AN: Hello again, my beautiful followers. I'm on winter break finally and I've got some time so I will try to get out some chapters. Your support has warmed my heart and thus I hope to warm your hearts with my writing.
Note: I don't own Naruto or its respective contents.
"We will now take fifteen minutes for a short intermission before the final fight." Genma announced to the crowd and then turned to Akakiryu, "Hey kid, I'm sure you probably don't need it, but take this break to rest up a little, okay?" Akakiryu nodded and disappeared in a swirl of black feathers.
He then reappeared back in the spectating area, where it was only Dokukaze waiting. Tashiro's teammate had long left to meet his teammates in the infirmary, and everyone else had ended up in the infirmary as well.
Dokukaze glanced at his future opponent and then walked off to handle some private business. Akakiryu shrugged. He half expected the guy to monologue to him about how he was going to win or maybe share some tragic backstory. Instead the guy probably left to take a piss before the fight.
'Oh well. I suppose the chunin exams go a little easier when a snake doesn't crash the party.' He went to lean on the railing and look over the arena again, pondering over various things. His thoughts drifted to the crowd above. He couldn't quite see them all but could clearly hear them bustling about in the stands.
Kuro thought back to the performance of his son so far, 'He's gotten so strong. I don't think I even noticed how far he has really come. Maybe, just maybe…' His thoughts drifted away.
Similarly, Itachi and Shisui held Akakiryu in their own thoughts, pondering about the potential he might have. Sasuke, on the other hand, was just ecstatic at his clan member's ability – no. His friend's ability.
Inoichi, Ino, Neji, and even Hinata and Hiashi were each eager to see this final fight. And no one was more eager for this final fight than the Hokage himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi. 'The raw potential of this boy, he could be the next great carrier of the Will of Fire.'
Soon, the fifteen minutes were up, and the whole arena were focused on the three figures in the arena below. Akakiryu and Dokukaze stood opposite each other, with Genma watching closely off to the side.
Genma asked them both, "Are you ready?" And they each returned a nod. "As both contestants are ready, I now announce the final fight of the chunin exams to begin!" His exclamation was especially loud, hyping up the crowd further.
Dokukaze quickly jumped back, going through hand seals, preparing to unleash a special technique. There were a lot of handseals involved, and the prep time took a while, but he assumed that Akakiryu in his arrogance would let him get off the jutsu, as he had spared Tashiro prior.
Sadly, his assumption was wrong.
"Here's a tribute to my sensei! Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
In an instant, a shadow clone of Akakiryu appeared, and then in a mirage of after images they charged towards Dokukaze. Dokukaze was baffled by the approaching attack, and quickly stopped his hand seals, having no time to finish the jutsu. He brought up his arms in a crossguard to block, but he had no idea how to block the bizarre attack.
Within a single breath, Dokukaze was struck dozens of times, his bandages reduced to shreds and his body riddled with wounds. The speed and precision of Akakiryu's kenjutsu left him totally defenseless. He had no chance from the very beginning.
Akakiryu's shadow clone dismissed itself, and the red-haired boy himself finally stood a couple meters away. Confident in his attack, he sheathed his tanto.
The crowd was silent, staring down at the now clearly seen Dokukaze, a brown-haired teen, riddled in wounds and free of the bandages that previously covered him. His hidden weapons were scattered on the ground around him, having lost the bandages that held them to his body. He was breathing heavily, collapsed on his knees, unable to move but gladly still alive.
Genma had been surprised to see his friend's technique appear in this arena, but he supposed it made sense that it came from the hands of his student. He glanced at the wounded Dokukaze and made the call, "Dokukaze has been left unable to fight. The winner of this fight and the finals of the chunin exams, is Akakiryu Uchiha of Konohagakure!"
The crowd cheered for the smiling crimson-haired, crimson-eyed boy before them. A boy who they still haven't seen the limits of.
A few days later, after celebrating with Kuro, Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke, and being praised by almost every villager and shinobi that he came across, Akakiryu was summoned to the Hokage's tower.
Arriving inside, he saw Iruka, Ko, and Tashiro standing before the Hokage's desk, where of course sat the Hokage himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, with his Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara standing beside him. Akakiryu walked up beside Iruka and bowed gently to Hiruzen, "Lord Hokage." Then nodded in acknowledgement to Shikaku.
"Ah yes, Ryu. We've been waiting for you. Now then, while you already likely have a hint of why I might have summoned you all here, I'm sure you want to hear it said directly." Hiruzen smiled. "I would like to congratulate each of you on your promotion to chunin."
Each of them smiled gladly; Tashiro and Iruka even tearing up at the thought of how far they'd come. They all bowed to their Hokage and chorused, "Thank you, Lord Hokage!"
Hiruzen chuckled lightheartedly. He always enjoyed these moments. He then turned to Akakiryu, "As for you specifically, Ryu, I would like to congratulate you further." Every head in the room turned to Hiruzen as he spoke. "It is with the many recommendations of our villages jonin and through my authority as Hokage, that I promote you to the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin for the skill you have shown throughout the chunin exams. Congratulations."
Akakiryu just smiled and bowed again, happy for the promotion. Meanwhile, the new chunin beside him were shocked at the realization that their village now had a 6-year-old jonin. They all had learned Akakiryu's age through the gossip mill before the final exams, so this was all quite the shock to them.
Shikaku spoke up as well, "As a jonin you will report directly to me. I will give you most of your assignments and handle most of your paperwork." He then walked up to each of us and handed us the standard leaf flak jacket. "Take these, as I'm sure you know, these are the standard leaf flak jackets. They're specially made and processed, so be sure to wear them. They're not mandatory but they could just save your life." After he handed Akakiryu his jacket, he spoke up, "Follow me after this and we'll take care of your paperwork for your promotion."
Hiruzen went over the various responsibilities they now had as higher ranked leaf shinobis and then dismissed them all. Akakiryu waited and then left with Shikaku.
After handling all the necessary paperwork involved in his promotion, Akakiryu received his first assignment as a Jonin. He was to assist and study under the medic-nin of Konoha's hospital. It was a rather cushy assignment. One that no doubt came from a consideration of Akakiryu's young age and immense learning abilities. With Tsunade gone from the village, there has been a gap in Konoha's medical capabilities, one that Hiruzen and Shikaku intend to fill as ably as possible.
Of course, no one expects Akakiryu to fill the gap by himself, but any shinobi that learns medical knowledge is an asset in the field and at home. The assignment is set to be of an unknown duration, likely until Akakiryu reaches a satisfactory level in his skills. Akakiryu had no complaints at all, since gaining medical knowledge has long since been a necessary goal of his.
He has a couple days off before he begins his assignment, and shockingly, his dad asked him to spend that time with him to go on a camping trip.
Kuro and Akakiryu easily packed for the trip, camping supplies being readily prepared for shinobi who camp on a regular basis, and they were off first thing in the morning. They were walking past the gate when Akakiryu spoke up, "So, dad, where are we going to camp anyways?"
Kuro smiled down at his son, "A place you should have seen a long time ago."
This didn't exactly answer Akakiryu's question, but it didn't bother him. He was just glad to be able to spend time with his father for once. It was a rare opportunity that he intended to take full advantage of.
And so, they went off, spending the day hiking casually through the forest, off the roads and typical paths, in no hurry to reach their destination. They kept silent for most of the time, only occasionally speaking up to make a joke or some small talk on things they saw.
Eventually, they reached their destination. They stepped past the trees and came to a stop before a majestic lake, clear and glistening under the sun. It seemed untouched by man before and pristine thanks to the favor of nature itself.
Akakiryu has seen many things, in both of his lives, but never has anything quite grasped his attention as this lake has. He stood dumbly by the water's edge, looking over the view before him, catching glimpses of the lake's denizens. Fish of many sizes, some that he could see were so big that he almost suspected them to be a shinobi's summons.
Kuro came to stand by his son, "Beautiful isn't it?" Akakiryu nodded and continued to gaze over it all. "Let's go ahead and set up camp before the sun sets." Due to their slow trek over, there was little time left in the day, maybe an hour before sunset.
The two got to work in setting up their tents and a firepit. It didn't take them long, and eventually they found themselves seated on some stones by the lake, watching the sun set over the lake. The sunset didn't necessarily enhance the lake's beauty; it merely gave it a new form, one that both man and boy intended to enjoy.
"You want to know the reason why I wanted to bring you here?" Kuro spoke gently. Akakiryu turned to his father and nodded, something Kuro didn't see due to him staring at the lake. Kuro continued anyways, "This was your mother's favorite place in the world. The place we met."
Kuro smiled fondly, staring at the lake as if he could see Aka in its reflection. "I was on a mission to dismantle a smuggler's ring that was responsible for transporting war supplies from the Land of Fire to the Land of Water. It wasn't a particularly hard mission, but it was important and needed to be done as soon as possible. As such, the Third Hokage requested assistance from Uzushiogakure in the hopes that they, as the neighbors of the Land of Water, would have some information on the smuggling."
He continued, "Uzushiogakure went beyond sending us information, and instead directly sent out a team of shinobi to assist us. Eventually, both our team and theirs tracked the smugglers to a location not far from here. Some of the smugglers managed to escape and your mother and I were sent to chase them down. It was a cinch to capture them and somehow your mother and I ended up spending more time by this lake. Not exactly romantic, I know." Kuro chuckled to himself, "But somehow we became connected in a way, as if this lake granted us some blessing. We started meeting more and more, one thing led to another, and we eloped. Your mother came to Konoha as an official citizen, and we got married."
Kuro smiled down at the lake, "Your mother was perfect in every way. Kind, energetic, and sure as hell knew how to keep me straight. She was the second-best thing to ever happen to me."
"Second-best?" Akakiryu questioned curiously.
"Of course." Kuro turned to Akakiryu with a smile. "You were the best thing to ever happen to me. To both of us."
Akakiryu was stunned. Such a line might come off as cheesy and to be expected to many kids. But to Akakiryu, it was something he never expected. His dad loved him, he knew that, but a part of Akakiryu always doubted that love since his mom died. His dad simply wasn't around as often and didn't seem to care for Akakiryu as much as he had when Aka was alive. Thus, his words meant the world to Akakiryu.
"Thanks, dad."
AN: I know this was a bit of a short chapter, usually I strive for at least 3000 words, but part of me felt like that's where the chapter needed to end.
Till next time,
~ Seeker