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Defeat

Ryuu watched the trees silently. He and Fu were on rear security while they tried to get the princes off the island. Suddenly, three shinobi leapt out of the trees, one of them, who looked like a young girl, hurled a kunai with an explosive tag.

"Bomb!" Fu shouted.

Ryuu whistled as the others scattered and a falcon shot out of the trees, using its talons to cut the cord holding the paper bomb to the kunai, then flew away. The kunai hit harmlessly and the tag exploded, spreading pink smoke through the air rapidly. Everyone leapt away from the smoke, Ryuu and Fu bringing Michiru with them. Once they were at a safe distance, they set Michiru on one of the canoes that were supposed to take him and Hikaru to a ship waiting to take them to safety. Then, they returned to the others, turning to face the three shinobi.

"Well hello there," one of the three, a man with purple sleeves extending from under a white vest, long messy orange hair, and a blank forehead protector matching the other two's, greeted. "You're pretty quick."

"Thank you," Ryuu said. "And you're pretty cocky."

The man grinned. "Hand over the prince and his son."

"Yeah like that'll ever happen," Naruto growled.

"Aren't you the spunky one," the man grinned, appearing behind Naruto and slamming a palm strike into him, launching him across the sand.

Then, as Naruto stood, he appeared in front of him again, beginning to pummel Naruto backward rapidly. Naruto flipped, kicking and punching at him before drawing a kunai and slashing rapidly, nothing coming close to the ninja.

"What's wrong?" the man asked. "What are you swinging at?"

He slammed a knee into Naruto's gut then punched him, launching him backward again before leaping over Ryuu's tanto. As he landed, Ryuu spun, exhaling a massive fireball at him, only for him to dodge around it.

"You might actually present a challenge," the man grinned. "What's your name?"

"Ryuu Uchiha," Ryuu said.

"My name's Ishidate," the man grinned. "Shall we see if you're as good as you name suggests?"

"No," Ryuu said just as Fu's foot slammed into the man's head, blasting him sideways into a cliff.

He dropped to the ground, pushing himself up and snarling with rage. Then, he appeared beside Fu, grabbing her by the head and slamming her into the ground. Except, glowing red lines covered her body instantly, spreading from a glowing eye on his hand. Then, in the blink of an eye, Fu was encased in stone. Ryuu roared in rage, flames spewing from his mouth and forcing Ishidate to leap away from Fu. In an instant, Sakura was beside them, beginning to work on saving Fu instantly. As she did, Ryuu charged after Ishidate, only to be intercepted by the girl, who Sakura had been fighting earlier. She was fast, using a kunai and her speed to her advantage, but Ryuu was not in the mood to play around. Kakashi moved to face Ishidate in Ryuu's stead and Ryuu allowed the girl to stab him, catching her wrist, making her eyes widen in shock.

"You think slowed reaction time guarantees you a win?" Ryuu snarled. "Think again."

He slashed downward at her and she shrieked in fear and pain, breaking her own hand to escape death. Instead, she received a gash in her right shoulder. Then, she flipped backward, landing beside a ring of soldiers on horseback, who had surrounded Michiru. Ryuu stepped forward only for the biggest of the three enemy shinobi to appear beside him, slamming a kick into his face and launching him out to sea. As he surfaced, he looked toward the shore, seeing Naruto kick the largest of the three shinobi, who had been flying across the water, and send him crashing to shore. Ryuu pushed himself out of the water, activating his Sharingan. If they wanted to fight dirty, so would he.

Before he could, however, cherry blossom petals began to swirl around him. He smirked, Sharingan easily watching the girl shooting around and around him, kunai in hand. She darted in to slash him and he spun, tripping her then spinning again and slamming his foot into her gut, blasting her backward. She crashed down on the beach, bouncing once before flipping to her feet, staring at him in shock.

"That's impossible!" she shouted. "No one can see me move at that speed!"

"I just did," Ryuu snarled, his hand lighting up with electricity. "Want to try again?"

"That's enough," Ishidate said. "Kongo, Karenbana, we're leaving."

"Right," Kongo, the larger one, nodded.

"Okay," Karenbana nodded.

Then, the three of them were gone, the soldiers taking off with Michiru dragging along behind them, now with a cloth binding him completely. Ryuu spun, using the Body Flicker Technique to reach Fu, kneeling beside Sakura and staring down at his petrified girlfriend.

"Well?" Ryuu asked.

"Don't worry," Sakura said. "I can save her."

Ryuu nodded, no less worried. But, as he watched Sakura work over the next few minutes, the stone slowly receded over Fu's body before disappearing entirely. Finally, Sakura's hands stopped glowing and she set Fu on her back, feeling for a pulse before sighing, a small, tired smile spreading over her face.

"Done," Sakura said. "She'll be fine now."

Ryuu nodded, taking Fu's hand and showing no sign that he intended to move. While he sat there, Sakura moved to treat Kakashi's arm. Finally, Fu stirred, eyes opening. She smiled tiredly up at him and he smiled back, wiping the tears from his cheeks. Fu reached up, cupping his cheek and weakly pulling. Ryuu bent down, kissing her. After a moment, he pulled back, pulling her up with him, holding her against himself.

"I thought I lost you," Ryuu said.

"Never," Fu said. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Ryuu smiled, resting his chin on top of her head, closing his eyes and enjoying the knowledge that she was alive. They stayed like that for hours before anyone tried to bother them. When they did, it was long past sunrise. Finally, Sakura walked over.

"It's time to go," Sakura said. "We have to save Michiru."

Ryuu nodded, standing and setting Fu on her feet, Fu leaning on him for support, still weak from nearly dying. He looked around, seeing that the remaining guards, Captain Korega having been petrified and shattered by Ishidate apparently, were gathered, along with Team Kakashi, the entirety of the circus and their animals, and Hikaru.

"We're going to have the circus help us sneak in," Kakashi said as Ryuu and Fu reached them. "Then, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and you, Ryuu, will be going inside to deal with the shinobi and make sure prince Michiru is saved. Fu, you'll be sitting this one out."

"I'll be fine," Fu said.

"He's right, Fu," Ryuu said. "Stay out of this fight. There's more than enough of us to deal with this. You just need to worry about resting."

Fu was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Okay," Kakashi said. "Here's the plan."

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