By EliadS

** Shadowy chamber, somewhere in Tokyo **

Ibuki is lying unconscious within a small room; her limp frame is resting upon a soft mattress. Her chest rises and descends in a repetitive pace, her facade calm and peaceful, yet her skin tone is slightly paler than usual, the toll of the blood loss obviously not gone.

The room is small and simple; the floor wooden as well as the walls, the door is carved in the style of the ancient Japanese architect. The Kanji of the word Rest carved upon the door. Ibuki stirs slightly and coughs.

A figure is sitting a cross-legged sitting position against the corner of the room; it's back leaned against the wooden surface. It's as if the figure has melted into the shroud of shadows, so perfectly hidden that only one trained could see it. It moves one hand and puts it on Ibuki's forehead gently, brushing some strands of her black hair aside in an affectionate gesture.

This figure's mysterious shroud and stealthy skill can only belong to a ninja, and due to the gentle gesture, one can most definitely conclude it's a fellow Shinobi as well. By the concerned gaze reflected in the Shinobi's brown eyes, one can easily tell it is Geki, Ibuki's Sensei and the most proficient Shinobi master in the clan nowadays.

Ibuki's eyelids flutter and she stirs slowly, moaning softly and slowly opening her eyes. Her eyelids are still heavy and she finds her limbs sore, she gulps and only manages to open her eyes halfway.
"Ge...Geki sensei?" she asks in a quiet and hoarse voice, sensing his familiar aura nearby.

"Hai Ibuki, It is I" He states, moving from the blanket of darkness and into her line of sight.

"What...what am I doing here?" she asks, trying to move, but Geki stops her, putting a hand on her forehead and gently yet firmly pushing her down "Don't move...you need to rest more" He commands softly.

Ibuki doesn't defy her Sensei's command and leans back, now not trying to get up. She looks up at him, her brown eyes curious, yet a glint of fear in them, but not fear for her life, rather fear of disappointment, the mere thought of letting down the man she could only see as her father figure makes her sad and breaks her spirits.

"Ibuki...I have mixed feelings regarding your latest mission..." Geki says, always known to be a man who doesn't beat the bush, a man who speaks his mind and treats the one he talks to as his equal and not inferior.

Ibuki nods slightly, averting her gaze, "I understand..." she whispers.

"On one hand you've performed marvelously, you successfully saved your friends and did a great favor to the people of Japan by taking down Yashira. But..." he says.

"But...?" Ibuki asks, turning to look into his eyes, really wanting to know what she did wrong. She didn't fear criticism, on the contrary, she learns from her mistakes and grows wiser and stronger, even if at times the truth hurts.

"You almost got yourself killed, and you recklessly used a technique I forbade you to use when wounded, you defied my teachings deliberately...am I correct?" he states, his brown eyes locking with hers, his look intense and demanding.

She nods "I...I'm sorry...I didn't have..." she whispers.

"There is always a choice Ibuki, you chose what came to mind, I am very disappointed in you, you know such chi usage which effects the psyche could've easily destroyed your mind if not kill you in such a weakened state. Had I not found you and helped your mind heal itself, " He says, his voice soft, yet firm a very faint layer of worry coating his words.

Ibuki nods "I...I wasn't thinking...All I could feel was my friend's pain Sensei...I didn't want her to be raped..." she says, going silent and sniffing slightly."...I'm sorry I disappointed you, I'll do better next time..." she says, her eyes filling moisture and threatening to shed tears at any moment.

Geki inhales deeply, his eyes turning concerned as he sighs under his breath "I understand your actions and what brought you to do them Ibuki, and I'd do the same in your place. I'm...I...I just don't want anything to happen to you...try to be more careful in the future..." he stammers, surprising Ibuki.

Seldom did she find her Sensei, a man who was like a pillar of confidence and security at lost of words, moreover it surprised her to see him so emotional. She smiles lightly "Thank you Geki-Sensei, it means a lot to me to hear that" she says softly.

He nods "You are my most prized student and a very important to me, you are a talented and special young lady and I'm proud of you and your progress, but please as you continue don't forget that even though we as ninjas must control our emotions. We must not choke them down completely. A Shinobi must never forget his or her humanity, less we become like Shingari and his "Black Dragon" clan were, less we become cold-blooded murderers who kill people for no reason.

She nods lightly "I understand..." she says. Geki then strokes her hair gently, like a father does to a daughter, although she is his niece, not that she knows that fact. Geki had always seen Ibuki as his own child, he had never married and he had taken her under his wing after his brother's death.

"I must go train the white belts, I will send in someone to tend to your wounds" Geki says. Ibuki turns to him, "But...Sensei...I" she starts, but she's too late, he's already gone.

"I hate it when he does that...he never lets me finish what I have to say" She thinks and frowns slightly, before sighing tiredly. Her limbs hurt her, and her shoulder still sends waves of nausea causing pain when she moves.

Soon the door opens and a figure bows, holding a small piece of cloth in one hand and a bottle in it's other.

"Konnichiwa Ibuki-San" He says, his voice neutral with a faint softness in it. The figure steps into view; it is a 6-foot tall young man around the age of 22. He is well built and fits nicely into his black uniform, it well emphasizing his muscular frame, his eyes are a beautiful shade of hazel and beneath his mask his has neck long brown hair.

He is a friend of Ibuki's, probably the closet one she has within the clan. They've known eachother for several years, and are pretty close. He is 3 years older than Ibuki, but treats her respectively and kindly, never had he given her mistreated her for being a woman, or eyed her like a piece of meat.

He was one of the few men Ibuki encountered so far that treated her like a person and not a potential lay, and that fact had made her quite fond of him. He also had not once told her that he was quite fond of her, that she was one of his closest friends as well.

"Konnichiwa Tonomi-San" she replies, " Oh my god! How could he send "him" to help me? I've had a crush on him since I was 14...oh he's so nice, not to mention...oh stop it...not now he's approaching" she thinks, berating herself for her sudden lack of control and thanking the shadows for hiding her faint blush.

He smiles under his mask and approaches and sits next to her, putting down the things he brought "I heard you got roughed up pretty good by them Yakuzas" he muses, scanning her wounds quickly and evaluating the damage, his tone concerned.

Ibuki nods slowly, ashamed that the rumor has seemingly spread. Tonomi leans closer "Hey don't worry Ibuki, Geki told me, nobody else knows, and sides I heard you gave them h*ll" he whispers in her ear. Ibuki smiles at his remark, her eyes seeming to light up as she's within this young man's presence.

She feels her abdomen knot a little and her a little light headed as she looks into his hazel eyes. He helps her into a sitting position gently and lets her lean on him. She smiles at how careful and gentle he is and turns to him.

"Now Ibuki, I'd never want to embarrass you on purpose...but...I can't tend to your wounds...unless...you know...Umm...take off your uniforms top" he says, blushing as he does.

"I...I...well...I guess you...you're right..." she sat his request, gulping as her cheeks flush into a bright shade of red. She chuckles nervously and he backs away to give her some space.

She turns around and unties the belt of her uniform, "Umm...do you mind turning around...It's kinda...well...hard when you're looking..." she says, blushing more, thankful she's not facing him, her heart beating quickly.

He laughs nervously, and nods "Oh...Sorry...I...ok" he stammers and turns around. Ibuki can sense he's nervous too and raises a brow to herself " Is he nervous because of seeing me? Could he also...? Nah, why would someone like him be attracted to someone like me? I'm nobody special, I'm probably just imagining, must be the blood loss..." She thinks and brushes the thought aside, sighing lightly under her breath.

She takes off her uniform's top and puts it aside, now only a sport's bra lying over her upper torso's area. She shivers slightly as her skin is exposed to the coolness of the room. She then puts the piece of clothing aside and looks at herself.

Her whole chest is smeared with blood, her bra stained with blood and sweat, luckily it's black, and not too revealing or she'd die of shame, yet it is clinging to her skin all to closely emphasizing her womanly assets more than it should.

She shivers slightly and feels her cheeks become hot as she blushes, covering herself up by hugging herself with her arms, though grimacing at the pain of moving her shoulder. "You can turn around now" she says, he complies, looking at her back and blushing a little more, though she can't see it.

He hunches closer and she can feel his breath against her skin, the warm air sending tingling sensations through her spine, yet not chilling ones, exactly the opposite these are pleasant and warm ones.

He examines her wound and touches her skin gently. His touch is so gentle and soft it pleasant to Ibuki, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. She inhales a little heavier, her heart beating faster, until he touch her shoulder and she chokes down a cry of pain.

He hmms to himself before taking uncorking the bottle and dampening the cloth, then he puts the bottle down "Ibuki...this is gonna hurt...I'm sorry...but we don't want this wound infected...do we?" he muses softly.

She smiles "No we don't" she says, feeling a warm fuzzy sensation in the pit of her stomach as she smiles at his words.

" I feel so weird...he's so gentle and kind, I wish I could get closer to him...but...this...this mission...I can't afford this now. I got mom to think of...I must not be selfish..." She thinks, brushing aside any will to try and get closer to him, though it's obvious he cares for her.

He then slowly and carefully brushes the cloth against her shoulder wound. She winces and holds back a cry of pain, biting her lower lip. He sighs lightly as he cleanses the wound with a small frown, apparently hating the notion of seeing her in pain by his facade.

When the wound is clean he puts his hands on her shoulder and closes his eyes "What are you? You don't have to Tonomi...I'll" Ibuki stammers, blushing slightly and stammering as she feels him send his Chi into her, a soft warm sensation coursing through her.

She feels the pain fade away and become replaced with a soothing feeling of release, she smiles and hmms slightly at the sensations, smiling at the lack of pain she now feels. He then removes his hand and smiles at how she reacted.

"There ya go, good as new" he says, though blushing slightly and standing up "I got...Umm...training with Geki now, I'll see you later Ibuki, take care" he says, getting up and bolting toward the door.

Ibuki tries to stop him to thank him but he's gone "what is it with this Shinobi men and not waiting for me to freaking talk!" She mutters irritably. She sighs and puts on her top again, retying her belt and getting up.

She flexes and groans, the state of her sore body sending pain through her. She looks around and finds her bag. She picks it up and rummages through it, when she sees the VB part is still there she sighs in relief and picks it up.

"That was...nice...I wish I could meet him more often...oh Tonomi-San...I wish we could be more than friends...but not now...not with blackmailing. You don't deserve to get mixed up in this...maybe when it's over...yeah...that's it..." she thinks and smiles, heading toward the exit of the Shinobi complex.

She heads for her house, the thoughts of the previous day's occurrences still lingering in her mind. She navigates through the night covered streets and reaches her home around 30 minutes later, taking longer than usual as her mind is occupied on thinking.

She reaches her house and tiredly walks up to the doorway, she sighs lightly and opens it, taking out her keys and jabbing them into the lock. ”I wonder what’ll happen from here out…” Ibuki wonders as she unlocks the door.

Before she opens it she suddenly realizes something odd. She blinks and freezes in place. ”Why are noises coming from within my home? Why do I see the TV on…?” she thinks and narrows her eyes ”You…” she thinks and growls lightly.

She opens the door and slams it shut behind her, “What the f*ck are you doing in my house?” she shouts angrily. When she sees the figure her body begins shaking with pure rage, her face turning red.

Jason is sitting on her couch while leaning his legs on the table, a TV dinner lies on his lap and he is eating from it calmly, not seemingly phased by her anger.

“You…*munch* were late…*Swallow*…I got hungry” he says while smirking. Ibuki’s hand shakes, her muscle tone tensing up as she growls in a quite unladylike way.

“Get your filthy cyborg a** off my couch!” she bellows while putting down her bag. He puts the TV dinner on the table and sits straight. “Calm down, your wasting you air, I don’t really give a d*mn about what’s yours or not” he says and eyes her.

She muses If she should rip his Cyborg head or off now, or later before remembering she can’t hurt him, it would spell certain death to her mom.

Jason laughs audibly at the sight of her choking down her anger “*Laughing* you’re so funny, It must have been nice having your friends taken hostage and having to free them” He muses while wiping his mouth.

Ibuki goes wide-eyed, her eyes shift into a gaze so full of cold anger and murderous intent, that most men would probably wet themselves from receiving from a Shinobi.

“I knew it! You f**cking SOB! Why the h*ll did you do that? You stupid M*therf*cking…” she shouts, her angry cries slowly turning into angry mumbling as she sees it only amuses him further.

“Just call it a gift. Anyway as much as I “adore” you, This isn’t a social call, I’ve got your next mission for you, give me the Chip and I’ll give you the file” he says and gets up.

“What about my mom?” Ibuki asks, not moving or seeming to have any intention of obeying him.

“Kumiko is ok for now, keep on the work, and she’ll be safe, f*ck with me and the master and she’ll suffer…greatly” he says.

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” she asks, her eyes glaring at him, her voice cold and quite venomous.

“Somehow I had a feeling you’d ask that…take out the part and I’ll give you your proof, you stupid little girl” he muses arrogantly

Ibuki snarls and shivers angrily and picks up her bag and rummages through it. She takes out the venomblade part and holds it between her fingers carefully.

He takes out a photograph and hands it to her; she takes it and gives him the part, not having much of a choice but to comply. She then looks at the photo and her eyes soften.

She touches it gently “Mommy…” she whispers sadly, seeing her mom in a metal cell, curled up into a ball and leaning on a wall, gazing at the floor.

She feels a very pure and burning anger course through her ”Mommy…what are they doing to you? This is all my fault…oh mom…hold on…I’ll get you out…just keep in there…please…” She thinks and chokes down her anger, it being replaced by sorrow and pain as she closes her eyes, holding back the tears.

“Now that you’ve been reassured…here’s you mission…Find Adam Winters also known by the alias of “the Ghost”, he has taken a VB part, find him and the part, then reit. I’ll contact you when you have it.” He says.

Ibuki nods “I’ll do this Jason…but mark my words…one day I’ll free my mother…and after I do…I’ll hunt you down and send you to h*ll for all you’ve done…” she says.

Her emotions fixing from sorrow to calm, a frightening calm, she controls them and governs them to reflect nothing, she’s had enough of his taunting, and he will not have the satisfaction of seeing her hurt further.

Her voice is now extremely cold and emotionless as she speaks, venom coating each of her words like a Russian’s fur coat in the Siberian wintertime. Her eyes once again shifting into the look she had when she fought Yashira, the eyes of the ninja…the eyes of the assassin.

Jason can’t hold back a shiver that passes through his spine and the slight sensation of uneasiness and fear as he looks into those dark brown eyes. Her glare is familiar and that frightens him, her glare is dark and menacing, usually he can pick up a soft tingle of her emotions, softness, kindness in her eyes.

But now those are masked and all he can see within them is one thought and one thought only, the urge to deliver death, deliver death upon him.

He realizes that they are shifting in an almost a perfect replica of the way his master’s eyes are before his anger erupts, the eyes reflecting the emotions yet the face devoid of any kind of emotion. These eyes emitting truly a bone-chilling glare.

He quickly hides his feelings to not give this in to Ibuki, but he is a second too late as Ibuki has picked up his emotions, she smiles a satisfied and content smile.

”I’ve never felt such hatred before…I’ve never felt the urge to kill…and I prayed I never would, but I won’t stop till mom is free, and I will free her and make you and X pay, this I vow. And even if I have to continue to mask my emotions and act like this I will. For such an evil and unpleasant manner seems to be the only language you b*st*rds understand…It’s time you understand I’m not a little girl you can push around, I’m a woman! And one who you don’t wanna mess with…” she thinks, deciding it’s time for Jason to taste some of his own medicine and grinning inwardly to herself.

Jason smirks “You’re a stupid b*tch Ibuki, you can’t and won’t win, just keep on deluding yourself, as time will pass you’ll learn of our power, and that you’re nothing but a pawn…” Jason thinks, locking a very cold and hateful gaze with his nemesis.

Ibuki returns the glare unblinking ”But worry not This behavior that I despise greatly is especially for you and my enemies, I won’t let you have the satisfaction of making me like you. I’m only doing this for mom’s sake, once this is over, unlike you I’ll have people to get back to, you’ll only have the maggots and dirt to talk to.” she thinks and breaks the gaze, tired of his presence.

“You should be afraid Jason. Your actions are only fueling my determination more. One of these days we will meet and fight, then you’ll learn just how much I’ve changed. I promise you that you won’t like that day for it will be the day you die” she states neutrally.

She then forces herself to keep cold, and keep up this game to leave a impression on the cyborg that breaking her spirits and hope won’t be as easy as he or his master hope.

All this despite the beckoning craving to release her emotions, her frustration, her rage, her pain, he anguish, this emotional storm hurting her heart and making her life miserable, but she knows now is not the time, she would have to wait till she’s alone to reflect on this all.

She remembers Geki’s words and feels ashamed ”I’ve almost turned cold again, I’ve got to meditate, fix my psyche, so much is happening, if I don’t find a way to control myself…all will be lost. I have to be strong for myself and for mom…” she thinks, knowing it is time to heal. Tonomi may have healed her body, but only she can heal her mind and soul, and now was the time to do it.

“I tire of talking to you, your presence disgusts me Jason, You know where the door is, leave the file and lock the door behind you, you’ve contaminated my house enough” she says coldly and picks up her bag, walking upstairs.

”Just a little more…*sighs* I hate acting this way, It’s so not me…It hurts me to be like him…but he deserves to be angry, feel a portion of my pain too” She thinks. Her cold facade becomes a tired and sad one as she walks upstairs.

Jason looks at her slightly shocked and puts a brown envelope on the table. Then he snarls and shakes with rage “YOU INSOLENT B*TCH! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! I’LL KILL YOU!” He shouts and his eyes start glowing in a furious shade of red, his hands clenching into fists.

She ignores him “Whatever you say Jason,” she says calmly before shrugging as she keeps on walking up the stairs. Grinning all the way as she’s driving the cyborg angry, smiling and feeling slight happiness at the intensity of his angry emotions.

“You’ll pay for this Ibuki! The day we fight, is the day YOU die” he shouts after her. This time she doesn’t even bother answering him and only her ascending footsteps can be heard as well as a bored yawn.

Jason puts down the envelope and leaves the house, locking the door. “A time will come as you say Ibuki, a time for us to meet, but by then I’ll be stronger, and then I shall wipe you off the face of this planet and prove my worth to master Xavier. Yes, time, I have time, unlike you Ibuki, time slowly runs out on you, and when it does your fate will unfold as you die at my feet” he thinks and walks away from her house.

His synthetic eyes cold and glowing in soft red as his emotions boil with anger at the silent insult Ibuki has just received from her. “For now, you’re safe, but the minute X gives me the green light…I WILL kill you for this…” He mutters, his emotions quite apparent by his body language, his body being stiff and tenses up, as he navigates toward a nearby phone booth to report to his master.