fic: Under the Cherry Blossoms
Crossover? Yes. AU? Completely. The Author is insane? More than likely...
Under the Cherry Blossoms
author: DarkFoxRyn aka redwulfy
fandom(s): Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X, Original
warnings: AU, possible slash (later chapters), het (l.c.), OOC, few spoilers, playing with timelines...
a/n: It came to me while watching an episode of Samurai Deeper Kyo. Wouldn't leave me the hell alone. And Wulfy had actually did a little research! *gasps* She believes this will be one of the long fics! ^_^;;
Kenshin is the only character I use from R.K/S.X. His timeline is really outta of wack! ^_^; I know he doesn't come from the Feudal Era. Timeline for Inuyasha is after Naraku's defeat. The Shikon Shards were scattered into the four winds in the final battle against Naraku. The Inuyasha group travel Japan searching for the shards.
a/n: Sakura = Cherry Blossoms.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X. I own my Original Characters and the plot.
"I'm going to tell you a story. A body is buried underneath the foot of this cherry tree. The blossoms of this tree bloom so beautifully each year thanks to the body buried at its foot. Look, the other cherry trees have blossoms as white as the snow. Do you know why the blossoms of this cherry are a pale pink? It's because they feed upon the blood of the body buried beneath them..." Seishiro, Tokyo Babylon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Guardian of the hidden Sakura Forest raised her weary head. Someone had entered her forest. Scenting the wind and listening to her trees, she slowly stood up on her paws. The North Wind and her Cherry Blossoms told her of a strange group. A dog hanyou, a young kitsune kit, a fire cat youkai, two human females, and a human male had wandered into her domain.
The trees whispered to her, telling her of the strange group. One female was tainted with the blood of many slain youkai's. The other female, who was younger, glowed with a holy light. The trees also told her that the young female was an untrained miko. The only human male, too, glowed with a holy light, but not as brightly as the untrained miko.
One human trained to kill youkai's, one untrained miko, and one monk, all were traveling peacefully(?!!) with a hanyou and two full youkai's. Would the strangeness end?
Tiredly and wearily, she stared into the direction the strange group was approaching from. She should go and "greet" the guests of her forest. Yes, she should. But would she? Not at this moment.
The Guardian was tired and needed rest.
Let the trespassers be dealt with by the "gentle" denizens of the Sakura Forest. Snickering, she turned and slowly walked further into the dense woods. She was too tired to deal with the trespassers herself; she had enough trouble with the power mad demons that tried her before.
Plus, if push came to shove, she could always search out the Hitokiri Battousai. He had hid himself within her forest. Maybe Kenshin would gift her with a bloody corpse, or six, to bury beneath her Cherry Blossoms.
Quite a few of her trees yearned and thirsted for blood. But she seriously doubted he'd do it. Himura Kenshin had changed. He didn't kill as often as he use to.
Maybe he'd scratch between her ears again. He was really good at scratching the right spot in the right way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha did not feel comfortable within the forest of Sakura trees. It felt as if the trees were watching them with this hunger--thirst--for something. He knew that there something strange about this particular forest.
One thing it was too quiet. As soon as he and his little pack stepped into the tree line, it became absolutely silent within the forest. There was no animal, insect, or bird sounds. The wind was blowing softly through the forest; however, there was sound of rustling leaves as the wind danced through the Cherry Blossoms.
It was an unnatural and watchful silence.
Not liking the silence, he kept a firm grip on Tessaiga's hilt. He was prepared for any attack, since the humans and kit were so oblivious to the disturbing situation. The only one that shared his wariness was Kirara.
The fire cat, in her smaller form, walked at the rear of the group. Her ears were perked up and twitching, trying pick up what little sounds she could. She was tense, alert, and ready to transform into her larger form at the first sign of danger.
Inuyasha's ears were twitching and swiveling in each direction, hoping to pick up a telling sound before danger strikes. With one hand on his sword's hilt, his other hand was free and clawed fingers were flexing almost nervously. "Are you sure there are shards in this forest, Kagome?"
"Yes, and for the sixth time," Kagome huffed, exasperated with the hanyou's repeated question, "I'm sure! There seems to be at least twenty or so shards scattered throughout this very forest."
"Yeah, she already told you that, Inuyasha!" chirped Shippo from the miko's shoulder.
Finally, Miroku started to notice Inuyasha's behavior; the monk had to drag his attention away from Sango's squeezable ass to actually look at his hanyou friend. The other man was tense and alert, signaling that there was something wrong. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?"
Tensing up even more, the hanyou stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "Don't you sense it, Miroku? Haven't any of you noticed the unnatural silence of these woods? Or how about the feeling of our every move being watched?"
As he spoke, Inuyasha's grip on Tessaiga's hilt tightened even further and his ears laid flat against his skull. He was completely unnerved when he heard Kirara start to his and growl. Something was in front of them, leaning against one of the trees.
The wind started blowing harshly in the direction of his little pack. He tried to catch whatever-it-was' scent. Nearly whimpering in fright, the hanyou couldn't pick up any traces of a scent; neither from the surrounding Sakuras nor the strange shadow just only a few yards in front of them. Suddenly the air around them became dense and charged with leashed deadly intention.
Slowly, the hanyou backed away from the shadow as it pulled away from the tree. It started to walk towards them. The shadow made him extremely nervous.
Something that had no scent, and made no sound meant big trouble.
Only thing that keep Inuyasha from running, was hearing the cries of surprise from the rest of his pack. So, the rest of them had finally picked up on what was happening; well, it was better late than never.
"What is that?!" cried Kagome as grabbed Shippo off her shoulder and clutched him tightly in her arms.
"I don't know..." growl-whined the hanyou, "I can't get a scent from it."
Out of the shadows and into what little light streamed in between the trees, stepped a man with long hair of crimson red and eyes of piercing violet. He was a few inches shorter than Inuyasha and his skin was a little paler than the hanyou. He was as slim as the half-breed. He wore a dark blue kimono, hakama in a lighter shade of blue, and a black obi. Tucked in his obi was a long katana. His feet were encased in white socks and brown sandals.
Walking towards the surprised and wary group with slow measured steps, the red haired man had his arms crossed and hands tucked into the long sleeves of his haori. His violet eyes were blank and unreadable as he looked at every member of the odd pack. An eyebrow was raised when he took in Kagome's strange clothes. No dignified woman of the Feudal Japan dressed as she did. He had seen paid women dress in more unrevealing clothes than her. A disgusted snort was the only show of emotion he gave as he turned to look at the dog hanyou.
By the way the rest of the group flanked around the half-breed, he deduced that the white haired male was the pack leader. The kit and miko were surrounded and protected in the middle. The monk was to the left and slightly behind the hanyou, while the demon slayer was same but to the right. The fire cat was crouched at the side of the demons layer and growling.
"Sessha believes you should turn around and leave this forest if you here to fight the Guardian." the red head said coldly, "But if you insist on fighting the Guardian, you'll with have to be content with sessha. The Guardian needs rest from her previous battles, de gozaru."
"Guardian?" Kagome piped up safe behind her friends, "Why would we want to fight the Guardian? We're only searching for the Shikon shards that are scattered throughout the forest."
"Shikon...shards?" the red headed male repeated a little confused, "You mean the pieces of jewels the Guardian ripped out of the crazy youkai's who thought they could win against her? Why would you need those? They only bring bad luck and false power, de gozaru.
"We don't want the shards for power!" the miko said emphatically, "We're gathering them so they won't fall into the wrong hands."
Cocking his head to the side like a curious puppy, he asked, "Sessha wants to know why would you be the ones searching for the shards for that reason?"
Quietly and a little ashamed, Kagome truthfully replied, "Because I'm the one who shattered the Shikon no Tama. It is my responsibility to put it back together, since I am its guardian."
She stepped out from behind the protective wall of friends, with Shippo still held in her arms. Her head was bowed and her eyes hidden by her bangs.
Silently and warily, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara watched as the red head studied the bowed head of their friend. It seemed as if those violet eyes were peering into the very soul of the girl, judging and weighing the truth of her words.
Apparently, he found what he was looking for...honesty. "Sessha recommends that you be aware and extra vigilant in this forest of Cherry Blossoms. Although the trees are beautiful, they can be quiet dangerous, de gozaru. Sessha must also warn you. Do not, I repeat, do NOT harm the trees! Do not pull anything off the trees, especially the flowers. Do not attempt to cut the trees down, or snap any branches. In fact, don't even think about it." he glared, "The consequences and repercussions are your lives, more specifically your blood."
With that said, he turned and started to walk away. But before he actually took a step, he said over his shoulders, "Stay far far away from the Shidarezakura. There would be no hope for you if you get caught in their branches."
-------------------------------------------------
a/n: terms used in chapter.
Sakura= Cherry Blossoms
Sessha= this one
de gozaru= that it is
Hitokiri Battousai= manslayer (basically)
Tessaiga= Tetsusaiga
Shidarezakura- weeping cherry, it has branches that fall like the weeping willow tree, they bear cascades of pink flowers.
Under the Cherry Blossoms
author: DarkFoxRyn aka redwulfy
fandom(s): Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X, Original
warnings: AU, possible slash (later chapters), het (l.c.), OOC, few spoilers, playing with timelines...
a/n: It came to me while watching an episode of Samurai Deeper Kyo. Wouldn't leave me the hell alone. And Wulfy had actually did a little research! *gasps* She believes this will be one of the long fics! ^_^;;
Kenshin is the only character I use from R.K/S.X. His timeline is really outta of wack! ^_^; I know he doesn't come from the Feudal Era. Timeline for Inuyasha is after Naraku's defeat. The Shikon Shards were scattered into the four winds in the final battle against Naraku. The Inuyasha group travel Japan searching for the shards.
a/n: Sakura = Cherry Blossoms.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X. I own my Original Characters and the plot.
"I'm going to tell you a story. A body is buried underneath the foot of this cherry tree. The blossoms of this tree bloom so beautifully each year thanks to the body buried at its foot. Look, the other cherry trees have blossoms as white as the snow. Do you know why the blossoms of this cherry are a pale pink? It's because they feed upon the blood of the body buried beneath them..." Seishiro, Tokyo Babylon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Guardian of the hidden Sakura Forest raised her weary head. Someone had entered her forest. Scenting the wind and listening to her trees, she slowly stood up on her paws. The North Wind and her Cherry Blossoms told her of a strange group. A dog hanyou, a young kitsune kit, a fire cat youkai, two human females, and a human male had wandered into her domain.
The trees whispered to her, telling her of the strange group. One female was tainted with the blood of many slain youkai's. The other female, who was younger, glowed with a holy light. The trees also told her that the young female was an untrained miko. The only human male, too, glowed with a holy light, but not as brightly as the untrained miko.
One human trained to kill youkai's, one untrained miko, and one monk, all were traveling peacefully(?!!) with a hanyou and two full youkai's. Would the strangeness end?
Tiredly and wearily, she stared into the direction the strange group was approaching from. She should go and "greet" the guests of her forest. Yes, she should. But would she? Not at this moment.
The Guardian was tired and needed rest.
Let the trespassers be dealt with by the "gentle" denizens of the Sakura Forest. Snickering, she turned and slowly walked further into the dense woods. She was too tired to deal with the trespassers herself; she had enough trouble with the power mad demons that tried her before.
Plus, if push came to shove, she could always search out the Hitokiri Battousai. He had hid himself within her forest. Maybe Kenshin would gift her with a bloody corpse, or six, to bury beneath her Cherry Blossoms.
Quite a few of her trees yearned and thirsted for blood. But she seriously doubted he'd do it. Himura Kenshin had changed. He didn't kill as often as he use to.
Maybe he'd scratch between her ears again. He was really good at scratching the right spot in the right way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha did not feel comfortable within the forest of Sakura trees. It felt as if the trees were watching them with this hunger--thirst--for something. He knew that there something strange about this particular forest.
One thing it was too quiet. As soon as he and his little pack stepped into the tree line, it became absolutely silent within the forest. There was no animal, insect, or bird sounds. The wind was blowing softly through the forest; however, there was sound of rustling leaves as the wind danced through the Cherry Blossoms.
It was an unnatural and watchful silence.
Not liking the silence, he kept a firm grip on Tessaiga's hilt. He was prepared for any attack, since the humans and kit were so oblivious to the disturbing situation. The only one that shared his wariness was Kirara.
The fire cat, in her smaller form, walked at the rear of the group. Her ears were perked up and twitching, trying pick up what little sounds she could. She was tense, alert, and ready to transform into her larger form at the first sign of danger.
Inuyasha's ears were twitching and swiveling in each direction, hoping to pick up a telling sound before danger strikes. With one hand on his sword's hilt, his other hand was free and clawed fingers were flexing almost nervously. "Are you sure there are shards in this forest, Kagome?"
"Yes, and for the sixth time," Kagome huffed, exasperated with the hanyou's repeated question, "I'm sure! There seems to be at least twenty or so shards scattered throughout this very forest."
"Yeah, she already told you that, Inuyasha!" chirped Shippo from the miko's shoulder.
Finally, Miroku started to notice Inuyasha's behavior; the monk had to drag his attention away from Sango's squeezable ass to actually look at his hanyou friend. The other man was tense and alert, signaling that there was something wrong. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?"
Tensing up even more, the hanyou stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "Don't you sense it, Miroku? Haven't any of you noticed the unnatural silence of these woods? Or how about the feeling of our every move being watched?"
As he spoke, Inuyasha's grip on Tessaiga's hilt tightened even further and his ears laid flat against his skull. He was completely unnerved when he heard Kirara start to his and growl. Something was in front of them, leaning against one of the trees.
The wind started blowing harshly in the direction of his little pack. He tried to catch whatever-it-was' scent. Nearly whimpering in fright, the hanyou couldn't pick up any traces of a scent; neither from the surrounding Sakuras nor the strange shadow just only a few yards in front of them. Suddenly the air around them became dense and charged with leashed deadly intention.
Slowly, the hanyou backed away from the shadow as it pulled away from the tree. It started to walk towards them. The shadow made him extremely nervous.
Something that had no scent, and made no sound meant big trouble.
Only thing that keep Inuyasha from running, was hearing the cries of surprise from the rest of his pack. So, the rest of them had finally picked up on what was happening; well, it was better late than never.
"What is that?!" cried Kagome as grabbed Shippo off her shoulder and clutched him tightly in her arms.
"I don't know..." growl-whined the hanyou, "I can't get a scent from it."
Out of the shadows and into what little light streamed in between the trees, stepped a man with long hair of crimson red and eyes of piercing violet. He was a few inches shorter than Inuyasha and his skin was a little paler than the hanyou. He was as slim as the half-breed. He wore a dark blue kimono, hakama in a lighter shade of blue, and a black obi. Tucked in his obi was a long katana. His feet were encased in white socks and brown sandals.
Walking towards the surprised and wary group with slow measured steps, the red haired man had his arms crossed and hands tucked into the long sleeves of his haori. His violet eyes were blank and unreadable as he looked at every member of the odd pack. An eyebrow was raised when he took in Kagome's strange clothes. No dignified woman of the Feudal Japan dressed as she did. He had seen paid women dress in more unrevealing clothes than her. A disgusted snort was the only show of emotion he gave as he turned to look at the dog hanyou.
By the way the rest of the group flanked around the half-breed, he deduced that the white haired male was the pack leader. The kit and miko were surrounded and protected in the middle. The monk was to the left and slightly behind the hanyou, while the demon slayer was same but to the right. The fire cat was crouched at the side of the demons layer and growling.
"Sessha believes you should turn around and leave this forest if you here to fight the Guardian." the red head said coldly, "But if you insist on fighting the Guardian, you'll with have to be content with sessha. The Guardian needs rest from her previous battles, de gozaru."
"Guardian?" Kagome piped up safe behind her friends, "Why would we want to fight the Guardian? We're only searching for the Shikon shards that are scattered throughout the forest."
"Shikon...shards?" the red headed male repeated a little confused, "You mean the pieces of jewels the Guardian ripped out of the crazy youkai's who thought they could win against her? Why would you need those? They only bring bad luck and false power, de gozaru.
"We don't want the shards for power!" the miko said emphatically, "We're gathering them so they won't fall into the wrong hands."
Cocking his head to the side like a curious puppy, he asked, "Sessha wants to know why would you be the ones searching for the shards for that reason?"
Quietly and a little ashamed, Kagome truthfully replied, "Because I'm the one who shattered the Shikon no Tama. It is my responsibility to put it back together, since I am its guardian."
She stepped out from behind the protective wall of friends, with Shippo still held in her arms. Her head was bowed and her eyes hidden by her bangs.
Silently and warily, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara watched as the red head studied the bowed head of their friend. It seemed as if those violet eyes were peering into the very soul of the girl, judging and weighing the truth of her words.
Apparently, he found what he was looking for...honesty. "Sessha recommends that you be aware and extra vigilant in this forest of Cherry Blossoms. Although the trees are beautiful, they can be quiet dangerous, de gozaru. Sessha must also warn you. Do not, I repeat, do NOT harm the trees! Do not pull anything off the trees, especially the flowers. Do not attempt to cut the trees down, or snap any branches. In fact, don't even think about it." he glared, "The consequences and repercussions are your lives, more specifically your blood."
With that said, he turned and started to walk away. But before he actually took a step, he said over his shoulders, "Stay far far away from the Shidarezakura. There would be no hope for you if you get caught in their branches."
-------------------------------------------------
a/n: terms used in chapter.
Sakura= Cherry Blossoms
Sessha= this one
de gozaru= that it is
Hitokiri Battousai= manslayer (basically)
Tessaiga= Tetsusaiga
Shidarezakura- weeping cherry, it has branches that fall like the weeping willow tree, they bear cascades of pink flowers.