Author's Note: I'm back! See?! I updated pretty fast – compared to last time anyway.

IMPORTANT NOTE!! I changed and rewrote chapter one a little and changed the plot which will make sense in other chapters – so if you haven't read it after October 12, I suggest you re-read it or the later plot might not make sense. Thank you! ^_^

Disclaimers: Blah blah blah I don't own Rurouni Kenshin – what's the point of even putting disclaimers?? That's why this site is called FANFICTION.net, right?

Chapter 3: Meeting New People

Poke

Poke

SMACK!

"Oww, Katsu! That hurt!" Sano yelped in pain as he rubbed his aching head.

"Well, I wouldn't have hit you so hard if you had woken up when I had asked you to! Hurry up and get dressed – you'll make us miss breakfast! Which WE have to get by the way!" Kastu snarled at Sano as he got up to go to the weapon storage tent.

"Why is he so grumpy all the time?! It's not like he's an old man!" Sano stated as he got up – still rubbing his throbbing head.

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"SANO! You scared all the fish away!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know you were 'fishing.' You were just standing in the water with your spear raised, looking like a statue!"

"Great! Thanks to you, this will take a lot longer than it usually takes me! And how stupid do you have to be to just jump in the water when all the fish were swimming toward me?!" Katsu yelled at Sano as he stood in the water with arms akimbo.

"I just wanted to catch them faster!" Sano said as he pouted. Katsu frowned and growled at Sano as he continued to try to spear what was left of the fish. It took Katsu two hours, but eventually most of the fish were came back and Katsu speared three of them. After placing them in a basket, Sano and Katsu then carried the rest of the fish back to camp.

"Captain! We brought enough food for everyone!" Katsu yelled happily as he ran into the camp. Sano at the meantime was still struggling with the other fish who was trying to get away.

"It took you longer than usual, Katsu." The Captain stated – not angry, but quite surprised.

"Well, that IDIOT decided to scare all the fish away, so I had to wait almost two hours for them to come back before I could even spear one of them!" Katsu told the Captain as he continued to glare at Sano.

"Hey! Don't blame me! I've never been fishing! Besides, you didn't tell me what you were doing just standing there!" Sano retorted.

"Yeah, well – "

"Boys, that quite enough. Why don't you go skin it and begin to fry it while I go gather the men?" Captain Sagara more commanded than asked.

"Sure, Captain!" Katsu and Sano replied simultaneously.

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"So…umm…where are we going, again?" Sano quietly asked Katsu, being careful to keep the quiestion in a whisper as he and Katsu walked behind most of the members of the Sekihoutai. Katsu sighed before replying in a whisper.

"We're going to Kyoto!"

"Why? What's in Kyoto?" Sano asked curiously.

"Ok, look. Captain Sagara gets his order from the Imperial army right? Well he has to get those orders in order to carry them out. That's why he travels to big cities like Kyoto so that he can get a telegram." Katsu explained to the inquisitive Sano.

"Umm Katsu?"

"Yeah?"

"What's a telegram?"

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            Around the same time that Katsu finished explaining what a telegram is, (among other high tech things at that time,) they had already arrived in Kyoto. Katsu and Sano stood where all the rest of the Sekihoutai stopped and they waited as Captain Sagara and other high officers started to discuss something.

"Hey Katsu," whispered Sano. "What do we do now?"

"We wait until the Captain finished discussing whatever he's discussing, then he'll come to us and tell us what to do." Shortly after Katsu said this, the other officers saluted to Captain Sagara and went off to take care of their duties.  Capt. Sagara then approached the eagerly awaiting Sano and Katsu.

"Sano? Katsu? I would like you both to take a tour around Kyoto and find suitable places where the Sekihoutai can eat and stay the night. I will give you each a wallet of money that you both can spend any way you like." Capt. Sagara said as he handed then wallets – which were obviously made of expensive silk, probably imported from China.

"Wow! We'll make sure to find the best places for the Sekihoutai!" Katsu said ecstatically.

"Very good. Then be on your way." The Captain told the boys. Sano and Katsu didn't have to be told twice, they immediately sped off in exploration of the enormous city of Kyoto.

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            Indeed, Katsu was right. Kyoto IS a beautiful city, Sano thought as he walked around its ancient streets. The beautiful sky, the nice air – and the fact that Sano was lost. He could have sworn he knew that around the corner of the building was where he had left Katsu. What Sano didn't realize was that he had passed that corner at least five times.

//Maybe I should have been listening to Katsu. . . // Sano thought as he continued to walk around. He remembered Katsu saying something about going into a store and getting something, but thanks to his short attention span, he didn't remember Katsu telling him not to wander off. Let alone follow a man selling food. Sano couldn't help it. He followed the merchant and his cart for at least an hour before he could catch up with him and eat some of the produce – what were they called? Something about chicken, a chichen in teriyaki, maybe?

//Great. Now I'm lost in a city where I've never been and I have no idea where I'm going to go. Katsu will probably get a kick out of this. . . // Sano continued to think, while he was looking at the Sakura trees. Yet again, thanks to him lack of concentration, he bumped into something – or someone.

"Oh . . . oopps! Sorry about bumping into you!" Sano said as he was jilted out of his thoughts and he looked up at the stranger. The stranger had long red hair in a ponytail and he was wearing a purple and red kimono. He looked no older than sixteen, yet he possessed a double bladed sword strapped to his side. His eyes were also orbs of a nice tint of blue. But his most distinctive feature was the scar on his face. He had an x-shaped scar that ran on his left cheek. . .

I don't know if Kenshin remembers me back then. I never asked. But I still remember the way he looked down on me. His eyes were not as wide as they were when I met him a second time. His eyes were quite small – must like Saito's, except not as narrow. They did not hold the emotion of kindness as he does now. They were cold, barren, and yet cloudy. As if he were trying to hold some kind of pain inside . . .

"You would do well to get our of my way, that you will." The stranger replied simply as Sano backed up a step to the side. As the stranger was going to leave, Sano decided to be bold.

"Umm . . . Excuse me? But what's your name? Mine is Sano." Sano asked the stranger boldly.The stranger did not reply but merely halted in his walking. His back to Sano. After what seemed like hours, the stranger looked over his shoulder at Sano and answered him.

"My name used to be Shinta, but now I am known as Kenshin Himura." With that said, the named "Kenshin Himura" continued to go on his way. (A/N: And YES Kenshin's real name WAS Shinta.)

"Nice to meet you! I hope I meet you again!" Sano yelled. Kenshin stopped walking, as if pondering what to answer, before he continued on his way without another word.

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//Nope. Too fat. Too ugly. Not dressed with a green bandana. Wait – that's him! Oh, wait, no that's a girl. Katu's not a girl . . . at least I think so . . . // Sano thought as continued to survey the people of Kyoto from atop the big hill that happened to conveniently look over the main street of Kyoto. Unfortunately, about 94% of the people living in Japan had black hair – so Sano didn't exactly have an easy job of locating Katsu. Now if Katsu had orange hair, that would be a different story . . .

//Wait! That's him! I found him!// Sano thought ecstatically as he quickly ran from his hill, down the enormous steps and into the big street. Unfortunately, the people were like a two-way giant wave that continued on forever and ever. It was Katsu who finally got to Sano.

"Sano! Where have you been? I've practically searched all over Kyoto for you!" Katsu said as he suddenly appeared by Sano's side.

"Katsu! Well It was kind of hard finding you again considering that most of the people of Japan have black hair!" Sano answered Katsu. Just as Sano was ready for an enormous battle of wills, Katsu gave up before the fight even started.

"Ok, let's just start looking for a hotel for the Sekihoutai to stay at."

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"Sorry, we're booked."

"Do you have a reservation? You don't? Well this hotel is only for reservations."

"Are you sure you two aren't lost? Where's your mother, little ones?"

"I said – GO AWAY YOU STUPID BRATS! We're full!"

Every time Katsu and Sano entered a hotel and asked for rooms, they always got almost the same replies.

" I think that all of Kyoto is booked!" Sano said as he slumped on a bench. His feet were sore and he felt like he had just run a marathon.

"We can't give up, the Captain's counting on us!" Katsu said as he slumped on the bench as well. Sano started to look around.

"Hey! How about that place!" Sano said as he ecstatically pointed at a building. Katsu turned around.

"Hmm . .  .That looks like a good place. The Aoiya . . ."

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"Do you really think those brats will be able to find us a DECENT room for the night?" Takei asked Captain Sagara. Captain Sagara chuckled.

"First you don't like Sano, and now you are beginning to dislike Katsu, too?"

"It's not that, I just think that they're more trouble then they're worth . . . " Takei answered back. Captain Sagara chuckled again. Somehow, he knew that Takei really didn't feel that way . . .

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"Well of course you and your Sekihoutai can stay here! We'd be glad to have you!" the woman named Okon answered with and enormous smile. (A/N: For those who don't know – AOSHI lives at the Aoiya. And yes he's still here. He left when he was sixteen. If Aoshi is two years younger then Kenshin, and Kenshin is sixteen then Aoshi is . . . you do the math.)

"Thank you!" Sano answered happily. "Hey Katsu – Katsu? Where'd he go?" Sano asked no one in particular as he started to walk around the Aoiya. Sure enough he found Katsu playing with some little girl. The little girl seemed very attached to Katsu.

"Oooo! Katsu has as GIRLFRIEND!" Sano yelled over to Katsu, who glared back.

"Do NOT!"

"Do TOO!"

"She's just a little girl!"

"She seems to like you a lot!" Sano told Katsu. "What's her name anyway?"

"Her name is Misao and she lives here at the Aoiya."

"Oh, cool." Sano said. "Anyway, I think we should be getting back to the Captain, it's getting pretty dark.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

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The Sekihoutai happily went to the Aoiya after their tiresome day in Kyoto. Even Takei seemed happy – well, as happy as the grouch of the Sekihoutai got. Katsu and Sano decided to play with outside with a ball. Unfotunetly, the little four-year old, Misao, decided that she wanted to play too – on Katsu's side. And sadly, she and Katsu were kicking Sano's ass. Sano was sorely loosing at their soccer game.

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"Do we have everything we need?"

"All the operations are complete." A little timid man in a fancy kimono told his master.

"Excellent, then we shall commence with the orders. Get ready." Said a more sinister-looking man who was dresses, as if ready to kill.

"Of course."

And the plot unfolds! A little cliff hanger there! Well, for all of those patient souls who waited – here's the third chapter! I shall TRY to finish the fourth one and put it up! This story is going to get a more serious tone to it as it continues – so I hope people *cough* unique-starfish *cough* will not think that its "cute" anymore.

Thank you to all my reviewers.