A/N: Ah, my very first Samurai Warriors fanfiction, I'm not expecting many reviews because it's not a big fanfiction thing, but for those who did read it, thanks !!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part, nor character nor storyline of Samurai Warriors. This is purely my fanfiction fixated on my favorite characters, with liberties taken of course.

Bullets and Bowstrings

Chapter 1

Today was… certainly interesting to say the least.

Most of us knew that a war was coming. The Oda and the Hojo were at each other's throats, the Toyotomi were growing stronger by the minute, and the Sanada's defenses increasing every second. The Honoji temple seemed to loom even more over everyone's heads, news of cannons and a bomb corridor and gossip of a dark ninja hiding inside was the gossip rampant in the keep.

Arguments frequently broke out over who would be the one to unify the land. Personally, I believed the Tokugawa would win. Ieyasu was an incredible front man, and with a ninja as great as Hanzo Hattori at ones disposal, I was certain he would win. My friend Kosho however, begged to differ. Her affections lay solely with the Toyotomi.

"Senchiyo!" She would exclaim, waving her bow around extravagantly. "Hideyoshi's forces are massive! There's no way he would ever lose!"

"But Kosho, the Tokugawa have a lot of powerful men at their disposal, plus they may even join with the Oda, it's all part of a plan, I think anyways."

"You'll never be hired with that attitude!" She sighed at me and set down her bow, flopping beside me on the cushions.

Kosho was a pretty woman, with hardened, sharp features and a skinny, long body and long black hair tied in a bun.

"They don't hire us on mentality, the hire us on attributes." I said, albeit politely.

"Yeah yeah," she sighed again, picking at the shaft of one of her arrows, "that's what they say, but you know it 'aint true."

I understood that Kosho was bitter about many things, one of them being how we came to this… place. Both of us were captured during the destruction of the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa. Both of us were still a little hazy on the exact details, but the destruction had been swift, brutal, and neither of us could do anything about it. It took a while, but we felt we had to accept our new fates.

Our families are gone, and now we wait for a warrior to come and hire us as their guard.

Personally, I was worried. I had a certain level of skill with a bow, but I was no warrior, and with the approaching war I felt I wasn't ready to die just yet.

Tensions were running high lately, the approaching war, the mix of clan members in the keep made fights break out, and some out of sheer boredom. Kosho was growing impatient, eager to get out and kill to take her mind off her anger for a little while longer; I unfortunately, did not share her rage. I only knew fear, hesitation and constant doubt.

And then, it only got worse when a messenger was sent for me to report to Anamasa's room. Anamasa was our… master. He "trained" us, and then sold us as personal bodyguards.

I slowly slid the door open and bowed down in front of my master. He beckoned me to stand and I shakily rose to my feet.

"It's your lucky day Senchiyo." He said, his double chin wobbling dangerously. He was an incredibly fat man, dressed in flowering robes, sitting down on comfy looking stuffy cushions, a bottle of sake perched on his knee. "Get your belongings. You have been hired."

Sold you mean. I thought.

"A messenger is waiting for you outside to take you to your field. Don't keep him waiting. Now go." He pointed lazily towards the door, his messengers ushering me out with hurried hands.

"Wait!" I said. "What clan?"

He did not answer however, and I was left standing in the corridor, sheepishly gazing at the wall in front of me, unsure of what to do next. My heart was in my throat, the bottom fell out of my stomach and left a gaping hole.

This was it.

Everything is about to change now. I thought.

"Get to it!" A messenger hissed out the door at me, making me jump. "Don't make your cart wait!"

So I left, playing with my fingernails.

"Sen…? Are you okay?" Kosho put her hands on my shoulders when I re-entered the room. "You don't look so good."

I stared at the floor, my mind buzzing.

"I… I've been hired."

My voice seemed to have risen a few tones, my hands shook and sweated, and only then did it seem to register that I was going off to war to die completely against my will.

"Oh…" Was the only word Kosho said, before I retreated to our rooms and grabbed my small bag of belongings, my longbow, my arrows and a spare change of clothes.

Before I left, I walked outside into the summer sun. It was mid-afternoon, the leaves were just beginning to fall from the trees, threatening autumn to approach. I looked at my reflection down in the pond.

To most, I'm a little small, but I am young: only nineteen in fact. My clothes are nothing special, mostly brown and beige, baggy and easy to move around it, while loose and light for the summer. My hair was an odd, red-ish sort of blonde, tied back in a ponytail with a fair few unruly strands hanging about my face and a thick fringe. My eyes were brown, common as mud, just like me. I still had a fair few cuts and grazes for the recent sparring matches, but I couldn't really cover them up with anything, a warrior must look like a warrior after all.

I sighed.

I am no warrior.

The world suddenly felt too big. After wishing and hoping I could get myself out of this wretched place, I suddenly wished I didn't have to go. I bit my lower lip, my mouth was small, and now it seemed smaller as it thinned with worry and agitation.

Turning my back on my reflection, I walked back into the seating room, my eyes slowly darting over Kosho, who was nonchalantly tightening the string on her bow.

"So…" She said slowly. "I guess this means you'll be leaving then."

The bite of irritation in her words clutched around my heartstrings. I bit my lip, harder this time. My mouth was dry.

"Y-yeah… I am…"

Wringing my hands, I waited until I could take it no more and ran to her, wrapping my arms around her slim shoulders and clutched the material of her clothes.

"I-I'll miss you, K-Kosho!" I sobbed and she cried indignantly at my intrusion, but after her violent spluttering, returned my embrace with a sigh.

"I'll… miss you too."

I knew we could end up fighting each other. It was a possibility but I didn't want to admit it. I couldn't admit it. Not now anyway, when I was so fragile and she was trying her level best to remain indifferent.

She clutched my hand as I rose, a light smile flashed across her face.

"Good luck, Senchiyo."

I nodded, drying my tears foolishly and headed for the door.

"Don't die."

Her last words stuck to me like a proverbial leech on my mind as I left the room and out of the keep, ignoring the calls from other "guards" yet to be hired.

Don't die.

I was destined to die. Everyone is, but I would rather it was not with a hail of bullets or on the end of another's weapon.

"You Senchiyo?" Came a voice from a man; holding the reigns of a great brown stallion toting a cart outside the keep.

I nodded, a lump catching in my throat before I could speak.

"Get in then." He smiled kindly at me, gesturing towards the open roof cart. He was an old man, with graying hair and crinkled skin. It made me feel a little better that he smiled. I needed someone to smile at me.

Throwing my things into the cart with a worried, rushed sigh, I jumped when the horse reared back and began trotting off down the street.

The sun beamed down on me, but I simply played with my thumbs as the cart took me towards the sunlight, a slightly unbefitting setting for my approaching doom.


A/N: Read and feel free to review if ya like. Next chappie is Senchiyo falls into the hands of her new clan and finally meets the person she will be guarding for the war. Only problem is, it seems to only build her fear of death.