Prologue – Intermission

Natsuhi

Natsuhi was an only child. Her mother had long since passed away of natural causes, and her father owned a simple convenience store in the capital of the Land of Sound.

At this point in time, she practically co-owned the store. That is to say she did half the work.

Being often alone in the store, she'd learned to be observant, a necessity brought on by civilians and ninja alike who wanted to get away with taking what they needed without paying, otherwise known as shoplifters.

It was then, with great suspicions, she welcomed her aunt. An aunt, whom she was barely acquainted with. Shortly afterwards, her father fell ill, and she was forced to fully man the store on her own.

Then he passed, alone with her aunt.

She didn't see her aunt after that. In fact, Natsuhi only found out that her father had passed on when she stopped by his room to bring him his dinner.

A funeral was held. They hadn't been the wealthiest family, but they could afford that at least. Her aunt had shown up for that at least, waxed some poetry about legacy. For all the talk of legacy, there was little mention of family, and a lot said of property.

That had been the second sign.

It was enough that Natsuhi hadn't been surprised when she learned that she would inherit nothing from her father. The store and his wealth had all gone to her aunt in a recently signed will. With the costs of the funeral and most of her wealth invested in the store, Natsuhi hadn't had enough to hire a ninja to investigate.

It was simple, she lost and needed a new job.

That was how she found herself under the employ of the Daimyo, as a servant in his home. The pay was abysmal, the free time practically non-existent, and the work atmosphere wasn't exactly a redeeming factor. It wasn't a job as much as it was a way of life.

In other words, it was just like working the store. Except the store had been hers in all but name.

There was none of that pride in her new workplace. She couldn't afford to lose this new job, but she could slack off, strategically. She was observant, she picked up on the essence of what the Daimyo and senior servants cared about, and made little effort past that.

Others took things too far and got laid off, others worked too hard and burned out, but Natsuhi persevered, and with time received a more senior position. One with the daimyo's wife, Lady Yumika.

So when Lady Yumika died while giving birth to twins, Natsuhi was amongst the most senior staff without duties. Fortunately for her employment status, both of Lady Yumika's children survived, as boys no less.

So she was assigned to lead the team of three servants managing one of the children.

She hadn't chosen to work with Issai and Ichino, and probably wouldn't have if given the choice. Issai was an overachiever and his enthusiasm often created more work, while Ichino was difficult to get an honest read on.

Not that it mattered. To her, this was just another job. One she would accomplish to the minimum acceptable degree.

The boy, Risuke, was odd though.

At first it was an incident. He grew suddenly quiet, stopped fidgeting, and seemed to almost disconnect from his surroundings. He wouldn't respond to his name, or to any of the servants' behaviour. He choked a bit, but recovered, and didn't throw a fit about it. Then as quickly as it came, the boy was suddenly back to normal.

A month later and it happened again.

Then once again a couple of weeks after that.

…and so on until the silent child was ever present.

In truth, it wasn't Natsuhi's problem. The boy still ate, and his health wasn't affected by the behaviour. She wasn't going to be putting in any effort into figuring it out…

…but as said, Natsuhi was observant.

She'd noticed the boys eyes narrow in focus before he'd become quiet. How those eyes would try to follow the conversation. It wasn't that the boy couldn't hear them, it was that he'd considered them not worth listening to.

She convinced herself that she'd imagined it, anyway, if the boy didn't care what she had to say, she wouldn't bother talking to him, instead opting to talk to the other two servants.

Naturally, with the event still recent, the death of Lady Yumika was a common topic. Natsuhi had of course noticed that the boy had started listening out for the name, but she feigned ignorance. As long as she didn't know, she didn't have to do anything about it.

"Natushi! He listened! He answers to Yumika! It must be a blessing from the soul that gives him a connection to the mother he never knew. We must inform our lord!"

…of course Issai had to use his yearly dose of brain cells on figuring this out.

So Natsuhi informed her boss, who decided after a month of consideration, and in the face of the unusual situation, to honour his late wife and change his son's name to Yumika.

She continued to pretend not to notice the boy's strange focus when she found him alone with Ichino. Even though she refused to acknowledge it, she noticed that the boy seemed afraid of her fellow servant, and registered the relief when she took over for Ichino.

There was the hint of a feeling.

It was to her own disbelief that she put in the effort to rearrange things such that Ichino was alone less with the boy.

Her self imposed illusion shattered when the lord daimyo congratulated her on teaching the boy to recognise him as father and call him such.

In the face of truth, she made sure to change how she and her colleagues acted around the child. The little genius needed to be handled differently, so differently he would be handled.

No more than required, she told herself.

"Natsuhi, help!"

That was the first thing she heard him say. Her name. A name her boss hadn't learned until she reported to him directly, one which Lady Yumika and her aunt never learnt.

She mattered to the child, despite his self-sufficiency and genius, he was still a child.

There was a feeling. Natsuhi was familiar with it. This boy was hers, like a store and its owner.

Stranger

"Can you do it?"

The stranger considered the question.

In essence there were three parts to the problem: Getting in, committing the act, then getting out.

Getting in would be easy, the client was a senior member of the staff, and as such could hire someone else, someone the stranger would assassinate and use a transformation technique to impersonate.

The task itself was easy enough.

Getting out afterwards was the actual problem. The regular guards were no issue, but the daimyo did have shinobi on his payroll for security, hidden and out of sight. The stranger may have been a missing nin, but they'd only been a genin when they'd deserted.

Taking on other ninja due to a raised alarm wouldn't work out.

A distraction then…

A simple plan, if no one was present for the assassination, no alarms would be raised until the stranger was long gone. On the plus side, the stranger could forge evidence linking the fire to his client as collateral. The stranger didn't have the guarantee of a village backing to get his pay.

"Of course I can. Though it would go much smoother if you would hire someone new to take care of the child, Yumika was it?"

The client nodded.

"Yes, easily done."

Then the client laughed maliciously to himself.

"Yes… with the brat dead, young lord Yorihiro will be guaranteed to inherit the land, and he will be no doubt thankful to the servant who raised him…"

The stranger left the client to his fantasies.

…

"...until you are more experienced, you will not be left alone with the young master. As such I have arranged to make sure either Ichino, Issai, or myself will be with you whenever you attend the boy until we feel you have enough experience…"

The stranger listened to the senior servant. The woman Natsuhi said one thing, but another was implied. She suspected something.

"...the child won't respond to baby speak or if you speak too quickly, so don't bother…"

Neither the client nor rumour had made any mention of the target's strangeness. It wasn't a major piece of intel, but shinobi paranoia did cause the stranger a bit of unease at the new information. In the back of his mind, he'd wonder if the information had been intentionally hidden.

In all likelihood, the woman was simply exaggerating, but the stranger hadn't survived this long by being careless.

They reached the room. As suspected, the window was too small to make a retreat through, likely by design.

"Yumika."

The woman addressed the child, gaining their attention, before she indicated to me.

"Tatara."

Not actually, the real Tatara was lying out in a field, but 'Tatara' accepted the invitation. He noticed the boy's gaze. Perhaps there was something to the woman's rambling, either way it was expected that Tatara acted on the information, so 'Tatara' did: performing a bow.

The two servants made their way into the room, and silence ensued. It was suspicious, but it worked in 'Tatara's' favour.

The less he had to do, the less likely he'd be outed as a fake.

The more time passed, the closer the fire was to starting.

'Tatara' finished the countdown, the fire should have started, and all that was left was for the servants to notice.

Then the boy approached, a clever glint in his eyes.

Right by 'Tatara', the boy tried to get up on his feet.

It would have been perfect, 'Tatara' could give the boy an extra shove and he'd have appeared to have died of natural causes.

Then the boy started to fall on his own, and 'Tatara' reached out to catch him.

It would have been perfect, but the woman Natsuhi was still in the room. So instead, 'Tatara' set the boy down, just as the door slammed open.

"Natushi sir, fire!"

Either of the other two servants and this plan wouldn't have worked, but Natushi was a senior, and one of the few people who would be responsible for handling such an occurrence, so she left to deal with it, leaving 'Tatara' alone with the child.

Except, the knife was gone.

No, not gone…

The child had it.

…he was giving it back.

There was a look in his eyes. An expectation.

'Tatara' had been played like a fiddle. There was no reasonable alternative. The kid had known about the plan from the start, no, likely since before then.

He'd let 'Tatara' think he'd gotten himself alone with the kid, but really it was the kid who'd gotten himself alone with 'Tatara', by having Natsuhi be the one present at the time of the fire. She probably hadn't even been aware of the boy's manipulations.

The timing of the trust fall was no coincidence either, Yumika must have known fire was happening and used the opportunity to force 'Tatara' to act in his favour, while simultaneously stealing the knife.

The kid hadn't needed to, he could have just had 'Tatara' killed by the palace ninja. All of this was a message.

You've been beaten, and I can do it again.

Why don't you work for me instead?

Those were the thoughts passing through 'Tatara's' head. He could acknowledge that it was ridiculous, but he didn't live this long by being careless. 'Tatara' took the knife. For now, he'd have to continue to play the part. It didn't cost him anything, he could practically maintain the transformation indefinitely, and definitely long enough to double check his suspicions. It wouldn't hurt to spend some time laying low either, the life of a palace servant was far less stressful than the life of a runaway ninja.

…

The next day, the client was executed. The servant Ichino had apparently seen him actively avoiding taking responsibility for the fire, in other words, she'd seen him let it continue. Meanwhile, the servant Issai had apparently seen the man actually start the fire. Which wasn't true, but none else knew that.

That settled it, 'Tatara' would become Tatara. The actual body would have to be more properly dealt with.

Yorihiro

The young lord was simple. His head had been filled with legends of noble lords and loyal servants. Stories of inheritance: a birthright. Even with the main source of the stories executed, the young boy had grown a taste for the stories.

It was only a shame that he had no siblings to compete with, the boy thought. The greatest legends centred on familial disputes. He probably hadn't realised it, and if he had, he couldn't have put it into the worlds, the morals of the stories had stuck with him.

Between a right inherited, and a right earned, the man who earned his right was greater…

…but the greatest men were those who proved themselves deserving of that which they inherited.

It was then with great pleasure that the young lord discovered that he did in fact have a brother, but not only that, it was a twin brother. When he took his father's place, no one could claim he was unworthy, he would have won the position over his brother!

But what kind of challenge could they do?

They had neither loyal samurai or mercenary ninja, the court was his father's, and all that shogi stuff sounded boring. Of course it would be a test of physical fitness. Later in life, he would perhaps look back on the thought with embarrassment, but it made sense in the mind of the child he was at the time.

He butchered an improvised quote from his favourite hero, and the games were afoot.

It was no contest.

Perhaps his brother was unwell, he thought.

He found him again later.

Again, it was no contest.

Obviously, Yorihiro had proven himself the superior noble lord. Ah, but it seemed his rival had more loyal servants. What did his eternal rival do differently?

Conversation and names.

Yorihiro's servants did not speak to him as often as Yumika's did. So obviously, the lord Yorihiro would have to converse with his servants, and learn about them beyond just their names! Then he will have outdone his eternal rival once more.

The young lord grew to enjoy conversation. In fact, he reasoned that perhaps, he should go beyond his servants, but the courtesans were too busy. Aha, the whole city was filled with vassals.

To the city!

Or course, despite this new endeavour, it would not do for him to ignore his eternal rival. The challenges would have to continue! Perhaps then his rival would improve, solidifying Yorihiro's claim…

…and it was enjoyable spending time with his brother, whenever Yumika could actually stay on their feet.

Issai

"...the lord daimyo has come to agree with us that Yumika's actions would indicate a great interest for, as well as a talent for, a future as a shinobi…"

Issai cheered. This was great news. Young yumika had been working so hard, and it was great that his lord father could see that. Naturally the sweet boy had been too embarrassed to admit that he wanted to be a ninja for his brother's sake.

The lord daimyo had been working himself ragged trying to solve the inheritance issue, he'd even kept the boys apart so that they wouldn't have to worry about it. Naturally, Yumika recognised his brother immediately, much like he did his father, and the name of his mother. Truly, the power of family!

…but smart little Yumika must have figured out what having a twin brother meant. Then seeing the ninja, he must have realised that if he became a ninja, his brother would get the country and his father wouldn't have to worry.

"...while he is supportive of the idea, he maintains that we need to wait for him to grow older and make sure that this isn't simply a phase…"

Issai nodded along, the lord daimyo was a wise man.

"...should he eventually be sent to the Hidden Sound village, two of us will be escorting him. That would be myself and one of you three: Ichino, Issai, Tatara…"

Pin drop.

Oh no, this would mean that two of them would have to part ways with sweet little lord Yumika.

Oh the humanity.

"...We will decide upon which of you will be going along when we are certain he is going to go."

Natushi finished up the summary of her meeting with the lord daimyo. She always worked so hard when it came to sweet little lord Yumika.

"I'm sure Yumika would be happier to have one of you two along instead of myself."

Issai was moved to tears. That angel Ichino was giving away their chance to stay with sweet little lord Yumika so that Issai or Tatara could go instead.

…but Natsuhi would only pick the best servant. If Issai wanted to make good on Ichino's conviction, then he would have to work harder to make himself the best candidate!

How could he do that, he wondered.

His time as a servant had given him no further clues, so his mind wandered to his past as a mercenary. Which was when he realised:

Ninja don't practice archery!

He had never encountered or heard of any ninja using a bow, so there wouldn't be anyone to teach Yumika that in the Hidden Village.

So Issai resolved to join Yuimika's classes, and perhaps some extra in his free time. If he could take over as Yumika's archery teacher he'd be guaranteed that second spot!

Conclusion

Yorihiro had regretted bringing his brother into the city.

He loved being around his minions (read as friends) in the city, so he thought his brother would as well. Instead, his brother Yumika had actively avoided it all after the first few minutes.

He let Yumika disappear and read his book while he kept distracting his minions.

…then he got really into the game and lost track of his plan. He had been riding that positive energy during a break when his brother came running back with one of his minions.

Before following after his retainer, Yorihiro pulled aside a couple of his minions, ones who lived close to the two missing minions.

"Check on Gozu and Kyomaru. If you can, find out what happened."

The two weren't exactly castle retainers, but they'd played ninja enough times to at least play along with listening.

…

"He tried making fun of Yumika, but they didn't care. That made him angry, but he couldn't touch Yumika, and then he fell!"

Said Gozu and Kyomaru.

…

"He attacked Yumika, but Yumika avoided it, so he tripped."

Is what Yorihiro heard.

…

"The boy, twice his size I heard, tried to ambush the young lord, but Yumika saw through the ploy and managed to knock down the boy."

Gossiped the clinic staff that overheard the conversation.

…

"The teen jumped him, but Yumika knew it was coming and sprung a trap of his own…"

Said the stranger to the stranger.

"It says here: 'Lord Yumika was challenged by a small squad of genin ninja, but managed to turn them over to join him.' I'm placing this one in the pile with the tiger."

Natsuhi wished this was all a dream.

"Ah, this one's fun 'Yumika summoned forth the ghost of the samurai before knocking him back down to hell.', it seems our young charge has suddenly become an exorcist."

Natsuhi tossed a casual glare at Tatara, before picking up another rumour with a resigned sigh. The worst part was that knowing the young master's tendency for showing off sudden unknown skills or knowledge, it was far more difficult to separate truth from fiction than it needed to be.

"Let's just hope that the lord daimyo has a better filter for information than this…"

…

"Based on recent events, I have come to the decision that my son is ready to travel to the Hidden Sound village to begin pursuing his dream of being a ninja. Natsuhi, please tell him that he has my full support in this endeavour."

Natsuhi turned to Yumika and gave a rough 'translation'.

He smiled and bowed.

"Thank you father."