Ch. 2 - Clash! The Rookie Shows his Skill.
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"Ryu, are you certain you want to make such a hasty decision? You have not gone through the same training as these three, picking a fight with one of them could prove fatal." Ryu smirked at Kakashi then looked over the three. There was Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and the girl who had yet to introduce herself; if his memory served him correctly her name was Sakura. He had only glanced through the manga, only taking a liking to some certain points in it. So he really did not know what to expect from any of them.
"You should be worrying about them not me. I've got more skill in one finger then any of them do in their whole body. I'll take on any of them to prove I'm ready for this mission, whatever it may be." Naruto growled at his response and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket as he took a step toward him. Sasuke put a hand out and stopped Naruto.
"No, he thinks he's good, I think I'll show him just how wrong he is." Sasuke smirked at him and Ryu glared back.
"You're on." Sasuke took a step forward.
"What? Are you not going to put your guitar somewhere safe?" Ryu grinned.
"Why would I do that? I'm confident in my abilities and I highly doubt that you will touch it. If you do though, it will be the last thing you do." Fire burned in his eyes as he looked into Sasuke's eyes. Never had Ryu felt such a rush of adrenaline before a fight.
"Be careful Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called to him. Ryu looked over at her, what did she see in this guy? He looked back at Sasuke.
"Well, are we just gonna stand here, or shall we get down to business?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Ryu blinked as Sasuke vanished from sight. He spun around, searching for him. Naruto smirked slightly as he watched. He already knew just where Sasuke was. Sasuke sprang out of nowhere and aimed a shuriken at Ryu's back.
"Too slow." Ryu spun and knocked it out of the air with his kunai. As Sasuke landed, Ryu rushed forward and sent a fist into his face. He grunted as he stumbled back and glared at Ryu.
"Better then I thought you'd be." Ryu crossed his arms and shrugged.
"What can I say? I've always been a quick learner. Sorry to disappoint you, but you're going to have to try a little harder." Sasuke grunted and smiled slightly.
"I already am." Ryu turned just in time to meet Sasuke's fist. The blow connected with his jaw and sent him to the ground. It had been a clone, he had tricked him. Ryu rubbed his jaw with the back of his hand and smirked.
"Quite a punch you've got there." Sasuke smiled at him, then growled and frowned when Ryu's form melted into the ground. A water clone.
"Like I said, I'm a quick learner. This Chakra stuff is pretty cool; I've already made up a few techniques of my own. Of course, I saw this one in the manga." Sasuke's eyes darted through the foliage. If he was using a water clone, he had to be nearby.
"Behind you!" Sakura screamed. Sasuke turned, but was too slow. Ryu sent his own fist into the back of Sasuke's head. He fell flat on his face and flipped back up to his feet. Ryu smirked.
"Look at what I did. I got dirt on that pretty face of yours that all the girls seem to be crazy about, such a shame. Come on, get serious here Sasuke-boy. I coulda sworn you had said you wanted to avenge the death of your clan." Ryu scoffed.
"Not with those sorry moves you won't." Sasuke pushed himself up to his knees and wiped the dirt off his face. Obviously the message had gotten through to him. Ryu was glad that he had succeeded in pissing him off. Now, he could see just how good he was compared to a real ninja. Sasuke jumped up to his feet and then spun, sending a roundhouse into the side of Ryu's face. The blow sent him sailing through the air. After a few seconds, he put one hand down and flipped onto his feet. It had caught him off guard, but now he was ready again. Ryu tossed a shuriken at Sasuke, just to see what he'd do. The young man caught it in his palm, blood trickling from his hand as one of the edges struck his palm.
"You don't know anything about me or my motives! You'll pay for that remark." Ryu chuckled and wiped the blood running from his mouth.
"Sure I will, come on Sasuke. Quit playing around already." Naruto looked between the two. There was no doubt the two were definitely ready to kill each other, or Sasuke was at least. Sasuke yelled as he ran at Ryu. Cold steel was thrust through Ryu's stomach. Blood flew from his mouth as he gagged. A smile crossed Sasuke's as he looked up at Ryu only to find himself looking at a log.
"What!?" Ryu performed a number of seals in quick succession as he ran at lightning-fast speed and stopped behind Sasuke. He was amazed at himself that he had memorized the movements from the music video he had downloaded on his computer.
"Thank god for Chop Suey." He laughed lightly as he finished the seals.
"Water Prison no Jutsu!" Sasuke's eyes widened drastically as he was encased in a bubble of water. How was it possible? Could he be some kind of copycat? Or possibly possess the same Sharingan eye that both he and his sensei had? Kakashi looked over at Ryu, his eye portraying very little emotion.
"Impressive, that's a high-level Jutsu. I never thought he'd have enough Chakra to pull off anything like that." Naruto looked over at him.
"Kakashi-sensei, that's the same Jutsu Zabuza used on you!" Kakashi nodded. Without another word, he moved over to Sasuke and Ryu.
"That's enough you two. It's obvious that Ryu has surpassed any of our original impressions. You can let him go now Ryu. I have a few questions to ask you if you don't mind." He nodded and released Sasuke from the bubble encasing him. Sasuke fell to his knees and growled at Ryu. His pride had just been badly bruised. Ryu understood why, he had just been beat by somebody who was not even a Genin and had no previous training.
"Where did you learn that technique?" The question took Ryu's attention away from Sasuke.
"Well, you're gonna think I'm crazy after I say this. I had seen it performed in a video that I saw. That worked really well for that guy, so I figured it might help me out. I've got a photographic memory; I've seen the video a lot of times too." Kakashi nodded. Though as odd as it sounded, he knew nothing about where Ryu was from or where he may have seen such a video.
"You just got lucky." Sasuke mumbled as he stood.
"Care to try again if you think you can do any better?"
"That's enough." Ryu looked at Kakashi, as did Sasuke.
"We have more important things to worry about then individual vendettas. Now, Ryu, do you think you are ready for the mission? If not, we will have to continue the training." Ryu shrugged. He looked over at Sakura, who seemed to be angry for reasons unknown to him.
"As ready as I can be. I mean, I'm miles from home and my best friend's missing. But no, that's nothing out of the normal."
"Naruto." Kakashi called, and he ran over to them. Ryu grinned at him and he smirked in return. Naruto didn't seem to have a problem with the upset he had caused.
"Kakashi-sensei?" He stood, waiting for his instructions.
"I want you to take Ryu with you to your house. You have enough room for him to stay don't you?" Naruto nodded.
"Of course, are we not starting the mission tonight?" Kakashi shook his head.
"No, we will be leaving early tomorrow morning. I want you all to meet at this spot at five tomorrow morning, alright?" Naruto and Ryu both nodded, and smiled in response. Sasuke grunted and Sakura nodded.
"Then that's it, dismissed for today."
*************
"So Ryu, just what do you do for a living?" Ryu looked over at Naruto. They were still at least a block from his home if what he said was true.
"I'm a high school student. I don't have a living to make. But, I plan on starting a band once I get out of school. What about you? Well, not what you do for a living, but what you want to do?" Naruto placed his hands behind his head and looked up into the sky.
"One of these days I plan on becoming Hogake. I know it's quite a hard goal to achieve, but I'll do it. And I won't take any shortcuts to do it either. What I do for a living, I eat ramen." Ryu gave him an awkward glance and shrugged.
"To each his own I guess." Naruto stopped as his foot collided with a square-shaped rock with two beady looking "eye sockets" in it. The rock followed close behind Naruto as he continued walking. Naruto looked behind him and picked up speed, running up and down the street before finally stopping and staring at the rock again.
"Hey Konohamaru! What do you think you're doing here?"
"I should have expected that from the man I look up to. Good job detecting me." The rock lit up and exploded in a huge ball of fire. Ryu wiped ash off his face and blinked in disbelief at what was happening. It was invasion of the midgets. The three children that had been underneath the very unrealistic rock coughed.
"We used too much gunpowder again." The one in the middle, Konohamaru he presumed, said as he stood up. The odd looking little girl was the first to speak.
"The one who posses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi." Next was the young boy with the glasses.
"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon." Finally came Konohamaru.
"The village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!" The three finished there self-introduction in unison.
"The three of us make.the Konohamaru Corps!" Ryu blinked again. He refused to believe these kids were serious. Konohamaru looked up at Ryu, then at Naruto.
"What do you three want?" Naruto asked, his eyes closed.
"Who's this guy? Is he your new apprentice?" Ryu laughed.
"That's funny kid. No, I'm the new number one ninja around here." Naruto gave him an evil glare and Konohamaru looked wide-eyed at him.
"Really? But that means you must have beat up Naruto!" He shook his head.
"No, I just made a fool out of Sasuke." Moegi inhaled sharply.
"What? Nobody can beat Sasuke!" Naruto was still glaring at Ryu and was beginning to make him nervous.
"Well sorry kids, but we've got to be going. Me and Naruto have a real important mission tomorrow and need to rest up." He waved as he ran down the street dragging Naruto after him.
************
"Do you ever stop playing that stupid thing!" Ryu looked up from his guitar, giving Naruto a lethal glare. Naruto was lying in bed trying to get to bed, Ryu was playing "Crazy Train".
"Not unless I'm tired. If you don't like it, invest in some earplugs." Naruto sat up in his bed and looked down at the floor where Ryu was sitting.
"Ryu, we have a very important mission ahead of us and no idea where we'll be going for us. So, we may not end up getting to sleep again in a while. We should sleep while we have the opportunity." Ryu sighed in exasperation and put his guitar up.
"I guess you're right. Let me ask you something Naruto." He nodded.
"What?" Ryu leaned back and laid himself out on the floor.
"You've had a real hard life. I know how it is. I myself don't have much of a family. I mean, my mom's dead and my dad's in prison for murder." He smirked and chuckled.
"Hell, that's probably the reason I shut myself off from the world and concentrate on my guitar so much. But anyway, how is it you handle being alone?" Naruto sighed before answering.
"It's hard. I used to just go around pulling pranks to get attention. I'm past that now though. I've got Sasuke and Sakura behind me. They may not act like my friends, but they both respect me. And Iruka-sensei also cares about me a lot. Maybe if you're still around after we get done with this mission, I can bring you along with me and him to have some ramen." Ryu smiled and looked up at the darkened ceiling.
"That sounds like a good deal. And Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope you achieve your dream of become Hogake. I'll support you all the way. I don't really know any of you guys, but I feel like I have a strong connection with you all. It's weird, I can't explain it. Who knows, maybe I can even befriend you guys. Because aside from my best friend, Yugo, I have very few friends due to the way I've grown up. And another thing." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"What now?" Ryu smirked, wondering just how Naruto would respond to the question.
"What do you think the chances are of Hinata taking a liking to me? 'Cause you know, she is pretty cute, in that shy girl kinda way. And those pale eyes just complete the whole thing." Silence was the only response he got. Naruto had ignored the question and fallen asleep.
"I figured you'd say something like that." He smiled before falling asleep himself.
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"Ryu, are you certain you want to make such a hasty decision? You have not gone through the same training as these three, picking a fight with one of them could prove fatal." Ryu smirked at Kakashi then looked over the three. There was Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and the girl who had yet to introduce herself; if his memory served him correctly her name was Sakura. He had only glanced through the manga, only taking a liking to some certain points in it. So he really did not know what to expect from any of them.
"You should be worrying about them not me. I've got more skill in one finger then any of them do in their whole body. I'll take on any of them to prove I'm ready for this mission, whatever it may be." Naruto growled at his response and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket as he took a step toward him. Sasuke put a hand out and stopped Naruto.
"No, he thinks he's good, I think I'll show him just how wrong he is." Sasuke smirked at him and Ryu glared back.
"You're on." Sasuke took a step forward.
"What? Are you not going to put your guitar somewhere safe?" Ryu grinned.
"Why would I do that? I'm confident in my abilities and I highly doubt that you will touch it. If you do though, it will be the last thing you do." Fire burned in his eyes as he looked into Sasuke's eyes. Never had Ryu felt such a rush of adrenaline before a fight.
"Be careful Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called to him. Ryu looked over at her, what did she see in this guy? He looked back at Sasuke.
"Well, are we just gonna stand here, or shall we get down to business?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Ryu blinked as Sasuke vanished from sight. He spun around, searching for him. Naruto smirked slightly as he watched. He already knew just where Sasuke was. Sasuke sprang out of nowhere and aimed a shuriken at Ryu's back.
"Too slow." Ryu spun and knocked it out of the air with his kunai. As Sasuke landed, Ryu rushed forward and sent a fist into his face. He grunted as he stumbled back and glared at Ryu.
"Better then I thought you'd be." Ryu crossed his arms and shrugged.
"What can I say? I've always been a quick learner. Sorry to disappoint you, but you're going to have to try a little harder." Sasuke grunted and smiled slightly.
"I already am." Ryu turned just in time to meet Sasuke's fist. The blow connected with his jaw and sent him to the ground. It had been a clone, he had tricked him. Ryu rubbed his jaw with the back of his hand and smirked.
"Quite a punch you've got there." Sasuke smiled at him, then growled and frowned when Ryu's form melted into the ground. A water clone.
"Like I said, I'm a quick learner. This Chakra stuff is pretty cool; I've already made up a few techniques of my own. Of course, I saw this one in the manga." Sasuke's eyes darted through the foliage. If he was using a water clone, he had to be nearby.
"Behind you!" Sakura screamed. Sasuke turned, but was too slow. Ryu sent his own fist into the back of Sasuke's head. He fell flat on his face and flipped back up to his feet. Ryu smirked.
"Look at what I did. I got dirt on that pretty face of yours that all the girls seem to be crazy about, such a shame. Come on, get serious here Sasuke-boy. I coulda sworn you had said you wanted to avenge the death of your clan." Ryu scoffed.
"Not with those sorry moves you won't." Sasuke pushed himself up to his knees and wiped the dirt off his face. Obviously the message had gotten through to him. Ryu was glad that he had succeeded in pissing him off. Now, he could see just how good he was compared to a real ninja. Sasuke jumped up to his feet and then spun, sending a roundhouse into the side of Ryu's face. The blow sent him sailing through the air. After a few seconds, he put one hand down and flipped onto his feet. It had caught him off guard, but now he was ready again. Ryu tossed a shuriken at Sasuke, just to see what he'd do. The young man caught it in his palm, blood trickling from his hand as one of the edges struck his palm.
"You don't know anything about me or my motives! You'll pay for that remark." Ryu chuckled and wiped the blood running from his mouth.
"Sure I will, come on Sasuke. Quit playing around already." Naruto looked between the two. There was no doubt the two were definitely ready to kill each other, or Sasuke was at least. Sasuke yelled as he ran at Ryu. Cold steel was thrust through Ryu's stomach. Blood flew from his mouth as he gagged. A smile crossed Sasuke's as he looked up at Ryu only to find himself looking at a log.
"What!?" Ryu performed a number of seals in quick succession as he ran at lightning-fast speed and stopped behind Sasuke. He was amazed at himself that he had memorized the movements from the music video he had downloaded on his computer.
"Thank god for Chop Suey." He laughed lightly as he finished the seals.
"Water Prison no Jutsu!" Sasuke's eyes widened drastically as he was encased in a bubble of water. How was it possible? Could he be some kind of copycat? Or possibly possess the same Sharingan eye that both he and his sensei had? Kakashi looked over at Ryu, his eye portraying very little emotion.
"Impressive, that's a high-level Jutsu. I never thought he'd have enough Chakra to pull off anything like that." Naruto looked over at him.
"Kakashi-sensei, that's the same Jutsu Zabuza used on you!" Kakashi nodded. Without another word, he moved over to Sasuke and Ryu.
"That's enough you two. It's obvious that Ryu has surpassed any of our original impressions. You can let him go now Ryu. I have a few questions to ask you if you don't mind." He nodded and released Sasuke from the bubble encasing him. Sasuke fell to his knees and growled at Ryu. His pride had just been badly bruised. Ryu understood why, he had just been beat by somebody who was not even a Genin and had no previous training.
"Where did you learn that technique?" The question took Ryu's attention away from Sasuke.
"Well, you're gonna think I'm crazy after I say this. I had seen it performed in a video that I saw. That worked really well for that guy, so I figured it might help me out. I've got a photographic memory; I've seen the video a lot of times too." Kakashi nodded. Though as odd as it sounded, he knew nothing about where Ryu was from or where he may have seen such a video.
"You just got lucky." Sasuke mumbled as he stood.
"Care to try again if you think you can do any better?"
"That's enough." Ryu looked at Kakashi, as did Sasuke.
"We have more important things to worry about then individual vendettas. Now, Ryu, do you think you are ready for the mission? If not, we will have to continue the training." Ryu shrugged. He looked over at Sakura, who seemed to be angry for reasons unknown to him.
"As ready as I can be. I mean, I'm miles from home and my best friend's missing. But no, that's nothing out of the normal."
"Naruto." Kakashi called, and he ran over to them. Ryu grinned at him and he smirked in return. Naruto didn't seem to have a problem with the upset he had caused.
"Kakashi-sensei?" He stood, waiting for his instructions.
"I want you to take Ryu with you to your house. You have enough room for him to stay don't you?" Naruto nodded.
"Of course, are we not starting the mission tonight?" Kakashi shook his head.
"No, we will be leaving early tomorrow morning. I want you all to meet at this spot at five tomorrow morning, alright?" Naruto and Ryu both nodded, and smiled in response. Sasuke grunted and Sakura nodded.
"Then that's it, dismissed for today."
*************
"So Ryu, just what do you do for a living?" Ryu looked over at Naruto. They were still at least a block from his home if what he said was true.
"I'm a high school student. I don't have a living to make. But, I plan on starting a band once I get out of school. What about you? Well, not what you do for a living, but what you want to do?" Naruto placed his hands behind his head and looked up into the sky.
"One of these days I plan on becoming Hogake. I know it's quite a hard goal to achieve, but I'll do it. And I won't take any shortcuts to do it either. What I do for a living, I eat ramen." Ryu gave him an awkward glance and shrugged.
"To each his own I guess." Naruto stopped as his foot collided with a square-shaped rock with two beady looking "eye sockets" in it. The rock followed close behind Naruto as he continued walking. Naruto looked behind him and picked up speed, running up and down the street before finally stopping and staring at the rock again.
"Hey Konohamaru! What do you think you're doing here?"
"I should have expected that from the man I look up to. Good job detecting me." The rock lit up and exploded in a huge ball of fire. Ryu wiped ash off his face and blinked in disbelief at what was happening. It was invasion of the midgets. The three children that had been underneath the very unrealistic rock coughed.
"We used too much gunpowder again." The one in the middle, Konohamaru he presumed, said as he stood up. The odd looking little girl was the first to speak.
"The one who posses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi." Next was the young boy with the glasses.
"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon." Finally came Konohamaru.
"The village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!" The three finished there self-introduction in unison.
"The three of us make.the Konohamaru Corps!" Ryu blinked again. He refused to believe these kids were serious. Konohamaru looked up at Ryu, then at Naruto.
"What do you three want?" Naruto asked, his eyes closed.
"Who's this guy? Is he your new apprentice?" Ryu laughed.
"That's funny kid. No, I'm the new number one ninja around here." Naruto gave him an evil glare and Konohamaru looked wide-eyed at him.
"Really? But that means you must have beat up Naruto!" He shook his head.
"No, I just made a fool out of Sasuke." Moegi inhaled sharply.
"What? Nobody can beat Sasuke!" Naruto was still glaring at Ryu and was beginning to make him nervous.
"Well sorry kids, but we've got to be going. Me and Naruto have a real important mission tomorrow and need to rest up." He waved as he ran down the street dragging Naruto after him.
************
"Do you ever stop playing that stupid thing!" Ryu looked up from his guitar, giving Naruto a lethal glare. Naruto was lying in bed trying to get to bed, Ryu was playing "Crazy Train".
"Not unless I'm tired. If you don't like it, invest in some earplugs." Naruto sat up in his bed and looked down at the floor where Ryu was sitting.
"Ryu, we have a very important mission ahead of us and no idea where we'll be going for us. So, we may not end up getting to sleep again in a while. We should sleep while we have the opportunity." Ryu sighed in exasperation and put his guitar up.
"I guess you're right. Let me ask you something Naruto." He nodded.
"What?" Ryu leaned back and laid himself out on the floor.
"You've had a real hard life. I know how it is. I myself don't have much of a family. I mean, my mom's dead and my dad's in prison for murder." He smirked and chuckled.
"Hell, that's probably the reason I shut myself off from the world and concentrate on my guitar so much. But anyway, how is it you handle being alone?" Naruto sighed before answering.
"It's hard. I used to just go around pulling pranks to get attention. I'm past that now though. I've got Sasuke and Sakura behind me. They may not act like my friends, but they both respect me. And Iruka-sensei also cares about me a lot. Maybe if you're still around after we get done with this mission, I can bring you along with me and him to have some ramen." Ryu smiled and looked up at the darkened ceiling.
"That sounds like a good deal. And Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope you achieve your dream of become Hogake. I'll support you all the way. I don't really know any of you guys, but I feel like I have a strong connection with you all. It's weird, I can't explain it. Who knows, maybe I can even befriend you guys. Because aside from my best friend, Yugo, I have very few friends due to the way I've grown up. And another thing." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"What now?" Ryu smirked, wondering just how Naruto would respond to the question.
"What do you think the chances are of Hinata taking a liking to me? 'Cause you know, she is pretty cute, in that shy girl kinda way. And those pale eyes just complete the whole thing." Silence was the only response he got. Naruto had ignored the question and fallen asleep.
"I figured you'd say something like that." He smiled before falling asleep himself.
