Chapter 3: The eyes open
It had been a few weeks since squad 13 had been cleared for ninja missions and already they had made significant progress with the missions that they were given. As Genin their missions mostly consisted of menial tasks such as dog walking, helping people with the shopping etc. but they completed these missions as required and generally no fuss was heard from either of the Genin. Their latest mission had them babysitting the young children of one the village elders, much to Namito's displeasure as he groaned about how the mission was "not a ninja mission" and a "pain in the ass" and while Lukyo half-heartedly agreed with him, Ryouske on the other hand seemed to get along with the young children, making them laugh at the "snake lady" and playing games with them.
They later found themselves at the Hokage tower turning in the results of their mission. With his usual gusto, Namito kicked the door open and put up a victory sign as they walked into the room only to receive a bonk on the head from Anko for his lack of disrespect making some of the mission handlers chuckle. With a chuckle of his own, Hiruzen beckoned them forward to receive another mission just as the doors opened once more and in came squad 7. In Naruto's arms was a proclaimed "Demon cat" that the leaf village Genin hated and always seemed to appear on the mission roster.
Once the cat's over-affectionate owner had paid the fee for the mission, she walked out practically hugging the thing to death causing Ryouske, Namito and Naruto to all share the same thought: "Kami help that cat. No wonder it kept running away". After congratulating them on a mission well done, Hiruzen then continued to read out new missions that had appeared only for Naruto and Namito to protest out loud. Naruto crossed his arms sitting cross legged on the floor as he looked at the aged Hokage, "enough of this kids' stuff! I want a REAL ninja mission, something that will ACTUALLY test my ninja skills" he demanded pouting like a kid.
"Yea, c'mon old man. That babysitting crap was NOT a ninja mission. Give us an actual challenge, we can handle it" Namito agreed only to get yet another whack from Anko. "Pipe down runt. You will take what mission is given" she ordered while Ryouske just shook his head putting his arms behind his head in his usual pose, "I have to agree with Namito here, ya know? That babysitting job was fun and the kids were nice and behaved but we can't grow as shinobi if we can't meet challenges to overcome." At hearing this Iruka merely smiled at his three students, pride welling up inside of him, "these three have come far from their days in the academy. They are nurturing into strong shinobi"
With his pipe sliding side to side in his mouth Hiruzen briefly closed his eyes, only to open them again to smile at the youngsters nodding, "very well. Squads 7 and 13 will both receive a C ranked mission. Squad 7 will be escorting a bridge builder back to his home in the land of waves. You can come in now Mr Tazuna." At this the doors opened once again as an elderly man walked in. He had grey hair and a grey beard and on his face were some small glasses. He was wearing a brown shirt with a purple sash around the waist and tan shorts with brown sandals, on his head was a light brown pointed hat and a bottle of sake was in his hand which he took a swig out of as he looked at squad 7 eyeing them up.
"Are these the runts that have to guard me? They don't look like much, especially the midget with the idiotic look on his face." He grunted out as Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura wondering who the "Idiotic Midget" was, only for him to glare at the man and lunge at him only for Kakashi to hold him back while Ryouske and Namito laughed their heads off. After Narutos outburst, Hiruzen then looked at squad 13 "squad 13's C mission will be to investigate reports of bandits attacking travellers at the borders of Fire Country. These bandits have attacked many merchants on their travels as well."
Glad that they are finally getting a ninja mission, Ryouske and Namito grinned excited about the mission to come while Lukyo merely pushed his glasses up his nose with smile, "alright, runts gather whatever supplies you will need for this mission and meet at the gate in one hour" Anko ordered receiving a nod from her squad as she disappeared in smoke. They soon met at the gate waiting with squad 7 for Anko and Kakashi to arrive, with Namito and Naruto getting impatient of course.
The sensei soon arrived and both squads then started to head out but separating when they came to a cross roads with squad 7 on their way to the land of waves while squad 13 travelled to the borders of Fire Country. Along the road Namito started bouncing around happy that he finally got a mission where he could show just how strong of a ninja he was only for Ryouske to laugh and flick the back of his forehead. "Don't get carried away now lil bro, even bandits could give us some trouble so gotta be prepared, ya know?" he advised the hyper redhead who merely waved his hand grinning, "yea yea, don't worry I'll be careful" he answered back getting a shake of Ryouske's head while Lukyo watched them with interest. "You guys seem to be really close. How long have you guys known each other anyway?" he asked once again pushing his glasses up receiving a thoughtful look from Ryouske as he put his arms behind his head. "I never thought about it but I guess ever since I was 6 or so, at least that is as far as I can remember anyway. We have become like brothers with Naruto since then." At this Namito nodded and grinned in affirmation. Anko then looked back at the trio and at Ryouske with a raised eyebrow, "as far as you can remember? Don't you have any memories of before then?" she asked only to receive a shake of Ryouskes head in response.
His eyes turned sad as he looked down as he walked. "Unfortunately no, all I can remember is blackness and a person with a bone chilling laugh. I don't know who it is but something about them just….makes me angry….that's all I can remember, that, and a strange village that I don't recognise." He looked up at them noting their looks of sympathy until with a grin Namito patted his back. "Ah well. You will find out one day but for now you are a ninja of the hidden leaf and my brother so no worries eh?" he sportingly said to his friend only to receive a nod in return.
They then walked in silence until they came to the border of Fire Country and walked into a village that was situated there. As they walked through the village, Ryouske noticed that as they walked by, the people withdrew into their homes shutting the doors and the windows as if to keep the newcomers out. They walked up to the biggest building in the village, presumably the home of the village elder, and entered finding the village elder inside. He was a short hunched old man with a receding hair line of grey hair and a large bald patch on his head. He was wearing a musty grey robe and sandals and was using a walking stick to help him walk. As soon as he saw them he smiled widely seeing that they were not the bandits and hobbled over to them.
"Welcome to our village. Am I to assume you are the ninja we hired from the Hidden Leaf Village?" he asked with hope in his voice while Anko nodded smiling at the man, "yes that's us. You are having bandit trouble correct? Don't worry we are here to stop those bandits for good". This made the village elder cheer with relief and he then invited them to stay in the village hotel until the bandits arrived in two days as they usually came each week to take "protection money" from the villagers and to rob merchants that passed through the village.
The squad decided to take the elder up on his offer and proceeded to stay the night at the local hotel, a rundown building in need of repair, getting ready for some extra training the next day to prepare them for anything they may face when the bandits arrive. Later that night, Ryouske, Namito and Lukyo were asleep in the room that they shared while Anko was in a separate room. Namito and Lukyo were sleeping peacefully but Ryouske however was tossing and turning, the conversation from earlier fresh in his mind as the memories he had of his past shot through his head.
Once again he saw the mysterious village in his dream, yet again being unable to recognise what village it was, until the village dissolved into shadow where a man with piercing yellow, slitted eyes loomed over him flashing a wicked grin as he lowered a syringe down at Ryouske only for Ryouske to bolt upright, now fully awake, sweating and panting as he looked around at the dark room. Relieved that Namito and Lukyo were still sleeping, Ryouske then walked out to the balcony of their room and rested his arms on the railing, looking around at the village, at the lights of the buildings and at the night sky deep in thought of his weird dream and memories wondering what they meant.
The sound of a door opening behind him shook him out of his thoughts as he looked over his shoulder and saw Anko standing there, having come from her room onto the balcony, only for his eyes to widen. It seems that Ankos night wear consisted of her fishnet shirt, which barely hid what lay underneath, and a pair of dark purple panties. Anko, catching the boy's look of surprise, smirked and wagged her finger at him. "Eyeing up your sensei huh? You little pervert." With a deep blush he looked back at the night sky as she walked up to join him. "Can't sleep huh?" she asked the boy, a bit of concern etched onto her face, with a slow shake of his head Ryouske sighed and looked down at the railing. "No. Those memories came back and once again nothing else. I'm tired of my past being hidden from me, I NEED to know the truth." Watching the boy out the corner of her eye, Anko could only speculate to what the boy must be feeling not knowing his past except for a few small bits.
She patted his shoulder softly making him look at her and smiled gently at the boy, "don't worry, you will find the truth one day and when you do you will be stronger for it. We all have things that we have to discover about ourselves and it isn't always easy to do so, but one day you will find what you seek. Until that day comes you have me, Namito and Lukyo here for you." She reassured making the boy smile and nod. "Thanks, sensei. That made me feel a bit better." He said, looking back at the night sky as she walked back to her door only to stop and look over her shoulder at him, "if ya want I can make you feel REAAAAAALLLY good" she offered giving him a flirty wink only to laugh at his priceless reaction of getting a nose bleed and blushing deeply, and with a shake of her head she walked into her room laughing.
Shaking his head at her joke, Ryouske gave the sky one more look before heading back into his room to try and get some sleep, his determination to become a strong ninja and learn the truth growing ever stronger.
The following day was filled with preparing the village for the bandit attack and setting traps for the bandits. Ryouske, however, was nowhere to be seen as he had immersed himself in his training. The next day the bandits came. As soon as they were spotted on the horizon, the whole village soon rushed to get everything ready and hidden away while also hiding themselves so that they would not get in the way of the ninjas work.
The bandits soon walked into the village, full of swagger and sporting a myriad of weapons with which to ransack the village with. Anko smirked from her position against the wall of the elder's house while Namito and Lukyo were standing next to her, kunai in hand, ready for them. Ryouske smirked from his perch on top of the elder's roof and watched the bandits draw nearer and nearer, anxious to get a good fight going. The bandits soon stopped when they saw the ninja, surprised as to why the towns "protection money" and supplies weren't stacked in the middle of the village as they usually were when the bandits came and were surprised to see the ninja watching them.
"It seems some people weren't smart enough to stay inside. Do you guys think you can stand up to us or something?!" the bandit leader jokingly asked as he eyed up the ninja only for Anko to laugh at his attempts to be tough and drew her own kunai. "Oooh tough guy huh? This is gonna be fun" she smirked, making the bandit leader glared at her, "you cocky bitch! You are gonna regret your disrespect when we are through with you and that fine body of yours. There is no way you can take us down so don't even think about it" he snarled with a lewd look at her body. This only caused Namito and Ryouske to glare at the guy and Namito then started to laugh much to the bandit's confusion. "You say we can't beat you? That we shouldn't think about it? Well you seem to have gotten something wrong there" he said, his grin never falling as Ryouske dropped down from his perch in front of him with his katana drawn and a determined look on his face. "Fact is asshole, we don't THINK we can beat you…..we KNOW we can" he proclaimed with a grin forming on his face, flashing his fanged teeth to the bandits who had begun to look anxious.
With a half-hearted smirk at the ninja, the bandit leader charged forward with the other bandits hot on his heels while Ryouske just crouched low ready to spring with his sword. As the leader reached Ryouske he swung his katana, blocking the leader's weapon, sparks flying as steel clashed against steel. Anko and the others then jumped into the fray swinging their kunai at bandits left and right, ducking and weaving out of the range of attacks until all four of them pushed through the back of the group and headed for the village exit only for Namito to stop to taunt the bandits. "C'mon, you guys are slow, gonna have to do better than that" he mockingly taunted at them as he patted his ass and soon ran after Anko and the others with the bandits in hot pursuit, now infuriated by Namitos taunting.
They led the bandits into the forest and then disappeared from view leaving the bandits confused and looking all around, wondering where they would pop out from. Laughter all around could be heard from the ninja, making the bandits hairs stand on end, a few of the bandits tried to head to what they thought was the source of the laughter only to be caught in a trap as kunai flung at them piercing their bodies and all the rest of the bandits could hear was the sounds of bodies hitting the floor. "Dammit, you cowards come out right now! I thought ninja were braver than this but you guys are just pathetic" the bandit leader yelled out to them, his anger rising with each second.
He received no answer from the ninja, only more shuriken to appear from the bushes to slice at the necks of more of the bandits. Only the leader and three of his lackeys remained and just as they thought more ninja tools would fly out, 3 sets of rope flew out at the three lackeys pulling them into the bushes while the leader looked on, his anger reaching a high point. It was then that Ryouske dropped from the branches, katana raised ready to attack, grin in place which made the leader lunge at him with the intent to wipe that grin off the brat's face. Once again they clashed, steel against steel, both fighting for dominance. The leader snarled at Ryouske, using his strength to try and overpower the boy, with grin still in place, to side step making the leader fly forward onto the ground and then to get up, his face etched into a furious look.
"C'mon old man, I thought you was gonna make us regret our disrespect? What happened to that AMAAAZING idea?" Ryouske taunted with a grin, which made the bandit leader charge forward aiming for the boy's throat, but this turned out to be a feint as the leader ducked and slashed at the boy's side opening up a wound in his waist, making the boy jump back holding the wound as blood poured freely through it. "HA! Not so cocky now are you brat?" the bandit leader taunted, laughing at the boys look of surprise and pain, when at that moment Anko, Namito and Lukyo jumped through the bushes making the leader jump back.
Lukyo looked at Ryouske and raised an eyebrow, "are you ok Ryouske? No other wounds?" he asked concerned about his friend to which Ryouske just shook his head and raised his katana stepping forward, "this guy is mine, you guys stay back" he advised as he locked eyes with the bandit leader. They both charged forward, their blades locking against each other once more but this time Ryouskes eyes focused on something to his left as a clone of the leader tried to flank him, only for Ryouske to knock the original back and to the side to hit he clone making it dispel. "Heh, as you can guess kid I used to be a ninja, so don't underestimate me" the leader announced laughing as he started making hand signs and called out "earth style: earth fang jutsu" and straight after the ground started to crack in a line towards Ryouske as spikes launched from the crack at him, which Ryouske dodged by jumping to the side but groaned in pain as one of the spikes had caught his leg.
Namito was about to jump in to help his brother when Anko held is shoulder, shaking her head at the boy, "he wants to do this himself. Something tells me he needs to do this to prove something to himself" she explained to a confused Namito who just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "prove what?" he asked only for Anko to look at Ryouske and sigh, "that he is prepared for the challenges that will arise in discovering himself" she explained as her mind went back to the conversation she and Ryouske had at the hotel. "I KNOW he can do this" she thought as she watched Ryouske dodge the leader's attacks only to groan as he landed on his bad leg, his body now sporting several cuts and wounds from the earth style jutsu.
Seeing that the kid was getting slower, the leader decided enough was enough and made hand signs once more before slamming his hands down onto the earth. "Earth style: fist of the titan" at this, multiple fists formed from the ground and flew at Ryouske, whose eyes widened, not being able to see a way out of this the boy swore, determined not to lose to this guy, but with a yell of pain he put an arm over his eyes suddenly feeling them burn with intensity.
With a grimace, Anko started to rush forward as the fists clashed at Ryouske and the ground making a dust cloud form, "RYOUSKE!" Anko shouted out worried for the boy's safety as her eyes scanned the dust cloud for any sign of him as Namito and Lukyo watched with concerned gazes, both hoping their friend was alright. "HAHAHA! NOT LAUGHING NOW ARE YOU, BRAT?!" the bandit leader laughed out manically, believing that he had finally silenced the Genin. To the shock of the onlookers, however, a voice could be heard from the dust cloud, stopping the leader in his gloating as they all stared at the dust cloud where a shadow could be seen.
As the dust blew away, Ryouske was seen crouched down with his eyes closed and the fists of rock all around him…each an inch away from hitting him. "H...H...HOW?! HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DODGE THOSE IN YOUR CONDITION?!" the leader spluttered out only for Ryouske to turn his head to him and open his eyes, causing the leader and Ryouske's team to gasp audibly. Both Lukyo and Anko were speechless while Namito just whistled in surprise, his eyes locked onto Ryouske's, "holy shit" he graciously exclaimed.
When Ryouske had opened his eyes everyone expected the usual mismatched blue and green, but what was seen was hardly anything they could have expected. Ryouske's left eye had become red with 3 black tomoe circling the iris, the famed eye of the Uchiha clan: the Sharingan. What was strange was Ryouske's right eye, instead of the red of the Sharingan, his right eye was black with 3 RED tomoe circling the iris.
With a smirk at the surprised looks of the people around him Ryouske raised his katana flashing his fanged grin at the leader, his new eyes flashing with determination as he exclaimed to the leader, "now…things get interesting.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand END! What a shocker eh? Who knew Ryouske had the sharingan, mwahahaha!
How did he get this power?
Is he somehow connected with the Uchiha clan?
Find out in the next instalment of The Chronicles of Heaven