Disclaimer Part I: The characters of Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me. Aster and Dayandhi also belong to me. As unlikely as it would seem at first glance, this is a continuation story, not AU.
Inuyasha: A Fugitive Fairytale
Chapter Nine
Number One Bad Tempered Ninja
"You're annoying."
Kagome glared at the dark haired boy. How DARE he! He's the little punk who attacked them in the first place. They had just been wandering around the woods minding their own business when BAM! Three kids jumped out at them from the tree tops! What was he anyhow? Ten? Twelve? What was he doing carrying around weapons? Where are his parents? Someone should really call Child Protective Services. That's just dangerous. And why was the comment directed at her? It was Inuyasha who had him hopping back into the trees when he started swinging his sword, not her. She was innocent! How DARE he call her annoying!
"Look, you guys attacked us. Just leave us alone and we'll get out of your hair."
Was that the worst cowlick in history, or did he actually style it like that? And what was with the girl with the pink hair? She was like his personal cheerleader or something. Not that he needed one. The kid was quick and could spit fire. YES! Spit. Fire. Right out of his mouth! It was the freakiest thing she had seen in a long time... from a human. And he was definately human. According to Inuyasha, only the odd little blonde haired kid was the one with a trace of demon in him. He did grumble something about foxes out to ruin his life.
"YOU CAN'T FOOL US! WE WON'T LET YOU NEAR OUR VILLAGE! BELIEVE IT!"
Ok. Besides the fact that the kid apparently only had one volume setting on his mouth, she couldn't help but grin at him. He was a little shorter than the others, but spunky. Quick to laugh. But fierce. Something about him reminded her of Shippo, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"We're just traveling through," Kagome explained with what little amount of patience she had left.
At least, she hoped they'd be traveling through. Somehow they ended up in this place without the Tripper. They were well and truly lost. For the first time, she was actually hoping to see those time police. She didn't like the thought of being stuck here. Of never getting to go home.
"Send your demons away, then we'll talk."
Kagome blinked at the tall man who appeared out of the shadows. He seemed to be smiling, thought it was hard to tell since most of his face was covered. Only one eye peeked through. He had silver hair and was carrying some sort of book. She had no idea that silver was such a common hair color for men.
No one, she thought with a grin, wore the color better than Inuyasha though.
"I ain't goin' nowhere. I ain't leavin' Kagome alone with you."
Inuyasha snorted in disgust at the taller man. With his foot he shoved Growlithe behind him, then positioned himself in front the miko. Kagome followed his line of sight. He was glaring at the book? Why was he so upset over a book? Then she squinted and noticed the cover. With an 'Eep' she covered Evee's eyes. The man was worse than Miroku!
"These ain't summons, boss."
Now, really, after everything she has seen, it shouldn't have startled her to see a talking pug dog. Still, she couldn't help but stare at it. Though technically Growlithe could talk too, even if it was only his name. Still a little freaky though.
Inuyasha tensed as the boy Sasuke dropped down next to the pink haired girl, who practically swooned. The blonde whined about him standing too close to his Sakura-chan. It was almost sad to see how he was ignored. Kagome felt a sympathetic pang for him.
"Not a summons?" asked the tall man. His relaxed posture suddenly shifted. "Then he is a demon?"
The dog sniffed again. "Half."
"There are such things as half demons?" asked the girl.
"Stay back, Sakura!" ordered Sasuke as he stepped in front of her to keep her from coming closer. Probably to satisfy her curiosity.
"I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI! I'M THE NUMBER ONE GREATEST NINJA IN THE LEAF VILLAGE! I WON'T BE DEFEATED! BELIEVE IT!"
"Number One Knuckle-headed ninja, you mean," mumbled Sakura.
That surprised Kagome. "You guys are ninjas?"
Naruto's grin nearly split his face it was so huge. "OF COURSE WE ARE! I'M GOING TO BE THE GREATEST NINJA THE WORLD HAS EVER SEE..."
"Shut up, Naruto," scolded Sakura.
Ninjas huh? Oddest looking ninjas Kagome ever saw. Who thought Sakura's red outfit or Naruto's bright orange outfit were appropriate ninja gear? Unless maybe they were hiding in a flower garden during full bloom. She looked down at the ninja outfit she was wearing that Misao had given her. The midnight blue was much better, even though it did have a pink obi. Only the tall man seemed dressed for the job. A job he didn't seem to find half as interesting as his choice of reading material. Which, by the way, Kagome felt was totally inappropriate to be reading in front of children. Even ninja children.
Kagome sighed as Naruto charged, making Inuyasha draw his sword. Which made Sasuke and Sakura attack Inuyasha. Which made Growlithe attack the three kids. Which made the little pug dog attack Growlithe. Which made Evee attack the pug. It was an odd little domino effect. Only Kakashi seemed to have no interest in battle as he hopped up into a tree and turned a page in his book.
"Well," Kagome said to no one inparticular, "Here we go."
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Aster wandered into the control room. Again. As much as Dayan enjoyed watching his companion walk, the walking and sighing was starting to get on his nerves. He took a deep breath and held his tongue. After all, Az had a mean right hook.
She missed Pepper. The little accident prone fairy had really livened the place up. She made Aster smile. She made her eyes light up in a way he had never seen before. He missed Pepper too. Okay, he didn't miss her messes and accidents that it always took him hours to fix, but he did miss how Aster's eyes would sparkle. He missed seeing her happy. Hopefully they would find Pepper soon.
"Think our superiors would ever hire a fairy?"
He meant to cheer her up, not make her eyes water. He felt bad, even as she plastered on a fake smile. Aster would rather be dead than have anyone see her cry.
"You never know." Her voice broke just a little as she asked, "Do you think she's okay?"
Okay. Enough was enough. He had to do something to bring her out of this depression she had worked herself into. It was... unsettling... to see her that way. Sure she could be bossy and angry and demanding... but depressed? It just wasn't right.
"Az, I'm sure she's fine. I miss her too, but..."
An annoying, and all too familiar, buzzing stopped what could have been their first real conversation since the fairy had left their crew. Dayan's jaw clenched as he heard sprinklers engage in the next room. Lights began to flash and the warning signal started to blare. Strangely enough, it was the chaos that made Aster giggle.
No. They weren't under attack. Not really. Well, maybe they sort of were. Under attack by a cute little squirrel looking thing at any rate.
Somehow, the Pokemon had gotten ahold of one of the Trippers during the scuffle. It was only through sheer luck that they had caught up to it so quickly, especially considering the fact that it (was it a girl or a boy?) had bounced to three different worlds, one right after the other. Luckily, once they found it, the Pokemon was somewhat easy to catch. All it took was telling it that they were taking it to Kagome and it came along quietly. However, the little... rascal... kept sending out electrical pulses that messed with the ships computer.
Originally the plan had been to keep tracking Kagome and take it back afterwards. However, if he had to spend one more day fixing the stupid fried computers, he couldn't be held responsible for his actions.
"Az, we gotta ta..."
"Dayan, how about we take..."
They stopped, then they laughed. That was a quick decision. They would erase it's memory and take it back to where it belonged before hunting for Kagome again. The ship couldn't survive their passenger any more.
And neither could Dayan's sanity.
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Sasuke was amazing! His movements were fluid and graceful. And he was fighting against a real actual demon! Half demon, whatever. It was still very impressive. He didn't charge ahead like a certain idiotic knucklehead she knew.
Speaking of Naruto, what was he doing just standing there fidgeting like that? Surely he isn't holding back fighting the girl because she was a girl was he? Was he... yes... he WAS! He was TALKING to her! Chatting actually! How could he be so stupid as to relax with her like that? She was an enemy! An enemy with a powerful demon! Half demon, whatever. Was he insane? Had all that ramen destroyed what was left of his brain cells?
It always bugged her when girls were pitted against the girl enemies while the boys fought the boys. After all, the girls were just as tough as the boys. Some were even tougher! Tenten was an amazing fighter! And Hinata... well... okay, maybe she's a bad example. Hinata was just too sweet. But maybe they did that because boys sometimes got all stupid around a pretty girl. Like Naruto. The girl could gut him before he knew what hit him.
Not that she was pretty. She was barely average looking. Does... does Sasuke think she's pretty?
Quickly Sakura scans the battle field. Luckily Sasuke only seems to be concentrating on fighting the enemy, the strange silver haired dogman with eyes of gold. Eyes that never strayed from the girl for long.
In fact... he actually seemed to be aware of everything about her. His ears would twitch in her direction when his eyes moved back to Sasuke. She suspected that if Naruto made one move on the girl that not even his amazing healing ability would save him. He checked on her continually throughout the battle, a battle he didn't seem to fight aggressivly.
Sakura glanced towards the girl, then back at the dog demon. All she had done was lean back against a tree, and suddenly all his senses were tuned in her direction.
Sasuke... Sasuke didn't even glance her direction once. Not once. No matter how she cheered, or shouted encouragement. Before she knew she was moving, Sakura found herself standing beside Naruto.
"Hey, Sakura-chan. This is Kagome!"
"Hello, Sakura. It is nice to meet you."
Sakura smiled against her will as she responded with her own, "Hello." Was it really appropriate to say it was nice to meet her when their two groups were locked in mortal combat. Odd that the girl didn't seem nervous at all. Which was strange, considering they were greatly outnumbered. Either the girl thought she and her demon were just that powerful... or she was simply an idiot.
Naruto excused himself to go help out Sasuke.
"Did he just call him what I think he called him?" Kagome asked incredulously as Naruto turned his back towards them and bellowed his announcment that he was joining the battle.
"Yeah... it is kind of a nickname."
"Ah, they must be really close."
The odd thing was that the girl's voice held no sarcasm. Obviousy she noticed Sakura's confusion, because she began to explain herself.
"Well, he really wanted to go fight too, but since he had guard duty he held back."
"Guard duty?"
"Sure. He claims I'm a prisoner of Kohona. He's cute. Anyhow, as soon as you got here he ran off to go fight at the other boy's side. You have any brothers?"
Sakura shook her head at the question, still marveling over the fact that the other girl thought that Naruto was cute and that he was close to Sasuke.
"Well, siblings tend to fight among each other and call each other the worst of names. But they are fiercely protective of anyone else hurting them. Look at the way they fight. I'd say those two are probably as close as brothers, but too proud to admit it."
"You think so?"
Kagome smiled. "Sure! I have a little brother, myself. We've been known to fight and call each other names. Though we are actually very close." The girl's expression fell. "I miss him.
Keeping her guard up, Sakura stood next to her. They watched in silence as the fight continued. It was then that she noticed that although Inuyasha kept an eye on Kagome at all times, the girl did the same. There wasn't a moment when he strayed from her line of sight
"He's not just a demon, is he?"
The girl blushed at Sakura's question.
"No. He is my friend.
The blush meant that he was more than a friend, but Sakura didn't want to push it. Besides, it was depressing. Why couldn't Sasuke look at HER like that? Why couldn't be be watching after her obssessively? Why couldn't he... care? Even a little.
"Ohhh."
Sakura looked over at Kagome, chastising herself for getting lost in thought. Such a thing could easily cause a ninja's death. Hopefully Kakashi didn't notice. Or worse, Sasuke.
"What?"
Kagome was smiling kindly at her. "It's the dark haired boy you like."
"Of course! Sasuke is amazing."
"Hmm."
Ok, that just annoyed her.
"Of course he is! He is the most amazing ninja ever!"
"I'm sure he's great." Pause. "Naruto is pretty good too."
A set of silver ears twitched on the battlefield. Sakura wasn't surprised to find the next attack knocking Naruto through a tree. Apparently those ears weren't just for looks. A slightly evil voice suggested she make a statement out loud that Naruto was interested in the dark haired girl, but that might just spell his death. Quickly she pushed away those thoughts... into a file to save for later use.
"Not as good as Sasuke."
Kagome's eyes filled with sadness and pity as she looked at the blonde as he started building up his chakra for an attack.
"What?" Sakura snapped peevishly.
"I didn't say anything."
"You're thinking something."
Kagome shrugged.
"Fine. Don't tell me. I don't care."
Only she did. Why was the stranger focusing on Naruto so much? She was glad that she didn't have another woman in competition with her for Sasuke, but it was strange that she wasn't even slightly interested in him. Hmmm... maybe it was because she was so old. What was she? 15? 16? Waaaay too old for her Sasuke. Wasn't she?
"I think it's sweet how much Naruto cares for you."
"WHAT?"
Kagome smiled as she pet the strange looking fox type creature laying in her lap. "It's easy to tell. After all, he's always keeping an eye on you."
Surprised, Sakura looked onto the battlefield and saw Naruto. Sure enough, he glanced at her and grinned. So she watched a little bit longer. Every so often his eyes would flick over to her before going back to the battle.
The strangest thing happened. Even though she was standing still, her heartbeat quickened.
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"Good riddance!"
Aster dusted her hands off on her pants as the Pokemon scampered off. Kagome's visit was now permanently erased from its mind. She smiled as she saw it's future. In a few days a new young trainer was going to come along, making it her second Pokemon. Her favorite. They would be companions, even after their fighting days were done. The trouble making little Pokemon would have a good long life.
It was good to finally have a future that happy to see.
"Found one of the Trippers on the monitor." Silence. "Shouldn't we be going?"
Looking over at Dayan she gave him a smile, then turned her attention back to the forest where the Pachirisu had disappeared. No. She didn't want to get going. This had been her most difficult mission yet. Not the Pokemon, but the whole Kagome Higurashi mission. She was touching too many lives. Too many futures to see, and too many to erase. It was tiring. It was painful. And it was very depressing.
Maybe it was time to look for another line of work.
"Az?"
Ha. That wasn't likely to happen. Not with her gifts being so well known. There was no way they would let her just walk away, even if she wanted to. There were not many who had her talents. It was her duty, the duty of all born with a special gift, to serve the people. Till the day she died. Ug. How depressing is that? Too bad it isn't possible to wipe her own mind. Seeing everyone's future just reminded her that she didn't really have one of her own. Not really.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder.
"Aster?"
"Yeah... let's go."
Maybe the Tripper was picking up Salt and Pepper...
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Naruto and Inuyasha sat side by side in Heaven. It was unlikely her dog demon was ever going to want to leave this place now. Not now that he'd been introduced to the ramen stand. Though it was very kind of the blonde haired kid (poor thing lived all alone!) to let them stay with him, Kagome was getting a little tired of having ramen for every meal. Every. Single. Meal.
She was tempted to take Sakura up on her offer to go get some food elsewhere, but being more than a few yards from Inuyasha made her nervous these days. Sure they didn't have a Tripper now to worry about whisking them off somewhere, but you never know.
"I wonder how Kurama and Bakura are doing."
That sure got Inuyasha to stop eating. At least long enough to glare at her before resuming the inhalation of his meal. Mentioning their two ex-companions never failed to get a reaction from her dog demon.
"Who cares?"
Kagome sighed. She felt a little guilty for the all the people who had been ripped away from their worlds. She dropped another noodle down to Growlithe. She'd miss the little Pokemon when he finally went back home. It was adorable the way he followed Inuyasha around. She should feel more guilty about taking the Pokemon than she did. But what life did they have to look forward to anyhow? A life of fighting and living in a tiny little ball? No way did she want Evee and Growlithe to end up like that. Maybe there was a way to keep them. Shippo would be ecstatic!
The others though... she did feel a lot of guilt over that. Both Bakura and Kurama were far away from everyone they knew, far from their homes. And now... now they were lost somewhere out there. Hopefully they were still together. And the two little fairies... how dangerous it must be for such tiny little creatures to be lost.
"You should care about your teammates!" scolded Sakura.
"Mmph.. not... slurp... teammate."
"Why do you care so much?"
The question startled Kagome. Not because of the question itself, but because of who asked it. Sasuke usually made a point of staying out of their conversations. He more or less hung around the perimiter of the group and watched. It was a little sad really. It reminded her a little of Inuyasha. Feeling like he wasn't really one of the group. Feeling like he didn't belong. Feeling like it was up to him to take on the world. To get revenge.
Her eyes softened as she answered him. "Every person touches the life of someone else. Sometimes we can't always see it right away, but it's true. Everyone plays an important role in someone else's life." She glanced towards Inuyasha, a little taken aback that he was glaring at her. She realized that she had been leaning forward towards Sasuke as she spoke. Smothering a smile (and straightening back up) she continued, "And friends especially are most precious. They become your family. They are people you can depend on, who depend on you in return."
A silver ear twitched in her direction as a chair screeched across the floor as Saskue stood up.
"Hn." And he left.
"Sasuke!"
Sakura stood up to follow, but looked back in time to see Naruto's face fall ever so lightly. His clear blue eyes suddenly clouded. Kagome sighed in disappointment. Even though each day that they had been there, Sakura seemed to look at Naruto more and
more, she still always left. Usually she would get a guilty or confused look on her face, then run after Sasuke anyhow. Today, however, she sat back down.
"You know, you could die of malnutrition living on that stuff."
Naruto brightened up so quickly Kagome had to blink. "No way, Sakura-chan! This stuff is great!"
Even more interesting than seeing Sakura sit next to Naruto to berate him rather than chase down Saskue, was the fact that Sasuke was paused outside. In fact, he even glanced back before going on his way.
Very interesting.
"Leave it alone, wench."
Kagome sat up straight. "Leave what alone?"
He nodded towards the young ninjas as he continued eat.
"I just want them to be happy."
With a noodle hanging out of his mouth, Inuyasha stopped eating and looked at her. Quickly he finished the bite then pushed the bowl away. He stared at her. He stared at her like he was trying to read her thoughts. Kagome fought the urge to look away. It wasn't often he was so serious.
"Why?"
"Well... Everyone deserves to be happy."
He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Some people think that if you are unhappy with your own life, you try to fix other people's lives. That you aren't happy with who you are with."
"WHAT?" Kagome gasped. "Where did you hear THAT?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Your friends talk a lot. I can't help it if I have good hearing."
Kagome would throttle her friends if she ever saw them again. Her relationship with Inuyasha reeeeeally didn't need to be more complicated than it already was. She had to do it. She had to lay his fears at rest. She had to let him know that he was the one for her and that she wouldn't change it for the world. She would even use the 'L' word. She just hoped it wouldn't scare him off. Well... at least here (wherever here is) there would be no Kikyo to make an appearance at the worst time. And what could be a more perfect
setting for Inuyasha than at a ramen stand. The thought made her smile and bolstered her courage.
Taking a clawed hand, she held it between her two hands. Startled golden eyes focused on her with an intensity that unnerved her. Her heart pounded in her chest.
"Inuyasha..."
She had rehearsed this speech a million times, even gone so far as to turn it into poetry. It was just really too bad she couldn't remember any of it.
"I..."
"Miss me, love?"
Kagome froze as an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She let out a squeak as she was suddenly pulled backwards. Inuyasha stumbled as her hands fell from his. Chairs scraped across the floor as ninjas jumped to their feet. Several kunai flew through the air towards her assailant. The small sharp weapons were more of a warning than an actual attack.
"HE APPEARED OUTTA NOWHERE!"
Catching sight of a lock of silver hair, the young miko knew who was behind her. Even without Naruto's rather loud exlamation.
"Bakura!" Both Kagome and Inuyasha cried out the name, though one was more of a blood curdling roar and the other a gasp of relief.
"I apologize for his rude behavior," said Kurama as he glided into view.
Two tiny fairies were perched on his shoulder. They waved and called out their greetings as their wings fluttered. Kagome grinned, happy to see Salt and Pepper were unharmed and seemed to be in good health. The other two she knew could probably take care of themselves, but fairies were a bit more delicate. A loud growling reminded her that Bakura had not yet removed his arm from her shoulders.
"Friend or foe?" asked Sakura as she reached for another kunai to throw.
"Friend," Kagome said at the same time Inuyasha growled, "Foe."
Sakura looked at Naruto, he shrugged. Though neither dropped their guard or their weapons.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF KAGOME!"
Bakura simply smirked and ran his thumb over something. It took Kagome a moment to recognize the Tripper. He laughed as he pressed a button. Her eyes widened in fear.
"NO!!"
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"NO!!"
Aster pulled out her weapon and aimed it towards the feminine cry of distress. She cursed as she saw the air ripple and Kagome disappear. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling as she saw the dog demon disappear as well. He had leapt in time to grab hold of the girl.
"Well," said Dayan happily, "At least they are all together now."
She grunted.
Looking around she noticed that a large group of heavily armed unhappy looking ninja were staring her down. Oof. Things just couldn't be easy, could they? With a sigh she began making the hand motions to slow down time, allowing her to study each of the people around her. The motions, however, were correctly identified as a spell and the ninja began to attack.
"Hurry!" shouts Dayan as he steps in front of her, taking a throwing star to the shoulder.
It was perhaps the quickest she had ever performed the spell, but at least it worked. Once her heartbeat slowed down to normal, she looked around the group. Most of them barely spoke to the girl, but each of them were to be greatly affected by the domino effect her visit had brought.
It started with the girl.
The pink haired ninja, Sakura, stops her obsessive behavior over Sasuke and gives Naruto a chance. They date. Saskue sees his friends together realizes what he would be missing. Sasuke decides that revenge isn't worth leaving his friends. He stays and pursues a relationship with Sakura. Naruto does not fight to keep her. The girl Hinata cheers him up.
Now that Sasuke does not leave, Sakura does not train under Tsunade in order to get stronger to help Naruto search for him. She continues to allow herself to be protected by Sasuke. Eventually her lack of strength causes her to be killed on the battlefield. The loss of Sakura causes Sasuke to snap. His rage can not be contained, and he goes on a rampage. Kohona is nearly completely destroyed, and the death toll is high.
Naruto is not as strong of a ninja since he didn't train so hard to find Sasuke to bring him back. He is not strong enough to become Hokage. He is not strong enough to defeat Sasuke.
The Leaf village falls.
Aster sighed. It was an easy decision. Erase the memory of Kagome. The children of the Leaf village would have to endure the heartache and pain ahead of them. Years down the road it would be worth it though.
A trickle of blood runs from her nose as she continues to wipe the minds of the villagers.
"Careful," whispers Dayan.
By the time she had finished wiping minds, Aster's legs sagged. Luckily Dayan was there to lean against. She hoped she found Kagome soon, before she burned out. The way things were going, Kagome was likely to accidently bring about the destruction of an entire world.
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Disclaimer Part II: Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, Pokemon was originally a video game owned by Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri (then turned into anime and manga and all Pokemon representation outside of Asia is by Pokemon USA), A Little Snow Fairy Sugar characters belong to Kadokawa Shoten, Yu-Gi-Oh characters (Bakura) belong to Kazuki Takahashi, and Yu Yu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.
Author's Notes:
I was unable to write the pairings people wanted. I knew how I was going to end it, and thought that people would be even more upset if their favorite pairings went up in smoke. So I just stuck to my originial plan.
Sorry it has been taking me so long to update. I swear the story is not forgotten and that it will eventually be completed.
Honest.