Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ranma ½. I do have a few of my own characters in here though, so I would appreciate it if you asked before using them.
Notes
This was originally done for NanoWrimo in 2007. With this story I made the word count!
Characters form Ranma ½ and Naruto may be out of character
While in the Neko-ken, characters roll their rs (I am not going to spell it that way, since it is to hard to write/read that way)
"Hi" Speaking
'Hi' Thinking
Ceridwen Kalamack – Thanks for that info. I was taking a shot in the dark there. I have used your suggestion and fixed the previous chapters.
Painful Pasts and New Beginnings
By: Shlandria
Chapter 12
When morning came, Ryu was up bright and early despite how late he had been up the night before; some habits are hard to break. The first thing he did was to check in on his little brother, seeing him still asleep, Ryu inspected the whole lair, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be and noting he would need to do some light cleaning later in the day. He also noted the scents of some of his friends and smiled.
After that, he headed outside and did a quick patrol of his territory. Satisfied he went back home and got cleaned up and ready for the day. Then, he made some breakfast for himself and his otouto. Once breakfast was made, he decided it was time to wake Naruto up, knowing he would have classes that day and did not want him to be any later than possible, seeing as he would probably be a bit late as it was. 'I should have woken him up earlier, but he looked like he needed some sleep.' Ryu thought to himself.
"Time to get up chibi kit. Unless you want your food to get cold!" Ryu called as he walked into Naruto's room, pulling the covers off of the younger boy. "Up, come on chibi kit!" He said. Naruto opened his eyes and yawned. "Do I have to aniki?" he asked. "Yep, you have classes today and you're already going to be a bit late. Get cleaned up and dressed, I have breakfast ready. Once you eat, I'll see you off to class." Ryu said leaving Naruto's room and heading into his room to get a few things.
It only took Naruto a few minuets to get ready, and when he left his room, his brother was not there. Seeing as he had no idea where he needed to go, he went to the room Ryu had claimed to be his last night, hoping his aniki was in there. He was happy his guess had worked when he saw Ryu in there. "Um, aniki, I'm ready now." Naruto told him. "Great! Let's go eat breakfast then." Ryu said leaving his room. "Follow me chibi kit, we'll eat in the kitchen." Ryu said easily navigating through the lair, Naruto following closely behind, not sure he would ever be able to find his way around by himself. 'Aniki's place is confusing.' Naruto thought.
He didn't have time to get a good look around though, not even in the kitchen, Ryu had him eat quickly, reminding him he was already late for class. Once they were done eating, Naruto followed his aniki through the place and then outside, though he didn't recognize the place. "Aniki, is this where we came in last night? It looks different." He said confused. "Of course it would look different otouto. The lighting would be different. But to answer your question, no this isn't the same place. This is a different entrance to the lair." Ryu answered.
"Follow me little brother, and I'll lead you straight to the academy and explain to your teacher why you're late. I'll also be there when your classes are over so I can lead you back to the lair." Ryu said. "Lair aniki? I thought that was your house." Naruto said confused. "The lair is our home Naruto, it's like a house, but it's our lair. I'll explain it better when I give you the grand tour later." Ryu said. "Oh, ok aniki." Naruto said.
Naruto had to follow Ryu through the forest until they made it to the edge of the village. Then he had to follow his big brother across the rooftops. They got stopped once by some ANBU, but Ryu explained that Naruto was late for school and so the ANBU let them go. After that no one else stopped them. Upon reaching the academy, Ryu followed Naruto to his class room. "Naruto, you're late, again." Iruka sensei said upon seeing the boy entering the room. "I am sorry Iruka sensei, it won't happen again." Naruto said with his trademark smile.
"He is right, it won't happen again." Ryu said with a slight frown at his brother, upon hearing what the teacher had said. "Are you his teacher then?" Ryu said turning to Iruka. "Yes, and you are?" Iruka replied. "My name is Ryu Mouko. May I speak to you a moment please?" Ryu said. "Of course, Class listen to Mizuki sensei, I'll be right back." Iruka said walking out of the classroom and closing the door.
"What can I do for you Mouko san?" Iruka asked. "Call me Ryu please Iruka san." Ryu said. "I wanted to let you know that it wasn't Naruto's fault he was late today, it was mine." Ryu told him. "Naruto is quite capable of getting here on his own; I don't see how it could have been your fault Ryu san." Iruka replied a bit curiously. "That's simple, he didn't know his way here from home, and therefore I had to bring him. That, and I let him sleep in a little bit, he had a long night." Ryu explained.
"Do you mean Naruto moved then?" Iruka asked. "Yes, I'm sorry; I seem to have confused you a bit. I adopted Naruto into my clan last night; I'm now his big brother, and his legal guardian. I then moved him into my home last night. We live on the outskirts of the village and it was dark out by the time we got there, so there was no way for him to get his bearings. I'll be here to pick him up when classes are over later today.
If you need to get a hold of me, try asking Hokage sama." Ryu explained. "I see, so he has a new last name then?" Iruka asked. "Yes he is now Naruto Mouko. Can you do me a favor?" "I see, what type of favor Ryu san?" Iruka said. "I forgot to pack him a lunch, could you give him this?" Ryu said handing some money to Iruka. "Sure, I need to get back to my class, however I would like to talk to you later if that's ok." Iruka said. "Of course, until then." Ryu said and then left.
Iruka went back inside the classroom, to see Mizuki trying to get the class in order and hearing Naruto loudly proclaim he now had a brother. Before things could escalate, he called everyone to order and started class.
Ryu went to check in with the Hokage, then the girl he had brought in. He then went to town to get a few things. Once his shopping was completed, he went home and put his things away, he then began cleaning. By the time the lair was clean and he was presentable again, it was time to go get Naruto from the academy.
When everyone was let out of class they saw the stranger that had brought Naruto in that morning, standing outside. When Naruto went racing by, hoping to get past his aniki, well, more like forgetting he was to be picked up, and with ramen on his mind, he was abruptly stopped by the stranger. All Naruto knew was that he had been practically running and the next thing he knew was that he was hanging mid air. All the students saw was Naruto practically running one minute, and the next the stranger had him by the collar of his shirt, holding him up in the air.
"And where do you think you're going?" Ryu asked in a stern voice, not happy his little brother had been about to take off when he knew his big brother would be coming for him. "Um, to get some ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.
All Ryu did was raise an eyebrow at him and say "And who exactly told you, you could do so?" Ryu asked sternly. "I always go get ramen after class." Naruto said upset he was being kept from his beloved ramen.
"Naruto, you knew I was coming to get you to take you home and all you can think about is ramen?" Ryu asked. "But it's Ichiraku's!" Naruto protested. "No. Now come on, I need to speak with your teacher." Ryu said. "But, I wanted some ramen. I know, you talk to Iruka sensei and then you can meet me at Ichiraku's!" Naruto said trying in vain to get away.
"No, and now you will get no ramen for a week,understand?" Ryu said in a stern voice, and when it looked like Naruto was going to protest he said "Any complaints and it will be two weeks." Naruto hung his head and said a bit meekly "Yes aniki." "Good, now are you going to behave if I put you down?" Ryu said. "Yes" Naruto replied seeing a chance to escape. "Good." Ryu said and put him down.
As soon as his feet hit the ground Naruto tried to make a break for it, unfortunately for him, Ryu saw this coming and grabbed him again before he got very far. "Naruto…" he growled out obviously angry. "Yes aniki?" Naruto started. Before he could try to get out of his predicament however, he saw a slightly evil smirk on his aniki's face. "You will now go two weeks straight without ramen." To anyone else this would not be a punishment, for Naruto however, it was torture. He was afraid to push his brother further though and so he said "Yes aniki" sadly, while his class mates snickered, knowing of his love for ramen.
Ryu then proceded to carry an unhappy Naruto into the academy, by the collar of his shirt. Once inside he went straight to the class room he had followed Naruto to earlier and walked in. "Hello Iruka san." Ryu said putting Naruto's feet on the ground and bowing slightly while still holding onto Naruto's collar to prevent the boy from escaping. "Hello Ryu san, I see you brought Naruto back with you." Iruka stated. Naruto just stood there unhappily.
"Yes, and he is going to stand still and behave while we talk, right Naruto?" Ryu said giving a slight, silent growl to the boy. "Yes aniki." Naruto replied, his big brother was mad at him and he didnot want to loose out on any more ramen than he already was. "You wished to talk to me Iruka san?" Ryu said in curiosity.
'Wow, Naruto is behaving? That's defiantly new.' Iruka thought. "Yes, since you're Naruto's guardian now, I thought you'd like to know how he's doing grade wise." Iruka said. On his lunch he had contacted the Hokage and had Ryu's story confirmed. "Yes, that would be nice; I'd also like to know how often he's late to class." Ryu said.
"Academically he is the dead last in his class; he's late to class too often and has tried to skip class as well on several occasions. I know he can improve, but he doesn't seem to care." Iruka said a bit sadly. "I see, I'll see what I can do to get him motivated." Ryu said. "Thank you, may I ask how you managed to get him to behave?" Iruka asked Ryu in curiosity.
At this Ryu gave a small smirk and said "He's being punished. He tried to take off after class, knowing I was coming for him, just so he could eat some ramen. He's now forbidden from eating the stuff for two weeks straight." "I see, for him that's a good punishment." Iruka said with a slight chuckle. "If he misbehaves in class again, let me know, and I'd appreciate updates on his performance in class." Ryu told Iruka. "Of course Ryu san." Iruka replied.
They then said their good byes and Ryu and Naruto left the academy. "Come on Naruto, we need to do some shopping, get the rest of your stuff, and then we're going home." Ryu stated, heading towards town. All Naruto could do was follow his big brother. Naruto knew the villagers did not like him, but his aniki seemed clueless, or so he thought up until he heard his brother growl at a villager who had said something mean about him. "Leave my otouto alone." Ryu had said in a menacing voice. The villager gulped and walked away. This made Naruto feel better.
All they really had to do was get Naruto some clothing, a few empty scrolls and some books. The first stop was the book store for the scrolls and books, which was easy enough. Then they headed to get Naruto clothing, which turned into a bit of a problem.
When they got to the store, the owner refused to serve them, at least until Ryu suggested they go see the Hokage. Then when Naruto found out they were there to get him some clothing, he began to protest. Ryu had to growl at him and threaten to keep him from eating ramen for another two weeks. That got Naruto to stop complaining and do as his aniki said. While they were there, Ryu got a few things for himself as well. After that they headed back home.
When they got to the forest at the edge of the village, they stopped. "Alright otouto, it's time for your lessons to start." Ryu said. "Lessons aniki? What do you mean, classes are over for today." Naruto said confused. Ryu just grinned and said, "Unless you know where to look and how to look, you will never find the lair. You could literally be on top of it and not know. This is good for us, as no one, but those allowed in the lair, will be able to find it. Since it's your home now, you'll have to learn how to find your way there.
Now, the lair is our home, and like any respectable lair, it has more than one entrance, all hidden. For now, I'll teach you how to find the main entrance, once you can do so without difficulty, I'll teach you how to find the others, one at a time. I'll also teach you where my territory begins and ends, as you will be safest within my territory." Ryu explained. Naruto was very confused. Ryu saw this however and began to explain a bit more.
"Naruto animals, especially wild ones have lairs not houses. Their lair is their home, understand?" Naruto nodded, so he continued. "They also have territories, still with me?" again Naruto nodded. "Good, do you remember what I looked like last night when I found you in that cave?" Ryu prodded. "Yes, you had cat ears and a cat tail, I thought that was a Henge no Jutsu." Naruto said.
"That was no jutsu chibi kit, those were real. I'm what's known as a neko warrior. That means I'm part cat. I even think a bit like one, and I'm no house cat otouto, I'm a wild cat, a Tiger." Ryu explained. "Now pay attention to your surroundings, and follow me." Ryu said walking into the forest. "Ok, aniki." Naruto said following him and doing as he was told.
Naruto tried really hard to memorize where they were going, but it was very hard. To him all of the trees looked the same. After a while, they stopped. "Um, aniki? I think I'm lost." Naruto said with a sheepish grin. "That's ok, otouto. I didn't expect you to get it right the first time." Ryu replied.
"This is the very edge of my territory. See that tree there, and that one there?" Ryu said pointing to a strange tree to the right and another one to the left. "Yes big brother." Naruto said. "Good, I want you to memorize them, they are good landmarks." Ryu told him.
"Now hand me your things and I will teach you how to find my territory." Ryu said taking some things from Naruto. "You already found my territory the easiest way last night when you found that cave." Ryu told Naruto "You did that by instinct. You didn't think, you followed your instincts and trusted them to take you somewhere safe. The fact that you found my territory by instinct is very good. It means if you are ever in trouble, you will be able to find your way here and to safety.
However, you will need to be able to find your way here every day, which means I'll have to teach you to actively search it out." Ryu lectured. "Why can't I just follow you aniki?" Naruto asked. "Because, chibi kit, there will be days I will not be here to help you, and every member of my Pride must be able to find the lair, and to find the lair, you must be able to find my territory." Ryu explained.
"Pride aniki? I don't understand." Naruto said. "The Pride isfamily otouto. Not by blood, but by choice, my choice.Jiji, and You, chibi kit, are part of the Pride. There are a few others as well, but you'll meet them later. I have a saying that the others have adopted that describes us rather well. It is "Blood is strong, but family is stronger."
It means that though we may have family related to us by blood, and that is a strong bond, we are family. We chose each other, our bond is stronger. When you are in trouble or are threatened, your family by blood may choose to ignore that. However, when one of us is in trouble, the others react. If one of us is threatened, the whole Pride is threatened and takes offence. That's one of the reasons I acted so violently when you were threatened last night." Ryu explained. "I'll explain further and answer your questions about the Pride later though.
Right now, you need to learn how to identify my territory." He told Naruto. "How aniki?" Naruto asked. "By scent, chibi kit, now I want you to sit down, close your eyes and clear your mind. Once you've done that, I want you to tell me what you smell." Ryu instructed. "I smell trees, the grass and the dirt aniki." Naruto said. "Very good otouto, what else?" Ryu asked. "Nothing aniki." Naruto said a bit frustrated.
"Try memorizing the scents you know, then filing them away until you find a new one." Ryu suggested. "Ok, aniki. I'll try." Naruto said closing his eyes again. "I smell trees…, grass…, dirt…, I smell…you?" Naruto said confused. "Wait how did I know it was you?" Naruto asked in confusion. "That's because of instinct otouto. You got my scent one of the times I hugged you or held you, and you instinctively filed it away as my scent." Ryu explained. "Oh, ok." Naruto said accepting his brother's explanation.
"Close your eyes again and find my scent otouto. I want you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you smell it." Ryu said. "Ok aniki. Let's see…I…feel safe." Naruto said. "Good, I already knew that, but I still needed you to say it. Now that you know my scent and know it makes you feel safe, I want you to use that to find my territory." Ryu told Naruto. It took a couple of minutes, but Naruto finally thought he had it. "Ok aniki, I have it now." He told Ryu. "Good, what does it smell like?" Ryu questioned. "Um, sort of like you, but different. It smells safe too." Naruto said to his aniki.
"Very good chibi kit. Now, I want you to memorize that scent. When you are sure you have it, let me know." Ryu told Naruto. "Ok big brother." Naruto said, doing as he was instructed. A couple of minutes later, he said "Ok aniki, I have it memorized now." "Very good otouto, I will test how well you have it memorized tomorrow. Now however, it is time to go home, so follow me.
It didn't take them long to get back to the lair, and when they did, another lesson began for Naruto. "Ok otouto, now use what I taught you so far and see if you can find the entrance to the lair." Ryu said. "Um, ok aniki, I'll try." Naruto replied, however he couldn't find it, and got very frustrated. "It's ok otouto, I didn't expect you to get it the first time, calm down. You'll get it in time." Ryu said chuckling a bit. "Come on, follow me, it'll be dinner time soon and we still need to put your stuff in your room. I also need to show you where everything is." Ryu said leading the way into the lair.
Once inside, they headed to Naruto's room and dropped his stuff off there. They then went to Ryu's room to drop off his stuff. While they were doing this Ryu decided to lay down a few ground rules. "Otouto, there are a few rules you will have to follow.
The first is that if you make a mess, you will be expected to clean it up.
The second is that your room is yours. Just as any Pride member's room is theirs. You are responsible for it and no one will go in there without permission, except me, and I will usually knock first. This means if it's a mess that's fine, as long as it doesn't get too bad. That goes for every one else's room as well. If you need me however, you are allowed in my room.
The third is that no one, friends or not, are permitted inside the lair let alone my territory, without permission. So if you want to invite someone over, ask me first.
The fourth is, you will have chores to do, and they may change from day to day.
The fifth is, you are to get cleaned up before every meal.
And the last important rule is that you will be getting lessons from myself or another Pride member every morning and every evening starting tomorrow." Ryu said listing the rules.
"Ok aniki." Naruto said. "Good now how about I show you where everything is, or would you rather just explore while I get dinner started?" Ryu asked his otouto. "Um, I think I'll explore a bit." Naruto said. "Ok otouto, once dinner's ready I'll come get you, so don't worry about getting lost." Ryu said leaving Naruto to his own devices and heading to the kitchen to get dinner ready.
After Ryu left, Naruto closed the door to his room and began exploring his new home. He decided to start by trying to find the way they had come in. That didn't work out so well, he got lost instead. However, he did get to see at least most of the lair.
He found seven more bedrooms, complete with their own bathrooms like his and his aniki's. He also found two separate bathrooms, the living room, an office, a dojo, and a den. He found some closets, some locked doors, and a few different ways outside as well. Did I mention all of the dead ends he found?
He had found the dining room and kitchen early on and had given his aniki a quick hello before resuming his exploration. 'This place is huge! I wonder why aniki needs so many rooms…and what's with all of the dead ends?! I guess I'll have to ask aniki later.' Naruto thought to himself.
While he was exploring his new home, he realized the place seemed to be made of rock and wood, but built strangely, where the wood and stone met, it was seamless. He also noticed that the floors seemed to be covered by what looked like grass and leaves in some places and fur rugs in others. Sometimes this carried into a room or more, other rooms had regular rugs, except the dojo, which had a wood floor. Currently, he was very hungry and very lost, which made him very frustrated. "Dang it! Why does this place have to be so confusing?!" Naruto yelled in frustration.
Ryu had finished dinner and noticed Naruto wasn't there. "It looks like otouto is lost; I guess I'll have to go find him then." He thought chuckling as he left the kitchen. It didn't take him long to find Naruto at one of the dead ends, yelling about being lost. "That's so any intruders will get lost, and keep us safe otouto. I'll explain better after dinner. The kitchen is this way." Ryu said chuckling and walking off. Naruto took off after him, not wanting to be lost anymore.
On the way to the kitchen, Ryu decided to quiz Naruto about the lair to see where all he had ended up. "Ok little brother, you may not know your way around here yet, but I would like to know where you ended up while you were exploring." Ryu said.
"Um, besides the kitchen and dining room, I found seven more bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a living room, two separate bathrooms, an office, a dojo, and a den. I also found a few different ways outside and none of them were the one we used to come in. Did I mention all the dead ends?! This place is so confusing aniki. Why is it built like that, and how is it built? It's different than any place I've ever seen." Naruto replied.
I'll explain how and why the lair is built after dinner; however I'm very proud of you. You managed to find most of the lair. Just remember, any room that belongs to someone is off limits unless you have permission from them." Ryu told his otouto, who just grinned at the praise.
After dinner, Ryu lead Naruto to the living room and sprawled out on the couch. "Make yourself comfortable otouto, and I'll explain why the lair is the way it is." He said. Naruto did just that and laid down on his stomach on the loveseat, facing his big brother.
"First, you must remember that the lair is just that a lair, not a house, no matter how much it may resemble one. Think of it like an animal's lair, because that is essentially what it is. Like an animal's lair, there are twists and turns, dead ends and many entrances and exits. This is for the safety of the Pride. Should an intruder get in here, we have many ways to escape quickly and safely. It's built to confuse them, and if there's more than one of them, split them up. This way we can take care of them one at a time.
As for how it's built, it's actually a cave system I found when I was younger. I just expanded it and went from the caves, which is the rock you saw, and carved directly into some of the huge trees in the forest.
I hollowed out whole trees in some places and only parts of trees in other places, this would be the wood you saw. We even use the massive root systems of the trees as our pipes, for water and such.
For that we got the help of the Aburame clan and their bugs. They had their bugs hollow out the roots and line them with a special substance so they could be used effectively, and before you ask the trees are very much alive, and will stay that way.
Now, did you notice the floors while you were exploring and how they look like they are covered in grass and leaves in some places?" Ryu said, at a nod from his little brother, he continued. "Good, the floors that look like that are covered by a special type of plant that can only be found here in the lair.
It's actually a hybrid of different plants that was created just for this purpose by my niisan. There are also other rare plants, mostly hybrids that can only be found in and around the lair. My niisan loved plants, and here he could breed them without interruption. I believe his scrolls may still be in the lair here somewhere." Ryu said
"Wow aniki, so our home is actually alive?" Naruto asked. "In a sense, yes otouto." Ryu replied with a laugh in his answer and pride in his eyes, for his little brother figuring that out. "Oh, cool!" Naruto said in excitement, earning a chuckle from his big brother. "There are a few other things about the lair I want to explain to you otouto, so listen up." Ryu said gaining Naruto's attention.
"Since you noticed the floors covered in plants, I'm sure you noticed the floors in some of the other rooms. Those are real fur rugs, as for the piles of fur in some places; those are to be used like the couches. I'm also sure you noticed the lack of doors in some places. That's because those places are there for the whole Pride. There are doors for the bedrooms for privacy and a few other places because only certain Pride members are allowed in those places." Ryu explained.
Now it's time for bed, remember, you will be up early in the morning, wither you want to or not chibi kit, so go get some sleep." Ryu said. "Um, aniki? I don't know how to get to my room." Naruto reminded Ryu. "You will need to memorize the lair otouto; however, I'll show you back to your room tonight." Ryu told Naruto, leading him back to his room. He then went to the library and got a book to read and took it back to the living room, curling up on the couch for a while.