Chapter 2: Morning Training

Godha's Manor

The Sun started to rise from the mountains as Katashi slept on his futon as there was no care in the world at the moment. It was soft and that allowed him to relax for a little bit. Slowly hearing his door creep open, his eyes slowly opened up as half of his mind was conscious enough to try and register what is going on. Soft foot steps were heard within is katashi's room as someone appeared over him. Rolling over to left, he got into a crouched position, ready to strike. Standing there on the other side from his current position, Ayame smirked as she looked at him. "Good, looks like you already know how to be alert when someone tries to sneak into your room." Katashi sighed as he calmed down and slowly stood up. "Its something that I had to get use to quickly...older siblings" He stood up and smirked as Ayame stood there. She laughed a bit and walked towards the door. "Well its early, the sun is starting to rise...it's time for your training." She walked out as she waited outside for him. Katashi smiled as he heard what she said and started to get dressed. He walked out of his room as he turned his head to the left and saw Ayame standing there. "So is Rikimaru-Sensei going to be helping with the training?" He asked as Ayame started to think about it. "I have no clue, he has been gone before day break, so he may not help with the training today." Katashi nodded as he heard what she said. "So what are you going to teach me, Ayame-Sensei?" Stopping in her traces, Ayame looked at him as she just smirked. This was the first time someone called her sensei and really did not know how to take it. Taking a deep breath, she had to keep her calm composure, but inside, she was spazzing like a child who finally gotten what she had wanted. "Well Katashi, we are going to see how skilled you are in varies surroundings." She smirked as they walked, she took notice that Kiku followed behind them and just smiled. "Its alright Kiku, you can come and watch" She giggled as Kiku slowly stepped around from the corner behind them and smiled. "Okay Ayame-Nee!" She ran over to them as she stood next to right side of Ayame and smiled.

Destroyed Village

Wind blew as broken pieces were dancing in the wind. Rikimaru stood in the center of the village, knowing something wasn't right about what had happened yesterday evening. There were no signs of life in this deserted village besides his own. Slowly walking through the bloodied soil of mud underneath his feet, his mind wondered what possessed Onikage to destroy a random village. Reaching the site where he encountered Onikage and Katashi, he stood in the area where Onikage stood. "He had every opportunity to kill the child...why didn't he take the chance?" "Because the child is of great use to me" Rikimaru quickly turned as he saw Onikage, sitting on the roof of the nearly destroyed home directly behind him. "Guard already? Don't worry, i am not here for your life...I am here, merely just to speak" Onikage smirked as he jumps down from the roof, as the building collapsed behind him. Rikimaru's eyes glared at Onikage, his muscles tensed as he wanted to strike while he had the chance. "Speak Onikage...what is it that you want with the boy?" Onikage stood there as he just put on his sly smile. "Well, its not exactly the boy that I truly want...its something completely different...lets say...he is merely a pawn in my true plan." Rikimaru started to think of what this so called plan is. "Oh, Rikimaru, are you trying to figure out what the plan is? You have such an admirable look on your face when you start to figure things out." Onikage chuckled as Rikimaru suddenly appeared in front of him. They stood face to face as this did not through Onikage off one bit. "Tell me what you are planning Onikage." His voice was demanding as Onikage chuckled a bit more. "Well what is it that I want the most Rikimaru? That is what I will allow you to figure out." Rikimaru jumped back as a flock of crows appeared as they flew between Rikimaru and Onikage. In the instant they appeared, they were gone, along with Onikage. "I know you Rikimaru...you will be able to figure it out!" Laughter was heard through the wind while Rikimaru just stood there. "What does Katashi have to do with his plans?" He tried to think of what it was, but nothing came up. Looking at the time, he was in the middle of the afternoon, so it was a good time to go back and try to figure this out.

Godha's Manor: Bamboo Trinket

Katashi slide back as his back hit a batch of bamboo stocks. His eyes were fierced as he stood up fully and charged at Ayame. Sliding to the right, Ayame avoided his punch, but blocked the kick that was coming towards her right hip. She was surprised that Katashi already knows how to battle on the same level as a teacher. His reflexes were good, but still needed some work. Kiku sat on the nearest rock, as she watched the training session. She was humming to herself to keep herself occupied.

"So, who is winning?" "Ayame-Nee seems to be having some prob-" She jumped as she looked to the side, just to realize that it was Rikimaru. He smiled at her as she started to breath heavily. "Riki-Nii! you can't just pop up and scare me like that" She hit him on the back of the head as Ayame and Katashi stopped. "Took you long enough to get here, Rikimaru" Ayame scuffed as she looked over at Katashi. "Alright, its time to take a break...Kiku-chan" She slowly walked over to. "can you take Katashi to get something to drink?" She asked as she looked at Kiku and a smile appeared in her face. "Alright Ayame-nee" She smiled as she gets up and walks over to Katashi. She took his hand as she smiled. Katashi nodded at her as they started to walk as they soon let hold the hold between their hands. Ayame and Rikimaru smirked as they saw this. "Before we go and stalk the two..."

Ayame puts her hand on Rikimaru's chest and stepped in front of him. She looked into his eyes as she pulled his head down. She gave him a nice sweet kiss before pulling back. "Where have you been since last night? I have been worried about you." Rikimaru smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her close to him. "I had a lot on my mind...about that village." Ayame sighed as she looked at her. "And what about this morning?" Rikimaru looked at her as he knew that he was getting interrogated, but he didn't care at the moment. "I went to the village...and seen Onikage." Ayame's gaze changed from worrying to serious. "And what happened?" Rikimaru realized the change. "We...talked" Ayame felt dumbfounded after hearing what just happened. "You two...archenemies...talked?" Rikimaru sighed as he looked at her. "No, we sat down at a table and had muffins and tea." Ayame hit him in the shoulder slightly. "No time for making jokes" "Alright alright..he basically said that he had a plan and that Katashi...was just a pawn in his plans...i still do not understand what he means by it as of yet." Ayame looked down as she then rest her head on his chest. "I'm just glad that you are now safe." Wrapping his arms around her, he felt like nothing in the world could have stopped this moment besides one thing. "So, you ready to spy on the little ones?" "Should be fun." She kissed him on the cheek and winked at him. "Well this should be fun." He smirked as they both vanished from the bamboo trinket to spy on Katashi and Kiku.

Kiku and Katashi walked as the guards stood on each side of the hallway. They watched the two as they were basically giving Katashi a glare. Some smirked and some didn't when the two children passed by. "This has to be the most amusing thing I have ever seen in a while." One guard said to another as they both started to laugh. Standing next to the guards on each side, Rikimaru and Ayame looked at towards Kiku and Katashi and just smiled. "So what, that boy is how old?" The guard looked over at Ayame as Rikimaru stood there laughing to himself. When Katashi turned, they stood still as the guards for he would not spot them. Kiku looked over at Katashi and turned her head to look behind them. The only thing she was the guards standing there. "Whats wrong, Katashi-san?" She looked over at him as he turned his head to look at her. "Its nothing, I just thought that someone was following us" She giggled as she looked at them. "There will always be people following us, all the guards are basically here." "Ah...i forgot about that" He chuckled to himself as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, that was kind of close" Rikimaru looked over at Ayame as they synchronized their movements to make sure that they are far enough from the two, but close enough to hear them talking.

"Not my fault that you suck at stealth unlike me" She poked her tongue out at Rikimaru as he just looked at him. "Sure...then why are you the one that is always caught?" Rikimaru smirked as she shot him a glare. "Who was the last one who got captured?" Ayame snickered as Rikimaru just glared at her. "Shut up" Rikimaru and Ayame moved up a bit as they moved up a bit. "So Katashi-san, how do you like it here, at the manor?" Kiku tried to find a way to strike up a conversation. "This is my first time being in a manor. Its feels much like my home in the village." He put his head down as he walked. She forgot that his village was the one that was destroyed by Onikage. Putting her hand on his back, he looked at her with a small smile as he looked at her. They stood in place just to look at each other. Ayame and Rikimaru were just around the corner as Ayame watched and Rikimaru was hovering over her. "Well isn't this a cute sight, wouldn't you say Riki-chan?" Rikimaru raised his hand as he hit Ayame in the head slightly. "I told you not to call me that." He whispered at Ayame as they moved back before Kiku caught sight of them. "See, you need to learn to shut up!" she whispered back at Rikimaru as he stopped and quieted her down. "There coming vanish!" he whispered as they both vanish right before Katashi looked around the corner. The only thing that he saw were a couple of guards walking up and down the hallway. "Well there is no one here...wondering who is keep following...and its not the guards." Katashi looked around as he started to walk back. Above him, Rikimaru and Ayame slowly moved down as they decided that this kid is more talented than they thought.

"Shall we make our appearance?" Rikimaru asked as he looked at Ayame. "Yeah. I think its about time." They both nodded as they took a deep breath as they walked together as they made their way down the hallway, just making casual talk. Moving past the kitchen, they stopped and moved back as they saw Kiku and Katashi talking. They looked like they were having fun and being the two preteens were conversating with each other. "Hey you two." Ayame and Rikimaru said to the two of them as they waved. "So Rikimaru-sensei, when are you going to start training me?" Katashi asked as he looks at Rikimaru as he drinks his water. He looked at the time, as it was 8pm. "Well since you already trained in the day, we are going to start working on your stealth training...so tomorrow night, I will start training you." Katashi nodded as he and kiku looked at the two. "We are going to see you guys later...Rikimaru and I must talk about something." She gave him that glare basically telling him that we are going to talk about Onikage and his plan. "Alright Ayame-Nee, Rikimaru-nii!" They waved at them as they left the kitchen and walked back to Ayame's room.

Onikage stood in the trees as he looked at the manor. The days were counting down and the time to finish off what he had started was about to begin. He was ready, and so was another person.