Chapter 78

As they marched their way down to the bottom of the mountain in silence, Kline suddenly came to a stop, turning his head almost like an inquisitive dog. Shuzo continued to walk briefly so that he could stand beside Kline. He leant across slightly, chin slightly above the man's shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Someone is coming," replied Kline. "I heard them just now."

"An enemy?" asked Takino from behind the duo.

"How am I meant to be able to tell that?" asked Kline. Shuzo and Takino turned their heads almost in unison as a crack caught their attention from the right side. At first a shadow appeared, and then it began to take a more solid form until a man stood before them at the edge of the wild.

"You can put those weapons away now," said the man, Shuzo sliding a blade back into its sheath. The group stood and watched as Kagesaki fully emerged in front of them, no longer possessing two full arms. Takino did not seem shocked to see him.

"What happened to you?" asked a surprised Shuzo. Kline said nothing, but appeared unfazed.

"I had to run a little errand," replied Kagesaki as he walked beyond Kline and Shuzo and stopped in front of Takino. Takino was silent for a moment, apparently deep in thought as he looked down at the stump of an arm. Finally after a few more seconds his closed his eyes and then faced Kagesaki directly.

"So you managed to obtain it?" asked Takino.

Kagesaki nodded and held up his remaining hand, showing off the scarred marks etched into the skin of his palm. Takino was silent once more momentarily, before allowing a brief smile to pass across his face.

"Very good, very good," said Takino. "This gift…this weapon will be a most useful addition to our cause. And my apologies for your arm, I had thought that particular part of the ritual had been abandoned."

"Nope, it hadn't," replied Kagesaki. He grimaced briefly as he caught sight of the ragged blood stained sleeve that terminated early. An arm cut from him, most of his face left scarred by fire. To say it had been a bad year or two was a slight understatement for him.

"So Kagesaki now possesses the seal?" asked Kline. "Had I known you were looking to obtain it, I would have offered my services, to prevent such violence happening to another of our group."

"Please Kline, you are perfectly strong enough as it is," replied Takino. "Though you haven't been able to show it for a while now, my memory still works- I know full well what you can do."

Kline said nothing in reply, but a faint smile appeared on Shuzo's scarred face.

"And my dear Kagesaki," said Takino returning back to the new arrival. "I have a little gift waiting for you. It will never be a full replacement, but I like to think it would help."

"Replacement? I thought you said that you thought that part of the ritual-thing wasn't used anymore?" replied Kagesaki.

"Well like with many things in life I wasn't one hundred percent certain, so I had to come up with a contingency plan," said Takino. "And I have a feeling you'll like this gift Kagesaki."

"Well I've yet to ever turn down a present…"

"Come on, this way," said Chidori leading the way. She had just about been able to lead Sakaki and Kaorin out of the mountain based lair without them looking down at the remains scattered across the floor. She was certain she'd almost looked crazy at one point when she practically screamed at Sakaki not to look down at the floor.

"So what now?" asked Kaorin. She was still slightly lost, confused about what to do. Something bad had almost happened to Sakaki- or possibly had happened without Sakaki remembering. And Tomo was missing with no one entirely sure where she had gone or what had happened to her. Or even who was with her.

"Well I guess the first thing to do is find that other person you were with," replied Chidori. "The pretty girl with the eyebrows," said Chidori with a faint grin.

Kaorin found herself looking down at the floor briefly. Now that Chidori had mentioned it, she did have to admit that Fuka was quite a cute girl, and friendly too. She just about managed to stop herself shaking her head- no, no I have to keep those feelings for Sakaki only. I can't think of anyone else like that!

"What's the matter?" asked Chidori in a low tone, walking beside Kaorin. "There's no problem with having a crush on more then one person," she added with a faint wink. Kaorin blushed furiously, Sakaki not noticing their brief conversation.

Chidori turned away momentarily. She wondered if it was really right for her to try and carry on like this after Kasumi's death. She was just about keeping a positive (for her) outlook, and had found a surprising amount of fun in teasing Kaorin. But she didn't know if she was paying enough respect to her loss- she didn't know if she should be teasing others while her companion lay under rocks.

She glanced at the passing wall for a brief second. There was nothing she could do now. All she could do for Kasumi now is take revenge against the man who had killed her. And she did know that Kasumi had always hoped for her to find more friends.

"So do you know anything?" asked Sakaki, interrupting Chidori's thoughts.

"Huh? Whadya mean?" asked Chidori, slightly confused and not aware of what the girl had just said.

"Do you know anything about what they might be doing?" asked Sakaki.

"Well they never really mentioned too much to me," replied Chidori. "They never seemed to think much of me…all I really know is just one word that I've heard quite a few times. Sora…I've heard that quite a lot."

"What is Sora?" asked Kaorin.

"I…er don't know," replied Chidori with a shrug.

"I see…" said Sakaki quietly. Kaorin's attention wasn't focused on either girl.

"Look- down there," said Kaorin suddenly pointing. "It's Fuka down there."

The girls turned to watch their fellow ninja stumbling her way through the wilderness below them.

"Hey Fuka!" called out Kaorin.

Chidori shot her a look. "How can you be certain that it's her? It might be one of the others disguised as her. It is a pretty basic trick you know."

"I think those people are gone now," said Sakaki.

"And I'm sure it's her," said Kaorin as Fuka waved back towards the group. She slowly made her way forwards.

"It's you!" she said pointing towards Chidori as she came into Fuka's view. She backed away slightly, arching as though preparing for a fight.

"Yo," said Chidori waving one hand lazily.