Lost in Infinity Chapter 3 : What is the Scroll of Seals?, a naruto fanfic

Lost in Infinity

A Ranma 1/2 - Naruto Crossover
Chapter 3 : What is the Scroll of Seals?

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

It was a clear morning, and the sky was blue. The temperature was moderate and humid, as expected of a dense jungle. Three figures were seen walking a seldom used path, towards a valley in the thick of this unknown jungle. Among the three, there were two adults, and a child, all three of whom were male. They walked silently, as they had done for nearly four hours now, yet only the man dressed in a Maoist uniform showed any signs of fatigue. The other man, bald and bespectacled as he was, and the child of no more than 5 years of age, had a light sheen of sweat, as if the journey was like a stroll in the park.

Finally, they exited the jungle, and came across a vast amount of pools of water. The pools numbered in thousands, as far as the eye could see. The Maoist man spoke first.

"Ah, we have arrived, honored sirs! This is famous training ground, the cursed valley of Jusenkyo!" he exclaimed in heavily accented Japanese, his voice carrying a certain pride in it.

"Don't look like much, Pops," the boy said, and he was right. Although the pools numbered vastly, they seemed to be nothing more than knee high in depth, and had bamboo poles that looked past rotten sticking out of them.

"Do you not feel it boy? There is a power here," the older of the two said, "and we will train and harness that energy!" he shouted, as he dropped his heavy pack on the ground, and straightened his gi, all in one motion. The next thing he did was to jump straight at one of the poles, and he landed with a grace that belied his rather heavy stock appearance.

The guide was a little nervous at this point, seeing his customer jump to the poles. "Sir, be careful, do not fall in the pools. Is very, very bad!" he shouted, hoping that he might not lose another potential customer. Why, oh why did they always want to jump around here. Didn't they read the guidebook mentioning the valley's characteristics?

The boy dropped his bag as well, and pulled at his pig-tail slightly. He then looked at his father with fierce determination as he spoke.

"Here I come, pops," he smirked, and he charged.

His father met him in the air, and they joined in battle. The exchange was brief though, and they parted to land on opposite facing poles.

The boy knew his father was going easy on him, and it irked him. But, as always, he smirked again, and charged forward, intent on pushing his father to open up his arsenal, as he always tried in their many fights.

The father analyzed his son's style and technique, and realized that he would have to up the notch. It was at this moment that he miscalculated the force behind his next strike, and kicked the boy a little too hard.

"Arghh!" the boy cried out, as his instincts kicked in. Though in pain, his body was trained to deal with certain things in certain ways, and to deal with falls, his father had drilled it into him to spin and flow with it, and try to land in a soft area while rolling to diffuse the momentum. His current trajectory could not be changed, and he knew that he was heading for a pool of water. In the split second before he hit the surface, he spun in the air, trying to avoid the water. But it was of no consequence as a loud splash was heard.

He opened his eyes beneath the water, and suddenly convulsed in pain, as his body felt like it was moving his parts left, right and center. He cried out, but only succeeded to drink some of the water rather than release his agony audibly. His gut was on fire, and there was nothing he could do. His view slowly faded to black, and to nothingness...

"ArrghhhhhhhhhH!"

Ranma awoke with a start as he screamed, and slowly his shallow breath became the only thing he heard, as he slowly calmed himself. His room door to his left creaked open, and light flooded in as best it could through the small opening.

"Are you okay Ranma?" Midori asked, her soothing voice doing wonders for Ranma's frazzled nerves.

"Yeah, I'm okay Mom. Just a bad dream. It's okay now," he said, not wanting to worry Midori too much.

"Okay, but if anything comes up, let me know, 'kay?" she asked him, though it was a rhetorical question. Ranma nodded to show his acceptance, and the door closed again. The pig-tailed ninja-in-training slowly gathered his thoughts.

'It's been a while since I've had that dream. Heck, it's been a while since I've dreamed of the old panda.' Ranma thought. He lay back on the bed, studying the star constellation maps he had on his ceiling. They glowed dimly, since it'd been a while since he last charged the chakra seals that made them do so. He smiled, as the stars always had a calming effect on him, much like his 'mother's' voice. Slowly, his eyes closed, and his mind faded into a dreamless sleep.

The crowing of a cock was heard, and despite himself, Ranma found his mind returning to the land of the living. He opened his eyes, and yawned loudly as he stretched. Despite the fact that his mind was still hazy, his body moved on autopilot, heading to the bathroom to wash up. He cleaned up, and finished with a splash of cold water on his face to finish the process. It cleared his head not because of the chill, but because of the ever familiar tingle that washed over his body as he changed to his cursed form.

She looked at her body as she recalled how long it had been since she had had it. The dream from earlier sparked a few memories, and from what she saw in the mirror, she had grown quite well. It seemed that the cursed form aged just as his original body did. Ranma smiled as she walked over to the dresser and picked out her favorite red and black shirt, followed by her usual pants that tapered at her ankles. Along went her standard ninja sandals in her hand, and then she was out the door.

Ranma found herself at the dining table, the call of her mother's food just too good to pass up. It was pancakes today, her favorite. Inoichi had already started to eat up and Midori was still making more pancakes, since she knew how much Ranma ate on an average. To Ranma, this was home. She had lived here ever since through some unknown forces she was cast into this world, and fortunately for her, she had found a home, and a family that cared for her as their own. Her introspect was broken by Inoichi's voice.

"So, today's the big day, isn't it, Ranma?" he said, with a smile, as he continued to eat.

"Yup, finally going to graduate from the academy. If anything, it's long overdue," Ranma said, with a confidence that seemed to border on arrogance. But of course, that was just the way Ranma was.

"Yes, with all the time you spend with Sandaime-sama, you're sure to pass the exam," Midori said, as she approached with more pancakes to satisfy Ranma's glut, "do us proud," she finished with a smile.

Ranma flashed back an equally glinting smile, and set back to work on the pancakes with reckless abandon.

"Thanks for the meal, Mom. I'll be back before you know it," she cried out, and left the house after picking up her ninja tool-bag. After she left, Midori turned to face Inoichi.

"Why exactly didn't Ranma try for the exams earlier, dear?" she asked the blond man. He hesitated for a moment, arranging his words.

"Well, when I met Hokage-sama the first time after Ranma signed up, he told me one thing. 'Let him enjoy his youth'. On that point, I agree with him. Ranma has the skills, but he still does not have the emotional strength to deal with the things a shinobi must deal with on the job." He sighed, as the memories of his own experiences assailed him. Inoichi was glad that time had dulled, if not fully healed most of the wounds. He gazed at her, and she reached her arms around him, as she understanding the wisdom behind Sarutobi's words.

Ranma reached the class early, and thus had a choice of where to sit. She caught a glimpse of blond hair, and made a bee line towards Naruto. Naruto happened to turn around, and called out when he saw Ranma.

"Hey! Hey! Ra- Ino, get over here. I saved a place for you!" he called out with his usual dose of loudness. Luckily he caught his slip, or it would've been a very sticky situation for both Ranma and him.

"Thanks. So, any idea who is going to be testing us today?"

"I heard that it'll be Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei, but I'm not sure," Naruto replied.

"Doesn't really matter, I guess. We're gonna pass for sure, nothing to worry," Ranma said, as she shifted to make herself comfortable.

They waited a few minutes, as the rest of the class started shuffling in. Among them, a pink haired girl and a black haired boy both made their way to where Naruto and Ranma were sitting, and made themselves comfortable as well.

"There's only one thing I can say about this," the black haired boy said, as he slid into his chair.

"Let me guess: "Finally", isn't it, Sasuke?" the pink haired girl said with a sarcastic smirk, confident that she had guessed right. Her reply came in the form of a not-overly exaggerated glare from the boy.

"One thing I can't wait for is this to be over! The Ramen stall is ca-a-a-lling m-e-e," Naruto said, in an annoying sing-song voice. He was met with the glare from Sakura, as well as two others. At the very least, he made a sheepish laugh to redirect their ire, as he scratched the back of his head.

"The Ramen shop is always calling you," Sasuke said, mirth in his voice. Naruto always had the ability to make stupid comments at any given time, defusing even the smallest amount of tension. Ranma and Sakura couldn't help but giggle at that remark.

"I wonder though. Why doesn't Ranma take the ninja test, or even join the academy? With all the taijutsu training we've done together, he'd definitely be able to pass, don't you think?" Sakura said, as Ranma started to sweat a little. She was glad her secret wasn't discovered yet, since there was no possibility she had left any incriminating evidence to her condition. The only other person who knew besides his parents and the Hokage would be Naruto, and she was quite sure he wouldn't have blabbed.

Before anyone could answer the question, an adult entered the room with a clipboard in his hand, and he started to write with a piece of chalk on the white board in the classroom. He was dressed in ninja attire, and had a forehead protector, as well as shoulder length hair. The class quietened down as he coughed into his hand to get their attention.

"Good morning class, as you already know, I'm Mizuki-sensei. Today, Iruka-sensei and I will be examining you on your basic ninja skills, and if you qualify to graduate from the academy. Your names will be called in alphabetical order according to your family name. When your name is called, come to classroom next door. That is all for now, thank you."

With that, he walked out the door, leaving the class to their own devices. The class came to a slight bustle, as the students started to claim space to practice their skills, as a final revision before the examination.

The thing about the final exams was that it was a very simple test. The exam topic was released to the students, albeit not directly, but rather through informants. This tested the students on basic reconnaissance, which was a very important thing for a shinobi. Of course, the students themselves were never aware of this, nor were they told about it. Thus, students who managed to garner the information were at an advantage, since they knew specifically which skill to practice.

Naruto, Ranma, Sasuke and Sakura were among the students who already knew what was to come, and thus decided to simply relax and hang out while waiting their turn. Sakura went first, followed by Sasuke. Naruto and Ranma had to wait for a quite a bit, since their surnames were right at the back of the list. Naruto went ahead shortly after, and on his way to the sequester for students who had completed the exam, flashed Ranma a vitory sign, along with a grin as wide as he had ever had. Ranma smiled back with a thumbs up.

Elsewhere, a boy with thick eyebrows and his bowl-cut haired master felt a chill run down their spines, causing both to topple from their upside down lotus meditation.

Ranma was finally called, and proceeded to the examination classroom. There, she saw, as advertised, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were both sitting at a pair of desks at the front of the class.

"Why don't you come to the front, and start off by showing us a henge?" Iruka said, motioning for Ranma to come closer.

Ranma nodded, and stepped up. She clasped her hands together in the basic seal for molding chakra. As her energy rose, she shouted in her mind "Henge!"

In a burst of white smoke, she transformed herself into the likeness of Iruka, and stood ready for appraisal.

"Very good, Ino," Iruka said, calling Ranma by a shortened version of his adopted name. "Let's carry on with the rest of the test," he said, and ran her through the drills and skills required of a ninja.

After the exam, Ranma headed for the sequester to meet up with her friends. When she got there, it was to no one's surprise that the resident endorphin junkie jumped her with a loud shout.

"INO, INO, I PASSED!" the whiskered boy shouted at Ranma while holding her shoulders, causing Ranma to wince. Her other friends showed her a sympathetic look, knowing full well what she was experiencing, having experienced it themselves. "Lets have RAA-MEEEN!" he continued to shout as he restarted his victory dance.

"Alright, alright!" Ranma growled loudly, "we'll have ramen."

In that split second, Naruto's eyes glistened, and his mouth opened into an even bigger smile than it was before, and with a loud cheer, he sprung out the door, running to the exit.

"I think we better keep an eye on him before he decides to get us involved in any stupidity without our knowing," Sasuke started, as he walked to the door, beckoning both Ranma and Sakura to follow. With a nod, Ranma and Sakura both followed suite, and they left the academy building in search of the famed Ichiraku ramen stall, for a celebration feast, at least, as long as Naruto didn't finish everything the stall had before they got there.

Mizuki watched the children file out from the classroom, with the number one troublemaker Uzumaki Naruto in the lead. He was sorely surprised by the blond boy's abilities during the exam. He knew the boy was a slacker, and was therefore quite shocked to see him pass with the flying colors that he did.

'Damn it, gotta revise the damned plan,' he thought to himself as he walked down the corridor. 'Why couldn't the fox brat just screw up like he usually did?'

He continued to scheme as he walked off into the shadows, planning his next move.

The four children sat at the ramen stall as they ate, some more excitedly than others. As expected, the loudmouth in orange was dominating the race to see who could stuff themselves full of ramen, but the surprise to most was the sight of a red haired girl very nearly matching him pace for pace. Each had at least 4 bowls stacked at their side as they continued in their flurried movements. Next to them, a pink haired girl and a black haired boy both sat calmly, ignoring the chaos taking place beside them. Finally, the two eating machines stopped with a loud sigh each.

"Alright, I win!" Naruto shouted out, stretching both his arms out with the victory sign. Ranma on the other hand, was a little subdued, going over the "fight", if one could call it that, to see where she had made her mistake.

"Don't sweat it, Ino. I had a secret weapon this time," Naruto said, his victorious achievement still showing on his face in the shape of a large smile. His eyes were pretty much invisible when he did this, if anyone didn't know any better, he looked just like a fox.

"What was it?" Ranma asked, curious as to what would have given Naruto such an edge. The boy had led the match right after from the start, surprisingly. Right till the end, he kept accelerating, till he was a full bowl ahead of Ranma, which was nothing short of a miracle.

"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday night," Naruto explained, "not even my cup ramen at home. I gotta tell you, it was killing yesterday, I could barely keep myself away from the cupboard, but I used that meditation discipline stuff that Iruka-sensei was talking about, and managed to sleep before the hunger took total control," he said, his cheery smile still pasted on his face.

The other three all deadpanned at this. A single thought crossed their minds in unison. 'Naruto staying away from ramen? It's going to flood in Konoha today'

At this point, Sakura noticed the time on the clock in front of the shop. "Ah, it's getting late. I've got to get home before my mom starts worrying. Shall we, Ino?" she asked, facing Ranma.

"Alright," Ranma replied. "Don't forget, we've got training tomorrow. Meet you guys at the usual spot. See ya."

Naruto suddenly called out, "Hey Ino, aren't you forgetting something?"

Ranma closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. "Damn, I was hoping you'd forget." She then pulled out her purse, and paid for both her and Naruto's meal. Naruto smiled widely, while Ranma shot him a glare. Seeing it wasn't affecting him, she gave up, and headed off with Sakura.

Ranma had just reached her home after parting ways with Sakura, and headed towards the solace of her room and attached bath for a touch of warm water. 'After all, there was nothing more refreshing that a nice little gender change,' he thought with a wry smile. However, something was a little off. He had felt a needling sensation, like the early warnings of a major headache, ever since they had arrived at the ramen stall. It just stayed there, at the back of his mind, till he reached home, and suddenly disappeared. Putting it off as exam stress, he chuckled slightly as he lay on his bed.

"Ranma, Naruto's here to see you," he heard his mother's voice call.

It was quite a surprise, since he left the blond boy and his other practice buddy barely an hour ago, and Sakura half an hour after that. What could the Uzumaki heir possibly want? Curious, he went down to meet him.

"Thanks mom, we'll just talk outside for a bit," Ranma said to Midori, as he ushered Naruto outside for a little privacy. "Whats up man? Miss me already?" he asked coyly, watching for the usual priceless look on Naruto's face. When it didn't come, he began to worry.

He didn't need to ask any further though, as Naruto begun to explain. "I got a note a while after you left. Take a look," as he handed the note to Ranma. Ranma then scanned the contents and let out a gasp of shock.

To the resident troublemaker,

I have your precious pink haired friend for company. If you would like her to stay comfortable, you will retrieve the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage's office, and deliver them to me in the forest north of the river's eye at 11 pm. If you tell anyone, then I definitely can't guarantee anything. Till then.

The letter was unsigned. But it was definitely trouble, regardless of who had sent it.

"Damn," Ranma spat, as he sat down on the steps in front of his house.

"I know," Naruto echoed, sighing anxiously, as he settled himself next to Ranma.

"This explains that damned feeling I was getting earlier," Ranma muttered, and then paused. "We have to see if it's true. We'll head to Sakura's place to check things out, and if it is true, then we better think up a plan."

"We should get Sasuke, that's a must. He'd be a big help, since we have good coordination," Naruto followed up, his ninja training kicking in, strategic planning and all. He might've been anxious, but he knew there was no way they could save Sakura unless they calmed down and made a well thought out plan.

"One thing we have to consider," said Ranma, "are we really going to try and steal that scroll from Sarutobi-sensei's office?"

It was closing in on the specified hour, and the Hokage's office found itself with three unexpected guests. The guests pretty much made themselves at home in the darkness, going through drawers and shelves. It was a small miracle that they managed to do what they were, without alerting the sentries, attributed mainly to the groups genjutsu user.

"Oi Sasuke, any luck over there?" one of the shadows called out.

A silhouette of a head popped up from behind a stack of papers, "If you'd stop asking me every 5 minutes, I might actually have some," the now unnoticeably black haired boy replied. He then returned to checking through the papers.

"If we can at least see what the scroll looks like, then we might be able to come up with a copy to fool our 'friend'," Ranma muttered as he moved across the shelves.

"But I thought we really were going to take the scroll with us?" Naruto asked, finding himself some what confused with the plan.

"If we take the scroll, then we can REALLY pin the bastard who took Sakura," Sasuke commented, the anger in his voice coming in tandem with his movements as he attacked the piles of scrolls on the table some what violently.

"Calm down man, we have more than enough trouble as it is without getting our asses handed to us by the jounin guard who are definitely going to pissed that we sneaked past them," Ranma said.

A pregnant silence filled the room for many minutes, as the three worked the room over. It was not to last however, and was broken with a cry of delight from the mouth of one soon to be dead blond. At least that was the image his partners held of him.

"I'VE FOUND IT! I'VE FOU-MMmmm!" Naruto shouted, only to have his air supply cut off by Sasuke.

"Shut up, teme!" he whispered angrily, as the alarms started blaring in the vicinity of the room.

"Let's get out of here!" Ranma told them, and grabbed the Scroll of Seals from Naruto and ushered them out through the secret entrance they used to enter. Within seconds there was no trace of them ever being in the room, and none but the Hokage himself would know what to look for, as he was among the rare few that knew of that entrance.

The stalker caught sight of his prey. The blond boy sure was easy to manipulate. Sure, it was hard getting the girl, she put up a tough fight. Never seemed to display that strength during class, but she had it, and he paid the price for his lack of foreknowing. He silently rubbed at his bruised right cheek. He had to hand it to her, she had one nasty left hook.

Back to the boy, he was sitting by himself in the middle of the clearing, just as instructed. It was almost too easy. The scroll was in the boy's hand, as he hugged it to himself. The poor fox brat must really be lonely to be finding himself so friendly with an inanimate scroll. He chuckled inwardly at his joke, and prepared to leap down and claim his prize and revenge.

Naruto sat in the clearing, acting out his part to the tee. He didn't need to use his eyes to know that his comrades were in their respective positions, Sasuke somewhere above him to the back, to ease his job of providing cover fire. Ranma was moving around the immediate vicinity of the meeting area, in his invisibility technique. It was the perfect technique for this situation, to find Sakura without alerting their aggressor.

Another thing in their favour was that since Naruto's loud shout had blown their cover while getting the scroll, a great many ninja were searching for the intruders. If everything went according to plan, they would have the bastard right where they wanted him. And so, he sat, as his critical role demanded, and waited.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the other end of the clearing. And it spoke.

"So you're good for something after all, eh brat?" the myterious figure boomed in a loud male voice. 'So it was a bastard, after all,' Naruto thought to himself as he tensed for the coming conflict.

The man wore a mask which hid his face, but his hair was long, most of it reaching his shoulder. "Hand over the scroll, boy!" he ordered.

Naruto tried to make out the features of the silhouette, in the hopes of figuring out the identity of the idiot who tried to hurt his friend. His above normal night vision came to the forefront, allowing him a better picture of the aggressor. He noted the hair, and the eyes. It looked so familiar that he screamed internally at the frustration of having the answer just at the corner of his mind. He failed to notice the other shinobi's look as his eyes glowed slightly as well as became slitted while he 'activated' his night vision. He was shaken from his thoughts as the masked shinobi cried out once more.

"Hand it over now, you brat!" he yelled, his patience drawing thin.

All of a sudden, a kunai cut through the air, landing in the exact mid point of the clearing between Naruto and the other ninja. Naruto was the first to notice the exploding tag hooked onto the kunai, and dove backwards into the bushes while shouting to Sasuke, leaving their enemy in the clearing stunned at the turn of events. The precious moments he spent standing there nearly cost him the fight. The tag ignited, and sheared off a pretty big amount of trees at the edges of the clearing. In retrospect, they would later realize that it would make it a good place to train.

The shock wave that coursed through the forest, followed by its sonic boom, was sure to have alerted the search parties that were hunting the unidentified intruders who broke into the Hokage's office. It would later be said that the explosion rocked the entire village, but such is the exaggeration that comes from rumours and gossip, as well as half truths and a very active imagination. But that is a story for another time.

The masked ninja was thrown back from the clearing, at least 15 feet, and was now the unmasked ninja, also known as Mizuki, a chuunin instructor from the ninja academy. Naruto's enhanced night vision told him at least this much, and he charged in with righteous fury, his version of reparation towards the crime of his former teacher. Sasuke was right on his tail as he engaged their senior ninja. By this time however, Mizuki had already shaken the cobwebs from his head, and stood his ground in a ready stance.

"Ourrya!" Naruto shouted as he drove his right fist towards Mizuki's face, his entire body airborne for a second. It took all that Mizuki had, but he blocked the fist, and tried to counter and trip Naruto with a kick to his just-about-to-land shin. Naruto knew what was about to happen, and tried his best to counter his forward momentum.

It was Sasuke who came to his rescue. The Uchiha heir had just a split second earlier thrown a single kunai with a wire towards the left side of Naruto's left foot. Using a shuriken, he adjusted the trajectory of the kunai just after it passed Naruto's foot, causing the wire to wrap around the blond boy's ankle. Then, he tugged as hard as he could, while jumping upwards, making Naruto look like an animal caught in a rope snare.

Missing his target, since it evacuated its position, Mizuki found himself unbalanced, as his foot kept on its war path, trying in vain to decimate a nonexistent target. Sasuke capitalized on this, and threw several shuriken with wires attached. It was the build up to a family favourite. Even before the shuriken contacted with the ground, surrounding Mizuki, he started to form the seals that he would require for the technique to successfully utilize his chakra and manifest the flames required.

In his mind, he said the words, almost as a reflex action.

"Katon. Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

The flames flew along the wire, heading towards its end. Mizuki noted the fire as soon as it escaped the Uchiha boy's mouth, as it lit up the surroundings. Immediately pulling out a kunai, he grasped for the wires, as he could not see the black wires among the black background that was the night time forest. As the flames drew closer, the wires shone, and in his desperation, he grabbed them, paying no heed to the fact that Sasuke had used a sharper, thinner variant of the one he used to snare Naruto earlier, as the wire lacerated his palm. He then worked his kunai, splitting the wire, and threw them aside.

But he was too late, as the flames had just gone past that point, and began to engulf him. He shrieked like a banshee, wailing to convey the pain that overwhelmed his body. He dropped and rolled to put out the flames, and was quite lucky, as the somewhat damp forest floor helped in his efforts. As he stood up seconds later, he scanned the tree tops for his two opponents, but saw no trace of them. He was a second too late, as he felt a sharp piercing pain at his left thigh. He looked behind to see Naruto standing there, still in the position of having thrown his kunai. He had a smirk on his face, which was the last thing Mizuki saw as he collapsed.

"Alright! Score one for Uzumaki!" he said as he panted away. Sasuke merely looked at him.

"You do realize that I saved your ass, don't you?" he asked, a smirk appearing on his face, knowing he had hit that one button that Naruto abhorred.

"You just had to ruin my moment of glory, didn't you, Sasuke-teme?"

"Oi, idiots. A little help would be appreciated here," a new voice entered the conversation, a little strained, "this girl's heavier than I thought."

"Hey, don't insult Sakura-chan," Naruto scolded Ranma. Ranma laughed at the boy, as he laid Sakura onto the forest floor. He then knelled down in front of her, and put both his hands against his chest in an 'X' formation, as he yelled "Kai!", pushing some of his energy into Sakura's unbalanced chakra flow.

The events that followed would forever be etched in Ranma's mind, as a valuable lesson in chakra control, as well as joke material for his closest friends. Sakura's eyes burst wide open and instinctively she pulled her hand into a sloppy, but powerful punch, that rocked Ranma's jaw as he fell flat on his behind. Sasuke and Naruto were also shocked at this turn of events. Sakura was the most confused, however, as she had absolutely no idea what was transpiring.

She shook her head, trying to relieve the herself of the slight dizziness, and beheld the sight before her.

"Where'd that rat go!" she shouted at her friends.

Naruto was the only one brave enough to face the girl's question, as both Ranma, who had just experienced her misplaced ire, and Sasuke, who knew Sakura well enough, decided to take a few steps back.

"What rat, Sakura-chan?"

"The one I was fighting with for my life!"

"Sakura-chan, you were trapped in a genjutsu. Ranma just freed you of it, but I think the cancellation technique had too much chakra in it." Every once in a while, Naruto rocked the foundations of the known universe by revealing some intelligence outside of the hallowed, but underrated field of academics known as ramen. "Genjustsu cancellation has to be smooth, so that the victim knows that they were in a genjutsu, and is able to relax once they are out."

"Okay, I think Sakura hit me harder than I thought. Only in my dreams is Naruto ever this smart," Ranma said to Sasuke, as the other boy laughed.

"Dammit, do you guys really think that all I do is eat ramen?" Naruto scolded his friends, but it only caused them to laugh louder.

Before anyone could make a reply, a total of six figures appeared at the edge of the clearing closest to the village. Under the moonlight, you could clearly see the white porcelain masks they wore shine. The front most figure made a gesture, and two of the followers made their way to Mizuki's body. The other four made their way to the children.

"Ah, I see we have found our thieves. Hokage-sama had a feeling it was you," the nameless leader said, as he spotted the Scroll of Seals, lying not too far from Ranma.

"We have a good reason for that, most of it having to do with that man," Sasuke replied coolly, pointing towards Mizuki's prone position.

"Yes, well, let's leave that to the Elders to decide. Follow me," he said, signaling his team to complete their task, as he, along with the four academy graduates, headed towards the crime scene they had left not too long ago.

A great many things were running through the minds of the four youngsters as they stood before the great Third Hokage of the Hidden Village of Leaf. It seemed that when he put his mind to it, the "professor" could be quite the menacing ninja, despite his age. And tonight, they were privy to see a side of him that very few saw, and many more hoped never to see. It was a terrifying affair.

At least, to three of the four attendees it was. Nothing seemed to faze the bright blond boy called Uzumaki Naruto.

"Oi Jiichan, everything's fine, right? We got the scroll, we got Sakura, that's all that counts, right?" he said brazenly. The others feared for their friend.

"Naruto, pipe down. If you don't stop now, you're going to get us all killed. Not like we care if you get killed, but..." Sakura whispered to the boy, mumbling off in the end, not wanting to direct the ire of the Hokage towards herself.

There was a brief silence before it was finally broken by Sarutobi himself.

"While everything turned out nicely in the end, what the four of you did today was very, very irresponsible. Many things could have gone wrong in the scenario, you could have been fighting a more powerful opponent, yes Naruto, more powerful people do exist, you know," he said in response to Naruto's eye roll.

"Let there not be a 'next time'. You are dismissed for now, but I expect a proper debriefing tomorrow, as a punishment for your irresponsibility. Be there at 6 AM sharp, or face D rank missions for an indefinite period of time which will be set later."

He smirked as a collective groan escaped the four adolescents before him, before they slowly filed out of the room.

"Ranma, please stay back, there is something I wish to discuss with you," Sarutobi said in a kinder voice than he had earlier, which seemed to perk not just Ranma's interest, but also the curiosity of his friends. They continued to shuffle out, but shot him a look that meant that he would be explaining himself later.

'Dammit, more work for me,' Ranma thought to himself with a smirk, knowing that his friends would want a debriefing of their own regarding whatever was to be discussed. As the massive wooden doors closed behind Sasuke, who was the last one out, Sarutobi motioned for Ranma to sit.

A/N: Okay, now I'm going to die. Apologies for the super late post, as I finally found the drive to finish this. I promise not to take as long with the next one since it's a cliff hanger, as I value my life. :P

Well, let me know if anything is screwy or comes to mind. By the way, if anyone has any theories on chakra/ki differences and stuff, related to both series' , please let me know as well, cause I'm confusing myself at the moment at times. It does have a little to do with the next chapter, and Ranma's future in the Narutoverse ;)