AN: Last chapter. It's been five years since I've written a fan fiction. It probably shows that I have the worst grammar ever. Sorry. Sorry. Can I use the excuse that English isn't my first language? Anyway. This is my contribution to Sanzo X Goku, whom I adore but do not in any shape or form own. Nor do I own Naruto, whom I reference here either. So please don't sue. I hope someone enjoys this.

Disclaimer: Saiyuki? Not mine.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Everyone always leaves him in the end.

The cave was a good place for him.

"Oi, Bakasaru."

Chapter 3

Shin was thoroughly chewed out by Pein the next morning for falling asleep on the watch. Genjo wasn't please either and Shin had the lumps on the head to prove it. By daybreak, they set off once again towards the mountain with more killer weeds and youkai to hinder them. Between Pein's reiki attacks and Genjo's gun, they made it in good time to the base of the mountain. To Shin, it seem almost too easy. The closer they got, the harder the defenses should have been. Something doesn't feel quite right.

"We have climb that?" Shin craned his neck up and gaped at the looming mountain.

"Let's go," Genjo removed his outer robe leaving only his pants and leather top. Shin noticed the way Pein eyed Genjo, and for some unexplained reason he found himself pissed. It was a bit hypocritical, considering his own eyes roved over the priest's body as well. Struggling off his Shinigami robes, leaving on the white mesh shirt underneath and his loose white pants, Shin began to climb the rocky edge.

After two hours, Shin noticed Pein struggling below them. He wiped away the sweat from his forehead and cursed. They weren't even halfway up. Genjo was far up ahead, methodically searching for ledges and foothold. Taking a rest, Shin waited for Pein.

"You didn't have to wait," Pein panted as he drew beside Shin.

"I wanted to," Shin shrugged.

"The fog coming in," Pein said, eyeing the white mist.

The fog rolled through quicker and thicker then expected. Soon, Shin couldn't see Pein who was right next to him. He couldn't even see his hands. Forget looking for Genjo. The only thing they could do now is wait, either for the fog to dissipate, for them to fall, or for Genjo to make it to the top.

"Shin?" Pein asked. His voice was near. Squinting, Shin tried to make out Pein's form. There was nothing. Nothing but white all around.

"Yeah?"

"What happens if you die while diving?"

Shin thought for a moment. "For Shinigami, We're just expelled from the person's mind. The person we're diving into…they're not so fortunate."

"So we could end up killing Son Goku?"

"Yeah, most likely."

"I wish you told me this before." The accusation in the voice made Shin grin.

"You never asked."

Another moment of silence.

"Shin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm in love with you."

Shin almost lost his grip in surprise. "What?"

"I'm in love with you," Pein repeated. "To be honest. I've been in love with you for the last one hundred and twenty-three years."

Shin's eyes boggled at the confession.

The way Pein was so prissy about helping Genjo started to make sense and Shin's earlier words came back to haunt him.

"Fuck. Being in love for that long? They must be crazy."

Shin had unknowingly trampled on Pein's feelings.

"You know you deserve someone better than me," Shin finally said. He felt his heart quicken just a little as he waited for the reply.

"Yes. I know," a matter of fact. "but I don't want someone else. I want you."

The fog began to dissipate and Shin found himself on the forest floor again. The mountain in front of them seem to have vanished. Looking to the side, Shin stared at Pein. The dark-haired, dark-eyed shinigami stared unwaveringly back. Ah. Screw this. Shin grabbed Pein and pulled him into a kiss. In the hundred years he has known Pein, Shin had never allowed himself to think about Pein in that way (though, he would be lying if he said the thought hadn't come to him in moments when his mind wandered.) Their friendship had always meant the world to him. He never wanted to jeopardized that. But now that the dam has broken, Shin doesn't think he can go back to the safe way he has always thought about his partner.

He's not even sure he even wants to.

They broke apart when Shin felt two presences come forward.

One of them was Genjo Sanzo and behind him, walking softly with his head bowed, was the elusive Son Goku. Shin felt sorry for the boy. More so when he saw several small lumps on the boy's head. To think, the boy lived with that for six years! Shin also saw the slightly swollen lips and the sad wistful smile on Son's face when he stared up at Genjo. His heart broke just a little for heretic.

Shin was wrong.

There was a such thing as a one true love.

It was all in Son Goku's eyes.

The way Son Goku looked at Genjo Sanzo…Shin highly doubt that the boy could fall in love with another person in his lifetime. The boy's heart seemed only big enough for the man standing in front of him.

"He's good," Genjo nodded.

"You'll come back?" Pein asked Son.

The boy nodded. The way his head jerked back and forward almost made Shin winced. The boy wasn't coming back on his own will. He was coming back because Genjo was making him.

Whatever works, Shin thought.

"Let's go," Shin took Pein's hand, hook his pinky around Genjo and watched for a moment when Genjo firmly embraced Son.

In a blinding light, they were gone.

Shin watched with Pein and Genjo from the rooftop across from Son's room. They waited for a moment with bated breath. When Son's hand started to move there was a loud, audible breath of relief. The boy sat up a moment later, rubbing his eyes tiredly and yawning. Getting out of bed, Son walked over to the window and pulled it up, poking his head out and staring straight ahead.

For a moment, Shin thought Son could see them, but turning around behind him, he noticed that the boy was staring at the sun rise instead.

All that shit and it happened in the human equivalent of a day. Figures. The door to Son's room opened and his two friends, the one called Hakkai and Gojyo walked in. They stopped and seemed stunned.

"Hi ero-kappa. Hakkai," Son turned and greeted them. A strange growling sound rumbled and the boy turned red. "Ne, Hakkai. I'm hungry."

Their cries of joy could be heard from here to Shangri-La.

Shin turned to Genjo.

"Are you ready for judgment?"

Genjo nodded.

"You know," Shin remarked as grabbed Pein's hand. He tried not to let Pein's smile affect him. "You're not exactly the first Sanzo I've cross-over. I met a real nice one a couple of years back. He was habitually late for everything…"

They vanished as the sun spilled onto the rooftop.