Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Priestess of the shinobi ❯ The bard's song ( Chapter 5 )

Well, I'm finally back. I know it's been a long time, but life'scrazier than ever and I have little to no time left to write. Thank you very much to all of you who are still following this story, and a very special thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's you who encourage me to go on. Without further ado, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

 

5.- The bard's song

 

Now you all know
The bards and their songs
When hours have gone by
I'll close my eyes
In a world far away
We may meet again
But now hear my song
About the dawn of the night
Let's sing the bards' song

 

Kagome and Kakashi were sitting in the inhumanly uncomfortable chairs typical of hospital waiting rooms. It was nearing dawn and they still hadn't gotten any news about the crimsom eyed kunoichi who was still in the birthing room, together with the Hokage and her apprentice. And Shikamaru. The young jounin, jaw set with unsual stubbonrness, had insisted that he be allowed into the room in his late sensei's stead, if only to hold Kurenai's hand through the ordreal. After he insisted a few times Tsunade had caved and let him in.

 

That had been about six hours prior. As the night progressed, members of both team eight and ten had kept showing up, news of their respective sensei's child being born spreading fast throughout the village.

 

Kagome sighed for the millionth time as she glanced at the closed doors wistfully. The night hadn't been an easy one. By the time she had arrived at the hospital Kakashi had already alerted the staff, Kurenai was being taken care of and he was waiting for her so she could tell him what had happened. After he'd gotten a full account of the incident, he had told her to stay in the relative safety of the hospital while he went to alert the Hokage of the situation. Which had been fine with her, since she felt she couldn't take another step if her life depended on it. Raising a hand to cover her mouth, she let out a wide yawn as she stretched herself, wincing at the stiffness of her neck. She hard a chuckle from her right side.

 

“Sleepy?” asked the copy ninja, sounding quite tired himself.

 

“Hmm-hm” she asented, still stretching her aching muscles. “It's not like you can sleep in these godforsaken chairs... hope the little one doesn't take much longer.”

 

“Yeah...” he conceded. He knew that he shouldn't be worried about it, that women had children all the time and Kurenai was in the best possible hands, but he still felt that he should somehow watch over his late best friend's family.

 

Taking a page from Kagome's book he too stretched as much as he could while still sitting. He was about to say something to break the silence that had once again fallen on the waiting room when the doors leading to the birthing room slowly swung open, revealing a very pale faced Shikamaru carefully holding a small bundle of blankets in his arms. One of his hands was swollen with what looked like a couple of broken bones, but he didn't seem to notice. In a second all the ocupants of the room were on him, demanding news. He slowly looked up from the precious bundle and shifted to show them the reddened face of a newborn boy.

 

“Guys... this is Asuma-kun” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

 

“I... is Kurenai-san okay?” asked Hinata in a small voice.

 

He looked at her and nodded, to everyone's relief.

 

“Yeah, they're cleaning her right now” he said. “Troublesome woman broke my hand too.” He winced.

 

“Here” said Ino, extending her arms to take the infant from him. “Go have that hand healed, we'll wait for you here.”

 

He reluctantly did as his teammate asked, heading down the hall in a daze.

 

“Poor guy, I'm surprised he didn't pass out from the shock” Kiba said, extending a finger to play with the newborn that Ino promptly swatted away.

 

“Idiot! Be careful with those claws of yours!” she screeched angrily.

 

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

 

“Sorry, forgot `bout `em for a moment there.”

 

“What the hell is all that noise about?! This is a hospital, not a goddamn pub!” came the Hokage's angry voice from behind them, Sakura hot on her heels. Ino had the decency to look slightly ashamed as she handed the baby to Sakura, who took him back to his mother's room.

 

“C-can we go in to s-see Kurenai-sensei, Hokage-sama?” stammered Hinata in her quiet voice, looking at the imponent image of the blond medic-nin.

 

Tsunade shook her head negatively.

 

“She's asleep right now, it'd be better if you got some sleep and came back later in the day. I'll tell her you were all here, though.” She responded. Then she turned to look at Kagome, who had been silent the whole time. “Kagome, I want to speak with you. Kakashi, you too. Come” she ordered, turning around and heading down the hall for her office.

 

Once the three of them where in the small room that served as an office for the head of the hospital, she closed the door and looked from the priestess to the silver haired jounin, as if wondering where to start.

 

“So, Kagome, “ she said at last “Kakashi told me what happened at Kurenai's house, but I'd like to hear it from you.”

 

Once Kagome made a reccount of the facts, the Hokage fell once again into silence.

 

“So those mist nin attacked both you and Kurenai...” she said after a while. She looked at Kakashi. “What do you think they were after?”

 

He scratched his masked chin thoughtfully before answering.

 

“There wasn't anything that would be of value to Mist in the house, so it is safe to say that they were either after Kurenai or Kagome” he said.

 

Kagome visibly stiffened beside him. What could they possibly want with her? It must have been the genjutsu specialist they were after, right? Not that that thought made her feel any better. Kakashi's voice interrupted her musings.

 

“If I had to guess, I'd say it was Kagome they were after, since Kurenai doesn't possess any bloodline limit, nor did Asuma, so that rules out the possibility that their child did. Even if her genjutsu abilities are impressive, if they were that desperate for a specialist they would have gone after a Sharingan user” he reasoned. “Kagome's abilities, on the other hand, are unique and impossible to emulate, so it would be the logical choice for a kidnapping.”

 

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement as Kagome started to freak out. What the hell was going on?

 

“Wait a minute” she said. “What would those ninja want with me? I've had no contact with any shinobi before I met Kakashi's team back in the forest, I have nothing to do with them!”

 

Tsunade nodded once again, trying to find a connection. She knew positively that Kagome had nothing to do with other shinobi nations, if only for the fact that Naruto had told her how the Kyuubi had reacted when he'd first seen her. If any of the other nations had someone who could terrify the nine tails in such a manner they would've overtaken the other villages a long time ago. So that was not it.. Then what?

 

Kakashi was thinking along the same lines. What conexion could possibly be between the priestess and a village such a Mist? He couldn't imagine the good hearted miko having dealings with the shinobi of the bloody mist, as they called themselves.

 

It was said miko who broke the silence once again.

 

“I... I think it must have something to do with the demons” she said. The other two stared at her, waiting for her to continue. “I mean... it must have, right? I am no good fighting humans, after all. Sure, I can fend off just about any civilian without trouble, but a genin could take me out without much hassle. But when I created the barrier around the village and fought off those youkai... Well, I might as well have written `PRIESTESS' in neon lights. So there must be some connection between the two, right?” she finished, almost reluctantly. Her fists where clenched at her sides, knuckles white with tension. She hated with a passion feeling helpless, and she loathed with all her might placing others in danger. And it seemed that it was exactly what she was doing. “Dammit!” she growled.

 

Tsunade and Kakashi looked at each other, then back at the fuming priestess in front of them. Mist, allied with youkai? They didn't even want to think about it. It could be dissastrous at best, it would have been already if it hadn't been for Kagome. What would happen if they succeeded in getting her next time?

 

The blond haired Hokage sighed in frustration. Why her? She needed a drink. And she needed to make sure that Kagome stayed safe. Luckily, she had the perfect solution for that right in front of her.

 

“Kakashi, I want you to keep an eye on Kagome from now on at all times, don't let her out of your sight and protect her with your life” she ordered, then turned to Kagome before she could open her mouth in protest. “Kagome, you must understand the situation. Right now you're the only thing between Konoha and those youkai. I know that you don't like this, but Kakashi is the very best and we can't take any chances. Please, don't make this any more difficult than it is. I'll try to contact the Mizukage and confirm or deny our suspicions, though it fits too well for my liking. I'll also call back all the teams that are outside Konoha until this situation is resolved. For now get some rest, I'll call you when I know something” she said in dismissal, letting her head fall to her hands, the beginnings of a headache, that for once had nothing to do with sake, making their appearance.

 

Kagome turned and left the room, jaw set so tightly that her teeth hurt and mind working in overdrive. There had to be something she could do, besides sitting here safely waiting for the enemy to attack.

 

Kakashi followed after her, a new problem that hadn't occured to him earlier beginning to take shape in his mind. How the hell was he going to survive living 24/7 with a bad tempered, vindictive and frustrated miko? `Damn, this'd better pay like a S-ranked...'

 

 

Half an hour later Kagome and Kakashi entered the Sharingan user's small apartment. They'd made a detour to pick the miko's sparse belongings from Kurenai's house and ask how the investigation was going. It seemed that they hadn't advanced much, so they'd left the ANBU and Intelligence shinobi to their task and set off for the jounin's home.

 

Kagome sighed as she plopped down on the lumpy sofa, stretching her tired legs in front of her. She hadn't spoken a word to his companion since they left the hospital earlier, her mind busy with thoughts that altered between frustration and determination. She barely noticed when Kakashi sat down beside her, similar thoughts running through his mind. He snapped out of it, though, when the miko brought her fist angrily onto the armrest.

 

“Dammit!” she swore, biting her lip in frustration.

 

The silver haired shinobi turned to watch her as she vented her anger gripping said armrest till her fist went numb.

 

“You okay?” he asked needlessly.

 

She glared at him. No, of course she wasn't alright.

 

“I hate it! Why must I always place everyone in danger? I feel so damn useless!” she half shouted, half growled.

 

“You know you're not useless, all of us are depending on you right now, you know” he tried to calm her. An angry Kagome never bode well for one's physical integrity, after all.

 

She wasn't being reasonable, though. She was beyond angry, she wanted to smash something, scream, throw things, anything!

 

“How can I calm down?! Kurenai and little Asuma could have died because of me tonight! My God, she was nine months pregnant and she had to defeat them herself! I hate feeling so fucking helpless!”

 

By now she was all out screaming, her nails biting into the skin of her palms so hard it was starting to draw blood, her back so tense it seemed about to snap. With a suffering sigh Kakashi grabbed her fisted hands in his, slowly coaxing them to open and relax before she could hurt herself. Her eyes snapped up to look at him, anger, frustration, guilt and a hundred other feelings swirling in them chaotically. He held her gaze, wondering if he should use the Sharingan on her so that she may calm down. He resolved against it, instead intertwining his fingers with hers and squeezing her hands to comfort her. When he spoke, it was very quiet, in the manner one would talk to a frightened child.

 

“Kagome” he said quietly, “if it hadn't been for you they would've already been dead. So would I. So stop this nonesense” he commanded.

 

She hung her head, defeated. He was right, of course, and she knew it, but the feeling of helplessness still remained. And to add to her turbulent emotions, the thumbs tracing small circles on the skin of her hands were doing strange things to her insides, and the memory of the previous day's kiss (had it only been one day?) came back with a vengeance. She had to make use of all her willpower to push down the lump that was forming in her throat and that threatened to bring her to humiliating tears. Instead, she forced herself to calm down and take a deep breath. Then, slowly, she raised her eyes to gaze at the charcoal grey one that was looking intently at her.

 

“Thank you” she whispered at last, giving Kakashi a hesitant smile and squeezing his hands back. He gave her his trademark happy eye crease and tightened his hands reassuringly one last time before letting go and getting up from the couch.

 

“So...” he said casually “I guess you can take the bed, since there's only one. I'll take the couch.” He had some manners after all.

 

Kagome shook her head rather violently.

 

“No, it's fine, I'm smaller, so I'll fit in the couch better” she said, more out of politeness than anything else. The lumpy piece of furniture looked anything but comfortable, and after the eventul night she needed all the rest she could get. She fully expected him to insist, but was in for a surprise.

 

“Really? Why, thank you, Kagome-chan” Kakashi answered without missing a beat, giving her a wave and disappearing into the small bedroom.

 

Kagome stared after him in openmouthed disbelief. What the hell?

 

“Hey!” she shouted after him, banging on his closed bedroom door “I was just being polite, I do want the bed!”

 

A few seconds later the door swung back open, almost making Kagome topple.Thankfully, she caught herself in time. When she looked back up, she had to catch herself before letting out an embarrassed `eep!'. There stood Kakashi, clad only in a pair of loose sweat pants and his ever present mask. She couldn't help noticing that he was indeed as well built as she'd originally thought. She regained control of herself soon enough to avoid staring for too long, but she'd bet that the idiot was smirking under the mask.

 

“That's too bad, Kagome-chan” he said. Now she was sure he was smirking. Damn him. “But if you want to share, be my guest” he invited, gesturing to the narrow bed in the corner of the room. There was no way in hell that two people could fit in a bed that small.

 

“You're insufferable” Kagome growled, turning back and heading to the sofa. She was sure she'd seen a blanket somewhere.

 

“So, I take it we won't be sharing the bed?” he asked from the doorway.

 

“You wish!” Kagome called back, wrapping herself in an old blanket she'd found and settling on the lumpy couch. She could hear Kakashi chuckling as he went back into his room.

 

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

 

It was some hours later that Kakashi woke up to the screams coming from his living room. Startled, he shot out of bed, kunai in hand and Sharingan flashing red, and barreled into the room the screams were coming from.

 

“LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU CREEP, DON'T TOUCH ME!!”

 

Kagome was thrashing on his couch, limbs swinging madly as she fought some invisible foe while screaming her lungs out. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat and her expression was a mixture of terror and hatred that was out of place on someone like her.

 

Kakashi moved close to her and grabbed her shoulder, trying to shake her out of her nightmare. She only struggled harder, so he had to grasp her other shoulder as well.

 

“Kagome, wake up!” he told her, shaking both her shoulders now, more forcefully than before. He sighed in relief when her eyes started to open slowly. What she said next, though, confused him more than anything.

 

“Sesshoumaru... you came” she spoke drowsily, before falling back to sleep.

 

Kakashi stood there for a while, glancing confusedly at the woman sleeping, now peacefully, on his sofa. Who the hell was Sesshoumaru?

 

 

It was a few hours later that Kakashi was woken up once again, this time because of the insistent pounding of a fist against his bedroom door. He groaned in suffering, stuffing his head under the pillow and willing the intruder to go away. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he remembered his `guest'. Cursing under his breath, he tiredly got up and made his way to the door.

 

“What do you want?” he asked, rather grumpily, when he encountered the raven haired miko fully dressed and for all appearances ready to go. He yawned sleepily, scratching his mussed hair.

 

“Come on, we need to get going” she told him excitedly, a determined expression set on her beautiful features. There was a spark in her eyes that had been missing before.

 

“What's the hurry?” he asked, heading for the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

 

“Well, I've been thinking” Kagome explained from the other side of the door “and I realized that the best source of info for this whole mess would probably be a youkai.”

 

“So?” Kakashi inquired “It's not like we can catch one of those beasts and interrogate it.”

 

“No, of course not” she responded. “But that's why I have to go talk to Naruto.”

 

She could hear Kakashi chocking on his toothpaste.

 

“You plan on interrogating the Kyuubi??” he asked between pants.

 

“Yep, that's the plan” she answered happily.

 

Kagome jumped back when the door swung open once again, to reveal a fully dressed Kakashi.

 

“Kagome, the Kyuubi has been sealed into Naruto for the past sixteen years. There's no way that it could know what's going on right now, in the unlikely case that it decided to cooperate” Kakashi stated.

 

“Oh, don't worry, it's no that what I'm going to ask” she said. “And believe me, it will cooperate” she added, grinning deviously.

 

 

Fifteen minutes later they were strolling past the gates of Konoha Hospital, intent on paying a visit to Kurenai and her newborn child as well as asking for Naruto's whereabouts.

 

“Kakashi-sensei, Kagome-san!” greeted Sakura's cheerful voice from one of the corridors. She waved at them and they made their way over to where she was standing, a tall stack of papers carefully balanced on her hands.

 

“Good afternoon, Sakura-chan” Kagome greeted. “How's it going?”

 

The pink haired kunoichi sighed tiredly.

 

“Not too bad, I'm finishing my shift when I take back these files to Tsunade-shishou's office, then I'm off to bed.” She gave them an appraising look. “Are you here to visit Kurenai-san?” she asked. They nodded. “That's what I thought. She's sleeping right now, though, maybe it'd be better if you came back later” she informed them, still trying to balance the stack.

 

Kagome looked disappointed, but Kakashi didn't lift his nose from the book he was reading.

 

“Oh, okay then” she said. “Could you tell us where to find Naruto-kun? I need to talk to him.”

 

Sakura blowed a stubborn pink strand of hair out of her face. It tickled.

 

“Sure, at this time he should be at the training grounds with Sasuke, beating the crap out of each other” she sighed in resignation. “Those two... Anyway, you're sure to find them there, good luck with getting their attention, though” she smiled. “And do me a favour and send their asses here when they're finished, they always manage to break some thing or other.”

 

Kagome laughed.

 

“Done. Thank you, Sakura-chan, I'll see you around” she said, waving to the pinkette as she wobbled away with her papers. Then she turned back to the silver haired ninja who'd stood silently through the whole exchange. She tried to grab his book, to no avail, but it got his attention.

 

“Well, you know the grounds better than I do, lead the way!” she ordered. He complied, muttering all the way about troublesome women in a way that was all too reminiscent of Shikamaru.

 

 

As Sakura had predicted, they found both the Uchiha and the Kyuubi container in one of the training grounds, though neither of them looked too bad for the wear. It took them a while to get their attention, mainly because Kakashi refused to move his lazy ass to stop their sparring, but when they finally managed the four of them sat on the grassy floor as Kagome explained her plan.

 

“So, you want to talk to the Kyuubi to learn which other youkai are around?” Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head.

 

“Hmm-hm, I want to know if any of my old friends is still around, so they could help us. And even if they're not...” she trailed off, not really wanting to think about the possibility of all of them being dead. “Even if they're not, we might learn something about the one who's controlling the low level youkai.” The rest nodded in understanding. “So, is there any way I can talk to it in person?”

 

“I can help you” Sasuke answered. “My Sharingan can take you to where the Kyuubi is being kept.”

 

“Yeah, Sasuke-teme here once got into my head with those freakish eyes of his” Naruto said, making a face.

 

“Okay, then, whenever you want” Kagome said, sitting very straight in preparison for whatever the raven haired shinobi was about to do.

 

Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi.

 

“What are you going to do?” he asked simply.

 

“I'm going in too, but I've got the mangekyo as well, so you just worry about Naruto and Kagome, I'll get myself in” the older man answered, lifting his hitai-ate.

 

“All right, here we go” Sasuke said. “Kagome-san, Dobe, look at me.”

 

Kagome did as she was told, and watched in fascination as the young man's dark eyes started bleeding red, revealing a swirling black pinwheel in the centre. She stared at them, mesmerized, as the pinwheels spinned slowly, a small part of her noticing that her surroundings were slowly melting away, leaving her in a black and red world. Before she had a chance to explore this new and strange dimension, however, it started changing as well to reveal a plain white room, with something of gigantic proportions on the far end. When the red eyes slowly looked away from her, she started to take more notice of her surroundings. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were there with her, and behind thick metal bars was what could only be the Kyuubi.

 

“Wow!” she exclaimed, more from the trip than the demon standing in front of her. “Those eyes of yours are sure something else!” she told Sasuke, who lifted the corner of his mouth in a slight smirk.

 

“Yeah, well, don't boost the bastard's ego anymore or his head's gonna burst or something” Naruto said grumpily, which made the Uchiha's smirk a bit wider.

 

“Now, now, children” Kakashi said, all of his attention on the great demon in front of him, his ever present book nowhere in sight.

 

The othe two stopped bickering as Kagome took a few steps forward, until she stood a couple of feet away from the fox demon's snout.

 

“Miko...” came the gutural voice of the demon.

 

“Demon” she countered. She knew it was irrational, but it'd always irritated her when they called her by anything but her given name. “I have some things to ask you” she stated, her voice firm and calm. The other three watched the interaction in awe and curiosity.

 

“Such insolence! Why would I help a miko of all people?” his dark, cruel laughter reverberated on the walls of the room, making it even more sinister. The miko didn't bat an eye, though. She'd heard worse, after all. “I shall enjoy overwhelming your aura, breaking you slowly even from inside this jail” he threatened, voice full of age old hatred.

 

Kagome's glared at him, and her voice became lower and dangerous, backed by the power of a priestess that could rival the legendary Midoriko. She released the tight rein she held on her aura, letting her power run free around her with intimidating intensity.

 

“Do not speak about matters you know nothing about, Kyuubi” she said, slowly. “I faced down the dark half demon Naraku in the Feudal Age, I traveled with the hanyou Inuyasha and fought beside the Demon Lord Sesshoumaru. I saw the gates of Hell opening in the mortal world and witnessed the power of the Three Great Swords. I am the Priestess of the Shikon, the one who purified the cursed jewel that contained the souls of Midoriko and the Great Demons! You shall do as I command!”

 

The three shinobi watched, mouths open in amazed disbelief as the Kyuubi, the greatest of the nine bijuu, backed away with each of her words, hiding in the dark recesses of his cell, terrified by the sheer power they possessed.

 

“You can't be her... She died five hundred years ago!” the Kyuubi tried to counter, though he remained hidden in the dark.

 

“She didn't die, she disappeared. She was thrown forth five hundred years into the future, to the time she belonged to” she answered, the raw pain of her admittance evident in her voice.

 

“You are truly her, aren't you?” Kagome nodded firmly. “The Shikon no Miko... very well. I shall answer your questions.”

 

“Good” Kagome said. “First question, what happened to all the demons? Are the bijuu the only ones that remain alive?”

 

“No, they aren't. After the Battle of the Shikon there was a period of peace between human and youkai, both licking their wounds that the jewelhad inflicted. However, that didn't last long. Humans are a stupid, self centered race that couldn't accept what was different from them. Even if the Taijiya no longer hunted down peaceful youkai, the villagers organized hunts and rallied parties to exterminate us, andsowe retaliated. In a last effort to avoid both races from erradicating each other, Inuyasha-sama and his mate, together with Sesshoumaru-sama, created a barrier between worlds, separating the youkai and the human. We call it the Wall. After that, we knew no more of the human world.”

 

“And then how is it that you are here?” Kagome asked, lost in memories of her old friends.

 

“Sixteen years ago a crack appeared in the Wall. I have no knowledge of how it happened of who did it, but it allowed some of us to pass through. We are what the humans call the nine bijuu.”

 

“I see...” Kagome mused. “So those youkai most likely came through another crack in this Wall. Hmm... We'll need to find it, and somehow close it again. It would be great help if I could communicate with Inuyasha and the others, but we'd have to find the crack first...” she touched her chin with her finger in thought.

 

“However, we are not the only youkai on this side of the Wall” this brought Kagome out of her reverie with a start.

 

“Who else is there?” she asked.

 

“Shippo-sama refused to leave, and remained hidden among the humans. He never stopped searching for his adopted mother.”

 

Kagome gasped.

 

“Shippo-chan...” she whispered. With a nod to the fox demon, she turned to her awestruck companions. “Sasuke-kun, please get us out of here” she asked. With a nod, he undid the technique and Naruto, Kagome and him appeared in the clearing. A few moments later Kakashi came back too. There was a moment of silence that was broken by Naruto's loud declaration.

 

“Woah, Kagome-chan! You're even scarier than Sakura-chan and Tsunade baa-chan!”

 

TBC...

 

So that's it for now, I hope you liked the chapter, as well as the reasons why there aren't many youkai in the ninja world. Please, review and let me know what you think.