Note: There’s a big note at the end of the fic, but for now I’ll just say that I hope you enjoy yourselves, and please R&R!

Oh, special thanks to Karibanu for the revised nickname for Inner Sakura.

Chapter 1, Good Night, Sakura.

The members of Teams 7, 9 and 10 stood, slouched or sprawled around the clearing where Sakura and Sasuke had driven off the three Sound Ninja, several of them tending to the injured. “I can’t believe you were such an idiot, Lee!” Tenten screamed, shaking her teammate until soft rattling sounds could be heard from his form.

Nearby, Sakura was looking on in concern as Sasuke sat on the ground, his head slumped against his chest. He hadn’t spoken since the end of the battle, and she was starting to get worried about him, even if it’d only been about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, she was also getting a little worried about herself, as her arms and legs had started to dully throb a few minutes before, and it had only gotten worse. As she was wincing and reaching up with one hand to rub her arm, the pink haired girl heard the panicked sound of Naruto Uzumaki yelling.

“Sakura, what happened here? What happened to you, something serious is wrong, and where’s that creepy snake ninja, we gotta…” The orange jump suited boy babbled, charging for his teammates and trying to look around at the same time.

“Naruto, would you shut up?” The girl hissed, slightly more irritably than she intended, as the boy did genuinely seem worried about her.

“Oh…” Naruto said, turning a little bit to one side, as Shikamaru and Choji walked up to the two.

“You know, explaining all this to Uzumaki is going to be a real drag.” The lazy boy drawled, rubbing his chin.

“Well, you could do that instead of waiting in the bushes for the entire battle.” Sakura grumbled.

“Hey, it looked like you didn’t have any trouble with them. Why didn’t you tell me you knew techniques like that, forehead?” Ino broke in, from where she was standing nearby and trying to look uninterested.

“Don’t call me that, Ino-pig!” Sakura started, rising to her feet in a surge of anger… before keeling over and screaming in pain.

Several feet away, where he was still being shaken silly by Tenten, Lee’s head snapped up, and he seemed to regain his composure. Brushing the black haired girl’s hands from around his shoulders, he rushed over to Sakura, kneeling to the grass. Looking her over, he winced. “Oh, Sakura, I failed to protect you, and now you are hurt! For this failure, I will run around the village 300 times… while carrying the rest of my team… and a fruit cart, and if I can’t do that…”

“Um, no… it’s fine.” Sakura said, though her eyes were watering for some reason.

“Oh, you’re injuries are so severe that you’re crying? I have truly failed.” The green clad Ninja said, starting to blubber himself.

Nearby, where he and Choji were still looking on, Shikamaru sighed in exasperation. “Lee, that could be because you’re crushing her broken fingers.”

Lee’s eyes widened, and he started bowing profusely, saying “I’m sorry” over and over again. This was, of course, until Tenten walked up behind him, slipping a scroll into one of the pockets on her Ninja vest and jabbing a syringe into the side of his neck.

“Hey, what happened to bushy brows?” Naruto asked, poking the other boy’s unmoving body with his foot.

Tenten shrugged. “Special anesthetic. Should keep him out for about four hours.” She replied, then looked worriedly at Sakura, who was still whimpering slightly. “You want some?”

The pink haired girl was very tempted, but knew that her team had to keep going, and she didn’t want to be a liability again. Unfortunately, when she tried to push herself to her feet, she didn’t get more than a few inches off the ground before her muscles protested mightily again, and she fell on her face. “Hey, Sakura, if you can’t walk I’ll carry you!” Naruto chirped, looking down on the girl worriedly, though with a slight trace of a goofy grin.

“No way in…” Sakura tried to say, but all that came out was a muffled grumbling, as her face was still in the ground, and before she could role over she felt a pin prick in her posterior. “I hate you all.” She muttered, as she fell unconscious.

HR.

When the darkness cleared from Sakura’s vision, she found that the pain in her entire body had dissipated. For a moment, she thought about jumping up and down to celebrate her newly regained mobility, but shook the idea off as stupid. Taking a moment to take in her surroundings, she saw that she was in the same black void as she had been when she’d talked to the shadowed version of herself and that annoying red haired girl, though now two of the spotlights were out.

Stepping forward slowly, she noted that her feet made no sound as she walked over the hard floor, and the place seemed almost creepily silent. “Hey, is someone in here?” She asked, somewhat nervously, but her voice seemed to deaden within a few moments.

Feeling panic rising inside of her, but forcibly suppressing it with the training she’d previously gotten as a Kunoichi, the pink haired girl only increased her pace slightly, and walked for several minutes before abruptly leaving the darkness. It wasn’t as if she’d walked through a door into a lighted place, or even as if the roof of a building had opened to sky, but one moment she was in shadowed darkness, and the next she was walking down a street that looked like it was somewhere in the middle of Konoha.

Most of the buildings seemed to be featureless husks, aside from three that were looming ahead of her now. One was her home, just as she’d remembered leaving it last. She thought of going in and checking the place out, but what was next to it drew her eye first. The Academy was standing there, at least half a mile from where it was supposed to be, and next to that was a structure she’d never seen before, though it sort of resembled the training hall at the school, but a lot more battle damaged.

Curiously, she moved towards the new structure, pushing the sliding door aside. Inside, she saw one of the strangest things she had seen in a while. It didn’t look like the inside of any building she’d ever seen, especially since there was apparently an ornamental Koi pond in the middle of the wooden floor, a single bamboo pole sticking out of its center.

Around the walls were several tattered looking scrolls, with names such as “Amaguriken,” “Puppy Eyes Technique,” And “Anything Goes Distraction.” On the far side of the ‘room,’ she saw a large, heavily bound chest and another door, this one made of chain link, though its latch was covered in more locks than she’d ever seen in her life. In its center, it carried a sign that said “Beware of furry hell beast who wants to rip out your soul and use it as a ball of yarn.”

Though she was still rather curious, she really didn’t want to mess with such an explicitly worded sign, so she moved over to the chest, poking at its lock. “Don’t touch that!” Snapped an irritated voice that Sakura recognized all too well.

Spinning, she saw the redhead who had called herself Ranma, leaning against the sliding door into the room. “Didn’t think ya’d be here this fast.” She said, casually.

“Well, you didn’t tell me that ‘you’ll be sore’ meant I wouldn’t be able to move at all after the battle.” Sakura replied, angrily.

“Oh, yeah.” The redhead replied, sheepishly. “Kinda forgot your pain tolerance is pretty low.” Seeing Sakura’s eyebrow twitch at this insult, she hurried on. “I mean, it’s low compared ta someone who’s used ta taking a real beating.”

Sakura’s eyebrow twitched again, harder this time, and an exasperated voice floated in from behind the redhead. “I see you’re screwing up with her as bad as you did with me.” The shadow Sakura said, stepping in past Ranma. “Look, she’s a jerk, but she means well.”

“Hey!” Ranma objected, indignantly.

Sakura rubbed her forehead, noting that the other two had gotten into a small glaring match, and spoke. “Okay, fine. So where are we right now?”

The darker Sakura just shrugged, pulling a Kunai out and balancing it on her finger as she leaned back, and Ranma realized that it was probably still her turn to speak. “Well, near as I can figure it, we’re in your mindscape. Sorta like what the Yamanaka Techniques are supposed ta let you go into if you want.” She answered.

“And I’ve got a beaten up training hall and a ‘Furry Hell Beast’ inside of my mind?” Sakura asked, gesturing around her.

"They’ve been here ever since I can remember, but usually the jock here’s the only one using this place.” Her shadowed self chipped in, shrugging, and earning an indignant look from the redhead. “I usually hang around the school, and I think our home’s supposed to be your place, which really annoys me, by the way, because the bed in the nurse’s office is uncomfortable!”

Sakura nodded slightly numbly, and moved over to a wall to lean against it. At the moment she was a little overwhelmed, but there was one question that was bubbling to the top of her mind. “And how did you people and all this extra stuff get into my head?”

“She just showed up one day.” Ranma explained. “Or, well, I guess she sorta faded in over time, but she wasn’t always here. As for me, I’ve been here as long as you’ve been alive, I think.”

“And you’ve only shown yourself now?” Sakura asked, feeling vaguely creeped out.

Ranma shrugged. “For the most part, I wanted ta let you live your life.” She answered, simply. “I mean, for the first little while, I was all burstin ta find a way out, but the piece and quiet in here was kinda nice, ‘n I started to realize that you were growin up half-way normal.” She smiled apologetically. “If it helps, about all I looked out for was your Ninjutsu classes, and making sure you didn’t get yourself killed.”

“Oh.’” Sakura said, not sure if she was supposed to be grateful that someone was watching out for her, angry that she thought she couldn’t take care of herself, or disconcerted, still. “But… how did you GET in here?” She finally asked.

Ranma sighed. “It’s a bit hard ta explain.” She muttered, and the darker Sakura snorted.

“Why don’t you just do the same thing you did to show me?” She asked.

“That wasn’t really pleasant for you.” Ranma replied, but the darker Sakura shrugged.

“What’s she talking about?” Sakura asked, blinking in confusion.

“I ain’t good at explaining this sorta thing, so I can just share the memory of what happened. I’ve done it before, but it’s not really a pleasant one.” Ranma explained.

“Let me guess, it’s going to hurt?” Sakura asked.

Ranma shook her head. “Not after its over, no. It’s just kinda strange feelin yourself die, apparently.”

Sakura shuddered, but then nodded. “I want answers.” She said, resolutely.

“All right, it’ll keep me from havin ta explain some other stuff, too. Just be ready.” Ranma said, then closed her eyes. For a moment, she began to glow with a blue aura, and Sakura’s vision filled with the flash of energy.

Abruptly, the young Kunoichi felt an odd sensation, as if she were somehow growing, and when the light receded, he was standing in the middle of a room much like the one he’d left, though this one didn’t have the strange pond, door or chest. As he walked, he realized something was off about his stride, but when he tried to change it he found that he couldn’t.

As his vision suddenly tilted down, he realized what was off. The body he could see was toned, muscular and a few years older than his own. At the same time, it was very much male, clad in a strange silk shirt that looked like an import from one of the other elemental countries, as well as a pair of black pants and some cloth shoes that would likely work much better for stealth than a Ninja’s traditional sandals, but be a lot harder on the feet.

“Son in law, are you sure that you wish to do this?” A voice said, causing the young martial artist to raise his head. On the other end of the room, a being sat that reminded Sakura of nothing so much as a troll.

“I’m sure, ol’ ghoul.” Sakura found himself saying, as he sank into a taijutsu stance. “Mousse told me ‘bout this challenge duel thing, and said if I beat ya, I could have the marriage annulled, so here I am.”

The ‘ol ghoul’ sighed. “Boy, you should just give in. You know that you’re a hundred years too early to defeat me in combat, and I’ll have to use very painful moves to subdue you.” Her face, as hard as it was to read, seemed to show genuine concern as she gazed into Sakura’s eyes, but the Ninja could feel a sense of resolve straightening his back.

For a moment, he looked over to the side of the room, where a group of people were sitting. Immediately, he recognized them as his family, his mother standing next to the stupid Panda, who was holding up a “Go Ranma!” sign, while Kasumi watched on in worry nearby, comforting her father. Next to her, Nabiki lounged, casually pointing a camera in his general direction, and Akane was doing her damnedest to look casual while stealing the occasional glance.

Distantly, he wondered where the other Amazons were, before returning his gaze to the ghoul. “You know what I want, now are we gunna start this, or not?” He snapped. “I’m tired of you and your great grand daughter. With the last stunt you tried ta pull, this has ta end now.”

The old ghoul sighed, then nodded. “As an elder of the Amazon Tribe, I hear this outsider male’s challenge, and I answer it. The battle shall continue until one of the accepted ends has been reached. Male, are you prepared?” She asked.

Sakura felt himself nod, and his opponent was off like a shot before the action was complete. He wasn’t surprised, both as a Ninja and as a student of Anything Goes, at this tactic, and brought up his arm to deflect a stinging blow with the staff the older woman had been riding on. He brought his leg around for a high kick, but Cologne moved out of its way with a liquid grace that also characterized Ranma’s own fighting style.

Bounding backwards, the red shirted martial artist got some distance, calculating the elder’s arc as she bounded after him, and his eyes widened as several small needles flew towards him. Using the speed gifted to him by the Amaguriken training, he plucked them out of the air, though one stung his finger and made it go numb. “Paralysis Toxin.” He grunted, flicking his hand disgustedly. Cologne wanted to end this fight quickly, and she was going for as many dirty tricks as she could right off the bat. “If ya wanna play that way,” he growled, cupping one hand and firing a small bolt of energy into her airborne frame that she wasn’t quite fast enough to get out of the way of.

The battles first few steps were all like this, incredibly fast, sneaky attacks that were always countered on one side or the other, and Sakura was both expecting, and surprised by every permutation of the battle. As he deflected a pressure point blow worthy of the Hyuuga family with a simple knife edge chop, then countered with a foot stomp that would have broken bones if it had connected, he realized that this fight was far beyond the level of a normal Genin, maybe even at the level of some of the more advanced special Jounin that he’d seen fight, which, admittedly, hadn’t been very many.

It was a good thing that Sakura wasn’t, in fact, controlling the actions of his own body at the moment, or he would have completely missed his opponent’s next set of blurring attacks. Even so, one had managed to connect, and it had been invested with quite a lot of force. Wincing as he was thrown through the front wall of the Dojo, he was actually kind of relieved. Cologne was burning through a lot of her energy to try and defeat him quickly, and the battle had just been moved farther away from innocent bystanders.

Bouncing off of one of the rocks by the pond, the martial artist quickly threw a glance at the water, but shook his head. His curse would make him much faster, but he doubted the speed would quite make up for the loss of endurance and mass in this particular fight, at least not yet. Sakura wasn’t really sure what that train of thought had meant, as it had come through as if a simple reference to a curse contained much more meaning than he’d gotten out of it, but still watched with a combination of interest, trepidation and awe as Cologne burst through the hole she’d just used Sakura’s body to make, her staff outstretched.

The end of the staff blurred, and Sakura’s hands did so as well, though it seemed that Cologne could see the barely there patterns in Sakura’s strikes, as not only did she block every blow, but get strikes through. As they hit his body, Sakura let out a pulse of his blue confidence energy, warding off the tip from hitting the points it was aiming for. Still, it left deep gouges in his skin where it impacted, and the charge of Chi built up at its tip ran through his body like an electric current.

Snapping up a blindingly fast kick with his left foot, Sakura made contact with the Amazon elder’s ribs, hearing a solid crack as she flew backwards, digging up a furrow in the ground through her sheer force, but she bounced to her feet as though this hadn’t effected her. Sakura knew this was a lie, however, as the constant battle analysis that was running through his head told him that her aura was starting to dim, the constant hard strikes taking their toll on the several hundred year old matriarch. This, however, wasn’t a good thing, as Cologne was now going to direct even more of her effort towards sneak attacks, and Sakura knew that he didn’t have the level of experience yet to anticipate them all.

Smirking shakily, he decided to do what he did best, and improvise. “So, you’ve been holdin back a lot, ol’ ghoul.” He said, conversationally, trying to keep the ragged panting out of his voice.

“You as well, Son in Law.” Cologne returned. “When they told me that you had destroyed the king of Phoenix Mountain, I had thought that they were joking. Now, I know that you will be a very powerful acquisition for the tribe.”

“Like hell.” Sakura vowed, recalling that the only reason he was in this fight was for having defeated Shampoo in combat, and not knowing the laws. Truthfully, Sakura could see the benefits in killing outsider females who had defeated Amazon warriors, as they could possibly bring back the village’s secrets to their enemies, but the whole husband thing mystified him. It would be like allowing random Missing Nin who defeated a Genin into Konoha, for little apparent reason.

“Your resistance is useless, Ranma.” Cologne said, wearily. “I must bring you back to the village. Just give up this foolishness.”

Sakura didn’t respond, but did move his hand upward quickly, catching yet another poisoned needle that Cologne had thrown while trying to disguise her actions. ‘She’s getting as underhanded as my old man,’ The martial artist thought, then charged in without a word.

The battle continued, leaving the Tendo Dojo, for quite a while after this last exchange, and Sakura was finally able to understand what the curse was. While they were fighting on a bridge, and Cologne was starting to get really desperate, he’d lost his footing, plummeting into the water. What Sakura didn’t understand was the sense of satisfaction that came with the annoyance, as she suddenly felt her body shift, and then her foot landed on the sloping inner surface of the canal, propelling herself back upwards. When the water was broken and the wind hit her again, she realized at least some of what had happened, as red hair, the same shade as Ranma’s had been in her mind, was swept away from her eyes.

“Didn’t wanna have to resort to the curse in this fight.” She muttered, but didn’t let it bother her as she revised her battle plan. Fortunately, she had bled off enough of Cologne’s energy earlier that her lack of stamina wouldn’t be quite as much of a handicap anymore, and the change had actually made her slightly less tired, at least for the moment. Plus, her added speed would make it easier for her to dodge most of the ghoul’s worse tricks.

Unfortunately, Cologne seemed to realize this too, as she was frowning darkly. As Sakura landed back on the street, taking up a defensive stance, Cologne spoke. “Do you have any idea what would happen if Shampoo failed to bring you home?” She asked. Sakura shrugged, so she continued. “She would be executed, for failing in a second quest of honor.”

For a moment, Sakura flinched, and that was all Cologne needed to pitch her staff forward, hard. The pigtailed girl rolled out of its way, bouncing back to her feet, and glared at the old woman. “Yeah, and I should care, why?” She sneered, though she didn’t really believe the statement. Still, it seemed to get Cologne’s attention, as she stopped for a moment with her eyes wide. “She tried ta kill me for months, then went after Akane, Ukyo and even Kodachi after the wedding.” She snorted. “Yeah, she was getting desperate, but a martial artist doesn’t kill others just ‘ta keep herself alive. I’m real sorry ta hear she’s gunna die, but she shoulda told me that before tryin ta take the others out.”

Cologne scowled. She hadn’t, apparently, expected an answer that calm. Then, her eyes widened as she noted an aura of soft blue that was emanating from her opponent. “Soul of ice?” She asked. “You dare to use more of our art against us?”

Sakura snorted, wondering when the old woman was going to get on with the actual match rather than this stupid psychological warfare. She knew that it would only be a short time before she had too little Chi to really fight, and then Sakura would win, without having to worry about really hurting the old woman. At the same time, she distantly wondered why she felt so calm.

Finally, Cologne seemed to make a decision, and reached into her robe for something. Withdrawing it, Sakura saw that it was a scroll. At once, she both recognized it and had no idea what was going on. It was some sort of summoning scroll, but as the woman unfurled it, she saw oddly formed seals, examples of the sealer’s art that was so far beyond a fresh academy student like her that it may as well have been the Yondaime’s research notes.

The red haired girl surged forward, but the part of her mind that was Sakura Haruno, simply watching this, knew things were too far gone already as the old woman cut her finger open with a small knife, dropping a single drop of blood onto the scroll and slamming it to the ground.

She knew that wasn’t the right method of summoning anything, but it seemed to work as the woman was engulfed in a red aura. Again, her experience was fracturing, as she both recognized the aura as Chakra of some sort, and had no idea what it was. Jumping backwards nervously, she concentrated a blast of confidence Chi into one hand, and released it at her opponent. To her shock, the red aura seemed to engulf it, and when it cleared, Cologne was looking fully healed and ready for more.

“Give up, Son in Law.” The elder growled, but her voice seemed slightly deeper now, almost feral. “I am at full strength, and you have been through an entire battle. Please, do not continue this.”

Sakura smirked, though she knew the elder was right, and fell into a stance, waiting for the other to make the first move. When it came, it was blindingly fast, faster than Cologne had ever gone before, and left after-images even to her trained senses.

Pain exploded in her chest, as she slammed backwards and through several walls. She knew that she’d just gotten at least two more broken ribs, but didn’t care as she forced herself up. She would not go back to the village with Cologne and Shampoo. What the younger had done earlier this month, which had left Ukyo with wounds on her face and body that the doctors said would definitely scar, plus what Cologne said her own culture would do to someone who only failed twice spurred her on.

She paid no attention to her protesting muscles, walking out of the wreckage and glaring at the elder, hard. “I don’t know how you did this, but you’re not gunna win.” She slurred, tiredly.

“There is something Mousse didn’t tell you about what happens when an outsider challenges an elder.” Cologne said, calmly. “He no doubt didn’t care, as he knew your stubbornness much more than even I realize… but Son in Law, no outsider is permitted to defeat an Amazon elder. We are simply not allowed, by law, to be defeated and ALL force is to be used to ensure this. The technique I just used will ensure that I cannot lose, but I cannot control the force I strike with nearly as well. Son in Law, if you do not forfeit now, I will most likely kill you.” She explained, actually looking sad.

Ranma smirked, shakily, as a small trickle of blood started running between her lips. “What was it that old American guy said, Washington or something? Gimme freedom, or gimme death, right?”

Cologne roared in frustrated anger, charging at the other martial artist with her body burning with red Chakra. For a moment, Ranma saw that there were several streams of it waving behind her, like hair, or tails. Uncaring, she revealed one of her trump cards, and flicked her sleeves to send four of the poisoned needles Cologne had thrown earlier spiraling directly at her opponent.

This strike was lethal, and fully meant to be, as the small metal objects flew straight into, and through, both of Cologne’s eyes. The elder bellowed again, this time the bestial rage seeming to overcome her completely, and did not go down in spite of the several bits of metal that were lodged in her brain through her eye sockets.

Sakura smirked, not really having expected her last ditch desperation move to work, and prepared for the onslaught. When it came, it was fast, brutal and ruthless. Her legs were broken in two places with a set of kicks, followed by the complete removal of her right arm. When the staff slammed through her heart and buried itself up to the hilt, she’d gone past the point where pain even mattered to her, and sank to the ground, the wooden pole that was stuck through her propping her up into a half sitting pose.

She knew enough biology to know that she wasn’t going to die instantly from a shot to the heart, at least not until her brain was starved of oxygen, and slowly looked up to where she saw Cologne hunched nearby. The old woman trembled once, then fell forward, her body going still. "Sorry, ol' ghoul. had to be done." Ranma whispered.

As the redhead felt her body going numb around her, she looked up, and could have sworn she saw something. Her eyes were beginning to blur, but it was like a silhouette of a creature, its shape indistinct, and its body wreathed in red flame. ‘I must be hallucinating.’ She thought, before her eyes closed, and she felt her life leave her.

It was a curious feeling, something unlike any she’d ever felt before. First, she was moving slowly, and for a moment she got a glimpse of her own body, then, something seemed to latch onto her and start pulling. She couldn’t really ‘see’ anything, but she felt the world blurring around her, until she was enclosed in a bright, white light.

HR.

“After that, I woke up here.” Ranma said, as Sakura blinked her eyes clear. If she’d had a stomach at the moment, it would have been roiling with the conflicting sensations she’d felt, but as it was she just sank to her knees.

“Strange, isn’t it?” The other her quipped, shortly.

Sakura nodded, shakily. She had so many questions running through her head, even though some of them had been answered by the scene she’d just seen. “I… never saw a place quite like that before, and that Taijutsu…” She gasped, awed.

Ranma nodded. “I’m pretty sure we’re on a different continent, if not a whole different planet.” She contributed.

“What,” Sakura said, remembering more. “And… you’re… a guy?” She stopped there for a moment, latching onto something slightly more understandable. She’d had guys use the transformation Jutsu to sneak into the girls’ locker rooms before, the only line of defense being Hinata Hyuuga and those eyes of hers, and she knew how to deal with this sort of thing. “You’re a guy, and you’re in my head, able to see me whenever you want?” She asked, her anger starting to build up.

“Aw, crap. Not this again.” Ranma moaned, backing away. “Hey, Kura-chan, you wanna help me out here?”

The shadowed Sakura only smirked. “Oh no, I’m not getting involved here, Saotome, especially since I’ve TOLD you not to call me Kura-chan!”

“Oh, c’mon, you know it’ll take me weeks ta make her listen otherwise, please Kura-chan?” Ranma babbled, as she could actually see Sakura’s battle aura enter the visible spectrum. “Plus, remember that huge headache we gave ourselves after ya tried ta kill me?”

The shadowed Sakura, or ‘Kura-chan,’ thought this over for a moment. “You’ve got a point… which is really too bad, since seeing her beat you up would be funny.” She admitted. Walking forward, she grabbed Sakura by one arm, then spoke. “First, she’s made it a point to not be around when you’re nude, especially since you started going through puberty. Second, as much as I hate to admit it, when she was older, she was better built than either of us, and third, I really don’t want a splitting headache right now so don’t even think of smashing her.”

Sakura blinked. “Huh?”

“I know what you’re thinkin, but I’m not under a Transformation Jutsu.” Ranma said. “I’m in your mind, that’d be kinda hard ta pull off. It’s a curse I’ve got.” After this, she looked down. “Well, a curse I had.” She muttered, softly.

“Hmm?” Sakura asked, noticing the other’s downcast expression, and now that the wind had been taken out of the sales of her righteous feminine outrage, her curiosity took over. “You had it?”

Ranma nodded. “Been stuck in this form since I got here.” She answered. “No hot water in here, really, so I can’t even change back.”

“So, you don’t have the curse anymore?” Sakura asked, confused.

Ranma shrugged. “Oh no, I’ve got it.” She answered. “or, well, you’ve got it.”

Sakura paled. “I… I’ve got the curse?” She stammered, worriedly. If she had a problem like that, Sasuke-kun definitely wouldn’t like her, and she’d be even more of a freak than her forehead already made her. When she looked up and saw her shadow snickering, she glared. “What’s so funny?” She demanded.

Kura-chan continued snickering for a moment, before responding. “Yeah, it’s so terrible that you turn into a girl when splashed with cold water, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Yes, it..” Sakura started, then blinked. “I… oh.” She finally realized, blushing. Searching desperately for a way to change the subject, she latched onto another concern. “So, those techniques I saw, you can really teach me how to fight like that? With the energy attack Jutsu, and everything?”

Kura-chan continued snickering at her counterpart’s inept changing of the subject, but Ranma seemed oblivious. “Yeah, I can, but it’ll take a long time ta get you into shape for it.” She answered, receiving a glare from the pink haired girl. “Hey, look, if you were really in as good a shape as you think you are, I wouldn’ta had to nearly destroy half yer muscles in a fight with those morons.”

“Okay, fine.” Sakura admitted, a phantom pain pulsing through the fingers of one hand at the memory. “But I’m not going to have to end up turning into an obsessed weirdo like Gai and Lee, am I?” She asked, an image of herself prancing around in a green jumpsuit and shouting about the fires of youth entering her mind for a moment, before she forcibly shoved it out.

“Well, those guys are pretty dedicated, ‘n it would be the fastest way ta improve your skills,” Ranma said, noticing the horrified expression spreading across Sakura’s face. “But I understand ya have a life outside of the training, and you’re gunna need ta go on missions, and stuff. So no, you won’t end up like them.” Sakura grinned, then sighed in relief, so Ranma continued. “Does this mean you ain’t gunna kill me for just bein stuck in here?”

The pink haired girl’s eye twitched again at the reminder that she’d apparently had a boy spying on everything she did for her entire life, before she forcibly reminded herself what the other her had said. “No, I guess it’s not your fault.” She admitted, “But if I ever find you peeping on me, I’ll…”

“Look, I don’t intend to.” Ranma said. “I’ve watched ya grow up, so yer sorta like a sister, or somethin.” Just as Sakura was getting some rather warm and fuzzy feelings from that, the redhead opened her big mouth again. “Plus, I was a lot better lookin in my female form than you are, at least for now.”

“Now that… she had coming.” Kura-chan said, as her other self had somehow managed to pick up the heavily bound chest, bashing it over Ranma’s head. “Still, we’re gunna regret it.”

Sakura was about to ask her what she meant, when she felt a huge pain erupt in the back of her brain. Groaning, she held her head until it passed, and when she was able to see past it again, Ranma was sitting next to them. “Note to self, don’t hit the jerk unless she really, really deserves it.” She muttered.

Ranma seemed to pay this no real notice, simply brushing off her clothes. “So, I help ya out and train ya in the art from now on, deal?” She asked.

“A deal? That reminds me, what are you getting out of this?” Sakura asked, the word suddenly sparking a thought.

“Well, ta be honest, in order to condition you right and show you how stuff’s done, I’d have ta get out a bit, and it’s getting a bit boring in here after twelve years.” The pigtailed martial artist admitted, “Plus, I’m not really sure how I got here, and keeping you alive’s important, both ‘cuz letting you die’d be wrong, and ‘cuz I’ve got no idea what would happen to me.”

Sakura pondered for a moment. The price asked of her didn’t really seem that high, especially for the abilities she’d just witnessed, other than the whole physical possession thing. “Is there any way I can make sure you can’t just take over my body and walk off?” She asked.

Ranma considered. “I can promise not to, but ya probably won’t just take that. You were able to push me out of control to go hug lover boy, though.”

Sakura twitched at the redhead’s annoying nickname for Sasuke, but finally nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s a deal.” As she said this, though, deep down, she couldn’t help but feel that she’d just opened a real can of worms, especially since the redhead was grinning at her… predatorily.

END.

As said, a big note.

I said this fic’s main idea wasn’t really original, because I was fully aware of “Wild Cherry Blossom,” and the fact that the whole "Ranma in Sakura's head" idea had been done there. I hadn’t heard of the rewrite, but the original, while a very good story, didn’t go the way I wanted. When I started a Naruto fic, it was to try and capture what potential I felt that one didn’t, through a different plot line. Obviously, from the reviews, some of you noticed. :)

I was kind of miffed at all the suggestions that I go read that fic, I mean, ten out of my first sixteen reviews said that, and someone mentioned my copying it wholesale. I got a bit annoyed, and contacted Largo myself, to ask him if he’d look this over, and tell me if I was walking too close a line to his fics, especially since I have no intention of reading Sakura the Wild Horse, or whatever it’s called, just in case I do, subconsciously, start ripping it off.

Anyways, now I’m a lot less annoyed at those comments. Largo, a really nice author, by the way, told me why I was getting them. I’m apparently starting this at exactly the same spot as both of his, and I didn’t remember Wild Cherry Blossom well enough to realize that. Still, I’m hoping that this will depart enough from both fics to be an enjoyable read in its own right, and even if it doesn’t, Largo’s given me very tentative, possibly retracted at any moment, approval to keep going.

So, having said all of that useless babble, I really do hope this chapter was enjoyed.

Again, R&R!