New Life : A Second Chance

This was where they were sitting now and Master Shifu listened intently to Kyle who told him all about the airport incident, her enrollment at Sakura Academy and subsequent break-in to his room.

"Sayuri Hinata ... Hinata... hmmmmm," Master Shifu said, as he thought hard, "I believe I know which Clan she is trying to qualify for. Hold on."

He went to the bookshelf and took out a black leather bound book. He opened it and placed his palm print on the scanner that was there. At another section of the room, a ceiling light dislodged itself from its position and the entire LED casing came down until it reached five feet from the floor.

Right above the LED casing as a small cabinet. Master Shifu opened it and revealed a scroll. He took one end that had a hook and pulled. There was a slight click and he started unfurling the scroll, pulling it until he reached the other end of the room and hooked it on the wall.

Master Shifu studied the scroll, his fingers barely touching it until he came to one spot.

"Hah. I was right," he said excitedly, "Sayuri is a direct descendant of Mochizuki Chiyome, a female ninja and wife of samurai warlord Mochizuki Nobumasa."

He tapped one section of the scroll and Kyle went over to study it.

"Koga Clan*?" he said with surprise, "That is really an ancient family."

"Yes. Chiyime left the Clan when she got married, and had formed her very own female ninja team. She saved countless of women, and people thought she was a good samaritan. In reality, she was training them to utilize disguises such as miko (Shinto shrine priestess), prostitutes, or geisha for purposes of espionage or assassination."

"Her daughters were trained like that as well, and so were their daughters. Along the line, one actually returned to the Koga Clan and brought those teachings."

"So Sayuri is an initiate?" Kyle asked.

"Most likely," Master Shifu answered, "She obviously failed during the airport incident so her enrolling at Sakura Academy is merely an extension of that initiation mission."

"I wouldn\'t be surprised if this is her final chance, too," Master Shifu said, "So don\'t make it hard on her, Kyle."

"Huh?" Kyle said puzzledly, his eyes all innocent.

"Just pretend you do not know anything. If I am not mistaken, she is there to either observe you or get to know you," explained Master Shifu.

Kyle shrugged, "Since this is her initiation test, why should I make it easier for her?"

Master Shifu looked at Kyle and said, "It is because it is an initiation that you should. She is only a Lvl30, about to choose her job. She needs to just needs to do a few missions and perhaps beat a boss. You, on the other hand, is a Lvl200 Final Boss."

"Get my drift?" Master Shifu said, looking all smug with his analogy.

Kyle looked at his sensei, his eyes wide open in shock.

"Master Shifu!! Since when do you know about gaming?? And using words like \'drift\'? Are you okay, Master Shifu??"

Master Shifu grinned widely and said "I am going to be a grandpa soon. I need to brush up on what youngsters are into nowadays."

"Master Shifu," Kyle said with a smirk, "By the time the baby is born and is old enough to game, the games you\'re playing would be obsolete."

Master Shifu\'s face fell for a second then he got back his \'normal\' expression.

"I know that," he huffed, "I have to practise the basics first before going up, right?"

"Anyway, as I was saying before you distracted me," Master Shifu continued while giving Kyle a long glare, "She doesn\'t know that you\'re a ninja. So it\'s unfair for you to make it difficult for her to do what she needs to do."

Kyle mumbled something incoherent under his breath, upon which Master Shifu hit Kyle\'s head with his cane that he swiped from the table.

"Speak up!"

Rubbing his sore head, Kyle repeated, "Her family must know who I am, right? If they put me as her mission, then it means they don\'t want her to have it easy."

"You may have a point, but I doubt they knew how impossible a task they were placing on her," Master Shifu pointed out, "Just do what I say and don\'t question me. Are you forgetting who I am?"

Kyle stood straight then, took a bow and said solemnly, "I was wrong, Master Shifu. I hear and obey."

Master Shifu harumped and walked out. However, just as he reached the door, he said, "Your martial arts skills are already at its peak and I have no more to teach you. However, you still need more practise on the Kato Art."

"Yes, Master Shifu," Kyle replied.

"Since you\'ve got the promotional tours to do, I\'ll give you some exercises to do as well during that time. I\'ll test you once you get back," Master Shifu said and headed out.

Kyle waited until he was truly out of range before slumping on the sofa.

Physical exercises and skills were easy to master. This Kato Art was far more difficult than he had imagined. It required a whole lot of concentration and it often gave him headaches. He knew his progress was slow, so he resolved to practise everyday from now.

He just needed test subjects ...

Sayuri popped in his mind and he couldn\'t help the smiling as he thought of several things he could do.