Chapter 11: getting acquainted in konoha part 1
After Tsunade returned after a long travel, she now became the bearer of the title Hokage in the village with everyone cheering to have a new leader. When that celebration passed, the village now went to reconstruction.
Right now Ryu was in the Hokage's office with Kakashi, Jaraiya, Hiruzen and Tsunade. After the new Hokage read the report during the invasion against the sound and sand village. It really surprised her that the rider was the one who defeated Orochimaru, after reading the report again she has decided to promote Ryu into a chunin.
The others agreed to that, if Ryu continues this kind of progress he would reach jonin before the end of the year. Ryu bowed as a sign of thanks for the promotion and since he just got back from the great sage battle he will be given the month off before he gets a mission suited for his rank.
Ryu was then dismissed from the office so that the newly made kage will have to discuss her position. The rider was now on the streets of konoha with workers doing their jobs and some ninjas giving some of their hands to rebuild the village. Just then Ryu saw Naruto eating his favorite food in the ramen shop.
"Hey Naruto" Ryu shouted to the blonde ninja, Naruto turned to see Ryu waving. "Ryu-nii!" the boy shouted, Ryu took a seat and ordered a nice helping of miso ramen. "Oh Naruto, I almost forgot I have big news!" He said getting Naruto's attention, "what is it?" the boy asked.
"I have just been promoted into the chunin rank" Ryu spoke making Naruto almost choke on his food. The blond ninja coughed with a few light hits on the chest making the food go down his throat and then he looked at his nii-san in surprise "seriously?"
"That's right" Ryu nodded he then started to tell Naruto about his actions during the sage battle while Naruto was out cold with his battle between Kabuto, needless to say Naruto was completely speechless in the moment "well that was about it I'll leave you to your ramen while I take a walk to clear my thoughts" Ryu leaving a quiet Naruto in the ramen shop.
Ryu was back at the streets minding his own business until a voice spoke out to him "Ryu!" The rider turned to see Gai with his team right behind him. "Oh Gai, what is it?" Ryu asked
"After hearing your battle against Neji from earlier I want my team to see that kind of youthful energy!" Gai declared, Ryu thought about that "Who will be my opponent then?" Tenten raised her hand with excitement "I'll be that person!" She cheered.
Ryu nodded at the weapon mistress' excitement "okay since that is decided, where to?" he asked, Gai and his team gestured Ryu to follow them and all five people reached an open field with a pond and some posts right next to it. "Welcome to training ground no. 15" Lee introduced Ryu to the place.
"Now that we are in the grounds" Gai spoke "let us see that youthful energy burning inside you!" He shouted to the sky with his eyes burning with that 'flames of youth' from his very soul. Neji and Lee took a seat to watch the upcoming battle while Gai will be the referee.
Ryu and Tenten were looking at each other feeling their fighting spirits getting ready "before we start I want o ask something, you use a lot of weapons right?" Tenten nodded "what does it mean to you?" he asked "To me a weapon is not just a tool, it is considered an extension to the body and a support to the fighting style to the person" she answered.
Ryu chuckled hearing that "when we fight I know the perfect one to change into and you'll enjoy it." Gai then spoke "Are you ready?" the two ninjas nodded and prepared their fight "begin!"
Tenten quickly threw a few shuriken at Ryu and the rider quickly dodged them, he then took out his Decadriver and placed it on his waist. Tenten took the offensive, she summoned a pair of tonfas and she attacked.
Ryu quickly moved away from her strikes and he made a sweep kick at Tenten's feet making her fall. "Heh" Ryu smiled "you're quite good, but you need a bit more of practice to keep up with the other ninjas outside this village" he took out the Decade card "henshin!" and placed it inside his belt.
Kamen Ride Decade grey figures were in front Ryu making Tenten jump back, the figures moved back to Ryu creating armor, magenta plates came out of his buckle and moved towards his face finishing his transformation. He took out his rider book and changed into a sword "let's warm up before I start changing again"
He dashed forward and slashed downward making the weapon mistress block the attack, Decade continued his assault but Tenten rolled away changing her tonfa into a bo-staff, Tenten used it and tried to hit Decade but every attack has been blocked… however she almost made a clean hit at Decade's leg. "You sure do know how to use a weapon" he spoke
"Let's see if you can handle this one" he took out a rider card with Den o's picture "henshin!" Kamen Ride Den o pixels scattered before merging with Decade creating Den o plat form and then extra armor appeared in thin air and combined with Den o creating a light and mobile armor, finally a red mask slid down on his face finishing his look.
Suffice to say team Gai was really curious to see what happens next, "Let's get started" Den o took out a card and placed it in his belt Attack Ride Ore Sanjou "Ore" Den o pointed at himself "Sanjou!" he then made a pose. Tenten almost fell to the floor "What's that supposed to be!" She shouted, Ryu realized what he did and stood up straight "I that was fixed already!" Den o took out another card "I hope this one does better" he placed it in his buckle Attack Ride Dengasher
Four black pieces came out his belt and it combined into a sword "that's better, now come… try to hit me" Tenten quickly took out her scroll and unleashed a few weighted chains at Den o but he stepped aside and grabbed the chains before slashing them. "You'll have to do better than that" Tenten started to feel giddy she then summoned a heavy broadsword into her hands and she swung with a mighty swing. Den o ducked from the sword and stood again "it seems that I need some muscle to stop this assault"
He took out a card and placed it in his buckle Form Ride Den o Axe the armor of Den o changed into a more bulky appearance, a different mask came down on his face finishing the change and the Dengasher changed into a heavy axe. Another swing of Tenten's broadsword but Den o blocked it using his weapon, it made a loud clash but Den o only skidded a couple of inches and in a few seconds Tenten's weapon shattered into bits of metal.
The weapon mistress was shocked to see her sword completely broken in her hands, while Den o placed his weapon on his shoulder "I suggest that you give your strongest attack before you lose any more" Tenten quickly took out her scroll and opened it, she then leaped into the air spinning with the scroll above her. 'I better finish this too' he took out his card and placed it in his buckle Form Ride Den o Rod
Den o's armor changed again into a much lighter and smoother armor than the first one, a blue mask appeared on his face and attached itself on his face and finally the axe changed into a long spear. Tenten summoned every weapon in her scroll and threw them at Ryu, the rider instantly jumped, ran and rolled away from the barrage of weapons but it doesn't stop there.
The weapon mistress moved her hands and the weapons that were on the ground moved back up into the air and with another move of her hands the weapons dived down at the rider. Ryu quickly took out a gold card with Den o's logo and placed it in his buckle Final Attack Ride D-D-D-Den o Ryu held his weapon like a javelin and threw it.
When Den o's weapon made contact to Tenten's weapons, it changed into a giant blue hexagon made of blue energy surprising everyone, Ryu jumped in the air and made a kick to the center of the hexagon making the weapon's fly back at Tenten making her scream in agony, she started to fall from the sky Gai quickly jumped in the air and caught his student before she hit the ground.
Ryu changed back and ran towards Gai and the fallen Tenten, "is she okay?" Ryu asked "she'll be fine" Gai assured. The taijutsu master placed her gently on the soft grass before standing up and in front of Ryu "you have done a youthful job Ryu" he did his 'youthful pose
"Thank you Gai, for a special spar from your students" Ryu walked towards Lee "I hope you get better Rock Lee… I would love to see konoha's green beast challenge my power" that got Gai's attention "Ryu, are you sure about that?"
"I have seen Lee's taijutsu skills and impressed me that he can use it to such an extreme level" Ryu said with respect "I wish to see if his 'flames of youth' can burn even brighter" Lee felt really flattered about that, after losing in the chunin exams with a broken leg and arm he felt really down that all his hard work went down the drain.
"I have to go now I'll see you some other time" Ryu left Gai and his team to their business. While Ryu will take a visit to Haku, as he walked on he saw Naruto training himself with his shadow clones as he pushed himself to the very limit and beyond that 'you really are going to be a ninja that everyone will remember' he smiled
Ryu was now at the hospital and he saw Haku walk out the door, "hey Haku!" He waved at the girl "oh Ryu, what is it?" Haku asked "I need some ninja pills for my rations, could you make some?" Ryu answered "Sure Ryu I can make that no problem" She smiled
"Thank you Haku, I really appreciate it" Ryu bowed and he said goodbye leaving the girl to her work.
Ryu was now walking on the streets in his thought about a certain knucklehead 'hmm… I keep hearing that some people talk bad about Naruto, most especially from the civilian council.' The rider needs an answer about that 'I'll need a talk to Sarutobu about that'
But right now spending some time with the boy will surely get his mind of that, as expected Naruto was enjoying his tenth bowl of ramen of the day. "Hey Naruto" the blond whiskered ninja turned to see Ryu "Ryu-nii, what is it?" He asked "I was wondering that we could spend some time together" He answered making Naruto freeze "you… want to spend time… with me?"
"Of course" the rider smiled "we are living together, so why not have fun together" Naruto smiled and he continued eating his meal. After that the two were walking down into training ground 7 "Ah it's nice to be here again" Naruto sighed seeing the place "tell me Naruto, how was it being in team 7" Naruto was a bit jumpy but he was able to tell the beginning of his life in the academy even though he was a troublemaker back then, he did make some friends then.
But when the time came for his ninja exams he failed… and a couple more times too, very… very discouraging. After a special test of learning the shadow clone technique he became a ninja, "man, you really are strong for staying strong like that" Ryu commented "I might even say that you were born with a gift"
Naruto looked down feeling a bit sad when Ryu said that, "is it really a gift?" he asked to himself. "Uh, Naruto" Ryu looked at the boy with worry "are you okay?" The blond whiskered ninja looked up "yeah, I'm fine" Naruto answered "why don't I take you to my favorite place in the entire village"
The two were on top of the Hokage monument and Ryu was looking down at the village "wow… this view is amazing" Naruto smiled "I'm glad you liked it" Ryu nodded "yeah me too"
Naruto sat on the edge acting unusually quiet, "Naruto" Ryu walked closer to the boy when suddenly he was hugged around the waist by Naruto. The rider looked down to see something very surprising; Naruto crying "Ryu-nii, is it really fine that you're living with me?" the blond sobbed "is it fine for you to even be with me?"
Ryu stayed quiet as it was the first time to see Naruto like this 'the boy must've held it in so long that he covered it by smiling and pushed the pain away' Ryu wrapped his arms around Naruto "it's okay Naruto," Ryu spoke "let it out… just let all of it out" he said while patting Naruto's back.
After a few more minutes of crying, Naruto pulled away wiping his tears from his face. "Sorry Ryu-nii" the rider shook his head "don't be" Ryu looked at Naruto "it's not healthy to hold your emotions like that" The blond ninja looked down "does that mean I'm not supposed to be a ninja" Ryu shook his head again "No Naruto, I'm just saying that you should take better care of yourself. And besides I know in the future that you will do great things"
"Really?" Naruto asked "of course, Naruto when I first saw you I felt a great power inside your body" Ryu spoke "tell me, do you fear this power?" Naruto nodded "I see… it seems that the energy is too strong for you handle properly and it will make go berserk when you use it" Ryu while he remembered the beast Naruto back on the bridge in the land of waves. "I'm not sure that I can help you with it but I do know that in time you will handle it with no problem"
Naruto was feeling better having a talk about his condition… although indirectly to someone he cared "oh I almost forgot, Naruto would you take my picture" Ryu requested "of course Ryu-nii" and Naruto took the picture, after the picture was out of the camera Naruto looked at the photo and smiled. It was a picture of Ryu but at the background were the two forms of Ryu's rider armor: on the left was Diend and on the right was Decade.
After that the two shinobis went home and get some sleep after a long day, morning came and Ryu woke up with Naruto gone 'I guess team 7 will have some chores to do' he thought while stretching out of the bed, 'I'll just have to train my chakra reserves and then I'll go to wherever I want' he took breakfast and a quick shower and left the apartment.
Ryu walked to training ground 7, he remembered the time he was still a genin before he instantly became chunin "even though it was a short time, I sure enjoyed it" he smiled "well better start training before I slack off" and he started to train.
After a while Ryu was on the ground panting hardly 'Naruto, people say that you are nothing but you are stronger than anyone' he sat up and wipe the sweat off "whew… that was tiring, but it was worth it" he stood up "let's see if I can even learn a few jutsus, and I'll start with the one I mostly see and that is the kage bunshin" Ryu made a cross sign with his hands and said "shadow clone jutsu"
A cloud of smoke appeared and when it faded, it showed a number of five Ryu's "whoa" the rider looked at his othe copies who were just as surprised "I have been training so much on my chakra reserves, it's almost like I can make any jutsu I see" Ryu then made a thinking pose "let's see, if I can make the clone jutsu. Then maybe I can make my own set of jutsus"
Ryu then dispelled his clones "but first a trip to the library" he said "I know that there is more to this chakra than meets the eye." And off he went to the Konoha library
Inside, Ryu was looking at the books about chakra inside "man, there are so many ways of using chakra and look at this… it said that a ninja's chakra can give a certain element and channeling that energy is called chakra flow" Ryu hummed "I'll save that for later, right now I'll see some of Naruto's friends"
Ryu set off to a usual place where a certain shadow-user goes to. "If I heard right, this is where Shikamaru Nara goes when he needs to relax from the trouble of work." and just like the rumor said there he is lying down on the bench taking a nap, 'this maybe a guess but it seems that the men in the Nara family are easily tired. But since I'm making friends here, I might as well wait for him to wake up'
-An hour later-
'I guess this is why Shikamaru likes this place' While Ryu waited for the sleeping boy he took some to look at the clouds in the sky. While looking up to the clouds Asuma came by to pick up his student in a game of shogi, the jonin saw the rider "oh, I didn't expect to see company in this place" he spoke "you must be Asuma, jonin leader of team 10"
"That's right, and you must be Ryu the fourth member of team 7" Ryu nodded "hey, is it okay that I go with you guys?" he asked "sure, why not" Asuma smiled "ugh, is it time for me to play shogi" the shadow-user yawned "that's right and we will be bringing a guest today" Shikamaru looked surprised but he saw Ryu waving at him "you must be the rider from team 7"
"That's right, and since I'm going to live here I might as well make some friends" Shikamaru nodded but he still had some suspicions, after all having someone become a ninja instantly can drive make that person suspicious. After a while the group reached a small house near a river with a nice atmosphere in the area.
"Wow, this is perfect if you'd like to have privacy" Ryu spoke "yeah it's pretty nice to have a place away from the village once in a while" Asuma and Shikamaru then sat on the perch and the two started to play shogi.
As the game progressed Ryu had an interest on the lazy ninja 'maybe I can have a game after this one' when his thoughts are finished the game finished with Asuma sighing at his defeat "I lost again" the jonin rubbed his head "how did I ever get you into this?"
"It's because you need me to do something once in a while" Shikamaru yawned before looking at Ryu "since you are already here, why not have a turn?" Ryu nodded "sure" he sat down in front of the sleepy Nara "is it okay that I have the first turn?" Shikamaru just yawned "go ahead"
The game begins…
-30 minutes later-
Shikamaru and Asuma just stayed still and they were speechless at what happened "but how…?" they both said at the same time. Ryu rubbed the back of his head "sorry that I beat you," he said shyly "I guess that I'm just lucky today" the rider stood up "perhaps some other time that we will have another round of shogi" he then waved goodbye to them and went back to the streets.
"He seems like a nice guy" Asuma spoke "I agree with you there" Shikamaru smiled at knowing that the rider isn't a threat.
It was now sundown and Ryu was thinking of Rock Lee's condition after the chunin exams 'man, Lee has been feeling sad when the new hokage arrived… did something happen?' Just then he saw the two Taijutsu experts walking to a certain place for a meeting, 'I should follow them just in case' and he silently followed the two ninjas.
After a while the three went to a small tower in the village, Lee sat down on a bench and felt discouraged about his time with Tsunade. He was told that it was a fifty-fifty chance to get his body fixed from the injuries he have in the exams, Gai tried to calm his student but Lee started to cry; if he were to take the surgery then what would happen if he dies.
"What kind of talk is that" the two ninjas turned to see their youthful friend "Ryu?" Gai asked "excuse me" the rider pushed the man aside and he was in front of Lee before bonking him on the head "you are such an idiot Lee" the young taijutsu master nursed his head while looking at his friend in confusion "what do you mean Ryu?"
"Lee, what was your reason for being ninja?" Ryu asked, Lee thought back to his first initiation of being a ninja "my reason is to be a ninja who will rely on using taijutsu" he answered "if that's the reason then why are you scared of the operation which will make you better?" Lee looked away from his friend but explained about his condition and the explanation from Tsunade about having a chance on dying after the surgery. "Lee, what happened to that flame burning inside you?"
Lee looked at Ryu in surprise "you said that you will be a great ninja by using taijutsu techniques. After the chunin exams you were a mess, but when you have the chance to get better you were starting to doubt yourself if you can even keep up. Tell me, do you want to quit?" Lee was quiet after Ryu's speech "C'mon Lee, answer me!"
"No!" Lee stood up "I am Rock Lee, Konoha's handsome green beast and Taijutsu specialist!" Gai just stood there in shock 'Ryu, you have saved my student from misery and now you're even reminding him of his purpose when he first became a ninja' Ryu smiled at his friend "now that's the Rock Lee I know" the rider then looked at Gai "Gai, yyou need to remind your student about his purpose so that the flames of youth can still burn inside him!"
The jonin then started to shed tears "you're right Ryu" he then looked at Lee "Lee, take the operation. I know you will be fine" Lee nodded with determination "yes Gai-sensei, I will risk my life and pride" Ryu then stepped in "that's the spirit Lee, make the power of youth inside you grow!"
Ryu then took out his camera "let me take a picture to remind the boy who became the youthful man today" he then asked the two to be together and he took two pictures of them and he gave one to Lee "here" When the ninjas saw the picture, they smiled. It showed Lee and Gai doing their youthful pose, beside them were Rock Lee's younger states and finally at the background was a blue sky with Neji and Tenten smiling down as if Lee had become a great ninja.
"Thank you Ryu, for this special picture" they said "no problem" Ryu smiled "besides it's better to die with your pride than living without it." He then gave his wishes to Lee's recovery in the future, "I hope you get better, so I can have a spar with the green beast of konoha" he waved goodbye leaving the place
Ryu smiled that he was able to fit in the village 'I'm glad that I live here, this place is full of surprises" he walked back to the apartment to get some rest after a long day.
Chapter End
Author's noted:
Hi there, sorry for the long wait on the update. I had an idea on this story that since Ryu will be living in Konoha he needs to make some friends, this is the first part of it and at the second part will be surprising. For now enjoy today' chapter and review afterwards
Thank you
Author out