TheDarkestShinobi: well I don't know what to say after so long. The book never came out, life got in the way, so the chapters were never written. I've been talking with ADarkShinobi and she practically begged me for another chapter, then I got a review for one. And then I got half the day off of work. It seemed like even God wanted me to write the new chapter, so I did.

This story is a story I make no promises to finish. I would like to since I have it outlined. I'm a little more than 1/3 done but again no promise.

Also you can now add pictures as story covers, feel free so send me ideas! Any artsy people out there?

Chapter start

When Ayane had woken up the next day she had felt like a fire was burning in her stomach and brought her hands to it. It was hot against her hand. Was she bleeding? Would she drown in her own blood now? She grunted and felt another, much cooler hand touch her exposed stomach and she opened her eyes to see Yuki right over her looking at her with concern.

"Ayane sama" she ushered out gently. "How do you feel?"

"It hurts… burns" she whispered out looking away. She didn't want to admit that she was in pain and if the injuries were not life threatening she would never admit that it hurt but as it was the pain could be dangerous and she had to swallow her pride rather than risk her life.

"You have a fever." Yuki finally said removing her cool hands from Ayane's burning skin. "It could be from an infection."

Ayane said nothing cursing her carelessness from before and her body's weakness as Yuki stood and walked towards the tree line she assumed Hayate was behind. She pushed against the floor and sat up feeling a slight pain. Ayane let out a hiss of pain while sitting up fully. She panted from the effort and strained her eyes to see the two figures behind the trees but she could not see them. She moved her legs and wondered if she could stand in her condition.

"Ayane." She heard Ryu's voice behind her and she turned her head bitterly noting it was the only thing she could move without pain. She saw him walking slowly towards her, a gentle smile on his face. Ayane was stunned, Ryu was smiling? She looked up to him as he knelt in front of her.

"Don't push it, I can't lose you too." Ryu said so lowly that she doubted that anyone else would have heard it, even if they had been spying on them. She nodded slowly not sure what she was agreeing to and faced ahead to see Sereo walking towards them.

"How are you?" Ayane tried to stand but a hand on her shoulder from Ryu stopped her. She finally gave up and simply sat there before looking to Sereo.

"Thirsty." She finally said and a small 'thank you' after he handed her a canteen filled with water. She took small sips, partially because she could feel the water cooling her insides and spreading, and because it hurt to swallow so much as once.

"Let me take her to the stream, bathe her and see if I can cool the fever, then we'll head straight back." Ayane looked up at the two that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. She didn't think she could make it to the stream. She could barely stand. She watched as Hayate looked at her sympathetically before looking to Yuki and crossing his arms.

"Yuki, it is too risky, if they find you or outnumber and attack us-"

"Please Hayate sama, she won't survive if I can't cool this fever." Yuki cut him off and his eyes widened slightly at her words. Ayane… dying? Even though he had been ready a couple of days ago for that to be the case it still seemed foreign to him. He watched Ryu's face somber and Sereo's remained unchanged. It seemed that Sereo was the best here to make the decision regarding this; he was, above all, impartial.

"Sereo," Hayate started, "Ryu and I are compromised here. What do you think should be done?"

Sereo looked towards Ayane and back towards Hayate. What should they do? Ayane was, to be honest, useless to them in combat. She would not recover to fight in this battle and if anything could only teach in the village. But Hayate and Ryu held affection for her and her death could potentially hinder their performance, and in that case she did become useful to them. If, by any chance they were about to perish he had no doubt Kasumi would come to their aid. Therefore it was best to let Yuki take her to the stream.

"Let them go." Hayate seemed relieved and nodded towards Yuki who smiled and turned towards Ayane who had a cold look on her face.

She won't survive.

Ayane receded into her own thoughts at these words. The way Yuki said it made it sound like it was inevitable, like she was going to die anyway. She couldn't let it be over like this. It was different when she was knocked out from blood loss from her wound, but now that she could fight back the cold hand of Death she wouldn't let it win. When Death took her it would be of her own will, not because of her enemy.

She heard them talking but paid little attention, they were deciding her fate and she'd rather hear the verdict then what each individual had to say. What would she say if the positions were switched? She wouldn't care if Sereo or Yuki died, but she would do all she could to help Ryu and she would give her life for Hayate. Ayane looked up as Ryu started to lift her up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he turned his head to Hayate but Yuki was the one who spoke first.

"Hayabusa sama, I can take her myself." He nodded.

"Here." He handed Ayane to Yuki as if she were a fragile doll that could break at any second. Yuki started to walk towards the stream and the three men left behind scattered to see if they could find any trace of the Yamason and where they were headed.

"Put your arms around me." Yuki said to Ayane as she walked a little faster. "I wouldn't want you to fall."

Ayane hesitantly wrapped her arms around Yuki's neck and leaned her head against the other's shoulders. Yuki felt so cool to her, was she that hot? Had the fever already strengthened that much? If Yuki was going to run then she needed to be as close to her as possible so she could be as secure as possible. Yuki held her close knowing she couldn't let her fall and risk injuring her or reopening the wounds, outside or inside. She held the girl gently and closed her eyes before taking off.

She felt Ayane's warm arms tighten around her and wanted to reassure the girl but instead she just sped up. This needed to be over and done with so they could get back to the others and safety. She knew the girl in her arms was wary but she also knew that she was hardheaded and would never admit it and an argument could ensue from her saying anything and that could give away their position and make them targets, and the way they were made them very easy targets.

Ayane tried to keep her eyes open. She couldn't rely on Yuki completely, but wasn't she already in her hands, figuratively and literally? She felt the cool breeze and relaxed into it. Surely they didn't have too much farther to go now, a little extra sleep couldn't hurt and maybe the pain in her side could finally subside.

…

Sereo jumped back and a kunai embedded itself in the ground where his feet were. He would have been instantly alert and have called the others but there was a black ribbon tied to the back of the kunai. It was Kasumi then who threw it, he turned scanning the tree line to try and find the kunoichi.

"Had I been an enemy you would have been dead." She said from behind him and he turned to face her. She smiled though it remained hidden behind the black wrap covering her face.

"Did you find him?" she shook her head and looked up towards the clouds above.

"I have a bad feeling about today." She looked back down at him. "I did not find the Yamason camps and I came from the direction you are heading. How far are you going out?" Sereo nodded and started walking in the opposite direction. After picking up her kunai and pulling the wrap off to allow herself to cool a bit she followed.

"No more than a half-hour's travel." She nodded and fell into step besides him.

"Sereo… about the Shogun…"

"You'll understand soon." He said with a tone of finality, and she looked away from him but left it at that. He wished he could answer the questions she had but the truth was he didn't know all the answers either. He knew she would understand it soon, the filling of the moon was coming up and Kalona had already started to seek her out. Hopefully he'd understand it too.

"How is Ayane?" She asked hesitantly not sure if she really wanted to know the answer. Sereo looked away this time and she felt something squeeze her heart. Please be alive, please were her thoughts. Sereo looked back to her and nodded.

"She's fine… for now." Kasumi smiled and looked up feeling slightly more relaxed then she did before.

"Then everything is well."

…

Haruka stopped seeing Hayate below her running through the forest. She crouched against the branch as he continued and in a few seconds he was gone. She turned into the direction he was running from and sprinted towards it. She would get Yaten and Gobei to help her and this one would surely fall, if she was lucky they could catch Hayabusa san as well.

She paused in her thoughts. Lucky? She had never wanted Hayabusa san dead, Ryu kun could never fall in her eyes, he was that amazing. She had to kill him in order for her village to be victorious as she doubted he would ever give up. She knew if he had the chance he would kill her but he didn't feel for her the way she couldn't stop herself from feeling about him. She had let out a whistling sound and stopped, her team would find her now. Then the fighting would begin.

Her team had joined her in less than a minute and she explained to them the situation. They were looking for them. They would be back at the camp soon, which should be in the area. When they seemed to be settled and when the numbers were in their favor they would strike. They would kill Hayate and avenge Kippei, and then they would kill Ryu and Sereo and Yuki and claim victory once again. They patiently waited in the trees for their strike and according to plan the leader of the Mugen Tenshin appeared in the field below. He was joined shortly after by Ryu. Haruka paused seeing him and knew ordering an attack would be ordering his death. She also knew that they couldn't let this opportunity pass. This was war. She stilled her heart and raised her hand. In that instant her followers lunged at the two below them.

She had just killed the man she had cared for more than any other. She supposed it wasn't entirely all her fault. It was the Shogun's fault for making them fight for nothing. Now she would never be able to gain what she had lost when the Hayabusa village was brutally murdered. After a pause seeing her ninja ready to attack the two she jumped off the branch. She was their leader and that was more important than any little feelings she could possibly have in her heart.

…

Yuki kneeled and set the sleeping Ayane on the ground besides the stream. She took off her clothes before beginning to remove Ayane's. Ayane awoke and made a startled motion that may have been threatening if she didn't hiss and kneel over in pain immediately after. Yuki was still by her side though and Ayane calmed seeing who it was but she grabbed the skin on her side trying to calm herself and somehow lessen the pain.

Yuki let Ayane grab her hand and squeeze it. She didn't know how much it hurt her but she could tell that it was a lot seeing the way the girl held her hand. Could she have reopened the wound? Yuki slowly felt the pressure on her hands release and Ayane stood to undress herself. Yuki wanted to interject since it would stretch the wound but she hardly thought she knew the girl well enough to undress her when she could do it herself.

Ayane had placed her clothes next to Yuki's and stepped into the slightly flowing water. She shivered at the coolness of it and felt Yuki watching her. She wanted to kneel so the water would come higher than her stomach but it was too cold. She lifted her head to see Yuki staring at her.

"I'm fine you know."

"I did such a poor job with it." Yuki said softly as she reached out and touched the wound. Ayane quickly pulled back and kneeled in the water not wanting to be evaluated anymore. She wanted to forget that it happened. She wanted to forget that she was injured and useless.

Yuki frowned as she seen the wound. It looked so ugly, especially against the pale smooth skin that a flawless kunoichi was known for. If she hadn't been in such a panic or rush then the scars against her skin would have turned out much better. She also wondered how bad it still was. Would Ayane die here with her, would she die back at camp, perhaps in Hayate's arms, or maybe Ryu's?

Ayane sunk into the water that felt too cool against her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Why was the water so cold? It wasn't cold last time she was in here. Was her fever that bad or was the morning cooler today? Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she tried to convince herself that it wasn't cold. It wasn't cold. She then felt a cool hand against her forehead and opened her eyes to see Yuki frowning.

"We have to cool you down."

Yuki made her get out of the water and put her clothes on once she was clean. She then took handfuls of water and ran it down her forehead and her arms. She knew it was a bad idea to let the girl take a bath when her fever was that high but she couldn't risk the infection that an unclean wound would have. She didn't know for sure if the burned wound had completely closed and that was the only way she could be sure that it was clean. The infection of course could kill her faster and more painfully then the fever could and a fever was easier to treat.

Ayane's skin seemed to burn and as Yuki feared emerging in the cold water had only raised it. She poured water on her arms and cooled her body with her wet hands until the fever had gone down. Yuki's hands had become cold because of the water and she crossed her arms placing them between her chest and arms to warm them.

…

Ryu had not seen them in the tree lines, or even suspected that they had been spied on but at the very second he saw the shadows of the Yamason ninjas he was ready to attack. Hayate had seen them perhaps a split second before him and had rolled away just in time to avoid a strike from Yaten. Ryu had blocked Gobei's fist and had kicked him in the chest making him stagger back.

Haruka drew her weapon quickly determining that she would kill Hayate and let the others kill Ryu, her hands did not need to be that tainted with the blood of the man who was supposed to be her husband. She had brought her sword down on the unsuspecting man and her eyes widened in shock when her sword was blocked by his. He hadn't even had his sword out before she began her strike. He was fast. He was very fast. She moved her own sword to the left to block his strike and stepped back at the force. Clearly she had underestimated him.

"Sereo!" Hayate yelled out his name as he tried to dodge another blow. He knew that they would not make it if he didn't show. He felt the impact of the fist against him and was slightly winded. This is why he didn't want to split up he thought as he fell to the ground. He shifted and barely dodged a strike before getting up. His glance shifted to Ryu who also had his hands full. He hoped Sereo would make it in time, otherwise they were done for.

And more importantly, the Mugen Tenshin would fall.

…

Yuki wanted to carry Ayane back to camp for the simple reason that it would be easier and faster for them to get back than if she walked. Ayane, however, refused to be carried since she could walk on her own. They walked at a slow pace back to camp and Yuki wondered if Hayate sama would be mad at her for taking so long. She turned to Ayane again.

"Please just let me carry you." Ayane shook her head, "but I told Hayate sama that I'd be as quick as possible."

"It's fine." Ayane said lowly as she speed up slightly as if to prove she was fine. "I don't need to be helped."

Yuki then looked ahead of them; it was another fifteen minutes if they walked so they should be alright. She then heard Hayate's yell. He was calling for Sereo, meaning they were in trouble. She turned around to face Ayane but walked backwards to keep going in the same direction. Her eyes narrowed and her hands checked to make sure her pouches were still full.

"Ayane, hide. I will come back for you." Before Ayane could protest Yuki turned around again and began to run towards the fight hoping she would be in time to help them. Hopefully she would be able to help them end this war today. She ran even faster and could feel the slight burn building up in her lungs. It didn't matter, at this quick pace she should be there in a few minutes time.

Would the battle even last that long?

…

Sereo had wanted to take his time. He would make it back later than the others but he knew that they would not find the Yamason now. At Kasumi's request they started moving faster. She said she felt something was off a short while after they had started to walk but he had not felt anything.

He let his thoughts wander to the kunoichi besides him and what she would be doing soon. She had to kill the Shogun, of that Sereo was sure. As for why, he could only guess that it had something to do with this war but he could not tell why this one was so special. Other Shoguns had called pointless wars before, just to keep the villages in check, the best warriors in the grave and keep their honor by proving their control. He also did not know how she could do it. He had investigated and found a lot of information for her, but he had no idea about his life. Was he ever unguarded? It wouldn't be easy to kill him, but was it feasible? Did Kalona know all of the details?

Sereo paused hearing nature call his name. The trees' leaves swayed as the wind carried his name and the birds flew by. Hayate was calling him. Hayate needed him. He would have asked Kasumi if he was called because they were in trouble but she had already started to sprint towards them. His feet had soon begun to move on their own and the forest started to zoom behind him. He silently moved through the forest as his toes pushed off the soft dirt beneath him.

Kasumi heard Sereo's name being called and had taken off as if it were her own name her brother called out in desperation. He was in trouble. She had been on missions with him before where he had chosen to fight on his own rather than call for her help. For him to call out Sereo's name he must really be unsure about the outcome of the battle.

She had no clue where he was and she could only run in the direction his voice came from. She would make it. She had to. She wouldn't allow her brother to die. She picked up her speed even further and could feel her body start to warn her. She pushed through the slight burn in her thighs and was relieved to hear the sounds of fighting ahead.

Sereo had been besides Kasumi the entire time but could not help but secretly admire her speed. There was a certain pace every ninja was trained to keep but naturally male ninja could run faster than their female counterparts. She, however, kept up with him as if his pace were her own.

…

It was four to two. Ryu and Hayate were now back to back, both had their swords drawn and eyed their opponents carefully. Ryu's bare forearm was covered in dirt and drying blood where he had been sliced by a sword. The cut stung but thankfully was not deep enough to cause any concern. Hayate remained untouched and they waited for the Yamason ninja to attack.

It was a strike that should have been easy to block, but Hayate's arm had not moved fast enough.

The sword stopped an inch from his face as a result of Ryu's own sword being in the way. Ryu felt himself being knocked down from a swift strike to the back of his neck and he rolled away from another strike.

Both Hayate and Ryu had noticed how bad their position was a second too late. Hayate felt something in his chin crack as he was kicked by Haruka and Ryu got kicked in the side of the face by Gobei. Kenji and Yaten rushed forward towards the two Morimusa ninja. Hayate fell to him knees grabbing his chin and Ryu felt dizzy from the impact and almost fell to the ground.

Yuki had seen them being overwhelmed but was too far away to help. She pushed herself and ran faster but the two would have Ryu's head before she reached them. It seemed to be in slow motion for her. She wanted to scream. Let them attack her! Ryu and Hayate were too strong, too important to die.

The look in their eyes was pure pleasure. They would slay the two strongest of the Morimusa now, they would then claim victory for their village as the other two would not be able to stand up to them. Their swords inched closer and closer, but suddenly they were blinded by a bright light.

Kasumi stopped running once she was able to see the six fighting. Her eyes widened as she seen both Ryu and Hayate in those positions. They stood no chance. They were going to die. She brought her hands to her chest and bent her knees slightly as she spun. In a tiny flash of light she was gone.

Sereo didn't know what to think when he saw that Ryu and Hayate were both about to be fatally stuck. He was useless to them since he was this far away. He glanced to Kasumi to see her reaction. He saw only a flash.

…

The Yamason ninjas froze in shock feeling her cold grip on their wrists. Their swords stopped their assault as she held them in place. Kasumi stood in front of Hayate and Ryu, her hands grabbing Kenji's and Yaten's wrist. The grip was tight enough to cause the two ninja to freeze in place but no harm to come to them. She raised her head slightly so it was no longer towards the floor but at their faces. The expression on her face was stern and intimidating with red cheeks and narrowed eyes and strands of her hair sticking to her face.

…

Ryu had pushed himself up with one arm and the other had grabbed the sword he dropped in the hopes that he could move impossibly fast and not perish. He saw a flash that must have come from a sword and lifted his own turning. He looked up to see the two ninja being held by a girl in an all-black garb. That's not what stopped him. It wasn't Yuki or Ayane, if it was he would have sprung to action instead of freezing in shock. He knew the black clad figure. He knew her very well. Her light brown hair fell over her back. It was her. It had to be. He wasn't imagining anything.

He never had.

Still, something inside him ached. Don't hope again. He had to be absolutely sure. The name ripped from his throat.

"Kasumi!"