Paying off a Debt

AN: Yes, yes, this is not War. I promised it like 10 months ago and it's still not up. I know. I'll be posting it this month. It's finished, and I have solid work on chapter 2 done.

Just enjoy the crossover.

Xxx

"Leaving right away again, Emiya?"

Emiya Shirou looked over at his friend Ryudo Issei apologetically.

"Sorry, Issei. I have work today and if I don't leave right away I'm going to be late for my shift." Shirou slung his bag of his shoulder. "I can take a look at that equipment for you tomorrow morning, before school."

"Hmm, I guess that works." Issei agreed. It was a little inconvenient and the clubs needing repairs would probably complain a bit, but it was much easier on the budget if Shirou could do some of his patented 'magic' repairs than buying something new.

"Thanks."

"Really, it should be me thanking you." Issei walked his friend to the door and watched as Shirou switched his shoes. "Though if you don't mind me asking, why do you still work at that job? It's rather far away and I doubt that you have a particular interest in that field."

"What makes you say that?" Shirou finished tying his shoes as he looked curiously at Issei.

"As proud of your cooking as you are, I somehow doubt you are the type of person to work in a street stall, Shirou." Issei gave him a dry look.

Shirou nodded in agreement. "You're probably right. It's a real hassle. I don't mind the work all that much, but the commute is way too long and my boss is a pain."

"Yes, I recall you complaining about the prank he pulled." Issei frowned at that. It was a rather childish story and he did not exactly approve of an adult pulling such antics.

"Yeah, he's a riot." Shirou sighed, but he turned and gave Issei a small smile. "But I owe him, a lot. So I don't really mind working for him."

Xxx

Shirou watched the countryside fly by through the train window. His job was several stops away, basically in another city nearby and he would need to a bus after the train and then walk a bit before getting to work. It was a commute that took nearly an hour.

So it gave him a lot of time to think or in this case to remember.

Flashback

It had been a simple trip. Kiritsugu had gone to visit a doctor in another city after Shirou had badgered him about his poor health for the thousandth time. Rather than leave an unsupervised child alone, Kiristugu had opted to bring Shirou along for this trip. It was rather local and since he was able to take legal channels, he found no reason to leave his son alone.

While Kiritsugu was getting his check up at some seedy looking clinic in the back alley of nowhere, Shirou was giving some cash to spend and told to explore. Shirou had pocketed the cash and left the clinic to hit the streets with a vague warning to avoid any of the other back alleys. Making sure to keep note of where he was going, Shirou just kind of walked aimlessly around the city.

He didn't see anything that was particularly interesting and so he just let his feet take him wherever they wanted.

It was probably his aimless course that lead him to that place.

His ears picked up the sounds of a struggle and Shirou's mind quickly latched onto that. He vaguely noticed an odd smell that bothered him, but pushed it aside as he followed the voice which had turned into voices.

"See. I told you. All it took was a little demonic power and timing."

The voices were just around the corner. Shirou slide over to the edge of the wall and peeked over to see what was going on.

"Keep it down, would ya. I don't want ya jinxing us now that we hit a score."

Shirou had to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape his throat. There standing in the middle of the alleyway were monsters. Two huge ogre like creatures accompanied what looked like a Kappa hovering over a girl.

"Geez, it's been forever since I tasted genuine human flesh. That cultivated crap just isn't the same." The blue ogre had to wipe his arm against his lips to clean off the drool.

"Stop right there!" Shirou didn't need to hear anymore. These were monsters and they were going to eat that girl.

The monsters all turned to face him before the two ogres twisted their faces towards the kappa.

"I thought ya said that we'd be secure."

"Oi, it is secure. You hear anyone else in the alleyway." The kappa raises his hands up to defend his skills. "The brat probably one of those whatjacallsit?"

"Psychics?" The red ogre tries.

"Eh, something like that."

Shirou felt rather indignant that the monsters were ignoring him, the ally of justice here to save the girl, and decided that if they were going to leave an opening, than it was alright for him to strike. So he launched a flying side kick right into the blue ogre's chest like Taiga had taught him.

"Ow." Sadly, the ogre was built like a rock and Shirou merely bounced off him doing more damage to his own foot than the ogre.

"Well whatever. It looks like we hit a buy one get one free deal." The blue ogre grinned viciously as he grabbed Shirou's face with one of his bulky hands.

Shirou struggled against the grip latched around his mouth. The hand cutting off his airflow felt like iron as she pried, hit and struggled against it. His vision started to swim as his chest seared with pain as it demanded oxygen. Desperate for release, Shirou sunk his teeth into one of the fingers and was rewarded with the hand releasing him.

"Gah, you stupid brat." Shirou frantic gasps of air were cut short by a vicious kick that sent him tumbling into a trio of trash cans. His vision exploded into stars and his chest burned with pain with every breath. But that didn't matter. He was free to move again. He pushed himself back to his feet and charged the closest monster, tackling him and slugging him in the face.

"Ow! You br-ow!" Shirou didn't stop punching him. If one hit was not enough, he'd just have to keep hitting him. "Gah, that hurts you piece of- Gah, screw it!"

Shirou felt a sharp sting in the back of his neck, but ignored it and landed another punch into the monster's face. He was feeling rather triumphant that nothing had happened when he noticed that he was no longer throwing punches. In fact, his arm was not moving at all. In fact, he had fallen down and his body wouldn't get up.

"Stupid brat. That stuff is poison. It starts by paralyzing the body and then eats away at the insides. Oh but don't worry, it's a slow process." The bug man sneered with malicious glee.

"You idiot. We could have eaten him too."

Shirou tried to push himself up, but his arms barely had the strength to move let alone lift him up.

"Geh, he's still eatable."

"I ain't touching anything with ya poison in it you insect."

"Gehehehehe, fine, more for me."

Shirou groaned, not because of the pain in his body, no the slow burning sensation was nothing compared to his training, but because from where the monster had dumped him, he could see the two ogres laughing at him. He could see them pick up the girl and he could see them prepared to eat the girl.

Damnit. I couldn't save her.

That thought flew through his mind and hurt him more than any poison or wound could.

All he could do is watch.

Shirou's vision began to blur as the poison continued to weaken his body. The monsters were no longer grotesque but simple blurs of color. The only thing he could identity about the girl was the bright ribbon decorating her hair.

"Da…mn…it…" He couldn't even scream for help.

Emiya Shirou wanted to cry. Not because he was about to die, but because someone else was about to die right in front of him and there was nothing he could do. So he cursed his weakness and preyed once more for a miracle like the one that saved his life. For an ally of justice to appear.

Ask and you shall receive.

"Oi, what the hell do you three think you're doing?" A new voice entered the conversation. It was a rough voice, sounding annoyed rather than horrified at the sight of two children about to be eaten by monsters.

"What the hell? Another one?"

"Geez, you ain't getting jack for this job, ya idjit."

"Aw give it a break, wills ya. I'll just poison this one too."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." The entire alley lit up. A fierce blue light that, for a moment, scattered the shadows away through sheer force. The entire alley shook as the light roared and when Shirou's eyes could see again, one of the blurs that was a monster was gone.

"Wha….what?"

"Oh god, oh god, oh god!"

Shirou watched the two blurs drop the girl before running. They quickly faded out of his sight.

"Aw man, Kurama's gonna bitch about those guys getting away. You can't just let dangerous demons run amok." The man's voice shifted as he seemed to imitate someone else. Shirou tried to squint to see what the man looked like, but all he could see was the white of something hanging off his front. "Maybe I can say I was checking on the kids. Yeah, that'll work."

"Well, this one's alright." The man seemed to check on the other girl before heading over to Shirou. "And this one is… aw man… you look like shit."

Shirou felt his body lift up as the man grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him up. Rather than carry him in his arms or position him in piggyback, the man threw him so that he was hanging over his shoulder, still hanging from his collar.

"Shit, Kurama's gonna give me so much shit if I let you die, so don't even think about it, got it kid." Shirou wanted to protest, but he could feel his consciousness start to fade as the poison continued to ravage his body. "Damnit, I should have had the old bag teach me about healing when I had the chance. Well, if it's a demons poison, Kurama'll probably know what to do."

As Shirou hung off the man's shoulder, two things passed through his mind. The first was that he had been saved once again. That he had called for an ally of justice and one had appeared. Wielding that glowing blue light that crushed the monsters, he had saved the both of them.

The last thought, just a passing observation, was that the man smelled of ramen.

Xxx

Shirou was extra careful when he pushed aside the curtains leading into the restaurant. His boss' mood was rather mercurial. He was as likely to find him actually cooking, to eating their stock, to lazing around, or even pulling some ridiculous prank that Shirou would have to clean up and apologize to their customers about. Luckily, the customers had grown accustom to the antics and usually waved them off.

Well, maybe that was because half the time the customers were the cause of the antics or involved in them. That did not even get into some of their regulars. The times they came were not antics, but life threatening events.

Today, Shirou walked into work, only to receive a sandal to the face.

"You're late."

Shirou winced at the tone. It was a mixture of boredom and annoyance that could spell disaster if he wa not careful.

"Sorry, I missed the first bus and had to wait for the next one."

"Che." Shirou paused in anticipation. Depending on the response, he would either have to get to work or roll out of the way and run. "Whatever, just get to work."

Shirou let out a breath in relief. It looked like he was in the clear.

As he was changing into his work uniform, he heard an odd noise. Pausing, Shirou leaned his head a bit closer.

It was giggling. Not just any giggling, but a rather unique set of giggling. It was the type of giggling when you were doing something indecent. You could call it a perverse giggle.

"That dirty old man." Shirou shook his head in disgust. Well, that explained why he got off so easily. Probably a new issue or something.

Finishing the tie on his apron, Shirou walked over the kitchen. Making sure everything was cooking alright, he looked over the counter where his boss was now sitting on one of the stools, magazine in hand. Geez, there were even a few customers sitting next to him. One of them was leaning over to look at it along with him.

"Taking a break?" Shirou asked viciously as he checked on the food. The broth was good, the noodles were ready and they had plenty of stock for the dinner rush. At the very least, his boss took his ramen seriously.

"Meh, you've got it. Last time I got in your way, you pulled a knife on me."

Shirou blushed a bit, especially as one of their customers laughed.

"You suck, boss." Shirou shook his head before greeting a customer with a practiced smile. After whipping up a batch of ramen for the young salary man, Shirou returned back to the conversation.

"Should I expect any 'special' customers, today?" Shirou asked while casually wiping a cloth over the table.

While they did sell ramen, this stall also catered towards a different crowd. A more supernatural crowd. After all, his boss was more than just a ramen chef.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it though, just the usuals."

"Oh." Shirou sagged a little in both relief and disappointment. It meant that his work day would be easier, but it also meant there was no problem that needed to be solved.

It would just be another day at work. Cooking ramen, taking care of his childish boss, and managing the fans of the hit demon idols. It was just another day in the life of the assistant ramen chef to Urameshi Yusuke.

Xxx

AN: So be honest. How many of you thought this was Naruto?

This was a writing experiment more than anything. I just wanted to try to pull off a twist ending. Merging that with the common crossover idea that Naruto lives as an immortal into the modern age and has a ramen stall and the anime/manga classic YuYu Hakusho where (in the manga) Yusuke ends up opening a ramen stall as a front for his supernatural mercenary business (something that is also common in modern Naruto crossovers) and I had an idea for my twist.

I threw Shirou in there to provide a nice backdrop and fit it into Tales and boom. This thing.

It worked out pretty well in my mind. Both characters are kind of rough around the edges. They both have signature techniques that shine blue (Rasengan and the Reigan or Spirit Gun) they both have friends named Kurama (funnily enough both are foxes of some sort) though I forgot to fit in an insult to call Kurama fox boy or something, and they both have a healer figure that they call old (Tsunade and Genkei respectively). Well, I had fun. So yeah, tell me in the review if you thought it was Naruto or if you knew it was something else.