Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Roots In My Soul ❯ To Talk With A Spirit ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: Well, as you can see, I took out the first chapter out. I just decided I didn’t like it and it wasn’t really needed. It just seemed all wrong so this is going to be the first chapter for now. I’m not really sure when I’ll update next because I’m having a bit of a hard time getting the beginning of the chapter out. The rest of it is written in stone but I don’t like the beginning at all. Anyway, R&R!Summary- She was done with magic and everything that came with it; but it was obvious that magic wasn't done with her. The past was over but now, now she had him to deal with. The rocks weren't helping either.Warnings: Mild Language, Sexual ImplicationsGenre: Romance, Action/Adventure, Mystery, HumorRating: T- teenPairings: Kagome/Sasuke, other minor pairingsType: CrossoverDisclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto. They belong to their respected owners.@#@#@#@

Chapter One - To Talk With A Spirit@#@#@#@#@Don't dwell on what you can't change; you'll waste the time of what you can.@#@#@#@#@#She woke up with a pounding headache and feeling as if someone had driven a blade through her stomach. As her hands went to her temples to sooth it she saw her mother, anxiously watching her. There was a moment of silence as they both looked at each other, faces searching the others as if it revealed the clues that lay hidden. Kagome didn't know what she was looking for but she knew that her mother didn't know either." Mama!" Kagome's cry broke the silence between them and, despite the pains in her stomach, she flung herself into her mother's comforting arms. Nyoko soothed her daughters frayed nerves, speaking comforting words and gently running her hands through her daughters dust-filled hair. She squeezed her eyes shut as her daughter’s sobs echoed out in the room. She couldn't let this happen again. Not to her little girl. Loyalties be damned. She had to protect her daughter anyway she could." Kagome, you should get your rest now. You shouldn't strain your stomach." Kagome blinked back tears as she looked at her stomach. Fresh bandages wrapped her lower abdomen, encasing it fully. Her mother had probably just put new ones on judging by the bloody rags on the floor. She looked up at her comforter and nodded. She would heed her mother's advice; she always seemed to be right.@#@#@#@#@#Kagome ducked her head to shield her eyes from the sun. It was extremely hot outside and she was glad she didn't take her sweater like she had wanted to do. Sweeping the shrine grounds was hard work but time spent in the Feudal Era had toughened her up. Sighing as she wiped a sheen of sweat from her glistening forehead, Kagome decided to take a break. She didn't thing her grandfather would mind.The Goshinboku seemed like a good place to rest. It provided shade and its comforting presence always seemed to make her feel safer. She felt a pang in her chest. But it also reminded her of her friends in the past. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. No, it reminded her of her dead friends in the past. Kagome took in a shuddering breath, determined to move on.Sitting at the base of the tree, Kagome instantly felt more relaxed. " I haven't come here in a while. I guess I was to afraid of what I might find or even remember." She laughed without humor. " I know many people would think that it's weird that I'm talking to a tree but I guess they wouldn't understand." A scowl was present on her face. " No one in this time understands. It's times like these that I wish I never went into the past. That I never met Inuyasha, or Shippo, or Miroku, or Sango and Kilala. It's time like these that I wish that Kaede never told me what I really was or that I never took Inuyasha down from you." But then there are times when I'm grateful for it. That I'm grateful for having gone through the well, that I'm grateful for having such good friends, that I'm grateful for everything that happened." She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. " I just don't know if I should be grateful for being sent back..." Kagome stood up slowly. Resting her hands on the Goshinboku she said softly, " Thanks for listening. And thanks for being there for me. I wish you could be there for me all the time."Kagome walked away slowly. She didn't feel like going but she knew she had work to do. She could visit the Goshinboku later. A wind suddenly picked up and Kagome shivered involuntarily. Behind her the Goshinboku glowed softly.@#@#@#@#@#Sakura laughed at Naruto's antics while Sasuke stood off to the side, fighting down a smirk. " What are you doing, dobe?"Naruto turned to glare at him playfully. " Something that you obviously can't do, teme." The blonde-haired teen was trying unsuccessfully to sow his torn clothing." Ow, " He said again. Sakura sighed before digging out another band-aid. She was going to run out of them if Naruto continued." Give it to me, Naruto," Sasuke said gruffly. Naruto was about to say no but Sasuke grabbed it from him roughly. Both he and Sakura watched in amazement as Sasuke quickly patched up Naruto shirt. He gave it back to his teammate with a, " When my clan died I had to learn to make my own clothing."Sakura nodded in understanding but Naruto smiled widely. " We have our own tailor now. " He danced around Sakura and Sasuke enthusiastically. " I can spend more money on ramen!" Sakura bit back a smile as Sasuke glared at his friend." I am not your personal tailor, dobe, I just helped you once. Once! " Naruto ignored him in favor of pushing chakra into his feet and jumping into a tree. He grinned down at his teammates, his blue eyes flashing." I can see my house from here," he shouted to them. Sakura followed his lead and soon she was sitting next to him on the tree. She looked in the direction he was pointing at and sighed softly." Hey, your right." A thump next to her alerted her to the fact that Sasuke had joined them in their gazing. He leaned casually against the tree trunk with his hands folded behind his head. Her bangs blew in the wind and she tucked it behind her ear gently. " When are we going back to the village?" Her soft voice broke the silence.Sasuke sighed inwardly. He didn't want to go back to the village. Not yet, anyway. Hopefully they'd get another mission when they got there. " We should go tomorrow. That's when they'll be expecting us." Both Naruto and Sakura nodded at his statement; for once Naruto didn't disagree with what Sasuke had said. " Come on, let's go."They all jumped off the tree and as soon as their feet touched the ground they were off.@#@#@#@#@#@#Kagome felt it in the night. The feeling of being completely submerged under water. She could breath, though, and enjoyed the unusual yet calming feeling. She opened her eyes slowly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. It wasn't dark, though.Her eyes widened as she realized her hand was glowing. She sat up quickly, a gasp tearing itself from her mouth. ' What the hell?', she thought. She jumped up from her bed and looked at her vanity mirror. She really was glowing, and...and she was glowing green!She almost screamed but then she remembered that her family was still sleeping soundly in their beds. But then she saw something reflecting on her mirror. It was the Goshinboku! Immediately running towards her open window, Kagome blinked several times to get the image of the glowing tree out of her head. ' What the hell?' She ran down her stairs and quickly and opened the door, not even putting on her shoes. It was true. The tree was glowing, and so was her skin.Kagome stepped towards it and put her hand on the base of its trunk. It was warm to the touch but Kagome hardly noticed it. She was to busy watching the slithers of glowing green fibers slide up her arm until it disappeared into her skin. Kagome stared in wonder. She couldn't even stop their movements and she didn't even think she wanted to.The wind picked up and the leaves of the Goshinboku rustled gently. Kagome was fascinated. She was fascinated by everything about the tree. Kagome stepped forward and then took another step. It wasn't long before both her hands were on the trunk of the tree. The wind began to blow furiously and her hair was swept by it. And in that moment of time, since she had come back from the past, Kagome actually felt alive. Alive and strengthened.' Kagome...'The sound of her name brought her to her senses. She looked up at the tree as its glow flickered.' Kagome...'Her name again. Kagome removed her hands from the trunk of the Goshinboku and the warmth was gone.' Kagome...I shall protect you...'For some reason Kagome knew it was the tree that was talking. She looked at the mark that showed where Kikyo's arrow had pinned Inuyasha five hundred years previous. It was the only part of the tree that was still glowing before, it too, flickered out of existence.' I shall protect you, Kagome...always...'And Kagome believed it.@#@#@#@#@#@Sasuke watched the Hokage closely, knowing that whatever she had to say had to be important if she had to have all of them in the office. And Tsunade certainly looked drunker than usual. He wrinkled his nose as the smell of alcohol filled the room. He could practically feel Naruto twitching." Teams," Tsunade’s voice slurred, " I need you to travel to the non-ninja lands of Japan." She clutched her head. " I know that it's supposed to be a S-class mission but your the only one's that I know are qualified for the job." This statement shut Sakura up abruptly." What's the mission about?" Naruto's hoarse voice called out. Kakashi looked at him, raising an eyebrow, but nodded in agreement. Even he had never been to the mainland’s but that was more out of precautions for his own safety then for any other reasons. He looked closely at his hokage.Tsunade sighed. " The chakra levels there are high. I afraid that a new jutsu has been unleashed." She looked at the papers strewn on her desk. " Or maybe a missing nin or demon has found its way onto the main lands." Naruto stiffened at the word demon but relaxed when he felt Sakura's comforting hand on his shoulder." When...When are we to go?", Hinata's soft voice asked. She blushed slightly when she realized that everyone was staring at her but straightened up a moment later. She still didn't meet anyone's eyes. She saw Naruto from the corner of her eye smile at her. She fought down her blush." As soon as possible. Get your things together, now. Meet me at the gates in an hour. No later." She looked at Kakashi when she said this but the copy-ninja just smiled lazily at her. She could tell from the crinkling of his eye.Sakura linked arms with Hinata and said cheerfully, " We should help each other pack. Then we'll be faster." She laughed as Hinata smiled shyly. Ino trailed behind them slowly. What should she wear to impress Sasuke?" This shall be our first mission on the mainland’s," Iruka said to Kakashi. The sharigan user nodded." But we shall be prepared for whatever we are about to face, unlike the last ones," Kakashi added. Both he and Iruka were silent, remembering, long ago, what had befallen the group of ninja's that had last dared to journey to the mainland’s. No one had seen them since they had left the village. Yet they were all afraid to speak of what happened.@#@#@#@#@#@#Leiko swept her long hair from her face, not wanting to miss any of what was going on in front of her. This was to important and she could practically feel the power that was radiating from the tree but she couldn’t place where the source was coming from. She narrowed her eyes into slits before raising both her hands which were glowing pink. Placing both hands on the tree before her Leiko immediately scowled when she was scalded by whatever it was in a tree.“ How the hell am I supposed to do this?”, Leiko asked herself, the scowl still present on her face. She tried again only to be presented with the same response. Lashing out at a near-by tree, Leiko immediately regretted it when she drew it back to reveal bloody gashes on her fingers. She cursed under her breath as she cradled the wounded hand to her chest.It wasn’t impossible. She just needed more help. She stepped away from the tree before walking away. As her mind wandered off she didn’t watch where her feet was taking her and in her imaginings tripped over an uprooted tree root. Her hands went out in front of her to break her fall but she had forgotten about her wounded hand and it twisted on impact. Leiko bit back a groan, not wanting to alert any stray wanderers to her presence, but let a tear slid down her cheek.“ What is wrong with me today?”, she whispered to herself, mindful of her voice. She grabbed handful of dirt before throwing it in front of her. Her anger was not sated, though, and she made to grab another pile of dirt but stopped immediately when she pricked her finger on something sharp. She had to bite her lip hard to keep from screaming and went to grab the offender.‘ What the…?’Leiko picked up a small, sharp yellow rock. She raised it up to eye level, squinting marginally.‘ No rock I’ve seen is this color!’She wrinkled her noise in confusion as she sniffed. It didn’t smell bad. Not that she knew what a rock was supposed to smell like but she didn’t know if it was some sort of spell out there for her benefit. She looked around her discreetly before stuffing the rock into her pocket. Standing up slowly, Leiko again looked around her before walking away from the area. She still had to check her arm and she had to tell her brother about her discovery.@#@#@#@#@#I know my first chapter came out as a bust but this is better written. R&R!