Chapter 1: Eternal Rivals!
"Yosh!"
"Your enthusiasm is appreciated."
"I have never seen someone so Youthful! The attire, the laps around Konoha, the pure Youthfulness! We should compete, to Fan the Flames of our…"
"…youth, I'm guessing."
"Yosh!"
"Um, if you say so." The stranger that Gai had encountered flashed a grin at him. "Fancy a race?"
"Yosh! How Youthful! If I should fail, I shall climb the Hokage Mountain seven times on only one leg!"
Famous last words.
Gai came to, only to see the stranger grinning at him.
"You only made up and down it five times. But I won't mention it if you won't."
Gai immediately recognised the stranger, and quickly put his deceptively perceptive mind to work. This stranger had taken an extensive lead in their little challenge with little to no effort. Then Gai had dropped his weights, and gained only a little. Getting frustrated (only his Eternal Rival could beat him this bad, dammit!) he opened a chakra gate.
Or three.
When the stranger greeted him at the finishing point by impatiently tapping his foot, Gai had to wonder why a man in unfeasibly baggy trousers flashed through his mind, and decided to speak to get the image doing the Running Man out of his head.
"You are truly in The Springtime of Youth! But comrade, you must tell me how you got so fast! Such Youthfulness must be shared!"
Gai watched as the man seemed to consider this for a bit, before breaking out into a bittersweet smile, and answering in a tone to match is expression:
"My old sensei taught me."
"Yosh! Then we will go to your old sensei, so he can share how you got your Youthful pace!"
Gai watched as the smile turned into a grimace, and used his perception to understand what may have happened. Life expectancies were often short in the life of a shinobi, and the people whose lives they touched had to live on. Unfortunately, Survivors Guilt was not an uncommon problem among the ninja population.
Actually…
Ryu Suzaku, relatively new chuunin of Konoha, was excited. It wasn't everyday you get to test your skills against elite jonin, after all. Currently, he was now at Training Ground 13 with the self-proclaimed Beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai, and his Eternal Rival, Hatake Kakashi. In truth, he liked Gai. He was entertaining, and in terms of energy levels, comparable to him. Kakashi, however, seemed to be indifference personified, which irked him, for some reason. As he leaned against a tree reading his Icha Icha Paradise, he seemed to do the impossible: tune out Gai while he spouted sermons on the Power of Youth. Which of course, caused the green-spandex clad man to spout sermons on Kakashi's 'hip and modern attitude'.
"Yosh!"
There he was again.
"My Eternal Rival! I have found someone ablaze with the Fires of Youth!"
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"AH! Damn you and your hip attitude! Anyway, you should spar with him! Competition will only make our Flames of Youth burn brighter!" Gai struck a nice guy pose (did his teeth just gleam?) before adding, "Taijutsu only, of course."
Kakashi pushed off the tree and got into a ready position. "If you say so."
"Yosh! Let the spar begin! Though I warn you, his speed is quite something."
Kakashi ignored the warning and peered at the shinobi in front of him over his book. Didn't look like much, really.
"Maa, Ryu-chan." Said man's eye twitched. This man couldn't be more than two years older, grey hair notwithstanding. "I hope you come at me with all you've got. Hopefully, you'll be a challenge."
"Hatake-san, I'll be fine. All I hope," Ryu added, getting into a fighting stance, and sprinkling a little bass into his voice, "is that you Show Me Your Moves!"
With that, Ryu disappeared.
Kakashi, unlike many human beings, didn't have a secret desire to fly. No, his job provided all the excitement he ever needed: outside of missions, all he'd rather do was read his Icha Icha; go drinking sake with his 'Eternal Rival'; perhaps with the occasional date (that chuunin Kurenai looked good. Maybe…). However, as he soared straight up into the air after being hit with one of the strongest uppercuts he had ever felt, his only comfort was that what went up, must eventually come down. At least, it was until he saw his opponent soar up to meet him, with a mischievous smirk on his face.
So much for that comfort.
Gai watched as his Eternal Rival was tossed around like a rag doll by his new friend using an aerial taijutsu style which he had never seen before. Which is saying something. One handed combos, kicks that defied the laws of physics, and was that a knee? Gai didn't dwell on that too long. All he dwelled on was the fact that Hatake Kakashi, legendary Copy-Nin of Konoha, was getting beaten black and blue by a mere, albeit very Youthful, chuunin. What awed him was the amount of chakra being produced.
Or, mainly, the lack of it.
Yes, Kakashi was being losing in the spar. Yes, Ryu seemed to be using a combination of jumps and his own opponent to do all this in mid air. But there was absolutely no chakra manipulation from Suzaku-san, even for his freakish speed (which hurt his ego a bit, but only proved the chuunin's Springtime of Youth would truly be long). As they landed after a particularly vicious throw, Gai heard the newcomer exclaim…
"YES! Are you enjoying yourself, Hatake-san?" Ryu asked with a maniac grin.
Kakashi groaned and pulled his aching body up to its full height. Only to have his small orange book bounce off the top of his head.
"Suzaku-san," Kakashi replied, this time giving his adversery his full respect, "you are a lot better than I thought." With this statement, Kakashi pulled up his hiitake to reveal his trump card. "Now I'm going to have to take you seriously."
"Is that," Ryu Suzaku asked with deceptive nonchalance, "what I think it is?" Kakashi inclined his head to indicate that this was, indeed, the Sharingan.
Then the killing intent saturated the air.
Drowning out the unnerved Gai, waxing lyrical about how Unyouthful this was all becoming, Ryu ground out his issues with what had just happened.
"The style that you are about to steal…"
"Copy…"
"No: steal, is a style that has been passed down from generation to generation to only those who are considered truly worthy to wield it. If you presume that you are worthy, then let me tell you two things: you are not, and you will now see how powerful it can be!"
Ryu dashed to his opponent, and hit him with a chakra enhanced kick, the only manipulation he had done all day. The distance wasn't perfect, Kakashi had gone a bit higher that he had expected, but that allowed him a bit of time to complete his inner monologue before charging up the attack that would end the spar. Unless, somehow, he missed.
"FALCON…!"
It was a good day for Umino Iruka: his paperwork was all done during the kid's lunch; said kids were sat quietly for once as they did the mock test he'd assigned them (yes, even Naruto, somehow); Kurenai had even smiled at him earlier. Yes, Iruka severely doubted that anything could ruin his mood as all seemed to be calm with the world…
And then, chaos.
As Iruka observed the ninja sized hole in the wall (and just about a yard from the open window: honestly!) while Mizuki calmed all the kids down, he wondered what kind of attack would lay Sharingan Kakashi out like this, and whether the kids needed to be evacuated or something. Guessing there was only one way to find out, he asked the slightly singed shinobi what had gone on. All he was able to do was groan something along the lines of "spar" before he passed out. Iruka felt a headache coming on, as he foresaw his free time slipping from his fingers.
And he was going to ask her out tonight and all.
Sarutobi sighed as he observed the shinobi before him. Hatake Kakashi, who looked like he had been put through an Uchiha firing squad; Maito Gai, who's forlorn expression really looked out of place on his green spandex clad visage; Umino Iruka, who just looked livid, and Ryu Suzaku, his jaw set in stubbornness. He took a puff from his pipe and addressed the three responsible.
"What, exactly, were you thinking?"
Gai made to defend his self-proclaimed eternal rival and the lowest ranked ninja in the room, before Sarutobi interrupted what would no doubt be a rant on youthfulness.
Despite the mellow persona he often projected, he really wasn't in the mood right now.
"Maito Gai, you encountered a new chuunin, one from a different continent, in fact." Gai tried to hide his shock, and failed. Spectacularly. "This, in itself, is commendable. However, you authorised a sparring match with two people not of equal rank. Why did you not step in to stop it?" And there was the kicked puppy look again. It really didn't suit him, especially with the eyebrows. Sarutobi moved on. "Hatake Kakashi, you also know this rule, and yet you engaged the chuunin with lethal force."
"Maa, Hokage-sama, I'd hardly think…"
"You revealed your Sharingan, did you not? Something you have gone on record claiming that you would only use against hostiles. Which brings me to you."
Ryu Suzaku. A man who, according to the team that found him, was moving at speeds which seemed impossible, even for Kage-level nins. Who, when brought in, weaved the most impossible story, so impossible it could only be true. Who, when his skills were tested, his strengths and weaknesses were so patchy; he had to be taught the basics of chakra from scratch.
Today was meant to be his first day after learning all these applications: he had made his bunshin and henge, could kawarmi with the best of them, but the presence of his own personal taijutsu style, and all that raw speed without the use of chakra meant he'd be wasted as a genin. Sarutobi took a breath of his pipe to calm himself. If this was the magnitude of the issues he would be facing when Suzaku-kun was left to his own devices, he was in for a permanent headache.
"Ryu Suzaku, your conduct today is serious enough that I will deal with you in private. As it is, your mission pay will be docked until it covers the damage to the academy." Iruka looked delighted, but it was only fair for the transgressions made today. "Gai, Kakashi, Iruka, dismissed."
Iruka walked out with his head held high, a man whose faith in his leader had just been justified. Kakashi made to follow, but was caught by Gai, who started spouting about the Flames of Youth. Again. This left only his newest shinobi there in his office, and once the privacy seals were up, the Sandaime Hokage waste no time.
"Explain."
"Kakashi made to steal my sensei's legacy, and I took offence, Hokage-sama." Ryu paused before getting a satisfied smile on his face. "I decided to give him a taste of what would happen if he actually went through with this treachery."
"Did you not think that maybe revealing an attack that you have desperately tried to keep a secret to the Sharingan would not have side effects?" The Sandaime enquired.
"Like?"
"It being…stolen, as you put it?"
Ryu grinned. "I'd like to see him try." Knowing that probing would probably get him another tall tale, Sarutobi decided to switch gears.
"Antagonising your fellow shinobi is not a good strategy, Suzaku-kun, especially considering you're a foreigner."
"So I'll say sorry later. I admit, I did over react a bit."
Sarutobi's response was incredulous. "A bit? You sent him flying across the village!"
"That move I used…" Ryu seemed to battle with his conscience for a second, before replying. "I underpowered it, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi's pipe dropped out of his mouth at that point. The distance he had sent Kakashi today had equalled the standing record of Tsunade after Jiraiya henged into Dan for an entire day. If that was underpowered…
"Ryu Suzaku, whatever it was you used today, you will swear now to use it only against enemies of the village. Do I make myself clear?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Good. Now, go and make amends with your comrades. They can't have gotten too far..."
Ryu Suzaku strolled out of the Hokage Tower with an aura of relief. He had thought he had blown it, really. He was just getting used to Konoha as well, though the geneal lack of automobiles unnerved him like crazy. Considering his sensei's connection to them…
Will. Not. Think about that.
He sighed, After the day he had, he needed a drink. He had no intention of finding and apologising to either Kakashi or Gai. At least, not right at that moment. He just wanted to avoid all sights of green spandex and nin-masks for at least a week. As he slumped at the bar, about to order a bottle of sake (you never know when a guest could end up joining you) he wondered what life would be like without the attack happening. Then he berated himself for thinking about that again. Maybe this wasn't the best idea…
"Yosh!"
Bugger.
"My youthful comrade, you should come and join us!" Even though Gai was frantically waving him over, Kakashi looked murderous. How he managed to get that much of a scowl out of one eye was amazing, really. Sighing, Ryu picked up his sake bottle, and placed it on the table of jonin. He decided to address the masked nin exuding a slight killer intent.
"Peace offering." No change in posture from Kakashi. "I'm sorry about earlier, my sensei and the style he taught me is still a bit of a sore point for me." Still no response from Hatake-san. Ryu was getting desprate. Gai saw this, and decided to intervene.
"My Eternal Rival, your behaviour is Most Unyouthful! Acting like this…" Ryu decided to roll his eyes as Gai built up a head of steam, and just like that, the killing intent disappeared, and Kakashi looked up from his orange book.
"Were you two saying something?"
"AH! Your Modern Attitude strikes again, Kakashi! The Springtime of Youth…"
As Gai went off on a tangent again, Kakashi looked up and gave Ryu the smallest of eye smiles. Somehow, he knew he was not only forgiven, but respected as well. He had just made his first two friends in Konoha.
He could grow to like it here.
"…AND THUS, THERE SHALL BE A DRINKING COMPETITION TO FAN THE FLAMES OF OUR YOUTH!"
Yep, he could really grow to like it here.
"YES!"