A/N: I was planning to upload this last week but life likes to just…happen. If anyone reading this is in the habit of keeping lit candles around (regardless of the reason) please, please be careful with them, and keep in mind that if the wax has reached the melting point, it WILL burn just the same. My aunt ended up with second degree burns all over both of her hands and I ended up having to accompany to visit my grandpa to a town with no internet service…regardless, just please be careful around candles.
Chapter 10.- Underhanded
That peculiar mixture of panic and fear that left her nauseous wasn't new to her.
Ever since falling down the well, facing death was something Kagome couldn't avoid, no matter how much she wished for the opposite. She thought she was used to it. By now, her life had been on the line so many times keeping count was just impossible; she'd learned how to sleep through the night despite the dark tendrils of paranoia that tried to snatch her gaze towards the dark amorphous shadows around their campsite. It was fine.
And yet, the priestess wasn't sure she could've forced her feet to move.
They'd been running back to the village for almost a day, no stops. Her thoughts were moving at a crawl, yet they kept spiraling inside her head, bringing forth images filled with red every time she closed her eyes. Faces she knew all too well twisting, pain disfiguring their features, and all she could do was bite her tongue and dig her nails on Inuyasha's shoulders. Every minute they wasted could cost so many lives, but as humans, all she and the others could do was rely on the hanyou and Kirara, and they were already going as fast as they could. Bitter fact as it was, they knew there was nothing else they could do. The silence asphyxiating the words right out of them spoke louder than anything they could say. Out of the whole group, only one person could do anything, and not seeing him only made her worry more.
As soon as all the info was shared, Itachi went ahead on his own, carrying all of Sango's scent bombs and instructions to set up a smoke perimeter around the village. Using chakra to boost his speed, he'd vanished in just a blink, confirming no one in the group could truly match him. For once, Inuyasha agreed to the plan without a fight; he may still be wary, but he trusted the warrior's abilities. Yet a part of her she couldn't fully shut up had wanted to oppose the idea. No matter how strong someone could be, one drop of poison could prove fatal. Kagome wasn't stupid; she'd seen how quickly everyone paled when she and Itachi explained their findings. Because while deadly, Naraku's saimyoshos were too slow, hovering around the spider to serve as shields from Miroku's black hole, and the ones that ravaged those toxins were clearly different. That's why the warrior had to speed ahead to try and keep the village safe…but if he got hurt, Kagome wasn't sure she'd be able to heal him this time.
"There's the smoke!"
Kagome looked up at the hanyou's yell.
Purple smoke seemed to form a curtain, and her heart finally started beating at a slower pace.
He made it in time. Just the fact that Sango's scent bombs were being used meant that, at the very least, there were enough people left in the village to justify not evacuating.
"How long will it last?"
"Depends on how long ago they were lit." Sango glanced back at the monk for only a second before answering. "Maybe a day, not much longer."
"Cover your nose, Shippo," Inuyasha warned.
A small hand left her shoulder so the fox could follow the hurried instructions. It didn't take long before the miko's weak sense of smell was invaded by the pungent stench of the smoke, or perhaps it took way too long. Her mind was still fighting to push down her fear without collapsing from the sudden release of tension, and time didn't seem consistent anymore. She wasn't sure there was anything she could do to help, but Kagome refused to cause more problems for the others. They didn't need to worry even more just because she fell unconscious. Gritting her teeth, the girl closed her eyes, willing herself to ignore the sour stench of the smoke as they crossed the purple curtain.
It was almost on instinct that her gaze found Itachi's form patiently waiting for them on the edge of the village's perimeter.
Relief washed over her before Inuyasha landed, and she was pushing herself off, barely managing to avoid buckling on her somewhat numb legs. The young warrior looked the same as always, no hint of the tension she could see wrapped around the others, even though she'd bet he had about as much sleep as she did. Because he was used to this. The waiting game and the anxiety it caused were natural parts of any war, weren't they? The realization comforted her as much as it perturbed her. No one should go through it, but Itachi knew what to do and could act without risking making basic mistakes out of inexperience. And the way his eyes found hers, soft smile in place, was far more reassuring than any of her half-hearted thoughts had been so far.
"Did any of those things get here?"
"None." If Inuyasha's harsh tone bothered him, the young man didn't show it. "I got here while it was still dark, so Kaede-san and I had no problems rounding people up or setting up the smokescreen. There were no signs of any insects in a 15 m. radius."
"It was silent on our end, too," Sango added.
"Kagome, did you notice anything on the way here?"
"Oh, I…" she faltered as understanding dawned on her. Reiki, she should've been on the lookout as they kept running. It was obvious. She should've been more alert, smarter. "I forgot…"
"Can you try to sense them now?" Itachi's voice was calm, all but disregarding the others.
"Eh?!" Azure eyes looked down, trying to hide from the other's gaze. "I don't think I have that sort of range."
"When you use your reiki, it spreads like a radar correct?" He continued after she nodded. "But we know what direction they're coming if you focus your energy in that direction, your reach should be enough."
"I…I'll try it?" The words were out before Kagome could stop herself.
Tension was chained around her limbs, but Itachi wasn't wrong. The first thing that came to her mind whenever she thought about scanning an area with her spiritual power was the stereotypical image of a circular radar extending around her, but that didn't have to be the case. No matter the shape or the form, the amount of energy she spent was the same. Even if this wasn't how things should work for regular monks and priestesses, thanks to the Shikon, those rules didn't apply to her. Because of her inexperience, the girl failed to remain alert, so this was her chance to make up for it. In this mess of a situation, she could actually be useful. Desire powered her control over her power, and the one thing she wanted more than anything right now was to be helpful. A boost instead of someone who had no choice but hope to get lucky during battle. She could do this. In a way, she'd already done this before.
Closing her eyes, she thought back to the village they'd left, the path they'd run through during the night. A cone, that was what she needed to conjure up this time.
Energy poured out from her.
Back when they were walking around the ruins, the feeling of that lone demonic insect had been so faint she'd almost missed it. A part of her even thought she might've imagined it until she did a second check, only when Itachi confirmed he could hear something that her doubts fully vanished.
There was no missing it this time.
It wasn't that far from the village either. Fifteen minutes, maybe less. Had the group run a little more to the left, they would've stumbled right onto the swarm. Not just one or two; what should've been a blip in the priestess' senses was now a wave covering a decent portion of the woods. She couldn't miss it. They weren't even moving, not in the slightest. It was almost as if they'd come to a complete stop out of nowhere.
"Kagome-sama?"
"R-right," forcing herself to take a deep breath, the girl tried to calm down. "I can feel them some ways after the waterfall, I'm not sure why, but they're not moving at all…they're too many to count. They could almost cover the whole village."
Silence followed her words, only for a second before the hanyou exploded, disbelief dripping from his every word, because it just couldn't be true, and how could anyone know that she wasn't making a mistake. She wasn't wrong; there was no way, but the words refused to leave her tongue, and only Miroku's intervention got Inuyasha to calm down. It didn't matter. Her mind refused to focus on what anyone was saying anyway. Because it didn't really matter when there was no way they could deal with all of them in a single blow, and that was just what was needed to stop them.
Nothing in Sango's arsenal would be enough to cover the whole area, and while Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu could manage to do that sort of damage, against an enemy this small, there were bound to be a number that would scatter and avoid it. It would only take a few to create a few to condemn dozens. Even if they avoided Kaede's village thanks to the smokescreen, another town would be subjected to that tragedy, and if Naraku was behind this, then they would surely return when the smoke finally cleared. Perhaps Miroku-sama could take them all in one go, but using his black hole to absorb even one would be enough to kill him. They could do nothing. Her arrows were meaningless, and they didn't know how long they had before the swarm began moving again.
"Could they be sleeping?" Itachi's calm question broke the panicked conversation, finally piercing through the whirlwind of thoughts clashing inside her head.
"What?"
"Sleep…oh, that is a possibility." Sango's eyes widened. "I see, that would explain it. If they can only move during the night, then there's only so much land they can cover before having to rest. That's why the only times Inuyasha and I only found them at dawn or afternoon, sometimes scouts have more mobilit…"
"It also means they'll start moving again in an hour at most." Miroku's dry retort did little to hide the stress under it.
"Don't you have more smoke bombs?" Shippo asked from the priestess's shoulder. "Some that can actually kill those things."
"Not enough to cover the whole area. I'm not even sure there're enough left at my village."
Blunt nails dug into the palms of her skin. Sango said the smoke could maybe last until tomorrow morning, but no one could make it all the way to the exterminator's village and back before next nightfall. They were stuck. Simple as that.
"Would regular fire suffice?" Again, Itachi's voice cut through the panicked cacophony inside her mind.
"Probably, they didn't look all that tough." The older girl looked thoughtful for a little before shaking her head. "But the area is too big; it'd be too dangerous to start a fire, not without a way to stop it from spreading."
"I can do it. I can cover the space and keep it under control."
"You can…control fire?" Disbelief seemed to war with wariness as Inuyasha sent a look her way.
"Elemental control is one of the things jutsus allow one control over," the young warrior said, dark eyes focused on her. "Fire release happens to be my specialty. I can keep the flames under control…but it will take a couple of seconds before I can envelop the whole area; there is a chance some insects will escape during that time if a barrier can be put up to stop them, there would be no need to scan the terrain afterward."
"Almost as big as the village…Kaede-sama doesn't have enough power, and I'd need time to set up the talismans needed to keep it stable."
Yes, Miroku-sama didn't make the cut, but Itachi wasn't expecting him to be the one able to help him. No, it was clear to her in the way the young warrior looked at her, just calmly waiting, giving her space to breathe. Rules and regulations made it so no monk or priestess could act in the short amount of time they had, but Kagome was the exception to those, wasn't she?
Besides…she'd already succeeded in casting a barrier.
Slight distractions would shatter them in a heartbeat, and she'd never attempted to expand it over a meter or so surrounding her, but the fact remained. She knew how to raise a shield and needed no preparation. It'd only take a few seconds, and if the young warrior was being truthful when he said he could control the fire, she'd only have to worry about a handful of insects weak enough that breaking a small glass bottle was too tall of an order. Theoretically, the modern priestess was more than capable of succeeding. More importantly, even now, as the others kept trying to brainstorm, Itachi's gaze remained on her. Waiting for Kagome to raise her hand and speak up. He thought she could do it. Genuinely believed she'd be able to do it. Besides, this is just what Kagome wanted. A chance for her to carry her own weight and be more than the glorified shard radar she'd resigned herself to become.
The village accepted her. Sure, part of that was due to her being Kikyo's reincarnation even so, they took to her eccentricities, trusting her when she brought unknown youkais and strange people back with her. If the well were too close, leaving her stuck on this side, she had no doubt that the villagers would welcome her with open arms. Really, the least she could do in return was push herself a little.
"Do you…no." This wasn't the time for indecision, so she echoed his words. "I can do it. I will."
"Wha…no fucking way!" Inuyasha's fear morphed into panic as he screamed.
"We really don't have the time to argue." Kagome had never been one to be easily discouraged. She had to stand her ground. "I should be able to do it, right, Itachi?"
"Yes, with your current progress, it should be possible."
"It's too risky!"
"No more than staying here, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the smoke to die out." Her feet stomped the ground, though she wasn't sure if it was to make her point or to remind herself they had no other choice. "Itachi can control the fire, and once it starts, the insects won't notice us."
"You don't even know if you can do anything!" Inuyasha yelled.
"I can already make a barrier!" He didn't need to know just how fragile it was. "It's just about scaling it up."
"Kagome-sama's the best option we have. If her training has come that far then this is the best move we can make." One of Miroku's hands came to rest on the hanyou's shoulder, a light warning and soothing action all at once.
"So we just wait here and hope for the best?!"
"No one's saying that," This time, it was Sango who argued in her favor. "If this is a targeted attack, Naraku might be behind it, and this is far too overt for him. We need to make sure nothing else is hiding around the village."
Inuyasha grumbled but didn't say another word. Holding back a sigh, the girl jumped up from her spot, right hand clasped around her bow in an effort to hide the nervousness waiting for the right time to swallow her up. But Itachi had never asked anything he thought impossible for her. If this was the new goal he believed she could reach, then it was up to her to step up to the challenge and do her part to make sure the village was safe.
"Let's get going then."
Dark eyes glanced at the young priestess standing by her side. Tension evident in her stance, those dark circles under her eyes, and the way her knuckles turned white from grasping her weapon.
It wouldn't do anything to help her if things were to go wrong, but it seemed to provide some comfort, so he swallowed down the words a life under strict supervision would have him saying. Truth be told, he'd rather the girl stayed back inside the smoke curtain, but there was nothing to be done. Uchiha Itachi didn't botch missions; it was a rule, and this wouldn't be the one that broke the trend. He'd ignored the obvious distrust in Inuyasha-san's eyes as he threw the vivid red haori to the girl just as much as he'd ignored the implications that came with the realization that he'd seen his butterfly wear the fire-resistant robe before. This wasn't an opportunity he could afford to miss. Now that he knew the Shikon had been inside her, assuming that to be the reason behind her power's mutations wasn't a massive leap, and if the wish-granting object modified the activating mechanism for her reiki, then this was a prime opportunity. Sure, her training was progressing at an impressive rate compared to usual, but she'd brought him back from the brink of death; she should be able to do so much more. Flares of power fueled by instinct had saved her life, but it wasn't enough. Because his butterfly was the kind of person who'd volunteer to act not out of a belief in her ability to defeat her enemy but out of a desire to protect others. The true nature of her wishes seemed to shine the brightest when someone else was involved.
Itachi wasn't a betting man; asking her to do this was the farthest thing from a gamble he could think of. And while he was worried about her mental state, overprotecting her would only endanger her farther down the line. The risks were considerably low. Sango-san had passed them a scent pouch that should give them a five-minute window. Worst case scenario, he could switch to Amaterasu or get them out of reach.
"Shall I get us to the center?"
"Oh, sure!" The girl almost jumped at his side. "The center is well…" she trailed off, clearly unused to giving directions based on something she could only feel.
"I have a general idea of the distance based on how big the village is." He really wasn't used to being the one giving someone comfort. "If you could confirm it once we get there, we shouldn't have any problems."
"Y-yeah, I can do that." Relief flashed through her expression.
"Then, if you'll excuse me."
A gasp escaped her as he gathered her in his arms, her warmth drawing him in a heartbeat, a soft, rosy blush dusting her cheeks. He knew she was used to being carried around, but the girl would typically climb on the hanyou's back, leaving her hands free to handle her bow and arrows. Greedy. That's what this was, wishing for excuses to hold her close while coming up with justifications about how he could switch to support her weight with one hand, not losing any mobility, or how it was safer this way with the speeds he used. After all, his mind couldn't help but notice how quick she was to hold onto him, gripping the fabric of his shirt as their surroundings blurred into a collage of greens and the wind drowned any other sound. A part of him was almost disappointed when he stopped, whispering how she wouldn't have noticed if he'd gone slower. Squashing down those thoughts, the shinobi glanced down before scanning his surroundings, the sharingan taking over the black of his eyes.
It didn't look like his butterfly noticed they'd stopped just yet. It was probably better this way. The sight around them wouldn't help her focus.
What should've been a plush, vivid green forest was blanketed in black dots, and he couldn't hear even a hint of a living animal in meters. This would be too big of a distraction when Kagome was already struggling to calm her nerves.
"Can you tell if we're in the center?" He asked softly, not wanting to disturb the insects.
"Pretty much," she whispered back. Quick on the uptake. "Right in the middle."
With careful motions, the Uchiha let her down, right hand flying to cover her eyes before she could open them. There was no need for her to get a visual representation of what she could feel with her reiki. His asking for her to confirm their current location did enough damage, but it was an unavoidable step for her to make the barrier. Pushing her to expand her limits was a necessary evil; forcing her to endure more stress when he could spare her was another matter entirely. Once she gained more confidence in her abilities, this wouldn't be needed anymore.
"Don't open your eyes," he said, crimson-tainted eyes taking a second to study her response. "Concentrate only on what you have to do, I won't let anything get close."
"O-ok, let's do this."
Too tense, he could feel just how stiff her frame was.
And he could see the pink shimmer begin to rise around them in far too unsteady waves. A barrier like this wouldn't even close.
"Don't overthink it." Careful not to startle her, he let his free hand rest on her shoulder. "Concentrate only on what you want to achieve. What you want to protect. You've already done something more difficult, remember? The sacred tree may have created the bond between us, but it was your will that broke through the space that separated our worlds. You are strong enough."
Giving a silent nod, the girl took a deep breath, the feeble light fading for a moment, but he could feel her begin to relax, her breathing becoming calmer. Satisfied, Itachi observed as his butterfly almost leaned back into him, letting go of the tension that had tied her up. Because she really trusted him to keep her safe. He'd covered her eyes while surrounded by poisonous insects that wouldn't hesitate to go after them, and his butterfly was still willing to put her safety in his hands. And he couldn't help but wonder if there had ever been a time in his life when the shinobi had been able to do the same. Even when he was a part of a team, it'd been different. He was an Uchiha, meant to lead and surpass everyone else. Teammates were nothing but competition and eventual responsibilities. His father made sure to make that clear even before he entered the Academy.
Bitterness filled his mind before he waved those thoughts away. It wouldn't do to get distracted when Kagome was relying on him.
"I think I got it."
Just as those words left her lips, bright pink shimmered back to life, enclosing them in a dome of light that almost looked solid. Crimson eyes strained to study the girl's energy; there wasn't much he could uncover, but the flow of power was stable.
"Good, keep your focus."This was already leagues over what they'd achieved just a couple days ago. "The fire will make the temperature rise significantly. I won't allow the flames to touch you. Don't get distracted."
Again, the girl nodded, staying still in his hold, patiently waiting.
Lifting his left hand from her shoulder, the Uchiha began to weave memorized seals he hadn't bothered to use in years. The Katon release was the pride of his clan, the signature element every member had to master to be respected as an effective ninja. He learned how to do even the highest fire jutsus without needing to bother with the seals by the time he made jounin, but fire was destructive and volatile, and while the only thing of note for this particular technique was its range, Kagome possessed no chakra to push back the flames on her own. Every sliver of control he could get without fully letting go of her was one he'd procure.
Chakra built up inside his chest, heat rising as he reached the final seal.
Flames exploded, filling his vision as the fire swirled around them, consuming the black insects that startled in disarray, flying in panic to escape. The girl flinched under his hand as the temperature rose. The barrier dimmed for only a heartbeat before settling once more, just out of reach of the conjured fire. In what felt like the first time since learning what fieldwork truly meant, Itachi was glad for his inherent talent when it came to his clan's preferred techniques. The heat and the power were the same as always, but this time, there were no screams of agony or the stench of burnt flesh and hair to accompany it. He didn't have to swallow down vile and remind himself that using these jutsus was all for the good of the village, that every life sacrificed in his waste would eventually lead to Konoha's safety and his brother's well-being.
Oh, his father would roll in his grave if he knew the Uchiha prodigy considered protecting a civilian village was the sole time using this technique felt worth it.
Holding the jutsu for a few more seconds to ensure any potential queen was gone with the rest of the swarm, the shinobi held back a sigh as he studied the area engulfed in flames. Things were bound to become strained within the group once more. If not with the prietess' human companions, then with the hanyou. After only using chakra-reinforced combat, this was bound to make the silver-haired male wary around him, which would, in return, upset Kagome.
"You can look now," he said as willed the fire to die out. Slowly, he took a step back.
"Oh…wow…" her voice trailed off as azure eyes gazed around them. "This is…"
Nothing was left of what had once been a vast forest; the trees that had covered the area were gone along with the black swarm. The fire ate everything except the small circle of grass they were standing in the center of, the sole patch of green that remained. This was still within a jounin's skill level, technically. In this world, though, humans weren't meant to have this much power. Anyone would be shocked to see this. It was something he was well aware of; it was part of the reason why he'd hesitated so long to offer his help. For as long as he'd lived, there was always a tinge of fear mixed with respect. The same power that commanded admiration could also conjure horror, and the last thing he wanted was to see that shadow lingering in the depths of those azure eyes of hers. But there had been no other way to hit all the insects in a single go. If it'd spare the girl the stress and guilt that came with losing a close comrade, then he'd do whatever he had to. It took more effort to keep his expression calm as his butterfly turned around to face him. But he could see no fear in her gaze. No, he'd seen that look on her before. It made him feel like she was seeing something else, something he couldn't quite understand, but she moved to hold his hand.
"Itachi, you-"
He had her in his arms before she could finish her sentence.
Highly pressurized air cleaved the spot they'd just been standing on. The sound of weaponized wind familiar enough to give him ample warning.
With just a pulse of chakra, the sharingan flared back, his gaze locking onto the new threat. Not a human, he reminded himself as he found what looked like a woman sitting on a giant feather that was floating in place near the ruins of the forest. In this world, only demons had the sort of power, and human-looking youkai tended to be more dangerous.
"You managed to avoid that one too, huh?" The woman asked from behind a fan. "Are you sure you're a human?"
"Kagura! What was the point of all this?!" A known enemy, then.
"What else?" With a scoff, Kagura rolled her eyes. "He just likes to torment you."
"This demon…" Itachi started.
"Kagura, a wind demon," the girl responded, azure eyes set on the demon. "One of Naraku's minions, she's the one who killed Kouga's clan, and she's always the first to run away whenever it becomes clear she's gonna lose."
"Heh, feeling brave when you hide behind someone else's back?"
"You can put me down," crimson eyes glanced down; it didn't look like his butterfly had lost control of her emotions. "I can keep myself safe."
He knew there was no way the priestess had gotten any sleep last night; she was tired and had just expended far more energy than she was used to. But her voice was steady, and her grip on her bow was firm. This wasn't the false bravado of a new genin. And this was clearly an enemy she'd faced many times before. Trusting her judgment, the shinobi let her down, reassured at how firm her stance was.
"Let's see you back up those words! Ryuja no mai!"
He could see something this time, a different type of energy building up for less than a second before tornadoes were rushing at them. Before he could pick the girl up, the sharingan caught her next move. Practiced motions had an arrow knocked and released, bright pink enveloping the projectile, cutting through the demon's attack. Light wind was the only thing left after the reiki destroyed the youkai's energy. Kagome wasn't one to overestimate her abilities and Itachi learned early on that underestimating those around them could lead to an early grave if one was lucky enough to leave a corpse behind.
"Try to keep her from backing away." If this was a manageable threat, then there was no need for him to go all out.
"Got it."
Showing his hand too early when odds were high they were being observed carried more cons than pros. With someone as sly as this Naraku appeared to be, it wouldn't be weird for him to hide if the spider thought him too dangerous to face. Jutsus weren't necessary for him to reach the wind witch. Her caution in keeping her distance meant there was a clean line to get to her. The world slowed down as he sprinted, crossing the gap and reaching the new tree line. Under his feet, the wood of the trunk cracked as he kicked off, jumping at the youkai, sword-infused chakra unsheathed. Panic and shock mixed in the woman's vermillion eyes.
"How?!" One more wave of her fan.
The wind blade pushed him back. An arrow stopped the demon from trying to flee. Too slow to kill the wind youkai, but fast enough to graze her side. He didn't have the speed to jump back the same way.
"Don't be so cocky!" The woman screamed, pain twisting the enraged yell.
It was the loud noises that reached him first, caught unaware.
Missing the hoard of demons should've been impossible. Even if the sharingan failed to register youki, Itachi should've still heard them approaching.
There'd be time to ponder this later.
He was back at Kagome's side in a heartbeat, another arrow flying past him and into the sea of monsters. But she wasn't scared. The expression on her face was one of frustration.
She was used to this.
A coward, indeed, running away from the battle by throwing sacrificial pieces at them as a distraction. He could take them without having to rely on jutsus. Make sure he kept as much of his power hidden as possible. Glancing back, however he could see the toll this unexpected attack was having on his butterfly. The arrow that flew from her finger now was only the third shot she'd taken today; he could tell it had far less power than her usual shots. It'd be better to end this fight soon.
"Kaze no Kizu!"
Wind tore the ground, slicing the weaker youkais into pieces.
Ah, that's right, Inuyasha-san and the others were meant to be patrolling the area. They would've noticed something was off and rushed over. This ragtag team of fighters had managed to survive all this time. They weren't regular civilians.
Making a quick decision, he skipped the seals for a Katon. His fire release had just been revealed. Flames poured out, burning and pushing what remained of the horde back, only to be sliced by the oversized boomerang the demon slayer carried on her back. In just moments, the horde had been culled to a few scattered demons that failed to escape, stopped by a burst of blue fire corralling straight into the path of Miroku-san's black hole.
Compared to the rigid perfection of ANBU, the group fell short, but they were effective. Most of all, it was evident in how they were asking about any injury taken that they cared for each other's safety more than they did their mission.
"Was that Kagura?" Unsurprisingly, the half-demon was the first to ask questions.
"I managed to hit her thanks to Itachi, but she ran away." The young priestess shook her head, frown in place. "Anyway, we should get back to the village. Let Kaede-baachan know she can…"
He noticed the girl herself had a chance to. The slowness of her movements, her weakened grip on the wooden bow. He caught her as her knees buckled, left arm around her waist to support her weight when her weapon clanged on the ground, both of her arms trying to find something to lean on by holding onto him.
"Kagome-chan!"
"Sorry, haha," she forced a laugh, trying to calm the fox kit. "Guess I was…more tired than I…thought…"
Azure eyes closed, her head fully resting on his chest, his fingers traveled to her neck in a hurry. Ignoring the hanyou's loud outrage, he carefully moved to fully carry her once more.
"Her pulse is stable, and her breathing is normal." According to what he'd been told, the half-demon should be able to hear it himself. Still, Itachi continued out loud. "It's not rare for genins, new trainees, to suffer from exhaustion and depletion the first time they experience a sustained state of stress. Simple rest should be enough as treatment."
"Yeah, that makes sense. I've seen it myself with first-timers after a drawn-out hunt," Sango-san nodded, a warning glance sent to her more excitable teammate.
"And Kagome-sama has certainly used a lot of power today." The monk jumped to continue with the explanations. "Returning to the village is the best thing to do for now."
"Keh!"
With a scoff, the hanyou glared at him and left, leaving the others to sigh and shake their heads.
"Aaaand, then he goes," Shippo sighed and jumped onto Itachi's shoulders.
"In any case, we should start moving too." With deft movements, the monk grabbed the fox, seemingly trying to keep the shinobi from being bothered. "I believe after the last couple of days, we all deserve some proper rest."
"Oh, if you're tired, Kirara can help carry Kagome back."
"Ah, that's fine…" It sounded awkward even to his own ears.
The woman's offer wasn't done out of distrust or wariness; he knew how to read others, after all, but it still felt odd to be on the other side of what seemed like a genuine offer of help from others.
"Go figure," the slayer's snort was good-natured too as she jumped on top of the demonic cat. "Come on then, Itachi-san, I'm sure Kaede-sama has some tea ready."
A/N: Here we go, things are starting to roll here, and Naraku is finally starting to get involved.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any and all reviews/comment/criticism is greatly, greatly appreciated…and stay safe.