Lost in Infinity

A Ranma 1/2 - Naruto Crossover
Chapter 1 : What is Konoha?

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, and Ranma belongs to Takahashi. So there.

Consciousness slowly trickled back into his mind, and he realised that he was lying face down on the floor. He also realised that there were quite a number of people around him, and although he didn't feel and killing intent or danger, he still felt very uneasy.

'Where the hell am I? What did the panda do this time?' were the first thoughts to grace his slowly awakening mind. His eyes groggily opened, just a little, before closing again, the light from outside the room he was in overpowering his senses. He heard a few voices speaking from just outside.

"I can't stand this waiting, this is my daughter's life we're talking about here!" shouted a male voice.

"Yamanaka-san, please try to be calm, we've already sent out our best Search and Rescue team to look for her. Until we hear from them there isn't much we can do," said another male voice calmly, trying to soothe the one known as Yamanaka.

"Alright, alright. Thank you very much Chikei-san. I'll wait downstairs, let me know when the boy wakes. He must know something, I pray that he can help us figure out what happened to Ino," Yamanaka said, as he sighed in defeat.

Ranma heard the footsteps recede, he processed the information he had just garnered from their short discussion, while noticing that there was a guard positioned at the door sill out of the room.

'Was it all a dream? The pain? The blackness?' he thought, as he carefully sat up so as to not make any noise. 'Is Pops going to come and get me, like he always does?' He began to worry. If it truly was a dream, and this was just another hare-brained scheme of his father's, it would all be fine in a few days, but if it wasn't, who knew where he was, or what would happen to him here. But the pain felt so real, and indeed his body felt its after-effects.

"I can't be sure of anything now. I need to find out what's going on," he whispered to no one in particular, as he steadied himself to his feet.

Ranma concentrated on his inner energy, just as his father had thought him, and allowed it to blanket him, and in an instant, he was invisible to the naked eye.

'Looks like the old man's lessons are finally paying off.' he thought, as he carefully walked out the room past the guard, and down the stairs. He figured this would be better, since the windows were not opened, and this would further confuse whoever these people are when they realized that he was gone.

As he walked in the corridor of the ground floor, he felt a few people in a room which he figured was the living room. He spied the man with blond hair, Yamanaka-san, sitting with a woman he guessed must be his wife. She was silently sobbing into the man's shoulder, and the scene tugged at his heart strings as he proceeded to walk to the door, and sneak out into the street.

'No use staying especially when I don't know what's going on,' he rationalized, more out of a veteran thief's instinct than anything else. A legacy of his and his father's lifestyle.

He was barely a few meters away from the house when he heard a loud shout "He's gone!" amidst some other loud but incomprehensible shouting. 'This does not look good' Ranma thought, as he broke into a run.

With his back turned to the house, he didn't notice the black figures that seemed to jump off in every direction from the house, at least half a dozen of them. Neither did he really notice the one that was following him discretely.

As he kept running, he finally reached a dead end of a road that met with the tree line of the forestry surrounding this unknown place.

'I'll have to wait it out here till they stop searching for me. Then I gotta start gatherin' information.' he thought to himself, as he absently scratched the top of his head.

He slowed to a jog, and kept moving till he reached a small clearing, that seemed to be an old camp site. Ranma decided to release the Umisenken technique. His father had only thought him the star-cloth technique, and refused to teach him the rest. Sometimes he wondered what went through his father's head. Why not just teach him the whole set and be done with it?

Of course, he knew that the only reason he was allowed to learn the star-cloth technique was to aid in some of their more illegitimate activities. He sighed, and sat down on a log that had been placed there, perhaps by the frequenters of this site.

He barely blinked when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to face his assailant. His eyes were wide as took in the details of his newest opponent. The person behind him was at least two and a half times his height, and had this scary and eerily shining set of teeth. He tried to leap back and very nearly did, except that another hand was felt on his other shoulder from behind once again, though this one felt softer to the touch.

'This is getting predictable,' he thought sarcastically, and he felt his hands being held behind him as he was dragged away like a sack of potatoes. 'Well, since they didn't get a fight, the least I can do is make this as difficult as possible for them,' he thought as he frowned. He suddenly felt a piece of cloth being stuffed in his mouth.

He crossed his eyes angrily, as he gave both his assailants an evil eye.

"Wow, Hyuuga-san, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that was definitely looked something like your Byakugan," said the weird one with the shiny-toothed smile. Though it might've sounded like a joke, the man (or so he thought it was a man) said it in such a way that made it seem that he actually believed what he said to be true.

"Very funny, Gai-san. Let's just get this mission over. Hokage-sama said he wanted to meet with the child. Surprising that he managed to evade his chuunin guards, ne?" said the woman (this one he was sure, her voice said it all) who seemed to be known as Hyuuga.

They walked off silently after that, with their squirming package being held by Gai. It was a very quiet and fast walk.

--

'What did I do in my past life to deserve this, I'll never know,' the old man with spiky hair sighed. In front of him was a small bundle with black hair tied in a pig-tail, and the bundle was currently mouthing off.

"What the hell is going on, old man? Let me go! The least you can do is untie me, you know! I didn't do anything wrong! I don't even..." and so it went, on and on.

The next thing the old man did came as a surprise to some, but not all of the other six figures standing opposite him, behind the boy.

TWOCK!

"What the hell was that for, old man!" Ranma screamed, as he tried to move his hands to comfort his poor head, in futility. He couldn't really move since his hands were tied behind his back, and he was forced to sit cross-legged.

Having recovered from his punching stance, the old man turned to Ranma again, and kneeled down, eye-to-eye with the boy tied up in front of him.

"Now that you've quietened down, perhaps you will enlighten us on a few matters, eh?" said the old man, "First let me introduce myself. I am the Hokage, and the place you are in is Konohagakure. Now, would you please introduce yourself, so that we may have the comfort in knowing the name of the reason we are all still awake at this ungodly hour?"

"Saotome Ranma," the pig-tailed boy said, somewhat begrudgingly, as he stilled and finally stopped moving.

"Ranma," the Hokage said, in a much more relaxed tone since his ears were not assaulted by the high decibels of noise pollution, "we have a problem right now. A child of one of my villagers is missing. And you were found at the scene. Can you tell us anything about how you came to get there?" he continued to ask calmly.

"Well, all I remember is I was asleep, then I was woken up as something, some kinda energy pulled at me, so hard, it was worse than trying to use Judo on my old man. Then, all of a sudden, everything was black. The next thing I know, I was here," Ranma explained. The old man here seemed sincere, and something compelled him to just tell him everything. Like the man could probably solve anything. But he knew better than to simply place his trust in people. He needed to gather some information of his own, to add to his limited knowledge of where he was and with whom he was speaking with.

The Hokage listened attentively. He pondered over this information quietly for a few moments. The six figures behind Ranma stood ramrod still, never once wavering. Ranma could feel them behind him, and it vexed him as to how they could just stand there for so long. Then, the Hokage raised his head to face the figures, and said to one of them, "Katsuhito, untie the boy."

"Hokage-sama..--" Katsuhito stammered, but was interrupted.

"Untie him. He is not a threat to our village. Let him free for now, we have all the answers he can give us," Sarutobi replied, and was silent as he now pondered what to do with the boy. "Have him taken to a holding room for now, I shall call for him later. Make sure he is comfortable."

Though he wavered before, he would not do so again. "At once, Hokage-sama." Katsuhito untied Ranma, and then led him out, along with another one of the six in the room, who had a head full of silver hair. Ranma couldn't make out much else due to the lighting conditions, and also the fact that this one was walking in front of him, so only his back faced Ranma. He unconsciously rubbed his hands where the rope had tried to cut into his skin as they continued along. The other four were left in the Hokage's chambers.

--

Dawn was slowly creeping across the sky, as three figures were walking in single-file, in the middle of the village, past shops and buildings. The middle one, who was the shortest, seemed very curious in his observation of the surroundings. They had traveled in silence, since Ranma had not asked any questions, neither had his 'honor guard' told him anything. The only thing he knew about his destination for the time being was that it was the same place he had 'escaped' from barely a few hours earlier. Though the place seemed nice, it wasn't what he needed right now; he needed to figure out exactly where he was, and how to get home. Being cooped in a house would not help in that respect.

Although he knew somehow that he could trust the Hokage, his survival instinct from living on the road with his father for as long as they had were nagging at the back of his head. 'Escape,' the voice said. 'Don't just let them drag you off,' it continued. Nag, nag, nag. Now, he couldn't help but agree. He couldn't just let himself get dragged off without knowing everything about the situation, now could he. Thus, he decided to get away the same way he did the last time, though he wasn't entirely sure how the found him then.

He raised his inner energy, and just in time to see his guards turn to look at him, he disappeared completely from sight. He took to the side of the road into an alley they had passed by earlier. 'They probably wouldn't recover for a little while,' he thought, and continued to maneuver the maze that was the back alleys of Konoha. What he failed to notice was the single red irised eye that watched his exact position while he escaped. Neither did he see the smirk on the face of the owner of the eye, who was one of his guards.

--

The pig-tailed youth yawned as he awoke, stretching his arms behind him as he tried to keep awake. The pig-tailed youth kept at a steady pace after escaping his guards, while taking short breaks to catch up on his sleep. He was after all only 6 years old, and there was only so much that his body could take. However, the hard gravel ground did not offer much comfort, and he began to wonder whether he would actually be able to escape this citadel, since he had yet to even find a wall or gate.

Still, he kept his pace as best he could. The last time he had slowed down was the time he got caught. He definitely learned from that experience, and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Thus, he kept running and running. His breath came out in a steady quick rhythm, and you could tell that his stamina was being slowly depleted. He knew he would have to rest soon. But he decided to just keep pushing, and wait till he found a relatively safe spot to rest and hide.

The labyrinth that was the alleyways of Konoha, which although seemed quite small, was in truth much larger than it seemed. But at last, instead of viewing row after row of shops out of each exit he had seen, he once again spied the luscious greenery that was a second home to him, regardless of where he was. He approached the screen of light from the exit, when he suddenly tripped over something.

With a loud thud, he found himself on the floor. 'What the heck did I crash into? Dad wouldn't be happy if he ever heard me ending up like this,' he thought, smirking at the thought that formed in his mind as he lifted himself up. He also realised that it would be wise to rest a bit, since he had pushed himself a little too far, and was a bit disappointed that he had not gauged himself properly, and that led to his loss in perception. Not good habits for a martial artist.

'What the-' was all that formed in Ranma's mind as he spotted the cause of his trip. A boy, no older than him, was huddled beside a small dumpster, which was why he did not see the boy before this. However, it was more the condition of the boy that startled him. His hair was disheveled, its original brightness overwhelmed by the dirt that made it a very dirty blond. He could not see the boy's face at first as it was hidden in the shadows and the boy seemed to be staring at the ground, but soon after the accident, the boy lifted his face find what had disturbed him.

Bloodshot blue eyes stared at cloudy blue-gray. Still sitting on the ground, Ranma could not help but be drawn into those eyes; they begged him to stay, for some reason. Begged him to accept. He saw fear as well. He could not tell exactly, but there was a fear in those eyes. They simply stared at each other for a while. Nothing was said, but there was some kind of exchange taking place. Ranma broke the pregnant silence with a step towards the boy, and held his hand out.

"Hi there. Sorry for runnin' over ya like that. You okay?" he asked.

The boy looked surprised at the gesture Ranma made, and seemed to be at a loss at what to do.

"I'm okay. Thanks for asking." he replied in a hoarse voice, indicating he hadn't spoken or drank anything in quite a while. "Why are you still here?" he continued, his eyes narrowing somewhat, the whisker like marks becoming ever prominent on his face.

To say Ranma was taken aback was an understatement. Sure, he had been chased around before; his father always said that such exercises were good training experiences. But to be asked such a question, not to mention the tone was ever more confusing. There was no hate, no malice behind in it. Only simple, curiosity.

"Er.. I just thought that I should see if you were okay. I mean, I've taken harder falls, but I ain't never met anyone that was as tough as me, so I don't know if you were alright or not," Ranma said, the bewildered expression still on his face. "I'm Ranma," he went on, "what's your name?"

There was a pause, and the boy opened his mouth, "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

A longer pause followed after that. Ranma could barely stand it, and it grated on his nerves. Still, he couldn't just leave the other boy. His eyes held so much pain, more than Ranma thought you could ever find in a single person. Sure, he had seen pain in other people's eyes before, but never so much. Thus, he did the only thing he could do.

"So... Naruto-kun...want to be friends?"

If Ranma thought that Naruto's eyes were bright, since the blue was a very stark color, it didn't compare to the brightness it now held. In fact, it seemed that his whole countenance was lifted upon hearing those words, no matter how half-hearted they sounded. Like his life depended on it. And the smile that followed was so wide that you could barely see his eyes.

Though he was confused, Naruto couldn't help but smile. "Sure," he said, the one word containing everything he wished to say, all his positive emotions.

With that, they walked off together, as Naruto chatted animatedly with his new-found friend. Ranma was taken aback, but happy to see the other boy actually smiling, the earlier frown that seemed like it was his actual face forgotten.

--

They spent most of the day being regular "pain-in-the-neck"-s, as Naruto introduced Ranma to his favourite past time; pulling pranks on everyone and their mother. From exchanging the Hokage's waiting room magazines with adult-rated material, to painting graffiti on dumpsters, to placing chalk dusters over door frames. By the time lunch had come and past, which they had shared at Ichiraku Ramen at the expense of Iruka's tab, of course, they finally settled down at the playground, just around the early evening when most other children came out to play.

It hadn't been long till his curse revealed itself to his new found friend. Being the water magnet that he was, it was definitely shocking that it didn't happen sooner than it did. However, the whiskered boy found it hilarious, while gross at the same time. "Must be pretty yucky to be a girl sometimes, ne?" he had said, and while Ranma had to agree, it didn't stop him from sending the blond boy a withering stare, which was promptly laughed off. But a certain gleam in Naruto's eye told Ranma to be wary. The pranks they pulled together only showed the proficiency of the Uzumaki boy in being a trickster, and he definitely would not want any of that coming his way. His train of thought was broken as the breeze picked up and sent some leaves at his face. Naruto laughed at the spectacle, before settling in.

Naruto instinctively headed for his favourite swing, which was basically a plank tied to a large tree branch. As he sat there, Ranma placed himself on the ground close to the swing. They sat there, contented with the havoc they had wracked upon the quiet village of Konoha. Naruto, because for the first time in his life, he had someone to share his pranks with, and Ranma, who found that spending time with Naruto was as much fun as the times he spent playing with Ucchan, and that in itself kept him from the heavy thoughts of his current displacement.

As they both sat there, slowly a number of children started heading towards the immediate vicinity of the playground, which was just opposite the Ninja Academy, as many of them had just finished with class for the day. Just as well, a number of parents appeared as well, some to take their children home, while others to socialize with others as their children played. As both adults and children alike, got closer to the playground, and into the direct line of sight of the lone tree swing, a great silence swept across the yard.

Though most were quite neutral looking, small sneers formed on the faces of some of the adults, as the children slowly, carefully backed up from the playground to the relative safety of their parents. Many harsh whispers were heard. "Monster," some said. "Evil," said others. Some even went as far as to say "..the doom of us all." Ranma watched curiously at the actions of the villagers, whom one would think would treat one of their own with as much caring as their own family. His thoughts ceased the moment he caught a glimpse of Naruto's face.

Ranma paid the parents and children no heed as they vacated the area, his thoughts were steered in another direction. Naruto's face was a weird amalgamation of emotions. Hate, anger, fear, and a great sadness all mingled into one very heavy feeling. The tears that streaked down his face simply could not convey the sheer intensity of what he was feeling. Ranma felt his heart wrenched at the sight.

It was at this moment, that he did the only thing he could think of in a situation like this. If there was one thing, and only one thing that Ranma remembered about his mother, it was that she could instantly heal any hurt or pain, with a simple hug. It was this image of her that kept the six-year-old going in his short but torturous time he spent training with his father. Remembering the relief that washed over him by such an act, and seeing his new friend in such a pained state, he literally jumped from where he was and consumed the blond boy in a tight hug, patting his back, telling him it was going to be okay.

As they stood there, he heard Naruto mumble, something along the lines of, "Why...why won't they just accept me...So alone...Just want to belong...," and after that, it just deteriorated. He continued to hold the blond boy till all he could hear was a very relaxed, and constant breathing. He slowly lay Naruto against the tree so that he was leaning against it on his back with his legs stretched out in front of his, as he sat cross-legged on his own.

Ranma contemplated Naruto's words. At the same time, remembering his mother brought the whole situation that he was in right to the forefront, forcing him to face his predicament. It finally dawned upon him that he was alone in this new world save for his friend, and there was a possibility that he would never see his family again. It was definitely past due for his father to collect him had it been one of the old man's hare-brained schemes. The tense atmosphere was still looming over him as he pondered this. Finally, he reached a conclusion.

"Looks like I'll have to go back to that Hokage person. He's the only one that might be able to help me. At least he seemed strong," he said, thinking aloud more than talking to anyone in particular. However, there was someone who did hear what he said.

"Well, well. Since you've come to a splendid decision, let's not waste anymore of this precious spring time, and see the Hokage, eh?" came a voice from the bushes.

Ranma immediately sat up, his eyes wide in surprise, as he took to a loose stance of Anything-Goes to defend himself against any possible threat.

A loud sigh came from the same direction. "Well Gai, since you already gave away our position, we might as well step out and explain the situation to the boy," said another voice, while its owner stepped out of the bushes, showing his masked face and bright gray hair.

Ranma maintained his position for a moment, then relaxed as he realised that these were some of the guards that he saw while he was at the Hokage's office the day before.

The other shinobi in a green uniform simply gave him a smile, which seemed quite genuine enough. "We're here to escort you to meet with the Hokage again, as he wishes to share some news with you."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, and these two were already presenting him with the best way out of this mess, Ranma decided to go with them without causing any problems again. "Sure, why not. Just one thing. What 'bout my friend?" he said, pointing to the sleeping Naruto by the tree.

"Don't worry about him, I'll take him to his quarters, you can just follow my eternal rival to meet with the Hokage," said the ninja known as Gai, as he reached forward to scoop Naruto into his arms, and proceeded to run off into the general direction of the housing area of Konoha.

The other one, an eternal rival of sorts, just smiled as his lone left eye crinkled into a thin upward curved line. "Shall we?" he asked, in a slight bow, gesturing in the direction of their eventual destination.

As the sun continued to descend into the hills, the two mismatched travelers walked off.

--

Both Ranma and his guard, who he had recently learned was called Kakashi, entered the Yamanaka household through the main entrance as soon as they reached it, both intent on finishing up with business as fast as possible. As they entered the living room, all three of its occupants looked in their direction, and they followed up with a soft greeting. Both Inoshi Yamanaka and his wife, Midori, looked on with slight curiosity, though the bulk of their emotional expenditure was due to the worry regarding their lost daughter. Kakashi gave a brief nod to the Hokage, and took his position beside him, as Ranma sat on one of the sofas.

"I'll try my best not to waste your time here, so I'll make this as brief as possible," said the Hokage, in his rough, nasal voice. "As you well know, Inoshi, I do have my best shinobi on this case, however, from what I've gathered from Ranma, her disappearance might be completely out of all our hands." His words struck deep into the hearts of its recipients. Ranma zoned out in his thoughts, and the Yamanaka's were both stunned and depressed by this news.

"Rest assured," he continued, "I will do everything I can to determine the cause of this happening, and if anything can be done, I will make sure it is," he assured them, as best he could.

A pregnant pause filled the air, and was broken by Inoshi. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I know that you will do your best. Perhaps, we can adjourn for now, my wife and I are very tired from this entire ordeal," he said, his eyes growing ever sadder, as he gazed into the black orbs of his wife which reflected the same.

"Of course. However, there is one other matter of business I would like to discuss with you and your wife, which cannot wait," Sarutobi said in a serious tone. He turned to face Ranma, who was sitting on his left, "Ranma-kun, I realize that you are just as lost as we are in this, and that you might be here for some time. To that end, you will definitely need a place to stay. However, we do not have any immediately available locations at this time," he said, as he turned once again to face Inoshi, "would it be okay if the boy was to stay at your house for a while, until we can sort things out?" he asked politely.

Inoshi took a moment to absorb the information placed before him, and took a look at the boy directly opposite him. For the first time since the day before, he got a real good glimpse at the child. He remembered the panic that he felt when he first looked into his daughter's room after hearing a loud thud, and finding this child instead of his own. But he couldn't fault the boy. The situation was out of his control as well. Inoshi sighed. It wouldn't do to punish the child for something that was not his fault. Lastly he faced his wife. It seemed that she too was coming to the same conclusion, and she gave him a look which said it all. He turned to face Sarutobi, and said, "It is alright with me, Hokage-sama. But is it alright with the boy?"

Sarutobi faced Ranma, and asked "Ranma-kun?"

In Ranma's head as well, a swirl of emotions flew past him. The pain that he felt after the incident with Naruto was still pulling at him, and the memories assailed him. He looked back at the Hokage, and answered with as much politeness as he could muster, "Thank you very much, Hokage-san. I accept."

Sarutobi smiled widely as he surveyed the people before him. His plan would be a success. "Since that's all settled, I'll be getting back to my office, since I have much work to take care of still. If any of you need anything, please stop by." He knew that Ranma and the Yamanaka's would need some time to warm up, and that their presence would only impede that. Thus, he then bid them farewell, and left with Kakashi.

--

Not long after, two figures were seen walking towards the Tower. It was the taller one of the two that broke the silence that permeated the ambiance.

"I see your plan went off without a hitch," Kakashi said, with a grin plastered on his face.

"Yes, it did, didn't it?" Sarutobi replied, while chuckling slightly. "They both need time to heal. And it seems that their wounds perfectly compliment each other."

"So, you think this is permanent, sensei?"

"I can't say for sure, but we didn't detect anything, which means that its not chakra based. And if it's not chakra based, then we have very little understanding or intel on the matter. But I did make a promise, and even if I can't find a solution, then I will do my best to smoothen the effects," he said, in a serious tone.

Kakashi couldn't help but nod, and he knew that the sincerity of the Hokage's words were genuine. "Then I will do all that I can to assist you, Hokage-sama," he said, adding emphasis to Sarutobi's title.

"I could not ask for any more, Kakashi. Thank you."

They continued to walk, allowing the silence to find its equilibrium once more.

A/N: This is rewrite of the first chapter, with a lot of things fixed. I rewrote this chapter after reading a review that made much sense, by Hibiki54, and while I did explain that I expected Ranma to be smarter than your average 6 year old, I concede that Ranma was too smart. Thus, I wrote it to make his responses and thought patterns less mature, but keep in line with the storyline. Please let me know how it feels, and if you note anything wrong or screwy. Thanks ;)

Lastly, I may reedit this one last time later on for adding in things like bold and italics, cause I'm posting this up around 2am in the morning.