Chapter 47

Tension

After healing Genma's legs, Ryusei was talking to Norisane and Sugi. Genma had gone to give his report.

"Hey, Ryusei, tell us a little more about yourself," Norisane said while eating rice balls.

Ryusei, who was leaning against one of the logs, said, "Well like I said, I was a drifter who wandered around until Tsunade found me. I caught her attention enough to make me her pupil."

"And you have no family?" Norisane asked.

"I lost them long ago," Ryusei replied. When he started his journey, he had been torn away from his world, and that world was already almost lost. But he couldn't say that he was dissatisfied with his current life.

Sugi looked at Ryusei with a solemn expression.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Ryusei dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, I have a new life now. What about you?"

Norisane swallowed a rice ball. "I come from a civilian family; my father is a merchant who spends his time traveling, making deals with people outside the village."

Ryusei nodded and looked at Sugi.

"What about you?"

Sugi sighed.

"I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember," she said. "I grew up in the orphanage until I was old enough to enter the academy."

Ryusei was silent after listening to the girl's story.

As long as she could remember, she must have been orphaned by the attack of the Nine-Tails, he thought.

Norisane grimaced. "Damn, that must have been hard," he said.

"It was," Sugi said with a sigh.

The trio was silent for a while.

"Is Lady Tsunade really as unlucky as they say?" Norisane asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Ryusei replied sardonically, remembering the times when Tsunade lost at gambling during their travels.

"You must have really suffered with the money."

"Not that much," Ryusei said. Of course, he had won a lot with his [LUK] in various casinos and Tsunade didn't hesitate to use that luck.

Sugi sighed in exasperation.

"Now that we're a team, we can go on missions!" Norisane shouted with a grin.

Well, it's not like they're exciting missions either, Ryusei thought, knowing that newly formed genin teams started out doing D-Rank missions.

Time later

Ryusei had left the Third Training Ground. As he walked, he noticed someone approaching him, it was Naruto.

"Ryusei!" Naruto called and stopped beside him. "I heard you were taking your genin test, how did it go?"

"I passed," Ryusei replied with a smile.

Naruto let out a slight chuckle. "Of course you would pass, so will you start doing missions already?"

"That's for our sensei to decide," Ryusei replied.

"Oh, and who is your sensei, is it someone I know?" asked Naruto with intrigue.

"Maybe, it's a guy named Genma Shiranui," Ryusei said.

"Genma?" Naruto scratched his head, thinking about where he had heard that name. "Ah! That's the one from the Chūnin Exams, I think."

Genma had taken over the Chūnin Exams after the unfortunate death of the previous examiner, Hayate Gekkō.

"Hey! I'm going to the hospital to visit Sasuke, my partner I told you about, the one Grandma Tsunade cured," Naruto said. "Do you want to come with me?"

Ryusei was momentarily taken aback by the proposal. He thought about it for a second and then spoke.

"Okay."

Naruto smiled and motioned for Ryusei to follow him. They were both on their way to the hospital. Ryusei thought about the way that would happen; he knew Naruto and Sasuke would have a fight at the hospital. Should he stop it?

They arrived at the hospital and went to the room where Sasuke was. Sakura was also there with a paper bag with apples in it.

"Where did I put the knife?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

"It's in front of you," Naruto said after he entered the room. "You must be nervous in front of Sasuke! You look silly."

That didn't endear him much to Sakura. "Silly? Don't you say that…"

Ryusei watched with some amusement at the discussion, which ended with Naruto on the ground from a punch from Sakura. He looked at Sasuke and noticed that he was lost in thought, irritation clear on his face. Sasuke was thinking about how Naruto got over it.

Sakura took the knife and started to peel an apple onto a plate and that's when she noticed Ryusei.

"Oh, sorry. I hadn't noticed you," Sakura said. "You… you're the boy who came with Lady Tsunade, I saw you earlier when she healed Sasuke."

Ryusei nodded. "That's right, my name is Ryusei."

"Sakura Haruno."

"Nice to meet you. Naruto told me about you." Ryusei fixed his gaze on the Uchiha on the bed. "And he must be Sasuke."

Sakura nodded while she peeled an apple. "Yes. Lady Tsunade did a good job on him, although he is still recovering."

Ryusei, getting a better look at Sakura, could tell she wasn't ugly, she was flat and somewhat frumpy, but she still looked pretty. He understood why Naruto liked her; too bad it was a childish crush that wouldn't be answered.

Sasuke was still lost in thought, more specifically an encounter he had had with his older brother Itachi weeks ago, where Itachi had told him how weak he was and that he lacked hate.

"I peeled it well," Sakura said, finishing peeling the apple. "Now I'll cut it into small pieces." She cut apple pieces and put one on a chopstick. "Here, Sasuke."

Sakura brought the apple chunk closer to Sasuke, but he disdainfully swatted the apple chunk away, startling Sakura and causing her to drop the plate, which landed on Naruto and made him get up.

"What the…?" Naruto said as he stood up and looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked with a hint of surprise.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

Ryusei stood to the side, fixed on Sasuke.

Sasuke turned around and glared at Naruto with hatred.

That surprised Naruto. "What, you don't have to look at me like that," the blonde said.

Sakura could only watch them worriedly. Ryusei could feel the tension forming.

I feel like I've seen this before, Ryusei thought, remembering Vegeta's attitude when Goku or someone else overpowered him.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Fight me. Now."

Both Naruto and Sakura were surprised by the Uchiha's words.

"Huh? Grandma Tsunade just healed you," Naruto said in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

"Just fight me!" Sasuke said, raising his voice. He opened his eyes and revealed his Sharingan with two tomoe each.

Sasuke… Sakura thought worriedly.

Ryusei was still standing at attention.

"Do you think you saved me?" Sasuke asked Naruto. "I don't know if you have relations with the Fifth or not, but you made her do something unnecessary."

"How?" Naruto asked, starting to get angry.

Sasuke pushed aside the blanket that covered him and got out of bed. "You wanted to fight me, remember? Now is your chance." He grinned. "Or are you afraid now?"

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?!" Sakura asked, standing up. "Naruto, say something to him! Not like that all of a sudden…"

Sasuke feels weak in front of Naruto and wants to get even, Ryusei thought. It did his ego a lot of damage to be outdone by a 'nobody.' Practically the same as Vegeta.

Naruto, after a few seconds, smiled.

"What a coincidence, I was thinking of fighting you too."

"Come on… give it a rest, okay?" Sakura tried to calm them both down.

"Follow me," Sasuke said to Naruto and then left the room, stepping on the discarded apple pieces. Naruto followed him.

Ryusei could see the Curse Seal of Heaven on the back of Sasuke's neck.

I don't think it's a good idea for me to interrupt their fight, Ryusei thought. The red-haired boy looked at Sakura, seeing her concern.

Sakura felt Ryusei's gaze on her. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she said.

"It's okay," Ryusei said. "We should follow them."

Sakura nodded and left the room, followed by Ryusei. They climbed the stairs to the rooftop, where there were two water tanks and some white sheets on ropes. Just as they arrived, they saw Naruto and Sasuke running through the sheets and Sasuke kicked Naruto, tangling him in a sheet and sending him into a grate. Then Sasuke picked him up and started beating the wrapped Naruto.

"Naruto…" Sakura mumbled with her hands clasped together. She looked away because of the beating the Uchiha was giving the Uzumaki but looked back when Naruto kicked Sasuke off him and removed the sheet.

"Stop saying that!" Naruto yelled, referring to Sasuke telling him earlier not to be cocky. He jumped into the railing and then into the air, an act that was copied by Sasuke.

Already in the air, the two exchanged blows. A kick from Sasuke sent Naruto to the ground, but he managed to pick himself up and land on his feet. Sasuke landed in front of him. Both were breathing heavily.

They're evenly matched, Ryusei thought, analyzing the fight.

At that moment, Naruto made a cross with his fingers, startling Sasuke.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed. Around him shadow clones began to emerge one after another until they surrounded Sasuke.

The clones swooped down on Sasuke, he managed to dodge their attacks and destroy several. But there was a moment when he sent two clones into the air with his feet, leaning on his hands, and three other clones caught him from below and kicked him upwards.

"Na-ru-to…"

As the Uchiha was in the air, Naruto himself jumped up to kick him. Sasuke noticed this and started making hand seals.

"…Uzumaki Barrage!" Naruto let go of the kick at Sasuke, but Sasuke managed to block it with his arm and pushed him away, still doing the tiger seal.

The tiger seal? Naruto wondered mentally.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." Sasuke unleashed a flare over the hospital rooftop, destroying the remaining clones and burning the sheets.

Ryusei gritted his teeth. "Does that fool want to start a fire?" he asked, preparing to extinguish the fire if necessary.

"Naruto?" Sakura mumbled in concern.

The fire built up in a swirl that then faded and revealed Naruto and a clone, readying the Rasengan in his right hand.

What is that jutsu? Sasuke asked with surprise in his mind.

The Rasengan was ready and the shadow clone disappeared.

"Damn…" Sasuke held his left hand as he emitted electricity, the shriek seemed to sound like birds. "Chidori!"

"Stop…" Sakura pleaded in a low voice.

"I'll win!" Naruto shouted, jumping at Sasuke.

"Stop being so cocky!" Sasuke shouted, falling towards Naruto.

"Stop!" Sakura shouted and started running towards both of them.

"Sakura, no!" Ryusei shouted, grabbing the pink-haired girl by the arm and stopping her from moving forward.

Naruto and Sasuke continued on their way to attack each other with their jutsu or would have if someone hadn't grabbed their wrists and thrown them sideways toward the water tanks.

Naruto looked at who had stopped him and Sasuke. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto, that was…" Kakashi said.

Both Naruto and Sasuke crashed into the tanks.

"What do you think they're doing on the hospital rooftop?" Kakashi asked. "Didn't they go a little overboard with the training combat?"

"Pff. Training?" Ryusei questioned. "Since when did training include jutsu with the clear intention of seriously harming the other?"

Kakashi didn't answer Ryusei, he was looking at Naruto and the circular dent he had made with his hand on the water tank, which started to leak a small stream of water.

That jutsu was undoubtedly… the Rasengan, the Team 7 sensei thought.

For his part, Sasuke had plunged his hand with the Chidori into the other tank, severely deforming the metal.

What's going on? How does Naruto know that jutsu?

Sasuke pulled his hand out of the water tank, which began to spill its contents more than the other. Seeing his apparent superiority, Sasuke smiled.

"Were you trying to kill Naruto, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, sitting on top of the tank. "Why do you insist on being superior?" his question went unanswered by the Uchiha. "Chidori is not a jutsu to use against someone from your own village."

Sasuke just looked at Kakashi with annoyance. Sakura watched worriedly.

"Why are you acting like a child?" Kakashi asked. Maybe because of seeing Itachi again? he thought.

"Hmph." Sasuke jumped off the rooftop, landing on a low part.

"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered.

The sound of rushing water drew Sasuke's attention. He looked up and what he saw stunned him: the water tank that Naruto had collided with had a huge hole behind it, a product of the Rasengan's impact. This sight made his blood boil.

Shit, Sasuke thought and punched the wall in rage. Naruto… How much strength can you get?

Sasuke left the place and was being watched by Ryusei.

"Looks like you hurt his ego and pride," Ryusei said to Naruto after he stepped away from the edge of the rooftop.

Naruto sat in silence. Kakashi seemed to be lost in thought. And Sakura was crying.

Ryusei seeing that couldn't help but think he was left over there.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura sobbed.

Kakashi sighed regretfully. "Where was the teamwork?" He paused and then spoke. "Was it you who taught him this jutsu?"

The question was directed at Jiraiya, who was standing under the tank with his arms crossed.

"I think Naruto is too young to use it. If he makes a mistake, he could have killed Sasuke. Even if it's a move against Akatsuki, teaching Naruto that jutsu is…"

"The same for you," Jiraiya said.""That Chidori is very dangerous; still, I didn't think he would use that jutsu against a friend. Unless there's something more intense between them."

"Well, a few things," Kakashi said.

"A few things?" Jiraiya asked.

"Simply put, it's like the relationship you and Orochimaru had."

"To him, Sasuke is his friend but at the same time his rival," Kakashi explained to Jiraiya. "And, well, he's someone who wants to be seen as an equal. Surely, he wasn't able to withstand Sasuke's provocation. He tried to catch up with Sasuke at the academy and kept trying after graduation. The Naruto of now doesn't want us to recognize him, but Sasuke does."

Kakashi sighed and also recounted how Sasuke, noticing Naruto's evolution, must have felt that Naruto himself made no progress, something he saw as an obstacle on his way to getting revenge on Itachi, and that if he recognized Naruto, he would deny what he is.

"Rivalry is a complicated thing," Kakashi commented.

"It is not an admirable thing," Jiraiya said. "I'll have to give him a lecture."

"Fine, I'll leave Naruto to you." Kakashi stood up. "I have a mission anyway and I have to talk to him about the Chidori." He jumped up and fell in front of Sakura. "Sakura, nothing will happen," he told her with a more cheerful tone. "It'll be just like old times. Cheer up."

Sure, nothing will happen, aside from Sasuke defecting, Ryusei thought sarcastically.

"See ya." With that, Kakashi jumped away.

Thank you, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura thanked mentally, now calmer.

Naruto came down from where he was standing. He looked annoyed.

"Naruto," Sakura muttered when she noticed his condition.

"Sakura… don't meddle!" Naruto said irritated.

That surprised Sakura and she even looked hurt by his words.

Naruto left the rooftop in one leap.

Ryusei let out a sigh and looked at Sakura.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Sakura looked at Ryusei. "Y-yes. I'm just… sorry that we had to meet like this. They didn't before…"

"It's okay," Ryusei reassured her. "You can tell they have a complicated relationship. Sasuke seems to be hell-bent on proving that he's better than Naruto no matter what and that can be problematic."

Sakura let out a sigh. "I hope not," she said.

"Well, I'm going to go. See you later," Ryusei said, waving goodbye.

"Bye," Sakura waved goodbye, heading back inside the hospital.

Ryusei jumped off the rooftop and landed on the ground. He started to walk aimlessly. Things between Naruto and Sasuke were definitely tense.

I should visit the girls, Ryusei thought. It had been weeks since he had seen the other members of his retinue.

He went to an alley and opened a portal in the wall. He entered his mansion, closing the portal behind him. He walked through the room when a rumble shook the place, almost making him lose his balance.

Ryusei recovered and felt two strong ki outside fighting each other. He knew that it was caused by Caulifla and Kale, who were fighting outside.

In the living room, 21 entered, her eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Ryusei.

"Ryusei!" 21 exclaimed happily, hugging Ryusei and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You're back."

Ryusei hugged her back. "That's right."

21 pulled away from Ryusei. "How are you? And where are Tsunade and Shizune?"

"Tsunade and Shizune are in Konoha. Tsunade is the leader and Shizune is her secretary," Ryusei explained. Another rumble shook the place. "I see Caulifla and Kale are busy."

21 nodded.

"I should let them know that I'm here." Ryusei started to leave, but 21 grabbed his arm.

"Don't worry, it's not necessary," 21 said with a soft smile. She pulled Ryusei against her, tucking his head between her breasts. "You can stay there for a while. You have to tell me how your trip went. And make up for lost time while you're at it."

Ryusei smiled. "Well…" He switched to his Saiyan avatar, Joseph. "I can take some time."

21 chuckled slightly and they both went upstairs to continue their meeting in the bedroom.

Ryusei learns a little more about his new teammates and sees Sasuke's tension grow as he nears his defection. In addition, he returns to his Pocket Space to meet with the rest of the girls.