The Tournament

Hinata had finally gotten over the hurt of Kiba’s words. She thought that once that happened, she would be able to forgive, but she found that she was angry with him now. This was an unusual occurrence for Hinata. In a sense of self preservation, her mind scrambled for times that she’d been angry before, but she couldn’t think of any.

She felt a little helpless in the face of this unfamiliar emotion. She could feel her body screaming at her to do something, but she wasn’t sure what. ‘I wish Shino were here,’ she thought desperately. She could tell Shino anything, and he would be able to help her through this. ‘He could at least cause bodily harm to Kiba,’ she thought darkly, then immediately felt guilty for her thoughts. She had never wished harm upon anyone, not even the enemies she had been forced to kill.

Her eyes widened and she looked around desperately for an anchor in the sea of anger swirling around within her. There was Kiba, looking sad, but she didn’t think he’d be a good choice considering that he was the reason for this feeling. Then there was her new cousin. She immediately dismissed him because she didn’t want to burden someone she had just met, even if they were family. Shikamaru had some potential, because he never seemed to get angry, and she had heard that he was a genius. But, she didn’t know him very well and was worried that this would be stretching the boundaries of their relationship.

‘You could always talk to Akamaru,’ she thought. But more then likely anything she said to Akamaru would go strait to Kiba, who she wasn’t talking to because she was mad at him. ‘How does Sakura deal with all her anger?’ Hinata questioned grumpily as she glared at the scenery in front of her.

“Hey Hinata?” the meek voice of Kiba came from behind. Hinata glared even harder at the scenery, but was listening. “Um, I’m sorry?”

“For what?” Hinata asked coldly. Kiba looked decidedly relieved about her response, possibly thinking that this meant he really had nothing to be sorry for. “Do you even know?” His face became twisted in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Do you even know why you’re apologizing?” Hinata asked slowly, stopping to face her teammate. Everyone else stopped, and it was almost unnaturally quiet. There was still the sound of wild life around them, but Shikamaru and Mousse had stopped their conversation mid sentence.

“Not really. All I know is that you think it’s my fault,” Kiba shrugged, looked away and put his arms behind his head.

“That’s because it is your fault,” Hinata ground out. Kiba looked at her with an eyebrow lifted, looking confused. Hinata huffed an exasperated breath at him and started walking.

“Come on Hinata,” Kiba said as he chased after her, “You can’t be mad at me forever!”

Hinata paused, “You’re right Kiba,” she said simply before continuing towards Honey Country. She might not be able to stay mad at him forever, but she would definitely stay mad at him for the time being.

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Shikamaru watched the exchange with interest. Again, he was completely confused by what was going on. In his experience when girls were angry, they either released it quickly then got over it, or they took it out on the person they’re angry with in small doses until they’re no longer angry, but doing it out of habit. Hinata didn’t seem to be doing either of these.

“Why hasn’t she beaten him senseless?” Mousse questioned, squinting blindly at the couple. Hinata was walking away from them at a rapid rate, indicating that she was still angry, but she wasn’t doing anything that indicated that she was going to retaliate against him.

“From what I’ve heard, Hinata doesn’t get angry. Ever,” Shikamaru wasn’t sure why he felt the need to emphasize the last word, but he did.

“So, she’s passive aggressive,” Mousse said knowledgeably. He nodded as though the answer were the most logical thing in the world.

“I don’t think so,” Shikamaru said doubtfully. “I’ve never heard anything about her being like that. She’s calm and quiet and more prone to forgive and forget then get even.”

“Weird,” Mousse murmured, possibly more to himself then to Shikamaru.

“Hn,” Shikamaru agreed, before they slipped into companionable silence. Hinata was far ahead of the group, but not so far ahead that they couldn’t see her stop when she reached the gate of the capital city of Honey country, where the tournament was to take place. She didn’t turn around as she waited for them to catch up.


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“There’s no way that Hinata’s sharing a bed with you!” Kiba shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Mousse.

Mousse was insulted. He had suggested that he and Hinata share a room because they were family, and because he wanted to get away from Shikamaru. It’s not that Shikamaru was annoying or scary, he was just really really boring. Boredom is something that Mousse rarely if ever had to deal with, mostly because of where he lived, but also because he avoided it whenever possible.

There had only been one room available in the whole city for the team to rent. Luckily there were two beds in the room and they allowed pets, so Akamaru could stay with them. Hinata moved to the furthest bed and started making herself at home.

“Well, I doubt that she's going to share the bed with you,” Mousse sneered. “Not after what you did this afternoon.”

Kiba ignored this statement and started ranting about how Mousse was just trying to take advantage of Hinata, 'Even if we weren't cousins, Hinata doesn't even begin to compare to my love, Shampoo,' Mousse thought as he argued with Kiba about the sleeping arrangements.

Kiba took a threatening step towards him, so Mousse took one towards Kiba. They stared deeply into each others eyes, each trying to get the other to back down. Mousse was just about to suggest that they move the argument outside when he heard a throat clear. He and Kiba turned toward the source of the interruption and glared.

“There's only two spots available,” Shikamaru said, nodding at the bed closest to the door.

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Akane woke up feeling weak, but unconcerned. Vaguely she noticed that she was cold, which added to the weakness began to concern her. Akane was sorely tempted to forget that she was cold and feeling weak, so that she could be unconcerned that she was cold and weak again.

She opened her eyes, then promptly closed them. Everything was swimming and blurry. The experience caused abrupt sobriety, making her realize that she was in much more trouble then she was used to.

The reason that she was cold was because she wasn't wearing clothing and she was in a dark room with what felt like concrete floors. She felt weak still, and every time she tried moving her limbs she felt like she was moving through quick sand. Every attempt made her feel drained and left her panting.

After one such attempt while she lay panting on the floor, three questions popped into her head. Where am I, why am I naked, and when is Ranma going to get here to rescue me? The third question angered her a little. 'I don't need Ranma to save me,' she thought as she gritted her teeth and took a thorough look at her surroundings.

The room she was in was dark, just as she remembered it. The longer she looked, the more details about the room she could make out. The room appeared empty, except for a table. There was a door on the far side of the room and a window near the ceiling. 'Once I get my strength back, I'll try the door. If that doesn't work I can push the table under the window and get out of here.'

Akane's head snapped up when she heard the door open. She regretted it immediately, because she became very dizzy. 'What knocked me out must not have worn off all the way,' she thought as a human figure materialized in the door way.

“Ah,” a deep melodious female voice laughed, “I see that you're awake Miss Tendo.” Akane could hear the sound of high heels echo through the room as the woman approached her. “Are you ready for your lessons?” Akane could do no more then shiver as the woman got closer.

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Ranma was sitting in the motel room that all the tournament contestants were assigned. He was trying to pay attention to the lecture his pops was giving him on how to play shougi, but his mind kept drifting back to how he got there.

FLASHBACK

When Akane was first kidnapped, he looked at all the places she was normally taken, like the local caves, abandoned shrines, and traveling carnivals. He found nothing. After hunting down all the traveling martial artists in the area, and of course fighting them for the information, he found that none of them had seen Akane either. Finally he went to his friends/enemies. His first stop was the Neko Haten and the Chinese Amazons.

He confronted Mousse first, because he was the first person Ranma encountered. “Have you seen Akane lately?”

“No, I haven't seen Akane Tendo,” Mousse answered distractedly as served a customer tea.

“So you didn't kidnap her?”

“Not recently,” Mousse replied, gliding through the crowded restaurant with a grace that was rarely seen during the fights he and Ranma share.

“Huh. Where's Shampoo?”

“You stay away from Shampoo!” Mousse yelled, lunging at Ranma in rage. A cascade of water landed on the boy, and he turned into a duck. He quacked angrily at Ranma, then left in search of hot water.

“Nihao Ranma,” Shampoo said in her high pitched broken Japanese. She put down the empty bucket she was holding and flung her arms around his neck. “You take Shampoo on date?”

“Maybe later,” Ranma said as usual, struggling for breath and a tactful way to extract himself from her arms. “Right now I'm looking for Akane”

“What you want with Kitchen Wrecker?” Shampoo pouted, turning away from him and walking to get another order for a waiting customer.

“She's missing. Have you seen her?”

“No.”

“Huh,” Ranma said, only partially believing her. “Where's the old ghoul?”

“Behind you Son in Law,” a gravely voice said from behind him. He felt a shiver of fear run up and down his spine at the fact that she was still able to sneak up on him after everything he'd been through. “What brings you by?”

“I'm looking for Akane. Have you seen her?” Ranma turned around to look her in the eye when she answered.

“She hasn't been by for quite some time, and we have been very busy lately.”

“Well, if you hear anything, let me know.” With that, Ranma left the Neko Haten, feeling vaguely unsatisfied with the answers that he received. His next stop was the Kuno household.

Kodachi had tried to paralyze him and kiss him. When Akane's name was mentioned, she went on a rant about something called a harlot. Ranma wasn't really following what she said, because he was splashed with cold water and turned into a girl. About that time Kodachi started shrieking and attacking him.

Ranma ran into Tatewaki while trying to escape. He was squeezed uncomfortably, and Ranma quickly sent him airborne. “Coming here was a waste of time,” Ranma muttered as he left, his breasts still aching from how hard Kuno had grabbed them. “These two are to stupid to pull off a kidnapping.”

Ranma made is way to Ucchan's, even though he highly doubted that Ukyo would be behind any kidnapping attempts. He was pretty sure Akane and Ucchan were friends in fact.

“Hey Ranchan,” he was greeted by Ukyo from behind the grill. “can I get you your usual?”

“Sure,” Ranma said, sitting himself down in front of her. Sure he was on a mission, but a meal was a meal. 'Besides, Ukyo makes the best okinomiyaki in Japan.'

“So, what brings you by?” Ukyo asked as she passed him a glass of warm water before pouring the batter.

“I'm looking for Akane. Have you seen her?”

“Not today,” Ukyo said, flipping the grilled delicacy. “Any particular reason?”

“She disappeared a couple nights ago. I was just hopin' that you might have seen her.”

“Sorry. I can help you look after the shop closes,” she offered, handing him his meal.

“Really? Thanks,” Ranma said, inhaling the food.

“Konatsu is in the back room. He might have seen her more recently.” Ranma nodded and made his way to the gender confused kunoichi.

“Hey Konatsu,” he greeted casually.

“Hello Ranma sama,” Konatsu replied formally.

“Have you seen Akane around?”

“Not since your wedding ceremony,” Konatsu replied. “I want to apologize for my behavior at the event,” he continued. “I truly wish you and Akane sama the best.”

“Uh, thanks,” Ranma replied uncertainly. “If you learn anything will you let me know?”

“Absolutely,” Konatsu replied smiling gently.

'Now, to wait for Ryouga to show up,' Ranma thought as he left Ucchan's.

“Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!” Ryouga shouted as he came hurtling through the air at Ranma. Casually Ranma jumped into the air. Shortly after Ryouga put a crater in the sidewalk, Ranma landed on his head.

“Yo, Ryouga,” Ranma greeted him cheerfully. “Have you seen Akane?”

“What?!?” Ryouga shouted. “I go away for a little while and you lose her?!?”

“She was kidnapped,” Ranma explained.

“Kidnapped!” shrieked Ryouga. “I have to find her!” Ryouga left with Ranma still standing on his head. That had been this afternoon, it was now dinner time, and the table was unusually somber.

Kasumi's food, while still delicious, was missing something. Ranma noticed that this happens whenever Akane isn't home for dinner. 'Maybe Akane can't cook because she's too busy making food taste better by just being there,' he thought idly, then threw the idea out because it was ridiculous. Ranma played with the last of the food, waiting for a clue to show up.

It was then that Ranma noticed an arrow protruding from the table with a letter wrapped around it. Everyone at the table blinked in shock, then looked at Ranma, waiting for him to do something. Ranma shrugged and pulled the arrow out of the table.

“Oh dear,” Kasumi said calmly. “There's a scratch on the table.”

Ranma took the letter from around the arrow and opened it up. It was a flier for a shougi tournament. On the cover was Akane's face and naked shoulders. She was wearing a chocker that Ranma had never seen before.

“Akane's the prize for a shougi tournament,” Ranma explained to the family. “It's in a place called the Honey Country. I've never heard of it, but I've got to get there to save her.”

END FLASHBACK

Ranma shook his head and resumed his training. He had to think of it as training or else he would lose. 'Akane's my fiancee and I won't loose her to anyone.'