Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!
JhotoLoraxius; Thanks! Thanks for the vote!
Arondight888; Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far~ Tsunade is a pretty cool character yeah. I haven't decided yet, she could do.
MDM11; Akatsuki might have a few more members, it does have Izumi and Sugaru so maybe a few more lesser or something members. It was a shame that they weren't revived, there could've been some awesome moments between a few people. They could do yeah. Thanks for the harem suggestions! They could do~
BornSinner01; Thanks very much! Yeah, maybe~
djb0623; Thanks! He'll know what they're called and what they can do by this chapter, though it isn't brought up yet, it will be when he uses them. At the time, he only released them in high stress enviroments, had powerful Genjutsu cast on him, and since he was young he didn't remember right away, hope that cleared up any confusion.
lord web of life of destiny; Thanks! Ryouta wont fall into the Curse of Hate like his elder brother never did. There is some worry due to what happened, but with Mikoto and Ryouta there, they'll help Satsuki when she's at some low points. Danzo will appear again, maybe in ways some might not expect, that's all I can reveal without spoiling. Thanks!
Pinkflamingwarriorofjustice; That white haired woman shall be revealed in the future~ Yeah, we'll have to wait and see what happens with him~ The snow princess, it's possible. I don't know if I'll be doing the Blood Prison movie. Female Gaara, it's something I have been thinking about.
Skull Flame; Satsuki will be told that it wasn't just Itachi. She did yeah, Mikoto's got a unique role. We'll find out who that is sooner or later~ Danzo will appear again, might be surprising how and when he does appear again.
BloodRaven46; It will be yeah. Thanks for the vote.
ShadowUzumaki55; He did yeah, it was the only kindness that Itachi could give to Ryouta, a life where everything did go right, and that he spent it with everyone that loved him. Mikoto did yeah, she'll be around and play her role. Yeah, Izumi and Itachi wont allow anyone to harm the people they love. Danzo will do eventually~
Silver crow; Thanks! Yeah, this chapters more upbeat, with some serious stuff sprinkled in. Yup, seems like she did~ Yeah, it was a dream Itachi thought would be the best thing he could give to Ryouta after all of the horrible events that surrounded his life. Yeah, we're diving right into canon now. It was how Itachi visioned it so he'd want both his sister and Ryouta to be very strong. When he's older he will do. We'll see when she shows up fully again. He was the 5th in the dream world. They did yeah, they didn't even acknowledge her, while Ryouta was the only one that did. She probably would think about it like that. Izumi did yeah, and you're right, it is that design, I thought that fit Izumi really well. Satsuki surely did, she wasn't about to run away when she knew people she loved were in danger. She did awaken it yeah, and it was tough for Itachi to do that. You never know, she might do~ Hiruzen did yeah, Danzo's been detained. They would do yeah. Maybe they did have that unlocked, maybe she took them for another reason. Yeah, Satsuki truly was happy with her Mother being around. Yeah, it was to make sure that neither side has to feel and act the way they did in the past. There's a reason why she's Anbu, we'll see more as the story goes on. I always thought that made sense as a reason why Mikoto couldn't approach Naruko. Yup, we've got the parents names. He is living with them now. Their relationship has progressed a good deal. Yeah, Izumi and Konan will have a friendship. You could say that yeah, they still wear the cloaks and everything. We'll see what happens with Danzo as the story goes. Hiruzen does yeah. The important parts will be shown. Maybe Kushina could do yeah. We'll see some fun stuff during the Chunin exams. Hinata will show some yeah. Naruko will be yeah. Mizuki's got some role to play here. Hotaru could be. Mei will be shown more frequently yeah. Zabuza will be a big factor for Haku, if they fight or not we'll eventually see. Since it's a Haku focused arc, she'd have to be involved from the beginning, so it would be more Team Seven providing the back up, but they'll still have a big part in the arc. They'll have some skills yeah. They might clash, or they might have different opponents. Konan will be yeah, she'll have a few things to do during the arc. Yeah, the Sound Four will be dealt with somehow. We might have Boruto era stuff. Great RWBY ideas! Sherria could be yeah~ Yup, seems like he did connect to one. He'll resemble Shisui at least a little bit since they're brothers. He'll show his true strengths in future battles. Zetsu we'll see what happens with him. Yeah, they're cool connections with One Piece. Cool One Piece suggestions! Thanks for the Izumi suggestions, and harem suggestions! Yeah, it would be cool if Samui and Hinata hit it off.
Guest 1; Yeah, here's the start of canon! I'd say Mikoto for the moment is in charge, in the future it will be Ryouta and Satsuki. Hiruzen's fate could change~
Guest 2; Thank you!
War Sage; Thanks! Danzo doesn't want to show all of his hand just yet, so he'll be there for a little while. What happens next, it's going to be rather interesting. The other elders, they'll have something's going on as the story continues. No they wouldn't tell the village, Hiruzen was talking about how people such as the elders treated Uchiha, and he'd do his best to make sure that they don't do anything to cause resentment to build, as Mikoto promised the same. Seems like it could've been her huh? For now it seems to be~ Thanks for the harem suggestions!
Guest 3; Thanks very much! Yeah, Ryouta got to experience a good life, Itachi gave that to him as a gift after everything that went wrong within his life happened. I did see that yeah. He might gain something from her in the future. I believe it is called that yeah, it sounded cool when I first heard that. He could do if she gives him something. That's a pretty cool design, thanks for sharing it with me~ He could have a unique design if he gets Rinnegan. If it is correct, he could have that yeah. They were, I found the ones I believe you were telling me about, they look awesome. Those abilities would be cool~ No worries at all~ I don't mind at all~
Guest 4; Thanks very much! He did yeah, he gave Ryouta a perfect happy life, and did the best thing he could, by giving Shisui back to him, even in illusion form. Anything's possible, maybe he could become one. Yup, we'll be seeing a good number of new stuff from a few people. About four years from last chapter to this one. Sure, I don't mind. 1) He would be able to do that yeah. If he concentrated hard enough he could do that. 2) They definitely would do, see one another as family as the story goes. 3) Eventually he would do yeah. 4) Hehe, can't reveal that just yet, the names of his Mangekyou shall be revealed the next time they're used, which could be sooner rather than later. 5) That's a good question, I'm looking forward to pretty much every arc, in Part 1 I'd say the Chunin exams is the one I'm most looking forward to writing since that will showcase a few characters, that and another arc that's gonna take place later in Part 1 that will be quite emotional. Part 2, The Pain invasion arc is something I'm looking forward to writing quite a bit, and the War arc, I've got quite a few plans for when we get to the War arc. But every arc I've got some ideas for. 6) That answer is going to be shown through the story with how the Hyuga react to an Uchiha being with Hinata. Thanks for the harem suggestions!
Andrew123456; Itachi currently has Shisui's eyes, Ryouta will eventually get them. Thanks for the vote.
Guest 5; Thanks very much! Earth would be cool~ Even if it isn't his affinity, he could still use it pretty well, and thanks to the Sharingan he'd be able to copy a good number of Earth Jutsu that he'd see. It was pretty cool yeah~ They will be good parents to their kid, and yeah it would be Boruto. It was a bit of an odd thing, I'd have to agree with that.
Brainstorm Sorcerer; I thought it would be a nice thing for Itachi to do. We'll see who that woman is and why she's there as the story goes on. Yup, we've got their names now~ Izumi's got it alright~ Danzo will do yeah. Haha, that would be a fun thing for Ryouta to say~ You never know, she could've had it, or maybe they were taken for another reason. Orochimaru will take an interest in both Ryouta and Satsuki. He'll be able to use crows yeah. Anko will introduce him to the snakes. Tobi's waiting to reveal that about Danzo, for reasons we'll be seeing when the time comes. Ryouta will know how to perform it by this chapter, he'd be able to make a good few. Wave is going to focus a good deal on Haku and her growth, with some others thrown in as well. Team 7, and Ryouta's Team will both be involved with Wave with some surprises being thrown in. Haha, that would be quite like Anko to hold sessions in the Forest of Death. Satsuki and Ryouta's relationship will be closer. Thanks for the vote. Yeah, we'll see some interesting changes as canon goes on.
Guest 6; Thanks very much! Glad you're enjoying it so far! He'd be quite good at stealth missions yeah. He could suppress his chakra if need be.
Dharak23; Thanks! Yeah, she's going to be there for Satsuki, Ryouta, and Naruko also. Glad you liked it~ Hmm, it could be her, if it is we'll see what happens with her~ Really? Those scenes were intended to show their grief at such a horrible situation like Izumi crying for her Mother, wanting to be alone with her, and her pain at being unable to be with her Mother again, she even said to Tobi she doesn't care about power so for Izumi and Itachi, taking the eyes isn't about power. Itachi had to kill all Uchiha, he couldn't spare anyone apart from Ryouta and Satsuki, Mikoto would've died if Ryouta wasn't there to keep her alive long enough to get help, and the ones that Ryouta saved like Teyaki and his wife, Tobi allowed to let them go, why is going to be explored later on, Itachi had no involvement in those Tobi allowed to let go. Itachi said to Izumi that he made sure her Mother died a very peaceful death compared to how Tobi would've killed her, so in a way it was Itachi showing kindness in a situation neither could control, and Itachi asked Izumi to collect her eyes as indicated in their conversation before leaving Konoha, not something Izumi wished to do as she loved her Mother very much as shown by awakening the Mangekyou upon seeing her deceased, but she trusts Itachi and knew he wouldn't ask her to do that unless he had a very good reason, we'll be getting to that reason later on. Hope that cleared up any confusion.
Guest 7; Thanks! Yeah, it would be cool if Shisui could come back.
1; Thank you for the vote.
123; Thanks very much for the vote.
synode; Yeah, it was quite the sad event. Thanks very much! Thanks for the votes!
Guest 8; Thanks for the vote!
A fan; Thanks for the vote!
Any of One; Thanks for the vote!
blazes207; Thanks. I'll be updating it when I can. That would be a cool sword. He is yeah, he'll be there for her, support her. Thanks for the votes!
Guest 9; Yeah, he'll have some great times ahead now~ Maybe, I haven't fully decided yet.
Guest 10; For One Piece, probably Robin at least, I haven't caught up with either kimetsu no yaiba or re: zero so I couldn't comment on them just yet, One Punch Man I'd go for Fubuki, and Konosuba perhaps Megumin, but there's plenty of fun girls on those shows so it would probably be more than them.
Guest 11; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, Danzo right now is under lock and key, he'll have some different things happen to him than what happened in canon.
guest; I might do, haven't decided yet. Thanks for the vote.
Guest 12; Thanks! Thanks for the vote!
Guest 13; Thank you! If she was, it would be a little while before anything happened.
Guest 14; Thanks for the vote!
Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Enter Ryou and Naruko!
Time had passed since Ryouta and Satsuki witnessed the end of most Uchiha.
At twelve years old with a more mature face compared to when he was a young child, Ryouta's hair had grown out a bit more, the back of his hair spiked down and reached the nape of his neck. The front still had two bangs, only now going towards the tip of his chin. The silver in his hair, especially running across the bangs had become more noticeable, to the point that the two bangs were fully silver colour, with the rest of his hair being black.
His clothes consisted of a black shirt that had a high collar, and same coloured pants. On the back of the shirt, was the fan of Uchiha, and he had on matching sandals. On his right thigh, a holder for his kunai and shurikens, and on the left hand side, held some unique looking scrolls. On his back was the same tanto he had given Shisui many years ago, and around his neck, was the moon necklace his Mother used to wear.
The house they were in fitted the only Ninja now within Uchiha, having three floors, a good sized bathroom, each having a bigger than average bedroom, and the outside had a large garden were they could train. The kitchen was connected to the living room, two decently sized couches faced towards the front wall, pictures of Mikoto, Ryouta, and Satsuki scattered across the living room. However, there were pictures of Shisui with and without Ryouta, Fugaku with his family and Izumi with and without Ryouta also present. Due to how Satsuki felt about Itachi, Mikoto didn't have one of him out, though she kept a private one of her family and looked at it every so often.
He walked down the stairs, his eyes went towards Satsuki who was sat at the table while Mikoto stood off to the side, seemingly preparing for her day.
Satsuki's hair remained rather long, her outfit consisted of a blue shirt that looked like Ryouta's own, and a white skirt, her holder for weapons being on the same leg as Ryouta's own.
"Morning Mikoto-san."
"Ooh, good morning dear, you slept in late."
Ryouta chortled awkwardly.
"I was up most of the night, working on a few Jutsu."
"Hehe, I see. But remember that sleep is important."
"You're right Mikoto-san."
Ryouta replied, grabbing some toast, and began eating it while heading for the door together with Satsuki.
She stopped at the door, and grabbed Ryou by his collar.
"Satsuki-chan, something wrong?"
Satsuki shook her head.
"No, but lets promise to walk away from that place as Ninja today, together."
"Of course, lets do our best Satsuki-chan."
Satsuki gained a light smile, a smile rarely shown to others besides him, or Mikoto.
Satsuki and Ryouta then turned to Mikoto.
"Bye Mom."
"Bye Mikoto-san!"
"Yes, good luck~"
Mikoto gently smiled at the pair as she handed them lunches.
As they went to leave, Ryouta paused, and turned towards the inside of the house.
His eyes went towards a picture of Shisui, Ryouta smiles towards it, and then bows his head.
"See you later Shi-chan. Today...I become a Ninja, just like you."
Bowing one more time, Ryouta's eyes went towards a picture of Izumi, smiling as he and Satsuki set off on their journey together.
Shooting off through the Uchiha Compound, they saw some of the Uchiha that they had saved going about their daily business. Teyaki was baking his bread as per usual, and had a loaf ready for the two soon to be Ninja with his wife offering her elegantly warm smile.
When they saw the pair coming, clapping began to surround them.
The pair heard cheers like "Make Uchiha proud!" and "You're our best now!" which Ryouta appreciated a good deal.
"Do not worry, we shall try our best!"
Ryouta grinned as Satsuki and he began running, after accepting the loaf of bread from Teyaki.
Making it out of the Compound, the pair continued on their journey, when they both came across a very curious sight.
"Yahooo! Yeah! Haha! You wont catch me!"
"Get back here Naruko!"
"This kids always causing trouble!"
Ryouta looked towards the right, and saw Naruko with a bunch of paint cans and brushes running across the rooftops.
Naruko had grown also, with her hair now in long ponytails, one at right and left hand sides of her head, her three whisker marks became more pronounced, and her deep blue ocean eyes seemed to grow with more mischievousness as time went on. The outfit she wore was bright orange, with a red swirl on the back of her orange jacket, with matching pants.
Ryouta watched her, trying to escape some Konoha Chunin, seemingly having the time of her life, as she laughed and sang happily "You can't catch me~" while Satsuki sighed.
As she did, the three Chunin almost got her, when Mikoto flashed between them wearing her Anbu outfit, her mask on the right side of her face that reminded Ryouta of a cat.
Her hand went out to the three Chunin, and stopped them.
"I'll take it from here."
The Chunin grumbled out something that barely could be heard though it sounded like "Damn Demon." however when Mikoto heard that, her eyes focused intensely on them, causing them to freeze at her gaze, then shake slightly at the anger that Mikoto was displaying, before they hurryingly ran off.
Mikoto then faced towards Naruko.
"Naruko-chan...have you been pranking again? I've noticed the faces of the Hokage seem to be a different colour."
Naruko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Ehehehe...w-well, you see..."
Mikoto gave a cheery smile, and walked over, presenting a boxed lunch for the girl.
"Here dear, your lunch."
"Aah! Thank you Mikoto-san!"
"Not a problem~ But you'll have to apologize and clean the Hokage faces later on, okay? I'll put in a good word with Hokage-sama for you."
Naruko showed her cheerful smile.
"You're the best! I'll clean it later, I promise!"
"That's a good girl. Now run along, I see Satsuki and Ryou-kun down there, why don't you go with them?"
Naruko looked, seeing Satsuki looking away, but Ryouta was waving towards her.
"Sure! Thanks for the food Mikoto-san! See you later!"
"Yes, see you later dear, have a good day."
Naruko joined Ryouta and Satsuki walking to the Academy, Naruko's hyperactive eyes went towards Ryouta's own as they walked towards the Academy together.
"So, you painted the Hokage's faces this time?"
Ryouta asked, seeing Naruko's excitement growing.
Naruko thrust her hands behind her head, and gave a goofy grin.
"Aah, it was definitely a good one, you should've been there! But! We've got our exams today! This time, I'll definitely pass!"
"Yes, I'm sure you will Naruko-chan."
"Yeah! Lets do it!"
Ryouta grinned as he noticed something.
Satsuki and Naruko had locked eyes, and sparks went off between said eyes.
Over the years, they definitely had a rivalry going on between them.
For the most part, it seemed more friendly than downright hating each other.
Deep down, Ryouta thought they were friends, but didn't want to admit it.
"Come on girls, lets get going~"
Satsuki grunted, while Naruko pulled her tongue out at Satsuki.
Ryouta laughed as he pushed them forward.
Arriving at the class, they went to go inside, when Ryouta noticed a man with white hair walking by. This man was also a Sensei within the Academy who's name is Mizuki, though Ryouta always felt something off about him.
Mizuki seemed to have something personal against the young girl by the cold look in his eye, something he couldn't hide despite the smile on his face.
"Good luck today~"
He said with a fake smile towards Naruko.
As he went by them, Ryouta saw the disgusted look of Mizuki, not really getting why that was.
Going into the class, Ryouta sat down beside Satsuki, and Haku, sandwiching between them.
Haku had also grown over the years, and had become even more beautiful with age. At the same age as the others, Haku's feminine qualities didn't go amiss by the other girls, who all saw the type of girl Haku was going to become in the future.
Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Karin also had grown, and their feminine qualities became a bit more apparent. Sakura had longer hair as did Ino who kept hers in a ponytail. Hinata had shorter hair than the other girls, while Karin mostly kept the same style she had when she was younger.
"Alright everyone! It's time to take the Transformation exam!"
Ryouta and the others were brought up before the Sensei, a man called Iruka.
Iruka's eyes went across the class, and landed upon Naruko. Naruko gave a sheepish smile, as he said "We know it was you who painted the Hokage's faces." causing Naruko to begin laughing nervously.
"S-Sensei, the thing is..."
"Mikoto-sans already explained."
Naruko was glad that she did.
Iruka then turned towards the others in the class.
"Okay, for you to pass your exams, you're going to have to show me the ability to use the Transformation Technique. Please form a line, starting here."
He said, pointing towards the front of the classroom.
The students lined up one by one, and began performing the technique.
For people like Satsuki, and Ryouta, it was a walk in the park, doing it with ease, before they got the nod of approval from Iruka. Sakura, Haku, Hinata, Ino and Karin all managed to do the technique without problems as well.
When it came to Naruko however, she gave a foxy like grin.
"Behold my technique Sensei!" Naruko then placed her fingers in the correct sign. "The Sexy Ryouta Jutsu!"
Ryouta's face fell when she said that.
"Naruko-chan! No!"
Despite him saying that, he could only watch in horror as she performed the Jutsu.
A puff of smoke surrounded Naruko, and her body transformed into an older version of what Ryouta would look like, but naked.
"R-Ryou-kun!"
"Ooh my, so that's older Ryou-kun~"
Sakura, and Ino's face burned red, while Karin yelled "Oh God yes!" and she was blown away with a massive nosebleed.
"R-Ryou-kun...t-that's..."
"Geez that Naruko..."
Haku's face turned a tinge of pink, putting a finger to her cheek, and bashfully turned, while Satsuki looked over the transformation, then towards Ryouta, and just stared at him with a stoic but blushing face.
"R-Ryou-kun's naked?! H-He's naked! H-Hauuuuuuuu!"
Hinata made some unidentifiable noise, and began to fall over.
Ryouta appeared behind her, catching the young girl before she did.
But that didn't help either.
Looking up and seeing Ryouta looking down at her, then towards the older naked version of him, her eyes formed swirl patterns, and she ended up passing out as a result.
"Hinata-san..."
Ryouta placed a hand to his mouth as he felt embarrassment overcome him.
Iruka on the other hand was baffled, and almost fell over from such a weird technique.
"W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Ryouta felt so embarrassed, but he was very glad that smoke covered the more private areas, it still didn't save the embarrassment.
"Hahahaha! Do you see it Sensei?! This is a Jutsu I called the Sexy Ryouta Jutsu! Or maybe even Sexy Ryou Jutsu! I even have a Sexy Jutsu for the guys too! I've got all bases covered! Did I blow you away with my Jutsu or what?!"
Ryouta slapped himself in the head.
Iruka felt tired when he had to deal with Naruko.
"So Sensei, did I manage to pass?"
He couldn't deny that she did perform...a variant of the Jutsu, but it wasn't exactly what he thought it would be.
"I-I guess...b-but still! What kind of Jutsu is that?!"
He repeated once more, Naruko giggled mischievously.
"It's a Jutsu I've been waiting to try out for ages now! My Jutsu will blow all enemies away!"
"If they're girls maybe."
A lazy boy named Shikamaru sighed out, scratching the back of his head.
Satsuki glanced at Shikamaru before rolling her eyes.
"Hahaha! It worked on Hinata at least!"
Kiba, a boy with a white dog on top of his head laughed out, while Ino scowled.
"Quiet dog breath! You shouldn't be looking at naked Ryou-kun! Only I should!"
"Ino pig don't say that!"
Sakura berated, drawing an ire look from Ino.
"Don't call me Ino pig forehead girl!"
The girls held sparks between their eyes, though despite the glaring, Ryouta knew they were still good friends.
Kiba continued to laugh.
"Aah man!" Kiba nudged Ryouta with his elbow. "It seems that many female opponents are going to see you naked due to that!"
Ryouta bit his lower lip, placing down Hinata on a nearby chair while Iruka tried to collect himself.
"S-So Naruko...y-yeah...you pass...that's great...lets not see that again..."
"Yes! I did it! I did it!"
Iruka seemed satisfied enough for Naruko to pass that part of the exam...even if it seemed to be quite a weird Jutsu for him to even witness.
Still posing as naked Ryouta, she jumped up and down as Hinata came back to her senses.
But then she was blown away when she saw a certain part of naked Ryouta moving, and her eyes were transfixed.
"Hauuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Making an odd noise once more, the young Hyuga couldn't take it, and ended up passing out as a result.
Satsuki looked over Hinata, before turning back to Ryouta.
"If you ever want to win against her, all you have to do is strip."
"S-Satsuki-chan..."
Satsuki held a slight smile as Ryouta glanced at the passed out Hinata, chortling awkwardly.
Sometime later, the final exam began, with the class having to demonstrate the ability to use the Clone Jutsu.
As predicted, people like Ryouta, Satsuki, Sakura, Ino, Karin, Haku, Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji and most of the class were able to do the Clone Jutsu easily.
Then it came to Naruko.
"Okay Naruko, it's time to show me the Clone Jutsu."
Iruka watched, wondering what was going to happen next.
Since he had seen...a very unique transformation technique, he wasn't sure what to expect from the girl next.
"Y-Yeah! I got this! Believe it! B-But Sensei...I've got another type of Clone Jutsu...can I use that one instead?"
"Another Clone Jutsu?" Iruka echoed, intrigued. "Let me see it before I say anything."
"Yes! Watch this!"
She looked on, and began gathering the chakra around her.
Swirling around her form, blue like energy whipped around her.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Iruka was stunned to hear those words escape her mouth.
Then he saw two clones of Naruko appear beside her, and he looked bewildered.
Some of the class were perplexed, while some others knew what it was, and were a little surprised by it.
Ryouta wasn't though, and he continued to smile as Iruka questioned.
"H...How do you know that?"
"Hehehe! That's a secret Sensei!" Iruka was still bewildered, but saw Ryouta wasn't which made him wonder. "So, do I pass Sensei? Do I?!"
Iruka looked over the clones, and couldn't deny that what Naruko showed was a rather good Jutsu.
"You have fulfilled the criteria..."
"T-Then I pass?!"
She asked again, becoming more excited than before.
Iruka began slowly nodding.
"...Yes, you pass Naruko."
Naruko's happiness grew more and more, brimming with excitement and delight.
The thoughts of finally being a Ninja, after the hard work she had put in, she couldn't be more proud.
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Yahoo! I did it! I pass! I really did pass! I can't believe it! I actually passed!" Naruko jumped up and down, while Ryouta smiled. "Ryou! Did you see that!? I actually passed the exam! I'm going to be a Ninja!"
"Yes, well done Naruko-chan!"
Naruko continued to cheer while Iruka raised an eyebrow.
But then, with the exam passed, each and everyone of the future Ninja received their headbands.
When Naruko got her own, Ryouta saw in her eyes how much it meant to her, and he even felt the same about receiving his own.
However, before Ryouta could leave, Iruka called him back.
"Ryouta-kun, I have to ask you something."
Ryouta nodded, and sent the others off.
Standing before his Sensei, Ryouta looked at the young man before him.
"That Jutsu, how did she know that?"
Ryouta gave an awkward laugh.
"She was upset, about unable to be able to pull off the Clone Jutsu. I thought about the amount of chakra she has, something I've noticed over the years, so I brought it up with Hokage-sama. He suggested using this Jutsu after we spoke, as long as she did a few lessons on trying to control her chakra, which she did and was allowed to learn it from a scroll. He even allowed me to take a look at the scroll also as a thanks for being there for Naruko-chan."
Iruka adopted a small smile, understanding completely.
He was also amazed Ryouta seemed to deduce her levels of chakra without anyone telling him, and he was happy that he had Naruko's best interests at heart.
"I see. If Hokage-sama had enough trust in her, then I have no problems passing her. Then, that's all Ryouta-kun, good job on passing. I'll also echo the words of Hokage-sama, thank you for being there for Naruko. I do care for her like a little sister even if I am strict with her, and wish to see her succeed."
Ryouta smiled.
"I don't think I deserved to be thanked for being a friend, but thank you Sensei."
Ryouta bowed, and left the area with Iruka smiling.
Meanwhile, inside of the building, Mizuki could hardly believe that Naruko had managed to pass the exams, it seemed almost unbelievable. Him, together with three other Chunin sat together, and kept silent for a good while.
"It seems the plan with getting that scroll will be difficult."
One Chunin said, with Mizuki agreeing.
"Alls not lost yet, we'll just have to go with a backup plan."
"That Uchiha might get in the way."
Another man said, so Mizuki smirked.
"She really does like that Uchiha, doesn't she? Then maybe if he was killed...heh, then she'd go on a rampage, or she'd lose all fighting spirit. Either way, it would be enough for us to get what we desire. If we can't have the scroll, then the Nine Tails power will have to do."
The three men sat with Mizuki began to smirk.
In order to get what they desired, their targets now were Ryouta, and Naruko.
Upon arriving outside, Ryouta saw the parents of the children who had passed gathering, praising and being rather happy.
Ryouta smiled for them...but he couldn't help thinking about how Shisui would've been if he had been there and what it would be like to have been a Ninja together with his elder brother.
He found Satsuki standing off to the side and speaking briefly with her Mother, so he walked closer towards the young girl, and stood beside her.
"Well done to the pair of you." Mikoto cooed. "I knew you'd be able to become Ninja's~"
Satsuki offered a slight smile on her lips.
"Thanks Mom...I wish Dad could've seen this..."
"I know dear, but I'm sure he'd have been proud of you. He always was." Mikoto looked towards Ryouta. "Shisui-kun also would've been immensely proud."
"Thank you Mikoto-san."
Mikoto bowed her head, then turned her neck.
"I have to go now, got some duties to attend to. Go, and celebrate your achievement~"
Ryouta and Satsuki nods, so Mikoto begins walking off.
When she saw Naruko, she quietly goes over, and smiles softly.
"Well done Naruko-chan. One step closer to Hokage, right?"
Naruko thrusts her fist up into the air.
"Yup! Thanks Mikoto-san!"
Mikoto smiles, then walks off to fulfil her duties for the moment.
Once Mikoto was gone, Ryouta turned towards Satsuki.
"Hey Satsuki-chan, we're Ninja's now."
Satsuki offered a half smile.
"Good, now we can show our skills."
"Yeah, lets do our best from now on."
"Naturally."
Satsuki's hand naturally found Ryouta's own, and held it, so he held her hand back, sharing a small kind look between them.
As she did that, Haku came walking over.
Ryouta overlooked the young girl wearing the headband on her right arm.
"Haku-san, Zabuza-san would be pleased for you."
"Zabuza-sama...he wasn't the type to show pleasure or happiness. But...maybe he might've been."
"I know that he would've been."
Ryouta comforted kindly, as Hinata began walking past together with her little sister who had brown hair and went down her back, the same white eye that Hinata had, along with a maid of the Hyuga clan.
When Hinata saw Ryouta, she began acting shy, while he smiled towards her.
"Well done for passing Hinata-san!"
She blushed at the smile and words, murmuring "Y-Yes, you too..." shyly, as the younger sister gazed up towards her elder sister, then towards Ryouta, tilting her head side to side.
Just then, Ino's Father, a man named Inoichi caught Ino looking towards Ryouta, he then gave off a slight smile.
"I see, so that's the boy you have a crush on, Ino?"
Ino became flustered, shaking her head side to side.
"D-Dad! D-Don't say that here! He might hear you!"
"Haha, and what's wrong with that? I'm sure he'd want to date my precious daughter!"
Ino placed a hand over her mouth while she caught the sight of Sakura's parents going towards Ryouta with a slightly embarrassed Sakura following.
"Aah, Uchiha-kun!" Sakura's Father began. "It seems you've also passed along with our Sakura!"
"Yes, Sakura-chan also did very well in the exams, Haruno-san."
"Oh please call me Kizashi, especially because Sakura really likes..."
"D-Dad! D-Don't!"
Sakura called, while her Father began chortling.
"Uchiha-kun, you quite like Sakura, right?"
"Ooh yes, Sakura-chan's a good friend of mine."
"That's good to hear! I'm glad Sakura and you are friends, and maybe more..."
"D-Dad! Please!"
Kizashi laughed while Sakura felt more embarrassed by the moment.
Sakura's Mother moved to the side of Ryouta.
"Dear, don't embarrass Sakura, especially in front of Uchiha-kun."
"Embarrassing? I thought that I was helping."
"I'm sure Sakura will be fine. She can do anything she wants by herself. We don't need to meddle."
The pair stared at one another intensely, something that Ryouta knew was a common thing between them.
Ryouta's eyes went to Sakura, who looked more embarrassed.
"Well done passing, Sakura-chan. I knew you could do it."
Sakura blushed up a storm, nodding a single time.
"Yeah...y-you too, I'm glad we're both Ninja..."
"Me too, lets do our best for Konoha!"
Sakura smiled brightly, but then saw her Father seemingly ready to speak once more.
"I-I've got to go! See you later!" Sakura grabbed her parents hands. "Come on!"
Ryouta watched as she dragged them off at high speeds.
Inoichi saw that, and began walking over to Ryouta.
Ino caught it and yelled.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"I'm just going to congratulate Uchiha-kun, your possible future boyfriend~"
"D-Don't say it to him Dad!"
Inoichi waved his hand at her.
"Don't worry Ino, I've got this."
Ino didn't trust the look in her Father's eyes, so she got before him and began pushing him away.
Ryouta glanced when hearing the noise, and saw Ino making a retreat with her Father.
"Ino-chan!" Ino's face turned back to see Ryouta waving. "Well done for passing!"
"Y-Yeah! You too! Maybe we could get together sometime?"
"Sure, that sounds great!"
Ino smiled with a small amount of redness on her face, as Inoichi tried to take this opportunity to speak to Ryouta.
"Uchiha-kun, what do you think of my-"
"Dad! Come on!"
Ino hurryingly shot out of the area with her Father being dragged behind her.
As that went on, Karin looked towards Ryouta.
Her eyes held a mischievous look.
"Hmmm, now that we're Ninja's, if I invite Ryou-kun for a private dinner between us...then maybe it could end with us kissing! Then we'll become boyfriend and girlfriend, then when we're older we'll be wed! Yes, I'm going to go for it!"
Karin went to rush Ryouta, when she was stopped by Satsuki staring at her.
Karin shivered at the sight before her, Satsuki's eyes terrified Karin and she didn't end up doing anything other than waving sheepishly.
Ryouta waved towards her, Karin waved back, and then began walking away, murmuring "I should tell the old woman and Shizune-san that I've passed..." which put a skip in her step.
As Ryouta was speaking to Satsuki, Naruko came into view. Sitting on the swing hanging off a tree branch, watching the others engage with their parents, it was a feeling Ryouta knew all too well.
He saw that some villagers were giving questioning looks to Naruko.
He even heard some of them whispering about her status as a Ninja and to him, it just didn't seem right at all, so he went over to her.
"Ignore them Naruko-chan. They don't know what they're talking about."
Naruko looked up towards him, and gave off a goofy smile.
"Y-Yeah! Of course! I'm a Ninja now! I'll show them all!"
"Right, I'm sure you'll show them. You became a Ninja through your own hard work."
Naruko continued to smile.
Ryouta was the first person she could remember her own age to ever acknowledge her.
The person that supported her all the way.
"R-Ryou...I just...eh...wanted...to thank you...for eh..."
"Thank me for what? You did it all your own. You put in the effort and time to master the Jutsu, and you did it really well. Though I'm shocked you didn't make like fifty or something~"
Naruko rubbed under her nose as she grinned.
But then Mizuki came walking over.
"Naruko-san, Iruka-sensei said he wishes to see you inside of the Sensei's lounge."
"Eh? What for?"
"He didn't say, but he said you should go quickly."
Ryouta found it slightly odd, but he went along with it and looked to Naruko.
"Naruko-chan, best get going. Maybe we could get together later and celebrate?"
"Sure!"
Naruko jumped up, and ran to the Academy building.
As she disappeared, Ryouta heard "RYOU-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" so he side stepped, seeing a strong leg coming down.
Ryouta's eyes went towards the person, seeing that it was Lee staring back at him.
"Aah! As expected of my new Ninja rival! But, I'd not expect anything different either!"
"Lee-kun, you're suddenly excitable. I should've expected you'd come...my rival."
Lee's eyes shined like stars, and he jumped up, sending a fist towards Ryouta who dodged out of the way in time then he used his speed to appear behind Lee, so they were stood back to back, the pair looking back to meet one another's gaze.
"I hope you've been training my rival, because I have as well. My skills have improved since I became a Ninja and I cannot allow your feelings to go to waste as I cannot allow mine. So we should begin doing our rival matches rather soon!"
"Aah yes, you're correct Lee-kun. I was thinking running around the village seven times."
"I was thinking seventeen!"
As the pair of friends/rivals were laughing together, Lee stopped when he saw someone approaching. Ryouta turned, and saw the same person. A boy, a year older than Ryouta was, and had the same eyes that Hinata had, so Ryouta knew he was a Hyuga.
But when this Hyuga looked towards Ryouta, the boy gave off a curious stare.
"Lee, running off in the middle of training, for what reason?"
He had a cold tone, Lee scratched his cheek.
"Neji, I'm sorry but I got excited to see my rival pass the exams!"
The newly named Neji looked over Ryouta's appearance, then looked towards his eyes.
"I see...so you're the famous Uchiha."
"Yes, and you're...Neji Hyuga-san, the strongest Genin from last year."
Ryouta remembered the name, and the fact Lee had mentioned him before.
"I've heard of your strong skills."
"Your praise is rather kind."
"It isn't praise, it is merely a fact. Destiny decided that it would be that way."
"Destiny…?"
Ryouta murmured, Lee awkwardly laughed.
"That's Neji for you!"
Ryouta looked between Lee and Neji, feeling a certain tension between the two.
"Aah I see now. Destiny...seems like he believes in it quite strong. But the way he looks at Lee-kun...it makes me feel as if he doesn't believe in his comrades abilities..." Ryouta put his hand out to Neji, but Neji merely stared at him. "So Neji-san..."
"Your Sharingan, my Byakugan, I wonder which is stronger?" Ryouta blinked, looking to Lee who was laughing awkwardly. His eyes shifted back to Neji who continued while looking serious. "Our meeting would've happened eventually, Uchiha and Hyuga, very strong clans, and we both graduated at the top of our classes. One day, our destinies shall collide, which one of us shall come out on top, we'll see. Though when that day comes, I wont be holding back."
Satsuki scowled when he said that, Haku also thought Neji's words were a bit cold, while Ryouta stared at him with an unwavering look.
"Then I wont either, Neji-san."
Neji's lips curled upwards.
"Good, I wouldn't want to win if you didn't do your best. I've heard of your achievements before you graduated, now that you're a Genin, I want to see which of our destinies will allow us to become better than the other."
With that, Neji walked away, Ryouta rolled his eyes to Lee who was scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Nice teammate you got there Lee-kun."
"Ehehehe, Neji might seem cold, but he is a good Ninja, and really talented also. One day, I want to surpass him! But, if you beat him Ryou-kun, then I'd have to work doubly hard to beat you too! Then I'd surpass both Hyuga and Uchiha!"
Ryouta smiled at his friend.
"Come on then Lee-kun, seventeen laps around the village!"
"You're on!"
With that, like speeding bullets, the pair shot out of the area, leaving behind a baffled Satsuki, and quietly observing Haku.
Meanwhile, Naruko rushed into the school building. Getting towards the lounge, she got inside and saw that Iruka wasn't there.
Perplexity came over her, so she sat down and waited for what was going to happen.
Soon, Iruka came into the room, his eyes overlooking Naruko's form.
"Hey Iruka-sensei! What's going on?"
Iruka's eyes overlooked the young girl, before looking slightly annoyed.
"I'm surprised that you actually managed to pass."
"S-Sensei?"
"A prankster like you, I never thought in a million years you'd pass."
Naruko was surprised.
Why Iruka was saying this now...just didn't make sense.
"But Sensei, I...I tried really hard..."
Despite Naruko sounding depressed, Iruka seemingly had cold eyes for the young girl.
"You tried hard, but you'll always be the annoying little prankster that no one could take seriously. Even if I have to give you that headband...I just can't see you getting very far."
Like that, Naruko began to feel horrible.
His words were soul crushing to her.
All of the time that they had spent together…
The times that Iruka had bought her ramen and had been kind…
Did it all mean nothing?
"I thought I should tell you now, so you don't get your hopes up. Becoming Hokage, is a pipe dream for you. I'm sure you'll live an average Ninja life, and have an average career. It isn't like I think you're a total failure, but with your limited Jutsu, among other things...your teammates will surpass you quickly, and leave you in the dust."
His words were so harsh.
He spoke more about it.
More and more of it filled Naruko's mind with sadness, and she began to shake with her sadness.
Iruka then dismissed her, so with her hair shadowing her eyes, she ran out of the room.
Once gone, Iruka's form erupted in smoke, and turned into Mizuki.
"Damn Demon brat, if I can't have my scrolls, then I'll take Konoha's precious little Nine Tails with me, and use that power for myself."
Mizuki laughed quietly to himself, preparing for the next step.
Later on, Ryouta went towards Naruko's home so they could all go out together. Her apartment was different to where she grew up, while technically all one apartment, it had two floors, one floor that held a decently sized kitchen and a living room area, holding a single large couch, and the bedroom on the second floor, with the bathroom also being there.
Thanks to Mikoto, and Ryouta helping her, she was able to move to a better place and wouldn't have to worry about her neighbours either.
When he got to her door, he knocked once, but there wasn't any answer.
"Naruko-chan, are you in?"
He called, but he didn't receive an answer once more.
He used his Sharingan to see if she was home.
He saw her chakra within the apartment.
"Naruko-chan, is everything okay?"
He asked once more, as he began knocking on the door.
Becoming concerned when she didn't answer, he called "Naruko-chan, I'm coming in." and opened the door.
When he did, he saw that Naruko was on her couch, staring out of the window.
He could see that she was upset.
He moved over, sitting down nearby.
"Hey, what's wrong Naruko-chan? You should be happy today...has someone said something to you?"
"N-No...it wasn't that...it was...something else..."
"Something else?"
He murmured, Naruko nodding.
"I...I always thought Iruka-sensei was kind...he didn't treat me like the others did...but today...after I got called in..."
Ryouta listened as Naruko began speaking about what had happened.
Ryouta was surprised.
It didn't sound like Iruka to say these things, but Naruko was adamant that he had said it.
"...Sometimes, I think Iruka-sensei was...annoyed with me...and didn't want me around...and now...he told me Ryou-kun...he didn't think I'd make it...as a Ninja..."
Ryouta felt something wasn't right about this.
"Naruko-chan...I'll be back soon, okay?"
"W-Where are you going?"
"I just need to check something out, I'll be back soon."
Naruko didn't understand, but she quietly nodded so Ryouta quickly left.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, so Naruko went and opened it, revealing Hiruzen.
"Old man...w-what's going on?"
"I heard what happened today, with Iruka, he said some harsh things to you Naruko."
"Y-Yeah..."
"But, I know of a way to make Iruka see. He said something about you not having good skills. I can teach you a few if you'd like?"
"Really old man…?"
Hiruzen nods slowly.
"Of course, I believe in you Naruko. Iruka will be able to see once I show you a few things. Even other people will acknowledge you, Naruko. Come on, follow me. Once I've shown you, we'll call Iruka, and you can demonstrate this new Jutsu to him. It will convince him."
Naruko wanted to believe Hiruzen.
Because of what happened with Iruka, and her own desires to be acknowledged, she nodded, and began to follow him.
Maybe she could prove to Iruka that she did deserve it.
She wanted to show Iruka, and everyone that she would be a good Ninja.
She didn't see the evil smirk that was gracing Hiruzen's lips.
Meanwhile, Ryouta dashed through the village, shooting across it within a minute thanks to him using the Body Flicker Jutsu, and appeared at the Academy. As he did move, he felt as if someone had attempted to follow him, but quickly had been left behind.
Thankfully, the lights were still on, and he dashed inside.
Making it to the classroom, Ryouta knocked, and got a "Come in." from Iruka, so he stepped inside.
"Ah, Ryouta-kun. Is there something the matter?"
"Yes, Sensei. I think something's going on with Naruko-chan. She told me that something happened between you today, but it didn't sound right to me."
"Something happened? Please explain."
Ryouta nodded, and did just that.
Explaining what happened from what Naruko told him, Iruka's brows furrowed.
"That conversation never took place between us."
"I thought as much, you're one of the only people that treat Naruko-chan...like she's a normal girl."
Ryouta confessed.
Iruka folded his arms.
"So she thought I said that...no wonder she's upset."
"Sensei, she must've heard that from someone..."
Iruka furrowed his brows.
"But who would want to say such things…?"
"I can think of a few people Sensei. It's odd...I mean, why do people not seem to like her? Is it because she's a prankster…? I've noticed..."
Iruka, wanting to stop that trail of thought due to the knowledge of what Naruko has should be kept a secret, diverted away from the topic.
"It must be someone that would gain from saying such things. Otherwise, what would be the point?"
Ryouta folded his arms, and thought who'd gain from it.
Why they'd gain from it.
Who'd be able to go into the Academy without drawing suspicions before using the Transformation Jutsu.
Then it clicked for him.
"Sensei, do you think it could be Mizuki-sensei? He always seemed to have...a negative attitude towards her, even when he tried to sound nice. And he would be able to walk around the Academy, and switch to you just outside the door or something before coming in, then exit without anyone having anyone question why he'd be there."
"Mizuki...but what would he gain from..." Iruka suddenly had a realization, and he felt a little worried. "...come on, we need to get to Naruko right now!"
"Right!"
Ryouta dashed out of the Academy, Iruka dazzled by his speed.
Ryouta made it to her apartment first, and found it was empty.
Iruka came over a minute later, panting while glancing towards Ryouta who looked around the apartment.
"She's not here Sensei. Damn..."
Iruka panted a few more times, before placing a hand to his hip.
"Ryouta-kun, you're very fast. Can you go and alert Hokage-sama about this? I'll go and start a search immediately."
"Yes Sensei! Also Sensei, maybe it would be good to ask Karin-chan to help search? She can sense people from a good distance."
"Good idea. I'll go to her first, you go to Hokage-sama."
"Leave it to me Sensei!"
Ryouta quickly disappeared, leaving Iruka chuckled awkwardly.
"...That boy really is quite fast..."
Iruka turned and ran out of the apartment, going to search for Mizuki by going to see Karin.
A small time later, making it far into a forest, Naruko stared at Hiruzen's form who seemed to be unusually quiet.
Something didn't feel right about this.
She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.
"S-So old man..."
Naruko began, as Hiruzen began chortling darkly.
"I didn't know a beast like you could call me old man. Actually, I'd not want a beast like you to call me anything."
"A-A beast?"
Naruko didn't get it.
But then it became clear when Hiruzen's form disappeared, and reappeared as Mizuki.
Naruko gasped, backing off as Mizuki's evil intentions made itself known to the young blonde.
"M-Mizuki-sensei! B-But..."
"Beast, I know a secret about you. A secret that many haven't wanted to tell you in your life. It's one of the reasons that Iruka hates you, why he spoke to you in such a way. Do you want to know the truth?"
Naruko was perplexed.
She didn't understand.
What Mizuki meant by this.
"Sensei, I-I don't understand...w-what did you mean by beast?! Why were you the old man?!"
Mizuki began to laugh.
"I had it all planned out beast, I was going to have you steal a scroll for me, once you failed your damn exam once more. You'd get the blame of course, because everyone would hate you over me, then I'd take the scroll, and leave you in the lurch. But, you had to go and use Shadow Clone Jutsu, didn't you? So now I'll have to drag you along with me, a weapon for my use. Tell me, did your little Uchiha boyfriend teach you that Jutsu?"
"Ryou...n-no! I learned it by myself!"
"That's a lie! A failure like you wouldn't be able to use that!"
As Mizuki yelled, Iruka came in and punched Mizuki in the face so hard that blood escaped his mouth.
Sending him flying backwards, the white haired man flipped in the air, and landed on his feet, but felt pain in his face from receiving such an attack.
"So it was you, Mizuki."
Iruka scowled out.
Mizuki just showed a smirk as Iruka got into a fighting stance.
"Come for the beast, have you Iruka?"
"Mizuki! How dare you say that to Naruko?!"
Mizuki brushed his face, showing an annoyed look.
"Even though she killed your parents, you still defend her!?"
Naruko became even more perplexed, Iruka scowl grew as he rushed Mizuki.
Mizuki took out some kunai, launching them at the man, who brought out his own and blocked the attacks with his own kunai, before launching one towards Mizuki. Using his speed, Mizuki dodged the attack, and then took out some kunai that had a paper bomb attached to it.
"Naruko! Did you want to know why everyone hates you?"
"Mizuki! Stop! It's forbidden!"
Iruka cried, and rushed the man.
Mizuki used this chance to toss the paper bombs kunai towards Iruka.
Iruka managed to use his own shurikens to bat them away, only to see a few well aimed kunai for Naruko come in as explosions went off, the shockwave forcing the young girl to hit the ground since they exploded near her.
Naruko, stunned by what was going on along with the explosion, had a delayed reaction, and couldn't move out of the way in time of the kunai.
Fortunately, Iruka appeared just in time, and forced Naruko away, as a kunai stabbed into Iruka's right thigh.
"That was a neat trick, Iruka. Pretending you care about the beast."
"Why do you keep calling me a beast?!"
Naruko frustratingly let out.
Mizuki smirk grew, he had waited for this for so long, and now the time had come.
"Because, you are one, Naruko. The beast and you, are the same. The Nine Tails is inside of you."
Mizuki seemed to get some joy out of causing Naruko pain and seeing Naruko's face drops, and turn a pale white, he was enjoying it all the more.
Meanwhile, Ryouta had just finished telling the Hokage about what had happened, and was heading over to Karin's so she could tell him where Naruko would be, when he noticed he was being followed once more, Ryouta saw a few people around, so he quickly dashed to an isolated area within the city, a place that was empty so no one would be harmed.
"I know you're there, you might as well come out."
No sooner as he said that, three Ninja, the same three that had been chasing Naruko that morning appeared. One had a large shuriken device on his back that contained many shurikens, one held a sword on his right hand side, and the final one seemed to have a scroll on his left thigh, each of them gave dirty smirks towards Ryouta.
He remained calm as he addressed them,
"Any reason why you're following me?"
The man with the sword stepped forward, pointing his blade at Ryouta.
"We've been sent after you."
"Is that so?"
Ryouta remained calm as he removed his tanto from its holder.
"Even if you're a genius Uchiha, you wont be able to beat all three of us."
"Tell me why you've been sent after me. Are you intending to kill me?"
The man with the scroll scowled.
"That's right, then that beast will go on a rampage."
"Beast? What beast?"
The man with the scroll snapped "We wont tell you!" and leapt forward, as did the other two.
The man with the sword came at Ryouta from the left, so Ryouta quickly brought his blade out, blocking the strike then pushed him back with a good enough force that he went skidding backwards, all the while the scroll wielder unsealed said scroll, and launched several exploding tags towards him, so Ryouta performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which grabbed all of the exploding tags, and jumped high into the air before they could explode, so no one else would be caught up in the explosion.
While the explosions went off in the air, the shuriken device wielder was forced back by the shockwave while the scroll wielder looked forward, seeing Ryouta right before him, his Sharingan activated.
Then Ryouta cast a strong Genjutsu on him, overpowering his mind, and caused him to fall unconscious.
"S-Shit!"
The man with the sword snapped, and rushed Ryouta's form.
Ryouta turned back, and blocked the incoming strikes, each one creating sparks between the blades, before Ryouta vanished from sight, appearing above him within a second, while spinning and coming down. The man tried to react with his sword, only for Ryouta to lock onto his hand with the Sharingan, predicting were he'd go thanks to said Sharingan, managing to avoid the blade being swung for him, before slicing the man's hand to the point that he was forced to drop the blade.
"Aah! Damn it!"
As he reeled from that, Ryouta came in close, and quicker than the man could think, Ryouta sent his fist for the man's stomach, the speed and strength he had was more than enough to send him flying into a wall, denting the wall when his body flew into it, his eyes rolling in his head.
Seeing his two comrades being defeated, the man with the shurikens looked bewildered.
"So he isn't a joke after all...he is an Uchiha, but to think he's taking us all out one by one, he's so fast I can't even see him, and he looks to be casually doing it also...what kind of boy is this...? No, I wont be defeated!"
The man with the shuriken device brought it up while jumping into the air, pulled the cord attached to it, unleashing over ten shuriken towards Ryouta.
Ryouta's eyes locked onto the man, before taking out a single shuriken.
Ryouta threw that single shuriken, and as he did, Ryouta went through some hand signs.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The man was stunned when seeing one shuriken one second, then a good number appearing then next, Ryouta also used the Shuriken Jutsu Uchiha were famed for to hit them against one another, and divert the man's shurikens away from himself, all stabbing into the ground, creating a field of shurikens below the man so he couldn't land so easily.
While distracted by seeing that, Ryouta got before him in the air, the man looked stunned as Ryouta span in the air, building his speed, before delivering a powerful kick to the man's body, flinging him down into the ground, where he bounced off of it, and appeared to have been defeated.
Ryouta exhaled as he landed, seeing the man looking back up at him with anger.
"You're going to tell me what your plan was."
Ryouta began, as he used his Sharingan to gain the information.
Using the power of the Sharingan, the man became hypnotized by Ryouta after a little while of concentration.
"We were...sent to kill you...so Naruko Uzumaki...would go on a rampage. Because Mizuki...deemed you the closest to the girl...if you died, then she'd rampage and destroy the village..."
"Rampage...but how would she destroy the village...?" Ryouta murmured. "Where is he?"
"In the forest, our meeting area is..."
Ryouta listened to what he had to be told, before exhaling slowly.
Ryouta was going to knock him out, but something came back to his mind.
"You called her a beast before, what did that mean?"
"She is...a monster..."
Before he could finish, Mikoto flashed down, and silenced him, Ryouta glanced at her.
"Mikoto-san..."
"Are you alright dear? I saw the explosion and came quickly."
"Aah yes, I'm fine. They weren't on the level of Yashiro from the past, even working together they weren't."
"Hehe, I see. I'm glad you're well. But Naruko-chan...Mizuki targeted the brief time that I was doing another duty, little...anyway I heard what happened from Hokage-sama."
"Yeah, she's with Mizuki, this guy just told me. He apparently wanted her to rampage...and they thought my death would do it. I don't get it, they think she has the power to destroy Konoha. I get she's able to make a lot of Shadow Clones...but I can't see her being able to destroy Konoha, especially with strong Ninja like you, Hokage-sama and a bunch of others being here...Mizuki's deluded..."
Though he said that with perplexity, it did make Ryouta think about why Mizuki believed she had the capability to take down Konoha, what he saw in her that made him believe that she could, and his death would trigger it.
Mikoto stayed calm, but did feel slightly nervous deep within.
"They might've just been wanting to use her chakra somehow, that's probably it."
"I guess...anyway, I'll go and see how she's dealt with him."
Mikoto gave a slightly amused look.
"You don't think she's in trouble?"
"Naruko-chan's got the ability to take down Mizuki, I know she has."
Seeing the belief he had in Naruko was quite heart warming in Mikoto's eyes.
His unwavering trust in Naruko's capabilities, she also believed the same thing.
"Yes, someone of Mizuki's level, I'm sure Naruko-chan's got him. But best to check on them, I'll handle these three."
"Right!"
Ryouta flashed out of the area, while Mikoto folded her arms.
"Ryou-kun...if I hadn't arrived quicker, then he would've found out...but, I don't think it would have been bad, I think you'd accept Naruko-chan, wouldn't you Ryou-kun? More than anyone...I think you'd accept her as the Nine Tails host in a heartbeat, and wish to help her. Still...that damn Mizuki, doing things such as this to get Naruko-chan heartbroken enough to unleash the Nine Tails..."
Mikoto rounded up the men around, before she left with them, wondering what was going to happen next, hoping Naruko was okay.
Back with Naruko, she couldn't believe what Mizuki had said.
Her...the Nine Tails.
She couldn't even begin to fathom it.
But at the same time...it began making sense.
"I-It can't be…?"
"Come on, haven't you figured it out? Why everyone avoids you? They don't want to be near you because you house the Nine Tails within you. The reason so many died in the village, was because of you, Naruko. The village hates you for that reason, and it's why Iruka hates you also. Because of your existence...because you house the Nine Tails, his parents had to die!"
Naruko's body began to shake, Iruka looked worried for her.
"That's not true Naruko!"
Naruko's eyes turn towards Iruka, and see that he was looking at him desperately.
"Sensei...w-what he said...i-isn't true...r-right? I'm...I'm not...t-the Nine Tails..."
Iruka couldn't look the girl in the eyes.
That was all the confirmation she needed to believe Mizuki's words now.
"See? He isn't denying it, you're a monster."
Iruka glared at Mizuki who held a sadistic smile on his face, before his eyes shot for Naruko.
"Naruko! It isn't true...yes, my parents died because of the Nine Tails! But it wasn't you! I never blamed you for it at all! You might have it deep inside...but, you're my student, a student that I will protect with my life! What happened at the Academy, wasn't me! I never said you'd not be a great Ninja! It was Mizuki lying to you!"
Naruko began to cry.
It was too much for her young mind to take.
She didn't know what she was supposed to believe.
"I was like you...Naruko. I did pranks to try and get attention. To deal with my loneliness...I hated it too Naruko. I wanted people to...see me and not...just ignore me...I'm sorry Naruko...I never...thought that you'd...find out this way...but, even if others never did...I always just saw you...as a Ninja of this village...not the fox."
That declaration was something that pushed Naruko to cry even harder.
But tears of happiness this time.
Mizuki, wanting to twist the knife even more and to turn Naruko on the village, began to lie.
"I wonder what your friends would say, when they find out? That Uchiha boy, you're close with him, right? Would he look at you the same when he realizes that you're the reason his Father was murdered?"
Naruko's eyes became wider and wider.
Her body shook so much that Iruka could see that it truly was affecting her.
"N-No...i-it's a lie..."
"No, it isn't! The fox killed your friends Father, then his Mother died due to your fox also! You're the reason he grows up without parents, the same for Iruka, and many others! They all have a reason to hate you! Don't you hate the village also for that?! Come with me Naruko, we'll destroy the village together!"
"Mizuki! Your lies wont be able to save you! I wont let you continue this!"
Mizuki laughed in the face of Iruka.
"You can say that if you wish, but we both know the truth. She is a monster, all monsters are born for one thing. Destruction. She will destroy, and she will make others suffer through her being alive. She will kill more people, I can't wait to see it happen. This village shall suffer because of her. And that boy you like Naruko, he'll be dead soon, I've sent some people to kill him! What do you think about that? When he dies...it will be your fault as well."
Naruko's face continued to drop.
Her eyes lowered to the ground.
All she could think about is the fact that Ryouta's parents died as a consequence to her.
It wasn't the truth, and while Iruka tried to protest that, it simply was a case where Naruko couldn't listen.
Even if Iruka said otherwise, she still felt horrible, taking someone's parents away...a close friend like Ryouta, who had been there for her. Who had protected her from others when they were horrible. Someone who had given her advice, given her kindness...and she had the reason inside of her that his parents had been taken away.
At that moment, in the weakness Naruko had, Mizuki took out a big shuriken from his back, twirling it around his hand and tossed it towards Naruko.
Naruko's body wanted to react, but the news of being the Nine Tails, along with causing the death of someone she likes parent...it was becoming too much for her, and she wasn't sure if she was able to move.
Iruka jumped towards her, getting in the way, and
"S-Sensei..."
Naruko shed tears as Iruka smiled towards her.
"I'll protect you, Naruko."
Those words...
Those simple yet powerful words were more than enough for Naruko to snap back to reality, seeing someone risk themselves for her, showed Naruko that Iruka really did care.
Naruko managed to pull Iruka to the side, catching the large shuriken before it could touch Iruka, shocking both Iruka, and Mizuki.
Naruko held the large shuriken with one hand, before launching it back at Mizuki.
Mizuki jumped down from the tree, only to see Naruko's dark glare on him.
"Mizuki-sensei...even if you're right...I can't let you hurt my Sensei! Pretending to be my Sensei...then attacking my Sensei and trying to kill Ryou too...you wont be forgiven!" Naruko did the hand sign and began channelling her chakra. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
As she yelled that, many puffs of smoke arose, and gave birth to many clones of Naruko.
Iruka couldn't count them all, but smiled as all of the Naruko's began moving towards Mizuki.
"W-What the hell?! S-Stay away from me!"
He became more and more frightened.
The fear on his face was very real.
"Come on Sensei!"
"Get him!"
"Lets beat him up!"
Seeing all of the Naruko's gathering around him, he screamed "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" as they began their attack.
He couldn't even fight back, the many clones of Naruko all punched and kicked him.
Mizuki ended up being beaten by Naruko, while feeling more and more fear for the girl.
When she finished beating Mizuki, she began running away.
"N-Naruko!"
"I-I've got to go and make sure Ryou's okay!"
"Naruko..."
"H-He's been my friend Sensei! I-If...t-the Nine Tails did...k-kill his parents...t-then it would..."
Iruka could see how deeply it affected her.
"Naruko, that's..."
When Iruka was going to speak, Ryouta arrived, seeing the situation, and saw Mizuki laying on the ground in a condition were he wouldn't be able to do much.
When she saw him, immense relief came over her.
"R-Ryou...y-you're okay..."
"Yeah, I'm okay. You are also..." As he spoke, he saw something was off. "Naruko-chan, are you alright? I was worried about you. But you showed that idiot Mizuki huh. Heh, I thought so~ Good going Naruko-chan, that guy deserved it."
When he got near her, Naruko's arms went around him.
He was mildly surprised, especially when he felt that she was trembling.
Whatever Mizuki had said and done, must've affected her, he thought, so he did the only thing he could, and hugged her back.
"It's alright, I'm okay Naruko-chan."
"Y-Yeah, Mizuki said he sent people after you...I was really worried...".
"He did, but I beat them, and now they're under the care of Mikoto-san. I'm glad you're okay. I also told Hokage-sama, Mizuki probably will be detained for trying to kidnap you, and use you somehow. I'm sure Hokage-sama will explain later on."
As he said it, what Mizuki said came back to Naruko, and she tensed up.
She wanted to believe that Mizuki was lying...but if there was a sliver of truth in it, then she felt unsure of what to do next.
Seeing Iruka's wound, Ryouta bent down, and went through some hand signs, while Naruko watched on from the side.
Surprising Iruka was when Ryouta's hands began to glow green, and run over the wound on his leg.
"You know...Medical Ninjutsu?"
"I'm not an expert, but I do know some and can use the Mystical Palm Jutsu like this. Please keep still Sensei while I take care of your wounds."
Ryouta saw Iruka nod, so Ryouta used what he had learned from Izumi all those years ago, and put it into practice after studying for a good while on Medical Ninjutsu, partly so what happened back when he was a child, wouldn't happen again while he was around.
Remembering what Izumi had said, even knowing some was better than nothing at all, and could mean the difference between life and death one day.
Iruka saw that he did have some skill in it since he saw the wound he had beginning to disappear.
Naruko watched Ryouta heal Iruka, and the thoughts of what Mizuki said couldn't leave her mind.
She wanted to ask him if it was true...but if it was true, and the fox did kill Ryouta's parents…
Mizuki's lie truly had affected her more than she thought that it had.
She remembered how the death of Shisui affected Ryouta, the fact that his parents could've died because of the fox...it was hard for Naruko.
She didn't want the fox to be the reason Ryouta grew up without his parents, and she was too worried to ask in case it was true.
Ryouta didn't hear what had happened with Mizuki about the fox, so when Naruko seemed to be nervous when looking at him, he was rather concerned for her.
When Ryouta returned home that evening, he saw a few letters. Some for Mikoto, some for Satsuki, and some for himself.
One he saw was one that was in a very familiar handwriting.
He sat down, and read the letter quietly to himself.
As he was, he noticed Satsuki walking closer.
"Something happen?"
"An incident within the village, but don't worry everything worked out."
Satsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Who's the letter from?"
"Mei-san, we stay in touch, seems like she's having a difficult time. I hope it works out for her..." Ryouta placed the letter down and faced Satsuki. "Anyway, Mikoto-san said she'd be back soon, she's just dealing with what happened."
"That's good. Also..."
Satsuki pulled closer, briefly allowing their lips to come together, showing the affection she had for him, which he returned.
When she pulled away, Ryouta smiled as did Satsuki, no words needed to be spoken about the forming bond between them.
"We should get to bed."
Satsuki advised.
"I'll be going up soon, just want to finish this letter."
"Then, goodnight."
"Goodnight~"
Satsuki gave a half smile as she walked off.
Ryouta stayed reading the letter for a little while, before he decided to head to bed himself.
He walked towards the stairs, and began going by a window.
As he did however...
A woman in white appeared in the mirror, walking behind Ryouta, her long white flowing hair was slowly wrapping around his form. His arms, legs, were soon covered in the white hair.
Her eyes focused upon him, her arms finding their way around his body. Her fingers pressing against his chin, her head resting upon his shoulder.
Ryouta suddenly felt a chill go down his spine, so he looked behind him...
And saw nothing.
He didn't call out, but quickly did look around to see if anything was there.
However, when he found nothing, he walked off back upstairs, something felt...off, and he wasn't sure why that was, a feeling he's had before.
Meanwhile, a far off distance, Itachi sat quietly within a room, when he saw the door open, and revealed...
Orochimaru wearing the Akatsuki.
Itachi focused his eyes as Orochimaru showed a daring smile.
"Hello Itachi, seems like we meet once again. Care to give me your Sharingan?"
Orochimaru chuckled out as he licked his lips, Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"Hello Izumi."
'Orochimaru' exhaled.
"Was I at least a little convincing?"
"You've got the creepy laugh right, but you're too sweet to truly be like Orochimaru."
'Orochimaru's' face pouted before erupting in smoke, and was replaced by a smiling Izumi.
The now 17 year old Izumi had grown a good deal. Her hair had gotten longer, and reached down to near her lower back, she also wore the Akatsuki cloak like every other member did.
She went towards Itachi's side, sitting down beside him.
"Sorry about that, just having a little fun with Kisame-kun, thought I'd try it out here~"
"I see. So you and Kisame seemingly are getting along."
"Yeah, we get along well enough. But Itachi-kun, great news~"
"Hmmm? What is it?"
Izumi continued to grin, and pulled closer.
"I've just received word, Ryou-kun passed the exams and is now a Ninja, together with Satsuki-chan~ They haven't been assigned Jonin-sensei's yet, so who knows what tasks they'll have, but they passed the exams, with flying colours~ They even got top scores for male and female~ Well, Haku-chan also scored very high with Satsuki-chan~"
Itachi held a small smile on his face.
"I see, I didn't have any doubt that they would do."
"Aah...I wish we could've been there to see them on their day...but, they have each other, and Mikoto-chan too, so I'm sure they're happy right now. They're Ninja now...it feels like yesterday they were little kids."
"As they say, time flies."
Izumi giggled.
"By the way, Pain-sama wishes for us to go on a new mission."
"I see, then Kisame..."
"I'll go and get Kisame-kun, you relax your body Itachi-kun. You need to take it easy..."
Izumi gave him a concerned look, which he tried to dispel quickly.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
He tried to comfort, but Izumi saw through him.
"That, I can't do. I just naturally worry about you. Let me worry about you, you can worry about me." Izumi lightly placed her lips against Itachi's briefly, before pulling away with a wink. "Let me take care of preparations, you just relax for as long as you need, I'll keep Kisame-kun company."
"I'll leave it in your capable hands, I'll be there within a few minutes."
"Right, leave it with me."
Izumi left the room with a skip in her step.
Once she had fully gone, Itachi sat by himself, smiling ever so slightly.
"...So they passed...Shisui, you'd be proud of Ryou, I'm certainly proud of Satsuki...I'm sure they'll make fine Ninja."
Though he didn't voice his thoughts, he was glad that the pair were able to pass.
End chapter!
So we've made it to canon time now! Ryouta's grown, as have the others, and moved on a bit with their lives. The Mizuki deal went down a bit differently, as Naruko already knew the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and now he's got into Naruko's head by not only revealing about the Nine Tails, but also trying to convince her that Kurama, and by extension her in Mizuki's warped way, was the reason Ryouta's parents died, partly due to Mizuki wanting to hurt Naruko knowing of the friendship she shares with Ryouta, but this is going to lead to a deeper bonding moment later on for Naruko and Ryouta's relationship.
Ryouta also met with Neji, who seems to have had quite the impression right away. I always thought that it was a shame that someone with a Sharingan and a Byakugan never had a proper fight in the main series, so we might see it in this story~ Lee and Ryouta also have grown even more into their rival/friend status. Ryouta's relationship with Satsuki has also grown quite a bit.
Ryouta also showed a bit of what he could do, we'll see more of what he, and others can do in the coming chapters and while I wont spoil all he's learned, I can confirm Ryouta does have another Nature Transformation apart from Fire Release that he can use.
Mikoto's settled into her role during the time skip, now making regular means for Naruko, making sure she isn't severally punished and being there for those she cares for. Izumi and Itachi are also doing well, managing to keep tabs on the village and knowing of certain events.
Finally, thanks to people who suggested about Mikoto, I'm not sure yet as it came out pretty even split between yes and no, but there's plenty of time for Mikoto one way or the other, for now she'll still have the roles I've thought for her.
But there is one person people have been asking about, and since the time for that person to appear is going to be soon, and it's about having a female Gaara join Ryouta's harem. I've thought about it for a good while now, so I'll put it up to a vote as for me, either way could be interesting, Ryouta could relate to Gaara about having someone try to kill them while young, whether that be romantic or platonic.
So yeah, if you're interested, please vote!
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko,