The Secret to Kanna

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.. Rumiko Takahashi does!

Summary: Kanna slowly walked out of Naraku's room, wondering what she should do. If she ran away, Naraku would kill her. If she kept killing everyone Naraku told her to, it would slowly kill her soul. At the moment, it seemed as though death was the only answer.

-k-

A young, albino girl slowly walked through the hallway, as though in a trance. Her eyes looked straight forward and she never stumbled. The girl just kept walking, no destination in mind. All she wanted was to separate herself from this prison she called home. Suddenly, Naraku appeared out of the shadows, clearly needing Kanna for something.

"Kanna," he murmured, "I'm very busy and I do not have time for pointless talk, so I will cut right to the chase. I need you to kill that wolf, Kouga. At least I think that was his name. Anyways, he will be here in about an hour. I expect you to meet him directly in front of the entrance. Have fun."

"Yes, master," Kanna whispered, doing her best to hide the resentment in her voice. Much to her relief, Naraku didn't sense it and he dissapeared back into the shadows.

'What?!,' Kanna started to panic, 'I can't kill Kouga.I know I only saw him for a moment, but that was long enough. I refuse to kill Kouga.' She slowly continued down the hallway, keeping an eye out for Kagura. If she saw Kagura, she could ask her to kill Kouga for her, pretending that Naraku wanted Kagura to in the first place. That was what she usually did, and if Naraku asked, Kanna would just say that Kagura got there before she did. It was the nearly perfect plan. Nearly perfect because if Kagura was out doing something, she would have to kill the demon herself, and in return, part of her soul would die with the demon.

Although it seemed weird since she was something like Naraku's daughter, Kanna never liked killing. She felt that it was wrong to take anyone's life, no matter how evil or cruel they were to others. She would only kill the others Naraku asked her to kill because she either didn't know them, or wasn't very fond of them. She was also terrified of what Naraku would do if she didn't do as he asked.

Many times before Kanna had thought about rebelling against Naraku, but every plan had a fatal flaw. First of all, Naraku was a thousand times stronger than she was. If she tried to kill him, it would obviously backfire. Secondly, Naraku had her heart (literally), so if she did anything to betray him or show and signs at all of thinking of betraying him, he could easily kill her. All of her plans included at least one of those two actions, so she decided it would be wisest not to take any action at all. For now, she was stuck in this piece of hell she called home.

This plan had been working out almost good, but how long could she hide her hatred from Naraku? Naraku found out Kagura hated him easily...of course it was very obvious.

Finally, after wandering through about thirty hallways, Kanna found Kagura nearly running down one of the longer hallways. "Kagura..," Kanna said, her voice was just barely audible. "Kagura.., Naraku needs you to kill Kouga when he gets here in a half hour.."

"Sorry, Kanna," Kagura said with a hint of a smile. "I'm busy right now, so I can't do your dirty work."

"What?!" Kanna actually looked surprised on her almost always emotionless face.

"Oh, I thought I told you... Last time you told me to kill someone, I went to Naraku complaining about how many people he makes me kill," Kagura explained. "Well, he told me that he hadn't told me to kill someone in nearly a week, that he was making you do all of the killings, since I can't be trusted. It was pretty easy to figure out from there that you have just been making me do all of the killings because you don't want to. Then he called me a lazy bitch and told me to leave. Anyways, why did you ask me to kill all those demons for you?"

Kanna thought a moment before answering, "I just get tired. That's all." She wasn't ready to tell Kagura, in case Kagura told Naraku. Kanna wasn't ready to die yet.

"Okay..," Kagura replied, not buying that story at all. "Anyways, I truly am busy. I got to kill a demon Naraku really asked me to kill. Have fun with Kouga."

Kanna was about to scream after her younger sister, but thought better of it, deciding to hide her real emotions for probably a while longer. At least until she was free of Naraku, if that ever happened. What a depressing thought that was! Being stuck with Naraku for the rest of her life? Which, if she had it her way, would be much longer.

There was only 25 more minutes until she had to meet Kouga outside. This was not something she was looking forward to. How could she even kill him? Maybe they could be friends in the future, if she could just come up with a plan.

"Hello, Kanna," a sickening voice said. Kanna nearly had a heart attack. "I would like to talk with you. Follow me." Naraku appeared from around the corner.

'I'm so dead..,' she thought. 'Why does he always have to make those creepy entrances, anyways? Why can't he just normally come up to me and start talking instead of jumping out at me from the shadows.. Anyways, I wonder if Kagura told Naraku about me making her kill everyone for me.. I wonder if he knows I hate to kill..or that I hate him! Crap...'

By then Naraku had led her into his room. People were hardly ever let into his room unless they were in huge trouble. "So, Kanna," Naraku began. He was staring at her with his cold eyes. Kanna was terrified but showed no emotion, as usual. "Kagura told me that she has been killing everyone that I told you to kill," he hovered over her menacingly. "Why is that?"

Kanna tried not to show her fear, but some of it must have crept onto her face because Naraku started to smirk at her. "I apologize, master," she said as quiet as she could but still being able to be heard. "I get tired sometimes, so I ask my little sister to help with some."

"That is to stop today. You are very lucky I am in a good mood, for if I wasn't, you would not be able to get a second chance. If I find that Kagura has killed one more demon or human that I told you to kill, you will not be alive to kill anymore. Do you understand?" Naraku demanded.

"Yes, master," Kanna whispered, shaking violently.

"Good, now I want Kouga dead within the hour," Naraku said while briskly walking out of the room.

With a sigh of both relief and sadness, Kanna slowly walked out of Naraku's room, wondering what she should do. If she ran away, Naraku would kill her. If she kept killing everyone Naraku told her to, it would slowly kill her soul. At the moment, it seemed as though death was the only answer.

No, Kanna couldn't kill herself, but she also couldn't kill Kouga. Kanna had liked Kouga from the second she first laid eyes on him. He was so brave, and kind to those he liked. She loved Kouga. If she killed Kouga, she would never be able to forgive herself. Why she liked Kouga, she couldn't say. It was like love at first site for her.

At the same time, she wanted to live so she could possibly devise a plan to escape from Naraku. If she did that, she could live life like a normal girl, and maybe make up for all of the lives she had taken.

Kanna knew what she had to do, and with fifteen minutes to spare. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a sharp dagger. Kanna then stumbled out to the front entrance, and waited, all the while wondering if this was the right thing to do.

With each passing second Kouga's aura was becoming stronger, and her heart was beating faster and faster until she thought she might have a heart attack. Which was something she would rather have at the moment than go through what she was going to do.

Kouga was getting dangerously close to the entrance, and Kanna dearly wished that he would go back. Actually, she was almost glad he was coming. This way, she could tell him something she had wished she could tell him for as long as she knew him.

Kanna could hear him now, his paws gently falling, one after another, on the soft dirt. She could hear him panting, wanting to get there as quickly as possibly, but not knowing what was coming. Kanna hadn't realized how much she loved him until she was actually put into this situation.

'I'm doing the right thing,' she thought. 'I am nothing but a slave to Naraku. I am nothing to anyone. No one cares about me. No one cares if I live or die. I was created for one purpose: to kill others. I refuse to continue doing that, so of what use am I to Naraku? I would die anyways, so it is better that I die at my own hand than that of Naraku.'

At long last, Kouga appeared from the dark shadows of the forest. His face was covered in sweat and his long hair that was normally tied back was loose around his shoulders. His arms and legs were covered in bloody scratches and dark scars, and all Kanna wanted to do was to run over to him and tell him that she would help to heal those wounds. She knew she couldn't. All she could do was tell him how she truly felt about him before she died.

-k-

Kouga looked up and saw the albino girl sadly staring back at him. 'What is she doing here?' he thought. 'I want to fight Naraku, not a weak little girl.'

"Excuse me," Kouga said. "What are you doing here? I would like to fight Naraku, not you."

-k-

Kanna glanced around, making sure that he was talking to her. A cool breeze whipped Kanna's hair into her eyes. As she pushed her snow white hair out of her face, she saw Kouga was getting impatient.

"I apologize if I am in your way," Kanna said, as though she was about to cry. "Kouga, I love you."

-k-

Suddenly, the albino girl drew out the dagger that she had kept hidden from view. Slowly, as though it caused her pain, she drew the dagger up with her right arm. Then she glanced back up at Kouga. With tears filling her pain filled eyes, she smiled at Kouga. This had been Kanna's first smile, and her last. One tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly plunged the dagger directly into the place where her heart would be. Immediately the girl fell to the ground. It seemed as though she was sleeping, though Kouga knew better.

The albino girl had killed herself. He couldn't blame her though, it seemed plausible that Naraku had told the girl to kill Kouga, and she couldn't go through with it. As he stared down at the young girl, an overwhelming feeling of sadness enveloped him. He was sad that she had probably killed herself for him, and that she died at such a young age.

"I'm sorry," Kouga whispered. "I'm sorry that I couldn't love you back."

El fin.

Hi! Thank you for reading my story. This is my second story now, and I hope it is my best so far. I apologize if the ending was sad. I personally like Kanna, and I have no idea why she loves Kouga. It just turned out that way! I wish Kanna hadn't died. At the same time, though, I'm glad that she was released from Naraku. For my next story I think I will do something about Avatar: the Last Airbender. Oh and I finally learned how to make those cool lines that indicate the ending of a story (see above, right after the end). . Thanks again for reading my short story. Please review! Also, if you were wondering, this will be a oneshot. I always wanted to do a oneshot!

Love,

Moon of Ice