Hello everybody. Thanks for not giving up on me yet. So sorry for the delay of the fourth chapter. I am just starting the semester and just returned to campus. And the dreaded writer's block. Blah de blah .. of course, it's the block, what else could it be, huh?

Before that, please bear while I say some thanks to all you wonderful reviewers.

SHARTAE: Thousands of thanks for the list of the Juyuuhi names, it helped a lot. You know so much about the Sanada Juyuushi, I bow before your superiorness. XD And don't worry, Saizo's not the bad guy in this fic. :P

YOHKO-SAKURA: Yeah, chapter three was not so exciting was it. Sorry if chapter fourturns out to bealso a dissappointment for you. If I had it my way, I'd just keep on writing more fluff but I guess the story needs to develop some sort of plot. :P

: uh .. is that your name.. just "..." Any way, "Ellipsis-san",thanks for the constant support. Really appreciate it! Hopefully I'll update more often than twice a year .. ehehe .. no promises though.. :P

HARETA: Hareta-sensei! Arigato for reviewing my humble fic. I loved your "Still" and "Cold History", I dare say they kinda inspired me to write a Sanada fic. Arigato, arigato. bows

IKKI: Thank you for thinking that my fic is cute. I'm cute too.. heheh.. ulp

SHADOWCAT15: Uh... Hug Sasuke? I don't think he'd like that.. XP

ARIN ROSS: What? You're not a SanadaXJuyuushi fan? Better dig out the old manga and read through again :P.. But I'm glad you enjoyed this fic. Please tell me how you like the continuation. :)

MINTVEE: Go and read the rest of the manga!! :)

ARAIN ROWAN: Um.. Saizo is like that, you know 0o..err anyway .. by "time constraint" I meant the Juyuushi were too busy, or had a tight schedule. Sorry, I'm a bad writer if somebody has to ask that. That's my college training at work. sigh

LEE GALLAGHER: Hope you enjoy the next chapter. :)

LIVING ON RAMEN: Thanks for the long review :) Err.. this chapter has more of Kosuke, hope you like it. :)

Here goes the fourth chapter. It is rather short (again). TT (Darn, it felt long enough when I was writing it)

Author : Jouhaiichi-gou

Disclaimer : Save for several manga, I don't own SDK.

What I Wish For (Part II)

Sanada Yukimura sat on the edge of the wooden porch of the house.

He inhaled deeply; relishing the way the cool late morning air cleared his slightly sleepy state of mind. His gaze fell to the landscape in front of him.

Yukimura mused on the sight.

Situated on the hill of Kudoyama, the house gave the luxury of a beautiful landscape of the land below. Crops and rice fields rolled for miles and miles.

Now and then clumps of village houses could be seen here and there. Some clumps are large, but more often than not the clumps are small and far in between.

"Tea, Yukimura-sama."

Yukimura turned to his side.

Kosuke sat down courteously on the mat. She sat slightly behind him as a servant should behind her master. Kosuke poured steaming green drink from a pot into a tall round cup.

The woman, the one and only female in the Sanada Juyuushi, placed the cup on a saucer and pushed it towards her lord.

"Thank you, Kosuke."

Yukimura took the cup and held it in front of him. Beyond the steam rising from his drink, the landscape caught his train of thoughts again.

While the dwellers of this house had a good view of the land below, anybody situated downhill looking up would see nothing that could indicate that a human habitat exists on the said hill.

The house and its accompanying sheds were fairly hidden under the shadows of large trees and bushes on the hill. Spies and bounty hunters have yet to discover the actual hiding place of the exiled Sanada heir, all because of the strategic location of the house.

That, and if any agents of the government were to sniff around the village area for information, all the answers they'd acquire would be most unhelpful and misleading.

This unexpected cooperation from the villagers was due to the one time when Rokuro, both of them, had helped drive away a band of thugs pestering the farmers for protection money.

Well it wasn't exactly "drive away" but would be more fittingly said as "wipe away from the face of the earth".

The Ten were trained to kill, and mercy was not reserved for scum criminals.

But if the Juyuushis' cold-blooded disposal of the thugs did bother them, the villagers never said anything.

Yukimura suddenly realized that the steam had stopped dissipating from his cup. He drank. The tea was barely warm anymore but it was still refreshing. Still, having some sake instead wouldn't be too bad either.

"Gomenasai, Yukimura-sama. But it is rather early for sake."

Yukimura turned around to face his charge, flashing his infamous sugary sweet smile.

"Ah, Kosuke, you read my mind! You never told me you were a psychic!"

Kosuke returned an uncannily exact-looking smile to her master. "I don't need psychic powers to know that, my Lord. Sake is always on your mind."

Yukimura laughed and threw up his arms in mock surrender. "You know me too well. I'm so lucky to have a great kagemusha like you, Kosuke."

"Thank you, Yukimura-sama."

"Well, I guess sake would have to wait." Yukimura then turned around and downed the rest of the tea in his cup in one go. He sighed in satisfaction.

"Good thing your tea is equally wonderful and tasty."

"Thank you, Yukimura-sama."

Kosuke smiled at her master's back. Yukimura was always generous with his compliments for the Juyuushis, even for the smallest things.

All the "great job", "well done", "good work", and of course Yukimura's favorite, "What will I ever do without you (insert Juyuushi name here)?".

Yukimura placed his empty cup down. Kosuke refilled the cup and handed it back to him.

There was something she needed to tell her Lord. Kosuke opened her mouth to start but fell silent at what she saw.

Yukimura had turned his back to her but Kosuke saw that his smile was gone. His steaming cup frozen yet again in front of him, his gaze lost into the far horizon.

Kosuke knew that at that moment, Yukimura not only had forgotten the drink in front him, but also his female charge behind him.

Kosuke poured herself some tea and sipped it quietly, watching her master's back in silence. She would simply have to wait until Yukimura acknowledged her again.

Yukimura exhaled sharply.

He had thought that when he first ordered the two Rokuro to help out the villagers that time, it would also be the last.

But after that, somehow it had become somewhat an unspoken policy of the Sanada Juyuushi: to help any of the villagers when they are in distress.And so,Rokuro and also the rest of the Juyuushi simply acted out on their own,without waiting for a specific command from their Lord.

Then again, Yukimura was usually like that, leaving a lot of important matters to be decided by his charge on their own.

That was how much Yukimura trusted his Ten. It's not just he trusted their loyalty towards him, though that much was obvious, but he also had always trusted their own judgment.

It turned out to be good judgment after all, didn't it?

The villages surrounding Kudoyama had some sort of invisible protection and the Sanada household was safely concealed and hidden.

Yukimura couldn't remember exactly just how often his charge would return with a report of yet another band of robbers, thugs, extortionists, or just plain old psychotic murderers rampaging the countryside.

The thought disgusted him.

The "peace" promised by the Tokugawa rule was one that saw so many groups and individuals of criminals wandering around, preying on the weak and helpless.

Either way, the fact was that inhabitants of this district never did liked the present ruling Shogun had played to Yukimura's advantage.

That, and the strategic uphill location of the Sanada present household had rendered efforts to hunt down the remaining of the Sanada clan virtually fruitless.

And of course, the extensive traps and disguises set out by his ingenious Juyuushis surrounding the hill should also be credited.

Still Yukimura wondered just how long they would last.

Ano kuso Tokugawa Ieyasu was not an idiot, and he always had something up his dirty sleeve.

But for the time being, life in Kudoyama was peaceful.

Peaceful and uneventful.

Yukimura grimaced at the last thought. Kami-sama knows just how badly his blood itches to go out and do something, damn it, anything.

Oh, all the brilliant devices and strategies that he had formed! Several plans had even already been discussed with his trusted Juyuushis to the minutest detail, just waiting (screaming, begging!) to be carried out.

To execute any one of the plans at present, the timing couldn't be any better. Tokugawa was officially ruling, but in reality his full control goes little beyond Edo and its surrounding provinces.

It would be wise to start an assault when Ieyasu's government was still young and green like this.

But to do so meant leaving the safety of Kudoyama.

Kudoyama was safe and peaceful. And that was what's important. So Yukimura would stay, at least for a little while more.

Of course this was not because Yukimura was a coward.

If he ever was a coward, the Sanada clan would have long ceded to the Tokugawa government by now, as did countless other spineless daimyo's around the country

In fact being cooped up on Kudoyama was undeniably stifling for Yukimura. His only escape was sake. And whenever he could go out under the guise of Genjiro, he would look for women.

Sometimes he even found himself wishing that he was anywhere in this world BUT Kudoyama.

And to think that he was sitting pretty on this nice little mountain while Tokugawa was widening his territorial influence by the day. The thought is enough to make his blood boil and his body tremble in bitter anger.

But nevertheless Yukimura was determined to stay put. His hunger for battle and vengeance will just have to wait.

At least for another year or two.

There was a very important reason for him to do so. And yes, Sanada Yukimura would endure this humbling retreat, all for the sake of that important reason.

For that important person

Which reminds him ……

"Kosuke."

"My Lord."

"You wanted to tell me something."

It wasn't a question.

"Hai." Kosuke bowed and wondered. Who's the psychic now?

A slight shiver coursed Kosuke's body. Although Yukimura had just been joking with her in this very sitting, what she was about to talk about was no laughing matter.

"It is about Sasuke, Yukimura-sama."

Yukimura shifted from the porch and sat cross-legged, facing his kagemusha. He placed the still full cup of tea down.

"Continue."

Kosuke kept her head bowed but she could feel her lord's thoughtful gaze on her. She had expected this though. Whenever the matter at hand was Sarutobi Sasuke, Yukimura couldn't be more serious and straight-forward.

"Forgive me, my Lord. I had failed to cure his illness that you had to expedite your return from Edo."

"I would have returned any way. Besides you didn't know what he was ill with. Nobody can do much about things they're not familiar with."

"Forgive my incompetence, my Lord."

Yukimura exhaled. "Anayama Kosuke of the Sanada Juyuushi. You have helped heal others more often than I can remember. Your medical knowledge is definitely more than mine and the others put together. Don't say you're incompetent."

Silence prevailed for a moment as Kosuke realized that Yukimura was not going to hold her responsible for what she felt wasan apparent failure in carrying out her duties.

It made her feel even worse. She bowed her head lower.

"Is that all, Kosuke?"

Kosuke flinched. Yukimura's voice was gentle and kind as usual, but she didn't miss the growing impatience underlying his question.

She snapped out of her guilt-ridden thoughts and remembered that she needed to tell Yukimura something. Kosuke straightened up slightly.

"Iiya', Yukimura-sama. Ano.. I don't know exactly what made Sasuke ill, nor how to cure it if it happens again. But I'm sure of one thing, though."

Kosuke looked up to her lord cautiously. Yukimura nodded for her to continue.

"Sasuke's illness, Yukimura-sama. It is not physical."

A/N:

1. There are two persons called Rokuro in the Sanada Juyuushi. Unno Rokuro and Mochizuki Rokuro. (Info courtesy of Shartae-sensei) In the anime, Yukimura called out "Rokuro." and two shadows appeared. They were pretty alike-looking.

2. Kagemusha literally means shadow warrior.A kagemusha is a body double to its master. And yes, Yukimura's kagemusha, Kosuke,is a female. >

3. Genjiro was an alias Yukimura used when he first appeared in the manga (vol. 3).

4. Daimyo Japanese feudal Lord.

My first attempt at a cliffhanger. Was it even that much? Hmm.. not much about Sasuke-kun here, but no worries, you'll get enough of the silver-haired boy in the days to come.

Eheh.. reviews?