Here's part 9 of the Ranma/Yuffie story. C&C requested!



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** White Lotus Ninja **
** A Ranma / FF7 fusion fic **
** Written by Cosmic Knight **

NOTE: The link picture is made from a Ranma/Ranma-chan picture composed 
as the background for a Yuffie picture by Rei(rei_00@geocities.com). None of the pictures are mine,so please don't sue me! :)

LEGEND:
 ~~: Thoughts
 []: Signs
 //: Foreign languages

===================
Chapter 9: The Duel
===================

Ranma,Nabiki,and Yuffie were talking in the family room that night.

"So,are you SURE you have no idea what that Hibiki fellow is so upset
about?" asked Yuffie curiously.

"Nope,not a clue," said Ranma. Earlier that day,he had gotten a letter
from Ryouga stating that he would make Ranma's life miserable. Not that
Yuffie and Nabiki weren't doing a great job themselves...

"This is weird," said Yuffie. "Why does he hate you so much?"

Ranma brooded for a while,then hit on the answer. "Of course!"

"You remember now?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah,and it's a LONG story," said Ranma.

Nabiki edged closer. "I've gotta hear this."

"It all started in the boy's private school we attended..."

~~~~+~~~~

It was lunchtime. The cook held up a bun. "This is the last sweet
bun!" he shouted. "Come and get it!" He threw it in the air.

A little boy wearing a bandanna tried to grab it,but then a little
boy wearing a braid stomped on his head and snagged the bun away!

"Damn you!" shouted the little bandanna-wearing boy. "Who are you?"

"Ranma Saotome," said the braided boy with a laugh.

"I won't forget this," snarled the little Ryouga.

~~~~+~~~~

"It was the same thing for the next six days," said Ranma with a sigh.
"I stole his meat bun on Tuesday,his wheat bun on Thursday,this soup
bun on Saturday...scratch that,I doubt there WAS a soup bun. At last,
he came up and challenged me to a duel on Sunday."

"So,what happened?" asked Yuffie,curious.

"He never showed up,at least not for three days," said Ranma. "I had
to go to China then,so he must have shown up. He's got the WORST sense
of direction in the world. This letter was addressed to meet him by
tomorrow,but he'll probably not be back for a month."

=*=

"No! No! Tokyo is THIS way,not that way," shouted the farmer. He was
losing money and time by helping this idiot with terrible navigation
get to Tokyo. But it was no good. Ryouga ran off in the wrong direction.

=*=

Finally,a week later,Ryouga reached Fuurikan High again. "Tendo Yuffie!"
he cried out. "Come out right now!"

Yuffie came out,scared. "Why are bothering me? You want Ranma."

"I swore to destroy his happiness," growled Ryouga. "YOU are part of
that happiness! Prepare to die,Tendo Yuffie!"

Yuffie smiled wickedly. This would be fun. "Okay,I'll fight ya."

"Prepare to be destroyed!" screamed Ryouga,swinging his umbrella to
attack Yuffie. Yuffie had,of course,had PLENTY of experience with
slashing attacks from Kunou's bokken,so she easily evaded this attack.

"Hold it!" shouted Ranma. "Why are ya picking on that tomboy?"

Yuffie felt sad again. ~Tomboy again...~

"I swore to destroy your happiness,Ranma!" shouted Ryouga.

"Well,SHE ain't a part of it," said Ranma. "Is it because of the buns?"

"It's far worse than the buns,Saotome Ranma!" said Ryouga. "What you
did to me was FAR worse than anything you'll ever know!" He leapt.

"What did I do?" asked Ranma.

"ENOUGH TALK! SHI-NE!!!" Ryouga tried to impale Ranma,but the other
boy was far quicker,leaping over him.

"What the hell is this ABOUT,Ryouga-kun?" asked Ranma.

"It is about me sending you to HELL!" screamed Ryouga.

Ranma landed. "So,you won't tell me,eh?" he asked.

"Ha! You can wonder all the way to your GRAVE!" roared Ryouga,opening
up his umbrella and spinning it at him like a top. Ranma evaded the
attack,only in time for Ryouga's bandanna to wrap around his wrist.
"Now you can't escape me this time,Ranma! SHI-NE!!"

"Oh,shut up!" snarled Ranma. "YOU are the one running like a coward and
getting lost!" He tore his wrist free from the bandanna.

Crowds were gathering to watch this spectacular fight. It was no bore 
to see a fight between Yuffie or Ranma and someone else. It was like the
Super Bowl or Olympics,only a thousand times more exciting.

Unfortunately,nobody bothered to watch the bamboo umbrella as it ripped
through a nearby fence and ripped right through the crowd! Most of the
crowd managed to avoid being carved into roast beef by the deadly bamboo
parasol before it closed and hit the ground.

Hiroshi went over and tried to lift it,but found it futile. "Kisama!
This thing must be made of rock! I can't lift it!"

Yuffie heard this and gasped. How could anyone carry that thing if
it was made of rock? She then realized what the umbrella was - a
deadly weapon used by special ninjas to assassinate their prey. It
was made so heavy so that nobody but the assassins could carry it,
and those people had super-strength and speed. She began to sweat.
Was Ryouga a geisha-ninja? Ranma could be in danger!

"RANMA!" she cried. "Be careful!"

The distraction allowed Ryouga to punch Ranma's head. Ranma leaned
to avoid the strike,but the tip of Ryouga's thumbnail raked across
his eyelid,cutting it. Blood began to trickle down his face.

"Kisama..." hissed Ranma,licking his eyelid. "Okay,Ryouga,you wanna
fight for real? I'll oblige you!"

"At last!" laughed Ryouga. "I was getting tired of holding back!"
He landed a punch onto Ranma's face...only to hit air.

Ranma did a foot-sweep and knocked the stupid boy down. "You're still 
holding back," he teased. Ryouga got back up.

"Omae..." snarled Ryouga. He dived for his umbrella. The crowds quickly
ran off to avoid the crazed boy diving at them. Yuffie watched in awe as
Ryouga picked up his umbrella and tossed it from one hand to the other.
This man was EXTREMELY strong! She watched as Ranma cartwheeled into
range and,planting both hands on the ground,did a solid mule-kick into
Ryouga's chin,sending him crashing into the crowd where Yuffie was.

"Why are you doing this?" begged Yuffie. "Why hurt Ranma-kun?!"

Ryouga glared daggers at her. "Don't ask," he hissed,standing up.

Yuffie grabbed his arm. "I have to know! If you hurt Ranma,I'll..."
She stopped herself. ~What are you doing,baka?~ she heard herself say.

"Your loyalty is touching,girl," sneered Ryouga. "If you want to fight
me,fine. I won't let anyone stand in my way!"

Yuffie let go and took a stance,a wicked smile on her face. "Come on."

"Fine," said Ryouga. "Prepare yourself,then!" He struck at her,but she
leapt away nimbly. Ryouga tried to unleash a flurry of attacks at her,
but simply dodged them all. The boy got angrier and angrier as this
girl simply teased him,mocked him by dancing about him and playing a
game of tap-on-the-shoulder. He then began another wave of attacks.

Ranma was disgusted at Yuffie's gall to steal his opponent from him!
He tried to get back in and get Ryouga back to fight him,but Yuffie
kept him from getting close. He saw that Ryouga was holding back.

Ryouga was impressed at the girl's speed and grace. ~She must be one
of the ninja clan,~ he thought. ~Okay,no more holding back!~ He slashed
hard at Yuffie's chest with his umbrella and ripped her shirt.

Yuffie saw her bra hanging out,exposed,and turned beet red. She then
began to glow brightly. "Kuso...ano...HENTAI!!!!!"

~Uh oh...~

Ryouga was frightened at the new-born ferocity Yuffie displayed as the
ninja girl forgot about her shirt and began tearing into the boy with
all her might,her cheeks flaming red in embarrassment. Ryouga was barely
able to avoid the attacks. ~You did it now,stupid,~ he thought.

"GAUNTLET!!" cried Yuffie,using her chi to fire a column of white light
that sent Ryouga flying over the fence. She leapt after him.

"Yuffie!" shouted Ranma. "You stupid tomboy!" He ran off after them.

Hiroshi and Daisuke smiled. "Maybe he *does* care about her," said
Hiroshi with a big grin. Daisuke just nodded.

=*=

Ranma caught up with Ryouga. "You shouldn't have done that," scolded
Ranma. "You know she HATES being exposed like that."

"Shut up!" snapped Ryouga in anger.

"HIBIKI!!" roared a voice. The two saw Yuffie descending on Ryouga,
foot extended to pummel the bastard pervert into a pulp.

Ryouga cried out and leapt away as Yuffie plowed into a water pipe,
sending a column of water into the air. It was seen from the school.
Ryouga quickly opened his umbrella and deflected the water.

Ranma...was not so lucky. "Aw,now look what ya did," said Ranma-chan.

"What *I* did?!" said Ryouga angrily to Ranma. "You...you..." He 
blinked and stared at the now female Ranma. "Ra...Ranma?!"

Ranma hung his head. "Yeah,it's me. Who else would have such luck?"

"You...you went to..." said Ryouga,trying to force the words out.

Yuffie came up,trying to fix her shirt. "Ranma-kun?" She wasn't angry
anymore. "Are you okay? Huh? I'm sorry."

"That's okay," said Ranma. She glared at Ryouga. "Good ahead,yak it up,
Ryouga. I got this PROBLEM from China,when my dad took me to a stupid
valley called Jusenkyo. Go ahead and laugh."

Ryouga did. His body racked with laughter. "You...you have a curse that
would be of benefit. Boys would fall for you easily. At least YOU don't
have the worst luck." He summoned several bandannas,spinning them into
deadly boomerangs. "Let me tell you...there are far worse curse to have
than what you have,you son of a BITCH!!" He threw them all!

Some boys who were watching cried out as the bandanna became deadly
razor-sharp discuses,deadlier than Sailor Moon's tiara,slicing through
hair and clothing as they ripped through the crowd.

"I've got to get hot water," said Ranma,running off.

"No,you baka!" screamed Yuffie as she evaded the bandannas whizzing
through the air. "You're gonna get KILLED!!" She sighed and ran after
him,dodging the bandannas with ease. She reached Ranma seconds before...

#RIP!#

She froze. What was that? Her shirt again? She turned around.

Her precious ponytail was lying on the ground. She felt her hair come
up in a fluff. She turned around to see the culprit.

Ryouga. He was aghast as he saw Yuffie,her hair now cropped short like
Nabiki's hair. Yuffie covered her face and began to cry,not caring about
whether she would torn to ribbons by the bandannas.

"Uh...ano..." said Ryouga,coming up to her. Ranma got up and looked at
Yuffie,then glared at Ryouga,who was babbling. "Er...kuso...this..."

"Nice going,lost boy," muttered Ranma. "You hurt her feelings."

"Gomen gomen," said Ryouga. "Look,if it makes you feel better,you can
hit me. Go ahead,hit me with your worst!"

Yuffie looked up,then did a spinning kick that knocked both Ranma and
Ryouga to the ground. "You jerks!" screamed Yuffie,storming off.

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