Author's Notes: Mmm... Well....hmmm....Updatedness. The whole Itachi flashback in the manga threw me off. If anyone can guess, I like the concept of the Sharingan, and my other story's future plot was seriously thrown out of whack with that. I've been trying to re-write it to reflect this new information on the mange Sharingan, but it's really a lost cause. I need to change too much... One of the hazards of writing a fic on a series that isn't complete yet I suppose. So until I figure out a new plot for it, I guess I'm going to focus on this one for a while. Enjoy.

Other Additional note: This chapter is much longer then I usually write chapters because I planned on making it two separate chapters, but the second was a bit short to leave as a different chapter.

Chapter 2: First impressions

"Saotome!? I'm so glad to see you! Wait...where is your son?" Soun blinked as he looked around in surprise. Genma had arrived alone.

"There's been , Tendo." Genma admitted.

It wasn't until much later that Genma Saotome managed to explain what had happened. Apparently his son had run off upon finding out about the engagement, and Genma lost them due to a slight mishap which sprained his leg. What he left out was the almost two dozen Bunshins that ambushed him to prevent him from catching up to his escaping sons, and spraining his leg after kicking one of them hadn't helped. Still, it didn't change the fact that his two sons were currently wandering the streets of Tokyo out of his reach with his bad leg. Tomorrow he'd visit the Tendo's doctor, and after his leg was back in order he and Tendo would round up the missing youths. After all, how far could they go? With Naruto's curse they wouldn't risk swimming back across the ocean, he had barely made it last time. With no money they couldn't afford any other means off of this island. So where could they possibly go?

Elsewhere

"Where the hell are we going?" Naruto asked as they spent the last of their money on train tickets. He had wanted to get another bowl of Ramen, and he figured they could roof hop anywhere they needed to go anyway.

"I have a...friend, outside of Tokyo. If pops is looking for us, he won't think to search for us outside the city limits for a while and this friend lives almost 500 miles from Tokyo. It'll take Genma months to find us. I can get a job, we can get enough money to get out of this country, back to china and find ourselves a cure, and then we can find a way to get you home. Heck who knows. If this Kakashi sensei of yours is as good as you say. I might just like it there too."

"Really?"

"Really, come on."

Tendo Dojo

"So what do you think about all of this." Nabiki asked curiously. As she silently looked over the picture of Ranma and Naruto that Genma happened to be carrying. She made a note to pull a few strings and see if she could locate them before Genma, so she could have a talk with them in private. There were a few things about Genma Saotome's story that didn't add up, but outside of that she was certain it wasn't a big deal. All that was required was that one of them marries one of the Saotome's. If push came to shove, then Nabiki knew she could volunteer to be Naruto's fiancé since he couldn't get legally married until he was about Ranma's age anyway, by then she was certain she would have figured a way of escaping it.

"Hmmph, boys." Akane muttered as if not caring. By the amount of violence she was administering to her poor training dummy, Nabiki guessed that it was the only thing preventing Akane from being in an explosive rage.

"Still he is sort of cute." Nabiki grinned.

"Whatever."

"Akane, Nabiki, Dinner." Kasumi called.

"Hey, Kasumi, what do you think of the engagement."

"Hmm, I think they're both a little too young for me, but it's still early to decide such things. We haven't even met them, yet." Kasumi smiled.

Akane frowned. It was impossible for her to say no to Kasumi. Not even Nabiki could manage to say no to her. If she turned down both of them as possible engagements, then there was no doubt that she would end up engaged to at least one of them. Her next blow caused the battered dummy to go flying through the training hall's wall and into the backyard. Nabiki would have chided her sister's behavior, but since the dummy was embedded in the compound wall, and her sister no longer had anything to vent her frustration on. Nabiki wisely decided to remain quiet about it, and added the damages to her sisters growing list of damages since learning of the engagement.

Nabiki silently looked at the picture again. It showed Ranma and Naruto sitting next to a campfire with Naruto apparently trying to explain something to Ranma. Ranma looked a bit confused by the figures in the dirt, which only helped reinforce Nabiki's opinion that he was probably a dumb jock. After all, what sort of education could have growing up on the road for more then ten years? After a while Nabiki wondered herself what any of the symbols in the dirt meant. Even though it was hard to tell what they were, the one's she could clearly make out didn't make any sense to her either. Nabiki filed it away for later as she went to get dinner.

Dinner was okay, if it weren't for the fact Genma had nabbed food out from under each of the Tendo's but it wasn't all that much of a problem since Kasumi, who had been expecting more people had prepared a lot of food. Her reaction to the fact that all the food disappeared was a typical 'oh my' and she mentally noted to prepare even more food once Ranma and Naruto arrived. Genma and Soun settled themselves on a game of Shogi after dinner and the girls went about doing their own things. Akane, who no longer had a dummy to vent on, decided a bath was the best thing for now.

The bath was cleansing in more ways then one, as she took the time to reflect on the engagement. Genma Saotome had passed a lot of pics of Ranma and Naruto around. She wasn't quite sure why Nabiki had decided to keep the picture she had been carrying around since it wasn't a particularly good picture, but it was obvious that both boys were somewhat skilled in martial arts. As most of the pictures were of them sparring with each other, Nabiki said a lot of the pictures looked doctored as normal people, martial artists or not, simply couldn't do some of the things that Ranma and Naruto were seen doing in the pictures. Then again, the Saotome's were clearly not normal people. Things like shape changing Chinese curses didn't happen to normal people.

"Hmm...:" Akane wondered about a lot of things as she sat in the bath. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost failed to notice the door to the furo open.

'Oh....excuse me...' the panda's sign read.

Any anger that had possibly been diffused by the bath instantly reappeared.

"Pervert!"

Kasumi blinked as she watched the Panda disappear into the horizon. Things were certainly going to be different in the Tendo house hold from now on. This was going to lead to big changes in her normal routine...

"Oh my..."

Approximately 540 Miles West of Tokyo.

The two 'wayward sons' were walking silently through a mountain path just outside Kurashiki.

"So...what's this friend of yours like?" Naruto asked.

"He's a nice guy. He said if I ever got away from my pop I would always be welcome at his place. So I think we'll take him up on the offer...for now. We're not going to freeload like pops, so I expect you to do a little work to, probably clean the shrine he lives at or something. Nothing serious, think of it like a long term D rank mission. Even though he was really old, I could tell he was a lot better then my pops was at martial arts. I was ten at the time, but he would always sneak up on me. I'm pretty sure, he couldn't do it now, but not even pops was that goo..."

"Ranma Saotome?"

Katsuhito watched the young woman in front of him jump several feet in the air, and land in a ready position he had become rapidly familiar with. It was indeed, Ranma Saotome. Although, if memory served him correctly, Ranma had been a boy when he had shown up at the Masaki shrine the first time, he could assume that the hair was a dye job but there was something off about her aura now that indicated it was more then a case of mistaken identity.

"Jusenkyo?" He asked the surprised martial artist.

"How did...?"

"No doubt your father's idea." Katsuhito groaned as his suspicion was confirmed, "And who's this?"

"Naruto, he's err...my brother, adopted. We needed to get away from pops for a bit."

"I heard. Well, I did say you could stay at the shrine as long as you liked. It has been a bit...crowded recently. A few of Tenchi's...friends have decided to stay with him for an extended period of time. As long as you don't mind that particular discomfort, there should not be much of a problem. With you around, to do some of Tenchi's chores, he can have more time with them."

"Uh...sure." Ranma nodded.

"This way then,"

The residents of the Masaki shrine were an odd bunch. It wasn't the hair color, their unusual way of dress, or the strange quirks about their auras that bothered Naruto. He had come across these before and neither he nor Ranma were particularly shocked. What was so odd about them was the strange feeling that passed over them as they watched all the girls in the house fight over the single guy.

"I'm glad I'm not him." Ranma whispered shortly before they exchanged introductions.

Two Weeks Later...

The search for Ranma was growing more and more desperate as the days wore on. Genma's foot had recovered in less then a week, and he and Soun had been combing every inch of Tokyo in search of them. Nabiki knew they weren't anywhere in Tokyo by the end of the first week. Her connections had already thoroughly checked every possible lead within the city and had turned up nothing. That was nowhere near as confusing as the drawings that had been depicted in the photo. Seeing as how they were martial artists, Nabiki had been passing the symbols around and hadn't turned up much. Curiously enough, one person had identified the strange leaf like drawing that Naruto had scratched out. According to him it belonged to some notorious assassin group that was incredibly secretive. Other then that information about the group was sketchy at best. The stories seemed almost like fairy tales in many cases. It was also apparent that while Genma Saotome was a sneak, a coward, and worse. He was not a killer. At some point under everything else that he was, he had some standards. He also expected that his son would probably have the same, if not higher standards. So it eluded her as to what the connection was between the Saotome's and what was apparently a mythical group of assassins. The only way she'd ever get any answers would be to ask them directly about it, but that wasn't possible.

"Oof."

"Sorry, here you dropped this."

Nabiki wordlessly accepted her book bag from the twelve year old ninja whose face she had come to recognize from the single picture she had. There was no doubt about his identity, as he was even dressed in the same orange jacket and pants that he had been wearing in the picture. Standing next to him was his brother Ranma, who looked even better in person then he had in the picture. Thoughts she had never had before floated through her mind as she stared at him dreamily. She would have drooled, but she had learned to reign in her emotions better then that, Nabiki didn't believe in chance occurrences, and random happenings. Nothing was ever this convenient unless you arranged it to be, but she simply accepted her books wordlessly, and smiled.

"Thanks."

"Come on, we don't have all day." Another person snapped.

Nabiki silently looked pass Ranma, there was another twelve year old with long red hair that went in various directions standing behind him. Actually it looked as if she had a hairy crab on her head. It gave Nabiki the impression she was some sort of mad scientist, which wasn't too far from the truth. She certainly didn't carry herself like any kid should either. Apparently, the little scientist had caught her staring and shot her a glare as if she was capable of reading her thoughts, and then went back to scolding Ranma.

"Yeah, yeah, coming Washu-chan. I don't see why you were so interested in coming with us." Ranma sighed.

"You know why, I think it's a crime a mother should be separated from her child for so long. It's not like I'm needed at the shrine every waking moment...well as long as Mihoshi's not around that is. Besides, once I finish setting up the doorway, you can come visit us anytime you like." Washu smiled.

"Well..." Ranma began.

"Good, now no complaining. Consider it a favor for being two of my favorite guinea pigs...you both will still come and visit me? Right?" Washu asked.

"Of course we will!" Naruto grinned as they walked away. By the look on Ranma's face he had a reaction that was similar to if someone had asked Nabiki if she wanted more of Akane's cooking. Nabiki silently tailed the trio through the streets of Nerima. She simply couldn't believe her luck, and curiously wondered who the red head was. It didn't take long before she even got a demonstration of their curses to confirm their identity as a little old lady accidentally splashed them. Ranma muttered darkly as he just as suddenly changed back. Nabiki blinked at the sight as Naruto also changed back, and redressed himself at the same speed that their freeloading panda guest did, which was almost instantaneous. Ranma grumbled darkly as he wrung excess water out of his clothes, Washu chided him merrily as she waved what looked like a water gun at him. Nabiki couldn't hear either exchange since she was too far away. Eventually the group stopped, in front of a house and went up to the front door and knocked. A middle aged woman eventually opened the door. After some explanations were made she warmly invited them into the house. Nabiki made a note of the address and headed home for the day. She wondered curiously how much profit she could make off of this.

The last thing Nodoka Saotome expected when she answered the door was to find her long lost son on the doorstep. She was even happier that his father was not with him either. Still, she contained both her surprise and excitement as she examined the trio in front of her.

"Ranma?" She said hopefully, praying this wasn't just a dream.

"Yes, mom, I'm home." Ranma nodded. Nodoka was overjoyed, Ranma had turned out to be even better then she imagined. The two hugged. She wished that it wouldn't end, but then it had to end eventually. Her attention shifted to the young ninja in orange next to her long lost son. That had to have been Naruto, her lost husband had written to her about finding the stranded Ninja and taking him. She had also recently cosigned his adoption papers that Genma had sent not to long ago. Naruto shifted nervously under Nodoka's attention.

"You must be Naruto, it's nice to finally meet you...son." Nodoka smiled as she welcomed both in her house. Her attention shifted to her last guest with a fair amount of curiosity. Genma had never spoken anything about picking up a girl in her travels, and Nodoka could tell that this wasn't an ordinary girl by the way she carried herself, and wondered just who she was and why she had shown up with her sons.

"You must be wondering who I am. I am Washu, the greatest scientific mind in the universe." Washu grinned before breaking out into a small laugh. She quickly composed herself, and gestured towards Ranma, "Your children, happened to come by our place, and told us their stories. I just so happened to be curious about you, and so was Ranma. So we looked you up, and here we are."

"So you helped them, find me?" Nodoka asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I di-gak!" Washu gasped as Nodoka threw her arms around her and practically choked her to death. The woman had a grip stronger the Misaki if that were possible. Between Washu gasping for air and Nodoka showering her thanks upon her, nobody could make out anything said between the two. With great effort, and a lot of coaxing from Ranma, they finally managed to get Nodoka to let go. Of course she once again turned her attention on Ranma and began to cry at how happy she was to have him home, but that was a small sacrifice Ranma was willing to make so that Washu wasn't glaring darkly at him anymore. Of course the small problem of Nodoka's water works triggered another problem.

Nodoka, suddenly let go of her son, now daughter, and held her at arms length. Ranma sighed, as Nodoka stared at her in confusion. Nodoka thought a lot of things. If this was some sort of joke it was a very bad one. She wanted to ask, wanted to confirm what she suspected, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. So her mouth moved, but no words came out as she tried everything to convey how she felt, she finally settled on asking,

"Ranma?"

"...It's a long story, mom." Ranma sighed.

Nodoka took the news that her son was now her daughter rather well. She didn't even faint. As if in a daze, she slowly put her estranged son...daughter down and silently escorted them to the living room. Picking up a carefully wrapped bundle she set it aside as she went to the kitchen to prepare some tea. She silently brought it back to them and served it without a word. She sat down without taking her eyes off Ranma as she once again picked up her carefully wrapped bundle and made herself comfortable.

"I'm listening."

It took a little more then an hour for Ranma to explain Jusenkyo, and how it worked to his mother. Washu even gave a complete technical explanation of the process which no one could understand. It took the rest of the afternoon to fill Nodoka in on the training trip and the years of Ranma's life that she had missed. Ranma told the whole story without once wondering about the blank look that sat on her mothers face the entire time. Naruto on the other hand was bored. He had this story before, as Ranma had needed to explain a lot of things while they were with the Masaki's chief among them was why Ranma ran screaming every time Ryo-Ohki meowed. The story only verified Naruto's opinion that Ranma was somehow adopted, as Ranma couldn't possibly be related to Genma...

"I was afraid your father would do something like this." Nodoka sighed as she shook her head in disbelief as the story ended. "Now I have some things you should find out about now to avoid any future misunderstandings. The first of which is this."

With that Nodoka produced an aged sheet of paper which was covered in hand prints, and looked to be almost as old, if not older then Naruto was. Ranma blinked as he took the paper and read it silently. He blanched as he saw what was written there and wordlessly put the paper down. Washu glanced over at the paper, and her eyes widened in surprised as she read it as well. The look of shock and object horror on Washu's face made Naruto curious enough to look at it was well. It was the sort of look of she got whenever Mihoshi was around. He too looked at the seppuku pledge, and paled when he saw it as well.

"Now, before you jump to any conclusions. Ranma, you are my son, and more importantly you are my child. I couldn't care less how you ended up, as long as you were healthy and happy. I'm extremely proud of you. Even more so after hearing all that you went through, this contract was not my idea, but Genma's, and I was...erm...Intoxicated when I agreed to it, and he was already gone by the time I recovered." Nodoka explained.

"Just how drunk were you?" Washu asked.

"About the same as when I married him." Nodoka sighed, "I've sworn off all alcohol since. I would never consciously try to hurt you... much less force you to commit Seppuku."

"Oookay, so why do you carry that Katana around?" Washu asked curiously.

"That is the second issue I wanted to cover. Tokyo is NOT a very safe place. With all the martial artists around here making contests out of anything you can imagine. It's very dangerous to be wandering around without some sort of means to protecting myself. I happen to have an extensive background in armed combat, so please don't concern yourself with the weapons I carry around."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Ranma smirked. On the way here they had passed no more then fifteen contests of martial arts based cooking, racing, hair dressing, ramen eating (which Naruto had wanted to try), bicycling, duck feeding, or some other mundane type of action made sport. Plus there were other things to take into account, like the stories of weird monster running around the Juuban district, the giant monsters that sometimes came by and flattened a few buildings until they were chased off by giant robots, oh and then there were the cats. Ranma couldn't understand how people could live in a city with so many stray cats.

"There...is one last thing, that I think you should all know about." Nodoka said nervously as she undid the bundle, "something, that I don't think Genma was aware about when he married me as well, and concerns your heritage. I had hoped you had not inherited it as well, but seeing your curse...I believe that you have not only inherited it as well, but your talent for it is potentially far greater then mine."

"What could that be?" Ranma asked as Nodoka slowly undid the bundle. She placed the katana aside, and picked out something that had been concealed in the cloth wrapping.

"Naruto, do you recognize what this is?" Nodoka asked as she held out the object for him to see. Naruto's eyed bulged out as he all but shot out of his chair. He landed with his back pressed against the wall as he pointed at it in disbelief. It was a head protector. A ninja head protector, and by the sign carved into the metal band, a head protector that belonged to the hidden village of mist.

"You're a ninja!" Naruto gasped.

"I was a ninja, yes. A long time ago, but I wanted to get away from that life. It was a turbulent time, there was a great war going on between the different ninja villages, and it wasn't a safe place to be. There were those vying for power. Trust was difficult to obtain, because all ninjas have their own agenda. While betrayal ran rampant, there were also those that were hunted, simply for what they were. I, along with many others, was hunted because of this..."

With that, Nodoka made a gesture to the kettle of tea. To the amazed eyes of those present, the tea slowly crept out from the spout and seemed to dance in mid air, suspended by some unknown force. The tea rapidly took the shape of a swan before it suddenly froze into a solid perfectly formed shape of ice that slowly lowered onto the dining room table. Ranma gazed at the ice sculpture in disbelief. Naruto did too, not because he had been amazed by what he had just witnessed, but because he recognized what it meant.

"A bloodline limit..." Naruto said quietly. It was Nodoka's turn to be amazed. She hadn't suspected a ninja his age would recognize it. Especially since the ability had mostly died out after the war.

"Yes, there were people who feared...or were jealous of our powers. Most of us did our best to hide them, but those that couldn't take it anymore escaped. We sought sanctuary with any that would take us. Which is how we met the idealistic forth Hokage of the leaf, he snuck as many of us out of the ninja countries as he could, and we have lived in relative peace since then. I owe my life, and much more to Konoha." Nodoka sighed as painful memories resurfaced. Naruto stared in disbelief. It could not be just any bloodline limit. It HAD to be the same as Haku's... there was too much of a similarity in not only the way it worked but how Haku and Nodoka described how people saw it. He wondered if Haku had been related to her somehow, and a great many thoughts crossed Naruto's mind as he thought back to the fateful day in the wave country.

"So...I inherited this power, what does it do?" Ranma asked as he curiously picked up the ice swan.

"Well, this particular ability is known by a lot of names, water guardian, Reflection of the soul, and the dragon spirit. For one reason or another, water is constantly drawn to us, but I suppose you've already figured this part out." Nodoka smiled as Ranma groaned.

"I am a water magnet." Ranma groaned, his sneaking suspicion verified.

"Yes, dear. With control, comes a natural gift at using anything that requires chakra attuned to the element of water. To the extent that seals are not needed to perform low level skills. At higher levels, there are some very powerful water and ice based Jutsu's that cannot be mastered any other way, but our greatest power is a special type of control that's a bit hard to explain until you've grasped some basic chakra skills. I had hoped that you would never have to learn about this part of your heritage, but that can't be helped now." Nodoka sighed.

"You...you don't have any relatives still in the mist do you?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, as far as I know most of my family was executed before I managed to escape to the leaf. There were three clans that possessed the ability. Perhaps you encountered one of them. We all used the abilities differently." Nodoka shrugged. It was obvious Naruto had apparently faced someone with a similar ability before, but Nodoka was certain it couldn't have been anyone she had been related to. True, she never had heard from her sister since she disappeared, but what reason could she possibly have for staying in the country? She was the one that suggested they leave the country before it got worse. Of course then again, she had been showing some interest in that country boy...maybe a little too much interest. Nodoka banished the thoughts from her head.

"Did one of the abilities involve creating mirrors of ice?"

"Hmm... Never heard of that one..." Nodoka said thoughtfully, "That would be an interesting use, I might try that later."

"How very interesting." Washu grinned as she tapped data into her floating holographic computer. This explained what the odd variance in Ranma's genetic pattern was. She'd have to add Nodoka to her list of test subjects. Such a unique genetic ability was something she just had to study.

"Pops once said you were more of the samurai honor sort, I never pictured you as a ninja." Ranma said as he recalled a conversation he had once had with his father, probably the only conversation where Genma had mentioned anything bout his mother.

"Well, I didn't really want anything to do with my old life so I did my best to put it behind me. I changed my name. Considerably changed my appearance....and besides, ninjas are good at pretending to be something they are not. If I wanted to, I could fight like the Samurai I pretend to be," Nodoka smiled, "I will admit, I'm a bit out of practice though."

"How about a bit of a sparring match then? I want to see how good you are." Ranma grinned.

"Is this all he thinks about?" Nodoka blinked.

"Yeah, it is." Naruto nodded, "Do you think you could help me with some Jutsus later...mom?"

Ranma was grinning after his match with Nodoka. Even if Nodoka was out of practice, she was far from inexperienced, and while Ranma had gone up against various weapon masters and had never seen the practical side of weapon use. Nodoka effortlessly kept him at bay with simple well timed swings. Even with an extra blunt practice boken, the weapon was still dangerous in her hands. She swung it with such speed that even he was having trouble dodging. There was not enough of an opening to land one hit against her, and disarming her without a weapon was highly improbable, and when he finally succeeded at that, Nodoka began to demonstrate her mastery of Ninjutsu, which only made Ranma more determined to figure out how to use Chakra then ever before. Something his mother promised she would help him with later. The thought of having so much he could learn open to him was enough to plaster a silly grin on his face for the rest of the night.

"Ah, Washu, was it?" Nodoka asked noticing the genius scientist examining her broom closet.

"Could you please, call me Washu-chan?" Washu smiled sweetly.

"Okay, Washu-chan... what are you doing?"

"I'm installing a special multi-dimensional portal in your broom closet. It basically folds space between here and the exit point. It's a direct link to a shrine in Okayama. It's where I live, and we met Ranma. This way we can visit each other at any time instead of having to take other means of transport to see each other. I've designed it so that the doorway is keyed to your energy signatures, so only you and your family can cross through it. Well except Genma, don't have his, nor do I want ever seem him at the shrine... Oh, and if a blond lady who seems rather clueless comes through. I assure you, I didn't program her in, and I don't know how she does it, but she's perfectly harmless as long as you keep her away from those explosives slips of paper."

"I uh see." Nodoka asked, she understood the idea behind the doorway just find. She had a similar technique her self, but how Washu knew about the exploding notes was beyond her.

"What if I need a broom?"

"Turn the handle this way to go to the Masaki residence, turn the handle this way for a broom. Oh, and you can also turn this here to lock it so no one comes through. If the door is locked on the other side, you'll see a little light here that indicates whether or not it's locked. Anyway, it's been nice talking to you, but I don't want to overstay my welcome, so I'd best be off." Washu smiled as she opened the door.

"Thanks, Washu-chan." Nodoka smiled as she watched the child genius open the door into what appeared another household, but by the looks of it the doorway was...

"Ack!" Washu gasped as she fell forward, and down. Landing on what was apparently not a far wall, but the floor.

"Alright, who put the door on the ceiling!?" Washu yelled to someone outside Nodoka's field of view. Nodoka chuckled as she closed the door. Sure it was strange, but she lived in what was apparently the capital of weirdness, and she had seen stranger. With that taken care of she went to start dinner for her family. She smiled at the thought.

"Why are you so interested in those two anyway?" Katsuhito asked as he and Washu sat in the shrine later.

"Well, it's not every day you come across a genetic anomaly like Ranma. If I figure out how it works, I'm thinking of making something out of a sample of mass to use as a living air conditioner." Washu smirked as she watched the look on the old man's face, "Just kidding, but it's something to do in my free time. Besides, while this may sound odd to you, there's another intruder in my lab that's not Mihoshi. I've been hearing someone in my lab cursing a Ranma Saotome, even though I can never locate him and can't figure out how he's getting into and out of my lab all the time. I know there's someone else there, and well, when a Ranma Saotome shows up. It just makes you wonder doesn't it?"

"What about Naruto?"

"Naruto's...different...." Washu stared silently at the tea cup in her hands as she thought about the subject carefully. Katsuhito frowned, he was positive he was not going to like whatever it was the scientist was about to say.

"Don't tell the others, especially Ranma, but there's something very dangerous about that boy. There's a second entity bound to him much in the same way Sasami and Tsunami are. I have no doubt they'll eventually merge into one."

Katsuhito blinked as Washu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The other entity... You'd have to feel its power for yourself Katsuhito, but the readings greatly exceed Ryoko's when she had all three of her gems. It's as close as you can get to the divinity level without actually being a god." Washu whispered as she took a sip of her tea, "and you wouldn't even need a scanner to tell that the power was evil, twisted by an incredible amount of hate..."

"but I didn't detect, any of that from the boy..." Katsuhito blinked.

"I know, and you wouldn't unless you were incredibly sensitive to it. None of my scanners picked it up until I used a very sensitive scanner, and the power nearly fried the poor thing. It implies that the way this bonding process works, the boy is mostly in charge of it. He may not even realize just how much it affects him. If that were to change though, I'm not sure if there's anything on this planet that's powerful enough to stop him." Washu sighed.

"You're joking, surely Tenchi..."

"The power of Jurai, you mean? Energy is still energy. The only difference is how it's applied. This thing could just as easily be backed by another divine level power, maybe even Tokimi...if she isn't already involved somehow. I'm sure you're already painfully aware that Tenchi isn't a match for a fully powered Ryoko with or without his wings. Unless Tsunami directly intervenes, it would be a hard fight for him to win with just three of the wings. Not to mention, Naruto is currently learning Ranma's...unique...art."

"I see your point, so what now? Kill an innocent boy because of..."

"No, we will wait, and pray it does not come to that."