Chapter 16.- Monotone Perfection
Three confirmed enemies, a potential fourth, and no place to retreat to with the flames eating through the town behind them, which meant they had nowhere to send the small group of children clinging to the man with the pure Shikon shard embedded in his neck. No matter how he looked at it, the odds were not in the group's favor. Not when the wide range and volatile nature of their opponents' attacks would force everyone on the defensive, all but putting all of the humans in the group in check.
Yet, Itachi's gaze was focused solely on the woman standing beside the undead doctor, dressed in a traditional priestess' outfit, her expression calm and unperturbed despite the direness of the situation.
From a quick, superficial glance, Itachi supposed there was some resemblance between the two women. The shape of their faces, the angles of their features, their slender frames, all of it pointed to a connection. Still, while he couldn't deny such a link, there was also no way the Uchiha could ever mistake the two of them. Even disregarding the difference in their coloring or the slight apparent age gap, they almost looked like direct opposites in his eyes. There was a certain quality in the undead woman's posture that the Uchiha recognized. Practiced elegance was painfully obvious just in the way she stood, every tiny movement calculated and controlled. All he needed to feel the coldness coming from her was a single look. Rigid and stoic, this person was exactly what Itachi had expected to see. Whether the woman in front of the group was just a shadowed imitation brought back by some forbidden technique or not hardly mattered. Because that stoic rigidness he could so clearly see had been there before her death, the product of years of maintaining a flawless life. Whatever similarities could be there only seemed to make the contrast between two of them. In the end, Kikyo was nothing more than a washed-out, monotone image of perfection.
Everything Itachi had been and grown to hate.
Muted grays had filled his life before, and the Uchiha had more than enough of it.
In comparison, his butterfly's colors never failed to catch his gaze. The vibrancy of her emotions, the exuberance of her flaws, all mixed into bold and lively mosaics he'd spent years longing for. All those small imperfections were what made her feel real even when she was little more than a phantom image he admired from the other side of the one-way glass; the reason he could stay sane through some of the worst moments of his life. No, the two women could never be the same. What was standing in front of him was a pale and manufactured ghost of what once was. A corpse stubbornly holding onto a soul that didn't belong to it anymore.
His fingers flexed, itching to move and grab the hilt of his katana or any blade in his reach or form a seal.
Important missions required patience and delicacy. And right now, Kagome's well-being was the only thing that mattered. Her immediate survival wasn't at stake because of the reanimated woman; attempting to recover the girl's soul with a full audience would only make things more complicated. His focus was better served on the mercenaries. That's what he told himself so he could stomp down the sudden urge to act. Later he could deal with the undead priestess, when he made sure no potential collateral damage that could harm his butterfly.
Priorities needed to be kept.
Forcing himself to take a slow breath, the shinobi shifted his gaze back to their three confirmed enemies.
Bothersome but far from impossible to handle. Jakotsu's wild techniques were not fast enough to bypass his sharingan, and long-range attacks would suffice to dispose of him. Though barely recognizable, the one from yesterday was here too, most of his body replaced by crude machinery. The unknown factor of his new weapons could certainly pose a problem with the rest of the group, however these were not the fast and efficient guns from the girl's time; in all likelihood, throwing him out of balance would make short work of him. As for the new face…if he was around the same level as the others, the Uchiha could probably deal with him without being forced to show more of his hand. Of course, that wasn't the real problem here…
From everything he'd seen so far, it was obvious the half-demon was proud of his strength. Any time Itachi showed even brief glimpses of his abilities, Inuyasha's temper had flared up, letting the others suffer from the male's own insecurities. So far, Itachi had held back. Considering there was a good chance the group was being monitored, it would be unwise to go all out anyway. And yet, strictly defensive stance would leave the others far too exposed.
"Yahoo!" Jakotsu waved from his spot, wide grin in place. "I-nu-ya-sha!"
"Nor a single scratch, huh?" It was just a mumble, but the shinobi still caught the words from the newcomer.
So this was the Shichinintai's strategist, then. Abandoning clearly established plans after realizing the first part of his strategy didn't work out meant the mercenary may very well leave behind his teammates to save himself. Allowing the man to escape might lead them to the rest of his team.
"Jakotsu, you get Suikotsu." Yes, he was undoubtedly the one in charge here. "You're perfect for the job."
"Me?"
"I'll take on Inuyasha and company."
"Who the fuck are you?!" Impatient, the half-demon interrupted the mercenaries' conversation. "Were you the one who attacked the temple?!"
"Somehow, that sounds like a fucking pretext to separate Inuyasha and me…" Jakotsu continued, completely ignoring the interruption. "Renkotsu-aniki are you sure you don't like Inuyasha as well?"
"If you talk too much crap, I'll pull out your tongue. Put your talents to use and get him." Glaring, the man turned his gaze towards Suikotsu slowly backing off the place.
Ah, that's what it was.
The purity of the shard and the benevolent behavior of the man calling himself a doctor had been bothering him for a while; he still wasn't entirely sure why or how the fragment had remained untainted until now, but the change in behavior made more sense to him now. There was a reason why psych evals were mandatory after a number of years, both for active shinobis and on-call doctors. Bloodshed wasn't a simple thing for someone to live with, and some people just couldn't survive dealing with it, eventually they broke, a simple trigger could be enough to shatter whatever composure they could pretend to have. Judging from how the other mercenaries were reacting to the man's odd behavior, this wasn't a new occurrence, and if they knew how to trigger that break, they'd have one more enemy to handle.
Huffing, the loud swordsman jumped off the mechanical mercenary, causing Suikotsu and Kikyo to back away, essentially dividing the battlefield in two.
"Renkotsu…you bastard killed all those priests, didn't you?" Almost growling, the half-demon unsheathed his sword."You'll get what's coming for you!"
Lunging forward, Inuyasha jumped forward, swinging his blade. Full of openings, the group behind him vulnerable. All but a repetition of the male's last battle.
Chakra raced through his system, the sharingan flaring to life just in time for him to see the fire failing to push the half-demon back. That wasn't what his gaze followed. Almost invisible to the normal eye, thin wires were spreading towards them. The movements were familiar. Pushing chakra into his blade, Itachi moved. Regular steel parting against chakra-enhanced blades. The cage fell apart before it could close around them. Fire-based attacks... that's what the third mercenary relied on. No need to worry about him then. So long as the stronger physical attacks from Ginkotsu stayed away from it, Kagome's shield should hold up without any issues, keeping herself and the others safe. Doton techniques weren't his forte, but they'd suffice in this fight; besides, falling to fire would never be an acceptable outcome for an Uchiha.
"I see. You're the one who ruined my plans," Renkotsu said, focusing on the Uchiha, lips curling in distaste. "The unknown warrior."
"Suikotsu and his fragment should be the priority. We can handle ourselves here." Ignoring the reanimated corpses, Itachi looked at the half-demon. Taking charge of this battle wasn't exactly the best way to keep things calm between them, but this wasn't the time to risk letting things grow out of control.
"What?" The male's reaction was to turn around, giving his back to their enemies.
"Go, Inuyasha," Kagome's voice stopped him before he could go off. "She'll need the help."
Almost as if trying to emphasize her point, Jakotsu's angered screams rose above the fire. The undead doctor was starting to panic, basically hiding behind Kikyo while pushing the children back. They were not in a good position, and with the swordsman's skills, landing a hit wouldn't be difficult. Still, the half-demon faltered, though Itachi had to wonder how much of that hesitation was due to worry about his teammates and how much was out of pride.
It didn't matter. Renkotsu had apparently decided it was time to intervene.
His ears rang, the sound of the explosion drowning every other sound. Ginkotsu's attack barreled towards the undead priestess, who failed to react on time. Just like that, anything holding Inuyasha back vanished. Screaming her name, the half-demon rushed to the woman's side, passing right by Jakotsu's in his haste, barely stopping the swordsman's attack. Blood sprayed from the opening in the male's guard. Things could've ended already; targeting Jakotsu's would've kept the other group safe. At the very least, severing the mercenary's arm should've been possible. Irritation flared within him once more, even as he forced his focus back to the enemies in front of him. Wasted opportunities were not worth worrying about. Right now, his priority was to decide on a course of action.
Using genjutsu could end this fight in an instant. In this world where no one had any real way to counter it, he wouldn't even have to use any of the more complex jutsus, at least when dealing with human opponents. It would also make him appear like a bigger threat compared to the techniques he'd used so far. It could mean an escalation in the future attacks sent against the group. Glancing at the other side of the battlefield, the shinobi managed to keep his expression calm despite the ineffectual fighting going on. He'd have to prolong this battle before retrieving the shard and match his pace to that second fight, if only for a little while.
"Is the fragment also in Renktosu's neck?" he asked the girl.
"Y-yes!" Kagome startled a little but recovered quickly. "Around the center!"
"Can you put up a barrier when I step away?"
Being dismissive would only cause friction within the group, but neither the monk nor the demon exterminator had been able to do more than struggle to block Ginkotsu's previous attacks. And they knew it too, judging by the way they squared their shoulders but still shuffled closer to the girl. Not that Kagome looked any happier with the realization that the only thing she could do to help was stay back. Still, his butterfly nodded, her barrier coming to life as soon as he moved. They'd need to work on an offensive skill soon, one she could use to help her break away from enemies like these.
Something to consider at a later date.
Fire was a dangerous thing to face. Wild and all-consuming, there was a reason his clan was so fond of it. But the humans of this world were just too slow. He could see the way Renkotsu brought a gourd to his mouth; a civilian wouldn't be able to react on time. He was done with the seals in just a heartbeat. His flames pushed the mercenary's back, badly even in a contest. He had more than enough time to go through the next string of seals, a wall of rocks blocking the spinning saw blades that followed right after.
"Now I understand why my plans failed." The man frowned as he spoke, but his voice remained calm. "But you're a new addition, aren't you?"
"Such a thing doesn't concern you."
"Oh, but it does." His confident mask was back on, the strategist's smirk unperturbed. "We were told to investigate you."
A hand gesture had an explosion sent his way. It might be too much for her barrier. Rocks rose in a wave surrounding him, wires wrapped around his doton. They fell, just like before. Itachi bit back an annoyed grunt as the structure crumbled, his gaze finding the second battlefield even as he let his Katon crash against a new burst of fire. Crimson eyes focused on the half-demon's fight. Inuyasha was getting nowhere, somehow avoiding losing ground but not managing to land a single hit. Prolonging the fight wouldn't cause the Uchiha much trouble, but behind the male, Suikotsu was trembling, scrubbing his hands. If things kept up like this for much longer, they'd have a fourth enemy in their hands soon.
His gaze went back for an instant. Kagome's shield stood unperturbed, not shaken by the occasional flame that reached it, compared to the area she covered in the forest; even if the battle continued, it shouldn't drain her too much. But Suikotsu was still an unknown.
Katons, dodging, dotons. The rhythm was easy, a basic performance he could've expected from a chuunin, as his mind whirled through potential scenarios. The jutsus he was using were not that taxing, and now that his illness was gone, Itachi could outlast them. Inuyasha, on the other hand…the male was taking damage. Regardless of how tough a half-demon could be, he wouldn't be able to take on a second opponent. And the children were still huddled on the edge of the burning village.
How long could this waiting game last?
"Itachi!" Kagome's voice was barely audible above the flames, but he could hear her all the same. "It won't break!"
Resolute azure stared back at him, and he couldn't help but smile. She'd noticed what he was doing, blocking the worst attacks instead of going on the offensive. This was permission and reassurance all rolled into one; she really had no idea of the sort of power she had over him, she didn't need to. He could get to them before the next flurry of fire. Overprotecting someone could harm them just as much as throwing them to the wolves, and she was strong enough.
Chakra flowed through him, his speed increasing as he cut through the flames.
The arc of his sword was too short, causing the strategist to stumble, falling from Ginkotsu's mechanical base even as Itachi landed. A flick of his wrist was all he needed to turn the word in his hold. Blood sprayed on him as the blade pierced the small patch of skin still visible between the metal. Too slow to react, Ginkotsu's head barely moved when the Uchiha's hand followed his blade. Ignoring the wet, squelching sound as he dug through flesh, his fingers closing around the smooth surface of the shard. Flesh decayed as soon as he pulled it out, the organic parts of his body turning to ash.
Fire rushed at him, forcing him to jump back as he heard it.
So, their fourth enemy was finally awake.
It got tainted.
Visibility from inside her barrier was basically non-existent. Fire and pillars of rock that vanished almost as soon as they appeared left Kagome scrambling to catch even a glimpse of Itachi's black clothes flashing in and out of view; attempting to see Inuyasha's fight was impossible. But the shards of the Shikon shone bright to her eyes. All throughout the fight, the girl had been monitoring Suikotsu's shard, watching its purity dwindle and dim while all she could do was hold Shippo tighter while refusing to flinch, even as Sango and Miroku shuffled behind her.
Frustrating as it was, trying to intervene in either battle would've been counterproductive. Jakotsu's attacks were just too difficult to predict, and the combination of Ginkotsu's explosions and Renkotsu's fire were far too intense for them to block. Human limitations meant, at times, all they could do was rely on Inuyasha and Itachi and stay out of their way, so she'd focused on maintaining her barrier up and tried to make sense of the hanyou's angered screams, rising above the deafening cacophony of the battle. And then she saw the pure bright pink turn into dark violet.
They weren't cornered. Despite how things looked, Kagome knew they were not truly trapped.
Because Itachi was holding back.
Just last night, Itachi had all but confirmed her suspicions. The girl wasn't sure what the true extent of his abilities was, but even with what little he'd shown, the young warrior should've been able to end this by now. More than likely, he was waiting for Inuyasha's fight to progress; after all, Kagome had agreed that hurting the hanyou's ego was not a good idea. But the shard was borderline black now, and she genuinely wasn't sure how the male would hold up against two enemies. She hadn't wanted to force Itachi into another battlefield. For as carefully worded as the few stories he'd shared were, it was obvious he didn't enjoy battle. There were no prideful boasts or self-satisfied remarks on his own abilities. And yet, she'd swallowed down her distaste and asked him to end the fight, to stain his hands for somebody else's sake…yet again.
And then fire exploded around them.
"Retreat!"
Heat threatened to consume them. Flames licked against her barrier, and she struggled to keep her focus. She'd managed to keep the poison out, she could stop her barrier from turning into an oven. Gritting her teeth, the girl could see three of the shards fleeing the ruined town. The fourth shard vanished right before the explosion, Itachi got one of them. That's why they'd retreated. Azure eyes strained against the tendrils of smoke, looking for the fragment that remained behind, letting out a sigh of relief when she found it, protected behind a dome-like rock structure on the edge of the town that fell away to show the unharmed form of the young warrior. A flash of red was crouching a few ways from it. Letting her barrier fade, Kagome started to make her way to them only to almost freeze halfway through.
"Kikyo!" Panic bled through Inuyasha's voice. "What's wrong?!"
Genuine worry and dread were evident in his every word, and the sound of it made her feel like barbed wire was squeezing her heart. She'd made her choice. She wasn't about to go back on it…it didn't mean the pain just went away because of it. Forcing herself to take a shaky breath, the girl kept running, pretending she couldn't feel her friends' stares at her back, instead turning her gaze to the undead miko, not allowing herself to look at Itachi. He'd been there for her that night and would doubtlessly offer his support right now if she gave any indication of needing help, but pushing her emotional turmoil onto him right after asking him to fight her battles was too much.
Besides, Inuyasha's concern wasn't entirely unfounded. Kikyo had gotten hurt, but it hadn't been a direct hit. Aside from that, it looked like the hanyou had managed to shield her from the worst of it, so really, there was no reason for her to still be unconscious right now…unless…closing her eyes for a second, Kagome tried to concentrate on her surroundings. The weirdness of finding Suikotsu's shard in a pure estate immediately followed by the fight with the Shichinintai meant that was all she'd been paying attention to; however, if she shifted her focus…she could feel it, blanketing the area, faint but undeniably there, sacred energy lingered in this village. Understanding dawned as she opened her eyes in time to see one of the souls trapped inside Kikyo escape and vanish. Turning her gaze to the sky, one of the undead miko's shinidamachuu attempted to get close only to fade as well.
Purified by the energy in the air.
"What's going on?"
"Unless you take Kikyo over there, she probably won't be able to wake up.," Kagome said, her voice thankfully neutral."I don't think they can withstand the sacred energy here."
"Sacred…oh, I see, this would certainly stop them. Should I take her there?" Miroku asked, concern over her at the front.
"Inuyasha should take her." Willing a smile to her lips, the girl did her best to pretend it didn't hurt. "Rather than that, should we split off?"
"Wait, what?!" Inuyasha stopped halfway through, his head whipping to look at her.
"I don't know how long it'll take for her to recover, but if we follow them right now, we might be able to stop them before they reach another town." Golden eyes bore into her, but the girl simply shrugged and turned to look at the young warrior. "That shard was Ginkotsu's, right?"
"Yes."
Offering the polluted shard to her, there was the slightest bit of hesitation in Itachi's movements, and Kagome couldn't help but smile a little. She could see red smudges on his fingers as he held out his hand to her. Digging into pulsing flesh was a severely unpleasant experience, but it was something she'd grown used to by now. She'd dragged him into her troubles and was about to push him into yet another battlefield, but he was still trying to be considerate of her. It was a small gesture, but she was grateful all the same as she busied himself with the glass bottle for a second while waiting for the hanyou to explode.
"The hell we're splitting off!"
"We don't have time to waste; we can catch them if we go now." The miko shook her head, only barely looking back. "I don't want to dig more graves."
"Kagome-sama isn't wrong. If Itachi-san can deal with Renkotsu, it shouldn't be impossible for us to handle the others before they can properly regroup." Again, Miroku interceded, trying to help her keep the temperature down.
"That's not…!" He started, he was still carrying Kikyo.
"Here." Cutting him off, the girl grabbed one of her arrows, hastily slicing her palm. "This will make it easy for you to find us."
Not giving the hanyou the chance to keep objecting, Kagome jumped on top of the nekomata, and Sango quickly followed suit. They really didn't have time to waste here…and she didn't think it'd be wise for her to witness the hanyou's tenderness towards her previous incarnation. Maybe she was being a bit of a coward, using the idea of killing two birds with one stone as an excuse to running away. She'd decided to do good on her promise even if she was to let go, so she should be doing her best to act as usual, and this certainly didn't count. But while Kagome wasn't about to let her resolve falter, she didn't see the need to let her hurt get tangled with the rest of her emotions right now. Besides, watching the souls of those women be consumed left too bitter a taste on her tongue, and the girl didn't want to be focused on wondering if Inuyasha even saw those souls as victims anymore or if they were just sustenance for the undead miko's body.
She needed time and space to sort through her thoughts without risking attracting attention and worrying the others, something that would be impossible with Inuyasha carrying her.
Oh, the male would rather eat his own tongue than talk about his feelings. For the most part, she backed off and let him ponder about it until he was somewhat ready, but the girl knew him too well to hope he'd grant her the same courtesy. A dog with a bone, he wouldn't allow her to pretend nothing was going on; he'd keep pushing, demanding answers the girl still didn't know how to word. This wouldn't be one of their usual confrontations. If they had a fight, there's no way they could easily shrug it off, and the Shichinintai were too dangerous to face while distracted. Not to mention, the sacred energy around the area, coupled with the undead mercenaries' presence could very well guide them to Naraku.
Inevitable discussion or not, this wasn't the time for a heart-to-heart.
Straining her sight, the miko forced down her frustration; she couldn't see the shine of the Shikon anywhere. Their short discussion may have been too long already. She'd hoped they'd be able to stop them from bringing destruction to yet another town filled with innocent bystanders. Biting her tongue, Kagome shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on her senses; if she could just…
"There are people ahead!" Still out of sight, but she could sense them. "Lots of people, I think we're going in the same direction."
"Can you tell if they're following any kind of formation?" Itachi asked, he'd been keeping pace with Kirara without any issue for the last couple of hours.
"I'm not sure." They were too far away for her to get a clear picture. "I think they're going in straight lines. It could be some sort of procession or…"
"Or they could be soldiers, marching," Sango added.
"Back in the festival, they said several daimyos banded together if they heard rumors about the Shichinintai coming back…" Kagome trailed off before turning to Itachi. "What are the odds they could hold up against them?"
"Regular soldiers don't stand a chance unless they have enough numbers to outlast their stamina." Itachi's answer was exactly what she dreaded.
"Hurry, Kirara."
Fingers closed around white fur as the nekomata followed her master's command and sped up. Against just one of the Shichinintai, the last group of soldiers had been slaughtered in seconds; even if they'd managed to deal with Ginkotsu and Mukotsu, this new batch of men wouldn't fare any better. Azure eyes narrowed as she finally found the sight of the battalion or platoon or whatever it was called. It was bigger than the last one, the rows of people not quite as uniform as the last one, and there was definitely something different between the two. The banner men were just as dignified and clean-cut as the ones they'd passed before, and the armor of a portion of the soldiers was certainly of good quality, but as her gaze went through the soldiers' ranks, it was impossible not to notice how parts of their armor were missing or mismatched, and looking closer, they seemed to be struggling to keep up with the front.
These weren't soldiers…they were villagers.
Untrained and inexperienced civilians dragged into a massacre because of Naraku, because of the Shikon.
Glancing back, she could see Sango come to what had to be a similar conclusion to her own just from the look of the stern frown on her face. Nodding the demon exterminator made Kirara speed up once more, racing down the hill they'd been running along to, with Itachi following right after Kagome hadn't had many encounters with soldiers during her travels, but the few she had didn't bode well for their incoming conversation.
Proud and overconfident people never took well to advice from strangers, let alone two women and an admittedly not intimidating-looking young man.
Not that they had any choice but to stop when the nekomata landed right in front of them.
"What are you..!" the soldier at the front screamed in outrage.
"We're demon exterminators." Not the best lie Sango could've come up with, but it worked well enough, she supposed."We're looking for the Shichinintai!"
"You can join in then; there's space at the end." The man gave them a dismissive scoff.
"About that…" the older girl trailed off, trying to figure out what to say. "It's too dangerous."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"What my friend is trying to say is…" Kagome tried to jump in, but nothing really came to mind. This was why Miroku usually handled this sort of thing. "They just attacked two other towns, and…"
"If you can just point us in the direction you're headed to, we can go on ahead. If we fail, you can just go on ahead with the attack," Itachi said before she could flounder even worse.
Hesitation stopped the incoming offended retort from the soldier. Apparently, while the man's ego wouldn't let him back down, he was clearly aware of the army's low odds against the undead mercenaries because he seemed quite tempted to send them to buy some time even though he clearly didn't believe they could win. Huffing, Kagome bit her tongue and barrel managed not to roll her eyes at the way the soldier hummed and studied them.
"A day and a half from here is the castle from the province lord. He's the one who led the attack before; if those bastards are looking for revenge, that's where they'll go," the soldier scoffed as if he was doing them a favor. "We'll wait for a day."
"Thank you," Kagome forced a polite smile to her lips.
Disregarding them, the army resumed their march, leaving them to watch the procession.
Azure eyes glanced down to the cut on her palm.
Even if they were to keep running nonstop for the night, there was no guarantee they'd be able to reach the castle town in time. No matter how she thought about it, they needed to rest; fighting someone like the Shichinintai while sleep-deprived would not be a good idea, at least not for her and Sango.
Inuyasha should catch up with them before that. In theory, there'd be no harm in waiting for him here. Regardless of what the talk with Kikyo went like, Miroku wouldn't allow the hanyou to stay with her overnight when the group was separated.
They could wait.
But for how long would they have to?
If they waited for too long, the army would grow impatient and march to their deaths, waiting here instead of getting as close as they could before setting up camp for the night could cost lives. Besides moving around would help keep her mind occupied, away from the questions that'd only make her emotions become even less controlled than they already were. If she could only push the hanyou's inevitable poking until after the mercenaries were back in their graves, they could avoid risky distractions.
Willing herself to take a deep breath, Kagome turned to the other two.
It'd be okay, worst case scenario if she could hit one of them with her arrows before the Shichinintai noticed they were there, that should lighten Itachi's load.
The young warrior's expression remained calm as he looked back at her. She could see how someone could see his impassiveness as coldness, but the girl could only feel reassessed Itachi was always thoughtful of her in any and all ways, but he'd never hesitated to point out her mistakes or offer instructions if he was willing to keep quiet and follow her, it meant he believed that her decisions here weren't wrong.
"Let's go then."
A/N: …so what I thought was just me feeling a little under the weather ended up with me being genuinely sick, still coughing from time to time after two weeks, but regardless I'm (mostly) healthy and writing again, so here we are. Hopefully I didn't miss too many errors in my grammar check.
As always thank you guys so much for reading and any and all reviews/comments/criticism are greatly appreciated.