Okay, before I start Ch. 2 a few things:
The land of the Waves arc NEVER happened in the genin years in my story!
As to when this is taking place, I'm gonna say a month or so before the start of Naruto Shippuden. I've not really decided.
Some of the Inu-Yasha characters will be appearing but not as they are the InuYasha series like I said in the first chapter, forget all you know about the InuYasha world for the most part. We will see some InuYasha characters because I don't want to waste my time thinking up OCs.
Important: Let's pretend that in this story Kagome's world (our Earth's Japan) and the Naruto world are two very different worlds. Pretend that the languages, culture, clothing, and written language are two very different things!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha, Naruto, or the basic plot to the manga From Far, Far Away.
Chapter 2: The Underground Cavern
He didn't speak Japanese. Well, she figured he wouldn't judging from his looks and clothes.
He approached her with her yellow backpack in one hand.
Blinking, she stared at her bag in confusion. When had she lost it?
"~What a nuisance.~" The boy muttered in an annoyed voice.
She tilted her head confused. "Huh?" What did he say?
The boy pushed the bag into her chest roughly as he glared at her, "~This isn't what I had planned.~" The black haired girl merely stared at him completely puzzled. He snapped his head up as he caught the sound of tree branches being snapped.
~/_~/_~/_~/
"~We can't land here. Branches can't support the weight of an eagle and shinobi!~" One of the ninja informed his team members as he lead his eagle back up into the sky with his reigns. His eagle turned its head back to give him a disgruntled squawk as it shook one of its legs trying to free itself from one of the broken branches.
"~But, Sir!~" a younger ninja began, "~That Awakening we are trying to catch… Is at the Golden Nest beneath these trees!~"
~/_~/_~/_~
The dark haired boy scowled. They were already after them?
They needed to leave or at least hide.
Grabbing a hold of the girl's sleeved arm he began to pull her with him.
"~Quick! This way!~" he ordered her.
The girl just gave him a confused look before asking, "Huh?" He mentally sighed. This was going to be a long day…
/_~/_~/_~/_~
"~Maybe we can park near that rocky stretch over there and jump through the Sea of Trees.~" the younger shinobi suggested to his superior.
"~Don't be stupid, boy! The Sea of Trees is were the nest of those Flower Insects is. How will we avoid running into them?~" The man snarled at his subordinates' daftness. The shinobi muttered angrily to himself as he continued to try to free his eagle's caught leg from the branch. The stupid bird had gotten itself stuck good!
He smacked the eagle's head suddenly. "~Hey! Don't you try to bite me you stupid overgrown turkey! Now pipe down before I cut your leg off!~"
He held it's giant beak shut, eyeing where the bird had nipped him on the arm. He could have sworn the dumb thing was mocking him!
He turned his head back to his subordinate deciding to take his anger out on the boy, "~Even if we were able to kill one…~" he held the bird's beak shut once more.
He had caught the stupid thing before it got the chance to bite him again.
He continued, "~The smell of its blood would bring more of the insects!~"
~/_~/_~/_
Rustling sounds began to surround the two dark haired teenagers. The boy narrowed his eyes as he gave the girl a quick yank. The action only gave him the opposite reaction that he would have liked. Instead of moving faster to keep up with his brisk pace, the girl cried out as she nearly tripped.
"~Run!~" he commanded the girl as his free hand grabbed several kunai from his thigh holster. Hopefully he wouldn't need to use any chakra. He didn't want those shinobi to know where they were.
/_~/_~/_~
The older shinobi continued his rant at his subordinate while trying to free his stupid bird from the accursed branch. Nearly snarling now, "~Do you think we'd stand a chance in hell of surviving if dozens of those Flower Insects were chasing us? Well, do you?~"
The younger shinobi quickly shook his head, he was more afraid of his captain's temper at the moment. And he knew from previous experience that disagreeing with the captain when he was angry was hazardous to his own health.
The captain was too engrossed with the thought of strangling his eagle's head to notice the boy's reaction. If it bit him one. more. time…
Seeing that the bird didn't look like it was going to move its head he continued once again, "~ Not even chakra enhanced weapons can slice through those thing's thick skin!
ARGGG!!! That's IT you STUPID BIRD!!!~"
The other squad members quickly moved to keep their captain from strangling the eagle.
_/~_/~_/~
"Hey! What's happening? What's that sound?" Kagome asked her rescuer as he pulled out a few strange metal knives with one hand. She paled a bit as she looked at the knives. He wasn't going to use those on her was he? "Umm…Hey, uh, what's with the knives?"
Several Flower Insects emerged from the canopy. The boy nearly dislocated her arm as he took off running. Man, he was fast! She could hardly keep up as he dragged her along. "Hey! My arm! You- " Her shout was cut off as he threw the strange knives. They pierced three of the monsters deeply.
He heard the girl squeak as he threw his knives. He mentally scoffed; did she think he would use the kunai on her?
Turning his attention back to the injured Flower insects he carefully watched. Maybe he had bought them some time.
Soon enough more of the insects appeared, drawn by the scent of their wounded comrades. The flower insects began to viciously attack and devour the injured ones.
Good they were distracted, now was the time to run.
He tugged on the girl's sleeve as he started running once again. She was so slow! He had never been so slow, even as a young student in the academy! Gnashing his teeth together in frustration, he unsheathed his sword once again as he spotted more of the creatures ahead of them. He lashed out, slicing through one of the insects that came too close.
Pivoting on the balls of his feet he felt the girl solidly collide with his chest as he swung his sword through an insect that had been directly behind them.
Panting slightly he watched as five more dropped from the canopy. It seemed he had no choice…
Drawing her head back from his chest, Kagome rubbed her nose. That had hurt!
'What kind of place is this!?' Kagome screamed in her mind. The dark haired boy bent down suddenly. 'Huh? What's he d-' "EEEPP! Hey! Please put me down!"
How dare he? He just slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes! Sure, there were disgusting monsters all around them- but that didn't give him the right to touch her like this!
Opening her mouth to shout at him she stopped immediately as the boy began to move.
'He's flying?! Carrying me?' Kagome gasped as he flew through the air.
No, he wasn't flying she realized as they began to fall back down to the ground. He was jumping!
He landed lightly on his feet and took off running.
Hoisting her neck upwards so that she could see ahead of her, (behind him) she waited a moment so that her head could adjust the image that was jostled violently by the movement of his running. She let out an awed gasp as she gained her bearings; he had just jumped clear over all of those things! Each one had to be at least 7 feet tall, yet he had leapt over them like they were nothing! All while carrying her!
He smirked as he felt her gasp. Did she think that he had done something amazing? Something as elementary as jumping? Sure he had not used any chakra like most ninja would have needed too in order to leap such a height. He wondered if the girl knew that he had not used chakra- but then again judging from her earlier behavior, he doubted that she even knew what chakra was.
How was he so fast? She was sure that he was currently traveling much faster than any Olympic runner ever had!
"Ahh! Behind you!" She yelped as a flower insect burst from the bushes behind them to their left (He's carrying her so that she's facing forward from his back, thus seeing behind him.)
The girl yelped something to him in that strange tongue of hers. He ignored her panicked cries. He could already sense the one right behind them.
Taking a deep breath he kicked off hard from the ground, leaping off of a rocky ledge. Looking down slightly so that he could calculate his next movements, he peered into the underground cave below them.
"Omigod! We're gonna fall!!" he grimaced as the girl caterwauled into his ear. He wished she would stop screaming he needed to concentrate!
He slid her off of his shoulder, repositioning the girl so that he could hold her bridal style. That was the best way to hold her so that he wouldn't loose his balance when he landed. He took care to make sure his blade in his right hand didn't nick her.
He landed harshly on his feet. He grit his teeth slightly as the sound echoed in the underground cavern. He was not used to falling such a distance without the use of his chakra.
Nor was he used to carrying another person. It wasn't so much that the weight, no-the girl was light, approximately 101 pounds if he had to guess.
It was just awkward to carry another human.
He waited a few moments for the tingling sensation in his legs to subside before moving.
The Flower Insect that had fallen over the ledge while chasing them began to move sluggishly. Kagome watched it from over her shoulder as it began to shudder violently before it quite literally dropped dead.
"Ok…What just happened?" Kagome asked as she raised an eyebrow at the now apparently dead monster.
He turned to look where she was facing before kneeling so that he could place her on the ground. He guessed that she was probably asking why the Flower Insect had perished.
"~They've quit chasing us. They get their strength from trees and there are no trees here.~" he explained, "~You don't have to worry about this since it has no affect on the human body.~'
At least he was pretty sure she was a human…
Standing up he sheathed his sword once more and started walking away. He mentally sighed; he would need to get a new sword soon. The cheap one he currently had would not last much longer if he kept using it in such a way…
'What? What did he say?' She watched silently as he started to walk away.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Was he going to just leave her there? "D-Don't leave me here!" She clambered to her feet.
/////////
He turned his head slightly as he heard the girl loose her footing and collapse in a heap.
His dark eyes widened as the strange girl he had found began to cry.
He had never been any good at comforting anyone; so all he could do was stand there awkwardly as the girl sobbed. He watched as salty tears spilled from her eyes leaving glistening trails on her pale cheeks.
She couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. She hated it here! She wanted to go home!
/////////////
Groaning Kagome opened her eyes. Why did her neck hurt so much?
Glancing at her pillow she realized 'What? My backpack? Why am I resting on my backpack?'
The ground felt cold, slightly moist, and rocky. Pushing herself upright so that she was leaning on her hands, she noticed something lying on the ground a few feet away from her.
She felt the bile rise in her throat as she regretfully recognized the object.
It was the Flower Insects' corpse.
"NOOO!" she screamed as she bolted away from the corpse blindly.
Only to ram straight into something, or rather someone.
"~Do you want to ram into a stone wall?~" The dark haired boy scowled as he blocked the girl from the wall, "~I thought you were sleeping.~"
The only response he received was having the girl look up at him with those wide blue eyes of hers.
He slightly smirked at her, "~You regained your strength, eh?~"
Who was this guy? Glancing around the confused girl took in her surroundings. She was in an underground stone cavern. She and the boy were currently standing in the only patch of light. The light flickered down from the cliff like entrance that the boy had leapt through before.
She could hear the sound of rushing water nearby. Narrowing her eyes slightly she searched for the source of the sound. Looking off to her right she could slightly see the underground river in the dim light.
… It wasn't a dream. This was very real. What had happened before was real. Kagome felt the blood drain from her face.
Reading the girl's terrified expression, he mentally frowned. He didn't have time for her to have another breakdown. He quickly made his way over to her.
Snatching one of her hands from her face he lightly directed her back over to where she had been sleeping.
"~Out of the way. I have things to do.~" he told her.
Sure she couldn't understand him, but he knew that she would feel more comfortable just hearing someone else's voice. He knew that if he didn't talk she would worry herself needlessly; he didn't need her becoming so frightened and paranoid that she might try to attack him.
Not that he was all that worried, she couldn't seem to stand up without almost tripping and he could tell she had next to no physical strength.
But he knew that even the smallest creature could become dangerous if it were defending itself. Besides it's not like anyone would ever know that he had spoken so much to her.
He turned his attention back to the stone wall he had been observing before she had interrupted him, confidant that she would stay out of his way. The stone wall was covered in thick tree roots that draped down from the entrance above.
Reaching towards one of the enormous roots he muttered to himself, "~Damn it. Why do I have to do… ~" He gave the massive root a powerful tug, ripping it from the rock in a move reminiscent of a certain green clad ninja he had met years ago. "~This?~" he snarled. Without using his chakra no less!
Although he would never admit it, he was slightly proud of the immense strength he possessed without the help of his chakra. A frown made its way across his face, wasting his skills on this sort of demeaning task made his blood boil…
Shaking his head slightly he began slicing the roots into logs with his sword.
Kagome could only stare as she silently observed her admittedly strange male companion as he sliced the roots.
What in the world was he doing? Taking a few steps back she felt her right heel collide painfully with something.
Biting back her yelp of pain, she looked behind her. A large pile of the root logs was gathered. She slightly wondered how long he had been up to this?
She watched as he carried a few more of the logs over his shoulder before he threw them on the pile. He grabbed a log and started to… building whatever it was he was building.
After watching her companion for a few minutes she realized what it was he was building. 'It's a raft.'
He was currently fastening the logs together with a rope he had retrieved from his bag.
It couldn't have been more than seven minutes, but he was almost finished! He was so fast!
Now that she thought about it he moved super fast before too! She mentally began to list all of the amazing feats she had seen him do so far.
'Let's see… He made that humongous leap while carrying me. He was also fine after jumping down from up there' she thought as she eyed the long drop they had fallen from to get where they currently were. 'He killed all of those monsters. And … he saved me.' She thought with a small smile. Just who was this guy?
Drawing her attention back to her companion she watched as he cut the slack rope away before standing up straight to sheath his sword.
Sitting down on the edge of the now completed raft he slumped his head and shoulders down warily. She heard him give out a deep sigh.
'He looks kinda tired.' Kagome thought as she observed him.
She stared at her rescuer finally getting a good look at him now that they weren't running from monsters and she wasn't freaking out.
He had black hair that had a slight navy tint to it, much like her own. His hair stuck up in a way that reminded her of a sitting bird.
She couldn't help but giggle at the silly thought of the boy's hair turning into a bird and flying away.
This earned her a reproachful glare from the boy.
Noticing his stare Kagome gave him a sweet smile too which he merely huffed and turned his head away from her.
Her smile faltered slightly as he turned away, he could have at least smiled back…
Well, he certainly didn't strike her as a people person that's for sure!
Going back to her observations she noticed that his skin was very pale again, much like her own.
Staring at his face she decided that he had a very handsome face, if she did say so herself. She had never been very boy crazy like Eri and Yuka were, but she figured that was all right, after all boys were not everything...
The last thing she observed was his clothes. From what she had seen so far she guessed it was safe to assume that this place was very different from her own world. That would mean the people here would be very different than her own, thus having a completely different style of clothing among other things.
He wore black pants that ended in straps that went over his shoes like dancing leggings often ended in, with some sort of navy wrap around his waist with a thick purple rope holding it together. He wore a white robe like top that ended at his waist tucked in under the wrap and rope.
She felt her cheeks heat up a bit. His shirt was wide open! 'Hey! Don't stare! He'll think I'm a total creep!' swallowing lightly she adverted her gaze from his chest.
She reasoned to herself that his shirt must have come loose earlier when he had saved her. That made sense, from what she had seen there were no fastenings to hold the shirt closed so it must have easily come undone. He was probably just too tired to care about fixing his shirt at the moment, plus if they had to run again it would just come undone again anyways.
Her mind began to wander as she took in his physical appearance. She supposed his countenance could have been either Western or Asian…
She hated herself for it, but she couldn't help but wonder if the people here had a different set of DNA? That was the only thing she could think of that could account for his completely incredible abilities. Not to mention his hairless chest, she figured either he hadn't hit puberty yet or it was in his genetics.
Since she had deemed the first possibility an embarrassing taboo that she didn't want to think about, she decided that she would just have to wait to observe more of the humans here. That is if she saw any other humans here.
Her head drooped a bit as she let out a small sigh. Great, now she was starting to feel depressed…
She needed to distract her self from these thoughts, if she over thought about him she was sure things would become very awkward. She couldn't afford to offend him in any way seeing as he was currently her only shot at surviving in this new world.
Looking around for anything to distract herself she spotted the blanket that he had lent her.
Walking over to it she picked it up in her hand. 'When did I fall asleep?'
'Now I remember. I started crying. He was leaving me, but when I cried he stopped… and he came back and sat down beside me. He kept looking away, but… It still made me feel safe. Then I felt sleepy.'
Kagome stared silently at the wrinkled blanket in her hand. A guilty thought came to her mind, 'Maybe he left me because he wanted to build a raft.'
That made her feel horrible...
Her face fell.
'I guess… I'm a bother to him. A stranger who doesn't even speak his language shows up out of nowhere. But he felt sorry for me, so he took care of me.' She lifted the blanket up to her face. 'But now I'm just in his way.'
She felt her face burn in shame as she stared at the blanket.
There was only one thing she could do to get herself out of this slump.
Putting on a determined face she got to work as she cleaned off the blanket.
After shaking off the loose dirt, she quickly pulled off the leaves that were caught on the blanket's rough material. Eyeing it, she deemed it was clean enough. She quickly set to folding it up neatly.
She stood up with the neatly folded blanket in her arms. She made her way over to the raft where the boy was sitting. He raised his head up to look at her as she approached.
Gulping, she knew that he wouldn't be able to understand a word she was about to say. He would probably think she was some sort of idiot for trying to keep talking to him despite the fact that he made it very clear that he didn't speak her language. But she didn't really care about that; she was doing this to make herself feel better!
Sitting before him on her knees she began, "Excuse me? I just wanted to apologize for returning your kindness with my tears. I feel deeply ashamed as I look back on my earlier behavior. I realize now just how ungrateful I must have seemed." She said in the sincerest voice she could offer hoping he would understand that she was apologizing to him despite the language barrier.
She clenched her fists up in what she hoped he would interpret as determination "I'm not sure how I got here. Or even why I'm here. But… I know I won't get anywhere being all teary and depressed. If my gramps were here he'd say that we were destined to meet. As corny and lame as it sounds, I can't help but feel that maybe we were destined to meet. So I'll stay with you for now. I'll try my best to not be a burden to you."
Phew! She was glad she got that out of her system. She didn't think she had ever sounded so formal to anyone before, not even the time when she had been awarded a certificate by her principle for making it into the top 30 students list at her school.
The boy merely stared at her with a slightly annoyed face. "~… I don't understand what she's saying.~" He muttered to himself.
/////////
It had been around half an hour since the girl had tried to tell him something important. At least he though she was, he could tell from her body language and tone that she had felt guilty about something. He ran his hand through his hair as he placed his bag and a make shift torch onto the middle of the raft. He had made the torch by twisting some of the root shavings he had cut from the roots earlier and fastened the middle and ends using the remaining tidbits of rope.
He lifted one end of a long pole that he had also made earlier, planning to use the pole to steer and move them along the river.
Twisting the pole around in the palm of his hand slightly, he scowled as he waited on the girl.
Hearing the clicking sounds that were made by her oddly fashioned shoes on the stone he looked up as she walked quickly towards him.
Catching his eyes she gave him a sheepish smile as she rattled out what he assumed was some form of apology. "Sorry for keeping you waiting! I almost forgot my bag."
Stepping onto the raft, she quickly moved towards the middle. She smiled as she looked fondly at her yellow backpack. She couldn't believe that her bag had stayed with her through the explosion that had brought her to this place.
'I'd hate to leave it behind.'
He watched her for a few seconds before giving her a slight nod letting her know that he accepted her apology. "~We must be going~"
He began to push the raft into the river, jumping onto it as it launched smoothly into the river.
Standing he lowered the pole and guided the boat down the slightly strong current.
Wrapping her arms around her knees Kagome watched as the light from the entrance disappear as they moved around a bend.
'I guess we're leaving the forest now…'
Looking up she stared at her companion's back. 'I wonder where we're going?'
She wanted to ask, but she had no idea how to get the message across. Her companion didn't really strike her as someone to use charades; he seemed too aloof to bother with any excessive silly movements…
She clenched her fists 'I should stop worrying. I made up my mind. I decided to go with him. I decided…'
Starring at her fists she realized it was getting darker!
She sat in the darkness a moment before commenting stupidly, "It's completely dark."
Quickly she began groping around in the darkness looking for anything to cling on to. "Aw, man! I don't believe this!"
She held her bag tightly, "I can't see a thing!"
The raft began to rock as it went over some mild rapids. Not expecting the sudden movement she yelped slightly as she pressed her chest and sides onto the raft, trying to move as little as possible, "Oh, no. Please."
She heard a shuffling sound coming from behind her. Turning her head she watched as a small ball of light appeared. It steadily grew illuminating the tip of the torch the boy had put on the raft earlier.
Unexpectedly the tip of the torch caught fire. As the flame grew Kagome could see the outline of the boy as he held the torch.
He looked down at her with a clearly annoyed expression "~Noisy, aren't you?~"
He placed the flaming torch in her arms "~Hold it.~"
Holding the torch mutely, she stared at it nervously, 'Um, well…. Hello? How did you start this fire just now? Did he use magic? Or some super-natural power? I thought he was super human, but still, I can't believe he could do something like this.'
She stared wide-eyed at the flame searching for some kind of clue. She couldn't see anything special about the flame…
'Is everyone in this world like him?' she wondered. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth a bit. 'What'll they think of me? I'm just an ordinary high school girl. I'm good at analyzing stuff, but still… I'm just a weak little girl.' She thought self-consciously.
At least she could see her hands thanks to the flame she thought, trying to find something to be positive about.
She stared at the boys back; she felt she could trust him.
She had always been good at feeling if people could be trusted. 'I think… That's why I decided to come with him.'
Blinking, Kagome realized she still didn't know his name! How embarrassing! She had practically given this guy her complete trust, yet they didn't even know each other's names!
"Excuse me?" she called out to grab his attention, "My name is…Kagome." Pointing to her face as she said her name. "Kagome Higurashi."
"I'm Kagome."
"Kagome." She continued to point to herself while smiling.
"Ka- Go- Me. … Ka- Go- Me!" She repeated once more hoping he understood what she was getting at.
She stopped pointing her finger at her face. Pointing it towards him she asked him, "And you?"
He glanced at her with those dark eyes of his…
Lowering her hand she started to feel foolish, "Um…"
'I guess he didn't understand. Or maybe I shouldn't have spoken to him?'
She was slightly startled when she heard him begin to speak, she didn't think he was going to answer her.
"~The Awakening is supposed to be… Something that drives this world into turmoil.~" He stated.
"~I didn't expect… That the Awakening would ask my name in such a friendly way.~" He muttered more to himself.
He felt the raft shift a little as the newly identified 'Kagome' stood up behind him. He felt the warmth of her breath on the back of his neck as she leaned forward in an inquisitive gesture, obviously waiting for an answer. "Huh? … Hello?"
"~My name is Sasuke.~" he told her as he faced forward. "~Uchiha, Sasuke.~"
He let it sink in for a moment before addressing her, "~Kagome~"
The two companions stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts as the raft floated down the river.
//////////////
"~They're not back yet?~" The captain asked his two subordinates as he circled on a different eagle.
He had forced one of his men to trade birds with him.
He was glad that the overgrown, biting, flying RAT with wings would no longer bother him! The bird he was currently ridding was quite tame and docile. Grinning he gave the bird a pat, ruffling a few of the feathers on it's neck. The eagle gave a loving chirp as it leaned into his hand.
"~It's been a while since the three of them climbed down the rope into the Sea of Trees. They must have reached the 'Golden Nest' by now.~"
One of his men spoke up, "~I'm afraid they were eaten by the Flower Insects, Sir.~"
His other subordinate agreed, "~ I think so, too.~"
His eagle lolled its tongue from the side of its beak lazily as it trilled contently as he continued stroking the sleek feathers of its neck.
The captain frowned slightly, "~They probably were…~"
His youngest subordinate gave a shout, "~Sir! Look over there!~"
The young man pointed out towards the horizon.
Several figures riding giant bird summons loomed in the distance.
"~Are they our troops, Captain? Have they come to support us?~"
"~How can that be fool! There are only ten eagle summoning scrolls for the Waterfall ninjas' usage! All of the other eagle summons are currently out on long-term missions! That's why there's only six of us here!~"
The flock of riders were steadily coming closer. The Waterfall ninjas could now make out a few details of the newcomers.
"~Sir, look! Look how they ride the eagle summons! There's only one hidden village that flies standing on the backs of the eagles.~" the subordinate yelled to his captain.
The youngest of the three called out, "~They must be here to get the Awakening!~"
The captain waited until he could make out the symbols etched onto their headbands.
"~Mist ninjas from Mizu no kuni! Let's get out of here! We're clearly outnumbered. We can't defeat them!~" The captain ordered his men, there was no point in loosing their lives. Especially since the Waterfall village had been dwindling in shinobi numbers due to the recent onslaught of wars.
///////
A man standing on the back of an eagle muttered, "~They're fleeing.~"
Another man was riding a draft slightly below the first man. He had heard the young man's words with his sharp ears. Asserting his authority as the squadron leader he yelled out a command to the rider who had spoken, "~Don't kill them, Naraku. We should capture them alive.~"
Naraku chuckled darkly as one of the riders they were now chasing seemingly fell off his mount.
A sick smile crossed the young mans face as he raised his arms out touching his palms together. A sick purple glow engulfed his palms.
Feeling that he had collected enough chakra he released it aiming at one of the remaining two riders.
A blood-curdling scream could be heard.
He chuckled as the boy's torso was ripped from his body, seemingly incinerated right through. He loved how the blood splattered in the air.
///////
Kagome watched idly as the raft drifted down the river, the current had become stronger as they drifted. 'It's kinda scary when we go over those small rapids. I keep feeling like I'm gonna fall off.'
Folding her hands into her lap she bit back an exasperated sigh. She was starting to become bored… She hated having to stay so quiet, she wanted to talk!
She narrowed her eyes slightly at her companion, it seemed like he enjoyed the silence.
Sasuke had his eyes closed as he listened intently to the sound of the river's flow.
Abruptly, he opened his eyes. They needed to get off the raft.
Droping his pole he had been using to guide them down the river, Sasuke quickly grabbed his bag.
He grabbed Kagome, slinging her over his shoulder once again. He heard her squeak in surprise as she tensed her body on his shoulder.
Ignoring her indignant cries, Sasuke coiled his legs and sprang from the raft, touching down on a small stone alcove besides the river.
Setting the seething girl down on the ground he ignored what he supposed was an upset lecture in her language.
"Look here Sasuke! If we're gonna be traveling together we need to get a few rules straight! You need to warn me before you grab me like that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
He turned around once she finished her angry rant. He didn't see what she could possibly angry at him for.
"~Stay there.~" he told her simply before taking the torch from her hands and walking away.
'What did he see?' Kagome wondered as Sasuke walked off, taking the torch with him.
She hoped that there weren't any more monsters. Sitting back down she rested her head on her knees. As she sat on the ground she could feel deep vibrations running through the ground.
Tilting her head she listened to a deep rumbling noise.
What was that sound?
Did it have anything to do with their jumping off the raft?
Her curiosity got the best of her as she stood and headed in the direction that she had seen Sasuke go off in.
Placing a hand on the cavern's wall Sasuke tried to figure out the direction the sound was coming from. His time spent in Otogakure had not been wasted, he had learned how to track through sounds and vibrations.
"~Must be this way…~" he said as he turned to his left.
Sasuke quickly turned when a loud slash and startled yelp met his ears. Holding the torch up, he could see Kagome as she hauled herself out of a shallow pool of water completely drenched.
She sputtered out water "What the… I missed that puddle."
Looking up she saw Sasuke holding the torch. He had a hand over his face as he rubbed his temples in a frustrated manner.
'Crap. I did it again. I'm being a nucence.'
"Heh heh… Oops? Uh, I'm sorry. I wanted to know what that sound was. But it was so dark…" She rattled out. Grabbing the hem of her green skirt she began wringing the water out.
Brr… Great, now she was wet and cold. It was going to take forever for her clothes to dry!
Ignoring the nasty feeling off her wet clothes she continued to ramble. She just couldn't keep quiet any longer!
"You know, I don't think I've ever been in such darkness before. I mean, where I live, we have lights everywhere at night. We also have Mom and Pop stores open 24 hours in my neighborhood. It's really handy to have them near your house when you run out of milk-"
She was cut off from her ramble as Sasuke shoved something into her face, waiting for her to take the bundle from him.
"~I don't understand what you're saying… But it's a good time to do this. I need you to change into these clothes.~" he told her before he turned away pointedly.
Binking Kagome looked at what he had handed her. They looked like clothes. Was he giving them to her to wear until her clothes dried?
Glancing at his back she got the feeling that he was currently completely ignoring her. 'I think he wants me to change here.'
Fat chance of that though, she might trust him but she was going to go change a little farther away from him…
After debating for a couple of minutes whether or not to take off her undergarments, she decided to take them off. They were just too saturated with water for her liking… Besides she could put them back on once they dried a little bit… She quickly slipped her bra and underwear into the large pockets of her pants.
Deciding that she had spent enough time changing she trotted back over to Sasuke.
He turned around as her sensed her approaching him, silently looking her over.
He had given her his old clothes that he had worn as a genin in Konoha, his high-necked navy shirt and tan shorts.
The only reason he had carried the old clothes in his bag was because he didn't trust leaving them back in the Sound while he was away.
The clothes did have the Uchiha clan crests on them after all, and they would have been stolen. Most likely by either the snake-sannin himself, or one of the many fan-people in the Sound village.
Yes, fan-people meaning both women and men.
Sasuke mentally shuddered. It could be creepy at times because he was not gay!
He brushed the unpleasant thoughts from his mind.
Focusing on Kagome he watched as she held the pants up, they were too wide in her tiny waist… The shirt was also very large and roomy on her small frame.
If it hadn't had been for the comically large size of the clothes and the blue color of her eyes, he decided she could have easily passed for an Uchiha clan member.
Sighing he started searching his bag for some of the rope. Cutting a piece off and handing it to her he commented, "~… They're big on you.~"
"~When we reach a village, I'll get you female clothes.~" He told her as he picked up the wet clothes she had set on the ground so that she could tie the rope around the pants like a belt.
"Oh, that's my … drenched school uniform." She told him thinking he had asked her something as she finished tying her 'belt'.
Sasuke balled the clothes up and tossed them into the river.
"Wahgh! Hey!" Kagome grabbed his arm pointing to where he had thrown her clothes and shoes, "That's my… Why did you do that!?" She yelled at him.
He watched as Kagome became flustered.
"~I need a place to throw them away.~" he explained to her.
"~There's an underground waterfall. Nobody will be able to find your clothes there.~" He pulled his arm out of her grasp.
"~You may not understand me, but… The Awakening which everyone is hunting for right now… is you, Kagome.~" Sasuke told her as he placed his hands on her upper arms trying to keep her attention on him.
"~You'd be immediately discovered dressed as you were. If you don't want to get dragged into this stupid tug of war among our nations, you'll have to get rid of everything you brought here.~" Sasuke explained to the obviously confused girl.
'I don't understand a word he's saying, but… Somehow I… Ohh!'
She watched as Sasuke picked up her backpack. 'Not my bag!'
"Wait a minute!" She yelled at him. Kagome threw herself at him, wrestling her bag out of his grip, "Are you going to throw this away, too?"
He kept his iron grip on one of the bag's strap, unyielding to her effort to take it from him.
"Look, you can't take it from me, its mine! Sure, I know there's no school here. But this is all that I have…That connects me to my own world. Please, Sasuke…" she begged quietly.
She felt him let go of the strap.
Walking away he muttered, "~Never mind.~" he walked over to his own drawbag, hoisting it onto his shoulder, "~Keep it.~"
'There must be a … Reason why he wants it.'
Kagome watched as he turned away.
Staring at her yellow bag she realized how selfish she was acting….
"Excuse me?" She called out softly, catching his attention.
She held her bag out to him, "I… Don't really need this…" she mumbled.
'I made up my mind… To trust him.' She smiled lightly.
End of chapter 2!
I didn't get as far as I had originally planned… Sorry that it's so long, leave me a review if you'd like me to break it up into two chapters (let me know where I should split it!)
I don't have a lot of time at the moment; I've got to leave in a few minutes for the weekend.
I'd appreciate a few more reviews though, it really makes me happy and it motivates me to write faster!