Well, this is chapter 2, I don’t own Naruto or Ranma. Also I’d like to take this opportunity to thank James Axelrad who has helped with the entire process for this fic as well as all my others.

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Ranma rubbed her temples for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past twenty minutes in an attempt to stave off the upcoming headache. It had been two days after she had woken up from her coma and she was not really feeling much better. Add to that the fact that she was slowly going stir crazy and if it were not for her receiving visitors in the form of the old man, Kakashi and Naruto she felt that she would have snapped by now.

She realized that attempting to stave off her upcoming headache probably a futile effort as she was still laid up in the hospital recovering from her injuries and no matter how much ki she tried to push to her injured areas her body remained stubborn in its efforts to heal. She knew that it was just because of the magnitude of her injury as any head injury was serious and the fact that she had been operated on just made it more severe. With a grimace, she had to admit that she felt like she was making some progress, just not what she felt she was capable of.

Pushing the book on her lap over to the side she sighed as she closed her eyes and laid back to where her head was resting on the standard foam pillow most hospitals use. The book she had been reading was labeled as a standard textbook on the geography of Fire Country and its surroundings. It was frustrating, but for the life of her she could not find a single reference to any area that she was familiar with.

At first glance she had almost thought that she had somehow wound up in Korea or Vietnam, but the fact that there were so many islands off of the main land as well as the fact that the peninsulas were the wrong shape, it didn’t add up. Ranma had also ruled out time travel or her being on a magical island, as for one, the Nan ban Mirror had been destroyed, and two, even if she was on some sort of magically hidden land mass there would be some reference to one of the main continents.

Then there was the fact that every body she had met so far spoke fluent Japanese, and judging from the peeks she took at her chart and the books she had received, wrote it as well. Though that could have just been for her benefit as she had so far only met four people, one of which was a doctor. But to the best of her knowledge the only places that spoke and wrote Japanese as a main language were in Japan itself.

She was slightly concerned though that she had caught glimpses of a guard stationed outside the door of her room, but reasoned that she was in a village run by ninja and her being a stranger would probably cause a certain amount of uneasiness, especially if she arrived the way that she had been told she had.

But what truly worried Ranma was the fact that among the few books she had been given to ascertain her location, one of them spoke of great ninja wars and that was a concept that she was having problems believing. As far as her own knowledge in history went, there had never been any wars within the past century that involved ninja’s on such a wide scale. She was starting to believe that somehow she had been transported someplace else not of her own world, but the entire idea of different worlds was something that she could not wrap her mind around. It just didn’t seem possible to her.

Ranma had even considered for a moment that she had hit her head a little too hard and was experiencing something similar to the last time she hit her head and believed she was a real girl rather than a boy cursed into turning into a girl. She had discounted that rather quickly though as the doctors had left her pigtail intact. Well for the most part, as it was now a bit lopsided from having her head shaved around where they operated. Still though, it was what was in her pigtail that caused her to disbelieve her own amnesia theory as she still had the dragon whisker holding her pigtail together.

Ranma realized that in order to figure out where she was she would have to get out of the village and look at the stars as she knew the northern hemisphere night skies fairly well and knew that there was no way that she was in the southern hemisphere as the toilet water flushed clockwise.

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“How much stuff are we gonna move?”

“I told you Naruto, every thing of yours as well as whatever is deemed safe from what was left of your mothers personal effects.” Kakashi replied for what he thought to be the fiftieth time in the past hour.

“Safe? Huh?”

“Naruto you know what the Hokage said, we are not to tell her anything, she has to remember on her own or we might drive her away. So everything that we give her of hers has to be checked to make sure it does not hold a photo of her or anything else that would make her suspicious.”

“I still don’t see why I had to move.” Naruto complained.

“You had a one bedroom and it was a dump. Besides my apartment is next door.”

“So.”

“Now Naruto, I figured if you were going to continue to train with me then you might want to live a bit closer than across town. If you don’t though…” Kakashi supplied coyly.

“Hey, I didn’t say that.” Naruto stated as his eyes brightened up with the thought of training again with the one eyed Nin. Though he had only had one session in the morning before class Naruto had felt that he had made more progress in that one session than what he would have made on his own in a week. Sure, it didn’t have any magical benefits to helping him with the three academy Jutsu’s that he had to be able to execute without fail, but it was closer than what he would have gotten otherwise.

It was at this time that a thought occurred to Naruto, as his usual youthful exuberance faded from his face he asked, “Why are you doing this for me now?”

Kakashi sighed; he supposed this question would come sooner or later. Setting down the last of the boxes that he was moving he knelt down, squatting to Naruto’s height and said, “I’m not sure. When I found out, I was not pleased with my own actions towards you. I felt like I had let a lot of people down even though I had not known and was sickened by it. After I found out, I thought about it and I decided that while I might not have been there before I could at least try to make it up to you. I know it’s not much but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Normally Naruto was not much for sappiness, but after having his whole world turned upside down with the arrival of his long lost mother, he was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Despite that he still had one more question. Clearing his throat he asked in a tone that seemed to pale in comparison to his usual boisterous self, “Who was my father.”

Kakashi stood up and made his way over to the window. Naruto’s new apartment had been chosen for a few reasons, one is that it was close to Kakashi’s and he would be able to respond quickly if there was a threat. Two, in that it was much larger and in better condition than Naruto’s old place, and three, in that it offered a strait on view of the Fourth Hokage‘s face on the Hokage monument. It was part of the third‘s plan to subtly immerse Kushina in small facets in of her former life. The view was so important as it would by in theory constantly nag at her subconscious every time she looked out the window.

Clearing his throat he began slowly, “Naruto, there are many secrets out there, and while I might not agree with keeping them from you, I do recognize their necessity.”

Naruto huffed, he should have known that no one was going to tell him, hell, he still did not understand why, if Kakashi had been his mom’s best friend, then why did he show up now and not earlier when he was younger.

Kakashi gripped the windowsill with both hands as if to brace himself for what he was about to say. “Naruto? Do you know what makes a good Ninja?”

Naruto scoffed and replied, “Pheh, that’s easy… Awesome Jutsu’s.”

Shaking his head Kakashi replied, “While Jutsu’s are important, the ability to see underneath the underneath is a Ninja’s most valuable resource.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Whined Naruto.

With a heavy sigh Kakashi replied, “It means that sometimes you have to look past the obvious to see the truth.”

“Ahh.”

Putting aside his doubts that Naruto was just humoring him, Kakashi decided to use a different approach and said, “I cannot tell you who your father was right now but I suppose I could point you in the right direction.”

Naruto stood strait ready for some grand hint that would give him further knowledge of his origins and said with all seriousness, “I’ll have this figured out in no time.”

Kakashi chuckled lightly before his face took on a darker look as he said, “It has to do with what happened to your mother.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN…? I ALREADY KNEW THAT… HOW’S THAT SUPPOSED TO HELP ME…” Steamed Naruto.

“It’s all I can tell you at the moment but if you think about what happened you should be able to figure out why it happened.” Replied Kakashi.

Naruto plopped back down on the new couch that had been delivered earlier to pout, as he was not satisfied with Kakashi’s help. Mumbling darkly to himself he paid no heed to one box that was balanced on the edge of the couch and as he shuffled in his seat to show his childish anger he accidentally caused the box to topple over the side of the couch.

Jumping to his feet over the shock of hearing something slam into the floor Naruto turned to the source of the noise and froze in shock as the contents of the box had spilled out onto the floor.

“Ah so that’s where they went.“ Kakashi stated nonchalantly, as if the contents of the box were nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“WHAT THE HELL!!! WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA… SOME PERVERT’S BEEN THROUGH MY MOM’S THINGS.” Naruto yelled, inflamed that somebody would go through his moms stuff.

Placing a restraining hand on Naruto’s shoulder Kakashi said, “Relax Naruto, nobody has been through your mom’s stuff.”

“But that means…”

“Yes, that one day all this would have been yours… You could say this was your inheritance in a way.“ Supplied Kakashi, now visibly smirking through his mask.

Naruto stared blankly at the spilled contents blankly before wondering how a few porno mags, some rather interesting looking things that he assumed to be flashlights and a half empty bottle of something called sex lotion constituted an inheritance.

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Sarutobi sat before the assembled council in silence waiting for them to take in all the information that he had just given them. He knew that some of them would think that he was jumping the gun a bit but there really was no other plausible explanation that did not come out of some sort of science fiction book.

“If I may Hokage-sama.”

Sarutobi gazed over at Danzo, one of the more militant council members and former director of ROOT and said, “Yes Danzo.”

“Are you that certain that this is not some sort of trick by our enemies to get their hands on the boy to turn him against us. I think that perhaps Ibiki should interview her to find out her true motives.”

“I agree with Danzo, and even if she is who she seems to be she could still be here as some sort of plant. I feel that even if she were proven not to be a threat that we should still keep her separated from Naruto. Supplied Homura, a former teammate of the Hokage’s.

Sarutobi sighed, he knew that the council held a lot of prejudices against the boy and wondered if he should disclose Naruto’s father’s identity in an attempt to swing more over to his side. Mentally shaking his head at the idea as he knew that that would only weaken his case as it would make it seem like he was too personally involved to remain objective he replied, “I do not think that that would be a wise idea at the moment…”

“Ahem… If you will pardon my interruption Lord Hokage I would like to make my and my clans position clear.”

“Very well Hiashi.”

“I feel that for now we should do nothing and simply watch her interactions. This way we give her just enough room to hang herself should she prove to be working against Konoha.”

Hushed murmurs filled the council hall as several members of the council wondered why the Hyuuga Clan would support the Hokage in this matter given what had happened several years ago with the man‘s own daughter nearly being kidnapped and robbed of her eyes or worse.

Not wanting the Hyuuga influence to poison the other council members against him Danzo quickly stood and said, “Perhaps we should put this to a vote then….”

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Sarutobi smiled inwardly yet let his face read impassive as he watched the council members file out of the hall. It had been close, but with the Hyuuga’s support, the vote had gone his way.

Soon Sarutobi was alone with in the meeting hall with the exception of Hiashi Hyuuga. He was about to ask the stern family head why he had supported him out of curiosity when the strict man spoke.

“The Hyuuga’s are not blind. With the disclosure of his mother, the father is apparent, as there were only two males that Kushina was seen with on a regular basis. Of course the fact that he seems to be the spitting image of his father was a big hint as well. I will not begrudge the boy a chance to know his family. However, I do hope that you are not mistaken in this matter and letting your feelings for the boy influence your decision.” With that said the usually stern and strict man rose out of his seat and made his way out of the meeting hall leaving Sarutobi alone to reflect on his parting words.

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After waking up from a brief nap, most likely inspired due to her pushing her ki to heal her injuries, Ranma glanced at the clock. Gasping in surprise, she started to maneuver herself into a seated position. The reason being was that the Kid Naruto had said that he would come by after he got out of school for the day.

Normally Ranma would have been indifferent on the matter, but the fact that she was lost someplace and alone was frustrating her, and the fact that somebody was being nice to her and wanted to be around her without claiming eternal love or some sort of engagement was rather refreshing.

From what she knew about Naruto he seemed like a good enough kid. There were all lot of plus’s in his favor as well, for one the kid was barely twelve which meant that he was too young to fixate on her as a love interest. Then there was the way the blond acted, loud and rather care free, in some ways Ranma saw herself in the young blond. But underneath that, Ranma had caught a glimpse of the boy’s ki, or rather what she thought to be ki. But it seemed different than hers.

Actually, the fact that a kid at that age had some sort of power that dwarfed Ranma’s own in comparison was a little bit of a shocker to Ranma as she would have thought it impossible for someone that young. She had tried to utilize more of her senses to get a better look, but had only managed to increase the steady light thump of her nearly constant headache into a full blown migraine as Naruto’s energy seemed to fluctuate as well as having some sort of duality to it.

Her other two normal visitors on the other hand were much easier to read without risking a more severe headache, and much to her relief, a lot closer to her expectations than Naruto was. It was not that the two were weak, not by a long shot, but rather, they were what she felt was more comparable to their ages. Ranma figured the old man to be about as powerful as the old freak, but as far as skill went, well that was a battle she would like to see. The other guy, Kakashi, she figured him to be in his late twenties and power wise seemed to be about par with herself, but skill wise, she was having her doubts as the man was fairly deceptive in his movements. Unless they fought, Ranma would not be sure but placed him at her level at the least.

After cursing her temporarily weakened disposition several times, Ranma finally managed to coax herself into a sitting position. She did not like appearing weak and helpless despite knowing the extent of her injuries. And though she did not really have anywhere to go at the moment, Ranma was hoping that the doctor would release her sometime soon so at least she would not have to stare at the bland walls of the hospital room all day.

Hearing a knock at the door Ranma smiled and called out, “Come in.”

“Hey Ranma.” Chirped a blond ball of energy as he seemingly bounced into the room carrying a duffle bag in one hand.

“Hey Naruto… What’s in the bag?” Ranma asked as she was hoping to see some cool ninja tools or something as she thought that Naruto had just finished with his classes for the day.

“Bag? Oh this bag…” Naruto chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

“No the other one.” Stated Ranma playfully.

Naruto smiled brightly and said, “The old man talked to the doctors and managed to get them to let me take you around the village for a tour…” At that moment Naruto’s smile faded somewhat as he started to show that he was fairly nervous at the moment.

Ranma sat on the bed shell shocked over the offer, as she would have figured that the doctors would want her to stay cooped up in the hospital. She was still having difficulty moving as well as periodic dizzy spells when she tried to do too much. On one hand she did not want to be seen in such a weakened state. She would be unable to defend herself should there prove to be a threat. But on the other hand, she was going a bit stir crazy at the moment as there really was nothing else to do in her hospital room than read. With a grimace Ranma spared a glance to the several textbooks that she had been given to occupy herself with.

Thinking that her head would burst if she was forced to read anymore out of boredom Ranma looked down at herself and took note of the fact that she was wearing a standard issue hospital gown. Looking back up at Naruto she said, “Uhm I guess I could go for a bit, but I really don’t want to have to wear this.”

Naruto smiled brightly glad that his amnesiac mother wanted to spend some time with him and replied, “No prob, the old man was able to get you some clothes. I brought them with me just in case.” Now beaming with pride Naruto held out the bag for Ranma to take.

Ranma took the bag gingerly, hoping that her arm strength wouldn’t fail her and as she brought the bag to her lap. After opening it she began to place the items on the bed so she could see what all there was to wear in the bag. After noting a Kimono which was quickly discarded because Ranma felt that it was a waste of energy to put it on, Ranma came across a loose shirt and pair of baggy pants, the material seemed to be almost as soft as her usual silk outfits. Deciding that it would do for the time being Ranma looked through the pile for something to cover up the fact that a portion of her head had just been shaved.

After going through the bag one more time Ranma sighed in frustration. While she was not a particularly vain person, she was proud of her looks and despite the fact that it was her cursed form, Ranma still held her appearance up to her standards that she kept when male.

Naruto noticing that Ranma was upset about something and worried that he had done something to mess up asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ranma stared at Naruto for a minute to consider her options, as pride was definitely a tender issue in her case. In the end seeing his somewhat dejected worried look had her saying, “It’s just that I was sort of hoping that there was something that would cover up this glaring bald spot on the side of my head.”

“Oh is that all.” Chuckled Naruto sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Noticing the incredulous look that Ranma was shooting, him his eyes lit up and as he made a beeline for the door he called back, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Ranma grinned at the kid’s eagerness to help her feel a bit more comfortable. Back in Nerima it was a rarity for someone to do nice things for her without some ulterior motive. After Glancing at the clock, Ranma wondered briefly if she had time to change before he got back. Shrugging, she figured that she might as well get started changing as she figured she had at the very least five minutes.

Taking one more look down at the pile of clothes, she wondered if she should attempt to wear the underwear as well before noticing that it was a bit too lacy looking for her tastes, “Besides.” She thought, “I’m still in the hospital so whatever I put on I’m going to have to take off later.”

Back in Nerima Ranma might have balked at herself for even thinking about wearing the proper undergarments for her female form, but there were several different reasons as to why Ranma would even consider it without having to be coerced. First and foremost she was not at the moment in Nerima, nor did she have any idea on where she actually was in relation to Japan. Along with that line of thought, Ranma also wanted to fit in and be as normal as possible while still remaining true to herself. That brought up the fact that so far the people she had met had been rather friendly to her, but were under the impression that she was a girl, and though she was not intentionally deceiving them, at the moment she was not looking forward to the moment when she was forced to disclose her curse to the seemingly friendly people as she was wary on what they would think of her once they found out.

There was one other reason though and that was related to her training journey. Ranma felt that with all she had been through, that there was no cure for the curse and that meant she would have to learn to accept herself, especially if she wanted to master her ki as true mastery begins with oneself.

Placing her mind back on the task at hand Ranma struggled to swing her feet over the side of the bed.

After momentarily bracing herself as another wave of dizziness washed over her Ranma began to struggle with removing the hospital gown while cursing her temporarily weakened state.

Ranma had just finished struggling with putting on her clothes when the door burst open revealing a triumphant looking Naruto waving around a section of cloth while pushing a wheelchair.

“I’m back!” Shouted an excited Naruto.

Wincing at the loud voice that had caused her ears to ring, while wondering why chauffeuring her around was making him so excited Ranma stated, “I can see that Naruto.”

Naruto grinned ruefully while holding out the section of cloth and replied, “I got this from Kakashi- sensei. He said you can keep it.”

Taking in the offered cloth into her hand Ranma began folding it like a bandana to cover most of her hair and said, “Where is he anyway? He stopped by earlier to drop off a few books and I sort of wanted tot hank him for them though I haven’t had a lot of time to look them over what with the whole trying to figure out where I am thing.”

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly not wanting to tell Ranma that Kakashi was currently busy putting the finishing touches on their new apartment before he said, “He said he’d meet us for some ramen later.”

At the thought of eating something other than the bland refuse that that the hospital had been serving her Ranma’s stomach let out a low growl. Giving Naruto a smile she said, “I hope we meet up with him soon then cause I’m starving.” Then as if she was noticing the wheelchair for the first time Ranma asked, “Hey Naruto, What’s with the chair?”

Naruto stood silent for a minute as he awkwardly tried to think of a means to tell his amnesiac mother that it was for her before he the matter was taken out of his hands by a gray haired stranger who stated, “It’s for you. You are still recovering and it would be irresponsible for us to allow you to walk around on your own when it could lead to you making things worse for yourself.”

Ranma turned her head slowly so her vision would not go haywire on her and sized up the newcomer. The guy seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties with gray hair and glasses. He wore the standard, or what Ranma assumed to be the standard forehead protector marking him as some sort of ninja.

“Sorry didn’t mean to barge in unannounced but the door was open. Your doctor sent me by to make sure that you understand that if you want to go out for a while you must use the chair.”

Ranma nodded, normally she would have protested but the fact that just getting dressed had taken a lot out of her left her without the strength to argue on the matter.

“Where are my manners? I’m sorry, my name’s Kabuto.”

Ranma nodded slowly and replied simply, “Ranma.”

Naruto deciding that it was his turn to introduce himself proudly stated, “Naruto Uzumaki.”

Kabuto smiled kindly and said, “Well it was a pleasure, but I have duties to attend. See you around, Naruto, Ranma.”

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Once he was in the hallway and out of site of the Anbu guard that was kept stationed outside of Ranma’s door Kabuto smirked as he burned the image of a braless buxom redhead into his mind and thought, “Sometimes I love my job.”

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Back in the room Ranma scowled to herself as Naruto helped ease her into the wheelchair.

Once Ranma was situated Naruto happily chirped, “You ready.”

Ranma had barely been able to get out a reply before Naruto decided to take off.

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In what seemed like a eternity but in reality was only a few minutes Ranma was outside of the hospital and desperately attempting to keep herself from getting sick.

“Sorry bout that Ranma.” Apologized Naruto as he nervously shifted from foot to foot hoping that Ranma was not mad at him for going too fast.

With her breathing under control Ranma waved off Naruto’s concern with, “No problem Naruto, just wasn't expecting you to go so fast, I still get a little dizzy when I move around… Just try to go a bit slower.”

Naruto nodded happily as all his previous nervousness washed away to be replaced with a beaming smile.

“So where to?”

“Huh?” Replied Naruto.

“You said something about showing me around and meeting Kakashi for some Ramen later.” Reminded Ranma as she took her first real good look at the village of Konoha.

The village seemed to have an odd mixture of buildings, ranging from more modern looking structures to older more classical designs, not that Ranma was an expert on architecture. In the distance she could see a large tower that looked over the village. For the backdrop there was a large Cliffside with four faces carved into reminiscent of Mt. Rushmore in America, Ranma having seen the American national landmark in his world history text.

Ranma was snapped out of her inspection as she noticed that she was moving again. Angling her head to look behind her she noticed Naruto happily pushing her along through the streets of Konoha.

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Ranma sat silently deep in thought as she waited for Naruto to come back outside with whoever he wanted her to meet.

Even though the tour so far had been brief and basically involved the way from the hospital to the school that Naruto went to Ranma was still able to get a synopsis of it.

As far as villages went it seemed normal enough but Ranma had noticed a few things that were slightly alarming to her. For one thing the sheer amount people walking around with average to high ki levels or something close to it as Ranma could feel that their energy was not the same as hers. The other thing that was bothering Ranma was the village people themselves. It was barely noticeable but for a martial artist trained to be aware of his surroundings at all times from having to deal with near constant surprise attacks from rivals and the occasional foreign prince it was rather easy to notice. It was the way that the Villagers interacted with Naruto that had him on edge. They hadn’t done anything outright to harm the kid but rather favored to settle for harsh whispering and hostile glares. It was the open passive hostility that made Ranma start to pay better attention to the other villagers whom were not showing any animosity. What Ranma noticed was pretty glaring; people would not make eye contact with Naruto with the exception of a very small number of people.

Ranma had also noticed that Naruto seemed oblivious to it all as he just seemed content in pushing her around with a wide grin on his face. While Ranma was far from an expert on psychology and generally suffered from awkwardness when it came to personal interrelationships even she could tell that it bothered the blond. “Actually, I guess he’s kind of like me.” Ranma admitted to herself ruefully as she was reminded of several times where she had acted similar when things bothered her.

“Come on, she’s over here Sensei.”

Ranma looked over towards where she heard Naruto and saw him dragging a man in his mid twenties with a rather large scar across his face. Normally the excitement that Naruto was showing to drag this person towards her would put her on edge but Ranma just chalked up the feeling to the blonds seemingly never ending energy.

Iruka Umino allowed Naruto to half drag him out of the academy and almost crashed into him when the blond stopped just short of the wheelchair bound redhead.

“Who’s this Naruto?” Ranma asked as she tried to suppress a shiver at the gobsmaked way the man seemed to be staring at her.

Now that he was standing right there in front of the redhead, Iruka could not help but stare for a moment as he contemplated the buxom redheads beauty.

“This is Iruka Sensei, my teacher.” Naruto stated proudly.

Naruto really was not one for long introspections on his own behavior, however since the arrival of his amnesiac mother he had realized that even though she did not remember[, he still had her around. And now that she was around, she would be able to do some of the things that Naruto had noticed other kid‘s parents do. So it was with that thought in mind that he had taken Ranma to the academy to meet Iruka-Sensei.

Ranma offered the scarred man a wave and greeted, “I’m Ranma.”

Silence seemed to set in as the situation turned a bit awkward until Ranma decided to ask, “So, uhm what kind of stuff do they teach at a ninja academy anyway?”

Iruka stared at the redhead for a minute. He had heard the rumors that Naruto’s mother or something had finally returned but was suffering from amnesia, but now that the supposed woman in front of him he was having his doubts as the woman seemed to be way too young to have had a child Naruto’s age. Mentally shaking his head he was about to respond but was interrupted by Naruto who stated, “We learn the three academy Jutsu’s; the Kawarimi, a body substitution skill, the Bunshin, a technique that creates a clone of yourself to distract your opponent, and the Henge, a technique that allows you to transform into someone else. We also learn the standard Taijutsu as well as how to throw Kunai and shuriken.”

Iruka’s jaw dropped in the shock that Naruto answered the question and got it right, he actually was surprised that the blond had answered. Coming out of his shock induced state he replied, “That’s very good Naruto.”

Naruto blushed and looked down shyly before he replied, “Thanks Iruka-sensei.”

It was at that moment that Naruto’s stomach let out a large growl.

Iruka chuckled and said, “Well I’d offer to take you all out for ramen but I have a few things to finish up here before I can leave.”

“Actually, Naruto what time were we supposed to meet Kakashi?” Ranma interrupted having felt a bit awkward during the whole exchange.

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Ichiraku’s

Ranma looked around the Ramen stand cautiously half expecting an Amazon glomp or attack from Mousse. Shaking her head at the fact that she knew she was not in Nerima at the moment Ranma decided to look out for the real threat in a ramen restaurant, Hot Water, as she did not want her curse found out until she was fully healed.

Due to the restaurant having few patrons that were spread out and not close enough to her vicinity to spill some of the hot broth on her Ranma turned her attention back to Naruto.

“Yo!”

Ranma nearly jumped in her mobile seat as Kakashi appeared next to her causing her to once again suffer the effects of a dizzy spell. Once it passed she glared at the masked Nin and said, “Don’t do that.”

It was then that Ranma noticed both Kakashi and Naruto were looking at her with concern. Feeling somewhat awkward over the fact that people were showing her such concern Ranma brushed it off with, “I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

Kakashi smiled under his mask and said, “Well I suppose we could order…”

“Hey old man! 3 large pork Ramen.”

Ranma and Kakashi both turned their heads to stare at Naruto before simultaneously say, “Naruto we can order for ourselves.”

Naruto blinked and replied, “Huh, what? Ohh, I wasn’t ordering for you guy’s that’s what I wanted.”

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Old man Ichiraku came out from the back of the restaurant and paused, he had heard his number one customer’s order but had also noticed that he was not alone. As he approached the three he almost froze in shock, there was something eerily familiar about the three at the table except at the same time there was something off. It was as he was seeing ghosts or more specifically ghosts from the past.

Shaking off the feeling of déjà vu the long time ramen vendor said, “It’ll be right up Naruto, say who’re your friends? Wait a sec, Let me call Ayame up here so she can meet them too.” After pausing to take in a deep breath old man Ichiraku called out, “AYAME, GET OUT HERE, NARUTO BROUGHT SOME FRIENDS.”

Ranma and Naruto were both starting to feel a bit uncomfortable for different reasons. For Ranma she was feeling a bit self-conscious in her wheelchair. For Naruto though he was feeling embarrassed at the fact that everybody was staring at him.

Hearing loud smashing and crashing noises Ranma turned her attention the swinging door that lead to the back of the ramen stand half expecting Mousse to emerge and attack her. Non-the less she was pleasantly surprised when a girl in her late teens exited and approached the counter. Ranma smiled at her somewhat nervously, a little bit relieved that Ayame was a girl, though she had to wonder why that was.

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Later that night.

It was dark outside as Ranma stared out the window of her hospital room up into the night skies. It had been a rather hectic day for her with Naruto showing her around but she was glad he had as she learned a lot about where she was. It was nothing that would help her get home but at the moment she was thinking about putting that off for a bit so she could hang around and see what she could learn.

Sighing at the lack of visible stars in the night sky Ranma looked over to her small pile of books that was slowly growing. It seemed like every time she saw the old man or Kakashi they would give her a few more books.

At the moment though Ranma did not feel like reading some text on something or another though. Sure she was bored at the moment as well as feeling a bit wired from her time outside. Reaching over to her freshest batch of books Ranma came across a smaller red covered book, Kakashi had told her that It was a cultural book and would help her with their customs, but there was something about the way he had told her that gave her pause.

Shrugging Ranma ignored the title and opened the book so that she could begin reading it. She managed to get about halfway down the first page before she nearly threw the book across the room with a frenzied panic.

With one hand firmly stationed on her breast in an attempt to calm her nerves Ranma looked around for anybody that might have seen her read the book. It took her a few minutes before she realized that she was no longer in Nerima and that she was in the hospital with visitor hours over until the morning.

Sighing in relief at the fact that she was alone and not about to be disturbed, Ranma eyed the book suspiciously for a few minutes half expecting a mallet to fly out of nowhere before she decided to pick the book back up and flip it over in order to read the title.

“Icha Icha Paradise huh?” Looking around the room once more Ranma started to wage a mental battle.

“Seems kind of perverted.”

“Who cares.”

“Somebody could walk in here at any time and see me with this.” Ranma told herself.

“One, this is not Nerima. Two, there’s a guard stationed outside of the door so it’s not like someone is going to walk in on you.” Ranma’s inner devil reasoned back

“Still, I’m no pervert.”

“It’s a cultural book.”

“It’s about girls making out though… With other girls .”

“So!”

“It’s perverted though, if any one back in Nerima found out…”

“Don’t tell them.”

“But…”

“Look.” Ranma’s inner devil reasoned, “You’re bored… No one will be coming by until morning… Besides you know you want to.”

“Well maybe I’m a little curious.” Ranma reasoned with herself, while running her fingers across the cover.

“So, Read it then.”

“But…”

“Are you a man or what?” Ranma taunted herself.

Ranma sighed to herself and muttered, “Jerk.” Before she carefully opened the book and began to read, keeping one eye on the door.

Just in case.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter the end was a bit difficult and after several rewrite’s I settled on this one, I might still change it though, if I do I’ll wait until I finish the next chapter and leave notice then.

Thanks for reading.