I arrived at the village a little after noon. Though the gates were wide open, there was no traffic going through them. I approached wearily, and was stopped by a guard as I tried to pass through the middle. I went over to the side of the gate, where he and another ninja were sitting. It looked like they had been playing dice before I had arrived.

"Is there a problem?" I asked politely.

"You need to pay a fee to enter the village," he said.

"How much?"

"Seven songs."

"What! That's too much!"

"You dimwit," the other guy piped up. "The toll is only three songs!" His partner turned and glared at him. I pulled three little copper songs from my coin-purse and placed them on the counter. The men, who had been arguing in hushed tones, both looked over at me. I smiled sweetly and pushed the coins towards them. The second guy cleared his throat and picked them up. "What's your name, miss?"

I hesitated. Normally, I wouldn't mind giving out my name, but this close to my old village? "Oh, I'm nobody. Just a traveller." I placed two more songs on the counter. The men looked at each other.

"Welcome to Shiriki, miss," they said in unison, and waved me in.

The forest continued for a good fifty feet beyond the wall. After that, though, I began to see more and more people. Some of them were obviously civilians, and some blatantly showed themselves to be ninja, but most were as inconspicuous as myself. It made me slightly nervous.

I eventually stopped beside a group of military police that were in the middle of a discussion. They stopped talking as they noticed my approach. "Excuse me," I said. "Would you be able to recommend a relatively inexpensive hotel for me, please?"

"Are you looking for comfort or just a place to spend the night?"

"Is the price significantly different between the two?"

"Not really."

"Then I'll take comfort." They gave me the name of an inn a little ways away and pointed me in the right direction. As I moved away from them, I could hear them muttering to themselves again.

I checked in at the inn pretty easily – though my coinpurse was noticeably lighter for it – deposited my belongings in the closet, and went to take a bath. It had been far too long since I'd been in a hot spring, and I soaked for a long time after washing off. It was almost dinnertime when I finally got out and returned to my room.

I had just gotten back when I heard someone outside. "Miss Raven?" she called. "I have your dinner. May I come in?"

"Yes, come in." The door slip open and a girl about my age wearing a blue kimono came in with a tray of food, which she put down on the small table in front of me.

"If there is anything else you need, miss, please don't hesitate to ask. My sisters and I will be more than happy to assist you." She bowed herself out.

The meal wasn't super fancy: a bowl of rice, a salmon, some green tea, and a peach for dessert. Even so, it was delicious. I tired to savor it, but I ended up finishing it quickly; it was the first meal I'd had all day. Wishing I had more, I moved the clothes off to the side and grabbed my stuff from the closet.

First I searched through the cloak, to see if there was anything in the pockets. They were empty. Then I pulled open the waist pouch and spread the contents over the table. There were three kunai, ten shuriken, two blank scrolls, several smoke bombs and a few paper bombs. A good supply of ninja tools. I stored them back in the pouch and placed it down beside my cloak before going through the backpack.

In addition to the rations and food pills, the bag contained a set of worn travelling clothes made of a rough fabric. A blanket was folded beneath them. I pulled it out and examined it. It was made of the same material as the clothes. I tossed it to the side. As I did, something caught my eye at the bottom of the bag. Sitting was a large square package wrapped in turquoise silk. Confused, I pulled it out and unwrapped it. A folded piece of paper fell to the floor unnoticed.

Inside the box were two tekken: long, claw-like blades attached to a metal-backed leather glove. Inlaid in gold, one on each, were the kanji for fox and wolf. My brother and I had been training with these since we were kids. Our entire clan had recognized us as the two most adept users of the claws that they'd ever heard of.

Finally I noticed the note.

Raven, it said. I picked these up for you as I was passing through the Land of Snow. They're made of icesteel, the famous metal produced in those parts that will never rust nor get damaged nor need to be sharpened. I had intended to give them to you for your birthday, but it seems that we shall not be celebrating it together. Use them well.

Good luck,

Uncle.

I picked them up and tried them on. They fit wonderfully. I really wanted to try them out, but figured that it would be a bad idea at the moment. I put them and the note back in the box and stored it back in my bag, along with the rations and my regular clothes, which had been washed for me while I was in the baths. I put on the worn clothes my uncle had packed me, strapped on the waist pouch, and donned my travelling cloak. Lastly I used the piece of silk to cover my hair.

I put up my hood as I stepped outside. It had started raining while I was having dinner. I bowed to the innkeeper as I walked out. "I'll be back in a little while," I said. He nodded and continued sipping his tea.

In order to effectively stay ahead of the Uzumi trackers who were no doubt after me by now, I had to figure out where they were searching for me. My plan? Find someone – most likely a ninja – who would know info like that. Now, to find someone with loose lips…

I started walking through the streets. There weren't many people around, and all of them were wearing cloaks. I became increasingly frustrated, until I realized all the people wearing hoods were moving towards the same place. I followed them down through the streets to a door set into a sunken wall. The person who had gone through before me had left the door wide open. I followed his lead and just moved down the passage.

I had been expecting some sort of dingy little cavern, maybe just a meeting hall of some kind, with a stage at one end and open space throughout the rest of the room So, I was really surprised to find that the room was a well-lit bazaar, with vendors and cafes. There was a large, open stage right in the center, where a band played. A tall white tower stood at one end, rising into the roof.

I joined the crowd outside a cafe, where a ninja was boasting loudly about an infiltration job he'd completed recently. Everyone was laughing along with his story. Most of them looked as if they'd been drinking.

There was a lot to see down there, and even more to hear. For example, I learned that the clan that controlled this city, the Fuuma, were considered masters of all types of shuriken techniques. They were a large clan, with bases scattered throughout the world. They had a bit of a rivalry with the Uzumi clan in terms of mercenary work in the region. I hoped that this would prevent them form helping my clan to find me.

I was heading back to the café after trying for just under an hour to find someone who knew something, when I spotted a flash of red around the base of the tower. Moving towards the crowd were Fujiwara and Ichimaru, two of the Uzumi's elite trackers. I quickly ducked into the shop beside me, hoping against hope that they hadn't seen me.

The store that I had ducked into was a mask shop. Dozens of masks lined the walls, and more were displayed on the counter. I looked around in surprise, and an idea came to my mind. I still had my hood up and my hair covered, so all I needed was to hide my face and they would never suspect a thing.

I looked at all the masks, but none of them really appealed to me until I came across one partially hidden behind the others. It was a fox, painted with deep orange and black, and made out of pure white porcelain.

"Three rooks," the maskmaker said as I picked it up. I started and almost dropped it. I turned to him with a slight scowl. I hadn't noticed him before.

"That seems pretty cheap."

"That mask has been sitting there for the past several months, and no one has shown even the slightest amount of interest in it. It's a shame that such a pretty mask would go to waste, so I lowered my price a bit. Would you rather it be at full price?" He's a tall man with glasses, but no eyebrows. It unnerves me.

"No, I'll take it," I said quickly. I gave him the tree rooks and put the mask on before returning outside. By that time, most of the people had clustered around the stage, where this big, broad-shouldered guy with no hair was speaking. Fujiwara and Ichimaru were standing behind him, their long red hair tied back into ponytails.

The man finished speaking and Ichimaru stepped forward. "Last night, a young shinobi from our clan turned traitor. She escaped before we could execute her. Now we are hunting her down. As this is the closest village to our own, we believe she might be taking residence here for the moment. We would like your cooperation in hunting her down. The elders of our clan have put a bounty on her head: 5 gold rushes, if she is brought before the clan alive."

"We shall of course cooperate with you, Uzumi-san and Uzumi-san," the first man said. "If she is here, she shall be caught."