Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Saint Seiya.
A/N:
Don't forget to read Blood Ties first!
Response to Reviews:
Wicked Lady: I know. I was all expecting it and then Hades dies and no Persephone. Heck, they even showed Artemis and her angels knights-thing-people and Zeus too. But was there any Persephone? Nooo… So that's mostly what led to the creation of this fic. Sigh. Anywho, I'm glad you're enjoying this fic as much as I enjoy writing it.
Childish laughter filled the air of the Elysian fields, the kind that came from a pure-hearted girl who played with joyous nymphs. Two gods watched, their similar appearances signifying them as brothers. Yet one had silver features while the other was of golden stature. Nevertheless, they were both beautiful and wore fond smiles as they watched the young girl, a goddess in her own right.
She was beautiful, the very image of life. There was much of her mother in her, the goddess of spring Demeter, yet, there also a part of her that was distinctly her. A part that understood darkness was part of light, and death was a part of life. Golden eyed, long white blonde hair, having the tint of blue. Her simple white dress were wrapped with vines and there was a faint indication of wings behind her back. Green ones with the same style as her dress.
The girl laughed, waving at the two gods to join her and the nymphs in their game. But she stopped, looking towards her left as she felt a presence, one that filled her with such joy she ran towards it, happy and glad for his safe return. She threw him off, surprised as she jumped into his arms, despite the darkness that hovered over him, the dead flowers at his feet.
But he wasn't surprised for long. The dark god smiled lovingly down at her, returning her hug with the tightening of his arms, as though scared if his grip was loose, she would be taken away from him, not for the four mouths that had dictated by her mother, but forever.
"Persephone, my wife," he greeted her.
"Hades," she smiled, "my husband. My darling husband."
She lifted her head, he lowered his. In the view of the brothers and nymphs, they showed their love with a kiss.
Hoko startled himself, waking up from his cross legged stance on the floor. It took him a moment to register his surroundings-the hard ground beneath him, the roar of the waterfall behind him. The Gold Saint beside him.
"Did you fall asleep?" Dohko asked mildly, opening one eye to stare at his friend.
"If I did, then it was only my body. My soul went back to the past," Hoko explained, raising a shaking hand to cover his face. "These visions are so taxing, even more so of late," he murmured wryly. "This is one of the reasons why I have a license but don't drive."
The old man chuckled. The two had been meditating since morning, until he felt his friend leave him. His body had been there, true, an image of perfect serenity itself, but his spirit had fled like an impish child, running to places beyond the power of men, watching events as an outside observer. Dokho wasn't sure if he could handle such madness. Not a day went by did he wonder how the wolf managed it.
"Was what you saw horrible?" he asked, not really prying for details but leaving the invitation.
"Do you remember Julianna?"
Both of Dohko's eyes shot open and he stared at the wolf. It was a long time before he could answer the question and even then he could only nod. "Not a day goes by when I don't think of her. Or the sacrifices she gave for us, for Athena."
"The visions I've been having of late, rather from the ones I have of the future or preordained events leading to it, during the times when I lower my guard down the most, are of her. It's almost as though my soul is forever doomed to suffer my guilt. Forever to see the what ifs. What if I had done that? What if I had done this? It's like a merry-go-around in my head, only I have no enjoyment from it or are the marble creatures we ride upon so sickening sweet." He sighed ruefully. "But then again, not all of the visions are sad. I see her smile, see her laugh, see her make the best of life for her two boys. She became a hero, you know, among the Council members. By bringing the heirs back to Japan, she managed to restore the Shodai clan and became the grandmother of the Shodai Hokage, the man who founded our capital."
"I'm glad to hear. She deserves that much," Dohko said.
"Yeah. Which brings us to the other visions…"
They both grew silent and the old man suddenly became weary. "Not yet," he begged the wolf. "Not now. It's too soon. They are not ready to properly defend Athena."
"No," Hoko assured him. "Not yet. Hades is still slumbering, thank the gods for that. But I am afraid. Yeah, you heard right. I'm scared and with good reason. Cause I'm beginning to figure out who Persephone has been reborn as this century. And believe me when I say this. It's the worst life she's lived."
---
"Naruto-kun, I love you. I love you so much that I can think of naught else. Please, take me."
The blonde gave a visible shudder. "Okay, I appreciate you taking the time off to help me with my problems. But I don't like the fact you made it into some sick play. And please, damn fox, take the damn dress off!"
"But it wont be as realistic. And it's a kimono, not a dress," Kyuubi pointed out. He currently lounged on a couch in the study they were in, a script in hand. Apparently, the costumes he had had in mind were influenced by the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. White powder incased his face along with the brilliant paints of a geisha's makeup. A beautiful black kimono wrapped his body lusciously, the embedded red cranes flitting as if in flight. His long red hair had been pulled up by golden pins.
Remarkably, despite his jinchurki's remarks, the fox looked quite beautiful dressed as a woman. There was even enough masculinity to melt the hearts of the maids standing by.
Naruto growled. "I don't want this to be realistic. All I wanted was a little advice! And who the heck wrote this junk! There's no way things will happen this way or she would automatically say any of this to me!" he yelled, flipping through the written scenes.
"Jiraiya, of course. I had told him about your little problem and he assured me this was the best course." Kyuubi tsked at his jinchurki's expression. "Well sorry, Naruto-kun. I just wanted to help and who better to ask than the great expert himself? And besides, I truly don't know how to get a woman's affections because I never really need to in the first place. They all came to me." To prove his point, he twirled the hair of the nearest blushing maid, reaching behind to nip her ear, causing her to giggle. "Just ask your ancestor."
He dodged the flying book and laughed as his blonde descendant stomped his way out of the study. Kyuubi stood to follow, dropping the top part of the kimono to reveal the male yukata below. He followed Naruto to the next room, leaning against the doorframe and watched him fume.
"Tell me, Naruto-kun," he said, his eyes burning red as he stared at the boy. "Are you doing this out of love or out of sympathy?"
There was a crash as several vases were broken by an unseen force. A shard flew by and slashed the fox's cheek, the wound splattering open with a small spray of blood.
"Temper, temper," he scolded, making no move to wipe the blood off, mildly registering that two of the most priceless vases belonging to the Namikaze family had just been destroyed.
"Then shut your damn mouth," Naruto warned. "I hate it how you always suspect things that aren't true! Why cant you just accept that I love Sakura?"
"Because, Naruto-kun, love and lust are two totally different things," Kyuubi warned. "And did I mention I'm in heat." He wanted to laugh at the expression on the blonde's face. But due to the severity of this conversation, he held it in. "And," he added, "I wonder how much you are affected by it with our bond."
"Our curse," Naruto corrected.
"Call it what you will," Kyuubi shrugged. "It amounts to the same thing. Back to the point, I don't want you to mistake my instinctive urges to your humane ideal of love."
"I have loved her long before I met you," Naruto whispered.
"And I've known I have had eight others, my brethren, all along. I knew I had others who were like me out there long before I ever learned the monster I am," the fox replied rather curtly. "Anyways, I though I should warn you. My heat lasts another two days. If you still love this woman after then, maybe it's genuine. In the meantime, stay away from her."
With this last warning, Kyuubi left the young man to brood, feeling his increasing distress through the bond that tied them. He smiled ruefully and wiped most of the makeup from his face with the back of his hand. In some ways, he felt sorry for the young man whose held the burdens only he should hold. The other, the fox loved tormenting him, using the sole sheer fact that he was a human.
After all, it had been a human who first caused this disaster to start.
A sound made him stop in his tracks, as his ears perked to listen in case it was not what he expected. When the sound came again, only this time with more force, he walked quietly in its direction and peeked through the half open door.
Yes, just as he knew there was more of him, other people who shared the same fate, Kyuubi also knew when they were suffering or other maladies, especially if they happen to die. so he knew, as she probably did he knew, what was her ailment and probably guessed the cause.
"I know you're out there, Kyuubi-sama," she said in a breathless tone filled with weariness and exhaustion. "You might as well come in and tell me how disappointed you are."
"I am disappointed," he admitted, "only that I'm not the father."
He followed her suggestion and came inside, sitting close beside her. It was an offering of comfort, one that she gladly accepted.
"Just don't puke on me, Kaku-chan," Kyuubi joked. "Minato said not to dirty it."
"I'll try not to," she said, then threw away, running back to the toilet.
He sighed, following her and helped by holding back her hair as she heaved over the bowl. He rubbed her lower back in a soothing manner and held her again when she was finished, flushing for her.
"Have you told the father?" he asked her quietly.
"No."
"Good. Less trouble for us." Kyuubi closed his eyes and laid the side of his face on top of her head. "The less people know about this child, the less likely the council would hear of it. And perhaps its chances for survival shall increase. You know that, don't you? The council will not let you keep this child. They shall contain you, force you to breed with another of their own choosing to create the perfect child, or as closely as they could."
"Are they really that cruel?" Kaku asked tiredly, limp in his embrace.
"Crueler. Especially in dealing with monsters like us."
They sat there in silence, each basking in each other's presence. The flames of the fox comforted the badger of the earth. Despite having the souls of humans, their animal instinct kept them close, feeling more assured of their position in this world, that of which shows their value. It was what kept them alive longer, kept their sanity in check.
After a little while, Kaku shifted to look up at him. "Why did you tell Naruto that you were in heat? Only females get that," she said.
"Au contrie," Kyuubi grinned. "Males are in heat all year. Why do you think we're always ready for sex?" He tickled her stomach, making her giggle.
"True," she laughed. "But that doesn't mean Naruto would be affected as well."
His mood sobered, though he still retained his smile. "Right," he admitted, "but I need to challenge his choices for the sake of it."
"Kyuubi, Naruto-kun just wants to console his teammate, not mate with her," Kaku told him exasperatedly.
"And I sent you as my ambassador and you come back with a kid," the fox pointed out, touching her flat abdomen. "So even with the best attentions, things can happen for the worst. Also, it's only because you love him that I haven't called for his blood."
"Thank you," she sighed and it seemed her morning episode was over, for Kaku fell asleep. Gently, Kyuubi lifted her in his arms and carried her to her room. He had just laid her down when a visitor appeared.
"Well?" he asked, not turning around.
"Hoko refuses to leave Rozan Five Peaks, claiming it to be safer for him there," the messenger reported. "As for the ones who attacked us, all I can identify were the red cloud patterns on their otherwise dark cloaks."
"I see." Kyuubi clenched his fists. So he's begun to move, he thought quietly. Now, with Athena so far away from her place of safety, it'll be too easy for her to die. I can only hope Kaku's love would keep the Pope sane enough, long enough for my plans to bear fruit.
Looking down at her, his gaze softened. Being the last of her family, Kaku was the most concern of the Council. Should she be allowed to breed? Or is losing the First's Bloodline worth the risk of finally destroying the demon? Now, however, it wouldn't matter at all. For Kyuubi will not allow the Council to take anything of Kaku away. Her life, her child, her entire being. Not like before, when he was careless. And weak.
Leaving his beloved badger to rest, Kyuubi took the jinchurki of his oldest Biju to his study, where his own stood waiting, and began to plan.
---
There was little in her life that could stir Yonbi's emotions. Too much death and destruction, the crushing of her spirit that made her simply not care. But ever since meeting Shun, she could think of naught else. She just wanted to protect him, as she has failed to protect everyone else she cared about.
Which is why she was on the verge of killing Shun's older brother for daring to lay a finger on him.
"Who's this?" Phoenix Ikki asked as he looked down at the crazed creature before him.
Looking up, her golden eyes blazing with hatred, Yonbi growled, "The four tails, Yonbi no Sado. Bird of the Damned."
