A New Life To Live

Naruto blinked as he looked at Botan. "I'm sorry, you want me to do what now?"

"I want you to watch over Yusuke, as ordered by Koenma. That's your parole."

Naruto blinked, rubbing the back of his head as he looked up at the night sky. "That doesn't make any sense. I'm still a demon, kind of. A felon. Why are Kurama and Hiei being forced to do a much more strict parole than I am?"

Botan rolled her eyes. "Because they need to be watched more closely. Kurama almost used the Forlorn Hope, and Hiei is far to dangerous to just let run wild. While you are also powerful, Koenma seems to trust you more than the other two. And Yusuke will be in serious danger at this tournament. He's still young, he needs a safety net. From what you told Koenma, you would be a good one."

Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I only told Koenma that because he mentioned sending me back to the Demon World, despite the fact that I've never been there, instead wanting to be sent back home. I never intended to be put in a position where I had to babysit a brat."

"Aren't you a brat," Botan giggled, shaking her head, causing Naruto to roll his eyes.

"No," the blonde grunted, only to her the laugh of the spirit woman. The spirit locked eyes with Naruto soon afterwards though, causing him to grunt in discomfort. He still didn't really know this woman, and she was ordering him around. He didn't particularly care for it. However, Naruto nodded when their eyes locked anyway.

"Yeah yeah I'll watch the brat. He's not bad I suppose. Wouldn't want someone doing good getting killed after all."

"Thanks!"

Naruto merely waved as he walked away from Botan, his tail swishing behind him. Botan grinned. "You might wanna do something about hiding your tail while your at it."

"Any suggestions?"

"I can name a few!"

Yusuke grunted as he slogged up the mountain, a sack over his shoulder. "Oh man this is so lame. I can't believe Botan convinced me to do this on a weekend."

(-Flashback-)

"Wait you want me to do info-what?"

"Infiltration," Botan repeated, looking at Yusuke as though he was an idiot. And now that she thought about it some more she found it hard to believe that he wasn't an idiot. Sure he was a capable fighter, but, smart was not a word she thought of when she thought of Yusuke. "It's a sophisticated term for going undercover." Had to make sure he understood what he was being asked to do.

"Yeah, so where I am going? Spirit World?"

"No it's still on Earth. But a human acquaintance of Koenma's is looking for a student to pass on her skills to. That will be you."

"Sounds boring."

"Be careful what you say Yusuke," Botan chided, shaking her head. "Her name is Genkai, and she is one the greatest psychics in the world. It's been a long time since she's had an apprentice, but I guess she feels her end is drawing near. I suppose she believes that she needs to leave her secret power behind. Koenma said that with its power it could protect or destroy hundreds of people."

"So you want me to destroy some other guy who might use it incorrectly, that it?"

"Yes, but Koenma also said, and I quote, 'That lazy kid won't get better unless someone forces it down his throat.' He was referring to your and training with Genkai of course."

"Lazy! Why I oughta-"

"You can deal with Koenma later Yusuke," Botan interrupted. "You should focus on how dangerous this mission is going to be. Spirit World Intelligence has informed me that an apparition by the name of Rando will almost definitely be going after Genkai's technique."

"Rando?"

Botan nodded. "A human hunter, hiding in the shadows of the Living World waiting for prey. He's stolen the power of ninety-nine psychics so far. He steals technique and then fuses it into his own style to test himself against further opponents. He kills until he finds the limit of his power, and with Genkai's technique..."

"That will be for a while," Yusuke said. Never let it be said that the boy couldn't use basic reasoning skills.

"Seems pretty major."

"So let's go!"

"But that also makes it seem like I won't be able to do anything relaxing on this three day weekend. Those are rare ya know."

Botan grimaced at Yusuke's lackadaisical attitude. This was the world at risk and here he was talking about relaxing! "Mankind or vacation!"

"Well they've got the same importance to me okay!"

The duo grunted at one another, glaring before Botan eventually huffed, walking away. Before she got far though she turned, a grin on her face. "What if I told you there's a special bonus for completing this mission?"

"What?"

"Your very own ticket to the main event for the World Battle Tokyo Dome!"

Yusuke immediately responded, "What! Well don't just stand there let's go!"

(-Flashback-)

"Stupid Botan making me answer like that," Yusuke muttered. "I mean if I mess this up and Rando kills everyone there won't even be a Tokyo Dome. At least the other way I woulda had a three day weekend," Yusuke muttered before he made it to the summit of the stairs. The boy looked around, frowning as he saw talismans on trees, and a strange glow around the woods.

"Now that's a weird vibe," Yusuke muttered. "Oh well. Once I don't get chosen I'll pretend it doesn't exist."

Yusuke grimaced as he walked into the massive crowd of potential trainees, surprised by the sheer number of them. He didn't even know this many people knew who Genkai was, much less knew where she lived. This was ridiculous. He only knew because he had connections to Spirit World. Did all of them have connections to Spirit World as well? Or were they spiritually aware? Perhaps they were just interested in the psychic arts? Either way, this was a way larger crowd than he thought he would be seeing. And they all looked freaky.

"Urameshi!"

Yusuke turned, horror developing on his face. That voice, that hair, those clothes, and that stupid face. There was no mistaking it. Kuwabara was here. And the boy seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see Kuwabara. "Kuwabara!"

"Hey what are you doing here?"

"I've got good reasons, unlike some people."

"You think I don't," Kuwabara muttered, a dumb look on his face. Yusuke nodded. "Okay I'll tell ya. It seems my power to see ghosts and spooky stuff has gone up greatly in the past few weeks, and is getting to the point where I can't even concentrate on my fighting ya know? Then I heard that Master Genkai can fix up the symptoms, so I came here to pay her a visit. But look at this line!"

"Hey now look," Yusuke said, waving his hands. "I agree you need therapy, but are you sure this lady into that?"

Kuwabara raged. "Don't be such an idiot Urameshi, Master Genkai happens to be a master of the famous Spirit Wave technique. She can do about anything with a persons Spirit, and that includes turning the volume way down on mine."

"Right, Spirit Wave...everybody knows about that," Yusuke stated hesitantly.

"So that's what Yusuke is here to learn huh? Or more accurately stop Rando from learning," Naruto muttered, leaning against a tree nearby, his eyes glued to Yusuke's form. Naruto sighed, looking around. So far he didn't have any suspects of the demon. No one stood out in any particular way, and no one seemed to horrendously incapable. That, and the fact that it was hard to really tell with so many people crowded together in one place. It was hard to pinpoint exactly who he could trust. The blonde grunted, throwing his eyes over the crowd once more before he heard a loud bang, the crowd growing quiet to look over at the large double doors, a man whispering the obvious.

"Be quiet everyone, Genkai must be coming."

The double doors opened, creaking with a deep noise that sounded almost mechanical. Naruto frowned. No door made that noise unless it was recently constructed, and this house looked like it was made more during the Daimyo period rather than anything else. It made no sense why they would make that noise. And why was the entire room behind it a deep, unmoving void. He couldn't see anything past the doors, even with his enhanced senses.

"My my, that's quiet a crowd."

A soft voice, but stern, experienced. Definitely Genkai.

A small form walked from the double doors, the lady old and small, clothed in a martial arts gi, staring down at the psychic hopefuls.

"That little old hag is Genkai," Yusuke whispered, confused.

"Alright people I suppose we should get things started."

"The tests that the master gives us are said to be incredibly tough," someone whispered.

"I don't care, I'm gonna pass every single on of 'em."

"The first of your screening tests will be, the drawing of lots."

The tension disappeared instantly. "How is that a test!"

"Everyone must draw a lot from this old jar. Come now we haven't all day," the lady said, pointing to the jar at her side, filled to the brim with cards. Yusuke could only grunt as he walked towards the jar, in the middle of the pack.

"Well that figures the lady's up and gone senile," he whispered to himself.

"You did that fairly well," Genkai stated after a few minutes. "I'm impressed. Let's all open our lots now. If the paper inside it is red then congratulations, you've passed the first of today's screenings." Kuwabara and Yusuke both ripped off the covers of their lots, both of them blanking as they saw the red paper underneath.

"Well lucky me I won," they both stated sarcastically.

"You have a red one also," Yusuke questioned.

"Didn't mean to."

"Those who won please follow me, those who lost please get lost."

Naruto stared at the woman, glancing at his paper. It was red, but it was shredded, in complete ribbons. It was almost like when he first discovered he hand the wind affinity, only this time it was much less regulated. The teen frowned. Maybe there was a connection? Did the ribbon draw on his natural energies? It was a possibility he supposed. Under most circumstances he'd think he was being delusional, but when dealing with a psychic he didn't want to leave things to chance. Not everything could be taken at face value.

"Hold on!"

Genkai frowned, seeing two large men walk towards her, the duo ranting about growing more powerful or something. She didn't particularly care. She was in no mood for people who were upset that they couldn't handle the first hurdle. "The only thing different about larger fighters is that they're louder when they whine," Genkai hissed, causing the two to growl at her. "Can't you two blockheads understand, I'm just trying to save you from embarrassment."

"I'm warning you," the larger one said.

"You can't turn us away with just a piece of paper."

'If you failed to turn the paper red that just means you don't have the spirit energy required to do my training in the first place,' Genkai thought, but she didn't voice it. The two idiots before her wouldn't understand.

"We're warning you," the two threatened.

"This probably goes way above your comprehension boys, but please try to pay attention. If you're really ready for my training then why didn't your paper turn red?"

"I think she's asking us for more proof," one man yelled only for their punches to be caught, Naruto staring at the two with a bored expression.

"You two really just don't listen to anything at all do you? She said why didn't it turn red you idiots, not why wasn't it red. There's a difference."

Naruto shoved, sending the two stumbling backwards, before he saw a flash of blue, the two idiots send flying into the trees. Naruto turned, his eyes wide as he saw Genkai sitting there a calm look on her face.

"Thank you, but that was unnecessary," she said, looking at him with narrowed eyes. The boy was attentive. He caught the underlying message of what her words meant. What else did he know?

"She sent those guys flying with her mind," Yusuke whispered, his eyes wide. 'Well now I'm interested.' Yusuke's eyes narrowed on Naruto as well. "And suspicious."

"It seems my powers are getting a bit rusty," Genkai muttered. "A few years ago those tuffs would have ducked their heads if I'd winked at them rough. I guess I'm really getting old. Alright you red papers, please follow me."

Yusuke frowned as he watched Genkai's retreating form followed by Naruto, and the other successful members of the test, his mind working a mile a minute. 'So that's what her Spirit Wave does. I can see why monsters want it so bad.' Yusuke frowned, glancing at the watch on his hand that located demon energy. The boy clicked it, his eyes widening as it immediately went haywire before exploding, causing him to wince.

'No way. Is the demon energy so strong that it caused it to be destroyed?'

Yusuke grunted, glancing around. 'But was that due to Rando, or Naruto? Either way, all I know is that a demon is here.' Yusuke shrugged it off, walking after the crowd, frowning as he saw a massive arcade that was filled with games, like a casino. "This is not a normal house," he deadpanned.

"Maybe she just likes video games," Kuwabara questioned, but even he didn't believe the words coming from his mouth.

"I hope you've all brought your quarters, these games will be the second screening," Genkai muttered.

Naruto stared as a boy, who looked about half his size and age, stepped out from the crowd, his hands up in protest. "Please master, may I ask what playing video games has to do with earning great power?" Naruto frowned. The boy's voice was soft, delicate. He was unlike the rest of the competitors. The guy was also rather skinny, frail. Everyone else at least had some size on them, even Yusuke. That was weird.

"Absolutely nothing really, but these are not ordinary games you will be playing," Genkai responded. "The janken game tests your spirit awareness, the punching game shows your spirits strength, and the karaoke tests your spirits energy to adapt to and grow stronger. If you can not pass each and all three then go home quickly. And don't play the other games, they're just for me."

"Alright, hand me the boxing glove," one man roared, stepping forwards, determination on his face. "Me and this game are old buddies," he muttered, placing the glove on his hand and cocking his arm backwards. A crowd gathered around him, Naruto leaning against the wall as he observed the man. Maybe he would reveal himself here? No, that wasn't true. He wouldn't. Not that it mattered, Rando wasn't that man, he was sure of that. No demon was that overconfident, not when surrounded by another demon of unknown power.

He knew Rando was here, and he knew the demon knew that he was here. If he could smell Rando, then he was sure Rando could smell him.

The man at the boxing game let fly, his eyes widening and the crowd laughing as he saw a score of '18P' displayed on the screen. "That doesn't make any sense I always get the high score at the punching game at my parents pool house," the man stated.

"Well this isn't your parents pool house. It doesn't make any difference to that machine how physically strong you are unless your spirits strength goes along with it."

Naruto frowned. Those words again, he was sure the majority of the audience didn't even know what spirit energy was. For her to be talking about it so calmly, was she not worried that someone would discover it on their own? They would be a risk, both to themselves and society if that happened. But he couldn't interfere. There wasn't a convincing enough lie he could come up with, not with Genkai here. They'd all believe her word over his, and she seemed like the type to be blunt and honest, no matter the consequences.

A yell got Naruto's attention once more, the blonde frowning as he saw Kuwabara slam his fist into the punching machine, the boy scoring a '129P'. The crowd erupted in applause as the man gloated. "One hundred and twenty-nine, what do you think of that Urameshi," the boy stated, shoving Yusuke slightly. Yusuke rolled his eyes, getting a boxing glove before cocking his hand back and letting his fist fly.

"Don't get to excited, I think there's something wrong with the machine, here I'll check it out for ya."

'155P'.

Naruto grunted. Yeah that machine was not based on physical strength, that confirmed it. From size alone Kuwabara should outrank Yusuke in strength, but the kid had scored a higher score. Still, it wasn't as impressive as he thought it would be. The blonde grinned. Maybe he should show off a little. Naruto walked over to the punching bag as the duo kept talking.

"Nope, I guess it works fine," Yusuke stated. Kuwabara grunted.

"Look at that kid he scored a 155," a man shouted. Genkai raised an eyebrow, eyeing Yusuke with curiosity. 'Well well, that boy has a strong destructive power. With the proper training he could become a very powerful force, a warrior perhaps.'

Naruto grunted, shoving passed the duo, as he slipped on a boxing glove.

"Naruto," Yusuke muttered, confused, drawing a grin from the blonde.

"Yo," Naruto stated as he let fly.

'250P'.

Naruto grinned.

Genkai's eyes widened even further. 'And he possesses an even greater talent for destructive power. He is a living weapon. Then again, I would expect no less from a demon.'

"No way," Yusuke muttered, causing Naruto to grin.

"You know Yusuke I think you're right. The machine works just as intended."

Yusuke grit his teeth, as did Kuwabara at having been shown up twice in so short a time frame. "Fine! Let's see how you two handle the janken game," Kuwabara roared, getting the duo to smirk before heading over. As they walked Yusuke could only turn to Naruto with one question.

"Why are you here? I thought you were on parole with Hiei and Kurama."

"I am." Naruto muttered. "I'm here to make sure that you don't get killed by Rando. The higher ups aren't exactly sure how strong he is. I'm your safety net."

"I don't need a damn safety net," Yusuke hissed, offended by the idea. Naruto grunted.

"Believe me I don't wanna be here any more than you do. Finding strong people and fighting them, sure that's interesting, but I'd rather be with my mother or Kurama right now."

Yusuke grunted, nodding before the duo arrived at the janken game. Kuwabara grunted as he played the game, grinning as he finished, the crowd erupting in applause as he got the high score. He grinned, gloating in front of the Spirit Detective and demon only for Yusuke to walk up to the machine. Genkai stared at Kuwabara, a frown on her face.

'His awareness of the spirit world is exceptional. With his temper, I'm surprised he hasn't harnessed that into a weapon yet.'

"No way! That got guy a '175' on the punching game. That's the second highest score!"

Naruto's eyes whirled, frowning as he saw a man with green hair standing there, a confident look on his face. Suspect number one. Perhaps the demon had responded to his challenge with one of its own? But why would it get a weaker score then? To make him underestimate it? No, demons weren't like that, not in his experience. There were many types of demons sure, but demons like Rando? No, they wouldn't make themselves look weaker than they were. Rando would have likely tried to outscore him. Perhaps Rando wasn't capable of matching him in outright destructive capacity. But then why stand there so confidently?

Singing broke over the area, drawing Yusuke's eyes away, frowning as he saw a man with a symbol on his head that looked like a manji. Yusuke's eyes did widen as he saw the score. '100P'. That was impressive. Definitely noteworthy. Perhaps he was Rando? From the way the crowd was reacting it seemed like that score was an outlier. Genkai grinned as she saw the duo of impressive trainees.

'I've got some pretty good candidates.'

The games continued, until eventually the twenty most powerful contenders were chosen for the last and final challenge. Genkai grunted, leading them to a large forest, a line with talismans covering it in front of the forest. "Now that the weak have been eliminated this will be far more severe." The group took a step back, horror flashing across their eyes.

Naruto blinked. 'Is she ripping off the Forest of Death?'

"Master the forest seems to have its own life force." Naruto glanced at the boy, the same one who had spoke up earlier. He was confident. Noteworthy. And aware.

"Yes, to say the least. It's known as the Dark Forest, and it's as old as the human race. It has become a sanctuary for the oldest and most primitive demons. And on the other side of the forest is a giant tree. Make it there and you pass the test. You have two hours."

Naruto frowned. Yeah, she really wasn't holding anything back. He really hoped all of these guys already knew about the existence of demons before she just decided to tell everyone about them. The blonde was tempted to believe she was exaggerating, considering she did say it was as old as the human race, but he didn't know if he could. She had been truthful, even when it was unnecessary to do so, so far.

Naruto only frowned as he saw people running away, horror in their eyes as they could only see fear. Naruto shook his head. It was good they fled, they wouldn't have made it long anyway. All of his suspects were still here though. That was good. He would need to interrogate them in the forest. Genkai laughed.

"Yes run along, I don't blame you. Even the person with the slightest spirit awareness can feel this forest will tear you to pieces if you let it."

"There is truth to what this woman says, only those who have gone through training should pass into these woods."

The punching man from before. Naruto narrowed his eyes. He was the prime suspect. He would be who he first visited.

"It is no place for a boy for instance."

Yusuke grit his teeth, understanding the insult was clearly meant for him. "Speak for yourself. I'm not about to get scared off by a little walk through grandma's forest."

"Watch your mouth you dumb little brat."

Yusuke ignored Genkai's words, walking up to the green haired man. "You're just trying to get rid of me so I won't learn Genkai's powers instead of you, is that the big plan?"

"Enough," Naruto muttered, pulling Yusuke back. Yuuske glared at Naruto, only for the blonde to shake his head. "I'll look 'em over, you don't have to," Naruto whispered in his ear, getting Yusuke to nod.

"Best of luck I hope you don't die," Genkai muttered. The race began, the twenty contestants sprinting off, only for Genkai to speed out in front of them, a grin on her face. "I'll be waiting for you by the tree. If you're smart you'll use your spirit awareness to find the quickest path. Good luck!"

'What's with this spirit awareness crap, everyone knows the quickest way is a straight line,' Yusuke thought.

Kuwabara however seemed to disagree with Yusuke's thoughts as he suddenly paused before he took off in an entirely different direction. Naruto frowned, watching Kuwabara speed off. It didn't particularly matter what he did. He wasn't a suspect, despite his above average spiritual awareness. The blonde dropped to the back of the pack, watching the punching and singing man run forwards. The smaller boy had already disappeared from his sight.

Naruto grunted, letting his tail flick out of his baggy pants, the appendage swishing back and forth with relief. It was not comfortable to keep it in that position. The punching man would be first. Naruto blitzed forwards in a dizzying display of speed, grunting as he finally saw the punching man fighting a pack of wolves, dealing with them with ease. Naruto grunted.

He probably didn't want the man to recognize him. That would be bad. Perhaps he could change how he looked? On such short notice he couldn't, but attacking competitors wasn't exactly something he could particularly do in this round. But maybe he could test him another way? Naruto grinned, gathering his chakra before he dashed forwards, his chakra enhancing his body, completely blitzing passed the punching man and landing on a tree that concealed him. The punching man whirled, but the reaction time was too late. He had already blown passed him.

Rando wouldn't have let that happen, not with a power signature like his moving towards him. No demon was comfortable with that, no matter what their personality was.

Suspect one was clear. Naruto blitzed off into the forest to find the other suspects.

Yusuke grunted, appearing in front of a clearing. "See? I told everyone this would be the best way to go. There's not exactly a beaten path, but that's really no big deal." The boy started walking, completely oblivious to the creatures that appeared behind him until a cut appeared on his cheek. Yusuke winced, grabbing his cheek before his eyes whirled, looking for his assailant. His eyes widened when he realized just how many there were.

A horde of bats, massive bats covered the trees, and they were deadly if the cut on his cheek were any indication.

"Fine, a few fruit bats are no problem," Yusuke grunted, only for his eyes to widen as he heard whispering.

"Look at this little one," came a voice. Yusuke whirled upwards, his eyes widening as he saw a much larger bat.

"A human boy has wandered into my territory. What shall I do?" The large man-bat laughed before leaping towards Yusuke, his winds unfurled. "I think I shall enjoy the free food in my territory!"

Yusuke grit his teeth.

Naruto grunted, appearing in front of the singing man, watching as he continued to dodge the attacks of the vines from the demonic trees, a frown on his face. Naruto could only stare. The man was skilled, that much was clear. He was trained similarly to shinobi almost, at least that was what he could infer from his movements. He was stealthy, and was easily capable of leaping through trees. More so he had good situational awareness, more than the punching man did that was for sure. The singing man had almost caught him twice, but the blonde was fast enough to slip out of sight before he could realize who he was.

The singing man just thought he was being hunted.

Naruto grunted, leaping away. This wasn't Rando. He wasn't moving at speeds that would be difficult for a demon to see. A human would have an incredibly difficult time, but a demon, especially one around Rando's caliber, would be able to detect him. Demons couldn't afford to be that slow in their reaction speeds. He was still moving slower than Hiei after all.

"Fifteen minutes left," Genkai muttered, frowning. "They must be running into quite a bit of trouble. I hope I remember to save the stragglers after those who succeed get here."

Genkai's eyes widened, not expecting to see a figure emerging over the crest of the hill, at least not for a while yet. This test was not easy, and for them to complete it so fast, even with fifteen minutes remaining, was remarkable. Kuwabara grunted, collapsing in front of Genkai, sweat dripping from his brow.

"Hello boy."

Kuwabara jumped, not expecting Genkai's tone. "Am I really the first one here? Really?"

Genkai nodded, causing Kuwabara to leap into the air with joy. "Yeah! That's right I'm cool!"

Kuwabara's eyes widened however as he saw two figures crest the hill, the punching man with the green hair and the singing man with the manji. The man with the manji frowned. "I thought for sure we'd be the first one's."

"We let ourselves have too much fun in there."

Kuwabara winced, backing away from the two stronger, and much more capable men who stared down at him. He did not feel like he was in any way equivalent to them. That was Urameshi stick, fighting people he shouldn't pick fights with. Of course that was ignoring the times when Kuwabara himself decided to try and beat up Yusuke.

Yusuke grit his teeth, raising his arms to block another one of the bat-man's strikes. The damn thing was too fast! He couldn't keep up with it. It was a blur to his vision. If only he could get it to stay still for a few seconds, or predict it's movements. Then it would be over. It would only take one good shot.

"Ha! Shame it is you can't fight back, but I understand! You can give up and be dead, you can give up and be dead!" The demon repeated its words as it charged towards Yusuke in a flurry of motion. The creature hissed, breaking into the air and blitzing around, swirling towards Yusuke. The boy grit his teeth, clenching his fast as he prepared to let his punch fly. He had to do something, he couldn't just sit here and take a beating. Yusuke was lucky, the blow smashing into the man-bats face, sending it flying backwards, only for it to recover.

That wasn't good enough. Just a regular punch wouldn't put this thing down.

"The human boy wants to play after all he does. But I hunger, I need you!"

The demon bat screeched as it flew towards Yusuke only for the boy to leap into the air, surprising the man-bat. "Where goes he?" The man bat questioned, only to feel a heel slam into its back, forcing it to the ground.

"To bad. Must suck for you, after all being fast is all you've really got going for you," Yusuke muttered.

"I will eat you," the bat hissed, only for Yusuke to rage, gripping it by its long white hair and heaving it to face him.

"Shut your face! I must have wasted half an hour memorizing your stupid attack patterns and I'm on a time limit!"

"I am sorry."

"I am so tired of the way you talk!" Yusuke roared, pulling back his fist once more.

Naruto frowned, ascending the hill just as Genkai glanced upwards from her watch, clicking ti closed. She nodded at him, causing him to smirk. He made it. Good thing to, because he had stayed a long time to make sure Yusuke wasn't being attacked by Rando. Whatever that man-bat demon was, it was definitely not Rando. Naruto's eyes panned over the group of candidates that passed, smirking. All three of his suspects had made it, although two of them had already been wiped from his list. The only one left was the small boy.

"Time's up," Genkai muttered. "Only you seven have passed."

"What a second there should be one more guy coming," Kuwabara said only for Genkai to shrug.

"Sorry, I never make exceptions."

"Wait for me!"

"What," Genkai called, her eyes widening as she saw Yusuke ascending the hill, rage on his face.

"Urameshi!"

"You know suddenly I'm reminded of a fortune cookie that said the straight way is not always the fastest," Yusuke muttered, annoyance written all over his face. Genkai blinked.

"But listen boy, surely you didn't go straight through the Dark Forest. You would have faced a lethal man-bat."

"What you mean Baldoc? Yeah he was hanging out with me for a while. That guy was fast but not nearly as fast as Hiei. I took care of him real good though, you'll see," Yusuke cried, busting into confident laughter. Genkai frowned, staring at Yusuke as he laughed, completely oblivious to the world.

'Who is this boy?'

"Don't you see you've got no reason to be laughing idiot," Kuwabara roared, grabbing Yusuke by his jacket. "You went over the time limit!"

"What? Is that true," Yusuke questioned, his face full of shock and slight disappointment. Genkai blinked, before a smirk grew on her face.

"It seems to be. But I believe I will make an exception."

The two boys laughed, celebrating in a hug before they realized exactly who they were hugging and immediately separated, glaring daggers at one another. "Why don't you quit hugging me you weirdo!"

"You're the one hugging, I was trying to squeeze you to death!"

Koenma sighed as he looked at the candidates, shaking his head at Yusuke's behavior. "Throw in one schoolmate and his focus goes out the window. This is no time to clown around Yusuke, or have you forgotten there's a killer demon in your midst?"

Koenma sighed, shaking his head before he looked at the display of Naruto.

"You might be the only reason he comes out of this one alive at this rate."