Crossover: Naruto

Pairing: Kagome/Itachi

Song: maybe Kryptonite or When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down

Summary: Neither believed in the saying "Opposites attract." But then they met. Both had given up a lot for something that they by all rights had no reason to be a part of or participate in. (though neither would change it for the world) Kagome never lost her optimism and how cheerful she was. Itachi however, was left with a hidden part of him that was bitter and jaded. It had consequences on each end though- both were left feeling lonely in spite of the friends they had. So it was no wonder they gravitated towards each other- both had something the other needed.

Lonely Hearts

Itachi always knew pretty much exactly how his life would go. Before the clan's demise which was ultimately brought about by his own hands yet as a result of their own foolish, arrogant actions, he knew he was destined most likely be a puppet of the Uchiha as long as he lived. After he was forced to choose between taking his life into his own hands and kill his own so-called family to save his home or leave his home to destruction through civil war (which would have no doubt ended in fourth war) and in the process leaving his little brother's spirit to be broken it was just the same. He would live his life on the run while subtly doing what he could to help Konoha (he knew that there was little to no chance that he would be able to go back to the village) until he finally ended up dying at the hands of his little brother, Sasuke, a hunter nin, someone else who thought he was a criminal or simply that because he was a missing nin he was either evil or one of the bad guys, or either Madara or a fellow member of the Akatsuki. This was almost worse than an existence than what his life most likely would have been like had the clan still been around and he still a ninja of Konohagakure, but he was content. Unless that damn snake Orochimaru managed to get his hands on Sasuke and he ended up too big of an influence, Sasuke's life would be better and there would be a chance that he would be able to eventually be happier than he'd ever been. It hurt knowing that there probably wasn't any such thing as an option that wouldn't have left Sasuke hating or resenting him, but at least this way Itachi was freer than he would probably have ever been otherwise- under the Sandaime's influence the council and the advisers to the Hokage had too much power. He was sure that those who founded Konoha (Including Madara before he went insane) would have been majorly disappointed at what became of the village. Itachi even had a few almost-friends. But he was still all alone, and probably always would be. He sighed, shook his head, and continued on his way. There was no use thinking about it.

Kagome Higurashi was in a not so very different situation herself. She lost her friends and any chance at a decent enough education to get a well or high paying job of the sort her mother had always wanted her to have. She gave up her friends in the Feudal Era to ensure their happiness. She almost died saving Kikyo all for the sake of a hanyou that would never either appreciate her or even genuinely see her for who she was instead of as a copy of who everyone seemed to think she was reincarnated from. (There had always been few interested in her that weren't interested either in Kikyo and the fact that Kagome was her reincarnation or in the jewel shards she carried) Her brother, by the time the 'quest' was over resented her a little for both the fact that she was rarely home and the fact that at this point, his dream of his "hero" becoming his brother-in-law would never be anywhere even somewhat close to possible. Then when everything was said and done- she couldn't even see her family again at all. Not her mother, not her grandfather, not even Souta- who she'd still hoped to patch things with. What did she gain from the quest she never even had any reason to be a part of beyond the fact that she broke the jewel in the first place? A one-way ticket to a world where she had a chance to start over and be happy yet had no hope whatsoever of ever seeing or even contacting her friends or family ever again. She never wanted or expected an award of some sort- all she had wanted was to be happy with the friends who she had become so close to they were almost like a second family. She found something she enjoyed doing in life- she'd gotten a job at a flower shop a kind old man who helped her find a home owned and volunteering at the local clinic when she didn't have to work and found she had plenty of free-time to spare and found herself bored. But she was still all alone; she had few genuine friends. Kagome never did something that was genuinely bad or selfish, in helping her friends she turned down every such opportunity she came across or was presented with even if they weren't selfish but simply might result in her happiness to help them or get them their "fairy tale ending". So she wanted to know- where was her happily ever after?

They met in late autumn- already seeming like far from one of those "typical" or "almost fairy tale" romances you find in romance novels and chick flicks. (Few of which took place in the fall, all of the ones, it seemed, that didn't take place during nice weathered spring or summer took place in winter.) Kagome was heading home from a trip to the book store- ever since she came to this world she spent what chances she could find looking through or reading what books she could find and buying the especially useful ones so she wasn't too surprised by anything and knew how things worked here. Itachi had just finished a mission that Pein had had him do solo. (He was the only one needed and having people with him would hinder him, after all) Therefore had been taking his time, taking the rare, much needed chance at relaxation without anything bothersome. Kagome was being bothered yet again by her new love-interest wannabee. (In some ways, creepily enough, he reminded her of a weird mix between Hojo & Kouga) When he either snapped or decided to let what she was saying go right in one ear and out the other, he started attempting to drag her out on a "dinner date". She got sick of it, and finally broke down; thus she slapped him and down-right refused him, giving him an earful about how 'if he wanted to ever find the girl that's right for him, he needed to start learning to listen to people'.

Sick of things like that happening to her, she let out a tired sigh. "Why can't people ever learn to listen? I'm getting tired of losing or being either disliked or ignored by the people I do care about romantically or as much as I would someone I have a romantic interest in while being hounded and annoyed by clueless fools or baka-tachi who can't take a hint or have a fondness for coming to conclusions on their own without ever truly taking the time to listen to what I say or even taking the time to actually get to know me." she complained.

"Sounds as bad as the bolder fan-girls. An associate of mine is convinced that some of them even have rabies or something similar. The only time he's said something I ever truly agreed to." Itachi, who had been walking down the street when the foolish civilian decided to harass a young woman, thus causing a scene, commented.

"... Some of them are rabid, I think. I've yet to see one foaming at the mouth, but it would certainly help to explain why the worst of the fan-girls of guys I've seen or met that actually are the type where having fan-girls makes sense act the way they do." she replied automatically.

Itachi chuckles. "Indeed. That is precisely why I privately think he may be on to something; I can think of no other explanation for why the most troublesome or persistent act the way they do."

Kagome, finally realizing the situation, looked behind her. She vaguely recognized the cloak as the one apparently worn by the missing-nin who are part of the supposedly criminal organization, and from Konoha at that, from what she had learned about the different hitai-ate symbols. However, she sensed no evil, blood lust, or malice. So she just played the situation by ear as she usually does. She absently noted that he was very handsome, but as she had known Sesshomaru it didn't faze her as much as it might have at one point in time.

"I'm Kagome Higurashi. You are?" she said with a small bow.

Surprised at her lack of reaction as he could tell that she had recognized the cloak, he hid said surprise and introduced himself. "I'm Itachi Uchiha."

He could see the recognition in her eyes at the name, but she yet again surprised him by smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Itachi-san."

"... Just Itachi is fine, Higurashi-san. I'm not used to honorifics. The people I work with rarely concern themselves with such formalities."

"Well then, I insist that you call me Kagome. I've never liked formalities with people I consider my friends or hope to be friends with."

"All right then, Kagome-san."

Kagome sighed at the honorifics. 'Oh, well, at least it's a start.'

"... Would you like to get something to eat? I don't know if it's a Fire Country thing or what, but even though most people are polite and friendly enough or close to friendly, there a lot of the people I've met around here that don't ignore me seem to either not trust me or are wary of me, so I'd like to have someone to talk to." she said.

'It couldn't hurt, I suppose. It's not like anyone cares what I do outside of missions as long as I don't bring unwanted or unnecessary attention to myself.' Itachi thought. "... All right. But if you don't mind my asking, Kagome-san, why do the act like that?"

Kagome shrugged. "I figure that they probably don't trust foreigners- I doubt anyone in the Elemental Nations has even heard of my old home- or have something against non-ninjas that are able to defend themselves.

"... Oh? You can protect yourself." he asked.

"I won't trouble you with my story, you probably wouldn't believe me anyway, but I was pretty much an average, defenseless girl until I met someone who ended up being a friend of mine whom decided to pretty much drag me into a crazy situation out of a manga or something that basically summed up, safety wise, in being constantly in danger and being forced far to often for my liking into 'Kill or be killed' situations." explained almost sheepishly.

"... It's hard to picture you in such a scenario." Itachi offered.

"... Until I found it happening to me, I'd never even imagined something like that being real in a way that affected me in even my wost nightmares." she confessed, "But what I have the most trouble understanding was how no one ever seemed to even consider training me until I brought up the idea myself about a year after the whole mess started when I finally got sick of surviving on chance, barely surviving, or by relying on my friends protecting me."

"... Are you sure they were really your friends?" he asked, "It sounds to me like you tended to get lucky."

Kagome shrugged. "I've never had reason to believe otherwise since becoming friends with them." she replied, "The thing that really throws me off, though, was that the first (almost only) to take the initiative and actually follow through on my request for some training was the hated half-brother of my friend Inuyasha, the one who in a way is half the reason I ended up in that mess. At that point, after all, we still weren't friends yet."

"... Your friends sound foolish."

"... Well, Inuyasha didn't exactly have a lot of people who treated him nicely or with respect growing up and Shippo was just a kid."

"... And the others?" he inquired.

"I don't know. Maybe they never really realized that my different life and circumstances up until made me completely unused to situations like that. I adjusted surprising fast, though, I like to think." she said.

Itachi snorted, but this time didn't bother to comment. It didn't sound like much of an excuse, or like any excuse at all for that matter, to him. However, Itachi Uchiha had learned through observation (having never been in such situations) that some ninja tended to forget at times unlike their comrades or opponents that weren't shinobi yet able to fight or at least defend themselves, civilians, whatever their job or social standing- especially the ones who had hired them in the first place- rarely had much if anything as means of protection. Which usually led to such ninja getting said civilians into dangerous situations or failing to properly protect them when things boil down to a fight. Not that it mattered, though. This particular scenario was in the past and as far as Itachi was concerned, wasn't even any of his business.

Itachi mentally shook his head, bringing his attention back to his companion and his surroundings. Shortly after, they arrived at their destination. Neither got much, either having eaten not too long ago or simply not being hungry yet, but they did talk some more... Even if Kagome did most of the talking. Itachi had always been pretty quiet after all. He quickly learned that Kagome was using what little reading material she could find on the subject in a non-ninja village that was almost right on the border with Ame (and therefore not very far from the Akatsuki base, which Kagome didn't know) to learn how to manipulate chakra and, to the best of her abilities without a teacher or someone to point her in the right direction, use jutsu. When they parted at her doorstep (it was dark enough were Itachi insisted on walking her home) Itachi found himself promising her to stop by to see her again when he could. Strangely enough, though, he couldn't bring himself to care. She was interesting, after all. He did, however, tell himself that he would tell himself that he might have liked to check up on her and maybe even see how her training was going anyways... Something told him that the young woman he ended up befriending was a trouble magnet.

In the end, Itachi found himself using every available opportunity to spend time with Kagome. The Uchiha were still infamous, though. Not even a few months after the disastrous chuunin exams that took place in Konoha Kagome found herself hearing about how the 'Last Uchiha' had left Konoha to join Otogakure and Orochimaru. Kagome knew enough to know that this must be Sasuke, the only relative of Itachi's she could get him to say more than a few words about who just so happened to apparently also be his only living family member. (both teens found joy and amusement in exchanging funny, cute, or embarrassing stories about their respective younger brothers) So she asked him about it, requesting that she tell her his side of the real story behind what happened to his family if he didn't mind. He told in and being unable to reject what Kagome knew was probably for Itachi the ultimate show of trust, Kagome in turn finally admitted what her whole story was. To her relief, the biju and the animals shinobi could summon proved to be things that left Itachi unable to deny her story, especially as it explained what he had been convinced all along couldn't be chakra yet seemed to serve a similar purpose for Kagome. The two teens became closer than ever as a result of that fateful meeting... all because of one thing Kagome said... Both were convinced that they could never forget it.

"No, I don't care what you say or try to pull! I won't let this go. I won't let you leave or forget me. Everyone needs someone to be there for them through thick and thin, Itachi, even ninja that were trained since a young age to keep a tight leash on their emotions. I had to sacrifice everything to fix one should have been little mistake I made... I won't let you do the same. Not when you still have a possible future opportunity for a second chance." Kagome had almost been in tears.

Itachi's eyes had softened. He just looked at her for a moment, as if looking for something or thinking something over. Then he pulled her into his arms, making her gasp in surprise that he had initiated a hug.

"Kagome, don't cry. You don't have a reason to worry any more. I won't leave you alone voluntarily, ever. I promise."

Her eyes widened; she knew that Itachi wasn't the type to make promises on the off chance that he couldn't keep them. "Itachi..."

He continued, not quite finished. "Kagome... thank you." Then he had kissed her on the forehead.

It wasn't long after, naturally, that she ended up starting to meet the other members of the Akatsuki. There was some sort of almost-magic to Kagome, though, who had a talent for befriending even people who had attempted or managed to kidnap her or steal from her, even people who had tried to kill her. She managed to befriend or get on the good side (or as close to the 'good side' as was possible) of every member of the Akatsuki to the point of her life not being in danger if one of them was around. The exception being Hidan, of course, who seemed to almost be unable to be more than indifferent towards anyone... and Itachi still wasn't sure what his highly blood-thirsty yet surprisingly pleasant partner thought of her. Not even Madara found himself immune to her charm.

If Itachi had anything besides the unexpected friendship to thank for the change in the course of his life that would have left him without his eyesight and doomed to die at young age, there was no doubt that it was Kagome herself. The girl, come to think of it, had probably changed everything. She had convinced Madara to change his plans with the threat of ending his unnaturally long life or ensuring that he would be deprived of all eyesight and without a chance to remedy the problem. Itachi was convinced that if the council of Suna their way Kagome would be banned from their village (perhaps even Wind Country) for depriving them of continued reassurance of having a weapon. The jinchuuriki who had become kazekage- Gaara no Subaku- and his siblings, however, were grateful for how not only did Gaara never have to worry about him losing control to Shukaku but Gaara could sleep again and Shukaku would be returned to wherever youkai of this world live. In fact, no one was sure how Kagome and Pein managed it, but the only villages the Akatsuki had some sort or alliance or agreement with were Oto and Iwa. Kagome is no miracle worker though, and so naturally the situation with Sasuke, however was as hopeless as ever.

In the end, it was thanks to their friends amongst the Akatsuki that they didn't take forever to wise up to their feelings or each other and get together. Kagome had been invited to join them for their Christmas party- with little choice in the matter even if she had wanted to refuse. Konan and Deidara managed the almost impossible, and if anyone didn't have a good time it could only have been Kakuzu, who was in charge of keeping track of the Akatsuki's finances minus the decision making power (no one had been willing to live in the poor conditions he had tried to stick them with) and therefore grumpy due to the amount spent by everyone for the thing. Kagome even became convinced after the strange sight of Madara who had somehow gotten drunk that said Uchiha was bipolar or had two personalities rather than amazing acting skills.

Somehow or other, amongst the celebrations and not-quite chaos, they ended up under a mistletoe. The kiss had been simple and chaste, but had been exactly the push Itachi had needed. It wasn't long before the two were a couple. Both of them had ever been happier. And neither of them had any regrets.

Owari

Yoruko: I hope you liked it, nya. ^^

Inuyasha: I still say something is wrong with whoever would actually read this crap.

Yoruko: No one asked you, Inubaka. -.-

Kagome: Sit boy! How many times will I have to tell you to be nicer to people?

Yoruko: *is petting a border terrier* Don't stress yourself out over it, Kagome. Let's just have Kirara or Sesshomaru get him out of here before he starts a fight or causes damage.

Kirara: *drags Inuyasha out kicking and screaming*

Kagome: *Notices the puppy* Aw, how cute~ XD Can I pet him?

Yoruko: of course. ^^

Shippo: *also petting the dog* Where did he come from?

Yoruko: He's my dog. I decided that he's the mascot.