A hidden village of ninja. Well mostly hidden. Okay, it was hidden in name only - but access was restricted unless you were part of a tour group and those were only on certain days.
Ranma remembered visiting this village years ago. He'd gotten a rival then. Rivals were nice. Kept you on your toes. You had to pick them carefully though, otherwise they'd never amount to anything and you'd never get the challenge you were looking for. He'd been eight years old then...
Ranma looked over the training yard. Hmmm. Blonde kid there looking all sulking. Strong chi. Crowd of girls looking on as this other guy put a set of kunai into a bullseye.
Ranma looked closer. The kunai had all been thrown into a pattern - the kanji for vengeance. Oh, perfect.
Ranma bounced off the wall, landed on an unused target wall, and considered his potential actions. Despite doing what he'd just done, nobody had paid any attention. Well, maybe this.
wackitty-wackitty-whack!
The kanji now read 'ayamaru' or 'mistake' - which earned him a whole lot of glares from the various girls. Ranma didn't care, he was looking at the boy who'd done the first throw, who was looking back at him with a clearly calculating look.
"You spelled it wrong," said the boy.
"Eh?" Ranma asked, looking at it. "Well, maybe the strokes are a little long there. But..."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO SASUKE?!" demanded a bunch of girls.
Ranma stood, deciding to ignore what he didn't understand (which included all things to do with girls) and just press on. "You up to a little challenge?"
The blonde kid jumped forward. "I AM! I'm ready for anything!"
Ranma noticed the blonde kid was being ignored by everyone and figured the kid didn't have any real skill. Lotsa bluster though. "Yeah? Ain't interested in fightin' weaklings."
The blonde kid practically blew steam out of his ears. "WEAK?! WEAK?! I'll show you weak!"
"Wait your turn, Naruto," said Sasuke. "What kind of challenge?"
"I hear you call unarmed combat taijutsu," said Ranma, poking a thumb at his chest. "Let's see how badass you really are."
"That might be interesting," agreed Sasuke.
Ranma smiled at the memory. They'd fought. He'd won, but Sasuke Uchiha had been GOOD.
Naruto had mainly been a klutz. Man, was this guy only good for comic relief?
Yeah, but things had turned different later.
"...he's coming to."
"That in and of itself is surprising. How did he get the Sealed Scroll anyway?"
"Apparently his father taught him to be sneaky, and once he heard there was a scroll of sealed special techniques, he went for it."
"Hmph. His chakra is dangerously low."
"Well, he exhausted himself just acquiring that technique. I would think he'd have stopped at Shadow Clone, but no - he has to try and learn the next three techniques as well."
"Do we know which ones he acquired?"
"Shadow Clone, Blessed Vision, Spirit Bullet, and THAT one."
"Well, that last is what kept him alive no doubt."
"If he survives, it should be quite interesting."
Then there had been the little problem two years ago when they'd wrapped up one training journey and before they'd started another.
Ranma frowned at THAT memory.
Ranma stopped alongside his father as they came up on the village. "What the hell?"
"Hush," said Genma, going dead serious. This world had its dangers. That much they had learned long ago.
The two of them leapt and went through the guard post, which looked ripped in half and stained with something purple in addition to the old crusty traces of blood.
"This happened at least four months ago," said Genma after examining it. Genma drew his weapon.
Ranma drew his own, the comforting warmth and weight as it settled into his hand. Against normal foes and normal situations - these were just symbols to be put aside. As members of the ancient Saotome clan though - these were birthright weapons. Put out a hand and the weapon would just appear as necessary.
Genma's weapon was a kusari-gama. He held the weight end out by a loop of chain and examined it briefly. The weight hung there, apparently unconcerned with anything.
Both Ranma and Genma relaxed slightly at that. Genma's kusari-gama would have begun moving by itself if there had been enemies present. The little weight would have swung around wildly if the sorts of enemies who could have done THIS had still been present.
"Supernatural entity?" guessed Ranma, having run into things over the years that had expanded his definition of what exactly was possible.
"Maybe," said Genma, allowing the possibility. The hand not holding the weight end gripped the sickle. With that hand he made a gesture. "Let's head to high ground. Try to get a perspective."
"Not see what happened to our house?" asked Ranma.
"Not yet," said Genma, bounding towards one of the taller buildings.
Ranma followed his father as he had that day.
Except that now they were going to pick up the slave who'd been sold as part of a 'ninja war' and conditioned and trained by the time they'd tracked her down. HIS slave, since he'd recognized the gal and been moved to make the purchase. Better him than some rich pervert jerk after all.
Now he was to get his slave, formerly a girl he'd seen at the village:
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(Posted Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:52)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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