AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Wow, I received a bit of heat on the introduction of Aileen. Ryu & Rachael and Ryu & Ayane pairings were expected. Sorry to have disappointed everyone, but I do have to follow the storyline as it is given to me. I wouldn't feel right within myself if I made one of the above pairings when I have this known information of a lightly known relationship with a never-before seen character.

Plus one great man said to me, Originality > Redundance. And it makes sense, there are tons of stories with Ryu & Ayane and Ryu & Kasumi. I would prefer to be more original rather than repeating the same love-sick storyline over and over.

I would like to thank those reviewers for leaving their remarks in a civilized fashion. There were no "Hey dumbass! Put Ryu & Ayane together now! BTW, who the fuck is Aileen?" (hehehehehe). As I said, I do admire constructive criticism, but if you have something completely negative to say about my stories or my reader's reviews, please keep them to yourself.

Below I have commented on each review, hopefully it will shed more light onto the introduction of Aileen.

Also, I know a few people won't like this, but Hayate, Kasumi, and Rachael, will not be in the story. Why? Because that's way too many people I have to control and direct. And just imagine how much longer the story would be trying to control six characters (as well as the introduction to new characters which will come later as the stories progress), and entire ninja clan as well as the X number of bad guys I have to direct and even making sure that each play an active role in this story. It's bad enough the story looks to reach 30 chapters. I can't overwork myself and put out 60 chapters. That would just run away my readers. Hope everyone understands, but as the story goes on and characters are introduced, you'll see that I already have enough people to direct in this story as well as others to come.

Lastly, after reading Chapter 2 you may think the story is off to a slow start, but trust me, every word in detail used in the next few chapters will play a great deal of importance as the story progresses. Don't worry, VERY soon, you will get the action you are longing for. But if I don't set the right mood, sure you may get good action, but you won't get that great storyline I want the readers to experience.

Here's Chapter 2 of Dokugumo-Ureeru Tsurugi. (I can finally spell that title without having to refer to a website or a copy and paste, hehehehe). Hope you enjoy it, R&R.

Chapter 2 – Mission Denied

After weeks of healing and physical training, Ryu was finally healed. The bandages were removed and his wounds received a close examination from Muramasa proved that Ryu was ready for physical training. All of his scars and bruises completely vanished, thanks to the Spirit Elixir. It was as if Ryu was never in a battle at all.

Hayate assisted Ryu with his physical training with intense sparring sessions and soon enough Ryu was back to his old self once again. Rachael decided to go back to the Vigoor Empire to assist her sister, Alma, in relinquishing the last of the Fiends, but afterwards, she explained to Ryu she would not know what her purpose would be next. The two said their goodbyes as Rachael set her path back home. Their long mission together was intense, but they both knew that one day their paths would go different directions. They knew that just as much as they knew that their paths would one day cross again.

Over the past few weeks, Ryu enjoyed his life of pure serenity as he did a lot of fishing and looked after his curio shop and for once was able to spend quality time with his love, Aileen. She couldn't be any happier to have Ryu finally at home and away from the dangers that had been brought to him over the past few years. Every night, just to make sure Ryu wouldn't vanish on another quest, she would hold him tight as they slept.

Ryu kept his promise for not taking on any missions, though he was thanked by people from all over the world on his victory against Murai, more requests for more missions came forth to him than before. Ryu was looked down upon when he refused missions, but faith always had a burning light when he recommended the services from the Mugen-Tenshin clan.

Also in a turn of events, Hayate wanted to take the next step in the relationship with his sister. He informed the Mugen-Tenshin of his intents and he and Kasumi secretly set off into the mountains, to help him decide of what needed to be done as a brother and a ninja. The outcome of the journey was unknown, for even Hayate himself. But he knew he could no longer ask Ryu to protect his sister when he, himself, was unsure if he wants her dead or not. The journey was to answer questions of what needed to be done, and he vowed not to return until he had the answers.

With Kasumi gone, this left Ayane alone and nothing to do, since she was asked to leave the two alone. In result, she spent a lot of her time with Ryu. Assisting at the curio shop, training and sparring sessions, and when she wasn't around Ryu, she would most likely sit at the lake and contemplate her own life.

With all the events in place, Ryu sat in his curio shop filled with many of the rare Japanese artifacts Ryu had found on his explorations. Arts, crafts, statues, exotic weapons, they all filled his shop waiting for any lucky customers to come and bring them to their home.

An old man walked into the shop and began browsing and exploring the many gifts Ryu's shop had to offer.

"Any word from Hayate and Kasumi?" Ryu asked Ayane who was brushing off ancient dust found on a statue they found on a previous journey.

"Not as of yet, why so much concern of the past few days?" She asked.

"I'm afraid of what may happen to Kasumi. Hayate only wants to do the right thing."

Ayane hissed. "Then he should kill her."

Ryu frowned. "You don't mean that."

Ayane continued her concentrating on her statue restoration as she answered. "You're right. I would prefer he leave her alive so I could kill her."

"I thought you put all of that behind you."

"Are you still referring to that mission?" Ayane dropped the brush and stared at Ryu. "Master Ryu, we put our differences aside so it would not interfere with the task at hand. As you said, there were more important matters. My mission on bringing her dead to the Mugen-Tenshin was never over."

Ryu only sighed. He tried his hardest to reunite Ayane and Kasumi as close sisters as they were when they were children, but all of his efforts failed thanks to Ayane's obnoxious jealousy. He didn't want to argue about their quarrel any longer, so instead he only let the little girl win the potential petty argument.

Moments later, the old man made a selection from the shop and approached Ryu.

"Could you tell me what this is?" The old man asked him holding a small circular wooden plate in his hand.

Ryu smiled in remembrance as he answered the question. "This is a Saki Tray. Part of a Saki set." He said taking the item from the man's hand. "This was given to me by an old woman out of a western Japanese village. She was greatly known for her remarkable green tea. This was her inspiration. She told me it belonged to her father and was passed down to him generation after generation, coming from the 17th Century. Her ancestors made a living off of their tea recipe." He placed the item back in the man's hand. "Unfortunately, she never had any children to continue to pass it down to, so she gave it me as a reward for saving her village. I promised her I would give it to a responsible young man that would look after it and continue their tradition."

"That's a touching story."

"Thank you." Ryu smiled.

"So I suppose you can't sell this to me, since I am no longer young?"

"Of course, you seem as if your children would enjoy the artifact for generations to come just as it has done for the woman's."

The man gave a compassionate smile. "You are caring. But my children are…" The old man paused as his facial expression changed from the compassionate smile to a look Ryu could only detect as emotional hurt.

Ryu knew the man had most likely lost his children to an unfortunate death. "You have my condolences, sir."

"No, that's not it." The man kindly confirmed. "But I am afraid it may come to that."

Ryu arched his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry Hayabusa-sama. Please forgive me." The old man broke down. "I have come for your assistance, not to buy art." He admitted. "My name is Jian Migu of the Migu Village."

"What's wrong?"

"A ninja clan has come and taken over my village. They are taking all of our people slaves and making them work in caves."

"A ninja clan?" The remark sounded irrational to Ryu. "What clan would take over a village?"

"The Black Spider Clan. They have come to our village and forced our people to work for them and kill those that object."

"The Black Spider Clan?" Ryu thought to himself. That was the clan that interfered with his mission on the Vigoor Empire. He remembers it all too well. Very athletic, highly skilled, and were equipped with incendiary shurikens which made them a pain when in great numbers. They were after the Dark Dragon Blade to grind the blade into tea. A silly reason for a clan of that expertise to want a powerful and evil sword of great power for a tasty drink.

"Why have they chosen your village?" Ryu asked.

"None of us are sure. They just appeared and began their wrath on our villagers. I, and a few others, have managed to escape to find you. We know you have encountered with them before and your past successes would prove that you would be successful in a confrontation."

Ayane still brushing the statue listening to their conversation replied. "Sounds like a mission."

Ryu scoffed but knew that the female ninja was right and immediately Aileen popped into his head. He began to think about her reaction if he were to take on another mission. He promised her that he would stop, but even the small mission requests were beginning to grow more and more in numbers.

He wanted so much to take this specific matter into his own hands with the history he and the Black Spider Clan shared. But ultimately, he couldn't do it, he couldn't risk getting himself caught up in fighting for peace when his lady love needed him at home.

"I'm sorry, sir. I can't help."

The man's eyes opened in shock. "What!" His voice trembled. "But-But y-you're our final hope."

"I'm sorry I cannot assist you, but I do know a clan that can assist." Ready to recommend the Mugen-Tenshin Clan.

The man's voice still trembled as he spoke. "With all due respect, we are not looking for another clan. We are looking for the ninja of the Dragon Lineage that defeated this clan alone. Are you not him?"

"I am. But at this time, I must decline your request. I am sorry."

This began to anger the old man. "You are not ninja of the Dragon Lineage. You cannot be the same person to have rumored to travel to the underworld and back for the sole purpose of victory and vengeance. You cannot be the same person who made the Black Spider Clan taste the blade of the Dragon Sword. You cannot be the same person to destroy, Bankotsubo, Tengu of Destruction. Are they all lies?"

"Enough!" Ayane interrupted from the background as she dropped the brush and confronted the old man. "You have no idea what he has been through and what I have witnessed of his troubles." Ryu was surprised by Ayane's interruption. "What do you expect out of this man? How many times do you expect him to put his life on the line? Can he not live a life of his own?" She roared. "Sir, if you have any common sense left in that old head of yours, you will turn and leave. I'm sorry about your village, but he cannot help you."

The old man scoffed at Ayane. "Fine." He looked at Ryu, "Just know this Dragon Ninja, " the man sarcastically implied. "My assumptions stand corrected." He pointed at Ayane. "More so, letting a woman fight your battles."

Ryu stood with slight anger in his eyes as he was ready to confront the man on his own, but instead, the man just walked out of the shop in an angry rage.

"What a jerk." Ayane said as she returned to her statue restoration.

But Ryu couldn't blame him, he would do the same if his village was falling helpless to a powerful force. What made the ninja curious was the purpose of the Black Spider Clan? Making the villagers work in caves? What are they searching for?

COMING SOON

Chapter 3 – My Past

MY REVIEWS:

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Dark Angel: Loved the prologue, and it's great to see a continuation to the original story. this was a good start, I'll admit i'm not a fan of Aileen. not in the original post that were made in the doa rpg, nor here. but i think i'm biased because i think Ryu and Rachel should be together :P oh well, it's good non-the-less, cant wait to see how the story builds up.

Glad you liked the prologue, sorry you're not a big fan of Aileen. Personally, I thought Ayane would be the one hooking up with Ryu, before I learned about Aileen. But it was one day when I read the DOA 1 Bio on Ryu that crushed my dreams as well. And I did take into consideration of Rachael becoming jealous of Aileen when Ryu is brought back home. But then that meant I would have to write another 3-4 chapters just to solve their differences. Oh well, I do promise that as the story progresses you'll come to like her more and more.

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Nanase: I really love the direction that this story is going in. I've read your other work and have to say that you have a lot of great talent when it comes to writing. I look forward to updates and new stories!

Thanks for the compliments, It's really appreciated. I'm glad you like my work. Hopefully, you'll keep reading my work when I start putting out new material very soon, so keep and eye out for Scrooge. In the meantime, please continue to read my current work and I sincerely hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters.

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James Hanson: Greetings.

I like the background to this story. It's always nice when someone uses an original idea rather than reusing something from the original story. Although taking things in different directions is also nice too.

Little disappointed that this won't be Ayane/Ryu, but no reason not to read this fic.

On another note, while I have'nt played Ninja Gaiden, both the X-box and original Nintendo versions, I do know somone who has and will impart some information. Accoriding to my friend, Aileen dies in the 2nd of the three original Ninja Gaiden games which supposedly can be unlocked in the X-box game. I'll try to contact my friend as soon as I can to confirem this. Trust me, I'm not trying to be mean here, although I do find it strange that Aileen is never pictured in the guide book. Do we actually get to see her in the game?

And Ryu vs. Murain rocked. Hope to see more.

James, first off thanks for the review, but, unfortunately, I think you are wrong when you stated Aileen died in the 2nd of the three Ninja Gaiden games. The person you are thinking about is Irene who died in the 3rd series of the Ninja Gaiden NES series. Sadfully, I can't post links, but I did some reasearch to prove you are speaking of Irene and not Aileen. And the description states: "Irene has been killed... by RYU HAYABUSA! It's up to Ryu Hayabusa to clear his name and take revenge upon the real killer." Also, I have played through the entire original Ninja Gaiden series on the XBox and do not remember meeting anyone by the name of Aileen. Plus, it wouldn't make sense for Itagaki to introduce Aileen in DOA1 years after the release of the NES/SNES versions of Ninja Gaiden. But, by all means, please prove me wrong. If your friend can provide a RELIABLE source of information that states a woman named Aileen died in the 2nd series of the original Ninja Gaiden series, then I will stand corrected, post the info, and give credit where it is due to. I may not be able to take Aileen out of this story, but I will make certain that I make the announcement. Sorry, but I can't simple go by the "My friend said this" deal. Hope you understand.

I truly understand. I know you aren't being mean or weren't trying to be mean, but simply helping me to some insight of the story. And don't forget, Ayane will play an active role in this story as well as have a significant part in the storyline, she will be in almost EVERY chapter. Only thing that's different than most stories, I am not putting her and Ryu together in a romance like most stories.

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thunderxtw: Ah, good stuff this story is. Nice to see you putting in a character I never even knew existed, but thats because I never played DOA1 to even look into Ryu's bio.

Anyway, this looks to have poential, expecially since it takes place after the hard fought battle with Murai. I'll be waiting for the next chapter.

Later.

Thanks a bunch, I'm taking the risk of introducing a new character from the DOA storyline, even if she wasn't truly boasted on, in hopes that she will be accepted. It may take people awhile, but as the story progress, I hope the people will get to learn about her more as the romantic to Ryu Hayabusa.

Well enough about Aileen, after finishing almost 15 chapters to this story, I also see the potential out of this story. There's still a lot to be written, but I can say, I am hooked on this story as well as "Amnesia". Both of these stories are very dramatic in their own way, and I do hope my readers see that same potential out of both of these stories. Thanks a lot for the review.