The tiny shuriken flashed through the air finding its mark in the tree stump piercing the paper target nailed to the tree. The shuriken was only a few centimeters off from the bull's-eye. Kayaku frowned and threw another managing to hit the target but once again finding the weapon slightly off target.

"That one was close!" a voice sounded from the trees above, Kayaku looked up to see a young short haired girl sitting in the branches above skinny legs dangling. "Keep practicing like that and you'll be as good as me someday." She smirked jumping down from the trees next to him. "We'll maybe not quite as good as me, Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Kayaku rolled his eyes, he doubted the small six year old girl could do any better than him, even if she was Godo's daughter.

Kayaku handed the girl a single shuriken, "Prove it," he said.

"What'll you give me if I can hit the bull's-eye?" She said a toothy grin spreading across her face.

"I'm not betting anything," Kayaku said crossing his arms.

"But then it's no fun!" She whined, "If I win you give me ten Gil how about it?" she said.

"And if I win?" Kayaku asked running his fingers through his copper hair.

"You won't win," the girl said smugly, "But just to be fair we'll say that I'll give you ten gil if I miss as unlikely and impossible as that is."

"Fine," Kayaku agreed, stepping aside and letting the little kunoichi take aim.

The little girl tossed the tiny weapon and it spun through the air towards the target finding the bull's-eye with perfect accuracy.

"Got it!" the girl yelled jumping up and down in victory, "You owe me ten gil pay up!"

Sighing the copper haired teenager fished the coins out of his pocket and handed them over to the little girl, what did the daughter of Godo's need with ten gil anyways her farther was loaded and had more than enough money to spoil her rotten, but here she was dirty and dusty with twigs and tree sap in her hair and dirt caked onto her face.

"Why aren't you training with the other kunoichis?" Kayaku asked walking over and retrieving his shuriken and kunai knives from the target stumps.

"Those classes are boring!" she whined picking up a stick and drawing in the dirk, "Today we're learning how to make our own dresses all month we're learning about the different fashions of the world. What kind of ninja wears dresses anyways? Their long and hard to move it and are so uncomfortable. We should be learning to throw shuriken and steal things like you've been practicing."

"A Shinobi should master many skills," Kayaku said, "even things as mundane as fashion."

"But I can throw shuriken better than anyone," Yuffie said, "And have you talked to those other girls? Most of them don't even know how to hold shuriken and the teachers say I'm too young to handle sharp things. And everyone treats me different just because my old man's the leader of Wutai."

Keyaku walked back and sheathed the weapons putting them back on his belt and walking back to his position, from a holster on his belt he produced a small snub-nosed revolver. Pulling the hammer back he took aim at the stumps.

"What are you doing with a gun?" Yuffie said, "That's not a ninja weapon."

"Times are changing," Kayaku said, "plenty of people are using guns, they're more accurate than kunai or shuriken and do more damage, though they're loud and bulky compared to shuriken."

Kayaku fired the gun emptying all six shots into the trunks.

Yuffie watch as the shots impacted with almost flawless accuracy, "Well you're better with that gun than you are with your shuriken."

Kayaku holstered the weapon and cleaned up to go home, "It's getting late you should go home."

Yuffie nodded, "What's your name?"

"I'm Kayaku Sasori," he said simply, "youngest member of the Sasori clan."

"Well Kayaku if you want I'll allow you to train with me," she said stretching, "If you're lucky some of my natural ninja talent might rub off on you."

"Thanks but I'll have to decline," he said walking towards the city.

"What! Why?!" the young girl exclaimed.

"I'm leaving Wutai in the morning," he explained, "And I don't know when I'll be returning."

Kayaku sat on his knees face facing the wooden floor his weapons laid out in front of him, his three brothers sat beside him from him the youngest to

his oldest, the proud loyal children of Clan Sasori laid out for Lord Godo like an armory.

"Feel no need to advert your eyes," Godo said to them, Kayaku looked up to face his lord. "Warriors such as you have the right to look me in the face."

His brothers all faced him intent and determined. "What is your mission?" Godo asked them.

"To infiltrate Shinra and lift ourselves to the highest ranks of their military," They all said in unison expecting the questions and armed with the programed responses. "To destroy it from within should they seek war with the Shinobi of Wutai, to be the poisoned tail of the scorpion and protect our home and all who live within it. We will earn the trust of the enemy and do their bidding we will act as a blade for Shinra and turn when ordered severing the vitals of organs when the time is right. We will perform ever duty, every task and every kill, we will not shy in the face of darkness, we live in darkness and will dwell in it for as long as necessary to ensure the safety of our nation."

Godo looked pleased, "You have accepted a great sacrifice," Godo said, "A sacrifice we will be sure to honor in future generations. Few words can honor what you have each agreed to do, Kayaku, Izumi, Harima, Iko, I will not soon forget your faces as you face years of hardship, but I can assure you your mission will not be in vain, tonight gather with your family, enjoy our city and say farewell to your friends for when you leave, for in the morning you will have nothing but each other go with my blessing and the hopes and dreams of the people of Wutai."

Godo left and one by one they left the room exiting his house to enjoy their last moments in Wutai.

"Hey?" a young voice said behind him, Kayaku turned to see the brown eyed tomboy looking at him.

"Yuffie?" he said facing her.

"I heard everything," she said smiling, "So you're really leaving to protect Wutai from Shinra?"

Kayaku's face hardened, "That's top secret, how did you?"

"I was in the rafters above, and besides I can keep a secret I'm a ninja after all." She said winking, "So is it true are you leaving? Is there going to be a war?"

"I'm leaving," Kayaku said, "If there will be a war… I can't say."

"Well good luck," Yuffie said, "I'll be rooting for you and take this you might need it."

Kayaku accepted the item opening his hand to see a small star shaped shuriken.

"Don't forget to practice," she said.

Twelve years later.

Kayaku poured the sake into the porcelain cup and downed it feeling the rice wine begin to take effect, after the mako infusion it was incredibly difficult for him to get drunk. Lucky for him he had managed to find and abandoned bar with an untouched stock of booze. The broken tables and bullet riddled walls seemed like an appropriate sight for the end. Everything had been pretty grim until this point, why should the end be any different. His revolver was sitting on the bar in front of him loaded and ready to take his life. Twelve years, he had devoted his last twelve years to his mission, it had cost him dearly, it had taken his brothers lives it had shredded his soul into pieces. Joining SOLDIER, becoming augmented and twisted into a weapon of the company fighting their battles and losing his brothers, fighting against his own people to gain the trust of the company, joining the Turks and preforming the disgusting dirty work of the company, the killing, threats, and assassinations, interrogations and experiments, all for Wutai. All for his country to lose, for Godo to surrender to Shinra. What a joke, his life was a joke, the lives of his brothers were a joke all wasted all dead waiting for orders that never came.

Kayaku looked at the gun on the bar loaded with a single round, one round would be enough to blow his brains out, just one bullet in the mouth, what a punchline to his joke of a life.

He reached into the breast pocket of his suit, even now he still wore his Turk blue suit the badge ripped off and in the corner of the room forgotten and unwanted, it wouldn't be long until Shinra found him, he wouldn't survive very long with the company out to get him, after the surrender someone had talked, his secret was dead and soon so would he. He pulled a packet of cigarettes from his suit and drew forth his last smoke in the pack. He pulled out his lighter and lit it, that's when he heard the footsteps behind him, the sound of heavy footfall told him it was none other than simple Shinra soldiers.

They laughed among one another as they walked into the abandoned bar, "How about a drink men," one of them said.

"Hey someone's here," another said noticing Kayaku.

"Drowning your sorrows eh?" the first one asked clapping his shoulder, "Hey no need to be depressed, you may have lost the war but what did you expect? Shinra controls the whole world, to be honest no one expected you to last as long as you did. When the war started everyone said I'd be over in a month so at least you lost with grace."

"Just shut up!" Kayaku hissed, "You make it sound like a damn chocobo race!" he growled, "People died, men, women, and children. Whole families slaughtered and cultural heritages ruined all so your damn company could build a filthy reactor here."

"What was that?" a third voice said, "Did we say you could talk bad about Shinra?"

Kayaku tried to stand only to get a rifle butt to the side of his head, he'd drunken more than he thought, he crashed to the ground looking up at the three Shinra footmen armed, and perhaps this was better, a former Turk and ninja killed my some regular Shinra goons just another number to the body count.

"What's this?" one of the men asked picking the lighter and gun off the bar, "This lighter has the Shinra logo on it. Where'd you get it? Who'd you kill for it?"

Kayaku didn't say a thing, he just waited for things to pan out.

The officer took his revolver, "nice gun, I think I'll take it." The officer pointed the gun at him.

Kayaku laughed, maybe it was the sake but he found this more than hilarious, killed with his own gun. The gun he had used to kill so many innocents enemies of Shinra even his kin and fellow members of Wutai his cover in the company was absolute, it was just that he'd face such irony.

The officer pulled back the trigger and Kayaku stared down the barrel, hoping the shot would be clean.

A flash of steel and the officer screamed as a shuriken slashed his forearm, the officer dropped the gun as more shuriken pierced his body. The other soldiers turned to the doorway aiming their weapons they opened fire ridding the doorway with bullets the sound of small feet running could be heard outside. The men tried following the sound shooting through the wall, a shadow passed by a window and the next window he spotted a face. Round, pale, young, brown eyes, her face.

Kayaku grabbed his gun as fast as he could pressing it against the back of one of the gunners heads he pulled the trigger and splattered his brains all over his friend.

The man turned blood and brains covering his face rifle pointed at him when one of the windows burst open. A massive shuriken spun through the air striking the soldier in the back killing him.

Kayaku looked at the empty gun his hands. "Hey," A voice said, "Are you alright?"

Kayaku saw her enter into the bar, he avoided her eyes not wanting her to sense his shame.

"Thanks for the help," she said, "not that I needed it."

Kayaku stayed silent.

"What were you doing in a place like this? With those Shinra goons' people like you could get hurt," she explained retrieving her shuriken, "or did you not care if anything bad happened?"

Kayaku turned away from her. "I don't know who you are sir, but take this to heart. As long as a single white rose blooms in Wutai we'll have a future and that's my job to survive this winter until our spring comes again."

Kayaku breathed, she hadn't recognized him, he was glad, twelve years had changed him and he was grateful she didn't know who he was, if he was lucky she'd have forgotten him completely.

"Well spread the word, the white rose of Wutai will survive the winter and when the spring comes we'll bloom better than ever."

Kayaku turned only to find her gone, "Survive the winter you say?" Kayaku looked at the gun in his hand feeling its weight, it seemed like such a sinful weapon, but then again every weapon he had shed blood of the innocent, all except one.

Kayaku reached his hand into his pocket feeling the small metal shuriken he'd been given by her so many years go. Kayaku closed his hand around the sharp edges.

"We'll bloom in spring you say? I hope to see that one day."