The next morning, I wake up, but my heart feels heavy. I've said horrible things to my father and I may have changed the way he views me. I needed to find my father and apologize for my behavior last night. While I was getting dressed, my mother came into my room and I embraced her.

"You and your father, had quite the argument last night my dear." she said to me.

"Mother, do you know where papa is?" I ask her.

"He is near the waterfall, why?" I then turn around towards the door and I softly reply, "I am going to apologize to him."

I then head off towards the waterfall of my Village. It is filled with the majestic sounds of traquility. I see my father meditating on a rock, in a total state of calm.

"It's okay Ako, you can come near me."
I then approach him and I sense that there is remorse in his eyes. I have never seen my father like this. He was always a very proud man, his demeanor never wavered.

"Hello Ako..." he says softly to me.

"Hello papa." I reply.

"What is it you need?" he asks me.

"I came here to apologize, and I have thought about what you said to me. You're maybe right, I can't live a normal life and I accept that, but I am not ready to take my place as the Shogun of Japan." I then bow to him for forgiveness, but he gently places his hand on my cheek instead.

"No Ako. Don't apologize, I understand. You are the most important thing in my life, without you I am empty, but if I keep you here... I would be dishonoring the true way of the ninja." he hands me a golden jewel, it glows as bright as the sun and burns with light.

"That, is for whenever you are ready... Ready to forge your own destiny." my father tells me. he hands me a bag of rice cakes and I  have this look of confusion on my face.

"What is this for?" I ask him.

"Your journey." he replies to me.

"Where are you sending me?" I question him.

"I am sending you away, it is time... Time for you to find your own path in this world. Wherever it leads you, I hope and pray, that it leads you to happiness." he then kisses me on my forehead and he says, "Just remember, I am sorry for breaking your heart last night and know that I will always love you, my brave little Ako."

A tear fairly falls out of my eye and I hug my father tight.

"I love you too papa..." I then give him a solemn bow and he walks with me to the clan grounds. When we get to the grounds, we are shocked to see Hidden Lotus ninjas, at the entrance way.

"What is the meaning of this? You dare come into my home, my clan?!" my father says to the ninjas with bass in his voice.

"Han Kusanagi, my old friend, it has been a long time," A mysterious man walks slowly to the front of the line. He was calm, deliberate and intimidating. His very aura screamed of blackness.

My father looks at me, noticing that I have a kunai in hand, indicating that I am ready to strike. He signals with two of his fingers for me to put the kunai down.

"Ako... Go and find your mother, I must have a chat with this old acquaintance of mine." I nod reluctantly and I go off to find my Mother.

[Han POV]

"How long has it been, since you've last seen my face?" Asks my former student, Orocshon Miyaku. I then form an intense look on my face.

"Thirty Five years and I remember every single one of those days." I reply with a sneer.

"Ah... Are you talking about the days when I was a member of your clan?" Orocshon asks me.

"Yes, also the one day you killed one of your own, to join a band of rebels that have no honor!" I walk up to the ninja, not afraid of the large numbers.

"Even I regret the day that you said your name to me, the day that I took you under my wing. I now only remember you as, Orocshon... The traitor!" Orocshon then walks up to me and he says to my face; "Oh... That's too bad I was hoping that we could reconcile."

I place my hand on my sword and I say, "There is no reconciliation for you! You turned your back on everything you once vowed to uphold!"

Orocshon places his hand on his sword and he says; "So this is what it comes down to? The two leaders, in one final battle... a battle, that you will not walk away from."

[Ako POV]

While my Father was dealing with the situation at the entrance way. I find my mother, with Zizan, in the combat dojo, surrounded by Hidden Lotus ninjas.

"Mother!" I shouted.

"Ako! Stay back, just stay back my sweet!" she said to me with urgency.

"My father told me about your clan, that you act dishonorably!" says Zizan.

"Mind your tounge, Rising Sun dog!" says one of the ninjas.

"You dare talk to my son that way?! Tread carefully!" my mother says with authority.

[Han POV]

I know very well that I am outnumbered, so I then signal for the rest of the Rising Sun ninjas to emerge. When they emerge, I unsheath my sword.

"The odds are against you old friend, as always, I am one step ahead of you. There is an old saying, 'Never outshine the master'." I say to him.

"Oh Han... you are wrong, if you think that I am bluffing, then look up to the heavens..."
I then look up towards the sky and I see a barrage of arrows rain down from the sky. They block out the sun before swooping down to the ground.

"Everybody find cover!" the ninjas then try to take cover from the arrows, but some fail and they are killed instantly as a result. Orocshon then brings in more ninjas and they begin to tear the village apart.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" I quiclky charge at Orocshon and we begin to cross swords with one another. He tries to stab me in the heart, but I block the attempt and I elbow him in the face.

[Ako POV]

While my father was fighting Orocshon, Zizan and my mother, begin to fight the ninjas that surround them.

"Call me a dog? Well, prepare to get bitten!" says Zizan, as he kills one of the ninjas, by splitting him in half with his sword. A ninja  tries to kill me from behind, but I sense him and in one fell swoop, I jump on his shoulders and I use my legs to snap his neck, killing him.

"Ako, find Sia and get her out of here!" orders my mother.

I look at my mother and I say, "What about you and Zizan?"

She then smiles at me and she says, "Don't worry about us, now go!" I nod and I rush off to find Sia, while my mother and Zizan hold off the Hidden Lotus ninjas.

[Orocshon POV]

Han is a very worthy opponent, after all, he taught me everything I know. Buy I picked up a few tricks while I was with the Hidden Lotus clan. I get into a defensive stance and I block all of his incoming attacks. I spin into the air and I kick him in the face, knocking him down.

"You were my master, now I have surpassed you!" Han slowly struggles to his feet, like the weakling he is and fires a beam of energy at me, I then respond in kind, forcing our beams to connect.

After a long struggle, I overpowered Han and the blast sends him flying out of the dojo and back to the clan grounds. Wounded, Han fought and tried to get to a vertical base, but he could not. He was soundly defeated.

"Can't get up can we? Guess I am the last man standing." I say to him with satisfaction. Walking up to him, I grab him by his robe and I repedatley punch him in the face, drawing his blood from his mouth.

"It looks like your end is here old friend, but why should I kill you now? Where's the fun in that? I should at least let you say goodbye, to your loved ones." I then take a chain and I wrap it around Han. I then drag him towards the entrance way, like the dog that he is.

[Myako POV]

Me and Zizan, were still holding off the other Hidden Lotus ninjas. We tried as best we could to fend them off, but they proved to be too much to handle for us. One of the ninjas used ninpo to electrocute me, thus stunning me in the process. I lose my footing, as if the nerve centers in my body were shutting down on me.

"Mom!" Zizan yells, but he is then attacked from behind by ninja and knocked down next to me.

The other Hidden Lotus ninjas start to brutally kick, stomp and beat us both into submission. They then drag us away, like animals on a leash.

[Ako POV]

As I looked for Sia, I watched in horror of the sight of my clansmen being slayed, women being raped and killed and my village being torn apart by these savages.

Suddenly, I look up and I see a barrage of flaming arrows coming down from the sky, like meteors falling in the night. I needed to hurry and find Sia! Moments later, I find Sia killing Hidden Lotus ninjas, with her two staffs. I then give her assistance and she turns to me.

"Ako, What are you doing here?" she asks me.

"Somebody has to watch your back!" I replied.

"Not now, I'm a little busy!" Sia says.

Me and Sia begin to efforlessly kill the Hidden Lotus ninjas, that are surrounding us, one by one. They could not withstand our combined assault, as we broke their limbs, mutilated their bodies and crushed their skulls. Once they were gone, I throw a sword, that I had stole from one of the ninjas, on the ground.

I then turn to Sia and I say to her, "I'm getting you out of here!" before she could say anything however, I was shot in the back with an arrow and blasted into a dojo by two ninjas.

"Ako!" my sister yells.

The two archer ninjas subdue Sia and they punch her in the face repeatedly, until she fell to the ground. They then fire an explosive arrow, at the dojo that I was in, and they destroyed it. After that was done, they then drag Sia off.

[Orocshon POV]

I drag Han to the clan grounds, where the rest of his family are. It would be better to torture his soul before destroying his body.

"So my friend, this is what it comes to, you get to witness the departure of your loved ones." Han tries to loosen his bonds, but I order one of my ninja to throw a kunai at his shoulder and he falls to the ground.

"Han, no!" Myako yells.

I grab the girl on the left side of Myako, Sia was her name I believe. Pretty name. I then place a kunai near her pretty neck.

"Put her down Orocshon, this is between you and me!" Han pleads.

I then put away the knife and I reply, "Okay, it was your request." I swiftly snaps Sia's neck, killing her in the blink of an eye.

"NO!!!!" yells Han.

"Oh my goodness, her pretty neck shaped like a twig!" I say.

Myako begins to shriek in sorrow and horror at Sia's broken body. Without a second thought, I then unchain the young boy who was crying tears of anger at me.

"You son of a bitch!" The boy tries to attack me, but I stab my hand through his chest. I then rip out the boys heart in one fatal motion.

"How can you mend a broken heart?" I say, while looking at the boy trying to gasp for air. How pathetic...

"The truth is... You can't!" I finish. I crush his little heart in my hand, like a little piece of coal and the brat falls to the floor dead, in a pool of blood.

"Zizan! no my Zizan!!!" Myako screams in agonizing sorrow.

"Your son had heart, it's too bad that he died by what he lived by." I say.

"Orocshon, you will die for this!" Han shouts to me. He should know that his threats mean nothing to me at this point.

"I always thought, that you had a beautiful wife, how have you thought of her death? Will she die quick and painless, like the other two? Or will it be nice and slow, all the pain rushing through her body, with every blow I land on her."

Han then tries to break free again, but my ninja use thunder ninpo to electrocute him, furthering the damage to his skin.

"As my master, after you, said to me once, 'No death is more thought out than a painful one.' Too bad it has to be your wife who suffers the worst," Myako spits blood in my face. I smile and punch her in her jaw, drawing blood from her.

"Wow! You are a fighter. I like that, it's going to make me enjoy this even further." as she looks into my eyes, with pure rage and hatred, she said, "When the time comes, I pray you die screaming demon!"

I slap Myako with the back of my hand I draw blood from her as a result from the impact.

"I like you Myako, such a shame you have to leave us." I then kick her down to her knees. I then take cable rope and I tie a kunai around the end of it.

"Han... I know this must be hard for you. I am sorry... I terribly am. But, as the code of the Shinobi says... no mercy and no exceptions!" I begin to brutally lash Myako's back 30 times. With each lash, Myako felt pain rush through her body, as contusions begin to form on her back. But through all of it, she held back her screams, showing no fear. Interesting...

"Now, to end this properly..." I then takes out my sword and he puts it behind my mother's neck. I watch the sword shine from the sun as the light hits it.

"Say goodbye to the love of your life Han, she will no longer be with us." Myako looks into Han eyes and she smiles at him, knowing that her end is near.

"Myako... No!" yells Han, weak and helpless.

"Goodbye my love... I will see you again... I love you..." she says to Han, couging up blood.

"I love you too Myako..." Han replies in pathetic tears. I swiftly decapitate Myako, ending her life. Han then melts to the ground in tears while I wipe the blood from my thirtsy blade.

"I am very sorry my friend, but your suffering ends here." Han begins to laugh, making me form a puzzled look on my face.

"What's so funny old friend?" I ask.

"You may have killed me, old friend... but your end, will be just as cruel as ours... for it will be without honor or mercy!" I stab my sword into my former mentors chest. Han coughs up blood and he falls to me the ground.

"See you in hell... old friend!" I say, kicking him in the face.

"It is done, we are now the most dominant ninja clan in Japan. No one would dare stand up to us. Let us go. And make sure there is nothing left of this atrocity." we then proceed to burn what's left of the village.

As the village burns to the ground, I take a look at my sword, which is covered in Han's blood. I decide not to wipe the blade clean. I want to remember this mark on my blade. The mark of a great kill.

[Ako POV]

Six hours later, I managed to wake up and get myself out of the rubble of the dojo. I looked aAround and I saw nothing but dead bodies and destruction. I wondered to myself, why did this have to happen? I then go towards the grounds and I see my family down on the ground.

"Oh no, no!" I shout. I see the broken bodies of my mother, sister, and brother. The horrific sight breaks me down into tears. As I am crying my soul out, I see my father struggling to get to his feet.

"Papa! Papa!" I shout to him, as I rush over to his aid. He looks at me and he places his hand on my cheek.

Ako... I am sorry, my daughter." he says to me weakly.

Save your strength, please don't do this to me!" I say tearfully.

He shakes his head and he tells me, "Ako... You should know... The person... The one who killed us." I then put pressure on his wound, so that he can tell me who.

"Who did this to you? Who?!" I ask him, my voice breaking.

"Orocshon Miyaku... The leader of the Hidden Lotus clan... He orchestrated this barbaric attack." my father then grabs a small blade from the ground.

"Don't let me die... like this Ako... Finish me!" I then take the blade and I hold the blade close to his chest, while holding him close to me.

"See you on the other side, as you would say... my Ako." failing to hold back tears, I say to him, "I love you so much!"

I pull my father into the blade and he closes his eyes. His hand falls to the ground and my father, Han Kusanagi, breathed no more.

I let out a primal scream of sorrow, that filled the air with dread and I collapse to the ground, on top of my father. Orocshon then hears my scream, and he assigned two Hidden Lotus ninjas to find out what it was.

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