Chapter 8 - Adventure 8: Sensei Strength

Azami wandered around the village, not entirely sure what to do. She was really hoping to catch a glimpse of the hot silver-haired jonin (and maybe even his face!), but settled for some mindless Shojo manga instead. She flipped through the pages, looking at them but not really reading them. Then she hit a hentai section. Despite warnings about it, she was curious. What made it so forbidden?

“Ugh, looks gross!” Azami wrinkled her nose at the content. Both parties looked to be naked. That’s embarrassing! Why would anyone want to do that?! I never take my clothes off in front of anyone!

Azami’s view on that changed when she hit a yaoi section. She blushed, seeing two boys sharing a kiss, then cuddle up. Wow, I had no idea people did that! Two guys…does that REALLY happen?

Then she came to a story about three guys who loved one girl. In Azami’s mind, she was the girl, and the silver haired jonin was one guy. But the other two…one was a megane type, the other kind of a nerd. Snickering to herself, Azami placed Ryouko in the nerd’s place. Wanting to see what would happen, Azami flipped to the end of the story. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened, and her back hunched.

“You’re kidding! The NERD wins?!” she screeched. Furious, she threw the manga down, stomping it flat in a fit of rage. A few passerbys stopped to watch, but continued on the way- just some girl throwing a tantrum. Happened all the time at that age.

I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I hate that guy! That’s it, I’m SO gonna go kick his butt into orbit!

Azami stomped off, aiming to find Ryouko. She neglected to remind herself that she really had no reason to want to kick his butt- it just felt natural.

--

Ryouko had his hands full. He and Lee had started off at an easy pace by tacit agreement- best to warm up and stretch before you got into heavy combat. Ryouko quickly learned that his ‘easy’ was very different from Lee’s easy.

“That’s it, Lee! Two more! One more! Five hundred one-hand pushups! You’re ready for combat!” Gai declared, striking a pose. Lee got up, not a drop of sweat on him. He wasn’t even a little out of breath. Ryouko suddenly felt as though he was in over his head, sitting on the ground stretching a hamstring. Lee-kun is in better shape than most jonin! But Ryouko’s mind put him at ease- it wasn’t ALL strength- there was speed, technique, adaptation, and sixth sense. Ryouko knew he had more sixth sense than Lee, false modesty aside. But everything else was questionable. Ryouko knew a wider variety of taijutsu, but more wasn’t always better. It added to the adaptation ability, but against one highly trained foe, it made no difference.

So they began to spar, each reading the other, flicking weak jabs and kicks to test speed and skill. Then Lee was gone.

“What?” Ryouko turned just in time to block a head-high kick. Lee was gone again, but he reappeared to Ryouko’s side. This time Ryouko aimed a kick at him, but only hit the air. This pattern continued until Lee finally smacked Ryouko in the gut, sending him skidding backward.

He’s fast! How on earth? Body-flicker? No, he can’t use jutsus…then how? No way I can match him in taijutsu!

Ryouko peeled backwards, blocking a series of kicks with his forearms, trying to find a pattern to Lee’s attacks, or at least an opening for a counter-attack. Ryouko found neither, and he was being driven back. Some long-ingrained reflex told him to get his back toward the center of their designated area. As he did, Lee had to change direction, slowing up for a split-second. Ryouko had to think about it, but finally concluded: If I can just get a hold of him…I tried staying close, but he still blazed by me with his speed…

Lee was crouching in front of Ryouko. The next thing Ryouko knew, he was launched into the air, his chin taking the brunt of the kick. Lee was underneath him, he sensed. In desperation, Ryouko threw an elbow back, hitting Lee in the stomach. Still in the air, Ryouko rolled over and stomped, kicking Ryouko toward the ground. Ryouko. straightened himself, falling in with a side-kick. Lee uncoiled from a crouching position and cracked Ryouko on the chin. Ryouko hit the ground hard, but he had landed flat, so he rolled to his feet and attacked. Lee blocked his kick, arms forming an ‘X’. From there, he tried to throw Ryouko, but Ryouko landed on his feet and swiped- nothing. On a pure gut feeling Ryouko spun around, aiming a sweep kick behind him. He didn’t connect, but he heard the sound of spandex stretching as Lee jumped to evade the blow. Now Ryouko went on the offensive, throwing a roundhouse that Lee just blocked in time. Both landed on the ground, Ryouko panting, Lee standing upright.

“This is excellent! I have not sparred someone in a pure taijutsu contest like this before!”

“Likewise,” Ryouko managed to reply around gasping breaths. “We’ve gotta do this again sometime!”

Lee grinned and zipped forward again. Ryouko kicked at him, but Lee repeated his kick to the chin. This time, Ryouko blacked out for a split-second. The next thing he knew, he was upside-down and couldn’t move.

Bandages?

Then everything began to spin. That stopped at Gai-sensei’s shouts.

“LEE! THAT IS FORBIDDEN TAIJUTSU!” Gai shouted, irate at his star student. Ryouko felt the bandages release him, and he righted himself.

“That was checkmate, whatever it was,” Ryouko said, letting shock come into his voice. “What WAS that?”

Lee, despite getting reprimanded, smiled. “THAT is the forbidden taijutsu known as the Primary Lotus! Er…I am sorry that I almost used it on you. I got over-excited, and I just learned the technique yesterday…Please accept my apologies,” Lee bowed, seeming sincerely sorry. Ryouko shrugged.

“It’s okay. I feel bad for the sucker you get with that move though!”

Gai perked up suddenly. “Well, who do we have here?”

The little girl with the black hair and Egyptian skin bowed. “Masamitsu Azami. I just need a word with Ryouko-kun, sensei.” Azami didn’t wait for a reply- she just walked over to Ryouko, looked him up and down, then-

BAM!

She cracked Ryouko in the chin.

“What the hell was that for?!” Ryouko snarled.

“I’m telling, you cursed at me!” Azami shot back.

“You sucker-punched me!” Ryouko replied. “I have every right to curse you out. What are you even doing here? I’m busy on a mission for Lord Hokage.”

Azami actually went to punch Ryouko again, but smacked her first against a log. Ryouko was exhausted, but he hadn’t actually used any chakra in that fight. Just a ton of stamina. He used a replacement jutsu, and let Azami beat herself up.

“What is your problem, Azami-chan?!” Ryouko asked, standing next to Tenten now. On Tenten’s other side was Neji, and on Ryouko’s other side was Lee. Azami thought back to the shojo manga she had read- Lee was the megane type, minus the glasses. The nerd isn’t going to win this round!

Azami started to cozy up to Lee- something no one saw coming. Once she was safely behind Lee, she hurled insult after insult at Ryouko. Ryouko just shook his head- he wasn’t going to hit a girl. Azami somehow insulted Neji too, but he and Ryouko agreed on the whole ‘you don’t hit a girl’ thing. Tenten had heard enough and tackled Azami, giving her a hard throw, then snapping a kunai down right next to her head.

“Cut it out! I don’t know what your problem is, but if you’ve got a problem with my friends, you’ve got a problem with me! They might be too nice to hit you, but if you keep pushing, I’m not going to be so nice!”

No one had seen Tenten act like this before. It was clear she was the motherly type, especially on the hot-blooded team Gai was in charge of. Apparently, she had an instinct to protect when she felt her friends slighted. Ryouko, despite himself…well, he was thirteen, almost fourteen- a cute girl defending him (even though she was really defending a group- a fact his mind just happened to forget for the time being) was seriously cool.

Azami and Tenten glared at each other. Then Azami smirked.

“So which one is it? Which one are you in love with?”

Tenten blushed. “Well, it’s…none of your business! Just…just get out of here!” Tenten hauled Azami to her feet and gave her a push in the right direction- the ‘right’ direction being away from Tenten! For her part, Tenten couldn’t tell if she was more embarrassed or angry.

“Are you okay, Ten-chan?” Ryouko asked, barely concealing a smile in his voice. He offered her a hand up. She took it, a little pink on her cheeks. Both she and Ryouko chalked it up to the fact that Tenten had just been in a fight, and she had been embarrassed about losing her cool.

“Yeah, I’m okay. How are you?” Tenten almost touched Ryouko’s chin, but held off at the last second.

“I’m alright. Lee hit me harder multiple time,” Ryouko managed a small laugh. “I apologize for the interruption everyone. If you’ll please excuse me, I’ve got one more thing to tackle today. We’ll have to spar again, Lee. You, too, Gai-sensei, Ten-chan, Neji-tan.”

Neji growled at Ryouko, but he was already gone courtesy of a body flicker jutsu.

--

Kurenai and her team waited, each of them passing the time in their own particular way. Hinata was playing with her fingers nervously, no doubt fretting about Neji, or Naruto, or her father’s incessant pushing to become stronger.

Shino, by contrast, was trying to coax new insects to join him. He had spotted a semi-rare beetle that secreted an antidote for burns. Moving slowly, he held a finger out to the insect, then paused, unmoving. The insect climbed on his finger, and Shino added yet another bug to his enormous collection.

Kiba was playing with Akamaru, throwing sticks and apples for him to find and bring back. Akamaru’s barking was punctuated by shouts of encouragement from Kiba, and then ‘good boy’ when he did something right.

Kurenai was chewing on a nail, apparently nervous. Unbeknownst to her students, Kakashi had made a request- check Ryouko’s ability for genjutsu. The only way to do that was to slap on a genjutsu and see if he held onto consciousness. Kurenai could do that; genjutsu was her specialty. But part of her wondered if it was really a good idea to hit an unsuspecting genin with full-blast genjutsu.

Lord Hokage’s personal protégé or not, he’s still a thirteen year old boy. Should I really do this? I guess…Kakashi would know better than I would. So, I guess…he’s here. Time to do this. I won’t use my ‘killing’ genjutsu, that’s too much. But Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing should do it…

-

Ryouko felt himself hit with something. The world changed slightly, a tornado of leaves blocking his view. Then things were normal. Or they appeared to be. Ryouko knew better.

Genjutsu…alright, stay calm…can’t let it reach it’s climax. Whoever this is causing this doesn’t know me very well, or they would have targeted a soft spot. Gotta get that out of my mind, they can read that to some degree. What else…I know this genjutsu…hell viewing…but it’s power level is off the charts! I’ve got to…ah! I can’t move! Gotta force it, gotta…force…it!

Ryouko’s hand inched toward it’s kunai pouch. A vague part of his consciousness controlled that motion. When it registered that the genjutsu user was clamping down to stop this action, it made one quick motion, grabbing a kunai. With a flick of the wrist, the kunai was sent in the direction the chakra was coming from.

No dice, didn’t hit the caster…that was a stupid risk anyway. Now to release this…Focus…RELEASE!

Ryouko shattered the genjutsu- partially. Kurenai had started to hold on tighter, increasing her strength in increments, forcing Ryouko to be pushed to his limit. She was surprised to find he had come close to throwing off her genjutsu- it was at a B-ranked level now, very impressive for the genin to still be conscious, let alone fighting.

I weakened it…but it’s back on tight. I can feel a vision starting…no, no no! I can’t use the ‘release’ technique, but I can still break this! Ryouko but down on his lip, sinking his teeth in until he drew blood. He broke through the genjutsu for a second- long enough to see his attacker- before he succumbed to it once more.

By now, Kurenai’s students were watching raptly. They hadn’t been privy to what was going on, but they could guess now. Ryouko had figured out where Kurenai was, and that she was casting the genjutsu- in his haze, he didn’t see that she was a woman, so when he suddenly sprang at her and took a mighty swing (He didn’t connect, but he broke Kurenai’s concentration enough to end the genjutsu) he didn’t see it was a woman until she blocked his punch.

WHAM!

Kiba had tackled Ryouko.

“What the hell d’you think you’re doing?! Attacking a woman like that? I oughta-”

“Kiba! Enough, I started the fight. He was simply breaking the genjutsu I had on him, then attacking.” Kurenai’s explanation got Kiba off of Ryouko. The two got along because of their mutual like of animals. Akamaru and Holly had hit it off and played together almost every day.

“Sorry about that. Shoulda known you wouldn’t hit a girl…” Kiba apologized sheepishly, flashing his wolf-like teeth in a grin. Ryouko nodded- he was winded from fighting that genjutsu off.

“You did very well,” Kurenai assured him, patting Ryouko on the back. “You seemed to know the genjutsu I used. I know it’s D-ranked, but genjutsu isn’t an easy art, and very few choose to attempt it.”

“Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique,” Ryouko recited, still panting. “I wish I had been able to throw it off. You could have killed me if you were an enemy…” Ryouko made a note to work on his ‘release’ technique. Another long night- Ryouko loved it.

“Well, you’re here for teamwork. So we’ll just do a quick tracking exercise, then you’re on your way.” Kurenai gave a few orders. Two hours later, her test was done, and Lord Hokage would receive a favorable report about Ryouko once more.

--

Lord Hokage sifted through the reports for the day. He set aside a C-ranked mission to the Land of Waves. Lord Hokage knew the Land of Waves and chose not to deal with them for the most part. They seemed intent on staying by themselves, unconnected with the rest of the world. That was an unspoken sentence: “leave us alone” is what it said when a land or village stayed by itself like that. But a cry for help never went ignored in the Hidden Leaf.

Last on Lord Hokage’s list was Ryouko’s progress reports. Each jonin instructor had said plenty of good things about him. Even Kakashi, to Lord Hokage’s surprise, had something nice to say. Kurenai’s report was interesting in that it recommended Ryouko for a more intense study in genjutsu.

Kurenai is a new jonin, but she makes her decisions as well as any jonin that’s been in the field for years, the Third thought, always happy to have a Shinobi from his village do well. Taking a break, Lord Hokage peered into his crystal ball. He found Ryouko quickly enough. With a somewhat sad smile, Lord Hokage looked at a boy who was going to be forced to grow up fast.

--

Ryouko worked on his release technique, among others, deep into the night. His mind finally gave him a mental butt-kicking and told him to sleep. It was 3:30 AM, and Ryouko had to be at Lord Hokage’s in two and a half hours. Plenty of time for sleep. Tomorrow was an easy day.

Ryouko thought for a moment…if today was August 3rd…then his birthday was coming up! And his birthday preceded the chunin exams by six days. It would have been a nice birthday present to test, but Ryouko wasn’t ready. He was happy as Lord Hokage’s aid and student. He hoped that he would soon graduate to ‘advisor’, but that wasn’t likely to happen overnight. All the same, his time in the Leaf had shown Ryouko patience. He could wait, and be that much better for it.

--

After two weeks, Team Seven had come back from the Land of Waves. Their report was certainly an interesting read- so much so that Ryouko felt a pang of jealousy. But he suppressed it instantly- he had learned a lot in two weeks, so he wasn’t going to complain.

“Ryouko, if I’m correct, your birthday is coming up, correct?”

Ryouko shook himself out of his trance. “Yes, sir, it is. The twenty-fifth.”

Lord Hokage exhaled some smoke. “Well, it’s only right for a teacher to give his student something…let me see…ah! I know! It isn’t new, but I believe you may understand it’s significance. You see, this was mine once. Now I want you to have it, in honor of your first A-ranked assignment.”

Ryouko had opened the box to find a black headband- that was rare, as only a couple Shinobi wore black headbands, and the ones who did were all high-ranked jonin. But it was the gift underneath it that was from Lord Hokage- chainmail arm guards.

And to think I was worried he’d make me take the day off! Ryouko thought, mildly laughing at himself.

“The A-ranked mission: Come to the chunin exams as my aide. It may sound dull, but a great many things can happen at chunin exams. In fact, this year we have a relatively new village participating. Otogakure, or the Sound Village, will have genin applying. Tensions are high, and you may be called on to break up fights. But I know you’re more than up to it.”

“I won’t let you down, Lord Hokage!” Ryouko declared, putting the arm guards on, then tying his new headband in place.

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