Prologue: Beginnings

A/N: Good day, Ladies and Gentleman! Tonight's entertainment. My fan fiction! Hopefully this chapter will leave a good impression on you all and hopefully inspire me to continue this story. I really hope you enjoy. Read and Review when you're done! Enjoy! (Take note that since Kasumi is Japanese, she will refer to Chinese martial arts by their Japanese names like in the Virtua Fighter games) Also I'm well aware that "Dead or Alive 5" takes place 2 years after "Dead or Alive 4", so the first batch of chapters takes place after DOA4 but before DOA5.

Dead or Alive belongs to Team Ninja and Temco. I only own my OC's.

Natsu's Apartment

"Yo Natsu! Wake up! You have mail!" A voice on the phone yelled.

"Not now Sean." A groggy voice replied. "And how the hell do you know that I have mail anyway?! You're like halfway across the city!"

"Cause I'm the one that sent the friggin' message ya' jackass! Now wake up!" The voice yelled jokingly.

Natsu Kaneshiro groaned as he woke up. In his red pyjamas he walked up to his apartment door and picked up the letter. The boy was a 17 year old having a slight muscular build, short long black hair and brown eyes. An apartment to himself. According to a guy cold as himself, it was literally the best life for anybody. Natsu was a loner. A natural loner at heart. Throughout his high school life he had been silent and quiet only talking to Sean in some instances. One thing that separated him from others was his unbelievable talent as a martial artist. Training in the art of Bajiquan since at the age of 14, Natsu had skills to rival that of a martial artist that had lifetime's worth of training. It was because of Bajiquan that allowed him to see a larger role in his aloof nature. Taking a deep breath, Natsu began to read the letter.

"Dear Natsu.

I'm gonna make this brief. Get your hide to my place. I've scalped some tickets which are gonna blow you away! Trust me on this one.

Yours Truly

Sean"

"A simple phone call or email might have sufficed! Jeez, the nerve of that guy!" Natsu thought angrily as he changed into his jacket and jeans and grabbed his Katana as he went downstairs to the ground floor and walked to the nearest subway station. Natsu felt grumpy and annoyed. Not only did his best friend call during his sleep but also at 6:00 in the morning out all times to be woken up!

As Natsu stepped into the train, he thought, "Strange, isn't the subway usually meant to be crowded in this hour?" As he reached his destination, he went to an apartment that was not too far from a mall that he used to go in during his high school days.

Sean's apartment

"No 223. Yep it's Sean's door number alright! "Natsu thought as he rang the doorbell. "First thing to do. Punch him in the back of the head!"

*Ding Dong*

Sean heard the doorbell and came out with an expression that was a mix between an evil grin and a goofy smile. Sean Damone was a young adult at the age of 19, looking like Natsu except taller, more muscular and more had a more foreign look to him.

Sean began to greet evilly, "Greetings my pathetic sla…OWWWWW!" He spoke in an Canadian accent but his Japanese was otherwise flawless.

Natsu stomped the floor and socked Sean in the face with a palm thrust. Joho Senshou. Natsu yelled, "Why the hell did you wake me up soo damn early man?! It's like 7:00 AM now. Can you give me a good excuse why I had to drag myself halfway cross' the city for your selfish profits?!"

Sean clutched his bleeding face while still retaining his goofy smile. "Well, you should know that me annoying you brings me sweet joy. And besides, I worked hard to scalp these tickets. I would normally charge anyone a fortune for these babies, but I'm givin' them to you for free. See? Not such a jerk after all."

Natsu crossed his arms and replied, "I hope it's not one of those crappy concerts you've booked because if it is, I'm not going."

Sean still kept his smile, "Two words buddy. Martial Arts! I've booked you tickets to a Dead or Alive exhibition match!"

Natsu remained stoic but Sean could tell he was interested when he suddenly seemed to snap out of his grumpy mood. "DOA? Okay, then but why did you book me in a tourney that seems "showy"?"

Sean continued, "Its Kasumi vs a mysterious challenger! And you are just the man to take the job!"

Natsu's eyes widened. "Me in DOA? Hmmm, that is tempting. I could go in to test my abilities! But did it have to be a ninja though? They always use cheap teleports and secret ninpo techniques to win!"

Sean replied, "Hey! You're fighting against one of the most popular contestants of DOA aren't you?! Now you want the tickets or don't ya'?"

Natsu snorted, "Fine, but what time does the damn thing start?!"

Sean said in a whisper, "10:00 AM. One thing though; I heard they had to drug Kasumi to come, normally she passes on this kinda thing because of unknown reasons or somethin'. Maybe due to her pacifist nature or maybe because of DOATEC?"

Natsu rolled his eyes and spoke humorously, "Everything's about evil corporations nowadays. What happened to a more innocent time?"

Sean frowned slightly and said, "Well, since our profession is internet reviewing, it's naturally our job to complain about crap that happens. But should we at least go and see where it leads. Maybe collaborate and complain when we're done?"

"Besides." Sean held up a copy of DOOM 3. "Play me to pass the time?"

Natsu shook his head, "Sorry, no can do. Do you have a training dojo here?"

Sean face palmed. "Killjoy! 1st exit when you walk into my bedroom. Punching bags galore for you there to try out on! And don't touch my ASDAS!"

"I won't! At least you don't play Halo! That game's unoriginal!" Natsu yelled as he walked out the living room.

Sean watched as Natsu walked to his dojo and started punching bags as he grabbed his controller. "Spoilsport!" He muttered jokingly as he loaded up his console.

Backstage of the Dead or Alive Exhibition arena

"Mmmm…" The red-haired woman groaned while regaining consciousness and fluttered her eyes.

"Ahh you're awake Ms Kasumi! You're match shall start in due time!" A voice spoke in English.

The kunoichi in her trademark ninja outfit, Kasumi was a 17-year-old with her red hair tied up in a ponytail, honey coloured eyes and pink lips, with a petite build yet having an unusually curvy figure for her age.

Shaking her head, Kasumi woke up. She was confused. "What match?" She thought. "How did I get here?"

Kasumi felt panicked inside secretly but she kept calm when she replied, "Excuse me sir, but who are you and why did you bring me here?" Her English was thick with a Japanese accent.

The man simply said, "I'm simply a messenger from the shadow division of DOATEC. Donovan hosted this exhibition purely for the purpose of finding suitable material. Because of your genetically superior status, we want to find an appropriate challenger to test your abilities for Donovan's "ultimate fighter" project. And I think we found the right fish to fry!"

Kasumi winced. Victor Donovan. Leader of the shadow division of DOATEC and longtime enemy of the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan. Like Hayate, Kasumi despised Donovan mainly because of the humiliation brought upon her by two clones of her by the warped mind of his so-called ultimate warrior project.

Kasumi kept her cool but her tone was ice cold, "Another clone?! Has that man no feeling? No regret?! That he would deliberately sacrifice lives for his inhumane experiments?! I see now why Brother hates him. Then know this! I will not willingly offer myself to you or to him! Why do you continue to destroy lives with his twisted scheme?! I refuse to fight for any plan of his! " Kasumi felt tempted to raise her hand.

The man frowned but still spoke in monotone. "Ahh my dear Kasumi, the sad fact is that you have no choice. I'm the only other person that knows where the Mugen Tenshin clan is located. What happens if I leak this information to Donovan? Your clan may not care about you and they do have orders to terminate you on sight, I believe that you still have sentimental feelings for them. What if I were to send a full-scale assault on your former clan. Possibly deal with your half-sister and brother especially since they don't care about you anymore."

Kasumi's eyes flared up in anger. "You wouldn't dare!"

The man smiled, "Oh I believe I would. That little siege at the tri-tower. We let you win. We didn't even use quarter of our Special Forces unit. So unless you want your family burned to the ground, you'd better coöperate lest you suffer the consequences for your defiance Ms Kasumi."

Kasumi's face welled up with tears in her eyes. She felt an urge to make this messenger suffer, and inflict excruciating pain on him but she couldn't. She was no murderer or more accurately she did not lay a hand on people with idle threats, only through actions like the incident where she killed Raidou in the first DOA tourney for crippling her brother. Fighting back her tears and with a deep breath, Kasumi eventually stepped into the ring.

Exhibition Seats

"Did we arrive early or somethin'? Looks like there's no one here."

"Thanks for stating the obvious Sean! Besides, the guy hosting this must have a serious financial problem if he had only two people coming here or unless there's something fishy going on"

"Or maybe." Sean muttered while chomping on his snacks. "They just wanted to give us free popcorn."

Natsu smacked Sean in the head making him spit out his drink. "Sean! Be serious here! Wouldn't not promoting this thing be idiotic and stupid?! DOATEC will face a huge financial crisis at this rate and possible blow itself to smithereens with all the Victor Frankenstein wannabe's running the conglomerate!"

Sean smiled, "You're clearly overreacting man!"

Natsu remained stoic. "It's what I do Sean. Even you make anime style expressions from time to time!"

Sean said with a goofy smile across his face. "True that! Ahh, speak of the devil! Here comes Kasumi now!" He spotted Kasumi stepping into the ring. "Are you game for this match buddy?"

Natsu replied. "Yep, but I can spot one problem with her fighting style though. It's more Jeet Kune Do than Ninjitsu."

Sean rolled his eyes in scepticism. "Jeet Kune Do? Tell me how that's possible. Her punching moves look Snake like to me."

Natsu replied in an annoyed tone. "It's because of her knee strikes, kicks and backflips that makes her style more Bruce Lee'ish than anything. All that's missing are the chicken screams."

Sean had an equally annoyed look to him, his grumpiness kicking in. "Look. Here's the plan. Go to the arena, get a good fight out of it and I'll see what's going on, kay?"

Natsu rolled his eyes and got up from his seat and headed to the arena. He then stopped and turned back to Sean. "Brought your ADAS with you?"

Sean turned his back revealing an automatic shotgun. Smiling he said, "Yep! Now get your well-deserved fight and I'll go Painkiller on their asses so that the evil cooperation doesn't record anything right?!" His tone was dripped with sarcasm, as if he was bored with the clichés.

Natsu nodded as he stepped into the arena. As he walked down, Kasumi turned around and looked at him with a surprised expression on her face.

"Are you Natsu Kaneshiro?" Kasumi asked.

Natsu pointed at her and said his most clichéd line. "Who are you and how do you know my name?! Well I know who you are but how do you know my name?!"

Kasumi replied calmly, "Your name was on the challenger board. Didn't you notice?" She giggled a bit.

Natsu rolled his eyes. A soft smile came as her response as Kasumi continued in passive manner. "Let me ask you this. Is there a reason why you seek fighting?"

"To simply find myself through martial arts." Natsu replied. "Why do you ask?"

Kasumi said honestly, "Personally I never wish to fight. Mostly because I don't enjoy seeing people getting hurt or because I don't believe it to be a necessary way to solve situations. There are many other ways to get past fighting. Most people use fighting as means of cruelty. To control other people through power."

Natsu's eyes perked up when Kasumi continued, "But I see a different aura in you somewhat. You fight neither of cruelty nor the darkness in your heart. You fight to strengthen your resolve, to become better for you and yourself alone. You don't harm others because you believe in a greater goal. You are like a more reserved version of someone I know."

Natsu remained emotionless yet his tone had a bit of surprise, "So you figured out my goal. What exactly are you planning to do?"

Kasumi smiled but her tone remained normal, "Since your resolve is unwavering, I wish to test your conviction. Prepare yourself!"

Natsu smirked, "Okay then. Bring it on!"

Kasumi got into her Tenjin mon stance whilst Natsu got into his Bajiquan stance as they prepared to fight.

"That stance. Hakkyouku-Ken?" Kasumi thought. "Perhaps this isn't going to be easy as I thought it would be."

Natsu charged at Kasumi and stomped performing an elbow strike to the gut catching her off guard. He then stomped and followed up with a palm trust to the gut pushing Kasumi back sending her flying like a rocket denting the front row stadium seats in the process.

Kasumi suddenly pounced out of the dent and ran at full speed towards Natsu. He did not have time to react as Kasumi ran through him. Natsu then clutched his stomach as he crumpled to the floor. He was bleeding from his mouth. The technique must have forced the blood out of Natsu's lungs.

A/N: OBORO-GUMO! "Oburo Gumo is one of Tenjin Mon's most lethal techniques. As the fighter runs through the opponent, the strike aims for the pressure point of the lungs making this move potentially terminable!

Natsu struggled to get up and retaliated with a high jab to which Kasumi countered and slammed him on the ground. Natsu then unleashed a spin kick taking Kasumi by surprise thus flooring her.

"He hits like a truck!" Kasumi thought as she spat blood from her mouth. "I'm surprised I'm still standing! But his weakness involves him stomping before doing some of his punching techniques. His kicks will prove to be troublesome but they can be countered with patience and timing". Kasumi got up only to suddenly get hit by Natsu's shoulder smash technique again flooring her.

Clutching her stomach, Kasumi got up and anticipated Natsu's stomp as he went for a back strike. Kasumi dodged to the side and kicked him in the spine and then unleashed a flurry of punches ending up with an elbow to the neck and a knee kick to the back of the head.

Staring at each other in determination, the fighters charged at one another. Natsu threw a jab. Kasumi blocked it and retaliated with a chop to the gut which caused the young man to stumble. Natsu responded by stomping then upper cutting Kasumi in the chin. They both stepped back as both fighters were breathing heavily. Natsu then charged with a hammer punch to which Kasumi countered and chopped him in the back of the neck.

"Brother's trademark move." She thought "Never thought it'd work for me as well as it did now."

Kasumi followed up with another punch only for it to be blocked by Natsu. At an instant, the young man grabbed her arm and hit Kasumi with his shoulder and then elbowed her gut in combination sending Kasumi back several steps.

"Heh! I'm impressed! Maybe fighting a ninja isn't as bad as I thought it would be!" Natsu said with a satisfied smile with his breathing being laboured.

"Your Hakkyouku-Ken is surprisingly well put together." Kasumi replied obviously shocked with the same laboured breathing. "Who taught you?"

"I learned Hakkyouku-Ken though seeing my idol on T.V and videogames." Natsu replied his voice sincere. "I then decided to study the art and develop my techniques. It turns out that I have a natural flow to the style. It was like magic. It was as if the fighting spirit held a special place for me."

"You mean you learned Hakkyouku-Ken all by yourself?" Kasumi asked with surprise. "With no teacher? If that's the case you surpass Zack easily and can even take on a fully trained soldier with skills like yours!"

"Teachers always get in the way in a path you're meant to define by yourself." Natsu replied coldly. "Your best teacher is usually yourself. If you want a path, you need to forge it through your own power with no one else."

Kasumi looked at him with disbelief, a little shocked that Natsu could say such things with no remorse. "No one should take up a journey without help, even with a talented martial artist such as yourself. It's a simple case of walking before you run, isn't it?."

Natsu gave a confused look, mainly "We both have different philosophies of journeys, Kasumi. There is one thing that confuses me, though. If you didn't enjoy or like fighting, then why did you attack me?"

Kasumi simply replied, "It's true that I don't want to fight but sometimes, to know a fellow fighter you must exchange a conversation though your fists. In the world of fighting actions speak louder than words. And I found a noble and companionate spirit though your power and the way that you showed your resolve today."

Natsu smirked, "You caught me off guard with your attacks. Nice work to you too!" He shook hands with Kasumi who gave a warm smile in return.

Control Room on top of the Exhibition arena

"Stupid little minx, thinking she can do whatever she pleases just because she found a kindred spirit. Just wait till Donovan hears information of where the Mugen Tenshin is located! She will regret her decision double crossin' me!"

The man that talked to Kasumi earlier was just about to reach the phone.

*BLAM!*

The man instantly fell down revealing the person behind him to be Sean with his shotgun. Sean then advanced to the limp figure and pulled off his shirt.

"Goddamnit!" Sean yelled. "Keep forgetting that the damn thing doesn't pierce through friggin' Kevlar! Aww well. Might as well stuff the idiot in the locker. Got the keys an' everything."

Sean dragged the body to the nearest locker room and stuffed it there and locked it. With a satisfied sigh of triumph, he then pridefully went back to the stadium seats.

"Yo Natsu! Did you win?!" Sean yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up ya' dumb ape!" Natsu retorted. "My god, you can be the most irritating guy on the planet sometimes!"

"Well you do have a high temper at times." Kasumi smiled.

Natsu growled, "You know I'm not afraid to smack a girl! And stop ogling her Sean! You're makin' me sick!"

Kasumi giggled slightly as Sean responded. "Right! Sorry bout' ruining your "moment" Natsu! By the way Kasumi, I managed to take down the idiot who was plannin' to destroy some fortress or whatever. Had ta' shut him up so that the moron would stop runnin' his speeches."

Kasumi bowed and said. "Well, I owe you my thanks Mr errr…"

Sean smiled and said, "The names Sean Damone; boxing prodigy and badass at your service!"

Kasumi smiled and said, "Okay, Mr Damone. Did you teach yourself boxing like Natsu did with Hakkyouku-Ken?"

Sean smile started to fall, "Nope learned the legit way. Trained by a professional! Still, my skills were nothing compared to what Natsu had thrown in the ring today so yeah."

Sean then regained his smile at full force, "Well, you did have a good fight Natsu so let's go and say bye-bye!"

Natsu accompanied Sean to the exit. Kasumi then called out to Natsu.

"Wait! Your idol. Who is he?"

Natsu held a small grin and simply replied, "Akira Yuki." As he walked off with Sean back home.

"Akira Yuki." Kasumi thought. "Wasn't he the only Martial artist alive to see the 8 stars?"

Kasumi then gasped as she heard voices. "The runaway has been spotted in the city! Find her! Now!"

"It's Ayane! She's come for me!" Kasumi thought. She cursed herself for growing careless!

"Till we meet again, it seems." The young Kunoichi calmly sighed in disappointment. With that said, she instantly disappeared leaving but Sakura petals behind.