Forever Is a Long Time

"Sooo, why are we looking for this Kukaku person again?"

The next morning the group was walking through a green and lush landscape in the outskirt of the West Rukon. They had stayed the night in the house provided by the villagers. During the middle of the night, someone by the name of Ganju, a self-proclaimed Shinigami hater riding a boar, had blasted through the front gate and landed in front of them.

Apparently Ichigo didn't take kindly to being stared at and kicked the man out.

From then a major comical battle had commenced, this had provided Haruto with a great deal of entertainment and watching material. He had produced popcorns, yanked both Naruko and an irritated and blushing Yoruichi—after she had admonished him for his careless behavior—into his lap and witnessed the ass-kicking of the century.

That Ganju man was one hell of an entertainment, but sadly it had ended too soon, much to Haruto's disappointment. Even though the show had ended too soon, Haruto had been provided with an opportunity to tease back Naruko by 'accidently' groping her in places that should not be groped in public and he had thoroughly enjoyed her heated and aroused glares!

The rest of the team had spent the night there, except Haruto and Naruko since they had gone to infiltrate the Seireitei to acquire as much information as possible. For someone calling themselves Shinigamis, they sure were easy to deceive. They had dematerialized through the walls and proceeded to the Archives without any effort at all.

From what they had gathered, something definitely was going on in the Soul Society. After gathering the info regarding everything they could find, which was pretty much everything, they had returned, Naruko—not able to endure his wandering hands and lips any longer—had grabbed a surprised Haruto and dragged him off to punish him for teasing her all day.

Needless to say, Haruto was a happy man and was grinning from ear to ear. If that was the kind of 'punishment' he would get for teasing Naruko, he was going to make sure to do it more often!

"You will see when we get there," the cat replied mysteriously.

"How will you know where this person lives, if she keeps changing her houses as frequently as you say she does?" Uryu asked, absently pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Trust me, while Kukaku changes the location of the house every time, its design and shape remains pretty much the same. You'll recognize it as soon as you see it."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," Yoruichi grinned widely. She gave the outward appearance of happily conversing with the group, but in actuality, she was listening to the whispering duo trailing behind the team. Hey, you can't blame her, she was a cat and a cat is always curious.

The group was skeptical but continued nonetheless. Haruto and Naruko remained at the back of the group, hand in hand as they enjoyed the beautiful scenery, fortunately for the blonde woman, Haruto's hands were not wandering off on their own.

"This place reminds me of home… you know the tall grass and trees and all." Haruto whispered melancholy. The tall and beautifully grown trees, the lush landscape decorated by tall blades of grass reaching up to one's knee and the soft melody carried by the passing wind brought so many memories to the surface.

The immortal couple was hit with a strong sense of nostalgia as they stared at the scene of the lush scenery.

"Yes, it is rather comparably similar to our home," she agreed softly and gripped his hand tightly in her hand.

"It's too bad we couldn't reside there after the War. I desire to ultimately settle down and raise a family with you in peace, without fear of our children being sent to the horrors of war and death… to see them grow up and reach their dreams… I wanted to show them the love we didn't receive when we were kid… the love of a father and mother," Haruto began sorrowfully, gazing at the clear blue sky with his crimson eyes filled to the brim with emotions of nostalgia, sadness and pain. "But at the same time, I couldn't live there peacefully, knowing my friends were not there to share it with me. I couldn't possibly bring myself to live in a place where their blood was shed."

"I know. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way." Naruko assured and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I sometimes regret my decision to drag you with me. You could've just passed on peacefully, to finally meet with our parents. Don't get me wrong, I can't imagine a second without you, but I… just…"

"Look at me Haruto." He half-heartedly eyed at her with a desolate expression on his face. "If the world is downgraded to nothingness and a barren wasteland, I would gladly walk in those endless pile of never-ending sand for all eternity… if it is with you," she stated with a fond smile on her rosy and full lips as she lovingly rubbed his cheeks with her delicate hands.

"I know I have said this a million times, but I will say it a million times over and over again, I can't imagine why someone as beautiful and wonderful as you would prefer to be with someone like me," Haruto said lovingly and wrapped his muscular arms around her in a tight hug which she returned with equal love and warmth.

"I used to think that anybody who settles down with you would be the luckiest person in the world, and I'm eternally grateful that you decided on that person to be me."

Haruto smiled gratefully and connected his lips with her full and deliciously tempting lips as he wrapped his strong arms around her form and pressed her tightly to his muscular body. The blonde woman returned the passionate gesture with equal love and passion, pouring all her emotions into the action itself.

The duo eventually separated with pleased smiles on their faces as they gazed into each other's eyes with devotion and passion. Haruto's soft smile turned to one of mischief as he extended his hands from her waist to her hefty and temptingly wide rear, causing her to glare at him with a hint of rosiness on her cheeks as she mumbled something akin to 'hopeless pervert under her breath'.

Haruto heard her mumble under her breath and laughed loudly before softly pecking her on the lips with a grin.

Yoruichi beheld a unique outlook regarding the behavior of the redhead… an outlook significantly different than what he normally displayed. He was always acting cheerful and sometimes drunk, a man always looking for the good in everything, never wanting to resolve to conflict.

But his current confession proved that even he was a victim of haunted memories of the past, despite how much he tried to hide it under his cheerful behavior and grinning face.

However she was surprised to feel a hint of jealousy towards the busty blonde for getting someone so loving and someone so caring. She had never felt this way towards anyone in her life as she was always focused on her duties to her Clan and Squad, but now seeing the busty blonde becoming the focal point of such a considerate and loving man, brought those dormant emotions to surface.

"All right, we're here." Yoruichi announced loudly as they came across an out of the ordinary Japanese style house with two giant human arms holding a banner with an equally tall sealed chimney. The group blinked in shock and horror when they beheld the outlandish design of the house.

"What kind of person lives in a house like this? Whoever this person is, he sure as hell doesn't want his identity a secret!" Uryu shouted in horror. Giant hands holding an equally large banner with proud letters announcing the name of the house owner? An equally giant chimney, but sealed shut!

"No wonder he is not living in town! I bet he is not allowed to live in town anymore!" Ichigo yelled equally loud.

"Like I said, you'll recognize it as soon as you see it." Yoruichi grinned mischievously. It worked every time!

"Man, I need to meet the designer of this house, he is a genius!"

The group face faulted when they heard Haruto's booming yell as he acknowledged the house as a piece of art.

As they arrived at the front of the strange house, two tall men jumped down in front of them. The two men—surprisingly enough—were identical in facial and body structure, however their attire was different, which was the only source of telling them apart from one another.

One was wearing a white long coat with a light blue scarf, a strange hat with a feather on its top and a black obi tied around his waist. The other one was wearing the same outfit except the coat was a light yellow color.

"Halt strangers! Who dares trespass here?!" one of the two bellowed, crossing his arms in front of his broad chest with a flamboyant look on his face.

"Foreigners from the looks of them and one of them is a Shinigami!" the other exclaimed.

The cat form of Yoruichi seemed to surprise them when she stepped forward from behind Chad.

"Master Yoruichi!" they shouted in unison.

***

"So, let me get this straight, you tried to enter Seireitei but were defeated and now you want my help to infiltrate it." A youthful looking woman drawled lazily.

She had green eyes, wearing bandages over her long messy black hair parted in half at the small of her back, a white skirt and a provocative red robe exposing her ample bosom, with bandages around her missing arm, shoulder and both ankles.

She was seated—more like sprawled—over a pile of cushions and gazing at the sitting team lazily while she smoked from her pipe.

"Yes, we need to rescue Rukia Kuchiki before her execution." Yoruichi replied calmly, sitting in front of Kukaku while the rest of the team sat behind her on cushions.

"Well, I guess I could help, but I need something in return," she grinned. "In fact, it isn't something from you Yoruichi, but rather from that redhead hunk over there."

"What do you mean?" Gesturing behind her; Yoruichi followed her gaze to where Kukaku was pointing, only to sweatdrop.

Haruto was sitting with Naruko in his lap—in a similar pile of cushion he got from who knows where since they were given only one cushion each—with a large bottle of sake in his hand, drinking blissfully. Though the black cat had to restrain herself from palming her face when she saw where Haruto's hand was resting or rather where he was caressing the blonde woman with a discreet smirk.

One of Haruto's hands was resting on the blonde's heaving bust while the other was dipped under the blonde woman's form-fitting pants and judging from its up and down motion, was seriously working overtime to stimulate said blonde.

Predictably enough, the aforementioned blonde woman was trying to both control herself and glare daggers at the redhead for being so shameless, her cheeks were tinted an entire new shade of red from both embarrassment and the amount of alcohol in her system.

Feeling a multitude of eyes on them, both Haruto and Naruko turned to the staring team and a grinning Kukaku, without even bothering to stop what they or rather what he was doing.

Naruko gritted her teeth to control herself, her already rosy cheeks almost burst into flames as Haruto quickened his pace, as if encouraged by the fact that they were being watched. The damn redhead had at least erected an illusion to hide their activities from the rest of the team since they were still children.

However, he had purposely made a 'hole' in the Genjutsu so that Kukaku and Yoruichi would be able to see what they were doing!

What the hell was wrong with him!?

"What?"

"So what do you want from Haruto?" Yoruichi asked calmly as a small tic mark popped up on her temple. Couldn't they keep their hands off of each other for a few minutes?!

"Oh, nothing much, just a few bottles of that wonderfully looking sake," Kukaku replied with a grin. The rest of the team, except Yoruichi, was oblivious to the duo's action but she could clearly see what they were doing. She had to give them credit for being bold!

"Finally, someone who understands the wonder that is Sake! Excuse yourself from those prudes and join us in our trip to the land of dreams!" Haruto shouted in a slurred tone— obviously drunk—as he emerged his previously occupied hand from Naruko's private part and waved at the seductively smirking woman, blissfully ignoring Naruko's murderous look.

She had been close dammit. I am going to kill you, you redhead bastard!'

So how does it feel to be left all hot and bothered with no hope of release? he sent back smugly. She had suffocated his junior by her fat ass so many times, it was not even funny!

She glared daggers at him. Finish what you started or you will regret it!

Just to rile her up even more, Haruto removed his other hand from her heaving twin mounds and lowered the Genjutsu with a smug grin, ignoring the way Naruko seemed to be almost grinding her teeth to powder from the way she was gritting them.

You were saying?

You will pay for this!' she stated through gritted teeth.

"I'm starting to like this hunk of a guy more and more." Kukaku grinned and stood up as she seductively sauntered to the drinking duo while a dangerously looking vein appeared on Yoruichi's temple.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR DEAL?"

"Oh that," she drawled lazily and absentmindedly tapped the side of the wall. "My brother here will tell you of the requirements."

A muscular man with a bandana wrapped around his head slid the wooden wall and bowed to the group, unaware of the incredulous expressions being directed at him

"Now Yoruichi, leave the kids with Ganju and come with me so we can enjoy sake with that… delicious hunk." Kukaku purred shamelessly as she dragged a blushing and struggling cat over to the drinking couple and ignored the fight between her brother and that orange haired kid.

It seemed they had already met.