I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Home Again
Ryuu drummed his fingers on the table, watching as Suigetsu ate his fifteenth yogurt. He understood Suigetsu hadn't eaten literally anything in almost a year, but he also didn't feel the need to spend two hours sitting in a diner so that Suigetsu could eat nothing but yogurt. He also wasn't sure exactly how it had taken two hours.
"Would you stop drumming please?" Karin finally asked.
"That depends," Ryuu said. "Is Suigetsu ready to stop waisting my time?"
"What's the rush?" Suigetsu asked, raising another spoonful to his mouth.
"If I don't get back to Konoha soon, Orochimaru is going to kill the love of my life," Ryuu snarled.
Suigetsu froze, staring at Ryuu before setting his spoon down and pulling out some money he had won from a local in a bet. "Okay, we can go now."
Ryuu sighed, standing and hurrying out the door, the others following. They all headed to the bridge that connected the island nation to the mainland, and found a pair of graves beside it, a massive, rusted, moss-covered sword stabbed into the ground beside it. Suigetsu ripped the sword out of the ground and grinned.
"Got it," Suigetsu smiled, pulling the moss off. "That's just disrespectful. Oh well. I'll clean it later. We got places to be and chicks to save, right?"
"Yeah," Ryuu growled. "Let's go. Try to keep up."
Ryuu took off at a run, the others following after him, Ryuu managing to hold his speed down to a level they could keep up with. They blew past travelers, villages, even a bandit ambush, which Suigetsu quickly took out with his new sword, which Ryuu noticed was distinctly free of rust after the fight, and continued on toward Konoha. The sun set, rose, then set again. Then, finally, as it was beginning to rise again, Ryuu slowed to a stop, falling onto his knees in front of the gate. The Chunin beside the gate, Kotetsu Ryuu thought he had been named, stared at him in confusion for several long seconds. He had good reason to. Over the last year and a half, Ryuu had been malnourished, hadn't had a single haircut, and hadn't slept well once. He had dark circles under his eyes that probably rivaled Gaara's, his hair reached to his waist, and he was thin. Not to mention, he was wearing rags still.
"Can I help you?" Kotetsu asked.
"Myself and my friend are both from here, and have come home after a very long time away," Kabuto said. "These two would like to move here."
"I see," Kotetsu said, still watching Ryuu, who was silent but had tears running down his cheeks. "Uh, yeah. I've got some paperwork for you all to fill out."
"Oh you don't need to signal any ANBU or jonin," Kabuto smiled, knowing that the thing Kotetsu was reaching for first was a sealing tag that would attract a lot of attention. "They'll be here momentarily anyway."
Kotetsu stared at him, and sure enough, less than thirty seconds later, Fu, Tayuya, Yugao, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kakashi all landed in front of the gate, staring. Ryuu looked up, staring at Fu, who had tears of her own running down her face instantly.
"Ryuu!" Fu cried, sprinting forward.
"Fu," Ryuu breathed, standing in time for Fu to tackle him again anyway.
He managed to sit up, tucking his face into her hair as he sobbed, Fu sobbing into his chest, sounding more heartbroken than happy. Ryuu forced his fears away, focusing on his joy at being home, and at being able to hold Fu again. A moment later, Yugao was beside him, also crying as she wrapped her arms around Ryuu. Ryuu sensed others showing up. Hinata, Neji, Choji, Kiba and Akamaru, Sai, Shin. All of Ryuu's old friends had arrived within minutes, all staring at him in disbelief. Finally, Sado raised his head, drying his eyes and forcing a smile. The others all began to cheer and shout, running forward and all trying to welcome him home at the same time. Finally, Kakashi stepped forward, clearing his throat. The others all stepped back, except for Fu, who remained where she was, still sobbing into his chest.
"Ryuu, Kabuto," Kakashi said. "I think you should go and see Tsunade. She'll want to know what happened."
Ryuu nodded, standing with Fu only to feel his strength leave him. His legs buckled and he fell back to his knees, eyes fluttering. Sakura rushed over, beginning to scan him with her Medical Ninjutsu. Finally, she sighed.
"You've been running on empty for days, haven't you?" Sakura asked.
Ryuu's mind flashed to his fight with Max, but he forced those memories out of his mind before he could start sobbing again. He nodded.
"Fu, can you carry him to Tsunade?" Sakura asked.
Fu managed to finally get herself under control, nodding and wiping her eyes, picking him up and extending her wings, flying to the Hokage's office in silence. Finally, they reached the office and Fu knocked with her foot. After a moment, the door opened, Koharu Utatane staring at her, then at Fu. Tsunade leaned tot he side, looking around Koharu and staring at Ryuu. He looked over at her, activating his Sharingan and Tsunade gasped harshly
"Get out!" Tsunade snapped, both Village Elders staring at her. "Get out now!"
They left and Fu walked in with Ryuu, Kabuto stepping in just after her and closing the door, locking it and ignoring Koharu and Homura's shouting.
"Shut up!" Tsunade yelled. "I'll deal with it myself!"
They went silent and Tsunade stood, rushing over to Ryuu and taking him from Fu, laying him on her desk and beginning to scan him herself. After several moments, she began to transfer him a bit of chakra, Ryuu feeling his strength returning. Finally, she stepped back and he sat up, nodding.
"Thank you," Ryuu said.
"What happened?" Tsunade demanded. "Everything. I need to know everything."
Ryuu remained silent for a long time before standing and walking to the door, placing a silencing seal on it. Tsunade turned, closing the blinds and Ryuu sat down in one of the chairs, resting his face in his hands and letting the memories all flood his mind at once.
"I was fighting Mhao, again," Ryuu said. "And Zetsu, a member of the Akatsuki that has two personalities, White and Black Zetsu, the two halves of his body, was there too. He wielded Wood Style Ninjutsu, and he was able to place clones inside of me as spores, that then grew by absorbing my chakra."
"Okay," Tsunade nodded. "After you were captured, what happened."
"I..." Ryuu trailed off, tears running down his cheeks, though he was able to keep from sobbing. "I was taken to a hideout where there was an arena. I was forced to fight other Kekkei Genkai wielders so that they could study my Sharingan's abilities. After every fight, Kabuto took tissue samples from my eyes to study. Every time I killed the opponents, I was allowed to stay in a room with beds, a shower, and actual food. But, if I hadn't killed them, they'd have taken my eyes and killed me."
"How many?" Tsunade asked.
Ryuu shook his head. "Then...I killed them."
"Who?" Tsunade asked.
"Max and Lena," Ryuu said, voice breaking. "My friends. I killed them both."
"No," Kabuto said. "Orochimaru killed Lena. He knew she was important to you so he placed a remote activation seal to cause her death."
"It was my fault," Ryuu said. "I was supposed to protect her. That was why Max let me win. I was supposed to protect Lena. But I failed."
Fu wrapped her arms around him as he began to sob, Ryuu tucking his face into her shoulder. Tsunade sighed, pouring herself a cup of sake and drinking it.
"After that, since Ryuu had tried to break out, and almost succeeded, Orochimaru ordered his eyes removed," Kabuto said. "So I broke him out. On the way, we rescued Suigetsu Hozuki. Then, we stopped by a separate hideout and picked up Karin Uzumaki before destroying the hideout, picked up Zabuza Momochi's sword for Suigetsu, and returned here."
Tsunade nodded. "And you're sure neither is loyal to Orochimaru?"
"Positive," Kabuto nodded.
"Okay," Tsunade nodded. "My turn. Firstly, Naruto Uzumaki is away on a training trip with Jiraiya. Secondly, the Akatsuki haven't been seen except for small sightings since you were taken, though, I have a feeling they'll begin to make their move soon. Next, when you were taken, Mhao's body was recovered by Kakashi and Fu."
Ryuu looked up at her, wiping his eyes. "It what?"
"We studied it extensively, and we discovered that it's a creation of Orochimaru's," Tsunade said.
"That's right," Kabuto nodded. "I was going to tell you later, after you'd had time to settle and get things settled. Mhao is a Homunculus. An artificial being created by Orochimaru's experiments. Except, Orochimaru stopped those experiments nearly five years ago now. Orochimaru's best guess is that Mhao was created by a surviving creation from the original experiment, or maybe each time Mhao is created, he recreates himself before he leaves, improving and perfecting on his own design."
"Then we need to stop that," Tsunade said. "Do you know where these experiments were conducted?"
"I do," Kabuto nodded. "There were two locations. One, was beneath the Hidden Leaf Village itself, in the facilities currently used by Danzo's Foundation."
"Why am I not surprised?" Tsunade growled. "And the other?"
"A hideout to the North West of here, near the Hidden Grass Village," Kabuto said. "For obvious reasons, I believe you should check Danzo's hideout first."
Tsunade nodded. "What else can you tell us?"
"Not much," Kabuto said. "As I said, the experiments were stopped roughly five years ago."
Tsunade nodded. "I'll inform the village of the true nature of your work for Orochimaru. You'll be reinstated as a Chunin, or as an ANBU, if you would prefer."
"I'll take the ANBU route," Kabuto said. "And if you would allow it, I'd like to take Team Rho to investigate Danzo's hideout. I'm familiar with the layout, and I know roughly where the experiments were."
"As you wish," Tsunade nodded. "Ryuu, as of right now, you're being placed on medical suspension until you've recovered fully. Your status as a Shinobi will be reinstated once you're better."
Ryuu nodded and stood, Fu keeping her arms around him to help him support his weight as much as for the sake of holding him. He and Fu left the room, Kabuto and Tsunade moving to the roof. Tsunade summoned every shinobi in the village, minutes Ryuu and Fu, and explained everything about Kabuto. The fact that he had been in deep cover for Orochimaru, the fact that he had swapped sides and become their own deep cover agent, and the fact that he had helped destroy two of Orochimaru's hideouts and rescued Ryuu Uchiha, returning to the village to rejoin it. The news was met with largely disbelieving responses, but Tsunade told them that it wasn't up to them. So, Kabuto was placed in Team Rho of the ANBU Black Ops and sent to Danzo's hideout, leading the team to where Orochimaru had once worked.
Ryuu opened the door to his house, walking in and up the stairs to his bedroom, finding everything exactly the way he had left it. Fu set him on the bed, then rushed out of the room, coming back a moment later with his tanto, trench knife, and necklace.
"You...you kept them?" Ryuu breathed.
"Of course," Fu smiled. "They belong to you. Why would I ever do anything else?"
Ryuu felt his heart break a little as his fears returned. It was stupid. He knew Fu. He knew she had waited. But still, the fear remained.
"I...I waited for you," Fu said, struggling not to cry. "I waited for you for so long. There was a funeral, and everyone tried to tell me you were gone, but I knew you were alive! I knew you would come home someday!"
He wrapped his arms around her. "You really waited all this time for me? You didn't even know if I was alive."
"I did, though," Fu smiled. "I could feel it."
"She's telling the truth," Yugao said from the doorway. "When we held the funeral, she wouldn't go anywhere near it. Then after, she used a kunai to scratch your name out. When she was arrested for it, she just kept screaming that you weren't dead. Eventually, we had to put her under house arrest to keep her from looking for you."
Ryuu smiled, resting his chin on Fu's head and smiling, feeling as though a million pounds had lifted off of his heart. He felt foolish for ever having been afraid of her moving on. Yugao smiled and turned, closing the door and walking away. Ryuu lay back, pulling the covers over himself and Fu before almost instantly passing out.
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