Chapter Three: A Heart's Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Naruto. They are the respective property of their original creators. Likewise, Lynn Haruno isn't mine! She's a creation of ScarletRoseProdigy!

Kaiba knew Lynn. He knew the little scars that played on her fingers and her hands. He knew the nightmares she had. He knew how her cries echoed from their tiny bathroom at home. He knew her laugh in a chorus of a thousand voices.

He knew she loved the moon.

He wasn't surprised to find her standing in a clearing with a full view of the almost full moon.

"Lynn."

"Seto." She replied without turning to face him.

"I knew I'd find you."

"I wouldn't bother hiding from the likes of you."

Seto shuffled his cards between his two hands. The duel disc on his arm whirred to life without his cue.

"And what, exactly, does that mean?"

Lynn turned to face him. In the silver light of the moon, he saw the red of her lips, the amber richness of her eyes, and the glowing green symbol like a cancer across her forehead.

"You're scum, Seto Kaiba. The kind of filth I like to rid myself of regularly."

"Cut to the chase, Lynn. We don't have all day."

"The sex was good. What other reason would a woman, any woman, put up with your bullshit?"

Seto flinched. The green circle expanded out against the ground and swallowed him. He stared up into his lover's eyes, the honey deepness corrupted with a green sheen. He could fight her. He could win. He knew he could. But, Seto realized, he wouldn't really be fighting her. He would be fighting whatever Dartz had done to her. Seto Kaiba was many things. He had cheated when the odds were stacked against him. Never the other way around. He refused to start.

"What do you want, Lynn?"

"Your soul," She replied breezily.

Seto Kaiba couldn't help but laugh,

"That was something you already had."

The circle contracted hard. He heard Lynn's sarcastic, horrible laughing. The darkness closed in.

Sakura's view of the forest through the hospital windows was cut by a brilliant green beam and a sharp, sudden sense of loss deep in her chest.

"You stupid son of a bitch..." She hissed.

"Love?" Yami glanced up.

"He lost."

"I had the feeling he might..." Yami sighed.

Sakura slammed her fist against a wall hard enough to crack the stone. The crumbling drywall seemed to speak of the hopelessness of her situation.

"Sakura..."

Yami sat helplessly beside her.

"I have work to do."

Yami followed instinctively. He watched, frustratingly useless, as she secured her hair, washed her hands, and began the tedious tending of wounds. He knew it gave her little satisfaction to patch them with so little result. She could mend their bodies. She could set broken bones. Lacerations and burns would close and fade underneath her glowing palms. And still she couldn't bring their souls back home.

"I...please...my love..."

She looked up and was startled to see the pain in his eyes.

"I know...I...Lynn..."

"What are you saying?" She asked, the chakra in her palms dying back.

"I fell to the Seal. I was trying to save them. I...it lies, Sakura. The Seal lies. It promises you power, love, forgiveness, redemption, protection, anything to gain your compliance. You have to understand. It's an entity that feeds on pure desire. The purest desires."

"Yami...what are you saying? Please?"

"I knew it would promise Lynn. I didn't know what it would promise her. But I knew it would promise to give her back to Seto. I didn't know how to stop him."

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before?"

"The Seal takes the best parts of who you are and twists it against you. I didn't want to set you up for a failure I couldn't foresee. Forgive me."

Sakura didn't reply. For a long time after, she worked on her patients wordlessly, her eyes a vacant, unreadable green sea. Eventually, they brought Kaiba through the doors. He was serene, completely unresponsive, soulless. Yami thought it spoke a great deal to the hardship of his life that the release of his soul from his body brought such peace. He watched his lover inspect his rival and send him to a recovery ward even though she knew he wouldn't wake.

They walked back to Sakura's barren, immaculate apartment. Yami watched her methodically strip and step into a hot shower without bothering to close the door or the curtain. He followed, his hand pressed to the wall for support.

"I understand if you can't see past my failings-"

"You didn't tell me."

"I didn't know how."

"How to you get out? How did you break the Seal?"

Yami felt the tears rush into his eyes.

"I didn't. Yuugi...he took my place. I have never forgiven myself. Not once. Not for a moment."

"He has. You know that."

"I'm unworthy of his love. And yours."

"Don't say that. I fought to be able to love you."

The water cascaded down her face. She watched the blood and grime swirl away down the drain at her feet.

"What would you have of me?"

"I would have you protect my people when I can't."

"Sakura...you're leaving, aren't you?"

"I have to. She's my sister, Yami."

"I'm scared for you. And me."

"I know what I'm coming home to. I know how to come home."

"I understand. Thanks, Mokuba."

Tristan waited for Joey to shuffle his cellphone back into his pocket before he asked, "Any news?"

"Not a lick."

"What's the hold up?" Yuugi asked.

"It's all crap," Joey replied, scratching at the back of his neck.

"They have no proof that Kaiba is missing or ill. It's red tape and bureaucracy. I'm willing to bet the board won't turn of Kaiba Corporation without proof that he's missing or ill. Mokuba is still underage and with Kaiba's history of disappearing, they probably won't take a missing persons report seriously. Mokuba doesn't hold the majority share, so there's nothing he can do," Tristan offered up.

"So we're just going to sit here?" Teá asked.

"Solomon and I have been discussing an alternative," Duke said, his fists balled on top of his knees.

"Grandpa?" Yuugi looked up at the elderly man.

"The store is worth quite a bit of money. I could take a loan against its equity and purchase a few shares of Kaiba Corp. If I gifted them to Mokuba, he might have the majority to access the computers with the information on where they went and how they got there. It would give him probable cause to have the board turn control over. Then we'd have Kaiba Corporation's financial backing," Solomon told him.

"You said 'might'..." Yuugi trailed off.

"Kaiba Corporation is large and powerful. Their stock value is high. We'd only be able to buy a few shares...I don't know if it would be enough to sway power far enough in Mokuba's direction," Solomon allowed.

"And this is your home," Tristan added.

"Homes can be rebuilt if we have our family," Solomon smiled.

"There are serious repercussions. If Kaiba doesn't come back, we may not ever recoup the value of your store. How will you care for yourselves without the income of the shop?" Teá asked.

"I still have my hands and my wits. I could return to digging."

"Grandpa! I won't let you do that to yourself."

"My dear boy, it's already too late," Solomon smiled. "The bank approved me this morning. And our adviser is purchasing the stocks as we speak."

"What if this goes south?" Joey asked.

"Then we stick it out." Tristan replied.

TBC