The New Ninja (Ninja Assassin Fanfic.)

Chapter 3: The New Vigilante

"You can't be serious." The dark blue ninja looked at me. 

"Aoi is right. You can't go back just to die. I don't think you should be punished." Kinshiro tapped his pipe, emptying the ashes. "You don't seem like a bad person to me."

"Can you really make that assumption of someone who was sent to kill you?" I  straightened my back, realizing that I had been seeming weak in front of others. If I was planning on going back home, I wanted to be able to hold my head high. I was the best ninja in the village. I couldn't be seen like this.

"Ooo I like that bravery." The man in the dark purple spoke to me, smiling. He didn't sound sarcastic and looked at me slightly impressed.

"I am not weak. I will not allow myself to be seen as such." I saw them all begin to regard me with a slight uncertainty. "I made my choice to come here in the first place. I had a momentary lapse in judgment when I decided to go against my village. My village is the only thing I should follow. I should not have doubted them."

That's right. I was wrong. Regardless of how nice someone was, I acted against my village. I was wrong. 

"Are you sure it's you who was wrong?" Soji spoke to me, looking me in the eyes. "Can you honestly say that? One hundred percent?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I couldn't say I was completely certain that I was the wrong one. Soji took my silence as a cue to keep going.

"You have clearly doubted their decisions. You doubted this one. Do you really want to go back if you can't trust them fully?" He looked into my eyes and I didn't sense any ill intent from him. He seemed serious.

"He's right." Aoi stepped next to Soji. "The rules you grow up believing are right, aren't always. Trust me when I say that. If you go back just to be killed as a traitor, it would be stupid."

"I don't really have any other option. My life is there. If I leave, I would have no where and no one. I would rather die than be left out all alone." I looked away from them.

"And what if you had a place to go? Would you be able to leave your village then if you felt you needed to? You can stay here." Kinshiro spoke up now.

"Here?" I raised my eyebrow. "You'd let me live here after what I tried to do?"

"Why not? Are you going to try it again?" I shook my head instantly and he smiled. "Then that settles it! You can also join the vigilantes. We'll make sure you stay safe while you're here. We look out for each other."

"Oh this is wonderful! I'm so happy to have you joining us!" Hotaka hugged me again.

"Glad to have you part of the team." The dark purple ninja smiled. "I'm Sion Iseya. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice meeting you too." 

"My name is Soji. I work as a constable during the day." Soji spoke next.

Next was Aoi who told me he worked as a hairdresser.

"My name is Wakasa. I'm a doctor, I have a clinic here in town." The ninja in brown smiled kindly at me.

"Never met a doctor before. It's nice to meet your acquaintance. Sorry it had to be under these circumstances." I bowed to him and he chuckled, scratching his cheek in a bashful manner.

"I'm Natsume." The ninja with the dark grey scarf spoke, not looking at me.

Sion chuckled and pat him on the back. "What he meant to add to that was, he is an author and owns a library. But he is very shy around pretty girls like you." 

"Hey! Don't tell her that!" Natsume's face flushed as he glared at Sion. I found myself grinning at their banter, clearly seeing the friendship between them.

"So? What do you say? You can even stay here until you think things over." Kinshiro again offered me a place.

"O-OK..." I bit my lip as I said that, fighting against every instinct I had that was screaming for me not to betray my village. I knew I was making the right choice but it was still hard for me.

"Excellent! You can keep the room I showed you earlier. Would you like to introduce yourself to us?" Kinshiro smiled kindly.

"My name is Keomi. I'm from a small village about a week's journey from here. I am next in line to be chief and this man right here," I nudged Gou with my foot. "Is Gou. My fiance..."

"Your fiance? Even after he hit you?" Aoi looked between us in shock.

I nodded. "It was arranged. Not my choice. At all. This is going to put a damper on our whole happy future though." I shrugged lightly.

"You don't need a man who doesn't treat you right." Sion wrapped his arm around my shoulder and Aoi rolled his eyes.

"Here we go." He walked over and lifted Sion's arm off me.

"So what should we do with the fiance?" Hotaka pushed into Gou stomach with his foot.

"We'll leave him outside of the city. Whatever he decides to do after that is up to him." Kinshiro looked at the man on the ground. The others nodded and a couple lifted him and the others went to scout to make sure the way was clear. That left me alone with Kinshiro.

"I'm sorry..." I looked down, unsure of what to say. I felt a sudden warmth on my head and looked up, seeing Kinshiro smiling kindly at me. His hand was stroking my head.

"I already told you, it's OK. We all make mistakes. You learned from yours. I will work to prove to you that you made the correct decision in not killing me. I promise you won't regret this." I blushed slightly and nodded.

"Thank you. I will do my best to prove myself to you and earn your trust." I knew it was going to be a hard and difficult road, but I was willing if it truly was the best choice.

"How about you get some rest? It's been a long night. We can talk more tomorrow." 

"That sounds good. Thank you, I'll go to sleep." I bowed and headed to the door when I heard Kinshiro stand up.

"I'll walk you back." I accepted his offer and we walked through the halls to my room in silence. I noticed him looking down at me every now and then, but he didn't say anything. 

When we entered my room, I turned to him and bowed again. "Thank you for escorting me back. I really appreciate it."

"No need to thank me. I enjoy spending time with you." Again he placed his hand on my head. "Have a good night. Sweet dreams, Keomi. We'll talk in the morning."

"I look forward to it. Good night, Kinshiro. Sleep well." I smiled softly at him and he left. I took off my kimono and was standing in my underclothes. I put of the lantern and crawled onto the futon, pulling the blanket up as I fell into a dreamless sleep, feeling worried about my decision to leave my village and join the vigilantes.