Chapter 2 Mission.

Shiro followed after Akira, closing the Kondo doors softly.

"Careful, Shiro." He heard his father say. He nodded to himself and retrieved his sheathed ninjato from the doorpost, and with a familiar motion, he swung it onto his back, securing it to the leather strap that crisscrossed his shoulder blades.

It was a rule that anyone entering the clan lord's kondo must leave their ninjatos outside the doors, as a sign of respect. The only exception was Hanzo himself, he could carry his ninjato wherever he wished.

Akira picked up his own ninjato and fastened it behind him to a buckle just below his waist. There wasn't exactly a rule for how ninjas wore their ninjatos. They were allowed to wear it however they found convenient. Shiro wore his the way his father did.

"Master Akira!"

"Master Akira!!"

Akira grumbled to himself, ignoring the cheerful greetings of the Kage ninjas who hoped to be on good terms with him. None were offended at his cold response, they instead looked unkindly at Shiro, who they thought must have offended him.

Shiro gulped and ignored them all. His grandfather had asked that he follow Akira to hunt down the outlaws, and he didn't have much choice. If he did, he wouldn't be anywhere near Akira. He turned his attention to the vast surroundings of the Kage clan's base.

The clan's base was situated on a hill, almost two thousand feets above ground level. The hill spanned for over two kilometers, and the Kage clan sure put the huge space to good use, filling it with several Kondos and dojos, and the clan lord's grand yashiki which stood in the middle of the hill.

There were even medicinal herbs grown all around, and they thrived excellently. Livestocks like sheeps and goats were also reared. The beautiful surroundings, and the paranomic views of the country side valley made the Kage clan's base seem like a haven for angels. Shiro never got tired of loosing himself in its beauty.

"Where's Koji??" Akira asked no one in particular.

"He's training in the dojo, master Akira." A Ninja answer immediately. "Shall I go get him?"

"At once." Akira said.

Koji was among the few ninjas in the clan he was fond of. He was really strong, and was about the same age as Akira.

While the ninja went to fetch Koji, Akira turned to Shiro.

" I don't care what grandfather says, but I'm not babysitting you. If you get in my way, I can't guarantee that you wouldn't get slashed." He warned.

Shiro smiled, "Well as long as you don't use shadow attacks on me, I'll be fine."

If there was one thing Shiro could boast of, it was his quick reflexes. So far he could see an attack, he could avoid it. He was that good. Perhaps nature had given him that as compensation since he didn't have talent for shadow Gi.

Akira's eyes twitched in irritation on seeing the smile on Shiro's face. He wondered what was so amusing to him, and so much wanted to slash the smile off with his ninjato. But he knew Shiro would only dodge it. Well, except he used shadow Gi. Shadow attacks were very much unpredictable. But again, he didn't have reason to attack Shiro. Especially around Hanzo's Yashiki. He could get punished.

"Tsk!" He sighed in irritation and looked away.

"You sent for me, Akira." A voice broke the tension.

Akira and Shiro turned to see a lanky youth holding his ninjato on his shoulder. He wasn't too tall, about a hundred and seventy five centimeters, Shiro's height exactly.

Koji had a smile on his face and his hair looked rough, like he had just been in a fight.His face looked calm but determined.

"Koji, clan lord has given us a mission, as ordered by the Ryujin clan. We're to go exterminate outlaws hiding on the outskirts of the country." Akira went straight to the point.

When talking to relatives or descendants, he called him grandfather. But with other Kage ninjas, he addressed him as the clan lord.

"Is that so? Goodnews then. I've been dying for some action. " Kogi said. Then he turned to Shiro and smiled. "Hey Shiro,"

"Hello." Shiro replied curtly.

Koji was a free spirit and was in good relationship with almost everyone. Shiro's defect wasn't a problem, he treated him well.

"They gave no exact location, so we'll be heading to stone valley. The other clans are probably waiting for us there." Akira said.

Stone valley was an ancient battle ground in the middle of Ninshu. There had been no development on it so it was mostly used as a rendezvous for clan assignments.

"Let's get going then, I can't wait." Koji said.

Akira took a deep breath, then began sprinting down the hill. Koji followed immediately behind him, with Shiro at the last.

The trio moved swiftly like the wind, with Akira at the lead. They continued their sprint for about thirty minutes, till they reached the clan's gate at the bottom of the hill.

Upon sighting them, the ninjas stationed down at the gates swung them open, cheering for the success of their mission.

Shiro felt the cool breeze brush past his face as he ran, and tried to remember the last time he left the clan's base. It has to be weeks — or months... He couldn't remember. He wasn't really assigned to many missions.

Akira saw Shiro far behind him, and was satisfied. He only had to worry about Koji catching up to him.

Koji, who was some distance away from Shiro, slowed down a bit to talk to him.

"Sorry Shiro, but I can't let Akira beat me in this race. I'll be going ahead now."

"It's no problem." Shiro didn't really mind. He was only running to the rendezvous point, and wasn't interested in any race. Also, he was beginning to feel tired. He didn't need extra stress.

"Try not to fall too far behind." Koji said and shot forward in a huge burst of speed, steadily closing the gap between him and Akira.

Shiro saw this and thought how nice it was to use shadow Gi.

Akira turned and saw Koji closing in on him. He sneered an increased his speed even more, with Koji doing the same.

Soon, they had left Shiro far behind in their dust, but neither bothered about that. They were both too engrossed in their competition. They continued sprinting with each trying to outrun the other.

Finally, stone valley was in sight, after over an hour of sprinting. Akira could see other clan ninjas waiting for them. He reached their spot and stopped to catch his breath. Koji came after him seconds later, breathing heavily.

"You're a tough one Akira, but someday I'm going to surpass you." Koji said panting.

"Big dreams you've got." Akira sneered. "It's a hundred years too soon for..."

Akira stopped his speech as a shuriken came soaring speedily towards him and Koji's direction.

Koji was alarmed, and prepared to slash it with his ninjato, but Akira stepped forward and caught the shuriken effortlessly with his hand.

Then looking towards the person who had thrown it, he asked coldly, " What is the meaning of this?"

The person who had thrown the Shuriken was a young man that looked to be in his early thirties. He was dressed in golden shozoku and had his ninjato strapped to his waist. He stood with his arms behind him as though he hadn't just thrown the Shuriken, and had an air of arrogance around him.

Although Akira knew he was from the Ryujin clan, he still couldn't hide his displeasure.

"You are late, people from the Kage clan." The man said unapologetically. He was inwardly impressed that Akira had caught his shuriken, and quite effortlessly at that. He knew the level of strength and speed he had put in his throw. He couldn't help but acknowledge Akira's strength.

"And you intend to harm us because we are?" Akira's frown deepened."If we're late, it's cause message reached us late."

He walked forward slowly. Depending on the man's answer, he was prepared to teach him a lesson or two. Akira also noticed he was the only Ryujin clan member around. The rest clans were in two's or three's.

Behind him, Koji stood firmly. He would support Akira, regardless of any action he took.

The man saw this and smiled, "My name is Kenji Ryujin, and I'm in charge of this mission. It's a misunderstanding for you to think I planned to harm you. As the leader here, I don't see it as a problem to check the capabilities of the people that'll be working under me." He stated.

Akira stopped on hearing this, but the frown still didn't leave his face. He raised the shuriken he held in his hand. "If that's the case, I believe I have misunderstood you then."

Kenji nodded.

"But," Akira continued, "This shuriken belongs to you, so you can have it back." Then without warning, he flunged the shuriken towards Kenji at a great speed.

Kenji was startled, as he did not expect Akira to throw back the shuriken. He wanted to catch it and look cool as Akira had done, but the Shuriken was too fast and blurry for him to see. Akira had used shadow Gi for the throw.