Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I recently had a couple of interviews in the months September and October and so I've been devoting my time and energy in preparation for those interviews. They just got into contact with me in the past week and I got the job! So in celebration of me getting the new job I'll be posting this chapter, as well as chapter 11 (hopefully sometime before Christmas) for this fic before I start the new job. However, this means that I'll be unable to be online for the next several months, most likely I'll won't be posting anything 'til after the summer of next year. It would have to be sometime after July 2018.

So I'm going to be preparing for this new job as well as moving to a different location and I won't be able to write this fic because I'll not only be moving into a new place and getting settled in, but I'll also be working and the first year of the job will be my probationary period so I will be focusing on my job but I will try to update as soon as i can but it won't be for another couple of months of so. Hope you enjoy!

Kagome had gotten up hours before dawn and prepared herself for the trip to the Earth Kingdom. She had packed food, clothes, medicine, and a few weapons she knew she might need on her mission. Hachi was considerate enough to arrive to the shrine so she could load her things when he transformed in his travel form. She hadn't slept very well that night and she had been debating whether or not to leave without the prince. In the end she had decided to wait for him. It would be more trouble for her if the prince approached the shrine while she wasn't there. She didn't want to have to explain to Kaguya of how she knew the prince. So wait for him she shall.

While she was getting the last of her supplies ready, she saw the prince approach her shrine. She was about to wave him over until she saw what he was wearing. He was dressed in the uniform of the Royal Guard of Konoha. Her eyebrow twitched as she glared at his 'disguise'. What the hell did he think he was doing? She was NOT going to have him accompany her dressed like that! She patiently pulled out the extra clothes she had Tenten pick up for her in the market.

Sasuke approached Kagome, seemingly quite pleased with himself. But his facial expression changed once he saw her face.

"What's wrong?"

Kagome scowled at him. "What do you think you're wearing?"

Sasuke glanced down at his clothes in confusion. "A disguise. I thought I was coming along as your guard."

Kagome sighed as she flung the clothes at him. "We're not traveling as wealthy merchants. We're commoners. I don't need your uniform to make us stand out. The uniform of the Royal Guard indicates that we have money and I don't want any time wasted on the journey fighting off thieves or protecting our possessions."

Sasuke stared at the peasant clothes uncertainly. "I suppose I see your point." He walked a bit into the trees and began to change. "So how are we traveling?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked." Kagome smiled. "I have asked this tanuki named Hachi to provide us with a ride."

Sasuke peeked out from behind the tree. "A tanuki?"

Hachi's turned his large head towards Sasuke's direction and gave a slow nod of acknowledgment towards him.

"Oh, and another thing. Since we're going as peasants we need aliases since we cannot use our real names." Kagome added.

Sasuke walked out from behind the tree, in his peasant disguise. "Very well, what name should I use?"

Kagome put her finger to her lip as she thought about it. "Hmm. There was a man named Souta in my family tree. You can use that name."

Sasuke nodded approvingly. "What about you?"

"I'll take the name 'Kagome'."

"Kagome." Sasuke allowed the name to pass through his lips. He smirked. "I like the sound of that. It's a pretty name."

"Why thank you."

Kagome turned around to add the last of their supplies when Sasuke approached the Tanuki. "Have you done this before?"

"What makes you ask that?" Kagome didn't even bother turning around to acknowledge him.

Sasuke looked at the giant tanuki uncertainly. "You seem very comfortable with flying."

Kagome let out a chuckle. "Wouldn't you want a chance to experience it?" She climbed down the ladder that she used to board Hachi and motioned for Sasuke to climb up. After glancing at the ladder, the prince hesitantly climbed up the ladder and made his way on top of the tanuki. Kagome followed him and carefully rolled up the ladder and secured it to their belongings.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sasuke replied as he glanced down nervously at the ground.

"Honestly, your Highness. Where's your sense of adventure?"

Sasuke stared at her for a few moments. "Now that you mention it, an adventure does sound nice." It was better than staying at the castle as far as he was concerned.

Kagome gently patted the top of Hachi's head. "Okay, let's get going."

Hachi's body rumbled as he started to rise up in the air in preparation for takeoff. Sasuke unintentionally grabbed onto Kagome as Hachi gently soared towards western direction. Kagome scoffed at the startled prince as he occasionally peered over Hachi's side to look down at the ground. When he saw how high up they were he clenched Kagome just a little tighter. Kagome let out a small chuckle.

"I never would have imagined that you were afraid of heights, 'Souta'."

Sasuke loosened his grip on Kagome. "Heights are not the problem, my lady." He transferred his gaze from the ground to the sky above them. "I've never flown before."

"No need to worry." Kagome stated as she patted Hachi's head. "Hachi will keep us safe. For now, just enjoy the view."

It was a late morning in the Konoha market and the streets were packed with vendors displaying their merchandise to the buyers. Tenten was wandering aimlessly through the streets, carrying a small basket of goods that Kaguya had sent her to get while her and her students went shopping for new clothes. Her mind wouldn't stop going back to what Hinata said about Neji and the orphanage. The guilt had been nagging her all day yesterday and all morning today. She purposely avoided the main market streets after she had bought her things so she could be alone and collect her thoughts.

Her major concern was how to apologize to Neji. He still had an attitude, there was no doubt about it. In fact, he had it when they first met! But he didn't deserve to be yelled at by her. Not to mention what she had said to him was uncalled for. But how she was going to apologize to him? That was something she wasn't sure she knew how to do. How would she approach him? It wasn't as if she could just waltz up to him and-

Tenten felt the wind knock out of her as she collided with a strong chest. She stumbled backwards, only to have her arm caught by the person she had bumped into.

"Oh." Exclaimed Tenten. "I am so sorry. Are you alrig-?" Tenten froze as she gazed up at Neji who had gripped her arm to prevent her from falling. They both stared at each other in silence for a few moments until Tenten tried pulling her arm from Neji's grasp so she could pick up her things which she had dropped. When he didn't let go she realized that Neji's grip was tight and he was in shock due to his wide eyes and slightly open mouth. He clearly had not expected to see her today.

Tenten slowly placed her free hand on Neji's hand. "Neji?" She asked softly.

Neji blinked before he looked down at his hand quickly let go of hers. Tenten bent down and began to pick up her things off the ground with Neji immediately bending down and helping her.

"Oh, thank you."

"Of course." Neji murmured. The two of them just stood there in complete silence, not knowing what to do or say to the other. They both refused to make eye contact with one another and each waited for the other to say something. Realizing they were getting nowhere with this, Tenten cleared her throat, gaining Neji's attention.

"Um . . . I . . . uh, I have something I need to speak with you about."

Neji nodded, indicating that he was listening. Tenten sighed. "Well, I-" She glanced around and noticed that the street was starting to get more crowded. She gripped Neji's sleeve and lightly tugged on it. "Follow me, I need to take you somewhere."

Naruto was wandering around the town looking for Tenten. Since Kagome had already left for the Earth Kingdom with that cocky bastard of a prince he had to find ways to entertain himself. He appreciated Tenten's company and so he decided to go ahead and look for her. For the past half hour he was having no luck and was thinking about heading home when a young woman was wearing a long cape with a hood to cover her face approached him.

"Excuse me," the woman said. "I was in town and I saw you and I wanted to thank you personally."

Naruto blinked. "Thank me? What for?"

The woman lifted her hood, revealing her face. Naruto's eyes widened. He stepped back and pointed his finger at her. "I-it's you!"

Hinata chuckled as she walked over to Naruto and lowered his hand. "You don't need to get excited. It's just me."

"B-b-b-but . . . you look different." He looked her over and noticed that she wasn't any clothes of nobility but rather commoner clothes. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Hinata gestured towards her clothes. There was no way for her to leave her home unnoticed by her father and so she and Hanabi gathered some clothes and snuck her out of the Hyuga compound. But she was just too embarrassed to tell him that! "This is just something I found and wanted to try on." She lied, hoping that he would buy it.

Naruto squinted his eyes for a moment and then chuckled. "Oh. Is that right?" He grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "So I was looking for a friend of mine but since I ran into you, I think you might like it instead."

Her curiosity peaked, Hinata nodded. "Very well, what did you want to ask me?"

Naruto pulled out a small kite from his robes and held it out to her. "I just finished making it and I'm dying to fly it today. Would you like to try it out with me?"

Hinata smiled. "Of course. Where would you like to fly it?"

Naruto frowned. "Hmm. I haven't really thought about that yet."

"Well there is a public garden not too far from here. There are some wide spaces there we can use."

Naruto jumped into the air with joy. "Woo hoo! What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Well this was certainly wasn't what he had been expecting. He had left the Hyuga manor and wandered the town with no purpose but to clear his head. His mind had constantly went back to his conversation with his aunt about her suspicions of his behavior. While he assured her that nothing was wrong, she had dismissed it and was set on finding out what made her nephew feel uncomfortable. The Lady Hanako has correctly assumed that it was a woman who was responsible for his distress, even if he was in denial of the whole thing. She was able to get a reaction out of him when she mentioned how his father had once behave in the same manor when he was in a disagreement with his wife, Neji's mother. He didn't verbally respond to her but he allowed her to advise him on his next course of action, which was to confront the problem. She didn't mean for him to approach the girl in an aggressive manner but in a civilized manner and discuss their disagreement. She didn't outright say that he should apologize but he knew he had to do it. After all, his father had always told him that a man always apologizes to a woman, no matter who was in the wrong.

As Tenten lead him away, Neji contemplated on how he was going to apologize to her. He just hoped that she gave him a chance to speak since she also seemed to have something to say as well. Once they reached the public gardens, Tenten stopped and let go of his hand with her back still facing him, hiding her face from hid view. Neji didn't want to appear impatient but if she wasn't going to say anything he might as well take advantage of the silence and speak. He opened his mouth but stopped when Tenten stuttered.

"U-Um."

Neji closed his mouth and waited.

"I-I . . . um . . . I didn't realize tha- uh." Tenten shifted her feet and sighed. "What I mean to say is that . . . I didn't know that your mother- . . . ARGH!"

Tenten swiftly turned around and huffed. "I'm sorry."

She had realized that she had yelled out her apology and bowed. "I mean, I'm sorry." She whispered. "It was wrong of me to make those accusations of you. I didn't realize the suffering that you and your family had went through. It was rude of me and I apologize."

Unsure of what to do, Neji decided to follow his aunt's advice and raise Tenten from her bowing position. "You don't need to apologize. I'm the one that needs to apologize."

Tenten glanced at him confused. "What?"

"I was rude to you at the orphanage. That was disrespectful of me." Neji bowed to her. "I'm sorry as well."

Tenten stood there with her mouth agape, staring at him. "Um . . . that's alright. Apology accepted."

Neji raised up from his bowing position. "Thank you."

Naruto and Hinata made their way towards the public gardens and were looking for a clear spot to fly the kite. Hinata tugged on Naruto's sleeve and pointed to an open field. As they made their way towards the field Hinata suddenly stopped and hastily pulled Naruto behind a few bushes. Naruto fell on his face and glared up at Hinata.

"Oi! What was that for?!" He growled.

Hinata placed a finger above her lips and shushed him. She pointed in front of her and motioned for him to look. Begrudgingly, Naruto dusted himself off and peered above the bushes to see what had Hinata was pointing at. His eyes scanned in front of them and stopped at a bench where he saw Tenten and Hinata's relative sitting and talking quietly. His eyes widened and he pointed at them when he was about to yell out to Tenten when Hinata quickly covered his mouth and pulled him down behind the bush.

Naruto pouted at Hinata as she continued to observe Neji and Tenten. Hinata was indeed shocked to see her brother Neji talking with the woman that he had an argument with at the orphanage. Could it be that he . . . apologized? But that didn't seem like Neji. He had too much pride for that. But judging by their faces and the fact that Naruto's friend no longer seemed angry with him, it could mean that they settled their argument. She smiled. Good for them.

Tired of being ignored, Naruto glanced at Neji and Tenten before turning towards Hinata. "What's happening?"

Hinata shook her head. "It's nothing. It seems like they finally settled a disagreement."

Naruto frowned as he glanced back at Neji and Tenten. He looked at Hinata as if to say 'so what?'. Hinata covered her mouth, preventing a giggle from escaping her lips.

"What's so funny?"

Hinata just smiled at him. He was so innocent and naive that she just found it adorable. "Never mind. Let's go fly that kite." She shooed him out of the bushes and off towards another spot, leaving her brother and Naruto's friend alone.

"I had no idea you were so familiar with the orphaned children." Tenten frowned to herself as she recalled that she had never seen him go inside the orphanage but then again she had only seen him once and that's nearly not enough time to tell.

"Well, I'm only acquainted with them through Hinata-sama. They only know about me because of my mother."

"How so?"

"My mother has always given funds to the orphanage and after her death I have continually been supporting them ever since. My mother became famous amongst the townspeople because of what she has done. I'm more of an anonymous supporter."

"I see."

Neji glanced at Tenten. "It seems that the orphans are familiar with you though."

Tenten scoffed as she waved her hand dismissively. "Not really. They only know who I am because I always bring them food and tell them stories. The one they love is my friend. She is so dear to them, she's a mother to all of them."

Curious, Neji asked. "Who is this friend of yours?"

Tenten paused. "Um . . . Sh-she also goes to the orphanage. She's a miko like me." She cleared her throat. "What about you? You said that you know a few of the orphans. You know all of them by name?"

"Yes. But there are a few who . . . stand out among the rest."

"By 'standing out' I don't suppose you mean Shippo do you?"

"He's one of the ones who does, but from what Hinata-sama tells me he's quite the energetic boy."

Tenten nodded in agreement. "Shippo's one of a kind. But my friend and I play with the shy ones. There are a few quiet children that have a difficult time making friends."

"One of those being Rin, am I correct?"

"She's one of the newer ones. I just can't believe her family was just killed in front of her like that. But that's very common among orphans here."

"Well, then I guess that they are lucky to have you and your friend around to help them right?"

Tenten sat there, glanced at Neji's sincere expression. She then turned away from him and looked down with a small smile forming on her lips. "They are lucky indeed. She's the kindest person I know."

After a couple of hours of flying, Kagome had tapped Hachi's head, signaling him to get ready to make a stop. They were about to leave the borders of the Fire Country and so Kagome wanted to make a stop before the crossed the country's border and entered into the Land of Waterfalls in order to enter into the Earth Country. In the Northwest border of the country there was a small shrine that contained ancient documents that had been collected from rural areas of the Fire Country. Instead of this shrine being a place of prayer like hers, this one was more like a library that has been safekeeping documents and other books. What made it even better was that there was a large forest not too far, a perfect place for Hachi to rest without being disturbed.

When they made their landing, Kagome and Sasuke slowly got off and took a moment to adjust to having their feet on the ground. Sasuke glanced around and looked at the shrine. "Where are we?"

"Bokusenou Shrine." Kagome replied. "This shrine was built thousands of years ago with the intent of collecting all documents so no knowledge is lost."

"Are we allowed to be here?" Sasuke asked as he followed Kagome as she was heading towards the shrine.

"Of course. There are only a couple of monks that maintain it. But it is open to the public."

They had entered the shrine, paid their respects to the monks and walked around the shelves, glancing at the books. "Which book is your favorite?" Sasuke asked.

Kagome smiled as she gently ran her fingers across the book spines. "You dare ask me the impossible question. I could no sooner choose a star amongst the heavens."

Sasuke furrowed his brow. "What is about them that touches you?"

She turned around to glance at the prince as she made her way towards the shelves that contained scrolls. "My sister would read books to me when I was a child. She would even sometimes take me here and read the Ancient Scrolls of the Youkai to me. She would read to me countless books as well. She loved books on science, philosophy, and languages. My sister was so fascinated with increasing her knowledge on such matters. Her voice was always so soft and soothing that I would fall asleep listening to her read."

Her smile slowly left her face as she started to look through the scrolls. "She died when I was 10 years old. A family record book was the last thing she gave to me before she died. I would give anything in the world to hear her voice again."

Sasuke placed his hand on top of hers. Kagome raised her eyes to meet his dark ones. "I'm sorry."

Kagome gently placed her free hand on top of his. "Thank you."

Sasuke glanced at their hands and then turned away, not letting go of her hand. "What is wrong?"

He gave her hand a slight squeeze before he turned around to face her. "In all my life, during my studies; not one teacher ever demonstrated the passion that you have shown me in the times we have encountered each other." He let go of her hand and walked a small distance away from her before briskly turning back to face her again. "You have more conviction in one memory than I have in my entire being." He smirked as he started heading towards Kagome's previous destination.

"I don't think that's entirely true." Kagome responded as she caught up with the prince. "I would like to think that at least one person in your life had a passion for knowledge."

Sasuke cast his eyes down. "There was. Everyone tells me he's gone but I don't believe it. I'll bring him back."

Kagome placed her hand on his upper arm and gave it a squeeze. His gaze shifted from the floor to her hand, where he reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. After rubbing his thumb against the back of hand for a few minutes, he lifted her hand from his arm and gave it a gentle kiss. "Come. Let's go back." He headed towards the exit leaving a blushing Kagome behind him.

Kaguya was furiously skimming through the documents of the Higurashi shrine. She had spend most of the day in the markets buying clothes for her students and now that they were enjoying them she had time to herself. That demonic bastard had told her that she would find its whereabouts in the shrine. Kaguya wasn't really in the mood to spend all that time just blindly looking for hints. So she decided to starts simple and see if any of the Higurashi shrine historical documents had any information on its location. Luckily for her, the historical documents where in chronological order so she could start from the beginning.

According to the Ancient Scrolls, the Higurashi clan was a powerful noble family that were the first to make contact with demons who had sailed from the West. Because some demons had caused havoc amongst humans the Higurashi family had the duty to slay them. Not wanting humans to be responsible for the behavior of their kind, the demon clans had come up with a pact with the humans. As long as they didn't attack or harm any humans, then they would be left alone but if there were any demons that attacked or harmed humans then they would not be under the protection of the demon clans and as such, humans were free to kill those demons in order to protect themselves. According to the scrolls, the demons and humans made a pact not by signing of a contract but rather, the exchange of gifts. The humans gave the demon clans land from their continent and created maps that would mark human and demon territories.

But that wasn't what Kaguya was interested in. What she wanted was the gift that the demons gave the humans. It was treasure that came from the homeland of the demons. Although the scroll she was reading didn't give her any clues as to what exactly the treasure was, she had the impression that it was a treasure unlike anything that the human race had ever seen. But it wasn't treasure that would bring about wealth due to its rarity, it was also rumored that anything that came from the homeland of the powerful demons had immense power. The kind of power it had varied, depending on the source but the rumors ranged from magical healing properties to power that would allow the owner full control of the human race. The possibilities were endless and Kaguya wanted to get her hands on it more than anything.

She searched through the rest of the scrolls and had become quite disappointed in the lack of information concerning the location of the treasure. But she did believe she had found some clues. One of the Ancient scrolls had contents concerning the Demon Lord and the Head of the Higurashi family. The two of them met and had arranged the meeting and decided upon the terms of the pact. Upon the scroll, there was a very detailed map on how the land was divided between the humans and demons. After that, it gives the terms of the pact and the only thing about the treasure that the scroll mentions is that the treasure was kept hidden away where no human could find it. This was done because the treasure had such terrible power that they wanted it out of the reach of human hands, especially those who had owned large portions of land and were beginning to form their own armies.

Kaguya's sly smirk only widened when discovering this information. If they wanted it hidden then what better place to hide it then in the Land of Demons where no man can go? She was going to find that treasure and she would use Kagome in order to get it. She chuckled at the thought as she was placing the scrolls back where she found them.

Unbeknownst to her, Kaede had watched her actions and quietly left the shrine. She headed towards the gardens to find her husband. After witnessing what had just happened in the shrine, Kaede felt that it was time to let her granddaughter know the truth.