Hey oh! I felt like that it was cruel of me to leave you guys hanging at that cliffhanger. So I decided to post the fourth chapter today. Be warned though. It's going to contain some hurt/comfort so prepare yourselves. Also to the guest, CageBladefangirl, Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda, and Kung Jin are eight years old in the story. And the prank that Kung Jin was planning was painting the entire Shirai Ryu temple with his pellets of paint. Enjoy!
Jacqui was terrified. As she closed her tearful eyes preparing herself for the blows that were to come, she silently apologized to her parents for the all the times that she had been a naughty girl and that she loves them both. She suddenly felt heat behind her and something heavy and warm pulling her close and covering her under it. She heard the sounds of the swords striking something and then silence. She slowly opened her eyes only to see that there no wounds on her. She looked behind her and saw that it was Mr. Hanzo who was using his entire body protecting her from the swords. Hanzo looked at Jacqui and then coughed out blood, some of the red droplets landing on Jacqui's face. He slumped off her and landed on his back with a thud, blood slowly pooling beneath him.
Everyone was in shock. Cassie, Takeda, and Kung Jin were staring at Jacqui in fear then at Hanzo who was now laying on his back. Jacqui was staring at Hanzo before tears starting welling up in her eyes and streaming down her face. "MR. HANZO!" All of the Shirai Ryu ninjas were knocked back into reality and quickly took him to the infirmary. All the kids could only do was stare at where Hanzo had bled and the pool of blood underneath him, not hearing the commotion going on.
"Get those kids out of here!" "Call the healer, get Master Hanzo to the infirmary!" "WHERE THE HELL IS THE HEALER!?" "SOMEBODY TAKE THOSE KIDS AWAY FROM HERE! They don't need to see this!" One of the men quickly took the traumatized kids away from the scene and placed them in the guest bedroom. As they were walking towards the bedroom, the guilt came rushing in. Cassie and Kung Jin felt guilty for causing the entire scene, tears welling up in their eyes. "What have we done? Jacqui almost got hurt because of our stupid fight and now Mr. Hanzo is hurt because of protecting Jacqui and it's our fault that we pushed her between those two ninjas." Takeda was crying, feeling guilty for being weak for not being able to stop the fight which would have resulted in Jacqui and Mr. Hanzo not getting hurt. "I'm so weak. I couldn't stop the fight and protect Jacqui. Now Mr. Hanzo is hurt because of me." Jacqui was also crying, feeling guilty for getting Mr. Hanzo hurt for being weak too. "If only I wasn't weak then I wouldn't have easily been pushed by Cassie and Kung Jin and Mr. Hanzo wouldn't have gotten hurt protecting me."
As they sat on the bed of the guest bedroom, they all asked the man the one thought running through their heads. "Mister, is Mr. Hanzo going to be alright? We're so sorry for this mess!" The man looked at them and smiled at them, trying to comfort the kids despite knowing that the injuries that Master Hanzo took were pretty serious. He had caught a glimpse of the wounds and it wasn't pretty. "He'll be alright. The doctor will take care of him. Now get some rest. I'll come back to let you know when the doctor has finished treating Master Hanzo." Those words did not reassure all four kids. They could see the dread in the man's eyes and feared the worst for Hanzo. The man left them in the bedroom, leaving them to stare at the floor, still crying.
In the infirmary, the healer had started treating Hanzo's wounds once he was brought in. "Oh dear. These wounds are pretty bad. It's a miracle he hasn't bled out completely yet. But Master Hanzo always had a stubborn streak. These wounds wouldn't put him down that easily." When Hanzo had been brought in, she was shocked at the severity of the wounds. The ninjatos had sliced deeply into his back and his side. You could actually see a glimpse of his ribs from the side wound. The healer was able to stop the bleeding and had just finished treating his wounds. She wrapped his wounds in clean bandages and left Hanzo to recover from his injuries. Just at that moment, the man who brought the children into the guest bedroom came in, "Mina, have you finished treating Master Hanzo? And is he going to be alright? The children are really worried and terrified. They won't be comforted until they see Master Hanzo and see that he is alright." Mina simply smiled, "Master Hanzo is fine now. I managed to stop the bleeding and treat his wounds. He needs to rest but you could take the children to visit him since you mentioned how worried they are, Shino." Shino bowed, "Thank you, Mina. I'll come take the children now." With that, Shino left.
