"Are you sure you haven't seen him around after school?" Iruka asked Kiba as he stood outside the Inuzuka compound with the sound of the Ninja Dogs barking inside; "Can you tell me where he might go?"
Kiba thought on this as he stood outside; "Well, I haven't seen him and I don't think Shino or Shikamaru have either…If he's not at Ichiraku then maybe he's gone to the training grounds?" He suggested and scratched the back of his head; "Though he does sometimes stop here to help out with the kennels…But he hasn't been by in a while, he said something about trying to train himself up."
"Training…But the Grounds are normally closed around this time so where else could he go?" Iruka thought to himself, the worry in him grew from a minimal amount to considerable when he wasn't anywhere notable along with his status as an Uchiha made him a high profile target…Runt of the litter or not. "Alright, thanks for your help, Kiba…Remember, tomorrow is your team assignments so try showing up on time." He added as a reminder to the young Inuzuka boy before rushing off into the trees.
——Meanwhile——
Ryōga had reached the high fence that separated the training grounds from the giant expanse of forest; With a deep breath and renewed determination, he ran towards it and made a high jump followed by a vault at the top over the fence, "Nailed it…Now to find that mushroom…Wherever it is." He thought as he rushed into the deep groves and out of sight of the Third Hokage's crystal Ball.
"I can't find him anywhere sir…I looked everywhere in the village and checked with everyone in his class." Iruka apologised as he stood in front of the Hokage's desk with an apologetic bow.
"I think I have a vague idea of where he is…But the more important question here is why h-" Sarutobi started to theorise but the door burst open as Mizuki entered with a frantic expression and taking deep breaths like he had been running like hell.
"Lord Hokage, I think I saw the Uchiha kid running for the forest outside the training grounds! He was talking about exploring it for something!" Mizuki explained as he looked to the head and to Iruka; "He said that he was going to find any way to get his headband even if it took him into the Forest of Death!"
This brought an alarmed expression to Iruka's face and a bemused one to the Hokage's; "Has he gone nuts?! HE knows that kind of place is dangerous, even for an experienced Shinobi! Did he say what he went in there for?" Iruka questioned Mizuki as he knew what kind of dangers were in there.
"I couldn't catch the whole thing but he said something about going to the core of the Forest to find a super rare ingredient." Mizuki followed up with a befuddled expression, on the outside he looked like a fellow teacher concerned for a student but inside he was resisting the urge to have the biggest and most victorious smirk on his face.
"A Shura Mushroom…" The Third Hokage surmised as he puffed his pipe; "That's the only ingredient throughout the Leaf that grows in that specific area…"
"But those are stupidly rare, why is Ryōga trying to look for an S-Class ingredient in the middle of the night? And how the hell did he find out about them?!" Iruka asked with more aggravation since he was now worried that one of his students was taking a gamble too big for something too inconsequential.
"Those questions don't matter right now!" Hiruzen would bark to get the attention back; "Right now, we have a student missing in one of the most dangerous parts of the Hidden Leaf…Iruka, Mizuki; I want you two to go on ahead to the Forest and start searching, he can't have gotten far."
The two saluted before vanishing from the office as the Third Hokage sighed heavily; "Though those are good questions…Why would an Academy Student know about something that only Jonin and ANBU know about? Something about this doesn't feel right…" He mused to himself as he tried once again to read the crystal ball for any insight.
——Meanwhile, Back in the Forest——
Ryōga was jumping across the branches as quickly as he could carry himself to get to the centre of the forest; "If I take too long then I'll get caught and then I can kiss this extra credit goodbye…" He stopped to get his surroundings, truthfully it wasn't the first time that he had been taken out to this part of the Leaf; He remembered that his father took him into this forest to practice fine Chakra sensing to better scan for enemies…Another in a long line of memories that he didn't like to remember. Though as he got his bearings at the foot of a gnarled tree; a faint sound could be heard on the wind, it was a rustling and the sound of whimpering from under a bush. With a cautious hand and a prepared stance to jump away, Ryōga pulled the underbrush to reveal what had been stuck there.
Squirming in the foliage was a fox that was barely that much bigger than Akamaru, most likely a cub that went looking for food but got caught in a snare trap. It was a bright orange in colour with a white patch on it's belly along with gold eyes that watched Ryōga in a mix of a plea and fear that he was the one who did this.
"A trap? But who'd be out here this late?" Ryōga thought to himself but then crouched onto one knee and cautiously reached a hand out slowly to the cub; "Okay little one….Let's get you free." He said quietly as his hand was low to the ground and his palm facing upward to demonstrate an intent to help.
The cub however wasn't convinced as it growled at him though it was hardly intimidating until it snapped it's teeth at his approaching hand.
The young Uchiha paused his approach; Ever since he could remember, he had always had a soft spot for animals and taking care of them, it was how he ended up becoming quick friends with Kiba and Akamaru along with why he decided on this next approach; "Look, I don't mean you any harm…I just want to help you out of the trap and you can get back to your family, okay?" He spoke gently and showed off a small smile to the tiny fox.
The fox seemed to hesitate on hearing his words, the foxes that showed themselves around people were pretty smart and Ninja animals were always as smart as their owners but it took a quick glance at it's trapped leg and then to Ryōga who kept still so he wouldn't spook them. It seemed to calm down enough and lay it's head as a show of trust.
Ryōga smiled as he then carefully traced the wire from the fox's leg back towards where the trap was and pulled out a kunai knife; Since he and Sasuke were both classed as high priority targets though Ryōga's status was on a technicality, they were permitted to carry a kunai for self defence.
The fox couldn't help but feel a little afraid when they saw the knife glinting in the light of the moon but decided to trust their would-be helper and held still long enough to feel the wire around their hind leg slacken. Soon enough they felt Ryōga's hands gently untangle their leg and then pulled their leg free.
"There you go…Go on back to your group before the trapper finds out you're….Gone…" Ryōga motivated the small fox before feeling the tip of a spear pressing against his back.
"I thought I told you that coming here was a mistake, you little shit…." An unfamiliar voice remarked as they kept the spear trained on him and the fox scampered off into the trees. Standing behind Ryōga was a figure clad in dishevelled looking clothes that looked like they were meant for foraging and wearing a wide brimmed straw hat to cover their face; "The Forest here is called the Forest of Death for a reason, brat…So why is it that you insist on coming here?" The Figure grumbled as they sighed and retracted the spear to let him up.
"Because I'm not here for training, I'm here for a specific mission." Ryōga explained as he started detailing how he messed up on getting his headband and how he could earn it by finding a Shura Shroom. "So I just have to find one without disturbing the creatures in the deeper part of the forest and bring it back, then I can become a fully fledged ninja..Finally be able to prove to people that I'm good for something."
The Figure who Ryōga knew only as "The Forager" watched him with a rather unamused look; "Ever the optimist…Not to mention suicidal, you realise that what you're being asked to do is too much even for a spoiled brat like you?" Forager pointed out as they watched Ryōga curiously.
"I don't care…I'm taking the chance I'm given and I'm making sure that I can prove that I'm not as hopeless as people seem to think I am!" Ryōga argued stubbornly as he was starting to dislike the idea of being discarded and condescended.
"Typical Uchiha…I swear, every single one of you always acts the same!" The Forager growled as they felt their own annoyance grow as he saw that Ryoga's face sharpened into that focused look that all Uchiha seemed to possess.
"Okay, what is your problem? All you ever do is talk bad any time that it comes to me or the Uchiha, so what is it? Because I haven't actually done anything towards you." Ryōga protested as the constant jabbing was getting old.
"Simple, I've met Uchiha plenty of times, whether it was on the road or in the Village when I drop off what I gathered to sell at your stores." The Forager explained; "Any time I have a full bag, it's always "Uchiha get first pick!" or "Uchiha Police Force need this more than you!", it makes me boil whenever I have to look at that black hair and onyx eyes from every single member of your family…Not to mention the bragging about the powers that you have and I gotta tell you; Not everything can be solved with an eye that can copy everything!" They explained as they recalled the amount of times that the Uchiha shook them down or threatened to arrest them if they didn't get the high quality stuff.
Ryōga nodded, he could see the problem that was had about it and he knew that when they were alive; every time he was around was always arrogance, mocking and just general bragging about Sasuke or Itachi as the proverbial wonder twins. "Well, it's not exactly fair but that doesn't mean that you take it out on me…Plus if it makes you feel any better…I don't have those kind of eyes that they talk about." He mentioned as he felt like much didn't need to be said.
"For now…You'll grow up and start developing those abilities and once that happens, then everything will be handed to you on a silver platter." Forager grimaced as they then got up and headed off into the undergrowth; "Just get out of here, the animals here are bad enough during the daytime so going out at night is basically offering yourself up as a snack…" They warned and headed off to leave Ryōga alone to think.
The Uchiha thought on it and some part of him wanted to try calling it quits but right now the spite and stubbornness to carry on what he started took precedence as he headed further in while unaware that a Chunin hiding their presence was currently stalking him from the top parts of the treeline.
"Interesting…The Uchiha brat is acquaintances with that vagrant herb peddler, though it doesn't look like there is much affection lost should anything…happen."
Ryōga in the meanwhile had quietly snuck past the bugs that roamed the trees and navigated around the sleeping snake that took this place as it's territory before landing in the open area that was the centre of the forest; It stood out among the dark, the overgrown and the monstrous as a moonlight soaked patch of grass that surrounded one of the biggest trees in the Forest. It had white bark surrounding it and shared all manner of fruit on it from years of surrounding fruit bearers intermingling with each other along with the fabled Shura Shroom that coalesced at the foot of the great tree. "Jackpot…I finally found i-" He celebrated to himself but then felt that line of thought get dropped when a familiar voice broke the tranquility.
"Ryōga, what are you doing all the way out here?" Iruka called out as he jumped down from the branches to confront his student. "Do you have any idea how long people have been looking for you?" He asked with an irritated look on his face.
"Iruka? You've come at the right time, I've found it!" Ryōga said with a small but equally satisfied grin as he held up the scroll that held the Shura Shroom now sealed inside of it.
Iruka blinked before having to do a double take, he reached over and took the scroll to examine it; It was a bright red mushroom and the black patterns made it look like it was on fire. "That's the Shura Shroom, no buts about it." Iruka mentally confirmed as he then rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Ryōga, "That's the mushroom, alright…Though I have to ask, where and how did you find out about this…Finding this type of ingredient is reserved for Jonin or a Jonin lead team at a minimum." He asked as he decided to mellow out the tone since while Ryōga did vanish in an instant through one of the most dangerous parts of the Leaf, he DID managed to find a fungus that a lot of grown adults could rarely find.
"Oh, Mizuki told me." Ryōga said honestly; "He said that if I found one without disturbing any of the animals then I'd pass extra credit." He explained as he went into details about what Mizuki told him.
"Finally found you, Ryōga…" Mizuki remarked as he finally showed himself after a few minutes on a branch with a shuriken propped against a branch; "Good job on finding the Shroom but you managed to worry everyone, just hand it over to me and you'll get what you always deserved…"
"Mizuki…Iruka told me everything! There's no such thing as an extra credit for a Ninja headband so what was all of this for?" Ryōga yelled at him as he held on to the scroll while having a suspicious look on his face and Iruka looked at him disdainfully.
Mizuki looked a little surprised that this got turned around on him but then decided to play innocent; "What're you talking about? Once I show this to the Hokage and tell him you accomplished it then you'll get it, no questions asked."
Iruka then stepped forward; "You and I both know that there's no such test like that, especially in a place like this…So why don't you just ditch the vague answers and tell us what this was really all about?" He demanded but then quickly pushed Ryōga out of the way to dodge an incoming Fūma Shuriken and got a slashed arm; "What are you doing?!"
"I'm tying up a loose end, consider this a mortal test for little Ryōga and since the animals couldn't do the job, I have to do it myself…It's a shame really that you're here at this moment, you would've been a great scapegoat." Mizuki confessed as he pulled another large shuriken off of his back.
"You sent him out here to die! Why? You're his teacher for crying out loud! If the Hokage finds out about this th-"
"Then he will still have one fully functioning and far more capable Uchiha waiting in the wings following Ryōga's…"Untimely Accident." Mizuki interrupted him; "The fact that a whimpering little brat like him was able to survive the Uchiha Massacre is nothing short of a miracle, but in the grand scheme of things…The Leaf only need one heir to the Clan and HE isn't necessary." He added with all pretenses dropped on the matter.
"That's…I can't even begin to say how messed up that is, there is absolutely no way that the Hokage would be okay with this." Iruka growled as he grabbed some kunai; "Ryōga, run back to the village and get help!" Iruka yelled to Ryōga who was currently still frozen in place as he was trying to process everything that was said.
"Eh, let him stand there…Honestly if he began yelling and getting mad that I betrayed him then I'd respect him for at least acting like an Uchiha but he just stands there looking like a sad dog." Mizuki smirked as he aimed at Ryōga with a Shuriken; "Sorry Dead End, but this is as far as you are allowed to go."
Iruka then grit his teeth and threw the shuriken back at Mizuki; "Ryōga, do as I say and run!" He yelled at the young boy and watched him vanish into the forest.
"Why do you keep sticking up for that waste of oxygen, anyway? You come down on him like a hammer with his grades yet you could easily expel him for anything he does…" Mizuki pointed out as he ducked under Iruka's wide swing.
"Because as long as I remain a teacher for the students of Konoha, I won't give up on anyone…And I know for a fact that he is not a failure OR a dead end…He is Ryōga Uchiha and he is as capable a Ninja that I believe he is." Iruka confessed as he got up; "But I doubt that someone like you would understand anyway."
"Too bad…Because once you're out of the picture, he's ne-"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" A younger voice called out and then out of nowhere, Mizuki was hit by a volley of fireballs before hitting the ground. Ryōga then jumped out of the shadows with his kunai drawn; "I'm not gonna let you hurt Iruka-Sensei!" He growled as he poised in a ready position.
"Are you serious? NOW you decide to show up and act the part? Sorry about this but too little too late…Danzo's orders after all and we can't have two Uchiha running around!" Mizuki then rushed forward in a blind attempt to put down what he saw as the Silver Medal Uchiha and smirked as his blade struck him down to the ground; "You see that, Iruka? Nothing but talk…What else to be expected from a weak little coward like him?"
POOF!
The collapsed body of Ryōga suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke; Leaving behind a child sized shuriken tied to a wire.
"A Clone Jutsu? Tch, makes sense that the gloomy little brat pays attention! No matter…I can easily pick out the re-" Mizuki calculated but paused as he heard further sounds of rallying cries as four more Ryōga clones rushed out of the brush with shurikens in hand. "This tired trick?! I thought you Uchiha were supposed to be smart!" Mizuki condescended him as he cut down each one.
"Come on, Ryōga…You need to think smarter the….Wait…I think I know what it is…" Iruka mused to himself as he struggled to move away into the trees.
"This game is getting really old, brat! Show yourself and then put that Kunai to your…Oh, there you are." Mizuki smirked as he saw Ryōga staring him down; "Now that you've seen sense…Hold still!"
"I wouldn't move if I were you…I've already laid a trap to put you out of commission…" Ryōga warned him as he kept his gaze firmly on the Chunin. Though Mizuki's decision to spite him by jumping forward to lunge and kill him was enough of what he needed before pulled his fists backward, drawing the razor thin wire that he had tied to the shuriken taut and caught Mizuki to slow him down.
"That's it? His ace in the hole is a basic hunting trap? Once I'm out of this, I'm gonna be laughing so hard at-" He heard the familiar sound of poofing as the shuriken were now replaced by Ryōga clones and they equally pulled the wires tight to trap him in place; "Gh! You…You little shit! When I pull free of this, I'll…."
"You won't….The proper way to tie a knot is what cinched it for me: The more you squirm and struggle then the tighter it gets….And after all the stuff I heard you say along with what you did to Iruka-Sensei…I won't feel any ounce of guilt for this!" Ryōga said with an uncharacteristically angry look on his face as he drew the four wires into place between his fingers and formed the Tiger Handsign so that the wires were coming out of it.
"Tiger…That's a Fire Style Technique…But we didn't teach him anything like that…he's bluffing!" Mizuki placed himself in denial as the struggling was true to what he said and soon enough; he was tied up like a caught fish.
"Fire Style: Five Headed Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Ryōga bellowed out as his cheeks filled up and his throat glowed with the Fire Chakra building up; by biting down on the wires, they each lit up with an image of a dragon travelling along the threads before connecting with Mizuki in a giant pillar of flame.
The sounds of pain could echo through the forest and Iruka watched in awe as he saw his student in action; He may have been pushed into it but with the fire that emanated from him, he proved that he was an Uchiha through and through. "Ryōga, that was incredible! Where did you learn a technique like that?" The other Chunin asked as he approached Ryōga once the fighting stopped and Mizuki was rendered unconscious.
"I came up with it on my own…Like I said to Mizuki…I wanted to become a capable Ninja so I started to improvise on stuff I learned already." Ryōga explained; Though judging from his expression, he had used up every last scrap of Chakra that he had before collapsing into exhaustion.
"Amazing…He not only disguised Clones as Shurikens but he also had the diversity to spread a Fire Jutsu across multiple lanes…He may not have the mindset to overtly outdo everyone around him but he certainly has the potential to do it…" Iruka marveled at his student's capabilities since he watched from the underbrush.
The night soon came to an end as The Third Hokage had Ryōga escorted home and Mizuki thrown into custody after Iruka explained everything from the plot he cooked up and the dropping of Danzo's name.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, who is Danzo exactly?" Iruka asked as he was dismissed and now able to talk freely; "If what Mizuki said is true then…."
"I will handle things from here, Iruka…You focus on making sure all of your students get introduced as Genin for their instructors tomorrow." Hiruzen explained as he pulled out his pipe. Once the door clicked shut, he rested his head on his hand; "Danzo…I don't know what it is you're planning if you have a hand in this but I will not tolerate your underhandedness again…."
Meanwhile back in the forest was that same Fox Cub who wandered up to The Forager who was currently discerning the herbs found under the thicker trees; It yipped up at the figure who turned to face it and sat on it's haunches.
"So did you trail them?" The Forager asked the Fox as he knelt in front of it; Listening to it's various sounds of affirmation like it was trying to talk. "I see…So I guess that little brat wasn't full of shit…Guess I should cut him a little slack when I see him next…"
——The Next Morning——
All of the students who passed were in class and awaiting their next step to be assigned to a Jonin; Some were antsy and nervous about who they were going to get paired with, while a vast majority of the girls in class had opted to see if they could supplant themselves as a 1 man 2 girl team with the famous Sasuke Uchiha.
Though when the door opened, they expected to see Iruka but instead saw Ryōga showing up with Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji since they ended up getting late to class for differing reasons; Ryōga often walked with Kiba since the two were friends but the only times that the two were late was when the Ninja hounds got too rowdy and the Inuzuka's needed an extra hand, Shikamaru was…well, Shikamaru and no amount of rocks tossed at his window or yelling would wake him up on time. Although they were soon followed by Iruka who had a bandaged shoulder following the attack on the previous night. "Alright, class…I've got your results back and each of you have earned your headbands, so congratulations on becoming Genin!" He announced which earned the cheers of the students who had believed they flopped under Iruka's more intent glares at their tests. "Though this is a late announcement but Ryōga has also earned his headband too due to a misjudged vote with our administrators."
Ryōga looked stunned as Iruka handed him a Ninja Headband and grew a smaller, almost unnoticeable smile as Iruka gestured for him to sit at his desk. "I did it…I finally get to be a Ninja…" He whispered to himself as he tied it around his head with the biggest sense of pride that he could muster.
Iruka took roll but he himself couldn't help but feel proud of Ryōga for proving himself despite all the protests against him from others and Mizuki. "Take pride in this, Ryōga…You earned it more than anyone here."