Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inu-Yasha, nor do I own the plot or dialogue of the manga From Far, Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa. If you've never read the manga I suggest you take a look at it in your local bookstore!
Chapter 3: The Wounded Merchant
'~How can a… Little thing like that be the Awakening?~' Sasuke wondered as he watched Kagome stumble up the rocky tunnel they were in. They were currently trying to find an exit to the top of the mountain.
'~There must be some mistake.~'
Sasuke stopped before a dead end in the tunnel. Placing his palms on the rough wall he gave it a mighty shove, pushing the stone to create an opening.
"~RAAHHH!!!~" he shouted as the stone gave way, allowing the two companions a view of the sky.
"Wow!" Kagome said as she lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. "The sky!"
'~If… This girl is the real awakening…. I'll have to…..
Kill her.~' Sasuke thought darkly as Kagome walked past him spreading her arms out in delight as she gazed at the clear blue sky.
Her long hair and clothes were tossed about in the mountain's breeze "Oh! What a beautiful blue sky!"
//////////
"~I guess we lost the peddler, eh?~" a man's gruff voice spoke.
"~Too, bad. If I'd been with you, I wouldn't have let him escape.~" the man continued as he fed a rodent-like creature on his shoulder.
"~Absolutely right, boss. It was unfortunate you weren't with us.~"
"~Dammit! That punk hurt us with some of his jutstu…~"
"~We won't give up. We'll hunt 'im down!~"
The leader spoke to his men, "~Of course we will men. This is the Ookami bandits' turf. He better not underestimate us, the cur. He won't leave here alive.~"
///////////
'Oh, God!! Oh, God! Don't look down, Kagome… Don't look dow- AHH! I looked!!! '
Panicked Kagome as she slowly shuffled along a very narrow ledge, following Sasuke.
The two were currently high up on a mountain. They had passed over the top a little while ago and were now slowly making their way around the other side of the mountain.
"~Kagome! Take my hand, Kagome! We're almost there. Its alright, I won't let you fall.~" Sasuke called to her with a hand out stretched. He didn't really care about her feelings it was just that she was slowing him down! He hoped that talking to her would make her move quicker.
He had been wondering when she would let the height finally get to her. She had made it very clear that she was not used to heights when they had first started their climb.
His hand and arm still hurt from where she had clung onto him when they had started out on the mountain face.
'No way. I can't do this. I'll fall.' She glanced up briefly at him, clinging to the cliff side for all she was worth. She felt the rough rocks dig into her skin through her clothes as well as the minor scratches on her exposed skin mainly her arms and legs. 'But I have to!'
She tried to move a step, 'OmiGod! I can't move!' her fear of heights had completely immobilized her. She was starting to feel dangerously lightheaded from sheer panic.
Sighing, Sasuke began sidestepping along the cliff, moving back towards her.
'Wah! The wind!' a rough gust caused Kagome to loose her iron hold on the cliff face. Without her hands to help keep her anchored to the rock, she quickly lost her balance on the precariously narrow ledge. Waving her arms around in an attempt to regain her balance, Kagome found herself careening backwards.
Sasuke grabbed her wrist as she began tumbling backwards, taking Sasuke down with her.
'This is IT!' Kagome wailed in her mind as the sensation of falling engulfed her, sure that she would soon be dead. 'EEK! I'm so sorry, Sasuke!'
The young man was not so inclined to die just yet though. He quickly up righted himself and brought Kagome to his chest bridal style. Gritting his teeth Sasuke brought his feet to skid along the side of the mountain before pushing off powerfully.
The two began to fall down towards a forest. (no, it's not the Sea of Trees. It's outside the ring of mountains surrounding it.)
Twisting around Sasuke braced his back towards the thick tree branches, taking the brunt of the fall.
Luckily Sasuke and Kagome landed in a thick moss-bush.
Letting out a deep breath Sasuke lifted his hand from the back of Kagome's head.
"~What a …Why on earth… am I doing this?~" he grumbled sourly as he brought a hand to his forehead.
Lifting her face from his chest all she could think was 'We're alive!' Looking up Kagome could see the cliff they had plummeted from. 'Oh, God… That's gotta be hundreds of feet in the air!'
Sasuke began to push himself up; they had to keep moving.
As he began to sit up, she took note of their rather dubious position; she was practically lying right on top of him!
"Eep! Sorry, didn't mean to sit on you." Kagome said quickly as she rigidly jerked her body away from him.
Kagome hadn't counted on rolling completely off the bush however. She let out a disgruntled shout as she desperately tried to keep herself from falling.
"Ouch!..."
Sasuke just deadpanned at the girl; surely she was going for some sort of clumsiness record of some kind. It was truly a wonder that she had not broken anything yet…
He peered over the side of the bush as she called out his name.
"Sasuke?" Kagome was on her side staring at something.
"There's something here…" she reached out a hand to touch the large object that was halfway hidden by the large bush.
Gingerly feeling the object, she could feel the cool metal beneath her fingers and the polished wood that the metal had been nailed onto. Tracing one of the nails idly, Kagome continued, "It looks like some kinda wheel."
She flinched slightly as Sasuke jumped down from the bush in front of her (the bush was to her back when she fell, so she couldn't see him move). Since her head was currently eye-level with his feet she could see the condition his strange shoes were in.
'His shoes are totally wrecked.' She thought as she pushed herself onto her knees, wincing slightly as her knee scraped against a sharp stick.
'So are his clothes and his bag.' She noticed, looking over her companion from behind. His white shirt had various tears and spots where the fabric was being worn thin along with smudges of dirt. The navy wrap looked dirty too, and the purple rope looked a little frazzled at the ends. His bag looked slightly damp, fairly scuffed up and rather travel-worn. 'That must have happened when he saved me.' She realized.
Her face began to heat up 'I thought I'd told myself that I wouldn't be a burden to him… Now he's letting all of his gear get messed up because he's looking out for me.' She couldn't exactly pay him back for any of his damaged equipment or buy him new stuff at the moment, due to the fact she had no clue of how this world's economy worked. She didn't know if they used some sort of bartering system or some kind of currency…
Shaking herself, she decided she would worry about paying him back later.
She watched as Sasuke brought the large wheel from out of the bush. A few leaves fell from his short hair 'They must have gotten tangled in his hair when we fell from the canopy.' She realized.
'Stupid! What if he had gotten hurt from that fall? He took all the damage on the way down!' She mentally berated herself. Reaching up she tugged lightly on his wrap.
It was becoming a habit now to keep on apologizing to him, she realized distantly.
"Sasuke, Sasuke, I'm sorry!Are you ok?" She asked him.
"I just wasn't used to standing on a narrow ledge like that." She began to ramble, "I'll try to be better next time. You know, my gym teacher once told me I had a good sense of balance. I'm not sure if she said that just to be nice though… But I gotta admit that I slipped and hit my head when I was practicing on the balance beam last week. Man, I thought that bump and bruise would never go away! Anyways, I became overconfident and I stepped forward in my foot funny… Heh-Heh!"
Not bothering to look at her, Sasuke said, "~ I don't understand you.~" as he leaned the fallen wheel against a tree, walking off to find where it had come from.
He heard Kagome trotting behind him "Sasuke?" she called out to him.
He held out his arm to keep her behind him as they reached a small clearing. He heard the girl gasp as she looked into the clearing.
There was an open carriage turned over on its side with bags of wares or possessions scattered near the cart, a horse laid there unmoving at the front. The animal was still tethered to the cart.
Sasuke could see a man lying on his back half way across the clearing, he wasn't moving.
He walked over to the unconscious man kneeling down to search for a pulse.
A slow pulse moved beneath his fingers and Sasuke could see the slight rise and fall of his chest. Looking up to Kagome, he could see that she was worried. "~He's still breathing. There's not much blood.~" he told her.
'Wow, the first human I've seen since I got here, besides Sasuke that is.' Kagome thought as she watched Sasuke inspect the man.
Sasuke seemed to tell her that the man was ok before he stood up.
"~I'll find some medicinal herbs.~"
Huh, were they leaving now? Kagome started to follow her companion. She had hoped they could have helped the man…
Sasuke turned and pushed her back a little, "~You don't have to come with me. Stay here.~" he ordered her.
She watched as he jogged off into the forest. "I think he told me to stay here…" she mumbled as she stood awkwardly.
She sighed, great now what was she supposed to do? She stood helplessly next to the man, unsure of what to do.
She stared at the unconscious man taking in his appearance 'I hope he's alright.'
The young man was wearing a long black cloak with an equally long purple robe overtop of it. He had inky black hair that was pulled into a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck.
"I'm worried about you, but I can't really help too much… I might end up doing more harm than good. I have no way of knowing if you hurt your neck so it's really best that I don't try to move you around." She muttered half-heartedly to the unconscious man.
She couldn't even be sure that the people here had the same anatomy that she did so it would probably be better to wait for Sasuke to come back before she tried anything major.
She crouched down next to the man, observing his injuries that she could visibly see.
He had a rather nasty gash on his forehead that had caked up blood that was beginning to clot. "Red blood… That means you guys have hemoglobin in your blood like me…" Kagome muttered recalling a lesson from her biology class.
She could see several dark spots on his robes 'Must be blood.'
She carefully pulled his robes up so that she could see his right leg.
She gasped 'I'm pretty sure it's broken.' The shinbone looked obviously snapped in at least two spots, no wonder the man was unconscious. That is if he didn't hit his head, the shock from that bad of a break would definitely do it…
Deciding that she better not touch that leg, Kagome carefully uncovered his left leg. She decided this leg looked much better than his right. 'Of course, he's gonna need a bunch of stitches…'
Unable to resist the urge to do something to help the poor guy, Kagome dragged over a small log. Well it was more of a thick branch with the limbs torn off than an actual log. "Let's see, it's still bleeding. If I elevate his leg some, it should slow the bleeding down a bit."
She smiled slightly; at least she could make herself kinda useful!
Kagome raised the man's leg very, very carefully onto the log. With that done she grabbed his robe, bunching it up a bit before she used it to apply pressure on the gash.
Her good deed done, she was left alone with her thoughts. 'I hope Sasuke comes back soon…' Looking down at the unconscious man's face she thought, 'As you can tell, I get scared as soon as he's out of my sight. I mean, I feel awful that I'm such a burden to him. But I don't know how I'd survive without him.'
She smiled bitterly 'I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. I wanna go home. In my world I know how to at least take care of myself… But I can't go home. Uh… What should I do? I'm beginning to feel depressed again.'
"~Nng …~" the unconscious man groaned a little.
Kagome froze 'He's waking up!'
"~Heeeer….~" the man groaned.
'What? Here?' Kagome wondered. (AN: No, he's not really saying 'here' it just sounds similar and Kagome is desperately trying to understand him even if she knows that he's not speaking the same language. But you know some words sound similar between different languages, so she's hoping that's the case here.)
"Uh, sorry. I don't know where here is." She told the man quickly lifting her hands from his left leg where she had been applying pressure. She hoped he wasn't awake because she had hurt him or something…
"~Heeer. Mmnng.~" the man rasped out bringing a hand to his throat.
'What should I do? I wonder if he's in a lot of pain.' Kagome pulled her hands to her chest anxiously. 'I don't understand you.'
"Sasuke!" She called out as she stood up. She hoped he could hear her.
"Sasuke! Where are you? The man's awake!" She yelled in the direction he had gone off in.
The raven-haired girl was completely unaware of the man who stepped out of the tree line behind them.
"~ FOUND HIM!~"
Kagome turned to face the unfamiliar voice. It was another man…
"~Hee- Hee! So you've been lying here all this time, eh?~" the man's deep voice sneered as he made his way towards the clearing.
"~And you have this cute little girl as an additional prize. How thoughtful.~"
Kagome could see the man better now, he was tall and had long black hair pulled up in a long ponytail. He was wearing what looked like an animal fur skirt with tight black shorts underneath, like bike-shorts, with metal armor across his bare chest. A sword rested at his hip and a small rodent-like creature was perched on his shoulder.
Kagome unconsciously shivered, she didn't like his tone and there was something else off about the man. 'Who is this creepy guy?' She drew a few steps back towards the injured man. Where was Sasuke?
The injured man struggled to lean up. "~Who are you?~" he asked weakly as he gasped in pain.
"~We haven't met before. I'm the leader of the men you ran into last night. Too bad I wasn't with them at the time; otherwise I wouldn't be wasting my time right now. Maybe you've heard of me, I'm Koga the great leader of the Okami Bandits!~"
The injured man cringed at the name.
Koga sauntered over to the man mocking him, "~Aw… You can't move? Looks like you're hurt.~" he simpered cruelly before kicking the injured man swiftly in the gut. "~ARGH!!~"
"EEK!!" Kagome screamed at the newcomer. "What are you doing? Can't you see he's hurt!" She yelled at the man as she tried to push Koga away from the injured man. She wasn't very successful however. This guy was like a rock, he refused to move an inch!
Distracted by the girl momentarily Koga snarled, "~I'll deal with you later!~"
He violently shoved her away. "Owww!" Kagome yelped as she fell to the ground, landing harshly on her rear.
Drawing his blade from his hip, he raised it high, prepared to kill the peddler.
"~DIE!~" he howled as he began to move his sword.
Kagome watched in utter horror as Koga moved, she couldn't do anything! Taking a deep breath she screamed at the top of her lungs, "SASUKE!!!!"
Sasuke burst from the forest in a barely visible blur, appearing behind Koga his own blade poised to strike. As he slashed his sword across the man's back he was startled when he only sliced air. When had the man moved? Why hadn't he sensed the man's movement?
Turning he watched as the man appeared across the field behind him. The man had sort of shimmered into existence with a small tornado. Sasuke knew that this was not like any transportation jutstu he had encountered before. He needed to be on his guard.
The animal perched on Koga's shoulder squeaked angrily as he landed, wobbling a bit.
"~You… You have a sword! One of those traveling warriors, eh?~"
The injured man held up a hand towards Sasuke before imploring, "~H- Help me… That guy is the head of a band of robbers… I ran into them last evening. They'd been robbing travelers… I got away, but the wheel of my carriage came off…~" the man explained in a raspy voice, dry from the lack of water.
"~Ha Ha Haa!~" Koga jeered shrugging his arms out as he continued, "~What are you going to do, help him? You're just some traveling mercenary. You're no white knight. Or would you rather die here, playing the hero?~"
Gritting his teeth Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "~Not my lucky day…~"
He lazily swished his blade around as if he were swatting away an annoying fly.
"~Why do I keep running into trouble?~" he mumbled to no one in particular.
Koga twirled his sword around in a display of dexterity, "~So you want to fight, eh birdbrain? Even if you don't want to fight….~" He lifted his blade into a fighting stance, "~I'll kill you anyway because…. You made the mistake of striking me.~"
Small twisters formed at his feet as he sprang towards Sasuke "~You're gonna die, pal!~"
Sasuke looked nonplussed by the display of speed, he was far faster than this small fry. He met the bandit's blade head on, using enough force to knock to sword out of the man's hands. Before he could get a good swing in, the bandit shimmered away in that teleportation-twister of his.
Feh, this was truly pathetic Sasuke decided as he watched Koga appear next to his sword. Smirking he decided he wouldn't need to waste his Sharingan on this nuisance. He could already see through his strange teleportation.
Holding his sword above his head, he blocked the bandit's blade as Koga teleported into the air slightly behind Sasuke.
The two men traded blows as the thief flitted about hoping to catch Sasuke off guard. Snorting slightly Sasuke stabbed the man in the side. "~Aarrgg!~" Koga howled as he teleported away, dropping his sword.
Holding his side, he wobbled a bit as he landed. "~ I don't…believe it~" he muttered as he looked down at his bloodied hand in shock, "~How could anyone stab me?~"
It was impossible! Not even ninjas were able to predict his movements when he teleported. Staring at the boy he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, something was very off about this kid…
Koga flinched backwards as Sasuke began to move forward "~Whoa!~" He began to teleport in bounds, heading back the way he came. "~ I'll… I'll get you later!~" he yelled back to Sasuke as he left.
Sasuke watched, as the small twisters appeared farther and farther away. Sighing he sheathed his sword, what a nuisance… Sasuke was cut short from his mental ramblings however, when he heard a clapping sound. Turning around he was met with the sight of Kagome clapping.
"Way to go, Sasuke! Way to hand it to that creep!!" Kagome cheered.
Sasuke merely stared at her with a slightly frazzled expression on his face.
Shaking his head slightly, he made his way over to the fallen merchant. Holding out the herbs he had gathered he explained to the man, "~ These herbs… they make a poultice. It will lower your fever. Take it with water.~"
He held out a water canteen to the man, who took it gratefully saying, "~Thank God, it's koko!~"
Picking up on the word Kagome thought, 'Hmm… So '~koko~' means water… If I'd known that word, I could have given him water earlier…'
Sasuke was helping the man put the poultice on his wounds.
"~I'll put a temporary dressing on your wounds. Then we should head for the nearest town. We don't want to stay here, that guy will probably return with his men. ….Your horse will be alright, I'll fix your carriage for you in exchange for a ride.~"
"~What? My horse? Really?~" the man asked Sasuke.
Growling slightly Sasuke pushed the remaining few bandages and poultice into the man's hands, "~ You can use your hands, can't you? Put the poultice on your leg.~" A scowl on his face, he needed to stop being the good Samaritan! Otherwise he'd be helping every wretched person he came across.
The only reason he was helping this man was because he and Kagome needed to blend in as inconspicuously as they could. Traveling in a small group on a wagon would allow them to avoid major suspicion. All villages whether civilian or shinobi had become increasingly hostile to travelers lately, believing that they were all disguised ninjas or spies. Even Konoha, the village that had once allowed travelers of all sorts to enter freely had shut its doors. Clearly Orochimaru's attack had left far more damage than the mere physical damage…
Blinking at Sasuke's sudden coldness the man said, "~Um…. Okay.~"
The merchant bent over trying to reach his leg. His wounds made him too stiff to bend properly and he didn't want to rip open the scabs that were forming.
Seeing the man struggle Kagome decided to offer her help, "Ah, you want to put this around your leg? Let me do it for you."
The man stared at Kagome as she wrapped his leg. Lifting a finger to point at her he began, "~ Hey, you… You must be from… One of those islands, right? Because you don't speak our language…. What a waste, you're soo pretty too…~" muttering the last part to himself.
Sasuke looked up from the horse, he couldn't afford for the man to become suspicious. They couldn't leave any clues that Kagome was the Awakening…
The man continued to question poor Kagome, who looked rather flustered and confused, "~There are so many islands off of the main continent, and a different tribe on each one, right?~"
"Um… Wha?"
"~And many islanders are coming over to the mainland… Were you captured by slave traders?~"
"I'm really sorry… but I don't understand what your saying…"
Sasuke used a tiny bit of chakra to wake the horse up. He needed to end the conversation now.
The horse whinnied as it clambered to stand on its hooves.
"~Oh, he's up!~" the man's attention was successfully drawn away from Kagome.
'Language…' she thought as she watched Sasuke put the wheel back on. Clenching her fists Kagome realized 'That's it! I gotta learn their language. Then… Next time he wants water or something, I can help. I could be less of a burden to Sasuke.'
Standing up she vowed 'Yes! Instead of crying over my situation, I'll try to learn their language. That's what I should be doing now.' Looking up to the sky she smiled 'Now I feel … Much better now that I have a goal!'
(AN: Now that Kagome is learning the new language, I'm putting the shinobi speech in "taco" and her native Japanese in "~taco~". It was getting a little annoying and I kept forgetting to put the special quotations on...)
The merchant, whom had introduced himself as Miroku chatted with Sasuke as the younger man carried him over to his cart "You know, I heard a slave trader say that… Some of the island girls he'd kidnapped had escaped. I heard that at the last check point, a good 3-day's walk from here. I promise not to tell. She's wearing your clothes, right?"
Sasuke was internally sickened by the thought of Kagome being an escaped slave. The countries and shinobi nations had gone downhill in the past two years. It was not uncommon to see islanders or even normal civilians enslaved or indentured; it was really just a way for rogue ninja and other shady characters to make a quick buck.
Most of the islands had never even seen (or heard of in some cases) a ninja before, thus they were helpless in the face of a ninja attack. Shinobi were desperate for money now, taking on any and all jobs that they could regardless of morals.
"I gave her my clothes because hers were torn. That's all. Her family died during the journey to our country." Sasuke lied easily.
"She was all alone… and latched onto me when we met." He explained as he set Miroku into the back of the cart.
Miroku smiled a little, "I see. Sounds like a made-up story. But I'll believe it for now. I suggest you come up with a better one." He said conspiratorially.
"Anyway, she should be wearing something else. People will notice her with those clothes on. Let's see…" Miroku said as he started shifting though his wares.
Pulling out a pretty yukatta Miroku asked, "How about this yukatta?"
"I trade clothes, you see." He explained to Sasuke when the boy had given a dubious glance at the yukatta along with a 'why is there a yukata in there?' look in his eyes. Miroku sweat dropped slightly ' Oh, come on I'm not that big of a pervert!'
Putting on a sales-pitch voice he continued, "I have men's clothes, too. Did you know that the back of your shirt is ruined?"
Pulling out a few more garments "What about this one? It should look fine on a handsome young man like you. I have shoes, too. See? I have bags, too."
Displaying the wares Miroku went for the kill, " How about 150 Zol for the whole set?"
(AN: I'm not sure what the currency is called in Naruto. So I'll just use the one from the Far, Far Away manga for now. If someone could tell me, I'd appreciate it!)
Sasuke stared. "…"
Kagome made her way over to Sasuke, his bag in her arms.
Frowning a little Sasuke stated, "Too much. How about 100 Zol?"
Miroku stared at Sasuke as though he had sprouted a second head, "WHAT?"
Sweat dropping he asked, "How can you demand a discount from a wounded man?"
Not missing a beat Sasuke replied, "How can you think of overcharging a man who saved your life?"
Sputtering Miroku watched as Sasuke picked up the yukatta, examining it. "A white knight doesn't need to be rewarded for his good deed." He declared lamely.
Sasuke responded, "I'm no white knight. If you happen to be the kind of guy who doesn't ask for a reward for saving someone, I'd like to meet him." Examining the fabric Sasuke decided that it was suitable for now.
Kagome hovered close to Sasuke, a look of total concentration on her face. Despite the fact she couldn't understand a single word she listened intently to Sasuke and Miroku's conversation.
Sighing Miroku tried one last time leaning slightly on the side of the wagon, "Hey, … 100 Zol is robbery. I need to eat while I'm recovering, you know."
Sasuke paid him no mind as he handed Kagome the yukatta and took his bag from her. "Kagome, change into these clothes. Rewarf. Do you understand?" He ordered her.
Kagome smiled as she headed to get dressed behind a tree '~So "rewarf" means 'change'.~'
She took her undergarments from her pocket and slipped them on. They were still a bit damp, but nowhere near as bad as before. Grinning she set to figuring out how to put on the yukatta.
Damning his conscience, Sasuke unfastened his sword from his belt, holding it out to Miroku.
Coldly telling him," Never mind, I'll give you this sword. You should be able to get at least 50 Zol for it. I'll just use this one." He said, holding up a different sword.
Sasuke examined the sword the bandit had dropped. It was very high quality and was very well made. Swinging it around lightly to test it, Sasuke nodded in satisfaction.
Miroku asked, "That's the sword that Koga guy left behind, isn't it?" he received a curt nod from the dark eyed boy.
"He must have stolen it- it's a high-quality weapon. I can see he took good care of it." Sasuke told the peddler.
"I bet you'd make a good merchant even though you don't look like one." Miroku muttered under his breath. He let out a small sound of surprise when Sasuke answered, Miroku didn't think he'd heard him.
"Looks have nothing to do with anything." Sauke said in a very short and clipped voice. He was getting annoyed with the man, he talked too much.
"~Sasuke?~" came Kagome's voice as she peered around the back end of the wagon. "~I've changed. "Rewarfed!" she said pleasantly as she fiddled with the obi, trying to tie it into a knot with the two ends flowing. (AN: remember people, pretend that Kagome's world and Sasuke's world are supposed to be TWO VERY Different worlds! So make-believe that Kagome has never worn anything like a yukatta before….)
Miroku smiled "Isn't she cute?"
Walking over to her Sasuke adjusted her obi so that she was wearing it properly; they had to look as inconspicuous as possible.
Kagome squeaked as Sasuke had started rewrapping the obi. Her hands had moved immediately to keep the robe from coming undone. '~Whoa! Hey! Personal space!~' she thought as he started speaking to her.
"No, no, you shouldn't tie your obi like that. Fold it and wrap it around you. And tuck this end in. Sajitwarf enihan." Sasuke explained. (I have no idea how to tie an obi… so just go along with it…)
Pulling herself away from him she took the end of the obi and tucked it into one of the layers. Looking towards Sasuke she attempted to repeat what he had said, "~Tuck it in… "Shaat enihan?"
Miroku let out a laugh, "She's trying to learn our language, how cute!"
Kagome gave a large smile, taking Sasuke slightly by surprise.
The three had been traveling for a few hours now with Sasuke sitting at the front taking the reigns, while Kagome and Miroku sat in the back of the wagon.
"This is a bow." Miroku told Kagome , who was listening intently.
"A bow?" She parroted Miroku, getting the gist of what he was talking about.
"Right. It belonged to my Grandfather." He told her as he lifted up the ivory colored longbow making the motion of drawing the drawstring back.
"Thanks to this bow… I was able to escape the thieves. But the drawstring broke, so I'm afraid it's not much use anymore."
Miroku handed the bow to Kagome who looked at it.
She had never held a bow before! A delighted smile quickly spread across her face. She had only seen a longbow like this in museums and in movies!
Eager to try the bow, well as much as you could try using a bow with no drawstring or arrows…
It was a little heavy she decided as she held it in one hand as she extended her arm mimicking how archers held their bows. Grinning she perched on her knees striking a pose, giggling. She felt like Robin Hood!
"You can have it if you'd like. I'm not very good with the bow and it's not worth anything without a drawstring so I can't sell it." Miroku told the girl, as she looked simply fascinated with the bow. He wondered just how primitive her island tribe was if she was marveling at a bow…
Smiling he watched as she struck poses, pretending to fire at non-existent enemies with her equally non-existent arrows. She was just like a little kid with a new toy!
Kagome noticed as she played around, that there was really nothing special about the bow besides the ivory color. Examining the pearly wood she found it was smooth to the touch and completely splinter free.
Her fun was short lived however when Sasuke turned and glared at her. Words were not necessary to explain the obvious silent command.
Composing herself she sat back down very tempted to glare right back at him. But her common sense won out, Sasuke was still her only chance at surviving and he could change his mind at any time…
Miroku diffused the awkward silence by continuing where had left off with his tale.
"Then the wheel of my carriage" he patted the side of the carriage to emphasize the word, "You know "carriage''?"
Kagome realized that Miroku was trying to continue their little game of 'repeat after me' and sounded out the word, "Carriage?"
"Right! The wheel of my carriage came off while I was escaping. Then I fell from the cliff."
"I fell from the cleef?" Kagome repeated as best she could. It was very tricky to mimic some of the sounds!
Shaking his head Miroku tried to correct Kagome, " Not "from the cleef" From the cliff. "
"Cleef." She told him, thinking that she was pronouncing it right.
Unknown to the two passengers in the back of the wagon, a barely noticeable smile crept onto the normally blank face of Sasuke Uchiha.
/////////
In a dimly lit cave the young leader of the Okami Bandits laid on a pile of furs, leaning against a wall. His side was wrapped in bandages from where Sasuke had stabbed him.
He smirked as one of his men informed him on the peddler's movement.
The rodent-like creature on his shoulder made a few sounds like a cross between a purr and a chirp as a malicious gleam entered Koga's eyes.
"So they're headed for the town of Calco, are they?"
////////
It was dusk at the town of Calco, time for merchants and shops to begin closing down after a long day. Kagome looked in awe as she watched a few merchants gather their goods into bundles using the mats that they used to display their wares during the day.
'~Wow! People… Buildings… It's a town!~' She realized as the wagon rattled a bit on the cobbled street. Quickly she began to glance around trying to take in the sight all at once.
Turning his head around Sasuke saw that Kagome was looking around in a very noticeable manner. A few passerbyers walking on the street glanced at the strange girl.
Scowling, he reached back placing a hand on her head to forcibly stop her movements.
" Don't stare." He ordered her as he guided the horse towards a building with a sign. Kagome only rubbed her now sore head in reply.
Easily jumping down from the driver's seat he made his way to the wooden door.
Giving it a few solid knocks he called out, "Hello? Is the Doctor in? I have a wounded man here!"
A man holding a basket of what appeared to be herbs had been walking by when he heard Sasuke's voice. Walking up to the young dark haired boy, the man shifted his basket under one arm.
"Another customer, eh? What a busy day for the Doctor!" he told Sasuke in a conversational voice. "The Doctor's in, but he may be too busy to see your friend."
The door opened a bit and a voice said, "It's okay. I'm free. Come in."
A man in his mid 50's answered the door; he had bushy grey hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had a widow's peak that made his receding hairline look like an M, with a mustache and beard to match.
Opening the door wider so that the villager and Sasuke could see inside. "They don't need me anymore. It's the undertaker's turn now."
The villager rearranged his grip on his basket as he peered inside, "What? Doctor, you mean…"
Sasuke only turned and made his way back to the wagon. Motioning to Kagome to come over to him, he helped lift her down from the wagon. With Kagome out of the way he turned to Miroku and picked him up bridal style.
Walking back into the Doctor's office/house he made his way over to the Doctor who was talking with the villager in the middle of the room.
The villager was looking at what appeared to be bodies lined up on the floor next to the wall. There were sheets covering the heads and torsos of the bodies. Kagome stared slightly disturbed at the sight.
Whistling low the villager commented, "Boy oh Boy! So they all died, eh?"
Nodding his head gravely the Doctor replied, "Ruptured intestines… Bone fractures throughout the body… weapon wounds… and excessive bleeding."
Sitting down in a chair, the Doctor blew on his pipe, sighing deeply, "How can I save patients who have sustained such massive injuries? I'm not a medic-nin, even if I were, I'm only one man."
Miroku asked from his position in Sasuke's arms, "Aren't they all our shinobi?"
The Doctor nodded, "Yes, they are ninja from Kumo as well as members of the Lightning Country Army."
"So even a tiny town like this is affected by the war?" Miroku asked.
The villager set his basket down on a table and answered, "Yesterday we heard troops from a bunch of nations were gathering at the Sea of Trees. We thought our town would be safe, being so far from there. But all those wounded soldiers were brought here this morning."
Acting interested Sasuke asked, "The Sea of Trees?" as he placed Miroku down on the Doctor's patient examination table.
The Doctor commented, "I'm not surprised that many of them have sword wounds and jutsu wounds, but I don't understand some of the other injuries."
A heavily bandaged man lying on the other side of the room on a bed began to cry out, "I'm…. Scared…"
Kagome and Sasuke turned to look at the man, while the Doctor continued working on Miroku. He commented," He's the only survivor."
"… Of that man…" the solder rasped out.
* (Voice over, but I suspect that it was a seer's prediction.) Soldiers from all over will be coming here to Lightning Country, searching for the Awakening. The Waterfall Village will be the first Country to send shinobi. They're probably flying out their shinobi in order to arrive before the other armies. Then the Water Country and Lightning Country will send their troops. *
(Flashback to yesterday. This is the soldier's memory)
The Lightning Country's Army was standing at the entrance to the Sea of Trees.
"We did it… We captured all of the Mist's summon eagles sir!" a soldier informed a higher-ranking officer.
Another soldiers added, "But some of their Shinobi had already entered the Sea of Trees."
"Humph. That's convenient because… They'll probably be eaten by the Flower Insects. But if they don't get eaten and… are lucky enough to capture the Awakening, we'll snatch it from them when they emerge from the Sea of Trees." A general informed the men.
Looking into the distance a group of about 5 men were walking out of the entrance to the forest. A very tall man with a giant sword strapped to his back was leading the group.
The man did not seem to be disturbed by the fact that there was a fairly big group of soldiers waiting for his group.
Standing before the crowd he spoke to the group, his voice not muffled by the bandages that were wrapped around his face. "Forget it! You're wasting your time here. We never found the Awakening. Someone else had already taken it away. Now return our eagles."
The man lifted his huge sword off of his back displaying his monstrous strength.
Horrific screaming soon filled the small clearing, with Naraku standing in the center of the slaughter.
Snarling the Mist commander ordered, "Stop it, Naraku! We have our eagles back. Don't waste anymore lives."
The dark haired man glanced at his commander while gouging out a man's eyes with his bare hands. Naraku had a sick and insane smile on his face. "Killing is my life! It's in my blood! Killing is my entertainment! Zabuza… You coward! I WON'T OBEY YOUR ORDER!"
'That…. Monster….' The soldier thought.
(End the soldier's flashback)
Kagome stared at the poor soldier as he groaned in agony, shock apparent on her face.
Sasuke looked at Kagome and told her, "Does this shock you? This kind of cruelty is an everyday occurrence here. You mustn't take it too seriously or you'll have a nervous breakdown."
He wanted to sigh when she looked at him curiously; the language barrier was becoming extremely annoying for the Uchiha.
The Doctor suddenly whipped his head around grabbling Sasuke's arm, "Hey, you… Is it true? This man just told me. Did you really cut the leader of the Okami Bandits?"
Sasuke was interrupted before he could answer, as the door to the Doctor's office was slammed open.
Kagome leapt towards a shelf with a small cry, as she was startled badly.
A bossy-looking soldier with buckteeth stood in the doorway with two men behind him. "Are the coffins ready?!" The man shouted loudly as he and his men stomped into the room.
Still shouting the man said, "We're out of here tomorrow morning. We must have carriages ready before we leave. We need them to carry the coffins. Are you just going to leave them on the floor like this?!" The man ordered.
He turned to look at the Doctor, noticing the other people in the room.
Putting up his hands in a placating movement the Doctor explained, "Oh, Commander. I know it's not right to keep them on the floor… But we don't have enough beds."
The bossy Commander ignored the Doctor in favor of pointing a finger at the slightly scowling Uchiha. "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?"
The villager stepped forward, " They brought in this injured man."
"HUMPH. I see. " The Commander said shortly as he stared at the group. Looking at Miroku he said "You are a traveling merchant..." He turned to stare at Sasuke and Kagome, "A traveling warrior and an island girl, eh? It's a strange combination."
Calling to his two lackeys he shouted, " They look suspicious. Check their personal belongings."
The two lackeys replied in unison, "Yes, Sir!"
Stepping forward the Doctor said, "Wait! You're too harsh on anyone you consider an outsider. Please treat them more gently."
Glaring at the Doctor the man seethed " What? You dare defy the military, you quack? You couldn't save my soldiers, yet you have the audacity to talk back to me?!"
Kagome winced as she coved her ears. This man was painfully loud!
A hand over his mouth suddenly muffled the man. Sasuke had appeared behind the man glaring harshly.
"Could you please be quiet?" the Uchiha ground out calmly.
"Look over at the bed over there." He ordered the Commander and his lackeys, "He's one of your men, isn't he? He's badly wounded. Your shouting must be tormenting him."
The two lackeys glanced over at the injured man.
Speaking slowly Sasuke told the men, "We have no intention of defying you. Our belongings are outside. Check them as much as you like."
Releasing the commander Sasuke stepped out of the door as if to wait by the cart while the men looked. His bangs covered his eyes as he let out a soft sigh.
All of the lit lanterns on the street were suddenly extinguished.
The Commander and his men walked out of the office, confused.
"It's pitch dark. Don't they light the street lamps after dark in this town?" The Commander snarled.
"Strange…" one of the lackeys stated. The other lackey said, " They were lit when we arrived, Sir."
Sasuke smirked to himself as he moved soundlessly in the dark, grabbing something out of his bag.
"Hey, Doc! We need a lamp here! Order the people to light their street lamps!" The Commander howled, "Where's that stranger?"
"Here." Sasuke said coolly as he stood slightly behind the man, with a bored expression on his face.
"WHOA!" the Commander jumped, not realizing Sasuke had been there.
In an attempt to regain his dignity the man shouted, "Idiot! Don't scare me like that!"
Kagome looked at the wagon from the doorframe, a worried expression on her face. '~What should I do? They're checking our stuff. My things are in Sasuke's bag!~'
Looking at Sasuke's back she watched as he turned his head to face her. He gave her a small smug grin, before turning back around.
Arching an eyebrow she wondered '~What was with that grin?~'
Miroku leaned up slightly asking the Doctor, "Why are they treating us like this? We're just travelers."
The Doctor replied, "I know… But I heard that the Awakening appeared in the Sea of Trees."
Miroku looked shocked, "The Awakening?"
The Doctor nodded before motioning for Miroku to lie back down, "Someone already captured it and disappeared. The soldiers are searching for them. Our seers have been predicting for generations that this was going to happen. Now it finally has. The Awakening who will awaken us… Has arrived in our world. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime…" he said ominously, "But… Nobody, no matter how wise can tell us what the Awakening looks like."
///////////////
" That's right, Sir. I can't see the Awakening because the air is so disturbed that I can't foresee things." A little girl with long black hair and brown eyes said shyly to a retainer who stood before the Mizukage who was sitting behind a screen.
The retainer smirked, "Your daughter talks like a full-fledged seer though she's just a tiny girl. Don't you think so Momochi, Zabuza?"
Zabuza placed a hand on his daughter's head, as she held onto his leg, her head barely reaching his knee. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the retainer.
"Now tell me why you couldn't find the Awakening, and how you could come home empty-handed without feeling ashamed. I want you to explain that to Mizukage-sama."
The retainer ordered the tall man.
"The repellant oil that we put on our skin was enough to repel the Flower Insects, but couldn't protect us from the monsters that appear in the Sea of Trees after dark." He stood tall, his gaze never leaving the silhouetted figure behind the screen, "We had very little time left before dark to find the Awakening in that forest. I decided to end our search instead of risking my men's lives."
"Did you hear that Mizukage-sama?! That's why Naraku got disgusted and left our troops. I was the one who recommended Naraku for this mission. My effort was wasted!" The retainer ranted to the unmoving Kage.
Unable to take any more insult, Zabuza spoke through clenched teeth, "Excuse me, Sir. … But I don't think that pressing foreword without a strategy would have helped us. There are things far worse than Flower Insects in that forest. If you want to march in there looking for the Awakening after dark, be my guest."
The retainer turned around red-faced with anger, "Talking back to me again? You always, always, ALWAYS, do that to me!"
A smooth voice from behind the screen stopped the retainer's rant "Calm down."
"Oh, sorry my Lord. I got carried away."
The figure behind the screen shifted a bit, turning his attention to Zabuza, "So… Where did the Awakening go, Zabuza?"
"We don't know yet. We have very little information. In the meantime I've sent my men to search the towns close to the forest to investigate." He told his leader in a detached voice.
The figure stood behind the screen turning to look at the little girl. Sensing she was being stared at she hid behind her father's legs.
"Your name is Momochi, Haku, correct?" came the voice of the Mizukage.
"I'd heard stories of a blind girl with extraordinary ability as a seer. That's why I asked your father to bring you here."
Zabuza twitched minutely at the word 'blind', but if the Kage had noticed, it didn't show.
"But you don't see where the Awakening is, do you?" He questioned the small girl.
Haku shook her head 'no' before explaining, "All I see are lots of swirling colors, but I can't make anything of it. All that I know for sure is that no country has captured it yet."
"So you're saying the same thing my seers have been saying." The Mizukage said politely. "I wonder who snatched the Awakening away from the Sea of Trees… before anyone could get there."
Zabuza nodded before commenting, " I have no idea, but… there's no doubt in my mind that whoever did it is an excellent warrior. We saw dead Flower Insects in the Sea of Trees. They were hacked into pieces and partially eaten by surviving Flower Insects. Examining the remains, we noted that their skin is so tough that it must have been extremely difficult to cut through with a sword. Trying it out with my own blade, it took me 3 solid strikes to cut the thing. What's more is that we couldn't find a single trace of chakra… So either the person is not a ninja or a pretty damn good one. One of my men, Naraku, seemed very upset to see that. It seemed to hurt his pride."
The figure behind the screen shifted a bit before inquiring, "That's the name you mentioned earlier, right? I've never met him, so describe him to me."
Complying with the Kage's wish Zabuza spoke, "He is… Full of self confidence because of his great skill, and he's sure no one can defeat him. I've never personally fought with the man, but I am told that he is incredible with jutsus and is a decent swordsman. But when he was placed on my squad for this mission, I noticed something. The man is obsessed. Obsessed by anyone who he thinks might be stronger than him. He was furious when I refused to fight with him when we first met."
The Mizukage was silent a moment before dismissing the two Momochis.
Bowing slightly to the figure behind the screen, Zabuza quickly grabbed Haku's hand before leading her out.
When Zabuza left the Mizukage turned to his retainer before asking, "You said it was you who discovered Naraku?"
Nodding the retainer told his lord, " Yes, I found him on a small island off of the Snow Country's coast. I was impressed by his large amount of chakra. Not only that, he was a great sword fighter. And he had large potential in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu, too. He was a bodyguard for an important man on the island, but he seemed bored with it. When I asked if he wanted to join us, he agreed immediately."
The Mizukage sat back down on his cushion. The retainer could imagine the smirk that was surely donning his Lord's face behind the screen.
"Sounds like an interesting man… I would love to meet him." The Mizukage purred in a polite, yet dangerous voice.
///////////
"I'm not comfortable around the Mizukage-sama." Haku told her father as they walked down a flight of stairs, heading for the entrance of the Mizukage's mansion.
Watching Haku carefully, making sure she didn't miss a step Zabuza asked, "Why?"
"He's polite but he scares me. If I go near him, I start trembling." She said as she stared blankly ahead.
"I see… Well, the Mizukage-sama does always have that intimidating aura about him, after all he was once a ninja too. Maybe you were overwhelmed by the silent killing intent he radiates, Haku."
Looking up she smiled at her father slightly, "I don't know…"
'Afterall, Daddy you always have a killing intent about you. But the Mizukage-sama's aura is just… dark…'
The little girl thought to herself.
"But that retainer doesn't scare me at all… But I don't like him because he's mean and says nasty things to you, Daddy."
She felt the steps end as her feet met the smooth tile floor.
Zabuza looked down at his daughter, truth be told he was still new to the whole 'parenting' thing. He hadn't even known his daughter existed until almost a year ago.
Smiling slightly he reached down and ruffled her hair, "Haku… I'm sorry that you had a bad time because of me."
"Don't worry about it, Daddy…" The little girl said before glomping onto his leg, "I was happy to come here with you… 'cause you're never home and I have to stay with Grandma." She said cheerfully as she sat on her father's foot, wrapping her arms and legs around his leg, hanging off of him like a little monkey as he continued walking.
Zabuza dragged his leg along, pretending that she weighed too much to move his leg, earning a giggle from the kid.
"Haku, I've told you not to hold onto my leg like that. I can't walk if you do that."
"Nope, I won't stop!" She declared, hugging his leg tighter.
He had temporarily resigned from the 7 swordsmen of the Mist to become a hunternin…
For Haku's sake, he needed the money he could get from bounties so that he could cure her eyes. He needed to buy a passport into Konohagakure as well as money to pay for the medical expenses among other things. Lord knows that he would need a fortune, Konoha only let a few ninja from outside their village in nowadays, and with his track record and reputation it would be damn near impossible to get approval to enter. Konoha was the best place for his little girl though, as it was the only hidden village with numerous clans with eye-bloodlimits, thus they had the medical specialists who dealt with eyes.
Contrary to the popular belief that his little girl was blind, Haku could see some. She could tell if it was light or dark and could see large blurs of color.
He looked down at her, staring at the nearly unnoticeable scar running horizontally across her face, straight through her eyes. That was where the man that Haku had believed was her father back when her mother was alive, cut her. By all logic, she shouldn't have eyes at all, because the knife had slashed them through. He wondered if it was because of Haku's bloodline that she had inherited from her mother, or if it had been something else. But all that mattered was that hopefully she would be able to see once again.
Not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. He hated having to leave Haku with her 'Grandmother' all the time. The old lady that Haku called Grandma wasn't really related to them, she was their next-door neighbor who had no grandchildren of her own.
Haku loved her Grandmother, but he knew that she was lonely…
He had not really been up to this last assignment… Which is probably why he didn't chase after the Awakening.
Bending down he pried Haku from his leg, before tossing her up in the air and catching her. He had changed so much since he found Haku… he didn't know if he still deserved to be called 'Zabuza Demon of the Mist'…
'What will happen if the Sky Demon comes back? They say those who awake the Sky Demon will be able to control it.' He thought as he exited the Mizukage's mansion, looking up at the full moon. He could feel Haku falling asleep on his shoulder.
'The Sky Demon is a combination off all the dark forces combined. Even more powerful than all of the Biju put together… I guess the Sky Demon is far more horrible than any man or monster.'
Okay, I'm stopping here, for now! Hmm... the site keeps messing up my spacing, so I apologize if you had a hard time read this...
I'm gonna be evil and leave you here for now!
Honestly, I would appreciate a few more reviews. I think at the very least 5 reviews would be ok. Considering the lengths of my chapters, I think 5 reviews is a fair trade-off…
Anyways, if you were one of the 9 people who reviewed (a few of you gave me more than one!) Thank you! Your encouragement is what stoked my soul into typing up this chapter! So give yourselves a pat on the back!
Yosh! The flames of your YOUTHFUL encouragement warmed my heart!