Note: This chapter happens during the 'Brother in Arms' episode.
Another day at Ninja Ops and we see Kaze in his ninja uniform, sitting at the table on his knees, staring at a laptop that was set-up. No sooner later, Cam in his ninja uniform walked in from behind one of the screens and saw his friend sitting there and wondered what was up.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I got a message from my dad." sighed Kaze.
"A message? So..."
"My dad's brother, my uncle's wife just given birth to a baby boy and he wants me to visit them." said the storm ninja.
"That means you will be going back to Japan, right?" asked Cam.
"Yeah, but only for a day or two."
"When do you have to go?"
"Tomorrow." stated Kaze.
The two friends started to talk and after a few minutes the other rangers in their ninja uniforms entered Ninja Ops, chattering and talking to each other.
"Hey guys." greeted Tori and she sat down at the table.
"Hey." Kaze greeted back.
The others started to sit down as well; Hunter sat down beside his boyfriend and noticed that something was bothering him.
"Is something wrong? Kaze." asked the crimson ninja.
"Well, you can't say there is something wrong. I just got a message from my parents and my uncle's wife just given birth to a baby boy and they want me to visit them."
"Really? Congratulations to your uncle." praised the blue ranger.
"So another born ninja in the family huh, bro?" said the navy ranger.
"Actually, no. Unlike my dad, my uncle didn't want to become a ninja. Instead he became a Shinto priest."
"A Shinto priest? Why?"
"He was never one of liking violence, so he studied the ways of the Shinto and now he head caretaker of a Shinto temple shrine in Japan. My uncle's family does know all about the ninja academies and all."
"So this is their first child?" asked Tori.
"No they have a daughter who is three years younger then me, my cousin Hinita."
"That means you have to go back to Japan then, right dude?" asked Shane.
"Yeah."
After hearing that, Hunter felt his heart dropped and is face turned into a sad expression. Kaze saw this and reassured Hunter from his misunderstanding.
"Don't worry, I'm just going for a day or two. I'm not leaving forever." Kaze turned towards his boyfriend and smiled to reassure him.
"Really?" Hunter's heart lightened a bit.
"Really, I'm just visiting that all."
The crimson ninja sighed, letting out a breath and his mood lightened up a bit.
"So dude, when you're going?" asked Dustin.
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" said Hunter.
"Yeah, tomorrow. Is something wrong?" asked the white ninja.
"Well Blake and I are racing in a Motor cross competition and I was hoping you could come and watch."
"Oh, yeah...The one that Kelly was talking about." the earth ninja remembering.
"I'm going to beat my bro in that race and leave him in my dust." laughed Blake.
"In your dreams." Hunter shot back.
"I could put my visit off for a day, I suppose." stated the shogun ranger.
"No don't, you don't have to. Family is more important." the crimson ranger replied.
"Really? Are you sure, you don't want me there?"
"I'm sure, I'll do fine."
"Alright, then how about a good luck kiss?" and Kaze lean in towards Hunter and kissed him on the lips.
Next thing they hear was whistling, wolf crying and all sorts of sounds from the others.
The next day at Ops...
It was morning and Kaze was in his normal clothes, blue jeans, white t-shirt, already to leave for Japan. Cam walked into the room holding some sort of hand held device in his hand and walked over to Kaze and handed it to him.
"Here."
"What's this?" asked Kaze curiously looked over the piece of technology.
"It a sort of communicator. You can use it to contact Ops when you want to leave, so I can teleport you back here." Cam answered.
"Thanks." the storm ninja put the communicator into his pocket.
"So are you ready?"
"Ever as I will ever be."
"Ok, I putted the coordinates into the teleportation system and you will be sent somewhere near the entrance of the temple, so people won't be suspicious." stated the green ranger.
"Ok, then see you tomorrow." Kaze waved.
Cam sat at the main computer, pressed a couple of buttons and then the big red one in the middle and Kaze disappeared from the room in a flash.
Somewhere near the mountains of Japan...
We see a large set of concrete steps leading from the base of a mountain to somewhere up the mountain. Running from the base of the stairs was a sandy dirt road that curved around the mountain, leading downwards to a town.
Kaze at that point appeared in a flash of light and appeared at the bottom of the set of stairs. He looked around to take in the scenery and took a deep breath to breathe in the fresh mountain air. Trees of all sorts and fields of crops can be seen miles around him as he looks out across the land. With one last look, Kaze turn towards the stairs and headed up the steps to the temple that his relatives look after.
As he walked up the mountain, he could hear birds chirping among the tree and from the clearing of grass he walked right into the thickening trees. The storm ninja was half way up the steps and now he was totally surrounded by trees. A few minutes later of walking, Kaze manages to reach the top of the stairs and now was standing underneath a stone arch made for a temple.
The temple itself was made up of multiple one level, ground base Japanese houses that were connected to one another. Kaze looked around and started to walk across the stone tile ground and stopped at one of the small structures that was near the front of the temple. The small temple like structure had two large cat bells hanging from the middle of the ceiling and a large thick red and white braided cord attached to them, which was almost touching the ground.
The storm ninja placed his hands together with his palms face to face like doing a prayer. Then he reached out and pulled on the red and white cord, ringing the bells near the top. He then clapped his hands together a couple times to finish the prayer.
"Excuse me sir but the temple doesn't open until later." interrupted a young female voice.
"Not even to your cousin?" replied Kaze as he turned around and looked at the girl.
Standing there was a teenage girl, a bit shorter than Kaze himself, having long shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white kimono top with baggy red pants; she was also wearing white socks and wooden sandals.
"Kaze? Is that you!" the girl stated in surprise.
"In the flesh."
Kaze's cousin ran towards him and gave him a hug. The white ninja pulled back from the girl and looked at her.
"Well you've grown a bit, since the last time I was here." commented Kaze.
"Of course I'm a growing girl."
"So are my parents around?"
"No they left yesterday. Your dad said he can't leave the ninja academy alone for too long." replied Hinita.
"Oh well then lets go visit Uncle Oji." stated the storm ninja.
Kaze and his cousin Hinita started to heads towards one of the back main structures of temple. They went around and arrived at the family's living quarters of the shrine and taking off their shoes and walked up the wood steps and onto the hall floors.
"Mom! Dad! Looks whose' here!" shouted Kaze's cousin as they walked down a hall.
One of the room that were down the hall, the doors slid opened and out walked a middle aged couple. The man was in his late 30's, having a bit of grey hairs mixed with his black ones and worn looking face. He was wearing a black kimono top with white baggy pants. The woman was in her early 30's with black hair that was shoulder length and she was wearing the same outfit as Hinita. She was carrying a baby in her arms who was at least a couple of months old, wrapped in a blanket.
"Hello, Uncle Oji, Aunt Nasumi." Kaze greeted and bowed in respect.
"Ah, Kaze my nephew. How are you?" asked his uncle.
"I'm fine with things a bit hectic these days but I'm fine. Is that little Genji?" asked Kaze as he walked to where his aunt his and took a closer look at the baby.
"Yes this is him. Say hello." Kaze's aunt held up the baby so Kaze could see better.
"You're a cute little guy, aren't you?" said Kaze as he tickled the baby's little chin.
"Come, why don't you join us for breakfast and we can talk more in there." suggested the Shinto master and guide his nephew into the house with the rest of the family following.
Back at Blue Bay Harbor at Storm Chargers...
Hunter and Blake had finished the race and the crimson thunder ninja had won first place.
"First place." stated Hunter as he showed the trophy to Dustin.
"Hey, you did it!" exclaimed Dustin.
The earth ninja reached out to look at the trophy for closely but the crimson ninja pulled it back.
"Yeah man, he checked out the second lap." said Blake.
Blake and Dustin grasped hands and released them again.
"I say you're getting faster." commented the yellow ninja.
"Uh, that's part of it. Or maybe it was the good luck kiss that Kaze gave me yesterday." Hunter smiled to himself.
"Maybe so. I bet Kaze will be stoked that you won the motor cross race."
"Yeah. Maybe next time bro, you could get Tori to give you a good luck kiss." the crimson ninja raised his eyebrow at his brother.
Dustin had to hold back his laughter a bit.
"Alright you won, no need to rub it in." said Blake as he rolled his eyes.
"Hmm" smirked Hunter, "anyways it felt like, I was riding a factory bike out there."
"Yeah that freaky guy, hooked you up huh?" stated the navy ninja, glad that they were off the subject of his dating life.
"What freaky guy?" asked Dustin curious.
"Uh, skinny, kind of nerdy looking. He did a whole rebuild in a couple of hours."
"That would be Perry." Dustin walked past Blake and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"He's um, a total motor genius. He's a bit trippy though."
"Hmm, you know him?" asked Blake.
"Yeah."
"So where does he live?" the navy ninja asked curiously.
"Um, out of town by that creepy area by the train tracks." Dustin answered.
Back in Japan...
It was long after breakfast and Hinita and Kaze was walking up another set of stone steps, which lead to the upper and inner mountainside.
"I heard from your parents that you got yourself a new boyfriend." started Hinita.
"Yeah, so?" Kaze said.
"So, what he's like?" asked his cousin.
"Well, first of all his name is Hunter Bradley."
"Hunter? That's...a unique...name." commented the girl.
"And the name Kazel isn't one?" commented the storm ninja with a look.
"Alright, lets move on. So what else is there to know about him."
"Well he is a student of the Thunder Ninja Academy and he has an adopted brother, Blake."
"So he's a ninja as well. At least you don't have to hide your ninja skills from him. So about his brother...Blake is it?" Hinita looked at Kaze slyly.
"Don't even think about it. He has a girlfriend already, I...think." Kaze giving some thought.
"You think?" Hinita gave him a confused look.
"Well he and this girl isn't really open about it, so I'm not really sure if they are going steady or not."
"Oh, well how about this Hunter of yours."
"Well he's like..." and Kaze started to tell his cousin what crimson thunder ninja is like and how their relationship is going.
Back at Blue Bay Harbor...
Down at the train tracks where that guy Perry lives, Hunter and Blake had left the place a while ago. Perry is now sitting in a chair and put on a headband that was attached to his developed Motordrone technology.
He turned on the machine and started to work out his device, testing it so he could create the perfect rider. Something went wrong and the machine short-circuited and exploded, changing the man Perry into the dangerous Motordrone.
"Brrrrrr!" Kaze shivered a bit.
Kaze and his cousin Hinita is now sitting near a large lake up in the mountains somewhere, near the edge under a cherry blossom. There were trees surrounding the entire place and sounds of forest animals could be heard far off. The water in the lake was crystal clear and refreshingly cool.
"Is something wrong? Cuz." Hinita asked her cousin.
"I'm not sure. I just had this creepy dark feeling that something bad is about to happen." replied the storm ninja.
"You mean your ninja instincts kicked in."
"You can call it that."
"I'm sure its nothing big." Hinita assured her cousin.
"I hope you're right."
"Back to your love life. By the way you described Hunter, he seems sincere about his feelings for you..." started the girl.
"I hope so."
"At least he's better than your first boyfriend!" stated Hinita as she got a bit angry.
"If I ever meet him or even get my hands on him, I'll teach him a lesson for playing with an Anido." huffed the girl.
"Lets not talk about that, ok?" asked Kaze with a sad expression as he thought back on his first relationship.
"Fine. So you're staying at Blue Bay Harbor."
"Yeah, Cam and sensei Kanoi asked me to stay there for awhile."
"How is Cam anyways."
"He's fine but his dad been turned into a guinea pig." the white ninja replied with some amusement.
"Guinea pig?" Hinita looked at him stupidly.
"He battled with Lothor and was changed into one."
"Really. I heard that there are the power rangers at Blue Bay, is that true?" asked Hinita curiously.
Kaze turned to his cousin and looked at her and smirked.
"Yeah, it true. What? You want to get their autograph?"
"No, I don't want their autograph. I heard of the legends of the power rangers and I just wondered if they were true or not."
"Trust me, they're true." answered the ninja as he looked out to the lake again.
We see Hunter and Blake in ranger uniform battling the monster Motordrone again and in a decision of protecting his brother, Hunter disappeared from Motordrone's energy blast.
"Aww! Hunter!" shouted Blake.
"Bye, bye!" laughed Motordrone as he turned his bike around and disappeared.
"No! Come back!" the navy ranger shouted as he stood up hurt but dropped to his knees again.
The wind rangers arrived at that time and ran to where Blake was and Tori took hold of him and helped him up.
"Blake, you okay?"
"What happened?" asked Shane.
"Hunter, he's gone." Blake's visor opened up.
Back where Perry lives...
The crimson thunder ranger is hooked up to the Motordrone technology machine.
"Who are you?" asked Hunter as Motordrone walked around him.
"The perfect building of man and technology."
"Shouldn't you be dominating a national or something instead of destroy the city."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Motordrone walked around to where his machine is.
"Guess I got a little too much of the blue stuff."
"Huh?" said Hunter confused.
"Oh well, let's move on to why you're here." and the monster pulled off the plastic covering on some sort of motorbike.
"Originally a street bike but I made some changes for the whole world domination thing. All it needs is a power source and guess what?" Motordrone turned towards Hunter, "you're it!"
"You're crazy!" stated Hunter.
"Yes, well that's the fun of it!" and the monster pressed the button which activated the machine.
Hunter can feel his energy started to drain from him as Motordrone laughed.
The cup that Kaze was holding slipped from his hand and fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. The two cousins were having lunch back at the temple late in the afternoon and when Kaze picked up his cup to take a drink, he accidentally dropped it. Something was definitely wrong back at Blue Bay Harbor and Kaze can feel it.
"What's wrong now?" asked Hinita as she jumped at the shattering of the cup.
"I don't know but I got this really bad feeling that something bad happened to Hunter." said Kaze.
The shogun ranger knelt down and started to pick up the broken pieces of cup.
"Ouch!" called out Kaze as he pulled back his finger and sucked on it.
"What happened?"
"I cut my finger on one of the broken pieces." stated the storm ninja.
"I think you just thinking too much about this Hunter boyfriend of yours."
"What?" Kaze looked at his cousin dumbfoundly.
"I mean you're away from him a day and you get all worried like he's the only thing on your mind." smirked Hinita.
"I do not!" pouted Kaze.
"Yes you do!" Hinita replied in a sing along voice.
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
And the both of them argued like that for the rest of the day.
Later in the day...
It was getting dark and the sun started to set behind the mountains and Kaze getting ready to leave. He and the rest of his relatives were standing near the entrance to the temple where the steps started to go down the mountain.
"Are you sure you can't stay for another day?" asked Hinita sadly as her cousin had to leave.
"I'm sorry Hini, I would love to but I can't. I have things to do back at Blue Bay Harbor." answered Kaze.
"Well then it was nice seeing you again, nephew. We hope you would visit us again soon." Kaze's uncle said as he patted the ninja's back.
"Remember to take care of yourself." smiled his aunt.
"Don't worry, I will." and Kaze hugged each of his relative, as well as holding little Genji a bit before handing him back to his aunt.
Kaze then started to heads towards the stone steps and turned around to wave good-bye to his relatives once more, who waved back and started his journey down the mountain. Half way down, while he was still in the forest, Kaze reached into his pocket and pulled out the communicator that Cam gave him. He turned it on to activate it and contacted Ops.
"Hey Cam, I'm ready to leave." said the storm ninja.
"Already? Alright, I'm locking down your coordinates so get ready to teleport." replied the green ninja.
"So Cam, anything interesting happened while I was gone?"
"More than you could to know and impossible to imagine."
That's another chapter. I know this chapter didn't have much action like the others but I needed some way to connect the episode to the story. Anyways enough babbling, so please read and review!