Yami no Ai (A Naruto/InuYasha Crossover Story)
Prologue: Gate to the Other Realm
A fierce wind shakes the trees throughout the forest. Ryuumaru, a boy of 18, is sitting on a rock in the middle of a clearing, breathing hard, his hand tightly gripping his katana. The blood dripping down it sparkles in the light of the setting sun. He stands slowly, walking over to a motionless body on the ground a few feet away. He leans down to examine it.
From what he can see, the body belongs to a man of around 50 years old with long, dark brown, hair. His eyes are closed and his face is hardened with anger from many years of hatred. His body is drenched in his blood.
When he least expects it, the body's eyes open to reveal snake eyes filled with such evil that Ryuumaru is suddenly frozen to the spot. He tries to reach for his katana lying on the ground nearby, but his hand won't move. Before he knows it, he's being choked as the body sits up and says, "Did you really think you could kill me, foolish boy?"
"Who--are--you?" Ryuumaru manages to choke out.
"My name is Orochimaru," he says, a long tongue snaking out of his mouth and licking Ryuumaru's face as he flinches. "I am from a realm far from here. It's a world filled with power. I know you yearn for it." Orochimaru stands up, throwing Ryuumaru to the ground. He then takes a few steps back, the blood vanishing from his body, and disappears in a flash of lightning, once again making the forest calm.
Ryuumaru sits up, his black hair blowing in the breeze waving the branches of the trees all around him. He stares at the place where Orochimaru once lay, presumably dead. "I fought him and he died just for me to find out I didn't really kill him?" His red eyes narrow in anger as he grabs his katana, his knuckles white with rage, and stands up. He glares down at the spot one last time before storming into the trees.
Ryuumaru continues storming through the forest, chopping any branches that are in his way aside with his katana, the dragon etched into it just visible in the little light streaming through the trees above him. He looks up at the canopy above him, leaves swirling around him, just barely able to see the red and orange rays of the still-setting sun.
As he's watching the sunset through the trees, Ryuumaru suddenly sees the leaves in the trees rustle. He readies himself, his katana glinting in the fiery light. A shadow leaps out of the tree above him, heading straight for him. He raises his katana as it hits another blade. The shadow flips and lands in front of Ryuumaru.
"Ryu-imouto?" Ryuumaru asks. "Is that you?"
"Ryuu-ani?" Ryuko asks.
"You really shouldn't do that, sis. Why were you up there?"
"I was hiding."
"Hiding from what?"
"Lightning. It came from over there," Ryuko says shakily as she points in a direction, her finger trembling.
Ryuumaru slowly makes his way toward where she pointed and arrives in a spot where all the trees are flattened out from one area scorched black from what looks like a lightning strike, but is obviously much stronger. Ryuko emerges from behind Ryuumaru, her shaky blue eyes staring in fear. She looks up at Ryuumaru, who is shaking in anger.
"What's wrong?" Ryuko asks.
"Orochimaru," Ryuumaru mumbles so quietly that Ryuko can't hear him.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ryuumaru sighs tiredly. He puts away his katana and kneels down, rubbing his fingers on the black grass. "It's still warm," he says, standing up. "It must have happened not too long ago."
"Yes. I wasn't hiding very long until you came along, Ryuu-ani," Ryuko says, still trembling from fright.
"What are you two doing?" a curious voice asks. Ryuumaru and Ryuko turn around to face Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, Sango, and Shippo. Inuyasha, the one who spoke, is looking curiously at Ryuumaru and the still-frightened Ryuko, his amber eyes darting between them.
"Inu-kun, come look at this," Ryuumaru says, glancing back at the singed ground. Inuyasha trots over, arriving at the edge, next to Ryuumaru. Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stay behind. Inuyasha kneels down and sniffs at the ground.
"Yep. It's lightning. But it struck more than once," Inuyasha says matter-of-factly.
"That's impossible! Lightning never strikes in the same place. Ever!" Ryuumaru looks frustrated. He knows exactly what the lightning was. It's a way to get to Orochimaru's realm, which is where Ryuumaru needs to go.
"Are you sure it's real lightning?" Ryuumaru asks, trying not to sound suspicious. No go.
"Do you know something I don't?" Inuyasha asks.
Ryuumaru explains everything that happened, how Orochimaru just ran in, attacking Ryuumaru with powerful attacks and how when Ryuumaru tried to kill him, he turned to mud. Finally, Ryuumaru defeated him, thinking Orochimaru was dead, just to find out he wasn't, provoking his anger. He explains his thoughts on what the lightning could possibly be.
Everyone is silent for a long time. It's dark, the sun finally deciding to put out its light, making way for the moon. Inuyasha's eyes sparkle with excitement in the moon's light.
"Wow," Kagome says, awestruck.
"Yeah, wow," Ryuumaru says. "And he's from a different realm altogether. And if everyone from there's like him, then I really don't want to go there." But maybe, if I could actually go there, Ryuumaru thinks. . . .
"It might have been a demon," Sango suggests.
"Possibly, I don't know," Ryuumaru says, still angry. He wants so bad to go to the other realm and get revenge that it shows on his face.
"Is something wrong?" Inuyasha asks, looking at Ryuumaru inquiringly.
"Uh, no, nothing," Ryuumaru says shiftily. "I think it's time for me to take Ryu-imouto home now."
"Oh, okay," Inuyasha says suspiciously. "'Bye, Ryuu-kun, Ryu-imoutosan."
"Come on, Ryu-imouto," Ryuumaru says, turning to leave and grabbing Ryuko's hand.
"'Bye, Inu-san!" Ryuko says cheerily, turning to wave as she holds her brother's hand.
Once they are alone, Ryuumaru takes a deep breath, releasing Ryuko's hand. He backs up against a nearby tree, his head to the sky. He sees, through the trees, the stars sparkling in the velvet sky. Ryuko looks curiously at him.
"Ryuu-ani, what's wrong?"
Ryuumaru doesn't say anything for a long time. He just continues staring up at the sky. He then slides down the tree, his arms wrapped around his legs, bent upward.
"Ryuu?"
Ryuumaru lets out a scream of rage and in the blink of an eye, pulls out his katana, slicing the tree behind him. A loud creaking can be heard, and then the tree topples over. Ryuko clasps her hands together in fright, her eyes shaking.
"Ryuu- . . . ani?" she says, her voice wavering.
Ryuumaru glares at Ryuko and she cringes. He looks like pure evil, hatred coursing through him. His hair falls messily down his face, his eyes powerful. The scars lining his face seem to be more noticeable, making him look frightening to Ryuko.
Ryuumaru's face relaxes. "It's okay, I'm just a little mad right now."
"J-just don't t-turn into A-aka-sama," Ryuko says as Ryuumaru puts away his katana Aka is the name of the dragon that Ryuumaru turns into. Ryuumaru is a weredragon, meaning that he turns into a dragon at the full moon, and also at will. Ryuko is also a weredragon, and turns into Aoi, a slightly less fierce dragon. She hasn't quite mastered it yet. Ryuko has a great fear for Aka, because of his ferocity.
"No, Aka-san is content right now. It's okay," Ryuumaru says.
"Why are you so angry?"
"I defeated him," Ryuumaru mutters, "I defeated him, and he got away!"
"Who? Orochimaru?"
"Yes," Ryuumaru says back. "He said he knows that I yearn for power."
Ryuko's eyes widen. "How could he know?"
"I don't know!" Ryuumaru says in irritation. There is a lingering silence, broken only by the sound of birds chirping. A subtle melodious wind blows the trees, making Ryuko feel as if she is in a trance, but just annoying Ryuumaru even more. "Come on, let's go investigate further, maybe they're gone."
"Okay," Ryuko says uncertainly. She follows Ryuumaru, storming through the trees. In a short while, they both enter the clearing once again. Everything is the same, except Inuyasha and the rest of them aren't there.
"They must've gotten bored and left," Ryuko says.
Ryuumaru remains silent and walks straight into the middle of the clearing. There is a loud crackling sound.
"Ryuu-ani!" Ryuko yells, running over to her brother, hugging his arm and squeezing her eyes shut. Ryuumaru looks up just in time to see a bolt of lightning travel toward them. . . .