Summary: Recca, Kagero, and a SI are placed in the world of the Nine Tails

Crossover: Flame of Recca, Naruto, Hitman: Contracts

Disclaimer: I don't own what other people do. I do own me, though.

Feedback: Sure thing... I like hearing how I can improve :) I also like hearing people's opinions on things. I have a fragile ego and low self esteem -- please review?

Pre-fic Comments:

Okay, I lost my copy of Codename 47 so my sole source for Hitman at the moment is Contracts.

mrasdfghj: It wouldn't exactly be fair to concentrate on one student... for all he knows about the non-Leaf students, they could be just as good. As for my skills... I really don't think of myself as being that good at writing. I'm certainly not as good as, say, Tenhawk or Carrotglace.

ranma hibiki: He might, he might not. Remember, this is Naruto the Bigmouth. As for how many teams pass... that is entirely up to my whimsy :)

Alex DarkFire: Thanks! And as for the MR... well, it's a complex jutsu, and complex things are composed of simpler sub-things. Trying to construct something like that from scratch is pure stupidity -- you're much better off pulling together jutsu for all five senses. The Eikai Ball is overkill for the plot, really, so I'll have to come up with a way of crippling it. It's almost a Perfect Defence.

I sighed, bored.

Looking at the clock, I found that we still had half an hour to go.

No point in playing with some of my subtechniques -- that would use up chakra I'd need for later.

Picking up my pencil, I drew a large triangle on the blank side of the exam paper that took up nearly all the empty space. Then I drew an upside down triangle inside it, separating it into four areas. Then I drew three more upside down triangles in the three right side up ones that had been creating, continuing like that as I drew my Sierpinsky Triangle.

It would make the rest of the examiners wonder what I was thinking.

I had gotten well into the stage where I was limited by the fineness of the pencil when Morino Ibiki began talking again.

"Okay," he said. "We will now start the Tenth Question."

I smirked... well, cattily, and got the impression that if he could have, Ibiki would have rolled his eyes at me. But when he had his mask on, nothing shook it.

"Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the additional rules for this question," Morino continued, explaining that answering the Tenth Question was, in effect, double or nothing. If someone failed the question, they failed the Exam. Permanently, he claimed.

Again, I sighed. This was boring, dammit...

Naruto caught my eye, gesturing at me. I caught the unvoiced question -- Are you sure we just have to decide to take it?

I gave him a thumbs up to indicate everything was fine. Looking around, I found that some of the other genin teams had bowed out, cowed by Morino's interrogation.

Recca, never a very subtle person, thumped his fist on the table. "Hurry the hell up! This is boring, jiji! I ain't sayin' no!"

Naruto and Domon yelled out in agreement.

It was kinda nice to see their confidence in me. Then again, after seeing me study for so long, they tended to believe I could do more than I really could.

"I'll ask you again," Morino said, a forbidding expression on his face. "Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"So," Naruto asked. "I don't care! Move it!"

All the other teams seemed to have been buoyed by this, including the Aburame boy's team, who was in Rock Lee's year.

Dammit.

I hate bugs. Why couldn't he have broken? Although his team mates Hokuro and Raiha were cool.

"Good decisions," Morino purred. "Now, to everyone remaining..."

Ibiki grinned underneath his bandanna. "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

"Wait... what do you mean? We already pass," Haruno Sakura, who was in Uchiha's team, yelled. "What about the Tenth Question?"

"It was a question of resolve, not knowledge," I interrupted, still bored.

Ibiki nodded. "Indeed."

"Hey! Then what were the first nine questions for," the Sand kunoichi demanded. "They were pointless!"

"They were not pointless," Ibiki argued. "They had already served their intended purpose -- to test your individual data gathering ability."

He looked at me. "Although some people shortcircuited that."

I shrugged. "That's the power of specialisation."

"Information gathering," Temari, the Sand-nin in question asked. She ignored the comment directed at me.

"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their team mates," Ibiki began.

I yawned quietly. He was about to start on the 'Importance of Information' lecture. In my experience, talking to him (and his father) while creating the Mind Rape, he really liked his lectures. I guess it came from his work.

"... is now finished. I wish you guys luck," Ibiki said proudly.

I stretched, listening to various joints pop.

"Don't do that," Recca yelled from a few benches away.

"Yahoo," Naruto yelled, leaping into the air and pumping his fist.

"Now for the interesting test," I said.

Right as I said that, a loud crash announced a spinning black swathed object flying through the window, landing in front of Ibiki. The black cloth expanded, kunai nailing the top corners to the ceiling. A large message could be seen on the banner, announcing the presence of the examiner.

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating," she yelled. "I am the Examiner for the Second Test! Mitarashi Anko! Let's go! Follow me!"

I sighed.

"Bad timing," Ibiki offered from behind the banner, as the examinees stared at her incredulously.

"Aw, man, why'd we have to get that sadist," I asked no one in particular.

Soon after that, Mitarashi had us all standing in front of the chainlink fence surrounding Training Area 44, the Forest of Death.

"You'll soon find out," Mitarashi said, "why it's called the Forest of Death."

"You'll soon find out," Naruto mimicked, sounding highly annoyed, "why it's called the Forest of Death."

"Man, do all you Examiners like the sound of your own voice," Recca asked.

Fuuko hit him on the head. "Pay more attention to the Examiner!"

"Hai... you're spirited," Mitarashi said, vanishing in a flicker and reappearing behind Naruto. A kunai had cut shallowly into his cheek. "Kids like you are killed quickly... hehe..."

I rolled my eyes.

She began to lap at the blood trickling down his face. "Spraying that red blood I love..."

Stretching, I looked around. "Man... there are too many people to use that... guess I'll have to use it instead."

"It," Sasuke asked.

I pulled out the scroll-sheath for the zanbatou, flicking the scroll so that it unreeled upwards. As the last of the seal was revealed, a length of grey metal began to appear, sliding out of the scroll like the scroll was a portal of some sort, rather than paper and ink. Six feet of blade slid out, widening to about thirty centimeters wide at the base. Then two feet of handle emerged afterwards, a very plain length of leather bound steel, unadorned by metalwork or even a pommel. As the zanbatou began to fall back to Earth, I grabbed the handle.

A small trench was cut into the ground as the massive blade came to a halt.

"This should be fun," Anko said, a grass-nin pocketing the kunai she had thrown at Naruto.

"Bro! You're using that already," Recca asked.

I shrugged, picking up the zanbatou and propping it up across my shoulders like a staff. My weretiger heritage gave me the strength to carry it in human form, although transforming would be needed to fully utilize it. "Doesn't do me any good just practicing with it."

Domon could be heard cursing himself for not thinking of getting one.

"Now, before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out," Anko said. "You must sign these disclaimers. There will be deaths in this one, and if I don't have you sign these... it will be my responsibility. Hehe. I'm going to explain the Second Test then you can sign it afterwards. Each team will then check in at the booth behind me."

"That doesn't sound promising," Fuuko said. "What if Fuuko-chan gets hurt?"

"Domon-sama will protect you," Domon said, taking a muscle man pose. Rock Lee gave him a huge grin and a thumbs up.

"Simply put," Anko said, "you will attempt the ultimate survival."

"Oh, maaaan," I groaned. "I hate the wild."

"First, I'll explain the area around which it takes place," Anko said, briefly describing the Forest of Death. As well as mentioning the natural hazards of the course, she also mentioned a tower in the middle which was our destination during the test. "During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will participate in a no rules scroll battle."

Naruto sniggered. "Hehehe, that sounds like Nii-san fighting with Nara-san over some dusty piece of crap in the Library."

Recca nodded, laughing as well.

"You will fight over these two scrolls, the 'Heaven', and the 'Earth'," Anko said, holding out a white scroll with the kanji for 'Heaven' on it, and a black scroll with the kanji for 'Earth' on it. "Half, thirteen, will get the Heaven scroll, and the other thirteen teams will get the Earth scroll. To pass this test, your team must must make it to the tower with both scrolls."

"Lovely," I muttered sarcastically.

"So, thirteen teams will lose their scroll," I heard Haruno Sakura say. "Half the teams will definitely fail."

"Most likely more," I agreed.

"But there's a time limit," Anko added. "This test will last 120 hours. Exactly five days."

Again, I sighed, as finding a team with the opposite scroll to ours would be long, tedious, and a pain in the ass.

"What about dinner," Chouji demanded.

I wasn't as worried about that -- I could hunt down my own dinner. And my scroll would be safe in the same place my clothes went while I was in tiger form. Actually...

"You're on your own," Anko said, not caring one whit. "The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants..."

She trailed off, letting our imaginations do her work for her. "And thirteen teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become longer, and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies -- you won't get much sleep."

"All this crap just for more pay," Shikamaru muttered. "How troublesome."

"So not only will some fail by losing their scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course. Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or have a team mate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. You will be in the Forest for five days.

"And one more rule -- you must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do," Naruto asked.

"Bad stuff," I ventured.

"That will be a surprise for anyone who does," Anko said, looking sadistically thoughtful. A chuunin will be asked to handle sensitive information. This will be a test of your trustworthiness. That's it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, then choose a gate to get ready for the start."