A/n: As promised
Chapter 11: Ranma and Ryoga's Assault! Farewell Sarutobi!
Ranma stood, facing off with the group of sound shinobi, his anger had gotten the better of him and he knew it, but he was going to kill these five it was the last thing he did. A small part of him was wary of taking that step, but he knew from the Hokage that Orochimaru was the worst type of person, a murderer, and had betrayed his allies. All of those things allowed Ranma to move forward without doubting the validity of his decision. He knew Ryoga wouldn't hesitate to do what was right either.
"You had your chance to escape," hissed Orochimaru, "now you'll see why this village fears me so much." He waved his lackeys forward, smiling as all four approached already in curse mode stage two, "I doubt the old man was being truthful about this annoyances abilities, but better safe than sorry.
Ranma scowled, his opponents were obviously used to working as a team, the largest one approaching from the front, flanked by the white-haired guy with a horn. The two who stayed farther back, one summoning some sort of bow, the other holding a flute. All of them had reddish skin, and three of them had horns. Their un-human appearance made it even easier for Ranma to let loose. He glanced at Ryoga, who had moved up to stand beside him, both of them taking a combat stance, and waited. As the largest of their opponents approached Ryoga stepped forward and swung at him, the boy blocked the hit, his eyes widened when he was flung backward by the force of the hit, his guard was shattered, and his ally was forced to leap to the side to avoid him. Ranma took advantage of the large ninja's flight by appearing above him, peppering his abdomen and head with punched forcing him into the roof. Ranma moved his head back as a large arrow flew past him, scratching his cheek as it went. He glanced towards the farthest of his enemies, he was spitting out some sort of web, spinning into the shape of an arrow, then the pigtailed martial artist ducked under a fist aimed at him from behind, spinning to sweep the legs out from under his opponent. The ninja with one large horn jumped over the sweep, landing beside his large friend, who had staggered back to his feet. At this point Ryoga barreled past Ranma, flinging kunai at the four. As he passed he yelled at Ranma, "You take out the pale guy, I'll handle the small fries."
Ranma nodded, leaping over the four, catching an arrow that had been fired at him and flinging it back at the multiple-armed ninja. When he landed he faced off with his new opponent, the snake-ninja smirked, before darting forward, faster than most would be able to keep up with, the sword he'd stabbed Sarutobi with coming out of his mouth. Ranma wasn't most, however, and he easily kept up with Orochimaru, catching the blade between his palms he kicked Orochimaru into the air, using his aerial skills to twist the Sanin around, sending him into a tree. He glanced over at Ryoga, who was now fighting five people, and shook his head as Ryoga launched a Shi-Shi Hokodon at the spider guy. He jumped up into the air, dodging Orochimaru's head, his neck had extended out from his body. Orochimaru's head turned, tracking Ranma, sword swinging out at the airborne martial artist. Ranma dodged out of the way of the slash, kneeing Orochimaru in the jaw forcing his mouth shut. Ranma realized he was heading straight toward Orochimaru's body, and backflipped over the kick that had been aimed at him. His danger sense went off as he landed, and he ducked once more, narrowly avoiding Kabuto's Ki blade.
"Did you really think a pressure point would keep me down for long?" The spy asked angrily.
Ryoga had just finished launching his Shi-shi Hokodon when he was hit from behind by a large metal club, he flinched slightly. "That's gonna bruise," he thought as he landed, turning to face his newest opponent, he'd been surprised when the white-haired guy had split in two and was even more surprised when he saw that there were three, very large, ogres, standing behind him. He sighed, cracking his knuckles, "Time to get serious." He stood back, noticing that he had been surrounded by his opponents, the three ogres and the tall guy were closing in, and the spider guy was aiming his bow again. "This situation seems hopeless, I'd say it's almost as depressing as seeing the Hokage dead." Suddenly, a huge orb of pure red ki energy emanated from Ryoga, enveloping his opponents, vaporizing the three ogres, and scattering the rest of them. Ryoga stood in the center of the ring, the pillar of Ki reaching into the sky, a single teardrop leaking down his face. When the blast finally disappeared, there was a huge circle around him, devoid of anything, the roof he'd been standing on was gone as well, and he fell what was left of his footing collapsed.
Ranma paused, he could feel the strength of the attack Ryoga had just done, and he was impressed. He knew what it was too. "Yeah, me too buddy," he thought as he dodged a swipe from Kabuto only to take a kick from Orochimaru. He sighed since Kabuto had reappeared he'd been more on the defensive, it was obvious these two worked together a lot. Even if it was just Kabuto following Orochimaru's lead Ranma had been hard pressed to get in any meaningful strikes. He jumped over Kabuto, springboarding off the ninja as he took to the air. He landed in front of Orochimaru and launched several hundred punches at the Sanin's undefended chest. Orochimaru was flung backward by the blows, impacting a tree, he struggled back to his feet before growling. His mouth had a trickle of blood coming from the corner, which he licked away.
"I tire of playing with you boy." The snake-ninja said, jumping into the air as a giant snake appeared underneath him. Ranma gaped, the snake was longer than the building they were on was tall, and it was as thick as a tree trunk. He jumped back, dodging as Orochimaru, Kabuto and the snake all attacked in unison, the snake lunged at him, trying to bite him, while Kabuto kept taking shots with his Chakra blade. Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth wide, flames enveloping Ranma. Ranma's fist darted out, punching the snake-man in the face, "I'm fire-proof, ya idiot!" He exclaimed as he continued to jump backward, his undershirt now completely burnt off, he knew he was at a disadvantage, the snake was pure muscle, definitely stronger than Ranma, he knew it would be able to constrict him if he gave it a chance. His mind made up, he began to turn, leading the three around, slowly closing the circle. Spiraling inward, Ranma suddenly stopped, the snake darted forward, biting down on his leg, Ranma ignored the pain, bringing his fist upward in an uppercut. Orochimaru laughed, the attack had done nothing, but he was suddenly launched into the air along with Kabuto and the snake, which had let go of Ranma's thigh. Ranma watched from the eye of the tornado he had formed as rubble and various discarded ninja tools were sucked into the tornado, making it all the more dangerous. He looked down at himself, he was bloody, bruised, and he had a trail of blood coming from the puncture wounds in his leg, but he was still on his feet. He could see Orochimaru thrashing about in the middle of the tornado, and was surprised to see that the snake had disappeared. Kabuto had already been flung out of the technique and was standing on the outside. Suddenly a Kunai attached to a cord flew into the tornado, Kabuto having expertly thrown it, it wrapped around the Snake-ninja, and he was pulled out by the battered Kabuto. As the white-haired ninja jumped away from the tornado, Ranma made to follow, only to collapse, he felt it finally, poison, of course, the snake had been venomous. He struggled to his feet, the venom was being held at bay by his Ki healing. But he knew if he tried to follow the fleeing Sanin he wouldn't make it. He had to get help. As his vision grew dim he saw feet approaching him.
Ryoga awoke covered in rubble. He could hear people yelling about clearing it away. He sighed, standing up easily clearing away the demolished building easily. He didn't look any worse for wear, he had a nasty bruise on his back but it wasn't anything painful, he'd passed out due to using all of his Ki in the last attack. He was escorted, despite his protests to the Hospital. He was put into a room with Ranma, who he was surprised to see in the hospital. Ranma smiled at him, he was dressed in his usual silk clothes, the only change was the bandage wrapped around his thigh.
"What happened with Orochimaru?" Ryoga asked simply, his rival's face showed his anger and disappointment.
Ranma shook his head, "That snake bastard ran away, I would've chased him down but I got bitten by a damn snake, poisoned me." The pigtailed martial artist sat up wincing as his various bruises were pressed by the bed. He made to stand up, catching a glare from the nurse who he waved off, and stood. "Come on Ryo, let's find Guy."
After several minutes of searching, they found Guy in Lee's room. The young ninja was resting, and Guy looked deflated. He instantly acted cheerier when he noticed Ranma and Ryoga enter. Guy's unbreakable facade of vigor had been badly shaken by the loss of the Hokage. He informed them that there had been minimum casualties, all of Konoha had fought back against the invaders. He also told them when the funeral would be, before politely asking to be left to his mourning. Ranma obliged, dragging Ryoga off, as the pair walked down the hall-way Ryoga told Ranma what he'd learned about the five people he'd been fighting. Only one had survived Ryoga's full powered Shi-Shi Hokodon, the girl Tayuya who had been the furthest away, she was currently in custody. Ranma shook his head, "Hopefully we'll be able to track Orochimaru down." He stopped suddenly when he saw Naruto come flying out of a hospital room, a bouquet of flowers flung after him. Ranma laughed when he heard Sakura's voice yelling after him. He peeked into the room, Sakura was in the hospital bed, Sasuke standing beside her. She was obviously upset about whatever Naruto had said, but she was distracted from it by Ranma's appearance. "Sensei!" the pink haired girl said, "You're injured!" Ranma waved away her concern, asking what had happened to her.
Naruto was back in the room, answering the older boy's question enthusiastically, "We fought a giant sand demon, who was actually Gaara. It was tough but me and Sasuke kicked its butt, especially hard because it threatened Sakura, plus I summoned a giant toad!" Ranma shook his head, he could probably get the full story later from Kakashi, "Sounds tough, all I had ta do was fight off Orochimaru." At the mention of Orochimaru, the room fell silent, as they all thought about what he'd done to the Hokage.
Did you really take him on yourself?" Sasuke asked, his voice was full of doubt and awe as if he didn't know whether to believe him or not.
"Yep and Ryoga over here beat all five of his lackeys," Ranma said, the look of awe beat out his doubt when Kakashi poked his head in the door, nodding solemnly.
"Ranma did in fact run Orochimaru and one of his spies off single-handedly," The jounin said, his exhaustion apparent, "That is why the Hokage's advisors wish to speak to you and Ryoga as soon as possible."
As Ranma walked with, and lead, Ryoga to the Hokage's building. Once inside he was face to face with the group that he'd met before, all of them with solemn looks in their eyes.
"We have successfully extracted the location of Orochimaru's base from the mind of the sound Ninja Tayuya," Said Danzo, "And you two have been elected as the leaders of the assault squad, you will be leaving as soon as Hiruzen has been laid to rest." "You may take one other Jounin with you" interjected one of the advisors.
"Ranma, we have recognized you as one of the strongest of our village, we are trusting you to bring one of the greatest threats to this village down." Danzo finally said, "We are currently leaderless, and this attack has shamed the village. Once we have found a replacement Hokage, our workload will increase exponentially as we try to seem as if we didn't take a loss here." The bandaged man sighed, "If you succeed in taking down Orochimaru, we will be able to rest easier."
Ranma nodded, he understood the situation and was glad that he was the one entrusted with the mission. "I'll handle it," he said a hint of steel creeping into his voice.
Danzo smiled, "Of course, we will also be receiving help from the Sand Village, who have admitted to being manipulated and offered to help rebuild, Orochimaru killed their Kage, and impersonated him." Ranma thought about arguing, but another team would be helpful, plus he understood how much honor was lost by what had happened. He simply nodded.
As the day came to an end, Ranma went to the clothing store, intent on buying something funeral appropriate. He was glad that the council had urged business to open as normal, he left holding a black cheongsam. He sighed, he was mentally worn out from previous days events, and he was trying to find someone willing to accompany him and Ryoga to Orochimaru's hideout. Guy and Kakashi both had other more pressing matters and Kurenai had been injured by several Jounin from the Sand. He turned around at the sound of someone calling his name. He turned and yelped as he turned into her when a huge splash of water fell from the sky, completely soaking the now short red-head. The ninja that had been calling for him stopped, confusion covering his face. "Your Ranma right?" The diminutive red-head nodded.
"I'm Asuma Sarutobi, I want to come with you after Orochimaru," the shinobi said
"Of course, I've been having trouble finding anyone who would come anyway." the red-head said. They walked side by side for a moment, talking about the upcoming funeral, and what about Sarutobi. Asuma being Hiruzen's son told Ranma stories from his youth, Sarutobi had always been friendly and honorable. After they had parted ways Ranma made his way back to his apartment for a shower.
The next day Ranma gathered Ryoga earlier than usual and they sat solemnly, it was a tradition for them to meditate after the loss of a loved one. He thought back to how they had sat together in middle school after Ryoga's first dog had passed. He sighed, his emotions coming to the forefront, he missed those days, him and Ryoga fought sure, but they were also companions in arms, he felt even more depressed as his thoughts drifted to the Hokage, one of the first people to accept them when they had arrived. He forced down the tears, men don't cry, and centered himself, clearing his mind as is standard meditation practice. They sat, facing each other like that in silence, fasting and contemplating life until right before the funeral. As they both dressed, Ryoga wearing a formal black shirt and pants, and Ranma dressed in his new shirt and his cleanest black pants, Ranma glanced out the window and realized it was going to rain that day. He sighed accepting his fate and quickly made the change into a girl. She was going to see the Hokage off the same way they'd met, a short red-head. As they approached the grave site, the ninja didn't have large services they just committed the body to the ground, Ranma saw that most of Konoha were in attendance, the crowd stretched for miles. As they approached the front, she noticed Naruto standing next to Iruka, both had tears streaking down their face. Despite the sudden downpour no one made to move away, they took solace in the fact that even the gods wept for the passing of one of, if not the best men to have ever called Konohagakure home. Somewhere a baby started to cry, and the entire Inuzuka clan howled. He saw Lee, on crutches, standing beside Guy whose face was contorted as he fought back his tears. He noticed Neji and Hinata standing with their clan, Hinata's eyes were puffy, and Neji was obviously not unaffected either. Taking all of this in, Ranma's eyes settled on Sasuke, whose face was set in a look of grim resolve. Their eyes met briefly, Ranma nodded towards the last of the Uchiha before they broke eye contact. After the body had been lowered into the ground, Asuma stepped forward, as the oldest descendent of Hiruzen he was tasked with saying the parting words.
"Today, I lose a father, but that is not all that was lost," He paused, his eyes red-rimmed he no longer had any tears left, "This village lost a leader, each and every one of you has lost a relative as well. My father truly considered Konoha a single family. He died standing up to the greatest threat this village has seen since we lost the fourth." He stopped once again, scanning the crowd, "And he didn't fight because he was the Hokage, he fought for his family, all of us, He was the Hokage, not because he was the best, he was Hokage because he was the most loyal, dedicated ninja in the village." Asuma's voice grew quiet, "I loved my father, not only because despite his duties he always had time for me, but also because despite making time for me he also made time for you all. Every one of you could say that he greeted you by name." I would see him walking the streets, conversating with you, loving you as one of his own, because we were, and are. Konoha isn't just a village, it's the largest Clan there is, I know that if this village hadn't been a family, we would have lost more to this attack, and my father was the embodiment of this fact, he fought for all of us, with the strength we offered." He bowed his head, "And I invite all of you to join me as we say our final farewell to Hiruzen Sarutobi, a father, and a leader."
Ranma looked away from Asuma, her eyes filling with tears, she let them flow this time, men might not cry, but they did grieve.
A/n: If you don't like how strong Ranma is compared to Orochimaru, remember he can't use his arms. I'm not gonna say if he'd have had much more trouble had he been going against full powered Orochimaru thought, that might happen later.
