Disclaimer: I don't won Inuyasha or Naruto.
Pairing: Sasuke/Kagome/Itachi
Final pairing is undecided, but so far, more people have wanted Itachi/Kagome. Also, Itachi will not be introduced until mid-way through the story.
Chapter 2: Price of Carelessness
"…serve as a distraction while Naruto will lead Group D down to Willow Path. Make sure you don't make any mistakes when you set up the traps around…" ordered a dark-haired Chuunin officer as he drew a makeshift map on the dirt.
"Teme, don't order me around like I'm your subordinate or something!" cried Naruto, shaking his clenched fists in fury. "Who put you in charge anyway? (Who would want you in charge?) Plus, you're plan is way too stupid and obvious! We'll never catch him if we listen to you! Believe it!"
Everyone chose to ignore the blond-haired Chuunin as they shifted their attention back to their Sasuke, who had been unanimously elected to head the mission (save for Naruto's protests) after their leading jounin had died in battle. While it was true that Naruto equaled (or possibly even surpassed) Sasuke in power, it was also equally true that Naruto was horribly…lacking in the leadership department.
"Hey, Sasuke, listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Naruto shouted angrily as he pointed his forefinger to his friend's nose.
"Sh," everyone hissed as Sasuke lazily batted away Naruto's finger from his face. However, everyone's attempt to quite the blond-haired Chuunin only served to make him shout louder and louder.
"I say we…" Naruto trailed off as he cocked his head to one side in question. Why was the bush shaking?
"It's an ambush! Move!" commanded Sasuke as he leapt out of the enemy's shurikens' path. His lips curled down into a deep scowl as he pulled out his own set of shurikens. Though he loathed admitting it, the hunters had undoubtedly become the hunted. "And it's all thanks to him." he mentally added, shooting his blond-haired companion a quick, dark glance.
And that split moment of inattentiveness was all that the enemy needed to catch the famed Uchiha off guard…
In a flash, three kunais were embedded into his back and five shurikens into his left arm. Hissing slightly in pain, Sasuke quickly dropped into a defensive position as more and more masked ninjas materialized into the clearing. Realizing that his team was largely outnumbered, he hurriedly gave the order to retreat…only to have his command largely drowned out by Naruto's piecing scream of pain.
"Keep your eyes on me, brat." hissed the head jounin as he sent Sasuke flying through the air and into the raging stream nearby with a swift kick to the stomach. Before Sasuke could be completely washed down the stream and down the waterfall, he quickly latched onto a thick willow branch with his uninjured, right arm.
"You're way out of your league, brat." the jounin smirked as he embedded his last three charka-filled shurikens into Sasuke's uninjured arm.
As soon as Sasuke's grip on the willow branch slackened, he was immediately swept helplessly by the strong torrents down the stream and over the edge of the waterfall…into the rocky depths below.
"SASUKE," He distinctly heard someone shout from afar just as his mind lost its grip on consciousness.
Kagome sighed softly as she watched everyone bustle up and down the streets in preparation for the sacrificial ceremony in four days' time. Ever since their talk last night, Sango had been trying to avoid her like the plague…and so far, she was succeeding. Feeling highly irritated all of a sudden, Kagome angrily shouted at no one in particular, "You can't avoid me forever! Plus, ignoring me isn't going to save Takeda or help the situation in the least!"
Silence filled the streets as the passers-by shot Kagome weird glances.
"Kagome, are you feeling okay?"
"San…" Kagome shouted as she turned to face the speaker. "Oh," she flushed in embarrassment, realizing that she had mistaken the speaker's identity. "What are you doing here, Koharu?"
"I'm on my way home," replied Koharu as she stifled a yawn behind her hand. "But why are you here in the middle of the streets? It's almost dark and near dinner time, shouldn't you be back at the palace?"
"Ah, yeah, I was just about to go." Kagome lied as she ambled past Koharu.
"Are you looking forward to the sacrificial ceremony?"
"What?" asked Kagome, caught off guard by the sudden question from the usually quiet and shy village healer. "I mean, of course…" she hurriedly corrected as her mind silently added, "Not. At least, not until I mend the riff in my friendship with Sango…" Shaking herself out of her musings, she curiously asked, "Are you looking forward to it? You look especially excited this year."
"Hm," smiled Koharu as she closed the gap between her and Kagome. "You know how the village warriors go out to catch wandering or lost men during the months before the ceremony?" Earning a nod from Kagome, she quickly continued, "Well, today, they brought in an exceptionally handsome young boy – they supposedly found him drifting half-dead in the stream just outside our village."
"That's nice," Kagome murmured absent-mindedly to appease the village healer.
"I know; he looked so handsome even with all those wounds covering his body." sighed Koharu as her cheeks flushed a dark red. "Whoever gets him as a slave is going to be really lucky. Their daughter will be so beautiful…"
"Well, I'm sure I'll see him at the sacrificial ceremony." interrupted Kagome, uninterested in the subject of the discussion. "I'll see you around, Koharu – I really need to go before Mother sends Kikyou to hunt me down."
"Okay," Koharu smiled before hesitantly murmuring, "Ano…"
"What is it?"
"Could you possibly put in a good word or two for me in front of your Mother?" Koharu asked as she lowered her gaze. "You know…to see if she can assign me that boy I was talking to you about…"
"Ah," Kagome nodded, "I'll see what I can do." she promised before quickly running off, afraid Koharu would drag her into another one of her pointless discussions about men, slaves, children, and…stuff.
His body throbbed painfully as he shifted slightly to the right to avoid the putrid scent of blood and decay. However, as soon as he took a shaky breath through his bruised lungs, his nose was immediately assaulted by the strong stench of alcohol and urine. "Where am I?" he softly wondered in disgust as he cracked open an eye.
Squinting slightly to clear the hazy fog from his vision, he immediately tensed when the room slowly swam into focus, revealing a cell of some sort. Feeling panic grip his heart, he hurriedly attempted to push himself into a sitting position – only to pummel heavily back to the ground when his aching muscles protested loudly under the unduly strain.
"It seems you're awake." a kind voice stated, shattering the silence. "Here, let me help you up." he offered as he pulled Sasuke into a sitting position, carefully leaning him against the dank cell wall.
"Where am I?" Sasuke demanded icily as he guardedly eyed his three cellmates. Shifting his attention to the black-haired monk that had previously aided him, he angrily hissed, "Where is this place?"
"Well, let me start off with the introductions since you were unconscious when we introduced ourselves." the monk smiled as he moved back to his corner of the cell. "I'm the humble Buddhist monk, Miroku Masubi. The guy to your right," he motioned with his chained hand, "is Inuyasha Watanabe. The last person next to me," he continued, "is Hojo Kino."
"I don't care," hissed Sasuke. "Tell me where I am!"
"Shut up, brat!" shouted Inuyasha, narrowing his golden eyes in barely concealed annoyance. "We know almost as much as you do. We were all minding our own businesses when we were suddenly ambushed and knocked out. When we woke up, we found ourselves here…chained like an animal!" he angrily hissed as he tugged at the binding collar around his neck.
Sasuke's hands immediately flew to his own neck, confirming the truth of Inuyasha's statement when he felt the light metal resting snuggly against his collarbone. "What is this?" he silently demanded as he weakly tugged at the humiliating binding around his neck. "Where am…"
"You're in Celestia, the Village of Women."
Miroku's eyes immediately lighted with interest as a smile curved onto his lips.
"What did you just say?" demanded Inuyasha as he whipped his head around to face the speaker – a proud, sophisticated girl with dark, ebony hair that flowed past her waist.
"I am Kikyou, rightful heir to this village." the young girl emotionlessly intoned. "I will be running some tests to check your capabilities, intelligence, and physical attributes. If you cooperate, we will be able to get through this quickly and painlessly – however, if you choose to defy me…"
"Kikyou-onee-chan, can I please go?" whined Kagome from behind the shadow of her elder sister. "This is so boring and I want to go find Sango. Momiji, Botan, and Nazuna should be more than enough help for you to run the test…"
"Silence, Kagome." ordered Kikyou, narrowing her dark brown eyes by a fraction. "You will stop this childishness and act your rank."
"Yes," muttered Kagome, deflating slightly under her sister's harsh tone. "This is so stupid." she grumbled under her breath as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Why does she have to be such a joy-killer?"
"Kagome…"
"Yes?"
"Silence!"
"…"
"Take this," Kikyou ordered, shoving a checklist into her sister's hands. "I leave these four to you – don't mess it up."
"What…?"
"Come Momiji, Botan, Nazuna!" commanded Kikyou as she led the three docile girls to the next cell.
Grumbling something incoherent under her breath, Kagome quickly moved into the middle of the cell and plopped herself onto the ground. "Hey," she greeted as she eyed the occupants of the small cell, "I'm Kagome, sister to Kikyou and the second…ah, forget it. Introduce yourselves so I can get down your names."
Blinking out of his stupor, Miroku quickly moved so he was firmly grasping Kagome's hands in his. "The name's Miroku Masubi – Will you bear my child?"
"Maybe," answered Kagome as she slapped Miroku's hands away. "If mother assigns you to me, I will fulfill my duty and bear you a daughter." she briskly explained with a hint of disdain as she turned her attention away from the shocked Buddhist monk. "Next! Introduce yourself – the one with the silver hair and gold eyes!"
"Keh, what's it to you, wench?" Inuyasha demanded as he glared at the small girl.
"I wanted to save this for later, but…Sit boy!" she shouted after firmly locking her eyes with Inuyasha's molten-gold ones. As soon as those words left her mouth, Inuyasha pummeled head first into the ground…
"Teme, what did you do to me, wench?" hissed Inuyasha, eyes burning with anger.
"Sit!" ordered Kagome. "Now give me your name."
"Don't order…"
"His name is Inuyasha – Inuyasha Watanabe." interrupted Miroku in an attempt to save his cellmate some unnecessary injury.
After scribbling the name onto the checklist, Kagome stated, "Next."
"I-I'm Hojo…Hojo Kino." the shivering boy answered as he cowered further into the corner. "Please, don't hurt me!" he whimpered as Kagome scribbled, "Coward" beside his name.
"All right, you're the last one." Kagome grinned as she turned to face the silent boy beside her. "What's your name?"
"…"
"I said, what's your name?"
"Leave me alone." Sasuke hissed as he glared at the young girl beside him.
"Why you!" cried Kagome as she tried to think of a humiliating word of subjugation for the arrogant Uchiha survivor. Before she had a chance to utter the word she had in mind, Sasuke quickly averted his eyes to avoid direct eye contact. Kagome smirked slightly as she scribbled, "Highly intelligent – good analyzing skills." beside the empty space where his name was supposed to be.
"I'm surprised you figured it out so quickly." Kagome smiled. "I honestly thought that all men were stupid…I guess your intelligence is a little higher than that pig over there." she grinned, motioning to Inuyasha.
"What'd you say?" demanded Inuyasha as his eyes flared in anger. If the chains weren't holding him back, Kagome had no doubt that the brash boy would have pounced on her.
Turning her attention back to Sasuke, she was highly surprised to find that he had seen through her provocation. Sighing slightly, she hurriedly scribbled, "Easily provoked," beside Inuyasha's name and, "Highly unresponsive," beside…well, she didn't have his name yet. "I'm going to ask this one last time, what's your name?"
"Mind your own business." Sasuke coldly replied as he closed his weary eyes.
"Mind my own business?" Kagome angrily fumed to herself as she crawled towards Sasuke. "Hey, who do you think you are? I'll have you know that you're nothing here! I could have you executed for disrespect before you serve your seven years!"
Though his mind was heatedly urging him to glare at the screaming girl, Sasuke firmly kept his eyes closed. He had seen what happened to Inuyasha – He refused to allow himself to be reduced to the position of a dog…controlled by a girl!"
However, any further thoughts Sasuke might have had flew out the proverbial window the moment he felt hot breath brushing against his face and warm hands resting across his shoulders. His eyes immediately snapped wide open when he felt Kagome softly press her lips to his in a gentle, small kiss that lasted less than three seconds.
"Got you!" grinned Kagome as she locked her baby-blue eyes to Sasuke's surprised, obsidian ones. "Down boy!"
Instead of pummeling head first into the ground like Inuyasha, Sasuke found himself uncontrollably pushed to his knees with his palm pressed firmly to the ground by a powerful, unseen force.
"Shoot," Kagome hissed as her face flushed beet-red in embarrassment. "How could I have been so stupid?" she silently asked herself. "I should have moved away before I said the subjugating word!"
Sasuke found himself frozen in place (despite the protests of his angry muscles) as he stared disbelievingly at the girl sprawled beneath him. Cheeks tinting a light pink, he quickly tired to move away, only to discover that the hidden force was successfully keeping him in place.
"It should…um…wear off in about another five seconds." Kagome embarrassedly offered as she gently touched his bruised/wounded arms – They were shaking with the effort to keep his body from collapsing onto hers…
TBC
Next update is unknown. I have finals coming up and all that good stuff. :) However, upon request (from a good friend), I have been asked to write another Inuyasha/Fushigi Yugi/Yu Yu Hakusho crossover.
However, with my limited amount of time, I only had enough time to make a very simple plotline...the pairings will probably by Youko/Kagome/Hotohori. Keep an eye out for it if you're interested.