Before I start anything, I want to apologize for how long it's taken me to update. Life has been crazy to say the least. And when I say crazy. I mean CRAZY. Even so, I feel bad for taking so long to update. I only hope this chapter can make up for the wait if only a small bit.

A Note of Appreciation: A thank you to ShadowOfOrange for betareading this for me. It is a huge help and I appreciate it.

Disclaimer:The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Inuyasha is all owned by VIZ Media, Shogakukan, and the fabulous Rumiko Takahashi. Naruto is all owned by Shueisha, VIZ Media, Shonen Jump, and the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

Healing Hands

"Let's start with your name."

Drawing in her lips, Kagome stubbornly stayed silent. If only glares could kill. The miko practically snarled at the mouth as she stared at… Satsuki? She still couldn't remember his name. That time in the cell was a fuzzy image so she barely remembered what they talked about at all, much less what involved him. She recalled the Orochi-guy had said his name once and then said she looked like…a fan? No, that couldn't be right. Nevertheless, the guy's name kept evading her so the miko decided to dub him as Jerk Ass.

"Well?" He asked, tilting his head at her.

He had let her go after locking the door so Kagome had wasted no time in putting her distance back between them. Of course he didn't do anything to stop her; he had her exactly where he wanted. The thought only infuriated her more. If only she hadn't been caught by him, then none of this would have happened. She still wondered how in the world he had done that earlier. Looking back on it, there had been no mistaking that she saw him walk out the door so how had he suddenly appeared behind her? It made no sense.

Unconsciously, Kagome began to nibble on her bottom lip as she gave Jerk Ass a contemplative glance. Maybe she could get some answers herself? After all, she could be in a worse situation. Plus judging from the skills she had seen and the sword at his side, Kagome had a feeling that if he had really wanted to kill her then he would have done it already. Like when she stepped out of her hiding place. Even better was that Jerk Ass did not seem as loyal to Mr. Snake Eyes as the Harry Potter guy was. Otherwise, they'd still be fighting.

If she played her cards right, she might even get some sweet revenge.

With a resigned shrug, she said, "I'm Higurashi Kagome. What's yours?"

"You should know that just by the symbol you're wearing on your back."

….What? The miko gave him a wide-eyed stupefied look. Did he mean that symbol that looked like an upside-down pokéball? Blue eyes glanced back and forth between him and the pseudo-pokéball. Images of Jerk Ass throwing pokéballs yelling, "I choose you!" began floating through her mind's eye. For some reason, Kagome felt like he would get really offended if she asked him if he was Ash Ketchum. She went with the safer option.

"Sorry, I still don't know who you are."

"You really don't know?" He asked, looking genuinely surprised that apparently she had not heard of his greatness. Kagome gave him a deadpanned stare as she shook her head no.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said, pronouncing each syllable like he was speaking to a child. A slow child. Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch in aggravation. Jerk Ass suited him way better. Maybe she could compromise and call him Assuke?

"Well, Uchiha Sasuke," Kagome drawled, saying his name the same way he did. "I don't mind answering questions, but I want some of mine answered too."

"Like you're in a position to be making demands?" He said with a teasing tone.

"Think of it as a request," she grumbled.

He gave a shrug, "I don't care as long as I get what I want."

"What do you want to know?" She asked, desperately trying to keep a cool head. The urge to sucker punch him was overwhelming.

"That attack you used earlier, Reiki," he began, drawing out the arm she had partially scorched. Where her fingers were once were now replaced by jagged, burn marks. "What is that?"

"It's a special energy used by a miko," Kagome explained. "Most of the time it's used for healing purposes, but it can also be used as a weapon."

"A miko?" He raised an onyx eyebrow at her.

"Yep, that's the answer to your mystery question. I'm not a civilian and I'm not a ninja. I'm a miko," she explained and then gave him a glare. "You could have just asked instead of choking me, you jerk!"

He just gave a shrug in response. Resist. Urge. To. Punch, Kagome thought in pure caveman-style.

"Something I've been wondering, how did you know I was even here?"

He pointed to the dresser. Confused, Kagome glanced in that direction. Her eyes bulged when she saw what he was pointing to. In her hurry, she had hastily closed the bottom drawer and scrambled under the bed. As a result, some of the clothes had been wedged in plain sight; a clear sign for anyone that someone had been there. Kagome resisted the urge to kick the dresser.

"If you are a miko, what type of abilities do you have? Do they differ from shinobi techniques much?"

Kagome blinked at him, "I'm not sure what you mean. For some reason, I think my idea of a shinobi is a lot different from yours. But I guess a shinobi focuses more on their physical prowess while a miko focuses more on spiritual."

"A monkey could have figured that out," he drawled.

She let out a frustrated growl, "Well, since you seem to know everything then I guess you don't have any more questions do you?" She snapped. "Look, I don't know why I'm even here. All I know is that I suddenly woke up in a dark, cold cage with you and your two stooge friends staring at me while I was drugged up. You think I want to talk to you? I just want to get out of this stupid place alive. So ask your questions and lay off the smart comments because make no mistake. I can purify you until you're nothing but a pile of dust."

"Really?" He asked, pushing himself off the wall. "Then why didn't you before?"

"Because you were choking me half to death," she retorted. "Summoning energy like that takes focus and that's hard to do when you can't breathe."

"Hm."

"Why am I even here anyway? And where is here?" Kagome asked.

"This is my room. You came in by coming through the door."

Resist. Urge. To. Punch. Assuke. Emphasis on the "ass."

"You know what I meant," she snarled, taking a few steps closer to him. "Answer me, please," Kagome beseeched.

He seemed to really look at her when she said that. Maybe it was the way she spoke those last three words. The words bled of the frustration and desperation she felt. Perhaps it was her striking blue eyes that rivaled the skies themselves. They stared straight into his, telling him of the fear that was ready to overwhelm her but also the courage and determination that had brought her this far. Another pair of blue eyes came to mind. Ones he wanted to forget.

Looking away, he said, "You are in Orochimaru's headquarters located at Otogakure, the Hidden Village of Sound. He's also the leader of this village. I don't know the details, but you were brought here as a test subject."

"Have they done anything to me then? How long have I been here?"

"It's unlikely. You haven't been here long."

Thank goodness, she thought. Kagome let out a relieved sigh at that. At least one of her fears had been snuffed out. With that thought aside, the miko threw Sasuke a puzzled glance. Out of the blue, he had begun answering her questions with no difficulty at all. There was no smug arrogance like before. Even now, he looked like he was trying to hide from her in plain sight with his body turned to the side; his gaze locked on the wall with a dead blank stare and his hands clenched in tight fists. Like he had completely shut her out or was trying to. But why? Was it something she said? Maybe he was just being touchy.

Now there was the question of her friends. Were they here too? The thought relieved and terrified her; relief because she might not be in this place alone, but terror at the thought of them being in the same predicament. If they were here, she would have to find them and get them all out of here. She cursed her uncooperative brain. No matter how hard she tried, the missing memories refused to return. If there was some way to tap into them, perhaps she could find some answers herself. Unfortunately, her only choice at the moment was to depend on this guy's information and there was no way to guarantee how accurate his answers would be. She still had to ask.

"Was there anyone else besides me brought in? Like a young boy with a fox tail or a man with silver hair and dog ears?"

Sasuke shot her a puzzled look, "No, I would have noticed something like that."

Kagome hesitated with her next question, "And how can I get out of here? Or what's the layout of this place?"

That accursed smirk reappeared on his face, "Now there's a question that even I could get in trouble for," he said with a drawl. "If I tell you that, I give you the key to getting out of here. Don't you think I should get something in return?"

She gave him a wary glance. Moments seemed to drag by as Kagome nervously chewed on her bottom lip. "You're interested in my powers. If I show you my abilities and how they work, will you tell me what I want to know?"

"Perhaps."

An exasperated sigh left her. He just would not make anything easy would he? Kagome took hesitant steps forward until she was just an arm length away from him. With the speed of a sloth, she put her hands out, palms up. Barely above a whisper, she said, "Give me your arm. I'll heal it."

In a sudden move, he grabbed her chin with a callused hand, gripping hard enough to make her wince. He yanked her forward and stared with mistrustful eyes. Those eyes still glowing so red staring at her like an escaped convict put her on edge unlike anything, but she refused to back down. Kagome stared right back. "You are right, Higurashi Kagome," he said. "Your powers intrigue me and I want to see them, but I am no idiot. If I see any sign of you trying to use this situation against me. I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Kagome tried to nod her head but he only held on to her tighter. "Out loud," he gritted out.

"I understand."

As if the words were a magic spell, he released her. He gave her no time to react. He thrust his injured arm out to her while looking down with suspicion that could rival InuYasha when he thought a "sit" command was coming his way.

"Heal it."

The miko tried to beat down the fury that bubbled inside like lava in a volcano. Normally, Kagome would have blown up in his face with outraged yelling, snappy retorts, and violent hitting, but acting stupid was not an option. This man was an enemy. One stupid move and she could easily find her head rolling across the floor. Gently, she pressed her hands on his forearm. Soon her hands were enveloped in a light blue glow.

"This energy is different from before," he observed.

She gave a brief nod, "That's right. The color of my reiki is determined by my intentions. When I want to injure or attack, it's purple. If I want to heal, it's blue."

Unbeknownst to Kagome, Sasuke's harsh gaze had softened. The reiki felt similar to a soothing balm, feeling cool to the touch and making his skin tingle. It gave him emotions of anything that had brought him comfort. The feel of a soft blanket. A kiss goodnight from mother. The smell of rain. These simple things and more seemed to be wrapped into one. They gave him a feeling of relaxation he had not felt in a long time, if he ever had.

He did not know how similar this reiki and chakra were, but there was certainly a key difference. Reiki seemed to have the power to manipulate a person's senses so that when he felt the soothing energy pass over him and all those comforting feelings began to overwhelm him, he could not help but relax despite the distrust he had for the girl.

He watched the girl's energy erase the burn marks away like an eraser to writing. The girl had mentioned about her power being influenced by intention. He wondered if this reiki was purely influenced by the user's intentions, or if the target's intentions played a role. He had a feeling it was the latter.

How amusing, he thought as he looked at the hands on his arm. They were so small. She was so small and so delicate; a doll that would be so easy to break. Yet, she had captured his interest more than anything in the past three years. An impressive feat for someone he had only met about twenty minutes ago. She was like a colorful butterfly in his otherwise dull, gray world.

Soon she was finished, pulling her hands away and taking a small step back after the fact. Sasuke pulled his arm up for inspection. No trace, not even a speck of the earlier damage was left. "Impressive," he praised. "But this kind of thing can easily be done by a medical ninja. What else can a miko do?"

The criticism caused a peeved look to appear as she stubbornly crossed her arms and began tapping her foot with the patience of a toddler about to go into a tantrum. The girl was embarrassingly easy to anger; so much so that he couldn't help but indulge.

"I can also use sutra," she said.

He raised a skeptical brow, "Sutra?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "They are spells that a miko or anyone with spiritual power can use. I can show you one if you've got a pen and some paper!"

The girl reminded him of a bunny as she bounced with excitement. The spiral of emotions she could go through in the span of a minute was simply amazing. When he first saw her, he could taste the fear that emanated from her. He was burned by her courage, amused by her temper, surprised by her tenacity, and amazed that she could have any type of positive emotion considering her situation. Sasuke was inclined to call her an idiot.

As a result, he thought nothing of telling her about the pens and papers in his nightstand. And though he had shown suspicions earlier, Sasuke did not think much on her making these "sutra." It was obvious to even the most untrained eye that she was intimidated by him. Everyone was. On top of that, the girl was too flighty to come up with anything too conniving. Even if she did try something, he was Uchiha Sasuke. He would see through anything she came up with.

Soon the girl was before him with a proud grin spread wide. In her fingers was a slip of paper with the kanji of light written on it. Is that a sutra?He thought, unimpressed. It just looked like one of the explosive notes he kept in his pouch.

"The sutra, or ofuda, I made here is a simple one," she began. "It's mainly used in dark places when a flashlight or torch isn't on hand. With a little zap of my power, this thing will light up like a Christmas tree."

Sasuke decided to not ask what a Christmas tree was – or Christmas, for that matter.

Suddenly, the little note exploded in a burst of light and began shining like a mini sun in her hands. Sasuke took a couple of steps forward to inspect it closer, his Sharingan taking in any information it could.

"Not all sutra are as simple as this one, though. Some are complicated spells that take lots of concentration and chants that I don't like to remember. Some even involve a little blood," the girl explained and then suddenly slapped the glowing sutra on his arm. "Like the one I have on the back of that one," she said in a smug tone.

Sasuke gave out a grunt as the feeling of tiny bolts of electricity seemed to travel throughout his whole body at once. He fell into a helpless heap on the ground. He tried to move, but every time he did the hot painful intensity of electricity would course through his system at even the slightest movement.

He was trapped. The tables had turned and the roles of captor and hostage had been reversed.

Author's Super Special Awesome Corner

And that is it folks! Sorry again for the long wait you guys. As I said in the beginning of the chapter, life has been hectic. Just one family drama to the next to say the least. And not the good kind.

I hope you all enjoyed and had a few laughs along the way. ^_^ I wasn't completely satisfied with this chapter. I'm afraid I made what should have been a very suspenseful situation... Not so suspenseful. Which is kinda what I wanted but I'm afraid I might have taken it too far. This chapter was supposed be kind of like a little fresh air from all the suspense of the first 2 chapters. But meh... I know better then anyone that I am a major perfectionist so I could very well be looking WAY too into it. *shrugs shoulders*

Anyway I will quit my rambling. Be sure to review and tell me what you think! I do so love to hear from you all. :)

P.S. You can still vote for who you want to Kagome to be paired with. The last chance to vote will be chapter 5.

Next Time on Healing Hands!

What a twist! What will Kagome do now that she has Sasuke in such a compromising position? Will deeply suppressed sexual urges bubble to the surface for Kagome? Will she just get the hell out of there? What's this? Kagome comes face to face with Orochimaru! How will she get out of this one? Find out on the next Healing Hands!