Chapter 12: To heal the past

It was a dark day indeed in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. There were no children running around playing, no smiling citizens out for a morning stroll and socialising in the village streets. The village was badly damaged from the invasion at the Chunin exams and the village was still reeling from the blow that it had on the village, there were many casualties amongst the fighting.

The villagers were gathered on top of the Hokage building, all wearing black attire for the sombre occasion, faces devoid of any smiles or happiness, it truly was a dark day. They were all standing in rows, looking ahead at the table that sat near one end of the roof where multiple pictures of shinobi who had died in the invasion rested, most notably the picture of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the beloved and aged Hokage.

Ryouske stood in one of these rows, next to Anko, Namito and Lukyo, and looked at the picture of the elderly Hokage, his thoughts turning to his memories of the old man. Hiruzen was the first person in the village to show Ryouske kindness since he had been found at the village gates, the first person to reach out to him.

-Flashback-no-Jutsu-

Hiruzen took a puff on his pipe as he looked at the young boy, curious as to why he would be at the village gates almost dead. He pushed his hat up and smiled softly at the boy, "So, little one, what is your name?" he asked only to get no response from the boy, who was looking up at the ceiling as he laid there in the hospital bed.

Raising an eyebrow at the boy's lack of response, Hiruzen tried again, "Where did you come from? What happened to make you so injured?" he asked, once again getting no response from the boy. Hiruzen sighed and sat on the edge of the boy's bed and leaned in, "Can you not remember anything? Do you have amnesia?" he inquired, worried.

He figured he would get no response once again, but to his surprise the boy shook his head and looked at the Hokage, "My name…my name is Ryouske Tenno….that's all I can remember" he answered. Hiruzen nodded his head sadly, amnesia, just as he thought. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled sadly at him, "Can you remember your parents? Do you know where they are?" he asked.

Ryouske shook his head and, much to Hiruzen's shock, began to weep, his eyes brimming with tears as he shook, "I don't remember them at all but…but for some..some reason it..it makes me sad." Hiruzen frowned, feeling sorry for the poor boy and gently pulled him into his arms to embrace him, patting his head softly," There, there Ryouske. You are safe now and I will make it so that you can live here in the village since you cannot remember where your home is," he said making Ryouske nod into his Hokage robes and cry out his gratitude.

-flashback-no-jutsu end-

As he stood there remembering that day, Ryouske's face suddenly felt cold and wet, he reached up to his cheek and found that he was crying. He looked at his wet fingers and smiled sadly as Anko looked at him out the corner of her eye, wondering if he was going to be OK. She placed her hand on his shoulder, making him look at her, and smiled comfortingly at him, which he returned with a sad one of his own.

Lukyo looked at Anko with a sad look, "Sensei?" he asked, "Does losing someone always hurt like this?" Anko looked at him and sighed, not knowing how to say it until after a moment of silence she spoke up as she looked at the sky, "Yea...the pain never goes away. However, it will help you grow stronger knowing that those people died to save those that were precious to them," she replied, making Namito now look at her.

"Why though?," he asked, his hands shaking as he clenched them, "Why must humans always fight with each other and kill each other? where is the sense in it?" Anko looked sadly at the boy and draped her left arm around his shoulder as she smiled sadly at him, "That is just the way things are...peace is hard to obtain."

Ryouske grit his teeth and shook his head, "no...i WILL bring peace to this world, i WILL make this world a better place...even if i have to die for it," he said, the conviction clear in his voice, making his team look at him with widened eyes, with Anko smiling at her student, "H looks so determined, i hope he is able to make his dream a reality...maybe he will," she thought.

After the funeral, they were given the day to themselves, to reflect, mourn and generally try and comfort themselves. Ryouske decided to visit Karina in the hospital to see how she was doing, picking up some flowers along the way, smiling at what he had bought. Once he had gotten into the hospital, he entered her room to find her lying there in the bed, staring out of the window, deep in thought.

With a smile he held the flowers in front of her face, making her jump in surprise and looked at him her eyes widening. "For you, figured you would like these as a get well gift," he said grinning and at this she smiled brightly and looked at the flowers. They were a bouquet of white flowers that dropped down as if about to fall and the petals of which were spread out to give the flower the appearance of a snow drop.

Ryouske put them in the vase next to her bed as she smiled at him, "How did you know they were my favourite?," she asked making him rub the back of his head. "I bumped into Kotetsu on my way here and asked him. He said Snowdrops were your favourite, so i got them," he explained making her blush a little at his kind gesture and then smile bright, thinking the flowers to be beautiful.

Ryouske sat on the chair next to her bed and frowned as a question arose in his mind, "So umm i have to ask, your left eye back there...was that what you were telling me about?" he asked, making her look down at her lap and nod, "Yea...when unsealed, it heightens my physical prowess and increase the power of my jutsu, but at a price...it affects my health if i use it for too long," she explained.

Ryouske's eyes widened at this and now he knew why she decided to keep the secret of her eye hidden, it was a dangerous power to be sure. To lighten the now dark mood, Ryouske told her of his fight with Gaara and about how him and Gaara were childhood friends. She smiled proudly at how hard he fought to protect not only his village, but also his friend and was happy that he finally remembered his past.

A few hours of talking later and Karina suddenly made a request that made Ryouske raise an eyebrow, "Hey, Will you head to mine and get 2 pictures from my place? I kinda need them right now for some comfort," she explained making him nod and disappear in a cloud of smoke after she had described the pictures.

He appeared 10 minutes later holding the photographs and handed them to her. Smiling at them, she showed them to him and he leaned in to get a better look. The first picture was of Karina wearing the grey and black uniform of the ANBU black ops and standing next to Kakashi who, as always, had his silver hair spiked up and his mouth and nose covered by a black mask and between them was another woman in an ANBU blakc ops outfit but with short ginger hair, all 3 were smiling, or in Kakashi's case, eye-smiling.

"Ryouske looked at her and Karina sighed, answering his obvious question, "The girl is Rize. She was my best friend during the ANBU black ops, we were a great team," she explained," but one day on a mission, i use dmy eye for too long and fell unconscious and when i woke up Rize was...she was dead..." Ryouske didn't press for more details, he could obviously tell that Karina blamed herself and palced a hand on her shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault. I may not have been there but i can tell Rize must of died to protect you, so don't blame yourself," he said making Karina nod but still looked sad. He decided to change the subject and looked at the other photograph, only for his eyes to widen in surprise, making Karina look at him with a raised eyebrow.

The picture was of a young Karina, smiling, and standing next to a ninja who wore a Leaf headband around his forehead, black shinobi pants and shirt and the green jacket of a Jounin. He was smiling with a warm smile and eyes of a cerulean blue that Ryouske found familiar, but it was his hair that was what made Ryouske's eyes widen. It was spiky and bright yellow.

Karina looked at the picture and then at Ryouske," That is me and my old teacher, Minato Namikaze. He is the one who took care of me and trained me after my family died in the ritual that was used on me," she explained but didn't continue and Ryouske could guess why. Minato Namikaze wasn't just an average Jounin of the Leaf Village, not by any means. He had another name, one that everyone in the village, and the whole world, knew quite well, the name that was legend in this village as the one who defeated the 9 tailed fox 12 years ago. The Fourth Hokage.

Something about Minato's face just seemed so familiar, and not just because his face was on the Hokage Monument, but Ryouske could have sworn he saw his face before he just couldn't picture where. Karina tilted her head at him but he shook his, smiling away her concerns, only to frown when her look turned sad as she gazed at the pictures. Sighing softly, Ryouske too both of her hands into his and smiled brightly at her when she looked at him, "Minato and Rize may be gone, but you have your other friends here for you always," he explained, and i'm always here for you to, you can count on that."

At his words, and at him holder her hands, Karina blushed bright red, not knowing what to say. Just then Kotetsu and Izumo walke din, the latter of which held a bouquet of Snowdrops, that were smaller than the ones Ryouske brought, and who stood there glaring at the sight before him of Ryouske and Karina holding hands still. Kotetsu laughed and grinned at Ryouske with a wink, "Sorry lovebirds, did we interupt a tender moment? Shit kid, you work FAST," he teased playfully.

This comment made Izumo glare at Ryouske with obvious loathing," Get your hands off her kid, you have crepped on her enough," he said but growled when Ryouske ignored him and looked at Kotetsu. Sporting a wide grin that Karina did not like, Ryouske winked back at Kotetsu, "Actually, we WERE having a lovely moment, can you guys come back tomorrow?" he said making Kotetsu bark out a laugh and Izumo and Karina glare at him, the latter of which crossed her arms and blushed deeply before she looked away huffing.

Standing up, Ryouske stretched, "I think i'm gonna head off now anyway," he said. Kotetsu raised an eyebrow at the kid, "Not gonna stick around? I'm starting to like ya kid," he said making Ryouske shake his head. "Nah, i got stuff to do," he explained before a mischievous grin spread across his face,"besides i think Izumo wants to beat the shit into me for seeing Karina naked before he got a chance to," he then looked at the man in question," which, by the way, was DEFINITELY worth the shuriken to the face."

At this, Kotetsu proceeded to double over with laughter, holding onto his stomach and falling to his knees as Izumo looked ready to kill the kid. Karina, however, blushed a deep crimson and turned to Ryouske to shout at him until her eyes widened beyond any size before due to what happened next, which made Izumo look murderous and Kotetsu sport a mischievous grin at what they were seeing. When Karina had turned to have a go at him she was stopped dead in her tracks...by Ryouske planting a soft kiss onto her lips, too shocked to move her arms, which she couldn't move anyway.

Standing up straight, Ryouske grinned down at her with his cheeks bright red, "You stole my first kiss on my forehead, so i returned the favour," he said to a still stunned Karina. A growl of fury was heard from his right and he turned to find Izumo charging towards him, ready to launch a punch. With a smirk, and a wink at Kotetsu and Karina, Ryouske disappeared in a puff of smoke, making Izumo whack his head on the wall, leaving a splatter of blood on it anime style.

Ryouske made his way through the streets, deep in thought about that picture of Minato, when all of a sudden he spotted Naruto walking with an old man. The old man had long white hair that was tied into a ponytail and spiked outward with two shoulder length bangs that framed his face and a headband around his forehead that had the Kanji for Oil on it. He had red lines coming down from his eye, one line on either side and a wart on the left side of his nose. He was wearing a a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which Ryouske saw mesh armour that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He was also wearing hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side and on his back was a big scroll.

Ryouske recognised this man as Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, three ninja in the Hidden Village whose skills were exceptional and, well, legendary. Wondering what one of the Sanin would want with Naruto, Ryouske walked over to them, making Jiraiya smile at him, "Ah just the perosn we were looking for. You're Ryouske right?" he asked making Ryouske nod.

"Me and Naruto here are going on a mission...an S-ranked mission and i wnat you to join us,"he said making Ryouske's jaw drop at the thought of an S-ranked mission. He closed his mouth and raised an eyebrow, "Whta kind of mission could they send a Genin for?" he asked making Naruto bounce up and down excitedly," We are going to find a healer for the village, some old hag called Tsunade," he said, making Ryouske and Jiraiya sweatdrop at his hyperness.

"I want you to come because you were Orochimaru's experiment, i want to know all that you know about his whereabouts," Jiraiya said. Ryouske looked at the sky deep in thought as he considered the offer, Tsunade was another of the Sanin, a healer beyond all compare, she may know where Orochimaru was hiding and, more importantly, she could heal Karina. Looking at Jiraiya, Ryouske nodded and ran home to get a backpack ready and then met the pair at the gates of the village.

As soon as Ryouske had joined them they set off, with Ryouske's resolve ever stronger. He WILL bring back Tsunade to heal the village and Karina and he WILL find Orochimaru and make him pay. This he vowed.

end of chapter 12

Sorry this is such a short chapter but my muse was kinda running on empty

What will happen on this search for tsunade? Will Ryouske find Orochimaru? Will Karina kill him for stealing that kiss?

Find out in the next chapter

This is HaremKing666 signing off. Stay pervy everyone