Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ranma ½. I do have a few of my own characters in here though, so I would appreciate it if you asked before using them.

Notes

This was originally done for NanoWrimo in 2007. With this story I made the word count!

Characters form Ranma ½ and Naruto may be out of character

While in the Neko-ken, characters roll their rs (I am not going to spell it that way, since it is to hard to write/read that way)

"Hi" Speaking

'Hi' Thinking

Painful Pasts and New Beginnings

By: Shlandria

Chapter 2

A bright flash later and he was outside of a very familiar village. He immediately checked on the girl he had brought with him, and was glad she was still alive, if just barely. That done, he restablized her and forced more blood clotting and food pills down her throat. He then gently picked her up and ran as fast as he could to get her to the hospital and the medical staff there.

Because of the amount of energy needed for the jutsu to create the gateway, many in the village had felt it. Fearing an attack, the guards were on high alert and there were even a few ANBU teams at the gate by the time he arrived, which was not good considering he was in a hurry. With the help of the ANBU, they managed to make him stop in his tracks. Luckily for him, he still had the neko-ken activated, and looked rather intimidating. He stopped only long enough to give them a feral look and growled out "MOVE!" using his ki to enhance his voice, giving them pause. He was then on his way to the hospital. The only thing anyone in the village saw was a red and black blur. The ANBU were on his tail a second after he had gotten past them however, so he knew he would have to deal with them soon.

The Guards and ANBU were on high alert, because of the massive energy spike minutes before, when they saw someone running so fast, that they were only a blur, and heading straight for them and the village. They all tensed, ready for battle, and tried to stop the person. Luckily the person stopped, revealing a boy that looked similar to a cat. He had cat ears on the top of his head, and a tail swaying behind him, black with white and red tiger stripes. He also had whiskers.

They were not sure if he was a demon or not, but he looked very feral. They noticed he had someone in his arms, hurt badly and wondered if he had hurt them. Then he made eye contact with each of them quickly, but long enough for them to see that his eyes were silted. He then growled out "MOVE!" and they got a good look at his fangs. Immediately after that, he ran past them and it took a moment for the guards to recover. The ANBU however, had already recovered and were giving chase. Seeing this, the guards eyed the forest outside of the village and hoped that there were no more of whatever the boy was out there.

He did manage to make it to the hospital on time, the ANBU right behind him, however they did nothing, seeing the state the person in his arms was in and where his destination was. The moment he was in the hospital, he was calling for a doctor; luckily there was one nearby, who wasn't afraid of his appearance and came to help. As soon as the girl was in the emergency room, being taken care of, a medic nin who knew what he was, came to see if he was injured. He just glared at them, growled and told them he was fine and to take care of the girl. They were too afraid to push him, and so they did as he asked. Since he seemed fine, the ANBU decided it was time to take the stranger into custody and inform the Hokage about him and what they knew.


He saw the ANBU coming towards him and knew it would be best to just go with them, the girl was in good hands, and that was all that really mattered. He supposed it would be best if he apologized to them as well, since he had been a bit rude and knew he had scared them as well as the guards. He decided to keep the neko-ken active for now as well, no need causing more problems for himself. Once they got close enough, he turned to them, took a step forward, and bowed to them. "I am sorry for my actions earlier; I was worried about the girl and wished only to get her the medical attention she was desperately in need of." He told them in an apologetic tone, slightly rolling his rs. Seeing him acting politely, they decided to be just as civil. "We understand, however you must now come with us." Said the head ANBU. "I understand, and I will come peacefully." The boy replied still rolling his rs. They led the now cooperative being straight to the Hokage's office and in front of the Hokage himself.

Once in the Hokage's office, the boy recognized the head of the village. 'That's odd, the last time I was here niisan was the Hokage, not jiji. I wonder what happened.' He thought. He then did something that startled, confused and upset the ANBU all at once. Luckily for them their faces were covered by their masks, though that didn't stop the boy from smelling their mixed reactions and causing him to flash a quick, knowing smirk.

He began purring, walked right up to the Hokage, and then promptly sat or more like crouched at the Hokage's side and leaned against him slightly. The poor ANABU members were not sure how to react. They were supposed to protect the Hokage, yet the boy was not acting in a threatening manor and the Hokage didn't seem to mind. The boy then purred out, barely audible, "jiji" almost like a sigh. The Hokage only gave a slight chuckle and told his ANBU that it was ok, while ruffling the boy's hair and scratching behind his ears.

After he assured them, the Hokage dismissed the ANBU so that he could talk to the boy alone. Before he could say anything however, the boy spoke up. "Jiji, where is niisan? His scent should be everywhere, but I can't smell him."

Though he knew he would have to tell the boy, he had been hoping to put it off for a time. Sadly, he knew they would get nowhere until he answered this question. Hopefully the boy would understand. 'I can't blame him for wanting to know. He is naturally curious, and was very close to his niisan.' Sarutobi thought.

"I'm sorry Ranma, he is gone. He died protecting this village from the Nine tailed Demon Fox." He said. Ranma just gave him a sad smile and said "It's ok jiji, he died a hero then, and while protecting all of his precious people and the village he loved." "I'm glad you feel that way Ranma." Sarutobi said.

"Ranma, would you mind telling me why you startled the guards and were hostile to the ANBU earlier?" Sarutobi said in a more authorative voice, falling into the roll of Hokage once more. "A girl, she was badly injured and in need of immediate medical assistance." Ranma replied with a hint of worry in his voice. "Please explain Ranma. How badly injured was she? Surly you could have taken a minute to explain." Sarutobi said. "No, I could not take a minute, she didn't have one jiji." Ranma replied almost vehemently. "She was near dead jiji. I did what I had to." Though he didn't show it, Sarutobi was worried. He knew without a doubt, that Ranma was telling him the absolute truth. I want a full oral report, now Jounin Satome, then I want you to give a full written one." The third ordered, completely serious. The way Ranma had stressed certain words told him the boy, even if subconsciously, had treated this like a mission and he wanted to know why.

Ranma had not moved from his position since he had sat down beside his jiji; however when he heard this he got up and sat in a chair on the other side of the Hokage's desk. "Yes Hokage sama." He replied, and then began a full detailed account of what had happened to lead him to the girl, and prompted him to bring her to the village.


"I was in my world, taking a walk deep in the woods to clear my mind when something felt off. For some reason I suddenly felt ill at ease, and instinctively went on high alert. It didn't help when I caught a scent that didn't belong. I wasn't sure what it was, and was ready to react at the slightest sound. I decided to find a safe place to hide, and then figure out what had me so on edge. Once I was hidden, I activated the neko-ken. I then began sorting through the various scents nearby to determine what was wrong and what that scent was. It didn't take me long to realized that the scent was blood. Jiji… it was human bloodfresh human blood, and a lot of it." Here Ranma paused to calm himself down a little bit. It was obvious he was upset.

"Once I realized what I was smelling was human blood, I began following the scent to see what had happened. I had to see if the person could be helped. I moved cautiously, not wanting to spring a trap. When I got closer, I could tell that whoever was bleeding was female. I began moving faster, staying on alert. When I was even closer, I caught the scent of another person, a male, however that scent was days old. After that I all but flat out ran to where the smell of blood was strongest. If I had not been using the neko- ken, I would have passed right by her. She was in a covered pit; the cover was covered in dirt and well hidden. I began digging her out with my ki claws and hands. I didn't stop until the pit was completely uncovered. Jiji, what I saw…" Here he had to pause again, emotions playing across his face. Anger, sorrow, understanding and a look of near helplessness were the most prominent. He wanted to lash out in anger and cry for the girl; however, he reigned in his emotions so he could continue his story.

"At first all I saw was a mass of fur, dirt and blood. All I could smell was bloodearth and cats. Then some of the cats moved and I saw her. You could see bone from where they had been tearing into her. Bone jiji, and not just in one or two places. Just looking at her, you would have thought she was dead. Here he paused to calm down again. I could faintly make out a weak heart beat. I immediately jumped down into the pit and threw the cats off of her. While I was doing this, some of them tried to challengemy authority. I hissed and growled at them, forcing them to layoff, the ones that didn't I killed. Once she was free of the cats, I gathered her as gently as I could and jumped back out of the pit. Once out, I put her down gently and began assessing her wounds. Cleaning and bandaging the worst.

As I was doing this, I was going over my options. The nearest hospital was over five miles by foot and there weren't any nearby roads. Every way I looked at it, she would die before she got to a hospital. After I had the worst of her injuries taken care of, I began forcing some blood clotting pills and food pills down her throat. That's when I realized I could bring her here. It was the best option I could come up with and the only one that gave her a chance of living. I didn't hesitate jiji, I did what I felt was necessary to save her life.

Once I had transported us outside of the village, I made sure she was stable, forced more blood clotting pills and food pills down her throat. I then ran as fast as I dared to get her to the hospital. She had already lost a lot of blood and was practically knocking at death's door. When I saw the ANBU as well as the guard I just reacted. I paused only long enough to roar at them to move, then I was on my way again. I did apologize and followed the ANBU peacefully after I made sure the girl was being taken care of." Ranma said, clearly very upset.

"Ranma, you stay here and work on a written report, I'll go see how the girl is doing. I'll also see to it you are not disturbed." Sarutobi said more gently, getting up and hugging the upset boy. "Ok. Jiji, please tell me how she is when you come back." Ranma said, worry showing in his eyes. "Don't worry Ranma, I will." Sarutobi replied. "Thank you jiji." Ranma said as the third walked out of the office. As soon as the Hokage left and the doors were closed, Ranma got an empty scroll and began working on the written report, wanting to get it done as soon as possible, the memories of what had happened still fresh in his mind.