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

Idate

Ryuu sat at the table in silence, sipping at his tea. Fu was talking to him about things she thought they should work on in training, more ninjutsu without his Sharingan, Taijutsu, basic speed, and also about ideas for how to make him fly. And he was listening, even if he wasn't actively participating. He was just busy staring at the only other person in the tea shop, who wasn't working there, over her shoulder. The shop was where they were supposed to meet the runner for the race, who would then lead them back to the family hiring them. Except, the runner supposedly hadn't shown up. Ryuu smirked. The runner clearly didn't like shinobi, since he was neglecting his job of meeting them in favor of using a folding knife to whittle at a thin stick and sipping at tea.

He had brown hair in a messy ponytail, black shorts, a dark grey cloak, a wide, flat, straw hat sitting on the table in front of him, a tan fanny pack, a black vest over a three-quarter-sleeved white tee-shirt, off-white leg warmers, black sandals, and an annoyed expression. Finally, he stood, walking toward them.

"Just lounging around in the shade and sipping down tea?" he said. "Man, the shinobi life sure is cushy. You must not see much action in the Hidden Leaf Village."

"More than a race-runner for a noble family would," Ryuu said.

"Not bad, you're sharper than you look," the guy smirked before turning to Fu. "Hello Beautiful. I hope you know I wasn't insulting you. I only meant this lazy slob."

Ryuu smirked as he noticed the irritated light in Fu's eye.

"My name's Idate Morino," the guy smiled, looking fairly charming despite clearly being a cocky prick. "What's your name?"

"Fu," Fu said pleasantly, offering her hand.

Ryuu fought to hold back a smirk as Idate made the mistake of giving her his. Then, she squeezed, Idate shrieking in pain as she literally crushed his bones. Then, her hand glowed green, his hand repairing itself before she released him, Idate leaping away from her, his stance instantly betraying his ninja training.

"So, you're a washout ninja, huh?" Ryuu asked. "Going by your last name, you'd be related to Ibiki Morino, so you're from Konoha. Let me guess, you failed the Chunin Exams and were told you could never be a chunin, so you ran away, right?"

Idate stared at him in shock. "You know Ibiki?"

"He was the proctor of my Chunin Exam's first stage," Ryuu said.

"Oh, so you failed too, huh?" Idate asked.

"Nope," Ryuu said. "I passed with flying colors. It was easy."

"Excuse me?" Idate snarled. "My brother...passed you? You? Well that's just great. I'm glad you guys are such great friends."

"Friends?" Ryuu snorted. "Have you met Ibiki? That man has no friends. That man has torture toys."

Idate snarled angrily. "You don't know anything! You can't judge me!"

"Okay, fine," Ryuu said. "I won't judge you, if you don't hit on Fu again. Deal?"

Idate blinked in surprise. "What, that's it? That's the only thing you have a problem with is me hitting on your friend?"

"Girlfriend," Fu corrected.

"Oh I see," Idate smirked. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm going to wait outside."

Ryuu sighed, he and Fu taking a sip of their tea before looking back, seeing that Idate was gone. Ryuu stood, looking out the window and seeing the speck that was Idate disappearing down a trail into the woods in the distance. He smirked.

"Fast kid," Ryuu said. "Ma'am, the money's on the table. We gotta get going."

He and Fu stepped outside, sprinting down the trail after Idate. After about two minutes, they caught up with him as he finished a spectacular trip, crashing to the ground, his folding knife getting stuck in a hollow spot on a tree. Ryuu grabbed it before landing beside Idate.

"Hello again," Ryuu said. "Need a hand?"

Idate slapped his hand away, pushing himself up. Ryuu held out the knife and Idate snatched it away instantly.

"Hands off!" Idate shouted. "This belongs to me!"

He tucked it into his shirt before kneeling and unclipping the leg warmers around his legs, holding them up to reveal them as weights. Ryuu released a bark of laughter.

"On your mark," Idate said, Ryuu crouching and preparing to sprint, Fu doing the same. "Get set...go!"

He dropped the weights, the weights cratering the ground and Ryuu and Fu were off like a shot, each grabbing a weight and slinging them over their shoulders, seeing Idate in the distance, getting away. Ryuu smirked, pushing himself faster, enjoying the challenge of actually struggling to keep up with someone other than Lee or Fu. However, by the time they had reached the Wasabi family's estate, they were still a hundred meters behind him. They slowed to a stop, panting, and Idate smirked at them.

"If that's all you've got, you're going to be useless during the race," Idate smirked.

"Relax," Ryuu said. "You're not the only one who uses weights."

Idate huffed, taking his weights back from Ryuu and Fu and walking inside, Ryuu and Fu following, Idate leading them to Jirocho Wasabi, leader of the Wasabi family, and the man who had hired them.

"Welcome," Jirocho greeted them. "My name is Jirocho. I'm grateful that you accepted my request."

"Of course," Ryuu nodded. "We'd be...honored to escort Idate."

"I know he can be a bit abrasive, but this race really is important to our family," Jirocho said. "And from our reports, the Wagarashi family, our main rivals, have also hired shinobi to escort their runner, and to stop Idate from finishing, by any means necessary."

"Understood," Ryuu nodded. "We'll handle them."

Jirocho nodded. "The race begins at sunrise tomorrow. Please rest here for tonight."

"We'd be honored," Ryuu bowed.

Jirocho motioned to Idate who nodded and led them away. Ryuu and Fu followed Idate until they reached the room they'd be staying in. Then, they both changed into pajamas and lay down, Ryuu pulling the blanket up over them, both drifting off to sleep.

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