InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing the Kitsune ❯ Forbidden Blood of the Past ( Chapter 28 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

IVX: Big thanks to ponygirl2112 for catching a plot hole that i could have smacked myself for. lol. Well here's the fixed chapter. If you already read it then it's not really nesesary to read it again. I only changed a couple of words... ^_~

~ Ch. 28 - Forbidden Blood of the Past ~

Kakashi finally had the mission orders he desired and was making his way to the memorial. He had an even stronger reason to come here now. Not only for his lost team mate, but for his student. The second one he had failed, this one paying a much heavier price. He sighed as he entered the small clearing, but came to a halt as he saw Naruto at the stone. This was the first time he’d encountered him here during his pre-mission ritual. He didn’t have to think twice about the reason though. He started walking again and Naruto turned a down trodden gaze on him. As soon as Naruto met his eyes, however, the blond gave a half hearted smile and strolled away with his hands in his pockets. Again Kakashi sighed to him self. ‘Make that three students.’ He knew what kind of relationship had been blooming between Kagome and Naruto. So now the boy had lost his best friend to betrayal and his special someone because of said betrayal. ‘I should have been able to help you more Naruto. I’m sorry.’

Kakashi made it to the stone and first looked upon the familiar name of his long lost comrade. After a moment he went to the other side to look upon Kagome’s freshly carved one. ‘I’m sorry to you as well Kagome.’ He knew there was nothing he could have done, being so far away when it happened, but maybe if he had of been a better, more attentive teacher, not only recently, but a couple years ago as well, then all this might not have... ‘No, I can’t go on thinking like that.’ He bowed his head to Kagome’s name for a moment. “I’ll do my best to make up for past mistakes... for what happened to you.” ‘Thats all I can do.’ With that, he left to find the others.

As Kakashi neared where he was to meet his team he heard Sakura’s aggravated voice and his eyebrow raised in curiosity. “You sound just like Kakashi-sensai! When did you pick up his bad habits?” She huffed.

As the group came into view he saw Naruto rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Naruto then responded with something that made Kakashi give a small smile. “No, Really Sakura there was this old lady who...”

“Oh can it!” She huffed just as Kakashi appeared. She turned hard eyes on him. “And you!” She pointed. “Don’t even say it.” She huffed and walked towards the gate with Kiba in tow.

Both Naruto and Kakashi sweat dropped before looking at each other with a knowing half smile. They then turned to follow after the bubble gum haired firecracker.

*A couple weeks later

Sauske finally came to a stop, his chest heaving from the over exertion of his escape. He turned his eyes, long ago returned to onyx, up to the moonless sky. At least the little light should give him better cover. His mind finally cleared and he had a chance to think back on what happened. ‘She’s such a fool. I might have been able to get her out of there too if she hadn’t been so stupid.’

Tonight was the night of which they had planned their escape, it would have worked too, if not for a stroke of bad luck. Just as the sun was setting, they came for her. Thanks to him, Orochimaru knew of her night of weakness and he was going to try the power syphon again. At the remembrance, Sasuke mentally berated himself for his own stupidity. If only he had know about the curse’s effects sooner...

*Flash Back... A few hours earlier

Sasuke watched from the shadows, with the help of a certain little girl, as Kabuto lay an unconscious and bandaged Kagome on her futon. After the man left, surprisingly without re-shackling her, the other two occupants of the room emerged from the dark depths. Sasuke rushed to her side and rolled her so that she faced him. “Kagome.” He whispered as he brushed some ebony strands of hair from her sweaty brow. “Kagome, wake up.” he tapped her cheek lightly and she started to rouse.

“...who...” She asked groggily.

“Shhh.” He whispered as he placed his hand over her mouth. “It’s me, Sasuke. Quietly, are you ok?”

Her world was swimming and the unwelcome flashes of memory assaulted her. She turned to the side and emptied her stomach. After she finished Sasuke helped her sit up. She held her head as she whispered to him. “I think I’ll be ok, but these images are making it hard to think straight.”

Sasuke turned back to the little half-snake. “Tuskiko, go keep an eye on your father for me. If he comes near, alert me immediately.” She nodded and disappeared in tendrils of black. Turning back to Kagome, he noticed something poking out from under the bandage on her wrist. He took her arm in his and pulled the white material aside to get a closer look. His eyes widened as he saw the tattooed marks. He hurriedly removed the other bandages from her neck and three other appendages. All of them were encircled in shackle like tattoos with symbols running along the rims. He looked in to her eyes to get her to focus on him. “What did he do to you?”

She looked at the marks he had uncovered and took a moment to sort through her jumbled mind. “I can’t remember. Every things so messed up in my head right now.” She shook her head from side to side as if she were trying to clear out the cobwebs.

“Never mind it for the moment. Do you have the strength to do what we talked about?”

She flexed her hand and it glowed pink. “I think I do.” The energy flared a bit more and she sighed in relief as a bit of tribal slowly slid across her skin. However, the marks stopped at her shackle marks.

“What does that mean?” He questioned in concern, looking at the marks.

She frowned as she listened to the jewel explain what the marks were doing. “It seems he found a way to put some kind of limit on my ability to draw from the jewel. Don’t worry, it’s not enough of one to stop me from getting that blasted mark off of you."

Sasuke looked uneasy. “Maybe I should keep the mark until we get to safety.”

“No.” She whispered sternly. “If Orochimaru finds out your trying to turn on him, he’ll just turn up the juice on your mark and then where would we be?” She smiled weakly. “Are you ready to be free?”

“But what if I don’t have enough power to escape with out it?”

She placed a reassuring hand on his cheek. “You have something inside of you that is more powerful than the curse and all your own. Your blood right.” He looked at her confused.

She shook her head as she talked to herself. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out before.” She looked back into his eyes. “I do remember one thing clearly from what happened. It’s so obvious now.”

“What, what is it?” He asked getting a little impatient.

“A bit of information Orochimaru stumbled across.” She smirked. “You have a power that I can feed with the same energy that will help me remove your curse.”

“Spit it out already.”

“Sasuke, you have demon blood running in your veins.”

“That’s absurd.” He snorted.

“It’s not just you Sasuke. It’s almost every great clan with a hijutsu. Your ancestors thought to strengthen their abilities by mixing themselves with their most powerful demon familiars, just as Orochimaru did with little Tsukiko.” She gave him a minute to digest the information before pressing on, but after a moment she continued. “Now lets get to work before we are found out.” He nodded and she placed her hand on his neck. “This isn’t going to be pleasant.”

He braced himself and nodded once more. A light flared under her palm and he suddenly felt as if his insides were being ripped through a pin whole in his neck. The feeling made him weak and nauseous, but he made sure no sound escaped his lips. He focused on her big brown eyes to stay conscious though it. Finally she pulled her hand away and he slumped against her, feeling completely drained.

His head seemed somewhat clearer now. Like a dull hum had been lifted from his mind. Then he was hit with a wave of emotions. Emotions he had not felt when he should have. The guilt and hurt of every betrayal and underhanded act he committed against his friends hit him like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened and took every ounce of what was left of his energy not to poor tears from his eyes. “What have I been doing?” He questioned himself accusingly.

Kagome encased him in a soft hug. “It’s not your fault. They will understand in time.” She seemed to know what the sound in his voice meant. He was feeling guilty and she was comforting him for it.

Tsukiko suddenly appeared. “Sasuke, he knows and he’s on his way here, right now!” She said hurriedly next to his ear.

“Already? I don’t have the strength to fight him right now.” He sighed. “Are you sure you won’t come with us?” He asked the little girl. She would make their escape much easier.

She backed away slowly. “My lord will already be mad enough if he finds out I helped you this much. I’m sorry, I have to go now.”

She disappeared again and Sasuke felt sorry for her. That bastard had really screwed her in the head. She wouldn’t even try to escape her father’s evil clutches for fear of what he’d do to her when he caught up to her. He was brought back to the reality of the situation when he heard Kagome’s voice.

Kagome spoke, but what she said seem like part of a conversation he came in the middle of. “Just do it. Protect them or I’ll hand the powers over to him myself.” Her angry whisper caused him to raise a curious brow. She took notice and waved him off. “Never mind that.” She said nervously before her look turned deadly serious. “You remember that inner strength I told you about, well get ready to use it.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself, you don’t have the energy to fight him or his goons right now and neither do I in this condition. I’m going to give you the power that I can push past these new binds placed on me.” She placed her hands on both his shoulders, but she gave him one last instruction of sorts. “Now listen very carefully, you are going to gain a massive amount of strength and energy, but it comes at a price. You may lose some of your rational thought. I don’t know how bad you will be affected by this seeing as how diluted your demon blood is, but be on guard for it.” She put a finger in his face as a warning. “You are going to have to leave me behind. Once I give you this power I am going to pass out. If you touch me, my priestess powers may try to purify you, or at least your blood, and then this will have helped no one.”

“I can’t just leave you here.”

“Your going to have to. I know now, the most important thing is to not let the power I hold to fall into his clutches.” She smiled. “Just don’t forget about me once your on the other side. I’m counting on you to bring the calvary.” Her ears twitched. “He’s almost here. Time to say goodbye.” Her body and hands flared to life with light and the tribal seemed to be trying to break through the binds in their way.

He was flooded with an energy that sent his heart racing and set his blood on fire. It reached deep inside him and pulled on his own life force to rise up and meet it. His entire being felt more alive than he had ever felt in all his years of life. His vision sharpened in the dim light and his hearing heightened. His nails turned to claws and he felt his k-9s elongated. Suddenly, with out reason, the mangekyou sharingan was activated. As he felt his muscles bulge slightly, he was hit with a familiar feeling of influence. It whispered to his mind to shed blood, the blood of anyone who came near, including the girl clinging to him. “No...” He shook the thought from his head. No more will he be influence, including by his own inner demon. This was his body, his mind, and nothing was going to take his rational though away again.

Kagome stopped glowing as the curse mark receded and she fell sideways to land on her futon. He went to touch her, but the feeling of being burnt licked his hands the minute he reached for her, reminding him of what she said. He had no longer to think about it however, as the door flung open. There before him, stood his now ex-master.

*End Flash Back

A noise, a short distance behind him, brought him back to the here and now. He lifted his shirt to examine the sword slash. ‘I’m lucky it isn’t more serious. My increased speed and reflexes were the only reason I didn’t die tonight.’ He glanced around before taking off to the trees again. ‘Don’t worry Kagome, I’ll send them for you. It won’t be long now.’

As it turns out, reports of a certain demon vessel and entourage came in just that day. They were far enough away for Orochimaru not to be to concerned, but close enough for Sauske to intercept them in half a day. Now all he had to do was convince them not to kill him before he told them about Kagome...

* With the search and rescue party

Naruto sat in the branch of a tree, watching over his sleeping comrades. Inuyasha and Gaara were absent though. Inuyasha running an "area sweep" since just before sun down to "make sure they were safe" and Gaara back in his village for the moment. When they had reached the border of Earth Country, Temari and a couple Sand ANBU had met up with them. While Gaara was on leave, Orochimaru had caused trouble in the form of a small coup. Gaara had to leave, but forced Temari to accompany them in his stead until he could return. They’re group was deep into Earth Country now. Past the village he had lost Kagome in and long past Iwa.

A gentle breeze came from the west and caressed his face. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. For a moment he could almost imagine Kagome softly touching his cheek, but he was shocked out of his small fantasy by a familiar scent the wind carried. He growled and took a crouched position in the direction of the scent. He didn’t turn to greet Inuyasha as he apeared on the branch behind him. Naruto was glaring hard eyes into the darkness.

Inuyasha, unable to use his sence of smell, still knew what was going on by Naruto's behavior. “Who is it? They weren’t there when I checked that direction.”

Naruto growled out, “Sasuke” but it sounded more like a curse word than the answer to a question. On the inside, Naruto and Kyuubi were in complete agreement on the need to throtle the ex-leaf, but they were in a deadlock on who would get to do it. “I will kill the little bastard for getting my vixen in that whole debacle in the first place.” ‘But I’m the one he betrayed and hurt. It’s my job.’ “He took from me!” ‘And not me? He’s my ex-team mate!’ “Grrr... And you’ve always hesitated with him!” Naruto was silent for a moment. Then he conceaded. ‘Fine.’ He didn’t want to let Sauske get away with what he had done because he didn’t have such a strong heart for revenge.

Inuyasha jumped up beside him and smirked as he saw the boys eyes bleed red. “If you take this idiot out then I get the snake, Fox.”

Deep red pools glared to Inuyassha's brown orbs. “Only if I don’t get him first, Human.” This caused Inuyasha’s smirk to fade to a scoul, but he didn’t have time to respond. Kyuubi jumped down from the branch and landed between his vessels sleeping friends and the target of his rage. He released a flare of energy and growled loudly as the teen came into sight.

The others of the group were on their feet in a second. Sakura gasped as she saw their old teammate, but Kakashi spoke up. “Naruto, don’t charge into this, it could be a trap.” He went to put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, but just before his hand made contact he met the glare of crimson eyes and a growl.

“Touch me and you’ll lose that hand.” He turned his head back to the teen before him.

Kakashi pulled his hand back as if it were burnt. ‘That voice, it isn’t Naruto’s.’ Kakashi’s eye narrowed suspiciously. He had a guess, but he had to confirm it. “Naruto?”

Kyuubi smirked. “The kit isn’t here at the moment. This is my revenge, so stay out of my way.”

Sasuke flinched and the others looked at him in shock. Sasuke knew he didn’t have a chance trying to rationalize with the fox. His only chance was to get Naruto back to the surface. “Kyuubi...” He began, but before he could say any more a punch sent him through a nearby tree. He coughed and gripped his wound, which was now bleeding with renewed vigor. He made to stand up, but suddenly found himself pinned with deadly claws at his throat.

“Naruto!” Sakura yell as she rushed to them, trying to snap her friend out of it.

Kyuubi turned deadly eyes on her and she froze in her tracks. ‘This isn’t the same as before, some thing’s wrong.’

“I told you! The boy is not here. If you weren’t dear to him I would have already killed you for interrupting.” He growled out. “Now back off!”

Kakashi caught Sakura as she stumbled back and the group kept their distance. Unable to do anything and unsure how to handle this new situation.

Sasuke was trying to pry away the hand cutting off the circulation to his brain. If he died then he deserved it for what he had done, but they needed to get to Kagome and fast. “K..Kagome..” Kyuubi’s glare whip back around to his eyes with avengeance and the the grip tighened to the point Sasuke feared his trachea would colapse.

“How dare you say her name with that filthy little mouth of yours!” He smelled the blood and smirked. He trailed a clawed hand down to the boy’s abdomen. Sasuke’s face tightened in pain as Kyuubi’s clawed fingers dug into his sword slash, but he was unable to make a sound. His eyes rolled back in his head slightly. “Oh no you don’t. You’ll feel every bit.” Kyuubi loosened his grip so the boy wouldn’t lose consciousness.

A ruff inhale was fallowed closely by a rugged cry of pain. Sasuke struggled against the pain to concentrate on his mission. “Sh... she’s a..alive.” He managed through his damaged throat.

“Liar!” Kyuubi picked him up by the neck and slammed his back into a tree, causing it to splinter. “You would try and save your life with that untruth? All it does is power my anger and hatred.” He smirked. “And blood lust.” He shoved his clawed thumb into his wound again. Sakura started to cry as she watched and Kakashi held her back. “On second thought, I think I would like to hear you beg and grovel for your life like the worm you are.”

Kyuubi turned his gaze to the others and Kakashi stepped in front of them. Kyuubi threw Sasuke on the ground before them. He jumped and landed with a knee in the boys back, causing the ground around them to crack. The fox reached out with a clawed finger and forced a wincing Uchiha to look at the ones he betrayed. The claw in his chin was drawing blood and slowly sinking further into the soft tissue.

“Beg for their forgiveness. Tell them what a worthless piece of shit you are.” Growled out Kyuubi before he removed his finger.

Sauske looked into the frightened and angry eyes of his former comrades and the rush of guilty he felt was nearly crippling, but he pushed it aside. He owed it to Kagome. “Kagome...Ahhh!”

Kyuubi dug claws into the bak of his neck. “Wrong!”

“STOP! Please, stop it!” Screamed a teary eyed Sakura being held back by a glaring Kakashi.

“She’s right, this is torture. Just... get it over with.”

“As you wish Naruto.” Kyuubi placed the boy in front of him in a kneeling position and held his claws to his throat. “Time to end your pathetic life.”

"NO!" Screamed Sakura.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IVX: Am I not the most evil of evil writers. ;;;shifty glance;;; lol. I do love cliffys though. Well I hope this got you all worked up and ready for more. I had this mostly done for a while, but the I had to get my husband ready for basic training and I just saw him off yesterday. Otherwise this would have been out sooner. Well, R&R please... ^_~