FicWad

The Shinobi of Legends

By CrossoverFanatic

Chapter 9 - The Land of Water

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters who are originally from Ranma 1/2 or Naruto... even if I could own them, I'd much rather prefer to just create my own characters that can rival them in every shape and form.

In any case, original characters in this chapter consist of Hyuuga Natsumi, and Uchiha Haruko, and they do belong to me. Maybe I should copyright these characters, too bad I have no idea how to copyright something (I'm just that dumb and clueless).

Summary: In this chapter, the trio will enter a destroyed Kirigakure... (This is more of a filler chapter, so please excuse the nonsense writing)
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"characters talking"

'characters thinking'
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Still sailing across the sea, Natsumi gently put a blanket on the sleeping Haruko, and then sat back down next to Ranma. When noticing his distracted face, she waved her hand in front of it to bring him back to reality.

"Huh?" He broke out of his daze, then jerked at the hand in his face, "What's up? Are we there yet?"

"No, we're still quite far from our destination," She responded, "I just wanted to know what you were thinking about, you were out of it for quite awhile."

"Oh, I was just thinking about Haruko-chan. Did you see what happened to her during the last fight..." Ranma told her.

"Finally it's about time, your stubbornness can be so irritating," Natsumi told him, "I was wondering when you'd finally comment on what happened to her back there. I was amazed myself when I saw it, I just couldn't believe my eyes."

He nodded and laid down on the boat to look at the stars, "Just what in the world is this girl? Her injuries, every single one of them, they just instantly healed......" He slowly trailed off when he saw Natsumi take out a camera... "Unbelievable, are you really doing what I think you're doing? Is this really the right time for your perverse hobby?"

Natsumi giggled as she took several pictures of cute, sleeping Haruko, "I can't help it," she quietly squealed as she continued taking pictures, "She's so adorable!!! Kya, what a little cutie!!!" After a few more snapshots, she put away her camera and turned her attention back to Ranma, "Okay, I'm done. Back to the matter of Haruko-chan and her mysterious power... and my photography is not perverted!!!"

"Pft, whatever you say Natsumi," Ranma said, '...But you're the sick freak who's taking pictures of a sleeping young girl.' Natsumi tapped her chin while in deep thought, "Hmmm... let's review a little, shall we. Besides her unnatural healing ability, there's also the fact that Haruko was able to use Katon-jutsus with her Mizu-Bunshins a few days back. That was certainly an incredible sight to see," She stretched her back and tiredly yawned. Ranma's eyes slightly widened in surprise, "I didn't think you noticed, you didn't say anything."

"How could anyone not notice, and I just didn't mention it because I didn't have an explanation for it. Why bother talking about something if you don't even know what happened, it'll only lead to more confusion and questions, and that will only lead to headaches and migraines," Natsumi then laid down on the bench and covered herself with a blanket, "In any case, it's getting late, we should talk about this more when we're both refreshed. Oyasumi Nasai, Ranma-dono."

"Oyasumi (Good Night)," Ranma replied as he continued to stare at the stars, 'Oh man, so many things going on at once. Haruko-chan, Akira and Gin, those other people, and I don't even know if the person I'm looking for is even at Kirigakure anymore, hell I'm not sure if he's still alive. It's not like I have any other options though, when it comes to questions, he's the one with all the answers.'

Why did things have to be so hard, couldn't life just be easy for once?

"Oh well, I might as well go to sleep too," He muttered sleepily, as he closed his eyes.

"What in the world...?" Natsumi breathed out, as they closed in on the Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water). The island... it was...

"Ewww......" Haruko mumbled under her breath. Why would anyone want to live in such a yucky place...

"What the hell," Ranma said in shock, "Why is the island..." He just couldn't understand it, Mizu no Kuni was suppose to be beautiful, filled with life and color but this...

The island was completely pitch-black, even in broad daylight, scorched beyond belief. Plants, trees, even the ground, nearly everything was burnt to a crisp. The ferry conductor did mention that the island was recently under attack, but something of this magnitude would require an army to do.

"Come on, let's hurry up I want to know what the hell's going on over there," Ranma hastily said as he started on some hand-seals, "Fuuton...!!!"

Thanks to the extra boost from the powerful wind-jutsu, they arrived at island in a few seconds. Hopping out of the boat, Ranma looked around incredulously, this was insane...

"Ahem..." He turned around at the sound of a throat clearing, and saw Natsumi looking at him with an expectant look. "Oh yeah," He quickly made his way back over, and helped Natsumi and Haruko out of the boat, "Please, watch your step ladies." His mother always did tell him that it was a man's duty to help a woman out, whatever the situation.

"Ranma-dono, didn't you tell me that this place was suppose to be an island paradise," Natsumi commented as she held Haruko's hand, "Just exactly, whose paradise is this suppose to be for. Not even insects would be happy living here."

"This is all wrong," Ranma frowned, and looked around at his surroundings, "It's not supposed to be this way, just who could have done all this..."

The moment he said that, several figures appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them. They appeared to be Mist-nins, judging by their uniforms and Hitai-ates, unfortunately they didn't look too friendly or happy. "Maybe these guys are here to tell us," Haruko said, then stepped back when they all took out weapons, "...Or maybe they just want to kill us."

Ranma waved his hand dismissively and started to walked towards one of them, "Look guys, we don't want any trouble, we just want some..." He was interrupted when the mist-nin threw a kunai at his face, which he easily plucked out of the air, "...Okay, I tried to handle the situation the diplomatic way, now let's do this my way."

He quickly threw the kunai into the air, and started on some hand-seals, "I suggest you guys don't move, I still don't have the hang of accuracy with this jutsu." The sky darkened as hundreds of kunai suddenly showered the ground, all of them landing around the three leaf-ninjas.

Looking around, Ranma was satisfied at the results, "Man, I amaze even myself at times. All those kunai and not a single person was hit, but that's mostly 'cause you guys weren't stupid to try to dodge them. That was just a warning jutsu, now are you going to listen to us or not?"

One of the mist-ninja sneered and irately kicked a kunai out of the ground, which instantly 'poofed' into smoke. "Screw you, ya punk bastard. Attack!!!" Ranma just smirked as all the mist-ninja quickly charged them, "Now how did you figure out the second part of my plan."

Ranma quickly squatted down to dodge a punch, and hopped up to head-butt the ninja in the jaw. Ranma then spin-kicked him across the jaw to send him flying away, and then ducked underneath a flying kick and performed a reverse spin-kick to catch this ninja in the chest as he passed over. 'Two...' Ranma bent over backwards, to avoid a wide hook punch, then grabbed the ninja's arm and swung him around and chucked him right into a large group of people who were rushing towards him. He then flipped onto his hands and started spinning towards the group, kicking them all in the face as they were getting back up. 'Ten... talk about easy, what chumps.'

Natsumi, with her Byukugan activated, quickly used a palm-strike which caught a ninja right in the nose, then jumped onto his shoulder to avoid a double-charge from two other ninjas who inadvertently hit their comrade. As he was thrown off his feet, she quickly jumped off him, twisted her body around upside-down, and used Jyuuken to grab the two ninjas by the side of their neck and put them to sleep. 'Three...' She quickly palm-struck upwards to deflect an oncoming punch, and jumped up to knee him in the face then turn around to perform a spin-kick, with the same leg, and hit him across the face. 'Four...' She then caught the wrists of two ninjas as they tried to punch her from behind and pulled them in front of her, then used palm-strikes with both her hands, and hit them right in the stomach sending them tumbling away. 'Six...' Finally, she rapidly spun her body around, releasing chakra, and used Kaiten on the remaining ninjas and sent them all flying into the charred dirt, 'That makes ten, not too bad of a work-out.'

While the two more experienced ninjas easily took care of their opponents, the third younger member of the group was having a bit of trouble. Haruko punched a ninja right in the neck then jumped up to knee him in the side of his head. However, another ninja quickly made his way towards her as she was still in mid-air and used a drop-kick to send her flying across the air. 'Too fast... I couldn't see him...!' As her body was harshly skidding on the ground, a third ninja ran over to her and kicked her right in the stomach sending her towards two other ninjas who punched her in the face at the same time, and sent her flying straight in the sky. 'Damn it to hell... why am I losing to these people...?'

The two ninjas who initiated the attack jumped into the air to continue their assault on the young girl, while the other two stood on the ground preparing to use a jutsu. Before they could let loose, they were immediately knocked out by two blurs, who then jumped up to knock the two airborne ninjas back onto the ground.

"And that makes twelve!!!" The jounin leaf-ninja both declared. Ranma grabbed Haruko and cradled her in his arms, then gently set her down on the ground when they landed.

"Are you okay, Haruko-chan?" Natsumi asked worriedly, and sighed in relief when the girl nodded. "She'll be fine," Ranma commented as he lightly ran his hand over her stomach, causing her to loudly giggle, "It tickles!" He grinned and tickled her some more before picking her up in his arms, "It wasn't so bad, just some minor bruises here and there, they're already healed so let's be on our way." Natsumi nodded as they walked through the groaning and moaning bodies on the floor, and she looked around sheepishly, "We really did a number of these guys, didn't we?"

Ranma was about to agree when he was interrupted by the sound of clapping, they turned to the side and saw a shadowy figure near the trees. "Very impressive, I didn't expect such young shinobi to be so strong," The figure complimented, "Taking out 24 of my men is no easy task, yet you managed to do so in a matter of seconds."

"Don't you mean 25, Haruko-chan took one out too," Ranma corrected. The figure just waved his hand dismissively at Haruko, who puffed up her cheeks in anger, "Oh yes, yes, the young girl did quite well as well... against one of my men, but I'm mostly impressed by the two of you."

"Granted my ninjas were tired from fighting all night, which explains why they performed so poorly here..." He scowled when Ranma rudely interjected with, "Nah, they just plain sucked. You got some weak-ass people here, old man."

"Please pardon my companion's manners," Natsumi apologized as she nudged Ranma in the side and politely bowed, "May I inquire as to who you are though?"

'Rude, arrogant little brat...' The figure eyed Ranma with contempt and disdain, then walked out into the light to reveal his identity. "No way..." Ranma muttered in disbelief, as Haruko blinked in confusion and Natsumi looked at the man with wide eyes and shakily pointed her finger, "You... you're... Mizukage-sama?!?!"

Mizukage just nodded in affirmation, he was about to step forward but stopped when he saw Ranma point his katana at him, "Oh, what's this now?"

"Why'd you order those ninjas to attack us?" Ranma gritted his teeth and held his sword even tighter, inside his mind was in deep turmoil, 'Talk about a worst-case scenario, we're not strong enough to deal with a Kage-level ninja. If Mizukage really wants to get rid of us, then we're as good as dead.'

Mizukage responded by laughing heartily, confusing the trio. "That was a mistake on my part, I thought that the three of you were some criminals who escaped a few days ago," He kindly told them, but then smirked menacingly, "Believe me, if I wanted you killed then your mangled corpses would be collecting flies by now." He proved this by quickly disappearing and reappearing behind Ranma, holding a kunai to his back, "You see, this is how easily I could eliminate young ninjas like yourselves."

Due to the pressure of the threat and killing intent, Ranma was frozen in place, sweating heavily and breathing hard, 'Shit... this old geezer.' He could tell that Natsumi was frightened as well, since she was wide-eyed and shivering. Haruko was absolutely petrified because she was tightly hugging him, nearly crushing his neck. He seethed in anger when tears swelled up within the young girl's eyes, 'Dammit, you son of a...'

Ranma was surprised to find the pressure of the kunai and killing intent suddenly vanish and turned his head to see... no one, where did he...? "Please, why don't the three of you join me for some late brunch. This is my way of apologizing for my hostile behavior just now," Ranma turned back to see Mizukage casually walking away as if nothing happened.

"Are you okay, Ranma-san?" Haruko asked with concern, from her position in the crook of Ranma's arm. He just slowly nodded, and wiped the tears out of her eyes, "Are you, Kaijuu-chan?" She nodded in response. "How 'bout you Natsumi," The Hyuuga prodigy just fell onto her knees and wiped her brow, "Define okay... physically everything's fine, but mentally I think I'm scarred for life."

Ranma just looked down and inwardly cursed at himself, "...All my fault, I couldn't even lift a finger..." he whispered, "Why am I still so weak?"

He looked back, when a hand touched his shoulder, and saw Natsumi gently smiling at him, "That's not true, right now you are definitely the strongest man I know. Something like this shouldn't get you down, I remember you telling me something that your father told you for this kind of situation..."

"Oh yeah, that's right..." He quietly muttered, "I quote, 'Everything is a test to make you stronger...... If you failed once, then all you have to do is take it again.' I thought it was so lame when 'tou-san said it to me the first time, but I have to admit it makes sense now. "

Ranma looked at Haruko in the eyes, and grinned, "In other words Haruko-chan. You should be happy that you've met someone stronger, because that just means you're one step closer to becoming stronger yourself..." He paused and smiled a little, "Just consider that person a big mountain, and once you've finally climbed over that tall peak, you will have undoubtly become much more powerful than you were before. Everything in life can be considered a mountain, all you have to do is make sure that you just don't fall off, otherwise you may never recover..."

Haruko just tilted her head, and cutely 'hmmed' in confusion, "But what happens if you never reach the other side of that mountain?"

The two 'adults' turned to each other and shook their heads in pity, "These young people nowadays are so cute and clueless," Ranma said, then broke into loud laughter. Natsumi just giggled and answered her, "In that case Haruko-chan, you've gained a very important person in your life, you've gained an......"

"ETERNAL RIVAL!!!!!!" Ranma finished her sentence with a scream and got into a 'Nice-Guy' pose, "Yes, the mountain one seeks to surpass but can never find the strength to do so, only one such mountain can be worthy enough to be an eternal rival!!!!!!" Haruko just blinked, and tilted her head once more, "Huh? Who are you giving a thumbs-up to?" she curiously asked because Ranma was currently posing for absolutely no one.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and shrugged, "I have no idea, usually Gai-san's the one who usually does all the time, and I just felt it was an appropriate thing to do in this situation."

Natsumi just shook her head in resignation and looped her arm around Ranma's, "Come on already, let's go catch up with Mizukage-sama. While normally, I wouldn't dine with someone who just openly threatened to kill us..." She lost her composure as her tummy rumbled loudly, "...We haven't eaten in over four days!!! I'm getting desperate for food!!!"

"Me too," Haruko pouted, then happily chirped, "I hope he has chocolate!!!"

Ranma rubbed his stomach as it grumbled, "I just hope he has some decent grub. Man, I'm starved..."

"Hey wait," Natsumi quietly exclaimed, as she looked at Ranma holding Haruko in his arm, "Oh my god!!! Why didn't I notice such a cute pose!!!" She whipped out her camera and started snapping away while moving around to get different viewpoints. "Awww, you two look so cute together," Hearing this only made them sigh in unison, they wish they didn't do that because... "Kawaii (Cute)!!!" Natsumi put away her camera and took out a video camera, "Come on, do it again, sigh together again please!!!"

'A mountain, huh?' Ranma thought as his silent torture continued, and inwardly grinned in anticipation, 'Hehehe, it's been so long since I've been out of the village that I've forgotten how big some mountains really are...'

After a half an hour of posing and gesturing for Natsumi's 'sick' hobby, the three leaf-ninjas finally reached Mizukage's mansion, which was looking a lot better than the rest of the island. Guess being a Kage did have its perks after all, Ranma wondered if this guy had as much paperwork as his Jiji did...

"Ah, it's about time," Mizukage said, as he watched his esteemed guests walk in, "I was beginning to think that you declined my offer."

"Oh no, we just got a little side-tracked," Ranma told him, as he glared at Natsumi who was cradling her camera while giggling. He shivered when he saw her kiss her camera and heard her whisper, "My precious..." Geez, he really needed to get this girl some psychiatric help.

"Ummm... so is this an all-you-can-eat or something?" Ranma hurriedly stammered as he saw the mountain load of food on the table. When Mizukage nodded, both he and Haruko turned to each other and shouted "Itadakimasu!!!" then quickly ran around the table and scooped up their favorite dishes.

For Ranma, it was... well basically everything, but mostly meat, lots and lots of meat. For dessert, he took several mincemeat pies, chicken pot pies, pumpkin pies, apple pies, blueberry pies, coconut cream pies, sweet potato pies, banana cream pies, lemon meringue pies, pecan pies, and cheesecake. Come on, who doesn't love pie!!! Oh, he grabbed some Moo-Moo Milk too, since you can't eat pie without milk, it's just not right.

Haruko just took some key food groups that every growing child needs, chocolate!!! Chocolate-chip pancakes, chocolate-chip waffles, fudge-covered meat, toast with chocolate syrup, and assorted fruits with chocolate fondue. Dessert wise, she took chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles and hot fudge, chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate pudding, a double-layer chocolate cake, a chocolate-cream pie, fudge brownies, a chocolate parfait, and a diet chocolate milkshake... a girl had to watch her figure after all.

"Wha...?" Natsumi awoke from her camera daze by the sounds of loud chewing and swallowing, and sweatdropped at the sight of Ranma and Haruko scarfing down food like no tomorrow. How embarrassing... for goodness sakes, at least chew your food, you freakin' animals!!!

"I am so sorry, Mizukage-sama. My friends have horrendous manners..." But the old man just waved away her apology, "Please miss, it does my old heart good to see young children eating so happily. Why don't you help yourself to some food as well, I'm sure you must be hungry from the long journey."

"Well, I really shouldn't but..." She drooled slightly at the sight of all that yummy food, and finally conceded when her stomach roared in protest, "But, if you insist." The gobbling of food was soon joined by a third, more elegant member... she was still a pig though, but at least she used a napkin and ate with her mouth closed. But geez, what was with all those Italian noodle dishes, different types of spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, fettuccine, ziti, alfredo, tetrazzini, manicotti, gnocchi bake, cheesy stuffed shells, and finally pastira (macaroni cake) for dessert.

An hour later, the three ninjas finally finished their huge meals and patted their full stomachs in satisfaction. "Now that was delicious," Ranma stated as he used a toothpick to clean his teeth, "Not as good as my mom's food but even she never cooked this much. Trust me, she tried to make me full once and only ended up hurting herself."

Haruko laughed, while Natsumi just turned to Mizukage, "While this was a lovely meal, I'm sure this isn't just a social gathering, what's the real reason you called us here, Mizukage-sama?"

He cleared his throat and slid a folder over to her, "You're right ojou-sama, I did call you for a far more important matter than food..." He paused when Ranma shouted, "Nothing is more important than food, old man!!!" After which Natsumi shut him up, by shoving his face into one of the leftover pies, "Please continue."

"...Yes, as I was saying, I need the three of you to capture these people for me, you'll find a snapshot of each of them in that folder." Natsumi opened the folder and looked at the photos, Haruko got up to look at them over her shoulder, Ranma soon joined after cleaning his face of apple filling.

"Interesting, very much indeed..." She quietly muttered, then turned at their gracious host, "These people are Kaguyas, aren't they?"

"You have a perceptive eye, ojou-sama," Mizukage told her, "Indeed, they are Kaguyas..."

"Kaguyas? Who are they?" Haruko questioned, as Ranma just stared at the photos blankly. "They're monsters," He grumbled his breath, "I fought against a few in my lifetime, and they're really dangerous and a bitch to fight against......"

"Please young man, there's a big reward..." Mizukage was interrupted when Ranma continued. "...But... but since this is a personal request from the Mizukage, it's not like I can really refuse," He smirked and clenched his fist, "Besides, I'm not so much of a coward that I'll turn down an opportunity to beat down a real-live monster." As he said this, Ranma purposely stared at Mizukage, who just stared right back......

Haruko firmly nodded in agreement and took a huge bite out of her chocolate cake, "Hell yeah, bring it on, you dumb monsters!!!" she screamed with a full mouth.

Natsumi palmed her face in exasperation, "Oh lord, he corrupted her already..." She shook her head and sighed, "Just why do you want these people anyway, Mizukage-sama? I thought that Kaguyas were supposed to be left alone due to their less than friendly nature."

"Did you see the current state of the island?" Mizukage slumped down in his seat dejectedly, they nodded in response, "It was because of the Kaguyas that the island is in such a terrible condition. Those blood-thirsty animals attacked the village in the dead of night, luckily one of my ninjas managed to find out about the assault beforehand and we ambushed them before any innocents could have gotten hurt. Unfortunately the fighting spread throughout the island causing massive damages ......"

"Please, if you could help us in our dire time of need," He begged as he got on his hands and knees, "I'll reward all of you very handsomely, and Kirigakure will eternally be grateful to you."

Ranma scoffed as he got up from his seat and walked away, "Get up old man, it's not right for someone of your status to be begging." He shoved his hands into his pockets, and smirked once more, "...Anyway, we already decided what to do a long time ago."

Natsumi waited for Haruko before leaving, "What took you, little one?" Haruko just grinned cheekily as she wheeled along a shopping cart full of boxes of white-chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate cream puffs, chocolate éclairs, chocolate cream horns, chocolate-chip muffins, chocolate donuts with a variety of sprinkles, and of course Oreos!!! "They're all road snacks, in case I get hungry," She told the sweatdropping woman as she opened up a box of peanuts and emptied the entire contents into her mouth, 'Yummy!!!'

"Hey wait, where'd you get that shopping cart...?"

A few seconds after he heard the door open and shut close, Mizukage slowly got up and wickedly smiled, "The fools actually fell for it..."

"Ranma-dono, are you sure this is the right thing to do," Natsumi asked. Ranma was currently shirtless and washing his face in a nearby stream, while Haruko was running around the trees playing with some squirrels.

"Of course not, something stinks around here and it wasn't just all that bull crap that old man was feeding us," He replied as he dried his face and put his shirt back on, "Why the hell would Mizukage need the three of us to do his dirty work, I mean come on, he alone has enough power to wipe out an entire country, nevertheless a few measly people."

"So why in the world are we doing this then?" Ranma just replied by childishly grinning, "For the fight, of course!!! A chance to fight against one of the strongest clans in the world, don't tell me that doesn't get your blood boiling in excitement?!?!"

Natsumi smiled in wonder, "I have to admit, I always was curious how effective my Jyuuken would be against the so-called invincible bone structure of the Kaguyas." She then looked over at Haruko, and her eyes brightened as she took out her video camera and pressed the 'record' button, "And we already know her answer in this matter, such an energetic little girl."

Ranma ate some of the Oreos Haruko brought, and blankly looked at the woman before him giggle madly, "Seriously Natsumi, you should consider therapy..."

Haruko, in the meantime, was actually training and not playing, 'These squirrelies are pretty fast...' She thought as she lightly touched a squirrel's back with her left index finger, then skidded to a stop to catch three more leaves to her right, '...Combine that with this leaf-catching training, it makes a pretty difficult exercise.'

She then tripped over her own feet and inwardly cursed, 'Owie, stupid ankle weights, 50 pounds are really killing my legs. These 20-pound wrist weights are a big pain too...' She looked up and bashfully smiled as all her squirrelly friends gathered around her, chittering in worry, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Let's just continue playing okay?" The squirrels chittered and ran around again, as Haruko cutely giggled. Sometimes, it just paid off to know how to speak squirrel...

She slowly got up and tossed the leaves she caught back into the air, and started the exercise all over again, 'All this time, I've been relying too much on my chakra, ignoring everything else; Right now, I need to get my body up to par as well. My stamina, endurance, footwork, speed, arm and leg strength, hand-grips, I need to increase everything or else I'll just be a hindrance to Ranma-san and Natsumi-san......'

Three weeks later, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Skill: Grand Fireball Technique)!!! Ranma yelled out and shot off a giant fireball, which was easily cut apart by a bone sword. "Oh come on..." He whined in annoyance, as he faced off against two male Kaguyas, "This is like the tenth time you've done that to my jutsus, can't you losers do anything else?"

'Geez, we finally find these guys after 3 weeks of searching and this is what we get...' Ranma miserably thought, '... So boring.'

In an instant, Ranma quickly unsheathed his sword to block a set of triple bone claws that one of the ninjas created from his knuckles. He moved to the side to avoid a stab from a bone knife that the other one sprouted from his palm, then Ranma back-kicked him across the face, then spun around and hopped up to knee the first one in the side of his head.

After they recovered, the two Kaguya-ninjas faced off against the leaf-ninja, whose expression was that of pure determination, nothing could move this unmovable rock... They sweatdropped when his face morphed into that of pain and agony, and he started to hop up and down on one foot, while fiercely rubbing the other one, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, oh my aching leg, what are you people made of, steel?!?!"

Ranma sat down on the floor, and took off his shoe and lifted his pants, "My poor foot and knee, you merciless demons, how could you be so heartless. Oh my god, how can..." He whimpered then looked up in astonishment, "... you be so stupid. I can't believe that you idiots actually fell for this."

The Kage-Bunshin 'poofed' away, leaving the two Kaguyas utterly confused. The real Ranma appeared behind them and quickly swung his sword, "Tempesta di Neve (Blizzard in French)!!!" The force of the icy gale winds threw them off their feet and nearly froze their bodies completely.

Ranma slowly walked up to the frozen-popsicles and grinned at their shivering bodies and chattering teeth, "Don't you guys agree that my technique was pretty cool!!!" He started laughing hysterically, "Get it, cool!!! Because the attack was super cold, so it's cool..." He sweatdropped when the two ice sculptures just sweatdropped and looked away (they could still move their eyeballs), "Well I thought it was pretty funny. Puns rock!!!"

"Only you think that, Ranma-dono," He turned around and saw Natsumi walking towards him while dragging the bodies of two people behind her, a male and female. "You won," He stated the obvious, "Was it as hard as you thought it was going to be?"

Natsumi shook her head in disappointment, "No, I didn't even need to use any of my special techniques other than Byakugan and Jyuuken. These people may be strong, but they certainly aren't smart. Who in their right mind would continuously attack a close-range fighter, known to have chakra-destroying attacks, with chakra-based weapons. All I had to do was blow up their bone weapons and the rest is history."

Ranma understandingly nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. These people don't know the meaning of variety, they keep using the same attacks over and over again. Come on, at least spice it up a little!!!" Natsumi silently agreed, but looked confused about something, "What was that you said before you used your Blizzard? Did your mother give it a new name or something?"

Ranma shook his head and smirked, "Nah, that's just how you say Blizzard in French. Kaa-chan's been giving me these French lessons for a few years because she wanted me to be bilingual..." He paused to roll his eyes and sigh, "Plus she thought it would help me pick up girls, since French is supposedly the most romantic language out there."

As Natsumi blushed at the idea of hearing compliments in the language of love, Ranma looked around worryingly. "Oi, where's Haruko-chan? You don't think she..." A loud explosion suddenly rocked the forest, causing the ground and trees to shake. "... Never mind," He mumbled as a huge cloud of smoke filled the sky, "I think it's safe to presume that she won too." Just then, Haruko walked out of the forest, carrying the body of a large man over her shoulder. You could tell she was really happy from her large grin, the strange thing was that her fist had smoke coming out of it. "Haruko-chan, what's wrong with your hand?" Natsumi asked her.

Her grin got even bigger, and she dropped the big man next to his companions, "It's my newest attack, it was because of this beauty that I won my fight." She held up her hand, the smoke around it slowly dissipating, "I call it, 'Recca Panchi (Raging Fire Punch)!!!' This baby can go up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, that's even hotter than a volcano...!!!" She paused when Ranma interjected with an impressed whistle, "Thank you, Ranma-san. The guy was using some kind of bone armor, which my regular attacks couldn't penetrate, so I used this move to melt it off then blew out a Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Blast) to finish him off."

"Now that's smokin'!!!" Ranma guffawed, while the ladies just sweatdropped and despairingly thought, 'Why, oh why did he have to learn about puns!!!'

Haruko remembered something else and snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah, I gained another new weapon too..." She was cut off when a giant water dragon suddenly bursted through the trees and straight into the pile of unconscious Kaguyas, whose bodies were immediately torn apart by the violent attack. "What the hell!!!" Ranma shouted in shocked, as Natsumi hugged Haruko to her, "Who the fuck did that!!! Come out you cowardly bastard!!!"

They were speechless when it was the Mizukage who walked out, smirking inhumanly. "Teme (You)!!! Why'd you kill them, I thought you wanted them alive!!!" Ranma angrily screamed, he gritted his teeth in rage when Mizukage started to laugh mockingly.

"Alive? My dear boy, whoever said I wanted these savage beasts alive?" He walked towards the disembodied people, then sneered and spitted on them. Natsumi grabbed Ranma's wrist to prevent him from rushing the man, "With this marks the end of an uncouth, mentally retarded race. I don't even see why Kami-sama created such creatures, they were absolutely useless in their time among the living..."

"What do you mean the end..." Haruko curiously inquired, as she hugged Natsumi, "Aren't there more of them around?"

Mizukage laughed insanely, silencing all three ninjas, "No, the idiots used all of their people to attack the village, and in an instant every single of them was wiped off the face of this planet. Just like someone wiping off shit from the bottom of their shoe."

"You heartless bastard, How could you!!!!" Ranma screamed out in fury, as he ripped himself out of Natsumi's grip and rushed the man. But he didn't do much as Mizukage simply sidestepped and tripped him up, Ranma raised his head from the ground and saw the skewered head of one of the Kaguyas, and felt tears come to his eyes. He slowly got up and got into the older man's face, "Why..." He sobbingly asked, "What did they ever do to deserve this?"

Mizukage's face became emotionless as he explained, "Because they were useless, they deserved death because they failed in their purpose in life. They failed to be the perfect living weapons, these barbarians were supposed to be invincible yet they kept losing every important battle they were ever in. Combat geniuses my ass, what's the point in keeping a weapon if it's too stupid to know what to do. These morons foolishly attacking the village just gave me the perfect excuse to deal with them once and for all ..."

He took out a large wad of cash and dropped it on the floor in front of Ranma, "Here you go, your reward for assisting in eliminating a nuisance," He smirked as he patted the boy's head. "Now be a good little boy and don't spend it all on candy and toys," Mizukage mocked before walking away, laughing cruelly.

Ranma blankly looked at the man's back before setting the money on fire with a Katon-jutsu. "I don't want your tainted money," He growled, as his eyes glowed red, "I just want your head."

"...Haruko-chan, Mizukage is an example of a mountain you might not ever surpass," Natsumi told the young girl, "However, that doesn't qualify him to be a rival... a rival is only someone whom you respect, admire, and recognize to be a great person."

She let the girl go and activated her Byukugan to full power, causing the veins to pulsate. "But that man is lower than trash, and deserves nothing but a slow and painful death..."

The next day, Ranma was aimlessly walking around town. 'This is why...' He thought to himself, 'This is the reason why I've kept my promise to 'kaa-chan all this time. I've seen what death does to everyone, I didn't want to cause people to mourn and cry for a lost one because of me. I didn't want to be someone who found pleasure in murder and death. I... I just didn't want to become like that man......'

"...B-but what can I do in this situation," He cried out, and bowed his head, "What am I suppose to do now, 'kaa-chan?" His body shook as he quietly sobbed, a clutter of a can caused him to look up in surprise. "Who's there?! Come out here now!!!" He strengthened his words by taking out a kunai, 'How could I let someone get the jump on me...'

A young boy with white hair, green eyes, and two red dots on his forehead walked out of the alleyway. "You..." Ranma looked at him stunned, "You're a Kaguya?" He shakily smiled when the boy nodded, then started crying again, this time in relief, "Thank you god, so much for giving these people a second chance." He knelt down, and gestured for the boy to come over which he did, "What's your name?" The boy shook his head. "Do you have a name?" He nodded. "Can you even talk?" He nodded again.

Ranma just sighed in aggravation, "This is getting me nowhere..." He raised an eyebrow when he noticed something strange about the boy, 'Hmmm... breathing is shallow, erratic heartbeat, eyes look glazed over, sweating profusely, abnormal fatigue state, that's odd I'm not familiar with these symptoms.' He took out a large chocolate bar, and held it out, "Here, I bet you're hungry aren't you?" He gently smiled when the boy cautiously grabbed it out of his hand, and stared at it warily, "Don't worry, it's just chocolate. A friend of mine loves the stuff."

"While you're eating that, do you mind if I look at something on your body? It's very important," The boy slowly nodded, while taking a bite out of the candy bar. Ranma took the boy's shirt off and was shocked at what he discovered, 'What's with all these bruises and cuts? It's a miracle this kid is still alive after all these wounds.' He started a healing-jutsu, and the boy flinched away in fright, "Oh, don't worry this'll help you, just trust me okay... please?"

The child reluctantly nodded again, and Ranma handed him another candy bar, seeing that he finished off the first one. He began healing the boy's body while examining him at the same time, to see what else was wrong. 'Everything seems fine now, he was just malnourished and his wounds weren't properly taken care of...' His thoughts took another turn when he closely examined the boy's chest, '... What the... this kid has a disease? I've never come across this one before though, it's totally new to me.'

'What am I going to do, I have no way of treating him. Dammit, the last hope for a near-extinct clan, and he just might die anyway,' Ranma's eyes widened when he remembered something that could save the child's life, '...... 'Kaa-chan, Tsunade-chama, please forgive me but I'm going to have to use that kinjutsu the two of you taught me. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures.'

A few years before Noriko had met Arashi, both she and her mentor developed a secret medical jutsu that would have revolutionized the medical industry. Unfortunately, they remembered how selfish and petty human beings were, if word of this jutsu came out, then every single person in the world would come to them begging for treatment. Knowing what desperation could do to a person, they feared for the safety of those around them. Because of this reason, they decided to seal the jutsu away forever...

Of course, Tsunade and Noriko taught it to Ranma anyway, just because they wanted him to know everything that might help him out later in real world.

"Kid, I'm about to do something that'll save your life," Ranma calmly told him, "But I can't do this without your permission..." After a few moments, the boy hesitantly nodded and Ranma smiled, "Don't worry, this won't hurt you in the least."

He bit the end of his index finger and drew a seal over the boy's heart with his own blood, then he started some hand seals and placed his palm over the seal. The blood seal started to glow, and slowly became ingrained into his skin, before disappearing. "Now remember this carefully, when the time comes, that seal will resurface again and when it does, you'll be set free of your curse forever..." Ranma then looked down and reached into his pocket, "Here I thought you..." He trailed off when he saw that his patient was gone, "I thought you might want a lollipop."

"Geez, it was sour apple too," Ranma shrugged and popped the lollipop into his mouth, "Oh well, as long as I know the kid's alright now..." He stopped when he saw a familiar candy wrapper on the ground, and bent down to pick it up. He smiled as he inwardly read what was written on it, "Kimimaro, that's my name."

A short while later, he went back to the forest to get his friends and perhaps search for his elusive informant, but when he came upon the campsite, all he found was a destroyed wreck. "Was it Mizukage...?!" Ranma wondered in worry as he looked around to see several trees, the ground, and even rocks cut apart. Just what the hell happened... he then heard angry yelling and the sound of metal clashing nearby and quickly ran towards it.

Ranma jumped from tree to tree, followings the sounds, and eventually saw several figures fighting each other. He easily recognized Natsumi and Haruko, but was surprised to see who the other two figures were, 'Talk about lucky, I don't even have to look for them now. Uh-oh...' He quickly shot off a basic Katon-jutsu and hit the side of the man's giant sword which altered its course, causing it to narrowly miss its target, 'That was close. Sheesh, I see his style hasn't changed much, just pure destruction.'

He leapt through the forest to land right in the middle of Natsumi, Haruko and the other two ninjas. "Well, well, I didn't think you two were still alive, usually it's so noisy and messy when you're around so I presumed that you both died..." Ranma chuckled, as both the man's and boy's eyes widened in shock.

"You... why the hell are you here......?"

"...Ranma-san?"

After awhile of silent shock, the larger man smirked in amusement and put away his sword, "I just didn't feel like going out, but you're right it has been too quiet lately, in other words dull and boring. Maybe I should shake things up a little."

The smaller boy just gently smiled, "Ranma-san, we were in hiding about a few days ago, but then he decided to go out and watch the battle between the Kaguyas and Mist-ninjas.

"Really now? That's not like you, you usually do more than just watch. Could it be that you've lost your blood-thirstiness?!" Ranma sarcastically gasped as he walked up to the older man, who just scoffed at the allegation. "Shut the hell up, there was just no point in me entering the war-zone," He cackled darkly and lick his lips, "After all, they were doing such a wonderful job of covering the island with all that delicious red blood. I felt it was only polite not to interfere in their fun..."

Ranma just rolled his eyes, while Haruko and Natsumi continued to look on in confusion and a little bit of fear. Not that they were scared or anything, oh no, but every aspect about this man, from the way he dressed to the way he talked seemed to scream out death......

"This is rather convenient though, now I don't have to waste my time blindly searching for you guys," Ranma smirked as he patted the boy's head while the man grinned maniacally, "In any case, it's been a long while...... Zabuza-san."

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Author's Comments (R&R)
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There we go!!! Momochi Zabuza is finally in the story!!! At first I wanted to introduce him and Haku fighting against some mist-ninjas but I thought this way sounded a little bit better, at least it set the stage.

I don't really have much to say about this chapter, other than that the next chapter will reveal more information on Mizukage. I didn't really like this chapter, it felt too much like a filler, but hey at least I got to name all those yummy foods. I apologize for that by the way, but I absolutely adore food and I simply got carried away, and trust me it wasn't easy finding out the names of those pasta dishes. Oh yeah, Natsumi ate around 75 courses, Haruko 125 courses, and Ranma ate the most with 200 courses.

That medical seal on Kimimaro, you won't be seeing the effects of that happening in this story because this is going to be about Ranma's life. Nearly everything that happened in canon, including Kimimaro's "first" appearance will happen in my other story, which will basically be a rewrite of Naruto. But that story doesn't look like it'll come to light until way, way, way later, so just be patient.

Also I know that philosophy of losing made no sense, but in a way it is true, at least to me it is. If you lose, then that just means you just have to get better. And yes, I know the mountain analogy was cheesy and lame, but I couldn't really think of anything else.

Oh yeah, and don't expect Ranma to use puns all that often, I'm not really too good with them as you can tell. The most I can do is probably rip off other people's...

As for the medical kinjutsu, just think about it, if there was a medicine that could cure any and all diseases, and supply of it was low, what do you think everyone is going to do... they're going to start attacking people who do have the medicine and take theirs. You can deny it all you want, but everyone knows that people would be rioting in the streets if word got out that there was a cure for cancer but there was only a limited amount.

Right now, I'll explain the training that Haruko was doing, in this exercise you basically use only one hand, and in this case she was using her left hand. You have to touch a squirrel's back with any of your fingers, while at the same time catching leaves before they touch the ground. She alternated between hands everyday to balance things out, this training may sound simple but she did this without the usage of chakra, spent most of the day and night doing it, and to top it off she was weighing 50 pound ankle weights and 20 pound wrist weights.

I'll explain more about Ranma's fear of killing later on, I'm surprised that I actually thought this up, it ties in so well with everything too. Plus, it makes sense that's more important. As for why it took three weeks for 2 and 1/2 elite ninjas to find some people, they procrastinated a lot, it's not like the Mizukage really set up a deadline. Ranma and Natsumi wanted to pick up some trinkets for their family, and Haruko just loved to shop like any 12-year old girl does, plus they toured around a lot even though nearly everything was a wreck.