Another!

~Yasha's Sis

Circumstance

Book 2: Land of Grass

Chapter 14:

Reputation

"What have you learned?"

Miken pushed down the unfamiliar urge to scream profanity and straightened the cuff of his jacket. He was a professional, and no applicant, no matter how infuriating would keep him from maintaining his perfect record of appraisals.

Fushiro, still foaming at the mouth from the encounter, encouraged him more so.

"Only that the boy was planning on passing through when the trade outpost pulled him aside. He claims to have no parents and made the trip on his own."

It was incomprehensible that a boy barely out of toddlerhood could accomplish so much.

General Zhao's red brown eyes narrowed before shifting to Miken's partner, Fushiro. "Do you believe him?"

The interrogator's lip curled in distaste. "Yes."

Zhao frowned and Miken had to clear his throat pointedly before his partner continued.

"The little shit isn't shinobi. His coils, while healthy and far more developed than a normal child, are erratic, unused and unsuited for jutsu. He wears no henge and when I questioned him on his geography of the area, the brat was genuinely unfamiliar. He would have been lost if he hadn't taken the barge from Trident." Fushiro's brow furrowed like he couldn't believe it himself.

Zhao took a long moment to process this.

"What of the sword?"

Fushiro and Miken exchanged a glance, silently demanding the other be the one to speak. Miken sighed as Fushiro twitched his nose in promise. The boy became particularly aggressive when Fushiro tried to remove the sword from the child's grasp. Miken managed to make his partner relent on the promise of cooperation. Besides, this was but a child toting a blade meant for a man.

Hardly a threat, but the image etched into the handle required regard.

"It bares the seal of Sanro."

Bushy brows rose and the General's garnet gaze widened minutely.

"Which regent's?"

Miken buried the instinct to fidget. "None, General. It is Mifune's own."

Zhao froze and Miken swallowed thickly as the General came to the same conclusion he had been fearing.

"Release him."

The order was sharp and demanded immediate compliance, but Fushiro was too angry to take it at face value.

"What?"

Garnet eyes leveled upon Miken's partner with all the severity of a coming avalanche. "Release. Him."

"On what grounds, General?"

"Fushiro." Miken warned but his partner was on a roll now.

"This boy is nothing but a menace and Hanzo-sama's last order was to keep spies from entering. He could be a threat to the war effort."

"If anyone is a threat to the war effort," Zhao began with all the disdain in the world. "It is fools like you who would detain the apprentice of a neutral country's leader."

Fushiro gaped. "Him?! The Iron Bear's apprentice?"

Zhao didn't sneer but he somehow made his tone show the expression. "Even you know the tales of the boy who outshone over half of Sanro's warriors in the first year. Nearly all but the most skilled by the second. A boy of brittle temperament, honeyed eyes, and a red robe. A boy who bares the personal sigil worn only by nine others in the whole of the Elemental nations." At each scathing point of merit, Fushiro's embarrassment soared until he could no longer hold the gaze of his superior.

"Would Mifune-sama really go to war over that ingrate? Perhaps he was banished-"

"Perhaps he is on a personal task for his master." Zhao cut in, impatient now. "How could we know? Mifune's reputation is not one for patience with those who jeopardize his people. He would go to war for his apprentice. Honor demands his defense as long as the boy was not in the wrong."

Miken winced. No matter how vulgar the child was, he broke no laws and suffered their interrogation with only verbal abuse. Had they done the same to a Daimyo's attendant or advisor, Ame would be dealing with sanctions within the week.

"Release him." Zhao commanded once more, voice as soft as silk. "Provide him with adequate provisions and an escort to Suna's boarder. It will not be said that Ame struck the ire of the Iron Samurai."

Miken gathered his courage and asked the question both shinobi wondered on.

"Who will escort him, General?"

Next chapter: A Guide is found.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

~Yasha's Sis