Title: Rebirth
Author: Passionate Crow Rat
Rating: M
Pairings: Kagome/Itachi/Naruto/Sasuke
Warnings: A little bit of violence.
Summary: Uchiha Fugaku was returning from a mission when he stumbled upon a dying woman and her infant baby, but it was only because of his wife that they adopted her. Now instead of two children they have three. At least her brothers adore her, especially Itachi. Naruto/Inuyasha X-Over
Disclaimer: I still don't own either series.


Chapter Seven: A Real Mission


When Sasuke called out those words, Kagome's reaction time had been quite excellent.

Wielding three Shuriken, she spun around and launched them at whoever was unfortunate enough to have snuck up behind her.

That lucky person was no other than Kakashi. For a moment, the dark haired girl was more than ready to toss her arms into the air and cheer for joy. All three of the star-like blades appeared to have connected with the older Jounin's torso.

Appeared.

No sooner did they connect did his body become surrounded by smoke.

An old log fell to the ground, her Shuriken protruding out of its wood.

Kagome's jaws began to twitch, her face turned bright red, and her little body shook as rage began to fill her very core.

Poor Sasuke, who was still stuck his hole, could only look on as Kagome tossed a tantrum. Said girl was currently taking her anger out on the log that Kakashi had used for the Replacement Jutsu by kicking it.

"Kagome."

Still focused on kicking the log, she didn't spare him a glance. "Hai, Sasuke-nii?"

"Help me out now." he ordered. As if kicking it would make everything better!

"I will... Stupid Kakashi-sensei and his stupid replacement..." she hissed, putting every last ounce of her fury into each strike.

She would happily help him out, just as soon as she demolished the log.

Overall, Kagome was just infuriated.

Not only had Sasuke's plan failed horribly, but when she assumed she'd hit Kakashi, he goes off and uses that Jutsu. Again. She was, of course, aware that he was a Jounin and his skills far surpassed their own, but it would have been nice if they had at least burned him a bit. Instead... Nothing!

Infuriated, Sasuke snarled out through clenched teeth, "Stop kicking the damned log and get me out of here!" Not only was she wasting time, he also suspected that Kakashi wasn't far off. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the man attempted to pull the same stunt on her as he'd done to him.

Much to his disappointment he was right.

Having no choice, Sasuke merely watched as the earth under Kagome's feet crumbled; she let out a shrill scream, before she too was drag below the ground.

"Sasuke-nii!" she whimpered, trying to move her body. After a short struggle with no progress, she resorted to pouting. Confused, she wailed loudly, "What just happened!"

Before he could speak, Kakashi materialized before her in his signature cloud of smoke.

"Daton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu." he explained, briefly gazing down at the two siblings, whose heads where sticking out of the soil. This was more entertaining than that Genjutsu he'd cast on Sakura.

Two arrogant Uchihas stuck in a hole!

"It was a good try but not good enough. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a certain loud mouth brat to find."

Loud mouth brat had to mean Naruto-kun.

Kagome gasped before yelling out at his retreating figure, "Leave Naruto-kun alone!"

Kakashi heard her, but didn't acknowledge her demands. Kagome was beginning to suspect that he enjoyed ignoring her.

So, having no Sensei to take her anger out on, she tried her best to turn her head towards Sasuke, who was just a few feet away. After realizing that she couldn't even move her head around, she decided to resort to screaming.

"This is NOT funny!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke sighed; of course it wasn't funny. It was humiliating! Instead of replying, he focused on moving his fingers. He shifted his shoulder... Okay. Progress. If he could just wiggle a bit, maybe-

"SASUKE-NII!" Kagome cried out loudly, still trying to peer over in his direction.

Already aggravated, he snapped, "What!"

"Get. Me. Out. Of. Here!" she had a Kakashi-Sensei to set on fire and she couldn't do it from this stupid hole!

"... I am trying to get myself out. If you would just wait for one minute!" he could already tell that this was going to turn into an argument if a solution wasn't found soon. He'd always had a rather short temper and this situation was quickly starting to drive him close to the edge.

Kagome grew quiet. All he could hear were her harsh breaths, which was, by far, better than her whines.

Good. Now he could go back to wiggling his way out of this-

"SASUKE-KUN! OH, SASUKE-KUN!"

Now what!

Kagome face perked up, for she immediately knew the owner of that voice and for the first time she was actually happy to hear it!

"Sasuke-nii! Is that Sakura-chan?"

He responded with a groan.

Meanwhile, Haruno Sakura had just entered the clearing. Her pace slowed as she looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"What the hell happened!" she muttered; the entire area looked like it had been set ablaze. The ground was blackened and the trees didn't really look like trees - more like crispy stumps laced with even crispier leaves.

She could only hope her Sasuke-kun hadn't gotten caught in whatever had happened. Goodness, no! Not her Sasuke-kun!

Sakura's mind had gone into a state of anxiety at the thought, so as she strolled forward, she didn't hear her name being called.

"Sakura-chan! HEY! ARE YOU DEAF!"

She blinked. Deaf? She gazed around the clearing, a frown forming on her face. Who was insulting her and where the hell were they!

"Look down, you dummy!" a small voice piped out.

Sakura, of course, did.

For a moment all grew quiet, as she observed what she considered 'her insane sister-in-law' and her 'beloved future husband', and their heads-

That was all she saw.

Their severed heads!

-Thud-

Two sets of eyes followed Sakura's body which lay sprawled out on the ground.

"Sasuke-nii..."

"What."

"Did she just faint?"

Flatly, he replied, "Hai Kagome, she did."

Kagome whimpered, before crying out, "She's useless!"

Sasuke silently agreed, going back to his wiggling. If anyone was going to help them, it would have to be him. Rolling his shoulder, he could feel the dirt around him loosening up. He was making progress! "Just give me a minute. I can move my shoulders and legs."

"Oh? Can you make it quicker than a minute?"

"Kagome..." he warned lowly.

"Fine!"

She just waited patiently in her hole.

To Kagome displeasure, it took him five minutes before he was able to climb out and another two minutes before he managed to dig her out.

Crossing her arms, she pinned Sasuke, who was using the corner of his shirt to clean his face, with a sharp stare. "Now what?"

"Let me think." he replied.

Kagome sighed, just what was she supposed to do while he tried to come up with yet another plan?

It was then that she heard moaning, looking down she spotted Sakura who was in the process of waking. A crafty smirk began to form on her face; there was some entertainment right there! Kneeling down before the semi-conscious girl, she reached out with one finger and jabbed it into Sakura's forehead.

"Sakura-chan," Another poke, "Hey? You alive?" Yet another, harder poke.

Finally, Sakura's eyes fluttered open. For a moment, things were a bit blurry. She couldn't make out the figure before her. Squinting, she whispered hopefully, "S-Sasuke-kun?"

Smirking, Kagome replied, "Naa. Not Sasuke-nii."

If it wasn't her Sasuke-kun, then-

Disappointment laced her voice. "Kagome?"

Said girl carried on with poking her forehead. "Hai?"

Sakura swatted Kagome's hand away and screeched: "Stop it!"

"...but it's so huge! I can't believe I never realized it before! Maybe I should call you Forehead-chan." Kagome exclaim with an ample grin, enjoying the enraged expression on her nemesis's face.

Looks like she'd found Sakura's weak point! Score one for her!

Sakura was so very close to snapping, but she spotted Sasuke his back turned to the two of them. Gasping, she leapt to her feet so quickly that Kagome, who had been leaning over her, ended up falling backwards, landing on her butt.

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed with hearts in her eyes. "Are you okay? I was-"

Kagome, was quick to stand, she interrupted her. "Nii-kun! We should come up with an idea-"

Cutting her off, Sakura continued, "Sasuke-kun! Kakashi-Sensei put me in this horrible Genjutsu and I thought you were-"

"NII-KUN!"

Sasuke's brows knitted together in annoyance. Now his Imouto was simply screaming. He knew that she had taken it upon herself to pick at Sakura, and as amusing as it was, now was not the time.

If they would both just shut up, he could think up a good plan!

"Hey! Kagome, I was talking!" Sakura hissed out.

Smiling innocently, Kagome replied, "Really? I didn't hear you."

"Why you-"

Turning around, Sasuke suddenly roared: "QUIET!" The outburst left both girls gawking at him with wide eyes; he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Directing his attention to Kagome, he spoke slowly, "Do not speak unless you have an idea."

Kagome glared. Talk about bossy! Groaning, she nibbled at her bottom lip. She would think of an idea better than his stupid idea!

"We should just give up. Time is almost up anyways."

Both sibling raised eyebrows at Sakura's negative comment, before deciding it would be better to ignore her.

After a minute of inward musing, Kagome began to frantically wave her arms about, she shouted: "Sasuke-nii! Sasuke-nii!"

Inwardly, he sighed, "Hai, Kagome?"

Proudly, she stated. "I have a idea."

With very little patience, he inquired, "...and your idea is?"

"We can all work together!"

What Kagome expected to receive was praise (It was a really good idea after all), but instead there was an uncanny silence. Sasuke was giving her a dull stare; Sakura, attempting to mimic Sasuke, did the exact same thing.

Perhaps she should elaborate?

"I'll go find Naruto-kun and he can do his Bunshin Jutsu and make a whole lotta him. Then, Sasu-nii, you can attack with Taijustu... I still have wires, so I'll do the Katon..."

There was yet another bout of silence, and Sasuke did not look as if he approved. Finally, Sakura spoke up, having realized something. Frowning, she questioned, "What about me?

"You?" Kagome scratched her head. "I forgot all about you."

Sakura grimaced, her inner self howling. Forgot? How dare she!

"Umm... You got any Kunai?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah." Sakura replied.

With an impassive voice, Kagome proclaimed: "You throw your Kunai."

Surely she could do more than that, but maybe if she agreed, she'd finally get on the girl's good side. Scowling, Sakura muttered, "... Fine."

"No."

That was, of course, Sasuke.

While both girls stared at him, each had very different reactions. Sakura, had been ready to go along with the idea, was now nodding her head, agreeing with Sasuke. Kagome on the other hand-

"What do you mean, no!" she practically screamed. How dare he turn down her proposal, which was, by far, better than his own! His idea had gotten them stuck in holes. The outcome of hers would be considerably different. Closing the short distant between the two of them, Kagome glared up into his eyes, "My idea is good!"

Growling back, he replied, "Is not! What part of two bells don't you get! TWO! One for me. One for you! We are not sharing them with Naruto-dobe or her."

Sakura's shoulders slumped. The least he could have done was say her name!

"I don't see you coming up with any good ideas! Your last one was horrible!" she yelled, jabbing her finger into his chest.

Sasuke scoffed. "There was nothing wrong with my idea!"

"Well, why didn't it work then? Hm? My idea is better."

Firmly, he retorted. "It is not better."

"Is too."

"Is not!

"IS TOO!"

"Is..." he sighed, biting his tongue before he could continue on with his words. He would not sink to her level. He was far beyond that childish stage. "Kagome, I'm not going to argue with you."

"...because I'm right and you're wrong." she chirped out, batting her lashes.

"Kagome."

"It's true. I'm right."

"Guys? Hey... GUYS!" The reason Sakura had spoken up was because they'd forgotten about her. Beside she was only being nice by stopping the obvious sibling dispute that was taking place.

Both Uchiha's turned at the same time, their cold eyes focused solely on her..

Suddenly, Sakura felt as if she should have left them to themselves. The dull stares they gave here were unsettling. "I- um... n-never m-mind." she stuttered out weakly, taking a few cautious steps away-

Ring~Ring~Ring~

That would be the sound of the timer going off. Which would mean that it was noon.

That would also mean that they failed.

Sasuke glowered, feeling quite pissed.

Narrowing her eyes Kagome, glared at her brother, but before she could even open her mouth to fuss-

"I don't want to hear it."

"..."


"OH, MY GOD! NARUTO-KUN!"

While Sasuke and Sakura had already sat down, Kagome stood rooted to her spot in horror.

Poor Naruto-kun... Poor, poor Naruto-kun!

Said boy looked up at her with such sad blue eyes. He was currently tied tightly to a tree stump, with what she assumed to be their lunch, in front of him.

Who could have done such an awful thing?

Kakashi! It had to be him!

That low down... dirty...

"Kaggy!" Squirming around, Naruto exclaim, "I found the food and I was really hungry, so I was about to eat and I got caught!" Gasping, he quickly added: "I was gonna save some for you, though!" He didn't want Kagome to get the wrong idea or anything! He really was going to save some for her!

She didn't reply, too angry with his predicament. All she knew was that she had to get him down. Afterwards she would make it her personal mission to hunt down a certain Sensei.

That certain Sensei, having just arrived, stood a few feet behind her. His shadow towered over her meager figure. "Kagome. Sit down."

Blessing him with a pout, she stomped over to Sasuke, dropping down beside him. Pointing at Kakashi, she began her rant, "You are such an awful, awful-"

He interrupted her, "Anyways... I'll just get right to it. There is no point in any of you becoming Ninja. Matter of fact, quitting would be your best option."

Of course, frowns over came their faces, followed by-

"What do you mean quit! If you hadn't kept using that replacement jutsu, Sasuke-nii and I would have already set you on fire!" She fumed at the unfairness of it all and muttered, "That's probably the only Jutsu you know..."

She would just ignore the fact that he'd also used the Daton no Jutsu.

Kakashi's eye crinkled.

Really now.

There was no need for that.

"Allow me to explain: The point of this entire exercise was teamwork."

It was Sasuke who spoke up this time, in a curt, yet cold, voice. "We showed teamwork. Therefore, we did not fail."

Kakashi did agree with part of his statement but he wasn't entirely correct. "True. You and Kagome showed teamwork, but you both left out Naruto and Sakura. If you would have all worked together, you may have been able to get both bells."

Sasuke was aware that his Imouto was glaring daggers at him. In fact, he could feel her fury, which was coming off of her in waves. He was tempted to mention that while her idea seemed to have not been as terrible as he believed, she did originally leave Sakura out of the loop.

So-

She, too, had made a mistake.

Wisely though, Sasuke kept his mouth shut.

Kakashi continued to explain, "It's quite simple when you think about it. You are all a Team therefore you all work together. In the midst of a battle, not doing so will result in death."

He allowed his words to sink in before saying, "I suppose that I'll give you all another chance, if you can prove yourselves after lunch... but Naruto doesn't eat."

Kakashi didn't have to wait long before Kagome growl out: "How come?"

"Naruto tried to eat the lunches, thus breaking the rules. Feed him and you fail. Understand?"

Quickly, Kagome nodded. Yes, she understood perfectly!

Therefore, the defiant girl waited a full minute after Kakashi had left before pulling a Kunai from her backpack. She then proceeded to work on the thick ropes that kept Naruto tied to the stump, growing even angrier at how tightly they were binding him.

Naruto was now sporting an ear-to-ear grin. It had been a very horrible experience - being tied to a stump and unable to get away - but now it was all good.

Of course Kag-chan would get him down! She would always back him up! "Thanks Ka-"

"What are you doing!" Sakura suddenly shouted.

Stated the obvious, Sasuke replied, "She's cutting him down." The brooding Uchiha poked at his food. While he was hungry, he was far too irritated to eat. He did not like being told that he failed, since he had literally worked his ass off over the past few years, training at every waking moment.

Then, to hear Kakashi say that he should quit…

Sasuke sneered.

That man didn't know what he was talking about!

At his explanation, Sakura had gone mute. She watched on as Naruto, who couldn't seem to stop thanking Kagome, stretched out his cramped limbs. It was when Kagome shoved her lunch box into the blonde's chest that her mouth fell open in shock.

Once again, Sakura howled: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

A piqued Kagome followed up with a squeaky scream of her own: "I'M FEEDING HIM!" As if she would listen to their awful Sensei!

Cringing, Sakura's voice wavered a bit. "...b-but ugh-"

Still sulking, Sasuke did not want to hear anymore whines, so he decided to explain. Again. "If he doesn't eat, he'll be useless."

Sakura's shoulders slump.

Well, if Sasuke-kun said so, then it had to be right. With her chopsticks she picked up one of her rice balls, "Here, Naruto."

It took the whisker-face boy a moment to realize what Sakura was offering him. His blue eyes widen, it was a rice ball! It wasn't as tasty as ramen but still good nonetheless. Smiling, he reached out, ready to take it, when Kagome seized his wrist.

"Ugh, Kag-chan?" he inquired, a little confused.

Her attention was focused on Sakura, "Naruto-kun doesn't want your rice ball."

He didn't?

Actually- that rice ball looked really good... but if Kagome said he didn't want it, then he guessed he didn't want it.

Sakura raised a single eyebrow; there was nothing wrong with her rice ball!

"Dobe, just hurry up and eat." Sasuke said, gazing around the clearing. He wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi was just hiding out somewhere. The fact that he'd left so quickly was suspicious enough so it wouldn't be shocking if the guy was waiting in some random tree, watching their every move.

Sadly-

Sasuke was correct.

Kakashi was watching from a nearby tree and the Jounin waited right until Naruto shoved a rice ball (Kagome's rice ball) into his mouth to make his dazzling appearance.

In the brooding Uchiha's opinion, Kakashi was really overdoing.

The sky darkened, a few blots of lighting hit the ground.

Yes. He was definitely overdoing it.

"Well... well, what do we have here?" Kakashi inquired, eyebrows raised.

A little rice flew out of Naruto's mouth as he stammered over his words, "I-It's not... Ugh- not what it looks like?" He hid the lunch box behind back.

"Is that so?"

"Ugh-"

Kagome had to come to his rescue. With both hands on her hip, she spoke arrogantly: "We don't care what you say because we're going to be great Shinobi even if you say we failed, so we can do what we want."

Kakashi blinked. "Right... so basically you all shared with Naruto because you just wanted to break the rules?"

Before Kagome could speak, Sasuke scrambled forward, covering her mouth with his hand. He knew exactly what their Sensei wanted to hear, and if his Imouto spoke, then she would no doubt doom them all.

Ignoring her puzzled eyes, he said to Kakashi, "No. We shared because we are a team."

"Eh?" Considering Sasuke's words carefully, Kakashi stroked his mask-covered chin, his visible eye gazing over each one of them. Slowly, he drawled out, "Well... I suppose if that's the truth... You all pass."

"We do?" Sakura asked, a little baffled.

"Hai. The point of this was teamwork and up until now, all of my previous students did exactly as I said. You must look underneath the underneath." Looking directly at Kagome, he concluded, "You always help a teammate, not because you want to be insolent, but because that is what a good Ninja does."

Deeming the situation safe, Sasuke removed his hand. Kagome peered over at him. Tilting her head to the right, she whispered, "Sasuke-nii... did I almost get us failed?" She questioned, feeling extremely mortified at the thought.

Sometimes her anger just clouded her judgment.

The truth was that she would have fed Naruto just because he was her friend, but she was also motivated by the need to disobey Kakashi (who she was still very much irritated with). Next time, she would try and remember to watch her words a little more carefully.

Sasuke shook his head. "We passed so don't worry about it."

Yes, they passed.

This meant the end of training sessions and the start of serious missions.


Or perhaps not.

'Operation Capture Tora, the Lost Pet' had been completed with success.

This was absurd.

Sasuke was, of course, annoyed. Even more so as he and the rest of the team listen to the Hokage announce the other missions lined up for them.

Babysitting a brat. Grocery shopping for some old woman. Pulling potatoes from a garden and helping the client cook them up.

He was so above this foolishness. Besides, they could be doing far more challenging missions.

Where was the excitement?

Where were the life and death situations?

Sakura was wondering the exact same thing, but she was doing her best to mimic Sasuke, who was remaining silent. If she acted like him, he would eventually acknowledge her!

"I'm tired of all these crappy missions! Give us something better!" Naruto whined, not caring that he was bossing around his superior.

Kagome, who agreed with Naruto, would never let him whine alone. So she, too, had to join in. "Yeah, give us something better!"

Kakashi inwardly sighed. He wasn't surprised or anything; he'd been waiting for the two of them to act out, but this was a bit embarrassing.

"Both of you! Show some respect! You're just rookies!" Iruka took it upon himself to scold them.

Kagome glanced at him, wondering why he was there. Was he even still considered their Sensei since they were out of the Academy? Didn't he have other non-genin to chastise? Did he have nothing better to with his time? Was he only there to annoy her? If so, did he enjoy annoying her?

She was really tempted to ask him, but figure she'd keep her inner interrogation to herself.

After all, she was trying to watch her words more carefully.

"You keep giving us stupid duties! I can't take it any more!" exclaimed Naruto. It seem like everyone doubted his skills. He just needed the chance to prove himself, but doing crappy missions wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Sandaime wasn't affected by their outburst. He knew that children would always be children. Placing the scroll down on his desk, he decided to give them all a much needed lesson. Taking a short drag on his pipe he began, "You see each mission is ranked. A-type missions are for Jounin such as Kakashi. B-type missions are mid-range and are preformed by the Chuunin or commoner class Shinobi like Iruka..."

Naruto had already gotten bored with the lecture. He tapped Kagome's shoulder. Once he had her attention he said, "Hey, Kaggy?"

"Hai?" she answered, with a bright smile.

"Wanna go to Ichiraku?"

She gasped. What a wonderful idea! Nodding she turned to Sasuke, "You wanna go to Ichiraku?"

"Hn." Did he want to go? No. But at last, he really didn't have a choice in the matter. Wherever she went, he was sure to be draggged along.

"Are any of you even paying attention to me!" Sandaime questioned, jaws tense.

With his hand resting behind his head, Kakashi sheepishly apologize. "I'm really sorry about this."

"...but we can do better than baby-sitting." Kagome declared.

It was quiet for a moment as the Hokage seemed to ponder over her words. Just when she was beginning to suspect that they would be stuck with yet another boring mission, Sandaime nodded in agreement.

"Fine, if you want it that much, I suppose I can give you a C-Ranked mission. It's an escort mission for a certain individual."

Kakashi's shoulders drooped. Really, he'd preferred them sticking with D-Ranks. A C-Rank would mean that he'd have to pay more attention, and therefore there would be no time for Come Come Paradise. He hadn't even read past chapter three!

Both Kagome and Naruto were, of course, ecstatic.

For once, it seemed that their whining had paid off!

Just who would they protect? A beautiful princess? A powerful feudal lord?

Sandaime, seeing that the two of them were about ready to blow up from anticipation, announced in a slightly raised voice, "Could you please come in here?"

To the right, a door slid open. The first thing that Kagome noticed was the bottle of sake in the hands of their client. The next thing she spotted was his rather large gut. The last thing she saw was his frowning, bearded face.

He took a long drink of sake.

For some reason, her excitement had vanished. She tried to think the best of everyone, but something about this guy rubbed her the wrong way. His appearance wasn't exactly pleasing to the eyes, either.

He gazed down at them with a critical stare, "You're all a bunch of puny little brats."

Now-

she was getting angry.

She was not a brat!

His eyes focused on her. "Especially you. How old are you? Seven? Six?"

Kagome's mouth was agape, for that comment was unclothe and uncalled for! How dare he? She wasn't that small.

Coming to her defense, Naruto pointed at the one who dared to insult her and shouted, "You can't say that to Kag-chan! Apologize!"

Taking another drink of his sake he replied, "Geez kid, you got a funny looking face."

Blue eyes narrowed and his temper flared; that was the last straw! Not only did he insult Kag-chan, but now he was insulting him as well. He would have to pay! Lunging forward he hollered: "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Kakashi, grab a hold of Naruto's collar, pulling the blonde back before any real damage could be done. "You don't kill the person we are assigned to protect."

Said person wasn't the slightest bit affected by Naruto's outburst. "I'm Tazuna, the super expert bridge builder, and I expect super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge." he announced haughtily.

He felt someone pulling at the helm of his shirt. "Tazuna-san!" a voice chirped out. He lowered his bottle, peering down to see Kagome staring up at him with a pleasant smile. When had she'd moved from her spot?

Gruffly, he asked, "What do you want?"

Still smiling, Kagome replied, "You're a vulgar old man and I don't like you." True, she'd planned on watching her words, but in her opinion, it was always good to be blunt. Besides, the old geezer was just asking for it.

He was unnerved, not expecting those kinds of words to come out of her mouth. Gathering himself quickly, her countered: "Well, I don't like you either."

That cute smile vanished. "Why you dirty-"

"Just leave it alone, Kagome." Sasuke said, stopping her angry rant before it could start. This was their mission and they shouldn't be arguing with the man they would have to protect.

Even if he was an obnoxious old bastard.


It was such a beautiful day!

The sun was shining, the sky was bright - there were even a few birds flying overhead! Strolling though the large gates had never felt so good!

He wouldn't let anyone ruin his cheerful mood. Especially not their bastard client!

This was his first time out of the village! His very first time and it felt so good to be walking down the worn dirt road, with the warm air blowing against his body. Even the trees outside Konoha looked livelier, healthier - more exciting!

Naruto was just so delighted and he wanted to share his joy with someone else-

but who could he share it with?

Sasuke, who happened to be walking right beside him, would have to do.

He was simply appalled when Naruto reached out, tossing his arm over his shoulder. The blond than proceeded to pull him close, the sides of their bodies coming in contact with one another.

Sasuke's brows knitted together in disgust; over all, he had to say that this was very disturbing.

"Hey Teme, isn't this great? Our first time outta' the village!" Naruto exclaimed, purposely ignoring the Uchiha's tensed form.

Through clenched teeth, Sasuke hissed, "Dobe. Do. Not. Touch. Me."

"But isn't this great?" Naruto continued, not at all deterred by the threatening tone in Sasuke's voice.

Sakura figured that this was her chance! She would come to her Sasuke-kun's rescue! Leaping into action, she rushed forward, and quickly brought her fist down on Naruto's head.

He immediately released Sasuke, choosing to cradle the lump which was quickly growing on top of his head. His good mood, which he had thought could never be destroyed, was vaporized. Sniffing, Naruto whimpered, "Ow, why... what did I do!"

Sakura crossed her arms, giving him a hard glare. She was pleased to be able to help Sasuke out. Now he'd pay more attention to her. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun said not to touch him!" No sooner did those words leave her mouth did she feel this sharp, stinging pain in the back of her head.

Rubbing the swelling bump on her own head, she looked around for the one who'd dared to hit her.

Grinning, Kagome stood behind her, a faultless look on her face. Stunned, the pink haired girl stammered, "W-why did you... why?"

With her hands innocently locked behind her back, Kagome answered, "Well… You hit Naruto-kun, so I thought I should hit you, too... Was I not supposed to?"

Sakura's face flushed with irritation. She had just been trying to help her Sasuke-kun! She didn't deserve to be hit! "You! I can't believe you!"

Cupping her ears, Kagome piped, "Hai, Sakura-chan? I can't hear you."

"Both of you. Stop it." Kakashi ordered. He had an eerie feeling that this would be a rough mission. Between those two bickering and Tazuna's whines, he would probably return home with a painful headache.

"This is exactly what I mean. I'm being guarded by children! This is absurd!" Tazuna chose that moment to gripe.

Kagome spun around, a sullen glint in her eyes. "You wanna see me do a Katon Jutsu? On your head?"

Tazuna cringed; he had no idea what a Katon was, but the way the little girl had evilly hissed out those words made him fearful of learning what one of those were.

Indifferently, Kakashi explained what she already knew, "Our mission is to guard Tazuna, not set him on fire."

The bridge builder appeared horrified. Pointing at Kagome, he gasped in shock, "You want to set me on fire? What kind of little girl are you!"

Kagome grimaced; she was a perfectly normal girl - shame on him to hint otherwise.

"No need to worry. She won't set you on fire, and seeing as I am a Jounin, you'll be fine during the duration of this mission." he said trying to ease the man's anxiety.

At last, it had grown quiet.

A nice and peaceful silence had overtaken the group as they walked down the scenic path.

Kagome sighed. This was all very boring and she was practically asleep on her feet. How long would this mission actually take? How long would they be walking? Would they arrive in the Country of the Wave today? Would it take longer than a day? Would anything interesting happen?

All she needed was a little excitement and maybe some entertainment. Sasuke-nii appeared to be ignoring his surrounding and he had never been one for conversations. Naruto-kun was too busy enjoying the scenery and probably wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything she said. Kakashi-sensei would just lecture her about something.

...but Sakura on the other hand.

Precisely at that moment, the pink-haired genin breezed past her and Kagome, being the bored girl she was, decided to stick her foot out-

thus Sakura tripped over said foot, landing face first on the ground.

Everyone came to a sudden stop, as they observed Sakura's sprawled out body.

Naruto covered his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, not quite sure of what to make of the situation, while Tazuna figured that he was doomed; his life was in the hands of bumbling children.

Now Sakura was plain out scowling. She was climbing to her feet, and her face was smudged with dirt. Fuming she accused, "You... TRIPPED ME!"

Looking very offended, Kagome retorted, "I did not! You need to watch where you're going, Sakura-chan. You're so clumsy."

"You... you..." She was so furious she couldn't form a proper sentence. She had been trying her hardest to be nice for the sake of her and Sasuke-kun's future, but it was official! Kagome was out to get her and if she didn't step up now, the little brat would continue to run all over her!

Haruno Sakura could not let that happen! She was sure that Sasuke didn't want a wimp as a wife!

"Eh, Sakura-chan? Are you okay? Your face is kinda dirty." Kagome tried hard to bite back her grin; she was trying to look as innocent as possible, but the irate look Sakura wore was simply hilarious-

It was in the midst of their childish scuffle, that a unanticipated assault came. Two Rogue Shinobi, who'd been following their every move, decided to make themselves known. For both Sakura and Naruto, it happened much too quickly and their minds were unable to comprehend the situation.

Their enemies, who were known as the Demon Brothers, were much like hidden wraiths, emerging from a small puddle the group had passed moments before. The initial target was, of course, Kakashi, who they'd considered to be strongest. Take out the most powerful member of the team, and the other would systematically fall.

Spiked chains wrapped tightly around the Jounin's body and right before their very eyes, he appeared to be torn apart!

Sakura's green eyes went wide, and briefly her body locked up. Poor, Naruto was in the same exact wide-eyed state of shock, therefore, he didn't realize that the two rogue's had deem him as their next targeted.

Already was he cornered him…

And then someone shoved him, literally ramming their body against his. The blond went down, falling backwards, and landing flat on his back. A tensed second passed-

All he could hear was his heart beating rapidly against his rib cage. It then came to his attention that there was something on top of him - whatever it was wasn't heavy, but it was warm, and moving so that had to mean it was alive.

Finally, he opened his eyes – having shut them during the fall.

Brilliant, bewildered blue met with hazel-brown.

Naruto blinked, confused, "Ugh, K-Kaggy?" Several questions ran through his mind. Where did she come from? Wasn't she just fighting with Sakura and why did she push him?

"Naruto-kun! Stay!" came Kagome's brusque order, before she rolled off of him, quickly jumping to her feet. She took a set of shuriken from her pack, and in one quick motion hurled the blades forth. As excepted, giving her previous training, her aim was perfect, nevertheless those blades had little effect against, easily were they deflected by her targets' metal arm guards.

Finally, did it registered in his mind what had happened.

They were being attacked. Kakashi-sensei had been caught off guard and killed. Kagome had just prevented him from joining their Sensei's fate, by pushing him out of the way of an up and coming strike. Now, she was protecting him while he did nothing but lay on the ground! Even though he knew this, he still couldn't find it in him to move; his body didn't seem to want to listen no matter how much his mind yelled.

Kagome glowered, extremely vex over this new ordeal. Yes. She had wanted some excitement, but this was a little too much! Obviously, the situation was dire and her mind rapidly ran over the only plan she had.

She could perform a Katon, but it probably wouldn't matter since they were being attacked from both directions. Her fire would hit one but the other would still be able to strike her or Naruto-kun from the side, and she really didn't want those metal claws sinking their way into either one of them.

'I dunno what to do…' Her jaws tensed, she had no other idea, thus she was left with only one choice…

Kagome brought her hands together, in a quick attempt to complete the seals for the Katon no Jutsu, but thankfully there was no need-

The enemies' attack was halted, their barbed chains tethered to a nearby tree with one well-placed Shuriken and a lone Kunai. The two rogues were in a state of shock, seeing as their chains were attached to their arm guards, thus movement had been halted. That shock only grew when Uchiha Sasuke appeared made his ominous appearance.

The dark-haired male landed right on their arms guards, and he had to crouch over in order to balance himself, but that didn't make his sinister presence any less menacing. Obsidian orbs were cold, perhaps they were colder than his voice, "You don't want to do that." he muttered impassively, before hauling off and kicking them both in the face.

In a desperate attempt to flee from the painful assault, both detached the guards, split up and left the chains behind.

Kagome was already gushing over her brothers quick rescue, "Oh, Sasuke-nii! That was so, so amazing!" she cheered, brightly grinning at him.

Sasuke completely ignored her compliment, his eyes swiftly roamed over her body, looking for any injuries. He was rather satisfied to finding none, and still on alert, began to scanned the area for their adversaries…

To his irritation, he found both rogues heading right towards Tazuna, who was being guarded by a obviously shaken Sakura.

He grimaced, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. How pathetic. This was simply ridiculous. Now he would have to go and save them, too!

Thankfully though, he didn't have to further exert himself.

Hatake Kakashi, being to trickster that he was, chose that moment to come back from the dead.

The amusing part about it, was that their Sensei made it all look extremely easy. He merely materialized behind both Shinobi and struck them both on the back of the neck-

Two unconscious bodies roughly hit the ground.

"Well, that's that." Kakashi lightly announced; he casually dusted his hands off on his jacket. "If anyone is wondering how I'm alive… I used a Replacement Jutsu to get away and sorry I took so long. Just wanted to see who they were after." He tap his chin, almost as if he were in deep, thought, "Oh – and good job Sasuke, Kagome, Sakura your reaction time was pretty good."

Uzumaki Naruto sat on the ground, arms crossed expression pissed. Sensei didn't mention him... because he didn't react. All he did was sit there, and stare like some sort of idiot.

His stupid body didn't want to move!

This was so embarrassing!

"Dobe. You're pathetic."

Naruto's fists clenched, shoulders jerked in annoyance. The last thing he needed was an arrogant Sasuke going on about how much more superior he was. He was no in the mood to hear him gloat!

"Teme, don't you dare start with that crap!" he growled this out with narrowed eyes.

Sasuke just ignored his warning, and coldly continued on. "You are… you are pathetic. You froze."

"Oh! Sasuke-nii!" Kagome suddenly shouted, coming to the blond's defense. In her opinion, Sasuke was being mean – well, actually he was always mean, but right now he was being downright nasty! While it was true; Naruto did freeze, but that didn't mean Sasuke could mock him.

Everyone made mistakes and this was like rubbing salt into a fresh wound!

"Quiet!" Sasuke snapped, harshly. "You stay out of this."

Kagome drew back, shocked. Hesitantly, nibbling at her bottom lip, she grew silent, unsure of what to say. He had never spoken to her with that tone. She felt torn… part of her wanted to smack him on the head for it, but her more rational side won and she decided to keep quiet.

For now.

If it started to come to blows (something that she wouldn't put past them) she'd, of course, interfere and whack them both for being stupid.

Continuing he belittling, Sasuke drawled out slowly, "Some powerful Shinobi you are. You did nothing."

Now, Naruto was understandably fed up with this treatment. He jumped to his feet, and seized Sasuke by the collar. Just as he open his mouth, ready to yell out in a rage-

His eyes connected with heated obsidian orbs.

Furious.

Enraged.

This wasn't what he'd expected to see. Sasuke wasn't smug, he wasn't taunting him, and he didn't have that normal air of arrogance - all that surrounded the stoic Uchiha was anger. His hands swiftly fell to his side, and at that moment realization set it. Sasuke was angry because he foolishly froze, thus putting Kagome, who had rushed forward to protect him, in danger.

Because of his lack of reaction, she could have been hurt.

His face grew serious, and his voice low, "Trust me. It won't happen again."

Sasuke nodded, with a slight smirk. He got his point across, and he was pleased, "Good."

Kagome tilted her head to the side, totally baffled. What in the world was going on? She couldn't tell if they were fighting or not! Her brows knit together in displeasure at not able to figure it out, but she shrugged brushing them both off with, "You two are being weird."

The small little girl, began to look around for something else that was more interesting, and then she spotted Sakura and Kakashi. Their Sensei was speaking with the grubby old Tazuna. Oh! Now this could be fun!

Quickly, Kagome closed the distance between them, "Kakashi-sensei!" she sweetly sang out.

Said man peered down at her. "Eh?"

In one quick moment, her tone changed from sweet, to dull. In a almost dead tone, she said, "I thought you were dead."

Kakashi eye crinkled, "Oh?" he dryly replied, his voice just as flat, and uncaring as hers.

"Hai, but it figures you'd use that Replacement Jutsu, since that's all you know."

He raised an eyebrow at the comment. She was merely trying to mock him, and actually succeeding in the endeavor. 'This girl...'

"Right... everyone gather around, we have something to discuss!" he loudly announce, with a clap.


They came to find out Tazuna was not only a vulgar, rude, old man, but he was also a liar.

A vulgar, rude, old liar who decided to leave out the real details of their mission, thus putting them in danger.

Kagome knew she didn't like him. The old geezer should be happy they chose to help him!

Said geezer knew that the 'creepy little girl,' who had wanted to set him on fire, was watching him. During the entire boat ride she hadn't taken her eyes off of him. It seem like the more he explain the actual situation the more she glowered at him. The only reason he'd lied was because he was too poor to afford a B-rank mission!

He had even gone as far as begging them for their help and he did not like to beg! He didn't want them to leave because if they did, he would be killed, but it would really be nice if she would stop staring at him through those half-lidded eyes.

It was unnerving, and starting to get to him.

"Tazuna-san."

Great. Now she was talking to him.

"Hai?"

"You should be honored that we're helping you. Really honored. You know... we could have left you back there- all alone." she said slowly, and quite creepily.

He cringed.

"Kagome, please stop aggravating our client." Kakashi ordered, impassively.

"Hai, Sensei."

Since they had decided to continue this mission, he was on the lookout, more so than before. So far, the walk to Tazuna's home had been uneventful and he hoped it would remain that way. Although with the information he now had, that would be unlikely.

On the other hand, if luck was on their side, this entire mission would be smooth sailing and he would get to read the next chapter of Come Come Paradise, and then they would return to the village, after which he'd buy the next volume-

"Oh, look! It's a snow bunny!" Kagome exclaimed as the rabbit came darting out of the underbrush, "So cute!"

Kakashi inner musings came to a screeching halt.

Snow bunny? As in, white bunny? His eye twitched, nervously.

"Really? I'll catch it for you, Kag-chan!" Naruto happily declared, chasing after the frightened creature.

"Dobe, you look like a moron." Sasuke pointed out, shaking his head at the blond's silly attempt to please his sister.

"Yeah. Sasuke-kun is right! You should leave it alone, 'cause if it bites you, you'll get rabies." Sakura quickly warned, waving her finger.

Naruto chose to ignore them. He was going to get that rabbit! He'd get it for Kagome!

Kakashi just groaned, as he realized what none of his students had yet to notice. That rabbit shouldn't be white when there had been nothing but sunny weather for the past few days. That would mean-

"We're being followed." he stated flatly.

Naruto stop mid-chase. The poor rabbit escape into the woods. "Followed? As in, an enemy?" he asked, surprised that there would be another attack so soon.

Kakashi wasn't the one to answer his question. Instead, a new voice spoke from the trees, "Hai. You are all being followed."

Everyone looked up, observing their new opponent, who was tall, muscular, and had a huge sword that was just as long as his body strapped to his back. It would have taken a lot of upper body strength to hold that massive weapon.

Instantly, Kakashi recognized him. 'Goodbye, uneventful walk to Tazuna's house.'

A eager Naruto was more than ready to spring into action, not at all intimidated by the new Shinobi's haughty appearance. After that horrible show earlier he would need to redeem himself.

Before he could even make a move Kakashi's voice stopped him. "Hidden Mist, Missing-Ninja Momochi Zabuza. All of you stay out of this, I'll handle it."

"Hai, and you are Sharingan Kakashi." Zabuza swiftly proclaimed, sounding quite pleased with the knowledge.

"Ugh. What's a Sharingan?" Naruto loudly questioned, scratching his head.

Everything came to a quick halt for the sibling.

They could only hear one word echoing in their minds.

'Sharingan.'

Light hazel, darkened and Kagome, turned to Sasuke with startled, confused query, "Did he just say...?"

Sasuke grimace, featured faltered in exasperation. "Hai, he did."

"But-"

In his sudden anger, he snap out, "I know." How could that be possible. 'What the hell?' Only a select few members of the Uchiha clan were lucky enough to attain those eyes. The ones who possessed the most power, and abilities. Kakashi was not an Uchiha. Therefore, he should not have the title of 'Sharingan Kakashi'.

This had to be a mistake.

Kakashi lifted his hand, taking hold of his headband, "All of you, surround and protect Tazuna-san. Use teamwork, but don't enter the fight." He lifted up his hitae-ate from his left eye, and thus revealed his very own sharingan. Three distinct tomoes, spun once around the pupil.

Zabuza merely chuckled, not at all perturb. In fact, he was quite happy to face someone of this caliber, "To meet the man who has copied over a thousand Jutsu, and to see the Sharingan so soon… I'm honor."

"A thousand?" Sakura muttered, bewildered by the sudden information. Kakashi couldn't possibly be that great could he?

Kagome's mouth had long since fallen open. Well that just wasn't fair! She and Sasuke had yet to get their own sharingan's, and now their Sensei pulls up his Hitae-ate, only to show that he'd been hiding his own shiny new sharingan under it!

Kakashi-sensei would have to be interrogated! Although there was a good chance, that she would be able to get much out of him, judging by his earlier behavior. No matter, she would still question him.

An exasperated Naruto shouted, "Sharingan! Sharingan! What the hell is it?" If they said that word one more time without giving him an answer, he would snap!

Sasuke was actually going to dignify the puzzled blonde with an explanation, but Kagome spoke up before he could.

"It's something Sensei shouldn't have." she stated, flatly. At this point, she just wanted to get all of this mess over with. Once they were through with this Zabuza guy, she could begin her long interrogation with Kakashi.-

"Now, how about we stop chatting? That old man- I'm going to need to kill him."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the four genin had surrounded the bridge builder. Kakashi stood in front of them, a lazy yet somehow serious look in his eyes.

"Guess I'll be killing Kakashi first, then." Zabuza shrug, without a single care.

Kagome stood behind Tazuna in a defensive position, wielding a kunai and with her backwards view, she wasn't really able to see what was going on. All she could do was listen. Form what she gathered, Zabuza had vanished from his spot on the tree branch and reappeared somewhere else.

"Ninpou: Hidden Mist no Jutsu."

Okay. Now he was doing some special Jutsu.

She sighed, this was taking far too long...

"...as a member of the hidden mist, he was known to be a expert in the silent kill, you don't even notice until you're already dead."

'What the-!'

Her jaws clenched, she was getting really aggravated. Was Kakashi-sensei trying to warn them or scare the crap out of them, because those words weren't exactly what she'd call comforting! They were down right creepy!

"Guys... this mist is getting really thick." Sakura stated nervously, she could only see a few feet before her. This was bad. Really bad.

"Aww, Sakura-chan, are you afraid?" cooed Kagome.

The pinked haired girl frowned, "You should take this seriously, Kagome!

"I am. I'm just not scared like you."

"Kagome, now is not the time." And that was Sasuke's voice. This could possibly get very dangerous and his Imouto needed to pay attention, picking at Sakura could wait until a later date.

"Sorry, Sasuke-nii."

Sakura felt a little hopeful. Did he just defend her? "Sasuke-kun, thank you for-"

"Be quiet."

Her face faulted. Or... maybe he didn't defend her.

"There are eight choices." A concealed voice suddenly echoed through the mist, "Liver, lungs, spine, jugular vein, carotid artery, brain, kidneys and heart. Which one shall I target?"

"Wow! What kind of person says that?" Kagome whispered, she herself had said some pretty unusual things before, but to name off all the vital organs in a person's body was beyond crazy, "We're fighting a total lunatic!"


XD -grins-