Author's notes: OOKAY WELL i only got two reviews, but oh well. On with the next chapter !

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Ryu stared down at the woman in front of him as she rubbed her throat and coughed. "Kasumi..what are you.. why are you .. ? " Ryu didn't exactly know what to say to the kunoichi that lay in front of him.

Kasumi stopped rubbing her neck as she stood and faced him looking into his eyes. She didn't know what to say either. She knew he wanted to know why she was here, amongst many other questions. She didn't know exactly why she was here, she just felt the need to see Ryu, she had too. "Ryu I.. "

"Shh." Ryu said cutting in. " Come with me to my office, we'll talk there." He said with a nod of his head as he dissapeared into the darkness, Kasumi grabbed her mask as she too dissapeared. They entered his office as Ryu locked the doors behind him and turned to face Kasumi. He took a few steps forward as he just looked at her. It had been a year since he last saw her, he noticed that she had grown more and become quite the woman.

He sighed as he walked over and looked out of the window. "Why did you come back ?" he asked almost coldly. Kasumi looked at him then down at the ground. "I wanted to see you.." she said taking a step closer. "I needed to see you." "You shouldn't have come." Ryu said with a hard tone. Kasumi looked at him with sad eyes then looked away. "But.." "If your brother finds out that you were here..." "Will you tell him Ryu?" Kasumi asked looking up at him. Ryu continued to look out the window. "Kasumi-" he said suddenly turning when heard footsteps. Kasumi looked over at the door then back to Ryu. Ryu headed towards the door, Kasumi jumped dissapearing into the darkness of the room. Ryu unlocked the door and slowly opened it. "What is it?" he asked as the ninja opened his mouth to speak but stopped. A blade was being held to Ryu's throat. "You should be more careful." a voice said from behind him. Ryu smirked as he motioned downwards, he was holding a kunai to the other mans stomache. "As should you." he responded. The man behind him laughed pulling his sword back, as did Ryu.

"It's been a while dear friend." The man dressed in white said crossing his arms. "It has, Hayate.." Ryu said with a nod walking past him and into his office. Ryu walked over to the window as Hayate stood in the middle of the room. "How have things been?" Hayate asked looking around the room. Ryu shrugged, "It's a lifestyle I'm not used to." he answered. "It would only be for a little while longer Ryu, I promise." "Hn." Ryu responded. "So, what brings you here today Hayate." Ryu asked looked at him. "I've come too see how preparations are, and I was informed that there was an intrusion earlier?" Hayate said leaning against his table. Ryu turned and looked out the window. " Preparations are near finished, a few more days and they shall be complete. As for the intrusion, it was located and dealt with." Hayate stood quiet for a moment. "Excellent, just one more question Ryu." "Hn." Ryu said. "Have you learned of Kasumi's whereabouts yet?" Ryu didn't answer and there were a few moments of silence. "No." he finally answered. "Hmm...well I must be going, I thank you again." Hayate said as he dissapeared into the darkness.

A few moments of silence passed as Kasumi appeared from the shadows. "You didn't tell him I was here." she said stopping a few feet behind Ryu. "Why not?" She asked. "To give you a chance." "A chance?" "Yes, you will leave now and never return, you must go far away somewhere where he cannot find you. If you do not leave, I will have no choice but to let him know of your whereabouts." Ryu stated. Kasumi sighed as she looked down at the ground then back up him and nodded. "I understand." she said as she turned to leave. Ryu continued looking out the window as he turned for a moment and glanced over at Kasumi as she prepared to leave. She put on her mask and dissapeared into the darkness.

Moments later a ninja burst through the door as Ryu immeadiatly turned his attention to the ninja panting in the doorway. "What? What is it?" Ryu asked after the ninja wouldn't answer. The ninja let go of the door and fell face first with an arrow sticking out of his back. Ryu's expression changed momentarily as he grabbed his dragon sword and ran through the door. He headed down the path and unsheathed his sword as he blocked several flaming arrows. He looked up and spotted two archers above the dojo with their bows. Ryu dissapeared ina blur of blue and black and appeared behid them sliting thier throats swiftly with his sword. He turned and continued runnind down along the path that led into the village. He heard screams of woman,children and fellow comrades. Ryu stopped at the entrance as he saw the buildings on fire and bodies littered on the ground. A sight that was all too familiar to him, one he had hoped he would never see again.

He clutched his sword tighter as he ran into the town. He was ambushed by several ninja dressed all in black with their faces covered. Ryu had recognized these ninjas. He held his sword tight as they each attacked him, he executed a number of different moves and cut down the ninja. His attention was averted as he heard the cry of an innocent child. He looked over and saw a young girl trapped inside of a burning building seconds away from collapsing. Ryu rushed towards the girl and stopped when an explodiong kunai was thrown his way. He jumped back avoiding the explosion. As the smoke cleared several more ninja appeared, Ryu glared at them, he wouldn't have enough time. He began cutting down the ninja's trying his best to get to the girl on time when he heard a large crack and then popping sound. Ryu cut down the final ninja and ran forward in an attempt to save the girl. An exlposion ocurred as Ryu was blown backwards by the blast. He jumped to his feet and took a few steps forward looking at the place where the burning building that the little girl was in only moments ago, it was completely destroyed. There was no way the little girl could've survived...

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Author's notes: It wasn't that long of a chapter, sorry about that folks. Well review and the next chapter will be up ASAP ! )