A Warrior's Path 49 Chapter 49. Ryu Tags Along

Sarutobi's Office...

Team 7 was here for their mission. At first Sarutobi was going to give a D ranked mission but Naruto pouted saying that he is no longer a kid who pulled pranks. Sarutobi smiled at his actions. He made an exception and gave a C ranked One. Sarutobi called and an old man with a sake bottle in his hands came in.

Tazuna looked at Naruto and said" They are all kids. Especially the smallest kid with an idiotic face, is he even a Ninja? "

Naruto laughed at first then found out Tazuna was speaking of him.

Naruto " I am going to kill you "

Kakas.h.i.+ held him " Don't kill your client ".

Tazuna introduced himself as an expert bridge builder and the mission was to gaurd him till he reaches the land of wave and completes the bridge. Team 7 accepted the mission. They were just outside the village gates when a voice stopped them.

" Looks like a fun mission. You won't mind if I tag along, right? "

Naruto Kakas.h.i.+ recognised the voice. All of them turned around and saw a Handsome boy about 14 years with deep red hair and black eyes. He was absolutely a lady killer.

Naruto was excited " Big brother! Are you also coming with us? "

Ryu " Yup "

Kakas.h.i.+ didn't say a thing. He obviously wouldn't mind having someone as strong as Ryu on the team. Sasuke and Sakura was dazed looking at Ryu. Sasuke has heard a lot about Ryu. A Wood style user...moreover his test itself was to beat three Jounin level s.h.i.+n.o.bi to become a Jounin. Sakura on the other hand has never seen such a good looking person before. Tazuna was also shocked seeing the kid but then he remembered Ryu's words

Tazuna warned " Kid, we are going for a mission not a vacation "

Kakas.h.i.+ " It's fine Tazuna san. Ryu is the stronger than me...and by a large margin "

Ryu smiled and didn't mind the old man's words. He knew why Tazuna was so concerned with this mission.

Kakas.h.i.+ " Did Hokage sama agree with this? "

Ryu " Its fine. Now.. let's go "

Kakas.h.i.+ and the rest started their journey. Ryu told Naruto to go walk along Kakas.h.i.+.

Ryu came towards Sasuke " h.e.l.lo. My name is Ryu Uzumaki, Naruto's brother "

When Ryu mentioned him being Naruto's brother Sasuke had a pained expression. He remembered his kind brother who he once loved.

Sasuke " My name is Sasuke Uchiha ".

Ryu " Thanks for being friends with Naruto, Sasuke "

Sasuke was startled at first but then a smile barely noticeable appeared on his face. Sakura seeing this was about to introduce herself when Ryu interrupted her

Ryu " I already know who you are, Sakura Haruno. You are someone who finds my brother annoying "

Sakura was startled when she heard that. She wanted to speak but no words came out. Ryu continued " You think he is a brat who does pranks because he has no one. What would you know about being alone... Without no one to care for.... being avoided like a plague wherever he went. You wouldn't even last a day. But have you ever seen him angered at anyone. He just laughs it off. You are not worthy to become his friend."

Sakura stood there frozen at Ryu's words. Sasuke was also shocked when he heard those words. He did find Naruto annoying but when he found out that both of them were the same.. He somehow felt a strange connection with him.

The rest of the team looked back when they saw Sakura just standing there frozen. Naruto was worried

Naruto " Sakura chan, are you ok?

Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked at Naruto. She was ashamed at herself. When she thought about what Ryu said, she realised how much of a villan she was to Naruto.

Sakura cried and said " Naruto.. I am sorry "

Naruto panicked seeing Sakura cry " What for Sakura chan? Even if you did something wrong it's alright "

She felt even more ashamed when she heard him. Sasuke remained silent, from Ryu's words he understood that Ryu didn't like Sakura at all. Sakura cried a bit more and kept silent along the way. Naruto was concerned and kept asking if she was alright but she just remained silent.

After they walked for a while Kakas.h.i.+ and Ryu noticed puddles of water on the ground. Both of them didn't mention anything and kept on walking. Suddenly two chains with sharp barbs wrapped around Kakas.h.i.+ and strangled him. Blood splattered, Naruto and the rest were scared. Ryu stood without doing anything.

Naruto " Kakas.h.i.+ sensei!! "

Two mist ninja rushed towards Naruto. The bloodl.u.s.t they emitted did scare Naruto but as someone trained by Ryu he recovered and got near Tazuna to protect him. Sakura was also shaken, she trembled but still stood before Tazuna. The attack came towards Naruto, he countered

" Wind style : Great breakthrough "

A gale was blown toward the incoming attack. It deflected the chains. Naruto yelled " Sasuke !! "

Sasuke jumped up and threw two shurikens toward the chain and nailed them to a tree. He got behind one of them and kicked him towards Naruto who had already prepared

" Wind style : Gale palm "

Naruto's hand produced pressurised air and shot it to the incoming Mist Ninja. He got knocked out due to the attack. The other Ninja was shocked that two brats took care of a Chunin. He was about to attack again when a hand caught his throat.

Naruto and Sasuke was prepared for the next attack when they saw Kakas.h.i.+ appear and take down the other Ninja. They tied these two ninja to a tree.

Kakas.h.i.+ " They are chunin cla.s.s mist s.h.i.+n.o.bi. These guys are known to keep fighting no matter the cost "

Tazuna " Why did you let the kids fight then?"

Kakas.h.i.+ " I could have easily killed them but I needed to know who their target was..besides my team isn't that weak. Also he was there "

Kakas.h.i.+ pointed to Ryu.

Ryu " They were targeting you. The mission is to protect you from thugs and gangs. If it was from a ninja it would be an expensive B rank mission, wouldn't it? "

Tazuna was silent. Ryu " Just tell the truth old man. We will help you if we can "