I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Training

Ryuu opened his eyes and looked around. White walls, white floor, white ceiling, white bed, white sheets, white blanket, white pillow, white chairs, white heart monitor. Hospital. Tenten was beside him with Lee's bed on the other side of her. Neji wasn't there, meaning he was probably training, and Hayate was sitting beside Tenten. On Ryuu's other side was Yugao.

"Good morning," Yugao smiled.

"Master, I'm so sorry," Ryuu began. "I didn't mean-"

"It's alright," Yugao smiled. "I made a rookie mistake and slipped. They patched me up easily. You on the other hand, were in much worse condition. While I was a relatively serious death risk, you opened the Gate of Closing. Idiot. Your body didn't go through the proper training to use it so you destroyed your body using it. Your muscles were almost completely shredded, a few of your bones were cracked, the bones in your feet and legs were all shattered, and your heart very nearly tore itself free of your Aorta. You can't use the Inner Gates again. It's going to kill you. They managed to heal you completely this time but if you had used it for even a minute longer, you'd be dead. Promise me you won't use it again."

"I promise," Ryuu nodded then turned to Tenten. "How's Lee?"

"He's not good," Tenten stated. "He used the Gates so long that his body tore itself apart, his limbs shattered themselves from him hitting Gaara, and Gaara crushed his left arm and leg. He won't be a ninja again. He can't."

Ryuu nodded and turned his attention to Hayate.

"Even if because of an accident, you did win your fight," Hayate stated. "In reality, accidents don't mean the person who wins because of them loses anyway so it won't here either. Congratulations. You're continuing."

"Thank you," Ryuu smiled. "When can I leave?"

"Now," a Medical Nin stated walking in. "You're all healed so we were just waiting for you to wake up."

"Sasuke took the liberty of getting you a clean set of clothes for you," Yugao stated pointing at the pile of clothes with his tanto and trench knife sitting on the top.

Ryuu instinctively reached to his neck but realized the necklace was gone.

"I have your necklace," Yugao stated before he could panic. "Figured you should probably keep that fact about yourself a secret for the time being."

"Thank you," Ryuu sighed smiling.

She nodded and they all left allowing him to get dressed before he left the room and she handed the necklace over. Then, Tenten returned to the room and the others left. Ryuu pulled his necklace on and turned to Yugao.

"I'll meet you at the clearing in a few minutes," Yugao stated. "You have a month to train before the next part of the exam so I'm going to oversee your training personally with a bit of help I found recently. For now, I need to talk to Hayate for a moment."

Ryuu nodded and vanished in a swirl of fallen leaves. He arrived at the clearing within minutes and sighed leaning against the tree. His older brother had been a master of the Body Flicker Technique. Ryuu was only skilled enough for it to require nearly no chakra and to be able to attack while using it, though he was saving that ability for a certain someone. He remembered several times when his brother would use the technique to make himself seem to flicker like a flame or a crappy film. He remembered that no one ever seemed to notice except him and Itachi.

After a few minutes, Yugao walked into the clearing and grinned.

"The help will be here in about thirty seconds," Yugao stated.

Exactly thirty seconds later, light suddenly appeared, shimmering in a very long oval, just touching the ground. Then, it faded, leaving Fu standing in its place.

"Fu," Ryuu breathed before a wide grin spread over his face. "You ditched me!"

"I told you I would leave," Fu stated.

"I figured you'd wait until I woke up," Ryuu stated.

"Figured I should avoid all of the difficult questions," Fu shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Ryuu smiled. "But, I'm guessing you're still not staying."

Once again, Fu's face adopted the same look that he had seen any other time he brought it up, tears almost instantly spilling from her eyes.

"I didn't figure," Ryuu sighed. "How long are you staying?"

"Until the next part of the exam," Fu stated. "Until then, I'm free to break you a hundred different ways until you don't want me to stay."

"Not possible," Ryuu smirked. "You will never be able to keep me away. Even if you tried to kill me."

Fu's face fell to the ground and Ryuu blinked in surprise. Then, Fu wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Good," Fu smiled. "I prefer my slaves loyal."

Ryuu grinned then spun and blocked Yugao's katana with his trench knife, pulling out a kunai to go with it.

"Going with speed huh?" Yugao questioned. "Okay. You're fighting her though."

Ryuu glanced at Fu to see her holding two trench knives but hers were different. They were kunai with a finger guard that mas made out of a centimeter and a half thick round metal bar that all four of her fingers fit into, then had a kunai blade that was about fifty percent longer than normal, give or take. Yugao stepped back and Ryuu grinned as he turned toward Fu. She slashed at his neck and he blocked it with his trench knife and slashed at her with his kunai. She leapt back from it then darted forward, slashing at him again. He ducked under the knife and spun past Fu, catching her leg and tripping her, placing his trench blade against the back of her neck.

"You lose," Ryuu grinned. "What next?"

"Now you have to fight us both," Yugao stated. "And no Sharingan."

Ryuu nodded and Yugao charged forward. Ryuu ducked under the katana then spun, slashing at Yugao's stomach. Yugao leapt back then swung her sword at the top of his head as Fu darted forward to slash Ryuu's back.

"No way," Ryuu grinned blocking Yugao's katana with his kunai and both of Fu's blades with his trench knife using the jagged section of the blade over his fingers. "You know you can't get me like that."

Ryuu shoved their blades away and spun, tripping them then used the Body Flicker Technique to move around behind Fu, catching her and miming slitting her throat. Then, he set her down in time to sweep Yugao's sword aside then slashed with his kunai. Yugao jumped back from it then slashed again and Ryuu blocked it then spun, forcing the blade away before vanishing in a swirl of sparks from their blades scraping against each other. He reappeared behind her and slashed at her back. Instead of dodging the attack, she allowed it to carve through her spine. She vanished in a cloud of smoke, and another dropped from above. Ryuu spun out of the way of the vertical slash then began spinning and slashing at her again and again and again. Yugao managed to block the two blades with her own for several moments before Ryuu aimed at the sword specifically and knocked it away with his kunai before stopping with his trench knife resting against her throat, pressing the skin but just short of breaking it. He pulled it away and smirked.

"I'm impressed," Yugao grinned. "You're much faster than I expected. However, you're a better fighter with your tanto. You know that right?"

"I know," Ryuu nodded. "But If I don't need to use it, I try not to."

"I see," Yugao nodded. "Since you can beat us both, I think it's time for Fu to begin your jutsu training."

Ryuu nodded and turned toward Fu.

"Let's begin," Fu smiled.

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