Winds of Thyme: The Sequel

By Sakura Takanouchi

~*~ Winds of Thyme the Sequel Chapter Two: A Mission gone Missing ~*~

Disclaimer: …You would think I'd run out of things to say in a disclaimer by now… Darn, what was I gonna say?

A week had passed in happiness for Sakura and relaxation for Kurama. But that time was over, and Kurama hugged Sakura goodbye for now as he traveled back to Reikai to report back to Koenma.

Sakura kept busy by intensely and passionately practicing tennis, she had gotten quite good at it. She also kept Shiori company, as they were both missing the same person.

She also trained intently, trying to get precisive control over her shuriken and pounding at a punching bag.

"So this is how a ningen works when they're bored and worried and stressed and missing someone all at the same time," a deep voice said.

"Hiei, if you wanted to help me train, you only had to ask," Sakura replied sweetly. Hiei was forced into spending the next half hour as target practice for Sakura. Her shuriken hadn't landed a hit yet, but Hiei was an exceptional demon.

"Okay, let's stop now," Sakura said, catching her breath. Hiei materialized near a tree that had several shuriken on it. He pulled them out and threw them at Sakura, who instantly caught them.

"So, have you seen Kirameki lately?" Sakura asked, curious. She had barely talked to any of her school friends over the summer.

Hiei stopped moving for a second. "I talked to her once," he said.

"You really need to get out more. Invite her to a movie, or something," Sakura shrugged. Hiei hn'd, and flitted away before taking something and aiming it towards her face. Her jagan sensed it, and she caught it in her hand. The texture of the object had caused her hand to bleed on contact. It was a small piece of paper. She read the words on it, but blood had blocked out the end. It was like a fortune from a fortune cookie. It read, 'Great and dangeruos changes will occur in your life when the ones you love will not be there to help you. You will---' The rest of the message was wet with blood. Sakura wrapped her wound and trudged back inside. She then called her tennis instructor, cancelling practice for that day.

~*~ In the Makai ~*~

Kurama trudged through yet another Makai forest as he shifted the weight of the object he was carrying to his other hand. 'I can't believe Koenma would send me on another mission alone. Hiei should have been able to do this in my place. Mukuro is his boss,' he thought. He looked down at the object he was carrying. 'I wonder why this is so important?' He questioned.

He looked behind his shoulder as he continued to walk. 'Whew…I thought I was being followed there for a second.' He started to hum as he walked, and let his guard down for a while. Just then, a shadow came out of the forest and Kurama never knew what hit him as he blacked out into unconsciousness.

~*~ Reikai ~*~

"Sakura, I would like to thank you for coming here today," Koenma said from his desk piled high with papers.

"What is it you want from me?" Sakura asked. "I've got tennis practice nearly every day, so it had better not be long-term."

"I would like to ask of you a favor," Koenma asked.

"Figures," was Sakura's reply.

"I would like for you to accompany the tantei on a mission of sorts," Koenma stated.

"What kind of mission?" Sakura perked up. Her summer had been terribly repetitive and she needed something to liven things up.

"I would like it if you accompanied the tantei to The Ankoku Bujutsukai. It is occuring again and many of the teams from before will be there. We need a replacement for Genkai, who…uh…did not survive the previous one. Will ya do it?" Koenma asked.

Sakura considered this. "I'll think about it," she replied, "and get back to you as soon as possible."

Suddenly Botan came bursting through the doors, oar in hand. She had a very stricken expression on her face.

"Lord Koenma!" Botan cried out as she stopped to catch her breath.

"There is a problem involving the 'current mission.' "

"What is it?" Koenma asked, a little worried. "My father'll give me spankings if he messes this up!"

Sakura had a confused look on her face. "Nani?" She asked. "What mission?"

"It's Kurama," Botan said, turning to face Sakura.

"WHAT IS IT!!!" Sakura yelled.

"It's Kurama," Botan answered. "We don't know where he is."

"Then let's go find him," Sakura said automatically and turned to leave Koenma's office.

"Wait, Sakura!" Botan called. "You don't even know where he is!" This got Sakura's attention and she stopped.

"I'll get Yusuke and Hiei to come here right away," Koenma said.

"Why not Kuwabara?" Sakura asked, confused. 'I need someone there to make me look good,' she thought.

"He's taking remedial courses over the summer and should not be disturbed from them," Koenma answered, laughing.

Fifteen minutes later, Hiei and Yusuke were in Koenma's office. Sakura had changed and come back, now in an outfit more suitable for fighting and all of her ninja tools.

"Okay, so where is he?" Sakura asked Koenma.

"I sent him to deliver a very important object to someone named Mukuro," Koenma said. Hiei's eyes widened. "Mukuro is Hiei's boss."

"So why couldn't he have gone?" Sakura asked.

"It's the object," Koenma said. He clicked a button on his TV remote. A small bonsai tree appeared on the screen.

"This is the tree of life," Koenma started. "It could be used for peace or to destroy a whole army. Kurama is a kitsune youko, so he knows well of this tree. The tree itself will unconsciously react to whomever it is in contact with. If they have a good soul, then the tree will bear good fruit. This fruit could heal or save the lives of many. If the person has an unpure soul, then the tree will bear devil fruit, which will grant extreme power to whomever eats it, but at the price of their soul being consumed forever in darkness."

"Why would Mukuro want it?" Hiei asked.

"Mukuro has a hidden fortress in the forest where the tree of life first grew. She intends to take the tree back there and let it live in its native soil, restoring neutrality to the plant," Koenma answered.

"That still doesn't explain why Mukuro would want it," Hiei insisted.

"Oh, well, there is a little added bonus of having a spiritual protective barrier on a 50-mile radius around the tree. Also, I think Mukuro just wants it to herself," Koenma explained.

"Figures," Hiei said.

'But why was Kurama-chan chosen to do the mission?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I naturally assumed, since he is extremely polite and called me 'sir', that he has the best soul," Koenma said.

"And in doing that, you chose a centuries-old theif who cared not for the cleanliness of their soul, but for the digits on his criminal record," Hiei commented with a smirk.

"Dear kami what have I done?" Koenma asked. "Oh wait that's me."

"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Yusuke said.

So the trio exited Koenma's office and traveled to pay a visit to Hiei's boss.

~A/N~

So, minna? Sup? Well, here's the next installment of my big long fic, brought to you by my creative genius and nifty keyboarding skills. Also, I would like to give some credit to Kako, who helped me come up with this plot thingy. So…*bows* *looks around* All you people who I know are reading this fic, leave a review and I'll update faster! Promise!

The S-Dog *grins*