2 Chapter 1: An Unlikely Mission

In a training hall, at a dojo, sat a man with brown hair and eyes in a black and gray robe, meditating. In the shadows we sat. We were five ninjas, two of us on the right side of the man. The other two were on the left side of him. I was above him, in the rafters. The man opened his eyes, sensing the danger. The four of them on the left and right side charged after the man. He dodged their hits as I attempted to carry out an offence and aimed for his head. The man perceived the attack and swiftly dodged it. I landed on my feet and charged after him. The other four joined the offense. Then, in a plume of smoke, he was gone. We looked to our left and right. All we could see was the cherry blossom wallpaper and the brown wooden floor. I glanced up. The man was above us! I tried to warn the others, but the man caught all five of us and knocked us out. After a while, we woke up. And he was sitting across from us.

        "Well done, my students." He praised. "You have all progressed greatly as a team."

        "Thank you, Sensei," said Kerin.

        "Thank you, Sensei!" chirped Lila and Lilu in harmony.

        "But as usual, Sensei beat us. Again," Austin groaned.I chuckled softly.

        "Well, you can't expect us to beat Sensei. Or he wouldn't be our "Sensei","  I explained as I undid my black mask.

        "You do have a point," Austin said.

        "Mm-hmm!" When I took off my mask, it revealed spirit white ears and hair with a black stripe down the back. My face was pale with eyes yellow as gold. Then I smiled a bright smile.

        "Riko? You have known Sensei longer than we have," Lila pointed out.

        "Yeah!" Lilu exclaimed. "How come you still can't lay a punch on him?" She asked.

        I sighed. "Like I said, he wouldn't be my master. Plus…" I paused, giving them another happy grin. "I still have a long way to go." I laughed playfully, and soon everyone joined in.

        Just before we went out of the training hall, our sensei, Mitsuo Kai, asked us to stay a little longer for a meeting.

        "What is it, Sensei?" Austin asked.

        "This is about our next mission," He replied. All five of us looked at each other seriously. We all sat down in front of our sensei. He began to say, "Some time soon we will be leaving-"

        I stood up very quickly and burst out. "We will be what?!" The others were surprised as well. But it seems that I was surprised the most. "Why, Sensei?" I ask. Sensei saw the concern in my eyes. I could tell. I remember that day. And he remembers it too. I came up to him and asked him to be my teacher and take me in. After what happened, I was surprised that he said yes. Before we became teacher and student, I was a lost child in need of the right path. Sensei can understand why I'm upset about this.

        He let out a sigh then explained, "I understand how you feel about leaving. But I have yet to finish my statement."

        I hesitated for a second, then sat back down. I took a deep breath then said, "Please continue, Sensei. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn. Forgive me."

        Sensei smiled slightly. "It's alright. As I was saying, we will be leaving home and meet up with a friend of mine, and continue there," he explained. "I will give the rest of the details later." All five of us nodded in agreement, then left the training hall.

        I asked them, "Are you guys sure about leaving?"

        "I don't know," Austin replied.

        "I agree," Kerin said.

        "We've never been outside of our town before-" Lila started.

        "-I wonder what it's like," Lilu finished.

        I chuckled softly. "When you put it like that, I don't mind leaving. Yeah. Let's do our best," I cheer.