Before you even start, I know that it has taken me a long time to update this story but if you look at the end of this chapter you'll get my reason why. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. I don't own digimon.


Chapter 15:
Scarlet Ninja!
Forces Unite To Stop Kidnapper

"Mommy is it all right that I go play outside?" asked a black hair girl who could be anymore than six years old. "Sure Christina, just don't stray to far from the house." Going to the back, the little girl skipped around enjoying the nearby surroundings. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a person dressed completely in black came rushing forward and in one motion grabbed Christina and started running off.

As the person was running off, Christina was able to get their hand away from her mouth. "Mommy, help me!" Hearing the cries of her daughter, the mother ran out of the house just in time to her daughter's captor leap over the wall allowing the two of them to escape. "No, Christina! Come back!" Breaking down right there, she fell to her knees as she sobbed for her taken daughter.

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"Do you even know we're we going?" "Of course I do. Don't I always?" "You don't have a clue where we are, do you?" "Not really." It went on like that for nearly an hour as Takuya and Izumi were arguing on where they were going and while that was happening, Hikari was following closely behind as she was amused by her friends antics. "Hey, from all those people that we've asked along the way if they spotted our friend and fortunately they said that he went in this direction. It's not like we've got many other choices."

"I'm not saying that. It's just that we are almost walking around blind without any confirmed proof that Daisuke came this way. Also are money supply is started to run low. If something doesn't happen soon we'll have to sleep under the stars." "I wouldn't mind that. The only thing that bothers me is that I need some action before I died from boredom."

Suddenly out of nowhere, a man came out of bushes and in his arms was a black hair girl who was trying to get out of the man's clutches. "Let me go. I want to go back to my mommy right now." Ignoring her pointless squabbling, the man continued to run until he spotted Takuya and the others. "If you know what's good you'll turn around and mind your own business." He turned around and was about to leave when Takuya spoke up.

"I'm afraid I can do that. I may not know what is going on but something tells me that this isn't right. Now release the girl or I'll have to make you do it." Grabbing his sword, he pulled it, ready to fight if necessary. Seeing that he had no other choice the man tucked the girl under one of his arms and with is free hand pulled out a should of his own. The sword resembled Daisuke's reverse blade with the exception that the blade was on the other side.

He would be the first one to attack as he went at Takuya but to his surprise, all of his attempts to end it quickly were blocked. "I must say that I'm surprise. By your appearance it would be easy to assume that you'd be a easy opponent but so far you've been able to keep up with me." "That just shows you that you cannot always judge something by just appearances. Now I think is time I take control of this fight."

Taking the offensive Takuya took it to his opponent and even forced the man back. Keeping on with the offense, he was able to catch the man off balance and make him lose his grip on the girl. With that opening Takuya quickly grabbed the girl and jumped back beside Hikari and Izumi before anything else could happen. Putting the girl down he did a quick look over to see if she was all right. Seeing no apparent injury, he left her in the care of the girls as he turned his attention back towards the man.

Just when the two were about to go at one another they were interrupted when an unexpected person step in between them. By the person's figure, it was apparent that the person was female and was wearing a dark red female ninja outfit that covered all of her body and a black cloth wrapped around her waist. You couldn't see her face because a mask that covered her entire head was concealing it. On either side of her belt were three pointed weapons that were known as sais.

An uneasy moment pass as neither fighter knew what to make of this interruption until the man with the girl spoke up. "Listen girlie. I don't know what the deal is with you but it doesn't involve you so move along." Turning her head, she looked at the man for a second, as if seeing how he would match against her. Out of nowhere, she turned completely around and with her sais at hand, went straight towards Takuya.

He hardly had any time to block the oncoming attack but he had trouble fighting against this masked fighter. "What are you doing? I haven't done anything to you that would possibly cause you to attack me." Not even bothering to reply the mask fighter continued on attacking him. Unbeknownst to them was as that was going on, the man who abducted the little girl earlier was slowly sneaking over to where she, Hikari and Izumi were standing.

With fluid motion, he ran over and grabbed her before anyone had the chance to respond. Realizing what was going on both Takuya and the mask fighter stopped their fighting and turned their attention to the man. "I've got what I came for, now if you excuse me I must be going." Before anyone could do anything, he smashed an object to the ground that exploded into a cloud of smoke. When it finally dissolved, there was no sign of either the man or the girl.

"Damn it, he got away." cursed Takuya. He quickly turned his attention to the masked fighter who also seemed to be upset about what happen. "Look at what you done. I had her in safe hands and because of you, that girl was capture once again. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Before anything else could be said or done, the sound of numerous men were heard and by the sound of them, they were heading in their direction. Apparently not wanting to be spotted, the masked fighter retreated into the woods. "Hold it. Get back here." Takuya tried to run after her but fell to his knees.

"Damn, I guess I haven't fully healed from my injuries." Rushing over to their fallen friend, Hikari and Izumi went over to him to see how he was doing. Just at that moment two men who resembled guards entered the area and they spotted the three.

"Don't move you three. We've got some questions to ask you." "If it's about a man who had a little girl in his possession then let me tell you that he pass by. We were able to get the girl away from him but unfortunately he was able to get her back and disappear before we could stop him."

Apparently that was the unspoken question that the guard wanted to ask and just when he was about to ask something else another man appeared. This man had shaggy brown hair that halfway passed his ears and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark blue men's kimono that was tied with a black sash with the same colored pants.

The major thing that they noticed was that he had two old scars on his face with one going horizontally across his left eye and another one on his right cheek. In his hands was a weapon that resembled a bow but at one end there was a large blade.

"Give me a status report men." "Sir, we've lost sight of the man but fortunately we found these people who said that they actually encountered and for a few brief moments had her in safe hands." reported the guard as he pointed over to Takuya and the others. "I must say that I am impress. We've been after that man since early this morning and he's managed to get away before he could be captured and let you were able to not only find him but also take him on."

"Actually, we just happen to bump into him that's all. But if any credit is to be given out, it should be to our friend Takuya. He was the only who took on the man." Finally taking a real good look at him the apparent leader of the group check over Takuya but lingered when he spotted his choice of weapon. "You actually took on the guy that we we're going after?"

"Yes I did. But I think I got the advantage against him was because I had the element of surprise on my side. The result may have changed if the situation was different." Apparently accepting it, the man turned back to his group. "We're returning back to home base." Following the order the two guards headed off. With them now gone he looked back over his shoulder to Takuya and his friends. "Well are you going to come along or what?"

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"Do you mind telling us why you made us come with you to this place?" questioned Hikari as she, Takuya and Izumi were being lead to the house where the girl that was kidnapped lived in. "Actually, I never force you to come with me. I just ask you and you chose to follow me. And before you ask, there was also another reason that I was hoping that you'd come with me. The reason was that I became interested in Mr. Kanabara's weapon of choice."

"What's so interesting about it? It's just a sword that has no sharp end on either side." "That's true. But you're only the second person that I ever seen that had a sword that didn't have the blade sharpen like other swords. The other person that I met actually had the blade of his sword backwards." Hearing that immediately caught the attention of Takuya and the girls.

"Did you say that the person had the blade of his sword on backwards? As in like a reverse blade sword?" When he heard that question, the man suddenly stopped and looked back at them. "Why yes it was or at least that's what he said it was. Do you know the person?" "We might have. His name is Daisuke Motomiya and after talking with numerous people we've discovered that he was said to have come down this way." answered Hikari. "Tell us, did you actually see Daisuke?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. He helped in saving a village from a group of bandits and I joined him on his journey for a while. However, he left about a week ago. Saying that he had something important to do, and couldn't waste anytime in going after some girl." That bit of news somewhat came as a shocker for them since they never expected Daisuke to just turn his back when someone needed their help. Of man, where are my manners? In all the confusion I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Takato Matuski and what were yours again?"

Taking the role as the apparent spokes person for the group, Takuya gave the proper introductions. "My name is Takuya Kanabara. This girl on my right is Izumi Orimoto and the other is Hikari Kamiya." "Hikari? I think I recall Daisuke mention someone by that name once before. As I recall, he did say once that the only thing that he regretted by leaving his friends was not having the chance to do a proper farewell to this Hikari girl. I guess he was referring to you and judging by what I can see I understand what he meant."

A shade of red cover the cheeks of Hikari for two reasons. One was the comment that Takato gave her and the second was Daisuke regretting in saying goodbye to her. It was unfortunate however that he wasn't there to fix that.

"But something puzzles me." spoke Takuya to break her from her train of thought. "If you were indeed traveling with our friend Daisuke, then why didn't you continue on with him?" "There are two answers to that question. One is that I know the lady that I'm helping and the second is that I was paid to do a job and I see a job to the end."

"A job? What kind of job are you talking about?" "I'm talking about being a bounty hunter. Someone pays me to either deal with someone or get someone back for them. Of course, I do have some standards about who I'd work for. I don't work for someone who has an alternative motive or something that goes against my better judgment." "So, in a way you're a hired gun?" "When you say it like that then, yeah."

At last the four of them came to a large living room. Sitting themselves down they just waited until the person that the place belonged to showed up. They wouldn't have to wait long as a woman, somewhere in her mid thirties black and was wearing what seemed to be a pricey women's kimono. "Welcome back Matuski. It's good to see you and it looks as though you brought some new friends with you. May I ask why the sudden increase in your group?"

"My apologize Mrs. Nonaka. We had once against failed in getting back your daughter and capturing the man who kidnapped her but I promise that'll be rectified soon. And the reason why these people are here is simple. They actually confronted the kidnapper and one of them was actually able to fight evenly with him despite having injuries." That was the first time that Mrs. Nonaka took a good look at Hikari and friends.

"Is that so? Then I must say that I deeply appreciate you in your efforts. Please, allow me to show my gratitude spending the night at my place." "Thanks for the offer buy will have to gracefully decline on the offer." spoke Hikari for the three of them. "Nonsense. It's the least that I can do for the effort that you put in trying to save my daughter." She then clapped her hands. Ruki, would you please come in?"

Entering the room was a girl about their age. She was wearing a greenish blue woman's kimono that helped to show her red hair that hung down to her shoulders a little more and a purple sash that was wrapped around her waist. Probably the most intriguing by her appearance was her light violet colored eyes. "This is my other, older daughter Ruki and she'll show you to your rooms. Of course the girls will have their own room while Takato will share his with the young gentleman."

Seeing that the woman wouldn't take no for an answer, Hikari and the others accepted her offer. Following Ruki they headed towards the closes room which was the men's. ""Here you go gentlemen, your room. I hope that it'll meet your requirements." The room was a simple one with it just having two beds and a little sink that was underneath a window. Turning around, Takuya bowed to Ruki. "Thank you miss Nonaka. I think that I speak for all of us when I say thank you for the hospitality."

"Please don't be some formal. I prefer to be known as simply Ruki. Also, you shouldn't really be saying thanks. The only reason that my mother is allowing you to spend the night is because then she won't have to repay you someday. She has always been like that." "That might be the case but what do you think about it?" "It doesn't matter to me. All I care about is getting back my sister and making sure that she's safe. If you happen to be the ones that will get her back then I'll be grateful. So, until she's back I'll save the thanks for later. Now if you excuse me I think I should take the women to their room."

Ruki turned around and was about to leave until Takato spoke up. "Oh sweet Ruki, you shouldn't allow yourself to be all serious. It really hides your beauty." Turning back around Ruki responded to Takato's remark without a word as she simply shoved him into his room and shut the door before he had the chance to react. "Did I say something inappropriate?" asked Takato from the other end of the door. "Just go to bed before I go in there and make you."

Leaving the situation at it was, Ruki left with Hikari and Izumi following close by. "Sorry if I'm offending you but is there something go between the two of you?" asked Izumi innocently. "No there isn't. We've known each other since we were younger and every once an awhile he does his little flirting thing which I don't take as personal. It's just our strange way of saying that we're close but as nothing more than as close friends."

Soon they arrived to the room where the girls would be spending the night. "Here's your room you two. I hope that you have a pleasant rest and don't worry about waking up late. I'll come in the morning to wake you and your friend up. Then until tomorrow, goodnight."

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An Hour Later…

"Well, what's your opinion of what has gone on today?" asked Izumi. It was late at night and both her and Hikari were about to head for bed, now the two were just discussing about stuff. "I don't know. A little strange but at the same time, it has been interesting. It was a shame though that we arrived too late to meet up with Daisuke before he left." "I agree with you on that. Just when we thought that we had caught up with him he manages to get ahead of us once again. Whatever the reason that he had to leave us in the first place it must have been important since he seems to have hardly stopped for anything else."

"That it does. We'd just have to hope that soon will meet up with him again and that he is come back safely. Now if you excuse me, I have to use the rest room before I go to sleep." Exiting the room she headed down the hallways. "Maybe I should've asked Ruki where the bathrooms were before she left. It's like finding a needle in a haystack." As she was continuing with her searching she slightly heard a conversation. Being quiet she peaked around the corner to see Ruki and she seemed to be talking to someone that Hikari was unable to see.

"Please tell me that you were able to find where my sister is being held." "I'm sad to say that I have at yet to find the location where she is being held at." Answered the unseen person but judging by the sound by their voice it was obvious that it was a male. "I promise though that I'll find her and bring her back to your family as soon as I am able to. Just keep up with your end of the bargain that we made." "Don't worry; I remember what we agreed on. All you should worry about is finding my sister before anything bad happens to her."

Before the conversation could go any further the two heard something hit the floor. Turning to the direction of the sound Ruki saw that it came from Hikari who had dropped her hairbrush. Not seeing the point of hiding anymore, Hikari came out from her hiding place but when she did she still couldn't see who the second person was except capturing a glimpse of the person before he disappeared into the shadows.

"I'm sorry about that. I was just looking for the restroom and I guess I got lost." Apparently falling for the lie, Ruki smiled and walked over to her. "That's all right. I would probably be lost to if I didn't live here. I'll show you where it is." As she followed Ruki, Hikari thought back to what she just heard and thinking back she thought that before the mysterious man disappeared she believe that she saw that he had brown hair. "It couldn't possibly have been him. Could it?

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Next Day…

"So you're actually willing to help us on this mission." spoke Takato as he was leader Hikari and the others to the living room. "Yes we do. I think that it's kind of share the responsibility of allow that man to get away with the little girl. After all, I was actually able to get her away from him before she was taken away again." exclaimed Takuya, who was the one who wanted to add a helping hand. "Maybe you should tell us everything that there is to know about the situation." "Yes, I believe you're right. If you continue to follow me I'll give you the answers that you wish to know."

Finally arriving to the living room they sat down on the seats with Takato sitting opposite of them. "First off, the little girl that was kidnapped, her name is Christina Nonaka. She is the youngest daughter of Mrs. Nonaka and the sister of Ruki Nonaka, who you already have met. The father had unfortunately passed away in a war a few years back. The man responsible for all this is Kai Berder. He was a former employee of the family but was fired when they found out that he was stealing money from the business. Before he could be caught he escaped but not before vowing revenge against the Nonaka family. And that's pretty much everything."

As soon as he said Takato said those words, Ruki entered the room carrying a tray of refreshments. "I hope that I'm not interrupting anything. I figured that you would like some refreshments." "Thank you, Ruki. We really appreciate it. Is there any other questions that you still wish to ask?" Neither Takuya nor Hikari had any questions but Izumi did.

"I was wondering about something that happened just before you showed up yesterday. Shortly after Takuya was able to free Christina and was taking on Kai, a female ninja dress completely in red showed up and apparently thought that Takuya was the one who was responsible for the girl being kidnapped and started to attack him. Mind telling us what you know about her? In case we run into her again." As Izumi spoke that Ruki almost spilled the tray but it went unnoticed by the others.

"That sounds understandable. No one knows who she is. All we know is that she goes under the name of Scarlet Ninja. She started appearing a few months ago. Has been said to be nothing more than a delinquent who thinks that their above the law. But in my opinion I believe that she is like a mask defender, who helps those who are unable to get it from the law or the government. I believe that's really honorable." "Okay then, so we don't have to really worry about this Scarlet Ninja. What we do have to worry about is finding out where Kai is holding the girl and at the moment we don't have any clues to go with." exclaimed Takuya who spoke the question that was on the mind of everyone in the room.

Unexpectedly, the sound of something striking the close living room doors and being the closest one to the door, Ruki opened them and saw that stuck on the door was a piece of paper that was held up by a dagger. Pulling the dagger out Ruki read the note and once she was finished she handed it to Takato. "I believe that you've just receive the clue that you were looking for." Taking the note Takato started to read the note.

"If you are still looking for the captive girl you will find her at an abandon vineyard by the riverbank. And after that all that it said is that it is from a friend." After finishing the note he handed it to the others so that they could look at it as well. "Well, should we take this bit of information and go to the place that's in the note or should we ignore it?" "I believe that we go for it. I mean, we don't really have any other leads to go on. We should at least check it out just in case."

Getting to his feet, Takato headed towards the door while securely strapping his naginata to his back. "Then let's go now. Maybe we'll get lucky and actually find Kai." Agreeing with their friend's words Takuya and the others got up as well and followed him out of the door but as they were leaving, Takato stopped and looked towards Ruki. "What about you Ruki? Are you coming with us or not? I mean, it's your sister after all."

"I'm afraid not. I think it's better that I stay behind and allows those who are able to fight go instead." Walking over she came to a stop in front of him. "Please Takato, bring back my sister. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to my sister."

Not liking to see his friend like this, he placed his hands on either of her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise you that I'll bring her back to you Ruki. After all, I was paid to do such." Turning around he headed to leave but suddenly stopped. "Besides, I couldn't bear to see such a sad expression come across that angelic face of yours." Before she had a chance to respond he headed off to join the others.

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"Well, here we are." Indeed, they were just on the outskirts of the abandoned vineyard that was mentioned on the anonymous note. "There's no way to tell if anyone in there from here. We've got to sneak in and search it over." informed Takato was had seemingly had become the unofficial leader of the group.

"Perhaps we should split up into teams of two and check the place over. Takuya, you go with Izumi and Hikari, you'll come with me. We'll look around for an hour and if we don't find anything we'll meet back here and come up with something. Remember, if you do find something don't try to act like a hero and rush on in. Find the others so we'll have a better chance at whatever it is. Let's get a move on."

Agreeing to the plan split up and went with their respective partners. Carefully they entered the vineyard and were they were in Takuya and Izumi went one way and Takato and Hikari went the other which happened to lead to an even lower level of the vineyard. Taking the stairway they went down the lower level and being cautious of everything around them. "So, you actually know Daisuke?" asked Takato from out of the blue. "Uh, yeah I do. I believe that I already told you that."

"Hey, I don't mean any offense by it. I just meant that I can see why he spoke so highly about you." "What do you mean by that?" "I wasn't with him for a while but with the time that we traveled together he constantly spoke about the friends that he left behind and he specially spoke about a girl with brown hair that he hung with the majority of the time. Apparently you were an important person to him. I hope that you'll be able to meet up with him again in the near future." "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

Continuing on in their searching they finally reach the bottom level and after searching through the entire area they didn't find a single thing. "There's absolutely nothing here. We might as well meet back with the others to see if they were able to find anything." Agreeing with that idea they headed back up and began to search after Takuya and Izumi. Returning back to where they agreed to meet back they saw that neither of them where there. After waiting for over a half an hour they still hadn't arrived.

"Something's not right here. They should've been back here by now." Another few minutes pass and still neither of them showed up. "That's it. We're going back in and find them." "But what if they're being held by the same person that kidnapped Christina?" asked Hikari as she followed Takato back into the vineyard. "Then I would suggest that you stay back because things will be getting messy."

Going back in they cautiously search the area that Takuya and Izumi walk off to. They didn't find anything until they came to a doorway that lead to some rafters that was over to another lower level that was different from everything else since unlike the rest of the vineyard, the whole place was decently clean up. Taking a closer examination of the area they spotted their two friends tied to a support beam but they weren't the only ones. Tied to the following beam was Christina, the girl that they were looking for. Apparently their anonymous source was correct.

Suddenly a new man appeared they immediately recognized him as Kai Bentson, the man that they were searching for. Staying in their hiding spot, Takato and Hikari saw that he was circling the two and in his hand was the same type of weapon that he was using when he first met up with Takuya and the others.

"So, I see that we meet again. I must admit that I'll never see you again." Crouching down he put the point of his sword at Takuya's throat. "Tell me though, how were you able to find my hideout. I left no clues that I was hiding out in this place, so how were you able to find me out?" Looking up at him with absolute no fear, Takuya stared up at him straight in the eye. "If you expect me to tell you anything then you'll be dead wrong. You won't be getting anything from me and there isn't anything that you can do to me that'll change my mind."

For awhile neither one of them said as they just tried to stare the other one down. It would be Kai that backed down first as he removed his sword away from Takuya's throat. "I believe that you're right about that. But can't you say the same for you're friend here?" Moving over to Izumi he places the side of his sword across her throat and was on the verge of slitting it. "Now tell me what I want to know or you're lovely friend here will have her throat slit from ear to ear."

If looks could kill then the look that Takuya was giving Kai would have died several ties over. Turning his gaze into the frighten eyes of Izumi he gave a defeated sigh. Just as he was going to speak a object came flying in and knocked the sword away. Taking a closer examination of the object that saved Izumi it was discovered that it was a sai. Looking over at where it came from the same Scarlet Ninja that they came across a day earlier.

"What is this? It seems as though you had some reinforcements with you. Oh well, I was hoping to deal with this masked girl for quite sometime." Leaving his two tied up captives he knelt down and picked up his fallen sword as well as the Scarlet Ninja's weapon. Walking over he squared off against the ninja. "Before we begin I have to ask a question. Why have you been so set on taking me in? What could I've possibly done to make you so determined?" The lady ninja didn't answer as she just remained silent. "Okay then. I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you."

Charging at her, Kai attempted to end it quickly with a swipe of his sword but the ninja was able to avoid it. With him missing with his attempt he tried again but with his opponent's own weapon. Just when it seemed as though he was going to strike, the ninja was able to deliver a blow to his wrist which resulted in him releasing the sai. With him dropping the weapon, Scarlet grabbed it from midair and was going to use it to strike but just as she did earlier, Kai avoided it by back flipping away.

"I'm very impressive. I believed that I would have a easy time with you. Apparently I was wrong." A wicked smile on his face he maneuvered himself over to the bounded Takuya and Izumi. With sword in hand he placed the point at them. "Why don't we skip the whole back and forth fighting and you just surrender? If you don't then I'll just have to put an end to these unfortunate bystanders." To better empathize his demand, he pressed the point of his sword on the throat of Takuya.

A tense moment passed before finally Scarlet was preparing to give in to Kai's demands. Still from their hiding spot, Takato was going to allow that to happen. Glancing over to Hikari he could tell that she was thinking along the same lines. "Do you happen to have any type of weapon on you?" Nodding her head she handed him her dagger that her brother gave her before leaving. With dagger in hand Takato quietly got up and taking aim he tossed it at his target.

Soaring through the air the dagger seemingly was going at Kai but in actuality it went towards the ropes that were holding their bound friends. Fortunately Takato's aim was good as it cut clear through the ropes. No longer being tied up, Takuya didn't waste the opening as he shoved Izumi out of harm's way and himself as while along the way was able to reclaim his sword. "Now let's see you fight without using someone as a shield."

Seeing that he lost his advantage and finally spotting Takato and Hikari as they started to walk down, Kai realized that he wouldn't stand chance against all of them he figured that he'll make their victory a hallow one. "You believe that you've won? But I'll make sure that your victory won't come without a price." Before any of them could respond he threw his sword with all his might at the still tied up Christina. They all tried to stop it but they wouldn't reach it in time.

Just as it seemed as though it was going to pierce through the little girl's body, someone stepped into the sword path and actually caught it with his right hand. "How dare you stoop so low as to attempt at killing a little girl who's also unable to define herself." Dropping the sword away from his now bloody hand, the unknown person turned around and began to untie Christina. "Are you okay?" Apparently being shocked by all that was happening the girl just nodded her head.

After confirming the girl's safety, unknown man turned back to Kai. To everyone's surprise the man kicked his sword back to him. "Pick it up your weapon. I don't fight someone when they're unarmed." Not allowing this opportunity to slip from his fingers, Kai grabbed his sword but reframed from attacking. "What's the deal? He could've attacked me and I wouldn't have been able to stop him. What a fool. Now I'll make him suffer for his foolish error by killing him first. There's no way that we could stop me with that injured hand seeing as how it'll keep him from handling whatever weapon that he has."

Feeling that it was now his best chance in stopping one of his obstacles he charged forward. Unfortunately for him was that just as it seemed as he was about to drive his sword into the unknown man's body he seemed as though he vanished from everyone's view. He wouldn't be gone for long as a sound came from above Kai. Looking up they saw the unknown man coming straight down onto him and with his uninjured hand, reached into his cloak and pulled out a weapon but no one could see it clearly as it all happen too quickly.

Within a blink of an eye, Kai was struck to the ground with such force that he actually bounce on the ground. There was no doubt on anyone's mind that he was now unconscious. It took sometime but Takato and all the others regained their senses as they slowly inch themselves over to the man who stopped the person that they were after. None of them said anything as they didn't know what to say. It finally would be Christina to speak up when she tugged on the pant leg of the man. Even though they still couldn't see his it was obvious that he was looking down at the little girl.

"Thank you for saving me from the bad man." It was small thank you but it apparently was good enough for the man as he knelt down and patted her on the head. "You're welcome little Christina. But save your thanks for your older sister as she was the one who had me come and rescue you." It was then that Hikari recognize who that voice belonged to. "Is that you Daisuke?"

Hearing the girl's question, the man got back to his feet and turned over to the others. "Well isn't this a surprise? Seeing you guys here was the last thing that I expected." Reaching up, the man grabbed his hood and pulled it down and it was revealed that the person was Daisuke. "What? Don't I get a hug or anything?" Not being to control themselves, both Hikari and Izumi rushed over and gave him a gigantic hug. Following his friends' example, Takuya went over but instead of hugging Daisuke, he simple just placed a hand onto of his shoulder. "It's good to see you man. It truly is."

"I knew it." spoke Takato which broke the tender reunion. "I just knew that you weren't serious about just leaving without trying to help." "I guess you knew more about me that I thought you did. But seriously you should also give your thanks to the person in red. She did after all intervene before I stepped in." It was then that all remembered the scarlet ninja who was still there but remained a safe distance away from all of them. "I believe that it's time for you to drop the personal girl." muttered Daisuke as he stepped in front of the group. "Wouldn't you agree Ruki?"

Hearing that the girl ninja staggered back a bit but seeing that there was no point of hiding anymore she reached for the bottom of her mask and slowly she pulled it off. When it came completely off almost all of them gasp in surprise as it was revealed that the person behind the mask was none other than Ruki Nonaka. "Apparently you weren't the only one who couldn't keep yourself hidden." Hikari or the others couldn't speak a word as they were overwhelmed by everything they just discovered. "Maybe we should continue this some place more appropriate."

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"So, you've been involved in this whole thing since practically the start?" asked Hikari. After giving the still unconscious Kai to the authorities the whole group headed back to the Nonaka home to discuss everything that has happen. "Pretty much." answered Daisuke as he was getting his injured hand attended to by Izumi.

"I happen to be separated from Takato and I happen to meet up with miss Ruki under her ninja getup. Before I could ask what the deal was she went after me. We fought each other for some time until it ended in a unofficial draw. It was then that she told me the reason why she began to fight me. Why don't you tell that part of the story Ruki?" Getting the nod Ruki, who was beside her sister, began to tell her side of the story.

"After we ended our small fight he demanded to know why I attacked him. I told him that I had to make sure what was said about him was true. You see, I heard about what he did in the Combat Tournament and I believed that he would be the one capable of saving my sister. He agreed to help but we both decided to keep his involvement a secret. That is why he pretended to just leave as so that he could help behind the scenes. Fortunately he was able to find where Kai was hiding and able to relay that information to us. You know the rest."

"Did anyone else know about this?" "No. No one else knew about this plan. Not even my mother. It was better that fewer the people that knew of plan the better. With the exception of the two there was no one else that knew." "Technically that's not true." mentioned Takato. "I wasn't sure but I had a feeling that there was more to what was going on. To be more precise there was someone or some ones who were doing the work that we couldn't do. Apparently I was correct."

"You mean that you knew all along what was going on and about my other persona?" questioned a shocked Ruki. "Like I said earlier, I wasn't certain. Besides, if I didn't say anything you probably wouldn't be so offended as I caught glimpses of you in that ninja outfit of yours." Ruki's response to that didn't come from words but from a stiff punch to his arm, however you could see a slight trace of blush on her face. "Now with this whole mess out of the way what's next for you Daisuke?"

"That's simple. I'm heading straight towards the place that I was going to before I even got involved with this whole kidnapped sister thing. Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving." "Not without us you're not." butted in Hikari. "Do you actually think that after it took us this long to find you, we're just going to let you head off by yourself again?" Looking at Takuya and Izumi it was obvious that they shared the same feeling towards the topic."

"Fine then, it looks as though I don't have any choice but to allow you to come along. But remember this; I'm not going to be there for you guys if there's some problem showing up." "Who said that we need you to keep a eye on us?" asked Takuya. "If you didn't know already, I was actually able to go move for move against Kai when we first met up with him. So understand that I can watch my own back as well as the girls if it's necessary." "All right, you made your point. Let's just some sleep and we'll be headed off tomorrow." With that said they all got up and headed off to their respected rooms to get some sleep as some of them would be heading towards an all determining event.

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Next Morning…

"Well, this is where we say our goodbyes." All of them were standing in front of the Nonaka home and Ruki, his sister and Takato were there to bid their friends farewell. "I guess it is." spoke Takato. "I have to say that it was an honor to meet you. Hopefully you'll see each other sometime in the future."

Showing his appreciation he put his hand in front of him. Returning the gesture Daisuke put his hand out and grabbed his friend's wrist which he did in returned. "I'll be looking forward to that. Maybe we can finish that match between us."

When he was done with that, Daisuke turned to the Nonaka sisters. "It was also an honor in meeting you two. I've got a feeling that there are still brighter things in store in your lives." He shook hands with Ruki and just as he knelt down to Christina she leapt forward and gave him the biggest hug that she could muster. After returning the hug he got back up and rejoined his other friends who had already said there goodbyes.

"Are you sure that you guys want to come along with me? I mean, there's still time for you to change your minds." "Would you stop in trying to make us leave." said Izumi to the surprise of the other two friends. "We've already made our decision so let's just get moving." Putting that to rest he started to walk off with the others following right behind. As they were leaving, Takato and Ruki stood there as they watched them leave.

"Do you think that he really does have a chance in what he's setting out to do?" asked Ruki to Takato. "To be honest, I'm not sure. The odds are definitely against him but I do believe he does have a slim chance in succeeding at what he's setting out to do. It's really up to the Gods above to decide on who comes out on top." A moment a silence went over them as they could no longer see their friends. "I've have to ask. Are you still going to be wearing that ninja outfit of yours?" Instead of receiving a smack as he expected, Ruki gave him a flirtatious smirk. "I might be. Just give me a good reason why I should."


Man, that was a long chapter wasn't it? Some of you might be wondering what is taking me so long to update this story. Well, to answer that, I waited to put this chapter up until I have the next few future chapters done. As of right now if I continue the way I am I should have this story within another two months. Of course, I wouldn't take that as 100 true.