorts, and tall boots. The second girl had light, brown hair and she was wearing a blindfold. Obviously, she moved well without her sight. The third girl was a lot younger than the other two and she was wearing black, Capri pants and a yellow and green dojo shirt with gloves. The fourth girl, and most likely their team captain, was the one with the shrine maiden outfit. The girls were most likely sisters.

The boy was the only blond out of the group. His hair was spiky with a very small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was wearing a dark, navy blue outfit and a navy blue cape.

Team Senshi was more mysterious. The entire team wore long, black cloaks, and armored masks. There was no way to distinguishthe members except by height and slight differences in their body structure.

Both team captains returned to their groups.

Next in line was a very muscular cat demon. He was about 6'3 with black fur and a few pieces of light armor. With a little difficulty, he withdrew his large, clawed hand from the pot.

"Team Kariudo against Team Urameshi, leaving Team Hirosaka against Team Kyuujutsuka."

The remaining leaders returned to their groups.

Julie followed the cat demon with her eyes as he walked back to his group. Most of the members in Team Kariudo were some sort of animal demon. Besides the panther demon, there was a bear, falcon, and rhino demon. The other fighter was some sort of sea demon. He was built and bald with a white mustache and goatee. Silvery, green scales ran in patches across his body. He was shirtless with a pair of crocodile leather pants and boots. One of his ears was double pierced with gold earrings. He was also wearing a gold arm band.

The falcon demon was the only female of the group. She had wild, red hair, tail feathers, and beautiful wings that served as her arms, too. Her eyes were golden and hawk-like, and she was wearing a black, sleeveless shirt and black shorts. There were several gold bracelets jangling on her ankles and bare feet.

The bear demon had a fat but powerful build, like a sumo wrestler. He had long, sharp claws and small, vicious, black eyes etched deep into his skull. Most of his body was covered in a black, leather armor but the flesh that was showing was covered in dark, brown fur. He was the most animalistic of the five.

The rhino demon was the shortest and stockiest of the group with gray, leathery skin and three horns protruding from his face. One was on his forehead, one on the center area of his nose, and one on the end of his large nose. His left, rhino ear was pierced with a golden earring, and there were gold rings on his fingers. He was wearing a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a burgundy shirt.

Julie studied each of the demons carefully. Tomorrow they would be fighting against Team Kariudo. One out of the five fighters would be her opponent but who?

The panther demon caught her gaze and gave her a very cat-like smirk. She looked away, back at her team. Yusuke had returned.

"The schedule says we fight around 10 A.M.," he told them as he walked-up.

"10? That's not a bad time," Botan said. "We'll be able to watch the match before us."

"Who's up before us? That hot group of girls?"

Botan felt a little irratated, "Team Ishtirra not 'a group of hot girls'."

He rolled his eyes.

Their host finished with the schedule and set down his ink. He then clapped his hands.

From the side entrances appeared six children varying from ages 9-12, dressed in simple kimonos.

"They will show you the way to your rooms and provide you anything you may need. I expect each of you to show them courtesy for my lord, and holder of this tournament, has graciously provided them. Thank you," he bowed, "you may leave."

A dark haired boy walked up to their group. He was around 10 with large, black eyes. "Please follow me," he said and began leaving out of the right, side exit.

Julie restrained herself from shuddering. His eyes were so empty, like he had no emotions, no soul. She felt like they would suck her in and send her spiraling down into their hallow blackness.

She told herself to stop being a pansy and picked-up her luggage.

The place they'd be boarded in was on the eastern side on the village. It was a simple, Japanese house with five bedrooms, a bath, and a gathering room in the center.

The first room was the gathering room. They stepped in, looking around. It had a low table in the center with several pillows surrounding it. There was also a large blue and gold rug laid out that covered the majority of the floor. Since there was no electricty, there were several rice oil candles scattered around the room.

The boy stood on the threshold of the house. "If I can be of any service to you, please ring that bell," he motioned to a small, golden bell that had suddenly appeared on the table. "I will be able to hear it regardless of where I am in the village."

"Uh... alright. We'll do that," Yusuke said a little freaked. He blinked,and the boy was gone, leaving him more freaked, "Yoah, that was weird."

Kuwabara looked over at the spot where he had vanished, "This whole place is weird! It's like I've just stepped into the past, but yet, everything seems fake, including that kid."

"Ya, I know what you mean." Yusuke closed the sliding door, "Gives me the creeps."

"There's not much we can do about it except be on our gaurd and go along with it," Kurama said, looking overat their newbell.

"Ch. You humans are so easily frightened."

The boy's voices faded, and Julie found her mind wandering on the day that the puppet that had appeared at school. It had had those same, empty eyes. She felt a cold chill go up her spine. The holder of this tournament, it was definately them. All those months, she'd been training for this moment.

"Julie, since there's only five rooms me and you will have to share." Botan brought her back to reality.

She turned and nodded, "Sure. Which room do you want?"

What was this tournament really about? What was it hiding? What did it have to do with her?

The real question was, was she ready for it?

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::lies down and dies:: Do you know how many reviews I had to cycle through to get these fighters? Phew…

And I missed YuYu Hakusho, yesterday! I forgot it was Saturday.

But I deeply appreciate the characters that everyone has allowed me to lend! Ren's team is Team Ishtirra, Ak118's Team is Hirosaka, and Team Kyuujutsuka is a collection of all the other characters ren, okhira, and Ak118 suggested. THANK YOU!!!

And thank you to all my other reviewers. I would definitely be writing this story a lot slower if I didn't have everyone for encouragement and/or threatening. Give yourself a pat on the back!!! YA! You all get a bologna sandwitch!!

Ak118, I need your character bios. I couldn't find them in the review list so if you're a nice person and you want the next chapter you'll post them, right? I have a nice, shiny piece of tinfoil…

What's up with fan fiction?

Traveling to Missouri…eck. Poor kid.

Two pieces of strawberry cheesecake or pianos? Hmm… tough choice… tough choice! But I guess I'll have to go with the cheesecake… but just this time. :::gets shifty eyed::: :::grabs cheesecake and runs away:: (::sighs:: Retard)

I have a stupid question (not unusual)! What are mary-sous? I'm sorry… I'm watching South Park. My brain power is weakening. Darn you little construction paper people!! Crap, Kenny just died. Didn't see that one coming. (I don't think it's legal for people like you to watch South Park) (Really?! cool! I'm doing something illegal! I'm a Rebel!!! I'm a Rebel!!! I'm a Rebel!!!) (No!! Make her stop!!!)

I'll tell you the meanings of the names throughout the next chapters and at the end of the tournament.

The three evil B's: Busch, Bill, and Barney. Know them well, soldier, for they are the enemies.

Have a Good Day!!

Sincerely,

Queen Chad