I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Runaway Student
Ryuu watched Utakata in silence. On the way back, Hotaru had collapsed and developed a fever, and Utakata had tended to her. However, in the process, apparently, Naruto had stumbled upon a secret they weren't supposed to know. Naruto had told Ryuu that the Tsuchigumo Clan's Forbidden Jutsu had been engraved onto Hotaru's back, essentially turning her into the jutsu's vessel. Naruto had also told Ryuu that Utakata was as disgusted by it as Naruto was. Ryuu walked over to Utakata and stopped, sighing.
"You weren't given a choice originally, were you?" Ryuu asked.
"Is anyone?" Utakata asked.
"Not usually," Ryuu said. "But Fu accepted it, and is now friends with Chomei, the Seven-tails. And I chose to become the Three-tails' Jinchuriki."
"You chose to?" Utakata asked. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Because he asked me to," Ryuu said. "He had to leave almost all of his chakra behind, along with his physical body, so he's more or less comatose most of the time while he tries to rebuild his chakra. However, in the end, yes. I chose to become a Jinchuriki. And it's not too late for you to choose."
"Why would I want that?" Utakata asked.
"Because whether you accept it or not, you're a Jinchuriki until the day you die," Ryuu said. "You hate your former master as much as you hate being a Jinchuriki, so if I had to guess, your Master tried to extract your Tailed Beast, and then it killed him. You got blamed and fled the village. Sound about right?"
"How did you know that?" Utakata asked.
"I'm pretty good at figuring people out," Ryuu said. "The Hidden Mist only recently got around to studying the Tailed Beasts. Something they recently learned is that extracting one kills the Jinchuriki. I wasn't there, but if I had to guess, I'd say that your master wanted to end your suffering by freeing you of the burden of being a Jinchuriki, not knowing that removing it would be both unbearably painful, and also that it would kill you. He never meant to hurt you, he merely wanted to save you. But your Tailed Beast, obviously, didn't want to be pulled out of you, so it defended you, and your master was killed."
"Why would it defend me!?" Utakata asked.
"Maybe it wants to work with you," Ryuu said. "Or maybe it simply didn't want to lose its Jinchuriki. Either way, it did."
"You're wrong!" Utakata snapped. "My master was trying to kill me!"
Ryuu sighed. "Just try to remember fully. Don't run from the memories. The more you try not to look, the less you see."
"Ryuu, can I steal you for a minute?" Fu asked.
"Of course," Ryuu smiled, taking her hand and following her away from the others, over to a small garden. "What's up?"
Fu frowned, staring at the ground as she chose her words carefully, hands fidgeting in front of her. "I threw up again the morning after you left, and this morning too."
Ryuu's eyes widened, worry setting in instantly, but before he could speak, Fu held up a hand.
"Hinata...Hinata thinks I might be pregnant," Fu said. "She thinks it's morning sickness, and she says there's some of your chakra inside of me, mixing with mine, which apparently only happens when a girl gets pregnant."
Ryuu blinked slowly, staring at her in surprise for a long moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but found he wasn't sure what to say. Fu glanced up at him worriedly, and he realized that she was afraid.
"Are...Are you afraid?" Ryuu asked.
Fu shook her head, eyes watering as she smiled. "I'm happy. I'm really happy. I want to have a family with you. But only if you want to, and only when you're ready."
Ryuu nodded, smiling, eyes softening as he took her hands. "There is nothing in this world that I want more than to have a family with you, Fu. And whether we're ready or not, if you're pregnant, I'll love our child just the same."
Fu smiled and nodded, stepping forward and kissing him. Ryuu sighed, kissing her back, keeping her hands in hers. After a few minutes, Fu finally pulled back, resting her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and smiling as they wrapped their arms around each other, Ryuu twisting gently as he held her.
"How long would it have been?" Ryuu asked. "Isn't morning sickness usually four weeks along?"
"Well, we're both Jinchuriki," Fu said. "It might have changed the length of the pregnancy a bit. It probably shortened it, which means that we should have been more careful when I realized it was Chomei's mating season."
Ryuu smiled. "It's alright. I don't regret anything. I just hope my Hashirama Cells don't affect it any."
Fu nodded. "I'm going to have Tsunade see if Hinata's right, and also make sure there aren't any complications."
Ryuu nodded. "Well, I suppose that means you know what I've got to do now, right?"
"What?" Fu asked as he pulled back, only to clap her hands to her mouth as he knelt, a small black box appearing in his right hand in a cloud of smoke.
He opened it and she stared at the ring inside, lifting it out of the box to get a closer look at it. It was a thin ring designed for the diamonds to look like webbing twisting into a quarter-inch-thick ring, the diamonds continuing all the way around the wearer's finger, and when she held it close to her eye, she could se seal script running through the webbing.
"Fu, will you marry me?" Ryuu asked.
"Yes!" Fu cried happily, pulling the ring on, the ring perfectly sized for her, and throwing her arms around his neck, kissing him as he spun her around once, then set her on her feet.
"The seals are to keep it from ever chipping, tarnishing, or breaking, a summoning seal to let you summon it back to your finger if you ever misplace it, and one seal that will allow me to sense if you're ever in danger," Ryuu said. "You can either feed it chakra to activate it, or it'll activate automatically if your chakra either falls to a dangerous level, or you're wounded or knocked unconscious. It'll sort of warn me that you're in danger while also giving me a sort of glimpse of what's going on around you."
Fu smiled, kissing him again. "You think of everything."
"Whatever it takes to keep you safe," Ryuu smiled.
Fu hugged him before pulling away and slipping her hand into his. "We should get back."
Ryuu nodded, smiling, and they turned, heading back toward the others. As soon as they arrived, Hinata noticed Fu's ring and hugged her, congratulating them, Naruto, Sai, and Hotaru all congratulating them as well. Utakata remained silent, and Tonbee simply smiled. Earlier, Tonbee had said there was a way to remove the Forbidden Jutsu from Hotaru, but she had flat-out refused to allow that, since it would mean the jutsu would be destroyed. Instead, she had told them about one of En no Gyoja's other students, and that student's son, Shiranami, who could supposedly wield the Forbidden Jutsu. Naruto, being the bleeding heart that he was, had volunteered to find him, but Naruto had forbidden him from leaving the mountain. Ryuu wanted the jutsu gone. A jutsu capable of wiping out entire villages had only one use. Mass slaughter. It wasn't the kind of jutsu that should exist in the world. However, it wasn't his decision, in the end. So, after two hours of arguing the point, Naruto had sent dozens of clones to find Shiranami, while Naruto himself stayed on the mountain. Then, Ryuu had gone to see Utakata.
Ryuu sat against one wall, checking on Isobu, only to find him still asleep, then sighing and beginning to clean his tanto and trench knife. After a half hour, Sai walked over.
"I've placed traps around the mountain and along the trail up it," Sai said. "If the thieves return for Lady Hotaru, the traps should slow them down considerably. I can't promise anyone will be taken out, but it'll give us plenty of time to react."
"Good," Ryuu nodded, finishing with his trench knife and putting it away. "They'll be here eventually. They can't do anything without Hotaru."
Sai nodded in agreement. Finally, Ryuu sighed, wiping his tanto's blade down with a rag and put both away, looking up to where Hotaru and Hinata were still admiring Fu's ring and congratulating her, discussing wedding preparations. He smiled.
"Time to call it a night," Ryuu said. "Everyone get some rest. It'll be a while before Naruto's clones find Shiranami, assuming they do, and tomorrow we'll prepare for the removal jutsu just in case Hotaru decides she wants to."
Everyone nodded in agreement and Hotaru showed them all to guest rooms they could use. A few minutes later, as Ryuu and Fu were lying in bed, he noticed that she was, once again, struggling to control herself. He smiled and she sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry," Fu groaned. "I'm trying."
"I know," Ryuu smiled. "I can use a seal to put you to sleep if you want."
Fu thought for a moment before nodding. Ryuu pressed a kiss to her forehead and a round seal spread around the point of contact before flashing and fading, Fu passing out instantly. He sighed, curling around her protectively and allowing himself to drift off to sleep.
Ryuu sighed, setting the basket of herbs he'd gathered down. When they'd woken up, Utakata had been gone.
"Ryuu?" Hotaru said, seeming nervous.
"What's up?" Ryuu asked.
"Can I...ask you something?" Hotaru asked.
"Sure," Ryuu said.
"Sir Utakata is a Jinchuriki, isn't he?" Hotaru asked. "And...so are you, Naruto, and Fu?"
Ryuu was quiet for a long moment. "Yeah. But you can't say anything. Us three aren't supposed to say anything, and it's not my place to tell you about Utakata."
"I see," Hotaru said, staring at the ground. "Maybe that's why he..."
"He left to try and settle things with those Kirigakure ANBU," Ryuu said. "You didn't do anything wrong. He just needs to talk to them. After hearing Tonbee talk about how no master would intentionally hurt their student for no reason, Utakata probably wanted to ask Tsurugi about his own master. He probably wants to understand everything. He'll be back soon."
"How do you know?" Hotaru asked.
"Because you're wearing him down," Ryuu smiled. "Just keep believing in him, and keep forcing him to allow you to be with him. He'll fall for you soon."
Hotaru blushed scarlet. "It's not like that!"
Ryuu chuckled. "Then he's going to be very disappointed."
Hotaru's eyes widened before she huffed, turning and storming away. Ryuu chuckled and returned to gathering herbs with the others. However, after an hour, Fu suddenly sprinted over to them.
"Hotaru is gone!" Fu said.
"What!?" Ryuu asked. "Where'd she go?"
"Hinata's looking for her now!" Fu said as they ran toward the house where Hinata was standing on the roof.
"I found her!" Hinata said. "She's unconscious! I don't recognize the person who has her, but it looks like she's under a Genjutsu!"
"Which way?" Ryuu asked.
Hinata pointed and Ryuu extended his wings, taking off instantly.
"Look after Fu for me!" Ryuu called back to her.
Hinata nodded and Ryuu turned back to the front, speeding up while activating his Sharingan and extending his senses. He had to find her quickly. However, within seconds, an ink bird caught up to him, Naruto on its back.
"One of my clones just reported in!" Naruto shouted over the wind. "Shiranami is those thieves' boss!"
"Then he's the one that has Hotaru!" Ryuu shouted back. "Head back and let the others know! I'll handle it!"
"The real one's telling them now!" Naruto shouted. "I should also warn you, those four have some pretty strong barrier ninjutsu! They caught my clone with a Mugenhoyo, and a Multi Mugenhoyo!"
Ryuu nodded. "Got it, thanks!"
Naruto nodded and burst into a cloud of smoke, the ink bird dispersing as well.
"Multi Mugenhoyo," Ryuu mused. "Not bad. I'd better make sure they don't catch me by surprise."
He stopped as he sensed Tailed Beast chakra from over the mountain. He turned, vanishing and reappearing in front of Utakata, who had his Tailed Beast Chakra shooting off of him in a thick orange cloud, kicking up a strong wind, his normally light brown irises now gold.
"Utakata!" Ryuu called over the wind, Utakata settling down, the Tailed Beast chakra and the gold in his eyes both fading as he jumped down to Ryuu from the cliff he was on. "We need to get moving. Shiranami's taking her to the Tsuchigumo village."
Utakata nodded and they turned, sprinting to the road over the mountain. After a moment, Utakata glanced at him.
"How fast can you get us there?" Utakata asked.
Ryuu smirked, slowing to a stop and kneeling. "Hop on."
Utakata climbed onto Ryuu's back and Ryuu took a slow breath before activating the Body Flicker Technique, reappearing at the village's entrance. Utakata gaped, staring up at the village before looking around.
"When the...did you teleport?" Utakata asked.
Ryuu chuckled. "Tell you what. I'll tell you how I'm so fast, if you come to the Hidden Leaf Village."
Utakata rolled his eyes. "So I'll never find out, then. Fine. Where are we?"
"The Tsuchigumo Clan's village," Ryuu said. "When we escorted Hotaru here before, the bandits were waiting for her. We have to assume Shiranami has control of the town."
Utakata nodded.
"You forgot something," Naruto said, stepping up beside him. "When we were here, they were looking at Hotaru with the same look I got for being a Jinchuriki."
"Obviously they didn't want the Forbidden Jutsu anywhere near them," Utakata said. "Let's go."
"Wait," Ryuu said. "Naruto, I told you to stay at the Fort."
"I promised Hotaru that I'd look after her," Naruto said.
"And I ordered you to look after Fu," Ryuu said.
"I'm not weak just because I'm pregnant, Ryuu," Fu said, landing behind him with Sai and Hinata, both looking apologetic. "I can still defend myself."
Ryuu wanted to argue, but she was right and he knew it. Even though she was short on energy recently, and a bit weak from her morning sickness, she was still a skilled kunoichi, and more than capable of defending herself. He sighed heavily.
"You're right," Ryuu said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to treat you like I thought you were weak."
"It's alright," Fu smiled, kissing him. "I'm glad you're worried. It lets me know you care."
"Can you show you care after we rescue Hotaru?" Utakata asked impatiently.
"Right, sorry," Ryuu said. "Let's go."
They all walked into the village silently, but stopped as a ball bounced out of an open doorway. Ryuu knelt, picking it up as a little girl with her black hair in a pair of ponytails ran out after it. She was maybe five at the most. He handed her the ball and she smiled up at him.
"Thanks mister," she said.
"Sure thing," Ryuu smiled.
"In thanks, you get this!" She pulled out an explosive tag and held it out to him.
The tag shone suddenly, and a split-second later blew up in the middle of the road outside the village, Ryuu suddenly standing beside the girl, spinning the ball on his left index finger using Wind Style Chakra to keep it in place and spinning, and resting his right hand on top of the girl's head, placing a Genjutsu to put her to sleep.
"What the hell?" Utakata asked.
"Her chakra was disturbed," Ryuu said, gently setting her against the wall. "She was being controlled. My Genjutsu will keep her asleep for a few hours. We have to assume the rest of the village will be the same."
The others nodded and they walked into the village with it, Ryuu passing the ball from one finger to the next, carefully controlling the Wind Style chakra to keep the ball from falling. As they reached the center of the village, the villagers, including the little girl, walked into the open area they were in, surrounding them while most brandished gardening tools, including kunai. Ryuu raised an eyebrow, looking around with his Sharingan, seeing chakra-infused ink on the villagers, forming the kanji for "operation" in the sense of controlling something. Ryuu narrowed his eyes. That was a neat trick.
"Hey Sai, maybe you could learn a thing or two about ink-type jutsus from Shiranami," Ryuu said.
"The ink is controlling them?" Sai asked. "Interesting."
"What's the plan, Ryuu?" Naruto asked.
"Don't kill anyone," Ryuu said.
"Here they come," Utakata said.
A handful of armed men charged and Ryuu smirked, hurling his borrowed ball into one's face, flipping him backward. The ball bounced back to Ryuu and Ryuu backhanded it into another, the ball once again returning to Ryuu, who hit it with an elbow, sending it into first one man's face, then from him into another. Then, the ball shot toward Fu, who punched it and sent it into one of the last three men's chest, hurling him into another.
The last pulled his sickle back to slash Utakata, only for the ball to streak from the last guy it hit into the ground, then bounce up into the last man's butt, hurling him into the air over Utakata before the ball headed back toward Ryuu, bouncing once before Ryuu caught it and smirked.
"That was fun," Ryuu smirked.
"Impressive," Utakata said. "I've never seen someone fight using a kickball before."
Ryuu grinned and Fu giggled.
"He should have seen our game of wall ball while we were being detained by the Raikage," Fu said.
"No doubt," Ryuu chuckled. "Now that one was impressive."
"They're getting back up," Utakata warned.
"Well, no shit," Ryuu said. "It's a kickball. Everyone head for the upper level."
They all turned, running for the stairs heading up to a larger open area where the village's warning bell was, and Ryuu kicked the ball before running, sending it ricocheting from one villager's face to the next for a moment before it bounced beside him and he caught it, leaping over the entire flight of stairs and landing beside Fu just as the four thieves appeared on the buildings behind them, Chushin landing on top of the bell tower.
"Not you four again," Ryuu said, rolling his eyes.
"Go get 'em guys!" Akaboshi ordered the villagers, more having arrived from the buildings around them as the rest reached the top of the stairs. "Don't give them even a moment to rest!"
"Okay, new plan," Ryuu said. "Catch!"
He punted the ball, sending it crashing into Akaboshi's face much harder than the villagers', then turned, forming several hand seals before slamming his hands down. Instantly, massive roots exploded out of the ground around the villagers, weaving together as they grew into a domed cage around the entire village's population, trapping them all.
"That wasn't so hard," Ryuu said. "Now then. You four." He turned round just as the ball bounced back into his hand.
"Let's go!" Akaboshi shouted. "Den!"
"Ko!" Benten shouted.
"Sek!" Chushin shouted, just as they all landed on the ground, each forming a different elemental hand seal.
However, before Nango could finish their collaboration Ninjutsu, the ball slammed into Nango's face, breaking his nose, only to bounce off of a rock and crash into his groin, dropping him before the ball rolled back toward Ryuu.
"Multi Mugenhoyo," Ryuu said calmly, setting his hand down, a shining violet square appeared below the four of them, all of them crashing to the ground as a pillar of violet light shone into the air.
Ryuu held the jutsu, feeling their chakra flow into him from it for about ten seconds before all four passed out and he let it fade.
"Whoa!" Naruto said. "You can do it alone!?"
"As long as you know what you're doing and have the chakra for it, yes," Ryuu said. "I'll teach you when we get back to the village. You always have picked up seals and barriers fast, so I'll probably teach you a few."
Naruto nodded.
"Now, Fu, Hinata, Sai, stay here and see if you can figure out how to undo Shiranami's jutsu," Ryuu said. "Utakata, Naruto and I will go and deal with Shiranami himself. Oh, and Sai, tie these four up."
Sai nodded, using ink snakes to restrain the four thieves as Hinata turned to point.
"They're at an old ruin on top of the mountain," Hinata reported.
Ryuu nodded and he and the other two left the village, heading up the mountain quickly.
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