Reduced to Ashes

Chapter 1

His men had their orders, leaving Hanzo with little to do but wait. That is not to say that his time went wasted. In the days he waited other business was taken care of under his guidance. Debts were collected, several meetings took place, and plenty of time was spared for practice and meditation. Hanzo had all of this done while suppressing his ever growing displeasure with the Shimada clan elders. Hanzo was now the head of the clan after the death of his father, and his father he most certainly was not. He refused to run his clan under the same overly strict methods that had led to his brothers disgrace and near death. Those same methods that had forced his hand to shed his brother's blood. Never again would a direct relative be forced to end their own blood. Hanzo would not allow anyone else to carry the burden that weighed his chest, elders wishes be d*mned. There was much to be done on this front however, and it would take great time and subtlety to do so without losing his own neck. Until that day came, Hanzo had little to do but try to regain the honor of his falling clan and wait for his men to arrive with his prize.

Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Hanzo made his way to the range. Practice had always helped him to relax and to bond further with his dragons. Stepping into the open clearing he allowed himself a moment to simply enjoy the feeling of the sunlight on his skin and the gentle tugging of the wind in his hair. The moment quickly ended when he shifted his stance. An arrow was pulled from his quiver and the bowstring was pulled back. Hanzo allowed his eyes to drift slightly to the trees, watching the mostly bare branches dance in the wind. The sakura would bloom soon but not yet. Smoothly shifting his gaze back to his target Hanzo released a breath he had been holding, the arrow imbedding itself in the center of the target before he managed to inhale again. The entire process, taking less than a second, was repeated several times until nearly every target on the premise held at least three arrows clustered in the center. He refrained from splitting arrows, as it was a gross waste of resources. An act he refused to delve into without proper reason. Notching another arrow he wasted little time in pulling the string back, only for his attention to be snatched by a gentle knocking. When he turned he was met with one of the house servants. The elder daughter of a smaller branch of the family, a beautiful and loyal young woman at the age of sixteen.

"Shimada-sama, the team has returned. They have successfully acquired your guest and are waiting to meet with you." She reported, eyes cast downward at his feet as her rank required.

"Thank you, Izumi-chan." He responded, gently replacing the bowstring to its original position and placing the arrow back into the quiver. "Have someone gather my arrows." he ordered before striding from the courtyard. He had a guest to greet after all.

~~~

When Hanzo arrived at the exterior courtyard he was immediately frustrated to find only three of the five men he had sent standing at the ready. His annoyance only grew with the lacking presence of the objective of their mission.

"I certainly hope you have an explanation for your lacking numbers, and perhaps an even better explanation for your lacking objective." His men immediately reacted, straightening and glancing amongst themselves as if electing the poor lad to speak. After a moment one of them spoke up.

"The others are, uh, still in the car. The target was still asleep upon our arrival..." He trailed off, wincing slightly at his words.

"I said minimal harm," Hanzo growled, "yet they are still unconscious? Are you incapable of restraint?"

"You misunderstand!" another spoke up quickly. "They are just taking a nap, of free will. After we separated her from their base of operations and insured she were shut off from contact they became rather compliant..." Hanzo raised an eyebrow at the man's words as he stepped past them, moving the conversation closer to the vehicles.