Michael Kresson cursed his luck. Day watch was easy, afternoon watch wasn't bad either. Heck even the dog watch would be preferable to this. The young sailor adjusted his blue digital hat, pulling it low over his eyes. It wasn't perfectly "within regulations", the bill curved down at the edges like you would expect a baseball cap, the bill slightly dingy with sweat and dirt. He glanced at his watch, pressing on the side of it to illuminate the black face, barely glowing in the dark of night. Blue numbers shone for a mere few seconds before going totally dark again, lost in the night. 0417 it had read, another two hours till sunrise, three and a half till he would be relieved, and could go get some well deserved sleep.

The young sailor idly fiddled with the rifle slung about his neck as he walked his path. Ever since an incident in Japan where a series of towers had been blown to pieces, security everywhere seemed to really have stepped up, even back in the States. That included the fence walk he was doing now. "Boundary Patrol", by its official name, was usually tasked to the younger guys, while the senior Non-Commissioned Officers kept the more quiet desk jobs, or patrols with vehicles. Today however, they had been short handed for the last watch.

And as in all things in life, the laws of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" were binding. He had lost, two out of three, and found his name listed next to the fence walk from four to eight. It was a warm night, at least. Not the overbearing heat Virginia could reach during the summer, but a nice warm spring day…and for once, no rain. He looked up, studying the sky for a moment, before sighing as he realized that he couldn't make out a single star…not with the cloud cover. And just like that, the temperamental eastern coast weather changed, and the warm, quiet skies opened up their locks, and unleashed a torrent of rain.

"Feh," he scoffed, ducking his head so that the bill of his cover protected his eyes, and kicked at rock on the path he walked. "Figures."

Still, the sailor had a job to do. Even with the rain pounding down on him, his eyes were sharp and vigilant constantly watching from beneath the low pulled hat.

D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D- o-A

Kasumi's feet slipped on the wet grass as she flew across. She felt herself falling, then immediately found how lucky her slip-up had been as a pair of kunai embedded themselves in a tree, passing where the small of her back had been not half a second ago. She rolled, maintaining most of her momentum, and popped back to her feet, continuing her flight. Still, ground had been lost, and her pursuers continued relentlessly. A trio of black shapes moved silently and swiftly behind her, looking to find another opening.

She risked another look back, and caught sight of two of them. Her instincts kicked in, and she raised her arms, bringing out her wakizashi at the last moment to deflect the attack coming from above her. There was a clash of steel, her momentum still carrying her backwards until she came to a rattling halt. A tall, chain link fence pressed against her back, and as she glanced up she saw the telltale spirals of razor wire.

"How…why…" the thoughts ran through her head in a flash. She had run even from Japan, forsaking her homeland in a desperate attempt to no longer have to defend herself from her clansmen, and even here they had tracked her.

Pain flashed through her system, taking full advantage of her mistake and momentary lack of attention, another kunai embedded in her thigh. With an impressive show of strength, she pushed her wakizashi back against the hunter nin's katana. As he stumbled back a step, she stepped forward with him, then gathered her strength in her good leg, and launched herself in a graceful backflip over the fence.

D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D-o-A_D- o-A

Mike glanced at his watch again. The blue number 0500 stared back mockingly at him. It had been raining in an absolute downpour for forty five minutes now, and wasn't giving him any hints of giving up. The body armor he wore was getting soaked through, making it heavier than it already was, and pulling at his shoulders.

A blur of motion caught his eye through the rain just up ahead.

"Some animal, probably," he grumbled, but still made his way towards the motion. It was his job, after all, and even with all the rain, and all the grumbling, he still had a great deal of pride in what he did.

As he approached what he thought he had seen moving, a figure clad in some sort of white and red outfit slammed her back into the fence. Another figure holding a Japanese style sword pressed down on the small one she was holding. For a long moment time seemed to stand still as she fended him off, and he wondered why the heck he was witness to a sword fight in the middle of the night, in Virginia of all places. There was a slight cry of pain, and he could almost immediately see the odd knife sticking from her leg, blood leaking around it. What happened after that would forever be ingrained into his mind as the night his life changed.

The girl in the white outfit pushed the other off of herself, and leapt in a back flip that easily cleared the entire height of the fence. Her leg gave out as she landed not six feet from him, falling backwards and collapsing on the ground. Three figures now stood at the other side of the fence, none of the four seemed to have even noticed him yet. There was a flash of movement, and the three now stood on his side of the fence, their eyes glued on the downed girl. One of them slowly pulled out his sword, almost as if he were relishing the moment. His eyes snapped back open to the girl, who just half-sat there, as if resigned to her fate.

It was time to remind them that they had just jumped the fence of an American Military Base.

"On the ground!" he roared, the M-16 rifle snapping to his shoulder with an ease that could only have come from years of having it in his hands. "I said drop your weapons and get your faces on the ground."

All three of the hunter nin's immediately saw their mistake, the girl's head still hung silently. Without taking his rifle from the three others, he swept sideways, presenting the broad chest of his body armor to them, and maintaining his control of the situation. In a fluid motion that all three nin recognized as impeccable military precision, he knelt next to the girl. His eyes never left the other three, and while they were fast, it was difficult to outrun a bullet from a high-powered rifle.

"Are you ok?"

The girl stayed where she was, half sitting, her eyes on the blade sticking from her leg. What she said next was nothing she had intended to let slip, and for years would wonder why she had at that particular time. The words were nearly impossible to hear, even more so with the pounding rain that soaked through her clothing and deep into her bones.

"Help me."

The sailor stood back up in a fluid, practiced motion, his weapon never wavering. His ice blue eyes had the glint of someone who had seen death before, and was not afraid to see it again.

"Get on your faces." He growled, his thumb instinctively snapping the selector on the side of the rifle from "safe" to "fire". "Get. On. Your. Faces. Or I will shoot."

The center hunter made a quick motion with his hand. In a coordinated effort, the other two leapt backwards over the fence, while he rushed in, raising his katana over his head.

Kasumi watched in horror as her foolishness once again involved another innocent bystander, another person who had no quarrel with her clan would die because she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. She choked out one last tearful word as she watched the hunter's sword descend.

"No…"

A/N: so I really wanted to just end the chapter here, but this feels really, really short. So while I will end this first chapter here, know that I am already writing the second, and the time difference between the posting of this and the next will be stupid amounts of short.