I forgot to put this on the first chapter but I'll just put it here! Special thanks to Jubei Yagyu for helping me out with a few things! Thanks John! Now let's continue with the story shall we? I'll just play some background music while you guys read! Hehe!
Samurai Warriors: The Crimson Sun and the Celestial Moon
Chapter Four: Trio to the Rescue?
Yukimura sat under a tree, leaning his back against it. "Why are they suddenly appearing?" he said to himself holding a piece of paper. "What's with the piece of paper?" Kunoichi thought to herself as she spied on her master in the tree, "Oh well." Yukimura heard rustling in the tree. "Special delivery Lord Yukimura!" said Kunoichi. She was hanging up side down from the tree branches holding a brand new spear. She handed him the Lunar Spear. "It says that spear was made by great smith Houzouin," said Hikaru who came up to the two. "Lovely day isn't it?" giggled Kunoichi was laughing while Yukimura tested his new weapon. The group could see Akira coming from the distance. "The Lord requests our presence," he notified, "Brother, Sister lets go." "Sorry Lord Yukimura, looks like you get to sit here!" Kunoichi giggled as she left.
"You called us Lord Shingen?" Kunoichi asked. "Yes, I need you three to do a favor for me," said Shingen, "Allow me to explain. The Oda Army is currently at Gifu. Kenshin on the other hand wants to take it down. So you can say in away he's actually helping us, going against the Oda. The favor I need for you is to infiltrate Gifu Castle." "My Lord, but I thought the Uesugi were taking down Gifu?" questioned Hikaru. "Yes, the Uesugi will be fighting on the battlefield and if they succeed, they will infiltrate the castle as well but I want the three of you to take it down. Only Mitsuhide Akechi will be in the castle. Drive him out of the castle and head your way to Azuchi Castle, that's where we will be heading next," Shingen explained, "I know you're confused, but play your parts and the story will write it self out." "I guess?" said Kunoichi, "well you're the boss!" "One last thing, do not tell Yukimura where you three will be heading. I will handle Yukimura myself, have him come in after you leave," Shingen ordered. They left to go get Yukimura.
Akira, Hikaru, and Kunoichi headed back for their tent to gather supplies. "We should disguise ourselves; we do not want the Oda to know the Takeda is helping the Uesugi," said Akira. So Akira and Hikaru had to cover all of their faces only revealing their eyes (like Hanzo's). Kunoichi on the other hand tied her hair up in a ponytail and had a pink cloth covering her neck up to her nose (her second costume). "Let's leave before Lord Yukimura starts questioning us," suggested Hikaru. The sibling trio left that afternoon.
Few days have past and the trio arrived at Gifu castle. They hid in the forest and spied on Kenshin. He was drinking a bowl of sake and looked into the cloudy night. "Let's go," whispered Kunoichi to her brothers. They headed toward Gifu Castle seeing Nobunaga at the front gates. "We'll infiltrate the back," directed Akira. They defeated all the defensive forces in the back and entered the castle. "Let's split up, we'll cover more ground that way," suggested Hikaru.
Kunoichi took her own way and headed up the stairs to the next floor. "So only Mitsuhide in here, huh? If anyone asks, I'll act like an innocent girl here to avenge her family. This is going to be fun," she giggled as she avoided and dodged all the traps. She heard some rustling in one of the rooms. She broke through the door and found a large man trying to steal some valuable items. "Goemon?!" said the surprised Kunoichi. "Hey! You're part of the Oda aren't you?" he said. "Argh, no I'm just a poor defenseless ninja girl who's getting revenge for my family," she lied to him. "Oh that's so sad. Maybe a ninja like you could be my apprentice? You can learn a lot," he offered. He turned around and accidentally knocked over the whole case of vases making a huge commotion. "Shh! You making too much noise, I'm on a mission!" she said to him. She didn't have anymore time to joke around; she leaped over Goemon's head, kicked him in back, and ran off to the next set of stairs.
Kunoichi reached the Gifu's last floor and was spying on Mitsuhide. He was pacing around the room thinking out loud. "What does the Lord think he is doing?" he said. Kunoichi came out of the shadows and showed herself, "Shouldn't you be on the battlefield?" "Why is a vixen like you in a place like this?" Mitsuhide questioned the ninja. "I'm here to avenge my family who was killed by Nobunaga," she lied again. "What are you talking about?" he said. But before he could say another word, she started to attack. Mitsuhide rapidly attack the ninja but she blocked all the hits. "Too slow..." she came at him with great speed knocking him onto his knees. "Argh..." he groaned holding his sides. "You must finish me now," he ordered. "Now what would be the point of that? It's all Nobunaga's fault anyways," she said, "you know, if you're having doubts maybe you should quit while you're ahead." Those words left Mitsuhide silent. "Think about it mister," said Kunoichi. She used her ninjitsu to climb the walls and took a ninja path out of the room. "I know I shouldn't trust an enemy's words, but do I still trust the lord?" he said retreating out of castle. "Wow you really dropped the bomb! Lucky me, lucky me, shame on you for making it sooo easy!" she teased and left to find her brothers.
Akira and Hikaru joined up with Kunoichi on the second floor. "I took care of that Mitsuhide guy so let's get going," she informed her brothers. "Kenshin drove the Oda out of Gifu, he's heading into the castle so let's leave," said Akira. The trio went out the window and crawled to the roof. "You can see the Uesugi mobilizing Gifu," Hikaru observed, "where were we suppose to go again?" "Azuchi Castle, home to the demon lord Nobunaga," Akira said harshly.
"Looks like only the Uesugi, Oda, and the Tokugawa are the only armies left," said Hikaru as he rode his horse with his siblings. Akira nodded, "I believe Lord Shingen is trying to form an alliance with Kenshin Uesugi." Kunoichi and Hikaru looked at Akira in confusion. "Oh, that's why Lord Shingen asked us to help him out," thought Kunoichi. There were some rustling sounds in the bushes. The siblings stop their horse. "Show yourself," ordered Hikaru. Suddenly, Akira was knocked off his horse. "Brother!" said Kunoichi as she mounted off her horse. Akira had been shot in the left arm by an arrow. "I'm fine," he said standing up. Hikaru mounted off his horse and went to search for the archer. Kunoichi took out bandages and wrapped her brother's wound. She had to take out the arrow and examine it. "It's just a stupid arrow," she said. Hikaru came back and reported, "I couldn't find anyone... they just vanished. Darn, this is just like Nagashino." "Let's just keep going," said Kunoichi, "just be on your guard."
The sibling trio continued riding their horses to Azuchi. Kunoichi was wondering what Yukimura's been up to.
Flashback
"What's going on? Where we headed next?" she asked. "We are head to Nagashino," he explained, "but..." he stopped. Kunoichi looked at him, he had a nervous look on his face but she didn't want to ask.
Yukimura sat under a tree, leaning his back against it. "Why are they suddenly appearing?" he said to himself holding a piece of paper. "What's with the piece of paper?" Kunoichi thought to herself as she spied on her master in the tree, "Oh well."
End of Flashback
"The symbol on the piece of paper..." Kunoichi said to herself, "the Sanada!" "What are you mumbling sister?" Hikaru asked. She stopped her horse; this caused her brothers to stop as well. "Why have you stopped?" asked Akira. "Okay I know this sounds crazy but please go on to Azuchi without me, I'll catch with you guys later," Kunoichi said in one breath. "What? Where are you going?" Hikaru questioned her. "Look I'm going back to Ueda Castle to meet up with Lord Yukimura," she explained, "they might need my help and Lord Shingen needs some of us at Azuchi as soon as possible. She looked at Akira hoping he will understand. Akira looked at the clouds in the sky and looked back at his sister. "Very well, meet up with Lord Yukimura and then head to Azuchi," he told her, "you owe me an explaination later Kunoichi but hurry." She took a different path and was heading to Ueda. "If what I think is going to happen is correct..." she began saying, "Lord Yukimura you're going to need my help..."
CyNdAi'S NoTeS: Things are about to heat up. I'm loving the reviews!!! Keep 'em coming guys! The Rescue of Ueda Castle (you can say) is next. And what's with the piece of paper Yukimura was holding? All in the next chapter, 'Dirty Tricks of the Trade, Not!'