Ryu Uchiha: The Village Hidden in the Storm! [Book 2]

Chapter Two: The Devestated Hidden Leaf Village

While on the way back home, Ryu and Chi both stopped by the same town Tsuyoshi had the last time they saw him.

     As if expecting to find Tsuyoshi and Jun still there, they visited the shop they had went in. They looked around and, at the same time, said, "Of course he wouldn't still be here after all this time."

     Freaked out, they both looked at each other weirdly.

     "Let's go then," Ryu said, exiting the shop.

     Loud shouting could be heard up ahead as Ryu and Chi traveled through the town street.

     At the edge of the town, a fight had broken out between two large men. One was accusing the other of steeling his merchandise while he had went to the bathroom.

     When Ryu and Chi neared the scene, Chi asked, "What shall we do?"

     "You can handle this by yourself," Ryu said.

     Ryu stopped walking and Chi squeezed her way through the crowd that had gathered around the two men.

     A few seconds later, the crowd was quiet, and then gasps. Chi walked back from the crowd with her usual smile.

     "What did you do?" Ryu asked as he and Chi began walking out of town together.

    Chi explained that when she had asked what was going on, one of the two men tried to push her aside, but she instead flipped the man over with his hand, and when she did, a few jewels came from the man's pocket, solving the problem and ending the fight.

     "At least nobody was killed," Ryu said. "I'm picking up the pace and running."

 

     "Eh? Why?"

     "Thunderclouds in the distance. We need to cover a long distance and make a shelter before it begins to rain."

     They both headed off running as fast as they could.

     Just minutes later, they had covered four miles before it began raining.

     Ryu quickly made a campfire with fresh wood that hadn't been soaked on in a cave that Chi had found.

     Until nighttime, Ryu and Chi trained their minds with meditation until it was time to go to sleep.

     They laid down on opposite sides of the cave on a pile of leaves that they had gathered, and when Chi began shivering, Ryu sighed and said, "Chi, come over here."

     She cheerfully went and laid down next Ryu, who used his jacket as their blanket.

     When Chi still continued to shiver, he wrapped his arms around her again, and she did the same thing back.

     After a while, they were both fast asleep.

    

Several days later, they finally arrived back at the Hidden Leaf Village. But it didn't look like the village they had left behind on their mission.

     "What happened here?" Ryu asked.

     Smoke rose from the devastated sight of the Hidden Leaf Village. Buildings were destroyed, craters were implanted in the ground, and several dead bodies of Leaf Ninja lay about on the ground.

     Only a small part of the village had survived the destruction and quietly stood at the edge of the village.

     Ryu and Chi entered through the destroyed entrance of the Hidden Leaf Village. They walked right into the village and got a better look at all the destruction.

     One of the surviving Ninja met them at the entrance, looking as if he was about to attack.

     "State your name and reason for being here," the Ninja said, holding out a Kunai.

     "I'm Ryu Uchiha and this here is Chi Yamitsuki," Ryu said.

     "Uchiha? I can't just simply take your word for it. I need proof."

     Ryu activated his Sharingan and looked at the Ninja. "Will this suffice?"

     The Ninja nodded and granted them entry.

     "Where have you been?" the Ninja asked.

     "Um . . . we got separated from our Squad while on an escorting mission," Chi said.

     "Well, you guys missed a heck of a day," he said. "The village was attacked last night by an army of Ninja. As you can see, many of our Ninja died protecting the village. We managed to push them back from  the village though."

     "That must've terrible," Chi said, tears forming in her eyes.

     "Yeah," he said, nodding. "You should go and rejoin with the rest of the village. They all evacuated to the secret underground room under the Academy."

     Ryu and Chi nodded and walked off toward the Academy.

     There they found the Academy building in ruins and destroyed. They found a trap door and opened it. Walking down the stairs, they arrived in the underground room, where they found the rest of the village.

     All the eyes were turned to them as they entered and closed the trapdoor.

     A familiar voice called out, "Chi! Ryu!"

     Ryu and Chi turned to see Jun, their Team 9 comrade, coming toward them. Ryu looked for Tsuyoshi, but was unable to find him.

     "Where have you guys been!?" he yelled.

     "We've been on a trip," Chi answered quickly.

     "For four months!?" Jun yelled again.

     We've been gone for that long? Chi thought.

     "Shut it, you annoying brat," Ryu said, ready to punch Jun.

     "Why don't you make me," Jun said.

     "With pleasure."

     "Hey, break it up you guys," Chi said, stepping between the two boys. "Anyway, where's Tsuyoshi Sensei?"

     A sad look came over Jun's face as he said, "He was fatally wounded while defending the village, and there's a high chance of him dying."