Next day,

Atsuko was sitting on the couch as their family surrounded her, looking at the newest member. Tadashi, Yuuta's little brother raised a brow at the baby, tilting his head slightly. Sho had long black hair he wore in a high ponytail and green eyes. He wore a brown kimono. He scoffed. "You're going to give the clan to him? He looks like a potato."

Atsuko whacked him on the head. "Watch what you say about my son!"

"I have not decided yet, it all depends if he has what it takes." Yuuta said.

Tadashi rolled his eyes as an old woman stepped forward. Hamato Yumi, Yuuta's mother. She had gray hair she wore in a top bun and green eyes. She wore a black kimono. She leaned down to get a closer look at Yoshi with no expression on her face.

Yuuta looked at her worriedly. "What do you think mother?" Yumi didn't answer, she just continued to stare at Yoshi who was staring back. She suddenly began to shake a rattle in his face and his eyes followed it curiously for a moment before he smiled and tried to hit it. Yumi grinned at the reaction. "I can tell that he is going to grow into a strong man, your father would be proud."

Both parents smiled while Tadashi just huffed. "How does that prove that he is strong?" Atsuko glared at him before smiling down at Yoshi. "Ignore him Yoshi-san, he's just jealous that he can't find a wife who is willing to marry him and bear his children."

Tadashi growled. "Damn you, woman! You are going to-!" Yumi hit her son on the head, stopping his empty threats before Atsuko could. "Tadashi! That is no way to speak to a woman who just gave birth, apologize!"

"Yes, Tadashi, apologize." Atsuko taunted and Tadashi grained his teeth, but he wouldn't dare to disobey his mother. "I'm...sorry."

"For?" Atsuko trailed off and Tadashi glared at her. "For yelling at you and for being mean to your son." Atsuko nodded in approval. "I accept your apology, Tadashi."

Tadashi counties to glare as he went off into the next room while Yuuta sat next to his wife. "Must you always tease him?" Atsuko huffed. "He started it." Yuuta shook his head then smiled down at Yoshi who was babbling on and on. Atsuko chuckled. "He has a lot to say today. I wonder if he's hungry? I fed him earlier, but this boy has a huge appetite, he has a pit for a stomach!"

Yuuta chuckled. "Well, a growing boy must eat."

...

Months later,

"Yuuta! Come quick!" Yuuta immediately dashed out of the dojo down the hall and slammed open his bedroom door. "What?! What happened?! Is he ok?!" Atsuko turned around, holding up her 9-month-old son. "Yoshi said his first words!" Yuuta's eyes sparkled. "He did?"

Atsuko nodded and looked at Yoshi. "Come on, sweetie. Say it again." They waited for a moment, but Yoshi didn't say anything, he just played with his mother's necklace and made funny faces. "Come on, Yoshi-san. Say it."

Still nothing. Yuuta frowned and Atsuko looked at him sadly. "Sorry, Yuuta. I guess he is just being stubborn, he will say it eventually." Yuuta sighed. "I missed his first steps, and now I missed his first words."

"It's not your fault, Yuuta. There is a war coming, you must prepare the clan for the fight against the Foot clan." Yuuta nodded in agreement, but he couldn't help but feel pain in his heart. "You do know, I am going away too. By the time I come back, Yoshi will be 2 or 3 years old, maybe even older and...there is always the chance...I might never come back."

"No!" Atsuko said firmly before setting Yoshi down and grabbing her husband's face, giving him a stern glare. "You will make it back, you hear me?! You are not allowed to die! Promise me, Yuuta!" Atsuko tried to hold back the tears, trying to remain strong and stern but Yuuta could see that she was about to break.

Atsuko lost so many people in her life, her mother, her father, her sisters, her brothers, and even her friends. Yuuta can't let her go through that pain again but could he keep his promise? It seems out of his hands, in war, anything could happen but...he must try, for her...and for Yoshi.

Yuuta grabbed his wife's hands, holding them gently. "...I promise."

...

Couple years later,

My dearest Atsuko,

I got your letters, all of them, I read them everyday. I hope you and Yoshi are doing well. I miss you two so much, this war seems never ending. Oroku Keiji was more prepared then I thought he would be and his allies are strong. We lost many of our clan, I don't know how long we can keep this up.

Atsuko, my love...I just don't know if I can keep my promise. The more days that pass, the more and more I start to lose hope. I will fight for you until my last breath and do my best to make it back to you but if I fail to keep my promise, I hope you will forgive me.

I love you more than this whole world. You are an amazing woman and you only deserve the best in the world. If I don't make it back, I want you to find someone else, find a man who can make you happy, who can give you the life you deserve, and who can be a good father to Yoshi.

Yoshi, my dearest son, though I haven't seen you in two years and I'm sure that you don't remember me, I just wanted you to know, I love you more than anything. I hope you grow into a strong man, like your grandmother says you will and I hope that you live a life of nothing but happiness. Take care of your mother, she will need you when I'm gone.

Take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble, the two of you.

Love, Papa.

"Master!" A voice called and Yuuta looked over his shoulder to see one of his shoulders. "The men are ready to head out!" Yuuta nodded and handed the soldier the letter. "Send this letter, will you?"

"Of course, Master." The soldier then left and Yuuta sighed. "Gods, give me strength."

...

"AHH!" Yuuta screamed in agony as he tried his hardest to push the beam off his leg. Fire was surrounding him and he coughed at the thick smoke. An evil laugh could be heard behind him and he looked to see Oroku Keiji in all his bladed armor glory. "Did you really think you could take me down, Hamato?! You are weak and now...you'll die."

This was it, this is how he was going to die by his mortal enemy. ''It seems the war will continue to live on...Atsuko I'm sorry, please forgive me and Yoshi I'm sorry I couldn't make the world safer for you.'

Yuuta closed his eyes, waiting for his fate when suddenly-

"No!"

Yuuta's eyes snapped open and he gasped when he heard his wife's firm voice yelling in his ear. "You are not allowed to die! Promise me, Yuuta!" Yuuta's eyes widened and narrowed before he gritted his teeth, trying to pull his leg out again, his wife's determination filling his heart. "I-I promise." Keiji paused, looking at him confused. Yuuta didn't stop, no matter how much it hurt, he kept pushing until finally, it was off.

Keiji scoffed a laugh. "You still think you can win? You may have gotten the beam off but your leg is still shattered! You plan on taking me out with only one leg?" Yuuta struggled on his feet, using his sword as a makeshift cane before glaring at him. "Yes! I made a promise to my wife...that I will make it back to my family alive and I will do everything I can to keep it!"

Keiji narrowed his eyes. "It seems you and I are on the same boat. You see, I too, made a promise to my wife that I would kill you and return your head at her feet. I don't plan to fail her." Yuuta lifted up his sword. "Then let's end this...once and for all."

Keiji nodded and stood in a fighting stance as did Yuuta. The two glared at each other before attacking. They fought hard, Yuuta struggling because of his broken leg and Keiji wasn't making it any easier, with his ruthless strikes. They continued to fight when suddenly, a huge explosion could be heard and before Yuuta even knew what was happening, the building started to collapse.

Keiji and him both fell. Yuuta hit his head hard on the ground, making his vision blurry. Even though he was in a lot of pain, he grunted and struggled back on his feet again. Once his vision started getting better, he looked around. He was taken aback when he saw Oroku Keiji with a sharp metal bar through his shoulder and his helmet knocked off, showing his face.

Oroku Keiji had shoulder length brown hair, gray eyes and he had a ugly scar going from the top of his head to his lip. Yuuta picked up his sword and limped towards him as Keiji gasped in pain. "This ends, Oroku Keiji."

Yuuta lifted up his sword, but Keiji held up his hand. "W-Wait!" Yuuta paused for a moment, but he made sure to not drop his guard. "My wife and son...spare them."

Yuuta raised a brow; he knew Keiji had a child, but he didn't know he had a boy. "You have a son?" Keiji nodded. "Yes. " Yuuta couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for his enemy. This man may have committed many sins, sins that will never be forgiven but he can tell that he truly wants his son to live.

Keiji looked at him pleadingly, a look he never thought he would see on his face. "They're everything to me, Hamato, please spare them. My son is my pride, he deserves life, he has committed no sins like I have."

Yuuta sighed. "I will spare your son because he is just a child, but I can not promise anything for your wife. She has committed as many sins as you have." Keiji nodded. "Very well then." He then chuckled bitterly. "Looks like you won, Hamato, the Hamato clan lives to see another day but that won't last forever...now just kill me and get it done with."

Yuuta frowned and got ready to strike down his sword. "Goodbye, Oroku Keiji." He said before slicing his neck, killing the leader of the Foot clan and ending the war that has been going on for centuries.

Yuuta looked sadly at the dead man before picking up the Kuro Kabuto, the crown of the Foot clan. "Oroku Keiji, I wonder who you would have been if you weren't born in a place like this."

"Keiji!" A female voice called, and Yuuta looked to see Keiji's wife, Oroku Miyoko coming out of the fire with a boy in her arms. She had black hair that she wore in an elegant bun and black eyes. She wore a gray kimono that was soaking with more and more of her blood by the second.

When she saw Yuuta and her dead husband, she gasped in shock before she quickly turned to fury. She set her son down and ran to her husband. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" She yelled and Yuuta didn't stop her when she kneeled down in front of her dead husband, crying in his chest.

"...I'm sorry...but he left me no choice." Yuuta said, the last thing he ever wants to do is to take someone's life but sometimes, he has no choice in the matter, and this was one of those times. Keiji would have just kept killing and attacking his clan plus innocent people. He had to put a stop to it.

Miyoko seethed and turned to him with cold eyes. "You dare say that you bastard!!!" She pulled a knife out of her sleeve, trying to stab Yuuta but he caught her wrist and forced her to her knees. Thanks to her blood loss which was now soaking the ground, she wasn't fast enough nor strong enough to pull away.

"You really want to kill me in front of your son?" Miyoko glanced at her two-year-old son and dropped the knife. "He will learn eventually, we all do." She said bitterly before glaring at him again. "I am not going to be able to stay in this world much longer and thanks to you, my son will have no one to look after him!"

Miyoko fell to the ground, her strength leaving her, but she still tried to fight. Yuuta knelt down to her. "I will look after your son; I promised your husband before he died that I would spare him and not hurt him. You can let go, Miyoko, your son will be safe, you have my word."

Miyoko glared at him, but she saw no lie behind his eyes so as much as she hated to, she trusted him. She glanced at her son and reached out her hand as he just sat there confused. "Saki-san, grow strong, destroy your enemies and make your clan and your family proud."

Those were Miyoko's last words before she took her last breath. Yuuta sighed and stood up before he slowly made his way to the boy who had a blank look on his face. He had his father's brown hair and his mother's black eyes. Yuuta knelt down and offered him a kind smile. "You'll be safe now." Yuuta promised before picking him up and heading back towards the camp. 'Atsuko...I kept my promise...I'm coming home.'