And here we are again! Chapter ten! Yea!
Disclaimer- Nope.
Ka~Go~Me….
She grumbled, shaking her head, "five more minutes…"
Higurashi Kagome, wake up.
She didn't recognize the voice, but the command was enough to stir her from sleep. She sat up and blinked rapidly, disoriented for a moment. Why was she laying on concrete, and why was the entire village asleep around her?
Her eyes widened as the memory of the Chunin exams rushed over her. Jumping to her feet, she rushed down to where her brother and his friends silently snoozed.
Grabbing a hold of Souta's shoulders, she shook his roughly, "Souta! Wake up!"
He blinked awake and glared at her, "What's the big deal Ane?"
She sighed and motioned to the sleeping village, "We where all caught in a jutsu that put us to sleep. Wake up as many people as you can. I'm going to see what's going on in in the village."
He nodded and she took off, cursing herself for allowing the masked nin to escape.
Forcing her chakra into her legs, she ran through the village. Battles where breaking out all across the village and she noticed that the invading nin wore either hitai-ate with the symbol for sand or sound. A sand nin noticed her and attacked, his kunai flying through the air with deadly accuracy. It tore through the fabric of her yukata, ripping the sleeve and barely missing her shoulder. She dodged and pulled a rose from behind her ear. The sand nin laughed until he saw the tiny flower transform in to her weapon. Wasting no time, she summoned the weapons second stage and lashed back, wrapping around his throat and puncturing the jugular veins on both sides of his neck. She pulled back on the whip, forcing it to shred the flesh beyond repair, before rushing further into the village.
She came upon her least favorite masked nin as he battled three others. Sakura stood beside him, trying to help him battle off the three nin.
Kagome smiled and rushed over to them, coming to stand by Kakashi's side.
"Seems like the fun started with out me." she laughed as she lashed at a sound nin as he tried to do hand seals.
Kakashi chuckled and threw a kunai at another of the nin "Nice to see your awake from your nap."
He turned his attention to Sakura and ordered her to go wake Naruto and Shikamaru. Sakura nodded and disappeared, leaving Kakashi and Kagome to finish off the nin.
"You know." he stated as he knocked out the last sound nin, "I usually wouldn't condone the use of forbidden jutsu, but I think this is a great instance to use your Kuruizaki."
Kagome nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."
An explosion rocked the ground under them, causing both hidden leaf nin to look into the forest. Sand whirled into the air, causing Kagome's eyes to widen.
"Kakashi, that sand nin, Gaara, is he a jinchuriki?"
Kakashi didn't answer, pulling a scroll from his pocket. Kagome watched him with little interest as he summoned forth a small pug looking dog. She smiled.
"Pakkun, nice to see you again."
The dog nodded to her, "And you Higurashi. What do you guys need?"
Kakashi straightened, "I need you to find Sasuke."
Pakkun nodded and stuck his nose in the air, searching for the boys scent. Once he caught it he nodded in the direction.
"He's that way."
Kakashi nodded and turned back to Kagome, "I'll go after Sasuke and Gaara. The Hokage was taken prisoner by Orochimaru."
Kagome nodded and looked towards the Hokage tower, "I'll do what I can."
He nodded and then looked to Pakkun. The two leaf nin split up, Kakashi rushing into the forest while Kagome ran towards the Hokage tower.
She felt a dark chakra flow through the village and paused, turning towards the path Kakashi had taken. What she saw had her pulse nearly choking her. Gaara, or what she assumed was Gaara, was flying above the trees, his face even more grotesque, a deformed arm prturding from his body. For the first time in a long time she felt icy fear curl in her stomach.
Shaking the fear away she turned and continued through the village. Kakashi can handle it I hope. If not…
She shook her head, not wanting to go there.
She scaled a wall and up onto the roof, taking a moment to look over the village. The hidden leaf was putting up a good fight, but it seemed that the sand and sound nin where never ending. Kagome's eyes landed on her brother and his team. Shiori had her barrier erect and every time someone would get close to it they where shocked by her strange chakra. Souta and Kohaku both held their weapons, using them expertly. Kagome smiled when she saw that her brothers whip had sharp thorns down its shaft, proving that he had awakened the second stage of his weapon. It was daunting to see that every nin they took down two more took their place.
Kagome scowled and pulled the second flower from behind her ear. Releasing the second whip into its second stage, she jumped down in front of them. A sand nin took a step back, a bit weary of their new combatant. She smiled cruelly and lashed forward, using her training of vital points to incapacitate the enemy easily.
"You know." Souta chuckled, "I could have handled it."
Kagome turned back to him and smiled, "Well, I'll keep that in mind for next time."
He nodded, "Well, go on then. I can take care of my self."
Kagome nodded and continued on her trek towards the Hokage tower.
…
Two delays later, she curled both of her blood splattered whips up and secured them to her side. She didn't need to hold them constantly to supply them with the chakra they needed to keep their form. She looked up at the Hokage tower, the sight daunting to say the least. Four sound nin surrounded the Hokage and Orochimaru as they continued to fight.
Kagome watched as the Hokage stood beside two clones that looked like the First and the Second. She growled and forced her chakra into her legs and leaped the distance between herself and the battle.
One of the sound nin broke from the barrier and attacked her, causing Kagome to flip backwards and come perilously close to the edge of the tower. The sound nin sneered and prepared an attack that would fling her from the top.
Kagome grinned and lashed forward with her whip, wrapping the thorny weapon around the nins arm. She pulled back wards, imbedding the thorns deeply into his arm, some even tearing the flesh deep enough for nerve damage. He screamed and brought out a kunai, intent on cutting the whip from his arm. Kagome pulled once more, forcing her chakra into the plant more. She was immensely surprised when the plant didn't wither, instead it began to glow a purple color, and the thorns seemed to leak a clear liquid from their tips.
The nin screamed once more before falling to his knees, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Horrified, Kagome pulled her weapon free and he fell the rest of the way, sliding off the roof.
Looking down at her weapon, she felt an uncommon thrill pump through her. Looking up at the other nin, she smirked.
"alright." her voice sounded rough even to her, "whose next?"
The exchanged looks between each other before two more rushed her. She chuckled and leaped into the air. Brining both her hands up to do a simple hand seal. Two clones appeared at her side and flew down at the two, both lashing a whip downward.
Kagome landed and ran towards the last nin, intent on destroying her before she went to the Hokage's side.
She paused before rushing at the female, noticing the Hokage was doing something she had never seen before. It looked like he was pulling the soul from Orochimaru.
Her pause was enough for the sound nin to attack her. Kagome glanced over in just enough time to dodge a potentially deadly attack, but it forced her to totter dangerously over the edge. She regained her balance in just enough time to watch Orochimaru procure a sword from his mouth and stab the Hokage.
Her eyes widened, horror filling her as she watched the Hokage stumble. She lashed forward with her whip, her anger blinding her. She wrapped her whip around the sound nins legs and pulled, forcing her to loose her balance and go toppling off the roof. She stood in horror as she watched the Hokage's jutsu pulled Orochimaru's souls arms and sliced them off.
Orochimaru cried out as his arms turned a sickly gray color. He turned to the sound nin that where still engaged with her clones.
"Retreat!"
Kagome watched as the barrier around the Hokage dissipated and the sound nin threw down a smoke bomb. Kagome, recognizing the smoke as the one they had used once before, covered her mouth and nose.
By the time the smoke dissipated they where gone and the Hokage was prone on the roof. She rushed over to him, dropping to her knees beside him.
"Please, Hokage-sama. Sarutobi! Wake up!"
She shook him hard, his head lolling back and forth limply. She felt tears prick her eyes and for once allowed them to fall.
"Please just wake up."
To her dismay he didn't open his eyes, a look of immense peace covering his face. She laid across the man she looked up to like a grandfather and screamed her pain, not caring who heard her.
A demonic roar snapped her from her grief induced haze and she turned to see what appeared to be a giant raccoon standing outside of Konoha. She stood up, wiping her tears away, and assed the situation. To her amazement and horror, she watched as Naruto jumped from the back of a the boss toad and head butted what appeared to be Gaara, sticking from the head of the demon.
Everything seemed to slow down then. She watched as the demon dissipated in a swirl of sand.
Looking down she saw the villagers, both adults and children, fighting against the remaining sand and sound nin. She relaxed back on her haunches and ran her hand through her hair, allowing the tears to fall freely.
The village main be winning, she thought, turning back to the fallen man behind her, but it will never be the same.
….
The next few days went by in a flash for Kagome. Everyone turned up for the funeral, and almost everybody was crying.
Unfortunately she couldn't bring herself to share in their sorrow.
The people in her district surprised her though. For the time being they where putting aside their better than thou attitude and helping in the rebuilding of the village. She was certain it wouldn't last though, and bided her time until her clan stuck their righteous noses in the air and left the village to their own reconstruction.
Today she walked around her district, observing the children playing. It had become a past time of sorts, making her feel a little better when observing their antics together.
Kagome observed Rin and her eyes softened a little. She viewed the little girl like she was her own sibling, wanting the best for her. Her eyes brows knit together when she noticed that Rin wasn't running with her friends, instead favoring to walk. She also noticed, though it seemed to escape everyone else, that she was moving with a small limp.
Serious now, the older girl made her way over to the child. Rin looked up and beamed at her. Kagome couldn't help the smile the curved her lips, even as her eyes still held their hard edge as she observed the child. A dark bruise peaked out from the sleeve of her small dress, like someone had grabbed her roughly. Kagome also noticed a fading bruise on her face, just below her eyes.
"Rin, are you ok?"
She nodded, walking up to Kagome. "I'm fine Kagome-sama. Why do you ask?"
Kagome smiled and knelt down in front of the child, smoothing her hair out of her face, "Oh, I was just wondering. Hey how about you come home with me and I'll get you an ice cream?"
Rin brightened and flung her small arms around Kagomes neck. Kagome smiled and lifted the small girl into her arms gently. She smiled down at her as they walked through the district towards the Higurashi main house.
Sitting Rin down at the table, Kagome turned to the freezer and pulled out a colorful popsicle. Unwrapping it, she handed it to the small child and sat down across from her.
"Rin," Kagome began softly, watching the child as she delightfully stuffed the popsicle in her mouth, "where did you get those bruises?"
Rin's eyes widened and her hand went to the fading bruise on her face, "I-I got them while training Kagome-sama."
Kagome leveled her with a disapproving look, knowing that the child was hiding something.
"Rin…"
Rin looked close to tears, "Kagome-sama, you cant tell anyone, not even Souta-chan."
Kagome nodded and folded her hands beneath her chin, "I promise Rin. Now tell me the truth."
The tears escaped then and the child looked down, as if ashamed by something, "I was playing outside past curfew. Tou-san got angry and punished me."
Kagome felt her anger boil hot beneath her skin. She was careful not to change her outward expression though, in fear of upsetting Rin further.
Those bastards. she inwardly seethed, no matter what I do they will never change.
Kagome closed her eyes and sighed, "Show me your leg Rin."
The child nodded, sniffling. Kagome opened her eyes and watched as she stood up and rolled her dress up over her legs.
What she saw made Kagome sick.
Dark bruises covered the child's legs, thin like some one had taken a strip of leather to them. Dark purple and yellowish green covered the top of her legs, and Kagome had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming.
It's a wonder she's not in the hospital.
Kagome closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, then another. She couldn't loose control, not in front of the girl.
Opening her eyes again she noticed that Rin seemed to recede into herself. Fearing that she had scared the child, Kagome knelt on the floor in front of her. Gently placing her hands on her shoulders, Kagome mustered up the biggest smile she could.
"Its alright Rin. I'm not angry at you."
Rin nodded but still seemed unsure. Kagome pulled the child into a soft embrace, her heart breaking when she felt the girl shaking with silent sobs.
Kagome held her, unsure of what else to do. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, trying to reform her clan with some many against her, but this? Turning their aggression on a child?
She closed her eyes and ran her fingers soothingly through the girls hair. She would make it right.
There's only one thing left I can do.
She found the thought a lot less horrifying then she figured it would be. In all actuality, the thought brought an uncommon joy to her.
After all, her father said that weeding their garden was ok.
Kagome smiled and pulled back from the child, "Finish your ice cream Rin. I'll call my Otouto and he can come and show you his new jutsu. Ok?"
Rin nodded, brightening at the idea of Souta showing her anything. She pulled back from Kagome and sat back down at the table, sticking her now half thawed ice cream in her mouth.
Kagome walked through the house to Souta's room, knowing he was inside reading a book his sensei had given him.
Kagome opened the door and regarded her brother with a flat look, "I want you to take Rin and show her your jutsu. Entertain her until sundown and then put her in my room for the night."
Souta looked up at Kagome, confused, "Where will you be Ane?"
Kagome didn't answer his question, turning from his room to go back to her own.
Soon, she thought, sliding the screen closed behind her, soon I will make them all see the error of their ways.
….
Itachi stood outside the village of Konoha. His mission was simple, find Uzumaki Naruto and bring him back to the hide out. They would extract the nine tailed beast from him and use its chakra for their own purposes.
Kisame chuckled from beside him, "Bring back any memories, Itachi?"
Itachi didn't answer, his heart rate doubling.
Will I see her?
He pushed the thought away. If he did see her, she would try to kill him. And he would be forced to retaliate.
I was unable to kill her once, he thought as they disappeared into the village, am I so sure I will be able to do it this time?
His thought where brought to a halt by the appearance of two nin in front of them.
"Uchiha Itachi!"
He regarded the male with cold red eyes, "Sarutobi."
Asuma took a fighting stance, regarding the two cloaked nin in front of him. He mentally knew that odds weren't in his favor, even with Yuhi at his side.
"Kisame." Itachi stated, turning to his blue partner, "get rid of these pests. I'll go on ahead."
Kisame smiled, showing sharp shark like teeth, "My pleasure Itachi."
He gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it free, "Its been a while since my Samehada was able to dine on chakra. This shall be a treat."
Itachi rolled his eyes at his partners banter and continues forward, only to be stopped by Kakashi.
Kakashi glared at Itachi, "You will go no further."
Itachi glared back, "And whose to stop me?"
Kakashi lifted his head band to reveal his sharingan, "I am."
Itachi closed his eyes, wondering why so many people where so eager to rush to their deaths.
Itachi opened his eyes, his sharingan swirling, as Kakashi attacked him quickly. Unfazed by the rushing nin, Itachi stared at him. Capturing his eyes, Itachi did a simple hand seal and trapped Kakashi into his jutsu.
Kakashi struggled against it, though he could feel his resolve weakening. Glaring at the Uchiha, Kakashi spat on the ground.
"Why have you returned to Konoha?"
Itachi didn't break eye contact, "We are here for Uzumaki Naruto."
Kakashi's eyes widened, realizing that Akatsuki where up to, "You wish to use the nine tailed fox."
Itachi's eyes narrowed, "Kisame."
Kisame paused in his battle with the two other nin, "Hai, Itachi?"
"Kill the others, but bring Kakashi with us."
Kisame smiled once again, "You are just full of surprises today Itachi."
Just as Kisame was about to do as his partner said, a new fighter showed up. Guy stood between the blue skinned nin and the other hidden leaf shinobi.
Itachi sighed, "We did not come to Konoha to start a war."
With that said, they disappeared, leaving the injured nin alone.
Hmmm…Itachi thought as the hidden village of leaves disappeared from behind them, it appears as if my pet is otherwise engaged. Else she would have run to me as soon as she felt my chakra.
He smiled, being sure to leave a small trail of it behind them. He knew that she would follow, knew that she would come to him.
I want to see her in the flesh once more, before I disappear again.
…
Kagome walked from her home, intent on going to the elders and calling a clan meeting. She paused, feeling something brush up against her senses. It felt like the caress of a lover, dark and tempting.
Her eyes widened and she turned to the source of the feeling, her pulse jumping into her throat.
No, it couldn't be…
She ran through the village, pushing her body faster then she had ever before. She paused when she saw three nin running the opposite direction, an unconscious Kakashi with them.
"What is going on here?" she demanded, dropping in front of them.
Asuma regarded her with cautious eyes, "We had a little problem at the gates."
Kagome crossed her arms, her expression cold, "Oh? And what little problem is this?"
Asuma floundered for an explanation. Yuhi stepped forward, knowing of Kagome's upgrade from ANBU to hunter.
"Itachi was at the gate. He and his partner are searching for Naruto."
Kagome felt like her heart had stopped.
Why is Itachi after Naruto? Could they be planning on using the nine tailed fox?
Shaking the thought from her head, she nodded, "I'll go then. They shouldn't have gotten to much of a head start."
Yuhi nodded and watched as Kagome disappeared. She turned back to Asuma and Guy, "I think it best Sasuke does not know of his brothers appearance in Konoha."
They both silently agreed, neither one noticing a pair of red eyes watching them from the shadows.
…
Naruto sat in the hotel room, bored out of his mind. He couldn't believe Jirya had left him to go do research on his new book.
Sighing he laid on the bed, flipping a kunai in the air. When they had been sent to find this Tsunade, he had expected it to be an adventure. But now he was starting to doubt that his sensei knew anything other than being a pervert.
A knock came from the door and Naruto sighed, catching his kunai before walking towards the door.
"You know, pervy sage, this would be a lot more productive if-"
His statement died on his lips as he looked up at the two cloaked nin. He stumbled back, fear in his eyes.
"Wh-who are you?"
Itachi said nothing and grabbed Naruto by his collar.
"That was easier than I thought it would be!" Kisame exclaimed, a little disappointed.
Itachi dragged Naruto out into the hall, "Hn. We still need to get him back to the hide out."
"ITACHI!"Itachi sighed and turned to the owner of the voice. He regarded his Otouto with bored eyes. Sasuke glared back at Itachi, their eyes clashing.
"Release Naruto."
Itachi sighed and threw the struggling blonde. Sasuke regarded Naruto silently as he regained his balance.
"Run dobe. Get as far away from here as you can."
Naruto scoffed and stood beside Sasuke, "As if, teme."
Itachi chuckled darkly, "Seems as if your boyfriend doesn't want to leave you. How touching, Otouto."
Sasuke glared. Itachi watched him plant his hand towards the ground, a crackling mass of lightening appearing in his palm. He stood his ground as his brother rushed at him. Scoffing, Itachi grabbed his brother hand before he could land the Chidori attack and evaded it effortlessly.
"Haven't changed at all, have you Otouto. Still weak and useless."
Sasuke growled and kicked at his brother. Itachi evaded effortlessly and struck Sasuke hard in the abdomen, sending him flying back down the hall.
Naruto, watching Sasuke failing, decided there only way to actually survive was to summon Boss Toad. He went through the hand seals and bit his thumb, but before he could complete the summon, he felt his chakra being drained from him.
Kisame laughed, holding his giant wrapped sword, "Not so fast, brat."
He repositioned his sword in preparation for his attack, but was stopped by the appearance of an older man. He stood between the missing nin and the hidden leaf genin, preparing to defend them.
"Jirya, this doesn't concern you." Itachi stated emotionlessly.
Jirya turned slightly to Naruto and Sasuke, "Get out of here. I'll hold them off."
Sasuke glared, "No. I will kill Itachi."
Itachi looked over at his brother, meeting the younger rage filled gaze with his own impassive one. Sasuke, not daunted by his brothers impassive gaze rushed forward, his Chidori crackling.
Again Itachi evaded it. With Sasuke, worn from using the attack twice, in his grasp, he began to pummel his younger brother.
Landing a kick to his gut, Sasuke flew across the hall once more, and Itachi scoffed.
"You are still to weak for me to even bother fighting against you, Sasuke. You will never be strong enough to take my life."
He activated his sharingan and trapped Sasuke in his Tsukuyomi. He watched impassively as his brother lost consciousness and shook his head.
A building of chakra brought his attention back to Jirya, who was preparing a strong attack. Seeing there was no way they where going to complete their mission this day, Itachi turned to Kisame and nodded.
They turned and made their escape, bursting through the wall at the end of the hall, disappearing into the village before Jirya could attack them.
….
Kagome rushed through the forest, the taste of her pulse on the back of her tongue. She was both excited and fearful as she followed the chakra trail into the small village. Excited at the prospect of seeing him again, fearful at the fact that she knew it would come to blows between them.
She heard an explosion and paused on the outside of the building. She looked up at watch the side of a building blowing out and two cloaked figured jumping from it before disappearing.
She cursed and ran back into the forest, hoping that she wasn't to late.
She could feel Itachi's chakra, he was so close, she just needed to move a bit faster.
To her immense surprise her chakra spiked, causing her to flash through the trees.
She saw a flash of black underneath her and slowed her speed, coming to a complete stop at the base of a large oak. Pulling her rose from behind her ear, she counted back from five as she awaited them to come through the foliage.
When they did, she wasn't sure if she was more pleased of terrified.
Itachi came to a complete halt, his eyes returned back to their cold black. They stood across from each other in silence. He regarded her with a blank expression, taking in her appearance in one lingering look. Her hair was longer then he had last seen, her skin a bit more tanned. Her clothing wasn't that of the ANBU uniform, a pair of black shorts, a black midriff with a fish net matting over it. In her hand she held two roses, and he knew from her chakra spike that she could use both of them. Her usual earth colored eyes where speckled with purple, which was odd. Beautiful, but odd all the same.
"Hey Itachi, you want me to kill her?"
Itachi regarded his partner with a heated look, "you will not touch her, Kisame. This fight is mine."
Kagome scoffed and formed her whips, "Then lets fight, Itachi. Lets end this."
He nodded and undid the cloak that dignified him a member of Akatsuki. She smiled a little sadly and rushed forward. She flung her whip out and Itachi dodged it easily. He didn't account for the second one though, and it lashed by him, nicking his face slightly. He wiped the blood from his face and activated his sharingan.
Kagome quickly evaded his gaze and flipped backwards. Itachi rushed forward, displaying an impossibly amount of speed, and did a serious of hand signals. Kagome barely evaded the giant fireball as it flew by her, the heat causing her skin to burn slightly.
She lashed back catching him off guard slightly. Her whip wrapped around his arm and she had a split second to decide. She forced more chakra into the vines and forced them into their second stage, thorns springing up down the weapon and imbedding into his flesh.
Itachi winced slightly as her weapon sliced through his skin. Kagome watched in astonishment as he did not reach forward to free himself. Instead, he wrapped the vine further up his arm, forcing her either to pull back or be dragged across the space between them. Deciding it would be best to not come with in reach of Itachi, she pulled back. His smile was cruel as he pulled the whip tight, forcing her to loose her balance. With a final pull he pulled her towards him.
When she was with in reach, he released his grip on her thorny weapon and buried his hand in the back of her head. She hissed as he forced her to meet his gaze.
"You have become stronger pet" he whispered, his sharingan spinning, "but you lack the one element that would make you victorious."
Itachi tightened his grip in her hair, delighted when he tore a whimper from her throat. He brought his face down until they where so close he could hear her pulse beating rapidly beneath her flesh.
"You wont kill me." he whispered, before smashing his lips over hers. When she didn't respond, he tightened his hand in her hair again, causing her to gasp. He delved his tongue into her mouth, demanding her response. She kissed him back slowly and he was overjoyed.
Pulling back from her he caught her gaze. Casting his jutsu over her, he watched her eyes dull before they closed. Releasing her to fall to the forest floor, he walked back to his cloak and picked it up.
"Hey Itachi, you want to take her with us?" Kisame asked, motioning to the now unconscious woman. Itachi re-dawned his cloak and turned back to Kagome's prone figure.
"Iie, leave her here."
Kisame chuckled, "After that exchange I would expect you to want to keep her, not leave her out here to be eaten alive by beasts."
He turned to Kisame, his eyes going cold, "I said leave her. And do not mention to the others about her."
Kisame held his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright! Alright! Damn! No need to bite my head off!"Itachi 'hn'ed before turning away and disappearing into the forest. Truth be told he wanted to take her, wanted nothing more than to rush her back to their hide out and keep her tied to his bed.
But he knew she would never allow that. She would fight him and he would be forced to kill her. Something he did not take pleasure in the thought of doing.
But her reaction to his kiss gave him hope that maybe, someday, she would come to him.
I can wait pet. He thought as they disappeared into the forest, I can wait until you finally see that there is no other way but mine.
Oooo! One more chapter after this and part one is done! Hope I get tones of reviews, because you know how much I love them! Their like cake to a starving author! So please keep reviewing and I'll keep posting!