Standard disclaimers apply.

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Kisa's eyes widened in surprised horror as the brown haired ninja pushed through the greenery and advanced towards her with his sword glinting dangerously.

Mitsu looked unaffected by the jungle. There were no bug bites on his body and he didn't appear to be scratched by the tree branches at all. It was like he was nothing more then a dark shadow prowling through the trees and grasses. He was a shadow that had been hunting her.

"Ki? I wonder what it might stand for. . . . . ." Mitsu mused as he smirked cruelly at her, his teeth gleaming white against his tanned skin. "Well, no matter - I'm going to kill you regardless!" he exclaimed.

He shot foreword, his katana sweeping down in a quick sharp stroke towards her throat. "Die!" he hissed as he swung his sword.

Kisa pushed her entire body down, but barely managed to evade the strike. Mitsu's katana cut through the tree bark above her head and was quickly drawn back to him and launched out at her again.

"To think that a pathetic, worthless, ugly girl could enter Shinobi Academy!" Mitsu snarled as he made several faints.

Kisa knew that he liked to faint attacks and was trying to keep alert for what was a real strike and what was a fake strike.

"And to think," he said pausing suddenly, "That you are to die honorably by the hand of a dedicated, honorable, and talented ninja like myself," Mitsu added.

"Bastard!" Kisa exclaimed. "If you had any honor, you wouldn't have killed Drake! He was a member of your cell - he was your teammate. And you're not talented - you killed them using a bomb! As for dedication. . . . . . . you're nothing but a traitor!" she surprised herself with all of her words, and caught him off guard too.

Before she could take advantage of his distraction, he struck. His sword arched towards her faster then she move.

Time seemed to slow for her. Her honey brown eyes were wide with shock. She had never been attacked with that kind of speed before. It was scary. She knew, as she watched Mitsu's katana coming closer to her face, that she couldn't move in time. Even if she tried it wouldn't matter. Mitsu had perfect technique in his strike, and he wasn't going to miss.

She tried to think of all of her family back in Tokyo. She tried to think of Haru, Hiro, and especially Tohru, but all that she could see or think was the fact that she was going to die and someone else was going to be cursed with the spirit of the tiger.

That thought caused her to move. Even if it was useless, she couldn't let someone else's life be ruined by the curse that affected her. She couldn't let it happen. She twisted away slowly, realizing that the slow motion of the sword was affecting her too.

Mitsu laughed, but it sounded distant and dead. He was laughing at her, but she didn't care for once. She didn't care what he thought of her, or even what anyone else thought about her.

Then time resumed normal, and Mitsu's sword vanished in a blur heading towards her neck.

Kisa closed her eyes quickly. She didn't want to see the finishing strike. She tried once more to think of home and her family. This time tears sprang to her closed eyes and leaked past her eyelashes. Then a ringing clatter echoed through her head and she opened her eyes.

There was a dull blue and silver bladed sword in front of her face. Resting on top of it was the cool gray of Mitsu's katana's blade. The blue and silver sword was held in a lightly tanned hand with three red lines - like claws - scraped across the back.

"Nani?!" Mitsu exclaimed. He sounded just as surprised as Kisa was.

"Attacking an innocent girl?" Xeo's voice cut through the thick, humid jungle air like a steel blade. There was a swishing of fabric and a heavy black cloak fell over Kisa, shielding her from view.

"Xeo?!" Mitsu asked in surprise. He laughed. "I guess you saved me the trouble of tracking you down. Returning with your head on a platter will be sure to boast my ratings."

"I wasn't aware that Shinobi Academy still excepted weak idiots. . . . " Xeo murmured. "In any event, how do you plan on taking my head from my shoulders?"

"I'll use something that you've never seen before," Mitsu chuckled. As he spoke, his voice deepened and his mouth widened. His eyes changed shape and color, becoming a sickly yellow with one large, black, vertical pupil focusing on his adversary. His body became longer and scales appeared along his body. His tail, which grew quickly, developed spikes along it and his sword took on a wicked looking curve.

Xeo snorted disdainfully and knelt down beside Kisa. "Are you all right?" he asked. "I take it that you were pursued?" He made to pick her up, but she whimpered and he stood back up instead.

He moved his head slightly to the side and put his sword beside his face, blocking Mitsu's sword with a minimum of effort. He pushed the curved blade away from him and walked over to a tree where a black pack with silver fastenings was hanging.

"I brought you a kimono," he called over his shoulder towards Kisa. "I wonder. . do you know how to put it on? It's not really a common fashion style anymore."

"I- I - I know," Kisa stammered out. Mitsu's new form was eight times faster then his previous one and he was getting really close with his sword.

"Pay attention to your fight!" Mitsu hissed. He switched targets and swung at Kisa.

To his surprise, he met Xeo's sword once again. "That's taking things a little bit far, don't you think?" he asked coolly.

"What? Don't like me attacking a pathetic, ugly girl?" Mitsu smirked.

Xeo laughed, his voice cutting harshly against Mitsu's confidence. "Are you trying to be stupid?" he asked. "I am paying you all the attention that I need for such a pathetic loser as yourself."

"Nani?!" Mitsu exclaimed.

Xeo's dark eyes darkened further. "Ryu and Frost as a team with Briar fighting along side them. . . . . three great ninjas, and not one of them could lay a finger on me. That's why I escaped with the plans. I wasn't expecting them to send a mere peon like you to attempt to recapture me."

"Well who did you expect?" Mitsu asked. His confidence was returning. He felt that with his transformation he was unbeatable.

"Cell one. The cell led my so-called friends Frost and Sou," Xeo responded. "They are both - "



"Dead." The word fell from Mitsu's warped mouth with a hint of laughter. "They're both dead."

"And you killed them?" Xeo asked. He didn't appear to care that they were dead, but Kisa noted that his eyes had narrowed at the revelation. "With your wee little transformation. . . .perhaps?"

"Not me. Ryu did, but that doesn't matter because I helped. I set the bomb and I lured Sou away from the main group. It was all too easy to eliminate the ninjas. In fact the only one who's evaded our death plans is - "

"So it was Ryu, was it?" Xeo murmured. "How would you like to see a real transformation?"

"A real transformation?" Kisa whispered. She was feeling faint from her self inflicted wounds.

"Like you can." Mitsu challenged.

Xeo crossed his arms in front of his face, bending his head down. A shattering noise, like millions of pieces of glass spraying into the air, filled the air.

Kisa closed her eyes against the burst of rainbow colored light that accompanied it. When she opened them, Xeo's skin was a creamy white that reminded her of polished moonlight. His eyes were glittering like gems surrounded by thick eyelashes. And on top of that, he had a pair of dragon wings sprouting from between his shoulder blades.

He smiled at Mitsu's shocked reaction, and when he smiled a hint of fangs showed past his lips. "This is my transformation. It's impressive, don't you think?"

As the words died on his lips, Xeo vanished. "It's really something. A man like you assigned to Cell Two. Of course, that's not to say I have any particular desire to feel like Ryu was a good choice. And as for Drake, he didn't really have any offensive skills. He was your Cell's weak member. I suppose that he's with Ryu right - "

"No, he refused our plans and made to betray us. We had him killed at the same time that we killed every member of Cell One."

"If you killed Drake and all of Cell One, then who does that leave to evade your death plans?" Xeo asked with a raised eyebrow. The black haired ninja had reappeared behind Mitsu and delivered a sharp kick.

Mitsu tumbled out of it and shot to his feet. "No one! I'm going to remedy the problem shortly."

"You mean you're going to hunt down and kill someone?" Xeo asked. His strange colored sword penetrated Mitsu's scaly sword arm, sending his weapon clattered dully to the ground at Kisa's feet.

Kisa stared at the sword. It had nearly killed her a few seconds ago. She reached out, her small fingers brushing the hilt while she watched the fight continue. No matter who won, she was still in trouble.

The problem was she had a feeling that Mitsu was going to lose but only after reveling her as a ninja. That wouldn't really be good considering she could only see Xeo when he was holding still. Actually, if she really thought about it, she was going to die either way.

Xeo kicked Mitsu again, sending him close to Kisa. He landed with a thump and didn't move. His yellow eyes were focused on her chest.

"Stupid girl. I'll kill you," he hissed. Poison started to seep from his fangs and his head launched foreword towards her partially exposed chest.

"Bastard!" Xeo exclaimed. "How dare you try and bite a woman's breasts!" He shot foreword, bound to arrive before Mitsu even got close.

Kisa didn't hear anything that the black haired ninja had said. She was watching Mitsu advance with shock. Her eyes were too wide and her breathing too short. She thought about pulling away from him, but that would only delay her death. He would still manage to sink his fangs into part of her body.

And even if he missed he would still seal her death. She didn't want to die. Her hand closed around the hilt of his sword tightly. Without conscious thought, she drove the katana deep into it's owners heart.

Mitsu's eyes widened. "How? I'm better then . . . . Ki . . . Sou . . . " his voice trailed off on her name and he transformed back into human form, blood pouring from his chest.

Kisa's breathing completely stopped as his eyes gained a glassy sheen. She scrambled backwards, but was gently guided to her feet.

"I'm sorry," Xeo whispered as he slipped her arms into the sleeves of a silver and blue kimono. "I wanted him to tell me the name of the one person besides Ryu that I still have to .. . . . .kill. . . . " he murmured, both his voice and his transformation fading.

"I shouldn't have gotten you involved. . . . " he added, looking away while tying the obi around her waist.

Kisa's too wide eyes softened and tears began to brim in them. "I - I- I. . . ." she attempted to say.

Xeo put his fingers to her lips. "Ssshhhh," he whispered. He made to scoop her up, but she backed away from him and knelt down beside Mitsu's body.

"I killed him . . . ." she whispered, pressing her middle and forefinger to his neck, searching for a pulse. Tears started to leak out of her eyes.

"He was going to kill you because . . . . . . . . " Xeo's voice trailed off. "Why was he trying to kill you?" He suddenly seized her wrists tightly and brought them closer, looking over the jagged cuts she had inflicted on herself.

Kisa whimpered with the pain, but didn't make any motions to pull away from him. Her hands were balled tightly in fists, her knuckles white. Her entire body was tense. "I'm a . . . . . . . " her voice died before she could speak.

Xeo striped her without her noticing and looked over all of her jagged wounds. "None of them have a sharp edge. I'm sorry," he murmured, dressing her again.

Kisa blinked and looked at him. "Please, I need some water and a place to lie down. I feel - "

He put his hand to her forehead. "You have a slight fever and are suffering form blood loss and starvation. I'll carry you - "

"No!" Kisa screamed. "I'll walk. Please. . . . I need to walk. . . . " she pulled away from him.

Xeo seemed a bit surprised, but humored her. He took her hand and led her back the way she had stumbled with the tiger chasing her before. He led her past the river where she had been bathing.

The trail that they were following didn't look any different then any other path in the Amazon. It had flowers and weeds combining with trees and roots all over it, but eventually it evened out.

It turned into a stone road with tuffs of grass shooting up through the cracks. It was easy to travel and within seconds they found themselves in front of a sprawling city that was half consumed by the vibrant green jungle.

"This is my home for now," Xeo told her. "I'll take care off you, I promise I won't let anyone hurt you while you are with me."

"Not even yourself?" Kisa murmured.

"Not even myself," Xeo promised. "I would never hurt an innocent girl like yourself." He sounded sincere, but he still didn't know who she was.

His promise made Kisa's shell shocked mind feel slightly better. Even if he didn't know what he was saying, she would hold him to it until the day it came for her to fight him.

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Author's notes;

I'm really trying to keep these chapters coming. Be patient if there is a delay. I'm writing three on-going stories after all. And with the arrival of summer, I'm having a hard time finding time to write.

Just know that if there is a delay, I'll make it as short as possible. Thank-you for reading.

Thanks for all the reviews,

Kissa-chan