Naruto: The Students of Ryuu
By Last of the Time Lords
Chapter 2: Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu
Umino Iruka looked upon the latest group of students to grace the halls of Konoha's ninja academy. He made a note of the children who belonged to the various clans in the village. There was the stoic Aburame boy who was just as silent as any other member of his family, the Inuzuka boy who was trying to impress everyone he could, and the shy Hyuuga heiress who was unusually quiet for someone her age. Iruka also noted the children of a famous shinobi trio. There was the Akimichi boy who was looked around the room for someone to connect with, the Nara boy who seemed to have fallen asleep the very moment his butt hit the chair, and the daughter of the Yamanaka who was trying to get him to talk to her. Two students seemed to surprise him the most out of all the children there. The heir to the Nakayama clan seemed to be completely winded as if he had ran at least ten laps around the whole village but relieved just to be in the room. The youngest son of the Uchiha clan strangely decided to keep to himself in a corner of the classroom but would respond with a polite greeting should anyone approach him. Other students from unimportant families began to fill the classroom but none of them annoyed Iruka more than the last person who passed through the door.
Upon entering the classroom, the spiky haired blond yelled, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to kick all your butts someday, believe it!"
The room became deftly quiet after Naruto's little speech. The only sound that could be heard came from the back of the classroom as Sanosuke desperately tried to hold back his laughter but failed to do so miserably.
"Oh sweet kami, that was the funniest thing I had ever heard. You? You're going to kick all of our butts someday? Man, I have seen bugs more fearsome than you." Sanosuke said in between laughs.
Naruto was pissed. Who was this kid to mock his dreams? "Hey! You want to come and say that to my face, teme!" yelled Naruto.
Before Sanosuke could respond, Iruka intervened, "All right you two settle down and you," he pointed at Naruto, "take a seat." Naruto grumbled some incoherent words directed towards Iruka and Sanosuke and sat down in a nearby chair.
Iruka shook his head, wondering what exactly he was in for in the coming years. "Greetings students. My name is Umino Iruka and from here on out, you will address me as Iruka-sensei. Is that clear?"
The children nodded their little heads and yelled in unison, "Hai, Iruka-sensei!"
"Very good. Now, since this is our first day together, why don't we go around the room and introduce ourselves to each other?" Iruka said with a smile adorned on his scarred face. One by one, each student got a chance to introduce themselves to the rest of the class. The process was running along smoothly until…
"Hey, Iruka-sensei, it's my turn!" yelled Naruto.
"No, Naruto, it's not. It's Ino's turn." Iruka said nodding to the fair-haired girl who was now very pissed off at Naruto for interrupting her introduction.
"Ano, Iruka-sensei?" Sanosuke said as he held up his hand.
"Hai, Sanosuke, you have a question?" Iruka said, acknowledging the young man.
"Hai, correct me if I'm wrong, but we are going in alphabetical order, right?" asked Sanosuke.
Naruto looked up at the boy who not twenty minutes ago laughed at him and his dreams was now defending him and supporting his claim. "We are going in alphabetical order, yes." Iruka responded.
"And 'U' comes before 'Y', so Naruto was right; it's his turn, not Ino-chan." Sanosuke explained.
Murmurs spread around the room as the students waited to their sensei's reaction. Naruto smiled with hope of the possibility that Iruka will agree with Sanosuke and let him do his introduction. Ino was pissed off at this point because to her, two idiots were trying to prove something that was unimportant and cutting into her valuable time. All the while as this was going on, Iruka just closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's true but, if you will remember earlier, Naruto had already introduced himself."
"But that's not…"
Sanosuke was stopped in mid sentence as Iruka held up his hand, "It may not be fair, yes, but Naruto did introduced himself to class already, Sanosuke. So if that's all, shall we continue class?"
Sanosuke decided it was best to just drop the whole argument, fearing any further action would result in a detention and no one wants that, especially on his or her first day of school. He looked over to where Naruto was sitting and saw the blond loud mouth looking right back at him. He mouthed a silent apology, which, to his surprise, Naruto accepted it with a wide smile.
After the introductions were over and done with and children were given a small ten-minute break, Iruka announced the next lesson: shuriken practice. He led his students into another room where they were given a small satchel of shuriken for use during the practice. As they left the room, a female teacher greeted them. She took the girls from the group and led them to a locker room so they could change into their training clothes. The children were taken outside to the training field and were separated into two groups, girls on one side and boys on the other. Sanosuke and Hiro waved good-bye to Hitomi as they followed the other boys to their assigned side of the field while the others did the same with their friends.
Once separated into his or her groups, each student was lined up parallel with a log and was told to begin practicing. The instructors noted that each of the students showed varying degrees of skill during the practice. Sanosuke showed an advance skill with shurikens that was beyond the average academy student, but given who his family was it didn't surprise them one bit. What did surprise them, however, was that after an hour or so of normal throwing, Sanosuke began to perform trick shots with his remaining shuriken.
"A little more aim and a little less show, Harada-san." Said the instructor whom was getting tired of Sanosuke's showboating.
"Sorry boss, I'm all about the show." Sanosuke said smiling.
As the practice continued, most of the students got the hang of the shuriken jutsu while others, on the other hand, were not. A certain Hyuuga girl was one of them.
Hinata was having a hard time with her shuriken jutsu. She had enough force behind her throw but for whatever reason, the shurikens would not embed themselves into the log like they should. Try and try as she might, the shuriken would nick the log and fall to the ground. As this pattern continued, Hinata's mind was filled with the memories of her father's words. Words that belittled her, told her that she was a failure, and was unworthy of the Hyuuga name. Hinata was about to break down and cry when she felt a hand touch her on the shoulder. Turning around, Hinata found herself face to face with another girl with deep red hair and amber eyes.
"Having a little trouble Hinata-san?" Hitomi said smiling.
She had gotten the hang of the shuriken jutsu after a few throws and entertained herself by watching the other girls screw up in their own practice. She watched as Hinata kept on failing to hit her mark with her shurikens; so out of the kindness of her heart or possibly sheer boredom, Hitomi went over to lend her a hand.
"Ano…not really…k-kind of…y-yes." Hinata said sadly. No matter what she did, she could not throw the shuriken properly.
"Maybe I could give you some advice. I think I found a trick which makes this a whole lot easier." Hitomi offered. Hinata was a little shocked to hear someone offering to help her out, thinking that because she was a Hyuuga, everyone would assumed she knew what to do and wouldn't bother to help her. Hinata accepted Hitomi's help and listened to every detail about her shuriken jutsu method. As they practiced this, they failed to notice a pair of eyes watching them from the other side of the field.
He saw her struggle with her shuriken jutsu. He wanted to go over there and help her out, but they were in separate groups and the instructors made damn sure there was no interference from either side. This, however, was not going to stop him from trying to help her. Just as he was about to disobey his instructors and help out a friend, he watched as another girl with red hair walk over and helped her out. Soon enough, she was throwing her shurikens like it was second nature and smiling happily. He realized he really liked her smile; he only wished it was him who made her smile like that. Soon, he stopped his own practice all together and just continued to watch her; the instructors didn't seem to mind.
"Naruto."
He stood there, admiring her from afar. He liked how gracefully she threw her shurikens. He liked the way her dark hair shone in the light, making it almost dark blue or purple in color. He liked the light reflected off her pale skin, giving her an ethereal glow.
"Naruto."
She had to be one of those angels Oji-san told him about when he was younger. She was nice enough to talk to him when no one else would even think to do so. Her voice was soft, like that of a dove. How someone like her could think of talking to someone like him was unbelievable.
"NARUTO!!" Sanosuke yelled, fed up with this blond idiot's inability to respond when someone was trying to talk to him. He already had one friend who was blond and an idiot; Sanosuke really didn't need another one.
Naruto was forcibly snapped out of his dream world and found himself back in the real world. Remembering that he was in the middle of shuriken practice, Naruto turned around and threw the one in his hand as hard as he could. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto was no longer facing his training log but instead facing the row of students.
"Son of a bitch!" yelled Sanosuke as he bent at the knees in order to dodge the spinning shuriken heading for him.
"Son of a bitch!" yelled Hiro as he dropped to the ground and watched the shuriken pass over his body.
"What were you thinking, you Baka! You could have hurt someone; namely Hiro or me! What were looking at that had you so distracted?!" Yelled Sanosuke, trying to figure out what was going through Naruto's head a few seconds ago.
"Uhhh… I… I was…" stuttered Naruto as he tried to come up with a reason lie rather than confessing the truth to Sanosuke.
"Uhhh…I… I was… use words bakayaro! What the fu…"
"Rraagggghhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!"
Sanosuke's rant of Naruto was cut short when a high-pitched scream was heard across the field. Turning around, Naruto, Sanosuke, and Hiro looked to find the source of the scream. At the far end of the field lay a boy with raven hair who was clutching his right arm. When the instructors removed his left hand from his right arm, they found a shuriken embedded into his arm, just below his shoulder. A single thought raced through the minds of the trio as they muttered it in unison.
"Oh shit."
"Holy crap Naruto, that was a hell of a shot." Sanosuke laughed loudly, gaining the attention of a majority of females in the class. When they looked over to the other side of the field, their gaze focused on Sasuke, now bleeding on the ground. Seeing their object of affection injured, their anger was focused on a single person, Naruto.
They could feel the hatred waving in the air and it was all directed at Naruto. Like a herd of stampeding cattle, the group of Uchiha Sasuke fan girls rushed to the other side of the field. Knocking Sanosuke and Hiro out of the way, the girls proceeded to beat Naruto within an inch of his young life as retribution for injuring their precious Sasuke. Wanting to save his new friend from as much pain as possible, Sanosuke yelled out, "Naruto, hedgehog tuck!"
"What?"
"Tuck yourself into a ball. Now, do it now!"
Naruto did just that. Pulling his knees to his stomach, tucking his head into his chest and covering that with his arms, Naruto prepared himself for whatever the fan girls could dish out. After about ten minutes of punching, kicking, clawing, and biting, Sanosuke and Hiro realized the hedgehog tuck was ineffective, so Hiro decided to something about it.
"Naruto! Abort the hedgehog tuck. Abort, abort!"
The instructors had managed to pull all of the girls off Naruto but not before a pink-haired girl landed a hard kick to his stomach. Sanosuke and Hiro dragged Naruto away as Iruka walked over to check his injuries. After a few tests, Iruka saw that Naruto was okay; a bit banged up but generally okay.
"What do you think you were doing Naruto?!" yelled Iruka, "You are lucky didn't seriously hurt Sasuke."
"Iruka-sensei, I didn't mean-" Naruto tried to apologize but was cut off by Iruka.
"No, no excuses Naruto. I am giving you detention, today."
"But…but-"
"No buts, Naruto."
Iruka turned around, picked up Sasuke, and carried him to the nurse's office. The other students carried on with their shuriken practice, Hitomi dragged Hinata away from the scene of her friend's beaten form while Sanosuke and Hiro took this moment as a chance to get to know Naruto better.
"Damn Naruto, you sure can take a beating." Sanosuke proclaimed proudly as he slapped Naruto on the back. He winced in pain as Sanosuke hit a bruise left by one of Ino's punches.
"I've had worse." Naruto said wistfully as his memory flashed back to his not so happy childhood.
"What?" Hiro asked noticing the sadden tone in Naruto's voice.
"Nevermind." Naruto said, pulling his knees to his chest.
"Okay then; my name is Sanosuke by the way. Harada Sanosuke. This is Nakayama Hiro." Sanosuke said, extending hand out and using the other one to point at Hiro.
"Yo."
"So Naruto, just what was it that had you so distracted?" asked Sanosuke.
At that moment, Naruto's face was painted with a light blush. His eyes unintentionally darted to the other side of the field which, unfortunately for Naruto, Sanosuke saw this. Following the direction of Naruto's line of vision, Sanosuke saw that he was looking at Hitomi and Hinata.
"Heh, so Naruto, which one do you have a crush on?" Sanosuke asked, nudging Naruto in the ribs. "And if it's Hitomi-chan, I swear to Kami I will-"
"Stay the hell away from my cousin, Sanosuke." Said Hiro. Naruto laughed at Sanosuke as he blushed after failing to remember that Hiro was right next to him. "That goes double for you, Uzumaki-san."
At the end of the day, the newly formed trio of friends went their separate ways as Naruto stayed behind to serve his detention. Walking along the village streets, Sanosuke and Hiro reached a fork in the road. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Just as he approached the weapons shop, Sanosuke saw his sister coming from the other direction and ran to greet her.
"Nee-chan! Nee-chan, how was your day? Did you get anyone during practice today?"
Tenten laughed at her little brother's excitement. "Yeah, I got a couple of good hits, but I'm not the only one using someone else for target practice; is there something you want to tell me Sano-chan?"
Sanosuke let out a small laugh as they walked into the house. "No, that was not me, it was my friend Naruto. He got distracted and threw a shuriken into an Uchiha's arm."
"Really, wow. Why was he distracted?" Tenten asked as she put her stuff away.
"He was watching a girl during practice." Sanosuke said as he placed his pack down and leaned against the counter.
"Who? What's her name?"
"I think her name was Hyuuga Hinata. Yes that was it."
"Hyuuga Hinata, eh?" a deep voice said coming from the back.
From the back room stood a man in his early thirties dressed in an outfit suited for a blacksmith.
"Otou-san!" the two children yelled. Harada Kenshin smiled happily at his two children who were back from their first day at the ninja academy.
"So the Hyuuga heiress is in your class, Sano-chan."
"Heiress?"
Sanosuke was really confused now. He thought Hinata was just this really shy girl; not some one of real importance.
"Sanosuke, you know about the three great clans of this village, right?"
Sanosuke shook his head and Kenshin continued.
"In Konohagakure no Sato, there are three great clans of shinobis who serve this village. They are the Hyuuga, the Nakayama, and the Uchiha."
"Hey, I know a Nakayama! His name is Hiro and we became friends. I also met his mother. She seemed to be a few kunai short of a full pouch." Exclaimed Sanosuke. Kenshin laughed at his son's dead on explanation of his former teammate.
"Well, that's Aoi for you. She is the head of the Nakayama clan and since Hiro is her son, that makes him the heir to the clan. Hinata is in the same position as Hiro. She is the daughter of the head of the Hyuuga clan, Hyuuga Hiashi."
"What about Sasuke?" Tenten asked.
"Unfortunately, Sasuke is the second child of Uchiha head and the title of heir is given to the first born. But that does not mean he is not important."
"So basically, Hiro, Hinata, and Sasuke are kind of like royalty?"
"In a sense, yes. Those two, along with the heir of the Uchiha's, Itachi, will be very important to the future of Konohagakure no sato, and as such you will do best to treat them with respect. Got it?"
"Of course, Otou-san." Tenten and Sanosuke said as they nodded their heads in agreement.
"Good, now tell me about your day Sano-chan. I'm sure your first day of the academy was an exciting one."
"Yeah, it was great, I made a lot of new friends. There's Hiro, Naruto-"
"Naruto?!"
'The Kyuubi container is in the academy and with my son no less! I have find out more.'
"Sanosuke, how would you describe Naruto, what's he like?"
"Naruto? Well he's a bit of an idiot but funny. Today, we learned the basics of the shuriken jutsu and Naruto nailed Sasuke in the with one."
"Naruto attacked Sasuke!"
"Not on purpose. Naruto just got distracted by Hinata-hime."
Kenshin laughed deeply.
"Hinata-hime, huh? First day at the academy and you already got yourself a girlfriend. You make an old man proud."
Sanosuke blushed at his father's accusation while Tenten giggled at her otouto's now cherry red face.
"No, no, it's not like that! I only called her hime because she is the Hyuuga heiress, that's it, I swear." Sanosuke said in a panic.
"Alright Sanosuke, it's okay. Anyone else besides Hiro, Naruto, and Hinata-hime."
Sanosuke groaned at his father's joke and thought over who else he had made friends with. After a few seconds, Sanosuke nearly smacked himself. How could he forget about her?
"Oh yeah, I also made friends with Hiro's cousin, Hitomi-chan."
"Ho, ho, two girls in one day! You're becoming quite the ladies man, Sanosuke." Kenshin said with a lecherous grin.
"Otou-san." Sanosuke whined. He was getting pretty sick of his father's jokes and wished he would stop.
"Sorry, Sanosuke, couldn't resist. Now Sanosuke, I would like to discuss something with you. Tenten-chan, go help your Okaa-san with dinner." Kenshin said as he motioned for Sanosuke to follow him into the back room.
Sanosuke had been this room many times before. A couple times he had been in there to watch his father craft the weapons that would be sold in the shop and other times he used the room to hide from an angry Tenten. Upon entering the room, Sanosuke quickly noted all of the weapons that where on display there. There were kunais, shurikens, katanas, sais, clubs, war hammers, battle-axes, bo staffs, and other weapons, each in various sizes and designs.
"Ano…Otou-san, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Kenshin bent down and looked his son straight in the eye.
"Sanosuke, the skills you will gain from the academy will only get you so far in this world. Most families with children in the academy would train them in techniques and skills of their family. The Hyuuga train their children in the Juuken Ryuu taijutsu, the Uchiha teaches their children in the use of Katon jutsus; care to take a guess at what our family teaches their children?"
Looking around the room, Sanosuke took a shot in the dark.
"Weapon crafting?"
Kenshin sighed.
"Well you're half right, Sanosuke. Along with teaching you how to craft weapons I will also teach you how to use the weapons properly and effectively. Now go and find a weapon you wish to master. Know this, a person does not choose their weapon, the weapon will choose them."
With that in mind, Sanosuke set forth on his first "mission" as a shinobi. He looked at the war hammers and battle-axes, but quickly dismissed them, as they seemed too barbaric for him; also battle-axes gave him bad memories of Hiro's mother. He passed over the bo staffs because they seemed too simple to him. As he continued to search for his perfect weapon, Sanosuke walked up to the katana rack and stopped.
It was strange, but it seemed to be like the swords were calling to him, drawing him in to wield their strength. Grasping one by its dark blue clothed handle and drawing it from its sheath, Sanosuke felt as if lightning was coursing through his veins and suddenly knew this was right. Turning to Kenshin, Sanosuke said,
"Kenjutsu, I wish to learn Kenjutsu."
Kenshin nodded and patted Sanosuke on the shoulder.
"Good. If that is the case, we will begin your training in the Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu style of swordsmanship tomorrow."
"What's that, I've never heard of it before."
"Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu is a style of swordsmanship created by the legendary Kensei Musashi."
"What's a Kensei?"
"Kenseis or sword saints are the greatest of all swordsmen. Few ever truly obtain this title, making it a great honor to those who receive it. In a measure of power, Kenseis rival that of the Sannin."
Sanosuke was shocked. He thought that the only one to rival the legendary Sannin was their sensei, the Sandaime Hokage. If these Kenseis were so powerful, then that is what he would become.
"Come on Sanosuke, Okaa-san probably has dinner prepared."
Before leaving the room, Kenshin whispered into his ear.
"Thank Kami you only chose one weapon. Last year when I did this with Tenten-chan, she took every weapon off the racks and shelves."
They entered the main room where they were greeted by Tenten and an older woman who looked exactly like her.
"Okaa-san!"
Sanosuke yelled as he ran to greet and hug his mother. She held him close as he watched her long brown hair glow in the fading light of day.
"Hello Sano-chan, did you have a good day at the academy?"
"Hai, it was great. I had a great time and made a lot of new friends. Oh, and Otou-san said he's going to train me in Kenjutsu tomorrow."
With that said Mina shot Kenshin a deathly glare, which had him thinking up excuses in order to save his ass.
"Hey, you had no problem with me teaching Tenten weapons crafting and usage, so why shouldn't it be any different for Sanosuke?"
"Onegai, Okaa-san, let me do this. I want to be a great ninja like you, like Otou-san."
Mina looked at her son with concern in her golden brown eyes. She how rough her husband's family was when it came to training their children. Luckily Tenten had managed to not get a scratch on her but Sanosuke was just like his father. But even with that in mind, Mina could not ignore her son's pleading look and finally gave in.
"Okay but Kenshin, I swear to Kami-sama that if a single hair on Sanosuke's head is harmed, death will feel like a relief after I get through with you."
Kenshin turned pale white at his wife's words. What was worst was that she really meant it.
"Now, you two wash up. Dinner will be ready…oh no."
"What is Okaa-san?" Tenten asked.
"I don't have any onions for the stir fry. Sano-chan, could you run to the market and pick some up for me?" Mina asked, pulling out a small wad of bills from her purse.
"Of course Okaa-san." Sanosuke said, grabbing the cash and ran out of the house to the center of town.
As he walked back home from buying the vegetables needed for his family's dinner, Sanosuke could not see the road in front of him and his foot got caught on a protruding rock, causing him to fall and spill the contents of his grocery bag all over the ground.
'Damn rocks.'
Gathering the scattered contents of his market purchase, Sanosuke saw that something else was discarded in the middle of the street. Underneath a thin ray of the setting sun, laid a small, orange book. Curiosity taking over, Sanosuke picked it up and read the cover.
"Icha Icha Paradise?"
He flipped through a few pages and began to read some of it. Upon reading the first few lines, Sanosuke's eyes widened as he read through all the detail and graphic imaging written in the pages. Wanting to read it some more, Sanosuke placed the small book in his back pouch and ran back home, groceries in hand.
Elsewhere, a masked, silver haired Jounin sat down to read his favorite book series. Reaching into his kunai pouch on his hip, he quickly noticed a hole in it; small enough to not have everything fall out but large enough to allow the thin book a way of escaping. A loud scream of "NO!" could be heard across the entire village as the silver haired shinobi tried to remember all of the places he had been today. After failing to find it, the Jounin dragged himself into his bed and cried himself to sleep; thoughts of the horrors that might be befalling his precious Icha Icha Paradise plagued his mind.
Author's Note: Thanks to the people who marked this story on their favorites list and to the two people who left reviews (One of which I know personally). Please leave reviews, hell leave flames if wish. If there's something I screwed up, call me on it.
The other two members of my OC Genin team will get their moment in the next chapter so look out for chapter three, THE PAINTER'S GIFT.
Translations:
Juuken Ryuu- Gentle Fist Style
Katon- Fire Release
Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu- the school of the strategy of two heavens as one
Otouto- little brother
Hime- princess