Title: Koumajutsu
Author: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or "Inuyasha". This will be Canon Naruto and Alternate Universe Inuyasha. The main pairing is decided; all others are still being worked out.
Chapter fourteen: Eight O'Clock
'For heaven's sake!' Tsunade screamed mentally as the banging on her bedroom door got louder and more insistent. She threw back the covers, growling in frustration. Her eyes looked blearily at her clock. 5:28 AM. It wasn't even half past five yet!
"Tsunade-sama!" That was Shizune's voice. Or, as a grumpy, hung-over Hokage was quick to amend, it was a dead woman's voice. A smart, alive woman who had any hope for their future did not bang on Tsunade's bedroom door in the middle of the night.
'This had better be important,' she thought miserably as she pulled herself away from the sweet promises her pillow was whispering at her. Her feet carried her to the door and her hand tossed the lock. Two seconds (and a turn of the door handle) later and Shizune tipped precariously into the room.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune said with surprise, blinking at Tsunade's choice pajamas.
Tsunade glared at her assistant. "What?" she demanded. "You act like you haven't seen me in my elderly form before!" Yes, Tsunade did look a bit…old. There weren't many obvious signs other than crows feet around her eyes and wrinkles around her lips and nostrils. But the wrinkles were the very reason Tsunade performed the youth jutsu, so that—as Gai would say—she could retain her youthful looks.
"Um, no, Tsunade-sama," Shizune shook her head. "It's not that…" again she glanced at Tsunade with that strange look on her face.
"Then what!" Tsunade demanded.
Shizune looked like she didn't want to say it, but the girl knew better than to try keeping something from Tsunade when the elder woman wanted to know it. "Um, why are you wearing sock-monkey pajamas, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade looked at her pajamas. "You have a problem with my pajamas, Shizune?" she asked dangerously.
"No, no! Tsunade-sama, no problem, um…" she fidgeted and tried to remember why she'd come in the first place. She was usually so perfectly attentive, but the sock-monkey pajamas threw her off. "Tsunade-sama, Shino has come back from his mission."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes and prepared to snap the door shut. "This could have waited until morning, Shizune! Tell the team good work, pay them, and bother me tomorrow!"
"Tsunade-sama, wait!" Shizune was unfortunately in the way of the door slamming shut. Doors didn't like closing with bodies in the way. Shizune ought to get out of the way… so that Tsunade could slam her door shut.
"What, Shizune," Tsunade grumbled, very annoyed.
"Kiba and Hinata weren't with him when he came back—and he really needs to talk to you! I told him to wait until morning, but he said it can't wait."
Tsunade frowned and thought for a moment. Shino wasn't one to take things lightly, so it stood to reason that if he thought it important enough, it likely was. Tsunade didn't categorize all the youth of Konoha in the same category as Konohamaru and Naruto. Some of them were quite capable of understanding what the difference between 'immediate' and 'not urgent enough to wake a slumbering Tsunade and risk her wrath in the middle of the night'.
"Fine," Tsunade said. "I'll be in the office in ten minutes." Shizune nodded and hurried away to tell Shino. It actually took Tsunade fifteen minutes to prepare herself to go to the office and another five minutes to get there. Since Shizune knew Tsunade so well and didn't argue the time-frame of ten minutes (which was always code for twenty minutes), Tsunade was assured it wasn't that important that it couldn't wait another ten. She was fully prepared, youth jutsu performed and all.
Shino looked exhausted. That was the first thing Tsunade noticed. He was holding a scroll of parchment in one hand. His hood had fallen to reveal disheveled hair and he'd taken off his sunglasses. He was littered with cuts and bruises as if he'd been attacked by some sort of wild gang of birds.
"Shino?" Tsunade asked, fully awake now. "Where are Kiba and Hinata?" She suddenly feared the worst. Shino was no green ninja. He was very skilled at what he did. Kiba and Hinata were also fairly decent ninja—perhaps not as great at it as Shino, but none of them were pushovers!
So, why was Shino looking so bad and where was Kiba and Hinata?
Shino shook his head as though to clear it of the fuzz. "Um," he started, and Tsunade nearly choked on air. Shino said 'um'?? He never did that, as sure as he had never laughed in his life. "Kiba is… retrieving the girls… Hinata is… taking care of that girl…" Shino said.
Tsunade frowned. "Why are you so exhausted?" she asked.
"I…ran all the way here…"
"Why?" Tsunade asked. "Why did you do that?"
Shino raised the scroll. "I have to deliver this to Hatake-san. And I'm supposed to tell Hatake-san that the Higurashi Summoner belonging to Sesshoumaru is at the village."
Shino glared at the scroll venomously, as though through sheer will alone he would be able to make the parchment start on fire. Tsunade frowned in confusion. "Kakashi, huh? He's not here now. He's on a"—Shino swore violently before Tsunade could even finish. She trailed off and her frown grew deeper.
'What is this all about?' she wondered, eying the scroll. Shino was acting entirely out of character for himself, and not only that but he looked like hell, and she was ultimately curious why. She bet she would get some answers if she looked in that scroll, and not even her losing streak could possibly deter her from taking up that personal bet. "Give me the scroll."
Shino looked torn for a moment about what to do. She wondered why he was having such a problem about obeying an order. She wanted to see what was in that scroll. Who was it from, and what did they want to say to Kakashi? Admittedly, she was apprehensive about Kakashi ever since finding out he'd been trained by the Tengomi clan of Exterminators amongst the Yobidasu.
So, if that scroll was for Kakashi, then it stood to reason it might give Tsunade a little more insight into the mind of Kakashi. Something—anything—would be better than not knowing at all. Of course, her logical half debated that the scroll could be completely harmless and it might say nothing at all.
That would mean it was useless to look at; a complete waste of time. Then again, she wouldn't know until she actually took a look at it. "Well, give it to me." Tsunade repeated.
But, like all the teens his age seemed to be doing lately, he denied her compliance. Did it really pay to be a leader if all her subordinates would pick and choose what they did or did not do? It made her want to grind her teeth, but she could feel just a small inkling of pride that they would stand up to her. Very few people did that anymore, simply because she was one of the legendary sannin. How boring… no one to pick on. That was one reason why she liked Naruto so much. He was not afraid of her.
"Shino, this isn't time to be disobedient," Tsunade told him. "Pick another time to do this and give me the scroll."
Shino narrowed his dark eyes at Tsunade. "No," he told her, an annoyed tone to his voice. "If you open this scroll, that…creature…will kill me. I happen to like my life, thanks. I'm completely satisfied, even if I was viciously chased by nineteen god-damned different kinds of night birds on my way here."
"Night birds?" Shizune said, startled.
Shino closed his eyes in pure annoyance. "These were not normal birds, Hokage-sama. They were…mad…" It hit Tsunade suddenly that Shino was practically a walking bug-buffet for any creature that could catch him, and for scavengers that enjoyed flesh instead of bugs, he had that too. So he was a kind of "all-in-one" crowd pleaser. She bit her lip, attempting to keep it in, but the laughter came out as a snort instead. Then, Shizune was laughing outrageously and Tsunade couldn't hold it in.
Shino only looked more furious. "Where is Kakashi? I need to deliver this damn scroll now so I can get back to Hinata and Kiba and we can bring that damn woman here for medical treatment! If anything happens to the Higurashi Summoner, that man said he would kill Hinata!"
Immediately Tsunade and Shizune sobered up from their laughing spell. It registered in Tsunade's mind that the 'Higurashi Summoner' was also female and Kagome was probably around that village or would be soon. How likely would it be that two female Higurashi Summoner's were in Konoha at the same time? It was certain that there would be other female Summoners, but the Higurashi clan itself usually only had one boy and one girl per generation, didn't it?
Or at least that was how Tsunade recalled it.
That meant that Kagome was likely in danger. It was a shame Tsunade had never gotten the name of Kagome's Level Three Summon-Creature. It would certainly have shed a lot of light on who it really was.
"Do you know who the Summoner is?" Shizune asked.
"Why does it matter?" Shino bit out. His dark eyes flashed dangerously. "She's injured, and obviously lost a lot of blood from what she looked like. That… that thing was able to get into all our heads and find out what would hurt us most—what contingencies could he hold over our heads to get us to obey him unfailingly! Because of that, Hinata is in danger and you're both standing here gawking over who someone is rather than telling me what I need to know so I can get back to my team and assist them!"
Tsunade wasn't sure if she'd ever actually heard Shino say so much in his entire life, and he'd said it all in one single breath; simply amazing. Soon pigs would sprout wings and the sky would start falling, if things kept up the way they were going. Tsunade's old heart wasn't sure she could stand this drastic change.
"Yes…yes, right…" Tsunade gulped, taking a step backward. She felt that by doing so, she was able to clear her mind of the shock. It didn't work, but she did try. She looked at Shizune. "Shizune, grab a team of two medic-nin who aren't on duty and head to the village promptly. Do whatever you must—at any expense."
Shizune nodded. "Right away, Hokage-sama," she said respectfully before taking off quick as her feet would carry her.
Shino looked only minorly relieved of his tension. "Where is he?" he asked again.
"It is important you understand why we need to know who the girl is, Shino," Tsunade explained. She moved over to her heavily laden (and recently purchased—the last one having suffered "Tsunade Syndrome") desk and started shuffling through the files there. She found the one she was looking for.
It wasn't very thick. Tsunade had only just started compiling the file early the day before and since she didn't have a whole lot of information, it was likely to remain an incomplete file. She didn't expect she would ever have the opportunity to learn more about its' subject—that was simply it.
But this file was being compiled on information in terms of a one Higurashi, Kagome. Tsunade had plenty of agents able to spy on the girl while she was in Konohagakure, but they had learned very little. They got a picture of her and that was in the folder. Tsunade had also been compiling folders on Tengomi, Sango and the monk traveling with the two girls, Reven, Miroku, but had come up with an equally slim file on those two. It was strange. The three had mostly been out in the open if they went out, and they never tried to hide what they were saying or doing.
So how could the files be so…empty? How could those three sit out in the open all that time and still no one knew anything about them? Oh, there were small things. Sango liked weapons, and Miroku liked women a little too much, and Kagome loved trying new things at restaurants whenever possible. But none of them ever talked about…anything.
It added more mystery to Kakashi, somehow, because he knew things about these girls. That also brought to mind the conversation Kakashi was reported to have with the girl on their way to Hokage Tower the other day. Kakashi and Kagome had also come into the office and argued right in front of Tsunade.
It was a strange feeling watching them and feeling like a small child again—hearing the words but not understanding any meaning in them. Kakashi had mentioned Kagome's father finding a way to Summon with only one arm and one leg. For some reason, Tsunade felt that should carry a weight in her mind. She should be remembering something, but for the life of her she could not.
And Kagome had mentioned a promise made on her father's grave. Kakashi had called the promise a stupid thing and practically scolded the girl for making it in the first place. What promise was made?
Tsunade sighed and tried to stop the migraine before it could start. Shino was getting impatient, so Tsunade stopped staring at the empty folder and took out the picture of Kagome. She passed it to Shino, saying, "I need to know if that was who the girl was. It's very important, Shino," she added quietly.
Shino glanced at the photo for a long moment. To him, the picture looked very different than the one he'd seen. The one he'd seen was in a brown potato sack for clothes and her hair was bloody, muddy, and matted. Some of her visible flesh was bloody, and it had been very dark. The one in the picture was a girl smiling serenely at something slightly off-camera. Her long black hair was pulled back and tied, two strands hanging over her shoulder but then pulled back into the tie almost like a last thought. She wore a white haori—clean, white and her legs were covered with bright red hakama.
But he was sure it was the same person. "This is the girl," he said with certainty. He handed the photo back and Tsunade replaced it beneath the paper-clip.
"Then the man you met—who you say threatened you and Hinata—was no man." Tsunade told him.
"I could have guessed as much," Shino drawled.
Tsunade pressed on, wondering what course of action would be best to take next. She had sent Kakashi after Kagome, which either meant that Kakashi was too late to catch up to Kagome, or Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were defeated and likely killed, which was why Kagome was injured.
"The one you met… what did you say his name was?" Tsunade asked.
"He called himself 'Sesshoumaru'." Shino told her. "He spoke in the third person… like royalty sometimes does when they feel superior to those around them."
Tsunade scratched that information down on a piece of paper. "What else happened while he was around? Anything strange?"
Shino almost snorted—would have if he hadn't already done so much out of character that day. "No, certainly not…" he began sarcastically, and before Tsunade could look disappointed, he added, "unless you count massive talking dogs showing up bigger than Akamaru and whose very steps shake the ground and howls that shatter glass. Oh, and the entire village of dogs going mad around those talking dogs… And the fact that the man seemed to be able to communicate on some…primal level…with all the dogs." He paused to let that information sink in Tsunade's brain before adding a final blow that was sure to tick her off. "But…nothing unusual. Surely."
Tsunade's head literally crashed against the desk in her shock. He decided that was enough talking from him… he hadn't meant to cause her bodily harm, even if he wasn't actually the reason why she'd just cracked her skull on the hard wooden surface.
Tsunade slowly lifted her head, rubbing it a little. "Okay, Shino, I think I get the point…" She tried to recall the reason why her mind was screaming at her to remember the 'talking dogs', but all she could come up with was Pakkun. "Was Pakkun there?"
Shino almost had a look of confusion on his face, but quickly transformed it to a look of stone instead. "No." he answered.
Tsunade scratched down those details and then said, "Exactly what did this…Sesshoumaru…say to you all?" Shino repeated the words to the very letter, making sure not to leave out anything. "Avei and Kotor were the large dogs' names, you say?" Tsunade scratched that information down as what had been insistently griping about being remembered in her mind surfaced with those names.
"Yes. How are their names noteworthy?" Shino asked.
"Avei and Kotor are quite… reputable, one could say." Tsunade said in an attempt to leave it at that.
But Shino seemed to be made more curious by that lacking response. "Reputable how? I have never heard of them before." Tsunade knew she would have to explain at least a little bit, to sate his curiosity some, though she knew it was dangerous to do so.
"Do you know anything about the Yobidasu, Shino?"
"Only what you told us when you briefed us on the mission to locate Naruto," Shino conceded.
She hadn't told them very much at all at that time. She simply said that the Yobidasu was a clan that lived in the farthest reaches of the Land of Rice, or Sound Country, for more familiar terms. She'd told them that the Yobidasu were known healers. She hadn't elaborated any more than that because she didn't really want the questions that were sure to follow. She had no idea how Shikamaru came to know more about the Yobidasu when he hadn't even been briefed!
Still, she would have to tell Shino a little more than that to sate his curiosity. Why? Because she felt it was…needed. "The Yobidasu are more than healers, Shino. The information I am about to tell you must not leave this room." Only when Shino nodded did she continue. She could technically just tell him to give her the information she wanted and have him leave it at that, but sometimes it was better to give up information than keep it all. It bred a sort of loyalty—trust—between a leader and her subordinates.
"The Yobidasu are a clan of Summoners. They rely solely on Summoning creatures like Avei and Kotor…and Sesshoumaru." Shino's eyes went slightly wider. "The 'Higurashi Summoner' belongs to Sesshoumaru because he feels she does. If he did not feel she belonged to him, or that he was obligated to protect her, he would simply abandon her."
"You mean…" Shino started, almost fumbling over his words in his shock. "You mean, she… brought that man…that thing…into this world?"
"You got it in one." Tsunade said. "Only the Yobidasu knows how it all works, but that's why he said that to you. 'Inform him that the Higurashi Summoner belonging to this Sesshoumaru is in this village.' I don't recognize the name Sesshoumaru, but Avei and Kotor are most certainly familiar to me."
"How so?" Shino inquired.
Tsunade took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Now came the hard part. All of this was forbidden to talk about because the Council of Elders said so, but it appeared that the past of Konoha was slowly creeping up on them. Soon word would be on the street and Tsunade would be able to do nothing about it.
"Avei and Kotor were creatures Summoned by a man who was once a Konoha shinobi." Shino's brows came together in a slight frown. She knew his thoughts: defect shinobi? "No, he was never a missing-nin. He was an amusing character for most his life—quite comical when paired with his best friend."
"Dead?" Shino asked.
"Exiled," Tsunade amended. Shino's eyebrows came up and she could easily tell his thoughts again. She answered quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "He was exiled because he had the ability to Summon, not because he did anything wrong."
Shino was surprised. "Because…he could do something? That makes no sense, Hokage-sama."
"Nevertheless," she wasn't about to explain why those Shinobi with ties to the Yobidasu were exiled. Even fifteen years after the event—and not having actually seen what happened herself didn't make it any less frightening—she still got shivers down her spine at the thought of the Kyuubi incident which was now taboo to speak of. "He was exiled, and Avei and Kotor were two of his favorite creatures."
Shino shifted impatiently. Their conversation seemed to be taking forever. Why was she delaying telling Shino where Kakashi was? He could have been half-way to Kakashi already (exaggerating of course), although the talk did one good thing. The longer they procrastinated there, the more likely it was that the night birds would go to sleep. He had no clue why they suddenly attacked him like they had.
"Huro, that was his name, took Avei and Kotor on every single mission he went on before he was exiled, and soon word spread to all reaches of the world—Avei and Kotor were protectors of women and children. Missions poured into Konoha…all of them were missions requesting Huro's aide in one thing or another, and usually it was a female requesting it. Konoha made quite a lot of commission on Huro and those two creatures. So you see, that is why I said they are reputable, and it's not just Konoha but the world as well." Tsunade finished.
Shino frowned but nodded. "I see. So we have met legends tonight?" he was very uninterested. He looked out the window to see the sun was dancing merrily and brightly. The clock on the wall told him it was 7:32. He'd spent too much time in Konoha. He didn't give Tsunade a chance to say more, but for that she was grateful. She didn't want to tell him more about the Yobidasu if she could help it. "Where is Hatake-san?"
"He was sent on a mission to escort the very girl who you said Hinata is now taking care of." Tsunade told him. "I don't know if her injuries can tell us that Team Kakashi is injured or dead, or if Kakashi and the others didn't reach her in time, so"—Shino interrupted her.
"Didn't reach her in time? Would they not have been with her?"
"They were sent a full day after she left with orders to catch up and escort her safely back home." Tsunade pulled a piece of fresh parchment in front of her and began writing on it hastily. She signed it and marked it with the Hokage's wax seal. "There will be no time for briefing. You may choose two off-duty shinobi at least chunin level to go with you. Show this letter to them and brief them yourself on the way. Also, in case they are injured, I want you to take Shen, Fuyumi along. She's a medic-nin and a teacher at the Medic-Nin academy here." Shino nodded and turned to leave, but a last, rather cryptic seeming warning from Tsunade made him nearly falter in his step due to confusion.
"If I were you… I wouldn't go retrieve Fuyumi-chan until at least eight AM, by the way."
Thoroughly confused, Shino took off with the letter in hand. But he did as he was told. He went into the city and the first thing he did was check to see if Shikamaru was available. He was—though not awake. However, a polite exchange of words with Shikamaru's mother was all it took to get Shikamaru up and exactly three minutes and forty-eight seconds later, Shikamaru was all but dragging Shino out of his residence.
Poor Shikamaru, Shino thought for a half a millisecond before tossing away the useless emotion. He chose Shikamaru because—though he was incredibly lazy—Shikamaru was not at all like Kiba. Shikamaru was strategic, and useful in battle because he had a desire to live in order to grow old with a wife in a meaningless, ordinary relationship (with a few ordinary kids).
Shino, followed by Shikamaru, then headed for the Hyuga residence where he found Neiji already up and practicing for the day. It was obvious what kind of team Shino wanted: a strong team filled with fighters who could think at the same time… multi-taskers would be a good way to put it, he thought.
It did not take much to convince Neiji to come along. While Neiji had clearly warmed up to the main branch of the Hyuga family, he still would take a mission over spending time cooped up training with he head of the house. He could actually put his training to use! And this time, Neiji actually looked healthier than he did during the 'find Naruto' mission.
Go figure.
So they arrived at the Medic-nin academy with plenty of time to spare before eight AM. 7:58. It was obvious that would be where Fuyumi would be. All academy teachers had dorms in their respective academy. Shino didn't know why that was, or really care why that was either. It was the way it had always been, and it was the way it always would be.
Shino and his two companions stepped into the academy front doors and asked directions to Shen, Fuyumi's dorm. "Oh, Fuyumi-chan," the medic-nin's eyes sparkled as she spoke. "Such handsome men to come see her, hm? Oh ho ho, last door on the left down that hall there." She pointed toward a door.
Shino ignored the woman's odd behavior and simply walked toward the door. It wasn't locked, so he went through it. He had no second thoughts. He was well aware that the teacher's dorms were co-ed, and aside from that, if anyone asked he could simply tell them they had a mission to go on.
Shikamaru and Neiji still didn't know what exactly the mission was—only that they were required to report for it. The letter from the Hokage did state he could take two shinobi who were at least chunin level: Shino chose Jounin Neiji and Chunin Shikamaru. Fuyumi was chosen by the Hokage to accompany as medic-nin, just in case they should encounter trouble.
The three were glad that if a medic-nin would be going along, it would be one experienced enough to be a teacher. That would make her at least double their age and Jounin level, they didn't doubt. However, according to the letter from the Hokage, leadership would be deferred to Shino, something Shino liked very much. Neiji didn't like it so much, and Shikamaru really didn't care either way.
7:59. It was close enough. Shino knocked on the door the woman had directed them to. No answer. He knocked again. "Shen, Fuyumi?" he called.
"Maybe bang on it a little?" Shikamaru suggested.
Shino ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He borrowed a line from Shikamaru's book (causing the other shinobi to grin in agreement), "Women are such bothers." He raised his hand to knock again but when he went to pound there was no wood to greet him. Instead, there was only a half-dressed woman standing in the doorway with a feverishly exhausted look on her face.
"Who the hell are you, what the fuck do you want, and why did you disturb my sleep?" She demanded all in one breath. All three males wanted to retreat from that very scary woman, but only their pride kept them rooted. Shino absently toyed with the idea of risking his chances with the dangerous Summon instead of dealing with the freaky woman before him. 8:00.
True, she wasn't at all a bad sight. In fact, she was a sight for sore eyes. She didn't look much older then them, but then again, Tsunade was at least fifty and she looked twenty-five. The woman had incredibly long hair down to her ankles that seemed to be in varying shades of green, lighter where the light hit it and darker in shadow. Her face was heart-shaped; her flesh a pale ivory color. Her lips were turned down in a scowl, but they were naturally pouty and almost as bright as ripe cherries—real cherries, not pickled.
Through the rather sheer garment she wore (was that supposed to be a nightgown?!) they could see she was finely toned in all areas of her body, thoroughly curvaceous, and had round, well-sized breasts. Her thick hair spilled over one of her shoulders and they couldn't help but wonder how the woman could even carry that weight around. Even her bangs reached her chin, framing her adorable (vicious-looking) face.
Her eyes were as green as her hair and they flashed dangerously the longer the boys stood there—none of them able to tear their eyes away from her. Her fist lashed out and Shino found himself acquainted with the ground. Quicker than even Neiji could react, the woman lashed out at the other two boys as well. She then slammed her door shut again, leaving three shinobi lying on the floor massaging sore jaws.
8:07. 'Now I know why Hokage-sama warned me to wait…' Shino thought irritably. 'But it was only one minute! Probably less than that!' He had to get up. He had to knock again. But the question was: what was worse? The freaky, beautiful woman, or the deadly, unearthly creature?
xXx
When Kakashi woke up, he was greeted with the sweet scent of white lilies. His eyes fluttered open and as usual, his left eye saw blackness and his right eye was able to see the ceiling above him. Unfortunately the ceiling was clearly not his since his was painted blue and the particular ceiling above him was as white as cotton.
He blinked several times, trying to get his bearings together before realizing there was a heavy weight on his right arm and fingers were curled in his gloved hand. He glanced silently at the sleeping figure and memories of the night before came flooding back to him.
He couldn't believe it. He had literally forgotten himself and killed a man. He couldn't explain what had happened, really. One minute he could see perfectly well that he was holding onto a bastard who had stabbed Kagome, and the next minute it was as though a veil of blood covered his good eye.
It wasn't something he could fully understand. He could remember feeling a fierce sense of protectiveness flood in his system. Kagome was too precious to be harmed. He remembered thinking that. That hadn't happened to him in a long time.
Carefully he reached out with his free arm and brushed Kagome's bangs out of her face though it did no good. The bangs simply fell back how they had been.
Last night after the strange blood-colored veil faded out of Kakashi's vision, all he could feel was pain. He had been sure he was dying at the time, because the pain had gotten so intense. It felt as though he were being slow-roasted from the inside out.
"H-Hatake-san," whispered a nearby voice nervously. Kakashi turned his sight to find Hinata sitting a few feet from where he was lying on the bed. Kagome was propped up on a chair, her upper torso lying on Kakashi's arm and her hand curled in his. "Are you alright?"
Kakashi didn't want the girl to worry so he nodded. "I'm fine, Hinata-chan," he told the girl cheerfully. It wasn't entirely true and he knew it. He'd done something to himself, what it was he didn't know, but it had sent snakes of fiery poison through his blood. It made him nervous to try using chakra again—or… had he formed Maryoku last night?
Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she said, "You're such a liar." Had he been found out? How did Kagome know? Had he not smiled cheerfully enough? Or maybe he hadn't said it naturally enough… But Kagome answered the unasked question without need for any form of prompting. "You can't make that much Maryoku—I don't even want to know how you know how to make it in the first place—but your body can't handle that much strain right away. You can only make as much as your body can handle."
"Oh." He blinked. "You can tell?" he asked it softly, but both girls heard.
"Of course I can tell," she said with a great sigh of exasperation. "You used so much Maryoku I was sure even the dead would wake! I mean, there I was being stitched up—very much unconscious—when suddenly I felt if I didn't wake, I'd die. Good thing I woke up too, because you would have died if I didn't purge your excess Maryoku."
Hinata added, "Kagome-san tore her stitches, Hatake-san. She should be lying down, but she won't listen to me or Sakura-chan."
Kakashi felt his lip twitch in wry amusement. Only a second later he found his mask still in place. A look at himself told him he was still fully clothed, but his vest and gear had been taken off and set aside so he could lie a little more comfortably on the bed. "Now if that doesn't sound like a certain someone?"
Kagome's face flushed scarlet and she said hotly, "That jerk is nothing like me, and I'm not like him!"
Feeling slightly uncomfortable in the room, Hinata quietly took her leave. She didn't know how or why, but those two were somehow on equal ground—and yet Hinata couldn't make up her mind as to which one should be respected more. Certainly it should be Kakashi…but then Hinata would think of the scary dog-man (yes, she had come to decide he was a dog-man, because he talked to dogs) and she just wouldn't know.
Once Hinata was gone, Kakashi asked Kagome, "Are you okay?"
Slightly taken aback by that question, Kagome didn't respond right away. Then she thought about the awful night and all she could do was tell herself to take it in stride and deal with it. So she shrugged. "I'll be fine." The fingers holding his hand became a little tighter. "It's just… there were these girls, and these dangerous men were drugging them and…" she sighed as the words stopped coming out. "I don't want to talk about it," she said finally after a long silence stretched between them.
"But you must have Summoned," Kakashi smiled at her; she could tell by the look in his eye that he was smiling. "Whatever happened, you did what you could to protect those that needed it, didn't you?"
Kagome smiled back at him and nodded. "You know," Kagome told Kakashi absently as she stood slowly and carefully from her chair. "I think my papa would really have liked you, Kakashi-kun."
At that, he laughed. "You know, I think you're right!" he agreed.
This chapter had several pieces of somewhat useful information revealed. Thanks for the reviews everybody! Sand (Sesshoumaru...urg...), Hiei's Cute Girl (-takes cookie and eats it since your only interest in it appears to be hugs- Cookies! Yum!), KuroxTenshi (I rather liked that part too...too bad beefy woman can't have a bigger part in the story. I'm sure she'd have lots of interesting things to say), supersillee06 (Kakashi is...scary...sometimes...), Natsumi Tsuchi-Ookami (How to explain? Perhaps this chapter cleared it up a little?), KibaSin (Don't worry about it. Good luck on your project!), vampiric instincts (bwahaha! You didn't see the spoiler! I was so right: people don't look there!), Kagome Lady of Darkness, regretfully-yours-Cassy-chan, Ashuri Nikouru (I hope this chapter made it clear what Kakashi is or isn't), S.T. Nickolian (I don't want to be around when he does it next time...)
ANSWER: The Silence by Delirium. Listen to it. Just do it.
As provided in a lot of other chapters... this italicized print at the bottom of the page does have a spoiler for the next chapter: just push the purple-blue button and you'll find it.