Disclaimer: Ooooooooooo shiny! WOW! Look at the glitter on the white stuff outside on the ground! SNOW! Now, do I SOUND intelligent enough to you to own RK? I hope not………………. If I am then hand 'em over to me now!

Author's Notes: I love this story. It's one of my favorites I've done so far. I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. And Sano was younger than Kenshin in the last chapter, he was just older than he really is in the show. Well here he's like one year younger, okay? Remember all the people Kenshin meets in these first few chapters. He may meet them later. AND HAIL SAMURAI X: REFLECTIONS! I watched that last week. And it has been decided that Tomoe will be in here. And so will Kaoru for all you Kaoru people. But I'm doing this because I like them both, I'm not really at one extreme or the other. I think we all need to learn to like them both. Tomoe came to Kenshin in a time he was about to break, and I believe that in the end there were true feelings between them. And then Kaoru showed him that there is still light in life, and taught him to be happy. I think both of them were important. So in the end, they were both important. And expect a lot less in the updating. I have two games a night I have to cheer at, and I get home around 10 PM for the home games and depending on where we go, 10:30 or later on away games. Plus- exams. Bleck. So yeah. I just though I'd warn you before I get hounded. : puts up invisible bubble sheild : The interlude is by me!

Building The Hitokiri

Chapter 5- The Weight of a Nation

'Two swords clash in a lightning reaction,

Innocence dies with this noble reason'

Kenshin stayed on that mountain with Hiko, learning the secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and becoming stronger, learning to love the ideals his swordsmanship instructed into it's movements. He learned what it was like to feel as if you could die for your morals. He became more forward and more aggressive, but nonetheless a polite boy, for the sake of not angering Hiko. Years pasted as Kenshin trained, learning nearly everything he needed and becoming a master of the battou-jutsu stance.

"Okay idiot apprentice. If you do this, then in a week I will teach you the succession technique, you hear me?" Hiko stated. "Fail, and you'll be waiting for a long time before I take the chance of teaching it to you again,if I decide to teach it to you. And if you fail to learn the succession technique when I teach you… I will have to kill you."

Kenshin pulled his hair back up into the high ponytail. At sixteen he had grown toned muscles and his hands were calloused, his muscles had filled out only enough that if you touched him you could feel the firmness. He still looked lanky, and much to his own dismay and Hiko's taunting, he was unusually short for a man. But behind that exterior was the heart of a warrior, and the strength and speed of no other man on the earth. Under his weak appearance, there was a god of kenjutsu and war.

Hiko positioned himself. "You have to land one hit on me."

"I'm not." Kenshin said. "Not only do you have the advantage over me, I refuse. There are people who need my help."

"So you've heard about the war." Hiko stated. 'I knew this was going to happen. He's too sympathetic and still driven by the memory of those he lost. He'll do anything to keep anyone from having to go through that again, I can see this. He'll be back. Let's just play the part to the stubborn teacher for now, and see if we can't change his mind.'

"What is the use of practicing these ideals," Kenshin began, swinging his sheathed katana in a fluid movement, "if I'm not allowed to use them to protect the innocent like you say? That is what you've been teaching me. I can't just stay by and wait for you to give me permission to leap out into the world."

Hiko glared. "You are still my idiot apprentice, and you remain so the rest of your life. But you cannot go roaming around without completely understanding your own technique. There are secrets…"

"I don't care!" Kenshin shot at him. "I want to use my ideals to protect people, Hiko-sensei! What is the use of having them if all I do is get beat up by you?"

"Do you want to become what your father was?" Hiko asked. "A cold blooded killer? With your skills, that's what you'll become. You're going to become a tool for them, and then what? I won't be there to bail you out when you are called upon to destroy everything you've learned. You'll only be bringing pain to many in the end, instead of protecting them. Listen to my warning now, stupid pupil, before you regret ignoring it in the end."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. "I'm not just going to stand here while innocent people are being killed off. I'm going whether you say I can or not."

He turned and began to stomp off toward Kyoto. Hiko shook his head.

"Fine, go. But you'll regret it in the end." Hiko warned finally. "And I'll be sitting here waiting to see how long it will take for you to come running back." He added to himself before turning to face his small hut.

Kenshin sat in an office, surrounded by strange things. He hadn't actually been into the civilized cities since he ran off, and he was surprised at how much things had changed since then. Nothing was the same anymore it seemed; yet nothing had changed all at once. All the same customs, but there were new things he hadn't remembered or, perhaps, had never noticed before in his sheltered, painful past. He shook his head as he read the banners around the room.

"I have a reason from asking you here, Kenshin Himura." Came a baritone voice that had a kind, sympathetic and knowing ring to it.

Kenshin averted his gaze to the proper man before him, Katsura Kogoro, a politician and leader of the imperialist army fighting agaisnt an oppressive government. He had wearing lines in his brow from the stress of the war that he was stuck in the middle of, but at the same time it didn't hinder his charms. At the side was a proper lady playing an instrument for their entertainment. Katsura raised his hand to silence her playing. Kenshin watched the politician's eyes as he searched around the room before landing upon Kenshin's face again.

"I want to ask you something. I have a job that will fit your skills to perfection, but its one that takes nerve." Katsura stated.

Kenshin nodded. "Please continue, Katsura-san."

"I want you to kill. I'm asking you to kill for me. Can you do that?"

Kenshin was flabbergasted. That was what Hiko had warned him about. He had been warned about people taking his skills and sucking the life from them until he could only use them for killing.

"I'm not sure if I can." Kenshin stated.

"Your ideals are to protect the innocent, are they not?" Katsura asked, and watched as Kenshin nodded. "This will help. With you being a shadow assassin, a hitokiri, then you will be shortening the length of the war by killing of prized Shisengumi leaders and other loyalist followers. Trust me, Himura, I would not be asking such a thing from you if I wasn't sure you could do so without losing who you are."

Kenshin bowed his head and pushed his lips tightly together. Could he do this? Could he kill for the nation of Japan, to protect the innocents in a war? Was he capable of something so horrendous? Could he stoop that low and not let the guilt rage inside him and eat him alive? A hand moved stealthily to his katana and he fingered the hilt's leather in thought, thinking over the proposal.

"You will be paid for your deeds, Himura."

"I do not care for pay." Kenshin stated. "That doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't want to be paid to kill someone in the first place. If I do this for you, are you positive it will shorten the war and save innocent people?"

"In the long run, yes, it will." Katsura stated. "I will not think less of you if you decide to decline my offer. That is completely up to you, I cannot force you."

Kenshin closed his eyes, a guilty feeling taking over his body. Something told him to say no. Everything in his being told him to refuse the offer.

"I will try, Katsura-san."

Katsura didn't smile but he nodded to Kenshin. "You are an honorable man to be fighting for a peaceful era in a way that most could not. Here is your first assignment. I will send someone out after you, named Iizuka, to clean up the scene."

Kenshin fingered the black clad envelope questioningly before he stood. He walked farther down the stairs to a room that had been designated for him in the Inn, where he locked the door and stared at his black envelope.

Inside was the name of a doomed man, he knew it. Someone would die that night, and it would be because of him. It would be by his blade, the righteous steel hidden underneath a wooden sheath.

And for once in a long while, Kenshin was scared.

Author's Notes: Yes I know. It's short. I apologize. I wanted to get something out on one of my stories eventually. I have a new reviewer! Mistress Battousai. Thanks for the review. And thanks to HCT, YOU HAVE REVIEWED TO EVERYTHING I'VE WRITTEN SO FAR! That means a lot to me. I'm guessing you're a she, okay, so if your not make sure to tell me. But her reviews really get me to start writing more. It just feels good to have someone enjoy your work that much to review to everyting at least once. And thanks to everyone else who reviewed. Your reviews mean a lot, too. So keep 'em coming. Sometimes a good comment is all I need!

Love and hugs,

Crystal Renee