Chapter Seven

Sure enough, several girls did arrive at the Pekara Inn now a co-ed dormitory, much to Sasuke, Kyo, and Isami's dismay. The first two were Sakura's friends, Mina Mikon and Hinata Hyuga. Sakura had personally vouched for them to Tifa and Cloud, telling them that they were good people. Mina is a university major, having been successful in completing her entrance exams, whereas Hinata had a job working at the Washuzan Highland theme park along with Mina.

The third person was Ino Yamanaka, having been thrown out of her father's house. Of course, neither female had any problems with the ground rules and that they were supposed to help out with the chores, with the exception of Ino, who continued to work at the teahouse.

Hinata, however, was torn over her crush on Naomi to her new infatuation with Cloud, who just shrugged it off. Jiro on the other hand, was alarmed. Following Sakura's confession, he told Sasuke and Kyo what she had told him when they were out cold. After seeing Sakura's outburst earlier, the boys were certain that she would eventually back up on that promise, leaving the younger boys at her mercy.

Early one morning, a Japanese chestnut tree had fallen, blocking the annex. Almost immediately, the boys confronted Tifa about it, demanding that she should get rid of it.

After checking out the fallen tree (which Tifa suspected that it was Kyo's doing), Tifa grinned to herself and turned to Denzel. "Get my sword and an ax," she said.

Minutes later, Denzel returned with her zatoichi sword, as well as an ax. Tifa accepted her weapon from her apprentice and unsheathed the weapon. With the boys watching in disbelief, Tifa methodically dismantled the tree into several pieces as the boys slunk back into the house, all except for Kyo, who watched Tifa from the balcony as Denzel began to split several piles of wood, with Tifa watching.

"There are many sounds in nature," Tifa explained. "Each sound is more different than the last."

She had turned the wood-splitting into a training session for Denzel, explaining that chopping firewood would (and was proven) strengthen his wrists and increase his reflexes. Kyo saw that Tifa wasn't a traditional martial arts teacher. She took rather unorthodox methods when it came to training Denzel, combining the old with the new.

"They are small enough to go unnoticed by the person, who is unaware," Tifa continued as Denzel had created a small heap of firewood at his feet. "Don't focus on hearing the wood split, but focus on the sound of the ax slicing the air. Read the air itself. It has much to say to you."

Kyo frowned. He remembered that Jin had done something like this when he was younger. After several moments of watching Tifa and Denzel, he left as Riku came upstairs to hang the laundry out to dry.

The tension was present as everyone sat down for dinner. Following Sakura's announcement several days earlier, Kyo and Sasuke watched both Hinata and Mina like birds on a prey. Fortunately, Cloud had put a stop to it, but even he knew that it would be a matter of time before it would start again.

While everyone ate, Hinata, while stealing glances at Cloud, turned and saw Kyo glaring at her. "What?" she asked. "What did I do?"

"You and the other females here are nothing but an abomination to the Pekara Inn," Kyo said in a cold tone. "Regardless of what that weakling Haruno said, this is still an all-boys dormitory."

"Kyo, stop it," Cloud ordered.

"It will only be a matter of time before you do something perverted to Riku, Kurama, Alex, or any one of us," Sasuke said. "You should do us all a favor and leave."

"That's not your decision to make," Cloud said. "You may not like what Sakura has done, but you will have to live with it. Otherwise, you can always leave."

"We're not going anywhere," Sasuke said. "We were here first."

"And Sakura is still the landlord," Tifa replied. "She decides the tenants, not you, Uchiha."

"In that case," Kyo butted in, staring Tifa down, "I challenge you to a duel. If I win, then not only will you and Cloud leave the Pekara Inn and never return, but the Pekara Inn itself will be changed back to an all-boys dorm."

Time stopped as Ino, Mina, and Hinata stopped eating and paled at Kyo's challenge. They looked at Tifa, who gave Kyo a small smile. "No."

"What's wrong?" Kyo sneered. "Not woman enough to accept?"

"You are not in my league. Besides, what do I get if I win?" Tifa asked.

Kyo snorted. "If you win, then we will drop this matter and allow you and the other females to stay."

"That's not good enough, Sanada," Tifa replied. "Ever since I've arrived, you, Uchiha, and Amano have challenged the authority of me and my husband, not to mention the judgment of Sakura. So here are my terms. If I win, then not only will your lease be terminated, Sanada …" She pointed to both Sasuke and Jiro, "but the leases of both Uchiha and Amano will be terminated as well."

This time it was the boys' turn to stop and pale at Tifa's challenge. "You can't be serious," Sasuke said slowly.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Tifa flatly replied. "You can still get out of this by simply leaving. If not…" She let that hang. "Then again, you can only fight defenseless women and not someone who is beyond your reach," she added.

That did Kyo in. "I accept."

Tifa smiled. "Outside. In the backyard. Near the abandoned annex. Five minutes." She then added with a cold grin, "You have just made the biggest mistake of your life, Kyo."

{Pekara Cafe}

Naomi answered the ringing phone. "Yeah. Pekara Cafe."

"Mister Naomi, it's me, Alex. Kyo just challenged Tifa to a duel."

That caught Naomi's attention. "Kyo did what?!"

Naomi's outburst caught Sakura's attention. She was at a corner table, studying.

"He challenged her to a fight. He, Sasuke, and Isami had demanded that should Kyo win, they resign, revert the dorm back into an all-boys dormitory, and bring Sakura back. Tifa accepted on the ground that should Kyo lose, then he, Sasuke, and Jiro will be kicked out. The fight's near the abandoned annex."

In an instant, Naomi hung up the phone and turned to Sakura. "Kyo challenged Tifa to a duel."

Sakura's expression didn't change. "Not my problem. If he wants to get himself and those other two kicked out, less trouble for me. I'm considering changing the dorm back into an inn anyway."

Naomi was taken aback by Sakura's attitude. It was true. After the way the older boys had treated her, she changed, having reached her point of no return. The old Sakura Haruno was gone, he realized. He thought that it was just a phase, given the events that had happened when Sakura had announced that the dorm was now co-ed.

Apparently, he was wrong.

At the abandoned annex, the stage was set for the duel.

Kyo looked at Tifa with nothing but coldness in her eyes as Denzel approached her, along with Naomi and Sakura. Sakura, for safety reasons, had ordered Riku, Kurama, and Alex to remain inside. Mina and Hinata were standing beside Cloud, anxious as to their fate at the Pekara Inn.

"Kyo, I think you should reconsider this challenge," Denzel said. "You don't know what she is capable of."

Kyo looked at the Okayama University student. "I am the heir to the Matsushiro Samurai School," she stated defiantly. "I will not lose to a lowly female."

"That 'lowly female' is one of the best fighters in the world," Denzel replied. "I've seen her fight madmen and lunatics. You are not ready to fight her." Seeing that Kyo wouldn't listen to reason, Denzel shrugged his shoulders. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said as he walked over to the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Cloud was talking to his wife. "Don't you think that the terms are a bit harsh?" he asked.

"You think they are?" Tifa replied. "Okay, the terms will stand, but I'll give them a reprieve." She then turned to Kyo. "Last chance, Sanada. You can still walk away from this battle."

"I refuse," Kyo replied coldly.

"Just to make sure that we are clear," Tifa said as she unsheathed her sword, balancing the flat side on her shoulder. "This match is under Kumite-style rules. If I defeat you by knocking you unconscious, then you, Uchiha, and Amano are evicted immediately."

"Agreed," Kyo said. "And if I defeat you, then you and Cloud are gone, Sakura comes back and the Pekara Inn is back to the way it should be."

Tifa nodded. "However," she continued, "my husband thinks that I'm unfair, so I will give you a chance to save you and your friends' leases. As I've said, this match is under Kumite rules. If you say 'stop' in our match, then you and the other two will stay. Understand?"

"I accept," Kyo replied. He drew the Shisui from his sheath and moved into a combat stance. Tifa moved into her own stance (if anyone played Soul Calibur 5, her basic Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu stance is Alpha Patroklos fighting stance).

One major aspect of the Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu is that, like the Matsushiro, it uses ki energy for projectile attacks. The major difference is that a practitioner of the Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu, after years of practice and training, can train to use their ki and use the sword to absorb incoming ki attacks to the point of being destructive. Tifa was one of those people, with the other two being Zangan and Amir.

As predicted, Kyo attacked first. He leaped into the air, releasing a blast of ki with his sword. "Chō Densetsu Raikō Giri!!!"

Tifa raised his sword in what Kyo thought was a guard. But he was wrong.

The ki attack smashed into Tifa, or rather, his sword, with the razor-sharp steel-colored blade absorbing the ki.

Kyo noticed something was wrong when he saw that Tifa was standing. He also noticed that Tifa's blade, as a result of his ki-absorb technique, was glowing with a white light.

Then Tifa swung her own sword at her. "Senpuuken!!"

A violent twister, made out of bright white ki energy, with the combination of her and Kyo's ki energies, and as tall as Tifa, rushed towards Kyo with blinding speed. The Matsushiro Samurai heir barely avoided the attack as it crashed into a tree, reducing it to splinters.

From the sidelines, the Haruno siblings and the Pekara Inn Residents stood in shock as to what had happened. Not only did absorb her ki attack, but had combined it with her own ki and fired it back at her.

"It appears that Kyo has bitten off more than he can chew," Naomi noted.

Sasuke and Jiro turned to the brother of their wayward landlord." What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Aside from being a world-class martial artist," Naomi continued in her monotone voice, "Tifa is the current Shihan of the Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu, which is the opposite of Kyo's Matsushiro style. I've heard rumors about it, but it's true." He looked at the two young boys. "Kyo just might lose."

The prospect of Kyo Sanada losing and being evicted was too much for Sasuke to think about. He hoped that Kyo would come out of this. She then turned to Sakura and yelled, "Aren't you going to do something about this?!"

"Why should I?" Sakura sniffed. "I'm not the landlord. But it looks like Kyo will receive what's coming to him."

Meanwhile, Kyo stood to his feet. He looked at the destroyed tree, then back at Tifa. "Impossible. How?!"

"I forgot to mention that I am the current Shihan of the Shiden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu," Tifa stated casually. "I thought you were the heir of the Matsushiro Samurai School. They should not have given it to you. Jin is a more worthy challenge than you will ever be."

That caught Kyo off guard. "How do you know my brother?"

"Shouryujinken!" Tifa shouted, unleashing another wave of ki energy - this time it was an angry blueish color, shaped like the head of a dragon - at Kyo. This time, Kyo knew that she couldn't avoid it. He raised his sword in a defensive block as the ki energy reached him, smashing into him and sending him into the air, until he landed, skidding several feet across the ground, with his hand losing his grip on his sword.

"Kyo!!" both Sasuke and Jiro screamed.

Naomi shook his head. "She's playing with him, like a cat with a mouse," he noted.

Cloud looked at Naomi. "You noticed that too?" he asked.

In the meantime, Tifa watched as Kyo retrieved his sword. Once he had it in his hands, Tifa attacked. Not with a ki attack, but instead, she lunged and swung her sword in rapid succession. He wasn't even using ki energy. He was moving that fast. Kyo was hard-pressed to defend and deflect the blows as they rained down on him with no mercy.

However, Kyo did get a bit of reprieve. She managed to lock her blade with Tifa's. He simply responded by slamming her head into his in the form of a headbutt, which was immediately followed by a roundhouse kick that spun her to the ground.

"I'm waiting to be impressed, Sanada," Tifa said.

Kyo slowly stood up. He tasted blood in his mouth and spit it out. His legs buckled slightly, but he still kept his footing.

Tifa continued talking. "How do I know your brother, you may be asking yourself. Easy. Ten years ago, I fought Jin Sanada in a duel. You were there, but you were a child then. The match ended in a draw though.

At that moment, Kyo remembered. He was six at the time. He watched Jin and a young Tifa duel, which ended as Tifa had said it would end - in a standoff. He was a lot younger as well, with black hair, the skin tone lighter and she was wearing a red headband instead of white. But Kyo put the clues together and realized that it was indeed her.

"You…" Kyo started. He then went into full rage mode. "You!!"

He charged at Tifa and leaped into the air. He wasn't going to use his ki attack this time.

He was going to cleave her in two.

Tifa quickly sheathed her sword and went into her fighting stance. She easily sidestepped her attack and casually tripped him, Kyo landing on his back. He raised one foot and brought it down. Kyo rolled out of the way as Tifa's foot landed where his head once was located and jumped to his feet.

Tifa casually removed her sword, still inside her scabbard, and casually deflected Kyo's attacks. Then she lashed out, catching Kyo in his torso. Once, twice, three times before the scabbard connected with his jaw, knocking him flat on his back.

"The blade's not the only weapon on the sword," Tifa said. He looked down at Kyo. "Give up, Kyo."

'She's as skilled as Big Brother!' Kyo screamed inside his mind. 'She may be even better than him! No! I can't lose! NOT TO HER!' As he was screaming at himself, Tifa was rapidly closing the distance, meaning that she wanted to end the fight.

Kyo, however, was ready.

"Messatsu: Chō Bakuretsu Ryūjin Zuki!!" the male kendoist yelled, unleashing his strongest technique on Tifa, in the form of a massive ki attack when Tifa was no more than several feet away, sword unsheathed.

Tifa smirked to herself. "I've seen that move before, Sanada!" She yelled before somersaulting over the ki attack, much to everyone's amazement, although his dogi was torn from the attack. Flipping in the air, she prepared her own ultimate technique, taught to her by Amir by summoning her own ki and channeling it to the blade.

Her sword glowing once again, this time, with an unnatural red glow, Tifa came down on Kyo, who brought his sword in a defensive block…

…which did absolutely no good on Tifa's final attack.

"Ready…set…" Tifa began, "and DESTROY!!"

Tifa impaled the sword into the ground, engulfing both himself and Kyo in a geyser of red energy. The effect lasted for three seconds, but the results were devastating as the audience covered their eyes from the intense flash of light as Tifa executed one of the Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu's most powerful techniques.

The translation for the move was Life Death Wild Season, but it was better known as the Kassatsu Midare Setsugekka.

Fortunately for Kyo, Tifa wasn't using all of her strength, otherwise, he would not have been alive once the dust settled. As the dust settled, everyone saw something that they weren't expecting.

Tifa was still in her pose, sword still impaled in the ground. She looked practically unscathed, with the exception of the dust on her karate dogi and skin. Kyo, however, was still standing, but his hakama was shredded in several places and she looked battered and beaten. The ground around was a small crater, with the end result of Tifa's attack.

Tifa stood up and yanked her sword from the ground. In one quick motion, she sheathed it. Looking at Kyo, he simply said, "This is where you fall down."

Kyo stood there for a moment. First, his sword fell from his hand, landing on the ground. Then he keeled over.

For a long moment, everyone (with the exception of Cloud and Denzel) tried to grasp the situation. Kyo Sanada was defeated in combat. Hinata and Mina's jaws dropped on the ground. This was the first time that Kyo was actually defeated in a match. Even Sakura was in shock. She didn't realize that Tifa was that powerful, but the result spoke for themselves.

Kyo Sanada was down.

Then came the screams.

The scream came from Sasuke, who sank to his knees and started to cry. Jiro tried to put on a brave facade, but even he broke down in tears, shooting a nasty look at Sakura, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Kyo had received a dose of his own medicine. To Sakura, it was the sweetest thing in the world.

Tifa approached the two distraught boys and stopped. Without looking at them, she said, "As of this moment, you two are hereby evicted from the Pekara Inn. You two - as well as Sanada have until noon tomorrow to vacate your rooms. Failure to do so will result in me calling the police."

As she tossed her sword to Cloud, Tifa stopped. She then turned around. What she saw didn't surprise him at the very least. Kyo, beaten and bruised, tried to stand, but one of his legs wouldn't allow it.

Tifa looked at Kyo. "Just give up, Kyo. You can't stand on that leg of yours. It's over." She walked over to his disarmed him when he tried to swing her sword at her, and with one hand, grabbed his hakama top and hoisted him into the air, lifting him cleanly from the ground.

Kyo was helpless as he watched Tifa raise her other hand, which was balled into a fist. She cocked it back. "Goodnight, Kyo," he deadpanned as she sent her fist towards Kyo's head.

"...stop."

Tifa's fist stopped mere centimeters from smashing into Kyo's face. "Excuse me? Did you say something?"

Kyo looked at Tifa with complete hatred in his eyes. "Stop," he said through clenched teeth.

"Say it so that everyone can hear you," Tifa ordered.

"STOP!!!" Kyo screamed.

Satisfied, Tifa dropped Kyo to the ground. She turned to Sasuke and Jiro. "Looks like you two still got a roof over your heads," she said as she walked away from the humiliated kendoist.

With the exception of Sakura, Cloud, and Denzel, everyone was shocked as to what had happened. Tifa had not only defeated Kyo but had humiliated him by making him say 'stop.' Even Naomi, whose monotone expression was replaced with that of complete surprise.

As Tifa walked away, Kyo reached for his sword. If his ki attacks won't work on her, then he can always cleave her in two with his blade.

Cloud saw Kyo. Tifa caught the look that her husband was giving her and gave him a quick nod.

"DIE, YOU…YOU…VILE FEMALE!!!!" Kyo screamed as he charged.

"Kyo!! No!!!" Naomi yelled.

Cloud tossed Tifa her sword, who caught it. As she spun, avoiding Kyo's attempt to decapitate her, Tifa unsheathed her sword. When Kyo spun around, Tifa swung her own sword three times. "Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battojutsu: Chika yorite kiru nari!"

Time seems to stop for a moment. Then as Tifa calmly sheathed her sword. Upon hearing it clank, Kyo's blade was reduced to several jagged pieces, with Tifa having cleanly sliced through the Shisui blade.

The look from Kyo's face turned from anger to that sheer horror. "No…NO!!!!!" he howled.

[CRACK!]

His scream of anguish was abruptly cut off when Tifa smacked him in the head with her sword's scabbard, knocking him out. Tifa looked at the pitiful sight before her before turning back to the gathered guests, particularly Sasuke and Jiro.

"Get your friend and take him back to his room," she stated calmly. She then added in a slightly dangerous tone. "Never challenge me or my husband's judgment again. Because the next time you do, you better be prepared for a fight. So keep your tongues in check and do what is necessary to keep this place running…or else."

She stalked back to the house, with Cloud accompanying her. Sasuke glared back at Sakura, with his hands balled into fists, wanting to pound his vacationing landlord into the ground. But after what he had witnessed, he concluded that it was a bad idea and after what the others had seen, he would hold back his temper. For now.