Chapter One: A Ninja must be Nimble

The dark auburn haired fifteen year old boy seating in the back of the small car ran his fingers through his already messy longish hair, a frown crossing his face. His eyes were a dark hazel, and appeared to darken even further as he noted how long they were in the car compared to the other times they've been in the exact same car. You ok there? The voice was feminine, and quiet, as if she was nervous as well. The boy glanced over to his right, where a young thirteen year old girl was seating, her short cropped hair just barely brushing her chin. Her ocean blue eyes latched onto his, worry evident. The boy shook his head, automatically using their hand signal for later. The girl huffed in annoyance, before turning back to her window.

The two teens may not have looked like siblings at first glance, but those who knew them knew better than to question it. The two of them were strangely enough very similar in other ways than looks. Mainly the fact they both had the same mantra on how one should live their lives running through their minds at the oddest times. The boy reached over and tugged on his bright red sweater sleeve, a crease burrowing its way into his forehead as he allowed his thoughts to turn back to what was happening right now. They were on their way to their five hundredth foster home. Some might think that was impressive, but the two red clad teens didn't think much about it.

Crystalla, the social worker assigned to them, suddenly looked up at her rearview mirror at the two silent teens. "You guys are gonna love this place!"

"You said that about the last home." The boy pointed out drily, annoyance flaring across his features.

Crystalla flinched, before speaking slowly. "Ok… so I was wrong about the Marvellas… how was I supposed to know that they were animal obsessed?"

The two teens rolled their eyes at that, the memory still clearly etched in their minds. The Marvellas were an elderly couple that hated being empty-nesters. What no one recalled to warn the teens was that they had over one hundred pets…and no one was more important than those smelly creatures. Running away from that place had been one of the easier ones. Right next to the abusive drunk for a foster father. At least the foster mother had been decent, constantly begging him not to hurt them.

"Kai… isn't that the Ninja School?" The girl suddenly spoke up; drawing his attention away from the dark path his mind was going down.

The boy glanced out of his window and immediately….realized that she was right. Of course you're right. It's you. Kai felt a small smirk cross his features even as annoyance flared from his little sister. Kai examined the majestic building with anticipation, wondering if Crystalla knew about it. Turning her car off, Crystalla unbuckled and twisted around to face them. "I like to see you run away from here."

Never mind. She didn't know about it. Kai sighed, before unbuckling and climbing out of the car. "Just you watch. It'll just take a little longer than usual is all." Kai didn't miss a beat as he snarked back at her.

Crystalla sighed, silently wishing she could get inside of the teens' minds, know what it was that made them different…and oh so difficult to please enough to stay put. Breaking at a brisk walk, she led them up to the large stone wall surrounding the school. The gate itself was open and the same employee from last time was doing something with the doorbell. Upon seeing her, he nodded to the inside. "The Grand Sensei is in his office waiting for you. Do you need a guide?"

"Oh no…I believe I can find my way." Crystalla strode over the threshold, her chin held up high. She knew where she was going.

Kai slipped his hand into his back pocket, his fingers curling around it, the worn paper rubbing even thinner between his fingers. When they entered the office, he started to pull it out…only to slip it back in when the Grand Sensei spoke, standing up from his seat. "Ah. So you two are the trouble makers that I've heard so much about. Well, you're trouble making days are over with. From now on you will be working for me. Am I understood?"

Disbelief flooded Kai as he let go of the precious paper in his pocket. His eyes lightened, turning into a far more approachable shade of hazel. His sister glanced over at him, knowing why he felt disbelief flooding him. Oh, Crystalla didn't know alright. And apparently neither did the Grand Sensei by the looks of things. "Yes sir." It was his sister who spoke, for the both of them, sensing that Kai was in too much shock to voice the words himself.

"Good. Walker!" The yell was so unexpected, that his guests jumped in the air out of surprise.

Kai and his sister glanced at each other, wondering what that was about, when the door to the office opened suddenly. An employee with a shock of light brown hair that was neatly combed back and electric blue eyes glanced around the room nervously. "You called Grand Sensei?"

"Yes. These are your new coworkers. Ah, I didn't get your names." Sensei Wu glanced over at them nervously.

Kai rolled his eyes skyward, before adding a low growl to his voice. "Kai. And that's Nya." He jerked his head in the direction of his sister. She had never properly learned how to keep people at bay just by tone of voice, unlike Kai.

"Ok…my name's Jay. Come on, I'll show you were you're sleeping for however long you're planning on working here." Jay nodded his head, anxiety flaring in his eyes, fear catching in his voice.

Kai smirked, knowing he was the cause of that fear. He still followed his fellow teen out, his longer legs drawing him very close to the smaller one. A tiny squeak escaped Jay, before he sprinted down the hall, nimbly dodging everyone that got in his way.

Kai and Nya tore after him, skidding occasionally to avoid colliding in the people and items that Jay was nimbly avoiding. Part of the mantra that danced in their minds soared to the front, in the deep unfamiliar but at the same time familiar masculine voice that it always is in. A Ninja must be Nimble….

Somehow Kai had a really good feeling about being here….and he knew that Nya agreed with him too.

A/N: Done! Ok…so we now have Kai, Nya, and Jay. Also looks like Kai and Nya are telepathic despite the age difference. Hmm, and what is up with this mantra that just randomly echoes around their heads? And yes, the mantra is the chapter titles. So pay attention to those! I'll try and make it so that the mantra that is the current title blends into what is happening in the chapter. Also, any guesses on what Kai has in his back pocket that he wanted to hand over to Sensei?

Review!

SkyTalon