Relavation part 1

Go to sleep, go to sleep~ Mommy will be here~" Saeko sung softly as her children were being put to sleep. Once their eyes finally closed, she closed the door but not before eyeing them with concern.

As she walked inside the living room, Saeko was met with concerned looks from her friends. The quartet then looked to the right side of the living room where two small spider-cracks were present. The cause of said obstruction.

It was the twins. The entire morning, they were fine then suddenly Ashla and Masaki cried loudly for three hours and it was only until Rhea calmed them down. Her title as Titaness of Motherhood wasn't for nothing after all.

"What happened to the two of them?" Medusa asked, clearly worried about her stepchildren.

Saeko was in the same boat but more so since she was their mother. The surprising fact was that they cracked the wall with their hands only. More specifically, the kind of power they used to accomplish it.

"You girls felt that, right?" Rhea asked as they nodded to her answer. "Then it was no doubt they used chakra." Very, very briefly. "I'm worried about them."

Kuroka and Medusa nodded while Saeko gave her motherly input. "I guess this means a talk with Naruto once he gets back."

"I hope he's all right." Medusa said as she played with her hair, twirling the ends in her fingers.

A loud hum emanated from the Titaness after she assumed a thinking pose, greatly pondering the reason of the twins' sudden outburst and power release. "Maybe it's because of Naruto." All eyes were on her now. "Newborn children and older children have an innate connection to their parents. They cry when they sense one of them in duress or upset. I think that's what happened with them."

Kuroka stood straight as she stared at the older immortal. "You mean Naruto is in duress and Ashla and Masaki sensed it." She looked up at the direction where the twins' room was in. "Poor kids. Wait, that means hubby's in trouble!"

"Or someone riled him up at the place he's at." Medusa pointed out, knowing of his tendency to let loose afterwards.

Hopefully he's all right and make it back home so the twins could see their father was all right and safe. They could hope that he was safe.

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Chasm Monastery

Slowly opening her eyes while ignoring the pain course throughout her body, Lara found herself hanging in the ceiling by her bound hands in a hook. She inspected the room and saw several hanging pale bodies like her with more on the ground beneath her.

"Okay…" Lara gritted her teeth as she swung her body back and forth to gain momentum until her feet reached the beam. She pushed against the beam while pulling the hook out of its position slowly until it was loose. "Crap!" She shouted as her back hit against the corpse-ridden floor.

She was groggy but it didn't last long. "What's happening here?" Lara asked as she spotted the unmoving body of the pilot Jessop… and Patronus. "What? Patronus?"

"Oh, Thank God!"

"What?!" Lara shouted when the hooded hero lunged at her, kicking him in the sweet spot and bringing him down. "What are you doing?!"

Patronus raised his head, tears in his eyes as he was resisting to urge to cry. "Who the hell kicks their savior in the nuts?"

"You didn't save me!" Lara shouted back at the downed hero. "I was dragged by those…those…"

"Yokai?" Patronus finished for her, surprising her while standing up albeit painfully. "Those things are Yokai." He turned his head as he exhaled deeply, feigning the whole thing since the Nemean Lion pelt/bodysuit protected him from the unwarranted blow to his jewels.

"Really? You expect me to believe that?" Lara asked incredulously with crossed arms.

It was Patronus's turn to give her an incredulous look, even though she couldn't see it. "Are you serious? With everything that's happened lately, I figured you be more open to stuff like this! I thought you were some sort of…ache…archerar…ar—ar…" He paused while hitting his head to jumpstart his thinking. "What was it?"

"Archaeologist." Lara stated, deadpanning instead of asking as Naruto pointed at her. "Really, who are you?"

"Boston's own favorite superhero!" Patronus stood straight with a salute. "Not to mention savior of those in danger."

Lara rolled her eyes. "My hero." She drawled sarcastically until series of loud 'thuds' reached her ears.

With a quick flash of his Kitsune Sense, Naruto saw one of those creatures in the samurai armor he mowed back in the caverns approaching their little abode of rotting corpses. "Let's get out of here." Patronus stated as he pointed at the small hole to the far side. "Go through there."

After Lara entered the cave, Naruto placed another tag on the corpse of pilot Jessop and watched it disappeared back to the cave he and Captain America occupied the night before. He heard the footsteps getting closer as his fists creaked under the pressure of his strength, his mind in an internal debate of the 'fight or flight' route.

"Patronus! Are you coming or what?!" Lara whispered from the hole.

His answer was there all along. He followed the archer into the cave but stopped when she did as the latter looked back at the room they were in. They watched strong legs stroll in the room as their owner dragged a heavy stone hammer or axe behind it.

Lara covered her mouth to prevent any noise from escaping while Patronus readied his wrists to use his Hidden Blades just in case the creature looked their way. Fortunately, it didn't and the duo decided that it was time to get the hell out.

Once they had a little slide with some skeletons, Lara and Patronus found themselves in some sort of tunnel reminiscent to those belonging in tombs or mines while being blasted by constant strong wind ahead of them as a huge hole gave them a view outside to some other part of the island.

"Where do you think we are?" Lara asked, raising her arm to protect her face from the cold wind

Patronus simply shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure but I'm guessing we're not near our last location." He then stepped in front of Lara, using his body as a shield against the wind.

"How'd you find me anyway?" Lara asked genuinely. She could've sworn that Patronus fidgeted mid-step and that made her even more curious.

Luckily for Naruto, he was a full-blown trickster. "Actually, I was taken by those samurai guys like you." He lied while turning around, facing her directly. "I fought them off as best I could to keep them away from you, but they overwhelmed me. I actually freed myself just moments before you woke up." He turned around to avoid the suspicious glare the archer was giving him.

There was no way in heaven, hell or other dimensional world he was going to tell that he secretly marked her with a Hirashin seal on her clothes. It happened when they escaped the plane crash and he thought that it was best to do so in case something like Lara being kidnapped happens in the future.

Nor would he ever admit that he forgot about said marker.

(Flashback Begins—Minutes Earlier)

"Rasenrengan!"

The horde of samurai and Yokai looked up as the hooded ninja had lunged at them with his chakra spheres in both hands, backing up to escape contact but it was too late. A smoke cloud erupted from the spot he landed before Naruto plowed through more Yoki and samurai that remained untouched at this point.

Inhaling deeply until his cheeks puffed, Patronus exhaled a large ball of wind at the remnants. "Futon: Renkuudan!" The powerful ball of cutting wind chakra lacerated the Yoki and samurai warriors and blew through a wall, leaving behind a hole as a testament of his power.

Calming his mind and taking a deep breath, Naruto looked around and found himself somewhere else that was anything but his last location. "Damn, was I so into demolishing the Yokai and samurai warriors that I didn't pay attention where I was moving to?"

"Yup, you had 'Demolish everything when pissed off' tunnel vision, Naruto. It happens to the best of us." His Tailed Beast spoke, smirking since Naruto couldn't see it but feel by the way. "Except me of course."

"Shut it, fox or I'm going kick your ass on this island right here and now!"

"…Wow, you're peeved about this. Don't tell me this about those pilots?"

"…"

A loud groan came from the fox. "Oh Naruto…You can't save everyone. That's the problem with you hero-types: save everyone is your absolute duty. It's not your duty. Remember the reason why you kept your powers a secret: there are six of them."

Naruto fidgeted as he remembered the faces of his beloved. Rhea, Kuroka, Medusa, Saeko, Ashla and Masaki. His family are his Brotherhood and he would never risk bringing them harm. "But still…I never thought I would feel this way." He lifted his right palm as a Rasengan was formed in it. "In this world with all those having power to save or destroy…It's sickening."

"Always remember your reasons. There will always be times that you and anyone else for that matter would fail." Kurama said, really delving into his age of experience. "If we fail, what's the best thing we can do from the point on?"

"Learn from your mistakes and be better." Naruto answered, breathing in and out as he chuckled moments later. "Thanks, Kurama. I needed that. I'm glad you did or I probably would've been sulking and bitching about it on this island for hours."

"That's why your parents sealed me in you." Kurama smugly answered back, turning to his own internal thoughts. 'Well, half of me anyway.'

It was known to the trio that Kurama was half of his original self and that he possesses the Yang chakra. When he heard of this for the first time, Naruto almost lost his mind before he asked about Kurama's another half; his Yin chakra half. The Tailed Beast however didn't respond and instead redirected the conversation to one of Naruto's favorite topic at the time.

Both he and Ashura could never forget the blatant verbal defense Naruto gave them after they had dissed the younger ninja's favorite food. It wasn't time to tell his Jinchuriki about his father being the host of the Yin half of his chakra. Right now, they needed to focus on beating the Shinjuu and its army.

*Crackling…Crackling…Cracking*

"Huh?" Naruto looked down before he let out a girlish scream as the floor gave out from underneath his feet, sending him a very long drop. He grunted loudly as his body crashed against the icy boulders that was destroyed thanks to his Nemean Lion bodysuit as it protects him all form of attacks and the elements. "I'm alive." He said with awe.

Standing up, Naruto patted away the leftover snow off his robes and created a Rasengan to light up the dark cavern. He walked through the narrow and not-so-cold tunnel until coming across a large room of sorts as hundreds of icicles hung to the ceiling and shook as if they were ready to cut into him.

He was so focused on the icicles that he walked right into a metal wall of sorts, resulting in a loud metal sound reminiscent of a drum being pounded. "What is this?" Naruto asked as he inspected the ice-covered wall before wiping the casing off, revealing a name in huge white bolded letters. "U.S.S America… What is a battleship during here?"

"Naruto, I hate to disrupt your boat fetish…" Cue an annoyed growl from a tick-marked Naruto. "But aren't you supposed to find that Croft girl?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as his Rasengan dissipated due to the sudden lack of concentration. "Crap, you're right!" The Uzumaki clasped his head as he bent his knees, panicking over how to find the missing Croft. "I could use Kitsune Sense to find the last location I saw her, but I don't know if the tracks are still there when I get there! Argh, what am I going to do?!"

A miniature Kurama manifested on his shoulder and wacked him on the head with one of his tails, causing Naruto's body to lurch forward from the impact. The teary-eyed Naruto glared at the nonchalant mini-Tailed Beast who stared at him.

"Have you really forgotten what you did on Lara long before all this started?" Kurama asked, shaking his head when Naruto shrugged hesitatingly as he face-palmed his head. "There are times when I'm annoyed and/or dumbfounded by your quirks and then there are other times when I'm astounded by your ingenuity. This however is the former."

"What?" Naruto asked impatiently while looking away, embarrassed by his own volition. The cub-like Kurama sighed and whispered in his ear, causing his mouth to form an 'o' like a fish in water. "That's right! Man, I can't believe I forgot that!" He gave a small pat on Kurama's head before forming a hand sign, sending the Tailed Beast back inside. "Thanks, Kurama! I don't know what to do without you in times like this."

"You probably spend your days eating ramen breakfast, lunch and dinner." Kurama remarked nonchalant.

Naruto simply laughed sarcastically as he placed a locating tag on the ship before disappearing a flash of light.

(Flashback Ends)

*Cla-boom*

The hooded ninja snapped his head and saw Lara stood in front of him with a new weapon in her hands. A shotgun it looked to be but like the submachine, it appeared to be an old design as well.

"Nice weapon." Patronus finally spoke, getting a glance from Lara. "What's that for?"

"To destroy wooden fences blocking our way." Lara answered before jumping across the gap, followed by Patronus as they soon heard a voice echoing through the tunnel.

"Over here!"

"She's here somewhere… I heard something below."

"The Guardians will kill her."

"Let's get the hell out of here before they find us!"

"They're looking for me." Lara said as she and Patronus looked at each other. Apparently, they don't know about the hooded hero's presence here. That can work towards their advantage from here on. "You heard that bit about the Guardians, right?" Patronus nodded as they trekked through the tunnel. "Could they be talking about the Youkai?" Lara asked since the male hero faced them during their brief separation.

A shrug was all he could give.

"Possibly but the Yoki I faced and those samurai…I have a feeling that they are opposing forces working together for a common goal." Seeing the skeptical look from Lara, Patronus waved his hand in front of her. "Just rambling but it would make sense in a way."

The duo continued their trek while observing the countless display of bound skeletons of man and animal to wood as if they were sacrifices. Their trek ended physically until Lara noticed a small window-like vent to the side and climbed over it with a wall jump.

She grunted when landing in the new room, followed by Patronus, and surveyed the surroundings. "I hate tombs." Lara admitted after waving off the flies away from her.

"I thought tombs was in your field." A confused Patronus replied, jolting slightly from the sudden deadpan stare from the archer and it clicked to him. "Then again, after what we've been through, I don't blame you for your recent statement."

They looked around in the new tomb and inspected until three prominent statues caught the archer's attention, drawing her closer as she gasped lowly. "A Sun Queen and her stormguard…"

"Say what?" Patronus asked for her to repeat as he walked to her before looking at the statues. "What's so special about them?"

Lara placed her on the sarcophagus as excitement began to overwhelm her. "Himiko! The first Sun Queen! This is Yamatai." Relief washed over her as she was right all along. She moved to open the coffin, but stepped aside when Patronus did it for her as he moved the top enough for them to see inside. "You're really here."

Patronus glared at the dead body inside as his mind pondered many things. If she's dead then who resurrected the Revenant swordsman attacker? Who was responsible for the plane crash? Who's controlling the samurai and possibly the Youkai?

"And really, really dead." Lara coughed after centuries-old dust reached her senses. "This is incredible." She noticed a mural of sorts on a wall and inspected the drawing. "This looks like some kind of a fire ritual…"

Patronus approached her from behind as he too inspected the image lit by Lara's torch. "For what, Lara?"

"A sacrificial ritual…Horrible." Lara stated with hint of fear in her tone. "But why were the women burnt like that?" Patronus nudged her and pointed to the next mural of a different image. "A journey, pilgrimage to… Is that this monastery?" She founded another mural after the one in front of her. "Pouring water? But why?"

Patronus shrugged his shoulders again. "Maybe she was thirsty after her long walk." He joked as Lara rolled her eyes.

"And there you are. Queen." Lara said after seeing the last mural, but that's when she noticed something. "Wait…" She looked between the last two murals. "It's not pouring water, it's transferring power." She looked around the tomb. "This is an ascension ritual. This is how you chose your successor!"

"Something about this isn't right." Patronus looked at the first mural. "If this is an ascension ritual, then why burn the women? Lara might be right about this but my gut is telling me there is more to this ascension ritual than meets the eye."

"There!" Patronus and Lara looked to see Solarii on the upper floors. "Hey, that hooded guy is alive!"

The duo looked to each other and nodded as they went to work against the Solarii. Patronus leaped towards one and grabbed his machine gun, holding it by the butt and swinging at him as he was sent flying across the room. Lara used her newly-acquired shotgun to take out three machete-wielding men who approached her.

With the last three Solarii standing, Patronus swiftly thrusted his palm forward, sending a focused shockwave to slam his enemies against the wall and knocking them out from the impact. "Eaken…" He whispered after focusing on his new original technique.

Lara's mind must've been playing tricks on her as she just saw Patronus summoned wind under his command to finish off the Solarii. She rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming but ultimately, she waved it off as exhaustion getting the best of her at that moment.

"Might need ammo for your shotgun." Patronus said as he approached her with a handful of ammo. "Plus, more arrows" In his other hand was a handful of arrows. He watched her grab the objects and pocketed them safely. "Now where do we go?"

"What the hell's going down there?!"

The duo looked up where the Solarii came from and heard an inhuman growl followed a small visage of a large human-like figure. It was the creature they saw in the room where Lara was strung like a caterpillar.

"What the hell is that thing? A Yokai?" Lara whispered with a tinge of fear.

"One way to find out." Patronus replied, implying to fight the creature. Instead he got a slap on the head for his trouble. "Ouch."

Lara scoffed before she noticed the suspended jar and the guarded gates and put two-and-two together. She used her rope arrow on the jar, heaved it once and released her grip as the object broke the barred gates with its momentum.

"Clever." Patronus said impressively as he followed Lara out of the tomb and through a narrow tunnel as they crouched. "You hear that?" He stopped as Lara stopped in front of him.

"Hey! I found a way out down here!" A Solarii shouted from afar, obviously scared.

Another Solarii spoke immediately afterward. "But that woman…we've gotta find her."

"The Guardians can have her. I'm getting the hell out of here now!" The first Solarii shouted with no room for compromise.

"Goddamn it…okay…okay wait!" The second Solarii admitted, fearing for his life as well. "Help us open the gate."

Patronus and Lara arrived at a sheltered alcove with a huge hole that showed the outside on the side with a small fireplace. "Who puts these fire places?" He asked curiously as they decided to rest, mostly for Lara's necessity.

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(Meanwhile)

Captain America's Location, Below Mountain Village

The First Avenger grunted as he strained himself to get out of the Hino-enma's grip. He froze when her fingernails etched near his left eye.

"My darling, do not fret. You will be with me for all eternity~"

Captain strained greatly as he tried to free himself while the Hino-enma's wings began to surround his body. All seemed lost when a loud hollow chirp reached their ears as the frozen Roth and Captain's glanced to the side as much as they could.

A creature that was the size of a human child stood on the other side of the clearing. Its head was slightly proportionally bigger than its darkly pale blue skin and rags for clothing while its long red tongue hung from the wide smile.

The Hino-enma growled at the sight of the Yokai and placed her 'beloved' carefully on the ground but not before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"I'll be back, darling. Wait for me."

With that said, the winged Yokai charged at the little one-eyed imp with her speed. The one-eyed Yokai saw this coming and hopped to the side with surprising agility, stunning the paralyzed Avenger and Roth. The Hino-enma growled in frustration as she turned around for another pass, only for the imp to avoid the rush attack once more.

Captain saw this chance and strained to make even one part of his body move as did Roth with both being none successful so far.

"Come on!" He growled loudly as he strained to move.

Meanwhile, the two Yokai continued their battle of cat-and-mouse as the imp lashed out with its tongue and scratched the Hino-enma when she passed another round. Blobs of miasma were sucked inside the imp's mouth as the lone eye glowed red before it spun around with arms out like a dance.

What happened next shocked the humans present. The imp had grown to its assumed adult size with bulky arms and hardened skin as the clothes had been torn apart while a small horn protruded from its forehead. Its previously long tongue became short during the transformation but it still looked intimidating.

The Hino-enma was not fazed and instead she floated in the air before throwing thin sharp needles at the giant One-Eyed Cyclops. The terrestrial Yokai raised the bulky arms to block them as they fell to the ground. When that failed, the Hino-enma yelled out another round of its poisonous shockwave that cracked the ground behind the Cyclops.

"Captain…" Roth muttered loud enough for the Avenger to hear him. "Any luck yet?"

Captain America strained once more until he finally felt a twinge in his pinky. The poison was beginning to fade! At least for him since Roth still couldn't move at all. The movement reached his arm to the shoulders and soon the upper body but he feigned motionless to fool the battling Yokai.

The battle ceased when the Hino-enma's leg was grabbed by the Cyclops after doing another pass as she was slammed into the ground. She yelped in pain when the giant Yokai body-slammed on top of her, crushing her frame with its heavy mass.

The Oni-eyed Oni rose and slammed its bulk hands onto the female enemy several times until something circular hit its eye, eliciting a groan of pain as it grasped its face.

His hand catching the object, Captain America stood once more with a determined expression before he met the Oni's slow charge. Being the obvious faster combatant, the Avenger slid between the legs as he hit them with quick strikes from his shield.

Smirking when the giant fell to his knees, Captain quickly jumped onto its back and stood on the shoulders before bashing his shield against the lone eye several times. Leaping off the Yokai's body, Captain threw his shield at a weak-looking tree as it soon broke from the Vibranium-Adamantine object before he grabbed the lighter portion and lifted it over his head.

"Take this!" Captain shouted as he threw the sharp stump directly at the Oni's eye.

Splatters of blood gushed out like a hose from the eye as the Oni fell backwards on the ground with a loud thunder-like 'thud'. Roth whistled at the brutality Captain America just displayed against the Yokai as he began to regain feeling around his body.

"Yes…" His relief turned to despair when he noticed the Hino-enma slowly get up from the ground. "Crap, Captain!"

The Avenger was already on it as he was atop the female Yokai and slammed his shield on her head several times with loud bangs each time. However, the winged Yokai wasn't going down without her darling as she backhanded Captain America off her.

"Darling, why have you hurt me so? Don't you love me?"

Captain responded with his raised shield to block the thrown needles. He then ran towards the waterfall with the Hino-enma right behind him before jumping on several cliff faces, dodging the poison shockwaves with each attempt.

"Stop moving!"

This time she shouted with anger as she flew up, easily passing her beloved and the waterfall before diving steeply.

"Oh crap." Captain America muttered lowly as he just barely reached the top before rolling out of the way.

Another poisonous shockwave shot out in short-range omnidirectional when the Hino-enma's fist slammed against the ground as Captain America used his shield to block the shockwave. A soft 'hum' rang out between the shield afterwards while the ground shook slightly.

Growling at her beloved's tenacity, the Yokai twirled around in the air before dashing towards him with a strong beat of her wings. Instead of a full charge, the Hino-enma surprised the Avenger with a couple swift leg strikes and that's when the latter was shocked.

"My arm is going numb again?!" Captain mused after blocking a leg strike with his free arm.

The two entered a clash of offense and defense with Captain America's shield blocking her leg attacks the whole time. After a spinning axe kick from the Hino-enma, Rogers took something out of his belt and swiftly attached it onto her mid-riff.

The Avenger quickly turned around and dived off the waterfall but not before giving the female Yokai a wink. The confused Hino-enma didn't notice the blinking device on her person until she was engulfed in a ball of flame, screaming in pain all the while.

Roth laughed out loud when the leader of the Avengers landed in the water as he was finally about to move his body although crawling is the only option for the moment.

Captain panted slightly as he regrouped with Roth before lying down next to him, deciding that rest was needed for the moment.

"Not bad, Avenger. Not bad at all." Roth congratulated with a tap on the shoulders.

Captain chuckled a little. "It's what I do."

Their respite was broken when the smoking body of the Yokai landed in front of them. Captain instinctively threw his shield at the weakened Hino-enma, knocking her out as her head snapped backwards from the contact before hitting the ground a second later.

"…Yep…Definitely what I do."

Raising his hand, the Avenger caught his ricocheted shield before sheathing on his back as he laid on his back. Happy that his battle with a Yokai had ended although the thoughts of the young Lara Croft and hooded Patronus plagued his mind. He however had confidence that they can get through anything as long they are together.

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Sheltered Alcove, Yamatai

"Patronus…"

"Yeah?" Patronus turned around and saw a dilated Lara staring at him, scaring him slightly. "Uh, yeah, what's up?"

"What is this?" Lara asked as she lifted a small ball that was bitten in half. "This tastes like chicken or steak."

Patronus chuckled as he raised a ball of his own before eating it. "It's a food pill. It's designed to restore one's energy though not completely. I figured you need one after all that's happened recently."

"Thank you. I never realized how hungry I was until you gave this to me." Lara admitted albeit embarrassed.

"It's fine. And—" Patronus stopped mid-sentence as the Solarii ahead were screaming about one being a coward and said coward talking about the Guardians approaching. "They're up ahead. You ready?" He asked as Lara chugged a good portion of her canteen.

"Let's go." Lara said resolutely as she blasted the wood with her shotgun, clearing the way out.

"Nice."

The archer and ninja began their trek out of the alcove but suddenly the wooden platform gave way under the strong wind around the corner. Naruto reacted quickly and grabbed Lara's hand as she fell first while his left hand grabbed the small ledge on the wall for support.

"Lara, can you climb?!" He shouted over the wind as Lara nodded. She used Patronus as support as she climbed to the wall and carefully hugged with her back against it while Patronus did the same. "You okay?" He asked as she nodded once more. "Follow me this time!"

They traversed along the wall and around the corner as the wind got stronger when they did, seeing small debris being blown toward their general direction. Patronus and Lara noticed a platform ahead but it was being blown away little by little, forcing them to increase their pace a bit.

Patronus jumped on the first platform and gestured Lara to do the same as they quickly ran to the other side where there was a broken handing portion of the upper platform. "Lara, I'll give you a boost!" Patronus stood in front of her with his hands lowered.

Nodding and backing away a bit for room, Lara ran towards Patronus and easily placed her feet on his palm as the latter pushed her up to the upper platform with his strength. The archer made it to the platform without climbing it herself as she looked down to see Patronus scaling the hanging portion and making it to her level.

They reached a dead end in the form of rocks and wood until Patronus noticed a broken small hole in the wall on the left side. "There…" He raised his arm to stop Lara when his ears picked up clattering inside. "Wait…" He used Kitsune Sense and saw Solarii inside. "There are several of them in there. Get ready."

Lara nodded as she followed Patronus inside the room and silently entered it as the Solarii cursed their luck. "Damn it. Let's just break the damn thing and be done with it."

"I'm sure that's easy for you guys…" The Solarii turned around and saw Patronus there before he lashed at one with his Pivot Blade, slashing and cutting his legs, bringing him down before finishing him off with an uppercut. "That's one!"

"You bastard!" The nearby Solarii shouted before his life ended with an arrow to his head.

Readying another arrow, Lara fired it at another Solarii atop a stack of boxes, sending him to his death when it pierced his heart. Patronus leaped at another approaching with a machete as he parried his strike and stabbed him in the shoulder before he threw the wounded Solarii at one of the bulky-armored companions.

Said Solarii used his shield to push aside his thrown comrade and charged at Patronus who did the same. He raised his shield to block his small knife but his eyes widened as Patronus's Pivot Blade sliced it in half, revealing his upper body.

"Crap~" The Solarii whined before the hooded ninja kicked him to a wall.

The archer and ninja finished off the remaining Solarii in the room and hid their bodies from sight before continuing their trek as they climbed to the second floor. "Okay… now what?" Patronus asked as he was lost.

The rattling was loud as the building groaned from the pressure outside. Lara looked around to find a way out before she looked at the spot where the two Solarii were messing with before their interruption. "Hmm…" She focused on her senses and saw that there was a hollowed-out gate leading below. Their way out. "I got it!"

"What?" Patronus asked as Lara looked up and saw a huge bell hung to wooden support beams. He stopped her when she was about to open the windows. "Let's do this the easy way, shall we?" He took a shuriken and flung it at the top of the bell as said object fell and crashed through the gate, leading the way out. "There. See no harm d—"

The Uzumaki was interrupted when the building suddenly began to be torn apart to bits by the strong wind outside little by little. And if that was enough, more Solarii was heading their way.

"Kill them!"

Lara glanced at Patronus as she readied her arrow. "You were saying?!" She fired the arrow at a Solarii while the other one was put to sleep by a lone shuriken to the shoulder.

"Whatever…" Patronus was about to say more when another strong blast of wind blew against them, flinging them off the second floor and all the way down to the bottom floor via the hollow gate. He grunted when landing, groaning slightly as Lara had chosen his head to break her fall. "You okay?"

"N-Never better." Lara answered with strain as she and Patronus stood up before they picked screams of horror. Both archer and ninja looked behind him as Solarii was running away from something while beams and walls broke apart in a rapid pace.

"No…No! Ahhh!" A lone Solarii yelled out before being silenced by the large humanoid warrior they glimpsed several times earlier.

"Hurry, the Guardians are here!" Another Solarii screamed as he and his brothers ran past both Lara and Patronus, not caring they were there at all.

"Alright, come on come one move it!"

Lara ducked when a Solarii body flew over her while Patronus stood his ground pondering over what to do: fight and run away. However, someone else made that call for him. "Patronus, we got to go! This place is falling apart!"

"Let's go." He followed behind Lara but not before launching a discreet jutsu at the warrior. "Eaken." Patronus smirked when the hulking samurai was blasted by his wind blast and sent flying further away from them.

Both he and Lara ran across the breaking platforms as a gap appeared in front of them, forcing the duo to jump to the other one and one after that. When they reached a seemingly temporary stable platform, Patronus and Lara were knocked off their feet when the room suddenly tilted like a cubic and briefly ended their running streak.

"Come on, get up!" Patronus hoisted the archer to her feet as they ran to the end of the room and jumped across another gap to a wooden suspension bridge, both of them hoping that it was over.

*Crack-Snap*

"Crap/Shit!" Patronus and Lara cursed when the bridge broke, plummeting them through another bridge below before they entered another sliding contest much like the plane earlier. "Lara, Lara, look ahead!"

The archer did look and saw wooden trenches blocking their way. She quickly brought out her shotgun and blasted the trenches, clearing their way briefly until they encountered another trench, firing it away as well. Their slide ride ended when they landed in a small cove within the cave as a parcel of land was in the middle with a bit of sunshine on it.

Lara coughed loudly as she slowly walked to the piece of land and laid down with her arms spread out. Naruto couldn't blame her since after all, she's only human. She wasn't like him, a Shinobi, or the heroes and villains who too live in this world. But he was also very impressed by her resolve and realized that Lara was above most of her kind.

"Take a breather." Patronus said and Lara didn't argue as she shut her eyes for a little bit of sleep.

That was until their comm links blared with an unfamiliar voice to Patronus yet the opposite for Lara.

-"Hello? Hello?"-

"Sam!" Lara sat up as she took out her radio, responding quickly. "Sam, it's Lara!"

The scared Sam let out a small breath of relief. -"Oh God, Lara…It's good to hear your voice."-

"You too, Sam." Lara said through her cracked voice as she was close to tears. "Is the rest of the crew with you?"

-"No, I just managed to steal this radio off a guard."-

Both Lara and Patronus looked at each other with surprise. "A guard?" The archer asked.

-"I've been kidnapped."- Sam informed with tinge of fear.

"What? Where are you?" Lara asked slightly panicked as Patronus listened the whole time.

-"I don't know…some old Japanese palace. They keep talking about some 'fire ritual'."- Sam paused as she gulped in air. –"Lara, I'm freaking terrified."- Another pause came from the other end before Same responded albeit alarmed. –"Shit, someone's coming. I've got to hide this thing."-

"Sam…Sam!" Lara shouted but got no answer from the other side. She stood up as her eyes met with Patronus's gaze. "A fire ritual. Like the mural in Himiko's tomb…" She dreads of the repercussions if that was to happen to Sam. "Roth, are you there?"

-"Cap and I are heading towards the palace. The others are being held there too."-

Lara answered back through the radio. "Patronus and I'll meet up with you two so we can go in together." She put away her radio and was about to head to the exit when she noticed lack of movement from Patronus. "Patronus, what are you doing?"

"What if she's alive?" Patronus suddenly asked, catching Lara off-guard. "Himiko, the first Sun Queen…what are the chances that she's still alive?"

After a stutter, Lara gestured him to move. "We have to go. Sam's in trouble!"

"Ever since we left that tomb, something's been really bugging me about it." Patronus crossed his scratched-laced sleeves. "There must be more to it. It cannot simply be an ascension ritual especially after…"

Lara raised a brow as she stepped forward a bit. "After what?" No answer came from the hooded hero. "Patronus, what are you not telling me?"

"…" Patronus let out a big sight before answering, "Yesterday in Boston, I was attacked by this guy: Shogjo Amakusa. He and I battled and I tricked him into revealing who it was that sent him after me." He paused while inhaling. "He told me that the Sun Queen Himiko resurrected him…with the promise of a better life and land."

"What?!" Lara shouted with fury. "You're telling me this now?!"

"Hey, don't take that tone with me!" Patronus stepped forward close to Lara's personal space. "I wasn't sure if this was the same person but this feeling I have plus everything we know at this point leads me to believe that Himiko might still be alive."

"We don't have the facts to conclude that!" Lara back-stepped as she calmed herself. "Right now, Sam and my friends are our only objective."

Patronus stayed for a few moments before following Lara out the cove and to outside where they were near a mountain.