Ninja Moon

What started as a way to escape boredom from one of my classes ended as one of my favorite stories to write. It was both risque and very cool in my mind. I didn't get everything perfectly right, but it's close enough that you, as the reader, get an idea of what's going on with what. More foreshadowing and hinting skills sucked in this story, and you get the feeling of that somewhere in chapter 2. I only hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. By the way, about halfway into chapter 6, I stopped by NarutoFever.com to check on character bios only to see that i was an idiot to experiment with characters I knew nothing about. So major oocness due to the authoress's inability to read characters based off fanart.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Naruto or Sailor Moon, save for a few fan merchandise and the soul of my boyfriend who, if he spiked his hair right, would look like Yonidaime or Kakashi. No beta, so pardon the errors.

Rated NC-17 for: gender-crossing, non-consentual touching/rape, minors involved in sexual activity, the abuse of the italics coding, language, dialogue, sex (eventually), the abuse of Sailor Moon fanism, nudity, blood, gore, nifty ninja powers, and of course the oocness of a popular perverse jounin.

Pairings: Kaka/Iru, Sasu/Naru, Lee/Gaara, Zabu/Haku, Saku/Hina, Ita/Sasu hinting.

Ninja Moon
"The scouts are dead..." A woman's vice said sadly. "Queen Serenity, forgive us...We have failed as the guardians of the family..."

"What do we do now?" A male voice asked, comforting a crying child.

A bright light appeared before the three, a pink fae within the glowing orb. "There is hope," the fae said, wings unfluttering as she hovered in the darkness. "The souls of the princesses and prince have moved to new generations. In one-hundred years, search out the scouts. Until then, protect the crystal from evil..." She began to fade. "I'm counting on you, Luna, Artemis, and Diana..."

Chapter 1: The Rebirth of a Hero through a Dream
Iruka entered the mission room in a sour disposition compared to his normal cheeriness. He scowled a bit, though one wouold find it hard to imagine the generally cute nin to scowl and look menacing at the same time, and he walked with the slightest of hunched backs. He sat next to Tsunade and resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk. After taking a somewhat refresting sip of his steaming green tea, Iruka sighed and began sifting through the paperwork before him, organizing assignments and such.

His obvious weariness didn't go unnoticed by the blonde Hokage next to him. Tsunade dared to touch him by placing a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "Iruka-sensei..." She addressed him semi-formally. "Are you alright?"

The male nin sighed, running a hand through his hair then quickly re-tying it back into its high ponytail form. When he spoke, it was in a low whisper only the woman heard. "I had a weird dream last night..." He told her. "It wasn't frightening or anything like that...Just...odd..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He glanced around then sighed again. "I open my eyes, and I'm in a garden at night. A castle as white as pearl is nearby and when I look above me, instead of seeing the moon, I see the Earth. I look at myself and see that I'm wearing a dress." Iruka paused here, expecting the woman to laugh, but when she didn't, he continued speaking. "Someone calls a name and I turn to see a figure in foreign regalia and armor, but I can't see their face because of the glow of the Earth, but I know it's a man." The man looked away from Tsunade, now too embarrased to look at her. "He takes me in his arms and whispers in my ear, 'I will find you and protect you, my princess.' And then..." A blush crept up his neck and hid the scar on the bridge of his nose. "And then he kisses me..."

Tsunade was silent for a moment, analyzing the dream from her perspective and from Iruka's. She looked thoughtful before nodding and smiling. "Go on," she told him, knowing there was more.

Confident that the worst had passed, Iruka sighed and said, "He lets go and is pulled away from me. I reach o ut for him, but he vanishes before my eyes in flames as people I've never seen before attack the castle, led by a beautiful woman with bright red hair. As I die, I feel myself float away like a bubble and a woman's voice tells me, 'When the time comes, you will again awaken to become a vessle of justice and clense evil. You will become guardian of the Silver Imperium Crystal and the leader of the protectors of the universe. Good luck to you, Princess of the Moon.' And that's when I wake up."

"Hn..." Tsunade returned to thought. "I don't know what that could mean...It reminds me of a legend I heard as a little girl, and even then it wasn't a popular legend."

A cat miaowed near Iruka's feet, and he bent down to pick it up. Cradling the black cat inhis arm, he pet it as he spoke to the Hokage, "What's the legend?"

Her eyes were on the cat, a gauze bandage wrapped around its head and covering its forehead. "Where did that cat come from?"

Iruka shrugged. "I saved her from a group of younger children. She's been following me since then. Why? Are cats not allowed in the mission room?"

"As long as you're sure she's house-trained and isn't an enemy nin."

The man and cat gave Tsunade the same look; a sarcastic stare that spoke volumes. "I'm pretty sure she's on friendly terms with Konoha," Iruka said. "Anyway, what's the legend?"

"I don't remember it all..." Tsunade answered with a sad sigh. "All I remember is it had to do with a moon goddess named Selenity and a prince of the Earth named Endymion..."

The cat gave Tsunade a look of awe and sadness, but made no sound as she remained laying in Iruka's lap. He frowned a bit at the cat and gave her ears a comforting scratch before returning to work. Tsunade smiled to herself, as if knowing the secret about the touch between dolphin and feline, both seeming at ease with each other's presence.

---

It was raining when the day ended, and Iruka was glad he had brought his umbrella both for his and the cat's sake. Ever since that morning, the cat refused to leave the man's side; watching him work from his lap or on his shoulder and following him everywhere he went. And now, half asleep, she rode on his shoulder under the dry umbrella.

Iruka lifted a hand to pet her. He got into the habit of doing that when he was in thought or bothered by something. No one bothered him on his way home and the village was peaceful for once in a rare while, which meant Naruto was either sick or out on a mission with Kakashi and the rest of Team Seven. He assumed the former because Kakashi always went to Iruka for missions and no one else.

"The rain is making me want to be lazy..." Iruka told no one in particular. The black cat on his shoulder yawned in agreement. He smiled and entered the apartment, turning on the light. "This is my home," he told the cat, stepping out of shoes and into house-slippers. "Explore it if you must, but I do want to check your head for injuries."

Without reply, the cat leapt from his shoulders and padded off to indeed explore the apartment. Iruka smiled and shook his head, feeling the need to retrieve a second mug of green tea for himself, plus a saucer of milk and a can of tuna for his guest. No sooner had he sat down on the couch, goodies on the table, did the black cat jump onto the couch beside him. She sat with her back to him.

"Alright..." He touched the bandages and felt the cat wince. "This may hurt, and if it does, I'm sorry." Slowly, he unraveled the layered white gauze, rerolling it as he did for another use since no blood or soil darkened the fabric. Odd, Iruka thought when he realized the cat was injured in no way at all. It's as if the gauze were covering something instead of healing a wound. His eyes went wide when the cat turned to face him.

In the center of the cat's forehead, between and above her eyes was a golden raised mark in the shape of a crescent moon with the opening pointing up. It was neither a scar nor a bruise, and almost resembled a jewel embedded in the cat's skull.

Finally Iruka found his voice, bewildered eyes staring into the ruby depths of the cat's. "You're not a normal cat...are you?" He was praying on the inside it wasn't an enemy ninja as Tsunade had warned. Deep down, Iruka was a cat-person and having to kill one made him cry on the inside.

The cat sat normally in front of him now. "As you have guessed, no, I'm not a normal cat," she said. The setting sun gave her eyes a fiery orange hue as the golden orb was hidden behind the darkened rainclouds. "My name is Luna. I am one of the three guardians of the Royal Family of the Moon Kingdom and advisor to Queen Serenity and her daughter, the princess. I have come to Earth in serach of the princess and her loyal bodyguards before the Negaverse finds them and the Silver Imperium Crystal."

Iruka ran a hand through his hair, but let it remain down this time. This felt like a dream, but he didn't voice the opinion. Instead, he sipped his tea and said, "Silver Imperium Crystal...That's what the voice mentioned in my dream..."

Luna nodded. "It's a jewel of great power. Worlds could be destroyed if it fell into the wrong hands." She bowed her head in sadness."When the princess died, the jewel vanished. It will only be found again when the time is right and it's true powers will be revealed as hers are." The cat looked up at him. "I believe, through evidence of your dream, that you are the reincarnation of one of the Moon Kingdom's protectors and princesses, a Sailor Scout."

"This isn't right," Iruka protested as he stood and paced, shaking his head. "I'm a chuunin-level ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a teacher, and a secretary...I'm not a guardian of the Moon or a princess. I am Umino Iruka..."

"Aren't you curious at all to learn who your prince is?"

This stopped Iruka and a distant look was in his deep eyes. He didn't answer Luna's question as a strong sense of danger struck his soul. Without a word to Luna, the teacher raced to put on his shoes and took the open window out the room. The cat grumbled to herself as she ran after him.

"Iruka, where are you going?" She called as he left from roof to roof. "Iruka!" Her cries were drowned in the wind as he sped ahead of her. Luna sighed to herself as he vanished in the distance. "If he truely is the next one...the Negaverse will push even harder if the others are like him..."

"Luna..." The cat jumped at the sound of her name spoken and spun around to face a tall person in shadows. "Where is the princess?"

---

Iruka stopped running two miles within the forest outside of Konoha. He was neither out of breath nor tired, but the sense of danger was here. The ninja looked around, searching for the source of the drawing feeling that had brought him there. A wind whispered in his ear, and a hand went to the pouch of kunai on his belt. The waxing half-moon peered through a clearing sky and lit the area. Iruka found a set of shadows to hide in before the moonlight could touch him.

Then the silence of the night was broken by the "splish-sploosh!" footsteps of a creature of mud and sludge. Iruka became a bush, watching from the hidden sanctuary of leaves and branches. Three humanoid forms made of mud and dirt followed a blonde man into the clearing. The blonde man glared at the creatures, who took the forms of generic ninja with empty eyes. He pulled a black crystal from a pocket. It glowed an odd purple and floated off his hand an inch into the air.

A wicked voice with venom in it spoke from within the crystal, "What do you have to report, Jedite?"

The blonde man answered with a frustrated growl, "There's no sign of anyone yet. Miqueen, I don't believe this 'chakra lure' will work. I honestly don't think anyone can sense energy the way-"

He was cut off by her harsh words. "Enough!" Jedite winced, and the woman continued speaking through the crystal, "The new generation will be more powerful than the last if my predictions are correct. And if the exhiled one is speaking the truth, the princess will be here soon."

Iruka's brow furrowed in thought. "Exhiled one"? Why doese that bother me? Luna joined his side, and he gestured for her to remain silent. There was an odd, gold disk in her mouth.

The crystal in Jedite's hand began flashing white. "Miqueen, it's near."

"Find it!" The voice commanded it. "Find it and apprehend it at all costs! Tear that pathetic village to pieces if you have to!"

A sinister grin formed on the blonde man's face as he pocketed the crystal. "You heard our Queen!" He told the minions. "Go!" Like the ninjas they were disguised as, the mud minions were gone in a gust of wind.

Iruka knew they'd be found eventually and gestured for Luna to hand over the godlen item. She set it in his hand, and a tingle of familiarity crept through his arm, his body, and dripped into his soul. The feeling lasted for a moment, but Iruka knew he'd remember the feeling even long after this adventure would end. Stowing away the compact, Iruka whispered to Luna, "If anything should happen to me, go to the Hokage and tell her about the threat. Konoha must be protected."

With a nod, Luna scampered away and Iruka leapt for a new hiding spot as a mud minion neared the bush they were in. The jump came too lage and the mud minion followed after Iruka, whistling for its companions. The teacher leapt from tree to tree and felt his opponents surround him. A plan formulated in his mind quickly. Before he could land on another branch, a heavy net fell onto Iruka and forced him to the ground several feet below. Though uninjured, any untrained eye would have believed he broke an arm.

Jedite sneered down at the struggling Iruka, convicned the limp right arm to be broken. The chuunin sat on the ground in defeat, glaring up at Jedite. "Ah..." The blonde purred. "I know you...You're the one the exhiled one spoke of. Beautiful scarred face and heart worn on the sleeves as a living contradiction to being a ninja. Umino Iruka..."

That must mean... "You're talking about Mizuki as the 'exhiled one'," Iruka said.

"Aren't you clever?" Jedite smirked. "He warned us that if you were encountered to not underestimate you, but it seems he meant overestimate...But no matter..." The dark grin reappeared as he knelt so he was level with Iruka's glaring eyes. "We have plans for you...Your former comrade misses you dearly and, since you're not the one we're looking for, I'm sure miqueen wouldn't mind the presence of a prisoner."

Iruka spat in hte man's face. "And you can give that message to Mizuki as well," the teacher snarled. "I will be no one's prisoner."

Jedite growled and began to bark an order, but before a word could be spoken, Iruka's right hand met his left in a flurry of movement, then he was gone in a puff of smoke. A mud minion started to turn to its left, but Iruka's form fell onto it with a deadly intent, then again leapt away when it had collapsed to the ground under him; a kunai was embedded in each vital point.

All of this happened in a mere blink.

When Jedite realized what had happened, he let out a chilling roar of laughter. "Fool!" The blonde called out to the forest around that Iruka was hiding in. "No ordinary method of killing can destroy a creature of the Negaverse!" As he spoke, the mud minion stood and reformed itself, Iruka's kunai falling uselessly to the ground.

The teacher bowed his head form where he watched from behind a tree several yards away. "Great Third Hokage..." He whispered in a prayer. "What do I do now?"

"You must destroy the creatures of darkness with the pure holy powers of the Moon Princess," a voice spoke behind Iruka. The ninja spun around quickly to see a man cloaked in an outfit of pure darkness, cape blowingn in the wind, top-hat hiding his hair, and the top half of his face masked. Iruka blushed at the beauty of the masaked man and the mystery around him that made him more desireable.

But a feeling tugged Iruka's heart. "You..." He took a step closer to the masked man. "You're...the prince from my dream..."

The masked man stood before Iruka and placed his hands on Iruka's shoulders. Oh, how the teacher wanted to be in those arms, but he knew he couldn't. Not now. "We can converse later," Tuxedo Mask told him. "Now, you must use the powers of the Lunar Compact to transform into the champion of love and justice."

"Lunar Compact?" Iruka pulled the gold disk from his pouch. "You mean this?"

Hands clasped Iruka's and eyes met masked white. "The words to summon its power will come to you. I'll aide you in battle when you need me." A quick kiss that spoke stories upon stories of love and hope was stolen on Iruka's lips. Then the man vanished almost as quickly as he had appeared.

Iruka turned his attention to the compact in his hand. He kenw he'd have to act quickly or face the mud minions again. The man opened the compact. On the top half was a silver mirror that shown with newness, and embedded in the bottom half, surrounded by ornate designs, was a small crystal that shown with its own light. He touched it, and it was warm.

I must do this now...If not for myself, then for Konoha...

He raised the compact over his head, closed his eyes, and cried out to the heavens, "Moon Cosmic Make-Over!"