This was written in response to Priestess Skye’s challenge: Seven Deadly Sins.
Theme: Sloth
Required Word Count: Minimum 700 Words
Actual Word Count: 807, Story only
Universe: Canon – Feudal Era
Rating: M
Warnings: Innuendoes, nothing overt
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story is my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
‘Italics’ = thoughts
Sloth [slawth] noun - a habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness
Naraku smirked as strode into the receiving room of the castle he had acquired several months ago, and lowered himself to sit on the silk cushions of the large throne. He was very pleased with himself.
The battle he had just returned from with Inuyasha’s tachi had gone exactly as he had planned. His minions had managed to wound every single one of the baka hanyou’s group, including the little priestess. He could still see her horrified eyes as he had oh so effortlessly taken her tiny bottle of hard won shards, then kissed her on the forehead before he left in a lurid cloud of his purple miasma.
There were only a very few kakera left before the jewel was complete. He had the one from the young slayer boy at his fingertips, no need to worry about that one. There were the two that the wolf prince had embedded in his legs; no great rush to find them, he would just lure the wolf when he desired them.
Taking a careful look at the darkly roiling tama in the palm of his hand, he wasn’t sure if there was one more or not. He could see how the three he was aware of fit into the puzzle that was the jewel, but it appeared that there may be one more sliver to be found.
‘Well, let Inuyasha and his band of merry humans waste their energy traipsing all over Japan searching for it! I’ll just take it from them when I decide the time is right.’
After chuckling quietly to himself, Naraku called loudly, demanding Kagura’s presence. He always desired a somewhat different type of sport after a good battle.
Several hours later, Kagura quickly stole from the room and headed towards the bath house, after gathering her kimono’s around her body to cover her nakedness. ‘I will hide my hate of him from Naraku for as long as it takes. One day I will have my heart back and will be free to ride the winds for all eternity.’
~*~
Naraku gazed into Kanna’s mirror for the third, or was it fifth, time that day. He was keeping an eye on the irritating hanyou and the lord of the western lands. They had combined their tachis several weeks ago after their recent defeat at his hands, and were apparently attempting to gain strength from practicing for the next battle.
He knew it would be the last one, and he looked forward to defeating them once again on the battlefield, before ridding the earth of the spawn of the great dog general, then completing the shikon no tama. At that point the world and everything in it would be his to do with as he pleased, including the priestesses, both Kikyo and her reincarnation, Kagome.
The only thing that was bothering him was the closeness he was beginning to see developing between Sesshoumaru and Kagome. He knew how powerful the human affection known as love could be; Onigumo had loved Kikyo, and his existance was the proof of how far someone would go to obtain their obsession.
Naraku would watch this newest phenomenon carefully, he may be able to use it to his advantage in some manner. Maybe the hanyou and the demon lord would kill each other, or perhaps he could incite Kouga to kill one or both of them for him.
~*~
Kagura looked over her shoulder and sneered as she left the room. Naraku was indolently lazing on the pile of silk cushions spread on the low dais. He had the throne removed months ago, and now preferred to lounge around like some self proclaimed potentate from the continent.
She was patiently waiting for her chance to help orchestrate the demise of the vile hanyou. Then she and her sister, Kanna, would be free. She could smell it on the wind, it would not be much longer.
Naraku had become complacent over the last few months as he waited for the last shard of the shikon jewel to be found. He had decided that there was nothing else to be accomplished, since his plans were made for the final battle, and he could see no flaws in them.
He kept Kohaku close, a bodyguard sitting on cushions off to his side. She assumed it was to impress anyone who dared to step inside the castle. The slayer child had not been practicing in months; his skills were becoming rusty. Naraku was pulling him down into this ennui, along with everyone else in this wretched place.
Naraku had been lying around, indulging in all types of useless pastimes, imported delicacies and disgusting behavior as of late. It was almost time to bring down the final curtain.
‘It is nothing more than slothfulness. And that new habit of sloth, along with his carelessness shall be his downfall.’
~*~
Failure is not our only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others. – Jules Renard
Fin.
~*~