Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wishing Well ❯ What's a Naraku? ( Chapter 9 )

Wishing Well

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Dragon Ball Z. Even my pants are on loan. Don't sue me.

Disclaimer: This is my first fic. Expect it to suck. Don't hurt me.

Inuyasha stared into the open night sky, suddenly remembering Gohan's tale about his tail.

"You would willingly cut off your tail to avoid losing control of your youkai…your Saiyan blood?"

Gohan responded in a monotone.

"Aa."

Inuyasha tried to think of the concept. It would be like cutting off his ears.

"Doesn't it hurt? Don't you feel…incomplete?"

Gohan's voice remained monotonous, but Inuyasha heard a small thread of his anger and frustration slip through.

"Kami, yes! It hurts like a bitch and I won't be able to walk properly for a while, but it's what has to be done."

Inuyasha settled back on his perch, his ears flattened against his head as he tried to remember his own transformations into a youkai.

"I know how you feel."

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Videl snuggled into the futon as best as she could. She was elated, feeling a sense of freedom that she had rarely felt before. No Hercule Satan the Great to deal with. She was just a strong-minded girl with other strong-willed girls. She and Kagome had bonded almost immediately, and Sango was an ideal version of the future Videl.

"Hey girls, mind if I join you? I'd rather not deal with Miroku's wandering hand tonight." Speak of devils, or girls, and they appear. Sango stood in the hut's doorway, awkwardly holding the door open while struggling to keep her gear in her hands. Kirara and Shippou managed to sneak inside before her, and both were soon asleep on a heap of blankets in the corner of the hut.

"Of course you can Sango-chan!" Kagome jumped up to help the girl inside, and all of them fell to the task of making a space for her to sleep.

Soon, everyone was settled in. After they found a yukata for Videl to sleep in, the girls slipped under their covers and talked quietly.

Sango decided to bring up the topic of Gohan first.

"Not to be rude Videl, but you seemed to be surprised by your boyfriend Gohan's past."

Videl choked and sputtered.

"He's not my boyfriend, we just train together."

Kagome saw Videl's blush, and couldn't help teasing her a bit more.

"Are you sure? He seemed very concerned about you in the clearing..."

"Oh like you can talk, Kagome! What about you and that dog-boy?"

"Mou! He hates me!"

"That's why he jumped three feet when you got on his back, of course."

Sango laughed as the two girls argued.

"Kagome, you know very well you and Inuyasha are a perfect couple, even if you two insist on denying it. And Videl, I'm sorry about my assumption, but you and Gohan just look perfect together."

"Mou!!! He's just a silly, thickheaded, man. Just like all men."

Kagome decided to get back to the original topic. She didn't want to think about Inuyasha right now.

"But it's true, you looked like you were hearing the story for the first time."

Videl sighed loudly and nodded.

"It's true, I never heard about Gohan's past before. But, in a strange way, his stories confirmed things that I'd guessed at before."

Sango noted a slight sense of despair in the young fighter's voice.

"Guessed at? What do you mean?"

Videl thought carefully as she tried to remember all the strange things she'd noticed about Gohan and his family.

"Well, he always wore baggy clothes, like he was hiding something. Then, I figured out he was Saiyaman, and I was blackmailing him for lessons in flying and stuff. But when I first trained with him, his little brother came with us and… he was incredible! He learnt how to fly in about ten seconds! Then his father and mother…well, his father is the winner of the 23rd Tournament, but I swear I saw him lift the house up so Chichi could sweep the cellars! With one hand!

But most importantly, I remember my father's face when he saw the Gold Warrior catch those bank robbers on TV. He looked like he'd seen a ghost…he kept mumbling on about they're back, they'll tell the truth. I've never seen my father that flustered. And that was the first time I wondered about my dad's story about winning that Tournament.

Then after Gohan showed me that I was strong enough to fly and other stuff, well, I begin to doubt my father even more. The day I began to totally disbelieve him was the day I beat him in sparring, without even breaking a sweat."

Videl sighed wearily. She had guessed at the truth for so long, but finding out the Gohan was the real world savior still took some getting used to. And it never helped to know that your father was lying to the world.

Kagome's heart went out to the girl, even as she wrapped her arms around her shoulder. She tried to think of something cheerful to break the somber mood in the hut..

"Ano, Sango-chan, isn't the Midsummer Festival in the next three days?"

"Iie! I haven't finished our kimonos yet! Miroku said that fabric went well with my eyes and I never…"

Kagome's eyebrows shot up.

"Mou, since when did you ask Miroku for fashion advice?"

Sango's face flamed bright red as she tried to recover from her slip-up.

"That's not the point. Kagome, don't you have anything from your time that can help?"

Kagome was already rummaging through her gigantic pack, trying to find the last item she'd packed.

"Aha! Sango let me introduce you to…the portable sewing machine! This will do the sewing fast, so our hands won't get tired and we can finish the kimonos in time. We just have to cut the cloth pieces out, then join them."

"Sugoi! Now, all we have to do is find some fabric to make Videl a kimono."

"Eh? Me?! I've never worn a kimono! I've never even worn a dress! I look horrible out of pants."

"No problem! By the time we are finished, Gohan will wish he was your boyfriend!" Kagome's eyes gleamed dangerously as she thought up matchmaking schemes. "Now, we have 2 nights and days. Let's get some sleep!"

Videl was very scared of the gleam in Kagome's eyes.

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Miroku heard the young half-Saiyan's confession, and sighed. Couldn't those two just go to sleep?

"Gohan, I do not think that you need to remove your tail to control your you…Saiyan blood"

"So what would you suggest, bouzu? We blindfold him for the rest of the time?"

"Inuyasha, be serious before I use my staff. Again. Remember when your concern for Kagome's welfare allowed you to keep enough presence of mind to fetch Tetsusaiga, even though you had already transformed?"

"Aa. So you are suggesting that if he can keep thinking about someone he lo…protects, he'll be able to control the urge to transform?"

Miroku nodded sagely, covering his smirk.

"And it would appear that the girl Videl is the person he protects now that he is here."

Gohan almost fell off of his perch at the mention of Videl. He had been trying to forget the fact that he had bared so many of his secrets to total strangers.

"Nani?! Videl? She's just using me to get stronger; she'd kill me if I protected her. She doesn't care about me"

Miroku sighed wearily.

"Are all hanyou this stupid when it comes to women?"

"Nani?!" was the disgruntled response from the two half-breeds.

Miroku glared sharply at Inuyasha, then Gohan.

"Gohan, I think Videl cares for you…least a little." Gohan remained quiet, but doubt flashed across his expressive face.

"And you, Inuyasha, are the blindest man alive if you can't see how Kagome feels about you. Do you realize how much you have hurt her, especially now that you are going to join Kikyou?"

"Feh." 'Is this lecher right? I wish I could believe…'

The three men settled into an uncomfortable silence for almost an hour. Finally, Miroku thought of a neutral topic.

"At any rate Inuyasha, we should accompany Gohan to the Midsummer Festival, since he will be here for it."

"Bouzu, you know I don't go to festivals."

"For once Inuyasha, humor me and try to relax. We've killed Naraku and the Shikon no Tama is complete. We don't have anything to do."

Gohan's interest was peaked by this statement.

"Who's Naraku? And what's a Shikon no Tama?"

Miroku looked askance at Inuyasha, who just turned away and ground out a "Feh!"

"Well, it all began…"