Clashing Powers
Disclaimer: I won neither Naruto nor Yu Yu Hakusho.
A/N: Well, I'm very pleased with the feedback I have gotten so far. Here's the second chapter, as promised. I would have posted it earlier if I could…but was doing that maintenance thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh yes, Fox Moonshadow: Fear not, while Hiei does not really appear in the first few chapters, he will most definitely be playing quite an active role within a short time. We'll be seeing everyone's favourite fire demon in no time.
Chapter Two:
The next day Yusuke, Kuwabara (who had predictably agreed to come) and Kurama met Botan at Miura Park. Yusuke was the first to speak.
"So, how are we getting to this Konohagakure place?" Botan gave them all a big smile and giggled. It took a minute or two for the wordless message to sink in, then all of her companions exchanged worried glances. This did not elude the grim reaper, who looked offended and exclaimed,
"I'm not that bad!" Kurama, always tactful, decided to take a different approach.
"You have never had to fly us before, why on this occasion?" Botan put her index finger to her chin for a moment before replying,
"Well…because you've never had to travel this far before. Konohagakure is located in the South Eastern part of main land Asia, meaning that we have to over ocean. That has never been the case in your other missions. And before you ask why we aren't going by plane, they don't have an airport. As for boat, it would take far too long. We have to be there by tomorrow morning, you know." Kuwabara decided to cut in.
"So let me get this straight, we're going to go all the way over the ocean one your oar?!" She blinked at him for a moment before giving a sheepish smile and laughing nervously.
"Oh, heavens no! I'd imagine that would be incredibly painful." She paused and broke into more nervous laughter, then said, "No, no. We'll be going through Spirit World. You see Spirit World has various exit points set at specific places all over the human world, it cuts the flying time of my colleagues and myself down by thousands of times. We only need to fly from the exit and back to retrieve souls, instead of having to fly over whole continents.
"So, we'll be flying to the closest exit to Konohagakure in Spirit World." Both Yusuke and Kuwabara let out relieved sighs, and there was a definite, albeit much more subtle, sigh of relief from Kurama.
Deciding to ignore them this time, Botan summoned her oar and smiled.
"Well then, we should get going."
The flying trip had been unnerving as usual. But all of Botan's passengers were thankful that at least they had not had to fly there via human world. The exit point had been in a forest area about four kilometers away from the village, and they had decided to sleep there for the night (this had elicited a loud complaint from Kuwabara, which had somehow lead to a small scuffle between him and Yusuke).
So, the next day, they (reluctantly) woke due to some not-so-gentle persuasion from Botan.
"Geez Botan," Said Yusuke, gingerly rubbing a slightly swollen part of his head, "that really hurt." He blinked to clear his sleep-hazed vision and turned his head slightly to see Kurama, who said with barely disguised amusement,
"You really should look into that nasty habit you have of talking in your sleep, Yusuke. One day you may accidentally reveal some classified information to an enemy." Yusuke looked confusedly between him and Botan, the blue haired girl looking both flushed and angry.
"I talk in my sleep? Yeah right! Good one Kurama. Heh, even if I did, which I don't, what could I have said bad enough to get Botan to knock me over the head for?" The ferry girl's blush deepened and she let out a small giggle. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself, she said,
"Never you mind, Yusuke. Where's Kuwabara? We need to get going soon and I still have some things to explain to you all." Almost immediately after this was said, the three of them heard rapid footsteps and heavy breathing. They all turned to see Kuwabara panting behind them.
"I'm here guys. I felt something weird, so I went to check it out. I didn't find anything though." Yusuke, seeing his friend's state of unrest, smirked.
"If you didn't find anything, why the hell do you look like you just ran a marathon? You're not afraid of ghosts now, are you?" Kuwabara, picking up on the mocking tone of Yusuke's words, went red in the face and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt.
"What's that supposed to mean?! The thing I felt was really creepy okay! If you had the same awareness I had you'd be a little freaked out too!" Yusuke was about to come out with a jeering reply, when he caught the change in Kurama'a countenance.
"I too have smelt that somebody else was here. I would strongly advise that we get to the village as soon as possible if we wish to avoid an unnecessary confrontation. What is it that you wish to tell us, Botan?" Botan nodded.
"Right. I just have to explain a little bit about human ninjas before we go. Firstly, you're going to have to limit some of your attacks-" Yusuke interrupted her.
"Limit some of our attacks? Why the hell should we do that?" Botan glared at him for his imposition.
"I was getting to that. You see, ninja use a form of energy called chakra. 'Chakra' is basically a combination of both body energy and spirit energy. But, as you know, you guys use only spirit energy. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem…but most of the ninja attacks require a series of hand seals- none of which you know. Essentially what I'm saying is, stick to attacks that can be easily explained…which pretty much means that," She inclined her head to Yusuke, "Yusuke, you can still use your spirit gun, because it is pretty much only energy. As for you two, you'll have to stick to normal fighting without using your special attacks. That is, unless you can find a way to learn hand seals and make them seem like real ninja jutsu." The three of them nodded, and Botan continued,
"The other thing is that if somebody mentions something that you don't understand, just keep quite about it. If you actually show your ignorance about being a ninja you might blow our cover." Looking around nervously, she quickly got to her feet. "Let's get out of this place, I'm starting to get the creeps." And with that, they were on their way.
After about an hour and a half of walking later, they arrived at a tall wall with an enormous double-door. Botan was the first to speak.
"Well, it looks like we're here. You have to go to the third floor of the ninja academy for the first exam." Her eyes suddenly widened and she clapped her right fist into her left palm. "Oh right! I almost forgot! Here you go." She handed each one of them an A4 piece of paper with various questions on it. "These are your application forms. Hand them in when you get there." It was then that Yusuke noticed something on Botan's forehead.
"Why the hell are you wearing a forehead protector, Botan?" She blinked at him for a few seconds, while Kuwabara burst out into laughter.
"Really Urameshi, it took you this long to notice that? You must be really out of it, and you're the one who accused me of being a scaredy-cat." Yusuke barely restrained the urge to deck his orange-haired best friend.
"Shut the hell up Kuwabara! So, why are you wearing it, Botan?" Having stopped her blinking, she broke into a smile.
"Well, I'm going to be posing as your instructor." It was his and Kuwabra's turn to blink. Then, after a few moments both of them began to snicker, which soon became all-out laughter. For the second time in barely two days Botan looked insulted.
"I don't see what's so funny!" In response, they merely laughed harder. Huffing, she turned on her heel and walked into the village, stopping only to show her passport to the ninja guarding the gate. It took the two laughing boys a good five minutes to recover from their mirth. Kurama watched the proceedings silently, and with a raised eyebrow quietly inquired,
"Are you sure it was wise to drive Botan away like that?" Yusuke, who was wiping his watering eyes with his jacket sleeve, looked up at the redhead.
"It's fine. We'll just get directions or something." With that, the half-demon began to make his into the village. Never one to be left behind, Kuwabara quickly made to follow him. However, before he too followed their example, Kurama cast a thoughtful look over his shoulder.
In the darkness of one of the trees, a pair of red yes gazed at his retreating form…
After a few directions and a bit of walking, the three of them finally arrived at the exam (having narrowly avoided a rather stupid-looking confrontation between some of the exam's participants on the second floor). They were greeted by the unwelcoming stares of at least fifty other teams.
"Not too friendly, huh?" Said Yusuke sarcastically under his breath. Kuwabar looked put out and responded,
"No kidding. What's with all these desks anyway? I thought this was 'sposed to be a ninja exam!" Kurama, it seemed, had also made this observation.
"It appears that this is going to be a written exam…I suggest that all of us find an inconspicuous way of cheating." Yusuke and Kuwabara cracked grins.
"Woah, am I hearing right? Mr. Top Student is asking us to cheat?" Kurama's lips twitched at the corners in response to his teammate's question.
"I am not Keiko, Yusuke. There is no way that we can possibly know the answers to their questions. So, logically, cheating is the only way for us to pass. Do either of you have a way to cheat with which it is difficult to get caught? Taking into consideration that our supervisors are all shinobi, of course." His two companions exchanged glances and shook their heads simultaneously.
"Normally I would just look over at the person next to me. I never really gave a shit before whether or not I got caught." Kuwabara spoke next,
"And I actually study for my tests…cheating usually ain't my style." Kurama lapsed into thought for a moment, his green eyes calculating.
"Very well. Look out for something…green." They nodded in comprehension. They were about to say something else, when a loud yell echoing through the room interrupted them.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to beat every single one of you bastards!" They turned around (along with the majority of the ninja teams) to see a blond-haired boy in orange overalls. Yusuke snorted.
"A little cocky, ain't he?" Kurama smiled amusedly at him.
"I don't know Yusuke, he seems to remind me of somebody I know." Yusuke looked annoyed.
"Come on, I've never out-and-out told a bunch of people I know are probably stronger than me that I'm gonna single-handedly beat them." Kurama's expression, which had been one of amusement, suddenly went serious.
"Yusuke, do you see that?" Yusuke, who had been focusing on his red-haired comrade, suddenly noticed three figures making their way through the crowd. Although he could clearly see them, he knew by experience that at the speed they were moving they were barely visible to the human eye.
"Yeah, I see 'em." It turned out that they had been going for the glasses-wearing teenager that had been talking to what looked like a group of rookies (which included the boy called Naruto). The attack had been easy to dodge, but had still somehow managed to crack his glasses (as well as make him retch, which he was doing rather messily all over the floor in front of him.) All three Spirit Detectives narrowed their eyes.
"What the hell was that? You got any ideas Urameshi?"
"Not a clue, but it wasn't no ordinary attack; that's for sure. Kurama?"
"I will discuss it with you later, I do believe our exam is about to start." Not a second after Kurama had said this, a huge cloud of smoke appeared at the front of the class. This cloud soon cleared to reveal a rather large group of Konohagakure ninja. The scarred man at the front gave them all an unnerving smile.
"Thanks for waiting. I'm the examiner for the first test of the Chuunin Selection exam, Morino Ibiki."
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that! Please review and tell me what you think.