Hi readers. Dodges random thrown objects Okay, this chapter is late because I let my beta reader have the week off to settle into collage. So no complaining. But please read the author's note at the bottom of the page when you're done reading. It's important.
Thanks go out to all those who reviewed. You all were really nice and supportive. I was really nervous about the last chapter but you all made me feel so much more better. And a special thanks to 4getmenot. She knows what this is for. And of course thanks to kawaiichibishun for taking time out of her life to help me improve on my story.
Disclaimer: None of you know my name because I'm not a famous author who makes tons of money by owning Naruto OR Inuyasha.
Chapter Ten: Forgiveness? Maybe Not.
Kagome woke feeling like a ton of bricks had been dumped on her, and then, just for good measure, the person who did the dumping had added another ton to make sure she felt as much pain as humanly possible. Was it legal to wake up feeling this bad?
Lying there for a moment, Kagome took in her surroundings. Slowly, memories of what had happened came back to her. Well, what had happened in her head after she snapped came back, at any rate. Coming to the conclusion that she must have attacked Itachi in a blind rage, she knew why her body felt like a burnt lightning rod.
Trying to get up, she felt something lightly pull her back. Looking down at Itachi's arm that was once again around her waist she sighed. Well, at least she didn't have her leg over his like yesterday morning. Now, if he had awoken for that, it would have been embarrassing. Carefully lifting his arm, she had to bite back a squeal of joy. Slowly climbing out of bed, Kagome pulled the covers back to cover Itachi.
She almost left the bed, but saw Itachi's arm looking for something to hold. Thinking fast, she put her pillow, which was still warm from her head, by his arm. He felt the heat, and pulled it to his chest. Kagome blushed when she thought that he had done the same thing with her body. She really needed to get him a teddy bear.
Looking back and waving her hand in front of Itachi's face, she saw he was still asleep. As Kagome quickly looked out the window, she saw it was still far too early to make breakfast. Smelling herself, she instantly knew what she should do to pass the time.
Grabbing her favorite shampoo and conditioner from her bag on the floor, she pulled out an outfit to wear that day from the drawer Itachi was letting her use. Nodding to herself, she silently left the room.
Walking down the hall, Kagome came to the kitchen. After getting a quick drink, she continued on to the hot springs to bathe. Opening the door, she let out a small gasp. Itachi hadn't shown her the hot springs; he had merely pointed to the door and told her what it was.
The spring was a natural spring that the building was built around. The water was so clear and clean that she figured it must have been filtered before it made it to the spring. But the most interesting thing about it was that it was half outside.
There was a beautiful polished wood deck with a partial roof to shade half of the spring. Two reclining patio chairs were set up beside a small table, and there was a stack of towels by the spring for convenience.
Smiling ear-to-ear, Kagome was out of her clothes in record time. Grabbing her bathing products, she walked down the stepping stones that lead to an opening in the spring rocks until she was at the edge of the spring. Looking at it from this close, Kagome could see it was huge. It could easily fit fifteen people without being crowded.
Dipping her toes in, Kagome could feel that the tempture was perfect. Hopping in the rest of the way, she let out a moan of pleasure. The hot water was just the thing she needed for her badly abused muscles. Lathering her loofa, she started to massage the soap into her skin. She'd needed this bath for a while, since she hadn't had one since she had arrived unexpectedly in this new world. Rinsing off the soap, she started on her hair. After she had put the conditioner in her hair, she went to the side of the spring to sit down and wait three minutes before rinsing it out of her hair.
Reaching the side of the spring, Kagome found that someone had carved seating into the rock for relaxing. Sitting down, she let her body completely relax.
Not for the first time, she wondered what Bob wanted her here for. And why would the Jewel make her stay with Itachi? She felt it trying to break into her mind, but not too much. Keeping her mind barrier strong, Kagome made sure that no part was left unprotected. It wouldn't do to have the Jewel break into her mind and see that she now knew how to block the rosary.
Before Kagome had snapped yesterday, she had tested her theory on the rosary. When Itachi had commanded that she look at him, she had put a barrier around one of the beads at the back of her neck, under her hair so that he couldn't see it. Then, when she was sure she felt no tug from the rosary to do what was told, she looked at him jerkily, so it looked like it was the rosary.
Applying science to the rosary, she had figured out how it worked. It was much like one of the toys she had bought for Shippo.
She had bought Shippo a small plastic duck that, when in water, started making sounds. But when you took it out, it didn't work. There were two metal bumps on the bottom of the duck that needed a conductor touching both of them in order to finish the circuit. What she had done was the opposite. By putting a barrier around a single bead, she had stopped the current from completing its course. Then, when the power of the command had faded away after a couple of seconds, she had dropped the barrier. Nothing had happened.
The only thing she didn't get was that Itachi had told her that her powers wouldn't work on the rosary. But thinking on it closely, she realized that the Jewel had only made the rosary so that she couldn't destroy it with her purifying energy. Kagome had instead made the barrier out of her purple energy that could harm humans. It was her first time trying to make a barrier out of that energy, so Bob probably hadn't thought to make the rosary immune to it as well. But, if he were to find out, Kagome didn't know if he could change the rosary after it was already on her. So now she must keep a constant mind barrier up to keep Bob out until she could make a deal with him.
Not only did her method work, but also it only used an incredibly tiny amount of her power. Itachi wouldn't even know what she was doing, because her hair would cover the purple tint of the barrier. Now that she wasn't on a rampage or anywhere near Itachi, she could finally celebrate her victory.
Doing a little victory dance, she about had a heart attack when she heard the door to the spring open. Standing in the doorway was a woman wearing the Akatsuki cloak, except that her version seemed somehow more dress-like. She had a paper flower in her hair that accented her porcelain-pale skin. Overall, she was a beautiful woman.
The woman was looking at her expressionlessly, but Kagome had seen a brief moment of surprise that flashed through her eyes before she had them back under control.
Hesitantly raising her hand, Kagome managed a small wave of greeting, while desperately hoping the woman hadn't caught her dancing in the spring. That would be so embarrassing.
The woman nodded before starting to undress to bathe. Politely looking away, Kagome waited for her to get in the water before trying to start up a conversation.
After a couple of minutes, Kagome heard the water breaking, signaling she had gotten into the water. Waiting a couple more seconds to make sure that the woman was situated, Kagome turned back to look at her.
The Akatsuki woman had let her hair down, and Kagome could see it went down to about her shoulder blades. It was a medium blue that offset her skin tone.
Trying to be polite and settle her curiosity, Kagome tried to start a conversation. "Hi, my name's Kagome," she introduced herself.
The woman briefly glanced at Kagome before starting to scrub herself with a soap bar and washcloth. "Konan," she said after she had looked away.
"It's nice to meet you, Konan. I was afraid that I would be the only girl here. It's a relief to know that there is at least one other woman here," Kagome said, slightly joking with her.
Konan didn't even look at her. Kagome tried again. "So, what are the other members like?" Kagome asked curiously. Konan ignored her a second time. Falling silent, Kagome finished her bath and got out. Grabbing a towel, she started to dry herself off. Once she had gotten dressed, she gathered her things to leave. Hand on the doorknob, she stopped when she heard Konan talk to her.
"The leader would like to talk with you after breakfast." Konan didn't say anything else, so Kagome nodded her head and left the hot springs.
By the well in the Feudal Era
A lone silver-haired demon lord stared at the well. A breeze passed by and moved the grass surrounding the well, but, aside from that, nothing moved.
It was dead silent. All the nearby birds and woodland animals had long since run away from this clearing, feeling the powerful predator nearby. A predator that was waiting for his prey.
Sesshomaru had been waiting for two days for Kagome to come back to the feudal era from her time. He needed something from her that only she could get him.
Strawberry pocky.
His courting with the inu-demoness from the Northern court hadn't gone too well. It seems that she was actually in love with one of the guards, and had caused a huge scandal when they proclaimed that they were already mated in front of the whole court. Right before Sesshomaru was going to announce that he was courting the woman to the demon court.
So, in other words, he needed comfort food.
…At least, that's what he would tell Kagome. It wasn't like he actually loved the demoness, but he wanted pocky, and he was sure that, with this story, he could manage to scam a couple of boxes out of Kagome if he played his cards right. He might even be able to convince her to get the double-dipped kind.
But the problem was that Kagome hadn't come yet. He had talked to the lecherous monk, and he had been told that Kagome wouldn't be back for a month, at least.
But that wouldn't do. He wanted the pocky now. So here he was, stuck staring at an old dried-up well.
An old dried-up well that lead to five-hundred years in the future.
The well that Kagome brought many wondrous things of the future from… It was also where Kagome got her pocky stash from.
Yep. That was the well. The plain old, not protected, unwatched, and don't think anybody is watching well.
Sesshomaru looked around the well, studying it carefully. How was it that this thing could send the little miko, even his idiot half-brother, into the future to gather pocky? Hmff. He could go to the future to if he wanted to. It just wasn't worth his time to go jumping into wells that led to the sweet, heavenly pocky that was on the other side.
Slowly looking around at all the trees for any signs he was being watched, he couldn't see a single thing besides the leaves in the wind. Searching for any aura, he quickly found that there were none close by.
Carefully, as though he was afraid that someone would pop out of nowhere and see him, he walked over to the well. Sesshomaru studied the well very closely, not overlooking anything. Looking down the well, he could easily see the bottom with his demon sight.
Quickly looking around the clearing once more, he jumped down the well.
Rin would be fine staying with the demon slayer and monk while he was gone. She wouldn't worry about him being gone since he disappeared regularly without a word.
Right before he touched to ground, the well lit up a soft red. Hm, he was sure that Kagome had told him that the well was supposed to glow light blue. Perhaps it was reacting to his youkai?
With Kagome
Kagome was nervous about the meeting that she was going to have to have with Leader. Had she messed up already? Yeah, she hadn't made dinner last night, but she was really sick. He would understand that, right?
Breakfast had done nothing to ease her nerves. Everyone at the table had been glaring at everyone else, and no one spoke a word. It didn't help that Deidara and Kisame kept stealing glances at her from the corners of their eyes.
Now, standing in front of Leader's office door, she felt herself start to go into a nervous sweat. Even though he had been extremely nice to her last time she talked to him, she couldn't help but feel like there was something… off.
Softly knocking on the door, she heard a "Come in," from inside the room. Opening the door, she debated on whether or not to just make a run for it right now. Pushing her fear aside, Kagome walked into the room, but hesitated in closing the door.
"Close the door, and sit down," Leader ordered, not looking up from his paperwork.
Kagome quickly closed the door, and sat down in the chair in front of the desk. Once she was situated, she waited for him to say something.
"Are you feeling better now, Kagome? I was informed that you had gotten ill. Is this true?"
Kagome tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Yes, I was ill, but I'm better now." He nodded, still not looking up from his paperwork.
After a couple of seconds, Leader looked up from his paperwork, and grabbed a yellow package envelope from the corner of his desk and handed it to her.
Kagome took it, and looked it over. It was heavy and thick, but, besides that, nothing was out of the ordinary. She couldn't hear any ticking, so it wasn't a bomb. She hoped.
"That envelope contains the basic profiles and backgrounds on each Akatsuki member that you would need to know about, and your budget for buying food and cleaning supplies. Today, you are to take one of the Akatsuki members, I don't care which, and have them take you to the city market to get the needed food.
By now, almost all of the food we have in the kitchen should have gone bad or is about to. So you will need to get enough food for each member that requires food to last a month. When you are done, you are to leave the receipt in a white envelope, and slide it under the room door of the member Kakuzu. He manages the budget when he is here, and he should be arriving back at base with his partner, Hidan, tomorrow afternoon. If you are in need of anything else for your job in the future, then you are to talk to Kakuzu about it. There is also an amount of money in a smaller yellow envelope in there for your spending. You are dismissed."
Kagome nodded, and left the room. Walking down the hall, she felt the nervousness fall from her. She walked into the kitchen, and decided that she needed to make a list. But first, she would look over all of the member's profiles so she would know how much of each thing to buy.
Pulling the papers out of the envelope, she set aside the white and yellow envelopes that held the money. Looking over the first paper, she saw it was Leader's profile.
A couple of minutes later
Kagome's eyes almost twitched at how little information she had received. She still almost had no knowledge on any of the members. And she had no idea what much of what was written here meant.
Try to avoid banging her head multiple times on the table, she thought over what she did know while putting the white envelope in her pocket and the rest of the papers back into the yellow envelope.
Leader's name was Pein. He had orange eyes and auburn hair. Blood type was A. He had multiple bodies, and didn't require food. The village he came from was Hidden In the Rain. Whatever the heck that was.
Then there was Konan. Besides saying stuff she already knew, like how she looked, the only thing Kagome learned was that she was Pein's assistant, and also came from the same village. On a side note it said "requires food". So at least she knew that she wasn't putting that tray there for nothing. Konan must have been eating it.
Deidara had more info on him, though. It said his attacking skills were in explosives made from the mouths on his hands. But, once again, Kagome already knew that because Deidara had shown her himself. His partner was Sasori of the Red Sand, which, yet again, she already knew. But she did find out that he was eighteen, the same age as her. She also found out that he came from the Village Hidden in the Rock.
Sasori's profile surprised her by saying that he was thirty-five years old. He looked like a twelve-year-old. But she guessed that it had something with being a puppet. It listed his attack, which was puppet manipulation, and his hair and eye color. He didn't require food, and his partner was Deidara. He came from the Village Hidden in the Sand.
Then she came to an almost blank profile of Zetsu. It showed a picture of a fly trap, and it took a moment for Kagome to realize that it wasn't a plant but a man. The only thing besides mentioning split personalities that was included was that he could gather his own food. Not really wanting to know about that one, she let it drop. On the partner list, it had a blank, just like his village.
Itachi's profile was nothing new except that he was nineteen, his blood type, and that he came from the Village Hidden in the Leaf.
Kisame's profile contained little besides things she already knew, also. The only things she learned were that he was twenty-nine, and came from the Village Hidden in the Mist.
Finally, she came to some new people who she hadn't met yet, and who actually had some info. First was the person that she would have to find the room of later. Kakuzu. It showed a picture of him, and then listed his features and that he need food. His village was Hidden in the Waterfall. His age was unknown. But it did state that he was immortal. So that was some news.
And the last member was a guy that goes by the name of Hidan. He had two pictures. One showed him all black with white markings, while the other was him looking more… well… normal? He was thirty-two years old, with purple eyes and white hair. He was immortal and followed the religion of Jashin. He also required food, and was from the Village Hidden in the Grass.
And that was all that she was given to work with. They were all serial killers, and that's what they gave her to prepare for living with them. Leader wanted her dead, didn't he?
Laying her head on the table for a minute, she heard someone enter the kitchen. Raising her head a little, she saw it was Kisame. And he was just standing there, staring at her. Blinking, Kagome waited for him to say something. A minute passed with nothing happening besides Kagome blinking a couple of times.
"Um, is there something you need?" Kagome asked.
Kisame looked down at her, before grabbing a seat next to her, and sitting down. "Hey, are you doing okay?" he asked softly.
Kagome was taken off-guard at the sudden question. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you and Itachi got into that fight, and I was wondering if you are okay. I also heard you got really sick."
"Oh, that. Yeah, I'm fine now. We were able to work it out, and he apologized to me. And he also helped me get better," Kagome dismissed it.
Kisame sputtered for a second. "H-he apologized to you?"
"Yes."
"Wait. Are we talking about the same Itachi Uchiha here?"
"If you are talking about the one that lives here, then yes."
Kisame slumped back into his chair. Well, that was news. Couldn't say he was expecting that one.
"Oh, while you're here, are you doing anything today?" Kagome asked him eagerly.
"Well, I was going to get some training in today, but nothing else. Why?" Kisame asked.
"Leader told me to get one of you guy to take me to the nearest city market. I need to buy a month's supply of food for each member that eats. I was wondering if you could go with me?" Kagome inquired.
Kisame smiled. "Sure I'll go wi-"
"I will be going with Kagome," Itachi interrupted from the doorway.
Kisame and Kagome turned, surprised to see Itachi walking towards the sink. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and filled it from the sink.
"Are you sure Itachi? I don't mi-" Kisame started.
"Yes. I need something from the city, anyways. Your presence won't be needed," Itachi told him in a clipped cold tone.
Kisame quickly nodded. "If you say so, Itachi. Bye Kagome. I'll see you at dinner," he said before walking out of the kitchen.
Kagome turned and glared at Itachi. "What was that about?" she demanded hotly.
"Why did you not tell me first where you were going?" Itachi asked instead, not even bothering looking up from his cup.
"I just got the assignment. And I figured that you would be busy," Kagome said dismissively.
"You are to always tell me these things first," Itachi stated.
Kagome felt her anger start up. "You are not the boss of me."
"I beg to differ. I still have control over you, Kagome. Now go get ready; I want to get there before noon," Itachi ordered as he set his cup down by the sink.
Caught unaware, Kagome felt the necklace force her body to her and Itachi's room to get ready.
As Kagome got ready to go, she went on a mental rant. 'Why that self-centered, bossy little, uhh! And I thought that, after last night, he might lighten up a little bit! But no! He's still the same arrogant man that he was before!
When Kagome was done getting dressed, she looked herself over quickly to make sure she looked okay. Her jeans were light blue hip-huggers with a slight flare at the bottom, but besides that they were just plain jeans. Her shirt was a bright red baby-tee, also plain. She had the white and yellow envelopes with the money in it in her pocket.
Smoothing out a couple of wrinkles on her shirt, she left the room and headed back to Itachi. Kagome was still brimming with anger towards him. She couldn't believe that he acted as if nothing had happened. She'd thought that maybe he cared about her a little after he had helped her last night and apologized. Guess she was wrong about that one.
Kagome walked into the kitchen to see that it was empty. Thinking about it, she quickly left for the living room. There, sitting on the couch, was Itachi, looking as emotionless as usual. He looked at her when she entered the room, and even though his face was still blank she just knew he was saying 'you took that long to get ready?'
"Oh, just shut up." Kagome scowled crossing her arms over her chest.
Itachi stood up, and started to walk towards the door. "I didn't say anything," Itachi said as he opened the door and looked at her over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"
Kagome sighed, and let her arms drop as she followed him out the door. What had she been expecting? For Itachi to suddenly start treating her like they were longtime friends? No. That wouldn't be happening for quite some time. Well, at least he didn't demand that she follow him this time.
Pausing in her step, a thought occurred to Kagome. 'Wait a minute. Who says I even want to be friends with this jerk? I still hate his guts for putting this rosary on me! Right?'
Kagome pulled on her hair, and started walking again. She couldn't believe this! Was she already forgiving this self-centered jerk for taking away her freedom?! Kagome was horrified at the very thought. Looking at his back as she followed him out of the base and into the alleyway, she realized that she was slowly forgiving him. Nooo! How could she be this forgiving?! She was so sure yesterday that she hated his guts. She didn't want to forgive him.
So what if he had helped her? So what if he had let her cry on his shoulder, and took care of and protected her? She would have gotten over it. She had done it before.
Why, oh why, did he have to show her he had a human side? Why did she have to be so forgiving? She should be planning his demise right now, not trying to make friends with him.
Lost in her mental torture, Kagome didn't realize that Itachi had made a turn after they had left the alleyway, and walked straight into a wall. A very hard red brick wall.
Itachi stopped when he heard a loud thud, and looked behind him to see Kagome bent over slightly, and holding her nose with blood lightly spilling from her fingers. Walking back to where she was, he looked for what she had hit. Seeing a small amount of blood on a wall, he had to hold back his desire to slap his hand to his face.
She had run straight into a brick wall. This moronic girl had actually - in broad daylight - run straight into a brick wall. He thought that only Kisame did these types of idiotic things.
"Are you so stupid that you have to have me command you to stay behind me, just so you can walk straight?" Itachi asked.
"No!" Kagome snapped, glaring at him while still holding her nose.
"Then I suggest that you watch where it is that you are putting your feet. Next time, it just might be a cliff," Itachi said, glaring at her. He reached into his medic pouch, and pulled out a white cloth. "Here. I do not wish to be seen with someone who looked like they were picking their nose," He held the cloth.
Kagome glared at him, but snatched the cloth nonetheless. "If I walk off a cliff, it will be to get away from you," Kagome mumbled, not really caring if he heard her or not. Forget forgiving him. He wasn't human at all! He was back to being the devil that she was going to have to make life miserable for, as it was her divine duty to do this!
Taking care off her nose as they continued for the city, she stared at Itachi, and noticed that he wasn't wearing the tacky cloak. He was wearing loose black pants and a dark blue tight t-shirt, with a fishnet long-sleeve shirt underneath. He had a sword strapped to his back and a few weapon pouches. She was sure there were more weapons hidden on him that she couldn't see, too.
"Hey, Itachi?" Kagome tried to catch his attention. He didn't answer, but he briefly turned his head towards her to show he was listening. "Why aren't you wearing your ugly cloak? You know, the one with the gay-ish little girly clouds on it. The one that also makes you look like a play-dough glob with a head."
Itachi's eyes twitched. He didn't know what 'play-dough' was, but he got the picture. He didn't know which one he wanted to burn more now. Kagome or the cloak she kept insulting. He didn't really much care for vanity, but this was going a little hard on the insults. He hoped that wasn't really what the cloak made him look like.
"The Akatsuki members are not required to wear the cloaks when not on missions," Itachi replied through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you sound so disappointed about that. Don't worry. I'm sure that soon enough you will get another mission that requires you to wear that gay-ish girly cloud cape soon enough. You just have to be patient for these things," Kagome said, patting him on the back and sounding vaguely sympathetic.
Itachi clenched his fists, debating whether or not to kill this girl. What was with her and always hinting that he was gay? Why did everyone always just assume that?
"You will remain quiet, Kagome, or I shall make you do something you will not like," Itachi warned.
Kagome snapped her mouth shut. She wasn't sure what it is that Itachi would demand her to do, but she knew it would be bad. For all she knew, he could be thinking of making her walk around the town in her underwear. Could he do that? That would count as being mentally harmful, right?
She would have to find a way to ask Bob about all the rules later to make sure of them, and to try and find more loopholes.
Itachi looked at the sun, and then stopped. Kagome barely stopped in time to not run into him. She would never hear the end of that one if it happened again so soon after the wall incident, she was sure of it.
"How fast can you run?" Itachi asked Kagome.
"Um, I'm an okay runner, I guess. I can't do that instant popping up out of nowhere act thing you ninjas seem to, but I'm pretty alright," Kagome told him.
Itachi frowned. He wanted to get there before it got too late. He would have to carry her to save time. If they took too much time there, Pein would get suspicious. They were far enough away from base right now Pein wouldn't know the slight change in direction.
Itachi turned around, and debated the best way to carry Kagome. He didn't want both of his hands occupied, in case of an attack, so that took out bridal style or piggy-back. Smirking, he quickly grabbed Kagome while she was looking at the scenery, and flung her over his shoulder, then took off running.
Kagome had been quietly looking at a bird making its nest, when the next second she felt the wind knocked out of her in an all-too-familiar way. Looking up at what she thought would be her new kidnapper, she was surprised when she saw it was just Itachi.
"Itachi," Kagome demanded his attention once she had gotten her breath back.
"Hn."
"Why are we running? Are we being attacked, followed, or are you just trying to piss me off?" Kagome asked calmly.
"This way will save time," was Itachi's only reply.
"I see." Kagome nodded to herself. "So you are just trying to piss me off. In that case," Kagome sucked in a deep breath. "You put me down right NOW! What do you think you are doing, carrying me off like some barbaric half-wit? This HURTS you know! I'm going to have a bruise the size of a basketball if you keep this up; I'm not luggage, you know! I am capable of walking on my OWN here!" Kagome started screaming at him.
Itachi sighed. He knew that her talking calmly at first was too good to last. It would take half an hour at this pace to get where he wanted to be. He could only hope that Kagome wouldn't scream the whole way there.
A while later…
Kagome was playing with her hair with one hand, while propping herself up on her other fist, as she told Itachi blonde jokes to try and pass the time. "So then the blonde went in and told the mirror…"
"Kagome. I would like it if you were to be silent at this moment," Itachi said, shocking Kagome out of her joke.
Kagome looked around the clearing they were in, trying to see why they had stopped. There was nothing special about this place. She looked up to see Itachi looking around the clearing, clearly searching for something.
Finally, he picked her up off his shoulder, and dropped her behind him. Kagome was about ready to start yelling at him for it when she saw he was looking at the trees. Thinking they were about to be attacked, she mentally cursed herself for forgetting to bring her own weapons. Even if they were just going shopping, she should have brought her dagger, at the least.
Itachi finally found the right tree after a moment of searching. He was surprised that Kagome hadn't started yelling at him for dropping her like that yet. Walking up to the hollow tree, he felt around inside of it for the lever.
When his hand hit it something, he grabbed it and pushed down. It was a little bit stiff from not being used much, but it still worked. Stepping back from the tree, Itachi waited for the gears to start up.
Kagome was shocked when she saw stairs start to fall down underground in the middle of the clearing.
They weren't under attack. Itachi had dropped her on purpose! First chance she got, she was going to get back at him.
"Where are we, Itachi?" Kagome asked. It was pretty obvious that this wasn't the city.
"This is an old outpost of my clan. This is where you will repay me for my help," Itachi said before he started down the stairs. Kagome sighed, and followed Itachi into the hidden underground outpost.
Looking around the small square room, Kagome saw that it only had the basics. A cot, a small kitchen, a room that lead to a small bathroom, and there were shelves filled with supplies and weapons. It was also all very filthy. It looked liked no-one had been in the room for at least a year, if the dust was anything to go by.
Itachi waited for Kagome to finish getting in the outpost before he closed the door behind her by pushing a button of the wall.
"So why did we have to be in here to heal you?" Kagome asked, confused.
"I do not wish for others to know of my failing sight. I have many enemies, and do not wish for them to use it against me. This is the place you will heal me every time it is needed," Itachi said as he sat down on the cot.
"Okay," Kagome shrugged. It didn't really matter to her where it was that they did the healing. She just wished he could have given her some warning beforehand.
"Do you want me to do the healing right now?" Kagome asked. Itachi gave her a stiff nod.
"Is there anything that you will need before you start?" Itachi inquired.
"Um, I'll need you to explain the basics of your eyes to me before I start the healing, so I don't mess with anything I'm not supposed to," Kagome answered seriously.
Itachi nodded in agreement. It would be best if she knew what she was working with. "My eyes contain my clan bloodline technique. They have different levels of power, and have the ability to make illusions, copy others' attacks, and a few other things as well." He told her the main basics.
Kagome nodded seriously. Healing his eyes would be hard. She had to make sure to not purify them while fixing them, and keep their connection to the mind extremely strong. Suddenly, a thought popped up in her head.
Itachi watched as Kagome's face turned from one of the utmost seriousness to a happy reassuring fake smile. The type of smile that nurses gives you right before they inject you with a long needle that makes you unconscious. She was planning something. He just knew it. Glaring at her, he waited for her to say something.
'HELLO, ITACHI!' Bob suddenly shouted in his head. Itachi winced from the sudden and unexpected noise. It looked like Bob was awake.
'You will stop shouting immediately,' Itachi ordered.
'Jeez, talk about killjoy,' Bob said, more quietly that previously. 'So what cha' up to?'
'I am having Kagome heal my eyes. Though I do not trust that smile she has at the moment.'
'Hm… that's not her 'I will hurt you' smile, so you don't have to really worry too much about it,' Bob answered in a dismissive tone.
'I don't trust her,' Itachi told Bob plainly.
There was a moment of silence before Bob spoke back up. 'She is one of the most honorable people I know. She would never hurt someone she has promised to help. If you don't want her to heal your eyes, than go blind. Other than taking your brother's or Madara's eyes, this is your only choice,' Bob said seriously.
'…I will let her heal my eyes. But if I feel something is wrong, I will not hesitate to slit her throat,' Itachi stated.
'Knowing you, I don't doubt it," Bob responded dryly. "You really need to work on the whole 'trusting others' thing. So you went through a couple of major betrayals in the past. Big deal. Do you have any idea how many betrayals I've seen that people have gotten over?' Bob asked.
'How do you know of these?' Itachi questioned the Jewel angrily.
'I just thought it would be right that, if you got to invade Kagome's personal life, someone should be able to invade yours as well. It's a give and take type of deal,' Bob informed Itachi smugly.
"Okay," Kagome spoke up, breaking Itachi and Bob's conversation. "If you will just lay down, then I can get started," Kagome said a little bit too cheerily for Itachi's comfort. Nevertheless, Itachi laid down, and waited to find out what to do next. "Now, just keep your eyes closed. They may feel warm, or like when your leg is asleep and it gets all prickly. This is normal, and means it is working. If it becomes a burning pain, then stop me," Kagome said, now very serious again.
Itachi gave a sharp nod and closed his eyes. Soon, he felt Kagome gently put her hands over his eyes, resting them there lightly. After a couple of seconds, he felt warmth coming from her hands and slowly creeping into his eyes. It felt like laying in a sunbeam in the spring.
Itachi didn't know how long he had been laying there before the warm feeling turned into a pins-and-needles feeling. At first, he was slightly alarmed by the sudden feeling, before he remembered that Kagome had warned him of it. No longer as much at ease, Itachi waited to see if anything else would suddenly change.
Then, almost as soon as the pins-and-needles came, it was gone, and he felt Kagome pulling her hands away. He suddenly felt much colder, and found himself missing the warmth of her hands on him.
"I'm all done now. You can open your eyes now, Itachi," Kagome said softly.
Slowly opening his eyes, to give them time to adjust to the lighting, he was shocked by the clarity he now had seeing things. It was like he had been walking in a morning fog for the past years, and now it was like the sun had come out and the fog was gone.
Unknowingly, Itachi started to smile. Not an 'I'm going to hurt you and enjoy every second of it' smile. It was a real, true smile. One that sent Kagome's heart rate skyrocketing.
Feeling warmth rising to her cheeks, Kagome quickly looked away so that Itachi couldn't see it. She couldn't believe this! All it took was one smile to send her blushing like a little school girl?! The last time that she had started blushing like this was when she was still crushing on Inuyasha.
… … …
All thoughts came to an abrupt halt. She couldn't possibly… She could never… It just was not possible. It was just that simple; it wasn't possible that she could be crushing on… on… on…
She couldn't even say it, it was that impossible! She didn't have a crush on him, and that was that. End of story. It was just random hormones acting up at very inopportune moments.
Finalizing her decision, Kagome turned back to look at Itachi. She felt the bush springing back up to her face. That is, until she looked into his beautiful, deep, Sharingan pin-wheel-ish, hot pink eyes.
Kagome just stood there for a second. Itachi blinked. Yep, his eyes were still pink. Feeling a smile trying to break out, Kagome didn't even try to hold it back.
"How's your vision?" Kagome asked sweetly.
"Hn. It is acceptable," was Itachi's snobbish reply. It didn't get to Kagome though. Nope, she wasn't the one who had hot pink eyes right now. All she had to do to get her spirits back up was to look deeply into his pink eyes. Then her spirits will be back to top notch.
"Do you have any color tint, or anything like that?" Kagome asked, smiling.
"No. Let's go. I want to hurry up and get back to base before nightfall," Itachi ordered as he got off the cot, and pushed a button on the wall. The stairs fell back down, and Kagome followed Itachi back outside.
Looking at the placement of the sun, Itachi guessed it had taken half an hour to heal his eyes. It was a reasonable amount of time.
Kagome blinked, and squinted her eyes until they were adjusted to the bright light. Now that her humor was over, she was feeling the drain of healing. While it usually didn't take much out of her, Itachi's eyes were harder than she thought they would be to heal. Then the color change had taken a bit out of her, but it was so totally worth it. She couldn't wait to see Itachi's reaction to his eyes when he saw himself in a mirror.
Of course, she had no intention of being anywhere near him then, after she saw the look on his face. She already had an escape all planed out, though she wasn't looking forward to when he found her, because he would. She could always find Inuyasha from the pull of the rosary. There was just always a small tug in the back of your mind towards the rosary you had placed on someone.
Hopefully, by the time he found her, he would have cooled off a little of his steam. He couldn't get too mad about a little prank like this, could he?
End Chapter
Okay, I need to give credit to WhiteDemoness11 for the pink eyes prank. She sent this prank to me in chapter four and I really wanted to use it. So shout out to her.
Now for the info you need. I currently have writers block. And not to make a lot of excuses, but I'm going to be moving at anytime. (the date keeps changing. It's annoying.) So I don't know when my computer will be turned off. So if I don't update for a long time thats your reason.
Okay, thanks for reading that. Please review. I don't think any amount of begging will make you review more anyways so no point in lowering myself to that. :P
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