The strange black haired ninja woman with red eyes wanted to ask him questions. The problem was, Ranma had a lot of holes in his memory. Yes, no matter how he looked, he was pretty sure he was a boy. Now, how to tell thinks without them thinking 'she' was insane?
“Hi, my name is Kurenai Yuhi, what's your name?” She asked, Ranma had the felling that he wasn't usually a good liar. The woman in front of her, not only made him feel insignificant because he could 'feel' that she was stronger than him, she was a goddamn kunoichi. Lying would be a bad idea, a very idea idea.
“Ranma.” Yes his name was Ranma, no sense to lie about that, somewhat he felt that the name Ranko would work better for a girl, but why lie and risk the anger of a ninja?
“Just Ranma? Don't you have a family or clan name?” It was a reasonable question
“I... I don't know.” That was the truth, he just could not remember. For some reason she felt that the reason he didn't have a family was because he was a boy trapped in a girls body.
“Where are you from?” And here things where getting sour, there was no place called like that in any map or book the nurses had let her borrow. Still, she was a ninja, maybe she knew things other did not?
“Ever heard of a place called Nerima?” Ranma asked, he noticed the slight change in Kurenai's aura, nope, she didn't. That crushed his last hope, he had thought that Nerima place was some hidden village that was very secret, as she could remember a lot of taijutsu fights happening there.
“No, are you from there?” And the interrogation continues
“I used to live there, I think... is quite confusing, my memory is full of holes. Somewhat I get the felling I should not be a girl, but a boy. Maybe a ninja did this to me?” That seemed to caught the woman interest,
“What is the last you can remember before you woke up in the hospital?”
"There was... two boys fighting, they where using taijusu and they used weapons too... then there was a big explosion..."
"I see. I will have to get an expert to examine your memories."
"WHAT?"
"Do you want to remember, don't you?"
"Uh... do I have to?" The eight year old girl whined, then looked at her with the dreaded puppy dog eye attack. It required all of Kurenai's training to resist it. She guessed a civilian would have probably fallen to it.
“We in ninja village. The name is Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I am afraid is necessary. ”
“Really? Is making the Shinobi visible usual for this kind of places?” Ranma blurted out with child like curiosity. "I mean... I thought that ninjas where expert on disguises!"
“Yes, is a show of power and good for business.” Well at least the woman wasn't treating her as retarded because she was a small girl. Where that had come from? "Also, if a shinobi wants not be seen, it won't be seen, unless they ranking at infiltration and espionage is too low or it faces better shinobi."
“So...” Ranma said nervous, he had to be very careful with what he said next.
“So What?” Kurenai was pretending to be distracted. A good tactic to use on small children, they always craved attention.
“What will happen to me?” And here was it, this was when his fate would be decided.
“Since you seem to be from a far away land, have no family, clan or relatives... you will be sent to the orphanage. After you get your mind cheeked by an expert. Personally, I don't think you are dangerous, but is better to be sure. It won't be the first time one of our enemies tried to use children that are too young to even be genin.”
“So, no forcefully making me a Shinobi?” The question had a double purpose, knowing if they wanted to make a ninja out of him and if that kind of thing was forced in the village. Why he asked that? Is was quite strange... what was wrong with him? It had to do with the holes in his memory?
“Konoha doesn't do that. Of course, you can try to join the Shinobi academy, but without a sponsor it would be hard. You would need money for supplies and school books.”
“I could get a part time job for that.”
“You seem quite smart for your age.” That was good, get their interest, better than be in an orphanage, right? Also, for some reason, the idea of receiving ninja training, he liked that. Just who he was? Maybe he had been a ninja in training? Why had his memories been manipulated? Why had he been found injured in a big crater? What the heck had happened?
“I am not the usual eight year old girl.” Ranma said
“Do you have a bloodline?”
“What's that?”
“Bloodlines are abilities passed down to descendants of some clans. Unlike regular Jutsu, they can't be copied or replicated. Having one would greatly help you to be accepted in the village. Unlike other places, we don't hunt down or kill people because of them having so called demon powers.”
“Well... that sounds cool. But... why do you think I have one of those?”
“Red hair isn't very common around here, and you are unusual for a child of your age.”
“I think I was was... trained.” Ranma said carefully picking his words “Some of my memories are crazy, maybe I do have anything strange that could be considered a bloodline, maybe I don't. When they see inside my head, will I get my lost memories back?”
“I am a Tokubetsu Jonin level shinobi, my specialty is genjutsu, also know as illusions. And about your lost memories, it depends on how deep the damage was. ”
“Is that a treat?” The way the woman had just introduced herself, saying what she supposed was a ninja rank and what her abilities where, screamed danger in Ranma head.
“Do you want it to be?” No shift in the woman aura, it was very good control or she was just toying with him.
“No... what do you want from me?” Ranma knew the woman was playing with him, poking for openings she could use to get more information. Not that it would do her much good, as Ranma had not much information, just headaches when he tried hard to remember.
“The way you move is interesting, your whole body language screams of a person trained extensibility in taijusu.”
Of course, Kurenai knew that because the first thing Ranma did as soon as he was good enough to move around was doing a few light katas. Of course the nurses had caught him and informed the Konoha nin.
“Well yeah.. I am the best!” Ranma said and scratched behind him head. “I think, as I said, maybe I was trained. But what about... my... problems... can you help?”
“What are your problems Ranma?” Good question, there was memory loss, and the whole gender confusion, but Kurenai already knew that. Maybe something she was afraid of?
“Uh... I have a great fear of...”
“Yes?”
“Cats.”
The woman hugged her “Please calm down.” She smelled so good, it was like flowers, it relaxed Ranma. Wait...
“You... you are using one of those illusions on me, right?” Ranma had just realized that the way he trusted the woman so fast had been quite strange. Also he felt ashamed of her fear of those furry demons so it was strange she opened up so fast.
“Well, it seems you are quite the unusual child indeed.” the hug stooped and the black haired woman made some strange hands gesture and shouted “Kai!” The need to feel comforted and tell things to the woman was gone.
Ranma looked away from her, he was angry but quickly calmed down using some technique that made the air around him cooler. Kurenai looked surprised at how the girl had calmed down even after felling betrayed. Also she noticed Ranma had said nothing about her doing the genjusu dispelling technique to eliminate her OWN illusion. That only left her with one conclusion, the redhead knew nothing about genjusu at all. The reasons why someone who seemed so skilled at other areas has not even basic genjusu training was, as some Nara would put it, troublesome.
“You know, this is highly irregular but... I may be able to help you.”
Ranma turned around and faced the woman red eyes, Ranma own eyes seemed emotionless. “Like you just helped me?”
“I told you that I was a genjutsu specialist, didn't I? Besides, I was just doing my job.”
“Right...” Ranma eyes seemed to return to normal “So, what's this help you are talking about?”
“You may be young, but you are skilled and trained. Leaving you in the orphanage would be a mistake. Would you like me to train you?”
“What?” Learning how to do illusions would be useful. But Ranma knew everything had a price. She had vague memories of some older sister always blackmailing her or something...
“You are a smart girl Ranma, probably a genius... people like you have a hard time fitting around civilians. Also with your training, they won't let you be around normal kids your own age. You also don't have anyone to help you around here. If I become your sensei, I will be... like family to you.”
The offer was a worth of consideration. She was after all, stuck in a strange ninja village in the body of a small girl. The felling that she should be an older boy instead of a girl increased. Also she wanted to be trained as a ninja and wanted to learn about illusions.
“What's the catch?”
“You will have to become a Kunoichi. Also, I will be very exigent. Don't expect me to go easy on your ok?”
“Deal.” Ranma said extending his hand, Kurenai Yuhi shake it. Gai would be probably be jealous she had snatched a taijusu genius for herself. But if the girl could also learn genjutsu, she would have a ninja that could both cast illusions and kick ass.
Now she had just to convince the Hokage about that, oh and there was the fact the poor girl memories where messed up. She would have to try to fix that.
PS: In this new version, Ranma memories are a big mess. And there won't be a quick fix.