Excerpt from BLUE FINGERS: A Ninja's Tale(con't)

Then the crow's head jerked forward. It devoured Dark Fire's beloved pet. With the spasming leg sticking out of its beak, the bird hopped away. Its head bobbed as it ate.
Dark Fire slid shut the door of the empty cricket cage. He folded his hands and turned back to Koji, stiff with horror. Dark Fire's eyes were flares as he rasped, "Unroll the map."
Koji was afraid to disobey, yet his hands were paralyzed.
"It is time for you to become a ninja."
"Like you," Koji said with a frantic bow.
Dark Fire looked down at his walking sticks. "Not like me. You are young and strong enough to complete missions, so you will begin as a genin, a field agent. Like my grandson," he added, motioning toward Spider.
"Forgive my impoliteness at suggesting that I could be like you, our leader," Koji said, still trying to please the old man.

But Dark Fire's cheek twitched in irritation. "Groveling disgusts me. And I am not the true clan leaderB-the jonin. His identity is secret."
"But you alone communicate with him, Grandfather," Spider said proudly.
"That is my role as the number one chunin." Looking down at his weak legs, Dark Fire sighed. "After all, I cannot be a training master like the other chunin."
Koji glanced at the empty cricket cage and the tame crow nearby. As it hoped around, it tried to bite off the string tied around its leg, and snaking across the ground toward Dark Fire. The chunin didn't seem weak to him. As Koji scanned the clearing full of people, Dark Fire seemed to guess his thoughts.
"You are unwise to wonder who our jonin is."
Again Koji glanced at the tail of the thread near Dark Fire's foot. "Does he live here in camp? Does he know me?"
"Does the emperor bother about a gnat? Enough questions!"
While Dark Fire watched, Koji forced his trembling hand to draw a few rooms, stairways, and large jars on the map. He pointed out the hall where O Kei had talked about a network of threads. But he paused before drawing the secrecy room, and as he held his hand motionless, Dark Fire nodded his approval. <Previous><Next>