Chapter 1 - Life of Ryo

Ryo was seriously considering leaving the village, for good. He'd lived there all his life, and there was a huge part of him that was beginning to feel like he had learned all he was ever going to learn there. Sure, he had friends there - and you would think that they would be enough to put him off leaving - but he wanted more. He wanted to go out and live his life, and he wanted to be out from the dark cloud he was under. He wanted freedom.

As he and Kaa, his best friend, climbed the many steps towards the Ninja Academy, Ryo began to contemplate his future, as both a man and a ninja. It was something he often did, and his silence worried his friend, who was never sure what was going on in his head. As they walked up the stairs to the Academy in silence, Ryo glanced at his friend. Noticing the worry strewn across her face, he reached out and began to play with her long brown hair, and forced a smile. He could see the sadness in her deep blue eyes, and a part of him knew he had something to do with it.

"What's on today then?" Ryo smiled, as he burst through the door to the academy.
Yuan looked at him, worriedly. He knew that Ryo would want to start practising as soon as possible, for the coming exam, and he was still carrying the bruises from their last "practice". He appreciated Ryo's efforts to improve his skill - and was still quite suprised that he was putting effort in to pass his exam - but didn't think he could survive another round, and in a desperate attempt to distract Ryo, and give him enough time to escape, he came up with a devious plan that was sure to work.
"Look! Chicken noodle soup's half price!"
"It is?" Ryo turned his read round, confused as to why soup would even be sold in a classroom.
It took him a few seconds to realise that he had been tricked, and Kaa simply giggled at the spectacle, as she watched him chase after the fleeing Yuan, threatening him with fates worth than death if he didn't train with him.

"That's just boys for you, eh?"
Kaa didn't even have to look, she recognised the voice.
"Just boys? Or just Ryo?" she smiled as he turned to greet her friend.
Faan and Kaa had never been extremely close, but they had gained a mutual respect, and a certain degree of friendship over the years, mainly due to their similar relationships with Ryo. The girls were very similar, and yet also very different. While they both had equal amounts of skill in the ways of the kunoichi, they both gave varying degrees of effort towards their studies. Faan had never been too enthusiastic, but her raw talent made up for it; Kaa on the other hand worked hard to achieve her skill.

Kaa and Faan simply watched, as Ryo and Yuan danced, their swords glittering in the sunlight. Kaa lacked their confidence, and as she watched she wondered if she would ever be able to fight like them. Her father sent her to the Academy a long time ago, but she had yet to really learn anything more than the basics, and it was beginning to get her down. She was constantly worrying that she would never become a great kunoichi, like her mother. Her doubts were temporarily forgotten, however, as Ryo flung himself onto the seat next to the her, smiling. She found it strange, that his mood could change so quickly from that of sadness to happiness, and as she watched him , breathing heavily after his vigorous training, she couldn't help but wonder just how genuine his smile really was.

"Surely you're not done already?" Faan teased.
"I'm not, but I think Yuan is" Ryo grinned, pointing towards his exhausted friend.
Yuan stumbled towards them, panting, and slouched himself on the chair next to Faan. She grinned at his sorry state, and as she did he stopped slouching, and suddenly became very upright, holding his stomach in. Ryo smirked, and nudged Kaa, pointing at the two. Kaa wasn't quite sure what he was getting at, and Ryo decided it would be too hard to explain without letting Faan and Yuan know what he was talking about.
Yuan groaned in pain, "I think I'm getting too old for this", he sighed.
Ryo gestured towards Yuan and Faan once again, even more emphatically, not noticing that by this point Faan had turned around, and his three friends were all staring at him with bemused looks on their faces. Embarrassed, he slumped back down into his chair, having given up on explaining to Kaa what he was hinting at.

~

As they left the Academy, Faan forced herself between Ryo and Kaa, grabbing them both by their arms. She flashed a suspiciously big smile at them, and Ryo knew something was coming , while Kaa was blissfully unaware.
"Sooo..." She started, before leaving a long awkward silence.
"So?" Ryo said, almost angrily. Pulling his arm away from her.
"Well, you see the thing is..." She started, "There was something I was wanting to talk to you about. And you too Kaa"
Kaa nodded at her, but knew that Faan didn't really want to speak to her; it was probably some big secret.
"I can't really talk about it here though, but could we meet up later? And you too Kaa"
Again, Kaa nodded. Almost becoming irritated at how Faan simply dropped her name at the end of her sentences.
"The thing is - "
"You fancy someone?" Ryo butted in.
Faan stared at him, with a mixture of shock and disgust on her face. How the hell did he work it out so quickly?
"I think he likes you too, Faan. Have you seen the way he looks at you?", Ryo gestured at her, in a similar way to earlier.
Faan stared at him confused. He had barely ever looked at her before, barely spoken to her. Unless...
"Anyway, I'll have to speak later, I need to get home early tonight, to prepare for tomorrow" Ryo stated, matter-of-factly, before jogging of, leaving Faan, horrified that she'd have to wait to find out what he had been talking about.

Ryo galloped home at a brisk pace. The walk to his home could sometimes be quite short, but his sense of direction had always been terrible - and he had a tendency to get lost. He knew he was meant to get home early, but chances of that actually happening were slim. He stumbled through the woods, attempting to keep vaguely north, but was never sure if he was going in the right direction or not. He wondered why nobody had ever put signs through the forest, to help people who got easily lost - like himself - traverse through the forest with less difficulty. After a minute of pondering, he came to the conclusion that one day he would put signs down in the forest, and would never get lost again. He would put lots of little wooden signs all over the forest, and soon everyone would be able to go through the forest with minimal effort.

Suddenly, in the middle of his little daydream, Ryo realized that he was being watched, and spun round. A cloaked stranger was behind him, and Ryo had the feeling that he had been following him for quite some time.
"Who are you?", Ryo enquired curiously, with a hint of apprehension in his voice.

~

"I wonder where Ryo is?" Kaa enquired, the next morning - on the day of the exam.
Faan looked at Kaa. Both of them were worried, Ryo was meant to meet them the night before, but never turned up. She knew Ryo could handle himself, but she was beginning to fear for him.
"I'm sure he's perfectly fine Kaa", she lied. She put her hand on her lap comfortingly, "He'll be here any minute. I'm sure of it".
Kaa smiled, but Faan wasn't sure whether she believed her or not. Maybe she wanted to believe her? She knew that Ryo and Kaa had been friends for a very long time, and she was sure that Kaa would be distraught if anything was to happen to him. She so wanted to make Kaa feel better, but wasn't sure what to do. And she still wasn't sure that anything bad had happened.
"Maybe he just got lost?", She offered.