AN: Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoy this Chapter! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: This story is mine, the characters and their worlds are not, they belong to their original creators only!

Chapter 9

Yahiko dashed forward raising the his bokken as he went. "HAA!" He yelled as he brought down the wooden training sword in a slash towards Kenshin, who easily blocked it one handed with his borrowed bokken. Stepping to the side Kenshin easily sent Yahiko stumbling forward under his own momentum and readied himself for Yahiko's next strike. They were both working up a good sweat as they spared in the yard as the warm morning sun gave the promise of a hot summer afternoon to come.

They had been sparring for half an hour by this point, and Kenshin could tell Yahiko was tiring. He was pleased at how well Yahiko was coming along though. The boy was getting quick on his feet and his stances were very good. Easily dodging another attack he quickly countered which sent Yahiko stumbling again. Naruto's cat calling from the engawa had Yahiko growling and rushing in again before he was ready, with a quick dodge on Kenshin's part, Yahiko ended up face first on the ground.

Kenshin looked down at the panting boy as he sat up. "You need to keep better control of your temper Yahiko, you can not let taunting get to you. If you lose your head in battle it will cost you your life, that it will." He said as he offered the boy a hand up.

"Yeah, yeah…..I know." Yahiko sighed as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Why don't you go and get cleaned up, you have work at the Akabeko today don't you?" Kenshin asked as he looked up to judge the time.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you there tonight then." Yahiko said as he started to move off.

"Aa, we will be there." He said dismissing the boy. As he moved to go to the well to get a drink of water Naruto shot off of the engawa, where he had been sitting with HInata and Sano, and made a beeline for him.

"That was soo COOL Ji-san! Yahiko didn't stand a chance against you!" He exclaimed excitedly. "You didn't even need two hands on your bokken either! You were all like….'HA!'...and he was on the ground!" He said as he playfully imitated the spar.

Kenshin laughed at his antics. "I have years more experience than Yahiko does Naruto, that I do. He is doing well though, so do not be so quick to judge. I doubt you will do better against me yourself when we spar later."

"Yeah right! I'm going to show you just how awesome I am so just you wait Ji-san!" Naruto exclaimed, his excitement growing again at the promise of a full on spar.

Kenshin chuckled at this. "We will see won't we then?" He said as he reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately. "Why don't you go and get Hinata and the two of you get your things together so we can leave in a little while."

"You got it!" Naruto said with a grin as he turned and dashed back over to the engawa. "Come on Hinata! We gotta get our stuff!" He said as he hopped up onto the engawa and dashed around the house, Hinata following after him at a more sedate pace.

"He's going to run us all into the ground one of these days." Sano said with a chuckle as he walked over. "I don't think I have ever met anyone with so much energy in my life, I swear just watching him makes me tired!"

"I know what you mean." Kenshin said as he finished his drink of water, placing the wooden ladle and cup they kept there away. "I am going to get quite the workout today, that I am. Did you want to come with us? Hinata-dono made a bunch of onigiri for us to have a quick lunch once we find a good spot for our spar."

"Nah, I can't. I got some things I got to do in town today." Sano replied with a sigh.

"Next time then." He said as he looked off towards the house. "Will you be at the Akabeko tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course! Don't tell those two, but Missy and Tae decided they wanted to throw a little welcome to the 'family' party for them." Sano said, studying Kenshin a bit.

Kenshin grinned at this. "Aa….I suppose we are kinda like a mismatched little family aren't we?"

"Yeah we are." Sano agreed with a smile. "Well, I'll see ya tonight." He said as he turned and left with a wave.

Kenshin watched Sano leave, his grin slipping as the same foreboding feeling he had had last night came back full force.

It didn't take them long to reach the bamboo forest on the outskirts of the city. It was a place Kenshin knew well as he liked to come here to clear his mind and run through his kenjutsu kata's in peace. There was a moderately sized clearing out of sight from the road that they decided would work and once they had their light lunch Kenshin had them start with a short, full spar. This time however he would allowed them to use kunai, shuriken and low level jutsu's. The only stipulation he had put in place was no kenjutsu as they were going to have a kenjutsu spar later. What he hoped to do by structuring the spars this way was to enforce kenjutsu as a separate fighting style from what they normally use. By forming this separation in their minds it would allow them to build the habits and reflexes they would need to fight successfully in a kenjutsu battle. Once he was satisfied that they could fight just as well with kenjutsu as they could with their shinobi skills, then and only then, would they be able to begin to integrate kenjutsu into their shinobi fighting style.

Kenshin watched as Naruto put Hinata on the defensive with a pair of shadow clones. She hopped back once, twice, three times as she dodged the clones attacks before she found an opening and bolted forward, hitting them with her chakra laced palms and causing them to dispel. Using her momentum to carry her forward, she continued on and engaged Naruto himself in a short, fast paced exchange of blows which ended when he managed to dodge a blow and flip over her. He allowed them to continue on in this way for several more minutes before he called a halt to the fight.

"Now, before we begin our kenjutsu spars I want the two of you to come at me using your shinobi skills." He said as he moved towards the opposite side of the clearing. Once he was in position he turned towards them. "But first, have either of you been taught how to control your KI?"

"No."

"N-no…"

"Alright. I will not start you on that today, but I will release mine so that you will be able to recognise the feel of my KI." Kenshin said as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few moments his eyes snapped open. They were narrowed dangerously, their normal warmth gone. The natural violet color was darker, cold as steel and flecked with gold. The air around him became more oppressive. The leaves that were fluttering gently down from the higher parts of the bamboo plants around them seemed to freeze in mid air. As he let loose his KI the leaves that seemed to be frozen in place swirled and exploded outwards, turning dangerously sharp with the explosion of his released KI and all the bamboo stalks within ten meters of him were cut down as if by a blade.

Naruto and Hinata both stumbled back, tripping over themselves a bit as the dense wave of power washed over them. They stared in awe at him, for neither of them had ever felt KI so potent before. Naruto couldn't help but think that even Zabuza would have wet his pants if his Ji-san had been his opponent.

"It is important…" He said gaining the full attention of both young genin, his voice having taken on a much more serious tone than before. "...to remember that there are two things in this world that a swordsman is bound to with bonds that can never be severed. Those two things are 'the sword' and 'the fight'. In this way swordsmen and shinobi from our homeland are much alike. Without 'the fight' our bodies, minds and skills become rusty and dull like an old forgotten blade. Useless and without a purpose. Our KI will build up to oppressive levels, darkening our moods, our minds and even our hearts. That is why swordsmen and shinobi alike are forever training. To keep our KI in balance, our bodies and minds strong and lethal. And that is also why the bond with 'the sword' can never be broken. 'The sword', our way of life, forever fighting to protect what we deem important by using our power, our strength, that we have worked diligently to hone and sharpen into the finest of weapons."

"Now…" He continued as he took another deep breath and allowed his KI to dissipate. The warm, violet color returning to his eyes in the process. "...we will begin."

Kenshin was pleasantly tired as the three of them walked down the busy street. The downtown business district was humming with late afternoon shoppers and he watched as both Naruto and Hinata, who were walking several paces ahead of him, looked around with great interest. Even though they had been in Tokyo for just over a week, they hadn't had a chance to explore the city yet. Not with everything that had been going on recently anyway. He decided that it was time, beyond time really, that they be introduced to the city that would be their home for the next few years.

The sound of Naruto's voice brought him out of his ponderings. "Are we almost there Ji-san?" Naruto asked as he turned around and walked backwards, his hands behind his head. "Are we eating there too? Their food is really good, even if it isn't ramen!"

Hinata let out a giggle and turned towards him. "A-all you ever think about is ramen."

Naruto turned slightly towards her as he continued to walk backwards. "Well of course! Ramen is the best food ever!" He exclaimed.

Kenshin let out a chuckle at Naruto's enthusiasm. "Yes we are almost there. Just another block up the street and you will see it on the right."

"Yatta!" Naruto exclaimed. "You wanna race?" He asked Hinata as he turned to bolt through the crowd, running face first into an extremely large, one armed man. Stumbling back he landed on his back with loud 'OOF'.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Hinata asked concerned as she looked down at him for a moment before moving her attention to the large man. As she looked up...and up...she became a bit nervous. This man was the tallest, most muscular man she had ever seen and he was looking down at them with an unreadable expression on his face. "Um...P-Please excuse Naruto-kun Sir, H-He wasn't watching where he was g-going." She said, fidgeting nervously as she took a small step back, bowing low to the large man. "W-we are sorry for being in your way!" She said as she apologized for the two of them.

Sitting up Naruto, who hadn't been paying any attention to what was going on, looked up at Hinata. "Ow, did I run into a brick wall or something? Hey, why are you bowing?" He asked as he turned his attention to what, or more precisely who, he had run into. "Whoa! YOU'RE HUGE!" He exclaimed a bit surprised at first, but a smile quickly splitting his face as he stood up. "You must be really strong huh?! THAT'S SOO AWESOME! I hope I get strong like you! Then I would be soo awesome too! No one would stand a chance against me and I could beat all the bad guys no problem!"

Hinata grabbed his arm to get his attention. "N-Naruto-kun, you ran into him, you should apologize." She said once she got his attention.

"Oh, right!" He said as he looked up at him. Smiling up at him sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his head he continued. "Yeah, sorry I ran into you! I wasn't looking where I was going and I probably should have been ya'know! We're going to the Akabeko with Ji-san to meet up with his friends and stuff and I wanted to race Hinata, but anyway, their food is really good but not as good as ramen! Do you like ramen?"

Hyougo Kujiranami stared down at the small blonde boy in front of him as he looked up at him with large, friendly blue eyes and an eager expression on his face. He reminded him vaguely of an over eager puppy. "Ramen's ok…." He replied in his deep, baritone voice. "You should pay more attention to where you are going gaki. Not everyone is forgiving." He said as he moved around the two kids and continued down the street.

Kenshin stood frozen, he had lost sight of Naruto and Hinata for a moment in the crowd as a large group had passed and when they had come back in sight Naruto was on the ground and that man was there, looking down at him. 'That man, he...he's the one I fought that day….' He thought stunned as he watched the short exchange between Naruto, Hinata and the ex-samurai. As the man continued down the street, passing Kenshin as he went, he slowly turned and watched the man walk away. Still in shock, he didn't hear Naruto asking if he was ok.


He stood quietly looking down on Tokyo from Mount Ueno, the street lanterns and gas lights sparkling in the night much like the stars above. Hyogo Kujiranami couldn't help but enjoy the view, it was beautiful after all. Sensing a presence nearby he turned slightly. "It's about time you showed Enishi-san." He said as he spotted the white haired young man.

"Ah, forgive me, I was enjoying the walk here." Enishi said with a grin, his voice pleasant. "I almost forgot how eager everyone is to start, you most of all. You're weapon is waiting for you whenever you're ready." He adjusted his dark tinted glasses a bit. "It the perfect night for this, the beginning of our revenge, don't you think Kujiranami-san?"


Naruto and Hinata had both been a little embarrassed and very flattered at the party that had been thrown for them, Naruto especially. He had never felt so accepted in his life and it nearly drove him to tears. Dinner at the Akabeko had been fun and loud as even Megumi, Dr. Gensai and his granddaughters had shown up, both girls excited about seeing their 'nii-san' and 'nee-san' again.

Once dinner had finished, drinks had been passed around for a while. Sano had entertained the group for a bit with a few stories of some of the fights he had been in, playing up his part of course. Eventually Dr. Gensai, with Megumi's help, had gathered up his sleepy granddaughters and left for home.

Now everyone was out, walking by the river and enjoying the evening breeze that was coming in from the coast as was their habit whenever they ate out at the Akabeko. Fireflies lit up the area making the night seem almost magical. Kenshin watched, barely paying attention, as his friends made their way down the slight embankment to the river's edge, chatting and even trying to catch a firefly or two.

Sano eyed Kenshin speculatively as he walked up to him. "You know Kenshin…." He began, startling the red head. "...I know there has been a lot going on, getting those two settled and figuring out what needs to be done with their training and all, but you have been acting weird the last couple of days. You've been getting all dark on me again, and don't think I haven't noticed. I'm your friend, I notice these things. Even missy's been giving you worried looks that you haven't noticed, so I want to know what's going on in that head of yours."

Kenshin looked at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Aa, well I guess I should be more surprised if you didn't notice." He said with a chuckle. "It's true, my mood's been a bit dark the last couple of day's…..I just needed to cut loose a bit and having a good spar with Naruto and Hinata this afternoon really helped, that it did." He said as he turned back to watch as Naruto was horsing around with Yahiko causing both boys to fall into the river, much to the girls amusement. "As for being a bit weird….well I kept getting this feeling yesterday and this morning, almost like a premonition. I felt like something dark was on the horizon. I haven't felt a feeling like that since the war…..and this afternoon we came across someone I had fought in the Bakumatsu, Hyougo Kujiranami. I can't help but think that the two may be related somehow."

"If it's the guy that I'm thinking of, he had just had dinner at the Akabeko before you showed up, and to be fair, he was probably just passing through the city. You're probably just reading too much into it Kenshin. We've been at peace now for over a decade, just because you run across someone you fought in the war doesn't mean that something bad's about to happen." Sano said as he rubbed at the back of his head in thought. "I will give you that the coincidence is kinda nerve wracking though, but really, I wouldn't worry about it. And if something happens then we'll deal with it. You got us to help you out now so it'll be fine either way."

"Thanks Sano, you're right. There really is no need to worry about it unless something happens, that there isn't." Kenshin said, feeling relieved to have talked with Sano, and to know that he would be there to help if needed.

"No problem, we're friends, we are supposed to help each other out right?" He said with a grin as the rest of the group started making their way back up the embankment, two dripping wet boys in tow.

"That's true, that it is." Kenshin said with a smile. As he turned and eyed the condition of the two boys he chuckled. "I think it's time to head back to the house so we can get these two dried off. What were the two of you doing anyway?" He asked.

"Nothing!" They chorused to the amusement of the girls.

Kaoru, who was standing near Kenshin, turned to the two men. "They were showing off." She said with amusement.

Kenshin chuckled at this. "Aa, I see." He said as he took in the pouting faces of the two boys. "Well, boys will be boys as they say." He said. "Let's get going, it's getting late and these two will catch a cold if they don't get dried off soon." He said as he turned and headed down the road again. "Tae-dono, we will walk you and Tsubame-dono back to the Akabeko since it's on the way. I wouldn't want anything to happen to the two of you this late in the evening."

"Thank you Kenshin, you're always such the gentleman!" Tae teased as they walked along.

"I know, right?" Kaoru said as she joined in. Turning to address the two boys following in her wake she continued. "You two could learn a lot about manners from Kenshin, especially if you want to impress the girls." She teased, causing both boys to blush and sputter denials which caused the rest of the group to laugh.

A few minutes later the group had settled down into quiet chatter as they walked along the river road. They were approaching the turn they would need to take to head back into downtown to reach the Akabeko when the quiet evening was destroyed by the sound of a loud boom.

Kenshin's blood turned to ice at the sound. 'No...that sound...it couldn't be…' he thought to himself as he turned in the general direction that the sound had originated from. He could hear the confusion of his friends as they talked around him.

"What was that, fireworks?" Kaoru asked, confused.

"It's awful late to be setting off fireworks isn't it?" Tae replied.

Hinata and Naruto both looked at each other, sharing a nervous look between them. "I-I don't know what that was, but that wasn't fireworks." Hinata said as turned towards Kaoru.

"It wasn't? I wonder what it was then?" Kaoru said curiously.

Naruto gulped a bit. "It had to be a weapon of some kind. A very powerful weapon."

"It sounded like an Armstrong cannon, but I could be wrong. We should all get home quickly, that we should. We don't know what is going on and I would rather not get involved in something that we shouldn't." Kenshin said as he turned and started back down the road at a quick pace, his friends following close behind.

They moved quickly into the city and were making their way through downtown when the a loud ringing sound could be heard.

"That's the fire bell!" Kaoru said nervously as they moved quickly through the deserted streets.

This whole situation was making Naruto feel edgy, and Hinata wasn't faring much better. The fire bell sounded too much like the civilian evacuation signal in Konoha for either of them to stay relaxed. With a shared look, Naruto quickly signaled her to go scout the area. Hinata gave a slight nod before she quietly dropped to the back of the group and then quickly jumped up onto a nearby roof to so she could use her byakugan without being seen.

Sano was a bit startled a short time later when Hinata suddenly appeared between himself and Kenshin as the two men walked at the head of the group. She had an air of seriousness about her as Naruto jogged up to them as well.

"Kenshin-sensei, I did a quick check of the area." She said, keeping her voice low. "There is no fire….but the Akabeko has been destroyed."

Kenshin and Sano shared a look. "The Akabeko?" Kenshin asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes sensei. I-I recognized the shops around it. It could only be the Akabeko." Hinata replied.

Naruto let out an angry growl. "Bastards! Who the do something like that?!"

"Kenshin?" Kaoru called as she hurried to catch up. "What's going on?"

Suddenly a shrill whistle could be heard as the sound of running footsteps approached. "MAKE WAY!" Yelled a man's voice as a large group of men in blue uniforms came racing down an adjoining street. As they turned onto the next street, passing Kenshin and his group in doing so, one of the men broke away from the group for a moment.

Recognising the man as he jogged over, Kenshin stepped forward to meet him. "Chief Uramura, can you tell me what's going on?" He asked.

"Someone has fired a cannon at the city from Mount Ueno. The Akabeko took a direct hit and was destroyed, you need to get your people out of the streets, it's not safe." The police chief replied quickly, shocking the group with his words. "We're headed there now to try and catch whoever is doing this before they fire again." He said as he turned and quickly ran off after his men.

Tae was trembling, her hands covering her mouth. "Oh no…" She said as she turned large frightened eyes towards Kaoru, who was just as shocked.

Kenshin turned steely eyes towards Sano, communicating without words that they too were going to go and help the police. He turned quickly to address Kaoru, his voice stern and full of urgency. "Take Tae-dono and Tsubame-dono to the Akabeko to see if anything can be done. We are going to offer the chief our aide."

Kaoru nodded as she watched him turn to leave. "Alright, just be careful."

"Don't worry missy." Sano replied for him. "With us and the police everything will be fine."

Kenshin took off at a quick pace down the street following the path the police had been headed in. Naruto and Hinata were hot on his heels with Sano only a couple paces behind them. Yahiko, the slowest of the group was a bit farther back, running hard to try and keep up with Sano.

Naruto was growing more frustrated with every twist and turn they took through the city. His temper finally snapping when they turned yet again. "DAMIT! Why are we staying on the street?! The roof tops would be faster!"

Kenshin eyed him as he ran. "Sano and Yahiko can't get up there as easily as we can and they wouldn't be able to make the jumps between buildings, that they would not."

Naruto growled low in his frustration. "Why can't they just meet us there then?!"

"It's alright, take them ahead Kenshin, we'll catch up." Sano said, having heard the conversation. "We are almost out of the city anyway, so we won't be far behind."

Kenshin looked over his shoulder at Sano as he gave a nod. "Alright, just don't take too long." He said as he turned back around. Pouring more power into his legs. As he approached another turn in the road he ran straight for the one story building and leapt up, gracefully landing on the lower part of the roof, Naruto and Hinata landing next to him. The three took off across the roof and out of Sano's sight.

"DAMIT! Where are they going?!" Yahiko growled out in frustration as he ran behind Sano.

"They took a shortcut." Sano replied over his shoulder.

"What! Oh come on!" Yahiko exclaimed.


It only took them a couple of minutes to reach the base of Mount Ueno. As they leapt down from the last roof Kenshin scanned the area quickly as he lead them to the shelter of a large tree. "Sano and Yahiko will be here shortly. Hinata-dono, can you check the area?" He asked.

Hinata gave a nod as she replied. "Yes sensei." With a quick leap she was up and out of sight in the tree.

A couple of minutes later she leapt back down. Looking up at Kenshin she gave her report. "T-there is a shrine up at the top of the hill here." She said as she motioned towards Mount Ueno. "The uniformed men from before are all up there surrounding a large tree that has been knocked over. I didn't see anyone else up there except for them."

"Damnit! That means they got away already!" Naruto growled as he frowned in his annoyance.

Kenshin looked up towards the shrine, his expression serious. "Yes, but that doesn't mean that they didn't leave any clues behind. We should still go up and see if there is anything we can do to help, that we should." He said.

Just as they were preparing to climb the stairs to the shrine Sano and Yahiko caught up.

"See, I told you we would catch up no problem." Sano huffed at Yahiko as he came to a stop at the base of the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah….whatever." Yahiko replied.

Sano glanced around before turning to Kenshin. "So, where is everybody?" He asked.

"Their all up at the shrine, we're headed there now." Kenshin replied as he started up the stairs at a quick pace, everyone else following closely behind.

After a few minutes of climbing they reached the top of the stairs. Naruto and Yahiko were panting heavily. "Those stairs….are torcher!" Naruto whined.

"Wuss, those stairs….were nothing….for a samurai!" Yahiko said, although he secretly agreed with Naruto.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "If they were so easy….then why are you….breathing….as hard as I am?!"

Kenshin looked over his shoulder at them. "That's enough you two. No fooling around right now, do you understand?" He said, scolding the two boys a little. He turned away before they had a chance to argue and moved forward, finding the group of officers and the chief easily.

He walked over to the chief, who was talking to one of his subordinates. "Have you any ideas about what happened here chief?" He asked, gaining the man's attention.

Looking up, the police chief gives Kenshin a brief nod. "A few, although they don't seem to fit." He said as he started walking over to the fallen tree. "There are fresh marks on the trunk and a little gunpowder residue as well. So one would think that the cannon was the cause of the tree being knocked over."

"I looks like they used the tree to absorb the recoil." Kenshin said as he studied the marks in the trunk.

"It does…" The police chief agreed "...but there are no marks from the cannon's pedestal anywhere around here."

"Then it must have been carried here and fired by hand…..which would take someone of enormous strength." Kenshin said as he stood and looked around, noticing that Naruto and Hinata had wandered off a bit and were looking at something on the ground.

"I want to know how they managed to hit the Akabeko from here." Sano said as he looked out over the city. "There is no way to get a good shot at it, it's too far."

"Uh...Ji-san?" Naruto said as he looked up from what he was looking at. "Did you say it was being carried?" He asked.

"Most likely, why?" Kenshin asked as he moved towards the two shinobi.

"Well then, we found where that guy was standing!" He said excitedly as he pointed to the ground where two large footprints were indented in the ground in front of the base of the tree.

Kenshin crouched down and inspected the prints, the police chief and Sano right there with him. Both prints were dug deep into the soil, the ridge pattern of the woven sandals were clearly evident as well. "Good work." Kenshin said as he looked up at the two young shinobi. "Hinata, is there anyway for you to find out where they went?" He asked curiously.

The police chief raised his eyebrows at this, after all, he had his men looking for clues and no one had yet reported being able to find a trace of who did this. Then again, these two did find the footprints that they had overlooked.

Hinata looked nervously up at Kenshin for a moment before standing and looking around a bit. She paid special attention to what type of shoes the police officers were wearing. 'Well, they are wearing boots….and this person was wearing sandals of some type….and he is carrying something extremely heavy as well….' She thought to herself as she inspected the area.

She looked back up at Kenshin, who was waiting patiently for her to reply. "I-I can try sensei, but….umm…" She said as she glanced at the police chief quickly. "...my eyes…."

Kenshin gave a nod of understanding. Turning to the police chief he was about to ask him if they had found any other clues to distract him so Hinata could use her byakugan without being questioned when one of the officers came running over.

"SIR! SIR! We found a note! It's most likely from the person who fired the cannon!" The man said as reached the chief.

The chief quickly took the note and read it. "'Jinchuu'…..any idea what that means Himura-san?"

"They didn't mean 'Tenchuu' did they?" Sano asked curiously as he rubbed the back of his head.

Kenshin took the note from the chief to inspect it himself. "No….I believe that they meant 'Jinchuu'. 'Tenchuu' was a phrase used quite often by the Ishin Shishi during the revolution, it means imparting the justice of heaven with one's own hands."

The chief frowned at this. "If that's the case then…."

The pit of Kenshin's stomach dropped as a knot of dread started to form as he realized the meaning of the note that he held. "'Jinchuu' is a completely different kind of justice. Basically, if heaven spared you then we will bring you to judgement ourselves." He said as he handed back the note to the chief.

The chief adjusted his glasses as his frown deepened. "That doesn't tell me a whole lot. There are countless former samurai that still hold a grudge against the meiji government." He sighed as he turned and started to walk off. "Let me know if you find anything else out Himura-san."

"Of course chief." Kenshin replied to the retreating figure.

"So, do you think it's that big guy that you fought in the war that's behind this then?" Sano asked curiously.

"Maybe, but he's definitely not working alone. There is no way he would be able to get ahold of a cannon without help." Kenshin said as he gazed out over the city.

Moments later Naruto and Hinata came running up. "Kenshin-sensei, I-I found his trail...but it ends where the flagstone path begins on the other side of the shrine." Hinata said as she came to a stop by Kenshin and Sano.

"Yeah, and it looks like there was someone else here too!" Naruto said as he too came to a stop. "There was a second set of footprints, but that guy was wearing boots. I thought it might just be one of the police officers tracks, but Hinata said that this boot print was different than theirs."

Kenshin nodded at them. "Good work. I was thinking that there had to have been more than one person, that I was." He said as he turned and looked across the shrine grounds. "Have either of you seen Yahiko?"

"Yeah, he was helping one of the police officers with something." Naruto said as he waved over in the general direction of the shrine, where there were a few officers left finishing up their inspection of the grounds.

"Aa. Alright, I was wondering where he had disappeared to." Kenshin replied as he spotted Yahiko rounding the end of one of the buildings. "Well, let's go get him and then go get Kaoru-dono. There isn't anything else we can do tonight."

AN: So here we go, time for jinchuu! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! As for my reasons to staying close to cannon, it's because I view the act of Naruto and Hinata joining the group as an addition to the cannon RK storyline, and the events Enishi has planned were planned way in advance for the most part. I would doubt that there is a villain out there who would willingly make drastic changes to the initial steps to a plan because some unknown kids showed up. So, changes will be on a smaller scale as most events are important to the development of the jinchuu plot.

Now for you that may be concerned about whether or not Hinata will be used as just a damsel in distress character, fear not! Hinata is my absolute FAVORITE character in Naruto, I like her even more than Naruto himself! I have plans for her, she WILL have her place in the sun XD lol. But at the same time my aim is for the two of them to grow stronger not only together, but at a more realistic pace. Please remember that this story starts right after Sasuke defects the village (why Naruto was in the hospital for those who may have forgotten) and does not take into account any of the filler arcs at the end of the first series. Naruto and Hinata are 13 year old Genin with the skills and experience that one would expect for a shinobi of that age. They both have different issues to work on and plenty of room for growth. XD