Chapter 19
Kagome ran as quickly as her ninja, demon, and mystic training could get her. Surprisingly she was just a few meters away from Orochimaru and the Hokage when they came to a stop on top of a building that overlooked the village, The Watch Tower. Kagome slowed down and masked her presence. Orochimaru and the Hokage talked about something for awhile but Kagome was too far to hear exactly what they were saying. Kagome started to crouch closer to the pair when a strange aura appeared near her. She turned to the source but immediately jumped away from it. A three headed snake appeared next to her and one of the heads just tried to eat her whole. At the sudden crash Orochimaru and Sarutobi turned towards Kagome. Orochimaru was actually surprised that the ANBU had already found them this quickly. But this ANBU was alone. "SameANBUasbefore…She'spersistentbutnothingIcan'thandle." Orochimaru thought. He suggested it as just being luck and was about to dispose of the ANBU with a raven mask on when something stopped him.
"Orochimaru…are we here to fight or are you here just to stare at one of my many ANBU Black Ops?" Sarutobi asked. Orochimaru laughed evilly. "I just don't want anyone interrupting our reunion sensei. This will just take a moment." said Orochimaru as he started to walk casually toward the female ANBU. "I suggest you run along now miss. This is a private matter between the Hokage and me and I don't feel like fighting you right now." Orochimaru warned the ANBU. He made a scowl when he heard the ANBU laugh. "I suggest you leave the village and the Hokage alone or I'll need to kick your ass and send you back in a body bag to the Sound Village." Orochimaru got angrier every minute he wasted talking to this woman instead of dealing with his former sensei. "Enough! I don't need to hear your senseless babbling… I will just kill you right now." The snake Sannin hissed as he readied himself for a fight. Kagome followed suit. The giant three headed snake stopped its attack and headed into the village.
The first to attack was Orochimaru who first used his snakes inside his cloak to attack Kagome on her left. While she was distracted with the snakes he launched a couple of needles at her from the right. Kagome fought off the last of the snakes when she noticed the small needles headed towards her. She immediately raised her kunai and started to deflect all the needles. She finished the needles off as they hit the ground into broken pieces. Orochimaru showed his discomfort as he sent more of his needles towards Kagome and charged at her at the same time with his sword. Kagome again deflected but this time charged as well through the barrage of needles. They both collided and fought for dominance with their weapons, one with a kunai and the other with a sword. "What's wrong Orochimaru…am I wasting your time?" Kagome mocked. Orochimaru got madder at this and pushed his sword harder on the small weapon the ANBU was using to hold him back. "You're going to regret ever wasting my time!" Orochimaru fired back as he jumped back and launched more of his needles at Kagome, which she just deflected.
"You're becoming a nuisance!" Orochimaru got angrier. After 5 minutes of fighting and back talking to each other, they both looked equally tired. "Whenarethereinforcementscoming?Ican'tholdthisguyforever…" Kagome thought as she again tried to use some sort of water jutsu to quickly defeat Orochimaru, she learned water Justus's from the famous Zabuza Mamochi, which he just moved out of the way again. "Enough of this!" Orochimaru yelled as he landed a few yards away from Kagome. "IwashopingtousethisjutsufortheoldmanbutIguessIhavenochoice…ThisANBUisgettinginthewayofmyplans!" Orochimaru thought as he started to do quick hand signs. "Forbidden Jutsu: Resurrection!" The roof they were standing on started to shake as a container with the leaf symbol popped up from the ground. The ground started to shake again and a second container popped up near the first. As the third shake was starting, the Hokage decided to intervene. He attacked Orochimaru as the third container just barley started to come out from the ground. "HestoppedmefromresurrectingtheFourth…cleverman." Orochimaru thought as he looked at the other two containers. Kagome looked at the containers and looked at the Hokage and Orochimaru. "Whatarethese?" Kagome thought as she took one look at the containers and then started to head towards Orochimaru and Sarutobi. Just before she reached them though, she got a transmission via her headset. "Reinforcements for the Hokage and personal guard will arrive in 15 minutes; hold them off as long as you can Higurashi." The line cut off. "Hokage, sir, reinforcements will arrive shortly, please let me handle Orochimaru." The Hokage jumped back as did Kagome because at that time Orochimaru decided to throw a poison gas bomb. Kagome looked at the Hokage and noticed he had inhaled some of the gas. She first looked around and she noticed Orochimaru was gone. She then started to heal the Hokage as quickly as she could and stood up. The Hokage weakly followed. "Wheredidthatsnakego?" Kagome thought as she looked around. She was then helped by the Hokage who tackled her out of the way of Orochimaru's extended neck. She got up and noticed that the body of Orochimaru was near the two containers. The neck and head retracted back to the body and connected back into its place. "Sensei, I am truly sorry that we were interrupted and that we are losing precious time to talk about our past but don't worry, there is a solution." As Orochimaru kept talking the Hokage had started to give orders to Kagome. "I know that this might sound outrageous and out of the question but I want you to leave this area right away." There was a small silence besides Orochimaru talking to himself. "I'm sorry sir but that is unacceptable. My duty is to protect you and the village, not to run away from its enemies." Kagome said back as they both still eyed Orochimaru. "Very well then you leave me no choice. I will take on the two Hokage's and if you could be so kind as to keep Orochimaru preoccupied." Kagome nodded at the Hokage's request. "Just10moreminutestillreinforcementsarrive." Kagome thought as the containers opened to reveal the 1st and 2nd Hokage's of the Leaf Village. "Good luck sir." Kagome stated as she held out her kunai and charged Orochimaru. "You too." The Hokage stated as he pulled off his Hokage robe to reveal a combat uniform. He charged at the two Nin and fought with them with incredible strength and stamina for an old man.
Orochimaru looked at his sensei to Kagome. "Why are you always in the way? You were supposed to fight the two-" Orochimaru didn't finish his sentence because Kagome had started to charge him again. He jumped away and used more of his needles to attack Kagome. She rolled out of the way and dodged most of the needles. She stands up and immediately raises her kunai to block Orochimaru's sword. He got the advantage of gravity and was able to push Kagome to one knee. Kagome used her leg on one knee and kneed Orochimaru in the stomach and made him fall a couple yards away. She then charged again at the standing Orochimaru and kept using taijutsu moves to attack Orochimaru. This continues until Orochimaru grabs Kagome's leg, that was prepared to do a high kick, and pushed her away from him. He charged at the recovering Kagome and brought his sword down with full force to cut Kagome in half. But luckily she dodged but not without getting hurt. She rose up and looked at her left arm and noticed it was cut. She looked up and noticed Orochimaru licking the blood off his blade. "Ahh such a rare blood you are my dear." Orochimaru cooed. Kagome flinched and then charged out of fury and attacked Orochimaru. Orochimaru dodged casually side to side and grabbed Kagome's wrists. She intended to use her legs and kick or knee him but for some reason she couldn't move her legs and started to panic. Orochimaru laughed as his plan had worked. He let go of Kagome once she stopped struggling. He played with his blade and started to explain to Kagome what had just happened. "You were able to dodge most of my poisonous needles but not all. It just takes one, just one, needle to take down a full grown man. The poison is rare you see. It is only available to me by the Village Hidden in the Mist. It helped me greatly in many battles to incapacitate my enemies long enough to kill them or, if their lucky enough, to experiment on them," Kagome flinched at the idea of being experimented on. "There are a few people who were able to resist the poison and keep on fighting, but then again it's a work in progress. In your case you are unable to move any of your appendages and can only do simple things like breath, hear, and see. But not for much longer." Kagome looked on from the ground as Orochimaru came closer. She looked on as he pulled out a needle near her right thigh and threw it away. "So now that you are unable to interfere with my plans…ahh looks like the old man was able to defeat the First. The Second looks like it will lose soon as well. Well I better get going you pest. I don't want anymore interruptions." Orochimaru said as he raised his sword above Kagome and brought it down, to impale her. Kagome watched as the blade came closer and closer until something growled nearby. Both Nin turned their heads, well except for Kagome who couldn't and used her eyes instead. Next to Orochimaru and her was a jet black wolf the size of a small horse. It had red markings around its jaw and muzzle. Its piercing red eyes look straight at Orochimaru with nothing but 'you are dead' kind of face. It growled once more and pounced on Orochimaru. Orochimaru wasn't prepared for the wolf and fell on his back with the wolf in his face. Orochimaru dropped his sword a few yards away and tried to kick the giant beast off of him. It bared its teeth at the snake Nin and growled once more before going to check on his Master, it was his duty to protect the girl, now that his other master was gone. He sniffed at his owner and smelt four things. Blood, sweat, a strange poison, and tears? Why was she crying? He wiped the tears away with his giant head. The tears of relief dried up in his spiky like hair, which was actually pretty smooth to someone's touch. He was awarded with a smile in her eyes which then turned to fear and worry. He turned around and noticed that the attacker was right behind him with his sword raised. The wolf used his speed and size to his advantage and tackled Orochimaru in the gut and made him drop the sword again. The wolf was then pushed away by Orochimaru who got back up and said something that made the wolf growl again.
"This village is filled with animals! They have no respect at all!" Orochimaru launched what remained of his poisonous needles at the wolf and stood in disbelief as the wolf turned transparent and let all the needles pass right through his body. The wolf narrowed its eyes, returning back into solid and gave a miniature howl of what his old owner could do but it still was very devastating. It first made the ground below it shake and start to tear apart as the invisible force hit Orochimaru making him fly anime style in the air and land to a building about a quarter mile away. It turned around once it notice Orochimaru was going to take a while to get up and walked towards his owner, who was already getting up and surprised him that she recovered so quickly. She was about to fall on the ground when the wolf used his back as support. She turned around and smiled through her eyes as he couldn't see her face because of the mask she wore. She patted him on the head and heard him purr.
Kagome P.O.V…
"Iguesshesensedmyfearandcamerunningfromthecastle.ThanksagainShadow." I thought as I patted him on the head. I gave him a name since just calling him wolf sounded strange. I then heard a beep sound in my right ear. "Higurashi, you still alive? Reinforcements were delayed by Kabuto and the Sound Four but thanks to the Akatsuki and your demon friends we were able to beat them off. We will be there in five minutes, so don't dare die on us." The line cut off again. I looked at the wolf and then back to where he made his super sonic howl. Orochimaru was barely standing up and to my surprise five other people were helping him. They approached Shadow and me as the Hokage finished off the last of the two Nin's. He walked towards us as we all looked at the approaching group. "So who's your friend?" the Hokage asked as he too petted the wolf. "Shadow. He belonged to the mystic Gakuto Minamoto until he died. The wolf has followed me to this day, protecting and caring for me." I said as shadow wagged his tail in approval. "Hereallyhadcaredforme…"
Flashback…Shadow P.O.V…
"Wellitisagoodthinghedidn'tleavewithoutbreakingthespellonme.Icanwalkaroundtransparentandsolidnow." I lied down on the floor of the castle by the 'Raven Door' as the humans called it until four women opened the large door. I let all the women pass by me until I smelt the familiar scent that my master told me to look for and sneezed again. I looked at all the women in the small group. One I already knew instantly, Serikuna Aneway. The second was a small child my master had created with the Little Golden Dragon. She was made to help him protect someone. She had become a nice friend to all of the occupants in the castle, including myself. It was strange that she was born just a few days ago and now she was around the human age of 16, having the brains, bronze, and body of one. "Nottomentionherannoyingsqueakyvoicetoo." The last two of the women were new to me. Both had black hair and white/olive skin. One had red eyes and a demonic aura. The other had brown eyes with a mixture of two auras, human and miko. They all had a worry look in their eyes. I followed silently, walked behind them, and turned back into a solid when they reached the stairs. We turned around as soon as we heard a door opening and saw the oldest mystic, Karakuto Karyo. I grinned when I saw a yellow headed boy following close behind yelling about wanting ramen. When the boy turned to me, he yelped and hid behind Karakuto. I grinned even wider when I noticed why he was scared of me. A wolf's grin is completely different from a human grin and mine must have looked like I was going to eat the poor kid for breakfast. Other people started to come out with the noise the small group was making until everyone in the castle was in the main entrance. I stood by the other Guardians that appeared later on and we all watched as the humans started to talk to each other. "Hey Three, where is your master?" One asked. One was the leader of the guardians because of his age and being created first. He was a large tiger with green fur and darker stripes. "He went out…" I bluntly said. "Three, are you all right?" Two asked. She was a beautifully colored snake, pure white with a blue underbelly and blue piercing eyes. "Yeah…better than ever." I said as I started to walk away. "Three! Hold up!" Four yelled after me before I return into the lair. She was a normal looking raven that was created for protecting any guests in the castle. Unlike the rest of the guardians, she had no master, and she could go anywhere she pleased. She landed in front of me and told me something different instead of what the others asked me. "Three…I saw your master leave the castle. He headed into the forest and after that…I lost his aura. Did you know about this?" She finished. I stare at her through my red eyes but she knows the answer just by looking into them. "Yes…" I said before walking past her and into the lair, leaving the three behind to think.
That Night…
I lay on the floor next to my master's bed, looking at the moon through the window. "Hehadn'tputupblinds…Hemustliketoseethemoonaswell." I thought as I kept looking outside at the stars and moon. "Nothinghaschanged…Alwayslookingfortrouble,protectingthosehecaresabouteveniftheycanprotectthemselves.Whatkindofforcedrivesapersontoprotectthosewhotheylove?Iwillneverunderstandthisstrangerace." I yawned as the night kept on going. It was around 3:00 a.m. when I decided to get up and walk around the castle. I walked through all the rooms in the castle, even the empty ones, checking every occupant before leaving. The majority of the occupants were o.k. in health and spirit but when I went into Karakuto's and Serikuna's rooms there was a surprise for me there. One and Two were each next to their masters, trying to comfort them with their presence and other sounds to calm them. I approached each of them in the same way. "What's wrong with them?" I would ask. Their only response: "They are worried for Gakuto…They will start to think he is gone for good if we don't tell them." "We cannot, it was my master's last wish before he left. He doesn't want anybody to get hurt." They just shook their head all the same but agreed nevertheless and I left the two separated rooms. I went into the next lair and was surprised to hear Four's voice. I followed the voice until it led me to one of the women's rooms. I made my presence known as I scratch the door. Four's voice stopped but I heard soft padded feet walk towards the door. When it opened I looked down at the growing Rin. She wore the same black cloak that the others wore and even wore gray wolf slippers on her furry feet, which was weird to me because why did she need those if she had padded feet that were warm already? "What is Gakuto's Guardian doing here?" Rin asked as she wiped tears away from her face. Four looked at me and nodded confirming my thoughts. She too was worried for Gakuto. I shook my head and walked inside, Rin close behind. When she sat down she started to whimper again and began to tear up. I tried to change into my normal size and successfully got a bit smaller but was still the size of a large dog. I jumped on the bed and started to purr to calm her. It worked and she laughed a bit. "That tickles!" Rin said as she wiped her nose. She went to bed after about a half hour of calming down and I stayed another half an hour to make sure she wouldn't wake up. Four stayed and looked over Rin as I left. It was around 4:30 in the morning when I went through the remaining rooms until I reached the last room given to the female I was ordered to protect at all cost. I went towards the door and the first thing that caught my interest was the sound of shuffling around and crying. I scratch the door letting my presence known and waited until something happened. The point that I scratch the door is that anyone behind the door knows that not only am I there but also that I am about to come in. Don't want to walk in on anything too private. Before I went in I noticed that the room was in the Wolf Lair but not my master's room like she wanted when I heard they came in the castle. "Shemusthavenotbeenabletoopenthedoor." I entered the door by going transparent and return into a solid again when I heard the teenager say it was okay. The things that caught my eye was the fairly big room with many expensive looking things, weapons, tapestries, and paintings, a closet, a door that led to a possible bathroom, the three giant windows that looked out to overlook the mountains to the west of the village. The other two windows showed the village to the north and the forest behind the castle to the south and east, and the girl on the overly sized bed. She wore a thin night gown that hugged her skin in every way that a man would want. I mentally thought how my master could leave such a beautiful thing behind but remembered that it was to protect her. I walked towards her and watched as she looked outside to the stars and moon. She kept looking at the stars even when I got on the bed next to her. I laid my head on my paws and watched the moon with her. "Gakuto…where have you gone to?" The girl asked. I looked at her for a moment to see if the question was directed at me and noticed she was still looking at the moon with teary eyes. I stood up on the bed on all fours and rubbed my head with hers. She looked at me and smiled sadly. "At least my friends are still here right?" Kagome said and started to cry again. I hate it when humans cry because I don't know how to make them happy. When animals are sad you can give them something and they will be happy for some time but humans… "Maybeshe'sdifferent…" I thought. "MaybeIcan…No,thatwouldn'thelp…wouldit?" I rubbed my head on her arms that were covering her face and she looked up. I tried as best as I could to connect my mind with the girls and managed to do so after a minute of awkward silence and staring. "Human…Iknowyouaresaddenedbymymaster'sdisappearancebutyoumustnotcry.Iknowwhatyou'regoingthroughbutyoushouldn'tcry." I told her telepathically. Fortunately I still knew how to use most of my powers. She looked at me with surprise. "You can talk?" she asked as I looked at her. "Yesyoutaillessmonkey,Icantalktoyou.Whatareyoucrazy?Animalsdon'ttalk,notevenguardians.I'mtalkingtoyoutelepathically.NowpleasestopcryingIcan'tstanditwhenahumancries." I said. She laughed for the first time in a long time and I was happy she stopped crying. "Why don't you like it when humans cry?" She asked. "Cryingremindsmeofmymasterwhenhewasakid.Heannoyedthecrapoutofalltheguardianstogetwhathewanted." I answered and she smiled. "What did he want from you guys?" she asked. "Hewantedtorideonuslikehorsesandplaychildishgameslikehideandgoseek.Hewasthemostannoyingwhenhewantedtoraceusfromoneplacetoanother.Hewassuchasoreloserbackthen.Don'ttellhimIsaidthathemightwanttoskinmealiveandmakemehisfloorrug." I shivered a t the thought of being one of those floor rugs. She laughed again and nodded her head. "I promise." She said as she looked outside at the early morning sky. "I just wish he had said something you know…" She said. "Human…I-" I began. "Kagome." She said, looking at me. "What?" I asked dumbstruck. "Kagome. My name is Kagome, not Human. Ka-go-me." She stated in one syllable words. I looked at her dumbly but got the point. "Ok,Kagome,IknowthatyoufeelsadbuthowaboutImakeituptoyou?" I said as if the whole problem was my fault. She looked at me as I got off the bed and walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" she asked. "Followme." I said as I walked through the door and waited for her to follow me.
Normal P.O.V…
Kagome quickly looked through the closet to put something on and she pulled out something without looking at it. She put it over her head and ran to the door. She opened it and met the red eyed wolf outside her door. He looked at her strangely and sniffed at her. "Whatareyouwearing?" he asked her. Kagome looked down on herself and noticed what she was wearing. Completely white with sea blue trim and small animal designs on the bottom of the cloak told Kagome she had put on the cloak someone gave to her in the morning. "I have no clue…Do you know who gave it to me?" she asked as they started to walk towards the end of the hall. "Itsmellslike…Serikuna.Shemusthavemadeyouone." The wolf said as they got closer to the end of the corridor. "I'll have to thank her later…What is your name, Wolfie? And where are we going?" Kagome asked as they reached the end of the corridor. The wolf growled and looked at Kagome. "Wolfie!Really!Iwoulddieofembarrassmentfirstofallifthateverwasmyname.MynameisThreeandwe'rehere." he said. Kagome giggled and looked at him before looking up. "They call you three? That doesn't suit you at all." She looked at 'Three'. "Wellwhatshouldtheycallme?CertainlynotWolfie…" Three asked. Kagome placed a hand on her chin and thought. After a minute of looking at each other and thinking Kagome smiled as she got an idea. "How about Shadow? It fits perfectly and it sounds so much better in fights than Three." Kagome grinned at the last comment. Three grinned back and nodded his giant head. "YouhaveapointHum-ImeanKagome.Alrightthen,fromnowonmynameshallbeShadow.ThankyouKagome." Shadow barked loudly. The two laughed as they realized they may have woken up the whole castle. "WaithereandI'llopenit." Shadow said as he walked through the door in front of them. That's when Kagome realized it was the room she tried to get in that afternoon. It was Gakuto's room. She heard her heart thump at her chest as she heard a click and then a bright blue glow from inside the room. "Ok,openit.Thespellshouldbeoffandyoucanopenit." Shadow informed Kagome behind the door. Kagome guided her hand towards the door knob and opened it slowly. The first thing that hit her was the smell of incense and a small hint of peppermint. She walked into the room and noticed it was a lot smaller than the other rooms. She saw the giant king sized bed with black sheets, red covers, and gold trim on the black sheets. The room also had three large windows, the largest in the middle, which overlooked the mountains to the east of the village. The other two windows showed the village to the north and the forest behind the castle to the south. "Justlikealltheotherrooms…" Kagome thought as she walked deeper into the room. There was a small dresser with a mirror on it, a closet, a door that led to the bathroom, and a design on the roof of the room. The design was old and some of the paint was wearing off but the overall design could be seen. The design was of a wolf, raven, tiger, and snake looking over the Earth. Something caught Kagome's attention as a bright flash from the rising sun hit something made of glass near the window sill. Kagome walked towards it and picked it up. It was a picture of a black haired boy around the age of 10 on the shoulders of a young man that had a giant silver, gold, and green sword on his back, a dark green cloak with silver trim and designs on the bottom of the cloak and white hair that reached his waist. The girl, a little older than the boy but younger than the man next to her, had a light blue and white cloak on, with the light blue as designs and trim. Her hair was completely white with blue highlights. It was a picture of Gakuto when he was a kid with Karakuto holding him on his head and Serikuna smiling at them. Gakuto had his hands raised above his head and Karakuto was trying not to drop him. Kagome smiled and dropped a single tear on the picture. "Yournotgoingtostartcryingagainareyou?" Shadow asked. Kagome shook her head. "No…thank you Shadow for showing me the room." Kagome said as she put the picture down and hugged the neck of Shadow. He purred and they stood like that for a few minutes as Kagome sobbed in Shadow's fur. "Irestmycase.Iwillneverunderstandthisrace." Shadow said as he and Kagome looked at the sun rising. Later that day Shadow revealed that Kagome was his new master.
End Flashback…Normal P.O.V…
"So what is it this time?" the Hokage asked Kagome as he pulled out a large staff looking thing from his back. "Nothing that you have to worry about now Hokage-sama." Someone said behind the trio. The three turned around to see a large group of ANBU accompanied by the Akatsuki, Sesshomaru, Kagura, and even Kirara and Rin looking at them. Kagome breathed a sign of relief that reinforcements had arrived before things got really messy. She could have easily taken care of herself but six against three was not a walk in the park. "Higurashi you can stand down for now. We will take care of the rest." The ANBU squad leader of her squad stated. "Roger." Kagome replied. All the ANBU and some of Akatsuki went after the six retreating Nin that had seen the large group of reinforcements arrive and counted their losses and got the hell out of dodge. The Hokage patted the wolf on the head and went after the ANBU and Orochimaru. "Hey wait! Where are you going Hokage-sama?" Kagome yelled after Sarutobi. The Hokage looked back but kept on going. "I can't let the younger generation outshine me can I?" Sarutobi stated and waved. Kagome shook her head and told the rest of the Akatsuki to follow the Hokage to make sure he would be safe. Itachi was reluctant to leave but accepted anyways as Kisame, Konan, Zetsu, and himself went after the Hokage. "I thought you guys would never get here." Kagome stated as she walked towards her friends. Sesshomaru looked at her and nodded. Kagura went up to Kagome and hugged her. Rin came up to them and got into their hug as well. It wasn't until Kirara got into the hug when someone stated "Hey Sesshomaru! Get in this group hug will ya? No one's looking!" Kagura stated with a smile. Sesshomaru scoffed and looked around before he approached the group. He was going to tell them to basically go get a room when two arms grabbed him and pulled him into the hug. "This Sesshomaru does not approve of this behavior…" Sesshomaru stated as he tried to get away from the hug. "Oh come on uncle Sesshomaru! You know you like it!" Rin stated as she gave Sesshomaru a bear hug. "How touching, now can you let go of me so as I can breath?" Sesshomaru stated. The group hug ended and they all looked at each other. "So what's new?"
Very short chapter I know but at least I wrote something to let you guys know I'm still writing and I plan on finishing this story no matter what. Homework won't even stand in my way. That's a little to much but you get the point. Sorry I couldn't write sooner,orfaster, and I hope I still have all my readers and reviewers.