Ranma of the Sand
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or Ranma, and in fact, they seem to own me.
"…" Denotes speech
Italics Denote thoughts
Ranma looked out the window and saw the sun rising over the village. It was a foreign sight to him, this village, with its buildings jutting out from the ground like giant stalactites made from the sands that surrounded them. Just looking outside right now he could make out some indistinct blurs of the ninjas patrolling the city. It was strange, finding a village like this with such capable fighters if what Yuura had told him was correct. They were quite fast he noted, barely being able to make out any features other than the standard uniform he had seen them all wear yesterday. Then there were others that he could only sense briefly, before their presence disappeared from his perceptions entirely.
Just like with the ninjas that were observing him now. He could feel them out there, watching him, yet try as he could he couldn't find any sign of them at all. It frustrated him, it really did. He had spent the last twenty minutes looking out the window and in the apartment for any signs of them, but had turned up nothing. They were mocking him, he was sure of it. Gritting his teeth and shaking his hand into the air in an empty threat he promised to himself that they would pay for mocking him, yes they would.
It really shouldn't have surprised him that much though, considering that they were using that chakra energy Yuura taught him about yesterday. It was incredible what it was capable of and put to shame what he had thought he knew before. The body duplication jutsu for instance was much different from what he had thought. His father had taught him some ninja techniques early on in his childhood, to steal from the local stores for food and not get caught like the body replacement and wall walking. He had though he had a good grasp on them before, but his mock fight with his teacher yesterday he hadn't even been capable of following his movements.
That speed was incredible, he mused to himself, abandoning his search for those damned ninjas. He sat on the sofa, sprawling haphazardly on it and reclining his head to look at the ceiling. It wasn't just a cheap trick to take cover and run away. He did it right in front of me and I wasn't even able to notice. When I performed the jutsu it was intense, kinda like a rush of speed greater than even the amaguriken training. All I did was think of the object and suddenly, like a rush I was in its place and it was flying toward mine. Nothing like the cheap trick of using cover to block the opponents view of you and leaving some of your clothes in place and running away. This was done in plain view and seemed less for retreating and more for setting up a counterattack. Chakra is incredible; nothing I've learned so far has been like this.
Just remembering that feeling he had yesterday sent a tingle down his spine. Controlling the clones while simultaneously moving at incredibly fast speeds was far beyond what he was used to. The concentration required was intense, but he had literally been able to see through their eyes while his real body had suddenly disappeared only to be replaced with a dummy. It is a shame that the clones weren't real, otherwise they would be far more useful, but maybe that could be achieved. He'd have to ask Yuura about that later. Speaking of which, he hoped that his new sensei would come back with some more food. That meat yesterday had been especially great and filling, restoring his energy back to peak efficiency after his experimentation with the new jutsus. He still hadn't been able to practice the transformation jutsu, and he wasn't about to start now, especially with those arrogant jerks looking over his shoulder and probably mocking him in his shortcomings. Besides, he remembered the seals, he'd be able to practice later, and perhaps even solve that problem with his curse. Hmm, no more turning into a girl, if even if I do, I could change myself back into a man. Bet Ryouga would be pissed off and come at me in a fit of righteous vengeance. Heh, not like it would be useful to him at all though, since he wouldn't be able to do it in his cursed form. His expression suddenly darkened when he thought of another possible use P-chan would have for it. That bastard would probably use it to turn into P-chan and sneak into Akane's bed. Guess I won't be teaching that bastard this technique.
Turning his thoughts back to his home, the Tendo dojo, he idly wondered how they were doing without him. Kasumi would probably be oblivious to it all, Nabiki would scheme to find out where he went, Genma and Soun would probably start a search for him but then end up back at the dojo playing shogi, and Akane…She would probably be in her room wondering what had happened to me. Hell, she would probably go to the old ghoul and demand help. Not that I think that will help her, the old ghoul probably doesn't have any idea of what happened to me, neither would the lecher. He'd be back to them soon though, in maybe a week he'd be back home showing off whatever new techniques he had picked up here and go back to kicking more ass with more flair. Still, I hope the tomboy doesn't worry about me too much…
Sighing, he looked toward the wall that had a picture of a younger looking Yuura standing next to a man that looked like an older version of Gaara. They both looked proud and happy. Next to it was another picture with an extremely younger looking Yuura, maybe at age twelve or something, with two other kids and an older woman. They too looked happy. This was not what he was expecting of a real ninja, trained as killers, to have in their apartment. It seemed less like a lair and more like a comfortable apartment. I wonder why he decided to become a ninja, there doesn't seem to be any distinguishing moment of his life that changed him to become an assassin. At least, none that I can tell from this apartment, he considered looking at the room with its quite normal appearance except for the case of weaponry by the guy's bed.
Quickly getting bored by doing nothing, and spotting a shelf full of scrolls, Ranma stood up and walked toward them. They all looked about the same so he just picked one out of random and opened it.
"One Hundred Shinobi Sayings," he read out loud, and a quick glance to the clock, showed him it was currently eight in the morning. Yuura wouldn't be back until around ten. Sitting on the chair in the desk next to the shelf he settled down to learn more of the people that were currently his hosts. Perhaps he would learn how their chakra system worked, he was already close to mastering it anyways, but any bit of help could never hurt.
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At the moment, Yuura felt dead inside. It was a natural reaction to seeing a normal looking human being consume such large quantities of food that even the hedonistic would have been appalled at. Not only that, but his reasonable salary had taken a huge hit due to his new student. He briefly wondered if all his meals would be like that, but then pushed out the horrifying thought out of his mind and focused on the meeting he was currently sitting in. Still I think I better bring up the idea of a raise for my current assignment, just to be safe.
Looking over the assembly he noticed that Idro was pointing to one of the many handouts that they were given before the meeting. Shuffling over his papers, he finally reached the one currently being shown. It was a picture from a bingo book, one of the missing-nins from the Grass Village, a chuunin.
"-ently Genna is responsible for several attacks on incoming merchant caravans. From what we were able to tell from the remains, it seems he is working alone, and that he is proficient in fire techniques. He is only taking the food he needs and if burning the rest, along with the merchants. The daimyo has asked us to settle the problem and as it stands we would be foolish not to do it. Not only has Genna mocked us by attacking our caravans, but it is an opportune chance for us to analyze the body of the enemy and learn all we can about the Grass Village jutsu. I suggest sending a hunter-nin team to kill him and study the body."
The rest of the council was about to agree on Idro's proposal when Yuura suddenly questioned, "He is a chuunin correct, with no bloodline limit?"
Idro, curious and slightly angry, responded, "Yes, as you would know if you had been paying attention to my briefing, or are you questioning my information?"
Not fazed by the accusation he continued, "Why hasn't he been captured by the Grass' own hunter-nins? He is only a regular chuunin after all."
"Well they are a small village," Idro explained, motioning a map they have with all the locations of all the villages on it. "They mostly depend on the Leaf Village to help them deal with such problems, and the Leaf still hasn't recovered from the attack two years ago, same as us. Besides, the Grass Village is busy picking up the slack with the missions that the Leaf has to give up, so they are far to busy to even consider such a minor problem to them."
"In that case, I ask to undertake this mission with my new charge. With the hunter team in reserve and close behind, once we make the kill."
The council was flabbergasted at the request, but only Gaara's expression never changed. With his ever calm and quiet voice, he addressed the man, "I take it then that you don't believe this man to be a threat to the village, and have accurately measured his capabilities."
A bit sheepish, Yuura silently sweat-dropped but changed his expression back to neutral quickly enough. "No, I haven't fully measured his capabilities, but I've briefly sparred with him and have observed him learning our jutsus." Seeing the unspoken prompt from the council, he continued, "Physically, he is probably in the chuunin range, probably stronger than most ninja I've seen as well. He was able to smash through the jaw of one of our practice dummies, and they are reinforced so that the academy teachers can vent their frustrations at the end of the day without breaking them." At that most of the assembly looked suitably impressed, but Yuura knew that he hadn't sold them on the idea yet, but the next piece of information would make the decision for them. "I taught him the three basic academy jutsus yesterday as well, and he has mastered two of them. I saw him progress from having problems with them, to not needing to use the seals anymore, all in the course of a few hours."
Baki, unofficially speaking for the whole of the gathered, asked "Then I take it you are going to use this assignment to fully evaluate him, and take out a threat to the village at the same time?"
Smiling, Yuura nodded, "Efficient, just as shinobi rule number thirty nine dictates."
An elder spoke out, "So what if it turns out that young Ranma is in fact an enemy spy or a threat? Do you think you are capable of stopping both the chuunin and our current guest at the same time?"
With the calm that one would expect from a man truly versed with his own capabilities Yuura nodded. "You are the ones that choose me as Captain of the Guard, so you all know what I am capable of. If he turns out to be a liability the hunter-nins will be inspecting two bodies."
Gaara, after a few tense moments of staring through the man, nodded his consent, and motioned for the man to leave, which Yuura quickly did. Waiting for a moment, he turned to Idro.
"How are you faring in finding out how our visitor arrived?"
With a quick glance at Baki, he replied, "Not very well, I'm afraid. It is nearly impossible to distinguish what the true purpose of the scroll was, and add to that we also then have to infer what the combination of ink and blood did to change the original intent, and finally we have to find out a way to return him back home. It is going to take a large chunk of the intelligence branch's time, time that is best served determining the whereabouts of our enemies and fortifying our own defenses."
"How many men do you currently have on it?" Gaara asked with a flat stare.
"Only myself, and that is only to determine what manner of attack it was so that we can guard against it in the future," Idro replied smoothly.
"Very well then, you are the best in the Sand Village, I trust that you will give this job your utmost attention. Anyone have any issues that need to be addressed with the council?"
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Ranma was reading through one of the scrolls he had found on Yuura's shelf. It was about some of the more common shinobi weapons. The explosive seals seemed to be too much like Happosai's bombs, and he briefly wondered if this is where he got the idea before dismissing it. It was too far-fetched anyways.
The presence of his unknown watchers was growing more and more annoying as the time went on. Still, I can't tell where they are. Jutsus require concentration to keep up, so maybe if I shock them they might slip up, but how would I do that? Inspiration struck a second later and he headed straight for the kitchen. The unseen eyes followed him there as he grabbed a cup and filled it with cold water. Taking a sip, he casually headed straight back for the couch.
Nonchalantly he took off the red shirt he had over, and was left with only his flimsy undershirt on. Taking a quick guess on where his observer might be, he turned to probably face his direction and quickly upended the glass over his head.
"What the hell?" she heard from her left as she quickly turned, breasts bouncing wildly in her now nearly transparent shirt as a flabbergasted veiled ninja fell unceremoniously from the wall. The ninja was dressed in a reddish bodysuit with his veil being adorned with only the large black symbol of the Sand Village and a few green locks of hair were visible from under his turban.
"Aha! You thought you could hide from me, but no one mocks Ranma Saotome and gets away with it! No one!" she laughed and pointed dramatically, causing her breasts to become more pronounced and subsequently causing the ninja to remain entranced on them and powerless to move. Not that he wanted to anyways, he had a great view. The anbu spy soon got his wits about him again, but unfortunately for him, he was again distracted by the door opening.
"What is all the commotion about?" Yuura queried as he stepped into his home, only to find an exhibitionist redhead mocking some poor rookie from the anbu. No idiot though, he quickly deduced the situation.
"Pretty good transformation jutsu there Ranma, you managed to surprise one of our elite." However he still wasn't acquainted with the full facts. Still, he continued with a smirk, "Either you are a master of surprise, or we have a very perverted rookie in our midst, and no offense to you, but I happen to know for a fact that it is the latter. Now get lost, I don't have a need for you anymore," he said addressing the sprawled ninja.
Said ninja quickly stood back up, and with a nod and disappeared out the window, but not before giving Ranma the one fingered salute.
Shaking with anger, Ranma swore, "He'll get his, no one messes with Ranma and gets away with it."
It took several moments for Yuura to snap out of his daze at seeing a female Ranma doing a very poor impersonation of an evil laugh, and to address his pupil. "Ranma you can release the jutsu. I have an assignment for you."
Stopping mid-laugh Ranma shot a puzzled look at Yuura before comprehension set it. "Yeah, transformation jutsu…right. Let me, um, dry up first and then you can tell me what you want me to do."
Not waiting for an answer, Ranma sped off to the bathroom to change himself back into a male. It's not like I'm going to be here for a long time Ranma reasoned, so he really doesn't need to know. Still note to self, get cracking on that transformation jutsu A.S.A.P.
Moments later a male Ranma emerged from the lavatory with a towel around his shoulders. His shirt was still damp, but not nearly as wet as it was before. Nodding to Yuura to begin explaining what they were going to do, Ranma began to dry off his hair and put on his shirt.
"Seeing as how you nearly bankrupted me in our last lunch together, I thought it would be best for you to earn your own money for food. Gods know that you probably won't be able to get much more after that," Yuura said, mumbling the last part. "Anyways, the village has a problem with a ninja attacking our caravans and I thought that this would be a perfect time to see what you are really capable of. If you do well, I'll show you a useful jutsu, if you do poorly, I'll see that you get a nice funeral."
Thinking it was a joke; Ranma started laughing until he saw that Yuura wasn't sharing in his mirth. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously, his eyes wide.
Yuura started laughing, which caused Ranma to relax. "Nah, just kidding, I'd probably just throw you in a ditch somewhere." Ranma immediately tensed up again. "No need to waste any money on a no one, eh?" Again he laughed.
With a scowl, Ranma muttered, "Yeah, how very practical of you."
His goateed teacher simply continued laughing but motioned for Ranma to follow him out the door. In no time they were bounding though the city to the narrow gap in the valley they were in. Ranma would have taken in the sights, but the sights consisted of basically identical pillars of stalagmites, so he instead decided to let his attention wander. At least he would have, had he not felt the presence of three figures following them. Yuura caught his look and shook his head.
"Don't worry, they are our backup. Once you stop the missing-nin they'll see what they can find out from him."
Slightly curious, the pigtailed youth asked, "What can you learn from him? Isn't he from your village?" Meanwhile though, they had just passed through the pass and out into the open desert. A sudden breeze made Ranma realize why all the ninjas seemed to be wearing turbans, and made him wish that he had gotten one. For some strange reason, he blamed it on that green haired guy from earlier. He seemed like an asshole, and no one would probably take it too badly if he wound up unconscious in a dumpster somewhere.
Yuura had to remind himself that he was talking to someone from another dimension, and not a complete idiot. Still he used the voice that most adults reserved for little kids or the mentally challenged. "There are more villages out there. The ninja we are following was originally from the Grass Village. However, he left their village, and thus their protection so he is fair game to who ever wants to kill him. Still, the Grass Village should have been the one to kill him off, but since they didn't, we can use that to our advantage. Potentially, we can learn of their defenses, village status, and maybe even some of the village's hidden jutsu. That is what our back up is for, to find that information. We may need it should war ever erupt between our villages."
Ranma scoffed at that. "Seriously though, how likely is a war to start? You sound like it could happen at any time."
Yuura's face hardened as he spoke, "War is always likely to erupt between the villages. Sixteen years ago, there was the third secret war involving all of the shinobi villages. The Stone Village was hit the hardest, but we took a heavy toll. At the end of that war, we allied ourselves with the winners, the Leaf Village. Two years ago, we attacked them. In that battle we lost about half our forces, mostly our more talented chuunin and jounin. We still haven't recovered from that, and thankfully neither have the Sound, at that time our ally and now our enemy, nor the Leaf, our enemy then and current ally. It-"
"Wait a minute," Ranma interjected a bit loudly. "You betrayed them, and yet they still are allied with you?"
"It was one of their own missing-nins that killed our Kazekage, impersonated him, and led us against them. It was half their fault for not killing that lunatic earlier. They also understand the ninja way. There are no such things as true alliances, and that all alliances are merely ceasefires until one village feels that it can take over the other."
"A shinobi never knows peace, all he knows is the lull between wars," Ranma muttered quietly under his breath with some disgust.
Not quiet enough, because Yuura still managed to hear him, "You know shinobi saying number forty eight?" he asked suspiciously.
Instead of the guilty look he was expecting, Ranma looked sheepish. "Hope you don't mind, but I read some of your scrolls. You took so damn long that I had to find something to do. Would it kill you to have a TV in your room or something?"
"Well I usually have more important things to do and I don't even spend that long at home," he said with a slight smile as he glanced back. "It's not easy working to keep a village safe with most of the guards being rookies and spread dangerously thin, but I manage."
Ranma just had to look at the man in front of him with some measure of respect. He was dedicated to his work, and his work just happened to be safeguarding people's lives, kind of what he liked to do on occasion. Alright, I mostly just protect Akane, but I did help out with the oni… a bit anyways. Wasn't my fault when it escaped the box again.
"Enough about me though," intoned Yuura, interrupting Ranma's internal monologue. "We still have some time before we get to the caravan we most likely suspect of being Genna's, the missing-nin, next target, so how about you tell me about your home, and how you got so good in the first place."
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It actually took them a little bit more than two hours to reach the caravan after having traveled so far that they weren't even in the desert anymore. Instead they were once again in a valley, only that the cliffs were about ten feet high and there was grass growing freely.
"- and then the Prince of the Musk returned what he had taken from me and fled back home." Ranma summed up as he finished his story with a great flourish as he set down on the ground near a cart. At some point in time, Ranma had taken the lead so that he could properly show Yuura all the gestures and facial features that were quite necessary in order to fully appreciate the stories.
"Wait, so you are telling me that he took away something precious from you, which you still haven't told me what it was, left you for dead, and you just let him stroll back home?" Yuura asked incredulously, not believing most of Ranma's story as in pretty much every other sentence he had started it off with 'Well, being the best martial artist ever, I just did…' or ending it '…after all I am the greatest martial artist!' and a laugh. It was hard to take seriously, but if some of the attacks he had said he possessed were real, then he probably wouldn't have any problem with this chuunin. Speaking of which, he still hadn't briefed him on the situation.
Cutting off a stuttering Ranma who was trying hard to find a way to not have to explain the curse, he intoned, "Never mind Ranma, I just remembered I didn't fully explain to you the missing-nin's abilities or anything."
Shrugging and stretching a bit, Ranma casually said, "Eh, I normally don't fight knowing what my opponent is going to be able to do. I should be fine either way." Stretching backwards, he saw someone on the side of the cliff looking down at them. He could kind of make out a different symbol on his forehead protector. "And I think that we also don't have any time for you explain it to me."
Yurra nodded his assent silently as Genna jumped down. "Go meet him, I'll stay here and protect both the caravan and the people. Even though I'm doing that, make you sure you keep the destruction to a minimum near the carts," he ordered having already started moving toward the defense of the people. He was barking orders at the head of the line ordering them to stop and gather together for shelter, and to leave their belonging where they were under his care.
Having already pushed Yuura and his orders out of his mind, Ranma focused solely on the ninja, intent to seeing just what exactly the people here were capable of. However, Genna, seeing that he was outnumbered had decided to flee. That won't do at all, thought Ranma as he jumped up the side of the cliff and settled for pursuit. He didn't have to chase him far at all, as Genna, seeing only one pursuer stopped, and turned to face him.
With a better view of who he was going up against, Ranma noted that Genna was wearing a very long and baggy brown long-sleeved shirt that reached down to his knees, and pretty much hid whatever else he had from there up. The man's face was covered by some sort of green cloth that left only his eyes exposed. His forehead protector had obviously seen better days, the scratches on the metal and tears on the cloth a testament to the harshness of the wilderness he was inhabiting. He couldn't make out any weapons on him, but as experience, and Mousse, had taught him, he wasn't going to rule out the possibility of there being one.
Genna had had enough and rushed to strike the first blow. At first he had thought the man was a ninja, but he could see that he wasn't wearing the Sand Village symbol anywhere on him, and was at most probably a Wind Country guard in training, someone who couldn't become a ninja, and yet was more skilled than the regular folk. Twin kamas emerged from the hidden depths of his sleeves as he moved to mow down his adversary, only to be caught off guard when Ranma met his charge and beat him to the punch. Sailing through the air, he quickly revised his previous assessment and decided to take it seriously. Getting his balance before he fell, the ninja returned the kama to where they came from and started to perform a jutsu. Seeing the ninja in front of him start running through a whole set of seals, Ranma recognized that this was a chance to stop him before any attack came way, and launched himself into the air with a soaring kick, only to see his target meld with the grass and ground and disappear with a cry of "Ninja Arts: Illusionary Grass River!"
Startled, Ranma sputtered in mid-air and landed near where his foe used to be. Looking around, he saw nothing suspicious. Puzzled, he knelt down to see if perhaps he used a hole in the ground, and saw the grinning face of Genna as his hands appeared from nowhere and grabbed his feet.
"Earth Element: Inner Decapitation!" was the only thing he heard as Ranma started to fall through the very earth itself, until only his head was above ground. Above him, Genna got his weapons in hand and knelt down to fulfill the promise the jutsu had made. Positioning both blades at either side of Ranma's head, Genna raised them up a bit then swung down with the intention of killing the man before him. Before the swing even reached anywhere near the fallen hero, Genna's hands were stopped by Ranma's own as they violently exited to ground, followed by his torso, followed by his legs that kicked upward under Genna's chin and sent him flipping through the air to land unceremoniously several feet away.
Brushing the dirt off his clothes, Ranma smirked at the downed opponent, only to frown again when he stood up. The green cloth that had hidden the man's face had flown free during his downward descent and made Ranma wish that he kicked the man in the chest instead. The reason only one eye was shown became instantly clear as the deep scaring surrounding the entire eye, and parts of the nose missing, lead to one conclusion. With Genna gasping for breath, his sharpened teeth were visible under thin lips.
"I wasn't going to make you suffer, but now you really give me no choice," he said in a deep rich voice that contrasted heavily with his appearance. Focusing his one good eye on Ranma, he grabbed several special kunai from his voluminous robes and sent them flying toward the gender challenged individual. Ranma plucked all eight of them straight from the air and held them between his fingers. He shot an arrogant grin to the ninja only to be met with a malicious one, and a quick glance to the kunai themselves revealed why. Explosive seals he mentally panicked and through them up into the air, where they exploded with a fiery gusto. Ranma sighed in relief, until he noted that the fire wasn't dissipating.
Genna's smirk widened as he shouted out "Fire Element: Blazing Dragon Inferno!" and coalesced all the fire into the form of a vicious dragon. Snaking its way down from the sky, the dragon launched itself straight to Ranma, hitting him square in the chest…and went out though the other side. A clone? Since when? Genna's thoughts spun rapidly as he looked for his wayward victim. There he is! He mentally snickered as he made the dragon change directions to hit the hapless target…only to fly through a clone again.
With an angry grunt, Genna scanned his surroundings to discover a blur in front of him materialize as his target. Calculating the distances and vectors, Genna made the dragon fly toward Ranma's unprotected back as he made sure to keep an eye on him to distinguish his true nature.
Looking back, Ranma saw that the fire dragon was drawing closer to him faster than he could get to the ninja so he was forced to use the combination of clone and replacement jutsu he had been using previously. With the rush of speed he had come to associate with the replacement jutsu, he jumped straight above Genna for the surprise knockout blow. Genna, however, was looking straight towards him as the dragon arced upwards to engulf the martial artist.
Shit…he has a bead on me now. He figured out what I was doing! Hmm… this seems oddly familiar somehow… ah, that's it! The battle with Saffron! The Hiryu Hyou Toppa will kill him though… but maybe if I do this instead… Inspiration filled Ranma as he drew as much cold ki into his fist as he could and shouted "Hiryu Shoten Ha Revised: Dragon Slayer Strike!"
The fire dragon came up and swallowed him whole, much to Genna's pleasure. That pleasure was short lived as a blue glow came from within his chakra creation and cleaved it in half. Inside the dragon, Ranma was manipulating the air currents as to have them blowing at his back as he went through the entirety of the construct and, buffeted by the winds, exited to strike down on the stunned ninja. The blow hit Genna straight on the jaw, instantly felling him, as the winds around Ranma dispersed with great fanfare.
With the ninja crumpled and lying face down before him, Ranma gave himself a quick pat on the back, and looked around to see if anyone had seen his victory so he could brag. The sound of clapping drew his attention as he saw Yuura walking over to him with a grin so wide he could barely tell where his mouth ended. Walking over to meet his sensei halfway, he noted that his facial expression had suddenly changed from elation to panic. Looking around for any other foe, Ranma was drawn back to the man at his feet by a very sickening 'thud' sound. There, in the back of the man's head, was a kunai sticking out.
"Why di-" he started only to be cut off by a backhand from the man he had started to call teacher.
"What were you thinking! Why didn't you kill him? Do you know how close you came to dying!" Yuura shouted directly into his face.
Under the assault of so many questions Ranma could only utter a simplistic, "Wha?"
Instead of responding with words, Yuura pointed to the body, where the trio of hunter-nins were already getting ready for their work. The first thing they did remove the kunai from the back of his head, and then flip him over. There, a large cluster of explosive seals were found on his chest.
"He was going to use those to blow himself up and anything within twenty feet, like where we are now," Yuura whispered softly. "This isn't your world, we do things differently here, it's not at all like what you are accustomed to."
Ranma turned around to give Yuura a piece of his mind…or rather he tried to, instead he was stuck in place, staring at the hunter-nins as they surgically removed certain key organs for the medic-nins back in the Sand Village to study.
"Don't struggle, you are under the paralyzing jutsu, all you would be doing is wasting energy. I thought it best for you to see this. This is what we do to the enemies we defeat. We don't let them go, we don't let them have the chance to become bigger threats or continue murdering our people."
The hunter-nins were skilled at what they did, but that doesn't mean that they aren't messy about it. It also doesn't mean that they are quick about it either.
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It was a long and awkward trip back to the Sand Village, with no one speaking a word to each other, and the constant clinking of the glass jars bumping into each other. They made it back relatively quicker than they left, mostly due to Ranma being in the lead, and his desire to run away from the containments of the jars.
Finally getting to the Kazekage Tower, Ranma stopped, as did the rest of the posse. Yuura ordered the hunter-nins to take the jars in, and then turned to Ranma.
"We need to talk," he said simply.
Anger flared in his eyes as Ranma made eye contact with Yuura. "You're goddamn right we do," he growled.
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The hunter-nins were walking back from the main hospital after a job well done, and were headed to get their pay.
"Hey, what did you guys think about that guy's story of the dragon kid?" one suddenly piped up.
The other two shared a nod as one said, "Dude, it was all probably just a load of bullshit."
The first one nodded, and all having reached an agreement then decided to get stone cold drunk after having to do such grizzly work.