AN: Revised and edited July 18th. A story told in bits and pieces.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Inuyasha or Naruto

the first paper crane

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the legend

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"She never believed. There was nothing to believe…"

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Higurashi Kagome stared at the small, delicate piece of orange paper. A pile of crumpled pieces in various colors littered the floor, its vibrant colors making the dull white appear as a rainbow.

To her, each bit of crumpled origami represented a lost fragment of her hope.

Inhaling in deeply, she proceeded to fold the thin sheet of paper.

Again.

Her fingers had never been that nimble, but they seemed to be useless after she got haesitque motus. At first the loss of movements in her hands didn't bother her that much; art work and craft was never her forte. It would've continued on like that if she hadn't heard of the legend of the thousand paper cranes.

They say that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the holy bird, especially wishes of long lives or recovery from illness or injury.

"Ha," some people might go. "Who believes in that?" She might've been one of them, before, when she could still choose what to believe in and not worry if her wrong choice would effect her life. But now, in her world of blinding white hospital walls and flashing lights, torturous pain and a constant ache in her body, it was the only thing holding her down to this world. It was her single glimpse of hope.

The soft noise of nurses chattering suddenly grew louder as their footsteps approached the door. The sound alerted Kagome and quickly she raised her awareness, and her dull, azure eyes flitted to the side, focusing on the creaky wooden door. The murmured voices became louder as the owners drew nearer.

"…poor things got a tumor. He's always so bright and happy too. I wonder if he knows the truth."

Blue eyes narrowed at the emotion under the words. One she heard one too many times aimed at her. One that had an underlying of 'you're weak'.

Pity.

Her fingers moved along the paper, folding it quickly, her mind subconsciously memorizing the procedure after millions of tries beforehand. But she didn't notice her fingers that were for once, in smooth and fluid motion, as she strained to hear more of the conversation.

"Oh, dear. It can't be Naruto could it?"

Naru…to? The swirly thing in ramen?

Her fingers didn't cease its crafting and the piece of origami paper started forming into a bird like shape.

"Blond boy with blue eyes, yes that's him."

Something fluttered in her heart, but Kagome couldn't figure out what. Delicate fingers smoothed the edges of the bird, perfecting the wings and head.

"Poor thing…Parents must be devastated…"

As the voices faded and she couldn't hear anything more, Kagome looked down and stared at the neatly folded orange paper crane entangled in her fingers, eyes tingled with shock.

She had just folded her first origami crane. Subconsciously. (Hah, how's that for skill? she thought smugly.)

In the deepest corners of her mind, she named it.

Naruto…

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" ..but now, believing was the only thing she could do."

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AN: Yes, I made up haesitque motus. I couldn't find the correct illness for Rukia, and I wasn't especially bothered to read through thousands and thousands of illnesses that target the muscles, so I made one up XD The name itself means 'clogged movement' in latin. The illness is one that targets the muscles and nerves. It's kind of like a paralysis in your body, except it isn't as severe and only limits your movement. A lot.

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