Author's Notes: All right! Five reviews! You guys totally made my day nn

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. But I reserve the right (if it is a right) to toy with Watsuki-sama's characters as I please, just so long as I make sure it's in fan fiction.

Haunted Isle

Chapter 1

The loud report of a gun rang out through the streets of Tokyo. Kenshin's eyes widened as he looked back at his friend and saw him stumble, one hand clapped to his arm. "Sano!" He veered around and ran back the other way.

Sanosuke Sagara opened one eye, the other still squinched shut from the pain, and gave a grin that was more like a grimace. "I'm all right," he managed. "He only nicked me. Come on!" He began to run, and they both picked up the pace. Kenshin once glanced back to see Kanyruu's henchmen struggling to keep up, and smiled in a satisfied manner. They'd be detained soon, and this time he was sure Kanryuu wouldn't be breaking free from prison in a hurry.

"What about – your shoulder?" Sano panted as they ran. Kenshin just shook his head, ignoring the blood which was trickling down inside his sleeve. It was nothing Megumi couldn't fix. After nearly two years of her patching the soldiers up after dangerous missions, he had infinite faith in her healing abilities.

Soon they were far enough from the city to be able to walk. Kenshin refused to even apply a makeshift bandage to his shoulder. It wasn't bleeding that much, he said, although Sano didn't believe him at all since the blood had made its way down Kenshin's sleeve and was trickling over his wrist. But he let it lie, since Kenshin was always this stubborn about injuries. In return, he categorically refused to let his own wound be bandaged; even though it hurt a great deal, it was nowhere near as bad as Kenshin's, and two could play at that game. ((A.N. rolls eyes Men….)) Kenshin wasn't happy about that, but there was nothing he could do.

It wasn't long before they reached the harbour, and there was their little wooden boat, still bobbing faithfully in the shallows. Kenshin cast off, and they each grabbed an oar, pulling strokes simultaneously without even having to think about it. Kenshin stared broodingly out to sea, whilst Sano gazed up at the clouds and tried to judge whether it was likely to rain or not.

After a while, Sanosuke noticed that the boat was slowly turning and sailing a curve due to uneven oar strokes. He frowned; he'd been keeping up the same pace the whole trip, but Kenshin… He glanced over at the red-haired swordsman and cursed. "Kuso, Kenshin!" Kenshin's face was unnaturally pale; he looked almost anaemic, and his left sleeve was soaked in blood. He was still rowing mechanically, his face blank, but with considerably weaker and slower strokes than before.

"Shimatta!" Sano continued to utter a string of curses as he abandoned his oar and stood up. The boat rocked slightly but he paid no attention, intention on crossing over to help his friend. "Kenshin. Kenshin!" Finally, Kenshin blinked, and some life came back into his eyes. "Yes, San- oro?" Kenshin blinked again as Sano tried to prise his fingers off the oar. "Sano, what are you doing?" asked Kenshin in alarm. His voice sounded slightly dull and slurred to Sano's ears. "We're drifting!" He tried to reach over and grab the other oar, but Sano shook his head. "Oh no, you are not doing any more rowing. I should never have let you row in the first place…" he continued, half-muttering it to himself. He finally managed to prise Kenshin's fingers off the oar from where they seemed locked into place. "Kenshin, go and sit at the back of the boat." Sano's voice was deadly serious. Kenshin opened his mouth to object, and then upon second thought, closed it. Instead he stood up and staggered his way drunkenly to the back of the boat and sank down on the little wooden seat. Sano shook his head at his friend's stubborn self-sacrifice, taking up both oars and beginning to row. Pain lanced through his injured right arm and he grimaced, yet gritted his teeth and carried on rowing. He could see Kenshin watching him worriedly from behind his ruby bangs – he didn't even need to look to know that Kenshin would be watching him – and forced himself to smile cheerily. "I'm fine, Kenshin!" he said, although his voice sounded strained. Kenshin looked as though he wanted to insist on rowing, but knew that no arguments he made would change Sano's mind, and, Sano thought grimly, even he couldn't deny how weak he was feeling. He'd lost a lot of blood…. Sano shook his head and rowed harder. He had to get back to the island… the fox would surely bite his head off for letting Kenshin get into such a state. He wished that they'd taken some more men with them, so that someone could help him row… His whole arm was throbbing by now, and the white of his jacket was stained with red, though not as much as the magenta of Kenshin's gi. He kept a close eye on Kenshin, slumped at the back of the boat. So far he hadn't fainted, but he appeared completely drained, and Sano would probably have to drag him from the boat when they arrived.

The boat bumping against the island sent a jolt through Sano and he started, suddenly thrown from a blank daydream back into the real world. It was no trouble for him to let his mind go blank, as the fox was constantly reminding him. Sano tried to move his fingers, but like Kenshin's, they seemed locked into position. The redhead was still slumped in his seat, his head down, and Sano frowned anxiously, wondering if he was still conscious. His mind dimly registered shouts of alarm and several voices shouting for Megumi. It was only then that he remembered how bad he and Kenshin looked. Well, not without reason.

"Kuso!" Somehow, the fox doctor managed to make even a curse sound soft and feminine. Then her voice hardened as she went into 'doctor mode', and Sano knew he was about to experience the sharp edge of her tongue.

"Okura, go and fetch my supplies. Kamichi, boil some water." Megumi urgently snapped orders to the men around her, and they obeyed, respecting her expertise. Everyone did. "Hanasake, help me to left Ken-san out of the boat." Sano detected a slight tremor underneath the forced calm of her voice and he wondered how bad Kenshin looked. He was staring at the oars, trying to force his numb fingers to obey.

"Roos- Sanosuke," Megumi addressed Sano, almost calling him by his nickname, but catching herself, since now was not the time. Sano flinched at his name, clearly expecting chastisement, and Megumi softened her tone a little. "Sano, can you move?"

"Hai." Sanosuke dragged his fingers off the oars with an effort, standing up slowly, his digits still frozen in an oar-rowing position. He must have had to row the whole way back by himself. And yet, he looked guilty, as if he was expecting her to tell him off. Why was that?

"Sano, can you tell me what happened?" Megumi asked as he stepped onto dry land and swayed a little, unused to the lack of motion after a good while on the water. His face was drained, although not rice-white like Ken-san's had been. The requested items had been brought to her, and Kenshin laid gently on the ground. He was unconscious due to loss of blood from what was clearly a bullet-wound, which puzzled her slightly, since Kenshin was fast enough to dodge bullets, and impossible to catch unawares, even if he was preoccupied with someone else's safety.

"Kenshin took a bullet meant for me," Sano muttered, answering her question. Megumi knelt by the redhead's side, tending to his wound. She cast a glance back at Sano's guilty face. "And then what happened?"

"I got nicked on the arm," Sano told her, indicating his wounded arm. "And Kenshin wouldn't put a bandage on his shoulder…"

Megumi shook her head and tutted in exasperation. That was just like Ken-san.

"And then what?" she asked, her voice a little sharper than before. "You made him sit in the back of the boat?"

"Well, no…." Sano admitted, and added, to try and justify it, "He would never have let me…"

Megumi fixed her gaze on Sanosuke. "You let him row?" she asked incredulously.

Sano shifted uncomfortably. "Only for a little of the way…"

"Baka tori-atama! You are useless!" Megumi declared. She would have thrown her hands up in the air had she not been busy firmly bandaging Kenshin's shoulder. "And that's how he lost so much blood, I assume? That and the lack of the bandage, that is," she added. Sano nodded, knowing that he shouldn't have let Kenshin row, nor go without a bandage. But dammit, he hadn't realised how bad things were! Because that stupid little short redhead was always hiding how badly injured he was… Sano made a move as if to smack his fist into his palm in frustration, and then flinched, the movement only aggravating his wound.

"Baka. Keep still," Megumi ordered him. "I'll get to you in a minute."

It wasn't until after both their wounds had been tended to that Kenshin came round. He sat up abruptly and was unable to suppress a soft cry of pain.

"Hey, Kenshin," Sano greeted him. "Don't do too much; you've injured that shoulder bad." He put a hand on Kenshin's good shoulder and made him lie down again.

"Sano, what happened?" asked Kenshin, noticing that it was now sunset. Where had the time gone?

"You passed out. From blood loss," said Sano somewhat bitterly, and added, "I shouldn't have let you row…"

It was clear that the ex-fighter-for-hire was blaming himself for Kenshin's condition, and Kenshin shook his head. "Iie, it wasn't your fault," he said. He twisted his head to look at his bandage. "Megumi-dono has done a very good job… how is your arm?"

"Hm? Oh, it's fine," Sano replied, having genuinely forgotten about it. "Hardly hurts a bit." Before Kenshin woke up, he had been thinking about the mission that they just came back from, and now he said jokingly, "Kanryuu and his goons were no match for us, eh Kenshin?"

"Indeed they weren't," agreed Kenshin.

"He needs to invest in some better bodyguards," Sano continued. "But then, he's nothing without the Oniwabanshu, anyway." Kanryuu's previous bodyguards had been a group of fighters (if they could really be called that) under the leadership of one Aoshi Shinomori. Aoshi had disappeared following the death of his comrades in the Kanryuu mansion, then had reappeared a few months later and joined their little organisation. Since then, he had been invaluable in reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions, making full use of his ninja skills, and at times, his considerable expertise in the fighting style kempo.

"That he isn't," Kenshin agreed. "Although I do not think it was necessary for you to knock out every single one of the guards in the mansion, that I don't…"

Sano laughed a little bit. Kenshin would insist on being almost painfully gentle with his opponents, avoiding a fight if it was at all possible. It seemed madness when you could fight like a demon, as he could, and his attitude was a far cry from that of the past, as described to him by some of the others on the island. Hell, one Shinsengumi told Sano that the very sight of Kenshin practicing his katas had struck fear into his heart, when he first came to the island.

Sanosuke hadn't known Kenshin back in the days when he was Battousai, having only come to the island a year ago. Plenty long enough for them to become best friends, although Sanosuke didn't know everything about Kenshin. Didn't know all that much, in fact. But that was fine, because Kenshin asked very few questions himself, and so didn't know everything about Sanosuke. They both reserved the right to keep their own secrets.

It hadn't taken long for the reputation of those on the island to spread, since these were the best fighters from before the Meiji era. They had to be, to have survived the Bakamatsu. They were only really well-known in the underground, since they only left the island on missions of dubious legality - though of course they were for the good of the people - and once or twice, they went shopping for food or clothes (which were in the habit of getting ripped or bloodstained). As a fighter-for-hire, the underground was how Sanosuke operated, and soon he was determined to test his skills against those on the island, for a real challenge. The fights he was hired for in those days were a piece of cake, and simply a way of keeping him in gambling money.

He'd held his own pretty well against a lot of fighters, though of course they were the weaker ones. (But, to his credit, he was younger than a lot of them.) In those days he still fought with his zanbato, a huge heavy sword, and was known for it by the nickname 'Zanza'. Still, once he took on Kenshin, both he and his sword were toast. The sword had snapped, even though Kenshin only wielded a sakabato, or reverse-blade sword. (All the better to not kill people with.) After that, he became one of them, and gave up the zanbato in favour of his fists, with which he could fight with pretty well anyway.

"Ah. Aoshi has returned." Kenshin spoke softly, nevertheless making Sano jump, since he'd been absorbed in thought. He turned to see the black-haired okashira making his way towards them. His impassive face as usual betrayed nothing, and Sano was unable to tell whether he bore good news or bad.

"It had better be good…"

Author's Notes: Holy hell, that was long. I don't think I've ever written a longer chapter! I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the fic.

Next chapter should have Kaoru in it! Oh, and a note about ages: since this is only a couple of years from the Bakamatsu, Kenshin is younger than he is in the manga. He's 20, and Sano is 19 as usual. Kaoru is 17 – that's her usual age, right? And Megumi is, erm, however old she normally is.