A/n: Short Chapter Again! Next weeks will definitely be longer. Shoutout to those of you who gave me some critiques, and I tried to take the advice given to heart!

Chapter 12: Operation Snake in the Grass Begin!

Ranma stood beside the village gate as the light began to stream into Konoha from the rising sun. He glanced at Ryoga, who had his backpack strung casually over one shoulder, and noticed the impatience in the eyes of his rival. "He'll be here any minute now," Ranma said, "We got here early after all." Ryoga merely nodded, they were waiting for Asuma Sarutobi to arrive, the son of the late Hokage was going to accompany them on their mission to hunt down Orochimaru, whose location had been disclosed by the capture Sound Ninja, Tayuya. They were going to be assaulting the hideout in Kusagakure aka. The Village Hidden in the Grass, as it was the hideout Orochimaru had been actively using prior to his assault on Konoha. Kusa was an allied village of the Leaf and was unaware that there was any such hideout within their borders. Ranma had been informed that it was a two-day trek to arrive there, dependent on their travel speed of course. The pig-tailed boy leaned against the large gate, observing his surroundings for a moment before he spotted Asuma coming towards him, followed closely by Kurenai. He wasn't sure why she was coming but the Kunoichi was obviously worried about something.

"There you are," Ranma said as the duo approached, "What's going on Kurenai?"

Kurenai shook her head and smiled as she approached, "Just worried about Asuma, Orochimaru isn't a threat to take lightly after all."

Ranma nodded his agreement, he'd faced Orochimaru and he was second only to Saffron, but Orochimaru was definitely more skilled. "Of course we'll keep him safe," Ranma said, "That's a Saotome promise."

Ryoga glanced at the sky, "It's getting late guys, we've got to set out soon," the lost boy reached into his pack and pulled out the map that had been provided, "So it's this way?" he said before beginning to walk back into Konoha. Ranma leaped over Ryoga, snatching the map in the process, "No ya idiot, it's this way."

Asuma glanced back at Kurenai, before hugging her quickly, jumping after Ranma and Ryoga who had made their way out of the village, "I'll see you when I get back."

Ranma was jumping from tree to tree, keeping an eye on Ryoga while casually conversating with Asuma, "So, what else can you tell me about Orochimaru?"

"I don't know much more than you do, I met him when I was a kid seeing as he was my dad's student, but I only know what everyone else knows," The Jonin replied as they landed in a clearing, "Ranma, he is strong, that's all I can tell you, anyway, lets set up camp here."

Ranma looked around the clearing, it was devoid of trees, the grass was easily chest-high, and Ranma was forced to agree with Asuma, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon and the shadows had lengthened considerably. "Yeah, I guess ya got a point," The martial artist replied, "Ryoga! Over here!"

Ranma watched as the pig-boy glanced over his shoulder at Ranma, nodded and proceeded to turn in the opposite direction. After several minutes of setup, and a quick "Ryoga Recovery Mission" as Asuma had begun to call them, the team sat down at their campsite. Ranma was tired, he didn't usually get tired from physical activities, but he had gone through a serious battle not long ago, and had been jumping from one tree to another for almost eight hours. He sighed as he cozied up to the fire, enjoying the heat of it. He was tempted to stick his feet into the flames the grass was damp and had soaked through his shoes and he felt like warming up.

"So, I know you guys aren't from Konoha but do you could tell me something about where you came from maybe one of your adventures, it's rare for people as powerful as you are to be so unknown," Asuma said suddenly catching Ranma's attention.

"I guess, what do you want to know?" Ranma said, he had talked with the Hokage about it and they had decided to keep their "dimensional travel" as secret if anyone asked they had come from over the sea, "I mean, I'm sure your dad told you something about us."

Asuma nodded, "Did you really fight a dragon?" He said enthusiastically, Ranma blanched Herb hadn't been a good time for him.

"Yeah, I did, Ryoga fought one of his friends," Ranma sighed as he recounted the events of the Herb fiasco, "I guess he was more of a half-dragon, but he still smashed that mountain easy enough, and the guy Ryoga fought was, physically, even stronger, I remember hearing something about he held two parts of a fissure apart?" He said looking towards Ryoga for clarification.

The lost boy smiled, "Yeah, after he broke the ground he threw me into the crack, lucky for me he wasn't all that bright 'cause I got him to switch with me." Ryoga shook his head, the memory of almost being crushed between the two walls of stone wasn't pleasant, he could have used the breaking point to get out but it would've hurt like hell.

Asuma shook his head in disbelief, Dragons were legendary beasts said to be immensely powerful, and the thought that these two had faced one while still teens was baffling to him.

The sun had finally set over their camp, the shadows from the trees making the darkness even more absolute, the moon began to crest over the mountains in the distance and Ranma finally lay down to sleep, Asuma had the first watch.

When Ranma was wakened up it was by Ryoga, the moon was low in the sky again. Ranma was instantly alert, he figured there wasn't anything wrong but years of being ambushed all hours of the day and night by his father had trained him to be awake at the first sign of danger, mostly. There had been a few incidents where he hadn't been quite as alert as he should, but those weren't physical threats so he gave himself a pass, especially since he could, so he'd been told, fight in his sleep. Ranma hopped up into a tree as he prepared for his watch, which was mostly uneventful, he saw two ninja's wearing red and black cloaks heading towards Konoha, but they weren't acting overly suspicious so he ignored them, he did, however, file away the name Akatsuki for a later date. As the sun began to rise Ranma noticed that Asuma was a heavy sleeper, Ryoga had to pour water on him to wake him up. It was late in the day when they finally made contact with the Hidden Grass Village, they were intercepted by a team of Jonin from Kusa. The Kage of Kusa was a man, roughly Ryoga's height, who exuded control. He didn't seem to be overly powerful, not compared to Hiruzen, but he was obviously suited to the Kage title. As Ranma was briefed about what he could expect in the surrounding forests, from giant mushrooms to deep ravines, he casually asked about Orochimaru's Hideout.

The Kage knew it was in the village or near it, but no one had seen him entering or exiting the village.

After the meeting with the Kage Ranma and Ryoga headed off into the forest, leaving Asuma to check the village. Ranma stood under a giant mushroom and smiled. "I wonder how old we'd turn if we ate this one?" He said aloud prompting Ryoga to chuckle to himself, "We'd probably end up looking like Happosai or the old ghoul."

Ranma suddenly went on full alert, he could tell Ryoga also heard the quickly approaching footsteps. They relaxed as a Jonin from Kusa landed in front of them, it was apparent that he had run the entire way to find them. "The Jonin from the leaf has found the snakes den!"

Asuma smiled, the "abandoned" building that everyone seemed to unconsciously avoid, he'd noticed after observing the citizens for several hours, actually had several sublevels. The Jutsu he'd used gave him a clear idea of the size, and he was baffled that no one had noticed this before. It was an incredibly large, complex at least several hundred yards below the surface, with many branching arms going out in all directions, Asuma was prepared to enter the building, but decided to wait for Ryoga and Ranma to arrive, he was smart enough to know that he wasn't up to the task himself. Several minutes later the two Martial Artist appeared before him, literally, Asuma gaped at the display of speed, noting that Ranma didn't seem tired by it at all.

"It's here," Asuma said, "And it's huge."

Ryoga looked around himself before walking to the door, and opening it, "Let's go then!" He cautiously stepped forward into the building waiting for any traps to spring, when nothing did he beckoned them forward.

Asuma looked baffled, "Why did you do that, what if it had exploded?"

Ranma shook his head, "If it ain't a pure Ki explosion big enough to take out this village, it ain't even gonna phase him."

Asuma led the team forward into the building, heading towards the location of the secret passageway that led deeper. He quickly formed a few handsigns, the passage slid open soundlessly.

"After you," Asuma said to Ryoga motioning forward before silently grasping his knives, steeling himself for possible combat.