Chapter 20 - ArcIIiii: Saving Grace- Chapter 1

The battle raged on in the Leaf, but the tides had turned dramatically. Those in favor of Tsunade had begun to dominate the battle, driving back Danzou’s followers. Lady Tsunade herself hadn’t yet been found, but hopes were high.

Despite that, there was talk of who would succeed her. Few knew about her connection with Naruto. Most hoped Jiraiya would take over, should the worst come to pass. A Sannin had to be the best choice.

Meanwhile, Sunagakure reinforcements arrived, and they began to clean house once the barrier keeping them out was lifted by two good ANBU agents. Naruto and Sakura burned through some of the traitorous Leaf’s, both searching for the two missing people.

They had met Iruka-sensei and the kids halfway here, and had heard about Ryouko’s plans. They also knew that Tsunade was missing. So it was agreed that they would search, and leave combat to the others whenever possible.

“Damn it! I had no idea the Leaf was so close to this kind of civil war!” Sakura burst out, smacking an intruder hard enough to shatter his ribs.

“Huh? There was something like this going on at all?” Naruto absently stuffed some goon in the gut.

“…Yeah. But don’t tell Lady Tsunade I told you. There’s been an increase in those who support Danzou. Wealthy, older veteran shinobi who aren’t happy the Leaf isn’t prospering like it was before Orochimaru’s attack. They don’t think Lady Tsunade is up to the task of making the village better. I knew they had support, but to go this far…”

A burnt building caught Sakura eye. Two injured people staggered out of it. Instinctively, Sakura went to help them. Naruto decided it was best to watch her back.

Ryouko’s fine. I can’t leave Sakura alone. He’d just insist I go back after him.
--

The area around Ryouko was all quiet. The sounds of war were dying down. Or maybe it was just bloodloss that was sending Ryouko into shock. Either way, he decided to manipulate the dregs of his chakra to form a protective genjutsu. It was one of the few ways that Lady Uzume had taught him to deal with the pain of the curse bindings being released.

His head fell to the side; his mind now inside a ‘safe place’ while his body healed.
-
Ryouko walked around his genjutsu semi-paradise, absently pulling books from a library area, but not really reading them. His eyes kept being pulled toward the dark area where his real self was kept.

No…not my ‘real’ self. The self that COULD be real if I don’t break the chains. I need to free that ‘self’ of his inhibitions…and do the same to the real me…I’ve just got a feeling I should take a look…
-

Ryouko looked at the version of himself in chains. The figure looked back at him. It had never done that before. It pulled at the heavy chains on itself, dragging itself closer to the glass between the two.

Ryouko walked up and put his hand to the glass, making eye contact with himself. That self was bleeding, too. Cuts appeared and disappeared on it’s body. Just like always. But there was less blood this time.

The chained-up Ryouko put his palm to the glass, too, across from Ryouko’s palm. Bound by the chain on it’s neck, it couldn’t speak, but it could communicate through thoughts in this genjutsu.

”The seal on me is weakening. Don’t let up.”

“How can that be? I’m as miserable and hopeless as I always was…only now, I’m waiting to die.

“Then that’s the key. The key that can unlock these chains. Capture this feeling of ‘letting go’. Then, we can go beyond this point. The barrier has begun to crack.”

The chained-up Ryouko could only reach the glass with his palm, but at it’s press, the glass cracked in one place. Ryouko felt a new emotion- hope. In his mind, he pictured a golden key, floating towards the lock of the chain around the neck of his other self. It fitted itself into the lock, turned, and the chain loosened. There were four more locks on the chain, but Ryouko could feel the change in his own breathing- this ‘other self’ could breathe easier, too.

”It’s such a relief…it’s a battle you won after fighting hard…what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Next time you visit me, make my breathing easier.”
--

Ryouko opened his eyes, feeling an adrenaline rush of pure happiness. He’d never had a reaction like that to genjutsu. For some reason, it felt like hope. As if things weren’t so bad.

I gave up on a girl. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make something of myself. There are other girls, if this one doesn’t work. And there are others goals- such as to surpass the Hokage. To come from nothing and be someone! To have the power it takes to swat down injustice like this.
But I need to live.
To live, I need to stop bleeding.
To stop bleeding, I’ll need help.
Help…Sakura, of course.
Maybe this cherry tree WAS the sign I was looking for.

“They’re withdrawing! The Foundation is withdrawing!”

Ryouko heard the shouts. He smiled a little, allowing himself to feel proud for the moment. He hadn’t done much in this war, but he had helped spark a rebellion. That was good enough for him; at least for now.

After all, that’s my role. To protect. The spotlight belongs elsewhere.

“Ryouko!”

Finally, Ryouko let himself calm down. He calmed down until he could feel pain again. It was only now he noticed that a kunai was embedded deep in his shoulder.
Feelings are the problem AND the solution. I can’t make them go away- I need to learn how to deal with them.

Sakura began to heal him, already telling Naruto to send a messenger toad to Kekkou-Ji temple. Sakura could heal Ryouko’s combat injuries- it was his internal injuries that were the problem.

Those curse bindings…I still don’t understand them. What do they do for him? Is there a monster inside Ryouko, too?

Ryouko looked up at Sakura, chancing a grin. “I guess you shouldn’t let me out of your site anymore. I’ve made a mess of things…and myself.”

“huh!” Sakura drew in a breath, shocked to hear that. She accidentally dug her chakra scalpel in too hard, and caused Ryouko to protest.
“Sorry! I just…you were talking to me like normal…”

Ryouko leaned back against the tree, controlling his breathing as he did. “Well, you know how told me to call you by your name, instead of ‘Ojousama’? Well, I guess having one near-death experience too many made me think ‘to hell with the Hokage’s orders’.”
Ryouko smiled charmingly.
“It’s YOUR orders I’m supposed to follow, not hers.”

Sakura pulled her hand back, a little stunned. “Huh? What’s gotten into you?”

“I wish I knew. But it feels a little better than the usual stuff. Almost like there’s some reason for me to get up one more time…”

“…Did they poison you or something? It’s not like you to be so dramatic…”

“I’m starting to wonder…”
--

It took Ryouko a few hours to recover. In that time, Naruto summoned a tracker toad so that he could find Jiraiya. Right now, he was needed here. If the worst happened to Tsunade, someone had to take over.

Sakura focused most of her energy on healing Ryouko. He wasn’t critical- but he was in pain, and in a bad way somewhat. His Tenketsu were strained from the prolonged time he spent without his curse bindings on.

Ryouko was busy thinking. As usual, they weren’t happy thoughts. They were productive, though-inducing thoughts. The only thing that could make Lady Tsunade disappear against her will was death, or some kind of quick capture that didn’t allow her to unleash her strength. That sounded like ANBU, on both counts.

Jiraiya arrived shortly after, looking much less jolly than usual. He excused himself to talk to Ryouko alone. They were both privileged when it came to Naruto and Sakura, and the time to exchange information had come.
--

“I’m going to be frank, Ryouko. If you’re going to continue this kind of work with those two, you need to find someone to pass ‘it’ on to.”

“…I know. I’ve been putting it off. I can’t pick someone. There’s no ‘child of prophecy’ involved when it comes to my decisions. That gives me more options. But how many could stand up to the threat that we’re facing. ‘It’ isn’t an easy thing to bequeath.”

“True, true,” Jiraiya admitted. “And you haven’t quite gotten to that level where decisions like this are second nature. Maybe we need to push you to that level…”

Jiraiya removed a picture from the inside of his clothes. He passed it to Ryouko while he rummaged in his sleeves.
“That is a picture of an orphaned boy from our borders. Now, where did I…ah, here it is!”

Ryouko studied the picture. It was a pretty sad sight. The boy was clearly undernourished- his ribs were poking through his skin. He wore only a tattered pair of pants, and a broken pair of sandals. His long hair fell across one eye. The other eye was interesting.
“Master Jiraiya…this boy is blind!”

“In only one eye,” Jiraiya told him, distracted by some envelope. “The other eye has compensated with excellent vision. Beyond excellent, in fact. He’s inherited a rather odd trait. You could call it a kekkai-genkai, except that it’s actually a learned skill restricted to one bloodline.”

“I’m sorry, could you clarify that?”

Jiraiya chuckled. “Yeah, it’s odd, I know. Unlike the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan, where all members of the family can attain a basic level, this skill isn’t present in ANY of the clan members. It can be learned at any time- provided the person learning it meets a few unique circumstances.”

“And those cirumstances?”

Jiraiya grinned. “Here. Lady Uzume asked me to pass this on to you. She seemed to think you and this child might be of some help to each other. Oh, but you can’t adopt him. This eye- called ‘Issekigan’- must be honed while the user is asleep, and in the complete darkness at night. So, if you choose to help him, he’ll be staying with Lady Uzume.”

“That’s great and all, but I don’t see how I could help him. And I really don’t know how I would get all the way to the Fire Daimyo’s palace and back often enough. I can’t neglect those two…”

Jiraiya smiled a little and ruffled Ryouko’s hair. “You’re a good kid, aren’t you? I know it’s eating you up, watching those two together. And I’d never say it to Naruto, but he needs this kind of stability. I can’t provide the stability, even though I’m his master. Sakura may be able to give that to him.”

Ryouko couldn’t quite meet Jiraiya’s eyes. “…I know. And you’re right. It’s killing me. But maybe it’s better this way…”

“?”

“…My parents already know the risks of my life here. I can’t just go visit them- they’d be targets. For Danzou. For the Akatsuki. For Orochimaru. If I’m alone like this, then I won’t hesitate when the time comes to make the necessary sacrifice.”

Jiraiya scratched his head, not sure how to deal with this.
Minato was always optimistic. Naruto doesn’t even know how to be melancholy. This kid’s got enough depression for both of them. But I don’t get the sense he’s asking for pity. He’s asking for validation that he’s correct. But even if he IS correct in thinking like that, I shouldn’t encourage it. He might make a stupid sacrifice, instead of the right one.
“Well, you just leave that to us legends for now. No dying- Lady Uzume told me to remind you of that, too, come to think of it. There should be a letter from her in there, too.”

Ryouko stored the letter in his vest.
“Later. For now, finding Lady Tsunade should be top priority…”

Jiraiya got the sense there was something Ryouko wanted to say. So he waited. It took Ryouko a minute, but he finally said it. Without turning around, he made a request of Jiraiya:
“…I think I know where she is. If I’m right, the second I go in, I’ll be ambushed. Danzou will then try to have someone make a move on Naruto and Sakura. We won too easily. The Foundation never attacks straight on. They mess with you. But I’ve got their game figured out.”

“…”

“And I’m asking you…to please watch Naruto and Sakura. Especially if I don’t come back. I don’t know what kind of help this maniac has, but it may be too much for me to handle alone.”

“I can do that,” Jiraiya told him. But there was more.

“…Don’t tell them anything we’ve discussed, please. Especially the part about me not coming back. They don’t need to know.”

“And if you don’t come back? What do I tell them? They’ll want to know…”

Ryouko turned to give Jiraiya a small smile. “Tell them not to worry about it. They don’t have to attend my funeral. I doubt you’ll ever find my body anyway. It would be un-Foundation like to leave my remains lying around. Just make sure my parents are notified, and assure them I didn’t die for nothing…even if I DID.”

Jiraiya sighed quietly, watching Ryouko go. This was the hard part of being a teacher (especially when you were indirectly teaching someone)- the part where you have to let them sink or swim on their own. Ryouko wasn’t at one hundred percent, but Jiraiya knew when a man was fighting for a personal reason. And Ryouko was relaxed about it. So there had to be something different about this fight. Something that made him confident.

This time, he’s not leaving those two in danger. He’s got someone watching his back.

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