VENDETTA - THE BLOOD FEUD

Part I

A clash of swords was heard as the two men proceeded with their battle. Kaoru watched in horrific fascination as Kenshin went toe to toe with Saitou. For a moment she couldn't even see them as they flashed around the massive room. The only indication of their presence would be the screech of metal from their swords and the sparks that would result of it.

She struggled to focus her mind but remembered that Saitou had employed his own trickery in dulling their senses. "What was it that he used?" she tried to recall. "Shit, right it's some kind of herb that he burns. But where is it coming from?" She frantically scanned the room, her hands were still bound behind her and the blades of the two swords never left the flesh of her neck. "I need to help him somehow…"

Kenshin meanwhile seemed to be doing fine despite the dulling effects of the herbs Siatou was using. His sword technique was never completely dependant on his superhuman powers but at this point he was grateful for all the sparring matches he'd done. The two men struck and dodged several of the other's blows before meeting in the middle, their swords together between them.

"What's wrong vampire" Saitou hissed between grunts, "finally meet your match in a mere human?"

With one powerful attack, Kenshin pushed the hunter back, "You are hardly a human."

The two charged forward again.

OoOooOoooOooooOoooooO

Aoshi and Misao were busy rewiring the main computer system and attaching their own electronic devices to several ports and hubs. They heard a commotion from the other side of the room's door and Aoshi motioned for Misao to keep working while he went to go check it out.

Stealthily Aoshi crept out of the room and started to make his way down the hall, his swords trustfully on either side. A few young hunters came down the hallway, all with their weapons drawn and making their way directly towards him. He began to move like a quick wisp of wind and in no time was descending on the unknowing group.

After a quick slice of his blades and choice moves of the Gokou Juuji technique, Aoshi stood swatting the blood from his swords among the mass of fallen bodies. He glanced around to see Misao standing in the doorway shaking her head.

"You're just toying with them aren't you?" she grinned.

"They're not even worth that much" he slowly began making his way back towards her.

"Well look at what a mess you've made" she retorted referring to the pile of bloody corpses and splotches on the floor and walls.

"Are we done in there then?" he asked not bothering to address her previous concern.

"Yes we're done" she snapped back, "You're always so serious when it comes to this sort of stuff…" she pouted.

He let out a sigh in response, "Let's find the others and make another few sweeps of the floor shall we?"

She giggled with glee as a mischievous look glistened in her eyes. The two walked idly down the hallways taking turns in cutting down more hunters.

OoOooOoooOooooOoooooO

"Hey fluffy, this isn't lunch time we gotta go!" Sano snapped glaring at the back of his transformed partner. The young wolf was enjoying nibbling and gnawing on the shards of flesh and bones in his powerful jaw.

The wolf backed off the bodies and quickly transformed back to his human form, wiping away the excess blood on the back of his arm. He grinned at Sano, "The name's not fluffy it's Leejin, and sorry. I get a bit carried away sometimes" he replied not entirely meaning it.

"Yea so I noticed" Sano muttered back as the young man grabbed his discarded shirt and coat from the floor. "You gotta' get dressed and undressed every time you attack? Gees, it's pretty annoying waiting on you ya' know!"

Leejin cracked a smirk, "Why? I thought you would like me takin off my clothes for you pretty boy? Isn't that what you vamps are into anyway? Male, female or in between, it doesn't matter right?"

Sano growled slightly, "You better watch your damn mouth young pup. This Sanoske Sagura only has a taste for the fairer sex and what do you know about us anyway?"

"Only the things that we've heard about you blood suckers" Leejin replied.

"Blood suckers? What about you bunch of mangy little flea bags? Look at your handy work!" Sano shot back pointing to the mass of mangled corpses and their body parts, "Disgusting!"

"Feh, what's wrong old man? Can't take it?" he grinned and started to walk away.

"Wha-Can't? OLD MAN?" Sano fumed and suddenly broke out into a grin, "I think I like this kid, reminds me of a younger cockier me!" he followed behind him.

OoOooOoooOooooOoooooO

"Ninna!" Yahiko exclaimed as the girl materialized before him. "Where have you been? I knew I could sense you here!"

Ninna walked towards him and accepted his embrace as he held her tight to his chest. "Yahiko, my sweet Yahiko" she cooed.

"Did Saitou bring you here? I'll kill him I swear it" Yahiko fumed not allowing the girl to withdraw from his embrace.

"I knew you'd come for me love" Ninna whispered back. "I knew you wouldn't listen to those fools and you'd come to join me!"

Yahiko held her by the shoulders and pushed her away so he could look at her, "What do you mean? Kenshin is here and so is everyone else. They couldn't sense you though, only me! We're all gonna' get out of here in one piece love."

Ninna smiled and nestled her head back against his chest; her arms wrapped around his torso as he closed his eyes and took in his lovers scent.

"Yahiko" she whispered, "you really do love me don't you?"

"Hmm" the young man grunted still overjoyed to have her in his arms.

"And you're still faithful to Kenshin aren't you?" she asked softly.

"Yes Ninna but you know Kenshin will forgive you. We'll go back to him and explain everything and we can go back to the way things were" Yahiko insisted.

Her green eyes glowed as she continued to rest her head against his chest. "That's just the problem my love. Things will never be like that again and they shouldn't."

"Of course they will, I'll make sure of it" Yahiko softly chided.

"No Yahiko" she whispered softly as a wicked grin spread across her face, "because by the end of tonight I'll be bathing in Kenshin and his whores blood myself."

The veiled dagger protruded from her sleeve and she plunged it into his heart.

A twisted look of shook and agony took hold of his face as he broke free from the embrace, stumbling backwards. Seconds later a rush of hunters came into the room and immediately drew their weapons. His face didn't even register the new threat surrounding him completely as his chocolate eyes were focused only on one person before him.

"Why-" he drawled just a shower of bullets thrashed into his body sending him slumping to the floor a few seconds later.

The blood oozed from every orifice that the hail of bullets had created all over him, but his immortal body still clung to life. It already slowly began to regenerate, but he couldn't move despite his super-human strength. He lay face down, bleeding not only from the physical wounds, but also from the ones carved in his heart.

He could faintly make out the scent and sound of a pair of dainty footsteps making their way towards them. Barely able to lift his head, he painfully looked up and saw the brown-eyed vixen smiling curtly back down at him. He was surrounded by Saitou's hunters, and she stood there as if nothing were amiss.

"Nin-" he tried as a gush of blood spilled from his mouth

"Goodbye my love" she laughed and drew her sword up into the air positioning it perfectly over his neck for the final blow.

OoOooOoooOooooOoooooO

Kaoru stood helpless and watched on as the two men battled. She'd never seen Saitou move quite as swiftly as he was now. The man certainly did a good job of keeping up with Kenshin.

She wished desperately that she could do more than just stand there like some helpless child waiting to be rescued. "Please just please let this work" and in one swift movement she tried with full force and broke the chains surrounding her wrists while at the same time moving back swiftly from the blades at her neck. She flipped back and landed a few feet from the two men as they turned in shock to face her.

Saitou noticed the commotion and looked back, "DON'T LET HER ESCAPE DAMNIT!" he spat at the cronies.

Kenshin took his chance and quickly assaulted him with several blows to Saitou's neck sending the man reeling backwards and into the ground.

Meanwhile Kaoru lunged towards the two hunters and effectively had them hitting the ground in mere seconds after a serious of kicks and punches. She looked up triumphantly to see Kenshin smiling at her. He needed to be sure that she was safe despite the blood running in her veins. "Thank goodness Sano had a few tricks to teach me" she smirked remembering the Futae no Kiwami (Double Fist) attack Sano had showed her.

She reached down past one of the unconscious hunters and took a katana. She was walking towards Kenshin when they both heard it.

"GATOTSU ISHIKI! (Fang Stab First Stance)" Saitou rushed towards Kenshin and pierced through his body with the blade.

"KENSHIN!" Kaoru screamed as the he stumbled back with Saitou still looming over him. She ran full force towards both men, her blade steady at her side.

"ASSHOLE!" she screamed as she blindly charged towards Saitou who in turn dodged the attack and stepped away from the two.

He laughed heartily at her attack as she went to Kenshin's side. "Bastard is using herbs to drown out your senses" she muttered to him as she crouched down beside him to inspect the wound.

The gash started to slowly heal itself, but Kenshin's brows knitted in a frown. "It's taking too long" he muttered and she looked down to see the blood still seeping out.

"Damnit where is he burning them?" she cursed and looked back at Saitou who was busy cleaning the blood from his blade.

"You're so sloppy Kaoru" he smirked. "Couldn't land a single hit on me and you expect to save your lover here?"

"Why don't you fight like a man you swine?" she bellowed back standing in front of Kenshin. "Using your little tricks like the coward you are!"

Saitou didn't seem affected by her angry tone, "Why should I? Did you suddenly draw up the rules of this war?" he laughed.

His features hardened once more, "You look so angry with me Kaoru-chan? Why? Because your supposed protector has been effectively disabled? You forget who you belong to! Me! I was the one that took you in…"

"ONLY AFTER YOU TOOK EVERYTHING ELSE AWAY FROM ME IN THE FIRST PLACE" she screamed back.

He laughed, "Oh still angry about that are you? Don't worry after I'm done with him I'll show you exactly how a good little whore is supposed to behave towards her master."

Kaoru growled in response and her hands tightened around the hilt of the sword.

"Kaoru" she turned to see Kenshin calling her name standing still holding his wound.

"Don't even say it Kenshin, you're in no position to fight while he's using the herbs power. I can handle this" she hissed back knowing of his over protective nature.

"Don't let your anger blind you. That's what he's depending on. You're stronger than you know Kaoru, remember Aoi Kasai?" he asked.

Her eyes widened slightly at his words and after a moment she nodded. She concentrated all her energy away from her anger and instead into a new emotion, the need to protect. She wanted to protect herself from Saitou as well as the man standing wounded behind her.

Saitou smirked towards her, "So the kitty wants to play huh? Remember not to let me hurt you too much. I need that blood in once peace for a little while longer my dear!"

With that he rushed towards her again, his sword ready to strike at her flesh. In one swoop however, his attack was dodged and he was sent flying backwards as her foot connected with his jaw.

He managed to gain his composure before landing on his ass and instead pounced backwards. Wiping the blood from his mouth he gave her a cold glare, "Bitch…"

"That's right asshole" she countered.

"The effects of the herb aren't the same on her if any at all" he noted.

It was all Kaoru needed to hear as she probed his mind for the next attack coming her way. She mentally grinned and thanked her blood for the abilities she had. "Gottcha" she thought as she made her attack.

The two clashed swords as Saitou's eyes widened in shock and horror at her abilities. She was gathering her strength and he could feel it increasing more and more. In no time she would land a fatal blow on him.

"Sonnuva bitch…this is where you die" she gritted as she rushed towards him, her energy visibly starting to swirl around her in a white hot flame.

Just then a dagger from off to the opponent's side flew in between them and landed in the floor. Kaoru immediately looked up to see Ninna walking sheepishly towards them. Her clothing was covered in blood and a sadistic grin graced her face.

"So I see you do need my assistance Saitou" she smirked.

"Don't worry" Kaoru started, "As soon as I'm done with him, I'll be carving into you as well."

Ninna laughed and Kaoru noticed that one of her hands was held behind her back. The smell of blood flooded the room. "What…" Kaoru started to wonder.

"Oh" Ninna replied acting innocent and as if she was completely unaware of the blood trail she was making behind her.

She pulled out a mound of flesh from behind and held it up for the others to see. "Now, now love" she chided the decapitated head as if it were a naughty child, "look at the mess you're making."

Kaoru and Kenshin's eyes widened in shock at the sight before them. Dripping blood from its cut veins and arteries and a sad expression frozen into its face, she was holding up Yahiko's head by his hair.

"Yahiko" Kenshin muttered as grief overtook his heart.

"Fucking traitorous bitch" Kaoru glared at her as the realization of the young boy's death sunk in. "HOW COULD YOU?"

Acting on the opportunity as both of his opponents were preoccupied with the crippling death of one of their own Saitou acted swiftly. He ran towards Kaoru and in an instant had his arm twisted around her neck and the blade positioned over her throat.

"Drop it" he demanded and waited for her blade to hit the ground.

She looked back over at Kenshin whose body trembled with fury at the sight of his fallen friend. His bangs were covering his eyes and he clutched his sword as his knuckles turned white.

"Ninna" came his voice, filled with rage and sorrow. "He loved you more than anything."

Kaoru looked back at the green-eyed girl despite the position she was in at the edge of Saitou's blade. "He won't kill me yet. He needs me too badly" she surmised.

Ninna's small frame shook with sinister laughter as she looked back at Kenshin. "He was a fool just like you." She shot Kaoru a glare, "Because of her you were ready to see us destroyed. You trusted her and now look where it's gotten you. Your poor little friend that followed you around like the dog he was went and got his head cut off."

She unceremoniously let Yahiko's head drop from her bloodied hands and it hurtled towards the ground. Before it could land however a flash closed the distance between Ninna as Kenshin raced towards her.

"KUZU RYU SEN! (Nine Headed Dragon Flash)" Kenshin's voiced roared. In a blinding flash Ninna's body was pierced in several vital places by his blade.

Her eyes wide in shock and frozen in fear she looked towards him unable to move. She gasped slightly as he looked up to meet her eyes. Bright burning amber seemed to scorch her very skin just by the death glare he was giving. For a moment they seemed to burn brightly and just as quickly they turned to a deep red rivaling the exquisite color of his hair.

"N-no" she muttered still paralyzed.

Without another word or regard to her half-hearted plea Kenshin stepped forward as he thrust his sword into her heart. The blood spurted out from the wound as he uncaringly unsheathed the sword from her chest.

Her green eyes were wide with fright at the sight of him and a growl emanating from him reverberated throughout the room. She frantically eyed Saitou who still stood with Kaoru in his grasp, "S-Sait…" she tried as her blood dripped down her chin.

Saitou shook his head and smiled, "You know what they say, once a traitor always a traitor…"

She looked back at Kenshin, "P-please…" the blood continued to gush from her mouth and every other cut covering her vital points.

His fangs descended and his eyes were completely red. He let out one final growl looking over her in disgust before leaping into the air above her. She grew more frantic at the sudden move let out a pleading scream. In an instant he descended bringing his blade with him.

Kaoru's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the girls' head becoming frozen in an eternal gaze of terror as Kenshin turned and walked away from her. A few moments later her head tumbled from her shoulders and the rest of her body collapsing shortly after spewing blood everywhere.

Kenshin walked slowly to where Saitou stood holding Kaoru.

"Let her go" he demanded that came out more like a predatory growl.

Saitou's grasp tightened on his sword and the blade dug slightly into the skin of Kaoru's neck. "Now Battousai, why would I do something as stupid as that?"

Just as soon as Kenshin's power emanated, it decreased just as quickly and he crouched on the ground leaning on his sword with one hand and clutching his still bleeding wound with the other.

"No! Kenshin" Kaoru's frantic mind remembered the witchery Saitou was still using.

"Come now don't squirm Kaoru. You want a good view of lover boys' head rolling off his shoulders don't you?" Saitou inched towards the still hurting Kenshin.

"And if you should try and escape love, I'll make no work of doing just that" he warned as she began to struggle slightly.

Saitou stood over Kenshin and let out a snicker. Just as Kaoru thought all hope was lost she felt Saitou go stiff behind her and gradually his grasp loosened before finally releasing her.

She went to Kenshin's side and placed her hand over his which still held the wound and was bleeding profusely. Looking back up at the hunter she saw Aoshi and Misao walking into the room. Misao smiled triumphantly at the path of her thrown Kunai as they made contact into Saitou's back.

Breathing a sigh of relief she focused her attention back on Kenshin. His skin started growing colder and she knew the blood loss and physical exertion was taking its toll on even his powerful body.

Looking back up, she saw Aoshi battling with Saitou who had yanked the small daggers from his back. Misao rushed over to her and Kenshin.

"Kenshin…" she yelled and was by Kaoru's side. "Kaoru, you okay?"

"We need to find the source of whatever herbs he's burning. They're dulling your senses even as we speak" Kaoru informed her quickly.

She heard Misao gasp and followed her vision's trail as it ended at Ninna's decapitated body still spewing blood all over the floor as well as Yahiko's head lying nearby. "Ninna killed him" Kaoru flatly replied, "and Kenshin killed her."

"Good" Misao replied softly. "We need to get him out of here."

Kaoru could see the cold sweat breaking across Kenshin's forehead. She looked back up at Aoshi slightly beginning to struggle with Saitou. "Damnit" she cursed.

"What the fuck…" she looked up to see Sano standing in the doorway, "KENSHIN!" He ran over carrying the remainder of what she presumed was Yahiko's body. "What the hell happened?" he demanded.

Leejin walked in after him and stood rigidly watching the two men fighting. Saitou, seeing that he was outnumbered let out a final cry, "KILL THEM ALL EXCEPT THE GIRL!"

Hunters entered the large room from all entrances suddenly appearing in the stone walls. Kaoru looked frantically around them as they were becoming surrounded by hunters pouring in. "Shit, he had them waiting for us" she seethed with fury.

Suddenly something struck her and she looked over at Leejin, "You're a wolf right?"

"Yea" the young man snapped back.

"You smell something peculiar burning? Like incense or herbs?" she asked.

"Y-yea" he replied calmly removing his coat and shirt at the sight of the hunters surrounding them.

"Forget them, find the source of the smell and kill it!" she ordered.

He looked at her curiously.

"JUST DO IT DAMNIT!" she yelled.

He frantically nodded and in an instant transformed. She saw him sniffing the air wildly and at the same time the dozens of men surrounding them attacked.

She took the katana from Kenshin and stood over him protectively taking on anyone that dared to make a move towards them. Time was running out for him, she knew that much, but she hoped against all odds that they would survive this.

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So did you like all the fighting? Huh huh? Hehe…don't kill me for another cliffy and shorter chap!


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