Chapter 37 - Chapter 39

"ouch, my head.. why does it hurt so much" On a stone bed inside a house that was built in under a minute, a young man, or a boy more accurately woke up. He immediately felt the pain both outside and inside his head.

"Did a boulder fall on my head?" The boy said to himself as he sat up in what could barely pass as a bed.

"Nope just flicked a finger on it. Had a nice sleep?" Jūgo jumped up on his feet at the sudden voice coming from behind him.

"Who are you?" At the door stood a giant man that was just tall enough to pass through the door without having to duck.

"I am Portgas D Dragon. What's your name, kid?" Dragon said and walked in with a tray of food in hand.

"This was meant for me to eat, but since you're awake, have at it." Dragon said and placed the tray on a table in front of Jūgo.

"T-thanks? My name is Jūgo. What do you want with me?" He was apprehensive towards the man. But the hunger won in the end and he started devouring the food at a ludicrous speed.

"You were on a rampage and I stopped you." He said and he saw Jūgo stop eating and look at him with a sad and apologetic look.

"I am sorry. I can't control myself sometimes. I apologize if I hurt you." He said and bowed towards Dragon.

"No worries." Dragon showed his kind smile.

"Anyways, you have very poor control over your strength so it a miracle would have to happen for you to hurt me." He said and he saw how Jūgo's facial expression changed from shock, anger and then apologetic again.

"So, what do you want? you wouldn't have stayed around if you didn't want something from me." Jūgo didn't really have any malice in his voice, but his tone wasn't friendly either.

"I want you to become my student." Dragon said and smiled.

"Why would you want that? I could lose control and kill your other students at any point." Jūgo said and he knew very well that if he lost control, someone would get hurt.

"First of all. Every single student I have would wipe the floor with you, rampage or not."

"Secondly, I can teach you proper control." Dragon said and he saw how Jūgo's eyes got round and hope appeared for a second but transformed to caution again.

"How? My rampages can't be stopped no matter what."

"You haven't seen my abilities yet. The reason you rampage is because of your ability to take in natural energy. I can give you perfect control over that ability." Dragon said and their surrounding started to change. Jūgo could feel it.

"Natural energy is something that you will never have to fear ever again. I can promise you that." Dragon perfectly controlled the natural energy in the air and he used his right index finger to move that energy around.

"Can you really!?" Jūgo finally saw some hope. Because of his Kekkei Genkai, he could feel what Dragon was doing. He felt how he manipulated the energy and how it followed his finger in a circular motion.

"Yes!" Dragon stopped what he was doing and put his hands behind his back, military-style.

"Then I accept. Please teach me!" Jūgo said in an almost begging and desperate manner.

"I will. As soon as we get home. I live in the hidden leaf so get your things if you have any. Because we're leaving in one hour." Dragon said and walked out to talk to the village elder one last time before they departed.

Now in the middle of the forest, a duo made up of an adult and someone that looked to be 18-19 but was really just 15 years old. This was, of course, Jūgo and Dragon running towards the hidden leaf village.

Jūgo had a very developed body and an aura of maturity existed around him constantly. Wherever he went, people usually mistook him for an adult and not someone that was only 15 years old.

"So Jūgo, what is your favourite food?" Dragon said while slowing down a little to allow Jūgo to run beside him.

"I don't know. I have never really had the opportunity to explore many foods." Jūgo did seem to enjoy conversation, but he probably didn't have a lot of training in it. He often didn't continue the conversation and that forced Dragon to ask all the questions instead.

"But obviously you have eaten food before, so what's the best that you've eaten so far?"

"Ramen, I think. I like simple food and ramen is good and simple." Jūgo said after a few good seconds to think about it.

'I know someone that would definitely disagree with you if you called ramen simple in front of him." Dragon said and laughed to himself thinking about a certain yellow-haired boy.

"That's nice. We have pretty good ramen back home, so we will have to get you some when we return." Dragon said and only got a nod from Jūgo in return.

"Master Dragon. What do you specialize in?" Dragon was definitely not someone simple, and even a civilian could see that without any fancy ninja techniques or special eyes.

"I have no real speciality. I have knowledge about most areas of life. But trust me, curing you is of no issue for me. I will make you a real powerhouse so you can protect people important to you." Dragon said and smiled at Jūgo.

"People important to me?" He stared forward almost like he was staring into the void and he seemed lost in thought for a while.

"Important..? Protect.." Dragon didn't interrupt Jūgo that had a monologue with himself while running.

'He is a good boy. I will definitely make sure he lands down the proper path in life. People are always stronger when they are fighting for someone else. I am sure of it.'

Dragon watched Jūgo's facial expression change from happy to sad to confident and finally landing on determined.

"We are about to arrive, Jūgo. Let's see if we can get you that Ramen when we arrive." Dragon said with a smile, and this time he got a smile back from Jūgo. Though it could definitely use some work still.

--------------------------

End