Author's Note: Nice turnout for the first chapter. Thanks all.

らんま 1/2

2: Assassin in the Mist: Master of the Guillotine Sword!

Nabiki Tendo was not a morning person by any means. She liked to sleep in until the last possible second before breakfast, and not a second before. Having a fiance shouldn't have changed that. Not unless he liked to get frisky in the morning, but that was for much later.

No, being engaged to Ranma Saotome should not have interrupted her sleep until much later in their relationship...

CRASH

...but it did.

Nabiki shot right up out of her bed the moment she heard rumbling crash of one of their walls being destroyed. "Dammit, Pop! Wha'd you do that for!?" Ranma's voice shouted angrily.

"Morning training!" She heard Genma Saotome roar, followed by another crash. "You didn't think that because we're staying here we would stop, did you?!"

Nabiki groaned and stumbled her way out of bed and over to her window. "What the hell...?"

"Ya didn't have to go bustin' through the wall!" Ranma flew passed the window, startling her into thinking that he was actually flying for a moment before she looked out and saw that he and his father were just leaping along the walls and rooftops of their home. "Even I know that's just plain rude!"

Nabiki opened and leaned herself out of her window and looked across the house to where Ranma's room was (her father had considerately placed their rooms next to each other the night before) and sure enough, there was a huge, gaping hole in the side of their house where the window had once been. The money-loving Tendo paled, "Th-that's gonna cost us a fortune to repair...without the laborers!" She bolted toward her door, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas as she raced down the stairs to stop the destructive brawl.

As she ran Nabiki all but plowed into a wide awake Akane, and her father as the two fighters landed in the back yard. Genma, however, was on the losing side as Ranma's hands became a blur of motion, targeted strikes hitting all over his body. Finally, the rotund master was blasted back with what she recognized as a Palm Bottom that sent him crashing into the walls surrounding their home.

The resulting crater was enough to make Nabiki sink to the floor of the dojo, "And that'll cost even more..." she moaned at the monetary costs that seemed to be building with each passing moment her fiance and his father spent there.

"An excellent display of your skill, Son," Soun said with a smile on his face, not even taking note of the damage to his family's home.

Ranma, however, saw the look of despair on his fiance's face, "You shouldn't praise us," the boy said, "Dad destroyed the wall of the room you gave me, and I just put a dent in your fence."

Soun, however, waved off his worry, "A small thing that I can easily take care of," he said, while Nabiki shook her head. "Now, why don't you go and get cleaned up? Kasumi must have breakfast nearly ready, after all."

Akane gave the young man a glare before following her father toward the kitchen, "Jerk."

Ranma did his best to ignore her as he turned his attention back to Nabiki as the girl was practically sobbing over the damages sustained to the home, "I'm sorry about all that," he said honestly, "I didn't think the old man would still pull his morning attack on me when we're supposed to be staying here."

Nabiki shook her head before looking up at him, "You mean he does this every morning?"

"Every day since I was seven years old," Ranma said with a sigh, before he crossed his arms with a look of disdain toward his father, "It doesn't do any good for him to do it anymore, though, 'cause I've been stronger than him for over a year now."

Nabiki staggered to her feet and Ranma was by her side in an instant to steady her, "Ranma, this can't continue," she told him, looking at the damaged wall, "I know that Daddy said that he could fix the damages, but we can't do this more than once, or else we'll be bankrupt!"

"It's him and my pops that you'll have to convince," Ranma said as she leaned him for support, "I'd gladly stop, but he's far too stubborn to do that, and just tell me to stop complaining 'like a girl' again."

Nabiki growled at that, "Oh, will he now?" She sneered so fiercely that Ranma actually worried for his father, but that was quickly brushed aside as the girl stomped off back to her room to get dressed.

It was at the breakfast table that she decided to make her point. Ranma was attempting to eat his meal in peace after the ruckus he and his father had caused, but the greedy man was eating noisily, and attempting to steal from Ranma's portion. That made Nabiki even angrier. There was no doubt that Genma Saotome was stronger than her own father, and Akane, but the fact that he was so fat and Ranma so fit made it clear just who got the bigger portions of food while they had traveled.

"Mister Saotome," Nabiki said as she set her chopsticks down, "The damage you caused this morning amounts to roughly one million yen (just over $9000)." She said, her estimation catching her father off guard. He had thought the cost would be lower, obviously, meaning that he would need to take out a loan.

"Ah, yes, I do apologize for that, my future daughter-in-law," he said in a dismissive tone that only further fueled the raging inferno that was her hidden temper, "But the boy does need to keep up with his martial training so that he is able to perform his duties."

"I thought that you would say that," Nabiki said, "So I regret to inform you that you have only two choices from this point on," she held up her index finger, "The first is that you stop these morning brawls to avoid damaging the house and costing my family money that we don't have," Genma frowned at her for her tone. It was icy, and disrespectful. "And the second is that you leave."

"Nabiki!" Soun and Kasumi gasped.

"Finally!" Akane grinned at her sister.

"And what gives you the right to say that?" Genma asked as he crossed his beefy arms, "You are being highly disrespectful to an elder, young lady."

Nabiki was unfazed, however, and continued, "That would be my own father's words," she gestured to the surprised man, "You, in your morning session, have not only hurt one member of our family, but the entire house as a whole." She said, and crossed her own arms as she gave the man an icy stare that reminded him of his wife, "We are not a well-off family, Mister Saotome, even thiugh we have a big house doesn't necessarily mean we have money to burn. The fact of the matter is, with Daddy's job as a member of the city council, he barely makes enough to pay the bills and put food on our table."

Soun looked down in shame, but felt the need to attempt to defend his friend, "Now, Nabiki, I'm sure that - "

"No, Daddy," the girl said, "Not this time. Not when you know that I'm right." She said as the man gained a hurt look, "The money needed to repair this house after that sparring session is little over your entire salary for three months. And it's too much to ask to let this man damage the same house that...that Mamma loved so much." That got all of their attentions. Nabiki, though she didn't show it, had been the hardest hit by her mother's passing. She never brought her up because it was too painful for her to bear with it.

"A house is a house, and it an be repaired," Genma said unwisely trying to win the verbal fight.

"Not when you have little to no care for how much damage you just caused," Nabiki fired back, "It'll take Daddy three months to work up the money to repair what you've just done today, and that's without paying our utilities, or providing food for us." She pointed at his barely concealed potbelly. "And we won't be the only ones to starve, Mister Saotome. Think about that."

"I agree with her," Ranma said, his father rounding on him fiercely, "I won't have your useless training methods destroying these peoples' home when they've been kind enough to take us in. That is not how I'm going to repay them."

Genma growled at him, "She talked you into this, didn't she, Boy?"

"Nabiki didn't have to," Ranma said, stressing the girl's name to make a point, "In case you forgot, I can control shadows, and not just my own. If I'd wanted to, I could've stopped you easily, but you pulled your usual tactic; barge in on me to catch me off guard, but you saw that I was already awake, and busted through the wall like the door didn't exist." Genma started to rise, but suddenly found himself unable to move as a portion of Ranma's shadow attached itself to his and forced him back down. "Just like always, you saw that you weren't going to get the drop on me, and ran away with your tail between your legs, and then you caused as much chaos as possible to cover your tracks."

Nabiki chimed in then, "And that might work out in the wilderness, but not here," she said, and looked at her intended, "I won't lie and say that I understand what you've done to survive to this point, but here in the civilized world doing what you've done will only get you in deeper trouble. And I'm certainly not going to allow Ranma to be dragged down by the messes you cause."

"And I won't let you do what you want anymore." Ranma told his father, "I'm stronger than you ten times over now, and that's without using my shadows." He then said the words that thought he'd never hear, "I don't need you to train me anymore."

Genma's entire world came crashing down around him. [This was a mistake,] he began to realize, [That girl is too influential on him. I should've made the choice for him - ]

"But I do need you to be my father," Ranma continued, shocking the rest of the table, "All of my life you've done nothing but teach me martial arts. Not once have you ever acted like a parent. I don't even know what happened to my mom because you've said talking about her would make me weak, and - "

Soun frowned when he mentioned his mother, "You haven't been in contact with Nodoka?"

"TENDO!" Genma roared, making the man's hair stand on end. "Ranma, Nabiki and Akane are going to be late to school, now be a man and escort them!"

Ranma rose, releasing father from his shadow's hold, "Fine, but don't think we're done," he said, then smiled at his fiancée before holding out his hand to her, "Would you allow me to escort you to your school, Miss Tendo?"

Nabiki couldn't stop the giggle that bubbled up as she took his hand, "Why thank you, Mister Saotome."

"Some of us are trying to eat, you know?" Akane groused, though she felt a small spike of jealousy at his actions.

Nabiki just gave her a sly look and stuck her tongue out at her, "Then hurry up and eat, or we really will be late."

Akane huffed, and hurriedly finished her meal before following the overly affectionate (to her at least) pair on their way to their school.

As the younger children left, Soun recovered his composure and glared at his former training partner, "He doesn't know his mother?" He growled, "Saotome, do you realize just how often your wife calls to check and see if you've arrived here, yet?" He demanded of the man as he crossed his arms and turned away. "No, you will not ignore me on this!" He hollered, "My girls had to grow up without their mother for ten years! To hear that your boy has never even known the wonderful woman you call your wife is beyond cruel! The Master truly taught you well!"

"This has nothing to do with our teachings, Tendo!" Genma snapped, "The boy's life would be in danger if she met him!"

Kasumi looked at him with a frown on her normally gentle face, "And why would his own mother want to threaten the life of her son?"

"That is none of your concern, young lady," Genma said, frowning at the girl's tone. How could Tendo allow these girls to speak to everyone this way?

"But it is a concern of mine," Tendo countered after a moment, "Answer her question, and watch how you speak to my family, Saotome."

Genma growled, having been cornered, "In order to take the boy and train him, I had to make a promise to my wife that I would make him a man among men," he said, which made the two Tendos frown. Though Kasumi saw this in a positive light.

"Well, then I would say that you have succeeded," Kasumi smiled, "He seems to be a fine young man, and I would have gladly accepted the engagement had he been just a bit older."

Soun nodded, "I agree," he said, "He's quite polite, has a good head on his shoulders, and I can see that he's very kind for someone his age."

Genma couldn't have disagreed more, "He's arrogant, disobedient, and lazy," he said, taking his son's lack of interest in his own training as a sign of laziness. "What's more is the fact that he will never been seen as a man among men by his mother."

"Not that I agree with your description of your son, but why wouldn't she?" Kasumi asked.

Genma hesitated to answer, but Soun was waiting for him to speak as well. "While in China...we heard of a special training ground that seemed like it would do well with our Anything Goes Midair Combat style," he began, "The tour guide spoke very bad Japanese, so we paid little attention to what he said, mostly stories about tragedies that had happened at the grounds." He said, "When we arrived, all we found were springs with bamboo poles in the center of them. Nothing special, so the boy and I began to spar. The guide panicked and warned us not to fall into the waters, but it was too late. I knocked Ranma down into one of the pools, and he came back at me as a young girl."

らんま 1/2

Akane had never felt jealousy before, and therefore, didn't know how to deal with it. She didn't even know why she would be jealous. It was just her stupid sister walking with her stupid pervert of a fiancée. Holding hands.

[There's no way they should be holding hands like that,] she thought to herself. [Kasumi always said that hand holding wasn't supposed to happen until after the fifth date!]

Meanwhile, the two betrothed hadn't even noticed that their hands were still joined after leaving the house. Ranma was too busy taking in the sights to notice, and Nabiki was just having too much fun watching the child-like wonder on his face as they walked. "Ranma, haven't you ever been to a city before?"

"Nothing like this," Ranma said, finally tearing his eyes off the buildings, "We'd visit villages to get supplies, but we - I never got to go into the larger settlements."

The two girls gave him a look, Akane having even become curious when it became apparent that Genma had obviously left Ranma alone from time to time. "Your father never let you?" The younger sister asked.

Nabiki just narrowed her eyes, "Let me guess, he said being in a town or city would make you weak or some nonsense like that?" She sighed when Ranma nodded his head slowly, "Have you ever been to school?"

"Once?" He said uncertainly, "It was just over a year ago."

Akane gaped, You mean that you've never been enrolled in a school?!"

Ranma shrugged, "I know how to read and write just fine."

"Yes, but there are other things that you need to know," Nabiki said, "What if you found something you wanted to do besides being a sensei?"

Ranma gave both girls a surprised look, "There's other things?"

"Of course there are!" Akane butted in, "Doctors, lawyers, hell you could even work at a McDonalds if you wanted to!"

Ranma frowned, "What's a Mc - "

Nabiki put a finger to his lips, "Ranma, I swear, if the next words that come out of your mouth are 'what's a McDonald's', then your father and I need to have a long, long talk!"

"And I'll help you with that talk," Akane frowned, feeling slightly sympathetic.

Ranma just shrugged innocently, "Then I won't say anything."

Nabiki just sighed, and tugged him off the usual path she and her sister took to school, "Akane, you go on ahead," she told the girl, "I need to spend at least a day to modernize my husband-to-be."

Akane frowned at her, "You're skipping? I'm not covering for you!" She warned her as her sister led the boy off, "Dad's gonna have kittens!"

"So?" Nabiki asked, "Just tell him I took Ranma on a date!"

Akane sighed as the two of them jogged off down the road, "I knew it, boys are nothing but trouble," she groaned before turning back down the road to go to school. But when she turned, she found her path shrouded in mist. "When did...?"

"Excuse me, young lady," said a gravely voice from behind her that made the girl freeze, "I'm afraid that I need your help with something."

Akane slowly turned her head around to see just who it was that had just so suddenly appeared without even a sound as she saw a tall figure, his face bandaged with only his dead white eyes showing. Over the man's shoulder was a massive sword that looked as long as the man was tall.

"Uh..."Akane took an involuntary step back.

The man chuckled, "Oh, you don't have to be scared of me...yet." He smiled behind his bandages. "You see, Ranma and I are old...acquaintances." He said, stepping forward as she took another step back.

"H-h-he n-never m-mentioned s-s-someone l-l-like y-you!" She stammered, her legs trembling.

The man chuckled again, making her skin prickle, "Well, I suppose he wouldn't." He sighed in a hurt manner, "After all, I am the one that gave him the scar on his chest." He reached up and grasped the long handle of the sword, "But do give him a message for me after he and your sister return." He lifted it from his back and Akane was shaken as the butcher-like blade was leveled with her eyes.

"M-message?"

The man hummed, "Ah, the smell of fear, how I've missed it so," he said, "The message, my dear, is that Zabuza Momochi has come to continue his training." He said in a frosty tone that left no room for arguments, "Don't try to run, or hide, because if he does, your family will water the ground with your blood." He smiled at her again, "Run along now, little one." The mist suddenly swirled around him and the man faded from sight.

Akane gasped for breath as she sank to the ground, her legs finally losing their strength. The mist that had shrouded the road was totally gone, replaced by the morning sun warming her skin once more. Akane then picked up her schoolbag, scrambled back to her feet and pelted back toward her home.

らんま 1/2

Nabiki giggled as she watched Ranma turning his cheeseburger over in his hands, "This is food?" He asked.

"Would I lie to you?" She asked as she raised her own to her mouth and bit into it. "Mm! It's been too long since I've had one!" She mumbled with relish, and gave the boy a look, "See? It's good!"

Ranma sighed as he decided to take a bite...before gobbling it down in another three huge gulps. Nabiki nearly burst out laughing at the look on his face. "Told you!" She giggled as he licked ketchup off of his fingers, "Not bad, right?"

Ranma nodded before he swallowed, "So much better than roasted fish, and rice!"

The giggle smiled at him, "See, this is what you've missed out on whenever your dad left you alone." She said, making the young man frown, "How did you guys get money, by the way? Living out in the wild doesn't seem that profitable."

That got Ranma to thinking, and then smiling, "Well, when I turned ten, my dad would take me to fighting arenas," he said, making the girl pale, "Yeah, I didn't do so well in the beginning, but I got a lot better!"

"Your dad made a ten year old fight in a betting arena?!" Nabiki was outraged at the very idea. "How did you - ?!"

Ranma was looking at her with a little bit of shame, "Well, I didn't win a lot in the first few that I fought in, but..." he shrugged, "After I got more training in, and some meat on me, I started winning...a lot...so maybe I could...?" He let it hang in the air until Nabiki understood.

"You...you'd do that...for us?" Nabiki was more than a little stunned. Touched was the word she was looking for, and that was something that she rarely ever felt.

Ranma nodded, "For you...yeah." He said, sounding sincere.

Nabiki felt her heart skip a beat. [Okay, that is totally not fair!] She reached for her soda and took a sip, [Does he even know how he can affect a girl saying stuff like that?]

The answer to her silent question was no. Ranma had little to no experience whatsoever with the fairer sex, save for brief encounters that were less than favorable. To Ranma, as he had been told by his father, women were strange, beautiful creatures that were as mythical as kirin and unicorns were that had manipulative powers over men, and made them weak.

His father had been right about only one of those things; Nabiki was certainly beautiful.

"That's sweet of you to say," Nabiki said, "But underground fighting rings around here are seriously illegal. If you get caught - "

Ranma smirked at her, and melted away into a shadow. Nabiki nearly yelped as he disappeared as she looked around in case anyone had seen him. Then she leaned over to see where he was hiding before her seat squeaked next to her. Then she did yelp as Ranma appeared right next to her. "I know how to disappear when the need calls for it."

Nabiki tried to form words but just ended up flapping her mouth like a landed fish until Ranma chuckled and popped a fry into her mouth, "You'll draw flies like that."

She glowered at him as she chewed before slapping his arm, "Don't scare me like that!"

He grinned at her innocently, "But it was funny," he said, before grabbing a fry for himself.

"And stop stealing my fries!" Feigning affront as she swiped the box out of his reach, "Honestly, you're unbelievable!"

Ranma looked at her, "What's not to believe?" He asked, "It's a form of martial arts, and if I can help your family by doing what I do best, then what's stopping me?"

Nabiki looked at him with uncertainty, "It's just...Ranma, you know I don't have a high opinion of your father, and to hear you say that he tossed you into the ring with seasoned fighters just to line his pockets - "

"It toughed me up," he told her, "It was way better than some of the other training methods he's used on me. And I wouldn't have a chance of losing to a normal opponent now."

"Cocky aren't we?" She giggled, "Though I do suppose that you're right. How did he teach you to control shadow, though? He doesn't seem -"

Ranma shook his head, "The Gentle Fist and Shadow Imitation techniques were taught to me by someone else," he said, looking uncomfortable. "They were the same masters that..." he placed his hand over his chest, "Gave me these."

Nabiki's eyes widened, "Oh...so your dad..."

"We got separated," he explained a little more readily, "We'd had a run-in with some kind'a Chinese Amazon tribe, and they were hunting us," He went on and Nabiki found herself caught up by the story, "Pop went one way without even looking, and I just kept going. I ended up jumping down into a ravine, and hiding in a huge cave below the cliff. My master found me right after and offered to shelter, and train me."

"Well, I can see that he did a heck of a job," the girl smiled, "I've never seen anyone with your abilities before, and that just with the Gentle Fist, but your shadows are beyond incredible!"

Ranma smiled slightly at her, "Yeah, that's what I thought when he showed it to me," he said, but the boy looked down at the table, "But the price he asked for in return..."

She frowned, reaching over to grasp one of his hands, "Ranma...what happened?"

"He...made me...promise to...kill him." The boy said and Nabiki gasped, "After I complete my training, he wants me to kill him using all that I learn from him."

Nabiki's grip on his hand tightened, "Oh, Ranma...did you...?"

"No!" Ranma said at once, his head whipping toward her, "I could never...I'm no killer!"

"Shh!" She hushed him and looked around to see a few people turn their heads away, "Ranma, you have to keep that sort of thing quiet. Even if you didn't kill anyone, if someone thinks that you did, you could get into a lot of trouble." She took a deep breath, "Okay, so you never kept your promise, but you finished your training anyway?"

She saw Ranma shaking his head, "My master...he had me train with different people that taught me different things." He said, sighing, "A man called Neji Hyuga was the one that taught me the Gentle Fist, and another called Shikarmaru Nara taught me the manipulate shadows...but there were five more that were in line to teach me other arts..."

"Five...?" Nabiki breathed out, "You mean you're not done, yet..." she shook her head, "Ranma, this master, what would he do to make sure that you kept that promise?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure," the boy said, and sighed, "But I know that he won't leave his cave." He smiled at her, "He can't reach me here."

"Then there's nothing that we need to worry about," Nabiki smiled at him as she scooted closer, and leaned her head against his shoulder, "So we should just enjoy this while we can. Heaven knows Daddy is gonna be furious with me after skipping school today."

Ranma blushed at the contact, but found it enjoyable, "Is school that important?"

"To some," she smiled, "You'd know if your dad had let you go."

らんま 1/2

Soun was waiting for them when Ranma and Nabiki finally returned home. "I hope the two of you had a...productive day," he said as he eyed his daughter, "We will be having words about skipping school, young lady." He said as stern as he could manage with the girl as she gave him a absolutely beaming smile.

"It was worth it," Nabiki smiled.

Ranma stepped up to him, "Please, don't be angry with her, she was just - "

"Akane explained a few things after she came back home," Soun said, looking at the boy, "We have much to discuss, Son, so I would suggest we move this to the dojo. You come as well, daughter, it concerns you as well."

Ranma and Nabiki exchanged worried looks before following the man. Once inside the dojo, he seated himself at the porch, and gestured for the two of them to do the same. "Ranma, when I said that you would be welcomed here so long as none of my family was harmed, I meant every word." He said gravely, "That being said, your father has given me much to speak with you about, and I would like to know how much is truth, and lies."

Ranma glanced at Nabiki and then back at his prospective father-in-law, "He told you about Josenkyo?"

"He did," the man nodded, "And I've since done my research on the subject, and the stories about those cursed springs."

Ranma sighed, "I'm sorry for not saying anything," he bowed his head, "Pop told me that he would explain."

"To a degree, he did," Soun said, "He said whilst training he knocked you into one of the pools, and you came back at him as a young girl before knocking him into a pool, which changed him into a giant panda."

Nabiki looked at her fiancée, "I'm sorry, what?" She demanded in a shocked tone. "Cursed springs? You turn into a girl?"

Ranma winced, "Er, it's...not exactly how it sounds?"

Nabiki crossed her arms, "Then you had best make it clear, don't you think?"

"Well, for starters, I knocked him into a pool first, not the other way around," Ranma said, "When he came out, I tried to tell him what had happened, but he was too upset about me getting the first hit in, and was determined to pay me back."

"So just a typical case of your father being pigheaded again," the girl said, "But what's this whole thing about changing genders?"

Ranma went to explain that the Pools of Sorrow each had a specific transformation curse on them by the creature, or person that had drowned in them. Soun pinched his brow when he explained that the guide they had hired had tried to explain the effects of these pools to his father in broken Japanese, but his father had brushed aside the warnings, and goaded his son into training their. And of course, Ranma had drawn first blood, and Genma had retaliated, resulting in their respective curses.

Ranma then demonstrated the curse upon himself as he went to the koi pond and splashed his face. A moment later there was a small cloud of steam, and Ranma's body seemed to shrink down while his hair changed colors from black to red.

He, now a she, turned around and Nabiki was outright floored. "You...you...have boobs..."

"Uh, yeah," Ranma said in a clearly female voice, "Kind'a comes with being a girl, don't it?"

Not answering, Nabiki reached out and grabbed on of Ranma's assets, and squeezed. "They feel real."

Ranma, meanwhile, had gone rigid, "They. Are. Real." She ground out. "Please stop!"

Soun cleared his throat, his face aflame, "Nabiki, my dear, that is quite inappropriate." He said as his daughter let go of her fiancée. "So the bit about the curse was true, then?"

"Seeing is believing, ain't it?" Ranma gestured to herself, "The only way to reverse it is by splashing myself with hot water."

Soun reached under the porch and brought out a kettle, "I had some prepared just in case," he said as Ranma took it and poured a bit of it on top of his head. "This complicates things slightly, but since the curse can be reversed in such a simple matter, then I see no reason the betrothal should be called off."

Ranma, now a boy again, looked over at Nabiki, "What about what she wants?" He asked as he turned to fully face her, "Nabiki, this does count as something monumental, so if its too much I'll - "

Nabiki raised her hand to stop him. She took a breath, and let it out to collect herself, "It's...difficult to wrap my head around. Curses, i.e. magic, was just proven to exist right in front of me. Though I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since your shadows might be seen as magic somehow." She sighed and looked up at the boy, "But I've gotten to know you a little bit. I doubt I'd find another boy as sweet as you've been to me, and as understanding about my family's financial situation. You've even offered to help in what could be seen as a dangerous way."

"Come again?" Soun frowned at the pair.

Ranma shrugged, "My pop's done it before, but I offered to fight in the local underground arena."

Soun looked at the boy with a hard glare, "Ranma, as a member of the city council, I cannot condone such a thing," he said, but then his face began to soften, "But I do thank you for even considering to do something so dangerous in order to help us."

"The point," Nabiki said, "is that I like Ranma Saotome, even if he has his quirks."

Soun sighed, "Which brings me to something more unpleasant," he said, "Ranma, does the name Zabuza Momochi mean anything to - Ranma?" The man frowned as the boy had gone ghostly pale, "I take that you do know of him?"

"More than that," Ranma sat down heavily, "He was to be my next instructor."

Soun frowned before Nabiki explained how he came to learn the Gentle Fist and Shadow Imitation techniques. "I see, so this master of yours is sending others to teach you before he deems you strong enough to keep your promise." Soun nodded, a deep frown marring his features, "I wish I could say that I understand, and will support you, Ranma, but this man threatened my family. And if he is going to be the one to teach you, then I must ask that you - "

"He's not going anywhere."

Zabuza himself materialized on the grass next to the porch, his sword in hand. Ranma was on his feet at once in a Gentle Fist stance before Zabuza held his hand up to stall him. "I'm not here to fight just yet, boy." He said, "I'm here to see the master of this house." He looked at Soun, "You, I take it?"

"I am, and I'd have words with you about your threat to my family," Soun said evenly, unafraid of the man. Ranma, however, had stepped in front of Nabiki as the girl felt a cold wave rolling off of the man like a tide. Though she had very little experience as a martial artist, she knew what it was and it made her deathly afraid. It was pure, raw killing intent. This man was a murderer.

Zabuza gave a dry chuckle, "Very few are able to stand in front of me without turning into a quivering mess." He smiled beneath his bandages, "But I'm only here for him." He gestured to Ranma, "My master commanded that he be trained by me, no matter." He planted the tip of his sword into the ground, "And I can't stop once I've been sent. You know that, boy."

"I'm still not killing anyone," Ranma stated.

"That," Zabuza growled, "Is between you, and your master." He reached into one of the pouches lining his waist, "However, I realize that this situation won't be favorable for you, or this family, so," he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. "I've brought some compensation."

He laid the scroll on the ground and pressed his hand to the center, creating a large puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a large stack of rough molded gold bars.

"My master understands that the Tendo family was once a wealthy samurai family," Zabuza lifted one of the bars, and presented it to Soun, "For caring for Ranma, he sends you his gratitude in this gold. I believe this has a substantial value, does it not?"

Soun frowned at the offered gold, "If this is a bribe to serve the boy up on a platter for you, then - "

"It isn't," Zabuza said, "I'm merely here to teach the boy. Nothing more."

Soun's frown deepened, and was about to turn him away, but -

"Take it." Ranma spoke up.

Nabiki grabbed his arm, "Ranma, no!"

The boy shook his head, "If it's just training, then there's nothing I need to worry about." He said, "And this will make up for my being here, and my old man's stupid habits."

Soun gave the boy a look somewhere between gratitude, shame, and pity before he turned back to the swordsman, "Not one drop of blood is to be spilled." Soun said, "That is my one condition."

The man's white eyes narrowed, "No one will die."

らんま 1/2

Author's Note: Does anyone believe what he said? Took a little longer than I thought to get this out, but I had to flesh things out, and I got caught up in a Pokemon story I'm writing. Anyway, Ranma and Nabiki obviously like each other, and Akane is a jealous little...girl. Ranma will be finding out about his mother very soon, since I didn't address it in this chapter. Zabuza, if no one noticed, is a reanimation. Ranma will face several, one for each Elemental Ninjutsu.

If ya wanna see what happens next, ya'll know what to do!

Adios Amigos!