Two: Uchiha-Uzumaki Ryo
Ryo is one of the few people our age who realizes what’s really out there. His blind-looking eyes carry a wisdom that not even the oldest Konoha citizens posses. It’s really strange, actually. He says that Naruto always tells him Ryo is a lot like his other dad when he was going through the academy. I still forget his other dad’s name. . . I only remember Naruto because he’s one of the teachers at the academy. It’s kind of embarrassing for Ryo, too. Naruto-sensei isn’t shy about Ryo being his son, nor about Ryo having two dads. I remember having Ryo running out of school a couple times because he was pestered so much. Most people have grown out of the constant pestering stage, but they haven’t forgotten that Ryo isn’t like the rest of us. In fact, there are a couple of people who still bring it up once in a while just to try to get a rise out of Ryo. However, it seems that he’s built a concrete wall around himself like his Uchiha dad, and he can put it op or take it down in an instant.
“Hey,” Ryo said to me on the day of our final exam. “You ready?” I glared at him.
“Do you THINK I’m ready?” I retorted. As with most exit exams, one must prove their proficiency with chakra by making a copy of someone or something. Well. . . you know how I am with chakra. . . I was pretty sure I was going to fail this. Ryo smiled.
“Don’t worry. They let your father pass, right? He can’t use chakra at ALL.” he said taking out a scroll to read. “Hichi’s been a nervous wreck all morning.”
“What does SHE have to worry about?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “She’s been doing copies since she was five!”
“Yeah, but you know how anal she can get.” Ryo argued, smirking. “It’s actually kinda funny.”
“You always manage to find other people’s agony funny, somehow.” I said, sighing and putting my head down on the table. Ryo smiled.
“It’s Naruto’s fault.” he claimed.
“Is he administering your test, by the way?” I inquired.
“Are you nuts? I think all of Konoha would go on strike if that happened.” Ryo said. “No, this other teacher is going to. His name’s Umino Iruka or something like that.”
“Iruka?” I asked. “He’s a dolphin??”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” he said, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Oh well. I’m confident that I’ll pass.”
“Arrogant butt.” I accused, knowing how much he hated that. He just punched me in the arm. “Ow, you punch hard!!”
“You’re just weak.” he said, going back to his scroll and smirking. Ooo! He just did that because he knows I hate being called weak!
“After these exams, I say we take this outside. I’ll do too much damage in here.” He laughed.
“I’m just joking, I hope you know.”
“Joking about what?” Hichi asked, sitting right beside Ryo.
“He called me weak.”
“He’s just jealous that you could beat him hands down in a match of strength.” Hichi said. “He’s told me that himself.” Ryo shot a glare at Hichi.
“Does your tongue always flap this loosely when I’m NOT around?”
“Maybe.” Hichi said, smirking. “I ran into Nara this morning.”
“Oh?” I asked. “What did he want?”
“Wanted to know if I could pretend to be him and take the test for him.”
“Lazy ass.” Ryo said.
“I know, so I hit a pressure point and he melted like jelly.” Hichi said smiling. I shook my head. Even though Hichi was a friggin’ genius, she had a hard sadistic streak in her. . . another reason why no one else really liked her. “You okay, Aya-san?” she asked.
“As well as I can be. You?” I said.
“Well, seeing Nara fall to the ground like I had just pulled out all of his bones made everything a lot better.”
“Yeah, but she was freaking out like Kaki does when she’s high on sugar.” Ryo said, referring to Inuzuka Kaki. The dog-girl could honestly tear down the entire Academy when she was high on sugar. . .
“I was NOT that bad!” Hichi snapped, glaring.
“Yes you were.”
“I’ll have to go with Ryo in this one.” I said. “You’re too hyper sensitive about passing with an A++ NOT to be freaking out.” Hichi turned her glare to me.
“You both suck.”
“Attention everyone!” Naruto-sensei said loudly, entering five minutes late.
“YOU’RE LATE SENSEI!!!!!!!!” everyone shouted. Naruto blushed and laughed it off. It became ritual for Naruto-sensei to be five to ten minutes late to class, and thus ritual for the rest of us to shout at him when he came in late. He promised that he’d be on time today, but I think something went wrong with his plans. Ryo poked me.
“Actually he was on time, but he kept talking with a couple of other teachers in the lounge and didn’t get his stuff done.” he whispered. I snickered.
“I always wondered how come you always were here on time, yet he never was.” Ryo shrugged.
“Can’t multitask to save his life.”
“Would you like to share something Ryo and Ayame?” Naruto asked, leaning on his desk and looking sternly at us.
“Not really.” Ryo said, just because he could slightly get away with a smarmy attitude. He’d get the reprimand later at home, though. Naruto just shook his head.
“Fine. Well! As you all know, today is the day of your final exams! I’m sure a lot of you are nervous, but don’t be. The more nervous you are, the less likely you are to do well. So just relax!” he said, trying to calm the nerves of half the students here. “Think of “the Shoulder Number”!” he said, posing like a picture of a model who was peering over her shoulder and batting her eyes at you. We were supposed to think of a really old, fat man with waaaaay too much hair on his body doing that. . . somehow, the thought actually worked. (1)
“I saw my dad doing that.” Ryo said. “But he was a girl.”
“A what?!?” I asked.
“I know! It’s so weird, but he was a girl!” he said. “He was doing that to Sasuke.”
Oh, that’s right. . . Ryo’s other dad’s name was Sasuke. . .
“Ew.” I said, thunking my head against the desk. “I don’t want to know.”
“I do.” Hichi said. “Let me in on whatever you find out, ‘kay?”
“Hyuuga Hichi! You’re up first.” Naruto said, sighing. Hichi took in a deep breath before putting on her ‘Hyuuga Face’, as Ryo and I like to call it. It’s the blank façade all her family learns to wear in public, and we tease her about it all the time. Ryo has even perfected his own ‘Uchiha Face’ which is similar to Hichi’s, but a lot colder and stern. “A copy of me, please.” Naruto-sensei requested. Ryo rolled his eyes.
“He’s so vain. I heard his favorite jutsu is one where there’s a ton of clones.” he whispered to me.
“Really?” I asked, smirking. “Sasuke told you that?”
“Yeah.” he said, turning back toward Hichi. “Well, she passed.” I took a look at the two at the front of the class room. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference.
“So, which one’s the real one?” I asked Ryo. I assumed being Naruto-sensei’s son that he’d be able to detect some sort of flaw. However. . . the look on Ryo’s face didn’t seem to back up my assumption.
“Er. . . I don’t know.” he said, blinking a few times and rubbing his eyes. “I think it’s the one on the right.”
“You sure?”
“Not really, but I think so.” Ryo said, taking another hard look at them. The Naruto on the left smiled and picked up the grade book, while the other one on the right turned into Hichi. “No way. . .”
“You thought Hichi was your dad. . .” I snickered.
“That will NEVER get to Hichi’s ears, you understand?” Ryo spat at me, glaring a little. I smiled.
“Of course. . . Hey, your eyes are. . . red?” I asked, taking a closer look at his eyes. “Yeah, they’re red!” Ryo shut his eyes and shook his head.
“Don’t say anything to Hichi about it!” he said, opening them again. They were his normal ice blue color again. “I don’t want her to feel bad.” I nodded. Hichi still hadn’t discovered her Kekkei Genkai yet, and her father had been giving her a bit of grief about it.
“When did you find out?”
“Last night.” Ryo whispered, seeing Hichi only a short distance away. “Dad was happy.”
“Both?”
“Yeah, oddly.” he said, then turning to Hichi. “You did great!” Hichi sighed and sank in her chair.
“I hope Chichiue is happy with it. He drilled me all last night.”
“What did your mom say?”
“She told him not to push me so hard, but it was pretty much useless.” she said. “But I passed!” She then produced a hitai-ate with black cloth. I kept thinking how pretty it was. After all, it was brand new and. . . well, it was something I might never get. I longingly watched her as she tied her new head band on like a head scarf.
“Haruno Ayame!” Naruto-sensei called after several other students had gone. I shivered.
“Break a leg. . .” Ryo joked, smirking. I rolled my eyes and took the agonizingly long walk down to the front of the class. Unlike the other tests, which had a low, constant chatter going on, mine was completely silent. I guess everyone wanted to watch my test and see how I was going to screw up this time.
“Gambatte, ne?” Naruto-sensei said, smiling at me. “A copy of me, please.” I took in a deep breath and thought about all the things that I needed to accomplish. . . then. . .
“Henge.” I said weakly, praying to any god, goddess, or otherwise that I might pass this thing. . . When I opened my eyes and looked down at myself. . .
“Well, it’s close. . .” Naruto said, sweat dropping. “But not quite.”
I was Naruto-sensei in polka dot boxers and a wife-beater. . .
I quickly turned back into myself and ran out the door, too embarrassed to face the laughing classroom. Naruto-sensei called my name several times to try to get me back, but it was too late for that. Not only had I made a fool of myself, I. . .
I failed.
I hid in the alley behind the Academy, hugging my knees together and trying hard not to cry. What if I could never use chakra correctly? What if they never allowed me to pass? It wasn’t fair! How come I had to be cursed with this lack of ability? Mom never helped much because she never had to suffer very hard with her basic chakra skill, and Dad couldn’t help because he had no ability at all!! Why couldn’t I just have been NORMAL like everyone else?!?
“Aya?” I heard someone say. I looked up to find Ryo peering around the corner. I glared.
“Go away.”
“Aya. . .”
“GO AWAY!!” I shouted, burring my head into my knees. I heard him walk and then sit next to me.
“Aya-chan,”
“You don’t have to say it.” I said. “I failed miserably.” He put an arm around me.
“Not miserably at least. Jin made Naruto-sensei naked.” he said. I looked up at him. “I swear he did!”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” I asked.
“Well, it was worth a try.” Ryo said, shrugging. “He’s going to have a talk with the other sensei, then he’ll decide if you’ve passed or not.” I turned away.
“It’s useless. I can’t do it.”
“Neither could your father, and look where he is.” Ryo said, knowing my father’s reputation. “Aya, you can’t be good at everything, but you can be spectacular at the things you ARE good at. They can’t deny you just because your use of chakra is naturally a little off.” he stated. I looked him dead in the eyes, wondering how honest he was being. All he did was smile, and the dams of my eyes broke. I hugged him and cried hard into his chest.
“I don’t want to be left behind!” I sobbed, hardly audible. “I’m dead last in the class! No one knows what to do with me! They hate me! They can’t stand me!” Ryo just let me pour out everything, no matter how irrational it was, and never once tried to hush or pacify me until I was done. Then he kissed the top of my head and hugged me.
“Don’t worry about anything. They’ll find out what to do with you. If not, your father will always be there to help, and so will Hichi and I.”
“But,”
“Ayame, you’re a lot stronger and gutsy than anyone in the class. You have the heart and will to become one of the best, maybe even Hokage. Even if you have a handicap, you could still put up a fight. You’re going to waste it all if you decide to quit here.” Ryo said. “We’ll find a way to pass you. That’s a promise.” I cried harder into his chest, though there were tears of happiness and thanks mixed in with the sad ones. I didn’t know how he did it - I still don’t - but Ryo has a knowledge of the world I don’t think I’ll ever know. His eyes hold a wisdom that not even the oldest Konoha citizens posses, and now. . . I’m glad he does.
TBC...
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Notes:
(1): "The Shoulder Number". . . okay, I took AP European History last year (which was my first AP class) and all of us were freaking out over the test since that would determine our first and second semester grades. . . well, my teacher told us to think about HIM doing "the shoulder number". . . and he did it @_____@;;; My eyes were burning for days. . . but it actually did help somewhat. I was too busy trying to get the nasty image out of my head to worry about the test. . . (and I STILL ended up only getting a 2. . . 3 is passing -___-;;;)
Chichiue: (that's chee-chee-oo-eh) A very formal way of saying "(one's own) Father"
Gambatte: Good luck (literally "to do one's best")
***And in case you don't know what a "wife-beater" is (I'm not sure if that's a California slang term or what) it's those white tank-top/ under shirts guys wear. It's the sterotypical shirt a "trailor trash" man would wear who beats up his wife and drinks and blah blah blah. You get the picture. . .
Thanks! Please please please please PLEASE review!!!!!!! ^______^