Starfire77: Thank you! You are one of the only dedicated readers out there who actually reviews!!
Okay, it's finally up! Chapter 10! You get to see Naomi as she used to be and meet a new character, just as promised. Also, this chapter will advance the plotline a little so it's not just filler after filler. Anyway, here ya go!
171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717
Naomi(this is a few years before she remet Inuyasha, so her hair's down) ran, carrying three kids. One, a four year old, was riding on her back. She was asleep, and her brown hair was falling in her face. Two were in her arms. Both were asleep as well. One was another little girl, six, and the other was a little boy, seven. The girl also had long brown hair, and the boy had short black hair. Suddenly, the little boy stirred. He opened his hazel eyes and looked up at Naomi.
"Who....Who're you?" he asked groggily. "Did you...save me from the demons?"
"That's right, kid," Naomi replied without so much as looking at him. "You and your sisters."
The boy looked a little surprised. "What about the others?!"
"What about them?" Naomi asked. "You and your sisters, being the village head's kids, were worth the most money. I wasn't about to risk my neck for the other little brats!"
The boy was stunned. Then he slid out of Naomi's arm and started running the other direction.
Naomi stopped and reached her free hand out to him. "Hey! Kid!" she called. "Get back here idiot! Where do you think you're going?!" He didn't answer or slow down at all. "Dammit..." Naomi put the girls down and shook them awake. They both had hazel eyes just like their brother. "Go back to the village," Naomi said. "When you get there, tell them who it was that saved you."
She turned and was about to start after the boy when the older girl said, "What about the demons? Won't they get us?"
Naomi threw down two necklaces made of rosary. "Put them on," she ordered. They obeyed. "As long as you wear them, No demons or half demons except me will be able to see, smell, or sense you. Now go!" The girls got up and started running towards the village. Naomi ran after the boy, cursing the whole time.
He was a lot farther ahead, and she couldn't see even see him. She could smell him, though. 'Damn kid,' she thought. 'I better get paid extra for having to chase him down like this!'
Less than a minute later, she caught up to him. "Idiot!" she yelled fiercely as she came to a stop in front of him, blocking his path. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
The boy came to a stop. He looked down sadly. "It's just...I wanna go save them..."
"Well, that's just too bad!"
Hikaru looked up at her, eyes big and pleading. "Please..." He looked like he was about to cry.
Naomi was startled. 'Is this kid about to cry?!' "Alright, alright," she said quickly. "We'll go save them!"
Hikaru's expression changed from sad to delighted. "Really?!" he asked.
"Yeah," Naomi replied. She crouched down for him to climb on her back. He did, then she stood up and ran towards the demons' lair.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
"They better pay me extra!" Naomi muttered. She was carrying Hikaru and another boy on her back. Two girls were in one arm and two boys were in the other. Their ages ranged from four to eight, and all were asleep except for Hikaru. Naomi had several cuts and bruises all over her body, and it was obvious that she had fought many demons. Her left sleeve had been torn completely off and her right pant's leg had been ripped to shreds from the knee down. Due to her injuries and her burden, she was walking instead of running.
"Idiot," she muttered, clearly refering to Hikaru. "You almost got killed!" When in the demons' lair, Naomi had been busy with a few of them while on of them started sneaking up behind her. She didn't see it, but Hikaru did. He had thrown rocks at it to get its attention. It had started for him, but Naomi had killed it just in time.
"But at least everyone's safe!" he said happily.
"Hmph."
They got to the village a little while later. Naomi crouched down, putting the kids down. Many mothers and fathers rushed up, waking up their kids and hugging them very tightly. Naomi stood up straight again, and looked for the village head.
An old man, slightly balding, came towards her. He was a little hunched and was using a cane. "Thank you, Miss Naomi!" he said.
"You're welcome," Naomi said politely. She was always polite to the ones paying her in hopes of getting more.
The old man drew out a coin pouch and handed it to Naomi. She took it and bowed, then counted it. Yes, there was extra. She bowed once more and walked out of the village, heading towards the nearby woods.
"Wait!"
Naomi turned to see Hikaru standing there. "What, kid?"
Hikaru grinned. "I just wanna say thanks a lot!" he said. "You saved my best and only friend!"
"Don't mention it," Naomi said.
"And...I wanna give you something!"
"Huh?" Naomi crouched down as Hikaru ran towards her, his hands cupped around something. She held out her hands, and he deposited a single coin in them.
"It's my life savings," he explained. "I want you to have it."
Naomi sighed. "Keep it," she said, giving it back to him. "I don't need it." She usually toook anything that was offered to her, but for some reason she felt close to Hikaru. She didn't know why, but she did. There was a little nagging in the back of her mind that told her they were alike.
She stood up again and started walking away, leaving Hikaru to stare after her. "Uh...It was Miss Naomi, right?"
"Just Naomi," she replied, glancing back at him before disappearing into the trees.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
A 17-year old version of Hikaru walked along a path. His hair wasn't any longer than it used to be, but it was a lot messier. He was wearing a brown traveling outfit(not in the mood for figuring out and describing clothes right now...). He had no weapons, unless you count his traveling staff/walking stick as one. He had been going from village-to-village, searching for someone for a while now. He sighed. 'Maybe I should give up...' he thought. Then he just happened to see someone in the distance. He squinted, trying to decide who it was.
"Naomi!" he cried out, running towards her.
Naomi turned towards him slowly.
He finally reached her and grasped her hands in his. "There you are!" he said.
Naomi laughed nervously. "W-what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I've been looking for you since we got seperated a month ago," he replied. "I've battled many demons, faced many hardships, and-"
"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked.
Hikaru suddenly noticed the others that were with Naomi. "Who are those people?" he asked.
Naomi sighed. "Hikaru, these are my friends, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou," she said. "Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, this is my, er, stalker, Hikaru."
"Pleased to meet you!" Hikaru said, grinning. "Any friends of Naomi's are friends of mine!" He apparently missed what she said about him being a stalker. "She saved me from a demon when I was younger, you know!"
"And you've kept annoying me once a month since then," Naomi muttered. Then she got an excellent idea. "Hikaru...I've been working on a new technique, and I was wondering if you could tell me whether or not it works."
"Anything for you!"
Naomi grinned. "Close your eyes and slowly to 50. When you open them, you shouldn't be able to see, hear, or feel me."
"Really?"
"Yep!" Naomi said, grinning mischievously. "It'll be like I'm not even here! Oh, and no matter what you hear, don't open your eyes until you're done counting!"
"Alright!" Hikaru closed his eyes and started counting.
Naomi ran off. She grabbed Inuyasha's hand, who grabbed Kagome's hand, who grabbed Miroku's hand, who grabbed Sango's-
WHACK
Er...New formation. Kagome let go of Miroku's hand and grabbed Sango's while Kilala carried the unconscious Miroku after them.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
A little while later....
"50!" Hikaru opened his eyes and looked around. "It worked, Naomi! You can show yourself again now!" He waited. And waited. And waited. "Uh...Naomi?"
"She left," a little flea said, jumping onto Hikaru's shoulder.
"You're that flea that always travels with her," Hikaru said. "Myouga, right?
"Correct," Myouga answered.
"How'd you know she left?"
"Because I saw her," he replied. "I was about to tell her something, but she stepped on me without realizing it."
"So...she wasn't really trying out a new technique, was she?"
"I'm afraid not."
Hikaru sighed. "I had always suspected that she was just trying to get away from me," he said. "I just never had any proof. Anyway, what'd you wanna tell her?"
Myouga sat cross-legged on his shoulder and cleared his throat. "You see, I've found some news that she'll probably want to know..."
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
"So that's what happened," Inuyasha said after Naomi finished telling them about Hikaru and how they met. They were sitting inside a hut. Inuyasha was sitting on the wall next to the door, Kagome was sitting against a bundle of hay, Sango was next to Kagome, Shippou was in Kagome's arms, Kilala(kitty form) was in Sango's arms, Naomi was sitting on a bundle of hay, and Miroku was sitting against another bundle of hay as close to the girls as they'd let him get(which wasn't very close).
"When he was fifteen, he left his village to look for me," Naomi said, sighing. "He's found me every month or two since then."
"I think it's so romantic," Kagome said wistfully. "I bet he'd follow you to the ends of the earth..."
"It's not romantic!" Naomi complained. "It's annoying!"
"Naomi!!" a voice from outside the hut called.
'Damn! How'd he find me again so fast?!' Naomi got up and went to the door of the hut. She peered out, only opening it as much as she had to. If she was lucky, he might miss her...
"Hikaru! Over here!" Shippou called, running outside and waving to him.
There went that hope. Naomi glared at Shippou while Hikaru changed direction and went over to them. Naomi sighed, admitting defeat, and stepped completely out of the hut, the others following.
Hikaru stopped and bent over a little, panting for breath. "Naomi...News..." he said. "Myouga...tell..."
Myouga jumped from Hikaru's shoulder to Naomi's. "Long time no see," he said. "It's been two months, right?"
"Yeah," Naomi agreed. "Since you showed me that job killing a family of demons in the other village. They didn't pay as much as you said they would, though." Myouga had been showing Naomi different jobs since she had become an assassin, which was a very long time ago. His intention, as Naomi suddenly realized, was to keep her away from Inuyasha....
"You knew!" Naomi and Inuyasha cried out at the same time.
"Um..." Myouga gulped. "Kn-knew what?"
Naomi grabbed him and held him between two of her claws. "You knew about everything that had happened, but you didn't tell me anything about Inuyasha. In fact, you even tried to keep me away from him."
"And you never told me anything about her losing her memories!" Inuyasha said, glaring at Myouga.
"Um...well....you see..." Myouga decided to change the subject. "Naomi, I have urgent news for you! There are rumors flying around that someone has been asking for you!"
"Huh?" She immediately forgot about the previous topic. "Who is it? What do they want?"
"I'm not sure of either question," Myouga said. "No one know hardly anything about him. He keeps his features hidden under a hooded black cloak, and he gives his name to no one. Do you make anything of it?"
Naomi didn't speak for several minutes. When she did, her voice was rather shaky. "Is he a demon or a human?"
"Nobody knows. He keeps his scent from demons by using a very powerful kind of magic."
Naomi's ears twitched. "He's a very powerful sorceror, then," she concluded. She seemed to be lost in thought.
"Naomi?" Kagome asked. "What's wrong?"
Naomi snapped out of it and shook her head. "It's nothing," she said. "Nothing."
"Are you sure?" Sango asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," Naomi said. "I think I'll just go take a walk in the woods..."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Hikaru said, finally catching his breath. "After all, what if this guy wants to hurt you?"
"Hmph," Naomi said. "What kind of half demon do you take me for? I can take care of myself, ya know!"
"Yeah, but still-"
"I'll be fine," Naomi said with an air of finality. Then she walked off into the trees, throwing Myouga down behind her.
"What was that all about?" Shippou asked no one in particular.
"I'm not sure," Kagome replied.
"Was it just me, or did she seem to change when Myouga talked about that guy?" Hikaru asked.
"It wasn't your imagination," Miroku answered. "Naomi must know this person or something."
"I wonder who he is," Sango said thoughtfully.
"Who knows?" Inuyasha said. "All we can do now is wait for her to come back and explain, which I hope will be soon."
"Wow..." Kagome said.
"What?"
"You actually said something smart for once!"
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
As soon as the others dissapeared from view, Naomi jumped on a low branch of the nearest tree. She continued on in this way, jumping from branch to branch, tree to tree. 'It'll be harder for them to find my scent,' she thought to herself. 'If it is him, then it'll be safer for my friends if I'm not around them.'
Naomi soon came to a river. She hopped out of the tree she was in and landed on the ground silently. She walked to the water's edge and looked in at the fish, glistening in the sunlight. Naomi sat and dangled her feet in the water as she stared across to the other side, lost in thought.
'How did he survive?' she thought. 'I saw mother kill him, even as she herself was dying...But there's no mistaking it. He's the only sorceror powerful enough to hide his scent.'
A rustle in the bushes startled her out of her thoughts. She looked over, but saw nothing. 'It must've been the wind,' she though as she layed back and closed her eyes, folding her hands behind her hand. 'Wait a minute....'
"There is no wind!"
171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717
Hehehe....ain't I evil? Anyway, next chapter will probably be up by next weekend. I'll put in one of these :
a. The main bad guy
b. Some demon underling
c. Another old friend of Naomi's
d. A combination of two or more of the above
Vote for which one(s) you like best!! By the way, when the inevitable final showdown gets here, I'm gonna bring in a character that was in this story in one of the earlier chapters. If I don't, my friend, Anna Skandalakis(very weird last name, I know...Hardly anyone at our school can pronounce it right!), will go insane and try to kill me. Literally!