Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor do I claim to.

Youth of the Nation:

Chapter 1: The Saotomes:

"There's got to be more to life than this. There's got to be more to everything I though exists." – P.O.D.: Youth of the Nation

"What, . . . is it morning already?" Sakura asked sleepily, sitting up in bed. Reaching over, she pressed the button on her alarm clock, ending the buzzing noise, which had been ringing for the last fifteen minutes or so. Raising her arms up, she stretched, before laying them back down on the blankets by her sides.

The banging on her door continued. "Hurry up, Sakura!" She sighed, leaning out of bed. Her brother was always so intent on getting to school early. The springs creaked silently as she forced herself onto her feet.

"Yeah, Sakura." Her father said behind the door, a little quieter than her brother. "Everyone's already left. And Keira just passed by a minute ago."

"WHAT?!" Sakura shouted, before diving into her closet. There was an explosion of clothes as an endless supply of things was thrown out the door. Finding her uniform, she slid into it just after peeling off her pajamas. Grabbing her sword from the wall, she slid it into her belt, and seized her bag, then burst out the door. "Ready! Let's go, Sauske!"

Her brother sighed, as her father smirked widely. "Well, that got ya up quickly, didn't it?"

"What do you mean, father?" She asked quietly, suddenly calm again.

"Well, . . . nobody's left yet. You were just sleeping in again." He smiled, before walking back down the hall, and disappearing down the stairs. "Breakfast will be done in a few minutes." He called back up.

Sauske shook his head, before walking after his father, muttering "Your bath is ready." Sakura sighed deeper, wandering down to the furo.

- - -

When she was clean, Sakura trudged back into her room. She sat down at her desk, looking into the small mirror resting on her desk, while pulling out a brush. Her hair was all frizzy, and that would have to be fixed before she went to school. After a number of strokes, she snatched a scrunchie from the edge of her desk, and tied her hair up in a loose ponytail. Her hair, a deep raven-blue, just like her mother's, flicked up a tiny bit at the tie, before settling down to the middle of her shoulders.

Reaching down, she straightened her shirt. From what everyone had told her, she was pretty, more than her mother was supposed to have been. She didn't go out of her way to do that; it just seemed to happen. The only thing she usually paid attention to, in the slightest way, was her hair, and she never really did anything to make that look any nicer than any other girl did.

She had better things to do. Hence the solid wood kendo sword, the dojo, the martial arts magazines strewn on one side of the room, and her "mixed-gender" clothes. Leave most of the girly things to the real girls. Sakura had to be herself. Not that she didn't have her feminine side either; noting the Cardcaptor Sakura comics, the small make-up case, and the dresses she had. She didn't want to be a girly girl, or a tomboy.

Brushing away a stray strand of hair, the girl stared back into the mirror again. She stared straight into her own eyes. The yellow-green spheres stared back, before she broke off watching. Sakura still got a rush from that; everyone had always said her eyes had the tremendous power of fear and respect in them. Once she had found out what look did that, she could see it in herself. It was odd to spend time bringing out astonishment in herself, but she knew what they really were. They were a small piece of the power that lay . . .

"BREAKFAST!" Her father shouted from downstairs. Sakura rose slowly, stretching her arms again, before grabbing her school bag from under her bed. She adjusted the sword at her waist, then walked out her door, into the hall, and then stepped down the stairs, into the room where her brother was sitting at the table, her father carrying in another bowl of food for Sakura.

" . . . and when are they returning?" her brother asked, as her father brought out the food.

"A few days, tops. I wouldn't know how long that accountin' stuff they do takes, so I'm not sure. But they said a few days." The father replied, filling the bowls for himself, his son and his daughter. "So, until then, you're just gonna have to get your mother to help ya with math. Okay?"

Sauske nodded, before continuing to eat. Sakura sat down next to him, and breakfast proceeded as normal.

Sauske took his time eating, just thinking over everything from yesterday. Nothing important happened, but it was good to keep an idea of what happened to get you to here. He took another bite of rice, trying not to spill any on his school uniform.

Everyone always said he was so small, with his lean and flexible frame. He didn't have the appearance equal to his own strength, which was, for all the years of training, far beyond what many of the students of his father would get to. His father said his son is almost as strong as he is, although it's more likely, from Sauske's point of view, he's as strong as when his father first came to Tokyo.

The boy sighed, remembering how long it had been since his last training fight with Keira. Almost a week and a half. Maybe today? He pushed the thought from his mind, running his hand through his glob of black hair, before it resettled in its usual random flow. It would be best to not worry about that; they would get a chance when they got a chance, and that was enough. Sauske smiled a bit, and began to eat again.

"Where's mother?" his sister asked after a few minutes, before taking another bite of rice and fish.

Her father smiled. "She brought your sister and cousins to school today . . . and here's the lunches she made for you two!" He picked up to bento boxes, and slid them across the table.

The children's eyes widened, before they sighed together. They had no choice but to take them. If they wanted to buy lunch there instead of taking the food they were given, their parents would always say they'd have to pay for it themselves. Slowly, Sauske, then Sakura, picked up their lunches, and placed them in their bags.

"Why can't you make lunch for us anymore, father?" Sakura asked after a long silence.

The father smiled again. "Your mother likes to cook. And it's a lot better than when I met her, even if it still tastes as terrible as . . ."

"I HEARD THAT!" A woman shouted, walking back in the front door.

The father smiled pleasantly, hoping to avoid any further confrontation. "Oh, you're back . . . that's good . . . I better go get ready for today's classes, huh?" The woman nodded, and the father dashed out of the room after gobbling the last of his food.

"And you two," the woman continued, pointing to her children, "ought to be going to school right now. It's getting late!"

Sakura glanced up at the clock, before realizing how late it really was. She devoured the last of her food, as did Sauske. "All right, let's go." The boy nodded, and they grabbed their bags, rushing past their mother.

"Bye, Mom!" the boy shouted, as he and her sister raced out the door, barely leaving enough time to slip on their shoes. The mother waved goodbye, as her children ran down the street to her old high school.

Sauske jumped up onto the fence, and continued running next to his sister. The two siblings ran in silence to school, one on the street, one on a fence. Not that Sakura couldn't run on a fence; it was just too hard to stand on a fence, and fight with her sword. Plus, she was wearing a skirt.

"Are you still using that?" Sauske asked after a moment, pointing to the wooden sword tied into her belt.

The girl sighed, before running faster. "Of course! Why is everyone bothering me about it all the time?! I'm joining Kendo club, and you still keep bothering me about this?! I'm getting pretty good at it, you know."

The boy sighed, before looking back down along the fence. "Maybe, but you are still much better fighting with your hands instead of that sword. How long is it going to take you to realize it?"

The girl glared at her brother, angry at his constant interjections. "Nobody starts off perfect at any martial art! You have to start at the beginning, and get better as you practice at it! I'll be great with this one day!" She shouted, placing the palm of her hand onto the end of the sword.

There was another long pause.

"You had another dream last night, right?" Sauske asked.

"And why do you care?!" Sakura replied indignantly, before turning her head a bit, a slight darkening over her face. "And what even makes you think that?"

"You always get up late when you dream. That's the only time you ever oversleep." The boy replied, before jumping down from the fence, dashing across the street, and hopping back onto the fence. "I was just wondering, you know. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

The girl shook her head, before giving up. "Fine, I did." Before her brother could reply, she continued. "It was the one with me and the wolf again. Are you happy now?!"

Sauske sighed, then began to run faster, as they approached the school. Sakura easily kept up, before pushing herself enough to overtake him, and dashed straight through the schoolyard and into the building. Her brother slowed to a jog, before walking into the school, followed by the usual murmurs of awe.

- - -

"Something wrong?" the mother asked, walking up to her husband. He was leaning against the wall, staring out into the street. The door was wide open in the dojo, a cool breeze flowing in. His pigtail waved slightly in the breeze, the few graying hairs blended into all of the black ones. His head turned when the woman's voice sounded behind him, then he turned back.

"Oh, hi Akane." He said, before pausing for a minute. "It's late again."

The woman walked beside her husband, sighing. "I know, Ranma, I know. Heck, you haven't talked about anything else with me for the last week."

Ranma scratched the back of his head, blushing a bit. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Akane said with a sigh. "I know how much it means to you, and the children. It'll get here."

"I hope so." Ranma replied, leaning further onto the doorway. "I mean, I could deal with it again, no problem. And Sauske probably wouldn't care, or need to. But Sakura is so . . . against it, and I don't want Auska to get hurt. She's just so frail when she's . . ."

"I know, Ranma." Akane said quietly, resting against him lovingly. She slowly wrapped her arms around his chest from behind, before closing with, "I know."

- - -

Sauske closed his book, before standing up. It was finally lunchtime. "Coming, Sauske?" Mayu called, walking out the door, followed by Hojo and Ganko.

"Coming!" he replied with a smile, before racing to catch up to his friends.

"Let's eat outside!"

"Did you bring the cards?"

"Do you really have that little faith in me, Ganko?"

"Yes!"

"Will you two stop fighting?! I'm starving! I haven't eaten anything since last night!"

The bickering continued for a few minutes, as the quartet walked outside, before taking their usual spot near a large tree. In a moment, thought, they were all sitting, pulling out lunches, and smiling again. Hojo drew a pack of playing cards from his pocket, before taking out the cards and shuffling them. "What's today? Dai Hin Min?" (Note: Dai Hin Min is similar to the card game Presidents)

"Why not?" Sauske said with a smile, pulling around his lunch, but halted before opening it. "Hey, here's an idea: everybody bets their lunch, and winner gets anyone's they choose!"

The other three glanced between each other, calculating the situation. Then it dawned on them.

"NO!"

"NO!"

"NO!"

Sauske sighed. Mayu took a deep breath, before sliding her lunch safely away. "Sorry Sauske, but we're not falling for that trick again. Your mom made it, didn't she?"

Sauske sighed again, nodding. Ganko smiled pleasantly. "Aw, cheer up, Sauske! It's not that bad! Here, open up your lunch, and I'll show you!" The boy did, pulling off the lid, while sliding the box between himself and the girl. "See, just look at these rice balls! They're all in different animal shapes! They may not be very tasty, and they look funny, but at least your Mother's trying to make it look nice! See, this one's probably a dog, and this is . . ."

"Actually, they're supposed to be round." Sauske said quietly. Ganko winced, before scooting back from his food.

Mayu shook her head, before reaching into her own lunch. "HERE!" she shouted, handing some of her food out to him. "Have some cookies! I'm on a diet anyway."

Hojo and Ganko followed, digging out some extra thing they weren't going to eat anyway, and shoving it at Sauske. The boy blinked, before smiling a bit. "Uh, thanks." Reaching down, he picked up his food. "Here, have some rice balls!"

Hojo scooted back a few feet. "Under the circumstances, . . . no." Sauske put it back down, as the other boy handed out the cards.

The game began, as Sauske did his best to play. He had never been that good at cards. But he enjoyed this time with his friends. Not that he didn't have other friends, but none of them were like the three sitting across from him on the grass.

Mayu smiled, as she tossed down the pair of sixes. Her long, floating blond hair trailed down her back, as she sat next to her school bag. She was always so outgoing, never content being quiet or reserved, and often yelled and screamed at people. Then again, she was nice enough, and smart enough, to keep herself from stuffing her foot in her mouth . . .

Unlike Hojo, who was known for doing that very thing at almost every occasion. He was loud and proud, forgetful, and stubborn. He was the obnoxious one. But his short brown hair, his cute face, and his please-forgive-me smile got him out of more trouble than ten million yen ever could.

Then there was Ganko. She slid her glasses further up her nose, the ends passing between her short black hair, as she drew a pair of nines, and throwing them down onto the pile. She was the smartest of the four, but was almost as shy as Sauske. And while she was often very calm, the girl could get very angry with Hojo.

Let's not forget Sauske, either. A shy, average student, as well as a wonder at martial arts, Sauske was almost as popular as he was reserved. Almost nobody in the school knew how good he really was, even the friends who sat across from him. His short, black hair, all rugged and messed up, along with the strong, calm face he kept on whenever he was away from his friends, gave him an aura that everyone in the school respected.

"Hey, Sauske!" Mayu shouted. "It's your turn!" Sauske returned to reality, shaking his head, before throwing down a pair of cards. Fortunately, they were the right ones.

"Oh, Sauske, that reminds me." Ganko began, watching the play continue. "Who is that girl you always hang around with after school?"

"You don't know who Keira is?!" Mayu shouted, turning to her friend, while throwing more cards. "She's the self-proclaimed ninja-girl! How could you not have heard about her?!" Hojo nodded in agreement.

Sauske leaned in, trying to be heard. "She is not a self-proclaimed ninja." The other three turned to him. "She is a ninja." Their eyes widened, as Mayu mouthed "No way!" "Seriously, she is a ninja. You know, the throwing knives, the swords, the stealth, everything. She doesn't show it off, but she really is a kunoichi."

"What, that girl?" Hojo replied, placing another group of cards down before pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the girl, who was eating lunch with her friends a ways away. "Stealthy? A ninja? Gimme a break. She's probably just faking it."

"Be careful what you say." Sauske warned him. "She's also got very good hearing, and . . ." a rock smacked into the back of Hojo's head, "a very good throwing arm."

The boy glared over at the girl behind him, as she stared angrily back, before both of them huffed, and turned to their friends.

Mayu leaned in, smiling a bit. "Oh Sauske . . . this girl, you sure know a lot about her. And with all the time you spend after school with her . . . she wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend, would she?"

"WHAT?!" Sauske shouted, for the first time that day, sliding back against the tree. "I-I-it's nothing like that! We're just friends!" The boy took a deep breath. "Besides, I don't have a girlfriend." His eyes trailed off into nowhere. This was the same thing Mayu had been brining up for the past few weeks, picking every girl Sauske had ever known and asking if he had ever been in love with her. It was getting more and more personal, and it seemed like she would never let him live anything down anymore.

"We could fix that!" Mayu said with a sly smile.

Sauske's eyes widened, and he blushed brightly. "Hey! Who . . . who says I want a girlfriend?! . . . uh, I mean, why should you care?"

Ganko took out her brownie for dessert, taking a bite, and watching the scene unfold. Mayu kept her smile. "Oh, but Sauske, you need one. Or at least somebody to shake up your system; you know, put some energy into you; you're too quiet!"

Hojo's eyes widened. "Uh, Mayu, I know that's a good idea, but you aren't seriously thinking about asking that Keira, are you? She seems like an idiot to . . ." SMACK! Hojo growled, as the stone rolled off of his skull, and onto the ground.

"But what about Hojo?!" protested Ganko, not wanting anyone to walk away lonely or sad, and to annoy the hell out of the previously mentioned boy. "We should find someone for him too. Someone kind, caring . . . a bit more restrained, to keep him in line. He's too silly."

"Hey, one of you two," Mayu shouted, pointing at both the boys, "Turn into a girl, so we can finish this!"

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Hojo shouted, turning slightly green.

"Please, don't joke about that." Sauske said quietly. There was a slight pause, before he began to speak again. "Hojo . . . a girl . . ." the boy shivered just thinking about it.

"Hey, why do I have to be the girl?!" Hojo complained.

"Because," Mayu explained, "Sauske has to protect you. He's the martial artist, and you wouldn't want some girl protecting you, would you?"

"Please!" Ganko begged softly, realizing something horrible for all of them. The other three turned to her. "Before this goes any further . . . shuffle the cards so we can play again!" There was a loud groan.

- - -

"Ranma?" Akane asked, walking into the dojo, wearing her training gi. "Are you still sitting there?"

He looked up quickly, before jumping up smoothly. Even with two decades of time, he still had all his skills; in fact, they had expanded almost four times over. "Oh, hi, Akane. I was just, thinkin'."

The woman sighed, walking over to him. "Just calm down, Ranma. There's nothing to worry about. Everything will work out." She leaned up to him, staring into his blue eyes. Her eyes traced over his entire face, loving every part of it, even after all these years.

"Do you really think so, Akane?" Ranma replied, staring back, a small, relieved smile spreading over his mouth.

The woman leaned in, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Yes, Ranma, I do."

Next Chapter: Sauske goes up against his arch-rival, and the mystery ninja-girl, Keira, is revealed.

Well, here's the beginning of the re-edit of the whole story so far, up to chapter 20. If I missed anything, send me a review. You can review anyway, though.