Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or creations from Rurouni Kenshin. But I do share ownership of the original characters with other authors/readers. There's my disclaimer, so… have a nice day… or night.

The Black Sakura Book I - The Birth of Warriors – By Cherry Chibi

Chapter Three

A/N: There won't be any character intros in this. It'll give the readers a chance to get used to all the names and characters. ^-^x

~*~ 1/ The Black Sakura ~*~

 "Don't yell…" Battousai said through gritted teeth. Kaoru was breathing unsteadily. What was going on? Is he going to be staying with her? The thought of Battousai staying in her room felt annoying but a part of her told her that she did this.

 "I… won't." Kaoru said calmly. He released her wrist and she sat back in a kneeling position. "So, how long have you been here?" when he didn't reply she guessed that he didn't know. Then a thought came to mind. That means that two of the same person are staying at her place and if the others find out that Battousai was staying, especially the kids, they would all be terrified or at least, suspicious.

Battousai was growing weaker. She sensed it by his ki. So the only thought that she could think of was to get him to take in fresh blood. Using her powers, she called in a flask and created a small tongue of flame to warm the blood inside of it.

Then she levitated the flask to Battousai who accepted it and took in a mouthful. The warm fluid smoothed down his dry throat and sent healing waves through his body.

 "Who cursed you?" Kaoru asked cautiously, "Shinta suddenly received an injury crossing his scar today and I want to know who caused it." She wasn't going to let this topic slide of. When she remembered the tainted scent on the mirror, she couldn't let it go.

 "It isn't any of your business," Battousai said as he took in the last mouthful of blood and vanished the flask. He felt his strength return to him by the second and immediately thought that there was more in the blood than he thought.

 "That was a tonic I made, it's best consumed within the first 24 hours or else the potent with deteriorate, and I had a lot left… it was for Tori." Kaoru explained. "Now back to your answer to my question. Who cursed you?" She had him cornered and he didn't like being trapped. If it were someone else he would've sent them to hell but he couldn't do that to her.

There was a knock on the door.

 "Kaoru! Dinner is ready! Shinta decided that he wanted to cook for us tonight." Maya called from behind the door.

 "Coming!" Kaoru called back. She then turned her attention back to Battousai. "Battousai, I'll bring you something to eat soon. I won't be long." She stood. "Um… I'm not sure if you'd care but what type of blood do you mostly take?" 

 "Human blood." Battousai replied, at the same time trying not to make her feel threatened in any way, "that is all." He stood from the black futon.

Kaoru nodded. "Right, I might be able to manage something."

 "No, I can go hunting myself." Battousai said. He straightened his clothing.

 "Are you sure? I don't mean that you're helpless or anything but I just thought that who ever cursed you had used Nul-root powder on you and that stuff really absorbs a lot of energy to prevent you from moving." Kaoru said with a doctor's tone

 "I'll be fine." Battousai said with a husky voice. Before Kaoru could say anything else, he vanished.

Kaoru shook her head. 'Stubborn.' She placed a sight-shield over Battousai's futon to prevent anyone from seeing it. But there was a small tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Her eyes met with black ones.

 "Who are you?" Kaoru questioned.

 "You are the Black Sakura aren't you?' The woman in the white kimono said gently. "Will you please help me? I'm in a lot of trouble. A man… a cruel man killed my fiancé and he tried to rape me." The woman broke into tears. "And now… he's going to kill me!" Her shoulder shuddered.

 "Who? Who is trying to hurt you? Tell me you name." Kaoru said as she tried to calm the woman down.

 "My name is Tomoe. Tomoe Yukishiro." The woman said. She took hold of Kaoru's arms tightly, to the point of pain. "You have to help me! He's going to kill me… I have a younger brother to take care of… please stop him… I don't want to leave my younger brother behind in this cruel world."

Kaoru felt a strong ki rising from the woman and didn't like it one bit. However, she was in need and the one who was after her must have been stronger than her to make her feel so afraid "Tell me Tomoe, who is trying to kill you?"

The woman stopped from a moment and then said fearfully, "Battousai."

Kaoru felt ice freeze over every inch of her body. "Battousai?"

 "Yes! He killed my fiancé and now he wants to kill me." Tomoe began to cry again, she looked around the room. "Please, will you help me?"

 "What do you want me to do?"

 "Save me from him. Kill him." Tomoe whispered, "please, before he gets me." The woman then vanished, leaving Kaoru in a shocked state.

 'Don't trust that woman.' A voice in her said calmly.

 'But she is in need. I can't trust Battousai either…' Kaoru thought.

 'I said don't trust her, it was all an act. Battousai would never rape anyone. He is a fast killer. He kills instantly and she wouldn't be alive now. Anyway, she has a strong ki which shows that there is something going on.' The voice of the Black Sakura spoke.

Kaoru paused for a moment and then made her decision. 'I'll have to test him.'

* * * *

Inside the dojo, the three younger kids were eating at around a table with Yahiko and Tsubame. A lot of noise was made by that table.

 "Tsubame, is Mr. Himura a cook? Did Aunty Kaoru hire him?" Ian, a five year old cub (werewolf), asked. "The food is great!" His short black hair was scruffy as usual and his red eyes were filled with mischief.

 "No. Aunty Kaoru didn't hire a cook. Mr. Himura is going to be staying with us for a while and he decided that he should help out to pay for his stay." Tsubame said. She put a couple of pieces of cook fish into Ian's bowl to his disgust. "You have to get some fish into you."

 "I don't like cat food…"

 "Fish is not cat food." Yahiko interjected. "You better eat it or else I'll get Shakaku to make you." Yahiko was on his fifth bowl of rice for the night. Tsubame had been counting. She had been amazed at how much he could eat.

After hearing what Yahiko said, Ian quickly ate the fish within one mouthful and looked as if he was going to sick over the place.

 "Mr. Himura sure is nice." Miyu said happily, "he played with us before. It was a lot of fun."

 "I wonder how Aunty Toshi is going to cope. She doesn't like males very much," Tori said scornfully. "She plays with us but she's mostly mean to Shakaku."

 "That's because she knows he likes her." Miyu said giggling.

* * * *

Hitoshizuka shook her head scornfully. She was a demon and that meant that she heard every word that the little kids said. Shakaku took a seat next to her and was trying to get her complete attention. He was too. Getting her complete attention to give him a full throttle. Her crystal blue eyes glistened with irritation. Her midnight blue hair was thankfully, tied back into a low ponytail where is was out of her way when she finally smacked the end of her chopsticks on Shakaku's head.

Jacqueline however, was sitting between Hitoshizuka and Kaoru acting graceful. Her sword was propped up against the wall nearby and her senses were up. These passed few days have been odd and she didn't like it one bit. The elf had a deep secret which she didn't want to bring to surface yet. Not until she was sure that Kaoru was ready to make her own court.

 "Shinta, so how did you find this place? We are after all in the forest." Maya said. She swallowed a mouthful of rice. She felt the whole table listen in.

 "I was told be my elder where Miss Kaoru was, I just followed his instructions and I got here." Shinta replied with a warm smile. His blue eyes were also friendly.

 "How long to you plan to stay here for?" Jacqueline asked, "You do get along well with us. The youngsters also seem keen to have fun with you." She poured tea into everyone's cup.

 "I'm not sure, you never know when it'll be time for me to leave," Shinta said.

 "Oh." Maya decided to stop there since she didn't want to make Shinta feel as though he was under an interrogation.

Kaoru however was in deep thought. She was unusually quiet and that made her friends worry about her.

~*~ 2/ Oniwabanshuu ~*~

Misao, Orion, Celeste and Kari were walking along the forest trail. The assignment that had been given to them didn't have every little detail so here they were trying to decide what they should do when they get to their destination.

 "Why don't we just say that we're there to offer our services to her and hopefully we can ask if we can give her our support in her court?" Celeste said while she pulled her bag into a more comfortable position.

 "But what if she says something like, 'I'm not having a court' or 'sorry, all the positions are filled'?" Misao said and then, "Oh who cares? At least I get to see my friend again right? It has been so long since I have heard anything from her." She started skipping.

 "If we can get along with everyone there we'll be alright," Kari said with great enthusiasm, "After all, we're the Oniwabanshuu girls who love to have fun."

 "Yeah! But if any one of them decides to play up, I'm sure that they'll have a pleasant time with me." Orion said, she bared her teeth.

 "No violence Orion." Misao said.

 "Oh alright."  

~*~ 3/ Shadows ~*~

 "Hiko, have you tracked Battousai down yet?" Ixchel asked her master.  He only grunted. "Hiko, you do know don't you?"

 "That baka-deshi is fine. You three should stop worrying about him." Hiko said with a husky voice. He was seated on his chair with a bottle of sake.

 "That doesn't help." Athena said "I am concerned about his… well-being. I believe that Tomoe cursed him." Athena's eyes narrowed. "If I ever get the chance I'll fry her in the depths of hell.'

 "I'm not surprised. She curses everyone." Ixchel said. Ixchel was a vampire who had been cursed for most of her life. Tomoe had placed a curse on her because she defied working for Tomoe. Her strength was now ten times weaker than it used to be because she wouldn't be able to take in the required amount of blood without coughing it out and going animalistic.

 "Master Hiko, you have to tell us where he is. We three are bind together to protect him when necessary and him being cursed in a way that we have no idea what it is worries us." Soujiro said smiling.

 "Fine, but after I tell, you three better get out of my sight." Hiko grumbled. "His at Kaoru Kamiya's dojo.

 "Why is he there?" Athena asked.

 "Because the girl there happens to be the Black Sakura!"

 "And you two didn't tell us?!" Ixchel said. "Alright, that means that we're going to have to keep an eye on that place."

 "And until we have to speak with the Black Sakura we'll have to deal with Death's Truth." Athena added.

 "Let's go." Soujiro rushed out the door.

~*~ 4/ The Black Sakura ~*~

Battousai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Suddenly he felt a force pull him. He gritted his teeth as he tried to resist it but too late. His surroundings changed into a room with shelves and shelves of jars filled with strange substances and familiar fluids. He found a raven-haired girl stiffen when his ki rose a notch.

 "How did you know where this room was?" Kaoru asked as she turned around. "No one knows how to get in here." She wiped her hands on a cloth.

 "You summoned me." Battousai said coldly.

 "I didn't." Kaoru retaliated. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyway, I'm sure that you can now explain to me why you would try to hurt innocent people?" Her sapphire eyes narrowed. "Why would you try to dirty other innocent women?"

 "Are you accusing me of rape?" Battousai asked, his eyes turned to blood red and his ki rose. Kaoru placed sound and psychic shields around the walls, windows and doors of the room to prevent anyone else realising that he was here.

 "Why else would a person come to me and beg for help?" Kaoru questioned, eyes were in defiance. "She said that you killed her fiancé and made an attempt to have your way with her."

Battousai's rage took over and he had grabbed Kaoru by the shoulders. "I would not ever try to rape some bitch. She's lying. Who is she?"

Kaoru nodded in understanding. No fear showing. Just understanding. "I see." She removed Battousai's hands from her shoulders gently and gave him an embrace. She closed her eyes and let her energy flow around the Battousai's mind, she waited for him to open up before she began probing to see where she could heal his scars.

When she was done, she backed away and made eye contact with Battousai. "A curse filled with hate will never beat the love of life." Kaoru said gently, "Whatever happened in the past, happened."

She turned her attention back into making the tonic.

Battousai stood there, his ki lowered into calmer stages. Whatever she did in his mind, he was… grateful. He mentally kicked himself when a part of him woke and wanted him to somehow make her his. It couldn't be though.

The Battousai? Him? Is it possible for the Battousai to fall…

~*~

A/N: Here's another chapter. I just wrote it today and since I don't know when I'll be able to access the internet next, I thought I might as well update today. Thank you for reading and for the reviews! 

Next chapter… I'll finally introduce the Revolution group so be ready! ^-^x

~ Cherry Chibi