My Sunny Place
He stood back and admired for the first time peace in the West, his fathers' before him were the first steps and him the final. He no longer had to fight, he no longer had to call upon demonic powers of a blade, and he no longer had to play a tiring game of war.
Sesshoumaru could sleep.
In the eyes of a human girl was he ever the hero of a fairytale but deep in his bones he never fooled himself in thinking such things, he was a demon a demon who's mercy only reached the innocence of a child, his mother promised her protection over her flowery garden and he could sleep. In hopes that his dreams were of just emptiness and nothing to the bloodshed he witnessed and to the bloodshed caused by his own clawed hands.
Closing his eyes Sesshoumaru's last sight was the early morning sun peaking over tall mountains and shine onto his personal domain, where he still felt his father's spirit haunting the many stone corridors of the fortress.
His home and his very honor.
Sealing himself within the land itself, his power would forever protect his people from war and they would never have to succumb to the horrors of his early childhood.
They could live on in peace without him, taking his last breath as his body became one with his land and Sesshoumaru slept.
Dirt and blood caked her clothing and dotted across her weapons, the smog around her and her teammates was dense and foul already she could feel her reserves depleting. They had to get back to the village and fast.
A mission always had potential to be dangerous and life threatening but Hinata would have never thought of this to occur. Her mind already bruised with hellish dreams to come.
Her team the Hokage assigned her on the mission was to escort and protect twenty three children across the borders of sound, their small village burnt to the ground and they the last survivors. But once they crossed that border strange happenings kept them on their toes. A little girl the smallest out of all of them meekly stayed close to Hinata, she shivered and cried to be warm. Hinata's natural instincts covered the tiny girls' shoulders with her own jacket in hopes they could all make it swiftly and safely. She could no longer bear looking at the exhausted faces of children.
Almost too quick for her eyes to catch the little girl pulled a dagger and aimed straight for Hinata's stomach, the girls face contorted into a crazed scowl her inhuman scream rang through the smog.
There were more to come.
Growling deep in his throat Kiba forcibly jumped through the air narrowly missing poison tipped senbon aiming straight for his heart, four of the children dropped with kunai embedded in their foreheads.
"Damn! Why didn't I smell them before?"
Crouching on all fours he quickly dispersed into Battle Formation E, Shino activated a chakra barrier loosely circling the children so they could not move from their sight. Hinata was the surprise in the center waiting for them to cross the invisible line of attack.
A Shadow user lay in the depths of the trees calling forth his Gathering technique releasing smokescreen and Binding the few he trapped and ending their threat soundlessly.
Too quickly everything fell apart,
Kiba howled loudly, his wrist slit deeply with black ink, the poison spread quickly and he fell limp to the ground, Hinata mind blocked all distractions and activated her bloodline, moving him quickly to the ridge of trees. Checking his vital signs and blocked his few of his tenkutsu that would stop the poison from spreading she pumped what little healing chakra she could manage and breathed a sigh of relief when his convulsing stopped and his skin pallor returned, he was in the clear. She stood with a fierce determination.
Hinata would fight and defend at all costs.
Shino disappeared within the tree line as well as his barrier but a subtle buzzing in her ear reassured that he had her back; quickly she released the chakra bound weights from her limbs, bounding high to avoid senbon. The children circled the area; she could clearly see their chakra flows were abnormal and almost nonexistent.
Bile rose quickly in her throat as she struggled to keep it down, these were corpses of children, a cursed seal, a death mark where false chakra forcibly pumped into their systems and took over there diminutive bodies now all that left was a mindless bloodthirsty creature, their cold limbs seemed frail and unbearably small.
Hinata's heart quenched as she made the first hit, her hands quickly forming seals as her fingertips hit the chest of a little boy, collapsing lifeless to the forest floor Hinata swiftly turned crouching low to the ground as a child swung a heavy bat over her head, blue finger tipped chakra struck true as he too hit the ground with an inaudible thud.
There were eight more to her right and nine to her left, try as she might Hinata wouldn't be able to be so gentle with all of them, unexpectedly five dropped to her right, Shino's kikaichu leaked out of their clothing. Gathering quickly to form a clone of Shino, no matter how much force the children used they could not harm the constant regenerating clone, he took them out quickly and painlessly.
Hinata's eye's caught a chakra signature not three miles from the battle area; thankfully she recognized it, Akamaru making his way back from his perimeter run.
Shino stood his own barricading them so they could not get any closer to Kiba's unconscious form, she could sense Shikamaru coming thru the treeline making a clear beeline toward her.
"Hinata, hand me the scroll we need to get out of here! I'll seal them with a demon bind I just need some time." He looked at her pointedly, expectantly.
"I got your back." She stated resolutely, disappearing in the clearing to stand by Shino, Shikamaru gave her one last considering glance and turned to focus all of his chakra in his fingers moving daftly thru the hand signs of the Nara.
Shino bounded towards the children sending them back, his clone inconspicuous as he raised his hand encompassing them in Insect Sphere. The girl wearing Hinata's jacket cackled unceremoniously as if death was a welcome friend, before the insects could flood her mouth she spoke gurgled words.
"You insignificant pawn have no idea what awaits you and the rest of you pathetic excuses of ninja. You are nothing but blubbering whelps. Disgusting, When we are rid of you and the rest of your kind are in the ground that's when my master can live in peace…."
Her body disappearing in a black mass, sickening sounds of a throat being clogged echoed in the clearing after her final word. Paying no heed at the moment, Hinata better positioned herself between the children and Kiba, Shikamaru would be finished right about now and they could go home she thought longingly.
Gracefully Hinata's body fell into a familiar form for the last of these poor souls to be put to rest whispering an apology she spun into a dance of 64 palm. Before her form could complete a senbon struck deep into her chest making Hinata fall to her knees, blood burbled from her mouth no scream came as she dropped to the soiled floor.
The arms of a Shadow user were the only thing she saw before everything went black.
Falling backwards was an endless torture, she could see nothing hearing nothing but a fierce wind and haunting screams. Where was she? A pressure inside her crushed all air her voice lost and horror like no other threatened to drive her into insanity. She could no longer feel her physical being, her arms, legs her eyes gone from her grasp.
Reality split for a moment as she tried to find herself, silence and darkness was the only witness to Hinata's agony as her soul was being unwillingly ripped from her body; she had no lips to scream but her spirit flared violently for a moment before a white flame consumed her.
She imagined that her eyes would be screwed shut too terrified to even acknowledge that this was real 'please' she begged all she wanted to do was go home, her team, and her sister...Naruto.
The pain became a slow burn, she felt as though she got ripped apart, she no longer recognized herself as she thought and considered following the murmur of a sprite.
All she could feel was numbness, maybe she could see her mother.
Relishing in this temporary reprieve of pain, she felt nothing and thought of nothing but a permeating electric current in the air, the deafening wind replaced by whispering demons promising eternal sleep. Panic rose and she felt herself thrash wildly against invisible chains, her imaginary cries echoing in and around her.
'Stop it!' She scolded herself.
A cold flame settled within her, a calm before a ripple the brace before a battle, Hinata recognized and thrived within the steel of a soldier, she wasn't going to give up so easily.
Hinata was a Hyuuga, a ninja with the responsibility and honor of being a warrior from Konoha Village Hidden in the Leaves. Hinata revered in the adrenalin numbness letting her drift as she cleared all thoughts and peacefully suffered.
It was quiet, she observed pushing her mind into meditation for who knows how long felt strangely refreshing, sensations and emotions were stronger in this form, her body a wondering memory. Fuzzy images of people, of her own reflection recurred at random intervals, she wasn't seeing them but feeling them Hinata just wanted to sleep.
'You are strangely calm for a mortal soul.'
The voice was eminent and smooth with wisdom, Hinata felt herself jerk towards it automatically so many questions, the voice chuckled as if knowing her haste.
'You are not dead. But you are my little one, in the first stage of the five stages of death. You are in a state of purgatory where you are a mere memory of your former self, your soul burned a light to bright for you to pass fully through this hollow period of bereavement.'
Pondering this didn't take on the reality it should have when she was so relieved of being able to talk to someone, sadly though she couldn't find her own voice so she was surprised when it rang around her.
'When can I go home?'
'Your soul may have been strong but your body was left behind for a reason, in its broken state it would just collapse under the strength of your very essence. So for now as your comrade's fight for your life, I will watch over and protect you.'
'Protect me from what?'
The voice chuckled again, almost bitterly.
'You are a smart little one. This existence is false and temporary; you can remain here for as long as your soul can survive the pressure of being pulled two different directions, no matter how quickly your body is mended it is up to you to find the strength to find that bridge of life and cross over.'
'That still doesn't answer my question.'
'No? Well as you know, this place is empty and if you are not careful this place can trick you into places of pain you have never imagined. Bare with me now, you are not the only soul here, only the strongest of the living can survive this atmosphere and in saying that not all of them have a body to go back too, and they will do anything to obtain one including torturing you until you chose death.'
'I'm a Hyuga.'
'That is just a name here, little one; your fighting style won't help you here.'
'Just because I have no hands to fight does not mean I have lost my will of fire. I will fight.'
It was silent for a long time after her proclamation, she didn't know if the strange being left and she didn't care, simply waiting until she felt some sign of a change, trying to pinpoint every noise or feeling. The more concentrated she became the more aware of herself and her memories that were so precious to her, the moments that ultimately evolved her.
Her fathers' stern face filled with a subtle Hyuga pride in his eldest daughter as she made the ranks of a jounin, her prowess in the battlefield and her prowess in the operating room was renowned in Fire Country and in Wind Country; being recognised publicly by the Hokage herself as a Successor of Konoha.
Hinata's own pride in Hanabi as she graduated the academy a year early, head of her class and quickly becoming a formidable foe, and yet still holds a cheekiness that gentles her proud, fierce features. This gave her strength, her life no longer a fuzzy picture but colorful and bright with emotions, human emotions.
Hinata cried.
'Surly your land is a curious thing, little Hyuga. Never in my time have I ever seen such devotion to combat and honor, your powers surpass that of a demon because of your human kindness and often times human greed.'
'A demon?'
'Your people from all corners of your land stem from demon bloodlines, your ancestors honed and perfected the use of youkai into their own traditions and fighting styles. Some got arrogant and flaunted their power by means of war which has ultimately cultivated the culture and deep seeded loyalties within all of you. You have some attributes of natural demon nature and it is fascinating to see a world run equally by it and human emotion.'
They certainly didn't cover this in the academy.
'M-my chakra is...?'
'Now don't misunderstand me, I did not say you were a demon you just have traces of demon power and demon nature.'
Hinata didn't want to hear anymore, mentally she closed her eyes and imagined one place her heart wanted to be, in the trees with her teammates or at the breakfast table eating waffles with her sister, the only time they forgot about Hyuga politics. She wanted to be in her mother's garden tending to the delicate herbs, feel the soil under her fingernails but most of all she wanted to be at Ichiraku's with her sunny place.
A strange tingling sensation bubbled within her, strength surged and Hinata could swear she could feel her fingertips, it was terrifying and gratifying.
'I have seen only one other able to fully recall their body from mind. You can open your eyes now little Hyuga.'
'No.'
'I do believe that you have the power to cross over you must not fear.'
'I'm not a demon!' She wailed uselessly, holding on too tightly onto something unnamed.
'Little Hyuga, you will never leave this place if you are scared now.'
'I don't understand...I just want to sleep...' Her strength waned.
Has it been days? Or maybe just minutes since they have arrived, Kiba wasn't sure sitting and waiting was not on his list of things to do. Shino was rushed into systems therapy with Shizune his chakra dangerously low and he lost many of his kikaichu, three of his clan members were in the operating room helping, Kiba didn't know the details.
He was grateful for his life but guilt ridden that he could not be of any use, Akamaru was the one to carry him in, Shikamaru carried Hinata for three days not stopping until they arrived through the Konoha gates. Hinata was in worse shape than any of them, she like many other Shinobi that day got rushed into the surgical ward, the worst place for any warrior to be.
The poison leaked into her lungs and was slowly suffocating her, Kiba feared they may not have made it in time, leaning over the bed he threw up whatever contents in his stomach, nurses and medical nin surrounding him immediately sedating him thoroughly, his thrashing and screaming grew dangerously violent as one of the medics had to be sent out with a deep gouge oozing with fresh blood. She paid no mind to a lone figure in the waiting room.
The unbearable bright lights did nothing but agitate the team captain as he sat on an overly stiff hospital chair his dirtied hair buried in gruff hands his fingers tightening mind numbingly around his skull as he listened to the Inuzaka cry out for his teammates. The teammates that were put under his care the teammates that trusted him implicitly that he would always have a strategy for a quick getaway he was specifically chosen for the greatest succession but how could he have known?!
It was only supposed to be a B rank mission with minimal casualty cautionary. How the Hell could he have known that the god damn most important variable in this mission were the ones behind the attack in the first place. The ones he was supposed to protect.
Kiba fell silent but his cries would haunt the Shadow nin for many years to come.
He sat for hours in the same position; Ino threw out the night would come to sit beside him, knowingly not saying a word but placing a wise hand on his shaking shoulder, providing what little warmth a warrior could bring to another warrior.
She shut her eyes tightly, clutching his shirt intensely when he whispered,
"I should have been there for her.."
At first it was nothing more than an ache in his temple, something so easily ignored but as days or maybe years, Sesshoumaru wasn't sure but as time passed it became more of a nuisance. Some type of power was resonating within this dull realm, it wasn't malevolent or angry but nonetheless powerful, only select few could survive this stifling existence. Neither dead nor alive forever wondering or petrifying in a place of Purgatory, a place Sesshoumaru has reigned for almost a thousand years.
What could it be?
He guessed he may have been asleep for the majority of a human year, no one strong enough to pass thru here since the end of his era, demons wiped out and sent underground, there was no room for mortal and immortal anymore. This power that echoed and pervaded the air with a kind of sadness woken him and he wasn't sure if he was annoyed or not. He snapped to attention when a little voice called to him in wonderment.
'Don't you think it's pretty, Lord Sesshoumaru?'
He knew she was long dead and gone to a place where no demon could ever venture but the ache to see her smile again was too painful to resist so without his consent his soul revived his physical form once again. Sesshoumaru couldn't remember the last time he called out the usage of his demonic power, his tormented spirit alone was strong enough to keep him 'alive'.
Not yet willing to open his eyes yet he flexed his claws, the poison seeping thru nails with lust for a kill, demon nature was a seductive call to lose control but he was above that, he thought smugly, his father made sure to teach him pride. Slowly amber eyes took in the greys of ectoplasm; no being was stupid enough anymore to go near him so what was this power?
It was warm, he noted, subtle warmth that could only belong to a human soul but there was a certain electric current that made him think maybe it was only half human. Because surly the poor soul would have given up by now, time moves much slower here than in the mortal realm. A small part of him yearned to see the sky again, the moon and the stars.
Feel the comfort of a summer breeze.
'Don't you wish it could be sunny all the time?'
Bitterness welled up inside his mouth, why should he think of her now? It has been a thousand years since Sesshoumaru let go of her memory the brief moment in his life when he felt the warmth of the sun, unwillingly a poison whip snapped dangerously in the air as if to banish the image in his head. Suddenly the strange essence in the air flared shifting the dense fog around him.
Calmly he followed after it, his nose twitched with misusage, it has been a millennia since he seen thru demon eyes his senses almost seemed dulled compared to the hyper awareness his spirit possessed.
She wasn't much to look at danger wise, her petite frame was shaking almost violently as if she were sobbing but no sound came from her. Kuroku being native to this realm hovered above her, seemingly at a loss of what to do.
He couldn't understand how she could call forth her physical form? Normally humans don't have the mental capacity to deal with the trauma from your soul being ripped out let alone trying to rebuild yourself.
Moments passed and the girl stilled seemingly trying in vain to 'wake up' her eyes tightly shut in a small frown, Sesshoumaru's vision blurred for a moment.
Her soul glowed with a sort of tranquillity and strange power.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open to reveal colorless eyes, veins expanded across her temples angrily and for the first time in over a thousand years, Sesshoumaru was surprised. She shifted inhumanly fast into a strange fighting stance standing proudly and silently Observing his every move.
He felt an odd sensation, the girls pale eyes unnerved him, he felt as though she could see right thru him; Sesshoumaru had thought for a split second that perhaps she had lost her sight but clearly he was mistaken.
"What do you want?" Her voice undemanding and gentle making a part of him tremble.
"I will not harm you." Pale eye narrowed but her stance relaxed, if only slightly.
Why had he come? Sesshoumaru was at a loss the foreign feeling stumping him of any words and for a moment all he could do was glare. She was nothing but still, unwavering under his cold gaze the veins subsiding and her features softened considerably; he frowned when her strange aura subsided in such control no human should possess.
"Why are you here?" For some reason the question relaxed the girl considerably.
"I was struck by a poison needle and my teammates are currently trying to save my life." Her small voice was calm and her colorless eyes were frustratingly unreadable.
"Hn."
What kind of human was this? Sesshoumaru turned to the Soul Keeper for answers but not willing to voice them.
"She is from a time long after you went to sleep, her powers are genetic and have been passed down for centuries never thinning, and never weakening these humans are a commodity..."
The ethreal beings spoke amongst themselves quietly letting the Byakugan user to observe.
This man was the strongest being Hinata has ever witnessed in her entire life, his power was baffling it literally saturated the air around them; this man was evidently not human for her Byakugan fizzled out in the brightness of his chakra.
Hinata has only come across one other demon in her lifetime that encounter has shown that she never wanted a second one, but as this Beautiful being stood before her with the power that could tear apart her whole nation within his clawed fingertips she found herself entranced instead.
He did not possess the rash brutality she came to associate all demons with, the cruelty that lurked behind frightening crimson eyes.
"What do you want?" He sniffed in an offended matter as if answering her questions were below him,
"Where do I go from here?" Calmly she waited for him to answer but all he did was glare as if the sight of her down right disgusted him. She naturally wanted to flinch away.
"Why are you here?"
Hinata's patients never wavered, she dealt with men like him her entire life in consequence she turned and walked away the other strange spirit followed after her.
'It is not wise to be so dismissive with the Lord of this realm.' Hinata did a double take but didn't stop walking, he couldn't hurt her.
In a blink of an eye the powerful Demon was standing in front of her moving so quickly her trained eyes almost missed the flick of his wrist and a loud hiss in the air, she virtually had no time to dodge when a glowing whip lashed across where her face would have been. Hinata glared with distaste.
"You said you would not harm me." Resolute she prepared for another attack.
"I didn't harm you."
They stood in tense silence, Hinata realizing that it was just a warning, this was a man who was used of being obeyed and certainly wasn't going to be questioned and dismissed so easily, oops.
"I'm here to help you cross to your world, you do not belong here."
It was no insult but simple truth, she felt an odd tingle in her belly frowning at the sensation the entire time all she could do was nod curtly as if she could understand.
His features softened suddenly as if in surprise, warmth settled in her belly when he stepped closer, purposely his fingers ran thru her dark ebony hair, she was a painful reminder of a girl long ago that was buried with his heart.
"What is your name?" He towered over her slight frame she was everything meek and innocent with eyes the color of the moon.
"Hinata." She answered softly and was ashamed when she felt red hot heat creep up on her cheeks, her old habits to stutter and fidget was seriously painful to contain.
The strength and power that emanated off this beautiful creature was captivating, his eyes like molten when he gazed down at her, the feeling of his tall frame so close made her feel distinctly feminine.
"M-may I ask your name?" She trembled when his half lidded gaze almost seemed lazy.
"You may call me Lord Sesshoumaru." He answered sternly his cold glare made her mind do a whiplash before he turned abruptly his long silvery hair swayed against the silk of his kimono and armour.
"Come with me."
"Where are we going?" She asked having to jog to catch up to his long strides.
"I will lead you to the border of this realm, there is the bridge of passing. Life or Death." He spoke of the words like they were names.
Nodding taking serious consideration to his words she couldn't help but notice that he held himself with such grace even the simple act of his every movement was elegant.
"Why are you helping me?"
Silence was her only response for a while, she gave up hope thinking that he would answer, hours or maybe even days of silencepassed.
Hinata had wished they were at least on a normal road with at least something to look at to distract her from the stoic Demon Lord calmly clearing their way thru deep fogs and ectoplasm.
His long strides paused when their surroundings turned into a field of flowers bright blue sky and sunlight chased away the eerie fog. Gasping for words her breath stolen by the warmth and how beautiful the demon looked as he regarded her, this is where he belonged she thought suddenly.
"Because you remind me of someone."
He turned to look at the afternoon sun, many times he visited this memory but this was the first time in a long time that it felt warm this strange human girl chased away the loneliness with an aura so pure he couldn't deny that his instincts were drawn to protect her.
Just like with Rin and her ever joyful face and laughing eyes a warmth that reached his desolate heart the moment he first saw her broken smile, she was his sun and stars for the brief amount of time she was a child and loved him so unconditionally.
At moments he was tempted to go to the mortal world just once and visit her remains and bring her a gift, during her stay many times he took Rin to her homeland just so she could lay woven flowers on her mothers grave. At first he thought it was ludicrous! The dead didn't need gifts! But each year as she grew she spoke to dirt like it could understand her bubbly stories she turned to Sesshoumaru with such innocence and knowing that he was struck with a simple truth.
No one really dies.
Her mother lived as much his father did in him, in his blade that was forged by the fang of the great Inutaisho himself, in her smile he found hope that his life wasn't just some perpetual blood bath and maybe someday he could live.
But those dreams faded as the warmth of her light left the earth when she was buried in the ground, how fragile human life could be and how fragile his heart became when it broke.
The thousands of years he lay in dormant made no difference to the pain in his chest when he thought of her smile and childish ways.
Sesshoumaru started to unclasp his armour and set them by a boulder, most of his waking hours were spent in this flowery field at times he fancied himself still traveling the ancient era of Japan half listening to Jaken's nonsense and Rin's secret ways to outsmart the imp. He would just lay here and listen to their voices that still haunted him, so clear in his demonic commemoration. Until the fabricated sun disappeared to be replaced by the moon, in his memory they lay dreaming completely trusting that he would protect them from the phantoms of the night.
He would dream with them.
Instead he watched as the strange young woman wondered thru gazing at the delicate pedals, she kneeled so she could dig her fingernails deep in the soil. She let her natural chakra flow into this beautiful moment of time so filled with love, it was no genjutsu but it was so real she could smell the soft aromas and feel the warmth of the sun but it was empty, devoid of any life she looked around quizzically.
'How..?'
"It is a memory, my personal memory from a time when I still roamed the earth."
Hinata longed to chase the sadness away when his chakra shifted bitterly, his memory reacted with the darkness of his mood, the sun replaced by the moon, she shivered when a cold settled around them.
"Its beautiful, Lord Sesshoumaru."
She wondered closer to his statuesque figure, he simply gazed distantly past her, seeing something else someone else Hinata concluded with an unspecified dejection.
Contrary to popular belief, Sesshoumrau longed for warmth, simplicity instead of the cold rage that ruled his entire reign long were the days since war and the powers of a blade matter.
"Where are you from?" His voice not his own as it betrayed his curiosity.
Dazed and a little mystified this was even real, Hinata could only gape at his undeniable elegance he looked much more like a God, an Angel than the demon that made her heart race in the worst and best way, to say the least, she was nervous.
"Konoha Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"Land of Fire."
His gaze was stern but satisfied sitting cross legged on the ground, hesitantly she sat a fair distance joining him fiddling with the blades of grass.
After time passed peacefully between the two Hinata found herself gathering pale pink flowers humming as her gentle fingers patiently wove them together.
The Demon leaned back and closed his ancient eyes to hail a warm long awaited peace washing over him in tendrils of gentle waves. The glow of her soft soul could be seen even behind closed lids relinquishing a feeling as if he got doused with cool water Sesshoumaru praised the wistful radiance of this mortal soul.
And he slept.