A/N: Here's another AU where the Ninja are ninja but their identities are kept a secret, even from each other. I have written a decent amount and have some motivation to continue so I guess I'll post it lol, one POV at a time since they're each about 2.5k words long

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Kai

"I found the hostages in the basement under the third storage unit," Earth announced through the commlink, "Everything is locked and I can't find a way in. I need backup."

"Ice, you're the closest, so go over," Energy replied at once, "I've located the deliveries in the East Wing. Water, Lightning, meet me in the main courtyard so we can prepare to round up all of Chen's followers. Speaking of whom, Fire, any luck in finding him?"

"Still working on it," I sighed, wishing I was assigned to something else, "I've scoured the entire west side of the island, including the secret passageways, but I haven't found any sign of him."

"Keep working on it, then. Chen's definitely still here, our radars haven't picked up any signs of someone leaving," he said, "Good luck."

I muted myself by tapping my ear with one finger and crouched on the roof of one of the residential buildings, groaning at my decision to take on this task. Compared to all the other things we had to do when given orders to infiltrate and shut down Hui Chen's illegal human trafficking and black market organ trading empire, this one had seemed relatively straightforward. I hadn't realized I'd be running around and through the island for hours to no avail.

None of the others had reported spotting him either, which really started to frustrate me. Our spy had told us that he was present when we arrived, but nobody had seen him since. Maybe Chen saw this coming and had prepared a hiding spot.

Despite the mess that was happening on the eastern side of the island, this area was virtually undisturbed, with servants walking about as if it was just another day. The residential area was built like a palace with a whole garden, beach, and walls surrounding it, and from what I knew, it was only reserved for Chen, his daughter, and select individuals who held high ranking positions in his "business." Everyone else lived in a nearby village, which had been completely empty when I went to inspect it earlier.

Given what we knew about Chen, he loved luxury and theatrics, so while all his minions were busy trying to escape from us, he was likely indulging in pleasure, and the only part of the island where he could realistically do that was here. My teammates were covering the rest of the island, anyway, so I'd spent almost my entire time sneaking around the residential area. Not that this was an easy task; the whole place took up about a third of the entire island.

I silently jumped from the roof onto one of the balconies to search the building again. Thankfully this time, Ice had already hacked into the security system so there was no need to avoid the cameras.

Part of me felt that it was unnecessary to stay in this area. Chen already knew we were on his island, so he wouldn't stay in a place where one of us could easily sneak up on him. Cameras were just about the only security measures around here.

I pressed my body against the wall, listening for any movement in the rooms along the hallway. When I deemed it safe to go through, I hurried down the corridor, soundlessly as always, and slipped into a room at the end of it, right before the turn.

A gasp.

I spun around and immediately pounced on the redheaded girl standing in the middle of the room, spinning her around so her back was towards me, with one hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming and another pressing a knife to her throat.

"Don't move, and don't make a sound," I hissed in her ear.

She tensed in response as I began pulling her towards a wall to make things easier.

One quick look around the room confirmed my suspicions that she was indeed Chen's daughter. It was about the size of the entire first floor of my house and had just about everything anyone could ever wish for in a bedroom. The decorations didn't disappoint, either, showing just enough grandeur and opulence that made it look as though it was built for a princess, but not to the point where one would feel overwhelmed.

I took my hand from her mouth to pull out my rope and tie her hands together, noticing the way she trembled in front of me. Her lack of muscle was enough to convince me that she wasn't going to (or couldn't) fight back against my hold, so I slowly pressed her to the wall and walked around to get a better look.

"Skylor?" I gasped, unable to hold back my surprise.

My grip on the knife slipped, causing its blade to make a small cut in her skin. Her eyes widened in fear, and she opened her mouth briefly before closing it, remembering that I wasn't allowing her to talk.

An apology formed at my lips but I bit it back, knowing it would only make things worse. Breathing suddenly became very difficult as I stared at her, heart pounding and hands shaking too much for me to trust myself with a knife this close to her. Its tip was beginning to draw blood, and despite all my efforts, I was unable to drop my hand.

The mission. Use her to find Chen.

Her amber eyes were like daggers to my heart, and my chest felt like it was going to explode.

"Where is your father?" I forced out after trying and failing to swallow the lump in my throat, unable to cool down and go about this optimally.

Skylor's expression was hard to read, her eyes darting back and forth from me to the unstable knife at her throat. I took the smallest step backwards to move it just slightly away, since my entire arm was paralyzed.

"Where is your father?" I repeated again, my voice wavering.

"I found Chen in the main foyer, of all places," Water's voice suddenly sounded through the commlink.

"Good. Fire, have you found any persons of interest in your area? Might wanna start rounding them up too," Energy replied.

I dropped the knife and slid it into my belt, unable to look away from where I had pierced her skin. Skylor remained where she was, still frozen and staring at me with an expression she'd never looked at me with before. A million sorrys rose to the tip of my tongue as I unmuted myself to respond, my gaze never leaving her.

"I found his daughter," I whispered, wishing my voice didn't betray me so easily.

"Oh, great," he said, seemingly not picking up on the guilt in my words, "She might provide some useful information. Bring her in for questioning."

"Noted."

I muted myself once more before speaking again. "I... I'm taking you with me."

Skylor hesitated before following me back down the hallway and onto the balcony. I wrapped one hand around her waist and jumped back onto the rooftop as she clutched onto me for dear life. Normally holding her like this would send warm, fuzzy feelings throughout my body, but today there was none of that. All I felt was her shuddering and the cold chills racing down my spine.

I let go of her when we reached the storage units, and despite myself, couldn't help but steal a glance at her. Skylor's face was pale, and her lips were bleeding from her attempts to bite back her screams.

I felt like a monster and thanked the heavens that she couldn't recognize me.

...

Nya didn't ask questions when we returned home that day. Of our Ninja team, we were the only ones who knew of each other's identities due to the fact that we were siblings. At first, Master Wu, our mentor, had even kept that from us so we wouldn't accidentally slip and call each other by name instead of "Fire" and "Water," but it wasn't something they could hide for long. We'd both had long held suspicions by the time he officially allowed us to reveal ourselves to each other.

As for the others, I didn't have a clue who they were and doubted that I knew their alter egos to begin with. We wore masks embedded with magic that made it impossible for one to recognize us unless they knew our identities, and voice changers were installed in our suits and commlinks as well. Master Wu had highlighted again and again the importance of secret identities, saying that if one person was revealed to the public, at least everyone else was still safe.

One might find it absurd that we entrusted our lives with people whose faces we'd never seen, but given that we started as children, I simply got used to it. Even our genders were initially hidden, and I still didn't know the others' ages, though it was reasonable to assume they were around my age.

So I couldn't bring myself to look the others in the eye when I brought Skylor before them and the police. Water had tensed ever-so-slightly upon seeing her, but other than that she showed no sign of recognition.

"Kai, is something wrong?" Mother asked as she sat down at the dinner table, "You've seemed distant all evening. Did the mission go badly?"

Our parents were the only people besides ourselves and Master Wu who knew of our identities, as Father had formerly been a Ninja himself and Mother an ally.

Nya and Father turned to me, waiting for an answer.

"Have the interrogation results come out?" I asked after a long pause.

"I think Chen's daughter goes to our school," Nya added, and I gave her a grateful glance.

"Oh yes," Father answered, "She was deemed innocent and has no relation to the crime. It says she lives with her mother in Ninjago City most of the time but goes to her father's some weekends."

"Poor girl," Mother sighed, "It's crazy how he was able to hide all those illegal activities under a noodle business. Really makes you wonder who else could be running a whole secret underground black market out there. If you see her tomorrow, please be kind. I can't imagine what the other kids might do or say in light of this event."

"Yeah, of course," my sister said, "It must absolutely suck to be in her position."

Having lost my appetite, I quickly excused myself from the table and rushed upstairs to my room.

Nya poked her head in after fifteen minutes or so and gently knocked on the door with her fist.

"Kai? Can I come in or do you just want me to leave you alone?"

Though part of me wanted her to stay for the sake of company, I shook my head, having no energy to talk. My phone had been vibrating with notifications since I'd gotten home, but I didn't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment and had simply shut it off.

"Okay," she said softly, "Goodnight."

Nya quietly shut the door and left, her footsteps silent as always.

...

The bus was buzzing with gossip as I headed to my usual seat, my sister awkwardly shuffling behind me. I slumped into the chair and sank as low as possible, pulling my favorite red hoodie over my face as I did. Logically speaking, there should be no reason for me as Kai to want to crawl into a hole, as nobody was going to bother me even though there were no shortage of rumors about my relationship with Skylor. I was quite popular in school anyway, more popular than she was, but I didn't have it in me to put up a smile and pretend to be fine.

"Have you texted her yet?" Nya whispered after much hesitation.

I sank lower into the seat, which was as good of an answer as any.

"She doesn't know it was you."

"I know it was me."

Nya recognized that as a sign to stop and was silent for the rest of the ride.

After getting off the bus, we parted ways and headed to our usual morning spots to meet our respective friends. Cole and several of the football jocks were there already, and though I didn't play myself because Ninja business made it so I had no time for anything else, I was pretty integrated within their group.

"You should've seen Coach's face when you missed the third practice in a row," Jason was laughing as I approached, "It must be a record to be the football co-captain despite having missed like half the meetings."

"Cole's just too good," Zach shrugged, giving Cole a slap on the back, "What's your secret? You gotta tell, and don't say it's because you practice a lot; given your attendance record I don't think I can believe it. It's crazy how you're still able to play football while doing all that performing arts stuff."

"I do have spare time," he replied with a wave of his hand, "It just doesn't line up with the scheduled practices, that's all. Oh, hey Kai."

"Hi," I forced out, unable to fake any enthusiasm.

"You good?" Andrew asked.

"Just tired."

"Oh wait, I know," Zach said, "Does it have something to do with... uh... you know."

I didn't know how I was supposed to answer that, and frankly, I didn't have the energy to figure it out. Instead, I gave a half shrug and headed off in another direction, hoping there would be something that could make me feel less emotionally drained.

Not knowing where else to go, I ducked into the bathroom and splashed water on my face, then hurried out before the crackheads came in. Then I saw her.

Skylor stood out from the crowd as usual despite her attempts to shrink into the background. A hood was pulled over her head, but the few strands of her bright red hair along with her brilliantly amber eyes made her instantly recognizable regardless. Those around her were no doubt whispering to each other with their heads pressed together, and normally I'd rush to her side and talk until we forgot about everyone around us.

Instead, I found myself frozen in place again, torn between going over or running away before she saw me. Skylor was as pretty as always, easily attracting the gazes of many even as she tried to hide herself. I stared like a lovesick puppy, then noticed the bandaid on her neck.

In the same place that my knife had cut into her skin.

I saw the way she watched me with fear in her eyes and voluntarily took a step back.

It was around then that she noticed me.

Skylor's eyes widened, in them a glimmer of hope. The corners of her mouth twitched ever-so-slightly upwards and she slowed down, her hands twitching as if she was debating on whether or not to wave. Time seemed to stop as I tried to go over, but my feet refused to move and the crushing feeling of more eyes on us made me want to turn invisible.

She didn't know it was me, I told myself.

But I did.

My chest clenching, I turned away without meaning to.

A ripple went through the crowd, and I hurried off in the other direction, hating myself and wishing the bell would ring sooner.

I shouldn't have gone for Chen.