Goemon stood up against a willow, a bit groggy from the long night of drinking and speaking with many politicians about what was going to change in the future of not only the ninjas but the entirety of Japan. He was kinda surprised about some of the future plans many of the new and young civil servants were coming up with. Many even wanted to continue the work of the ninjas; but with every person who wants one side, there were some who wanted the opposite and despised the society of ninjas.

Goemon takes another gulp of water before he notices the albinos walking towards him from the mansion.

"Missed you at the banquet," Goemon states to his friend, watching the little girl next to him tumble around him full of energy.

"I knew Yakeru was going to attend, so I just stayed home with Fuyuko," Kotaro explains, watching Fuyuko as she jumps around in her ninja attire, ready for training. "She's been excited to get to training every morning since we've recruited you."

"I didn't have a choice, remember?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Aren't you glad you were forced into this?" Kotaro laughs a bit, standing beside the redhead.

"Hey, you two." Out of nowhere, Musashi makes his way towards the two ninjas, readjusting his backpack as he looks around. "Have you seen Kuraim around?"

"Kura? I haven't seen him since last night." Goemon mentions.

"Hmm… And your kid?"

Goemon frowns.

"Yakeru."

"Yeah."

"I haven't seen him since I told him to apologize to Kura. Hopefully, he didn't run him off."

Goemon sighs, leaning his head back against the tree.

From the corner of his eye, Goemon notices a tacky crimson-dressed ninja trainee exiting the mansion with a ronin trainee next to him. Turning his head towards the two, he stares at the two with some surprise when he notices how close the two seemed with each other.

"Well, it looks like those two are getting along." Musashi grins.

Goemon wasn't able to catch what the two were talking about but he could tell that there was more intimacy between the two. And it wasn't until Yakeru leans down and kisses Kuraim that the suspicion of something more became clear.

"Ahh. So that's why you couldn't find the two last night." Kotaro didn't seem surprised when he saw Yakeru kissing Kuraim. Almost like he knew he was into men.

Goemon couldn't look away as they kept their lips locked.

"I guess I'll be going. Kura and I are heading towards Edo if you guys ever wonder. Thanks for the alcohol." Musashi pulls Goemon out of his trance, waving the ninjas off and strolling towards the two.

"Guess you have to get going," Yakeru mutters, looking over at the ronin walking towards them.

"Yeah but I'll see you around. Small world." Kura and Yakeru share a smile before sharing one last peck on the lips. "Sorry again about the scratches."

"Not a big deal. Doesn't really hurt with the ointment on it." The redhead reassures, patting Kura on the shoulder before muttering a goodbye and walking away from the ronin.

"Morning, Yakeru." Kotaro greets first before Fuyuko excitedly jumps around the teen and asks to be picked up.

"Hey," Yakeru glazes over the albino, setting his eyes on the fire ninja who continues to keep an intent gaze on him. "You have something you want to ask?"

Goemon pulls away, looking down at the ground and shaking his head.

"It's nothing."

"It's something. Say it." Yakeru bites, assuming Goemon was judging him and keeping it back.

Goemon glares back.

"It's nothing."

"You wanted to say something."

It was too early in the morning for this bullshit. Goemon was growing irritable with Yakeru's jabbing statements.

"Back the fuck up. It doesn't matter what I think. This isn't the time to bring up shit like this."

There were sparks flying between the two again. Their glares matched as they were eye level with each other, the glowing golden orbs shining with some wrath dancing in the background.

"Okay, you two. That's enough." Kotaro finally stood between the two, forcing them to break eye contact.

Yakeru looks away from his mentor, looking down at the confused albino at his side before patting her head. Goemon kept his eye on the kid, taking a step back and letting out a breath. He didn't have the energy to lose on him that early in the morning. Training was about to start and he needed to save it to be able to last till the end of the day.

"Whatever." Goemon hears Yakeru mutter under his breath.

"Kotaro, I'm going to need your help today with training." Goemon changes the subject, looking over at his pale friend and noticing his curiosity piquing.

"Oh?"

"And we are also going to have to be somewhere that isn't a fire hazard."

~PYRODYNASTY~

Goemon sat on a large boulder in the middle of the stream. Taking in the smell of fresh mountain water that flowed in a steady current just on the outskirts of the city. The sounds of the water flowing eased his mind for what was about to come from the training they were about to do.

But he wanted the group to meditate for a few minutes.

"This is wonderful." Kotaro comments, his words barely able to be heard through the sound of the constant flow of water.

"Mmmm." He sighs.

Opening his eyes slightly, he looks over at the young ninja. He sat at the bed of the creek with his elbows around his knees, his chin raised a bit, head tilted to the side, and eyes closed as he took in the humid cool air. He watched as he sat still, relaxing with the sound of the water and wind flowing around him. It was surprising to see this kid sit so still, calmly slowing time as though nothing mattered at that moment, even though just an hour ago he was ready to start a brawl with Goemon.

Fuyuko on the other hand wasn't able to sit still much. She looked to have too much energy as she bounced from rock to boulder, scanning the water to find anything interesting either swimming or hiding. Goemon expected that much from her.

Goemon closes his eyes again, taking a slow inhale of the air. Grounding himself for another few minutes before training started.

~PYRODYNASTY~

"Starting small, since you both know that you have trouble with that, I want you to manipulate the smallest amount of your ability as you can," Goemon instructs the trainees, making them sit on some boulders in the middle of the stream with Goemon in front of them.

"Do I have to do it here?" Yakeru asks, looking down at the water around him.

"I don't want you burning down the forest. It's the safest option." Goemon explains. "Now show me what you can do."

Yakeru sighs, lifting one of his hands in front of him and setting his hand ablaze. Goemon was able to tell that even though he was concentrating on keeping his ability under control, he wasn't able to keep the burning to the minimum.

Yakeru moved his body around, his fiery hand creating patterns around him and flowing around like a silk ribbon; though not very graceful and with more sharper movements than a trained dancer.

Goemon knew that what he was performing was simple jujitsu that can later be manipulated to be stronger and more efficient in battle. Though most of the time, Goemon himself used it to intimidate others.

"That's enough." Goemon calls, "at least this time you didn't have your fire get out of control this time."

Yakeru frowns, both at being called out by Goemon that he wasn't any good at his own ability and the fact that he somewhat agreed. He stood for a minute, watching the flame in his hand die out as he repeated in his head for it to stop.

"Fuyuko, please, don't fall into the water." He says, more of a request than a joke.

The little albino smiles, giggling as she couldn't tell that he was being serious.

Planting her feet as flat as she could on the rounded boulder, she holds out both of her hands; palms facing down and flat before closing her eyes and taking in a large breath. The water that surrounded her shifts a bit, getting pulled upward by an invisible force that Goemon could only assume was a bit of a drift of wind. A long moment of silence passes as she concentrates on her surroundings before Fuyuko swings her arms to the side, pushing some water and a couple of unsuspecting fish towards the shore and onto the grass.

The boys all looked towards the flopping fish, eyes widened as they saw what seemed to be a bit of a controlled wind maneuver with the water. Goemon was a bit surprised since the last time he asked Fuyuko to use her ability, she nearly wiped him out with a tornado. But this was something else.

Fuyuko looks up at Goemon, a wide grin on her lips as she feels proud of what she was able to execute.

"Well, that's one way to catch fish." Kotaro was the first to break the silence with a joke, gracefully jumping from his boulder to the shore. As if he knew that there would be some fish caught, he took out a netted bag and dropped the three medium-sized trout in the bag before tying and dropping it in the water to keep the fish fresh as they continued to swim against the current.

"I can't tell if I should be impressed or worried that that was the minimum of your ability," Goemon responds looking back at the girl.

"I don't know. That was pretty good considering you almost threw me against the tree the last time you did something similar, Fuyu." Yakeru praises, giving the girl a smile that Goemon didn't know he could show.

"I thought I could go from here but I guess not." Goemon takes a deep breath. "We're taking a step back and you are going to learn how to simply form your ability. No jujitsu. No manipulations. No maneuvers. Just a simple ignition."

Goemon nods for the two to get out from the center of the stream and onto the shore. Following them, he instructs them to sit on the grass before picking a couple leaves and flowers and sitting in front of the two.

"While both of you can manipulate your abilities, you don't know how to start it without being too strong with it. Too much power is never good when you're not in control." Setting down the leaves he picked, he holds out his hand and shows the two a small flame that appeared in the middle of his palm. It was so small that it seemed like if you blew on it it would go out immediately.

"For your abilities, it's a little different than mine. Since I have years of training, I don't need to use showy hand gestures to get my ability to work. For you, you're going to have to concentrate, painting a mental image of your ability." Goemon takes Yakeru's hand and sets it next to his. "Yakeru, I need you to think about this flame of mine and paint the image that you have a replica in your hand."

Yakeru nods, feeling a bit nervous sitting so close to the ninja. But he ignored it and did what he was told. He watches the flame in Goemon's palm for a moment before looking down at his own palm and imagining the flame. It didn't take long before a small spark appeared and a fragile flame appeared. It's bright orange outline is so thin and sensitive that Yakeru froze his shaking hand in an attempt to keep it alive. And oddly enough, he felt a bit of satisfaction just by igniting the smallest flame in the palm of his hand.

"Well done." Goemon glances up at Yakeru, finding a small rewarding smile on his lips as he watches the gentle fire in his palm. "Now, to exhaust the flame, just simply picture it going out. Make it disappear."

Yakeru doesn't take his eyes away from the flame as he nods, focusing once again on a mental picture of the little pea-sized fire disappearing from his palm. This time, it was a few seconds quicker than the ignition of the flame. Yakeru glances up at Goemon, to Fuyuko, then back at his palm in surprise. Something so simple. Something that he knew he could have taught himself.

Goemon pulls back his hand, watching with a small smile as he watches the redhead continually ignite the tiny flame before exhausting it a few times in a row; each time quicker than the last. He could tell what he was thinking: something so simple took him years to understand. But Goemon knew just how much the elementary things mattered, maybe even more than the more complex.

"Okay, Fuyuko. I just want to work on trying to get a light gust. Nothing too big." Setting a couple of the leaves in front of the girl, Goemon explains to her in a gentle tone, "don't close your eyes like you normally do. I want you to see what happens when you start using your ability. Watch these leaves and imagine just moving them. Not too much. Just a little breeze."

Fuyuko nods to Goemon, taking in the instructions and doing as he says. Instead of closing her eyes as he said, she watches the leaves intently. She kept her hands in her lap and pictures a light gust moving one of the cherry leaves.

"Don't worry about thinking too hard. Take a deep breath and push them."

Goemon suddenly notices a subtle glow around her iris. It wasn't a crimson glow, more of a soft silver hue. It circled her eyes for a short moment before feeling a gust of wind under him and finding that one of the leaves shifted a few inches away from its starting position. It was a little breeze that quickly settled. And Fuyuko couldn't help but smile widely at her teacher, causing him to blush slightly at her cuteness.

"You two certainly are quick learners." Goemon remarks with a bit of praise. "It may seem silly to work on something so lucid but you can't grow a tree from a grain of sand. A solid foundation is required and that's what we're going to be working on for as long as it takes. I want both of you to be able to control your ability. For the safety of others and yourselves."

Yakeru and Fuyuko give each other a glance of understanding before nodding at Goemon's words.

Goemon shifts his eyes between the two before looking back at the quiet albino who watched the lesson from the side. While his expression was blank, Goemon saw a gleam in his crimson eyes that made him proud of what he was teaching the two trainees.

"Now, for the next lesson,"