I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Hero
"How do we get into the village?" Kiba asked.
Ryuu pointed at the waterfall. "The entrance is behind that. Right?"
"How did you-"
"You glanced at it when you were talking about how to get into the village," Ryuu interrupted him. "We're a bit pressed for time. Do you want to try and keep it secret, or do you want to save your people?"
Shibuki nodded, running out onto the water and forming several hand seals, the waterfall parting. Ryuu turned to Kiba and Shino.
"It's like when you climb a tree with no hands, but instead of a constant stream, you alter it with the water's motion," Ryuu explained briefly.
Shino stepped out onto the water, standing in place for a moment before nodding. Kiba, on the other hand, crashing into the water instantly. Ryuu sighed, picking him up and turning, running into the village with Kiba over his shoulder, Shibuki and Shino to either side of them. Once through the tunnel behind the waterfall, they entered a massive grotto with a gargantuan tree in the center, the village being a bunch of small buildings spread among the roots. Ryuu stopped, forming a cross with his index and middle fingers of each hand, a puff of smoke appearing beside him as a Shadow Clone appeared and took Kiba, sprinting for shore. Ryuu looked to Shibuki only to find he had disappeared.
"Okay then," Ryuu sighed. "Shino, we should go and investigate the village."
"We need to do it quietly," Shino said.
"Then we should swim," Ryuu said.
Shino nodded, dropping almost silently into the water and Ryuu sank into it silently. Then, he swam to shore, carefully peeking his head out of the water. Just as he did, Kiba crashed to the ground with Akamaru in his arms, the gathered Villagers, all of them bound and sitting together, all staring at him as a shinobi with a grey shirt and scarf, blue overalls, a blue cloth mask over the lower half of his face, and a bandanna with a Hidden Rain symbol landed on him, foot pressing on Kiba's throat.
"You're even weaker than you look," the shinobi grinned.
A moment later, another landed beside him, this one with a tight, sleeveless black shirt reaching up high on his neck, yellow arm warmers reaching halfway up his biceps, a Hidden Rain headband, silver hair, and blue pants. He had Shino over his shoulder and he dropped him beside Kiba instantly, Shino already unconscious.
"Aw, you too Kiba?" Ryuu whispered.
"You're next!" a female voice whispered behind him just before a pair of hands grabbed him, dragging him underwater.
He fought to break free, managing to twist around to face his attacker, finding himself facing a woman with short, light brown hair, a white, very low cut belly shirt under an even lower cut blue top, once again with her midriff exposed, with very loose sleeves, a white strip of cloth hanging halfway down her biceps, and dark blue pants.
Just as he was facing her, she swung a hand out and back, a whip forming from the water, visible only because it was glowing slightly from chakra, and wrapping around his throat. He grabbed the whip, struggling to loosen it before forming hand seals rapidly.
Fire Style, Giant Fireball Jutsu! He thought, exhaling a massive ball of fire surrounded by boiling water.
The woman retreated instantly, but Ryuu had intentionally only hit the whip, allowing him to escape to the surface, then sprint to shore, stopping a ways from the other as the woman joined the other two. For the first time, Ryuu also noticed Hinata and the children with the others, Hinata still unconscious.
"You've got skill," a new voice said as yet another shinobi, this one with a yellow dew rag, a dark blue jacket, green pants, messy black hair to his shoulders, and a goatee appeared in front of the others. "You're tougher than the others. I'm impressed."
"Why are you doing this?" Ryuu asked.
"Because I'm the rightful ruler of this village," the man said. "My name is Suien. I was a Jonin of this village for decades. The strongest. The former leader should have chosen me to succeed him. But when he used the Hero's water, he died, leaving his weak, coward son to succeed him. Now look at this place. How pathetic."
"Lord Shibuki is not a coward!" the young girl whose mother had warned Shibuki and the others about the attack shouted. "He's brave!"
"Is he?" Suien grinned, walking over to her and standing over her, drawing a kunai. "If he's so brave, where is he? Why hasn't he drank the Hero's Water yet and come to save you?"
"What's the Hero's Water?" Ryuu asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Suien said, grabbing the girl by the arm, keeping her in front of him and holding the kunai to her throat. "The hero's water is the treasure of this village, and the key to its defense. It increases the drinker's chakra tenfold. However, doing so also shortens the drinker's life. That's why Shibuki's too cowardly to drink it!" He turned toward the tree, shouting, obviously for Shibuki to hear him. "Isn't that right Shibuki? You're too afraid of dying to even try to save your precious village! Of course, you know I'm here for the Hero's Water! If you were smart, you'd destroy it! But then, the village would be left undefended! And you can't do that! What a choice! The people of the village, or their only means of defending themselves! Tell you what, since only you know where to find the Hero's Water, I'll give you a choice. Bring it to me in the next ten seconds, and I won't kill this little girl!"
Ryuu sprinted forward, streaking past two of the shinobi before they could react, catching the one with the silver hair's punch and hurling him into the other two then grabbing Suien's kunai hand, yanking it away from the girl then twisting it behind him, making him release both the knife and the girl. Then, he spun, hurling him.
Suien flipped, landing on his feet as the other three shinobi landed around him. He readied himself, swallowing. All three of the weaker ones charged at once. Ryuu ducked under the woman's punch, grabbing her by the arm and placing a paralysis seal on her, the seal script shooting over her body, then hurled her into the smaller of the males, blocking a punch from the larger and trapping his arm under his own. Then, he slammed a palm into his side, placing a paralysis seal there as well. Then, just as he was turning to fight the other male, Suien appeared in front of him, slashing with a sword made of water, the blade splitting his abdomen open. He staggered backward, dropping to his knees, eyes wide. Suddenly, both of the others were free and the larger male grabbed him by the collar, lifting him only to slam him back into the ground, slamming his fist into him several times. Finally he stood, Ryuu's vision swimming.
"Well Shibuki?" Suien shouted. "That's the last person that could have helped you fight! Now what will you do?"
"I'm not...done!" Ryuu growled, standing, only to be kicked by the larger male. As he crashed to the ground, he began to push himself up instantly, activating his Sharingan. "I...said...no!"
The male charged with the other three and Ryuu charged, blocking a punch from the larger one, smashing his elbow with a palm strike, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and hurling him at the other two. The woman slid under him and the male jumped over him, Ryuu meeting the male with a foot to the nose. Then, he flipped, landing on his feet behind the woman, grabbing her hair and spinning, hurling her into the other male just in time for Suien's fist to crash into his jaw. He staggered to the side, barely keeping on his feet only for Suien to slam a fist into his gut then a hammer fist into his back as he was lifted into the air from the first punch, blasting him into the ground.
"Do yourself a favor and stay down kid," Suien said. "The last village leader was a stubborn fool too. When I came to kill him, he just kept coming. But his biggest mistake was using the Hero's Water. It ended up killing him."
"You killed our leader!?" someone shouted.
"You're goddamn right I did!" Suien shouted.
"Suien!" Shibuki shouted, suddenly standing on the water, a sword made of water in his hand and chakra shooting off of him in visible waves.
"Finally," Suien grinned, forming a sword of his own and charging.
As they met, their blades crashed, then again and again, over and over in a battle that looked almost like a dance. Until it didn't Just as it looked like Shibuki might win, Suien drove his sword through Shibuki's abdomen.
"Too bad," Suien grinned. "You may be powerful, but I taught you to fight." He reached into Shibuki's shirt, pulling out a bottle of slightly glowing water and chugged several mouthfulls. "Oh yeah!" His chakra began to fly off of him, pushing the water below him away in waves. "Now that's power!"
"Boss, what do we do with the rest of them?" the smaller male asked, now holding the same girl Suien had threatened at knifepoint.
"Kill them," Shibuki said. "I don't need them anymore."
The shinobi nodded, raising the knife. Ryuu's eyes widened as an image of his mother's severed head flashed through his mind. Someone screamed, but before anyone else could react, Ryuu was up, using the Body Flicker Technique to reach the shinobi, slitting the shinobi's throat with his trench knife while catching his arm with his free hand. The shinobi's eyes widened before dulling and Ryuu dropped him, staring at the corpse in shock.
"Kill him!" Suien raged.
Ryuu turned toward the other two just as Kiba appeared in front of the remaining male, slamming a fist into his face, knocking him completely unconscious as Hinata appeared in front of the woman, slamming a palm strike into her abdomen. Ryuu looked to where Hinata had been, seeing Shibuki had dragged himself to her, freeing her. Ryuu turned back to Suien as Suien glared at him, panting with rage.
"I'm going to kill you!" Suien thundered, forming a sword and shooting toward Ryuu.
Ryuu drew his tanto, holding it horizontally in front of himself and exhaling a Vacuum Blade onto it before blocking the water blade with it. He instantly slashed at Suien with the trench knife, forcing him to leap backward. Ryuu chased him, flipping over a slash then turned horizontal, spinning and slashing with the trench knife. Suien sidestepped it, then blocked the Vacuum Blade as Ryuu landed on the water's surface. Suien shoved the blade to the side, slashing and Ryuu blocked the blade with his Trench Knife, shoving it to the side and spinning, slashing with the Vacuum Blade, Suien flipping away from it. Just as he landed, Ryuu shot forward, water kicking up behind and beside him from his speed. He slashed with the Vacuum Blade from above and Suien blocked it, however, just as the blades met, the Vacuum Blade dispersed, Ryuu continuing forward, splitting Suien's front open with the tanto's blade. He skidded to a stop behind Suien as Suien staggered backward a couple steps then stopped himself, his chakra levels dropping like a stone.
"You...BASTARD! ! !" Suien raged, pulling out the bottle.
He tipped it up, emptying it over his mouth. He drank a lot of it, more than before, but a lot of it also ran down his body in rivulets in his haste. His wound steamed and sealed itself and his power skyrocketed again. Ryuu reformed hi Vacuum Blade and shot forward once again, flipping over Suien's blade and slashing, making Suien duck under it. Ryuu flipped to the water's surface and instantly exhaled several Air Bullets, the blasts slamming into Suien's back, throwing him forward. Suien landed on his feet, waving the sword in front of his face as several flies dive-bombed his eyes. Then, he and Ryuu charged. Both slashed with their jutsu blades. This time, when they connected, it was Suien's blade that fell away, allowing Ryuu's blade to split Suien completely from the left shoulder to the right side of his ribcage.
Ryuu skidded to a stop, staring at Suien as Suien stared at his hand. Then, Shino rose out of the water in front of Suien, insects swarming around him.
"My parasitic insects can absorb the chakra of anyone they touch," Shino said. "Such as the jutsu from that blade you so helpfully waved through a few of them. The others I had planted on you since the beginning of the battle."
Then, Suien dropped to his knees, his halves finally separating. Then, it was Ryuu's turn to fall to his knees, staring at his hands, his tanto and knife sinking into the water below him.
"I...I killed...I...it was...I didn't mean..." Ryuu trailed off, tears streaming down his face.
"Ryuu," Shino spoke up. "Because of your actions, that child is alive."
He stared at Shino before turning to the girl he had saved who smiled at him, her mother hugging her now.
"You saved my daughter!" her mother almost sobbed. "Thank you so much!"
"But...I..."
"Ryuu," Shino said. "We're shinobi. Killing is a part of our lives now. But that's not always a bad thing. There are times when it is okay to kill. For example, when protecting the innocent, or those that matter to you. In those cases, it's okay to kill."
Ryuu stared at him before nodding and diving under the water, retrieving his weapons and returning to the surface. Just as he arrived, he saw something above himself. His vision was blurred from the water, but he could swear he saw a person with wings flying to the top of the tree. He wiped his eyes, looking again only to see that there was nothing there. He turned back to shore, climbing out of the water and jogging back, quickly placing paralysis seals on the two surviving enemy shinobi before tending to Shibuki's wound. Then, he stood, turning and beginning to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Kiba asked.
"I need to check on something," Ryuu said.
Then, he sprinted to the tree, running up the side of it, all the way to the branches at the top. They were thick but after several minutes of forcing his way through, he fell into a sort of clearing at the top. The floor of the clearing was made of tangles branches, woven together tightly but unevenly. Around the clearing, the branches and leaves of the tree blocked everything from view, but he could see the bright blue sky above them. As well as a girl his age sitting on a branch, staring at him.
She had mint green hair, cut short and with an orange hair clip in one side, a sleeveless white top with thin black straps over the shoulders and ending about level with the bottom of her rib cage, a slightly longer netting top under it, ending only about an inch lower than the white top, white sleeves unattached to the top, a Hidden Waterfall headband tied around her right bicep, a white apron skirt that hung fairly low on her hips and with slits all the way up the sides, netting shorts underneath, and white sandals. Her eyes were also a bright, almost glowing, orange and her skin was a light caramel color. She cocked her head to the side as she stared at him and he stared right back.
"You have funny eyes," the girl said.
Ryuu blinked, realizing that his Sharingan was still active. He deactivated them and she cocked her head the other way. "I'm Ryuu Uchiha," Ryuu introduced himself.
"I'm Fu," she responded, smiling, revealing her perfectly white teeth and amazingly beautiful smile. "Do you want to be friends?"
"Sure," Ryuu said almost instantly, some part of his brain wondering exactly why he hadn't even hesitated.
Fu cheered, jumping into the air as she did before flying, literally, to him and scooping him up in a spinning, bone-crushing hug. All he could do was stare between her face, which practically glowed with joy, and the insect-like wings buzzing quietly behind her.
"Oh, right, not supposed to show anyone that," Fu said, setting him down, her wings halting for a moment before dissolving into a glowing powder which then faded.
"I won't tell anyone," Ryuu said, still staring. "You...you have wings. You can fly. How?"
"I...I can't tell you," Fu said, staring at the ground.
"Please, can you teach me?" Ryuu asked. "It's always been my dream to be able to fly."
She stared at him, eyebrows raised, as a smile spread over her face. Then, it faded slightly.
"I can't," Fu said. "It's...not something that can be learned."
"Kekkei Genkai," Ryuu realized.
"Not exactly," Fu said, regarding him curiously but also seriously for a minute. "Promise you won't tell anyone if I tell you what it is?"
"I swear," Ryuu nodded.
"The wings are...I only have them because I'm the Jinchuriki of the Seven-tailed Beetle," Fu said, Ryuu staring at her in shock.
"Oh," Ryuu said.
"Sorry," Fu said. "I suppose you don't want to be friends now, huh?"
"What are you talking about?" Ryuu asked, smiling. "Of course I do.."
She looked up at him in surprise. "Really?"
"Yes," Ryuu nodded. "I mean, we probably won't be able to meet often, but the Hidden Leaf isn't too far away, probably even less by flying. If you ever need help, or feel like visiting and have permission to, you can visit me there. If I'm not on a mission I'll definitely hang out with you."
Fu smiled widely again, picking him up in yet another flying, painful, spinning hug, Ryuu hugging her back this time. Finally, she set him down and stepped back, smiling. Then, she looked past him and sighed.
"I can hear your friends calling," she said. "You'd better go."
Ryuu nodded and said goodbye before returning to the outside of the tree, climbing back down to the others.
"What were you doing up there?" Shino asked.
"I thought I saw something," Ryuu said, noticing Hinata trying to hide a grin.
"Well, anyway, we should probably get back with these two and let Kurenai Sensei know what happened," Kiba said.
Ryuu felt his good mood vanish instantly as he remembered what had happened and he nodded. Then, he and Kiba both picked up one of the two shinobi and they began to walk back.
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