Ch. 10 - A Taste of Things to Come

*Hmmm, I just thought I'd write something to make sure I was still capable of writing. And for anybody who enjoys reading this story, I promise to have more up in the near future.

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"Iruka-sensei, where's Ryu?" Iruka looked at Naruto. The two were enjoying a few bowls of ramen at Ichiraku. It was the first time in a while they had been able to sit down and talk.

"Didn't I tell you? He's off on a mission. One of his teammates was murdered and he's going after the killer. Why do you ask?" Naruto looked down at his bowl of ramen for a moment before answering.

"I was hoping to see how he is doing. He seemed very unconfident last time I spoke with him. And he kept saying he was weak." Iruka smiled slightly before slurping up some more ramen.

"He's come a long way since you last saw him then. He might even be capable of putting up a good fight against you. Perhaps you should speak to him when he gets back." He nodded and slurped up some more of his ramen as well.

"Maybe I will. But right now, I need to worry about my stomach." Iruka laughed at Naruto's remark.

"You're still the same Naruto."

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Ryu stumbled back as Juzo's fist connected with his jaw. Juzo grinned as he rose back up, but it vanished once he saw Ryu doing the same.

"What are you smiling about rookie!?" Ryu wiped the corner of his mouth, removing the blood.

"You're weak for a Jounin. Now, I'll show you real power." He quickly formed the seals of the boar, horse, and tiger (I think that's right).

"Katon, Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Juzo widened his eyes and leapt sideways, barely avoiding the enormous fireball that shot from Ryu's mouth. He had barely touched the ground when he felt a kunai hit his knee and embed itself there.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be able to dodge that." Juzo growled, pulling the kunai from his knee as he stood back up and began to form his own seals. A smirk crossed his face as he finished.

"I'll douse those flames of yours for you." Ryu readied another flame attack.

"Suiton Suijinheki!" Juzo's counter expelled a large amount of water from his mouth that created a barrier around his body. The flames impacted with the water and immediately created a dense cloud of mist.

"Damn!" Ryu hissed as he stopped his attack and looked around inside the mist. A shuriken flew past him, skinning his shoulder; then another across his knee. Juzo was using the mist to conceal his movements.

"You think you're so smart?" Another smile crossed Ryu's face as he raised his palms up in front of him and formed another seal.

"There!" Juzo cried as he leapt from the mist and slashed at Ryu with his katana which had previously been sheathed on his belt. The blade sliced cleanly through Ryu's mid-section. The Genin fell apart at the waist and his form melted to the ground as water.

"No, here!" Ryu corrected, leaping down from above and connected one foot with Juzo's head. The blow forced his face into the ground as Ryu backflipped off his head. By this time the mist was beginning to dissipate. A howl of pain escaped from Juzo as he clutched his face, rolling onto his side.

"This is sad. I was hoping for a real challenge from a Jounin. I guess that was expecting too much. I'll end this now!" Ryu rose up from his crouch and the strings of his guitar were already attached to his fingers. The strings flew towards Juzo on his command, two wrapping around the katana as the others went for his neck and hefted him into the air.

"Quite a weapon." He commented as he examined the blade. Juzo writhed and clawed at his neck as the strings slowly strangled him.

"Fool." The Jounin chuckled as his skin dissolved into mud and fell to the ground.

"I'm far from through." A kick to his back sent Ryu flying forward. He reached out with one hand and maneuvered so he landed on his feet facing Juzo. He smirked and raised his hand, a kunai gripped firmly in his palm.

"You'd like to think so anyway." He threw the kunai towards Juzo, purposefully missing. The small dagger flew past him. Juzo watched as it passed him, thinking it may be a trigger to some sort of trap.

"Take this!" When he turned back to Ryu, there was three of him running straight at him; each one holding a katana, his katana! A cry of pain came from him as the real blade cut through his skin numerous times. The two clones vanished as Ryu raised the hilt of the weapon up, connecting it solidly with Juzo's jaw and sending him off his feet.

"If I'm gonna die here, so are you!" Ryu narrowed his eyes as Juzo stood again and pulled off his vest, revealing numerous explosive tags. The madman lunged towards Ryu, who quickly kicked him away and into a nearby tree. Ryu had managed to jump out of the immediate explosion before he went off. Juzo lit up a moment later and exploded, sending debris from the tree everywhere.

"Idiot." He smiled slightly as he stood back up, looking at the charred ground that had been Juzo. After another minute of examining the battle ground, he found what he had been looking for, the sheath for the katana. He re-sheathed the blade and placed it on his back, between his back and his guitar.

"So maybe Iruka was right. I have become stronger." Ryu chuckled as he jumped up into a nearby tree and looked around. After finding the direction he had been traveling in, he leapt to the next tree branch, then the next as he continued his pursuit of Yugo.

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"Damn, it's freezing!" Ryu's teeth chattered as he dropped to the ground, it was getting too cold to continue for the night. Having no type of protection from the elements, Ryu was forced to improvise. He found a hollowed out tree and propped himself against the inside in a sitting position. It wasn't much warmer, but it would offer cover just in case there were any other ninjas following him. There was still a lot of ground to cover, but Ryu wasn't about to be stupid and keep going when he started to feel exhausted. Besides, he had used a good amount of Chakra in his battle. Before he could even think about it, he was fast asleep.

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Ryu Tanabe. Why couldn't he stop worrying about him? Gado growled and shook his head. The Genin had left Leaf territory only a few hours ago, if what the scouts said were true. It wasn't like he really knew the guy, but he felt it would be his fault if anything happened to the kid. Not just that, but he had been his teammate, and Gado wasn't one to abandon a teammate. This all just seemed too strange to him. Why had this guy killed Lina? Perhaps to get Ryu's attention? No, Gado was almost certain there was more behind it then that.

"Hey!" Gado looked up to see Naruto running towards him. He had only met the young ninja on two separate accounts; both times he had been tempted to beat the boy so he would keep quiet.

"What do you want?" He asked, slightly irritated. Naruto frowned at him, closing his eyes.

"You're Ryu's teammate right? Why didn't you go with him?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? I didn't go with him because he wanted this mission to himself. It's somewhat a little personal to him." Naruto's frown deepened.

"I see. You should have gone with him, he might get in trouble." Gado shrugged and began to walk off.

"Big deal. He's old enough to take care of himself. Besides, it was his choice, either he comes back or he doesn't." Naruto watched him leave, still frowning. That was no way to treat a teammate. He shrugged it off and began walking the other way.

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"Orochimaru-sama!" Orochimaru looked up from his current task at the white-haired young man. He reminded him somewhat of Kabuto because of his hair, but was nothing alike past that feature.

"If this involves your own personal vendetta, keep it to yourself. I have far more pressing issues to attend to. That weakling doesn't interest me." Yugo bowed his head slightly, breaking direct eye contact.

"But Orochimaru-sama, I hear he has become stronger. Besides, he had originally been recognized as a potential Genin by Kakashi when he first returned to our lands. He's on his way here, he took my bait." Orochimaru frowned and churned the information around in his head.

"Test him. If he passes, speak to me. I will think about meeting with him. Unless you had something else in mind?" Yugo smirked.

"I'll decide what to do once we meet." He bowed his head again and left the room. Yugo clenched his left hand into a fist, he was getting excited. This had been what he had hoped for ever since he met Ryu; a chance to bring him back to his real home and fight him. The child had always been a talker, finding a non-violent way out of problems because he didn't have the same strength Yugo had. But now, he had that strength. And if Ryu fought half as well as he spoke, he would make for a good match.

*Ok, I'm really not sure about this Orochimaru deal. I dunno if he's still around (though I do believe he is), but since it is a fan fic I don't really see a problem with it anyway. And when I get more up, I promise it'll be much better then this.