Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Treasure Buried Deep Within ❯ TBDW V ( Chapter 5 )

To answer some questions: This fiction isn't really based on anything I've read.  If it's like a Dan Brown book, Deception Point would be the one.  My inspiration of more on the Lara Croft Tomb Raider sort and maybe a little Nat'l Treasure.  Also, the 'villains' or the competition enters the picture.  There are already forces at work behind the scenes that you are unaware of.  You may be able to figure some out after this chapter.  And as far as IY characters go, there is only one maybe two present in this fiction.  And I've decided to make some of the YYH characters….OOC, because its more entertaining for me.  Enjoy!

Treasure Buried Deep Within:  Chapter V

The fire and ice apparition glared at the back of the cerulean blue head sitting in front of him in the cockpit of the jet they were traveling in.  As if feeling the eyes boring a hole in the back of her head, Botan risked a glance over her shoulder only to meet a pair of angry crimson eyes.

"It's not my fault, you know," Botan defended.  "This mission wasn't my idea but you can at least try to make the best of it.  It's been a long time since we've been given any assignments involving this sort of travel."  She offered, trying to sound upbeat about the situation.

'If you think that pretending to be human and using their means of travel is supposed to be fun, then you are sadly mistaken.'  Hiei answered mentally as his glare never lessened.  "Hn," was his only verbal response.

"Aren't you even a little anxious to see Kurama?" Botan asked tentatively.  "It has been years since you last saw one another."

"Oh you mean when you confessed that you were in love with him or was it the time that he turned in his badge because serving penance was beneath someone of his status?"  Hiei answered back bitterly, the venom in his tone causing shivers to run up the blue haired female's spine.

"Hiei, that was a long time ago," Botan began quietly, trying to ignore the pain she always felt at being reminded of that rejection on the part of the Kitsune.  She had fallen for him, and fallen for him hard right before he quit the Spirit Detectives.  No one had any idea that he was planning on leaving the force without so much as a goodbye.

"Not long enough, apparently," Hiei growled as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his attention to the clouds rushing past the cockpit.  He was reluctant to admit that he did rather enjoy flying.  However, he was not happy to be stuck on this mission with no one but the happy-go-lucky blue haired girl in his company.

He was angry at Kurama for what he saw as a betrayal. 

But what really pissed Hiei off was the attraction he felt to the blue haired woman before him.  To think that Kurama had rejected her love without so much as a passing thought while Hiei struggled to keep his feelings secret.  If Botan was to discover that he had fallen for her and rejected him, after Kurama had rejected her, Hiei doubted if he would have the reserved control to keep the black dragon living within himself tame.  Death and destruction would surely ensue.

"There's something else that's bothering you," Botan observed quietly.

"I suppose that our runt of a boss losing in a gamble with some arrogant Kitsune probably hasn't helped my mood," Hiei agreed.

Botan sighed at the memory.  "Sometimes Koenma makes mistakes," that comment was met with a snort from her companion.  "But he's still our leader and a good one at that.  This Kitsune was rather clever; you know how intelligent they are."

Hiei was watching her closely.  "You're thinking about Kurama, aren't you?" He accused angrily.

"So what if I am?" Botan yelled back, losing her temper.  "I've changed since he last saw me.  Maybe now he'll realize what he passed up and learn to regret his choice."

"It's not going to work Botan," Hiei told her quietly, without a trace of compassion though he felt an overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and sooth away the pain of rejection she still felt at Kurama's rebuttal of her affections.

Botan's back went stiff at his words.  "Maybe not," she agreed sternly.  "But that does not mean that I shall allow some human to steal his heart," she vowed.

'Obviously she doesn't care for this mission any more than I do,' Hiei pondered.  He was still furious that Koenma had agreed to the bet set forth by that demon.  How a demon entered the Spirit World without permission was still beyond him!  Then for Koenma to lose in the poker game and allow the demon access to any two employees for the next week was too much.

"Damn pacifier sucking passivist," Hiei muttered crossly earning a giggle from Botan.  "What?"

Botan looked over her shoulder at him.  "It's just good to know that some things never change."

'Oh things change, but you are too blind to see what is right before you.  You spend all your time moping about a lost love that was never yours.'  Hiei had no qualms about certain aspects of their unorthodox mission.  Impeding Kurama's ability to solve the riddles would be fun.  His eye twitched as he pictured the frustration of Youko at having found himself on the losing end of an intellectual challenge.

He looked once more at Botan, the blood rushing south at seeing her face bright with anger.  He'd love to make her look that passionate doing something a little more fun than being jealous of the idea of a woman with Kurama, not herself.  If he could somehow help in a relationship forming between the priestess and his former best friend it could only benefit him.  Maybe then, Botan would open her eyes and move on.

"I wish I was telepathic so I could see exactly what sorts of gears are turning in that head of yours," Botan interrupted his thoughts, piercing him with her brilliant eyes. 

"Hn," Hiei answered as he leaned back and closed his eyes.  "You really don't want to know."  He assured in a deep drawl meant to seduce, he grew satisfied at the result when he snuck a peak and saw a suspicious blush on her cheeks.

Botan cleared her throat, "I wonder how Yusuke is."

Hiei opened his eyes and cocked his brow.  "I hear he's available.  You going to see if you can seduce him too?"  He regretted the words the moment they rolled off his tongue, but there was nothing he could do about it now.  He'd be damned if he apologized!

Botan's lips thinned to form a frown.  "At least I care about others," she retorted quietly.

Hiei closed his eyes again and tried to relax.  'So she thinks I have no heart does she?  If she really could read my mind she certainly would be in for a surprise.'  It was funny how the heart he did not have gave a painful lurch in his chest.

oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo

Yusuke landed the plane quickly as close to the garden areas at the base of the largest mountain in the range without raising suspicions amongst the locals.  "Hey Kurama, do you ever miss the good old days where we could just teleport to wherever."  He remarked casually, thinking nothing of the mixed company they were in.

A sharp look from the emerald eyes of his companion quickly reminded him of that fact.  "Kurama, come here!" Kagome called from several feet away, thankfully out of hearing distance of Yusuke's loose comments. 

'Next time let me kill him, we don't need him anyway.  He's just dead weight,' Youko suggested as he stretched within his avatar's body, feeling the energy rushing into him from being in the mere presence of so much vegetation.  'We can not kill off all our friends,' Kurama explained calmly.

'You choose your friends too casually.'  Youko took a deep breath.  'The air here is so clear.  It is as if we stepped back half a millennium in to the non-polluted land of Japan.'

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kagome asked as she gestured to the richly landscaped gardens.  Kurama felt joy at being surrounded by so much vegetation.  He found it hard to contain the urge to roll around in the lush green hills like a rambunctious child.

"Yes it is," Kurama agreed as he led the way towards a section of the garden well-known for the statues and masonry work. 

"So you think it's engraved at the base of one of those statue things?" Yusuke asked, as he paused the catch his breath with his hands upon his thighs breathing in and out.  He nodded his head in the direction of the army of statues standing sentinel over the area.

Kurama didn't answer his emerald eyes narrowed in suspicion, his youkai senses began to pick up on a signature he hadn't felt in years.  He noticed that Kagome had an odd look upon her face and was looking towards the location where the signature seemed to be originating.

A hand fell upon Kurama's shoulder that belonged to Yusuke.  "Do you feel that?" He asked quietly, trying to speak below Kagome's hearing.  It didn't seem to make a difference because the small young woman suddenly launched herself towards the two males in her company, sending them all tumbling to the ground behind a row of shrubbery.

Both of Kagome's hands were occupied by covering the mouths of the two men.  She could feel Yusuke struggling against her strong grip and mumbled words spilling against her flesh.  But after spending years in Inuyasha's company she was quite adept at restraining loud mouthed men.  Having a rosary certainly made the process more fun.  Kurama on the other hand seemed to accept her hand covering his mouth.  Actually, he hardly seemed to have noticed that she had knocked them to the ground.

His attention was directed towards the two familiar beings that had just entered the scene.  He felt a prod against his mental barrier, only one individual had the ability and the audacity to try and force his entrance.

Kagome was watching Kurama carefully and allowed her hand to slide away from him, but simply placed her suddenly free hand over the other one that covered Yusuke's mouth to prevent his loud mouth from attracting attention.  "You know them," Kagome stated, didn't question.

"Yes," Kurama answered as he could see a very distinct head of blue hair.  The woman in pink wore her hair in a ponytail that swung back and forth with her movement.  There was a flash of red and black that entered his vision before vanishing again.  Only Hiei could move that fast to avoid detection to such an extent.

Kurama glanced over towards Yusuke and pried Kagome's hands away, holding them in his own without thinking by the wrists.  "What are they doing here?" He questioned the stunned pilot.

"I don't know.  I haven't seen them in a long time.  I didn't even know they took cases anymore.  Do you think that maybe they are supposed to help us?" Yusuke asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"I sense something dark about their intentions," Kagome informed them.  She pulled her hands out of Kurama's absent grip.  "They are not here to aid us."

A movement faster than the eye could see brought the black and red blur to stand before the trio.  Crimson eyes frowned down as the wind blew the spiky dark hair.  Hiei began to pull out his sword.  "I can not allow you to go any further," he informed them in a monotone voice.

"I don't think so," Kurama disagreed as he willed the bushes to come alive and attack the fire-ice demon.  Hiei growled as he jumped back away from the onslaught.  Kurama stood to his full height, towering over the shorter demon.  His long red hair flew behind him in his movement and he could feel the nails of his fingers extend slightly as did his canines as he could feel the Kitsune spirit within him increasing control to enhance his power.

Kagome and Yusuke crawled away from the fight, only to run into the blue haired woman who wore a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.  "Long time no see, Yusuke," Botan greeted, within her hands she held a baseball bat that didn't look like it was about to be used in a friendly game any time soon.

"Botan, what are you doing here?" Yusuke asked confusion evident in his speech.  Behind the quarter-demon, Kagome lingered, her hands resting lightly upon his shoulders as she divided up her attention between the blue haired woman and the fight between Kurama and the speed demon.

"I'm afraid we can not allow you to continue this little quest," Botan answered, her eyes had a malicious light in them as they focused on the dark haired woman that was presently hiding behind Yusuke.

Kagome caught the look, but decided to keep up the act.  She needed to find the next clue and they needed to leave pronto.  She pulled gently down on Yusuke's shoulders to draw his ear to her mouth.  "Keep her busy, I'll get the clue and then we can get out of here."  Yusuke nodded his assent and Kagome took off towards a stone bench that she felt drawn towards.

She looked over her shoulder during her mad dash to see Yusuke occupying the blue haired woman and Kurama flash her a quick look of concern before focusing on his opponent.  Kagome knew for a fact that all four beings in her presence all contained a great deal of spiritual energy; it was pale in comparison to the amount she possessed, but still impressive.

During their last clue she thought she detected a faint trail of spiritual energy that led to the statue with the riddle.  She now realized that it was not merely a thought, but factual.  This time that faint spiritual trail led her towards a stone bench on the far side of the garden.  Under the bench was an envelope. 

For a moment she debated whether or not to open it and read the clue in case it was stolen or to risk making a run for it and hope for the best.  She decided to open it and quickly she scanned the message and put it to memory.  A look back towards the direction of all the activity caused her heart to race.

Kurama's legs were encased in an icy prison and the shorter demon from before was stalking towards her at an alarming rate.  Kagome pulled the lighter out of her pocket that she kept with her for emergencies ever since a particularly windy season where fires were hard to light in the Feudal Era during her shard hunting adventures.

The envelope and the paper went up in flames and she stood up defiantly as the dark haired demon stood before her with his sword drawn.  "Kagome!"  Kurama called out; frustrated that Hiei had trapped him in such a simple encasement. 

Kagome didn't even look towards the voice of her partner.  She trusted that Yusuke was still able to keep the blue haired woman occupied.  She quickly became dismayed though.  "Look out!" Yusuke cried out in warning.

Kagome raised her hands and created a spiritual barrier at the last moment, stopping both the spiritual beings a mere foot from her.  Hiei glowered at her.  "Human, you will not get away," he bit out annoyed as he concentrated to destroy the barrier keeping him from his duties.

Calmly, Kagome walked past them both towards Kurama and Yusuke.  Yusuke was trying to chip away the ice around Kurama's legs.  Both spirit detectives watched Hiei and Botan curiously as they were held back by an unseen spiritual barrier.  "How are you doing that?" Yusuke asked.

Kagome ignored the question as she knelt beside him and focused on creating enough heat with her spiritual powers that she could melt the ice.  "You're a priestess," Kurama observed as he watched her careful concentration.  He thought he felt an extra sense of purity within her.

"Yes," Kagome agreed the moment Kurama was free.  He reached down and hauled her up to stand in front of him.  One last glance towards Hiei and Botan told him that her barrier wouldn't hold much longer. 

"I don't know what this is about," Kurama started, talking to his former comrades.  "But we do not have time to deal with whatever mischief Koenma has brought you here for."  He surveyed Kagome up and down briefly making sure she was not wounded then he tossed her light frame over his shoulder.  "We must go," he informed Yusuke who didn't hesitate.

At the top speed the two demons could travel they hurried back to the jet.  Surprisingly, Kagome didn't protest, it was as if she was accustomed to being carried over a male's shoulder and carried away at breakneck speeds.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Kurama informed the woman whose slight weight was resting upon his shoulder.  Kagome turned to look at him with a raised brow.  "Perhaps I do as well," Kurama conceded.

"For real, like why aren't you screaming for him tossing you over his shoulder like a cave woman?" Yusuke asked as he ran alongside the Kitsune.  His face was red under the exertion but he showed no signs of slowing down.

"You spend enough time around possessive wolf-demons that claim you as their woman, you get used to this sort of treatment," Kagome answered, choosing to be honest and finding satisfaction in the confused expressions her answer gave way to.

Kurama tried to ignore the feelings of jealousy he felt at the idea of a wolf man-handing his partner.  The plane came into sight so he pushed aside such emotions to focus on important things, one being how she managed to associate with wolf-demons.

"The barrier probably dissolved by now," Kagome informed them.  "Oh, and I memorized the riddle.  Mark the flight course for South America."

oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo

Hiei clinched his fists in annoyance as he and Botan watched the human priestess and his two former teammates take off into the great unknown.  He was annoyed that they were only to stall the treasure hunters.

"This is pointless," Hiei ground out between clinched teeth.

Botan sighed, still upset at seeing a woman working so closely with Kurama after she had been denied that opportunity.  "Let's go back to the Spirit World, we'll have Koenma track them down and tell us where to head them off next."

"You're forgetting something Lady Death," Hiei interrupted her bouncy stride back towards their aircraft.  Botan paused in her steps and turned to face him.  "Koenma isn't our boss on this assignment."

"And we aren't allowed to use portals," Botan finished.

Hiei's eyes narrowed at the woman.  He marched towards her and grabbed hold of her elbow roughly to drag her towards their craft at a brisk pace that only a demon could pull off.  "I can find them soon enough, just follow in the direction we saw them take off."  He would trace the mental signatures of his former teammates.

Besides, a sinister smirk curled his lips, it was rather fun fighting Kurama after all the pain he went through at being abandoned by the one he had considered his closest friend.  Hiei was always up for a challenge. 

TBC