A New Start (AU)

5: The Ninja

1 year later...

Hanzo Hasashi resided in the back of the group of Shirai Ryu clansmen. He had not wanted to come along on the task assigned to them. He had been planning to do his daily task of delivering his earned goods to his mother. He knew she was waiting for him to stop by and stay for tea.

He had tried to stay behind, but once the Grandmaster had mentioned the chance to earn more goods, he could not resist. He was more than happy to get those items and leave them with his mother. The thought of her worrying about basic necessities and her son's safety just a little less for a good week or so convinced him to take the job. He did not want to keep sprouting anxiety in her heart.

And now, he was here, running on the surfaces of rooftops as his group tried to reach the destination point.

Hanzo, along with the other clan members, had been assigned the task of assassinating someone. An anonymous person had delivered a large document slip to their temple, leaving a thick stack of money and a note inside.

The note had asked for the assassination of a man who lived in a dinky apartment not too far from where Hanzo's mother lived. The man had been causing chaos in the area, including violence and tyrannical rule over the residents in the area.

Hanzo felt that something was off with this case. They had never been asked to perform an assassination for such a large sum of money. The price was odd to him, but he knew that this money would be the thing paying for his food, as well as the supplies he wanted for his mother. He could not complain much, despite the urge still in the back of his head.

The Grandmaster sent him and the few others that evening to the location. However, instead of taking a bus like usual, Hanzo and his group took a car instead, as the location from the temple to the city was still quite a bit far.

It had taken a few hours before they had finally arrived at the rather small city Hanzo was familiar with. It was a region where apartment complexes and 2-story business-run buildings thrived.

The group had decided on taking the rooftops as a way of traveling quickly, yet also as a way of being kept relatively out of plain sight.

Once in a while, Hanzo would turn his head around a bit, looking behind himself using his peripheral vision. He felt his gut tingle a bit, as if something wasn't right. The only explanation he had was that he was worried of being found by their rival clan, the Lin Kuei. The group had had members being sighted around Japan for some unknown reason.

Hanzo felt that he was not ready to be killed if it unfortunately came to that situation. He still had a reason to keep fighting. His mother still needed him.

He could not ponder on that terrible scenario at the moment anymore. His attention was brought back to the task at hand. The group still kept on going, though they seemed to have slowed down a bit. Not too long after, someone at the front shot his hand up, his hand opened. The group stopped abruptly, waiting for the group leader to give another command.

Again, his gut tingled with a bubbling anxiety. Something truly wasn't right.

"Go..." The member whispered to Hanzo, his hand waving in front of his face. He quickly recovered back to attention, following after his team.

He was ready to go inside the apartment room, but the sound of gravel crunching under small footsteps made him stop. Now, his stomach boiled with worry.

"There is nobody here!" He heard his partner shout out. Instantly, he began to make connections in his head. The footsteps and the missing target meant-