If I owned Ranma or Naruto, I would not be in college, gaining more debt, and eating cardboard (hey, it's something, right?).
Why is out so soon? Blame Torchwood's Children of Earth Special. It left my muse in a depression because it totally screwed up what I had planned for my Dr Who/Ranma cross. I still plan on writing and finishing it, but now my timeline is out of whack. So when my muse decided that it wanted to work on this, I decided to let it have its way.
Speaking of which, can somebody give me a decent timeline for when Kurenai took over training Yakumo Kurama? I plan on making a minor harem for Naruto in this story, and I don't really like how fate dealt her hand. That, and adding her to the main cast early would cause quite a bit of chaos, don't you think?
Will someone please take note of the bottom sections of these chapters? I have pertinent info down there. For example, the last one advertised two story ideas that I want to give away. For more info, please look at my profile.
When Uzumaki Kushina awoke, she knew two things: that something was seriously wrong, and that someone was going to pay.
In the Elemental Nations, the electricity was supplied by numerous chakra generators that had been built. Seals converted energy from the sun, the wind, and the rain to create energy similar to lightning chakra. Thus, a high level shinobi could immediately sense the electricity in a building. In fact, the electricians that civilians used all had specialized training in using chakra and, more specifically, lightning chakra.
The problem was, the electricity in the building was not chakra related.
Kushina opened her eyes and her energy senses. The room she was in was modern, but had several items that had a more rural, almost primitive nature to them. On a chair next to her was a set of Chinese style martial arts clothing. Downstairs, several high level energy signals tickled her senses.
A heavy weight was felt in her chest, as she realized where she was, and what she couldn't sense . . .
She couldn't sense her son . . .
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T RESTORE THE BOY'S MEMORIES?!?" Saotome Genma demanded.
Cologne looked on, nonplussed. "Son-in-Law's ki pathways have changed drastically while he was away. While most of his pressure points have remained the same, anything related to his ki, including the shiatsu points related to curing the XI Fang Xiao (Memory Loss Shiatsu Technique), have been altered."
"So? Just hit the boy on the head! That fixed him before, didn't it?" Tendo Soun supplied.
The unsheathing of a sword silenced both of them, as Saotome Nodoka glared at the men. She then looked at Cologne. "Are you sure that there isn't a way to get my manly son back? Or at least bring my grandbaby here?"
Cologne sighed. The moment she had finished examining Ranma after his return, she knew that there would be problems. For one thing, she knew nothing about the energy that flooded his female form.
For another, the very fact that she separated a mother from her child caused her a deep pain. There was no greater sin, in her opinion, than to do such a thing. And the other Elders . . .
The other Elders of the Chinese Amazons wouldn't care at all, as long as they got Ranma's genetics into their gene pools . . .
"WAH!!! NOW THE FAMILIES WILL NEVER BE JOINED!!!"
"Don't worry old friend, as soon as the boy wakes up, we will bash his head in until he remembers, and then Ranma and Akane can be wed!"
"RANMA!!!"
"The boy you speak of is long dead."
The quiet sound of a female voice split through the argument like a knife. As the adults in the room turned towards the stairs, they found the girl they believed to be Saotome Ranma standing there, wearing one of Shampoo's Chinese dresses.
As the girl walked towards them, Cologne noted how she moved. Ranma moved like a fighter: confident and powerful. However, she had never walked with the deadly grace and poise that this woman walked with. This was no real fighter . . .
This was a blooded warrior.
"STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS BOY AND . . ."
"WAH! MY DAUGHTERS WILL NEVER BE MARRIED . . ."
"Now son . . . "
Suddenly, an immense killing intent filled the room. Genma soiled himself, Soun fainted, and Nodoka froze, mouth hanging open.
Cologne, as she did not have the KI sent her way, nodded, and asked "What do you mean, he is long dead? Forgive me for asking this, but aren't you he?
The killing intent stopped, and the girl turned her gaze to the Elder. "Saotome Ranma died over twelve years ago, after being stabbed in the back by a myopic duck, a wandering pig, and a crazed samurai. My name is Uzumaki Kushina, jonin of Konohagakure."
Cologne cocked her head to the side. "It seems that you have at least a partial recall of what happened . . . "
Kushina shook her head and sighed. She picked up a cup of tea that had been set aside not long ago, and said "For me to remember, I would have to be Saotome Ranma. However, I am not him. I have his memories, and nothing more."
As Genma opened his mouth to retort, a quick blur flew by his neck. Looking back, he found a small knife sticking into the wall. Suddenly, he became aware of the fact that the knife had opened a small cut where it had passed him by. He returned his gaze to Kushina, to find her holding another one.
"If Panda-san dares to open his mouth again, the next one won't miss." Again, her gaze turned to Cologne. "Now, about returning me to where I come from . . . " Suddenly, her body stiffened, as she felt unable to move.
"Cologne sighed again. "The problem with that Son in . . . my dear, is that in order to bring you here, I had to use some items that belonged to other members of the council. They want nothing more than your blood to be part of the tribe. They don't care about anything else. If I send you back, things will not be pretty for me or Shampoo . . . "
"I apologize for this, but you are going to have to stay here for now."
As Cologne looked up at Kushina's face, she was expecting to see rage, frustration, or hatred. She was not expecting for the girl to be looking at her with a face full of . . . amusement.
"I guess I should make a point to be far worse than the Elders then."
She then winked at the stunned old woman, and then . . .
POOF
. . . Disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The real Uzumaki Kushina blinked as the memories of her kage bunshin filtered into her mind.
The old ghoul looked almost apologetic, as if she wished that she could send her home. She also noted that the Elder had not stated anything about whether or not it was possible to go back.
Kushina scowled at the memory. While she knew that the Elder would only need a little bit of . . . convincing . . . to send her back, the possibility of it actually being done was unknown.
She would get back though. There was no doubt in her mind that she would do it.
She knew what Minato had been planning on doing, and while her husband always had faith in the people of Konoha, she couldn't really say the same for herself.
The problem was that she needed information, and the only one who could give her that . . .
Kushina sighed, as she continued roof hopping towards the Tendo Dojo, wearing nothing but a bed sheet wrapped around her body.
While Kushina escaped, and the adults at the Nekohanten panicked, nobody noticed the open freezer door, nor did they notice a fleeing duck . . .
Tendo Nabiki walked upstairs slowly, lost in her thoughts. Call it women's intuition, but she knew that things would never return to normal, despite the fact that Cologne claimed to have brought Ranma back. Worse, her business ventures were drying up, and the only way to make more money would be to sell what little bit of her soul was left . . . or sell her body.
She entered her room, closed the door, and then turned around to find a blue eyes staring back at her. Suddenly, she was pressed against the door.
"I need some questions answered, and you are going to answer them for me"
"R- . . . Ranma?" Nabiki squeaked.
The redhead in front of her smiled softly. "Saotome Ranma died over twelve years ago, or at least he did to me. My name is Uzumaki Kushina, and I want answers, now!"
Nabiki's heart wrenched at those words, but she clamped down on it as she put forth her business face. "You're not the only one here with questions. How 'bout a deal? I'll answer some of your questions if you answer some of mine?"
Kushina stared at Nabiki's passive face, and then stepped back, allowing her to move towards the bed.
"How long have I been here?"
Nabiki sat down and replied, "Cologne brought you here a little over two days ago. You've been unconscious since then. What do you mean, Ranma died? Cologne said that your bioenergy signals match perfectly?"
The smile reappeared on Kushina's face as she answered, "Saotome Ranma was stabbed in the back, brain washed, and sent away. I was found lying in the forest near a village, and a shinobi clan adopted me as their daughter. I've lived ten years before his memories came back. The problem is, my life has been far better than his life. Why anyone would want to live it, I have no idea. Thus, Ranma is dead. How long ago was it that he disappeared from this plane?"
Nabiki blinked as she absorbed this information. "About a month ago . . . wait, are you saying that you were Ranma, but you are Kushina now because Ranma's life sucked?"
This time, it was Kushina's turn to blink. "Well, that's one way of putting it. I spent ten years being raised as Kushina. When his memories were revealed to me, I had already become what I am." She then shrugged. "Besides, I like being Kushina better than he liked being Ranma. Why would I go back to being him?"
Nabiki stared at her for a moment, and then sagged into herself. "Good point . . . wait a minute, what do you mean, shinobi village?"
"The world where I awoke for the first time had five major powers: Hi no Kuni, Mizu no Kuni, Kaminari no Kuni, Tsuchi no Kuni, and Kaze no Kuni. Each had their own Hidden Ninja Village, with many more scattered around the continent. I landed near Uzugakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool. The Uzumaki clan adapted me, and I started training to be a kunoichi soon after that."
A sad look entered Nabiki's eye. "So we did take you away from your family . . ."
"Yes and no . . . "
"What?"
Kushina sighed. "Two and a half years ago, my time, Uzugakure was invaded and wiped out by Iwagakure. A number of us were sent away from the village before then, to help save the knowledge and wisdom of our clans. I ended up in Konohagakure, the Hidden Village of the Leaves, as the last of my clan."
"But when you came in, Cologne said that you were pregnant . . . "
A glint entered Kushina's eyes. "I thought it was my turn to ask a question?"
"Sorry . . . "
"Don't worry about it. If you must know, when I escaped from my village, I was followed by some Iwa ninja. They would have killed me if it wasn't for Minato and his team."
"Who?"
"Namikaze Minato, one of the premier ninja of Konoha. Ironically, he and I didn't react to well to each other at first, but after a while, well . . . "
Nabiki, her impassive mask still on her face, nodded slowly. "I see. You said this was two years ago, correct? From what you said, you started recalling who you were not long after that. How'd that happen?"
Kushina shrugged. "About five months after I settled down in Konoha, I started having these weird flashbacks. Some names, faces, not much to speak of, but they were worrying. So I ended up going to a friend of mine in the Yamanaka clan. They specialized in techniques that can enter the mind and take over the body of enemies. She entered my mind, and found a ton of sealed memories from Nerima. The thing is, I didn't really feel anything for that life. I like what I am now, thank you very much."
She then sat down beside Nabiki. "So . . . how long have you liked Ranma?"
Nabiki's eyes snapped wide and her body whirled around to face the redheaded kunoichi. "WHAT?!? I . . . uh . . . "
Kushina smirked. "We Shinobi are experts at reading body language. You may be an expert at covering your emotions, but even the best poker faces have their flaws." Her face then softened. "Feel like talking about it?"
"It doesn't really matter much anymore. You said it yourself: Ranma is gone . . . "
"Maybe, but there are still parts of him left." At Nabiki's look, she smiled. "I may not feel much, but there are still impressions that are left concerning how he felt for certain people. He hated yet loved his father; he didn't know what to feel about his mother. He loved your sister, Kasumi, as if she were the sister that he never had." Putting her hand on Nabiki's shoulder, she continued. "And he respected and cared for you more than anyone else in this life."
"What . . . what about Akane? I thought they loved each other . . ."
Kushina gave an unladylike snort that reminded her of the old Ranma. "The most I can compare that to is puppy love. Honestly, with the life his father forced him to live, he never really knew what love was. He never really had a true friend and the ones that he considered friends were all bastards in the end."
"And yet, he respected you. You pushed everything to the side to try to take care of your family; he saw that from the beginning. He may have considered Akane someone special, but haven't you ever noticed when a difficult business deal suddenly turned into an easy thing? Or how he would always seem to pose whenever you tried to sneak in and take pictures of him while he was asleep?"
"You mean . . . he did those things on purpose? And . . . and what about those business deals? I didn't think Saotome was one to make threats like that?"
Kushina laughed. "I don't really think popping up out of nowhere, just out of your site, and giving your clients a death glare was considered a threat by him."
Nabiki's eyes felt wet as she realized all that the muscle head had done for her. Noticing this, Kushina reached over and pulled her into a hug. As Nabiki cried, she started to mumble.
"In the beginning, I never really noticed him. He was just Akane's fiancé to me. But when I took the engagement from me, and we started hanging out more, I realized that there was more to him. He really had a great mind, but couldn't use it for anything other than fighting. He was kind and sweet, but he covered it up with a tough, macho mask. He couldn't really relax when he was around us, or Akane would start to call him a pervert, Genma would moan about how girly and weak he was getting, or Ryouga or someone would just burst through the walls and call for a fight. He couldn't even let his feelings be known, or else the fiancé he picked would get killed by the other two."
She cried even harder. "And when I realized that I was starting to fall for him as well, I couldn't even keep him, or I'd be killed by the fiancé brigade myself! And Akane . . . " Her sobs started calming down. "So I pushed him away, and hid my feelings . . . and now . . . "
"There there. It's alright. You're right; you didn't stand much of a chance with everyone so intent on their own agendas. It's OK . . . " Kushina continued to minister to the sobbing girl. After a few minutes, Nabiki managed to pull herself together, and pulled away, muttering apologies under her breath. Kushina waved it off.
"So what are you going to do now?" The brown haired girl asked the redhead.
"For now, I need to rest and get my strength back up. After that, I'll have to show Cologne that it would be a better idea to send me back, rather than to keep me here."
"Can I help?" At Kushina's confused look, she stated, "I know what it's like to lose your family, what with Mom dying and leaving Dad the way he is. If there is anything I can do to help . . . "
Kushina smiled. "I guess you can be my inside source, but what I plan on doing is not going to be pretty. As a kunoichi, I had to be willing to get my hands bloody. I'll try not to kill anyone if it helps, but there will be no holding back, and I will be crippling a few people."
Nabiki's face paled slightly, but she nodded. "Can I ask you one more thing? Can I . . . can I come with you?" At Kushina's shocked look, she hurried on. "Ever since you left, the money around the house has dried up, and my deals have started going pear shaped. We've been hemorrhaging cash like crazy. We only have enough cash left to keep the house afloat and to get Kasumi into Medical School. I don't even have enough to send me or Akane there."
"And your family?"
Nabiki gave a snort herself, which turned out to sound a bit like a sob. "Dad hasn't been a father to anyone ever since Mom died, and Akane . . . well, I'm not even sure I recognize what she's become. When you left, the Hentai Horde started up for a bit. It stopped for good when Akane sent a few of them to the hospital with critical injuries. I had to pay off a few lawyers to keep from being sued. And she doesn't even care about it! She just muttered something about how they deserved it for being perverts . . . "
"What about Kasumi?"
"I managed to hunt down Doctor Tofu a few days ago. Apparently, he left to try and get his Kasumi induced fits under control. He'll be here in a few days to sweep her off her feet and take her away from this mess."
Kushina nodded, her face conflicted. "I . . . see. I . . . I guess you could come, but I'm not even sure if Konoha is even there anymore." Her voice started to shake as she said, "Where I came from, we have these bijuu, these gigantic beasts that are more chakra than flesh. A week before I was due, the Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox, turned its attention towards Konoha. It was attacking the village when I was giving birth to N-Naruto. I think Minato had an idea of how to get rid of the beast, but . . . "
Kushina halted, and then managed to get her emotions back under control. Nabiki, having realized exactly what she was afraid of, nodded to herself. "I . . . I still want to go with you, if you'll let me."
The auburn haired kunoichi smiled as she wiped her eyes of leftover moisture. "I'd appreciate it. You do know that I'll have to put you through some intense training when we get there. The Elemental Nations isn't a nice place for civilians."
Nabiki sighed, and then nodded resolutely. "If it gets me out of here in one piece, I'll do anything. It's either this, or sell my body to the Yakuza, and besides, I'd rather be sore from exercising in the middle of nowhere than be sold as a sex slave to some perverted bastard." She then turned a fierce gaze onto Kushina. "So, when do we start?"
---Four days after Kushina's escape---
Cologne hobbled down the stairs in a funk. It had been days since Ra . . . since KUSHINA'S escape, and not one trace had been found of her. Honestly it was starting to worry her. And to top it all off, Mousse had done a runner himself. If the boy showed his face here again, there was going to be Peking Duck on the menu soon after.
Suddenly, she felt Mousse's ki signature heading towards her. She turned to the front door, ready to knock the idiot out. What she didn't expect was to see him running through the door, covered in blood, and holding on to the stump of his left arm, which had been cut off at the shoulder.
Cologne stood there, gaping for a second, before her brain took action again. "SHAMPOO! COME QUICKLY!" Hopping over to Mousse, she started hitting pressure points that would halt the flow of blood to the stump. "What happened here? Mousse, talk to me!"
Mousse's eyes were glassy, showing that he was in shock, but he started talking in a haunted tone that sent shivers down her spine. "I was hunting Saotome, now that you brought him back . . . and I found him, except . . . except he was a girl at the time. I jumped to attack, and flung some chains out . . . but they missed, and he did something with his hands . . . Next thing I knew, it felt like that time I accidentally hugged that faulty generator . . . Then, he did something else with his hands, and then . . . then my arm . . .
While Mousse's monologue was stumbling out, Shampoo came running out with a first aid kit. However, she could only hand it over to her Great Grandmother before stopping in shock at what had been done to the boy . . .
As Cologne hastily bandaged Mousse's arm, he turned his head towards her. "He said . . . he said to tell you . . . that until he was sent back, Nerima would run red with blood . . . "
Her blood chilled as she watched Mousse faint. It was a wonder that he had lasted this long.
"Is . . . is Mousse dead?" Shampoo said, having finally found her voice.
"No. He is just unconscious. He's lost quite a bit of blood."
Shampoo swallowed heavily. "Airen . . . Airen not do those things . . . Airen not killer . . . "
"Cologne shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid that your airen is long gone."
Shampoo sobbed once, then shook her head wildly. "NO! Airen not gone! Shampoo not believe it!" She then ran out the door, leaving Cologne sitting there to tend to Mousse.
---Five days after Kushina's escape---
Akane worked heavily in the kitchen. Kasumi had vanished just two days ago, when Doctor Tofu reappeared. He had swept her off her feet, and had taken her on a whirlwind date that had left her speechless . . . until he asked her to work for him as a secretary, so that they could continue their relationship at a better place, and so that she could prepare for Medical School.
Unknown to both her and the rest of the family, Nabiki had popped up during this to help Tofu convince Kasumi that it was for the best. After that, Kasumi stayed around long enough to pack her bags and say goodbye, Nabiki already having found an apartment for her near Tofu's new clinic. The radio was on, playing music while the tomboy worked on her latest monstrosity.
Suddenly, the music stopped, and an announcer's voice came on. "This is an important news bulletin. One hour ago, one Hibiki Ryouga was found near Furinkan High School. He was found unconscious, and his entire right side of his body was burnt, as if he were lit on fire. He has since been airlifted to Tokyo General. We ask that all friends and family members please go to check on him. That will be all . . . "
Akane was frozen for a minute, as the report when through her head. Then, tossing the knife in her hand aside, she ran out of the house, crying "I'm coming Ryouga-kun, I'm coming!"
Nabiki, having heard the report in her room, sighed heavily. "So it continues . . . "
Later that day, unknown to most Nerima residents (though Cologne and Nabiki would soon learn of it though various sources), one Kuno Tatewaki was quietly driven to a mental institute. He had been found in bed, screaming his head off, yelling for the Sorcerer to come back and remove the weevils from his pants. When nothing his sister, Kuno Kodachi, his father, Principal Kuno, and their family ninja, Sasuke, did to quiet him down worked, they had no choice but to send him away.
What no one noticed, as they wheeled him out of the mansion and into an unmarked van, was a redheaded woman, staring impassively at the scene from a nearby rooftop. As they drove away, she nodded once, and then jumped away.
Genjutsus were such useful things . . .
COMING UP NEXT: Cologne is forced into negotiations, a house is blown up, a panda wets himself in fright, and our heroine and her hanger on return to . . . greener pastures. Later, a young boy will be rescued. Villagers will be slain, and the council of a certain village mimics the panda. Stay Tuned!
