Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks so much for being patient with me and allowing me time to get through the end of the semester and finals week. Well, let me tell you that all those hours of studying and getting no sleep paid off. I passed all my classes and I was able to get through all my finals with no problem. Granted, I was so tired from getting only 2-4 hours of sleep every day, but with a couple of energy drinks I was able to study and do well on my finals. So now that finals are over, I can get back to work and also back to writing.

So with that said, I have a couple of more announcements to make concerning more projects.

There is this new fanfiction that I'm currently working on that is also a Naruto/InuYasha crossover that is going to have Itachi and Sango as the main couple. The description of the story is on my profile page, along with other projects that I'm working on. Now this project won't be posted for another year or so because I'm still planning out the details but I'm also beginning to write it at the same time. With that being said, I have a poll that is on my profile page about the pairing concerning that Naruto/InuYasha fiction. Not this fiction. So when you vote for pairings, it's for one of the big projects that I'm working on.

Now keep in mind that the main purpose of this pole is to see of the majority of you want to see Kagome with Inuyasha or Sasuke. There are also choices with Miroku, I have plans on what to do with his character but I also want to know if you guys want to see him in a relationship with any characters. (Ayame is the daughter of Teuchi, the man who runs Ichiraku Ramen and Kaname is the female Kururugi character you can play in the InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask game.)

Now that all the announcements are up and out of the way, it's time to get on with this chapter. *phew*

The King was standing in the throne room near the window with a solemn look on his face. He gazed out starring at his wife who was sitting on a bench in the gardens with her face red and puffed. Now her face was dry with no tears left to shed.

One of the king's advisors, Nara Shikaku, walked into the throne room with one of the generals, Uchiha Tekka, walking right behind him. Shikaku stopped a few feet away from the king. "Sire-"

"Don't say it." The king interrupted. The mood that Shikaku carried told him all he needed to know. "You didn't find him."

Shikaku said nothing. He looked back at Tekka, who stepped closer to the king. "Your Highness, we've been looking for one year and we have found no trace of him at all. Half of your army has been around the entire kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms looking for him. Sire, we need to start accepting the possibility that he may not be alive."

"He's my son!" Fugaku stated. "As long as there is breath in my body, I will do whatever it takes to find him."

Shikaku nodded. Although the search may be futile, he would not try to stop the king. He too, had a son after all. "If I may, your Majesty, perhaps it would be best if we try another alternative."

The king was leaning over a table in the court room with a couple of his advisors surrounding him. He was glaring at the map of the kingdoms and the contract when he heard the door open. He didn't have to lift his head to know that his son was being escorted in by the Royal Guard with the queen trailing behind them. Sensing the tension build up in the room, the advisors slowly backed away from the table to give the king and his son some space.

Fugaku glared up at his son. "You, young man, are hereby restricted to the palace grounds!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his father. "Are you putting me under house arrest?"

Fugaku slammed his hand on the table. "Do not mock me boy! I'm in a foul disposition right now! And you will heed my warning or I'll-"

"Or what?" Sasuke interrupted. "Send me off like a criminal? And all for what? The sake of that stupid contract?"

"You are the Prince of Konoha!"

"And it is my life!" Sasuke snarled.

Fugaku was about to explode when Mikoto walked towards her husband and gave him a stern glance. "Fugaku, sit down before you have a stroke." She sighed. "Honestly, you two." The king growled and begrudgingly sat down on his seat while Sasuke leaned against one of the columns in the court room.

She turned towards her son. "Sweetheart, you were born to privileges and with that comes specific obligations."

"Forgive me Mother, but marriage to a complete stranger never made anyone in this family happy!"

Mikoto looked down at the floor sadly while Fugaku turned and glared at Sasuke. "Stop making such a fuss Sasuke! You've been out of control for the past couple of years! Ever since your brother-" The king froze as he realized the statement he was about to claim.

The prince glared at the king and stood up straight. "He's not dead!"

The queen attempted to console her son. "Sasuke-"

"NO!" The prince yelled. "You may have accepted that Itachi's dead but I haven't. I will not give up on him! He still lives."

Fugaku sighed. He did not have time for this. Getting back to business at hand. "Sasuke, you will marry Hinata by the end of the month or I swear to you that I will strike at you in any way I can."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What's it to be Father? The hot oil or the rack?"

Fugaku stood up and stared down at his son. "I will . . . deny you the crown and . . . live forever!" He mentally cringed when those words escaped his mouth. Did he really just say that? Damn, he was getting old. Mikoto shut her eyes patiently while her husband was quietly steaming beside her.

Sasuke glared at the king. "Agreed. I don't want it." He stormed off out of the room and towards his chambers when Fugaku turned towards his wife angrily. "He's your son!" He turned to his advisors and snapped his fingers towards the map on the table.

Mikoto sighed and glanced in the direction her son stormed off to. He was just as stubborn and short-tempered as her husband was. If only Itachi was still here. Deciding right then and there that it would not end like this, the queen turned towards the king and sent him a glare telling him that they would talk later. She was pleased when he made eye contact with her and nodded. He would talk with her, after he had cooled down and once his meeting with his advisors was done.

Tsubaki and Momiji were playing a board game in the living room with Botan reading a book near the fireplace. Tsubaki was staring at the board, pondering her next move when she heard footsteps in the hallway. Tsubaki smirked and was moving a stone on the board when Kagome walked in with a handful of wildflowers.

"Somebody's in trouble." Tsubaki sang.

Kagome turned towards Tsubaki with a frown on her face. "What are you talking about?"

Kaguya stormed in the room, grabbed Kagome's sleeve and shoved Kagome on one of the chairs in the living room. "You stupid, stupid girl!"

Kagome quickly gripped the armrests on the chair and starred wide-eyed at Kaguya. "It's disgusting. Why the whole thing makes me sick. It's deceitfulness Kagome and I will not have it in this house!"

Kagome glanced around uncertainly. "What did I do?"

Tsubaki leaned back while fiddling with one of the stones to the game board. "Think Kagome. Think really hard."

Kagome looked at Momiji, who mouthed a couple of words while tapping her pointer fingers on the board. Momiji quickly stopped what she was doing as soon as Tsubaki glanced her way. Botan peeked at Kagome nervously from behind her book was Kagome's mind clicked.

"Prince Sasuke stole our horse this morning?" Kagome slowly stated while keeping her head down.

"Yes!" Kaguya sarcastically exclaimed. "And that would explain why he returned it this afternoon." She crossed her arms and glared at Kagome. "How dare you let him surprise us like that!"

"I'm sorry."

Kaguya huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "Luckily for you, Tsubaki was able to give quite a performance. She and the prince had an exchange."

Tsubaki hummed in agreement. "Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if he stopped by again soon."

Kagome glared at Tsubaki while Kaguya crossed her arms again and tapped her foot. "Come now. I must know everything that was said between the two of you. He said you were forceful. What did you say?"

Kagome opened her mouth and paused. She glanced at Botan and then Momiji, who were both sitting still and stealing a couple of glances at Kagome.

"I . . . I called him a thief and-" She saw Tsubaki covering her mouth to hide her snickering and quickly stammered. "I-I didn't recognize him!"

Kaguya laughed as she too covered her mouth with her hand. "Ah Kagome, why you poor country girl." She let out a sigh. "Well, we must work extra hard to keep the manor spotless right?"

Kagome quickly nodded.

"We can't have a royal bottom sitting on a dirty cushion now can we?" Kagome shook her head.

Tsubaki grinned at her teacher when she heard others enter the room. She turned to see Higurashi Hisao, Kaede, and Tenten enter the room. Tsubaki glanced at them confused. "What is he doing here?"

Kaguya turned to look at Hisao who was next to his wife. Hisao cleared his throat. "I have worked off yo-" He paused when he noticed Kaguya's glare. "Uh my debt madam. They told me I could go home."

Kaguya frowned. "Fine. Go catch a chicken and prepare our dinner." She waved him off and he quickly headed outside towards the gardens. She turned around to see Kagome still seated in the chair. "Well what are you waiting for?" Kaguya demanded. "Go on."

Kagome immediately stood up, picked up the flowers from the floor, and scurried out of the room after her grandparents.

After the prince stormed off the king glared down at the map of the Five Countries as he was talking with his advisors about the chaotic state of the Lightning Country that was located northeast of the Fire Country. Although the current king, Ay, was a kind and caring man he also had quite the short temper. A couple of months ago, his younger brother, Killer B, had vanished leaving a note behind, claiming that he had gone off to train somewhere and he would be back soon. Of course King Ay was not too pleased with this news and had suspected that his brother had snuck off for a vacation. To the relief of the other countries, he did not send his soldiers to neighboring counties to look for him. No, instead he sent a message to all the kingdoms saying that if they found his brother they needed to send him back or send him a message so that he can go and retrieve him.

The continent that they resided in had five major countries: the Fire Country, the Wind Country, the Earth Country, the Water Country, and the Lightning Country. Each major country has a kingdom, where the royal family and their advisors lived, and a capital, where the daimyo and most of the country's population resided. The Royal Families of the Five Kingdoms were; the Uchiha Royal Family from the Fire Country, the Royal A Family from the Lightning Country, the Kazekage Clan from the Wind Country, the Terumī Royal Family from the Water Country, and the Kamizuru Clan from the Earth Country. The last decade or so have been very peaceful, with all the countries keeping to themselves and only interacting with one another by social gatherings or for discussion of treaties concerning their growing economy and other politics.

The last meetings of the royal families that were held in the Kingdom of Konoha have been extremely difficult for Fugaku. The latest meeting was three months ago where the royal families discussed their successors as a few of them were looking towards stepping down from their thrones. Fugaku was especially concerned with this due to the fact that his only successor was his son Sasuke. That wouldn't have been an issue if it weren't for the tradition of noble ties. The Uchiha Family and Hyūga Family were blood-related families and their ancestors made a pact to unite the families but also keep the families pure by having the eldest child of the previous clan leader continue the bloodlines while the younger children were united by marriage to keep the peace between the clans. Since his eldest son's birth, the king and the Lord Hiashi of the Noble Hyūga family have been discussing future marriage arrangements for their children. The death of Lord Hiashi's brother, Hizashi, left Hiashi to adopt and take in his nephew Neji as his own. With three children, Lord Hiashi was flexible among the negotiations. Fugaku, on the other hand, was not. Or at least, he used to be. After Sasuke's birth, Fugaku had his mind set on the negotiations. His eldest son, Itachi, would be his successor and take the throne while his youngest son, Sasuke, would be in an arranged marriage with one of Hiashi's daughters.

As fate would have it, the king quickly learned that not all things go according to plan. When Itachi reached the age of twenty two, he went out with a small patrol to visit another noble family that was a cousin clan of the Uchiha family. The Noble Senju family governed over small villages that were located near the southern border of the Fire Country. On his journey over there, his family had not received any news from him in days. But the days turned to weeks and the king decided to send a few guards after him to inquire what had happened and why Itachi hadn't maintained communication. They spoke with the Lady Senju, who was the head of the Senju family and one of the Legendary Sanin, concerning Itachi. Her response was that he did arrive to discuss the marriages between the Uchiha and Hyūga families and left shortly after that. Apparently Itachi was heading towards one of the elders of the Sarutobi family. When asked about the prince, the elder, Sarutobi Hizuren, informed them that he and the prince talked and then Itachi left to head straight back home.

After hearing the news, the king ordered his armies to scout the country to look for his son. To Fugaku's horror, no trail was discovered. No trace of the patrol. No trace of Itachi. Even Fugaku's nephew, Shisui, one of the best trackers in his army was not able to find anything that would help him track Itachi and his traveling party. While most speculated that the prince and the rest of the crew were dead, the king and queen were certain that there a possibility that their son was alive. They were determined to find their son. But as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the people of the Konoha Kingdom started to lose hope that their Crown Prince would return to them. The end of the first year was when Fugaku met with the royal families of the four major neighboring countries. He had asked for their help in searching for his son. Much to his gratitude, the countries complied and were just as eager to find him has he was. To Fugaku's pride, Itachi was well known and loved by the Five Great Countries. He was so loved that they were willing to keep a lookout for him and help find him. But then the second year came and went with there still being no trace of him. Eventually the royal families, including his wife, began to give up and started to believe that Itachi was dead.

Fugaku wasn't ready to accept it. Not yet. Even if it was true, he still needed closure. The king's advisor, Nara Shikaku, suggested that they consult with a person of spiritual powers to see if the prince was still alive. In his kingdom, Fugaku discovered and hired Lady Kaguya to see if she could use her powers to find his son. When Lady Kaguya arrived at his palace and heard his request she had informed him that his desire of how to use her powers was not the way that spiritual powers work. So she asked about the whereabouts of his son's disappearance. When he did, she had informed the king that the southern border of the Fire Country was a demon populated area and very dangerous. Demons were devourers of humans and they left no trace of their prey behind. She used her dark miko powers to see if she could summon his soul from the dead. To the surprise of no one, it didn't work. No soul was summoned. The priestess informed the king that the prince may be still alive but it also left other possibilities. His soul could be one of those among the living or his soul could have been reincarnated into another body among the two years that he was supposedly missing. Regardless, the king saw it as a chance that his son was alive.

Three years passed and the king begrudgingly had accepted Itachi's demise. But when he gave up searching, his youngest son began sneaking out of the palace and going on a couple of trips on his own. The king and queen were curious as to why but it was their nephew who informed them that he was on the search for Itachi. To the king and queens surprise, Sasuke did not waver his faith in his brother's survival. He believed Itachi was still out there and he was determined to prove it.

While Fugaku was proud of his determination he was also worried about his son facing disappointment. What if Sasuke's search was proven futile? What would that do to him? He knew of the close bond that his sons had and he also knew of Sasuke's admiration towards Itachi. For Sasuke to fail, it would mean that he would emotionally breakdown. Fugaku didn't want his son to breakdown. After all, Mikoto had an emotional breakdown and Fugaku had a difficult time comforting his wife and he wasn't sure if he could deal with an emotional son who was already out of control.

Kagome and Tenten were outside near the beehives carefully removing the honey combs and placing them on a large plate. They both were wearing large hats with nets that covered their heads down to their chests. They also wore large leather gloves and thick dresses with long sleeves.

"I think it's so wonderful that you actually got to talk to the prince." Tenten sighed. "Just like a lady."

Kagome scoffed as she pulled out another honey comb and placed it on the plate that Tenten was holding. "Scolding him is more like it." She shook her head as she carefully removed another comb from the hive. "I can't believe I gave him my mother's name. I honestly don't understand what is so appealing about the prince. He's arrogant, rude, and completely childish!"

"Yes. You keep saying that. All day."

"Well it's true." Kagome shrugged. Although she was grateful that the prince returned her sister's horse. As soon as she learned that Kochō was back, she immediately went to attend to her. To Kagome's relief, the horse was in good health and very pleased to be home.

"He's royalty. They're born like that."

Kagome closed up the hive and they both headed back to the manor. Once they were a good distance away, they both removed their nets and protective clothes.

"If Tsubaki wants him she can have him. They deserve each other." Kagome growled.

Tenten slightly hit Kagome's shoulder. "Don't you dare say such things! The only 'throne' I want that imp sitting on is the one that needs to be cleaned ever night." The two women laughed as they hung their protective clothing and headed inside.

"Who dear?"

"Chieko. She's a cousin of-" Sasuke frowned as he was taking a late night stroll in the gardens with his mother. "Actually, I don't know who her cousin is. Surely you must know her." Sasuke asked his mother.

Mikoto sighed. "Darling, there are many courtiers. Too many to recall the first names of individuals." She turned towards her son. "Why do you ask?"

Sasuke was about to respond when he heard his father come up behind him. "In honor of Lord Jiraiya's arrival I have decided that I shall hold a festival in three weeks' notice, in which you will announce your engagement to the woman of your choice. Either you announce it or I shall announce it for you. Are we agreed?"

Sasuke stared at Fugaku with wide eyes. Since when did the king negotiate? He turned his eyes towards his mother, who had a pleased look on her face. "And what of the treaty with the Hyūga family?" Sasuke asked.

His father sighed. "Let me worry about the Hyūga family. You have bigger things to concern yourself with." After his meeting with his advisors, he talked with his wife about the marriage arrangements and she was able to convince him to allow Sasuke to make a choice for himself. She even offered to assist him in the contract with the Hyūga family.

His mother turned towards her son. "Choose wisely, Sasuke."

Naruto yawned as he felt himself being dragged to the city by Tenten. Tenten knocked on his door at the crack of dawn and loudly informed him that he would be helping her with a couple of minor exorcisms today. There were a couple of demon infestations in the homes of the residents of the kingdom and since Kagome was training and Kaede and Hisao were getting too old to travel all day on foot. And plus, she didn't need the help of another priestess since these were small tasks. And as such, she asked Naruto for help.

Naruto was burning a couple of herbs on the ground and fanning it towards the house. The smoke settled at the bottom and carried its way underneath the house. Tenten was standing on the opposite side of the home with her weapons at the ready. While they were trying to lure the demon out, a couple of nobles were riding their horses along the village when they stopped by and noticed a crowd forming.

Lady Hinata, heiress to the Noble Hyūga family, was riding her horse with her younger sister Hanabi and her older brother Neji. Although Neji was adopted by her father, he was always her elder brother to Hinata. That's why he angrily protested against Hinata's announced engagement to the prince of the Royal Uchiha family. Being Hiashi's eldest daughter, Neji assumed that she would be his successor and marry someone from the Hyūga family. But Hiashi instead announced that Neji would be his royal successor, seeing as how Neji was too, a pure-blooded Hyūga and a male.

Surprisingly, Hinata didn't say anything against the engagement, at least not openly to her father. But when Hanabi and Neji approached her room they heard her sobbing from outside the door. Knowing that Hinata was too kind-hearted, Neji decided to take it upon himself to confront his uncle. But he then discovered that he didn't need to, seeing the position that the Uchiha Royal Family was in. With only one son as a successor, the king would name Sasuke as Crown Prince who would receive the throne once he stepped down. His uncle, Lord Hiashi, probably saw this as an opportunity to have a Hyūga succeed the throne through Sasuke and Hinata. But Neji knew that the king would never allow that to happen. But no arranged marriage between the two families could lead to disaster. The Hyūga family might take insult to it. So what was the king thinking when he had cancelled the engagement between Sasuke and his cousin Lady Hinata?

Neji was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when Hinata's horse suddenly stopped in front of him. He frowned and glanced at his cousin who had a thoughtful expression on her face. He followed her gaze and saw a young man crouched on the ground, fanning a couple of burning weeds underneath a noble's home. The man was well built for his age and he had light blonde hair. Curious as to why an ordinary man would grab his cousin's attention, he guided the horse closer to the house to get a better look at the man. Just then, a large rat with three large eyes scampered out from underneath and the house and headed towards Hinata's horse. Hinata's horse suddenly backed up on its hind legs and kicked with its front legs, causing Hinata to slide off the horse.

"Lady Hinata!" Neji cried as he jumped off the horse in an attempt to grab her but was suddenly froze when he saw the blonde-haired man who caught Hinata in his arms, preventing her from falling on the ground. The young woman that was with him, with buns on the side of her head, slayed the rat demon by throwing a kunai with a seal wrapped around it. When the rat laid still, the woman carefully picked up the rat and burned its corpse with the burning weeds.

Naruto took in a breath of relief as he caught the young lady in his arms. He didn't notice her tight grip around his neck as he glanced around to make sure that there were no more rat demons to be disposed of. When he saw that Tenten was burning the rat, he turned towards the noblewoman who had a death grip on him.

"You're not hurt are you?" Naruto asked.

The young woman snapped out of her trance and glanced up at him. She was about to respond when a man stormed his way over towards them.

"Get your filthy hands off Lady Hinata." He snarled.

Naruto blinked and glanced down at the woman. Hinata? As in, the heiress to the Noble Hyūga Family Hyūga Hinata? While Naruto was a slow fellow, he certainly wasn't clueless as to who the noble families were. He made that mistake as a child once and it was Lady Kikyou who saved him and had educated him on the nobility and their status in the royal courts. Until her death, that is.

Naruto gently put the Hyūga heiress on her feet as, what appeared to be, her family members quickly made their way towards her. The young girl quickly gripped the edges of Hinata's dress and gave a couple of gentle tugs.

"Sister, are you alright?"

Hinata took in a breath and answered her sister. "Yes. I'm alright." She turned towards Naruto and bowed. "I thank you for your help. I am in your debt."

Naruto's cheeks turned slightly pink as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Don't worry about it, it's no big deal."

Hinata's other member stepped in front of Hinata and glared at Naruto. "Lady Hinata, don't lower yourself by bowing to him. You owe nothing to him."

Naruto returned the man's glare when Tenten placed a hand on his should and stepped right in front of the noble. "Excuse me! Who do you think you are talking to him like that? He was just helping her and there is no need for you to be rude to him!"

Neji glared at the woman. "Hold your tongue, woman. You don't know who you're speaking to. I could have you arrested."

Tenten huffed back at him. "I don't care if you are of the Noble Hyūga family, I will not sit here and allow my dear friend to be insulted by the likes of you!" She tugged on Naruto's sleeve and dragged him away from the nobles to continue their tasks. Kagome was right. All nobles were arrogant and rude.

On the ride back home, Hinata and Hanabi were quietly giggling among themselves as they were following Neji, who had a furious look on his face. No one has ever spoken to him like that before and got away with it. Hinata smiled as Neji's fists kept clenching and unclenching. He certainly wasn't used to having a woman, a commoner nonetheless, yell at him like that. She did admit, it was amusing to watch and she certainly did like the woman and her boldness towards her elder brother. Ah, that reminded her. She also needed to figure out who her rescuer was and how she was to repay him for his kindness.

Lady Kaguya was staring intently at the announcement of the upcoming festival that a royal messenger had delivered to the Higurashi manor that morning. It was early in the morning, when the messenger knocked on the door and delivered the message. She glanced at the messenger. "What news of the engagement?"

"Cancelled. Rumor has it that the prince must find himself a new bride before the festival."

Kaguya's eyes widened. "Well that doesn't give us much time does it?" She pulled out a pouch of money and started dropping coins in his hands. "I'll need to know who the competition is. Every move that the prince makes. And other tidbits you can think of." Kaguya finished as she dropped a couple more coins in the messenger's hands.

The messenger glanced at the coins and leaned in towards Kaguya. "The prince is playing tennis with one of the sons of the king of the Wind Country at noon in two days."

Kaguya smiled as she traced her finger along the messenger's jawline. "Such fine skin. When my apprentice becomes queen, perhaps we can make certain . . . arrangements." She smirked at the messenger stared wide-eyed at her. When he left, Kaguya shut the door behind her with a sly smile forming on her face.

Soon.

Soon she will be out of this pathetic manor and into the palace.