Saving the Lost

A/N- Damn...I can't believe it's been over a year that I haven't updated this...god...I'm really sorry about that. I kinda lost interest in this story and then out of nowhere I had insparation strike me...so...anyway, I hope that I can make up for that...

Don't own Rk, wish I did, but I don't...

'Thought's'

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Step One

Hearing a persistent pounding, Kaoru pulled herself from her comfortable bed to see who it was. 'Damn it, who the hell can be up this early in the frickin' morning?'

Reaching the door, she looked down at her watch and read the time, and sure enough it read '3:23 am.' Cursing under her breath, she turned the handle and groaned loudly upon seeing the annoying face of her co-worker, Sano. He had a big goofy smile plastered on his face as he leaned back against the wall across from her. Apparently he had gotten a very long and relaxing nap.

"What is it Sano, it's three in the fucking morning, what is so god damn important?!" Smirking, Sano pointed to the right, grumbling Kaoru followed his lead and looked.

She stumbled back into her room in shock, collecting herself quickly Kaoru stood at the ready as her temporary commanding officer walked into her room.

"At ease. Kamiya, you are to prepare for your mission at once, no stalling."

Locking eyes with Saito, Kaoru nodded her head in affirmation. "Good, here are the addresses of all the nearby safehouses, just in case you need somewhere to lie low for a while. Also, I hear that you are planing on having your mother accompany you, if that is true then you have to be extra careful. That is all."

Watching as Saito turned about and left, Kaoru growled angrily at Sano who still had that smirk on his face.

After shooting him a look that said, 'fuck you,' Kaoru shut her door tightly and went about fixing her bed. Finishing a couple minutes latter, Kaoru decided that a shower would be a very good idea right about now, she probably wouldn't have a chance for one latter. About an hour latter, Kaoru stepped out of the shower and dried off.

Returning to her room, Kaoru dressed and packed a small duffel bag with everything she would need to make this count. Confident that she was prepared for any situation, Kaoru exited her room and made her way down the hall, after locking her door of course.

Reaching the kitchen, she saw her other two co-workers and only nodded her head in a sign of acknowledgement before she moved past towards the garage.

Taking one last chance to check and see if she had everything she needed, Kaoru entered the garage and moved towards the third vehicle. From what was in the file she had received, this was to be her means of transportation until this case was closed.

Sighing, Kaoru slid into the driver's seat of the dark red jeep, tossing her duffel bag into the back seat she looked at her watch again. '4:34am' smiling morbidly, Kaoru slid the key into the ignition and turned it over, hearing the gentle hum of the jeeps engine.

She just hoped that her mother wouldn't be too crabby when she got there, the day was already going to hell and if her assumptions were correct, it was only going to get worse from here.

A quick drive through town found her pulling into the driveway before a very old looking dojo, it had once been the most famous dojo in all of Tokyo, but after the shoguns were forced from power and the need for swords and samurai was gone, the dojo closed for good.

But that didn't mean the teaching stopped, oh no, it was passed down through the Kamiya line with every new generation and Kaoru happened to be its most recent victim.

As Kaoru turned off the jeep she could swear that she could hear her grandfather's voice echoing in her head, 'the Kamiya-Kashin-Ryu is a very important legacy Kaoru, one day you will teach this to your children, so remember my words. The sword that protects…that is what this is all about, understood?'

A smile came to Kaoru's face at that, her grandfather had drilled that into her head so many times that she had lost count long ago, 'but I'm not here to reminisce…I just hope my mother knows what she's doing…'

Getting out of the jeep, Kaoru pocketed the keys before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, pressing the lock on the door Kaoru shut it as she got out with an almost inaudible 'click.'

The doors to the courtyard were slightly ajar and Kaoru easily pushed her way inside, shifting the bag Kaoru made her way across the courtyard and came to a stop before a rather normal looking rural Japanese home. Setting the bag down on the porch, Kaoru removed her shoes before stepping up onto it, she was immediately awed at how clean the floor was.

'Seems mom really takes care of this place…' a sound off to her side alerted her to someone who was approaching, sliding a hand down to touch the hidden 45' she had strapped to her hip, Kaoru listened closely for any signs of hostility from the person approaching.

Every fiber of her being was tensed, ready to strike when the person came into view, immediately Kaoru's hand dropped from her hip and a smile crossed her face. "Mother…"

The woman before her was dressed in traditional garb for that of a dojo master, after all, Kaoru had learned most of her skills from her mother and late father. She was almost an exact copy of Kaoru, except older and with much shorter hair, in fact her mother's hair was cut like that of a man.

Kaoru watched as her mother started to walk towards her and soon that walk turned into a full out run, her smile widening and eyes sparkling, Kaoru held her arms wide and caught the form of her mother full in the chest nearly causing her to fall but she firmly held her ground.

"Oh Kaoru, my little Kaoru, I'm glad you're alright…it's been so long…" pulling back slightly, Kaoru looked into her mother's smiling teary face and couldn't help but smile back, "yes…it has, I'm sorry about having to ask you for help like this…god knows it's dangerous, are you sure you want to help me?"

Her mother's expression immediately turned serious as she nodded her head, her eyes hard, "of course, you need my help and as you're mother, it is my duty to protect and assist you. So you needn't worry, you're still in good hands…"

Kaoru rolled her eyes at that and shoved herself away from her mother, shaking her head she picked up her duffle bag again and slung it over her shoulder, "enough of that, we need to get moving…so, are you ready to go?"

A smirk found its way across Kaoru's mothers face, griping Kaoru's shoulder she gave her a strong shake, "of course, let's get going!"

With that said, Kaoru followed her mother into the house and down the halls to the bathroom, once they both walked inside Kaoru turned towards her mother and knew that it would take a long time before they would be done.

Nearly four hours later, Kaoru and her mother had finally finished the last touches to their costumes, Kaoru knew that it was now time to go over the plan one last time, just to make sure her mother was still up to par with it and knew what to do just incase something went wrong.

"Alright, so if you loose track of me and I don't meet you at the rendezvous spot, I want you to high tail it outta there…understand?" Lifting the cup of tea her mother had made, Kaoru took a small sip before looking over at her mother for her answer.

Her mom was smirking back at her, "I know, we've gone over this four times already. I know what I have to do Kaoru, I just want you to be careful and don't go overboard with it. We're going there to find this commander of yours, not start something we can't win, alright?"

Kaoru merely raised an eyebrow before nodding her head and sipping more of her tea, her mother always worried too much anyway, 'well… we're as ready as we'll ever be, I guess.'

A/N- And there it is...I am trying hard to get the next chapt out very soon...so I hope it turns out that way and again, sorry for the long wait on this...

T.T

Ja...