A Warrior's Path

Kakashi " We will continue to escort you "

Tazuna was surprised and happy. They reached the sh.o.r.e and continued. As they were on their way Kakashi suddenly yelled " Everyone duck "

Naruto and the rest ducked, Ryu didn"t. They saw a large blade flying at them and Ryu stood at the front. He stood there with one hand inside his pocket. When the blade was just about to touch him he swatted it away like a fly. Everyone was scared when they saw this but all they heard was metals colliding.

Ryu wore black gloves. This was made from a material stronger than iron and softer than cloth. He created them using his ability to create any material.

Everyone saw Ryu just stand there and swatting the blade away like nothing. Naruto had stars in his eyes. Ryu looked cool standing there lazily and deflecting that attack.

Kakashi " That"s one of the seven Mist swords, The executioner"s blade "

Before anyone could react someone caught the deflected blade and retreated. This man had pale skin, his mouth and nose was covered by bandages. His upper body was bare and his hands were covered upto his elbow.

Kakashi " Well well if it isn"t Momochi Zabuza. The exiled ninja from the Mist village "

Naruto " Exile? "

Zabuza " Kakashi the Sharingan user ". Zabuza looked at Ryu. " Red hair..An Uzumaki which means he is the new Wood style user I have heard about ". Zabuza identified Ryu and was startled when he deflected his attack with ease. He never expected to find two strong opponents.

Zabuza " Sorry, but I will need you to hand over that geezer "

Naruto/Sakura " Sharingan? What"s that? "

Kakashi held his forehead protector " Everyone form the swastika formation. Protect Tazuna "

He removed his forehead protector above his left eye. Naruto and the rest saw an eye with pupil red in colour with three magatama inside it connected by a circle.

Zabuza " Ooh.. i am honoured to see the Sharingan "

Naruto " What"s this Sharingan? "

Sasuke explained what the Sharingan is. When they all heard it, they were shocked. Ryu stood at the side without any change in his expression. If anything he was interested in Zabuza"s sword. It had the ability to repair itself by absorbing the iron in blood.

Naruto and the other two got into formation while Ryu looked on. Zabuza used the Mist concealment Jutsu. Because Ryu was near Tazuna, Zabuza didn"t try to attack him. Zabuza was wary of Ryu, he felt danger from him.

Kakashi defeated Zabuza after awhile. Ryu went near the defeated Zabuza and picked up his sword. He placed his hand on the sword"s body and put some strength into his hand. Before everyone"s eyes he cracked the sword with his bare hands.

Ryu then cut his finger and dropped a bit of blood at the cracked spot. The crack slowly repaired itself by absorbing his blood.

Ryu " That"s interesting "

Everyone almost fell down when heard him. He almost broke one of the seven Mist sword just to test it. Before Kakashi could finish Zabuza several needles punctured his body. A person wearing an ANBU mask stood on a tree.

Kakashi " You are a hunter nin from the mist "

Haku " Yes, thank you for taking down Zabuza. I will take his body "

Kakashi didn"t think any further. Ryu checked Haku and found his strength almost reaching Jounin cla.s.s " Oh boy...Naruto and the rest are not gonna have an easy fight ". Haku took Zabuza"s body, Sword and left.

Kakashi fainted because he overused his Sharingan. Ryu took Kakashi and they went with Tazuna to his house. Kakashi was out for some time before he regained consciousness. He a.n.a.lysed what happened and concluded that Zabuza was still alive. He looked at Ryu

Kakashi " You should have killed him "

Ryu " If I interfered then that person who took Zabuza would do anything to save him, even die for it and I don"t want that "

Kakashi thought for a bit " Character "

Ryu " Yes... his chakra gave off a pure feeling to me. Not a bit of evil and absolutely pure "

Kakashi " So you let him go.."

Ryu " Relax. Right now we need to train these two. By the way if you are going to teach them tree walking, Naruto already knows that. "

Kakashi was a bit surprised when Ryu said that. He had the same thought.

Kakashi " Alright, like Ryu said we need to train you guys."

Sakura was a bit fl.u.s.tered " Sensei a little bit of training is not gonna make a difference "

Kakashi just laughed lightly. Just then a kid came in

Tazuna " Oh Inari. Where were you? "

Inari hugged tazuna " Welcome home grandpa "

Inari"s mother scolded him and told him to greet Ryu and the rest. Inari looked at all of them and said that they were going to die. Naruto was p.i.s.sed but later he saw the kid crying holding his father"s picture. He didn"t say anything and left.

Kakashi and his team reached the woods. He explained the training they were about to do. He also told them that Naruto already mastered it.

Sakura was still in thought. She didn"t know what to do next when Ryu said all those things to her and then the attack happened. She saw how Naruto and Sasuke took down that mist ninja. They didn"t even need to speak to each other to understand the others plan. She really felt like a failure as a teammate and as a person. She decided to a become better friend.

Kakashi showed them the exercise. Sakura had very good control over chakra, she got a very good grasp of it from the beginning. Sasuke struggled at first but as a genius himself he caught on. Naruto taunted Sasuke from the sidelines. This riled up Sasuke even more. He went to Ryu and asked for pointers.

Ryu was surprised that the prideful Uchiha asked him for advise " Don"t just channel chakra onto your soles. Feel it flow through your feet and keep it uniform then you will know how much chakra is needed "

Sasuke thought for a bit. He didn"t charge up. He put his feet on the trunk and channeled his chakra. He tried to feel how chakra flowed. After a few testing he understood what Ryu said.

Sakura saw Sasuke talk to Ryu. She hesitated but resolved herself and went to him.

Ryu was laying under the shade of a tree. He felt Sakura approach him

Ryu " What? "

Sakura looked at Ryu with a firm look on her face " I get what you said. I only considered everything from my perspective. I never realized what he went through and even when he tried to talk to me I have always got away from him. Like you said he always has that smile on his face, even when I said some harsh words, he never hated me. He really saw me as a friend.

That"s why from now on I will be a true friend to him. I know you won"t believe me and I won"t try to make you believe me but... watch me. "

Saying this Sakura didn"t even wait for his reply, she turned around and left to train. Ryu"s lips formed an imperceptible smile.