Flaxen: Okay, so who's ready for another Sasuke story?

Sasuke: No.

Flaxen: Huh? Oh, is this over the whole 'I killed you last time' thing?

Sasuke: Yep.

Detective Bill Piranha: You killed Sasuke?!

Flaxen: Everyone, this is my very good friend Detective Bill. That's not their actual name, but this is the internet. Put the scissors down Bill. After the publication of A Trapped Ninja, my friend was less than thrilled with the content and forced me to write this. As in a Sasuke/Kasuga story. Problem is, I suck at romance so this is way out of my comfort zone.

Detective Bill Piranha: FlaxenHairedSamurai does not own Sengoku Basara. And Sasuke is not really dead.

Sasuke: I like this chick! See, this is how you treat your favourite character.

Being a ninja came with certain risks. For one, there was the risk of dying on a mission, and on occasion the worry that your own guards would mistake you for a threat. But it also left very little opportunity for romance. After all, women never trust a guy who sneaks around.

So they dealt with it in their own ways, Kasuga pined after Kenshin, and Kotaro…well there had to be something he did in between missions for Matsunaga. And then you had Sasuke, whose only love in life was teasing and flirting with Kasuga. Serious or not, it got on her nerves.

So you could say the Kunoichi was less than overjoyed to be carting a half conscious Sasuke away from what was either a drunken crowd of guards, or just a very annoyed crowd of guards. However way you looked at it, it was a crowd of guards, and unless they were showing off magic tricks (which Sasuke hadn't been) then a ninja had no business being in the centre of it. In fact, it wasn't often advisable to show magic tricks to your enemies regardless of how much trouble you were in.
But that was the situation Sasuke had gotten into, and it had fallen to Kasuga to get him out of it. "It will be easy he said. I'll distract them while you get the maps he said. Well Sarutobi? What do you say to this?"
"Can you slow down?"

Growing up in a ninja village had taught Sasuke more than the tricks of the trade. By helping out with the younger trainees, he'd gained the various skills that convinced Masayuki Sanada that this ninja could be trusted with his son.

And whilst serving at Ueda castle, he'd discovered that children were extremely prone to getting into trouble, and usually left a mess in their wake whilst they got into trouble.

But one lesson that he would pass onto his children (if he had any) and certainly onto the recruits he was training was this: Never insult a woman's strength. When Sasuke was fifteen, it had been his turn to get some of the commanders out of the tavern, and he'd ended up rescuing them from the furious barmaid.

For all the jokes he pulled at Kasuga's expense, Sasuke was no feeling so suicidal as to imply she was weak. Weak at the knees around Kenshin maybe, but not weak in strength.

However…Sasuke grunted as Kasuga flung him on the ground… she could be a bit gentler with her patients.

The pair of them had been planning this mission for weeks, carefully orchestrating both cover stories and several, several plan Bs. Right now, anyone near Takeda or Uesugi estates would see the resident ninja going about their daily business. In reality, Sasuke had finally taught his recruits the Illusion technique, and this was their final test. Though it seemed like they wouldn't have too many problems, considering the second his female recruit transformed into Kasuga, her colleagues had quickly picked up on her new 'assets' and she had decked the pair of them hard enough to make Yukimura wince. It was only after they were promised that she would be in Echigo the whole time that one of them finally volunteered to be Sasuke's kagemusha.

So in accordance with their original plot, along plan B27, Kasuga had quite literally yanked Sasuke out of the drunken/annoyed crowd of guards, slung him across the rear end of her 'borrowed' horse, and without accounting for any pain Sasuke may have been in (a lot) had moved to this small cave far from the city's border.

No sooner had Kasuga dropped him off, she was gone again, returning a little while late with the small bags they'd left at the inn, prior to putting the mission into practise.

Settling down next to the male shinobi, Kasuga soon relaxed, the shallow breaths Sasuke managed to draw becoming the only sounds in their stone shelter. "Are you going to be able to travel later?"

"Hang on, just let me ask my broken leg." Wincing, Sasuke let his sarcastic side back in. As he'd told Yukimura, when it was work, he took it seriously. Unless there was a certain Kunoichi next to him, and hours until nightfall when they would leave. His mind was just thinking up the first round of jokes and pranks, when Kasuga's voice broke in,

"You broke your leg?" Hearing the tinge of concern, Sasuke nodded, pointing to the outstretched leg in front of him. Shifting from her seat, Kasuga gingerly prodded it, ignoring the tiny gasp of pain, simply moving her finger up, and poking his knee.

The reaction here was much better, with Sasuke jolting forwards slightly (eliciting another hiss) and full on glaring at his partner in this particular crime. Not bothering with trifles such as sympathy or bedside manner, Kasuga merely began checking over other areas, discovering two broken ribs, a bruised one, a dislocated shoulder (which she'd dealt with almost immediately, much to Sasuke's extreme and vocal displeasure) along with bloodied knuckles. "You could've given them as good as you got."

"And let them guess there was more than one ninja was about? Not a chance."

"Chivalry may be a good quality, but there are times and places to use it, Sasuke."

Grinning ruefully, Sasuke tried to adjust his position, only to be held by Kasuga, whose eyes firmly advised against argument. "I'm going to go find some food; you stay here and get some rest."

"Yeah yeah. Try not to find any gorgeous warlords and forget about me." The flush on her face was worth it, even if it did seem to be threatening bugs and poisonous berries being his dinner for the evening.

The rock that only just missed his leg was less worth it, but still brought a laugh out of the ninja.

After returning the horse anonymously, Kasuga headed straight for the nearest teahouse, her disguised form gaining few glances. Despite Kenshin calling her 'his most beautiful blade', the truth was her hair colour made her stick out in a crowd, and in the aftermath of the kind of mission she and Sasuke had just undertaken, sticking out in a crowd was a no-no.

Paying for the food and drinks, Kasuga left quickly, scurrying through the masses until she would eventually escape, her feet free to move at swift speeds and back to Sasuke…

Until a guard grabbed her.

Flight or fight instincts kicking in, Kasuga gave a realistic show of resistance, until the guard loosened his grip on her arm. "Easy lady, we just wanted to ask you something!"

"L-let me go!" Eyes forced into a wide eyed display of fear, Kasuga fought the overwhelming urge to send her sandaled foot into the idiot's groin. Sighing, the guard let his hand drop to his side, unwittingly revealing his scraped knuckles. Combined with the lack of alcohol on his breath, Kasuga concluded that the crowd Sasuke had been caught in were just annoyed this time, but not enough to actually draw their weapons.

"We had a…incident here earlier today. Have you seen anyone acting suspiciously at all today? Anything is helpful."
Shaking her head, Kasuga answered in the negative, the persistent guard asking several more questions, but the message finally got across: She didn't know anything and had to get back to her husband. At last allowed to go on her way, Kasuga thanked every divine being that Sasuke hadn't been at her side for the interrogation. He'd only use the husband excuse to fuel his ridiculous joke that they were betrothed.

Dropping the food in at the mouth of the cave, Kasuga could only stare at the scene before her. In the short time she'd been gone, it appeared Sasuke had taken her advice, and was sleeping peacefully. His head had lolled onto his chest, which despite the broken ribs, appeared to be moving relatively fine.
What had halted the Kunoichi was his appearance. With the need for secrecy and stealth past even ninja level, Sasuke had also gone in disguise, the green face paint that he usually wore completely gone, and his headpiece sitting in his bag with the rest of his usual attire. Even his russet hair was unusually tame, a feat accomplished with several pints of water, and the brave sacrifice of one comb's teeth.

The end result was an extraordinarily small Sarutobi Sasuke. Not in height of course, but the very tone he typically radiated was muted somehow. Only now did Kasuga see how his camouflage add to his bulk, ninjas were after all trained to be fast and strike from the shadows. What muscle was there was hidden in the material of the yukata he'd worn for the mission.

Kasuga wondered briefly how she hadn't noticed before, but as she was wrapping a length of bandage around his chest, the answer just came to her, "Couldn't wait till I was awake huh?"

Scoffing, the female ninja finished up her task, settling back on her haunches to survey her handiwork. "It's never a good idea to tease the one dealing with your injuries. Do you want your hands dealing with first, or do you want to eat?"

"Tough choice. I'll go with the food please. No point delaying the agonising death you probably hid in the tea."

Despite herself, Kasuga smirked, turning away so she could mix in the painkillers she'd also picked up. Having taken a similar blend herself not too long ago, she carefully edged away; just missing the spray Sasuke spat, the bitter taste evidently not agreeing with him. "Can I have that death now?"

"Not until you finish your medicine."

Grimacing, Sasuke held up his cup in a mock toast, shuddering as he swallowed. Once the dregs were gone, he let Kasuga refill the cup, but didn't dare take another sip until he'd taken a few mouthfuls of rice.

Whilst Sasuke ate, occasionally calling out a joke that she had to roll her eyes at, Kasuga set to gathering firewood, building up their light and heat source. Their original plan had been to start heading home during the night, but with a broken leg and three out of action ribs dragging them back, Kasuga didn't want to risk further injury or the worry of being discovered.

Instead, dropping a pile of sticks down, she set Sasuke to work building a splint, whilst she sent the maps and their report on ahead, the messenger bird soaring into the dim evening. With any luck, it would get to Kenshin or Shingen, and the guards would be warned to expect them, preventing any complications when they did arrive.

As soon as the first crackles caught his attention, Sasuke gave a small noise of satisfaction, but continued to keep his hands busy, the splint starting to take shape.

"Can you hold this piece here?"

"Sure." Almost the second Kasuga put her hand on the twig; Sasuke wound a thin wire round his leg, his shuriken poking out of his bag slightly. Raising an eyebrow, the Kunoichi briefly considered a lecture on the infection risk that using that particular material might pose, but decided against it when her patient began trying to lie down. "Easy there, you should stay sitting up. Less pressure on your ribs."

"But I'm tired." Sasuke jokingly whined, not giving up on his efforts. Shaking her head at him, Kasuga moved away, both to give him space to fail in his mission, and to check on the messenger bird that was adjusting his course outside. As she unrolled the note tied around his leg. Kasuga briefly noted the bird wasn't the one she'd just sent, her suspicions confirmed when it perched next to Sasuke, who was still struggling with his position.

Whilst his fingers stroked at the hawk's plumage, Kasuga scanned the note, passing it to him with a smile, "Looks like your Danna got worried when you didn't report in earlier. He's on his way now."

"He worries too much sometimes." Contrary to what he said, there was a brief look of relief on Sasuke's face, though that may also be due to the fact that he had finally succeeded in lying down, his bag underneath his head. "Wake me up when he gets here."

Rolling her eyes at him, Kasuga quickly kicked the bag out, timing it just as he was beginning to doze off. "Don't you remember anything they taught us in the village? When sleeping with broken ribs, you shouldn't elevate your head."

"If I missed that class, you missed the one on bedside manner."

Blowing at her hair in frustration, Kasuga just rifled through his pack, grabbing a knife, and leaving the cave with it swinging from her finger. For around an hour, she marked out a trail for Yukimura to follow, watched only by a beady eyed fox in the bushes.

By the time she returned, Sasuke had gotten himself relatively comfy, and didn't look too far from sleep. Taking the bundle for herself, Kasuga lay down next to him, using her arm as added support. She wasn't really feeling tired, and if Yukimura really was going to arrive soon, then she at least wanted to be awake to greet him.
At the same time though, if Sasuke nodded off, then she'd be left with no one to talk to. "Kasuga?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so attracted to Kenshin? You know he's pledged never to marry."

"I fail to see how that's any of your business." Mentally cursing himself, Sasuke craned his head to look at her, but was greeted only with the back of her head.
He wasn't a fool; he knew that it was the fact that Kenshin was so loyal to his vow that had her serve him so passionately. Ever since that day, when her ninja master had foolishly sent a half trained Kunoichi to assassinate a devout, handsome warlord, Kasuga had been chasing a shadow.

But was he so different? Maybe his work didn't have so many restrictions on love- as long as their hairpins stayed in their hair and not in Yukimura or Shingen's neck, it was fair game- but it similarly left him pursuing a ghost. Mind you, Kasuga had fallen in love with Kenshin whilst he was working. Sasuke's first view of her had been whilst she was in the tub. Good times, not so good black eyes.

Chuckling at the memory, both of the sighting and Yukimura's confused reaction to the fairly vague explanation surrounding the shinobi's bruised face; Sasuke settled down, eyes fluttering slowly closed.

Perhaps the worst part about outside missions, maybe even worse than the uncomfortable ground, was that if you were injured on one but managed to get back home, there'd most likely be a doctor or a friend nearby, and they'd hopefully prevent you from turning in your sleep. Not having that luxury at the moment, Sasuke could only jolt upwards, alleviating the pressure he'd just put on his leg, but causing strain to his non cooperative ribs.

Biting down his profanities for now, the ninja lay back down again, doing a quick scan of the area. Assured they were still alone, he turned his attention to Kasuga, who had moved during the night, her face looking towards him, and a look of utter serenity across her features. Deciding to take that as a sign of forgiveness, Sasuke gently tucked one of her bangs behind her ear, freezing when she turned her head into his touch.

"My Lord Kenshin…"

Blinking slowly, the shinobi withdrew his hand, unsure whether to be complimented or insulted. Hovering in a mix of the two, a plan took root and a mischievous smirk began to spread across his face.

Clearing his throat, Sasuke moved as close as possible, whispering in her ear, "I'm here, my most beautiful blade."

The hawk, who up until now had been watching the humans with bored disinterest, squawked as the pink glow forced him off his perch. Biting his cheek to avoid laughing at her, and ruining the fun, Sasuke swore he felt another rib crack, the reaction sparking a myriad of other devious plots.

A quick Illusion later, Sarutobi Sasuke had been replaced by Uesugi Kenshin, the splint feeling much looser. "Great, now I'll have to rebuild that." Gently sliding the collection of twigs and sticks down his leg, 'Kenshin' started to prop himself up, leaning his face directly over Kasuga's as he did so. "Are you ready to leave, Kasuga?"

Slowly opening her eyes, the blonde gasped sharply at the sight of her lord hovering above her, "My Lord K-Kenshin, what are you doing here?"

"Your trail led us here. Don't you remember?"

"My trail?" Kasuga briefly wondered, her eyes suddenly growing large, "Sasuke!" Sitting bolt upright, the Kunoichi hurriedly scanned the cave, hand flying to her mouth in worry, "Where is he?"

With a speed that would give him away were he posing as anybody but the War God himself, Sasuke took her shoulders, drawing her eyes back to his. "He's fine. Lord Shingen's Young Cub is helping him onto a horse outside. According to him, were it not for you, his injuries could have been far worse." Which wasn't a total lie. After all, he'd been in worse jams with guards, but this time all he'd had were his (unguarded) fists and a hope they would make enough noise to cover Kasuga's escape. Luckily it had also covered up her acquirement of their horse, the Kunoichi only just getting Sasuke out of there before one of the soldiers caused any internal damage.

By now, Kasuga's face was hot enough to rival the campfire, her lips forming several words, but not a sound came out. Now or never… "He asked that I give you this." This time Kasuga was able to form a tiny squeak, flushing even harsher as Sasuke lowered his lips to hers.

Back on his perch, Sasuke's hawk had just gotten comfy, but was again knocked off by the force of the aura surrounding the couple. Nothing could wreck this moment, Kasuga allowed herself to think, nothing, not even-

"SAAAASUKEEEEEE!"

Okay, maybe that.

Shocked by the sudden sound, Sasuke quickly moved away to glance at the opening, unaware that the woman below him was now staring with a cold, fierce rage.

"There must be some kind of a- Kasuga, why are you looking at me like that?"
Raising a hand to brush some hair away from the stony eyes glaring at him, Sasuke froze the second he saw bare fingers.

Kenshin wears gloves.

As the Tiger Cub of Kai spotted the cave, his pace increasing, Kasuga marched out with her pack over her shoulder and head held high. Spotting him, she smiled and jerked her thumb at the cave, "He's in back with a broken leg. I'll meet you both in Kai."

Nodding gratefully, Yukimura ventured inside, his the echoes of his steps coming quicker and louder when he saw Sasuke hunched over, hand covering his nose. "Sasuke, what happened?!"

"I'm alright, nothing to worry about Danna." Even so, the ninja needed help to stand, and even then he was leaning heavily on Yukimura, who wordlessly untied his bandana, letting Sasuke press it to his absolutely unwarranted broken nose.

Sasuke: So I didn't die, but I still get slugged?

Flaxen: It's the only realistic reaction I could think of. Bill, scissors.

Detective Bill Piranha: I'm not giving them up!

Sasuke: She's...not exactly sane is she?

Flaxen: Nope.