Yessh so, I'm going with the fact that Naruto Shippuden finally has a lax Naruto (honestly, the kid was like ADHD to the MAXXXX in the beginning) if you think he's OOC or anything. And sorry, english isn't my first language, sorry if there's like really bad grammar mistakes or anything of the sort.

"What the hell was that?!" HoroHoro shouted.

It got real quiet, and somewhere, a cricket chirped. Chocolove tried to mimic it, and then Ren poked him with his Kwan Do in the nose. The African American squawked, before gripping his wounded nose and crowing at the other shaman.

Ren turned to look at him. "The idiot is right—(HoroHoro gave an indignant shout at that)—what was that?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, inwardly cringing because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to reveal anything. It couldn't hurt though, and it wasn't like these guys had chakra coils anyways. "Uhm, where I come from, we use this life energy called chakra."

"Chakra?" Yoh echoed. "Like…inner energy and stuff like that?"

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded. "Kinda like how you guys have furyoku. But so, while channeling our chakra into the area around us, we can manipulate elements, and we call'em Jutsu. The Katon Jutsu I used was those fireballs I used. And the other one was a special technique that only I can do called the Rasengan."

"Ah…but…" Yoh pondered with a frown. "What did you do with your hands?"

"Oh! You mean hand seals. That's how we channel the chakra."

"Just because you can use flashy moves doesn't mean you can travel with us." Anna stated coldly, folding her arms.

"But Anna-sama! You saw what he did to those girls!" Ryu protested.

Ren scowled, but agreed. "He is formidable."

Naruto grinned cheekily.

Anna stared at him, frowned, and then said that if he was going to be useless, she was going to kick him out. Apparently, she was the self appointed leader, and Naruto had no intention to mess around with her. Seriously, she had to be related to Tsunade, in more ways than one. Everyone seemed to be scared of her, even laid back Yoh, who was smacked for his insolence.

So, Naruto had to run about and set up camp, which, really was, just a lounge chair for Anna, and a fire, so he didn't complain. Ren had to help him with the fire, looking at him like he was stupid when he asked how to use the steel and flint. But Naruto really wanted to ask them why they even used that, when they could just use a Katon jutsu? Then he remembered they didn't have those.

As he prodded the fire in interest, still in awe how these people fought with spirits. Honestly, spirits.

"Chouji Senji Ryakketsu." Anna said in a soft but cold tone.

"Ah…" Yoh and his friends stared at the beaten book in wonder, supposedly reading this would give them powers like they could not have foreseen.

"Uh, how is a ratty old book like that supposed to do anything?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Anna smacked him, before he could get out of the way.

"Ouch!" He grumbled.

"However," Anna began again. "There's no guarantee that after you see what's inside this, you will be the same again. You may not be in the same mental condition you are now after you read this."

"Like we'll follow Hao?" Ren clarified.

Anna nodded solemnly. "You might. We have no way of knowing what you'll be thinking when you see this, and what you'll do when you get out. Do you still want to do this?"

They all nodded their consent.

Anna whipped out her beads, and Manta whispered to him that it was the powerful one-hundred and sixty beads. He asked Manta what that meant, because he didn't understand what was so interesting about a large necklace with white beads, or what was significant with the number one-hundred sixty. But Manta could only shrug, but he was able to tell Naruto that Anna was an Itako, a kind of shaman. There were apparently a lot of different kinds of Shamans. They had talked about a weird woman who lived inside an Iron Maiden. Now that was weird.

The beads stuck in the air in an odd looking shape, and suddenly, the shape they made glowed inside, and it began to look like a portal.

With one last glance, the boys jumped in.

"What's that?" Naruto whispered.

Anna looked at him slowly. "That is the Chouji Senji Ryakketsu."

So the old ratty book was a portal to somewhere? Maybe it was like the way the Yondaime used three-pronged kunai to transport to different places. What an interesting concept. Before he could ask what exactly the Chouji Senji Ryakketsu was, or what it did, or how it did it, the mood had turned somber. Nothing was said, the only noise was from the portal that sometimes rippled and made odd noises. Naruto wanted to go in there, but he had a feeling only shamans could go inside.

Tamao, the girl with light pink hair, fidgeted a bit, sitting on a rock that was conveniently placed in the ravine.

Anna only stared silently into the abyss of the portal, the translucent and opaque texture let nothing be seen from the outside, or the inside. Manta paced relentlessly, back and force with a frown of anxiety etched into his forehead. Jun, Ren's extremely hot older sister was conversing quietly with her body guard person, whose name was unknown to Naruto at this point. Tamao had explained—with a stutter and blush that matched Hinata's, maybe he just had that affect on people?—that the man was of the undead or something, and the Tao family could actually resurrect their bodies and control them.

The man didn't look like he was being controlled, so something must have happened. Manta groaned, fidgeted and then started pacing again. Apparently, they were worried that Yoh and his friends would lose their mind to this 'Hao' person's ideals. Naruto personally thought they were too strong willed for that, and from the way Anna calmly folded her arms, she thought the same.

"I can't take this!" Manta groaned.

He stalked off, and Naruto sent a worried glance at Anna-designated group leader-but she didn't make a move to go after him.

Deciding that since Manta wasn't going to be able to protect himself if those weird girls came back (he wasn't a shaman, and he didn't have chakra) Naruto went after him.

"What's wrong, Manta-san?" He asked carefully, making sure to be polite like Sakura had taught him.

Manta, sat down, shrugging. "I just feel like…I feel like I can't do anything for Yoh-kun."

"Because you're not a shaman?" Naruto asked carefully. The smaller blond nodded. "Well, I'm sure Yoh-san appreciates that you worry about him, and that you're his friend."

"I know." Manta smiled weakly. "But with people like Hao out there…

"Who is Hao?" Naruto asked incredulously, he had been meaning to ask that.

Manta wringed his hands nervously. "I'm not entirely sure either, he's an Onmyouji though."

"What's that?"

"Someone who has mastered all five elements." Manta answered wisely. "And he can reincarnate, so he's pretty much defied death."

Naruto shriveled his nose, thinking of Orochimaru. "Huh. Is that why you guys don't like him?"

"Oh no! We don't like him because he wants to annihilate all humans." Manta added.

"Why would he want to do that?" Why wouldn't he just take over the world? Like the Akatsuki's goal?

"I don't really know."

"As usual, humans do not understand anything."

Manta looked up sharply, as did Naruto. Huh, the blond shinobi hadn't even realized his presence was there. The boy smiled at them condescendingly, and Naruto could tell that he was strong, if the way he body stance was so casual it didn't seem like he thought they posed a threat to him at all was anything to go by.

"H-Hao!" Manta sputtered, looking back the way they came quickly. They were too far, even with the echoes, Anna wouldn't be able to hear them.

So that's Hao.

Naruto eyed him warily, not giving away anything that mean tension in his body stance. The boy was smiling at them, a bit of a smirk actually, with a tan colored cape that swung around his entire upper body, and maroon colored pants with the oddest shoes he had ever seen. Manta looked nervous and frightened at the same time, already up and half turned to run back, but he must have realized already that they were much too far for running away.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked him bluntly. The other boy blinked at him, and Manta nearly gaped.

"Humans do not understand shamans." He said simply. "Shamans and humans simply cannot coexist."

"But Yoh-kun is my friend!" Manta said sharply. "We can get along!"

"But can you?" The boy—Hao—fired back. "Do you really understand Yoh at all?"

Naruto was so confused. Wasn't everyone here human? What else would they be, aliens? Somewhere along the lines of the argument Manta and Hao were having Naruto had noticed that Hao called himself a Shaman, not a Human. Naruto decided that a Shaman was someone who could communicate with Ghosts and use an Oversoul thing. And that humans were people who couldn't see ghosts or could only see them, and couldn't use an Oversoul. So Naruto figured he fell into the human category, except he could manipulate elements, so maybe he should just call himself a shinobi.

—do you really?"

Naruto blinked out of his thoughts.

"I do understand Yoh-kun!" Manta was saying. "We're friends!"

"You may see spirits, but you can't imagine what its like to actually be a shaman." Hao explained. "Humans and Shamans are different."

"Uh, question!" Naruto said bluntly as usual, and both of them looked. "What's the difference between a human and a shaman?"

"Shamans can communicate with nature." Hao told him patiently. "Humans could never have the same deep connection as Shamans do. They can only appreciate nature."

Naruto blinked. "Why's that a bad thing?"

"Humans are destroying the world with their pollution and dim minds. The perfect harmony would be a world of only shamans."

Oh. So that was what they meant by he wanted to destroy humans.

"Well, I think that's stupid." Once again, Naruto's mouth and bluntness got the better of him. "Why not just figure out your goal…without killing innocent people? Its not their fault that they can't see spirits and stuff."

Okay…that was a bit hypocritical. Naruto had killed people for stupider reasons then harming the environment. But from the way Yoh and his friends talked about killing, and that sort of thing, it didn't seem like they were entirely happy with killing people, opting to save people and save lives. Of course, Naruto didn't want to tell him that his job as a ninja was exactly that, to kill people. But it seemed this world had different morals and understandings than his world did. This world was pure, where killing was bad and frowned upon. Back in Konoha, killing was everyday life.

Hao looked like he was about to reply, when he stopped, eyes moving to somewhere down the winding ravine. "They're back."

Naruto blinked. He hadn't noticed until now.

"I'd like to see your potential again, Naruto-kun." Hao smiled pleasantly. "I was surprised when the Hanagumi said you got in their way."

"Hana—what?"

But, before he could receive any sort of answer, Hao had already disappeared, using that same technique that those girls had used. Assuming that those girls worked for Hao—which he was pretty sure someone had said that—and that these girls were the Hanagumi.

"So that's Hao?" Naruto asked no one in particular, but Manta found himself nodding anyways.

"Naruto-san come on! Let's see if Yoh-kun's okay!"

"Oh, good idea." Naruto nodded.

So they ran back over to where Anna and the rest of the people were, and where Yoh and the other boys would be returning. Naturally, Manta's run was the equal of a very slow jog half walk for Naruto, but he humored the boy anyways, it wasn't like he wasn't curious to see what had happened to Yoh or anything. But, he did wish that these boys would get to that village or whatever sooner. Although with people like that girl in an iron casket, and Hao—whom he just met—it was no real question why Yoh and his friends were taking so long to get there.

"Hey Manta?" Naruto asked, as he realized that at the rate they were going it was going to take a while until they got back.

"Yeah?" The boy panted. He really didn't have much stamina.

"Do you always meet up with this Hao person like that?"

Manta made a face. "Well…He wants something with Yoh-kun. I'm not sure, but I think Hao wants Yoh to join him."

"With annihilating humans?" Naruto questioned. Manta nodded. "I honestly don't think Yoh-san would do that."

"I don't either." Manta agreed. "But Hao is always monitoring his progress. He even wanted Anna to give Yoh the Chouji Senji Ryakketsu so that he would get stronger!"

"Sounds like someone who wants strong shin—err, shamans on his side." Naruto corrected himself quickly. Before he said ninja, and he gave Manta a clue.

Manta looked at him strangely, before brushing it off. "Yeah. You know any people like that where you come from?"

Naruto grimly remembered Orochimaru and his oversized tongue, and grimaced. "Yeah."

"Actually, that attack you did, was that one of the things your people can do?"

Naruto grinned. "Which one?"

"Both I guess." Manta shrugged.

"Well, like I said, Katon is something most people know how to do." Naruto explained, remembering to slow down to Manta's pace before he sped up. "And the Rasengan was made by my village's leader. It's a powerful move that's meant to be a small hurricane in your hand."

"It sounds powerful." Manta shivered.

"It is." Naruto nodded.

Manta looked as if he was going to say something, before he stopped himself. "Yoh-kun!"

It seemed that Yoh and his friends returned safely, Naruto couldn't see his face from here—or anyone else's for that matter—but it didn't seem that they were attacking or anything. In fact, it didn't look like they were doing anything at all. From their body language and stances, it was hard to tell anything. Manta sprinted forward, and Naruto didn't bother to speed up his pace from the slow one they had been jogging at (at least he was jogging, it seemed Manta was running).

"Yoh-kun!"

If he had heard him, Yoh made no movement.

Naruto was about to shout—and it looked like Anna was going to do the same—for Manta to stop. Just as a precaution, because they didn't know if Yoh, HoroHoro, Ren, Faust, or Ryu had been affected yet. However, a light flashed from somewhere on the cliffs above them. Bright and nearly blinding, there were a group of people dressed solely in white, odd looking and confining clothing (Naruto wondered why these people dressed like this, everyone here actually. It wasn't for comfort, not for flexibility, or fashion.) with a large X patterned on them.

The leader of the small group, pushed up his glasses.

Naruto didn't catch what they were saying in the least, something about new defiled powers and evil and some other things he wasn't paying attention to. What he was paying attention to were the odd looking weapons—it reminded him of snow country. They pointed them at Yoh and his friends, and Naruto wondered if he should step in.

The blond moved his gun forward, unlocking the safety. "Michael."

Michael or Micheal is Marco's wierd angel thingy right? Well even if it isnt, thats what I'm going with. Review? Yes? :3