Ghosts

Recovery

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

KONOHA::

"Son of a– gah!"

The rest of Naruto's curse was rudely cut off by the strong kick Ryuu sent to his chest. It knocked the wind out of him, making him stagger backwards. Ryuu was quick to follow him, unforgiving in his continued assault, this time aiming a punch to the blond's head.

Naruto dodged, landing a responding hit to the side of the brunet's head that forced him to retreat. He didn't get very far before Naruto grabbed his arm and launched him across the training ground to put some distance between them. True to his Takeda nature, however, Ryuu landed on his feet just like a cat, effortlessly transitioning into a backflip mid-air until he was once more upright.

The two had been at it for a while now, locked in what was just one of their many sparring sessions since Ryuu had decided to start officially training again. There was only so much he could do on his own, after all. Eventually, he had accepted the fact that he would need a sparring partner if he ever wanted to get used to the idea of facing off against a real opponent again, but if he were being honest, he was rather reluctant to find one.

He knew he had made a lot of progress in the past year, but a part of him was still worried about what might happen if things got out of hand. If he lost his bearings during a spar and ended up hurting someone, he would never forgive himself.

It had been Sakura who had suggested he ask Naruto. Being the inheritor of the Sage's chakra and the Jinchuriki of all the tailed beasts, she reasoned, the Uzumaki was least likely to sustain any real injuries during a spar. He was also by far the one most suited to reign Ryuu back in if he lost control, though she was convinced that he probably wouldn't even need it. Naruto, eager to help his friend and eager to get in some training of his own, was more than happy to agree, and the two had been working together ever since.

They had sparred against one another several times in the past, but that had been a long time ago, before the war and all the messiness that had followed. Back then, their matches had been pretty much free-for-alls, but now, they had put certain limitations in place to keep things fair.

For one thing, Naruto wasn't allowed to use the Sage's chakra or Kurama's chakra mode. It was no secret that he was in a class of his own when it came to shinobi, with no one else able to measure up to him besides Sasuke, so using either of those powers would've been overkill. Plus, whenever he used them, the terrain around him tended to get rearranged entirely, and Kakashi-sensei would probably be pretty mad if he ended up making one of the training grounds explode. You know, again.

Ryuu, on the other hand, was barred from using his kekkei genkai, or, as Naruto put it, "no freaky mind or soul juju!" Anything outside of that, including senjutsu, since they could both use it, was fair game. For now, however, they were starting small and sticking mainly to taijutsu battles until Ryuu became comfortable enough to start using ninjutsu regularly again.

They caught each other's fists for what felt like the hundredth time in the past five minutes, the muscles in their arms straining against one another, neither one of them letting up. They were forced to break apart, chests heaving and foreheads beading with sweat.

Both had managed to get in some good hits on the other, but they were far too evenly matched for either one of them to have secured the upper hand. It seemed that this battle, like the rest beforehand, was going to end in a draw.

Of course, both young men were far too stubborn to admit it. Neither one wanted to be the first to surrender. It was only another ten minutes later, when their shirts were soaked through with sweat and their muscles were nearly screaming at them in protest, that they decided to call it even.