Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Priestess of the shinobi ❯ For the sake of revenge ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

So sorry for the tardiness of this chapter! It was meant to come out a lot sooner, but my school life has been hell lately and I haven't had any time to write. As always, my humblest thanks to all of you who read this story, and specially those who reviewed.

Without further ado, here you have the fourth instalment. Enjoy!

4.- For the sake of revenge

For the sake of revenge you will command me
This ain't over, it's never over
'till the fat lady sings, you love me

Kagome was panting heavily, her breath making white puffs of condensation in the freezing air every time it left her broken lips. It was so dark she couldn't see the tip of her nose, the only sound reaching her ears being the slow drip of water somewhere in the room. She ran her dry tongue over her cracked lips, tasting the blood that had long ago stopped flowing from them. How long had she been here? A week? A month? She wouldn't be able to tell. Tired, weakly, she tried once again to yank free from the chains that shackled her to the wall. To no avail. She only managed to reopen the wounds on her wrists from her previous attempts at freedom. She started cursing under her breath, but immediately fell into silence when she heard the screech of the rusty hinges of the cell door.

Slowly, she raised her head to look at her visitor, glaring at the crimson eyed half demon who stepped into the cell. He merely smirked at her, slowly making his way to where she was chained to the wall.

“Why, hello, Kagome-chan” he greeted, his sickly sweet voice making the miko's skin crawl. “I trust the accommodations are to your complete satisfaction?” he mocked.

Kagome didn't bother to grace him with a response. It'd only make everything worse. Instead, she just kept glaring at him defiantly, wishing with all her might that he'd just burst into flames and leave her alone.

“Tsk, tsk, such a spirit…” he said, getting close enough to hold her chin with one of his tentacles. She tried to bite it off, but he dodged her teeth with ease. “And such defiance. It's a pity you wouldn't consider joining me in my quest, Kagome-chan” he purred next to her ear.

Kagome felt goose bumps rise on her skin at his proximity, a shiver of repulsion travelling down her numb back. She jerked as far from him as the chains let her, but he merely leant back. Placing his finger on his lower lip, he went on with his one sided conversation.

“You see, Kagome-chan, I've been thinking about what I could do with you, and it's been giving me quite the dilemma” he paused to look at her, a malevolent smile playing on his lips. “When you refused to aid me in my endeavour, I resolved to just kill you to get you out of my way. But somehow, after all the trouble you and your pathetic friends have been giving me throughout the years it seemed like the easy way out for you, don't you agree, my dear?” he kept pacing in front of her, just out of her reach.

“Bastard…” Kagome muttered, but kept a wary eye on him. What was he planning?

Naraku merely ignored her, instead continuing with his rambling.

“So, instead I thought that I could keep you here, letting you wither away and die in a long, long agony” he went on. “However, if your so called friends tried to rescue you it could prove to be hazardous too, now, wouldn't it? I couldn't possibly let you go when your powers as a priestess are the only thing that could pose a threat to my plans, so I finally came to the solution for this… situation. It was so painfully obvious that I couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to me earlier” he gloated. He paused in his pacing to stare at the shackled miko in the eye. “Your powers, miko. The threat to my person were your powers, your purity powers, not yourself” he announced, as if he had just made the greatest discovery ever. “So the only thing I needed to do was strip you of that purity, do you understand, Kagome-chan?”

He was dangerously close now, and Kagome could smell his putrid breath. This time she visibly shivered in realization of what he intended to do to her.

“You sick bastard…” she managed to croak through her dry throat. She jerked at the chains again, this time in desperation. She had to get away, now! This time there would be no Inuyasha bursting in at the last possible moment to save her sorry ass. She pulled on the chains, trying to keep as far away from him as possible. She wouldn't let him do this! Dammit, she couldn't let him do this to her! She felt one of his slimy tentacles sliding up one of her long, bare legs and held back the urge to gag.

“Now, now, Kagome-chan… why so unwilling? I'll make sure you enjoy this” he cooed, wrapping another of his appendages around her waist. “I'll be sure to make you cry out” he whispered darkly in her ear. To her increasing horror, she felt another tentacle slipping past the waistline of her ruined skirt and underwear.

“No, please, no, NO!”

“Kagome-san! Kagome-san, wake up!”

Kagome opened her eyes to a pair of crimson orbs staring down at her.

“Ahh! Get off me, you bastard!” she screamed, instinctively giving out a burst of power that failed to push back her supposed attacker. Scared out of her wits, she tried to back away only to feel her back hit the wall behind her. She started to squirm to get away from the hands holding her arms when the voice belonging to those red eyes made its way to her hazy brain. It was… feminine?

“Kagome-san, calm down, it's me, Kurenai” the older woman said.

The miko finally stopped moving and slumped onto her bed, her breathing agitated and drenched in cold sweat. If only she could get rid of those nightmares… She had promised herself that she wouldn't think about that anymore, but dammit, she couldn't control her dreams! Trying to calm herself, she looked up at the concerned woman hovering above her.

“Are you okay?” Kurenai asked the scared raven haired woman. “You were screaming in your sleep.”

“Yes… I think. It was just a nightmare” Kagome answered, trying to downplay it. She wasn't really ready to tell her host about it yet, anyway. She gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile, that in reality didn't come out all that well.

Kurenai looked unconvinced, but let it slide. She would tell her when she was ready, the kunoichi supposed. Instead, she placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling comfortingly.

“C'mon, I'll make some tea. It's already dawn, after all” she said, getting up from the bed and swaying clumsily towards the kitchen. She was in the last stages of her pregnancy, and her large belly impaired her greatly, but she refused to just stay put in bed till her baby came, much to the miko's dismay.

“Kurenai-san, you shouldn't be walking around in your state!” Kagome said, jumping up from her bed and following the pregnant woman to the kitchen.

“Tsk, you should know better by now, Kagome-san. What's it been, two months already? You should know that I'm not going to just sit around all day” with that she turned and started digging through her cupboards in search of a kettle.

Later that morning Kagome was enjoying a peaceful time in one of the public hot springs with Tsunade, Shizune, Anko and Kurenai. Giving a sigh of contentment, she allowed her stiff muscles to relax, sinking further into the warm water.

“So, Kagome, I heard Hatake still hasn't managed to get rid of your little `present'” Anko snickered, taking a sadistic pleasure in the mental picture of the silver haired jounin's face smashed to the ground. “Care to share your secret with us? I'm sure I could find a couple more uses for those necklaces of yours…” she trailed off.

The rest of the present females laughed out loud. Word had gotten out some time ago of what had transpired between Kagome and the green clad shinobi, as well as the part Kakashi had had in it and the way the miko had gotten back at him.

“Sorry, Anko, you need to be a miko to make them” she inwardly shuddered at the though of what the sadistic woman would use the subjugation beads for. She didn't need that kind of mental images.

“So when are you planning to get it off him?” Tsunade asked. She was now more relaxed with the raven haired priestess, and didn't really think that she'd be a threat for the village. There had been a few youkai attacks during the last two months, but she'd dealt with them without much of a hassle. Much to her disappointment, though, they still hadn't figured out who was sending them or why, so she'd had to cut short most of the missions outside the Land of Fire. However, she still had Kakashi keep an eye on Kagome, just in case. Besides, it was very amusing watching the jounin's predicament.

The miko snorted indignantly. After all, he'd brought it upon himself.

“He knows the deal. I'll get it off him when he gets Gai off me” she answered. It had really been a stroke of genius putting the necklace on Kakashi just when Gai was sprouting his usual nonsense about youth. Now each time the spandex clad shinobi said his favourite word, Kakashi would plunge face first into the ground. It served him well, the bastard. If she had to suffer from Gai's attentions, he'd have to suffer along. For some reason, he'd taken to tag along with her at times. She was sure that it was just in order to irritate her with his perverted book.

Shizune giggled. It was Konoha's hottest gossip that the young priestess and Hatake had a thing going on. Though she knew better, she couldn't help but wish for a bit of romance. She was a sucker for fluff, after all. Besides, Kami knew that the hardened jounin could use some happiness, and the newest addition to their village seemed like the perfect candidate.

“Ah, but I saw how he took you away the other day, when Gai was looking for you. Swept you into his arms and jumped away, didn't he?” she asked teasingly.

Kurenai quickly caught up with her.

“Aww, isn't that romantic? I think we have a love story blossoming right here, don't you?” she asked, grinning at Kagome like a Chesire cat.

Kagome blushed to the roots of her hair, sputtering incoherently as Tsunade laughed heartily and Anko made gagging faces. Shizune and Kurenai soon joined the laughter. The young miko just pouted, crossing her arms in mock anger.

“That's right, gang up on me, see if I care” she said, getting out of the water. “Anyway, I need to get going, I'll see you later!” she waved after wrapping a towel around her body.

Just as she was about to leave, she sensed a very well hidden presence behind the wooden wall closest to her. Eyebrow twitching in rising rage, she gestured to the kunoichi towards said wall. Tsunade made a confused face, then concentrated… and felt an all too familiar chakra behind the wall.

The Godaime got up without saying a word and walked straight to the offending wall… before demolishing it with a single punch.

There stood, crouched and coughing, one of the legendary sannin.

“E-he-he. Why, hello there, Tsunade-hime! Have I told you how utterly gorgeous you're looking this mor-?” he didn't get to say anything else, as he was punched into oblivion by a very pissed Hokage clad only in a skimpy towel.

“Damn that idiot… I think I need a drink” with that she left, Shizune hurrying after her. Kurenai and Anko also got out and covered themselves quickly, before heading to the changing rooms.

Kagome sighed, momentarily seeing the face of another, very different looking pervert in the unconscious, sprawled form that laid on the ground in front of her. With a sad shake of the head, she followed the other women out of the bath house.

“Kagome-chan!! Over here!!”

The distinct voice of the blond haired jinchuuriki caught her attention as she walked down the streets of Konoha, without a particular course in mind. She waved back at him as she made her way to the stool next to him at the Ichiraku's, where he was having his daily bowls of ramen. She smiled fondly as it reminded her of a certain hanyou's noodle obsession.

“Hello, Naruto” she greeted the hyper teen. “How's everything?”

He slurped a few more of his noodles before setting the chopsticks down on the counter.

“It's okay, Tsunade-baa won't let me go on any interesting missions because of the youkai and everything, so I'm bored, but that means that I can eat more ramen here at the Ichiraku's so that's okay” he answered, without even taking a breath. Then his face darkened a bit. “But if I'm here how am I supposed to get strong enough to become Hokage?” he protested.

Kagome laughed a bit. After spending two months in Konoha she was well aware that it was the blonde's dream to become Hokage and be recognized by everyone. It sounded good enough to her; at least he didn't want the position for the power it would bring him.

“That's okay, you're still young, you have a long time to become stronger” she tried to reassure him. To her surprise, he shook his head.

“No, I don't, Kagome-chan” he answered, sounding sad and defeated. At her inquisitive gaze, he elaborated. “Hinata-chan told me a few weeks ago that now that her sister was dead she'd been reinstated as the heir of the clan, and will have to marry for political purposes” he snorted. “And somehow those old farts of the Hyuuga council don't see me as the best match” he slammed his fist on the counter, making all the bowls he had piled beside him teeter dangerously. “That's why I have to become Hokage within the next year, so that I can be with Hinata-chan. Those assholes won't be able to say anything if I am the Hokage.”

Kagome smiled sympathetically. She had seen her fair share of these situations in all the years she spent in the feudal era. She knew that arranged marriages hardly made for a happy couple, and couldn't help but feel bad for the blond and the sweet, dark haired girl.

“Don't worry, Naruto, I'm sure everything will come out well in the end, you'll see” she told him, already formulating a plan in her head. She knew this was a private affair and that he shouldn't meddle, but she hated seeing the hyper blond so down. And after all, Hinata's father said he owed her a favour, didn't he? Surely there was something she could do to help.

“I am afraid that probably won't be the case” said a new, cold voice from behind her.

She turned around to be faced with two pairs of pale, lavender eyes. She immediately recognized Hinata as the girl she had healed when she first arrived at the village, but she couldn't recall ever seeing the young man that stood beside her. Naruto quickly greeted them and gestured for them to sit as well. Hinata quickly went to his side, and he embraced her and kissed her gently on the forehead. The shinobi that came with her sat on the stool next to Kagome with a sigh. Seeing that the other two were too engrossed with each other, the priestess tried to strike conversation with him.

“Hello, my name is Higurashi Kagome” she introduced herself with a smile.

“Hyuuga Neji. It's a pleasure” he answered, politely inclining his head. “I am Hinata-sama's cousin.”

“Ah, I thought you were related. You do look alike” she said cheerfully, but quickly returned to less pleasing matters. “So, do you really think there's no hope for those two?” she asked in a low voice.

She saw something akin to pain flash through his stoic features, but it was gone before she could fully identify it.

“Ever since Hanabi-sama's - Hinata-sama's sister's - demise, her fate was sealed in that aspect. She is now the heir of the Hyuuga clan and must fulfil her duty” he answered in a stiff voice.

Kagome cocked her face to the side, thinking.

“And can't she renounce to the title or something? There must be someone else who can inherit her duties, right?” she asked, running through the options in her head.

“There isn't anyone else, if she abdicates the clan will remain headless, and that could only lead to chaos” he responded, frustrated. He loved his cousin like a sister, and wanted her to be free of the burden of leading the Hyuuga clan, but there was nothing he could do but stay by her side so that she could lean on him.

Kagome furrowed. Surely there was someone in the clan that could assume the role of the leader, right?

“Why, though? I bet you could be the head of the clan if you wanted to. After all you're her cousin, right? Even if you don't want to I'm sure there's at least someone that'd want the position, right?” she insisted.

Neji shook his head. If only it were that easy.

“There are… complications” he answered, uncomfortable. “Only Hinata-sama is qualified to assume the leadership of the clan.”

Kagome sensed his uneasiness and decided to let the subject drop. She would seek out Hinata's father and talk to him about it later.

Kakashi was strolling around Konoha, his nose buried into his ever present orange book. He had been trying to find the miko for some time now, as it was still his assignment to watch over her, though he very much doubted that she was a threat at all. He would bet his Icha-Icha collection that Tsunade was making him follow her just to laugh at him too. Annoyed, he tugged at the offending necklace as if to take it off, though he knew it was in vain. Damn that vindictive miko! Weren't they supposed to be sweet, caring and forgiving? He sighed as he continued on his way, in search of that accursed woman. Luckily for him, he didn't have to search much longer.

“Why, hello, Kakashi-san!” she greeted with a deceivingly sweet smile on her face. “How are you this morning?” she asked as she latched onto one of his arms, grinning.

He answered her with a grunt. He knew why she was doing this, and inwardly cursed Tsunade for dropping on him the task to keep watch on the miko. Everyone knew that there were two things Gai did whenever he wasn't training: seeking out his `Beautiful flower of youth' or challenging him to some idiotic thing or other. Either way, he'd end up with a mouthful of dirt. Wonderful.

Kagome looked up and down his body, noticing that there no dirt stains on him… yet.

“So, I take it there had been no Green Menace sightings today?” she asked conversationally.

He looked at her with his only visible eye.

“No, I haven't see Gai today. Or most accurately, he hasn't seen me” he pinned her with an angry stare. “How long are you planning to keep this up?”

She returned his glare with one of her own.

“You know the deal Kakashi. You get him off my back, I get the beads off your neck. It's not that difficult” she answered.

He gave an annoyed sigh.

“I already keep guard and take you away each time he comes around, what else do you want?” he asked, finally closing his book to give her his full attention.

“Something more permanent” she answered without a doubt. “If I take the beads off you, you won't be helping me get away from him anymore, so you better think up a way to get him to leave me alone permanently.”

He gave another suffering sigh. He feared she'd say that. How on earth was he going to stop Gai from advancing on her, short of cutting off his legs? This was getting ridiculous. If there was a battle he could be handicapped by the beads, and he refused to lose his life for such a thing. She had promised to get them off him if the situation ever came to that, but damn, he hated depending on her like that.

He looked at the priestess, who was humming happily, hanging from his arm. He kinda liked the sensation, or he would have if it weren't for the little war the two were waging. Much to his dismay, he was forced to admit that he liked the miko, with her happy disposition and witty intellect. She was one of a kind, and extremely powerful in her field. And then there were her eyes. They were the first thing he'd noticed of her, those brown orbs filled with wisdom and sorrow, kindness and a steely will, that had seen far too much for her age. He knew there was a story behind those eyes and he'd be damned if he didn't want to hear it. He could admit to himself that he was a bit too interested in the miko, and that was why he hadn't forced her to take the beads off him yet. Deep inside, he liked this little game of theirs, minus the slamming into the ground.

A sharp tug to his sleeve brought Kakashi out of his inner musings. He turned his head to look at the subject of his thoughts, who was looking anxiously ahead of them. He followed her gaze and groaned. Sure enough, there was Maito Gai, happily heading their way and no doubt sprouting his usual speech of youth and love. The copy-nin cringed in preparation for what was to come, since the green clad shinobi had no doubt seen them already. Kagome tugged at his arm urgently.

“He's seen us! Do something! I don't want to spend the rest of my day training with that maniac!” she whispered in his ear. Gai kept coming closer. “Anything!”

Suddenly Kakashi had an idea.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Yes, dammit!” she answered, trying to conceal her presence behind the taller form of the shinobi.

“Okay” he said, and without further notice he slammed her against the nearest wall and crashed his lips to hers in a rather forceful kiss.

Kagome's eyes opened impossibly at the feeling of the rough fabric of his mask brushing against her lips, his skilful hands kneading her back in a way that made her want to melt. The hard planes of his body pressed against her softer form, as her arms went around his neck of their own volition.

Then, as soon as it began, the kiss ended and Kakashi let go of her lips, lingering just a moment longer than was necessary. They looked at each other's eyes for a moment that seemed to stretch in time until an anguished cry broke them out of their stupor.

“Arghhh!!! My eternal rival, I have lost to you once again!” he bellowed, thick streams of tears pouring from his eyes. Kagome looked at him in a strangely, Kakashi in annoyance. “One more time the strength of youth - SLAM!! - has shone brighter in you, and you have managed to win the favour of the most beautiful flower of Konoha! But my youth - SLAM!! - still shines bright, and in good competition I shall admit my defeat this time” he declared, not noticing that the man he was talking to was currently slammed face first into the ground. “I shall give up pursuing my most loved blossom, and demonstrate my youth - SLAM!! - by running five hundred laps around Konoha as promised!”

With that, he set out running, presumably to fulfil his promise on his one-sided bet.

Kagome was too shocked to even laugh at Kakashi for a while. After the spell had worn out, the jounin got up to stand beside the miko, who was still looking at the spot where Gai had disappeared.

“You know” she started “I kinda feel bad for him.”

Kakashi just snorted.

“So, are you going to get this thing off me now?” he asked, instead.

She looked at him as if he were crazy.

“Not until I verify that it worked” she answered, as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

He groaned inwardly.

“And how long will it take?”

“Mmm, I don't know, a week at least.”

This time he groaned out loud.

Kagome was lying awake on her bed that night. For some reason she couldn't stop thinking about what had transpired between Kakashi and her that evening. She knew it meant nothing, it was just the quickest way to get Gai off her back, but what worried her was that she had actually liked it. After what she had gone through when Naraku caught her, she hadn't taken too well to that kind of human contact. It surprised her greatly that she felt secure enough with Kakashi to allow him to do such a thing without her freaking out and trying to purify him to hell and back.

She shifted on her mattress, unable to find a comfortable posture.

If you ignored his habit of reading perverted books and his penchant for being incredibly late for everything, Kakashi was a nice guy. She couldn't really tell if he was handsome, what with his mask covering his face, but she could tell he had a nice body underneath all those clothes. Hell, she had felt it all earlier! She supposed it wasn't so strange that, seeing that she felt comfortable with him, she could be attracted to him. `I bet it's because of the silver hair' she thought, chuckling to herself.

She turned once again on the mattress, this time facing the window. She froze when she saw a shadow cut against the starry sky.

“KURENAI!!!” she shouted as she concentrated on placing a barrier on her window, strong enough to repel humans too, which took a lot of her stamina. Then she raced to the pregnant woman's bedroom, only to find her up and ready, if a bit unstable because of her enlarged belly.

“Kagome, what happened?” she asked, even forgetting to add the suffix to her name.

“There was someone outside my window. I made a barrier to keep them out but-“

CRASH!!

The sound of shattered glass cut her off in the middle of her sentence. Concentrating hard, she managed to form another barrier around the pregnant kunoichi and herself, this time spending what was left of her power. She was already tired from the day, and her powers weren't designed to fight off humans, but youkai, so it took all she had to keep this barrier up.

Kurenai fell into a fighting stance, as she waited for their attackers to make an appearance. She didn't have to wait for too long. There were three of them, all dressed up in black clothes, with ANBU masks hiding their identity. `Shit, I can't fight three ANBU at the same time, not in this state!'

Kagome started sweating as the black clad shinobi started attacking the barrier around them. Kurenai could see her cringe with each strike, but the barrier stood strong. The red eyed woman started making hand signs faster than the eye could follow. If this didn't work, they were screwed. She could see Kagome start falling to her knees, her hands stretched forward to keep the barrier up.

Finishing the hand signs, Kurenai cast her strongest genjutsu over the three attacking shinobi. After a few moments, the three of them stiffened, and started clutching their heads, bellowing in pain.

“Kagome, drop the barrier, we've got to finish them before they get out of the illusion” she told her.

The miko did as she was asked, releasing the purple sphere that surrounded them.

Kurenai didn't lose a moment in slashing each of the ninja's throats, breathing a sigh of relief when she made sure that they were all dead.

“Who are they?” Kagome asked, wobbling to her side unsteadily.

In response, the kunoichi walked over to one of the corpses and searched it until she found a hitai-ate.

“Mist…” she said, wondering what the hell could mist shinobi want with her or Kagome. She was going to explain further when a sharp pain shot through her belly.

She fell to her knees, her hands clutching her belly, with a very concerned Kagome kneeling right in front of her.

“Kurenai! Kurenai, what's wrong?” the red eyed woman merely whimpered. “Answer me, dammit!”

That's when Kagome noticed the growing puddle under the other woman's hunched form.

“Oh my Kami! He's coming!” she breathed. She embraced the older woman and whispered into her ear. “Everything's going to be okay. Your baby's coming, but we'll take you to the hospital and everything will be all right, so don't worry, okay?”

Kurenai just gave her a grateful, pained smile and tried to get up, so Kagome could get her to the hospital. They had made it halfway across the room when the front door slammed open.

“Kurenai!! Kagome!!” came Kakashi's voice. He had been on his way home from a night at the pub when he had felt ill-intentioned chakra outside Kurenai's house, so he'd ran there as fast as he could, but since he was quite far he hadn't been able to arrive sooner. He was relieved to feel only the two women's presence in the house, but his face darkened when he saw Kagome carrying a seemingly injured Kurenai, who wast adamantly clutching her abdomen.

“Kakashi! Thank Kami!” Kagome breathed “Kurenai's having her baby, we need to get her to the hospital.”

Kakashi felt a surge of relief at knowing that both were all right. He picked the pregnant kunoichi up and rushed to the hospital, Kagome following behind at a slower pace.

There you have it, I hope the wait was worth it! Please let me know what you think!

Also, if you want to read some Neji/Kagome fic, check out my oneshot `What kind of love', if you'd like. (Yep, shamelessly advertising here)