The pact

At the docks a ship was ready for depature, but Baiken was baffled by it, it wasn't made of wood as her mind prepared her for the vision of a boat, it was made of steel.

"How? On earth does that even float?"

"What? The ship?"

"A ship?"

"Yes, it's a bigger form of a boat"

"Yes, that?"

"It's called buoancy"

"But, it's made of steel!? Where did they even find enough steel to build it... How did they build it!?"

Tachibana laughed "I told you, once you see Tokyo you'll see how far behind in time Saipan is, this ship is only a small tip of the iceberg"

"What's an iceberg?"

Tachibana frowned at her "Seriously now?"

"Yes?"

"It's a mountain of ice, in a nutchell"

"How is that even possible? Ice melts right?"

"In some parts of the world it's cold enough for ice to form... You'll see eventually" Tachibana said cutting the conversation short, he knew she has more questions, and to him it felt like he was talking to a child, even if Baiken was now a twenty year old woman.

Tachibana handled the tickets as Baiken hid herself from the crowd, when finally done they boarded and headed to a cabin.

"Here we are, this is home sweet home for one night until we reach Okinawa" He said dropping the bags on a bed.

Baiken was dumbfound "This is very nice sleeping coarters for a boat"

"It's a ship, it's called a cruise ship and it's a sleepliner. You get ones that are at least ten times the size of this one. On those you get all sorts of shops on, casinos..." He saw her face frown up "It's a place where people gamble for money"

"How does one gamble for money?"

"Forget I said it, you lose more money than winning it, forget it" Tachibana said and laid down on his bed.

"So if this is a sleepliner, it means we only sleep on it?"

"Yes, we are required to bring our own food, it's only a day's travel after all"

She scanned the cabin one last time, then sat down on the opposite bed.

"So you saw the world outside of Saipan?"

"In my early years with your father yes"

"Why did you come back then?"

"I guess, my heart was where my home was, and the final days I spent with Benkei sama was here after all"

Baiken nodded and looked out the window as the ship blew it's horn.

"Ready yourself Kazuna Chan, the world you're about to enter doesn't have samurai, shinobi or musket rifles, there are weapons out there a samurai, or even me can't face"

Baiken felt her ear where the musketball struck her, there was a hole in but Tachibana forged a copper ring that fitted the hole perfectly, and inside the ring was a trinket dangling, the kanji of the Toshin kuro kosai.

"It fits you well" He smiled, she returned one.

"Thanks"

"I still can't believe you managed to dodge two musket rounds at point blank"

"I only dodged one remember? The second one made a tunnel in my ear"

"Yes, still impressive though"

The ship started it's departure making Baiken look out the window again.

"It's going to sound cruel, but we're stuck in this cabin until we dock again" Tachibana said stretching.

"That's ok, we'll cut the time quickly" Baiken smiled.

"No ninjitsu, or katana can cut time short" He said.

"Yes, I know" Baiken said slipping her top off "Unless we forget that time exists" She dropped it to the ground and climbed on top of him.

***

Yamamoto came into the house late at night. Hinamori already had his dinner ready for him, but her face wasn't a cheerful one, Yamamoto was tired and gave it no mind.

"No word about Baiken?" He asked sitting down and breaking apart his chopsticks.

"None"

Yamamoto heard the tone in her voice and looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh..." Hinamori looked up over his shoulder, instantly Yamamoto felt the presence behind him but before he could react he felt a blade against his neck.

"Remain seated samurai" The voice said, he recognised it.

"S, Sakura?"

"Ah, so glad you remember me, which means you should remember our deal?"

Yamamoto looked at Hinamori, who had a sense of disgust on her face.

"How, dare you!" She hissed.

"It was for the sake of the emperor!" Yamamoto yelled back but the blade touched his neck slightly.

"Silence, Hinamori-San told me everything about the last three years, you were supposed to have her ready for me when she turns eighteen... I looked all over and finally tracked you down... Kazuna Baiken is her name hey? Pretty, but the question is where is she? And why wasn't she delivered to me two years ago?"

"She ran from me when she was seventeen, I already had the third marking nearly complete, but it I couldn't finish because of her running away"

"Could she at least use a sword?"

"Yes, she was well trained"

"Where did she go?"

"I'm not sure, but someone told the emperor about her, and now a bounty is out for her head"

"What!? I want her alive!"

"It couldn't be helped, she must have met someone who recognised her, and told the emperor"

Sakura angrily looked at Hinamori, then down at Yamamoto again.

"Has she been killed yet?"

"No"

"Where was the last time she was seen?"

"In Tabachi town west of here"

"How long ago?"

"Three years"

"Blast it! She could be anywhere by now!" Sakura walked to the door and turned back to the two at the table "You better pray I find her first, or I'll make up for it with your life!" She said and left.

Hinamori looked at Yamamoto "What did you promise her!? She said Baiken belongs to her!?"

Yamamoto looked down at his food and continued eating.

"Answer me Yamamoto sama!"

"When Benkei rose up against the emperor, I needed a way to insure he wouldn't succeed. With him were a few shinobi, teaming up to help overthrow the kingdom, but thanks to the fact that I was still friends with him and I could come into contact with other shinobi.

There was one specific one who drew my attention, Sakura Yuna, she was rebellious, full of mischief and disobedient. She studied a darker side of chi, which means she couldn't really learn the ninjitsu her clan taught, but that didn't stop her from developing her own techniques.

At the time I met her she was considered a miko, and the clan didn't appreciate her being there, so I offered her a deal..." Yamamoto ate some more of his food then finally looked up at Hinamori "I said I can get her anything within a price she wanted, if she could manage to kill Kazuna Benkei"

"You bastard!"

"I don't care if he was a friend or not, I am loyal to the emperor, and the wellbeing of the emperor, so nothing would stop me from protecting him"

Hinamori understood it "Then why Baiken?"

"That day the wicked Yuna didn't ask for money in return, she knew well of Benkei the tyrant and also somehow knew you had his child... So she told me to train Baiken to fight using a sword, place three destinct markings on her body, and bring her up to the age of eighteen, ensuring she's loyal and follows orders to the book... Then I was to hand her to Yuna as a soldier whom she could do with whatever she wanted"

Hinamori flew up "You traded my daughter, for the life of her father!? Can you even call yourself a true samurai!?" She screamed and left the room.

Yamamoto only continued eating 'A valuable trade, for being the emperor's right hand man'