Ryu woke up to the sun rising, its bright rays shining through his window. The wandering warrior sat up while yawning, stretching out his arms. He had to admit to himself that he did enjoy sleeping in a bed for once. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he worked his way over to the small refrigerator that was provided along with the apartment. Opening it, however, led him to discover that the Hokage neglected to prepare it with any groceries. He looked around the small kitchen for any form of currency, but found none. Not that Ryu minded; he preferred to earn what he got.

Tightening the belt around his gi, he made his way outside. From what he could gather, there was a stream somewhere in the village. He knew at this time, the fish were probably still resting, so it was a perfect time to go and catch some fish. He closed his eyes and focused, listening for the sound of water running. After a minute of listening, he was able to pinpoint the location of the water. He took off for the stream, walking around the village. As he did, he looked at his surroundings. The village had a nice, simple feel to it, and unlike the modern cities of his dimension, he could feel the chi of the earth flowing around him.

The village was pleasantly quiet to Ryu's ears. He barely saw a soul along the dirt roads, and some shops were just starting to turn on their lights. With the cool morning air blowing through, it was the most peaceful habitation he'd been in. Even yesterday, before his fight with the shinobi named Mizuki, the villagers didn't make a lot of noise.

'Am I grateful for a lack of cars…' he said to himself. He turned a block and strolled down the street, and noticed something odd. Further back down the road heading for the Hokage Tower was a gate with remnants of old tape dangling from the poles. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to take a detour, he made his way to the gate. The tape was indeed old, a stained white marked with kanji reading: Caution. 'This is… police tape…I remember this from the cities. A crime scene at the gate?'

He made his way through the gate, instantly noticing the ghost town beyond him. Rows upon rows of houses showing wear and tear lined the streets. Though, what was odd was that the damage was minimal. It was as if the residents just up and left. But why did none return? Ryu walked down the district, eyeing all the run-down buildings. Why was this area so… condemned? It was abandoned for sure, as not a sound could be heard.

Things weren't adding up. The only damage he could see was what naturally happened to buildings not taken care of properly. He stopped in the middle of the road and closed his eyes. He could almost feel it… A great tragedy happened here… Far beyond the boundaries of the gate… But what could it have been?

Finally, he decided to investigate a house near him. As he walked through the door, he noticed a dried bloodstain on the far wall. He froze as he saw it, a dreaded memory suddenly replaying in his mind:

It was a simpler time then… All that mattered those days were training with Master Gouken and becoming stronger. No Satsui no Hadou, no Bison, and no Akuma. Just Ryu and Master Gouken at the top of the mountain, training the days away. Sure, it was lonely at times, especially since Ken returned to America, but Ryu was still able to meet the children that sometimes came, as well as the occasional martial artist that would try to take on Master Gouken. That particular day, Ryu had a happy grin on his face as he walked back, carrying a large log over his shoulder. After a whole day of work, he managed to punch a tree into a log able to be used for repairs. Master Gouken would be so proud!

He dropped the log into the pile and opened the dojo doors, unprepared for what he saw. Slumped against the wall was Master Gouken, covered in his own blood. Ryu froze in place, his eyes widening and darting over the room like a deer caught in headlights. A gasp nearly tore its way from his throat as he saw that some of his master's blood was used to paint a large kanji on the wall. Ryu's body tensed even more so. He knew that kanji… It was unmistakable. The calling card of the only user of Ansatsuken: Akuma.

Ryu couldn't hold back the tears as he clenched his fists. Sadness and rage whirled in his body. His master had been killed in cold blood, his corpse defiled just to leave a silent, sick message. That day was a completely new chapter in his life. He was no longer concerned with the purity of the art. He was going to get stronger, fighting only to become good enough to beat the monster that murdered the man that was his mentor. The man that took the place of his master, friend, and father.

Ryu felt tears fill his eyes as he swiftly walked out of the house. He knew it was unhealthy to dwell on the past, but it still haunted him, no matter how much he tried to keep it at bay. He managed to dry his tears by the time he was beyond the gate. He turned and went straight toward the stream, determined not to get sidetracked again. Thankfully, in only a matter of minutes, he could hear the faint sound of the water flowing. He noticed that as he got closer, small areas of large trees were interspaced between the houses.

'I've heard of city parks before, but this is… incredible. It seems this village actually keeps nature a part of its structure…' He soon came upon part of the river system. Unfortunately, it was bordered by cement and a bridge, so there were no fish to be found. He did find, though, that it seemed to flow into the more natural areas of the village going downstream. He went on his hunch and walked alongside the river. Cement soon transitioned to dirt, and from there it turned into gravel with sparse bits of grass. "Wow…" Ryu muttered.

The clearing he found himself in was lush with grass, only turning to gravel as it neared the river. Bordering each edge of the clearing was a row of trees, each of them making a sort of miniature forest within the village. His eyes scanned the river, and sure enough, he found some decently sized fish resting on the riverbed. Ryu waded in, making sure not to disturb the water. That would frighten the fish. He waited patiently as he kept a hand raised, waiting for the right moment to strike. With the skill and precision that only years of training could provide, he quickly reached into the river and pulled out two fish with one hand.

Thankfully, the two fish were a very adequate size, so they were good enough for breakfast.

Ryu let a small smile spread across his face as he gathered sticks he found across the field. This would be the first freshly caught meal he had for a while, so he was going to savor it.

Soon, he had gathered enough sticks to get a fire going. Cupping his hands, he gathered ki between them before firing a Shakunetsu Hadouken. The red ball of ki made contact with the wood and lit it on fire. Chuckling at his practical use of an attack, he took a fish and began to roast it over the fire.

When the fish finished cooking, Ryu grabbed one by its tail and head before digging in like a ravenous wolf. In next to no time, he had finished his little meal. Wiping his face, he stood up, rolling his shoulder as he began to loosen up for his training. However, the noise of someone wading through the water caught his attention.

Turning his head in the direction of the noise, he saw a strangely dressed teen trying hard to run through the water. The teen in question seemed to be wearing a green jumpsuit, with the legs covered by orange leg coverings and sandals on his feet. His arms were wrapped in bandages, although they seemed more for show than for covering injuries. The teen also had some of the biggest eyebrows he had ever seen, which was bad considering his own weren't that small. His black hair was shaped into a bowl-cut, which added more unusual characteristics to his appearance. He wore a red piece of cloth around his waist, but what made it interesting was the metal plate in the middle. In the center of it was an odd design, but it somewhat resembled a leaf...

The teen stopped at the shore, breathing rather heavily, which prompted Ryu to walk over to him.

"Are you okay?" Ryu asked as he drew near. The teen nodded as he stood back up.

"Of course!" he shouted a bit too loudly for a ninja. "I, Rock Lee, am just training! I'm running through the water to build up my endurance. And if I cannot make it through three more rivers before I must meet with my team, I will do 1000 laps around the village on my hands!"

Ryu had to smile at this guy's dedication to his training.

"I see…" he responded. He was about to say more, but the teen he now knew as Lee interrupted him.

"I am also searching for someone! Gai-sensei told me about a new arrival to our village, and how he fought three ANBU at one! I must pit my skills against him to see how much more I must train!" Ryu almost laughed at the irony of the situation. Obviously, Lee was speaking about him. He shifted slightly so he could slip into his fighting stance quickly, if needed. Lee continued with his speech, barely noticing the shift in Ryu's stance. "They say he is around a genin's age, wearing a white gi and a red headband." Lee stopped for a second to look at Ryu, quickly realizing that the person he was talking to was about his age, wearing a white gi and a red headband. He quickly put two and two together. "You! You're the new arrival in our village! Please, what is your name?"

Ryu smiled at Lee's antics, but still answered his question. "My name is Ryu," he answered.

"Please, Ryu-san," Lee said as he bowed. "Have a spar with me! I wish to test my might against your own!" Ryu's smile broke out in a grin as he slipped into his stance.

"I accept," was his simple answer. Lee whooped in joy before slipping into his own stance. The two stared down at each other, as if waiting for a silent signal to begin. Apparently, Lee heard it first, since he dashed at Ryu at a high speed, rearing back his arm for a punch. Ryu held his arm to block, and nearly flinched from the force. Lee had power behind that punch! Quickly, Ryu moved his arm, throwing Lee's out of the way so that he could counter with his own punch, but Lee managed to block with his other arm. The two went back and forth a little, throwing a few punches while blocking, each trying to feel out the other's defenses.

Ryu then leapt back a bit, putting some distance between the two. Lee had a large grin as he sprang forward, spinning through the air.

"Konoha Senpuu!" he called out. Ryu was slightly shocked at the similarities to this move and his own spinning kick, but he tossed it aside to perform his said attack.

"Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!" Ryu yelled as he leapt into the air, spinning similar to Lee. The two attacks struck their target, and the resulting collision caused the two to be thrown back from the force. Ryu managed to flip himself upright and land on his feet, while Lee landed on his hands and somersaulted back onto his feet. Ryu dashed forward to Lee and threw a kick; Lee leapt over it, not realizing how open he left himself for one of Ryu's best attacks.

"Shoryuken!" Ryu yelled as he flew up, hitting Lee in the chin. Lee fell to the ground, but managed to land on his feet. He then dashed forward, managing to land a haymaker on Ryu's cheek as he landed from his attack. The force of it caused Ryu to stumble back slightly. Lee then went for a punch, but Ryu managed to intercept his arm and twist it so that it was pointed down his back.

With a quick sweep of his foot, Ryu managed to get Lee on the ground while pinning his arm. Lee cried out from the pain, but managed to spin a leg at Ryu, who backed up to avoid the hit.

Ryu and Lee stared down at each other, a big grin plastered on their faces. Ryu was beginning to enjoy fighting Lee. He had no tricks and no super god-like powers aiding him. Just pure skill and training. Lee, on the other hand. Was ecstatic that another taijutsu specialist had come to Konoha. Now he had someone to test his skills against and perhaps even learn from!

Ryu took the initiative this time, rushing Lee. He threw a few punches that Lee easily blocked before launching a Joudan Sekutou Geri. Lee crossed his arms into the shape of an X, absorbing a decent amount of force. The force of the kick still caused Lee to slide back, though. He uncrossed his arms in time to receive a hook punch to the face. Lee retaliated in the most surprising way.

Curling up his fingers into a fist, Lee unleashed an uppercut to Ryu's chin and leapt up slightly.

"Shouoken!" he yelled. The force of the attack was actually sort of pathetic. Dan's attacks hurt more… But that wasn't what Ryu was concerned about. Lee had basically almost mastered the physical form of the Shoryuken after seeing it ONCE! It took Ryu himself half a year to properly do it! In his shock, he slipped out of his stance as Lee landed.

"Lee," Ryu began. "You… you nearly perfectly copied the Shoryuken's form after watching it once…" Ryu's rather slow speech caused Lee to gulp, feeling slightly nervous. Ryu wasn't… angry at him, was he? He hoped not… That move was too good to pass up! Lee stilled himself. Well, if he was going to be angry, he would run through the river until nightfall if needed!

'No, wait… maybe I should…' his thoughts were interrupted when Ryu spoke again, revealing he had nothing to worry about.

"That's incredible!" Ryu acclaimed. "Other than a few minor things and mispronouncing the name, you did a technique that… that takes many people several months before they can correctly perform!"

Lee blushed slightly from the praise. Here, a martial artist that took on three ANBU was praising him, a genin that could never to the same at his current rank.

"Thank you, Ryu-san," he replied with a bow. He looked up at the sky and nearly panicked. "Oh no! I must go, or I'll be late for my team meeting!" he turned to run off. "I'll see you later, Ryu-san!" and with that, the green-clad shinobi ran off.

Ryu chuckled as he watched Lee disappear. This village was full of interesting characters, no doubt. He then settled into a stance and began to throw punches into the air, beginning his training regime.

Unbeknownst to Ryu, there was a spectator to their little spar. Hatake Kakashi sat in a nearby tree, the wind blowing through his silver hair. His uncovered eye was widened in amusement. The teenage boy that magically appeared in Konoha was a fighter that seemed to have experience beyond his years. Kakashi knew he wasn't a taijutsu specialist like Gai, but he could tell Ryu was holding back the entire spar with Lee. He then looked at the sky.

'Guess I better go meet with my new team…' he thought to himself before leaping off towards the academy.

Kakashi sighed to himself as he walked away from his first meeting with his new team. Although looks could be deceiving, it seemed he'd have to fail another team again. Sasuke was most likely too set on revenge to work with a team properly. Naruto was a bit of an idiot, but one to single-mindedly work for his dream. And Sakura… She was too focused on Sasuke to even train. If only there was some way to jump start their desire to work together…

His musings were interrupted by a yell from the training fields. The silver-haired jounin turned to see Ryu still training, despite the fact it was about five hours since he last saw the martial artist. Kakashi had to raise an eyebrow at this. It was rare to see such dedication to training from someone his age… well, aside from Lee, but he was an exception. Perhaps… this was what he needed…

Ryu took a deep breath as he sat down against a tree. He had been training for at least the past five hours, and how was a time for a break. He sat down in a meditative position and took deep breaths, calming himself and tuning out the world around him. A peace began to overtake his soul, and his muscles relaxed from the long day of training. A sudden whistling in the air caught Ryu's attention, and he opened his eyes. A man was leaning against a tree not too far from him.

The first thing Ryu immediately noticed was that the man had an appearance similar to Mizuki, what with the bodysuit, jacket, and color of hair, but that was it. This man was older and taller, and his hair was spiked up. His headband was oddly crooked on purpose, leaving his right eye the only one visible. His lower face and neck was obscured by some kind of fabric—he assumed it was a type of mask, but for what reason he'd be wearing it, he couldn't comprehend.

Cautious, he quickly stood up, but the man raised his hands, showing that they were empty and that he meant no harm. Ryu's posture relaxed and he looked at the silver-haired jounin.

"So, you're Ryu, huh?" he inquired. Ryu nodded in response. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I guess you can say I'm a teacher of the ninjas here." Ryu crossed his arms. He could feel some impatience rising up in him… Which was actually rather odd, now that he thought about it. He usually was the patient one.

"I'm guessing you want more than just to introduce yourself," Ryu deduced. Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes, that's true. I just want to know one thing, really." Kakashi noticed Ryu tensing up quite a bit. 'Must not like being questioned. "I saw your spar with Lee, and I heard about your fight with the ANBU. You seem to be quite strong for a kid your age… But here you've been, training for the last five hours. Why?"

Ryu was caught off guard by that question. He always searched for that answer… Why a fight excited him, why he trained so hard. Why couldn't he just live a normal life? Sometimes he looked at Ken and his family with envy. He wanted a family so much, but… Something always drove him to keep moving…. Keep fighting…

"I don't know…" Ryu responded. He suddenly felt the urge to look up, and he saw a leaf falling down from the tree above him. He lashed his hand out and grabbed it. Kakashi blinked in surprise before blinking again at Ryu's disappointed sigh. The wandering warrior opened his hand, and the leaf fell in two pieces. "I still can't tell where the leaves will fall…" He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I don't know why I fight or why I train… I just feel… like I should. As if it has some purpose I haven't discovered… But not knowing is nothing. I'll just keep doing it until I find the answer."

Ryu inwardly surprised himself. Not so much as that he said all that to a stranger—he knew he could be a bit talkative in such moments—but… the words rang so resolutely, even though he'd never spoken them before. It felt… good… to say that out loud to someone else. He found himself smiling, glancing down at the halved leaf resting on the dirt.

Kakashi chuckled to himself. Ryu somewhat reminded him of Gai, training without a true goal. Perhaps it was just what all taijutsu users were like, focusing on improving themselves. Well, if he wasn't before, he was convinced now. Ryu would be good for his team.

"Thanks for your time," Kakashi said as he walked away, unbeknownst to Ryu that he was going to the Hokage.

Almost as soon as Kakashi disappeared in the distance, Ryu saw Lee running up to him.

"Ryu-san!" he yelled as he drew near. Ryu smiled before giving a bow.

"Hello, Lee. Are you back for another spar already?"

"Huh? Oh, no, Ryu-san!" Lee replied. "I want you to meet my sensei! We will even buy you lunch!"

Ryu stroked his chin in thought. It would be good to meet the man that trained Lee so well.

"Alright, but you do not have to buy me lunch," Ryu answered. Honestly, the only person he didn't mind buying his lunch was Ken, and that was only because Ken had millions of dollars to spend.

"Nonsense!" Lee shouted. "You have been training hard all day! You must be hungry!"

Ryu's stomach growled in response, almost as if to agree with Lee. Ryu scratched the back of his head.

"Well… I guess I can accept that offer…" he said with a weak chuckle.

"Yes! Trust me, Ryu-san, you won't regret it! Follow me!" Lee waved over his shoulder and set off at a jogging pace. Ryu was right behind him, but curious as to why they were jogging rather than walking. The wandering warrior found himself going through the small forest before ending up on the dirt roads once again. Surprisingly, as soon as they were on the main street, Lee slowed down to a walking pace. "Ah! Nothing like a quick jog to get the appetite going!"

Ryu chuckled. "I suppose so… So, where are we headed?"

"Ah! I forgot you do not know this village very well." Lee grinned. "My teammates and Gai-sensei are waiting at Ichiraku's! Trust me, Ryu-san, you will love the food there!"

Deciding not to question what exactly the food was, Ryu followed Lee down a few smaller roads intersecting the larger ones, eventually finding a small booth. Through the flaps hanging from the ceiling, they saw a man sitting there, waiting. He was dressed exactly like Lee… had the same haircut as Lee. Actually, this guy LOOKED like an older Lee. Was this his father?

"Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted as they came closer. "I brought Ryu-san!" The older ninja got up and met them halfway.

"So you're Ryu?" Gai asked. When Ryu nodded, Gai held out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you!"

Ryu held out his hand, but quickly noticed Gai's other hand was reared back for a punch. Almost faster than Ryu could react, Gai unleashed the punch, but Ryu caught the hand mid-swing and turned around, judo tossing Gai back-first into the ground.

Lee just stood there, mouth age, unable to comprehend what just happened. Did Gai-sensei try to attack Ryu? Did Ryu really just counter it?

Gai bounced back to his feet like nothing happened, his grin never leaving his face.

"Ha ha! I now see it's true!" He gave Ryu a thumb's up. "A great taijutsu user has come to our village!" He went over to Lee and handed him a wad of ryo bills. "Treat Ryu to whatever he wants!" Lee blinked, a little confused.

"Where are you going, Gai-sensei?" he asked.

"I must go to the Hokage and request that Ryu be on our team!" Gai responded. Lee let the information sink in before leaping into the air and whooping for joy. If Ryu was on his team, there would be no stopping them!

Ryu was slightly stunned. He had seen some… Excitable people before—Dan Hibiki and Zangief came to mind immediately—but he had to say, Gai and Lee took it to a whole other level.

In his stunned state, he was unable to react when Lee grabbed him by the front of his gi with his right hand. The excited boy hurriedly ushered him into his seat, a string of excited claims coming out of his mouth so fast it seemed like he was babbling out a foreign language. All he really got was a bunch of "Oh boy!" s and a few instance of hearing "Gai-sensei" and "teammate."

Ryu chanced a look over to his left, not having noticed the other patrons. He found it surprisingly easy to tune Lee out when he did notice them. Both of them were about Lee's age, leading Ryu to correctly assume they were the teammates he spoke of.

The first one he noticed was a girl giving him a wide-eyed expression, as if he'd grown a second head in her presence. She wore a pink blouse and blue pants, looking a lot like she was Chinese—similar to Chun-Li, in Ryu's mind. Her brown hair was kept short, with her bangs only falling on the sides of her forehead to show off a headband identical to the one Lee wore on his waist. She also kept the rest of it held up in two small buns that for some reason Ryu couldn't help but compare to a panda.

The other kid was a male. His expression was mostly blank, but Ryu could see a slightly raised eyebrow and a twitch on his lips, showing he was trying not to look the same as the girl. He had long, dark brown hair, which was tied into a ponytail towards the end. He had a headband on his forehead as well, but apparently something else underneath, judging by the straps that fell down the sides of his face. He had bandages wrapped around his right arm and right shin, oddly enough. His tan jacket covered whatever shirt he was wearing, and he wore dark blue shorts.

"Ah… Hello, there…" Ryu awkwardly greeted, unaware if his words reached them because of Lee's yelling. The girl waved back, grinning just as awkwardly, while the boy just turned away. Ryu opted to shrug instead of worry about it. "Now… what do eat… ramen, eh?" he blinked, looking at the written menu overhead. "One miso ramen, please!" he called over.

As a bowl of fresh, hot ramen was set in front of him, Ryu immediately dug in, all thoughts of energetic people thrown out of his mind.

Gai quickly ran up the stairs to the Hokage's room. Even though he knew it would be impossible for Kakashi to know about Ryu, he wasn't taking the chance. He had to get there first!

He smashed open the giant doors and yelled,

"Hokage-sama, I want to requ—" the words died in Gai's mouth as he saw Kakashi standing by said leader of the village.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted. Gai could tell that underneath the mask, his silver-haired rival was smirking.

"No! Impossible!" Gai yelled. "You can't be here because of—"

"Ryu?" Kakashi finished. "I am, actually."

Gai couldn't find the words to say as his mouth dangled from his face. His whole body felt slack, as if Kakashi's magic words pushed his buttons to 'off.' He stood there in disbelief. Kakashi? Training Ryu?! That was blasphemy!

Kakashi chuckled, amused at Gai's expression. He barely ever had the chance to render Gai totally speechless. Seeing Gai's mouth gaping like a fish was a rare treasure.

Gai shot up, seemingly triggered by Kakashi's laughter. "Very well, then! I will take your youthful challenge, my Eternal Rival!" He finally said. "I will prove that I am the best candidate! I must win this one not for myself, but for Ryu!" Kakashi's eyebrow raised at that statement, but he allowed Gai to continue. Perhaps he'd get a laugh out of it. "You would do nothing but smother Ryu's Flames of Youth!" Gai bellowed, fire in his eyes as he shoved an accusing finger at Kakashi, who simply rolled his exposed eye.

"Hm…" Kakashi pretended to think. For some reason, he just felt the urge to make him continue today.

At that, Gai scowled, crossing his arms.

"On top of that, Kakashi, you are no taijutsu specialist. You specialize in ninjutsu and genjutsu, which requires chakra, and Lee told me he hasn't shown any use of chakra. You have nothing to teach him."

Kakashi sighed as he noticed the end of the speech. Gai just wasn't seeing the big picture here!

"What you said is true," Kakashi admitted. "However, you're missing some major points. Like first of all, just because Ryu didn't use chakra doesn't mean he can't mold it. He could be holding back. Secondly, it seems that Ryu doesn't need any teaching. The kid fought three ANBU and only lost because one snuck up on him after being kicked down the street."

The Hokage nodded.

"Valid points, Kakashi. But that still doesn't explain why you want him."

Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. Gai correctly assumed he was somewhat embarrassed. "As much as they line up perfectly in terms of academy performance, I'm afraid that they are doomed to fail the post-graduation survival test. There's absolutely no way they'll be able to work as a team and win," he explained. "I believe Ryu can kickstart their desire to do so." He then turned to Gai. "Also… although it sounds more of a personal reason, this also has to do with Naruto." His expression turned a little more somber, yet hopeful. "I think that if Ryu is on my team, Naruto may have an opportunity to have a teammate that won't hit him or piss him off."

Gai nodded, unable to counter that final statement. He let out a sigh, seeming to deflate.

"It's too bad we can't all have him…" Gai muttered, missing the Hokage's face light up as he got an idea.

"Gai, Kakashi, would you two do an old man a favor and bring Kurenai and Asuma here?" the Sandaime asked. "I do believe I have an idea." The two jounin bowed, although both carried looks of confusion on their faces. They then vanished in puffs of smoke.

When he was certain the two were gone, Hiruzen took out four slips of paper and quickly scribbled numbers down on them. This idea had to be one of his best, no doubt about it!

Only three minutes later, the Hokage's slient musings were distracted by a simultaneous group of popping sounds, signaling the arrival of the four jounin. All four wore confused and interested expressions, which was quite an amusing sight. Hiding his laughter with a small cough, he straightened.

"Ah, good to see you've arrived. I hope Kakashi and Gai didn't disrupt anything."

Asuma shrugged, blowing out a small puff of smoke after he tossed away what was left of his cigarette.

"Not that big of a deal. I was only thinking." He scratched his goatee absently, the perfect example of relaxation. Hiruzen inwardly sighed. It only made sense Asuma would be more at ease, considering he raised the man…

Kurenai glanced over at Asuma before turning to the Hokage. "I wasn't doing anything important. What did you need us for, Hokage-sama?" she asked, her garnet gaze glittering curiously.

"As you all know," the Hokage began, "we have a gifted new youngster joining our esteemed ranks. However, let all children, he must start at genin, which means he needs to be placed on a squad. As there are no others, he must join an existing one. The only problem with that is that doing so would throw off the numbers, and it would be unfair to the other teams." He cast a knowing glance at Kakashi and Gai, and understanding dawned on the other two. They all nodded in unison.

"I assume you've come up with a solution to this?" Kurenai asked softly.

"Of course," the Hokage replied. "It isn't something that's had to happen before, but it is within my power to allow Ryu to be rotated between the teams, pending which of them graduate fully. He will stay with one of you for one week before switching."

The four jounin were slightly surprised. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

"So, basically, each of us will have equal time to spend with Ryu during the course of a month… But why us?" Kurenai raised a delicate eyebrow in confusion. There were plenty of other squads active in the roster, after all. To limit Ryu to only the four of them, it still seemed somewhat unfair.

"It's quite simple, Kurenai-chan. I carefully gauged Ryu-kun's skills based on the reports from the ANBU and his spar with Lee. Squad Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten have the highest compatibility for Ryu-kun to be in. It all depends on which of the teams will pass your test."

"What if we need him for a mission and he is not on our team?" Gai asked.

"You can run the mission and circumstances by me and I'll see if it's important enough to break our little cycle," he replied, clearly having thought this through.

"OK… Well that's all well and good, but how are we deciding the order, anyway?" Asuma piped up. Wordlessly, the Hokage lowered his hat and held it out.

"Grab a number," he spoke simply. The four jounin looked at each other before reaching their hands in, grabbing a slip of paper. He put the hat back on as the slips were opened. The person to react was Gai, who let out an indignant shout.

"No! I drew four! How can this be?!" the taijutsu specialist nearly cried as he slumped to the floor. To the other four in the room, the situation was less miserable and a lot more hilarious. Gai's dramatic reaction certainly brought life to the usual dullness; that was for sure.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask, which had to mean he drew one, allowing him first shot at Ryu. Kurenai looked at hers with a straight face. She had drawn two, which meant Asuma drew three.

"Then it is decided!" the Hokage said. "Kakashi, you better find Ryu and tell him."

Kakashi nodded, poofing away in smoke. He reappeared just down the road, noticing Ryu walking away from the ramen shop, already having said his goodbyes to Lee and his team. The silver haired jounin landing in front of Ryu.

"Hello, Ryu," he casually greeted.

"Greetings, Kakashi," was the reply as Ryu bowed. "What brings you here?"

Kakashi decided to get to the point. "You're on my squad for the time being," Kakashi said, not really feeling like going into all the details. "Meet me in front of the Hokage's Tower at 8:30 tomorrow, and then I'll take you to meet your team."

"Oh! Um, well, thank you, Kakashi," Ryu managed, somewhat flustered as he bowed in thanks. Only a day had passed and he was getting put on a team! It was unusually fast for his normally slow paced life. Kakashi chuckled, patting Ryu on the front of his head as he stood up. The martial artist resisted the urge to wave his hand off, knowing that, in their eyes, he was still a youngster.

"No problem, kid. See you around!" With that, Kakashi vanished yet again, startling Ryu for a split second. He supposed it was going to take him some time to get used to all of these shinobi tricks… He went to take a step, when he noticed his forehead felt like there was a tiny weight on it. He reached up to his forehead, eyes going wide when he felt hard metal instead of fabric. In a rare moment of shock, he nearly ripped the headband off in a flurry of movement, stilling when he noticed the weight was on the headband.

Gingerly, he turned the headband in his hands, his wide eyes almost shining as he saw a new addition to his headband: a metal rectangle with a leaf-like symbol engraved in the middle—the same thing on the headbands of all the shinobi he met recently. It was undeniable proof now; he was officially considered a Konoha shinobi.

Ryu smiled as he eyed the metal plate, running his thumb over the leaf. It felt… nice. It wasn't just a sign that he was a ninja by their standards. It meant he gained the respect of the village leader, and so many other people in a short time. It meant he was officially open to experience the world in ways he probably couldn't otherwise.

'Somehow…' Ryu mused as he tied the headband around his head, the metal catching the high sun, 'I think this is a start to a lot of adventures.'

Move List

Konoha Senpuu/Leaf Whirlwind (Leaf Hurricane): A move commonly used by Lee. It's a quick succession of spinning kicks, alternating between high and low to throw off the opponent's reaction.

Shouoken: A modified, multi-hitting Shoryuken used by Sakura (not the Naruto Sakura, the Street Fighter Sakura), created by watching Ryu. Lee's is not so much like Sakura's. He just happened to mispronounce it just like Sakura did.

Shakunetsu Hadouken: a modified Hadouken used by Ryu, Gouken, and Akuma. The ki is changed so that when it makes contact with its target, it engulfs it in flames.

That's it for now! Leave a review and tell me whatcha thought!