Chapter 8: Murderer

A/N: Look at that, a new chapter already! I hurried, just because I had a cliffhanger. I spoil you guys. And since I spoil you, won't you spoil me back a bit? Review, please! I just might continue to write faster and faster!

Don't make me pretend to cry at the negative review I got before you let me know YOU like the story (or what you like and what you don't like)! I mean, I'm starting to think all those of you who faved the story only did it as a joke or something.

Anyway, speaking of negative review, it raised some questions that others may have too, so here are the answers:

Review: First off, though he once took a job, he would never be a gym teacher. He's not "legally" qualified
A: He's a clandestine ninja. I think he can manage to fake some papers, and I took pain to point out the school had been desperate for a while.

Review: Secondly, the Hard Master loved Tomisaburo very much. And he is Tommy's father's brother. His mom is American. The Hard Master would never disrespect the spirit of his brother. Especially by mistreating Tommy.
A: This is movie verse, where the exact relationship between Tommy and the Hard Master was not disclosed. Since Tommy is shown to speak Korean, the Japanese-American scenario seemed out anyway, and the Hard Master did not show much love for his nephew. I'm not trying to follow the comics with this story, else Snake Eyes would end up with Scarlett and Ripcord would turn white. As for the mistreatment being disrespectful of Tommy's parents' spirits, the Hard Master feels keeping the hated child (who he feels is responsible for his mother's (The Hard Master's sister's) death) alive, fed and trained fulfills those obligations, as explained in chapter 2.

Review: Purple eyes are not natural on humans. There are blue eyes that seem purple, but no true purple eyes.

A: I know. I actually have a very good reason for Esuma's unusual coloring, which will be revealed later.

OK, almost done yakking away here… just wanted to ask you, if you disagree with that negative review, please direct all comments towards ME, they'll cheer me up a lot more than if you send them to the reviewer! I won't even see them if you do that and besides, we've talked and we're cool.

1

Japan, 19 years ago

Tommy waited by the door of the market, his flesh covered in goose bumps from the cold of the late fall morning, his entire body shivering. He'd have to will himself to stop when the door opened so his movements would not be shaky as he strolled in the market to steal some food, hopefully without having to fight for it, but until then, the natural reflex kept him just a bit warmer so he allowed it.

He reflected that he'd have to find better clothes later today, and maybe a jacket with a hood, and automatically started running through the various possible stores he could take them from in his head, already imagining what it would feel like to be warm and dry again.

It was kind of funny how natural stealing felt by now. He had only lost his home six months earlier, but it seemed a lifetime away. His thoughts drifted back to that home, on a day that, like today, threatened with the first snow of winter.

1.5

Japan, Arashikage Home, 24 years ago

Tommy was in the middle of his routine and had just managed a particularly nice blow to the head of the training dummy when the voice of the Hard Master thundered from the hallway, behind him.

The eight year old ninja in training immediately stopped what he was doing to kneel and bow to his Master. He knew the tone for being the one he most often heard from his uncle and Master: it was the tone that said he was in trouble.

"The Soft Master told me what you've done," the Hard Master said with a snarl. "Accursed child! Why did you have to be born a copy of your father?"

Tommy gulped, his head spinning as he tried both to remember what he had done wrong lately and to come up with an apology that wouldn't reveal he had no idea what he was apologizing for. He knew from experience that "I'm sorry" never cut it with the Hard Master: you had to give precise details on how sorry you were, for what actions, and why those actions were regrettable.

He settled for playing the odds.

"I'm sorry I was disrespectful, Hard Master. I did not mean to be, I spoke without thinking. Please allow me to make amends so that I may lift the weight of my guilt from my heart."

The blow caught him right under the chin. His jaw clenched shut, his teeth snapping together like a spring loaded trap, nipping a small piece of his tongue and chipping his front teeth.

The pain made his vision blur. He stayed down as he had fallen, his mouth opened with his tongue hanging, bleeding profusely on the wooden floor. He jerked back when he realized he was getting the floor dirty and pressed his arm to his mouth in an effort to contain his blood.

He was grabbed by his collar and his face brought right in front of his uncle's, who looked even angrier than he had before.

"Not only do you have no idea which one of your silly doings today has wrought the displeasure of the Soft Master and myself, you try to deceive me by pretending you DO know?"

The tone was both disgusted and incredulous, and the Hard Master had murder in his eyes. Most children would readily assume that their parents or guardians are not actually going to kill them, an assumption brought on by the knowledge that they are, despite any trouble they may be in, loved. Tommy on the other hand knew quite well that he wasn't loved at all and therefore could make no such reassuring assumption on what was going to happen next. At this precise moment, with his tongue bleeding on his arm, his teeth chipped and his jaw hurting, held up uncomfortably by a furious Hard Master, he was completely aware that there was a distinct possibility he'd be dead within the next few minutes.

He started crying and begging for forgiveness, not quite sure what he was saying but quite determined to say enough of it for his uncle to grow a bit less angry.

"Dear sister," the Hard Master sighed, addressing the spirit of Tommy's departed mother, "I will not be able to put up with this monster much longer."

He let go then, letting his nephew fall back to the floor. Tommy immediately went back into a full kneeling bow, bleeding some more on the floor. The Hard Master felt his fists clench; was there absolutely no way to teach this boy anything? He bent down and roughly shoved Tommy's sleeve back over his mouth before slapping him hard on the back of the head.

Tommy held back a gasp as his own teeth sank into his arm and stayed still, waiting to be told to speak or sent for punishment.

"Out," the Hard Master said. "Right now. You will go meditate in the waterfall until dinner time."

Tommy shivered at the mere thought – it wasn't even lunch time yet, dinner was not for hours and at this time of the year, the waterfall was freezing.

"Yes, Master," he said, bowing. He went outside and, as if to mock him, a few snowflakes started falling from the skies. He ran more than he walked to the waterfall, hoping to warm up enough that he'd retain some heat under the water.

He knew the instant he stepped into the stream that it hadn't worked. Even with only his feet and calves in the water, his teeth started rattling. He gamely walked right under the waterfall, each step a struggle against the natural reflex of trying to get out of the cold water, and felt himself stiffening from the cold. He settled in position and tried to think of something else than of how cold he was: he needed to figure out what he'd done wrong.

1 (continued)

Japan, 19 years ago

Tommy couldn't suppress a deep shiver as he ran, away from the man who had actually ordered the lunch he had just stolen: a bowl of ramen to go, with pork. It had been ages since he'd eaten ramen, and on a cold day like today, he'd been unable to resist, especially when the merchant had put a lid on the bowl, making it so much easier to carry without spilling.

He chanced a look back: neither the merchant who was out the money from the sale, nor the man who now faced having to wait for another bowl to be prepared were pursuing, and he couldn't see anyone else running towards him, either. He slowed down gradually and settled in a quiet corner of the market to eat.

His mind went back to the reason he had violently shivered: the memory of the waterfall. He never had figured out what he had done wrong that day; all he remembered is getting drowsier and drowsier, and waking up in his bed. He'd been told that he had been found passed out in the stream, saved from drowning solely from the way he had happened to slump, leaning against a rock with his head above water. Neither the Hard Master nor the Soft Master had brought up the incident again, nor did they need to: they had new reasons to be angry with him almost immediately anyway. He'd had no end of trouble warming up and staying awake, even once he was dry and back inside; as a result, he'd been unable to keep up with his chores and lessons for several days, constantly blacking out or just collapsing, not to mention nearly constantly shivering.

The memory stayed with him as he walked to his current home: a condemned building scheduled to be demolished. He jumped the fence and climbed to the space he had claimed on the sixth floor. He'd had to fight the other squatters for it, but they had been smart enough to leave him alone since.

He wrapped himself in the thin blanket he had found a few days earlier and let his mind wander as he looked through the cracks of his window. There was no question that he had been a terrible burden for his family, and he had never gotten to a point where his behavior could be deemed acceptable by them… maybe he deserved this hard life.

A few snowflakes drifted by, as if to agree with him by echoing the day of the waterfall. He scowled at them.

"Oh yeah?" he muttered. "Fine. I won't complain. You'll see… I'll STILL grow up to be the best."

2

- The Present -

Esuma watched in horror. It was happening again, someone she loved was about to be killed right before her eyes! This time, however, she wasn't helpless: she wasn't paralyzed, she could act. She didn't have to let this happen.

Her first reflex was to throw something and she had nothing else she could use as a projectile, so she threw her purse at the man strangling Tommy. Just as she did, Racno glowed and the light from the dragonfly seemed to penetrate her hand. She had no time to question what was happening: the purse left her hand and flew towards her target, propelled by a gust of wind that seemed to emanate from her own self. It hit the old man square in the head, with such force as to make him tumble off his victim and release his throat.

The Soft Master turned towards the direction the purse had come from and his eyes immediately landed on the girl who had thrown it. His eyes widened before narrowing in anger.

"Aren't you a proof that monsters come in all shapes and sizes... If you are his ally, you are my enemy!"

He launched himself at her, hatred reflected in every line of his face. Esuma screamed and just managed to dodge the tackle, but the old ninja simply changed directions and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her from the ground.

The hold was short-lived: awakened by Esuma's scream, Storm Shadow tackled his uncle and, using a pressure point to make it go limp, pried his hand off the throat of the girl he loved. The Soft Master turned his attention back to him and the two fought briefly.

The fight was grossly uneven. Esuma was not expert at martial arts, but she could tell Tommy's movements weren't fully coordinated: he was obviously still groggy from the blows to his head and the strangling. Before she could even get up from the floor, the older man threw Storm Shadow head first into a wall. There was a sickening crack and the white-clad ninja slumped to the floor, leaving a blood trail against the wall.

Esuma heard what few students had not run away yet scream as they finally rushed out, but she heard it as though they were in a different Universe: distant, irrelevant. Her eyes, her ears, all her senses were centered on the red trail on the wall and on the man she loved crumpled on the floor at the end of it, by all appearances lifeless.

There was no thought behind what she did next: it was through sheer mindless reaction that she threw herself at the attacker. Sadly, he had been expecting it and received her in his arms, squeezing her, crushing her chest, oblivious to her increasingly weak punches and kicks. She couldn't breathe, and the World was growing darker and darker.

The Soft Master, snarling in rage, kept tightening his grip, intent on crushing the life out of the girl. Almost there, she was going limp and her skin was starting to turn blue… he suddenly screamed in pain and released his grip, staring in disbelief at the shurikens imbedded in his arms as he let Esuma fall to the floor, where she stayed on her hands and knees, panting and wincing with each breath.

In the doorway of the gym, his silhouette so dark against the brightly lit hallway that he could have been wearing his usual black suit and mask, stood Snake Eyes, several more shurikens shining in each hand, ready to be thrown.

"You're letting her age and her appearance fool you, Snake Eyes," the Soft Master growled. "She defended him."

Snake Eyes stepped out of the doorway, revealing a custodian's uniform enhanced with his usual straps and pouches holding all his weapons.

/* I'm sorry, Soft Master, but I will defend this girl with my life, even against you. */

The Soft Master's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Why?" he asked. He looked as though he was burning to elaborate, but he didn't.

/* I'm under orders to do so, for one thing. Also, I know her to be good: her attempting to protect Storm Shadow is more a sign that our opinion of him needs to be revised than a sign of a hidden darkness within her. */

The Soft Master snorted angrily.

"So, you would prevent me from avenging your Master for the sake of a teenaged girl? Have your forgotten your vow to kill my brother's murderer? You have sworn to kill Storm Shadow for his crime, and yet you prevent me from relieving you of that oath? Very well, your traitorous attack ensures your victory tonight: I can't fight you with these," he said, lifting his arms to show the throwing stars in them.

He walked right past Snake Eyes and out of the door, not even looking at him, his expression one of utter disgust.

While they were talking, Esuma had made her way to Storm Shadow. From up close, she could see he was still breathing and let out a cry of relief. She slipped a hand under his neck, trying to feel for his injury without moving his head, and found the bleeding wound just under where his head leaned on the wall.

She needed something to bandage him, or at least press against the wound to stem the bleeding. She looked around, but all the decorations were plastic, and the tablecloths were paper. She looked down at her dress then, determined to rip the fabric she needed from it, and gasped in shock.

Her dress had changed: from the white and lavender silk that flowed gracefully to just below her knees to a deep green material she could not identify but that felt light as air and shimmered as if imbued of a life of its own, that only covered part of her thighs. She had no time to admire the effect: she seized the material and yanked, easily ripping a large strip and turning the already fairly short dress to something barely decent.

Not that she noticed. She folded the fabric and pressed it against the back of Tommy's head as hard as she could. Racno fluttered over and landed on her hand, and suddenly, for reasons she could not explain, she wished Sop was here.

She heard the old man who had attacked them leave and turned to Snake Eyes, intent on thanking him. He was about to leave too.

"Stop!" she begged. "Don't leave!"

Snake Eyes stopped and turned around, walking awkwardly towards the pair.

/* I'm sorry, */ he signed. /* I wrote to let him know I had found his nephew, but I never expected him to attack. I told him I was taking care of things. */

"You knew how he felt and you told him where Tommy was?" she asked.

Snake Eyes's heart sank: she sounded betrayed, hurt.

/* I'm sorry. Esuma, you need to understand… up to recently, Storm Shadow was a very, very dangerous man, and the Soft Master has every right to seek revenge on him. Just because I'm willing to believe he might be innocent doesn't mean everyone must. */

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" she asked bitterly, still pressing the mysterious green material to Storm Shadow's wound. "And how can you believe it anyway? Which one of them do you think acted like a villain tonight?"

Storm Shadow stirred at that point and muttered something about not being a villain.

"Tommy!" Esuma cried. "Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?"

He groaned and looked at her blearily.

"Wings?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"Your back…" he muttered, still clearly mostly out of it. "Wings. Look like dragonfly's."

Esuma felt on her back and confirmed the green dress did indeed have wings. Storm Shadow's comment on dragonfly made something click in her head and she suddenly could fit the pieces together. She turned to Racno.

"You did that!" she exclaimed. "That wind, it WAS coming from me! You… you passed some kind of magic to me when you glowed! And my dress is a side effect, isn't it?"

Racno bobbed up and down in nod-like way, but Storm Shadow groaned in pain and Esuma's attention snapped back to him.

"Snake Eyes, hold the bandage against his head a minute, I need to call an ambulance."

Snake Eyes obediently switched places with her and, assuming the phone she'd had in her purse was broken and having no time to try and locate said purse anyway, she ran to the payphone located just outside the door to the gym, but she heard sirens just outside just as she was starting to dial 9-1-1. She saw Lily and Marie running back towards the gym.

"Esuma!" they cried upon seeing her. They broke into tearful grin and mauled her into a group hug.

"We're so sorry, we tried to stay!" Marie said.

"The others dragged us off!" Lily added.

"We called the cops and told them we needed an ambulance, too. I think that's them."

"Is Mr. Nakamura okay?"

"What happened to your dress?"

Esuma swallowed and shook her head. The other two girls gasped and automatically started crying, assuming the worst.

"He's alive!" Esuma said quickly. "He's got a nasty concussion. I… my dress is a long story, and I'm not sure I know what that story is yet. I'll tell you about it later, okay? Don't mention it to the cops or the medics."

They both enthusiastically nodded and the three went back in the gymnasium. The medics and the cops erupted in mere seconds later, and Storm Shadow, who had passed out again, was carefully whisked away.

3

Storm Shadow woke up in a hospital room to find both Esuma and Snake Eyes sitting by the bed. Snake Eyes was reading a paper, but Esuma had her eyes fixed on his and grinned when he opened them.

"How's your head?" she asked, gently brushing his temple with her hand.

"It's not bad right now," he said, slowly and carefully sitting up. "How did you get permission to both stay?"

"We didn't. We snuck back in after hours," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. "Ninjas really do come in handy."

Snake Eyes buffed his nails on his chest.

"Your dress changed back," Storm Shadow remarked.

"Yes, it went back by itself about an hour ago."

Storm Shadow's eyes widened. "An hour? How long was I out?"

"Nearly four hours," Esuma said gently. "The doctors said you were lucky… they've seen blows like that be fatal."

Her voice broke near the end and she suddenly bent over him and hugged him gently, as though she were afraid to break him. "I was so worried," she whispered.

Snake Eyes cleared his throat and they both turned to him.

/* I've had enough of this uncertainty. I want to hypnotize you and find out who killed our Master, */ he signed, addressing Storm Shadow.

Esuma pulled away just enough to look at Tommy's face.

"Do you think you're well enough?"

He nodded without hesitation. With the Soft Master hot on his trail and having obviously decided Esuma was his enemy as well, he could not afford not to do everything he could to make his sword brother an ally.

Snake Eyes traded places with Esuma and the two ninjas got into position. Storm Shadow, guessing Snake Eyes would prefer not to break his oath of silence, recited the chant himself while the other man merely mouthed it.

3.5

Japan, 19 years ago

Out of sheer force of habit, The Hard Master narrowed his eyes when he saw his nephew, who was practicing with a double sword. The little monster didn't seem to be up to anything bad, for once, but he WAS practicing offensive moves only, as usual. The old ninja master sighed: he owed it to his sister to train the child, as hopeless a task as it was.

"Tomisaburo!" he growled. "How many times must I tell you to also practice de…"

Tommy's head whipped around in surprise as the last word was cut short by a soft gasp, just in time to see his uncle fall forward, a sword through his heart and death in his eyes. His eyes went from the sword to the hand that released it as he watched, up the orange sleeve to the smiling face of his other uncle, who chuckled at him.

"MURDERER!" the Soft Master screamed from behind his victim's body, still smiling widely. "CATCH HIM!"

Tommy's eyes widened – he knew the clan would believe the lie. He took off at a run.

He felt something fall on his mind before he had taken two steps and the image of his uncle was replaced by that of Death itself as the knowledge of who had really committed the murder he was accused of was blocked from the young ninja's mind.

3 (continued)

The Present

Snake Eyes broke the trance abruptly, jerking back, his eyes wide. His expression changed almost instantly from shock to furor and he got up, pacing furiously, fists clenched and every other breath a angry hiss or snarl.

Storm Shadow, on the other hand, kept an expression closer to sheer shock, any trace of anger overwhelmed by incomprehension. After a few seconds, he searched for Esuma's eyes as an anchor back to reality and noticed her agitation – of course, she had no idea what they had just found out.

"It was him," Storm Shadow said, his eyes fixed on her. "I don't understand why… the Hard Master was his brother, I thought they were close. And he looked thrilled to blame me, not like I was just the most convenient scape goat. It's like he only did it to blame me. I knew he didn't like me, but I always thought he tolerated me better than the Hard Master… why would he want to falsely accuse me of murder?"

"Who's him?" Esuma asked, right before her eyes widened as the answer dawned on her. "You mean… the man who was here? Who just tried to…" she trailed off, too angry to continue talking, and plastered her hands on her mouth to keep herself from screaming in fury.

Snake Eyes nodded and for lack of anything else to hit that wouldn't make noise and thus alert some nurse or doctor, he punched the foot of Storm Shadow's bed, his face still twisted in anger.

/* He made me take this oath, he's been urging me on ever since… he was determined to make me kill you, */ he signed, addressing his sword brother. /* He didn't hate you less than the Hard Master, he was constantly telling me and everyone else how terrible you were and everything bad you did! */

Storm Shadow frowned, finally starting to share his companions anger despite what he suspected was a lot of pain killers mellowing him out.

"He made you take this oath?" Esuma asked, her voice barely recognizable in her anger. "Break it. TALK. You can't let him have any influence on you anymore!"

/* I… the oath was not FOR him, */ Snake Eyes argued, shaking his head.

"Yes, it was!" Esuma snarled. "It was part of his scheme to make sure you remained determined to kill Tommy! What good is it otherwise? What's the point of not talking? If not for that oath, you two may have sorted this out a lot sooner! TALK! Stop listening to that… that murderer!"

/* It was MY idea, */ Snake Eyes protested. /* I wanted to be silent so I'd listen better, because I had failed to pick up on Tommy's intentions… */

Snake Eyes's fingers slowed noticeably as he went and eventually closed in together as his hands clenched into fists.

"Well of course you didn't! There was nothing to…" Esuma started. She stopped when Storm Shadow put a hand on her arm and signaled her to wait.

Snake Eyes had his head low, shaking in anger. He had been silent for his whole life as expiation for not picking up on clues that had never been there in the first place. The Soft Master had even hinted him towards it, coaxed him towards what he had thought had been his idea, and encouraged him to make the blurted out promise of a guilt-ridden child into an official, honor-bond vow, just to help ensure he wouldn't talk to his brother, or anyone else for that matter, anyone that might have helped him see through the deception.

And the part that stung the most was that he had no right to feel sorry for himself when he wasn't the one who had grown up on the streets, kicked out from his rightful home and place, and been hunted down as a murderer for most of his life.

"You…" his voice caught in his throat and he coughed. He cleared his throat, took a sip from the glass of water on Tommy's bedside tray, cleared his throat again and turned to Esuma again.

"You're right," he said. "A vow made by a child to a manipulative traitor and murderer is not valid."

Esuma blushed in spite of herself: Snake Eyes voice was deep and pure all at once, strength, power, control and goodness personified.

Snake Eyes did not notice. He turned to Storm Shadow next and, much to his sword brother's shock, knelt.

"What are you doing?" Storm Shadow asked, edging away as though Snake Eyes had gone insane and might do anything.

"Taking a new oath," Snake Eyes replied, keeping his eyes low. "I hereby swear loyalty to my clan Master, the rightful Heir of the Arashikage."