Disclaimer: Not making any money…by now I'm sure you know this.

Shades of Gray

"Colombia? Helmagistan? You guys want to fill me in?" Seto asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Colombia was actually one of our first missions just after we finished high school. It was just supposed to be a harmless training mission. We were escorting a peace mission to Colombia bringing medical relief to a remote coffee farming village hit hard by a tropical storm. Tokio was leading the medical team as she had done many times for the organization she and Night worked with," Aoshi began.

"Night-san donates and is heavily involved in the organization she was part of so he always participated in her mercy missions. He suggested we tag along and start getting a wider view of the world," Kenshin added.

"The old man thought that Kanryu was supplying the cartels with weapons and suggested we might be able to do a little recon while we were there," Sano added. Seto sat back and listened glad to have the story back on track…

-0-

Aoshi looked around in the small village. It was a haphazard collection of about 20 or so little houses mostly ruined by the storms. The largest and strongest building was the Medical Center which doubled as school and city hall. He didn't know why but he found the rustic setting appealing. At first he had been disappointed with how quiet the town. He'd been doing nothing but training and studying the last year. He was dying to do something about his vendetta against Kanryu! But the little town had finally won him over.

'Maybe it's the quiet,' he thought as he pushed a wheel barrow full of bricks to the site across from the medical center where the new school/city hall was being built by a small group of volunteers. He put down the cart and took a drink of water from his canteen. Kenshin was laying mortar down and carefully arranging bricks with an Australian woman who kept flirting with him.

'How does he do it?' Aoshi wondered. Kenshin always had an easy time attracting girls of any age! Aoshi could not understand how he did it or why they found him so fascinating. He shook his head and put away his canteen scanning the town for Sano. Sano was loading another cart with building material that was still stacked on a truck at the far end of the one street town. The two men his father insisted he hire for protection were helping him with the job. He took a deep breath and began unloading his cart and stacking the bricks near Kenshin and the lady he was working with.

Most of the locals were out in their fields tending to what was left of their crops, only some of the elders and the smallest children were around helping the volunteers. The local food had been a surprise to Aoshi. He had sampled many foreign dishes but nothing had been so delicious and fulfilling as the simple rustic food he'd sampled with the locals. Though the grateful locals had asked for no money from them for the food, he paid generously for it and felt every penny was worth it!

The recent storm had hit their town hard and left the town in ruins. The idea was to build a bigger building that could work as a shelter for future storms and a place to store the coffee beans they grew. Their coffee export business was growing rapidly and had the potential to turn the unknown little village into a boom town. The volunteers chattered in a variety of languages: Kenshin had worked hard and learned not only English but Spanish as well. Since there were many Spanish speakers in LA, Aoshi and Sano applied themselves to study it as well. So there was a cheerful mix of Spanish, English and Japanese floating about in the air.

When the attack came it caught them all by surprise!

A woman screamed somewhere else in the village and Aoshi heard the unmistakable sound of automatic weapons. Night and Sensei had spent the last year of their training teaching them how to identify and defend themselves against opponents armed with guns. He quickly dove to cover and hurried to the shady spot near by the construction area where he and his friends had left their backpacks with their weapons.

His Sensei had spent the last year training him and Kenshin in the use of swords. He had a pair of short swords his father gave him that had once belonged to an ancestor of theirs but no one had used them since the end of the Bakumatsu. Kenshin had a full katana that was given to him by his uncle. Night had been working with Sano on some special fighting move but Aoshi had yet to see what it was. What looked like soldiers poured into the tiny town from every side!

Aoshi put their training to good use now as he made his way through the village. The attackers were brazen and overconfident so it became very easy for Kenshin, Aoshi and Sano to pick them off while the other volunteers tried to get themselves and the villagers out of harm's way. The attackers were dressed in green camo uniforms but they didn't have the coordination that a group of real soldiers would have.

He quickly learned from a villager he rescued that they were a group of thugs that were in league with the local drug cartels. The old lady said they called themselves "freedom fighters" but all they ever did was steal their food and medicines, take their children or force them to grow opium. They were bullies…and Aoshi hated bullies! He attacked them without remorse! The attack seemed pointless though because other than shooting at the locals and the volunteers they weren't taking anything.

'Maybe we're doing too good a job of scaring them off before they can start looting?' he thought but couldn't be sure. He looked around quickly and saw that both Kenshin and Sano were doing well against the attackers. He didn't see Nightraven but he knew that the old man had been volunteering at the clinic with Tokio. He was a very capable nurse according to Tokio. This was her first time in a Spanish-speaking country and aside from nurse duties, he was translating for her with the patients. He ordered his men to help the villagers and protect the volunteers.

'So he's not gonna leave her,' Aoshi reasoned as he continued cutting down one attacker after the other. He spared not another thought to Tokio or her patients as he dove in to the battle with reckless abandon, enjoying the thrill of power that coursed through him! The attackers soon started to flee as Kenshin struck a man in the stomach with his sword and sent him flying ten feet away from him to hit on a partially constructed concrete wall.

"they're demons…" uttered one man in shock as he saw his comrade fly across the narrow street. He turned to flee but lightning fast Kenshin was on him. With a fierce downward swipe of his reverse blade sword the man went down and didn't get back up. Aoshi nodded to his friend and looked around. Two men lay at Sano's feet, whether unconscious or dead Aoshi could not tell – and neither did he care. Sano wasn't looking at Aoshi though but at something behind him, his eyes wide with shock. He turned to look.

"TOKIO!" he screamed over the chaos of the battle. A man had her by the hair with a gun shoved into the back of her neck. He yelled at her as he hurried her ahead of him into the jungle and away from the town. They quickly disappeared in the foliage. He screamed her name as he cut down one and then another so-called freedom fighter. Kenshin and Sano were at his side in an instant and they fought their way through but as they finally won the battle and the remaining thugs had fled into the jungle; he realized he had lost Tokio.

"We have to go after them!" Sano exclaimed, the panic in his voice matching the panic in Aoshi's mind. Just as he was about to give in to despair and rage, a boy hurried up to him and his friends. The boy explained that a small group had gone back into the forest but that Night had followed them. He sent the boy to give the three of them a message:

"Sigue el camino rojo!" the boy said to Aoshi and pointed him in the direction Night had gone.

"Follow the red road?" Kenshin translated out loud uncertain what that meant.

"What the hell does that mean?!" Sano raged.

"We'll figure it out on the way! Let's go!" Aoshi replied in as neutral a tone as he could manage. He was too angry to think clearly and puzzle out Night's cryptic clue but he held on to the thread of hope that Tokio was still ok and that Night would find her. Kenshin hurried back and grabbed their backpacks then they ran in the direction the boy had pointed to…

-0-

"Obviously you guys were able to catch up, right?" Seto asked, the Go game had been briefly neglected as he sat on the edge of his seat listening to Aoshi's tale.

"Not right away, as nii-sama is fond of reminding me," Aoshi replied with a heavy sigh.

"I wish Tokio-dono hadn't told him about that," Kenshin added equally regretful.

"Ha! You're out of luck buddy! Tokio told the wolf everything we ever did around her! And I mean everything!" Sano laughed. Aoshi cringed, it explained why Hajime was much nicer to him, Sano and Kenshin these days though he wished some stories she had kept to herself. Hajime was not the forgiving sort.

"It's a good thing you went back for our backpacks. It was amazing how far those jerks got before we caught up with them," Sano added to Kenshin.

"But Night-san was right, we could not attack them in the jungle," Kenshin put in.

"Yes, and by the time we caught them they still outnumbered us by more than double and we were exhausted by the battle and the hike," Aoshi said taking up the thread of the story once more…

-0-

They spotted the trail of the thugs right away. They had torn through the forest smashing bushes and trees along the way so it was easy to see it in the light of day. A couple of hours of rushing after them they heard the first roar. They paused to listen.

"A jaguar maybe," Sano asked nervous for a moment "you don't think they'll use Tokio to escape a jaguar do you?" he added looking a bit panicked..

"Jaguars are night hunters, they're stealthy predators…that didn't sound like a jaguar…" Aoshi countered. They continued along at a breakneck pace and after another hour or so they began to hear screams and the sounds of gunfire. Nighttime would be falling soon so they doubled their effort and after a few minutes they began to see the red road. Aoshi knew the distance was closing as he caught sight of the first mangled body.

"Whoa…the old man is pissed," Sano said softly. The man's torso had been ripped to shreds, his face was frozen with a look of absolute terror. Aoshi bent down for a moment to examine him with a cold clinical eye. What was left of the body was positioned in the shape of an arrow with the words "this way" carved on to his arms.

"This is very recent. The jungle scavengers haven't touched the body yet. We are getting closer," Aoshi concluded calmly. They continued now following the trail of blood and body parts. They listened for the roars and growls of the creature that were swiftly followed by screams of terror and gunfire. They were certain now that it was Nightraven using deceptions and psychological warfare against the attackers. They would soon learn this was his preferred way of fighting.

When night finally fell they were forced to slow down to not lose the trail. They finally caught up with the thugs and they stopped about 100 feet away from them. They hid in the jungle and watched the thugs as they huddled with fearful faces around a fire they had managed to build. They fired at every shadow and tiny noise so they realized that a direct assault would probably put Tokio in greater danger.

"Maybe we can pick them off one at a time as their fire dies down," Sano suggested but he was breathing heavily. Kenshin nodded but said nothing, breathing heavily too. Hours of non-stop hiking and running had caught up with them. They needed a break to regain some energy if they wanted to have strength enough to rescue their friend. Aoshi began to say so but before he could he jumped up with his sword at the ready as he felt a hand at this back.

"Smart boys. Fighting with your brains and your fists! You're learning!" whispered Night teasingly. Aoshi and his friends relaxed. Night handed Aoshi a pair of binoculars. Aoshi put them up to his face and zeroed in on the group of kidnappers. He spotted Tokio right in the center surrounded by the remaining kidnappers. He counted seven of them now but by the bodies they found he believed the group had started at 12 or 13 men. He passed the binoculars to his friends relieved that Tokio looked unharmed.

"She looks ok. She doesn't look scared," Sano commented with relief.

"Fortunate for them," added Kenshin in a threatening tone.

"She's a smart girl. She's the one that left us the first trail," Night began with a smirk. He ordered the boys to sit and pull out their water and rations. They would need their strength for the coming fight. They did as they were told without a word but couldn't tear their eyes from the campfire. Fear for Tokio still gnawed at them as they ate their meager meal in silence. The kidnappers offered Tokio food but she made a face at whatever they offered and refused it. The commander offered her water and they stifled a chuckle as she took one sniff at the filthy canteen and gave it back lecturing the man about drinking whatever was in it. The man yelled at her and walked away.

"Tokio-dono is so clever," Kenshin pointed out as she talked one of the other men into opening her bag and giving her a protein bar and a tiny water bottle from it. Night lectured that attacking them now would be a mistake. They were too jumpy and had too much ammo left. After a couple of hours of rest, Night decided it was time to act.

"Watch this," Night whispered. A thug had moved from the campfire into the woods. Tokio was sitting near the fire looking around at the jungle. She looked calm and alert. Night moved away into the shadows. After a few minutes, a familiar growl erupted from the direction Night went and the boys startled a little as they watched the thugs scramble and start firing into the darkness. They fired wildly as several pieces of the man who had wandered into the woods came flying into the camp. They calmed down eventually and huddled closer to the fire. Aoshi noticed that one man was in tears.

Night returned to their little dark campsite and silently they moved closer to the thugs. The group was now about 50 feet away from them but Aoshi could see why Night insisted on picking them off. They still had large bandoliers full of ammo wrapped around them and one man had a grenade dangling from his belt. A couple more hours passed and Night moved off into the darkness once more when another man got up to try and get wood for their dying fire.

"The old man is pretty scary," Sano commented in a soft whisper as the previous scene repeated itself. Aoshi and Kenshin nodded. They were close enough to the men to use their fire for light. He could see a vengeful gleam in their eyes as they prepared themselves. Once the thugs had calmed again the commander realized the danger in sitting there any longer and decided to keep going. He grabbed Tokio roughly by the arm and pulled her up, ordering everyone to move.

"That man needs a lesson in proper manners," growled Kenshin with a dark look in his eyes. Aoshi couldn't agree more. Tokio resisted, and as the thugs tried to cover their tracks, she made a mess stomping around and crashing into the bushes. She was obviously still trying to leave a trail.

"Pay attention boys! That's how you survive crap like this! You use your head, just like her," Night pointed out proudly as he returned to the boys. Aoshi noted how clean his clothes and hands were and vaguely wondered how he was doing all that killing without getting blood all over himself. Aoshi nodded solemnly watching now the torches that moved now deeper into the jungle.

"We follow now. We head for the source. We'll take them all," Night ordered and disappeared into the jungle again. Aoshi and his friends followed as close as they could not taking their eyes off the little torches that moved ahead of them slowly. The thugs were obviously exhausted because they stopped often. Once they even stopped to argue with each other. Nightraven returned to them and explained that they were beginning to think Tokio was some kind of witch and was summoning demons to strike at them.

"They're the only demons around here!" Sano growled angrily.

"No Sano, there are demons chasing them, but they are the ones that summoned them," Kenshin countered as he glared angrily at the group of men they were chasing. Sano frowned, he would never grow accustomed to seeing his friends in this demon-mode. He turned away and glared at the men running ahead of them.

"We'll back off for a little bit now. The time to strike is coming soon," Night added with an evil glee then disappeared once more. They were forced to hang back further as thug reinforcements showed up and daylight began breaking through the canopy.

Aoshi stopped to watch with the binoculars the group of men who had captured Tokio as they spoke to their reinforcements. Tokio looked scared now but just as he was trying to look for a way to reassure her they were still following, the roars sounded once more. He couldn't see Night but he knew it had to be him because the fear on Tokio's face vanished and she looked around the jungle with hope alight on her face.

"Get ready boys. It's almost show time!" Night informed them gleefully as he once more appeared behind them. Aoshi nodded and this time Night motioned for them to follow. He explained he had managed to get ahead of the group and scout out the location of their hideout. He drew a little map on the ground of a settlement of about 10 little lean-tos and tents spread out between the trees.

"You boys will enter from the south. Cause as big a riot as you can! Search every little tent and shack! Tokio could be in any one of them," he ordered. The boys nodded as Kenshin loosened his blade from the sheath and Aoshi unsheathed his swords. Sano cracked his knuckles as he adjusted his special Kevlar gloves with the steel knuckle plates that their teacher had made for him.

"Where will you be?" Aoshi asked. Night just smirked with evil glee but said nothing.

"You boys just wait for my signal," he added and hurried away. Aoshi frowned wondering what Night's signal might be but he didn't wonder long. A couple of smoke bombs burst in the center of the makeshift village and a roar ripped through the jungle once more. Without much more prompting, all three of them leapt into action…

-0-

"You know, it's weird hearing you talk about feeling angry or panicked cuz I never see any of it in your face," Sano interrupted with a confused look on his face. Seto frowned annoyed at this interruption in the tale. He wanted to know what happened to the thugs though it seemed pretty clear at this point. And most importantly he wanted to know if he had been right about Kanryu using Kaiba Corp to cover his dirty deals.

Part of the reason Seto had destroyed the weapons factories of Kaiba Corp; and terminated all the defense contracts the company had, was because Gozaburo had made a legal mess with his vendetta against the Shinomoris. To avoid indictments from various law enforcement agencies Seto had distanced himself and the company as much as he could from the dirty deals of Kanryu and Gozaburo as soon as the old man died.

The law went easy on him since he was just a kid and had declared the company would only be involved in the electronic gaming industry. He had cooperated with every law enforcement agency that came waving a subpoena at him but they went away with nothing to connect him or his brother to any crimes Gozaburo was accused of. The only thing approximating evidence they ever found was a ruined computer in Gozaburo's private office at the Kaiba mansion that the boys had never had access to. Part of him always wondered if Gozaburo jumped out the window because he knew that because of Kanryu the law was coming for him.

'Those two morons thought they'd stick me and Mokuba with the blame and they were very wrong!' thought Seto proudly as Sano continued to make remarks about Aoshi's Vulcan-like behavior.

"That is Aoshi-san's talent! He is good at masking his emotions with a neutral expression," Kenshin replied cheerfully. Aoshi's ability to not give away his emotions was common knowledge in Gozaburo's camp. Gozaburo had made many a rude joke about it saying perhaps Aoshi was a eunuch and that was why he didn't emote.

"So I presume you managed to rescue your friend and route the remaining thugs, right?" Seto asked wanting to get the story back on track. In spite of (or perhaps because of) Gozaburo's rude jokes Seto admired Aoshi's ability. He recognized that Aoshi's talent was just the result of really good training and self-discipline. The three men with him got the hint and Aoshi continued his tale…

-0-

Chaos erupted quickly in the camp as the boys moved from tent to shack to tent screaming Tokio's name and beating down anyone who tried to shoot them. Women and small children ran into the jungle away from the fighters but Aoshi didn't bother them. The thugs left in the village were caught completely unawares and gave little resistance. He heard more roars from Night in the chaos and followed the sound calling Tokio's name. He spotted a wooden shack at the far north section of the village. At the dirty window he saw Tokio appear for a split second but was pulled away by a man who put his hand over her mouth and ducked her away from the window.

"Over here!" He turned and called to Kenshin and Sano. He bolted toward the shack with Kenshin and Sano at his side. But as they burst through the door they found Tokio sitting unharmed with Night patting her head gently. The man that had pulled her from the window was sprawled on the ground next to her with a pool of blood around his head. Sano pushed past him and knelt next to Tokio pulling her into a tight hug apologizing for letting those men take her. Kenshin pushed the dead man aside. He knelt opposite Sano taking Tokio's left hand in both of his and firing his apologies as well.

"I'm sorry Tokio. I'm sorry I got distracted. I'm sorry they took you," Aoshi added contritely, kneeling in front of her. She smiled and took his hand in her right hand.

"It's ok. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you came for me," she replied smiling at them.

"We've gotta get you out of here!" Sano finally said but the air constricting hold he had on Tokio wouldn't let up.

"One thing at a time: First we have to sort this place out," began Nightraven. He ordered the boys to start searching the camp for weapon and drug stashes. Also to search for anything that would let them know where the other hideouts for this band of brigands might be. Sano looked mutinous; he did not want to leave Tokio again. Night ordered him to stay with Tokio and help her with the children and the wounded while he, Kenshin and Aoshi searched the camp and the surrounding areas.

"There are wounded I should look after," Tokio put in all business now. She patted Sano on the arm and he released her reluctantly. Kenshin released her too and searched through his pockets to pull out an elastic hair band. He always kept a spare since of his friends he was the only one with long hair. Tokio's own hair band was lost somewhere back in the village they had been helping. Aoshi had cut his hair off a few days after his own kidnapping and he vowed he would never let it grow out again. Gratefully Tokio took it and wrapped her long hair in a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Let's get to work," she said as they all got up. She stared with pity at a woman who whimpered at the far end of the hut. The woman crawled over to the dead man. In a soft voice Tokio explained that the man dead on the floor was the leader. She had been taken to treat his injured leg.

"I feel sorry for her. She's as much a victim as all the people these young men harass," Tokio said softly.

"Nothing is ever black and white…just shades of grey," Night replied solemnly "let's get to work now," he added sternly. The boys spread out and Sano stayed closer than a shadow to Tokio. She never complained and would even walk with her hand on his shoulder just to reassure him.

It didn't take long for Aoshi to get his first breakthrough ever in his fight against Kanryu. In a deep hole hidden behind the shack were Tokio had been held captive he found a stash of ammo. Hidden under the stash was a small leather-bound notebook. He opened it and saw lists of coordinates and dates some were past but a lot were still yet to come. The most telling of the details was that the book had the Kaiba Corp logo on the back cover of the notebook.

He knew authorities would need it but if he let go of this info he would never be able to catch Kanryu in the act. He was certain Kanryu had many a spy in law enforcement because he got away with way too much. Police hadn't even looked at Kanryu when he was kidnapped. Only Sano's dad and a few in his department still continued doggedly to try to build a case against him, but it was hard since evidence always managed to magically disappear. He pocketed the book and left the ammo were it was. He returned to the others feeling like finally he was about to bring the war to Kanryu…

-0-

"You were right you know. Kanryu bought a lot of law enforcement officers in different countries including the US and Canada," Seto began solemnly. "I hated that man so much," he added with venom in his voice as he said it.

"Gozaburo was a fool! Letting himself get roped into that mess over something stupid his ancestor did over a hundred years ago. It made me hate that idiot too! Had to move up my plans in hopes I could salvage something of my company," Seto growled angrily.

"You had foresight. You didn't let the stupidity of your ancestors destroy your future. Our sensei saw it in you," Kenshin pointed out.

"Count your blessings! You and your brother made it out ok at least and that stupid feud is over. It is over right?" Sano asked looking at Aoshi though his tone implied only a yes would be a good answer. Aoshi nodded.

"As soon as Seto destroyed the weapons factories I felt that there would be no need to launch any attacks against the Kaiba family. As far as I was concerned that feud died with Gozaburo Kaiba," Aoshi replied solemnly.

"What about you Seto-kun?" Kenshin asked. Seto shrugged.

"I always thought the feud was stupid and had nothing to do with me or my brother. Gozaburo was an idiot and apparently so were his ancestors. I have no desire to continue something so pointless," Seto replied unconcerned. Kenshin and Sano smiled satisfied. Aoshi nodded in gracious acceptance.

"I said as much to your Aunt the last time I saw her. I'll shoot her an email, she wasn't sure whether you would give up your vengeance against my family or not even after Gozaburo died," Seto replied in an off-handed kind of way. He pulled out his cellphone and very quickly typed a few words as he spoke then put the device away. Aoshi looked at him curious.

"Seto, I could be wrong but it seems you have more than just a passing acquaintance with my Aunt Oume?" Aoshi asked between amused and curious. Seto shrugged.

"The big five and Maximillian Pegasus forced me to acquire some odd allies. Yugi is most often in the mix but your Aunt helped me out once," Seto began as he put another stone on the board.

"Really? The Ice Queen got off her throne to help you?!" Sano asked shocked. Seto frowned at Sano feeling suddenly offended by the way Sano had referred to Mrs. Oume. Aoshi reprimanded Sano for his disrespect.

"Excuse me but she likes being called the Ice Queen! She said so to me! And besides it's even her screen name when she chats with Tokio," Sano countered in his defense. Seto chuckled and Aoshi shrugged.

"Seto-kun do you mind sharing that story with us? I admit I am curious," Kenshin asked smiling expectantly at him. Seto looked at the other two men and saw in their faces a desire to hear this tale.

'Well, I suppose it's only fair,' he thought. After all they had been telling him tales all afternoon it was right that he share at least one story.

'Especially if it brings their esteem of Mrs. Oume up a notch,' thought Seto as he began his tale…

-0-

I got back from Europe and I have to say i was inspired! Rome was nice but sooooooo hot this time of year. Paris was amazing! I will go back some day soon I think. I loved it! And I'll have to add a longer excursion to England. Just one day was totally not enough!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!