SOO, I finally put another chapter up, and I know, I'm really really sorry about my story a.d.d. it really couldnt be helped because it all depends on how I get inspiration. I want to know...is anyone else as obsessed about the BBC series Sherlock as i am? Because holy s*** I'm so in love with Benedict Cumberbatch... ok sorry, I have major a.d.d. issues i guess. This chapter was hell. I lost inspiration, writers block is a stupid commodity, and I lost the file. Plus, i had no intention of bringing in any more Naruto characters, but apparently, my tired and sick (meaning flu-ish) mind had other ideas, and you know what, I'm not going to argue with the voices at this point. We are getting along right now, and they've even started speaking with british accents, so I can't complain. Did I mention that I love british accents? No? Well I do.
Ping: You really need to learn to stop talking.
Fire: Well, you need to learn how to fight.
Ping: oh shut up will you?! I'm trying!
Ran: Stop it both of you! you will just hurt yourselves!
Alright, the voice of reason spoke! I will be responding to reviews at the end of the chapter! for those of you who reviewed I applaud you and thank you. Those who read and dont review...well...its not very nice and i'm very hurt. (Not really hurt, but would like a review a lot! :) ) soooo yeah ONWARD!
Disclaimer: If I owned either I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it on a website. Or I might...but no I don't own them...i don't even own a car, let alone two great stories!
"This could be an interesting time." Naruto commented. The training of the soldiers was slow going because none of them were motivated enough to really care about the training. It had all started after Ran flipped off of the pole in the center of camp. He showed great reflexes, and had been trained before, but was too kind hearted and very mild tempered. It was hard to accurately train a soldier that didn't have the right temperament. His friend Ping had the proper temperament, but the wrong ideas about war. He was impulsive and brash, yet clumsy and unskilled. They were the perfect pair, polar opposites. After everyone had been given a shot at the pole, and everyone, but Ran, failed to notice the method to climb, Li tossed the group wooden staves, to teach them combat moves with in case they needed to use a bo-staff. Yao, after catching his, reached over and grabbed Ping's, using it to throw him off of his feet. Ling attempted to do the same to Ran, but failed when he jumped over the pole and threw a kick at the back of Ling's head, effectively knocking the man unconscious. Li sighed waiting for the disorder to end, and had the group line up in different rows and columns, making enough room to go through the stances. He then proceeded to use his own to break two clay pots that were on the ground, throwing them in the air by their handles and breaking them as they fell. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed Yao, again messing with Ping. This time however, he dropped a beetle down the back of his gi, making him twist and spin and whack everyone around with the staff. Ran blocked the blow, and stepped away avoiding any more conflict. Li grit his teeth and using his staff, vaulted himself over some of the fallen crowd, and over to where Ping was still flailing. After landing, he took a thrust to the stomach however and doubled over. Naruto then decided to step in, and grabbed the staff away from him before he could cause any more damage. Ran put his hand in his face and shook it slowly. They apparently knew each other before coming to this camp, otherwise he would not have made this action. Li straightened up and grabbed the front of Pings shirt.
"I will have order in my camp! No fighting outside of what is allowed, otherwise there will be consequences." He said, his voice sounding strained. Somewhere, where no one could see, a small wolf pup was holding a lizard back from charging into the training field. The Royal Advisor, a thin man with equally as thin hair, and an issue with disorderly people, began to take notes on what he saw. Naruto laughed to himself. They had a funny group drafted this year. All different aged men, Ran and Ping being the youngest of the whole group, not too far behind himself and Li however.
"Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?" Li asked during one of the breaks, where they were running to the archery field.
"Other than being hard on them, I don't think anything. They don't seem like they want to serve China, they seem like they want to live through camp." Naruto shrugged, hoping the answer could help his friend decide on what to do. Soon they reached the range.
"Alright, how many people here have used a bow before?" Li asked, facing the group. Most of the soldiers looked winded and tired, unsure of themselves. Ran raised his hand. He was the only one who did not look like they would pass out on him.
"How good are you?" He asked. Ran paused for a second as if thinking about how to answer.
"I've shot food before, and I know well enough how to site a target." He answered after a calm pause.
"Good, could you show us?" Naruto asked, cutting in before Li could make a retort about how hunting and being an archer was different. Ran nodded and grabbed a bow, a left handed bow, and a quiver. Taking an arrow out he nocked it then grabbed another and held the shaft in his mouth, taking a third and holding it with his bow-hand. Using the three tomatoes that were on the board, he launched them using his foot, and rapidly fired all three arrows, burying them in their targets, and the target beyond. Li was speechless. If he took his arrows on a nock three at a time he could do that, but not rapidly fire all of them.
"You have skill in every aspect we have attempted to train you in, how?" Naruto asked, after pulling him aside. Li had taken to instructing the rest of the group, a difficult challenge because none of them had ever used a bow, let alone knowing the difference between a left handed bow and a right handed bow.
"My father trained both me and my twin brother Junsei since we were little. Unfortunately my brother is not well, he has a bad heart and could not come to war, as he was the first choice behind my blind father. I was the younger twin, and I usually just took care of my baby sister Hanabi." Ran shrugged. Naruto nodded, looking the young man up and down. His voice was soft, and higher, like it hadn't changed fully, and his features were soft. He had midnight blue hair and lavender eyes. As he was analyzing him, Naruto noticed the small she-wolf pup behind a tree, watching the whole scene. He smiled, the small pup was Ran's pet, a friendly wolf, and had begun to grown on the blond. Naruto knelt on the ground and put his hand out for her, hoping she would go to him. Ran glanced at him and looked at Shima, and nodded subtly. The pup seemed to have smiled, and ran to the kneeling man. He picked her up with a grin and began to play with her ears and soft underbelly. She would lick his and nip his hand gently showing that she was playing and liked him. Although he would never know, Shima did like him. She thought he was a strong man and a good pair for Hinata, though he knew her as Ran. She also found him attractive, in every sense of the word. He was tall, taller than Ran was, and he was built with lean taught muscles, that showed his veins whenever he moved. He wasn't overly built, but he was strong. His smile was bright, and he seemed to be a fun loving person. He was kind to her, and to Shima, which made her like him more.
"Hey there little girl." He cooed, his voice was deep, and nice sounding.
"She really likes you." Ran smiled, Naruto glanced at the man as he did, noticing that the smile looked nice on the small soldier. He shook his head, clearing it from his mind. He wasn't a girl, he couldn't be. Shima then began to squirm and yip, wanting to be put back down. Naruto complied, not wanting to hurt the small animal. She ran over to where Ping was attempting to string a bow, with great difficulty. Naruto sighed, and began to walk that way, when Li stepped in and helped instead. Ping was very similar to Ran, they both had softer features than the other men did. Very attractive men, yes, but if they were dressed in neutral clothing, without a gender definition, they could be easily mistaken for women, or men. Naruto raised an eyebrow, just when Li had turned his back, a small lizard came slithering out of Ping's quiver, and stuck the tomato on the end, and slithered back. Naruto shook his head, he was starting to see things. Li then turned around and caught him. The small man smiled, and took the tomato off. Soon Li decided they had had enough of archery, seeing as how the only people who could shoot straight were himself, his second, and the smallest man in the group. So instead, they took another run up into the mountains, to where there was a little outlet in the path. Li stood, holding a staff again, and balancing a bucket of water on his head. The point was to knock the bucket off. Each man was given a rock, and had to throw it at a fast enough speed to where it would get passed his guard. Naruto was the only man who could, being his right hand man, he knew that he was weak on his left side, and would not be as prepared for a hit there as he was to his front, back and right. Chien Po was the first to throw his, with such a big man you would expect that he would have a fast throw, but it was a gentle lob.
"Throw faster, and if you want to give me a hard time, throw them all at once." He growled, his anger growing by the second. He'd gotten the trouble camp. Finally after he'd thought that every rock was thrown, he lowered his guard, only for one, swiftly thrown rock, to sail in from the left and knock the water bucket off of his head, and onto Naruto. Both men looked around only to find the source. Ran had waited until he had a free moment, after noticing Li's weakness, and threw the rock as soon as his guard was down. Naruto started laughing. This man was a bunch of surprises. He was funny making it seem like he was a small and insignificant person, while on the inside, being one of the strongest soldiers he'd ever seen. Li shook his head, he'd never been bested before, let alone by a rookie draftee.
"Ping! It's your turn." Li called, hoping Ping was good at something at least. He shuffled forward and as he tried to balance the bucket on his head the other men began to throw at him. He managed to slip past most of them, by accident, and eventually the bucket overturned on his head, and he smacked one back at Li, who dodged and allowed the rock to hit Ran behind him, who happened to have been distracted by one of the men who'd fallen over. The small warrior looked at the rest of the group right as the rock entered his sight, not giving him any time to dodge. With a loud crack the rock glanced off of his nose and over his head, letting the man fall to the ground.
"Ran! Ping ran over in an attempt to help his friend. Li only shook his head.
"He should have been paying more attention." Ping grit his teeth and stood up.
"All due respect, 'Sir'," He started snidely putting emphasis on the sir, "He was helping one of your men from falling off a cliff. A job that should have been yours. While you were focusing on humiliating me, someone did your job. What kind of Captain would have allowed one of his men to perish on something so dishonorable as stumbling and falling off of the cliff that you took us to?" Naruto could only watch in astonishment. No one had stood up to Li like that since the time that Naruto himself was in training. This draftee had guts. Before anyone could say anything else, the fallen soldier rose from where he had previously been laying. This caught the attention of everyone because he had done so very silently.
"Ran?" Ping walked slowly to where his friend stood, blood dripping from his face. Hearing his name did nothing, for the man showed no recollection of having heard it before, or having heard at all. Shima, the small pup who had evidently followed, ran foreword and bit the ankle of her disoriented owner. This did nothing.
"Get back. Don't approach, stay away." Ping warned, softly.
"What happened?" Naruto asked Ping, Li had stepped back and was watching skeptically. If this man did go berserk he could take him.
"Ran only gets like this when forcefully knocked out. It's a defense mechanism that was taught to him when he was very small. He is completely unconscious, yet fully aware of his surroundings." Ping explained, rather vaguely.
"Whatever. We need to get back to our training, we don't have time to dawdle with these small issues." Li grunted, pushing past Ran. That was his big mistake. A silent thrust of the palm to the back took the larger man off guard. It was a warning. Li turned, anger lighting up his dark brown eyes.
"How dare you!" He growled, throwing an expert punch back. Said punch was quickly blocked and shoved to the side hard enough to throw Li off balance for a split second. In that time, a lower leg swipe took him off his feet completely. In a matter of seconds, he'd fallen to the ground and looked up in time to see an axe kick falling down onto him. He rolled to the side as it struck, leaving a small dent in the ground. As Li rolled he knelt on the ground and quickly stood. In his moment of distraction the small man threw another round house kick, aimed at his head. Li blocked this hit and watched as Ran quickly adjusted and grew faster. He was strong for someone who seemed so weak.
"How do we stop him?" Naruto asked, hoping to help his distressed friend, and leader.
"There was something that always calmed him down, what was it?" Ping muttered to himself, sitting on the rock closest to him, deep in thought.
"Come on think, think, think." He kept saying as though no one else could hear him. Naruto watched as the other men created a large enough area for the two fighters. He could do nothing. Li would never have let him intervene with one of his fights, and if he did he would never be forgiven. Plus even if he had the opportunity, he would feel the wrath of this small warrior.
"AH! I remember what it was!" Ping stood with a smile, effectively gaining the attention of everyone, including Ran. Hearing the outburst, the offender stalked towards his friend. Looking confident, Ping cleared his throat.
"Hitomi. Stop Ran!" Ping shouted loud enough to cause an echo in the mountains. Ran froze where he was. Then, without warning, fell to his knees. Ping ran foreword and helped his friend stand.
"Better?" Ping asked.
"Yeah. Sir, I did not mean to cause a disturbance. I was aware yet not in control. I apologize." Ran bowed to Li, hoping to clear up the issue that had originally been caused by the leader of the small company.
"Yeah, whatever. Move out!" Li growled, and started another long run, back down the mountain.
"How much training have you done?" Naruto asked Ran, after he'd caught up with the front of the mob of men.
"Honestly, enough to where that shouldn't happen." He replied, shame on his face. Naruto glanced at him and couldn't help the flutter he felt in his chest. This man was very strong, and yet very humble, and something about him caught Naurto's attention, and not in the 'you're a strong warrior way'. He'd always considered himself a fairly simple man. Had been with women before, but none of them stayed around. He was considered a Huli jing to many women, because he tended to be a wild spirit that no one could control. It was yet to be determined if he was good or bad yet, but Naruto concluded that he couldn't be that bad if he was serving his country with his life on the line.
"It's alright. I will make sure that something like that wont happen to you again." He promised. Ran glanced at him, a look of gratefulness in his face, hidden behind all of that shame and shyness. Soon the group had reached a river. Li rolled up his pants and stood in the middle of it, being that it was a very shallow river. The soldiers watched as he quickly thrust his hand into the water and, in an almost stabbing motion, grabbed a fish. Everyone else joined in, keeping a safe distance from any other people. Ping, not noticing how close he was to Yao, imitated Li, and grabbed something. With a loud splash, Yao became submerged in the water, while Ping held his leg up by the ankle. With a guilty smile, Ping placed his leg back down and wandered off to where he wasn't going to cause any more harm. Ran was having the hardest time with this training. He couldn't concentrate on which fish he wanted to catch, and couldn't decide on whether to release it or keep it upon actually catching it. After time and time again of trying, he slipped and fell into the river in a rather ungraceful way. Sitting up it became clear that he'd caught a fish using his gi, rather than with his hands as was instructed. Laughing Naruto helped the small man up and grabbed the fish by the tail. Pulling it out, he noticed bandages under Ran's gi. In an attempted to be subtle he began pulling it out slower than before. Ran noticed and flushed an angry red, before yanking it out and pulling his clothing tighter, adjusting the belt that held it in place. Naruto opened his mouth to ask about it, but failed to think of anything to say. How does one ask why another has bandages? Do you have an untreated wound? Are you covering a scar? Are you secretly not a man? The last question made Naruto laugh outright. How could a woman possibly fight in a mans war? Let alone get this far and be this strong in a fight? Ran tilted his head back, glancing over his shoulder with a confused look on his face. His eyes narrowed slightly, making Naruto believe that he was angry with him. A very logical reaction. He did look down another man's shirt, then laugh for no apparent reason. Li was getting very frustrated. It was getting to be near the end of the first training day, and although this was just to get base readings of what everyone could do, he was not impressed at all. These men were not fit to fight.
The next few days went by in a bit of a blur. Training took up a new approach. Li would teach what was needed, as well as what some of the fighters wanted to know. Running through a volley of flaming arrows was important, for the enemy inevitably had bows. Breaking concrete blocks with one's head? Maybe not as important but it was still a survival skill. Needing to know how to run across a river stealthily, while not actually touching the water? Important. There would be times when a horse is not around, or a soldier could be separated from the rest of the company, in that situation, survival is key. Hand to hand combat? Very important for when you are in front of a group of possibly unarmed men. Firing a personal gunpowder propelled bomb? Very, very crucial to taking out an enemy at a distance that arrows cannot achieve. Not blowing up the Royal Advisors Tent in the process would also be important, but Li did not particularly like the squirrely man so he didn't bat an eye when he came charging at him with a complaint. Li could only think that the best thing to do was start at the very beginning in their training, and progressively work their way up to a more suitable level of strength. So, he had them run up the side of the mountain, carrying a bamboo rod with sand bags tied on either end. He figured even the weakest of the men could do that. He was wrong. Ping, being the smallest next to Ran, was at the end of the group, staggering dangerously close to the cliff, until eventually collapsing. With a loud audible sigh he ran back and picked up the sand bags. Ping could only watch as Li ran on, easily making it to the front of the group. After taking a quick break, the group traveled back down the mountain. Dusk had fallen and Li had caught Khan, Ping's horse, wandering around camp. The horse did not fancy him holding the reins, and fought as hard as he could. As much as Li did not greatly enjoy Ping, he could appreciate the strong companion that he had, a stead like that was good for war. After thinking he could lead him back to where Ping and Ran had their tent set up, far from camp and near a puddle, also close to the horses trough, he ran into the person in question.
"You're no where near fit for war. Either work harder or go home." Li said, without a shred of care in his voice.
(A/N: this will be from pings perspective, keeping the name, changing the he to a she.)
Ping was determined to show that she could make it, work hard and keep her, and Ran's, secret safe. As she walked her wayward horse back to the tent, she was caught in the shadow of the column with the arrow lodged in it. Although sore, Ping jogged back to the tent, tethered Khan to a tree, and ran back into the center of camp. After smuggling the heavy weights out of the tent where they were kept, she tied them around her wrists tight. Try after try she threw herself up the side of the pole. Trying to think back to what Ran did, she noticed that her friend was standing off to the side.
"Want some help?" Ran offered, stepping into the moons light.
"Sure. But how would you help me?" Ping smiled, hoping this would work out.
"I will take one side and hold your arms, propelling myself up with you, while you are using the weights as a counter balance." She said, showing Ping how as she explained. Ping nodded.
"That's perfect! It makes sense." Ran nodded and took position on the other side from Ping. Soon both woman were climbing up the sides, slipping with each other and laughing, all while concentrating on not falling. Eventually they made it to the top, through hard work, some blood in Pings case with her chaffed wrists, and a lot of sweat. Both girls looked at each other and smiled. A crowd had gathered below, and the sun had partially risen when they realized that they were at the top, and high above the rest of the camp. Ping dislodged the arrow from the wood, and threw it down in front of Li's tent, right as he left.
He glanced at the top of the column to see Ping and ran sitting on top, Ping with the weights around his neck, and Ran leaning slightly on his friend. The moral of the draftees picked up from then on. The work was done with earnest learning, and everything was soaked up like a sponge. In those next few weeks, arrows flew straight, every soldier could deflect rocks without spilling the water in the bucket, getting fish was easy, and every soldier was strong enough to concur all obstacles thrown at them. For once, Li felt as if there was nothing more to do for them. As much as he hated to admit it, Ping was the cause for all of that. Ping sparked the inspiration for everyone else. He and Ran were some of the most dedicated men in camp, and Ping had become quite the fighter. Naruto pulled Ran aside.
"What happened to the weak soldier that we had to deal with?" He asked jokingly.
"Some extra training, and a small threat on my part." Ran responded sheepishly. Naruto raised his eyebrow in response.
"I told him that I would take Mushu, his pet lizard you've probably seen before, and shove him down his pants if he didn't work harder. Trust me, neither of them would have liked that too much." He laughed, a heavenly laugh in Naruto's ears, although he would never admit it.
"That seems to be a very odd threat." He commented. Ran shrugged.
"It was the best, I could come up with. I got tired of all of Ping's complaining on the matter of training, and getting stronger. 'I can't seem to get better!' or 'What am I doing wrong! I'm following instructions!' It got too much to bear, even for me, and I've always been patient with him." Naruto laughed.
"Sounds like a rough childhood."
"Just a bit. Actually, no it wasn't that bad. We were the help around town, and with our families, especially because my family originated in Japan. Rarely would you find a Japanese family in China that hadn't changed their names." Ran smiled, obviously lost in thought of past memories.
"My family is from Japan as well. My full name is Naruto Namikaze. My father was a strong war leader, and my mother was a woman who fought along side him. Women aren't allowed in the army, but she was stronger than everyone else, and my father fought to keep her. My mother died after giving birth to me, and my father died in a war. He was fighting a man who was considered 'Kyuubi' of Japan. I earned a similar name for my scars, only the Chinese equivalent." Naruto explained. Ran could only watch the man talk. He seemed so lost in the past. His blue eyes held mischief, yet were intelligent.
A few weeks into training, a new group was brought in, mostly men who, oddly enough, smuggled themselves into the country from Japan. Naruto had apparently known some of them as well.
"So, this is the camp where we will be living. Its nothing special." One man commented, his hair was cut short and had a look that was similar to a chicken butt.
"Hey, its better than where we were living. You wouldn't believe the conditions we just came from." Another man fired back. He had brown hair, that was short, with a pair of red tattoos on his face that looked like fangs. He also had a small pup with him, that played with Shima.
"This is so troublesome. Why couldn't I have just been a farmers son?" a lazy sounding voice came from behind Ran. The boy, because he looked younger than the rest of them, had his hair tied back in a spikey pony tail, and had an earring in one ear. The rest of the group consisted of a man with white hair an eye patch, and a scarf covering his mouth, a man with his hair tied back in a pony tail, and a scar running along his nose, a man who was a bit larger in size, who was eating some cooked potato crisps, and a man who wore glasses, and spoke very little. Ran also noticed that there was another man, standing in the shadows behind the growing group. It was her cousin Neji. Ran began to panic, how was she going to explain this to him? He would freak out! He was so protective of her when they were younger and he would never have allowed her to run away as she did. Their names were (A/N: in order of their listing from the very first said, just in case you couldn't tell ) Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Iruka, Choji, Neji, and Shino. Immediately, Ran and Ping got along with the younger of the group, being Choji, Shino, Kiba, and Shikamaru were all the same age as them. Sasuke kept to himself and seemed to have a personal vendetta. The older group stuck together, but separate from the younger ones. Ran ended up pulling Neji aside, and after a long and very troublesome, in the words of one lazy genius, explanation, Neji realized it was useless to try and argue. The Hyuuga woman had made up her mind, and much like her mother, was sticking to it with a stubborn ferocity. Training soon resumed as usual, Ping and Ran helped to catch their new comrades up, and Shima played with Akamaru, who was Kiba's. Times were picking up for the camp, and even the other men, namely Yao, Ling and Chien Po. With times going as well as they were, no one could have predicted what was going to happen.
SO, you have reached the end of probably one of the longest chapters i've ever written. It was 9 pages in word, and that was before adding the comments before and after the actual chapter. Wow! Its 1:30 in the morning! *slaps cheeks to stay awake* so I'm hoping that I can give some of the Naruto characters some new lines and parts, it will be hard cause this is a mulan based story. There will not be any other pairings other than MulanXLi and HinataXNaruto. I am a major NaruHina fan, and in this case, im glad that I was able to work it in! I might actually make Shima and Akamaru a pair...it would be a very odd pairing because shima is a wolf guardian, and Akamaru is Akamaru...we shall see. and I am not a sasuke fan at all. he is a self-centered wanker who just needs to learn to pipe the f*** down! ok that being said, moving on.
soooo the time everyone has been waiting for! Reviewer response time!
narufan: I do intend to keep writing! Its been a fun experience trying to keep my inspiration up, and honestly I've seen Mulan so many times in the last few weeks trying to think of new stuff for the chapter!
nejifangirl101: as I said I plan to keep writing! And this chapter was one of the hardest because I had to come up with fillers for where the song would have been because I couldn't write a song chapter. At least it seems ok to me. I hope you enjoy! (I made it so that Neji was a protective cousin, rather than the cold branch member, because it seemed easier, and now someone knows their secret! *gasp!* ;P)
mulanhero: I'm glad you enjoy it this much! 7 I love it's, that's a new record for me! :) I am glad to be writing something of interest for people!
FA-M-BI: I was going for originality, and hoped and prayed that no one had written one like this, and I'm glad to say that no one has! It was fun to start, because as much as inspiration for me is hard to come by, I know that there are a lot of ways that I could take this. I am just as excited to see where it does go, to be honest!
Shadowprice: I'm glad you like it!
Alrighty, I know some of my responses to the reviews were shorter, but for the shorter ones all I could really say was how happy I was that they enjoyed the story. THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING! For anyone else who read this story...please review! and if i start racking up more and more, i will have to do this more often! Well, that being said, I bid you all Spokoynoy Nochi! Chitatʹ dalʹshe , pozhaluysta! which is Russian, for Good Night, and read on, please! I'm still learning, and those are only the phonetic ways of saying it! So, again THANKS TO EVERYONE!
