Bonds and Fates | Chapter 12

"Once upon a time, there was a priestess and a inu-hanyou. The priestess was a kind young woman who was loved by everyone in her village.

The hanyou, on the other hand, was cold and angry because the world shunned him. For he was neither accepted by his fellow demon because of his weak human blood, nor was he welcomed by the humans due to his demon heritage.

But he wasn't just angry, he was alone. And despite being surrounded by people that adored her, and a sister that idolized her, the priestess was also alone." Despite his earlier protests, Kagome was an excellent storyteller. Already, he could see the characters that she was weaving.

"One day, the priestess was given a great task. She was to become the guardian of an ancient artifact that man and demon alike lusted after. It held great power, and was required to have someone with a pure heart as it's protector.

But her heart was not pure. Inside she was angry and sad. She would never be allowed to live a normal happy life. And more than anything, she wanted to have a family of her own. Her dream denied because of her pure blood and her holy powers, she dutifully accepted her fate and became the Guardian." He could sympathize with the priestess. All he had ever wanted was a loving family and a happy ending as well. Sadly, his dream would always be just that; a dream.

"The hanyou, hearing about the power of the sacred artifact, came to pursue the guardian in order to obtain the artifact's power. He wanted, more than anything, to become a full demon. Several instances, they faced off, one resolute, the other jealously coveting. Each time, though, the priestess could never finish the hanyou off. She could feel the sadness in his heart and it struck a chord within her own."

"You seem to know this story well," Itachi interrupted. Kagome jumped slightly, blushing for become so engrossed in her memories, and slowly began to wrap the bandages around the S-class criminal's arm.

"Well, My... grandpa used to tell it to me all the time growing up," she lied, hating herself for having to do so. Unnoticed to her, Itachi's eyes narrowed just slightly.

"... Indeed. You may continue." She shot his a nasty look and huffed.

"Fine, but don't interrupt me again."

"One day, instead of fighting with him, she invited him over to sit with her as she gathered herbs to take back to the poor village. The hanyou, having never learned how to trust anyone, at first refused. But after watching the priestess for a few days, each time given the invitation to join her, he finally gave in and sat with her. They spoke not at all the first few encounters. Soon though, they began to have conversations.

To their amazement, they found that they had several things in common. Both enjoyed watching the sun sink to the earth and the stars come out. Both liked cold winter days and the way the world looked bathed in a snowy blanket. And both disliked the night of the new moon; for their own reasons, of course.

Eventually, they became friends, then later lovers. For once in their lonely lives, they were truly happy. And when the priestess made the suggestion to use the artifact she guarded to turn the hanyou into a human, he agreed.

But their happiness wouldn't last. For in the shadows, unbeknownst to the two, lurked a dark and truly evil prescence. He longed for the priestess that was in love with the inu-hanyou. Her kindness and beauty were known far and wide, and though he was a human bandit, he would sacrifice anything to have her. And he did. He gave away his humanity to be devoured by countless demons and became a demon himself. He schemed and planned; stratigized of ways to take the priestess from the hanyou. Eventually though, his plans changed. Instead of the priestess, he began to desire the artifact which she took pains to guard.

And finally, his greatest plan worked. He forced the lovers to betray eachother. In the disguise of her lover, he struck down the priestess, wounding her fatally, and stole the atrifact away, leaving her to die. And appearing before the hanyou, dressed as his priestess, he attempted to end his life. The inu-hayou, convinced that his soon-to-be-wife had abandoned and betrayed him, rampaged into her small village, stole the artifact, and planned to make his intitial wish to become a full demon.

At the last moment, however, the priestess appeared and shot him with an enchanted arrow. Surprised and anguished, he cried out to her one last time before succumbing to an eternal sleep that only she would be able to remove."

Kagome stopped, swiping at the tears in the corner of her eyes, and tightened the knot on Itachi's bandage before patting it gently. She didn't want to look at him. Inuyasha and Kikyo's story always made her upset. 'Though I'm not quite sure why I decided to tell him.'

"I take it the priestess died shortly after," Itachi deduced, clenching his injured hand and wincing slightly. He hated seeing girls cry. Especially this one.

"Yes. The villagers burned the artifact with her body and her spirit took it to the afterlife. It was never heard from again," Kagome concluded, nodding and hopping up, "Now, let's get you over to the couch. You need to regain your strength, and that means staying for a little while."

"Must I?" he asked out of habit, though he wouldn't decline the offer if she continued to push.

"Yes!"

"... Very well. If you insist." She needlessly helped him over to the couch and fussed over him unnecessarily, instructing him to lay down while she went and cleaned up the bandages and blood.

'He's in no condition to be cleaning. Even if he's a jerk and decided to bleed all over everything.'

"... I was wrong." Kagome spun around to face the quiet Uchiha reclining on her couch.

"Eh?"

"You'll do... fine at the hospital." The smile she gave him made his poor heart stutter several beats. He valiantly tried to ignore it and the fact that it became slightly harder to breathe. She disappeared, and he finally took a moment to relax, mulling over the story she had told him. It was... tragic, really, though he suspected there was a different ending than the artifact just disappearing like that. It was too... sudden. He glanced up when she came back in with the bloody knife in her hand and an odd look on her face.

"Is the knife you used to... you know, the one by the sink?" He nodded.

"... You do realize I used that knife earlier today to cube some chicken, right?" Itachi's face paled slightly. No, he didn't know that.

'That would explain why it hurts like hell. I thought it was just the serrated edges of the knife.'

"And I thought you were smarter than that," Kagome grumbled, shaking her head at the slightly traumitized look that crossed the Uchiha's face, "Typical boy."

"What the hell happened to you?" Kisame roared, in a way that was beginning to sound familiar. This caused the other member in the room to look up suddenly. Deidara looked up from his cereal and proceeded to drop his spoon dramatically. It clattered to the table loudly.

Itachi shrugged and opened the freezer. His arm hurt and he was hungry.

"I was... careless, Kisame. There is no need to yell, need I remind you," the Uchiha leveled a Sharingan-enhanced glare at his partner. Pulling out a carton of vanilla ice-cream, he made a split decision and set it on the counter. If there was nothing else more appetizing, he would suffer through the indignity of the sweet frozen treat.

"Careless how?" Deidara spluttered, keeping his eyes on the Uchiha browsing for food.

"Just... careless," Itachi supplied vaguely, opening the fridge and hoping for something in the teriyaki division of food. Looking in, he noticed some chicken and cringed slightly before quickly slamming the door shut. He wasn't hungry for normal food anymore. Nor would he ever look at poultry the same way again. Especially after all the diseases and nasty things Kagome had listed off that you could "aquire" from said poultry. With that thought in place, he scooped out some ice-cream into a dish, put the carton back in the freezer, and left. All the while, ignoring Kisame and Deidara's astonished gazes as they followed him out of the room.

"... He never eats ice-cream!" Deidara growled, leaning over to try and catch a glimpse of the retreating Uchiha.

"Something's wrong with him," the shark-man nodded, no longer interested in his white tuna sushi.

The fearless leader of the criminal organization known as the Akatsuki smothered a groan and rubbed his temples. Judging by Kisame's screaming, it sounded like the Uchiha boy had finally returned from his outing to the village.

'I should be worried that he's getting attached to someone there, but he seems... happier? ... Is that even the right way of looking at this situation?'

"Leader-sama?"

Pein swivelled around to face his youngest member, noting that the boy had his left arm bandaged from elbow to wrist. "Itachi."

'Please tell me he didn't get into an accident! Or a fight!'

"... If I begin to emulate anything remotely poultry-like, please kill me." His request made, the young Uchiha began the trek to his room, ice-cream in tow.

"... What?"

"That includes developing a sudden unexplainable urge for corn." Pein blinked, for once, completely stumped with the workings of Itachi's mind.

"... If that was a joke, it was horrible."

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