Chapter 18: Homecoming
The sun was shining in the Hidden Leaf Village, the villagers were going about their business, children were playing and everyone was smiling and happy. The 5th Hokage, Tsunade Senju, was busy in her office, swamped by the enemy of all Hokage...paperwork. Her assistant, Shizune, was standing close by happy that the paperwork was all done except for the last pile that was on the table, which Tsunade had now finished, and escorted Tsunade to the mission room, where ninja handed in their missions.
Soon the door opened and in came a team of 3 Genin and their sensei. The first Genin was an orange haired girl who had her hair in 2 pigtials that extended behind her head, she was wearing the leaf village ehadband around her head, a pinkish shirt and a light brown skirt. Her name was Moegi.
The second Genin was a boy who had short brown hair and glasses , he was wearing a dark blue shirt, light blue shorts, a leaf headband and traditional sandals. This boy was call Udon. The third Genin was a boy who had brown hair that was spiked up and held up by his ninja headband, he was wearing a light green jacket with a black stripe going down the middle, dark brown pants and sandals and around his neck was a long blue scarf that reached down to the heel of his feet. This boy was Konohamaru and he was the grandson of the late Third Hokage.
Their sensei was a man who was wearing the lead headband over his head like a bandana, dark glasses, black shinobi shirt and pants and a Jounin vest over them. This man was Ebisu and he and his team had just come back from catching the "Demon Cat" Tora, with Konohamaru having scratches to prove it.
Konohamaru sat on the floor and groaned loudly, "Lady Tsunade, i'm tired of catching this cat over and over again. I want a REAL ninja mission, none of this kid's stuff" he demanded out loud, causing a vein to appear in Tsunade's head and a certain Chunin with a scar on his nose to smile. Looking at Konohamaru, Iruka was reminded of two other students of his that had demanded a "REAL ninja mission" and as he sat there looking at the boy, his thoughts turned to Naruto and Ryouske, hoping that both boys were alright.
"You can't just demand a mission whenever you feel like it, you will be assigned the missions i have for you got it?" Tsunade informed him, the vein in her head staying put. Konohamaru huffed and looked at her dead in the eye, "I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm the one who will be the 7th Hokage," he exclaimed, a smirk adorning his face.
Naturally, this statement left everyone in the room confused, "The 7th?" Tsunade asked, "So who is the 6th?" It was then that Konohamaru's smirk turned into a wide grin, "That spot's taken, Naruto is gonna get it" he explained, making everyone in the room stare at him, some with smiles appearing on their faces.
Tsunade opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Shixune handing her a report from Izumo and Kotetsu at the gates to the village, listing who came through and who left. When she looked at the list Tsunade smiled, but the smile quickly disappeared as she looked at Shizune, "Shizune, Please find Karina and bring her here. I have an errand for her," she requested, receving a nod for Shizune, "Yes Lady Tsunade," she said, walking out of the door.
She returned with Karina an hour later, who had been at the training ground, and stood by Lady Tsunade. Tsunade looked at Karina and steppeled her fingers, "I have an errand for you. Go to the village gates and collect the report from Izumo and Kotetsu about who has entered and left the village," she explained to the girl. "I thought they had already sent it? Don't worry Lady Tsunade, i'll handle those slackers," she stated and left the room, heading for the gates.
Along the way, she bumped into sakura, who was now wearing a red leaf village headband, a red, sleeveless shirt, black bike shorts undneath a pink skirt and black knee highed boots. She was with Konohamaru and his team, all who were heading down to the gates to see Izumo and Kotetsu. "So, Sakura? Any news on Naruto yet?" Karina asked her friend, who just shook her head.
"No, but i know he is training hard out there and because of that, i'm gonna train hard too," the pink haired girl declared, causing her friend to smile at her determination. Sakura then raised her eyebrows and smirked at Karina, "What about you? Are you missing Ryouske?," she asked, her smirk turning to a grin when Karina's cheeks got a red tint, "O..Of course, why wouldn't i miss my best student," Karina siad, looking away. Her eyebrow raised again, Sakura snorted at her friend, "He is your only student," she stated.
They soon came to the village gates, where Izumo and Kotetsu were sat in a small hut and looking bored out of their minds, that is until Izumo saw Karina coming and instantly sat up straight, straightening his clothes to make himself look good, "Morning Karina, you look beautiful today," he said, with Karina popping a small vein in her head, "Are you implying i don't always look beautiful?" she asked izumo, this of course made Kotetsu laugh and shake his head. "Morning ladies," Kotetsu said, smiling at them both, "Lucky that you two are here, three special guests just entered the village," he explained, causing Sakura and Karina to raise their eyebrows, "Who is it?" Karina asked.
Kotetsu smirked and nodded in the direction of the village, "Go and see for yourself. One of them, a certain Chunin of this village, had Izumo looking VERY pissed off and jealous," he said, teasing his friend who glared at him. This made Karina's eyes widen as she looked toward the village, "Is it...him?" At this, Sakura, Karina and Team Konohamaru ran towards the village, looking for the "guests", hoping that it was who they were wating for.
As they ran along a path way with a wooden fence along the side, they came to a telegraph pole where, when they looked up, they saw an orange blur standing on the top shouting "HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE, NARUTO UZUMAKI IS HOME!" Sakura called up to him and the boy jumped down, grinning happily at seeing his teammate once more, who was smiling brightly and looking at him up and down, "You've certaintly changed Naruto. Y..you're taller than me now," she observed, making the boy put his hand on his head, guessing that she was right.
Naruto's hair had become less spiky than what it used to be, being more neat, and was held up by his headband, which now had black cloth instead of blue. He was wearing an orange jacket with the top half and arms black and a black stripe going down the middle where the zipper was and the bottom half was orange and on his back was the usual red swirl that ninja clothes in the village typically had. He was also wearing orange trousers and black sandals. His face had become more masculine, having lost his baby fat, and he still sported the same 6 whisker marks on his cheeks.
Sakura put her finger to her cheek and looked at naruto a little shyly, "What about me? Do you think i look more womanly now?" she asked the blonde, who just put his thumb up and grinned, "You look the same to me Sakura," he stated with his usual idiocy. Having heard this, Sakura turned away and huffed crossing her arms as Naruto wondered what he had done wrong, while Jiraiya was shaking his head, as well as a mysterious person who was hiding behind the fence, leant agains't the wall, "Naruto, you moron. Way to know how to talk to a woman," the stranger thought.
Karina rolled her eyes at the idiot and then looked at Jiraiya, "What about Ryouske? Did he come back with you guys?" Before Jiraiya could answer, a deep, masculine voice sounded from behind Karina, "Aww, did you miss me, Karina-chan?", the voice asked, causing Karina to tense and spin around, coming face to chest with a silver pendant, with the kanji for heaven within a circle, that the newcomer was wearing.
She looked up at the newcomer's face, but was surprised when she saw that the newcomer was wearing a white mask that had grey markings on it in the design of a wolf face. Ryouske took off his mask and lowered it to show a masculine face, his familiar, blue and green eyes that twinkled with mischief and the cocky, fanged smile that she had not seen for 2 years.
Karina looked at him up and down taking in his appearance. His hair was the same shades of black and red, except it was longer and went down to the back of his neck like a mane with Ryouske's headband around his forehead. He was wearing a black shirt underneath his green Chunin vest, a black jacket with the sleeves and hood of the jacket a deep crimson colour, trousers with the bottoms of them deep crimson and black shinobi sandles. On his back was his backpack and the Executioner's Blade.
Looking at her stunned appearance, Ryouske patted her on the head and grinned, "Wow, you're so short," he teased, loving how a vein grew on her head, "S..shut up! You're just a bean pole" she retorted, her teeth gritting. Despite being angry at the guy, she was happy to see her student again, but when he patted her head again, her vein grew bigger and she punched him right across the cheek, hard, sending him to the ground.
Smiling up at her as he rubbed his cheek, Ryouske stood up and stretched, looking around at the village as he did so, "Same old Karina," he mused with a grin. After their reunion, and Naruto getting punched across the ground by an angry Sakura for trying to do his "new and improved" Pervy Jutsu", they all headed to the Hokage building, with Team Konohamaru heading off somewhere else, to show Tsunade that they had returned.
"Enter," Tsunade called when a knock was on her door and frowned when Karina came in, but smiled when she saw Jiraiya, Naruto and Ryouske. Raising an eyebrow at the Genin and Chunin, she raked her gaze up their bodies, taking in their new appearances, "I see you two brats are all grown up now," she stated, the smile never leaving her face.
Jiraiya smiled at his old friend and nodded, "The trip was rather fruitful with the boys training. They have both become exceptional shinobi," he explained proudly, causing Naruto to rub the back of his head and for Ryouske to cross his arms behind his. Karina looked at Ryouske and raised an eyebrow, "I wonder just how strong my little student has become," she thought to herself.
"So, you both wouldn't mind a training exercise to show how strong you have gotten then?" Tsunade asked the pair who both just shrugged, not seeming to mind. Tsunade looked at Ryouske, "Your training partners are waiting for you at Training Ground 13," she said, getting a nod from the boy and then looked at Naruto, "And your training partner will be," she began but was interrupted when the door opened and and Shikamaru stepped into the office, followed by Temari.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto and Ryouske and frowned, trying to picture them, then immediatly smiled as he recognised who they were, "Is that...Naruto? Ryouske? Hey welcome back," he said with his usual laid back smile. Ryouske smiled and held up his hand in greeting while Naruto bounded forward grinning, "Does that mean you are my training partner?"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Training partner? No, i'm here to give a report to Lady Tsunade," he stated. Naruto then looked to Temari and pointed at her as he tried to remember her name, "Then is it..uhh," he stammered, making Temari grow a vein in her head, "you don't remember my name?" Ryouske walked over and gave Temari a look over as he smiled warmly at her.
She had changed her look to a long, short sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs and had a slit going up the leg and she now wore her ehadband around her forehead. Seeing how much she had changed made Ryouske smile wider as he raised a hand to her, "Hey sis, long time no see," he said, grinning. Looking at him, Temari smiled and stepped forward, pulling him into a hug, "It is about time you returned, little brother. I missed you," she said to him warmly.
Hearing this, Naruto pointed at them both, wide eyed and his mouth hanging open, "Y..Y..YOU GUYS ARE RELATED?!" Naruto elegantly shouted at them, receving a smack on his head from Sakura for his noise. Chuckiling at his pain, Ryouske shook his head, "No you idiot. When i lost my parents while i lived in the Sand Village, the Fourth Kazekage took me in because i was Gaara's best friend. That's why Temari and her brothers consider me family," he explained to Naruto, who was still rubbing his head in pain.
Now getting tired of the antics, Tsunade cleared her throat and pointed to the nearby window, "Naruto, your training partner is out there," she stated. Naruto poked his head out and smiled widely, "Kakashi Sensei," he said out loud, making Ryouske smile, he had missed that one eyed scarecrow. Kakashi looked the same as he did 2 years ago, wearing black shinobi pants and shirt underneath a Leaf Jonin jacket. Covering his face was his usual mask that obscured the bottom half of his face, with his headband around his forehead, keeping his spikey silver hair in place. The headband was also angled down to cover his left eye, hiding what many in the village, especilly Ryouske, knew was Kakashi's Sharingan eye.
Naruto suddenly pulled a green book out of his pouch and offered it to Kakashi, "Here, a gift for you. The new book in the Make-out Paradise adult book series: Make-out Tactics," Naruto explained. Ryouske couldn't help but grin as Kakashi's hand trembled towards the pervy book, clearly anxious to begin reading it. Sighing and shaking her head at her old friend's pervyness, Karina narrowed her eyes and looked at Ryouske, "Let me guess, you have read those books too?" she asked the youth, who was now looking away and rubbing the back of his head.
"Me? N..no of course not, i didn't even spare them a glance. You could search my pouch and find no Make-out Paradise books whatsoever," he quickly explained. Just when he thought she would buy it, Jiraiya chuckled behind him with a wide grin, "She won't find any in your pouch because you memorised every page of each book in the series," the old man said, causing Ryouske to curse and glare daggers at him, trying not to make contact with Karina, who was now glaring him down and muttering about "Perverted old men corrupting her student".
Thinking that it best if he made tracks, Ryouske said farewell to everyone and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, heading for training ground 13. When he arrived there, he was not surprised to see that his training partners were none other than Namito, Lukyo and Anko, who all smiled at him when he appeared. "Well look who FINALLY decided to get home," Namito exclaimed with a grin, slapping Ryouske's back.
Namito had changed almost as much as Ryouske did. His hair was as spikey as ever, but was also still silver, Ryouske guessed it was because of Orochimaru striking fear into Namito at the Chunin exams. His headband was still around his forehead, partially obscured by his fringe. Namito's face had grown more mature, but still held the glint of mischief that Namito was known for and wa snow lacking the black triangles that he used to sport on his cheeks, Ryouske wondered why he gave them up.
Namito's clothes were his usual white jacket, but this one longer with a high collar and lacked the blue stripes his older jacket had, a light blue shirt underneath, much to Ryouske's surprise, a Leaf Chunin jacket. He was also wearing black shinboi pants now instead of his old dark blue ones, but still wore the same sandles.
Lukyo smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose and patted Ryouske's shoulder, "It is good to see you home my friend," he said warmly. Lukyo had not seemed to change much, except his face was also more mature looking and he had swapped out his old glasses for thick-frame ones. He was wearing a light blue jacket instead of his old white one, with a black shirt underneath, again to Ryouske's surprise, a Leaf Chunin jacket. He too was wearing black shinobi pants and sandles.
Anko pulled her student into her generous cleavage, hugging him tight as she grinned down at her student, "Welcome home, punk. Bet you missed these hugs, didn't you? You little pervert" Anko teased the boy, who was now sputtering and flailing. She eventually let him go and laughed out loud when she saw that he was sporting a typical nosebleed.
Namito decided to help his still spluttering friend and rubbed his thumb under his nose, "C'mon, enough teasing Ryo and let's see what he learned on his trip," he exclaimed eagerly. Lukyo nodded his agreement and Anko chuckled at the enthusiasm of her students, "Alright, alright. Tell you what, we will do the same as last time, only this time you won't be trying to just land a hit on me...you will be trying to make me surrender," she explained with a sadistic grin.
Ryouske returned her grin with one of his own and got into his taijutsu stance as Namito and Lukyo got into their own, with Ryouske noticing Lukyo favoured a stance that seemed to be focused on strength, "What taijutsu has he learned?" he thought. Neither of them made a move until, just like before, Namito got sick of waiting and charged towards Anko, raining strikes at her stoamch, but met with Anko knocking the strikes away and sidestepping him and kicking at the back of his head.
Lukyo was next to charge forward, while Ryouske tried to flank her, and threw punches at her. Anko casually side stepped the swings, noting how Lukyo had gotten faster, and jumped back as he tried a downward punch which, when it hit the ground, caused a small crater to form and for earth to rise up in front of Anko. Needless to say Ryouske was surprised as he attacked at Anko's side with his Okami Fist style, managing to get a few blows to her left side, but not enough to do any major damage.
Anko fliped onto her hands and span on them, kicking both Lukyo and Ryouske away. Just as she went bakc on to her feet however, Namito's voice sounded out behind and above her, "Fire Style: Firecracker jutsu," he called as he blew out a deep breath and shot a circle of 5 balls of fire that landed around Anko in a circle. Anko's eyes widened as the balls began to explode, only just managing to jump out of the circle with only the bottom of her coat being charred.
Not giving her any room to recover, Ryouske did some handsigns towards Namito and Lukyo, who both nodded as they all ran at Anko from different directions. Lukyo did some handsigns and rubbed his hands together really fast, "Lightning Style: Plasma Shot Jutsu," he called as he thrust his hands forward, blasting an orb of electricity towards Anko, who took it tried to dodge it and got the orb in the legs, causing her legs to shake when she landed, due to the lightning charigng along her nerves.
Namito then ran up behind her and did some handsigns of his own, taking in a deep breath, "Wind Style: Wind Trap jutsu," he called as he jumped over Anko and released the breath down towards her, seemingly trapping her within a tornado. Namito's victorious grin was short lived, however, when Anko, having managed to recover from Lukyo's attack, reached through the tornado and grabbed Namito, twisting and throwing him down to where Lukyo was watching.
"Striking Shadow Claws,"they heard, as Anko quickly looked to her left and saw Ryouske's shadow claws flying towards her. With a smirk, she grabbed the claws in both hands and, much to the surprise of Ryouske, yanked on them hard, pulling Ryouske close to her. With her smirk widening, she grabbed Ryouske when he was close to her and twisted him around, drawing a kunai as she did so, and held the kunai to his neck. "C'mon guys," she said to Lukyo and Namito, "This is the same as last time, i thought you guys had improved," she cockilly taunted them, but stopped when she saw that Namito and Lukyo were laughing.
Raising an eyebrow at them, she narrowed her eyes, "What's so damn funny?" she asked the still laughing boys. Lukyo pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at her, "You're right. It IS the same as last time," he cryptically said, with Namito grinning widely and pointing over her shoulder as Ryousker disappeared in a cloud of smoke, "A Shadow Clone?!" She thought as she looked over her shoulder.
Ryouske was running at her, Sharingan active, doing hand signs as wind charged up around his right hand and lightning charged aorund his left hand. With a victiorious smirk, Ryouske thrust both hands forward in a circular movement calling out, "Sky Style: Tempest Trap jutsu" as lightning and wind shot out of his hands, converging in a circle around Anko, forming a tornado that was bristling with lightning. Wondering what he was hoping to accomplish, Anko watched him carefully as he JUMPED INTO the tornado and began to spin around inside it, getting faster and faster, until she could not see his movements.
"Sky Style: Wolf Claw Flash," they all heard him call out as he launched out of the tornado towards Anko, striking at her side with his Okami Fist and then jumping back into the tornado. Anko was about to yell at him if that was it when, all of a sudden, Ryouske continued to launch out of the tornado, strike at her, and return to the tornado from different directions, delivering an onslaught of blows from all sides that she could not even begin to guess the pattern of.
Namito whistled as he and Lukyo watched the barrage of strikes that Ryouske was dealing, noticing that Anko could only manage to blow a few strikes every now and then. Lukyo's eyes widened as he watched the battle and looked at Namito, "He definetly has gotten a lot faster don't you think?" he asked his teammate who nodded his head, "Yea, i can't even see him myself."
Anko fell to one knee, panting from the damage Ryouske had accumilated with his strikes, and growled when she heard his voice sound out from the tornado, sounding as if it was coming from all directions, "Care to give up Insanesei? The attacks will keep on coming if you don't," he called out with a victorious tone in his voice. Knowing that he had her right where he wanted her, Anko sighed weakly and nodded, "Fine, fine. You win, i give up," she reluctantly said.
The wind died down and Ryouske appeared in front of her, grinning widely as he held her hand out to help her up. Grumbiling, although feeling proud of her students, Anko accepted the hand and stood up, feeling like her legs were going to collapse, but became shocked when Ryouske suddenly sealed the Executioners blade into a seal on his back and hefted her onto his back in a piggy back, "I know i did quite a number on your legs, so i'll carry you back home alright?" he asked his teacher, who just smiled and nodded her thanks.
As they were heading to the exit of the training grounds, Ryouske noticed a certain white haired kunoichi watching them from the trees and waved her over. Karina waved nervously at them and smiled softly as she walked with them out of the training grounds and into the village streets, "That was a good fight guys. Ryo, what was that jutsu you used at the end?" she asked the boy, who grinned at her. "That was a jutsu i came up with. It combines my Sky Style with my Okami Fist to deliver a barrage of attacks from all sides having the benefits of the speed from the Sky Style's tornado and the accumilating damage of the Okami Fist. I got the idea from Naruto telling me about the ice user he fought during his mission to the land of waves and the ice mirrors jutsu he used," he explained to them.
Namito grinned and put his hands behind his head, "It was awesome. You really have gotten stronger" he stated, with Lukyo nodding his agreement, "Yea, your strength is amazing. You might even be stronger than sensei now," he said. Anko laughed and shook her head, leaning her chin on the top of Ryouske's head, "Let's not get carried away. He is stronger but not THAT strong yet," she stated with a grin, making Karina roll her eyes at Anko's attitude.
Anko looked down at Ryouske, finding the boy to be strangely quiet, "Hey Ryo, why are you so quiet? What's wrong?," she asked the boy who began to stammer a little. "N..nothing it's just uhh," he began, with Anko leaning closer to hear him better, "Your uhh boobs are kinda pressing against my back REAL close," he explained. Raising an eyebrow, Anko looked down to see that her chest was indeed pressing against his back, causing her to grin mischieviously as she leaned her head down by his with her mouth near his right ear, "Naughty boy, enjoying your sensei's breasts pushing against your back. What ever will we do with you eh? i can think of a few ideas," she playfully flirted with him as she pressed her breasts closer to his back, making the boy shoot a river of blood out of his nose.
Seeing this, Karina glared her eyes at Anko, clearly pissed, "Have you no shame, snake whore!, Stop fliritng with him like that, it's creepy," she hissed at Anko, who raised an eyebrow and flashed Karina a grin, "Ohhh is someone jealous? Perhaps YOU want a piggy back from Ryouske ehhh Miss Mummy?" Anko teased her, making Karina blush and stammer. As the pair of them argued, Ryouske gave Namito and Lukyo a look of help, but glared when the two only looked at each other and laughed at his predicament, both finding it hilarious, "C'mon. Let's report to Lady Tsunade," Namito suggested between tears of laughter.
Thankfully, Anko and Karina stopped arguing by the time thye had gotten to the Hokage Building and when they had reached Tsunade's office, Ryouske had set Anko down onto her feet. After being granted permission to enter, they walked in but were not expecting everyone to look so serious. Tsunade was sat behind her desk with an open scroll in her hand while Shizune was next to her, both were looking scarily serious. Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi andTemari in front of the desk, both Naruto and Temari had their hands clenched tight and shaking wildly.
Ryouske walked up to the desk and raised an eyebrow, "What's going on?" he asked, his eyes full of concern as he looked at Temari and Naruto. Tsunade sighed and looked at him, wondering just how he would take the news, "We...recieved a message from the Sand Village. The village was attacked...and the KazeKage has been kidnapped," she explained.
Silence filled the room as eveyrone took in what she had just said, with all eyes turning to a wide eyed Ryouske, who stammed as he stared at Tsunade, praying it was a joke, "G..gaara's been...kidnapped?!"
AAAAAAAND CHAPTER END
wooo this one took me a while due to multipe distractions BUT i finally got it done. As always let me know what you think and again hate comments will be ignored.
This is HaremKing666 signing off. Stay pervy everyone