InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tales from Sengoku Jidai ❯ The Truth is Always Hard ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Tales from Sengoku Jidai
By Kitsune-chan

Chapter 3
The Truth is Always Hard.

54 years past . . .

The grassy hill was placidly boring. The sky was a perfect blue and
white puffy clouds floated by, shapes forming in their circular depths. The
long, field grass blew in the wind like waves in the ocean. Down below
the hill was the village and sitting on top of it dog-style was the
Hanyou Inu Yasha. He seemed to be angry at something, from the sour look
on his face. Behind him, he heard a twig crack. He whirled around, claws
ready to kill anyone who opposed him. His shoulders fell as he realized
that it was just a human girl. Besides the japanese sword at her belt, she
didn't appear dangerous at all.

She gave him a warm smile, "Hello, did I frighten you?"

"Feh! A human like you couldn't scare the pants off a toad demon!" He turned
back around and assumed his sitting position. He didn't know how wrong his
statement was and would soon realize that.

His eyes widened angrily as he felt fingers tweak his ears and heard the
girl laugh. "What do you think you're doing?!" He jerked away, but that
only resulted in his tender ears being pulled roughly as he spun around
to face her. He rubbed them with a slight pout.

"Sorry," She laughed, "Couldn't resist! They're just so cute. Are you a
kitsune youkai?" She asked coming up and tweaking them again.

"NO!" He pulled away again, "Stop it!"

"Gomen, gomen! You're just as tense as Kikyo said you were." She sighed
and placed her hands on her hips.

"Eh?" He blinked, "She talks about me?"

"She's told me a few things in a letter I recieved a couple months ago." She
sat down and looked at the village.

He sat a good three feet away from her, eyeing the girl suspiciously. He
didn't like the fact that Kikyo spoke of him to strangers. Who was she
anyway? Truthfully, the only word he could use to discribe her right
now was 'strange'. "What does she say about me?" He demanded with an
angry tone; it concealed his curiosity.

"Just that you're a Hanyou and a very suspicious, paranoid, rude, disgruntle,
egolomaniac." She said looking at the village like it was the most
interesting place in the world.

He blinked at her a couple of times, unable to really register what she'd
said. She glanced at him and laughed, "I was only joking! She thinks very
highly of you and puts a great deal of her trust in you as well."

"Keh! I don't care what she thinks about me!" He announced, glaring at
her. That statement was far from the truth and Inu Yasha's eyes
betrayed him to Kyoko. She knew that he and Kikyo had a relationship and
she'd come there to see just how deep it ran. She didn't want her cousin
to go through something as painful as losing someone you loved or to be
hurt by some stupid hanyou.

"Who are you?" He asked with a pursed face.

"You know, you remind me of someone who sucked on a lemon with that ugly
face." She commented, looking off into the village once more.

"Who are you?" He asked again, in a more demanding tone. His eyebrow was
twitching slightly from her rude remark, his ears flattened themselves on
top of his head.

"Kyoko, Kikyo's cousin." She smiled at him, "And you're Inu Yasha."

* * * *

Inu Yasha snapped awake, the tree branch he slept on shook with his
sudden movement. He hadn't thought about Kyoko in a LONG time, much
less ever had a dream about it her. He knew it was that little bitch Kagome
had brought with her, however accidently. If his sense of irony was right,
she was Kyoko's reincarnation and would end up putting Kagome into some
kind of danger. With a resignated sigh, he leaned back against the tree and
looked off towards the village. The sun was just rising in the gray and
pink horizen. He slapped away a bird who had neslted itself in his hair,
"Fucking birds, I was here first."

"It's about time you woke up!"

He glanced down and saw Kagome. She was standing there in one of Kaede's
preistess outfits. It was scarey just how much she reminded him of Kikyo
when she wore those clothes. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Because I had nothing else! Is there a problem?!" She put her hands on
her hip and raised an angry eyebrow.

"Feh! Do what you like."

"Come down here, I want to talk to you." She requested. He knew it wasn't
exactly a request but she didn't say THE WORD so he took it as one.

"No," He said smugly, "Talk to me from there; it's not like I can't hear
you."

"Osuwari," She said quietly. He fell from the tree with a giant SPLAT not
to far from her feet.

"What was THAT for!? It's the truth!"

She grabbed his arm and helped him up, "I don't want to talk to you when
your up there. It's annoying cause I don't if you're actually listening
to me."

He straightened the collar of his kimono and growled, "Only a human would
think that."

"What's with you?!" She asked, getting really irritated at his rude
behavior. "You're being so rude!? Well, more so then usual, but you know
what I mean."

He looked over at her angry face. It was flushed red from teh cold morning
and her hair was wind blown, tossled about in heavy black masses around
her beautiful face. She was so beautiful, and her anger brought it out
even clearer. His clawed hand brushed her cheek gently, then pushed her
hair away from shoulders. He ran his claws through it, untangling the
black locks.

"Inu Yasha?" Surprise was written on her face. It was rare for Inu Yasha
to be sweet, but when he was, it was irresistable.

"Gomen," He muttered, drawing his face closer to hers. His golden eyes
flashed as they looked into her own, "I am being rude." His face leaned in
closwer to hers and kissed her softly on the lips. It wasn't the first
time he'd kissed her and as good as she tasted, he hoped it wouldn't be
his last.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Kagome tore away from him, blushing brightly. "Kaname! Don't sneak up on
us like that!"

"What do you want?" He huffed and crossed his arms.

Kaname's arms crossed and she glared at him, "Well excuse me Mr. Bigshot!
It's not like 'I' knew you guys were busy!" A thought came to her and
she smirked, "Of course, I don't know what Kagome sees in a dirty piece of
filth like you! You have absoulutely NO style sense, look at that dirty,
(what is it, pink?), kimono? And long white hair went out in the eighties
dog-boy!"

Kagome gapped in shock at her cousin. She had no doubt in her mind that
Inu Yasha deserved a little contempt, but only a 'little'!! Kaname was
takeing it a little overboard. Kagome reminded herself that Kaname was used
to being praised for her good looks and grades, and Inu Yasha calling her a
'bitch' wasn't going to get him onto Kaname's good list.

"Kaname?" She attempted to sooth her cousin's anger, "That was a little
uncalled for-"

"DOG-BOY!? Who ya calling dog-boy, you little bitch?!" He pushed passed
Kagome and got right in Kaname's face, his claws flinching, reading to
strike her.

"And who do you think you're taking to, you uncivilized cur!?" She turned
away from him, her nose in the air.

"Uh oh." Kagome smacked her head. That was the name Inu Yasha used for
Sesshomaru, well one of many. She didn't think it was a good idea to
call Inu Yasha a cur, especially after insulting his clothes and hair. He
was going to get really pissed off and she'd have to say the S word and
things would go downhill from there. "This isn't good . . . "

"Why you-?!" He growled, reaching for Tetsuaiga but Kagome's quick hands
grabbed his arms and forced him to calm down a bit, though not much.

She gave him a saccharine smile and said sweetly, "Kagome, I just came
by to tell you that Kaede's awake and is fixing breakfast. She wants us
all to go to her hut-thingy(you too, dog-boy) because she has something
she wants to explain to us."

"O-okay," Kagome said, thinking God that Kaname could keep her temper better
then Inu Yasha. Of course, Kaname's temper wasn't much better, she was just
used to controlling it. Inu Yasha was the type to just kill you, while
Kaname would, instead, make your life a living hell.(Inu Yasha could do that
too if he wanted, or had the patience for it)

Inu Yasha suddenly realized what she was wearing and it only made his
anger worse. She wearing Kyoko's clothes, he might not have been the most
detail oriented guy, but he recognized Kyoko's actual scent all over them.
It was a blue haori over a white yukata and dark blue bottoms with a pair
of sandals. Half of her hair was pulled half back while the lower parts of
it hung down to her buttocks. "Take 'em off."

"What are you talking about, Cur?" She gave him an irritated, skeptical
look. Her delicate eyebrow rose.

He jerked away from kagome, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to
face him, "Take those clothes off!"

"Inu Yasha!" Kagome was shocked. Was Inu Yasha that much of a pervert?! No,
this was something totally different, the look in his eyes was the same
as the kind he got when he thought about Kikyo.

"Let me go," She growled, her voice full of enmity toward Inu Yasha. Her
eyes held a dangerous flicker as she jerked away from him.

"Take them off, they don't belong to you!" He growled back at her, ready to
shake the living hell out of her.

"Jerk, let go!"

"Take them off, Bitch!"

Not good . . .

"Asshole!"

"Slut!"

This wasn't going well at ALL . . .

"Bastard!"

"OSUWARI!!!!!!!"

SPLAT!

"@ &*%$!!"

"That's cool! How'd you do that?!"

* * * *

Everyone had assembled themselves around the furnace in Kaede-baba's
hut. Miroku sat cross legged next to Kaname(she was still ignorant of
his lecherous ways), Kagome sat across from them, Sango to her left by
Kaede and Shippo sat inbetween them. Myoga-jiji was on Kaede-baba's shoulders
his arms and legs crossed in a sagely manner. Kirara was curled up in
Kaname's lap, throughly enjoying her stroking his back. Inu Yasha lay
on his side, looking AWAY from everyone and eating a bowl of ramen. A place
on his head was bandage from where it had hit a rock when he'd been
Osuwari-ed.

Kaede-baba cleared her throat, "Have any of you heard of a legendary
warrior known only has, the Youkai Hunter?"

MIroku rubbed his chin with a big, arrogant, know-it-all smile, "Ah! The
beautiful warrior who wanders around Japan as a lonely Vagabond, saving
the lives of the innocent and destorying evil. What a woman!"

Kaname quirked an eyerbow, "Sounds like a cheesy Magical girl."

"It does resemble that, doesn't it?" Kagome snickered. "And the vagabond
thing reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin. Have you seen that?"

"Yeah! Kenshin's so adorable!!" Kaname fawned, "Especially when he
goes all chibified!" She couldn't contain herself and giggled while
shaking her head in her hands.

"I KNOW!" Kagome agreed, "And he has the cutest hair! I LOVE HIS HAIR!!"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKIN ABOUT?!" Inu Yasha was hovering over Kagome,
his hands on his hips and eyes squinted, "You're seeing some other
guy aren't you?"

"WHAT?!" Kagome cried whirling around to face him, "Don't be silly! Kenshin
is a character in a TV series called Rurouni Kenshin!"

"Heh! Baka," Kaname mumbled, crossing her arms and smirking in satisfaction.
Inu Yasha's jealous face had been so hilerious that she'd had to hold in
the urge to laugh right in his face and yell, 'SERVES YOU RIGHT IF SHE
LIKES SOMEONE ELSE, YOU BLOODY CUR!'

"What are YOU smirkin' about?" He glared in her direction.

"Not this again . . . " Kagome rubbed her temples. She knew that those two
wouldn't get along. It was impossible-no- THEY were the impossible ones.

"Nothing," She waved him off like a fly and sipped her tea.

"Inu Yasha," Inu yasha looked at Kaede. A vein was poping out of her
fore-head.

"What?"

"Osuwari."

SPLAT!

"Please, continue, Kaede-baba," Sango requested when everyone, namely
Inu Yasha, was quiet.

"The Youkai Hunter is not a legend. Every generation a new Youkai
Hunter is born, usually female although it can be a man. This warrior
travels throughout Japan searching and destroying evil youkai. It is one
of the few feared enemies of Youkai other then themselves. His or her
power varies from Hunter to Hunter; but all of them use a sword called
Youkai Slayer." Kaede sipped her tea and then continued, "Fifty
years or so ago, the line was broken and a new hunter has yet to be born.
Her name was Kyoko and she was my cousin."

"Get to the point, old woman." Inu Yasha said tapping his finger
impatiently. "I know all this already and I'd prefer NOT to here it again!"

"Don't be like that," Kagome said attempting to keep her temper in check.
Inu yash could be such a baby sometimes!

"Feh!"

"My point, Inu yasha, is that I think Kaname is the new Youkai Hunter
for this generation. Of course, that is but a theory." Kaede looked at
Kaname seriously.

She pointed to herself, "ME?! You've made some kind of mistake, don't
you have to be blood related or something?! Besides I can't fight! I-"

"-You can too fight!" Kagome butt in, "You've been doing martial arts
and kendo since I can remember! I'd say you're on Sango's level, even
Inu Yasha's once in a while." By that, she meant when it was his time
of the month, but Kaname didn't know that and took it a little wrongly.

"Only once in a while?" She tapped her finger on her crossed arms.

"Ano . . . "

"HA! You couldn't measure up to me, even if you WERE a Youkai Hunter. And
you certianly are NOT!" He snickered with a confident smirk.

"What you said about being 'blood related' is true. The Hunter line has
never been broken. Kyoko should have been married and given birth to an
heir even before she died; but she didn't." Kaede said, "That is why
I think you might be her reincarnation. I must warn you though, this is
merely MY interpretation, which is derived from the coincidence of you
actually crossing the well, being Kagome's cousin and from when Yu I called
you 'Kyoko'. You also bear a striking resemblence to her."

Kaname looked down at her knees, "Ano . . . "

"Kaname?" Kagome looked at her, "I know it's hard to believe. It was for
me too, when I found out I was Kikyo's reincarnation."

"Kikyo?"

"Heh heh! I forgot, I haven't told you the whole story yet! Don't worry,
I will later." Kagome promised. "It's very interesting, as a matter of
fact, if I could find an author, it could be a bestseller!"

Kaname sighed and looked at Kaede. She wondered if she should tell Kaede
about her dream. Although, she wasn't sure she liked the idea that she'd
been murdered in a previous life; or even HAD a previous life. It was a
little unnerving. She glanced at Inu Yasha; he was staring off into space,
with a whistful expression on his usually callus face. He definatly
believed that she wasn't this Kyoko person.

"What is on your mind, Kaname?" Myouga whispered into her ear. She looked
at him, he'd jumped from Kaede's shoulder to hers, unnoticed.

"I," She looked at the fire in the furnace. The scenes from her dream
flashed through her mind. "I'm afraid I don't know what to think at
all. This is all so new to me, I'm a bit confused."

"Aa. To be expected when one travels through time for the first time and
goes through what you have in the first twenty four hours. You must
be exhausted mentally and emotionally." He said, his voice low and
calming; even for a damned flea.

"Arigatou, Myouga-jiji," She picked him up on her finger and set him
on Miroku's shoulder. "I'm going for a walk."

The flap door to the hut swayed behind her as she left. Kagome watched,
an anxious feeling in her heart. She knew what Kaname was going through.
She wished she could lighten the load off Kaname's shoulders and be
more helpful to her.

"Don't worry, Kagome," Sango said, placing a comforting hand on Kagome's
shoulder. "IF she's as strong as you are, then she'll be able to
handle anything. And Kaede isn't even sure if she is the reincarnation of
this Kyoko person."

"But what if she is? Then what? She can't very well stay in this time;
despite her skills in kendo, I don't think she could kill anyone. Not
even demons." Kagome pulled her knees up to her chest, "Despite her
tough appearence, she's a very kind hearted person."

* * * *

"What do I do now?" She stomped out of the village and up a steep
trail. The small rocks slipped beneath her sandals as she walked. The
wind was chilly and she could see a faint cloud of breath every time she
exhaled.

"I'm not Kyoko! I'm Kaname!" SHhe said sternly. THen why?! WHy did she have
this horrible feeling of doubt? She wondered how Kagome faced this. The
way she had spoken earlier, really unnerved Kaname.

'I know it's hard to believe. It was for me too, when I found out I
was Kikyo's reincarnation.'

"Reincarnation!" she scoffed, "Just a bunch of bullshit! I just want to
go home!"

"Then go, we dont need spoiled brats like you around dampening our
atmosphere."

"Inu Baka!" She looked up in a tree and spotted him indolently laying
on a branch. His feet hung down and his back was slumped against the
main body. "What do you want? Is it too much to ask for some time
alone?"

"Inu Baka?" Count to ten! Count to ten! Don't kill her, if you do
Kagome would NEVER forgive you.

Could I hurt her a little?

NO.

A tinnie tiny scratch?

NO.

Fine dammit . . .

He opened his eyes to see her already walking away. What was with women
and being so damned difficult? He twitched and jumped down from the tree,
using that force to launch himself into the air. He fell in step with
Kaname. 'Kaede owes me big time for this!' He thought to himself.

She gave him a sideways glare, "You want something? "

He looked at her, "I want to show you something, it may appear
familiar to you. It may not." He stopped in front of her and hunched
down. "Get on."

"Are you a lunatic?" She looked at his strong back skeptically.

"Perhaps, I AM letting YOU of all people ride on my back." He snickered
at her over his shoulder, "It's something I usually only let Kagome
do, unless under special circumstances."

She quirked an eyebrow and took another look at his back. She could picture
Kagome easily getting on and them flying off together, hopping from tree
to tree with ease. Perhaps, if Kagome could trust this demon, she
could too. "Fine, but no funny tricks." She got on, her hands on his
shoulders, his arms gripping her legs. They lept off through the air. She
felt like she was flying as they soared above the trees. Falling then
back up again. As he pushed off a tree branch, it snapped from the
intense energy. This had to be the most thrilling experiance in the
world for her. She found herself smiling and even laughing sometimes, she
just couldn't help herself.

They landed not far from a small cave in a hill. It was hidden by thick
bushes and trees. Large boulders carved the entrance to a dark deep
hole. Kaname recognized it; it was the cave from her dream. Why
did Inu yasha bring her here? And why, of all things, was she afraid?

"I know Kagome would have probably liked to tell you about this, but I
think I have a right to." He mumbled taking a seat on the ground. "Sit."

She did, looking at him in bewilderment. Her eyes kept shifting to the
cave, and shivers ran down her spin. Unconciously, goosebumps popped up on
her skin and cold sweat ran down her neck. It's just a cave, she told
herself. Then why are you so afriad?

"Three years ago, Kagome came out of that well. She freed me from my
supposed eternal sleep. I was cursed by a woman named Kikyo, Kagome's
former life, after we were tricked by a youkai named, Naraku. He forced
us to fight each other by making Kikyo think I betrayed her and vice
versea. " His arms were crossed, and his face had a somewhat distant
look to it. Almost as if he was in a dream. "He did it for a jewel known
as the Shikon no Tama. Kagome would accidently shattered it when we
were fighting a demon. That's what basically started our journey."

"Miroku's right hand was cursed with a Kazaana by Naraku. It's healed,
thankfully, but if we had not defeated Naraku it would have sallowed him
up eventually. Sango lost her brother, her comrades in the Taija and her
entire village was destroyed all in one day. Naraku used dirty methods
to kill her comrades by using her brother, Kohaku, against us. He's now
dead and was buried her village along with the rest of her family.
We fought Naraku for so long," He sighed wearily. "Every step was long
and tiresome. We never knew when we would be attacked or if we would
die. We fought Naraku and we killed him. "

"Naraku," The name sounded vile and she already hated it. "Killed Kyoko,
didn't he?"

"That's what we think." Inu Yasha said, "Although, when I first awoke,
Kaede blamed me, until we both found out it was actually Naraku."

"He killed her, in that cave," She pointed to it, goosebumps rising on
her goosebumps. "He killed her, with her own sword."

He gaped at her, "How do you know this?"

"I don't know really. Some of it I saw in a dream, the rest I'm just
mumbling about randomly. "

"Do you think you are Kyoko's reincarnation?"

"I don't know." She said truthfully. "I don't like the thought that I
was originally someone else. It makes me feel very violated. Like my
whole life has been an entire lie! I don't know how Kagome can stand
it!"

"She can't," He said, "That's what makes her so strong. She's accepted
that it's true, but has decided that she will always be her own person.
And that she will live her life to her own rules, not to Kikyos." He stood,
"We should be going."

"Ok," She stood and brushed off her kimono, "You aren't so bad, when you
aren't acting like a suspicious, paranoid, rude, disgruntle, egolomaniac."

"NANI?!"

* * * *
A/N
Thanks Inususu for reviewing! ^-^ Tee-hee! Anyway, this chapter was hard
to get out. ¬¬ I didn't know what I wanted to do! T____T it was very
difficult. Be awaiting the next chapter! I'm going to try and and have it
out by next weekend. Unless something happens, like my social life creeps
up on me or something.

Kitsune-chan