Chapter Ten: Training

After I was done with my shower I heard a knock on the door. I called out and Sen's voice answered. The two girls came in and Min rushed over and hugged me, smiling. I smiled and Sen and hugged Min back.

"I'm so glad to see you are ok Kagome! I thought Sasuke was going to do something horrible to you." Min mumbled against my shirt.

"Yes Kagome we both thought Sasuke would have done something to you last night. Especially when he told us to leave." Sen added to her sister's concerns.

I looked at both of them with a shocked look. Sasuke was many things, most which are not good, but he was never the type of guy to force himself onto anyone. "What do you mean? Sasuke isn't like that. He would never do something like….." The look Sen gave me made me stop mid-sentence.

Min let go of me and turned to face her sister. "Tell her Sen. Tell her about all of the different girls that Lord Sasuke has been with."

I was confused now. What girls? I looked at Sen and I saw pain in her eyes. Was she feeling sorry for me? Sen walked over and, taking me by the hand, led me to the bed. She sat down and pulled me down beside her. She kept a hold of my hand and I was starting to freak out. "Kagome-san Lord Sasuke has been with almost every girl in this hideout. Sometimes he forces them and sometimes they come to him willingly. We have heard the sounds and the girls talk about it all the time."

Min, who was sitting on my other side nodded enthusiastically. I sat there shocked. Sasuke? My Sasuke? Then I realized that that was the difference here. He wasn't mine. Sasuke hadn't been my Sasuke since he left the Leaf. He was different. Besides, why should this surprise me? Sasuke was good looking and any girl would fall for him. I got worried then. I looked up at Sen and saw she already knew my question.

"No Kagome. Sasuke has never taken an interest in me." She squeezed my hand gently to reassure me. I sighed then. I was glad that he had not hurt this girl. And Min was too young. "We have to go now. Lord Sasuke and Lord Orochimaru are waiting for you in the training hall."

Sen and Min got up and walked out of the room. I sat there a moment longer and got myself under control. Then I got up and walked out of the room. I followed them down a couple of hallways and we arrived at a normal sized door. Sen knocked on it then opened it up for me to go in. I walked into a huge room with no other exits. Standing on the far right wall was Orochimaru. And standing in the middle of the room was Sasuke.

Sasuke's Provo:

Orochimaru had wanted to start training with Kagome today. After I had left the room I went and told Sen and Min to go help Kagome get ready. Then I went to the great hall to wait.

Orochimaru was there with Kabuto when I walked in. Kabuto looked at me and I was happy to see a slight fear come into his eyes. Good he remembered our little talk. Kabuto said a few more things to Orochimaru then he left, keeping well out of my reach. I walked over to Orochimaru and waited.

"Sasuke Kabuto has told me that you beat up my men yesterday." While there was displeasure in his voice I knew he was ok with it. "We will have to reteach Kagome about fighting. She won't be a killer I assume and she will need to be hardened before I can trust her."

I didn't care what he thought about her, Kagome was strong enough to handle herself. She had nearly beaten me when we had gone to take her. Orochimaru wouldn't stand a chance against her, even if his arms where healed. I heard footsteps coming to the door, so I went to the center of the room. There was a knock and the door opened. Kagome stepped in and looked around. Then her eyes rested on me.

The look she gave me was a mixture of hurt and anger, but I had no idea why she would be angry. Was she made about the kiss this morning? Did I forget to do something, say something? I was a little confused here, as Orochimaru stepped up.

"Good morning Kagome-kun. How are you feeling today?" Kagome looked at him with the same glare she had given me. "Oh are we not in a good mood? I do hope Sasuke-kun was a gentleman last night, but you know how young men are."

I thought she was going to kill him. I cleared my throat and looked pointedly at her, reminding her that her chakra was sealed.

Orochimaru had seen the look and seemed to understand it. "Oh and about your chakra seal, I will have Kabuto remove it when I feel that I can trust you. Until then, you will be training with Sasuke in weapons and hand to hand combat." Orochimaru turned to a table on the wall across from him.

Kagome turned to look and then walked over to the table. She examined the different weapons on there and I could tell she didn't like any of them. Kagome had a sword that was beautiful as well as deadly. It had belonged to her family for years and after the massacre Kagome had found it and kept it. That was the sword she had used to fight me with, and it was the sword Kabuto had broken before we had left the Leaf.

I walked over to Kagome and pulled a sword from the rope around my waist and handed it to her. Kagome looked at the sword then at me then back to the sword. She pulled it out of its scabbard and stared at it, stunned. The sword Kagome's family had kept was the twin of a sword my family had owned. The only difference was that Kagome's sword had a red gemstone, while the sword she held now had a blue gemstone.

Kagome looked at the sword, turning it over in her hand, getting the feel of the weight. Orochimaru cleared his throat, getting my attention. "Well now that Kagome has her weapon of choice, why don't we get started?"

Kagome tied the sword to her hip and walked to the middle of the room with me. We got to the middle and then walked away from each other.

Kagome pulled her sword out and got into a guard position. I followed her lead, and then we both waited. Orochimaru cleared his throat again. "Round one. Go!"

Kagome's Provo

I lunged at Sasuke and he blocked, sending me sliding past him. Sasuke spun to hit my back, but I dove out of his reach. Sasuke lunged again and again driving me back. I stopped his advance and he knocked my sword out of my hand. I jumped away from him and he followed bringing his sword in an arch to hit the top of my head. I ducked, grabbed my sword, and aimed low at his leg.

Then Sasuke disappeared. I got up and walked around slowly. There was a balcony that went all the way around the room and it was covered in shadow. Orochimaru was standing next to the light switch and he flicked it on. With the lights back on I saw Sasuke leaning against the railing looking down at me with that arrogant smirk on his face.

I jumped up and landed five feet beside him, in a guard position. Sasuke turned and lunged at me. I blocked and Sasuke grabbed my sword arm. He swung me and I hit the wall hard. My sword dropped and I was dizzy. I got my sense of direction and found Sasuke's sword at my neck. Round one went to Sasuke.

Orochimaru clapped and Sasuke lowered his weapon. I picked mine up then followed Sasuke down to the ground floor. Orochimaru nodded his head in approval then walked out. I sheathed my sword and stood there, trying to breathe normally.

While we had been fighting I had been thinking about how much of a contradiction Sasuke was. He was the one who had kidnapped me, brought me to Orochimaru, and sealed my chakra, my only line of defense. Then I found out he had slept with more girls then I could count, some unwillingly, and that he planned to do the same thing to me.

But then he was the boy that I had known for my whole life. He knew how much my family sword had meant to me and he knew that I had been heart broken when Kabuto had broken it. He had given me a new sword that was just like it, probably had to made especially for me before I came here. He remembered the scent of bathing things that I used and had gotten them for me. And last night when I had been so broken up he had, unknowingly, made me feel safe again.

How could someone that can be so cruel be so amazing? I snuck a glance at Sasuke and found that he was looking at me. I looked away and waited for him to say something.

"What was with you?" I turned to look at him. "You were angry about something when you came in. Did something happen?"

"Sen and Min told me some things. They said they were glad to see you hadn't done anything to me during the night." I looked at him and I knew that my eyes had narrowed. I felt that anger rising in my chest. "If there is something I should know then I think now is the time to tell me." I was going to give him one chance to come clean with me. If he didn't then I would know how to deal with him from now on. If he did then maybe we could salvage a friendship.

He didn't. "What are you talking about? What I did is none of your concern." Sasuke's eyes had narrowed too and I saw a small bit of anger in them, but there was something else too. Was it guilt, sorrow, maybe regret?

No, he would never look like that. The other Sasuke would, but not this one. I looked away from him. Tears were coming, and I couldn't cry in front of him. I heard footsteps behind me and I felt Sasuke put his hand on my shoulder, trying to turn me to face him. I moved away but he grabbed me and pulled me around.

SLAP! I took off running out of the room. I remembered the way back to the room and I ran into the room slamming the door behind me. I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I didn't want Sasuke coming after me. I leaned against the wall and started to cry. I fell down and pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my head in my arms.

I didn't want to get up or move. I didn't want to do anything but cry. Last night when I had cried about the dream, I had gotten over that. But this time, I didn't know if I could forget. All I thought about was 'Why did it have to be like this?'