Mercenaries, Ninjas, Martial Artists, and Wizards
...when mixed...
Denko and Tsume sat up in their tent, at Denko was awake...Tsume had gotten as far as sitting up before passing out again and looked close to falling back into her sleeping bag. Looking at her normal morning face, bad bedhead included, he couldn't help but chuckle at the interesting new pattern her pillow had made which soon broke into a small laugh when gravity overcame her and she fell backwards. Slowly he got out his own bag and got dressed then threw open the flap and took a second to make sure it stayed open to allow the sun to hit the girl in the face. He always set up his tent to open towards the rising morning sun, something he started doing only a few years ago due to an unfortunate accident and the rising sun gave him reassurance until the sun set. Nights became easier soon after Tsume began staying with him... she may be his student but she was progressing quite well and that made him fairly proud. Though her father was rather insistant that they become more than 'best friends' they were both reluctant to try saying anything that would go along with his wishes.
Starting a small fire, granted he couldn't help but make sure it flared up a few feet into the air with a small roar thanks to a little bit of home made fire starter... that was about as good as gasoline. 'Hehe, the perks of being a pyro!' he thought to himself as he watched the flames burn down to a more manageable size and not threatening to burn the tent, again. Though it would get her out of bed pretty quick. Pushing the thoughts out of his mind and hoping her dad wasn't trying to look into his mind again, he started making a simple breakfast of ramen, tea, and meal bars.
Tsume soon got out bed through a combination of the sun in her eyes thanks to the tents door still open and the light breeze blowing the smell of the ramen into the tent. She had no qualms about getting dressed with Denko sitting close by with the tent door still open, he had seen plenty of her more than a few times though usually accidentally. And there was the fact that she really didn't wear all that much to begin with most of the time being just a short shirt that barely covered the top half of her soft round belly and hung loose around her shoulders showing a generous amount of cleavage and reached enough to have sleaves that extended to her wrists though there was a shirt of wire mesh that reached a little higher than the cloth did. She wore a short skirt that only reached halfway down her thighs, a pair of knee high black boots and a bit of wire mesh over her knees. All the cloth she wore, as little as it was, was dark blue and edged with dark purple.
She grabbed a cup of the noodles that Denko claimed were a gift of the gods and soon had her first cup drained of all contents and grabbed a second and ate this one a bit slower. Taking a look at Denko who wore a simple green t-shirt that was a size too big and green cargo shorts, a pair of white socks and grey sneakers. His kodachi was propped next to him and three empty cups stacked on his other side while he worked on his fourth.
"So when is this person supposed to meet us again?" Tsume asks.
"I told ya before, sometime today. No specific time." Denko says as he drained his last cup and started on his meal bar.
"That's no help." Tsume moans.
"Ask as stupid question get a stupid answer" Denko replies with a grin before washing his meal down with a few gulps of water. "We'll train to pass the time."
"Damn..."
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It was now morning in the Tendo house and Kasumi was busy in the kitchen, Nabiki was still in bed, Genma was snoring away, Soun was reading the morning paper, Ranma was in the dojo meditating, Akane was halfway through her usual morning run, and Hagrid was blowing dust off the porch with his own snores. Neither Ranma or Akane had gotten any sleep that night, though that may have had to do with what the giant of a man sleeping on the porch had said the day before: to teach at a school in England called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry complete with finishing their education that would be as good as a normal high school diploma.
It would be a huge move for them both, to move halfway around the world to another country, where they will know no one, learn the English language far better than they do now, and teach classes of students. The bonus was that they'd be paid a starting teachers salery, have a home within the school where food will also be provided, and they'd finish school. While the pros and cons worked out it was still the fact that they'd be going to a land of strange people, a strange culture, and a strange country away from their families. Then again they would get away from the insanity of Nerima, no more princes trying to steal one of them away for marriage, a possibility of not having random people claiming debts, engagements, or making challenges. No more of Kuno... all three of the nutjobs who should be locked away in an insane asylem. No more dealing with the Amazons using weird potions and enchanted items on them.
There was a knock on Akane's door just after the sun rose. As tired as she was from trying to decide what to do with Hagrid's offer, and dressed on her pajamas though without the usual comfort of sleep that normally came with them, she opened her door to find Ranma standing there with his hand raised about to knock again. He too had dark circles under his eyes, she walked back to her bed and sat on it and was slightly surprised that Ranma sat next to her, though she guessed that he may be so tired he wasn't thinking straight... as straight as he normally thought anyway.
"Akane... I-You know I really think much about school... but I know how important graduating is to you." Ranma says trying to keep from yawning, fighting a growing blush, and keep his pride in check at the same time, not an easy task for him.
"What are you saying Ranma?" Akane asks even though she had several ideas what he could be leading to.
"I-I'm saying" he swallows a lump in his throut, "If you want to go to this place... you wouldn't mind me coming with you?"
Akane stared at him for a few seconds for his words to finally click in her head, he wanted to be with her!
"I-I don't mind at all Ranma. Um, Thank you for asking."
"Really?"
"Yes Ranma, I was hoping you would want to go with me."
"That's good." he says quietly.
"I don't think I could go alone." Akane says with a smile, one that Ranma couldn't help but smile himself when he saw it, a second later now that their worries were now behind them and their exaustion catching up they fell back into the bed with the smiles still on their faces.
At Akane's door was Kasumi, while she dissaproved of her sisters habit of eavesdropping to collect blackmail and both her own father and Ranma's father habit of invading the privacy of the now sleeping couple, she was watching through the door that was cracked open and she heard everything they said. Now with a small pleasent smile on her face she left her little hiding place to run her own form of damage control to let her little sister and fiance have some peace for at least a short time.
...
"Tsunade-sama, how are we getting there in the first place?" the boy who had his hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail asks.
"Glad you noticed this Shikamaru. Thankfully when I spoke with the schools headmaster earlier he gave me this." She explains as she pulled a small coil of rope from under her desk. "Headmaster Dumbledore has told me that this is what he calls a Portkey, an item that will take anyone touching it and instantly transport them to a predetermined location, much like our Summoning Jutsu. Now this Portkey is set to transport you to a city where you will meet someone who will take you to where you'll be staying until school begins. I want you all to wait in the next room until 2:30, Shizune will make sure you're comfy until then."
"Lady Tsunade! But-!" Shizune started.
"Sorry Shizune but I need someone I can trust to make sure all of them will be ready on time." Tsunade smiles.
"Yes Lady Tsunade." Shizune sighs and herds the children out of the office. As soon as the door closed Tsunade leaned back in her chair while pulling a large bottle of sake and a cup from a hidden compartment in her desk and began to relax in one of the best ways she knew how.
In another room in the tower Shizune had dropped off her charges, began bringing them tea and onigiri. Meanwhile Shikamaru, who was designated as the team leader for this mission began his duties. "So how many of us actually know English?" he asks in his usual lazy voice.
Hinata, Neji, Sakura, Shikamaru, and surprisingly Shino raised their hands.
"WHAT!" nearly all the others yelled/said/thought.
"Hinata-sama studies other languages in order to prepare for when she finally takes over as clan head and I studied the language because it was available since Hinata let me borrow the books." Neji explains for himself and slightly blushing cousin.
"I thought that learning other languages would be helpful since I've been helping Tsunade-sama lately andEnglish just happened to be the first book I grabed from the library." Sakura gave her excuse, though she blushed at everyone looking at her with the same thought running through their heads 'bookworm' but Ino had actually vocalized it.
"My mom started yelling at me that if I wasn't going to go out train I should at least study something and an english book was the first thing I managed to catch when she started throwing things at me." Shikamaru explained with his eyes closed, as though he wished it was just a bad dream.
Shino... simply pointed at Shikamaru and everyone in the room took that as 'His answer is the same as mine'.
"Alright here's how it'll be; Neji will help teach Tenten and Lee, Sakura will teach Sasuke and Ino, Shino will teach Kiba, Hinata is with Naruto, and I'll be with Chouji." Shikamaru explains what they'll be doing. "No complaints Ino, we all know that you and Sakura are friends and I'm counting on that combined with your competitiveness with eachother for you to learn faster. Chouji always listens to me and I'll make sure he knows what he needs to. Shino is somehow capable of controling Kiba to a point, and Hinata has the the patients to work with Naruto and she's the only one he really listens to in any situation anyway since she's never so much as cracked a joke about him."
Everyone looked at their study partner(s) impressed with Shikamaru's logical thinking and planning, including Shizune who was standing in the corner watching over them. 'It really was a good thing to make him a chuunin. Maybe after this mission the rest of them will have grown and matured enough to be promoted as well.'
2:30 came before anyone had really noticed and they left for Tsunade's office. Upon entering they found her looking over some papers though there was a distinct red hugh to her cheeks, apparently she had been drinking again and everyone knew it.
"Alright everyone, make sure you take care of eachother and try not to get into trouble." She warns looking at Naruto and Kiba as she did so. "Now grab the rope and don't let go, you'll be leaving in a few minutes."
The twelve of them each held onto a part of the rope, even with it being six feet long the addition of their backpacks and one puppy made it rather crowded. The thought that ran through each of their heads was that if anyone walked into the office at that moment it would be very awkward. Tsunade took one last look at the clock and said "Goodbye!" and the next thing they knew it felt like something had hooked each of them by their navels and the world before their eyes blured.
Just as suddenly as it began they landed on solid ground covered in grass.
...
The Burrow was a flurry of activity dispite everything being spotless, not including the many pots and pans that had something cooking or simmering in them. The only daughter of the family was doing her best to help her mother in the kitchen while the men of the family were busy setting up tables and getting them set for dinner while also setting up a large tent over the tables. The twins were setting chairs at the tables but if one watched them close enough you could see them attaching something under each of them as well as in various places around the tent.
The family had begun getting ready for dinner shortly after their lunch, which they kept rather light knowing they were going to eat well with guests that evening. That didn't stop them from looking hungrily at the kitchen where heavenly were practicly pouring out the open window. Finally everything was ready and there was still a fair amount of daylight left in the day. All they had to do was wait for the guests to arrive, which according to their watches and not the clock in their living room which didn't tell time but rather it gave general updates on each of the family members, they should be here in three... two... one...
AN: Now we get to know what's in store for everyone. I hope you are enjoying this story so far and I'd like to hear some reviews or even possible ideas to make this even better.
