imple

DG32173

Sarah: okay … I hope people liked the prologue. I need people to tell me their true opinions. I don't want you trying to make them seem any better than you honestly think they are. Honesty is a wonderful trait to have in our world, but we don't have all that much.

DISCLAIMER: (mechanical voice) Sarah + Naruto anime, manga, or cast does not compute, does not compute, does not compute, does not compute, does not compute, does not comp … BAM! CRASH!

Sarah: eh, sorry about that, my auto disclaimer whatzit is on the fritz again. Gonna have to get that thing checked or something. YO, HANDYMAN PERSON! I'M NOT PAYING YOU EIGHTY BUCKS AN HOUR TO LAY AROUND WHEN MY STUFF IS BROKE!

Handyman: (voice coming from outside the room) I'm a coming, I'm a coming. The name's Rio, by the way! (uber cute guy that's hotter than Brad Pitt, Kenny Chesney, Tom Cruise, and all the other hotties you can thank ofcombined into one uber hot body appears at doorway) what? I was just chatting with Yusuke, Inuyasha, and Naruto.

Sarah: (pales) DON'T TALK TO THEM! I'll raise your pay by twenty bucks an hour if you don't ever, ever, ever, ever talk to them again! Plus, I'll throw in a bonus of your choice!

Rio: sure thing, sugar. (grins lecherously)

Sarah: (sighs) (talking very quietly to the reviewers) why do I always find a way to get into difficult positions? At least he's cute, right?

NOTE

(Authors note)

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Telepathy'

Scene change

POV change

Memory

Scene change in memory

DESCRIPTIONS

Kuroaki

Name: Kuroaki (Kuro "Black" Aki "Autumn" in Japanese; "Black Autumn") Sembia

Age: about 500

Height: human: 5'8" demon: 6'7" full demon: 37" at shoulder normal cat: 0'6" at shoulder

Eye color: all forms: forest green

Hair color: all forms: black with white streak from above left eye to tip, shoulders in full demon and normal cat form

Hair length: human: shoulders demon: waist full demon: two feet from body normal cat: about an inch and a half

Hair style: all forms: straight

Race: cat demon

Makani

Name: Makani ("wind" in Hawaiian) Songbird

Age: about 200

Height: human: 5'6" demon: 6'10" full demon: 6' phoenix with 45' wingspan normal phoenix: 2' phoenix with 15' wingspan

Eye color: all forms: silver

Hair color: human and demon forms only: fiery red

Hair style: human and demon forms only: straight

Hair length: human and demon forms only: waist

Race: fire and ice phoenix demon

GENERAL REVIEW REPLIES

What are the pairings? Naruto(Kyuubi)/Sakura(Misiria); Manabi/Sasuke; possibly more pairings

---

Chapter 1

Naruto meets Manabi: Fight!

"GEEZ! WHERE IS HE!" Naruto's loud voice is heard throughout the forested lands surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village. "He's ALWAYS late! AND HE'S THE ONE TO SET THE TIME!"

In case you haven't figured out yet, Kakashi Hatake, the Genin teacher of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, is very late … almost four hours late. Just as Naruto is about to start of on a verbal rampage about the Jounin, said Jounin makes his appearance, followed by another set of three Genin. "Ah, here you are," Kakashi says.

Naruto, not noticing the other three Genin, starts yelling. "Here we are! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOLD US TO MEET YOU H–," he starts when the only female of the other three Genin speaks up.

"So you're Naruto Uzumaki," she drawls. "I heard you were a loudmouth … but I haven't heard that you'd yell at those who are your elder, whether by age or ability," she continues when all three Genin from Naruto's group turn to her, including Naruto himself.

"You've … you've heard of him!" Sakura screeches at the silver haired girl.

"Hai, I have. Many members of my clan have heard of the first three Genin to actually be approved of by Kakashi-sensei. My name's Manabiriu, by the way. Silversong, Manabiriu. But you can call me Manabi," she says.

"Manabiriu?" Sakura says. "I think I heard that name somewhere before."

"You should have," Sasuke says. "Silversong, Manabiriu has been a shaman of a fox demon tribe for nearly five hundred millennia."

"Very good, pretty boy. You do your research. She is my namesake," Manabi says. 'Not to mention that I am her,' she adds silently.

"GEEZ, SHE'S OLD!" Naruto shouts.

Manabi starts seeing red and tackles him. "NEVER CALL A GIRL OLD!" she yells, punching Naruto in the head hard enough to make him fly into a tree fifteen meters away and leave a deep crack in the tree. She runs over and starts beating him up while he is too dazed to make a move.

Sakura sighs. "He's an idiot," she mutters.

"Come on, Makani, We better get Manabi before she kills him," the guy with short black hair that has a stripe of white going from the bangs over his left eye to the tips of his hair brushing against his shoulders. The red-headed, feminine-like guy smirks.

"Let's wait a few moments to see if he will fight back, then we stop her," he says, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree, his long fiery locks swaying in the breeze while his sharp silver eyes don't miss a single moment of what happens around him.

"Agh! Get off me, wench!" Naruto yells, kicking Manabi in the stomach, which succeeds in knocking her off of him and back a few feet. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he cries, making dozens of copies of himself to surround Manabi. "Ha! Can't take us all on, can you?" all the copies say in unison.

"That's what you think, twerp," Manabi says. "Water Dragon Jutsu!" she cries, making eight water dragons tear up the ground in a circle around her and destroy about half of the shadow clones.

"No way! That's a Forbidden Jutsu!" Sakura cries out, aghast.

"You'll find that Manabi excels in Forbidden Jutsu. She also enjoys working with jutsu involving animalistic elements," Makani says. "By the way, I'm Songbird, Makani and this is Sembia, Kuroaki," he says, nodding to Sakura and Sasuke.

"I'm Haruno, Sakura and this is Uchiha, Sasuke," Sakura greets.

Makani sighs when he sees Manabi's Water Dragons have surrounded the original Naruto and all the clones are gone. "Manabi! Cut it out! We gotta go sign in, you dumbass," he yells. "And we can't do that with you trying to kill every foolish Genin you come across that decides to get on your nerves!"

"Geez, Makani! Act like my mom, why don't you!" Manabi yells back, withdrawing her Water Dragons. "You lucked out this time, blondie," she snarls at Naruto before turning on her heel and leading Makani and Kuroaki out of the clearing and towards the building where the first Chunin test will be taken.

"She's freaky!" Naruto cries out, staring after the girl.

Kakashi sighs. "You really are as clueless as you act, Naruto," he says.

"Huh, what? What's that supposed to mean!" Naruto cries in anger.

"Gee, Naruto, didn't you notice how she nearly went berserk when you called Silversong, Manabiriu old?" Sakura says. "She is the human form of Silversong, Manabiriu!"

"WHAT!" Naruto cries, aghast. "I didn't think demons had a human form!"

"Her partners were also demons," Sasuke says. "And the legends surrounding Silversong, Manabiriu tell of her four separate forms she can change into at will. A human, a humanoid fox demon, a full fox demon, and a normal fox. They also tell that she has some relation to Kyuubi."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto cries. "You're saying she's like Kyuubi's sister or something!"

"Very good, blondie," comes the cool voice of Manabi. "I'm surprised that you actually figured that much out, seeing as my reckless brother's spirit resides within your soul. Or, perhaps, that is how you figured it out."

"MANABI!" comes the yelling voice of the redheaded Makani that was with her. "DAMN, WOMAN! YOU ARE CONSTANTLY TELEPORTING ON US! CAN'T YOU STAY STILL FOR ONE SECOND!" he complains loudly as he and Kuroaki run up.

"Teleporting!" Sakura gasps. "Very few can actually accomplish that without making some form of a deadly mistake!"

"Yes, even among demons," Kuroaki says. "So far, she and a human are the only ones we know of that can accomplish it and live to tell the experience. Thing is, we never can get her to talk about how she performs her Jutsus, or anything else for that matter. And we don't know who the human is that could accomplish it, so we can't ask them either."

"Che, you think I'd share my secrets with every idiot that'd ask? Then the world would probably be filled with fools who'd kill it, themselves, and all the other beings that exist," Manabi drawls.

"Hey, you think you could show us your demon form?" Naruto just about begs.

Manabi turns a dull look on the blond Genin. "And why, pray tell, should I do that very near a village of humans? You want them to know there are true demons in their midst or something?" she asks in agitation. She turns and starts to walk away. "See you rookies at the exams."

"Manabi," Sasuke says. She pauses, but doesn't turn around. "Why are you taking the exams, if you are a demon? You do not need them."

She doesn't speak for several moments while Makani and Kuroaki shift uncomfortably. "If you truly wish to know that, ask your Hokage. He will tell you what you need to know. Or even your own teacher can tell you some of the details," she says after a while, just when Sasuke begins to wonder if she will answer. "Now, I will be leaving. I don't expect that I'll be seeing you again until the first exam. Hope you three Genin study mathematics over the next few hours in preparation for it. That will be your only hint." With that, her form shimmers with her moving quickly out of the clearing. Makani and Kuroaki exchange a brief glance, then also shimmer away.

"Uh, I wonder if you upset her," Sakura murmurs to Sasuke, who shrugs. "Kakashi-sensei, what was she talking about, you knowing some of the details of whatever her reason is?" she asks, turning to Kakashi.

The white-haired Jounin sweatdrops as all three Genin look at him with varying levels of intrigue. "Manabi made a prophesy on the day that Kyuubi's spirit was locked within Naruto. That much I do know. What the prophesy was, that I do not know. Only the Hokage knows that," he says. "All I know of it is that I was involved. And her returning on the day of Naruto's Chunin exams."

"Geez, ain't I special?" Naruto grumbles sarcastically.

"We should find out the details from the Hokage," Sakura says. Sasuke nods in agreement, while Naruto says that he agrees. The three Genin run off for the Hokage's home, leaving Kakashi alone in the clearing. He decides he should make his way home to have a small lunch before the exams start.

---

Sarah: okay, that was nice. Next chapter, the Hokage tells Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke about Manabi's prophesy from the prologue; but leaving out a small detail about Kyuubi's mate. See you then.