Tasuki: Is Kida still after Tamahome?
Kido: Yeah. She texted me saying they were now in China...Mitsukake's healing Tamahome, but it might take a while.
Chiriko: How long is 'a while'?
Kido:...A few days...a week...
Tasuki: Remind me not to get on Kida's bad side.
Chichiri: Kida Tenshi doesn't own Naruto or Fushigi Yuugi, ya know! She only owns Aika Hitsubasa and other OCs, ya know!
Shortly after arriving in Sairo, while taking a well-deserved rest, Tamahome bluntly informs the Lady Aika that he was through loving her. At this time, she also heard the story of the nearby temple tower. The legend said that if a couple kiss there at the exact moment the sun set, nothing would ever tear them apart. The legend struck a chord of longing in her and Aika went to convince Tamahome to come with her to the tower. What she saw then was a sight almost too shocking and heart breaking for her to bear. Tamahome and Xi Fang slowly leaned in and were about to kiss until Tamahome's eyes widened when he saw Aika at the door. Aika was standing there with wide eyes, her hand over her mouth. "Aika…."
~0~
'I can't believe Tamahome would do that too her! Before he talked with Tokaki, he was deeply in love with Aika. Suddenly Aika appears after he talks to his master and he acts like he doesn't love her! If I ever meet that bastard, I'll beat him to a pulp! Believe it!' Naruto thought angered.
"Keep ranting like that and you'll hurt yourself, loser," Sasuke said as he saw Naruto inwardly ranting. Naruto turned and kicked a cabinet.
"Ouch!" He yelped, holding his foot while hoping on the other.
"What do you know, you really did hurt yourself," Shikamaru mused.
"Shut up! Come on, let's go. Obviously we're not going to find anything here," Naruto muttered.
"So now we have to look in the Sand Village," Sasuke sighed.
"Looks like it," Shikamaru agreed before they all walked out of the building and went to talk to Kakashi.
"So…you want to see Gaara, huh?" Kakashi asked, not totally convinced.
"What? A guy can't go see one of his best friends?! Sheesh! What kind of world do we live in?!" Naruto asked.
"Fine, fine, here. You can do a C rank mission anyway. A client needs to get back there," Kakashi said. They all bowed and got ready before leaving with the man to the Sand Village.
"So why do I need three Jounin to escort me?" The client asked.
"We were heading to the Sand Village anyway, so two birds with one stone," Shikamaru replied making the man nod.
"Why do you need to go there?"
"We need to check out the police investigation department," Sasuke answered.
"There's a case we need some answers to and it appears the only other option is looking in the Sand Village," Naruto added.
~0~
"Aika…" Tamahome murmured with wide eyes.
"I-I'm sorry. Excuse me," Xi Fang said before pulling away and walking out of the room. Tamahome turned away from Aika who had her head down.
"Tamahome…I-I just wanted to….Y-you know that temple? You can see it on top that mountain across the way. I heard there's a tower right next to it and…and I want you to go there with me before the sun sets. I mean, i-if you want to. If you don't hate me now that is, then come. If you don't come then I'll know and I'll forget about you. But…but I believe. I believe in you and I'll wait for you," Aika said with a fake smile before she ran off before any tears could come to her eyes. Tamahome looked down.
'Wow, break her heart and she's still willing to wait for you. I don't even know what that girl sees in you, Tamahome. Not anymore anyways,' Kurama thought, having heard everything.
~0~
"Up to that tower? You don't wanna go there. Haven't you heard about the monsters around that place? It's true. A lot of people have never come back from there," the man said to Aika who had requested a ride up to the tower.
"No, no, not right there. Near it will be just fine," she assured the man with a small smile.
~0~
"A murder back in the 1920s? Hm, and you came here to check it out," the man said to the three.
"Heh, yeah and some other stuff," Shikamaru replied, standing with the client and Sasuke as they waited outside the department. They had been given permission from Gaara to take a look. "I know it sounds farfetched."
"Oh, there's your friend. He's coming out now," the man said seeing Naruto finally walk out.
"So, how'd it go? Did they help you?" Sasuke asked as Naruto ran over.
"We've gotta take off now!" Naruto shouted.
"Hey! Why? What happened in there?" Shikamaru asked, jumping a bit from the sudden shout.
"He got a really good look at the crime report," Naruto stated.
"Well? What is it? Are you gonna tell us or not?" Sasuke asked, curious to know.
~0~
'So this is it?' Aika asked as she looked up at the tower. 'Tamahome will come, I know he will. He'll come.'
~0~
"Oh Aika!" Tasuki grinned. "Look! It's a wiggle, wiggle pork to! I've got some peaches for me and you! It's a peace offering, let's eat 'em together," he said holding a small basked of peaches. He saw Tamahome sitting in the windowsill. "Hey, Tama, where's Aika? Have you seen her?"
"Aika…went off to that tower up there," Tamahome murmured. Tasuki stared at him shocked.
"She went to the tower? You mean she just took off and went up there all by herself? Why would she do something like that I wonder?" Tasuki asked before his eyes narrowed. "What did you do? You've been acting really strange again! Why are you sitting there being all mopey?!"
~0~
"She went to the tower? That little idiot! There's all sorts of monster wondering around that temple! It's forbidden to enter the temple now anyway and why in the world would she go there?" Tokaki asked.
"I…I told her about the legend of the tower, but I told her to stay away from it too," Xi Fang said to them.
"I'll wait for you," Aika's voice rang in his head.
"That idiot!" Tamahome exclaimed about to go after her.
"Wait, Tamahome!" Tokaki said making him stop. "You mustn't go there. I'll go and fang boy and the fox can come with me." Tasuki sweat-dropped and poked his fangs.
"Master, I should…"
"Do I have to explain it to you again?! You and that girl are not going to stay together. You'll split up. No, you'll be forced to split up. You are going to wish she became part of our world once Suzaku is summoned? That absolutely won't work. It's the one wish the Beast God will not grant. When the Beast God appears, the Priestess' purpose is fulfilled and she must return to her own world. That is the rule. It is unequivocal. No matter how hard you both may fight it, you cannot change that. This love will end tragically," Tokaki stated. "It sounds romantic, doesn't it? However, in reality it is torture. It will tear you both apart. Stop loving her now before it's too late or-."
"Please…Master, it already is too late," Tamahome looked at him over his shoulder with a small smile. The others were shocked, but Kurama smirked.
"Go prove it then, Kit," he said to Tamahome who smiled and nodded. Tamahome then ran off.
"Tamahome!" Tokaki shouted.
"Oh shut up for once!" Kurama snapped making everyone blink at him. "You of all people should know it's hard to stop loving someone once you start. You telling him to stop loving Aika is like telling him to stop breathing. It's impossible. Not matter what, he's going to breathe. No matter what, he's going to love Aika. Even if they are in different worlds, they'll still love each other."
~0~
The client had led the three of the Sand Village Library only to see that it was closed.
"Look, it's closed," Shikamaru stated not seeing any lights on or anything.
"Oh man, I thought we could see some newspapers from that time period in the library, but…" Naruto let out a frustrated sigh.
"You wanna go to the newspaper office? It was right in front of that police station!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"Get real!" Naruto retorted.
"So in other words, we wasted a trip here? What a drag," Shikamaru muttered lazily.
"Oh shut up! The trip wasn't wasted! Maybe we can go tomorrow!" Naruto said to him.
"You're doing this for your little sister, right?" The client asked making Naruto blink in shock. "I believe in UFOs myself."
"Shikamaru, you told him the story?!" Naruto whisper shouted at Shikamaru.
"Yeah. While we were waiting for you, I told him about the ancient book The Universe of the Four Gods and the spell," Shikamaru whispered.
"I may have added some details too…" Sasuke admitted.
"Follow me, I know someone who can probably help," the client said leading them to a building. He then went up to one of the guys. "Hey, Kunishi. Say, you still work with putting the newspapers on film in the library, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. You don't happen to need one do you?" Kunishi asked.
"Yeah, exactly. If you've got one of those machines…"
"I do actually."
"You do? Great! Can you take us to the room that we can use please?" The client asked. The three men smirked, well, Naruto grinned.
"What a terrific guy!" Naruto exclaimed while Shikamaru and Sasuke nodded in agreement.
~0~
Tamahome rode on his running horse, making his way to the tower.
'Forgive me. Forgive me, Aika. I'll be there soon. Wait for me, please. No matter how much it hurts, I still love you,' Tamahome thought as he made it closer to the tower.
~0~
'Tamahome, the sun it about to set. Aren't you coming?' Aika thought frowning as she watched the sun begin to set. Her eyes then widened when she saw Nakago and Yui. 'I-it's Yui and Nakago!'
~0~
Nakago stopped and looked at the tower.
"Nakago, what's wrong?" Yui asked.
"Nothing. It's nothing at all," Nakago replied before they all began walking again.
~0~
'Did they see me?' Aika thought, hiding behind the wall railing. 'Nakago looked at me. I have to tell Yui he's been lying to her. I have to tell her it's all just a sneaky trap. Tamahome, hurry,' she thought.
~0~
"I'm sorry, it's so late and everything," Naruto said to Kunishi.
"It's alright, he's always asking me to do favors like this. Hasn't changed a bit since we were kids," Kunishi replied.
"Well, the people you gotta hang onto most are your childhood friends," the client smiled. Kunishi turned, holding the film.
"Here you go. You want April 1924, is that right?" Kunishi asked.
"Yeah, it happened on April first," Naruto replied as he stood and walked over. It's then they made their way to the Sand Village Civic Center.
"It's our only clue so far, you know," Shikamaru said.
"I've never heard of this Einosuke Okuta person," Kunishi mused.
"Well, the Sand Village is famous for the author Miazawa and the poet Ishikawa," the client said.
"You'd be more correct to say Rock Village is," Kunishi stated.
"Yeah, whatever you say," the client shrugged. Naruto sat at the device and put the film in. He then began scrolling through it.
"March…still March…." He kept scrolling a few more times until his eyes widened at the words 'daughter murdered'. "There it is! Shikamaru! Sasuke! I found it!" Naruto said as Shikamaru and Sasuke came over to read the article.
"Does it say where they lived?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yeah, here. The old Chizukuichi Village," Naruto read.
"Hold on. I think we have a map from that time," Kunishi said jumping over the counter. "Grab that latter, would ya, buddy?"
"Yeah, you bet," the client replied before going do so.
~0~
"Whoa!" Tamahome said stopping his horse as he made it to the tower. He jumped off and ran into the tower. "Aika!" He called running up the steps. "Aika!" He called again as he made it to the top of the stairs. He made it to the door and his eyes widened when he saw the hair clip resting on the railing. "Aika, where did you go?" He asked picking the hair clip up. "Why do we always seem to be chasing each other? And missing each other? But someday you will return to a place where I can't follow you and you'll leave me. Forever."
~0~
"Do you understand this thing?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the map.
"Where is it on here?" Naruto muttered.
"The Kokonda River and Lake Gosho were probably a lot bigger then," Kunishi said to the young men.
"Oh yeah, it's a lot dryer now than it was back then. Rivers and lakes change over time," the client said.
"Hey, you're right on target. It's a lot smaller than it used to be. About eighty percent," Shikamaru mused.
"So where is it now?" Naruto asked.
"Upper Chizukuichi…" Kunishi looked for it.
"Let's see, that's land section number one: Arine. I know that place, there's only one path up there," the client said.
"You sure know a lot," Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru said to him.
"Hey, I'm a traveling trader!"
~0~
Aika soon made it to a building, hiding behind a pillar.
'Yui and Nakago, they went inside. I followed them here without thinking, but I did wait and you never came. Tamahome, I waited right up till the very end. I guess I've been dumped,' she thought sadly, leaning against the pillar.
~0~
A trinket started spinning and Miboshi grinned a little.
~0~
Tamahome kept looking at the hair clip, not noticing the creature that appeared behind him. The monster opened its mouth reveal its long fangs.
"Rekka-!" Tamahome turned. "Shinen!" Tasuki shouted until Tamahome was burnt and the monster was destroyed. "Heh, hooray! I'm the hero of the day! If I don't say! Another second and you would have been eaten! You'd be monster mush if I hadn't cindered that cyclops!" Tasuki laughed.
"Hahaha," Tamahome laughed sarcastically, grabbing him by the scruff. "That's not funny, Tasuki."
"Oh come on, is that anyway to treat me? The good friend who just saved your life?" Tasuki smirked while Tamahome growled.
"Tamahome, where's Aika?" Chichiri asked while he, Mitsukake, Chiriko, and Kurama sweat-dropped.
"She wasn't here when I got here," Tamahome sighed.
"Do you think that same monster…?" Chiriko trailed off. Tasuki made a shrine for Aika.
"Aika, rest in peace," he sobbed.
"Tasuki! Why you-?!" Tamahome started beating him up. "Dooms-dayer!"
"What's your problem?!" Tasuki shouted.
"Don't joke around, Tasuki!" Chichiri scolded. "You too, Chiriko, it's bad luck to say things like that, ya know! I'll try to locate her life force!"
"And I'll try to locate her chakra. Damn jinxing Warriors," Kurama muttered. Tokaki and Subaru ran up to the tower.
"Hey! Suzaku Warriors!" Tokaki shouted.
"We've got trouble! Tatara's missing! He's been taken from the Shrine of Byakko!" Subaru shouted as well.
~0~
"Give it up, won't you? We've already shown you the Shinzahou of Genbu. That's reason enough to give up the Priestess of Byakko's Shinzahou, don't you agree? If you want to spare yourself anymore suffering then hand it over," Soi said to Tatara with Yui by her side. Tatara was currently being held by chains around his wrists.
"If you kill me, you will never get the Shinzahou. You are the Priestess of Seiryuu?" He asked Yui. "You did not procure the Shinzahou first hand," he said making her eyes widen. "Someone else did. I know that." Yui gripped the Shinzahou with a glare.
"Quit wasting time and give me the Shinzahou because once you do, I can summon Seiryuu! And then I can go back to my world. And I can have my revenge on that traitor Aika once and for all," Yui stated.
~0~
Aika snuck down the hall, keeping quiet.
"What are you looking for, Priestess of Suzaku?" Nakago asked making Aika turn with a glare. "Good grief, you never learn. It's obvious you simply lack the ability to comprehend, don't you?" He smirked.
"Yui. Tell me where she is," Aika demanded with a harsh glare, kunai in her hand.
"Did you come to take Lady Yui back with you? Don't look at me with such hatred, we did share a kiss once and surely you have not forgotten that so soon. May I have another kiss now, my dear Priestess of Suzaku?" Nakago smirked as he walked up to her. Aika slapped him.
"Don't make fun of me! If you're going to do something to me, then do it. You can rape me, kill me, turn me into a ghost, but I swear, I will still take Yui back from you! Even if it means killing you," Aika growled.
"You're a strong willed girl and I admire that so. Don't worry, it's not necessary for me to take your virginity away from you now. We practically have the other Shinzahou in our hands as we speak," Nakago said to her.
"You're lying," Aika glared.
"Gamble on your friendship with Lady Yui if you wish. Nevertheless, you are not going to summon Suzaku and Lady Yui will not go back with you," Nakago told her.
"Where is she? I want to see Yui!" Aika shouted. She went to shot again until nothing came out. Her eyes widened and she held her throat. She tried speak again, but no sound. Nakago chuckled.
"Your voice has been stolen from you and no one can hear you. Even if you see Lady Yui, it will make no difference at all," Nakago said as Miboshi appeared, holding the gold trinket.
"I am Miboshi of the Seiryuu Seven. It's a pleasure to meet you, Priestess of Suzaku," Miboshi said. Nakago then punched Aika in the gut, knocking her out. "What will you do with her?"
"She has come all the way up here. Why not take her to her long lost best friend? Very soon the Suzaku Warriors will discover she's missing and follow her here. Tamahome will arrive then," Nakago smirked.
~0~
The Suzaku party soon stopped when they made it to the building.
"This is where Aika is?" Chiriko asked.
"Yeah, I sense her chakra here and Yui's," Kurama said looking at the building.
"Ah, I sense Seiryuu life forces and someone else. Someone unfamiliar," Chichiri said.
"That's Tatara, one of the Byakko Seven like us. They're trying to take the Shinzahou away from us by force," Tokaki said.
"Meaning we can get the Shinzahou and kick some serious Seiryuu ass! Oh, I can't wait! Let me at 'em! Come on!" Tasuki said pumped.
"Tasuki, you seem happy about all this," Chiriko said amused.
"I don't blame him. I'm going stir crazy…I wanna fight and kick some ass!" Kurama smirked.
'Aika,' Tamahome thought.
"Even now, even after I told you to give up on that girl. You're just as bull headed as you always have been, little ghost," Tokaki said making Tamahome spaz out while the others looked in question. "What? You wanna hear? Well, back when I first met him, all the kids used to make fun of him and call him that. His mark, that character that appears on his forehead, also means spirit or ghost, ya know." Tasuki laughed.
"G-g-ghost?! That's scary!" Tasuki laughed. Tamahome grabbed him by the collar, his skin a light red and his hair a light blue with a red light around him. "Hey, Tamahome, your forehead is glowing. Is your ghost mad?"
"And back then all he ever talked about was money, money, money. Hm, that's one thing that's changed with him," Tokaki mused.
"It hasn't really changed," Tamahome said, back to normal as Tokaki looked at him. "I mean, I…I still like money, I just found something that's worth more to me. Worth more than many. Worth my life, Master."
"Tokaki, do you remember? Almost ninety years ago…" Subaru trailed off.
"Yes, of course. You'll have nothing but tears when it's all over. All right, do you want you want," Tokaki said making Tamahome smiled.
"Uh huh. Let's go, you guys!" Tamahome said to his fellow Warriors.
"You bet, little ghost!" Tasuki said. Tamahome punched him, sending him to the sky.
"He should shouldn't have said that ghost word, ya know," Chichiri said.
"Freakin' idiot should keep his mouth shut in general," Kurama muttered.
~0~
"This is it, Chizukuichi, Owazanaka Mountain, land section number one, Arine 4/28," Shikamaru said. They were closer to the Hidden Snow Village now. It was flurrying, but the water wasn't frozen over yet.
'The place where he killed his own daughter. It was right here,' Naruto thought looking at the sign that read 'Natural Monument Genbu Grotto'. 'Genbu Grotto!'
~0~
Aika slowly woke up. She sat up and suddenly saw herself in a cell.
"You're awake," a man said making her look over at him. He had long dark hair tied in a low ponytail and silver eyes. "Are you the Priestess of Suzaku? Yes, you must be. I am Tatara, one of the Byakko," he smiled at her.
~0~
"Aika!" Tamahome called as he ran through the hall. He stopped them. "Aika! Answer me!" He called. He suddenly looked at a wall. "Through that wall."
~0~
Aika banged on the wall.
'Tamahome! I just heard his voice. I'm right here! Tamahome!' Aika thought desperately.
"Aika," a voice said making her eyes widen. Sure turned and saw her.
'Y-Yui.'
Kida: Aw shit...
Kido: *Blinks* When did you get back?!
Kida: Just now...I'm just that good.
Tasuki: Where is Tamahome?
Kida: Mitsukake's still healing him. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please favorite and comment!