Author's note: Funny thing about this story is that I already know the ending to it, I'm excited about this. Hope you like it.

Review and let me know what you think. Good or bad, I would like to hear your honest opinion.

Disclaimer:I do not own any of the familiar characters. All characters belong to Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja.

Happy Reading!


~Shadows of the past~

New York

Ryu stood looking out the large glass window from his apartment in New York City. The apartment was on the top floor where he got a good view of Central Park. It was a rainy day. Rain splattered hard against his windows. His mind wandered to his past, back to his last days as her guardian exactly four years ago when her brother confirmed her released from her sentence of being hunted down by her own clan. They spent few last days together before finally parting their ways for good. Ryu had since then moved to the United States and had moved on with his life. He had taken a small break from his shinobi duties. It had gone four years. His father hadn't complained to him about his absence yet and he didn't bring it up either assuming he wasn't needed in his village at this point.

It took him a while to be able to stop worrying about her. For many years, he was her protector ever since they were younger and up until that final day. A little part within him still worried for her. Kasumi…He wondered where she was right now, and how her life had turned out after everything. He kept in touch with her brother Hayate. Though Hayate had never mentioned on how Kasumi was doing, and after he moved away from Japan, Hayate seemed to be a lot colder towards him. He had never asked why but felt a slight resentment from his beloved friend. If it was about him taking a long break from the shinobi duties, then he didn't need Hayate's permission on how to live his life. Hayate had made a few remarks in the past about Irene seducing him away from his duties and responsibilities for her own selfish needs and that he was a fool. Ryu shook his head and let out a sigh at the thought. Not once had Hayate thanked him for looking out after his sister, and he had the nerve to judge him. Hayate needed to learn to mind his own business.

His eyes suddenly tracked down to the street toward a black Lexus that just drove into their condominium garage. A faint smile emerged on the corner of his lips. His wife was home as she had promised. They hadn't spent much time together these last few months. With him running an antique shop and his wife being a CIA agent, it wasn't easy for them to find quality time. However, they had discussed this and had agreed on cutting a little back on their work, so they could have normal dinner together at home as a husband and wife at least a couple times a week.

Then Ryu thought back on how he met his wife. He met her on a mission outside of his country. Irene was no doubt a hot beautiful western woman, with short blonde hair and crystal blue eyes that could make any man's heart weak at the sight. He didn't pay much attention to her at first, because his duty was always before anything else and there was just no time for a shinobi to love. At times, he was annoyed at the fact that Irene was too gutsy for her own sake. He had he warned her many times to stay away from him if she wanted to live, but she was still determined to help him knowing she might die.

But he was used to stubborn women. Kasumi was even more stubborn than Irene. One evening years ago during a mission to save her brother Hayate from DOATEC, he had lost his cool due to her stubbornness. Until this day he regretted deeply for putting his hand on Kasumi. He had slapped her hard across her face sending her flying to the ground for refusing to listen to him and the worst part was that he had hit her in front of Irene. Kasumi ran away upset to her core, and when he found her that night, he felt ashamed when he saw his reddish hand print on her right cheek. He tried to apologize but instead they ended up having verbal blow argument. He was afraid to lose her as he had promised her brother to keep her safe. He wasn't quite sure if she had forgiven him for the incident. It was never mentioned again after that night.

The day after that, Irene gave him a piece of her mind as well for what he did and how it was unacceptable to her. After he explained why, she eventually understood. Back then, Irene was always flirtatious around him. It took him a while to let her in but slowly he started to get fonder of her and started to enjoy working with her more and more where they began to grow closer, and with time, their work-relationship turned into something more romantic and personal. He didn't however pursue Irene fully until Kasumi's sentence was terminated.

The doorbell rang.

Sighing his thoughts away, Ryu went to open the door and greeted his wife a kiss. Dinner was already set on the table, he was not much of a cook, but he knew how to make spaghetti. Irene however seemed to have other plan in mind than dinner as she had missed her husband dearly.

"We should eat before the food gets cold." He whispered while nuzzling on her neck.

"I can't help it when my husband is so hot." She let out a teasing giggle.

Tokyo, Japan

Kasumi sat in front of her mirror in her nightgown brushing out her soft long auburn hair. It had finally grown back to the same length she had four years ago. Her siblings Hayate and Ayane had made negative remarks on her short hair, that they preferred it long on her. She had kept it short for a while for a reason. After her brother Hayate let her go of her sentence, the first thing she did was to cut her hair. She wanted to start over with everything in her life, free from the shinobi rules and duties. By cutting her hair was a spiritual part of her new beginning, her Freedom. Hayate wanted her back in the village but Kasumi had another plan in mind.

For years during her runaway days, she had thought about moving to the city and lived her life as a regular civilian. Hayate strongly disagreed at first but eventually he was okay with it. That was four years ago. Now she was a chef in a restaurant and has her own apartment. Life had not been easy for the former Mugen Tenshin kunoichi, but life had never been this good to her either. She had lost most of her teen years by being a runaway shinobi and now that she was free from being pursue by her own clan, all she needed to worry about was pursuing her own dream. Kasumi then smiled to her own reflection in the mirror.

The soft knocks to her bedroom door suddenly grabbed her attention. She quickly went to open it and looked down to a little brown-haired boy in his blue cartoonish pajamas holding a pillow in one hand and a baby blanket in the other. Kasumi lowered herself to a kneeling position to meet her three-year-old son's eyes level and then placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Tenzou, what are you doing up this late?" She asked in her soft voice while instinctively feeling her son's forehead in case he was warm and had catch a fever. He would usually come and sleep in his mother's room when he got sick.

"Mama, can I sleep with you?" He gave her a scared look followed with pouty mouth and teary eyes.

Since his temperature was fine, Kasumi assumed that it was something else that had scared him.

"The nightmares are back again huh?"

Tenzou only nodded and began softly sobbing. Kasumi quickly drew her son close and wrapped her arms around him hushing him to calm down.

"It's okay, it's just a bad dream. You can sleep in my room tonight." She then lifted him and carried him towards the bed. Kasumi lowered Tenzou into bed, pulling the cover up his shoulders, placed a quick kiss on his forehead and turned off the light. The room was still bright due to the moonlight that had filled most of the room through the window. Sighing, Kasumi crawled into bed next to her son.

"Mama…" Tenzou opened his green sleepy eyes.

"What is it?"

"When will papa come back?" He asked.

Kasumi's eyes quickly shifted toward the nightstand at a picture frame of her and her husband, or more precisely ex-husband as they had just recently got divorced. She ran her hand across his cheek, softly stroking it while she thought of an answer. He hadn't come nor seen them ever since he moved out.

"I don't know baby, I'm sorry…"

Tenzou then shifted closer to his mother and drifted back to sleep in her arms. The safest place for a child to be. Kasumi kissed the top of his head, letting the slight moonlight filter in where it glinted on a solitary tear, sliding down her smooth cheek.