InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ AGainst All Odds ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Inuyasha, or any of their affiliated characters. They respectively belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rumiko Takahashi. Full credit for these wonderful characters and worlds, belong to them! I am however using Naruto, Sakura, Bankotsu, and Kagome {along with various others} for my own twisted enjoyment. The plot line of this story and all of its little twists however, I do take full credit for!

Chapter Three:

With Bankotsu and Kagome, A few days later:

Bankotsu woke up before the sun rose and walked over to Kagome, who was curled up on a bed of leaves in the grass. He nudged her with his foot and said, “Get up, we need to leave soon.”

Kagome mumbled sleepily, “Five more minutes, Mama.” and turned to roll over the other way.

Bankotsu blinked and thought, ‘Mama?’ He scowled and said, “Yo, I’m not your mother, now get the hell up.” shaking her shoulder with his foot.

She mumbled again and shoved his foot off. He rolled his eyes and thought, ‘Waking her up is as bad as trying to wake up Jakotsu.’

His face fell instantly and sadness briefly filled his eyes as he sighed, missing his dead best friend. He wondered briefly, ‘Why was I the only one brought back again?’

Huffing he muttered, “Whatever,” then smirked as an idea came to him. ‘This will wake her up for sure,’ he thought pleased as his eyes danced with mischief. He lifted his hand into the air and brought it down hard with a resounding crack filling the air as his hand landed right on her backside.

Kagome yelped as she jumped up with wide eyes and began rubbing her stinging rear-end.

Bankotsu stood up chuckling and said, amused, “Never failed to wake Jakotsu up either,” giving her a big grin.

Her eyes narrowed at him and she growled, “Bankotsu, what the hell did you do that for?” rising to her feet and still trying to vigorously rub the burning sensation away.

He smirked, replying, “You wouldn’t get up, so I had to resort to waking you up somehow.” while shrugging his shoulder casually.

Kagome pouted and complained, “Couldn’t you have found a nicer way?” Growling out, “One that didn’t involve assaulting my butt.” She sighed heavily as she realized that all the rubbing was doing was adding more heat to her inflamed cheek.

He quirked a brow and said, “Well, I could always just toss you into the river next time. Would you prefer that?” staring at her.

Her eyes widened briefly, and then she sighed heavily and muttered, “Never mind.” and went to sit by the fire.

He laughed and went over to the river to fill up the hollowed-out coconut shells with water, and then placed the leaves on them for protection, as he tied them shut. Using a vine from one of the trees, he cinched one of the make shift water containers over his chest and passed her the other one, saying, “Here, you’re going to need this.”

Bankotsu frowned as she tied it over her shoulder to dangle at her hip, and instructed her seriously, “Try to make it last because we don’t know when we will come across water again.” while picking up his Banryu and laying it on his shoulder.

Kagome nodded her thanks and passed him a leaf tied with nuts and the few berries that he had approved. They munched a bit and then ate the smoked fish. Kagome strapped her quiver of arrows onto her back and dangled her bow on her arm up by her shoulder.

Bankotsu passed her the two empty gourds, and she filled them with berries and nuts because they also didn’t know when they would next find food, and then passed him his.

Again Bankotsu used a vine from one of the trees and made a rope for the gourd, draping it over his chest. Kagome draped hers at her other hip so as not to impede her movements if she did need to use her bow.

She quickly tied a small bunch of medicinal herbs, which she had found around their camp, into the last leaf and slipped it into her quiver, thinking, ‘I don’t have the modern medicines I’m used to, so at least I have these. Thanks to my training with Kaede, I at least have some healing herbs experience that the priestesses of her time had.’

Staring at the tough mercenary leader, she thought, ‘If he’s anything like Inuyasha was, he will be stubborn and grouchy when I need to bandage him up.’

Sadness filtered through her eyes as she thought longingly, ‘Inuyasha, I miss them all so much.’

Bankotsu started growing impatient and asked, “Yo, are you ready or what?” while lazily tapping Banryu against his broad shoulder.

She snapped out of her thoughts and nodded to him that she was ready. Together they set off to explore the strange world they had dropped into.

The fact that neither of them picked up any demonic auras since their arrival was really starting to puzzle them both. They were used to feeling demonic energies all around them, and not sensing any made things seem so abnormal to them.

Bankotsu sighed, thinking, ‘At least we have two of the main essentials for now- water and food. We’re going to have to make it stretch though.’ as he walked back through the waist-high weeds.

Kagome stayed behind him, grateful not to have to push the grass and weeds out of her face since he was ahead of her. All she had to do was follow in his tracks because the weeds and grass were only knee high to her once he was done stomping through them.

She thought about suggesting that Bankotsu just use Banryu and chop them down. As she opened her mouth, an image of the irate mercenary yelling about how his baby was a weapon and wasn’t a weed whacker filtered through her mind and she thought better of it, choosing instead to remain silent.

They walked along through the thick weeds for close to an hour, when Bankotsu let out a frustrated breath. He’d grown tired of traipsing through weeds and decided enough was enough He hefted Banryu and swung it yelling, “Enough of this!” as he swung Banryu in a wide arch and cut down the weeds in front of them.

The pressure from the Halberd’s strike sent weed flying everywhere. Kagome squatted down behind him to keep from getting hit by the flying debris and stared with wide eyes.

Bankotsu huffed and said, “Now that’s better,” as he surveyed his handiwork. As he did so a snake that had been trailing beside them under the cover of the weeds struck out and bit above his ankle, causing the man to cry out and glare at the snake.

He shot his hand down and snatched the snake by the skin behind its head so that it couldn’t bite him again, growling, “Why you,” before he squeezed his hand so hard that the snake’s eyes popped out and he shook his fist angrily swaying the snake in his hand and then swung the snake, tossing it as far as he could.

Knowing that that foot needed tending-to now, Kagome stood up and pushed him to sit down saying, “Let me see it.”

Bankotsu was about to argue, but before he could stand back up, she’d picked up his foot and stared at the bite just above his ankle, which was already swelling, and the two fang holes had a yellowish ooze and a small stream of blood slowly leaking from them.

Knowing she had to act fast, Kagome opened her mouth and placed it over the twin punctures and the skin around them. Fire burned in his leg and seemed to be worst by the wounds, as she began sucking out the venom and spat it out on the ground before repeating the process.

He blinked and stared at her in shock before gritting his teeth and digging his fingers into the ground as she repeated the process several times until she was sure most of, if not all of, the venom had been drawn out.

She grabbed two stones and pulled out the herbs. She placed a piece of her shirt sleeve on one of the stones and placed the herbs on the cloth, then closed the cloth and used the other stone to grind the herbs.

When she was sure they had been fully ground, she added just a few drops of water and mixed it into a thick paste, before taking the cloth and tying it over the bite, instructing, “Leave this on and we can head back to the waterfall for now.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but she said seriously, “Bankotsu, that leg needs to be elevated for at least a few hours. We haven’t made it too far yet, so let’s just go back and rest up a while and we can head out again in the morning, when I’ve made sure that snake bite is fixed properly with all of the venom removed.” Adding, “Otherwise, the venom might kill even a tough guy like you.”

Bankotsu huffed and stared at his ankle in awe as he asked, “Where did you learn that anyways?”

She replied, “Kaede,” explaining, “She didn’t trust my more modern medicines and wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t have to rely on just them to be able to heal. She taught me all the healing knowledge that a priestess should have.”

He chuckled and said, “And here I thought you didn’t even know how to be a priestess.”

Kagome scowled, “Hey, I could just leave you to heal on your own you know.” miffed at the insult to her abilities.

Bankotsu had to chuckle at that. “No you won’t because without me, you wouldn’t even know what you can and can’t eat. And without me, you wouldn’t last two days.” He stated matter-of-factly.

Knowing that he was right on the first account, she sighed and argued back, “You need me too. Otherwise that snake bite could have easily killed you.”

He scoffed, “Yeah right, some dumb, old snakebite isn’t going to kill me.” puffing his chest out with pride, he added seriously, “There is a cave not far from here, see it?” pointing to the cave.

She frowned and nodded, adding, “You shouldn’t walk on that more then you have to. It- “

He cut her off and said, “That is where we’re going.” in a voice brokering no arguments.

She muttered, “Why is it that men have to be so stubborn and arrogant?” rubbing her temples.

Offended by the statement, he snorted and fired back, “Why do girls have to be so weak and fragile?” glaring at her.

She stormed over to him and said, “You know what, I’ve had enough your attitude, you ungrateful jerk! Go ahead, push yourself even more.” and began stomping towards the cave.

He muttered, “Oh Yeah? Fine, I will,” and stood up gritting his teeth against the searing pain above his ankle. He’d be damned if that girl was going to be proven right.

Thinking it would serve him right if he fell on his face, Kagome continued storming off, until Kaede’s instructions popped into her mind.

“Remember Kagome, if someone gets by a snake, it’s best not to walk on it anymore than necessary, and you may have to help them into a safe spot because some venom work fast and will leave the person unable to move well.” The older priestess instructed, while wrapping the villager’s bite.

The pain in the bite site increased, and blood began to leak through the cloth. Sweat began beading on Bankotsu’s brow and he grit his teeth harder, refusing to acknowledge the pain.

To his chagrin, his leg began feeling heavier and his movements began to slow down. Grinding his teeth together, he forced his body to move, despite the dizziness setting in.

Sighing Kagome rolled her eyes and let Bankotsu walk a few more paces. She muttered, “Stubborn,” and chose instead to follow him and make sure that he actually made it over to the cave.

She knew from her dealing with Inuyasha how prideful and stubborn men were when injured, especially warriors. She also knew it was best to let the fool do it on his own, and then just bandage him up again when they stopped to camp.

Once Bankotsu reached the area with the cave he had spotted, he fell down and huffed, panting through the immense, burning pain. Kagome rolled her eyes and went over to the tiny creek, washing her hands. She removed the make shift bandaged and began sucking and spitting out more of the venom/blood mixture while Bankotsu ground his teeth against the pain.

When she was certain all venom had been taken out this time, she sighed, moving him into the cave and elevated his ankle, saying “Leave it a while; it should help with the swelling, and then I will re-bandage it.” before moving over to start a small fire, and then rinse out the first cloth so it would be dry to re-bandage him with.

Bankotsu sat with his back against the wall and huffed while his eyes examined the cave. It wasn’t large, but was roomy enough for the two of them not to be cramped; even Banryu rested safely, standing upright beside her master. There were a few spider webs here and there, and even though the floor was dirt, it was free of any foreign debris.

His teeth ground as his vision blurred and he silently berated himself for not thinking about the possibility of snakes.

Kagome made an herbal tea and handed him some, suggesting, “Drink, it’ll help with the pain and swelling both.”

He sighed and took the tea, drinking it down before saying gruffly, “Thanks.” and closing his eyes.

She replied, huffing, “You’re welcome,” before moving over to evaluate which herbs she still had, and then went around collecting more of the ones she’d used.

He cracked an eye open as he heard her walking around, and he thought, ‘Maybe she does know a thing or two. I mean, after all, she is a priestess.’ He stared at his ankle and sighed. It was still swollen, but at least the pain was ebbing away and the burning up his leg had finally dimmed down to just a slow throb at the site of the bite.

He watched her moving around their ‘camp’ and thought, ‘Perhaps having a woman around won’t be so bad after all.’ Adding grudgingly, ‘Her healing knowledge would be more then what I possess.’

Bankotsu glared at his ankle and huffed, “Stupid snake.” before rubbing his temples and heaving a heavy sigh. Closing his eyes, he sat there trying to will the remaining pain away completely.

Kagome muttered under her breath about how men were so stubborn and collected her herbs. She pulled off two more large leafs and filled them with nuts and berries that he had approved at the last place and dragged them back to the cave.

Afterwards, she took some of the food over to him. She re-wrapped his ankle with a fresh medicinal paste and the now dry cloth, and then went back to sit by the fire in the middle of the cave.

Bankotsu sighed and quickly fell into an unexpected but needed sleep. She smiled as she realized he was napping and tried to be quite while she organized her herbs and some extra leaves in case of any other injuries.

--

Several hours later:

With Team Kakashi:

Hearing Sakura, Naruto, and Sai’s voices drawing closer, Captain Yamato disappeared and then reappeared by the entrance of the spa waiting for his young team.

When the three teenage ninjas appeared, he asked, “So has your teamwork improved?”

Naruto muttered, “Why do I have to be stuck with this guy?” glaring at Sai, who stood calmly.

Yamato got a serious look on his face asking, “So you would rather I control you through fear?”

Naruto’s eyes widened and he backed up, saying, “No, no, it’s okay.” Adding, “Our teamwork has improved.” waving his hands in front of him defensively.

Yamato smiled and nodded, satisfied as Sakura and Sai began conversing among themselves.

Yamato smiled and turned to begin leading his small group down the path and back into the dense trees and forest.

The teenagers quickly caught up with their Captain and began walking behind him in silence. Each was lost in their own thoughts.

Sakura walked along, thinking, ‘I sure hope Naruto keeps his cool and doesn’t allow his temper to explode.’ as she glance back at the silent boys. Naruto was staring at Sai, and Sai seemed to be ignoring him.

Naruto kept fuming over how Sai said those words to him and thought, ‘So Ino and Sakura think that Sai resembles Sasuke, huh? Maybe a little…. But I still don’t accept him as part of Team Kakashi.’ glancing at the silent pale-skinned boy beside him.

Sai silently wondered just how strong Sakura really was as he rubbed his jaw, remembering when she’d warned him not to ever talk bad about Sasuke again, or else she wouldn’t hold back next time.

When the sun began its downward descent from the sky, Yamato said, “It’s just about time.” Adding, “Follow me,” as he turned off the path and began traipsing through the waist high weeds, going deeper into the forest.

Shrugging, the three ninjas quickly followed their captain, asking what it was all about.

Yamato replied, “I’m sure that Lady Tsunade already told you that the information Sakura received may well be a trap.” Adding seriously, “The Akatsuki could be there waiting to ambush us at the bridge.”

The three teenagers blinked and then frowned. Yamato explained, “Given that the information came from a member of the Akatsuki, we have to assume it is a trap and proceed with caution.”

The teens nodded and agreed that it made sense. Yamato added, “Therefore, we will find a suitable spot, make camp for the night, and discuss our strategies.”

Yamato added, “From here on out, we will proceed under as much cover as possible.” and they all nodded their agreements.

Fifteen minutes later, Yamato led them into the forest to a large clearing. It was spacious and flat, even though the lush grass was short and had a few patches of dirt here and there. It was a large round circle and hidden by trees all the way around, though the open area was the size of a football field.

Yamato nodded and said, “I guess this spot is okay.” as his eyes surveyed the large, open clearing. He declared, “We will rest here for tonight.”

Remembering the cave he’d spotted just a little ways back, Naruto objected, “If we’re going to rest, why not go back to that cave we passed by just a while ago instead of sleeping out here in the open?”

Yamato instructed, “Stand back everyone,” and did his hand signs, saying, “Shichuuka no Jutsu.”

Just as he finished saying that, the ground began to groan and shake as the wood pillars began breaking up through the earth and taking shape.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai stood in horse stances with their arms protecting their faces from the debris as an enormous wooden structure rose from the ground.

--

Meanwhile back at the cave:

The ground began to rumble and a loud groan was heard. A loud crash began to rent the air. Bankotsu’s eyes widened and he jumped up, Banryu in hand and ran outside to find out what was attacking.

Kagome also had wide eyes and ran out of the cave behind him, trying to keep her balance as the earth continued to tremble and shake. She fell onto her backside and her eyes widened with shock.

Bankotsu looked around for the attacker and his eyes widened more as a massive wooden structure rose from the ground to above the trees about a mile away from them.

Just as the spiked roof took shape, the earth finally ceased rumbling and they were able to focus better.

Kagome blinked, rubbing her eyes a couple times as she stood back up and then asked, “Is that a building?” staring dumbfounded at the enormous structure that seemed to grow up from the ground.

Bankotsu snapped his jaw shut and huffed, “Whatever it is, we’re going to look into it.” and began walking off, with Banryu heavy against his shoulder.

Kagome blinked and then followed after him, thinking it was lucky they both had their stuff on them as her grip tightened on her bow, and she began running behind him.

Bankotsu kept a firm grip on his halberd and made his way quietly through the trees so that they could get closer to the mysterious structure.

--

Back with Yamato:

Yamato was sitting on top of the structure and announced, “We will camp out here for tonight.”

Sakura’s green eyes widened and she said, slightly awed, “I don’t think you can really call something like this 'camping out'.”

Naruto said excitedly, “Alright!” and ran inside, eager to check it out.

Sai blinked but otherwise held an impassive face and silently followed his teammates inside.

The three teenage ninjas stopped just inside, taking off their shoes, and gazed in awe at the professionally done, though plain stairs leading from the bottom floor to the top floor on both sides, while a smaller yet just as nice floor connected them at the middle of the top before branching out into large rooms.

“Amazing,” Sakura said, and they began walking up the stairs.

Naruto said impressed, “So this is what it looks like inside,” making his way up to the top floor.

Behind him, Sakura asked, “Quite spacious, huh?” impressed. Sai remained silent, though his eyes drank in all the details too.

Naruto declared, “Our room might just hold some promise- “ stopping as his blue eyes landed on a sign in front of a closed shoji door. “Hey look, there it is.” He said grinning and ran over opening the door, expecting a luxurious room.

His jaw dropped and he thought, ‘Hey where are the beds and stuff?’

Sakura blinked and said, “It’s surprisingly bare, isn’t it?” before walking into the bare room with a wide open balcony and grinning.

Not wanting to appear ungrateful, Naruto said, “Well it’s still better then sleeping outside.” as he happily carried his bag into the room.

Sakura agreed, “You’re right, it is,” and stepped into the room, moving over by the balcony to set up her bag just inside the room by the second set of Shoji doors.

They had just settled into the room and began to feel comfortable, when a loud crashing came from outside, and sent the four ninjas running to gaze out over the balcony, to see some of the trees crashing.

--

A/N: Okay, so there’s chapter three everyone. I hope you enjoyed it XD

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Preview of the next chapter:

Kagome and Bankotsu meet Team Kakashi for the first time, and team Kakashi is impressed by what they see.