A/n: Thanks to my reviewers although I do not know why the number had decline drastically! But I'm still grateful to those who reviewed! You know I love you guys for reviewing but I need to know that this story is being read and appreciated. It takes up time and brain cells. If not enough reviews come in, I might even consider taking this story down. So if you like it and want to keep it up, then REVIEW!

Hugs and kisses to …Dark Kaiser, FlamingWolfGirl, BloOdY-JoKeR, Yasashii Tenshi, Rael-Lirdy and para para sakura.

Chapter 10 – Guardian of Water

The first thing that came to Jade's mind when she woke up that morning was that she just had the best sleep she has ever had since they arrived in an unknown world where all that people knew were ninjas, fight and kill. No bad dreams or nightmare of a village burning or one of her teammates in trouble. Just a damn goodnight rest and she knew she deserved it.

So reluctantly was she to leave the warmth and comfort of the bed until Kai had to intrude her room to drag her out for training. She had to change first of course and to do that, she had to chase her boyfriend out. Kai had warned her that if he found her in bed again when he came back in ten minutes, he could drag her outside whether she was properly changed or not.

"Pervert." she called after his retreating back before the door closed behind him. One must forgive a girl if she seemed mean to her own boyfriend but they were still in the 'look-at-me-the-wrong-way-and-you-will-regret-it-Hiwatari' part of their relationship. Baby steps; slow and steady.

Kai's intrusion however, did little to demise her pleasant mood and ten minutes later, she joined the guys in the courtyard of the Mizuhara home. The courtyard over-looked the ocean and the crashing of waves against a pier could be heard in a distance just behind a bend. Kanzaki and Shiho were already there, performing Tai-chi like movements to warm-up their bodies. Max was with them, trying to keep up, looking very anxious and excited at the same time.

"Hey, where's Sakura and Ray?" she asked as she approached them.

"They went to get supplies." Naruto answered. "We are running low on food thanks to Tyson."

"Hey…I'm a growing boy…"

"Growing sideways, you mean."

"Shut up, Kai."

Jade reached Kai's side and greeted good morning to Sasuke. The latter boy nodded in respond and turned his attention back to the three people on the courtyard. Kanzaki was now speaking to the blonde.

"How's Max doing?" she asked, gazing out at them.

"They just started." Sasuke said.

"Papa's explaining to Max how to use a bow and arrow." Anna explained enthusiastically.

"Aim. Lock. Fire." Tyson cut in helpfully.

Anna rolled her eyes at him as though he was the idiot and she was the expert. "No, dummy. There's more to it than just that. Watch."

Fifteen minutes later, they still have yet to do anything remotely interesting and Jade found herself shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"What are they doing?" Tyson groaned aloud.

Naruto's head was drooping lower and lower every moment as were his eyes. "Man, I wish Kakashi sensei was here. I just know he would buy me ramen right now."

"This is boring." Jade decided with a heavy sigh. "I think I'm better off sleeping in but thanks to someone, here I am."

"And kill more brain cells while you're at it? Heaven forbid I let that happen." Kai rolled his eyes at her.

With a challenging glint in her eye, she looked at Kai. "You know, I just thought of something we can do to keep ourselves occupied."

"You mean keep yourself from dying of boredom?"

"What's the matter, Kai? You too scared to know what it is?" she shot back, smirking for all its worth.

Kai stared at her for a moment in confusion then he understood.

"Okay. I think we have everything."

"Are you sure? Because I feel as though we are forgetting something." Sakura said worriedly, rummaging briefly through the shopping bags.

Ray tilted his head. "I'm pretty sure we have everything. Ah, don't worry too much about it. The good thing about living in a village is that everything is within a walking distance."

"You lived in a village, Ray?" she asked, looking at him.

"Ah, yes. I did." he said. "I spent practically my whole childhood there with a bunch of great loyal friends. Those were real awesome times."

Noting the past tense in his sentence, she had to asked, "What happened?"

"I left." Ray said simply.

Sakura was surprised to hear this. "You left?" she looked at him in disbelief. In their world, if a ninja abandoned their village, they are branded missing nins. "I don't get it. Why?"

He chuckled at the startled expression on her face. "You see, my village is what you call isolated. Before I left, we never had any contact with the outside world. That means no television, no radio. Just an endless routine of chores everyday and Beyblading as our only source of entertainment. When I left, it wasn't because I was bored out of my mind. I left because I wanted to explore the world other than a rural village. I wanted to enhance and improve my blading skills and open a bridge of communication to my people. Our lives would be so much better if we had connections with at least a main city."

"That sounds really exciting, Ray. But I guess your friends didn't take it too well." the pink-haired girl said, intrigued by his perspective of the world.

He nodded. "Back then, they didn't. They branded me a traitor and it wasn't just because I left the village. My bestfriend, Lee was mad because I took with me something that was supposed to be his."

Her eyes grew wide. "You stole from him?"

"Actually, it was given to me by his grandfather, the head of the village because he thought I was a more suitable candidate to wield Driger." Ray corrected.

"Your sacred spirit." Sakura said in confirmation.

"Yeah. But that happened years ago. Lee and I are cool now, friends again and my village is now opening its doors to outsiders."

"Well, at least what you did was worth it." she quipped.

Ray grinned. "There's always a risk to take in life and the reward isn't always instant. Sometimes it takes time and lots of patience."

Taking his words to heart, she nodded absently. Inside she was blazing with fire, filled with more determination than ever to win Sasuke's heart. I'll not give up no matter what!

"Hey, what's going?" Ray mused aloud as they entered the courtyard of the Mizuhara residence where everyone minus them and Max, stood in a loose circle around something. Most of the servants have stopped their tasks to watch and that only deepened his curiosity further.

"Sounds like a fight." Sakura said in alarm.

Then Ray heard a familiar voice and he relaxed and even laughed a little under his breath. "It's a fight alright. But there's nothing to worry about."

"Ow…"

Blinking away the stars and spots before her eyes, Jade, lying on her back, shook her head and glared up at the person who came to stand over her without even bothering to help her up.

"Round two?" Kai smirked down at her.

She growled under her breath as she pushed herself to her feet. "Laugh now, bird boy, because round two is gonna be different."

Inclining his head to indicate he accepted her challenge, he stepped away to retrieve her weapons which were scattered several feet away. Using the tip of his sword, he held them out to her. Taking back her sais, Jade vowed silently that that would be the last time she would allow anyone to disarm her against her will. Experimentally, she whirled the daggers to make sure they were perfectly balanced in her hands before taking up at a stance. Kai mimicked her movements with his sword.

No signal or exchange was needed between them as they attacked at each other at the same moment. She ducked under his swing and spun around in time to block his second attempt with her weapons. Steel and steel met with a loud clang. Pulling back one dagger, she aimed it at him but to her annoyance, he leapt back at the last instant and she was left cutting thin air. He flung three kunais at her, forcing her to use the sais to block and leaving her defenses wide open. He moved in, swiping out at her midriff.

Moments before the weapon could touch her, she smirked and vaulted out of the way, ducking under his arm and with one swept of her leg, she delivered a solid hit to the back of his knees.

One moment he was regaining his lost momentum, the next Kai found himself on his back, his breath knocked right out from his lungs. His head was screaming from the pain where he hit it against the ground. He started to rise and froze when the tip of Jade's sai rested lightly against his chest, halting his movements.

Now it was her turn to smirk down at him, clearly taking full satisfaction from it. "Round three?"

Kai scowled in return, making her laugh. Jade stepped back and offered him a hand which he took. When he didn't budge, his grip on her hand only tightening, Jade barely had time to groan, cursing herself for her stupidity. "Aw. Shit."

Then he yanked hard and her world went topsy-turvy. Now instead she found herself flat on her back with Kai atop of her with his sword pointed at her throat.

"You were saying?" he asked, his smirk back on his face.

"Shut up. I just bet you have been waiting to do that." she retorted, green eyes narrowing.

"Get a room!" Tyson called from the sidelines. When they glared at him, he just grinned cheekily and bolted before any of them could rise and give chase.

"Shall I or shall you?" Jade questioned Kai, eyes still following Tyson's trail of rising dust.

He helped her up, this time both agreeing that Tyson was their intended victim. "I think it wouldn't hurt to have him out of our sights for a while."

"True." she nodded and dusted herself.

Ray and Sakura came up to them, applauding them loudly.

"Great way to start your morning." the neko-jin said, grinning.

"That was really cool, you guys." Sakura said in awe. "You're really good with those weapons."

Jade gazed at her sais proudly. "I guess Ayashi wasn't kidding when she said they were made for us."

Ray turned to where Max's training was being carried out. "How's Max?"

"Let's check it out. He should have learned something remotely useful by now." Jade said following Kai as he led the way back to the other courtyard without saying anything.

His heart was beating within his chest like a drummer franticly beating his drums. A bead of sweat found its way down the side of his face but he didn't bother to wipe it away. All that mattered now was the task ahead of him.

"Just relax, Max." Kanzaki said, his voice a smooth flow to Max's ears.

Easier said than done, Max thought sourly. But he abided anyway and forced himself to calm his mind and his breathing. Stay cool, Max. It's just like blading. Focus!

His grip on his bow tightened.

Twip!

At the sound of the arrow being released, Max's eyes snapped open and he pivoted, bringing his hand up to snatch the arrow aimed for his face out of mid-air. In one trained motion, he brought the arrow to the bow and released it. To his dismay, the arrow went up, up and away from his intended target –the straw dummy placed in front of Shiho.

Grimacing, Max turned slowly to face his trainer. Kanzaki shook his head in disapproval, his lips a thin line across his face. But before he could chastise Max, Shiho beat him to it.

"That was pathetic!" the younger man said, anger flashing in his grey-blue eyes. "Your timing is all off!"

"Shiho!" Kanzaki reprimanded sharply. "Need I remind you that you are to treat Max with nothing but utter respect?"

"Why?" nostrils flaring, he lifted his head. "After that…display of incompetence, he's clearly not the Guardian we were waiting for. The Guardian would have been able to make that shot!"

"Hey!" Naruto snapped, storming forward to keep the young man from reaching Max. "Back off. Who died and made you boss?"

Shaking his head, Shiho muttered something under his breath, spun on his heel and walked off, tossing aside his bow as he did. After a moment of awkward silence as everyone stared after Shiho, Anna ran after him, calling his name probably in hopes of calming him down. Kanzaki stepped forward to retrieve the fallen weapon.

He sighed wearily and turned to Max. "I beg your forgiveness, Max. My nephew is still young."

Stunned by the other man's harsh words, Max barely found energy to nod and shrug. "It's okay, I guess. Maybe he's right. The actual Guardian could have been able to make that shot."

"Don't listen to him, Max!" Naruto said. "That guy is a jerk. He's probably just jealous that Kanzaki here is training you instead of him. Besides, it's only your first day of training and I would still say that you were awesome in catching that arrow out of mid-air like that!"

"Your friend is right." Kanzaki said gently. "It's still your first day. It takes time for you to find that ability within you. But I'm confident that you'll find it eventually. Perhaps you should take a break now, Max. You look exhausted."

"I suppose I am a little…"

"Come on, Max. Don't take to heart." Sakura said encouragingly. "You'll get it soon. We'll even help."

"We'll?" Naruto questioned.

She glared. "Yes, we'll."

"Okay. Okay." raising his hands in defense, Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Great. In that case, someone better find Tyson." Ray said. "I'm sure he would like to help."

"Unless, of course, that stray arrow found him first." Jade added off-handedly without thinking.

"One can only hope." Kai snorted, crossing his arms in front of him.

"OW! WHERE DID THAT ARROW COME FROM! DON'T TELL ME IT'S RAINING ARROWS!" Tyson's voice yelled out from around a corner.

"I guess that answers the question where the arrow went." Sasuke said dryly.

They spent the afternoon training and practicing their ninja skills with Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke guiding them. Among all, only Tyson seem to have some problems with his weapons as he kept hitting himself with the chains repeatedly. By the end of the day, his arms and face were covered all over with swelling red welts.

"Keep still, Tyson." Sakura scolded as she applied medical herbs given by Ayashi to his skin. They all sat at the dining table just before dinner waiting for their host.

"Ow..." Tyson winced when she rubbed a bit too hard for his liking. "That hurts!"

"Oh, be a man and suck it up like a man." she said carelessly. Applying medicine to his left cheek, she placed a gauze over it and nodded in satisfaction at her work. "All done."

"Finally." he groaned.

Seated across him with Kai attending to the long red gash on her arm, Jade glared at the navy-haired boy and scowled. "Speak for yourself, nimrod."

Tyson grimaced. Kai sighed and shook his head as he carefully wrapped a bandage around the injury. "I tried to warn you about going too close to Tyson."

"You did?" she asked innocently, pretending to recall. "Oh, right. So you did. And you do know I'm not known for my listening skills right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. My mistake." he drawled sarcastically.

"Like I always say, the only thing possible of hurting Jade would be her own self." Ray said.

"I believe the same applies to Sakura as well." Naruto said without thinking. Failing to notice the vein the appeared on his teammate's forehead, he went on. "I remember there was that one time – OUCH! SAKURA!"

Ajar from his thoughts by Naruto's outraged, pain-filled yells, Sasuke glanced at the blonde boy sitting next to him, noting how unusually quiet Max was. "What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?" confused, Max looked at the Uchiha ninja and blinked. "What…?"

Sasuke frowned. "I asked what's wrong with you. You're rather quiet."

"I was just thinking…" Max began, trying to gather and sort his thoughts. "Why can't I seem to get it? Where am I going wrong? Maybe what Shiho said is right."

"Hn. That guy's a jerk." Sasuke said in an air of dismissal.

"Yeah…" Max said unconvinced. "But still he's –."

His words were cut off suddenly by Kanzaki bursting into the room in a whirl of robes. Seeing the worried look on the elder's face, a sense of panic rose within Max. Was Shayena attacking again?

"Anna's missing!" Kanzaki announced breathlessly. "No one has seen her since morning!"

"What?"

Suddenly an attack from Shayena didn't seem so bad. At least Anna could be safe. Max would gladly give up his Beyblade or even his own life for Anna's any day.

"We've searched the entire household. There's no sign of her!" Kanzaki said.

"We'll help." Sasuke offered quickly.

"Uncle!" A shout was heard and Shiho rushed in. "Several men were spotted leaving the compound. They're heading into the jungle. They could have taken Anna!"

"We're on it!" Tyson declared, rushing for the door.

"Ray, Naruto, Jade. Go with him." Kai ordered, rising. "The rest of us will search the house just in case."

Grabbing their weapons, the said three ran after Tyson. Kanzaki turned back to the remaining teens. "We need to split up."

"Right." Without another word, they followed the man from the dining room. Max started to follow but Shiho stopped him with a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Max, wait. We should check the pier. She could have gone down there." the younger man said firmly.

"Okay." Snatching his bow and arrows as he left the room, Max failed to notice the unknown glint in the darkened grey eyes of Kanzaki's nephew.

The waves roared up, dark against the descending sun in the horizon of the sea. They beat against the rocks along the beach that led to the pier. Harsh sea water, broken by the impact against the solid objects in its path into raindrops, fell upon the two figures running down the sandy pathway, calling out for one little girl.

"Anna!" Max's voice was hoarse from yelling her name out many times.

The crashing waves answered instead. He wondered numbly how his voice could battle the bellows of nature. How could Anna hear him over all these noise? For a moment, he paused to catch his breath and as he did so, he glanced at the sea. The tide was coming in.

"Shiho, are you sure she would come here at this hour?" he asked.

Shiho moved past him, seemly intended on something ahead that Max couldn't see. "I'm sure. Very sure." he murmured.

Max watched the other male for a while. Shiho was acting awfully weird and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing. Then he heard a voice. Anna's voice! It was faint and he could just barely hear it over the furious crashing of the waves.

"Anna!" he yelled, breaking into a sprint, past Shiho. "Anna, where are you!"

"Max! Max! I'm over here!" the girl cried.

Her voice seemed to be coming from the pier. Was she struck somehow? Was she hurt?

"Shiho! I think I can hear her! What the –." His eyes widened at the sight before him as his legs slowed their pace.

Anna was tied to one of the wooden poles holding up the pier plank. Waves were crashing in on her, drenching her without mercy. When Max shouted her name again, he could see that her face was pale, her eyes dreadfully wide.

"Max! Help me!" her voice was drowned out by the waves.

"Anna, hang on! I'm coming. Just hang on!" Max started to run, even though he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do. He skidded to a stop when he realized that Shiho wasn't following. "Shiho, come on! Anna's in trouble!"

The young man's reply shocked him. "And what are you going to do about it, boy?"

"Wha -?" his eyes widened further. "What are you talking about, man?"

"You still don't get it, do you, Max?" Shiho let out a harsh bitter laugh.

Seeing the evil insane glint in the man's eyes, the realization hit the blonde boy. "You! You kidnapped Anna. Why! Why are you doing this?"

"My uncle is a fool. He has always been a fool to believe this hocus-pocus prophecy bullshit. He actually believes that you are the longingly waited Guardian of Water. But I know better. You're a fake." Shiho's face twisted into a sneer. "He actually believes that an incompetent useless child like you can save the world."

"But why Anna? She's your cousin, your family!" Max demanded.

"She's also my uncle's only heir. The heritage should be mine but no, after the death of my father, it went to him. That lying cheating old fool. He stole what was rightfully mine!" Shiho shouted.

"Killing Anna won't solve anything." Max pleaded, hoping to buy time for his friends to arrive. Come on, guys…A little back up would be nice…right about now.

"Yes, it will. After I get rid of you, I'll just let nature do its work. I'll say you hired those men to kidnap her only to pose as her rescuer and to gain my uncle's trust. Her body will be washed away by the sea and no one will know the truth." the man said. "Two birds with one stone."

"Oh, yeah. But you forgot one little detail in that plan of yours." Max tensed up.

"And what's that?"

"You'll have to beat me first if you want to get rid of me!" without a moment of hesitation, Max tackled the other male, forcing them both to roll on the sandy ground beneath them.

Shiho got his foot under the other boy and pushed throwing Max off him. It was only by the vigorous training he had under-gone under Kakashi that Max managed to flip in mid-air to absorb the impact that could have broken his back had he landed wrongly. His bow however was lost from his grasp. He drew his kunai to block the swing of Shiho's dagger and grunted as he dodged aside in a roll, scattering his arrows as he did. Shiho followed aggressively, pushing his advantage. Max found himself on the defense, barely able to block every blow inflicted upon him. A swift punch to his shoulder dazed him and he fell back hard. His hand fell upon a familiar smooth hard surface and he curled his fingers around the bow, keeping his hand still.

"Do you actually think that I would allow myself to remain in the shadows of my foolish uncle? My skills have surpassed his now and you aren't even close." Shiho said with a smirk.

As Max staggered to his feet, he realized that Anna had gone silent. Panic flared through him. Was he too late?

Seeing the complete helplessness in Max's blue eyes, his opponent smiled. "It's over, boy." He started to run toward Max, his dagger flashing.

Franticly, Max snatched up his bow and reached behind for his arrows and found none instead. Then he heard Kanzaki's voice.

"Max!"

Twip!

The sound of an arrow fired rang to Max's ears despite the noise around him and the fear and helplessness that flooded his every being. Something within broke and he felt a rush of…something. A power surging to be free. Like a wave washing over his very spirit, filling him. That something snapped and he spun, his hand swiftly snapping out to grab the arrow flying towards his back. In the same motion, he turned again, going down on one knee as he fixed the arrow into the bow and fired directly at Shiho's chest.

As the arrow flew towards its target, Max saw the waves from the sea rise up as well, becoming one with the arrow in swirls of crystal clear liquid and they slammed into the young man, throwing him back. With a cry, Shiho's back met a pillar holding up the pier and with a sickening thud, he slumped forward with the arrow protruding from the front to the back of his shoulder, its tip bright red with blood.

Max gasped, collapsing as the power rushed from his chest, enlightening him with dizziness. His head spun and he had to shake it to clear the spot in his view, barely aware that his friends were approaching him. The bow slipped from his fingers.

"Yo, man. You okay?" Tyson asked, crouching down beside him. He took the blonde boy's arm and helped him to his feet.

Max nodded then he remembered. "Anna!"

"Don't worry. Ray and Kai managed to get to her before the tide came in. She's safe."

"How did you know where we were…?"

"Jade had a vision." Tyson answered. He glanced up at where Shiho's body laid, drenched from Max's attack and the waves now rolling in. "She saw Anna, then you and Shiho. Left her with a major headache though but she'll live. Oh, and by the way, man, nice move there with the arrow."

"You have done well, Max. Your powers have awakened and you saved my daughter." Kanzaki said as he came up to the boys. His gaze on Max was proud. "I can't thank you enough for saving Anna."

A blush rushed up Max's cheeks and he shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "Don't thank me. Kai and Ray were the ones who saved Anna. I just distracted the bad guy. And speaking of bad guy…what's gonna happen to Shiho?"

They looked over to where Sasuke and Naruto hefted the unconscious man, earning a groan that assured them he was still alive. Max glanced back at Kanzaki's face, watching the way the older man's expression became hard.

"He'll be dealt with accordingly. As of now, he's no longer my nephew and my blood." Kanzaki announced gravely.

Concern crossed Tyson's face as Max doubled over, still fighting to regain his breath. "Dude, you better get some rest. I'll have Sakura take a look at you."

"I'm okay, Tyson. I really am." Max protested even as his friend started guiding him back to the house with Kanzaki in toll. "There's no way I can feel like crap after a power-gaining experience like that!"

A/n: Blame writer's block for the slow updates! I swear I'm innocent! If you got ideas, then shower me with them! Oh and by the way…R&R please!