Author's Note

Prescripto13: doumo. See whether you like this puzzle piece or not. I have been thinking of the relationship for the older pair for ages, now finally draw vif conclusion ;-)

夢兒君：是呢，我很喜歡式神的說呢 哈哈

As always, reviews are welcome.

Vi

An only raised his brow gently as he saw the empty seats at the dinning table during lunch. He did not say a word to anyone, but only to a raven, ordered him quietly to check on the boy later. Both Kazuhiko and himself thought that their protégé would wake up by lunchtime, but seems their estimation was incorrect.

After lunch, he changed to something more comfortable and practiced his kendo in the dojo alone. With their long lasting life, the mansion began to grow in various directions. They have learnt a lot, in such volume that they have not ever imagined of previously. Most of them found their love in the swordsmanship that came from the far east and hence included this dojo when they refurbished centuries ago .

"An-sama," Kazuhiko addressed softly, standing by the shoji. "They are alright. Kashi-kun has woken up when Ryu- kun delivered lunch. Kashi-kun said that he has overslept a bit."

"It sounds quite like him," An said as he lowered his bamboo sword. "I think I can return his memories once Naruto off to Mount Myōboku with Jiraiya. I have been sending letters to the elders. They actually figured out that you would have ask Jiraiya to bring him to the Toads. Those old men…" he said, slightly in defeated. "But then, it is for my own good. Sealing both his and part of myself is such a burden."

"I thought you already have, An sama," Kazuhiko countered.

"Only loosen a few locks when I pushed the cursed marks back," An answered as placed the shinai back to its shelve. "Gaps in one's memories is never a good thing, and that with too much emotions sealed inside me is not the most ideal thing either." He sat himself on the edge of engawa, soaking himself in his memories.

The Sasaki was just a group of alchemist in the central of the continent, surrounded by various mountain ranges and rivers. An was their youngest member. In one cursed, fatal night, their experiment failed and they found themselves left the mortal soul behind, feeding from the living. And so they began to leave, some in fear and some just for the sake of searching the truth. It was the toughest for An as he was still in his childhood. He loss his shelter, his companions and everything else in that night, except the fact that he began to realise what had happened to him. However, only a few years later, he met Lucifer and finally understood the monster that he had concealed. As he has travelled more than the other members of Sasaki, and so by the time he managed to find his companions, he was appointed as the third leader of the group as for which, the basic formation of the Sasaki has already been established.

He did not think of the myth of the light and darkness only until the time when he met the young Rikudo Sennin, which he called him Riku-san after his death. Since the man's death, he has concealed lots of his memories voluntarily, in order to keep him in sane, as he has a long, long life ahead. He was not weak and that it would hurt his pride if he commits suicide just like some of his companions did through out the centuries. Subsequently, he only thought of the myth again as he ordered the extraction from the site near Konoha. He thought of the time when the two young head of clans decided to unite and restructure their unit, the Konoha unit of the Church. He sighed softly as he leaned against his assistant who decided to sit next to him at the end.

"We are on the final chapters, aren't we, Kazu-kun?" An asked after a long moment of thoughts. He withdrew his legs as he hid away from the sunshine, staying in the shadows.

"I suppose so, An-sama," Kazuhiko replied, "Bunta delivered a message. The dream is ending soon, apparently… Ojiji-sama is worried, as Bunta said that he concerned for the young djinn…"

"I thought he knew that the Sasaki never afraid of dreams. To some of us, it maybe the music to ears… such a relief. We have lived for too long, some just wanted this to be a dream, it doesn't matter which dream we have lived in. Eternality for us is just simply too long. Besides," his gaze met his assistant's, "he knows me personally. I stayed with them when Riku-san trained in the Mountain."

"That's what I have told Bunta too. There's not much to be worried about. I have asked him to pass on the message for Ojiji-sama. This is the third time that they meet, and that I really see the meetings are not coincidences. It is the act of fate. Having Naruto-kun as a member of the Namikaze, as a priest of Konoha, we must be blind if we do not see the solution."

"That's what I thought too." An agreed, "if I don't manage to see this thought, I have wasted thousand years of existence, seeing both the beauty and the filth of this earth. And that, apart from them, there's someone else's issue that we need to address." He sat up, moving himself slightly away from his assistant, so that he could see his reaction properly.

"An-sama?" Kazuhiko questioned, as he wasn't expecting An to withdraw himself from him.

"It has been 800 years, you sure you want to continue to address me with the suffix, sama? You never ask about the relationship between me and Riku-san, nor with Sakumo-kun… and especially not with Madara, you never say a word…" An sighed as he never understands. With the seal slowly releasing, his emotions, even was quite limited before sealing Kakashi's emotion with him, has come back. He just did not figure out how Kazuhiko could control his emotions at all.

"An…" Kazuhiko murmured bitterly, "I thought you already know… I can wait forever, even more than Kashi-kun can manage. As what I have replied when nisan questioned, on the day of my departure, if you are the darkness, I can leave the light behind and fallen with you."

An looked at his assistant for a long moment. "The male dryad will be formed soon. I then can pass Madara back to him, I hope that you will not hesitate again, Kazu- kun."