The Rising Storm
Disclaimer
I don't own Ranma 1/2, Naruto or any other properties mentioned in this story. Ranma 1/2 is the propery of Rumiko Takahashi, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and any other stuff belongs to it's respective owner. All I own are some tapes, a stack of Shonen Jump, and a bunch of psychological issues. Leave me alone.
Chapter one: Another Junsenkyo?
Arashi grumbled as she cleared the peak of her arc, and began the trip back to earth. 'Stupid Akane. Just a damn three way spar with Ranma 'n Ryoga 'n the crazy tomboy thinks we're pickin' on Pigboy. Just my luck she plants Ranma and sends me into LEO... what tha hell izzat?' she thought as she flew, uncontrolled and helplessly, into a funny patch of electric-blue and black swirling energy...
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A world (literally) away, Uzumaki Naruto looked at the funny sign, which he couldn't quite read. "Spring...Drowned...dammit! Stupid foreign language! Why are you so close yet so far? It's unfair!" the blonde ninja yelled at the sign. Naturally, Sasuke and Sakura were ignoring him and Kakashi, well Kakashi wasn't anywhere remotely nearby. Which left Naruto unsupervised. Which is always a horribly bad idea, especially so if he's bored. Said trouble causer/magnet dropped into the lotus position to think. "Well, the sign coming into this place said something about danger, so I can't use myself" he mused "but I can... yeah!" He quickly popped up to his feet and went through a series of hand signs. "Perfect Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried out at a muted volume, then watched with satisfaction as the single clone appeared. This clone was him in every way, except that it actually listened to someone, namely him. "Jump in that spring!" Naruto declared loudly. The clone, being the clone of an idiot it was, did. Watching intently, Naruto waited for the Bunshin to surface, which it did. Except that it looked like it'd invoked a modified Oiroke no Jutsu. And was as confused looking as he was. "This can't be good" Naruto mumbled as, high above, a funny patch of electric-blue and black swirling energy appeared.
Arashi blinked in surprise as she exited the portal. The blue spots in front of her eyes weren't so much the reason as the fact that she was overlooking a valley, filled with springs with poles sticking haphazardly from them. Her mouth got a wonderful workout as she grappled with the fact that this looked exactly like Junsenkyo. Which had been destroyed the day she'd been cursed. Which had been well over 6 months ago. Then the ground came up really fast and hit her with a power that easily rivaled Ryoga's.
Naruto stared, blinking occasionally. He was shaken out of his stupor by two simultaneous events. The Oiroke Bunshin tackling him and someone impacting the ground at really high speed right where he'd been standing. "Who..wha...dammit I'm confused!" the blonde boy wailed as the Bunshin walked over to the crater in the ground. By now Sakura's attention had been gained. Which was not good for Naruto. "Naruto! What the hell are you doing you idiot!" she yelled as she grabbed him by the collar. "The moron created a Kage Bunshin, then had it jump in that spring, why?" Kakashi explained as though Naruto did this sort of thing everyday, which he actually did. "Although, it didn't quite feel like a normal Kage Bunshin. Also, he had nothing to do with the flying object. Which I think is a girl and is coming out of the crater" the mirror ninja added.
Arashi groaned as she got up. 'At least it wasn't concrete' she thought as she pushed up and got to her feet. 'Nothings broken, no signs of a concussion... who's that?' crossed her mind as she noticed the pretty blonde at the edge of her impact crater. Studying her face, Arashi noticed six funny little marks, three to a cheek, looking for all the world like whiskers. "So, you gonna come outta there or you gonna stare all day?" she said, then jumped, as though surprised by her own voice. "Yeah, I'm comin', hold yer horses" Arashi said as she casually hopped out from the pit she'd created. Surveying the surroundings, she saw the following: one disinterested-looking boy with black hair and a dark blue shirt; a tall, silver-haired man with a facemask looking at her intently with his one visible eye; a pink-haired girl who was managing to look insanely pissed and totally confused at the same time; and a blonde boy who looked exactly like the blonde girl. Looking the group over, she kinda hung her head. "I'm Shiyuu Arashi, sorry 'bout this."
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About three hours later, almost everything was explained, excluding the mystery of the spring and her 'condition'. Sighing, she looked at Kakashi. "Hey, umm, could you get me a glass of warm water please?" she asked in a low voice. The mirror ninja smiled (a creepy sight with the mask) and vanished, appearing momentarily with the glass. "Thanks" she muttered as she looked at the group. Unable to think of anything to say, she upended the water on her head and became a he.
Naruto, Sakura and the Bunshin's jaws all hit the floor. Sasuke, maintaining more control over his emotions, widened his eyes considerably. Kakashi just raised an eyebrow. The petite, busty girl with auburn hair had just become a tall, leanly muscled guy with dark brown hair. Naruto did a perfect koi impression, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. Sakura blushed, then fainted, the Bunshin doing the same. Sasuke tried using the Sharingan to penetrate the illusion, while Kakashi nodded imperceptively to himself.
"I'd heard stories about a cursed spring, but didn't think they were true. How about that?" the jounin stated. "Which probably explains her" he added, gesturing to the unconcious blonde girl.
Another half hour of explanations later, mostly Kakashi explaining the Kage Bunshin and the mechanics of how the curse must have interacted with it (which left Naruto and Arashi very confused); the group's attention turned to said Bunshin. "Y'know, she actually looks older than me. What's up with that? Your girl-mode looks younger than you. I don't get it" Naruto blurted out. Sighing, Sasuke finally spoke up "That would be the influence of the Oiroke no Jutsu, stupid." "Huh?" "The Oiroke no Jutsu is your subconcious expression of how you percieve yourself were you female." "Huh?" "It's what you'd look like as a girl, idiot." "Oh... hey!" Arashi looked Sakura during the exchange. "Do they do this often?" "Yeah, and it's incredibly embarrassing" she said as she buried her face in her hands. The poor Bunshin girl looked lost and confused. "Umm, can I say something? It occured to me that I don't have a name, and dingbat here can't dispel me anymore because of the curse, so the name is kinda a necessity... y'know?" she said, looking at the others. "Haruko" Arashi said. "Appropriate. Considering the weather and all" Kakashi concurred. "Haruko" she repeated "Uzumaki Haruko. I like it. Thank you." This she followed with a beaming grin to the now lightly blushing Nerima martial artist. "Come on then, everybody. We need to get back to Konoha and sort this out" Kakashi said with a wink and a grin. Naruto just hung his head. "Tsunade baa-chan is gonna kill me..."
Notes
Oiroke no Jutsu - Sexy no Justu / Ninja Centerfold
Next Time On the Rising Storm
Tsunade doesn't kill Naruto!
Ara-chan and Haruko go shopping!
Sasuke's surly!
And we meet the next cast member!
The Rising Storm : Chapter 2 - Nerima with Ninjas
P.S. - R&R! Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!