CHAPTER 6: A SHURIKEN, A SHADOW, AND A GRUDGE
-two days later, Nagasaki is now out of the infirmary and is learning with Takeshi and Tatsuki again; he is almost fully recovered-
Nagasaki, Takeshi, and Tatsuki were separated with their individual teachers, as Kohaku had said they would. Takeshi caught a glimpse of Tatsuki sometimes as they dashed passed each other and even saw Nagasaki a few times. He wished they could be closer together, or at least be in the same training program.
He was interested in how the art of ninjutsu worked. It turned out that rather than use your energy that you have on the spot, as he was used to so far, he could store energy into them, which explained how Hiroshima had escaped mutilation from Kohaku-Sephou.
After the ninjutsu part of their day was over, they all went to weapons training. Takeshi learned a new maneuver with his reverse handled katana, it involved him using an invisibility ninjutsu, leaping through the air, running on the wall, and decapitating a straw figure guarded by three guard dogs wielding their special mouth swords. He found this a little harder than he at first thought but mastered it quickly.
When they were given an inter mission they all went for lunch.
"Guess what I found out the today," Nagasaki said on their way to the kitchen/cafeteria.
"What is it?" Tatsuki asked.
"It turns out that Hiroshima broke the rules of a duel by using shuriken. The scoundrel cheated!" this was an enormous disgrace not only to himself, but to Nagasaki as well, for they were still blood, renounced or not, and people might expect it to run in the family.
"How could he cheat, did he really want you dead that badly?" Takeshi asked.
"I guess so, I still can't believe that he betrayed the clan just because Moritsune-sama lost the duel for the title." Nagasaki said shaking his head.
"Maybe he just doesn't like Hotsuma-sama," Tatsuki had always been one to look at things from a different viewpoint.
"Maybe, but that's still no excuse for treachery," Takeshi pointed out.
"Still, I can't believe he was going to kill me. Everyone always told us when we where small that we were going to always be together and no one would be closer to each other then we were, but now I don't think I could be farther away from any one as I am with him." Nagasaki's voice trailed off sadly.
"Just remember the punishment for traitors," Takeshi reminded him, "it is he that cannot return home without fear, not you"
"You're so wise," said Tatsuki playfully.
"That's right, and don't you forget it!" he said equally playful. He came around behind her and stuck his fingers in her sides, tickling her while she laughed uncontrollably. "Who is the wisest monkey in the village, huh? Well?" he asked her, still tickling her.
"Takeshi, stop that tickles! No, wait I'm ticklish there!" she was laughing like she had never done before, usually she was too tense about her lessons to relax, but when she was around Takeshi she was a different person. She felt, at peace with herself and everything else around her.
"I know it tickles, that's why I'm doing it, now tell me who is the wisest in the village?" he said.
"Okay, okay, you are!" she said through tears in her eyes from laughing.
"I thought so, and don't you forget it," he said more calmly now.
Tatsuki turned around, his arms wrapped around her. She put her arms round his neck and looked deep into his eyes. "And what will happen if I do forget? Are you going to punish me for being a bad girl, a bad little kunoichi?" she asked still looking in his eyes.
"Maybe I will, we'll have to see just how bad you can be," he whispered in her ear.
"You'd be surprised," she said before sticking her tongue in his mouth in another one of their many passionate kisses.
"I'm gonna be sick!" Nagasaki said disgusted, "Can't you guys wait until we get to the dorms to do that? You know where you can get a room for that?"
"He's just mad because Keiko is not here," she whispered into his ear.
"Really, I had heard rumors of them having a recent affair, but I didn't know if it was true or not." He replied back to her, they were still kissing as passionately as ever.
"Keiko and I are… we… our relationship is complicated, you wouldn't get it." He stuttered.
"Uh-hu," Tatsuki said looking at him.
"I'm sure it must be very hard," Takeshi added.
"It is for your information," he responded.
"What ever you say," Tatsuki said as she went back to kissing Takeshi.
A few minutes later, one of Suichi's many clones was watching them from the shadows on the top of a roof. He leaped down, frightening Tatsuki and causing Takeshi to instinctively reach for his blades.
"Greetings young lovers and company," the clone said. "I couldn't help but see you two hanging off of each other and…" Takeshi cut him off.
"Get to the point; I know you didn't come here to interrupt us for fun, that's not the way you work. You're here for something." Takeshi said this with little of the respect he was raised to give.
"Takeshi, don't be rude," Tatsuki said to him, staring at the shadowy clone of Nagasaki's teacher; whispering in his ear, "even if he is strange."
"Strange am I?" the clone said, "I'll show you how strange I can be!" with this he twisted his neck in a 360 degree angle, coming back around to show his eyes bulged and his mouth in a gruesome, grisly smile.
Tatsuki screamed and hid her face in Takeshi's chest and started sobbing in it.
"What are you?" asked Takeshi putting his arm around his lover and his other hand on her head whispering to her, "it's okay, don't look at it; don't taint your beautiful eyes."
"But Takeshi, I don't even think he's human!" she screamed into him, still sobbing.
"The reason I came here is to see if you would like your fortune told, would you?" he asked as if offering a cup of herbal tea.
"Sure, I could use some info on my future and present," he finished and kissed Tatsuki on the head and whispered more words of comfort to her and patted her rear. She looked up at him, smiled and wiped away some of her tears. They all squatted down and Suichi took out a deck of strange cards.
"Give me a number between one and three," Suichi said.
"Three," Takeshi answered.
"All right," Suichi said as he shuffled the deck of cards. After they were shuffled, he put them on the ground and whispered something incoherent. As he finished his mumbling the cards exploded in the air, Tatsuki yipped and held on to Takeshi's arm and leaned against him, and started to organize in the air into the shape of a circle, still suspended in the air. "Choose three of them," Suichi instructed him. Takeshi did so, when he looked at him they were blank. "Now put them on the ground and transfer some of your energy into them." Takeshi did so and out them on the ground. "Now look at them," Suichi said taking the cards out of the air.
Takeshi looked at them and saw that one had a shuriken flying through the air, the next had a shadow of a man on a white background, and the last had a black background on it with the symbol for the word 'grudge' painted gruesomely in red on it.
"What the Hell is this supposed to mean?" Takeshi asked, aggravated now.
"Make of it what you will." Was all the Suichi clone said before he leaped in the air landed some hundred feet away and continued to leap away until he was out of sight.
"Well that was a waste of time," Nagasaki said unsatisfied.
Tatsuki nodded her head against Takeshi's arm, still holding on tightly to it.
-End chapter six-