Relic
By Oberon
Chapter 2: The Father
An old man looked to the sky for answers only to find the clouds turning dark, blocking the setting sun. The old man exhaled a puff of smoke from his pike, metaphorically allowing the apprehension to leave him. No good; the young around him did not realize it but just a few miles away the village ninja are fighting for their existence and existence of everyone in this village. He would have to worry for them. The old man, the former Sandaime of Konoha, knew things had not gone well, the great 9-tailed fox had engaged the final line of defenses between it and Konoha.
"Look, look! I made a castle." The children's voice called to the former Hokage in all their childhood bliss. The former Sandaime smiled at the future of Konoha, or as he like to call them, the King.
"Children, it's time to go home. A storm is coming."
Some several miles away from Konoha and the carnage in the forest, an old guy with long spiky-white hair had spend most of the afternoon peeping into a tiny hole in the side of a bath house. The old man had a grin on his face the whole time and for some reason no one had noticed him.
"Oh yeah, that's good. Hmmm… got to write that down, it'll be great for the next volume." The creepy man would often mutter these words, not too loudly of course. He didn't want to scare away the ladies in the bathhouse.
Then the sky rumbled and in a matter of a few minutes, the clouds darkened.
"Gota run girls, looks like it's going to rain," said a hot brunet with a puppy shaped birthmark in her inner thigh. I like it! That's so going into the next book, the man thought. It's so cute! The man smiled approvingly at the birthmark. The girl ran to the dressing area in a hurry and not too soon, the other girls followed suit.
The man outside sighed, "Just getting to the good part." A few minutes later he saw the girls in the bathhouse rush home before the storm hits. Oh the roof, the creepy man looked to the sky just as the first drop of rain hit his forehead followed by several feminine screams in the distance. "I wonder how Arashi is doing."
The storm finally hit Konoha with full force around midnight. A figure cloaked in shadows watched as ninja rushed to the Sandaime's door. A sudden flash of thunder revealed the figures eyes. In that instant, his eyes appeared in the storm as twin sinister orbs of varying shades of gray and black circles. The high collar of his black cloak hid the remainder of his face. The figure watched as the Konoha-nin bang on the Sandaime's door then an old man answered.
Despite the splashing rain and the rolling thunder, the man in the storm could make out what the ninja said to the old man. "The Yondaime had fallen… in this crisis the village council has reinstated your position as Hokage…"
"…Stay here," the old man ran back into his house only to reemerge a few minutes later in his black shinobi battle gear.
The shadowy figure watching from his place on the rooftops saw the old man and the ninja ran off into the distance. One second the cloaked figure stood in the storm, the next, he was gone in the microseconds that a bolt of lightning took to split a tree in the Sandaime's backyard.
Quench my thirst and I will answer all thy questions…
The faded words were barely legible under a heavy coat of black paint but the meaning was clear. The figure in the shadows dripped water all over the 3rd's carpet simply drained some of that rainwater from his cloak into a black dull-looking bowl on the Sandaime's desk. Both the Yondaime and the Sandaime thought themselves so cleaver hiding such valuable object in plane sight.
"I have quenched your thirst, now answer my question. How do I command the power of the Bijuus?" The man's voice sound distorted, almost if his words were coming through a radio.
At once a booming voice echoed off the very walls. "Fear. Fear of death."
The man weighted the answer in his mind. It made sense; even the great Bijuus could die. "Next question. Can the Bijuus really die by destroying the container?"
"The great beasts cannot die until that time when the gates are opened…"
Could it be? The image of a set of titanic iron gates flashed in the man's mind. It stood easily five stories tall.
"Tell me!" The crackled voice demanded with a mixture of both excitement and impatience. "What is the relationship between the Bijuus and the gate?" The figure asked, eager to know the answer.
"The nine great beasts are the nine keys to the gate. Sacrifice all nine beasts to the Gatekeeper and the gates will open."
"The Gatekeeper…" However, just before the figure could ask about the Gatekeeper he felt someone walking in the hallway.
The thunder outside rumbled once more as the storm gathered strength.
The door to the study creaked open.
"Sarutobi-sama, is that you?" When Sarutobi's longtime housekeeper entered the study, all she found was an opened window and rain blowing into the room.
And a voice whispered in the wind.
Ranma Saotome…
"Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!"
The dealer shouted one last time to make sure everyone had their bets on the table. He received a nod from the pit boss that signaled him to open the bamboo cup that he had kept his hand on.
"Even!"
Tsunade groaned and watched as the dealer whisked away more of her chips. She instinctively reached for her stash of chips but found that she went through them all. Tsunade searched the room, her eyes met with a trough looking man by the corner, just standing there and not gambling. She walked up to the man. "I need more money." She demanded with her outstretched hand.
The man frowned at the woman; he had already told her 20minutes ago the last loan would be the last. "Lady, I can't float you anymore dough. Pay back some of what you owe us and then we can talk."
"Now, now, Ichiru, an unlucky customer is a good customer."
The man, Ichiru the lone shark, looked nervously at the man standing behind Tsunade. "But boss, she's the Legendary…"
"Show some respect!" The other man shouted to Ichiru. "This is the Lady Tsunade." He glared at the lone shark then smiled as Tsunade turned to meet his eye. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Genma, the owner of this establishment."
Tsunade didn't care for the fat man in the clean suite. He looked entirely too greasy and that was just the few stray strand of hair still on his baldhead. "So, are you going to loan me more money or what?" Tsunade asked the casino owner.
The suite kept up his smile. "I have an even better idea."
"Oh?"
Genma reached into his suite and pulled out a sheet of paper on one hand and the other hand went to his pocket. "See this? This here is your debt to me…" His other hand fished out a single gold chip. "…And this is a ten-thousand-yen chip. I would like to make a little wager with you, Lady Tsunade. I'll give you this chip and you can use it to place one bet, and one bet only, on the next turn. If you win, you keep the winnings and I'll square your debt with me. But if you lose, you have to do me a little favor."
Tsunade smirked. "And just what kind of favor are we talking about?"
"Nothing much, all I want is for you to use your legendary healing skills on an associate of mine. He's my wife's brother you see. The fool got himself caught in the middle of a ninja battle and well… he might be an idiot but he's still family."
Tsunade didn't buy the man's explanation. It didn't bother her though. "Fine, give me the chip." They didn't call her the Legendary Sucker for nothing. Besides, she could just have Shizune heal the guy later.
"I would wish you good luck but it's my brother-in-law's life we're talking about here." Genma's grin came off as entirely too minor villainy.
Tsunade took back her place at the tatami mat then slapped down her chip. "EVEN!" She shouted.
The dealer opened the bamboo cup. One dice was on five, the other…
"ODD!"
Ganma smiled while getting between Tsunade and the door. "This way, Lady Tsunade."
Genma led Tsunade to the back of the casino where there was a hidden stairway going to the upper floors. They reached the third floor of the casino where Genma had two goons guarding the stairway. They went pass the guards and arrive at a heavyset steel door with various thick winter clothing hanging on racks around the area. Genma put on one of the heavy jackets. "I suggest you do the same," he zipped up and fluffed the collar up. "It could get cold in there."
Tsunade wondered what kind of injury a person might suffer to need a cold room. Genma pushed open the heavy steel doors and a blast of cold air blew across his face and Tsunade's hair. Tsunade followed the fat man in.
In the middle of the meat locker was a large block of ice. Most of the ice block's surface had been cover in frost but there was still enough transparency to see something in there. A shadow in the shape of a man.
"What's going on here?" Tsunade demanded.
Hot fog escaped Genma's mouth. "As you can see, it was no ordinary ninja that hurt my brother-in-law. I have hired medic-nin from all the major hidden villages, but none of them are able to safe him. They say if the ice melts then he's a goner for sure. The only thing I could do was to keep him in here. You are my lost hope, Lady Tsunade."
"He's still alive?" Tsunade gasped, even the sturdiest of ninja couldn't survive like this.
"See for yourself."
Tsunade placed her hand on the ice then immediately pulled back. The ice pulled at her chakra, trying to rip it from her from the point of contact. Tsunade did not move fast enough as she lost a good chunk of Chakra to the ice. Still, in that brief moment of contract, she could feel a strong life forced trapped inside. That's why this guy is still alive. The ice is somehow draining Chakra from all around to keep him going.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"I don't know exactly, my men found him like this and nearby were the body of two shinobi, one from Mizu and the other from Suna. Unfortunately, their villages came to collect their bodies. When I told them about my brother-in-law they didn't seemed to care what happened to him all that much."
Tsunade sighed. "I'm sorry, I can't help you. You might have better luck with someone from the Mizu though. This seems to be like one of their jutsu gone wrong. If you leave him to me he'll probably die."
To Tsunade's surprise the man suddenly knelt before her, his knees on the frozen and frost covered floor. "Please, Lady Tsunade. I have already tried the Mizu, even their medic-nin doesn't know what's happened to him. You have to help me, if you don't my wife would never let me touch her again!" Genma planted his hands on the floor like a crouching tiger.
Tsuande didn't know what to say. "I'm-I'm sorry… I just can't do this…." Tsunade bolted for the door. "I'm sorry…." She had to get out of here, that's all she knew. She doesn't know what she'll do if she failed to safe anther life, better not even to try.
Genma grabbed her by the ankle as she tried to run out. "I beg you, please, help him. He's not my brother-in-law, he's my son! I'm sorry I lied to you but I was worried you might drive a hard bargain."
Tsunade dragged the grieving man a few feet cross the ice then stopped. She looked down on him and saw tears frozen in his cheeks.
Tsunade closed her eyes and breathed the icy cold air deeply. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. But I can't promise he'll make it through this."
The graveling casino owner hugged Tsunade's long legs in gratitude. "Oh, thank you, thank you."
"It might make me a few weeks to figure out how to do this but meanwhile you'll pay for all my expanses." Tsuande grinned, Yosh, guilt free gambling! "…And I mean ALL my expanses." She especially stressed the 'all' part.
"Anything you want! Anything you want!"
Two months later, Tsunade left the boy to his father's care. Tsunade herself, walked away more shaken then before she came in. Despite everything she did, the boy lived. It was pure luck on Tsunade's part and a testament to the boy's will to live that he is still here and free of the ice. Tsunade had made mistakes that nearly killed the boy twice during the operation, mistakes that she rather soon forget. One thing for sure, Tsunade wouldn't try this again for a very longtime.
Genma watched over the boy as he slept and wondered where he came from. The boy dressed strangely, his top made from red silk was not something just regular people can afford. Silk was a highly prized commodity that only came from overseas trading. His pants were a very loose black material that he couldn't identify. A wonder Tsunade didn't asked too many questions.
The casino owner felt someone behind him, breathing over his neck.
"Good job Genma, I knew I came to right scum to pull off this little drama play."
The casino owner swallowed his nervousness. "Danzo, I hope you have my money ready."
End Chapter
Note: Genma was not acutally THE Genma. He is merely a reincarnated version that of Genma Saotome. He possess none of the skills of the original but does inherity some of his Ahum...interesting traits. No doubt, had Ranma actually died he might have been reincarnated as this Genma's son as well. The current Genma has no connection to Ranma, whatever connection they might have had ended in his previous life.Also, it should be obvious by now that the fortune-telling bowl is anything but honest