CHAPTER I: The Young Shadow

"1!....2!.....3!...." shouted the 8 year old boy while swinging a wooden sword in his hand in an awkward position.

The kendo instructor noticed this and yelled, " execute proper posture boy or you'll lose bal-"

"THUD!" as he fell to the floor before the instructor could even finish his sentence.

Everyone inside the dojo laughed. It was a small kendo dojo for children who aspire to be ninjas.

" Sora, it's been two months since you started your kendo training but you still cant excute properly", said the instructor.

One child interrupts while grinning and said, " yeah, just give up on becoming a ninja and do your chores slave boy. "

Suddenly a young girl bolted in and slaps the child using a paper fan.

" Sora is not a slave!" she shouted angrily while continuously slapping him, " my father adopted him so he's part of our family!"

" Princess Kagura! " exclaimed the instructor.

" Kagura! Stop it!" said Sora while grabbing her from behind.

Sora bowed for forgiveness and dragged Kagura out of the dojo with him.

" I just cant stand them treating you that way!" she said walking down the stairs.

" It's okay, I'm used to it" he replied.

Kagura stood still and watched him frowning. " Hey!Cheer up! The festival is tonight remember?"

Sora nodded and looked at Kagura with a smirk on his face , " Yeah, and I get to see you dance that awkward dance again".

Kagura blushed and smacked him with the paper fan, " Just go and prepare for the festival!".

The Onmyouji clan were ther first inhibitors of the land before the ninja God decided to create his order in this certain village. Once every year the Onmyouji family, masters of ying ang yang arts, hosts a festival in memory of the great Seimei performing the ritual of sealing 100 spirits inside an umbrella and saved the whole village. Future generations study the ying and yang arts and do the seal again every year to prevent the spirits from coming out. Kagura is the only daughter of Reo, the current head of the family, and with the age of 10 has showed the most potential in the art.

" You can visit the stalls and enjoy now that ritual is over, Kagura and Sora ", Reo said, " Just come home before 10".

"Okay father ", she said while smiling.

" Yes sir " , said Sora, bowed and walked to the stalls with Kagura.

The next day, Kagura was awakened by the sound of Sora leaving while carrying big fishing rods. It was a saturday and Sora wanted to suprise the palace chef with a fish that he freshly caught, so Kagura followed her.

Kagura was surprised when she found out that Sora was planning to fish in the sea rather than in ther rivers.

" What are you doing here?" she asked.

The surprised Sora replied " Um, just fishing."

" Why here? Would'nt it be easier to fish in the rivers?"

" Well, yeah, but they said that fishes in these areas are bigger." he explained while reeling the fishing rod down.

" Oh, I see, well, see you back in the palace." she said.

" I think I got one!" Sora exclaimed.

" Really?" Kagura looked back.

Suddenly, the line was pulled with a very strong force that dragged Sora to the water.

"SORA!!!" she shouted not knowing what to do.

Sora refusing to let go of the rod, was pulled to the bottom of the ocean by a fish the size of 15 men. But before fainting, he saw a masked man slashed the gut of the fish and passed out.

" Sora! Sora! Wake up Sora!" cried Kagura.

Sora slowly opened his eyes while spitting out seawater, " What happened?".

"You almost died you idiot!" she cried while hugging him.

" How am I alive?", he asked.

A man in a Happi attire and Geta sandals replied, " I saved you kid."

Sora remembered that there was a man that killed the giant fish.

"Thank you mister", he said while forcing to sit down.

" No, thank you!" he replied while standing beside the giant fish that almost killed Sora.

" Thanks to you, I don't have to go fishing for these bad boys. You found one for me!"

He was shocked seeing the giant fish thinking how did it end up ashore.

" I owe you big time kid", he said.

Sora asked, " What are you going to do with the fish anyway?

" I'm a sushi vendor kid", he said, " and it so happened that this fish has the best meat for my new sushi recipe!"

" So you pulled the fish out of the water?", Sora asked.

" He did", kagura said, " I was surprised when I saw him dragging you and this giant fish out of the water."

" Really!? Wow, you must be very strong mister!", Sora exclaimed.

"Not really, I trained myself for these types of activities", he replied, " you got a pure black pupil for an eye and but you got a blonde hair, you must be a child from the shadow frac, but a little different."

She looks at Kagura, " Hmm, White silky hair, pale white skin and grey eyes, you must be a member of the onmyouji family and a royal blood".

" How can you tell?" Kagura asked, " Do you live in the village mister? But you don't seem have a pure black pupil nor scarlet colored pupil and you surely don't come from our clan because I dont recognize you".

"No, no, I live in the land of the Dawn. I own a sushi restaurant there", he replied, " I come here every weekend to catch fish. Fishes here have the greatest qualities."

"Mister!", Sora shouted, " Please let me be you apprentice!!"

The sushi vendor and Kagura were shocked and left speechless.

" I know you are really strong, I saw you killing that fish while underwater. Please consider my request".

" Hey, hey, kiddo, I'm not a teacher. I'm a sushi vendor for crying out loud." he replied.

Sora knelt down and bowed his head, " Please mister! I want to be strong!"

" Why kid? Why is it so important to you to be strong?", he replied, " I noticed you never let go of the rod even if the fish dragged you all the way down. What's motivating you to do this stunt?"

" Ten years ago", he said, " My town was destroyed by the betrayer shadow and killed my parents. That's what Sir Reo told me."

The sushi vendor rose his eyebrows, " So you plan on killing him?"

" Yes!" he replied with a straight face, " I'll defeat him and become the Scarlet Shadow Grandmaster!"

After a brief moment of silence, the sushi vendor replied, " Okay, but only if you passed my test."

" What test?" he asked.

" Show me one shadow skill and if you can I'll be your mentor". he replied.

While in shock he asked," How did you know about our shadow talent mister?"

" Well, I've been around here alot. It's normal to learn a thing or two about you ninjas." he explained not giving eye contact, " well, show me then??"

" Okay", Sora replied, " Can I borrow your knife?"

" Sure, knock yourself out." replied the sushi master.

Standing perfectly still, he threw the knife to a boulder by the sea, but merely grazes it, " Shadow Art: Phantom Knife!"

Suddenly, a black shadow attached from Sora extended to the knife and grabbed it making the knife return to him.

" That's the best I got for now", Sora said.

" Good show Sora!", Kagura shouted.

" Not bad for a kid", said the sushi vendor while taking the knife.

He gipped the knife and throw it at the left side of the boulder, " Shadow Art: Phantom Knife!"

He grabbed the knife with his shadow, pulled it to the right and slashed the giant boulder in half.

" Wow!" both kids exclaimed.

" Okay, I'll teach you kid, but promise me to only use these skills for the right purposes", he explained.

" Yes master!" Sora replied.

Week after week, Sora trained with the sushi vendor. He steadily shown his improvement in classes impressing all the instructors and students in his class.

-end of chapter 1-