Money's Worth
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I do not own Naruto or Inuyasha
It's seven in the morning.
Freaking seven in the morning—on a Sunday.
Kagome let out a huff. Normal kids her age would still be snuggling in their beds, knocked out well into the afternoon. So why, why, why on earth did she deserve to be up so early, and standing in front of the Uchiha household, no less?
Oh, right.
oooooooooo
Kagome was on her way home that Saturday afternoon with a bag of groceries in her arms. Mama Higurashi had so kindly sent (forced) her out to buy the ingredients for the night's dinner. She wouldn't have minded so much in going out, but the temperature outside had beat world record. It was hot, especially since the sun was settled comfortably on the highest point in the sky.
Mama could have sent Souta—that brat never does anything but lay around and played his video games… and sneaks into her room when he thinks she doesn't know. A very unlady-like snort left Kagome as she thought about it. Souta was a good kid, just annoying.
She continued on her death march back home when she heard a small child crying. Being overly kind-hearted and slightly nosy, she paused to follow the direction of the cry. The child could be in some type of trouble for all she knew.
Turning around the corner from where she was, Kagome noted that she was nearing the kiddie playground. When she walked closer, she saw a little boy no older than six years of age, maybe even younger since he was so small. An elegant woman in a white blouse and pencil skirt was crouched down next to the crying boy, a hand on top of his gravity-defying raven hair trying to calm the boy down.
Kagome didn't know who the woman was, but she recognized the little boy right away. He was no other than the younger brother of the almighty Uchiha Itachi—which, in Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi's cringe-worthy fangirl squealings—was the hottest, sexist, most delicious male-god to be born on Earth…Or at least in Japan.
She didn't understand why. Personally, she found the rock star Inuyasha more attractive. But, as Yuka scolded her, "They're completely different! Inuyasha's an idol and he's out of reach."
But it wasn't like Uchiha Itachi was within reach, though. He was the town's heartthrob, proclaimed gentleman, genius, and probably the richest person in Konoha High. The seventeen-year-old was good at absolutely anything, and that included getting girls to fall for him left and right. Gentlemanly he was, however, Kagome heard that he was kind of a player.
Figures… girls were in love with him to the point of insanity. How could he not?
Hell, the Uchiha might as well be an idol.
Everyone in school knew stuff about him—his time of birth, his favorite color (purple, apparently. Even Kagome knew that, thanks to her three friends), what he does afterschool (martial arts? Piano lessons? Getting it on? Oh, the choices!), and probably even what shampoo he uses to keep his beautiful hair so sleek and silky.
Insane, they were all insane.
Kagome has never encountered the heartthrob face to face, since she was just starting her first year at Konoha High while he was already on his third, but she was glad. Just because he had good looks (and was amazing at everything) didn't mean he was all that great. He was probably a snob, like all rich, spoiled kids were.
"Can I help you?" the woman broke Kagome out of her thoughts. She forgot that she was still standing there, looking like a creepy weirdo just staring at them.
"Um—uh, hi!" she wanted to slap herself for that oh-so-intelligent reply. The woman smiled gracefully and nodded. She still looked so elegant even though she was crouched on the dirty ground. Kagome scratched her head sheepishly, "…Sorry. I heard crying and thought that a kid was in trouble, so um, I came to see if I could help."
"What a sweet girl you are," the woman praised, still smiling. She patted the boy's head (tears were still spilling out of his big eyes), "This little one was just throwing a small tantrum, I'm afraid."
Kagome idly wondered what kind of relation the woman had with the younger Uchiha. She looked young and it was apparent that the younger Uchiha resembled her greatly, but no one knew anything about a sister. It then came to Kagome that the woman was his mother. She had such a mature grace around her; Kagome felt out of place standing next to her. They both had long, raven hair, but Kagome's was a far cry from the woman's shiny locks.
Oh, she was just so dull compared to the woman.
"Is there a reason why," Kagome raked her brain to match the boy's face to a name, "—Sasuke is crying? Maybe I can help…" She hadn't meant to be nosy since the woman looked competent enough to take care of him, but he reminded her of Souta and it was almost habitual to want to cheer the boy up.
"You know Sasuke-chan?" the woman looked genuinely surprised. "Oh! You must be a friend of Ita-chan then! What's your name, dear?"
Ita-chan, is that what he was called at home? Just wait until she tells her friends this juicy fact. "I'm Kagome. Higurashi Kagome… but I just know Uchiha-san from school. We don't talk—in fact, I don't even think he knows who I am," Kagome replied truthfully. She came to eye level with the boy and reached for something in her grocery bag. Sasuke watched her wearily from behind his fisted hands and blinked when she handed him a small plastic container full of cherry tomatoes.
"They're cherry tomatoes; I think you'll like them. Try one, they're actually really sweet."
Sasuke eyed them suspiciously. He'd never had cherry tomatoes before, and he was scared to taste them. But the pretty girl was smiling at him so kindly, he figured one wouldn't hurt. Gingerly accepting the red fruit, he set it in his mouth and bit into it slowly.
It was sweet. The pretty girl wasn't lying—he liked it. A lot.
Kagome grinned, "Good, right?"
A cute hiccup escaped from Sasuke's lips and he nodded, going up to hug her shyly. Sasuke's mother, who had been standing there with a surprised expression on her elegant features, clapped her hands together with a wishful idea.
"Kagome-chan, was it?" the Uchiha woman asked sweetly, "How do you feel about a job?"
A job? Kagome gave it a thought. She didn't oppose of the idea of having a job; in fact, it'll be good for her since she wanted to earn some spending money. But why was the woman asking her? "Well, since I'm only fifteen and in school, I haven't really given much thought about it, but I do like to have something to do. I've babysatted my brother when he was younger and my neighbor's four-year-old twins many times before."
"Ah, then that's perfect!"
"Um, what's perfect?" she asked, taken aback from the Uchiha woman's outburst.
The woman smiled. "Actually, the reason this little one was crying earlier was because I have an important meeting that I must attend tomorrow and won't be home. I was going to find a babysitter for the morning, but Sasuke-chan refuses to have anything to do with the sitters. He doesn't like strangers very much, so I was surprised that he accepted something from you."
"Oh," Kagome suddenly felt special. Maybe she had a talent with kids that she didn't know about. "What about Uchiha-san?" she realized too late that she just basically addressed everyone in the family.
The Uchiha woman seemed to know who she was talking about, though. "My husband is overseas, and Ita-chan will be out for his Kendo Tournament. Our maid has Sundays off."
The Uchihas were rich enough to have a personal maid.
So…
"So I was thinking…would you like to babysit Sasuke-chan tomorrow, Kagome-chan? He seems to like you a lot." As to emphasis his mother's remark, Sasuke latched his arms around Kagome's legs and looked up cutely with his slightly red-rimmed eyes.
"I…" Would she? She didn't have anything against the Uchiha's, she really didn't, but the thought of actually going to Uchiha Itachi's house to babysit his brother was…weird. "I don't think I-"
As soon as that much left her mouth, Sasuke didn't let her finish the rest of the sentence and started to cry. Again.
Oh Kami, did she really just make the boy cry right after she stopped him from crying? "I-no—sorry—I just…" Kagome turned to the woman to apologize, "I'm sooo sorry, Uchiha-san, I didn't mean to-"
The Uchiha waved her hand to politely dismiss the apology. "No formalities! Please just call me Mikoto, dear. And it's not your fault. Sasuke-chan is really picky…" she trailed on, "He's just terribly afraid of strangers…but I guess I'll have to force him to get along with another sitter he doesn't like anyway."
Was it just Kagome, or did it almost sound like the Uchiha woman was guilt tripping her?
"Oneesan," Sasuke hiccup-whispered with a sob, "D-do you n-not like me?" He liked her, especially after she gave him what he now proclaim as his most favorite thing in the world, so why didn't she like him enough to play with him tomorrow?
Crud, even the kid was guilt tripping her now. Maybe she should just agree to babysit him, for Kami's sake. Uchiha Itachi wouldn't even be there… so what was she so nervous about? There was an eerie feeling in her stomach, begging her not to do it. Sasuke might be a handful, she tried telling herself.
"You know, I can pay you fifteen dollars an hour for the inconvenience…" Mikoto hinted offhandedly.
The Uchihas were also rich enough to pay her double the minimum wage.
"I…" That eerie feeling was kicked out as her mind took over. Curse her good heart, Sasuke's cute pout, and the lure of actually having money to put in her otherwise empty piggybank. "I'll do it, Mikoto-san," she sighed.
"Thank you so much, Kagome-chan!" Mikoto gave a soft squeal, scribbling down the address and phone number on a piece of paper before handing it to the girl, "I'll see you tomorrow at seven in the morning!"
"S-seven?!" Oh, curse her for getting herself into this mess.
A/N: This will be a twoshot. I know I should probably be working on Decoding right now (and I am 50% done!) but I promise this won't take long. I actually already have the whole story written out and posted—though on a different site (asianfanfics) and it featured different people—and it was a story I originally wrote because looking at a picture of Itachi inspired me. Silly, but it happened. Now I'm reposting the story with some changes and this time with Itachi, Sasuke, and Kagome thrown in the mix for all you IY/Naruto lovers.
Ages are altered to make this AU work, btw.
Now, you've endured my story this far, how about a review?
