Prologue

(With Tsunade)

Tsunade watched quietly as the group said their good-byes. Plans had already been made on which of them were going and which were staying in the village, it seemed. She tried to recall their names but she'd been distracted when they'd been introduced by the lack of Leaf ninja at their parting. None of Team Kakashi was present, nor were any of Kagome's year mates. It seemed that Kagome planned on leaving without a word to any of them. The thought brought on a headache as she realized how Naruto would react when he found out.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Kagome said approaching her with a bow. "I know this hasn't been easy on you but I'm truly grateful for this."

Tsunade snorted. "Hasn't been easy? Understatement of the year but you shouldn't thank me yet. Naruto and the others still don't know that you're leaving so I can imagine what they'll do when they find out. Don't thank me until I've stopped them from dragging you back."

At least the black haired girl had the decency to look ashamed. "I didn't….I couldn't face them now that they know how much I've lied to them. They wouldn't trust me."

Before Tsunade could contradict her doubts Seeshomaru approached. "Lady Tsunade, thank you for the hospitality you have shown us. We will return in a few months with as much information is possible about the situation."

"Try to report back as often as you can, Kagome. Just because I'm letting you go doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. This is a mission and you will treat it as such."

"Yes, ma'am." Kagome said with a bob of her head.

With that the group of travelers was off. Tsunade had hoped that she could hold them back long enough for someone to see Kagome leaving and try to stop her. Of course, no one from Team Kakashi had any reason to be out this way this early in the morning. Not even Sakura had duties near the gates this morning so her hopes were in vain. There was nothing and no one that could stop Kagome from leaving now. Tsunade sighed and turned to return to her office to prepare for the moment her old teammates recognized her absence, especially Naruto.

(With the Gang)

Only Kagome looked back at the village as they left. A part of her wished she had told the others that she was leaving so that she could have had them there at their parting. However, when she peered back there was no one watching them. The guards had even returned to their duty. There was no way to describe the way she felt about her situation. In leaving the village she no longer felt like a Shinobi, even though she still wore the symbol of the leaf on her arm. On the other hand, she was not the demon-slaying, miko that had traveled the feudal era. Both were her but they were not the same and she was not either of them.

"Dare I ask what's on your mind?" Sango asked.

"Everything is just changing so fast. I'm still trying to make sense of it all." Kagome responded.

Her old friend gave her a side glance. "I guess this world is different from our own but now our world is becoming a part of it. You of all people should feel at home like this."

"No, not really. I got used to this world the way it was. I had a life, not the best but it was…it was good. I never thought this would be how it all turned out." Kagome said. There was so much more she wanted to say but she felt all of the words stuck in her throat.

Sango, thankfully, let the conversation die without noticing. Neither cared to discuss how Kagome thought it would all end, there was an unspoken fear among them of that she meant. Instead they both focused on their surroundings. The air felt too heavy for a nearly empty forest and it was beginning to make them all ill at ease. They did not come across any demons even as they strayed further from the path. About an hour after dark they stopped at a clearing to make camp. Kagome took out a blank scroll and took notes on what they had seen. The short paragraph felt almost like a lie as she put the scroll away. She guessed she had been lying to everyone for so long that the truth no longer felt right.

"Sleep, no doubt there will be less time for that as we go on." Sesshoumaru ordered as he set himself up to take the watch.

(With Sasuke)

As it turned out, it was Sasuke who discovered Kagome's absence first. It came when he noticed that most of the guests in the Uchiha Compound were no longer there. He felt a sense of panic wash over him. She wouldn't have left without saying anything, to Naruto or Sakura or even Kakashi. Right? No matter how much she hated him, she wouldn't have abandoned her comrades. He had to find out. He just had to be sure. He rushed to her house only to find it dark. It wasn't too early, maybe they were at the training grounds. So that was where he went next only to find some of his former classmates gathered. The moment they admitted to not seeing any of the group that day he knew. He knew that they had left the village. He ran, he ran to find the others, to find her. Once he had them gathered he dragged them to the Hokage's office.

"Hello you three, I wondered how long it would take." Tsunade said as the barged in to her office.

Something dropped inside Sasuke.

"Granny," Naruto shouted. "Where's Kagome?"

Gone, Sasuke's mind supplied.

Tsunade sighed, looking up to meet each of their eyes. "Kagome and some of the others left early this morning. They felt it best to attempt to stymie the recent flood of demon attacks. And, seeing as they have the greatest amount of knowledge on the subject, I asked them to report the situation back to me."

"Where did they go?" Sakura asked.

"They didn't say. As far as I know, there was no planned location in mind. I suspect they'll follow any leads they can find and hunt as many demons as possible." Tsunade said with a shake of her head. "Sesshomaru assured me that they would be returning in a few months but it could easily be sooner than that."

There was little left that could be said. Somehow Naruto managed to find more to argue with Tsunade about while Sakura tried to calm them both down. Sasuke didn't hear anything they said over the rush of blood in his ears. He wished he had actually talked to her before she left. It was true that she hadn't sought them out after the battle but that didn't mean he couldn't have. Nothing but his own cowardice had stopped him from going to face her. When they had talked before the battle she had still been so angry and betrayed because of what he'd done. He didn't have the courage to try again to tell her that he still…

Somehow the others managed to drag him out of the office and back down to the training grounds. It felt so much like seeing her corpse all over again. It hurt, it hurt like she was gone forever. She didn't tell any of them that she was going. She just left. Just like I did. But she always knew that I was going to, didn't she? She knew before I did. None of us had a clue that she was leaving. He was wallowing, he knew it. Naruto was off yelling at Kakashi, at heaven, just yelling. Others had joined their little pity party.

A hand appeared on his shoulder. "Are you ok?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know."

She joined him on the ground. "Look at us." She said with a sad smile and he did. The group around him wore mixed expressions. "This is just like it was when you left. Naruto yelling, determined to drag you back even after he'd failed. The rest of us were just clueless on how. The only difference is that Kagome just pushed herself into her work and…"

"And I'm not doing anything." Sasuke said hanging his head. What could he do?

"You don't have the same options. Kagome was a hero, she was a jonin, and she had been appointed an anbu. Right now, you need to focus on getting back into the system and rhythm of the village. Then we can go out after her as a team." He looked over at her in disbelief.

"She's right, you know?" Kakashi joined them as Naruto attempted to start a fight with Sai. "Which is why both you and Naruto will be working to make up for lost time. Both of you will be participating in the next chunin exam."

"How is that going to work? We're not a three-man team."

"There are ways around that. And with all that you two have been through you should do fine. Then, once you've advanced, we'll all go out and bring her home."

Naruto calmed down by then and came over to join them. He had heard Kakashi's speech about the chunin exam. The smile on his face told Sasuke that he was up for the challenge because without Sakura or Kagome it would be a challenge. Well if the idiot thought that they could succeed…who was he to disagree?

"So when do we start?" Sasuke asked.