Welcome to my drabbles. Will have some Naruto drabbles later maybe.

Drabble 1: Unacceptable.

Pairings: Kojyuro x Kasuga; slight Masamune x Oichi.

Nothing is really developed and/or gone into, I just had the idea and decided I should write it out, since I liked it a LOT.

WARNING: Contains slight spoiler for Countervail. If you wish to avoid this spoiler, please do not read this. :3 Though I'm sure it's tempting now isn't it?

There were many things in life that could be determined as acceptable. Leaving the family to go to the army; that was acceptable. Growing up in a village then devoting time to becoming a shinobi; that was also acceptable.

And Kasuga knew, that in her training to become a shinobi, there were many things that she had been told she needed to accept.

She needed to be able to accept the fact that her friends might die before her.

She needed to be able to accept that she might die before her friends.

She even need to be able to accept that the lord she served might also die before she did.

Two months ago Kasuga couldn't even fathom the mere thought of possibly losing Kenshin – that had already almost happened once, and it had taken all her skill with her element to simply be able to remove the bullets from his wounds.

But at this moment, she found herself unable to accept the prospect of death, now that it was being presented right before her.

'It should have been me,' she thought, lurching to her feet as the dust around her began to settle, 'it should have been me!'

Her legs led her to where he lay, his chest rising and falling quickly as he tried to keep oxygen circulating through his system. At the left side of his mouth there was a splotch of red, and from the corner of his lips flowed a thin stream of blood. She dropped down to her knees next to him.

"Katakura-sama!" she cried, placing a hand on his chest, "Katakura-sama!"

He opened his dull green eyes, blinking slowly, seeking her out.

"K-Kasuga?" he turned his head in her direction, and upon seeing her a smile touched his lips, "oh, there you are. Are you," he swallowed suddenly, taking a breath before continuing, "hurt?"

Tears threatened to make their way into Kasuga's eyes as she shook her head vigrously from side to side, lowering her head so Kojyuro couldn't see her face, "no... no I'm not hurt."

"I see... that's good..."

"No it's not good!" she screamed at him, making him open his eyes wider in surprise, his smile disappearing. Kasuga grit her teeth, forcing her tears to slither back into their birthplace.

"It should have been me!"

"This would have killed you," he stated flatly, raising his hand with great effort to point at the boulder that had crushed his legs. A rock slide from above – the two of them had dodged most of the boulders but Kasuga had felt one decent sized rock slam against her head, knocking her unconscious; the result was Kojyuro throwing her out of harm's way and getting his legs smashed.

'There will be no getting those back... even if he survives there will be no...' she tried not to think about it. As a shinobi she was meant to accept this. This was her life, this was what it would always entail; death.

'But I can't accept this!' she clenched her hand into a fist, leaning forward until her forehead touched Kojyuro's.

"Kasuga?" he asked uncertainly, his voice ragged. She couldn't prevent the first few hiccups of her crying from being heard. She felt his right arm coil around her back, his left arm slightly above that.

'If only I hadn't gotten to know him so well. If only we had never spent so much time together, as bodyguards, talking like bodyguards but getting to know each other... if -' she felt her tears seep out of her eyes, falling onto his face, 'I can if myself to death,' she realized, opening her eyes to find that he was staring back at her, fighting to keep his eyes open. The slower he blinked the more afraid she became that he was going to give up and die.

"Katakura-sama, don't close your eyes!" she begged him frantically, looking around. It would still be a while before the others found them. They had not been separated from the group but had instead gone scouting together, Kasuga in the trees and Kojyuro on the ground; Kotaro and Sasuke were the other scouting group.

Kasuga looked back down at Kojyuro, noticing that his head was turning towards the left, his eyes closing. Kasuga slammed her hands against the ground on either side of his shoulders, making him jolt and open his eyes.

"Don't close your eyes! You can't fall asleep you just can't!" she informed him, more tears streaming out of her eyes and down her nose, splashing onto his face and clearing away the dust.

He gazed steadily at her, a gaze she had become accustomed to after two months of frequently being by his side. They had spoken about many things, but never once touched the topic of death. Kasuga set to think, trying to bring up anything she could say to him to prevent him from closing his eyes.

They had talked about their relationship with their lords, Kojyuro always going out of his way to make her blush. And then they had talked about Sasuke, and again Kojyuro would go out of his way to make her blush. So in retaliation she had changed that conversation to one about Oichi, watching Kojyuro smile fondly before smirking and mentioning that his lord, Masamune, seemed to be quite taken by the woman but was unwilling to admit it.

"Think... think about Masamune! At least stay awake until he gets here!"

"I don't... believe I can do that... Kasuga. The only thing I can think about is... pain... the searing pain in my legs," he mumbled, his words somewhat jumbled together. Kasuga couldn't believe this. He couldn't even speak coherently anymore.

'No! There has to be something else!' she thought desperately, 'something else that will keep him awake!'

"Think about Oichi! Think about Itsuki! Think about – think about -!" he had raised his hand and pressed a finger to her lips, shaking his head.

"All this thinking is... making... tired..." he spoke softly, his voice dipping in and out of audibility. Kasuga could hear her name being called by Sasuke – and several other voices - but she couldn't tear her gaze from Kojyuro's dulling eyes.

"Katakura-sama, Katakura-sama! Just wait a few more minutes they- they're coming! I-I can hear them! Katakura-sama!" she screeched, sobbing. The footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

"Kasuga?" that was Sasuke, but someone must have prevented him from moving forward. She faintly heard Sasuke say "Dokuganryuu?" in a confused voice and even though she wanted to look at him to see what expression he was making she still couldn't tear her gaze away from Kojyuro, who had now closed his eyes. His chest was barely rising and falling.

'I can't... I can't accept this,' she told herself, her attempts to stop her heavy sobbing abandoned. Someone else came to stand near her; Kasuga didn't look up at whoever it was casting that shadow. She could guess who it was, though, if high pony-tail wasn't hint enough.

"Katakura-sama... Katakura... Katakur..." she sniffed, watching as his hand twitched. Around her some of the bigger generals were spurred into motion by none other then Matsunaga Hisahide – surprisingly.

"All right, Kai no Tora, you lift that side I'll get this side" - that was Toyotomi Hideyoshi speaking.

"Mm. If one of you would take the back?" Takeda Shingen replied and a heavy weapon was dropped on the ground.

"Yeah, I'll get the back" - the rough voice belonged to the pirate general; Kasuga couldn't remember his name. Her lips continued to move as if she were still trying to keep Kojyuro conscious.

She knew he could hear was what going on around him because his left hand kept on twitching. His eyes were squeezed more tightly together when Hisahide said "three" and the generals lifted the boulder off Kojyuro's legs and tossed it to the side. Someone tried to pull her away from Kojyuro; she jerked furiously out of their arms and slapped at any other hands that she sensed coming near her.

"Kasuga," Kenshin was speaking to her now, "Kasuga, you need to move away from him. He's -"

"No he's not!" she denied, pounding her fist against the ground, "no he's not!"

"Kasuga -"

"Katakura-sama, open your eyes!" she demanded, "open your eyes!"

"Kasuga," Kenshin had knelt down next to her, one of his hands on her shoulder, "Kasuga, stop it."

'But he's trying!' she wanted to say, seeing that Kojyuro's eyelids were shaking, 'he's trying to open his eyes!'

"Katakura-sama!"

"Kasuga, enough," Kenshin ordered, grasping her with both hands. Kasuga clenched both her hands into fists, refusing to look away from Kojyuro. Another pair of hands appeared, one hand covered in a black glove the other in white, but the hands latched onto Kenshin's wrists and wrenched him away from Kasuga.

"Leave her be," Hisahide snarled, "can't you see he's struggling to hang on, or are you blind?"

If the sudden change in personality from the villain alarmed the rest of the group Kasuga wouldn't know; all she knew was that she had to keep trying. She called to Kojyuro again and again – but being the only one calling out to him wasn't helping much.

Tears welled up in Kasuga's already dry eyes once again, and in desperation Kasuga scratched at the ground with her fingers and screamed:

"KOJYURO!"

Kojyuro breathed deeply. He had finally recovered from getting his legs crushed, with said legs being fully functional. He opened his eyes, staring ahead of him at his swords. It had been three weeks since the incident; Kasuga had been around him often, but she seemed shyer then before. Kojyuro's thoughts drifted to other, stranger matters.

'Who would have thought that Matsunaga could harness his element to heal. And it never crossed any of our minds that his element was light, not fire...' he sighed; the entire subject didn't make sense. This Matsunaga that they had come across was entirely different from the one Kojyuro had previously encountered; there was no way they were the same person.

'He acts different, but looks the same. Though if it weren't for Kasuga...' Kojyuro furrowed his brow, looking up at the ceiling. In a last attempt – he was sure – to keep him concsious, Kasuga had screamed his first name with no abandon. If it hadn't been for her screaming then Kojyuro was sure he would have fallen unconscious, and whether or not Matsunaga had restored his legs wouldn't have mattered; he wouldn't have woken up.

But her scream made him open his eyes, and he hadn't missed the look of joyous relief on her face when he said "Kasuga?"

He sighed softly raking a hand through his hair. The door behind him slid open and disturbed his thoughts; he paused in raking his hand through his hair and he turned on his legs to see Kasuga standing in the doorway, a look crossed between stress and sadness on her face. He yanked his hand out of his hair, staring at her.

"Kasuga? What's the matter?" Kojyuro asked, standing as she approached him. She dropped her forehead against his chest, making him furrow his brow in confusion.

"Kasuga...?"

"I couldn't accept it," she whispered, her voice threatening to break. Kojyuro placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You couldn't accept what?"

"All my life I had been trained to accept it if someone close to me passed on before I did but I just couldn't accept it... that's why I had to try so hard..."

Kojyuro pushed her back so he could look at her face, "you should have let me die."

"I couldn't!" she exclaimed, her eyes bright with tears, "I couldn't let you die!"

"What about Uesugi? Would you be able to stand it if he died?" Kojyuro countered. The War God was her lord, surely she wouldn't be able to accept him dying.

She closed her eyes and shook her head positively, making Kojyuro pull back. After a moment he leaned back towards her, "then, what about Sarutobi? Would you be able to accept him dying?"

Again she nodded her head, eyelids pressing more tightly together, tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes. She had been doing a terrible job at holding in her emotions lately.

"But of the three of us, I should be the one that you more readily accept the death of," Kojyuro told her sternly, watching as she lowered her head, her mouth in a frown.

"You should have let me die. It would have made you stronger if I -" he was silenced by her lips, which had suddenly placed themselves on his. His eyes widened in shock, his thoughts dissolving to mush; his feet stumbled back of their own accord and Kasuga followed him. Kojyuro could only think of the feeling of her soft, supple lips on his rough ones - he was too baffled to think of anything else.

When she pulled back she looked guilty – guilty of admitting that she could accept Sasuke and Kenshin's death but not Kojyuro's. His eyes searched her face for an explanation of her behaviour – 'we've only just gotten to know each other!' - but she looked down and darted out of the room moments later. Kojyuro made to call after her; however, Masamune appeared in the door way, looking in the direction Kasuga had gone; Kojyuro lowered the hand he had lifted.

Masamune turned his head to look at Kojyuro, seeing that his retainer looked confused. Masamune himself was confused, 'why was she here and what the hell is she running off for?'

Seeking an answer, Masamune walked towards Kojyuro, "oi, Kojyuro! What's Kasuga running off for?"

"Ah- well, that I... I'm not sure," Kojyuro admitted, dropping to his knees on the floor, head bowed. Masamune plunked down next to him, leaning back on his hands. Silence passed between them.

'That's odd,' Masamune thought, glancing at Kojyuro, 'I wonder what happened.'

Before Masamune could begin to interrogate his retainer, Kojyuro spoke, "Masamune-sama, what would you do if I died?"

The question caught Masamune off guard – he hadn't really given that much thought.

'Maybe I just shouldn't answer,' Masamune bit his lip when Kojyuro looked at him, a look close to desperation on his face, 'or maybe I should answer that question... but...'

"Well um... that's kind of sudden... but er... I would be... I would be really sad," Masamune grasped for a better explanation, "I would definitely cry. But those few weeks ago, you know, I didn't cry. Maybe a little. But Kasuga did all the crying for me," he smiled; the smile that touched Kojyuro's lips didn't go unseen by Masamune's lonely eye.

"But if you really did die, Kojyuro, I would cry. I'd move on, later, of course. I'd keep on living, you see?"

"I'm glad to hear that," Kojyuro mumbled, but Masamune could tell he was thinking of something else from the way he kept flexing his hands, "it is not a wish of mine for you to take your life in the event that I should die."

"Oi, Kojyuro."

"Hm, Masamune-sama?"

"You know that Kasuga was the only one that was trying to keep you conscious, right?" Masamune asked, staring intently at Kojyuro's face. Kojyuro glanced at him, before nodding his head.

"Yes, I know. She apparently couldn't accept the fact that I was going to die before her."

"... Kasuga," Masamune said, watching Kojyuro's mouth turn up in a smile, though his eyebrows were drawn in at the middle.

"What?" he questioned, giving Masamune the famous "what in the world are you trying to say" face.

"You never noticed, huh? You smile every single time I say her name."

Masamune had never seen Kojyuro's expression go from happy to shock so quickly before.

"I... what?"

"You smile every single time I say 'Kasuga'. Or whenever I bring her up, you see?" Masamune informed him, watching him shake his head. Masamune nodded.

"Yeah you do. I may be half blind but that means I'm forced to pay attention to you, get it? I've never seen you smile so much. Seriously. Kasuga."

Masamune started chuckling when Kojyuro attempted to prevent himself from smiling.

"See, see?" he teased and Kojyuro punched him lightly in the shoulder, looking away.

"Stop that, Masamune-sama."

"But really, Kojyuro. Kasuga was the only one trying to keep you awake. And you opened your eyes because she called for you, right?"

"I... opened my eyes because..." Kojyuro's sentence trailed off as he tried to think of a reason for waking up.

"What, did you expect to see me standing there too? I don't think you opened your eyes for my sake."

"Masamune-sama I -"

"You opened your eyes for her sake, you see? Because she was the only one trying so hard to keep you conscious. You opened your eyes for her, not me."

"I -" Kojyuro was at a loss for words. Masamune tilted his head at him.

"You tellin' me you don't know what you're going through, why you opened your eyes? That, and what was the first thing you said when you opened your eyes? It sure as hell wasn't 'Masamune-sama'," Masamune told him, smirking. Kojyuro still couldn't find the words to say.

"See, if I had to make an educated guess" - Kojyuro scoffed at the phrase 'educated guess' - "I'd say you... are falling in love, Kojyuro. Pretty damn hard too."

Kojyuro's eyes widened, "Masamune-sama, you aren't suggesting that -"

"Yes I am suggesting that you are falling in love with Kasuga. Why else would you smile every time I mention her? Why else would you open your eyes and cling to life if she was the only one calling out for you, huh? It isn't just because you really care about her, even I can figure that out, you see? You really are falling in love."

The seconds ticked by as Kojyuro simply sat there, on his knees, staring at Masamune with various emotions flickering through his eyes; so many that Masamune didn't think he would be able to name them all. Suddenly Kojyuro stood, his mouth in a grimace as being so impolite as to leave Masamune sitting in the room alone.

"Excuse me," and then he walked swiftly out of the room, heading in the same direction Kasuga had gone. Masamune smiled, 'well, at least he knows now. Oh, damn, Kami. Please help Kojyuro not screw this up. Oh, and help him seduce her. I could use a shinobi like her in the army,' he chuckled to himself.

"... Dokuganryuu?" a timid voice called and Masamune snapped his head up, seeing Oichi standing in the doorway, "Ichi is looking for Katakura-sama, actually, but, since Katakura-sama isn't here, Ichi will come back later."

'... now that irks me,' before she had a chance to look away Masamune pinned her down with a piercing stare. He watched as her hands clasped together and she trembled.

"Oi, why don't you talk to me for a little bit. Why are you looking for him?" he asked as she slowly tread towards him, almost afraid. She was hiding her eyes with her bangs.

"I-Ichi needed to talk to him about something. I-Ichi doesn't know if she can tell Dokuganryuu."

"Why not?" Masamune probed, trying to keep his irritation from seeping into his voice, 'why can't she just call me by my name already? Everyone else gets called by their name except me. It's really vexing.'

"B-because it i-is a subject that c-concerns Dokuganryuu" - her voice was so quiet Masamune hardly heard her. But if it was a subject that concerned him then Masamune was sure he had a right to know what it was.

"What is it? Tell me."

"I-I-I-Ichi can't," she stuttered, looking away, "I-Ichi needs to talk to K-Katakura-sama first before Ichi c-can tell Dokuganryuu-"

"Stop calling me that," he snarled, the irritation finally getting to him. He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him – his hand dropped away from her shoulder and he stared, stunned.

Oichi's cheeks were dusted lightly with red, her purple eyes wide. Masamune couldn't help looking down at her trembling lips and immediately thinking, 'oh shit.'

"... Ichi is sorry. Ichi will leave now," she spoke hurriedly and got to her feet. Masamune felt his ears grow hot and he scrambled to his knees, grabbing her waist in his hands and jerking her back. She gasped, her body going rigid as Masamune wrapped his arms around her and held her securely in his lap. He buried his face in her neck.

"I'm sorry. I'm just jealous, you see? You call everyone else by their names but I'm the only one stuck with the title."

"Dokuganryuu..." she muttered softly, turning her head. Masamune pressed his face harder against her neck.

"... Masamune..."

He jerked up his head and Ichi pressed slim fingers to his cheek, gazing up at him. Her eyes were bright but Masamune couldn't see any tears; her cheeks were now a brilliant red.

He touched his forehead to hers, making her close her eyes.

"'Masamune'... yeah, much better then 'Dokuganryuu'."

"I-Ichi is happy that Masamune -" she squeaked when he touched his nose to hers.

"Just be quiet, Ichi. Just... be quiet."

Kojyuro finally found Kasuga – eight minutes after so suddenly abandoning Masamune in favour of searching for her. She was standing near the willow trees next to the river.

"Well you're certainly hard to find," he commented, watching as she turned suddenly and sucked in a sudden breath; Kojyuro had assumed that she would attempt to flee and attempt to flee she did.

But he'd been expecting it, and moments after she dashed under the willow tree Kojyuro had her cornered against its trunk. She stared up at him in surprise while he stared down at her. They did not speak for several heartbeats.

"What was that?" he asked, knowing that she knew what he was talking about. She looked down, eyes shifting from left to right as she tried to think of an excuse.

"Why did you kiss me?" he rephrased, his voice coming out much softer then he would have liked. Kasuga looked up at him, pressing against the trunk of the tree.

"I... I don't know it's just" - Kojyuro shuffled closer, lowering his left arm - "you wouldn't stop t-talking so I, uh," she turned her head to the side, hiding her eyes somewhat with her bangs; Kojyuro breathed out steadily, caressing her face with his hand and making her look at him. She was blushing now, her eyes half-closed.

"You wouldn't stop talking about death so I – wanted to make you shut up so I -"

'So you did exactly what I'm doing right now. You kissed me,' he silently finished for her, savouring the feeling of her lips. He pulled back slightly, listening to her breathe before her arms snaked around his neck and she pulled his head back down, pressing herself against him. His hand curved around the back of her head.

It was at times like these he wished he wasn't wearing his armor.

(A/N): Well, might take some guessing before anyone can figure out what the spoiler is, exactly. Probably a bit OOC, but I'm getting more familiar with the characters as I write them, so I'm getting there.

Yes I had to put some humor in. I didn't want it to be all sad.