Ramen Doodles

By Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: I do not and probably never will own Naruto or any other copyrighted works mentioned in this story. I am not writing this for profit.

Author's Note: When I have writer's block, I often write a lot of random snippets of ideas, omakes, and continuations of other author's ideas that kind of petered out. As I'm afflicted with a bit of writer's block regarding Key Through the Heart (again), I've decided I'm not going to leave you guys in the lurch. Therefore, enjoy some writing I've been doing over at The Fanfiction Forum.

For this chapter, it involves the first of many snippets regarding a Ghostbusters/Naruto crossover concept I wrote a few years ago, wherein due to something big going down, the Ghostbusters' Firehouse was transported several hundred years into the future, but several hundred years before the time of Naruto. The containment system went off and flooded the Elemental Continent with PKE, which was the genesis of chakra and the various demons that populate the Naruto world. Naruto and Sakura stumbled across the firehouse when they were younger, buried underneath Konoha, and thanks to Slimer's help they decide to become ninjas and Ghostbusters. This idea also launched my love of Sakura as a mad scientist, which shows up again in the Alt-Canon Naruto storyline. Enjoy.

Kakashi looked up from his reading at the garden Team 7 was supposed to be weeding. He could spot Sasuke at work, alongside a number of Naruto clones, but as for the original and Sakura...

Ah, Sasuke had noticed this too. The Uchiha glared across the vegetable rows at his teammates. Sakura had a calculator and note pad out while talking with Naruto in low voices. He noted (with some disdain) that their 'pet' ghost Slimer was floating nearby.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Sasuke demanded. He sure as hell wasn't doing this crappy mission all by himself. He wouldn't do it in the first place if he didn't have to. And anything involving that little green demon made him... Anxious.

Sakura looked up, smiling a bit uneasily, while Naruto just glared. Slimer stared with them.

"Bastard, we're busy!"

"Naruto!" Sakura growled, and Naruto sighed.

"But c'mon... This is important, and I've already got my clones working with him!"

"I know, but still..."

"I might ask you two the same thing," Kakashi spoke flatly from his tree. "This IS an assigned mission, you know... And do you have to bring your pet along?"

"Hey, Slimer's very useful!" Naruto defended. Slimer made noises of agreement.

"Well, if you really want to know, we're having trouble with our business," Sakura admitted. Sasuke snorted and went back to weeding, while Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.

"Hm?"

"I don't get it! I sent out the flyers everywhere, Old Man Hokage said he posted the flyers up in the mission room!" Naruto groaned. "Why is no one calling?"

"Well Naruto, you have to admit. There aren't that many people likely to call a pair of genin for help against... What does you business do again?" Kakashi asked. Sakura sighed.

"Paranormal investigation, and elimination," she recited dutifully.

"Why are you pursuing something like that outside of your ninja duties though?" Kakashi asked. "You can't commit to both equally."

"Well, we need money to pay rent... And feed Slimer," Naruto explained. "Plus, well... It's interesting! Besides, ghosts are just as big a threat to Konoha as ninjas, and as Hokage I'll defend it from both, dattebayo!" Naruto vowed. Sakura shrugged and smiled over at Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, it is very interesting. We're studying how chakra works, how other forces work. It might lead to some breakthroughs!"

"Unless we go bankrupt... Which we might," Naruto sighed. Sakura and Slimer sighed as well. Kakashi shook his head. Like most other ninja in Konoha, he was familiar with Sakura and Naruto's antics involving ghosts and strange inventions. He'd personally seen their first test drive of a strange white-colored vehicle they'd accidentally crashed into his favorite porn shop.

He'd gotten several free copies of Icha Icha Paradise out of it, for which he woudl forever be grateful to them for, but still. All of their activities had been mysterious, bizarre. Why they were so obsessed with such things while still striving to become ninjas was rather mystifying. You were supposed to become a ninja, then become crazy.

The silence was interrupted by a beeped tune. Sakura pulled a small phone from her pouch and pressed it to her ear. Naruto and Slimer both leaned in close to listen.

"Hello, Ghostbusters? ... Yes... You saw our ad? Good! Okay, what do you...? Oh! Oh... That's great! I mean, it's great you called us first. Okay, just give me the address... Thank you... Oh, don't worry! We'll be completely discrete... Thank you again!" She clicked it off and grinned.

"WOO HOO! WE GOT ONE!"

"ALL RIGHT! Let's go!" Naruto cheered. Kakashi cleared his throat, and raised his eyebrow. The two genin and their ghost looked back. Naruto groaned and held out his hands, begging.

"C'mon Kakashi-sensei, we finally got a job!"

"You still have a job to do here," Kakashi indicated. Sasuke smirked slightly at Naruto's annoyed look.

"Well, according to Konoha law, anyone can request a mission of a ninjas," Sakura spoke quickly. "Provided they can pay. Couldn't we pay you two to help us?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. That was rather clever, and definitely showed how... Involved they were. Still...

"Well, what's the mission?"

"Apparently a casino in a village a few miles away from Konoha is having trouble with what seems to be a focused, non-repeating free roaming vapor," Sakura replied. At Sasuke's scowl and Kakashi's silence, Naruto broke in.

"Something like Slimer here. Eating gambling chips and so forth."

"Well, normally jounin can't take missions directly given to them," Kakashi spoke. "They have to go through the mission office."

Sakura turned to Slimer and quickly whispered a few things to him. The little green ghost nodded and babbled happily, before flying off at high speed. A few minutes later, he reappeared, trumpeting happily as he carried a C-Rank mission scroll with him. He dropped it in Kakashi's hand before zooming over to Sakura eagerly.

"Great job Slimer! Here you go," Sakura compliment, tossing Slimer a piece of candy. The ghost gulped it down and grinned. Kakashi read the slime-covered scroll with some distaste, before nodding.

"Well, this look legit. Besides, it shouldn't be too difficult. This isn't a combat mission after all, and you two do know what you're doing, correct?"

Naruto and Sakura nodded. Sasuke scowled.

"Then it's settled. Let's go," Kakashi said, hopping out of the tree.

"YES!"

"ALL RIGHT!"

"Kakashi-sensei, do we really have to...?" Sasuke began. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes Sasuke, we do. Besides, a little extra cash never hurt anyone." He turned to Naruto and Sakura.

"So, what do we do first?"

More to come, so please be patient. And yes, if you'd like to use any of these snippets as prompts for your own stories, just PM me to ask and I'll give you permission, as well as advice if you want it.