Chapter Five: Victories and Defeats
Sasuke panted as held a pair of kunais in his hand. Sakura was behind him, her eyes closed in deep concentration.
"Behind the third tree to the left of the large stone," Sakura whispered softly, her mouth barely moving.
Sasuke moved his hand slightly then smiled. In an instant he vanished from his position and reappeared in the sky his arms curled around his body, ready to throw his weapons. He saw his target and threw with deadly accuracy. He watched the two kunais as they flew through the air in slow motion, slicing through the air. He smirked as he watched Kakashi lazily turn the pages of the book he was reading. Then he was gone. Sasuke blinked. Sasuke hung in the air for a few more seconds, and then smiled again. His kunais landed on the ground, of course that was after it had cut a small string that had been stretched across a few trees. A set of sharp knives went flying in a different direction. Kakashi, whom had reappeared a few feet from the rock was forced to jump again as the knives flew past him. Sasuke smiled. It wasn't over yet. He watched as Sakura jumped into action, throwing two of her own kunais in opposite directions setting off two more traps which sent a flurry of knives straight towards Kakashi. Forced off balance by the previous trap Kakashi pulled out a kunai of his own and blocked half of the knives in series of fast movements and dodged the rest, bowing at the end with a smirk on his covered face. Sasuke, now back on the ground had known that neither of these traps would work, but they had served their purpose. With a loud crack, a large tree snapped and fell straight towards Kakashi. Kakashi looked back in mock surprise. He quickly jumped out of the way as the tree smashed into the ground, lifting a cloud of dust and debris in the process. Kakashi noticed the wedge on ground by the base of the tree, knives lying all around it. Kakashi turned his head as he felt a rush of air pass in front of him. He raised his hand to block the kick aimed at his head, and then ducked as another leg swept across. He glanced at his book, for a fraction of a second before his attention was diverted by punch directed at his head. Kakashi blocked it with his right hand, and then blocked another punch, directed at his temple in rapid succession. He suddenly felt something near the two bells at his hip. He leapt back in surprise. He slowly put his book into his back pocket as the dust finally began to settle. Sasuke stood in front of him, breathing heavily. Sakura was sitting on the ground, a smirk adorned on her face. Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he watched Naruto hanging upside down from a tree.
"Still no good," Kakashi stated when he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind.
Kakashi spun around when he realized it was another trap. Kakashi quickly jumped out of Naruto's kage bunshin's grasp when he felt a sharp kick connect with his midsection. While not nearly as powerful as Ranma's attack he still felt a sharp pain. Kakashi flipped onto the ground and stood his hand holding his stomach. The damage from the fight with Ranma was still there. Kakashi's eye suddenly shot open as he stared at Sasuke, who was holding one of the bells. Sakura smiled as she held the other bell in her hand. He turned around and looked at another Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi laughed as Naruto's bunshin's vanished. Kakashi looked up at Naruto, who was still swinging from the tree.
"You three have grown much more then even I could have expected," Kakashi said proudly.
Naruto dropped down from the tree and stood next to Sasuke and Sakura. The three of them smirked, a tired smile adorning each of their faces. Kakashi turned around to head out of the forest when he suddenly realized that the tree on the ground wasn't there anymore. Kakashi turned around quickly to see Naruto standing by himself a smile on his face. The smile was different and Kakashi picked it up instantly.
"Those two must be extremely talented to trick a jounin with genjutsu," Ranma laughed as both Kakashi and Ranma watched Sasuke and Sakura walk out from behind the tree.
"Sakura came up with the plan," Ranma said smiling. "Naruto combined his kage bunshin and then transformed into those two while the dust, which Sakura and Sasuke created covered them all. It's a good thing Sasuke showed Naruto how to fight like him. Sakura's really good with genjutsu too. Sakura realized that Naruto wouldn't be good enough to take the bell from you though so Sasuke jumped in at the last second and took it. Even I couldn't see him clearly. He's definitely a prodigy. The three of them are growing extremely quickly."
"You've helped them out as much as I have. Frankly you amaze me. I think I've learned almost as much as they have in the past two weeks," Kakashi said smiling, sweat dripping from his hair.
"Two weeks, huh." Ranma said when his stomach growled loudly.
"Man I'm so hungry!" Naruto yelled, taking control of the body again.
Kakashi laughed, as did Sakura. Sasuke smirked and the four of them slowly walked out together.
*****
It had been a few days since the four of them had finished their training. Kakashi had left the three of them on their own and had gone to visit the Third. He was sitting down in front of him, the Third staring out the window, his arms crossed behind his back.
"So his name's Ranma," the Third muttered.
The Third turned around, a smile on his face.
"So he's the one that saved Naruto's life. Well, we'll have to keep this a secret then," the Third stated.
"That's what I thought. He's stronger than I am, there's no doubt about that. The three of them are also much stronger than even I can believe right now. I suspected that Sasuke would be near this level but even the other two are well above what I expected. Sakura has already mastered a great deal of advanced genjutsu's," Kakashi said smiling, thinking back to the tree. "Sasuke is getting over his isolation and that alone is making him stronger. He has gone above and beyond all of my expectations of him. Then there's Naruto. I think he has grown the most in all of this. Naruto's control of chakra is significantly greater as is his ability to fight. It's almost scary how fast they're growing."
The Third just listened smiling.
"You've grown as well, Kakashi," the Third said quietly.
Kakashi eyes open in slight surprise however he just sat silently and listened.
"I've never known you to talk so energetically about anyone else," the Third said happily. "Take care of them well, and help them become whatever it is that they wish to become. And never be afraid to ask them for help, because they will always look up to you. You are their guardian now as the Fourth was yours," the Third said, smiling.
Kakashi smiled back.
"I'll do my best, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said and then got up and walked out.
"He'll always be with you as well, Kakashi," the Third muttered as he down at a picture of the Fourth.
***** Ranma sat by himself inside Naruto's house. Sasuke and Sakura had gone off to do a little more training. While they had asked Ranma and Naruto if they wanted to join them Ranma had decided to decline. His excuse had been that he was tired and didn't feel like passing out. Ranma lay back on Naruto's bed and tried to think.
'I need to figure out what's going on in this body. If I don't we're going to be severely limited in fights,' Ranma thought to himself.
Ranma could 'hear' Naruto sleeping inside of them. He smiled. Naruto was growing rapidly, even more than he had thought he would. Ranma frowned suddenly.
'It has to be the nine-tails fox. It's the only thing I can think of. I think I might have to go on a little journey sometime soon.' Ranma thought to himself. 'I'll just tell Naruto that I'm trying to figure out what's going on and leave him in control.'
Ranma sat back up and sighed. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.
'I'll tell everyone Naruto when he wakes up. I think I'll tell everyone else that I'll be gone as well. This way they know what's up. Sigh. I've got a bad feeling about this but. oh well.' Ranma thought to himself when he sensed Kakashi approaching Naruto's house. 'Hmm. maybe I'll tell Kakashi first. I want to ask him a few things too."
Ranma sat in silence as he heard Kakashi land in front of the door.
"Come on in, the doors open," Ranma shouted out.
Kakashi opened the door and walked in. He waved his hand, greeting Ranma.
"Ranma, I presume?" Kakashi asked.
"Yup. Sit down, there's a few things I want to ask you and I'm sure you have things you want to ask," Ranma stated bluntly.
"Of course. Do you mind if I go first?" Kakashi asked politely.
"Not at all, in fact I insist," Ranma said, gesturing for Kakashi to continue.
"I want to know how you feel about all this. I mean, you seem to have adjusted incredibly well but I don't think that's the case," Kakashi asked.
Ranma sat shocked for a few moments. He had never even thought about it. Ranma had seen the entire experience as another training trip. It was at that moment that the full shock of everything hit Ranma full force. Ranma just sat there in deep thought, and then looked up at Kakashi with a sad face.
"I- I'm not sure. I didn't even think about it. You know, I'm probably never going to leave, am I." Ranma stuttered slowly.
"I have no idea." Kakashi answered.
Ranma smiled slightly.
"You know, no one's ever asked me how I felt about anything. Well, almost never. I was always forced into situations against my will, like I summarized before. I just thought of this as the same thing, but you know, this is a lot different, isn't it." Ranma said.
"I think so, yes." Kakashi stated.
Ranma sat back against the wall and sighed.
"Well, there's no point brooding over this, is there." Ranma muttered.
"Do you miss them?" Kakashi asked bluntly.
Ranma stared off into space. Images of everyone filled his mind. His mother working in the garden, his father snoring lazily on the Tendo porch, Soun crying over spilt milk, Nabiki heckling someone out of more money, Happosai running around with a pair of panties in his hands, Kasumi cooking a fantastic meal, the Amazons running around town delivering ramen, Ukyo screaming at Konatsu, Ryoga popping up out of nowhere screaming death threats and then getting lost just as soon, and Akane. Akane. He just stared at the images flashing through his head. It seemed like forever since he had seen them all. His chest began to hurt. He was never going to see any of them ever again. Ranma let his head thump onto the wall behind him. Kakashi watched him worriedly.
"Yeah. I miss them. even if they did drive me absolutely insane. I miss them." Ranma muttered, tears threatening to fall.
Ranma gave a quick laugh and quickly wiped the wetness from his eyes.
"I'll be fine though. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something now," Ranma said looking slightly away from Kakashi.
Kakashi merely nodded.
"I want you to tell me as much as you can about the nine-tails. I need to know," Ranma stated bluntly.
Kakashi sighed. He knew it was going to come to this.
"The nine-tails is a demon fox that lived to kill. It was absolutely ruthless. Its power was incredible as well. It took our entire village to take it down. The Fourth Hokage managed to seal it inside Naruto's body. However, this wasn't before the nine-tails had managed to kill off many of our most prominent members. Beyond that, I don't know what else to tell you. Why do you ask?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm going to go meet it," Ranma said with a note of finality.
"What do you mean, meet it?" Kakashi asked worriedly.
"Exactly what I mean. I plan on going in and talking with it. You know how Naruto and me are able to switch places? Well I'm going to see if it works the same with the nine-tails," Ranma answered with a tone of finality in his voice.
Kakashi sighed. He had realized in the past few weeks that once Ranma had made up his mind, he was completely set on it. The only problem was that Kakashi had no power to stop him. It frustrated him to no end but also proved to be one of Ranma's strongest points. Kakashi nodded.
"I want you to tell me anything and everything that goes on then. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Kakashi said.
Ranma smiled.
"Thanks and I will," Ranma answered. "Well, Naruto's going to be waking up pretty soon so I guess I'll talk to you later."
With that Ranma slumped backwards. It was a few seconds before Naruto jumped up. Naruto stared at Kakashi.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in a clueless voice.
Kakashi merely smiled. The door behind them suddenly opened as both Sakura and Sasuke walked in. Sasuke spoke up first.
"They called us to tell you guys that we have our first assignment," Sasuke stated in a monotone voice, yet even Naruto could hear the obvious differences in the tone as to before they had met.
"Yeah! Our first mission!" Naruto yelled.
Kakashi looked at Naruto with a sweat drop.
"Err. Naruto. our first missions going to be kind of easy." Kakashi muttered unsure of how to burst Naruto's bubble.
Naruto stopped in mid-celebration and stared at Kakashi. He slumped back down.
"They'll get harder won't they?" Naruto asked, hope in his voice.
"Eventually." Kakashi muttered.
"Oh well," Naruto muttered back.
The four of them got up and headed out. It was on the trip to the Third Hokage that Ranma spoke to Naruto about his plan. Naruto listened quietly as Ranma spoke and when he finished Naruto remained silent.
"Are you ok with this?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, I guess. Just be careful, ok?" Naruto muttered underneath his breath.
Ranma smiled.
"Well then, I'll be seeing you around," Ranma said and then disappeared from Naruto's mind.
Naruto remained silent for the rest of the trip. When they received their mission Naruto didn't voice a single objection. Kakashi looked at Naruto worriedly.
'Ranma must be gone,' Kakashi thought to himself when Naruto suddenly spoke up.
"Err, well I just wanted to tell you guys something. Ranma said that he need to take care of a few things inside of me so he won't be around for a while," Naruto said quietly.
Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto. Kakashi smiled.
'He already trusts them this much,' Kakashi thought.
The three of them jumped off and began their first mission.
*****
Ranma stared at the walls that surrounded the area he had suddenly found himself in. There was water all over the ground and the walls were covered in slime. Ranma kept his distance and trudged forward in search of his goal. He walked until he began to feel the Nine-Tail's presence.
'Damn. I can tell he's hiding his aura but its still overwhelming. What have I gotten myself into.' Ranma thought to himself when he suddenly found himself face to face with a set of bars.
A growl came from behind the bars.
"Who's there?" the voice growled nastily.
"Ranma Saotome, the original owner of this body," Ranma said as casually as he could.
"So you're the one that's kept this boy alive. Well then, I guess I must thank you. Now is there any reason as to why you're bothering me right now?" the Nine-Tails growled.
"I wanted to ask you a few things," Ranma said. "I want to know why we can't use the full extent of our powers," Ranma asked.
"Well that's a stupid question," the Nine-Tails laughed. "But I'll answer it since you had the guts to come down here. It's because of this damn seal and obscurity of our situation. Having three minds in a single body is something that happens often. The only thing that we could do is to set one of the minds free. A body has the capacity to contain two souls. Two souls are an absolute maximum. There are very few people that can handle it but it has been known to happen. Three is absolute insanity. Frankly, I'm surprised this body has lasted so long. I guess that's a testament to your body," the Nine-Tails said in a monotone voice.
Ranma listened without saying a word.
"I think you're wrong," Ranma suddenly stated.
"What do you mean?" the Nine-Tails asked lazily.
"I think a body can handle three souls. The only reason we can't function correctly is because we are not united in mind. What I mean is we don't agree with each other in anything we do. This seal is the major part of it I think. I remember hearing about multiple souls from someone a long time ago. The thing is the soul that I seem to be using is only half of my entire soul," Ranma stated.
This made the Nine-Tails raise his eyebrow. If what the boy said was true, it would be quite possible that this boy would be stronger than him had he had his entire soul.
"What are you suggesting?" the Nine-Tails asked curious now.
"What would you do if I broke this seal?" Ranma asked.
"If you could I would probably get the hell out of this body," the Nine- Tails said with a certain sadistic smile.
"I can already tell you that that would be impossible," Ranma said.
"And why is that?"
"Because you would die," Ranma muttered in an as matter of fact fashion. "I'm sure you didn't realize it but there are seals and traps set up throughout this body. Whoever made it was incredible. Anyways if the main seal was broken the only thing you could actually get away with is to kill Naruto and me," Ranma stated.
The Nine-Tails stared at Ranma.
'What is this boy trying to get at?'
"So what are you trying to say?" the Nine-Tails asked.
"I'm willing to break this seal if you work with us," Ranma said with a smile.
"And what makes you so sure I'll keep my end of the bargain?" the Nine- Tails asked.
"Well, I'm not going to just let you go. I said I'd break this seal in front of me. It would allow you to use your powers much more freely and lend them to us in a much easier fashion. You see, if you keep us alive, you stay alive. If any of us die, we all die. Do you understand? We're completely in this together," Ranma said.
"How the hell do you know this?" the Nine-Tails asked, starting to get severely annoyed with the situation.
"You felt the pain didn't you? Do you enjoy feeling that? If I break this seal we'll be able to use our powers completely without the intense pain. We'll have our limits, sure, but they'd be nothing that we couldn't deal with," Ranma said in a victorious voice.
"You make for one hell of an argument boy. You're damn lucky I'm feeling generous today," the Nine-Tails muttered.
'I'm interested in this boy, and frankly the other one interests me as well. I'll help them for now. and maybe.'
"You have yourself a deal, for now. Just make sure you know that you're treading on dangerous grounds now. Watch yourself. If you're fighting, I can't help you. I can only lend my powers to Naruto. You work off of some other power that I don't really understand. Don't tell Naruto of our agreement. I'll help only when I feel like it. Now hurry up and break this damn seal. It's so damn cramped in here," the Nine-Tails growled.
Ranma smiled. He gathered as much chi into his hands that he could. The glow from his full power Moko Takabishi was almost blinding. Ranma breathed hard as the pressure threatened to burst. In a single moment of power Ranma shot his enormous blast strait towards the bars. The blast hit the middle dead on. At first nothing happened, but then a series of cracks formed in a few of the bars. Then, suddenly, they all shattered in a burst of light. The Nine-Tails blinked once and then walked out in all of its glory. Ranma involuntarily took a step backwards. The Nine-Tails and Ranma stared at each other for a moment and then the Nine-Tails sat down.
"Get out of here now. I feel like getting some sleep. Haven't been able to get a good nights rest since I've been in there," the Nine-Tails spat.
Ranma smiled and walked out.
'There's something about the Nine-Tails that I still don't know. I don't think he's as bad as everyone makes him out to be. and I usually have a pretty good judgment of people,' Ranma thought to himself as he made his way out of the pits.
The walls slowly began to clear up and the water began to dry up slowly. A flow of chakra rushed through Ranma's body flying past him. Ranma smiled.
'Wonder what Naruto will think when he feels this,' Ranma said with a smirk.
*****
Naruto stood behind a tree and was eyeing a small bush when it happened. A rush of chakra suddenly jolted through his body. He felt incredible. Naruto flexed his hand and looked at Sasuke who had noticed the sudden jump in chakra. Kakashi also stared at Naruto. The thoughts of everyone were the same. Ranma had done what he had set out to accomplish. Naruto face lit up as he heard Ranma call out to him.
"What took you so long? It's been three days!" Naruto yelled at Ranma.
"Three days? Wow, I had no idea that much time went by. It felt like a few hours to me," Ranma answered. "So how do you feel?" Ranma asked.
"Incredible!" Naruto yelled excitedly.
"Great. We should be good from now on, but don't push it. You probably don't have any idea of your limits and if you use it all up, you could still be knocked out cold for a while, albeit it won't hurt nearly as much. So what are we up to now?" Ranma asked when he noticed what Kakashi was holding in his hand.
Ranma leapt up into the nearest tree and screamed. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all tensed up expecting battle when Ranma yelled at the top of his lungs.
"C-C-CAT!!!!!!"
Kakashi stared at the cat in his hand and back up at Ranma as he shivered in the tree. Everyone stared at Ranma in surprise.
"G-get that cat away from me!" Ranma yelled out loud.
Kakashi handed the cat to Sakura and motioned for her to take the cat back to the client. Sakura took the cat and took off looking back at Ranma worriedly. After a few moments Ranma got down and began to catch his breath again. Kakashi and Sasuke stared at Ranma. Ranma looked up at them and sighed.
"It's a long story. Let's head back for now." Ranma said.
The three of them headed towards the village. Naruto just sat in silence.
'What the hell was that all about?' He thought to himself.
Soon enough the trio had caught up to Sakura. Sakura had exited the main building after finishing the mission to wait for them. Ranma took a seat on the flight of stairs and looked at the three expectant faces. He began to tell his tale of the neko-ken training. Sakura was the first speak up when he was done.
"What kind of sadistic father does something like that?" Sakura yelled.
"Mine did," Ranma muttered.
"Well, that would explain your reaction," Kakashi said.
'How much has Ranma actually been through?' Kakashi silently wondered to himself.
Sasuke just stared at Ranma. Kakashi stood up first and stretched out his arms.
"Well let's head back into the main office and see what our next mission is gonna be," Kakashi said to the group.
By this time Naruto had taking over the body again.
"Ah man! We better get a good mission this time! The last three have been so stupid!" Naruto complained.
Sasuke silently agreed, as did Sakura. Kakashi sighed.
"Stop complaining. Come on, we have to do the easy ones before we are assigned the harder ones. You know that," Kakashi said as he led them inside.
"I know that but. come on! The easy ones are too easy!" Naruto continued.
Ranma just sat in silence. The four of them finally reached the main room and stood in front of the Third Hokage and Iruka.
"Ah, there's the rest of team 7," Iruka said as they entered.
"Sorry about the delay. We had a few minor problems," Kakashi apologized.
"Well then, for your next duty," the Third Hokage said, getting right down to business, "hmmm. babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and help with the potato field."
Naruto threw his arms back and forth over his body.
"No, no, no! I want to do a more, your know, incredible mission! Find us a better one!" Naruto shouted.
The rest of the team agreed silently while Kakashi sighed. Ranma laughed, agreeing with Naruto. The Nine-Tails had already fallen asleep by this time. Iruka stood up and shouted at Naruto.
"You idiot! You're just a rookie! Everyone starts with the easy missions and works their way up!"
"But we keep on getting the crappiest missions!" Naruto shouted back.
"Be quiet you," Kakashi said as he hit Naruto in the head.
Ranma just sighed. He watched as the Third Hokage began to lecture Naruto and began to get bored.
'I want to test myself soon.' Ranma thought to himself when he suddenly saw the Third Hokage smile to himself. 'Did Naruto say something good?' Ranma thought as he tuned back into the conversation.
"Alright Naruto, if you want it so much. I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual," the Third continued.
Ranma's ears perked up at this, as did the rest of the groups.
"Who? Who?! A feudal lord? A princess?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him. will you come out here please?" the Third answered.
An old man with a bottle of sake in his hand walked out of door on the far left side of the room.
"What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats," the old man said as he stepped out. "I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."
Author's notes: Wow. I'm so sorry for not updating in so long. I hope you all don't hate me. I've been away for a long time and haven't had any time to write. I finally got this chapter finished and the stories finally starting to flow in my head again. I'll try to write more but things are becoming hectic for me so don't expect too much out of me. Hope you liked this chapter. The Zabuza arc coming soon.
Sasuke panted as held a pair of kunais in his hand. Sakura was behind him, her eyes closed in deep concentration.
"Behind the third tree to the left of the large stone," Sakura whispered softly, her mouth barely moving.
Sasuke moved his hand slightly then smiled. In an instant he vanished from his position and reappeared in the sky his arms curled around his body, ready to throw his weapons. He saw his target and threw with deadly accuracy. He watched the two kunais as they flew through the air in slow motion, slicing through the air. He smirked as he watched Kakashi lazily turn the pages of the book he was reading. Then he was gone. Sasuke blinked. Sasuke hung in the air for a few more seconds, and then smiled again. His kunais landed on the ground, of course that was after it had cut a small string that had been stretched across a few trees. A set of sharp knives went flying in a different direction. Kakashi, whom had reappeared a few feet from the rock was forced to jump again as the knives flew past him. Sasuke smiled. It wasn't over yet. He watched as Sakura jumped into action, throwing two of her own kunais in opposite directions setting off two more traps which sent a flurry of knives straight towards Kakashi. Forced off balance by the previous trap Kakashi pulled out a kunai of his own and blocked half of the knives in series of fast movements and dodged the rest, bowing at the end with a smirk on his covered face. Sasuke, now back on the ground had known that neither of these traps would work, but they had served their purpose. With a loud crack, a large tree snapped and fell straight towards Kakashi. Kakashi looked back in mock surprise. He quickly jumped out of the way as the tree smashed into the ground, lifting a cloud of dust and debris in the process. Kakashi noticed the wedge on ground by the base of the tree, knives lying all around it. Kakashi turned his head as he felt a rush of air pass in front of him. He raised his hand to block the kick aimed at his head, and then ducked as another leg swept across. He glanced at his book, for a fraction of a second before his attention was diverted by punch directed at his head. Kakashi blocked it with his right hand, and then blocked another punch, directed at his temple in rapid succession. He suddenly felt something near the two bells at his hip. He leapt back in surprise. He slowly put his book into his back pocket as the dust finally began to settle. Sasuke stood in front of him, breathing heavily. Sakura was sitting on the ground, a smirk adorned on her face. Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he watched Naruto hanging upside down from a tree.
"Still no good," Kakashi stated when he felt a pair of hands grab him from behind.
Kakashi spun around when he realized it was another trap. Kakashi quickly jumped out of Naruto's kage bunshin's grasp when he felt a sharp kick connect with his midsection. While not nearly as powerful as Ranma's attack he still felt a sharp pain. Kakashi flipped onto the ground and stood his hand holding his stomach. The damage from the fight with Ranma was still there. Kakashi's eye suddenly shot open as he stared at Sasuke, who was holding one of the bells. Sakura smiled as she held the other bell in her hand. He turned around and looked at another Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi laughed as Naruto's bunshin's vanished. Kakashi looked up at Naruto, who was still swinging from the tree.
"You three have grown much more then even I could have expected," Kakashi said proudly.
Naruto dropped down from the tree and stood next to Sasuke and Sakura. The three of them smirked, a tired smile adorning each of their faces. Kakashi turned around to head out of the forest when he suddenly realized that the tree on the ground wasn't there anymore. Kakashi turned around quickly to see Naruto standing by himself a smile on his face. The smile was different and Kakashi picked it up instantly.
"Those two must be extremely talented to trick a jounin with genjutsu," Ranma laughed as both Kakashi and Ranma watched Sasuke and Sakura walk out from behind the tree.
"Sakura came up with the plan," Ranma said smiling. "Naruto combined his kage bunshin and then transformed into those two while the dust, which Sakura and Sasuke created covered them all. It's a good thing Sasuke showed Naruto how to fight like him. Sakura's really good with genjutsu too. Sakura realized that Naruto wouldn't be good enough to take the bell from you though so Sasuke jumped in at the last second and took it. Even I couldn't see him clearly. He's definitely a prodigy. The three of them are growing extremely quickly."
"You've helped them out as much as I have. Frankly you amaze me. I think I've learned almost as much as they have in the past two weeks," Kakashi said smiling, sweat dripping from his hair.
"Two weeks, huh." Ranma said when his stomach growled loudly.
"Man I'm so hungry!" Naruto yelled, taking control of the body again.
Kakashi laughed, as did Sakura. Sasuke smirked and the four of them slowly walked out together.
*****
It had been a few days since the four of them had finished their training. Kakashi had left the three of them on their own and had gone to visit the Third. He was sitting down in front of him, the Third staring out the window, his arms crossed behind his back.
"So his name's Ranma," the Third muttered.
The Third turned around, a smile on his face.
"So he's the one that saved Naruto's life. Well, we'll have to keep this a secret then," the Third stated.
"That's what I thought. He's stronger than I am, there's no doubt about that. The three of them are also much stronger than even I can believe right now. I suspected that Sasuke would be near this level but even the other two are well above what I expected. Sakura has already mastered a great deal of advanced genjutsu's," Kakashi said smiling, thinking back to the tree. "Sasuke is getting over his isolation and that alone is making him stronger. He has gone above and beyond all of my expectations of him. Then there's Naruto. I think he has grown the most in all of this. Naruto's control of chakra is significantly greater as is his ability to fight. It's almost scary how fast they're growing."
The Third just listened smiling.
"You've grown as well, Kakashi," the Third said quietly.
Kakashi eyes open in slight surprise however he just sat silently and listened.
"I've never known you to talk so energetically about anyone else," the Third said happily. "Take care of them well, and help them become whatever it is that they wish to become. And never be afraid to ask them for help, because they will always look up to you. You are their guardian now as the Fourth was yours," the Third said, smiling.
Kakashi smiled back.
"I'll do my best, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said and then got up and walked out.
"He'll always be with you as well, Kakashi," the Third muttered as he down at a picture of the Fourth.
***** Ranma sat by himself inside Naruto's house. Sasuke and Sakura had gone off to do a little more training. While they had asked Ranma and Naruto if they wanted to join them Ranma had decided to decline. His excuse had been that he was tired and didn't feel like passing out. Ranma lay back on Naruto's bed and tried to think.
'I need to figure out what's going on in this body. If I don't we're going to be severely limited in fights,' Ranma thought to himself.
Ranma could 'hear' Naruto sleeping inside of them. He smiled. Naruto was growing rapidly, even more than he had thought he would. Ranma frowned suddenly.
'It has to be the nine-tails fox. It's the only thing I can think of. I think I might have to go on a little journey sometime soon.' Ranma thought to himself. 'I'll just tell Naruto that I'm trying to figure out what's going on and leave him in control.'
Ranma sat back up and sighed. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.
'I'll tell everyone Naruto when he wakes up. I think I'll tell everyone else that I'll be gone as well. This way they know what's up. Sigh. I've got a bad feeling about this but. oh well.' Ranma thought to himself when he sensed Kakashi approaching Naruto's house. 'Hmm. maybe I'll tell Kakashi first. I want to ask him a few things too."
Ranma sat in silence as he heard Kakashi land in front of the door.
"Come on in, the doors open," Ranma shouted out.
Kakashi opened the door and walked in. He waved his hand, greeting Ranma.
"Ranma, I presume?" Kakashi asked.
"Yup. Sit down, there's a few things I want to ask you and I'm sure you have things you want to ask," Ranma stated bluntly.
"Of course. Do you mind if I go first?" Kakashi asked politely.
"Not at all, in fact I insist," Ranma said, gesturing for Kakashi to continue.
"I want to know how you feel about all this. I mean, you seem to have adjusted incredibly well but I don't think that's the case," Kakashi asked.
Ranma sat shocked for a few moments. He had never even thought about it. Ranma had seen the entire experience as another training trip. It was at that moment that the full shock of everything hit Ranma full force. Ranma just sat there in deep thought, and then looked up at Kakashi with a sad face.
"I- I'm not sure. I didn't even think about it. You know, I'm probably never going to leave, am I." Ranma stuttered slowly.
"I have no idea." Kakashi answered.
Ranma smiled slightly.
"You know, no one's ever asked me how I felt about anything. Well, almost never. I was always forced into situations against my will, like I summarized before. I just thought of this as the same thing, but you know, this is a lot different, isn't it." Ranma said.
"I think so, yes." Kakashi stated.
Ranma sat back against the wall and sighed.
"Well, there's no point brooding over this, is there." Ranma muttered.
"Do you miss them?" Kakashi asked bluntly.
Ranma stared off into space. Images of everyone filled his mind. His mother working in the garden, his father snoring lazily on the Tendo porch, Soun crying over spilt milk, Nabiki heckling someone out of more money, Happosai running around with a pair of panties in his hands, Kasumi cooking a fantastic meal, the Amazons running around town delivering ramen, Ukyo screaming at Konatsu, Ryoga popping up out of nowhere screaming death threats and then getting lost just as soon, and Akane. Akane. He just stared at the images flashing through his head. It seemed like forever since he had seen them all. His chest began to hurt. He was never going to see any of them ever again. Ranma let his head thump onto the wall behind him. Kakashi watched him worriedly.
"Yeah. I miss them. even if they did drive me absolutely insane. I miss them." Ranma muttered, tears threatening to fall.
Ranma gave a quick laugh and quickly wiped the wetness from his eyes.
"I'll be fine though. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something now," Ranma said looking slightly away from Kakashi.
Kakashi merely nodded.
"I want you to tell me as much as you can about the nine-tails. I need to know," Ranma stated bluntly.
Kakashi sighed. He knew it was going to come to this.
"The nine-tails is a demon fox that lived to kill. It was absolutely ruthless. Its power was incredible as well. It took our entire village to take it down. The Fourth Hokage managed to seal it inside Naruto's body. However, this wasn't before the nine-tails had managed to kill off many of our most prominent members. Beyond that, I don't know what else to tell you. Why do you ask?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm going to go meet it," Ranma said with a note of finality.
"What do you mean, meet it?" Kakashi asked worriedly.
"Exactly what I mean. I plan on going in and talking with it. You know how Naruto and me are able to switch places? Well I'm going to see if it works the same with the nine-tails," Ranma answered with a tone of finality in his voice.
Kakashi sighed. He had realized in the past few weeks that once Ranma had made up his mind, he was completely set on it. The only problem was that Kakashi had no power to stop him. It frustrated him to no end but also proved to be one of Ranma's strongest points. Kakashi nodded.
"I want you to tell me anything and everything that goes on then. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Kakashi said.
Ranma smiled.
"Thanks and I will," Ranma answered. "Well, Naruto's going to be waking up pretty soon so I guess I'll talk to you later."
With that Ranma slumped backwards. It was a few seconds before Naruto jumped up. Naruto stared at Kakashi.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in a clueless voice.
Kakashi merely smiled. The door behind them suddenly opened as both Sakura and Sasuke walked in. Sasuke spoke up first.
"They called us to tell you guys that we have our first assignment," Sasuke stated in a monotone voice, yet even Naruto could hear the obvious differences in the tone as to before they had met.
"Yeah! Our first mission!" Naruto yelled.
Kakashi looked at Naruto with a sweat drop.
"Err. Naruto. our first missions going to be kind of easy." Kakashi muttered unsure of how to burst Naruto's bubble.
Naruto stopped in mid-celebration and stared at Kakashi. He slumped back down.
"They'll get harder won't they?" Naruto asked, hope in his voice.
"Eventually." Kakashi muttered.
"Oh well," Naruto muttered back.
The four of them got up and headed out. It was on the trip to the Third Hokage that Ranma spoke to Naruto about his plan. Naruto listened quietly as Ranma spoke and when he finished Naruto remained silent.
"Are you ok with this?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, I guess. Just be careful, ok?" Naruto muttered underneath his breath.
Ranma smiled.
"Well then, I'll be seeing you around," Ranma said and then disappeared from Naruto's mind.
Naruto remained silent for the rest of the trip. When they received their mission Naruto didn't voice a single objection. Kakashi looked at Naruto worriedly.
'Ranma must be gone,' Kakashi thought to himself when Naruto suddenly spoke up.
"Err, well I just wanted to tell you guys something. Ranma said that he need to take care of a few things inside of me so he won't be around for a while," Naruto said quietly.
Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto. Kakashi smiled.
'He already trusts them this much,' Kakashi thought.
The three of them jumped off and began their first mission.
*****
Ranma stared at the walls that surrounded the area he had suddenly found himself in. There was water all over the ground and the walls were covered in slime. Ranma kept his distance and trudged forward in search of his goal. He walked until he began to feel the Nine-Tail's presence.
'Damn. I can tell he's hiding his aura but its still overwhelming. What have I gotten myself into.' Ranma thought to himself when he suddenly found himself face to face with a set of bars.
A growl came from behind the bars.
"Who's there?" the voice growled nastily.
"Ranma Saotome, the original owner of this body," Ranma said as casually as he could.
"So you're the one that's kept this boy alive. Well then, I guess I must thank you. Now is there any reason as to why you're bothering me right now?" the Nine-Tails growled.
"I wanted to ask you a few things," Ranma said. "I want to know why we can't use the full extent of our powers," Ranma asked.
"Well that's a stupid question," the Nine-Tails laughed. "But I'll answer it since you had the guts to come down here. It's because of this damn seal and obscurity of our situation. Having three minds in a single body is something that happens often. The only thing that we could do is to set one of the minds free. A body has the capacity to contain two souls. Two souls are an absolute maximum. There are very few people that can handle it but it has been known to happen. Three is absolute insanity. Frankly, I'm surprised this body has lasted so long. I guess that's a testament to your body," the Nine-Tails said in a monotone voice.
Ranma listened without saying a word.
"I think you're wrong," Ranma suddenly stated.
"What do you mean?" the Nine-Tails asked lazily.
"I think a body can handle three souls. The only reason we can't function correctly is because we are not united in mind. What I mean is we don't agree with each other in anything we do. This seal is the major part of it I think. I remember hearing about multiple souls from someone a long time ago. The thing is the soul that I seem to be using is only half of my entire soul," Ranma stated.
This made the Nine-Tails raise his eyebrow. If what the boy said was true, it would be quite possible that this boy would be stronger than him had he had his entire soul.
"What are you suggesting?" the Nine-Tails asked curious now.
"What would you do if I broke this seal?" Ranma asked.
"If you could I would probably get the hell out of this body," the Nine- Tails said with a certain sadistic smile.
"I can already tell you that that would be impossible," Ranma said.
"And why is that?"
"Because you would die," Ranma muttered in an as matter of fact fashion. "I'm sure you didn't realize it but there are seals and traps set up throughout this body. Whoever made it was incredible. Anyways if the main seal was broken the only thing you could actually get away with is to kill Naruto and me," Ranma stated.
The Nine-Tails stared at Ranma.
'What is this boy trying to get at?'
"So what are you trying to say?" the Nine-Tails asked.
"I'm willing to break this seal if you work with us," Ranma said with a smile.
"And what makes you so sure I'll keep my end of the bargain?" the Nine- Tails asked.
"Well, I'm not going to just let you go. I said I'd break this seal in front of me. It would allow you to use your powers much more freely and lend them to us in a much easier fashion. You see, if you keep us alive, you stay alive. If any of us die, we all die. Do you understand? We're completely in this together," Ranma said.
"How the hell do you know this?" the Nine-Tails asked, starting to get severely annoyed with the situation.
"You felt the pain didn't you? Do you enjoy feeling that? If I break this seal we'll be able to use our powers completely without the intense pain. We'll have our limits, sure, but they'd be nothing that we couldn't deal with," Ranma said in a victorious voice.
"You make for one hell of an argument boy. You're damn lucky I'm feeling generous today," the Nine-Tails muttered.
'I'm interested in this boy, and frankly the other one interests me as well. I'll help them for now. and maybe.'
"You have yourself a deal, for now. Just make sure you know that you're treading on dangerous grounds now. Watch yourself. If you're fighting, I can't help you. I can only lend my powers to Naruto. You work off of some other power that I don't really understand. Don't tell Naruto of our agreement. I'll help only when I feel like it. Now hurry up and break this damn seal. It's so damn cramped in here," the Nine-Tails growled.
Ranma smiled. He gathered as much chi into his hands that he could. The glow from his full power Moko Takabishi was almost blinding. Ranma breathed hard as the pressure threatened to burst. In a single moment of power Ranma shot his enormous blast strait towards the bars. The blast hit the middle dead on. At first nothing happened, but then a series of cracks formed in a few of the bars. Then, suddenly, they all shattered in a burst of light. The Nine-Tails blinked once and then walked out in all of its glory. Ranma involuntarily took a step backwards. The Nine-Tails and Ranma stared at each other for a moment and then the Nine-Tails sat down.
"Get out of here now. I feel like getting some sleep. Haven't been able to get a good nights rest since I've been in there," the Nine-Tails spat.
Ranma smiled and walked out.
'There's something about the Nine-Tails that I still don't know. I don't think he's as bad as everyone makes him out to be. and I usually have a pretty good judgment of people,' Ranma thought to himself as he made his way out of the pits.
The walls slowly began to clear up and the water began to dry up slowly. A flow of chakra rushed through Ranma's body flying past him. Ranma smiled.
'Wonder what Naruto will think when he feels this,' Ranma said with a smirk.
*****
Naruto stood behind a tree and was eyeing a small bush when it happened. A rush of chakra suddenly jolted through his body. He felt incredible. Naruto flexed his hand and looked at Sasuke who had noticed the sudden jump in chakra. Kakashi also stared at Naruto. The thoughts of everyone were the same. Ranma had done what he had set out to accomplish. Naruto face lit up as he heard Ranma call out to him.
"What took you so long? It's been three days!" Naruto yelled at Ranma.
"Three days? Wow, I had no idea that much time went by. It felt like a few hours to me," Ranma answered. "So how do you feel?" Ranma asked.
"Incredible!" Naruto yelled excitedly.
"Great. We should be good from now on, but don't push it. You probably don't have any idea of your limits and if you use it all up, you could still be knocked out cold for a while, albeit it won't hurt nearly as much. So what are we up to now?" Ranma asked when he noticed what Kakashi was holding in his hand.
Ranma leapt up into the nearest tree and screamed. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all tensed up expecting battle when Ranma yelled at the top of his lungs.
"C-C-CAT!!!!!!"
Kakashi stared at the cat in his hand and back up at Ranma as he shivered in the tree. Everyone stared at Ranma in surprise.
"G-get that cat away from me!" Ranma yelled out loud.
Kakashi handed the cat to Sakura and motioned for her to take the cat back to the client. Sakura took the cat and took off looking back at Ranma worriedly. After a few moments Ranma got down and began to catch his breath again. Kakashi and Sasuke stared at Ranma. Ranma looked up at them and sighed.
"It's a long story. Let's head back for now." Ranma said.
The three of them headed towards the village. Naruto just sat in silence.
'What the hell was that all about?' He thought to himself.
Soon enough the trio had caught up to Sakura. Sakura had exited the main building after finishing the mission to wait for them. Ranma took a seat on the flight of stairs and looked at the three expectant faces. He began to tell his tale of the neko-ken training. Sakura was the first speak up when he was done.
"What kind of sadistic father does something like that?" Sakura yelled.
"Mine did," Ranma muttered.
"Well, that would explain your reaction," Kakashi said.
'How much has Ranma actually been through?' Kakashi silently wondered to himself.
Sasuke just stared at Ranma. Kakashi stood up first and stretched out his arms.
"Well let's head back into the main office and see what our next mission is gonna be," Kakashi said to the group.
By this time Naruto had taking over the body again.
"Ah man! We better get a good mission this time! The last three have been so stupid!" Naruto complained.
Sasuke silently agreed, as did Sakura. Kakashi sighed.
"Stop complaining. Come on, we have to do the easy ones before we are assigned the harder ones. You know that," Kakashi said as he led them inside.
"I know that but. come on! The easy ones are too easy!" Naruto continued.
Ranma just sat in silence. The four of them finally reached the main room and stood in front of the Third Hokage and Iruka.
"Ah, there's the rest of team 7," Iruka said as they entered.
"Sorry about the delay. We had a few minor problems," Kakashi apologized.
"Well then, for your next duty," the Third Hokage said, getting right down to business, "hmmm. babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and help with the potato field."
Naruto threw his arms back and forth over his body.
"No, no, no! I want to do a more, your know, incredible mission! Find us a better one!" Naruto shouted.
The rest of the team agreed silently while Kakashi sighed. Ranma laughed, agreeing with Naruto. The Nine-Tails had already fallen asleep by this time. Iruka stood up and shouted at Naruto.
"You idiot! You're just a rookie! Everyone starts with the easy missions and works their way up!"
"But we keep on getting the crappiest missions!" Naruto shouted back.
"Be quiet you," Kakashi said as he hit Naruto in the head.
Ranma just sighed. He watched as the Third Hokage began to lecture Naruto and began to get bored.
'I want to test myself soon.' Ranma thought to himself when he suddenly saw the Third Hokage smile to himself. 'Did Naruto say something good?' Ranma thought as he tuned back into the conversation.
"Alright Naruto, if you want it so much. I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual," the Third continued.
Ranma's ears perked up at this, as did the rest of the groups.
"Who? Who?! A feudal lord? A princess?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him. will you come out here please?" the Third answered.
An old man with a bottle of sake in his hand walked out of door on the far left side of the room.
"What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats," the old man said as he stepped out. "I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."
Author's notes: Wow. I'm so sorry for not updating in so long. I hope you all don't hate me. I've been away for a long time and haven't had any time to write. I finally got this chapter finished and the stories finally starting to flow in my head again. I'll try to write more but things are becoming hectic for me so don't expect too much out of me. Hope you liked this chapter. The Zabuza arc coming soon.