Shinobi One-Half

Chapter 2

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of Reality Part 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

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Some would ask, having seen the definitions of reality between the two universes involved, a few questions.

One of which, is what would be the difference between Bijuu and Raiju.

The answer would be very simple.

Raiju, by their very nature, are elemental beings. They exist as fire or lightning, and are companion beasts of Lord Raijin, the Shinto God of Lightning. They are rumored to sleep in human navels, and be mostly harmless, unless the skies make them restless.

Bijuu are somewhat similar, but are not limited to existing as either lightning or fire. The elements that form them have no limit or range, though they are made more of the energy of life, than a Raiju.

But that is not to say a Raiju cannot become a Bijuu.

The Tanuki and Cat Raiju who were blessed by Raijin as his favorites, who chose to be sealed alongside the demon Byel, and were told by their Lord, even as they laid sealed, how to leave when the final seal was broken, could fall into this category.

One item that describes a Bijuu is power. The more tails a Bijuu has, the stronger they are in terms of raw power. Like all things, having power and knowing how to use it are two different things.

It is often why many mythical creatures need either a boost or a blessing to achieve higher levels, and why many times, they can be defeated by those with much less power than they possess.

That is why a Tanuki Raiju can grow in power and strength to be a Gobi—a five tailed beast. It is why a Cat Raiju can become a Rokubi—a six tailed beast. By being blessed by Raijin, they were able to overcome their limits. By learning and fighting for their Lord, they grew in power and in skill.

This was rare in itself. Most cat spirits never grew beyond Nibi—two tails. Even then, they were often tricksters, much like the Tanuki and Yoko. It was even rarer for a female Tanuki no less, to reach such levels with their Lord. Often, a female Tanuki would stay hidden in the forests, within the domain the tanuki will choose for a lair.

In effect, these two could be called the first Bijuu of the world of Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo.

It is also why the two sought a human with a kind heart to watch over the two they had rescued. Their jump was not meant to cross the void of existence, to cross time and space to a different universe. It was merely meant to take them to the spot their former temple had been at, a place where their Lord had first elevated them above all other Raiju, and even blessed their union.

Therefore, it was a surprise to them as well that being as close as they had to the all-consuming abyss had propelled them far beyond where they had intended to go. Far removed from their Lord and his home, they waited, wondering and hoping either for a way to return, or a sign from their Lord as to what to do.

So they chose to save the humans, give them a chance in this new world, and slumber within their bodies.

Of course, that was not the fear within the Rokubi. No, his fear was of his mate, and what terror she might release, as she lay resting within the female human vessel.

The only thing he could do was try and warn the male within the only connection they could communicate with: the world of the mind.

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She was hardly one to live her life with regret. In truth, she rarely regretted anything she ever did. Not sending her family into poverty, not selling Ranma-chan handkerchiefs, not selling Ranma to pay off those gambling debts in Hong Kong, not supporting Tatewaki Kuno’s obsession, and not allowing her rival to fall to his near death over a bet of ten yen.

She did regret a few situations where she could have gotten more money for said actions. But such was the way of business, hindsight is always 20-20.

Regret required emotional investment of sorts into the issue at hand. And if there was one thing the Ice Queen was good at, it was keeping her emotions in check. Despite the many situations that she had fallen into where her life had the potential to end, she was proud to have remained cool under the massive pressure.

But then, those situations always had the chance to end well.

Falling towards a black hole doesn’t offer much in the way of a victory, even with Ranma Saotome holding onto you. There are some forces one cannot overcome, and she felt that despite any protests to the contrary he would have made, a black hole was a force even he couldn’t defeat.

When death is a certainty beyond any shadow of a doubt, beyond any hope of rescue from, it is often then that people begin to reflect on their lives. Some say it is a reminder of what sins we have done, before we meet judgment. Others say it is a final review by the mind, to see what sort of life we have lived, and if we were happy with it.

And what did she first notice?

I should have charged more interest on that loan.

But such a death slowly pulls off the layers we place onto ourselves, shows an inner self that many repress or forget, the innocent child many of us once were.

Those photos were worth way more than Kodachi paid.

Some of us take longer to find that inner child.

“An interesting girl you are,” said a new voice. “Even now, you still fight to not change your ways, even facing death. It shows a great deal about your character.”

Nabiki opened her eyes; expecting to see some version of an afterlife, either puffy white clouds or a burning abyss. If it was the latter, she felt safe; since technically, she owned a few souls if she recalled in several debts.

But she merely saw herself, surrounded by darkness. “Well, this is new.”

“What child? Were you expecting all-consuming flames, eternal torment, or someone with a staff showing you off to reincarnation?

“Trust me, if the latter was true, then I doubt very seriously it would be long before a child stepped on you and returned you here.”

Nabiki looked around, trying to spot the voice. “You seem to be certain I will end up badly off in the next world.”

“My type are far more familiar with what awaits your human existence when a Shinigami claims your soul than a human is, child. Then again, we usually understand karma, as well as have first hand experience with such.”

“And I should be worried about such things, why exactly?” asked Nabiki, still trying to locate the source of the strange voice. “After all, if I’m alert enough to have this conversation with you, then I must still be alive.”

The voice seemed to chuckle at that. “Smart and self-assured, but your ego, your will, your desires... No, these are not things befitting a human whom we have saved.”

“So you plan to change me somehow?” asked Nabiki.

“No child.

“But you will change yourself, especially if you hope to survive here...”

Nabiki had no time to ask what she meant, before the world went dark once again, and thought faded to dreams.

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The two men who were the labeled Third Hokage and the soon-to-be sworn in Fourth Hokage, sat within the office, as they talked about their new guests.

“These are very strange Bijuu, if that was what they were,” said Sarutobi, as he looked over the sketches that Minato had provided about the two creatures they had met.

The blond nodded, leaning against the wall, as his predecessor sat at the desk. “You never hear of them taking such care with a human, let alone two.

“Then again, I never heard of a Rokubi Neko or a Gobi Tanuki either, let alone a female tanuki.”

The old man nodded. “Are they perhaps sealed within the humans?”

“If so, no one has been able to find them,” said Minato. “Usually, you can feel their taint within a chakra coil if you look hard enough. But the medics found nothing odd or different within their coils.”

“They must have some connection to the humans,” said Sarutobi.

“If they do, they’ll reveal it in time,” said Minato, as he stretched his tired form. “I better go get cleaned up. The formal ceremony will begin in a few hours.”

Sarutobi nodded. “Between this mission, Orochimaru’s defection, and these unheard of Bijuu, I must say I don’t envy you in what awaits the new Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.”

“Sure, leave me an easy job,” chuckled Minato, as he left the office.

Sarutobi sighed, as he looked over the files. With no evidence, he would have to inform the ruling council that the two were not Jinchuuriki. At the very least, it would keep those like Danzo away from them ... he hoped. But he wasn’t going to count that to be true. Danzo always had a way of finding things out that were supposed to be hidden.

The second problem was then what to do with them. Minato did agree to take them into the village, meaning they were now citizens.

But as such, they would have to face certain requirements. They didn’t need to be ninjas, but their ... backgrounds now demanded a serious chance at the job.

But that in itself may not end up being a problem. He didn’t know where the boy came from, but he was very strong in ... something that was similar to chakra, close to jounin levels if the medical report was accurate. If the boy decided to join the village, he would prove valuable to them. Already, though they had made no comment about what it was that excited them so, a few medical nin informed him that the boy’s blood had ‘several interesting properties.’

Sadly, that alone could mean anything. Some medic nin tended to get excited over the smallest of discovers, and act as if they had cured death. Somehow, they refused to understand that a new medical jutsu to deal with ingrown toenails was not a vital discovery.

Well, maybe if you had an ingrown toenail it was, but that wasn’t the point.

But any questions about what they found as well as the source of that information would have to wait. The boy was experiencing what was very similar to chakra exhaustion. But he was recovering quickly. They had only been able to guess at what his energy limits might be due to certain techniques to test if a captured enemy was as strong as they pretended to be.

Until then, their most likely source of information would have to be the female who had accompanied him. She didn’t show anything else than extreme shock and thus she would be waking up before the boy.

He just had to be careful. “I better let Ibiki know. He’s one of the best at reading people.”

Nodding, the Third Hokage stood, and looked over his office. Soon, it wouldn’t be his anymore. After today, it would be Minato’s, and he would be the first Hokage of the Leaf ever to retire.

“Sometimes, it is better to let the younger generation take the reigns,” he said smiling, as he shut off the light, and left to fetch the ANBU interrogator. “It’ll be nice not to have these headache’s falling into my lap.”

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He had no name, had never had a name, even when he was in direct service of his Lord Raijin. But for all who would see him in this world, they would refer to him as the Rokubi no Neko.

And he was not having a good day.

He had no doubt that his mate was conversing with the female. They had anchored themselves to the humans, allowing them to rest up should they wish to return to their world and time.

Not that he had a single clue how. He was as shocked as his mate that instead of a teleport that would be a few days’ journey from the former temple, it had ended up into another world, and seriously drained for their troubles.

But Rokubi could understand that something had happened, and he knew he had a duty to his Lord as well as the human he was now anchored to, to inform him of what had occurred.

“Meow!”

Sadly, said human had shifted in the dream realm from a mortal human form to a cat-like mix, more of a cheetah-man, if he remembered the tales of his mortal brethren that he had heard of. And now said cheetah-man was hopping around a mental field, chasing mental butterflies.

“Why do I always get the problem cases,” the Raiju/Bijuu growled. “Can’t I ever have a normal human to converse with?”

With that, he leapt after the cheetah-man, determined to discover why the human had submerged his humanity for such a state, and then drag him back from it for a chat.

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Nabiki slowly woke up, her head feeling as if she was having a major hangover; reminding her of the one time she had desired to deal with a bad day of bets by consuming her father’s stock of alcoholic beverages.

I don’t know whether or not to be upset. If whatever I drank made me have those dreams, I wonder what I did before I passed out.

Well, whoever was with me is bound to tell me the truth ... if they know what’s best for them.

“Awake, I see.”

She blinked, focusing on the voice. Eventually, she was able to make out an elderly man in robes, sitting beside a standing man, who had long scars across his face. “Um ... a little bit.”

“Good,” nodded the elderly man. “Perhaps you can tell us who you are.”

“I’m Nabiki Tendo. Where am I?”

“Konoha Medical Corp,” said the old man. “I am Hokage Sarutobi, and this is Morino Ibiki.” The old man motioned to a man standing beside him with a face slightly scarred.

Nabiki nodded. “How can I help you?”

“We would like to know how you came to our little world,” said Sarutobi. “It is not every day Bijuu come to us and ask that we watch over humans.”

Nabiki blinked. She didn’t have a clue what Bijuu were, but she did catch most of what they said. Apparently, she did not end up trapped inside the Black Hole, if that had not been a liquor induced dream. And if it wasn’t, then someone must have snuck her some of her younger sister’s cooking, for her to hallucinate this. “So they were real?” she asked, trying to buy time.

“What was real?” asked Ibiki. He didn’t like the look of the girl; her entire body language just spoke of half-truths and deception.

“A five tailed Tanuki and a six tailed Neko?” she asked.

“We were hoping you might be able to explain that to us,” said Sarutobi. “We do have a multitude of questions for those who were moved across space and time by gentle Bijuu.”

Nabiki slowly nodded, her mind working quickly. She had to fight the urge to stick out her hand and demand some yen for any answers. While the old guy put out the appearance of a caring grandfather-type, she knew enough about such people in Nerima to recognize when they had serious power at their fingertips. And this guy was screaming out to that sense.

Not to mention the scarred man standing beside him, looking like a common thug, but even he didn’t feel right to her. She caught a glimpse of his eyes. The guy was no mental-midget, there was a cold calculating mind behind those eyes. No, he was a cold man who was at least one level above her in how to deal with people.

So for once, she decided that telling the complete and unabridged truth would probably be the best course of action.

Hell, a first time for everything, I guess.

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“So,” said Sarutobi, as they left Nabiki’s room, “what do you make of her story?”

“Truthful for the most part,” said Ibiki, walking beside the Third Hokage. “But it is a little farfetched to believe. Bijuu sealed with a demon, a black hole sucking it away, ending up in another world.”

“And yet it does support why they were never heard of before,” said Sarutobi. “Bijuu from another world, saving humans and bringing them to our world through some cosmic accident... I must say while it is highly unusual, I find myself believing it.”

“We still need to interrogate the other one,” said Ibiki. “I would rather have confirmation before believing anything they say.”

“Well, the male ... Ranma, I believe she called him, should still be recovering from chakra or ‘ki’ exhaustion,” he said, looking over the notes he had had written down from the interview. He had heard rumors that chakra was called ki in some places. But they never invested much research into it. But given that Ranma’s chakra seemed ... slightly off, it could explain much about how the abilities were related. And if the boy could learn to shift that same energy into chakra... They were definitely jounin-level reserves, perhaps even close to Kage-levels.

But perhaps he was getting too far ahead of himself. Who was to say the boy would stay?

“I do think she was not being completely honest about her relationship with the boy,” said Ibiki.

“The engagement?”

The scarred ANBU nodded. “A deal with a family for him to marry her sister, and yet the engagement was passed to her for a while... And then to claim that they were close enough that she wanted to stay with him here...”

“I agree, not exactly a functional family unit, it would seem,” said Sarutobi.

“If need be, I can ... improvise,” smirked the ANBU.

“Perhaps,” said the Hokage. His gentle spirit didn’t mean he would hold on getting needed information if it held the chance of protecting the village. He might not want to do it, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

“Anyway,” he said, dismissing the topic for the moment—after all, the girl wasn’t a ninja, and had very little to no chance of escaping the hospital—his mind switched to another topic, “I need to head off to the office of Medical Hospital Chiefs. They said they found something ... interesting in the blood-workups of the two. And Minato wants me there as well.”

“Anything dangerous?”

“I doubt they would have delayed telling me if it was.”

“With those guys, you never know,” said Ibiki, as he left. He had the examination of the interview to go over, and to check for some mental techniques that he might be able to use to break the girl further if they needed it.

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“Excuse me?” asked Sarutobi, not believing his ears.

“Just what I said,” said the medic-nin, Karada. “The boy shows an amazing high genetic similarity to Uchiha clan members, especially in relation to their bloodline.”

“The boy can access Sharingan?” asked Minato, eyes wide.

“Not likely,” said Karada. “While he had many of the needed genes, he doesn’t have all of them. If I were to make a guess, I’d have to say that in his world, his lineage may be producing their version of it.”

“If the Uchiha hear about this, they’ll stop at nothing to get the boy married into their clan,” said Sarutobi.

“And the girl?”

“Nowhere near the amount of genetic markers as the male,” said Karada, going over his notes. “But she does have several markers as well.”

“Great,” muttered Minato. “So not only do we have to protect them from outsiders, but we need to keep this little secret from getting out as well?” He didn’t like the way this was going. Even if the potential wasn’t realized for generations, just the potential’s existence would be enough to have the clan heads drooling. It was going to be hard enough on the two just because of how they had arrived. The newest Hokage didn’t doubt for a moment that the news of how that had happened would have reached certain ears by now. That just wasn’t a secret that could be kept.

This one however, would need to be. While not public knowledge, even he knew how family politics pushed for children to ‘choose’ an Uchiha. The same would probably happen to the children of the Hyuga clan, except the issues surrounding the Branch family put a damper on that.

And these two had no such family backing to help them, save the Fourth who had sworn to two very powerful Bijuu—or where they Raiju like the girl claimed?—to protect them from selfish interests. And the idea that they were possible Jinchuuriki would not divert them all. In fact, the possible power boost from that would only serve to entice them further.

“This is classified to the highest level,” said Minato, “on penalty of death. When the two are healed, we will discuss it with them then. But until then, I don’t want anyone outside this room to know what we have discovered. I want every bit of information you have on this, blood samples and all, brought here to be secured.”

Karada was a bit hesitant. After all, this was career-making news. But he also valued his life, and the phrase ‘penalty of death’ wasn’t exactly something a Hokage threw around lightly. “As you wish,” he said, quickly departing the office. He hadn’t even had time to tell them about something else odd about the male’s cells. But there were still several tests waiting on that. Luckily those didn’t involve those sections of the DNA now restricted. Hopefully, I can get public credit for something out of this.

“I think I’ll beef up security around the two,” mumbled Minato. “Somehow, I worry that this secret already has gotten out.”

He had no idea how truly right he was.

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It had been by bare luck alone that he had stumbled across the paperwork about the two newcomers to the village. Even more so the whispers by several of the Jounin, who returned from their mission with the newly proclaimed Hokage, had alerted him to the possibility that they might even possess an unknown Bijuu.

Oh, the chance for money was ripe in the air. How many villages would pay for them? Connections to a Bijuu, possible developing bloodline limit?

He would have to act quickly though. He had no doubt that others had heard of either bit of news, maybe even both sets of news, as he had.

Funuke wasn’t a member of any major clan, nor a skilled shinobi. It was one of the major reasons why he went into the medical fields. After all, doctors and nurses had less chance of being sent into a danger zone than a simple Chuunin.

But pay was lousy, and chances of advancement kept slipping through his fingers. His newest supervisor was ten years his junior!

So perhaps it was time to go into a new line of work. Surely a prize such as one of the two would be more than enough to set him up well. He heard that Moon Country was beautiful all year long. And it wasn’t like there would be a long search needed to find a village that would pay. No, the only problem on that front would be making sure one got paid, and one didn’t end up dead from the deal by the other party. After all, funds for such a ... purchase ... were not going to be small. Many would either have to send a messenger to their Lord to get the funds—as if any Lord of any country would not jump at the chance to add such to their ninja village—or raid their funds to near poverty levels. No, he’d have to choose those carefully.

But he also needed a target. Both were good. If a true Bijuu did reside within them, or some other type of powerful entity, then it could only serve to enhance their bloodline. There had been tales of some Jinchuuriki who had been bred. And while the stories on the results of such swung wildly with half truths and outright lies, they did show great promise, perhaps such having been the cause of the development of kekkei genkai.

And if one of them did have the potential for Sharingan, one of the most desired bloodlines, what would a Bijuu-boosted progeny produce?

“But which one?” he mumbled. After all, he couldn’t be greedy. Sneaking one out was dangerous enough, forget two.

The male was obviously the better choice. His genetics were far closer to achieving the prized kekkei genkai than the girl. As such, he would fetch a higher price.

But he would also be more heavily guarded. Add to that the files showing the boy was already very powerful... No, taking the boy would be foolish and too risky. Even if he could use the special genjutsus he knew to break the boy’s spirit so he could be easily transported.

No, the girl would be an easy choice. Her room could be easier accessed than the boy’s, and she could easily be sneaked out. Given the fact she was not suffering from a form of chakra exhaustion—and thus less likely to die by a pitiful means during the trek to sell her off—made her the best investment.

Smirking, he just had one thing left to figure out: how to get her out of the room without the ANBU guard noticing his kidnapping her or her missing.

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It took patience to wait for the right guards to be posted. Teams were almost a set pattern for ninjas in Konoha. With the exception of high-priority missions, one’s team rarely changed, and that one team would be your main group for years or decades to come.

He had a special team in mind, one whom he had worked on several times in their recovery from missions. After all, one never knew when he might need an ANBU group to ‘miss’ spotting him. It took years of work, since one slipup meant you were then interrogated by those ANBU.

After that team took guard duty on the girl’s room, he simply ‘slipped’ a drug into a critical-care patient’s IV. After all, if a critical-care patient suddenly went into cardiac arrest, no one would be too suspicious. But it would divert a large amount of attention away from everything else, especially if the person was important in some way.

Waiting for the medical personnel to rush past his location, he sent a mild chakra spike towards the guarding ANBU team members—one at the door and two outside the window. He had a window of only a few minutes at best before the new blind-spot he had placed in their minds faded away, and with it, any signs of mental tampering or seals. After all, you should never leave them with the how.

Quickly stealing himself into the room, and as quietly as possible—just because the ANBU were blinded to him didn’t mean everyone else was—he made his way to the patient, smirking at the fact she was sleeping. Holding up rope made by ANBU to reduce the abilities of captured foes to use chakra by disrupting it, he delivered a quick sedative to her, before her eyes could even open in shock.

He had hoped it would be this easy, perhaps even luck would favor him and allow him to get the boy. But that child had a second ANBU team covering him, and he had only supported the one guarding the female now.

“Oh well, the money will more than make up for it.”

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Funuke dropped the bound girl to the forest floor, glad to be rid of her weight for the moment. She may not have been heavy, but he had used a good bit of chakra to both hide their presence, and to expedite their escape into the surrounding forests.

Nabiki was beginning to come around herself, the drugs slipped to her starting to finally burn off due to changes she herself was yet to be made aware of.

“Awake I see.”

Her eyes slowly focused on the source of the voice, as her body was already telling her that movement was not much of an option for the moment. She could only glare at the man who had tied her up like that. I really wish Akane was here, this is her shtick.

“You’re going to make me very rich, you know that?”

Why do these bad guys always have to explain their plans? I mean, even on a new world, are their egos always in the need of stroking?

“But I can’t have you ... resisting.”

Nabiki cocked her head to the side. How was he going to keep her from resisting? Tying the victim up as tightly as she was bound was always a good start. Threats? Obviously, not a bright boy, in her opinion.

He smirked as he lowered himself so he could stare in her eyes. “One good thing about research, never a shortage of subjects when you need to test a new genjutsu.”

Nabiki blinked slightly at that, not understanding the term. After all, odd phrases like that had always been Ranma’s problem to learn.

“Let me show you my own version of Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu,” he said with a smirk. “Trust me; it will be a ... personable experience.” Plus, it would give him time to poke around and not only discover if she had a Bijuu inside of her, but what she knew about it as well.

Nabiki almost snorted, before her world shot into pure pain.

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“They have taken her!”

Ranma winced a bit, coming forcibly into the waking world by a loud yell. “Huh? Wazzit?”

“THEY HAVE TAKEN HER!” yelled the voice.

He winced again. “Who got taken?”

“My mate, your female friend! Can you not sense their distress? Can you not feel their pain?”

Ranma slowly sat up, hissing slightly as his body shifted. Looking around, he noticed he was in some hospital room, and that a few people were around the outside of it. Who was the voice talking about?

He grabbed his head as an image thrust itself to the forefront of his mind painfully. “This girl!”

He saw the smirking face of Nabiki.

“Damn it,” he muttered. If Nabiki was in danger, despite how much he might have liked to let her have a taste of the pain she often took amusement in and caused to happen to others, he knew it wasn’t right.

That and Mr. Tendo would have his ass.

“Save them now and you shall be rewarded, fail in this quest, and punishment shall be yours!”

Ranma sighed. Great, even voices in his head were threatening him now and demanding he do something. “I can’t catch a break.”

Heading over to a nearby window, he opened it and took off, never even noticing the surprised looks of the Jounin guards as he took off at a high rate of speed, following where he could sense Nabiki’s aura coming from.

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The Rokubi no Neko growled as it dumped what little remained of its available energy into the host body, causing it to glow a golden blue, fueling the quest to seek the container of its mate.

It had taken much energy already to awaken the tired warrior, his own energy needing more time than available to even be conscious, let alone seek the troubled woman and her kidnapper.

But it was not without its own dangers, even if he had not mentioned it to his host. Raiju were beings of energy given form, and one could not use that energy without succumbing to that form’s will.

And if not careful, the will of the form would overcome the will of the host.

The only outward sign of it occurring was the sign of the wild aura about the pigtailed boy slowly shifting ... and taking the form of a running creature.

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“STOP IT!” cried Nabiki, as she tried to stand, the rush of images tearing into her psyche.

“Tell me what I want to know!” demanded the fake-Kasumi. “Tell me and I will make it all better.”

“Worthless whore!” yelled fake-Soun, as he backhanded Nabiki, sending her across the room. “You’ll give up anything for a price, won’t you? You would sell you family, your honor... I bet you’ve even sold yourself!”

Nabiki cringed, trying to block the voices out. She knew they weren’t real, couldn’t be real. These weren’t the people she knew, she played like a puppet master. Her father was a weak fool who could never pull off the stuff this one was. Her sister never had a sinister smirk as she demanded answers for questions she never asked.

She struggled against the images, against the emotions they seemed to unleash at her, despite her attempts to throw them off. Even if it wasn’t supposed to be real, even if she knew it wasn’t real, it sure as hell felt real. Every punch, every slap, every poke, even the stench of their breathes felt real to her senses.

What was going on? Why was this happening to her? How come none of those goody-goody martial artists were coming to help her? She had lost track of how long she had been in this Hell, her mind just trying to fight away the demons as they reached into her, creating more fear, self-loathing, anger, and a host of other emotions that she tried to stomp on.

More of the fake people appeared, surrounding her. Their voices continued to grow, drowning out her thoughts, as she fell to the ground once more, covering her ears, even though it offered no respite from the screams.

Please...

Please make it stop...

Please, someone, anyone ... make it stop!

“So now you grow?”

She paused a bit, hearing that strange voice again. Nabiki slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see the raging faces of those images that had been tormenting her, only to find herself ... surrounded by darkness, a light upon her, as if she was a lone actor, receiving the full spotlight on the stage.

“Time is short, and that fool will soon notice that the you he is tormenting is not the true you.”

Nabiki blinked slowly. “I don’t understand.”

“Somehow, the tormentor is peaking inside your head, trying to locate either myself, or something to use against the male who saved you.”

Nabiki cringed a bit. Great, I got dragged into this by Ranma-baby.

“This happened because of greed much like your own, not because of any association with your friend,” spat out the voice. “But I can help you, but this act of kindness is not without cost. I will need your word that you will do one favor for me. Do you accept?”

“Depends on what the favor is,” said Nabiki, enough of her old habits leaking in to her disarrayed mind to keep her from making a blind promise. After all, such fool’s acts were what others did, not her. She always wanted to know what she was in for when she made any deal.

“Smart ... I like you, human. Very well, we shall leave the favor for debate ... for now. But I do believe we have an intruder to deal with.”

With those words, the Gobi no Tanuki slowly faded into a fiery light, as it flowed over Nabiki’s form.

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“GET ... OUT!”

Funuke found himself literally thrown away from the girl, the genjutsu breaking from the massive wave of energy. “What ... what the hell was that?” he gasped, his body winded from the surge and poor attempt he had made to maintain the jutsu, a aura quickly surrounding the girl, before she collapsed to the ground.

“My mate defending her home.”

He turned around, tossing several kunai at the voice, exploding tags trailing them to add further injury.

But they disappeared into the shadows of the woods, no explosion going off.

“Nice little tricks, you have, ninja,” came the cold voice. “If those had actually done anything, I might have been ... delayed in killing you.”

Before Funuke could even wonder what the hell was going on, a golden blue aura appeared before him, a smirking male—the very one he had been unable to procure due to the heavier guard—was standing before him, holding all of the tossed kunai, the explosive tags dangling uselessly below them.

But the image was far from normal. The eyes ... the pupils were slitted, like that of a wild animal. The aura surrounding him did not appear universal—surrounding him equally from every angle. No, it was forming a shape ... a shape of a cat, a multitude of tails standing straight, the cat aura appearing to be ready to pounce on him. “What the hell are you?” cried out the man, as he tried to back away from the demon.

“Your executioner,” smirked the figure, raising an arm, an act mirrored by the cat-aura. “For hurting her, for endangering my mate, DIE!”

No name for the attack was called, no sign whether or not it had come from the aura-cat’s extended paw, or the extended hand of the human. All that Funuke knew was that a ball of chaotic energy had shot forth from that area, and before he could move, before he could even think of countering the attack, it had already lanced through him, ripping through his chest, causing pain to scream out in his mind, as his corpse fell to the ground.

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The ANBU group who had followed the speedy man looked on in shock. Only those that had ever witnessed the Fourth Hokage or Jiraiya use the Rasengan could even fathom such an attack. They had arrived only to catch the last bit of the slaughter.

But they showed no fear, maintained their quiet, even as the cat-aura-man looked at them.

“Return these two to your hospital, but keep them together,” it said in a fading voice, before it winked away, and the figure it had encompassed collapsed to the ground unconscious once more.

The ANBU hopped to the forest floor, being careful not to arouse any suspicion.

“No one’s going to believe this,” said the monkey-masked ANBU.

“Let’s just get them back,” said the hawk-masked ANBU. “Too bad about Funuke; I know Ibiki would have loved to question him.”

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A few hours later...

“Nabiki?” asked Ranma. After he had finally come to, and still feeling exhausted, he went to her side, wanting to make sure she was okay. Sure, she had been a general pain in the ass from Day One, but he didn’t want to see her seriously injured.

The brown-haired girl sat on the medical bed, head setting on her knees, staring out the window. She appeared to not hear him, not even having a clue how she had returned to the medical room, nor the mental state to notice such.

“Nabiki?”

“Saotome?” came the weak reply.

“The Doc said you’ll be okay,” said Ranma, cautiously approaching the Tendo girl. “That genjutsu attack didn’t permanently scramble anything.”

“Doesn’t change what I went through,” she replied, her eyes still focused on the window.

Ranma stayed quiet for a bit, unsure what he was supposed to do at a time like this. “You gonna be okay?”

“I had a lunatic enter my head and torture me with my own thoughts, memories, and fears. I’m just going to be peachy, Ranma,” she growled out. “How the fuck do you think I feel?”

“Probably like me after I wake up from the Nekoken,” he said jokingly.

“This is nothing like that,” she spat out. “I didn’t wake up on someone’s lap, afraid of what I’d done when I was out of it. I had some freak mess with my head, attack me, demean me...” she trailed off, her eyes taking on a more haunted look.

“Did he—”

“No,” she quickly added. “He ... he just played with me, like a cat with a mouse,” she whispered, not even noticing that Ranma had failed to twitch when she said the c-word.

“I don’t feel exposed, Saotome,” she said. “I make others feel that, I control others. I’m not the victim!” she yelled out.

But the fury died as quickly as it was expressed, her head returning to being buried in her legs.

“Nabiki,” he asked, trying to look at her hidden face. “Are ya ... crying?”

“Shut up, Saotome,” she said, though her voice was uncertain.

“Um...” he added, unsure what to do. True be told, he did wonder if Nabiki could ever seem weak. Here, as in their world, she seemed beyond him at times, using her brain to often do more damage than his own attacks could. How could she seem so ... defenseless, weak?

But his thoughts were stopped when a huge weight slammed into him, forcing him onto the floor. “Wha—”

“Saotome,” came the quiet voice of the new weight, causing him to look down his chest and see that Nabiki now had him in a glomp of Amazon proportions. “Ranma ... just ... just hold me for a bit, okay?”

Ranma nodded slowly, as he gently held her, wishing he knew what he was supposed to do, as he heard the ice finally crack, and the former Queen sob loudly.

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“So,” said Minato, as he looked over the ANBU report on the incident, Sarutobi sitting off to the side, “does Ranma remember?”

“No sir,” said the ANBU agent, his mask that of a bird. “The cat-like persona and aura vanished, leaving him unconscious. When he awoke, he kept asking if we had recovered Ms. Tendo. He had no memories of killing the traitor nin, nor his actions leading up to it.”

“Very good,” said Minato, “leave, and inform the rest of the team that this is not to be discussed, and of the highest secrecy.”

“Yes sir,” said the ANBU nin, before he vanished.

“It would appear that the Bijuu are still connected to them,” said Sarutobi.

“It overshadowed Ranma’s main personality to do so,” said Minato. “It took over, and it killed the ninja.”

“So did the tanuki inside Nabiki,” said Sarutobi. “I want to know though, why did it not act when she was being tortured with that genjutsu.”

“I don’t know,” said Minato. “Perhaps they are still weak. Until it happened, we didn’t even have any proof that they were even connected to those strange Bijuu that brought them here.”

“It was still strong enough to vaporize that ninja,” said Sarutobi.

“It used Ranma’s power to do so,” said Minato. “If they are relying on the power of the two until their own returns, it would explain why the tanuki did not take over to protect Nabiki; it was still too weak. It waited until Ranma arrived to finish the job. It apparently had just enough energy to kick him out of her mind, and no more. It knew what would happen.”

“So the cat Bijuu inside Saotome...”

“Offered no forgiveness or mercy to the one that harmed his mate, or at least, that’s what it said,” said Minato.

“A cat Bijuu dating a tanuki Bijuu,” sighed Sarutobi, rubbing his forehead. “Glad I’m not the one that has to deal with this.”

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“Report,” said Danzo, as he stood within the secret meeting room of his ‘former’ organization known as Root.

“The blood serums were injected while they were being examined,” said the bear-masked ninja.

“Good,” said Danzo, as he dismissed the ninja. As the man vanished, the elderly man let a smile form on his face.

A man never placed all of his hopes and dreams within one basket, as it were. While the Uchiha were very generous to him, even allowing him entrance into their organization, he didn’t doubt for a moment that they would betray him if the mood suited them.

But the two newcomers, those who might have mysterious ties to previously unknown Bijuu, who had DNA markers that showed potential for Sharingan... He would be a fool not to take advantage of the situation. He was certain that as soon as the Uchiha found out about the potential, the clan would try their hardest to get both Saotome and Tendo into it, even if the Tendo girl’s potential was minimal. That minimal potential alone was almost a guarantee that if she bred with an Uchiha, the child would have a better chance of having the Sharingan bloodline.

He knew he had to be careful though. If the Uchiha suspected he had used some of their blood stores to do this, he could very well awaken to the afterlife one day. The Uchiha Elders were ruthless in their ways.

It was the reason he respected them so; respected, not feared.

The serum would use some medical science to help ‘strengthen’ the bloodline within the two travelers. At the very least, it might allow the Saotome male to actually access the gift within his lifetime. If not, it all but ensured his children would have more potential to call upon it than him.

But it was a huge chance. The serum might not produce any results for days to if ever. Until then, he would bide his time with the Uchiha. They already seemed to have a long-term plan in the works, something that had been attempted once before by them if he could interpret their words correctly, by an Uchiha named Madara.

“Time to see which way is the correct path for the Root of Konoha to follow,” he mumbled, as he headed from the room. He had a meeting to get to at the Nakano Shrine and the Uchiha did not appreciate tardiness.