I want to start out by apologizing for the long wait. It really wasn't intentional, but well, things happen. I had part A and then part C but then I couldn't figure out part B to connect them. Most of the time I would get stuck and end up working on another fic. I know its no excuse but I hope it helps you not hate me. I have no plans to stop writing this fic and every intention of finishing it. I also want to thank those who reviewed even though they knew this fic hadn't been updated in several moths. It was these reviewers that eventually pushed me to finish this chapter. Thank You.=^-^=

Ch. 7 - Before the Hokage

"Ah! What an interesting turn of events!" Mephisto beamed with intrigue from behind his desk. "To think another world would become entangled in our affairs so easily!"

Yukio gave him a pointed look. "What do you mean?"

Shura looked pissed as usual as she leaned over the desk. "You knew about this from the start didn't you!?"

Mephisto looked offended as he faked a wounded expression. "Ah, miss Shura, surely you don't think me so low? I can assure you I had no prior knowledge of these events." The smile on his face gave little assurance but the two of them knew better than to try.

Yukio sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "So how exactly do we get him back here? Neither of them have a key."

Mephisto gave a nod. "Quite true, but who says they need to open the door? Surely if it works one way it can work the other, no?"

Shura clicked her tongue in response. "Well if it's so easy, why don't you go do it now? The longer we wait, the more likely it is for this crap to leak out to the Vatican."

The demon wagged his finger. "Patience, Ms. Shura. I have yet to devise a way for this. I must make preparations." His expression seemed to be pleading but at the same time cunning.

Shura could sense the underlying tone in his voice and rolled her eyes. "Sure whatever." She then got up. "Well, when you're done with your 'preparations' let me know." Her sarcastic tone only seemed to amuse Mephisto while it proved to only annoy Yukio.

"But what about Rin?" Yukio asked as he leaned forward. "I tried to pull him through the door but he wouldn't budge." He reached up to his chin in thought. "It was like there was an invisible wall there but only Rin could touch it."

Mephisto raised a curious brow. "Well well, could it be that our little Exwire was summoned?"

Shura stopped at the door at that. "Summoned?" She then turned an irritated eye towards him. "What do you mean summoned?! How the hell can he get summoned?!"

Yukio gave a nod of agreement. "It doesn't make sense since he's only half demon. Besides, doesn't a demon have to come of their own will? Rin had no idea what happened."

Mephisto shrugged in response. "True true, but once summoned, a demon cannot leave until an agreement is made or the summoner is dead. This could be why he couldn't leave that world." He then leaned forward and knitted his fingers together. "And just because a half demon has never been summoned before, that doesn't mean it's not possible, especially if he was specifically asked for. It could be he agreed without really knowing what was going on. Contracts can be quite ambiguous at times especially when the demon has no prior experience."

Shura simply crossed her arms and closed her eyes, irritation still plain on her face. "So he screwed up and got himself stuck there….tch! That idiot!" She then turned and stomped through the doorway. Yukio gave another sigh as he watched her leave, already exhausted by the situation.

"Considering the situation, they should both be taken to Lady Hokage." Neji advised Naruto as he crossed his arms. "Especially considering one of them entered illegally into the village." He continued while turning his gaze towards Suguro.

"I have to agree." Kiba concurred with a nod. "And then you could tell them about those priests. They just didn't smell right to me." Akamaru agreed with a bark as he faced his partner.

Naruto scratched at the side of his face. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Tenten placed her hands behind her head. "Well you can go do that. I'm going to finally take a break at home." She then turned on her heel and walked casually away. "See ya."

"Oh right, and I have to go meet up with Shino." Kiba said in realization. "I was actually on my way to see him before all this started." He waved as he turned, followed by Akamaru. "Good luck man." He then hurried off to try and make his meeting.

"Let's go then." Neji directed as he started off towards their new destination. "We shouldn't waste any more time." Lee followed close behind subordinately.

Naruto shrugged and followed. "Come on, Rin."

"Oh… okay." He complied with little hesitance, but Suguro seemed more than unhappy with the plan.

"Wait…. That's it? That's the plan? You gotta be kidding me!"

"You got a better idea?" Rin said as he turned his head to his fellow Exwire.

Bon was hard pressed for a response. "I….. tch… no." He finally let out with frustration.

"Then let's go, man."

Suguro hurried after them though he wasn't particularly happy about it. "Damn it….. This bites."

"Yeah but you get used to it." Rin responded with an almost care free attitude. "This place is pretty cool."

Suguro seemed to calm down a bit as he watched his passing surroundings. "Pretty weird if you ask me." It seemed rather peaceful and the people seemed content in their surroundings. Bon's idea of a ninja village was certainly destroyed by this picture for sure. He hustled to catch up to Neji for more clarification. "Alright so this is a ninja village and we're in The Land of Fire, right?" Neji gave a curt nod in response. "Okay, and it seems you guys have a feudal lord….. which means this place is run on a feudal system. Do any of the surrounding countries run on this system?"

The question surprised Neji a bit as he raised a brow. "Of course they do. The five great nations all have a feudal lord and so do most of the smaller nations."

Suguro raised a hand to his chin as he thought about it. "Talk about a throw back." He muttered to himself. "Okay so back to this village. You said we're going to meet someone you called The Lady Hokage? She's in charge of the village?"

"Yes." Neji answered in a concise manner.

"The title of Hokage is given to the strongest ninja in the village." Lee added in while pointing to the mountain images. "There you can see all of the previous Hokage."

Suguro looked at it in intrigue as he counted. "Five…. So she must be the fifth. Kinda reminds of that Mt. Rushmore place in America."

"Mt. What?" Naruto asked as he gave him a confused expression.

"Oh… nothing." He then turned to face forward again as he compiled his information. "Okay so Feudal Lord then Hokage… then ninja. Hmmm?" He surprised himself with his acceptance. "I must be losing it…." He mumbled and then turned back to talk to Rin. Unfortunately when he did, he found Rin had disappeared. "Rin?" He stopped and the others quickly followed. "Hey…. Anyone know where Rin went.?" He heard a meow from below and looked to see Kuro facing to the right. "Kuro…?" The cat seemed to paw at the air in an attempt to point.

Suguro followed in the direction the paw was pointing and sure enough he found Rin. He was a little ways away holding several bags in his hands. Suguro's stress seemed to resurface as he walked over to him. "Hey, Okumura! What do you think you're doing!?"

He was about ten feet away before his path was cut off by an elderly woman. "Over here, boy." Rin immediately complied as she pointed over to a cart. "Just set them down in here."

"Alright."

In no time all five bags were neatly placed in the cart and the older woman bowed. "Thank you, young man. You're a big help to these old bones." She gave a laugh as she turned her head and reached into her purse. "I'd like you to have this for helping me." She pulled out a small bag. "It's not much but its tasty."

Rin took the small bag with a bashful expression. "Oh it's no problem really." The woman then turned and started to push the cart away and that's when Rin finally noticed Suguro wearing a slightly angry expression. "Oh hey, Bon."

"What do you mean hey? Come on already!" Rin hurried over with the bag in his hand. Suguro turned to rejoin the ninja guides with his easily distracted friend. "You were the one telling me to follow them, and then I turn around and find you gone."

Rin gave a whine in his defense. "Hey, I was just being nice. That old lady looked like she could use a hand." Suguro rolled his eyes, but didn't complain further. He already knew that was the kind of person Rin was; he would help someone regardless of the consequences to himself.

They arrived at main office of the Hokage not long after. Guided through the halls by their new friends, the two Exwires took to looking around the halls. "I kinda thought this place would be bigger or something." Rin commented in slight disappointment.

Suguro shrugged. "Everything looks small after seeing the inside of the Japan Branch."

"Hey, Naruto. Neji. Lee." They heard from ahead of them. A young girl with pink hair carrying some paper approached them.

"Hey, Sakura." Naruto said with a wave.

"You two just got back from a mission right?" Sakura inquired. "I just saw Guy Sensei a few minutes ago."

"Why yes we did and what a splendid mission it was." Lee responded with his typical youthful vigor.

"Do you know if Lady Hokage is available right now?" Neji asked as he moved the conversation away from Lee's enthusiasm.

Sakura raised a finger to her chin as she thought. "As far as I know, she's just doing paper work right now…. Or at least she's supposed to be. She's expecting someone a bit later though."

"Good, we need to speak with her immediately." He then waved the others to follow as he approached the door to the Hokage's office. Sakura watched them pass and then finally noticed the two strange boys with them. She gave a curious look to Rin especially as she recalled hearing about him. She then turned and continued down the hall. Neji knocked on the door a couple times before hearing permission to enter.

Once he opened the door he heard the thump of a stamp several times and in quick succession. "Hurry up, Shizune! I have too much to get out of the way!" As Neji and the others began to enter they saw Shizune placing down documents as fast as she could while Tsunade stamped them with a look of determination. She was just about finished when the last bit of the documents slipped from Shizune's hands and fell over the desk. "Oh!" Though agitated by the clumsiness, Tsunade quickly gathered them up.

"Excuse me." Neji started as he tried to get the woman's attention.

"Hold on!" She responded as she stamped each paper as fast as she could. Once she had them done she lined them up in a neat pile before handing them off to Shizune. "Finally." She wiped her forehead with her wrist. She then gave a sigh of relief as she turned her attention to her guests. "Yes, Neji, what is it?"

He gestured towards the Exwires. "We had a bit of a problem earlier with some Exorcists in the village."

She instantly knew what he was talking about as she gave a nod. "Oh them."

Shizune pulled out a file and handed it to Tsunade. "Here's the report on them."

She took it and flipped it open on her desk. "Those three have already gone from the village. We already had our suspicions about them. I have an affiliate of the Gonyo temple on their way here. We sent for them as soon as we heard the rumors in the area nearby."

Suguro seemed surprised as he whispered to Rin. "How'd she already know what happened? It wasn't even 30 minutes ago and we came right here."

Rin gave him an 'are you serious' expression as he responded. "They're ninjas, duh." Suguro gave him an exasperated expression as he turned his way.

"So you were all there during the confrontation?" Tsunade inquired already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, those jerks totally picked a fight." Naruto proclaimed as he gave a side glance to Rin.

"Yes, they seemed rather adamant about getting rid of Kuro here." Neji added in as he gestured to the Cat Sidhe sitting on Rin's head. "Even though before they arrived, he showed no signs of aggression at all. They were also suspicious when I mentioned bringing the matter to your attention."

Lee nodded in agreement. "It did seem strange since they claimed to have permission directly from the Feudal Lord. Speaking with the Hokage about the matter shouldn't have been a problem."

"I see." Tsunade responded. "And you must be Rin Okumura."

Rin was surprised when she addressed him by name. "Huh?" He pointed to himself for clarification.

"Yes you."

"Whoa…. You already know my name?" Suguro shook his head at the ridiculous answer since Rin himself had given him one not long ago.

"Of course. You were signed in at the gate when you first arrived and have since been under surveillance." Tsunade rested her chin on her hands as she leaned over her desk. "So far we've been unable to trace your origins past your meeting with the older couple you arrived with whom stated you were found on the side of the road."

Rin gave a nod. "Yeah….. I don't know how that happened." He scratched at the side his face with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"We were able to garner more information from another." Neji gestured towards Suguro. "And Rin's friend here who entered through a strange passage in the market district. Rin seemed to open this passage with a special key. The key was taken by the third entrant who is no longer here due to the door being closed."

"That was Mr. Okumura." Suguro spoke up.

"Yes well, he was the one to initially explain a place known as True Cross Academy though I found his explanation severely lacking." Neji didn't seem to hide the fact that the teen had rubbed him the wrong way but he kept calm none the less.

"Sorry about that, he's not usually like that honest." Rin defended with an apologetic expression. "He was just stressed out."

"I'll say." Suguro added in. "You could cut the tension in class with a knife."

Naruto raised a hand to his chin. "Wait a minute…. Rin and that guy have the same last name don't they?"

Bon gave him a confused expression. "Well yeah, they're brothers."

That threw both Naruto and Lee through a loop. "No way! They're so different."

Suguro gave a nod. "Tell me about it." He then grabbed Rin's shoulder and pulled him over. "And wouldn't you know it that this guy is the older one."

Rin grew a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out, genius." Bon chided as he crossed his arms.

"Regardless, according Suguro here it's a school for training Exorcists."

"Exorcists?" Both Shizune and Tsunade question in unison.

"Yeah, Trues Cross Academy is actually just a high end school, but the cram school which is a part of it, is school for Exorcists in training. Both me and Rin are students there. True Cross is run by the Knights of the True Cross which is dedicated to protecting the people from demons." He saw the inquiring expressions of the two ladies and was about to continue when he was interrupted by a knock on the office door.

It cracked open and another ninja with messy brown hair leaned in. "The man from Gonyo Temple has arrived."

Tsunade gave a nod. "Good. Go ahead and send him in." The man complied and closed the door back. "This is good timing. We can have the opinion of our own specialist." Rin and Suguro traded glances just before the door opened again.

This time a tall blonde and relatively young man entered. He wore a white and orange-red robe found commonly on shamans or exorcists in old Japan. The pants were tucked into his leggings while his sleeves were pinned back as to not hinder his movement. His long blonde hair was unfettered as it rested well past his shoulders. The most noticeable thing about him, however, was not his appearance, but what appeared to be on him. Atop his left shoulder sat a kind of black dragon like creature. It was perched comfortably as it gazed about the room and it's flaming tale twitched slightly at every movement. "Greeting's, Lady Hokage." He started with a shallow bow of his head.

"That's a Salamander isn't it?" Suguro inquired, subsequently interrupting the man's introduction.

He turned to the boy with a raised brow. "Why yes he is." He lifted his hand to pat the demon on his head and it affectionately rubbed back. "His name is Dazzle, and makes very good company." He then crossed his arms and wore a curious expression. "I'm surprised though, at how a young man like you would know what he is." He then noticed the strange cat on Rin's head and raised a hand to his chin. "Though maybe I should be wondering more about that Cat Sidhe on that young man's head."

Okay, so not a lot of action I know. I was trying to give Suguro some adjustment while at the same time drawing it towards the meeting with the man at the end of this chapter. Of course after something like that happened in the village, the most sensible thing to do would be going to the Hokage. I depicted Neji being the one to do it because of how responsible he is. I also wrote him with a formal and somewhat smug demeanor because that's how he always sounded. It isn't supposed to insult him at all okay? (I like Neji.) Also, writing him is hard for me so I'm sorry if he's OOC. Aside from that I think I kept things together.

A little something on the Salamander right quick: In the Blue Exorcist series, not much is said about them aside from the fact they are kin of Iblis and possess lizards. I plan to add my own creative liberties as I go while trying to keep it relatively close to what has already been said about them.

I'm once again, sorry for the wait. I will try my utmost to update by the end of the month at the latest. As always reveries and responses are welcome. Feel free to ask questions or give me your theories too cause they are fun to read.=^-^=