Ranma 1/2 in Konoha's Court
Chapter Two

by Lionheart

-oOoOo-

Ranma woke, twelve years old at a desk in a room around people he recognized but could not put in context, and panicked for a moment before the general background from Naruto's perspective started rushing in, as his clone left behind canceled itself in order to transfer it.

Now with a context to see everything in, it all made sense. He knew where he was and the people around him as thoroughly as though this had been Furinkan High School over again.

As the data transferred across unimaginable space he learned a different lesson about how to diminish the feedback pain of a download from a clone, as the inconceivable distance made for a different experience that taught him another valuable aspect of how and what to shift to accomplish the change from crashing accumulation to gentle influx in future downloads of information from his clones.

Now determined he could do away with the backblast entirely with only a little work to refine it, the boy looked around himself, suddenly recognizing everything. The classroom, his classmates all these he already knew, as that had been in previous downloads, and now were in context. This was the day they all were to receive ninja assignments.

His belly also painfully reminded him that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything in days.

Standing up, the boy made two clones. One of those took his seat again while the original Ranma Saotome and the other darted out of the classroom. The original first stopped at the boy's bathroom, to drink out of the faucet there (which had a dozen times the flow rate of the school's drinking fountains) and thus quench his immediate thirst.

Then it was off to get some food. He was starving!

The original charged into the first restaurant he could see, already shouting out his order, only to get chased out by utensils and appliances thrown at him moments later.

Not long after a sweet, demure female Ranma, aka Ranko, bounced into another eatery dressed cutely but modestly in a frilly summer dress (transformed from his usual Chinese silks, and he'd eliminated for the moment from his disguise the ninja headband and shuriken pouch that had somehow been added on his arrival), judged the menu, and then scammed a bit extra out of the male clerk. It didn't work as well as if she'd been fully endowed. Being twelve years old had its drawbacks, and the lack of those stunning curves of his female form was one of them, as without them he had only a fraction of her original wheedling power.

But the pigtailed martial artist was nothing if not adaptable, and if 'cute and sexy' was out for the next few years, 'cute and adorable' worked just as well after a little adapting.

Still, at those prices and his normal appetite, even accounting for scamming extra helpings he'd have to figure out an alternative source of food, fast.

-oOoOo-

Secundus was a clone with a mission.

Granted it was a very dull mission, to occupy a chair fighting hunger pains while the original fed himself. Nevertheless, it was a mission, and Secundus was determined to serve it well. He did dart out briefly to fill up on water, and consequently dim those pains, but after that it was immediately back to chair watch. The original was counting on him!

Of course, Ranma had never dealt well with boredom. So, after nearly fidgeting a hole through his desk, and shaking the floor with rapid foot taps, it was with some degree of gratitude (not just to him, but those sitting near to him) that he heard a commotion at the door as two girls fought over who was through the portal first.

Fighting was interesting, although the insults were not. Ranma, having been insulted all of his life by his pops, who knew every button to press, had to relinquish all hopes of these two when they obviously couldn't think of anything better than, "Forehead" and "Ino-Pig" to call each other.

Naturally he knew them. Not having Naruto's obsessive attraction to the pink-haired girl they bored him. So he ignored them, until the one with pink hair moved to strike him.

"Was there something you wanted?" Secundus casually asked the girl who had his foot planted squarely in her face. He'd not bothered moving anything but the one leg to interrupt her attempted strike.

The girl backed off and sputtered, awake only because he'd chosen to not do more than tap her lightly, more humiliation than injury. Seconds later she'd shaken off the interruption to yell at him, "RANMA! Move! So I can sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

Ranma glanced to his other side where his 'greatest rival' sat with an expression of extreme constipation, then back at the girl baring her fists at him. A quirky smile appeared, gracing Ranma's lips, and he raised an eyebrow cannily. "So, you willing to fight me for it?"

"Try me." Sakura began to crack her knuckles menacingly, a firm look on her face.

Now amused, the clone got up and went over to the blackboard, coming back with a long ruler, a yardstick, which he then took back to stand between his seat and the pink-haired girl. Adopting a kendo stance, he held the ruler like a sword with a mocking expression on his face. "Well, then, bring it on, why doncha?"

Feeling insulted, the pink haired girl charged the silly looking defense only to get whacked to the side hard enough to drive the breath from her lungs, whacked back across the face on the backslash, and then engulfed in a swirl of what felt like near-misses.

To the rest of the class this passed by in a blur as Ranma smote the air around his long time crush, leaving her spinning out of his range, all of her clothing coming apart in tatters, leaving the girl in nothing but her sandals and a pair of bright pink silk panties.

Seeing her condition, Sakura shrieked and covered herself with her arms, leaving the room in a sprint as fast as she could go with her legs jammed together.

Resting the ruler comfortably on one shoulder, Ranma smirked cockily to the remaining fangirl standing there staring. "Ino, if you still want my seat - it's yours. I'm tired of it."

With that, he departed up the steps to the back of the class, having seen a face he wanted to introduce himself to.

Elsewhere, watching through his crystal ball, the Hokage frowned. He'd thought he'd been doing Ranma a favor by placing him on a team with the pink haired girl he admired, letting him have the needed proximity and closeness to see if his crush could be returned.

Now this switch was disturbing. Placing him on a team with a girl he was in conflict with would serve to destabilize the unity they'd been seeking. With the Uchiha as unstable as he was, it was important the other members of that team make up the difference, and if they were at odds with each other already...

Ah, well, it was too late to change things now. Kakashi would just have to manage.

-oOoOo-

Tertius had a different mission from Primus (the original) and Secundus (second clone).

They were all Ranma, so they carried the Latin names for first (Primus) second (Secundus) and third (Tertius) for ease of who was on what mission at a time; and Ranma Saotome learned best when a situation was at its most dire. This test had hardly started yet, and that weird guy had bet on him to lose! And, well, that warranted changing things!

"Hey! Old Man!" He burst into the Hokage's office. "How are ya doin?"

Sarutobi discretely covered his viewing globe with a cloth made for that purpose. "Ah, Ranma. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class to meet your new instructor?"

Tertius grinned rather cheekily and cocked his head at the Hokage. "You oughta know. Weren't ya just watching me in that crystal ball thingy ya got there?"

Sarutobi had the grace to blush slightly. "I am only concerned for you, Ranma."

Tertius put his arms behind his head and examined the bookshelves. "So, ya might be interested ta know what I'm here for, right?"

"Yes, Ranma, what is it? And are you the clone, or is it the one waiting in class?"

The clone cocked an eye sideways at the Hokage, still facing the wall casually. "Both. The original is out catching a late breakfast. We slept in this morning."

"Oh," Sarutobi felt slightly put off that he'd not located the real one at all when he'd gone looking.

"Anyway, it's about that Mizuki guy the other day." Ranma went back to examining the wall casually before brushing his hand along a book's spine and facing the Hokage. "Don't you think a teacher who tried to kill me might've done something to affect my grades?"

The wrinkled old man blinked several times at his departed friend's son, before he smiled and lit his pipe, taking a couple of puffs. "Still, Ranma, you passed."

Ranma put both hands down on the Hokage's desk and leaned over it. "Yeah. But I ain't gunna live with a title like 'dead last' just because my classmates don't know my teacher was workin ta sabotage me!"

Sarutobi thought about it for a moment before he agreed, standing up, "Very well, Ranma. You have a good idea. Why don't we go to your school to have you retested right now?"

"Great!" the clone shot the old man a thumbs up.

"Oh, and when you're done reading it, can you return that book you borrowed?" Sarutobi mentioned casually as he swept out of the office.

Tertius gulped, as he thought he'd hidden well how he'd palmed a book from the shelves.

-oOoOo-

Back in the classroom, Secundus had skipped up the steps to the back of the room. That guy who'd placed him in this world hadn't given him much hope in the people he'd been supposed to hang out with, so he was seeking others.

And in that 'this is what happened just before you arrived' show, there'd been this girl standing behind a tree, afraid to approach the guy he was replacing, but obviously she felt some sympathy to him. AND, Ranma knew from this guy's background knowledge that she was the heiress of one of the town's Great Clans.

Well, who better to approach for new techniques? Nobody who should be teaching him would be teaching him according to the entity guy, and this girl might like him enough to be a friend, and ought to have access to more ninja secrets than he did.

Secundus came to a stop beside her seat, laying the yardstick aside. She looked up at him timidly, already blushing out of shyness. But Ranma was boldness personified. He wasn't about to be put off by her shrinking or blushing tendencies.

However, he was also a Saotome, with near terminal Foot-in-Mouth disease. He leaned forward, visions of new ninja techniques dancing in his mind, as he proposed an exchange of jutsu in his own clueless way, "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."

"EEEP!!"

Instant candy-apple red glow around the poor girl and she shrank horrified away from him. But his smile was so genuine and comforting... she began pushing her fingers together. "Ano... I...."

Her face practically hit the desk as she mumbled, mortified, "I've already seen yours."

Missing out completely on the girl obviously wanting to die on the spot, Ranma conceded that he'd used the Shadow Clone in that room just that morning, but didn't think that was a worry. She still didn't know how to do it herself. So he boasted, "Hey! That's no problem. But," here he leaned closer, "wouldn't you like to handle them yourself?"

It was a wonder of the universe why the girl didn't die of a terminal faint right there. Blood trailed from her nose, and she wiped it away rather quickly. Not daring to look at him, she mumbled softly, "I... I...." swallowing hard, realizing in the cold depths of her tummy that this was her one chance and could never come again, she met his gaze firmly, forcing a smile in spite of hardly being able to see for the butterflies escaping her stomach. "I'd like that very much, Ranma-kun."

As if that brief effort was as much as she could muster, the girl shrank back down into a near-ball, curled up on her chair, a shy almost-smile in place, staring down, waiting for him to reply.

"Great!" Secundus shouted, drawing the attention of the entire class. "You want to go first?"

She stared up at him, horrified, blurting out through her deep cherry blush, "Not here!"

Ranma blinked, confused, then shrugged. It didn't matter to him where she wanted to trade ninja secrets, so long as he learned new fighting techniques. "Okay, then where?"

Quietly, shyly, Hinata stood and took his hand, leading him out of the classroom. Most of the boys were confused at her shy smile, but half of girls were already convinced this was deadly gossip.

-oOoOo-

Tertius brought the Hokage into the classroom, trailing ANBU, and noticed that Secundus wasn't there. Then he noted that Hinata girl was gone as well. Oh? So that meant the plan for trading the Shadow Clone to her in exchange for other ninja techniques could well be underway. Well, that was good.

Any way of expanding his ninja skills had to be sought if he was going to beat this game and become Hokage!

Speaking of that, Tertius had been created to put another whole plan in motion. The guy who'd dropped him here had already explained that his teacher, Kakashi, wouldn't actually teach him anything, and his teammates would both hold him down.

So... why would he want to be on that team?

Answer real simple: he didn't. No, he'd dance around that obstacle if possible by getting as much changed as soon as he could, in hopes of landing on an entirely different one; maybe even getting a teacher who'd actually teach him, and teammates who wouldn't hate him. As far as he knew, there wasn't a worse team in town for him to be on, so any random chance gave him a better opportunity.

Even if he got on the second worst team for him that was still a step up. Thus his reason for retaking the test, and even getting in a fight with that pink haired girl.

The Hokage wasted no time, collecting academy teachers who in turn collected the original Ranma (already on his way back from a satisfying breakfast repast), sat him down near the front of the room, and began to administer the exam to him. There were three parts to the test, and the written part came first. Staring at the piece of paper he'd been given, Ranma read over the questions. Although he was twelve in body now, he'd slept through an extra five years of classes than this Naruto kid had, and despite all the interruptions and training trips, had managed to pull off passing grades.

Having that, plus the scraps of ninja lore the kid he was replacing did, the former teenager felt he could do ok. But ok wasn't the point. He wanted to score as high as possible so as to eliminate any association with his old ranking, and hopefully force a new team assignment.

That was why, when the teachers grabbed Primus, the original Ranma, Tertius the clone had snuck away into the teacher library and transformed himself into a spare chair. He watched as the academy instructors came in and noted which test they selected, and when they were gone transformed back and snagged the answer key.

Reading that and dispelling himself transferred to Primus, who was taking the test, accurate knowledge of most of the answers. Due to bad filing, he'd grabbed the wrong answer key. But enough of the questions were the same to offer substantial help. It was enough, along with his own and Naruto's combined knowledge, to score a solid eighty five percent. Not the highest grade in class, but enough to place him ahead of most of the pack.

Next came the physical portion, which Ranma aced with ease. Throwing kunai was child's play to a boy who'd been training since before he could walk. Shuriken were simple to the point of absurdity. While his pops did not like weapons, they'd still trained with virtually all of them, mostly to learn how they handled so they could better defeat them, but it was still a rare occurrence that Ranma came across a weapon he couldn't use.

Passing the ninja tools half of the physical portion of his test with full marks, and with ease, the Hokage was already impressed by Ranma. Next came sparring, something at which Naruto had previously scored one of the academy's lowest recorded grades. A chunin who would like for him to keep that shameful designation got into the ring, and went flying out moments later. Twice more he entered, the first time tumbling clear, and the last being carried out on a stretcher unconscious.

Ranma was no slouch at hand-to-hand fighting. He'd made it look easy, scoring as much as it was possible to on that part of the test.

The last portion was testing the basic three ninja techniques. Ranma could already perform a more than adequate Replacement long before he'd ever heard of this world. Shapechange was something they took for a standard disguise skill, no problem (and earned him high marks for how easily it might fool an enemy - if they only knew!), while Shadow Clone was an even better substitute for normal ones, and his much improved chakra control did nothing but help him there. He got awarded top marks in that portion as well.

Iruka tapped his clipboard at the end of this, turned to the Hokage and smiled. "With these grades, Mr Saotome could actually make Rookie of the Year. Counting extra credit points, he's outpaced the Uchiha by a decent margin."

Sarutobi kept his face carefully neutral, though his gaze was on the Uchiha, who scowled darkly on overhearing the news. The Uchiha's fanclub also looked uncertain, milling about unsure of how they ought to be reacting to Iruka's announcement, as it shook several of their fundamental assumptions. They'd only ever wanted Sasuke because he was the best.

Now they were being forced to reassess that foundation of their loyalty to the Uchiha.

While the Hokage was glad for Ranma, there would be repercussions from the council, and potential backlash for Ranma, if he gave him Sasuke's place so easily. Taking his pipe from his mouth, the Hokage declared, "But we'd already given that award out. It is not enough to beat a previous champion on points. You ought to meet him in the ring if you want his title. Ranma, are you up for this?"

Honestly, he expected the boy to shout enthusiastic acceptance, conceal apprehensive moments, then lose. Sasuke Uchiha was a terrific fighter for his age group. Instead, Ranma showed neither explosive enthusiasm nor apprehension, only confidence as he accepted the challenge, which was to take place before the entire class.

The two newly minted genin stepped into a chalk circle drawn on the playground, and Iruka shouted for the match to start. The Uchiha rushed forward...

... then flew twenty yards backwards into the nearby forest, smashing into trees and landing unconscious on the ground after bumping into close to a dozen branches on his way down.

Medics appeared, carrying the Last Uchiha's broken body out on a stretcher.

The class, the instructors, even the Hokage were dumbfounded.

Ranma smirked. All it had taken was a single kick! That guy was nowhere near the level of Shampoo, and he'd done much the same to the amazon when they'd first met and she'd underestimated him. Of course, unlike this kid, she could actually take the hit.

The Hokage realized he'd stopped breathing only when his pipe had gone out. Instantly shucking his shocked pose, he relit the device and concealed a proud smile. "Well, Ranma. There can be no doubt you are Rookie of the Year of your class. Congratulations."

Silently, Sarutobi was considering this further. Changes would be needed to the upcoming team assignments. If the Uchiha had beaten Ranma, the status quo would have been kept and they might've worked well on a team together. However, with Ranma having defeated him, Sasuke would desire a rematch, and perhaps extend his obsession for revenge if that failed to go the way he wanted.

No, smoldering resentment on the part of the Uchiha was a foregone conclusion, over the lost title if nothing else, and with Ranma recently at odds with Sasuke and the Haruno girl both, it was time to shuffle things around to put him on another team.

Turning away, he spoke, "Iruka, instead of announcing team assignments, have the jonin instructors meet me in my office."

-oOoOo-

Author's Notes:

Before anyone asks, Ranma's 'Never Hit Girls' approach was left behind in Nerima as one of his problems for Naruto to overcome.

In fact, rather a lot of his faults regarding women got left there with him not even being aware of it. After all, the central problem Ranma had was how to resolve the fiancee mess, and it just wouldn't be the same without those faults complicating it. It just wouldn't be a true test without them.

So his well-deserved phobia of women is gone, even though he doesn't realize it yet.