• ~Shinobi Ahou~
    (Ninja fools)
    By Salem Waribara/Sam Hakusho/Daisuke Nataka
    =============

    Prologue:

    Another stormy night strikes Tokyo city as the moon is shrouded in clouds. The stars are blotted from the sky. The only lights are the ones within the city, which make it all that much brighter. In other words, not good conditions for Ninja operations.

    Tell that to these guys.

    Five ninjas jumped across the building tops, moving quickly to find their target and eliminate him before daylight... if there was daylight tomorrow. All seemed to be going well until the one in the very back tripped over a loose roof tile and fell flat on his face, forcing his compatriots to have to return, pick him up, and then continue, wasting valuable time and slowing things down because of lost momentum. They weren't too happy with their dusty- haired companion, and one, a helmet covering his face, growled lowly and slapped himself in the visor, wondering why it was that he had to be stuck with this batch of utter fools.

    Although, he had to admit, even though they seemed to do everything horribly wrong to the point of failure, they still somehow manage to complete their missions, but just barely. If not for their rampant stupidity, they might be considered professional shinobi, but they weren't. In fact, the only professional was the helmeted ninja, Riyu, alias Salem Waribara. He had undergone rigorous training with the greatest of all Shinobi, straining his body and mind to the point where he nearly died seven times. He operated in all conditions, rain, sleet, snow, hail, mud, heat, cold, what have you. And he always dressed to meet the requirements: Light summer clothes in the hot day time, warm winter gear, made white to blend in with the snow and fog, or even a mud-covered military camouflage ninja uniform for heavily wooded areas, muddy areas with green growth, or just plain mud.

    As for his team mates, well, they were the exact opposite. They dressed wrong for every occasion: Black ninja gear in a snowy atmosphere, white ninja gear at night, camo gear on a sunny day, there was no way they could efficiently disguise themselves without getting caught by authorities. Many times, Riyu had to cover for them to ensure their escape with the prize, and even then, they screwed up at getting away unnoticed. Sometimes, when Riyu knew they were going to get caught, he would set up explosives as diversions to distract the guards while they got out.

    Yep, the Ninja job was just as fun as Riyu thought it would be. Not for him, maybe, but definitely for his "friends", or rather, "People who are on the death list this year".

    This stormy evening, between rain showers, Riyu and his team were searching for a wanted criminal and intended to kill him, steal his cash, then leave. If they somehow screwed this up, Riyu had the foresight to go and get them all fake I.D.s so that they could skip out of Japan and defect to America.

    There wasn't a doubt in his mind that that was what was going to happen tonight...

    ~End~

    Chapter 1: "Way to freakin' go..."

    They eventually reached the building where their target resided. Riyu began silently praying to whatever god was listening(and not laughing at him because of his bad luck)that they would not screw up. Of course, he had a feeling the gods weren't listening, or they were silently snickering while "Answering his prayers". Riyu was having serious thoughts of suicide at this point. End it now so that I don't have to deal with these guys later, please, just let my sword deal a killing blow!

    Of course, Riyu knew, with his luck, the sword would miss and skim off his armor. It was his shortcoming: He had never perfected his aim.

    With a heavy sigh, Riyu gave the signal a placed helmet's visor down, covering his face with an iron lion's face, eye holes included so that he could see where he was going. He made sure to go in last so that if anybody knocked anything over, he could catch it before it hit the floor. At least he could null the pain of defeat for a while, if it couldn't be avoided.

    Riyu came to a point where there were several rooms to choose from. Reluctantly, he gave the command for them to split up, and he took to the stairs. He made sure that the second smartest of the group, a ninja who went by the name "Sam", was with him so that they could at least get something done quickly and hopefully get out without their team knowing so that they wouldn't be disgraced by failure again. Sam shared Riyu's hatred for screw-ups, so they got along well, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about arguments while they escaped.

    The stairs were tread with utmost care and precision. Any creak, thump, or banging of feet coming up the staircase would surely alert the guards, if there were any. On the last step, Riyu rolled to avoid stepping on the crack in it, and Sam did the same. A door stood in their way. Riyu slid it open just a crack, and there he saw his target: an old, balding man laying in a bed that surely must have cost a fortune to obtain. He nodded to Sam, who returned the feeling with a grin, and as they were about to enter and kill the unfortunate elder...

    ...An enormous crash emitted from the kitchen.

    Riyu and Sam exchanged looks that clearly said, "That's it. They're all going to die, slowly and painfully."

    With a roar, Riyu ran into the room and brought his sword down on the screaming man, stabbing him in the throat and shattering his Adam's Apple, which strangled and killed him soon after. Riyu quickly retrieved his weapon and cleaned the blood off with a rag in his back pouch, the replaced it in its sheathe as he and Sam darted out of the room, back down the stairs, and towards the front door, soon followed by the rest of their team, who were stupidly shouting "Sh*t! Sh*t, run! Run! They're gaining on us!"

    Riyu felt the need to stab something. Brutally. He was literally seeing red at this stage.

    As the team ran, Riyu and Sam thought to themselves, "Well, looks like we're going to have to defect... I wonder how much it would cost us to go to Korea instead while the rest go to America?"

    ~End of Chapter 1~