Hellooooo ;] I have been itching to write this one up for quite a while now. SasuKag is most likely my favorite crossover pairing too, which makes things even better! So, here is the first chapter of 'Protection'. By the way, If anyone can think of an even better name for this story, I will surely credit you for it. :D
Disclaimer: Nadda... As in: No I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha. Nothing but manga 3
Chapter One:
December 27th was the day that started it all.
It was the day they were born, the day they were separated and the day they were reunited.
Snow had fallen on that very first and most special December 27th. People ran around town with their children, doing errands, talking to friends about the passing christmas, others just stood around and stared at the snow.
In a separated part of this large village was a compound for a family, a clan. Deep inside those walls was a woman and a man. Around them were many other women, but in the moment, it seemed as if it were just the two.
"Harumi, you can do it." the man told the woman in a knowing voice, his hand holding hers.
"Push!" was a shout from one of the ladies around them.
Said woman, Harumi, did as told and pushed with all her might. There was pain in what she was doing but knowing that her children would soon be in the world made the idea of labor sound better than it had.
"I can see the head, push!" another push and Harumi let out a stressed sigh that turned out to be more of a grunt. "The first one is out!"
The woman nodded, knowing the nurses would clean her baby off.
"Now, for the youngest..." Harumi murmured.
Harumi Hyuga was a beautiful lily, with pale lavender eyes and long flowing navy-blue hair. She was kind and loving to all and in turn, all adored her. She was as gentle as a calm stream and as soft as a newly found feather. Some envied her popularity, some wished for her beauty and others wanted her wealth. Then there were the trusted few that had loved the woman and everything she had ever done. Even then, on December 27th, while she lay on a bed ready to give birth to her second child, she looked like a goddess.
Ten minutes later and another child had been born leaving the mother of the twins relaxed and rested. Even though she was tired, her and her husband both stayed and waited for the two children to be returned to them.
When they were returned, the eldest was handed to the man and the youngest to the female. Two baby girls rested in each of their arms.
"Hiashi, they're... Beautiful." Harumi hummed, cradling the child like she had been doing it for ages.
"Yes, and for their names..." Hiashi, her husband asked. All around their village this man was known as cold hearted but even if he was, he loved his wife dearly and allowed himself to be soft around her and only her.
The male had long brown hair that was famous within the Hyuga clan, Harumi being the exception. His white eyes seemed more of an egg white than a pearly white. They held strength and power, but when he looked at his wife, they held love and respect. The man was well known around their village and was respected and worshiped as the head of the Hyuga clan.
"Ah, right." Harumi slowly sat herself up and looked over at the eldest daughter. Laying there in Hiashi's arms was a small girl with creamy skin and a peaceful expression on her face. Her eyes had yet to open, so Harumi could not tell what shade of white the girls eyes would be, but her eyes were full with dark eyelashes. On the top of her head was a patch of the same navy-blue as Harumi's own. She had her small little hands curled together as if she were holding something. Harumi nodded and whispered. "Hinata."
"Hinata Hyuga, it sounds like a well enough name for main branch." Hiashi nodded.
Harumi that looked down at the little bundle in her arms. She couldn't help but stare in wonder at how much this little one looked like her older sister. She had the same navy hair, same small body shape and same thick black eyelashes. Instead of a creamy skin, this girls was a tad bit whiter, but only a skillful eye would catch it. What caught Harumi's eyes was the girls face. The baby's lips were in a small frown, head cocked to the side and... Eyes wide open. A beautiful pearly lavender was the color of her eyes, and there were small specks of blue that were barley noticeable. The mother of the girl stared at the child who looked back with just as much patience, looking a bit worried. The older woman blinked before the name came to mind, "Kagome."
Even though it didn't follow the tradition of Hyuga names with the beginning letter 'H' and the ending letter 'I', it still seemed to fit the child so well.
Hinata, the sunny place and the lost one, Kagome. Her daughters.
"If that is what you wish." Hiashi looked down at his youngest. "Harumi, it would be wise if we were to call a wet nurse for Kagome now, seeing as she will be leaving for the Branch House soon."
You see, in the Hyuga clan, there are rules. If twins were to be born form the Main House, the eldest of the twins would remain in the Main House while the other was brought to the Branch House. The Branch House was made of lower ranked Hyuga's that were branded a curse mark when the heir to the main house turned three. The curse mark could be activated by anyone in the Main House to obliterate a Branch memebers mind and to keep the secrets of the Hyuga clan safe. The Branch House were servants to the Main house, working as maids or protectors to them.
"Hiashi, I was just wondering if... Before we send Kagome to the Branch House, may I spend a few minutes with both of our daughters alone?" she asked shyly.
"Of course, do so quickly though." he leaned down and placed Hinata in one of Harumi's arms.
"I will." she nodded and the Hyuga patriarch was soon out of the room.
"Ah, Kagome and Hinata. Such beautiful girls. I wish you wouldn't have to go through with the sealing, so I will keep it off course as long as I can." she whispered and than slowly got up from her position. She then slowly walked over to the crib on the side of the room and set the still sleeping Hinata inside of it.
With one arm free she walked over to an opposite wall and tapped on it three times. When one knock came from the other side, Harumi stapped back. A loose board in the wall opened up and a girl slid out. She had light brown hair tied back in a braid, her white eyes had the activated bloodline of the Hyuga, the Byakugan. A doujutsu that allowed the user 360 degree vision and allowed them to see through objects and into a humans body.
"At your service, M'Lady." the woman bowed.
"Ah, Haichi, I see you are still so formal, even if you are a Branch Member, we have been best friends since we were young. Anyways, we have more pressing matters than names." Harumi's face was a mix of worry and fright. "I need you to take Kagome away from the village, raise her as best as you can and try to keep her away from danger. Train her maybe, teach her the basics. She will need to be tough to survive. Can you do this?"
"Of course Mistress Harumi. May I ask why though?" the woman questioned.
"I have never agreed to the curse seal being placed on anyone and to have my own daughter receive it frightens me even more. I need her to understand what will happen if she comes back, and that she needs to be strong. It wont be easy when she comes back but until then I want her to have a few good years." Harumi explained quickly, and a little aimlessly. "Bring her back when she's ready. Haichi, I'm trusting you with all of my heart that you will watch over Kagome like she is your own, and if she asks about her family, tell her that your her aunt. Tell her that her mother loves her."
"Harumi?" was the stiff voice of Hiashi from the other side of the door, he seemed sort of angry and panicked.
"I put up a genjustu with some chakra, the Byakugan can't see in this room for now, but I can't keep it up much longer." the navy-haired woman informed Haichi. "Now go!"
Harumi gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and handed her over to Haichi, who then opened up the closest window and jumped.
Harumi jumped when the door was slammed open.
She turned to see Hiashi fuming, eyes with Byakugan activated.
"Why, Harumi?" was all he could push out.
The new mother of twins burst into tears then, running into the embrace of her husband.
"I was scared, the curse seal.. Kagome couldn't..." she sobbed.
"Eventually she will have to get the seal, you know that... Why you try to stop what is destined is beyond me." a sigh escaped the clan heads mouth.
Haichi had escaped Konoha as quickly as possible. She knew Hiashi would send gaurds after her so leaving that quickly was all she really could do.
She made a beeline to the forest, not looking back, never looking back. The woman felt that if she looked back, not only would she stop to return but she would distroy the life of the child in her arms. Looking down though, she watched the small baby cry into the wind, making little to no noise at all. Sad, swollen eyes and snotty nose.
"I will take care of you child, at least until you understand how to protect yourself." she hummed. "If not for your sake, for your mother who cares so much for you."
Haichi had known that the serious look in Harumi's eyes had meant business when she asked her a favor a week before she went into labor. "Haichi, I trust you so much that I need to give you a task that is even more important to me than an S-rank mission. I need for you to hide in the room next to my own when I give birth to my children. When you hear three knocks on the wood, knock back once and proceed to slide the fourth wall board sideways. Then and only then will I give you further instruction." she had said. Haichi being the good servant and old playmate she was, accepted the mission. To know that the matriarch of Hyuga clan trusted her so, was an honor amongst all others. What had made her question the mission is when the Main House woman slipped an envelope into her hands. "Here, you'll need it." She had opened said envelope when Harumi had left, only to find a large fortune of money waiting inside.
She understood now, that the money was to go towards Kagome's protection. To keep her safe for as long as she could.
"I will not give up." she steeled herself as she headed towards the border of Konoha, making it there in three days, only stopping to feed Kagome her own breast milk, still there from when she had her own child, and watching it die because of sickness. In a way, it felt right to Haichi to have a small Hyuga baby in her arms, feeding and protecting it. She wouldn't give up on Kagome, she knew that for sure. To keep the girl safe was her mission, so she would keep her safe. What Haichi had no clue of was that in due time she would not only grow fond of the girl, but love her as her own.
Haichi had found her way to a small, off the map town called Edo, stopping there for a few days before deciding that she would settle down there with Kagome and wait until she had to be on the move again. She had easily convinced the towns folk that she was the aunt of the child and that her sister, Kagome's mother, had died during child birth. When questioned for the reason of why she did not stay back where she came from she used the same excuse. "I cannot live in the place in which my sister had. Her light had spread joy and now that she is not in this world, I do not think of that place as home."
Haichi bought a small two bedroom house in the forest to raise Kagome in. She knew the money that Harumi had given her had been enough to let them live for a good twenty years with not going broke. Still, Haichi decided to get herself a job when Kagome was older, not only to seem less suspicious but to keep her mind off of her home, Konoha.
A week after Kagome's birth, Haichi was settled down with the navy-haired baby. She sat in her new living room and watched out the large window as it thundered, cradling the reason for the mission in her arms.
"We'll get through this, I know we will."
Over the years, Haichi had raised Kagome as best as she could, trying to teach her to be as gentle as Harumi and yet as strong-willed as her father. It never seemed tough raising the girl though. She was most often then not being calm, she would sometimes get bosy and would flaunt her first word 'sit', trying to make Haichi sit in order to control the adult. By the time when Kagome turned three, the age when Kagome was to originally be branded, Haichi started her training.
Three was a young age, but yet she needed to get things through to the girl, to raise her up with knowing these things. She started with chakra control, trying to help the girl manipulate such chakra into objects. The Hyuga woman remembered when Kagome had first made a toy butterfly she had, glow with chakra. The girl had screamed with joy, calling it pretty and watching it with wide eyes.
On her forth birthday, Haichi introduced the pale girl with weapons, showing her that they were to be taken seriously, and to not be used as toys. Kagome had only once been able to throw a Kunai and Haichi had regretted it.
They had been out in the forest as usual, and Haichi had let the girl hold onto the knife.
"Can you show me how to throw the Kunai? Like I showed you, alright?"
"Mhmm." Kagome narrowed her pupiless eyes in concentration, tongue pointing out of her mouth. The girl had grown and was around three feet tall, only coming up to Haichi's hip. She had her navy locks tied back in two short ponytails, small hands clasped around the kunai, grip as gentle and as soft as fur but just as steady.
She moved her arm back, then quickly moving forward and with a flick of the wrist, the kunai was sent straight for their 'aiming' branch and right towards a bird had no time too move even with Kagome's warning cry, "Move birdy! Move!" Unluckily, the bird did not move and was struck to the ground.
The smaller Hyuga was sent crying, running over to the bird to pick it up. With shaking hands she pulled out the kunai and sat there staring down at the blue animal. She did not leave that spot for the next hour, sitting there mourning over the life she took. The first life she took.
It had shaken Kagome to the core and the girl did not train for two weeks after that. The only things she would do consisted of visiting the grave of the bird that she had held a burial ceremony for and picking wild flowers for the grave.
Haichi had finally decided to talk to Kagome on the Friday of the second week. She had sat her down beside the grave of the bluebird and she herself leaned on the closest tree.
"Kagome, what you did was an accident. You would never do such a thing on purpose, so you need to stop blaming yourself for it." the elder woman had explained. "You need to be strong. Not only for me but for the bird, for the town and for all the innocent. You see, strength is not only having muscle, it is also having the power to hold yourself up emotionally. To be strong you must have a balance, like the yin and yang. You have to be soft and tough at the same time."
Kagome looked up from the grave to her 'aunt'. "So, I have to forget about the bird?"
"No, I never said you had to forget it. Use it as a lesson that you just have to be careful. To be a ninja, you must put the past behind you, yes, but that doesn't mean you can't remember about it. You just can't let it get to you." Haichi smiled. "Now, how about we go and pick some flowers for the bird and let it rest for good?"
Kagome nodded, getting to her feet and running through the forest. She ended up finding a nice blue rose in the shade, that she was ever so proud of. Running back to the grave she laid the flower on top of the dirt and bowed for prayer.
"I will leave you be now birdy, but I will become stronger for you. I'll always remember the sound of your chirp in the morning times."
Haichi watched the girl with wide eyes. She was just as innocent as her mother, if even more so.
Later on that year Kagome had another run in with an animal. It had happened when Haichi was in the middle of cooking up a stew.
"Aunt Haichi!" the voice sounded panicked.
The brunette looked up from her stew to see Kagome with her wide pearl eyes staring down at something wrapped up in her jacket.
"What do you have there?" Haichi asked the girl.
"Look, look! I found him while I was practicing taijutsu!" she padded over near the stove. "His leg is hurt!"
When she unwrapped the cloth of her jacket Haichi found herself staring down at a little fox. Its leg was bent in a very sickening position and the small creature was whimpering.
"Auntie, can you help him?" she asked.
"Well, I will see what I can do. Can you watch over the stew while I fix up his leg?" the guardian of the small child asked.
"Yes, of course." she nodded, handing Haichi the fox and running over to the corner of the room to grab a step stood. She quickly pulled it over to the stove and stood up to stir the stew.
"Alright, I will be back in a few minutes." Haichi told Kagome, the girl just nodded from her place on the stool.
Harumi's old playmate walked into her own room and set the fox on her desk. She started by activating her Byakugan and ran some healing chakra over its bones to numb its leg. Finding that it really was broken she quickly snapped the bone back into place, causing the small fox to howl in pain. Haichi then poured more healing chakra into the leg again, hoping to speed up the healing process a fair amount. Pulling some bandages out of her pouch she finished by wrapping its leg.
When she came back into the kitchen, Kagome had already pulled the stew off the stove and was pouring some stew into each of the bowls. Three bowls to be precise.
"Kagome, the fox is fine. Thank you for finishing the stew, but may I ask why you have three bowls prepared?" Haichi asked, the fox still cradled in her arms.
"Oh! One for you, one for me and one for Shippo!" she said in a pleased tone.
"Shippo?" Haichi asked.
"Of course, I'm naming the fox Shippo!" she smiled. "I was hoping that I would be able to take care of him, just until we find his mother and father."
"Kagome you can't just-"
"I know that I cannot keep him as a pet! I will check his leg every day and feed him and take him outside. Please Auntie Chi." Kagome interrupted, using her special name for Haichi and bringing out her big puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, as long as you keep up with taking care of him." the oldest Hyuga submitted.
Kagome did as told and for the next few days she bathed him, fed him, made sure his leg was fine and took him outside. At night time, she would let the fox sleep on her bed with her. Some times Haichi would walk by and hear Kagome whispering to the little animal.
"It's okay, I don't have a mother or father, so if we can't find yours you can stay with me forever. Okay Shippo?" she had once heard her say as she was going to bed.
The next day though, when Kagome and Haichi were outside with a fully recovered Shippo, training, Haichi spotted somthing.
"Kagome, look!" Haichi whispered to the girl who had just stopped training with gentle fist.
The navy haired girl looked over to where Haichi pointed and her eyes widened. Right in front of them were two beautiful adult foxes, one male and one female.
"They must be Shippo's mother and father!" Kagome whispered in awe, her response was Shippo the fox running off towards them.
"Ah!" Kagome was shocked. When she recovered she raised her hand and started waving. "Bye Shippo! I'm glad you found your parents! Have fun and I'll miss you!"
Haichi couldn't believe how much alike her mother she was, with her bright smile and wide eyes. The love of all things innocent.
Around the end of Kagome's fourth year, Haichi started getting sick. At first she brushed it off as if it were nothing but as the year really came to an end, the sickness had spread and it was taking it's toll on her body. Slowing her down, exausting her. Soreness and coughing had also accured. Kagome herself had noticed that her 'Aunt' wasn't at her fullest so she finally confronted her.
"Auntie Chi, are you alright? You seem to have a bad cough and you have been sleepy." Kagome asked worriedly, snow falling on her short navy hair.
"I'm fine Kagome dear, just go back to training. I'm going to get a drink." Kagome paused before going back to target practice, easily getting the center of the red and white targets.
She is improving. Thought Haichi as she walked back to the house.
When she entered she walked over to a counter where a clean empty glass sat. She picked it up and ran it under the tap, taking as much water as possible. She than chugged down the water like it was nothing, but winced in pain as she began to cough.
I need to bring her back home, It will be tough on her but she's not safe here with me being sick. Being branded isn't so bad, and we've held it off for around two years. Next week is her birthday, plus, I would want Kagome to meet her family some day. We were just trying to hold off the inevitable. Haichi coughed as she thought. We need to go soon.
So for the next day, Haichi acted as if nothing was wrong but when it became five days to Kagome's birthday, the woman decided that then was the time to go.
"Kagome," she had woke the sleepy girl up. "We're leaving now, please get up and get ready."
"Leaving? To where?" Kagome rubbed her eyes.
"I'm taking you back home... To your Mother and Father." that jolted Kagome awake.
"What? I actually get to meet them?"
Haichi paused, "Well yes. You will be living near them, with other parts of your family."
"Oh! Okay." Kagome nodded, trying to act calm but Haichi could see into the almost five year olds eyes and see the excitement.
Kagome packed a small bag with all of her favorite clothes and her one stuffed animal, a bluebird she had named Sango. The eldest of the two packed nothing, knowing she would need nothing.
They stepped out into the crisp winter snow and Haichi got Kagome up on her back.
I should be able to get her back by her birthday, if not sooner. The wise woman hoped more than knew.
As the week passed, they landed at the Konoha gates with no time spared.
That day was Kagome's birthday and boy would there be a ton of surprises raging through the Hyuga complex.