InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mind Reader ❯ Kazuo ( Chapter 12 )

Sorry for not updating in awhile. But I had gone to LA for 6 days and so was without internet access. But I'm back, and with an extra long chapter! Please enjoy.

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Mind Reader

Chapter 9: Kazuo

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Kagome tiredly rubbed her eyes and glanced at the sky. `Darn, it's not even evening yet. Stupid sun, hurry up and go down, I want to stop!'

Sango was thinking much the same thing. Sesshoumaru had set a much brisker pace than Inuyasha ever did and he never stopped. And neither of them had any control of him. At least with Inuyasha Kagome could just sit him whenever they wanted to stop. They had no such power over Sesshoumaru. Sango lifted a hand and gently slid it to her boomerang. It was finally time to use it to make Sesshoumaru stop.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes before turning to face the girls. "It won't work wench, I can hear every move you two make."

Sango dejectedly dropped her hand. "But you have to let us stop for a break. We are only human, we don't have the stamina of a demon."

"Too bad, you should have thought of that before you volunteered to come with us."

"Too bad? That's all you can say? You are going to walk us to death. We haven't stopped once since we left this morning!" Sango angrily replied, meeting Sesshoumaru's glare head on.

"We can't afford to stop. Akki and Naraku are together and we know nothing of the situation. Every minute we stop gives them more time find us and then kill us," responded Sesshoumaru without a seconds' thought. He turned to continue on when his gaze happened to fall upon Kagome. She had her sleeping bag out and was currently preparing a fire. "What the hell do you think you're doing wench? We don't stop until nightfall."

"Nah, I don't like that idea. Besides, the sun is going to set in less than an hour. So I decided that this spot is a good place to rest. And tomorrow we will set a slower pace."

"No."

"Yes."

"We are leaving now. We can walk for another hour and then stop."

"Then you'll have to carry me cuz I'm not moving another foot."

"No."

"Yes."

"Hey Sango guess what Sesshoumaru likes."

"Hmm? What's that?" Sango asked, her curiosity piqued.

~ NO! Not another word! ~

Kagome feigned ignorance and started to open her mouth.

"I've changed my mind. This is a good spot to stop for the night. Might not be another nice spot an hour away from here."

Sango looked at Sesshoumaru oddly, shrugged her shoulders and plopped down next to Kagome. "Cool, so Kagome, what were you gonna tell me?"

"Umm," Kagome began, thinking quickly, "he likes to give Rin piggy back rides."

"Really? I never would have imagined that. So what did you bring for dinner?"

"Let's see, I have ramen, more ramen, and ooooh look!!! More ramen!" Kagome enthusiastically replied, holding up many bags of ramen. `Darn, how come all I ever seem to have is ramen? Oh yeah, silly me, it's cuz that's all Inuyasha seems to like.'

Sango gave the bags of ramen a very evil look.

~ Ugh, that's all we ever have. Ramen ramen ramen. I'm sick of ramen! Stupid Inuyasha, why can't he like something good like chocolate or cookies? ~

Kagome gave her friend a sympathetic look before getting an idea. She quickly stood up and walked up to Sesshoumaru who was staring off into the distance. "Hey Sesshoumaru?"

"What do you want now wench?"

"Ok, first quit calling me and Sango wench, we have names, use them. Second, I was thinking that maybeyoucouldgohuntsomethingforuspleasewedon'twantramen." Kagome finished staring at the ground. `Oh man, I'm such a fool. He's gonna get mad at me for sure.'

"Is that all? Fine I'll be right back with something for us to eat." Sesshoumaru took notice of Kagome's awestruck expression and sighed. "Demons have to eat too you know." Then he took off into the woods.

Kagome slowly walked back to Sango and in a daze added more wood to the fire. Sango saw this and quickly pulled her friend down. "Stop, you're gonna wind up falling in. And I definitely don't want to be the one to tell Inuyasha how we happened to let you fall into a fire and get burned. I guess I could let Sesshoumaru do that…"

Kagome laughed at her friend and lightly jabbed her shoulder. "Aren't you so kind, so willing to give up on your friend just cuz of a little burn. But I suppose that it would take care of Miroku's incessant groping if I'm all ugly because of a burn."

"Nah, he would probably be even more persistent. I could see him now, `No, I insist let more put the medicine on Kagome's body. What do you mean she doesn't have any burns on her chest? Of course she was burned there, how could she have not of been burned there?' Yeah, and then Inuyasha would wind up killing him for his pervertedness. I'm not even sure if that is a word, but you get my point."

"Ok ok, I won't fall into the fire."

"Good, and why were you like that anyways?"

"Oh, I asked Sesshoumaru if he could go hunt something for us and he said he would. He didn't complain or anything."

"Wow, that's surprising. Maybe he's actually nicer than Inuyasha…maybe."

"Haha, yeah maybe he is. But he really doesn't seem like a bad person. Maybe in the past we just always caught him on a bad day."

Sango was about to make a snide remark when Sesshoumaru walked back with a deer held gingerly out in front of him.

~ Must…not…get…blood…on…clean…clothes! ~

Kagome held in her laughter and stood up along with Sango. Together they took the deer and skinned it and set it over the fire to cook. They sat down side by side and watched the deer slowly roast. Both were taken completely by surprise when Sesshoumaru sat down on the other side of the fire.

"What? Can't I sit down?" Sesshoumaru gruffly said, getting annoyed with the two girls. Everything he did seemed to elicit the `oh my god I can't believe Sesshoumaru acted normal' look, which is what he now called it. He seemed to get it every hour. Examples? Stopping for a bathroom break. What? Did they think that he never had to go pee? He also sneezed one time. Quick! Every stop moving and freeze! Sesshoumaru sneezed! Tripping, burping, even drinking water, both of them always stared like he wasn't suppose to do anything normal. It was getting old.

The girls saw the demon's reaction and quickly averted their eyes from the cranky demon lord.

"Man I wish there was a hotspring. I could really use a bath." Kagome said, wisely striking up a conversation.

"Yeah, I'm so sweaty from today the dirt is sticking all over me," agreed Sango.

"You didn't happen to come across one while hunting?" asked Kagome, directing it towards Sesshoumaru.

"Hmph. Is the deer done yet wench?"

"I told you to call us by our names! I'm Kagome. This is Sango. You get no deer until you use them."

"That's not fair, I killed it."

"Oh well, we cooked it." Kagome haughtily replied, turning the deer in the fire.

"Fine. Yes KA-GO-ME there is a hotspring about 5 minutes that way," said Sesshoumaru, pointing a finger behind him. "And SAN-GO, I agree, the dirt is sticking all over you. You could use a bath."

Sango's jaw dropped but then she promptly stomped over to Sesshoumaru. She then proceeded to drop a handful of dirt all over his shiny, gorgeous white hair. Which now thanks to her had streaks of brown all through it.

"Now who's the dirty one?"

"You better run now and run fast. I am 5 seconds from ripping your pathetic head off… Why are you still here? Do you think I am kidding?"

"Actually yes, as 5 seconds have already passed since you said it was 5 seconds til her head got ripped off," stated Kagome, unsuccessfully holding in her laughter.

"Never insult how a girl looks. It will never be worth the revenge that is sure to follow." Sango informed the demon lord before sitting back down.

"But thanks for the info, I'm sure we'll take advantage of the hotspring," said Kagome. "Ooh, deer's done. Let's eat."

"I cannot eat when I look like this." Sesshoumaru stood up and walked out of the clearing. He reappeared 5 minutes later, all traces of the dirt completely gone.

"Wow, how did you clean yourself so fast?" asked Sango.

"I am a male. All males have mastered the art of cleaning up fast. It seems to be a skill all females are lacking." Sesshoumaru calmly answered.

"Hmph."

All conversation then ceased as the 3 companions devoured the deer. When it was gone the girls stood up to leave. "We're going to the hotspring." Kagome informed Sesshoumaru.

~ Fine. Come back when you smell better. Then maybe I'll be able to breathe easier. ~

Kagome stuck her tongue out at the sarcastic demon and then followed Sango out of the clearing. Sure enough after 5 minutes of walking they came to the hotspring. It was a quaint little location, a small pool of water that was overshadowed by a large outcropping of rock. The spring was clear of all rocks except for one which seemed to have taken the shape of a bench. It was submerged in the water by a good 12 inches or so, so most of your body would be in the water while sitting on it.

"Oooh Sango it's perfect!" squealed Kagome in pure joy. "I guess Sesshoumaru really isn't all that bad. Come on let's go in!"

The girls quickly shed their clothing and waded into the spring. Soon they were relaxing in the warm water.

"So Kagome, what do you think of Sesshoumaru?" Sango asked, sitting on the nicely placed rock bench.

"I think he's a good guy. Once you get to know him you realize that he does have a small streak of sarcastic humor buried way beneath the cold, gruff persona he exhibits to most of the world. He is definitely a good ally."

"That's not exactly what I meant. I meant do you like him? At times I almost swear that you are flirting with him. Are you torn between the 2 brothers?"

At this comment Kagome, who had been floating on her back, went under. She came back up sputtering. "What? Torn between the brothers? Are you crazy? I like Inuyasha. Yes, I like Sesshoumaru, but as a friend. And that's it!"

"Are you sure? I mean there's nothing wrong with it. He is strong and handsome."

"What? Ok now I think you're the one who has the crush on him."

"Me? Never."

"Are you sure? Between him and Miroku I'm sure I would pick Sesshoumaru. At least he keeps his hands to himself and doesn't spy on girls…oh crap, Sango get down!"

"Huh? Why? Oh no…" Sango quickly plunged into the water to hide her body. Both girls began scanning the surrounding trees trying to catch a glimpse of the demon lord. "So do you think he's out there?"

"I don't know, I'm concentrating." Kagome opened up her mind to all thoughts to see if she could hear any of Sesshoumaru's thoughts.

~ I don't know what I'm worried about. If he was peeking on us he would just be looking at Kagome. She has much more to offer than me. It's not fair, her breasts are bigger than mine. ~

When Kagome heard that it became hard for her to not drown as she tried to fight the bouts of laughter that threatened to overtake her. She was about to fail when another thought entered her mind and quickly sobered her up.

~ Yes, yes. They're mine. Naraku will be very pleased when I bring them back. Two spies. ~

`Crap, where is that coming from?'

Kagome quickly began scanning the trees, this time looking for anything besides white. "Sango I think there's someone else out there. An enemy. Be careful."

"Dammit, Kagome I don't have my weapons with me. They're back at the campsite. Are you sure it's an enemy? Does it have a shikon shard?"

"No, no shard."

"Then how can you be sure there's someone out there?"

"I can just sense the danger. Believe me Sango, we are in danger. We need Sesshoumaru."

"Well if you're certain about, I'm still not so sure…Kagome duck!" screamed Sango, pushing her friend's head under the water and going under herself just in time to avoid the whip that snaked out across the water. When the two girls broke the surface Sango shakily remarked, "ok Kagome, I believe you." They were then greeted by an evil cackle.

"Well well well look what I've found. Two pretty young ladies out bathing. Who I just happen to know are Kagome and Sango. Companions of the whelp Inuyasha. The reincarnation of Kikyo and a demon exterminator who lost her village to Naraku. Naraku will be very pleased when I bring you two back with me. Yes, he will be very pleased."

Kagome and Sango frantically tried to follow the voice, but it kept seeming to jump from place to place.

"Oh you won't find me. I'm well hidden and I move constantly so it is pointless to try. Just surrender and come back with me."

"Never you bastard!" Sango valiantly responded, gripping a stone she had grabbed while submerged.

"Frisky little things aren't we? Very well, if you want to fight we can fight."

~ Haha, this is too easy. I'll throw a couple of knives their way and they won't even know what hit them. They still don't even realize that I'm behind them. ~

As soon as Kagome heard that she whipped around just in time to see a glint of silver hurtling through the air. She reflexively pushed Sango out of the way and jumped the opposite way, just narrowly missing the knife that was thrown at her.

"Ooh very nice move. But you won't be so lucky next time. Now you die."

As Sango yet again tried to trace the voice Kagome finally found her voice long enough to scream.

"SESSHOUMARU!!"

As soon as Kagome screamed that name the mysterious person's voice grew a little panicked.

"What? Sesshoumaru is here? He's traveling with humans? Forget you guys, I have to tell Naraku this right away!"

"And where do you think you're going?" came a cold voice. The sound of running footsteps could soon be heard so Kagome and Sango took this opportunity to get out of the water and clothe themselves. A yelp could soon be heard and a minute later Sesshoumaru came walking out of the surrounding woods holding a man. He was garbed all in black and had a whip coiled at his side. His hair was jet black and pulled back into a high, tight ponytail. His eyes were ice cold and were flaring with hatred at that moment. A bow and a quiver full of arrows were strapped to his back and hanging at his waist was a wicked looking sword with an engraving of a snake coiled around the hilt. On his belt were empty slots where his throwing knives use to be. However, all his weapons were worthless as Sesshoumaru was calmly holding him by his neck with one arm.

"A human?" questioned Sango.

"I am no mere human. I am a ninja assassin who faithfully serves Naraku. If I don't come back to report to him he will become suspicious and know that you guys are out here."

"You fool yourself. Naraku cares for no one and he definitely wouldn't care if a pathetic human like you never appears to annoy him again," replied Sesshoumaru coolly. "Now tell me, is Akki with him?"

"Akki? Who's Akki?"

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying!" when Sesshoumaru scraped one claw across the man's face and let poison seep out of it and fall to the ground the ninja squealed. "I swear! I'm not lying! I don't know who Akki is!"

"We'll see. I'll know if you are lying. And if you lie to me…" Sesshoumaru trailed off as he let more poison drip to the ground. The man fully understood Sesshoumaru's threat as he nervously nodded his head.

"Ok, we'll start simple. What's your name?"

"Ka…Kazuo! It's Kazuo! I swear that it's Kazuo!"

~ KazuoKazuoKazuo please don't kill me KazuoKazuoKazuo ~

Sesshoumaru glimpsed Kagome slightly nod her head so he continued on.

"Ok Kazuo, what were you doing out here?"

"This is the area I patrol for Naraku. If I ever find out any important information I report back to him immediately."

~ Shit, I hope that sounds plausible. How could I tell him what I was actually doing? ~

Kagome slowly shook her head, which caused Sesshoumaru to tighten his grip on Kazuo's neck.

"I said no lies."

"Sorrysorrysorry! Alright I'll tell you. I was actually coming to the spring to take a bath. Then I saw these girls in it and realized they were Naraku's enemies."

~ Man that's embarrassing, admitting that I, a great ninja assassin, was going to take a bath. ~

`Wow, this guy's full of himself even while at death's door,' thought Kagome before nodding her head for Sesshoumaru to press on.

"You're lucky," replied Sesshoumaru, slightly relaxing his grip on Kazuo's neck, "ok next question. Is Akki with Naraku?"

"I told you, I don't know who this Akki creature is!"

~ Oh god he's gonna kill me. I wish I knew who Akki was. ~

Kagome let out a barely audible sigh before dejectedly nodding her head.

"When was the last time you saw Naraku?"

"Umm, about 2 weeks ago."

~ Shit, he's gonna kill. I'm gonna die. ~

Kagome didn't like reading Kazuo's thoughts anymore as it sounded like he was resigning himself to death. However, Sesshoumaru was counting on her so she kept doing it. She once again nodded her head to signal that Kazuo was telling the truth.

"Ok, final question. Why are you working for Naraku?"

"Why? I escaped from my village when I was six. My mom was accused of being a witch so the villagers came to hang her. My father fought them off for as long as possible, which gave me enough time to escape. But he was slain in the process and the villagers proceeded to hang my mom. Naraku came across me while I was cold, hungry, and scared and took me in. Under his training I became a ninja who specialized in the silent art of assassination. Whenever Naraku needed someone to die he would send me out and I would get the job done. I am his faithful servant and will serve him until my death."

~ I wonder why he wanted to know that? ~

Sango spoke up at this point. "You understand he was using you, right? And that he will continue to use you until your death, which may come sooner than you like. He doesn't care about your well being. You were just another weapon to him."

"Shut up bitch. I wasn't talking to you. Naraku wouldn't do that. He rescued me when I was a kid, when I was no use to him." Kazuo then yelped in pain as Sesshoumaru drug his claws across his chest. As blood slowly dripped to the ground Kazuo looked at Sesshoumaru in complete and utter fear.

"You do not speak to her like that. And what she spoke of was the truth. Naraku saw in you as a kid the potential to become a great fighter. So he trained you so that in the future you could carry out his work for him. If you are too stupid to realize that than you deserve to die."

~ NO! No, Naraku wouldn't do that…would he? Have I been deceived for the past 20 years? Was Naraku just using me to murder people? Was I just another pawn for him to move as he pleased? Now that I think of it he never cared when one of his fighters was killed. No, no what have I done? All those people I had killed, did they deserve death? Was I right to obey Naraku and kill those people? Could they have been…innocent? Am I nothing more than a murderer? NO! No, I must believe Naraku before these people. I must believe…Naraku. ~

"You are of no more use to us. So now you die." Sesshoumaru drew back his hand and was about to plunge it into Kazuo's chest when Kagome intervened. She grabbed Sesshoumaru's arm to stop him from killed Kazuo.

"STOP! Sesshoumaru, don't kill him. He didn't realize what he was doing. He was deceived. Let him go. Please, let him go.

Sesshoumaru stared at Kagome incredulously then lowered his hand and loosened up his grip on Kazuo's neck.

~ This girl, Kagome, is defending me? But Naraku told me she was evil and deserved to die. But why would an evil person try and save the man that had previously tried to kill her? Maybe they are right. Maybe Naraku is the evil one. But if that is true than it also means I am evil as I killed all those innocent people for him. All those men and women I killed because Naraku told me to. How many families did I destroy? How many other children will grow up without a mother or father, or both, because I did Naraku's bidding? Yes, I am also…evil. ~

"No, I deserve to die. I wish I had realized what Naraku was doing earlier but I was blind."

"No, you should live and help people to repay for what you had done." Kagome argued back.

"He cannot live," interrupted Sesshoumaru, "if Naraku finds out what transpired between us tonight he will force Kazuo to tell him what we are doing. We cannot take that risk."

"No! You can come with us. We'll protect you!"

"My lady Kagome, I am so sorry I tried to kill you and your friend tonight. I see now that you have the pure-hearted soul and Naraku is the one with the evil tainted heart. But Sesshoumaru is right. I cannot allow myself to give up your plans to him. Even if he just found out Sesshoumaru has teamed up with you would be bad. I am going to do everything in my power to stop him. And the only way to do that is to die tonight, so along with me your secret will die as well."

"No, please don't. You don't deserve to die."

"My lady, I killed hundreds of people because of Naraku. I cannot live with myself. I could not bear to be the cause of your or any of your friends death. I cannot allow Naraku to get a hold of me. Please, Sesshoumaru is right, I must die."

"No, no…"

Sango walked up and put an arm Kagome's shoulders and pulled her away. She hated to see Kazuo die as well, but she was a warrior and knew that it had to be done. If she were in Kazuo's position she would be doing the same thing. Sesshoumaru nodded at her and then led Kazuo deeper into the woods so that the girls wouldn't have to witness his death. But no matter how far they would have gone nothing could block out the thoughts that bombarded Kagome's mind. The final thoughts of Kazuo.

~ Naraku, you evil bastard. I wish I had the strength to fight you because then I could repay you for all the pain and death you made me deal out over the years. But you will be killed. Kagome and her friends will kill you.

Father, I wish I could have lived more like you. You lived an honest life and died valiantly. I wish I could have died like you, fighting for my loved ones' sake. I love you. Mother, I have always loved you. I'm sorry I was so weak and so easily deceived by Naraku. I'm sorry for everything. I was hoping that in death I could have seen you again but that will not happen. I have lived an evil life and for that I will be going to hell. I deserve hell for what I did to all those people. But at least I will be dying free. I wish you could have met her mom, Kagome is a special girl. She will be able to do what I couldn't, destroy Naraku and rid the world of his reign of terror. I love you, know that for all eternity I will always love you and will never forget you. Kagome, thank you. Thank you for freeing me. Thank you for believing in me. I will never forget your kindness. I will be eternally grateful to you. Than…~

When Kazuo's thoughts stopped Kagome knew it was because he was dead. She fell to her knees in sorrow and let the tears flow freely down her face.

Sango didn't understand what had caused her friend to collapse, but then it didn't really matter. All that mattered was comforting her friend who was in pain. Sango drew Kagome into her arms and let Kagome cry on her shoulder. She glanced up for a second as Sesshoumaru walked back into the clearing. Even the demon lord was more somber than usual.

Sesshoumaru walked up to the crying girl and placed one hand on her shoulder. Kagome lifted her tear stained face and forced her bloodshot eyes to meet his golden ones that looked so much like Inuyasha's. Sesshoumaru nodded once which was the only amount of comfort he could offer. Kagome sorrowfully smiled to thank the stoic demon and then buried her face back in Sango's shoulder.

Sesshoumaru turned to leave the girls alone but before he left the clearing he turned once more to Kagome. He then forced one thought to enter her mind.

~ He will pay. Naraku will pay for what he has done. ~

And at this Kagome broke down even further into tears.

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Okay, that chapter took a bit of a change. I tried my hand at a bit of drama and I hope I didn't completely destroy my story. I'm not keeping with that tone-next chapter will be back to humor as we get to check up on Inuyasha. And Miroku. And of course Shippo.

But I do hope you liked this chapter, even if it did end on a sad note. Please tell me if my drama-y bit was good or completely sucked. And of course be honest. Well, until next chapter.