(Zane's POV)

Zane was bone-tired. Sensei had insisted that he run up and down the stairs several times. Zane understood the purpose, physical exertion, but running up and down the long steps seemed unnecessary. And long. The list went on and on. Sensei was now having Zane go on the obstacle course, for the third time today. The dummies were in action, and Zane knew from last time that dummies did not follow common sparring courtesy. So, he ran, jumped, and twisted around the course, while Sensei Wu looked in old scrolls, reviewing his vast knowledge, Zane supposed.

"Zane." Sensei's voice was crackly again, thick with emotion. Zane stopped immediately and bowed in his Sensei's direction, ready to receive orders. "From now on, you will be working on subtlety and stealth, starting with shuriken."

Zane was surprised, though his face remained cautiously blank. Zane was pretty sure he was still too slow, his reflexes not quick enough, flaws in his strategy, he wasn't ready to move on, but something kept his mouth shut. He straightened from his bow, meeting his Sensei's eyes, and was delighted to see a smile stretching across Sensei Wu's face, crinkling up his eyes. "Would you like tea before we start, Sensei?"

Then of course Zane was tasked to run back down the stairs, and, "borrow" tea from the tea shop in the village below. He would leave some of his money on the counter, of course. Sensei Wu had taught him to be honest, and even though they didn't have ninja training, and probably wouldn't even notice the tea missing, it was a stealth mission, after all, but Zane wouldn't, no, couldn't steal tea. Especially for something as small as stealth training.

The village was further out than Zane had suspected. While he had thought it would be around the bend in the road, it was, in reality, miles away. So, Zane trudged back up the stairs to ask for Sensei's wisdom. His Sensei was in the main room, reading once again. "Sensei Wu, the village is further than I anticipated, what should be done?"

"Why of course, I thought you would realize I know exactly where the village is, Zane, and expect you to work on physical capabilities still, so, run."

Zane sighed, Sensei would say that. As he was walking out the door, he turned back to give a bow to his Sensei before exiting, and of course his Sensei added one last thing. "And don't forget, I need my tea by sunset!" With that Zane ran, his Sensei's laughter following him all the way down the stairs.

It was startling, the similarities between family members. Zane had arrived at the village and was attempting to find a tea shop. He didn't, however know most words, and could only read a few words. None of which included tea. It was a dilemma, and one not easily solvable. So, he instead decided to observe the members of the village until he got a sign on which shop he needed to enter. There were several families that were all almost identical, looks and personalities. One such family he had noticed had three sons and no mother. Their father worked them hard, and there was much rivalry between the brothers, especially over the father's favoritism. They all wanted his favor, and fought over it constantly. Zane wondered what he would do in such a situation, would he fight and bicker? Shove the others down so he would be the most favored? He was happy he had no family sometimes, as there was no rivalry between him and his Sensei, considering their roles.

There was an old lady walking across from Zane. She seemed to be overweighed with bags, and so, being the ninja he was to be, he offered to help. "Of course, you may, young man, I just need to pass these out to some friends and neighbors of mine, the festival is coming up, and I'm in charge of invitations. Could you be a dear and send these to the addresses they're addressed to, thanks!"

Zane watched in surprise as she dumped the bags at his feet and seemed to skip off without another word. It was surprising how quickly she dumped her load, not even asking if he could do the task. It made Zane feel appreciated though, wanted, needed. So, he opened the bags, and saw letters upon letters upon letters. Each bag was stacked to the brim. He picked one up, he could match the numbers if they were numerical addresses. But, alas, they were not. Apparently since it was such a tight knit community, they labeled each house with the family name, and had that as their address, which would be of no help to Zane. So, he wandered, occasionally looking at signs half-heartedly. He would be late in delivering Sensei's tea, that much was certain. Unless… Zane was struck with inspiration, he'd ask for someone to help him! Now, he just had to find someone willing…

Zane had asked so many people to help, and all of them had refused. There was someone coming who he hadn't asked yet, and Zane walked up to them. "Hello. Could you please help me find" "Nice to meet you, I'm Jay, like the bird, only better. I've been told I'm a genius of electricity, only my acts of intelligence come really fast and random, like lightning. Get it, electricity, lightning? It's so funny, I know! I'm a natural at jokes!"

Zane just looked at the guy, Jay, and said, "What's a… joke?" The Jay guy looked surprised for a second and then gave a laugh, "That's a good one, pretending you've never heard a joke before..." One look at Zane's face, though, and he gave a small frown. "Really, aw man, that's sad, I'll teach you. I am considered the master of everything to do with humor and lightning…"

Zane tuned him out, instead thinking on how he could ask Jay to help him pass out letters. Then he spotted another person he had not yet asked, he knew so because they had black hair. Gently nudging the still talking Jay in that direction, Zane pondered how to turn this around. He could get Jay to leave with the other guy, get Jay to help him, get Blacky, the nickname for the other guy, to help him, or just manage to get them both to help him, that would be ideal. Zane watched as Jay bumped into Blacky, which cut off his continuous chatter.

"Hey, watch where you're going! I'm trying to get somewhere!" Zane idly thought of family similarities, and how these two seemed to enjoy living in their own world. Sensei Wu would have fun training that out of them, if he accepted them, that is. "Well, I'm trying to tell this guy what a joke is, geez, your temper is as flashy as lightning… Get it?! I am on a roll!"

Zane stepped in between them, they were obviously not going to back off without some interference. "Um, would either of you, by chance, help me get these letters out, I told this old lady I would send them, but, I don't know how" "Of course!" "Why not." Zane huffed in annoyance, these two couldn't stop trying to outdo each other, and they had just met! They hadn't even let him finish, Sensei always let him finish his thought before judging.

"I need to stop by this blacksmith place first though, so if you want my help you have to come." The tone seemed kind of stuck up, and Zane thought that if he were one of the brothers, he would be the oldest, the one who thinks they've seen everything and has to be obeyed. He nodded meekly, if he was going to be late with Sensei's tea, he would want to stay out as long as possible to allow Sensei to cool down. Jay agreed with another saying about lightning and outshining, before following after Blacky, and Zane following after him.

They entered a shop, a blacksmith, Blacky had called it, and were assaulted with the noise of a pounding hammer coming from the back. A spiky haired boy was working over a long piece of metal, a sword, if Zane was right. Blacky and Jay immediately got closer, scrambling to get a view of what the guy was working over. "Hey! Back off! If you mess with me, you'll be beaten by the best warrior legend there ever was!" The spiky-haired guy had a temper, and there was a scowl on his face as he looked over Jay, Blacky and me. This would-be trouble, and Zane silently wondered which would be worse, these three in the same shop, or Sensei's wrath when he got tea later than expected.

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A/N: I will be writing in a cycle, a chapter in Zane's POV, then Kai's, then Cole's, and then Jay's. I may add Sensei Wu in the mix occasionally, but it will mostly be these four. I am also going to state, right now, that this is an AU. There will be some plots and scenes that are the same, but I'm going to try and make up my own interactions and plots, as shown in this chapter. I will update sporadically, as life has unexpected twists that prevent me from writing, however much I wish too. I will try my hardest to update often though. I also apologize for any Ocness, as I can't always get the characters right. Thanks for reading! Please give feedback on anything confusing so I can improve my writing for you!