deedee2034: Thanks for the Review! I hope I didn't mess up with this chapter lol
"I understand that you are the one who is responsible for getting me to the hospital." Ryu said as he walked onto thetraining ground. Lee turned and nodded his head with a smile. The rock before him had deep ruts in it from Lee's kicking. Lee hadbeen forcedto change from the large tree stump he'd once used for practice,to bouldersonce the logs had begun to break after little more than fifty kicks.
"Yes I am." He said as he looked over Ryu. He looked much different when he wasn't cut up, bruised, and wearingbaisically shredded clothing. He had messy black hair that hung down to his eyes, and was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt with a yin-yang on the chest just above his heart and a larger one on the back. He wore slightly black pants that had several pockets, that lee assumed were for holding kunai, shuriken and any other ninja tools he used. Over the shins of these pants was a pair of hard guards that had an image of blue flames embossed on them. He also wore a long black coat that reached all the way to his ankles not unlike the one Moreno Ibiki had worn during the Chuunin Exams. Strangely enough his hands were, like Lee's bandaged though the bandages only went a little past his wrists.
"Then you have my thanks, Lee-san." Ryu said with a small bow and he turned to go. Lee looked for a while before turning back to his rock. He raised his leg to kick when a thought occurred to him.
"Your name…" He said turning back, "It's Shugojin Ryu, correct?" He said.
"Yes that's right. " Ryu said looking over his shoulder at Lee.
"Well then, Ryu. My normal sparring partner, Hyuuga Neji is on a mission today, and I was planning to ask one of the other Chuunins, but since you are here… I assume you're well correct?" Lee asked quite calmly.
"Yes that's also correct." Ryu said, a smile creeping across his face as he guessed what Lee's next question would be.
"I would appreciate the chance to spar with you." Lee said quite calmly.Ryu looked strangely at him. He'd been expecting something like this after he'd asked Tsunade about the person who'd rescued him, but she had said he was very over the top when it came to fighting not calm and composed.
"Sure, sounds like fun." He said and almost instantlya startling change came over Lee. His eyes lit up and Ryu could almost feel the untamed energy coming off him.
Maybe I'm in over my head… Ryu thought when Lee disappeared away from the rock and reappeared on the open ground behind Ryu. Despite the thought of his own possible inadequacy Ryu smiled as he removed his jacket and threw it onto the fence.
"Wow." Sakura said as she surveyed the damage done to the landscape by Rock Lee and Ryu's skirmish. The ground was shredded, small holes and some not so small littered the ground. A tree had been uprooted and now lay on its side. The rock that Lee had been attacking was shattered. Lee's training weights lay unused in a small crater."
The two combatants stood just a few feet from each other. Lee was smiling with the same burning passion that always filled his eyes while he fought. A small distance away Ryu stood with a small smile on his face though his eyes looked as though he'd zoned out.
Lee disappeared and Ryu followed suit. Sakura's eyes couldn't keep up with the two combatants, though Kakashi and Naruto seemed to be able to at least get a glimpse of what was going on.
Without warning Lee and Ryu reappeared Ryu landing a solid punch to Lee's face while Lee in turn hammered his ownfist into Ryu's gut. Both fighters fell to the ground in pain and stayed that way for a few minutes before looking up at each other with a smile. Ryu stood and some-what shakilybowed to Lee and Lee returned the favor.
"Thank you for the practice. It seems we have gained a few observers." Ryu said at Sakura and the other two. Lee glanced at them and waved while he returned his weights to their proper positions, on his forearms and shins.
"How are you Sakura, and who are your friends?" Ryu said politely as he walks toward her with a slightly limp.
"I'm fine Ryu. This is Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. Kakashi, Naruto this is Ryu." She said gesturing to the two beside her. Ryu sized up the blonde first he wore an orange and black jumpsuit though his most noticeable feature were his eyes. There was something strange about those deep blue eyes though Ryu couldn't place it, but from the moment he'd heard the boys name he'd felt strange. Kakashi wore the traditional Konoha Jounin uniform.
"Kakashi?" Ryu said slowly, remembering the report he'd read back in the hospital room. "and… Naruto…" He said wincing slightly and bringing a hand to his temple. "I've heard that name before." All in a rush memories flooded through his mind.
A black haired boy with onyx eyes that showed pain and sadness stood before. "She's not here. But I can help you if you help me. I need to send a message… to Sakura… and… Naruto…" The boys face faded and disappeared. Other memories, not so clear, came too flashing before his eyes. A blue skinned winged man stood on a roof opposite another winged man with black eyes that seemed to glow. Lying on that same roof holding Keiko in his arms while looking up at the stars. Tied to a pole in a world where white was black and black was white, forced to watch Keiko die while bathed in black light from the glowing red moon above. Ryu fell into darkness and thought no more.
Ryu weaved back a forward like a drunken man and fell towards the ground. Lee and Sakura both moved to catch him before he hit the ground. Sakura helped Lee roll him over onto his back and quickly check his vital signs.
"He's okay, just unconscious." Sakura said, thinking aloud.
"I hopethat thisdoesn't have anything to do with our match." Lee said slightly worried.
"Don't worry about it Lee. He'll be fine. Just give him a while to wake up. If you're not busy at the moment you might take him back to the hospital since I don't know where he's staying."
"That's no problem since I'm heading there anyway. I think I'll need some ointment for somethese my nastier bruises." He said as he hoisted Ryu onto his back for the second time in only four days.
It was a several hours before Ryu finally woke up. He blinked a few times and looked around. It was night now as he could see through the window though it wasn't very late. Ryu tried to remember how he got here but the last thing in his memory was… He didn't want to think about that. Ryu tried to return to sleep but found that he couldn't. Every time his eyes closed he was tied to the pole again, forced to watch as…
Ryu shook his head vigorously and rolled out of the bed. Imeadiatly he winced in pain fromsoremuscles and bruisedflesh.After a moments search found his clothes in a small pile on the table next to his bed. Ryu opened the window and after looking about for a moment he jumped through the window.
He wandered the empty streets aimlessly for a while wondering where he would sleep tonight though for the moment it wasn't a big concern. Without meaning to he came to the training ground that he and Lee had sparred in and after a moment heard voices. For lack of anything better to do he listened to the person as he yelled out something about the last joke in something called Icha Icha Tactics and someone yelling "oh no
Completely confused he stood there for a minute until Sakura and her two friends came out of the forest. Sakura and Naruto were laughing about something while Kakashi was making an expression thatwasdifficult to discern through his mask, but none-the-less seemed to besomewhere between pride and annoyance. He alsoappearedto be muttering something though it was hard to tell through the mask.
"Sensei, you shouldn't say such things about your students, you might damage our self esteem!" Naruto was saying loudly with an expression of mock depression plastered across his face. Sakura laughed harder and as Kakashi muttered something about bratty kids and spoilers. After a moment Sakura looked up and saw Ryu leaning on the fence that outlined the training ground.
"Oh hello Ryu. I'm glad that you're okay. What are you doing out here this late? Don't you have a place to stay tonight?" She asked curiously.
"Well I couldn't sleep in a hospital bed again,"Ryu replied not really wanting to discuss his newfound memories with anyone at the moment. "But no I don't have a place to stay at the moment."
"You could stay with me if you want." Naruto said surprising Ryu.
"Are you sure? I don't wa..." Ryu started to say but he was interrupted. Loudly.
"Sure I'm Sure! A friend of Sakura-chan's is a friend of mine!" He said with a large grin plastered on his face. Ryu smiled as Naruto led him to his old home.
Ah... don't you just love the smell of fresh Fan Fiction in the evening?
