InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ LOVE POISON ❯ Shadow Of A Woman: Naraku's Game Begins ( Chapter 10 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'em! Will you stop rubbing it in? Rumiko Takahashi does, she's rich, I'm poor.

Man this chap was hard. ::bows to Scherezade:: THIS GIRL MAKES ME FEEL SO LOVED! SHE'S JUST TOO TALENTED AND SHE ALWAYS TAKES A MOMENT OF HER TIME TO HELP ME OUT WITH THIS FIC...MY GRATITUDE AND ADMIRATION FOR HER CAN'T BE DESCRIBED! I'LL JUST SAY: I'M NOT WORTHY! She deserves more than just my gratitude and I thank her for her editing and encouragement; especially coming from you, girl, they just make my head swell! I think I said this already but I can say it again as much as I want to :P She's helped me through my writer's block and even though she didn't have the time, she was patient enough to read my drafts, not to mention tolerate my endless whining! I'm probably embarrassing her so I'll shut up now. THANKS SO MUCH, SCHEREZADE! ::humbly hands her a cup of ramen::

 

R&R! I NEED REVIEWS PEOPLE! I luv u all who have reviewed so far! You guys are so NICE! ::emotional tears:: Really, I SO appreciate it! As for the others...grrr...REVIEW, dammit! Pretty please? I'm positive No One reads my ramblings... but you can't miss the caps...SO REVIEW!!!! ::gets on her knees:: I'll let you borrow Inu! And Fluffy too! For a limited time only, you can get them for as long as you want! If you review, that is...

 

If this gets too confusing, gomen! LP is set in ATL (new at fanfic world. Alternate Time Line. Yup. That's it.) Um...in case you haven't noticed already...this is BEFORE the Shichinintai and Hakudoushi...so Naraku still hasn't regenerated...it's too complicated as it is already! lol.

Also, this ch is a flashback...most of it happened before the incident in Ch 3...I hope that's clear...

I wrote it in italics, until I got to the 'present'...where I left off at Ch 9...questions? ::cowers::

 

 

CHAPTER 10: SHADOW OF A WOMAN: NARAKU'S GAME BEGINS

 

 

It happened two days before the incident at the stream.

 

Naraku had tried his spell on the inu-hanyou earlier that day.

 

`Just a little experiment.' He had thought to himself with a dark chuckle.

 

While Inuyasha and his pack had been attacked by a swarm of insects and youkai servants, the inu hanyou hadn't even felt the small prick of one of Naraku's insects on the back of his neck.

 

No, Inuyasha had been focusing mainly on protecting his 'pack' as he disposed of Naraku's army of lesser demons with his kaze no kizu. The cursed monk was powerless against his insects, the young miko had been ready with bow and arrow, as was the exterminator with her boomerang, and a trembling weak kitsune yelling 'fox fire' at the top of his little lungs until Inuyasha had told them to stand back, that he'd dispose of this 'shit' in a blink of an eye and that he didn't need any of their help. After all, they were just lesser youkai, and the inu hanyou always found such immense thrill in showing off with that big sword of his.

 

When it was over, Inuyasha had rubbed the spot, dismissing it as a mosquito bite, since the essence that had infected him contained neither poison nor an obvious scent.

Inuyasha didn't feel any different or smell anything out of the ordinary on himself.

 

Naraku himself hadn't been expecting it to actually work...although it would have been so very entertaining if Inuyasha had indeed marked his miko in a frenzy of blind, untamed lust...hurting her, tainting his precious little human. It would have been so magnificent if the human girl hated Inuyasha for it, for breaking her...for being so rough with the innocent miko...but unfortunately, as Naraku suspected all along, the spell was not strong enough.

 

Yet.

 

All it had done was make the dog demon drowsy...and oblivious to Naraku's movements.

 

________________________

 

 

On that particular night, while Inuyasha kept a watchful eye over his companions; allowing his golden gaze to linger over Kagome's sleeping form. The little kitsune slept with his thumb in his mouth, curled up beside her on the pink bedroll. Miroku was lying on the grass with his back to the fire. Sango was sleeping soundly laying against Kirara's full form, her cheek resting on the cat youkai's fur, as Kirara purred soothingly in her sleep; the crickets chirping in the otherwise silent night, the breeze caressing the inu-hanyou's silvery hair.

The fire played with the young miko's face, the face Inuyasha couldn't avert his eyes from, as he inhaled her familiar, sweet scent deeply on this night like many other nights...on that night that wouldn't be like many other nights...

 

A dark hanyou crept into the forest, his pace sure and steady, but not rushed, covered by the cloak of the night.

 

The hanyou was wearing a baboon skin and mask, covering his features, as the crimson red of his eyes glowed dangerously. Silently, he made his way to his destination, a slow, bloodcurdling grin touching the corners of his lips as they parted slightly, showing very white teeth.

 

He was a blur of white fur in the night, avoiding the trees, leaping gracefully, his feet barely touching the ground.

 

He was almost there. He quickened his pace, still in no particular hurry.

 

The dead miko was nearby. He could smell her. Clay and bones, decay and bitterness. Her powers were enormous, contained, her aura making him cringe slightly.

 

He knew she could sense him. She'd been walking slowly across the forest, the white, glowing soul snatching serpents floating around her sensing her discomfort and stopping when she did. Her back was to him; she did not even turn around to acknowledge his presence.

 

"Naraku."

 

The voice was cold, emotionless, firm. She spoke his name like it was a curse, her tone low and almost menacing. She feared him not. She had no reasons to.

 

Naraku, the hanyou who had been seeking her, knew this and hated her for it. Hated her for many other reasons...

 

The dead miko, Kikyou, was his only weakness. But he was certain he had found her weakness and would make sure she was fully aware of it. Would make certain she would listen to him, and listen good.

 

Naraku smiled in the dark, as the miko turned around slowly to face him.

 

"You dare seek me out?" Kikyou asked coldly, arching her eyebrows, brown eyes emotionless except for their undisguised indifference.

 

Naraku chuckled. "I merely wish to have a word with you, Kikyou." He said darkly, his red eyes incapable of the same indifference but full of contempt. Naraku's eyes glinted with another emotion Kikyou recognized ... knew only too well and would use to her advantage: lust, tinged with fear.

 

She almost smirked.

 

"I have nothing to say to you." Kikyou turned her back on him, her long dark hair blowing in the night breeze as she deliberately walked away from him at an agonizingly slow pace.

 

"Oh, but you will be interested in what I have to say to you." Naraku pressed, his voice dripping poisoned honey.

 

"I'm surprised at you, Naraku. No puppet this time? Are you so certain I will not strike you dead? You know I can do it."

 

"Indeed." He nodded. "Yet you won't. You are curious. And you wouldn't. Not now. The... time isn't right, shall we say?"

 

Kikyou stopped again, but didn't respond.

 

"The time isn't right, is it, Kikyou?" Naraku repeated, his smirk widening. "And I can give you something that you want. That you've wanted for a long time..."

 

"There's nothing you can give me, hanyou." She spat.

 

This last word made Naraku flinch for a second but he chuckled low in his throat. "Isn't there? Well, we'll just have to see about that..."

 

Kikyou faced him again, her expression unreadable. "There's not a single thing you can offer me that I would accept, Onigumo."

 

Kikyou smirked at Naraku's reaction; red eyes narrowing, mouth thinning into a white line. "Watch your mouth, miko." He hissed.

 

She merely continued to smirk at him, her eyes regarding him up and down with obvious disgust. Yet she didn't walk away.

 

Naraku finally spoke. "Poor, pitiful Kikyou. Sad shadow of a woman, a clay doll whose soul was stolen by a useless little girl...a girl who somehow managed what the almighty miko that once lived could never manage. To melt a certain dog demon's heart...to make him love her, asking nothing in return. Pathetic little human girl who saved you...what do you think of that, Kikyou? I'm certain you wouldn't have done the same. In that cave...I know about it. She could have left you there to die...yet she didn't. Had you been alive...surely you know this better than me, you would have left your reincarnation to perish. What was it that she said to you, Kikyou? Oh yes... 'you would be missed.'"

 

The hanyou chuckled. "But would you have been missed, really? I think you know she certainly would have been. And yet, you would have left her there, wouldn't you? The girl has more gentleness and love in her heart than you could have ever dreamed of possessing when you were alive. You saw healing people and being a priestess as your 'duty'...something you'd rather not be doing. This girl however...why, she needs to help people. She didn't even try to change the hanyou you longed for fifty years ago, and yet he changed. For her. So sad. Such potential, the baka half breed had, and now he's been softened.His heart belongs to somebody else...and you, Kikyou...are powerless to stop this. You cannot give him what he craves for. You cannot even weep for your lost love."

 

Naraku grinned at the dead miko's rage, her fists clenched at her sides.

 

"You lie." Kikyou murmured, still managing to keep her body stiff and her eyes calm despite the obvious fury she was feeling towards him, the evident wound Naraku had opened with his words.

 

"Inuyasha loves me. He would never leave me for that...that...child..." Kikyou said slowly.

 

"Are you so certain of that?" Naraku asked, his question more of a statement, as the dark hanyou delighted in the fresh wound of the dead priestess and poured venom into it with his voice alone.

"My dear Kikyou...your body is dry. You know he only feels guilt and pity for you."

 

He made sure the words 'guilt' and 'pity' were imprinted firmly in the newly opened wound, rubbing the words in the invisible pain she refused to show and disguised with barely supressed anger.

 

Naraku grinned inwardly at Kikyou's efforts to conceal the effect he was inflicting on her merely by voicing her deepest fears. He was feeding off her pain, swelling with it.

 

' Look at that, Kikyou...this 'hanyou' has power over you...my, my are we 'trembling'? '

 

"Is this all you have to say to me?" Kikyou managed through gritted teeth.

 

Naraku did smile this time. A condescending, tiny smile struggling to turn into a smirk of satisfaction.

 

"Tsk, tsk. You should know me better than that. I came to you to help. I can make you feel again. Like an ordinary woman. Isn't that what you've always wanted? Your body...if it can be called that...is dry. Surely you know this. Poor miko who can't even relieve her own lust...a lust that's been weighing on her for fifty years...how frustrating that must be. Tell me, Kikyou...do you think about Inuyasha, the way you thought about him when you were alive? Do you desire him? Pity you can't feel. But I can change that. I can give you a body that will receive and give pleasure..."

 

"And why would you do that? You're not offering me this out of the kindness of your heart." Kikyou said calmly.

 

"True. So very true. But I wish to help you. You gave me the Shikon jewel...stole it from the little miko...almost killed her, did you not?"

 

"That was not my intention."

 

"Oh but didn't you want to?" Naraku smirked.

 

Kikyou was silent.

 

"Bitter clay doll with the face of a dead miko. With souls that aren't your own. With a tiny portion of a gentle, pure soul, crying out for something your petty little mind cannot grasp. Tell me, Kikyou...when you kissed Inuyasha in front of your reincarnation...do you think he liked it? Do you think he enjoyed it, being kissed by cold, dead lips? Did he return your kiss?"

 

Kikyou glared at him, forgetting to mask her anger and emotions as Naraku brought her deepest fears to the surface; what she already knew in her heart was true and refused to believe.

 

"He loves me. I'm the one he chose to protect." She hissed.

 

"Ah, but that did not answer my question." Naraku smiled. He leaned over and his fingers touched Kikyou's lips. The miko flinched in disgust at his touch and moved her face away from him. Still, he cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him, as red, eery, slightly amused eyes, stared right into fathomless brown hatred and disgust.

 

"So cold..." Naraku whispered, his thumb grazing Kikyou's bottom lip. "I can make those lips warm again, Kikyou. I can make it so that your hanyou will want to kiss your lips...like he wants to kiss the young miko...like he longs to touch her. She's so full of life, isn't she? So giving, so selfless...do you think she wants him too? She could have him, and you know it. He wants her. If she says the word, he would mark her as his mate. Or do you believe she's far too innocent to feel what you feel?"

 

"He doesn't want her!" Kikyou snapped, roughly backing away from Naraku and his filthy hand touching her.

 

Darn it, she was showing her weakness to him and she knew it, she was showing her emotions to none other than Naraku, and she hated herself for it, loathed him with such fierceness it was becoming harder and harder for her not to end his abominable existance right there and then.

 

Naraku's eyes showed his utter delight at the dead miko's self denial and evident pain, at her unusual display of emotions. He was enjoying this immensely, and Kikyou knew this, too.

 

"How about you find out? If you could have him...if your body was ready for him...would he take you then? Accept you?" He smirked. "Funny really, how things change. It was he who was not ready for intimacy when you were alive, while you were more than willing...it was you who wouldn't accept him as a hanyou...now it's your turn to know what it feels like. Are you so sure of yourself, that he will accept you as you are now? Do you think he would ask you to change for him? Are you worthy of a filthy hanyou's love?"

 

Naraku's voice was mocking, eyes sparkling in absolute pleasure, knowing he had struck her hard.

 

Kikyou's bright, blinding aura enveloped her, glowing dangerously, eyes narrowing to slits. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, her lips pursed in a tight line.

 

"Control yourself, miko." Naraku said, quite calmly. "I'm offering you the chance to find out. If you're so certain Inuyasha wants you, and not your reincarnation...why not accept my offer?" Naraku tilted his head, feigning curiousity. "Or could it be, perhaps...that you are afraid to find out?"

 

Kikyou seemed to keep her powers on hold then. She hated to lose control, especially in front of this despicable monster, this hanyou who did not even deserve her attention, let alone her fury. "I don't need you to find that out." She said coldly.

 

Naraku smiled almost sympathetically, but didn't comment on this. "We'll see." His red eyes saw right through her. The smile turned into a knowing smirk. "We'll see. When you decide to take my offer...I'll be waiting for you. If it is your wish, to find out for yourself...I will not stop you."

 

Kikyou chuckled, her face not showing the slightest change. "As if you could."

 

Naraku merely shrugged. "Suit yourself, miko. Be my guest. I'll be expecting you soon."

 

He was engulfed by his barrier and floated upwards, eyes glued to the dead priestess and a smirk fixed on his cruel lips as he vanished from view.

 

Kikyou remained very still, processing Naraku's words, hating it that the hanyou had read her so easily, hating Inuyasha, hating Kagome, hating her own useless, dry body...

 

She would show Naraku. She'd make Inuyasha want only her. She just had to wait for the perfect opportunity...

 

___________________________

 

 

On the second day after being bitten by Naraku's insect, the dark hanyou had watched Inuyasha through Kanna's mirror.

 

Inuyasha had experienced what had seemed to be quite a vivid dream, except Naraku was certain this had nothing to do with his spell, as he watched the dog demon moan in his sleep, watched him awake in quite an embarrassing situation.

 

The inu-hanyou hadn't been surprised at all by his dream. He had merely felt ashamed. Apparently, this was normal for Inuyasha, to wake up soiled in his own seed, to do in his dreams what he would never dare act out in real life.

 

Oh, but he would...Inuyasha would go way beyond his dreams. Soon.

 

But what Naraku wasn't expecting...and was grateful for, was that Inuyasha had left his 'pack' to clean himself.

 

The spell was still running through his veins, faint but there, when Kikyou had found him.

 

Red eyes looking into the rounded mirror had widened in utter surprise and delight as he'd leaned back to enjoy the show.

Kikyou had taken Naraku's bait far quicker than he had expected her to...

 

Her conversation with Naraku still fresh in her mind, Kikyou's “opportunity” had arrived two days later, when Inuyasha abandoned camp to take a cold bath in a nearby stream...the dream of Kagome still lingering in his mind, gripping his heart, making his blood boil and his body restless with barely supressed desire.

 

Two days later...the night when Kikyou thought she had him wrapped around her little finger...the night Inuyasha had cried out her reincarnation's name as he'd climaxed in her mouth.

 

Two days later...Kikyou had failed.

 

Naraku had been right. The bastard had known all along.

 

But Kikyou was not giving up. No pathetic copy of her would steal Inuyasha from Kikyou...he was hers in life, hers in death...hers alone.

 

Kikyou knew Naraku had other motives, he always did. She didn't care. She would use Naraku just as he would use her.

 

Being dead made you patient, and Kikyou knew she would have the pleasure of killing the evil hanyou who had destroyed her hopes and dreams when the time came. And then Inuyasha would come to her. He had no choice. He had promised. He would finally be hers.

 

But if Naraku would give her a body...a body that could feel what her clay body could not...she would take his offer.

 

Kikyou would not let Naraku lie a finger on Inuyasha. No one but Kikyou was allowed to touch the inu-hanyou. She would take him to Hell with her after Naraku was dead and gone, and Inuyasha would willingly come with her.

 

Because he had promised. And if there was one thing she knew about Inuyasha, it was his strong sense of honor.

 

If Inuyasha indeed felt guilty for her, this was only to be expected. Kikyou would welcome it... take advantage of his guilt. After all, in her eyes, Inuyasha was responsible for her death.

 

But for him to feel pity towards her...why, Kikyou would crush that feeling like she would crush Naraku's life beneath her feet.

 

She loathed pity. Kikyou would not allow Inuyasha to feel this for her. He would want her, love her, forget about his precious Kagome. After all, she was just a copy...while Kikyou was the original.

 

No pity. Kikyou would see to it that Inuyasha would not be stolen by her reincarnation...she would make him hers as she had not been able to do in life...and then he would spend eternity in Hell with her.Because Kikyou had been there first. And her reincarnation knew this. She must know she was only second best.

 

What Kikyou ignored was that Naraku was one step ahead of her.

Naraku's game had begun the day that Inuyasha had been bitten by his insect. He remained smiling in the shadows of his castle, as he tried out his spell on the unaware inu-hanyou, the spell the dead miko herself would unknowingly help Naraku strenghten.

 

Kikyou was so full of lust it would add the spice he required for his spell to work its magic...

 

__________________________

 

 

As the night melted into dawn, Inuyasha had awakened in a frenzied, soiled state and hurried to take a cold bath while his friends were sound asleep. And this is how the dead miko found him, much to Naraku's amusement and surprise.

 

Naraku smirked as he replayed the conversation with Kikyou in his mind.. How 'confident' Kikyou had sounded then... and how utterly confused and lost Inuyasha had looked, his amber eyes clouded and his senses dull...

 

The hanyou was still infected with the potion Naraku had applied on his insects, all dead now courtesy of the cursed wind scar, except for the one that had succesfully managed to slip behind Inuyasha and had stung the back of the hanyou's neck.

 

Inuyasha had been bewitched...and he had no idea.

 

Inuyasha had obeyed Kikyou's command.

 

'Come out, Inuyasha. Let me look at you...'

 

Not knowing why, Inuyasha had stood before the dead priestess stark naked and Kikyou had done what she had told Naraku she would...tried to prove to herself and show Naraku that she didn't need Naraku's help to make the dog demon want her.

 

How foolish. How very...human. How convenient, Naraku thought.

 

Recalling what had happened, how Inuyasha had screamed the young, alive girl's name while coming in Kikyou's cold mouth, made Naraku chuckle now.

 

The look on the inu-hanyou's face afterwards; pure, undisguised disgust and confusion when he'd realized Kikyou had been the one performing this act on him had been just...priceless.

 

'Oh my dear Kikyou, how you have failed. And now you are coming to me...like I knew you would. Like you knew you would. I didn't expect it to be so soon, I must admit. You found Inuyasha, you had no clue the only reason he came out of the stream when you asked him to do so was because he could not think clearly, his body was numb and his mind clouded by my little spell, yet he did not completely give in to you...he was disconnected from reality when you were trying so hard to get him to respond...and respond he did, but not to you. Ah, Kikyou, you made it so easy for me...funny really, how things turned out. I was just experimenting on the hanyou...and you helped. Ironic, isn't it? You had no idea...you were so confident he wanted you...what a delightful surprise, when the name of your reincarnation left Inuyasha's lips...when he screamed it for all the world to hear...the look of shock and disgust on the hanyou's face when he slowly, painfully realized it wasn't the young miko, but you, my dead miko, who had been pleasuring him. I wonder how you felt then, Kikyou...were you hurt? Were you surprised? Somehow, I don't think so. You knew Inuyasha didn't want you really, that you would fail... you knew because when you kissed him last time, he did not kiss you back. Such a pitiful little thing you are...and yet you are not used to rejection, Kikyou...and it must have hit you pretty hard...especially coming from him...Ah, this will just get better and better, my dear...just you wait and see...'

 

Naraku smirked as these thoughts danced in his head. Yes, things had turned out much better than he had expected.

 

A shame really, that Inuyasha hadn't marked his little miko, forced himself on her...but the spell had not been strong enough for Inuyasha to lose control.

 

Still, it was a blessing to Naraku, that Kikyou had been hurt and rejected...that she had received that look of repulsion from her beloved hanyou...a look that must have broken her dead heart and sealed her decision to come to Naraku, to ask, no...to beg him for a body that could feel...he would make her beg to him...he would enjoy this throughly.

 

And then he would break both the dead miko and the annoying hanyou's spirits. But Naraku would wait, wait until the young girl Inuyasha loved and wanted so desperately was marked to take the hanyou's new mate from him...the pain of losing his mate would drive Inuyasha mad.

 

And Kikyou would unwillingly help him, give Inuyasha the little push he needed to mark his precious human. The spell would work, indeed...Kikyou's undeniable lust, her frustration, mingled with Naraku's own evil magic would be a perfect, irresistible mix for the dog demon and his chosen one.

 

Naraku would start small. A village.

 

He would summon Inuyasha and his miko there. They would rush to help the infected people in the village, the pathetic humans who would be completely under Naraku's control...and they, too, would get infected.

 

Once the spell would take over Inuyasha and his miko, once the human girl was marked...Naraku would have what he wanted.

 

Oh, how the inu-hanyou would suffer when he realized what he had done under the influence of Naraku's little spell...how Kikyou would suffer, knowing she had pushed Inuyasha to mark her reincarnation...Naraku would make sure she knew this...oh yes, he could almost taste Kikyou's suffering, could savour her hatred, she would hate Inuyasha more than she ever thought was possible, she would hate the human girl, and even better, she would hate herself...

 

Inu-youkai mate for life.

 

Inuyasha wouldn't be able to even come near Kikyou without his stomach turning after that, even if his mate was out of his reach, emotionally and physically dettached from him. Inuyasha would feel his mate's every emotion, would die inside then...he would drown in self loathing and guilt, and this time, his young miko would not be able to rescue him from his self pity.

 

Priceless. How Naraku longed to see Kikyou's face contorted with rage and suffering with unshed tears her dry body wouldn't allow her to cry.

 

Inuyasha would be powerless to help his mate, and how Naraku would enjoy it, turning the sweet, mysterious girl that was Kikyou's reincarnation into one of his mindless puppets. Naraku could just picture Inuyasha's pain stricken face when he saw his mate become a shell of herself, a shadow of a woman, just like Kikyou already was.

 

Kikyou had no body...no soul other than the souls she stole from dead women and the small portion of her reincarnation's soul...

 

Inuyasha's little miko, the inu-hanyou's soon to be mate, if Naraku had his way with it, and he most certainly would...would have no mind, no heart...no recollection of her beloved dog demon.

 

Just like Kohaku, she would be an empty shell, to command and do as he asked without hesitation

or guilt...she would find the remaining shards for him, she would be a doll too - not a clay doll, but she might as well have been when Naraku was through with her.

 

Naraku's smirk widened. This was going to be fun.

 

The feeble essence of Naraku's little spell was completely gone from the inu-hanyou's system now; two days had passed since the incident at the stream with Kikyou, as Naraku patiently watched and waited...

 

Currently, Inuyasha and his companions were at the small village Inuyasha himself had trashed in his full youkai form, surrounded by its inhabitants. And the little miko was no where to be found.

 

Naraku didn't mind the wait. It would make the results all the more satisfying in the end.

 

Also, he was expecting a visit soon...

 

Kikyou would come to him. She would come begging for him to give her a new body, a body that could seduce, a body that could feel...he would give it to her, of course...temporarily.

 

He laughed. The evil sound echoed in the castle's walls.

 

Large, crimson eyes brimmed by thick, dark eyelashes glowed in the darkness. A tall woman stood behind Kanna; the small girl who represented the void...white as snow from head to toe, her ink black eyes contrasting strongly with her pale skin and white hair, clutching her mirror in her little hands, the mirror that saw it all, the mirror that stole souls...standing so still she might have very well been a tiny wax statue of a child.

 

She had no youki. She had no emotions. She never smiled. She hardly ever talked.

 

Naraku greatly appreciated this in a slave; he was proud of this creation of his, this extension of himself that was so obedient, so willing to please her creator in her quiet, unsettling manner.

 

The woman behind the little albino girl, however, was annoyingly persistant. Naraku was not so satisfied with this extension of himself, and he had her bleeding heart literally in the palm of his hand to remind the impertinent woman who would betray him without a second thought that he was not pleased with her behaviour.

 

She had been punished several times for her disobedience, for even thinking of betraying her creator, her master.

 

She belonged to him and Naraku would not let her forget this even for a second. He kept her around because she was powerful, she was strong willed, she was useful.

 

But he made sure the woman knew that the instant she would cease to be of any use to him, she would simply be absorbed by his body, return to nothingness, be nothing.

 

She was a youkai, she controlled the winds, her name was Kagura.

 

He had made her beautiful and refined, deadly and powerful, yet her impertinence and restlessness was more than annoying. The woman had an overwhelming personality that irritated her creator; a desire to break free that was unexpected and most unwelcomed.

 

Her dark, long hair was tied up with a white feather and she wore a delicate kimono with magenta and white patterns, her mouth was plump and red, her feet bare despite her sophisticated attire, and she held a fan to her chest, her arms folded. She was scowling, like usual.

 

Naraku sighed in annoyance. "What is it this time, Kagura?"

 

"Will you keep us in this prison forever? I'm bored." Kagura said irritably.

 

"I don't require your services, Kagura. Do not forget your place."

 

Kagura snorted and tapped her fan against her chest. Naraku glared at her without bothering to lift his face. Kagura flinched visibly and the tapping of her fan abruptly stopped, but her scowl remained in place.

 

"Let me remind you, Kagura that when I cease to find your impertinence amusing...I will simply squeeze your heart between my fingers until it bursts. The pain will be unbearable. Your demise will be slow. Do not anger me. We are expecting someone."

 

Kagura pouted but wisely shut her mouth, all the while thinking murderous thoughts. She rolled her crimson eyes and sulked some more.

 

After what seemed to the impatient wind sorceress like an eternity of heavy, uncomfortable silence, she spoke.

 

"The scary little witch? Are you so certain she will come to you?"

 

Naraku chuckled. "You do amuse me so, Kagura. But do not cross the line. Of course she will come. She has failed. She knows it. She will seek my help."

 

"What makes you think she trusts you?" Kagura pressed.

 

Naraku rolled his eyes at Kagura's stupidity. "Of course she doesn't trust me. That's irrelevant. But she will come."

 

Kagura shifted uncomfortably. She was so bored...restless. If only he'd send her to kill something... or just let her go out for a moment...she just wanted to feel the wind in her face and hair, washing her pain away, feel the freedom of flying, a freedom not even Naraku could stop her from feeling, even if it was just for a little while...

 

She sighed irritably and sat on the floor, resting her cheek on her palm, her scowl and pout never leaving her pretty, heart shaped face.

 

"Naraku..." Kanna said, her tiny, empty voice hardly audible. "She is coming."

 

Naraku looked over at the fuming wind sorceress and grinned. "See, Kagura? Now go greet our visitor. Make her feel at home."

 

"Scary witch makes my stomach turn..." Kagura muttered as she rose to her feet and slowly walked to meet the dead priestess. "She stinks, for crying out loud..."

 

"What was that, Kagura?" Naraku asked, his voice dangerously soft.

 

"Nothing. I'll go greet our guest. She makes the castle feel warm when she's around. Such a delightful, dead visitor, I always thought. A joy to have her around. Puts a smile on one's face, really." She replied sweetly.

 

Kagura turned and hurried down the hallway without another word. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut but for the life of her she didn't understand why Naraku would willingly invite the dead witch into his domains.

 

What the hell was wrong with that walking corpse anyway?

 

She had given Kagura Buddha's cup when she'd thought Naraku was dead.

She had given Naraku the Shikon jewel herself.

She was Naraku's weakness...and yet Kagura felt disgust for her, and yes, she hated to admit it, but the spooky priestess scared her.

 

She didn't understand the dead miko's reasons, didn't even want to try.

 

Kagura shuddered. "Hell, Kanna probably feels more than that clay dead witch..." She muttered to herself.

 

Naraku heard her but didn't say anything. Kagura's rebellious attitude and sharp tongue could be quite amusing.

Sometimes, more often than not, though, he just wished she would keep her comments to herself.

 

Where had he gone wrong with Kagura? He was always willing to teach her some respect, but right now that was not important...

 

He smiled a slow, evil smile.

 

Soon, the 'clay dead witch' would feel...feel so much she wouldn't be able to stand it.

 

 

TBC

 

 

AN: Hope this didn't confuse the hell out of you...and I hope I didn't dissapoint! In case you forget... and I never let you forget, now do I? REVIEW!!! Onegai onegai onegai!!! REVIEEWW!!!

Much love and ramen!

YM