A Wolf and A Tiger
Chapter 1
The Start of a New Life
The rangers have finally done it, they have defeated Master Org and finally ended their battles with him and his fellow orgs in order for them to gain control of the Earth through pollution and destruction, Master Org has finally been defeated. The Earth was free to rebuild what was damaged and create new life for the future, and it was all thanks to the power rangers wild force, those who harness the power of the animal kingdom to fight. None were happier then Merrick, the lunar wolf and sole member of the original team that defeated Master Org the first time, he was happy because they defeated the org this time without the use of a forbidden and dark power. Another miracle was born from this victory as well, Animus, the god-like ancestor of the wild megazord, he consisted of a dark lion, condor, saw shark, buffalo, and a jaguar wild zords, Animus was able to let his soul escape destruction and was now a spirit.
"It is good to see you rangers, thank you for defeating Master Org and restoring balance to the world," Animus thanked in his deep voice as he appeared to the rangers, well, actually he appeared in the sky through a spiritual window type deal, you know the kind.
"It was all in a day's work Animus, thank you for your help," Cole, the wild force red ranger, replied with a big smile and his standard childlike wonder in his eyes from his years in the jungle where he maintained his child-like innocents.
"Yes, thank you for all your help, but there is one last problem that must be dealt with at great speeds, Zen-Aku's mask, has been restored and is drawing those with weak spirits to it so that he can be free once again," Animus announced, and the others gasped.
"We can't let him escape, we barely defeated him last time, where's the mask and we'll destroy it and end his reign of terror once and for all," Merrick suggested and got nods from everyone except for Alyssa, the wild force white ranger.
"That cannot happen either, there must always be balance, and Zen-Aku is the last dark force in the entire world at the moment, there must always be a dark force from the Earth, it is a part of the balance that is key to the universe," Animus stated.
"Then we seal the mask away for good, we bury him under a mile of concrete in all direction so that he'll never get out," Taylor, the wild force yellow ranger, suggested with crossed arms and a scowl plastered on her face.
"That will not work either, those seeking power will still be in search for it and will eventually find it, and the new generation of power rangers may not be strong enough to fight him," Animus shot that plan down as well.
"You make it sound as though the situation is hopeless, is there anything we can do to prevent the destruction that Zen-Aku will cause if he gets free," Max, the wild force blue ranger, asked the great and powerful god-like megazord.
"There is a way to ensure the survival of the world and prevent the duke org from emerging, one of you must become the mask's guardian and be sent to a new land with the mask to ensure it is never used again," Animus announced to them. The reactions were varied, Merrick and Cole were shocked that is what it took to ensure the duke org never came back, Max and Danny, the wild force black ranger, were dumbfounded at the news and scared that they might be separated. Taylor was angry that Animus was going to have to send one of them to another land just to ensure the duke org never got out, and Princess Shayla was worried that Merrick might volunteer, she loved him even though she knew it was forbidden.
Alyssa was the one who had the calmest reaction though, she stood behind the others so they couldn't see her smile at this opportunity to travel to some great land, all she had to do was carry the mask with her, how hard could that be? She did have to get information about it first, "do you know what kind of land we will be sent to, or any detail about what will happen," she asked after she made sure her face was blank so the others wouldn't get any ideas about her.
"I do not know what kind of land you will be sent to, but I do know that it will be a tough land from the power the mask will naturally put into the portal, also, I regret to inform you that you will no longer have the form you do now. Your soul will be put into that of a newborn baby in that land, you will have all your memories so you will be able to train your body to how it is now, and you will have to search for the mask once you get there, it is one of the risks that accompany this mission. Once your body grows strong enough, somebody may have already found and put the mask on, so whoever goes needs to be prepared for that," Animus announced to the group, he saw them all hesitate, and he knew two that either wanted or needed to go. The one who wanted to go was Merrick in hopes to atone for his seemingly many sins, even if he has already done so in the eyes of the wild zords, but the one who needed to go was Alyssa, she alone had the fighting skill, stealth skill, and strength of heart to do this.
"I volunteer to go," Alyssa said before Merrick did, and boy was he about to, and secretly, princess Shayla was a bit relieved she did so that the lunar wolf could stay on earth with her, it was obvious to everyone except maybe Cole, Danny, and Max.
"You shouldn't be the one to go Alyssa, maybe someone else, you still have college and so much life ahead of you, I've lived a long enough life on this Earth, maybe I should go, I still have much to atone for," Merrick suggested with a grim frown.
"I think you've done enough to atone Merrick, besides, it might be best to be unpredictable when there is a chance that Zen-Aku will come out while whoever goes trains their body, and the best to go would be Alyssa," Taylor reasoned, which was a good point.
"Also, with her tiger style, she's probably the best fighter here, and wherever they end up, I know that she can adapt and add new knowledge into her arsenal," princess Shayla also reasoned, the points were good, and Merrick knew it, so he had no choice but to nod.
"Then it's settled Animus, I'll be the guardian over the mask and make sure that Zen-Aku never wakes from his slumber," Alyssa stated with determination in her eyes, this was her only chance to go on an adventure by herself to a land unknown.
"Very well Alyssa, but I should warn you that you may have a new personality, you may be shy or outgoing, you may be quiet or you may be loud, you may have a family that hates you, a family that loves you, or a family that ignores you in favor for siblings. With your kind and compassionate nature though, you may end up with everything you currently do, there is really no way of knowing though, say your final goodbyes so you may leave with no regrets," Animus advised.
"We already said our final goodbyes to each other before the final battle with Master Org, in case one of us didn't make it, so we all said everything before that," Cole said, but he still couldn't help himself from hugging her bye, as did everyone else.
"One last thing, I will put all the powers of your ranger form inside your soul, you will have the powers of your white tiger, elephant, and deer zords, this means that you will have a good act for healing others, a wonderful mind, and you will retain your noble heart. Are you ready," Animus saw her nod and gathered light around her and a random point across town, the rangers figured that was wear the mask was so they didn't think anything of it, they all waved goodbye to their friend that was going to a new land as a protector.
In the new land
The next thing that Alyssa knew, she was being pulled out of a dark tunnel and through a light, that light soon died down and soon she was able to tell that she had literally just came out of the womb of her new mother, and after everything was placed in her arms. 'Strange, I feel so warm and cozy here, I almost wish I never have to leave, but I know I need to,' Alyssa thought as she snuggled up to her new mother, she could relax a little since she was a baby right now, but knew she needed to get to work soon.
"She's beautiful, I'll name her Hinata, welcome to your life, Hinata Hyuga, my little princess," her mother cooed to the newly named Hinata, she liked the name as well, and couldn't wait to see what kind of world she was born into, and she hoped it was a good one.
It was a year later when she was over it, she found that she was born into a world filled with ninjas of some sort, her family was one of, if not the strongest clan in all of their village, the village hidden in the leaves, one of the five great ninja villages. Her father was the clan head, she was the oldest so she was the next head of the family, so her training to become the next family head would begin as soon as possible, so she was able to get stronger faster, only one problem. Their fighting style is different then what she's used to, her tiger style needed her to move around and be able to adapt to a change in position in an instant, which she was able to improve upon with the use of her new power, the byakugan. Even if she was one year old, when she was not being watched, she would practice her form the best she could at her age, but with the Hyuga style that they were using, this gentle fist style, they had to stand their ground more than move around. That was not her style, so she would need to adapt even more so than what she normally would and learn how to fit in here by reshaping her moves to be more like an unrelenting wall rather than a never settling tiger that can strike at a moment's notice.
It wasn't until she was two years old that she began her training for real, and boy did she train, the bodies of this realm were far stronger than those back on Earth so she was up and training in her tiger style sooner than she thought. Once she got a hold of a scroll containing some forms for the gentle fist is when her training got even more intense, she practiced for as long as she could as often as she could without anyone getting suspicious, her mother was a little concerned sometimes though.
She trained long and hard until the elders finally had her new father begin her training with the use of gentle fist style at three years old, but they didn't expect her to ever be much do to how she acted around others, she was sure to act shy and meek. The rest of her new and greatly extended family was full of stoic or scowling faces, they were all separate by one distinct mark on their foreheads, her father called it a caged bird seal, made to make sure the branch members of the family knew their place as servants. She was put as the heiress as the main household while her cousin one year older was put as heir to the branch household, at first he was kind to her, but after he got his caged bird seal is when he got less kind and more stoic like the others. So, her shy and meek nature was quite different from the other stoic and scowling faces of the rest of her family, and when she broke out into a stance they never saw anyone from the main house take, they gave even more of a scowl. When she beat her father, even if he was going greatly easy on her, everyone shouted out at her in outrage that it was not the style used by the members of the Hyuga clan, her father had a talk with her after that and said to use the gentle fist style from now on.
It wasn't until she was four years old that something happened, her village and another had been at war with one another, that war had came to an end and the two villages were to sign a peace treaty with one another. So, the top ninja from the other village, the village hidden in the clouds, came one day on her birthday to sign the peace treaty, only thing was that the night the ninja was to leave, he made a quick stop by the Hyuga compound to pick her up. This was not a good plan, not a good plan at all, because she was out practicing her pure gentle fist style with some of her tiger movements in them at random times, some kicks were put in at random times to make sure the invisible enemy was off balance. She had been practicing for a year since she won that farce of a fight against her father to see how skilled she was, they did make a comment that she was skilled, but needed to use their style, not her own, so she had been practicing for a year to make up for it. When the man came to kidnap her though, she still had her byakugan activated so she saw him coming, when he showed up, she hid in the shadows as best she could and struck in the second when he was surprised that she wasn't in her bed and got suspicious. He never saw the hand coming that paralyzed him with well placed jabs, as he fell to the ground, she yelled out for help and in came her father to see the scene before him, the ninja would be interrogated thoroughly and never heard from again. She was commended in taking out a higher-ranking ninja, getting a surprise attack on one is quite the achievement and not many could say they did that, but in truth, she just did what needed to be done, and that was it.
It wasn't until one and a half years later, when something else of import happened, her mother gave birth to another daughter, Hanabi Hyuga, our reincarnate was overjoyed to become a big sister, she was an only child in her old life and was thrilled to have a sibling. There is always tragedy though, their mother died in childbirth, shortly before getting to name her daughter, after that is when their father got colder and harsher in the training, not that it mattered to Alyssa/Hinata though. Her standard training got more intense as time passed, each day more grueling then the last, and it wasn't until her mother died when she was to the level of genin already, genin was the rank of a rookie in the ninja world.
It was at eight years old when one of the most important things to happen to a ninja in training happened, she was sent to the ninja academy, the school that taught you on how to be a ninja in this world, and it is on that day after school an event took place. It was a day with a rare snowfall with a fresh blanket of white powder on the ground, school had just let out and she was walking home when three older boys jumped her and started bullying, she was no pushover and knew that she could take them. Before she could however, a blonde-haired boy came out of nowhere and defended her, she was quite touched that someone else was like how she and the other rangers were before being sent here. The boy, of course, got the stuffing beat out of him for his efforts, but the boys that did so got a beating themselves in return as well, they fought back as meagerly as they could, but they were no match for her and soon found the realm of sleep far better at the moment. She checked on the boy and learned that his name was Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan that joined the ninja academy like her, when she asked why he had saved her, he said that it was the right thing to do, so why wouldn't he. She giggled at him at that statement, it was so much like her friends that it was a little creepy, that was the moment she developed a crush on the boy, but knew that at the moment she couldn't do anything about it, so she decided to make a friend instead.
They greeted each other daily after that, hung out during lunch and talked quite often during the next four years, it was at this time that they were all scheduled to take an exam to become genin, the lowest ranking ninja in the ranks. While working in class, she kept an ear out for anything on the mask of Zen-Aku, she also went to the local stores regularly to see what masks they sold, mask shops and such were also where she could be seen, but back to the exam. Hinata/Alyssa passed with flying colors, even called the teachers attention to a genjutsu, an illusion, that had been placed on Naruto's paper by one of the teachers that hated him, Naruto was given the correct paper and the teacher was reprimanded. One thing that Hinata/Alyssa never understood was how someone could be hated so much for something he has no control over, at one time she had asked her father why Naruto was hated in the village and was told that it was forbidden for him to tell her in any way. Luckily, she used her own powers of deduction thanks to her elephant zord's soul and found the answer when she realized that the day the fourth hokage, the leader of the village, defeated the nine-tailed fox was the same day as Naruto's birthday. She knew the truth after that, he was what was known as a jinchuriki, a living prison for a beast known as the nine-tailed fox, but she wondered why a man would put a newborn baby through all of that, why would such a seemingly great man do that. It wasn't until she finally found a picture of the fourth hokage, not just a stone face on a monument, when she figured it out, Naruto was his own son, so he wouldn't ask another father to do what he himself couldn't, but why wasn't Naruto told this.
It was the day of the graduation exam when she confronted the third hokage about it, she wanted to stay behind and comfort Naruto about how he failed the exam for the third time, but she knew this was also important, and so she walked into the hokage's office. He was sitting there and doing paperwork while smoking on a pipe, so when she walked into the office without an appointment, he didn't bother looking up as he was focused on what she had often heard him call the bane of all existence. "Lord Hokage, can I talk to you about something important," she asked and watched him almost jump, but that was just for show, she knew that he knew she was there from the beginning, he just wanted to seem like an old man losing his sense at times.
"Of course, young one, what can I do for you," the third hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, asked the young Hyuga, he made sure to note the seriousness of her tone of voice while also taking note that she was studying the room for something.
"I have two big questions, each one has a few sub questions that I would like answered, or at least given reason as to some things, but here is the first question, why haven't you told Naruto that he houses the nine-tailed fox," Hinata/Alyssa asked the old man.
Hiruzen remained as stoic as possible as he listened to the young girl, it was clear she cared deeply about Naruto, how deeply is what will be put to the test, "I haven't told him because he is not ready to know the truth, knowing could be a trigger for the fox's release."
"Now it's time for my sub questions then, why tell the villagers about him then, and then letting them beat him, chase him with weapons, almost kill him, why tell the villagers at all, that could have been a trigger as well," was her next question.
"The moment before his father died, he requested that Naruto be seen as a hero by the village, I told them in hopes that they would view him as someone protecting them from a great threat, not as an outlet for their anger, hence a law that was set forth," Hiruzen responded.
"Lot of good that did, did you not make your intentions clear about what you wanted, what the fourth wanted, or did you just think a group of people that just lost quite a bit would get your meaning," she asked again.
"In hindsight, it wasn't my smartest move, I don't believe it was my dumbest though, it may seem cruel of me to say this, but the village did need an outlet in some way, I just wish it didn't have to be Naruto," he replied as he took a puff of his pipe.
"Another thing you are forgetting is that you also put the students at the academy in danger by not telling him and letting everyone else think the fox was dead, what if an incident occurred where the seal was weakened and let the fox loose," she questioned.
"I had anbu stationed close to the school at all times and if such an incident did occur, then they were ordered to deal with it accordingly, I even made sure they were anbu who wouldn't kill him," Hiruzen replied back to her.
"When will you finally decide that Naruto is ready to know the truth, I know that if you explain the situation to him then the fox won't be released, he is the number one most unpredictable ninja after all," Hinata/Alyssa reasoned back.
"I was going to tell him when he made genin, I was even considering telling him even if he failed this exam, and there is a point to all this, he needs to show more maturity to the public before I tell him. I know that he has shared with you his actual nature, his true maturity, that's how close you are to one another, but I cannot tell him unless he shows the public that they aren't dealing with someone who would lash out at them, regardless of if they deserve it or not," he answered.
"On to my second main question, and I think you already know it, and I get why you haven't told Naruto that his father was the fourth hokage, the hidden stone would attack us or send assassins after Naruto, but why did you lie about his mother," she asked.
"That is quite complicated, you see, Kushina Uzumaki was his mother, but also the previous nine tails jinchuriki, only an Uzumaki can contain it, Kushina was a great kunoichi, one capable to go toe-to-toe with a kage, but that was the problem. The Uzumaki were known for this, and the hidden cloud had already made an attempt to capture her when she was young, that's actually how she and Minato fell in love, Minato saved her and said she liked her hair, it's quite the story. Anyway, if I told him or anyone who his parents were, then they'd be dead set on either killing him because of his father, or taking him away because of his mother, so I was left with only one option, tell him nothing and leave it at that," Hiruzen explained.
"I assume that both truths were under a secret rank where only you and the elders knew it even existed, well, the lineage at least, the fox was known by everyone but Naruto," she remarked with a scowl and hidden smirk, she knew an obvious secret.
"Yes, and now that you know it, you must keep this from him on pain of death, you must not ever let this information fall into his or anyone else's hands, knowing could mean his and everyone else's death," he ordered as he stared her down.
"You don't have to worry about me telling him, you already did, you can come in now," she called out randomly, the suddenly swung open to reveal a tear stained Naruto standing there and glaring at Hiruzen with red eyes with the pupil slit down the middle. What happened though, as Hinata/Alyssa was about to enter the office, she noticed Naruto about to sneak go in and talk with the hokage about something, so she told him to wait and wait there until he heard her call for him to enter, said it was important.
Naruto stood there and stared at the old man with a fierce glare until he did the unexpected, he put his hands into a seal and called out, "transform," before bursting into a cloud of smoke, when it died down is when things got strange. In Naruto's place was a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair in pigtails, that was all she had on, she was naked with only smoke covering her private forms, this just strangely added to her appeal. Hinata/Alyssa just turned tomato red and turned to see the hokage's reaction, he got a nose bleed so strong it knocked him out, when she turned back to ask why he did that, she was met with the form of a shirtless and grown up Naruto, she blacked out after that.