Ello people!! I am sorry for the looooooooooooooooong wait. Busy with school as usual (I know the excuse is getting old). Anyway here is chapter 5 (you might get chapter 6 within a day)

Here's a summary of what happened if any of you have forgotten.

Present

Ranma has a love from the past. He knows that she is dead but he cannot forget her, which is the reason why he still strings on all the fiancé's. He keeps having dreams about her and a fortuneteller/baba tells him that he is still connected to a red string of fate with someone (usually they disappear when one of the pair dies). He also finds out that Kasumi is his sister and Akane walks in on them when they are hugging each other. Ranma stops Akane before she goes mallet-sama on both of them and he reprimands her of her behavior.

Past

Ranma encounters a girl a couple of times in his travels across Asia. He only sees her eyes both the times so he doesn't even know if it is the same person. He keeps seeing the eyes both in waking and sleep dreams.

Chapter 5

Past : November 30th : 3:30 P.M

When Genma had mentioned about catching a flight at Bangkok, Ranma had thought they were going to a western country or similar. But, Ranma blew his fuse when Genma forced him to get on a plane back to Japan. "What the heck! Why the heck did we walk all the way to Malyasia if you just wanted to catch a flight back home BAKA POP", he had shouted at his father. "Quiet boy! I have been trying to get into this ancient Japanese village since before I started training you. Now that we are actually being invited there, we cannot waste time" Genma had replied to him.

****

Ranma kicked at a protruding root as he followed his pop's stained Gi. He would have never guessed that his father actually kept in contact with all those masters they had visited – atleast the ones that they had not ended up robbing. It had been one of those few masters that had contacted them about the invitation.

"So what are we being invited for?" Ranma asked his father's back. They had been combing all the forests in Okinawa for the past three days- All they had received from Genma's accomplice was a small figurine with four faces facing four directions. Three of the four faces resembled Buddha, Vishnu, Christ and the fourth face was void of facial features.

Ranma gave out a loud sign of resignation. The figurine had aroused his curiosity a few days ago, but their futile attempts to find the damn village had chased away any interest he had in the place. Besides, he had seriously started doubting even the existence of the place. The only information that they had on its location was that it was somewhere in the middle of a forest in Okinawa - it was more than likely that it was one of his father's hare-brained ideas, hopefully it did not lead to another cat-fu training.

"How's the figurine supposed to help us find the place? Pop! If it was just 'somewhere' in Okinawa why dint we do this earlier"

"There are barriers, boy! The figurine negates them. You can find the place only if you have it"

Ranma shook his head at his father. He had often pondered on his father's sanity but this was going over the top. He believed in Ki and all, but magic and barriers were just ridiculous.

'I should have left him that day' Ranma thought to himself as a pair of eyes that had been haunting him in his recent dreams flashed through his mind – One of the reasons he hadn't wanted to come back to Japan – probably the only one. 'Definetely Western! What the hell am I thinking about? Why can't I forget those eyes? I can't be in L o v e, can I? Common I haven't even see her face! Besides she might not even be the same person'

"FINALYY!!" he heard Genma's excited voice which broke him out of his pondering. Ranma's eyes searched for Genma but he couldn't see him. All that there was in front of him was a wall of trees that did not leave any space to go forward. The trees looked almost creepy, sticking out in random directions – making up for the gaps as if they were melted together.

"Pop" he muttered slowly as he took small steps forward and finally touched a tree.

'Feels normal…' "Aaaah" he tried to muffle a scream as his Father's hand randomly appeared out of the tree and snatched his hand, pulling him in.

"What did I tell you? Boy! Take a look at that! Maybe now you'll respect your father more"

A wooden fortress was the closest Ranma came to describing the scene that be-fronted him as he lay sprawled on the forest floor. Ranma blinked like a fool as he took in a thirty foot wooden barricade which stretched infinitely on either side.

"Howww do we get in? Pop?", Ranma asked his father in a hoarse voice.

"Excited now, aren't ya? Let's just walk along barricade until we see an entrance", Genma replied as he observed the forest fortress.

"Why don't we just climb it?"

"Hmmm, I don't think we should. I am pretty sure it is magically protected and besides I don't think it would please village heads if we get in by scaling the walls. So let's get going boy! Hopefully they treat us with a feast", Genma replied with a drooling look as he started walking.

Ranma sighed as he got up and dusted his back. 'Always comes back to feeding your overlarge belly doesn't it? Anyway, I think I am looking forward to seeing what's inside if it's making pop this serious' Ranma thought to himself as he fell into his father's footsteps.

****

"So care to give an explanation about this place, pop? I don't think they would want your student to be ignorant would they?" Ranma asked his father after a couple hours of silent and tedious traipsing along wooden wall.

"Fine, I guess I could tell you a little. This city is called Kamitoshi1. It's probably one of the oldest cities in Japan though only a few know about its existence. It's a legend to most martial artists and getting invited to the city is like winning a gold medal in the Olympics. They only invite the best of the best and give a formal training for two months"

"That's not very long…"

"Yes! Only a few of the invited actually become students here. But I don't want you to become one, even though it's a chance to make you into a 'junsei'2 master cause they basically turn you into monks" Genma said with a distant look in his eyes (probably thinking about what Nodoka would do to him if she learnt about her son becoming a monk)

"What's a junsei master?" Ranma asked overlooking his father's 'look'.

"Junsei master is the highest level of martial arts mastery. They give you the title if you have no equal in your form of martial arts."

Ranma had a brief vision of a white clad warrior gliding over tree tops.

"Anyway, there are thirteen such masters in world right now and two of them are rumored to reside in this city. Maybe you can woo them into teaching you something useful. After all you have my good looks."

Ranma managed to prevent himself from gagging. He liked to think that he did not look anything like his father. The few times he had the chance to observe himself in a mirror he thought he was pretty handsome. The whole point of his pony tail was to look as unlike his bald headed father as possible. Besides, he had been noticing the looks he had been getting from girls recently. Suddenly a strange pain shot through his heart as he 'saw' those eyes again. 'Goddammit! I can't think of the word girl without her coming into my head. What's gotten into me?'

"Oh ya, an important thing is the people in the city are very religious. The city is ruled by a clan of priests and priestesses. So be respectful to anyone who looks like a holy person" Genma added seriously.

"OK! Who are you and what have you done to my dad? Since when did you show respect to holy people or are you planning on stealing something"

"I just don't want to get on their bad side son."

"Whoa looks like somebody is scared…." Ranma said teasingly.

Genma gave an angry grunt, "Whatever boy! Just remember to behave"

"Like you are the one to talk" Ranma added defensively. 'Since when did his father act all serious on him?'

The gate of the fortress came into their view quite abruptly. They had been walking along the wall when they came to an abrupt right turn and as soon as they turned around, the gate came into their view. It was a forty foot tall wooden gate which operated by three foot diameter wheels at the bottom. 'Where did they get all that wood' Ranma wondered, 'It's a goddamn forest idiot' answered the genius in his head. A couple of guards stood on either side of the gate wearing wooden samurai armor and holding 7 foot tall spears. They also had a Katana each at their hips. "What the heck? Are we in the 16th century?" Ranma muttered to himself before he noticed they also wore a pistol each at their hips. 'Oops my bad! We are in the 19th century!' he thought to himself as they slowly approached the gaurds.

When they were about ten feet away from the gate, "Name yourself and your purpose" shouted one of the guards.

"I am Genma Saotome and this is my son Ranma. We are coming here on an invitation" said Genma removing the figurine from his bag.

The guard gave it a glance, "You may pass. See the building over there? Show the figurine in there and you will receive assistance" he replied nonchalantly.

As he looked past the guard beyond the gate, Ranma could not decide whether the guard was trained to act that way or he just did not care. He gave the guard a final look and he followed Genma into the town.

Ranma blinked to focus his eyes into the town as the sun began to slowly dip beyond the horizon. Though he could not see much Ranma felt that that the town was unlike any of the those he had been before. The few people he spotted looked as if they were trying to finish up their final chores before retiring for the day. That's when the realization struck Ranma, 'There is no electricity in the town. Obviously! since it is so deep inside the forest' Ranma thought as he entered a brick building behind his father.

The dingy room was lit by a lantern hanging from the side wall and Ranma noticed a grumpy looking middle aged man seated behind a desk. A couple of wooden chairs in front of the desk were the only furniture in the room and the man seemed to have been reading a newspaper when they entered the room.

"How may I help you?" asked the man. 'a little too pleasant for his face', Ranma thought. 'Way to be opinionated' jeered a voice in his head.

"Ummm…The guard told us to come here" Genma replied blandly before showing him the figurine.

"Oh! Martial arts invitees huh. Let me take a look at the figure" the man asked holding out his hand and Genma obliged.

The man inverted the figure and looked at its bottom.

"H22…Hmmm", he opened a book in front of him "Genma and Ranma Saotome. Invitation for Ranma Saotome – Anything goes school of Indiscriminate grappling… Haha funny name. Although I am amazed that the kid received the invitation. It's the first time in years anyone so young came as an invitee" said the man looking at Ranma with a happier face then he had before they had entered.

"Gimme a sec…" said the man as he opened a door behind him. "Konohaaaa! Come here we have guests" he shouted and turned back to them.

"You must be pretty tired right! You can rest here for today. Someone will be assigned to be your guide tomorrow and along with your permanent boarding" said the man as a middle aged woman came through the door behind him.

"There you are Konoha…give them something to eat and show them to their beds" and the duo followed the wife with a couple of thank yous while the man went back to his seat.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Present:

Ranma woke up the next morning feeling quite happy. He could never feel content, not as long as… 'Anyway I should make Kasumi talk me to sleep every day. That was the best sleep I had in a long time' Ranma thought as he headed downstairs.

Kasumi was bustling around in the kitchen as usual and Ranma watched her admiringly from behind as a sense of peace crept into him.

"You should marry Dr. Tofu and get the hell outta here onee-chan. You have worked enough for the Tendo's, its time you thought about yourself" Ranma told her after a few minutes.

Kasumi jumped and 'eeek'ed. "God Ranma! Don't surprise me like that" Kasumi said turning away from the stove. Suddenly her face turned red as she realized what Ranma had said.

"What are you saying Ranma", Kasumi not looking into his eyes and Ranma laughed at her tomato red face.

"Yeeeaah… you can act innocent with THAT face" Ranma said unable to control his grinning. He did not realize that Dr. Tofu's name would affect her this much.

"Atleast you are not as hopeless as him. You should ask him out on a date!"

"Ranmaa! I don't…Dr Tofu doesn't….Anyway there is nothing like that between us. We are just good friends."

"Are ya CRAZY!! The guy is nuts over you. And people say that I am dumb in these things. It must run in the family. Anyway onee-chan you should make your move. Tofu loses his mind before he can even talk to ya, so you can't go hoping that he would ask you out someday. If you are so scared I can ask him out for ya. 'Dr. Tofu Kasumi wants to go on a date with you. She will meet you at the park at 5:30P.M. Dress up properly and don't forget to bring flowers' How does that sound?"

"Oh! Shut up Ranma. Dr. Tofu…" Kasumi never completed her sentence as they heard someone come down the stairs. It was Akane.

Ranma stared at her. Her eyes were puffy and red – 'uhoh was she crying all night?'. She turned at Ranma and gave him a glare. She donned her shoes and gave him another dirty look before she headed out for her jog. Ranma felt numerous arrows of guilt pierce his heart. He looked back at Kasumi who had gone back to her cooking as if she hadn't even been talking to him.

"Thanks for the help, nee-chan" Ranma said sarcastically.

Kasumi giggled a little, "But Ranma-kun I already talked to her last night. After, you decided to leave us there!" Kasumi replied in her I-am-sweet-and-innocent tone.

"Damn! You nee" Ranma said and rushed behind Akane.

"Haha! He is such a nice kid!" Kasumi said to herself without pausing in her cooking.

****

Ranma spotted Akane after 15 minutes of searching for her. She had taken a different route than usual as if she had expected him to follow her.

"Akane stop!" Ranma shouted after her. Akane did not turn nor did she try to escape.

'The heck' Ranma muttered and ran after her. He caught upto her and started jogging beside her.

"What do you want Ranma! You are annoying me! Buzz off!" she told him angrily after a couple of minutes of silent jogging.

"I just wanna talk, 'Kane"

"What! Want to point out my short-comings again… huh Mr. Self righteous?"

Ranma sighed, "Look! Akane, I am sorry for last night. I was sorta feeling down after I talked to the Baba yesterday and Kasumi was sorta consoling me and then she started talking about herself when you barged in on us shouting about… you know what…which blew my fuse. Kasumi is my…I mean like my sister, Akane! I love and care about her (like a brother) so I got very angry when you accused her. I know that I have no right to say this as I am in no way perfect but you need to control your anger Akane. I know you had a rough childhood and so did I, which is probably why we are both sorta weird… But, you do need to control your anger Akane. Not everyone is strong enough to take on Mallet-sama" said Ranma causing Akane to stop and stare at him

Akane could have never suspected that Ranma was capable of such profoundness.

"You need to control your anger Akane", Ranma persisted "before you seriously hurt someone…if you want I can help ya train. Soul of Ice training could work. Also…"

"Is that all you think of me Ranma?" Akane said with her head lowered. Her voice was bitter and filled with sorrow.

'uh-oh I said something wrong'

"I am sorry Akane. What was I thinking! I can't possibly help ya. You need professional help!"

Tears started flowing out of Akane's eyes as Ranma realized that he had just said something worse. Akane was about to run but Ranma caught her.

"Wait Akane! I am sorry I dint mean any of those things. You know how bad I am with words…this is my short-coming. Please don't cry Akane!" he pleaded. He hated to see a girl cry because of him.

"Ranma…Baka! I am not crying because of what you said to me. I am crying because of what you think of me" she said in a broken voice as she struggled to get free. Ranma did not let go.

"I am only angry when it concerns you Ranma. I get jealous, Ranma. That's why I said those words not because I suspected my own sister. I was jealous because you could confide in her and hug her while you've never even talked to me properly. I have anger issues Ranma. I know that much but its only when you make me jealous. Kasumi made me realize that" Akane said silently as she stopped trying to get away.

Ranma stared at her dumbstruck. He would have never in his right mind expected Akane to say something like that. He did not know what to say nor could he say the words that came to his mind.

"Akane…I…I…" he muttered hopelessly.

This time Akane sighed. "I don't know how you still don't get it Ranma. I get angry and jealous not 'at' you Ranma but 'for' you. Cause I love you Ranma"

Kamitoshi: God-city

Junsei :Truth

OoOoOoO

Beware Readers! The next paragraph is self rant. I am talking about myself here so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

Ranma ½ is my favorite anime. Not because it's the best out there (I think the best is Rurouni Kenshin) but because Ranma is so much like me. Due to the nature of my father's job I never stayed in one place for too long (just like Ranma). I studied in 9 schools by the time I finished my 12th grade and I am now in my 11th educational institution (quite a feat aiin't it? And I am only 19 now OOO). Anyway you see where I am going. I never got to make good friends which probably made me quite oblivious to my own feelings and emotions let alone others. To me Ranma's character is a reincarnation of my very soul (at least the way I perceive him). I am arrogant, cocky and clueless but at the same time kind and sensitive – (not that I have the right to say that about myself). So when I fell for this girl I decided to write a story on her (Hayley) and Ranma. So basically what I am saying is that I feel that I am Ranma when I writing this story.

Oh ya… also I tend to act all manly most of the time but deep inside I know that there is a feminine side of me (which I refuse to accept—even now!!). Funny thing is there was a time when I used to not eat ice-cream cause I considered it was not manly but I started eating it again after I watched Ranma. The only thing I thing that I am different from Ranma is that I am actually good at school

To readers who hated the above paragraph: I am sorry (don't read it next time).

To others: Thanks for reading it and next time I will give you the story behind Hayley (it's quite pathetic on my part actually)

****

Reviews please....The next chapter won't be such a long wait (if any of you were waiting)