Reader--Sorry it took me so long to get this done. December was a horrible month for me. I was sick or busy, and then sick again. Now that the holidays are over, and I'll be going back to school on Monday--blah, I'm going to try my hardest to update this story once a week. If I fall behind, yell at me! I'll get on it. I'm very lazy and I need to be yelled at if I lag. Thanks for putting up with me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soujiro, but the ninjas, Akio, and Ryu are all owned by yours truly. Any replicas must get approval by me! Or else! One call, and I'll get your legs broken, yup, I can do it too!

Chapter 7: Beneath the Surface

Crack! The head of the wooden dummy crashed to the floor in eight pieces. A blur of black matter flashed before disappearing from it's side. Twenty feet away from the dummy, a dark clad figure stood sheathing a metal sword in a fluid motion, one that came from years of practice and use with a sword. Blue-gray eyes burned behind the black cloth mask that covered nearly all of his face. There was a bright yellow stripe around his upper right arm, a sign of an apprentice.

"Very good Tenken," Toshi commended from his watchful position several feet away. He leaned casually against the wall, a sharpened dagger twirling slowly on the tip of his finger. "You seem to be growing in skill every day since we placed a proper sword back in your hands." There was cool delight in his voice, and shining in his dark eyes. It was the pride that comes only from one who sees great progress in a pupil.

Soujiro looked at the watching ninja and smiled, even though it couldn't see it behind the mask. He found that that action, even though the smiles held no emotion or warmth, were what came the most natural to him. "Thank you Mr. Toshi, I'm trying my best but I still can't seem to remember everything I was able to do. It's coming back slowly." He covered the small hint of annoyance in his voice well. Soujiro surprised even himself with the fact that his annoyance was nearly nonexistent.

"You shouldn't force it Tenken." Tamasine had materialized beside his brother, arms crossed over his chest as he stood straight. "You're memory of swordsmanship will return as fast or as slow as it wills," he said in a deep voice, walking over to stand beside Soujiro. "I am surprised that you have already progressed so far and it has only been four days since we began teaching you." The unspoken comment was about the condition that they had taken him from.

Soujiro bowed. "You're tutelage has quickened my progress."

"Flattery will get you no where Tenken," Toshi laughed, joining them. His dagger was sheathed in the small spring on his wrist. "Though, I am most grateful to the Master for awarding us with such an adept pupil."

"As am I," Tamasine agreed. "Tenken will certainly please the Master when we show him the skills he has attained." The two ninja began to circle their student like vultures over a kill. They studied him closely with scrutinizing eyes and appraising motions. Yes, Soujiro was coming along nicely. He had little or no memories of who had had been before gaining consciousness in the dungeon, though he still remembered all the skills he had ever possessed. He could remember mannerisms and personal traits, such as the habit of smiling, but places and people, names and images, eluded him. Apart from the nightmares that plagued his nights, Soujiro was virtually without a past. So far, their scheme was working out better than the two ninja had dreamed, but they were not without fear that their creation would one day bite the hands that fed it.

"When will I prove my service to Master Ryu?" Soujiro asked, fidgeting with his sword hilt. Whenever the ninja brothers decided to appraise him, it left Soujiro nervous. Like they were prowling lions and he was a wounded gazelle.

"Soon Tenken, very soon," the two ninja assured their apprentice. "Your skill is growing and we are very pleased with you, but you will have to pass a few tests before Master Ryu will have an audience with you. Then you will receive a mission from him to carry out before you become inducted into our fold."

Soujiro took a proud stance, drawing his sword deftly. "I will pass whatever test it takes." The brothers smiled to themselves. He was making a fine pupil indeed.

"I think we will make a ninja of you yet," Toshi laughed.

"As do I," Tamasine agreed. Soujiro smiled. "Now, let's repeat the same pattern you have been doing, but this time, use the batojutsu to begin."

Soujiro took his position as the two ninjas replaced the test dummy with another. The result was the same for the most part, only Soujiro's speed increased and his confidence with the sword grew each time he used it. Very soon he would be warmed enough to begin using the metal on something other than wood. Very soon, if the ninja had their way.

"Pardon me masters," a voice came from behind the two ninja. They turned to see a young minion of Ryu's, a boy no older than Soujiro, also dressed in the outfit of a ninja. He had fallen to one knee, with his head bent. "Mast Ryu wishes to speak with you," he spoke softly. The brothers looked to each other, then back to the messenger. The young ninja looked up at his superiors. "It's about the boy."

"He must wonder after Tenken's progress," Toshi spoke.

"Perhaps he has a mission for our pupil after all," Tamasine said pensively.

"Come with me, Masters," the young ninja said, getting to his feet. The two ninja turned back to their pupil.

"Tenken," Toshi called out. Soujiro looked up from his practice. "Master Ryu has called us to him. Continue your practice until we return." Soujiro bowed and took his stance once more. The ninja brothers followed the boy to their master's quarters. The small ninja knocked on the door and opened it a crack of the way.

"Master, I bring Masters Toshi and Tamasine, as you requested."

"Thank you, tell them to enter." The boy held the door open for them and the two ninja entered slowly, like prowling cats. Ryu sat in a large chair behind a polished desk. There was a woman behind the desk who was dressed as a ninja, but without a mask. Her long dark brown hair hung around her shoulders as she looked over Ryu's bare chest. There was a large scar over the left side of his chest, and it wept with a clear liquid puss. The ninja woman wiped it clean and began to bandage the wound as Ryu looked across the desk at his two ninja. "Tell me of the progress."

"Tenken is progressing better than we hoped he would Master," Toshi explained, bowing low. "He skills with a sword are much more advanced than we anticipated. His speed and knowledge of style returns quickly. Soon he will be as the rumors of him once were."

"Do you truly believe you can turn him back into the assassin he was before?" Ryu asked with skepticism.

"We do, Master" Tamasine agreed.

"And you can control him? His skills, his sword…" Ryu looked up at them over the head of his nurse. His eyes were steely and there was a look of calm mindlessness in their depths. "You can control his allegiance?"

"Only to you, Master," the two ninja chimed, falling to their knees. "We pledge his sword, his skill, and his loyalty, on penalty of death."

Ryu smiled, a smiled that is given by an insane man when his temper is sated. He looked to his nurse, taking her chin in his hands. Like the young boy who acted as his messenger, this girl was also trained by the ninja brothers. Raised by them because, in fact, she was their sister by blood. She was a pretty thing, the ninja girl. Her eyes were bright, a pale brown color. They weren't as pretty as Akio's, but in the year he'd spent recovering and following her, he'd never found a girl as pretty as she was. Maybe she wasn't Akio, but she had done quite well the past few months, taking care of his wounds and his other needs. So well that he was fond of her, the closest emotion to love he had ever known in his life, apart from what he had felt toward Akio.

"What do you think, Tsunami?" he asked her. She looked at him with eyes holding both adoration and serenity. She was a solider, and no one could ever make her otherwise, but she did enjoy the attention given to her by her new Master. Maybe she was love with the man, she would never find one she cared for more. The child she was carrying was proof enough of that.

"I think that you should use him while you can, Master," she said with an even, strong voice. Her fingers moving gently around his chest, healing and caring for his forever-scarred body. Tsunami delighted in the plan that he had told her, of using the boy to destroy the woman who had done this to him. She thought it a brilliant stroke of luck, and a deserving bite of vengeance. She would tend for her Master and share his bed, she would even bare his child, and in exchange, she would remain at his side and be his right hand. It would be her who healed his wounds and looked after him, not the woman who left him to die. Perhaps, her Master would even allow her to kill the woman, when the time came.

Ryu smiled again, pulling Tsunami down low enough to place a hard, possessive kiss on her mouth before turning back to her brothers. "Are you confident that the Tenken is capable of exacting a mission?"
"I believe he is Master," Toshi said, his head bowed.

"Tamasine?"

"I think he would need a day to prepare, Master, but I do believe he is ready."

"Good," Ryu laughed. "I will visit him tonight, and give him his first mission. If he carries it out, then the Tenken will be secret weapon." The brothers got to their feet, bowing, and then took their leave. Once they were gone, Ryu turned to Tsunami and pulled her closer to him. He placed a hand on her abdomen. "Do you think me mad for going through so much trouble, just to kill one woman?"

"No," Tsunami said, placing her hands on either side of his face. "She is evil, for doing what she has done. We will use her weakness, we will use this Tenken, against her."

"Do you think it will work?" he asked her, voice low. He needed conformation, he needed someone to tell him that he was right. Tsunami was the only person he trusted to tell his deepest secrets and darkest doubts to. She harbored those secrets close to her heart, and she was both honest and sincere with him.

"I think it will work," she assured him, leaning down to kiss him firmly. There was no room for doubts, there was only room for confidence.

"Do you think I can really complete a mission for Master Ryu?" Soujiro asked his ninja advisors. They had returned to his training room in a flurry of pride, telling him that the Master himself wanted to bestow a mission on his this very night. Tamasine was insistent that whatever the mission, Soujiro was not to leave for it until the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a day solely filled with training, and nothing else. There were no arguments.

"I think you are ready Tenken," Toshi said with confidence. He patted the young man on the shoulder. "Whatever the mission is, accept it graciously. The Master always gives a tough assignment in the beginning, to see what a new soldier is made of."

Soujiro nodded, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword. "Whatever it is, I will receive it with honor."

"Good," Tamasine said. "Because the Master has just arrived."

And indeed it was true. Mori Ryu himself walked into the training room with his head held high. Bandaged and now with a shirt, he still held a commanding appearance. His face was pale and he may have been quite weak in strength, but his ninja were his strength. Soujiro noticed a woman standing in the background, one he had caught glimpses of every now and then. She had come to view his progress with his two instructors, but she never remained long, and never wore a mask. He noticed her watching him closely now, with an expression akin to malice.

"Tenken," Ryu said with a calm voice. Soujiro went to one knee, his head bowed. As the ninja had told him, re removed the sheathed sword from his side and placed it in front of Ryu's feet.

"Master Ryu," he said calmly.

"My ninja have been telling me that you are quite skilled, and that I should induct you. What say you?"

Soujiro didn't look up. The ninja brothers had schooled him in this manner as well. "I believe, my Master, that I am as worthy as you say I am."

"Good answer," Ryu laughed, looking to the other ninja. "You have taught him well." Tamasine and Toshi both bowed. Ryu then turned back to the mission at hand. "Tenken, I have a mission that I would like you to exact. Do you accept?"

"I pledge my sword to you, my Master," Soujiro said clearly. "Until my Master release me, or death take me, any mission laid before my feet shall be exacted without fail or hesitation."

"Very good," Ryu laughed. "Here is your mission." He held out a hand and Tsunami, who had been waiting a few feet behind him in the shadows, came forward to place a folded paper in his hand. "On this paper is an address in Kyoto," Ryu explained, handing the paper to Soujiro. He took it without comment or interruption. "This is the address of my old partner, a man named Gama. I wish you to strike upon him a swift punishment."

"Master?" Soujiro asked, looking up in question.

"Kill him," Ryu said calmly. Soujiro bowed his head, swallowing the lump that had suddenly risen in his throat. He fought against the rapid beating of his heart.

"So you wish it," he said in a low voice. "So it shall be done."

"If you complete this mission, you shall become one of my minions," Ryu said with an underlying question.

"That is my will," Soujiro replied, getting to his feet and bowing. He picked up the forgotten sword and adjusted it to his belt.

"Excellent," Ryu smiled. "Come Tsunami," he called as he turned and left.

"Tomorrow you will train," Tamasine said as he and Toshi also left. "Sleep well tonight, Tenken." Soujiro bowed and was left alone. There was a small space in the rear of this training room where Soujiro slept. A blanket was laid upon the floor, and there was a second for him to use as cover.

Although he needed the rest offered, Soujiro did not want to sleep. Sleep brought too many dreams that he didn't understand, and did not want to remember. Dreams of blood and pain, dreams of fear and screaming. He didn't want to see those flashes. What frightened him was remembering what those dreams were. He feared the return of his memory.

After another few hours of training, as the torches in the room burned low, Soujiro gave in to exhaustion and curled up for sleep. It seemed that dreams engulfed him the moment his head was laid down, and the weight of training was lifted from his shoulders. Flashes met his unseeing eyes, and he reflexively curled tighter into a ball, trying to ward off unseen danger.

But this dream was not like the ones before it. It began as all the others did, with pain and fear and blood, but just as the dream grew farther into the chaos, the tide of red left his mind. He saw before his eyes, a river. It was crystal clear, broken only by jutting rocks and small rapids along the sandy banks. It was cold, the water, but crisp to the taste. A river with a sharp mineral taste, the kind that came from the deep mountains.

He also saw a bridge in the distance, one that made him think of far drops and angry mobs. He looked away from the bridge and further up the hill. There were gardens surrounding the riverbanks, gardens full of flowers and vegetables, bushes and trees. A jungle of a garden that was lovingly cared for by a gentle touch. After walking along the garden path, it opened into a clearing. That was wear he saw it, the small but beautiful house. There was a pen to the side, where a deer pranced around behind the thin wooden gate. The house seemed to beckon to him, making him feel safe and at home.

Soujiro walked slowly to the house, and stepped up on the porch. His hand reached for the door, about to slide it open, when it opened on its own. Standing in the doorway was a girl, looking at him strangely.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Her voice was slow, distorted in this dreamy space, but it was still familiar. The sound of it washed over him, filling him with a desperate longing to hear the real sound.

"Where am I?" Soujiro asked this girl in his dream. His voice was also slow and broken, unlike his own and yet still the same. The girl looked confused. Her hands moved to her hair, reflexively tucking it behind her ears. Her large green eyes blinked at him as if she didn't understand.

"What's the matter?" she asked him, reaching out to touch his arm. Soujiro flinched back. He didn't want her to touch him, it might wake him up. She looked hurt and still confused. "Soujiro?"

Soujiro. That name sparked something in him, some sort of lost feeling. Before he could ask her anything else, Soujiro was grabbed from behind. He was being dragged away from the house, a house that was now being set on fire by masked men. The girl, the beautiful girl with the green eyes, was being dragged off in another direction. She called out that name again. Soujiro. He struggled, but whatever had him was not letting go. She was being taken further away from him, the gap between them was growing farther and farther. "Akio!" he called out.

Suddenly, Soujiro sat up, panting hard. He had broken out in a cold sweat and he wildly looked around him. This was not a clearing in the mountains, this was the training room. The torches had all but gone out, and the shadows played across the walls. He placed a hand to his chest, feeling his pulse rocket and his heart slam against his ribs. Like all the other dreams before this one, it melted away into the muddy, murky mess that was his mind. Visions of the beautiful green-eyes girl were gone, and her name, which had been on the tip of his tongue, was lost. The house, the garden, even the river dulled until it faded from his mind. They were not to be rediscovered. There was only one thing he could remember from the dream, a feeling. There was a painful ache in his heart. It had taken him days to understand it. It felt as though his heart was breaking, but he couldn't remember why.

Sorry, no Reviewer Responses this chapter. It was too crazy, so I promise to do them for next chapter. Remember everyone, review! Now, I need a little reviewer response here, that is, if anyone reads these Author notes of mine. I'm thinking of making this a trilogy--that is, adding a third part once I finish with Wanderers. I put the plot idea on my bio page. If everyone who cares could please look it up on my page and tell me what you think, I would really, really appreciate it. It's called Seekers. Please? If I plan another part of this, then I could fix the plot now to serve my means later. If no one wants a third part, than I'll scrap it and just end it after this story. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please remember to be kind and review?!

~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~