Chapter 31: A Shinobi has a Choice

The sound of blades piercing through flesh were all that could be heard as Asuka let out a startling gasp, her eyes widening. Turning around, a set of three long blades jutted out through Akashi's chest, before pulling out as his body fell limply to the ground.

"Homura?!" Asuka's voice heightened, seeing the blades attached to her old friend and rival.

"Jeez, that was close. I didn't think we'd run into you here, Asuka. Least not at the same time." Homura then sheathed her blades as she began to walk by. "Lucky we did too, otherwise some punk might of taken you out before I do and that would make me very upset."

Asuka looked back at the corpse of the Gokudō shinobi. "You… didn't have to kill him."

"Oh, so you wanted him to kill you?" Asuka began to stutter in objection, but Homura continued. "You can't fool me. I saw what was about to happen."

Asuka lowered her head, "Th-thank you, Homura. But… you still didn't have to kill him."

Asuka then halted with a start as Homura suddenly turned around with a stern gaze. "Look, I don't enjoy unnecessary killing either. But you forget who we are. We're shinobi; and we have a choice to make. To kill or be killed. One day that kindness is gonna betray you and I won't be there to help you!" Homura's words cut deep into places Asuka didn't know she had. "You're too soft, Asuka. Now are you coming or not?"

Asuka was left in silence as Homura began walking away. Still shaking from the whole ordeal, she looked down and then back to the dead shinobi, her mind wandering for a bit before walking after Homura.


On their guard, the two walked quietly through the Gokudō building until Homura broke the silence. "I guess you guys are here to rescue Ikaruga, huh?"

Asuka gave a confirming nod. "How'd you know?"

"I wouldn't have the time to tell you the half of it. So much has happened since that last battle together that I don't know where to begin. There were rusty spheres, giant robots, assassins, our cave was literally ruined-…"

"Wait. Hold up!" Asuka pushed her fingers against her temples as if trying to squint her mind to process. "Spheres and giant robots? Are… you okay, Homura?"

"Believe me, I wish I was going crazy, but it's true. I'd explain it all if we had-…" Homura stopped and turned her gaze down the hall as too did Asuka. Sensing the danger, the two shinobi leapt to the side before an array of bullets shot from down the hall.

Asuka quickly retaliated by sending a small stun bomb towards the Gokudo grunts that had showed up. "Homura! Fusion Ninja Art!"

Homura nodded, both girls slashing and dashing in their Flying Wild Dance technique, severely injuring the grunts, who dropped to the ground. Asuka went around quickly disarming and briefly interrogating the ones that were still conscious, lightly treating their wounds as she spoke softly to the terrified boys, some of whom were younger than she.

"Asuka, you're not gonna get answers out of them like that. And it'll take too long. Watch me." Homura then turned to one of the injured boys, sticking her blades to his neck. "Alright, buddy! Tell us where Ikaruga is and maybe I won't turn you into minced meat!"

The boy whimpered, tears squeezing from his eyes as his breath heightened. "I-uh, I… U-u-upper level, 4th floor? I don't know, they never tell us!"

"Homura, stop!" Asuka lightly pushed Homura's blades aside with her own, opening the boy's button shirt and ripping off a small piece of her own to dab the light gash across his chest. "You'll be alright. Now could you tell us again where Ikaruga is?"

The boy stuttered, trembling in both pain and fear, Homura growing annoyed. "Speak up."

"It's… in the upper level. Two, three floors above us? I… I don't know much more than that, I swear!"

"Sssshhhh. We're not going to kill you. Rest up here." Asuka then got up, readying to move on.

"What was that? He gave the same answer he gave me, only mine got us an answer faster, Asuka. Your method wasted time." Homura scoffed, following her.

"Well your method may not have be the most accurate either. People say things when they're terrified that may not always be true! Besides, treating the enemy can create seeds of change."

"Except that most people are too stubborn and set in their ways to change anything! At least my method produced results, yours just gave them a mind boner!"

"Your impatience scares them half to death into half-true answers!"

"His answer was the same as the one he gave you!"

"Only because you scared him first!"

"You don't know that!" Homura and Asuka exchanged heated glares before backing down. Homura sighed, "Fighting each other won't solve anything. I just… wish you weren't such a softie. It's gonna get you killed one day and I don't wanna see that, Asuka."

"I understand, Homura. But bloodshed is not always the answer. A foe shown kindness can change their beliefs. Would you still disagree even though you stand beside me today cause I refused to kill you?" Asuka watched Homura look down with a grunt.

"That was… some enemies will not see the light as I did. And some… might even fool you into thinking they're sincere… only to backstab you later." Homura's tone dropped at her last words.

"True. But you are just as capable of fooling yourself." Asuka replied, placing a hand on Homura's shoulder.

"Fooling myself." Homura mumbled, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "Oh yeah! Asuka. You don't happen to know a red-haired shinobi with a grey uniform?"

Asuka shook her head, "Mm, mm. Grey uniform, you say. A Gessen student perhaps?"

"Nah, the outfit was too exposed for a Gessen student. But are you sure you don't know? She somehow used both Hikage and your ninja arts against me. I felt like I knew her, but I had never seen her in my life."

"My ninja art?! I mean, I learned it from grandpa down the line, so he may have taught others to use it, but I don't know any redheads. Unless I count Homura in hothead mode." Asuka grinned.

"H-hothead?! It's called Crimson!" Homura pouted through cartoonish, pupil-less eyes. Asuka began to laugh when they sensed someone approaching.


A lightly tanned boy in white and blue baseball attire walked into the large, open lobby room they had entered. Dark orange strands of hair hung over his steely, purple-eyed gaze as he approached.

"In the name of Gokudō Boys Academy; lay down your arms or we will be forced to annihilate you." But no sooner had the boy said his words, did Homura explode into laughter.

"Uuuhh. Homura?" Asuka raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"I can't help it Asuka. I mean, at first they're all consistent! Like the suits and ties and all gangsta-like with their knives and guns, but we struck a home base so hard they think it's an actual game! That outfit!" Homura gripped her stomach, doubling over, much to the boy's annoyance.

"Homura. Be careful, I sense strength from this one." Asuka frowned, sweatdropping.

"S-stop it! This is my shinobi attire! I am one of the elites I'll have you know!" the boy growled.

Homura flexed her voice, "Gokudō Academy up for bat. Oh, what's this? They're taking the walk! I guess Hideki Matsui doesn't wanna risk a strike out after those crushing, girly pitches by Crimson and Hanzooo! EEP!" With an echoing crack, a blue energy baseball flew just above Homura's rack, jiggling them as it passed.

"Enough of this! Your invasion stops here!" an energy flared off of the boy, who gripped a thick, wooden baseball bat.

"We're not invading. We just want our friend back! Wait a second-…" Asuka stopped, squinting her eyes. "Baseball boy?"

"What is it?" the boy stopped, then turned to Homura. "Wait, you. What did you call her?" Homura spoke Asuka's name, to which the boy turned back to her. "Asuka… you're… that girl."

"Saizo… Suki… Suzuki?" Asuka continued looking towards him with a tilted head.

"So, it is you. I never expected to meet you again. Least not like this. So… a full time Shinobi. Is that why you never showed up to my game?" Suzuki stated with a straight face.

"Well, you've certainly come a long way from the kid who just awkwardly confesses feelings to the first girl he sees." Asuka watched as Suzuki grunted at the comment, his eyes straying from hers.

"Ooooh. Asuka's got a boyfriend~." Homura giggled, giving Asuka a light punch to the arm.

"Homura! He's not-…" Asuka gave Homura a flustered glare.

"Hehehe. I'm messing with ya, girl." Homura put an arm around her and then turned to Suzuki. "Sorry pal, but no dates tonight. Asuka's already taken. Wait! Th-that came out wrong!"

"I-I'm not taken by anyone! What the hell, Homura?" Asuka frustratedly blushed as Homura let go of her.

"Neither of you are going anywhere. You waste your time on such a crusade. For your friend may no longer be here." Suzuki stated.

"What do you mean? Where are you taking her?!" Asuka focused her gaze on Suzuki.

"She is being transported to a safer place where our client's business can go uninterrupted. Probably as we speak."

As soon as Suzuki spoke the words, Homura rushed forward, dodging a swing of Suzuki's bat and tripping him. "Sorry, but we don't have time to mess with you! Let's go Asuka!"

Asuka hopped over Suzuki, proceeding to go after Homura when Suzuki quickly regained composure. "Oh no you don't!" conjuring a ghostly blue baseball, he sent it flying at Homura with the crack of his bat.

"Homura!" Asuka called out, quickly swinging her sword upward and slicing the projectile, diminishing it before it could reach its target. But no sooner had Asuka deflected the energy ball when Suzuki rushed forward, his bat meeting her blades, forcing her into a lock. Asuka shouted to her friend, "Go, Homura! I'll take care of this here!"

"But… I can't leave you!"

"I'll be fine! You have to find Ikaruga, please GO!" Asuka shouted, prompting Homura to nod and go on. Asuka turned her attention back to Suzuki with slight hesitation in her eyes. Using her foot, she forced Suzuki back and away, attempting to follow up with a leaping chop.

Suzuki dodged, performing an athletic, backwards flip before landing. Standing up, he took a battle stance. "I would have preferred to fight your friend instead of you, Asuka. But I'm afraid the past does not change the present. I am Suzuki! Help the weak and fight the strong!"

Asuka waited patiently, watching intently as Suzuki summoned three more ghostly blue baseballs, striking them one after another. Asuka felt the first baseball graze her hair as she performed a ducking roll. Metal gonged and wood shattered as Suzuki's baseballs ricocheted wildly off everything in the room. She crawled across the room, hoping to find safety underneath a nearby table, wood battering her face as a ricocheting baseball smashed off of it.

Suddenly, Suzuki's bat came down beside her. Just missing, she grabbed his bat, trying to disarm him, but the boy was stronger than she expected. "I thought you were just an athlete! What happened to you?!"

"Looks can be deceiving, can't they?" with a grunt, Asuka's grip was thrown off by Suzuki, the boy regaining control of his weapon. "Especially when they don't show the full picture!" Suzuki rushed at Asuka, who found herself parrying her blades against his bat. "But I'm sure you know all about that, don't you, Asuka?"

As Asuka would take a low strike at his leg, Suzuki would lift it in an attempt to kick her, to which she would respond by leaning to the side and then arching herself backwards as his bat swung in a horizontal arc just missing her. In terms of speed, the two were like partners in a dance of lethality until Asuka shoved Suzuki back. "It's our roles as shinobi. Shouldn't you know, Baseball Boy?"

Suzuki slid back, catching himself on his feet. "If that's all it took to be a shinobi, I would be a Kagura by now." Asuka pulled a short-fused bomb out of her pocket. Knowing Suzuki could probably bat it away, she instead rolled it like a bowling ball after lighting it, but it didn't stop him from using his bat as a gold club, causing the bomb to explode in the middle of them. Throwing her back, the explosion tore the ends of her outfit, revealing a small part of her midriff.

Asuka regained composure, sneaking through the smoke, hands shaking with sweat against her wakizashi. An intense game of mental gymnastics began as Asuka both tried to detect Suzuki's presence while also masking her own, realizing that he could very well be doing the same. Each careful step, her heart was on alert and her body ready to react at a moment's notice. The slightest pressure of unease seeped through the smoke, Asuka raised both wakizashi in a striking manner only to meet the hardened wood of Suzuki bat.

Asuka found her eyes like her weapons, locked with Suzuki's and staring into his deep, purple-blue pupils which brought forth a strange, buzzing conflict in her chest to which she could not comprehend. As though searching for an escape, her eyes had wandered down to see the Gokudō diamond formed by the dragon and koi fish on his front pocket. "Not bad for a baseball boy. How long have you been a shinobi?"

Asuka tried to disarm him once again, this time by twisting his bat around enough to force him to loosen his grip by whatever means. Suzuki however, twisted around, using his body to lift Asuka up on his back and flip her over. Asuka landed on her feet, twisting out of Suzuki's grasp, almost losing her swords in the process. Suzuki looked up, "Not long after you disappeared actually. I was 'just an athlete' for a time. But my friend offered me a way out!"

"A way out? From what?" Asuka kept her guard up but was still intrigued.

"From the hell that was my life. But now I can do this, all thanks to the Gokudō Boys Academy! Secret Ninja Art!" Asuka watched as a blue glow engulfed Suzuki's bat and hands. Within seconds the bat began hovering away from his hands. "Batterang SLUGGER!"

Asuka ducked as Suzuki's bat came spinning rapidly at her, but quickly jumped back when the bat came around. Attempting to block it, the bat knocked a sword out of her hand, forcing her to throw a nearby end table at it. While the spinning bat chased Asuka around the room, out of her eye's corner she saw Suzuki's glowing hands making all kinds of puppet-like motions. That's it! Asuka ran around more, regaining her other blade while dodging Suzuki's bat. Quickly focusing her attention on Suzuki, himself, she rushed at him with her own ninja art, Dual Slash.

Suzuki quickly recalled his bat, enough to block the brunt of the attack, but Asuka's strike was not completely deflected, sending him flying back into a round, steel support column. Slightly cut, Suzuki's shirt nearly tore completely off, revealing his tanned build, more toned than Asuka last remembered. Along with the majority of his pant waist and his left arm sleeve, only a small portion of his right shoulder was still clothed.

Asuka ran up, catching a crumpling Suzuki in her arms. Suddenly her arms squeezed as Suzuki's hands gripped her hard. "I won't… fall here! I've come too far to fail!"

"You're hurt, don't try and fight it!" Asuka tried to assert herself, but Suzuki's grip was strong despite the bleeding gash on his side.

"No!" Suzuki cried out, flipping Asuka over and under him. Asuka struggled to move, her arms locked with Suzuki. Despite his bleeding side, the fiery determination in his eyes reminded her of herself.

"Stop it! You'll bleed to death!" Asuka shouted.

"NO! I have to see her again! I won't go back to them!" Suzuki yelled. Asuka managed to flip them both on their side, as she could feel Suzuki's grip slowly starting to weaken.

"Who do you need to see?!"

Suzuki flipped them over once more, before pushing the two of them up into a sitting position. "My sister!" As Suzuki pushed her back, Asuka watched more blood seeping out his sides. She shouted in objection as Suzuki slowly leaned into her, but gradually Asuka pushed back, struggling less and less. "Not that you'd know what it's like… to be separated from your family at eight years of age. Only to… be adopted by nasty, alcoholic relatives. Therefore, I cannot quit here, Asuka… I… I have to… see her."

By now, Asuka felt Suzuki's grasp on her arms weakening to that of a sick child as his head dropped and his breath was heavy. "So, you'd rather die here fighting me and ensure you never see her again?" tears of exhaustion leaked from Suzuki's eyes, his mouth only uttering indiscernible sounds. "I'm not going to kill you, Suzuki. How do you think your sister would feel if she saw her brother acting this stubborn? We may be shinobi, but we all have a choice to make."

Suzuki's hands dropped from Asuka's arms and to his sides, where he looked down at his blood covered right hand. Obviously dizzy, Suzuki uttered one final word that Asuka could hear before he fell to the floor and passed out. "Yoza-… kura…"