Amethyst Love Chapter 11

Paradox

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. All source material belongs to their respective creator and I'm illegally using them without explicit permission.

I was looking through all my old manuscripts when I realized something; with the exception of Fata Morgana and End Game, all them have beginnings that are taken and modified from other fics. I wonder what that says about me... lol...

Oh and, I received that hilarious email from yourfanfiction shutting down because their servers are overloading though that kind seems like a complete lie since I'm pretty sure they don't have that big of a basic fanbase like fanfiction dot net. Pity. Though I noticed that the lemon witch hunts appear to have stopped anyway. For now.

Soundtrack List

Otome Youkai Zakuro OST - Benibana no Otome Uta

Nickelback - Photograph

****Amethyst Love****

A woman with short shoulder length platinum blonde hair angrily slammed her fist onto the table hard enough to crack the marble construct, "What do you mean you came back alone?! You took the entire First Division with you on a simple mission and you came back ALONE?! With only ONE arm left!?"

A heavily bandaged red head in leather coat, looking appropriately apologetic handed his superior a leather bound report with his one remaining good arm, "In my defence, I didn't expect the person who beat Kiryuu would show up on a vacation in the Mountains. Knowing that he would be a formidable opponent since he managed to not only defeat Kuyou, but also Kiryuu, I decided to take the opportunity to assess hisskills, I just didn't realize how formidable, as well as sow some seeds of discord amongst their members."

She rapidly flipped through the file, feeling a massive throbbing headache start to rise as she took in the information that left an unpleasant sneer in her mouth, "So you think he is a half youkai?"

"It would explain a few of his abilities." Miyabi muttered thoughtfully, "Massive amounts of youki resulting in enhanced strength and speed, multiple personalities that seemed to work in tandem, and the ability to cast rather complex illusions. If I didn't know any better, I'd even say he was a vampire half breed." He concluded carefully, knowing her opinion on inter species romances.

The woman spat angrily, "No vampire would go as low as to breed with a human. It's inconceivable. No matter, what's done is done. Begin urgent recruitment again, thanks to you, we've lost nearly thirty percent of our combat strength."

"What about the boy?"

Gyokuro slammed the report on to the table and adjusted her heavy and stiff uniform as she headed of to another part of the fortress, "We don't have resources or the time to deal him directly. Put out a bounty on his head, even if they can't kill him, it might harass him enough to leave us alone."

"Understood."

****Amethyst Love****

"Ne, ne! Kinpatsu-nii san! It's my turn!" a small white haired girl, probably less than 10 years old, whined as she clung to a blonde man's pants. It was the day after Fairy Tale had left the Snow Village and everybody had tried to at least pretend like nothing had happened by going about their activities like a normal day. Tsukune and Gin had taken to doing something else alone, though knowing Gin, he was probably of trying and failing to flirt with the local women. Though no one had actually seen Tsukune ever since morning after they had breakfast together.

Which led Naruto to his current circumstances; when he, Moka and Kokoa had tried to walk around the medium sized village, it had quickly become apparent to them that stalking was a racial past time for Yuki Onnas, and that they were currently being followed by a contingent of no less than 30 young ladies, though through a combination of wit, charm and pure good looks, Naruto had managed to figuratively make the small children warm up to him.

"Hai, hai, don't be so impatient." Naruto said with a small smile as he let another girl climb down from his back with a pout before letting the one to speak climb on. "Hang on tight ok?"

"Hai!" she affirmed with a huge grin as the blonde crouched and leapt straight up into the air with one massive boost, climbing from branch to branch without even breaking a sweat until they reached the top of a massive frozen tree, the girl on his back squealing with happiness the whole way before leaping back down with a loud and exhilarated whoop.

At the bottom of the tree, Moka and Kokoa were surrounded by a group of Yuki Onnas slightly older than the one on Naruto's back were dressed in cute and elegant yukatas and kimonos as they sat surrounded by small hardy, yet beautiful flowers unique to the Snow women's village. The sounds of the entire group chattering away distinctly sounded like the tittering of a group of birds as Naruto watched them make flower rings out of the corner of his eyes. The entire scene was really quite beautiful and would have been perfect assuming one managed to ignore the backdrop of a massive ruined ice structure behind them.

Still, Naruto considered it one of the most perfect moments in his life with a wry smile as Moka noticed her boyfriend freefalling from the top of the tree with a wave.

"Naruto, Kuriko, it's time for lunch!"

The girl on his back pouted but agilely leapt of his back despite her yukata and swiftly made her way towards where her friends were all seated once Naruto had gently landed with nothing but a small poof of snow beneath his feet. Making his way towards the group of girls more sedately compared to his new friend, Naruto let loose a brilliant smile as he sat down between Moka and her red head sister, "And what have my lovely ladies been doing all this time? Whatever you were all talking about must have been quite interesting. I could hear you all the way from the top of the tree" He waggled his eyebrows at her, causing the pink haired girl to giggle.

He was so intently focused on the pink haired girl that he failed to notice the sparkly eyes of his new admirers that sat around the two vampires. Kokoa somehow managed to discourage them from doing anything more than drool at her Nii-sama from afar with glare without letting her occasionally air headed brother notice.

Off away from them, two elder snow women dressed in snow white kimonos that seemed to be something of a running theme amongst the inhabitants of the village watched their visitors play with the young ones as they sipped some cold tea, "You really wouldn't expect someone like that blonde to be so good with children. Not after watching him slaughter nearly 500 demons in one night then threatening to emasculate a near immortal deity with impunity." The elder one observed blandly as she took a sip from her cup.

"That's probably why he is so popular amongst the younger girls. People like that seem to be very popular with the young ones nowadays." Tsurara responded with a smile, "That aside, how are you feeling now Priestess?"

The Snow Priestess who had her hair tied up in an elegant bun waved the question away as she watched a group of giggling young Yuki Onnas collectively pile onto the blonde as he mock wrestled with them, "It's not like I was hurt. My strength will return with rest." She turned rather shiny eyes at her companion, "By the way, do you think he will be averse to picking out a wife... or ten from our village?"

Tsurara hid a smile behind her cup, "I do not know how he will react, but I imagine that sweet pink haired girl beside him might have some rather impolite words to say to that idea." Especially since I caught them secretly kissing the night before, there must be something stopping them from being open with their relationship!" The snow priestess gave her new friend a weird look as she swooned slightly at the perceived to be romantic situation.

"Hmph. True, she's no ordinary vampire, but then again, maybe that's why it's her and not someone else. I doubt there are many who can share his burden."

"What do you mean?" the beautiful snow woman stopped swooning to question her superior curiously.

Instead of replying, the Snow Priestess cocked her head, as if listening to something that Tsurara could not hear with a thoughtful expression on her face, "...Tsurara, they are leaving in an hour are they not? Can you unseal that for me?"

"That?"

This time, it was the Priestess' turn to hide a sly smile behind the cup, "I think, it's time we, the Yuki Onna, made a stand."

****Amethyst Love****

"Everything's ready guys, it's time to go." Ruby called cheerfully from the bus as her friends gathered around Tsurara and the Snow Priestess, getting ready to say their farewells before leaving.

Mizore's mother watched them with a wry smile, a large bundle swathed in bandaged in her arms, "I thank you once again for helping our village despite the wrongs we have done to you," she smiled sadly, "Especially to you Mizore."

Her daughter carefully unwrapped a mountain mint flavoured lollipop, "No... I should be the one thank you mother, Snow Priestess. This incident has taught me a lot of things... an important lesson; that I should be more firm with myself." Mizore looked up with a smile, "And that things like destiny doesn't concern me."

Everybody watched as mother and daughter embraced, Naruto standing at the back of the group, carefully looking away with a sad smile on his face.

As the two yuki onna's released their embrace, the Snow Priestess stepped up solemnly, "Before you leave, may I speak to Uzumaki-san and Moka-san? Privately."

The two gave each other a glance and nodded before following Tsurara and the Snow Priestess to the edge of the cliff overlooking the Yuki Onna's village. As the four of them stood, carefully drinking in the breathtakingly beautiful scene, a cold yet friendly breeze blew, causing the frozen icicles hanging off the white branches to sway, a crystal clear tinkling sound adding to the beauty.

The Snow Priestess took a deep breath and bowed to the couple, "First of all. I would like to apologize."

Naruto and Moka shared another look before Naruto gave her a half smile, "It's ok. Actually, I think I should be the one apologizing," He jerked his chin at the ruined castle, which still managed to somehow look magnificent despite the fact that it was in ruined pieces, "For going a little overboard."

"No... Mizore was not the only one that learnt something from this. Buildings can be rebuilt, but lives that are lost cannot be reclaimed." She took a deep breath and solemnly began speaking again, "What do you know about half breeds?"

Play Otome Youkai Zakuro OST - Benibana no Otome Uta

Moka, looking a little nonplussed, replied, "Not much. Only that many of our kind... dislike them."

The elegantly dressed snow woman nodded, "Will you two be having children in the future?"

Both ninja and vampire immediately blushed a brilliant red and shuffled their feet, causing the snow women to giggle at their adorably naive reactions.

"Eh... ah... uhm," Naruto tugged uncomfortably at his collar as he tried not to look at his companion as he struggled for a diplomatic answer, "That is uh... we are still young but I hope... I mean, I can see us settling down in the future."

A small hand slipped into his at his declaration, causing him to squeeze it gently.

The elder watched them carefully for a few moments before nodding in satisfaction, "Youkais are generally divided into three groups, the pure breed, the pure blooded youkai with parents of different heritages, and the half breeds; part human, part youkai."

She waved her hand across the landscape, throwing up a strong breeze, "However, I doubt you know that there is a reason that most people look down on them; some think its beneath our dignity as a race far stronger and more gifted than humans, some even go as far as to consider it bestiality but in general many of us are not as illogical, some of us even encourage it, like the Succubuses and the Yuki Onna, single gender monsters who have no choice but to procreate with humans or other monsters." She paused for a while, "Though we are special in that we usually only give birth to pure Youkai daughters, it doesn't change the fact that a Youkai's life force and a human's are essentially two essences of opposing natures that repulse each other, something that should never be contained in one vessel." She gave Naruto an apologetic look, "To be honest, even nature itself seems to be against it."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the snow woman, suspecting where the conversation was going, "What do you mean, against nature?"

Coolly accepting the glare, she smiled briefly, a sad smile, "There is a reason that there are so few half breeds. By nature, youki cannot be mixed with a human's soul. The resulting pregnancy, more often than not kills both the child and mother before it can even be brought to term. Even if the child is successfully birthed, they gain the potential to be stronger than any normal youkai, but in exchange, they also stand a more than decent chance of going insane before adulthood and killing everyone around them before expiring due to the flawed, conflicting nature of their very being. That they are shunned by both humans and youkais does not help their situation."

A tense silence filled the air between the four individuals as Moka seemed to cling to his hand desperately at the new revelation. When Naruto squeezed back she looked up at him to see his sapphire eyes burning in defiance, "Why are you telling us this?"

"Be calm. I meant no disrespect. I simply wanted you to know what you might be getting into." The Snow Priestess watched them intensely, "Even after everything you have heard, will you still persist? Every human and youkai pairing is destined to suffer. It is the way of our world."

"If that is the way of this world, I will break it, and find my own way." He replied, quietly, firmly, as if the thought of doing otherwise had not even occurred to him.

In a way, it probably hadn't.

A true smile lit the elder's face as she gestured to the silent Tsurara, "Then I will pray for your happiness. This also ties in with my real concern. The root of why everything that has happened so far, happened the way it did. As you already know, Jack Frost can see into the future before relaying them to me to choose what the best method of survival of my people is."

With a sigh, the snow woman turned around to watch over the horizon sadly, "Did you know? This village is one of the last places left for Yuki Onnas to live freely in, because of the human's expansion, nearly all of our villages have been wiped out or been forced into seclusion to survive. We are too few and too scattered to reclaim our land, and even if we are successful, the losses we will suffer will render us extinct in a few generations anyway."

Confused, Naruto and Moka stayed silent and tried to gather their thoughts.

Despite their turmoil, the elder snow woman heedlessly continued, "The future is like a tree, each decision that affects it; a myriad of branches; and up till recently, every path he had seen would only result in tragedy and death for both the realm of humans and monsters. If Death was inevitable, then we would at least ensure that as few of our people died as possible. However, less than half year ago, something caused the paths that he had always seen so clearly to become unstable and cloudy. After our... altercation from yesterday, he has retreated into the depths of my soul, silent and contemplating. However, this morning, he sent me a vision, the clearest it has been in this past 5 months. Let me be frank, this world is destined for suffering. It was as if something had pruned away all the other branches." Her shoulders shook in despair, "Nothing can be done to avert it and blood will inevitably flow like a thousand rivers as humans and youkais fight in a terrible war."

She smiled grimly, confidently, "But if there was one thing you taught us, it is that destiny can be changed, but we are too few and too weak to make a difference. This burden is too heavy for us."

Tsurara passed her the bundle of cloth that she was carrying; the Snow Priestess fondly caressed the bundle and pulled it off in one move, revealing two gleaming guns sheathed in rune covered wrappings.

As Tsurara stood beside the Snow Priestess, the wind somehow stopped and everything became eerily still as they both stepped forward and bowed low, the Snow Priestess ceremonially offering them to the stunned blonde, "That is why, I, the Snow Priestess who represents all Yuki Onna, have decided to bet on you, a paradox of human and youkai, Naruto Uzumaki."

****Amethyst Love****

Morning dawned bright and clear, bright sunlight streamed through the open window as a soft, cold morning breeze caused the airy curtains to flutter as the wind slowly danced across Moka's sleeping face.

Shivering a little, the vampire curled a little more under the comforter and snuggled into the warm body beside her as she nuzzled the mounds of flesh, relishing in their warmth, "Muunya... so warm..."

"Heheh... that tickles Nee-sama..."

Emerald eyes immediately snapped open and the pink haired vampire instinctively jerked away from the warm body, comically gaping at her half awake sister who was staring at her with dazed eyes, being jerked awake due to Moka's actions, "Ko-kokoa?! What are you doing in my bed?! Whe-where's Naruto?"

"Nuuh? Don't you remember? We playing games in Naruto-Nii sama's room after coming back last night but it got so late that we decided to just crash here for the night." The smaller vampire yawned cutely, "Tsukune and the others already woke up earlier though. You must have been really tired if you didn't hear them leave. Nii-sama woke up even earlier than them though. He said he wanted to talk to the Headmaster, and he hasn't been back since."

"Oh." Moka mumbled in disappointment as she flopped back on her pillow, she had been hoping that she'd be able to spend some lazy time with Naruto, especially after being hit with so many revelations at once.

Kokoa rolled around in bed, happily snuffling and revelling in the mixed smell of her Nee-sama and Nii-sama, "Speaking of which, everyone wanted to ask, but what did that old lady say to you? You were both so subdued on the way home."

Moka began to blush again at the thought of having children with Naruto and hurriedly tried to change the topic before Kokoa realized something was up, "No-nothing, Sh-she just gave us something to think about. Ah, ah, enough about, why don't we grab something to eat and go find Naruto? I'm sure that idiot is hungry by now."

"Nee-sama is cooking?!"

"Un... Why are you drooling?"

Kokoa scratched the back of her head in a manner strangely similar to a certain blonde as her tongue poked out of her lips, "I want to eat something you cooked, hehehe... ever since I came here; I've been eating nothing but instant noodles when no one cooks for me. Though, sometimes I come over to Nii-sama's place for dinner. He cooks really nice omelettes."

Moka rubbed her temples in exasperation, "Geez, that's not healthy, why didn't you tell me? I would've cooked for you."

Kokoa looked down at her twiddling thumbs for a moment and quietly mumbled, "At the time, I was still trying to attack you all the time so I didn't want to depend on you... after Naruto-nii sama told me that all I was doing was driving you away, I didn't think it would be right to ask you for something like that right away. I... didn't even know how to apologize."

Moka smiled softly and pulled her sister onto her lap, running her hand through Kokoa's soft locks, reminiscent to how they used to play as children, "I don't know what Inner Moka thought about it, but even if you were always trying to attack me, we are sisters. That's more than good enough of a reason for me."

Kokoa buried her face into Moka's pyjamas and nuzzled her elder sister, hiding a tearful smile from her. Moka looked up and smiled as she noticed a ghostly hand surround both of them in an embrace, a show of affection from the cold and aloof Ura, despite the fact that Kokoa wouldn't be able to see it.

The sisters stayed like that on the bed for an interminable time, sharing a sisterly silence.

"Neh, Nee-sama?"

Moka who was still gently brushing Kokoa's long hair simply grunted quietly in reply, "Un?"

"I think I understand a little, why you wanted to leave our home. Papa always taught us that showing our emotions was wrong, didn't he?" a subdued Kokoa muttered. In truth, he wasn't as cold as everyone made him out to be, it was simply part of being a vampire, the reputation and manner that one was expected to hold and act with that created so much hardship for them.

"That was part of it I guess. But mostly, at the time I was just too confused about everything to think straight." Moka admitted honestly, "It was like someone had yanked out an anchor in my life, but I didn't understand, and couldn't remember what that anchor was, and no one at home seemed to be willing to help."

"Sorry..."

"It wasn't your fault." Moka interrupted her sister gently, "You didn't understand things anymore than I did at the time."

"... Un... But this warmth, our home was always so cold... if Kahlua-Nee sama or even Akuha-nee sama could feel this, maybe our family wouldn't be so messed up then." Kokoa chuckled sadly, thinking of the fractured state of the Shuzen family ever since the passing of her Step mother.

"I'm sure we will get that chance Kokoa." Moka gently reassured her sister.

"Un... Maybe."

Kokoa flipped out of the bed and danced out of Moka's reach while rubbing her slightly red eyes in embarrassment before shooting the pink haired vampire a cheeky smile, "Well... there's another reason I didn't want to ask you, it's because I didn't want to disturb you and Nii-sama's romantic time~"

"Mou! Kokoa!"

The sound of Kokoa giggling from the toilet reached Moka's ears, causing her to grin wryly before following her sister's footsteps.

****Amethyst Love****

"Honestly, where is that idiot?" Moka grumbled with one hand on her hip, the other carefully holding a basket full of food.

"Neeee-saaamaa... maybe we shou-"

"Moka! Kokoa!" a shout cut Kokoa's whine off before she could continue as a panicking Kurumu ran up to them, wringing her hands, "Have you seen Tsukune?!"

Behind her, a Mizore followed at a more sedate pace, "Tsukune... Missing. Since morning."

A hint of panic entered Moka's heart as she remembered the Snow Priestess' warning about her gift, "We should really go look for the Headmaster, he might know something."

"Eh? The Headmaster? Why would that creepy old man know anything about Tsukune?" Kurumu mumbled with a questioning cock of her head.

A new voice entered the clearing, causing the gathered females to jump slightly, "Because Naruto and Tsukune came to look for this creepy old man for a favour this morning."

All of them immediately crowded around him, "What do you mean? Why would they be looking for you?"

"They asked me for a special place to train," He smiled creepily, "Would you like me to show you the way?"

He received a resounding, "YES!" in reply, causing him to chuckle creepily.

****Amethyst Love****

Kurumu warily peered through an open door in the Headmaster's office, strangely enough, despite the door inside the office, the other side somehow led to a jungle filled with strange and creepy looking plants, "They're... in there?"

"Hai. Though Naruto is currently in another place that cannot be reached." Seeing Moka start to protest, he held up one hand to stop her, "It was his own request to be locked into a pocket dimension where no one, human or youkai can reach him. He only told me to tell you not to worry, and that he will be back by the end of the week at latest."

Ignoring her disappointed vampire friends, Kurumu continued to demand loudly, "Why!? What's in there?!"

"It's a special pocket dimension that I use to keep endangered beasts. Tsukune is currently training in there; you may enter to find him."

Kurumu immediately leapt in without thinking, leaving the rest to follow her. Mizore stopped at the threshold when she realized that Moka was still standing at her original spot, staring at the floor, "Moka? Aren't you coming?"

Wide emerald eyes snapped upwards as Moka plastered on a silly grin, "Eh? Ah, yeah. Sorry. I just spaced out for a moment."

As Moka walked past the Yuki Onna, one slender, ice cold hand touched her shoulder, "Don't worry about Naruto. He said he will be back. You know he won't break his promises."

Moka gave her friend a sincere wry smile, "Thanks, but I guess I just can't help but be worried. Especially since he went off and train without the decency to even leave a note."

"Then we'll just have to scold him for being so impulsive when he comes back, wont we?"

"Un." Moka grabbed the hand on her shoulder and squeezed it thankfully, "Come on. Let's go see how Tsukune's training is going."

****Amethyst Love****

Play Nickelback – Photograph

A silver haired beauty dressed in a knee length dress that emphasized the curves of her slender body slowly strolled, ghosting through the crowd almost unnoticed despite her great beauty, through a busy side street not far from where she had left Tsukune with the rest of the newspaper club, citing a need to be alone for awhile after their special training session. The traditionally cobbled and paved street gave off a sophisticated and classy aura despite being dotted here and there with hawkers and stalls that displayed a great variety of colourful goods, the electric lights shaped like old English lanterns periodically placed along the street giving of a soft yellow ambience that gave the hustling street an almost quaint atmosphere, especially combined with the coming darkness.

A cold breeze blew her glossy silver hair, untied as it was, tickling her white and slender neck, causing her to draw her soft shawl closer around her exposed shoulders. A melancholic expression crossed her face, it was such a rare occasion that she managed to get out without compromising her seal's integrity even further yet the one person that she might have wanted to share this quiet nostalgic warmth with was missing.

Two days pass the one week deadline and there had been absolutely no word of and from him yet. The Headmaster had begun to get worried, the pocket dimension that he had made apparently wasn't meant to be sustained this long but the black gleaming door couldn't be opened from the outside, only the inside.

She reached a small bridge that connected the two sides of the river, slowly measuring her steps up the stairs, the silver haired vampire stood in the middle, looking down into the water. The wind here was always strongest, and brought all sorts of scents from city.

Moka relaxed and drew a deep happy breath with her eyes shut, smell of freshly baked bread, delicious exotic delights, wood, and many more.

The sound of flapping cloth and solid boots clicking on the polished wooden walkway reached but failed to register with her senses as the smell of ramen and burnt metal suddenly intruded on the Western scents.

"Did you miss me?"

****Amethyst Love****

A feminine voice rang out in the darkness, "Thousand Winters and Tender Spring was originally a pair of mated blades that belonged to one of the founders of our Village and her human lover, both of them respected deeply by everyone in the village and powerful fighters in their own right. Their son however, was an oddity of nature itself since he was born a male, instead of the traditional female, was a half youkai that struggled with his inner demons as well as the villagers' prejudice, and as much as I regret it, I did not stop them, I even helped them by passively not doing anything."

The voice stopped as Naruto calmed his breathing, "Eventually, he was driven from the village, in his anger; he broke his parents' katanas and reforged them into what you see now, a pair of cursed guns filled with the bitter souls of his mother and father, and gifted them to the village as a double hidden insult. Firstly, they were guns, something that no Yuki Onna knew how to use at the time, a slap in the face telling us to move forward with time and adapt instead of staying frozen in one place. And second... every time Thousand Winters is drawn from its sheath, it must kill, or it will drive its holder into a possessed, suicidal rage before it can be resheathed. Tender Springs, its polar opposite cannot harm anybody, but lulls its wielder into a state of extreme apathy, not caring even if they die from starvation. They cannot be wielded alone, only together; their nature calls to each other because of the grudge engraved into their very bodies and cannot be taken, only accepted. Their son, rightfully vengeful, claimed that the guns can only be wielded by someone worthy of his parents' respect and legacy."

The voice now held a strangely sad note, of self hatred and disappointment, "Not a single Yuki Onna has successfully wielded them before dying horribly in the past century."

A new voice entered the conversation, an angry Moka blasting the two elder women with surprising vitriol, "Then why are you giving those to him!? Didn't you just say you were going to bet on him?! How does killing him constitute betting on him?"

"Don't be mistaken, it is because I want to bet on him that I am giving those to him. They are proof of our hope, and a test. If he cannot pass this, then as a whole, Youkais are doomed."

As Moka looked about to start venting again, Naruto held his hand up again and smiled sincerely, "I accept."

[I always thought you were insane. Now I KNOW you are insane. What good does going around doing good deeds for people who don't concern you do for you? You're not even from this dimension, and you're willing to carry this stupid burden for them? For some people you've only known for a day and a prophecy that doesn't even concern you? Are you a closet masochist or something?]

Naruto felt his lips curl up slightly as he sat in a lotus position in the middle of a dark chamber, the cursed guns lying on his lap as he meditated, "That's absurd. Unless you're referring to yourself, being my inner part and all that."

A low growl filled his mind as the Kyuubi raged against his cage, [Stop joking you fool. It's as if you go around looking for reasons to beat yourself down, don't you already have enough problems?!]

"Problems? What problems? It's just a war or two. No biggie. A prophecy or two won't make a difference."

Kurama rolled his eyes; he could literally feel that the blonde was actually and sincerely confused, tiredly he lay down in his cage, [You will die. The Snow woman was right you know, the fates of humans and youkais are not meant to intertwine, even now, you may be able use my power, but it erodes your spirit, and your body cannot handle the stress. Your muscles and bones tear and fracture under the extreme stress, significantly shortening your life span each time you invoke my powers. Shinobi or not; the only reason you're not dead yet is because of your frankly, inhumanly ridiculous stamina and spirit. You can break destiny, but your body will break as well if you are not careful, you fool.]

A smirk crossed the blonde's lips as he firmly grasped the cold metal grips, "I'm always careful." And pulled them out of their wrappings in one smooth move.

Kurama grunted and began to retreat into the depths of his cage as the connection between him and his partner was cut by an ominous spirit, [Tch. Just don't forget that you have someone waiting for you. Idiot.]

"That... is why... I. Will. Not. Die..."

Kurama's snout perked up as a struggling voice pierced the ominous veil. Slowly the massive nine tailed fox began chuckling, [You are one fucking stubborn bastard.]

****Amethyst Love****

Moka immediately whirled around and glared at the tall blonde causally standing behind her with an easy smile. She narrowed his eyes at him, "You're late."

"In my defence, I got lost for a while." He smiled and strode forwards to stand beside her.

The slightly shorter girl looked up into the blonde's face, registering the new wrinkles that lined his lean jaw and eyes, giving him a mature look. His usually blonde spiky hair now had two singular stripes, one pure white, and one jet black, hanging down his bangs. Gently she brushed them out of his eyes and ran her fingers along his jaw line, "Did something happen?"

The blonde wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer, burying his face in the crook her neck and taking a deep breath of her scent, causing the vampire to blush, "Nuh uh. Just a couple of vengeful spirits, a stupid soul maze, and then I had to go pick up a few bowls of ramen because I was starving for approximately a week and a half. Nope, nothing special." Naruto smiled cheekily, "Were you worried?"

"Hmph, don't flatter yourself."

Quirking a wry grin, the blonde casually passed her his handkerchief and averted his eyes so that she could wipe away her unshed tears without being seen.

The two of them stood in the middle of the bridge in companionable silence, the drone of the crowd behind them buzzing pleasantly.

"You know... it's been a long time since I came here." This street was probably the one single place she was most familiar with in the human world, her mother had loved coming to this part of London, "My mother loved coming here when there was nothing to do at home. She would dress me up and make me sit with her on this small cafe beside the Thames to drink a cup of coffee, watching as the cafe start lighting candles as the sky slowly darkened. Then we'd go around those small stores, she liked picking up weird looking knick knacks for some reason." Moka made a wry face, "I really hated it. It was so boring at the time and she always made me wear those stiff, poufy dresses."

Her mother, a self proclaimed hopeless romantic no less, had labelled the entire picturesque street as romantique, not that Moka had understood much of it at the time, being more concerned with finding someone to fight with and get stronger, something she badly regretted.

"Seems like someone I'd love to know."

"Maybe. I think you two would get along, you're weird like her."

Naruto grinned and continued to listen to Moka describing her mother to him for the rest of the night, indulging in watching her eyes sparkle brightly in the candle light.

****Amethyst Love****

A robed and hooded man massaged his temples under his hood as he tried to salvage whatever was left of his destroyed office. Picking up a burnt piece of what used to be his desk, the elder man face palmed while his aide, the bus driver laughed his ass off. To a side, a black obsidian door stood, or at least what had once BEEN a door. A massive hole stood out in the middle, and the resulting destruction continued in a crater all the way until it blew a hole in his wall, or to be precise, it blew away the entire wall.

"Did he really have to test his new toy out on my god damn office?"

"Technically he was testing it on the door. Your office just happened to be in the way, or behind the way in this case."

****Amethyst Love*****

Note: Tender Spring and Thousand Winters are a reference to the first Masamune and Muramasa blades. Design wise, they resemble the Cerberus guns from Gungrave.

Short chapter. Back to assignment. See ya next chapter.