This story is something that we've had simmering away for a little while hopefully getting better with age as it has been edited no less than three times. Hey I was the on talking.

Chris here taking the floor from Shane I had something to say before we started this epic tale. I know that some of you aren't going to like this story so don't read it. But on the off chance that you do and have the desire to flame us we have one thing to say.

You took the words right out of my mouth oh well you already said it. Like he said we have on thing to say.

(Together) BRING IT ON!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Rumiko Takashi's work. Ok I do own this story and characters not in any of the series by said author and anything that sounds like something by someone else is purely coincidental.

Ranma ½ AU Ch 1

"Talking"

Shouting

'Thinking'

*Sound Affects*

{Written Words}

Everyone knows the story. A panda chasing a girl down a street in the rain then after knocking her out carries her to the Tendo Dojo where it is revealed that she is a he. This story follows a possibility that has been on my mind for some time though I must say it's writing itself. Enjoy.

OOooOOooOOooOO

"But darling I can't allow you to take my baby away from me." Nodoka cried to her husband as she did her best to remove her son from his arms.

"I sorry dear. It's for the child's own benefit that I take him with me." Genma replied as he attempted to walk out the door carrying an eighteen month old Ranma. Only to be stopped by Nodoka beating over the head with anything that wasn't tied down.

"No." There went a pillow. "You can't." There went a flower pot. "Take." There went the lamp a gift from her late mother. "My baby." It end by her smashing Genma with the table. "Away from me." Nodoka finished panting.

Sitting up with pieces of the broken table falling around him Genma turned to his wife with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

"Nodoka I wouldn't do this if I thought there was anyway around it." Genma calmly explained.

"But he's only a child." Nodoka pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"He cannot have his mother as a distraction to keep him from mastering the disciplines of the Saotome school of anything goes Martial Arts." Genma stated as he pulled a piece of paper from his gi and began to write on it as he was speaking. "I Genma Saotome do hereby swear to make Ranma the worlds strongest and most honorable martial artist. If we fail in any way we will both commit ritual seppuku." Finished writing he pressed his ink covered thumb on the paper thus signing it.

Turning to Ranma Genma continued. "To properly seal the contract I will let Ranma make his own choice." as he spoke he put ink on Ranma's hand before saying. "Now son if you wish to train with me as a martial artist put your handprint upon the contract. If not go to your mother."

Looking at the paper Ranma happily slapped his hand against it delighted that his hand print remained on the page.

'He seems so happy about this I can't stand in his way.' Nodoka thought as she sorrowfully allowed Genma to leave with Ranma in tow.

'Forgive me Nodoka you will thank me for this later.' Genma thought as he disappeared down the street.

Four Years later

"Curse you Saotome." Yelled a large man as he sprinted after a quickly rolling yatai. "How could you betray me."

"Sorry Kuonji but I can't take some sickly girl on this kind of journey. She'd only get in the way." The bald man pulling the cart stated trying his best to accelerate himself and the cart away from his pursuer. "By the way thanks for the stand. It'll really come in handy."

"Damn it Saotome. Get back here." The chasing okonomiyaki chef demanded. On top of the cart a five year old boy waved at the man chasing, an innocent smile on his face.

"Bye Mr. Kuonji. It was fun." The boy exclaimed, sticking out his tongue at the chef. The man only growled and continued his running, but soon realized the distance between him and his target was growing greater. Damn that Saotome could really run.

"I'm gonna kill you. When I get my hands on you Saotome I'm gonna carve your eyes out with my rusty spatulas. Do you hear me? I'm gonna shove a burner up your ass and raw batter down your throat and use your stomach as my new grill." He yelled before he slowed down to a stop. He couldn't chase after the man forever after all he had a sick daughter that needed his support. That was far more important. Though he did make a mental note to write those threats down when he got back. He didn't want to forget his promises unlike some people.

Speaking of some people, Genma Saotome grinned when he realized he was no longer being chased. Always a good sign when someone gave up after they had lost. Now all that was left was to escape to someplace where he couldn't easily be found just in case.

"Why did Mr. Kuonji sound so angry?" Ranma asked from the top of the cart looking over the side at his father. Genma just laughed nervously still running with the cart.

"No reason boy. He was just playing around." He replied. At least Genma hoped he was playing around. A mental image of the Kuonji man standing over his torn open corpse cooking okonomiyaki on his innards suddenly popped into his head though he quickly shook it to clear his thoughts.

"Say boy how does the beach sound to you? We can get lots of training by swimming." Genma said leaving out the 'all the way to china' part. He doubted Kuonji was that determined. He probably wouldn't get very far with that sickly daughter of his anyway.

"Sure thing pop." Ranma replied before turning his head back the way they came. He briefly wondered what his friend Ucchan was doing just before his house disappeared behind a hill.

OOooOOooOOooOO

"We finally made it. A few years ahead of schedule but we made it." Genma stated as he overlooked the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo almost a year after they had left the shores of Japan.

"Are you ready to put you training thus far to the test boy?" Genma asked Ranma as he looked down at the little boy.

"You bet." Ranma said a smile plastered on his face as they dropped their backs.

"Oh good sirs it is nice of you to visit the cursed springs of jusenkyo." A fat chinese man said in greeting as he approached the pair.

"Come on Ranma let's see how good you are." Genma commanded as he jumped onto one of the bamboo poles followed By Ranma.

After a minute Ranma was able to balance himself on the bamboo without wobbling.

"Ready boy?" Genma asked sternly receiving a nod from Ranma he continued. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my son."

"Oh good sirs is not good to do this these springs is very cursed. Each spring have own tragic story." The guide called but his cries went unheeded as the two combatants went at each other.

"Now prepare yourself boy!" Genma yelled out. Both leaped off their respective poles at each other and began to trade blows. Genma smirked as Ranma was doing just as he had taught him, using his smaller body to his advantage to avoid his attacks. Of course he was going easy on his son to let him gain some experience. They broke apart from each other landing on different bamboo poles on opposite sides of a spring.

"But sirs is very dangerous." The guide tried telling the pair.

"You'll pay for that pop." Ranma cried as he launched himself at Genma only to be swatted away plummeting into the water below.

"Keep your mind focused otherwise you'll never win." Genma said surprise crossing his features as a now red haired Ranma jumped out of the spring and landed on a nearby Bamboo pole.

"Is to bad he fall into Nyanneechuan 'spring of drowned girl' there very tragic story of girl who drown in spring 1500 year ago. Legend say whoever fall in spring take body of young girl." The guide said shaking his head.

"What? You think you could have told us sooner?" Genma yelled at the guide not paying attention to Ranma-chan who took this opportunity to land a hit on her father.

"That one is Shonmaoneechuan 'spring of drowned panda'. Most tragic story of panda who drown in spring over 2000 year ago. Now whoever fall in spring take on body of panda." The guide said as if he were reciting a memorized line he had repeated many times before.

"Take that old man. Try underestimating me why don'cha." Ranma-chan yelled pleased with her success at hitting her father not paying attention to the guide. The look of triumph was replaced by one of shock as she watched a panda with her father's gi barely hanging on jump out of the water. Turning she jumped from one bamboo pole to the next trying to get away from the panda whom was in hot pursuit. Thankfully she didn't lose her balance till she reached the edge of the springs thus avoiding falling into another spring.

"Rar rar rar." The now panda Genma said before realizing that he wasn't human rendering him unable to speak as he grabbed hold of Ranma-chan to reprimand her.

Before he could brood on it though he was hit by scalding hot water.

"What was that for?" Genma bellowed realizing that he was human again. Looking at the guide he saw that he was holding a still steaming pot.

"Hot water reverse effects of spring making you human good sir." The guide said as he sat down on the now empty pot. "But only last till hit with cold water."

"Dad can we leave? I don't like this place." Ranma said as he looked at Genma pleadingly.

Nodding Genma shouldered his pack and began to leave with Ranma close behind.

They didn't make it a mile before they heard thunder warning them that it was going to start raining shortly.

They weren't disappointed as it started pouring a few minutes later.

Ranma didn't notice as he changed from a he to a she. The same couldn't be said for Genma as he grew in height and girth before plopping down on all fours growling in annoyance.

A short time later Genma spotting a cave began pushing Ranma-chan towards it. She went willingly wishing to get out of the rain.

When they reached the cave Genma pulled the pack off his back and began rummaging through it glad he had been turned into a panda and not some other bear as he retained some dexterity. He placed the biggest pot they had outside to catch rainwater.

While Genma was doing this Ranma-chan pulled some dry clothing from her pack. As she changed her clothes she noticed something was missing. Looking at Genma with fear on her face she said. "Pop it fell off."

'Looks like I'm going to have to tell him the difference between boys and girls sooner than I would of liked. Like when he was sixteen or older.' Genma thought as he turned back to the task at hand.

Upon pulling it from his pack he realized that setting up the camp stove would be a challenge. After several attempts he had yet to thread the hose onto the fuel tank.

"Do you want some help? Ranma-chan asked seeing her father struggling to perform a simple task.

Throwing her an angry look Genma made it clear that he needed to do this himself. After another minute he finally succeeded. Looking at the pot of water outside he was satisfied that it was full enough.

Giving Ranma-chan a look that said he didn't want any help he used his teeth to drag the pot inside and with some difficulty set it on the burner spilling some in the process. Next he tried to light the burner but found that striking a match was to much to ask of his paws and grudgingly handed it off to Ranma-chan.

With a flash of light Ranma lit the burner while Genma adjusted the flame.

He waited till the water was bearably hot as he didn't wish to boil himself to death. Turning to look at Ranma-chan he pointed to the water.

"No thanks I can't really tell the difference." Ranma-chan answered pulling her legs to her chest.

Shrugging Genma poured the pot over his head glad that it was hot enough to change him back. Turning the burner off he pulled dry clothes out of his pack glad he was human for now. Looking back toward Ranma-chan he saw that she was searching for something down the front of her pants. Sighing Genma began trying to explain.

"Ranma girls don't...that is boys have..." he started stopped and cleared his throat trying to figure out how best to explain. As a plan started to form in his head he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You see it's like this..."

OOooOOooOOooOO

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and the story that follows. On another subject nothing to do with this story but after watching Naruto recently. I hope that someone else besides me noticed this but I realized that Konohamaru is named after the leaf village Konoha-Maru. If someone else noticed this please tell me so that I know I'm not crazy.

Don't you mean us you dope?

Well yes. Hey who are you calling a dope Chris.

I rest my case please review readers.