Thirty-five minutes later, Kamakura's already high opinion-bordering-on-hero-worship of his sensei had gone up yet another few notches. He'd spent at least fifteen of the last thirty-five minutes poking around curiously in the surprisingly extensive system of secret hiding spots and passages that Sensei had apparently engineered over his years in the Pit.
The Pit complex sprawled aboveground nearly as much as it did below, and the government owned a pretty good chunk of the land surrounding the area. This land contained forest, some hills with some really good cliffs for climbing training, trails used by many of the Joes for running, and a lot of squirrels.
The fence bordering the buildings of the Pit cut through the edges of the forest, and when Kamakura reached the area Jinx and Tiger Claw were already perched on low tree branches. Ninja made extensive use of the fact that people almost never looked up; even the most alert sentry tended not to see things that weren't at his eye level.
Jinx's face lit up when she saw him. "Kamakura!" She abruptly tackled him; Kamakura yelped and almost lost his balance on the tree branch. He looked down at the small woman hugging him.
"Um…Hi, Jinx." He said awkwardly.
She disentangled herself and hopped up one branch. "I was worried about you." She tilted her head. "You were pretty bad, you know. Sensei was very worried."
"Only other time I've ever seen him that concerned is when Scarlett's on the Doc's table." Tiger Claw shook his head on the branch to Kamakura's left. "You scared us all, my friend."
Kamakura smiled a little. "Thank you." He eyed them. "By the way…has Sensei ever shown you two…?"
Jinx smiled broadly. "Oh, did he finally point you to his secret hiding-holes and passages? I was wondering when he'd let you in on that...I thought it would be soon. You must have made him happy."
"Did he do all of that himself?"
A sharp whistle just above them, and they all looked up. Snake Eyes was perched about ten feet above Jinx's head, crouched easily on a branch. Their master's hands moved.
*Yes, Kamakura, I did. It took me a very long time, but yes, I made them myself. I need not tell you that they are very much a secret, or at least I had better not need to.* The mask tilted, and Kamakura recognized the glare; that was the "or so help me god, you will regret it for the rest of your very short life" glare.
"Of course not, Sensei sir." Kamakura hesitated. "May I ask a question?"
A nod.
"Does Hawk know about them? Or Scarlett?"
*No and no.* Snake Eyes seemed to be considering. *Especially not Scarlett.*
That seemed…odd. All three apprentices knew very well that their master's one weakness was the redheaded counterintel agent. On the other hand, they all knew very well that it was a very bad idea for any of them to attempt to pry into their Sensei's personal life. Kamakura and Tiger Claw just furrowed their eyebrows. Jinx, however, always the most brazen, raised an eyebrow and ventured a question.
"Why don't you wish Scarlett to know about them anyway, Sensei?"
Tiger Claw and Kamakura both braced themselves for the inevitable chewing-out, and then almost fell out of the tree in surprise when their Sensei began to laugh, his shoulders shaking and head bowed to his chest.
Finally his hands moved. *Because she'd always be able to track me down…I need somewhere to vanish to when she's got me sleeping on the floor.*
That image made them all blink. The idea of their Sensei, the nigh-unstoppable, impassive and exceedingly deadly master of the Arashikage clan being forced to do anything he didn't want to do didn't mesh well with hero-worship. Especially not being forced out of his own bed.
Jinx, emboldened by Snake Eyes' good humor, ventured another question. "Can Sergeant Scarlett really make you sleep on the floor, Sensei sir?"
*Yes.* The shortening of the sign motions and the change of body posture made it clear that despite his good mood, this line of questioning wasn't going to go any further. *And leave it at that. For good. Understood?*
They nodded quickly. Really, Kamakura thought as Sensei set them to drilling evasion techniques, he didn't want to know any more than that. Sensei was…well, he was as much a parental figure as Kamakura's own father. And Kamakura didn't want to know what exactly went on between his mother and father in private either.
He dropped ten feet, grabbing another branch to break his fall. Jinx's blunt training knife bounced off the trunk above him; he caught it as it dropped, kicked off of his perch, caught the branch of an oak to his left, scrambled up ten feet, and whipped the weapon at Tiger Claw's shoulder where it rose just slightly out of cover. His fellow apprentice flattened himself against the trunk, just barely avoiding the missile.
Kamakura hissed as he felt a second knife bounce off of his kneecap; Jinx had somehow gotten below him in the last two and a half seconds.
A sharp whistle. Kamakura looked up. Snake Eyes was standing on a tree limb, leaning against the trunk of a tall pine.
*Don't lose one opponent just because you've got your eyes on a second.* Sensei advised. *Never sacrifice yourself for a kill shot; there will always be another opening that doesn't require you to give up your own defenses. You've got speed, Kamakura, but you're too impatient. Bide your time. Set up your opponents instead of letting them set you up.*
With a flash of shame, Kamakura realized that that was exactly what Tiger Claw and Jinx were doing; they hadn't gone for each other once. Probably at Sensei's orders, and Kamakura knew that he should have realized his opponent's tactics at once. "Yes, Sensei sir."
One hour later, and all four ninja simultaneously froze, listening, and then automatically faded into the scenery.
Doc came stomping along the fenceline a few minutes later. The medic paused, peering fruitlessly up into the trees. He scowled.
"Kamakura!" The medic sighed. "Snake, this is your doing, and so help me god the next time I get my hands on you I'm going to implant tracking device in you somewhere…Kamakura, if you hurt yourself, you're on full medical leave for a month and I'll have Hawk order you down from any training. I want you back in bed, do you hear me?"
The medic eyed the trees for another few seconds. Nothing moved except an exceptionally fat squirrel, which chewed contemplatively on an acorn and examined the medic placidly. The small brain between the furry ears was used to seeing the four humans currently hidden in the trees pretending to be squirrels themselves; the slender female sometimes brought it treats.
It scampered down to the ground and sat up on its haunches, eyeing Doc expectantly. The medic looked back at the rodent and sighed.
"Well, maybe they aren't here...you don't seem too spooked, and I'd think a ninja battle would send you running for the hills, little guy." Doc sighed again. "I'm talking to rodents…they really have unhinged me."
The medic trudged off, muttering. Kamakura and his fellow apprentices returned to their training. Snake Eyes watched them carefully, smiling slightly… he really did enjoy seeing the medics run themselves ragged after his apprentices. It made him feel rather as if he was doing something right with the lot of them.