Disclaimer:

I do not own Sengoku Basara or its characters

Claimer:

I do own Fuyu ( even though she was real person technically ) and Jinsui

Summary:

A new Lord is wreaking havoc across Japan and Masamune has his eyes on that head, but of course so does young Yukimura. Too bad their hearts are on the line as well.

Remember what I state below:

Italics and ' ' Means thinking! The person is talking to themselves, sounds a bit weird, neh? Example: 'Dammit.' Masamune thought.

((Author Speaking))

Note:

This is after the first Sengoku Basara

Chapter Three:

A woman has pride and she is a prize

"Lord Fuyu!" cried the samurai as he finally reached the engawa of the castle. He kept running and running, his breath almost gone. It seemed that what he had to tell Fuyu was very important and so he kept running until he saw the woman standing under the cherry blossom tree. A strange look was on her face, it would seem she was remembering something. The samurai watched as who woman reached her hand out to the cherry blossom petals, watching them slip onto her palms and then fly away with the wind. A small smile appeared and one single tear had shed, she refused to wipe it away and closed her crimson eyes. Shutting out those rose red orbs from the world. The samurai was concerned with what brought such a sad look to her face that brought on a tear. Shaking his head, he realized that he had news to report and the sight that almost brought even himself to tears should not to be gawked at, "My Lord," he called her again, kneeling before her.

Fuyu turned to look at the samurai of her land and opened her eyes to look at him, "Yes?"

"Yoshitatsu of Saito is one his way," he said while frowning, "he has taken down our watchtower and is heading towards the castle, we must defeat him before that is so!" he yelled the last bit which caused the woman to arch a brow.

"Prepare the troops," she said while walking past the samurai who quickly agreed to do what he was told. "It seems my uncle does not give a damn about me, now does he?" she asked herself with a smirk, "I shall show him what karma feels like and strip him from his land," Once she reached the weapon room, she moved one particular sword from its shelf and looked at it with remembrance, "Father... I will avenge a great friend of yours and mothers, grandfather will be avenged today," she whispered as she ran her hand across the smooth and sharp blade.

"I guess no one told you I was here," said a voice which caused the woman to turn and looked behind her, unafraid.

"Masamune - kun, what are you doing here?" she asked, wondering his reasoning for being here, "do you come in everyone's fief unannounced?"

"No, I was told to just go in because you were preparing for something and everyone was busy so they could not come in tell you of my appearance," he explained before looking at her sword. The Date Lord squinted his eyes, sensing something familiar of that sword, "Why do you need a sword at the moment? You wish to fight me, huh?"

Fuyu looked at him with the handle tightly gripped in her hand, "Why would I?" she asked him, curious as to why he would think of something like that.

"I dunno," he shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe you just wanted to test my strength or somethin'." Masamune guessed which cause the woman to shake her head with a smile.

"You never cease to amuse me, Masamune - kun," she told him with a kitsune smile on her face, "Anyway, I have business to attend to. You could stay here or you could return home and come another day." The woman told him, not stating her business.

Masamune smirked, "You never cease to amaze me as well, I just wish to lighten you up a little," he said with his arms akimbo, "I can wait though, I am in no rush to leave this place."

"Good," Fuyu said, "I was hoping to talk to you more," her voice sounding somewhat seducing to the Date leader. He blushed a bit, looking away as the woman walked always.

"What shall we do, Yoshitatsu?" her voice sounding somewhat sadistic as the Saito lord was across from her, his troops ready for battle. The woman wanted to taunt him, make him bold enough to do the first attack but it seemed that it wasn't happening. Of course, she always had a back up plan but she saw that all her taunting had put fear in the eyes of the man, the son of Dosan Saito of Mino.

"Do you think that I am afraid of a pathetic woman such as you?" he asked, unsheathing his sword as his eyes were narrowed, "A woman should not be a lord or on the battlefield!" he shouted, making Fuyu angry.

She hated when people brought her sex onto the battlefield, just because she was a woman did not mean she should be looked down upon. She's woman more battles then some of the men of Japan and that still did not make them see that women are strong as well? Her hand was shaking from how hard she was shaking from being furious, "How dare you underestimate me because of my sex?" she yelled, "I may be a woman," she clenched her teeth, her eyes ablaze, "but I will be the one victorious today against a man!" The man smirked and sent his troops first and her troops quickly went to retaliate. Fuyu jumped over the crowd of soldiers, bring down her sword which she held over her head to come down, intending slice but end up hitting his sword.

The clash between both steel swords was loud and made the solders strop to watch, curious to see the battle between skill. "It seems that you do have some skill," he said as he was being pushed back by the force she exerted from her sword. He flew back and sent a wave of lighting towards her but she sent a wave of her combustive flames and explosion happened between them. He flew back while she stood there, standing still and calm.

A playful smile appeared on the woman's face, "Its because I am my parents daughter, also... A blood relative of Saito,"

"What?" Yoshitatsu said in disbelief, "You lie!"

A blue flame spiraled around the woman's katana as she continued to smile, "Dosan Saito was my grandfather,"

"What? That's impossible!" He shouted, still feeling guilt for killing his own father.

Fuyu watched as he ran toward her, panicking and not paying much attention to his movements. She merely titled her head up with a very confident look on her face, "You don't believe me?"

"No!" Yoshitatsu narrowed his eyes, "I will never believe a deceitful bitch!"

"Too bad," she looked her nails, "Your soldiers do,"

"What?" he turned to look around to see the entire army circle around them, their weapons faced towards the Lord of the Saito damiyo.

"Now," Fuyu began, "what are we going to do? Are you going to surrender or do you want to die by my blade?"

"Surrender? You mean join you?" he asked as he held onto his sword tightly.

"No, I mean like leave and never show your face again. Take your wife and small children and find a secluded place, have a happy life,"

"You would let me do that?" he asked in awe as she nodded her head, he walked up to her and knelt before her, "I thank you Lord Fuyu,"

"Wait, I forgot to tell you something," she said as the man looked up, "I lied," Fuyu dropped her sword down his neck. The man's head went rolling onto the ground.

The soldiers looked in shock at her actions, she had let out a long sigh. "Forgive me soldiers but I do bare a grudge. He killed my grandfather leaving my mother depressed, I could not let a selfish man live so happily with what he has down, I have gotten venganace for my mother," she apologized to them and they nodded their hands understandingly as she smiled at them, "Go to his family and give them gold, let them have a nice life by giving them a home far away from here," she told them before walking away. "I have to have a chat with Masamune - kun,"

Masamune sat there and watched the children that were running around the castle. Why were there children here? He knew very well that the young Fuyu did not have any children of her own due to her not having a husband. He watched as one of the children stopped playing and went flat on their bum, boredom and disappointment on their face, "What's wrong Shiro?" asked a little girl, obviously worried about the little boy. Masamune watched out of curiosity since there was nothing else to do unless he moved to the other side of the castle but he liked this area since the Cherry Blossoms and the small lake filled with Koi fish had brought a serene feeling, he guessed the children like playing here because it was beautiful.

"Lord Fuyu hasn't arrived," he admitted, "She told us she would play with us,"

Masamune had a smile on his face, now knowing why the children were here. It would seem that the woman had a soft spot for children and really enjoyed their company. The woman was becoming more and more intriguing to him. Hearing footsteps, he turned to his right to see the woman he just thought about. Her crimson eyes on his face, causing him to smirk, "Like what ya see, dontcha?" he joked.

Fuyu merely smiled, "Maybe I do," she said while bowing down a little so that her face was close to his, "or maybe I don't," she quickly stood straight and shrug. The children flocked over to her and looked at Masamune with curiosity.

"Who is this Lord Fuyu?" asked Shiro, looking at the blue - clad samurai with much envy and curiosity.

"He is a friend of mine," she said while placing her hand on her chest with a smile on her face, "isn't that right, Masamune - kun?"

"Masamune? You mean Lord Date!" the children looked in awe at him, "The one - eyed Dragon of Oshu!" the children cried.

Masamune smirked, "The one and only," he winked at them as the children flocked over him, obviously a fan of his.

"We heard many tales about you, Lord Date!" said one child as Fuyu tilted her head to the side, wanting to know his reaction was for getting all this attention.

"Really? I bet their all pretty awesome, no?" he asked, confident that his stories were wild and exciting much like his life. The children quickly nodded their heads, "Want to hear how I crushed Nobunaga?" he asked as they all beamed up in awe while the woman stood there, continuing to watch.

"That's enough now.. I'm sure your parents are all worried about you," she finally interrupted, "Masamune and I have things to discuss,"

"Better listen to your Lord," Masamune warned, "she's got a mean bite," he made a biting motion with his mouth and made the children laugh as they all ran over to Fuyu and grouped hugged her.

"See you tomorrow," they said in a unison and left the two all alone.

Masamune looked at Fuyu who sat next to him, kneeling like a woman instead of cross - legged like a man. He never understood why she chose this life that took away her abilities of being an actual woman, "What brings you here, Masamune - kun?"

He looked at her from the corner of his right eye and smirked, "Just telling you the future,"

"What future? Yours or mine?" she asked, seemingly confused about what he was talking about.

"Ours particularly," he responded, the woman tilted her head to the side, confused.

"I don't follow..." she mumbled, her forefinger pressing her bottom lip as she tried to figure it out on her own before he finally gave her the answer.

"I want you to be-"

"Fuyu - chan!" screamed a voice, all too familiar to the both of them. The woman looked up to see Yukimura running towards them, revealing his pearly white teeth. Fuyu smiled as Masamune rolled his eyes. Yukimura was surprised by Masamune's appearance but was slightly relieved that he came on time. It looked like they were having a serious conversation, something he probably didn't want to lead to, "sorry I am late,"

"Late?" Fuyu chuckled, "Your a day early, Yukimura - kun," she looked over to Masamune while Yukimura laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head albeit embarrassed. "What was it that you wanted to say, Masamune - kun?" she asked him.

"Eh," Masamune said, slightly in foul mood, "we'll speak on the matter later on when Yukimura - san is not here, its very personal if I might add," He opened his brown eye and glared at the Takeda servant.

Yukimura narrowed his eyes, knowing what that meant. Fuyu looked between the two as they had a glaring showdown, "What's going on?" she asked them.

"Nothing, Fuyu - chan." Yukimura quickly said before looking over toward his right, "what was it that you wish to speak about?"

"I am planning to attack Hojo," she said with her eyes closed, "after the death of Ujiyasu by great Lord Shingen, he did not seize the land." she said as a servant brought a tray of tea, knowing that since she had company that would be the wise thing to do, "I wanted Lord Shingen to assist me with reinforcement and I am glad that Masamune - kun has showed up because I wish for him to join us due to how close he is and since he is allied with Ashina, he can joint attack as well and we will surely out number the Hojo successor," Fuyu said which both men looked at each other, surprised she knew who was allied with who and who was enemies also that Lord Shingen did not eliminate the Hojo clan despite how Mori and Imagawa was in between Kiyosu castle and Hojo.

"What about Mori and Imagawa?" Yukimura asked, wondering if she dared to cross between them.

"Mori and I have an alliance," she admitted, "Imagawa and I have come to an understanding because he wishes to eliminate Hojo as well despite being their vassal."

"...They are willing to betray their Lord?" said an appalled Yukimura.

"Gotta do what ya gotta do," Masamune said while sipping his own cup of hot tea, "Imagawa treats them like shit anyway before Nobunaga's servant, that little archer kid, killed Yoshimoto, Yoshimoto hated Ujiyasu,"

"Yoshimoto hated everyone," Fuyu chuckled.

"Exactly," Masamune added, "but I will definitely assist you, I've been waiting to tear down Hojo for so long!"

Fuyu smiled at the Oshu Lord, "Hojo has many lands and I do not need them all but I will take three. Two out of four will go to Lord Shingen and you, Masamune - kun,"

"You are so kind, Mi'lady..." said the Takeda servant who smiled at the woman, shocked she wasn't going to take all the land she would win if won. How could a Lord for that matter not be so greedy? Any other Lord would of just given the Lords who sent reinforcements gold or eternal alliance but she gave them land and a eternal alliance, she would never betray anyone who had helped her. This made Yukimura's respect for her rise as well as Masamune, who wished to continue the conversation from earlier with her.

Fuyu smiled shyly at Yukimura's compliment, "Kind? I just think that is only fair. My people are growing, farms are needed and space for shrines, temples, camps, and bazaars are in order. I just think about all the people who are growing and need help," she said while letting out a sigh. "You do not need to stick around if you do not have to, Yukimura - san that was all I wish to speak with you about. I would of asked Sasuke to come but Lord Shingen insisted that if I need anything that he would send you... which is quite strange," she tapped her bottom lip, "do you know why? I mean aren't you always at your Lord's side?"

Yukimura smiled at his Lord's attempts, "It is because you are my friend, Fuyu - chan. I will always help you,"

The woman blushed which caused Masamune's face to turn sour, he didn't like this at all, "Anyway, get going runt. I have things to discuss with Fuyu - chan," he blurted, not caring that he said it out loud.

Fuyu chuckled at Masamune called Yukimura a 'runt' which infuriated the red - clad warrior, who was embarrassed by such a nickname, "That is not nice, Date - kun but I shall not leave. I wish to stay."

"Get. Out." Masamune snapped, clearly angered that the man was persistent. Fuyu thought this was all a game and chuckled throughout the whole thing, clapping her hands in excitement as both men stood where their foreheads pressed against the others, their hands on their weapons.

"Now boys," she said, realizing this might get violent and lead to the destruction of her home, "be nice. You both can spend the night here if you wish, it is getting dark and I would not like both of you to go home at this time even though you clearly can take care of yourself but I rather not," the crimson - eyed woman decided as she stood. "I will be in my room but my servants will show you to both of yours," she shuffled her feet on the engawa and walked away.

"Why are you trying to start a fight, Yukimura?" Masamune asked, clearly irritated by the man's appearance, "I bet she doesn't even like ya, probably wasting your time."

"How are you so sure that she likes you?" he asked, "she blushed when I complimented her!"

"Women love compliments, dumbass!" he stated the obvious, "by tonight Fuyu won't be getting enough of me!" Masamune smirked, "just you wait," he walked off with a cocky smirk plastered on his face while Yukimura stood with a look of determination.