Naraku

Chapter 15:: Day 1 – It begins

::

The path leading north beyond Goshinboku was was a territory Kagome had yet to venture. Inuyasha took mostly took Hoshimaru south of the village for all their hunting expeditions. Kagome had not strayed too far from the village limits, and she had only been invited to the single hunt once. Everything leading North was brand new in her eyes. She had never thought to leave the bone eaters well but... something changed.

She glanced up from beneath her long, dark lashes, keeping her head low and studied him moving in front of her. They had not spoken much since leaving. She asked a few basic questions about the type of land they'd be traveling and some climate changes, but he told her everything would be fine as long as she could keep up with him. She was mostly worried about her having to sprint four hours straight, as he had asked. She had confidence in her track, but, perhaps her endurance could use some help. She was sure and unsure at the same time.

Watching Naraku move could have been a full time job for her. He was completely smooth and effortless in his movements. Was he even walking at times or was he gliding? The corner of the lips tugged up at her silly thoughts.

His current gliding pace slowed as the area before us became shadowed with tall trees with extreme overgrown moss. Coming upon the tendrils of moss, they tickled her face as she walked into them. It was a rather beautiful area to look upon. Most of land shadowed under the canopy of trees was covered in moss. It looked to be an untouched area, as she could see several trees that had fallen over through time. Some of the moss was darker, dull and ashen to the look, while fresher moss was bright and lime in color.

It was strange to think this whole area would become the Kanto region of Japan, and that the Bone Eaters well and the Goshinboku tree were in Tokyo, let along her back yard. That Kaede's village is what started Tokyo. Where her family was... She needed to put that side of her life on pause in the furthest darkest corner of her mind until she knew she would see that time again. To see the people that she missed so much. Thinking about them would be a burden right now, worrying about that life would get her killed if she wasn't focused wholly on this life she currently had to live. Inuyasha beat it in her head daily how dangerous and ruthless this time was compared to her own. How dangerous it was to be a human in territories run by demons and how there was an extremely small gap of individuals like himself and Naraku. She never forgot how lucky she was that Naraku was the one who pulled her out. Joining the last hunt with Hoshimaru, she caught a glimpse of how ruthless a demon could be. Although she was not afraid of the boar, she realized how an innocent, untrained human would find it an absolute monstrosity and how terrified they'd probably be. Not only that, those boar were not even the humanoid type of demons. She had thought plenty of times how powerful Inuyasha was, Naraku had to be, and if a demon lord wanted him to run his army of demons, that lord had to be more powerful than any of them. She shivered at the thought of how powerful they'd be.

The existing shiver intensified as she halted her body as quickly as possible. The natural aura she learned to control pulled any movements to a stop. The light resistance it applied protected her from hitting Naraku in the back. She was not suppose to be zoning out and not paying attention to her surroundings. Inuyasha would be yelling at her carelessness and she was mildly disappointed herself.

"I do condone you on how well you've trained. It is quite remarkable given the short amount of time you were given."

The compliment was not backhanded, provoking or remotely sarcastic. As much as Inuyasha had thrown her compliments, the one Naraku had just admitted made her feel tenfold. She took a step back and realized how much his body was radiating a warmth she could feel in her bones. That was not normal. Was the light feeling of electricity buzzing through your fingertips normal as well?

"Uh, well, Kaede is the best and you know," He still made her nervous after what happened. She clasped her fingers. "we kind of figured out that I'm definitely a reincarnation of Kikyo and her Miko lineage." Kagome felt strange speaking about the deceased priestess. "I have very strong purification power as well. I think once we figured out I had it, it was a definite verification."

"I see." He began to move forward again and she followed. More silence ensued.

"We are coming upon flat terrain that stretches a large portion of land. Let us see how swift you really are."

Kagome smirked and internally prepped her mind and body. The small parcel bag was secured tight to her body. They walked another mile or so before she could see dense foliage beyond them slightly begin to lessen, and lessen until a flat, switchgrass prairie was visible.

Great, whiplash in the eye.

Kagome glared at the upcoming run and internally screamed. The run would be easy but the feeling of countless blades of grass hitting you in the face full speed, did not seem like cakewalk. There were many areas of endless fields of switchgrass in Japan, and she had been to a few as a child. But she was trained to not complain and she would not!

Naraku stopped again and this time she was paying attention, she stopped several paces behind. He shifted to face her and reached into the inner lining of his haori pulling more white fur out. Handing it to her, she was confused until she turned it over. It was some sort of a face mask.

"Won't you need this?" She looked up asking him the question so sincerely. He scoffed at her. As if grass would bother him, stupid question. She chuckled and her own silly question. "Of course."

She put the mask on and secured it around her head, it seemed so big in her hand when he gave it to her and as she put her head into the opening. There was much room but after adjusting the eyes to match with her own, the mask itself warped into her smaller shape, giving her a perfect personal fit. The fur in the back was draped down her spine in a thin vertical patch creating a V.

She looked at him through the mask and caught his smoldering gaze, thankful it was there to hide the deep blush he was giving her. She wasn't the most incredible at reading emotion, but the look he was giving her was intense and those eyes, they were so dark. Burning embers of a never-ending fire. From past experience, the last time his eyes were dark, he threw her down and devoured her wet maiden.

"It fits..." Kagome let out a nervous laugh, it caught in her throat midway as a long, pale hand reached out and stroked the cheek of the mask. Although it was blocking her skin, the electricity of his touch left a trail of fire across her jaw.

"Yes, I can see."

He swiftly turned around and began forward.

The electricity, the fire, the burning sensation of Naraku when he was around made her foggy. Yeah, she was a young girl, she was sixteen, almost seventeen now, but she was absolutely no stranger to hormones and to boys. Yes, she was a pure child of kami sama, but she did also have internet at home, with a personal bedroom and did watch personal things when she was alone. She knew exactly what that look was and Kagome was bewildered that it was indeed directed at her. The strong, brazen woman she had become, in such a small amount of time was a bit strange. Somehow, this life called to her and made her want to become something great. Yes, she loved everything about her old life, but she also felt so out of place sometimes. As though she was going through this pre-written book and everything was so... monotonous; like a script. Getting thrown 500 years into the past where humans were mostly hiding in refuge and demons, literal actual demons running rampant across the majority of the land. Life sure knew how to make it interesting.

As the first blade of grass touched his body, he was onward with a gust of speed. She whispered a thanks to him for the mask, and sprinted after him.

The grass whipping her body became numb after a few minutes. She felt nothing and wondered if it would have hurt her face as much as she thought it would. Perhaps it did, which is why he had given her a shield. The path in front of her stayed lightly parted, showing that he was not speeding off without her too far ahead. The grass was a few inches above her head, and if she was as tall as Naraku was, she was sure to be able to see the crown of black tresses that were his. But, she was nowhere near his height, as his body practically towered over her own.

They held pace for a couple of hours when Naraku finally steadied into a brisk walk with long strides. Judging by the placement of the sun, it had to have been at least noon, or one pm. She was so thankful he chose to stop running as her calves were finally beginning to burn. The sound of trickling, streaming water was close by and she prayed he would allow her a moment to rest, even if it was for just five minutes. The rivulets of the water gushing glistened in the afternoon sun as the current pulled it downstream, the direction they had come. His steps halted at the bank and he leaned down to collect water from a container that seemed to appear from nowhere. As he drank, she splashed her face and sighed at the slick coolness. Her sweat mixed with the river water ran down her chest into her white linen samue, soaking into the fabric. She cupped her hand and sipped at the trapped liquid. It was clean and crisp, freshwater stream, she noted. A small thud next to bank caused her to shift her gaze. He dropped a satchel of something at her feet, and as they connected eyes, he nodded his head once with a raised brow. She picked it up and inside were berries and dried fruits.

"Thank you." Kagome smiled softly at him for a moment and began to munch at the given treats.

"We will travel the Northern paths for three moons." Was all he said and walked away. She finished a small portion and cupped her hand with water for a few more sips. Feeling refreshed, some substance in her body, Kagome was ready to continue. As she stood and adjusted herself, she could feel his eyes again. She felt his eyes every time they lingered on her persons. A flutter of a breeze swirled her hair around her shoulders as she turned and looked at him from behind her. Again, their eyes locked and his ruby gaze lit a fire in the pit of her belly. They both looked away simultaneously.

'He really needs to stop looking at me like that and letting me catch him!'

"I-I'm ready." She received a silent nod and they were off again with another paced run.

AN::

I have been in school for the past year and half and have strayed wildly on my writing. With my classes being complete, I also moved and am finally getting my life on track and ready to keep this up! Your support has been gratifying and I am so very happy you still find this story worthy and original in it's idea. I look forward to seeing you again!