I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Team
time skip four years
Ryuu stepped forward and grinned holding up the kunai he had to throw. Over the years, he and Sasuke spent their time training so that they could beat anyone they were matched against. Ryuu, who used to wear the used to wear a standard Uchiha outfit like Sasuke still did, now wore a black, short-sleeved shirt with a light grey stripe down each sleeve and over the top of the shoulder, black pants, black shinobi sandals, black cloth sleeve gauntlets with metal splints running up the outside, and a harness for his tanto that consisted of the tanto holder attached to two leather straps that crossed in an "X" over his chest and back so that his tanto was between his shoulder blades, held vertically where he could easily reach it with either arm. His hair was short and spiky like his brother had been and more than one had commented that he was the spitting image of Shisui. Apparently, Shisui had awakened his Sharingan at two tomoe the night his brother was killed in front of him. Sasuke, despite it being his brother doing the killing, didn't seem to have as he had never used them since. Ryuu didn't either but was capable of it and used it every once in a while while training and kept it active during his free time to increase his chakra reserves.
Iruka told him to begin and Ryuu tossed the kunai into the air then began to catch them and hurl them over his shoulders one at a time at the target a hundred feet from him. The kunai stuck into the target, forming a circle around the outer rim of the bull's eye, just barely inside it, then the last it directly inside the circle of kunai that was so small that the kunai sparked as it slipped past the others. The entire class cheered as Iruka removed the kunai from the target and Ryuu walked over to stand beside Sasuke.
"Beat that," Ryuu muttered.
"Sasuke, your turn," Iruka called out.
Sasuke stepped forward and took the kunai and hurled them all at the target together. The result was a exactly the same as Ryuu's but with all of them hitting at the same time. Sasuke walked back over to Ryuu who rolled his eyes and the rest of the class took turns going, none coming close to Ryuu and Sasuke. Finally Iruka called them all to stop and they were gathered in the classroom again. Iruka waited for several minutes until everyone was silent.
"Thank you," Iruka smiled. "I'm going to be reading off the list of the preassigned three-man teams you will be split into. Each team was decided by the jonin captains' choice so there will be no trading or changing."
After a moment of silence he raised the paper and scanned it raising an eyebrow but otherwise remaining emotionless. Teams one through six held no one particularly popular, and no one Ryuu knew.
"Squad 7," Iruka continued. "Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno."
Naruto instantly stood up cheering while Sakura hung her head. Ryuu grinned and shook his head. Naruto was a good kid. A bit slow and with no amazing skill beyond being determined and having a massive amount of chakra. His downfalls could be overlooked since he lived alone and everyone hated him to the point of the teachers not even bothering to pay enough attention when he asked for help.
"And Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka finished and Sakura and Naruto switched roles while Sasuke simply sat there unamused.
Ryuu glanced back at Hinata, who everyone except Naruto knew liked him, and saw her looking at Naruto in disappointment.
"Squad Eight," Iruka continued. "Hinata Hyuga. Kiba Inuzuka. Shino Aburame."
Sakura turned around to gloat to Ino who sighed. Ryuu rolled his eyes and glanced at Sasuke who was again lost in thought. Sasuke was very popular simply for being a stoic. Naruto was unpopular because all of the adults hate him. And Ryuu, despite being related to Sasuke and as skilled as him, was about as popular among the girls as Naruto with one or two of girls no one cared about knowing his name. As for the guys, every single one was as jealous of Ryuu's skill as Sasuke's.
"What do you see in him?" Shikamaru questioned as Ino started to get agitated.
"You don't get it," Ino growled.
"No I don't," Shikamaru agreed. "Because I'm not a girl."
"You're just jealous," Ino decided. "I'd hate to be on your squad."
"Team Ten," Iruka spoke up. "Ino Yamanaka. Shikamaru Nara."
"Ha!" Shikamaru laughed. "Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?"
"And Choji Akimichi," Iruka finished.
And that was it. There was only Ryuu left.
"Those are all the squads," Iruka stated.
Ryuu opened his mouth to speak but Naruto beat him to it.
"Iruka Sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same team as a slug like Sasuke?" Naruto demanded.
"Excellent point," Ryuu spoke up grinning. "Let the great ninja be teamless. I'll be with Sakura and Sasuke."
"Hey, wait a minute..." Naruto said as he thought through what Ryuu had just said.
"Yes please!" Sakura practically shouted. "Oh please Iruka Sensei!"
"Dear God above," Sasuke groaned setting his head on the desk. "I'm screwed both ways."
"I said no switching," Iruka stated. "Ryuu, you missed class yesterday when everyone was given their headbands. I understand that you were visiting your family's grave as it was the anniversary of their deaths but that excluded you from being selected for a team. Instead, you will be a one-man back-up team."
"I'm only going to be giving the others help when they need it?" Ryuu questioned voice betraying the disgust he felt. "That's it?"
"No," Iruka said shaking his head. "You will be given your own missions as well but nothing that is dangerous enough to require a three-man team."
"So I'm a glorified errand-boy then," Ryuu spat.
"U-um, h-he could c-come with u-us," Hinata offered.
"No," Iruka said shaking his head. "I've already told you. There is no switching or changing. The teams, or lack thereof, are final."
Ryuu sighed and nodded and Naruto did the same.
"After lunch, you will meet with your jonin captains," Iruka stated. "Until then, class dismissed."
Everyone filed out of the room and Ryuu followed after getting his forehead protector from Iruka. After a few minutes, Ryuu reached the same clearing where he used to train with Shisui and where he had set up a training ground. There were seal tag controlled training dummies that attacked with swords with the intent to kill and functioned as much as a trap as a training method, several targets, some of which moved on pendulums, others that were stationary, and some that he had attached to the dummies just for fun. There was no cover and over fifty three dummies. Ryuu drew his tanto and chakra blade as the dummies all came to life, moving slowly at first then gaining momentum and turning toward him. They all charged and Ryuu sprinted forward, easily cutting the dummies into pieces before they could attack him more than three times. The main problem with the dummies, and the thing that Ryuu loved the most, was that the more beaten, the more skillful and powerful the remaining ones became. If all destroyed in quick succession, anything left, usually the last, was always a massive leap from the rest. Ryuu had been trying to destroy them all in one go for a while but the last one was always just far enough away that the bonus from the first one reached it just in time for it to block his first attack and gather the rest of the bonuses.
Ryuu leapt back as the dummy slashed at him and readied itself. Ryuu sighed and resisted the urge to activate his Sharingan. He always used his Sharingan and defeated the dummy without much challenge but he wanted to know just how much he had progressed. The Dummy sprinted forward and slashed at Ryuu and he blocked it then slashed at the dummy. It leapt back then spun and slashed at Ryuu again. Ryuu blocked the slash again and dropped to the ground, tripping the dummy. The dummy, being four wooden cylinders connected with chains designed to hold their position with two arms on the top two segments and two legs on the bottom most one, caught itself on its slower arms and spun kicking Ryuu away then sprang to its feet and attacked him again. Ryuu blocked several slashes before the dummy allowed his sword to slide along Ryuu's tanto and then drove it forward, slicing a gash in Ryuu's shoulder. Ryuu shouted in surprise stumbling back then ducked under another slash and activated his Sharingan, dodging another slash then caught a third before destroying the dummy.
Ryuu then put his weapons away and covered his wound with a hand just as someone behind him spoke.
"That looks like it hurt," a feminine voice behind him spoke. "Want some help with it?"
Ryuu looked behind himself and his eyes widened. There was an ANBU standing at the edge of the field watching him from the eye holes of a cat mask. She had long purple hair, hanging down to her waist as her only distinguishing feature in her ANBU uniform.
"Sure," Ryuu nodded after a moment.
The ANBU walked over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder and healing him then looking around.
"Quite the training ground you have set up here," the ANBU noted. "You probably have to replace those dummies huh?"
"Yes," Ryuu nodded. "It's not always cheap but it's good training."
"I see," the ANBU nodded. "I have a friend who can handle the cleanup for free. In the meantime, I'm going to be training you between missions."
"Training from an ANBU?" Ryuu grinned. "I am so there."
"Good," the ANBU stated. "Because we're starting now. Do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"Yes," Ryuu nodded. Why?"
"Make as many clones as you can use in battle," the ANBU ordered.
"Okay," Ryuu nodded forming three. "Now what?"
"Attack me," she ordered.
"Excuse me?" Ryuu questioned.
"Attack me," she repeated.
"With or without Sharingan?" Ryuu sighed.
"By all means, use it," she invited holding her hand out.
He shrugged as all of his clones activated their Sharingan and charged. Ryuu ran along with them, all of them wielding their trench knife and a kunai. When they reached the ANBU, she caught two attacks then jumped into the air kicking two Ryuus backward, both exploding into smoke. Then, the ANBU flipped herself over the Ryuu on her left and spun kicking her into the last Ryuu, the one she kicked exploding into Smoke while the other crashed into a tree. Ryuu groaned, deactivating his Sharingan and looked up at the ANBU.
"Want to know how I won?" she questioned.
"Because you're faster," Ryuu stated.
"Bingo," she nodded. "From now on, you will train with me from sun up to sun down every day. You will have one day off at the end of every week or when I am away on a mission. You will now run around the village twice. if you are not back within half an hour, you will be doing push ups until the sun rises."
"But it's fifteen miles!" Ryuu complained. "Once!"
"Then you should get going," the ANBU stated. "Your time starts now."
Ryuu groaned then turned and sprinted away. The ANBU grinned behind her mask and leaned against the tree. Half an hour later, she grinned as Ryuu stumbled up the hill coming to a stop.
"You ran around twice?" the ANBU questioned.
"Y-yes," Ryuu nodded gasping for breath.
A second ANBU identical to the first stepped out from behind a tree and shook her head.
"You can use clones?" Ryuu questioned.
"I can," the ANBU nodded. "Congratulations. You're a fast runner. Thirty miles an hour. I'm impressed. At your age that's quite a feet. Begin your push ups."
Ryuu groaned but fell to his hands and feet and began to do push ups. After a half hour, Ryuu was ready to collapse when the ANBU finally told him to stop. He collapsed, gasping for air before looking up at her.
"The sun's not set," Ryuu pointed out. "Why are you stopping me?"
"You've been doing push ups for a half hour," she stated. "You have yet to complain beyond a groan. Why?"
"Because you're my teacher," Ryuu stated. "I'm supposed to do what you say without any complaint at all."
"I see," she nodded. "Do another lap around the village then go home. We're done for today."
Ryuu nodded and turned, running back to the village then around it. Then, he turned and jumped over the wall, heading back to his house.
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