Diclaimer; yo y'all i don't own Ruro Ken characters phooey

Thoughts are in italics-all Saitou's in this Chapter

now the story;


Heat and ash floated through the air as he dispatched the last victim. They had tried to attack several compounds. Only one was buring now as they died without seeing their handy work. Even alone, the Shinsengumi Captain was more than a match for a couple malcontents. They weren't the real problem. He snorted as he stepped over their bodies, mentally tallying them in his head to make sure none had escaped. He had saved three of the four main buildings that had been their target, and stalled that one long enough for the evacuation.

He heard a rumble, spun around and saw the building begin to crumble. He figured now was a good time to scat. As he turned to run out of the way he saw a woman. She was just standing there looking at him.

Then all was black...

Ch 1 The Observant Shinsengumi

The next feeling was a sharp pain in contrast with a cool, moist freshness. He was slightly confused. His head hurt but the cloth felt really good. he was also sitting up, an unusual thing for someone still relatively unconscious.

"He's coming put of it" There were several giggles. The cloth moved away as he heard them spread out around him.

a woman? No several women

"Good, Fawn should be here soon"

"Shhh!" The authoritative voice silenced them. They were quiet and still. He could sense them only slightly. They were well trained, whoever they were. They had all ceased motion when the woman had shushed them.

Waiting obviously, he thought as he squinted his eyes open and glanced around, taking stock of his surroundings. Five women, one still holding a wet cloth, stood in the clearing. They each had weapons at the ready and were in relaxed fighting stances. He could see that most of them carried a weapons pouch and side swords. Then he felt it...

"Here she comes", 'it' reported calmly, if not flatly.

He had completely missed her... until he ignored the others. She had absolutely no ki, just empty space. Which was actually how he located her. There should always be a resonance of the background; living things, wind, and the like. She seemed to simply be nothing. It was bizarre and slightly aggrivating to find someone this close to home with this much control and ability and they didn't know it. Then he realized he had no idea how close to 'home' they were. He could have been out for hours. It looked dark out but it had when he had last seen the sky as well so it didn't mean much. He figured a flying piece of that burning building had given him the goose egg he was feeling grow on his head.

She jumped down from her perch on a branch and joined the rest as they all waited tensely. He could feel their attentiveness. Even "Miss Invisible" had a feeling of purpose around her. He stretched out his own senses to try and feel what they were waiting for. After a while he felt them come into his range. He could tell they had entered the range of the women in front of him as well for some of them smiled and relaxed. The didn't relax entirely, being good ninja, but there was a definite change in their constitution. He had figured them for ninja from their weapons and general behavior. That and their clothing.

Two were approaching, they were also expertly controlling their ki. He normally would have some trouble sensing them except he was hyper alert from his run with "Miss Invisible". They weren't as well hidden as she had been. They were keeping a good pace and arrived shortly there after. They bounded around the forest with speed and exuberance. They seemed to be playing almost, but Saitou could feel them slowly changing their ki. They were making sure no one could follow them, or would want to. The chase they would give a pursuer was rambunctious enough to give anyone a headache. He was getting a larger one just keeping tabs on them.

They landed in the middle of the clearing. He couldn't decide what was so special about them, their manner and dress were similar to those already in front of him. If there was nothing specific about them then why were all of the other women waiting so much for them, and why did their arrival change the moods in the clearing so drastically. He had been expecting the leader or a messenger or something important, not two more womne exactly thte same as those already present.

They all wore ninja uniforms, which accounts for their behavior and relative skill. The uniforms were tight with no sleeves and thin ubi. Most of their legs were exposed, down to their white socks and slip-on shoes. The majority of the uniforms were dark blue or dark green. None of this was extraordinary for shinobi, even kinoichi. The startling aspect was the chains. Each had two or three chains cross-crossed over their waist and between ten and twenty thinner chains connecting their shoulders with wrist bands, acting as sleeves. The chains were a mud color though they seemed clean so Saitou could only assume they were supposed to be that color. They also did not clink together, but rather, when rubbed together they seemed to make a soft swishing sound as if made of cloth. They probably were a form of armor as well as decoration. Unless the sword was parallel to them, they would block, or at least slow it down. All in all their entire ensemble was rather intriguing. Their hair was tied up in every imaginable fashion, though it was all up and out of the way. He saw ponytails, buns, braids, braided buns, braided ponytails, double ponytails, and any other method of keeping long hair out of one's face., not that he ever paid much attention to women's hairstyles.

"You idiots should pay attention"

A quiet whisper, harsh as steel, caught his attention. Actually it startled him so much he nearly jumped, which he only didn't do because he was Saitou Hajime, and he was tied to the roots of a tree. None of the women in front of him could have said this, the voice came from behind him. Yet another woman came up behind him. She stopped just behind his left shoulder. All the girls looked at her, confused but chastised. He smirked inwardly, they had let their guard down a little and they knew it. But this new person was a mystery.

He was now quite off-balance, he couldn't sense her, he had to use other senses and ignore what his ki "sensor" was telling him.

She came forward and put a hand on his left shoulder, "Please completely open your eyes, Saitou Hajime"

000

Saitou opened his eyes and attempted to look at this woman whose ki was completely blended with her background. It was like trying to see a fly; if you don't keep your eyes on it, you will look right over it. It was even more agravating than 'Miss Invisible'.

He found that he couldn't physically look at her, his wrists were bound behind the tree and his ankles were similarly bound to the roots.

The woman, Fawn he assumed, put her hand on his shoulder and came in front of him. She wasn't dressed much different. A startling thing about her was her head. She had a bun of blonde hair, though she definitely looked Japanese. Her eyes were a hard blue green. They practically glowed in the dark. She purred to him not to strain himself as he tried to get a better look at her before she was completely in front of him.

The group giggled, Girls Saitou just glared at them. He was not finding this funny in the least. This woman was dangerous, and "Miss Invisible" would be difficult too. THey were the type of opponent you could predict. He would probably spend all the time he could observing them. "Miss Invisible" moved in a soldiers directness. He got the impression she was second in command and she knew it well. Her moved would be precise and practiced. Fawn, on the other hand, moved with a fluid grace to put water to shame. She would bend around attacks and find every unlikely weakness. He doubted either of them had to worry about many opponents. They all just stood there around him giggling for a moment.

"Report!" Fawn ordered, her voice stern in its merriment. Still giggling a woman and 'Miss Invisible' came over to report. Saitou wanted to hear what was reported but Miss Wet Cloth came over and sat in his lap. She was one of the smaller of the girls, however, when she moved her body looked as though it had great speed and agility. She had gotten the cloth wet again, but Saitou doubted it would be as relaxing now as it had been earlier. His headache had faded for the most part to a mild ache, that was more of a pain than a headache.

"You must still have a headache Saitou-sama"

Many of the women had come over and they were almost preening him, flirting he assumed. They were still giggling and laughing to themselves. Their fingers were feeling his hair and tapping his shoulder. Generally, and annoyingly, drawing his attention.

"Ferret! Girls!" Fawn had stopped talking to her reporters and was staring at the group of fighters, looking almost as annoyed as Saitou felt. One of the group, a restrained individual, felt immense relief. He was not used to what the girls had been doing and could not rationalize it out. He was their captive, and they were combing his hair with their fingers! That was usually what you did if you wanted to infiltrate, not guard.

"What are you doing?" That's what I wanted to ask

"We were just going to begin questioning him that's all" Miss Wet Cloth crooned sweetly batting her eyes at Saitou. He was not amused to say the least. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he glared at her. He could have wiggled his nose for all the good it did. She just giggled and ignored him.

"Squirrel, if you must have your fun go about it one at a time…and cleanly" Fawn responded after thinking a moment. She made sure to enforce the second half of her order. Saitou was confused. Cleanly? What kind of shinobi were these people?

Squirrel pouted. All these nuts must have animal nicknames, a good idea for women if I do think so myself. Saitou thought to himself as he began to file names away for future reference. He already could see resemblance. Squirrel was small, light and agile, and Ferret was inquistive, agile and flexible.

At this point, Squirrel replanted herself on Saitou's lap saying excitedly, "me first me first" Saitou just raised his eyebrows at her antics and further locked his jaws against what ever torture they had in store.


A/N i have combined chs 1&2 so it's nicer. and added more detail

sorry for all the problems

i realize this sits hard sometimes and yes i am very unconfident

but i post this for others enjoyment and if they aren't enjoying it then i shouldn't post it

my next ch already has 900 words, so it will be longer

i would like to thank all my current reveiwers;

cleo
Saitou is knocked out because there wasn't any other way he would get himself captured and tied to a tree
he way to cool for that

nannon
thank you so much for the compliment

Narouki
i'm still typing the next chapter

TheBetanWerecat
Thank you for the scathing opinion of reveiw blackmailing
i will attempt to take it to heart

"someone, doesnt matter who "
i am going to continue at least another chapter i hope

and a special thanks to Menolly Harper for her insights
i hope we keep communicating

Ja Ne