Chapter 45 - Arc VIii: Deep Inside- Chapter 4

=Flashback=

Ryouko, fourteen years of age, sat by himself outside the academy. In front of him lay no less than ten scrolls. He was entranced by the information within them. So much so that he ignored virtually everyone- including bullies.

One group wasn’t so easily deterred.

“Hey, shorty!”

Silence.

“Freak!”

Nothing.

“Kiss-@$$. You’re only the Third Hokage’s pet; you’re no warrior!”

Slowly, Ryouko turned around and stood up. He took a half-step closer to the boy mocking him, so close that, had they been wearing headbands, they could have touched if either boy inclined his neck.

“I detect jealousy. Why don’t you go learn something yourself? THEN come back and try to talk trash. That is, if you ever get good enough to back it up.”

The bullies didn’t like their prey firing back. Apparently, Ryouko couldn’t care less about that, as he scooped up his scrolls and walked into a nearby teahouse.
-

It’s always the same. Why can’t they leave me alone? I don’t care if I make friends. I’ll settle for being ignored.

That was the way Ryouko felt. He knew it was wrong for someone his age to feel like that, but all the same, it felt good. Him against the world. Okay, his parents were there, too, but they couldn’t fight all his battles for him. This one he wanted to win. That’s why he studied so hard. So he would never fall behind anyone. So he would never lose. So he could always protect the important things.

“Eek!”
“Leave her alone!”

Ryouko heard the commotion and looked up. All the ‘responsible adults’ weren’t even reacting. Just some kids playing, in their minds. But Ryouko knew better. That wasn’t a ‘play’ scream. That was a distress call. He didn’t know or care who it belonged to at this point. He stood up and strode out of the teahouse, and forcefully lifted up the flap.

There he was two young girls being bullied by the three idiots who had been harassing Ryouko before. One girl was blond, and clearly a little vicious. The other was a pink-haired girl, cowering before the bullies, wanting no part of the conflict. It was her they were zeroing in on, of course.

“You rotten jerks can just shove off! Leave Sakura alone!”

“Scram, Yamanaka! If we can see you behind Haruno’s forehead, then you’re too close!”

Ryouko had heard about enough. “Ah, the idiotic guffaws of the intellectually challenged!” he called. That was enough to snap all five heads towards him. Realizing that all his genjutsu and ninjutsu would be wasted here, Ryouko prepared himself for a fist-fight.

The tallest boy, the ringleader, stopped teasing Sakura and took to poking Ryouko in the chest.
Push.
“You think you’re the hero to these little girls?”
Push
“You think you’re gonna stop me? You can’t even take care of yourself.
Push. Grab.

Ryouko grabbed onto the boy’s finger, held his wrist, and pushed the finger up. He could hear the boy’s finger creak, and he heard his gasp of agony. That was the point at which he stopped.

One of the tallest’s flunkies tried to hit Ryouko in the face. Ryouko threw the tallest boy’s arm up in the block, then used his own hand to smack a nasty pressure point under the boy’s armpit. The third bully found himself stuffed in the guy with a kick.

“Run home and tell your mommies that you got beat up by the skinny little runt of the village.”
Ryouko raised his eyes at them. The cold, distant eyes that seemed to say ‘I don’t care’. It didn’t matter what the question being asked was.

The three bullies took off, holding their hurt appendages. That left one last chore for Ryouko. He turned to the two girls, and looked at them. They looked back at him.

“Wow…thanks,” Ino managed. “That was something.”

“I dislike bullies. Especially the ones that pray on innocent girls like that. It’s low.” Kneeling down, Ryouko offered Sakura his hand. “Do you need help getting up?”

Sakura realized her eyes were still tear-stained, and she wiped them with an over-long sleeve on her sweatshirt. Then she took Ryouko’s hand, and let him pull her up.

“They got lucky,” Ino stated. She held her hand out, holding rose stems between her fingers. “If they kept up, they were going to get these where the sun don’t shine!”

It was probably then that Ryouko developed a healthy fear of girls.
And I thought they needed my help?! Kunoichi…no, girls. Girls are scary, and definitely not as docile as they seem.
=end flashback[/i]=

Unconsciously, Sakura smiled at the memory. Ryouko had always been a brave person, if a little reserved. No attempts made by the chunin and jonin to get Ryouko to make friends seemed to work, except he made friends with jonin and chunin. Ryouko was more comfortable conversing with adults, apparently. So his growth had been rapid when it came to skills and social graces with respect to older and younger people, but he remained distanced from those close to his age. And every once in a while, Sakura thought she glimpsed regret about that very subject.

Next to Sakura, Naruto was trying and failing to make eye contact with Ryouko. Whether he knew Ryouko threw the match or not, he had done massive damage to an innocent friend. Even under some kind poisonous influence, Naruto felt he should have known better. Showed better control. Done something that didn’t involve his friend being so battered.

“Naruto.”

Hearing his name, the orange-clad shinobi perked up. Ryouko was the one who had garnered his attention. It took four simple words to put Naruto at ease.
“Don’t worry about it.”

The tension left the room. Well, except for Ryouko. His eyes had hardened again. Everyone here; all of them his friends; they knew it would take a while for him to become close to jovial again. His skills had taken a large step forward; his personality progression had taken two steps back.

Naruto remembered the first time he had met Ryouko. It was one of the few memories he had of the boy before his training with the Third Hokage. Before he had become a powerful, semi-trusted person.

=Flashback=

Naruto ran full-speed, snickering all the way. He tore around the academy hallways, somehow managing to elude Iruka-sensei and at least three other chunin.
“You suckers will never catch me! Believe it! Hahaha!”

That was when he had spotted one boy at the top of the auditorium-style classroom. The boy was deep in his studies. He was maybe three years older than Naruto, but didn’t have a headband yet.

“NAAARRRRUUUUTTOOOOO!”

“Yikes! I’d better move it!”
Kicking up a cloud of dust, Naruto ducked into the classroom with the single occupant. Looking up, hoping the kid would help him he made a request.

“Don’t tell them where I went!”

The boy looked at Naruto, then deliberately shut his eyes. “You’d better hurry.”

Naruto dove out the window on the side. Sitting under the sill, trying not to chuckle too loudly, he heard the teachers ask Ryouko where Naruto was. For a minute, Naruto really thought Ryouko would tell. He looked like one of those rule-happy types. But then he heard Ryouko’s voice say in a tired drawl:
“I can honestly say I didn’t see where he went.”
=End Flashback=

The memory always made Naruto smile a little forlornly.

Ryouko’s a rock. He’s not the same skill-wise as Kakashi-sensei, but at least to me, and I know Sakura feels it too; it’s like we just know we’ll be okay when he’s on our side. Like nothing will happen to us. Maybe it’s because he makes sure it all happens to him.
…
I hope he can bounce back from this.
--
Azami stood on at the end of the dock, drinking in the air thick with a salty moisture. When she was a little girl, her father had brought her out on the water to teach her how to fish. She wasn’t squeamish in the least, even then. She felt sorry for the fish, but it was the natural order of things. And char tasted really good, too.

With a practiced ease, Azami stepped into the small boat that was going to be her way to the Land of Waves. She cast off with no difficulty, and began to guide herself toward an easy current that would carry her to her destination at a reasonable speed.

This would be nice if Ryouko was here. In our swimsuits. Fishing, swimming…just being together. This magnificent view, and I’ve got no one to share it with.
Before self pity could take over, her mind added the annotations to her thought:
Of course, it’s not any lack of effort on Ryouko’s part. I keep pushing him away, then thinking about him privately. And I’m not on a relaxing cruise. In fact, I need to speed this up.

Using the pole that was serving as an oar, Azami dug it in and pushed hard, using all of her sinewy female muscle to propel the small craft at a good speed.
--

End of Arc VIii: Deep Inside
Coming next: Arc VII: Still Human

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