A Warrior's Path

Ryu commented " Hoh.....you got an interesting team there."

Asuma laughed " Haha.. they ain"t bad."

Ryu " So you here for the exams?"

Asuma " Yep. I am gonna recommend these three guys."

Ryu " Shikamaru Nara... a genius and the future clan head of the Nara clan, Choji... also the heir to Akimichi clan, lastly Ino... the princess from Yamanaka clan. So they are the Ino-shikcho of this generation. Looks strong."

Ino snapped out of her trance when she heard him speak. She was embarra.s.sed about how she acted.

Shikamaru said lazily " Ryu Uzumaki, Wood style user, the second youngest Jounin."

Ryu smiled " I am glad that a lazy a.s.s like you even knows me."

Shikamaru was a bit annoyed " It"s nothing secret, you are just that popular..... in more than one way."

As he spoke the last words, he looked at Ino. Asuma got his meaning and chuckled. True, Ryu is a lady killer and had left a mark in the hearts of every lady he met.

Asuma " So wanna have some food with us?"

Ryu " Sure."

All of them went inside the restaurant. Asuma carefully checked his wallet before stepping inside, he must be wary of choji, the guy probably had a black hole inside his belly. They chose a spot, sat down and ordered what they liked in the menu.

Ryu decided to tease Asuma " So... Asuma, how is your crush?"

Asuma was drinking water when he heard that, he was shocked and spat everything out on Shikamaru"s face. Ryu laughed hard seeing this. It seems Asuma is still shy.

Asuma was embarra.s.sed " How... how do you know that?"

Ino replied for Ryu " Who doesn"t?"

Asuma face palmed. He didn"t think everyone would know it. Shikamaru was still drenched, Ino gave her handkerchief to him.

Shikamaru cleaned his face and said " Sensei don"t get jumpy like this. It"s embarra.s.sing for us."

Ryu laughed " haha... he is right Asuma. Man up, don"t be shy to admit your love for her."

Asuma was trying to find a hole to hide in, he changed the subject " So I heard you are training Guy"s team. That"s not nice."

Ryu " it"s just giving some pointers, that"s all."

Asuma " Still, they sure are lucky to be taught by you."

Ryu " Oh! am I that valued?"

Asuma " Come on... you were able to tie with Guy. Kakashi was the only one to ever do that but if they ever fought with the intent to kill...I believe Guy will beat Kakashi."

The Trio were interested listening to what Asuma said. It seemed like Ryu was crazy strong.

Shikamaru " I have heard about this Guy, they say he is the only person to have become a Jounin just using Taijutsu."

Ino covered her mouth in surprise " That mustn"t be true. Ninjutsu is essential for a ninja, how can one be that strong without it?"

Ryu replied seriously " Don"t ever underestimate your opponents. Guy is crazy strong but from what I know, he wasn"t always that strong."

Asuma " Right. Guy was weak at first but step by step he became strong. He worked harder than any of us, he trained crazy and most times he was exhausted to the point where he couldn"t even move a finger. The Jounin he is now was built by years of sweat and hard work."

Ryu nodded. The Trio was amazed, they asked more about how Guy trained. The dishes came when they started speaking, by the time they were finished they looked at Ryu like he was a monster. Asuma and his team went their way after the meal.

A few days later Sarutobi held a meeting where each Jounin recommended Genins from their team eligible to become a Chunin. Kakashi, Asuma, Guy, Kurenai and a few other Jounins recommended their teams for the exam. Iruka was worried when he heard Naruto"s name. Kakashi told his reason for the recommendation but still iruka was worried. Sarutobi stepped in and said

" Since the number of partic.i.p.ants is too high, we will hold preliminaries."

He explained how the preliminary is categorised. Iruka got even more worried when he heard the rest.

A few days later.... Naruto and his team got to where the first exam was held. But before they reached they heard a commotion. It seemed that a couple of Chunins were gaurding the entrance. When they got near they saw Neji and his team.

Lee " Please let us pa.s.s."

The Chunin scoffed " This isn"t a place for a weakling."

Saying that he punched Lee. Lee was very fast as he side stepped and gave a chop to his neck. The Chunin never expected Lee to be this strong, when the hit connected he felt like a steel bar hit him.

The other one tried to sneak one on Lee but Sasuke stepped out and blocked it. He disabled the other Chunin easily. As people trained by Ryu if they couldn"t do this much then that would be absurd.

Sasuke looked at the room number " These kind of cheap tricks won"t work on."

Both Chunins got up and glared at Lee and Sasuke. They were Chunins, higher than Genins yet were humiliated by these brats. But reason told them to be calm and didn"t continue to attack.

Chunin 1 " Hmph, don"t get too c.o.c.ky."

After he said that the number above the room warped and changed. This was indeed the room for the test. All of them entered.

Naruto gripped his fist, Sakura had a firm look, Sasuke was eager to improve..... everyone had their own reasons to be here.