Chapter 4: Getting Acquainted

Kagome sat quietly in her seat as the limousine took her and her family to the Chen Palace. She was really getting self-conscious by all the attention she was getting, and she knew her brother was feeling the same. After all, they weren't used to being waited on hand and foot.

Ever since they were picked up at the airport two hours ago, the attendants her grandparents sent have done everything to make them as comfortable as possible. They were constantly asking them if they needed anything, if they were too hot or too cold, if they wanted something to eat, it was endless!

Kagome really appreciates their concern, but it was really, really, getting annoying. She wanted to tell them off, but that would have been rude. She doesn't have the nerve to talk, so she has been communicating mentally with her brother.

Goku, are you still alive?

Just barely! This is so annoying! When are we going to get to the Palace anyway? I can't

take this anymore!

The worst part is, this is just the welcoming committee. Just imagine when we get to

the Palace.

Darn it! You're right. No wonder Mom wanted to live in Japan.

Speaking of Mom, how can she stand this?

It must be because she grew up experiencing this everyday.

They stopped their 'conversation' when the driver announced that they had arrived. Kagome and Goku got out, and their mouths dropped open by what they saw. The Chen Palace was a hundred times bigger than the Sunset Shrine, and the shrine itself it big enough. They felt someone closing their mouths for them, and heard their mother's laugh.

"Close your mouths you two. Otherwise you'll catch flies," YengLa said. Goku was the first to recover.

"Mom! Don't tell me this is the Chen Palace! This place is huge!" he exclaimed.

"Forget huge, this place is humongous!" Kagome added. YengLa laughed again.

"Don't worry dears. You'll get used to it. After all, we'll be living here for one year," she said. Kagome and Goku looked at the Palace again. It looked like one of the ancient buildings, but with a couple of modern touches to it. Two familiar people greeted them at the gates: Hakai and Gojo. They bowed.

"Lady YengLa, welcome. I hope you enjoyed your trip here," Aki greeted. YengLa nodded and they stood up.

Hey, what are we? Invisible? Kagome and Goku thought at the same time. YengLa seemed to read their minds, and smiled gently at them.

"I'm sorry, but Lord Li and Lady MaeChu are unable to meet you right now. They send their apologies. But please, make yourselves comfortable," Gojo said. They led their three guests to their respective rooms.

***

Ahhhh…. Now that's refreshing Kagome thought contentedly. She closed the bathroom door and headed to the bed (huge bed!) and sat down, drying her long hair. She looked outside the window and saw that it was nearly dark. Very tired by everything that happened lately, she decided to turn in early. She changed into her favorite sleeping clothes, a white tank top and black shorts.

Kagome was ready to drop from exhaustion. But before she went to sleep, she headed to the balcony to get some fresh air.

This place is great, but it's way too big for me. I still prefer the Sunset Shrine she thought as she sat on the lip of the balcony. As she watched the flower petals fly in the wind, her thoughts strayed to other things.

Grandpa Li and grandma MaeChu. I wonder how they'll react when they see brother and me. From what Dad tells me, they didn't really approve of Mom marrying him. That's why they moved to Japan in the first place. How will they act towards us? Kagome wondered with apprehension. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone watching her from the trees.

***

Itachi Uchiha stared as if hypnotized at the beautiful girl sitting on the balcony just below him. He had just escaped from another one of his father's lecture about the importance of winning the Dark Tournament. He's heard it so many times its practically drilled into his head. Like he needed it. He's got other important things to think about. Like the people who were supposed to arrive today.

Form what the servants told me, it's supposed to be Lady YengLa. She's the Chen Clans strongest warrior. No one has been able to surpass her skills, even thought she left China twenty years ago he thought. He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw something from the corner of his eyes. He looked below him, and saw a beautiful girl with long raven hair and blue eyes sit on the lip of the balcony. He watched as she looked at the darkening sky, a deep, thoughtful look on her face. After a while, the cold seem to bring her from her thoughts and she went back inside the room.

Itachi's eyes narrowed and he sat back. Who was that girl? He wondered Our clan has been staying here for two months now and I've never seen her before. I'm sure she's not one of the servants. And besides, she looks like she has mixed blood.

It was really dark now, and he knew his father would be looking for him, no doubt to talk about more tactics about the tournament. He jumped from the tree he was hiding in and headed to his room, determining to find out more about that girl.

***

The next morning, the three most powerful and influential families of China gathered in a large room of the Chen Palace.

The first is the Chen Clan, headed by Lord Li and Lady MaeChu. They have a son, Kazu, who died many years ago, and YengLa, their only daughter and only remaining child.

The second one is the Uchiha Clan. Lord Kokoro and Lady Elisia head it. They have two sons. The older one is Itachi Uchiha, twenty years old and the youngest is Sasuke Uchiha, nineteen years old.

The third clan is the Hyuuga Clan; whose heads are Lord Roshi and Lady Kana. They have a twenty-year-old son named Neji and a nineteen-year-old daughter named Hinata.

Itachi and his friend named Riku are the Uchiha Clan's representative in the Dark Tournament while Neji and another warrior named Ruka are the Hyuuga Clan's representative. The three clans gathered together were there to discuss further happenings for the Dark Tournament, such as 1parties, balls and other things. And also, so they could meet the Chen Clan's representative for the tournament.

The meeting hall was buzzing with conversation when the large doors opened. All noise stopped and everyone saw three people walk in and head straight to where Lord Li and Lady MaeChu were standing. They bowed. In the crowd, Itachi's eyes slightly widened as he looked at one of them. Hey, that's…he thought. One of them spoke.

"My Lord, greetings to you and to the Lords and Ladies of the Uchiha and Hyuuga Clan. May I present to you my son, Goku and my daughter, Kagome. They will represent the Chen Clan in the Dark Tournament," YengLa spoke in a clear, loud voice. On hearing their names, Goku and Kagome bowed respectfully to their grandparents, as their mother told them to do. They heard the mutterings that started again after their mother spoke.

"They will compete…"

"Can they handle it?"

"They don't look much…"

"I'm mot sure Lady YengLa made a wise decision…"

"I thought Lady YengLa was supposed to fight…"

"Has anyone seen them fight?"

Lord Li called everyone to order and instructed everyone but the heads of the clans to leave the hall. Kagome and her family were about to follow, but someone called out to their mother.

"Lady YengLa, please remain. We would like to talk o you," Lord Kokoro said. At this, Kagome and Goku looked at each other. They could tell that their mother is not comfortable about this. Goku was about to say something when YengLa spoke.

"Goku dear, Kagome dear, please wait outside. We'll be done soon," she said with a smile. They were surprised, but didn't dare disobey their mother.

"Of course Mom," Goku said and they bowed to her before leaving the room. The servants were the last to leave the room, and the great doors were shut on them. The mutterings started again, everyone looking at the two new arrivals. Kagome and her brother tried their best to ignore the rather rude attention they were getting as they talked together, but it proved increasingly difficult as the minutes passed.

***

Kagome couldn't help but be a bit nervous as she talked with her brother about trivial things. She kept looking at the people around them, talking as if they couldn't be heard, looking away when Kagome caught their eye. Goku knew his sister wasn't used to this kind of attention, so he decided on taking her somewhere else.

"Hey sis, let's get out of here. I know somewhere were we can go," Goku whispered.

Kagome nodded with relief. "Let's go," she agreed and the two of them went off, glad to be getting away. Both of them almost (note the word 'almost') shouted in relief upon reaching a large and beautiful garden.

"Finally! I was starting to feel like a T.V. show from all the stares I was getting," Kagome said as she sat down and plucked a lily flower, one of her favorites. Goku went over to the nearest, sturdiest tree around and jumped on one of its branches before answering his sister.

"Yeah, but still we should be used to this. It's like this at school everyday. Even sometimes at work. But we really didn't notice I a lot since we were always busy with something," he replied.

Kagome nodded and looked at the bright blue sky, fully aware that someone was watching them, and her brother knew it too. But a silent agreement between the two of them existed, and they ignored it.

"Hey bro, you shouldn't sit there. Your clothes might get dirty," Kagome scolded lightly. Goku, on the verge of taking a nap, snapped to attention and looked at his clothes, which consisted of black pants and boots, white shirt and a white overcoat. On his right ear is a silver fanged earring and his favorite golden headband around his head.

"Damn," he muttered. He took of his coat and threw it at Kagome, who caught it and folded it neatly. She was wearing the same type of clothes, except instead of pants and shirt, she was wearing a black dress, reaching her thighs and white shoes and a white overcoat.

"Hey bro, how do you think Mom is doing?" Kagome asked.

Goku opened his eyes and looked down at her. "She's fine. Remember, this is Mom were talking about. It's true it's been years since she's fought in the Dark Tournament, but that doesn't mean she's grown weaker. She still practices her skills on a daily basis after all. And she is one of our mentors," he reassured her. Before Kagome could reply, a noise was heard behind them. They turned and saw a girl wearing a white 2dress standing there. Goku jumped from the three and Kagome stood up. The girl moved to hide behind the bushes, but stopped. She looked at the ground, a light blush on her face. Kagome and Goku looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Hello there!" Kagome started cheerfully. The girl's blush deepened.

"Um…I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but…um…lunch is ready and everyone else is already going back inside the hall," the girl stuttered. It was obvious that she was really very shy. She reminded them of Reiko.

"Great! Thanks a lot for telling us. By the way, my name is Kagome and this is my twin Goku. What's your name?" Kagome introduced s they walked over to the girl.

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga," the girl now known as Hinata introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you Hinata. Do you want to walk back with us?" Goku asked. Hinata looked surprised by being asked, but nodded. So the three of them headed to a completely different room than before, talking animatedly with each other. At least Kagome and Hinata were. Goku didn't really like the topic. It was 'much too girly for him', as he described it.

YengLa smiled gently when she saw her two children talking with the daughter of Lord Hyuuga. She knew it was only a matter of time before they made friends, but this was much earlier than she expected. The inhabitants of the room seemed surprised at what they were seeing.

Before Kagome and Goku left to join their mother, they invited Hinata to go with them tomorrow.

"Goku and I wanted to go sight-seeing tomorrow, since this is our first time in China. We would love it if you came with us. You can bring your brother, if he wants to go, that is," Kagome invited.

"Sure," Hinata muttered softly, but gladly.

Kagome's face lit up. "Great! Then we'll see you tomorrow morning at the garden. Later Hinata!" Kagome said. She gave Hinata a light hug, and then walked off with her brother to their smiling mother. Hinata stood for a few seconds watching them, then joined her family.

"Hinata, what was that?" her father demanded. Hinata didn't need to ask what he meant.

"Nothing father. They were just being nice," Hinata said truthfully. Her father grunted and said no more. Neji took this opportunity to speak with his sister.

"Hinata, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he whispered. Hinata shook her head at once.

"No. I just made some friends," Hinata replied softly, a happy smile on her face.

&&&

1 Even though the Dark Tournament began 400 years ago, people not belonging to any of the three clans know nothing of it. So when the three most powerful families of China gather together, they must show other people something else aside from the fighting. Hey, they're kind of celebrities there after all.

2 Sorry, I don't know what Chinese clothes are called.