Chapter 10

Gaara awoke from his nap before the sun even lit the sky to the sight of Kagome's raven hiar. He had lain next to Kagome when she went to bed and had watched her all night before his small nap. Though the Shukaku was gone, his insomnia was not.

Gaara tightened his hold around Kagome's waist and pulled her closer to him. It was going to be a long time before he would be able to hold her like this. She fit so perfectly with him; it was such a turn on.

…*rustle*….

…*rustle*…

"Gaara what do you think you're doing?"

It was silent for a moment.

"Hmm, answering the call your body is sending me."

"Oh," Kagome turned her body around and came face to face with Gaara, "and since when does my body say for you to start humping me in my sleep?"

Gaara looked into her eyes and could not help the perverted smirk crawl on to his face. "Since I saw you naked the first time you tried to seduce me."

Kagome grabbed her pillow and tried (key word tried) to hit Gaara with it. "You said you would never speak of it again!"

Gaara wiggled around on the bed, avoiding the pillow that Kagome made into a weapon. When he was at the edge of the bed and she was right above him, he lunged up and flipped her on to her back and pinned her down.

Kagome glared at Gaara with all her might hoping that he would burn. She tried to get him off but he knew her limits and took advantage of that knowledge. All Gaara did was smirk and waited her out until she tired. Once she gave up he could have his wicked way with her till they had to part.

Kagome sighed she knew the next two words would seal her fate.

"I give."

"Asuma and his team will be accompanying you back to your village with some documents that you will have to look over. When you are done with them, Asuma and his team will come back and follow Kagome's trail with several ANBU teams for back up." Shizune informed Gaara as they stood at the Konoha gates.

Gaara nodded his acceptance and turned to look at the trio. "Ready?"

Shikamaru and Ino bobbed their heads as Chouji finished his breakfast. Asuma replied, "Whenever you are."

"Good."

Gaara turned his head to his left and took in all that he could of Kagome. "I expect you back home without injuries."

Kagome smiled at his 'I love you, please be safe'. Gaara wouldn't be Gaara if he actually said those words out loud.

"I promise to heal here then before I go home." This was a dangerous mission; there was no way that she was not going to not have some kind of damage.

Gaara eyes lingered on her for a while before he turned back to Asuma and his team to signal their leave and began walking away towards the direction of his village. With a wave from Ino to Kagome and Shizune, they followed after the Kazekage.

Kagome kept her smile on her face as she watched them leave. She stayed there until she could no longer see them. She stayed until Shizune told her that they wanted her at the Hokage Tower.

"So who are my fellow teammates that I have the pleasure to drag along with me?" Kagome asked Tsunade as she stood at attention in front of the Hokage's desk.

"The people who will be accompanying you are; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Tenten. These are their photos." After Tsunade passed the pictures to Kagome, she linked her hands under her chin. "They are not ANBU but they seem to have a rare luck about them that seem to keep them alive. Most of my ANBU teams are out in scouting missions making sure the Akatsuki is not aware of you and seeing what else they can find out. You should be meeting up with them along the way. The rest are needed here and I cannot spare them."

Kagome nodded her head. "Is my mission purely a rescue or would you like it to be a surveillance of the enemy too?"

"I have my own little flies on the walls to give me information about what they are doing so I do have some information. This is how we found out about Hitori, Kakashi's daughter, being taken and what they plan to do with her."

"So you have confirmed that they plan to use her as a medium for all nine tailed beasts then?"

Tsunade nodded her head. "Knowing that it always took some kind of sacrifice to put the creatures into a host and that the host themselves died when the beast were extracted…..the chances of her surviving having all nine of them are not all that great."

There was a pregnant silence after her statement. Both could not help to feel the brutality of the truth. If Kagome were to fail her mission, not only would she make a father despair over losing a child but she would also be leaving a powerful weapon in the hands of the enemy.

"I have arranged for you to go meet up with your team for lunch so you all could get together and get to know one another. Remember, everyone must be ready to leave by dusk."

Kagome lifted her hand in salute before she turned around and marched out the door. Tsunade just watched her go with a deadpan look. Once Kagome was out the door Shinzue leaned close to Tsunade's ear and asked, "Why was she doing that?"

"Hell if I know." Tsunade took out her sake and took a swing from the jar.

Kagome strolled down the street and took in the sights and smells of Konoha. It was still an hour or so till she had to meet up with her new team and was told to meet them at Ichiraku. While all of that was fine and dandy, they forgot to show her where it was. So she decided to walk around and see if she could find it herself. It was a bit relaxing not having to worry about sandstorms or sand getting to places that it should not be. 'But does Gaara listen to me? Noooo.' Kagome pouted and stuffed her hands into her knee length shorts.

"Kaaaagooommee!"

Kagome paused and looked up. She saw Naruto jumping up and down waving his hands in the air as if she could not already spot him with his orange jump suite. Kagome smiled at his antics and waved back. She noticed that he wasn't alone. Sasuke and a girl with pink hair were with him.

When she got close to them Naruto seemed to have a hard time keeping his grin off his face.

"Hey Kagome! Are you feeling better?" Naruto made a show of going around her to check how well she healed.

Kagome laughed, "Shouldn't that be my line?"

Sasuke snorted. "This idiot can take anything. Believe me; he is like a pest invasion that will not go away."

"Shut up bastard!" Naruto threw a punch in Sasuke's direction. His fist was stopped by the pink haired girl.

"Naruto! Leave Sasuke alone!"

"But Sakura! He started it!"

Sakura's glare intensified until Naruto whimpered in defeat. To interrupt before it got awkward Kagome spoke up.

"Hello, I believe we haven't been introduced formally? I'm Higurashi Kagome."

Sakura blinked before a blush of embarrassment crossed her face. "Sorry about that. Old habits die hard. My name is Haruno Sakura and I will be joining you on this mission."

"I am glad to have you on this team." Kagome smiled. "So do you guys know where Ichiraku is? I was suppose to meet you guys and the rest of the team there and I have no clue where it is."

"Of course Kagome! Come on, to Ichiraku!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Kagome's wrist and dragged her away. Sasuke and Sakura just sighed and followed at their own pace.