LHL- I don't own Yuu Yuu Hakusho. Please review when your done reading it.
"Sorry boys, I have four of a kind." Naharu said as she placed her cards on the table.
"Aw man! She won again! How many games is that?" Kuwabara said as he threw down his cards while Naharu pilled her winnings with the rest of it.
"Sixteen." Kurama said as he picked up all the cards and began to shuffle.
"You sure you're not cheating?" Yusuke asked and Naharu just smiled at him.
"Guess I just have good luck. Besides, you should be happy this isn't strip poker. I guess you learned from the last time." She smiled and picked up the new hand lying before her.
Yukina walked into the room and smiled. "Naharu, could you please help me with dinner?" She asked sweetly.
"Sure Yukina. Be right there." She said as she stood up and Yukina left for the kitchen. As Naharu walked toward the door, Hiei entered the room. She handed him the cards she was holding. He glared at her, but she quickly whispered, "Play my hand. Don't worry, you'll win for sure." She didn't wait for an answer before she walked down the hall toward the kitchen.
"Hn." He looked at the cards in his hand and sat down in Naharu's spot. The others just stared at him he glared back, and they continued the game.
Like Naharu had said, Hiei won the hand. Kuwabara leaned over to Yusuke. "Hey, why is the shrimp playing for Naharu anyway?"
"I don't know, maybe she's blackmailing him." Yusuke whispered back.
"I don't think it's that." Kurama said, shuffling the deck again.
Hiei glared at all of them and growled, "Just deal another hand." They all sweat dropped and Kurama dealt the cards.
"You must have cheated shrimp, how else could you win…" Kuwabara paused.
"Seven." Yusuke and Kurama said together.
"Yeah, seven games in a row." Kuwabara asked.
"Hn, it wasn't hard to tell that you had nothing." Hiei said and Kuwabara grabbed him by the collar.
"Why you…" He growled and then they heard laughter behind them. They turned to see Naharu standing in the doorway laughing at the scene.
"Oh, sorry if I ruined the mood in here..." She said as she calmed her laughter. "But dinner's rea…" Before she could finish Yusuke and Kuwabara ran past her and Kurama walked after them. Naharu looked over at Hiei, who was still sitting and was staring at the ground. "Hiei, aren't you coming?" She asked as she turned to leave.
"Hn, why would I want to watch those two fools stuff their faces?" He said and Naharu laughed. He turned away, to hide the slight pink across his cheeks.
"Fine, do what you want." She then walked down the hall and into the dinning room.
Hiei wasn't kidding; Naharu was barley able to eat as food flew around her from the two boys. Kurama ate quietly, while every now and then he dodged food that flew toward him. Yukina sipped some tea and any food that went near her was blocked by Kuwabara. If any food even came near Naharu, a wall of water appeared in front of her.
'No matter how many times I see this, I'll never get used to it.' Naharu thought as she quietly excused her self, and closed the door, just as food hit it. She sighed and walked out into the forest. She followed a small path to the top of a large waterfall. She sat on the edge and began to hum to herself.
There was a rustle behind her and Hiei jumped out of a near by tree. Naharu smiled. "What's wrong Hiei?" Naharu said as she stood up and turned to see Hiei facing the forest.
"Didn't you sense that energy?" He asked with his hand on the hilt of his katana. "Show yourself." He growled.
A large demon appeared from the forest. Naharu held up her hands and began to form a ball of water, but before she was finished the demon's arm stretched out and pushed her off the edge of the waterfall.
As she fell back, Hiei grabbed her arm and kept her from falling any further. But the demon came up behind Hiei and slammed his hand into Hiei's back, causing him to release Naharu. As she fell she saw Hiei pushed off after her. Then she hit the bottom of the waterfall and plunged deep under the water. She hit her head on a rock at the bottom and blacked out.
Naharu woke up in a cave near the waterfall. She stood up slowly, her still wet clothes clinging to her skin as she started toward the cave entrance. A hand wrapped around her mouth and pulled her back into the cave just as the demon from earlier passed by. She sighed mentally as the hand came away from her mouth and she heard a familiar voice. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
She turned quickly to see Hiei standing behind her and cringed at the pain in his back. She quickly pulled out some bandages and reached for his shirt. He glared at her and moved away from her.
"Hiei, don't be stubborn about this. I know you don't want me to help you, but if I don't do this you could bleed to death. So hold still." She said as she grabbed his shirt.
"Just leave me alone." He growled at her and pulled his shirt out of her grasp.
"Sometimes you're too stubborn to even deal with."
"Hn, same goes for you woman."
"Come on Hiei, or do you want to die here?"
"Fine, just stop begging." He turned his back to her and pulled off his shirt.
It had gotten dark by the time Naharu had finished wrapping his wound. She walked over to the entrance of the cave and looked around outside at the starlit sky.
"I think he's gone, we should head back to the others and get a better look at your back." Naharu said as she went to step out of the cave.
"Don't take another step." Hiei said flatly, his eyes closed and bandana in his hand. "He's still out there, waiting for us to come out."
Naharu quickly stepped back and tripped over a small stone. As she landed on the cold stone floor of the cave, she suppressed a small cry of surprise. She stood up again and used the wall to guide herself back to the inside of the cave. She tripped over Hiei's leg outstretched leg, but quickly caught her balance and stepped over the other.
"Sorry about that." She said as she sat down beside the wall across from Hiei.
"Hn. What's wrong? Can't see in the dark?" He said with a smirk across his face.
"I may be a guardian for spirit world, and a water demon, but can't see in the dark." She sighed as she sat down against the wall across from Hiei. She shivered slightly and rubbed her arms and tried to warm her still damp body.
In an instant Hiei had lit a small fire in between them. Naharu quickly moved closer to the fire and placed her hands almost directly into it. When she finally felt comfortable, she looked over at Hiei and smiled. He simply hn'd and looked away.
They sat there quietly for what seemed like hours. Naharu then lay out across the stone floor and stared at the ceiling of the cave. 'I wonder if the others will look for us?' She thought to herself.
'Hn, probably not.' Hiei said in her mind.
'Yeah, I guess in the three month I've lived with you guys, I've never been home at night. Don't you think they'll look for you if you don't come back?' She asked, not taking her eyes off the ceiling.
'No, they won't.'
'Huh, why not?'
'I don't stay there at night either. Besides, it's not like they care.'
"That's a horrible thing to think, Hiei! They're your friends. I'm sure they'd help you if they knew you were in trouble." Naharu said looking at him from across the fire.
'Hn, keep your voice down woman or he'll find us.'
'Oh, sorry.' She thought as she looked back up at the ceiling.
'Quick, put the fire out.' Hiei suddenly said in her mind and she quickly sat up. She waved her hand and a layer of water flew over the fire and smothered it.
Naharu couldn't see anything once again, but heard Hiei get up and move over between her and the cave entrance. She over at where she heard him sit and could just barely make out his silhouette next to her. She then felt her eye lids became heavy as she slipped into slumber.
She leaned against Hiei and he just sat there, staring at the wall across from them. Naharu shivered in her sleep and Hiei looked at her, but he quickly looked away when she shivered. When he couldn't hold his eyes open anymore, he fell into unconsciousness, and his head fell against hers.
Naharu's eyes shot open to see that it was almost dawn. She then glanced around the cave until she saw that she was leaning on Hiei. She was about to sit up when she felt his arm wrapped around her waist. She looked down at his arm then back up at him to see that his eyes were closed and a small smile on his face.
"Just a little longer." He sighed not opening his eyes. She smiled and continued to lean against him for a while more.
They probably could have sat there all day, but Naharu finally stood up and walked over to the cave entrance again. She stepped out of the cave and looked around the area. When she looked above the cave, she gasped and quickly jumped back just as the demon from yesterday.
Hiei tried to get up, but a paralyzing pain ran through his back and he could only watch as the demon growled at Naharu and stretched his arm out, grabbing her by the throat, and pinning her to a nearby tree.
Naharu placed one hand on his arm and tried to pull herself free, but his grip tightened. She lifted her other arm up and formed a ball of water in her hand. The water shot from her hand and hit the demon hard in the chest, but it had no affect. The demon just tightened his grip around her neck, causing her to choke.
The demon growled and stretched his other arm toward her forehead so as to pierce it. Suddenly the demon's hand froze in midair. The demon slumped to the ground and released Naharu's throat, allowing her to fall to a sitting position and breathe again. She looked over at the demon to see Hiei putting his katana away slowly.
"Thank you Hiei." Naharu said as she rubbed her neck. He walked hesitantly over to her and just kneeled before her. "What's wrong Hi…?" She was stopped mid-sentence by Hiei leaned forward and putting his lips on hers. She froze and was about to kiss him back, when he collapsed in her lap.
"Hiei? What's wrong?" She asked him as he tried to stay conscious.
"My… back…" He said just above a whisper.
Naharu looked at his back and gasped. She quickly pulled off his now bloodied bandages and placed her hand on his back. Water ran across his back and through his wound. The water then formed into an orb, filled with poison and few traces of blood. She held the orb with both hands and it slowly purified and filled with blood. She placed it on his back once more and the blood seeped into his wound.
As the last of the blood entered Hiei's back, the wound slowly closed, and he sat up. "Hn, thanks."
Naharu blinked. "Did you just say 'thanks'? Maybe I didn't get all the poison…" In an instant Hiei placed his hand on the back of her neck and was kissing her again. Naharu kissed him back but pulled back when the morning sun hit her eyes.
"We'd better get back before they do start to worry." Naharu said as she and Hiei stood up.
"I already told you, they won't worry about me, but you better get back soon." Hiei said and she glared at him.
"I keep telling you that they do care abo…" Suddenly Hiei picked her up and began to run toward Genkai's temple. Naharu rapped her arms around Hiei's neck and clasped her eyes shut. "Hiei, what are you doing?"
"Hn, I'm taking you back to the temple. This is the fastest way to get back." Hiei said simply as he continued to run back.
They were back at the temple in a short while. Hiei let Naharu down on the ground just outside the temple. She was about to say something to him when Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama ran out of the temple and over to her.
"Naharu, are you alright?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah, Koenma said that there was a demon coming after whatever you're guarding." Yusuke said and Naharu smiled.
"Oh so that's what he wanted." She said and Kuwabara looked at her funny.
"What do you mean?" He asked and Yusuke punched him in the back of the head.
"She means that she already met him." Yusuke said annoyed.
"Yep, and he's gone now, so how about another game of cards. Maybe this time someone else will have better luck."
"Fine, but this time I'll beat you." Yusuke said.
"Yeah." Kuwabara added.
"I'll deal." Kurama volunteered.
They turned and walked back into the temple. Naharu turned to Hiei, who looked like he was about to leave. "Aren't you going to play?"
"What makes you think I want to play with those fools?" Hiei said and she smiled.
"Yeah, it no challenge playing them. But you still haven't beaten me." Naharu said then added, "Besides together we'll be able to trick them into some stupid stakes. Hopefully with them leaving they're clothes on."
Hiei smirked and kissed her again. Then whispered, "That would be worse then torture, but I think I can risk it." And with that they walked into the temple together.
