PROLOGUE

The old man walked through the forest, his back bent with the weight of age. He smiled as he looked at the familiar trees surrounding him, their leaves rustling in the wind. He had been here before, and was glad to have finally returned. It had been long since he left the Land of Fire, and it pleased him to return to the country he grew up in.

"Gran'pa! Wait up, you're too fast!"

The young girl's shout drew him out of his memories, and he smiled as he turned to look at the children who called him their grandfather.

He had to admit that they had been pleasantly surprising to find during his travels, and he was pleased that they had come with him.

First there was Sumire, the purple- haired girl who, while quite the joker, was quick to attack the bullies who picked on her brother. Then there was Akairo, a quiet redhead who was as happy to sit and watch the clouds as play with other children. Their starkly different personalities managed to compliment each other, and the old man had been overjoyed when they started following him around town and calling him "grandpa."

"Onesan, you don't need to yell, it's too loud..." the boy began.

"Oh, quiet, you can't complain, you're the one gran'pa always carries!" the girl countered.

"Ha ha ha, tell you what, Sumire, how about I carry both of you?" the old man said with a smile. The little girl grinned from ear to ear as she nodded. He grunted as he picked her up and carried her in his left arm, with Akairo in his right.

They continued on happily for awhile, listening to the sounds of the forest around them, when Akairo quietly voiced a question.

"Hey gran'pa, when can we train to be ninjas?"

The question hardly surprised the old man, as he knew this was one of the reasons the children had wanted to travel with him, but still...

"You can start in a few years if you still wish, Akairo. The life of a ninja is not one for children so young as you two."

Sumire pouted as she said, "But I'm already five, gran'pa, and Akairo's four!"

"Four and five sixths," the redhead spoke up.

"Fine, four and five sixths, but we're still old enough for you to teach us something, gran'pa!"

"Ha ha ha, alright then Sumire, your argument is quite convincing. I'll tell you what, tomorrow I'll teach you the basic clone technique, and if you do well, I'll teach you something else the next day. How does that sound to you?"

"Yay!" the children shouted happily, knowing that if they did really good, he might treat them to some special food, too.

Sumire jumped off of his arm and tied a purple cloth around her forerhead.

"I'm Sumire Hayashi the ninja, and this is my hitai-ate!" she said, thumbing the cloth.

A/N

Wait, that's not all! The chapters after this will all be much longer than this, so please, keep reading.