Last I checked, the summary, rating, ect, haven't changed…except that I DO own Inuyasha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Those ears are all mine….
Series of cars doors slamming shut is heard outside and RaptorChicky peeks outside, spotting a quartet of thuggish looking lawyer-types approaching the front door.
Never mind. Me no own!
Lawyer thugs speed off in their Porches.
Whew. I'm too poor to handle a lawsuit… :)
KC—I am more than happy to oblige, and I'm glad you like this so far.
Seeds of Doubt
RaptorChicky
Chapter 3
He was alive—the burning ache within his chest and his skull was proof of that. Groaning, he brought his hands up to temples to massage them. His hand froze when his fingers brushed against the cloth pressed against his right temple. Taking his hand away, he could detect the faint scent of blood on his fingers, though he couldn't see any. He stopped again to examine his hand—two crimson stripes elegantly arched from his inner arm, over the outside of his wrist, and up onto the back of his hand. Bringing his left hand into view, he saw that appendage had stripes as well. They didn't appear to be injuries, or scars, or even painted on—they were completely natural markings, though part of him felt that the stripes shouldn't be there. He briefly wondered if he stripes anywhere else. His thoughts came back to the bandage on his temple. He flinched when he furthered his inspections. I got hurt. When did that happen? And how? He tried to remember, but was disturbed when he couldn't and he grew more troubled when he discovered that he couldn't remember anything. So troubled that he panicked.
Heart racing, he jerked upright, flinging the light covers off of him, only to yelp in pain and wrap his arms around his screaming ribs.
A strong hand rested lightly on his hunched shoulder. "Inuyasha—"
He flinched away, staring at the dark eyed, dark haired man. "Where—?"
"It's alright, Inuyasha-sama. You're safe here." The man's hand took him by the shoulder again and gently pushed him back down onto the futon. "You've been injured and you need to rest."
"But I—"
Another hand brushed over his troubled golden eyes, forcing them to close. "Rest, Inuyasha-sama, rest," the man ordered quietly.
Reluctantly, he did relax, letting his heart rate return to a calmer pace. Rest did sound like a good idea… And he did know one thing about himself—his name.
Inuyasha.
It just sounded…right.
^*^*^*^*^*
Naraku chuckled to himself when Inuyasha's breathing indicated that he'd fallen back asleep. This was one ruse that he was looking forward to—pretending to care about someone's well-being and having that someone put their trust in him was always a kick for him. He'd enjoyed playing nursemaid for the taiji-ya, wringing as much cruel irony out of the situation as possible. But this new situation promised to be even more interesting; if all things worked out, Inuyasha would be working for him, never realizing that Naraku was the one youkai he wanted dead until it was too late.
He wondered what Inuyasha's reaction would be to the idea that the hanyou's wish for full demon hood had been granted by his greatest enemy. More irony for Naraku to chuckle at. Inuyasha the inu-hanyou no longer existed, replaced by Inuyasha the inu-youkai, all thanks to the generous gift of a Shikon shard. The young demon had stirred and moaned when Naraku placed the shard in his brow and the Jewel's magic did its thing, but Inuyasha remained blissfully unaware as his human blood was fully suppressed and he was physically transformed into a true demon—thankfully, not the wild youkai that had slaughtered Goshinki months ago.
And there were no worries about the Tetsusaiga rejecting a youkai Inuyasha—the crystal embedded in the hilt let Naraku do just about whatever he felt like doing to Inuyasha and the sword, and that included dropping the barrier spell just enough so only he and Inuyasha could touch the sword.
But now was time for something Naraku had been looking forward to: messing with Inuyasha's mind from the inside. Closing his eyes, Naraku promptly found himself within the jumbled maze of doors and halls again—he no longer needed tactile contact to worm his way into Inuyasha's mind, all thanks to that versatile little crystal. Instead of wandering, like he had done before, Naraku stood patiently at the intersection, waiting to hear the faint howls and screams, and when he did, he strode purposefully through the twisting halls, going directly for the locked iron door. Naraku had encountered barricade minds before and he'd always plowed right through the defenses, but Inuyasha's barricade withstood any effort put forth by Naraku to open it. Despite its rusted appearance, the door was stronger than anything Naraku had run into before.
There is one thing I haven't tried yet… And he was not anticipating its use, either. "Onigumo."
Another figure suddenly appeared next to Naraku. He was just as tall as the demon and had a similar face, but he was dressed in a more slovenly fashion.
"Well, what does the great and powerful youkai, Naraku, wish of this lowly human?" There was no subservience in Onigumo's voice, only taunting sarcasm.
Naraku hated this. He did not enjoy being reminded that he was not a full youkai and Onigumo's human taint would always remain, whether the demon wanted it or not. And the thief was sure to rub it in—he'd done it before with great relish. "The locks," Naraku ordered. "Deal with them."
Onigumo bowed deeply at the waist, "Of course. Your wish is my command." The human thief promptly went to work on the numerous locks securing the iron door.
Gritting his teeth, Naraku beat down the urge to purge himself of the human once and for all, knowing full well that without Onigumo's presence, he would literally fall apart and cease to exist. The urge to kill gone, he began to imagine what sort of dark memories Inuyasha hid behind the locked door. I wonder… Is Kikyo behind that door? Or does he force himself to remember her every moment, letting his guilt gnaw away at his soul? Naraku rather enjoyed that thought.
There was a heavy clink and the demon looked up in time to catch sight of the final lock being removed and the thick chains falling to the floor, scratching and denting the wood panels in spots.
"Ah, what would you do without me?" Onigumo smirked and his head tilted off to the side slightly, "Oh… Wait…"
"Enough." With a quick sweeping motion of his hand, Naraku removed Onigumo from his sight and placed him back in the farthest reaches of his mind, where the human could no longer taunt him. Now all that stood between the youkai and his curiosity was a pile of rusty chains and locks and a very bare iron door.
Stepping over the jumbled heap, Naraku grasped the door's handle—the screams and howls seemed to increase in volume in response—and pulled with all his might. Initially, the door refused to give, fused shut by the thick layer of rust, but Naraku continued to tug and pull, and soon, the door slowly started to swing open. The hinges squealed in protest, not used to being used after such a long time of neglect; Naraku cringed at the ear-shattering pitch. Releasing the handle, Naraku forced both hands into the crack he'd formed and pulled, making the hinges squeal more; when the gap was large enough, he placed himself between the jam and door and pushed, laying his shoulder against the metal to maximize his force. After a few grunts of effort, he took a step back from the iron door.
The door was finally open.
And Naraku found himself surrounded by the stillness of a crypt.
No more screams of fright, no more enraged howls. All gone, replaced by the quietness that fill the rest of Inuyasha's mind.
A deep frown came to Naraku's mouth in response to the sudden change. His frown grew when he peered into the hallway that the iron door had once barricaded: the walls in this hall were blank, with no doors and the 'T' intersection at the end. Highly intrigued, Naraku stepped all the way into the passageway, quickly noting how this part of the hanyou's mind appeared to be unshaken, as if the door had protected it from any damage.
A smile twitched on Naraku's lips. Until now…
He came to a halt at the top of the 'T,' his eyes going wide; the hall to his left looked like a typhoon had hit it—shoji doors hung off their tracks at odd angles, the walls were punched full of holes or gouges, and the floors were too. In areas, there were splotches of dark red and the smell of death and decay hung heavy in the poorly lit hall. The hall to his right was the complete opposite: clean, well-lit, inviting even, despite the toys scattered all over the floor. Naraku had to wonder at the odd juxtaposition of the two paths.
But which one should he investigate first?
Both held the promise of useful information, so Naraku mentally flipped a coin and chose to go left, down the dark hall.
"You shouldn't go that way."
He spun at the sound of the small voice, tensing to defend himself. Naraku relaxed a little when he saw the speaker: a little inu-hanyou child, no more than 4 or 5 years old. Looking up at the older demon with worried gold eyes, "He'll get mad and he's mean when he gets mad," he clutched the stuffed toy a little closer to his chest. Before Naraku could ask who "he" was, the little hanyou darted off, disappearing into a near-by room, sliding the shoji door shut behind him.
Naraku had to stare at the door the child used—that was Inuyasha? The youkai scowled; the hanyou had been disgustingly cute. And it had been the first time he'd been warned not to go somewhere within an individual's mind. He threw a glance over his shoulder at the darkened hall. Now I really need to know what's down there…
Ignoring the hanyou child's warning, Naraku headed straight into the messed-up hallway. He peeked past the doors that hung at odd angles and could see nothing happening in the rooms beyond. At the first door that didn't appear to be broken, Naraku pushed it open and found his environment had gone through a sudden change: he was surrounded by dead bodies, all of them humans, and bandits from the look of it. Turning in place, he saw that there was a trail of human bodies, with a scattering of horses and all them appeared to have been ripped to shreds; he barely reacted when he noticed that he was standing in a pool of fresh blood—one of many that damped the ground in the area. So, where's the killer of all these bandits? They were terrified. The expressions they wore were very similar to the humans he'd killed when their life forces abandoned their bodies.
"Teme…"
Spinning around yet again, this time at a low growl, Naraku was forced to duck as a silver blur came rushing at him and he could feel the claws of his attacker slipping just past his head. He expected his attacker to be some hideous demon, but there stood Inuyasha, swathed in his familiar fire-rat robes, but they were soaked with blood.
"You're not wanted here," the hanyou growled out in a harsh voice. A small gust of wind pushed the silver hair from his face and Naraku found a pair of blood red eyes glaring at him. The sharply clawed fingers cracked loudly and blood dripped freely from his fingertips.
So, this is Inuyasha when he looses control.
"Get out!"
Naraku took a step back when Inuyasha lunged at him and slammed the door shut; he jumped back when a clawed hand burst through the rice paper, reaching for him. There was a low growl and the hand was withdrawn.
After that incident, Naraku didn't bother to inspect the other rooms—the reaction was bound to be similar.
Migrating out of the dark hall, the youkai scowled. This was certainly a day for firsts: the first time he'd encountered a barren mind, the first time he'd barely gotten past a mental barricade, the first time he'd been warned, and the first time he'd been attacked. It just wasn't right. With the others, the 'occupants' ignored his presence, letting him go where ever he wanted to go with no harassment. But Inuyasha's mind… Naraku kept finding himself wandering into new, possibly dangerous, terrain.
Naraku suddenly smiled to himself. Even if things didn't work out as planned, the youkai could still look back at the challenges of Inuyasha's mind and enjoy the fact that he'd overcome them.
Though he wasn't sure what challenge was waiting for him in the brightly lit hall in the front of him; the only threat he could think of was tripping over the scattered toys.
Stepping out of the shadows and into the light, Naraku felt a light tugging on his hakama, accompanied by a quiet giggle; he looked down just in time to catch sight of a small streak of pale silver and red darting behind him. The tugging came again, this time on his other leg, and Naraku's hand shot down and snatched the culprit before he could run away. Lifting up the culprit to eye level, Naraku found himself holding Inuyasha, younger this time, three years old at the most. The pup looked back at him with wide, innocent eyes, then giggled and grinned, revealing his tiny little fangs.
"D'you wanna play wit me?"
Unbelievable. Naraku responded to the pup's request by loosening his grip on the fire-rat haori and letting the three old drop. Inuyasha landed ungracefully on his rear, a high-pitched "Ite!" bursting out of him; he scowled up at the youkai—even by three, Inuyasha had established his trademark expression—and scrambled off, disappearing into a room a short distance away from the one the five year old had used. Now, where do I start…?
He chose the door the three year old had slipped past—he was interested in what kind of memory Inuyasha retained from so early in his life. Very rarely did an individual remember events from before the age of three or four—a self-imposed, natural amnesia, if you will—so if Inuyasha had a memory from the age of three, it had to be an important one.
Gently sliding the shoji door open, Naraku's environment changed, just like before, but unlike before, his new environment did not interact with him. The players in the scene ignored the youkai as he passed through their midsts, wandering around their 'stage.' No longer in the toy littered hall, Naraku stood in a large, ornate room and from the furnishings, it was the bedchamber of a very important noble.
Silk curtains of a deep shade of red draped across the gleaming white walls. Paintings, all depicting dog demons in their true form, were hung in strategic places. A trio of katanas were sitting in their display on a low-set, lacquered table across from the door, the light streaming in through a near-by window illuminating them—Naraku promptly recognized the Tetsusaiga and Tensaiga, but the third one remained a mystery. The fragrant scent of lilies wafted through the air and that was no surprise, as most of the scattered vases were filled with the blooms.
And there, slumped forward in a well-cushioned chair at the foot of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his long fingers steepled in front of his face, was Sesshoumaru, but younger, 60, maybe even 70 years younger. The youkai lord sat motionless, his gold eyes fixed on the couple in front of him.
The human woman would be easily considered a beauty by both ningen and youkai standards, but at the moment, her beauty was hidden by a mask of grief as tears continuously fell from her dark, violet eyes. The reason for her tears was lying next to her on the bed, practically hidden by the thick cushions supporting his head and the silken sheets covering his frame.
It was clear that the silver-haired youkai had been very powerful at one time, but no more: each breath that he fought for rattled within his lungs, and his complexion was a wickedly pale hue, which only served to accentuate the dark shadows under his eyes. The extent of his injuries was unknown, due to him being so covered up.
"Oh, why did you have to go?" the woman moaned.
"Chichiue had no choice," Sesshoumaru remarked softly from his perch. "Ryukoutsi was a threat that had to be dealt with and Chichiue was the only one who could do it."
Chichiue? Naraku arched a brow in interest. So, this is the previous Lord of the Western Lands… And that ryu youkai did eventually kill him. The spider demon could finally see where the two dog demon brothers got their looks—Sesshoumaru's elegant features must have come from his mother, while Inuyasha took after his father, with just little bit of his human mother's blood to soften the harsh demon angles.
"But why alone?" the woman—Naraku assumed she was Inuyasha's mother—continued. "Inutaisho could have brought the others—"
"Those idiots would've gotten in the way, Izayoi," came a quiet interruption. The dog demon coughed violently, shaking with each croup, and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Quiet now, we have a spy…" Looking past the woman, he mustered up a weak smile, "I know you're there, Inuyasha. Come in here." He laid a hand on the woman's knee when she started to protest, silencing her. "Hush, koi. He should be here. I want to see both of my sons." Inutaisho's son, not much older than a toddler, peeked out from between the cracked open bedchamber doors, his ears laid back in hesitation, and then he ran inside and pulled himself up onto the bed to settle himself next to the taiyoukai.
"Papa, ev'one says you're goin' 'way. D'you have to? You jus' got back," the little pup asked, pouting a little.
The inu-youkai rubbed his son's head, mussing with the fuzzy ears. "I'm afraid they're right, Inuyasha. I do want to stay, but I really have no say in it—"
"NO!" Inuyasha flung himself at his father, latching onto the youkai's chest, as if he alone could prevent him from getting away. "I don' want you to leave!"
Izayoi tried to pull him off, but her mate stopped her yet again. "Pup…" he warned gently before another bout of croups jolted through his body. "Neither one of us can do anything about this. But there is something you can do…" He draped one arm over Inuyasha's delicate shoulders, holding him close, and started to lightly comb his claws through the thick silver hair. "If you keep me here…" he tapped a claw against Inuyasha's forehead, "…and here…" he motioned toward Inuyasha's heart, "…I won't really leave. Do you understand?"
Tears started to leak into the hanyou's eyes as he nodded slowly. He buried his face into his father's shoulder. "I still don' want you to go…"
"I know, I know…" Laying his silver head back, Inutaisho closed his eyes. "Mind your ofukuro and take care of her." He released a slow sigh and relaxed into the silken bedding.
The chair Sesshoumaru had been sitting in suddenly found itself knocked back when the inu-youkai jolted upright. Understanding the reason for Sesshoumaru's abrupt move, Izayoi released a high pitched wail of grief and sobbed into her dead husband's shoulder as her hair fanned out around her like a raven's wing. Inuyasha peered up at his father's peaceful face in confusion.
"Papa?" The pup lightly shook the youkai's shoulder, but got no response. "Papa?? Papa!"
And so he dies. Naraku had seen enough and left—he now understood why Inuyasha had a memory from such a young age. His devious little mind immediately set itself to figuring out how he could utilize this new information. Oh, the possibilities…
^*^*^*^*^*
Well over an hour had passed in the real world by the time Naraku left Inuyasha's mind and opening his eyes, but it had more than enough time for him to finish his exploring and…change a few things around. Getting up to leave, the demon had to smile, as he was very pleased with himself. Though it would be considered sick and twisted by just about everyone else, Naraku was honestly having fun with this plan.
Translations
Ite: "ow", "ouch", or in this case, "owie"
Koi: love, sweetheart, ect. Not the carp in this instance.
Ryu: dragon
Shoji: those spiffy sliding doors everyone seems to have in the series
Teme: rude version of "you". If you watch the imported Inuyasha, you'll hear him say this A LOT.
For those detail Nazis: I have to yet to see the 3rd Inuyasha movie (hurry up and get it on DVD!), so just bear with me on the swords and the names of Inuyasha's parents—Inutaisho is correct, but I've seen 2 names for the mother, Yuki and Izayoi, and I saw Izayoi 1st, so…first come, first served.
Well, there's the third chapter in this monstrosity… I honestly loved writing this one out—it just flowed from my brain to the notebook. And my beta reader really wanted more… I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Now go review. Please?