Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Retribution ❯ More Questions than Answers ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer- YuYu Hakusho does NOT belong to me. The only characters I own in this story are Meleena and Kamirue, and they don't come in until later.

A/N - Okay, this crazy story line has been running around in my head for the past month or so, just begging to be put down on paper. So, here is the first chapter. I don't know if I'm actually going to follow through with it, since I'm working on two other stories at the moment, but…..we'll see.

Oh, and this might help out as well:

~…..~ is Kurama's thoughts

'….' is Youko's thoughts

*…..* is Hiei's thoughts

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Retribution

Chapter 1

More Questions than Answers

By the time Botan had gathered the needed members of the Spirit Detective team in his office, as well as the two ex-Shinobi members Jin and Touya, Koenma had managed to get his wits in order and figure out what he needed them to do.

"What is it this time, toddler?" Yusuke demanded, his arms crossed and leaning up against the wall between Kurama and Kuwabara. "If you've made me miss Mina's birthday party for something stupid, I swear I'll beat the shit out of you!" Koenma just sighed and reigned his temper in with the brash detective. Just because Yusuke was older now, married to Keiko, and had two children, it didn't make him any less of the thug he had been when he first started working as Spirit World's lead detective.

"I'm sorry I had to call during your daughter's birthday party." Koenma said. "But something major has come up." His eyes searched the waiting looks of the half dozen demons and humans in his office.

"What has happened?" Kurama asked, his voice calm despite the tension he could sense rolling off of the demi-god.

"Six months ago, I received word of an illegal group of demons kidnapping human children and selling them as slaves." Koenma explained quickly. "At the time, the group of you had been gone on another mission for me, so I sent in someone else to check and see if the rumors were true."

"Another detective?" Yusuke asked, frowning. "So?"

"I got reports back from the investigator that the slave ring was true, but there were no humans present." Koenma stated. "So I was going to leave it alone. Unfortunately, things started heating up, and I told my operative to stay within the slave camp, under the guise of a servant to the head demon running the operation."

"Two months ago, I received confirmation from the detective that human children were being brought in by the head demon's underlings."

"And you neglected to mention this to us?" Yusuke demanded. "That's the same time all those kids in Tokyo started disappearing!"

"So, I sent in another operative of mine." Koenma continued on, completely ignoring Yusuke's outburst. "Their orders were to get as many of the humans free as possible, then get out of there. Unfortunately, the second operative I sent in was killed a few days ago, and I just received word that the mole I planted within the ranks was also discovered, but not killed."

"Sounds like ya 'ad some bad planning' goin' on there." Jin's slightly amused voice came out. Koenma glared at the red-headed, elfin eared wind master for a split second before going back to his story.

"So what do you want us to do?" Hiei growled.

"I need all of you to get in there and get the mole out." Koenma said seriously, looking each of the demons in the eye to stress his point.

"That's all fine and dandy, toddler." Yusuke said sarcastically. "But how are we going to know who we're looking for if you don't give us a description?" Koenma grabbed the remote on his desk and pressed a button, pulling up a picture on the screen.

"Whoa!" Yusuke smirked, looking at the demoness on the screen. "I can see why you want to get her back! But what about Botan?" The picture on the screen showed a girl sitting on Koenma's desk, legs crossed and an evil smirk on her face, mischief dancing in her eyes. She had flowing silvery-white hair and deep gray-blue eyes. She was dressed in a white, off the shoulder dress, and gray boots. The slits on the side of the skirt went all the way up to her thigh, and they could see a set of daggers attached to her upper thigh where the dress fell away.

There were a number of similar agreements coming from the surrounding detectives, but Koenma went on.

"Her name is Meleena." he said. "She's a water demoness that's been working for me longer than you have even been alive, Urameshi.

"Pretty little lass, ain't she?" Jin commented to no one in particular.

"Indeed." Touya agreed. "I can see why you sent her in under the guise of a slave, Koenma."

"That's all well and good." Koenma said, getting back on track. "But your job is to get her out of there, and apprehend the ring leader of the slave operation."

"Why all this fuss over one girl?" Kuwabara asked, turning to look at the demi-god. "Can't she get herself out?"

"She's been restrained." Koenma said, a shudder passing through her body. "If it was not for the fact that they've figured out a way to circumvent her control over her demonic abilities, I have no doubt she'd be able to get out."

"So she's stuck there." Kurama asked. Koenma nodded and looked at the half dozen people in his office. "And she has no idea that we're coming to get her away from there?"

"Correct." Koenma said.

"When are we leaving?" Hiei asked, looking at the demi-god as if he was bored to death. "Now?"

"We'll leave in a few hours." Yusuke said pointedly, looking at Koenma as if daring the ruler to contradict him. "I'm not missing Mina's birthday again this year because of some fucking case."

"Fine." Koenma said. "I'll have Botan bring you back here this evening. That should give you the needed time." Yusuke only nodded and walked out of the office, slamming the door open. Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama turned to follow them out. Touya and Jin were about to leave when Koenma stopped them. The two members had went their own ways from the Shinobi after the Dark Tournament, but gotten into trouble again. Koenma had pulled some strings and gotten them off the hook with the excuse that he wanted them to work for him. Since Yusuke was tied up with his family more often than not, Koenma knew he would be needing some more help. As such, the two ninjas had been put on probation for a trial period in order to prove their intentions.

"I expect you two to behave yourselves." he said pointedly. "This is an important mission, and you are both still on probation, remember that."

"Aye! Don' get in a fuss full, little'un." Jin said, a grin on his face. "We know."

"Your concern is appreciated, Koenma." Touya said stonily, eyeing the ruler. "We know our limits."

"Good, as long as we're clear about this." Koenma said, waving his hand. "You're dismissed." The two ex-Shinobi nodded and left his office, leaving the ruler to contemplate the possible outcomes of this mission, and what could happen if it went horribly wrong and Meleena wound up being killed.

---------Outside the office…---------------

Kurama followed behind Yusuke as he tried to figure out how exactly they were supposed to infiltrate the slave camp without being recognized. Ever since the Dark Tournament all those years ago, practically everyone in Makai knew them, or at least their faces.

'We have to go rescue some girl?' came Youko's bored voice in Kurama's head. 'That should be easy enough. Although I believe there is more to this than Koenma is letting on.'

~How so, Youko?~ Kurama asked the spirit fox.

'The water demon race are usually peaceful.' Youko's voice turned thoughtful, and Kurama could almost feel the demon grinning at the thought of a puzzle to solve. 'They usually don't like to fight. But it looks like the woman in the picture knew how. Did you get a good look at her hands, Kurama? She's a fighter if I ever saw one!'

~Well…~

*I agree.* came Hiei's gruff mental voice intruded. *I don't think the blades were there for decoration.*

~Do you know anything of the water demon race, Hiei?~ Kurama questioned the fire demon mentally.

*Other than a group of them that was stripped of their demonic abilities and sent to the human world a couple hundred years ago, for disobeying something Koenma ordered them to do, I don't know anything.* the shorter demon answered.

'They are a reclusive race.' Youko piped in, a small grin flashing across his handsome face. 'It is rumored that they hold many valuable treasures within their realm, artifacts of legend. Some of the most well versed demon healers were from that race. And their main deity is a spirit named Seneca.'

~Well, we'll find out more about them soon enough, I suppose.~ Kurama said with a frown. Botan decided to pop up at that moment, and open a portal back to the living world for them to pass through, so the jaganshi and the kitsune avatar dropped the subject, knowing they would find their answers before the mission was over with. For now, they both were going to Yusuke's house to be with his youngest daughter for her fifth birthday. Keiko had thrown a party for her little girl, and the child had insisted that 'Uncle Kurama' and 'Uncle Hiei' come see her for her birthday. And Kurama had no intention of disappointing the little Keiko-reincarnate.

---------------------Later that evening…------------------------

When Botan got the team back together than evening in Koenma's office, the deity seemed stressed more than normal. Her bubbly nature was drastically subdued, and it seemed as though she was greatly upset over something.

"Everything okay, Botan?" Yusuke asked, looking at the ferry girl carefully to see if anything was the matter.

"I'm worried about Koenma." she answered sadly. "He's done nothing but pace back and forth and mumble about that detective that was killed. This isn't like him, Yusuke, not at all!"

"He'll be fine, Botan." Yusuke reassured her gently. "He was probably just old friends with the guy that was killed."

"I suppose you're right." Botan answered, watching as Jin and Touya filed into the room, speaking briefly with Kurama. "I'm just worried."

"Look, don't worry too much." Yusuke said. "You're supposed to be planning the wedding of the millennium, aren't you?" Botan blushed and gave a half smile. Her marriage to Koenma would happen in a few weeks, and she was just finishing tying up some loose ends for everything. "Why don't you go down and talk with Keiko and Yukina for a while after you take us to Makai? It'll make you feel a little better, and maybe than can help you calm down a bit."

"I'll do that, Yusuke." she said, nodding at him. "Thank you."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for." he said, grinning at her. They walked back over to the group and Botan got ready to brief them some more on what was going on.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" she said. "The slave camp is not far from the City of Ghosts and Apparitions." Yusuke groaned and Kuwabara frowned. They hadn't liked that place the first time they went there! Now they had to go back?!

"The town around Maze Castle?" Touya asked quickly, looking at the deity with a frown.

"Bingo! That's the one." Botan said. "Not that there is much of the castle left now, but the traders have been near there for the past few weeks, according to Koenma's sources."

"What exactly are we supposed to accomplish?" Kurama asked. "What does Koenma want us to do?"

"Your first and foremost objective is getting the girl out of there." she said firmly. "After she is secured, you are to apprehend the ringleaders of the slave trade. If there are any human children with you, bring them back and we will send them back to the living world."

"Sounds simple 'nough." Jin said from his position in the corner. "Let's get goin' then." Botan nodded and quickly opened a portal into the demon world.

"And how exactly are we supposed to get into the city, Botan?" Yusuke asked pointedly as they went through the breach in the world barriers. "It's not like we are the most unknown group of people in the three worlds!"

"That's up to you guys." Botan answered, pulling them out of the portal and onto the hard ground on the outskirts of the city. "Koenma suggested telling them that you all turned your backs on Spirit World, killed a couple of people, and are now on the run as fugitives."

"Hn." Hiei muttered darkly. "That almost sounds plausible." Botan only shrugged.

"Anyhow, the encampment is about a ten minute walk that way." she said, pointing to the East. "Here are some communicators. Use them to call me when you're ready to get out of here, and I'll come get you. I'd be here with you, in fact, but Koenma doesn't think I would actually be helping out much."

"That's fine, Botan." Yusuke said, looking towards the encampment. "We can handle this."

"Yeah! No problem whatsoever!" Kuwabara said loudly. "We can do this! Then I can get back home to see my lovely Yukina!" An angry growl came from somewhere in the direction of Hiei, but Kuwabara missed it completely because he was off in Yukina-la-la-land. The ice maiden had moved into Genkai's old temple a number of years ago when the old psychic had died, and was keeping it in shape with the help of Kuwabara and the others. She had almost given up on her search for her brother when Hiei finally got the guts up to tell her who he was.

Much to the fire demon's delighted surprise, Yukina had not screamed and ran away in horror, only embraced him and cried in happiness when he showed her the hiryuseki stone he had kept with him since his exile from the floating island of the ice maidens. By the time Yukina had calmed down, there were priceless gems all over the floor that had been her tears of happiness, mixed in with a few that she had suspected came not from her, but from Hiei.

They had gathered the precious stones up and placed them in an ornate box, putting them in the temple as a symbol of the siblings finally being reunited. Of course, the only person who still did not know was Kuwabara, and they intended to keep it that way for a good long while. Only Kami knew what kind of reaction he'd have to the truth, and since Yukina seemed happy to be around the baka, Hiei figured it would be better to leave things as they were….even when he did want to beat the life out of Kuwabara for even THINKING about touching his sister.

"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Kurama asked, breaking up Hiei's threatening tones by trying to change the subject back to the matter at hand.

"Remember, when you need me, just use the communication mirror to call more me." Botan said, stepping back through the portal. "Good luck, everyone!" The breach in the barrier closed, and the six detectives looked at each other.

Botan had put them off in a slightly wooded area away from the bustle of the encampment. But even the few sparse trees in the ground hardly made up for the rest of the lackluster appearance of the surrounding land. It was dead land, rocky and barren. There were few trees scattered along the way, and they were gnarled and bent from the harsh growing conditions. There was the stench of dead corpses and rotting flesh in the air, and the demons of the group gagged when a particularly heady wind blew the smell up their noses.

"Man!" Kuwabara said, pinching his nose to keep out the offending smell. "What died in this place?"

"It's rotting flesh." Kurama said, wrinkling his nose of the offensive stench.

'Someone needs to clean this place up.' Youko commented.

~I will agree with you on that point, Youko.~ Kurama conceded. ~This is the first time we've come to Makai and the smell of dead bodies was so bad that I'm beginning to wish we could go back and get a can of Spirit World strength air freshener!~

"Let's get this over with, guys." Yusuke said, starting to walk off towards the camp. "This place stinks. And I want to get back home. We can use Koenma's excuse to get into the camp, so that's no problem."

"Wouldn't it be more productive to split up into groups to search for the girl?" Touya asked, turning to Yusuke. "We can cover more ground at a quicker pace that way."

"That's fine." he said. "Let's see what we're going to be dealing with once we get there, though." The men nodded and took off towards the bustling camp. They walked a little ways before they came to a river that separated them from the other side. Unfortunately, the rancid smell seemed to be emanating from that particular body of water.

"Uh…guys?" Kuwabara said, turning white when he looked into the water, a little ways upstream of the sluggish moving water.

"What?" Hiei barked, annoyed at being slowed down by the human.

"I think I found what's making the place stink so much." the orange headed man said.

"Wel' what's wrong?" Jin asked, waving his hand to disband the swarm of flies that surrounded him, his elf like ears twitching when one of the insects landed on them. "These lil' buggers are getting' on me nerves!"

"Look." Kurama said quickly, pointing towards the river where it came out of the trees. "There are dead bodies in the river." The group of detectives looked closer, and sure enough, they could see the floating bodies of countless demons that were suspended right below the water's surface.

"This is disgusting!" Yusuke said. "No wonder the place stinks like hell!"

"They must have thrown the bodies in, hoping the current would pull them away from the encampment." Hiei observed.

"What could have killed them all so quickly though?" Kurama asked. "They do not seem to be more than a few days old. And the Sacrificial Festivals are not until the next solstice."

`They don't even have any scratches on them!' Youko pointed out.

*He's right. There are no outward signs of struggles.* Hiei chimed in mentally.

"I don'a like this." Jin proclaimed, cocking his head to one side. "Seein' blokes floatin' face down in a river ain't my idea o' a fun time!"

"We're not here to have fun." Hiei growled, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana. "We're here to do a job."

"He's got a point." Yusuke said, looking downstream for a place to cross the river, and spotting a bridge about a hundred yards down. "And the sooner we finish it, the quicker we get the hell out of this damned place!"

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A/N - Okay. How'd that chapter go? Am I totally off track here with the character traits? I want to try and keep everyone in character as much as possible, but I'm having a hard time doing that for some odd reason.

I really don't know that much about Jin and Touya, other than Touya's an ice master, and really quiet; and Jin is a wind master with an Irish/ Scottish accent that acts like Yusuke. So if you have any suggestions, I'm more than welcoming them.

Anyhow, I hope you guys like this story. I'm going to keep on going with it, and hopefully it will pick up in the next chapter or so. So, with that said:

Please remember to review. I want to know what you think. Oh, and if I'm totally murdering one of the characters personalities, feel free to point it out and I will try to fix it.