Chapter 28

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Ninja Gaiden or DOA

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I've been meaning to commit this to paper for some time but I've been a bit distracted with my updates to my story Naruto: Magik. This chapter is mainly character driven but it's necessary to build up for the plot of next chapter.

Last time:

"….Here are the plans to Sugita Company Headquarters building. I also have them on a thumb drive for your computer."

Receiving the plans, Ayane unrolled them and said. "Excellent. This should help us tremendously in our next move." Maya noticed the two kunoichi's eyes were already scanning over the blueprints rapidly and how they were pointing out various features of the building to each other.

Kimura asked, "So what are the plans for?" hoping to hear what cool ninja action would be seen next.

The two Uzumaki kunoichis looked up and were giving him a flat look as if to say 'are you kidding me?'

Maya said, "That information is need to know only Kimura and you don't need to know." Kimura just pouted.

Hoping to get more time with the kunoichis, Kimura said, "How would you two lovely ladies like to join us for some dinner tonight? I'm in the mood for lobster myself." Ayane just coughed and looked green.

….Man, that lost Kimura some points….

Uzumaki Safe House, Tokyo

A frightened Yamada and a pouting Kimura were sitting in the car waiting for Detective Arii to come out of the Safe House. Maya had been absolutely furious he'd asked the two kunoichis out on a date of all things but she was completely livid when Kimura suggested that the two kunoichis take selfies with him. Even worse he had his precious phone destroyed by a shuriken that struck from out of the blue –and they didn't even let him keep the shuriken as a keepsake. The two officers still didn't know which of the kunoichis had thrown it because shuriken just appeared out of nowhere and neither kunoichi seemed to have moved or even had their eyes leave the building plans it happened so fast….

Yamada asked, "Do you have a death wish man?! That throwing star mounted your phone into the cement wall six feet behind us! I think if the Commissioner hadn't ordered Detective Arii to have two guards with her we'd both be out of our jobs for what you pulled! I think Detective Arii was ready to kill us herself and I didn't even do anything. I'm not going to die from guilt by association with you! What were you thinking asking two trained assassins out for dinner?!"

Kimura said with a blush, "They are radiant, nubile young ladies who obviously need a virile young man in their life. I just can't decide which one of them I like more!"

"You do know they're going to stuff you in a barrel of cement and dump your body out at sea if Detective Arii doesn't do it herself…." said Yamada dourly.

"Nonsense, once they get to know me I know they'll appreciate my better qualities….they're just shy." Kimura was totally off in fantasy land by now. That's how it happened in harem manga after all….

'I am not getting through to this guy.' thought Yamada. 'When I took this job I thought I was pretty badass but seeing all those people mowed down by those ninjas scares the living hell out of me.'

Inside the Safe House….

Maya was pacing back and forth ranting and raving to the two kunoichis about how she was forced to have two bodyguards against her will by the Commissioner because she was kidnapped by the Yoru Clan a while back. She apologized profusely again and again for their incompetence and asked if the Uzumaki clan would consider doing a hit on Kimura. Ayane looked like she was seriously considering the offer but Kasumi just looked amused. She felt really bad for Maya but thought that erasing Police Officers wouldn't be the best course of action (It's bad for business to kill your clients). Kimura did creep the hell out of her though. She didn't even want to know what was going through that deviant little mind in his head….

That's when they received a call from Hinata which Ayane picked up. "Negotiations are making progress." said Hinata. "Bring the prisoner Karasu Hiraku to Tōbu Railway station in Sumida for release into his clan's custody."

"Things are going that well Hinata?" asked Ayane.

"I think it will help break the ice. Things were a little rocky at the beginning." answered Hinata.

"Understood." said Ayane. "We'll have him there within the next two hours."

"Thank you." replied Hinata.

Karasu Clan Main Base, Sumida Ward, Tokyo

Hinata closed her phone. "Karasu Hiraku will be here within the next two hours. He wasn't tortured but he has been tied up for a while now so he'll probably be a bit tired out."

Sachiko breathed "Thank god." under her breath and held back a few tears of relief.

Hinata turned to Sachiko and said, "You are Hiraku-san's lover I assume? You're body language shows you are immensely relieved."

The Karasu kunoichi was a bit embarrassed she was found out but said, "Hiraku-kun is my husband. I was terrified for him." Hinata just nodded in reply.

"Are there any other prisoners?" asked one of the advisors hopefully.

Hinata shook her head. "No, Hiraku-san was the only one we took and that was only because of his rank."

"I understand." said the advisor sadly.

Ichiro and his advisors were carefully looking over the treaty of alliance proposed for the Uzumaki and Karasu Clans. True to their word, the Uzumakis seemed to be only concerned with eliminating the fiends and had no true desire to fight the Karasu Clan. The alliance was based more on non-interference and information exchange than anything. There was also a mutual protection clause in there but the gist of it was if the Karasu Clan agreed to leave Tokyo and stay away from the fiends then they could consider the Uzumaki Clan their allies. It was a tremendous relief to Ichiro because he'd feared the Uzumaki Clan intended to screw over the Karasu Clan for everything they had (and were very much in a position to do so).

To be honest the Karasu Clan had a back up base in Nagoya in case of an emergency so moving the clan there wouldn't be as horrific as they initially expected. Getting out of Tokyo within a week was going to be difficult but not impossible by any means. It just had to be done discreetly. Ichiro found that Hinata was a very firm but fair kunoichi but had impeccable manners and negotiated like a pro. She also had an odd accent he couldn't place. He wondered if she wasn't a noblewoman of sorts. Regardless he decided not to ask about it. Her display of combat prowess earlier made him realize she could wipe the floor with him and his advisors without breaking a sweat so he didn't want to offend her in any way at all.

Asuka's Penthouse, Tokyo

Asuka had been working on managing her business investments and her mind was drifting back to the visions she'd been having while focusing on her family's bell earlier that day and it occurred to her that perhaps there were later memories from other ancestors she could explore. It made her feel strange about the situation since she'd sworn off her humanity and had grown to despise mankind and everything it was associated with. Actually; looking back on things she'd grown up relatively well in the warring states period. Her Mother's pedigree was from a prominent line of priestesses from time immemorial and her Father was a minor noble of relative wealth. She'd had a happy childhood with a loving family and grew up affluently with the goal of becoming the next priestess which she fulfilled in her teens. Asuka then married a boy she'd fallen in love with that resembled a man she had visions of –Uzumaki Naruto.

The newlyweds should have had their happily ever then but a group of priests that had sometimes competed with them in business essentially went mad overnight and assaulted and murdered her family without warning or reason. She still remembered the madness in the head priest's eyes as he declared her a demon and tried to spear her. Her young husband shielded her with his body and it shattered her heart as she saw him die. Asuka was brutally slaughtered mere minutes later cursing her murderers to hell….

Asuka reflected on why the priests did this. Why hadn't she ever thought of this before? They were exorcists that sometimes worked in concert with the clairvoyant priestesses of her clan. While they had quarreled on business matters occasionally the two groups had gotten along well enough for generations. It was a good partnership. Asuka hadn't really thought about this until now; five hundred years later. When she'd been revived by Lady Ishtaros; Asuka was consumed with bloodlust, hatred and revenge. She'd never thought about even why Ishtaros even revived her to begin with. Ishtaros offered Asuka the revenge she wanted and Asuka had relished in it. She'd wreaked bloody vengeance that resulted in every priest and their entire village being murdered to the last infant. Asuka remembered being enraptured by her inhuman power and relishing in the destruction and the bloodshed like one possessed.

Looking back, Asuka realized Ishtaros set her loose like a rabid animal that painted a bloody path of destruction across the countryside until Ishtaros reeled her back in and said that Asuka could help Ishtaros in her vision to free the world of the evils of humanity. Over the decades Lady Ishtaros had guided and re-educated Asuka in her own image. Asuka had always felt she owed a debt she could never repay to Lady Ishtaros and had become her most faithful and trusted retainer. The almost had a Mother-Daughter relationship. But now; rather than being the kind and forgiving person her true Mother raised to be her to be Asuka now was the perfect image of an unapproachable ice queen that played with the lives of others as chess pieces heartlessly. She was feared and felt it was a fitting tribute to her Lady Ishtaros….

Asuka sat deep in thought and wondered….'Why did this all happen?'

Uzumaki Safe house, an hour later

A rather worn looking Karasu Hiraku was sitting in the back of the unmarked car that Maya used. He'd been given back his uniform but all his weaponry and gear was missing. When he made the mistake of asking about having his gear returned Kasumi (in her ninja gear) had told him to be thankful he was alive and his stuff was 'spoils of war' for the Uzumaki clan. The hard look in her eyes told him to shut up while he was still alive. 'I guess I should be glad they didn't send me back in my underwear.' He thought dourly. Hiraku looked in front of him at the two young police officers in the front seats assigned to transport him who were grumbling to themselves.

The good detective had decided to put her subordinates to use by having them act as a taxi for the prisoner back to the Sumida Ward. "How exactly did this happen? I thought a wagon would be more appropriate for transporting a prisoner." grouched Yamada. Maya decided to stay at the Safe House and discuss things with Kasumi and Ayane. (Actually she just wanted to stay away from Kimura and his idiocy).

"I'm just glad to be free." said Hiraku in an exhausted tone. "All I want is to see my wife and two daughters and hold them close. I really thought I was dead."

"So what was it like being the prisoner of those beautiful kunoichi girls?" asked Kimura excitedly as he imagined being 'punished' by total babes.

Hiraku sighed. "Kid, I don't know what world you live in but those beautiful kunoichi girls as you put it are extremely deadly. If you piss one of them off it will be the last thing you do. I was afraid from the second I met them till when I left that they were going to cut me open for dissection. I've never feared a ninja clan more than the Uzumaki clan in my entire life and I've met quite a few different clans." he said with a shiver. "They all appear to be close to Master level. I'm a respected high level ninja and I have no doubt any one of them would snap me like a twig."

"They are that tough?" asked Yamada.

"Listen kid-' started Hiraku.

"Yamada, sir." corrected the younger man.

Hiraku nodded. "Alright Yamada; let me tell you about the monster we had guarding our base that they took out…."

The rest of the trip over both Yamada and Kimura were both amazed and shocked that such a monster lobster could exist; let alone a mere human being could destroy it. The idea of fiends was terrifying.

Yamada asked, "So you're basically saying that two Uzumaki Ninjas without guns destroyed something that the ground self defense forces would have used anti tank weaponry for Hiraku-san?"

"That's it in a nutshell." said Hiraku. "I had eighty ninjas under my command and I doubt we could have taken the beast without some major losses. It was too well armored and you couldn't even get near it because it was so fast with its pincers. Those Uzimakis are truly monstrous when it comes to power and strength."

"I'll have to ask them all about this. I'm sure they can tell me just how they did it!" said Kimura excitedly. "Maybe it's a super cool secret ninja technique!"

"Kid, you are an idiot." Hiraku said to Kimura. He turned to Yamada as they pulled up to Tōbu Railway Station. "Well this is my stop boys; thanks for the lift Yamada. Stay safe." Letting him off at the curb the two young Police Officers watched him enter the station.

"Well, this has been an enlightening trip." said Yamada to his partner as he pondered the mass destruction at the warehouse and the lobster fiend. Yamada reasoned that Hiraku really had no reason to lie or embellish such a creature. Detective Arii had shown him and Kimura evidence that fiends really did exist although he never imagined that they could be that colossal. It was a real eye opener to Yamada.

Kimura on the other hand was completely enthralled with the idea of busty, gorgeous kunoichis fighting evil monsters and preferably losing some of their tight, sexy outfits in the process. Yamada was going to ask him what he thought but Kimura's creepy giggling dissuaded him from that course of action. He simply called Detective Arii and informed her that they'd dropped off the prisoner and were returning. After receiving affirmation Yamada started the drive back to Shinjuku with Kimura perversely giggling the whole way. 'Kimura's never going to get a girlfriend at this rate.' thought Yamada shaking his head sadly.

Karasu Clan Main Base, Sumida Ward, Tokyo

Karasu Hiraku came in through the secret entrance at Tōbu station looking worse for wear and was welcomed back by Saito and many others on the way in. When he entered the main room he was about to formally greet Master Ichiro but his normally reserved wife Sachiko swooped in with a passionate kiss to welcome him home. They held each other quietly as they both shed tears at being reunited. Hiraku looked up and saw Master Ichiro nod to him in approval before he and Sachiko went to the infirmary to make sure Hiraku was all right.

Hinata watched and was happy for them though she retained an emotionless mask over her face (the facemask helped too). She to Ichiro and simply said, "You've had plenty of time to go over the treaty details Master Ichiro. We've made all the changes to benefit both parties mutually. I believe it's time we wrap this up and get it signed. After that, copies of all the data on The Stripes and Akiyama you have will be handed over to us."

Ichiro nodded to each of his advisors and said, "I will happily sign then Hinata-san but I would like Naruto-sama here to witness it so he can also affix his signature."

Hinata replied, "Naruto-sama is already here." Naruto appeared in a body flicker at Hinata's shoulder much to the shock of the Karasu Ninjas.

Ichiro stared into the fathomless blue eyes of Naruto and felt his overwhelming aura. It reminded him of when he'd met Hayabusa Jô-sama many years back when they were both young and Jô was the Hayabusa Clan heir still. Ichiro felt rather humble and said as he stood up and bowed, "I welcome you to my home Uzumaki Naruto-sama. I humbly apologize for Hinata-sans life being threatened."

Naruto bowed slightly and said, "That was the fault of the fiends and not you. Your apology is accepted. Shall we sign the treaty?"

"Do you not wish to review it before you sign Naruto-sama?" asked one of the advisors.

Naruto shook his head. "It is not necessary, Hinata has my implicit trust."

Within minutes the treaty was signed and the Karasu clan handed over the data on The Stripes and what little they knew about Akiyama. "Akiyama seems to basically worship a woman known as Elizebet Naruto-sama." said Ichiro.

"We are aware of her." stated Naruto. "She is a Greater Fiend that escaped us during the recent incident at the Sky City Ward." Ichiro's eyes widened. Naruto studied him for a moment and said, "Unlike you, the members of the Black Spider Clan are our sworn enemies so it got quite messy in that skyscraper. I am glad we are no longer on opposing sides Master Ichiro. Unlike the Black Spider Clan that has sided with the fiends willingly in exchange for their power; we never considered the Karasu Clan to be our true enemies."

"I'm glad too." agreed Ichiro. 'Those Black Spider Clan members that got slaughtered all over the Sky City Ward were much stronger than our own ninjas individually. I would not wish to take on the Black Spider Clan their own turf.'

One of the Karasu Advisors asked, "If I may Naruto-sama, the Black Spider Clan is extremely formidable. Just how many ninjas did it take for the Uzumaki to defeat that many of them?"

Naruto looked at the man for a moment and deciding it would do no harm he answered, "There were two of us; myself and one of my kunoichis. It was a difficult battle. While we prevailed against the Black Spider Clan; the Fiend Elizebet escaped because they delayed us."

"Only two of you?!" asked the advisor in shock.

"Yes, it was all we had at the time I'm afraid." said Naruto. "Elizebet and her minions went on to cause havoc in New York City and the Aqua Capitol and we believe if we had been able to kill her in the Sky City Ward we might have prevented some of that. At any rate; one of our friends of the Hayabusa Clan is hunting her while we hope to prevent Akiyama from pulling something similar here in Tokyo."

Sachiko came out of the infirmary fussing over her husband who was a little roughed up from being tied up for so long. He really needed a shower but Sachiko came over to Naruto and Hinata and bowed. She said, "Naruto-sama, I thank you for returning my Hiraku-kun to me. I would have been lost without him. There was no reason we would have known you had him and you didn't have to tell us. "

Hiraku cringed a little remembering Hinata paralyzing him and Naruto's entrance from hell in general. "Yes, I thank you for returning me to my beloved wife Naruto-sama." he said bowing as well.

"We are allies now; don't worry about it." said Naruto.

Within the hour Naruto and Hinata were ready to go. "Thank you for the data on the The Stripes and Akiyama." said Hinata. "If you need to contact us this is the Uzumaki Clan's number. We will touch base with you once you are settled in at Nagoya." Both Naruto and Hinata bowed. "Farewell Master Ichiro." said the Uzumaki Kunoichi. With that both she and Naruto vanished in a body flicker.

Master Karasu Ichiro sagged in exhaustion as he sat down in his chair. He said to Sachiko and his advisors. "The Uzumakis are like the Ninjas Masters of Old. I thank the gods they are our allies now. We've lost many and will grieve for them a long time but I think we'd best look forward rather than back. Let's start making plans for the transition to Nagoya."

Meanwhile with Kasumi….

After Maya left with her two guards Kasumi and Ayane received a call from Naruto that he and Hinata were on the way back. The siblings were studying the maps of the Sugita Company Headquarters when suddenly Ayane got the hungries and had a craving for something out to eat. After the pair bickered a bit Kasumi agreed to go to a grocery store two blocks over on 3rd street to buy some dinner for the four of them. Donning a sweater and denim skirt Kasumi had the appearance of a typical high school girl and trudged out to the store hoping to get back before Naruto and Hinata did so they could all have dinner together as a family.

As Kasumi headed into the store she thought to herself, 'Ayane-chan has become a strong, independent kunoichi that is very mature most of the time but when she's hungry I think of her as my bratty little sister.' thought Kasumi amusedly to herself. 'Oh well. Considering our relationship before we met Naruto-kun was so bad it never ceases to amaze me how well we get along. It really makes me happy and I'm proud to call her my little sister.' Grabbing a hand basket Kasumi started picking out some reheatable dinners because they were easy to fix and their safe house was extremely limited in the ways of a kitchen….

The Uzumaki Safe House, Tokyo

Naruto and Hinata slipped into the safe house silently and were greeted by Ayane who was very pleased to see them back safe. She received a warm kiss from her husband that drove out most of the mental images of Kimura's attempts to get her out on a date. "How did it go?" asked the violet haired kunoichi.

"Aside of a fiend showing up and orchestrating and ambush everything went smoothly Ayane-chan." said Hinata.

Ayane's eyes widened a bit. "An ambush? What happened?"

Naruto asked, "Ayane-chan, is there a reason there's a cell phone mounted in the wall with a shuriken in it?"

His youngest wife deflated a bit. "That moron guard of Detective Arii's wanted to take selfies with Kasumi and me so I was forced to remove the offending cell phone from the equation."

Naruto stifled a snort and Hinata covered her mouth so her smile wasn't showing. She asked, "I take it you mean that deviant Kimura?"

"Yes; and it's not that funny." pouted Ayane. "I think you need to brutalize him Naruto-kun. He's too stupid to look at us kunoichis and realize we could kill him at the drop of a hat. You could put the fear of god in him though. Detective Arii asked Kasumi and I if we would be willing to do a hit on him and I was considering it until Kasumi acted all responsible and said that killing our clients was bad for business."

Now Naruto exploded into laughter making Ayane pout more. After he regained control of himself Naruto said. "Now, now Ayane-chan; I'm sorry." He kissed her again and said, "Kasumi-chan is right though; we shouldn't be killing our clients. Speaking of Kasumi-chan; where is she?"

Ayane said, "She ran out to the store to get us some dinner after the detective left." Ayane's stomach growled. "She should be back any minute."

That when Hinata smiled and said, "Well, it sounds like you and Kasumi-chan's evening was far more interesting than ours. Why don't you tell us about it while we wait for Kasumi-chan to get back and once she arrives we'll tell you both about our visit to the Karasu base in Sumida."

Ayane sat down with a sigh and said, "Well, it all started when Maya arrived with the Sugita building plans. The first thing Kimura did was invite Kasumi-chan and I out on a date for….lobster." Seeing her husband and co-wife were trying really hard to not laugh she continued. "It kind of went downhill from there…."

With Kasumi at the grocery store….

Kasumi was standing in the checkout line when she saw two armed men in surgical masks wearing sunglasses come in the store and yell, "This is a hold up! Nobody moves or else!"

The young kunoichi wanted to face fault. 'Please tell me this is a joke. I don't believe this.' She felt the fear of those around her as the one man waved his knife around threateningly and the other man was waving a gun around trying to be scary. Kasumi had a flat look on her face as she tried to ward off the oncoming headache. 'Good god this is ridiculous. The one isn't even holding his blade right and the other doesn't even have the safety off his gun. I wonder if he even has a round chambered?'

"You heard my aniki!" said the one with the knife. "Unless you want to get hurt or killed you'll do exactly as we say!"

'Aniki?! Who do they think they are? All I wanted to do was buy some dinner and these two clowns show up pretending they are Yakuza.' thought Kasumi irritably. As the men continued toward them and people started to get panicked the Uzumaki kunoichi thought to herself, 'Okay; so this pair of society dropouts couldn't get into college so they decided to take up petty crime.'

The one with the gun waved his weapon at her. "Are you listening to me cunt?!"

Kasumi sat down her basket coolly and said quietly, "This bad comedy ends now." People's eyes widened in terror as the beautiful high school girl proceeded to brutally break the arms and legs of both robbers with horrible cracking, crunching and screaming coming from the crooks as she decimated them utterly and left them on the floor looking like a pair of human pretzels. They gave the young kunoichi wide berth as she set the knife and gun on the counter. She then walked back over to the two disabled criminals and took the money out of their wallets. She said, "You two can pay for my groceries for inconveniencing me." and went back over to the checkout line.

The man that was in front of her got out of the way quickly and said, "B-by all means, ladies first." Kasumi smiled and thanked him. The cashier quickly rang up her items and bagged them very neatly as everyone continued to stare at the Uzumaki kunoichi from a safe distance and the two would be robbers groaned in pain.

After paying with the crook's money she quietly picked up her bags and said, "Someone might want to call the police." Hearing one of the men moan and whimper she said, "You might want to call an ambulance for all that matter." Then she calmly walked out the exit into the night with her two grocery bags in hand….

The manager called the police quickly and said, "That young lady was dangerous. I almost feel sorry for these two robbers."

Looking over at the disjointed bodies an older woman said. "I guess martial arts must be that you lady's hobby…." The rest of the crowd murmured in agreement until the police arrived sometime later….

Uzumaki Safe House, Tokyo

Kasumi arrived at the safe house a few minutes later and let herself in. After closing the door and coming in the main room she saw all the others were back and sat the groceries down. Naruto stood up and took her into a gentle hug which she melted into. Naruto could feel the tension in her body slowly leaving as she held him. What happened Kasumi-chan? You're all tense hime."

"I had to beat up a couple of petty crooks at the grocery store on 3rd street." Kasumi answered sounding vexed. "Next time we go to the store it's someone else's turn. I don't want to be spotted."

"Are you hurt Kasumi-chan?" asked Hinata as Ayane nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine…." Kasumi then related how the robbers got her irritated despite the fact she was attempting to keep a low profile. She then described breaking the arms and legs of both men and taking their money to pay for the food. '….And then I came back here." said Kasumi as Naruto rubbed her shoulders and the fatigue left her body. "I'm more stressed about being seen or recognized than the actual robbery. They were amateurs that were more of a threat to themselves than anyone else."

Naruto leaned down and kissed her softly. "No worries Kasumi-chan; these things happen."

Ayane giggled and said, "It sounds like I'm rubbing off on you nee-chan."

Hinata said, "What's done is done Kasumi-chan. I'll heat up dinner."

The four members of the Uzumaki family sat down together and had a quiet meal and discussed the day. It was generally agreed that Hinata's day was the most normal since she was battling ninjas and fiends instead of tolerating would be robbers and sexual deviants. The phone rang and Naruto picked it up seeing it was Inspector Otaki's number. "Uzumaki here." answered Naruto.

The Inspector's voice was surprisingly filled with amusement. "One of your girls would happen to have thwarted a robbery over at a grocery store on 3rd street would they?"

Naruto simply said "Maaybee….."

Otaki chuckled. "I'll have them call of the search then. Tell her that those two bums have seen the errors of their ways and are ready to repent and become devout Buddhist Monks."

"I'll pass that along Otaki. It's nice to know we've contributed in a positive way to society." said Naruto with humor in his voice.

"It gave me a good laugh too." said Otaki jovially. "Have a good evening Uzumaki."

"You do the same Inspector." said Naruto as he ended the phone call. "Well Kasumi-chan; you did well for our society tonight. Inspector Otaki says those two you maimed earlier have decided to give up their criminal activities and become Buddhist Monks. He got a good laugh at it too."

Ayane and Hinata were snickering and Kasumi just pouted cutely at her husband making him smile and kiss her as well. Hinata yawned. "Let's call it a night. We'll start going through this data tomorrow and hopefully can hit the Sugita Building tomorrow night."

Corporate Headquarters of the Sugita Company, Tokyo

Fujimoto Noburu was fidgeting. He now had an additional twenty mid level fiends from Akiyama but likewise the Karasu Ninja Clan lost a lot of troops. Rokuro called him yesterday and said it was around eighty which was close to a fifth of the clan. Noburu was currently on the phone with Master Karasu Ichiro. "I'm sorry Noburu-san but we've suffered huge losses and I've had to spread thin all over because we still have to cover the Shinjuku Ward just for surveillance purposes. I understand these fiends you've brought in are here to reinforce us but they're going to have to patrol alone. My ninjas need to stay off the radar so we can set up an ambush for the Uzumaki Clan. They are far more dangerous enemies than you let on and it's obvious we can't take them in an open fight." 'Damn bastard you'll be dead before we've settled in Nagoya.'

"Some of the fiends I brought in are saying you ninjas act like you're evacuating. Can you explain this?" Noburu was trying to sound angry but the fact was he was worried. 'They aren't running are they?! I need them!'

Master Ichiro simply sidestepped the issue and said. "We are simply retreating to strategic points to concentrate our forces so we can overwhelm the Uzumakis. You needn't worry about the details; the Karasu Clan always honors their obligations Noburu-san. You already are well aware of this. You aren't considering dropping our services are you? There would be serious penalties incurred, both financial and….otherwise.

"Are you threatening me Karasu?! Your paycheck depends on me!" blustered Noburu. "Where are these 'strategic points' anyway?"

Ichiro's eyes narrowed on the screen. "The Karasu Clan has plenty of clients besides you Fujimoto. I wasn't threatening you anyway. I was telling you; you've thrown us into a very bad position due to lack of intel and frankly it's going to cost you. If you try to screw us over once we've defeated the Uzumakis I swear as clan head, the Karasu Clan will end you." Ichiro watched the fat fiend sweat with cold eyes; it was painfully obvious he was a coward.

Fujimoto said cringing, "I'm sure I can help reimburse you for some of your losses; you have my deepest apologies. I thought that with the fiends there it would be enough. How much do you need to compensate for your casualties?" Money was the only thing Noburu could spare at this point. He wasn't happy but if he could grease the wheels a bit with some additional funds then he would do so. 'This is turning into a financial disaster!' thought the fiend.

"I believe an additional fifty percent of the total payment for this undertaking would be enough. I want it in our account by tomorrow morning." said Ichiro coldly. 'May as well screw this pig over for all I can get.' thought the clan head.

"Fifty percent?!" squeaked Noburu.

"Take it or leave it Fujimoto." said Ichiro taking advantage of the situation. "I want in advance; not after the mission. I won't tolerate a late payment."

Noburu nodded rapidly and nervously got on his computer. After a few minutes he said, "There; I've electronically transferred the funds into your account. You should see it momentarily."

Ichiro said calmly, "Received; it's a pleasure doing business with you. I'll contact you once we've located those accursed Uzumakis." With that the clan head ended the call.

Noburu was exhausted after that exchange. 'The Karasu ninja are moving about and I don't know where they are. I need to call Rokuro and see what the hell is going on. I need to know where those strategic points are so I can have my fiends ready to jump in and assist. Damn! Lady Asuka isn't going to be happy about me throwing away so much money on this enterprise but what other choice do I have?' he winced mentally thinking of the last time she spoke to him. 'I'll have to come up with an excuse….Why the hell isn't Rokuro answering his phone?! He must be in a public area. Yes, that must be it.'

Pouring himself a strong one the fiend felt the alcohol burn as it went down his throat and started to feel a bit calmer. He sighed and thought aloud, "That's better. Well Noburu old boy, you've been in tighter spots and always triumphed for nearly a century. You can get through this." Certain he'd be able to contact his agent Rokuro in the morning; Noburu decided to call it a night. He'd had along and stressful day….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, Noburu seems to think he's going to be able to contact his (deceased) agent Rokuro soon and the Karasu Clan have already set plans into motion to get out of Tokyo. Asuka is having doubts and Akiyama seems to have fallen off of the radar for now. The Uzumaki clan has settled things with the Karasu Clan and Kasumi has dealt with some pesky robbers. It seems Ayane really is rubbing off on her. Next chapter the Uzumaki Clan will start researching the Sugita building. See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/10/15