The "mission" turned out to be a pretty typical D-rank according to what Naruto had told Ranma previously: fence painting. After the D-rank was done, Kakashi somehow weaseled out of doing any training.

Afterward, Naruto managed to nag Ranma and Sakura into going to Ramen Ichiraku since her previous visit had been derailed by Kiba. Unfortunately, they found Kiba—still a girl—staking out Ichiraku's.

Upon seeing them, Kiba exclaimed, "I've made it my mission to deny you ramen until you tell me how to change back, Naruto!"

Naruto groaned.

Ranma smirked. "Obviously, you haven't learned your lesson, Dog Breath. We told your mom how to remove the temporary curse. If she hasn't told you yet, then you won't hear anything from us."

"Hah!" Kiba exclaimed. "Why should I beg my mom for the answer when I can just pound it out of Naruto?"

Ranma snorted in amusement while Naruto broke out in giggles.

"Stop laughing at me!" the temporary girl yelled.

"You think you can pound someone I trained, Dog Breath?" Ranma responded. "Especially in a new body you haven't bothered to get used to?" She shook her head. "Go get your ramen, Imouto. I'll take care of Dog Girl."

Naruto nodded and walked toward the ramen stand. Sakura glanced back and forth between them before shrugging her shoulders and following after Naruto.

"Don't dismiss me like that!" Kiba exclaimed and moved to chase Naruto down.

Ranma intercepted the temporary girl, moving between her and her sister.

"Fine!" Kiba said. "I'll pound you and then go get my revenge on Naruto!"

Ranma idly dodged a few wild swings. She could tell that the Inuzuka was not in her class, even if "she" were in "her" top form. This continued for about a minute before Ranma was starting to get bored.

"You might as well give up, Dog Breath," Ranma said. "You couldn't hit me in a million years."

"There's no way I'm going to lose to the Dead Last's genin cousin!" Kiba exclaimed.

Ranma chuckled. "Two words, Dog Breath: Chunin Exams."

Kiba turned red. "He cheated!"

Ranma chuckled again. "I thought you were a shinobi, Dog Breath: anything goes."

"Then he got lucky!" Kiba growled. "Your luck will run out soon enough!"

Ranma cocked her head to the side. "What makes you think I need luck to deal with you, Dog Breath? Like I said before, you couldn't hit me if we fought for a million years."

"I'm an Inuzuka and you're just a relative of the Dead Last!"

Ranma shook her head wondering if Kiba's mind would blow if she knew Naruto was the kid of the Fourth Hokage.

"You're an idiot, Dog Breath," Ranma said, "if you think lineage matters more than training."

"What?" Kiba said. "Are you some kind of disciple of the Green Beast?"

Ranma had heard about the man that Naruto called Bushier Brows. "Gai-sensei's not wrong about that. He's a jounin for a reason. But no, I'm not a disciple—although I would like a spar with him."

"You want to spar with Gai-sensei?" Kiba asked, incredulous. "She" snorted and then muttered, "Stupid new genin—the Dead Last's cousin for sure."

"I've heard he might actually give me a challenge," Ranma said.

Kiba started to giggle, then slapped a hand over "her" mouth, glaring at Ranma.

"Ready to go, Neechan," Naruto called, running past. "Got you a couple of pork ramen bowls!"

Ranma glanced back at the ramen stand and saw Sakura glaring at them. The pink-haired girl turned back to the bar and took a seat. Ranma shrugged her shoulders and took off after her sister. "Later, Dog Breath!" she called out to Kiba.

They ducked into an alley where they each created a dozen shadow clones to lead Kiba on false trails and then headed to a park to enjoy their ramen.

That evening they were called to the Hokage's office by an ANBU. When Naruto and her sister arrived at the Hokage's office, a man who she recognized as Ino's dad was already there.

"Brats," the Hokage said, "this is Yamanaka Inoichi—head of the Yamanaka Clan. He's here to help you with your cat problem. Inoichi, these are the brats. I'm sure you already know Uzumaki Naruto, by reputation at least. The red-haired brat is Saotome Ranma, a distant cousin of the Uzumaki Clan from outside the Elemental Nations."

"I'd heard rumors that 'Uzumaki Narumi' was really Naruto in disguise," Inoichi said. "Is there a reason why he remains in this disguise now that his cover is blown?"

Naruto sighed and launched into a basic explanation of Jusenkyou, implying that they had a simple girl curse.

"Give him the full explanation, Brat," Tsunade commanded. "He's going to be in your minds."

Naruto sighed again and showed her tails, which made Inoichi's eyes widen. She explained how Jusenkyou preyed on one's fears or weaknesses and how her fear of being seen as the Kyuubi and the insult's Ranma's father routinely gave her had ended up with them cursed as foxgirls. She then explained about their yearly feminine cycle and how it caused their personal magic to interfere with the curse.

Inoichi quirked an eyebrow at the Hokage. Naruto could see that he was dubious, but couldn't tell if he thought the Fox was influencing her or in he thought she was an infiltrator posing as Naruto.

"Their story was confirmed by Jiraiya," the Hokage said. "Plus, do you really think someone could impersonate Naruto?"

Inoichi shrugged.

Tsunade snorted. "Trust me. He's one of a kind. Plus, you'll be able to verify it momentarily yourself."

Inoichi nodded. "True enough."

"Now," Tsunade said. "Tell Inoichi what else he'll find in your heads besides hollow space, Brat."

Naruto went on to explain about how Jusenkyou's death magic had spread the Eight Trigrams Seal that sealed the Kyuubi within her to Ranma, creating a shared "seal-scape" where the Kyuubi resided. She also explained how the death magic had released the Shiki Fuujin pulling the other half of the Kyuubi and her father into their seal from the Shinigami's stomach.

"Minato's in your seal with the Kyuubi?" Inoichi asked incredulously.

"Not with the Kyuubi, exactly," Naruto said. "The Kyuubi is limited to its prison within the seal-scape, while Dad has free movement within the seal-scape. They rarely interact. Dad also figured out how to supply what was essentially a Shadow Clone that mom had left behind in the seal with chakra from Ranma and me, so he's not alone either."

"Kushina, too?" Inoichi asked, rubbing his forehead.

Naruto nodded. "I know it's only a small piece of my mom, but…"

"But it's a small piece of your mom and the only part of her that you've really known," Inoichi said knowingly.

Naruto nodded.

"And your seal is still safe with the entire Kyuubi there and without this Shiki Fuujin component?" Inoichi asked.

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "At this point it's hard to say what would happen if the Kyuubi really wanted to get out. Ranma and I have discussed this both with Mom and Dad and with Jiraiya. We think that, at least in our cursed forms, we could contain it. Either Jusenkyou or our personal magic helps to contain it—probably both. In our natural forms? We have more doubt—especially if it happened while we were trying to use its power. However, the Kyuubi has said that it doesn't want out and we tend to believe it—at least for now."

Inoichi was silent in disbelieving shock.

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "Really? The reports from when it escaped just after your birth argue against that, Brat."

"The Kyuubi said that the seal that Aunt Mito taught Mom was painful for it, while ours is not. It also said that a person it called 'Madara's heir' is hunting it. From what Mom and Dad said they think this Madara's heir is the one-eyed Uchiha that attacked them during my birth."

"So it was an attack then?" the Hokage asked. "The Kyuubi just didn't escape?"

Naruto nodded. "According to my parents, a masked Uchiha with only one eye visible attacked not long after I was born and killed the nurses and managed to hold me hostage. My dad rescued me, but the masked man managed to free the Kyuubi from Mom while Dad was distracted. While it was free, Dad says he saw a Sharingan pattern in the Kyuubi's eyes, so he thinks the Uchiha was controlling it." She shrugged. "Without the Sharingan influence it might have been more interested in escaping than causing the most damage."

"What are the odds that it was someone with an implanted Sharingan?" Inoichi asked.

Naruto shrugged again. "The Kyuubi called him Madara's heir. That implies an Uchiha, right? Otherwise, I have no idea."

"From what the Kyuubi told us," Ranma said, picking up the explanation, "it just wants to be left in peace. It seems to be content to leave us alone as long as we entertain it."

"Entertain it?" Inoichi asked.

"It seems to find amusement in the various predicaments we find ourselves in," Ranma said dryly.

"It can see what is going on outside the seal?" Tsunade asked.

"It always had a limited awareness of what was going on—at least at certain times," Naruto explained. "We have since made a deal with it that in exchange for Dad adjusting the seal so that it could see through our eyes whenever it wanted, it would leave us alone and lend us chakra without fighting us for it."

"And it has kept this agreement?" Tsunade asked doubtfully.

"Yes," Ranma replied. "We've both used the Kyuubi's chakra on two separate occasions at Ero-sennin's urging. Neither of us enjoyed the experience much, but there were no issues with it."

Naruto nodded. "The Kyuubi's chakra is wild and full of rage. I can't see many situations that would require it. Neither one of us is a slouch chakra-wise and the Kyuubi's chakra is only really useful when extreme brute force is required."

"Did you learn subtlety, Brat?" Tsunade asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Naruto smirked. "You think I wasn't capable of subtlety? Didn't your ANBU brief you on some of the tricks I pulled while I was in the Academy? I only got caught because I wanted the attention."

The Hokage shook her head in fond annoyance. "Is there anything else that Inoichi needs to know before he starts this?"

"Just that the Kyuubi might threaten him if he doesn't manage to help us with the Cat Fist," Ranma muttered. "It's the only real issue we've had with the Bijuu. It thinks that our behavior under the Cat Fist is unbecoming of its hosts."

Inoichi looked slightly ill at the prospect.

Ranma became aware of a presence near her. The last thing she remembered was Inoichi using his mind walking technique on her. She looked around and found herself in a dojo vaguely reminiscent of the one the Tendous had. The place felt similar to the seal-scape, but more Saotome Ranma—there was little to no influence from Naruto, the Kyuubi, Minato, or Kushina like there was in the seal-scape. The presence beside her was Inoichi.

"I'm impressed, Genin Saotome," he told her. "Usually only other Yamanaka are aware of intrusions in their mindscape enough to manifest."

Ranma shrugged. "I have experience in visiting the joined seal-scape I share with Naruto."

With a brief bit of concentration, she changed to her male form. It was mostly habit now to be male while in the seal-scape; he mostly didn't mind the form Jusenkyou had given him, but it did irritate him not to be able to change when he wanted to. There was also a residual sense that he was obligated to be a "Man among Men," even if his mom had told him the silly contract was meaningless.

"So this is what you normally look like?" Inoichi asked. "Why does your hair change color and Naruto's doesn't?"

"I'm not sure exactly," he said. "My mom and her family are mostly redheads, while my pop was dark haired, back when he still had hair. Jusenkyou must suppress some of my pop's genes when it changes me."

"That's odd," Inoichi said. "Naruto's mother was a redhead too, but he stays blond when he changes."

Ranma grinned. "Maybe Pop offended Jusenkyou somehow in a way that Minato didn't. Pop does tend to do that. Not even ancient magical locations are immune to his 'charm.'"

A roar echoed through Ranma's mind. He could feel a slight pull from the direction that he instinctively knew was the shared seal-scape.

He frowned. "It sounds like the Kyuubi wants to talk to us. Let's go see what it wants."

Inoichi looked uncomfortable. "We could just ignore it. That's not what I'm here for."

Ranma shook his head. "Better to get it over with. It'll just nag us if we don't show up. Besides, you can say 'Hi' to Minato and Kushina."

"Very well, Ranma," Inoichi said. "Lead the way."

The path between Ranma's personal center and the shared seal-scape was odd. Sometimes places he'd been or imagined would blur together seamlessly; at other times they would fade into featureless foggy expanses. The weirdest was seeing scenes from My Neighbor Totoro, an anime that his mother had insisted they watch in the theater right before they left Japan for the Elemental Nations, juxtaposed with Furinkan High School. Time held less meaning in the mental realm so Ranma couldn't estimate how long it took to make it to the seal-scape with the pipes that held his and Naruto's magic and chakra as well as the Kyuubi's prison and the pipes containing its chakra.

Naruto was already there, waiting with his parents. The two of them had figured out how to fall asleep at will during the training trip so that they could consult with Minato and Kushina whenever they wanted to.

"Hokage-sama, Kushina," Inoichi said. He bowed to each of them, with Minato's being somewhat deeper. Minato and Kushina bowed in return.

"Inoichi," Minato said. "Thank you for helping the boys with this."

Kushina added. "We would have tried something ourselves, but we weren't sure where to start and were afraid of making it worse."

The Kyuubi roared again. All of them glanced toward the giant gate that represented its prison.

"Better go see what Mr. Grumpy Pants wants to say," Naruto muttered.

"I heard that, Little Blonde Vixen!" the Kyuubi growled. "I am much too dignified to wear pants like some furless ape."

They approached the cage with Inoichi trailing behind them. The Kyuubi was laying down not far from the gate, peering out at them.

"Another blond ape," it said with a sneer. "You will fix the Little Red Vixen so that she and the Little Blonde Vixen are no longer embarrassments to me. Am I understood, blond ape?"

"I will do so," Inoichi replied stiffly, "because the Hokage commanded it."

The Kyuubi's sneer intensified. "It matters not to me why you apes do what I command, only that you do. Now begone and get to work."

It closed its eyes to let them now they were dismissed.

"Typical," Kushina said with a snort. She walked away from the gate. The others followed her.

Once they were some distance away she turned to Inoichi and said, "The Kyuubi likes to bluster, but we think it won't do anything to risk its peace and quiet."

"And its entertainment," Naruto added with a huff. He shook his head. "What will you do now, Inoichi? Can we help?"

"The first order of business is to find this Cat Fist and where it's located in Ranma's subconscious," he replied.

"Should we come with you?" Minato asked.

Inoichi thought for a moment before nodding. "If you can, it might be better for Ranma to have support. I won't know for sure, however, until we discover what the problem is, so please don't interfere with anything until I say." He turned to Ranma. "Can you find where the Cat Fist is centered?"

Ranma grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do is find was the Cat Fist. However, if it solved the problem… He concentrated and thought about cats. An uneasiness crept over him, but he got the feeling of which direction it was coming from. He gestured off toward his side of the seal-scape. "That way."

He started walking toward the uneasiness. Naruto caught up to him and grabbed his hand and smiled encouragingly. "We'll all help you with this, Neechan."

Ranma smiled faintly in response. A small voice within him that sounded like his pop, told him he should shake off his "sister's" hand, but right now he didn't want to—so he didn't. He supposed that was him growing beyond the rubbish he had learned from his father.

As they got nearer to the center of the Cat Fist, Ranma slowed. As much as he wanted to get rid of it, years of fear and avoidance had engrained in him that the need to flee all cats or even the possibility of triggering the Cat Fist. Naruto took the lead, pulling the slightly resisting Ranma along.

In one of the foggy, featureless expanses, they heard a faint yowling and hissing accompanied by the occasional screaming and crying of a little boy. It got louder as they went on. Ranma was now being pulled along bodily by Naruto, trembling as they went. Kushina, who had been following them, wrapped him in a hug from behind.

"It will be alright, Ranma," she whispered in his ear. "You'll see."

She grabbed his other hand and pulled him along. Before too long it was Kushina taking the lead as Naruto had begun to falter as well.

The fog faded away for the most part, but the area was still hazy. The scene was dominated by a large cat, approaching the size of the Kyuubi. It was hissing and yowling. It crouched down with its tail lashing in the air. It batted at something none of them could see. Surrounding the giant cat was a circle of pits. More angry feline sounds were coming from the pits as well as the crying and yelling of little boys that all sounded the same. A heavy, adult man would occasionally fade into existence at the top of a pit and yell meaningless encouragement before fading out, only to appear at the top of another pit some time later.

Ranma sank to the ground, shaking off Kushina and Naruto's hands. He balanced on the balls of his feet with his hand on the ground. His eyes darted everywhere, making sure none of the hell beasts could sneak up on him. Beside him, Naruto was doing the same thing.

"What is that?" Kushina asked, pointing at the giant cat creature. "Is that another Bijuu?"

"I don't think so," Minato replied. "The only feline Bijuu is the Nibi and that thing only has one tail."

"I've heard of something similar," Inoichi said. "Sometimes an experience will have a large enough impact upon a psyche as to gather mental energy into a construct like this. If the experience is extreme enough or is repeated enough times, it can become self-sustaining. The pits are feeding the energy to the construct."

"Is the energy chakra?" Kushina asked. "When the boys going into the Cat Fist, they seem to have more abilities than they normally do. Does the construct possess them?"

Inoichi nodded. "It does and the energy is a less refined energy that chakra, but it could be used similarly. The construct itself is not really sentient like the Kyuubi or the other Bijuu are, but it does have imprinted behaviors that are replicated when it is in control. I couldn't say whether it picked them up from the original cats in the pit or from what Ranma expected a cat to behave like." He glanced down at Ranma.

"Don't know; don't care," Ranma hissed. He felt himself on the verge of loosing control. He wasn't going to be able to get any closer. "Please don't make me go over there."

Inoichi shook his head. "That would be counter-productive—at least at this point."

"Can you drain it?" Minato asked.

Inoichi shook his head again. "No—the pits would refill it too quickly and the pits are too entrenched to get rid of—at least in a timely fashion. The best option is to suborn the construct."

"Suborn the construct?" Minato asked. "How would we do that? And what would it mean for Ranma and Naruto?"

"Suborning the construct should not actually be that difficult," Inoichi answered. "It doesn't actually have a mind—just some programmed instincts that interact with Ranma and Naruto's subconscious desires. I should be able to instruct the construct to connect with their conscious minds—that way, the most dangerous aspect of the condition—lack of control—is nullified."

"So they'll still be afraid of cats?" Kushina asked.

"Ranma certainly will," Inoichi responded. "That sort of ingrained fear does not just go away. It will also continue to bleed through to Naruto. However, once the Cat Fist is triggered, they'll be aware and in control. I would imagine that the effect will be like a minor version of a jinchuuriki's abilities. Under the new Cat Fist, they'll be more wild and feral, have a moderate chakra boost, and access to the claws I've heard about."

"That sounds like an Inuzuka technique," Minato mused.

Inoichi smiled enigmatically. "I can't tell you anything about that accept to reassure that Inuzuka do not do anything like what Ranma's father did to him. Yamanaka are sworn to secrecy about any Konoha clan secrets we may pick up in the course of our duties—even to former Hokages that are mostly dead."

He then turned serious. "The rest of this should be pretty simple; it will just take a little time."

"Do we need to stay here?" Ranma asked. "This place is creeping me out."

"No," Inoichi said. "I didn't actually need your participation in the first place. I simply thought you'd like to know what was going on. It was also good to have you hear in case we ran into something unprecedented. While this type of condition is not exactly common, it has been documented."

"There've been similar cases in Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"I can't tell you any names," he replied. "There has been one family that have occasionally had cases with constructs pop up, but they have mostly refused Yamanaka help—distrusting our diagnosis and motives." He shrugged. "By custom and the Village Charter, the Hokage can't force the Clans to send a member to see us unless it involves an active shinobi like you or Ranma."

Ranma nodded. He could understand the reluctance to have someone else in your mind even if it was a moot point for him now with Naruto, Minato, Kushina, and the Kyuubi. He himself was reluctant to add more, but if Inoichi could help him with the Cat Fist it was worth it.

"We'll have to have a test or two after I'm done to make sure it works," Inoichi called as Ranma and the others left.

Ranma grimaced.

Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi were gathered in the Forest of Death along with Inoichi, Tsunade, and a handful of ANBU. Ranma had reluctantly agreed to be tied up and hobbled so that they could force an interaction with cats on her without her running away. Naruto herself was also tied up, but she had allowed it graciously. She was excited to see if Inoichi's solution worked.

An ANBU used the Body Flicker to appear in front of them. He was carrying a pair of cages with two cats each in them. Ranma made a series of small hops to not-so-discretely hide behind Naruto. The cats were docile, but Naruto could feel Ranma's panic leaking into her. Naruto herself had experienced enough of her sister's fear second-hand for the last year and a half to have developed her own wariness of the beasts.

"How do we do this?" Tsunade asked. "Will just the presence of the cats activate it?"

Inoichi, who was watching the Naruto and her sister closely, shook his head. "It appears that the presence of the cats only induces the fear. We need them to actually panic before they fall into the Cat Fist. From the reports, Ranma only went crazy after she couldn't dislodge Tora for several seconds."

"I see," the Hokage said. She turned to Kakashi. "Can you genjustsu the cats to interact with them sufficiently?"

"Certainly," Kakashi answered with much too much enthusiasm.

Kakashi performed a series of hand seals and then nodded to the ANBU controlling the cages. The ANBU opened the cages and the cats approached Naruto and her sister and started rubbing against their hobbled legs. A faint whiff of arousal reached Naruto's nose. She could guess what kind of genjutsu her supposed sensei had induced.

"These are tom cats aren't they?" she asked angrily.

"Tom cats?" Ranma yowled. "Kakashi, you pervert!"

Sakura, the Hokage, and several of the ANBU all turned to glare at the one-eyed jounin.

He actually had the grace to look embarrassed. "I thought it would be more comfortable for my students with more harmless contact!" he hurriedly said. "It's not like the cats can actually do that to them!"

Anger, frustration, and shame all welled up inside Naruto. The shame triggered more anger and pushed Naruto up over the edge into a state that was familiar, but different than anything she had experienced before. She felt an echoing surge from Ranma.

"Enough!" she snarled. She felt herself shift into her foxgirl form instinctively. She strained against her bonds.

"Get off me, you disgusting vermin!" Ranma growled, who was also displaying her tails. There was something wild and untamed in her voice. "Get me out of these, Imouto."

Naruto maneuvered herself to allow fingers access to Ranma's bonds. After fumbling with them for a moment, she just slashed at them with her nails. To her minor surprise and satisfaction the chakra-reinforced cords shredded, allowing Ranma to break free of them. Ranma, once her arms were free, quickly made short work of the cords binding Naruto's arms then both of them freed their own legs.

Ranma snarled at the cats that had backed off a short ways while they had freed themselves. Kakashi evidently dropped the genjutsu because the cats fled. The ANBU were all watching them warily, but luckily appeared to be taking their lead from the Hokage who was visibly unconcerned by their foxy appendages.

Both of them had instinctively dropped to their haunches with their fingers lightly touching the ground so that they could spring into action if needed.

"If you ever genjutsu anything to approach us like that, Sensei," Ranma growled, "I'll neuter you!"

"And I'll help," Naruto snarled.

"And don't think I'll stop them, Pervert," Tsunade growled.

Sakura nodded in agreement while smacking a fist into her other palm.

Kakashi held up his hands in a warding gesture. "I only did it so that they wouldn't be so aggressive. I was trying to spare you some discomfort!"

"Discomfort!?" Nartuto yelled.

Inoichi coughed. "It seems that anger in the presence of cats can trigger the Cat Fist as well as fear."

"It seems that the experiment has been a success!" Kakashi said quickly. "Bye!" He disappeared in a swirl of leaves."

It took half an hour for Naruto and Ranma to calm down enough for the "new and improved" Cat Fist to dissipate. The Hokage in the meantime had given the ANBU a brief explanation of Jusenkyou in order to alleviate their concerns about the Kyuubi and swore them to secrecy.

That evening in the seal-scape, the Kyuubi called Ranma and Naruto over to its cage after Kushina and Minato had congratulated them on escaping the worst of the Cat Fist's effects.

"Your efforts at controlling the embarrassment that the Little Redheaded Vixen's excuse for a sire burdened you with are acceptable for now," it said. "You will work on improving your control so that it is not dependent on those lesser creatures or induced by them."

After it had said its piece, the Kyuubi closed its eyes, dismissing them.

Ranma snorted and shook its head at the Bijuu's prideful antics.

Author's Notes: While Ranma 1/2 treats the Cat Fist like an ultimate, unbeatable technique for the slapstick comedy value, it's not that big of a deal power-wise when you're already a jinchuuriki. I'm also dubious as to how unbeatable it would be for a high-level ninja.

My Neighbor Totoro is a popular kids anime that came out about a year after Ranma 1/2 began its manga run. Some people have made comparisons between Totoro and Mickey Mouse because Studio Ghibli, My Neighbor Totoro's producer, occupies some of the niche in Japan that Disney does in the US.

For the curious, the family that Inoichi references are the Kurama family that appears in the Anime-only Rescue Yakumo Kurama Arc. I'm postulating that Yakumo's Ido Monster isn't the first in that family and that Kurama family's insularity and distrust made them ask Kurenai to deal with it instead of a Yamanaka.