Ninja Love: Saizo Kirigakure

Chapter 6

With Saizo's swift pace, the two of us reached the edge of town before we could be stopped or questioned by the authorities or any curious passersby. We were a good distance past the tree line when finally put me down. I only got to look around the cool, green forest for a moment before Saizo lit into me.

"You idiot!" he seethed, "You could have been killed! Worse than that, you've blown whatever little shroud of discretion we had. If- no, when word about this reaches Nobunaga, questions will be raised, and witnesses will be interrogated. I can guarantee you, by this time tomorrow, Nobunaga will know who we are and what we look like. He'll have warrants put out, and the entire country will be looking for us," he took a deep breath and added, "and if anything had happened to you back there, Master Hanzo would have had my head served up on a silver platter."

The entire time, I had stood silently taking whatever Saizo had to throw at me. It was the biggest emotional display I had ever seen from him, and even if the emotion was anger, it was still intriguing. When I realized that he wasn't yet through ranting and railing against me, I dusted myself and tuned out, settling for simply watching him as he spoke.

His tone was angry, that much was understandable. As he rambled on, I noticed that he held his hands stiff at his sides, clenching and unclenching them over and over as if he was trying to control himself from knocking me flat on the ground. In his evident rage, his deep aqua eyes stared me down with a fiery glare, never wavering from my face. I hadn't noticed how they clouded over when he got worked up, or the way the colors seemed to swirl together; a storm in his eyes that mirrored the words from his mouth.

Those eyes... I've seen them before, but where?

I shook my head, the beginnings of a migraine making its pulsing presence known at my temples.

"Saizo," I cut him off mid sentence, "I understand that my actions were foolish, but that woman was pregnant! If I didn't help her, who would? You?"

Saizo glared at me in irritated silence for a moment, but then spoke in a low, controlled and calculated tone, "Don't you ever speak of me like that."

he raised his hand abruptly, and I prepared myself to be smacked squarely in the face like my careless words had practically begged for. His hand came down and I flinched instinctively. I closed my eyes, but no smarting sting came, only a rough and hard pinch on my arm.

I tentatively opened my eyes, and connected my gaze with Saizo, who was harshly staring me down.

"Next time, I'll treat your actions as they call for; princess or not," he gave me one last menacing glower and turned away to continue down the path, not waiting for a reply.

I followed him at a safe distance. I watched the wind blow through his dark hair and recalled the sharp tone he spoke to me with.

I believed every word he said.

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Dusk settled in the forest, lending it a spooky air that it had not possessed during the daytime. My legs had been pushed long past their limits, but I dared not say anything to Saizo. He hadn't said a word to me since the earlier lecture.

It was nearing sunset by the time we finally reached a spot that Saizo deemed suitable to spend the night in: a large cavern in the face of a portion of the mountain.

"We'll stop here for the night," Saizo halted his march abruptly, nearly causing me to collide with him in the waning light. I peeked around him, skeptical.

"A cave?" my thoughts drifted back to the temple I had called home for so many years. No one there would ever claim to have the best luxuries life could offer, but at least we had actual beds.