Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai 7. Just Akinari and some other OCs.

Chapter 8: The Village of Kanna; Troubles and Preparation

After I changed out of the disguise and into my dark blue kimono and grey hakama, everyone prepared for the second part of the trip to Kanna Village. Heihachi, Gorobei, and Kyuzo were on the look out for enemies as everyone else hid in a cart full of bundles of hay. Rikichi pulled the cart along. Because of my condition concerning transportation, I went with Kikuchiyo, going our own way.

We decided to climb down the cliff, cross the short river, and climb back up on the other side. Well, Kiku climbed while I hung onto his back. Kiku was better at climbing than me, and I'd only slow him down if I climbed on my own.

"Real Samurai find their own way, right, Aki?" asked Kiku.

"I guess so."

After we got to the top, I jumped off of Kiku's back, and we went straight ahead. Looks like the others had already gone to the village.

We reached the rice fields, where we saw Komachi and another girl around her age with a baby on her back, talking. We overheard their conversation about how the villagers had hidden away their food and young women somewhere, afraid of us.

"Secret stash?" inquired Kiku, when we got closer to the children,"Hey kid, where is it?"

The short black-haired girl looked at us both before asking Komachi,"Who're they?"

"The big guy is Kiku while the other boy is Aki."

"You'll call me Kikuchiyo-sama!" bellowed my friend.

"So they're your lackeys?" asked the girl.

"...Lackeys...?" I said, though no one heard me.

"So kid-"

"My name's Okara," said the girl, interrupting Kiku.

"Alright. So Okara-chan, where's this secret stash?"

Okara thought for a moment, before telling us to follow her. The sun had set once we arrived on the side of the mountain. There were many closed entrances.

"Kiku," started Komachi," Is this going to be some test of courage?"

Kiku chuckled.

"No matter the village, they all think the same way, huh?"

Oh, that's right... Kiku was a farmer! How could I forget?

The red cyborg put down his sword and started climbing the wall.

"Careful, Kiku!" I called out," Some of them might be traps!"

"Don't worry!" Kiku looked back at us once he got in front of one of the many sealed openings. "That secret stash is here!"

"Kiku..." Komachi held onto Okara.

"Don't think of this in a bad way, Sprout!"

Kiku opened the seal, only to be forced back by a torrent of water and skulls. I stepped out of the water's way, as Okara laughed.

"Told you so," I said, watching as Kiku short-circuit a little. The water had blasted him full in the face, so I bet some water got into his system. "You girls might wanna step back a bit, unless you wanna get shocked." I held the girls back as Kiku recovered. Some more sparks crackled around his head as he got up and got the water out of his head. One of them crackled out and hit me in the face, but it didn't really hurt. As long as the kids weren't the ones getting electrocuted, it was fine.

After he was dry and not having sparks flying out, he tried again. Each time ended in the same way, and I kept the girls a safe distance away from him once I saw the sparks fly. On his 6th try, he finally succeeded.

"HA HA! FOUND IT!"

"Wh-Who're you?!" yelled a girl. I noticed that she had some dirt on her face, and her hair was incredibly short. It was like someone had just chopped of all her hair and she tried to fix it.

Her protests were ignored as Kiku picked up 3 bales of rice, the girl, and his sword.

"Kiku, put the girl down!" I yelled,"You're fu- scaring her!"

I reminded myself that there were kids around, so I kept my language in check. Kiku ignored my scolding as he happily started to head into the direction of the village.

"Aki!" I looked down at Komachi. "Look what was in there!" In her hands were lots of arrows.

"Huh, so they didn't just store away their food and girls..." I shook my head. "Now's not the time for that. C'mon, kids. Let's catch up with Kiku before he does something stupid."

"I hear you," said Okara. "How do you put up with him?"

"No idea..."

The three of us caught up to Kiku.

"I found your rice and women! See? See?!" he yelled. Everyone in the village were surrounding Kiku, clearly unhappy. They were afraid of him, though, because of the size of his sword. "Did you think that you guys could hide these from me in that secret stash of yours?!"

The girl over Kiku's shoulder struggled to get off.

"Shino!" yelled a villager.

"Give back our rice!" yelled another.

I saw our friends come to the scene.

"Hey! Move out of the way, you idiots!" yelled Kiku.

He spun around, and the villagers backed off, avoiding his sword.

"Shino!" called out an ugly villager.

"How did you find the secret stash?!" demanded another.

"I may be a warrior, but I can see right through the way you all think! ...Eh?" An old man, whom I believe is the village elder, walked up to the cyborg. There was a brief silence, before Kiku asked, rather rudely,"Old man, you got some problem with me?!"

"Naw," said the Elder," This is good."

Kiku chuckled and said,"If you think you can turn back now, you're greatly mistaken! The Nobuseri will never let a village go easily after it has rebelled!" The villagers cowered in fear. "But, now that I'm here, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Grrr... LET GO OF ME, WOULD YOU?!" yelled the struggling girl.

"Oh, alright!"

Kiku dropped her on the ground. I walked to her, and held my hand out. She glared at me.

"I'm really sorry, miss," I said," Sometimes, I just wish my friend would think before he did things."

The girl's expression softened just a little, and she let me help her get back up on her feet.

"I feel sorry for you..." she said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

I kicked Kiku in the shin, making his balance falter before he stood up properly again. He had to give back the 3 bales of rice he took back to the villagers as I reprimanded him.

"Shut up, you nut head! I yelled at you to put her down earlier and leave her alone, but you weren't listening! What, did all those water blasts to the head damage your brain?"

"Kinda..."

I face palmed. Of course. I sighed in annoyance.

"That explains it," I muttered to myself, before saying to him," ...If you're still having some technical problems throughout the night, tell me. I'll fix you later, though I doubt that I will have to do anything, got it?"

"Got it!"

I turned back to the girl.

"Anyway, you're not hurt, right?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"No, I'm not. My name is Shino, by the way."

"I'm Akinari. You can just call me Aki, if you want."

"Alright, er... Aki-kun. I'll see you later, then."

She left to who knows where.

I ignored Kiku, irritated. I know he didn't really mean what he did, but seriously? Playing around with Rikichi's wife's kimono? Well, at least he didn't accidentally tear it or anything, or the situation would've been much worse.

I heard muffled squealing and talking from outside. I guess some girls were staring at Katsushiro, watching over him "secretly" and getting all giddy. Komachi and Okara came in quietly, and surprised the boy. I heard the two girls laugh. It was cute, but a little creepy, too. Still cute though.

Since Rikichi's place was too small for all 8 samurai ( well, in my opinion, 7 samurai and 1 former kleptomaniac), we were all staying at different homes. I shared a room with Heihachi and Kyuzo, but the red samurai preferred to sleep outside somewhere in the forest. That's good, since my secret will be safe for the time being.

Right now, it was just Heihachi and me. The room was dark, and we were both awake.

"So," I said, lying in my futon," We start preparations tomorrow?"

"That's what Kambei said," replied Heihachi. "Nervous?"

"A little... You?"

"I don't know, honestly..."

"I see..."

Heihachi then asked me a question.

"Hey, Aki? I've been wondering, but how long do you plan to pretend to be a man?"

I thought for a moment, before replying," Not any time soon. Why?"

"...You once said to me that you pretended to be one because they didn't allow women to fight in the War. Yet here you are, still living in that facade. Why?"

"Well, for one thing, force of habit. Being male just seemed more normal to me. Another thing is that I didn't draw too much attention to myself back in Kogakyo. When I decided to go around town looking like girl, people looked at me weird. Apparently, women with weapons didn't mix. Some people can be so stereotypical."

"What are you going to do about the women in the village, then? They'll most likely won't be fighting in this war."

"Nothing," I said, as if it were just plain obvious.

"Nothing?"

He seemed confused.

"Nothing," I repeated," If the women want to fight, too, then let them fight. If not, then oh well. I'm sure we'll do just fine with just the men, anyway. They're stronger, and their stamina is better anyways. Plus, I'll need them for something, if Kambei approves."

"Like what?"

"Medicine, of course! I mean, how can you go fight in a war if you don't have the proper medicine ready first? I mean, sure, defending the fort is important, and so is eliminating the enemy, but what about taking care of the injured? Even if it's a small wound, there's a chance of infection and it can be very problematic if not treated properly. At least, that's what I was taught."

"I guess being a medic for most of the War did wonders to you, huh?"

"Yep. Both good and bad experiences just made me better. I learned from my mistakes, and improve."

I tried to stifle a yawn, but failed.

"I guess we should get to sleep now."

" Yeah... 'Night Hei-chan."

"Good night, Aki."

That night, I dreamed about my past again.

I was backed up in the corner, trying to stay as far away from the scary lady.

"No! I don't wanna go!"

My screams and wailing didn't affect the woman I had to call 'Mother'. This isn't Mommy... The woman in the other village is!

"Shut up! You ruined my life! Everything would've been fine if that man hadn't brought you here! I can't stand you anymore!" She grabbed me by the hair. I cried louder. "Now behave! I'm selling you to that brothel..."

No... Mommy told me not to end up there in life. She made me promise not to be like her.

...What's that shining thing in the scary lady's clothes? Is that... a knife?

My heart was beating wildly. When the lady held me up to slap me, I snatched away the knife and stabbed her arm. She screamed, and dropped me, clutching her arm. She turned away from me, and tried to stop the bleeding. There was a long deep cut. I aimed it to make it deep and short, but the knife moved down her arm when she had dropped me.

It's all red now. The tatami floor, too. Instead of running away, I stayed. Clutching the knife, I ran towards the woman, and stabbed her in the back. Over and over again. Her blood almost seemed like paint to me. A nice red, to color everything with.

She won't hurt me anymore if she's dead, right?

She won't call me bad names anymore if she's dead, right?

She won't make me feel so scared to wake up every day from my happy dreams, now that she's dead, right?

"Mother!" The sliding door opened, revealing my brother. His eyes widened when he saw what I had done. "Oh Kamisama... Akiko, What happened? Why are you holding that knife?"

I looked up at him, confused, as he cautiously stepped closer to me. Ren has never called me by my full first name before. He always calls me 'Aki' or 'Aki-chan'. He looks scary right now, but I answered him anyway.

"T-The bad lady is gone now. I killed her."

The moment I said that, Brother lunged at me. He yanked the knife out of my hands, and pinned me to the floor.

"HOW COULD YOU?! SHE WAS OUR MOTHER!"

Our Mother? No! She's not my mom!

"She's not Mommy!" I yelled, trying to get the knife away from him.

He attempted to stab me, but I moved out of the way as much as I could. He still managed to cut me deep on the side of my thigh. I cried from the pain and shock that my own brother had just stabbed me. I've always looked up to him, yet here he is, trying to kill me. My light blue kimono was stained red with my own blood, and some of the scary lady's blood. As Ren and I struggled, I managed to bite hard into his arm, the one he used to hold the knife.

"ACK!"

I bit him hard enough to draw blood. I then kicked as hard as I could between his legs. He flinched, dropped the knife, and rolled over onto his back. I got out of his grasp and grabbed the knife. I sat on top of Ren, and stabbed him in the stomach.

"Don't hurt me!" A stab in his chest. "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" Ren got stabbed on his arms when he tried to push me away. "D-DON'T HURT ME!" A final stab in his neck. The blood was everywhere. Ren's eyes were wide open and rolled back, his mouth gaped open. Blood had come out of his mouth when I attacked. I was sticky with the crimson mixture of the lady's, Ren's, and my own blood.

Oh Kami-sama... I can see Big Brother's insides...! Turning to the side, I threw up.

I stood up clumsily as I ran out of the room and out the house. What if Father comes home?! I ran through the village, making sure no one saw me. It started raining by the time I got to the forest. My thigh hurts... and the blood won't stop coming out. I'm too scared to look to see how bad it is, even though I should take care of it. Leaning against a tree, I looked up at the grey sky. The rain feels cold, but good.

"I'm... going to die now..."

'I feel really sleepy. Maybe a nap would be good...' I thought.

As I closed my eyes, I felt someone pick me up. I tried to look up, but everything is so blurry now. The person looks like a man. He said something, but I could barely hear it.

'Please,' I prayed,'Don't let it be my father.'

The next morning was misty. The villagers gathered around in the middle of Kanna. After waking up from that dream, I just wanted to lie in bed all day, but Heihachi convinced me otherwise.

"We are going to start fortifying the village's defenses," announced Kambei,"I've heard that the Nobuseri's main force consisted of 40 cavaliers. Has there been any changes?"

The Elder nodded.

"Yes. There's about 10 more of the huge cavaliers, so including those teakettles and infantrymen, there are about 60 now."

... That's a lot of enemies.

"At some point, we'll have to send out a few scouts," said Kambei. He then turned around to us. "Heihachi, Akinari. You two will be in charge of weapons detail. Shichiroji, you do what you always do."

"You can count on me," he said.

"Kyuzo," continued Kambei,"Take whatever available men there are and teach them archery."

"Consider it done."

At that, the village men looked very much afraid. Having Kyuzo as a teacher won't be that bad, can it?

"Sensei," said Katsushiro,"What should I do?"

"You will be on patrol."

"...Patrol?"

The boy looked crestfallen. The white clad samurai raised his spirits however, by saying," On no account should you allow any enemies escape. They must not realize what we're up to until we're done."

"Yes, Sensei!"

Kambei then faced the villagers.

"If soldiers don't march in step, then they will not win a battle they could've won. Let's all join our hearts together, and strike back at the Nobuseri!"

A man called out, but stopped. The villagers' morale were incredibly low. Now it was just an awkward silence, until the Elder suddenly yelled. It sounded like it was his war cry. Gradually, everyone in the village joined in, their spirits high. I couldn't help but smile.

This war is going to be a big one.

In a small hut, Heihachi and I were making parts for this catapult to put at the fortress Shichiroji is building by the waterfall. Some of the villlage women helped us.

"Say, Great Samurai," said a woman,"Do you have a wife?"

I held in a laugh. That was random... and how old is she? About twice his age?

"...You should be working your hands, not your mouth," said my friend.

Komachi and Okara arrived just then.

"Heihachi! Aki!" said Komachi,"Momotaro is asking for you guys! He said he needs to talk about something of a mechanical nature with you two."

"What is it?" asked Kiku, walking over,"I'll handle it!"

"He didn't ask for you," said Okara, making him grumble in annoyance.

"Hmmm..." I looked to my left. "What about these...?" wondered Heihachi, about the weapons we were currently making.

"I'll stay," I said," The only machinery I really know how to do is repairing Kiku, anyways."

"Okay then," Heihachi got up, putting the item in his hands down," I'll see you later then."

I nodded, and he left with the kids and Kiku. The old women and I continued to prepare the wooden parts.

"So, what about you, Sir Samurai?" asked the woman from earlier,"Do you have a wife, perhaps?"

"...Just keep working, ma'am."

I continued to make arrows for the archers, in case we run out during a battle.

That night, a little after sunset, I decided to look for Heihachi. Shichiroji dropped by earlier and told me that he and Kiku were preparing to make a large ballista. I wanted to go see how they were doing, but I had to finish the work I had. When I had finished the work Heihachi and I were doing, I went to Kambei and asked if I could experiment a bit and make medicine and the like, in case we need them for any injured people over the course of this war. After all, you can never be too careful in a situation like this.

He approved, and I headed into the forest to collect the plants that would do well in creating various serums and ointments. It's been years since I've been a medic, so I took with me my old notebook full of various information about which plants to take.

"I wonder... if I had stayed a medic all throughout the War, would Master still be alive today?" I mumbled to myself. I shook my head. "No. Even if he had survived that battle, his illness would've killed him anyway eventually."

I heard some yelling in the woods, along with the sound of metal being cut, and I immediately ran to the source of all the noise. That yell sounded like Katsushiro. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the scene before me. Looks like his first kill.

End of Chapter Eight

A/N: Well, that's it for now. Honestly, when I first started this, I thought I'd just give up at Chapter 3, but now it just doesn't feel right, deleting this before it even ended.

On a random note, I now hate (well, dislike) skunks. One somehow managed to break into the school around Nov. 27-ish, and sprayed all over the main office early in the morning, before school even started. Thank god my homeroom was on the other side of the school in the basement! That stuff really stunk...