Two Months in the Forest

Two Months in the Forest
Prologue: Those in Need


I'd like to thank my beta Willow


cillaxox: This was originally going to be a one shot, but it began developing into more. So I figured what the hell I’ll make it into a longer story. I hope you readers enjoy it ^_^

Summary: As we all know Kuwabara trained with Kurama and Hiei for the Dark Tournament. What we don’t know is what happened during those two months. A lot can happen two months and this is my take on what went on in that forest.

Pairing: Kuwabara/Kurama and more than likely some Hiei too. There won’t be any sexy action for the first three or four chapters, so be please be patient.
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It was late afternoon about two hours away from sunset. The sky was a fascinating mix of blues and fluffy white clouds. The wind blew gently carrying leaves along in its airy embrace. Overhead in the trees birds could be heard chirping cheerfully. Most people would be busy appreciating such a lovely afternoon or at least doing something enjoyable, however, that wasn’t the case for Kuwabara Kazuma and Urameshi Yusuke. A heavy weight was burdening their young shoulders and its name was the Dark Tournament.

“I’m going to Genkai’s for training. You need to train yourself while I’m gone,” said Yusuke.

Kuwabara glowered at his friend. “Who me?! I don’t need training. I can take on anybody!”

“Then how come you haven’t beaten me yet?”

“I feel sorry for a pipsqueak like you, so I take it easy on you.”

The Spirit Detective frowned and rolled his eyes at Kuwabara's obvious denial. “Think about what I said, ok?”

“Yeah, whatever…”

“Here take this,” the detective placed a small object in the taller boy’s hand. “It’ll come in handy if you change your mind.”

Kuwabara eyed the metal circle in his palm before placing it in his pocket. He looked at his friend with warm eyes. “Take care of yourself Urameshi.”

“You too.”

The two young men parted ways. When they next met it would be a bittersweet reunion, because they would both be fighting for their lives. Kuwabara knew he needed to get stronger. So much was depending on his doing so. He tried not to think about the lives that would be lost if he didn’t improve his fighting skills. He needed help and there were only two people that he knew of with the experience to train him for the Dark Tournament.

He felt for certain that one person would be more than happy to help, but the other one would need more convincing. He decided to get the hard one out of the way first. He psyched himself up for the daunting task of dealing with Hiei.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~


“How the hell did you find me?”

“I had a little help from Urameshi.” Kuwabara held up a Demon Compass. “He gave me this when he left for Genkai’s.”

Hiei took the gadget out of the boy’s outstretched palm. “I thought these didn’t work.”

“They didn’t, but Spirit World did a little fine tuning and fixed it so that even you couldn’t trick it.”

The fire demon crushed the compass under the heel of his foot. “What do you want?”

“You know about the Dark Tournament being held in two months, right?”

“Yes. I was invited to it, as you already know seeing how we’re on the same team.”

“I need to ask you something about the tournament.”

The apparition became impatient. “What about it?”

Kuwabara stuffed his hands in his pocket and eyed the ground with sullen eyes. He hated to ask for help, especially from an obnoxious fire demon. He swallowed hard then muttered, “I want you to train me for it.”

“Is that how you humans ask for help? It’s no wonder you can’t accomplish anything.”

The carrot-top swallowed his pride. “Please help me.”

“Begging, now that’s more like it. Be sure to get on your knees when you ask again and maybe I’ll say yes.”

Kuwabara stepped close to Hiei; there was hardly any space between them. He towered over the apparition and glared at him with angry eyes. “This maybe a joke to you, but it isn’t to me! My sister’s life is on the line! I don’t care about myself I only care about her. Some freak in a trench coat and sunglasses tells me if I don’t fight then she will die, but I can’t fight unless I get stronger! I need to get better so I can put up one hell of a fight when the time comes, because I’m not gonna lose at that tournament until I can wipe that smug look off his face!”

Hiei was taken aback by the boy’s passion. For a moment he was jealous that Kuwabara could so freely express his emotions in such a raw manner. He understood the boy’s feelings all too well. He too had someone that was depending on him even if she didn’t know it.

“You didn’t need to give a speech all you had to do was ask.”

“So does that mean you’ll train me?”

“Yes. However, you’ll need more than just my help.”

Kuwabara smiled broadly. “I already thought about that, that’s why I’m gonna ask Kurama too.” He smirked at the demon. “For once I’m one step ahead of you.”

Hiei told the boy, “Like you could ever match wits with me.”

“Why don’t you say that to my face? Oh sorry, I forgot you’re not tall enough.”

“Idiot.”

“At least I don’t look like a lawn ornament.”

Kuwabara saw the dark expression on the apparition’s face and decided to leave while he still could. He had enlisted the help of one of his allies now he just needed to ask the other one. He set off for Kurama's house in hopes that the boy would be at home.

By the time Kuwabara reached Kurama's house it was near sunset. He knew it was a little late to be calling on his friend, but this was an emergency situation.

“Hey Ms. Minamino. Is Shuuichi in?”

“He is, but who might you be?” the woman asked.

“I’m Kuwabara and I’m a friend of his.”

“That’s odd, he’s never mentioned you.” She laughed softly. “I shouldn’t be surprised. He is very private, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed.”

“I kinda got that impression from him.”

Ms. Minamino let the young man enter her home. She offered him a drink, but he politely declined. After the guest was seated she called upstairs to her son, “You have a visitor.”

Kurama, or Shuuichi as his mother knew him, descended the staircase. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see his teammate sitting in his living room.

“Kuwabara, how nice of you to stop by for a visit.”

“I didn’t mean to come over without asking, but this is important.” Kuwabara glanced at the older boy’s mother. “I need to speak to you in private.”

Kurama nodded his head. “Let’s take a walk.”

The two of them exited the house and as soon as they were outside Kuwabara blurted out, “I need you to train me!”

The fox led the carrot-top boy out of the front yard and onto the sidewalk. “I had a feeling you would ask for my help.” The two fighters began circling the block. “Are you sure you want me to train you Kuwabara?”

“Yeah I am.” For a second the younger boy looked ashamed. “I can’t do it alone.”

“You do realize I’ll be very demanding.”

“I can handle it.”

“You won’t be allowed to quit on me.”

“I’m not a quitter.”

Kurama smiled. “We’ll start tomorrow.”

Kuwabara scratched his chin thoughtfully. He thought it was odd that both his allies were so quick to help him out, especially Hiei. “Why do I get the feeling you and Hiei had all this planned out already?”

“Because we did.” The fox turned around and headed back to his home. “Be sure to bring enough supplies with you. We’ll be gone for quite some time.”

The younger boy asked, “How long?”

“Two months.”

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cillaxox: Short chapter wasn’t it? Well that’s a prologue for you.

As for the compass, it was called Demonic Aura Compass in the manga and Demon Compass in the anime. As you read I went with the anime version, because I like the way it sounds. I made Kuwabara use it instead of his spirit energy, because I wanted to show that he’s still a newbie and has a lot to learn when it comes to using his powers.

I always have problems spelling Shuuichi, so if misspelled it here let me know and I’ll correct it.