Sorry about the delay, but I had good reason, which can be found under the end notes.
Just a note: I'm using Ryo as if they were yen, so 100 Ryo = 1 dollar.
Chapter 9, Relaxing, yeah, sure.
The streets of Konoha were mostly empty by the time Ranma was finished training. Granted, Sakura would be sore the next morning, but it was mostly her fault for spending several hours pondering Naruto's secret, or whatever she was doing. 'Gee, that's considerate of you, Ranma.' Kura-chan said, sarcastically.
The pink haired girl merely shrugged. 'The fact that you're back mean she's all right?' she asked, a little worried.
'Not exactly all right, but better.' Kura-chan reported. 'You took the revelation that one of our classmates is a demon bent on destroying the village pretty well, though.' She said, acidly.
Ranma scowled. 'He ain't the demon, probably.' She returned. 'That's like saying I'm Sakura, just 'cuz we share the same body. Besides, he's too much of an idiot to be truly evil.'
'Y... yeah, I guess he doesn't really act much like a demon, does he?' Came Sakura's very tentative voice.
Ranma couldn't help it, she laughed. 'Look, you had to agree to let me help you before I could ever really manifest,' she explained. 'I don't think Naruto's stupid enough to work with the fox.'
'I what?' Sakura asked.
Kura-chan sighed, and Ranma felt a short stab of pain in her skull as the other apparently vented her anger on someone other than the martial artist, for once. 'Remember? Big fight, Uzumaki and Sasuke-kun about to die?' The shadow reminded. 'You took Ranma's hand, and agreed to let her help you, so she was able to have more freedom than just sitting around inside of your mind.'
'Oh,' Sakura said. It all made sense, she supposed. 'So... what do we do about this?'
Ranma shrugged, and Sakura yelped as she felt several muscles in her back aching. 'We ignore it, like my ol' man does to any large problem. Let the kid handle it.' She replied.
'And where did that get your father?' Kura-chan sniped, irritably.
'Oh, HE made out fine... just don't have any kids.' Ranma returned, sweat dropping as the over-crowded Kunoichi made it to her front door.
HR.
Sasuke woke to the sensation of a soft cloth on his forehead, his entire body feeling vaguely as though he'd run it through a meat grinder. Reluctantly, the last loyal Uchiha cracked open his eyes, the world snapping into focus almost instantly. "Ugh." He groaned, eloquently.
"Sasuke-kun, you're awake?" Ino said, relieve, as she pulled another bandage out of the medical kit she carried, using it to wrap a gash on the boy's arm. "I was worried, you've been out since that white haired guy left."
Sasuke didn't respond, only staring into the trees above him, and thinking. He'd been beaten once again, and unfortunately it had been by techniques that he couldn't copy, as the second his foe had seen him activate the Sharingan he'd started using explosive Kunai and summonings that Sasuke didn't have access to the scroll for. "Useless." The boy muttered, causing Ino to rock back as if she had been slapped, unknowing that he wasn't talking to her.
What really bothered the boy was that his Sharingan had been completely and totally useless. Granted, it had helped project enemy attack locations, but its main effect just couldn't be used against toads, and now Sasuke had a bunch of techniques crowding his head that were anatomically impossible for a human.
That white haired Ninja, though, had shown a tremendous amount of power. He'd summoned a giant toad, the 'Boss Toad,' apparently, with about as much effort as Sasuke would use to activate his fireball, and the last Uchiha somehow doubted that his true power lay in summoning.
"Um, Sasuke-Kun, the old man who fought you, he... he told me to tell you that he won the bet, and to stay away from snakes." Ino tried, hoping that this would get a reaction out of the fixedly staring boy.
Hn," Sasuke returned, having heard, his mind still running at a million miles a minute. If he could incorporate that man's actual Jutsu into his collection, he could be a hundred times more powerful. Then, he came to a realization. If he could bypass a Sharingan's usefulness by using un-copyable techniques at the same time... Yes, he would definitely have to think more about this, and as for the bet, maybe 'relaxing' would be a good way to help him come up with new methods of training, or somehow force the white haired guy to teach him what he knew.
He couldn't refuse the mission of the last Uchiha, after all.
Nearby, Ino looked down, her eyes watering. "Sasuke-kun..." She muttered. "Is this how you act around Sakura, too?"
HR.
In the Hokage's office, Kakashi watched silently as Jiraiya read a coded message the contents of which even he had no idea about. After the man put it down, the interim Hokage leaned over his desk. "Well?" He asked, not really wanting to be disrespectful to one of the Sannin, but also a little curious.
Jiraiya shook his head solemnly. "That's one hell of a last request," He muttered, and then sighed. "I think I'll wait for Tsunade to show up and take the Hokage's position," He smiled crookedly for a moment. "Every Kunoichi in the village would riot and string me up by my toes if I tried. As for the other... He asked me to return to active duty as a Ninja of the Leaf."
Kakashi's uncovered eye widened. "For the fight against Orochimaru," He said, realization suffusing his face.
Jiraiya nodded. "Of course, the old man's last request... I will do it," He decided, not even mentioning the fact that it would interrupt his research, or inconvenience him at all. After all, it was his teacher's final order. "I noticed that the snake already got one of you." he muttered. "I saw the mark on Uchiha's neck, though the counter-seal was done well."
"Yes," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "He was attacked, along with his team, during the second Chunin exam."
"You know that he'll probably strike during the third, right?" Jiraiya offered.
Kakashi scowled. "I know, but we can't cancel. Any show of weakness on Konoha's part, and we'll lose contracts, maybe even get attacked."
Jiraiya nodded. "Do you have any orders for this newly re-instated Jounin?" He asked, trying, rather unsuccessfully, to break the tension that the room had been in even before he'd arrived.
"Other than watching for Orochimaru, not at the moment." Kakashi replied. "Just... don't get too drunk while celebrating the former Hokage's life, all right?"
Jiraiya actually managed a grin at this. "No promises." He returned, and turned to leave.
HR.
'Hey, wake up!' Sakura groaned, as the insistent voice shouted through her mind.
'Don' wanna.' She complained, subconsciously knowing that she would regret moving when she started doing it.
'This is your day off, remember? I'd enjoy it, 'cuz when it's done it's back to merciless training.' Ranma's voice warned again.
"Damn you." Sakura muttered, cracking open her eyes and blearily looking through the window at the sun, which was already a decent portion of the way up the sky. "Oh, so late?" She asked, and threw her legs over the edge of her bed, where upon the shooting pain started in her back. 'Yes, I definitely hate you.' She decided.
'Good to hear,' Ranma returned. "I'm doing my job right.'
"Yeah, right." Sakura muttered, sourly. 'At least it's my day off, and I get to replace this uniform.'
'Oh yeah.' Ranma sounded distinctly unenthusiastic about the prospect of a day of shopping,
'What's wrong, Ranma, you sound like Sakura did when you told her about your training methods.' Kura-chan said, evilly.
'Bad memories of shopping for girls' clothes,' the redhead returned. 'I think I'm gunna stay back here, so I don't see anythin I'll get smacked for.'
'Oh, right.' Sakura said, blushing as she recalled who and what Ranma really was. 'You'd better stay back, or I'll...'
'Yeah, I've heard it before,' Ranma grumbled. 'Just... try not to get anything too impractical, all right?'
'Impractical?' Sakura asked.
'Yeah, like that dress you had before. It could catch your legs, and really didn't protect much other than your modesty. Try for somethin a bit better than that,' Ranma explained.
'Hey, I liked that dress!' Sakura exclaimed, but Ranma had apparently submerged herself deep into their shared mindscape, as she didn't reply.
'Y'know, I think I've got an idea.' Kura-chan said, and Sakura could almost see her evil grin. 'I'll tell you about it later., but it's gunna be good.'
'Okay...' the pink haired girl said, before she heard someone calling from downstairs.
"Sakura-chan, there's someone at the door to see you!" The girl's mother's voice came echoing up the stairs.
"Coming!" The pink haired girl called back.
HR.
'She's a little scary sometimes,' Sakura observed, as TenTen looked at a pair of crossed swords with delight that was normally reserved for a puppy, or copious amounts of candy.
"Too bad I can't really think of an excuse for buying them," the weapons user sighed. "They wouldn't work with my style at all."
"Yeah, they're.. nice." Sakura said, unsure.
"They're works of art!" TenTen corrected, quickly. "Made by the best weapons smith in town, but I don't really know how to use a Katana and Wakazashi."
Sakura nodded. Very few Ninja really knew a sword style like that. "So why not buy them and train with them?" She asked.
TenTen snorted. "On a genin's pay grade?" She said, and then shook her head. "What did you pick out?"
Sakura spread her arms out before turning slowly. She was wearing a set of dark grey pants with black, thicker sections at the knees, under a deep red shirt with circular black patterns woven all along the sleeves and up the sides of the chest. Her hair was still loose, but the Ninja headband no longer tied it, now sitting on her forehead, over her eyes, where most ninja wore it.
"Hmm, it'll work." TenTen decided, nodding back to her.
"So it's practical?" Sakura asked. "Someone told me my old gear didn't work."
TenTen smirked evilly. "Worked well enough on Naruto and Lee," She said, and laughed.
Sakura blushed. "Did you have to bring that up?" She complained.
TenTen just snickered again, before proceeding to the section of the store that sold her usual throwing weapons.
HR.
As she was changing out of her new outfit and back to her street clothes in a changing stall, Sakura couldn't help but be uneasy. There was a steady tingling at the back of her neck, as if she was being watched. Actually, it had felt that way since about half way through the shopping trip, but she hadn't been able to pinpoint why. "I wonder if that woman with the trench coat is watching me again?" She asked, and then closed her eyes, trying to access both her Chakra sense and the new Chi sense that Ranma had been training in her.
Extending her view, she felt the woman in the stall next to her, along with TenTen who was standing outside and waiting patiently. There was a third signal, but as she tried to identify it, she was disturbed by a loud thud, and then a scream from the aforementioned woman.
"Eek, pervert!" The civilian yelled, and Sakura saw a blur shoot over the top of the open stall.
"He's back?!" TenTen exclaimed, and the sound of thrown Kunai could be heard. By the time Sakura had gotten dressed and was pushing the door open, however, TenTen was gone, and there were knocked over racks of clothing and equipment everywhere.
"Where did they go?" Sakura demanded, turning to the civilian who was in the other stall.
"O... over there." She stuttered, surprised, before pointing towards the store entrance.
The Kunoichi nodded, and started to run towards the door.
HR.
"Damn it," Kabuto muttered, as he ran like a man possessed. He'd been ordered to infiltrate Konoha again by Orochimaru, after the older man had gotten over his surprise at the medic's survival, but after he'd completed his primary task he'd spotted the little brat who had caused all this, talking and laughing with another Kunoichi.
Deciding that it couldn't hurt anything, the medic-nin began to track her. Perhaps he could kill the girl, that would be satisfying. Then again, capturing her and asking her about her unusual healing abilities would be even better.
Unfortunately, as the spy had been observing the girl in the store, she'd started scanning the area with her Chakra, along with something... else. Kabuto wasn't sure what that other thing was, but he knew that he didn't want to be detected by it. In retrospect, trying to stand and teleport away while on top of a drop ceiling wasn't the best way of going about that goal, he decided.
Now, he was being chased down by a crazy girl who was tossing weapons at him and screaming that she wouldn't let him get away from her again. "I don't even know you!" He yelled back, chucking several shuriken to slow her down.
Turning a corner rapidly, he noted that there were three Ninja standing in front of him. Without thought, he chucked more of the weapons at them, and two jumped out of his way. Strangely, the third just stood there, allowing the Kunai that had been thrown at him to imbed itself deeply into his shoulder. The red haired boy screamed in a mixture of pain and rage, running towards Kabuto, who casually swatted him aside, sending him crashing to the ground.
Moments later, only his danger sense saved him as a scythe-like blade of air thundered down the open street. He jumped over it, bouncing from an awning to a roof, and then started frantically working an escape jutsu. He had recognized far too late that the boy he'd wounded with a Kunai was Gaara of the sand, and his siblings were with him. Thankfully, the spy had altered his own face enough that no one should be able to recognize him, but it was still a grave error.
HR.
"Bastard, he got away." Temari growled, as she lept to the roof to try and track the Ninja who had just charged past, ignoring the cries of a local merchant whose cart she'd blown to pieces.
"But... my cabbages, again?" The man croaked, as the white clad wind ninja jumped back to the ground, walking back towards her siblings. Gaara was sprawled on the ground, a pool of red growing under one of his shoulders as Kankuro stood over him, looking uncertain.
"Hold on, I'll help out." The puppet master said, ripping some of the white cloth from the puppet on his back and using it to start bandaging his brother's wound.
"It... hurt." Gaara said, not whining or screaming, but in a curiously puzzled tone, as Kankuro gently rolled him over.
"It's all right, we'll get you patched up." Temari said, trying to be reassuring.
Gaara nodded. "The sand, it didn't protect me." He whispered, looking down at the blood that covered the one hand that he could still move without pain. "So, this is the price I must pay?"
"Hell of a way to spend your first day out of hospital, eh?" Kankuro said, trying to be funny. He just got a glare from his sister, and a confused, blank look from Gaara.
"Come on, let's get him back." The girl ordered, sternly.
Kankuro nodded, and the two carefully lifted their still bleeding younger brother, starting to carry him off. As he went, Gaara frowned. "I will need to train, so that I can uphold the Hokage's honor." He decided, though neither of the others heard him.
Nearby, TenTen looked on, irritated at having let the pervert escape again, while Sakura charged up next to her. "Hey, what happened?" The pink haired girl asked, noting the rather odd sight of the red haired boy who she'd previously seen unleash Shukaku being carried off, wounded.
"Damned bastard got away!" TenTen exclaimed, using much stronger language than Sakura had ever heard from her. "I hate perverts."
HR.
Ino stood, staring listlessly at a kunai that she was flipping from finger to finger as she thought. "Useless." She muttered, and threw the blade as hard as she could at the target down range. It smacked into the middle, quivering there for a moment. "I'm not... useless, am I?"
"Good work, Ino!" Asuma congratulated, "Your aim is getting better!"
"Mmhmm." The girl said, nodding and plucking out another Kunai, as Choji and Shikamaru watched on from the sidelines, having completed their last game of chess a few minutes earlier.
"There's something wrong with her." Choji said, finally, after Ino robotically tossed the next Kunai. "Can you tell what she's muttering to herself?"
"Something about uselessness." Shikamaru returned, not finding it unusual at all that Choji expected him to be able to read lips. "If I were to guess, I'd say someone said something to her that upset her." His lips turned down, almost as though he were trying to frown, but didn't really want to expend the effort.
"Uchiha." Choji decided, gritting his teeth.
Shikamaru shrugged. "I doubt he'd be bothered saying anything to her," he observed, "but I suppose it's possible."
"That's it, I'm gunna..." Choji started, clenching his fists.
"Don't do anything stupid." Shikamaru returned, resting a hand on his teammate's shoulder, but this didn't seem to do anything, as the other boy started tromping off, headed for the forest at the edge of the training ground.
Shikamaru sighed. "This is going to be such a drag." He observed, slowly walking after the other. The lie was given to his laid back attitude, however, when one noted that the shadows around his feet were snapping in and out rapidly.
Five minutes later, the explosions began... again. This time, Asuma pondered just leaving whoever it was to their own devices, but decided against it, dashing off. Looking back, he noticed that Ino was still standing where she had before, practicing her punches, but shrugged this off. It was probably better that Genin not get involved in heavy combat if he could stop it.
As he ran into the trees, once again being drawn to the clearing where Sasuke had been training, he stopped in shock at what he saw.
"What did you say to her?" Choji was demanding, upon the end of every rolling attack he made, each one almost flattening the last loyal Uchiha.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sasuke replied, the volume of his voice giving an idea of precisely how intense the battle was. As Asuma wondered why the black haired boy didn't dodge the easily trackable blows of his opponent, he noted that Shikamaru was standing on the sidelines, in the exact pose that Sasuke was currently in.
"Hmm, well, they are training." He observed, shrugging and turning to leave them to it.
HR.
'Hey, you get your shopping done?' Ranma asked, as Sakura was enjoying the last of her home cooked dinner. The pink haired girl almost choked on the bite.
'Could you have given me a little warning before coming back?" She scowled.
Ranma didn't seem to worry. 'So, that's a yes?' She asked.
"Yes, it is. I'll show you after dinner.' Sakura returned, scooping the last spoonful of rice into her mouth. "Mom, I'm going to go upstairs now." She said, standing and grabbing her bowl, in order to put it into the kitchen first.
On the other side of the table, her mother absently nodded from where she was reading the village's paper, and the pink haired girl started off.
'So, you're going to show her, huh?' Kura-chan snickered evilly.
"Huh?" Ranma asked, but only caused the snickering to get worse.
'Oh, don't worry about it.' Sakura observed, though she was grinning, too.
Once they got upstairs, the kunoichi unpacked her bags, and got changed while carefully not looking at the mirror. Turning to face it, she asked, 'so what do you think?'
'Urk!' was Ranma's only response, as she looked on in shocked horror. 'It's so... p... pink.'
"I know, isn't it great?' Sakura asked, twirling around in the pink, body hugging suit, patterned off of the one Lee and Gai wore. 'It's practical, too. we don't have to worry about enemies catching anything, or the clothes ripping.'
Ranma shuddered violently, the action so strong that it carried over to Sakura's real body. 'I hate you both.' She grumbled, and that was about when Sakura and Kura-chan started giggling frantically.
'Got'cha!" They both yelled, though Sakura made sure that she didn't physically do so.
'What?' Ranma asked, confused.
'You were right, best two thousand Ryo I ever spent.' Sakura giggled, grinning like an idiot. 'I'll show you the real outfit later,' she continued, and then turned speculative. 'but this would be pretty good for working out in.'
Ranma shuddered again. 'So... girly.' She whimpered, softly.
'Aw, grow up!' Kura-chan said, as Sakura started to change back into her regular clothes.
HR.
Neji Hyuga stood before the master of the main clan, his emotions a mix of fear, resentment and duty as he stared into the much taller man's eyes. "Is this report accurate?" The older ninja asked, gesturing to a paper on his desk with Neji's name written at the top.
"Yes, sir." The younger man said, in a clipped tone.
"This is a very serious charge, you realize this, and action will have to be taken immediately if it is true." Hiashi continued. "It is a matter of the honor of the clan's Main House."
"Yes, sir." Neji said again, knowing that to say anything else could possibly get him hit with the caged bird seal, if the clan leader was in a bad mood.
Hiashi considered for a moment. "Accusing the girl on the evidence of one branch house member could cause political problems within the clan, but if she does know our clan techniques, she must be taken care of." He resolved, describing the problem in full, as he saw it. "This means that more evidence must be gathered, and in front of a more reliable witness".
Neji gritted his teeth, the sound almost carrying to the older man, as his reliability was called into question, but he simply responded with another "Yes, sir."
"In that light," Hiashi finally decided, "Your mission is clear. Challenge Miss Haruno to a duel, at this compound. I will officiate. if she uses the gentle fist... kill her."
"Understood, sir." Neji said, and then bowed. "May I leave?"
Hiashi nodded, gesturing negligently with one hand, and Neji turned, walking out of the room. As soon as the door closed, the Ninja reared back, smashing one hand into the wall of the room outside. Fortunately, he wasn't stupid enough to hit it hard enough to leave major damage.
He'd been given his marching orders, however, no matter how condescendingly. He was sure of what he had seen, and would kill Sakura Haruno.
END.
Okay, here's the end note. Just FYI, it's a fanfic plug.
Jonakhensu and I have been working on a little project since the middle of last week. It's an Azumanga Daioh/Ranma crossover, written by both authors using a cooperative writing program called Gobby.
I think it's pretty neat, and if anyone wants to find it, it's called "JonaBee Fanfic, under Jonakhensu's author profile.
Thanks for withstanding the plugs.
Please R&R, tell me what you think of this chapter!