Welcome to Chapter 5. Not much to say about it other than what I compiled in my quick notes, just that I decided to make a complete rewrite of Chapter 1. Looking back on it I had to give it to several of my pals that it was… well, clichéd beyond measure. The new version features more fight scenes and a more ruthless Ranma. Here hopes the new Chapter 1 is less loaded with clichés…
oOo
Chapter 5: A long awaited comeback
A trio of Konoha ninja, one a legendary Sannin with a perverted streak a mile wide yet with a mission history so impressive that it put most other shinobi to shame, the other Konoha’s number one most surprising ninja and jinchuuriki for the mightiest demon ever, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and last but not least an interdimensional traveller and hanyou, sat huddled around the fireplace, immersed in companionable silence.
Breakfast, if eating stag could be called that, had been a pleasant affair, and an air of careful optimism was palpable in the cave. The two younger ninja’s reason for this optimism lay in the activation of their respective Doujutsu, presenting the two of them with a silver lining that had before been absent.
Their situation having improved unexpectedly and by such large a margin was the exact reason why Naruto and Ranma were merrily exchanging ideas for techniques and how to improve on existing ones while the third and most experienced shinobi of them, Jiraiya of the Sannin just sat there, listened and smiled.
Sarutobi’s erstwhile student was feeling more optimistic as well, now that he knew for certain that both teens were willing to train hard - if necessary until they dropped - and put an effort into getting stronger. Naruto might have gained the Sharingan and with it its copying capabilities, but he was still his father's son.
Like Minato in his days the blonde would - and had - not been satisfied with his mastery of a jutsu he had chosen to learn until it had become second nature to him, and that would forever make him different from the copycats the Uchiha had been. Add to that that Naruto had a code of honour that would never allow him to just copy off jutsu off his friends and allies and there might just be a honourable Clan of Sharingan users in the making.
For Naruto, the gaining of the Sharingan meant something else as well, namely that something was finally going his way, and Jiraiya couldn’t have been any gladder for his struggling student. The young Uzumaki had been burdened with a life full of hardships since birth which’s load he, Jiraiya, would've liked to lessen more than anything else, but there were reasons why Naruto mustn't know of his true lineage yet.
Yet consciously knowing these reasons and watching the kid brave the hate, abuse and loathing that was heaved upon him were two very different pair of shoes. Never had the words 'It's for his own good,' sounded more hollow, but now, with Naruto gaining a more than formidable duo of teachers - he couldn't resist to mentally pat himself on the shoulder at this thought - and the Sharingan the time for secrecy might soon be over. Soon he might be strong enough to brave the many enemies his parents had made in their days. Until that day came he'd work the lad into the ground and enjoy the present company.
Jiraiya wiped the small grin off his face as his thoughts returned to Naruto's plight. It'd been high time for something to happen to make the kid’s load lighter, and just as he'd immediately realised and as the Kyuubi had argued as well, Naruto gaining the Sharingan would undoubtedly make his growth in strength a lot easier.
As far as Ranma, a young woman he'd come to respect and appreciate in the past weeks, was concerned, the unexpected activation of her own Doujutsu which she'd named Raijugan meant that she’d be able to adapt to this dimension and its variegated dangers far easier than any of them could ever have hoped for, and it had to have taken away a lot of the worries she'd to have felt but not showed.
He still didn’t know how he’d have felt if he himself had been thrown into a strange dimension out of the blue, a dimension that had radically different morals, values and beliefs than those you were used to. According to Ranma her world was, for lack of a better term, much more civilised, not at all comparable to this war-torn world where death and destruction were but a daily occurrence.
She'd adapted admirably in his opinion and had proven to be a tough cookie in these last weeks, and he suspected that it wasn’t just because she was a hanyou. It hadn’t been often, but during their rigorous training regimens he had occasionally been able to get a glimpse upon the core of steel that formed Ranma’s personality, and while she certainly was tough and a warrior beyond the shadow of a doubt, seldom had he seen someone who valued her own honour this much; it was plain as daylight that she'd spoken the truth when she'd said that her human side had prevailed.
Teaching her was a pleasure just as much as teaching Naruto was, and he had the feeling that these two would go far – provided they survived the odds stacked against them – and that they might just be the next in line to carry the title of Sannin.
His posture and expression were relaxed as Jiraiya continued to enjoy the afters, some wild berries Naruto and Ranma had collected an hour ago, and a small smile that held, for a change, nothing perverted tugged at the corners of his lips. There were lots and lots of jutsu he would be able to teach his students a lot easier now that both had revealed Doujutsu that greatly decreased the learning time, and he felt that he would have great fun in making them versatile and well-rounded shinobi with, so he hoped, an appreciation for great literature.
His smile grew a bit more as his thoughts returned to how enthusiastic Naruto – and to a lesser degree Ranma – and quick on the uptake his students had proven to be, and there could be no doubt that both were talented as well as eager to learn, and he absently continued to shovel wild berries into his mouth. Ranma and Naruto would undoubtedly go far, but not just due to their Doujutsu and their status as jinchuuriki and hanyou respectively, no, it was their inherent talent and their will to apply themselves fully in combination with these factors that'd make them a force to be feared, singly or in a team.
Add to that that they were good persons on top of that, in contrast to the likes of Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, and they were firmly in his good book. These kids deserved the chance to acquire the requisite know-how they would need to survive, and he had vowed to himself that he would give his all to see to that.
Teach them he would to the best of his abilities and provide them with all jutsu he knew, but these teachings wouldn't take place in the vicinity of the cave they were currently inhabiting. He'd argued that it was prudent to leave for Suna as soon as possible, ideally after breakfast, and had convinced the teens after laying down his reasons in a short discussion.
First off, it was very important to notify Gaara of Akatsuki and the immense threat they posed, and secondly, Jiraiya didn’t like to stay in one and the same place for too long a time seeing as it raised the probability of being rooted out by hostiles. Considering they, or rather Ranma, had killed two nuke-nins and had used several very high-powered jutsu this possibility couldn't be ruled out. Another reason was that Jiraiya’s gut-feeling was telling him to get a move on, and the Sannin trusted his intuition with his life. His hunches had saved him often enough in the past after all.
The Toad Sannin also planned to make a stop so that Ranma and Naruto could buy sunglasses so that they could use their Doujutsu without fear of being watched, all with hiding their tracks from Akatsuki in mind. People plain simply would notice the Sharingan seeing as it was infamous far and wide, and to leave so obvious a trail just wouldn't do.
Maybe he was being paranoid, but wasn’t one only paranoid as long as there weren’t people out to get you? In their case people confirmedly were, people with the worst of intentions to boot, so one couldn’t be careful enough. His wariness was also the reason he didn’t fully trust the reports that the dangerous organisation had shut down their operations for the time being to accomplish whatever side-goals they had, even if said reports had been gathered by himself. And even provided these rumours were true, that did not rule out the possibility of a run in with one or more of their cells.
His smile transformed into a perverted grin as he went over his plan for a disguise he had come up with in his mind. He was sure Naruto would absolutely hate it and roundly repudiate his appoggiatura, but his counterarguments would soundly negate whatever the blonde came up with.
Swallowing the remaining wild berries Jiraiya cleared his throat, easily catching the teens’ attention, “Naruto, Ranma, for our mission of vast importance to be a success we have to ensure that no one will be able to follow our trail. You know as well as I do that it’s next to impossible to succeed in this endeavour due to the fact that those tracking us possess the Sharingan, like Itachi Uchiha. Thus-”
“Don’t beat around the bush, Ero-sennin! What perverted scheme have you come up with now?” interrupted Naruto with a groan, a sinking feeling in his stomach telling him that this could not end well.
“It’s not perverted at all, gaki. How can you even think that?” Jiraiya demanded, the old Sannin managing to make his voice sound hurt.
“Because we know you, Ero-sennin,” both teens deadpanned in stereo, Ranma and Naruto exchanging an amused glance before glaring at the Sannin.
“Why is it that everyone always thinks the worst of me? After everything I’ve done?” Jiraiya lamented and looked to the heavens as if they held the answer.
“Oh, I dunno, maybe ‘cause of your track record? Maybe ‘cause you’ve given us more than enough reason to? Or maybe ‘cause you’re a self-proclaimed super-pervert, Ero-sennin?” Naruto asked mock-thoughtfully, his right index finger resting on his chin.
“Or maybe because we just know that your plan has to contain an element that plays to your perverted tendencies?” Ranma mused in a tone that matched Naruto’s to a t.
“Why don’t you gakis wait with your oh so brilliant comments until after I’ve explained my ingenious plan?” the Sannin shot back with a huff, brows creased in righteous indignation.
“You reckon we hear him out?” Naruto asked dubiously after he and Ranma had exchanged a glance.
“Can’t hurt, ‘ruto. We can still send him into LEO if we don’t like what he has to say,” Ranma mused with a shrug.
“Sounds like a plan to me, Ra-chan,” Naruto agreed with a nod, “But knowing him it’s bound to be something perverted.”
“Hey, I’m still here, you know!” Jiraiya protested indignantly, not liking that his students were effectively ignoring him while they discussed him.
“’Still’, that’s the catch word, Ero-sennin,” Ranma returned, laying emphasis on the word ‘still’ as her blue eyes bored into the old man, “How about you get on with your suggestion now?”
Jiraiya harrumphed, but schooled his features into impassivity quickly, “The Akatsuki, even though they're rumoured to lay low for the time being, may still be on our track, and we know for certain that two of their number, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, are tasked with your capture, Naruto.”
“Yeah, I know they’re after me. That’s why I got these, remember?” Naruto said with an edge of sarcasm, briefly flashing his Sharingan.
“How could I forget, gaki?” Jiraiya replied with a wry grin, remembering the surprise he had felt when Naruto had revealed his new trump card, “But you know as well as I do that you wouldn’t be a match for Itachi, and there is a chance we might run into them. They are known to travel in cells of two, but no one can be certain that this still holds true.
“To minimise the danger we must make certain that no one knows where we are, where we’re going, what our plans are, what we look like,” the Sannin stressed, “My plan is simple: we must disguise ourselves, for we stand out too much,” he concluded, and looked from teen to teen.
“Gotta admit, you’re onto something there,” Ranma mused thoughtfully after going over the Sannin’s words in her mind, “A tall, spiky-haired Sannin who’s likely known far and wide, a spiky-haired blonde with whisker-marks and a tall redhead… yep, we do stand out alright.”
“I won’t do it, Ero-sennin!” Naruto yelled out after a few moments, the Gennin having arrived at a startling and irritating conclusion, “I know whatcha playing at, Ero-sennin, and I won’t do it! No Oroike, forget it!”
“Oroike?” Ranma repeated in confusion, her glance travelling from her peeved adopted younger brother to the innocently whistling Sannin.
“It’s a jutsu I developed to make use of the fact that almost all shinobi are perverts. And he, the super-pervert, wants me to transform into my oroike form so he can ogle me and you, I’m certain of it!” Naruto explained while fiercely glaring at the Sannin.
“A jutsu that exploits male ninja’s perverseness? What does it do?” Ranma asked curiously, a scarlet brow arched.
“Yeah, Naru-chan, show her what it does,” Jiraiya suggested fake-innocently, and received, not surprisingly, a death-glare from said ‘Naru-chan’.
“I’d really like to see the effects of this jutsu, ‘ruto. If he’s a pervert about it we can still punish him,” Ranma suggested with a shrug.
“Okay,” Naruto relented with a sigh and got to his feet, “But only 'causeyou asked, Ra-chan.”
The spiky-haired blonde took a deep breath and then sped through a short set of hand seals – all of which as well as the chakra flow Ranma 'copied' with her activated Raijugan – and disappeared in a puff of smoke, exclaiming, “Oroike no jutsu!”.
Ranma, who didn’t fail to notice Jiraiya’s perverted grin, raised a delicate brow, wondering just what it was about Naruto that excited the perverted Sannin just as much as her bosom. A gasp escaped her as soon as the smoke cleared, and the redhead rubbed her eyes so as to rule out the possibility that she was hallucinating.
Yet the sight in front of her remained the same, and in the spot Naruto had previously occupied stood a tall, well-endowed and downright gorgeous blonde young woman wearing her long blonde hair in twin pigtails.
“’ruto? Is that really you?” Ranma queried tentatively and got to her feet to give the neo-girl a thorough once over, completely ignoring the “Oh shoot! She didn’t forget clothes this time!” from Jiraiya.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Naruto replied in a much softer and feminine alto voice, her slight smile showing off two rows of even, perfect teeth, “The whisker marks are a dead give-away, I know, but whatcha think? Not bad, eh?”
“Not at all,” Ranma agreed after several moments of studying the blonde girl in front of her with her Raijugan active, her mind running a mile a minute as she considered the implications this could have for her, “It’s rather brilliant, I gotta admit, not an illusion like the henge, but more like a real body, yeah, almost like a Kage Bunshin but... more. Quite ingenious, ‘ruto,” she praised and sat down in her spot again.
The blonde gave her a pleased smile and followed the redhead’s example, “Thanks. Took me quite a while to come up with a jutsu that couldn’t be dispelled with a simple ‘Kai’, and it works great against all kinds of perverts,” the neo-girl said, stretching sensuously.
Ranma nodded in acquiescence, and absently hit the drooling Sannin sitting beside her over the head, sending the distracted man face-first into the ground with a protesting noise, “I can see that,” she remarked dryly, “You really seem to have knack for jutsu creation if you managed to come up with a technique that effectively gives you a new body. We should really look into whatcha can do and exploit your talent, but for the time being, I must agree with our resident pervert here.”
“What? Oh! But of course you do!” the Sannin exclaimed and regained his sitting position with an exaggerated air of self-importance.
Naruto and Ranma exchanged a glance, both teens rolling their eyes, “Che, even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn, Ero-sennin,” the redhead commented, earning herself an indignant “Oi!” from said Sannin.
“So you mean we should really disguise ourselves, Ra-chan?” Naruto queried, her pout making the redhead smile.
“Yes, what Ero-sennin said made sense. As for the disguise, would the jutsu also work the other way around, from female to male, I mean?” Ranma inquired, trying to sound casual.
“Preposterous! Why on earth should a beauty such as you want to disguise herself as a man?” Jiraiya asked indignantly.
Ranma gave him a level stare, the redhead being very tempted to say something to the effect of ‘For reasons that are my own,’, but she managed to control herself, “To have an effective disguise, duh. If it works both ways our options would be far greater. Say, we could all transform into women, men, or have a mixed group. You see what I’m getting at?”
“Yeah,” Naruto said with a nod, “but that’s provided the jutsu can be modified.”
“That’s unusually deep for you, gaki, realising that the jutsu would do no more than alter the appearance of a female but not her gender. I’m surprised,” Jiraiya spoke up, patting the blonde’s head.
“Oh shut up, Ero-sennin,” Naruto groused and released the jutsu, returning to his male form which elicited a pout from Jiraiya; a pondering expression appeared on the blonde’s face, “You know, maybe it works the other way around for women? Maybe if you’d do the jutsu backwards, ox and ram instead of the other way around, maybe it’d work?”
“Good thinking, ‘ruto,” Ranma commented after a few moments of mulling that over, and a hopeful expression briefly appeared on her face before being replaced by a neutral look as she gazed at Naruto, “Do you picture the form you wanna change into in your mind?”
“Not really, Ra-chan. I just do the hand seals, and poof! Instant blonde bombshell,” Naruto replied with a shrug.
“Mmmh. So it stands to reason that if one does picture what form one wants to take, one could? Let’s test that theory,” Ranma exclaimed and got to her feet; a look of concentration appeared on her face and few seconds later she performed the hand seals for Oroike no jutsu in reverse, all the while picturing her – albeit fully clothed – birthform in her mind.
The telltale cloud of smoke appeared, and when it cleared away a tall, dark-haired young man wearing a red silk shirt and long, black flowing pants stood in Ranma’s place. The Saotome youth immediately rolled his neck from left to right, a satisfied sigh escaping him, “Damn, it’s good to be back.”
-.-
Questioning looks met the male Ranma, but said Saotome youth ignored them for the time being as he sat down on his futon with a content sigh, revelling in the feeling of having returned to a male body at last. He knew of course that it was not the ultimate solution by a long shot seeing as this body was not nearly as real as his birth form, but for the time being it was real enough, felt real enough.
“Say, Ranma, what exactly did you mean when you said ‘It’s good to be back,’? The way you said it, it must have a deeper meaning,” Jiraiya observed, his dark eyes looking at the dark-haired young man in unveiled curiosity.
“First time I agree with you on something, Ero-sennin,” Naruto spoke up with a grin, and locked eyes on Ranma as well after giving his sensei a sidelong glance.
The martial artist turned hanyou took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through the nose, “What I’m gonna tell ya'll sound unbelievable and improbable, and I have no way to prove it. Yet it’s the complete truth, and I ask you to postpone asking any questions until after I've finished, okay?”
Both Jiraiya and Naruto affirmed, and a slightly apprehensive Ranma nodded to himself. He was curious and a bit worried how his sensei and his friend would react to his story, but now was as good a time as any to come clean. Taking another deep breath he began to speak, “You'll sure as hell ask me why I didn’t tell you sooner by the time I've finished my story, but keep in mind, there’s just no way to back up my claims with proof. Not for the time being, at least. Okay, here goes.
“The form you see me wear now's the form I had until round about two and a half years ago, give or take. Yes, I was born a boy, the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome, born in another dimension in Tokyo, Japan, round about eighteen years ago,” he explained, carefully gauging the effects this first little bombshell had produced; both Naruto and Jiraiya were unsurprisingly wearing looks of doubt, and he couldn't fault them.
Shrugging Ranma carried on, “My father was dead set on making me the best martial artist of my generation - in other words, the Taijutsu expert - and took me on a world spanning training trip to learn everything there was to the Art when I was five, and our last stop on this training trip was a training ground aptly named Jusenkyo, valley of the cursed springs when I was sixteen. The place literally had over a hundred different pools of water, all of ‘em having bamboo poles jutting outta ‘em, and pops and me immediately vaulted atop the bamboo poles and started sparring.”
Stopping to take another breath Ranma took the time to eyeball his listeners, noting with satisfaction that both men were hanging at his every word, “We disregarded the warnings of the local guide that Jusenkyo was a dangerous and cursed place as blah, and merrily continued with our little spar until, yes, until I managed to send my father careening into a spring. One would have expected him to leap out of it with an annoyed expression and a curse on his lips, wouldn’t one?
“Yeah,” he continued upon his listeners’ nods, “but that wasn’t what happened. Instead of my father a giant panda bear leapt out of the spring, and the damned animal was using the signature moves of the Anything Goes, my school! I was so all of a dither that the panda managed to score a major hit, the blow sending me into another spring. Imagine my shock when I resurfaced, only to find out that I was a lot more top-heavy and that another part that’s every man’s pride and joy had disappeared.”
Naruto’s and Jiraiya’s reactions were almost comical, seeing that both men patted their laps in an apparent check that their manliness was still intact, and an amused smile crossed Ranma’s face. Said smile evaporated as fast as ice in the sunshine when he felt he had his audiences’ attention again, though. “I've had this curse for over two and a half years, and-”
“Curse?” exclaimed Jiraiya, question marks literally floating above his head, “How can changing into a beautiful young lady, provided your story’s not a load of bull, be a curse? Gaki, that’s a blessing, a dream come true!”
“Maybe to you, you old pervert, but how’d you like it to have a damn friggin inconsistent gender? For your information, cold water activated the curse, hot water restored my birthform. Sounds not too bad, right? Wrong. Sometimes I couldn’t go an hour at a stretch in one gender due to that damned water magnet part that comes part and parcel of the curse. Che, could you see how this would be annoying?” the raven-haired youth queried sarcastically.
“Err, no,” Jiraiya answered in honest confusion, for to him a little detail like that wouldn't matter in face of all the research material he would have been able to gain from a ‘curse’ like that had something like that happened to him in his youth.
“Oh yes,” was Naruto’s reply, the blonde being easily capable of imagining himself in Ranma’s shoes. “How'd you deal with it?”
Ranma hid his surprise that Naruto believed him just like that, and a reminiscent look appeared on his face, “Pretty much by ignoring the curse. I used it like a tool, a switch I could use to get what I wanted, free food or whatever I just happened to need, but I never really made the effort to come to grips with the curse. Until-”
“Until the Raiju incident happened?” Jiraiya guessed.
“Yeah, until then. When we fused a lot of femininity was imparted on me,” Ranma said, only to trail off with a laugh, “A lot? Hah! Loads and loads, and then some. Imagine a several tens of thousand years old female demon with more experience between the sheets than every female put together, and you get the image.”
“You- You’re certain you don’t want to be my muse?” Jiraiya queried with his tongue almost hanging, Ranma’s value for him only having increased through her latest admission.
“Let me think,” Ranma mused while pretending to do so, “No, no and never. Not even if all the hells of all the countless dimensions decided to freeze over and all ‘em bosses decided to have an interdimensional ice skating contest. Got me?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jiraiya grumbled and harrumphed, lapsing into a sulky silence.
Ranma’s focus turned inward for a few moments, and he had a far away look on his face as he continued to speak, “I still wonder to this day how I managed to retain the hold on my male side. My only explanation is that my utter refusal to give even one inch prompted Raiju to set up safeguards in my mind to allow my male and female side to mingle safely, thus creating a balance.
“Now I just gotta wait until all that pent up chakra is flowing how it’s intended to flow so that changing with water, and back to my real male form becomes possible again. But that reversed Oroike no jutsu is a great alternative in the meantime, a real lifesaver. Can’t thank you enough, ‘ruto.” he said and clapped the younger man sitting beside him on the shoulder, a big grin showing on his face.
“Err, you’re welcome,” Naruto said with a grin of his own, but the grin soon gave way to a frown, “Say, you’re really a boy? I mean, really?”
“When I’m a boy I’m a boy, when I’m a girl I’m a girl. Simple, ne?” Ranma remarked with a teasing grin.
“No,” Naruto replied with yet another grin, “but it’s cool to have an older sister that can be my older brother as well. Yeah, finally a real older brother, now that’s neat.”
Ranma laughed heartily and leaned forward to ruffle his ‘younger brother’s’ hair, “You took that a lot better than I’d have expected, and I’m glad you see it this way, squirt. Now what about you, Ero-sennin?”
Jiraiya stopped his mental calculations of how Ranma’s dual-genderdedness would affect his teaching and stopped his pretentious pouting, “I've seen too much in my life to outright dismiss your story, Ranma. A gender-changing curse, even if I still say it's a blessing, isn’t that farfetched after having seen demons over a hundred metres tall. The only question I have-” he trailed off.
“Yes?” prompted Ranma curiously.
“Have you done it in both forms?” Jiraiya queried with a lecherous grin.
Ranma’s cheek began to twitch and a vein appeared on his forehead, his mounting ire causing him to lose his grasp on the reversed Oroike no jutsu, returning her to female form. Her Raijugan activated off its own volition and angry yellow eyes drilled holes into the Sannin, and when the redhead spoke fire seemed to surround her, “Run, Ero-sennin, run, for when I get my fingers on you, I'll kick you so hard in the ‘nads that the founder of your line’s gonna feel it!” she hissed, jumping to her feet as smoothly as a jungle cat.
Naruto simply shook his head in dismay as his sensei followed the pissed off redhead’s advice and hastily brought some distance between himself and Ranma, yet the self-proclaimed super-pervert was too slow to finish the unsealing sequence. An icy shiver went down his spine as a lascivious female voice whispered into his ear, “Oh Ero-sennin, you’re a dead, dead duck, you know that?”
Jiraiya managed to gulp once, and dread welled up in him. Somehow he had the feeling that this was going to be a lot worse than what Tsunade usually dished out…
-.-
Half an hour later found the trio on their way west, yet a casual observer would never have guessed the three to be the Konoha ninja Jiraiya of the Sannin, Gennin Naruto Uzumaki and Special Jounin Ranma Saotome.
The latter had used the Oroike no jutsu to assume the form of a raven-haired kunoichi, the second last had, upon Ranma’s urging, experimented with the jutsu and had finally succeeded in assuming a whisker-mark free form that made him look like Ranma’s brother for real, and their final member had utilised the jutsu to change into a nondescript raven-haired shinobi that could have passed for their father.
Their Konoha forehead protectors were noticeably absent and had been taken in safe custody by Ranma who had stored them in her stuff space, the technique surprisingly working even better with chakra than ki, and the Saotome youth had readily agreed to let her team-mates in on the art to stow away even a refrigerator if needed. Instead they were wearing Suna forehead protectors Jiraiya had procured during the Oto/Suna invasion, and heavy black cloaks and other assorted clothing to make their look and feel believable.
Jiraiya was still walking funny although it was somewhat concealed by his cloak, and the Sannin inwardly cursed at having encountered another female aside from Tsunade who really knew how to dish out punishment. But then again, he should have known that a hanyou would know her onions, the Sannin mused as he tried to ignore the aching pain emanating from his privates.
His revenge, as petty and small scale as it had been, had been to send the youths ahead without telling them which direction to take while he was recuperating, and not even Naruto, who'd travelled to Suna before, had the foggiest of where he was and how to get to Sunagakure. Yet another weak point he’d have to remedy, Jiraiya mused, Naruto’s atrocious knowledge of geography could easily be his undoing one day, and it wasn’t really as if Ranma’s knowledge of the area was any better, even though her lack of knowledge was understandable.
Sighing to himself he felt the pain emanating from his privates lessen considerably as the chakra flows he had redirected to heal this area finally did the trick, the Sannin counting himself lucky that he had become ever more proficient in the usage of these techniques the older he became. Another sigh, this time of even greater relief, escaped him as the pain evaporated completely, and Jiraiya hastened his step to catch up to his two students who were walking several dozen metres ahead of him through the forest that dominated in River country.
A smooth jump took him to the trees, and Jiraiya noticed with pride that his two students had mimicked his actions a few seconds thereafter and were waiting for him, “It was about time you recovered, pops,” the disguised Naruto greeted him.
“Couldn’t you've taken a bit longer, pops? You just lost me 100 Ryu to Kazuo,” the disguised Ranma complained, “I bet him that your… wound would handicap you for another ten minutes till you'd gathered enough chakra to heal it.”
“Tough luck, Ryanna,” Jiraiya, or rather ‘Hiraku’ replied with a mild glare at his ‘daughter’, “That’ll hopefully teach you to bet against your poor old father.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, pops,” Ranma replied, adjusting the sunglasses she was wearing, “Now how ‘bout less talk ‘n’ more travel?”
“Yeah, let’s do it!” Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically and jumped to the next tree, and within the next few seconds he had begun to weave a complex pattern through the forest as he jumped from tree to tree.
“How long do you reckon it’ll take him to realise he doesn’t know which direction to take, pops?” Ranma asked her 'father', amusement glinting in her dark eyes.
“Should be round about… now. Heh, some things never change,” Jiraiya mused with a chuckle, watching in mirth how Naruto made his way back to their position.
“Hey, umm, I realised no one had told me yet which direction we were going to take,” he admitted sheepishly after landing on a thick branch a few metres to their left.
Jiraiya and Ranma exchanged an amused glance and chuckled, “We kinda figured that, bro,” Ranma commented.
Jiraiya shook his head in amusement, yet got serious when he saw his ‘son’s’ annoyed look, “We'll travel south-west, kids. The forested area of River country gives way to the desert in round about forty kilometres, and we will avoid fortified villages to spare us trouble. If we travel at our best speed it shouldn't take us more than two hours to reach the River/Suna border even despite the detour, and from there it’s no more than another hour till we reach Sunagakure. Got that, kids?”
“Yeah, pops,” Naruto and Ranma echoed in stereo, both teens nodding in affirmation.
“Good. We’re off,” the Sannin exclaimed and became a blur that disappeared into the trees, Naruto and Ranma following his example after exchanging one last look.
-.-
It was well into the second hour of their travel that the group involuntarily ran into trouble despite their precaution to not frequent the fortified villages that lined their travel route. Still well within River country territory the trio stumbled upon a group of missing nin, and normally they’d have been able to pass them by without being detected and would readily have done so, but the fact that they spied a group of five missing nin of varying origin dragging a group of three female Suna kunoichi behind them forced their hands.
Having heard the group from far away due to the carelessness the nukenins exhibited the disguised Konoha nin had hidden in the copsewood that lined the dirt road, and due to the fact that each of the three was a master in suppressing their chakra signature as well as in making themselves nigh undetectable the missing nin had not a prayer in hell to notice their presence.
Loudly singing and sake drinking the nukenins trudged along with their 'prizes', the three defeated and beaten looking Suna kunoichi being tied to a long rope and dragged behind by a tall and burly ninja whose scratched forehead protector identified him as an ex Iwa nin who leered at the women ever so often over his shoulder, his yellowish teeth contorted to a nasty grin.
That the missing nin had managed to capture the kunoichi from Suna and were dragging them along like cattle was enough to make the trio angry, but the nature of the conversation that was loudly being held amongst the men made Naruto’s and Ranma’s blood boil.
Gauging from their talks the missing nin where returning to their bandit camp and could hardly wait to arrive so that they could thoroughly use the three kunoichi, the boast of another missing nin from Kusa that he’d take the blonde kunoichi walking in the middle for himself and fuck her brains out causing Ranma to look at her ‘father’.
“Permission to exterminate them and rescue the hostages,” she whispered through clenched teeth, her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched the group draw nearer to their position.
“Permission granted,” Jiraiya whispered back, his expression dark, “Whoever treats a woman thusly, their life is forfeit.”
“I wanna help too,” Naruto angrily whispered, “That could've been Temari-chan over there.”
“Temari-chan, eh?” Jiraiya remarked with a lecherous grin that popped up despite the situation, making Naruto blush, “Very interesting, m’boy.”
“Enough of your bickering, you two,” Ranma cut in, her tone steely, “I do wonder, why don’t they just cut that rope with a jutsu? It looks like a plain hemp rope to me.”
“Do you see the hand cuffs each girl is wearing? These are called ‘chakra cuffs’, and they suck away your chakra as it’s generated. If you’re not strong enough to overpower them you’re helpless. Seeing as none of these girls look to be more than Gennin or Chuunin they are helpless. My guess is these missing nin took the group by surprise, managed to kill the cell leader and had a virtual walk over in capturing the girls. Those are the dangers when one uses an all female cell,” Jiraiya explained.
“Okay. Then we cut this rope, break ‘em cuffs and deal with ‘em nukenin,” Naruto spoke up, brief discomfort flashing in his dark eyes when he said ‘deal with ‘em’ that didn’t go unnoticed by his ‘father’ and ‘sister’.
“Leave the killing part to us, bro,” Ranma spoke up, laying a gentle hand on her ‘brother’s’ shoulder, “I know you don’t like to, and my… nature and ‘pop's’ experience makes us better suited for this task anyway.”
“What she said, gaki,” Jiraiya confirmed, ruffling Naruto’s dark hair.
“Thanks, ‘pops’, sis. That means a lot,” the disguised Naruto replied in audible relief, and ignored the nine tails’ barb that he was ‘just too weak, but they would remedy this,’.
“Okay,” Jiraiya exclaimed whisperingly, “you two take on the liberation of the pretty girls, I'll keep these scoundrels in check. We'll wait until they’re directly in front of us, then we’ll strike. A few more seconds… wait… wait… now!” he whispered.
Soundlessly like ghosts the three blurred forward, and before the enemy shinobi had even registered what was going on Naruto had cut the rope with a Kage Bunshin turned sword while Ranma had cut her end of the rope with a chakra-enhanced right-handed strike.
At the same time Jiraiya had dispatched of the burly Iwa nin courtesy of a blow that sent the man crashing through several trees, and for good measure the disguised Sannin performed Doton: Yomi Numa, creating a sizeable swamp that separated them from the enemy shinobi for the time being.
While ‘Hiraku’ had been busy his ‘children’ had not idly mingled about; Naruto had taken it upon him to carry two of the three kunoichi while Ranma had carried the remaining girl to safety, and now, huddled in the thick copsewood and hidden from sight the five teens had time to get acquainted.
“Oh my god, you saved us!” one of the kunoichi, a pretty redhaired girl whispered, relief and gratitude plain visible on her face.
“And they’re from Suna too, Chiyoko, Keiko!” the dark haired kunoichi of the group exclaimed whisperingly.
“We can see that, Kokoro,” the blonde kunoichi, who had before been the chosen victim of the Kusa nin, whispered back, “But I don’t remember ever having seen the two of you in Sunagakura, and I know a lot of people.”
“We’re special ops,” Ranma replied, her dark eyes glinting behind the sunglasses, “or how do you think our leader would be able to hold his own against the four of ‘em over there?”
Looking over to where the battle was taking place the three girls noticed that the man who had covered their retreat was indeed more than a match for the nukenin, and the blonde shrugged, conceding the point.
A barely perceptible smile crossed Ranma’s face, “Now let us get these damn cuffs off of you, shall we?” the disguised Ranma mused and gripped the cuffs of the girl sitting next to her, who just happened to be the blonde girl, focussed her strength into her hands and applied ever growing pressure on the metallic cuffs.
The brows of the blonde girl climbed into the hairline as the cuffs began to emit a creaking noise, and her eyes bulged when the chinkers suddenly lost structural integrity and began to crumble in the young woman’s grip. “I’ll be damned… you must be insanely strong,” the girl whispered in awe.
“That? Was nuthin’,” Ranma replied with a dismissive wave of her right hand and dusted herself off, “But it looks like you’ll hafta keep the remains chained to your wrists until you're strong enough to remove them yourself. I wouldn’t want to risk injuring you further.”
The girl wiped the look of admiration for the older kunoichi off her face, “Not a problem. I can use my chakra again, and that’s what matters.”
“Figured as much," Ranma returned with a grin and turned her head to look at the other girls, "Who’s next?” the disguised Special Jounin queried then, and was not really surprised when both girl’s immediately exclaimed “Me, me!”
“Bro, why don’t you go and look if you can assist sensei in the dispatching of these nukenins? Just knock ‘em flat, ‘kay? I’ll join ya in a few,” the disguised Ranma said after turning her head to look at her ‘brother’, and Naruto nodded.
“’Kay, sis. Not that pops needs it, but on the other hand, those dregs deserve pain, and I feel like dishing out,” Naruto replied, and Ranma saw his eyes flash the red of the Sharingan behind his sunglasses.
“You do that. I’ll join ya in a bit,” she replied, noting with amusement the whispers behind her back as the girls expressed their relief that such a 'hottie' like her brother was still available.
Turning around she faced the girls, and the disguised Saotome youth smiled in amusement. The love-struck looks of the girls just now and Naruto’s mentioning of this ‘Temari’ would give her loads and loads of ammunition to tease her poor adopted brother for a good long time to come.
-.-
Naruto immediately switched into battle-mode and analysed the situation in a flash, noting that three of the four nukenins were still in the game. The fourth was lying sprawled on the ground twenty metres away to the south, and his Sharingan told him that the man’s neck was twisted at an unnatural angle. He was dead beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Holding himself in the background for a bit Naruto watched the jutsu exchange that was commencing in front of him, his ‘father’s’ steadily renewed earth wall easily absorbing everything the three remaining missing nin were throwing at it.
His observations told him that the disguised Sannin was not aiming to kill, and realisation dawned on him, ‘Damn, Ero-sennin wants me to learn a few new jutsu by keeping them nuke-nins busy,’ he realised as he stepped to the taller man’s side behind the large slab of earth protecting him.
“Hey gaki, those two don’t really learn very well. They still have to realise that their attacks are nothing to me. The third of these bastards is trying to be clever, however. Can you tell me in which way?” Jiraiya asked, cocking his head to look at his ‘son’.
“He's… He’s trying to skirt around your swamp by using the forest as cover,” the disguised Naruto exclaimed after having felt out with his senses, relishing in the approving look his sensei gave him.
“Yes. Ryanna's of course noticed him, this nukenin is none of our concern,” he answered uncaringly, and cancelled the Swamp of the underworld as well as the earth wall.
“Hey! Why didcha do that?” Naruto exclaimed in incomprehension and glared at his sensei, who just smiled back.
“So that you can show me what you’ve got, gaki,” the disguised Sannin retorted, nodding over at the nukenin. “Do you hear them, they think I’m out of chakra. Now how about we let them in that belief and I let you take over?”
Naruto glared up at him and shook his head before focussing on the approaching nukenins, one of them another Iwa nin, the other a Kiri nin, “You’re crazy, no, certifiable, I hope you know that,” he commented with a frown without looking at him, and watched the grinning Kiri nukenin speed through a set of seals.
His face contorted into a wicked grin though and he focussed completely on his enemies even as Jiraiya disappeared into the trees, his Sharingan copying the jutsu, Kirigakure no Jutsu, without problems, the thick fog blanketing the area not troubling him in the slightest. His Doujutsu mightn't be able to pierce the fog, but there was still his acute hearing to consider, and that'd improved a lot since his encounter with Zabusa and Haku.
"There are eight targets," the Kiri nin’s voice rang from his hidden – or so he thought – position.
"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, heart...” Naruto cut it in a psychotic tone, surprising the hell out of the nukenins, “Oh so many choices... what vital and deliciously vulnerable place shall I choose?" he went on and chuckled darkly, while inwardly grinning at the fact that he had taken a leaf out of Anko’s book.
‘Surprisingly efficient, brat. Maybe you should get more lessons from this woman, it might just raise your proficiency,’ the Kyuubi spoke up in his mind, his voice sounding decidedly teasing.
‘Nope, thanks! She may be seriously hot, but that freaky woman ain’t my type,’ Naruto replied with a shudder, and inwardly glared when the Kyuubi chuckled amusedly.
Completely focussed, his Sharingan blazing behind his sunglasses Naruto used his enhanced hearing and easily found the Kiri nukenin who stood rooted to the spot in surprise, and deciding that he didn’t need to learn any water-based jutsu seeing that Ranma could teach him more than he’d probably ever need in that regard he made up his mind to knock this nukenin out in a quick fashion.
Blurring forward thanks to his greatly improved speed Naruto practically reappeared in front of the startled nukenin, and the Kyuubi vessel immediately began to pummel his victim at near Amaguriken speeds, hitting the man’s weak spots all over his body in a display of brutal punishment.
The attack happened so fast that the other shinobi could do nothing to come to his allies’ aid, and Naruto, having the lesson drilled into his mind to finish off his opponents fast – unless he was absolutely sure of his superiority – gave his opponent no chance to get back into the fight, his right fist meeting the man’s face in a powerful chakra-enhanced knock-out punch that broke the man’s nose with an audible snapping noise. Trailing blood the nukenin flew backwards and hit a tree hard, coming to rest on the ground in a crumpled and unconscious heap.
As soon as the Kiri nukenin involuntarily joined the land of nod the mist evaporated like a snowball in hell, and Naruto spun around just in time to copy and perform the same hand seals as the Iwa nukenin, calling out Doton: Doryu Taiga, which created a rapid river of mud beneath Naruto that would have swallowed him, had he still been in the same spot he’d been when the Iwa nin had begun his hand seals.
Wearing a gobsmacked expression the nukenin - who had rapidly escaped the mud river by using Kawarimi - swivelled his head frantically in an attempt to locate the offending young man, but was met with little success. Naruto, the offending nin in question, had quickly usedanother Kawarimi to switch places with an unfortunate bird that had happened to sit in one of the many trees surrounding them; then it’d been a simple matter of suppressing his chakra signature as well as erasing any evidence of his presence, something that came easy to him after weeks and weeks spent on practising under the drill masters Ranma and Ero-Sennin could turn into
Grinning to himself for a brief moment Naruto surveyed the situation before coming to a decision, his face now utterly serious. A life and death fight was not the ideal situation to copy off any more jutsu, the danger was just too great that he – inexperienced as he still was – would slip up and get himself hurt or worse.
Naruto soundlessly ran down the tree making good use of the basic tree walking technique and once on terra firma the blonde quickly sped through a few seals, calling out, "Futon: Daitoppa!". A powerful yet uncontrolled blast of air was launched from his mouth and at the surprised Nukenin, who yet again had to resort to Kawarimi to escape out of harms way. The blonde-haired genin grinned at his own cleverness of using one of the Wind jutsu he and Ranma had learned from Jiraiya seeing as that was a common affinity in Sunagakure, and followed that up by making thirty Mizu Bunshin appear in the vicinity. Giving his water clones the mental command to go wild his red eyes glinted as he watched the concerned and afraid look of the nukenin, and counting himself lucky that they were still ways away from the desert area he called out “Sensatsu Suisho!” while his clones made exclamations of their own, varying from Sensatsu Suisho to Suiton: Suijinheki.
He was not really surprised when the man used Kawarimi to switch places with a rock twenty metres away in face of the onslaught, and Naruto used the pause to command his clones to keep the third nukenin who was still at large busy until Ranma would be able to deal with him.
Finding the new position of his enemy was easy thanks to his Sharingan, and Naruto watched from the corners of his eyes as the hidden – or so the man thought – shinobi let his stone katana drop to the ground in favour of making hand seals.
Naruto suppressed a grin with difficulty as he continued to watch the man who really believed he would be able to ambush him, and his glee only grew when his Sharingan copied a brand-new jutsu yet again. Smirking he whirled around and finished the hand seal sequence at the same time as the surprised man, exclaiming, Doton: Doriyuudan!
The Kyuubi jinchuuriki watched in fascination and pride as the ground began to shake and rumble, and a large dragon made of earth rose up beside him, its maw opening in a majestic roar. The same had of course happened not ten metres away from him, and his red eyes glinted behind his shades as the two roaring beasts headed straight for their respective counterpart.
Naruto watched the spectacle that was unfolding in front of his eyes with a feeling of confidence, and a slight grin spread on his face at having had the chance to learn more jutsu, his irritation forgotten that he hadn't been able to finish the nukenin off in his initial attack, his grin growing into a toothy smile as he pushed a lot more chakra into his earth dragon.
His suping the dragon up didn’t even put a small dent into his chakra reserves, and he almost felt like laughing when he caught the look of surprise on the nukenins face as his dragon effortlessly plowed through his adversaries’ creation, the attack hitting the man dead on.
His grin changed into a frown though when the nukenin crumbled to dirt, and Naruto realised that the man had to have substituted himself with an Earth clone at one point. Growling slightly due to having failed to notice the man’s ploy he let his Sharingan gaze travel over the vicinity, and viciously clamped down on the triumphant grin that threatened to escape him when he caught sight of the man in the canopy above.
Pretending to be clueless as to the nukenin’s position and his impending attack he continued to look about in craftily faked frustration while preparing himself to execute a set of hand seals lightning fast, and as soon as the man jumped down from the branch he'd been hiding on, his Sharingan copying the jutsu he was performing, that being Doton: Doryudan, Naruto had already sped through the seals of Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu, and the great fireball hit the man dead on, giving him not a chance to react.
Burnt severely but not dead seeing as Naruto had gauged his chakra very carefully – which came to him easily now after all the hours upon hours spent on refining his formerly so atrocious chakra control – the man hit the ground with a resounding thud, and Naruto nodded satisfied.
After kicking the man in the ribs to ensure his victory Naruto allowed a satisfied and relieved breath to escape his lips. This had been his first real test run, and he had passed with flying colours, if he dared to say so himself. He had learned jutsu, he had had fun, he had freed three good looking chicks and he had kicked ass. "Not too shabby for a Monday," Naruto muttered with a grin.
The blonde turned lazily around upon noticing a strong chakra signature that approached his position at a leisurely pace, and a small grin played on his face as he caught sight of Jiraiya, “Hey old man, whatcha think? Not bad, eh?”
“No, not bad at all, gaki,” his sensei commented as he nonchalantly walked up to him, “I assume you didn’t kill him so we, or rather Sunagakure, would have prisoners to interrogate?”
“Err, yeah, heh, that was my reasoning exactly,” Naruto replied unconvincingly, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
The disguised Jiraiya smiled and patted his shoulder, “Some day you’ll be ready, gaki, until then, grow at your own pace. Reality's hard enough, and I fear you’ll have to grow up faster than you’ll like with what we’re facing,” he mused sagely.
Naruto nodded but kept his silence. What could one say to something like that anyway?
-.-
Ranma was in her element as she stealthily approached the position of the third nukenin and took up position behind an array of trees on the opposite shore of the small stream separating them. She had left ten Mizu Bunshin behind to offer the three Suna kunoichi additional protection, and had already decided upon ending the nukenin’s life as quickly as possible so as to quickly return the three girls to their village.
The disguised Saotome was well aware that she had changed and how much she had changed, but some things had remained the same; she still couldn't bear to see females in distress, but with the changes imposed on her she had certainly lost her naivety and would easily be able to spot attempts to take advantage of her.
Shrugging these thoughts off Ranma activated her Doujutsu and kept herself in the shadows while the Mist nukenin was busy dispatching Narutos’ bunshins, a satisfied smirk growing on her face in face of all the interesting jutsu she would – hopefully – be able to learn before she finished the enemy nin off.
When the last Bunshin dissolved into water she clapped her hands in mocking applause, and the enemy nin whirled around with a snarl on his face and sped through a series of hand seals which Ranma recognised as belonging to Sensatsu Suisho, and speeding through the hand seals of Doton: Doryuuheki with a decidedly bored expression she thought ‘If this guy doesn’t show me anything new I’ll dispatch of him right away.’
The several hundred water needles from the Mist nukenin’s jutsu met the earthen wall Ranma had created and predictably couldn’t pierce it, and deciding to link to old times she decided to taunt the nukenin, “If that’s the best you’ve got to offer yer’re gonna be a dead chicken soon, loser!”
Fury glinting in his eyes the man rushed her blindly with the speed of a freight train, but Ranma disappeared into thin air moments before the man’s violent punch could connect. She had reappeared ten metres in front and five metres above the enemy shinobi’s position on the thick branch of a tree, her feet dangling freely. A broad grin spread on her face and she was sorely tempted to whistle a mocking tune, but watching the nukenin stew as he searched for her was funnier by far.
The Mist Nukenin’s attempts to disclose her location continued to amuse Ranma for another minute until her customary impatience began to gnaw at her, and she decided to act. Phasing to the ground behind the enemy shinobi she tapped the man’s left shoulder, which prompted the nukenin to whirl around at speeds far greater than she had anticipated.
Surprised and a tad bit impressed that the man had reacted so fast she deflected the fist that came flying at her face with her left forearm, dropped to a squat and tried to kick the man’s legs out from under him. The nukenin countered with jumping upward and aimed an axe-kick for her head, yet Ranma countered by disappearing again, only to reappear five metres behind, a roguish grin on her face.‘Maybe I’ll keep him around for another five minutes, his Taijutsu doesn’t seem too bad. He might just be good for a satisfying spar before getting rid of him,’ she thought to herself and made a come hither motion that enraged the man only further.
Sprinting towards her with murder in his eyes he screamed, “I’m gonna take ya down, bitch!” and attacked her with a Taijutsu combo that relied on pure strength, his estimation apparently being that his - supposed - greater physical strength would allow him a quick victory.
His surprise was that much greater when his assumption was proven wrong by Ranma who not only blocked all his blows with careless ease and an infuriating smirk, but managed to sneak in a hit of her own, and that one smarted like hell. Stumbling back from the kick that had impacted his chest the man glared defiantly at Ranma who just repeated her come hither motion, her cocky grin only growing.
The man assumed an aggressive stance and let a low growl escape his throat, then he sprinted forward again and dropped into a low combo ending in a hard, fast leg sweep that Ranma easily avoided. The man tried to cross punch her in the face as a follow up, but once more Ranma deflected the attack with utmost ease.
Deciding to test the man’s defences after having seen that he hadn’t really that much in ways of an offense she shot a high kick at his face which he predictably blocked, her follow up consisting of a series of – to her – slow punches which the nukenin blocked as well.
Grinning to herself she blocked the man’s front snap kick with a low forearm block, dropped to a squat all of a sudden to avoid the man’s fist that sailed harmlessly over her head and exploded upwards, hitting the man’s chin with a – for her – relatively weak blow that knocked the man backwards. "Pathetic," she ground out, "you should just keel over and die if that's the best you gotta offer, weakling."
The nukenin growled in anger and spat out the blood that had collected in his mouth, but before he could even blink a high kick to the face hit him out of the blue and sent him reeling. Ranma upped the ante and instead of allowing the man to recover mercilessly pressed her advantage and phased out of sight and back into being behind the man and hit his kidneys with precision strikes that caused the nukenin to gasp in pain and anger.
She barely suppressed a grin as the man whirled around to face her and blocked his turning kick with careless seeming ease, grabbed the man’s hand which came flying in as a follow up attack in an effort to punch her face in and threw the man over her left shoulder and right into a tree.
Now the grin shone brightly on her face and Ranma crossed her arms under her chest as she waited for her opponent to recover, and she couldn’t help but to taunt the man, “Your efforts in taking me down are more than pathetic, jerk. Maybe you should've continued to play with your dolls at home instead of playing with the grown ups.”
She couldn’t see the man’s face due to the standard facemask every Mist shinobi – be it regular or nukenin – seemed to wear, but his body language was unmistakable; her insult had hit home. ‘Ahh, good ole Anything Goes insult technique, works every time,’ the raven-haired girl thought as the man’s fist came screaming in in a mid-section punch, Ranma side-stepping the blow with ease. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, she thought as she kicked the man in the back, but was it her fault if his technique was so sloppy?
Out of sheer boredom she decided to give the man another chance to give her a satisfying spar, but a sigh escaped her lips nevertheless as she realised just how much she missed Ryoga. Not his single-minded focus of old to make her life hell, mind you, but their fights had been legendary. Another wistful sigh escaped her lips as her left forearm blocked a punch aimed at her mid-section, the raven-haired young gender-changer having long since recognised the attack as a feint, which was why she was more than prepared and just jumped upward to avoid the leg-sweep that came as a follow up, her right leg kicking out and hitting the man squarely in the face.
A scream of pain escaped the nukenin as his nose broke under the impact of Ranma’s foot, the kunoichi performing a backwards flip that brought some distance between them and seemingly gave the man time to gather himself. But just as he had risen to his feet Ranma raced forward and was already well within the man’s defences yet again, her right handed palm strike hitting the man in the solar plexus which she followed up by a hard roundhouse kick that literally catapulted the man a good twenty metres backward until he hit a tree. Hard.
Ranma almost let a disappointed sigh escape her lips as she watched the man crash into the tree, and she once for all decided to end the ‘spar’ here and now when suddenly the man seemed to remember that he had more than just Taijutsu at his disposal. The hanyou raised a delicate raven brow when the man sped through hand seals she recognised as belonging to Suiton: Suijinheki.
Shaking her head in dismay and wishing not for the first time that these nukenin had been a bit more challenging opponents Ranma threw up an earthen shield courtesy of Doton: Doryuuheki and crossed her arms underneath her chest, a smug grin playing on her face. “Doton beats Suiton, it’s simple as that, sucker,” she muttered amusedly.
Hearing a snarl Ranma let the wall dissolve and caught the enemy nin speeding through a long string of hand seals which belonged to a jutsu she already knew, and without thinking about it she mirrored the man’s movements at a faster pace to catch up, both shinobi exclaiming Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu in stereo. Two huge columns of water slowly rose into the air from the stream, and Ranma grinned when they took the form of large dragons, her grin stemming from the fact that her dragon was a lot larger than the man's.
Her amused gaze met the shocked eyes of the Mist nukenin, and the man was so gobsmacked that her dragon was much bigger than his that his concentration gave out, his water dragon dissolving into a torrent of water that splashed back down into the stream. Ranma’s grin only widened as her own dragon shot forward, easily covering the five metres separating them in the blink of an eye, and the hapless nukenin was caught up in the huge wave the dragon caused as it descended down on him, the unnatural tide carrying the man through numerous trees.
Not wasting a second for the man to recover Ranma jumped across the stream and bounded to where the nukenin had come to lie in a crumpled heap, and while still running she sped through the hand seals for Katon: Karyuu Endan, well aware that the fire dragon would likely be overkill, and when she was only ten metres away from the groaning man she let loose the fiery beast.
A brief feeling of compassion for the man welled up in her chest, but she ruthlessly suppressed it. This man had made his bed when he had decided to become a murdering nukenin who abducted kunoichi to ‘have his fun’, now he had reapt what he had sown. That, Ranma had realised, was the way this Earth worked, and she was glad that her demonic traits made it easier for her to kill.
She heard the brief death cry of the man as the fiery dragon consumed him and stared into the raging inferno until she was certain that it had not been a Bunshin, her keen senses telling her that no one and nothing living outside of her allies was in the vicinity. Closing her eyes she paid her respects before turning and walking away at a leisurely pace, a small smile now tugging at the corners of her mouth. This day had gone over well.
-.-
Ranma still wore the satisfied smile when she returned to where Naruto and Jiraiya had congregated, the two males having returned to the Suna kunoichi’s location. Her sharp, Doujutsu enhanced eyes could clearly see two tied up enemy shinobi lying on the ground, unconscious. Considering that Jiraiya would most likely have done away with them her adopted brother had to have defeated and captured them, and gauging from their injuries she mused that Naruto must have been mightily pissed off.
She could also see the relieved expressions the three Suna girls were wearing, and as she drew ever nearer and stopped suppressing her chakra signature the girls noticed her and spared her a smile before looking back at her ‘brother’.
Smiling slightly to herself she readjusted her sunglasses and joined the group, and upon noticing that she wouldn’t really need her shades in this shady part of the forest Ranma deactivated her Raijugan and stashed them in the folders of her cloak.
“Had an interesting fight, sis?” the disguised Naruto asked her, a foxy smile showing on his face despite the disguise.
“’T was hardly more challenging than a low-level spar, bro,” she replied with a dismissive gesture, “The guy I fought can’t have been more than a high-level Chuunin or low-level Jounin, piece of cake. What about your fights, bro, sensei?”
Naruto wanted to eagerly speak up, but a raised hand from their disguised sensei stopped him cold, “As you well know, I left the remaining fights to your brother and you after I had, let’s say, got our enemies in the mood,” he replied in a more than passable imitation of a black ops leader, “I must say, I am very satisfied with your performances.”
Both teens – who were inwardly as surprised as one can get at how good an actor Jiraiya could be – bowed their heads in acceptance of the genuine praise and muttered their thanks.
“Enough with the sentimentalities now,” Jiraiya boomed in an authoritarian voice and turned to the three Suna kunoichi, “Can you three travel on your own or would you prefer to be carried?”
Once the meaning of Jiraiya’s question had trickled in the three girls looked at each other, chanced a not so subtle glance at the disguised Naruto and exclaimed as one, “Carried!”
Ranma and Jiraiya both suppressed their amusement, the latter inwardly congratulating himself to a plan that had come together while the former chuckled inwardly at her ‘brother’ now being the target of so much female attention and him not even realising it, but seconds later a deep frown appeared on her face as she realised that his ignorance was due to him having grown up so love-starved, and she quickly turned away from the girls and pretended to search for something in her cloak so that they wouldn’t notice.
Retrieving a flask of water Ranma pasted a neutral expression on her face and turned back to look at the girls again, and once she had gulped down some water the raven-haired kunoichi cleared her throat, instantly drawing the others’ attention, “As much as he’d probably like to seeing that he’s the chivalrous sort,” she began in a teasing voice aimed at her ‘brother’, “I doubt my bro would have an easy time carrying all three of you. Not, if he wants to keep up with our usual travelling speed.”
“Aww, not fair!” all three kunoichi pouted in unison, and it looked like a quarrel over who would be the lucky girl to be carried by Naruto would break out when the said young man spoke up.
“But sis, I can too,” he said and made a set of infamous hand seals, yet contrary to Ranma’s and Jiraiya’s worries their disguised team-mate seemed to have understood the value and importance of secrecy and didn’t exclaim his signature shout of ‘Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,’.
Two solid copies of the disguised shinobi appeared in the vicinity, and the three Suna kunoichi looked even more awes-struck if that was possible.
“That’s no Bunshin!” exclaimed the red-haired girl.
“No ordinary one at least,” supplied the blonde kunoichi as she scrutinised the Kage Bunshin with her senses.
“It has way too much chakra for that,” nodded the third girl.
“Yep, that’s true,” Ranma agreed, her speaking up causing the girls to look at her, “What my brother just foolishly used is a secret type of Bunshin all of us are able to use, and it gives us a tactical advantage over our enemies for reasons I can't disclose.” she said in a serious and important tone.
“In fact, this technique and anything else you witnessed is top secret,” stressed the disguised Jiraiya, “and next to no one who is alive is privy to this information. I expect utmost secrecy.”
The girls exchanged nervous glances in face of Jiraiya’s stern tone – that was laced with a fair amount of killer intent – and immediately squeaked out, “O-Of course, sir!”
“Good, good,” Jiraiya acknowledged, “Now that you know of this technique we can accommodate these losers a lot easier,” he said and nodded his head at the tied up and unconscious nukenins, and two fast seals later two Kage Bunshin appeared in the vicinity and picked up the men. “If they wake up, use any means necessary to send them back to sleep.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the shadow clones affirmed and hoisted their cargo over their shoulders.
Nodding Jiraiya turned back to the three kunoichi, and his before serious demeanour made a complete one-eighty and he clapped his hands, “Now it seems that all of you get your wish,” he said and raised a suggestive brow which caused the girls to blush and Ranma to – inwardly – groan, “Son,” Jiraiya turned to Naruto, “do your father proud!” he concluded, and said son clearly saw the perverted glint in his ‘father’s’ eyes.
Naruto, who had in the meantime caught on to what was going on here, glowered at his ‘father’, but could hardly refute the girls, and a brief discussion amongst the said girls who would be the lucky girl to be carried by the real Naruto later the group was ready to set out. Destination: Sunagakure.
to be continued…
Changes in v.2.: I included a Futon jutsu (Futon: Daitoppa) due to the fact that a reviewer mentioned it'd be suspicious that no Sunagakure jutsus were used. I'd to give that to him or her which brought about the change, but to be honest, I see it thusly that there're more elemental affinities in Suna than just Wind affinities. Just it's perfectly justifiable in my opinion that all kinds of other elemental jutsus were used in the fights.
oOo
Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general, which is always more than welcome.
Many thanks to those of who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):
RobotPirateNinja, FalseExact, Wonderbee31, Edengrave, Bobboky, HolyKnight5, nantukoprime, deitarion/SSokolow, Uchiha Shisui, Vilkath, Dumbledork, I am the Bane of my Sword, KaiserPhoenix, deathgeonous, weebee, Dragon Man 180, Vampwriter, Undeen, gaul1, Fluffy, James Axelrad, Lone Wolf, CrossoversKittyKat, Kara Crane, Innortal, Dax, keichan2, RanmaRS, ranma hibiki, Iceman, ranger5, Sdarian, LunaRoseAF, Nadrek, Alex Ultra, aboulhosncc, Taiki, The-Shadow002, ranko lina Inverse, Loto, MrEmperor, bourket, Dracomancer1, They call Me Bruce, Tarquin, Ten-Faced Paladin, NikManic, Gohan Zero, Ashar, pax-draconix, A Reader, BlackRoseFire, Asgeras
oOo
Jutsu translation section (newly introduced due to reviewer suggestion):
Elemental ninjutsu
Doton: Yomi Numa (Swamp of the Underworld): A-rank, Offensive, all ranges; this technique turns a large area of land into a sinking swampland, making it impossible for anyone or anything in that area to move around or escape.
Doton: Doriyuudan (Earth Dragon no jutsu): A rank, Offensive, all ranges; this technique creates a dragon compounded of earth and minerals that’s the pendant to its Suiton and Katon ‘brothers’.
Doton: Doryu Taiga (Earth Element: Earth Flow River): the user performs a technique that forms a rapid river of mud on the ground beneath the opponent.
Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough): C-rank, Offensive, short to mid-range (0-10m); the user blows out a powerful blast of wind, which can easily level a large area.
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique): C-rank, Offensive, Close range (0-5m); utilising a high amount of chakra, a large ball of flame is exhaled from the user's mouth.
Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet): B-rank, Offensive, Short to mid-range (0-10m); shoots an enormous ball of flame in the shape of a dragon from the user's mouth.
Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall): B-rank, Defensive, Short range (0-5m); this jutsu creates a water barrier to protect the user from attacks.
Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon no jutsu): B-Rank, Offensive; this is a technique utilising the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike their target.
Sensatsu Suisho (A Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death): B-rank, Offensive, Short to mid-range (0-10m); this jutsu freezes water into the shape of sharp needles, which then home in on the opponent from all directions. To perform this Jutsu, the user must be near a body of water.
Non-elemental ninjutsu
Kawarimi (Body replacement technique): D-rank, Defensive; this technique allows the user to switch places with an object from the nearby area.
Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique): C-Rank, both Offensive and Defensive; this is a technique that creates a thick fog that can cover a large area, depend on the expenditure of chakra.
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Quick notes section:
- elemental affinities:
-- Ranma: Fire or lightning as primary affinity
due to the Raiju, water as the secondary and maybe Wind as a third
-- Naruto:
Wind as the primary affinity seeing as he gets it from his father, Fire as a
secondary (from the Kyuubi) and Earth as a tertiary affinity
But as said, I’m
still dwelling on it.
- Ranma’s male form: him being able to use a reversed version of the Oroike no jutsu is a temporary fix until his/her chakra network has stabilised. Which won’t take much longer.
- the trip to Suna: needless to say, things will get interesting there. Not only do they get to meet Gaara – Ranma for the first time, no less – but it’s safe to say that Naruto will really start to notice a certain blonde-haired Suna Kunoichi… and vice versa. Who knows, maybe Jiraiya will get some new inspiration for his latest Icha Icha Paradise…
More of my comments can be found at my group in the Q&A section which will go up later today. Does anyone know if it's still forbidden to post something like the Q&A here as well? Just asking out of interest as it'd be a lot more user friendly...