Here is the beginning of the camp, where Shun starts loving the power Dan has given to him. The other campers have a reason to be afraid.

Welcome to Camp Ninja

"So, for a camp, we'd need campers, right?" I asked over breakfast as Dan cleaned out my fridge.

"Mm-hmm," he acknowledged, his mouth and hands full of whatever edible substances he could find.

"That's what the commercial was for," I summarized, feeling oddly grossed out by his constant appetite. It was an experience that just didn't get any less surprising with time.

He swallowed loudly, drinking down a glass of juice. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. "Yep, but don't worry about recruiting. I've already shown the commercial and have a whole list of people excited to use our services." He tossed me a folded piece of paper, which I easily caught and opened.

"This many already?" I gasped. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Awhile," he admitted. "Whether you said yes or no, I was going to have a camp."

I glared at his blatant disregard for my opinion. The more I considered the idea, the more put out I was about it. I supposed that, in some way, Dan's logic about "sharing my talents" made sense, though I suspected that Grandpa would have had a clever counter-argument for it. What good could come out of it, anyway? The video had clearly shown how dangerous our lifestyle is, and I sure as hell did not want to be liable for any injuries or deaths.

As if reading my mind, Dan handed me a stack of papers, a smudge of jam and something dark red on the first one.

"Liability release forms?" I asked, impressed by his foresight.

He grinned. "That's right. I got each person on the list to sign one, after some persuasion, of course."

"Persuasion, huh?" I smirked. "What did you use, blackmail?"

He tried an innocent look. "Maybe, maybe not. I've never been much good at keeping secrets."

I wasn't sure whether to agree or disagree. Sure, it didn't take much for him to open his big mouth about something, but I'd told him a number of secrets–and still did–and as far as I knew, he hadn't shared them with anyone.

"Okay, are you ready, Shun?" he asked, standing up and heading toward the backyard.

I nodded, following him outside. Dan stretched out his blueprints, using rocks to hold them open. The setup looked relatively simple. The whole thing looked to be an obstacle course, a dangerous one at that. I could make out a set of sharp teeth and fire, but the rest of the pictures–and the plan in general–was a mystery to me.

"Dan, these scribbles look like hieroglyphics. How do you understand this? And more importantly, how do we create this thing?"

Dan sighed impatiently. "I think it's perfectly legible, and I went ahead and picked up everything we'd need at Ninja's R Us."

"'Ninja's R Us?'" I repeated incredulously.

"Shun, stop asking questions! The campers will be here any minute."

I stared at him. "You know, you could have told me that sooner. Why did you tell everyone to be here so soon? We haven't even set anything up."

"Shun," Dan began, placing a hand on my shoulder and turning me to look at the landscape behind us. "This is your domain. You are in charge. You know it better than anyone. So why should you have to build the camp when we've got campers to do it for us?"

I considered his statement for a moment. Grandpa had always had me do the dirty work for him, hardly ever lifting a finger, so why should I now? "I never thought I'd say this, Dan, but it's brilliant. You understand the concept of forced ninja labor better than I first thought."

Dan beamed at the praise. "Aw, shucks. You make it seem as if it's not in my blood."

I decided to ignore that comment, knowing it was pointless trying to convince Dan that he was not related to me or my ninja ancestors. The last time I'd brought it up, it'd ended in a few broken bones and a lot of questions.

I heard voices coming from the gates and motioned for Dan to let everyone in. This camp thing might not be such a bad idea after all.

-X-

"Hello, campers!" Dan greeted brightly as the twelve campers settled in front of him.

I stood next to him, making eye contact with each one of them. They were all familiar faces–the Battle Brawlers, Masquerade's lackeys, the Resistance. Dan had informed me that he had an amazing speech planned, so I allowed him to go first. It's not like I had much to say.

"I'm super excited about introducing you all to the ways of the ninja. We have many activities planned, and hopefully, when all this is over, each one of you will be able to walk away with some knowledge that will help you in everyday life. To aid you in this quest for knowledge, my associate, Shun–"

"Hi, Master Shun!" Komba cut in.

Dan gave him an aggravated look before continuing with more enthusiasm. "As I was saying, Shun and I will be sharing the secrets we know, so how about we get started right now?"

Komba cheered at this, while most everyone else remained silent. Julio coughed in the following silence. No doubt he was the only one happy about it, since I'd never actually trained him like he wanted me to.

"O-kay," Dan said slowly. "Since no one seems excited, let's start off with some manual labor!"

Everyone groaned, and Klaus stood up angrily, dusting himself off. "I'll have you know, Dan, that aristocrats such as myself do not engage in acts of physical work. That's what the lower classes are for."

Dan laughed in response. "Oh, Klaus. You'll never be a ninja with that attitude. If you're going to be here, then you're going to get down and dirty."

He scoffed. "I'd much rather not be here, so perhaps I'll just take my leave."

Dan shrugged. "Alright, but that would be breaking your end of the deal we made."

Upon mentioning the deal, Klaus stiffened, eyes narrowed dangerously and fists clenched. He sat down again, and I looked at the brunette curiously. He had a smirk on his face, and I wondered what exactly their agreement was about. I made a mental note to ask about it later. Dan motioned for me to take over the crowd.

I cleared my throat. "Today's camp goal is to be more fit. Ninja's must be able to perform strenuous work, and therefore, maintain their bodies in top condition. This involves long hours of exercise, and as such, you all will be building an obstacle course to use for your training. I shall assign all of you to one of the seven areas. Any questions?"

"Excuse me, Shun," Marucho interrupted, raising a hand up. "When do we get our black suits?"

"Oh, I want to know, too! Black totally doesn't go with my complexion, so I was wondering if you, like, had a pink one," Julie added shrilly.

"Black suits?" I repeated, glancing at Dan, who was scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I didn't really think that part through," he admitted. "But I did promise them ninja suits."

I sighed. "Look, we'll talk about the black suits another time. Any other questions?" No one raised a hand. "Excellent. The first obstacle will be an alligator pond. Julio, your job will be to bring in our crocodile-alligator hybrids from the river and deposit them into the koi pond. Dan has already removed the kois, so it should be an easy task for you."

Julio blanched under his tan, but quickly recovered and nodded eagerly. "Yes! Those crocodile-alligators don't stand a chance against me."

"The second obstacle will be a brick wall separating the reptiles from the automatic archers. Runo, Marucho, Alice, and Ace, you four will build the wall, along with everyone else as they finish their tasks, understood?"

They nodded, not arguing, which was a pleasant surprise.

"Komba, you're in charge of setting up four automatic archers beyond the wall."

"Yes, Master Shun!"

"Julie, you have to create a rig that will cause vases to be raised up and down at different intervals. Can you handle it?" I asked wearily.

She grinned widely. "No prob, Shun! I can totally come up with that in no time!"

I nodded, moving on to the next phase of the course as Dan explained each one to me. "Chan, you will have to build a rig to hold up four swinging scythes."

She smirked. "Please. I can do that in my sleep."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you can, and–yes, Joe?"

"I don't think it's very safe for Chan to be doing that alone, so is it all right if I help her?" Joe asked, polite as usual.

"Sure, go crazy." I examined the last few people left in front of me. Mira, Baron, and Klaus stared back at me, waiting for whatever torture Dan came up with. "Mira and Baron, you two will build a rig similar to Chan's but with sandbags instead of scythes. And you Klaus..." I pretended to look over the blueprints carefully, though I knew exactly what I would have him do. "You'll set up the ring of fire."

"Ring of fire?" he sputtered. "That could be the most dangerous job yet!"

I shrugged. "I suppose you could help with the vicious crocodile-alligators if you don't want to do that."

"You win this round," he growled, heading off toward the future location of the ring of fire.

I chuckled to myself, hardly able to wait until they completed the obstacle course.

-X-

I could only stare in awe at their handiwork. The course was like something out of my Grandpa's imagination. The crocodile-alligators hissed in unison, snapping their jaws hungrily. The brick wall stood eight feet all, each brick aligned with the utmost precision. The archers lay low to the ground, ready to be triggered by a trip wire when the ninja landed a jump from the wall. The vases, surprisingly, moved up and down efficiently. The scythes swung quickly, each one sharp enough and deadly enough to kill with the slightest misstep. The sandbags were considerably less deadly, though it was obvious that any one of them could cause a concussion. The ring of fire was a little pathetic, in all honesty, but it was on fire and it was a ring, so both Dan and I withheld out complaints.

The campers, dirty and tired, beamed at the praise Dan gave them. Admittedly, I was impressed, but I would be more impressed if any one of them (excluding Chan or myself) could make it through in one piece.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked smugly, eyeing them for the first unlucky volunteer.

"I'll do it!" Joe exclaimed, jumping to his feet. The others stared at him, eyes wide, heads shaking.

"Joe, you don't have to do this," Chan explained, grabbing a hold of his arm and attempting to pull him into a sitting position.

"No, no, I can do this! I know I can."

Dan and I shared an apprehensive look. He inhaled slowly. "Okay, Joe, go for it," Dan agreed, ushering him toward the crocodile end of the course."Remember, you're being timed, so move as fast as you can. We'll stop the clock when you save the citizen just beyond the ring of fire." Dan pointed at the plastic doll he'd placed at the end.

I stared on, impassive. I didn't want to risk ruining his concentration, unlike everyone else who had expressions of horror on their faces. Even Joe himself seemed nervous, judging by the way he was wringing his hands in front of the pond.

The goal was to pole vault over the pond and land on the brick wall. Joe held the pole tightly as he stepped back, preparing for a run that would precipitate his jump. He breathed in, closing his eyes for a moment, and took off running. His feet kicked up puffs of dust and then he was airborne, sailing across the pond...

...and landing just short of the wall. He skidded to a stop, backing up against the wall as the crocodile-alligators snapped at his feet. He screamed when a snout touched his leg, and the others screamed along with him.

"Play dead!" Dan shouted, a camera in his hands aimed at the crocodiles circling Joe.

Joe, nervously looking around for an escape, complied, dropping to the ground. The crocodile-alligators stopped hissing for a moment, but not long enough for their swarm to dissipate. They resumed crawling closer to Joe, and in a burst of adrenaline Joe leaped over them, dashing toward the other end of the course. The animals chased him, relentless in their pursuit.

"Oh my gosh, this is horrific! I wasn't ready for this–ah!" Dan screamed while one crocodile closed in on Joe.

I decided that he would most likely be eaten if he continued to be out there, so I stepped in, grabbing hold of Joe and leaping onto a tree. The crocodile-alligators continued coming toward us until they realized they couldn't make it up the tree. They waddled their way back into the pond. Joe breathed a shaky sigh of relief, and I settled him down with the others.

I smiled widely. "Who's next?"

And that's how we end this chapter. Hope you are all looking forward to everyone else's runs through the course. The next chapter will mostly deal with weapons and combat training, so things will only get more dangerous for the campers. Anything in particular you guys would like to see? Leave a Review and let me know ^.^

Oh, and for all you impatient readers, you can check the progress of any of my stories on my profile~

Cocoacharm15