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 Two: Nerima With Ninjas
Approaching the gates of Konoha, Kakashi turned to the two girls, Arashi having had a run-in with a brief downpour. "Both of you, best behaviour. No crazy taijutsu, no mischief, got it?" the masked jounin said with a wink. The two girls turned and looked at each other, then nodded to Kakashi. He completely missed the grins they exchanged. Naruto didn't, and he wanted to be there for whatever they had in mind.
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About twenty minutes later, Kakashi's team was seated in the Hokage's office, while Arashi and Haruko sat in the waiting area, planning their fun carefully. After a few minutes, the auburn-haired girl realized something. "'scuse me, you got a bathroom 'round here? I need ta use the facilities, and I need a cup" she asked the bored looking chuunin guard. "First door on the right, and you can get a cup from the cooler next to it" he said with a sigh. As Arashi got up and headed down the hall, he muttered "How bothersome."
Haruko was nervous. She knew everything Naruto knew, except alot of it was fuzzy. Chinchila fuzzy. She knew the bored boy glancing at her occasionally was named Shikamaru, and that he was a genius, but not much beyond that. She knew that Tsunade was the Hokage's name, but could only picture long, blonde hair. Other names kept flashing in her head. Iruka, Gaara, Rock Lee, Neji. None of them meant much to her, because she had almost nothing to associate them with. The name Hyuuga Hinata was associated with some interesting imagery, and she made a note to herself to mercilessly taunt her younger 'brother' about this one. The name Ichiraku was associated with the scent of ramen, hunger and satifaction, and she reminded herself to stop there later. Zabuza invoked a cold sweat, Itachi a colder one still, and Orochimaru downright fear. Haku pity and sorrow, and Jiraiya annoyance. She shook her head as Arashi returned, warm water in hand. A moment later, they were escorted into the Hokage's office.
Tsunade looked them over. A blonde girl, looking exactly like Naruto's infamous Oiroke no Jutsu, except wearing a obviously too small set of Naruto's clothing. Also, she appeared to have improvised a haircut much like Sakura had, except that her's was long enough to be pulled into a shock-ponytail (think Kaolla Su from Love Hina). The other girl was slightly shorter, with a mess of auburn hair sitting atop her head. Her stormy grey eyes appeared to be appraising her, and the sleeveless tang she wore wasn't quite a snug fit, although her curvy figure was still visible. "So, you're both the result of a cursed spring, huh? Prove it" she stated, on no uncertain terms. Arashi shrugged, and dumped the warm water on her head, becoming male again. "Proved enough, ya old bat?" he said with a big smirk. Tsunade gaped. She'd never seen anything like that, ever. And completely missed the insult that was thrown at her.
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Naruto was turning an interesting shade of purple, he was laughing so hard. "Baa-chan's expression, priceless! Better than the first time she saw me use an Oiroke! Classic!" the fox-boy gasped. Haruko grinned. "That reminds me. Tell me something, lil bro. How'd you come up with the Hinata Oiroke? It's one of the memories that stuck" she said with a massive fox grin, both at Naruto's reaction to the 'lil bro' comment, and the way his face turned a deep crimson at the mention of the variant technique. "I...I...lookIpeekedinthegirlslockerroomthisonetimetryingtoseeSakuraandIsawHinatainsteadand...I..." he blurted out, then managed to become even brighter. "I...kinda...like her, okay? Yeesh" he said after an inhumanly deep breath in a futile attempt to shrug off the line of questioning. And put himself right into a deeper pot of boiling water as Hyuuga Neji had overheard the entire conversation.
(two minutes earlier) Neji was enjoying this quiet night. He knew that the peace wouldn't last long as Naruto's team had returned earlier in the day. Hearing said troublemaker's distinctive laughter, the Hyuuga genius decided to welcome back his friend. And stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the phrase 'Hinata Oiroke'. His rational mind stopped working at that point, although the rest of it continued recieving and processing the remainder of conversation. "...like her, okay? Yeesh" wafted around the corner as Neji's icy-cool grip on his emotions slipped.
(now) Arashi grinned as he watched Haruko torture poor Naruto, then stopped in his tracks. 'Huh. That's a pretty big chi-source around the corner. Definately emotion-based too. Probably rage... that can't be good' raced through his mind as he watched the Uzumaki siblings round the corner, then Naruto flew back as a boy with a long braid tackled him. The both of them popped up to their feet, and engaged in a flurry of taijutsu. Appraising them both, Arashi's fighter-mind took over. 'The both of them are around Shampoo or Akane's level of skill. In fact, this resembles one of theirs. And Naruto would be Akane' he thought as the two clashed, the dark-haired boy having the upper hand. Haruko, on the other hand, was watching the dark boy intently, a studious look on her face. "Neji, right?" she said.
The two of them stopped in mid-clash, both of them in rather uncomfortable stances. Neji had snapped out of it when the girl's voice allowed the rest of his brain to wake rational Neji up again, and the rest of what he'd heard fully went through. Turning to the girl, he blinked. It looked like a Oiroke no Jutsu, probably being used by a Kage Bunshin. Except it acted completely independant of Naruto. And was clothed. Activating his Byakugan, he tried to see into the illusion. And saw her naked instead.
Naruto was completely puzzled. He knew he hadn't hit Neji in the face at all, and yet he had a trickle of blood running from his nose. Finally noticing the Byakugan, and following his line of sight, the blonde ninja sighed. Thwapping Neji on the head brought the Hyuuga around. "Look, I'll explain everything. First, we go to Ichiraku for ramen. My treat" Naruto said as he turned to lead the way to the ramen stand. Arashi just shook his head. "It's freaking Nerima with ninjas" he said, then began to follow the others. Ramen sounded good.
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The next day, the three of them awoke. Naruto found himself sleeping on his own couch. Confused, his severely sleepy brain noticed the tall guy sleeping on the floor next to the couch, snoring loudly. And someone was singing in the shower. Someone female. After three or so minutes, Naruto's brain clicked. Sleeping guy - Arashi. Singing girl - Haruko. His new big sister. A grin began to form on Naruto's face. He had family, a sister. Someone who cared. The tears began to flow on their own. He didn't notice.
Arashi stretched as he woke up. The first thing he noticed was the sound of female singing. He could of sworn he knew the song, but the secondary sound of low chuckling overtook his sense of the music. Naruto was on the couch, quietly laughing with tears running down his cheeks. The displaced Nerima resident smiled.
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On a desert planet somewhere, a young boy awoke. His blonde hair hung over his green eyes, so he moved it. He didn't know anything, except that where ever he was, it wasn't right. Wasn't safe. Seeing something red nearby, he got to his feet and picked it up. It was a long red coat. Not understanding the signifigance of this coat, the boy shrugged his shoulders and put it on. Finding some funny-looking sunglasses in a pocket, he pushed back his hair and put on the shades. He'd need a haircut. Stepping into the blast-furnace heat of the twin suns at mid-day, he glanced around, then began heading for the nearest city. He didn't know how he knew, but it was there. Something... called to him. Something that was like an angel.
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Bwah hahahahah! Please review!
Next time on The Rising Storm
More Stuff Happens!
Menchi won't be appearing!
Vash might be!
And we leave Konoha!
The Rising Storm : Chapter 3 - Shadows of Twin Suns