Chapter One

{Pekara House}

In the lobby of the Pekara House, Kenzo Haruno is holding a meeting with the tenants of the Pekara House. Even though his face was in his usual monotone expression, complete with his cigarette sticking from his mouth, Kenzo couldn't help but feel angry at the three men that pushed his sister to her breaking point.

"Sakura has called to say that she's taking some time off as landlord," Kenzo announced. "She will be back here tomorrow."

"What that perverted bitch should do is just quit!" Sasuke butted in, with his anger rising. "She disappears and suddenly decides to take some time off from running this place? She is the landlord for crying out loud!!"

"I agree with Uchiha," Akira said coldly. "Time and time again she has proven to be unworthy and neglectful of her duties. She should just resign and we can ask Kizashi and Mebuki to come back."

Fortunately for the two boys, they didn't notice Kenzo's hand balled into a fist as he lit his cigarette.

The other boys were worried about Sakura, particularly the red-haired Riku Hashimoto. "I hope Senpai is okay," he said. "She looked stressed out earlier today. I hope she feels better."

"Me too," Kazuya nods in agreement.

"Like anything can hurt that dork," Alex snorted.

"So who's going to come and take over while Sakura's away?" Kenta asked.

"Sakura had called in a favor to some family friends," Kenzo replied. "She will be arriving tomorrow."

"It's just like Haruno to call in another female," Akira seethed. "If she is just as perverted as Haruno is, I won't hesitate to deliver justice on her."

"As I said, she will be arriving tomorrow," Kenzo insisted. "But her husband will be coming later on today. Sakura and his wife will be coming tomorrow. And for all of your sakes, I hope you show the two of them the respect and courtesy you DIDN'T show to my sister."

The last sentence had a bit of hardness to it, showing that Kenzo was getting annoyed with Sasuke and Akira using Sakura as a human punching bag. Both boys caught the tone and immediately shut up.

Kenzo had intentionally left out that both the new co-landlords were martial artists, as well as that Sakura was originally going to evict most of the boys and turn the place back into an inn.

As the male Haruno turned and walked out of the dorm, Sasuke noticed the evil smile he had on his face.

'Just what is that bitch planning?' he wondered.

Later on in the day, Kenzo was back in his teahouse. The business has slowed down since it was late in the afternoon. His mind was currently on the last conversation he had with Sakura over the phone.

In an attempt to make the tenants appreciate her more, she called in Tifa and her husband, who ran a dojo on the other side of the prefecture. In Sakura's words, they will be wishing for her to come back as landmistress before the two months are out.

"Excuse me, Kenzo Haruno?"

Kenzo looked up. Standing before him, in casual clothes - blue jeans, white sneakers, a white t-shirt, and white bandages wrapped around his wrists as well as the lower half of his hands - was Cloud Strife. At his feet was a sports bag. On his face was a pair of reading glasses.

Kenzo looked at the man, giving him the once-over. "You're Tifa's husband?" he asked.

Cloud extended his hand and Kenzo shook it. "Cloud Strife. Sakura has told me a lot about you."

Kenzo motioned to an empty table. Cloud took a seat as Kenzo got out a pot of tea and two cups. After pouring out cups for himself and his guest, Kenzo sat down across from the American martial artist.

"So you're Tifa's husband," Kenzo said, sizing the man up. "Never thought I'd hear her getting married and settling down. The last time I heard, she was in Canada training. So where exactly is my sister?"

"At our dojo on the other side of the Okayama Prefecture," Cloud replied. "She will come with Tifa and our ward tomorrow."

"Sakura has told you about the boys?"

Cloud nodded. "Yes. She told me everything I needed to know about them. I have seen worse back in Interpol, so this shouldn't faze me too much."

Kenzo asked Cloud several more questions until it was time to go. The Japanese man stood up. "Well? Are you ready?" he asked.

Cloud nodded. "Let's go."

Kenzo led Cloud up the massive flight of stairs that led up to the dorm. Once they were inside the building, Kenzo called the boys into the lobby. They thought that Kenzo was bluffing when he said that a man was coming, expecting a woman.

What they didn't expect was an American man with a lean muscular frame that made Sasuke and Kenta jealous standing before them.

"Boys, this is Cloud Strife, one of the two interim landlords that will be taking over for the next two months," Kenzo introduced.

Kurama was the first to get over his shock, jumping on the couch, shouting, "New playmate! New Playmate!!!"

Akira, meanwhile, was watching the American man with a martial artist's eye, sensing his ki levels. 'Hmmm. He may be a martial artist. Interesting. I'll have to look into this further.'

Sasuke blinked. "Two landlords? Sakura hired two landlords?"

"Actually, I'm here in my wife's place," Cloud replied perfectly in Japanese. "She will be here with Sakura tomorrow."

"I'm going to leave you all to get to know Cloud better," Kenzo said, heading for the door. "I'll see you guys later."

After unpacking his clothes, the boys showed Cloud around the building. Meanwhile, Akira was slightly troubled. Cloud had reminded him of Kiba, who was the original heir to the Matsushiro Samurai School before he relinquished his position in order to get married, leaving Akira to inherit the dojo when he came of age.

"Excuse me, I need to get started on dinner," Riku said, leaving for the kitchen. Kurama ran off to his room to work on one of his gadgets.

"He cooks?" Cloud asked, with his eyebrow raised.

"He is the resident chef here," Kenta explained. "Before his parents divorced, they ran a restaurant together. He learned to cook from them. That's how he pays his rent here. He cooks and does laundry."

"You got any family?" Sasuke asked.

Cloud stiffened slightly. "My father died when I was still a child. I was raised by my mother." His expression darkened as he remembered that fatal day when he received the fateful news. "She died when I was fifteen years old. That was ten years ago."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, realizing that he had brought up a really sensitive subject concerning the American martial artist.

"So what do you do?" Akira asked.

"I used to be a detective working for the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol in Washington DC," Cloud explained. "Now I'm going into business with my wife."

"Doing what?" Kenta asked.

"We're opening up a martial arts school on the other side of the Okayama Prefecture. Two martial arts disciplines under one roof. The school is located near Suzaku Castle."

"I knew it!!" Akira interrupted. "I knew by your ki that you are a fighter."

"You're right, Akira. I practice boxing, karate, kung fu, kickboxing, and street fighting, but I mostly use Hakkyokuseiken and Muay Thai. My wife and our ward practice a deadly form of Karate. She also practices a form of Shiden Tsushima based on her Karate style. From what I've seen, it looks like a combination of Battōjutsu and Iaido."

Cloud remembered seeing Tifa out in the courtyard when he first came to Japan, practicing with her sword. She was full of surprises, he surmised. Aside from the Kyokugenryu Karate, she was - she told him later on - that she was the master of the Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu. The sword she used was a Zatoichi blade (think Alpha Patroklos's sword from Soul Calibur 5), an heirloom that was centuries old and was considered indestructible.

Cloud watched in shock as Tifa used a destructive ki attack on a practice dummy, reducing it to sawdust. He then remembered Tifa saying that her style of Shinden Tsushima was the diametric opposite of Akira's Matsushiro style, whereas the Matsushiro focused on ki attack, the Shinden Tsushima was mostly physical attacks. Tifa, however, had managed to find the balance between the two.

"I don't see you as a person who would get married," Akira said, pronouncing the last word with disgust. "You seem so independent. Women are vile perverted beings who only want control, money, and to violate a man's chastity."

Cloud turned to the male kendoist. "Akira, not all women are perverted or trying to get into a boy's pants. I've dealt with some of the most sadistic women on the planet and some men as well. But some women are honorable and look out for those that can't defend themselves."

As Cloud said this, his mind raced back to the aforementioned sadistic women. A cruel grappling secretary who is the descendant of Orochi, but more importantly, the dreaded South Korean Taekwondo woman in purple with that insane grin.

"So it's just the ones I know then?" Akira replied, trying to make a point, but at the same time, not trying to piss Cloud off. "From what I've seen, the only thing on a woman's mind is getting power and control over a man. If not that, then they are vile and perverted beings. Once I gain control of the Matsushiro Dojo, I will bring honor and glory to the samurai. The Matsushiro Samurai School will once again be respected."

"You mean feared," Cloud said. "There is a fine line between defending innocents and attacking innocents under false pretenses. When I was in the International Criminal Police Organization, I had to walk that line every day, and that included crossing paths with some of the world's most evil men and women."

"So why'd you quit Interpol?," Sasuke asked.

Cloud scoffed. "Quit? Who said I quit? I resigned. Just like any other law enforcement entity, several of its members were corrupted. People that came into the organization with me had become puppets for criminals. I became disillusioned, so I left, promising myself that I would never be a puppet of someone else." He looked at Akira as he added, "Women and men alike can be bought if the price is right. But some people - like me - cannot be bought."

Kenta saw that this conversation was starting to get dangerous. Even though Akira was a master in martial arts, he wondered what chances he had against someone more experienced in martial arts. He had seen Kenzo and Hitomi fight to a standoff, and he wasn't interested in seeing Akira getting his ass kicked.

"You speak Japanese very well," Kenta noted.

"I used to spend summers here when I was a kid," Cloud explained. "Japanese, Italian, Korean, and a little Mandarin Chinese. Same with my wife. Our ward can also speak Japanese."

"So what's her name?" Sasuke asked.

"Her name is Tifa Lockhart," Cloud replied. "She, along with your landlord, will be arriving tomorrow."

Cloud then excused himself, leaving the boys to their thoughts about their new male landlord.