Sweey: So here I'm going to do something a little different. For those of you who have read my stories before, this won't be much of a change. Like I did in Eyes of a Stranger, I will be focusing on one character's point of view, in this case Kotaro, and then switch to third person omni., that way you'll know what the other characters will be thinking... so please, enjoy this next chapter. (so that means whenever it's in first person it will ALWAYS be Kotaro)
Here I'm pretending Koriyama castle is equivalent to Mori's stage in Sengoku Basara Three. Can't recall if they are the same place...so... Just bear with me, I got two hours of sleep last night... -_-
...
Chapter Three: Infiltrating Koriyama Castle
The two shinobi stared out into the dark. The sky was cloudy and a thick fog screened the landscape and the grand fortress where Motonari Mori slumbered like the sun at night. The waves from the ocean pushed and pulled threatening to lull the two to sleep.
Kotaro stood like a rigid statue with his back arched, arms crossed, and his face robbed of any expression. Sasuke on the other hand stood beside him, tired but alert eyes peering through the fog.
The Fuma shinobi turned to Sasuke, who nodded as Kotaro twisted his hand toward the faded silhouette of Mori's castle, Koriyama.
They took off, dashing forward, feet eating away the sandy ground that they ran upon and moved onto the docks, using the sound of the ocean waves to hide their sounds of movement.
...
"Man, I hate this job," a guard complained. He was plump, probably due to excess hours spent napping and snacking. The fellow stretched and yawned, only to recieve a mighty thump on the head by his comrad with the butt of a sword.
"Chokono, you're gonna get us killed if you don't shut up! If Lord Motonari hears of us slacking, or rather you, there's no telling what sort of consequinces he'll think of," the fellow hissed.
"Shoji, you worry too much," Chokono snickered, "What could possibly happen while we're out on watch? Nothing ever happens! That's why I think it's a load of rice balls that we have to be out here instead of sleeping!"
Shoji growled, "Hush it or you'll get us both killed!"
Chokono rolled his eyes, a rather exaggurated expression as his round cheeks practically made his eyes in a constant squint.
"Whatever, just be quiet and keep an eye peeled. This fog could bring anything! For all we know there could be an entire army to lay waste to us! I just can't imagine what could occur," Shoji sighed. He secretly agreed with Chokono. This job was a drag. He'd rather be back home planting his rice fields, watching his daughter grow up, and age with his wife as the seasons change. But here he was on this chilly Autumn night, staring out into a wall of fog where he could see nothing, hear nothing over the ocean's roaring waves, and his nose was running. It was a curse he thought, a curse to be born of this era of war craft and greedy warlords.
He sneezed.
Chokono gasped, "Did you see that?"
Shoji sniffed and shook his head crossly, blinking a few times, "What's to see other than the blasted fog?
His round friend's eyes were as big as his stomach, "I saw- I saw something out there! It moved like shadows and then vanished!"
Shoji's expression darkened, "Shadows you say? Could it be... the Twilight ninja?"
"Don't say that! No! No, it couldn't be!" Chokono paused, already trembling, "Could it be?"
"I-I don't know... but if it is, we must face our opponent with honor," Shoji said quietly.
Chokono met his friend's gaze, "Shoji, is it true what they say about him? That if you see the Twilight ninja, you will surely die?"
"As far as I know, Chokono, but... let's not think about it. It could have just been the shadow of an owl or some other bird of the night," Shoji said. He looked out, pupils wide over his iris to let in as much light as possible, trying to allow him sight in this pitch dark, the dark of twilight.
Then, then they heard a sneeze.
The two guards stared out, eyes wide and faces gawking toward the left where they had heard it.
...
Sasuke sniffed, rubbing his nose with a finger, "Sorry."
Kotaro rolled his eyes, though the Koga ninja could not see them, he could sense his irritation.
"I've never been here before, so I suppose you should lead the way," Sasuke whispered.
Kotaro would have led the way whether or not Sasuke had been here or not. The Fuma ninja stared forward. Only because of his years of training, could he make out the silhouettes of two guards standing at the wall. Instinct told him to kill them; moral told him to let them be.
Instinct had won.
...
Shoji shrugged his shivering flesh off. He gave a weak smile to his chubby friend.
"It was probably just my sneeze echoing through the castle," he said.
"Y-you're probably right," Chosoko forced himself to agree, though he had his doubts.
They were quiet then as they stared out into fog and shivered in the cold wind. The moon was slowly peeking through the clouds, casting their shadows to their right. They looked at them, comforted by the sight of their stretched silhouettes.
Then another shadow appeared. It was tall, slender, and muscled. A helmet rested upon this new arrival's head and long, silky hair poured out from under it, tousled gently by the wind. The shadows of pinwheels spun in his hands, the toys of children. They could see the shadow of his breath. Shoji could feel it's warmth on his neck. There was a moment of shock as Shoji felt something sharp slide between his ribs. He looked down in terror at the blade in his side and then lifted his gaze the slits on the helmet that the intruder wore.
And then he fell to the ground, the thump of his body meeting the ground was masked by the sound of the ocean waves.
Chosoko watched in terror, his screams cut off by a simple flick of the Twilight ninja's wrist.
As he watched the two men suffer, the shadow of a smile glinted on the ninja's lips. The two had stood no chance against him. The moonlight glistened off of his silver armor, sprayed with the blood of his victims.
...
Candlelight flickered in the room, fourty of them, placed in a spiral to represent the glorious sun. On one side of this fiery mosaic sat none other than Mori Motonari, on the other sat Mistunari Ishida, broken and lost in his anger.
Mitsunari growled, "What do you mean I'll be reinforcing you, Motonari? Do you play me as a fool? You've taken everything from me! Yoshitugu is dead! My army, defeated! You laid waste to them when you betrayed us like dogs to Kanbe! Only so you could get back at that thieving pirate! Yet you expect me to aid you?"
Mori's stern face was unreadable, "I suggest you hold your sharp tongue before you hurt yourself with it. It was you that played into my plans, I prompted you to do nothing. So enough of this petty pitty party. Let us discuss the business that we came to deal with in the first place." He paused, relighting one of the candles then stared back at Mitsunari. "Ieyasu still poses a threat to us, but his mere exhistance is at this point crucial for our progression at this point in time."
"Why can I not just do away with him? He deserves to suffer for what he did to Lord Hideyoshi," Mitsunari hissed. "I would much like to crush his heart in the palm of my hand, like he has already done to mine."
"Your blind ambition to kill Ieyasu is the very reason you were so susseptable to defeat," Mori said. "Besides, you will have your chance, but unless you want Ieyasu's armies to be permanently halted, you will need my help."
"Your help? Your help is what got me in this blasted position of vulnerability in the first place!"
Motonari's eyes narrowed, "As I recall, you ignored many of my suggestions, as did Yoshitsugu, that is why he is no longer among the living."
Mitsunari burst to his feet, "I don't need your help! I'll kill that bastard Ieyasu now! I'll take this sword and cut out his heart and-!"
Mori's deadpan expression did not even flinch, "Child, really, do you think your armies would be able to stand against Ieyasu now? And even if you did kill the man do you really think that his men would not avenge their lord's death?" He shook his head, "No. Think child, think before you take action. Anger will only lead you where the anger derives from. Your men are too few, they will not stand a chance against the forces of Ieyasu. No doubt they will take their formation behind Honda Tadakatsu. I'd like to see you defeat him in a duel. No, if you want to kill Ieyasu, you must do so with caution."
Mitsunari reclaimed his seat. His voice was much calmer now, but no less irritable, "And what would you have me do? Take my men and surrender them to you."
Motonari smiled smugly, "You honestly think I want your men? No, not in the least bit. I will provide you men. Of course they will be under my supreme order, but for time, they will listen to you. To keep you from having any ideas, half of your armies will remain under my authority, and mine will make up for the weakened positions in yours. Do I make myself clear, child?"
"Stop calling me that, you irritating swine," Mitsunari said in a low voice. "Where do you want me to strike?"
"Odawara," Mori said simply, "Home of Hojo Ujimasa."
"Hojo, but why? What a waste of time, send me somewhere more..." he paused to think of a word.
"Strategic? Well, considering I am known for such tacticious thinking, I suggest you waltz on over to Ujimasa's door step and destroy them," Motonari said.
"Very well, Motonari," Mitsunari grumbled, "But if I even think you'll betray me, I'll cut your throat." With his threat finally spoken, Ishida left the room.
Mori allowed a sly smile, "That's just it Mitsunari, you don't think. Seems like I have absolutely nothing to worry about. All my plans are falling in place and no one will see what is comming of them."
The terrifying tactician then stood and with a vicious wave of his ring blade, the spiraling candles were snuffed out, and he left the room in the dark.
When he had left Sasuke turned to Kotaro, "If what we just heard is true, you better high tail it back to Hojo and tell him what's comming for him."
Kotaro nodded, climbing through a window, he perched on a wall and mimiced the sound of the wind. A moment later an adorable, fat, yellow bird perched on his head. Kotaro sat, pulling out a small piece of rice paper and a sliver of charcoal to write his message to Ujimasa. He tied the message to the leg of the yellow bird and sent it on its way.
"That's your bird familiar? We could have sent my hawk," Sasuke snickered, joining Kotaro on the wall. "Well, since we've finished our task here, what do ya say we head to see what the One-Eyed Dragon is up to?"
Kotaro nodded. Yes, that would be their next task. The army had been moving southward the last time he had been sent to infiltrate for information. It was time they got moving.
...
Sweey: So as I said before, this is a fanfiction (duh) and I'm mixing it up a lil. So basically we've got Mori (based a little off of his storyline in SB3) where he basically turns everything around on everyone, lies to Motochika Chosokabe who kills Ieyasu (but in this case that is not relavent, we'll pretend Motochika only beat up Ieyasu really bad... hey, it's not like they didn't do it in the anime!) betrays Mitsunari and Yoshitsugu causing them to loose and later coming back to defeat them himself, and then finally Motochika falls to Motonari. But in this case, Mori never got around to conquering Japan, because of that crucial fact of Ieyasu not dying. So, Ieyasu and Mitsunari are still rivals, but Mitsunari has been utterly crippled by Mori, who has taken advantage of that very fact. Now he's sending Mitsunari to Odawara, which he has no clue why Mori is sending him there. (this is somewhat relavent because Mitsunari does indeed take down Odawara a couple of times)Now Sasuke and Kotaro, the two "frenemies" are heading after the army of Oshu to see what the One-Eyed Dragon is up to.