Sweey: Alright, so on behalf of my dear friends on I'm actually pressing on with this story! heh Hopefully it turns out alright! School's starting in two weeks and I watched Naruto for the first time yesterday. Quite interesting... anywho, enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter Two: Running to the Setting Sun

The sun began to set in the distance and we continued running as if the sun was our destination. We had been pressing on for the majority of the day and I was a little shocked to hear Sasuke's breath growing heavier. I stopped and he came to a halt beside me, placing his hands on his knees.

Sasuke stood up, stretching his arms and crossing them behind his head, "Woo! I know now why they call you legendary! When you run you really run!"

I wasn't really sure what other kind of running there was, but I decided to sit down a moment to watch the sun as it began its slide down the sky. Sure I was probably the fastest man alive, but that didn't mean I've never stopped to enjoy the simple things in life.

"So, I'm guessing we're heading off for Aki where Mori lives in Chugaku," Sasuke stated. Having caught his breath, he plopped down beside me. "You seem to be a one man show, eh? What did your sensei tell you about teamwork and communication? Because my sensei told me it was the most important thing. More important, in fact, than following orders!"

My brows rose beneath my helmet, an expression he couldn't read. The Fuma learned that concept of training, but Kotaro Fuma, myself, learned otherwise. Being the leader of the Fuma clan, a certain responsibility came with being called a legend. And if that meant sacrificing my voice, then that is what I must do. My training had been strict and harsh and my life had been put on edge since I was a child, I was always doing things on my own, saving myself from certain death.

Both of my parents died when I was young. My father was the Kotaro before me and had died from a wound gained in battle. My mother had passed away after a horrible disease took over her body. She was chained to a cherry tree like a dog and screamed at people who passed that tree, including myself. One day my sensei took me to the cherry tree for me to bring her breakfast, but she was laying beneath the tree unmoving. My senseitold me that she was sleeping, but I knew he was lying because the next day, a grave had replaced her. It was the day after that my training intensified and I was separated from the other students after recieving the news that I was to be the next Kotaro. I would bear the title with pride and honor. I would become even greater than my father before me, they told me.

And I had.

Sasuke leaned back on the tree, "You know, my grandfather said he saw you when he was a little kid, but, that's impossible right? I mean, that would make you at least... 93!"

I stood, ignoring him, turning my gaze to observe our surroundings. Something had alerted me and I was determined to find out what. Then, I saw what it was that I had heard.

Dashing forth to the figure in the tree, I pulled out a kunai and held it at the person's throat. She let out a squeal of shock for she did not expect that I would catch her scent.

Sasuke jumped down to where we stood, his own weapon ready. A look of recognition melted his stern face and he waved his hands and shook his head, "No, no, no! She's on our side! Kasuga is our friend! Let her go!"

Reluctantly, I did so, giving her a little shove forward as I jumped back onto the branch that I had perched upon just moments before.

Kasuga growled, "Sarutobi, explain to me why you're with that rat!"

The words were harsh, but not nearly harsh enough to pierce my heart.

Sasuke sighed, with a boyish grin on his face, and rested his back against a nearby trunk and jerked his thumb at me, "The Takeda and the Hojo are now allies. So from now on, I get to work with this guy!" There was excitement in his voice as he said the words, "I mean, I'm working with the legendary Fuma Kotaro! The ninja no one has ever seen! The ninja who has outlasted the centries!" He paused and tapped his nose, "Ah, maybe he can teach me some of his secrets or a new jutsu!"

"Don't get too worked up. I'm sure that as soon as he gets the oppertunity, he'll betray you to the dogs," Kasuga snorted. "Some legend, didn't he get defeated by your lord when the Takeda took over Odawara?"

Sasuke stood upright and I fought the urge to slice Kasuga into pieces for mentioning my defeat.

"Yeah well, he was probably sick. Right Kotaro?" Sasuke asked me.

I looked at him with a blank expression before returning my gaze to the remaining fraction of the sun that still shown through as it set. It was true, I had been very sick with a strange illness. I wrote the doctor at my village as to what it was but he had no answers. My lower torso hurt all over. Every step I took caused a world of pain, sometimes so unbareable, that I could barely stand to walk. The only time the pain ceased, was when I laid very still on my back. Sleeping didn't ease the pain and it hurt to eat. I stayed in my room the majority of the day, but I did not let my lord know that I was ill. I came when he called but I sent my own ninja on my missions. They were the only ones who knew of my illness. The illness that lasted for a week. Others got it after me, but it was only one person at a time, never more than that. After the seige of Odawara, and my defeat, the disease left me. My lord sent me to work for Mitsuhide for a few years to gather the funds necessary to reclaim Odawara. By that time, the Tiger of Kai had also grown ill and Ieyasu grew to power. We chose to alley with the Takeda, but it took a long while to gain their trust, beginning with providing medicine to Yukimura for his sick lord. But in order to achieve this, I was forced to defeat Sasuke twice, irritating the fued between our clans. He seemed fine now, but it was only a matter of time before his anger flowed out upon me.

"See Kasuga, he was sick," Sasuke said a matter-of-factly.

Kasuga rolled her eyes, "He didn't even nod his head!"

"Hey, I've been working with him long enough to know what he's thinking," Sasuke claimed, thought it wasn't at all true. Was it?

Kasuga sighed, "Whatever, just don't get too attatched to him, alright? Where are you two headed anyways?"

"Eh, to Aki, to see what that Mori masterjerk is up to," Sasuke replied easily. I wanted to slap the daylights out of him. He just told an enemy ninja what our mission was. I jumped down and stood beside him, towering over him and glaring at him intensely. He leaned back, smiling with embarrassment and waved his hands frantically, "Okay, okay, I get the picture! I won't tell her anything more!"

Nodding with satisfaction, I perched myself back on my branch as the last few slivers of sunlight vanished and a few stars began to peak through the veil of dark blue. We would need to enter Aki soon.

Sasuke grinned at Kasuga, "So, what about you? Where are you heading?"

"My lord Kenshin has sent me to study the movements of Oshu," she replied huffily.

"Hey, that's one of our objectives too!" Sasuke said in delight. "Maybe we could go together?" He looked up at me with a pleading gaze.

My eyes snapped onto his and he chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "On second thought, we'll just stick with the numbers we've got. But if you find anything interesting, come give us the word."

"Sure Sasuke, I'll do that," Kasuga said, "Good-bye Kotaro." And she vanished, but I knew where her foot landed and could sense her even after she ran off. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I no longer felt her presence. She had probably stayed behind to assure that I wouldn't harm Sasuke. Strange, why would she care so much about an enemy ninja? I had a feeling there was more going on between the two of them that met the eye.

The world began to sleep and glow beneath the white light of the half moon. It was time that we got moving to Aki. This time, when I dashed off, Sasuke was right behind me, keeping in time with my footfalls as we jumped through the trees toward Aki.

Koriyama Castle eventually came into view and the fragrance of the gardens in its courtyards came with the gentle, warm ocean breeze that took to tickling the trees, who shook their branches with their quiet laughter. We entered a nearby village when Sasuke said to me.

"Hey, aren't you hungry?"

I stopped and turned to look at him. My hand felt for my torso and I heard the otherworldly grumbling of my stomach.

Sasuke grinned confidently as he leaned on a wall, "Sounds like you are. Hey, you may not talk, but your stomach sure does fill in enough for me to get the picture. Why don't we go and get some grub?"

I nodded my agreement and looked around in search for some place to get food. I spotted a tea house and headed for it with Sasuke shadowing my steps.

The tea house was dark and noisy, making the perfect cover for us as we slipped inside through an open window. Men were getting drunk on sake and women were serving. There were a few musicians, a flute player and a lute accompanied it. The music was pleasant enough, but racked on the ears when mixed with all the chaos of the laughter and chattering that was also taking place. I did my best to ignore it. In truth, I was a bit clostraphobic at times, but I had gotten over it. Being a ninja, I had to force myself into tight places. It wasn't the lack of room that brought discomfort, it was being near crowds. I hated the loudness, the sweat, the odor, and all that came with being near too many people. Mentally sighing I searched the room for something to eat.

There was a dark corner and I saw the person residing at the table. My eyes stared keenly as a woman came and brought out yakitori and miso soup. The man stood and left and my mouth began to water as I watched the steam rise from the hot food. Slowly, I crept forward through the shadows and when my body hit light, I vanished, reappearing when the shadows provided cover as I inched closer to my destination. Sasuke stared wide eyed when I came back with the food.

He was obviously frustrated with me, "You- You just stole that food! We have money to pay them with! Why did you do that?"

I gave him an unreadable expression that may have suggested he go ahead and make himself known to the world so that Mori can go ahead and catch us. Maybe we could give Mori the excuse that we came for a hot meal and really felt bad for the people we stole it from, so we wanted to pay for it. No, that was just not realistic. Here we were enemies with the villagers. I didn't care what he thought, but to make him happy I snatched a few zennies from his purse and slid over to the table and placed them on the table where the food I had stolen had been sat so that the unfortunate man could buy himself another meal. I then returned to finish my food and Sasuke merely stared, gawking at me.

Finally, the Koga ninja realized how right I was and snuck over, theiving away another man's meal consisting of onigari and sushi. He licked his lips and was about to dig in when I stood, holding the remaining portion of my food and jumped out of the window. There was no reason for us to sit in such a place where we could easily be spotted. I found a nice place in a tree and the two of us silently finished our meal. When we finished we returned the plates to their rightful places, empty and clean. Sasuke also took my lead and left behind a few zennies for the customer who returned to his table, staring at the zennies in a distraught and shocked way.

The two of us later found ourselves staring out at Koriyama Castle, looking out at it's grand figure and listening to the waves as the beat against the beaches. There was a foul stench in the air. Something was going on here that was not right, something that only Mori could accomplish with his scheming plots. He would be sleeping now, for he always slumbered while the sun set and rose with the it rising. It was his custom. We would infiltrate Mori's castle in the second day's night, when the moon would be full and all would be settled and our presence in the tea house was forgotten. Not that anyone had seen us...

...

Sweey: Alright, that's it for now! ;D I had to do a little research, so it took me a little longer! I had to find out where Mori lived in Chugoku (Historically... so if you know the answer as far as Basara-wise, do let me know!) and I wanted to have specific dishes that were soully Japanese for them to eat. :3 That took some doing. X3 Alright, so yakitori is grilled chicken on skewers, miso soup is a common soup that accompanies most meals. That's Kotaro's meal; Sasuke had onigari, which are rice balls made of cooked rice and usually wrapped in nori seaweed. They are slightly salted and often contain some additional food in the center, for example an umeboshi (pickled Japanese plum), katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings), tuna or salmon... yeah, there I go with the long explanations again... and he also had sushi! :D WOOT! lol and Koriyama Castle was a REAL place! Here's my reference for Mori's location: