The Konoha Ghostbusters brought to you by the innovators of Star Trek: Konoha, Andrew Joshua Talon and M2J MandalorianJedi with the assistance various others.

Here's the basic premise, as described by AJT, who is the original innovator of this concept and one of its' primary contributors:

In New York City, sometime in the 1990s, the Ghostbuster's firehouse got sucked into a massive dimensional rift. How it happened I leave up to the writer's imagination: Peter pushes the wrong button on Egon's latest experiment, demon attack, etc. Needless to say it happens, and the Ghostbusters are left looking at an empty hole in the street.

"Our insurance covers this, right?"

Elsewhere/when, the firehouse reappears in another universe, in the area that will become the Elemental Countries a century or two before the start of the Naruto story. Without a power source, the containment system goes critical and every ghost in it escapes, releasing a massive amount of psycho-kinetic energy that saturates the entire continent with spiritual fall out. Some people die from the exposure, most are unaffected, but a significant amount of the population have their spiritual energies boosted in strength by a massive amount. A few decades later and the Age of Ninjas begins after enough people learn how to manipulate their enhanced life forces as chakra.

Now, most of the ghosts, demons, goblins, etc. that escaped from the containment unit were either ripped apart by the sheer amount of energy they were exposed to or scattered far across the planet from where they came. But, a number of the entities began devouring other ghosts, absorbing their strength and becoming incredibly powerful. The strongest of these demons became the Bijuu, and roamed the land as forces of nature.

Finally, we come to a few years before the start of Naruto. A six-year old Uzumaki Naruto is wandering around a training field, watching a six-year old Haruno Sakura, who is crying her eyes out. A few moments before Yamanaka Ino would have found her, the ground underneath her gives way and she falls into a very old, partially-buried building. Naruto jumps in after her, making sure she's okay, before the two fascinated children begin to explore the ruins. Through plot device or any other means the author might come up with, they learn about the Ghostbusters, understand the physics behind ghosts and the Ghostbuster's technology, and come closer, bit by bit, to finding out the origin of the Bijuu and ninja.

But there are a few more pressing matters before they uncover that last secret. After the Kyuubi, the strongest Bijuu, was sealed into Naruto, he began leaking psychokinetic energy into the surrounding area, which either began to make ghosts, minor kami, demons and various other spirits strong enough to take form, or attracted said entities to Konoha. The Village Hidden in the Leaves, and indeed the Elemental Countries as a whole, are experiencing a rise in paranormal activity. While ninjas may be able to manipulate psychokinetic energy, ghosts can't be destroyed nor heavily affected by the elements, and thus most jutsu are relatively useless. Combat styles like the Gentle Fist might scare them off, but only that.

From there, the story can take many different directions. Naruto and Sakura might still become ninjas, but Naruto (needing more income as he's still living alone) and Sakura (possibly to become independent from her parents, who probably wouldn't approve of her friendship with Naruto, or possibly her ninja lifestyle) could start Ghostbusting on the side to get more money and do additional good. Maybe Ghostbusting and ninja-ing become one and the same. There are a lot of ways this story could go in my opinion.

KGB-KGB-KGB

Now, some of the content of this post is NOT by me, however, it IS used with permission. Despite the fact that only AJT surpasses me in contributions to this fic, I started on this particular thread topic late, so my contribution to the "Introductory Arc" will be towards the end.

KGB-KGB-KGB

("ShadowHunter2000" contributed this as a way to show how it all started- at least how Naruto and Sakura became friends, met Slimer and decided to become Ghostbusters. This takes place hundreds of years after the events of Ghostbusters when the firehouse was sucked into the Elemental Countries. Naruto and Sakura are six.)

Uzumaki Naruto was having one of his bad days. His ramen supply was empty, Ichiraku's was closed today due to repairs, Jiji was busy talking to snobs (in Naruto's opinion), and Iruka was out sick today, making Naruto deal with a substitute teacher who really hated him. Six year old Naruto didn't know who had conspired to make his day one in the dumps, but he wanted their names so that he could get them back for this torture.

With plots of prank wars (none he would ever admit to Jiji) in his head, he spotted Haruno Sakura on the far side of the training fields. She was sitting alone and, to Naruto's dismay, crying. Being one who didn't like anyone crying, especially cute girls, he immediately started walking towards her to find out what was wrong when the ground caved in under the pink-haired girl, causing her to fall in the newly made hole. Recognizing trouble when he saw it, Naruto tried to grab her as she fell in, but didn't make it in time. The decision of whether to find help or rescue her himself was done in a matter or milliseconds (ANBU never listened to him anyways) and he jumped down after her.

His fall stopping much sooner than he expected, Naruto looked around and spotted his first damsel in distress on one knee rubbing her bottom while wincing.

"Ouch, that hurt," she muttered under her breath.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked while walking up to her.

Sakura looked up in confusion. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

Naruto smiled. "I'm here to rescue you, of course!"

He added a toothy smile and a thumb up to help his manly image (he saw this from some weird looking man/turtle).

Sakura looked at her 'rescuer' with skepticism. "And how are you getting us out of here?"

Naruto held his pose for a few more seconds before dropping his shoulders and head. "I knew I forgot something."

Sakura rolled her eyes while resisting the urge to smile (Kami knows she needed some humor after her day). "Well, do you have any ideas where we are?"

Naruto looked around while rubbing his chin in thought. "I've actually never seen this area before, and I've been to a lot of places."

Sakura stood up and looked around. "I didn't know Konoha had any underground areas." She looked down on the ground. "Wait a second, this isn't rock."

"Huh?" Naruto looked down as well and noticed that Sakura was right. "What is it then?"

"It feels like rock, but it's too smooth for a cave floor." Sakura started to rub her chin. "Very interesting. It's not…"

"Hey, look, a door!" Naruto shouted, interrupting Sakura's thought process.

Sakura followed Naruto's finger and saw what appeared to be a door in a small door in a small section sticking out of the floor.

"Interesting," Sakura murmured, her curiosity increasing. "I wonder where it goes."

Never one to let the unknown bother him, Naruto ran up to his discovery and opened, well tried to open the door. "It's stuck. Give me a sec." Naruto used the door knob as a way to get body up off the ground and his feet planted on the doorframe. Using all of his six year old might, he pulled the door open with a mighty tug.

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't think past the opening part and was unprepared for when it did open. He ungraciously fell onto the ground. "Oof."

Stepping over him, Sakura looked into the doorway. "There's a set of stairs here, leading down."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed while getting up. "Where do you think they lead?"

Sakura mind was battling with itself, the cautious side wanting to find a way out of this cave, while the newly formed intellectual side was wanting to find out more about this strange place. The battle between her two halves plus some residual energy that was floating around caused Sakura's first encounter with her Inner self.

"Let's go down there!"

Sakura looked around trying to find the source of the strange noise. "Hey Naruto, did you hear something?"

Naruto didn't answer, due to the fact that he was no longer standing next to Sakura. Wanting to be the first to discover what was inside; Naruto was already half way down the steps. "Sakura, there's another door here."

"Wait a second Naruto, we can't just go down there!"

"Why not?" asked Naruto, clearly annoyed someone was trying to stop his amazing adventure in to the newly discovered underground ruin.

"Why not?" Inner Sakura asked, clearly annoyed with her timid Outer Half.

"What if there's something dangerous in there?" Sakura was starting to have second thoughts to the whole exploring a whole new mysterious area thing they were doing. First, there was this ominous feeling she was getting from the place which was starting to freak her out. Second, she was starting to hear voices without a source. Lastly, she was starting to get worried that no one else was showing up, meaning help wasn't here yet. Someone must have seen them fall in, right?

"Then I'll protect you!" Naruto exclaimed without any hesitation.

A small blush on her cheeks, Sakura was speechless. 'I wish Sasuke-kun would say something like that.'

Naruto turned around and reached for the handle. "Come on Sakura, let's see what's inside."

(Continued by "dogbertcarroll")

Naruto and Sakura poked around the old firehouse carefully. Well, as careful as two kids could be in this sort of situation which is… not very.

"I wonder where this goes," Naruto said, opening a door and walking into an old bedroom.

"Wait for me!" Sakura said, hurrying to catch up rather than be left alone in the dark, since Naruto had the only flashlight between the pair of them.

Shining the light around Naruto examined the old room, there was dust everywhere. Whatever this place had been, it hadn't been occupied for centuries.

"I wonder what…" Naruto fell silent as he turned and found himself face to face with a green floating… thing.

Sakura froze up as she saw what Naruto was looking at. Quickly she'd pulled out a pack of seals her mother had made her carry with her, since Konaha was the most supernaturally active village in all of the Elemental Nations.

"N-Naruto, just back away slowly and well seal the room. A drop of blood on the seal and a simple slap on the ground and it'll be trapped."

Sakura bit her thumb and smeared blood on the seal while backing towards the door and calling out for Naruto in a harsh whisper.

The staring contest was broken when she backed into the wall and let out a small scream.

Naruto responded by screaming quite loudly in the green thing's face, which caused it to scream, which caused him to scream…etc.

Sakura quickly pulled the screaming contestant she came in with toward the door, before tripping on something and dropping the seal.

As she rolled out the door the seal hit the floor, trapping anything with a high amount of supernatural energy inside, much to Sakura's surprise that included Naruto, who was still involved in a screaming match with the green thing.

"I'll get help," Sakura yelled, forgetting that they were underground and didn't know how to get out, hence the searching. She also discovered that running in the dark when you don't know where anything is, such as walls, was a bad idea.

*THUD*

Sakura woke up and rubbed her head, before she remembered what had happened. "Naruto!"

Not knowing how much time had gone by she quickly hurried back to the room, which was easy to find since the only light source in the whole place was with Naruto.

Naruto was lying on the ground with the flashlight pointed at the ceiling between him and the green thing. "Do you have any threes?"

"Go Fwish," it replied looking at the cards in its hands.

(Continued further by "ShadowHunter2000")

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura was mad that Naruto did not seem to be scared of the floating green ghost that had scared the living daylights out of her.

Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"Hey Sakura, find a way out yet?" he asked while picking up a card from the pool. He frowned when he saw his pick didn't match anything in his hand, especially the threes.

Sakura started to growl. Naruto was still playing 'Go Fish' with that freaky green blob with hands and a mouth.

"Why are you playing cards with that thing!" she yelled loud enough to wake the dead.

The green blob screamed as it started to panic.

"Sakura, don't yell," Naruto whispered, slightly miffed. "He's startled by loud noises."

Sakura looked confused. Naruto was taking the ghost's side? "You know that's a ghost, right? As in a 'lives to scare and cause panic' ghost?"

Naruto shrugged. "So?"

"So why are you playing cards with it?"

"I was bored being stuck in the room and we somehow started to talk." Naruto grinned. "His name's Slimer and he really loves candy and Go Fish. He taught me how to play and he's really funny."

"Slimer?" Sakura asked, still very confused. "Why is he called Slimer?"

Naruto chuckled. "Um… cause he has the ability to slime people?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Some ability. So, how long have we been here?"

"Don't know. I've been trapped in here for a while though."

"That reminds me, how did you get trapped by the seal?" Sakura asked, very curious. "The seal is designed to trap in ghosts, not humans."

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me. So where to?"

Slimer floated over to the pair. "Follow me."

Naruto started to follow earnestly while Sakura did so reluctantly. She still didn't want to anywhere near the floating blob, but it seemed friendly enough.

Slimer led Naruto and Sakura to an old storage room near the basement. Slimer pointed to a ladder that was in the back. "Ladder."

Sakura looked relieved. "Good, that will get us out. Great thinking Slimer!"

Slimer cheered. "Yeah!"

Naruto was looking at some of the other things in the room.

"Ghostbusters?" He saw some of the posters and boxes. "What are those?"

Sakura looked at the poster. "Naruto, you can read that?"

What Sakura was assuming was lettering looked weird. Nothing like what she had ever seen.

Naruto looked confused. "Yeah. Wait how did I know that?"

"Hey, that looks like you Slimer," Sakura noted. "And who are those guys?"

"Friends," Slimer replied. Sakura noted that Slimer seemed saddened. "Friends."

"Oh." Sakura didn't want to stir up sad memories.

"So what are Ghostbusters?" Naruto asked, very curious.

Slimer grinned.

"We capture bad guys." Slimer then held his hands out like he was describing something round. "We trap them and keep them."

"Keep them?" Sakura asked. "You mean ghosts?"

"Bad Ghosts," Slimer corrected. "Follow me."

Naruto and Sakura followed Slimer deeper into the firehouse. In the basement, they saw a giant device that had an interesting front to it. Slimer seemed a little reluctant to get close to it. "We keep them here."

Naruto looked it over. "Wow. How did you get them in?"

"Traps," Slimer replied while shivering, recalling his first meeting with his friends.

Naruto noted a slot in the front of the device. "You put the trap here?" Naruto asked.

Sakura was also looking over the ancient machine. "Wow. How did this work? Where does it get its power?"

Slimer shrugged. "I don't know."

Sakura rubbed her chin. Her intellectual mind was over-ruling her 'want to get the hell out of here' side. "Maybe these Ghostbusters had some notes somewhere. Slimer, do you know where they keep all their data?"

Slimer nodded as he beckoned the pair of humans to follow him. Slimer led them to a room in the back of the firehouse. "Keep notes here." Slimer waved his hand towards the boxes of paper and the too numerous to count books.

"That's a lot of books," Sakura noted. She picked one up and glanced in side. "Hey, there's some kanji and kana here." She looked on the cover to see 'Japanese for Dummies' written on the front. "I wonder…"

Naruto looked at some other notes. "Echo-1?" Naruto looked over to Slimer. "What's that?"

Slimer moved his hands like he was holding a wheel. "Car. Fast Car. Whoom, whoom."

Naruto smiled at the fast part. "Fast?"

"Hey Naruto, this book has some readable words in here. May it can help us read the rest of this stuff." Sakura looked at Naruto. "Think of all the stuff we could find."

Naruto was thinking about that, plus the fact that Ghostbusters seemed to catch bad ghosts. "Hey, maybe if started to catch ghosts, we can get famous. And rich. Rich and Famous." Naruto's smile was growing. "And that can help get me to become Hokage!"

Sakura looked confused. "Wait, you want us to start capturing ghosts?"

"Yeah!" Naruto grabbed Sakura, which caused her to drop her book. "Think about it. We can catch ghosts, get rich and famous, I can become Hokage, and you can find things no one can! We will be the most famous people in Konoha!" Naruto let go of Sakura and started to rub his hands. "That will teach them to ignore me. What do you say Sakura?"

Sakura look at Naruto. That last part about people ignoring him got her thinking. If she was rich and famous, she could get back at everyone who had laughed at her forehead. Plus everything here was just calling at her, wanting to be read again. "Yeah! Let's do it."

Slimer smiled the biggest smile in centuries. The Ghostbusters were back! It wasn't Peter, Ray, Winston, or Egon but good times were on the horizon. Slimer wouldn't be lonely anymore.

(Timeskip several years- "AJT" had originally kicked things of with this segment.)

Yamanaka Ino had to admit, when she'd first met Uzumaki Naruto she'd thought of him as a total goofball. Loud, obnoxious, and idiotic. She'd much rather focus on Sasuke. Now he was dreamy. Cute, quiet, and broody. The loner. The dreamboat.

But, things had changed over the years. They had been subtle, the blond loudmouth turned into a quieter, more reserved, but still just as goofy and smiley as ever. He'd hung around most of the time with Haruno Sakura, also a quiet reserved girl. Always wandering around together, fiddling over strange devices or books. When they'd entered the ninja academy the changes soon became more prominent.

Naruto's idiotic grin was foxier, as though he always knew something you didn't. He was very polite, complimenting girls right and left, pulling pranks, and making jokes. Sakura was blunt and straight to the point, always answering the teacher's questions, studiously taking notes, but also making sarcastic quips and cutting blowhards down to size.

Ino had to admit, she'd focused more on Naruto. Because while he and Sasuke were mysterious, Naruto was infinitely easier to approach and always paid her attention. A girl liked to feel appreciated, after all. And the stunts Naruto pulled to impress her were always very sweet.

"Is it a... A circle?"

"Nope. Close, but still wrong."

"YEOW!"

Ino managed to keep a serene smile on her face, even while Kiba next to her jumped at the electrical shock. Across the table, Naruto just smiled back and set the card back on the table. He jotted down a few notes, before pulling out another card in front of Ino, the blue-colored back to the blonde girl.

"All right, now... Clear your head..."

Ino nodded, concentrating.

"... Is it a star?" She asked. Naruto's eyes darted over to the card, and he smiled.

"It is a star, very good!" Naruto set it down, and Ino smirked at the fuming Kiba. Naruto held up the next card and smiled congenially at the Inuzuka.

"Hey, relax. Just focus... And guess."

"All right, all right," Kiba mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the card. "Triangle?"

"Oooh, nope! Wrong again!" Naruto sighed, flipping the card over to show a rectangle. Kiba groaned... And yelped again as Naruto applied another shock. The dog ninja glared angrily.

"Hey! What's that for?"

"I told you," Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I'm studying the effect of negative reinforcement on psychic ability. Ino here is from a bloodline that specializes in psychic-based jutsu, but I want to know if other bloodlines have the same capacity. She's basically my control."

"But she hasn't been shocked once!" Kiba complained. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, so far. When she gets something wrong, I'll shock her to try and induce her ability negatively." Naruto shook his head. "C'mon, I'm paying you, right?"

"You didn't say anything about electric shocks!" Kiba accused. Naruto folded his hands in front of him, looking Kiba in the eyes.

"No, but you did say you could take anything I dished out, right?" He asked a hint of amusement in his eyes only Ino could pick up. Kiba growled, but nodded.

"Yeah..."

"And if you can read minds, then you'll be a whole lot more powerful a ninja, right?" Naruto continued. Kiba thought about it, and nodded.

"Yeah..."

"So, let's continue!" Naruto said with a grin. Kiba nodded stiffly, still glaring at Naruto, who looked utterly unconcerned and earnest. It was almost enough for Ino to break down in laughter.

The card was held up. Ino focused.

"... Figure 8!"

Naruto blinked and looked at the card, before looking back at Ino.

"Incredible. That's seven for seven. You can't see these, right?"

"No, I swear, they're just coming to me! It's amazing," Ino gasped. Kiba glowered at her, but bent over to make sure the blond girl couldn't see through the cards. Naruto set this one down too, and smiled at Kiba.

"You all right?"

"No I'm not all right! This is annoying!" Kiba growled.

"Relax, you've only got seventy-two more to go," Naruto soothed. Kiba flinched, but stayed sitting as Naruto brought up the next card. He growled.

"What, a couple of wavy lines?" He asked sarcastically.

"Sorry, this isn't your lucky day," Naruto chuckled. Kiba chuckled morbidly.

"Yeah but... Uh... Um... Er..."

Ino caught Naruto's eye. The whiskered-blond winked at her. Ino winked and smiled back as sweat beaded on Kiba's forehead. Naruto's hand drew closer, closer to the switch...

"Ah...! Er... YEEEOOOWWW! DAMNIT, THAT'S IT!" Kiba bellowed, yanking off the wire that had sent the last shock and storming out of the room. "YOU CAN KEEP THE 50 RYO YOU BASTARD!"

"I will, Mister!" Naruto called back angrily. After the door was slammed, Ino cracked up, laughing so hard she was crying.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh God Naruto, that was classic!"

Naruto laughed with her, shaking his head.

"So, how long did you know-?"

"That it was a scam? The very first moment," Ino replied with a wink. "It was very sweet... What was your whole plan?"

"Well, he storms out; I tell you we should talk about your ability later over dinner... And we go from there," Naruto replied with a proud smile. Ino sighed.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun is the only one for me."

"Oh come on, give me a chance? Please?" Naruto begged. Ino thought it over.

"Hmmm... Well..."

The door to the empty classroom opened, and Sakura walked in, smiling.

"Naruto, you won't believe what I-! ... Oh. Hello, Ino," Sakura said, going from happy to irritated in a split second. Ino smirked cattily back.

"Sakura," she returned.

Catfight, catfight, catfight, Naruto mentally chanted.

(There's a missing part in the continuity of this scene, where Ino is seen leaving and Sakura talks to Naruto, but Ino's role in the "Introductory Arc" isn't finished yet. The following section is also by "AJT".)

Naruto sighed. Yet again, his chance to date Ino Yamanaka was ruined by his best friend, sister figure, and business partner Sakura, who was currently dragging him down the street.

"Seriously Sakura, can't this wait? I was so close!"

"Yamanaka Ino is a shallow, self-centered little brat," Sakura snorted. "You'd be much better off dating Hinata."

"Hey, I like Hinata, believe me. But I have to keep Ino from falling for Emo Boy! That'll just end up a train wreck!" Naruto protested as their headquarters/his apartment came into view. Situated on the outskirts of Konoha, the Hokage had done Naruto and Sakura a serious favor by using an earth jutsu to dig the ancient firehouse out of the dirt and used a few other jutsus to strengthen it. Red brick, with green siding, the firehouse was definitely their home in virtually all respects.

Especially for their ambitious about-to-begin business venture.

"Why not let her train wreck and come back to pick up the pieces?" Sakura asked with a growl. Naruto grinned as Sakura dragged him into the firehouse garage, shutting the door behind him.

"Simple. I'm not an asshole. I'd prefer she not go through with that."

"Naruto, Hinata loves you, has a MUCH better developed body than Ino, and is bisexual. Exactly why are you pursuing Ino?" Sakura asked flatly. Naruto shrugged.

"Okay, you caught me. I want a harem, and Ino will be my second wife."

"Knew it," she sighed, hitting him over the head. She grinned.

"But now onto what's important. Mainly me and what I've discovered!"

"A way to de-Emo Sasuke? Oh, hey Slimer!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Heyah, Nawuto!" Slimer greeted, hovering over. Sakura tossed Slimer some candy, which the little ghost happily ingested. She turned to the Ecto-1, sitting before them with a proud smile.

"No... I figured out how to get that stupid chakra engine of yours running. Ecto-1 should work now!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto cheered, hugging Sakura and making her blush slightly. "That's awesome! Let's try it out now!" Naruto opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat. Sakura slid over the hood and jumped into the passenger seat through the open window.

"Saw it on the Dukes of Hazzard tapes," she grinned. "Ready for testing!"

"Ready!" Naruto grinned, turning the ignition key. This is going to be great!

(Minutes later, by "Silverdragon15")

In retrospect, they should have probably remembered to buckle their seat belts, or perhaps learn how to drive properly first.

"Uh, Ino...please don't hurt me!" Naruto was scared, no, terrified at the infuriated blond in front of her. They had crashed, head long, into the front of the Yamanaka flower shop.

"No magic trick is going to get you out of this one." Ino growled. Sakura didn't even try to stick up for Naruto. She thought it would be very good punishment for him flirting.

Naruto was thinking fast. Could there be anything that would get him out of this?

"I..."

A wise man once said, if all else fails, beg like hell.

"I'm sorry, Ino-chan! I was thinking about you so much that I lost control and really wanted to see you. Please forgive me! I'll buy you a five-star dinner for a whole week, and work at your flower shop for a whole month for free. I'm sorry." Naruto finished pathetically, his eyes wide and looking like they were watering.

Sakura sweat dropped as she saw Ino turn red. There was no way that Ino would-

"Whatever restaurant I want, make it two weeks, and I'll forgive you." Sakura's jaw dropped. In contrast, Naruto leaped up and hugged Ino tightly.

"Thank you, Ino-chan!"

Sakura was frozen to the spot, absolutely in shock. 'NO FREAKIN' WAY!'

(Continued by "AJT")

A beeping sound broke over the sudden silence of the wrecked flower shop. Sakura looked around and smiled.

"Oh, it's me..." She pulled out her PKE meter and began scanning with it. Naruto grinned as Ino blinked.

"You got it working?"

"Yep, new model and everything," Sakura bragged happily.

Ino frowned. "What the heck is that thing?"

"It's a PKE meter... Um, a Psychokinetic Energy Meter," Naruto explained.

At Ino's continuing mystified look, Sakura cleared her throat.

"It detects unusual spiritual phenomena. Ghosts, demons, psychics, you know..."

Naruto nodded with a grin. "It'll be the first part of our new business venture we're launching alongside becoming ninjas!"

"Which is?" Ino asked.

"Paranormal investigation and elimination," Sakura stated. "Or, Ghostbusting, to use a more colloquial term. Naruto it looks like that class five we've picked up a few times."

"Awesome! Can we try out the proton packs and the traps now?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Sakura nodded with a smile. "Definitely, they're in the back."

"Proton...? Is this anything like that science project you and Naruto made when you were ten?" Ino asked warily.

Sakura shook her head. "Oh no, not at all! These are far more precise, more powerful, and more advanced."

"Relax Ino; they won't explode like the last one did!" Naruto grinned... Coughing as his grin faltered, pulling on the proton pack. "I hope..."

"Oh ye of little faith. C'mon, I got the car working again didn't I? And the containment unit," Sakura lectured.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, testing a lot of it on ME. Or Slimer."

"Don't be such a baby! C'mon, it's moving!"

(A few minutes later, continued by "Sliverdragon15")

"Why didn't we take the car?" Naruto whined as the party of himself, Sakura, Slimer, and Ino ran through the streets, attracting plenty of odd looks because of their bulky and strange equipment.

"Because, we could be worried that you might get distracted by the pretty girl in the flower shop window." Sakura said sarcastically, rather resentful that her womanizing (from her view) partner managed to get away scot free from a potential beating of his body and ego.

Ino flushed at Sakura's comment, and decided to change the subject.

"So, uh...what are you going to do when you get to the ghost?" Ino asked. Naruto and Sakura gave her disbelieving looks.

"We capture it, and seal it away. We'll build up a reputation as exorcists, and then we'll start charging people." Naruto said, as though it was completely obvious.

"This helps us in two ways. First, it'll earn us money." Ino rolled her eyes at this, but understood the need the two had for money. D-Rank missions were similar to side jobs, not really bread winners. "Secondly, Naruto will be able to build up his reputation, and he'll have public support when he becomes Hokage." Sakura continued, glancing at the PKE meter. "We're close."

"You guys really thought this out..." Ino murmured, a little surprised. Of course, she always knew Naruto and Sakura were planning something, but not really anything like this.

"Yeah, we did." Naruto gave a goofy grin to Ino, and then nodded appreciatively at Sakura. "Wouldn't be here today without her, though."

Ino could see Sakura smiling at that.

"We're here, Naruto." The team stopped in front of the Konoha Public Library. Ino frowned as she felt something off. Naruto smirked as he got the photon gun ready.

"Let's rock."

("AJT", once more)

"Excuse me, you can't bring that... Whatever it is in with you," the librarian at the front desk stated, looking over her glasses at the trio of humans and Slimer already in the middle of the library's first floor. Sakura ignored her, looking intently at her PKE meter, which left Naruto and Ino to try and negotiate with the unhappy clerk.

'Joy...' Naruto thought with a mental sigh, though outside he put on his most charming smile. "Sorry ma'am, he's our Nin... Ghost."

"Nin-Ghost?" She repeatedly incredulously.

Next to him, Ino nodded. "Yeah! Like a Nin-Dog, only a ghost."

"A ghost? That's preposterous, there's no such thing!" The librarian scoffed.

Slimer looked depressed. "Awww..."

"Oh, see, now you hurt his feelings," Naruto said disapprovingly, patting Slimer on the head. "There, there, Slimer, she didn't mean it."

"Ma'am, have you noticed anything unusual occurring here lately? Books flying, strange ooze on surfaces, moaning?" Sakura asked in a business-like tone. The librarian raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we've had a few people report seeing some kind of... Woman's spirit floating around. But that's nonsense. There's no such thing as ghosts." The librarian glared at Naruto especially. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, boy, but that is not a ghost."

"Sure he is!" Naruto replied, charming smile still in place.

It didn't seem to have any effect on the ancient librarian though.

'Must be passed menopause...'

"Well, if it's all right with you, we'll just be looking around for a bit," Naruto said easily.

The librarian bristled.

"No, you will not!"

Sakura adjusted the PKE meter a bit, and nodded. "Naruto, Ino, it's coming this way."

"Hm? Why?" Ino asked nervously. "I mean..."

Naruto and Sakura shared a look, and nodded.

"Probably because of Naruto," Sakura replied. "He's got a strong enough PKE signature that it attracts a lot of spectral entities simply by proximity."

"He does? How? Why?" Ino asked curiously. Naruto opened his mouth to explain, but somehow it turned into a warning shout on the way to his lips.

"LOOK OUT!" He yelled, tackling the surprised Ino to the floor. The librarian and other onlookers screamed as a terrifying, spectral woman with large gaping jaws and wild hair flew by, letting loose a horrible wail. Naruto hopped back up to his feet, all business, as a blushing Ino followed. The whiskered blond pulled the particle thrower from his proton pack and took aim.

"You know," he absently said, switching the pack on with a satisfying rumble, "We haven't had a fully successful test of this equipment yet."

"Well, no time like the present, correct?" Sakura asked- her own thrower out and proton pack humming. Ino gulped between the two best friends as the ghost woman continued to fly around, numerous people running and screaming for cover.

"Um, what's the worst that could happen?" Ino asked with a nervous giggle.

Sakura shrugged. "Well, we've ruled out nuclear explosion, sterility, and radiation sickness..."

Ino just kind of stared in disbelief, as Naruto shook his head with a smirk. "Sakura, how many times have I told you? If you're going to live on this planet, you need to learn the language. Relax Ino-chan, nothing bad Is going to happen. To us anyway. Ready?"

"Ready," Sakura confirmed, as the ghost spotted them and dove, screaming horrifically.

"THROW IT!"

("Silverdragon15", again)

Murphy's Law is usually something you shouldn't mess with. That's why most organizations, like the MiB, when dealing with technology not matching the current societies, took safety precautions when testing them.

For example, evacuating everyone and everything in a fifty meter radius.

It was rather unfortunate, that they tried out the photon thrower on a rather emotionally distraught and very unstable ghost, in the Konoha Library, where there are many things in there that were irreplaceable.

One can obviously see where this is going.

"Err...perhaps I should have carried the nine..." Sakura coughed, pulling herself out of the book shelf and the pile of fallen books from said shelf. The ghost had disappeared, but one glance at PKE meter showed that it was still in the general vicinity, just hiding.

"Oh, man..." Naruto groaned, blood running down his back. He had slammed into a glass cabinet, and then Ino slammed into him, causing some of the glass to dig deeper into his body.

"Naruto!" Ino shrieked, frantically getting off of him and pulling him out of the wreck. Naruto winced as he got up. It was times like these that he appreciated the demon's healing powers.

"Who the hell is that?" Naruto wondered aloud. "I've never seen any ghost be that angry! She must have one hell of an attachment to this library!"

"Either that, or she is trying to get rid of it." Sakura muttered darkly. "She's an Earthbound ghost, either way."

"Earthbound...?" Ino asked, trying to get over her shock. This was way too much!

"Earthbound ghosts are ghosts that have an attachment to certain locations or certain people. We've encountered a few, but we've never actually caught them. Convinced them to go to heaven or hell, or wherever they end up though." Sakura explained, her eyes scanning the room, trying to find any sign of the ghost.

"They don't really cause any problems, usually just annoyances." Naruto said, gripping his photon gun tightly. "There was a ghost at the Academy of the old principal that took us awhile to get rid of. He would be freaking out at every broken rule, and followed troubled students around. But that's another story..."

Ino watched the two Ghostbusters, their bodies tense and eyes alert, constantly moving, never stopping their sweep of the main floor. She wished she could help, but-

Suddenly, she felt it. The rise of cold energy, the feeling of anger and spite surrounding her. She whirled around and felt more than saw where the source was. "The basement!"

A large bookcase that had not fallen over suddenly flew at her. She couldn't move, the anger in the air was so thick it was choking her. All she saw a flash before everything went dark.

"That's it!" Naruto growled as he pushed the bookcase off his own body as he shielded the fainted Ino. "Sakura, I don't care what attachment that damn ghost has to this place, the moment it starts attacking my friends, it's dead." Sakura smirked.

Naruto was completely serious now.

"Alright, let's kick some ectoplasmic butt!" Sakura cheered.

Naruto sighed slightly mockingly. "Sakura, remember to use the right language."

(Back to "AJT")

"First issue is figuring out why our proton packs aren't working," Sakura said, sitting down on a smashed bookcase and placing her pack down on the surface. "Cover me."

"Got it. KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto shouted. A dozen more blonds appeared, two picking up the fainted Ino and carrying her behind the librarian's desk, which like the rest of the library was deserted. The original Naruto sat next to Sakura as his clones fanned out in a defense formation.

"Well?" Naruto asked.

Sakura sighed. "As you know, I've had to build a lot of the components to get these things working again from scratch."

"We've had to," Naruto pointed out.

Sakura sighed again in irritation.

"Okay, okay, relax! Continue," the blond soothed.

"My main problem has been a lack of stable enough materials to project the proton streams," Sakura went on. She shook her head. "Steel just doesn't cut it, even when using an electromagnetic shaping field."

"Well," Naruto said thoughtfully, "wouldn't it be possible to use chakra to shape the streams? What about those seals we copied off the You Know What Scroll?"

"Naruto, we're the only ones here except for the ghost and a passed-out Ino," Sakura pointed out.

"We're also in a village full of ninja," Naruto countered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, there is one seal... It's a jutsu designed to channel large amounts of voltage in a small space. But I haven't finished all the calculations for such a thing!"

"Can't you just base the calculations off the ones in Spengler's notes?" Naruto asked.

Sakura sighed. "I can try..."

"Look, worst case scenario we all die. Best case scenario, we trap the ghost and Ino agrees to become my girlfriend, thus completing phase one of my plan to get a harem."

Naruto really thought the hit to the head was uncalled for at that, but he couldn't help but grin at Sakura's blush. A few minutes of intensive number crunching and ink setting, Sakura held up her proton pack's thrower.

"If we die, I'm going to consume your ectoplasm and evolve into a class seven," Sakura threatened.

Naruto smirked. "Then I'll always be with you."

"Point," Sakura shuddered.

She aimed at one of the windows, the device humming with power. She fired... And to the relief of both ninja/Ghostbusters, a perfectly controlled stream of energized particles left the barrel, blasting apart the window but otherwise causing no damage.

"Sakura-chan, we are officially in business," Naruto grinned.

(Timeskip several minutes- After their 'first job' has been completed. Continued by "M2J"- I know… FINALLY, right?)

Four figures stood solemnly before the Hokage.

Well, that wasn't entirely accurate... Three stood there, the fourth rather floated.

The Sandaime sighed, trying to rub the migraine from his temples.

"And how do you plan to explain yourselves this time... Let alone justify the amount of the damage done to the Konoha Public Library..." the Sandaime shook his head and then looked directly at Sakura. "Haruno-chan..."

Sakura flinched. Usually it was Sakura or Sakura-chan, the only time the Hokage EVER called her by her surname was when he was particularly disappointed in her.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" she asked meekly.

"This sort of thing I could expect from Naruto-kun and Slimer-kun, Naruto-kun especially (HEY!), but I expect better from you and Yamanaka-san. You're supposed to curb their more mischievous impulses, not add to them."

"Ojii-san, that isn't really fair," argued Naruto, nearly sending Ino into a panic when he referred to the Hokage as "Old Man". "Poor Ino-chan's only crime was being too beautiful that I couldn't resist trying to get a date with her. She's innocent!"

Ino blushed at that. Sakura, however, was glowering at Naruto.

"And what about me!" she snapped.

"What about you," Naruto replied. "You were the one that kept dragging me away from Ino-chan. If not for you I wouldn't have crashed into Ino's dad's shop and she wouldn't have come to the Library with us!"

"Ah yes... That's another thing..." the Sandaime interjected. "The damages to the Yamanaka Residence and Flower Shop."

Naruto cursed as Sakura smacked him on the head.

(Continued by "AJT")

"I'm afraid all this is going to be very, very expensive," Sarutobi sighed.

"Well, what about the inventions we've been selling?" Naruto asked. "We've been getting decent revenue!" He grinned. "How expensive could it-Holy ramen!"

The scroll the Hokage had just held up revealed a rather... Substantial sum. Sakura gulped, Ino goggled, and Slimer, noting the distress of his friends, was also agitated.

"W-We can't pay that much!" Sakura protested. "Not without destroying our whole business!"

"We don't even have a business yet!" Naruto said.

Sarutobi nodded gravely. "Yes... It is a bad situation for your business... But, I may have an opportunity for you to resolve the issue."

"How?" Naruto asked.

"Well, relations between us and Sunagakure have been rather strained as of late. Only two weeks ago, our ambassador was murdered by the Kazekage's son," Sarutobi said.

"His son?" Sakura asked. Sarutobi nodded.

"He is a demon container."

Naruto's eyes widened, but managed to keep himself calm, as did Sakura. No doubt the Hokage noticed, but he only responded to Ino's question.

"Demon container?"

"Better known as Jinchuuriki," Sakura said. "They're actually in Tobin's Spirit Guide, Eastern Edition."

"A human life is sacrificed to bind a demonic entity to the soul of a human, usually a newborn infant. If the sealing is done correctly, then the human gets all the benefits of the demon's power but no bad side effects," Naruto said.

"Side effects?" Ino asked.

"Insanity, soul consumption by the demon, any number of horrible medical conditions that could result from having a Class VII or above entity sharing your body," Sakura replied mildly. Slimer shivered.

"So, I'm guessing the Kazekage's son is suffering from side effects of his prisoner?" Naruto asked. Sarutobi nodded. "And if we can help his son stop murdering people, we get our debts excused?"

"Aside from the flower shop," the Hokage said. Naruto grinned.

"Great! I'd prefer to work the debt off there personally," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Ino. The blonde blushed, but huffed.

"Remember... Dinner and working for free," she stated.

"I remember..."

KGB-KGB-KGB

That is the grand sum of the "Introductory Arc". This version of the "Intro Arc" is very raw and has only been polished up a bit. When we actually make this into an actual fic, the holes in the story will be patched up and you might even get to see more of the Original Ghostbusters in the very beginning. Further editing and polishing up the story to make everything fit even better than it already does is a given as well.

I'll polish up and post the "Suna Arc" in a day or so. The "Suna Arc", while much bigger than the "Intro Arc" is currently unfinished, but was written solely by myself and AJT. Silverdragon 15, ShadowHunter 2000, and dogbertcarroll have each given permission to AJT and I to use their parts as part of the Konoha Ghostbusters fanon. AJT has given me permission to post this in The Archive Rejects. Right now, this work is on hold, but both of us hope to revisit this storyline in the future.

Enjoy!