A/N: Hello! I got finals this week, then graduation on Monday! Whoo-hoo! So it'll be a little while to update.

And I'm really, really, really sorry, Ultimate Adept…. I couldn't send you my picture because hotmail says your email, markritchie@aol.com, didn't exist. Is it the right spelling? I'm really sorry…

Oh, and if anyone else wants to see my drawing of the kids in this story, leave your email. Thanks, and enjoy!

Chapter 5: Wait and See

On the second day of training, the children learned the proper attacking stance, different ways to punch, kick, block, and counter a variety of techniques. It was a painful day as Felix and Isaac got very aggressive with each other. On day three, they finally got a chance to get their hands on some weapons as it was time to train the eyes. Shurikens were thrown at the target area, deep within the woods of the training grounds. The four-point throwing star was more difficult to throw than the children expected. They accidentally cut their hands a few times, but they mastered handling the star after the day was over. But they still needed practise throwing it.

On day four, they continued honing their aiming skills back at the target range with their bandaged hands. When it was evening, Isaac got terribly worried. His mother was still not home…

"Where can she be?" he asked his friends with the feeling of dread growing within him.

After supper, the four kids decided to play around Garet's home. They were all around the stone steps of his porch. Isaac sighed and slumped forward, sitting on a step.

Jenna stroked his arm in a calming way. "She'll be home soon. You shouldn't worry too much," she assured him with a warm smile.

"Yeah!" Garet agreed, "Your mom's going to be home in no time. Just wait and see!"

"Don't worry about it," Felix said meekly.

Isaac could feel some of his worries lift upon hearing his friend's reassuring support. "Thanks… I hope she comes home tonight…" he said quietly.

Even his father said the same things to him that afternoon. "Don't worry too much. I know she'll be home soon… as always!" his father said.

It has been over a week since his mother left. They said it would take them about a week to get their job done. Is she lost? Isaac thought. He furrowed his brow then shook his head. His mother never had gotten lost in the forests of Vale. Never. She was an expert; she knew every detail in the forests since she's been in and out of it many times.

Isaac sighed once more. He missed her. He missed Satoshi too, his big brother. Isaac felt jealous of his friends; they had family to go to anytime of the day, while he did not. As well, Garet was expecting another sibling in his family soon. Isaac so badly wanted a little brother or sister to keep an eye on. Much like Felix. Satoshi was the best older brother he ever had, but he too was always away with his mother.

Garet opened the red chocolate box and offered everyone a piece. Jenna, of course, accepted the treat with joy, Felix ate it with a smile, Isaac waved his away. "I don't want any," he said.

"It'll make you feel better," said Garet as he stuffed a truffle into his mouth.

Jenna nodded in agreement. "How can you not want chocolate?" she asked as she grabbed another one from the box.

"Not hungry," Isaac replied.

Everyone fell silent. Then Felix snorted in disgust. "I hate our sensei, she keeps throwing things at me!" he growled.

Jenna giggled. "That's because you keep fooling around," she said as she took a third truffle.

Garet closed the box after that. Felix pouted. "No I don't! I fight whenever she tells us to!" he said.

Garet shook his head. "You fight, but not the way she tells you to," he chuckled.

The dark-haired boy stuck out his tongue at him. "That stupid sensei - Ow!"

A small pebble bounced off his head and landed on the ground. Someone was making tsking noises from above them.

"Oh no…" Felix mumbled, rubbing his head. He didn't want to believe who was there.

"Felix, Felix, Felix. You still disrespect me even out of school. Have you no shame?" Suharu-sensei asked him firmly. She sat high on the roof above their heads, grinning and tossing pebbles in her hand into the air and catching them once more. "I think I'll be keeping a bag full of these from now on, how about that?" she asked them, but they knew she was directing the question to someone in particular.

Felix's brow began to twitch as he forced a smile for his sensei. "You don't need to do that, sen - err, Suharu-sensei. I won't disobey you anymore," he said.

Suharu-sensei grinned at him. "You won't, you say? Well, we'll see about that tomorrow. I'm going to bring rocks instead, so beware!"

"Hmph!" Felix muttered.

"Suharu-sensei, what are you doing here?" Garet asked.

She cocked her head and shrugged. "I was on my way home until I heard someone say something about me. Eh, Felix?" she raised her eyebrow at him.

Felix crossed his arms and looked away.

"See you all tomorrow. We'll still be target practising with shurikens again. You all seem to cut yourselves a lot with those," she said. Then she disappeared in a gust of wind as she leapt away in incredible speed. To the untrained eye, people wouldn't be able to see her leave, but the children's pre-training for school had fine-tuned their skills.

They were excellent fighters, but not strong enough in strength or will to take out a full grown man. As well, they still had lots of techniques to learn in order to become a real ninja.

"Grr… I hate her," Felix growled. He covered his head, expecting another pebble to hit him, but none came. Relieved, he let out all his feelings out, "She's so mean! Gaaahh!" He stomped the ground, making dust fly around him.

Jenna sighed. "I think she's nice," she told her stubborn brother.

"Hmph! I think she just picks on me for the fun of it," he growled.

"No, no. You have it wrong there, young man," came a tired voice from behind them.

Garet's grandfather stood at the top of the steps, chuckling softly. "Suharu never picks on a child because she wants to. She just wants you to behave," he told Felix.

Felix crossed his arms and frowned at the old man. The wise, white-bearded man smiled. "Suharu is teaching you. In order to be a successful Ninja, you must follow orders or else you could jeopardize the entire mission for you and your team mates. Obeying is one of the keys of being a Ninja," he explained.

Felix "hmphed" again. "Bah… That's not how I am, though."

The old man laughed. "Then you must train yourself to be. I know everyone can't be obedient when they are a child, but discipline changes all that. You'll understand when your team mates rely on you in a critical situation. That happened many times to me…" he trailed off, thinking back at his youth.

"Grandpa, since you're here, why not tell us a story?" Garet suggested, happily awaiting for his grandfather's response.

His grandfather smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?" He sat beside Isaac and cleared his throat.

Garet cheered and sat on the other side of him. "What story should I talk about?" his grandfather asked them.

Jenna sat on a lower step and suggested, "The tale of the Phoenix! Ever since Garet mentioned it, I wanted to know more. May you please tell?"

"Alright then," the old man replied. "This story takes back over a hundred years ago, during the Battle of Fire. It was the most bloodiest battle in the history of Vale. My father and grandfather were in that battle, but unfortunately, my grandfather was killed.

One day, an army known as the Fire Clan; samurais dressed solely in black and red, burned down our gates and invaded our village in search for the Elemental Stars. They took no mercy as they quickly took out our defences. All the Shinobi, Kuuyin, Genyin, and even some brave Kiruyin, tried to defend the Stars the best they could.

We were horribly outnumbered, however. Hundreds of men, women, even children, were killed by the Fire Clan's massive army. We were almost defeated, until the Wise One had no choice but to summon a powerful creature; the Phoenix . The majestic bird was sealed by the Wise One's predecessor. My father was protecting him as he performed the seal to unleash the mythical bird on top the shrine tower.

Time soon began to run out as the Fire Clan charged towards our shrine. The remaining guards who were still around were easily defeated by the oncoming army. Father began to face his inevitable end as he charged blindly at them, ready to sacrifice his life to save more time for the Wise One.

But just as he was about to attack, a bright flash erupted the sky, stopping everyone in their tracks. High above them, an ear-shattering cry erupted the sky as giant rings of flame burst out of the scroll, forming a flaming body of a bird; the Phoenix! It's flaming wings covered the entire sky, marking it red and glowing with it's fiery essence. Fierce, red eyes pierced through any soul who met it's gaze.

The Wise One commanded the great beast to attack the entire Fire Clan. And so, the great Phoenix humbly obeyed it's command and unleashed it's fury upon the dark samurai.

The great-"

"Sorry to interrupt, Yukizuha-sama, but it's bedtime for the kids."

Garet's grandfather was startled. "Oh my! Look at the time. The moon has already began to rise," he said.

Jenna was disappointed by her father's interruption. She moaned, "But Dad! I want to hear the ending!"

Riko waved his finger and shook his head. "Sorry Jenna, but your mother's very strict, as always. Don't tell her I said that… So anyway, you can listen to it tomorrow. Right, Yukizuha-sama?"

Garet's grandfather chuckled briefly. "Why of course," he said. "They are welcomed to come back tomorrow. You all have a busy day tomorrow so you should all get some rest. That means you too, Garet."

Garet frowned slightly but he nodded his head.

"Now come on Jenna, Felix, Isaac. It's time to go home. And Jenna, we really should change those bandages, they're covered in chocolate," her father said as he picked her up.

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow!" said Garet as he followed his grandfather inside.

The others waved and left for home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get your ass in gear everyone, it's time to go," Dora ordered her resting team. Dirty, exhausted, and hungry, they got up to trek through the deep forest, heading home.

In her hand, she held tightly to the golden, metal Kuuyin head pieces that once belonged to two of the finest ninjas who had ever fought with her. They will always be remembered for their bravery and strength they showed to all of us.

Her team cremated their bodies. It was the ninja's way to set their souls free from the body's entrapment and to lead their souls to heaven as they follow the trail of the smoke to the sky.

It's been more than a week since they left Vale. But they were almost home. One more day would be the time they should be home. Just one more day. Don't worry too much about me, Kyle. Isaac. I'll be home soon.

Everyone grabbed their weapons, strapped on their equipment, and some carried the fangs of their fallen foes as a trophy for their victory. "Careful with those, they can still have poison in them," Dora warned.

Solien Yamaka, a veteran Kuuyin just like her, grinned sheepishly. "You don't have to worry too much, Hidekeru. Satoshi here can heal us if we do get poisoned. Right, boy?" he said, patting Satoshi hard on the back.

Satoshi blushed slightly. "Y-Yeah," he answered.

"Nonsense," Dora said, slightly angry. "Yime's as tired as all of us. It's not his duty to watch over your stupidity. So, don't say I didn't warn you about the poison. I'll make sure Satoshi ignores you totally."

Yamaka scratched his chin. He gave her a sad look. "That's pretty harsh… So you're going to let me die slowly in pain just because I was so ignorant that I accidentally poked myself with a fang that, unluckily for me, still had venom inside?" he perked, raising a brow.

Dora gave him a crooked grin, "Nah, I'm just joking. Of course I won't leave you behind. I'll probably comment on how stupid you were with handling that thing."

Yamaka opened his mouth to say something but Elli interrupted with a shout.

"Hidekeru! Come, look at this!" she called from the bushes.

Immediately, Dora went to her side. In Elli's hand, she held a jagged knife. A seven-inch blade with a black handle. Engraved on the silver knife was a symbol of fire.

"I found it lying here," Elli indicated with her hand. "It's certainly not a ninja knife. Do you suppose…?"

"It's a samurai's knife… That means…!" she gasped.

Everyone began to worry. "The Fire Clan… They must've been here!" she cried. "And look, there's a light trail in the tall grass…"

"That means they're heading towards the village!" Yamaka said, clenching his fists.

Dora nodded. "Yes… We must hurry! If we must warn everyone before they get there first!"

She sprinted with every ounce of energy she had, straight towards Vale. She ignored the burning cries of her exhausted muscles. No time… There's no time! she thought angrily. Already she was out of breath, but she continued on.

I must warn them…

Night had fallen. The white glowing moon slowly rose high above in the dark sky.