Kindling of Wrath

By Miss-DNL

Chapter 7: Mixed Indecision

"A ninja came over to your house!?" Kana yelled in shock as they sat in back yard of Hanzo's home. It was Sunday, the day before she'd ended up going out with her parents so Kana hadn't been able to come over. It had upset her that she couldn't go see her friend but there was nothing that could've been done.

The two sat on the grassy boarder of a dirt square in the center of the yard that served as a makeshift sparring ring. Hanzo had spent about as much of his life standing in that flat dirt square as he had in school, maybe even more. Whether it was hand to hand practice, sword practice or other forms of training he had learned it there in that square. Many good memories of his getting a move down, bad ones of frustration, and humiliating moment of his face meeting the dirt had been made on that spot. Soon ones of him learning how to use the chained kunai would be made too.

Hanzo looked up at the sky, past the branches and leaves of the tree growing in their back yard. The thought of what happened two days ago still left an uncertain feeling in him. He wasn't sure how to feel about it even with a day to mull it over. The following day had been rather awkward and quiet between him and his father. Oda had tried to play everything off as normal but Hanzo could still tell he was thinking of the other night. An unsaid agreement between them kept the topic off the table. The dinner table had been the worst part of the day for Hanzo, his father had tried to spark conversations but only noncommittal responses had been given. Hanzo just didn't know what to say to his father, he felt too off to answer. The lack of his friend when he had expected them hadn't helped.

"Yeah," Hanzo partly muttered, he leaned his head to the side, "Father got really angry about it. Especially when he gave me a Shirai Ryu crest…I think he literally tossed him out of the house."

Kana blinked her brown eyes a couple of times out of the sheer shock, "Really? Why'd he do that?"

The boy next to her mulled over whether or not he should tell her. He'd never actually told her about his father being an assassin once. That would be saying that his father had killed people after all. They really didn't need that going around, his father could end up in jail and Hanzo didn't want that. It wasn't that he thought Kana would tell someone it was more so that he just had to be cautious. Mishaps happened and Hanzo had to do his best to avoid them, better safe than sorry.

"Well…" He started out gradually, turning his gaze back to her as he talked, "My father doesn't really like them…so he tossed them out. He didn't want him around me."

"Oh," Kana answered simply. She got the feeling there was more to it but at the same time she knew to leave it be. The girl looked around trying to find out what else there was to talk about. Getting another question Kana spoke up again breaking the forming silence, "What about the medallion? Your father didn't toss it out did he?"

The amber-eyed boy shook his head, "No, but he put it in his closet. He said I could have it back when I'm older."

Knitting her brows Kana tried to understand the logic behind that. How harmful could a trinket be? It didn't make sense, so she asked, "Why'd he do that?"

Hanzo's eyes drifted off, voice distant, speaking almost as if to himself, "Because I made a promise to my mother not to get involved with them…"

When the answer fell upon Kana's ear she fell silent, she could feel the magnitude of the vow weighing down on her, keeping her silent. She looked from left to right, unsure of what to do next. Trying to continue the conversation didn't seem right now, but the thick silence that was stuck between them was very uncomfortable. Kana thinned her lips in hesitation as she bit the inside of her bottom lip. Unable to find the right answer to her situation Kana was left to sitting where she was. Forced to ride out the moment until an opportunity to shift the mood presented itself.

It wasn't until several minutes later did an idea come to her, by then the thickness of the silence had waned. Even then she rubbed her arm uncomfortably, making an awkward smile Kana spoke to her friend, "Well, you kept your promise right? So there's nothing to worry about. Everything it going to be okay."

Hanzo's mood lifted enough that it was noticeable, though his tone still didn't seem so spirited, "Yeah, your right. It's just…I feel so mixed up about it."

Tilting her head Kana inquired, "What do you mean by that Hanzo?"

The boy next to her shifted where he sat trying to figure a way to put it, "I feel worried, but I don't know why. The Ninja wasn't there to hurt me but," Hanzo stiffened as he thought back as to how the man's presence made him seize up. He didn't like that feeling he didn't like it at all. Hanzo's mouth twitched, he wasn't about to admit how he felt, "I didn't like it."

He looked off to the side before continuing, "At the same time seeing a real ninja was amazing, but I still didn't like it."

Kana tilted a brow, she got the feeling Hanzo meant something else when he said he didn't like it. Her friend probably wasn't about to tell her what he really meant either. She had an idea though but if she presented it to him Kana knew Hanzo would deny it to no end. He never admitted he was scared of something.

"It's just so confusing!" Hanzo shouted in frustration flinging his arms outward. The yell managed to settle him a little, allowing him to release some of the pent up emotion. Exhaling roughly through his nose Hanzo drifted his eyes back over to his friend waiting for her answer.

The girl was thoughtful for a moment before speaking, "Don't worry about it so much Hanzo. If thinking about it for a whole day didn't do any good then thinking about it more won't help." She gave him a bright smile, "Let's get your mind off of it!"

Hanzo watched as his friend sprung to her feet looking determined, "How about we go watch TV! My Dad says its mind numbing! That should help!"

The boy quirked a brow inquiringly, "Why does he say its mind numbing?"

Kana merely gave him a shrug before rushing off back into the house, "Last one to the living room is a rotten egg!"

Seeing her race in Hanzo's competitive side took over with a grin he chased after her, successfully putting his worry to the side for the moment. Shutting the door behind them he hurried after her, the short race ending with Kana's win.

"I win!" She chimed tauntingly with a smug grin while she sat on the floor in front of the television set.

Sitting cross legged the boy waved it off with a causal roll of his eyes, "Pft, you only won because you got a big head start."

"A win is a win." Kana sang with a still grinning gleefully.

Hanzo gave an amused snort before turning on the television. Immediately he perked up more when he saw it was the episode of the show he missed. Leaning forward slightly Hanzo eagerly watched the show with his friend. Kana wasn't as enthused as he was, but it was a very welcome change from the earlier moment. The twenty five minute episode came and went leaving the two watching another show. Kana recognized it but wasn't so familiar with the show, it was an okay cartoon. She didn't mind watching one episode of it.

Looking around Kana realized how quiet it was in the house. Their home was pretty quiet, even compared to her own home, but Kana got the feeling they were the only ones in the home at the moment. Twisting around she looked at the empty couch, Hanzo's father was usually sitting on it when she came over. That or in his room but Kana hadn't heard anything since they came in…then again he had very silent footsteps for someone his size. Still she got the feeling they were alone.

"Hanzo." Her friend made a noise of acknowledgement as he continued to idly watch the movement on the screen, "Where's your dad?"

"Father?" Hanzo echoed, he glanced to his friend. She nodded in quiet reply. Looking back to the TV he continued, "He went out to get some groceries. Last night he realized we were running low on more than he had thought."

Inwardly Hanzo wondered if it was because he needed some space to think. Last time he saw they weren't low on too much. Hanzo didn't say anything about it though, space was a good thing as far as he knew right now.

"So we're here by ourselves?" Kana questioned aloud, looking around, she'd never been by herself before. It was a little worrying. She fidgeted where she sat, eyes still looking around the room, "Your dad just lets you stay home by yourself?"

Noticing the nervousness appear on her face Hanzo blinked not understanding where it was coming from. He nodded curtly, "Yeah, he says he trusts me to stay by myself. Why?"

"Mom and Dad never leave me alone." Kana admitted sounding a bit worried. The house seemed suddenly scarier than it did before. It was like a stranger was about to burst into the house any moment now.

Hanzo frowned at the fearfulness coming over his friend, he huffed. "We'll be fine Kana. Nothing to worry about." He grinned and motioned to himself, "I can keep us safe!"

While Kana's expression calmed she also snorted teasing, "You're not even half the size of an intruder."

This got a twitch from her friend, Hanzo shot her a look and muttered, "I am not small…"

The girl huffed and crossed her arms proudly, "And I'm not scared!"

"Yeah right!" The boy of the pair refuted. "You were totally scared a minute ago!" Hanzo challenged with a playful grin.

Kana retaliated by sticking her tongue out, "Yeah, a minute ago!"

Hanzo stalled trying to figure out a way to counter that comment. He thinned his lips together as he made a thoughtful noise while trying to come up with a remark. Meanwhile Kana held a teasing smirk on her face as the amber-eyed boy vainly tried to make a creative remark. Coming up with nothing Hanzo huffed defiantly, "You were still scared!"

"Uh huh, sure." Kana retorted with a triumphant smirk. She blinked as her friend turned off the TV and asked, "What are we going to do now?"

Turning her head it looked like Hanzo was thinking hard about something. Although she was curious what he was thinking about Kana didn't ask. Hanzo closed his eyes and his brows dug downward, a stiff noise of thought slipped through his frowning lips. Kana was kind of getting a little worried after a while, she was starting to think he was going to give himself a headache. Just when she was about to say something Hanzo looks to her causing Kana to stall her words.

"You want to see the crest I was given?" Hanzo said briskly, the words jumping from his mouth before his mind could catch them. He knew full well he could probably get in trouble for going into his Father's closet but since Kana showed up he'd wanted to show it to her. Finally his want outweighed his worry about getting in trouble. They'd go in and then get out, nothing to worry about.

Hearing this Kana's answer was near immediate, "Yeah!"

Hanzo smiled, getting to his feet he headed out of the living room and motioned for Kana to follow, "Come on, we need to be quick."

Kana blinked and realized that Hanzo would probably get in trouble if they got caught going through his father's closet. She knew she'd get in trouble if she got caught going through her parent's stuff. The reward outweighing the risk though and Kana dipped her head quietly. Hanzo nodded back before leaving the living room and heading down the hall, Kana followed close behind staying quiet as she felt she needed to. Being quiet would keep them from getting caught after all.

Coming into Oda's room Kana looked around, there was always something different about being in a parent's room. The lack of children things, the usual neatness and overall air of maturity was enough to give her pause. Quickly something hanging high up on the wall caught her brown eyes a large arrowhead-like weapon on a chain. She stared at it, it looked really dangerous leaving with her the strong feeling to never touch it.

Hanzo was opening the closet when he heard Kana ask, "Hanzo, what's this?"

Tilting a brow he turned his head and saw her pointing at the Shirai Ryu kunai. With a slight smile he left space in front of the open closet and walked over to her. He looked at the weapon hanging from a strong metal hooks then to his friend, "That's my father's chained kunai."

He grinned proudly and looked over to the brown eyed girl, "My father's going to teach me how to use one when I turn ten." He held a pause for a moment before adding, "If I do well enough in my training."

"He's going to teach you how to use this!?" Kana exclaimed in shock while pointing to the dangerous weapon. Looking at it the weapon was just chain and a large kunai but it looked heavy for what it was. Not to mention too big for a child, even a ten-year-old, to use.

"Well..." Hanzo started slowly realizing the implication of what he said. The boy motioned offhandedly to the chained kunai, "I won't be training with this. He'll probably give me a smaller wooden version on a rope. I won't get to touch this until I'm a teenager or something. Maybe. I haven't asked yet."

"Oh." Was all Kana responded with as she looked back to the weapon, it made her uncomfortable.

The boy next to her didn't notice this, he was too filled with pride that he was going to learn how to use weapon on the wall. The chained kunai was a difficult weapon to master but like his forefather's he'd bend the weapon to his will. Eyes looking at the dagger-sized kunai he smirked a bit in anticipation at the thought before mention, "Yeah, it's my family's weapon. It's a tradition to learn how to use it."

Heading back over to the closet he didn't wait for a response from his friend. Hanzo looked around the setup his father had constructed trying to find where he put the medallion. For a moment he stared, he'd never really gotten to look at what his father had, Hanzo was left in awe. He could see the Shirai Ryu uniform neatly folded and laid on a light colored wooden shelf. Briefly he frowned, his father hadn't let him see it the next day. Then again it wasn't a "better time" so the boy let the feeling pass.

Going back to looking for the medallion he stood on his toes trying to get a better look at the shelves. Eyes brightening he spotted the crest with another on a mid-level shelf, "There it is!"

Hearing her friend exclaim Kana tore her attention from the family weapon over to him. Moving over to next to her friend, looking into the closet she was surprised to see the shelving that was inside it. It was definitely hand done, it wasn't fancy just simple shelving. To the side of it was some hanging clothing and some shoes on the floor. Like the rest of the room it was tidy as possible. On one of the middle shelves appeared to be some sort of uniform carefully folded. A more eye catching item took her attention from the clothing. It was a hard, scratched up face mask of some sort. It had sort of insectoid like quality but it didn't look like any insect she was familiar with but she didn't really know much about bugs. Like the weapon though Kana could feel a sort of…pressure coming off of it…

Looking around at the other shelves, she could see Hanzo's father had a lot of gear from weapons: kunai, short swords, daggers, to pouches full of something, and other things she wasn't sure what they were. It lead to one thought as she looked at Hanzo out of the corner of her eye, was Hanzo's father a Ninja…?

Kana was pulled from her uncertain thought when Hanzo suddenly jumped up onto the shelves. Surprised she took a step forward, "Hanzo! What are you doing!?"

"Getting the crest. What else would I be doing?" Hanzo grunted as he gripped the shelves with his hands, knuckles turning a little white. It wasn't very easy to grip something like a shelf he was much more used to climbing trees. Hanzo looked at the two crests that were on the self in front of him. Knitting his brows he frowned thinking, which one is mine?

Kana huffed, pouting, "Jerk."

Hanzo rolled his eyes lightly at the comment. Looking back to the two items he'd felt his hands shake, he was losing his grip. Quickly the amber-eyed grabbed both with one hand mentally deciding, better just take them both.

Hopping down Hanzo looked the two crest over with interest, noticing one was more worn he hummed thoughtfully. Seeing her friend had two in his hands Kana craned her neck to get a better look at them. She arched a brow inquiring, "Why does your dad have two?"

Hanzo gave a quick shrug, and giving no answer. He knew if they continued to be friends Kana would find out about his father's past, but now was not the time to tell her. He looked down at the shinier, newer crest. His crest. Before handing it over to Kana so she could look at it. While she was looking his over Hanzo went back over to the shelves, stretching his arm out he put his father's back on the shelf he'd got it from.

Looking back to Kana, Hanzo saw she was still curiously looking over the emblem. Silently he hopped when she pieced it together it wouldn't put a wedge between them. He didn't like the thought of her ever not liking him. The thought made him very uneasy.

"It looks really nice," Kana commented, bringing Hanzo out of his worried thoughts for the moment. She traced the outline of the scorpion on the medallion, feeling the cool metal under her finger as well as the groves in the item. Turning it over she saw her friend's name etched masterfully into the back. Kana raised a brow at this, she wondered why a ninja would make this for her friend. Dismissing the thought she handed it back to Hanzo and said, "I still don't get why your dad is keeping this from you."

Hanzo gave her a shrug, "Parents," was all he said before putting the item back on the shelf.

Closing the closet he looked to the girl behind her, putting a grin on his face Hanzo said, "Hey, how about we go play hide and seek until my Father gets back?" He chuckled when Kana got a bad look on her face, "What?"

"You just want an easy win." Kana commented dully, crossing her arms with an unimpressed look on her face. "You-"

"I'm a jerk, I know." Hanzo finished for her sounding thoroughly amused. The intensely annoyed look on Kana's face caused a chuckle to bubble from his throat. He thought for a moment head headed out of his father's room, "How about we just watch more TV then?"

No longer sounding or looking annoyed Kana skipped after him, "I like that option better." She chimed, earning a laugh from Hanzo who shut the door behind them.

Inwardly he sighed in relief, looked like they were going to get away with their little break in. Looking back to his friend he smiled Kana didn't look like she was thinking about anything worrying. So maybe the girl didn't think too much about the gear. Turning the TV back on he sat down on the floor, Hanzo admitted to himself he felt better too. Allowing himself to relax he leaned back and propped himself up on his hands and watched whatever show was on at the moment.


"Son, I'm back with the groceries." Oda said as he walked through the front door, hands full with packed grey plastic bags. Passing by the entrance to the living room he continued on, "Could you help me-" Spotting Kana sitting next to his son he held a momentary pause of surprise, "Oh, Kana you're here."

Kana nodded with a friendly smile, "Yeah, I couldn't come over yesterday so I came over today instead."

Hanzo's father blinked in surprise but was not bothered in the least by her presence. It was good to know his son had company while he was gone. Mostly because he knew how bothered Hanzo had been after the Shirai Ryu had shown up. Or to be exact, had been bothered how his father had reacted to the arrival. Oda had tried to resume normalcy the next day but he soon realized it would take time for his son to process the event.

"Do you need help with the bags Father?" Hanzo asked bringing his father's attention to him, the boy already standing up in case the answer was yes.

Oda nodded, "Yes there are a few more bags outside. Start bringing them in."

"Yes Father." Hanzo answered while he went out to go get the bags.

Getting to her feet Kana looked at the older man as he headed to the kitchen, "Do you want me to help too?" She asked kindly.

Oda stopped walking for a moment and looked back at the little girl. He shook his head politely at the offer, "Oh no, thank you Kana that's nice of you but it's no trouble. We'll have this taken care of in a minute."

The girl ignored his reply and headed out the open front door, "It's no trouble Mr. Hasashi."

Sighing Oda shook his head lightly, clearly he was being left no room to argue so instead he made a compromise, "Very well, but let us put the food away."

"Okay!" Kana called back as she was outside picking up a couple of bags.

The extra pair of hands the bags were brought inside in no time. To keep Kana from assisting in putting them away Oda had her and his son go to the living room saying that he was going to make them some lunch. After putting away all the food he had bought the father made some simple lunches made of sandwiches, sliced fruit and a glass of juice. Calling the children to the dinner table they three of them had lunch together. While they ate, Oda eating the same thing as the kids, he noticed his son was much happier than when he had left.

When they were done eating Kana announced she had to leave as her mother had told her to be home after lunch. She said her good-bye to her friend and was escorted home by Oda. Upon returning home the father was happy to see that his son was stretching in preparations for his training. He smiled, "Feeling in better spirits, Hanzo?"

"Yes, I won't get farther in my training if I worry about something that I don't need to." Hanzo stated as he stretched his arm over his head.

I'll make sure you don't have to worry about the clan…Oda promised to his mentally. Wearing a faint smile he moved, instead of his usual spot he stood at one end of the training area. His son looked at him a moment before moving to the other end. He knew what this meant. Oda nodded to this, "Good, I hope you're up for some sparring. I want to see for myself how much you've progressed."

Hanzo got into his fighting stance and gave his father a sly grin, "Far enough you'll know I'll be ready for kunai training when I turn ten."

The sureness in his son's voice caused Oda to utter a chuckle, "Come at me with everything you've got and we'll see."


Dear god I'm so sorry for the long gap in the update. First a family issue happened and after that I fell to college, then well procrastination took hold. To make up for it I'm going to focus on this story at least until Hanzo is finally into his teenage year from there his adult year will be only a couple chapters off. I really just want to get this story rolling into the real good stuff.

Please follow/favorite and Review. The support is really appreciated.