Chapter 3

The entire story ended up consuming only a half an hour, give or take a few minutes. I could tell that they were all very skeptical, judging by their faces when I finally finished talking. I allowed them a few minutes to soak it all in, and waited patiently for the first question that was sure to wonder at my sanity. And sure enough, not even five seconds passed before the woman in charge spoke up.

"I... think you are telling the truth. The story is too far-fetched and intricate to have been a lie made up on the spot. Though the idea of demons roaming the lands freely is quite an alarming thought..."

"I believe you are right, Tsunade. I saw no indication of lying at any given time during the telling," Kakashi said.

'Good to know how trusting these people are...' I thought wryly to myself.

Tsunade frowned thoughtfully. "Well, we'll have to find somewhere to put you for the time being. I'd put you with Naruto, but you'd surely find the brat annoying-"

"Hey!" Naruto cried.

"-so we'll just find a nice apartment for you," she continued on.

There really wasn't anything I could do, so I simply bowed in thanks. "Thank you. What shall I do in the meantime?"

Kakashi and Tsunade shared a look before she turned to me. "I guess you'll hang with these brats. Don't worry, they're better than your average bunch of brats, so you'll be in good hands."

There was a slight pause as she seemed to think seriously about something.

"I suppose we'll enroll you into the ninja academy as well. In due time, we will naturalize you, if your stay here is long enough." Tsunade said. "For now though, we will have Ibiki take a look at you and you'll be released. Thank you for your cooperation." Then she turned to Kakashi, "since you're not doing anything now, go get Ibiki for me. And don't be late."

Kakashi's face remained indifferent as he 'banged' away. I blinked at the little puff of smoke that quickly dissipated in his wake. 'So that's what it looks like to other people...' I realized.

Tsunade looked to the remainders of the squad. "You three brats can go home now, Kakashi will let you know when you receive your next mission."

Three more bangs immediately followed, and I couldn't help but wonder how in God's name they did that...

"Now, if you would please stay here, miss..."

"Higurashi Kagome."

Tsunade smiled tightly, "You may want to sit down, Kakashi is notorious for always being late."

So, I settled myself in and waited in an awkward silence as Tsunade went back to 'working,' which seemed to consist of pulling out a sake bottle from nowhere and chugging it down. Great leader she seemed to be. I watched as she finished her current one and pulled another one from thin air and proceeded to chug that one down. After all, I had nothing better to do, considering Kakashi had yet to show up, just like Tsunade had said.

'What a day this is turning out to be...'

Meh, another short chapter. Seems that's all I'm able to do these days. Oh well, seemed good to me.

And as I have told a reviewer, I will be having Kagome share a semi-romantic moment with each of the characters on my poll. That will hopefully help some people choose. As well, I stress that the winner of the poll only greatly influences my final decision.

Thanks for reviewing. I really appreciate it.