Hi! Sorry it took me so long but my other stories hold a higher priority than this for the time being. At least you didn't wait a whole month right? Anyway you get a bit of action in this one so please enjoy.=^-^=

Ch. 5 - A Foul Confrontation

The three of them seemed to just stand around the otherworld portal contemplating exactly what it meant. Anyone could go through except Rin? Even though Rin was from there initially, and Kuro, but Kuro could go through fine as well. Kiba scratched his head. "Well I got nothing. It makes no sense to me."

"Like it does to me?" Naruto responded. They both turned to Rin who seemed to be thinking a little too hard. Kuro stared down at him from the top of his head in confusion.

"Rin?" He waved his paw in front of the boy's face but got no response.

Naruto waved his hand to mimic Kuro and Rin yelled in frustration. "Damn, this makes no sense!" He said as he rubbed his hands through his hair and making Kuro hang on for dear life. He then sighed and crossed his arms in a bit of exasperation. "I can already hear Yukio giving me an earful for being gone this long. Now I have a way back but it won't let me through."

"Maybe it doesn't like you, Rin."

Rin half ignored the comment before abruptly grabbing Kuro off of his head. "But it likes you!" He turned him around to face the door. "You can go through and get someone else to come to the door. Go get Yukio or Bon or anyone you can find alright?" Kuro cocked his head to the side before nodding. Rin beamed at his stroke of genius before setting Kuro down and he hurried off through the door.

Kiba crossed his arms and wore a confused look. "So, Rin…. How is Kuro going to bring anyone here if all he does is meow at them? Is anybody gonna be able to figure out what he's saying?"

Rin froze at the idea and turned back to him. "…..Probably not….." He scratched the side of his cheek. "It's better than nothing though right?"

"I guess one of us could have gone through." Naruto suggested which is quickly turned down by Rin.

"No, but thanks for the offer. First of all, the cram school building has a confusing layout and you might get lost and second you might run into one of Mephisto's traps. Yukio told me the only way through a trap is by using one of the keys or knowing exactly where to go."

He wore a semi-confident expression as he explained it and Kiba gave him an odd look. "Your school is booby trapped? That sounds pretty extreme for a temple…"

Rin cocked his head in confusion. "Temple? What are you talking about? True Cross Academy is a school not a temple. The Cram School is connected by a bunch of underground passages or something. Though there are a few temples nearby I guess."

"But you're an Exorcist in training right? Don't monks do that sort of thing?"

Rin shook his head. "Well yeah, but not just monks. The Knights of the True Cross is supposed to be a whole bunch of different kinds of people." He scratched the back of his head as he thought. "I don't know to be completely honest, I don't always listen when Yukio explains this stuff." He gave a sheepish laugh and a grin to match. Kiba gave him a rather dissatisfied grunt in return but didn't push the subject too much more.

Kuro was dashing down the silent hall while being sure to look into every open room he could. He kept his ears open for any faint talking which could guide him to his quarry. "Where is everyone?" He turned down another hall and continued searching. At some point it began to seem as though he was going in circles and he could barely remember where he came from. "Why is this place so big!?"

"Hey is that Kuro?"

"You mean Rin's familiar?" Kuro turned to see the source of the voices. He laid eyes on two boys. One was rather short and wore glasses and the other was much taller with pink hair.

"Yeah, wasn't he missing?"

"Rin's friends!" Kuro dashed for them almost madly and started to shout. "You gotta help Rin! Follow me! He can't come through!"

The smaller boy kneeled down. "It seems as though he's worried about something…. What do you think, Shima?"

Shima responded with a lack luster attitude. "You're the cat expert. If you're asking me, he just looks hungry."

Kuro jumped at the mention. "Oh yes! I want food!"

Shima folds his hands behind his head. "See he got all happy at the sound of food."

"I guess…." Konekomaru then unlatched his bag and pulled out a small wrapped container. "I still have a bit of my lunch left over if you want it." He untied the the cloth and lifted the top to reveal a piece of chicken and a small bit of rice."

Kuro beamed at the food as drool fell down from his lips. "Yummy!" He scarfed it down ravenously as the two boys watched.

"What are you guys doing?" Both boys turn to greet their friend.

"Hey, Bon. We were just feeding Rin's cat."

Koneko watched as the cat had already gotten down to the last bite. "He must've been starving too. I guess he didn't have anyone to feed him while Rin's been missing."

Kuro's ears perked as he swallowed his last bite. "Wait… RIN!"

Bon came over to see the cat who was now meowing wildly. "Guess he's still hungry."

"NO! You have to follow me to Rin!"

Bon simply joined his friends in watching the cat yowl in confusion. Bon then decided he'd had enough and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Come on guys, let's go. We're gonna be late if we stick around here too long." The other two boys quickly followed making Kuro just a bit mad about being ignored. He dashed in front of them, but when they simply walked past again he knew it was time for some desperate measures.

He jumped at the first ankle he could and bit down. "YEOCH!" Bon looked down at the familiar as it held its jaws in place. "Damn cat. What's your problem!?" Kuro let go and dashed off down the hall. He stopped and turned to look at the boys to see if they follow. A vein was visible on Bon's head as he watched the cat run off. "What the hell?"

"You think something might be up with him?" Konekomaru watched as Kuro spun in a circle and then looked back at them. "Either its baiting you or it wants you to follow it."

Bon crossed his arms. "I don't know, but that cat is definitely asking for it. I'm gonna go get it." He then turned to his two friends. "You guys let Mr. Okumura know why I'm gonna be late. If there is something wrong with the cat, that could mean he's dangerous. It could be because Rin isn't here." Bon then took off down the hall to Kuro's delight. The cat jumped up and then continued on, gradually leading Bon to the open portal.

Rin squatted by the door watching for Kuro's return. Kiba leaned towards the doorway and squinted. "Its been like…. 20 minutes right? You think he's actually coming back?"

Rin answered without turning around. "Yeah of course. Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know but do you really think it should take this long to find someone?"

Rin turned his head to the side as if to think. "Well…. I guess, but the cram school should be starting soon so he's bound to find someone."

"I just hope we're not here all day." Naruto said in a slight grumble.

"Hey! Naruto!" The orange clad ninja turned to see another young ninja in green, wearing his headband around his waist. His bowl-cut hair was a stark black color that matched his bushy eye-brows. He was ahead of his two companions as he rushed over to greet his friend.

"Hey, Bushy Brow, what's up?"

He stopped right next to Naruto with a happy grin. "We just got back from a mission. Guy Sensei is filing the report right now."

"Hey, Naruto." The girl who was behind the boy said. "And, Lee, how can you keep going like that? We practically ran all the way back to the village because of you."

Lee shook his head with his arms crossed. "Tenten, do you not remember what Guy Sensei is always telling us? The power of youth can move anything!" He said as a fire burned in his eyes. The girl sighed in response while shaking her head in defeat.

"What exactly are you and Kiba up to?" The third asked from the back. He turned a scrutinizing glance toward Kiba and the boy kneeling down next to him.

Kiba turned with a wave. "We're waiting for Rin's cat to come back….. that's this guy here." He said as he gestured to the boy staring intently into the doorway.

He tapped his shoulder and Rin snapped out of the space gaze and looked over to the new guests. "Huh? Oh hi, I'm Rin." He said as he stood up.

"Oh yeah, check this out, Bushy Brow." Naruto said as he pulled him over to the door way. "Rin just used his weird key to open this door. It leads to some place called True Cross."

Lee looked into the door in curiosity. "Hmmm? This is probably the weirdest hallway I've ever seen. Take a look Neji."The taller boy stepped forward past Rin, watching him with interest as he passed him.

"Isn't this a storage room?" Tenten asked as she approached as well.

"Yeah, but the key opens it to True Cross. I can use it to open the cram school in True Cross from any door." Rin explains as he turned back to the door with an expectant expression.

Neji was now standing by the door examining the key he talked about. "This key is behind it?" He asked.

"Yeah. You can take it out if you want. The doorway won't go back until the door closes."

Neji followed the suggestion and took to inspecting the key before looking over to the doorway again. After a moment the veins around his eyes started to become more defined and he could see movement. "I think someone is coming."

Rin's expression turned excited at the prospect and he leaned on the invisible wall that kept him out. "Kuro must have found someone." It didn't take long for Kuro to become visible in the long hall. "RIN! I found one of your friends!" Kuro shouted as he happily charged for his owner. "Good job, Kuro!" Less than a second after Rin yelled he could hear harsh and quick paced footsteps coming from behind the Cat Sidhe. "Hmmm?"

"Okumura!" Yelled Bon as he charged down the hall towards the half demon. Stress had built up in the teenager due to Rin's disappearance and now he could finally let it out. Rin's excitement quickly melted to slight panic as he saw the furious expression on his friend's face. The teen dashed past Kuro who had to stop out of surprise.

Rin backed away a bit and wore panicked, confused expression. "Suguro?" Before he could say anything else Bon had his head and slammed his skull into the half demon's forehead with all he could muster. When he let go, Rin stumbled back a bit into Naruto who was trying to catch him. "Whoa! Hey man, what was that for!?" Rin yelled as he regained his balance.

Bon was rubbing his head where there was now a red welt from his head-butt. "Figure it out genius. You've been missing for days!" His anger merged with confusion as he noticed more of his surroundings. "Exactly where are we?" He raised a brow at the unfamiliar company.

Before any more questions could be asked, however, Akamaru started to bark angrily. He bared his teeth in a growl at a trio of strangers that approached them. A woman was at the lead dressed as a priestess. "Rin! It's those weird humans who chased me!" Kuro shouted as he hopped atop Rin's head jamming an accusatory paw at the strangers. Rin looked up with a question. "Strange humans?"

Bon was glaring at them and was especially interested in the woman that was leading them. He leaned over to Rin and whispered. "Hey… I think they're exorcists."

Rin turned to him with a brow raised. "Why would you say that?... though they kinda look like they're from a temple."

Bon shook his head in a bit of exasperation. "Geez… Do you know anything or are you acting this way on purpose?" He then pointed towards the woman. "You see the woman? That plant in her hand, its used to dowse the location of demons."

Rin's eyes widened. "Wait really?"

"Just what are you two whispering about over there?" Neji asked with a wary tone. He was more than a bit suspicious of the two boys especially since one of them arrived in such an unusual manner.

"What's it to you?" Bon asked in his usual angry tone. He was usually sensible, but his stress level has been a bit high recently so it was easy to set him off at this point.

"Excuse me?" Neji responded in a smug tone.

The two of them shared a glare before Rin tried to break it up. "Come on, Bon, calm down." He said as he pulled the teen from his glaring match. "Look, I didn't leave on purpose, Suguro. I kinda… just ended up here."

Suguro narrowed his eyes at the half-assed explanation. "Are you kidding me, Okumura?"

"Well it's a bit more complicated than that you see we're-" He was cut off by another loud bark from Akamaru. Akamaru continued a low growl as he stepped forward now easily loud enough to call their attention once again.

"What's up, Akamaru?" Kiba asked his companion as he watched the exorcists draw ever near.

Naruto looked to Akamaru and then to the strangers. "You think it's those guys?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah….. I'm getting a bad vibe from'em too."

"I have to agree." Neji added in with a serious expression that's common for him.

They were only a few yards away when the woman stopped and turned to the older man. "I have located the demon, Master." She then turned back to the group and pointed to Rin. "There."

Rin was taken aback at the accusation and took a slight step back. "What the…"

The older man moved forward with an unforgiving glare. "I must ask that you children step back. There is a demon amongst you and we have come to slay it."

Kiba furrowed his brow and his expression seemed to match a few of his friend's. "What the heck? What are you going on about? There isn't any demon here." He then turned to Naruto. "I think these guys are weirder than Rin."

Suguro took a passing glance to see the nervous expression on Rin. "These guys look like they mean business, Okumura."

He nodded, gaining a bit of his composure back. "Yeah….. I think they're after Kuro though." He said as he didn't take his eyes off the trio.

"Kuro?" Suguro questioned.

"Yeah, Kuro told me earlier that he was chased by these guys before we finally met up again."

Suguro raised a brow as he turned back to Rin. "And they tracked him for how long? I mean Kuro's pretty fast, I can't imagine trying to catch him if he took off running you know?"

Rin nodded. "Yeah."

The older man then cleared his throat and repeated himself with more clarity. "I told you all to disperse! I do not wish to drag humans into our fight with the demon."

Lee stepped forward this time with a more calm composure. "Excuse me, but what demon are you talking about? I do not see one."

The old man shook his head and then pointed to Rin. "Don't let its innocent appearance fool you. There stands a demon and they won't hesitate to strike you down should you give them the chance."

Kuro then started to yell at the man which came out as a hiss to all but Rin. "No I won't! What do you know about me you weird human!" Rin looked up to his furry friend. "Calm down, Kuro. I know how you feel but don't let him bait you." Suguro seemed surprised by Rin's words. Rin has never been all too sensible in these situations….. usually he tried yelling first.

Naruto was next to step forward."What are you talking about? Rin isn't like that! How dare you talk that way about him!" His anger was obvious but not to the point where he would fly off the handle…. Not yet anyway.

The man scoffed at him. "I'm not referring to the boy, but the creature upon his head." At that Naruto seemed confused.

Kuro just became more agitated and was now standing on Rin's head with hairs of his back on end. "Leave me alone!" Rin grabbed Kuro from his head and tried to calm him down again. "Chill, Kuro."

Naruto turned to the cat, a movement mimicked by the rest of the group. "Kuro's a demon?" He asked in confusion.

Rin responded with a sheepish smile. "Yeah….. he's a cat…. A cat… hmmm?"

"He's a Cat Sidhe, numskull. You really should remember what kind of demon your familiar is." Suguro retorted with his typical annoyed expression.

"Yeah, what he said." Rin said as he pointed to Bon.

Lee leaned his head down to the irate cat with confusion. "But it looks like any old cat to me."

Suguro crossed his arms. "Cat Sidhe are demons who posses cats. If they live long enough they can even develop a split tail like Kuro's."

"Yes, a demon indeed." The old priest retorted. He then snapped his fingers. "Kaname, the purification salt!"

"Yes master!"

The older man then turned back to the group of teens. "I have given you all fair warning. I will be slaying that demon and I will not let you get in my way." The younger priest wearing a wooden mask stepped forward with a bowl of salt. He took up a handful causing Rin to step back. He actively dodged when the spray of salt fell on him.

He didn't get completely out of the way as both Rin and Kuro began rub at their eyes due to the salt. "My eyes!" Kuro complained. "Damn it!" Rin cursed as he kept one watery eye open while rubbing the other.

"That salt is rather ineffective…" Suguro deduced aloud as he watch both demons. "Purification salt should have caused instant burns."

"What are you, disappointed?" Rin asked in a slightly offended tone.

"I was just making an observation!" He yelled back before turning to the priest. "Back off! Kuro is a tame demon! He's Rin's familiar!"

The old priest seemed to almost laugh for a moment before regaining his serious composure. "Foolish drivel! No demon can be trusted! And what gives a child like him the right keep a demon anyway?" He asked with a smirk.

"Both he and I are Exwires that's why." Suguro responded with an irate tone. "Even an exorcist in training can keep a tame familiar."

The man gave him a glare. "Exorcists? You? With what affiliation if I could be so bold?" He asked with a pompous tone but a serious expression.

"We're with the Knights of True Cross."

The older man looked at the boy and then turned back to his companions with a smirk. He kept the smirk until he turned back. "And what temple is that? There is no True Cross here! We are Exorcist under the order of the feudal lord himself!"

Suguro was taken aback by the man's statement as was evident by the look of confusion he wore. He then turned to Rin. "Fuedel lord? What the hell is he going on about?"

Rin gave him a shrug with a sheepish expression. "It's what I was trying to say earlier. We're not exactly….. in Japan anymore." Suguro gave him a dead glare as he slowly absorbed what he said.

And now we have Suguro falling into the mix. He's unfortunately not all that well informed as he sticks his foot in his mouth with that one. Hope ya'll enjoyed my latest installment and I hope I stayed true to the characters. I'm not too experienced with writing them. Anyway if ya'll want chapters faster then ya'll gotta REVIEW, otherwise I'll just get around to it eventually... at some point. Thx for reading!=^-^=