The Four Souls Of The Shikon: Chapter 6

2011

Ahaha! Not quite as quick out as I (and I guess you guys too) would have liked but here it is all the same ;D

LAST CHANCE TO VOTE! Voting ratio has changed drastically since the last chapter, so vote for your favorite pairing, this is your last chance to change the direction of this story, and it will change drastically ;)

ENJOY MY DEARS!

REVIEWS WITH MORE THAN 5 WORDS ARE HIGHLY MOTIVATING BY THE BY! ;)

Recap

When his lips were nearly at her ear, he returned her compliment, much to the dismay of her already too fastly beating heart.

"Yes, you are"

In the background the blonde watched this strange exchange of words in silence as his chest and face burned. A desire he didn't know his body possessed had ravaged him, mentally and physically. His skin tingled and burned with jealousy at the dark haired boy he thought to be his friend and almost brother. It was irrational and irritating and confusing.

But then again, when was anything in Naruto's life simple and easy?

Unbeknownst, all across the land of fire hordes of demons, invisible to human eyes had swarmed as Team 7 spoke and journeyed.

The news had travelled from wind sprite to water nymph, to dragon to golem, to gnome to bat to kitsune to wolf to dog demon.

The keeper has returned. The jewel is moving. Death once again walks among us.

Chapter 7

The stars were scattered pin pricks in the velvety darkness of the sky and a certain blonde wondered, not for the first time, if anyone was actually watching him like these stars seemed to. He'd grown up under them and they were more times than not a more welcome sight than his 'home' back in the village. It wasn't like he hated it there, it just wasn't that emotionally connected to his life.

'But that's the life of a ninja, I guess' the thought saddened him slightly, that once he was gone (and he could be at any given moment) the possessions he had once owned wouldn't matter to anyone, because that would be all they were; Possessions. Items that held no meaning, only purpose for what they were designed to do.

Up until the formation Team Seven, there hadn't been anybody who he mattered to anyway. Whether he lived or died, became sick or was always healthy, grades and memories, they were all so insignificant to other people.

So when Naruto was put in Team Seven, it was significant to him. It had never been just a team or a job. They had become a family the four of them, albeit a slightly dysfunctional one at times. Kakashi seemed to care for him on a level on par with Iruka, his crush on Sakura was long over, though he sometimes still faked it for a laugh. Despite the fact she would never admit it; he was a best friend to her, more so than Ino, Hinata or any of the other girls she sometimes hung around with.

And then there was Sasuke. They fought, they argued, they laughed, they bonded, they sparred. Through it all it seemed recently that Naruto had been the only constant in Sasuke's messed up life. Through Orochimaru and his Sound Ninjas, The dark past of his clan and the general shittyness of the entire Itachi situation it was always the sunny blonde that's brought him back, who he could lean on quietly when he needed it and step away afterwards and go back to arguing with within the day.

They were brothers.

"The strongest bond formed is the bond formed by pain"

Naruto and the rest of his team's head snapped up to look at where their newest member was curled up on her side staring into the fire they had made.

It was a freezing night and frost was seemingly already starting to form at the edges of the clearing they had set up camp in. The fire flickered pleasantly, the soft glow it gave out not harsh enough to feel threatening or threatened, but emitting just enough warmth to keep them all content.

Kagome was curled into herself, arms wrapped round as if she was holding herself together, eyes never leaving the dancing figures in the fire. Her ebony hair was loose and settled around her shoulders like a thick scarf or blanket.

Idly Naruto wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers through, and if she would fit against his body if he pulled her to him as he had the urge to. As she shivered slightly the urge to do just that grew sevenfold.

"Care to share Kagome?" Kakashi asked cheerfully, despite the ominous nature of her previous statement. "You seem to be full of interesting tidbits of information today"

Her chocolate eyes didn't even drift from their focus of attention and the blonde's mind drifted to imagine what she was seeing in the flames that they could not.

'It must be something beautiful 'he thought. Nothing else could put that look of entrancement on someone's face. 'Something beautiful, but dangerous' For some reason, Kagome didn't seem like a girl who only saw beauty in things classed as safe, or conventional.

Silence had filled their little clearing as the wind waited in anticipation of her answer.

"It means you could spend every day for 7 years with someone, know them inside and out and think that the bond you have is unbreakable, but they could still easily betray you if the right threats are applied. It means that you could love someone whole heartedly and still never be able to understand them. But if you suffer together, the same punishments go through the same things, that is a bond that won't fail. Love fades, memories of pain don't." Her voice seemed to have a tone of sadness to it, but it rang out clearly and without hesitation all the same.

Her eyes were still captivated by the flames.

Naruto's own had widened slightly, along with Sasuke's, and while Kakashi was no longer happy smiling with his eye he was obviously not repulsed like a certain pink hair girl.

Just as said cotton head was opening her mouth to object about the advantages of a relationship formed on pain rather than a relationship formed on love, Their silver haired sensei decided it was time to speak up, before Sakura ended up either roasting on a spit or being forcefully kicked into a face plant as he'd seen their latest addition do to Naruto a few hours earlier.

"Interesting theory, Kagome. And your basis for that?" The silence stretched until the tension was almost palpable in the air. The only sound was the crackle of the fire and rustling of leaves being tossed by the wind.

At last Kagome's eyes left the fire, and to team 7's surprise, they sparkled ever so slightly.

"Huh? Sorry was kinda' out of it then!" Kagome said with a small laugh, sitting up, her eyes creasing shut into happy U's in mirth. And just like that it was over.

Naruto sweat dropped and sighed at his friend's bi-polar personality, before going on to tease her about it, while she fought back equally offensive about his own.

Friend? Could he really call her that? They had only met her a week or so ago and they didn't really know her. Well, her history at least.

By now the curious blond knew nearly all of the raven's mannerisms; From tugging on her scarlet skirt whenever she was embarrassed (which always quickly turned to violence, usually directed at him for that matter), to reaching to touch the hollow of her throat during her long, thoughtful silences.

The only information he was lacking was why? Some he was sure were just natural, much like his 'dattebayo!', while others he was just as certain related to her annoyingly mysterious past.

And it was frustrating.

'Still, I guess I can call her my friend' The thought sent a slight shiver of elation through him and a grin blossomed on his face.

Kakashi had slipped from serious, back to his usual silly self as easily as Naruto had, although it was obvious the subject would come back to bite them later.

"So, Kagome, what do you think of moving to Fire country? Bit warmer than the north huh? What's it like up there? Are there different animals and stuff? Oh I bet you have different stories as well! Tell us one?" Naruto's quick firing succession of questions would have left anyone fazed, but Kagome simply grinned.

"Well I'm not sure about it being much warmer since I moved around a lot with my friends so we got all types of weather, in some places it was I guess. It varies a lot, sometimes you'll find yourself walking across a small desert or plain, then the next day you'll be up on a mountain stuck in a snow drift. There's lots of forests too which are beautiful." The blonde began to laugh and cut her off

"Ha! I bet you got lost all the time!"

"Did not!

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"You so did!"

"I didn't!"

"Did!"

"Not!"

"Did!"

"Not!"

The rest of their team mates simply watched with baffled expressions at the crazy, bi-polar duo.

Sakura glared at both of them, albeit open mouthed and gawking at the speed at which the conversation had turned from depressing and serious to them arguing about getting lost in a random forest, meanwhile Sasuke and Kakashi simply shared a look and sighed.

Despite their reactions to the argument, and the fact none would ever admit it, they had all been listening intently to try and get some sort of information on the land where their long haired raven had come from.

As per usual, the argument resulted in Kagome drop kicking Naruto while he cried about the unfairness of life. After a slight hesitation, Kagome then proceeded to stick out her tongue, and sit on the blonde, wiggling around to get comfy on Naruto's pressure points until he squirmed and begged for mercy.

Finally satisfied her punishment was complete, Kagome stood, leaving a semi-buried Naruto stuck in the ground.

"I'm going to sleep if that's alright, wake me up when it's my turn for watch"

And with that, the black haired girl went to settle down a few feet away at the base of a tree, still within the light of the campfire.

"That.. was strange." Sasuke and Kakashi nodded at their pink haired team mate's statement, a little bemused themselves.

"Ok, I'll take first watch, Sakura second, Sasuke third, Kagome can go fourth and Naruto can have last. I'm guessing he'll won't be moving far for a few hours" true to form, said idiot was already snoring away loudly from his crater.

I was going to continue here to waking up for watch (Kagome's and then Naruto's), but I thought, there's more than one way to wake up, especially if a certain Uchiha's the one doing it ;)

It's your votes that will decide this, LAST chance:

SASU X KAG OR NARU X KAG!

LilChickenWings xxxx