Sly Cooper 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, Sly-Cooper-Fandom! This is my first chapter story for the Sly Cooper genre, and I'm pretty excited to be writing it! I've been a huge fan of the games since I was a little kid and I was super excited when Sly 4 came out last year! This story revolves around Sly's ninja ancestor, Rioichi Cooper, and my personal take on his past life and family. This story also takes place about half a year after the events with Le Paradox and what would be if everything just went back to normal (including Sly's story but I'm not giving away the ending of the game). So without further ado, I will stop talking and let you carry on with the story! Please do enjoy and reviews would be wonderful! **

**Disclaimers: I do not own Sly Cooper and Co. but I do own the OC's mentioned.**

The evening sun was still hot and humid when Sly reached the small, peaceful Japanese village known as Mountain Peak. Nodding his head in greeting to the wart hog guards standing near the wooden gates of the entrance, he smiled and inhaled slowly as he stood on the dirt road. The guards politely nodded back and one unlocked the gate leading into the heart of the village. These were the proper guards for the sleepy village, not El Jefe's brainwashed goons. Sly knew he could relax now that there weren't any tigers out to capture him this time.

Sly Cooper was back in feudal Japan, this time in non-emergency. The raccoon managed to defeat Le Paradox about a year ago, and since then, his family line, and his own life, was once again at peace and free of harm. The Thievius Raccoonus was safely secure in Bentley's hands again, his ancestors were saved from the cruel fate that the evil skunk had planned for them, and everything was back to normal. So why not use the time machine again, just for fun?

The present-day Cooper was back to visit his ninja ancestor, Rioichi Cooper. He had promised all of his ancestors at some point during their rescue, that he and his gang would be back to visit and make sure everything was alright again. Of course, he would have to limit all of this time travel business, since he was interfering with the past. But one little visit couldn't hurt. Just as long as his ancestors were the only ones who knew who Sly really was, no harm was really being done. Sly made it to the village, but his trusty team was nowhere to be seen. Bentley and Murray had yet to arrive, since Murray wanted to go fishing to have fish for dinner before they sought shelter in their previous hideout they had last time. Sly had mentioned that they could just go to Rioichi's shop and save the time, but the raccoon knew his large friend wanted to go fishing for the experience. Bentley had told Sly shortly after leaving Japan the first time that Murray had missed fishing so much and enjoyed the task of fetching fish for Rioichi. So, Sly had agreed to just meet up with them at the hideout when they were done fishing at sunset. He told them that he was going to find his ancestor during the wait.

The present-day Cooper adjusted his rather oversized shirt and tightened the lace around it. He wore the typical attire of a villager in this time period to help fit in with everyone and to bring down any suspicious thoughts of him being a possible threat. Sly remembered that the villagers could still be on high alert after the happenings with El Jefe, even though it's been almost half a year since then. Looking around, he made sure to put on a warm smile and greet any villager that passed by him, in which he received the same friendly response. A small class of school kids were still in session, touring around the village and pointing out the different kinds of plants and trees. The children followed their teacher in awe and interest. Sly also walked past the small fruit shops that were still open, waving hello to the store owners in friendly greeting. He even bought a couple apples to help speed up the slow business.

The one thing that caught the raccoon's eye was the shadow that flew over him every so often. He couldn't tell what the shadow exactly was because the creature flew too fast for him to study it; he could only hear the sound of feathers beating against wind and assumed it was a kind of bird native to this land. He began to wonder just exactly what species of birds existed here and in this time period.

He never did brush up on his history about feudal Japan.

Shaking his head and merely ignoring the issue, Sly walked around the corner of the dirt road, close to his destination.

Sly knew he was getting close when he heard furious yells and the sound of hands hitting hands, wood being smashed and broke, and the metallic clang of weapons striking each other. He came around a maroon red building and stopped with surprise in his eyes.

Sly had approached a sparring session among ninjutsu students. He made sure to stay out of view when some students happened to walk by, for he knew he was probably not aloud to be anywhere near the training grounds of the village's best martial artists. Looking around, he saw many sparing circles occupied with some of the best fighters Sly had ever seen. He watched a black panther spin around and strike a snow tiger's weapon, slicing it into two useless pieces, and then delivering an effortless roundhouse kick to the chest; all within five seconds.

There was also a wiry-looking monkey, performing a series of warm up exercises consisting of punches and kicks near the training equipment. When Sly thought he was only warming up to take on another student, the master snatched a blade that was driven deep into the tree from which he swung on, and threw it straight towards another student; an unsuspecting snowy white fox. Sly felt the urge to cry out a warning, but reminded himself of his hidden position. Luckily, the fox didn't need a warning. Though her back was turned, she spun around and snatched the airborne blade that was nearly half the size of her out of it's path, catching it at just mere centimeters from the back of her head. Sly felt a relieved breath escape him. Though he was watching master martial artists, he couldn't shake off the anxious feelings he got when watching those dangerous attacks and how one wrong move could result in a quick, yet painful death.

It was then that he realized that the fox was also a female. The electric blue design on the front of her black uniform was those of professionally designed flowers and vines; her long black hair styled back in a long braid with gems within the braids also giving away the hint of being a girly girl behind the fighter within her.

The fox unsheathed the two blades from behind her back, twirling them with experience and confidence. Like lightning, they were thrown back at the monkey, who was slightly caught off guard and fell back off of the branch of the tree he stood on. He was quick though, landing perfectly on his feet and sending a hand full of ninja stars back at the fox, who dodged them effortlessly without even facing her opponent. And the cycle continued.

Sly's eyes darted in every direction, looking within this large class of trained professionals for Rioichi. He knew that if all of these students were here, he had to be too.

And surely enough, he was and Sly smirked.

Rioichi Cooper was sparring with another ninja master, an elderly wolf, this one being a lot more skilled and even wiser than the raccoon himself. Sly also noticed how much older this wolf was compared to the other students, and guessed that he was the wise grandmaster himself that dedicated his life in training them in this beautiful art of fighting and defense. This was also really the first time Sly really got to watch his ninja ancestor fight like a professional he was deemed to be. During the short period of time that Sly spent during his last visit, he never really got to see what Rioichi could do as far as fighting and combat.

He watched as Rioichi leapt out of the way just before a dagger blade came flying at his head and he returned the attack on the other master by deflecting a sword blade aimed for his neck and sending it back, which was again blocked skillfully and without difficulty. Rioichi breathed heavily as he started to perform an attack using his bamboo cane, spinning it and bringing it down powerfully on his opponent's weapon, shattering it into mere pieces and sending it out of the wolf's hands upon impact. Sly could still hear the sharp snap of metal shattering as it rang through the air.

However, the elder wolf was not intimidated by this. He grabbed Rio's cane just as it struck his weapon, and twisted it in a direction that would twist Rioichi's arms with it rather painfully, slamming him to the ground and giving the wolf a chance to attack him. The younger blocked any oncoming attacks and jumped back up quickly when he had the chance to. He ducked and flipped back just in time before the sword blade would have hit his forearm, catching only the young master's fur.

Sly arched an eyebrow and shook his head. _'All of these guys sparring with real weapons instead of wooden? I would never last…' _he thought. _'Rioichi sure did have some tough and steady training to be this good.'_

The sparring match came to an end when the old wolf attacked but Rioichi blocked it and reflected the attack, sending a sharp kick in the teacher's direction. The old master stumbled a little in exhaustion when dodging the kick and held up his weapon to stop the spar. He laughed in a hearty manner as Rioichi regained his footing and lowered his guard.

"Excellent, young Rioichi…" he said, bowing. The red furred raccoon did the same, catching his breath. "It seems you have finally mastered that last attack. Very, very good…" the wolf's voice was slow and wise. He was definitely up in age; his accent was very strong and barely understandable when he spoke English.

"Thank you, Master Akio." Rioichi said, dipping his head in respect to his mentor. He sheathed his katana sword and picked up his iconic bamboo cane off of the ground.

"Take care of that special piece." the wolf smiled warmly, noticing Rioichi's studious expression as he checked over his cane.

"With my life." Rioichi replied back. He paused in his comments when he seen his master eyeing something behind him, looking concerned.

"What's troubles you?" he questioned, eyes narrowing.

The elderly wolf just nodded his head in the direction and Rioichi turned around. His ears perked up when he seen another figure standing near the training hall's entrance.

He walked towards this intruder, gripping his cane tighter and tighter the closer he got. No one but him, the other students, and Master Akio were aloud in the training grounds; even the average villagers knew this strict rule. If the wrong people ever got inside the training grounds and had access to all of the weapons, chaos would surely ensue.

And this stranger did not look like another student. When he got close enough, he launched himself forward and prepared to attack this 'spy'.

"Woah, woah, wait!" Sly cried out, flinching away from Rioichi's prepared strike. "It's me!"

Rioichi lowered his cane immediately upon recognizing his descendant's voice. A rare smile formed, showing off perfectly straight teeth. "Sly-san. You were the last person I expected to see."

"I saw that you were in the middle of a spar with your master. I didn't want to be a bother." Sly said. He pointed out the other sparring ninjas, "And I'm guessing guests aren't welcome here, and I would have been turned into a pin cushion if I was found by someone else."

"Originally, yes," Rioichi agreed. "We have strict rules around here. However, I believe we can alter those rules a little," He motioned for Sly to follow him. "Come."

The ninja led his descendent out in the training yard to where his mentor remained standing and away from the other fighting students. The elderly wolf no longer seemed cautious, but instead happy upon seeing Sly. Any friend of Rioichi's was a friend of his.

"_Konnichiwa_," he greeted. "_Genki desu ka_?"

Sly stood silently, having no idea how to respond back.

Another thing he didn't study before coming here were the basic greetings and sayings in the native Japanese language. As a response, he shot a confused glance to his ancestor. Rioichi saw this and chuckled softly.

"He doesn't speak our language, Master. Just English." he said.

"My apologizes, young one." the wolf smiled, speaking English now but his accent lingered. He was fluent in both languages. He held out a shaking gloved hand, revealing his old age. "Greetings to our village. I'm Master Akio. Who do I have the honor of meeting?"

"My name is Sylvester. But everyone just calls me Sly. It's a pleasure to meet you." Sly dipped his head in respect and shook Akio's hand.

"What brings you here to our humble village? A friend of Rioichi's, perhaps?" Akio asked.

"Family." Rioichi replied simply.

Akio's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Sly could tell he was surprised, but could also sense confusion at the same time. He himself became confused when Akio studied him for a moment and narrowed his eyes. "Family? I see. From where, I may ask?"

Both Coopers fell silent. Rioichi knew he made a mistake revealing Sly as family. Just as quickly as he said it, he realized that Sly's true identity was to be hidden from others. When Rioichi let his eyes trail over to Sly in hopes of a response, Sly cleared his throat and looked down awkwardly. "The future…" he coughed. He just couldn't lie.

"Pardon?" Akio asked in a surprised manner.

Before the coon could answer, Rioichi stepped in. "Master, do you recall when El Jefe was here? He arrived here in a source of time travel. Sly is my descendent, and the hero that ended El Jefe's terror." he explained.

Akio nodded slowly. "Descendent, did you say? From the future?"

The two Coopers nodded their heads.

"Well, it is nice to meet you anyhow, present or future, young Sly. Enjoy your stay." he laughed awkwardly. He had yet to adjust to the time traveling nonsense after El Jefe's visit. Lucky for Rioichi and Sly, Akio was convinced of time travel after having to deal with El Jefe once or twice when he was a threat to the training hall. So revealing Sly's true identity surely wouldn't alter time too much.

As the wolf grabbed his bo staff to help him hobble along the rocky path, he paused. "Since you have company, Rioichi, you're dismissed. However, I will see you bright and early in the morning. You may be titled a master, but more training awaits."

The red furred raccoon smiled and nodded. Before Akio started walking away, he laughed. "Perhaps now would be a good time for me to finally show Manabu that block attack," he pointed out a younger wolf having trouble dodging the attacks that were being thrown at him. Rioichi only smiled again. As the wolf was walking away, Sly and Rioichi heard him mumbling about how confusing time was nowadays.

Rioichi turned back to Sly. But Sly was busy watching just how amazingly talented the other students were.

"So these are your classmates?" the grey raccoon finally asked.

"They are." Rioichi replied, crossing his arms and leaning back against a tree, lowering his hood to wipe away the sweat drenching his forehead.

"Are they just as good as you? Are you better than them? Are they better than you?" the questions came out in a very quick sentence.  
"We're all pretty much on the same level, except for poor Manabu over there," Rioichi dipped his head in the direction of the struggling wolf. Both Coopers watched as Manabu spun a bo staff, deflecting some ninja stars that were being thrown at him, but when he stopped, he wasn't prepared for a series of kicks aimed for his legs and fell with a thud, leaving the abandoned bo staff to fall onto his head with a hollow _thunk_!

Sly had to laugh. "He's not too bad. I mean, he got the twirling part right."

"He's new." Rioichi smirked. "He's from a line of ninja masters, but he's still got a lot to learn to catch up to the level that we're at."

Sly let out a gasp when Rioichi suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. He looked back to where he was previously standing to see a sword with a chain wrapped around it stabbed into the ground.

"Was that coming at me?!" Sly cried as his widened eyes never left the weapon.

"Possibly," Rioichi replied casually. He sighed with a bored expression when he seen it was the same monkey Sly first saw who had thrown it. He stood a ways away laughing uncontrollably. "But it was probably intended for me. They might think I'm still sparring with them. Let us leave."

As they started walking away, Sly's eyes were darting in every direction on high alert, feeling anxious after his 'near-death' experience. Rioichi was the opposite, walking next to him casually and calmly.

The ninja raccoon caught an arrow just before it flew between both him and Sly, which made the grey raccoon flinch again and eye his ancestor with an expression mixed with disbelief and shock. The shooter, a grey and white crane, approached Rioichi as they walked towards the exit.

"Where ya going, Rio?" the crane demanded. Sweat soaked his feathers from the intense exercise and he was eager to continue fighting. "Usually you'd return that arrow!"

"Usually," Rioichi smirked, tossing the arrow back to the crane carelessly. "Master dismissed me."

"When are you coming back? We have a fight to finish!"

"I won't be back until tomorrow morning, Isamu."

This so-called Isamu suddenly eyed Sly. "Who's the peasant?"

Sly lowered his ears at the rude address. Rioichi nudged Sly to get his attention again and they kept walking, but Isamu followed them. "He's a friend." Rioichi finally answered.

"Don't lie, Cooper!" Isamu laughed. "I heard you introducing him to Akio! He's family?! You have family here?! Since when?!"

Sly noticed Rioichi starting to look troubled by the last couple of questions. Then again, it could have been annoyance too. Sly began to wonder why but when Rioichi cleared his throat and gave a small smile, he relaxed. "Yes, I do."

"You didn't have to lie, ya know!" Isamu repeated. "I have ears like a hawk! Except I'm a crane…" He then gave an apologetic smile to Sly. "Sorry if the arrow seemed like it was aiming for you, old friend! I was really aiming for him!" he ran by the ninja raccoon, shoving him a little when he did so. "I'll see ya tomorrow! Don't forget that match you walked out of earlier!"

Rioichi rolled his eyes at the childish crane. He pushed open the large wooden doors, allowing Sly to walk out first. Rioichi closed the doors behind him with a loud _click_. All the chaos and loud yelling was left behind the gates, leaving Sly and Rioichi with the peace and quiet of the village before them.

"Seems like you're pretty close to them," Sly brought up as they started walking again.

"I consider them family. We barely see ourselves as just classmates." Rioichi spoke, twirling his cane within his fingers. "I grew up with them."

"What did that Isamu guy mean when he spoke about fam-…" Sly was interrupted when a loud gong sounded just down the dirt path to their right. He heard his ancestor sigh, followed by an irritated growl.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't realize it was getting so late," Rioichi muttered. "I still have to restock fish for my sushi shop."

"Fishing?"

"Yes." Rioichi looked to the sky, eyeing how much the sun was already starting to set. "Perhaps I could still make it out to the river and be back before it's too dark. Care to join me?"

Sly nodded. "Sure, pal. It's been a while since I've been fishing."

Rioichi chuckled softly and proceeded in going to the shop to pick up his fishing supplies, and head down to river.

**A/N: All Japanese translations were used with Google translate and other language translating sites.**

_**Konnichiwa- **_**Hello**

_**Genki desu ka?- **_**How are you?**


	2. Chapter 2

The crickets were already chirping and the fireflies were buzzing about by the time Sly and Rioichi reached the forest entrance. The heavily dense forest had a faint white glow within it, thanks to the now appearing full moon above them.

"We've arrived a little bit later than I hoped," Rioichi muttered under his breath in slight disgust. He adjusted the long wooden fishing rod leaning against his shoulder. "I do hope the fish are still out at this hour."  
"Have you ever fished at this hour?" Sly wondered, swatting at a mosquito buzzing annoyingly near his ear.

"I have; many years ago." Rioichi replied. "But that was a time when the river was still very much populated with fish. They would have been perfect for sushi, however, I hadn't discovered the meal until many years later."

Sly glanced over confusingly. "The river isn't as populated with fish anymore?"

"Not nearly as much as it used to be. But what is left is what you would call… _perfect_." Rioichi smiled. "Anybody can go out and get fish in other rivers. But this river is one of the locations where I get the _best _fish for my sushi."

"I thought the cave that Bentley and Murray got fish from was the best location?"

"The river is an alternative, but just as good of a place as the caves. I couldn't have had El Jefe's men finding me down at the caves at the time."

As they walked, Rioichi was caught off guard when Sly suddenly jumped forward in fear, eyeing the ground behind him with wide, chocolate brown eyes. Rioichi glanced over quickly, looking behind him as well but finding nothing.

"What's wrong? " Rioichi demanded, curious but calm.

"I-I think I almost stepped on a snake or something." Sly replied breathlessly. He was correct, for the ninja found the reptile slithering away into the tall grass again. The present day Cooper normally wasn't afraid of little things such as reptiles, but being in an unfamiliar area, let alone time period with species he's never heard of, and walking at nightfall, Sly wasn't ashamed to admit he was a bit jumpy.

He heard Rioichi laughing quietly in response. "Have you never seen a snake before?" he questioned.

"I have!" Sly defended. "It's just…it's dark and kinda too quiet for my comfort out here. I don't know what kind of creatures there are in this time period."

"Merely the same as you I would assume, Sly-san." Rioichi shrugged carelessly. "Perhaps you should head back-"

"No, no, I'm fine." Sly interrupted. "I mean, we're halfway to the river, right?"

"Almost."

They continued walking in silence for a little while before Rioichi spoke up again after noticing Sly's slight discomfort in his villager disguise, watching him adjust his oversized shirt and scratching occasionally.

"You really managed to look like one of the villagers." Rioichi smirked. "I'll admit, I didn't recognize you at first."

"I better have," Sly muttered back, "This shirt is so itchy and the shoes are too small."

'_My, my descendent is so whiny,' _Rioichi thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. _'I wonder where he gets _that _from.'_

"So what brings you back to my time period, Sly? I never did get to ask before." the ninja master wondered curiously. "I do hope nothing is wrong with the Thievius Raccoonus again."

"No, no not at all." Sly said quickly, assuring that there was no danger. "I'm just paying a visit. I promised everyone I would visit their time frame again when everything with Le Paradox calmed down some."

"I'll never forget what you have done for my home." Rioichi pointed out in a soft tone. "You are a true Cooper. You have honor and respect for your family."

"Thank you." Sly smiled. "I take it everything is back to normal for you?"

"As normal as it will ever be," Rioichi nodded. "Yourself?

"What do you mean?"

"Were you able to make up with your partner?"

Sly shot him a confused glance. "Partner?"

"Yes, ah….Carmelita, was her name?" Rioichi recalled the fox's name being mentioned last time Sly was there. "You mentioned her during your last visit. You said you two had a complicated relationship, no?"

Sly snorted. "Ah well, since she knows I'm back to my old ways, she lost a little trust in me. But yeah, we made up. We're cool."

Rioichi nodded at the slightly informal slang his descendent used.

They reached a dead end to the dirt trail they had been following for the past half hour, or at least Sly thinks it's been about a half hour. He still hadn't found out how to properly read a clock around this time period. Rioichi held his hand up to stop his descendent.

"Watch your step. We will be going downhill from here. The river is just at the bottom of this hill." he warned, stepping carefully down the stones going down the small hill. Sly nodded and followed close behind.

But it was so dark in this part of the forest that he could barely see where he was going! As a result, he tripped over a small rock standing above the boulder-like rocks and started tumbling down the hill, leaving Rioichi standing in disbelief from Sly's sudden clumsiness .

The ninja paused and his ears perked forward when he heard Sly hit the ground and into a mess of leaves and mud. "I found the river!" he heard Sly's muffled, slightly-pained call.

Rioichi shook his head with a sigh and continued his walk down. Minutes later, he reached the bottom of the hill and was greeted by Sly, who was still laying on the ground covered in mud and leaves, just inches away from the river itself.

Rioichi set down his fishing supplies and sighed again. "I thought I warned you to watch your step, Sly-san." he muttered, proceeding in putting live bait on the hook of the rod.

"Well, it _is_ dark you know. Kind of hard to see where I was going without light." Sly retorted, spitting dirt out of his mouth and standing up rather shakily. "Now I see why you wanted to be out here before nightfall."

The grey coon heard an amused chuckle come from Rioichi as he watched him throw the baited hook out into the water with a loud and sharp _whip_. Sly took a seat next to him and sat in silence. Sly also took this opportunity to admire feudal Japan's ancient beauty, something he wasn't able to do during the last visit. The river was a division between the forest and distant mountains. There was a waterfall not too far away to his right and out in the distant, the moon was shining brightly above some mountains.

All the while fireflies danced above the river's slowly passing water and they could hear the frogs croaking a little closer by the waterfall.

"This is beautiful." Sly simply commented.

"Hmm…"

Sly looked over to his ancestor and noticed the ninja's relaxed, yet deep-in-thought expression. When nothing was said for a long period of time, Sly grew curious.

"Something on your mind?" Sly wondered.

Rioichi inhaled the river air slowly and adjusted the rod in his hands. "No, Sly." he finally replied. "Every time I come here to fish, I am just reminded of how much time I used to spend here when I was younger."

"This river has a lot of memories?"

"Quite. I started my ninjutsu training when I was still under the age to really start training with other students. Akio would bring me out here to give me private lessons instead of letting me train with the others." the ninja explained. "And he and I spent a lot of time fishing afterwards. I was just a young child back then."

"Wait, are you talking about the guy you were sparring with earlier?"

Rioichi nodded. "Indeed."

"He's a good guy." Sly agreed. "You guys seem to be pretty close buds."

"Hmm…" Rioichi smirked at his descendant's informal address.

"You also must have been pretty special to him if he gave you private lessons and such." Sly said in a quieter voice.

Rioichi looked hesitant to explain the reason why. Sly recognized the same concerned expression when Isamu brought up his family from earlier on.

Was there something Rioichi wasn't telling him about his past? Sly was itching to find out, but he knew it would be difficult to get the answer out of Rioichi.

Finally, Rioichi just sighed. "I was…different from the other students. I said before that I've trained with them since the beginning? I actually didn't start training _with _them when _they _first started." He noticed the strange questioning looks that he was receiving. "I'm not exactly the same age as them." he clarified, "In fact, I'm younger than they are. That's why Akio gave me lessons without throwing me in sparring circles with the other students because he was afraid of how I would have been treated being more inexperienced than them."

"You eventually started training with them though, right?"

The red furred raccoon nodded quietly. "When I was old enough, yes. But by the time I was ready to fight the others, I had known just as much as them because Akio had been training me all along. Luckily though, when the time came, they did accept me."

"That's a good thing." Sly agreed. "Akio must've been determined to help you catch up to them."

"He was. He's definitely considered family to me; he's done so much for me." And he paused after that sentence. After a moment's silence, he cleared his throat and threw the fishing line back out into the water after replacing the bait. Sly had acted as if to be watching the river, but really out of the corner of his eye, he was searching for a reason why Rioichi was refusing to dwell into his childhood. Something was holding Rioichi back from getting into the details of his childhood and family, but Sly kept to himself. He thought about looking back into the Thievius Raccoonus again to see if Rioichi had recorded anything about his childhood there, but he recalled never seeing anything about his past ever recorded in his section. So really, if he wanted to know, Rioichi would have to tell him himself.

But from that point on, the topic of Akio ended. Sly didn't ask anymore questions regarding him because he knew Rioichi wouldn't talk anymore about it. He was a very private kind of guy, and Sly had to respect that.

After about another half hour, nothing had taken the bait. Sly sat with his chin resting in the palm of his hand and he sighed.

"Still nothing?" he wondered. He received a shake of the head no in response.

"Do you think at this rate anything will…!" Sly fell silent when the bobber suddenly plummeted beneath the surface. Rioichi's ears perked up when he felt a tug on his fishing rod. It was when the tugging got extreme that he had to stand up and keep a firm grip on the bamboo rod to avoid loosing the fish.

Sly eagerly watched as his ancestor tried to pull in the fish, but he started to question just how _big _this fish was when he seen Rioichi beginning to struggle in pulling the creature in.

The fish was pulling him to the edge of the river; it was just that strong!

"You need some help?" Sly asked, jumping to his feet.

Rioichi shook his head. "Not at all…" he grunted through clenched teeth. Rioichi was known for being one of the stealthiest Coopers of the family tree, but his strength was a different story. A final pull at the line sent Rioichi forward but Sly snatched his arm and pulled him back towards dry land just in time before he was doomed to take a swim. Rioichi was hanging right above the water.

"Now do you need help?" Sly asked. Rioichi simply nodded. Sly leaned forward and grabbed the pole with both hands and helped Rioichi pull the fish towards land. After a few minutes of pulling on the line, the two managed to finally reel in the monster of a fish.

And that it was.

The fish was about half the size of Rioichi, breathing heavily as it flopped helplessly on the sand, longing to be back in the warm water.

"I'd say that's a fish." Sly concluded humorously.

Rioichi had to arch an eyebrow at the comment. "This fish alone should feed a day's worth of customers." he exaggerated.

After catching the monster fish, Rioichi was happy to see that the catch was starting to pick up some. But it was about an hour later when it started to slow down again that Rioichi concluded his fishing all together.

"We should return back to the village." he tried his best to hide a small yawn. "I'm quite disappointed with the catch for tonight, but it should be enough to serve my customers at least for tomorrow. Especially the bigger fish."

Sly mimicked the red furred raccoon, and yawned as well. He helped Rioichi by carrying a single bucket containing only the monster fish. He was pretty thankful that they grabbed one of the bigger wooden buckets to bring along or else toting monster fish back home would have been quite the challenge.

And walking back up the sloped hill, Sly was sure to watch his step this time.

Back on the trail to the village again, the two Coopers walked in silence. Neither of them had much to say. Sly, not being one to be silent, decided to start another conversation.

"Sooo, how exactly long have you been training as a ninja? Your sparring session was incredible! It must have taken _years _to master all of those moves!" he asked curiously. Rioichi smiled in amusement and was about to respond, but something stopped him dead in his tracks, causing his descendant to bump into him unintentionally.

"My bad…" Sly apologized, fumbling with his grip on the bucket after almost spilling monster fish. "What's wrong?"

"Shh!" Rioichi hissed. He heard leaves rustling just beside him, his ears twitching every time it picked up the sound. Then everything went silent again.

"What was that about?" Sly wondered when they started walking again.

"I thought I heard something. Didn't you?"

"Um, no?"

Assuming it was only a forest creature, Rioichi proceeded in letting his guard down and continuing to walk in mere silence.

However, he started to hear the rustling leaves again and even a snap of a twig just moments after they started walking again. Rioichi stopped again, his brown eyes were darting in every direction as he pulled his blue hood over his head slowly, laying a gentle hand on the cane strapped to his back and ready to grab it if necessary. Sly knew things were about to get serious if Rioichi believed they were being threatened.

"What's going on?" he whispered in a much lower tone.

"We're being followed…" Rioichi's raspy voice came out as a low, threatening growl.

The ninja's strict ears never did pick up another sound. The entire forest seemed to have fell deathly silent as Rioichi and Sly stood side by side, stiller than the air itself.

Right on time, Rioichi grasped Sly's arm and yanked him out of the way _just _before a small dagger came flying at his back, missing him and stabbing the tree just behind him.

"_How _did you know that was going to happen?!" Sly freaked out, looking around frantically for the attacker, only to see the dark outlines of bamboo trees and nothing more. Rioichi was the opposite, staying calm, collected, and on high alert. He didn't speak.

The ninja flipped out of the way just before another dagger came flying in his direction. He used his sword to deflect shruikens that were now being thrown just afterwards. From the choice of weapons that were being used, both Coopers concluded that it was possible another ninja was attacking them. When all of the attacks seemed to have paused, Sly was determined to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"We need to go now!" he said sternly, grabbing Rioichi's arm to pull him along. But Rioichi yanked his arm back and stood in place.

"What's the rush?" a dark, raspy voice questioned from behind.

The two Coopers turned around to face a shadowy silhouette standing in front of them, blocking the path back to the village. It was too dark to see who or what was standing there, only able to point out a slim and tall figure with piercing blue eyes standing out in the darkness.

Rioichi pulled his hood closer to his face to hide his identity as he stood in a battle stance. It was important for ninjas to keep their true identity a secret, specially from other ninjas. All Sly could see was his rusty brown eyes burning with determination in the darkness and nothing more.

As the mysterious figure walked closer, Rioichi and Sly found themselves suddenly gaping in surprise. But it wasn't the stranger's appearance that surprised them.

It was the hook-shaped weapon that it carried…

**A/N: So here's the second chapter! We got to find out just a little bit about Rioichi's past but not a lot of it. And now they've encountered another ninja that seems like he's not going to let them go without a fight. Who will win? Thank you to those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! It's very much appreciated! The next chapter will be up shortly! Until then, thanks for reading and reviews would be awesome!**


	3. Chapter 3

Rioichi stood his ground, lowering himself into a better battle stance. The other ninja standing across from him did the same. He could see a long bushy tail swishing back and forth in a very irritated manner. Weapons were drawn at the same time.

"Listen…We don't want any trouble…" Rioichi said quietly but calmly.

The stranger stayed silent, still eyeing Rioichi as if he would attack at any minute. However, fighting was the last thing Rioichi wanted to do. The other ninja straightened his posture after realizing this, and smirked underneath his hood.

"Scared of a small duel, you _thieves_?" he finally asked in a raspy voice, lifting his long cane-like weapon to address the two Coopers. His tone was taunting but it didn't phase Rioichi one bit. Although, both he and Sly were wondering what exactly he meant by _thieves_…

"Never," Rioichi replied back sharply. "But a _real _ninja knows when _is _and _isn't _the time to engage in an unnecessary battle. I'm pretty sure you've got us confused with someone else, my friend. We haven't stolen anything."

The stranger just chuckled darkly, sending chills down the Coopers' spines. "You think I'm a fool?" he questioned. He nodded his head towards the direction of the baskets of fish. "You stole those from right under my nose. I'm not leaving until I get them back." His lowered himself into a fighting stance again, still holding out the hooked weapon as a threat. Both raccoons could point out that it was indeed a hooked cane similar to the traditional Cooper cane.

_Just who is this guy?! _Sly started to wonder.

"We caught those ourselves. We didn't steal them!" Sly defended. His brown eyes narrowed. "You can't have them."

The ninja just sniggered in response. "Then it is a fight you shall get. Perhaps _you _may have a chance at a fair fight," he guessed, casting his gaze to Rioichi. His icy blue eyes met Sly's confused ones. "_You _wouldn't."

Sly's anger started to flare as he marched forward. "Oh yeah? You just trying to start something, pal?" he growled. He waved his golden cane at him. "A metal cane can beat a wooden weapon any day!"

When Sly least expected it, the stranger ran up and instantly struck the present-day Cooper in the eye with his cane with a sharp _smack_! When Sly was distracted from the intense pain his eye was bringing, the ninja leapt up in the air and roundhouse kicked him in the chest, sending the grey raccoon sliding on the ground back to Rioichi, slightly winded. Seeing this, Rioichi's ears laid flat as his narrowed eyes met the sorry fool who messed with his descendant.

"Fish is something not worth fighting over. But to protect others is. If it is a fight you want…" Rioichi stepped forward and in front of Sly. He took a sudden leap in the air with teeth barred. "Then a fight you shall get!"

Sly shook his head to clear his blurry vision and regain his breath after the rather harsh strike to the chest. He sat up to watch the battle with interest, only able to see through one eye at the moment, but immediately ducked back down when the two ninjas flew over him in a tense duel. He watched as their wood and bamboo weapons clashed heavily against one another and mentally winced when he heard the sound of hands and feet striking a bone rather painfully.

As they fought, Sly and Rioichi seen that this ninja was dressed in a cloaked outfit, able to point out the navy green color on it too. His hood hung heavily over his head and his distinct blue eyes practically glowed in the forest's moonlight. Rioichi settled with the idea that this guy must be an assassin of some sort, judging by the apparel.

They also noticed that a few of the stranger's attacks were unstable and noticeably weak; a few times unable to keep his balance after attacking and letting Rioichi have a fair chance to fight back. Rioichi began to wonder why that was; especially after this guy was the one who started the fight in the first place. Why would he start a fight he couldn't win?

Having enough of wooden weapons, the unknown ninja let out a yell as he unsheathed his ninja sword. Rioichi was quick to grab his katana sword as well and block the sudden attack that nearly struck his neck. The red raccoon kicked his opponent away from him and he engaged in his next attack.

While the two fought, Sly couldn't help but just stay where he was, being of no help at this point knowing he probably wouldn't last in a fight as intense as this. He admired how his ancestor fought so fiercely and with little to no hesitation. Rioichi was a very laid back kind of guy, but Sly knew that he knew how to put out a flame before it spread into a heated wildfire. He was sure to win this small fight.

Rioichi gritted his teeth as he spun around and brought his sword down upon his opponent's weapon with extra force, causing the other to stumble some and giving Rioichi the chance to deliver a side kick to the ribs and swipe at the sword again. This time, it disarmed the ninja in green. Immediately, he brought up his arms and blocked every attack Rioichi brought. When he managed to duck under the final swing of Rioichi's sword, the ninja saw the chance to leap forward and get his sword that was knocked out of his hands earlier and was sent a ways away. Rioichi was right behind him. Sly was surprised to see that once the sword was back into the enemy's hands, he took off into the forest, but Rioichi gave chase.

"Hey!" Sly called. "Wait!" Without thinking, the grey raccoon jumped to his feet and started running after them. But then he stopped.

They were out of sight within a blink of an eye and the forest's darkness was pitch black, making it near impossible to see the fighting ninjas.

Sly didn't have to wonder where they were going for long. As he stood in complete silence, he could hear the running footsteps rushing through the trees around him, seemingly going in a circle around him. As Sly's chocolate brown eyes followed the sounds, he could hear the swords clashing every now and then, followed by furious and irritated yells.

Sly's head jerked up when he heard the fight taking towards the skies. The two ninjas were in the bamboo trees now in pursuit of one another, leaving Sly spinning in circles trying to spot them in the blasted darkness but failing.

He heard them land on the ground again after a few minutes and the footsteps coming closer. Sly leapt out of the way just in time before they came back to where they started.

The run around had Rioichi utterly tired, breathing heavily as he dodged the endless attacks. He barely had time to lean away from a kick that would have left a nasty bruise across his face. Sly saw this and, feeling Rioichi needed help, decided to step in, whether he could fight as well as them or not.

However, a pained cry made Sly stop in his tracks. His eyes widened when he seen the stranger suddenly fall on one knee, clutching his upper right arm. Despite being fairly dark outside, Sly could see thick red blood oozing from in between the ninja's gloved fingers. Rioichi saw this and stepped back, sheathing his sword slowly. He had had enough of this wasted battle and hoped this slight injury was enough to end it.

"I'm thankful I trained this evening. It gave me quite the warm up to put an end to this pathetic excuse of a battle." Rioichi growled. "Had enough?"

Instead of a reply, the stranger started laughing again, very darkly, for Rioichi's comfort. His icy eyes trailed up and met Rioichi's dangerously. Without wasting a breath, he jumped up and front kicked Rioichi straight in the chest, sending the Japanese Cooper slamming against a tree with a dull _thud_. Rioichi fell to the ground, completely winded. Although he managed to attack, the other ninja started to feel even more lightheaded from the sudden loss of blood. Sly took the chance to run up to his ancestor, seeing the enemy stagger a little to keep his footing.

"You okay?" he asked. He grabbed the red raccoon's hand, pulling him to his feet.

"Y-Yes, just w-winded…" Rioichi replied, panting and coughing to find his breath again. "I l-let my guard down. T-That will not happen again."

"The guy just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" Sly joked. He felt a sudden burst of adrenaline in his blood. "I'm going to help you finish him off!"

Rioichi quickly shook his head. "No, Sly-san. This is my battle. You must not interfere!" he said.

"But you're exhausted. Let me help!" Sly insisted. Instead of an answer, Rioichi suddenly shoved Sly to the side just in time before the unknown ninja leapt forward and swiped his sword at Rioichi again. Sly tumbled forward to dodge the attacks that were meant for his ancestor.

This small duel was turning into a very serious battle and it wasn't ending well for either of the two ninjas who were taking equal damage.

Things started to heat up when the hidden ninja continued swinging his sword wildly but skillfully and it caught Rioichi off guard, slashing the Cooper's lower right leg in the process. As he already felt the blood starting to run down his leg from what felt like a serious wound, Rioichi held the pained cry in his throat. He was trained not to show signs of weakness or pain in front of an opponent, but it was becoming a challenge.

Seeing that his opponent was now distracted from his wound, the ninja in green managed to deliver another low kick against Rioichi's injured leg, resulting in a muffled yell from the ninja in blue and sending him limping. The enemy tossed his sword aside, pulled out a dagger and pinned Rioichi against a tree; the dagger's blade was mere centimeters away from his throat. If Rioichi tried any attempt to break free, the fight would be over instantly.

Rioichi could feel the stranger's ragged breathing on his face. He could also feel how the death grip on his throat was shaky. He knew that this ninja was on the brink of falling unconscious any minute now, but not until this fight was over.

"W-Who are you?" Rioichi choked out; the increasing pressure against his throat making it harder and harder to breathe, let alone talk. "You must know me if you're so keen of defeating me! Only a _coward _would hide their identity in a battle such as this! All over a couple baskets of _fish_!"

Now steaming angry, the unknown ninja went to strike the final blow but was instead yanked away from Rioichi. Sly had hooked his cane around the enemy's neck and pulled him away roughly, practically choking him in the process.

Leaving the ninja coughing and spluttering, Sly helped Rioichi keep his balance from the lack of oxygen.

"You sure you don't need my help?" the present-day Cooper asked humorously despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Not at all…" Rioichi growled and proceeded to attack again.

Sly held him back. "You are hurt! If you won't let me help you fight, we need to go!" he stated sternly, pointing out the raccoon's injured leg.

"We will….after I end this." Rioichi yanked his arm back.

A final series of strikes and blows arose from the exhausted ninjas. Though they were on the brink of collapsing, it didn't stop the bursts of adrenaline within them to keep fighting. Finally having enough of the fight, the stranger in green jumped, spun around, and dealt a final kick first to the side and then to the chest, sending Rioichi back to the ground permanently breathless and unfortunately defeated. When he hit the ground, Rioichi tried to stand up but ended up falling onto his side again, unable to find the energy to get back up.

Whoever this guy was was truly a trained and experienced ninja master, Rioichi confirmed. He must have endured many long and hard years of training, of being driven to the point of bloody knuckles and broken bones, to the point of pure determination to not surrender under any costs; just as he had been trained.

This was also the first time Rioichi had lost any battle such as this.

The other ninja breathlessly staggered up to him to finish him off, and Rioichi was willing to accept that. He panted heavily as he squeezed his brown eyes shut, awaiting the last attack. But when that never happened, he opened his eyes again and stared in amazement. Something had stopped the other ninja in his tracks.

"No….I-It's you…." he heard the other's voice pant in disbelief. There was no longer a threat in his voice.

That's when Rioichi finally realized that his blue hood had fallen back upon impact with the ground, revealing his identity. Though he was unable to stand at the moment, Rioichi's ears flattened and he eyed the ninja dangerously as he shakily grabbed his katana sword and pointed it at him to keep his distance from him. This action made the ninja in green halt immediately, his hands held up to show he was done fighting. He even dropped his weapons to prove it, leaving them to clatter on the ground. His widened, blue eyes were full of shock and horror.

"No…it can't be…" Rioichi heard him whisper in a horrified manner. "Y-You're…alive?!"

Rioichi didn't know how to respond as he narrowed his eyes in pure confusion, mouth a gap.

The other ninja stepped forward and swallowed, his eyes never leaving the fallen raccoon.

"R-Rioichi?"

**A/N: I'm sure this fight would have went a little smoother if Sly would have taken some martial arts lessons! Hahaha! So, in the end, after this long battle, this mystery ninja knows Rioichi, and apparently Rioichi doesn't know him. So just who is this guy? And how does he know Rioichi? Who do **_**you **_**think he is? We will find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated! I would love to get some feedback on how the story is going so far!**


	4. Chapter 4

Sly was as stunned as his ancestor when the ninja in green addressed Rioichi by his name.

And Rioichi was not in the least comfortable knowing that this stranger knew his name, for he still had no idea who was under the hood. At first he thought that perhaps this was just some trick that one of his fellow classmates were playing on him. They tend to surprise each other and test their skills when they least expect it. But as quickly as the idea came, Rioichi shook his head clear of the thought. None of his classmates would ever engage in such a brutal battle such as what he had just fought in knowing that someone was seriously injured. As he sat on the cold ground trying to regain his breath and ignore the pain in his leg, he confirmed that this was not someone from his village and suspicion started to rise immediately, even after the ninja he was fighting had dropped his weapons in surrender.

Ears laid back in an aggressive manner, Rioichi snarled as he unsteadily jumped up and pinned the enemy to a tree almost effortlessly and held him in a choke hold with his cane, despite the pain in his leg firing up and making him stand with a horrible limp. Adrenaline was pumping in his blood again, giving him the energy he didn't have just moments ago. No games were being played this time.

"How do you know my name? And what business are you doing in my village? _Assassin_?" he hissed darkly. However, the stranger couldn't talk. He was quickly loosing oxygen due to the pressure being applied to his throat. He lifted his shaking hands and placed them on the cane to try and push it away from him. But Rioichi only slammed it back against his throat again roughly, making the enemy cough in response.

"Answer me!" Rioichi ordered.

"G-Give m-me a c-chance to e-explain…" the other ninja choked out. Rioichi eyed him through narrowed slits but did not loosen his grip. The raccoon still couldn't see the stranger's face due to the darkness and the hood, but the look in his blue eyes gave away his weakening state and he was buckling to his knees when he was no longer able to stand. Sly started to feel uneasy as he came up to his ancestor and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Rio…" Sly tilted his head towards the stranger, telling him to give him a chance.

"P-Please, R-Rioichi…" the weaker ninja begged, almost desperately.

'_He doesn't seem to be much of a threat now anyhow…' _the Japanese Cooper thought. Left without much of a choice, Rioichi released his grip and let the other ninja completely fall to the ground, gasping for breath. Despite being released from the choke hold, he was barely able to get back up on his feet. The few rough coughs that came from him gave away a large amount of congestion that was in his chest. From the sound of that, Rioichi knew that he was sick and that was probably the reason why his fight was slightly poor. The look Rioichi saw in the stranger's eyes seemed to be thankful for sparing his life, but the Cooper's serious glare never disappeared.

"Start talking…" Rioichi muttered, longing to sit down and get off of his bad leg. He looked down to examine the damage done and mentally winced. Even from a few feet away, Sly could see blood had soaked through most of the blue material of his pant leg and started to worry some when he seen Rioichi look faint and lightheaded every few minutes. He had to get him back home soon.

Once the ninja in green regained his breath again after coughing for what seemed like the hundredth time, he noticed Rioichi checking over his wound and flinched from what looked like a very painful cut. "What have I done…" he said regretfully. He stood up slowly and started walking towards him, voice full of worry. "I am so sorry, Rioichi…"

"_Don't _come any closer…" Rioichi cut him off sharply, pointing the hook of his cane straight at him threateningly. The other ninja backed off immediately, hands held up in surrender.

"Don't make me regret sparing your life." the red raccoon added quietly. _Why is he concerned for me? I thought we were enemies._

"Calm down! Please understand that I do not want to fight anymore."

But the comment fell on deaf ears. Sly cleared his throat to gain both ninjas' attention and stood in front of his ancestor defensively. "Look blue-eyes, I may not be a master fighter, but I _will _fight you if I have to."

"You're not listening!" the unknown ninja growled, knowing that Rioichi and this other guy still thought of him as a threat. "I do not wish to hurt anyone anymore! I want to help him-"

"Says the guy who intentionally fought and injured him just minutes ago!" Sly interrupted. "Why do you want to help him all of a sudden?"

"You wouldn't understand, my friend, b-but, I'm a Cooper. Rioichi is family." the ninja's voice was filled with great emotion. Rioichi's ears perked up upon hearing this and he straightened his posture. His rusty brown eyes read pure confusion in them, yet he remained silent. _Family?_

The red raccoon swallowed hard and lifted his cane to address the stranger again. He didn't even try to hide the angry growl in his voice. "You have five seconds to tell me just who you really are…" he said in a dangerously low tone. "It's risky to claim being part of an honorable family as the Cooper Clan when in reality, you, my friend, are nothing but a ruthless assassin. If you really were family, you wouldn't have attacked me."

"I promise you I'm not an assassin!" the other 'Cooper' defended. "Your hood hid your face before! If I'd had known it was you, I would have stopped fighting!"

"I have no family in this village!" Rioichi hissed. "You're lying!"

Instead of arguing, the ninja finally lowered the hood over his head. Who he was surprised both Sly _and _Rioichi.

It was another raccoon, somewhat similar in appearance to Rioichi. Instead of in a bun, his somewhat long hair was down and plastered to his neck from sweat and his fur was a slightly darker shade of reddish brown. He had a couple faded scars on the side of his face and a piece of his left ear was torn slightly at the tip from previous fights. He was slim in figure and was slightly malnourished, but if he was healthier, he was a little stronger in build than Rioichi. And despite putting up one heck of fight with Rioichi, both Coopers realized just how weak and tired this raccoon was and realizing why.

Besides the small scars and the noticeably bright blue eyes, he was almost a spitting image of Sly's ancestor and it was very likely that he wasn't lying about being a Cooper.

Rioichi stood speechless. Sly could see different emotions expressed on his ancestor's face at the same time from shock to even despair. Did Rioichi recognize him as family?

Seeing that the ninja in blue still had nothing to say after a brief period of time, the other raccoon spoke up again. "Rioichi," His blood ran cold as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I know it's been awhile, but…d-don't you recognize me at all?"

Rioichi shuffled his feet uncomfortably and studiously eyed the other ninja. His mere silence was a clear 'no' in answer.

Rioichi could then see tears glistening in the raccoon's eyes, but none of them fell. He quickly blinked them away. "Rioichi…" he choked on the quiet words. "I'm Hiroki…your brother."

Rioichi gaped for a moment, taking in what he had just heard.

"You have a brother you've never told me about?!" Sly couldn't hold back his question, absolutely amazed and a hint of a smile stretching across his lips. He knew a few of his ancestors had siblings, but he always believed that Rioichi was an only child. However, unlike his descendant, Rioichi was _very _far from being overjoyed.

The ninja master's pulse started racing and he tried to remain calm, but the other two Coopers could see he was very troubled upon hearing this. In fact, it seemed that Rioichi was struggling to speak.

"I-I no longer have a brother…" came his muttered response. "I have not seen him, or a-any of my family, in seventeen years."

Hiroki nodded his head slowly. "I know…neither have I." he replied.

"I-I…don't understand…"

Hiroki and Rioichi stared at one another after the response. Rioichi's mind was still racing a million miles an hour, trying to decide on whether or not to believe if this raccoon really was family. It was true; he had a brother named Hiroki and he hadn't seen him, or his parents, in seventeen long years because of a terrible separation caused by an enemy of the family. Needless to say, he became an orphan when he didn't hear anything from them after the tragic incident. It was a lot for him to take in seeing a family member he believed to be dead and to be standing before him now almost twenty years later. It was blinding him from believing anything Hiroki said.

And ninjas weren't supposed to be alarmed, but that was the only readable expression on his face as he tried to find the right words to say.

"I know you're confused, brother. It's okay; I'm just as shocked as you." Hiroki spoke softly, breaking the silence they shared. "But it's really me."

But the ninja in blue continued to stare in disbelief. "How can you prove it?" he finally asked.

"Our father's name is Keiji Cooper and our mother's name is Masami. They have only two sons; you and me. We come from a long line of master thieves, who only steal from other thieves." Hiroki started to explain.

Sly stood back and was trying not to smile. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the grey raccoon thought it was cool hearing the Cooper code coming from one of his ancestors. And the more Sly thought about it, if Hiroki was Rioichi's brother, that would make him Sly's ancestor as well.

When the other Japanese raccoon was going to continue explaining, he paused when he seen Rioichi's cane. Something was tied around the hook of it and was reflecting light from the moonlight shining on it.

"…and Mother made that for you." he pointed out with a sad smile. Rioichi eyed his cane and saw the woven material around the bamboo.

It was originally a bracelet woven out of the finest leather material in all of Japan and sewn in the middle of it was his birthstone; a small piece of real sapphire.

Rioichi couldn't remember much about his parents, but Hiroki was right; he could remember that his mother had woven this bracelet together for him when he was very young. The birthstone was real and the woven fabric was very rare. Both items were stolen by Rioichi's father to give to his wife to weave into a beautiful, one of a kind bracelet.

The bracelet was one of the very few things Rioichi had kept from his lost and very secret childhood. He had worn it on his wrist his entire childhood but eventually, it became too small. So, he tied it around his cane where he would still have it close to him. It became sentimental.

When Rioichi looked back up, he saw that Hiroki had unsheathed one of his twin canes and unwrapped something from around it. His eyes lit up when he seen his brother hold out a similar bracelet. But instead of sapphire, his birthstone was a rich emerald. "Mother had made me one, too." he added. "She gave us the bracelets just a couple days before we were all separated from each other."

Rioichi studied the bracelet in front of him thoughtfully. For so many years, Rioichi had tried to forget about his troubled past, move on with his life, and overcome the loss of his family. But now the memories were trying to come back in a flooded mess. The reunion still didn't seem real.

"If you really are my brother, then you remember that night our family was separated…" Rioichi muttered as his brown eyes trailed up to meet Hiroki's eyes.

Hiroki nodded slowly and looked away briefly. "Yes."

"Who caused it?" the ninja in blue questioned, giving the final test to see if Hiroki was family or not.

"Clockwerk." the name was spoken emotionless and cold.

Rioichi turned away and let out a stressed sigh; that was all he could do. Sly watched with his breath held, having absolutely nothing to do with this situation and decided to stay out of it. But the mention of Clockwerk did send a chill down his spine. He started to wonder if Rioichi had lost his parents the same way he had lost his.

Just what _was _the story? What did Clockwerk do? Sly was becoming more confused the more he listened to the ninjas speak bits and pieces of their past that explained nothing to him.

In the end, Rioichi let his cane fall to the ground as he let his gaze fall with it, ears flat against his head. He had to turn away from his brother to avoid any kind of eye contact. "Hiroki…" his voice was hoarse with pain. "I-I'm so sorry. I-.."

The master ninja wasn't able to finish his sentence. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, making him turn around to face the other ninja again. Before anything was said, Hiroki's eyes sealed shut as he embraced Rioichi tightly in a crushing hug. After the shock of the whole situation disappeared, Rioichi returned the hug just as tightly.

"Don't be sorry, Rioichi. I didn't expect this either. I thought I would never see you again, _Otouto_…" Hiroki said, holding back newly formed tears. "All these years I thought you were dead. Thank goodness you're alive and okay…"

Squeezing his eyes shut, Rioichi couldn't reply back, for the tightness in his throat prevented him from doing so. It took a lot for him to keep his emotions in check. All he could do was simply hug his brother in silence.

All the while Sly stood there, remaining in a complete phase of disbelief. One second a stranger comes out of the woods and attacks both of them, another second they're drawing blood and practically trying to kill one another, and then come to find out they're brothers and are hugging?

Hiroki broke the hug and placed his hands on Rioichi's shoulders. He couldn't hold back the surprised laugh, despite being choked up. "You've grown up so much; almost as tall as me now! And wow, do you look different from when I last saw you! You were just a little child back then."

"Everyone grows up sooner or later," Rioichi smiled lightly. He then focused his attention on Hiroki's suspicious apparel that would mistaken him to be an assassin, with the long green cloak, heavy hood, and belts across his chest to hold a variety of weapons. "Why are you dressed like this? One would mistaken you for being an assassin." he found himself asking.

Hiroki scanned over himself before answering. "This cloak helps me blend into the forest best. It comes in handy when hunting or staying hidden from other people."

Rioichi tilted his head in a puzzled manner. Hiroki seen this and sighed tiredly. "I haven't been in a village in months, brother. I'm always on the move and unable to settle within a village and call it home. The forests of Japan have been my home since we've been separated."

'_Explains the poor health, over-worn clothes, and being underweight,_' Sly thought to himself after noticing the tears and small holes within the cloak.

Clearing his throat, he walked up to the ninja brothers and smiled having seen this serious reunion take a lighthearted turn. "So you two are brothers? And you haven't seen each other in _seventeen _years?" he asked.

He got two nodding heads in response.

"You have _got _to tell me what happened! That's a really long time!" the present day Cooper wondered in amazement. "What did Clockwerk do?"

"Clockwerk has hated our family for many years," Hiroki explained, weariness lingering in his voice. "He chose the worst time to ruin our family when Rioichi and I were still young."

"Our mother was also a ninja master, but I believed that if anyone could have stopped Clockwerk, it would have been our father. The night we were all separated wasn't the first time he confronted him..." Rioichi added sadly.

"So wait, your father was _the _legendary Keiji Cooper? Did he …!"

Sly's comment was interrupted when Rioichi suddenly bit back a sharp hiss. He laid a hand on the knee of his bad leg and growled in pain. He tried to take a step to shake off the stinging sensation within his injury, but it was noticeably unstable. Hiroki grasped his arm before he almost stumbled over his own feet.

"You need help," Sly pointed out fearfully, forgetting about his earlier question. "We need to get back to the village."

Rioichi glanced at Sly and nodded. "I agree." He then turned to Hiroki, who looked just as terrible as he did. "You need to come with us. You're injured as well." he said, pointing out the still bleeding gash on his shoulder and the faint look in his eyes.

"Actually, I'm better off out here. I know how to dress my wounds so I'll be okay." Hiroki was quick to say, his voice lowering into a mumble. They could hear the congestion rumbling in his voice.

"You need to, Hiroki. You are not well." Rioichi objected.

"It's true I am not. I've been ill for a few days, and I feel it's only getting worse. But I can assure you I'll be fine and it will pass sooner or later." Hiroki said with a small, hopeful smile.

"Well, you also look like you could use a hot meal or two. That might help you get better." Sly added.

Hiroki smiled sheepishly upon hearing about food. "I'm going to guess that you really didn't take my fish?" he asked, nodding his head towards the baskets of fish that were probably already going bad. "I do apologize for fighting over them. I had caught fish earlier this afternoon and saw two bandits steal them from my camp. I assumed they were you two. I kind of needed those for I, uh, haven't eaten anything in a couple days."

"Don't worry about the fish," Sly waved his hand, dismissing the subject. "I'm sure the village has plenty for you." Hiroki still had an unsure look on his face and still declined the offer. Sly took it upon himself to bring up Hiroki's uneasiness. "We understand that you haven't been in a village in awhile. And it may seem frightening after such a long time…-"

"I'm not afraid," Hiroki defended calmly. "I…" He paused when he didn't know how to explain his reasons.

"Come with us." Rioichi spoke quietly, "I'll make sure you get the help you need." he promised.

Hiroki decided to not argue anymore. The thought of a hot dinner and sitting inside a warm house had won him over. The ninja was utterly exhausted and his wound had caused him to feel dizzy, which didn't mix well with his illness and hunger. Wordlessly, he started to follow the other two Coopers down the dirt road back to the village.

"Oh, my apologies, this is Sylvester." Rioichi introduced his descendent to his brother.

"Sylvester, huh?" Hiroki stifled a laugh but bowed respectively. "Well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Hiroki."

Sly did the same. "Everyone just calls me Sly. But yes, it's a pleasure to meet you after our uh…little confrontation there. Glad we're all on good terms now."

As they walked, Hiroki noticed how the limp that Rioichi had was slowing him down significantly.

"Will you be okay? You can barely walk." he asked. He grasped his brother's arm with his one good arm when he almost stumbled forward again. The longer his torn arm remained untreated, Hiroki felt it becoming more painful to us at all.

Rioichi nodded in an assuring manner as he retrieved his arm and used his bamboo cane to steady his steps. "Yes, please do not worry about me." he replied back. "I've handled wounds far worse than this."

"You never took wounds very well when we were kids." Hiroki smirked, remembering how squeamish Rioichi used to be around wounds when he was young.

Rioichi couldn't help but return the smirk. "I can assure you that I will be fine." he said.

As they were nearing the village, Sly flinched from the sights of the wounds on both Cooper brothers. Rioichi's right leg didn't look too good and Hiroki's upper arm looked just as bad, and there were a few nasty bruises and minor cuts along their arms, wrists and hands to add to it. He was thankful that they all got inside the village by the time he thought they couldn't take another step.

And from a distance along the outskirts of the forest, a pair of golden eyes never left the trio until they had disappeared within the village. The creature growled in great annoyance before turning tail and rushing back into the heart of the forest.

…...

It was very quiet in the village now that it was night time. Lanterns and fire torches had been lit up to provide a little light for village roads and some lights in the small homes were going out as the three Coopers walked past them.

"Strange being back in the village again. It's been so long since I've sought shelter within one." Hiroki stated as he eyed his surroundings cautiously. "I'll be honest with you, Rioichi-san, part of the reason why I didn't want to come back to the village was because I feared memories of Clockwerk would return."

Rioichi hummed in response, but that was mainly because he barely had the strength to even speak his thoughts. The only thing he wished for at the moment was to rest.

However, after glancing at things a little closer, Hiroki narrowed his blue eyes after noticing something was off. The buildings in the village he was born in were built out of dark wood; this village had light wooden homes. He also didn't remember this many fruit stands and school houses, tiny streams of water…

"Rioichi, this isn't our village."

"I know. But this is where I grew up." Rioichi managed to say.

Hiroki's expression of confusion only deepened for nothing here looked familiar to him. _'Just how did he get over in this village? This place has to be miles away from home…'_

"Then how did you get over here? And where are we going?" the questions were finally asked.

Rioichi's smiled a little when he stopped outside the door of a large home. He knocked on it gently and stood back.

"Visiting someone that I know would love to see you again."

**A/N: Sorry for such a long update! A million apologizes. So the mystery ninja just so happens to be Rioichi's long lost brother, Hiroki Cooper, that he hasn't seen in seventeen years. And it seems Clockwerk had affected more than just Sly's childhood, but Rioichi's as well. What happened to Rioichi's family? The next chapter is going to answer a lot of questions asked about his family, Hiroki in general, and even Clockwerk. Until then, thanks for reading and reviews are always awesome! **

_**Otouto**_**\- brother**


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