Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor claim to.

Chapter Twenty: The Fighting Boy:

"Deep inside your soul there's a hole you don't wanna' see. Every single day what you say makes no sense to me. Even though I try, I can't get my head around you." The Offspring: (Can't Get My) Head Around You

Yoiko, or Kite, forced her eyes to break away through a momentous force of will. Sighing deeply, she glanced around, before noticing the hill behind them, sloping down gently to the forest. "Follow me." She said loudly, throwing a thick cloth over the painting to protect it from the elements, before walking down the hill.

"Wait a second!" Sakura replied, following the girl anyway. "Where are we going?"

"To the forest."

"Because?"

Kite turned back to Sakura. "I like it there, okay?" she sighed, trying to think how best to explain this. "It's not what you think."

Sakura blinked at the small, redheaded female form of her oldest friend. "What am I supposedly thinking, then?"

Kite glanced back up at her quickly. "I don't know. But I would guess it's not very good for me."

Sakura snorted. "You think that little of me? After all, my father has the same curse as you apparently do."

"Sakura, we've known each other for seventeen years." Kite replied calmly. "I mean, maybe I don't know you perfectly, but I can guess. Besides, I know about your father's curse, and he's never dressed as a girl, has he?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. There was a small pause as the two girls continued down to the bottom of the hill, where Sakura spied a small path going through the woods. "Well, then why do you?" She stumbled a moment, cursing about her ankle, before recovering and following after Kite again.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone." Kite replied without skipping a beat.

Sakura blinked. "Huh?"

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about my curse." Kite replied again.

"Why?"

Kite's reply began with another glare, carefully avoiding Sakura's eyes, before turning back to follow the path. "I may turn into a girl, but I got to keep my image up at school. Besides, if anyone found out I turned into a little girl, not only would the names be flying, but the fights would always start with a bucket of cold water."

Sakura said nothing.

"Well?"

"Fine!" Sakura shouted, turning to examine the forest as they passed it. There was another long pause. "So, why do you do all this?"

- - -

The two boys were still facing off, both were on the verge of defeat, but only one had a trick still up their sleeve that the other didn't know about. And Sauske wasn't going to use his aura here. But his opponent was happy to continue using the one he had demonstrated only a second before.

"Hey, SAUSKE!" Naruto shouted. Sauske turned back to see that same bandanna still on Naruto's head, with a whole bunch of bandannas clenched in both hands. "Let's see how high you can count!" he shouted, as his hands began to spin them into yellow blurs. Sauske took a step back, bringing his arms up to protect himself again. "Ready?!" Naruto shouted, swinging his arms back. "GO!"

As if slashing with his hands, Naruto swung both arms in front of his body, cutting across in a blur. When his arms stopped however, his hands were no longer clenched. Instead, they were wide open, releasing a great cloud of yellow swirls into the sky. After an instant, the bandannas had spread to full size, making large curves before they turned back to converge onto Sauske.

Sauske lost count at fifty three, since he was barely halfway done with the left side, and they were racing towards him. His attention had to turn to getting through the bandanna cloud alive.

Despite his survival instinct's recommendation of running as far away as possible, he chose the one that made the most sense. Which is why he charged into the cloud. By reaching the bandannas sooner, he would be safe since they had not converged, leaving large gaps between them he might be able to slip through safely.

Sprinting, Sauske watched for the nearest attack to him. Leaning left, one blade whizzed by his ear, before he twisted back right, letting two whip by his knee and thigh. With a slight duck, another grazed his head, before he hopped to get over one by his ankles. Seeing what was apparently a large opening in front of him, Sauske's instantaneous reaction was to take the chance. Diving forward, he swung his arms up to cover his face, and let the last of the bandannas take their course, hoping the fewest possible would hit him.

He was as rewarded as punished. Two sliced his right arm, one cut into his back, and several crossed over both legs. When he crashed onto the ground, rolling forward, he shoved himself up to a standing position as soon as he was on his feet again. His reward? He was alive, and through the cloud. And now he was sprinting to the boy.

Naruto gaped for a moment as he saw Sauske fly though the huge numbers of bandannas, but quickly composed himself as he saw the boy coming. Lowering his body down, he raised his hands, readying himself for Sauske's return attack.

Sauske grimaced. Naruto didn't know what he was in for now. That was good. But those cuts hurt!

Naruto slid his hands to the side to prepare for where he expected Sauske's attack to come from, his right side. The black haired boy continued to charge, before something strange happened. Sauske spun around, swinging one hand out, reaching around and grabbing the blond by the yellow bandanna. Touching his right foot to the ground, he yanked his hand back, pulling several bandannas along.

Spinning back, Sauske swung around with his bandanna filled hand, smashing it into the cheek of the blond boy. Landing gently no the ball of his foot, Sauske continued to spin as Naruto reeled.

The boy pulled all his inner muscles together to lean back up from the attack, gritting his teeth through the pain in his face. After a moment, he pulled himself back up completely, only to realize why Sauske was still spinning around. The Saotome had switched legs, and lifted his right one. Hopping, he swung out with his right foot, contacting Naruto in the face.

Naruto side flipped into the ground, sliding along the dirt as the dust flowed into the air. There was a collective gasp from the crowd again at the whole train of events, but the two fighters ignored it all. Nothing but the other person mattered now, and as Naruto rose again, Sauske gritted his teeth more.

"Dammit, Naruto, how many bandannas do you have on?!" Sauske shouted.

Naruto grinned, rubbing his face before trailing his fingers over the bandanna across his forehead. "More than you'll ever know. You won't win, Sauske!" Naruto shouted, grinning at him menacingly. "Unless, of course, you pull out that aura of yours."

That line shot through Sauske like a bullet. "He knows?!" the boy thought to himself in awe. "But how?! Keira would never have told him, and my parents haven't seen him for a while, and Sakura hates him most times, Kite doesn't know . . ." Suddenly, another cold realization shot through his head. His body stiffened, and his eyes widened. Glancing down at his hands quickly, he saw a faint red glow beginning to form. Quickly, he squelched the power by clenching his fist, stamping the color out of existence.

"Well, Sauske, let's see what kind of power you got!" Naruto shouted, forcing his body to take the proper stance through all the pain that was forcing its way into his mind. He couldn't give up. Not until he won.

"I need a plan!" Sauske thought to himself. His brain began to process all the options, before something hit his mind. "Play off his weakness! Naruto may have better technique and better strength, but I doubt he trained . . ." Sauske suddenly smiled. Not the ordinary happy smile, but the evil, all knowing smile. Turning to Naruto, Sauske clenched his hand tighter on the fifteen or so bandannas he was holding.

Naruto noticed the change in expression. "What's up, Sauske? Think of a funny joke or something?"

Sauske shook his head slowly. Then, something odd happened.

He laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed.

"You don't see it, do you, Naruto?!" Sauske shouted with glee. "This whole time, you've been walking right into my trap!"

- - -

Kite sighed to herself, glancing up at the sky again for a moment. She really didn't want to say everything, but . . . "You remember when I was twelve, I was put in the hospital for a month?" Sakura nodded. "And how I didn't want you to visit me?" Sakura nodded again. "Well, it all began that morning."

The alarm clock was ringing louder than ever before as Kite dragged himself out of bed. Nothing felt right. His heart was pounding in his head, his vision blurring. Nothing felt right. Placing his feet onto the floor, he shoved himself into a standing position. It was then that things got worse.

He stumbled across the room, his balance gone, and the pain in his head making everything seem senseless. The clothes he was wearing didn't fit anymore, even though they clung to his body through the endless sweat holding it there. The blurred vision began to grow worse, and Kite quickly realized he needed help. His mother was always downstairs by now, working on getting breakfast ready. Stomp-stumbling across the room, he pushed his door open, leaning on it as his breath began to grow weak. Pushing himself off, he began walking again, balancing for a moment.

A bad step, however, sent him careening into the wall next to the stairs. He leaned there for a moment, the pounding in his head growing worse and worse. Nothing was visible anymore. But he was at the stairs. Once he got to the bottom, everything would be okay.

Akari smiled to herself, working diligently at the breakfast for herself and her two sons. That's when she heard it.

BAM! SLAM! BAM! SMACK! CRUNCH! BOOM! WUMP!

Pausing at the first sound, and turning at the second, the woman watched in horror as a figure tumbled down the stairs, before collapsing in a heap at the bottom. Forgetting instantly what she was working on, she rushed over to see who was there. But she didn't recognize who it was.

The person laying at the bottom steps was smaller than Naruto, with piercing red hair, and more feminine features than anyone who lived in the household that young. The figure's eyes opened, gently, slowly, as Akari began wiping blood from where her head had hit one of the steps. The voice was quiet. "Mom? . . . I . . ." then it died away, the small child's voice simply cutting off.

Akari stared, before recognizing something. The clothes were Kite's. And the hair, while it was the wrong color, was tied in that small ponytail he had been growing out for the past year. Her eyes widened in shock, as the sound of footsteps came running along the hall. Remembering whom the only other person in the house was, she screamed out immediately.

"NARUTO! CALL THE HOSPITAL! KITE'S COLLAPSED!"

"After that, I spent a month in the hospital recovering from a heart attack." Kite said slowly. "The doctors had no idea what was going on. I was well nourished, showed no signs of abuse, but my body was totally undeveloped. It was if I had been born on the outside as a twelve year old with an infant heart."

Sakura said nothing.

"By the end of the month, I was healthy and strong enough to go home, but I spent another two weeks training my girl body to be safe. Then, I spent every third day, right after I came home from school, in my girl body to keep it working right." Kite sighed. "My parents were so scared that I might get hurt again, but it never happened."

Sakura waited for her to continue, but when Kite didn't, she did instead. "So, what about the painting?"

Kite took a deep breath, before continuing. "My mom thought . . . well, after my thirteenth birthday, I was pretty lax about the whole heart attack thing again, so I began skipping days. I don't know if she was still worried it might happen again or she just wanted me to get used to things, but she started me back on the three days, calling it 'Girl Training' or something like that."

"Girl training?"

Kite nodded. "She took me to get girl clothes and everything, so I could 'understand' what it was like to be a woman. Then she said I should get a new hobby, so, after refusing sewing and flower arranging, we agreed on painting. So, for three hours a week, I've been painting."

Sakura nodded. Glancing around, she sighed to herself. Her ankle still hurt, and now she had no idea how far they were from where they started. The storms were starting to get close, and it was starting to make her nervous.

Kite sighed to herself as they reached the stream. Stepping out onto the first stone, she hopped to the middle of the icy cold water, before turning to face Sakura. "All right, your turn."

There was a long pause.

"My turn for what?" Sakura asked, stepping out onto the first rock.

"Your curse." Kite replied. "I told you mine, you tell me yours."

Sakura slid back on the stone defensively. "No way!" Sakura shouted.

"What?!" Kite cried indignantly. "That's not fair! You could tell people about mine, so, in order to keep that a secret, it's only fair that I know yours!"

"NO!" Sakura shouted back, before seeing Kite's immediate response.

"Oh yeah?!" Kite shouted, crouching a little to kick a spray of water in Sakura's direction.

- - -

The girl sitting beneath the tree was suddenly very interested again. Sauske had laid a trap? It didn't seem likely.

"A trap?" Naruto asked. "Oh, yeah right! Why should I believe you?!"

"Naruto, I've been here waiting for a long time for you to show. And you ought to know the fact that Keira and I have been training together for a long time." That comment from Sauske brought a bit of flustered anger from the blond boy. "And what's the first rule of every battle a ninja goes into?"

Naruto said nothing, just watched Sauske carefully.

"Always, always, be prepared." Sauske said with that strange gleeful talk that seemed foreign to him only moments before. "And thanks to your overload of bandannas, you've been snipping strings that you didn't even know were there. There's just one left." Sauske took one of the bandannas into his free hand, before beginning to spin it rapidly until it blurred. "And once it gets cut, which I'm going to do right now, it's all over for you."

The girl watched the others carefully. Sauske was holding his face and expression quite well, but Naruto was starting to visibly become shaken. He was worried that this simple trick might be real. Which, upon realizing none of Sauske's friends, including Keira, looked like they knew what he was talking about, was obviously just that: a trick. But she had no way to signal Naruto again. He was now on his own. He had to be smart enough to not get caught here.

"Say goodbye, Naruto!" Sauske shouted, throwing the bandanna vertical, perpendicular to the ground, racing only a few centimeters above it, shredding grass as it trailed away.

Naruto believed him. Grabbing a bandanna from his forehead, he spun it rapidly, before releasing it to slice the other one in half. Which conveniently took his attention away from Sauske.

Punching the Hibiki in the face, Sauske knocked his opponent backwards, causing him to fall backwards towards the ground. Lifting his leg up, he smashed it down, slamming Naruto into the ground, before the leg pinned him there.

Naruto let out a small sigh, before he slipped into the silence known as unconsciousness.

The girl sighed. After all the training he had gone through, Naruto had lost again. Sauske muttered, "And stay down," as he slowly let his foot off. When Naruto didn't move, there was a small cheer from the crowd, as Keira and Sauske's other friends began to rush down the slope to help their friend.

Sauske stumbled a bit. The girl, however, stood slowly, sighing to herself, before turning to walk out of the school. "AKI!" Sauske's voice suddenly shouted. The girl turned and glanced over her shoulder. "I know you're here! You can come out now!"

Sauske was looking around every part of the field looking for Aki. The girl knew he hadn't found her. She walked on, slowly approaching the chain link fence. Spotting one last student watching back here, however, she stopped, and walked to him.

"Make sure," the girl said to him immediately, before pausing to contemplate the correct pronunciation of the next few words, "that Naruto-kun . . . gets to Dr. Tofu's."

The boy looked at her, nodded, before turning back to the field. Suddenly, he made a double take. "Aki-san?!" the boy said suddenly. "But, doesn't Sauske want to see you?"

Aki smiled, shaking her head, as Sauske screamed out her name again angrily. "Tell him . . . I left." With that, she hopped gracefully over the fence, and walked away.

- - -

Sakura hopped quickly, dodging the spray, and landing safely on the bank. Her ankle twisted a bit, though, which was not the feeling of safety she wanted. Kite glared at her. "It's only fair, Sakura!"

"FAIR?!" Sakura shouted back. "Why the hell should I tell you?! I've never done anything to you!"

"Never done anything to me?!" Kite shouted back. "Who's the person who comes around every day telling me I smell?! Huh?! Remember who did that?!"

"That's just one thing!"

"One thing done five hundred thousand times!"

"Well, I'm not telling you!"

"I'm going to find out, Sakura!"

"We'll see about that!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!" Kite screamed, before kicking more water in her direction. Sakura hobbled out of the way, before taking off down the path back the way they had come. It was hard running on an injured ankle, and she knew everyone would be mad at her for doing so, but she couldn't let her curse get revealed. "Don't think I won't follow you, Sakura!" Kite shouted, running along after her.

Kite was much slower than Sakura was normally, while in his girl form at least. But with her injured ankle, and her reluctance to use her aura, their speeds were quite close. So they ran back along the entire path they had walked down together, Sakura looking for an escape, Kite looking for a way to reveal Sakura's curse and catch her.

And therefor, they ran about fifteen meters apart for a whole kilometer and a half.

- - -

Ranma looked up towards the empty kitchen as the phone rang. Soun was reading a paper across the room, Akane was in the Dojo practicing alone, and Nabiki and Brandon were on a walk. Standing up, he walked to the phone, picking it up off the receiver, and placing it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked calmly.

"Hey, Ranma." A voice said far calmer than would be expected.

Ranma blinked, before smiling. "Oh, hi Ucchan! What's up?" His smile was an act, though. Ukyo's tone already revealed that something bad had happened.

"Bad news. I can't say if it's true or not, but I heard it from some pretty respectable patrons here at my restaurant."

"All right, Ucchan. What is it?"

"Is Auska all right?"

"What does that mean?"

"Is Auska okay?!" Ukyo repeated, a bit more forcefully.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's here with us."

"Oh, that's good."

There was a pause over the line. "Ukyo, just spit it out already."

A sigh could be heard over the phone, as Ukyo related her news to Ranma. He took it cold.

"Okay." He replied after a moment, the smile dead and buried. "Thanks for the heads up. We'll keep an eye out."

"Uh, okay." Ukyo replied. "I'll talk to you later. And if I get anything better than a rumor, I'll call."

"Yeah. Thanks, Ukyo." Ranma replied, before closing with, "Bye." He hung the phone up on the wall, before calmly walking out of the kitchen, and through the living room, to the koi pond.

Soun looked up at him. "Ranma, is everything okay?"

Ranma shook his head. "SHIT!" he screamed, before slamming his fist through the closest rock. It smashed into dust, trailing slowly away from his hand, as he let it rest on the ground. Slowly, he stood back up, and turned to Soun. "Tell Nabiki as soon as she gets home, I need to talk to her. And I won't be here for dinner. I need to go train tonight."

Soun watched, nodding slowly with a paled face, as the man turned and walked away.

- - -

The low speed chase between Sakura and Kite was now in the city, as they ran towards the Tendo Dojo. Their impression and actions would have reminded their families of two stubborn six-year-olds, quite correctly. And seven-year-olds. And eight, and nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen-year-olds. This run made them seventeen-year-olds too.

Sakura was starting to use her aura to keep the pain away, but she didn't want to make her ankle worse.

And then came the rain.

It started slow, but Sakura knew it wouldn't take long to cause her body to change. She glanced back, before giving up on her ankle. Letting her aura flow greatly, it grew to a huge blue flame around her. Her speed increased, her pain dulled, and her focused seemed to solidify perfectly.

Kite smiled. "All right, Sakura! It's only a matter of time!" Kite taunted. "I'm going to find out . . ." Kite was cut off because she had forgotten Sakura carries her bokken with her everywhere now. And a sword is not very difficult to throw for most martial artists.

Kite groaned as she was smashed in the face by the handle of the wooden sword. She flopped backwards onto the ground, before rolling up, grabbing the sword from the ground, and resuming the chase. She rubbed her nose as she ran, but she didn't stop. Then she saw it.

Laying on the ground, there was the shirt Sakura had been wearing. Grabbing it as she ran, Kite began smiling. "All I got to do is catch up!" she thought happily to herself.

- - -

Auska was walking to the kitchen to get some water, listening to the rain tumble down outside, when she heard a loud scratching noise at the door. Sliding the door open, a great gray shape swooped in, stopping several meters inside. "Sakura?"

Suddenly, the form began to shake, spraying water everywhere. Auska leaned back, trying to block as much as she could. "Hey, hey, hold on for a second!" the girl said quickly, blocking the water as it flew into her. When the spray stopped, Auska noticed she hadn't changed forms. That was good. They were now totally out of waterproof soap. The girl looked down at the form in front of her, confirming it was her sister.

The great gray wolf, a smooth color rolling along its entire fur, the piercing green-yellow eyes, looked up at Auska with a worried glance. Auska closed the door, before sighing. "There's already a bath ready." The wolf nodded, before running up the stairs. Auska sighed, and turned to go to the kitchen. Then came a knock at the door.

Auska turned back, opening the door. A young, redhead girl stood in the doorway, holding a large bokken and a pile of soaking wet clothes. Her hair and her dress were soaked though and through. She was panting as if she had just run the marathon. And she seemed very familiar. "Um, hello. Who are you?"

"I'm . . . looking for . . . Saotome Sakura!" The girl replied between pants.

Auska smiled. "She'll be here in a minute. She went upstairs for something." The girl outside sighed. "Here, come in for a few minutes." The girl nodded, stepping inside. "Can I get you anythin'?"

"Water . . . would be nice." The girl wheezed, dripping onto the floor.

Auska smiled, nodded, and disappeared into the kitchen.

There was a short pause.

"Hello there." A different voice sounded. Kite looked up, to see Sakura, in her normal form, walking calmly down the stairs. "Need an umbrella?"

Kite sneered at her, waiting for her to come down the rest of the stairs. When Sakura was close enough, she shoved her stuff into her hands. "You dropped this."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

- - -

Ranma sat in the now empty dojo. Akane had finished her daily practice, so it was peaceful now. Ranma wished he had told her what was up, but he didn't know for sure if it was true. Ukyo had said it was just a rumor. He needed proof first.

"So, you need to see me?" a familiar voice sounded from the entrance to the dojo.

Ranma turned, smiling. "Hey, Nabiki." Ranma replied calmly, standing. "I need your help."

"Well, getting right down to business, are we?"

"Yeah." Ranma replied. "I need you to find something out for me."

"Well, it'll cost you, unless I like it. Like always." Nabiki said with a smile.

"It's worth it. Ukyo called me with a rumor today."

"Ah, the joys of rumors. Since when do you put faith in them."

"When they involve Happosai." Ranma said colder than he ever wanted to again. "Ukyo says he's back. I want to know for sure."

Nabiki's eyes were wide. The two stood in silence for a moment. "Two days, Ranma. Then I'll know for sure." Nabiki turned to leave, thinking over everything that happened. "Should I call Ryoga to tell him you're going to visit tonight?"

"That'd be nice." Ranma replied.

Nabiki nodded. But she stopped at the door. "What did Akane say?"

Ranma sighed. "I haven't told her yet. I'll tell her tonight when I get back."

Nabiki nodded again. "Don't worry, Ranma. We'll keep an eye on Auska.'

Ranma said nothing as his sister in law left the room. He simply screamed curse words towards Happosai in his head.

Next Chapter: A snippet of a kendo match, a martial artist confronts a trainer on matters of secrecy, and a dangerous rumor is validated or disproved.

Well, that's the end of chapter twenty. I do hope all you readers are happy now. I told you Sakura's curse. If you thought that telling me things don't have any effect, this should change your mind. I was planning for Sakura's curse to come forward much later, but since you wouldn't stop asking to know what it was, I stuck in the dream and then this. So I hope you're happy now. Seriously, I do hope you're happy with the story.

And now, the reviews:

Paige Crews: YAY! A new reviewer who likes my story!

Shinjiku: You are never going to let me live this down, no matter how long this story goes, are you? Well, that's okay. I don't see why nobody can see Sauske being with Keira, but it's your opinions, not mine. And, I don't know why anyone hasn't mentioned any other possible relationships. (P.S. I'm glad the last chapter came out better.)