I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

New Home

Ryuu crouched, eyes roving over Fu's posture, the tautness of her muscles, the position of her hands and feet, the way her eyes scanned over his own body similarly. Then, they were both off like a shot. Training with gravity seals the last three days of his one week to train had done wonders for his speed. Unfortunately, the same was true for Fu. She was wearing a seal that tripled her weight. He was wearing one that doubled it. Both were moving roughly Ryuu's normal speed, an impressive feet on his part, even though Fu was still holding back. She had successfully beaten him with five times her normal weight already. Her body also naturally healed from the damage done to her muscles by their ridiculously vigorous training overnight thanks to Chomei, while Ryuu relied on Fu healing him before they went to bed.

Fu threw a roundhouse kick at Ryuu and he ducked under it, standing and throwing several punches, Fu deflecting them all before throwing her own. He ducked under it, standing with an uppercut, Fu leaning back out of the way before flipping backward, slamming her foot into the underside of his jaw and launching him into the air. He flipped, grinning before sending himself shooting downward with a Gale Palme, holding the other fist out.

"Hidden Waterfall Hurricane!" Ryuu shouted, streaking down at Fu.

Fu shot out of the way, barely escaping the concussion of the impact, Ryuu blasting a crater into the ground. He stood, dusting himself off and grinned as Fu watched him from the edge of the crater, also grinning.

"Impressive," Fu grinned. "In place of being able to fly for momentum, you used a Gale Palm to the same effect. Not bad. You learn fast."

"I have an excellent teacher, and an excellent training partner," Ryuu grinned.

Just then, the clone that was training with Yugao released itself, Ryuu gritting his teeth at the initial headache before grinning. His clone had finally mastered learning to sense chakra. Then, his other clone released itself, Ryuu having to place a hand to his head this time. That clone had been training in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Fuinjutsu. He had learned a few. Nothing overly amazing, but still more than he had known before.

"You almost done over there Kabuto?" Ryuu asked, looking to Kabuto and his last clone.

"Almost," Kabuto nodded, smirking. "You're remarkably quick when it comes to learning Medical Ninjutsu."

"I'm glad," Ryuu nodded as the clone's chakra ran out and it burst into a cloud of smoke, Ryuu gritting his teeth as sweat beaded on his forehead. "Not bad. You're a pretty good teacher. Thanks for the Chakra Scalpel training too."

"I figured you'd find a good use for it," Kabuto said. "After all, it's hard to fight to the death if your limbs no longer respond."

Ryuu nodded and turned back to Fu, straightening up and stretching his back out, suddenly feeling as though he had been awake for days. "Let's take a break. I'm exhausted now."

Fu nodded, Ryuu walking to a tree and sitting down heavily, Fu sitting beside him.

"I should get back to work," Kabuto said. "See you at the exams."

"Kabuto," Ryuu said. "Have you made a decision yet?"

"You'll be the first to know," Kabuto promised before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"What decision?" Fu asked.

"A hard one," Ryuu said. "One I'm not sure I'd be able to make."

"That's very specific," Fu snorted, rolling her eyes.

Ryuu chuckled, resting his chin on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her waist. She smiled, cuddling into him as Yugao stood off to the side in silence. Ryuu looked over just as a tear slipped out from under her mask, nearly invisible as it was almost instantly caught and absorbed by her hair.

"Master, are you alright?" Ryuu asked, slipping out from under Fu, who looked at the ANBU worriedly.

Yugao opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a strangled sob. She fell to her knees, hugging herself as her will broke and she began to sob, mask falling off. Ryuu knelt instantly, pulling her into a hug, bewildered and confused, but knowing it had to be something horrible to break Yugao. After almost a half hour, Yugao began to sob out words, but the only thing Ryuu understood was "Hayate." It was enough, though. He understood. Hayate was dead.

"Yugao...I'm so sorry," Ryuu said, holding her tighter, letting her sob into his chest.

Yugao seemed to only sob harder as a result. Fu knelt on her other side, also hugging her, Yugao wrapping an arm around her as well. Finally, after well over an hour, Yugao managed to calm herself and stared at her mask.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Yugao said. "Every time I see my sword, I think of him. It's hard to fight now. And I can't go home, either. Everything there..."

"You won't have to," Ryuu said, Yugao looking up at him, confused. "I've been saving my money. I finally have enough to buy a house. And I can pay in full with cash so there won't be payments."

"When did you do enough missions for that kind of money?" Yugao blinked.

Ryuu laughed, shaking his head. "The missions I did sped it up, but it was the monthly allowance Lord Hokage gave me and Sasuke to help us pay rent that I saved up. Sasuke was able to cover the rent himself with his mission pay, saving up his own allowance to buy a house of his own as well."

"I see," Yugao smiled. "The Hokage doesn't know does he?"

"Nope," Ryuu grinned. "He thinks we're barely scraping by."

Yugao smiled and nodded, pulling her mask on and standing. "Okay. I have to go and take care of some things. Why don't you two go start shopping and I'll find you later?"

"Oh I've already got everything set up," Ryuu said. "I just have to pay the owner and move my stuff. How about we meet up at me and Sasuke's apartment when you're done?"

Yugao nodded and left and Ryuu turned to Fu, smiling.

"Ready to go see our new house?" Ryuu asked.

Fu smiled and nodded, crouching into a running stance. Ryuu chuckled, sliding his right foot back, both hands on the ground. Then, they both took off, sprinting through the trees toward the village.

Ryuu sighed as he sealed the last of his belongings into one of his dozen storage scrolls, setting it with the others just as there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Yugao waiting, now wearing civilian clothes.

"Am I late?" Yugao asked.

"Just finished sealing the last of my stuff," Ryuu said. "Now we just have to carry the scrolls to the new house. They're sorted already, one scroll to a room, plus one scroll with all of Fu's stuff. Mind giving us a hand?"

Yugao nodded, walking into the apartment, Ryuu passing her four scrolls before picking up four as well, Fu picking up the last four. They carried them out of the apartment and down the street, walking to the new house and setting them in the living room. Yugao stared around in wonder.

"How did you afford this?" Yugao asked, eyes wide as she stared at the inside of the living room, then out at the back yard.

It was huge. The backyard was about a third the size of the Third Training Ground's field, and the ouse was just as big around, plus two stories. Upstairs was the master bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a private bathroom with a bathtub three feet wide and four feet long as deep as Ryuu's armpits, a walk-in shower with a frosted glass door, a toilet, and a urinal. Down the hall from the master bedroom there was a guest bedroom that was only slightly smaller than the master bedroom and that had a private bathroom with a toilet, shower, and bathtub. Across the hall from that bedroom was a library with empty bookcases. The last door opened onto a balcony overlooking the backyard and facing West. Downstairs, there was a second master bedroom, just in case the first wasn't enough. It and its bathroom were exactly the same as the one upstairs. Across the hall from the downstairs bedroom was the living room, where the stairs and a sliding glass door to the back yard were located, and a door through the living room led to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, there was an island counter with a pan rack hanging above it, a double sink, two ovens, one refrigerator and a full-size vertical freezer beside it, and more cabinet space than Sasuke and Ryuu's apartment had had closet space as a whole. Down the hall from the living room and the downstairs bedroom was a spar bathroom with a toilet, a tub and shower together, and a small closet. Down the hall from there was a stairway leading to the basement. Past that door was the entryway. the basement was about twenty feet high and made with stone, including the ceiling. Ryuu had already reinforced all of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor with seals to protect it from any sort of damage, since the basement was going to be the training room. It was about a sixty meters by a hundred meters. the stairs led down into it along a side wall and on the end wall furthest from the stairs, there was a large metal door with an intricate seal placed on the face and a large tumbler handle like on a bank safe.

"Who owned this house?" Yugao gaped, staring at the metal door.

"Some very paranoid shinobi," Ryuu said, resting a hand against the door, the seal shining before the handle spun with a deep groan.

He pulled it open and Yugao and Fu stared at the assortment of weapons and flak jackets inside. Some were from the Hidden Stone, some from the Hidden Sand, some from the Hidden Mist, the Hidden Rain, the Hidden Leaf, the Hidden Waterfall, the Hidden Grass. The flak jackets were from all different eras, as well. There was even a set of samurai-style armor from the Warring States Period. What caught Yugao's attention though, were the complete set of ANBU uniform, the Foundation uniform, and the Konoha Police Force uniform.

"You didn't just stumble on this place, did you?" Yugao asked.

"No," Ryuu said. "My brother bought it under an alias, then left it for me when he died. Lord Hokage recently told me about it."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" Yugao asked.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Ryuu said. "If I had told you it was my brother's, you'd have expected some stuff like this."

"Maybe not that thorough," Yugao said, still staring at the uniforms.

"Well, yeah, that's a bit of a surprise," Ryuu nodded. "Apparently my brother was interested in old uniforms." He shrugged, turning and walking back toward the stairs. "Come on. You need to see the back yard too."

Yugao nodded, closing the vault and watching as the handle spun back into its locked position, the seal's glow fading. Then, she and Fu followed Naruto out to the back yard. Outside, the yard was filled with lush green grass, ringed by a line of trees for privacy, and had a building nestled in the corner. When they reached the building, Yugao stared at the private hot spring. It was as big as the resort hot spring a little ways away from the village, and the building had a changing room for men and women. There was also a divider that could be lowered over the hot spring if desired.

"Your house is SO HUGE! ! !" Yugao shouted. "What the hell!?"

Ryuu laughed as Fu stared at the hot spring longingly. "Go for it."

Fu cheered, speeding into the changing room while Ryuu left the building with Yugao so she could have privacy without having to worry about the divider.

"This place...it's...amazing!" Yugao breathed.

"Thanks," Ryuu smiled. "Mind helping me unpack?"

Yugao nodded and the pair went to work, Ryuu handing her scrolls and telling her where to unseal them. Then, they would take them there, unseal them, and Ryuu and his clones would proceed to arrange everything. After a bit, they had finished, Ryuu keeping a scroll with spare furniture in the library with his jutsu scrolls, then heading down to the basement, looking around thoughtfully.

"Where does this end above ground?" Yugao asked.

"I measured it out and the safe's far wall is directly under the furthest point of the back yard," Ryuu said. "The house and yard are a perfect match to the basement and safe for length and the basement's a little thinner for width."

"That's amazing," Yugao breathed. "I'm so jealous."

"Why?" Ryuu asked. "This is your house too. Remember?"

Yugao stared at him. "You mean it? You'd let me live here?"

"Of course," Ryuu smiled. "This house is too big for me to live alone, and you need a place to stay."

Yugao hugged him and he laughed, hugging her back.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and place protective seals on all of the walls and furniture so Fu doesn't break anything."

Yugao laughed and nodded, going with him to help.

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